Which Founding Father Are You?
It's astonishing that individuals could have created such marvels out of the sand beneath their feet. Yet, thanks to personal ingenuity and a free market that allowed them to thrive, neither the wonders nor the revenue from microchips show any sign of tapering off. Indeed, the future of microchips seems as full of promise as the society which allowed them to be built in the first place. Mr. Zygmont's history of microchips is well worth the read, if for no other reason then to remind us of the bullish culture still boiling beneath the stock market bubbles."Tech Bubble That Didn't Burst" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2003 10:48:35 PM ----- BODY: I'm declaring the heavyweight bout over. [Round 1, Round 2] The U.S. wins by TKO. France threw in the towel by declaring they won't use their security council veto.
Le Canard enchaine quoted President Jacques Chirac as telling a small private gathering on Feb. 26 that a veto would be pointless because it would not stop U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) from launching military action. "France is doing everything it can, but the problem is that it is impossible to stop Bush from pursuing his logic of war to the end," Chirac was quoted as saying by Le Canard, a satirical newspaper that is known to have well-informed sources. Le Canard also quoted Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin as privately telling a group of conservative lawmakers on Feb. 25 that "using the right of veto would be shooting the Americans in the back."Even though France has given in, Russia hasn't ruled out using its veto. "Report: France Will Not Use Its Security Council Veto" [via PoliBlog] "Russia Still Hedging on Iraq Veto" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2003 09:34:00 PM ----- BODY: This Sunday, there will be a pro-war rally near West Bend, WI. Here are the details from the Republican Party of Wisconsin:
WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Sunday, March 9 WHAT: Rally For America -- Support Our Troops WHEN: Sunday March 9, 2003 2:00 Pm WHERE: Washington County Fair Park Pavilion Located on Pleasant Valley Road (Intersection of Hwy PV and P) just east off USH 45 -- 2 miles south of West Bend -- 1 mile north of Hwy 60) --Participation of Families of our Military --Patriotic Songs --Communication and Thank You notes to our Service Men and Women --Free of Charge - Please bring flags, your families, and your pride in our American MilitaryTAM would love to be there, but the big kahuna will be working -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2003 07:38:00 PM ----- BODY: Gerald Posner is a former anti-war (Vietnam) protester who regrets his past. He now opposes this generation's war protesters:
The loose collaboration of leftists, anti-war activists, and anti-globalization proponents, must wake up. There are fundamentalists who would kill them without a second thought merely because they are Westerners. Appeasement gets you nowhere, as Europe learned from Hitler."Was I That Stupid?" [via David Frum] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2003 01:46:52 AM ----- BODY: Howard Owens thinks Bono isn't your typical knee-jerk, anti-Bush/anti-American/anti-war celebrity:
The anti-war left would dearly love to turn U2 leadsinger Bono into one of their own, but as I suggested jokingly in a previous post, Bono isn't about to have any of it. He has his issue and war with Iraq isn't going to distract him from his cause.Bono also points out the anti-war movement's inconsistency:
While I am inspired to see people out on the streets to defend the potential loss of life in Iraq, two million Africans will die next year and the year after because they cannot get hold of medicine. I want to know why there aren't a million people out on the streets for this other forgotten war.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2003 08:01:36 PM ----- BODY: ProtestWarrior.com has slogan ideas for upcoming pro-war rallies. (One is planned for Milwaukee this Saturday.) You can also buy t-shirts and bumper stickers. I like the shirt wanting to give Communism another chance. ProtestWarrior.com is run by Kfir Alfia, the man who hooked up with San Fran anti-war/anti-American protesters last month. His efforts got him a mention on Rush Limbaugh, PowerLine, and TAM. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2003 01:40:10 AM ----- BODY: I've just begun my wine fascination and already I've abandoned the fine products of France. When a country wants to oppose, rather than support, protecting the values of Western Civilization, then it's going to get called on it. I'll be looking for fine Australian, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, and British wines in honor of those countries who support ending Saddam's reign of terror. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2003 01:12:23 AM ----- BODY: On a corner in Racine, WI pro- and anti-war demonstrators faced off. "Groups of Demonstrators Try to Drive Points Home" [via Progressive Racine] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2003 12:31:20 AM ----- BODY: If The Sun's right, the French-U.S. heavyweight bout may not make it 12 rounds.
A crucial UN Security Council vote for war is now likely a week this Wednesday. Allied commanders could order air strikes against the dictator hours later. A top US intelligence source said last night: "The moment we know we have the nine votes needed, we will go for it. The military won't hang around after that."On French president Jacques Chirac's international standing:
Chirac faces a humiliating climbdown in front of the world or risks total isolation by using his veto at the UN. If he votes against action, America will sweep his protest aside and go to war immediately. A senior diplomat said: "More sophisticated French politicians are appalled with the way Chirac has gone out on a limb. "They are desperate to avoid a vote of any sort in the UN. "Chirac is hitting the phones, piling pressure on Russia and the African states to give the weapons inspectors more time." The shaming of Chirac would have sweeping global repercussions. The Franco-German alliance which has dominated the European Union for half a century risks being smashed. Britain could move into the driving seat in a new alliance with Italy, Spain, Holland and the ten new states due to join next year.And President Bush gave Chirac a stunning blow when he told him, "President Chirac, we will not forgive and we will not forget." Ouch! "It'll Be Soon, It'll Be Swift and It'll Be Short" [via Patrick Ruffini] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2003 02:25:16 AM ----- BODY: So, Saddam's thugs wanted the anti-war/Saddam-sympathizing human shields only at specific "strategic sites." The goofs who thought they could actually stop smart bombs from falling also had a change of heart:
Nine of the original 11 activists decided to pull out after being given an ultimatum by Iraqi officials to station themselves at targets likely to be bombed in a war or leave the country. Among those departing last night was 68-year-old Godfrey Meynell, a former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, who admitted that he was leaving out of "cold fear". He had been summoned, along with 200 other shields from all over the world, to a meeting at a Baghdad hotel yesterday morning."Human Shield Britons Quit Baghdad" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2003 02:19:39 AM ----- BODY: I can't wait for the Battlestar Galactica miniseries later this year even if it has a female Starbuck. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2003 01:58:30 AM ----- BODY: This looks like a fun weblog, and it's linked to TAM. Boycott Hollywood -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/1/2003 02:17:07 PM ----- BODY: The Turkish front was on, then off, then on, now off again. Bulent Arinc, the Turkish parliment speaker, has a lot of power to be able to void a vote. Imagine Dennis Hastert (or even Newt Gingrich) with such power. The Turks are in a dilemma: either they can accept U.S. troops and billions in aid or reject both. Either way the war is going to happen despite Turkish public opposition. The Turks can get something positive out of it or end up with a potential crisis on their southern boarder with no U.S. aid. What the speaker's act does is push back the war a few more days. Even if the parliment vote wasn't voided, it would have taken a few weeks for U.S. troops to be in place. I'm guessing war will happen in late March/early April barring some other obstacle. "Turkish Parliament Nullifies Vote on U.S. Deployment" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2003 12:30:25 PM ----- BODY: Daniel Libeskind's design for Ground Zero is the winner. It beat out THINK's strange scaffold gardens that reminds one of the fallen towers but without a soul. That's not to say I'm real hot on Libeskind's design. The spire rising over the ruins is a positive American idea, but does it have to be filled with gardens? What's wrong with making the tallest structure a place of commerce? One of the reasons the twin towers were targets is because they were symbols of America's economic nce. Libeskind's spire implies that there's something wrong placing a vibrant economy on a pedestal. "New Phase Starts to Rebuild Ground Zero" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2003 01:00:57 AM ----- BODY: Frazier Moore has a positive personal experience with Fred Rogers. The same can't be said for a friend of mine. Years ago, this friend--I'll call him Sam--worked at a record store in Manhattan. It was one of the largest record stores in New York City, maybe even in the country. They had lots and lots of records--the old vinyl kind. One day a man came up to Sam and asked him where the Fred Rogers records were. Sam went to the section and began digging around. No Fred Rogers records to be found. Sam told the man and suddenly the man burst out shouting, "God damn it! I want to see your manager now!" Sam went to the manager's office and got him. After being informed of the situation, the manager said to the man, "Yes, Mr. Rogers, I take care of this myself. I'll order more records immediately." Even Mr. Rogers can have a bad day. "Fred Rogers Was The Same On and Off Air" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2003 02:10:00 PM ----- BODY: I grew up with Mr. Rogers. His gentleness soothed me after watching the more energetic Sesame Street. The world's lost a gentle man with a big heart. Godspeed Fred. "'Mister Rogers' Dies of Cancer at 74" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2003 02:06:52 PM ----- BODY: Since we're down to yellow alert, what should I do with all the duct tape and plastic sheeting I bought? "U.S. Lowers Terror Alert Level to Yellow" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/26/2003 02:16:50 PM ----- BODY: Noah Shachtman defends his Los Alamos security (or lack thereof) piece with e-mail comments and a link about a special forces mock attack that stole a wheelbarrow-full of nuclear material. Two thoughts on Shachtman's break-in:
The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself.Put me in front of a computer screen and I'll babble until the early morning sun. But put me in a bar with friends and I have the tendency to clam up. Of course, put a few drinks in me and all bets are off. "Caring for Your Introvert" [via Reflections in D minor] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/25/2003 07:22:47 PM ----- BODY: Hey, bin Laden and Saddam, If any of your agents haven't been into Los Alamos yet, the security's pretty lax. The guards at the main gate are unarmed, and there are places where only some barbed wire is the only thing between the lab and the rest of the world. Hello, Mr. Ridge, we have a problem. Since one of your agency's missions is to "Reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism," you've got some serious work to do in New Mexico. "Nuke Lab Can't Keep Snoops Out" UPDATE: There's more to Los Alamos' security than meets one reporter's eyes. A local writes, "I can assure Mr. Shachtman that any area the lab truly regards as sensitive, he will not be able to get in." Replies to Noah Shachtman's "How I Snuck Into Los Alamos" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/25/2003 06:29:54 PM ----- BODY: Fellow warmongers, sign on the bottom line.
I believe that it is the just right -- and sovereign duty -- of the United States to prosecute terrorists aggressors and their state sponsors around the world. I believe that Patriot Americans should register support for our Commander-in-Chief and our military forces standing in harm's way in defense of our liberty. While military action must, necessarily, be a last resort, I support preemptive war when faced with a clear and present danger to the security of our country, our heritage of liberty, our communities, our families and our posterity. In the case of Iraq, I recognize that this is not a new war -- it is the prosecution of a dangerous but necessary war front in our nation's ongoing offensive against terrorist aggressors and their state sponsors around the world. I support our President and armed forces in their effort to enforce "regime change" in Iraq, to eliminate the serious threat posed by Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, and to liberate the Iraqi people. I reject the rhetoric of anti-American celebrity, academic and political opportunists, whose real objective is to tear down all that is good and right with America. Let it be said that, when our President and Congress declared war on terrorism in defense of our nation, American Patriots responded with overwhelming support.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/25/2003 03:12:20 AM ----- BODY: Ladies and gentleman! Today, we have for the world's entertainment, 12 rounds of diplomatic boxing. In the red, white, and blue corner is the once great power and ocean-spanning imperialist, now multilateral-obsessive. Weighing in at 60 million people, 9% unemployment, and a vicious security council veto. The masters of wine, cheese, and surrendering...France! France! In the star-spangled corner is the world's remaining superpower (hyperpower to the French). Weighing in at 280 million people, 5.7% unemployment, and the most powerful military in world history. The land of the free and the home of the brave...the United States of America! (Hometown NYC crowd chants, "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!") After months of trash talking where the French called the U.S. reckless cowboys, and the U.S. called the French "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" and "weasels" it's come to this confrontation in the U.N. Security Council. The stakes are high but paradoxical. Should France stand firm and resist the body blows of a United States intent on ridding the world of Saddam Hussein it will show the world it can withstand the world's most powerful nation. But by doing so, France severely weakens the legitimacy of the security council and loses future influence in international crises. Should the U.S. bob and weave past France's veto, its war with Iraq will have international backing, but popular opposition worldwide could explode. ROUND 1 France comes out with its resolution calling for more inspectors with months of more time to run around the Iraqi desert. At the same time, the U.S. comes out with its own resolution declaring, "Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it." Both sides are feeling out one another. U.S. trainer/Secretary of State Colin Powell is trying his best to convince countries like Mexico and Cameroon that the U.N. must take a strong stand. While Powell persuades, U.S. manager/President George W. Bush warns that the U.S. will go to war with or without the U.N. Strong words for a man many thought to be a foreign policy lightweight. France's Jacques Chirac rejects the need for such tough rhetoric. Instead, he wants extended timetables so Iraq can peacefully disarm. He hopes he can prevent war, weaken the U.S., and keep his dream of a Franco-dominant EU from fading away. And while this fight is taking place, Iraqi challenger, Saddam Hussein told Dan Rather that he wouldn't destroy his illegal missiles, and he wants a pre-fight debate. At the same time, he prepares for his mother of all matches. U.S.A. fans hope this bout ends more conclusively then their previous fight in 1991. To Be Continued... "U.N. Readies for Heated Debate on Iraq" "U.S.: Iraq Failed Last Chance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/24/2003 04:26:29 PM ----- BODY: Well, I'm off to watch the new-look, Gary Payton Milwaukee Bucks. I'll post later tonight. It will probably be a screed on the new U.S./U.K. U.N. resolution. I'll also bite my lip and mess around with MT some more. One last thing: here's my last call for anti-anti-war slogans. No one has offered anything. Here's your last chance. UPDATE: The Bucks lost because they couldn't stop Kevin Garnett. "Steam Shipwreck" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/24/2003 04:21:40 PM ----- BODY: Orin Kerr thinks that the music business will want a Norah Jones effect of their own. So, they'll "start to put their money into pleasing older listeners who might actually buy music, and who also tend to have more sophisticated tastes. Ergo, more sophisticated artists will be signed to the major record labels, and we listeners will get more sophisticated music to enjoy." Since older listeners "don't know how to download" music, the plan will boost music sales. That's a short-term solution until the Napster generation gets old and music downloading becomes so easy, my grandmother could do it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2003 01:27:02 AM ----- BODY: If I had a broadband connection, I'd really dig the ability to rent games over the Internet. Instead of plunking down $40 dollars for Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 only to find it lame, I'd risk $4.95 for three days of play. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/22/2003 01:42:57 PM ----- BODY: Still looking for clever anti-anti-war slogans. The easiest way to create one is to take an anti-war slogan and twist it into something more to a pro-warrior's liking. Funny's the best, but bonus points go to slogans including the French. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2003 10:59:34 PM ----- BODY: I have a question for my MT-using readers: MT has this fascination with titles for posts. If you've read TAM for any significant amount of time, you know my posts are title-less (and I don't mean golf balls). I imported my Blogger Pro posts into MT (here's the import file and here's my test weblog), but the software gives each post a title. Does anyone know of a way around this so my old posts don't have goofy-looking titles? If I can't figure out a solution, I may just have to abandon my attempt to import my Blogger Pro entries into MT. By the way, have I told you how much I just love MT? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2003 10:50:08 PM ----- BODY: Jim Schwab has plenty of links about the Great White club fire. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2003 10:35:17 PM ----- BODY: German Christian Democratic Union leader Angela Merkel sees the need for the war with Iraq. She also wants to retain the post-WWII link between her country and the U.S.
This is a grave matter: Peace is a supreme good, for the sake of which every effort has to be made. But it is also true that responsible political leadership must on no account trade the genuine peace of the future for the deceptive peace of the present. The determination and unity of the free nations will, in the Iraq conflict, have a decisive effect not only on the outcome of the crisis but on the way in which we shape the future of Europe and its relationship with the United States. They will have a decisive effect, too, on how we guarantee peace, freedom and security, and how we find appropriate answers to the new threats of our time. Will it be alone or together, with determination or in despair, with our partners or against them? I am convinced that Europe and the United States will have to opt for a common security alliance in the future, just as they did in the past. The United States is the only remaining superpower, but even so it will have to rely on dependable partners over the long term. Germany needs its friendship with France, but the benefits of that friendship can be realized only in close association with our old and new European partners, and within the transatlantic alliance with the United States."Schroeder Doesn't Speak for All Germans" [via Shark Blog] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2003 08:59:53 PM ----- BODY: The first ever Critiquees have been announced. I'm happy to say that as a reviewer for Blogcritics.org, I got to throw in a vote here and there. Too bad none of my choices won. Bruce Springsteen got too many votes, but The Chemical Brothers did take the fifth spot for best Electronic Album. But do the Critiquees match the world famous TAM Music Awards? I'll let you be the judge (just be nice in the comments). -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2003 01:34:32 AM ----- BODY: We pro-war types should be prepared for the next round of anti-war/anti-American protests. I'm not any good at coming up with witty things off the top of my head, so I'll open this up to the vast TAM audience. I want pithy phrases that fit on protest signs. The funnier the better, but it will be hard to top "Except for ending slavery, fascism, Nazism, and Communism, war has never solved anything." Just put your entry into the comments or e-mail me. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2003 01:13:05 AM ----- BODY: War can begin. The troops are in place with or without Turkey. The only thing left is one last try at the U.N. I predict that war will begin with two weeks. "Anti-Iraq Force Ready; New UN Resolution Possible" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2003 02:22:08 PM ----- BODY: Martin Sheen cut a commerical where he tells the world, "Don't invade Iraq. Inspections work; war won't." He opposes a war where U.S. interests (national and economic security) are deeply involved, yet his West Wing character orders the invasion of an African nation that appears to be based only on human rights concerns. So, for Sheen it's alright for the U.S. to go to war as long as she doesn't benefit from it. "Sheen Leads Antiwar Forces" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2003 03:22:03 AM ----- BODY: A pro-war guy joined the San Fran peace march last weekend with a great sign that read, "Saddam Kills his own people. It's none of our business." I wonder if any of the A.N.S.W.E.R. people and their sheep caught the joke? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2003 02:57:44 AM ----- BODY: It looks like the Department of Homeland Security hired the same people who make airplane emergency graphics. [here], [here], [here], [here], and [here] I'm glad the government is giving citizens some preparedness information, but for me if terrorists decide to hit my little town, I'm toast. No plastic sheeting and duct tape for me. I'll take my chances. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2003 02:44:53 AM ----- BODY: Turkey still hasn't agreed to host the 80,000 troops needed to create a northern front against Baghdad. Here are the key paragraphs from the AP:
Washington had originally offered $4 billion to $15 billion depending on the scope of the war, and has now reportedly raised the offer to a minimum of $7 billion in grants and debt forgiveness with additional money in loans. When asked whether the U.S. proposal was a "final offer," Fleischer said: "I think that's a pretty good way to describe it." Turkey's leaders brushed aside the offer. Turkey's "demands have to be met," Erdogan said. "Only then can we put the authorization on the agenda. These demands are not being met, and Turkey is constantly being expected to make compromises."Turkey is trying to squeeze as much money out of the U.S. as they can. There in a position to do it, but they could end up with nothing if the U.S. abandons the Turkey plan. Donald Rumsfeld told reporters that war without a Turkish front is "doable...There are work-arounds." This is a very expensive game of chicken. "U.S., Turkey Fail to Agree on Iraq Plan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/19/2003 01:55:55 PM ----- BODY: The Iraqi National Congress is worried about how the U.S. will reconstruct a post-Saddam Iraq. Ahmad Chalabi writes:
As deliverance approaches, we therefore intend to be full participants in shaping the future Iraq. American help is essential--and is welcomed--in winning the fight against Saddam. But the liberation of our country and its reintegration into the world community is ultimately a task that we Iraqis must shoulder. This is why the proposed U.S. occupation and military administration of Iraq is unworkable and unwise. Unworkable, because it is predicated on keeping Saddam's existing structures of government, administration and security in place--albeit under American officers. It would ultimately leave important decisions about the future of Iraq in the hands of either foreign occupiers or Saddam's officials. Unwise, because it will result in long-term damage to the U.S.-Iraq relationship and America's position in the region and beyond. The current U.S. plan proposed for Iraq, as outlined by senior officials in congressional testimony and in discussions with the Iraqi opposition, calls for an American military governor to rule Iraq for up to two years. American officers would staff the top three levels of Iraqi government ministries with the rest of the structure remaining the same. The occupation authorities would appoint a "consultative council" of hand-picked Iraqis with non-executive powers and unspecified authority, serving at the pleasure of the American governor. The occupation authorities would also appoint a committee to draft a constitution for Iraq. After an unspecified period, indirect elections would be held for a "constituent assembly" that would vote to ratify the new constitution without a popular referendum.Now, it's vital that an Iraqi democratic republic is built from the bottom up to best reflect the nature and circumstances of the Iraqi people. Also, an American imposed government would only further the imperial arguments of America's opponents in Islamdom and the world. But in the near term, a post-Saddam Iraq has to be prevented from falling into dissaray or forced again under the thumb of another Saddam. If chaos were to break out or another dictator took over Iraq while ABC weapons were still in existence, then the war would have been a waste. Yet another attack would have to happen. The goal of a post-Saddam Iraq must be a democratic republic that protects the rights of Iraqis. Such a government will send the very important message to rest of the Middle East that Muslims and Arabs are capable of self-government. Once the ABC weapons are destroyed and Iraq's territorial integrity is stabalized, groups like the INC can forge together the public will needed for a new government. "Iraq for the Iraqis" UPDATE: OxBlog comments on the INC and doesn't trust them to build a stable post-Saddam Iraq. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/19/2003 12:11:49 AM ----- BODY: Michael Kelly on last weekend's war protesters:
To march against the war is not to give peace a chance. It is to give tyranny a chance. It is to give the Iraqi nuke a chance. It is to give the next terrorist mass murder a chance. It is to march for the furtherance of evil instead of the vanquishing of evil."Protests: Give Tyranny a Chance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/18/2003 11:42:58 PM ----- BODY: Jacques Chirac might be cracking. Getting told off by Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, then hearing Tony Blair make it plain, "There is no intelligence agency of any government around this table that does not know that the government of Iraq has weapons of mass destruction" doesn't help in building a united Europe in opposition to the U.S. "Chirac Finding Pro-US Stances Hard to Stomach" UPDATE: Tony Blankley gets into Chirac's blackmailing of Eastern European countries that signed letters backing the U.S. "If France doesn't want to do business with the Eastern Europeans, we should invite them to join our free trade union. It would be an honor for us to trade freely with people who know the value of freedom." I'd sign them up anyway. "France the Bully" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/18/2003 03:13:02 PM ----- BODY: So, Arkansas can pump enough drugs into a man to make him sane just so they can kill him off. A dissenting judge used the words of Justice Thurgood Marshall by calling such an act "the barbarity of exacting mindless vengeance." "State Can Make Inmate Sane Enough to Execute" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/18/2003 03:41:29 AM ----- BODY: Occasionally I read fiction. Usually it has to be something unique in its premise, but there are always exceptions. I recently finished William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. Unlike his famous Neuromancer, PR is set in the here-and-now. September 11 has happened. Cayce Pollard, the protagonist, lost her father that day in that very city, but no body was ever found. She works as a freelance coolhunter who's allergic to logos. The story revolves round finding the creator of video clips that has achieved cult status on the Internet. An ad exec considers this "footage" to be the greatest marketing idea of the young 21st Century and hires Cayce to find the maker. Her hunt takes her from London, to Tokyo, back to London, then to Russia. Gibson paces the story well. If he wanted to he could get bogged down in the intricacies of steganography, viral marketing, or signal intelligence. He doesn't. Instead, we follow Cayce running into interesting characters who's lives all revolve around late 20th. Century technology. There are references to old calculators and old computers, and there's the Net itself playing a supporting role without any lines. The global linking of computers, digital devices, and minds allows the story to even exist. The footage first appeared on the Net. That's where obsessive fans analyze every pixel on message boards. We read Cayce's e-mails to friends, business partners, and her mother. PR isn't an action-filled novel. There is a small fight and chase through Tokyo. What drives the story is the intrigue: who's really working for who? what are someone's motives? what is the purpose of the footage? These questions do get answered. What Gibson also addresses is the role of Media in our lives. It permeates our every waking moment, whether we know it or know. We're not just passive, only consuming, we also produce media by how we communicate with others to how we wear our clothes. The constant questioning of the Man/Media relationship threads itself throughout. A problem with Gibson's books are they get dated quickly. Neuromancer founded the cyberpunk genre, but I laugh reading his guess of a vast global network far into the future (we're already there). The same thing will happened with PR. There are just too many references that fit perfectly in 2003, but will get stale in a few years (characters "Google" each other). Fun, yes, but not timeless. "Gibson Looks to the Future" Ian Kaplan's review -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/18/2003 02:47:18 AM ----- BODY: The Nation's publisher, Victor "Alger Hiss is innocent" Navasky thinks Fox News Channel bought an ad in his magazine as a publicity stunt. It got attention, but it also ticked off a bunch of readers. "A Fox News Ad Roils Some Readers of The Nation" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/18/2003 12:21:10 AM ----- BODY: I'm not winning. All I want to do is start over from the beginning, but could MT either have an uninstall feature or some documentation to quickly do that? No. And then there are the geeks with attitude at the MT "support" (found little) forums. Before MT lauds the world with a new update filled with whiz-bang new features I have no idea what they're for they have to make the installation and importing method easier. Whether it requires better documentation or better software (I want the latter--make it more automatic), it makes little difference to me. Also, they must put in a "select all" feature to be able to select lots (even 1800+) of entries instead of having to click on check boxes over and over and over... Even if I get MT working, I may never recommend it to someone. This has been, by far, the worst comptuer experience of my life, and it's still not over. The Google-Blogger monolith is looking better and better every time I play around with MT. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/17/2003 01:31:23 PM ----- BODY: Jonathan Gewirtz uses Google more than online tech support to fix his computer problems. He thinks this is a good thing. It may be, but it might encourage software companies no offer even less documentation and support. Instead, they'll rely on users to do the work they should be doing. [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/17/2003 01:16:26 PM ----- BODY: During the Spanish Civil War, anarchists used modern art to torture prisoners. I knew some of that stuff was bad, but that bad? "Anarchist Cells" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/17/2003 12:39:29 PM ----- BODY: Reuters has a story on the Google's purchase of Blogger. It's one of the rare big media stories on weblogging that doesn't mention Glenn Reynolds. But the story mentions an Ariana Huffington weblog, but I haven't found it. "Google Buys Popular Web Publishing Tool" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/17/2003 01:30:07 AM ----- BODY: NATO is finally supporting its ally, Turkey. It required going to a committee that didn't include the French. "Europe Struggles to Close Rift Over Iraq" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/17/2003 01:08:01 AM ----- BODY: Kevin's done some serious remodeling of Reductio Ad Absurdum. It looks really nice, but just you wait until the new TAM revamping (assuming I don't buy Google to buy Movable Type so I can get some engineers to get it to work for me). Warning: if you hear screams today that sound like they're coming from the general direction of Wisconsin, that's me losing in my battle with MT. May the force be with me. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2003 02:49:06 AM ----- BODY: The Stalinists of ANSWER were out and about in NYC yesterday. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2003 02:36:30 AM ----- BODY: Australia's John Howard understands the need to rid Iraq of Saddam now:
But I know that if the world community walks away from this issue, we could well have to confront it in a few years time at an infinitely greater cost.He also said that an alliance with the U.S. is more important than supporting the U.N. Right before our eyes we may be seeing the death of the U.N. as a force in international relations. "Australia Leader: U.S. Alliance Important" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2003 02:10:51 AM ----- BODY: Google bought Blogger. Their vast server farms should help prevent future outages and give Evan Williams plenty of money to make the software really good. Since Evan has found some deep pockets should I even bother with the MT move? I haven't played with MT in a few weeks because just the thought of my past problems infuriates me. "Google Buys Pyra: Blogging Goes Big-Time" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2003 01:41:30 AM ----- BODY: Samizdata.net covered the London protests. I'll let the pictures do the talking...and they're saying a lot. [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2003 01:02:17 AM ----- BODY: In contrast to the millions of anti-war, knee-jerk anti-American protesters all over the world, the NY Times editorial page gets it that Iraq isn't disarming. A protester in NYC said, "We need to leave Iraq alone." However, the Times has the intellectual honesty to see what the situation in Iraq really is:
There is ample evidence that Iraq has produced highly toxic VX nerve gas and anthrax and has the capacity to produce a lot more. It has concealed these materials, lied about them, and more recently failed to account for them to the current inspectors. The Security Council doesn't need to sit through more months of inconclusive reports.Does that protester think that if we leave Saddam alone, he'll stop make ABC weapons and sing "Cum By Ya" with all the peace-nik? What will the protester say after thousands of Americans are killed when Islamist terrorists used those weapons? Will he continue the vapid, Noam Chomsky-response that the U.S. deserved it? Protester call for more inspectors--talking points from the French. You could have thousands of inspectors running around Iraq, but without Saddam's compliance, they'll find little. Then there's the call for another U.N. resolution. What's the point of another threatening one toward Iraq when 1441 is being ignored? Friday, the Security Council showed it's more concerned with checking U.S. power than with stopping a dangerous man from having very deadly weapons. Anti-American sentiment killed the U.N., not the U.S. who's bent over backwards to build multilateral support. Moral leadership sometimes requires doing the right thing when the rest of world tells you otherwise. President Bush does possess that moral backbone to move forward with his plans to make the world safer. After all the bombs have fallen and Iraq is liberated, the world may still not agree with the war. But who cares? What really matters is that the world is a little bit safer. "Disarming Iraq" [via Andrew Sullivan] "Protesters at U.N. Rally Against Iraq War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2003 07:25:49 AM ----- BODY: U.S. business economists come to a similar conclusion as a British business group: there could be good economic growth if the Iraq War is short. The NABE also concur with Alan Greenspan: the economy is sputtering because of uncertainty surrounding the war. "Possible U.S. Economic Rebound Predicted" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2003 11:14:04 PM ----- BODY: I second Johnathan Pearce's idea to open the world's markets to Iraqi goods if Saddam and his cronies were booted (hopefully killed). Maybe that would be an incentive for Iraqis to rise up and reject the years and years of suffering caused by that brutal thug. I doubt it, but could it hurt? I'll take Johnathan's idea one step further. After the war (it will happen), part of Iraq's reconstruction should include a free-trade pact with the Allied forces. After 12 years of economic sanctions, those people will need lots of opporunity to rebuild the economy. If Iraqis are as enterprising and resourceful as some think, access to U.S. markets would certainly put Iraq on the right path. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2003 11:00:21 PM ----- BODY: Robert Lane Greene is pretty sure France won't veto a war resolution.
But given that France is a mid-ranking power lucky to enjoy far more clout than its population, economy, and history merit, which is more likely: That France will ratify its own irrelevance by vetoing U.N. action, thus forcing America to circumvent the United Nations--the most enduring source of French influence--and act alone? Or that France will hold out until the last, bending the wording of an eventual resolution as close as possible to its own position before jumping onto the back of the inevitable American victory? Anyone unsure of the answer would be advised to read up on the deliberations leading up to the first Gulf war--which France, after initial objections, supported.Even without using their veto, the Iraq War has shown a considerable rift in U.S.-Europe relations. The U.S.'s strongest European allies are in the east while the E.U. tries to develop an independent military but without paying for it. To put it lightly: things won't be the same. "Plague of Frogs" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2003 10:47:35 PM ----- BODY: TNR on the death of NATO:
The petulance of these European states seems farcical, but in fact it is the expression of a profound historical transformation. It is not clear that the Europeans are entirely cognizant of this transformation, but it is essential, if the United States is to manage its global responsibilities effectively, that Americans be cognizant of it. For it is not the strategic impertinence of Europe that we are beholding, it is the strategic obsolescence of Europe.France's and Germany's last place as serious international players is at the United Nations, the rotary telephone of international relations. "Wither Nato?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2003 10:34:43 PM ----- BODY: David Frum on Valentine's Day:
I've never liked the Valentine's Day holiday. Our culture celebrates romantic love morning, noon, and night 364 days a year -- and then sets aside one special day every February to really rub the lovelesses' noses in it. Not so nice. So: if you are lucky enough to have a sweetheart, of course you must kiss her (or him) today. But if you want to do a good deed, give a thought to the many lonely people around you: the divorced, the widowed, the unlucky -- and maybe, if you have a spare dollar or two, you might want to send a small anonymous bouquet to one of them. Oh -- and send it to the office, where everybody can see.All Frum wrote is good except for the flowers. Don't send someone an anonymous bouquet. It might get their hopes up. As for me, I'll be deciding among white zinfandel, New Glarus Brewing's Spotted Cow, or tequilla. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2003 02:34:49 AM ----- BODY: Gregory Breisger had a problem with a library's computer catalogue. His wife was interested in checking out a video. She called, and they said they had it. Gregory sauntered down to the library only to discover "we only have it here, but we don't have it here." Computers are wonderful things, but total reliance on them is foolhardy. When a customer asks me if a book is in the store, I not only look it up in the computer, but I also check to see if it's on the shelf. There are a bunch of reasons the computer could claim we have a book, but we don't: it could be shelved incorrectly; someone else could be looking at it; it could be on hold for another customer; or the computer could just be wrong. I try my best to get the book the customer wants into their hands. It definitely cuts down on the frustration. In Gregory's case, the public library has little incentive to improve their customer service. There's no competition. At least if one of the big bookstores doesn't have the book when they claimed they did, you can saunter to another one. "Not in Stacks" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2003 01:34:34 PM ----- BODY: Can you say Rep. Tom DeLay is a little ticked with the French?
I was at a celebration of India's Independence Day, and a Frenchman came walking up to me and started talking to me about Iraq, and it was obvious we were not going to agree. And I said, 'Wait a minute. Do you speak German?' And he looked at me kind of funny and said, 'No, I don't speak German.' And I said, 'You're welcome,' turned around and walked off."U.S. Lawmakers Weigh Actions to Punish France, Germany" [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2003 03:39:31 AM ----- BODY: Last week, I posted on big companies coming out in favor of university race-based admissions. Thomas Sowell goes after them:
Why does big business want racial quotas? Because it is in their own self-interest. If a corporation does not have enough minority employees to satisfy government agencies, that can lead to racial discrimination lawsuits. But if they hire by quotas and quotas are outlawed, they can be sued by whites for reverse discrimination. Keeping affirmative action legal solves their problem.Businesses may worry about needing "diversity" in the workplace because of "diversity" in society. If that's so important, how does Japan compete with the rest of the world?
How do companies in Japan manage to sell everything from cars to cameras, in countries around the world, without having that mystic "diversity"? How does a country with such a racially homogeneous population even manage to educate its young people if "diversity" is such an essential factor in education?What university race-based admissions do is mismatch minority students with universities. Ending Michigan-type affirmative action wouldn't keep minorities away from higher education. It would redistribute them. "Big Business and Quotas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2003 03:17:08 AM ----- BODY: Gov. Doyle is doing something a Republican governor would get blasted for: he said the public schools shouldn't expect the same portion of state aid they've been getting since 1995. Because of Wisconsin government's financial mess "[t]he state simply cannot afford the two-thirds commitment." No word from the teachers' union, one of Doyle's biggest backers. "No 'Open Checkbook' for Schools, Doyle Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2003 02:44:16 AM ----- BODY: John Keegan doesn't see the death of NATO:
Several Nato members are unshakeable in their loyalty. They include this country, Turkey and probably Italy and Spain. Several of the new Nato states, Poland foremost, would be eager to offer basing facilities to troops withdrawn from Germany soil. The Belgians do not count. The Dutch seem solid. Denmark and Norway are, with reservations, good Nato citizens. A map of Nato with a hole where Germany had been would look odd; but the map has looked odd for 40 years since the French went their separate way. Now that the Soviet threat is no more, Nato does not really need Germany, except for purposes of internal communication. Germany's armed forces are in disarray, as are those of France. An Anglo-Saxon Nato, plus Turkey, plus Scandinavia, plus Italy and Spain would still have the bases necessary to command the key strategic positions and the strength to keep the peace in the northern hemisphere.He concludes that France and Germany aren't "serious about denying weapons of mass destruction to rogue states." "Angry America May Feel 'Old Europe' Has Gone Too Far this Time" [via Samizdata] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2003 02:32:27 AM ----- BODY: Virginia Postrel's next book will be entitled The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness. It doesn't have the zip and flare of Look and Feel. I should claim that title. Now, I only need a book idea for it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 09:51:21 PM ----- BODY: Jack over at SCSUScholars echoes my thoughts on diversity and the university:
Where I grew up the cliche about the Missouri River was that it was a mile wide and an inch deep. In that campus diversity resembles the river in one of two ways: though it isn't very wide, it's only an inch deep. "Diversity" means almost exclusively skin color and country of origin. These are things of very limited human significance, and ironically precisely the things modern campuses say they want to render insignificant in human activities, but they make them the only things that are significant. The irony isn't surprising. We've come to accept that those who demand diversity the most are least tolerant of any real diversity of opinion, thought or philosophy; those who demand "sensitivity" are the least sensitive to any who fall outside their domain; and those who demand tolerance are the least tolerant (My campus' slogan is "No Tolerance for Intolerance." Really)."Inch-deep Diversity" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 09:47:47 PM ----- BODY: This NY Times story gives Enron's Ken Lay a defense that looks like reasonable doubt to me. "Company Man to the End, After All" [via Man Without Qualities] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 05:39:47 PM ----- BODY: Alan Greenspan told lawmakers that geopolitical uncertainty is the reason for the economy's sluggishness. Until war with Iraq is settled one way or another, he thinks it's uncertain whether economic stimulus is needed. Greenspan's concerned about growing budget deficits, but supports ending the dividend tax. "Greenspan Questions Need for U.S. Economic Stimulus" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 05:31:27 PM ----- BODY: NATO's still dying before our eyes. Colin Powell told a Senate committee, "The alliance is breaking itself up because it will not meet its responsibilities." Sen John Warner (R-VA) suggested Congress reduce funding for NATO. France and Germany, way to go. "Powell: NATO Risks Breakup Over Iraq Rift" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 05:24:19 PM ----- BODY: Since I gave up on The West Wing this year (notice that any character can say any line and it fits), I'm up for newly engaged Patrick Ruffini's Republican version. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 05:12:35 PM ----- BODY: Congratulations to Jonah and Jessica on the birth of their daughter. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2003 04:52:31 PM ----- BODY: The former director of Iraq's nuclear weapons program has an answer for France's and Germany's opposition to war: they've both profited heavily. "The Inspections Dodge" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2003 11:50:26 PM ----- BODY: Affirmative action may be preventing more minorities from becoming professors:
In the mid-1990s, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported, Stephen Cole, a sociologist at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a colleague asked the three august bodies to help him answer one of academia's most vexing questions: Why are there so few minority faculty members? The three groups-stout supporters of affirmative action all-wrote checks totaling $555,000. The fruits of that study are available this month in the form of a book, Increasing Faculty Diversity: The Occupational Choices of High-Achieving Minority Students(Harvard University Press). But to the chagrin of its funders, the study appears to undermine the case for racial preferences in admissions. Cole found that, at elite colleges, roughly the same proportion of black undergraduates as white had thought of becoming professors (about 10 percent-a surprising discovery in itself). Within the subset of students aiming for academia, only 19 percent of African Americans had grade averages of A or A-minus, compared with 43 percent of white students. Without affirmative action, he suggests, more black students might have attended less competitive colleges. There they would have excelled and become more likely to continue on to get PhDs.This fits right into Thomas Sowell's argument that affirmative action causes a mismatch between student and university. "Advantage Card: William F. Buckley's Affirmative Action Legacy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2003 11:27:51 PM ----- BODY: People like Eric Schlosser and George Ritzer fear the "McDonaldization" of society. However, looking at how regional foods like Krispy Kreme doughnuts and New York bagels have conquered the nation, what's really happened is that people are open to new foods. We like the stuff from the big brands because we're confident in what we're getting (even if it isn't that great), but we're also looking for new tastes out of natural curiosity. I wonder what the next big food trend will be? My two guesses are up-scale sandwich shops like Panera and Cosi; and burrito shops like Qdoba. "True Grits" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2003 11:09:38 PM ----- BODY: Rich Galen might have a book up his sleeve. The Mullings Book -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2003 10:44:59 PM ----- BODY: What weird time-space continuum is Andrew Sullivan Living in? I'm writing this post at 10:40 PM on 2.10.03. Sullivan has a post dated 12:15:37 AM on 2.11.03. Even with the one-hour difference between central and eastern times, it means Sullivan is living in a world at least 35 minutes ahead of mine. It some tweaking of how Blogger handles time stamps, but why bother? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2003 07:56:31 PM ----- BODY: I haven't been a Sen. John McCain fan since he went off on his campaign finance (i.e. First Amendment restriction) crusade, but his speech in Europe was very good. McCain's correct that we may be watching NATO die right before our eyes.
The French and German objection, for reasons of calculated self-interest -- a very flawed calculation, I fear - to a routine American request to the North Atlantic Council to upgrade Turkey's defenses against the military threat from Iraq was a terrible injury to an Alliance that has served their broader interests well. For nearly three weeks, the United States, with fourteen of our eighteen European allies in the North Atlantic Council, has supported this necessary action, but has confronted a new unilateralism conceived in Paris and Berlin, a unilateralism that exposed the sneering in those capitals about the impulsive cowboy in the White House for the vacuous posturing and obvious misdirection it is. Whatever NATO decides, Franco-German unilateralism will have a lasting impact on trans-Atlantic security calculations. If this minority French-German obstruction is not overcome by NATO's deadline of Monday, France and Germany will have to answer to those who argue that Iraq could be to NATO what Abyssinia was to the League of Nations.McCain then echoes the thoughts of many that Iraqi liberation would bring a positive shake-up to the Middle East.
Our regional allies who oppose using force against Saddam Hussein warn of uncontrollable popular hostility to an allied attack on Iraq. But what would really be the effect on Arab populations of seeing other Arabs liberated from oppression? Far from fighting to the last Iraqi, the people of that tortured society will surely dance on the regime's grave. Perhaps that is what truly concerns some of our Arab allies: that among the consequences of regime change in Iraq might be a stronger demand for self-determination from their own people."The Global Fight against Terrorism: Status and Perspectives" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2003 06:48:14 PM ----- BODY: France and Germany have said the U.S. is being shortsighted in its rush to war with Iraq. But what about the Franco-German alliance's reluctance to even allow NATO to plan for a possible Iraqi attack on NATO member Turkey? What NATO is is a U.S. defense umbrella. That's because only the U.S. has the ability to project massive amounts of military power quickly. The Europeans spend very little on their defense. They rely on the thousands of U.S. troops stations there for protection. Since the end of World War II this situation worked fine for all parties. Western Europe could focus on building their welfare states with the confidence that the U.S. would stop the Soviet Union in an invasion. For the U.S. a pacifistic Western Europe prevented another war. France, Germany, and the U.K. didn't fear each other because none of them were building up their militaries. Instead of conflict and division, Western Europe moved toward economic and political union--all under the umbrella of U.S. military power. (See Robert Kagan's Of Paraside and Power or "Power and Weakness" for more on this trend and the pschological differences between the U.S. and Europe in the international ring.) Right before our eyes we're seeing an alliance die. Turkey joined NATO to improve its security and it more closely associate itself with Europe. They took the chance of abandoning the political economic wasteland of the Middle East for the hope of West. And what have they gotten in return? An indefinite pause to EU inclusion and a rejection of a sensible defense request. Some allies NATO are! Rejection of Turkey's request for NATO help comes months after plans to bring the Muslim nation into the EU were tossed aside. With fears from the large Muslim populations already in their countries, are France and Germany afraid of closer union between Europe and Islam? "Rifts Over Iraq Plunge NATO Into Crisis" UPDATE: Peter Brownfeld writes on Turkey and the EU. He writes,
An examination of the ideals of the EU’s founders reveals that their desire for peace would cause them to help bring the Muslim Middle East and Christian Europe closer together—not push them further apart. Thus far in the debate over Turkey and principles of expansion in general, the EU seems to be in danger of abandoning the vision of its founders."A Lesson from the EU Founders" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/8/2003 02:21:05 PM ----- BODY: As The Agonist shows, for being a unilateralist, the U.S. has gotten a lot of other countries to support war with Iraq. I just wish we could get those Haitians to commit. [via TTLB] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/8/2003 02:07:08 PM ----- BODY: Kofi Annan said Iraq ha to show they want to disarm, yet he said the U.S. should avoid war. The two go together. Either Saddam disarms or the U.S. goes to war. It's that simple. Annan then made this remark at the College of William and Mary:
When states decide to use force, not in self-defense but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations Security Council.The man is quite mistaken. War with Iraq would be in defense of the U.S. Since the U.S. is the dominant world power any nation with an arsenal of ABC weapons has them to even the odds with the U.S. Also, when an enemy of the U.S. has ABC weapons and connections to terrorists, there's a reasonable chance that some nasty bomb will end up killing thousands of Americans. And what should we make of the U.N. Security Council's "unique legitimacy?" It only has legitimacy if it can employ force to back its resolutions. To make idle threat after idle threat and to demand additional inspections when there's a history of disception robs the security council of moral force. Every time France asks for more inspections I laugh. Either they're fools, or they're using more inspections as a diplomatic weapon against the U.S. Such a pitiful world player doesn't deserve a permanent place on the security council. "Annan Urges U.S. to Avoid Gulf War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2003 12:31:19 AM ----- BODY: I've been thinking of going on a trip to Turkey in the next few months, but with a war happening in next door Iraq, that wouldn't be the smartest thing for an American to do. (TAM versus the Turkish Street, who would win?) Ever since I got my passport a few years ago, I've wanted to use it. I doubt I will this year. Bummer. Heck, maybe the war will dampen the travel industry so much that I'll find a good deal to England, Germany, or *gasp* even France. I'd love to spend a few more days wandering through Paris. "State Dept. Warns Americans Abroad" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2003 12:24:16 AM ----- BODY: Rod Dreher on Michael Jackson:
Oh man, did you see the Michael Jackson special on ABC tonight? The dude is even more of a sicko than you may have thought. Martin Bashir, the BBC interviewer, is on Primetime Live now, saying that Michael Jackson is so rich and well insulated there on Neverland Ranch that nobody, not even authorities who might want to look into his extremely disturbing relationship with children, can get to him without an appointment -- "and that means he is a law unto himself in his house." Scary. When does the mob of torch-bearing villagers gather outside the gates? Doesn't matter; this freak's career is over.The King of Pop treated as Frankenstein. Not a bad comparison. They both are freaks of science. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/6/2003 11:44:35 PM ----- BODY: Economist Edward Castronova has studied the economy of Norrath, the world of Sony's EverQuest. Some interesting findings are that the currency of Norrath, platinum pieces, is worth about one penny which makes it stronger than the yen or lira. The average wage is $3.42/hour, but deflation is boosting the real wage. In writing about Castronova's paper, Robert Shapiro comes to this conclusion about what we may learn about real economies from virtual ones:
In this virtual world, a powerful government appears only briefly at the start, in the iron rule that everyone starts out with roughly equal assets. Then it retreats and lets economic nature take its course. In Norrath, more equality permits freer markets. This may provide the most important lesson of all from the EverQuest experiment: Real equality can obviate much of a democratic government's intervention in a modern economy. Many of our own government's current policies?progressive taxation, securities regulation, social insurance?are aimed at offsetting some form of inequality. If EverQuest is any guide, the liberal dream of genuine equality would usher in the conservative vision of truly limited government."Fantasy Economics" --- Daniel Drezner links to the Shapiro article and talks about political science and computer simulations. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/6/2003 11:28:13 PM ----- BODY: My God, a story in Big Media about weblogs with no mention of Glenn Reynolds. Unfortunately, there wasn't any mention of TAM either. "New Kids On the Blog" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/6/2003 10:55:22 PM ----- BODY: The foam is still a possiblity, though small, as a cause of the Columbia's demise. Since NASA hasn't found shuttle pieces crucial to the investigation, they don't have much to go on. "NASA Still Considering Foam Launch Damage" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/6/2003 10:50:44 PM ----- BODY: A bunch of big companies are coming out in support of race-based admissions in universities. Steelcase CEO, James Hackett told the AP, "If you're going to be a global company and you're going to attract and retain the best people, then the mirror you have to present is that you're a very diverse company." An Intel spokesman said, "Is a diverse work force something we feel we need to work for? We do." Well, even if the Supreme Court rules that race can't be used at all in college admissions (it won't happen, too radical for O'Connor and/or Kennedy to back) that wouldn't stop companies' affirmative action programs. If Steelcase and Intel think treating the races unequally is good for their businesses, fine. It's their decision. What isn't right is the government, through state universities, treating individuals differently depending on their skin pigment. This is just an example of why Big Business isn't always an effective way to promote conservative pubic policy. "Firms: Affirmative Action Helps Recruits" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/6/2003 01:28:29 AM ----- BODY: Gerhard Schroeder may have to really charge up the anti-American rhetoric to dodge his economic disaster. "German Jobless Rate Rises to 11 Percent" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2003 11:55:15 PM ----- BODY: Add Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to the list of Allied forces against Saddam. Still no France, German, Russia, or China, but who cares? Statement of the Vilnius Group Countries [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2003 11:02:13 PM ----- BODY: After making a case for war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell finished by asking the Security Council to do what needs to be done:
The United States will not and cannot run that risk to the American people. Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option, not in a post-September 11th world. My colleagues, over three months ago this council recognized that Iraq continued to pose a threat to international peace and security, and that Iraq had been and remained in material breach of its disarmament obligations. Today Iraq still poses a threat and Iraq still remains in material breach. Indeed, by its failure to seize on its one last opportunity to come clean and disarm, Iraq has put itself in deeper material breach and closer to the day when it will face serious consequences for its continued defiance of this council. My colleagues, we have an obligation to our citizens, we have an obligation to this body to see that our resolutions are complied with. We wrote 1441 not in order to go to war, we wrote 1441 to try to preserve the peace. We wrote 1441 to give Iraq one last chance. Iraq is not so far taking that one last chance. We must not shrink from whatever is ahead of us. We must not fail in our duty and our responsibility to the citizens of the countries that are represented by this body.UPDATE: Courtesy of Stephen Den Beste, here's a link to the State Department website with slides and video used in Powell's presentation. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2003 10:17:18 PM ----- BODY: In last week's State of the State address, Gov. Jim Doyle reaffirmed his pledge not to raise taxes. He also told lawmakers that the deficit problem was from too much spending, not too little taxing. Sen. Alberta Darling, a Republican, called the speech a "Republican message." Doyle may have an easier time dealing with the state budget deficit than if Scott McCallum would have gotten re-elected. Because of Doyle's insistence on education as his top priority, his no-new-tax pledge is keeping liberals quiet. There is also the possibility that with Republicans in control of both houses of the legislature Doyle has to give them something or nothing will get passed. "Wisconsin Governor, a Democrat, Sounds Positively Republican" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2003 08:32:39 PM ----- BODY: NASA doesn't think foam from the main fuel tank caused damage that led to Columbia's demise. The fallen piece wasn't big enough or moving fast enough to do that much damage. "NASA Says Foam Likely Not Cause of Shuttle Disaster" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2003 08:30:21 PM ----- BODY: LeBron James can play again. A judge issued a temporary restraining order that allows him to play. Another hearing is scheduled for 2.19. "Lebron James Cleared to Play, for Now" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/3/2003 11:57:47 PM ----- BODY: A sad thing about Michael Jackson's revelation is that he could still fill up Madison Square Garden like he and his brother's did two years ago. People may not buy any new albums, but they'll come out to see the King of Pop perform his hits. "Jackson Faces Ruin After Admitting: I Sleep with Boys" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/3/2003 11:36:41 PM ----- BODY: The space shuttle is yesterday's technology. It's too expensive ($500 million per launch) and hasn't brought space travel anywhere near something available for the average American. (The Russians have done more on that front.) Despite the efforts of really smart people at NASA, the shuttle program has failed. As Gregg Easterbrook points out, many experiments that take place on the space shuttle and the space station could be done on unmanned space probes. Of course, that isn't as romantic as having someone risk their life by riding atop a rocket. If the U.S. is serious about manned space travel, then easing restrictions on private firms is the answer. If the government thinks its role is to expand human knowlege by funding space research (one I don't necessarily agree with), then rely on unmanned space craft. But if the U.S. insists on government-funded manned space travel, then look for a goal much more lofty than keeping three people floating around in earth orbit. A bold goal would be a mission to Mars. "The Space Shuttle Must Be Stopped" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 07:10:08 PM ----- BODY: Horlick High School in Racine, WI is remembering its former student, Laurel Clark.
"Her legacy is one of an outstanding graduate of Horlick. She had a goal set for her life, and she wanted to achieve it. It was a sad ending, but we can say she did reach her goal," said Horlick teacher Bill Frayer, who taught clark anthropology and international relations."Sadness Shrouds Racine Horlick" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 06:11:35 PM ----- BODY: I'm back. Here's the latest:
There's nothing that we can do about tile damage once we get to orbit. We can't minimize the heating to the point that it would somehow not require a tile. So once you get to orbit, you're there and you have your tile insulation and that's all you have for protection on the way home from the extreme thermal heating during re-entry.
The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.President Addresses Nation on Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 01:43:48 PM ----- BODY: Dale Amon is still theorizing on what happened:
The contrail goes spiral after the first bit comes off. That almost clinches it in my mind. The first bit to break off had to be large from what the image shows: I would think it more likely a wing than the vertical stabilizer; the subsequent spiral looks like a violent roll to me, which is what a would expect after losing a wing. Since, like Rand, I do not feel fatigue failure of the spar as highly likely, I'd say it is a burnthrough on the wing, possibly abetted by the insulation loss from the ET damaging the thermal protection system (TPS) on takeoff as reported earlier."Columbia Breakup Over Texas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 12:45:34 PM ----- BODY: Welcome, Scripting News readers. Too bad it's an awful moment to get a link. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 12:40:41 PM ----- BODY: David Janes is doing play-by-play of the television coverage including tv screen shots. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 12:06:59 PM ----- BODY: Here's a story on fallen shuttle debris in Nacogdoches, TX. There are pictures too [here and here] "Shuttle Debris Falls in Nacogdoches" [via Poynter Online] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 11:55:47 AM ----- BODY: Laurel Clark was a local woman who couldn't wait to get into space. Here are some pictures of Laurel floating around the shuttle. "Racine's Clark Among 7 Astronauts Killed" "Racine Astronaut Takes off with Family Close" UPDATE: Here's Space.com's bio of Clark -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 11:29:42 AM ----- BODY: Dale Amon hypothesizes on what happened:
I suggest there was damage to the TPS on one wing, causing a burn through and structural damage leading to failure of the wing structure when aerodynamic forces built. The shuttle has very high wing loading, so any loss of margin would be disastrous. If one wing fails, the shuttle will immediately roll violently into the direction of the failed wing followed by god only knows what sort of tumble. It would break up into major components almost immediately. That is what we saw on the clip.If this is what happened, the damage may have taken place during launch. "Columbia Feared Lost" --- Rand Simberg also speculates and mentions that building another shuttle is impossible because all the tooling is gone. "History Repeats" --- Space Flight Now has a small video (animated gif) which appears to show something coming off the main fuel tank during lift-off. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 11:15:24 AM ----- BODY: Ilan Ramon gave Israelis something to cheer about after years of fear and saddness. On Israeli television, a commentator said Ramon "is fulfilling everyone's dream, to be the first Israeli in space." Ramon was one of Israel's best pilots. Interestingly, he took apart in the 1981 attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor.
The attack, in which eight F-16 warplanes obliterated the French-built Osirak reactor near Baghdad, was a milestone for Israeli aviation because the planes flew over enemy Arab territory for hours without detection. The pilots flew in a tight formation to send off a radar signal resembling that of a large commercial airliner."First Israeli Astro Brought Joy to His Troubled Nation" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 11:08:13 AM ----- BODY: The BBC's Dr. David Whitehouse reports that during re-entry "the crew have no means of escaping from the Space Shuttle." "Analysis: Nasa Emergency" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 11:01:35 AM ----- BODY: NBC reports that a US satellite picked up a 'spike' at the time Columbia exploded. I don't know what that means. "NASA Confirms Columbia Exploded on Reentry (UPDATE)" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 10:16:33 AM ----- BODY: Spaceflight Now's Stephen Clark gives us this account of Columbia over Texas:
We were outside and my Dad said "there it is!" in one piece. Then a tiny, tiny piece came off and I was somewhat perplexed. That wasn't supposed to happen. Then bigger pieces rained away from the main piece. It looked very similar to the video we saw of the Russian space station Mir reentering. Later, there was one loud boom and accompanied by smaller booms. Normally we hear two distinct sonic booms when shuttles pass over during entries.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 10:13:15 AM ----- BODY: Here's more on the shuttle's damaged wing:
"We did our normal flight control systems checkout. ... All the systems we use for entry, we had no problems, the vehicle performed flawlessly today as it has the entire mission." The only issue - and Cain said it was not significant - is a bit of possible tile damage on Columbia's left wing. Video of launch shows what appears to be a piece of foam insulation from the shuttle's external tank falling away during ascent and hitting the left wing near its leading edge. But Cain said engineers "took a very thorough look at the situation with the tile on the left wing and we have no concerns whatsoever. We haven't changed anything with respect to our trajectory design. It will be a nominal, standard trajectory."I have a bad feeling they should have took this more seriously. "Shuttle Columbia to land in Florida on Saturday" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 10:10:06 AM ----- BODY: NASA has lowered flags to half staff in Florida and California. The mourning has begun. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 10:03:13 AM ----- BODY: American "arrogance" may have led to the Columbia's demise? I think not, but someone should analyze Canadian anti-Americanism. [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 09:55:20 AM ----- BODY: The AP has a brief profile on all 7 astronauts. Here's Ilan Ramon's
Ilan Ramon, 48, a colonel in Israel's air force and the first Israeli in space. His mother and grandmother survived Auschwitz death camp. Father fought for Israel's statehood alongside grandfather. Ramon fought in Yom Kippur War 1973 and Lebanon War 1982. He served as a fighter pilot 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, flew F-16s and F-4s. He was chosen as Israel's first astronaut in 1997, then moved to Houston the next year to train for shuttle flight. His wife and four children live in Tel Aviv."Profiles of 7 Astronauts Aboard Shuttle" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 09:46:56 AM ----- BODY: A CBS Radio reporter is seeing a smoking piece of wreckage in a field. Body parts may have been found near St. Augustine, TX. Ick! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 09:21:32 AM ----- BODY: NASA has sent out search and rescue teams. The Department of Defense Manned Space Flight Support Office is running that operation.
In the current Space Shuttle Program, DDMS has the responsibility for astronaut rescue and recovery, contingency landing site support, payload security, medical support, coordination of airlift/sealift for contingency operations, as well as other support services required in the event of a shuttle emergency. To carry out these responsibilities, DDMS receives and validates NASA requests for DoD support. The support office then selects assets best able to provide the required support, tasks selected units through appropriate command channels, and provides tactical control of those DoD forces supporting a specific Space Shuttle mission. In the Kennedy Space Center area, U.S. Air Force air-refuelable H-60 helicopters, HC-130 tanker aircraft, pararescue and medical personnel; and U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships are deployed to support launch contingencies and astronaut recovery. Additionally, the Navy provides a KC-130 tanker for helicopter air refueling, E-2C aircraft for enhanced air traffic control and P-3 aircraft for search and rescue operations in the mid-Atlantic region. To support the potential for a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL), NASA has selected four TAL sites in Spain and Africa. These sites are Moran and Zaragoza Air Bases in Spain; Ben Guerir, Morocco; and Yundum International Airport, Banjul, The Gambia. Three of these four TAL sites are activated for each shuttle launch. DDMS supports these TAL sites with C-12 or C-21 aircraft for on-scene weather reconnaissance and in-flight checks of Space Shuttle unique landing aids; C-130 aircraft with pararescue and medical support personnel; and DoD fire/crash/rescue equipment and personnel."When Trouble Comes to Shuttle, DoD Comes to Rescue" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 09:13:33 AM ----- BODY: Haaretz's story doesn't add any details about the explosion, but they focus on Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. "NASA Declares Emergency After Losing Contact with Columbia" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 08:59:07 AM ----- BODY: Racine, WI's Laurel Clark was one of the crew members of Columbia. She loved being in space:
This has been a great experience for me. The first couple of days you don't always feel too well. I feel wonderful now. The first couple of days you adjust to the fluid shifting, how to fly through space without hitting things or anybody else. But then after a couple of days you get in a groove. It's just an incredibly magical place.Godspeed, Laurel. "Racine Astronaut Finds Space to be Magical" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 08:53:06 AM ----- BODY: Early speculation should focus on what happened during take-off of the Columbia:
On launch day, a piece of insulating foam on the external fuel tank came off during liftoff and was believed to have struck the left wing of the shuttle. NASA said as late as Friday that the damage to the thermal tiles was believed to be minor and posed no safety concern during the fiery decent through the atmosphere."Shuttle Landing in Question" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 08:47:45 AM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds links to the Spaceflight Now log for the Columbia mission. It's chilling.
1401 GMT (9:01 a.m. EST) Columbia is out of communications with flight controllers in Houston. Now 15 minutes from landing time. --- 1404 GMT (9:04 a.m. EST) We're getting reports from Texas of debris behind the shuttle's plasma trail during reentery. --- 1405 GMT (9:05 a.m. EST) THERE HAS BEEN NO COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE SHUTTLE. Mission Controllers waiting for tracking data from the Merritt Island station. --- 1406 GMT (9:06 a.m. EST) Mission Control waiting for C-band tracking data and UHF communications with Columbia through MILA. Houston lost communications with the shuttle a few minutes ago over Texas. We have gotten reports of debris in the sky. --- 1409 GMT (9:09 a.m. EST) Still no contact with Columbia or crew.CBS Radio is reporting that sonic booms were heard over Dallas. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2003 08:39:00 AM ----- BODY: The space shuttle Columbia is gone. At about 8 AM, NASA lost contact with it. CNN has shown video of streaks that looked like large meteors flaming through the sky over Dallas. NASA is now telling the public that debris over Texas could be considered dangerous. Almost 17 years ago, the Challenger exploded soon after take off. "NASA Loses Touch With Shuttle Columbia" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/31/2003 11:25:34 PM ----- BODY: High school basketball superstar LeBron James was suspended for accepting sports jerseys, a violation of Ohio high school sports rules. Whether the rule is stupid or not, James isn't the victim. He's a person expected to be the NBA's number one draft pick this summer. Both Nike and Adidas are luring him with a huge endorsment deal just to wear their shoes. James better not claim ignorance (he has a 3.5 grade point average) for not knowing high school sports rules. Someone who's playing Nike and Adidas off one another is savy enough to know what to do to keep his athletic eligibility. By taking the jerseys and sacrificing his eligibility, James let his teammates down. This season the St. Vincent-St. Mary team has traveled across the country and played before thousands of people. Most were there to see James, but his teammates had some of his lime light shine on them too. Now, who will want to see a LeBron James-less St. Vincent-St. Mary? Then there's the playoffs. I don't know how good the other players on St. Vincent-St. Mary are, but that team is certainly better with James. If I were one of James' teammates, I'd think it was pretty selfish of him to take those jerseys. If I were an NBA general manager, James' behavior would make me wary of taking him for my team. Last time I heard basketball was still a team sport. How much of a team player is LeBron James? "HS Star Ineligible Because of Gifts" --- ESPN's Kevin Frazier considers it a "petty matter." "No pain for LeBron, no gain for Ohio" --- Sportsline.com's Dan Wetzel calls it "the end of the charade," and makes this great point:
If James could hit a forehand instead of a free throw, he would have long ago been rich. But he wasn't. Instead, he had to stay an amateur until his high school class graduated. That's the system. Even if he was bigger than the system. It made no more sense than if at age 16 Britney Spears was prohibited from signing a record deal and instead was told to spend the next two years singing in the Kentwood (La.) High School choir. For free. According to her label, Jive Records, Spears sold 19 million albums by the time she would have graduated from high school. "It's just an odd situation," James told me during his junior year as he mulled that scenario over. "I never thought of it that way. Man, that's just odd.""This Ending Inevitable for Kid Who Was Pro Long Ago" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/31/2003 10:30:27 PM ----- BODY: Kevin Holtsberry is tracking his 2003 book list. I'm tempted to do the same. (Currently reading Bernard Lewis' Islam and the West.) It would be a separate page so I wouldn't bore the hell out of you. No snoozing at my weblog, that could be TAM's motto. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/31/2003 10:11:11 PM ----- BODY: I might be escaping Wisconsin winter (last night was this year's first serious snowfall) and checking out a little baseball in Arizona. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/31/2003 08:36:42 PM ----- BODY: Another Sean has had problems with MT. Don't worry guys, no firearms or bricks in my vicinity. Whether it's real or not, I feel for the guy. Here's my favorite quote:
If they had better instruction manuals I would've got their software working weeks ago. But their manuals are a disaster, and I was just trying to publicise that.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2003 11:26:40 PM ----- BODY: Lance Armstrong stood up to cancer and won. Would anyone expect him to back down from going after a fifth straight Tour de France just because of a war? "War Won't Stop Me Riding in Tour Says Armstrong" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2003 10:37:53 PM ----- BODY: HUMOR: ScrappleFace reports that Janet Reno is egging on President Bush to attack Iraq and "Set the place on fire." Obviously a Waco flashback. "Recalling Waco, Reno Slams Bush for Stalling" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2003 10:06:27 PM ----- BODY: Why I ever bothered with Movable Type, I don't know. Installing it was a little tricky, but I understood that since it was the first time I really played around with perl scripts. Now, I have this really nice design all ready and waiting (thanks, Joni). You'd love it, and I'd love to show you. All that's left is to import my old posts. Based on the manual, it appears to be a simple thing to do--WRONG! After following the instructions to the letter (including using the MT import template laid out in glorious code), you'd think all the old entries would be installed into MT nicely--WRONG! I had two years of posts, but each of them contained nothing. That took up two days of screaming at MT through my monitor. Thanks to Joni (again), I have an import file I can use. What she did, I have no idea. The "Power Editing" feature is powerless. There's no way I can find to quickly select 1800+ entries and switch them to "publish" status. Clicking a little check box 1800 times is not something I'm going to do. And heaven forbid MT provide an error message so I know something went wrong when I tried to import a 1.2 mb file. Then there's this problem I have with my database (mysql) numbering. Since I've imported 1800+ entries a few times, even if I deleted my weblog and stared a new one, the first entry is in the 5000s. Why MT can't reset the number is just plain dumb. This is starting to interfere with my posting. The last few times I've gone online, I've tried to do some MT work with little success. Then I get ticked off, scream, and find something better to do. If MT is the wave of the weblogging future, I may return to hand coding. Even with Blogger's periodic problems, so far it's much easier to use than MT. An MT fan right now, I'm not. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2003 12:20:44 AM ----- BODY: Germany has a problem with potato guns. A munitions expert said, "What started out as an extreme form of paintball has become deadly dangerous." OUCH! No one tell al-Qaeda about the lethal potential for these Kartoffelkanone.
With a range of 200 metres they could split a man's head at 15 metres and penetrate a wooden wall at 90 metres."Safety Chiefs Target German Craze for 'Bazooka' Spud Guns" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2003 12:00:56 AM ----- BODY: This letter by eight European nations tosses any claims of U.S. unilateralism right out the window. Spain, Portugal, Italy, the U.K., Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic have united with the U.S. in oppostion to Saddam and Islamist terrorism.
The Iraqi regime and its weapons of mass destruction represent a clear threat to world security. This danger has been explicitly recognized by the U.N. All of us are bound by Security Council Resolution 1441, which was adopted unanimously. We Europeans have since reiterated our backing for Resolution 1441, our wish to pursue the U.N. route, and our support for the Security Council at the Prague NATO Summit and the Copenhagen European Council. In doing so, we sent a clear, firm and unequivocal message that we would rid the world of the danger posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. We must remain united in insisting that his regime be disarmed. The solidarity, cohesion and determination of the international community are our best hope of achieving this peacefully. Our strength lies in unity. The combination of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism is a threat of incalculable consequences. It is one at which all of us should feel concerned. Resolution 1441 is Saddam Hussein's last chance to disarm using peaceful means. The opportunity to avoid greater confrontation rests with him. Sadly this week the U.N. weapons inspectors have confirmed that his long-established pattern of deception, denial and noncompliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions is continuing.France, Germany, and Russia are all now isolated. France and Germany risk the political crack up of the E.U. while Russia risks not being further integrated with Europe. Along with Australia, the Allied forces are coming together. "Free people will set the course of history." "United We Stand" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/29/2003 11:43:05 PM ----- BODY: Who had the bright idea to name a non-porn movie The Banger Sisters? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/29/2003 02:26:44 PM ----- BODY: The line I took away from last night's State of the Union speech was this: "Free people will set the course of history." Last century, the free people of the United States fought against fascism and communism and won. Now, we deal with Islamists hell-bent on terrorizing Western Civilization to compensate for the failures of their own civilization. But if President Bush has any say (and that's a lot) it won't happen. "Whatever the duration of this struggle," Bush told the world, "and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men." Saddam may not have masterminded or significantly aided in the September 11 attacks, but President Bush clearly linked the magnified threat Saddam brought to terrorism:
Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes. Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.A chilling part of the speech was the listing of Saddam's horrible treatment of Iraqis:
The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages -- leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained -- by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning.Bush added a whole new moral dimension for going to war. It's in the same vein as when Bush attacked the Taliban for their horrible treatment of women. A liberated Iraq would bring the end to these abuses. They would be a free people with the ability to finally choose their own path. That kind of example would send positive shockwaves through the rest of the Islamic world. It's interesting that Bush mentioned a bunch of human rights abuses, yet in their new report, the worse crime mentioned by Human Rights Watch was Iraq's "Arabization" policy where non-Arabs are replaced with Arabs in certain areas. The only mention of torture is a brief sentence in the report's introduction to the Iraq section. President Bush wants to publicize Saddam's atrocities more than HRW. Compassionate conservatism on the international front? On the domestic front, other than the tax cuts there was very little in domestic conservative policy. If not for the war, the Right would be pounding the crap out of Bush for his proposals (subsidized hydrogen car development?). I didn't think compassionate conservatism was a synonym for big government conservatism, but on the domestic front that's what it is. Under the Bush administration, the attack on Big Government is over. Stephen Goldsmith writes in the Wall Street Journal, "[C]ompassionate conservatism takes us back to the future by acknowledging the huge growth of the state while articulating a better way for government to help those whom prosperity has left behind." No longer should Republicans spout out about how the feds have no role in local education, how property rights are ignored when a government worker declares an area to be a wetland, or how the feds distort agriculture markets with a cacophony of subisides and quotas. The irony is that a Democrat, Bill Clinton declared the era of Big Government to be over, while a Republican accepts the huge growth of the federal government over the past 70 years. What Goldsmith attempts with his article is to redefine conservatism. I'm sure malice isn't intended, but accepting the massive intrusion of the federal government into private lives changes the very meaning of conservatism. That's not the conservatism of William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater, or Ronald Reagan. It appears Bush is not only trying to create a long-term Republican political majority, but through Goldsmith, he's trying to make the big government wing the dominant conservative strain. Is that John McCain smiling in the background? But quarrels over domestic policy have to be put aside while the nation is threatened--at least for now. One day, limited government conservatives will remind President Bush that he was correct that "Free people will set the course of history." "State of the Union Address by President George W. Bush" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/29/2003 01:52:37 PM ----- BODY: mtpoltics shows that when confronted with humanity, it's hard not to be pro-life. "The Meaning of Life" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/28/2003 01:47:55 PM ----- BODY: In a report, the Institute of Directors, a British business group, guessed that a short war with Iraq would relieve world uncertainty, lower oil prices, and put the U.S. economy on a healthy 2.9% growth rate this year. I'll bring up Rich Galen's point again. If uncertainty is holding back the world economy, then why are many leaders asking for a go-slow approach with Iraq? That only continues the uncertainty with no sign of its end. "Short War Would Benefit Economy, Report Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/28/2003 01:16:14 PM ----- BODY: Christopher Reeve can say all he wants that stem cell research should continue on all fronts--using both adult and embryonic stem cells. In Australia, he made the case that embryonic stem cell research was showing promise. What Reeve failed to address was the ethical problem with creating human embryoes just to kill them for their stem cells. Superman may say, "I believe very strongly in care today, cure tomorrow." I believe in protecting human life from conception to natural death. "Christopher Reeve Pushes 'Therapeutic' Cloning" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2003 11:35:40 PM ----- BODY: To the war critics out there, here's Fareed Zakaria's article describing the possible benefits of an Iraqi regime change. "Looking on the Bright Side" [via Andrew Sullivan] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2003 11:17:16 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Clinton criticized President Bush's homeland security efforts, calling them a "myth." She then had the audacity to tell her audience,
"The truth is we are not prepared, we are not supporting our first responders, and our approach to securing our nation is haphazard at best. Somewhere along the line, we lost our edge. We let our guard down."Instead of blasting the Bush administration, Clinton should look at the actions (or lack of) by her husband. Who launched a bunch of cruise missiles at a terrorist camp hoping Osama bin Laden would be there? Who talked tough to Saddam about ABC weapons only to back down? Who had a aspirin factory in the Sudan blown up just to divert the public's attention from his own scandals? Since Sen. Clinton wanted to turn the first lady into a policy position, maybe she should take some of the blame too. As for her Provide for the Common Defense Act, it amounts to increased federal spending and greater federal control of local law enforcement. There's nothing innovative like encouraging states to pass concealed carry laws to make citizens the first line of homeland security. Shouldn't President Bush get some credit for there not being a repeat of September 11? He would certainly deserve blame if one happened. Sure, we see the visible war in Afghanistan and soon in Iraq, but we haven't seen the covert operations, the dismantling of terrorist financial networks, and the assassination of terrorists--the Yemeni Predator hit notwithstanding. Much of the Islamist War is fought in the shadows. The only effect we can see is the lack of attacks. "Hillary Faults Bush On Security" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2003 10:48:27 PM ----- BODY: The U.S. may use nukes in a war with Iraq. It's good no one's taken that option off the table. War critics will look to this as more proof that President Bush is a maniac, but it's good strategy. Chances are slim we would use them, but if the enemy thinks there's a possibility the U.S. would use nukes they're less inclined to use their own nasty weapons. And it comes to my mind that using nuclear weapons actually won a war. "Administration Won't Bar Use of Nuclear Weapons" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2003 09:32:35 PM ----- BODY: I choose Freidrich over Salma too. It just proves I'm an econ geek, but I know which one I'd rather see in a swimsuit. "The Salma Hayek versus Friedrich Hayek Scorecard" [via Volokh Conspiracy] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2003 05:50:14 PM ----- BODY: France, Germany, Russia, China, and Kofi Annan want inspectors to continue inspecting when they all know Iraq is hindering their efforts. All sides of the war argument agree that Iraq isn't serious about disarming. So, what should be done? In last year's resolution, the Security Council said there would be serious consequences if Iraq didn't disarm. Are France et al. going to back their resolution with some teeth, or will they allow the U.N. to lose any credibility? "Chief Inspectors Brief U.N. Council" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2003 12:29:08 AM ----- BODY: For all you Milwaukee-area talk radio listeners, next Friday, Mark Belling will be filling in for Rush Limbaugh. "Belling Heads to New York to Fill in for Limbaugh for a Day" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/26/2003 11:43:31 PM ----- BODY: Tampa won the Super Bowl. From watching the game (I gave up after Oakland's first series of the second half) and looking at the final score, they certainly were the better team. Their defense completely shut down the vaunted Rich Gannon passing machine. All those three-and-outs forced the Oakland Raiders defense to stay on the field for long stretches. That's not to take anything away from the Bucs' offense. They made few mistakes and took advantage of a veteran (old) and weary defense. It's scary what Tampa could do next year when the players really get comfortable with John Gruden's offensive scheme. I'm bummed for the Tampa victory. They were the better team, but I didn't want egos like Warren "Heat Seeker" Sapp and Keshawn Johnson to get a Super Bowl ring. Oh, well. Bring TB up to GB in the cold and they'll still play like the sherbert-colored team the rest of the NFL used to beat up on. "Champs" --- Since the game was decided by halftime, you would think something could be said for the Super Bowl commericals. Too bad, they were all totally forgettable. The Gatorade one where Michael Jordan was playing himself was mildly interesting, but one of the Jordans looked like he was straight out of NBA Live. The Budweiser Zebra commercial was alright until the humans talked. The FedEx Castaway commercial did get me to laugh out loud, but I don't need to see it again. I was excited for the trailers for Daredevil, Hulk, Terminator 3, and the Matrix movies. It's not that the commercials were spectacular. Rather, I can't wait to watch some highly action-packed movies. The commercial that really piqued my interest was the promo for the Alias episode following the game, but that was only because I was drooling at Jennifer Garner only in a bra and panties. (I did watch the episode, so the ad worked.) This year's Super Sunday ended up being a dud. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2003 11:25:03 PM ----- BODY: The Brothers Judd: consumers of vast quantities of literature and Billy Corgan fans. Who would have thunk? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2003 10:50:54 PM ----- BODY: Fredrick Norman links to a letter signed by a number of economists and policy wonks backing President Bush's tax plan. The signers don't claim that restraining federal spending, pushing up previous tax reductions, and ending the dividend tax will immediately jump start the economy. In general, these thinkers want to end government polices that harm the economy. Bush's plan "will help achieve this objective." On a side note: Looking through the list, I one of the signees was Guido Hülsmann, a Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. I'm pleased to know that not everyone associated with Anarchy Lew Rockwell opposes Republican/conservative proposals just because they don't go far enough. "An Open Letter to Congress" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2003 10:35:15 PM ----- BODY: The Guardian is reporting that war is imminent. President Bush will make that clear in next week's State of the Union speech. Advantage: Den Beste. "The Message from the Bush Camp: 'It's War within Weeks'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2003 09:32:13 PM ----- BODY: A few days ago, Glenn Reynolds commented on Roe v. Wade and limited government. By using the actual text of the constitution, he argued that Congress couldn't ban abortion. Some things aren't "necessarily fit subjects for federal regulation." What Reynolds hasn't done is decide if Roe should be overturned. My guess is he would approve of that and let state legislatures decide the abortion question. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/23/2003 09:59:04 PM ----- BODY: Forget France and Germany who have sacrificed NATO for Saddam. Forget the U.N. where many members would like the weapons inspectors to give Iraq an eternity for it to prove they've disarmed. Forget anti-war protestors who hate Saddam's tyrannical regime but hate American power more (and allied themselves with the Communist International A.N.S.W.E.R.). As Condi Rice makes clear, Iraq's failure to disclose their ABC weapons in that 12,000 page pile of camel's dung amounts to a material breach. President Bush has tried his best to get international support for liberating Iraq. Critics should stop with the cries of "unilateralism." It's hard to be a multilateralist if no one is willing to join you. But in this case the U.S. has the support of the U.K., Australia, Kuwait, Qatar, and other nations. To claim the U.S. is going into Iraq as a posse of one is intellectually dishonest--but that's never stop his critics. France and Germany can crow all they want about how "old Europe" (Don Rumsfeld's phrase) will bounce back with time (admitting they're not as important on the world stage as they think they are), the U.S. will liberate Iraq. Based on troop movements, Steven Den Beste predicts war will begin 2.01 or 1.31. Now is the time to ignore the critics. They've had plenty of time to make the best case for not liberating Iraq. They've failed to convince me, and more importantly, they've failed to convince the American public. Let's get this war started and done with so everyone can move on to the important task of bringing the Arab world into the 21th Century. "Why We Know Iraq Is Lying" UPDATE: Rich Galen questions why business leaders aren't pushing for war.
If the "uncertainty" is the problem, then, what is the advantage of having the United Nations Security Council vote to give the inspectors another three months - or another three decades? There are only two ways to remove the "uncertainty:" One is to remove Saddam by force, by exile or by some other means. With Saddam out of there, the threat is removed and the business of business can continue unabated."I Don't Understand" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/23/2003 07:10:17 PM ----- BODY: I want Shania Twain to be the starting quarterback of my fantasy football team. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 11:21:23 PM ----- BODY: Today marked the 30 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion and made abortion a federal issue. Over 40 million children have been sacrificed just so no woman has to endure a "back alley" abortion or self-mutilation. I'm pretty sure that in the pre-Roe days 1.3 million women didn't die every year because they risked their very lives to rip a helpless, innocent live from their bodies. So 40 million children who never had a chance to ride a bike, to read any Harry Potter books, to go to college, to build the next techno wonder, or to raise children of their own had to be sacrificed so women and guilty men didn't have to think about dealing with the consequences of their actions. Abortion backers and "moderates" will abstract away the human qualities of the fetus or zygote. "It's just a clump of cells, not a human," they say. It's human nature to be concerned more about the visible women in the septic-abortion ward of a hospital than the invisible child in the womb. It takes a certain amount of abstraction to kill another person. Timothy McVeigh was called a "monster" when he was put to death for the Oklahoma City bombing. In World War II, Allied troops weren't killing Germans or the Japanese. They were killing "Krauts" and "Japs." Abstracting people from their full humanity eases the psychological burden on the killer. What technology has done is allow women to better see the full humanity of the unborn. Sonograms are passed around as first pictures by parents. Actually seeing the human features of one's child should certainly dissuade a women from kill him. Granted abortion rates have fallen. That's good. But a culture that accepts the killing of the unborn is not a healthy culture. In the past few years, people have killed their children soon after birth. The sentencing of those convicted no where approached the sentence they would have received if they would have killed a 4-year-old, a 20-year-old, or a 60-year-old. Last week, a 17-year-old man was arrested for dumping his newborn in portable toilet to drown. Even though he was described as "a good kid, he's a straight-A student," Gabriel Estrada didn't want the child thus the baby deserved to die. Abortion has abstracted the unborn from a developing human into a materialistic choice. As a result of irresponsible sex (sure, it may have been fun) pregnancy occurs. If the pregnancy comes at a bad time because of a whole host of reasons, then the child becomes a burden, a parasite, a "clump of cells." But if the time is right, the child becomes a welcomed part of a family. Because of abortion's choice one's humanity isn't determined objectively by the nature of the individual, but by the subjective determination of the parents. Humanity becomes a social construct malleable beyond the first nine months of a child's life. Our culture is moving toward accepting suicide as a way to end physical or psychological pain. The death penalty is favored as state-sanctioned vengeance. Media gets more and more violent. We're even at the point where Stanford University wants to make embryos so they can be harvested for their stem cells. What we have is the Culture of Death. The Declaration of Independence noted that we were endowed with the rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Roe v. Wade goes way beyond women's rights and a category of medical procedures (to use the term very loosely). It goes to the heart of the difference between humanity and barbarism. "30 Years After Roe v. Wade, New Trends but the Old Debate" "How Many Ghosts?" [via Brothers Judd] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 10:01:53 PM ----- BODY: A judge correctly threw out a lawsuit against McDonald's claiming the company was responsible for obesity in two children. In his ruling, Judge Robert Sweet wrote,
Where should the line be drawn between an individual's own responsibility to take care of herself and society's responsibility to ensure others shield her? The complaint fails to allege the McDonald's products consumed by the plaintiffs were dangerous in any way other than that which was open and obvious to a reasonable consumer."McDonald's Obesity Suit Tossed" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 09:04:09 PM ----- BODY: HUMOR: Here's one way to deal with the French. Just imagine the war films Hollywood will make from this invasion. "Iraq Invasion to Start on Normandy Beaches" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 08:56:54 PM ----- BODY: Thomas Friedman tries to convince liberals that removing Saddam is a good thing. A liberated Iraq could be a beacon on hope for the rest of the Arab world.
It is not unreasonable to believe that if the U.S. removed Saddam and helped Iraqis build not an overnight democracy but a more accountable, progressive and democratizing regime, it would have a positive, transforming effect on the entire Arab world ? a region desperately in need of a progressive model that works."Thinking About Iraq (I)" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 08:41:58 PM ----- BODY: In his first of four policy speeches testing out the waters of a Presidential bid, Gary Hart spoke out against war with Iraq. He also called for a new security "tool box" that included trade and aid programs. Hart's a Democrat opposed to war with Iraq and in favor of wasteful foreign aid programs. People who thought he might go to the right of President Bush on the Islamist War must be disappointed. "Hart Says He Opposes Iraq War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 02:21:27 PM ----- BODY: A few days ago, I posted an NY Times article on a problem with Bush's plan to end the dividend tax. Today, Floyd Norris follows up. Government officials have altered the proposal so investors will be sure their dividends are tax free. "Tax Plan Revised to Clarify Status of Dividends" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2003 04:16:49 AM ----- BODY: War hasn't even broken out yet and already the French have surrendered. This from Rich Galen:
Also in today's news here, the AP's Barry Schweid is reporting that, the French Foreign Minister, speaking at the United Nations, "hinted that it might veto any resolution authorizing" military action against Iraq. The French government has, therefore, all but surrendered to Iraq in advance of any fighting, thus doing away with that pesky business of actually pick up rifles only to have to lay them down again and get them dirty.Well, I can certainly understand this entrepreuer's feelings. "Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/21/2003 01:40:26 PM ----- BODY: ESPN put together a list of the ultimate franchises. They ranked all the major sports teams by how much money fans put into their teams and how successful those teams are. The best franchise in all of major league sports: The Green Bay Packers. By combining an unbridled fan obsession with an ownership structure that keeps it close to the community, the Packers show they are America's team. It also doesn't hurt to have Brett Favre as your starting QB. As for other teams of note, the Chicago Bears are ranked #95 and the lowly Minnesota Vikings are at #102. "Packers: The Best Franchise in Sports" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/21/2003 01:18:42 PM ----- BODY: Australian scientists used adult stem cells to replace brain cells in mice. The research could lead to a treatment for multiple sclerosis and without the ethical problems of using embryonic stem cells. "Researchers Make MS Breakthrough Using Adult Stem Cells " -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/21/2003 12:41:27 PM ----- BODY: Al Sharpton and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) are in a conumdrum. USA Today reports blacks are underrepresented in military combat roles. Blacks make up 10.6% of infantrymen while making up 12% of the population. These are the troops that will most likely die in a war with Iraq. What do Sharpton and Rangel do? Either they demand a front line that more closely resembles America, and resulting in more black deaths; or they can stay quiet and ignore the issue making it appear it doesn't really matter (which it really doesn't). "Front-Line Troops Disproportionately White, not Black" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/21/2003 12:07:54 AM ----- BODY: What the University of Michigan Supreme Court case did was bring the issue of affirmative action to the fore. How important should race be in deciding who gets into college or law school? Is "diversity" so important for higher education that schools should give underrepresented groups bonuses? Harry Jaffa questions the concept of "diversity" itself. He grants that diversity may have benefits:
Diversity in the service of freedom might be a very good thing.But he wonders if we are willing to live in a society where aptitude isn't the sole determinant:
Ask yourself: if you or a loved one is to undergo brain or heart surgery, does it matter whether the surgeons who will operate had been selected for medical school for any other reason than their aptitude for medicine and surgery? Even if there were no quotas, should race have been "taken into consideration" in their selection? Consider the hairline life and death decisions that surgeons make all the time. Does not every consideration, however slight, apart from aptitude, dilute the qualifications of surgeons for surgery?Jaffa points out that diversity today means racial preference. From my college years, I can tell you he's correct. Time and again I questioned those demanding more diversity what they meant. I expounded on a meaning of diversity that moved beyond skin color. I argued that if real diversity was desired then we should promote diversity of ideas. What's the point of student body that mirrored the make-up of the community if they were all taught the same statist/liberal/postmodern stuff? Where was the push for more conservative/libertarian professors? Why were diversity advocates so obsessed with race? It was like I was talking to a brick wall. Diversity supports never answered my questions because it questioned the very core of their beliefs. How could I oppose seeing more blacks at the University of Minnesota Duluth? I didn't. I opposed a system where blacks and other minority groups got preferences only to self-segregate themselves in their student-supported Black Students Association and diversity classes. To paraphrase Jaffa, in the abstract, diversity is meaningless. In practice, it doesn't break down racial barriers, it promotes them. "Is Diversity Good?" UPDATE: Rich Lowry points out that an economic study showed there was no "evidence of the positive (or negative) effects" for having a diverse campus. A study from a diversity defender even claimed diversity promoted political liberalism. "The Diversity Lie on Campus" [via C-Log] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/20/2003 11:34:58 PM ----- BODY: We're going to war with or without the U.N. President Bush has never stated that he needed the U.N.'s approval. In fact, Bush called on the U.N. to act or relegate itself to irrelevance. Now, Colin Powell restated Bush's view. He told the Security Council, "If Iraq is not disarming, the United Nations cannot turn away from its responsibilities." If the U.N. wants to retain any morsel of credibilty in dealing with thugs intent on building ABC weapons to blackmail the rest of the world, then they must not let Saddam dink around. Heck, Iraq's Arab neighbors seem to be getting the hint and are looking for ways for Saddam to leave. With last November's resolution, the U.N. made clear Saddam had to disarm. If they fail, they empower rogue states and demonstrate their ineptitude. "Powell Urges U.N. to Stand Up to Saddam" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/19/2003 12:39:52 AM ----- BODY: Today is National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Let's remember that the fight for life is always real. I ask all of you to dedicate your lives to the preservation and defense of human life in all its forms--from the unborn to the invalid to the elderly. Fighting the Culture of Death requires our steadfast vigilance or we will succumb to nihilism. "National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2003" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/19/2003 12:33:46 AM ----- BODY: How can I not link to Book Geek? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/18/2003 11:17:28 PM ----- BODY: Floyd Norris points out that there is a problem with President Bush's proposal to end the taxation of dividends.
Those are some of the consequences--intended and otherwise--that arise from the Bush administration's proposal to end the taxation of dividends that are paid from profits on which taxes were already paid by the company. But dividends would remain taxable if the company had not paid federal taxes the previous year, and would be partly taxable if it had not paid enough federal taxes to offset all its dividends. Unfortunately, companies will not file tax returns until many months after they pay the dividends. So some companies could declare in good faith that a dividend would be tax free, only to figure out months later that they were wrong.What this means is that the gory details of the plan have to be worked out before implementation. I'm sure this will be addressed by the flood of tax lawyers, policy wonks, accountants, economists, lobbyists, and politicians as the bill goes through Congress. Norris is correct that one effect of the plan would be more companies will offer dividends. But, as Norris writes, "a way needs to be found to make the tax treatment certain when dividends are declared, or at least to make it possible for companies to be sure if they wish to be." "Is a Dividend Taxable? Investors Can't Tell" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2003 10:46:36 PM ----- BODY: Wisconsin Right to Life started a petition drive to ban human cloning. They oppose cloning "for any reason." It doesn't matter if it's for reproduction or to get stem cells. Sorry to say, I can't sign it. I don't oppose reproductive cloning, but I oppose creating embryoes just to use them as tiny stem cell factories. The first use of cloning still respects the dignity of the individual, while the other dehumanizes the unborn. "Anti-Cloning Petition Drive Launched in Wisconsin" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2003 10:40:48 PM ----- BODY: In a history debate would you side with a carpenter or a historian? In this case, black carpenter John Barnard claims the first Africans who came to Virginia in 1619 were indentured servants treated like European indentured servants. Barnard wants Virginia to sell a license plate that reads "First Africans 1619." Professor Margaret Washington of Cornell University disagrees with Barnard's history. She told CNSNews.com:
They were from Portugal. The Dutch had them, and the Dutch were going to take them somewhere to be enslaved ... they were already slaves. The difference was, in Jamestown, the institution [of slavery] had not formally developed, and they didn't have anything in their statutes for that status.I'm siding with the professor here. It would be pretty tasteless for Virginia to sell this kind of license plate. "State Promoting License Plate Offensive To Many Blacks" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2003 10:21:58 PM ----- BODY: The Cato Institute notes that the U.S. is second highest in the OECD in taxing dividends. "Dividend Taxation: U.S. Has the Second Highest Rate" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2003 10:01:25 PM ----- BODY: Lynn doesn't believe in the death penalty because "death is too easy for them." She would "want [nothing] more than to see [Osama bin Laden] suffer what would be for him the unbearable humiliation of being imprisoned in America for the rest of his life." She then realizes that a living bin Laden would be an magnet for his followers to kill in his name. In this case, killing bin Laden would be the right thing because it would save lives. My view is that unless state killing protects the rights of others, it is wrong. Just war and killing in self-defense I can accept. Killing a person when the alternative of life in prison is adequate is wrong. Remember, we are all endowed by our Creator with life. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2003 09:41:59 PM ----- BODY: President Bush's plan to end the dividend tax may have encouraged Microsoft to give up some of its $40 billion in cash and share it with its owners. The $0.16 a share dividend is only a drop in the bucket for a company expected to have $85 billion in cash by 2005, but MS CFO John Connors calls it a "starter dividend." The future is bright for an increased dividend so MS stock is starting to become really tempting. Oh, by the way, Bill Gates will earn almost $100 million a year in dividend payments. "Microsoft Sets Dividend, Splits Stock" "Gates' Dividend Payout: $100 Million" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2003 09:11:26 PM ----- BODY: Rod Dreher defends Gov. Ryan's death row commutings. He shows the serious problems with the system, but still accepts the idea that the State has the right to kill. His conclusion is life in supermax prisons for the guilty, so in practice he opposes the death penalty. Welcome, Rod to the Conservatives Against the Death Penalty (CADP). No, it's not an elegant name, but it fits a lonely group like Rod and I. "Gov. Ryan Did the Right Thing" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2003 08:53:18 PM ----- BODY: The NY Times has a nice article on Glenn Reynolds (InstaPundit). It's a brief look at a day in the life of the world's most popular weblogger. One thing Reynolds and I have in common is our love of reading encyclopedias as kids. It sounds geeky, it probably is, but the World Books were the best thing I found on the shelves at St. Peter's Lutheran School. "With Incessant Postings, a Pundit Stirs the Pot" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2003 08:35:03 PM ----- BODY: Russell Roberts notes that ending the dividend tax was an idea of Jimmy Carter. Since everybody loves Jimmy (especially people in Oslo), critics should give President Bush a little slack. Roberts concludes by stating what ending the tax will do.
Getting rid of the taxation of dividends will make some rich people richer. But it will also make the rest of us richer too. Not just those of us who happen to invest in dividend paying stocks. The real gain will [be] an increase in investment that will raise our wages and our standard of living.For an entertaining and sentimental look at free market economics, check out Roberts' The Invisible Heart. "Cut Taxes, Help the Rich. (And the rest of us too)" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2003 08:02:13 PM ----- BODY: In the end good sense prevailed in the Racine Rave case. The city ditched the fines and agreed to concessions which should prevent this police excess from happening again. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 11:42:31 PM ----- BODY: Can someone ask Jesse Jackson how he can square his statement that the Bush administration as having the "most closed-door civil rights policy in 50 years" with the fact that two of his most trusted advisors, Colin Powell and Condi Rice, are black? Those two are the most powerful blacks in U.S. history. Blacks have certainly risen higher in the Bush administration than the Clinton (aka "The First Black President"). "Bush Opposes College on Race in Supreme Court Case" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 10:53:36 PM ----- BODY: Here's a sign the Culture of Death is slowly sinking its claws deeper into our society. Mifeprex, AKA RU-486, AKA the abortion pill, is marketed by Danco Laboratories as "The Early Option Pill." What euphemism! According to the pill's website, TEOP is "what women have wanted for years: a safe and effective way to end pregnancy - taken orally, without surgery - early on." Oh, yes, this is just what women needed, an easy, heartless way to kill their unborn child without dealing with the father or accepting the humanity of the child. It's very sad we live in a culture that accepts the wanton killing of the unborn. It's engraved onto our constitutional law. Then there's the irony of doctors claiming to uphold the Hippocratic Oath doling out prescriptions of the Death Pill. "RU-486, Similar Pills Accounted for 6 Percent of U.S. Abortions, Study Finds" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 10:21:55 PM ----- BODY: True evil resides in North Korea. At prison camps (some as large or larger than Washington, D.C.) familes are worked to death, the unborn are aborted, and prisoners become test subjects for chemical and biological weapons. "Death, Terror in N. Korea Gulag" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 08:11:42 PM ----- BODY: Just because I work in a bookstore doesn't mean I'm privy to secret book information. I had to read about the latest Harry Potter book on CNN.com. J.K. Rowling's fifth book, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix will be released June 21. Expect bookstores open late to give readers their first chance to wade through all 768 pages (30% more words than the lengthy Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Also expect me to be on vacation somewhere far away from bookstores around that date. "New Potter Book Goes Public June 21" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 07:02:55 PM ----- BODY: Daniel Drezner writes on the opinion of Barnett Rubin ("leading Afghan expert and late 2001's must-have commentator" in Drezner's words). Rubin is realistically optimistic about post-war Afghanistan. Although their present situation is nothing close to a Western-style democratic republic it's much better than what Afghans had the previous few decades. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 06:24:46 PM ----- BODY: 2002 in Milwaukee was certainly a year for political downfalls. Mayor John Norquist settled a sexual harassment suit and declined to run for re-election. The Milwaukee County government was racked with recall elections and the resignation of County Executive Tom Ament over a pension plan. Then, last fall, Alderman Rosa Cameron plead guilty to misusing federal funds. In an area where political scandal is rare, 2003 should have been safe for politicians. But with yesterday's indictment of Alderman Paul Henningsen for extortion and misusing campaign funds, scandal isn't using the calendar as a barrier. "Henningsen Indicted on 5 Federal Counts" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2003 05:51:32 PM ----- BODY: Here's a fine explication of why anti-war libertarians are wrong. Alan Forrester fisks Prof. Walter Block of the Anarchy Lew gang. Here's one great line from Forrester's fisking:
How exactly one is supposed to derive all political wisdom from a single catchphrase rather than look at real problems and try to figure out how one could deal with them in away that is conducive to problem-solving I'm not sure.When the paleo-libertarians move away from their fine work defending free markets, they sink into anti-American isolationism and Confederate idolotry. "Libertarianism is Not About Nonaggression, it is About Liberty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2003 02:13:32 AM ----- BODY: Media giants don't control culture, consumers do, at least that's what Tyler Cohen argues. "Myth of the Media Giants" [via David Card] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2003 02:07:33 AM ----- BODY: Peggy Noonan examines the Democratic Presidential challengers. Her remarks are critical yet endearing. She also says the Democratics zeitgeist is to wait for "history to turn on a dime" like it did in 1992 with Bush I. "That Seven-D's Show" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2003 01:31:16 AM ----- BODY: Sen. Tom Dacshel (D-SD) is out of witty things to say in opposition to President Bush's tax plan. On This Week he said, "This is a stimulus for the rich and a sedative for the rest." Tom, at least mention wealthy Americans four or five hundred times. Or mention how Bush's plan won't help "regular" people--wait Sen. John Edwards already took that one. Here's a little hint, Tom. Zero sum economic thinking won't help get the economy chugging away. After digesting that one, take the advice of the Wall Street Journal editorial board and have the Democrats actually be for something. "White House Downplays Tax Plan Opposition" "Daschle's Election Lesson" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2003 01:19:54 AM ----- BODY: Ex-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill finally spoke out publically since his firing. On the culture of our nation's capital, O'Neill said,
It's all about sound bites, deluding the people, pandering to the lowest common denominator. I didn't adjust [in Washington] and I'm not going to start now.On the government being able to jump-start the economy and generate jobs:
The notion that government can actually do something about that in the short term is ridiculous.On replacing Social Security with personal accounts:
I believe that we need to have a system that guarantees that people are going to have wealth when they retire that can sustain them through their non-working years. And the way to do that is to have mandatory savings.On the number one economic issue, President Bush's tax plan, O'Neill opposes it. He would rather have that money put into Social Security. "Paul O'Neill on the Bush Tax Cut: 'I Would not Have Done it'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/13/2003 11:48:36 PM ----- BODY: The AP summed up the Serena Williams match perfectly:
Serena Williams' bid for her fourth straight Grand Slam title is alive--barely.I watched most of it. Emilie Loit was loose and making the shots she was capable of. She couldn't out muscle Serena--few women can. She just made precise shots and took a few chances. Serena looked tight and made too many errors. She ended up winning, but she's vulnerable. "Serena Williams Prevails in Australia" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/13/2003 01:15:40 AM ----- BODY: I'm looking for a little Movable Type help. The default template will not cut it. TAM has to look snazzy. I've been going through the MT manual, but going through the list of template tags is making my eyes glaze over. What I'm looking for as a solution is a selection of pre-made templates specific to MT where I could do a little tweaking here and there to make it perfect for TAM. Blogskins has lots of templates for Blogger-powered weblogs. They also claim to have MT templates, but I've tried some and they contain Blogger tags. Any help would be appreciated. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/13/2003 12:28:51 AM ----- BODY: Enter Stage Right has just published a brilliant analysis of the economy and a defense of President Bush's economic plan. E-mail this to everyone in your address book--especially to a certain law professor in Tennessee (*hint* *hint*). Print this out and hand it to your boss and co-workers. Give a copy to your kid to bring to Show and Tell! The writer reminds me of someone. Who could it be? Well...it's me. With enough self-discipline, I hope to make publishing articles in other places a common occurrence. Weblogging is great, but it's about time I started stretching myself. "Bush Looks to Individuals to Grow Economy" --- If my article isn't tempting enough for you, check out ESR just to look at the lovely Michelle Malkin. I dare say she might be prettier than Ann Colter. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/12/2003 11:56:07 PM ----- BODY: Jon Last is right that The Two Towers won't win the Oscar for Best Picture--and it should--but before dissing Chicago, The Hours, and The Pianist he really should see them. That won't happen because Last is already boycotting them. I'm mildly interested in The Hours. That's probably because of the literary angle. William Grim had great things to say about The Pianist. He thought it was better than Schindler's List. High praise indeed. I will completely ignore Chicago. It's a musical, and the thought of dialogue suddenly interrupted with song and dance gives me the shakes. Maybe it was that one Easter where I was forced to endure The Sound of Music by a girlfriend. "A Pre-Pre-Oscar Malaise" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/12/2003 11:50:43 PM ----- BODY: I'm cleaning out the bookmarks. Slightly dated stuff, but my opinion is what you're looking for. My best guess as to why conservatives vote on online polls more is they (we) think of them as a punch in the gut to the Vast Left Wing Media. The story may be perceived to be slanted to the left, but conservatives resist and vote the Right way. "Online Political Polls Skew Conservative - Study" --- Forcing Microsoft to include Java in Windows is an awful precedent. Windows is Microsoft's, not Sun's. Balmer, Gates, and the Redmond gang should decide what code goes into the operating system. It's not like I couldn't go to Sun's website and download a Java virtual machine if I wanted to. (Interestingly, Java isn't even in the top ten of top downloads at the Sun website.) Seeing as Sun had to restort to having a judge wedge Java into Windows, the market isn't crying out for Java. How about this idea? The NY Times should be required to publish an article everyday from the staff of National Review. Conservative ideas are being squelched due to the Times editorial page's lack of intellectual diversity. "MS Java Ruling Sets IT Precedent" --- The Guggenheim Foundation dropped plans to build a Frank Gehry-designed museum. Why anyone takes Gehry seriously, I don't know. His most well-known building is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. It's not much to look at. It lacks grace, has some sweeping lines, but ends up looking like a tin foil Lego creation. "Goodbye to Frank Gehry's Bad Joke" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2003 11:02:19 PM ----- BODY: Brock Yates has little faith in future cars powered by fuel cells.
Perhaps the economy of scale will produce a potential, affordable fuel-cell by 2020. So, too, may science cure cancer and the common cold, develop cold fusion and an efficient, quiet, super-sonic transport, atomic energy, perpetual motion, monorails, and cheap desalinization. But my bet is, the Honda FCX theatrics notwithstanding, the automobile fuel cell will be a member of that bevy of broken dreams for decades to come, if not forever.Yates notes a major problem with the Honda FCX being an environmentally-friendly vehicle: lots of electricity is needed to make hydrogen for the car. That could come from nuclear power, but greens wouldn't like that. How about solar power? Sure, but in California it costs $40,000 just to fuel up a FCX. "Hocus Pocus" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2003 10:43:21 PM ----- BODY: Courtesy of Progressive Racine (good luck in your alderman race, Pete), Racine prosecutors and the ACLU are in discussions on settling a few hundred cases from last year's busted rave party. "Court Dates for Ravers Canceled" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2003 10:06:47 PM ----- BODY: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has their story covering the car crash. Lauria Lynch-German fills in how the driver, Lawrence F. Spittel Jr., stole a car and caused a chase by police. As for the rest, it matches my account except Lynch-German doesn't mention if the car caught fire. No mention is made of how Spittel died. Was it because of the crash or fire? I have one big regret from reporting on the car crash: I wish I had kept my digital camera charged up. I haven't had great luck taking outdoor night pictures, but if it would have worked, it would have really topped the AP and Journal Sentinel. I wonder if our communications infrastructure could handle mass amateur reporting. When the World Trade Center was attacked, land-based and mobile phones systems were clogged with traffic or damaged in the attack. If enough people with PDA/cell phone/notebook/digital camera devices were all trying to get pictures and raw news coverage to the world at the same time, would that clog communications lines even more? In a case like that, big media with the ability to send reports to the world via satellite might have an edge. "Man, 39, Dies After Car Chase" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2003 09:53:22 PM ----- BODY: Today, Illinois Gov. George Ryan gave the death penalty a big smack in the face. He declared his state's execution process "arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral." He then commuted all Illinois death row inmates' sentences to life in prison. For the most part, I'm pleased. The state shouldn't be in the business of deciding life and death. It has a duty to punish criminals and keep them away from society, but doesn't mean it has to engage in revenge for victims' friends and family. However, Ryan's reasoning is based on what he calls "arbitrary," full of error, and possibly racist. Would Ryan approve of the death penalty if it was adjudicated fairly? Even under perfect conditions, I would still oppose the death penalty. "Gov. Ryan Clears Illinois' Death Row" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2003 12:34:06 AM ----- BODY: Cory Doctorow is a first-time novelist. Since first-time novelist have trouble getting attention, he's taking advantage of his Internet lust by giving his book, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom away for free. He must figure that by getting his book in front of enough eyeballs there will be a market for future books. Maybe people who read the book via download will buy a dead tree copy for a friend. Or more likely, future novels will only be available as a bound book. Who knows? That's why it's called an experiment. Unlike Napster and the the music trading scene, I have no problems with what Cory is doing. He's the author, it's his book, and he can do what he wants with it. Good luck to Cory. I downloaded my copy and will dig into it after I finish David Frum's The Right Man. And that's after I finish Dinesh D'Souza's The Virture of Prosperity. My book pile just grows and grows and grows and.... UPDATE: Uncle Bill points out that John Scalzi has let the world download a couple of his novels. Old Man's War was just picked up by a publisher and isn't available, but Agent to the Stars is available for everyone's reading pleasure. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2003 12:11:33 AM ----- BODY: From the How Fitting Department: The typeface the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel uses in its dead tree edition is called Nimrod. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2003 10:27:21 PM ----- BODY: So, my coverage of the car crash beat the AP by almost six hours. The wire story may have been more succinct, but I didn't miss any basic facts of the story. The only thing I didn't know was the car was stolen. With this comparison between professional and amateur reporting, I have plenty of confidence that an "average Joe" reporter can detail events nearly as well as a pro. "Man Dies After Stolen Car Crashes into Home During Chase" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2003 01:36:15 AM ----- BODY: Here's a little bit of real reporting almost live from the scene. This should beat the Wisconsin AP Wire. Don't worry about the local streets and highways; it's only important to readers aware of the SE Wisconsin area. I was driving west on Hwy 33 a few miles out of West Bend. I noticed in my rear-view mirror the flashing red and blue lights of a police care. "Damn!" I said to myself. I wonder what law I broke. As I was about to pull over to the shoulder of the road, the headlights on a car behind me came way too close for comfort. I really got over to the side of the road and let the car pass me. It was going pretty fast and I then knew the police weren't after me. A chase was on. Within a minute four police cars passed me in hot pursuit. Now, this isn't California where high speed chases happen regularly and are spectator sports. This is rural Wisconsin at 11:00 at night. I figured my minor bit of excitement was over, but I also knew that if the chase continued for very long at that speed someone was going to get hurt. A few minutes later as I drove into Allenton, I saw police cars by a white house with a small hill. The "chasee" didn't make a small curve, went up the small hill, flew into a duplex, slammed into a wall, and then crashed into a garage. Fearing the impacted car set the house on fire, police broke into the building. Firemen soon came on the scene and helped an elderly woman out of the house through a second-floor window. When the car hit the house, it took out a stairwell. Highway 33 was closed down while fireman went through the house checking for fire. Other than the the car, nothing appeared to be on fire. Police needed only fire extinguisher to handle the car. The crash occurred only a few thousand feet from my home. I got within a few hundred feet of the car. I could only see a mangled white car with its front portion bent up at a ninety-degree angle. As for survivors, I don't know. The Jaws of Life weren't called in, and police and firemen weren't rushing around the car attempting to get anyone out. But I didn't see anyone from the county coroner's office either. From the looks of the wreckage, no one survived. The passenger compartment was crushed, but I didn't see any body taken away or anyone arrested, nor did I hear of any deaths. I'll keep you updated. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2003 12:43:14 AM ----- BODY: The Ottawa Senators have become only the third team in 29 years to file for bankruptcy. A large debt and the declining Canadian dollar are both factors in the team's financial woes. "Senators File for Bankruptcy from Creditors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2003 12:06:22 AM ----- BODY: Jonathan Karl reveiws David Frum's The Right Man. While Frum's description of the events surrounding the September 11 attacks is full of "wit and style, and with an eye for detail," Karl thinks Frum's analysis for President Bush's transformation into a war President is lacking. "Exceeding Expectations" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 11:28:48 PM ----- BODY: Max Boot advocates spending a lot more on the military ($100 billion more per year). He writes that President Bush is taking the diplomatic route with North Korea because we have most of our forces tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan. Part of Bush's approach with North Korea is the lack of available military muscle, but don't forget South Korea isn't real fond of a war with their Communist brothers. Seoul would be severely hit with U.S. military estimates of 1 million South Korean casualites. "Korean Crisis Reveals U.S. War Flaws" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 11:17:32 PM ----- BODY: Ron Marr with a funny defense of KFC:
Because of this insidious boycott against the legacy of the Colonel, I plan on eating at KFC as often as possible. They offer a dandy buffet for about seven bucks. It features not only all the batter-fried chicken skin you can swallow, but also their famous mashed taters, gravy and a host of other Epicurean delights. PETA's rationale that KFC's "crude and ineffective electric stunning and throat-slitting of chickens" is inhumane will only lead me to order more Extra Crispy. Frankly, that electric stunning bit strikes me as an awful lot of unnecessary work. When I was a kid we would just slap Henny Penny on a stump and whack her head off with a hatchet. It's fairly interesting work, as the decapitated fowl nearly always makes a mad, spurting, flapping dash of 30 or 40 feet before succumbing to the noggin-ectomy procedure. Nature is a teacher, and the lesson learned from acephalous poultry is that you really don't need a brain to run around like a dang-fool idiot making a spectacle of yourself. I'm certain the PETA people can relate.I'm hungry, and I don't mean salad. "Do Vegetarians Taste Like Chicken?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 09:12:13 PM ----- BODY: Science fiction writer William Gibson just started writing a weblog. Who's next? Stephen King? J.K. Rowling? J.D. Salinger? (What is that hermit doing anyway?) -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 08:59:03 PM ----- BODY: Bill Maher's back with Real Time. It sounds like another attempt to have celebrities talk about politics. Like Politically Incorrect it will be entertaining for about three weeks, at least until Alec Baldwin talks about stoning more Republicans. The show will be on HBO, so I won't have to bother TiVo-ing it. "Bill Maher Returns to TV With HBO Show" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 06:10:22 PM ----- BODY: A thought popped into my head after reading this paragraph about publishing interviews on the Web:
Readers aren't the only ones who benefit from this type of transparency, says Jonathan Dube, publisher of CyberJournalist.net. Dube considers the U.S. Department of Defense's Web site (defenselink.mil) a "journalist's gold mine" of speeches, briefings--and transcripts of every media interview given by top DoD officials. The site is a prime venue for what he calls interview voyeurism--journalists can not only spy on the techniques of their colleagues, but pluck quotes for their own stories since the interviews are public record.I get the Defense Department interviews e-mailed to me almost daily. I mostly use it to find bits of insight from Donald Rumsfeld. The thought that popped into my head was this: is it possible to cover the Pentagon without being there? Sure, you wouldn't be able to get those unnamed sources the big newspapers and networks do, but you could do basic coverage of press conferences and events. "Every Last Word" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 05:47:17 PM ----- BODY: A Danish committee declared Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist to be scientifically dishonest. However, because they didn't claim Lomborg intentionally mislead readers and noted no specific problems with the book, they only condemned the book and not the political science professor himself. Lomborg responded:
You can't say I'm scientifically dishonest or in breach of good scientific conduct unless you point the finger and say this is the smoking gun. It's like saying you committed murder but we won't tell you who you killed. It's impossible for me to defend myself."Environment and Science: Danes Rebuke a 'Skeptic'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2003 05:30:34 PM ----- BODY: Alfred A. Knopf stopped printing Michael Bellesiles' fraudulant book, Arming America. It's the first book taken down by the Internet--especially the blogosphere. "Publisher Stops History Book Publication" [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 08:04:28 PM ----- BODY: If you were someone who knew little about movies, but a lot about technology companies, would you get the wrong impression when you discovered Apple had a web page titled "Kill Bill"? I knew Steve Jobs had his run-ins with Bill Gates, but this is ridiculous. [via Daypop] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 07:43:26 PM ----- BODY: So far, I've gotten no ripping over the worst post-season loss in Green Bay Packers' history. I'll assume my football-inclined readers (especially those in Minnesota) are just too busy. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 06:44:35 PM ----- BODY: St. Cloud State College Republican got an apology from a university vice president over the CRs pro-Israel display. What's still up in the air is any disciplinary action again a professor who allegedly assaulted a student. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 06:39:21 PM ----- BODY: Packers fans: Don't fret, we still have Brett! Brett Favre isn't retiring. I knew he wouldn't. He can still play at an extremely high level; with the right personnel decisions (bye bye Terry Glenn) they can't compete for the Super Bowl next year; and he's too loyal to the team. Brett retiring now would create salary cap havoc for the Packers and leave them without a replacement at QB. I'll let Brett have the final word:
I never once came out and talked about retirement. I can't even remember when the question was asked first. My response then was, 'This is 12 years, at some point it's going to happen. I'm closer to retirement than I was five years ago.' And from that statement it just took off. I feel like the last two years I've played as good a football as I've played my 11 years here. I've always said my formula for returning is how I play, the injuries that so far I've been able to overcome ... or if it gets to a point where a business decision (is made) from the Packers' standpoint ... If any of those things occur, then my decision, or the Packers' decision, will be made clear. But right now, I'm playing great. This team has a chance (to win the Super Bowl) and I'm having fun. So that's how I'm going to leave it."No Surprise: Favre Will Return In 2003" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 06:28:47 PM ----- BODY: The new year brings Washington back to work. Tomorrow, President Bush will announce his tax-cutting plan in Chicago. Then the new Congress will have to finish passing appropriation bills that didn't get done last year. With the Islamist War and national security requiring plenty of money, other federal programs will *gasp* "have to make do with the same as or less than they had in previous years." Government workers and big-spending liberals will scream, but "regular people" (hello, Sen. Edwards) like me yawn. Domestic spending grew 40% during Bill Clinton's second term, and it sure didn't shrink with President Bush. Washington Post reports that
Spending on the Federal Aviation Administration, air safety, Amtrak subsidies, the Coast Guard and other annually funded transportation programs grew by more than 50 percent between 1997 and today, for example. But it would grow by only 7.3 percent between now and 2007.Oh, the horror! Washington has lots and lots of money--much of it wasted on inefficient or unconstitutional programs (we're still paying for Amtrak). Maybe we should have wars more often if it could keep Washington's spending in check. "Lid Put on Domestic Spending" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 05:40:01 PM ----- BODY: The Clonaid baby is a hoax. At least that's what it looks like. The baby's parents haven't let a research team get DNA samples so the team has stopped their work. "Overseer of DNA Clone Tests Suspends Effort" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 05:26:05 PM ----- BODY: New York City gets the 2004 GOP convention. Despite Mayor Mike Bloomberg turning into a RINO (Republican In Name Only), Karl Rove wants the public to remember what President Bush did in fighting the war on terrorism. That's why the convention will be within a few miles of Ground Zero. If the Islamist War is being won, Saddam is gone, and terrorists won't attack the West for fear of retribution, then President Bush is a shoe-in for re-election. But if it's 2004, Saddam's still in power, North Korea has nukes, and the U.S. suffers another massive terrorist attack, then having the convention in NYC could be Rove's nightmare. Having the GOP convention where the Islamist War began was too much symbolism for Tampa, FL to compete with. But look for the 2008 convention to head to Florida. Jeb Bush might still be governor looking to replace his brother as President, and with continuing immigration and emmigration Florida may be toss-up state. "Republicans Pick New York City for 2004 Convention" "Republicans Choose New York for '04 National Convention" "GOP Chooses New York over Tampa for 2004 Convention" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 03:58:42 AM ----- BODY: President Bush will call for the end of taxing dividends. One official told Time, "If it is wrong to tax dividends, it's still wrong if you only tax 50% of them." It's wrong to tax dividends because that income was already taxed on the corporate level. It's bold, and it will enrage Democrats who spent all weekend bashing Bush's economic plan before they've seen it. "Bush's Tax Surprise" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 03:28:10 AM ----- BODY: Peggy Noonan wonders why we love President Bush:
Mr. Bush doesn't bring his dramas and mess with him. He doesn't bring a sack of dysfunction on his back when he enters a room. He keeps his woes, his emotions, his private life to himself. An example of what I'm getting at. He recently fired his Treasury secretary and his chief economic adviser. He wasn't happy with them; he wanted someone else; they didn't leave; he fired them. Boom. Next. If he feels personal bitterness, anger, or arrogance toward them, we don't know. This is wonderful. If it had been LBJ or Richard Nixon firing Paul O'Neill, we'd all still be talking about the personal elements in the marriage gone bad. Or we'd be talking about whether "the boss is in love" with someone else, as Nixon's old hands used to say when Nixon became enthralled with the thinking of someone. Sometimes he fell in love with this intellectual, sometimes he soured on that adviser. He fell in love with Pat Moynihan, and John Connally. And then the love died. It was a regular "Peyton Place" in that White House. And Bill Clinton's White House was, it hardly needs be said, another hothouse, though of a different kind. But with Mr. Bush things aren't a big emotional drama. He seems stable. This is a relief. You get the impression he's like what he of course was, a businessman. When things work, good; when they don't, change. It's not personal. It doesn't have to be messy. It's not Shakespearean. Which is good. The world is quite dramatic enough. It's good especially at this time to be led not by the emotionally labile but the grounded and sturdy. They can see Mr. Bush is grounded. They're glad.She sums her thought up:
Because he's not complicated and perhaps not even especially interesting as a person. We just love that.I don't think President Bush would be insulted with Noonan's answer. You know Bill Clinton would be. "Human, but Not to a Fault" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2003 02:41:14 AM ----- BODY: Movable Type is installed. Now, begins the playing. I'll be digging into how to operate this monster, get templates put together so TAM looks gorgeous, and import Blogger Pro entries. I have a feeling that once I go MT, I'll never go back. I'll have something else to do today on my day off. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2003 11:48:09 PM ----- BODY: Want to know where the Culture of Death could lead America?
YOU MAY HAVE MISSED IT in all the Raelian cloning news, but Channel 4 of British television began the New Year with a broadcast about a Chinese performance artist who eats a baby's corpse. Described by executives of Channel 4 as a "thought-provoking film about extreme art in China," the documentary features a man named Zhu Yu, who displays photographs in which he washes a stillborn child in a sink and then consumes it. Just for luck, the program, called "Beijing Swings," also features a man drinking the wine used to preserve an amputated penis and follows hard upon Channel 4's showing last month of a live-action autopsy. Insisting he could not "find any law which prevents us from eating people," Zhu Yu suggests, "I took advantage of the space between morality and the law and based my work on it."Then there's this horrific ditty:
A few years ago, the London Daily Telegraph reported that "doctors at the state-run Shenzhen Health Centre for Women and Children hand out bottles of thumb-sized aborted babies to be made into meat cakes or soup with pork and ginger. Zou Qin, a doctor at the Luo Hu Clinic in Shenzhen, said the fetuses were 'nutritious' and that she had eaten one hundred herself in the last six months. 'We don't carry out abortions just to eat fetuses,' said Qin. '[But they would be] wasted if not eaten.'"J. Bottum then connects this to legalized abortion:
Once upon a time, we built hedge after hedge of protection around the deep things about life and death a culture must maintain. The hedges themselves are not all that important, but when they fall they weaken our defenses--however much those people who knock them down insist they are only clearing away a single hedge."Eating Babies" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2003 10:59:02 PM ----- BODY: Mike Sherman can claim all he wants about an official telling him he couldn't challenge the muffed punt. He still should have called for an instant replay review. The worst that could have happened was the officials would have denied him his request. If he would have challeneged the call, the Pack might have gotten the ball back with an opportunity to get some momentum. Sherman made a ball call. It's a simple as that. Now, WTMJ radio in Milwaukee is reporting on a rumor that Brett Favre will announce his retirement tomorrow. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel doesn't agree. A press conference is scheduled, but the Packers usually have press conferences on every Monday of the season. This either could be just an review of the season or the biggest sports story in Wisconsin since the Packers last won the Super Bowl. "Sherman, Officials Disagree" "Favre's Return Expected" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/4/2003 11:43:10 PM ----- BODY: Home playoff perfection is no more for the Green Bay Packers. Since NFL playoffs began in 1933, the Pack never lost at home. That's 70 years of post-season domination. The Atlanta Falcons came into Lambeau Field unshaken by the mystique and aura of Green Bay and kicked the snot out of the Packers. From the start, the Packers were on their heels reacting to Atlanta QB, Michael Vick or getting rolled over by T. J. Duckett. Part of the loss is due to bunches of injuries finally catching up to the Packers. Losing lots of starters will hurt. Defensive lineman Joe Johnson and safety Darren Sharper weren't there. Gilbert Brown got hurt during the game. WR Terry Glenn got a concussion. Then there's the patch-work offensive line that somehow protected Brett Favre much of the season. If you don't have starters playing where they're suppose to, playing your best is difficult. Part of the loss has to be placed on very poor coaching. Mike Sherman said his coaches told him not to challenge the punt return when it clearly hit a Falcon. The play calling was awful down on the goal line. When going on fourth down with a patch-work offensive line, the proper play isn't a mis-direction run. Let Favre make some magic. But that's not the Packers biggest problem. Great teams have great players who make great plays. The Packers don't have enough great players. Linebacker Hardy Nickerson was a bust. Glenn was adequate if he felt healthy enough and was willing to take a hit. Favre's getting older. How many years he has left, only Brett knows. Finding good talent is Mike Sherman's biggest challenge over the off-season. His record shows he can coach. Let's see how good he is wearing his general manager's hat. "Falcons Rout Packers 27-7 in NFC Playoff" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/4/2003 11:25:06 PM ----- BODY: President Bush wants more federal money to educate poor kids. The problem with education isn't lack of funds. If that were the case, Washington, D.C. would have the best students in America. More money isn't good policy and it doesn't ease Democrats' complaints. In a statement, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said, "The president's proposal may provide the money to test our children, but not enough to teach them." "Bush to Seek $1B More to Educate Poor" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/4/2003 12:07:27 AM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds issued a wise warning against attacking Sen. John Edwards for being an ex-trial lawyer:
Yes, there are a lot of people in conservative circles with a visceral dislike of trial lawyers. And it's shared by some voters. But it's not shared by all that many, and if you only read conservative publications it's easy to forget that. Think of trial lawyers as like constituent-service from an incumbent. Most voters know somebody who was helped by one. That establishes a certain reservoir of gratitude.To counter Edwards it's best to show off his inexperience and his liberal voting record. As I've pointed out his voting record is more liberal than Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2003 11:56:37 PM ----- BODY: Congratulations Buckeyes! It was an outstanding game filled with big plays and lots of heart. Mike provides some needed advice:
By the way... someone please tell Buckeye fans not to flip, burn, or otherwise destroy anything in Columbus tonight.A flaming Ohio capital was also the first thing I thought of after the win. Ohio State 31 Miami 24 -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 11:49:49 PM ----- BODY: I'm not a huge fan of Ann Coulter. Sure, she's really pretty to look at, and she can shred anyone cable tv opponent to pieces; but her columns a just over-the-top. Via Slate's Tim Noah, here's the catalog entry for her new book coming out this summer:
In a stunning follow-up to Slander, leading conservative pundit Ann Coulter contends that liberals have been wrong on every major domestic and foreign policy issue, from the fight against communism at home and abroad, the Nixon and Clinton presidencies, and the struggle with the Soviet empire, right up to today's war on ism. "Liberals have a preternatural gift for always striking a position on the side of treason," says Coulter. "Everyone says liberals love America, too. No, they don't."Liberals have never been right on any domestic or foreign policy issue? Come on. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. "Conservative Self-Parody Watch" [via MediaNews] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 10:44:36 PM ----- BODY: Andrew had this to say about Sen. John Edwards:
Still, I like his politics - they seem sanely to the right of, say, Al Gore. And he has a touch of the Tony Blair about him: the slick yet somehow earnest combination. Hard to pull off.Edwards has already fooled Sullivan. As I pointed out, Edwards has a more liberal voting record than Sen. Russ Feingold. But if you look at Prof. Keith Poole's analysis [via fraterslibertas.com] Edwards voted less liberal than Sens. Feingold, Clinton, Kerry, and Daschle. Sullivan might have a point. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 10:40:33 PM ----- BODY: Thanks go to The Advocate for confirming my hunch about Herb Ritts. He was HIV positive. "Photographer Herb Ritts's death came after years of battling HIV" [via Andrew Sullivan] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 10:21:42 PM ----- BODY: Here's a story where stems cells can be medically effective and morally sound. Doctors used stem cells from bone marrow to help heart attack victims. Embryoes aren't the only source for stem cells. "Stem Cells Offer Hope to Heart Attack Victims" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 07:40:09 PM ----- BODY: Charlie Sykes compares good art (the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum) with bad (the orange DiSuvero [look in the upper left-hand corner] in front of the Calatrava). "Why Does It Have to Be so Ugly?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 07:21:18 PM ----- BODY: Thomas Hibbs notices some trends from 2002's movies. Families are shown in positive lights, and the battles of good versus evil are more nuanced than they first appear. "The Year on Screen" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 06:59:23 PM ----- BODY: John Hood offers some advice for Democrats running for President:
Take John Edwards seriously. Don't think you can beat him on his personality or his trial-lawyer past. Your party has been fully Clintonized, and many of its activists and voters are now primed to value youth, energy, and charm above anything else. Don't try to contrast your hard-luck life with his. (Edwards's son Wade was killed in a traffic accident some years ago, and he and his wife commendably sought to honor him with charitable works around Raleigh.) Do challenge him on the issues, where Edwards does indeed appear shallow and inexperienced. And above all, try to be a "regular guy" yourself. If Johnny Edwards can do it, so can you."Just a Regular Guy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 06:38:05 PM ----- BODY: Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) announced he just created a Presidential exploratory committee (i.e. he's running for President). During his 10-minute announcement, he mentioned "regular folk" or "regular people" five times. He just started his Presidential run and already he has AlGore-like "lockbox" ammunition suitable for SNL. How a man who's amassed a multi-million dollar fortune can say he'll be a "champion" for "regular folk," I don't know. What the GOP must not do is take Edwards lightly. In 1998, he pulled off an impressive upset by knocking off Lauch Faircloth. For those who think it will be easy to paint Edwards as a toady for his fellow trial lawyers, there's this passage from a Washington Post article in 2001 [via InstaPundit]:
John Edwards was the most successful trial lawyer in North Carolina. A millionaire many times over, he ranked among the best personal injury and medical malpractice litigators in the nation. He took on wrongdoers and made them pay. Wade's mother, Elizabeth, was a lawyer, too. So if there were people to blame for this, somebody to sue, certainly they would hold them accountable. But Wade's parents didn't try to do that. You can't sue the wind. Sometimes you just have to let it carry you in another direction.Wade was John Edwards' son who died in a car accident. While it would be delicate to nail him on the trial lawyer angle, it would be easier to label Edwards a liberal Democrat. Americans for Democratic Action [PDF file] gave him a 95% favorable voting record. The American Conservative Union gave Edwards a 16 out of 100 rating for 2001. In comparison, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, one of the Senate's most liberal members, got a 20 from the ACU. CNN's Candy Crowley, today, asked Edwards where he fit on the political spectrum. Edwards answered that he was a mainstream North Carolinian--one who almost always voted the opposite of NC's other Senator, Jesse Helms. "Edwards Announces White House Run" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 02:11:12 AM ----- BODY: Who will be kind enough to nominate TAM for a Bloggie? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 01:54:28 AM ----- BODY: Andrew Sullivan asks this question:
So the question is: was the openly gay Ritt's pneumonia a freak and dangerous strain that is newsworthy in its own right (like Jim Henson's) or was it HIV-related? And do newspapers have some responsibility to tell us which? It seems to me that when an openly gay guy dies at 50 of pneumonia, any decent editor would ask a simple follow-up. Or are they still colluding in the shame that some still attach to an HIV diagnosis?Ever since I heard Ritts died, I've assumed it was from AIDS. Unfortunately, the media is doing little to inform us. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 01:52:21 AM ----- BODY: Just about all of Lake Superior State University's choices for banished words are fine with me. "Extreme" anything deserves a slap to head. But banishing "Frozen Tundra" is WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!. The people who suggest this banishing have no appreciation for the history of football and its most hallowed team, the Green Bay Packers. Granted, Frozen Tundra is redundant, but its mention brings up thoughts of cold weather, snow, Vince Lombardi, championship football. No, there's too much history, too much myth to abandon those words. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 01:37:56 AM ----- BODY: Germany will soon be on the U.N. Security Council. Gerhard Schröder's opposition to an Iraqi war gave him a narrow victory, but he's backing down on total opposition:
We Germans know from our own experience that dictators sometimes can only be stopped with force.If Germany decides to use the Security Council to block President Bush's efforts at removing Saddam, the U.S. might just ignore that body. Anti-American political posturing would provide ample cover from the "unilateralist" label (like that really matters anyway). "Change in UN May hit Bush's Plans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 12:54:31 AM ----- BODY: Larry Kudlow predicts a higher stock market this year. With all the pessimism I'm hearing, he's probably right. What will have to happen are good corporate profits and the toppling of Saddam. "New Year Cheer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2003 12:31:21 AM ----- BODY: I failed in my first attempt at a Moveable Type installation. There's no recognition of my mysql database. I'll try later today to see if it's been activated by my web host. If that doesn't work, I might just fork over $20 and let the MT dudes handle it, but I want to do this myself. I'll give myself plenty of geek points if I can pull this off. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/1/2003 09:26:15 PM ----- BODY: I hope everyone had a fun New Years. I stayed home, ate pizza, drank wine, and watched the Milwaukee Bucks get clobbered by the Houston Rockets. I'm still having problems with my GameCube. Now, all my games are not being read. It must be a hardware issue. If so, then I'll have to take it someplace for repair, but I might be able to snag a deal off eBay and get a new system for the same price as fixing it. So, I could work on Jason Goodwin's intriguing Greenback or finally install Moveable Type. Well, wish me luck with the latter. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/31/2002 12:16:35 AM ----- BODY: You've been waiting almost 12 whole months just for this post. The world has been waiting that long for just this moment. Am I being facetious? Yes, but please allow me this moment. Forget the Grammys. Ignore the American Music Awards. Don't even bother with the Billboard Music Awards--no body does anyway. The TAM Music Awards are about to be announced. First, I'll yap about the past year in music. Then comes the all important criteria. Finally, the awards will be bestowed upon my vast audience (all three of you judging from my web stats). The most interesting musical thread I noticed in 2002 was electronic music's claws sinking further into usually non-electronic musicians. Bruce Hornsby and Bob Mould abandoned their signature sounds (rock-jazz and power-pop respectively), pulled out synthesizers, drum machines, Pro Tools set ups, and gave rock music a distinctive early-21th. Century sound. Even on blue-collar rocker Bruce Springsteen's The Rising you detected electronic rhythms. In the early 1990s, I watched REM's Michael Stipe predict that future music would combine indigenous sounds with technology. His prediction was spot on. Digital technology has allowed musicians to put together melodies, harmonies, chords, and rhythms in a professional manner at a reduced cost. A recording studio costing tens of thousands of dollars isn't needed anymore to make great sounding music. Someday, a blues singer will come along who won't have a guitar and a band. He'll only have a notebook computer full of samples. (Wait, didn't that practically happen with Moby's Play?) He will have a flawless synthesis (no pun intended) of technology and soul. That isn't to say that the blues guitarist is an endangered species. It just won't be required. On the electronic music front, the start of the year continued the trend of chill out music that began in 2001. Zero 7's "Destiny" was the best song of the year. There were television commercials for chill out collections. But the ceaseless compilations (each with its own remix of a Dido song) saturated demand. Did we really need a Classical Chill or three Ultra Chilled albums? My choice for chill out album is Ministry of Sound's The Chillout Session. It's dreamy, soothing, and very sexy. In 2002, a bunch of heavyweights in electronic dance music released albums. Some were good, and some weren't. While The Chemical Brothers and a Darren Emerson-less Underworld produced solid offerings that reinforced their reputations as dance music giants, Moby's 18 felt stale and much less daring than his classic Play. That's strange since both albums sound similar. Superstar DJs Sasha and Paul Oakenfold came out with their first solo projects. Sasha came through with an unexpectedly subtle album that relied more on ambiance than on rhythm or groove. What little I heard of Oakenfold's Bunkka sounded contrived. It looked like he was trying to be an electronic version of Santana, but with much less success. Now, to the non-electronic front. With great albums by Jimmy Eat World and Pete Yorn in 2001, I hoped to hear more good, intelligent, soulful pop rock. I was sorely disappointed. The Goo Goo Dolls came out with Gutterflower, an OK album that followed the path of the lighter songs from Dizzy Up the Girl. Some of the lyrics cut to the heart. Other than the Goos, pop rock was full of thin punk pop acts that all sounded alike, looked alike, and had whiny singers. If 2002 needs a label to describe the year in music, I'd give it "The Year of the Compilation." No, I am not talking about Now, That's What I Call Music. I'm talking about the greatest hits sets from The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, INXS, Nirvana (good, but highly overrated), and U2. Maybe it was a response to the very successful Beatles 1 from 2001, but these collections offer music lovers like me the opportunity to own some of the greatest songs in rock music history without having to buy a bunch of albums. That recap is done. We're almost to the fateful moment musicians only consider if they knew about TAM and actually cared what I thought. Anyway, on to the criteria for the coveted awards. Here are the rules:
Out of sync With the rhythm of my own reactions With the things that last And the things that come apart Out of sync With love in the land of the living A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heartThen there's "Earthshine" where Peart is describing a night's sky. The depth and sophistication of the lyrics continue to mark Rush as the Thinking Man's rock band.
Er, and a bit of advice: yes, if you do aerobics and go running while wearing heavy ankle weights, it will tone you very impressively. But there is a price. . . .-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/29/2002 11:38:05 PM ----- BODY: The Boston Globe's "Ideas" section covers the debate over how Christian Tolkien's Lord of the Rings story is. Tolkien himself described the it as a "religious and Catholic work." But secular Tolkienists offer arguments that the story's pagan origin and universal themes make it much more than Christian theology wrapped with swords and wizards. What LOTR is is a fundamentally conservative work. In its temperment and praise of the permanent things, the story would satisfy the likes of Russell Kirk. "The Ring and the Cross" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/29/2002 12:31:31 AM ----- BODY: Kwanzaa was inspired by Julius Nyerere who from 1961 to 1984 led Tanzania along the path to a Workers Paradise (A.K.A. The Road to Serfdom). The results:
Predictably, Nyerere's version of socialism drove the already low-flying Tanzanian economy into the ground. The forced relocation of 10 million to 12 million peasants into 8,000 "cooperative" government villages (and the razing of their ancestral homes) resulted in badly inefficient land use. The country went from being the largest exporter of food in Africa in 1961 to the greatest importer of food in 1980. Production of sisal, the primary raw-material export in 1960, shriveled to 20% of its peak by the early 1980s. With most of Tanzania's foreign exchange devoted by then to food imports, nothing was left for spare parts for the aging industrial sector or for fuel to get farmers' meager produce to market. It was altogether a disaster.Even Nyerere thought he blew it. "I failed. Let's admit it." So, for the next few days, many people will be celebrating a holiday based on principles that led to economic ruin and mass suffering. "Kwanzaa, in Principle" [via Power Line] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/28/2002 11:50:47 PM ----- BODY: In the event of war with Iraq, the Saudis will allow use of a command center and their airspace for missions.
American commanders now say allied refueling, reconnaissance, surveillance and cargo planes will be allowed to fly from Saudi bases, using Saudi airspace on the way to missions in or near Iraq. And these officials are expressing confidence that the Saudis will ultimately allow attack missions, which are more politically sensitive, to be flown from their soil.At least publically, this looks like a change of heart by the Saudis. They weren't giving permission and in response an alternative command center in Qatar has been built. This change of heart is the Saudis' best response so far to their recent PR disaster.
But more broadly, Saudi officials are trying to repair the damage in American-Saudi relations stemming in part from the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States were Saudis. And Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington and his wife have been pressed to explain how payments she made to the ailing Jordanian wife of a Saudi man ended up in the hands of two Saudi men who have been under scrutiny for their close ties to hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks.I hope no deal was made to quash continued investigation of Saudi money trails in exchange for these helpful military permissions. The terrorist money trail needs to rooted out and destroyed. "Saudi Arabia Said to Assure U.S. on Use of Bases" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/27/2002 11:52:45 PM ----- BODY: John Fund reports that Gov. Jeb Bush hands out his personal e-mail address and responds to e-mail. Anyone know his address? "World Wide Jeb" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/27/2002 11:35:43 PM ----- BODY: I saw The Two Towers tonight and was truly impressed. The visual scope of the film may have exceeded The Fellowship of the Ring, and that's saying a lot. The major battle was intricate, well thought out, and riveting even if I knew the final outcome. The Ents were everything I expected and more. Can we draft some of those creatures for a second front on the Korean Peninsula? The journey of Sam, Frodo, and the amazing creation of Gollum was fascinating even if it didn't hold true to the book. Patrick Ruffini calls TTT "Rumsfeldian." I would agree, but broaden it to claim that the movie and the series is conservative. I'll bet $100 that New Line Cinema had no intention of making a trilogy of movies that will comfortably sit in the pantheon of all-time Right-wing film favorites. I'll also bet $100 that no one in Hollywood would agree with my claim. My claim is based on more than that it's a battle of good versus evil. LOTR appreciates Good and Evil as it is, not as it ideally could be. No one tries to understand the motivation behind Saruon's evil quest for domination. No one wants to placate orcs and goblins with gold and land in exchange for peace. The heroes realize that Evil cannot be placated. It's in Evil's nature to conquer Good. Compromise is impossible because Evil has no intention of stopping until it wins. In response, Good must stand firm and risk all. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/26/2002 10:47:56 PM ----- BODY: On another happy Christmas note, a British nuclear expert said the only reason North Korea restared a nuclear reactor is to produce weapons material. Will the U.S. be facing a two-front war in 2003? "Pyongyang May have A-bomb in 30 Days" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/26/2002 10:40:47 PM ----- BODY: Here's a quote that puts fear into any Packer's fan:
I know the question has been raised, "What if you won the Super Bowl?" Well, my response has been and will always be, "I hope I have that decision to make." If we win the Super Bowl, it's not a guarantee that I would retire. But, think about it from my standpoint -- wouldn't you want to go out on top? Sure. Who wouldn't? Now, a lot has to happen between now and then, but I have every intention of coming back next year.That's from Brett Favre on retirement plans. He won't retire even if the Pack wins the Super Bowl. The salary cap hit would paralize the team, and Favre has too much loyalty for the team to do that. "Favre Hints Retirement not out of Question ... with big IF" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/26/2002 10:31:26 PM ----- BODY: On an unChristmas-y note, Free-Market.Net has suspended operations. [via Hit & Run] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/26/2002 10:18:35 PM ----- BODY: Ever the inspirer, Pat Buchanan offers this for his Christmas message:
In the West, the God of Christianity has been superseded by the gods of modernity: money, sex, fame, power. These gods give a good life, but they cannot sustain life. As Christianity is a dying faith in every Western nation, every Western nation is dying. Not one has a native-born population that is reproducing itself. At present birth rates, all will be changed utterly or pass away before century's end. It is in the Third World, where populations are still growing, that Christianity still challenges Islam. Indeed, as the battle for the future is decided in this century, a once-Christian Europe will view the struggle from the windows of its nursing home. But as He told us, He did not come into our world to make us rich or powerful, but to die to give us the hope of eternal life. Merry Christmas.PunchtheBag calls this line of thinking "paleonihilism". -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/26/2002 10:04:38 PM ----- BODY: I hope you all had a joyous Christmas filled with love from family and friends and some nice gifts--both given and received. I'm posting after two day's of Christmas vacation. Maybe I would have posted somthing if I wasn't hooked on NCAA Football 2003 (not a gift). My custom-made school won the national title and is ranked #2. But since my Game Cube is not in the mood to read the game disk right now, I'm catching up on happenings in the blogosphere. (If anyone knows why a Game Cube disk would suddenly become unreadable, let me know.) From my sporatic attention to the news, little has happended. Some guy in West Virginia won the lottery, and I'm not sure he has all his teeth. Other than that, I have nothing to say on that. If U.N. inspectors continue to not find any of Saddam's nasty weapons, they should look next door to Syria. Tomorrow, I'm back at the store taking on customers looking for books they didn't get as gifts and ungrateful people who are returning their presents for cash. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2002 06:23:03 PM ----- BODY: The Palestinians (i.e. Yasser Arafat) called off January elections. The excuse is "Israeli reoccupation, obstruction and closures," but the possibility of democracy in Palestine scares those in power. "Palestinians Call Off January Election" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2002 05:59:18 PM ----- BODY: Some of you last-minute shoppers will be griping about the cost of books. Stephen King's latest is $28 before discount. Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit is regularly $28.95. TV Guide: Fifty Years of Television is selling on Amazon for $30.00. Christopher Dreher goes into the numbers behind the prices. "Why Do Books Cost so Much?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2002 05:09:11 PM ----- BODY: Charlie Sykes offers his thoughts on Sen. Patty Murray's praise of Osama bin Laden and predicts that the media will hardly cover it and her fellow Democrats will not chastise her. "Double Standard Watch" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2002 04:54:00 PM ----- BODY: Larry Lessig notes that in Japan you can get 100 mbs Net service for $50 a month. That doesn't sound like either cable modem or DSL. Knowing little about broadband technology, I want to know how it works. Is it based on coaxial cable, phone lines, wireless, or even fiber optic cable? What technology do Korean broadband users use? Their country has the highest broadband use in the world. Global OnLine Japan offers the deal Lessig mentioned by using fiber optics. So in Japan, consumers can already get a massive broadband pipe for their home or office (ironically through a few thin strands of glass), but American Net users are stuck paying exorbitant rates for 1970s technology (coaxial cable and phone lines). This article in the San Francisco Business Times reports on a company offering wireless broadband access without requiring customers to have a line-of-sight to the base station. Right now, Exodus Communications is offering 1.5 mbs ADSL for $18/month. SBC Yahoo charges $39.95. Japan's Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) issued a report saying Japan has cheaper and faster ADSL and cable service than a group of other world cities. Lessig worries about broadband providers controlling how consumers use the Net. If there are few providers, then that would be a problem; but I want broadband service for the price of dial-up. There are no signs of that coming to the U.S. "Broadband Translates in Japan" "Japan's Broadband Users Enjoy Lowest Charges" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2002 04:08:17 PM ----- BODY: Robert Pilon appreciates the blessing of liberty from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution:
In the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson set out certain "self-evident truths," the foundations of freedom: "that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." What that means, quite simply, is that we're all born free to pursue happiness as we wish, by our own lights, provided we respect the equal rights of others to do the same. In a nutshell, America's basic moral principle is "Live, and let live." ... It was James Madison, under the leadership of George Washington, who brought that about. When the Founders met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution, they understood that government is both necessary and dangerous: necessary to secure our rights, but dangerous too, because government unrestrained could easily trample rights in the name of securing them. Thus, they drafted a document that both empowered and limited government, incorporating the subtle system of checks and balances that Madison first conceived. ... By and large, however, the Constitution has served us well, enabling us to flourish under the blessings of liberty and law. As we gather with family and friends over the holidays, we would do well to count those blessings and give thanks that we continue to live under a constitution of liberty."The Blessings of Liberty and Law" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2002 03:41:47 PM ----- BODY: Since Yahoo is buying Inktomi, how long will it be until it dumps Google? "Yahoo! to Buy Inktomi for $235 Million" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/22/2002 09:19:52 PM ----- BODY: Looking at my hits, I'd say TAM readers are busy with their Christmas preparations. I hope some of them took my shopping advice. Last night, I celebrated Christmas with my mother's side of the family. It was a fun, but late night, and I had to work early this morning. What I trying to get at is I'm beat, and probably won't post anything more tonight. Come back tomorrow. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/22/2002 08:42:23 PM ----- BODY: The Two Towers is doing better at the box office than last year's Fellowship of the Ring. New Line Cinema expects the film to top the $1 billion mark in ticket sales. "Fantasy Wins out at the Movies" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/20/2002 11:31:18 PM ----- BODY: Arianna Huffington praises webloggers for generating the energy that sent Trent Lott to the political cleaners. She writes that most webloggers are "unpaid amateurs" but mentions people like Glenn Reynolds, Mickey Klaus, and Andrew Sullivan. These three are paid intellectuals. Reynolds posts as a hobby when he's not grading law tests. Klaus and Sullivan have journalistic gigs and extend it with there weblogging. She didn't mention a single amateur weblogger. No John Hawkins or Megan McArdle (who is currently jobless) or myself. It's disengenuous to talk about weblogging as a democratizing medium but only mention pros and semi-pros. "In Praise of Making a Stink" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/20/2002 11:07:57 PM ----- BODY: King at SCSUScholars reports that St. Cloud State College Republicans and the university administration are working on an apology. However, there's no word on whether the professors will apologize. On a lighter note, the CRs have a letter from the Israeli Embassy approving their use of the Israeli flag. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/20/2002 10:16:52 PM ----- BODY: Today began the last weekend before Christmas. It's a time of packed stores and short tempers. This is my fifth Christmas season working in a major specialty retailer. Here are some helpful hints to make your last-minute shopping more productive.
In the interest of pursuing the best possible agenda for the future of our country, I will not seek to remain as Majority Leader of the United States Senate for the 108th Congress, effective January 6, 2003. To all those who offered me their friendship, support and prayers, I will be eternally grateful. I will continue to serve the people of Mississippi in the United States Senate.So many have been ragging on Sen. Trent Lott these past few weeks. Since he finally did the right thing and stepped down, we should send him an e-mail letting him know we support his decision. "Lott Stepping Down As Senate GOP Leader" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2002 10:48:17 PM ----- BODY: John Hawkins has a list of the most annoying liberals for 2002. I won't give away #1, but here's a hint: he's a Nobel Prize winner. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2002 10:19:19 PM ----- BODY: National Review and TAM both agree that Lott should go because he's a poor leader, and his gaffe proves his ineptitude.
We have long considered Lott a clumsy and ineffective Republican leader, and his controversial Strom Thurmond birthday remarks are a spectacular confirmation of that judgment. Is Lott a racist? We don't think so. Are many of the attacks on him dishonest and opportunistic? Yes. But he has been a poor leader of Senate Republicans, and the latest gaffe will only further erode his standing and his ability to lead."Lott Should Go" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2002 10:07:15 PM ----- BODY: Bill Clinton: the ex-President who can't keep his mouth shut said the GOP and conservatives are "pretty hypocritical" for coming down hard on Trent Lott.
"How do they think they got a majority in the South anyway?" Clinton told CNN outside a business luncheon he was attending. "I think what they are really upset about is that he made public their strategy." He added: "They try to suppress black voting, they ran on the Confederate flag in Georgia and South Carolina, and from top to bottom the Republicans supported it."Clinton didn't have the guts to say it, but he thinks the South is inherently racist and the GOP made political gains by playing to that racism. Clinton moved away from his home in the South, and his true feelings have come out. "Clinton Calls GOP 'Hypocritical' on Lott" [via Right-Thinking from the Left Coast] UPDATE: John Hawkins found some examples of Bill Clinton's hypocrisy. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2002 09:55:49 PM ----- BODY: Will black activists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton castigate anyone who praises Woodrow Wilson? Charles Paul Freund points out some of his awful, racist actions. As Princeton president, Wilson turned away black applicants. As President, he segregated areas in federal buildings. He even told a group of blacks that "segregation is not a humiliation but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen." Wilson makes Lott look like a pantywaist. "Dixiecrats Triumphant" [via Popshot Notes] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2002 09:34:57 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Bill Frist will challenge Sen. Trent Lott for majority leader. Frist has to defeat years of Lott's back slapping and an apperance that he's too close to the White House. A Senator told The Washington Post, "The backlash has started. We were elected, we are senators and we want to pick our own leader." That's all well and good, but there's that little part about President Bush working his tail off to win a Senate majority. Then there's the fact that Lott is a lousy leader and a mill stone around the Republican Party's neck. The AP calls Frist the GOP's "go-to man." He was out in front during the Antrax scare, and he led the way to Senate victories across the country. "Frist Looks to Replace Lott As GOP Leader" "Frist Considering Challenging Lott for Leadership Post" "Tennessee Physician-Lawmaker Frequent Go-To Man in Times of Crisis for Senate, GOP" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/18/2002 06:13:20 PM ----- BODY: There will probably be little posting tonight. I've put off my Christmas shopping for too long. Today is my last day off before my festivities begin. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/18/2002 05:46:09 PM ----- BODY: If the Packers lose Sunday, it's all Sports Illustrated's fault. Brett Favre and the Pack on on this week's cover. "Packers Make Cover Of Sports Illustrated" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/17/2002 01:43:13 AM ----- BODY: After reading this Thomas Sowell column nothing really needs to be said about the Lott affair. It doesn't matter if Lott is a racist or a Southern good ole boy willing to pander to nefarious groups. He's damaged goods and must go.
The actual choice facing Republicans is whether they want Trent Lott to be out front as the face of their party when they confront future political battles over judicial nominees, national security and the rest of the Bush administration agenda. Any judge who has ever ruled against any claim -- however outrageous -- by any organization that calls itself a civil rights group is likely to be hit with charges of "racism" when he or she is nominated for an appellate court appointment and is up for confirmation in the Senate. Who is going to go on nationwide television and reassure the public that the nominee is not a racist? Trent Lott? Anything in national security policy that can be construed as "racial profiling" of people from the Middle East will be construed that way by critics. When the Republican leadership is called upon to defend the policy, will Senator Lott's presence among that leadership help the credibility of their defense? One of the great opportunities that Republicans have of making inroads into the Democrats' virtual monopoly of minority votes in the years ahead is by offering vouchers as a way to rescue minority children from failing schools. But any attempt to claim the moral high ground on this issue can be dismissed with sneering remarks about the Republican majority leader. No wonder some Democrats wanted Trent Lott to stay front and center. He can be a living red herring. Long after the current furor has died down, this episode can be resurrected for political encores. Meanwhile, Republicans will have to tiptoe around racial issues and even kowtow to the likes of Al Sharpton. This can only disgust and demoralize the Republicans' own supporters.GOP Senators sound very wishy-washy for not not supporting Lott, but supporting a 1.06.02 meeting to hash things out. Sen. John Hagel said, "I support bringing the Republican conference together as soon as possible. Republican senators must either reconfirm their confidence in Trent Lott's leadership or select a new leader." Even Senator "Straight Talk," John McCain only said he approved of the meeting. With only Sen. Don Nickles calling for new leadership Lott may just survive--to the glee of Democrats. "Lott, Race, and Hypocrisy" "GOP to 'Hash Out' Lott's Fate" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/17/2002 12:27:34 AM ----- BODY: I know it's early Tuesday, but John Huebscher of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference already has earned the TAM quote of the day. I'm sure I won't find anything close to this for the rest of the day. Huebscher comments on death penalty legislation to be introduced next year:
I don't think we respond to the horrors of Sept. 11 with more violence. [T]hen Osama Bin Laden has already won.It used to be that any policy idea had to be enacted "for the children." Now, any policy idea can be opposed because "then the terrorist have already won." It's the TAM editorial position that state-sanctioned death isn't needed when better alternatives are available. What I do oppose are banal cliches used in political debate. "GOP-Controlled Legislature in Position to Reconsider Death Penalty" [via Progressive Racine] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/17/2002 12:06:22 AM ----- BODY: In trying to cover his rear and protect his leadership position, Sen. Trent Lott pandered to an audience on Black Entertainment Television. He told the audience that he's for affirmative action and has practiced it in his office. He also seems to think it's wrong for Harvard to have one-third of its students be children of alumni. Harvard is a private institution last I heard. Lott must go, but not for the foolish comments he made over a week ago. No, he must go because someone who considers themself to be a leader of their party would have handled this situation much better. Lott tried to use political speak to smooth over this gaffe and wait it out. That would have worked if this was a one-time gaffe, but Lott has a history of pandering to segregation-sympathetic crowds. He could have talked like a normal person and told the world that he was trying to say something nice about Sen. Strom Thrumond at his birthday party. No more, no less. Lott would have been embarrassed, but he would have kept his leadership position. By ignoring the controversy, he opened himself up to conservative criticism--many who already didn't care much for Lott (like me). It's interesting that Lott asked blacks to forgive him, but not Republicans and conservatives. His foolish words and pathetic actions have hurt the Right far more than any black. "Lott Asks Blacks for Forgiveness on BET" [via Progressive Racine] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/16/2002 11:16:01 PM ----- BODY: I'm interested in seeing how the movie version of The 25th Hour adds to the book. The novel felt like a series of character sketches rather than a story with a beginning, middle, and end. David Rooney writes that Spike Lee and David Benioff are taking advantage of our new, more dangerous world:
Attempting to transform superior pulp into something thematically richer, the writer and director heighten the role of the story's setting to create a post-9/11 symphony on the strength, resilience and hope of New York City that's sure to draw considerable attention.The structure provides ample opportunity for good actors to show off their stuff (Edward Norton plays the lead role). "Spike Lee in Liberating Foray with 25th Hour" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/16/2002 12:56:07 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins at Right Wing News covers a scary scene at St. Cloud University where College Republicans were threatened physically by a professor and censored by a school administrator. SCSUScholars, a group of non-hostile St. Cloud State faculty, has plenty of links and commentary. This is much more interesting than Trent Lott powerplays and conservative bloodletting. "College Republicans Hassled For Supporting Israel At St. Cloud State" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/15/2002 11:49:19 PM ----- BODY: Damn, now I won't have AlGore to rip on during the Presidential elections. Anybody need a copy of Earth in the Balance? I won't be needing mine anymore. What most interested me about this story is AlGore saying this effectively ends his political career. "I make this decision in the full knowledge and awareness that if I don't run this run this time, which I'm not going to run in 2004, that's probably the last opportunity I'll have had to run for president." He's only 54. He could easily run again in 2008 or 2012. If Democrats were willing to run guys as old as Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Walter Mondale (and don't forget Sen. Robert Byrd), an elder statesman like AlGore could be resurrected. "Gore Rules Out Running in '04" "Al Gore Says He Won't Run in 2004" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/14/2002 08:04:51 PM ----- BODY: Lee Bockhorn in The Weekly Standard's weekly e-mail:
Lott is scheduled to hold a press conference later this afternoon. It's still unclear what he's going to say, but let's hope, for the good of the Republican party and the conservative movement, that he has the good sense to step aside as Senate majority leader. There simply isn't a satisfying exculpatory explanation for Lott's remarks, and whatever one thinks of them, they were a spectacular confirmation of what many Beltway conservatives have long known about Lott--he doesn't have the prudence, judgment, or leadership skills necessary to lead effectively the Senate GOP.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/14/2002 07:34:29 PM ----- BODY: Charging tolls to use Milwaukee's busiest highway is thinking outside of the box for a state always seems to find a tax to raise. Will it happen? No. People find the Illinois tollways to be obnoxious and won't want them here. Should they be here? Yes, because then funding for this highway reconstruction would come from those who use the road. "Could Marquette Interchange Become Tollway?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2002 06:49:06 PM ----- BODY: Quick! President Bush, start the bombing. "Actor Sean Penn Visits Baghdad" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2002 12:17:57 AM ----- BODY: Trent's toast. Peggy Noonan eloquently (as always) wants him to go away. "Counsel for Trent" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2002 11:24:30 PM ----- BODY: Michelle Malkin makes some brilliant points on Trent Lott's foot-in-mouth disease. First, is her very funny label of Lott as "the Republican Party's eternal Maalox moment." Excuse me a moment while I roll on the floor laughing... Ok, I'm better now. No, wait... Alright, now I'm sure I'm better know. Anyway, Malkin makes the point I've been trying to make about Lott and racism. I don't believe he's a racist; he's just a good old Southern boy constantly trying to say the right thing in front of the right group. Here's how Malkin puts it:
Both liberals and conservatives who are lambasting the vacant Lott as an unrepentant bigot give him too much credit, methinks. The former college cheerleader did at Thurmond's birthday party what he has done all of his life: He mouthed the words he thought his audience at the moment wanted to hear. Lott never actively donned a white sheet, like his Senate colleague and ex-Klansman Robert Byrd, D-West Va. Instead, Lott is, and always has been, on the sidelines of America's race debate. When James Meredith weathered violent riots in his brave quest to integrate the University of Mississippi in the fall of 1962, Lott was neither standing next to him nor standing with the segregationist mob. The Ole Miss alum was holed up inside his frat house, preserving his and his brothers' political viability. There is only one cause, one animating spirit that Trent Lott is committed to: not the South, not the segregationist past, but himself and his future in high office. And now, to save his hide, Lott will shake his pompoms and turn somersaults to please whomever (Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the Rev. Al Sharpton) can help him stay in power.Lott's quivering and legislative handouts prove he's a weak leader. His Thurmond comments didn't do me in, it's his lousy ability to stand up to the opposition. He failed miserably while confronting Clinton at his weakest (during impeachment), and he's not doing very well confronting race-baiting, hypocritical Democrats. "Vacant Lott" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2002 10:27:00 PM ----- BODY: More good work from the Institute for Justice.
Washington, D.C.-New Jersey?s method of financing police and prosecutors through civil forfeiture is unconstitutional, Superior Court Judge G. Thomas Bowen of Salem County ruled in a December 11 opinion. Under New Jersey?s civil forfeiture law (N.J.S.A 2C:64-6a) prosecutors and police had been entitled to keep the money and property confiscated from individuals through the state?s civil forfeiture law, thus giving them a direct financial stake in the outcome of forfeiture efforts. The court ruled that this provision violates the Due Process clauses of the U.S. and New Jersey constitutions."New Jersey Court Declares State?s Civil Forfeiture Funding Scheme Unconstitutional" [via Hit & Run] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2002 10:15:03 PM ----- BODY: Ron Bailey on Michael Crichton's Prey:
Crichton's new novel further solidifies his position as our generation's bush-league Mary Shelley, constantly hectoring readers about the dangers of humanity's technological hubris. By all means enjoy the book and the movie. But please keep in mind that the beasties in Prey are more Stephen King horror than Jules Verne prediction."Be Afraid" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2002 09:55:14 PM ----- BODY: Let Remedy know that she's a little loony for sitting up in a tree for months just to stop loggers from cutting it down. Treesit Blog -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2002 09:51:49 PM ----- BODY: U.S. intelligence suspects terrorists have taken a chemical weapon--possibly VX--out of Iraq. If true, this is evidence of the real threat Iraq is to the U.S. First, it's a chemical weapon, but you can be sure that a biological or nuclear weapon would be next. "Report: Al Qaeda Deal for Nerve Gas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2002 01:03:04 AM ----- BODY: In a victory for economic liberty, the Institute for Justice won a case that lets New York residents buy wine from out-of-state sources via the Internet or mail order. "Courts Spurn State Laws on Caskets, Wine" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/11/2002 02:06:08 PM ----- BODY: The Sen. Lott gaffe still hasn't died. Ralph Luker is calling him a "segregationist of the heart." What does that mean? Does Luker have some super power where he can peer into the hearts and minds of others and detect anti-social feelings? He provides no evidence that Lott has ever voted for a bill that would segregate the races. He hasn't shown that Lott wants to go back to the days of separate but equal. All he offers is the infamous Thurmond quote and some nice words to a meeting of a far-right organization. That's no reason for Lott to resign as Majority Leader. There is a simpler reason he shouldn't be leader: he isn't very good at it. The blogosphere hasn't let up on Lott either. Josh Chafetz is calling him a racist; Glenn Reynolds won't quit with the links; and Andrew Sullivan wants Lott to go so the GOP has credibility on race issues.
Lott had a chance to repudiate his words and he chose to side-step the issue. He's flirted with racists before. He's said the same things before. It seems to me that president Bush now has his Sister Souljah opportunity. Just as Clinton secured centrist backing when he repudiated the anti-white racism of Sister Souljah, so Bush needs to repudiate the anti-black racism of Lott publicly, clearly and irrevocably. If he doesn't, then I'm afraid he will lose any black support indefinitely and the respect of many decent voters who aren't black as well. Lott's remarks are, in fact, a direct insult to black members of the administration and the Republican Party. Mr. President, we're waiting for you to say something.Sullivan thinks that blacks don't have the sense to look beyond one political leader when elections come around. This makes to sense based on reality. Despite the Democrats having a former member of the Ku Klux Klan in the Senate, and letting President Bill Clinton give an award to segregationist Senator William Fulbright (his mentor) 90% of blacks vote for Democrats. Does Sullivan think blacks are too stupid to see this? I think this shows that there's more to the Democrats' dominance of the black vote than race issues. "Lott the Segregationist Wears out Welcome" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/11/2002 01:45:14 PM ----- BODY: Global warming might be causing malaria outbreaks? How about the abandonment of the use of DDT to kill the mosquitoes that carry the disease? "Scientists Question Climate Change, Malaria Link" "Without DDT, Malaria Bites Back" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/11/2002 01:40:55 PM ----- BODY: Why should I care that a bunch of Hollywood Lefties oppose war with Iraq? Most of the time these types are ill-informed, knee-jerk liberals. Today is no different. Martin Sheen thinks President Bush wants war to placate his father.
I think he'd like to hand his father Saddam Hussein's head and win his approval for what happened after the Gulf War. That's my own personal opinion ? I don't know if that's true. I hope it's not, but I suspect it is.Sheen has no evidence that Bush wants family revenge, or that the administration filled with people like Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld would just lie down and let Bush have his way. "Celebrities Ask Bush to Stop War Rhetoric" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/10/2002 12:15:20 AM ----- BODY: Since Sen. Lott isn't the smartest guy the GOP has in the Senate, why do they always elect him as their leader? Does he just have really good people skills? Or does he shake pixie dust on the other Senators prior to caucusing? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/9/2002 11:28:45 PM ----- BODY: Here's probably my only comment on Sen. Trent Lott's comments: He was trying to say something nice at Sen. Strom Thurmond's birthday party and failed miserably. What a surprise, he said something stupid. He's apologized, and everyone needs to move on. It is hilarious watching Democrats like AlGore and Jesse Jackson claim as much media time as possible over this while ignoring their ex-Klansman Senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd. Andrew Sullivan asks, "Why are the Republican commentators so silent about this?" As a conservative commentator who can't remember the last time he voted for a Democrat, I'll answer. Trent Lott says dumb things a lot. After he said it, there would be a lot of hoopla, but eventually he would apologize. It will be forgotten in a few months, or at least until Lott says another dumb thing. Do I care if Lott is the Republican Senate leader? No, because Bush is in the White House and he's THE leader of the party. Lott's job is to get the President's bills passed and keep his GOP colleagues in line. "Lott Apologizes for Remark on Thurmond" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/9/2002 10:44:06 PM ----- BODY: Victims of the Racine rave bust are having their day in court. About 100 people had their initial hearing today. 450 were arrested for attending a rave where police were tipped off about drug activity and arrested three on drug charges. About 200 will fight the fines--initially $968, then reduced to $100--so many that Racine may have to hire a special prosecutor. "Racine Rave-Goers Appear In Court" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2002 09:55:37 PM ----- BODY: Larry Kudlow writes that Paul O'Neill got fired because he couldn't sell a tax plan that he didn't believe in. Kudlow goes on:
O'Neill never had any credibility on Capitol Hill or Wall Street. He dismissed the former as buffoons and the latter as irrelevant. So naturally, as the stock-market decline continued for most of this year, almost nobody on the planet defended O'Neill and almost everybody criticized him. Finally, Bush had enough."No Tears for O'Neill" [via Power Line] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2002 09:40:01 PM ----- BODY: Right Wing News remembers Pearl Harbor. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2002 09:11:20 PM ----- BODY: Out of all the books that make the NY Times Book Review's list of notable nonfiction, I read only two--Warrior Politics and What Went Wrong? The world-famous TAM Book Awards will be coming in a few weeks so you know what the best nonfiction of 2002 really was. "Notable Books 2002" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2002 12:34:46 AM ----- BODY: Big econ news! Paul O'Neill and Lawrence Lindsey both got the boot. O'Neill was most well known for hob knobbing with Bono in Africa while the stock market was in a free fall and the economy sputtered. Lindsey may have been a good economic adviser during Bush's campaign, but that didn't translate into anything effective in the White House. Former Goldman Sachs head, Stephen Friedman appears to be Lindsey's replacement. As for Treasury Secretary, Bush is said to have a name, but that hasn't leaked out yet. Some names that have come up include Stanford economist Michael Boskin (not familar with him), Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, ex-Congressman Bill Archer, ex-Senator Phil Gramm (won't take it because he wants to make a little money in the private sector), Gerald Parsky (never heard of him), Charles Schwab (interesting pro-investor class choice), NYSE chairman Richard Grasso, Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Rep. Dick Armey (great tax cut advocate), Steve Forbes (tax cut obsessed, but in a good way), and UBS PaineWebber head Joseph Grano. O'Neill's problem was that he was an invisible Treasury Secretary. He wasn't visible pushing for Bush's tax cut. He wasn't making waves on news programs advocating grand tax reforms. He wasn't on CNBC reassuring investors that tax cuts with time would bring about economic recovery or that the economy wasn't as dreadful as many say. Part of it was political. I'm sure the White House didn't want O'Neill to speak too loudly about eliminating the corporate income tax. Another part was O'Neill's personality. He formerly ran Alcoa. While running it fine, he was absolutely invisible to 95% of Americans. O'Neill didn't seem to mind the anonimity and brought that to the Treasury Department. O'Neill wasn't a Bob Rubin or even a Larry Summers (and he's an academic economist). William Saletan is right in calling that "show business." A Minnesota economist sees the personel changes as selling a plan. The Bush economic approach won't change "because I don't think these guys were making the calls." Here's Brad DeLong's criteria for an effective Treasury Secretary:
The Treasury Secretary should (a) be a strong voice helping the U.S. pursue good economic policies, (b) understand what the economic policies of the United States are, (c) be effective at using his extremely prominent and powerful post to tell outsiders about the economic policies of the United States, and (d) know how to use his--truly excellent, dedicated, and very large--career staff inside the Treasury building. Paul O'Neill was zero for four.The public trusts Bush. They trust him with fighting the Islamist War, and they trust him to do his best with the economy. If Bush were to stay the course and not make any changes, the public would have seen this as Bush not making an effort. Democrats would go after Bush for caring more about stuff overseas than in the U.S. By firing O'Neill and Lindsey, it sends a signal that Bush is concerned and is willing to try new things to get the economy moving faster. If it doesn't work, at least Bush can say that he wasn't standing still. If outside events (war, terrorism, or a general world economic downturn) are perceived to be the reason for continued economic sluggishness, he could survive politically. That all depends on the public's trust in Bush to do his best for the country. As for a replacement, it should be someone who's sound on economic policy, and is willing to talk loudly and often. My first choice is Larry Kudlow even if that means he has to leave his great CNBC show. Heck, I'd even think about his co-host James Cramer. Brad DeLong likes Martin Feldstein. So do I because he knows so much about the importance of tax policy. "Speculation Begins on Replacement for Treasury Secretary" "Bush Eyes Former Goldman Exec for Economic Job" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2002 11:37:01 PM ----- BODY: The USS Paul Hamilton collided with an Iranian oil vessel in the Persian Gulf. The only damage was a hole in the Paul Hamilton above the water line. The destroyer is in the same class as the USS Cole which was attacked by al-Qaeda two years ago. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2002 11:25:38 PM ----- BODY: Rep. Kathleen Harris (R-FL) as been named as an assistant whip. She is "one of [the] very few first-term members of Congress who will be included in the whip teams." The Left conspriacy nuts will be all over this. In exchange for helping Bush win Florida in 2000, Harris gets a jump start to Congressional power. "Katherine Harris Named Assistant Majority Whip in Congress" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2002 12:14:35 AM ----- BODY: Happy B-Day Strom! "Strom Thurmond Turns 100 Years Old Thursday" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2002 12:08:37 AM ----- BODY: Bravo to German tax protesters. They're sending Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder the shirt off their backs in opposition to new taxes. "Taxed Germans Having Shirty Xmas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2002 12:00:43 AM ----- BODY: I know I'm a little behind, but TIPS is dead. "Feds' Spying Plan Fades to Black" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/5/2002 11:41:04 PM ----- BODY: Is it the sign of addiction to have to visit a grand opening of a Krispy Kreme? I will be in Brookfield, WI on the 10th. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/5/2002 11:07:02 PM ----- BODY: Ok, so the world doesn't like us as much as it used to. Until I see the waiting lists of people who want to emigrate into the U.S. drop to zero, or nations dropping out of the Islamist War and joining the enemy, I won't be very worried. Let's delve into this story a little bit. 83% of Turks oppose using their military bases to launch attacks into Iraq. That's fear of a Kurd nation rising from a broken Iraq. Americans find nuclear weapons to be a major threat, while foreigners see AIDS, disease, pollution, ethnic strife, crime, and corruption to be serious problems. This isn't shocking since the U.S. has done a better job than the rest of the world at solving those problems. If you have AIDS or any other disease, you're better off in the U.S. We have little ethnic strife (we would call them hate crimes), have an ever-improving environment, and besides a few outrageous corporate fraud cases have little corruption. Compared to other places on earth, the U.S. is a shining city on a hill. Here's a nugget that irritates me:
While strong majorities in the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Russia agreed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein poses a "great to moderate" danger, British public opinion is evenly split on whether to use force to remove him, and large majorities in France, Germany, Russia and Turkey oppose the use of force.It's easy for these countries to hate Saddam, but not support toppling him. The U.S. will do the heavy lifting when war breaks out. It's easy to be in opposition when you don't think you're the No. 1 target of radical Islam, and when another country's men and women will die instead of your own. But so as to not make it appear that I'm a typical cowboy American who doesn't appreciate foreign policy, I offer this suggestion to the State Department. Since only 6% of Egyptians support the U.S., how about not sending them their $2 billion in aid next year. We don't need to financially support a country that doesn't appreciate us. Cut them off, and then do a poll. "U.S. Losing Popularity in World" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/5/2002 10:41:01 PM ----- BODY: Al Sharpton is positioning himself for a Presidential run by blasting Bill Clinton. He told the Washington Times,
For him to say that the Democrats failed to bring out a message is wrong. He was the messenger, he was the one out there and helped run the campaign, him and [Democratic National Committee Chairman] Terry McAuliffe. So how can he give an objective opinion with his subjective involvement?He then gave a speech in Salt Lake City calling for $250 billion over five years on "infrastructure revamping." Sharpton thinks it "would infuse the private sector with jobs and money." It certainly would be full of pork barrel projects. "Sharpton Raps Clinton for Election Losses" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/5/2002 10:10:30 PM ----- BODY: Modern art and the Culture of Death have combined into something gruesome. "Suicide Mistaken for Art Performance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/4/2002 04:01:27 AM ----- BODY: Daniel Pipes delivers a strong accusation to the current administration and previous ones. He claims the Saudis have paid off past and present administrations to protect the close Saudi-American relationship.
Why this undue solicitude for Saudi feelings? This hedging by the executive branch fits a pattern going back almost 60 years, to when President Franklin D. Roosevelt met the Saudi king in 1945. Since then, U.S. politicians, diplomats, flag officers and lobbyists have enjoyed a cozy relationship with their counterparts on the Saudi side. The tie is premised on Americans - Democrats and Republicans alike -accommodating the kingdom's wishes and in return, being plied with substantial sums of money, either at the time or after they leave government service.Pipes is accusing the Bush and past administrations of taking bribes. Such serious charges require some evidence. Pipes doesn't provide any in his article. "Government for Sale [to the Saudis]" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/3/2002 12:59:31 AM ----- BODY: Be wary of Brazil's president-elect Lula. Fidel Castro sent him a box of cigars for winning the election and told him he would be attending his inauguration. "UPI hears ..." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/3/2002 12:47:38 AM ----- BODY: The U.S. officially presented to the WTO its proposal to end tariffs on industrial goods. The response was mixed. Australia, Singapore and New Zealand approved it, but developing nations like India called it "clearly unfair." "Mixed WTO Reaction to U.S. Zero Tariff Bid" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/2/2002 03:52:21 PM ----- BODY: Rush Limbaugh on why there isn't a liberal version of him:
Well, look, and you boil it down to the essence, I think mine is a good show regardless what's on it. The content, political, it's a good show. It's fun. It's entertaining, and I'm a broadcast professional. There have been plenty of conservatives in the media who haven't achieved audience size like this, and one of the things I think you have to understand is that -- and I know I'm going to get in trouble for this because it'll be taken out of context and misunderstood -- but it is a performance. People giving public speeches are performing. You don't just get on the radio and say OK, I'm conservative and here's what I think or OK I'm liberal, here's what I think. If you get specific beyond that, I think the liberal message is something people hear enough on TV. They don't want to hear the institutions and traditions that have made the country great constantly under attack. They don't want to hear doom and gloom. I mean liberalism is this most recent Democrat campaign and who wanted to listen to that. I mean it's not fun. Liberals don't seem to be smiling. They've got nothing -- they can't even admit that they're liberal for the most part. They come up with terms like centrist or progressive.It would be tough for a liberal radio yapper to say why our health care system should be run the same way as the post office. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/2/2002 02:46:25 PM ----- BODY: Maybe John DiIulio just has sour grapes. How can he claim that "There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is everything, and I mean everything, being run by the political arm"? Doesn't he recall the Clinton administration? That White House was so concerned about politics that cruise missile attacks "happened" at great times to divert attention from Bill's peccadillos. "White House Faith-Based Adviser Turns on Rove; Claims all Decisions are Politicized" UPDATE: Dilulio denies the quotes attributed to him. He told Fox News, "I regret any and all misimpressions. In this season of fellowship and forgiveness, I pray the same." "DiIulio Denies Making Critical Comments of the White House" [via Instapundit] ANOTHER UPDATE: Drudge has posted a memo from John DiIulio to the Esquire writer, Ron Suskind. He's critical of a White House that doesn't get into detailed policy discussions. He's hopeful that more substantive policy comes out because of "the president’s character and heart, the decent, well-meaning people on staff, Karl’s wonkish alter-ego." This isn't the same DiIulio that Suskind claims "turned" on Karl Rove. Patrick Ruffini goes off on DiIulio.
In his e-mail, DiIulio asks for more bull sessions, more research papers — more "discourse." That's admirable, but it's a mode of operation uniquely suited to a world where deadlines don't have to be met, where the give-and-take can go on for hours in the comfort of plush upholstery. People who do serious government work rarely have that luxury.He goes on.
What DiIulio has produced is the garden-variety disillusionment you find when academics are confronted with How Politics Really Works 101. What he's reporting on is the very real clash of cultures that probably would have taken hold even if he'd served under the last President of his own party.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/2/2002 01:50:39 AM ----- BODY: With Wal-Mart announcing a record sales day for this past Friday that could mean the holiday season could be better than analysts suggest, or people are concentrating their purchases to discount stores. "Wal-Mart Reports $1.43 Billion Sales Fri." [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/2/2002 01:05:33 AM ----- BODY: Let's remember those guys and gals abroad fighting and protecting us from the bad guys. "Support Our Servicemen!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2002 11:50:46 PM ----- BODY: HUMOR: Saddam is a cruel, cruel man. "Iraq Unleashes Weapons of Mass Media" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2002 11:18:02 PM ----- BODY: Michael Kinsley takes us behind the scenes of the National Book Awards. Note: He didn't read all 402 books nominated. "Curse You, Robert Caro!" [via A&LD] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2002 10:32:17 PM ----- BODY: Salon has something on TIA. And it's actually funny. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2002 10:24:51 PM ----- BODY: Garrett Soden will be coming out with a book, Falling: How Our Greatest Fear Became Our Greatest Thrill - A History, next year. Howard Owens interviewed him. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2002 08:26:50 PM ----- BODY: Yesterday, I inadvertantly did not buy anything. I toiled through a day of crowds and questions. After my shift was over, I went home. Bummer, I wanted to stick it to these guys. Buy Nothing Day -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2002 08:15:13 PM ----- BODY: Howard Owens on poetry:
To me, a plain style is perfectly suited to prose, but not to poetry. The point of poetry is to escape the drabness of our plain and ponderous lives; poetry should compact our experiences and excite our senses, not numb us with a sense of sameness and predictability. From poetry, we should gain a new way of seeing old things, not the same old way of seeing everything.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/28/2002 09:48:16 AM ----- BODY: Have a good Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy the company of friends and family and savor the delicious food people have spent hours preparing. Give thanks for all the blessings we've been given. God bless. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/28/2002 12:53:51 AM ----- BODY: My TiVo doesn't think I'm gay, but I don't know why it insists on recording The Cosby Show and Suddenly Susan. "If TiVo Thinks You Are Gay, Here's How to Set It Straight" [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/27/2002 11:41:25 PM ----- BODY: Tom Nugent covers tax cut ideas. No mention of my suggestion to eliminate taxes on dividends. Since I'm on taxes, here's The Jane Galt Tax Plan. "Stimulus Strategies" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/27/2002 11:18:59 PM ----- BODY: In the same year, two giants of 20th Century political philosophy died. Robert Nozick passed away in January, and now John Rawls died this past Sunday. About Rawls' work, Jacob Levy writes,
Within Anglo-American philosophy it renewed the sense that it was possible to engage in rigorous, serious, meaningful debate about moral and political questions. And it serves to this day as the most influential, most important critique of both aggregative-utilitarian substitutes for a theory of justice and radically-egalitarian versions of such a theory. He was, in addition, a famously effective teacher who shaped two generations of Harvard philosophers, and a gracious gentleman who sought conversation and shared intellectual progress.Richard Epstein writes,
Political philosophers, policymakers, and lawyers are all in the debt of a modest man who mistakenly thought himself to be one of Keynes's obscure academic scribblers, only to turn out to have been a genuine leader in philosophical and political thought.Godspeed, John. "John Rawls, Towering Figure of Political Philosophy; at 81" "Rawls Remembered" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/27/2002 10:29:34 PM ----- BODY: Next week, the U.S. will call for eliminating tariffs on all industrial goods by 2015. After a year of going backward on the free trade front, this is a good sign. One thing I noticed is the plan will be announced by Robert Zoellick, the US Trade Representative, and Donald Evans, the commerce secretary. No where to be seen is Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. As a face for the administration's economic policy, O'Neill's been invisible. Does the administration have so little faith in him as a salesman? If so, then they need to find a replacement, someone who's bold and a loud defender for free market policies. Calling Larry Kudlow! "US Launches Plan to Abolish Key Tariffs" [via Daniel Drezner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/27/2002 10:23:33 PM ----- BODY: New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer's investigations on corporate scandal have been more effective than anything done by Washington Democrats. He has no intention of brutally punishing Wall Street firms. He told Noam Scheiber, "This is not a Robin Hood effort." He's taken an intellectually honest fraud angle and reaped a big settlement from Merrill Lynch. Think about Elliot Spitzer on the Democratic national ticket in 2004. I see little possibility of him running for President, but he would make an interesting pro-consumer, pro-investor, pragmatic VP candidate. I don't think it would be a wild stretch for President Bush to nominate him as SEC chief. After the problems with Harvey Pitt, a Spitzer nomination would kill any future corporate scandal attacks from Democrats. Spitzer would certainly be a different kind of Democrat than AlGore who is going farther and farther to the Left the more times he's being interviewed. "Consumer Party" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/27/2002 04:03:32 PM ----- BODY: Glenn points out how much of the blogosphere is having a hissy-fit over TIA. "Stay the FUCK out of my shopping cart!" is what shellshocking had to say. Note: when writing a letter to your Congressman or Senator, don't use the word "fuck." Here are a couple of points that won't soothe passions but do inject much-needed facts:
It is absurd to think that DARPA is somehow trying to become another police agency. DARPA's purpose is to demonstrate the feasibility of this technology. If it proves useful, TAI [sic: TIA] will then be turned over to the intelligence, counterintelligence and law enforcement communities as a tool to help them in their battle against domestic terrorism.
By zeroing in on perfectly normal commercial transactions, neither really targets the shadows where most criminal behavior really occurs. Any adverse impact or inconvenience from either will fall almost entirely on the shoulders of law-abiding citizens, at the expense of emphasizing more effective anti-crime or anti-terrorist measures.One final bit of speculation (I want to take off and do some Christmas shopping): if Clay Shirky is right and databases will one day use our DNA as a marker, then it will be extremely easy (and probably legal) for business to collect personal information. A mortgage company would be able to see if you've spent (what they consider) too much at Amazon. Airlines would know what countries you've traveled to. A family court could find out if you've been hiding money in a secret bank account to keep it away from you divorced wife. Such "Peer-to-Peer Collation of Data" along with the video cameras watching more of our public spaces will make our future more transparent. Like file-trading, this technology will be hard to stop. Technology brings change, and we'll all have to adapt. While I laugh at the weblogging hysteria, I'm satisfied that the U.S. won't become a police state simply because there are so many passionate people willing to stand up in opposition. "DNA, P2P, and Privacy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 10:19:25 PM ----- BODY: I've done lots of posting tonight. It wouldn't have been so much if I had read the time right for a late-afternoon showing of Die Another Day. Rod Dreher didn't like, but one's critical opinion never stopped me. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 10:16:24 PM ----- BODY: Should we knock Jacques Chirac for reading a magazine during a NATO session? No. Not standing behind the U.S. on Iraq is a much better reason to blast Chirac. After watching C-SPAN for 10 minutes, you'll find that most government types are boring. I feel for Chirac. Sitting for hours while the defense minister of Belgium talks about their force levels and defense spending would cause me to doze off. Kathryn Jean Lopez does note that if President Bush was caught with a magazine--say Sports Weekly--he'd be skewered in the press, and it would become an international incident. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 09:10:11 PM ----- BODY: The bin Laden letter makes it clear that Jewish hatred and the U.S. support of Israel is the foundation for Osama's war on the U.S. Any American is considered a valid target in his war because we pay taxes and vote for leaders that support Israel. What he wants from the U.S. is to follow Islam; abandon our "oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery" i.e. much of our modern way of life with its faults and benefits; and abandon Israel and remove ourselves from the rest of the world. Sounds like Pat Buchanan's dream. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 08:20:32 PM ----- BODY: Coach Mike Sherman isn't sorry he confronted Warren Sapp over his block on Chad Clifton after yesterday's Packers loss. "It's just the way I am. I thought I should tell him how I felt about it. I didn't want it to be confrontational. I just wanted to say what I felt was important," said Sherman. Tampa Bay coach, Jon Gruden said, "I don't believe you approach a player after the game." Sapp showed little class when he said, "If I was 25 years old and didn't have a kid and a conscience, I would have given him (Sherman) a butt-kicking right there at the 30-yard line." And there's this quote: "I was a heat-seeking missile. Boom. Boom. Boom. And I hit him [Clifton]." "NFL Says Sapp's Hit on Clifton was Legal" "Tampa Bay 21, Green Bay 7" "Sapp, Pack Coach Square Off with Barbs" "NFL Says no Fines for Sapp, Sherman" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 07:47:45 PM ----- BODY: Linus Awuhe, Zamfara chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, makes a striking critique of sharia (Islamic law) in Nigeria:
Tell me, how many hands of officials have been amputated? These people are looting the economy. How many of their hands have been amputated? They are amputating the hands of petty thieves, who do what they do because of social disorder. There are no good roads. The educational system is collapsing. Health care is zero. There is a great poverty in this land. The people are made to live miserable lives. So how can someone bring in a system of justice when that justice doesn't apply to him, who sends his children to school out of country? Who drives the road in a heavy jeep? Who lives in air conditioning? Who doesn't queue up for fuel? Who goes to Germany for health care? And above all uses his pen to rob the country? And who is amputating his hand?A backer of sharia approved of how the Taliban ran Afganistan. "There are one or two things I have an argument with, but generally I think they did very, very good," he said. The story is a sober look at strict Islamic law in practice. "Crime and Holy Punishment" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 06:29:33 PM ----- BODY: This isn't a surprise: after weakening the embargo on Cuba, U.S. companies have jumped at the chance to export to the Communist nation. Lowering trade barriers increases commerce, but will it hasten Castro's iron grip? The U.S. trades with China and Vietnam, but Communist Parties there won't relinquish power anytime soon. "U.S. Exports to Cuba Surge Over Year Ago" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 06:25:58 PM ----- BODY: At the top of the White House's economic wish list is pushing up the 2001 tax cut. One idea that should be pushed is cutting taxes on stock dividends. Right now, if a company pays out a dividend that money is taxed twice. First, it's taxed because it's a corporate profit. Then it's taxed because it's income to the stock holder. Because of this double taxation, many companies--especially techs--don't pay dividends. Microsoft has over $40 billion in cash and short-term investments. Such a large pool of money is an intimidating weapon to other companies. MS has the ability to buy new technology and spend lots on research. How do you think MS can afford to lose money on every X-Box they sell? Now, if dividends weren't taxed twice, MS shareholders might want some of that big stash of cash. Instead of MS collecting interest on the money, they might want to do something else with the dividends like buy a house, pay off debt, or diversify their investments. Stockholders might want MS to actively use the accumulated money. Cisco is another example of a company with a large stash of money in the bank ($12.5 billion in cash and short-term investments). Over the past year, that amount has increased 76% ($7.2 billion in the quarter ending 10.27.01). Maybe they're preparing for further hardship in the tech sector. Maybe they're looking to buy other companies. If dividends weren't taxed twice, Cisco could have boosted their share price. [Note: In the past few months, I sold my tiny, tiny stake in Cisco, but still indirectly own it (as well as MS) through NASDAQ's QQQ index.] Issuing dividends also is a protection against accounting scams. If a company doesn't issue dividends, its investors depend solely on a rising stock price to collect on their investment. In order for the stock price to rise, income must grow. By manipulating revenue and expense numbers, companies can make it appear that income is growing faster than it really is. If companies paid out periodic dividends, then smoke and mirrors wouldn't be effective. Investors would focus on the dividend. If it increased because the business was doing well, then the stock would go up. If it decreased, the stock would go down and investors would wonder what was going on. The dividend couldn't be manipulated because it's an actual payment to stockholders--it's real money. Right now, the tax code is a disincentive for stockholders to ask for dividends. You might like some of that excess cash locked away in a CD or money market instead of incorporated into a company's stock price, but with a 15% corporate income tax and a 28% personal income tax (and that's just the feds)) taking big chunks out of it you take your chances with market risk. Instead of hoping that the right people get on a national accounting oversight board, ending double taxation on dividends would let personal self-interest oppose corporate corruption. "Bush Plans Economic Stimulus" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 03:33:38 PM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds quotes from a recent law article on international law. The U.N. Charter has been a failure at restraining interstate war because there is no greater force available to prevent states from fighting each other. It's like the Kellogg-Briand Pact that renounced war as a national policy. Both are paper documents that mean little if the signatories want to ignore them. Would I want the U.N. to have an army to prevent war? No! The U.N. isn't democratic and isn't accountable to individual citizens. In fact, it's anti-democratic with members' treatment toward the U.S. and Israel. The U.N. does an awful job with the billions they get every year promoting radical environmental schemes and welfare statist policies. To give this organization an army would be a threat to liberty. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 01:40:56 AM ----- BODY: Soon-to-be ex Congressmen Bob Barr (R-GA) and Dick Armey (R-TX) have been hired by the ACLU to consult on privacy, surveillance, and national security issues. I'm sure they'll be keeping an eye on TIA's progress. "Defeated G.O.P. Congressman to Be Consultant for A.C.L.U." [via blogdex] UPDATE: In a USA Today story, the ACLU is taking a pragmatic political approach by hiring Barr and Armey. Realizing Republicans may be in power for some time Laura Murphy said, "We have to be realistic about what party's in power. If we're going to affect federal policy . . . we have to have access." "Conservative Favorites to Join ACLU" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2002 12:24:44 AM ----- BODY: The Boston Globe Ideas section ran a story on Tyler Cowen's latest book Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World's Cultures.
Cowen's new book, Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World's Cultures (Princeton), once again salutes the marriage of fine arts and free markets. Globalization, he argues, may indeed make one culture more like another; but it also makes the world as a whole more beautiful. It increases the degree of choice that individuals can enjoy within any given culture - and we should all be grateful for that."The Globalist Cookbook" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/24/2002 11:59:08 PM ----- BODY: Donations to feed the Israeli army. No, it isn't some Zionist conspiracy involving Pizza Hut. Instead, it's a grassroots effort for freedom-loving people to support a nation under attack. Pizzaidf.org [via A Small Victory and The Weblog Action Center] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/24/2002 11:49:26 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Shelby (R-AL) correct to expect another al-Qaeda attack. There's no reason to think that with the U.S. being such a large country that we wouldn't get attacked. We're their enemy, and until we destroy them, they will continue to come after us. "Senator Says Attack on U.S. Likely" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/23/2002 01:14:07 AM ----- BODY: Charlie Sykes discovered signs that state taxes will go up despite Gov-elect Jim Doyle's pledge not to raise them. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/23/2002 12:55:16 AM ----- BODY: Hans Blix as Mr. Magoo. [via Poet and Peasant] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2002 11:54:05 PM ----- BODY: Michael Crichton's Prey sounds entertaining: mesmerizing science and plenty of action. But there's some cheesy parts. There's this from Jim Holt's NY Times review:
When the nanobots start invading the bodies of the characters, causing them to say malevolently sarcastic things and to pucker their lips to administer fatal kisses -- well, much as I appreciated the technical verisimilitude, I could not help groaning a bit.Nanobots that can quickly learn English and do it with a sense of humor. If this is anywhere close to possible, Mankind is doomed. "Prey: Attack of the Nanoswarms" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2002 11:39:28 PM ----- BODY: The Daypop Top 40 is alive again. Whew, I was starting to get the shakes. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2002 11:29:10 PM ----- BODY: Nigerian Muslims, demonstrating that theirs is a religion of peace, have killed 100 in riots over the Miss World pageant and a related newspaper article. The pageant has been moved to London. "Miss World leaves Nigeria" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2002 04:33:17 PM ----- BODY: I'm posting this from a Road Runner kiosk that uses MS Internet Explorer 6.0. Massive chunks of TAM are missing. If any of you are using IE 6.0 and don't see the set of links down the right side, e-mail me (sean--at--theamericanmind dot com) or leave a comment. If you're using some other browser and TAM looks incomplete, let me know that too. Thanks. UPDATE: I'm home and TAM looks fine on IE 5.5. I'm guessing the Road Runner kiosk has some goofy setup for IE 6.0. If you use IE 6.0, let me know if TAM looks alright--chunks of text don't appear to be missing and the blogroll is along the right side. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2002 12:42:14 AM ----- BODY: Bravo, Bob! 30 years of intellectual integrity and a committment to free markets and free people has made the conservative movement deeply indebted to you. "Thirty Years of Progress--Mostly" [via Power Line] UPDATE: R. Emmett Tyrrell calls Bartley's speech, "the finest public address that I have heard on history in my adult life." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2002 11:37:52 PM ----- BODY: An Aegis cruiser successfully shot down a missile. How realistic the test was, I don't know, but progress on the missile defense front is being made. "Flight Mission 4 Missile Test Successful" [via Samizdata] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2002 10:59:04 PM ----- BODY: No surprise with Robert Caro winning the National Book Award for non-fiction for Master of the Senate. It should be the favorite for a Pulitzer. What I know for sure is Caro won't get on the prestigious TAM non-fiction book list. Master may be a fine book, but it's big, and I won't have time to finish it before the end of the year--a requirement for consideration. Sorry, Bob, too many other books caught my eye. Better luck with the final volume of your LBJ bio. "A First Novel Gets National Book Award" [via Blogcritics] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2002 10:43:14 PM ----- BODY: Kurt Cobain was even more messed up than I could have imagined. Here are some samples from his published journals:
I like to make incisions into the belly of infants then ---- the incisions until the child dies.Then there's his recollection of a trist with a mentally disabled girl in high school:
One day after school I went to her house . . . and she offered me some twinkies and I sat on her lap and said let's fuck.How about his idea for a video for the song "Rape Me:"
Big bald, sweaty, tattooed love boys cast from the waist up in their cold concrete tanks lounging on their backs . . . all 200 lbs plus and also about 5 to 8 more of whom we call the bitches skinny feminine . . .150 lbs and less.And there's Kurt pissed at the "in" crowd in high school:
It is time now for the 'fortunate ones,' the cheerleaders and the football jocks to strip down naked in front of the entire school at an assembly and plead with every ounce of their souls for mercy and forgiveness . . . they are representatives of gluttony and selfish values and to say that they are sorry for condoning these things will not be enough, they must mean it, they must have guns pointed to their heads.This guy's a cult figure with an album (Nevermind) many claim is one of the best in rock history. "Kurt, We Hardly Knew Ye" [via Andrew Sullivan] UPDATE: LCC mentioned a review of the book in the comments. Here's the weblog. You'll have to page down to 11.11 because the permalink isn't working. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2002 10:25:55 PM ----- BODY: I thought Andrew Sullivan lives on the East Coast. Then how can he post on Friday, 11.22 when it isn't Friday there yet (note the time of this post)? Methinks Andrew has a problem with his software. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2002 02:26:13 AM ----- BODY: Drudge has joined Fox News and Bill Safire in blowing TIA out of proportion. Fox News' headline reads, "Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases." Near the end of the story it says, "The database is not yet ready and Aldridge said it will not be available for several years." Big Brother isn't eminent. Yesterday, I posted a good portion of Undersecretary Aldridge's remarks on TIA. TIA wouldn't be run by the Pentagon.
If it proves useful, TAI [sic: TIA] will then be turned over to the intelligence, counterintelligence and law enforcement communities as a tool to help them in their battle against domestic terrorism.Also, personal information would still be protected by the Privacy Act. This is not to say that TIA is good or would be effective. It just shouldn't be blown out of proportion. People don't need to be unnecessarily scared by a project that is only being researched and is years from implementation. Vigilance, yes, but not hysteria. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2002 12:13:39 AM ----- BODY: Scott Adams on management books:
Despite their total lack of usefulness, business books are successful because there's a part of the human brain--called the stupidity lobe--that makes us believe that stories of successful people apply to our own situation.Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 08:36:54 PM ----- BODY: The 2010 Super Bowl in Green Bay? It's Stephen Hayes' dream, but in a city of around 50,000, there would be few hotel rooms for the media, fans, and corporate guests. I'd love to see a cold weather Super Bowl on the Frozen Tundra, but it'll never happen. "Weather or Not: The Super Bowl, Outside, in the Cold" [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 08:08:14 PM ----- BODY: Paleos will be screaming at their computer screens when reading this article by Jonah Goldberg. He writes,
Every society, it's been said, tends to worry about those things it has least cause to worry about. Queen Victoria probably worried about lax sexual attitudes, even though Victorian England was bound tighter than a corset. Today, we worry desperately about our personal and political freedom even though we are more free today than at any time in our history."Americans Enjoy More Freedom Today than Ever" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 07:47:59 PM ----- BODY: HUMOR: I wonder if the warhead is more nutritious than tree bark. "N. Korean Nuke Eaten by Hungry Mob" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 07:43:25 PM ----- BODY: ABC, ABC, I'm right here (the guy that doesn't look like Pat Buchanan). "ABC Seeks Sexiest Person in America" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 07:38:41 PM ----- BODY: Someone please tell Sen. Jim Jeffords to take his milk compact, stick it up his rectum, and go back to Vermont. Even if he grovels to Sen. Lott on the floor of the Senate, I don't want him back in the GOP. "Sorry, Jim" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 07:33:22 PM ----- BODY: Defense Undersecretary Pete Aldridge spoke to the press today on Adm. John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness System.
The war on terror and the tracking of potential terrorists and terrorist acts require that we search for clues of such activities in a mass of data. It's kind of a signal-to-noise ratio. What are they doing in all these things that are going on around the world? And we decided that new capabilities and new technologies are required to accomplish that task. Therefore, we established a project within DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, that would develop an experimental prototype -- underline, experimental prototype, which we call the Total Information Awareness System. The purpose of TIA would be to determine the feasibility of searching vast quantities of data to determine links and patterns indicative of terrorist activities. There are three parts to the TIA project to aid in this anti- terrorist effort. The first part is technologies that would permit rapid language translation, such as you -- as we have used on the computers now, we can -- there's voice recognition capabilities that exist on existing computers. The second part was discovery of connections between transactions -- such as passports; visas; work permits; driver's license; credit card; airline tickets; rental cars; gun purchases; chemical purchases -- and events -- such as arrest or suspicious activities and so forth. So again, it try to discover the connections between these things called transactions. And the third part was a collaborative reasoning-and-decision- making tools to allow interagency communications and analysis. In other words, what kind of decision tools would permit the analysts to work together in an interagency community? The experiment will be demonstrated using test data fabricated to resemble real-life events. We'll not use detailed information that is real. In order to preserve the sanctity of individual privacy, we're designing this system to ensure complete anonymity of uninvolved citizens, thus focusing the efforts of law enforcement officials on terrorist investigations. The information gathered would then be subject to the same legal projections (sic) currently in place for the other law enforcement activities. ... It is absurd to think that DARPA is somehow trying to become another police agency. DARPA's purpose is to demonstrate the feasibility of this technology. If it proves useful, TAI [sic: TIA] will then be turned over to the intelligence, counterintelligence and law enforcement communities as a tool to help them in their battle against domestic terrorism. The bottom line is, this is an important research project to determine the feasibility of using certain transactions and events to discover and respond to terrorists before they act. We all share the frustration associated with vague warnings of terrorist threats. We hope that TIA will help the U.S. government narrow those generic -- genetic reports -- generic reports down to advance notice of specific threatening acts. I hope that's clear.Reporters questioned Aldridge on Poindexter's role with the project:
[W]hat John Poindexter is doing is developing a tool. He's not exercising the tool. He will not exercise the tool. That tool will be exercised by the intelligence, counterintelligence and law enforcement agencies.As for the Big Brother aspect of TIA, Aldridge told reporters,
Q: Can you run over the transactions again? It sounds like every time I would enter or a citizen would enter a credit card, any banking transaction, any medical -- I go see my doctor, any prescription, all of those things become part of this database -- right? -- hypothetically? Aldridge: Hypothetically they would, although the data that would go along with personal information such as bank accounts, that would all be protected in the Privacy Act just as it is today. Individuals would not be associated with that.For now, TIA is only a research project. If the government finds the technology feasible it would be turned over to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. For more wide-scale surveillance the Privacy Act would have to be modified. If that's attempted, there's where the big political battle would be. A big problem with TIA is that in order to find a pattern of suspicious behavior, lots and lots of data from innocent people will have to be collected. Even if a suspicious man from Saudi Arabia enters the U.S. with a valid visa, watching him would require gathering plenty of data from non-suspicious people. How they would be protected is a legitimate concern. Maybe through this research, the government will find that such extensive data gathering and analysis is not fruitful. I'm not really worried about TIA now because it's only an "experimental prototype," and the Privacy Act would have to be altered for TIA to be put in use. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 04:04:54 AM ----- BODY: Dinesh D'Souza points out that we live in the real world and that foreign policy sometimes must accept a lesser evil:
In the real world, as opposed to the philosophy seminar, the choice is often not between the good guy and the bad guy, but between the bad guy and the really bad guy. In such a situation, a country is justified in allying with a bad guy to oppose a regime that is even more terrible. The classic example of this occurred in World War II. The United States allied with a very bad man, Josef Stalin, to defeat someone who then posed a greater threat ? Adolf Hitler. ... Critics of U.S. intervention abroad frequently miss the point that foreign policy is a practical enterprise. Those who condemn the United States for once backing bin Laden and Saddam are blind to the fact that situations change, and, therefore, policies must be devised to deal with a particular situation at a given time. It is foolish to hold the United States culpable for "inconsistently" changing its policy when the underlying situation that justified the original policy has also changed. By this reasoning, America was justified during the 1980s in providing weapons to the mujahedin, even if this group included bin Laden, to drive the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. Similarly, there was nothing wrong with America's supporting Saddam in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the greatest threat in the region came from Iran. Obviously bin Laden and Hussein are much greater threats today, and we know things about them now that were not known at the time we supported them. This new situation justifies the Bush administration's current policy of attempting to neutralize the threat posed by both men.Any serious criticism of Bush's foreign policy (both on the Right and Left) must consider constraints and alternatives. "Sometimes No Good Guy Exists" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2002 03:40:38 AM ----- BODY: The Mother Jones article totes the Left line for the Democrats' failure in the elections:
But now, under near-perfect laboratory conditions, we have witnessed a test of what Democrats get by responding to a reactionary and ideologically unapologetic Republican agenda with either acquiescence or timid frowns: smoking ruins. Election day 2002 marked the worst midterm performance by a party outside the White House since the Republicans in Franklin Delanore Roosevelt's 1934.Rick Perlstein wanted Democrats to go on a Lefty rampage: call for more health care spending and more regulation of business. On the first plank, he's flat wrong. In Oregon, voters could have approved a government-run health care plan, but it was soundly defeated. Voters may want more health care spending, but they don't want the government as their HMO. On the second plank there really isn't any evidence that voters want more business regulation. Sure, they may not trust business leaders. I don't trust business leaders when they yap about their current quarter numbers. I want to see longer-term success instead of short-term spin. Yet just because voters don't trust business leaders that doesn't mean they want more regulations. Democrats tried to use corporate scandal as an election weapon earlier this year. They got no traction with it and dropped it. "The 'Safety' Trap" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/19/2002 03:32:20 AM ----- BODY: The local Greens want an investigation of the Racine rave bust. UPDATE: Sorry, I messed up the link. It looks good now. It's not a big deal since it is only the Greens, but it's the latest I found on the story. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/19/2002 01:26:49 AM ----- BODY: PaleoWatch: My latest find highlighting the strangeness of paleo thinking isn't about the article's content. Paul Gottfried wants to see the conservative movement (National Review in particular) focus on affirmative action and immigration. Those are issues that deserve further examination. What most interested me is Gottfried's jubilation over Jonah Goldberg's "demotion" to editor-at-large. (You be the judge of whether Goldberg got fired or not.) Goldberg doesn't write, he "rambles." He "fawns on the powerful" in some conservative version of People magazine. Gottfried claims Goldberg doesn't know much other than recent history and pop culture referrences. That's funny since I seem to notice plenty of quotes in Goldberg's articles from old books by Robert Nisbet, Friedrich Hayek, and Edmund Burke. It's one thing to be critical of someone else's ideas; it's another to lob snarky insults. That's the approach of the paleos. They ridicule conservatives (Gottfried called Bill Buckley "senile."), label their opposition "neoconservatives"--as if that's suppose to be an insult--and claim to be victims (Gottfried didn't get tenure because of "neo-conservative lobbying"). Paleos are bitter because they aren't leading the conservative charge. That doesn't make for the most pleasant of reading. "Jonah, We Hardly Knew Ye!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/18/2002 08:15:17 PM ----- BODY: Lee Bockhorn comments on a recent Time article on the unborn and the book that inspired it, From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds:
For the majority of Americans, who are not unabashed enthusiasts for unlimited abortion on demand, the difficulty lies in determining how the law should distinguish between human life that must be protected and that which should still be subject to a woman's "choice." But science is making it increasingly difficult to draw that line at some arbitrary point such as the end of the "first trimester" or "second trimester." Given the enormity of the moral implications involved, should we not then err on the side of drawing the line as close to conception as possible? In our ever-roiling debates about abortion, cloning, and research using embryos, the awe and respect for nascent human life that the new science rightfully generates should place the burden of proof on those who would ignore the inherent dignity of human life--those who prefer the interests of the strong over the weak, who prefer those with voices against those powerless to speak for themselves, and who prefer convenience and control over the selfless embrace of the most vulnerable among us.Bockhorn then makes an interesting case that the GOP should quickly vote on banning partial-birth abortions:
But the more important reason is this: Like the war resolution on Iraq, a vote on partial-birth abortion would reveal a deep division within the Democratic party, and once again forcibly expose the party's utter confusion on matters of clear moral principle--whether it is the forthright defense of America from its avowed enemies, or the defense of late-term, unborn children from an abortion method for which the term "barbaric" is insufficiently strong."When Life Begins" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/18/2002 04:20:21 PM ----- BODY: Orin Kerr over at the Volokh Conspiracy (beware it's growing!) hasn't found evidence for Bill Safire's Big Brother fear in the Homeland Security Department bill:
Second, and more importantly, Safire's nightmarish scenario appears to have no basis in fact. The Total Information Awareness program is a proposal to create a database to "data mine" evidence the government has already legally collected, not to collect new evidence. The program would let evidence already collected by different parts of the government and found in the public domain to be assembled together and examined for clues about terrorist activity. In other words, TIA would not authorize the collection of evidence about your credit card purchases, magazine subscriptions, websites you visit, e-mails you send or receive, academic grades, bank deposits, or trips (much less all of these, as Safire claims). The framework of privacy laws that the government must comply with to collect evidence would remain unchanged. As best I can tell, TIA is not a surveillance system, but the press has decided to cover it as if it were. Strange. Very strange.Near the end of the Washington Times story Kerr linked to it says TIA would require changing the Privacy Act of 1974. Even if the bill is passed with TIA unchanged, Safire's fears wouldn't happen. Not only the press, but many, many webloggers jumped on this story. Last week, Safire's column was at the top of blogdex for three days. I don't remember any web page staying on top that long. I'm glad the story got some attention. Eternal vigilence is the price of liberty, but this was mild hysteria. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/18/2002 04:01:00 PM ----- BODY: Wisconsin teachers won't be going on strike. A majority of union locals rejected that idea which was floated in a pre-Election Day memo. On the local level, many teachers realize that if they want to be treated as professionals they should act like professionals. Someone should tell the union leadership. Charlie Sykes also goes into the lack of teachers' professionalism in some Milwaukee area schools. "Taking it out on the Kids" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/17/2002 07:39:04 PM ----- BODY: The most interesting part of Tom Krannawitter's assessment of the California GOP is his condemnation of the intitiative process:
Perhaps the most corrosive element of the California Constitution is the initiative. As evidenced by Proposition 13 (limiting property taxes) in 1978, and Propositions 209 (abolishing affirmative action) and 227 (ending bilingual education) more recently, conservatives use the initiative to advance their policies, rather than building a political majority of Republicans to advance their principles. Although a popular way of correcting bad government policies, the initiative process makes electing Republicans less relevant, and in the long run may be destructive of deliberative, constitutional government. Initiatives appeal to the passions and emotions of voters, drowning out any deliberation about principle. Proposition 209, for example, was supported by a large majority of Californians, but instead of being debated on the floor of the legislature, un-elected liberal proponents of affirmative action responded hysterically, hurling allegations of racism and bigotry against anyone who opposed race-based preferences. What could have been a re-aligning opportunity for the Republican Party of California, and a political vindication of equal rights and colorblind law in our halls of legislation, was squandered. Republican legislators had little at stake in the fight, and most preferred to stand on the sidelines and say nothing about a subject that was then on everyone's mind.Note that Prop 13 was a watershed political moment that could be argued let to Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980. "A Political Forecast" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/17/2002 07:18:50 PM ----- BODY: Scott McCollum gets it right when he points out that taxing Internet sales is not about states losing tax revenue. It's about states spending too much and looking for new sources of money.
There is one glaringly obvious problem with the argument that the steps are designed to make sure states don't lose money on tax revenues: How can you lose money that you've never had to begin with? It's like saying: "Damn, I lost 56 million bucks on the lottery last night" and you never even bought a lotto ticket. For tax collectors in Utah to address their budget problems by taxing Missourians shopping online (who, as Missourians, have no representation whatsoever in Utah's legislative process) is silly. Utah isn't $411 million in the hole because it wasn't getting its fair share of tax revenues from families in West Jordan buying Veggie Tales books off Amazon.com; Utah is $411 million in the red because it spends too much money.If Net retailers were required to collect state sales taxes there's no reason consumers would buy as much as they do online. One plus for Net shopping is that you save a little by not paying sales tax. I don't have any sympathy for Gov. Mike Leavitt (R-UT) and his pro Net taxers because government isn't entitled to a set amount of money just like I'm not entitled to a set wage even if my employer goes bankrupt. "Tax Attack" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/17/2002 06:37:37 PM ----- BODY: Germany has a stalled economy with unemployment and budget deficits creeping upward. Gerhard Schröder's solution: raise taxes. Not even Paul Krugman would support this. Taking more money out of productive hands and into non-productive hands is certain to simulate the economy--at least that must be the thinking of this "free market socialist" (the NY Times' label, not mine). Germans are rightfully upset. Schröder's poll ratings are falling, and "The Tax Song" is a big hit. Germany's problem is it's regulations. It's tough and expensive to hire and fire workers. Subsidies and taxes distort markets and build constituencies to prevent them from being changed. One man hit it on the head when he said, "Holland is a land of traders. They are flexible and aggressive. We Germans are too rigid to compete." "Schröder's Tax Surprise Angers Many Germans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/17/2002 06:28:16 PM ----- BODY: TAM is accessible in China. To all my Chinese readers: your government doesn't think my thoughts, rants, and raves are a threat to the stability of your country. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I don't want you to be denied by musings. On the other hand, I wonder if I'm being provocative enough? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/16/2002 11:03:18 PM ----- BODY: Little sympathy from the Racine Journal Times editors over the recent rave bust.
Racine really doesn't want or need to become a travel destination spot for parties that feature open exchanges of drugs and that's clearly what was going on here. The protestations by the organizers that they don't condone the use of drugs belongs with the detritus of pills, baby pacifiers and other drug paraphernalia that was left on the dance floor. Loud music and light shows -- call them raves if you want -- can probably find a spot here. But not illegal drugs. And for the handful of "innocents" swept up in the raid, well, they'll get a chance to tell their compelling story to a judge.I think it was an irrational fear by the police that drugs like Ecstasy and Ketamine are so much worse than alcohol. Sure, they might do more bodily damage, but even the editors said these drugs induce "feelings of peacefulness and empathy." That's different than the rowdiness associated with alcohol. A few weeks ago, thousands of drunken people made a mess of State Street in Madison, WI, yet only 16 people were arrested. A double standard? The Green Bay News-Chronicle called Racine police "chumps" and went on to write,
If the Racine City Council was running Green Bay, 63,284 people would have been ticketed at the Monday night Packer game because of 70-some people getting drunk, rowdy and urinating in the men's room sinks."The Rant over Rave Falls on Deaf Ears" "Police Quell Halloween Party Riot" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/16/2002 10:45:01 PM ----- BODY: Despite Bill Safire's fears, the Reuters reports that the homeland security department bill doesn't contain a provision for the Pentagon to engage in domestic electronic surveillance. Instead, "the proposed agency would combine several surveillance efforts under one roof, from airline-passenger screening programs to immigration databases and criminal financial investigations. A office would oversee and coordinate their efforts." That in itself might not be a good thing, but it's a far cry from Safire's claim:
Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend--all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database.""Homeland Security Bill Raises Net Privacy Issues" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/16/2002 02:44:45 AM ----- BODY: Drudge reports that Bob Woodward's new book Bush at War is being "tightly held" by Simon and Schuster. It's being so tightly held that my store has had boxes of books for a few days. We can't sell them until next week, but no one could stop me or any other employee from popping open a box and reading it from cover to cover. To Drudge's credit, he picks out some interesting quotes. Karl Rove's comparison of a Yankees game with a Nazi rally is sure to be embarrassing. What I'm interested in is the tension between the Powell and Rumsfeld/Cheney camps on how aggressive to be in the Islamist War. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/16/2002 02:33:41 AM ----- BODY: Teachers are using students as pawns in their contract negotiations. Some are withholding letters of recommendation until they get a contract. One student said, "I understand why they are fighting, since they do need a contract. But hurting the students is what I don't understand." This is a part of a state-wide teachers union out of control. A few weeks back a memo got out where the union threatened to illegally strike if Jim Doyle didn't get elected governor (he won). These are just obnoxious tactics to try to pry as much money out of the taxpayers as possible. "Teacher Job Action Puts College Letters on Hold" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2002 04:31:36 AM ----- BODY: I'll join Colin Powell in rejecting hateful, unthinking statements like Jimmy Swaggart's:
We ought to tell every other Muslim living in this nation that if you say one word, you're gone.It must not make any difference to Swaggart whether the Muslim is a U.S. citizen or not. "Powell Attacks Christian Right" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2002 03:57:16 AM ----- BODY: Not everything published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute is goofy paleo diatribe even though it's run by Anarchy Lew Rockwell. Christopher Coyne notes that economic classes in the U.S. are momentary snapshots. We live in a dynamic society where poor become rich and rich become poor. Coyne then defends economic inequality because
Attempts at imposed equality destroy individuality. Individuality allows for specialization, the division of labor and economic progress. When it is hampered, so are these outgrowths. The critic may vociferously object: "Krugman is only calling for equality of income, not equality in all areas of life!" Our response is that the two are inextricably related.Coyne not only rips Paul Krugman, he defends economic liberty. It's good reading. "Inequality Serves a Social and Economic Purpose" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2002 03:46:58 AM ----- BODY: The weblog is an open writing type. As such, it allows for a multiplicity of variations. From warbloggers, to personal journalers, to techbloggers, weblogs allow a host of people to rant, rave, argue, and comment on anything that catches their eye. As Lynn writes:
In short, blogging has become a way for everyone to express themselves on any subject they happen to be interested in or no subject at all. And someone thinks that's a bad thing? Sounds like someone who wants freedom of expression only for themselves and the few people who agree with them.Some like the variety in the blogosphere. I like it that I can cheaply write my thoughts about anything, and anyone with on the Web can read it. That's exciting. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2002 02:53:32 AM ----- BODY: While Tora, Tora, Tora (great movie) will be shown on 12.7 in Los Angeles, the controversey is a reason why government shouldn't be in the movie-owning business. "Pearl Vets Survive Political Correctness Attack" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2002 02:06:55 AM ----- BODY: The White House may be scared of appearing to be in the pocket of pro-lifers, but Ken Connor of the Family Research Council points out the importance of the pro-life vote to last week's GOP victories:
Republican Congress was elected because of the pro-life vote, and they need to heed that vote. We know the abortion issue was the number two issue that prompted voter turnout in Minnesota, the number three issue in Missouri, and we know 76 percent of self-identified religious conservatives in Georgia voted for Saxby Chambliss. In no small part, the favorable outcome of this election for Republicans is a consequence of motivated pro-life voters who turned out to the polls.With the new Congress, we'll see a new ban on gruesome partial-birth abortions--whether it will meet constitutional muster is another question. Pro-lifers won't need to throw their weight around. They'll get a good chunk of their agenda passed despite Conner's claim that GOP leaders told pro-lifers to "Get lost!" The biggest effect of a story like this is that it scares the pro-abortion people to death (pun intended). NARAL and their ilk have lots of pull quotes for months of fundraising letters. But it might not matter much if their future scaremongering is as effective as what they did this year. "Lott's Promise to Bring Up Abortion Worries Bush Aides" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2002 01:48:06 AM ----- BODY: Lively comments on the Racine rave bust. Here's the most important take on it, mine! Anyone who's even glimpsed the rave/electronic dance culture knows drugs are a significant part of it. Not all people who attend raves, go clubbing, or make dance music do drugs, but many do. Just open up any issue of Urb, Mixer, or Ministry magazines and you'll find articles where party goers and musicians talk about getting high on various substances. So, unless they were totally new to the electronic dance scene, anyone attending the Racine rave should have known some people there were consuming illegal drugs. It's akin to going to a high school party just to yap with friends and flirt with members of the opposite sex. It's a good guess that underage drinking is taking place. Now, that doesn't mean the police were justified in ticketing everyone who attended the party, nor does it justify any overreaction by the police. What should have happened is the police should have arrested those found with drugs while the rest were questioned and released. The police should have done what routinely happens when an underage beer party is discovered: underage drinkers are fined while everyone else is told to leave. The rave wasn't more dangerous than a beer party. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/14/2002 02:20:13 AM ----- BODY: The Racine Journal Times has jumped onto the weblogging bandwagon. Tundra Talk and Woelfel on the Web both cover sports and a weblog called Inside the JT is supposed to be a behind the scenes look at the newspaper when it starts up. It's pretty impressive for a small newspaper, and it beat the Goliath of the area, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which has no weblogs to speak of. Hey, JS guys, want a fast jump start into the weblogging world? I'm sure we could work out something reasonable to get TAM aboard. *HINT* *HINT* -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2002 01:56:11 PM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds posted on a recent rave bust where 441 people were fined $968 dollars for "patron of a disorderly house." Like Reynolds, I see this as a police overreach because out of the hundreds of people at the Racine, WI party, only three were arrested for drug possession. In a letter to the Racine Journal Times rave-goer, Andy Nelson [first letter] described what was going on before the police bust:
When looking at the flyer for the "drug party" as David Steinkraus put it in his article "Police corral hundreds at rave party" (Nov. 4, 2002) you will see that it states that all people entering the building will be searched and that no drugs or weapons will be allowed in the building and no alcohol for people under the age of 21. When I got there I did not see any drug usage or sale and was fine with that. It was all about having a fun time for most of us. Three or four people bring drugs and ruin it for the rest of us. "It was a rave, a type of party known for a mix of music and recreational drugs such as Ecstasy, police said." Raves are known for this sure, but anyone who has actually been to one knows that it isn't as bad as made out to be. Bars are known to cause drunk drivers. Anyone going to get busted for that? Probably not. Most people (not all as that would be a lie) aren't there for drugs. I'm sure a few people were doing it, but why hand out tickets for everyone there? As you can see our tax dollars are well spent keeping kids from doing anything on a Saturday night that might be remotely fun. I don't do drugs and I don't see why dancing at a party where someone is would be a crime. Everyone there was issued tickets for $968 for "disorderly conduct, unruly house controlled substances." I don't see how my conduct was unruly. When they police told us to sit, I sat; when they told us to move, I moved. How is that unruly? I was there to dance and that is all I did. I paid $15 to get in and now I will have to pay $968 to leave the place? Explain how that is fair. I for one will be showing up in court with the hundreds of others at that party and it will most likely cost you more in tax dollars to do that than they will make in tickets. And for what? Just to keep kids on the street where they don't get caught. If Racine would have posted police inside the place I would doubt that any of this would have happened. Help us have a good time and stay off the streets instead or punishing us for finding something to do on a Saturday night.In another letter to the editor, Judd Lauger [first letter] accuses the police of threatening people with mace. And to answer Glenn's question about electronic music at Packers games: they play it, but they find the cheeziest, lamest stuff around. "441 Citations Could Mean $968 for Each Rave-Goer" "Partygoers, Organizers Say Police Overreacted with Mass Citations" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2002 01:16:25 PM ----- BODY: Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey got airports named after them, and Sen. Robert Bryd (D-WV) probably has half the paved roads in West Virginia named after him. How does Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) want to honor Sen. Paul Wellstone? By slapping his name on a housing project. How fitting. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2002 01:08:17 PM ----- BODY: By declaring his independence, new Minnesota Senator Dean Barkley ended up backing the Democrats by default. Barkley knew that by playing one side with the other he could have shaped the Senate according to his supposed centrist ideology (if such a beast even exists). He talked to other known independents: John Anderson, Lowell Weicker, and Sen. Jim Jefford (I-VT). All of them are liberals. Where were the discussions with ex-Republican Pat Buchanan or Ross Perot? Rush was right: Centrist is the new name for a moderate; and a moderate is just a euphanism for a wimpy liberal. Barkley has shown his true political colors this week even if he will only be a "minor footnote to history." "Substitute Senator Begins a 'Surreal' 57 Days in Office" "Barkley Staying True to His Party" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2002 03:21:56 AM ----- BODY: Stephen Hayes wants Bill Moyers to spew anti-Republican cant daily.
But, in a rare victory of the practical over the principled, I now say keep him. Pay for him. Give him a raise and a daily show. The tragedy of Bill Moyers is that very few people watch him these days. And nothing would be more helpful to the "right-wingers" Moyers so despises than to give him a bigger platform. For lost in Moyers's tirade is this simple fact: some 53 percent of Americans voted for the Republicans that worry him so. In races throughout the country last week, Americans voted against Democrats far more reasonable than Bill Moyers will ever be. And in even higher percentages, Americans approve of President Bush. So let Moyers attack the judgment of the voters who help pay his salary."Preaching to the Choir" [via Power Line] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2002 02:49:14 AM ----- BODY: Eugene Volokh gets some nice publicity in this AP story on a Supreme Court case dealing with Net filtering in libraries.
"The government has more authority when it's controlling the purse strings than when it's deciding what people can do with private funds and private property," said Eugene Volokh, a conservative constitutional expert at UCLA Law School. Still, Volokh predicts the government will lose as the court again grapples with the balance between protecting children and preserving free speech. The court has been very protective of First Amendment rights."Supreme Court to Hear Web Porn Case" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2002 03:26:17 AM ----- BODY: Saddam's son would allow U.N. inspectors into Iraq but with conditions--"limits on certain points" to use Odai Saddam Hussein's words. That won't cut it with President Bush who said yesterday, "Saddam Hussein will fully disarm and prove that he has done so, or America will lead a coalition to disarm him." "Saddam's Son: Admit U.N. Inspectors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2002 02:16:18 AM ----- BODY: I rarely Fisk. Some find the process cathartic. For me, I rant and rave at my computer screen as I'm reading something truly ridiculous. After finishing, I can't remember what clever phrases I screamed out. Sometime, I should just record myself surfing and offer that as a post. Anyway, Bill Moyer's take on the 2002 election is short and has enough juicy material to Fisk it to hell. Here we go.
Way back in the 1950's when I first tasted politics and journalism, Republicans briefly controlled the White House and Congress. With the exception of Joseph McCarthy and his vicious ilk, they were a reasonable lot, presided over by that giant war hero, Dwight Eisenhower, who was conservative by temperament and moderate in the use of power.Moyers had to toss in the McCarthy jab. Dirtying the Republicans with a man who's been dead for years is a fine rhetorical flourish.
That brand of Republican is gone. And for the first time in the memory of anyone alive, the entire federal government--the Congress, the Executive, the Judiciary--is united behind a right-wing agenda for which George W. Bush believes he now has a mandate. That mandate includes the power of the state to force pregnant women to give up control over their own lives.Moyers can't plainly state that the GOP opposes abortion just as he can't plainly state is support for it. For him, it's alright to kill children in the womb (or practically outside the womb by partial-birth abortions). Another way of stating Moyers' point is a GOP controlled government has a mandate to protect the unborn. Not even the die-hard right-to-life people think this. This is just a scare tactic Moyers is using to frighten liberal and moderate women.
It includes using the taxing power to transfer wealth from working people to the rich.Moyers could have said he opposed Bush's tax cut because people who earned more income (the rich) will benefit more. He doesn't say that, but instead tries to make it look like the tax code is a transfer program. Tax cuts don't take money from Peter and give it to Paul. That's call welfare--be it social or corporate. Tax cuts allow people to keep more of their own money instead of sending it to be wasted in Washington.
It includes giving corporations a free hand to eviscerate the environment and control the regulatory agencies meant to hold them accountable.Yes, yes, yes. Moyers finally figured it out. Conservatives and the GOP want to drink dirty water, breath dirty air, and let bald eagles and spotted owls go extinct. If they could, they'd pave over Yellowstone and build a really big Wal-Mart on top of it. I'm being facetious because claiming a major political party wants to destroy the environment is intellectually dishonest. The difference between the parties isn't one of ends but means. The Democrats prefer highly regulated approaches that cost a lot and stomp on property rights, while the GOP looks for more innovative ideas.
And it includes secrecy on a scale you cannot imagine. Above all, it means judges with a political agenda appointed for life. If you liked the Supreme Court that put George W. Bush in the White House, you will swoon over what's coming.Moyers confuses an approach to the law with a political agenda. He opposes Justices Scalia's, Thomas', and Renquists' opinions where they regard the text of the constitution and the Founders' intent as their foundation. Bush nominees have a good chance of stopping liberal judges from legislating from the bench. That's something Moyers doesn't mind as long as they do it in the name of "progressive social justice."
And if you like God in government, get ready for the Rapture. These folks don't even mind you referring to the GOP as the party of God. Why else would the new House Majority Leader say that the Almighty is using him to promote 'a Biblical worldview' in American politics?Rapture? Are these the end times? Is Moyers holding back on the biggest story of them all? Is he in cahoots with Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins to sell more Left Behind books? No. He just doesn't know much about that strand of evangelical Protestantism that believes God will take a portion of His flock to Heaven leaving others to live through the end times. Moyers uses the term to mock his political opponents. What it is is religious bigotry. Just as he wouldn't mock Muslims for running around a black rock in Mecca, he shouldn't mock the beliefs of many evangelical Christians.
So it is a heady time in Washington--a heady time for piety, profits, and military power, all joined at the hip by ideology and money. Don't forget the money. It came pouring into this election, to both parties, from corporate America and others who expect the payback. Republicans outraised democrats by $184 million dollars. And came up with the big prize--monopoly control of the American government, and the power of the state to turn their ideology into the law of the land. Quite a bargain at any price.Moyers ends it by complaining about too much money in politics. The dirty little secret is that so much spending happened during this campaign cycle because a new campaign finance (first amendment restriction) law was passed. Since the parties couldn't use soft money after Nov. 5, they used it all up now.
That's it for this week.Thank, God! [link via Power Line] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2002 01:25:24 AM ----- BODY: Borders already has a list of the best non-fiction books of 2002. It's no surprise that Robert Caro's Master of the Senate is on there. I am a little surprised they picked Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science. It's a very large esoteric book, but maybe they appreciated Wolfram's original approach. I'm going to try to read Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate soon so I can see if it lives up to the hype. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2002 01:00:02 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins interviewed Victor Davis Hanson. John asked Hanson about the future of U.S.-Europe relations. Hanson gave this provocotive answer:
The cold war was an aberration. Note how quickly the Europeans turned on America once 400 hostile divisions were no longer on their borders. They make up a big continent with a big population that deserves pride and power commensurate with their economy and population; so it is time for both of us to recognize that, bring the troops home or redeploy them in more friendly eastern European countries, and as friends let them develop their own military identity. Keeping 200,000 troops abroad to protect a rich continent is unhealthy for all parties involved. We are a different people, and to preserve our common heritage and friendship, we must recognize those divergences and thus it would be safer in the long run to let them defend themselves and not seek such shrillness in lieu of power and independence.This answer would be strange to the paleo crowd. Since Hanson and his ilk are bloodthristy "chicken hawks" intent on building (maintaining?) an American empire, how could he support removing troops from a part of the world? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2002 12:40:42 AM ----- BODY: Time's look at how the GOP won last week's elections brought out this interesting fact:
[I]n Minnesota, Vice President Dick Cheney called Tim Pawlenty, the Republican majority leader in the Statehouse, just 90 minutes before he was set to announce his bid for the Senate and asked him to stand down so that [Norm] Coleman could move in.It worked out for both Coleman and Pawlenty. "W. and the 'Boy Genius'" [via Bo Cowgill] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2002 12:03:53 AM ----- BODY: The Economist takes aim at Naomi Klein of No Logo fame. They offer this on her latest Fences and Windows:
In training her guns on free trade and big multinationals, Ms Klein is attacking the best means for reducing poverty and, for that matter, extending justice and a political voice to the world's poorest people. When companies, properly regulated and acting within the law, pursue profits, they end up increasing prosperity. This is not a theory but an easily observable fact. The result, unintended though it may be, is social good. Ms Klein denies all this at every turn?and the tragedy is that her denials have an effect. Ms Klein's harshest critics must allow that, for an angry adolescent, she writes rather well. It takes journalistic skill of a high order to write page after page of engaging blather, so totally devoid of substance. What a pity she has turned her talents as a writer to a cause that can only harm the people she claims to care most about. But perhaps it is just a phase."Why Naomi Klein Needs to Grow Up" [via A&LD] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/11/2002 11:40:16 PM ----- BODY: 10 Cubans made a daring escape to the U.S. in a Russian bi-plane owned by someone named "Fidel." With this administration there's no fear that federal agents will send them back to Cuba at gun point like they did to Elian Gonzalez. "Plane Carrying Cubans Forced to Land in Florida" "Cuban Family Escapes on Plane" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/10/2002 07:15:35 PM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell writes,
With power comes responsibility. When the presidential election of 2004 rolls around, the voters are going to want to know what George W. Bush and the Republicans have actually accomplished with the power they were given. There will be no excuses that the Democrats obstructed the president's agenda or held up his judicial nominees.Sowell wants to see a focus on confirming judges.
We do not need liberal judges or conservative judges. We need judges who follow the laws and the constitution. And we need to get such judges confirmed by the Senate, without ideological litmus tests based on abortion or any other political issue. This is one of those islands that cannot be by-passed if we want to preserve the right of Americans to govern themselves.Can anyone help me out? I want to know of a liberal judge (past or present) who adhered to the constitution. My point is that since a conservative aims to preserve the traditions and institutions of a society, only judges with that view would be appalled by judicial activism. Names and links would be appreciated. "Political History -- and the Future" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/10/2002 07:09:16 PM ----- BODY: The Packers smashed the Lions 40-14. Favre and the gang have won seven in a row, the longest winning streak since the Lombardi era. I'd like to see someone make the case that they're not the best team in the NFC. "Packers Look Super in Win over Lions" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/9/2002 11:32:31 PM ----- BODY: Is Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) the next Richard Nixon? "Gray Skies from Now on" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/9/2002 11:10:47 PM ----- BODY: Here's a rarity: something interesting from Salon. Rep. Harold Ford is challenging Rep. Nancy Pelosi for the Minority Leader spot in the House. Ford is very telegenic, and comes out of the Clinton/DLC centrist Democrat mold. Ford said Pelosi as leader would be "a throwback" and "destructive opposition." Will Ford get votes from Black Causus members who could try to make him the Dems first black house leader? I doubt it. Most of them veer strongly to the Left where Pelosi is. If they don't back Ford, at least it will show they're colorblind ideologically. "Harold Ford Crusades to Save the Democrats" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/8/2002 04:05:28 AM ----- BODY: Orrin Judd on President Bush's humility:
Meanwhile, today the President did come out from behind the curtain and at a White House Press Conference he was relaxed, friendly, confident, and, hardest of all, humble. He repeatedly insisted that it was the candidates, their families, and their staffs who deserved the credit, even those who lost, and that his contribution had been minimal. If Democrats and the media haven't figured him out yet, they could do worse than watch today's performance.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/8/2002 03:54:02 AM ----- BODY: Peggy Noonan asks the biggest question that comes from Tuesday's election results: "What is the Democratic Party's reason for being?" She points out that for the past 100 years, the party has achieved its goal of creating an American welfare state. Social Security and Medicare are not going away. No elected Republican is calling for their elimination despite their questionable constitutionality. The New Republic's Peter Beinart worries that the Left will take over the Democratic Party. Since there's not a centrist "counterweight" like Bill Clinton in 1994, a leftward swing by the party could create "a 40-60 nation for a generation." Beinart urges the party to develop a coherent national security policy based on "explicitly moral and undeniably liberal grounds." Noonan sees the Democrats debacle as an opening for Hillary Clinton. She writes,
The essential questions the Democrats face may in fact be answered by the ultimate rise of a hardy figure who started out as a left-wing ideologue and wound up campaigning for 80/20 issues like child-safety seats in cars. A proponent of liberalism that evades getting tagged as leftism, this major-state senator is a tough partisan who hates the other side but has the discipline not to show it, or not often. Hillary Clinton just may be where the party is going.With the dearth of leaders in the party, and the weakness of supposed "superstars" (AlGore and Sen. John Edwards) I predict Hillary will be the Democrats' nominee for President in 2008. She won't be dumb enough to take on Bush after a victory in Iraq--assuming G.W. learned the lessons of his father after the Gulf War. In 2008, the race will be wide open for a person with sharp political skills and the greatest politician of the 20th Century for a husband. "They Got What They Wanted" "Civil War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/7/2002 12:07:04 AM ----- BODY: Jane Galt wants to rev up the bandwagon and push for tax simplification. I used to be a big flat tax guy (Dick Armey and Steve Forbes are two of my favorite politicians), but I'll support a national sales tax (first repeal the 16th Amendment) or some limited 1986-type reform. I want a simpler tax code free from social engineering while providing enough revenue so the government can only do what it's authorized to do. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 11:30:15 PM ----- BODY: The NY Times examines the South as the base of the GOP nationally. Winning the Senate and governor races in Georgia along with controlling every state-wide office in Texas only sealed the deal. Since it's pretty obvious that the South is GOP country, the Times should dig into the political patterns of the Midwest. Wisconsin is a swing state. In 2000, Gore and Bush campaigned hard because both knew the state could go either way (Gore ended up winning). Yesterday, Democrats won the governor and attorney general races while the GOP won the both houses of the state legislature. In Minnesota, voters chose a Republican (Coleman) over a Democratic legend (Mondale), chose a Republican (Pawlenty) to replace third-party standard bearer Jesse Ventura, chose as many Republicans as Democrats in Congressional races, and gave the GOP gains in the state legislature. Wisconsin and Minnesota, once sedate states, have become politically volatile. "Vote Solidifies Shift of South to the G.O.P." "Minnesota GOP Savors Role in National Sweep" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 10:59:03 PM ----- BODY: In an editorial about Jim Doyle's victory, the Journal Sentinel complained that both he and McCallum didn't offer enough specifics on how to fix Wisconsin's $3 billion budget deficit. The paper doesn't do much better. They mention some tax increases and cutting state payrolls. The later is a good idea, but that doesn't get you anywhere to $3 billion. The state spends the largest portion of the budget on K-12 education (2/3 of public school funding), yet there's no mention of cuts there. No mention is made about cutting social welfare programs or funding for the University of Wisconsin system (why is there still a campus in Superior?). It's possible to fix a very large hole in a budget without raising taxes. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is doing just that. Tough cuts will have to be made with both the Governor and the legislature standing up to loud interests. "Jim Doyle's Tough New Job" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 10:13:29 PM ----- BODY: John Ellis thinks last night's Democratic drubbing will end the 2000 whining. We won't see candidates waving the bloody Florida shirt, but there will be plenty of activists who will use that election to rile up their base. [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 09:51:30 PM ----- BODY: David Brooks on yesterday's results:
Finally, never, ever, ever underestimate George W. Bush. It took me two years of being wrong about Bush before I finally got sick of it. The rest of the pundit class had better catch on. He is a leader of the first order. This historic night belongs to him.I too agree that last night's results show the President as a first class politician. He has the ability get people beyond his base excited and on his side. He doesn't do it with Clintonian charm or Goreian haugtiness. Bush uses a basic, plain-spoken manner. The Dems still don't understand this, and it will continue to cost them elections. "This Is Serious" [via OxBlog] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 04:57:32 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) will bring up the partial-birth abortion bill that passed the House but was stalled by Daschle. Whether it will meet constitutional muster is another question. "PBA Ban -- Bank on It, Lott Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 04:31:42 PM ----- BODY: In South Dakota, Johnson won by only 528 votes. Did the Dems pull an LBJ on Thune? "Thune's Slight Lead Slips Away in Late Counting" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 04:04:11 PM ----- BODY: Great, great night for the GOP nation-wide. I thought history, the economy, and the number of seats Republicans had to defend would hold back GOP gains. I don't know what surprised me more, Allard soundly defeating Strickland in Colorado, Chambliss upsetting Cleland by 7 points, or Dole smacking Bowles by 9 points. In Wisconsin, Doyle topped McCallum, and I lucked out and got the result correct (Doyle by 4 points). I only hope property taxes don't explode when Doyle tries to placate the desires of the teachers' union. Then to show that Wisconsin is a swing state, the GOP won the state senate. Now, the state has the Dems in the governor's seat while the GOP controls the legislature. It should be a cantankerous battle to fix the state's budget deficit. As for my predictions, I nailed the Doyle/McCallum race on the head. However, the Coleman victory was bigger than I thought, and I didn't think the GOP would retake the Senate. I'd give myself a B on predictions. "Doyle Beats McCallum" "GOP Wins Key Senate Races, Regains Majority" "Coleman: 'I Am Humbled'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2002 02:45:09 PM ----- BODY: Goofy web quiz. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2002 01:43:00 PM ----- BODY: Journeys with George looks great. But I don't get HBO. If you watch it, let me know what you think. "Journeys with Dubya Charming, Challenging" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2002 01:40:06 PM ----- BODY: In a few hours I'll be stuck selling books while the political junkie in me will be itching to pull a fire alarm so I can leave early and watch three cable news channels simultaneously for election results. With the closeness of many races it will be long past midnight before we know who will control the Senate. Here are a few quick predictions:
The bottom line: everything on the videotape was true: the party, the Doyle volunteers, the money, the kringles, and the suggestion that the mentally ill cast absentee ballots. It wasn't Kmiec's job to make judgments about the ethics of the sleazy, cynical attempt to manipulate the mentally ill. That's up to the voters.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/4/2002 03:48:50 PM ----- BODY: Peggy Noonan thought Coleman won the debate, but thought Mondale held his own. Fritz seemed old and faded like he was just yank away from his reading chair and thrown into a state-wide election. "Lion vs. Tiger" [via RealClear Politics] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/4/2002 01:59:12 PM ----- BODY: I shouldn't have watched more the Coleman/Mondale debate. I missed this scene:
The sharpest exchange of the debate came over the issue of abortion. When asked about confirming the president's judicial nominees, Coleman said he did not believe in litmus tests, while Mondale said, "I believe in choice [on abortion]...I believe it is so fundamental, it is in the Constitution, that we should confirm judges on that basis." Mondale accused Coleman of "trying to slide around some very fundamental questions about the future of this country and its most sacred values of justice." Shaking his finger at Coleman, he said, "What you're doing is sticking with the right wing and pretending to change the tone. Norm, we know you, we've seen you, we've seen you shift around." A short time later, when Coleman asked Mondale, "Could you find common ground on the issue of partial birth abortion? Do you believe parents should be involved?" Mondale shot back that Coleman was "an arbitrary right-to-lifer." In what would become the most dramatic moment of the debate, Coleman answered that he and his wife had had two children who died young. "I have a deep and profound respect for the value of life," Coleman said. "It's not arbitrary. Please do not describe it as arbitrary." The response knocked Mondale back on his feet. Even in an emotional moment, Coleman had kept his cool and respectful tone, leaving the former vice president without an effective response.Byron York thinks Coleman won. "Coleman Wins" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/4/2002 01:51:32 PM ----- BODY: Kaus on Gary Hart and the Democrats infatuation with men like Lautenberg and Mondale:
Anyway, Hart's way too young to be a credible Democratic candidate these days.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/4/2002 01:04:58 PM ----- BODY: I watched about 20 minutes of the Coleman/Mondale debate. Coleman looked fine. He didn't come off as the rabid-dog conservative Mondale and the Democrats have tried to paint him as being. Mondale accused Coleman of being in the back pocket of President Bush and would simply be a puppet in the Senate for the White House. Coleman responded by telling voters he's against drilling in Alaska and wants trade with Cuba. Coleman pandered to farmers by advocating fuel made from soy beans that would end up being heavily subsidized by the government. Phil Gramm, Coleman's not. He's not even conservative ex-Senator Rod Grams whom Minnesotans elected in 1994. It's good that Coleman's theme the past few days has been proclaiming himself as Minnesota's future. Mondale just looked old, frail, and stuck in a time warp. He defended his promise in 1984 to raise taxes; and he's waiting for the feds to prosecute corporate fraud while being oblivious to the WorldCom, Adelphia, and Enron cases. Fritz forgot that Andrew Fastow was indicted last week. For Mondale to claim Coleman would be beholden to Bush while he would maintain his independence in the Senate is laughable. His answers to questions sounded very scripted. It looked like he was rattling off Democratic bullet points. Mondale was quickly drafted by Sen. Tom Daschle and Minnesota Democrats and got his entire campaign infrastructure handed to him. If anyone is beholden to anyone it's Walter Mondale. Will this debate swing the election one way or the other? I doubt it. Democrats want to win this for their fallen hero. Republicans want to exact revenge on the Dems for their tawdry, partisan display at Wellstone's memorial service. As with all close elections, turnout will be key. In that respect, the Dems have an advantage because ethics and decency will not stop them from achieving political victory. Looking at the results from a Star Tribune poll, the Wellstone death rally put a bad taste in the mouths of many Minnesotans. While giving Mondale a 5 point lead, a quarter of the likely voters polled said the booing and cheering made them more likely to vote for Coleman. A retired farmer told the paper, "I'm going to do anything except go for the Democrats because of the way they treated what was supposed to be a memorial for Paul Wellstone. [Mondale] might be all right, but I'm not going to vote for anything Democratic." A St. Paul Pioneer Press/Minnesota Public Radio poll has Coleman leading Mondale by 6 points. Power Line posted some instant reaction, and RealClear Politics thought Coleman was "great." "Senate Candidates Face Off in Statewide Broadcast" "Star Tribune Poll: Senate Rivals in Tight Race" "Conflicting Polls Add to Election Confusion" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/3/2002 01:20:42 AM ----- BODY: Jim Doyle's campaign just missed a devastating blow days before the election. The special prosecutor investigating an alleged bribery scam in Kenosha, WI concluded that there was "insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that a Doyle volunteer broke state law. Doyle is claiming victory and demanding that Gov. Scott McCallum pull all ads questioning the morality of manipulating the mentally ill. I'll have more on this later today, but for now read Theodore Kmiec's report. "No Charges to be Filed in Bingo Party" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/2/2002 01:34:11 AM ----- BODY: The special prosecutor investigating Jim Doyle's Kenosha bingo bribing scandal will announce his findings this afternoon. Charges could doom Doyle's campaign and let Gov. McCallum sneak in a victory. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/2/2002 12:47:07 AM ----- BODY: Frank Lautenberg proves he's senile or thinks New Jersey voters are just plain stupid. He told the Newark Star-Ledger "Out of respect to Paul Wellstone, all of the seats that are under contest right now have to go Democrat in order to protect the interests that he had." The Dem line is no longer "for the children;" it's "for Paul." Both are nothing but pap. "Dems Milk Wellstone Death to Court Votes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/2/2002 12:13:11 AM ----- BODY: Is the Mondale campaign low on money? Power Line reports that Minnesota Dems are begging for an "urgent contribution" because of a "cash flow crisis." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/1/2002 11:57:37 PM ----- BODY: Here's an update on the Wisconsin governor's race: Gov. Scott McCallum's campaign ran an ad calling Attorney General Jim Doyle "crooked." A few days later, "crooked" was replaced by saying Doyle "shames us." Both versions of the ad are accurate. It's crooked bribing mentally ill patients with soda, snacks, and quarters. The attention brought by the Wall Street Journal editorial page in a piece entitled "Chicago, Wisconsin" shamed a state known for its clean politics. Ads cost money, and the bucks are flowing freely into state campaigns. Some is because of the competitive governor's race, and some is last minute spending before new federal campaign finance (A.K.A. First Amendment restriction) law takes effect. "McCallum Tones Down 'Crooked' Doyle Ad" "Record Amount of Cash Pours into Campaigns Ahead of Soft-Money Ban" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/1/2002 11:22:22 PM ----- BODY: Is Daypop dead? I haven't been able to get to the site in days. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2002 07:54:34 PM ----- BODY: Capitol Hill Blue reports that the Wellstone memorial/campaign rally was staged from the start. Wellstone campaign manager Jeff Blodgett's apology was also part of the plan to "provide party deniability." "Democratic Operatives Planned, Engineered Wellstone Political Rally" [via Power Line] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2002 01:29:37 AM ----- BODY: Power Line summarizes the last few days of the Minnesota Senate race:
We've posted a lot on the Minnesota Senate race over the last two days, and I thought it might be helpful to try to synthesize where we think things currently stand. The most fundamental point is this: The Democrats had hoped that there would be no campaign following Wellstone's death; that six quiet days would pass by without controversy, and that Walter Mondale would then be crowned Senator. This morning's Minneapolis Star Tribune warned the Republicans strongly against campaigning against Mondale. The same paper helpfully offered up a poll intended to show that Mondale has the race in the bag, so there is no need for a campaign. Now, this plan may never have worked in any event, but it was blown sky-high by last night's fiasco. A huge backlash against the Wellstone rally is in progress. Governor Ventura has blasted the Democrats harshly, as have various media figures in the Twin Cities. A local TV station has planned a debate for Friday night, and has announced that either Mondale will appear, or he will be represented by an empty chair and Coleman will have the time to himself. Meanwhile, Tim Russert has offered to come to Minneapolis on Saturday to moderate a debate. It should now be impossible for the Democrats to avoid one or more debates. The legitimate polls show the race to be a virtual dead heat, prior to last night's fiasco. The Democrats have stumbled badly and are now engaged in damage control, trying to apologize for the rally. But the significant fact is that if they ever could have finessed the election and slipped it past the voters without a real campaign, that is impossible now. The Democrats are beginning with an even start, and are in for a tough six days.I'm pessimistic. Mondale has so much name power, and if Minnesota Dems are as dirty as Wisconsin ones, then they'll use plenty of dirty tricks to massage the final vote count. What's a shame is Norm Coleman has all the potential for being a national Republican leader. He's just had the unfortunate luck of running into the Jesse Ventura populist buzzsaw and a Wellstone death march. Coleman's a good man who is starting to look like another ceaseless Minnesota Republican: Harold Stassen. UPDATE: The Dems feels the backlash and are apologizing for turning Wellstone's memorial service into a campaign rally. Wellstone campaign manager, Jeff Blodgett said, "It probably would have been best not to get into the election." That's putting it mildly. "Wellstone Campaign Chairman Apologizes for Service's Partisan Tone" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2002 01:06:57 AM ----- BODY: HUMOR: ScrappleFace does it again. "Democrats Mourn Oddity: Man of Conscience" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2002 12:17:57 AM ----- BODY: Libertarian Congressional candidate Stephanie Sailor asks this question:
Can an underdog candidate on a budget of $0 compete against the heavily-funded Democratic Machine?No! [via ETWOF] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2002 12:12:36 AM ----- BODY: PaleoWatch: Some sense has come to anti-warrior Justin Raimondo. He's not going to any more anti-war rallies run by Communists. He writes:
The movement has been hijacked by a bunch of neo-Stalinists, who, oddly enough, utilize their hopped-up "radical" rhetoric in the service of the most conventional Democratic party politics imaginable. ... Okay, so I marched this time, but I ain't marchin' anymore, as the old song goes, at least not until the antiwar movement cleans up its act and makes itself just a little more presentable, and accessible to the millions who agree with its ostensible goals.Just when I thought there was hope for Raimondo, he defends his attack on Andrew Sullivan where he claims Sullivan is suffering from AIDS-induced dementia. Next time I'm feeling ill, Dr. Raimondo will be the first Net writer I'll call for a diagnosis. "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2002 11:15:10 PM ----- BODY: Need a reason to vote for Scott McCallum for Governor? How about the strike the teachers' union (WEAC) is threatening in a memo if Jim Doyle isn't elected? If Doyle is elected, the union will postpone a planned Nov. 9 meeting to decide what actions to take "up to and including a strike." The union opposes the Qualified Economic Offer (QEO) law and revenue caps on local school districts that have kept property taxes under control. The union knows that a teachers' strike is illegal in Wisconsin, but they think that the state wouldn't "attempt to fine each person if we are ALL on strike." Putting the election of a governor above the education of children is appalling. Doing it to suck more money out of the public trough is despicable. Stick it to the teachers' union next Tuesday by voting for Scott McCallum. "WEAC's Threat: Elect Doyle, or Else..." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2002 02:11:43 PM ----- BODY: Power Line is covering the Mondale-Coleman race, picking apart yesterday's Star Tribune poll results. "Minnesota Poll: Mondale leads Coleman 47% to 39%" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2002 01:26:09 PM ----- BODY: To GOP readers in Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, and anywhere else there's a competitive Senate race: If you're feeling a little down over a Daschle-controlled Senate, watch this RNC cartoon and it will pump you up. [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2002 01:14:47 PM ----- BODY: David Horowitz labels last weekend's anti-war protesters "Communists." Horowitz is more afraid of them than I am. He writes:
The fact that a movement of America-hating communists, who regard their own country as the enemy and who sympathize with America's terrorist adversaries should be able to marshal 100, 000 activists is a cause for concern. The communist New Left left was not able to organize such large demonstrations in support of the Communists in Vietnam until the draft was instituted in 1964. We have no draft in this country now. The size of these demonstrations is a reflection of the growth of a treacherous anti-American radicalism in this country that has no Communist Party per se, but is just as dedicated to America's destruction. The fact that the new technologies of war make it possible for terrorist groups both foreign and domestic to inflict enormous damage on industrial democracies like ours, and that our borders are porous and our security capabilities wanting, underscores the daunting dangers posed by this internal threat. That the desire to hurt this country and its citizens is uppermost in the protesters minds was manifest in their reactions at the Washington march. According to the Los Angeles Times the demon singled out by the demonstrators for the greatest opprobrium was Attorney General John Ashcroft - the man responsible for the security of 300 million Americans: "The most unpopular figure of all appeared to be John Ashcroft, the U.S. attorney general. The mere mention of his name prompted boos to swell from the crowd, followed by semi-obscene chants."I'm sure there were a few veterans of the violent New Left of the 1960s and 1970s at the march, but I'm going to guess most of the protesters were simply knee-jerk Lefty, unthinking anti-war types. Rather than any possible domestic terrorism from these people, I'm more afraid of the ideas these people espouse. Claiming American can do no right and should do nothing to protect itself is something that can gnaw away at domestic tranquility. "100,000 Communists March On Washington To Give Aid and Comfort to Saddam Hussein" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2002 12:51:39 PM ----- BODY: Ted Rall accuses President Bush of killing Sen. Wellstone and then has the gall to claim such an accusation is Bush's fault. Rall writes:
The fact that we're having this discussion at all is a symptom of the polarizing effect that Bush and his top dogs have had on the United States since assuming office and even more so in the hard-right free-for-all that followed the Sept. 11 attacks. Presidents routinely cause their political detractors to take offense, but one would have to go back to Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to stack the U.S. Supreme Court or Richard Nixon's wiretapping and enemies list to find another American leader who crossed the line of acceptable discourse as extremely as George W. Bush has done.Huh? Sure, Bush was polarizing at the beginning of his Presidency because of the controversial way he won the election, but since the terrorist attacks last year, the country has rallied around him. Maybe for Rall and the fringe anti-war Left he represents using clear, morally unambiguous language like "axis of evil" and defeating "evildoers" is polarizing. Maybe preventing Saddam from having nuclear weapons is polarizing. To suggest a President had a Senator killed with no evidence whatsoever is unethical and irresponsible. I'll be waiting for an apology from Rall that will never come. "The (Possible) Assassination of Paul Wellstone" [via Right Wing News] UPDATE: Jim Stingl was interrupted at the health club by a Rallian conspiracy nut. Just so you're not completely lost if this talk ever gets on Art Bell here's some of the pro-assassination "evidence":
The plane was built by Raytheon, which also makes cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs. An on-scene reporter said the weather wasn't a factor, but we keep hearing it was. We haven't seen many still or video images from the crash scene. How come there's no cockpit voice recorder? Why had the plane drifted off course just before landing?"Wellstone Death All Adds Up - 2 + 2 = 5" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2002 12:30:00 PM ----- BODY: The whole reason I cared about fall television happened last night. 24 began with another awful day in the life of (now) ex-government agent, Jack Bauer. This time, instead of saving a Presidential candidate (who we find out ended up winning) and protecting his family (only his daughter survived), Bauer has to stop terrorists intent on nuking Los Angeles. The first hour wasn't as explosive as the first season. No mysterious plane crashes this time. What we got was the basic set ups for the three plots that will end up intertwining. Bauer's daughter Kim is a nanny to a couple with an abusive husband who's been eyeing the teenager and already threatened to hurt her. And there's a wedding taking place in a few hours with the sister of the bride very suspicious of her future brother-in-law. But once I got past watching Bauer except his duty to save LA by going undercover, the thrill ride began. The first of what should be many shockers was when Bauer had an FBI witness brought in for questioning. Bauer blows a hole in his chest and then asks for a hacksaw. Oh, boy! "Sutherland Begins Another Bad Day at the Office" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/29/2002 02:09:09 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Wellstone's memorial service hasn't taken place yet and already Dems and Republicans are staking out positions. "A Truce in Politics? Not for Long" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/29/2002 01:58:12 PM ----- BODY: PunchtheBag on the Neocon/Paleocon battle that only Pat Buchanan is fighting:
It's not hard to understand why the paleos are the Cincinnati Bengals of the conservative movement. Like the Bengals they have no organization and they can't compete on the playing field. Paleos enjoy the smug satisfaction of their blogs and gold standard meetings than they do getting into the nitty gritty of governing. Of course they reject governing, but then they are surprised when they find that their arguments don't go any further than their die-hard supporters and so it goes around and around and around. They really should be called old-fashioned Utopians.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 09:41:07 PM ----- BODY: Gov. Ventura predicts that the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota will end up in court. He also said he may appoint an interim Senator if Congress is called into a lame duck session. "Ventura Says Results of Senate Election will Likely be Challenged" [via Townhall.com] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 06:25:44 PM ----- BODY: Philosophy and Literature is no more because The Chronicle of Higher Education bought Arts & Letters Daily. A&LD shut down a few weeks ago because its owner Lingua Franca went bankrupt. Now, can my head stop spinning? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 05:23:18 PM ----- BODY: PaleoWatch: President Bush is compared to Stalin. Anarchy Lew Rockwell writes,
The next time Bush gets up to make his promises of the amazing things he will achieve through force of arms, how the world will be bent and shaped by his administration, think of Stalin speaking at the 15th Party Congress, promising "further to promote the development of our country's national economy in all branches of production."According to Anarchy Lew, the Islamist War is impossible to win. It's not because our enemy is invinceable; it's because government is running the war and the government can do no right. I have the feeling the namesake of Anarchy Lew's organization would differ with that assumption. "The Impossible War" [via PunchtheBag] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 04:35:27 PM ----- BODY: Cato's Chales Pena calls CIA chief George Tenet the "Rodney Dangerfield of the Bush administration." Despite Tenet's conclusion that a threatened Saddam is more likely to engage in terrorist attacks, Congress authorized President Bush to use military force against Iraq. Pena points out that the Office of Homeland Security has their terroist alert at yellow despite Tenet's warnings of increased al-Qaeda activity. Here's a reason few are taking Tenet seriously: September 11. The attacks that day were the CIA's worst failure. They were unexpected. Even up to today, no one has been fired or has resigned because of the debacle. Why Tenet still has his job, I don't know. Maybe the agency has done good work since then. Since much of it is clandestine, the public doesn't know what's gone well and what hasn't in the Islamist War. "No Respect for Tenet" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 04:12:25 PM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell gives conservatives a great reason to go to the polls on Election Day:
If conservative voters stay home on Election Day, then the Democrats will retain control of the Senate and the only kinds of judges likely to be confirmed will be those who "interpret" the law to mean whatever they want it to mean, regardless of what it says. The fundamental right of the people to make the laws they live under will be further eroded or destroyed by judges.But he only wants "informed" citizens to vote "rather than mess with something that is too important to be decided by ignorance or prejudice." "High Stakes Elections" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 03:53:37 PM ----- BODY: Here's a reason why I rarely take Hollywood yapping on serious issues seriously. Susan Sarandon told anti-war protesters Saturday, "Let us resist this war. Let us hate war in all its forms, whether the weapon used is a missile or an airplane." I'd like to say this quote was taken out of context, but I'm pretty sure she didn't clarify herself. What it is is a simple-minded statement typical of the unthinking Hollywood Left. You could have taken those same words and put them in the mouths of Alec Baldwin, Ed Asner, or Rob Reiner. They all go to the same parties and hang out at the same resturants so it's no surprise they think the same way. It's clique-think better fitting for a high school hallway. "Let us hate war in all its forms." No attempt is made by Sarandon to make a distinction between just and unjust wars. She just opposes all wars. What about the Civil War that brought freedom to millions of Black slaves? Was that wrong? What about the Korean War? Was it wrong to allow the Communists to enslave the entire penninsula? How about the Cold War? Should the U.S. have just rolled over and allowed the Soviet Union to extend their totalitarian reach? Most recently, should the U.S. have turned the other cheek after September 11, 2001 and let al-Qaeda continue operating from Afghanistan while at the same time Afghans were being oppressed by the fundamentalist Taliban? Why should we expect substantial talk from Sarandon? That would require making moral distictions and appreciating the complex nature of the human condition. That's too much to expect from someone who gets their lines fed to them by screenwriters and their politics fed to them by mindless Hollywood types. "Thousands Rally Around World Against Iraq War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 03:23:37 PM ----- BODY: By all indications, Walter Mondale will be the Democrats choice to replace Sen. Paul Wellstone on next Tuesday's ballot. Can Norm Coleman and the Republicans get some ads together quickly touting Mondale's ties to President Malaise, Jimmy Carter, his love of raising taxes, and Minnesota's past? Or will tell voters that the chances of Mondale serving an entire six-year term is slim. He's 74 now, and if the Democrats win the governor's race Mondale would step down in less than two years to let his replacement build up a record for his/her reelection campaign in 2008. The GOP could also use this quote from Mondale on why he didn't run for the Senate in 1990:
I've watched too many friends who stay there (in the Senate) too long. I vowed that I would never be among them."DFL Ready -- if Mondale is" "GOP Takes Aim at Mondale in Minn. Race" "Mondale Replacing Wellstone Would Produce Historic Race" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/28/2002 02:41:42 PM ----- BODY: An official for USAID was asassinated in Jordan. "Slaying of U.S. Diplomat Outrages Washington" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/27/2002 08:01:30 AM ----- BODY: The death toll at the Moscow theater is up to 118. "118 Captives Die in Moscow Theater Siege" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/26/2002 01:29:44 AM ----- BODY: This looks serious--seriously funny! I just might put a Martin Luther Bobblehead on my Christmas (Reformation?) list. My father's a Lutheran Sunday school teacher. Do you think he'd get a kick out of it? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/26/2002 12:45:39 AM ----- BODY: This past week's attack on Internet root servers demonstrates the resilency of the technology behind it. If crackers would have taken out the 13 root servers, average users wouldn't have noticed any problems unless the servers were out for hours or days. "Net Attack Flops, but Threat Persists" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/26/2002 12:31:50 AM ----- BODY: Paul Saunders points out that how we deal with Iraq and North Korea sends a signal to "tomorrow's Saddams." He writes,
Unfortunately, if anything is certain in international relations, it is the fact that the subtleties of one?s own decision-making process are rarely understood by others?sometimes including even close friends and allies. Al-Qaeda made a profound miscalculation along these lines in concluding from the American withdrawal from Somalia that the U.S. was incapable of serious military intervention abroad. Hostile regimes (including Pyongyang) may similarly view excessively delicate handling of North Korea as a sign of American weakness when confronted by nuclear weapons.The focus needs to be on Iraq right now. As Saunder writes, the U.S. has allies in the Middle East who will accept war. That's not the case in East Asia. Also, an Iraq with nuclear weapons would be more inclined to let them be handed off to Islamist terrorists. A defeated Iraq would certainly send a message to Pyongyang. "Iraq, North Korea, and the Law of Unintended Consequences" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/25/2002 11:46:36 PM ----- BODY: It's over in Moscow. Fox News reports 20 bodies were taken from the theater after Russian special forces attacked the Chechen terrorists (Fox News inaccurately calls them "rebels"). "Russians Storm Theater; Kill Chechen Rebel Leader" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/25/2002 11:28:55 PM ----- BODY: I only wanted Sen. Paul Wellstone to lose on Election Day. I didn't want him to die. About the only thing we had in common was our height. (It gives me hope that short people can get elected.) We didn't agree on anything politically, but Paul Wellstone was a man of passion. Many times he demagogued his opponents, but you always knew where he stood. Just go to the left and stop just before advocating full-blown nationalization (except for health care) and you would fine Wellstone. He didn't need to take a poll to determine his stance; he just looked into his heart (that might have been his problem ideologically). I spent four years going to school in Duluth, MN, and I don't remember ever meeting Sen. Wellstone. I might have shook his hand once, I just don't remember. It wasn't because of a lack of opportunities. Being a former college professor, he visited the UMD campus often. What I most remember about Wellstone is working really hard to get his GOP opponent, Rudy Boschwitz elected in 1996. Godspeed, Paul. Well, the hagiography has already begun. Look at this opening paragraph from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, the fiery Democratic populist who was known for his impassioned work on behalf of the underdog, died Friday morning when his plane crashed in woods on Minnesota's Iron Range. [emphasis mine]I expect this kind of tribute on the Wellstone campaign website, not in a newspaper story that is suppose to be objective. Now, the guy was passionate and fought for causes other politicians would cringe from (opposing war with Iraq for example), but all he did was for the "underdog?" Wellstone was a quasi-socialist who rarely saw a tax increase or a government program he didn't like. The newspaper could just as well wrote that he was "known for his impassioned work on behalf of government bureaucrats." The Star Tribune makes up for their cheerleading with a fine biography on the late Senator. The St. Paul Pioneer Press also has a good bio. Even The National Review has something nice about the Senator. John Miller writes:
Wellstone may have sat at the far end of the political spectrum, but it was difficult to dislike him on a personal level ? even Right-wingers must admit that he would have made a good neighbor. Smiles and laughs came easily to him. His personal life, in fact, seemed quite conservative: He married young, had a few kids, and remained married to his wife, who was also on board the fatal flight, for 29 years. He could be feisty, but was rarely rude; even in Washington, there was still something of the college professor about him, acquired over the 21 years he spent teaching political science at Carleton College. When many Democrats talk about, say, extending unemployment benefits, their fists pound podiums, their ears billow smoke, and their faces turn red with rage. Not Wellstone. He spoke in measured tones, as if believing reasonable people will agree with him if they just listen long enough. He was an opponent of conservatism, but he was a decent man.With Wellstone's death comes some serious politics. Minnesota Democrats may place former Vice President Walter Mondale on the ballot. The man is so old he makes New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg look like a spring chicken. This isn't the first time Minnesota has had last-minute candidate changes. In 1990, Arne Carlson replaced Jon Grunseth because of a sex scandal. So it looks like Minnesota election law allows Torricelli-type switches. "Wellstone Death Shakes Minnesota" "Wellstone's Goal was to be Senator for the 'Little Fellers'" "Wellstone: A Force of Nature in an Era of Caution" "Paul Wellstone, R.I.P." "Wellstone Off the Ballot; DFL May Name a Replacement" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2002 02:09:34 PM ----- BODY: Now, since the sniper has been caught, media attention can be placed on the hostage situation taking place in Moscow. Chechen terrorists have already killed one hostage. "Chechens Kill One Moscow Hostage" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2002 02:06:41 PM ----- BODY: Police found John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, Muhammad's stepson. They're believed to be the sniper team terrorising the D.C. area these past weeks. Although Muhammad converted to Islam last year he's more closely connected to the Nation of Islam than al-Qaeda. "Two Men Arrested in Sniper Case" "Lives of Men in Sniper Case Studied" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2002 01:05:11 AM ----- BODY: What do Democrats do in a tight election? Well, they could smother a state in television and radio ads. They could also go door to door to persuade voters that their candidate is the best. Or they could bribe them with quarters, soda, and pastries. I'll give you three guesses what the Jim Doyle campaign did. Jay Heck of Common Cause called the bingo game something "I would expect to see, you know, done in Chicago or New Jersey. It's troubling." The Wisconsin GOP is calling for the local D.A. to remove himself from the investigation because he's an active Jim Doyle supporter. The dumbest thing these people did was do all this in front of a television camera. "Wis. Probes Gov. Vote-Buying Charges" "Bingo Game Spurs Probe of Doyle's Campaign" "New! Doyle Campaign Exploits Mentally Disabled for Votes" "Kenosha County D.A. Conflicted in 'Bingo-Gate'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/23/2002 03:03:00 AM ----- BODY: Mike Taylor's back in the Montana U.S. Senate race. He was going to get creamed before he dropped out, and he'll get creamed after he jumped back in. At least he isn't going without a fight. He's declared the last days of his campaign a "Countdown to Decency." "Mike Taylor begins the 'Countdown to Decency'" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/23/2002 12:44:51 AM ----- BODY: On Friday, Blogcritics will start its weekly discussion groups with John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/23/2002 12:32:10 AM ----- BODY: Yann Martel's Life of Pi won this year's Booker Prize. The award has given Pi a sales boost on Amazon (#17 as of this post). Since it's fiction, I'm not really interested in the book, but this paragraph from the BBC story piqued my interest:
Betting on the prize was suspended well ahead of Tuesday night's event after a "dummy" web page was put online, which revealed the winner as Martel. Organisers of the prize said this had been an internal mistake and denied the winner was already known, explaining the judges would not make their final decision until the day of the ceremony. And the judges maintained their final decision was only made at 1830 BST on Tuesday night.Those Brits will bet on anything. "Joyful Martel wins Booker" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/22/2002 11:19:37 PM ----- BODY: So, randomly shooting people around Washington, D.C. is all about money, ten million dollars to be exact. Then there's the excuse that "Five people had to die" because the sniper couldn't get through to police fast enough. Enough of the psychobabble and ramblings about international terrorism. Just like Luke Helder, that wacked-out smiley face bomber from earlier this year, (probably) one person has successfully scared the living daylights out of millions of people. "Angry Missive Complains of 'Ignored' Calls" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/22/2002 08:16:39 PM ----- BODY: Chief Moose is negotiating with a terrorist(s). Tonight he publicly spoke to the sniper:
We have researched the options you stated and found that it is not possible electronically to comply in the manner that you requested. However, we remain open and ready to talk to you about the options you have mentioned.Fox News says it has something to do with an 800-number. I think the police are desperate. They have few clues while more people get killed. Moose has already scared the hell out of every parent in the region, and now he's trying to deal with a person(s) who is manipulating the authorities and the press better than the Clinton administration. He's flapping in the wind while people walk around in fear. "Sniper Message Warned Children 'Are Not Safe'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/22/2002 07:37:22 PM ----- BODY: One could claim I've smeared the Nobel Peace Prize committee and Jesse Ventura. Could I get a negative link from MSNBC? HUMOR: "Bloggers Beg MSNBC: 'Smear Me Too'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/22/2002 05:56:30 PM ----- BODY: Chief Moose has assured that thousands of kids will be out of school for days, even weeks, until the D.C. sniper is caught. Today, he read verbatim the chilling postscript from a recent message from the sniper: "Your children are not safe anywhere at any time." Already edgy parents in the region now have more reason to panic even if the chance of their child getting shot is slight. Richmond schools already are closed and more closings will follow. Will these kids stay at home? No. These kids will be off to the mall, the movies, or where ever else kids go to hang out. Maybe that's what the sniper wants. A number of his victims were at retail locations. If he's really targeting children, getting more of them out in the open outside of schools could make his murderous job easier. "Sniper: Kids 'Not Safe Anywhere'" "Police Reveal Sniper Threat Against Children" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/21/2002 04:50:59 PM ----- BODY: Jesse Ventura is a man who doesn't take his office seriously. He's considering resigning a few days before the new governor takes office just so Lt. Gov. Mae Schunk could become Minnesota's first woman governor. "I just thought it would be fun, the last week, to leave early and make Mae the first female governor of the state. Then they'd have to give her a portrait, and everything else that would go with it. I just thought it would be kind of humorous," said "The Body." Liberals should be mad at him for turning affirmative action into a joke. Serious people interested in responsible government should be upset that Ventura treats his office as a means of entertainment. "Ventura Says there is a Slim Chance He Will Resign Before Term Ends" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/21/2002 04:00:19 PM ----- BODY: Two weeks before Election Day and Wisconsin is knee deep in political turmoil. Three legislative leaders are charged with felonies for using their state offices for campaign purposes. University of Wisconsin professor Don Kettl considers this shake-up more important than the governor's race:
That brings us back to why this is more important than the winner of the governor's race. The Nov. 5 winner faces a staggering budget deficit, one far worse than the campaign has suggested. The candidates haven't spoken clearly about what they will do to balance the budget, for obvious reasons; their proposals would be too scary for the campaign. As a result, though, the winner won't have won a mandate to take the tough steps required to solve the problem. It will take uncommon leadership to put the true scale of the deficit on the table, to craft a plan to balance the budget and to win legislative support for it. The scope of any budget fix will, by necessity, be so broad that only a consensus-building approach can hope to work. Sweeping away the forces that, for so long, produced legislative gridlock will give the new governor a better chance. The change in legislative leadership will thus have a bigger impact on what can get done than anything the gubernatorial candidates have debated. But that will require a starkly different kind of gubernatorial leadership than was the case before. And with just two weeks to go in an election campaign, it injects a critical new question in the campaign: Which candidate is best suited to become the new kind of governor that job will require?Since GOP Gov. McCallum is trailing Democrat Attorney General Jim Doyle, how about state Republican's pulling a Torricelli and bringing back Tommy Thompson? The greatest Wisconsin politician in the last 20 years could have great shot at fixing the state's fiscal illness. "A Clean Sweep Would Help" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/21/2002 03:38:38 PM ----- BODY: I come back from New York and all hell breaks loose: the D.C. sniper finds another target; a homicide bomber kills 14 in Israel; and Green Bay Packers iron man quarterback Brett Favre hurt his knee in yesterday's game. We won't see an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until the region is seriously shaken up (step 1: eliminate Saddam). Who knows if they'll ever catch the sniper. But as for Favre, the knee is only sprained and he'll probably play against Miami Nov. 4. "Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 14 in Israel" "Packers Expect Favre to Play Next Game" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2002 01:42:03 AM ----- BODY: Patrick delves into John Zogby's recent polls and wonders if his "passionate anti-war views are affecting his polling and analysis." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2002 01:25:58 AM ----- BODY: Microsoft paid to bring webloggers to a recent product conference. Hey, Bill and Steve, next time you're plugging something new, send some airline tickets my way. I warn you, I'll tell it like I see it. If your stuff stinks all three of my Minnesota readers will know about it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2002 12:25:58 AM ----- BODY: Many obituaries tip-toed over Stephen Ambrose's plagarisms. Maybe David Plotz should write a biography of Stephen Ambrose. He doesn't seem fond of Ambrose's "God-Bless-Americanism," (he even calls him a "vampire") so he brings a necessary distance to the subject. Like Plotz, I wonder how extensive Ambrose's "borrowing" was. "Should Stephen Ambrose Be Pardoned?" UPDATE: In an editorial the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes,
And there were several accusations of plagiarism, particularly late in his career, after he had achieved worldwide fame. Ambrose admitted to sloppy editing but stood by his works. ... But Ambrose's strengths far outshone his weaknesses. In retelling the stories of others in more than 30 books, Ambrose bathed those tales in fresh light and reminded us again just how good they are."Leading a Band of Brothers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/15/2002 11:41:46 PM ----- BODY: Note for future reference: WisOpinion.com. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/15/2002 08:16:24 PM ----- BODY: Many people are (rightly) up in arms over fraudulant accounting in corporate America, but will these people make the same fuss over the accounting errors and unjustifiable "corrections" federal agencies make every year? In fiscal year 1999, the Defense Department made $1.1 trillion (with a T) in balance adjustments. The IRS doesn't really know how much money is owed the government in taxes. The INS had to manually count 5 million immigrant applications. The Agriculture Department books are so bad that their financial statements have been unauditable since 1994. "Auditors Say U.S. Agencies Lose Track of Billions" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/15/2002 02:35:07 AM ----- BODY: I've officially been on vacation for about a day and a half. Posting may be scarce because, well, I'm on vacation. Posting may explode with some brilliant idea capturing every neuron of my cerebral cortex because I'm on vacation and have the time to delve into something deeply. Bet on the former. The rest of the week is my rejuvination time preparing me physically, mentally, and emotionally for the Christmas shopping season. The economy might be sluggish, but I can assure you I'll be working my tail off as one of Santa's little helpers. The big event is I'll be be in New York City Wednesday through Saturday. Thursday, I'll be at the Cato Institute's 20th Annual Monetary Conference (Brink Lindsey will be on a panel). After that, I'll be doing typical tourist stuff: museums, trolling for treasures in used bookstores, consuming local cuisine, and seeing the sites. One of those sites will be Ground Zero. Have any suggestions for me? *** I can't get worked up over anything Robert Fisk writes. A simple analysis of him is he's just plainly anti-American. If any action helps America, then he opposes it; if anything bad happens to America, she deserves it. So instead of me getting all ticked off over Fisk's latest, I'll leave the flogging to the likes of Tim Blair. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/14/2002 03:56:17 AM ----- BODY: For my one or two Minnesota readers, the St. Cloud chapter of the Minnesota Association of Scholars has their own weblog. [via AtlanticBlog] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/14/2002 02:04:42 AM ----- BODY: Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate is on its way to being the most talked about non-fiction book of the year. In the New York Times Book Review Robert Richards calls Pinker's socio-economic conclusions "a compassionate conservatism." "The Blank Slate: The Evolutionary War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/14/2002 01:02:30 AM ----- BODY: My fine state of Wisconsin is in the crosshairs of Bill O'Reilly. Those monster children who beat Charlie Young to death had some scary pasts:
-- Thirteen-year-old Kenny Mays says he attends the eighth grade but doesn't know the name of his school. -- Marlin Dixon is 14 years old and already the father of a 5-month-old baby. -- Thirteen-year-old Don Dixon's father was recently murdered outside a methadone clinic. -- Montreon Jordan is 15 and on probation for a robbery conviction. -- Sixteen-year-old Lee Mays does not attend school because his mother told authorities she doesn't know where to send him. His lawyer, Michael Backes, told me the mother has "mental issues" and that Michael should be removed from the home. Milwaukee police say that the accused murderers all lacked parental supervision and were pretty much allowed to do whatever they wanted. In fact, after the 10-year-old boy involved in the murder confessed to police, reporters heard his father say, "Kids are going to be kids."O'Reilly goes on about David Oakley who chose to give up making babies in exchange for parole. I don't watch The O'Reilly Factor much. Has he been following the Young beating? "The Root of all Evil" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/14/2002 12:22:32 AM ----- BODY: From Rich Galen:
At a recent Pentagon briefing, a reporter was complaining that the Pentagon, as the only source of information, ran counter to standard journalistic practice of getting at least two sources. Rumsfeld gave the reporter one of those looks, smiled, and said, "Then don't write the story.""On the Vineyard" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2002 11:55:43 PM ----- BODY: Stephen Ambrose captured the sights, smells, sounds, and, most importantly, the thoughts of American GIs in World War II. After reading Citizen Soldiers you could feel the dirt underneath your fingertips from lying in a fox hole all day. You would shake after reading about a man losing a limb from a shell and crying out for his mother. You also could feel the sense of purpose those soldiers had. They were just trying to stay alive, and if that meant killing as many Germans as possible to do it, then so be it. Douglas Brinkley calls Ambrose "the great populist historian of America." That title doesn't come from the fact that he sold millions of books. He earned that title by focusing on the grunts who fought and won WWII. Godspeed, Stephen. "Historian Stephen Ambrose Dead at 66" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 04:24:23 AM ----- BODY: Daniel Drezner defends Jimmy Carter's Nobel Peace Prize dispite the comments of the selection committee. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 04:19:00 AM ----- BODY: Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-WV) staff had to steal a copy of the constitution off a Republican desk so the Sen. Pork could have something to wave on the Senate floor. [via The Agitator] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 03:19:09 AM ----- BODY: Josh Chafetz has a suggestion for the GOP:
[P]aging RNC: ad campaign: fade in with footage of McDermott on "This Week," overlay with ominous-voiced announcer saying "The majority of House Democrats voted against taking on Saddam Hussein," list of Hussein's horrors on screen, while announcer ends with "This fall, do you really want to give control of Congress back to the Democrats?" McDermott's face morphs into Saddam's. Fade to black.The GOP won't do something as politically astute as this. Why do something that the media would lable as "mud slinging" and "using war for political gain?" They won't even try to get another name on the ballot for the Montana Senate seat. Their loyalty to rules that have been disgarded and one-sided civility ends up being unilateral disarmament. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 02:33:30 AM ----- BODY: HUMOR: Iraq wasn't the only target of a Congressional resolution. ScrappleFace has the details. "Use-of-Force Authorized to Stop Madonna Film" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 02:12:41 AM ----- BODY: Doesn't this Technology Review article sound awfully similar to a Eugene Volokh piece? Great minds do think alike. It's the best argument I've read on why Saddam must go. "The Lowest-Tech Atom Bomb" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 02:00:02 AM ----- BODY: Can the story of two astromomers measuring the distance from the North Pole to the equator be remotely interesting? Timothy Ferris thinks Ken Alder pulls it off with The Measure of All Things. The two Frenchmen stave off revolutionaries, poor terrain, and mental breakdown to complete a mission that should have taken only months but ended up consuming seven years of their lives. "The Measure of All Things: A Quest to Revolutionize Standards" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2002 01:28:16 AM ----- BODY: Wisconsin's worst traffic accident killed 10 and injured 36. Fog caused car after car to smash into the pile resulting in something resembling the Highway of Death of Desert Storm. "10 Die in Horrific Pileup" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/11/2002 01:54:16 PM ----- BODY: The Nobel Peace Prize committee should be ashamed for their myopic view of war with Iraq and with their awarding of the prize to promote their political agenda. Today, Jimmy Carter was awarded the prize "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." At the end of the press release, the committee said,
In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development.To the committee, Bush's threat of war with Iraq is only about extending the power of the United States. It has little to do with securing a long-term peace by preventing Saddam from building weapons of mass destruction and having them used on the United States. Instead of war, the committee likes constant talk by the United Nations that lets Saddam continue to evade international agreements he's made in the past. Nothing is mentioned of Carter's failures as an national leader. They don't mention his bungling of a rescue attempt to free American hostages in Iran, or his limp response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (he ordered an Olympic boycott of the Moscow games). Prize committee chairman Gunnar Berge called Carter's award a public criticism of Bush's international policy. "With the position Carter has taken...(the award) can and must also be seen as criticism of the line the current U.S. administration has taken on Iraq," said Berge. It's unfortunate that the committee couldn't just praise Carter on his own merits without giving the U.S. a "kick in the leg." The goal of U.S. national security policy is "to create a balance of power tht favors human freedom." So, while Carter can try to get along with freedom-hating thugs like Fidel Castro, Bush is doing what's needed to extend freedom. "Carter Wins Nobel Peace Prize, Bush Rebuked" "The Nobel Peace Prize 2002" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/11/2002 04:46:37 AM ----- BODY: The GOP won't play hardball because Montana Republicans won't go to the courts to put a replacement on the ballot for Mike Taylor. They're looking for a write-in candidate. Candidates can file within 15 days of Election Day. So, the GOP abides by the law and will probably get creamed in Montana, but the Democrats ignore the plain reading of New Jersey election law and may win. The Republicans may have the moral high ground, but the Dems won't care as long as they control the Senate. Taylor said he dropped out of the race because of a television ad showing him in early 1980s disco attire. Montana Republicans accuse the Democrats of using homophobia as a campaign tactic. A state Democrat agrees. He told the Billings Gazette the ad was an "overt and obvious appeal to the homophobic (voter) that is playing to that stereotypic imagery." Some Montana residents didn't feel Taylor's pain. One person said, "It just looks like he's guilty, doesn't he? If he's not guilty, he'd just stand in for the fight. That's how I was brought up." "Montana Law Keeps Taylor as Candidate, Official Says" "Montana GOP Senatorial Candidate Drops Out" "Perspective: Longtime Republican Strategy Backfires" "Little Sympathy Shown for Taylor or Baucus" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/11/2002 03:39:35 AM ----- BODY: Charlie Sykes may be new to this weblogging thing, but he's got another zinger. It's a letter from a 2nd grade class that opposes war with Iraq. Here's the start of the letter:
We do not support President Bush?s idea to go to war against Saddam Hussein. If Saddam fights, we could think about nonviolent ways to fight back, but we definitely shouldn?t start the fight . Please don?t drop any more bombs! If we start the fight, they might be more likely to use a the bomb that would blow up the whole country or world! Violence plus violence just equals more violence! Please don?t go to war because: 1) innocent people die 2) it?s not what God wants us to do 3) fighting just leads to more fighting which could lead to WWIII!Sykes' reaction:
My reaction: There?s a bright line between education and indoctrination; a line that separates teaching children how to think from exploiting them for political purposes. Having second graders write a letter like this crosses that line. What makes it unethical is that it represents a breach of trust on the part of the teacher, who used her position to propagandize children too young to be able to develop their own worldview."Teach the Children Well" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2002 02:01:14 PM ----- BODY: Montana Republicans are trying to pull a Torricelli. GOP Senate candidate Mike Taylor is down in the polls to Sen. Max Baucus. However, instead of ethical scandal ending his political chances, Taylor blames a television ad paid by the Montana Democratic Party that has video of Taylor "slender, sporting a full beard. He is wearing a tight-fitting, three piece suit, with a big-collared open shirt ala John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever." Taylor's top two or three shirt buttons are unbuttoned, exposing some bare chest and a number of gold chains." The Billings Gazette called the ad "Sleazy. Low. Tacky. Trashy. Crummy. Mean." Former governor Marc Racicot may replace Taylor on the ballot. Orrin Judd supports a switch because he doesn't believe in "disarmament by the GOP." Of course this all depends on Montana election law and how lenient the state courts are. According to ABCNews, the GOP can't replace Taylor's name on the ballot because it's past a 85 day deadline. But such a hard, firm rule should have stopped New Jersey Democrats. Does anyone know the political make up of the Montana Supreme Court? "Taylor Quits Senate Race; Racicot May Run" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2002 01:21:59 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Russ Feingold spoke out against war with Iraq yesterday. He doesn't think President Bush has made his case. He mustn't have listened or read Bush's speech Monday night. Today on local radio, Feingold went so far as to say that 90% of the correspondence from constituents regarding the war was opposed. So, Feingold claims he's voting agaist an Iraq war because the people of Wisconsin oppose the war. A few hundred e-mails or calls (202-224-5323) from Wisconsinites in support of the war would nix Feingold's weak excuse. Kudos must go out to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI), Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) (read his speech), and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for their support of the Iraq resolution. "Feingold Says He'll Vote 'No' to Military Strike on Iraq" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2002 12:38:08 PM ----- BODY: Milwaukee talk radio host, Charlie Sykes started up a weblog. One of his first posts is his column in a chain of local newspapers. Sykes comments on the mob beating of Charles Young, Jr. While many minority leaders are making excuses for the actions of those "monster-children" others are looking at the cultural source.
But something new is emerging from the horror -- a debate has broken out in the black community over the issue of personal responsibility versus finger-pointing; and it includes some remarkably blunt truth-telling. African-American leaders like Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, Jr. are rejecting arguments that economics ? or discrimination, or the lack of social programs -- account for the pathology of illegitimacy and brutality in the black community. Other social groups, he notes, have risen out of poverty by taking responsibility for educating and raising their children. His message is also being echoed in some of the black press. Last week?s Community Journal included an impassioned column by managing editor Thomas Mitchell, Jr., who denounced the ?politicians, touchy-feely sociologists, psychologists, culturalists, apologists for ?wayward? youth, those who are against welfare reform, stricter law enforcement? and those who blame everything and everybody but the real culprits for what?s wrong with the Black community?.They?ll just keep making excuses for themselves and others of their kind until they wake up and realize it is not the system, the cops or White folks who are the enemy. The enemy is themselves.?"Time to Take Reponsibility" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2002 02:50:51 AM ----- BODY: 32-year-old Antonio Albert was arrested in South Bend, IN and charged with murder in the mob beating of Charles Young, Jr. Albert is accused of pulling Young from an apartment where he was trying to escape a mob of (mostly) kids. A medical examiner's report said Young was legally intoxicated when brought to the hospital after his beating. "32-Year-Old Charged in Beating Death" "Man, 32, in Custody in Beating Death Case" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2002 02:21:17 AM ----- BODY: I'm going to make this rejoinder to Lynn brief. She's taken a lot of grief over her comments on religion. This should be a civil conversation that allows for the lack of perfect knowledge on subjects like theology and consitutional law. Not all of us are scholars loaded to the brim with minute details and nuance derived from years of study. We're just people exchanging insights and opinions. Anyway, Lynn writes:
More than just certain tactics, I object to the whole attitude that evangelism is a "calling."She then objects to a fundamental tenet of Christianity. Christ called his followers to "make disciples of all nations." A Christian acts on this commission. They evangelize because Christ told them to. There are many ways to make disciples. Some methods are more effective, and some are more obnoxious. Let me tie this thought into another quote of Lynn's:
The nature Sean is defending is the urge to force others to live the same kind of lifestyle they would choose for themselves.I don't think all Christians want everyone to conform to a common lifestyle. Missionaries don't try to make African tribesmen to live like suburban Americans. Christians want all people to know of the love of Christ. When Christ is allowed to enter the heart of a person that new-found belief must take into account the context of the new believer's environment. While staying true to Christian tenets (John 3:16), they must acknowledge the world around them. Of course there are Christians who think they know the one correct way to live one's life. There are plenty of Christians who don't think people should watch certain television shows, watch certain movies, listen to certain types of music, or read certain books. I always shake my head when I hear a story of some obnoxious Christian wanting to ban Harry Potter because it deals with sorcery. They miss the series' theme of good beating evil. Seeking to convince others about the Truth of Christ is the lifeblood for a Christian. A religion that has survived over 2,000 years and has billions of believers couldn't be that successful unless such passion was part of its cultural DNA. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2002 12:47:45 AM ----- BODY: Arnold Kling calls the awarding of the Nobel in economics to Kahnen and Smith to be a "slap for the University of Chicago." Kling writes, "Contrary to Friedman, this year's Nobel laureates believe that it pays to study the actual behavior of billiard players." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2002 05:47:36 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) on why he opposes a resolution giving President Bush authority to strik at Iraq:
Just putting it in self-interest terms, how would I have had the enthusiasm and the fight if I had actually cast a vote I didn't believe in? I couldn't do that.This quote in a nutshell is why Paul Wellstone could win re-election despite his far-left voting record and his broken term limit promise. Midwesterners in general and Minnesotans in particular respect people who hold firm to their convictions. People may not agree with all of Wellstone's positions, but they'll say "He's an honest man who believes what he says." These voters also like mavericks who go down their own path. Remember, Minnesota elected the ultimate political maverick in Jesse Ventura. He not only bucked plenty of political tradition, but he told it like he saw it. Before Ventura, Minnesota was led by Gov. Arne Carlson, a man who said he was a Republican but ignored his own party during his terms in office. But there's a dark side to Paul Wellstone: his supporters. At at "fair trade" rally in Duluth, MN, Wellstone pointed out a Republican recording the speeches. Here's what happened next:
The cameraman was jostled throughout the speech as activists held signs in front his camera and bumped into him. At one point, after moving to a new location, the cameraman was pushed into an apparent union worker who responded with kidney-punches into the cameraman?s side. Volunteers rushed to the scuffle and escorted away the cameraman, who held his hands in the air.It's quite the maverick who allows someone to get violently accosted at a supposed peaceful rally. "For Wellstone, Iraq Vote Is Risk But Not a Choice" "Trade Rally Draws Mixed Crowd in Duluth" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2002 05:43:49 PM ----- BODY: Two Americans, Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith, won the Nobel Prize in economics. American dominance continues. Reason interviewed Smith for their December issue, but because of his award, it's already available for us interested folk. "Nobel Economics Award Goes to Two Americans" "The Experimental Economist" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2002 05:19:19 PM ----- BODY: The number of abortions have gone down in the past few years. The National Right to Life Committee sees parental consent and notification laws, better persuation of teens not to have sex, and new technology which lets women see the very human nature of the unborn as factors for the decrease. Planned Parenthood sees cuts--presumably government-- in abortion funding, restricted access to clinics and fewer abortion doctors as the reason. Elizabeth Cavendish, legal director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League had the goofy quote of the day when she said, "We're seeing the results of policies that don't afford equal access to contraception." She was commenting on the finding that the abortion rate for poor women rose. What does she mean that there isn't "equal access to contraception?" Somehow, poor women aren't capable of buying condoms or going to some free clinic to get a prescription for birth control pills? Are poor women incapable of controling their sexual urges just because they're poor? Women deciding to kill their unborn children isn't as much a public policy issue as it is a moral/cultural issue. A woman has to be in a particularly dismal state to deny the humanity of her child and allow it to be killed. That dismal state is perpetuated by the Culture of Death. "Abortion Rates Decline in Late 1990s" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2002 04:59:34 PM ----- BODY: Former FBI chief Louis Freeh was doing some CYT (Cover Your Tush) yesterday at Congressional hearings on the September 11 attacks. The FBI wasn't to blame because the attacks couldn't "have been prevented by the FBI and intelligence communities acting alone." The criticism for the failure of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies isn't that the FBI, CIA, or NSA could have stopped the attacks alone. The problem is that the agencies didn't talk to each other and share information. Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) put it well when he said, "When it comes to terrorism and fighting terrorism, with all due respect, I think there is a disconnect, and there was a disconnect." "Freeh Defends Counterterrorism Efforts" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2002 04:27:17 PM ----- BODY: Lynn replied to my thoughts on religious people. Justin Katz also weighs in on the discussion. I'll try to post a rejoinder later tonight. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2002 02:04:54 AM ----- BODY: Lynn writes about her problems with religion:
At the top of my list is the moral imperative in some religions - Christianity included - to convert non-believers. Can faith that is forced on a person be true faith, or is it mere compliance? Here in the West believers can no longer torture and burn non-believers so they instead spend huge amounts of money to pursue and annoy anyone who does not share their beliefs, and as missionaries they prey on the most vulnerable people, providing food and other humanitarian aid as a lure. We all like to share our beliefs and given the opportunity will try to convince other people that we are right. I expect religious people to do the same, but not to the point where it becomes a crusade. The attitude that everyone must be converted is simply wrong and leads to acts of evil and violations of individual rights.Converting non-believers does not constitute forcing faith upon another nor should it. Faith requires the person to accept beliefs taught to them and incorporate them into their hearts. Islam means "surrender," and that same idea can be taken to Christian conversion. By declaring faith in Jesus Christ as his savior, the convert surrenders that portion of their human reason. Dawkins would find this atrocious. To him, denying human reason in any form constitutes the gravest secular sin. The simple counter is that faith and God is beyond human reason. I'm of the belief that God cannot be proved or disproved. Belief in God is a matter of faith and an acceptance of a grand mystery. Christians are called by Jesus to preach the good news (Gospel) to all of Humanity. What Lynn finds annoying, many Christians consider to be their calling. Am I comfortable with the way many Christians attempt to persuade others to accept Christ? No. Part of it is growing up as a Midwestern conservative Lutheran (Missouri Synod). I'm not comfortable going up to strangers and asking them about their religious beliefs. The church I grew up in took the "Christian by example" approach. We took part in community activities, stayed on the straight and narrow, and lead wholesome lives. If someone asked why we seemed pretty well off, we would let them know that we placed Christ at the center of our lives. We didn't hide from our faith; we didn't deny the importance of our beliefs. Our life example was our way to letting others know the life-changing power of Christ. Now, on to another of Lynn's objections:
The second problem with religion is closely tied to the first - government based on religion or the attempt to use religion to influence legislation. Too many religious people think that separation of church and state should only work one way - that the government must keep out of religion but that the church has no similar obligation to stay out of government. Some of these people will surely speak up and explain how the Constitution supports their point of view. First of all, it doesn't, but I'm not talking about the Constitution at all. I'm talking about a wise principle that is an important part of the foundation of all free nations. To pass laws based on religious beliefs, even if such passage does happen to be Constitutional, chips away at our freedom.First, I must mention that the phrase "separation of church and state" is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. The phrase comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. To say that people of faith should not practice what they preach with regards to government is like saying a goldfish should just leap out of its fishbowl and start breathing air. It's a denial of their very nature. I argue that basing laws purely on human reason is also basing them on religious belief. Look at how strongly Dawkins attacks religion and defend rationality. That passion is almost religious. And to claim that human reason is the sole source of wisdom is as irrational a faith as Christianity. F. A. Hayek pointed out the limits of human rationality and argued that using rationality beyond its limits (he dubbed it "scientism") led to Man's enslavement (see Communism and National Socialism). -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/8/2002 03:41:18 AM ----- BODY: How many watches does Andrew Sullivan have? As of this moment, I counted four (McDermott, Anti-Catholicism, Right-Wing Envy, and Useful Idiot). Like I should talk. I haven't had a Paleo Watch update is a while. Well, it's off to find the latest from Anarchy Lew. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/8/2002 03:11:53 AM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds comments on the CIA:
I'm not unhappy with the CIA because it's a big bad bunch of spies who topple foreign governments againstthewilloftheirpeople. I'm unhappy with the CIA because it seems to be displaying the kind of flexibility and innovation usually associated with the United States Postal Service. In Afghanistan, the Agency's paramilitary arm did excellent work by all accounts. But there's no sign that the rest of the Agency has gotten its act together, and no sign that the dropped balls of Summer, 2001 are being addressed.I'm still waiting for George Tenet to resign. September 11 was an intelligence failure, yet no one's taken responsibility. In order to fix the problem you must first realize there is a problem. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/8/2002 01:47:49 AM ----- BODY: Here are some highlights from President Bush's speech last night:
Some have argued that confronting the threat from Iraq could detract from the war against terror. To the contrary, confronting the threat posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror.and
Terror cells and outlaw regimes building weapons of mass destruction are different faces of the same evil. Our security requires that we confront both, and the United States military is capable of confronting both.Liberating Iraq wouldn't detract from the overall Islamist War; it would be vital to winning it. An Iraq on the path to liberty would be one less country where Islamist terrorists could seek haven and weapons of mass destruction.
After 11 years during which we've tried containment, sanctions, inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer to developing a nuclear weapon.The U.N. and the Clinton administration both failed to stop Saddam. We could continue doing the same-old same-old, but as time passes, Iraq would continue developing more potent weapons.
We work and sacrifice for peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the will and whims of a ruthless and aggressive dictator. I'm not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein.That's a shot straight at Rep. McDermott (D-Iraq), who looks like he's gone off the deep end. [via Right Wing News]
Failure to act would embolden other tyrants, allow terrorists access to new weapons and new resources, and make blackmail a permanent feature of world events.After 3,000 dead, the U.S. has to be strong. Looking weak would only encourage our enemies to strike us again. The speech was good. The President plainly stated his case against Saddam. It wasn't groundbreaking. There were no smoking guns; no new evidence that would turn opposition opinion around instantly. Bush added thoughtful arguments to the debate over war. Since the anti-war crowd seems to be stuck with little but conspiracy theories centered on Big Oil, the debate is easily being one by Bush. President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2002 05:48:23 PM ----- BODY: Tomorrow's news today? One of Glenn's readers pointed out a Independent story on Bush's speech tonight before he even gives it. Ken Layne adds to our knowledge of journalistic "preparation" with this nugget:
A couple years ago, I thought the wires might be more careful now that the whole world has access. Maybe newspapers would make sure these stories from the future stopped appearing on their Web sites. Nah. Why start caring now? During the 2000 GOP convention, when everybody was making a big deal about Internet journalists (remember them?) covering the stupid non-story, Reuters reported on Laura Bush's speech and how the delegates reacted. This was an hour before she spoke. AP did the same thing with Colin Powell's speech, with detailed quotes from members of the audience. Filed at 9:10 p.m., almost 90 minutes before he took the stage. Journalism is a total scam. Even in an era of 24-hour news channels and raw wires on the Internet, there's still no shame at daily newspapers. Whole sections are prepared days or even weeks before they arrive in your "news" paper, and you'd be surprised how much of the "A" section for today's paper was done while you were having breakfast yesterday. Or earlier.Part of the problem is the incessant need for speed. I know from my news consuming, when I see some newsworthy event happening on tv, I quickly jump onto my computer to get more the story from news websites. I crave additional information, and when it's not available yet, I get mad at the news organizations for not being fast enough. In response, the organizations prepare stories ahead of time with the limited information available. Then with a click of the mouse, news junkies' cravings are slightly eased. Then there's a problem when the story is released too soon as in the case of the Independent. The preparation wasn't the problem; the problem was story management. The newspapers' editors failed. And these people are some the most critical of webloggers because we don't have editors. As for the GOP convention coverage, that was just laziness dishonesty. You can't have audience reaction to a speech before the speech takes place. This again is the failure of editors. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2002 02:21:24 AM ----- BODY: No! Arts & Letters Daily is dead! It's owned by the same company that owns the defunct Lingua Franca, and the bankruptcy auction is coming up. A&LD was a marvelous, renaissance collection of high- and middle-brow articles and reviews. If a famous, infamous, or not-so famous scholar or author died, you'd find many obituaries. Without A&LD, I would have never found an article from the Socialist Worker memorializing the death of biologist Stephen Jay Gould. Then there were the teasers. Few websites could make esoteric philosophy seem interesting.
Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, Locke and Descartes: their wanderings, wars, and struggles make Kant's look like nothing. Yet his story is every bit as gripping as theirs...[more]This teaser points to an article on biographies of philosophers--at first glance, not breezy reading material. There's this ditty:
The lovely, decayed city of Havana stands as a dreadful warning against monomaniacs certain of a theory that explains everything, including the future of humanity...[more]It's full of sarcasm with plenty of truth. Then there's this one:
Creativity. Beethoven was a very, very creative person. And so is Elton John. And so are you. Best of all, in Britain art is helping to build a better society... [more]. Not, says that boring old fart, Simon Rattle.Even if the linked articles were dull as could be, you came away with a smile. A&LD took ideas seriously without taking them too seriously. For that, it will be missed. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2002 01:21:36 AM ----- BODY: With the anti-war protests across the country yesterday, can that crowd now stop claiming their dissent is being stifled? We hear you loud and clear; it's just that most of us don't agree with you. "Rally in New York Protests Possible Iraq War" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2002 01:12:49 AM ----- BODY: Courtesy of MSNBC's Weblog Central I discovered Warblogging.com's Index of Evil. It goes up or down depending on how many times weblogs mention certain people. You instantly guess it's a Lefty idea because it tosses in John Ashcroft with the likes of Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and Mullah Omar. Where's Noam Chompsky, Kim Jong-il, or Fidel Castro? Now, there are some evil types. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2002 12:52:04 AM ----- BODY: Random Nuclear Strikes: a great name for a weblog. The mind behind it has an idea about U.N. resolutions:
I say fine. We will abide by the UN resolutions everywhere Saddam does. Anyplace he unilaterally chooses NOT to allow inspections, we should be able to unilaterally choose to bomb into rubble, and be applauded by the UN for our "sort of compliance" with the all powerful UN resolution. The UN is happy that their previous "inspections" got rid of ~80-90% of Saddam's weapons. Therefore, they should be equally happy if we leave 80-90% of Iraq unbombed into rubble.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/6/2002 11:48:05 PM ----- BODY: Historian Paul Johnson has Saudi Arabia in his sights after Iraq.
Instead, not only must he change the regime in Iraq; the question is: What further precautions must he take to make the U.S. reasonably safe? In the second half of the 20th century, the American government was obliged to answer this question by doing two very expensive and risky things. First, it had to build up a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons and continually update its delivery systems to maintain a balance of terror and/or first- and second-strike capabilities. Second, it had to construct a worldwide spread of alliances and bases to ensure its conventional superiority. These measures are still necessary but they have receded into the background. The foreground is occupied by the need to eliminate regimes which, in one way or another, make international terrorism on a large scale possible and threaten to produce mass-destructive terrorism. Such states include not only all "the usual suspects" --Iran, Libya, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea (as well as Iraq)--but Saudi Arabia too, whose authoritarian monarchy pays protection money to terrorists and spreads the religious fundamentalism which lies at the root of the problem. All these regimes need to be changed. By whose right, and with what authority, can the U.S. undertake such a wide-ranging program? It is this which takes us to the heart of the new, 21st-century form of geopolitics. The risk of great-power conflict is now small. The risk of nation-to-nation wars is diminishing. But the risk of colossal attacks on centers of civilization has increased, is increasing, and must be diminished.He goes on to declare that the United States, as the dominant economic, political, and military superpower (dare I say "hyperpower?") is the world's protection from a Hobbsian world of international conflict.
We need a Leviathan figure now much more than in the 17th century, when the range of a cannon was a maximum of two miles and its throw-weight was measured in pounds. America is the only constitutional Leviathan we have, which is precisely why the terrorists are striving to do him mortal injury, and the opponents of order throughout the world--in the media, on the campus, and among the flat-earthers--are so noisily opposed to Leviathan's protecting himself."Leviathan to the Rescue" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/5/2002 12:45:23 AM ----- BODY: Supporters of Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) went to court to try and reverse her primary defeat. Their argument is that "malicious crossover" votes from Republicans led to her defeat. Yeah, that's what happened, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. John Hawkins isn't surprised about this lawsuit since cry-baby Democrats have already tried stuff like this in Florida and New Jersey. "Voters File Suit to Invalidate McKinney Election" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/5/2002 12:15:21 AM ----- BODY: Only a block away from the site of Sunday night's horrible murder of Charles Young, families are trying to build a stable community. Local resident, Christina Harden will not give up on her neighborhood because of the brutal beating.
We've built these houses from the ground up, and some people just don't care about what their kids do. You just have to give a damn."Sadness, Hope Living Side by Side" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2002 11:43:23 PM ----- BODY: I don't care if Jesse Walker is serious or not, this question is just plain funny:
Since Coulter is curveless and has an "almost masculine" jaw line, is it possible that she is, in fact, a transvestite? After all, her persona is at least partly a put-on already. And it might explain her obsession with "girly-boys."-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2002 11:31:51 PM ----- BODY: If I was still in college, I'd tell Chris Matthews to "Bring it on!" I only missed one question on his Hot Seat quiz. [via Brothers Judd] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2002 11:23:26 PM ----- BODY: Patrick Ruffini thinks he knows why the Democrats practice politics "like it's fundamentalist Islam." His argument meshes very well with Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions. "When Politics is God" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2002 10:51:40 PM ----- BODY: Jonah Goldberg on the NJ election scandal:
In short, Forrester played by the rules of the game. The voters were told what was going to be on the test and that is what they prepared for. If that educational process is less important than the merely mechanical process we call voting, then why have campaigns at all? Indeed, why shouldn't the Republicans convince Forrester himself to drop out so they can drop in Arnold Schwarzenegger or Rudy Giuliani? Oh, don't tell me it's because those guys don't live in New Jersey. If, as the New Jersey supreme court sees things, having a choice between two candidates is the sine qua non of an election, then surely the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't from New Jersey is a mere technicality, paling in comparison to the need for competitive lever-pulling. Besides, the rules that say you should be a resident of the state you run in are a limit on direct democracy, too. But they serve a function in a republic, in that they educate potential candidates on the nature and flavor of the communities they are supposed to represent. If these rules can always and everywhere be chucked aside ? by judges, no less ? for the sake of putting the glory of ceremonial lever-pulling above the imperative to have an informed electorate and qualified politicians ? then there's really no need for electoral politics at all. Just let the judges decide."Jersey Dems vs. Democracy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2002 08:17:13 PM ----- BODY: Last week, there was some weblogging discussion over repealing the 17th. Amendment. Josh Chafetz over at OxBlog is writing about allowing non-natural-born citizens to be President. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2002 07:40:33 PM ----- BODY: Lynn asks why I allow comments on my weblog. Well, I allow comments so people have a reason to come back to my weblog. If they posted a comment, they will be more inclined to return to see if anyone (including me) responded. It's there to make my weblog "stickier" to use old dot-com speak. It's also a great feeling to know people are getting so much from my writing that they want to toss in their two cents. Comments shows me people are responding to my writing, not just reading it, and that's a great feeling. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 11:40:34 PM ----- BODY: Harris Interactive made it official. The Green Bay Packers are "America's Team." Ok, technically they're "America's Favorite Team," but that's close enough for me. "Packers Voted 'America's Favorite Team'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 07:38:16 PM ----- BODY: To let you know my humor goes beyond Democrat-bashing, here's ScrappleFace making fun of a President Bush mispronounciation. "Attack Nixed: Iraq Has 'Nuculer', Not Nuclear Weapons" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 07:16:24 PM ----- BODY: Hooray for Tony Parsons' impassioned defense of America.
America could have turned a large chunk of the world into a parking lot. That it didn't is a sign of strength.and there's this quote:
I love America, yet America is hated. I guess that makes me Bush's poodle. But I would rather be a dog in New York City than a Prince in Riyadh. Above all, America is hated because it is what every country wants to be - rich, free, strong, open, optimistic."Shame on You America-Hating Liberals" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 07:13:33 PM ----- BODY: President Bush's foreign policy is not starkly unilateralist nor is it "a radical departure from the foreign policy of past administrations" to use Walter Russell Mead's words. The key to understanding it is Condoleezza Rice. "Misunderstanding the Rice Doctrine" [via Virginia Postrel] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 07:06:29 PM ----- BODY: That Milwaukee 10-year-old was chared with second-degree reckless homicide and won't be brought to adult court. Also in the story, family members of the suspects defended them. The father of the 10-year-old claims a 32-year-old man killed Charles Young and he said, "Kids are going to be kids." The boy's sister said, "He's not a monster. He's a 10-year-old little boy." That little boy may have helped bludgeon a man to death. She also claims the police forced a confession out of the boy. As the facts come out, it appears the melee started with the 10-year-old throwing an egg at Young. Young may have threatened the boys with a knife and hit a 14-year-old. Self-defense could be the defense for these kids but it looks like they hunted Young down.
Young then ran away with the boys in pursuit. As he sought safety in the neighborhood, the youths, including some members of a street gang called the 2-3 Mob, gathered up other kids in the neighborhood. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Young managed to hide in a nearby field or empty lot. Again, the accounts vary. The hunt and chase went on for some time, up to 45 minutes, according to one account. Some suggest the boys saw Young moving toward a duplex on N. 21st Lane; others that the group waited for him there. At some point, a witness at the duplex said, Young came running toward the residence screaming for help, the boys close behind. Young forced his way inside Anthony Brown's residence at 2021 N. 21st Lane, where he would ultimately be bludgeoned to death.The beating was so brutal blood splattered on the walls of the duplex where the attack took place. A sister of two of the suspects is angry with public depictions of lax parents (Court Commissioner Dennis Cimpl asked in court, "Why the hell weren't these kids in bed?"). "People don't give credit to the mother who's a hard-working parent and a single parent," she said about her mother who's raising seven children. We should give this mother a little credit, but plenty of shame should rain down on her for giving birth to seven children without a father. Maybe if she had fewer children, she could keep track of them better. "10-Year-Old Charged with Second-Degree Reckless Homicide in Beating Death" "Victim's Response to Egging Prompted Beating, Boys Say" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 05:39:55 PM ----- BODY: Some twit (don't think I'm being rude, the weblogger called me something much worse) thinks I'm a hysterical American straight out of the 1950s. My hero is Tailgunner Joe McCarthy, and I don't consider Doctor Strangelove to be satire. I'm a red-blooded, flag-waving, meat-eating patriot who thinks American can do no wrong and who backs President Bush in his quest to make his friends the oil kings of the planet. What did I do to deserve such disdain? I pointed out Congressmen McDermott and Bonior (D-Iraq) as the traitors that they are. I then had a little fun with a t-shirt depicting promise-breaker Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) as a Communist. I did the former because those two Congressmen can be opposed to war with Iraq, but they should not be helping an enemy of the country they've sworn to protect. Going to Iraq, siding with the Butcher of Baghdad, and publicly denouncing President Bush only emboldens Saddam and will make any potential war tougher to win. As for Senator Wellstone, the t-shirt is called humor. If the twit knew anything about the senior Senator from Minnesota, he would know that Wellstone is one of the most liberal people in that body. There's rarely a social program or tax increase that Wellstone won't support. He brags that he passed the Family and Medical Leave Act that burdens businesses while being no business of the federal government. He forced private insurers to treat mental illness the same as physical illness, forcing insurance costs to go up. His proud vote for the Patient' Bill of Rights likewise will force insurance costs up. Wellstone's plan to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare will increase government spending by the billions. On the agricultural front, Wellstone's ideas to help farmers include forcing the federal government to buy vegetable-based ink instead of possibly less-expensive alternatives. He tried to funnel millions in federal subsidies to milk farmers, and he also supports ethanol tax credits. Wellstone would also love to see agri-businesses taken to court on antitrust and anti-competitive charges. Subsidies and government prosecution is Wellstone's way of helping family farmers. Then there's education. Wellstone's plan is to pump as much federal money into schools as he can. To him, school districts can never spend too much. But with federal money come rules and regulations dictating how that money can be spent. In the end, Wellstone supports Washington, D.C. dictating education policy. On these sets of issues, Paul Wellstone's solutions are more centralized control. Wellstone knows better how a company should treat its workers during times of family crisis. Wellstone knows what the "fair" income of a farmer should be. Wellstone knows better how local school districts should run. These issues don't make him a communist. He doesn't call for government ownership of the means of production. What he does support is Fascism. Private property still remains but orders on how to properly employ it is dictated from on high. It's collectivistic, inefficient, and immoral. So maybe the Paul Wellstone-as-Lenin isn't that accurate. A more fitting one might be Paul Wellstone-as-Mussolini. Thanks for the clarification, twit. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 04:20:34 PM ----- BODY: Buffoons like Tom Tomorrow still can't get over the 2000 election. Will Tom ever take a look at the crooked NJ Democratic party? Don't bet on it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 02:34:59 AM ----- BODY: A 10-year-old may become the youngest child ever charged with murder in the U.S. The child was part of a gang of kids who killed Charles Young, Jr. with bats, shovels, and folding chairs. There are areas in central cities throughout the U.S. much like that where Young was killed. They are areas where fathers are AWOL, mothers are on drugs or too busy working to feed their kids, and the police are slow to act. Our country is only one generation away from barbarism. That fact is constant. Inculcating right and wrong, good and bad is crucial. Dealing with the crooked Democrats in New Jersey or how to best deal with Saddam mean little if we allow the next generation to become murdering hordes. "Suspect, 10, May Become Youngest Ever Charged" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 02:07:39 AM ----- BODY: I buy the results of this research, but I'm not going back to contacts even if I missing out on extra kissing, hugging, and fondling. My eyesight is so bad I can only wear gas permeable lenses. Those are the nice, soft ones you think of when you think of contact lenses. No, gas permeable lenses are thicker. The nice thing about them is I could just "blink" them off instead of poking around my eye. What ended my contact wearing days was a scratched cornea and the impatience of putting them in everyday. I may just save up for lasik surgery if I can ever get the nerve to let some docter zap my eyes with a laser. "Contact Lenses 'Boost Sexual Success'" [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 01:53:53 AM ----- BODY: It took a few days, but George Will laid into Congressmen McDermott (D-Iraq) and Bonoir (D-Iraq) dubbing them "useful idiots.".
Not since Jane Fonda posed for photographers at a Hanoi antiaircraft gun has there been anything like Rep. Jim McDermott, speaking to ABC's "This Week" from Baghdad, saying Americans should take Saddam Hussein at his word but should not take President Bush at his."Innocents Abroad" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 01:30:21 AM ----- BODY: HUMOR: ScrappleFace beat me to the punch and reports that the NJ GOP replaced Forrester with Condoleezza Rice. Lautenberg's toast. "New Jersey Republicans Scratch Forrester from Senate Ballot" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2002 01:09:18 AM ----- BODY: Guessing game time! Name the most corrupt state political party in the country. It used to be the Illinois Democratic Party where their motto was: "Vote early, vote often." You could make a case for the Texas Democratic Party during Lyndon Johnson's Senate days. The Florida Democratic Party can also stake its claim with their mystical chad reading back in 2000. But today, right now, no other state political party can match the New Jersey Democratic Party. What other party is so brazen that they can ignore the plain and simple language governing their elections? Well, two parties can play this game of bait-and-switch. Douglas Forrester did a fine job. He was well on his way to snuffing out the "Torch" and help the GOP retake the Senate. But if the Democrats want to play hardball, then Forrester should step down. His replacement: Steve Forbes. I want Forbes to jump in, go nuts on his flat tax, and pony up $20 million of his own money to buy up so much ad time that no one in New Jersey will even know Frank Lautenberg is even running. "New Jersey Court Allows Substitute on Senate Ballot" "N.J. Court OKs Ballot Change" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/1/2002 02:01:51 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins covers the Torricelli scam going down in New Jersey. He points out this Tim Russert quote:
They're going to have to petition the court. Ironically, the New Jersey Supreme Court used to have three Republicans, three Democrats, one independent until three weeks ago, when the Democratic governor appointed a longtime Democratic ally, now giving them four Democrats on that court. The governor is a Democrat, as is the attorney general. When a state controls that kind of election machinery, they sometimes get what they want done.Remember, NJ is the home state of Tony Soprano. "What Happens for the Democrats Now?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/1/2002 01:17:05 AM ----- BODY: There's still some sanity in our legal system. U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake tossed out a lawsuit where a man claimed his cell phone gave him cancer. "Judge Throws Out Cell Phone Lawsuit" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/30/2002 06:48:10 PM ----- BODY: It's the 1970s all over again. Back then, climate scientists feared a new ice age. In the 80s and 90s, the fear was global warming. They're now back to fearing an ice age. "Triggering Abrupt Climate Change: Can Global Warming Cause an 'Ice Age'" [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/30/2002 06:16:38 PM ----- BODY: Here's more on Congressmen McDermott (D-Iraq), Bonior (D-Iraq), and Thompson (D-Iraq). While they're tooling around Iraq, they said they have total access to whatever they want to look at. "They have not kept us from doing anything we asked to do," said McDermott, who formerly represented Washington state. But Bonior, who formerly represented Michigan admitted "we're not looking as inspectors," so it doesn't matter where these men went. They wouldn't know a WMD even if they were staring straight at one. To top it off, Bonior then blames the U.S. for increased leukemias and lymphomas in children because of all the uranium (depleated?) used on Iraq in the first Gulf War. He didn't put any blame on Saddam for being an egotistical, expansionistic thug who started this whole mess by invading Kuwait. These three Congressmen should ease some of James Fallows' fears. Iraq's not even officially the fifty-first state and already they have three Democrats representing it in Congress. "Democrats Blast U.S. Line on Iraq" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/30/2002 03:48:51 PM ----- BODY: There are exceptions to everything, including Minnesota Nice:
On Saturday, about 16 to 20 Minnesota College Republicans and staff members from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Norm Coleman's campaign stood in the rain in front of the Fine Line, chanting "Deport Baldwin" and waving signs that said "Paul Wellstone, bad for Minnesota farmers" and "Baldwin and PETA -- udderly ridiculous."I then noticed this paragraph:
"This is so un-Minnesotan," said Randy Schubring, chairman of the DFL party's Fourth District, as a pickup truck plastered with Coleman signs pulled up and a man with a red T-shirt featuring Wellstone as Lenin jumped out.Did the shirt look anything like this?
Could there be any clearer example of why the Democrats can't be trusted to protect America? Here we have Democrats in Iraq, shilling for a maniacal dictator who's seeking nuclear weapons and collaborating with the people who murdered almost 3000 Americans last September. Which side are these guys on? Judging by what they're saying, it doesn't seem to be ours. In fact, as Don Nickles said in the article, "both sound somewhat like spokespersons for the Iraqi government." Can you trust a party full of people with this sort of mentality to protect America? Do you want your life, the life of your friends and family, and even the future of our country, in the hands of people like Bonoir & McDermott when there's a war in progress? The Democrats can complain about 'politicizing the war' all they want, but this issue needs to be in front of the voters in November for the sake of our country.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/30/2002 12:27:47 AM ----- BODY: When Iraq is freed from Saddam's tyranny, what should happen to the country? David Pryce-Jones wouldn't mind a break-up into its ethnic parts. Iraq was just a state brought together by the British Empire. "The End of the Pax Britannica" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/30/2002 12:06:16 AM ----- BODY: When it comes to the phrase "The American Mind," Google thinks TAM is more important than a famous book written in the 1980s. I'm flattered even though it's the result of some impersonal algorithm. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/29/2002 11:38:26 PM ----- BODY: 121 years ago, a man was born who would turn out to be one of the most important social thinkers of the 20th Century. In 1881, Ludwig von Mises was born in Austria, went to college in Vienna, taught there as well as in Switzerland and the United States. His contributions to classical liberal thought stems from his devastating critique of socialism, his comprehensive exposition of economics, and his students who advanced Austrian economics into a refreshing challenge to orthodox economics. Mises' most important book is Human Action. From a few basic premises about the way Man acts, Mises built a comprehensive intellectual edifice. It's magnificent in its logic and broad scope. Mises' second most important work is Socialism. This is his argument against a socialist economy. Mises contends that since a socialist economy doesn't have market prices, such an economy will not be able to function as well as a capitalist economy. Prices contain valuable information that tell buyers and sellers what goods and services are relatively abundant or scarce. By not letting prices freely fluctuate, socialist economies do not allow information to move efficiently. (See this page on the Socialist Calculation Debate.) In 1956, Mises' most famous student, Nobel Prize-winner, F. A. Hayek had these kind words to say about his teacher:
Professor Mises! It would be an impertinence to enlarge further on your learning and scholarship, on your wisdom and penetration, which has given you world renown. But you have shown other qualities which not all great thinkers possess. You have shown an undaunted courage, even when you stood alone. You have shown a relentless consistency and persistence in your thought, even when it led to unpopularity and isolation. You have for long not found the recognition from the official organization of science which was your due. You have seen your pupils reap some of the rewards which were due to you but which envy and prejudice have long withheld. But you have been more fortunate than most other sponsors of unpopular causes. You knew before today that the ideas for which you had so long fought alone or with little support would be victorious. You have seen an ever-growing group of pupils and admirers gather round you and, while you continue to push further, endeavor to follow up and elaborate your ideas. The torch which you have lighted has become the guide of a new movement for freedom which is gathering strength every day.To become familiar with Mises' economics, Peter Boettke wrote a paper. In it, Boettke writes, "Mises developed a bold and enduring humanistic project for the study of man that invites our critical attention." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/29/2002 09:56:45 PM ----- BODY: James Fallows has a "must read" article on what kind of situation a post-war Iraq could be. He delves into what an occupying American force would have to do from crumbling into anarchy. The possiblities aren't pleasant--having Iran as a "permanent enemy" doesn't sound appealing. Invasion could set back the rising democratic youth movement there. What Fallows' article does is force war advocates to look at the potential downsides to war. This allows for clearer and more nuanced thinking. "The Fifty-first State?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/29/2002 07:28:59 PM ----- BODY: Trent Rezor is a sonic genius who changed the way Rock music and machines interact. At his core, he knows it isn't how the music is made, but what the music is.
Just because you can buy a box of software now for a couple hundred bucks that can make a great-sounding album that doesn't mean you're going to make a great record. What matters are the songs."Trent Reznor's Pretty Hate Machines" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/28/2002 10:46:54 PM ----- BODY: 11-year-olds will have access to morning-after pills without parental consent. What do you expect? 11-year-olds having sex is just another "lifestyle choice." We don't want to impose our old-fashion notions of right and wrong on the young and impressionable. Instead, we'll drop any moral pretenses and hand out pills so they can kill their children. "School Offers Morning-After Pill to 11-Year-Olds" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/28/2002 10:12:02 PM ----- BODY: This is the music video Plant/Page/Jones should release to get all the kids hooked on Zeppelin. Don't tick off these felines. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/28/2002 12:07:30 AM ----- BODY: Nick Schulz takes the first shot at The American Conservative. He wonders how conservative Pat Buchanan is anymore since his positions parallel many non-conservatives:
If the folks at TAC believe they can demonstrate that they are truer to some timeless "faith" than anyone else, they have a tough road ahead. Buchanan claims he and his gang speak for genuine conservatives. He's free to make that claim. But let's look at some specific issues. On the question of a potential Iraqi invasion, for example, TAC's positions are indistinguishable from those of Noam Chomsky, Al Gore, former Clinton advisor and Democratic intellectual William Galston, and Lewis Lapham, the editor of the left wing Harper's magazine. Indeed Lapham and Buchanan, in the current issues of their respective magazines, make strong arguments against Iraqi invasions that happen to make the exact same points. Take another issue, such as global trade. It doesn't help matters for TAC that on trade issues, Buchanan's views mirror those of Ralph Nader."Standing Pat" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 11:41:10 PM ----- BODY: Lynn's fed up with ABC News. I haven't bothered with Peter Jennings and the gang for years. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 11:31:09 PM ----- BODY: Eugene Volokh's scenario is frightening, yet plausible. The reason to take out Saddam and liberate Iraq is that if Iraq builds a bomb, it will be used against the United States. Either Saddam would use it as in Eugene's speculative fiction, or terrorists will use it. What I fear most is waking up one day and watching on CNNMSNBCFOXNEWS that Seattle, Chicago, or Houston is now a smoking, radioactive crater. Millions of Americans would be dead and soon after millions of Iraqis would be dead too. At its core, invading Iraq is a war to save lives. "Some Say Deterrence Is Enough?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 11:12:32 PM ----- BODY: Jim's list of things to do with his new house gives me a whole bunch of reasons never to buy one. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 10:57:27 PM ----- BODY: Webloggers and readers with an itch to write, Frontiers of Freedom's OpinonEditorials.com can be your chance to start your new career as the next George Will, Thomas Friedman, or--dare I say it--Ann Coulter. Send them a 500-750 word article, and they just might print it. I see this as the minor leagues of opinion writing. Jennifer Roberts of Townhall.com even wrote, "Columns accepted by OpEds.com will be publicized by Townhall through our What's New section and email, and some lucky ones will make our homepage." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 10:07:58 PM ----- BODY: USA Today has a lengthy story on possible war tactics against Iraq, but here's the kicker: the whole story might just be a diversion put out by the military. As Dave Moniz writes,
The war will almost certainly be preceded by a lengthy disinformation campaign designed to keep Saddam guessing about U.S. intentions. That effort, some say, has already begun with the disclosure of plans to move a key military headquarters to the tiny Persian Gulf nation of Qatar and the continued leaking of ''war plans,'' including military training for Iraqi dissidents, to U.S. media. Says one former Gulf War planner: ''It's been wonderful to have all those stories out there to confuse Saddam.''What you can guess is pretty accurate is that the war will be based on speed and accuracy. Bombers will use smart bombs like they did in Afghanistan with troops sweeping into Iraq from all parts of the world. If the guess of around 100,000 troops for this war is correct, it will an even greater accomplishment than Desert Storm. "U.S. Aim in Iraq: 'Lightning' Action" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 01:27:29 AM ----- BODY: Stephen Silver didn't like The West Wing season premiere and hopes the show becomes relevant again. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 01:07:28 AM ----- BODY: Brad DeLong on basic statistics:
I wish the New York Times would talk of confidence intervals and sampling variability, but its editors have made a judgment that such discussions would lose too many of their readers. It doesn't. But this failure to talk about the uncertainties of sample-based estimates leaves the door open for sleazy attacks like Slate's.I agree with him. Tossing around numbers the way the media does only confuses a public who is capable of understand concepts like confidence intervals and makes them more cynical toward statistics. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 12:48:36 AM ----- BODY: Jane Galt calls The West Wing "Touched By An Angel for the political class." She's right. The liberal President and his staff are always right, and the opposition isn't just wrong, but stupid. I still like the show because it's about Washington, D.C. and the dialog is so zippy. A failing with the dialog is that any of the characters could say any of the lines, and it would fit. C.J. is just a female version of Sam, who is a male version of Donna, who is a female version of Josh. I'll still watch it because it's better than just about anything else in primetime, and I need something to pass the time until 24 begins its second season. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2002 12:08:40 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins is tired of the anti-war crowd's lack of an answer to the Islamist War:
This is the big problem I have with the anti-war people. There is a clear and present danger to the United States that in all likelihood will get worse unless some sort of immediate action is taken and the anti-war crowd's solution to that problem is **sound of crickets chirping**. Until the anti-war crowd has something of substance to say about a SOLUTION to the problem we're facing, there's no compelling reason to continue paying attention to their arguments.Congress is putting together a resolution on the use of force against Iraq. Now is the time for the anti-war crowd to state their case. No longer can they cry out for a debate. The debate is now. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 11:08:47 PM ----- BODY: The agency in charge of rebuilding the WTC site has asked for ideas from six architecture teams. Since the state of modern architecture is abysmal, I worry about the resulting plans to be put together by November. "Six Teams Chosen to Create New Designs for WTC Site" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 08:00:58 PM ----- BODY: Best British weblog, as determined by the Guardian: Scaryduck. "The Duck of the Draw" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 07:56:55 PM ----- BODY: Dawn writes,
No one is Pro-Abortion. I am not. I think it is unfortunate and sad, but my desire to keep it accessible comes from the same concern the Pro-Lifers have, preserving the integrity of life.If no one is pro-abortion then how come so many people scream when even the slightest restriction on abortion is merely considered? How come NARAL hasn't supported any ban on gruesome partial-birth abortion? The only way abortion can perserve the integrity of life is if the mother's life is in danger. That's it. I'm a hardliner. Self-defense is the only moral justification for killing an unborn child. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 07:38:51 PM ----- BODY: The University of California at San Diego wants a student group, the Che Cafe Collective, to remove a link to Columbian narco-terrorist group FARC. The univeristy claims it's a violation of the USA Patriot Act. It's not since, according to the law, supporting terrorists includes "currency or other financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials." No one should claim that a hyperlink is equal to "communications equipment." "University Bans Controversial Links" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 06:33:14 PM ----- BODY: In an e-mail, Chris Mosier points out an error in Jacob Levy's post on the 17th Amendment. Levy wrote that before the 17th Amendment "Senators were elected for a stable seven years." A Senator's term has always been six years. The 17th Amendment didn't change anything about the length. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 06:12:13 PM ----- BODY: The the inaugural issue of The American Conservative, the Paleo/Neo Conservative wars have moved beyond the Internet and unknown magazines. AC editors Pat Buchanan and Taki Theodoracopulos might be taking the term "Old Right" too literally. There's no real content on the magazine's web site. If they want influence beyond the D.C.-New York media center they need to take after Lew Rockwell and the Mises Institute gang who publish daily. Bill Kristol may claim to not care about AC (he said, "I don't intend to pay much attention to it"), but don't be surprised to see a feature article in the next few months in The Weekly Standard skewering AC's political philosophy. "On a Right Wing and a Player" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 06:00:08 PM ----- BODY: Clayton Cramer asserts that the Founders intended the Senate to represent wealthy interests. [via Volokh] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 05:01:34 PM ----- BODY: PALEO WATCH: The latest item is indirect. Lawrence Auster covers Pat Buchanan's new magazine and wrote this paragraph about paleos in general:
A similar ad hominem methodology can be seen at work among Buchanan's somewhat more extreme allies on the antiwar right, the paleo-libertarians and neo-Confederates whose main hangout is lewrockwell.com. For the neo-Confederates, the evil American empire does not begin (as it does for the Buchananites) with the Gulf War or the Kosovo War or the Cold War or World War II; it begins with the Civil War and Lincoln's unprecedented exertion of national power to suppress the Southern rebellion. The neo-Confederates hate Lincoln's policy both as unjust and wicked in itself and as prototypical of the current American empire and its client state Israel. Just as Buchanan smears the "rampaging bull" Sharon as the fons et origo of Mideast violence, the neo-Confederates rant about "the blood-thirsty Lincoln" as the sole cause of the South's ruin. This "blood-thirsty" slur contains two false inferences: that Lincoln's primary motive was to kill as many people as possible, rather than to save the United States from dismemberment; and that it was only the evil Lincoln (or Lincoln and his band of radical Republicans) who wanted a large-scale war on the South and forced the rest of the country to go along with that tyrannical policy. The truth, of course, is that it was the majority of the Northern people, Republicans and Democrats, who through their elected representatives supported the war; and that their motive was not to shed blood but to save the Union. Like Buchanan when he blames Mideast violence on the "rampaging bull" Sharon, and like the neo-Confederates when they blame the Civil War on the "blood-thirsty" Lincoln, McConnell when he singles out the "War Party" is suggesting two slanderous falsehoods. First, he is implying that it is only a small group of manipulative ideologues, the (largely Jewish) neoconservatives, who support the overthrow of the Iraqi regime, rather than, as is the case, the majority of Americans. Second, he is implying that those who support a war on Iraq are motivated by a love of war for its own sake ? for what else is meant by "War Party"? ? rather than by a responsible concern for America's security. For McConnell to admit that the majority of the American people agree with Bush's Iraq policy, and that they do so for rational and patriotic ? not ideological or imperialistic ? reasons, would compel him to engage in rational and respectful debate with them instead of trying to provoke fear and hatred of a neoconservative bogeyman. Unfortunately, it would appear that such restraint is beyond McConnell's ability or desire at this point, as it is for many others on the antiwar right."McConnell and Buchanan versus 'The War Party'" [via PunchtheBag] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 04:51:45 PM ----- BODY: Lynn Sislo found some links on John Cage's 4'33". -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 03:02:25 AM ----- BODY: Christopher Hitchens is leaving The Nation. He also offers a simple reason why attacking Iraq is part of the broader Islamist War:
And a friendly Iraq, free again to trade and to make contact with the outside world, could transform the atmosphere of the Middle East. To take one small example, Iraq would no longer be supplying the more thuggish elements around Yasser Arafat, or offering subsidies to suicide bombers. And it might be noticed democratic forces among the Palestinians have begun to insist on a mini regime change of their own.Take that Brent Scowcroft. Hitchens also goes after the "war for oil" argument:
Just on the material aspect - I love it when people darkly describe the coming intervention as "blood for oil", or equivalent gibberish. Does this mean what it appears to mean, namely that oil is not worth fighting over? Or that it's no cause for alarm that the oil resources of the region are permanently menaced by a crazy sadist who has already invaded two of his neighbours?"We Must Fight Iraq" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2002 12:39:52 AM ----- BODY: Lynne Stewart, radical lawyer, charged with helping a convicted terrorist release calls to violence shows her cold, inhuman attitude toward the victims of September 11 and civilian casualities in general:
The Pentagon was ''a better target''; the people in the towers ''never knew what hit them. They had no idea that they could ever be a target for somebody's wrath, just by virtue of being American. They took it personally. And actually, it wasn't a personal thing.'' As for civilian deaths in general: ''I'm pretty inured to the notion that in a war or in an armed struggle, people die. They're in the wrong place, they're in a nightclub in Israel, they're at a stock market in London, they're in the Algerian outback -- whatever it is, people die.'' She mentions Hiroshima and Dresden. ''So I have a lot of trouble figuring out why that is wrong, especially when people are sort of placed in a position of having no other way.''"Terrorist Lawyer" [via David Horowitz] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/25/2002 01:18:50 AM ----- BODY: Chris points out a John Dean (of Watergate fame) article on the Seventeenth Amendment. That's the one that allows direct election of Senators. Chris calls it one of the worst changes to the constitution. Dean argues that it allowed the federal government to trample over states' rights because Senators were no longer beholden to the corporate interests of the states. Instead, they were beholden to the impulses of the voters. Todd Zywicki's research was mentioned in Dean's article and he adds a little more to the discussion. Jacob Levy responds [via InstaPundit] to Zywicki. He briefly describes other countries' upper legislative houses. Then he argues that the 17th Amendment may have prevented the Senate from becoming a powerless body. "The Seventeenth Amendment: Should it be Repealed?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/25/2002 12:47:14 AM ----- BODY: A Vermont federal judge ruled the federal death penalty unconstitutional. "Federal Death Penalty Again Ruled Unconstitutional" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2002 03:28:53 AM ----- BODY: Gerhard Schroeder wins, but the U.S. government isn't happy. President Bush hasn't called Schroeder to congratulate him and Donald Rumsfeld didn't meet with the German defense minister in Warsaw. Is Schroeder's use of the U.S. as boogie-man the sign of a trend in Europe? Will other center-left parties, even extreme right ones, use the threat of the "hyperpower" United States to scare voters into voting for them? Pundits pumped out plenty of words over the political burps of right-wing pols Jean-Marie Le Pen and Pim Fortuyn. One only got a small percentage of the vote (17% in the first round of elections), while the other was murdered days before the national election. Will there be as much examination of the long-term consequences of Schroeder's winning tactic and a deteriorated U.S.-German relationship? One important consequence to examine is the future of NATO. While already on life support due to its irrelevance (no Soviet army to fight), the lack of support in ending Saddam's reign of terror over Iraq is the military alliance's final exhale. Europe sees itself as more of a competitor than partner to the U.S. Ironically, the best friends the U.S. has in NATO are the new ex-communist countries Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. In all likelihood, the war with Iraq will involve only the U.S. and Great Britain. The rest of NATO will wag their fingers at such awful unilateralism. Then the coffin will be sealed. Eventually, the public will agree with Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) that U.S. troops need no longer be stationed in a country where its leaders compare the their President to Hitler. "Schroeder Faces More US Anger" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2002 03:01:30 AM ----- BODY: A bunch of historians want a debate over declaring war on Iraq. They don't want a debate over a Congressional resolution authorizing the use of force; they want one over a declaration of war. One problem: a Congressional resolution is equivalent to a formal declaration. Earlier this year, Eugene Volokh was kind enough to point me to a Q. & A. by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) where he said,
The answer is yes, and we did it. I happen to be a professor of Constitutional law. I'm the guy that drafted the Use of Force proposal that we passed. It was in conflict between the President and the House. I was the guy who finally drafted what we did pass. Under the Constitution, there is simply no distinction ... Louis Fisher(?) and others can tell you, there is no distinction between a formal declaration of war, and an authorization of use of force. There is none for Constitutional purposes. None whatsoever. And we defined in that Use of Force Act that we passed, what ... against whom we were moving, and what authority was granted to the President.Could it be that these historians are not as concerned about upholding the constitution as much as preventing a war with Iraq? It's fine to be against a war, it's another to use intellectually dishonest means. No one should construe that I oppose a Congressional debate over war with Iraq. I would actually like to see Congress have the guts to declare war. It hasn't been done since 1941. They didn't even declare war on al-Qaeda; they authorized the use of force. Declaring war has more moral force and seriousness behind it. "American Historians Speak Out" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2002 02:14:36 AM ----- BODY: I'll add to Matt Welch's comment on supposed U.S. anti-intellectualism by looking at the communications method he's using. Weblogging allows many to read and comment on what "Gore Chomskytag," hawks, doves, and anyone in between has to say. After reading many weblogs for a little bit, you can't help but notice that many of these people aren't mere cranks objecting to thinking. On the contrary, weblogging has given many people the opportunity to sharpen their thinking skills to better take part in the debate. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2002 01:36:20 AM ----- BODY: If the reviewer can really write, it doesn't matter how bad the movie is. Case in point, uber-critic, Roger Ebert on Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever:
At one point in the movie, a man who will remain nameless is injected with one of these devices by a dart gun, and it kills him. All very well, but consider for a moment the problem of cost overruns in these times of economic uncertainty. A miniaturized assassination robot small enough to slip through the bloodstream would cost how much? Millions? And it is delivered by dart? How's this for an idea: use a poison dart, and spend the surplus on school lunches.I'm waiting for DVD for this movie, but I laughed out loud after reading the review. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2002 12:57:42 AM ----- BODY: Is this a joke?
Cage's ground-breaking silent composition, 4'33," was first performed half a century ago. The piano piece, divided into three movements, consists entirely of silent notes and takes four minutes 33 seconds to perform.Was the Reuters reporter just having fun? You can't call four and 1/2 minutes of silence a "piano piece" consisting or "silent notes." There aren't any notes, and the piece could have easily been played with a flute, trumpet, or kazoo. What makes four and 1/2 minutes of silence a "ground-breaking composition?" Cage didn't do anything to compose it. It's not like he invented the concept of silence. "John Cage Silence Plagiarism Case Settled" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2002 12:19:08 AM ----- BODY: Charles Oliver makes a valid point on states' rights:
But this really isn't about the wisdom of physician-assisted suicide. (I have some doubts about it myself.) It's about the right of states to make their own policies. Under what clause of the Constitution does Ashcroft justify his intervention into Oregon policies?I don't approve of doctor-assisted suicide, but I don't live (or plan to die) in Oregon. Since I think the nation would be better off if the Supreme Court hadn't dictated abortion law on every state when it ruled on Roe v. Wade, it would be a bit disengenuous (hypocritical?) on my part to back something similar. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 08:52:44 PM ----- BODY: Not only is Bob Greene a dirty old man who can't have the decency to fulfill his marriage vow, but when his former teenage lover contacts him, he sics the FBI after her. "FBI Says Contact by Greene Led to Inquiry" [via Media News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 07:43:11 PM ----- BODY: It's bad enough the Packers almost lost to the lowly Detroit Lions--the Lions were only a finger-tip catch away from embarassing the Pack--what's worse is two starters on defense will be out for some time. The defense wasn't playing well even with a healthy Vonnie Holliday and Antaun Edwards. My 12-4 prediction? I'll be really happy with 10-6 and a wildcard birth. "Holliday, Edwards Sidelined By Injuries" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 07:32:01 PM ----- BODY: Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) may have lost her her seat in Congress, but she hasn't stopped telling everyone about the evil conspiracy behind the Bush administration. In her CounterPunch article (it appears to be taken from a Congressional committee speech), she claims that war with Iraq is all about oil:
However, just last Sunday, September 15, 2002, the Washington Post's lead story carried the banner headline "In Iraqi War Scenario, Oil is the Key Issue." The article then went on to describe how US oil companies were looking forward to taking advantage of the oil bonanza, which would follow Saddam Hussein's removal from office. Apparently, so the article says, CIA Director James Woolsey, indicated that non-US oil companies who sided with Hussein would most likely be excluded from sharing in Iraq's massive oil reserves a*" reserves said to be second only to Saudi Arabia.The first thing that popped out to me was a glaring inaccuracy. James Woolsey, CIA Director? Isn't that George Tenet's job? McKinney sits on the International Relations and the Armed Services Committees and she doesn't know who currently runs the CIA? I know Tenet's been out of sight--no doubt because more people like me would be calling for his firing/resignation--but one would think that a Congressman who deals with foreign affairs as much as McKinney does would know this. While not as sexy a faux paus this public display of ignorance should be placed next to her claim that President Bush knew all about the September 11 attacks before they happened. (McKinney calls her accusation asking "pretty straightforward questions.") But what really got to McKinney was plans to protect Iraq's oil fields in the event of war. She calls this sacrificing young men and women for the rich oil moguls. Instead of protecting Iraq's most valuable resource, something that could help immediately integrate Iraq's economy with the rest of the world, McKinney would rather have U.S. troops protect "the new parliament, or the schools or hospitals full of ravaged civilians." I'm pretty sure I'm standing on firm ground when I write this. Unless there was a serious military reason stopping them from acting, U.S. forces would not stand aside and watch civilians being slaughtered. In fact, they might be more inspired to intervene in such attacks because doing so would eradicate more of Saddam's forces--the primary reason for attacking. "Another Oil War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 03:55:29 PM ----- BODY: Dean Bartkiw offers this comment on the GOP:
"The GOP hasn't done much wrong in the past 20+ years. " Let's not get carried away. Consider that even this President has sold out the taxpayer in favor of the "family farmer", and sold out the consumer, the longshoreman, the manufacturer, etc., in favor of the highest paid laborers in the world - US steelworkers. This type of economic liberalism is nemesis of the thinking man, in the GOP. Sadly, we (presumably deep thinkers) are forced to vote GOP, simply for the general move to lower taxes.Us "deep thinkers" will never find a candidate that perfectly fits our political vision. Dean opposes steel tariffs (as do I) while I oppose the death penalty. If we were to vote for the perfect candidate that fit all our policy positions both of us would have to write our own names in every time. The goal of the GOP is to win elections. That means they must convince 50% + 1 of voters to pull the lever with the "R" by it. If the voting public moves away from backing GOP issues, then the party will move their position over to capture more votes. The name of the game is politics not political philosophy. It's the role of deep thinkers like Dean and I to constantly let the GOP know that conservative positions are political winners. Now, let me re-address my point of 20+ years of national GOP leadership. When I wrote that the GOP hasn't really done anything wrong, I meant it in a general sense. During the time of GOP Presidents and a GOP Congress, the country has had continued economic growth (with a couple small recessions), a technological boom not seen since the early part of the 20th Century, and we won the Cold War. Historians will look at these past two decades and notice the peace and prosperity of the U.S. That doesn't mean everything was hunky-dory. The culture continued to coarsen, and the Culture of Death permeates. But I think it would be a pretty easy case to make that 20 years of GOP leadership is better than 20 years of Democratic leadership. Young people who have lived through GOP leadership know instinctively that things went pretty well and are more comfortable with the Republicans. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 01:41:59 AM ----- BODY: Andrew Sullivan wonders about the Democrats' young male gap. This poll shows men 18-44 support Republicans for Congress over Democrats 55% to 35%. Part of the popularity of the GOP among them is Social Security privatization. They don't believe it will be there for them, so they might as well invest their own money themselves. Another is the fact that those in this group have lived with Republicans in power for much of their lives. There were the Reagan/Bush Presidencies, then the Gingrich Revolution. During that time the country has been rolling. The economy grew by leaps and bounds, and the U.S. won the Cold War. I'll use Orrin Judd's words describing today's young:
They've always known conservatism to be a powerful and popular political movement, frequently wielding the power of government, always and quite publicly challenging liberalism, and to a great degree the sole source of ideas in our recent politics. They've witnessed the victory of conservative ideals in the Cold War and in tax fights and over unionism and in welfare reform. The military actions they've watched have been either won or exited so quickly that dissent has been rare and rather quiet. They've been governed by a Republican Congress. They can easily imagine that soon conservatism will effect reform of education and Social Security and abortion law. In short, they've lived through twenty-two years that have been much different than the preceding fifty, when conservatism was routed and liberalism not only the ascendant ideology of the West but seemingly the only possible ideology of thoughtful men and women[.]The GOP hasn't done much wrong in the past 20+ years. Also, in a time of war, muscular talk and action are needed, and we don't find much of that from the Democrats. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 01:30:38 AM ----- BODY: An Enron auction starts on Wednesday. I'm looking for deals. I could use a cheap ThinkPad or a box of hacky sack balls. But Dovebid isn't eBay. To bid in real time they require you to download software AND have an open phone connection. It's kind of hard to be online and using the phone with dial-up. "Enron Auction Begins this Week" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 01:06:22 AM ----- BODY: With a scribble, Gov. Gray Davis codified the Culture of Death into California's legal code. "California Backs Embryonic Stem Cell Research" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2002 12:33:26 AM ----- BODY: HUMOR: Scientists discover the cause of evil: it's the United States. Damn, I hate it when the whiny French, Germans, and Canadians are right. "Science Discovers Cause of Evil, Cure to Come Soon" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/22/2002 01:15:55 AM ----- BODY: Who would have thunk? Arabs against Saddam. Cato the Youngest adds some media criticism:
It probably won't get much major media play, because, according to the media, all Arabs oppose action against Saddam. If all Arabs oppose action against Saddam, this couldn't happen, so therefore, it didn't happen."Hundreds Show Up For Anti-Hussein Rally" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/22/2002 01:10:13 AM ----- BODY: Israel will strike back if attacked by Iraq. Bush, Rumsfeld, and the gang don't like that because it could enrage Arab countries. Unless, there's some really slick plan being developed to knock out Iraqi Scuds before they could be launched at Israel, expect Israeli retaliation to complicate matters. "Israel Tells U.S. It Will Retaliate if Iraqis Attack" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/22/2002 12:46:05 AM ----- BODY: If someone really likes me and TAM, my birthday's coming up, and I'd love a set of Adam Smith's works. It's the perfect gift for the econ geek in all of us. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/22/2002 12:16:49 AM ----- BODY: Orrin Judd may have the smartest comments in the entire blogosphere (yuck, yuck, awful word!!). Where else would you find a comment like this?
It is not only the comparison to Marxism that is skewed. Rather, his "logic" is more like an impressionist painting full of non-Euclidian twists to produce the image in the artist's mind, than any linear construct.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/21/2002 11:51:11 PM ----- BODY: How about Patrick's great beginning to an interesting discussion:
Considering this, can it really be said that both parties are really alike? Comparative advantage is a reality in all facets of life, and it's just the same in politics. Democrats write for the New York Times and Republicans blog. Democrats know how to emote for the TV cameras and Republicans know how to light up the radio airwaves. Democrats know how to win campaigns and Republicans know how to win wars.He's trying to find an answer to which political party is more aggressive. My quick two cents is that Democrats/liberals are more stubborn. They may not win an election, but they don't stop the fight. They will continue to press their issues again and again until it becomes the conventional wisdom. Democrats are more inclined to take small victories while continuing on the long march to socialist nirvana, even if they don't realize it's the Road to Serfdom. Right now, Democrats are gung-ho over Medicare funding for prescription drugs. They cornered the issue so well everyone is for the feds paying for grandma's pills. But when it gets into law it won't stop Democrats from continuing to push for more government intervention into medicine. With their efforts they hope to claim the holy grail: "free," socialized health care. Republicans/conservatives get frustrated over defeats and seek other angles to achieve their goals. For instance, many conservatives have abandoned the moral black hole of many public schools and opted for private, religious education or home schooling. They got fed up with losing battles at school board meetings and at the ballot box. So, they voted with their feet. How Republicans/conservatives communicate demonstrates their ability to flank the current state of affairs. Conservatives got fed up with the endless liberal blather in newspapers and television. Their response: they jumped all over talk radio and now are some of the loudest, most intelligent voices on the Internet. To sum up my few observations: Democrats/liberals are stubborn institutionalists while Republicans/conservatives are fickle entrepreneurs. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/21/2002 11:22:27 PM ----- BODY: Because many of the benefits from our free economy are intangible, quality of life items, they're not counted in GDP. Michael Cox and Richard Alm write,
Inflation-adjusted GDP figures indicate economic growth at an annual average of 3 percent during the last two decades. GDP may be entirely accurate as a tally of how much our farms, factories, and offices produce, but it?s increasingly inadequate as a measure of how well the economy provides us with what we want. Our ability to choose a balanced life is one of the market?s most important success stories.Throughout their article, the authors describe how well off Americans are. We're living longer, healthier, and in more safety. We have an abundance of goods, and we're working less. Cox and Alm write, "Americans may find themselves pressed for time, but it's not because we're working harder than we used to. We're busy having fun." "Off the Books" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/21/2002 01:16:08 AM ----- BODY: How about combining my last two posts and creating a show called Apple's Board of Directors? Contestants from around the world would compete in contests like "Business Buzzword Scrabble," "Thinking Different," or "Diversify Your Workforce." The winner would not only get a seat on Apple's board but would get a lifetime supply of Steve Jobs-style black turtlenecks. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/21/2002 12:35:02 AM ----- BODY: I'd jump at this chance at the Presidency, but, alas, I'm too young. Will I watch the show? You better believe it. Would the show's winner have a chance of winning the whole shabang? Nope. "A New Political Reality Comes to TV" [via Jeff Jarvis] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/20/2002 10:36:55 PM ----- BODY: Since Larry Ellison stepped down from Apple's board, I'm offering my services to represent Apple's stockholders. While I don't use any Apple products (but am willing to switch), I think the iPod is really cool, and I have no connection to Silicon Valley. I would show up for every meeting and would bring a very outside voice to Apple. Steve, I'll be waiting for your phone call. "Ellison Resigns From Apple Board" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/20/2002 12:01:54 AM ----- BODY: Milwaukee Police Chief Art Jones tried to look tough with his little War on Drugs. On Wednesday, he sent dozens of police officers into three Latino businesses. Their crime: they were selling prescription antibiotics without prescriptions. Antibiotics aren't controlled substances and usually authorities don't send out the S.W.A.T. team to frighten people. Instead, they use get an injuction and ask the businesses to stop selling the drugs. "Police Raid Outrages Community" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2002 11:21:05 PM ----- BODY: President Bush asked Congress for a resolution allowing military force against Iraq. Congressional leaders told Bush that action on the resolution would happen in a few weeks. The sticking point is the wording of the resolution. This doesn't have to be a slow process. Despite anti-war critics' assertions, there has been a lengthy public debate over the merits of invading Iraq. It started soon after Afghanistan was liberated. After that quick victory, pundits wondered where the next battle in the Islamist War would be. The most obvious answer was Iraq. Saddam has thumbed his nose at the world community for years and yearns to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD). You combine that with the Saddam-Bush history and that was enough for any columnist or policy wonk to run with. In the Spring, President Bush inflamed the debate by calling for pre-emptive strikes against threatening nations. While never saying Iraq, that was the first nation to come to mind. Then we've had the debate in op-ed pages, on yapping-head cable talk shows, and across the Internet. We've had a Democrat go hawk and people from the Bush I administration go dove. To say that all the words spoken and written for and against war with Iraq don't amount to a serious debate is to ignore the definition of debate. Why not a Declaration of War? Why not a firm resolution declaring to the world that Saddam is such a threat that the U.S. is willing to pledge its lives, fortunes, and sacred honor? Is it too politically correct to use such stern language? Would the U.N. and the Europeans consider a declaration of war to be too "unilateral"? Too harsh for the world's "hyperpower"? In his West Point speech, President Bush said, "Some worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. I disagree." He believes and isn't afraid to acknowledge moral absolutes. So why does he not ask for a declaration of war instead of a Congressional resolution that sounds like the weak-willed wording of a U.N. Security Council resolution? Last September, after 3,000 people were murdered by Islamist terrorists, Congress didn't pass a declaration of war. Both Houses of Congress passed an "Authorization for Use of Military Force." Sure, the resolution has the same legal meaning as a declaration of war, but it lacks the same rhetorical seriousness. It's bureaucratic. Congress didn't call for war, it "authorizes" the President to "use all necessary and appropriate force." This is a far cry from President Bush's calls for going after the "evildoers." Some can laugh as Bush's comic book language, but it's morally serious and straightforward. Maybe I'm overreacting. I support the President and think the war is going well. Afghanistan has been liberated and Iraq will be next. While I'm not as optimistic as some as to the outcome of a new Iraq, great change is in store for the Middle East. It's just that words mean things. Words and the ideas behind them are important for shaping debate and pursuing Truth. What started on September 11, 2001 wasn't a crime spree, skirmish, or military action. Was began that day. "Bush to Seek Approval for Action Against Iraq" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2002 08:27:06 PM ----- BODY: Leonard Pitts comments on the recent claim that the Notorious B.I.G. paid to have Tupac Shakur killed:
I'm not here to defend -- or condemn -- the Times report and have no way of knowing whether Christopher Wallace [aka Notorious B.I.G.] actually did what he's accused of doing. No, what has me shaking my head is that we're even forced to take the allegation seriously. What does that tell you about the world we have made? ''We'' meaning consumers of American pop culture in general, but African Americans in particular. We've created -- or simply countenanced -- a world in which the line between video fantasy and street-corner reality is all but erased, where thug values and gangster mores demand blood for the faintest slights and we -- still talking African Americans -- walk around acting as if this were as unremarkable as fluorescent lights and traffic jams. We do not criticize or hold accountable, particularly in forums where whites may be watching, because some of us regard that as an act of racial betrayal. So nobody says the obvious: Pop stars don't shoot each other! There's something wrong when it becomes impossible to distinguish music acts from street gangs. I understand the corrosive effects of drugs and poverty on the African-American community. I also understand that those effects have been with us for generations. Not to sound dismissive, but that's old news. What's new is these diseased mores and this collective shrug in the face of them.The Culture of Death has firmly planted its claws in the Black community. "Pop Culture's Ugly Side" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2002 08:10:40 PM ----- BODY: Here are some alt-press stories Matt Palmquist is tired of reading:
The lionization of Mumia Abu-Jamal. You've seen him on T-shirts, buttons, fliers, posters, radio shows, Web sites, bumper stickers, and flags. You've read his books, heard his tape-recorded speeches, and watched with disbelief as he's transformed himself from a journalist-turned-cabdriver into a cabdriver-turned-political prisoner. But his story must be heard! Again! Ignore the hundreds of other death row inmates whose guilt has been questioned far more convincingly than Mumia Abu-Jamal's -- free Mumia, and the prison-industrial system will crumble!and
The war in Afghanistan is really being waged so oil companies can build a pipeline. Come on, does anyone really think the U.S. military is in Afghanistan to chase the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 attacks? If our armed forces were looking for Osama bin Laden, they would have found him by now, right? Don't believe what you hear about the uncaring United States packing up and moving out once the bombing finishes. We're in Afghanistan to stay -- and to build a gigantic oil pipeline without attracting the notice of thousands of journalists, diplomats, human rights workers, and international military personnel. Not to mention Afghan warlords.and
How a big media company imposed its CEO's ideology on every single employee of every single affiliate (even janitors). Once a corporation takes over your formerly independent media enterprise, look out! Everyone will drink Starbucks, listen to Jewel, and forget everything he's always believed about editorial free will. Because, as we all know, that's how journalism works: Every story idea and editorial angle is dictated from the top, and even the most experienced editors, station managers, and columnists are powerless to resist.and let's not forget
The annual unveiling of Project Censored. "We define censorship as any interference with the free flow of information in American society," says project director Peter Phillips in this year's press release. "Corporate media in the United States is [sic] interested primarily in entertainment news to feed their bottom-line priorities. Very important news stories that should reach the American public often fall on the cutting-room floor to be replaced by sex scandals and celebrity updates." And, once every year in the altie press, those stories are replaced by a meaningless list.By the way, that oil pipeline supposedly going through Afghanistan. It's going through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. "Project Censored" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2002 07:33:19 PM ----- BODY: Stratfor.com considers an Iraq-for-Georgia deal where Russia accepts a U.S. invasion of Iraq in exchange for a Russian operation in Georgia to root out Islamist terrorists. If you have a PDA, you can read the whole report by subscribing for free to AvantGo. "Possible Iraq-for-Georgia Deal Could Seal Baghdad's Fate" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2002 01:11:09 AM ----- BODY: Finding a Jeff Jacoby column on the Boston Globe web site is a pleasant surprise, since I thought he got axed a few years ago. I was wrong about that. Jacoby only suffered a three-month suspension for failing to properly cite sources in a July 4th piece. Since the weblog world loves Mark Steyn, I would have figured there'd be lots of links to Jacoby. I didn't notice any and forgot about the guy. "Repentance Comes First" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2002 12:36:13 AM ----- BODY: The Milwaukee Brewers must read this New Yorker article and get everything they can get about "sabermetrics." Billy Beane uses the approach to get quality players on the cheap. It's working for the Oakland A's, and the Brewers really don't have anything to lose. "The Buffett of Baseball" [via SportsFilter] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2002 11:29:27 PM ----- BODY: The Minneapolis Fed interviewed Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker. In the interview, Becker defines the term "social capital":
REGION: What is the relationship of social capital to human capital? BECKER: I consider social capital to be a particular type of human capital. Human capital, so to speak, usually looks at a person. It is her knowledge, or her skills. Social capital looks at a person's link to other individuals. If I am involved in AA, I may be obligated to help members who are tempted to drink. In turn, I can call on them if I am having trouble with my alcohol consumption. That is an example of social capital. It is a form of human capital because it is part of me. However, it is very different from the skills I have as an educated person, or the training I have or the knowledge I have. Social capital involves a linkage among individuals. That is why it is "social." It is capital because it has some durability, where depreciation rate may be endogenous. Anyway, that is how I look at it.Becker along with Kevin Murphy develop this concept in their book Social Economics. Also in the interview, Becker opposes bank bailouts for "moral hazard" reasons. Interestingly, he also opposed the Fed bailout of Long-Term Capital Management. "Interview with Gary Becker" [via In the News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2002 07:56:41 PM ----- BODY: An odd point about fixing intelligence methods to counter future terrorist attacks is that the public will never really know if it's been successful. If terrorist attacks are few and far between the average person or weblogging pundit will not be able to tell if it's because terrorists aren't trying elaborate attacks or intelligence agencies are stopping them. "Probe: U.S. Knew of Jet Terror Plots" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2002 03:26:47 PM ----- BODY: Tunku Varadarajan reviewed some of the many, many September 11 books. He recommends Michael Ledeen's The War Against the Terror Masters and Victor Davis Hanson's An Autumn of War. He also liked the haunting pictorial Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs--a book selling well in my store. While not explicit September 11 books, I recommend Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong. I'm also curious about Tom Friedman's new book Longitudes and Attitudes. He really delves into the psyche of the Islamic countries and is more right than wrong with his conclusions. "Hard Times Between Hardcovers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2002 01:36:13 PM ----- BODY: HUMOR: ScrappleFace reports Iraq's problems with U.N. inspectors: "In Iraqi culture, shampooing is appropriate, but conditioning is taboo." "Inspectors Allowed in Without Conditioner" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2002 02:05:33 PM ----- BODY: Wow, there's already a grassroots movement to prepare for a Condi Rice Presidential run. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2002 01:54:58 PM ----- BODY: How about a new political term: "Knee-jerk Libertarian." I was inspired by this comment from Floyd McWilliams on a set of questions on Iraq from Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX):
Even an isolationist (like myself) believes in self-defense. I don't remember any of the Congressional isolationists raising a fuss about declaring war on Japan after Pearl Harbor. We need another word to describe Ron Paul's head-in-the-sand approach. Paul has a disease which I have also noticed in the magazine Liberty post-9/11: whatever it is that the government is doing, he is automatically against it.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2002 01:37:47 PM ----- BODY: Bob Greene: great writer, but dirty old man? "Columnist Resigns After Acknowledging Sexual Conduct With Teenager" [via Samizdata] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2002 01:00:34 PM ----- BODY: John Hawkins reminds us that allowing weapons inspectors back into Iraq is only one of the conditions President Bush set out last week. "Iraq Is Allowing Inspections? Doesn't Change A Thing" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2002 01:54:06 AM ----- BODY: Patrick plays expensive polling guru. My one sentence summary of The Ruffini Group's memo goes like this:
Webloggers are war-loving, Bush-loving, Republican men who prefer Condi to Hillary.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2002 01:25:28 AM ----- BODY: I learned from Samizdata's weblog glossary that I suffer from a severe case of hitnosis. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2002 12:06:32 AM ----- BODY: Daypop needs to invest in hard drives, and it's still out of commission. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2002 12:02:38 AM ----- BODY: The Dreamhost moved must have worked out well. It looks like TAM was off-line until 5 a.m. I haven't noticed anything goofy with the site. If you find a page missing or some other problem. Just e-mail me or comment. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/15/2002 11:54:50 PM ----- BODY: That Green Bay Packers' defense I thought would be the strength of the team is non-existent after two games. My 12-4 prediction isn't looking good. "New Orleans 35, Green Bay 20" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2002 09:53:34 PM ----- BODY: My web hosting company will be moving their servers tonight, so there will be an interruption of your TAM reading pleasure. Don't be scared. TAM should be back early Sunday morning. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2002 01:25:45 AM ----- BODY: HUMOR: Patience pays off. "Castro Resigns! Kennedy's Cuba Policy Pays Off" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2002 01:14:21 AM ----- BODY: Because of movement of materials and personel, analysts think the U.S. could attack Iraq in as little as three weeks. That could be as soon as 10.5. Colin Powell is working on a U.N. resolution and Congress has planned on recessing for the fall elections around 10.4. I won't be surprised if there's a real "October Surprise." I'm just not sure how this report squares with Bush officals saying in July that there wouldn't be an attack around the November elections. "US Could Strike in 3 Weeks, Some Analysts Say" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/13/2002 02:38:26 AM ----- BODY: How about this idea from Rich Galen:
Article 5 of the NATO charter contains the following:"Iraq and Roll" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/13/2002 02:26:04 AM ----- BODY: The first big exhibit since the Milwaukee Art Museum's new Calatrava extention opened begins today. "Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland" is showcased by Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine. "Potent Exhibit of Art from Poland Sets New Standard for Future Offerings" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/13/2002 12:32:46 AM ----- BODY: PALEO WATCH: Thomas DiLorenzo dubs FreeRepublic a "Neo-conservative website." Since most average conservatives think of East Coast (sometimes Jewish) eggheads (think The Weekly Standard and Commentary) as neoconservatives, this label my come as a shock to the fiery voices of the Freepers. *** Robert Higgs just gets nasty over President Bush's book selection. First, Higgs is shocked Bush can read and declares, "I know what you're thinking, but the First Shrub swears that he has been reading more than just the funny papers lately." Then he wonders if Bush really did read Eliot Cohen's Supreme Command. Next there's Higgs' insult that Bush has a "childish imagination." (Higgs probably objects to Bush accurately calling terrorists "evildoers.") Higgs goes on to write that Bush "has a mind that never matured, if indeed it had the potential for such maturation in the first place." It's one thing to oppose war with Iraq because Iraq is "a small, impoverished country halfway around the world that does not now pose a serious threat to the security of the American people." Higgs is wrong, but we can debate his points. It's not possible to have a serious discussion with a paleo who tosses insults and only has contempt for his opponents. I am very disappointed with Higgs' article. He's a smart man who used to have important things to say. His Crisis and Leviathan is a monumental work of applied political economy. He doesn't need to stoop to the level of Molly Ivins -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 11:38:37 PM ----- BODY: Applause must go to Fox News for showing pictures of the planes crashing into the World Trade Towers and the towers crashing down. I didn't watch hour upon hour of tv yesterday, so other networks may have shown those important pictures. What none of the networks did was show them enough. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 11:34:19 PM ----- BODY: David Wynn Miller calls himself a "sovereign citizen" and says he can get out of court cases by employing a legal language where every sentence begins with "for" and should "contain at least 13 words, mostly nouns." "'Paper Terrorism' Caining Adherents" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 11:19:30 PM ----- BODY: Bush's U.N. speech ("gambit" in Stephen Den Beste's words) hooked the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial page hook, line, and sinker. They laud that "Bush wisely promised to cooperate with other U.N. member-nations." They also agree with Bush that Iraq's flouting of past U.N. resolutions puts that body's credibility at serious risk. The newspaper calls for one more resolution ordering Iraq to allow weapons inspectors even though they know it's "wishful thinking to suppose Hussein will comply." If Saddam refuses to comply with one more resolution then military force would have to be used to prevent the U.N. from becoming "a forum for the conduct of meaningless debates." But that begs the question. Hasn't the U.N. mostly been "a forum for the conduct of meaningless debates"? For years, they've opposed the only democracy in the Middle East (Israel) from defending itself while condoning Palestinian homicide bombers. The U.N. organized countless summits and international confabs where rich, prosperous, and free countries are blamed for exploiting the poor who are ruled by authoritarian thugs. Remember, this is an organization that has Libya as the head of its commission on human rights. Since the Gulf War, when has the U.N. actually done something to promote world peace? "Bush Makes His Case on Iraq" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 10:47:48 PM ----- BODY: The case for an Iraqi War was made today by President Bush at the United Nations. Iraq ignores calls to account for missing people, allows its citizens to suffer just to build weapons, and thumbs its nose to weapons inspectors who are looking for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). By laying out all the resolutions Iraq has violated, he put the onus on the U.N. to hold Saddam accountable and put substance behind its resolutions. To those who see the U.N. as important to world peace and cooperation, Bush said,The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all ...Article 13 says:After the Treaty has been in force for twenty years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Government of the United States of America, which will inform the Governments of the other Parties of the deposit of each notice of denunciation.If our allies don't support us in the United Nations here's the Mullings Big Idea du Jour:MEMORANDUM To: The Government of the United States of America From: The Government of the United States of America Re: Denunciation of NATO Membership Body: Start the clock.
The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?Bush also took on Pollyanne-ish critics who don't see Iraq as a serious threat:
We know that Saddam Hussein pursued weapons of mass murder even when inspectors were in his country. Are we to assume that he stopped when they left? The history, the logic, and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger. To suggest otherwise is to hope against the evidence. To assume this regime's good faith is to bet the lives of millions and the peace of the world in a reckless gamble. And this is a risk we must not take.Now, here's the important part of the speech in regards to U.S. unilateral action:
My nation will work with the U.N. Security Council to meet our common challenge. If Iraq's regime defies us again, the world must move deliberately, decisively to hold Iraq to account. We will work with the U.N. Security Council for the necessary resolutions. But the purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced -- the just demands of peace and security will be met -- or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.Bush isn't saying the U.S. will be beholden to the U.N. The U.S. will "work" with the Security Council, but the U.S. will enforce resolutions already passed and broken by Iraq. As such "action will be unavoidable" and Saddam will "lose [his] power." Then there's this paragraph:
We cannot stand by and do nothing while dangers gather. We must stand up for our security, and for the permanent rights and the hopes of mankind. By heritage and by choice, the United States of America will make that stand. And, delegates to the United Nations, you have the power to make that stand, as well.The U.S. has a moral duty to fight Iraq and will do so. The U.N. can join up if it wants, but the U.S. will go it alone if it has to. "President's Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly" [via The Fat Guy] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 10:47:26 PM ----- BODY: Stephen Den Beste calls President Bush's speech a "gambit," and thinks the real audience wasn't the General Assembly, but the American public. [via The Fat Guy] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 10:16:25 PM ----- BODY: Bill Gertz had this to say about CIA chief George Tenet:
George Tenet should be replaced as part of urgently needed intelligence reforms. Tenet testified before the Senate in February 2002 that there was no intelligence failure and that he is proud of the CIA's record. The first step in fixing the problem of American intelligence is to recognize that there was an intelligence failure on September 11 and before, and then begin rebuilding with new leadership, not just at the top, but at the upper and middle levels. Tenet has been a key advocate of the politically correct approach to intelligence that was part of larger efforts by the Clinton administration to impose destructive policies on government. There is no place for that kind of politics in intelligence, or any national-security components of government. Effectiveness and only effectiveness and results should be the watchwords.I still am surprised no one has been fired or resigned over last year's attacks. Why President Bush still has confidence in Tenet is beyond me. I've been wanting his head since last October. "Spy Gap" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 09:10:30 PM ----- BODY: Here are some of Thomas Sowell's latest "Random Thoughts":
Those who are demanding "proof" before the United States launches a pre-emptive strike against Iraq are demanding the impossible. By definition, a pre-emptive strike means that there is no proof of what you are trying to forestall -- and that you are not going to wait until there is proof, like a mushroom cloud over some American city.and
Teachers' unions often say that teachers deserve higher pay because they are doing an important job. But if you are doing an important job badly, you are doing more harm than if you were doing some minor job badly. Many teachers are overpaid for what they are actually doing, even if someone who did the job right would deserve far higher pay.and
The next time somebody talks about how we should be guided by "world opinion," just remember those Palestinians and Egyptians dancing in the streets after 3,000 Americans were murdered by terrorists. Remember all the young Americans buried under a sea of crosses on the beaches at Normandy because we had to rescue the terribly clever French, who had blundered their way into a war in which they surrendered after less than two months of fighting. Remember all the tinhorn despots and half-baked intellectuals around the world who constitute a large part of what is called "world opinion."-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 08:09:58 PM ----- BODY: John Leo looks at the lack of public anger on the anniversary of September 11.
The good side of this new ethic is that the nation refused to scapegoat Muslim Americans for the 9/11 attacks. The bad side is that to avoid anger and judgment, a normal emotional response was diverted into an orgy of self-examination, much of it revolving around the notion that the United States somehow invited or deserved the attacks."Rage is not the Rage" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 07:26:15 PM ----- BODY: Francis Fukuyama and Nadav Samin argue that radical Islamism could eventually lead to a more modern Islamic world. The authors compare Islamism to 20th Century fascism and communism. Both ideological movements "cleared away some of the premodern underbrush that had obstructed the growth of liberal democracy." This is not to say that Islamic modernization is inevitable or that a strong U.S. military is needed, but the article does suggest that good may come out of the violent turnmoil of Islamdom. "Can Any Good Come Of Radical Islam?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 06:49:28 PM ----- BODY: Goof-ball Eurowienie artist, Damian Hirst said the September 11th terrorists should be congratulated because their murderous plot was "visually stunning." We shouldn't be surprised with this disgusting comment since Hirst is obsessed with shock and death in his art. [Note the animals in the tanks of formaldehyde.] This is Karlheinz Stockhausen redeux. "9/11 Wicked but a Work of Art, says Damien Hirst" [via jimhart3K] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2002 04:19:18 PM ----- BODY: Washington socialites may be upset with the Bushs lack of partying. W's Susan Watters calls Washington's social scene "near death." Hot dogs, hamburgers, and informal gatherings instead of flashy, fancy, liberal-infested formal balls just drives people like Sally Quinn nuts. I find it refreshing to know the First Couple doesn't need to invite celebrities and power players to the White House to feel important. Also remember, a more subdued White House is in order, since we are at war. "Bushies Cast a Chill over D.C." [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 07:22:52 PM ----- BODY: I've watched a few hours of the anniversary coverage and am dismayed. All that time there was little mention of what happened one year ago. I have yet to see the gripping, horrific footage of the two planes smashing into the World Trade Towers or both structures crumbling to the ground. Instead, there has been a constant stream of average people telling the cameras how they feel and of people crying. Such wallowing misses the entire point of remembering. Unless you knew someone who died during the attacks, this anniversary should be a renewed call to arms. One year ago, radical Islamist terrorists struck a deep and bloody blow in their war against the U.S. Their tactics were barbaric and approach nothing a civlized people would do. 3,000 people died because they happened to be Americans, and we remember them by showing vast amounts of sorrow? President Bush got the closest to stating the current state of affairs:
This war is waged on many fronts. We've captured more than 2,000 terrorists; a larger number of killers have met their end in combat. We've seized millions in terrorist assets. We're reorganizing the federal government to protect the homeland. Yet, there's a great deal left to do. And the greatest tasks and the greatest dangers will fall to the armed forces of the United States. I came to the Presidency with respect for all who wear America's uniform. Every day as your Commander in Chief, my respect and that of our nation has deepened. I have great confidence in every man and women who wears the uniform of the United States of America. I am proud of all who have fought on my orders, and this nation honors all who died in our cause. Wherever our military is sent in the world, you bring hope and justice and promise of a better day. You are worthy of the traditions you represent, the uniform you wear, the ideals you serve. America is counting on you. And our confidence is well placed. What happened to our nation on a September day set in motion the first great struggle of a new century. The enemies who struck us are determined and they are resourceful. They will not be stopped by a sense of decency or a hint of conscience -- but they will be stopped. A greater force is amassed against them. They are opposed by freedom loving people in many lands. They are opposed by our allies who have fought bravely by our side. And as long as terrorists and dictators plot against our lives and our liberty, they will be opposed by the United States Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines.Bush will not back down. He will not allow the U.S. to be blackmailed and subdued by enemies who terrorize us and seek weapons of mass destruction. A price must be paid for the 3,000 deaths on September 11. Now, I know what troubles me about Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. It's not the songs, nor Springsteen's focus on empathy over anger. No, my problem with the album is it came out too soon. One year after isn't enough time to capture the emotions of that awful day. It especially isn't enough time when our country has to be dedicated to winning a war. While people cry across the country, troops are rooting out al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and military planners are plotting Saddam's destruction. Now is not the time for closure because we're no where near the end of this war; this is only the beginning. For the N.Z. Bear, we can view today through the lens of "the cult of victimhood or the brave example of the heroes on Flight 93." If we do the former, we lose "what it is to be an American." I'll finish with a quote from Samuel Adams. During the Revolutionary War, the public was much, much closer to the war. Instead of battles overseas, British troops were quartered in the cities and moved through the countryside. Nevertheless, Adams' words ring true because Human Nature is an unchanging thing:
Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, 'What should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!We must move past shallow sentimentality to appreciate the important time we're in. Like those brave warriors on Flight 93, any and all of us are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. For we are Americans and that's what Americans do. "No Time for the Mawkish" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 06:18:51 PM ----- BODY: Ronald Bailey writes,
It is only a matter of time before the "intensely obstinate hatred of foreigners" represented by bin Laden and his followers will capitulate. Modernization, which is to say westernization, will inevitably smash all cultures that don't accommodate themselves to it. They will be smashed chiefly not by bombs and military force but by the choices of their own peoples, who will turn their backs on the traditions and institutions that have kept them so long ignorant and poor.Bailey is right that eventually the Islamic world will modernize, but how long will that be and how many Americans will die until they modernize? Iran is a country with a large demographic bulge of young people. They're tired of the stultifiying ways of the Shite clerics. Hopefully soon they will rise up and move Iran away from its theocracy and onto democratic capitalism. But that transition could be lengthy and the reaction of the clerics and their supporters could be violent. Many in the weblogging world call for an eventual toppling of the House of Saud, but that could lead to instability and a power base for extremeist Islamists. In both cases, Islamists could attack the the U.S. as part of their jihad and internal political strategy. While it may be inevitable that Islamdom will modernize, I'm certain it will be messy. The U.S. must remind other groups and nations that any attack will be countered with overwhelming (even pre-emptive) force. "Can the Terrorists Win?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 05:08:31 PM ----- BODY: John Hawkins has a fine article on truly honoring the victims of September 11:
Honoring America's heroes and innocents lost is worth doing. However, the best way we can honor them is not with ceremonies or with television specials, but by doing everything in our power to prevent another 9/11 from happening."Memorials Won't Prevent Another 9/11" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 04:41:26 PM ----- BODY: The Eye, an avid TAM reader and commentor, offered these important words:
It is fine to remember the dead today. But I think to truly honor those dead, we must follow the example of those on Flight 93. We must be defiant to those who would have us cower to their demands, to those who would have us bleeding on our knees begging for forgiveness. We have grieved; we must forever remember, we must always be vigilant, we must be defiant. God bless those who died, God comfort those who live on, and God forgive those who crossed our paths.No more wallowing. The dead are dead, and we will never forget them. Let's remember why they died and who killed them. The Islamist War is only one year old with no forseeable end. Pray that our nation has the strength to do its duty and seek victory over our enemies. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 05:44:53 AM ----- BODY: Another site dedicated to Flight 93. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 05:43:25 AM ----- BODY: flight93.org honors the warriors on the frontline of the first battle in the Islamist War. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 05:38:17 AM ----- BODY: The Washington Times has a listing of those killed in the Pentagon attack. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 05:33:27 AM ----- BODY: Clear Channel has a bunch of audio clips for download. Lots of President Bush clips, including his famous moment at Ground Zero. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2002 04:04:24 AM ----- BODY:
I'm sorry I came along too late to prevent us from being stuck with this word "blog". If you held a contest ten years ago to form the ugliest possible random concatenation of phonetic units, "blog" would have walked off with the Palme d'Or and the plaudits of a grateful universe. I feel like a transsexual Liberal-voting urophile just performing an activity that can be described by the verb "blog."Matt Welch only used the word blog as a punchline. It's just an ugly, ugly word. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/10/2002 02:29:23 AM ----- BODY: The "sinister cabal" that's Blogcritics has a sleek, stylish look. And there's an interview with Frank Black. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/10/2002 02:23:07 AM ----- BODY: The Bear on American's way of dealing with the horror of September 11:
China, perhaps, might set a National Mood, and ensure that all public remembrances; all media commentary, followed it faithfully. Cuba, I'm sure, celebrates its holidays similarly; with a firm consensus across the land as to How To Feel; with compliance ensured at the point of a gun. That, of course, is not our way. Our way is noisy; it's messy, and chaotic and tacky and somber and inspiring and revolting and dramatic and insipid; it's full of genuine heroes and puffed up nobodies; it's crass and commercial and giving and charitable and is guaranteed to showcase the absolute best and absolute worst in our society. Our way is to have no one way. It is to have millions. One per citizen, as a matter of fact.He then takes an anything goes approach to the one-year anniversary:
Program the most sentimental, cult-of-victimhood survivor profiles you can find. Write the most blustery, jingoistic let's-kill-'em-all columns you can produce. Program hour after hour of airbrushed, santized remembrances, full of waving flags and slow-motion firefighters. Do some hard journalism and show us the facts of what really happened; and what threats still face us out there. Give us celebrities telling us where they were when it happened, somberly reflecting on How They Were Moved. If you're in Big Media, do exactly what you think will boost your ratings highest. Or say screw it all, and do a week full of programming that feels right to you without giving a damn about Neilsen. If you're a CEO, sponsor some commercials on Wednesday --- or don't; whichever helps you sleep better at night. Or whichever helps your bottom line. If you're a blogger, let fly your deepest raw emotion and reaction without sanitizing it for public consumption. Or write the kind of piece you know everyone wants to hear --- make a play for those big links --- even if it isn't really what you're feeling. Pander. Offend. Inspire. Challenge. Inform. Manipulate. Provoke.It's "all part of the dialogue," but that doesn't make it virtuous. Remembering the terrorist attacks by some intellectually dishonest lesson plans uncritical of our enemies is no honor to the victims and heros of that awful day. Building a sterile, post-modern memorial like the monstrosity in Oklahoma City will allow the memory of those killed to fade away. There are good and bad responses to September 11. I'm a fan of dialogue. It's both entertaining and thought-provoking. Nevertheless, every voice shouldn't be considered equivalent. "Strength in Chaos" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/10/2002 12:19:51 AM ----- BODY: In The National Interest is a new online weekly published by The National Interest and the Nixon Center. Like the quarterly, the online journal will "provide insight and analysis of American foreign policy and world events from a realist perspective." Adam Garkinkle looks at the debate between neocons and realists, the old Reaganites and the Bush 41 gang. "From the Raspberry Patch" Then Richard Perle has this to say on France and Iraq:
He can be managed, with respect to France. The French manage him by collaborating with him, by taking up his case. He can't be managed, however, with respect to the United States. And the important point is that the situation of the United States is very different from that of France or Germany or any other country. You don't see Saddam standing up and saying how he despises France, but you do hear him talking about the United States in vicious and really unlimited terms. We tend to dismiss that as hyperbole, but I do not believe that it is wise to ignore it. We have misread him in the past. Everyone we've been able to talk to, who know him, agree that once Saddam becomes "nuclear", he is perfectly capable of using the weapons."Saddam and the World: Time is Not On Our Side: A Conversation with Richard Perle" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2002 11:53:26 PM ----- BODY: Jonah Goldberg's suggestion to President Bush would certainly freak out the UN General Assembly. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2002 11:35:34 PM ----- BODY: The UPI headline may say "Bush: Post-Saddam Iraq not US job" but that's not accurate. In the story, President Bush said it "was up to the international community to help set up what follows" in a post-Saddam Iraq. The headline makes it sound like Bush wants to topple Saddam and let the rest of the world pick up the pieces. I'm sure such a thought resonates with anti-U.S. Europeans who despise the U.S.'s courage to act militarily with or without international approval. What the statement is is Bush reaching out to the international community. It's his way of including others in having a part in the final outcome in the Middle East. He's engaging other nations--something his critics have complained he wasn't doing. If he feels it's necessary, Bush will attack Saddam alone, but trying to give other countries a stake is his way of building a coalition against Saddam. "Bush: Post-Saddam Iraq not US Job" [via Drudge] [UPDATE: Robert Prather at The Neolibertarian News Portal has a much different take on the story. He takes the story literally and has "serious reservations about the President's judgement."] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2002 11:20:28 PM ----- BODY: Jeremy Reynalds delves into the NEA September 11 lesson plan controversy. "The NEA's at it again!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2002 11:16:56 PM ----- BODY: Sorry for my weblogging tardiness. I took a nap, ok? Steven Martinovich review's Bill Gertz's Breakdown calling it "a step in fixing the intelligence community's problems and restoring their luster." "Mission Failure" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2002 01:27:35 AM ----- BODY: I have a day-time shift today. Look for posts late in the afternoon or evening. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2002 12:30:57 AM ----- BODY: Powell has gone back to being President Bush's good soldier. When talking about pre-emptive strikes, Powell said, "It is always an option for the United States, and for that matter, it's an option for the United Nations. I think it has risen in the hierarchy of thinking these days because it's a different world after 9/11." "U.S. Cites New Evidence Saddam Seeking Nuclear Bomb" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2002 01:27:15 AM ----- BODY: T-minus nine days until 24 comes out on DVD. A bonus feature is the alternate ending where Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) wife lives. "Slain 24 Character Gets New Life" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2002 01:21:19 AM ----- BODY: This goes in the Unintended Consequences File: some parents are complaining about a Harry Potter toy from Mattel. The Nimbus 2000 has "magical swooping and whooshing sounds," but it also has "vibrating effects." Parents are concerned that their daughters have grown to love it a little too much. "Potter Broom Rattles Parents" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2002 12:25:54 AM ----- BODY: For the record, the John Birch Society doesn't think we're at war with Islamic extremists. We're at war with Communists using Islamic fundamentalism as their cover. Occam's Razor pretty much slices up this argument. "Terrorism's True Roots" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2002 12:18:52 AM ----- BODY: To any conspiratorial paleos or card-carrying members of the John Birch Society, the Trilateral Commission's website (they're so secretive and cunning to be publically available to anyone on the Net with a simple Google search) has a FAQ page. Here a a couple Q and As:
Is the Trilateral Commission trying to establish a world government? A. Not at all. The Trilateral Commission has tried to encourage international cooperation on many issues, but this is a far cry from promoting a world government. There have been no Commission reports in which it has been proposed that our national governments be dissolved and a world government be created. Individuals or organizations who believe the Trilateral Commission has intentions to form a world government, however well-intentioned they may be, are unfortunately ill-informed....
Is the Trilateral Commission a conspiracy to control the U.S. government? A. No. President Carter was a member of the Trilateral Commission before he became President, and many members of his Administration were members of the Commission before taking on their government jobs. Some members of the Reagan and Bush Administrations were Commission members in earlier years. But these facts do not indicate control of the U.S. government by the Commission. First, members must resign from the Commission upon accepting an Administration post. Second, as noted earlier, the Commission has a very diverse membership in terms of both geography and occupation. It is also fairly evenly divided in the United States between Republicans and Democrats, and it does not take an institutional position on particular issues. Aside from its general emphasis on consultation and cooperation with Western Europe and Japan, there is no ?Commission line? on policy questions. Task Force reports do not prescribe day-to-day actions; and the Commission does not lobby for particular legislation or for candidates. Third, the men and women who join the Commission are of outstanding ability, receive their information from many sources, and think for themselves. For many members, participation in Commission activities does not extend beyond attendance at the annual plenary meeting. The Commission, through these conferences and its publications, does hope to provide an additional educational experience for its members, while simultaneously contributing to the general policy debate in this country and elsewhere, but it cannot and does not attempt to do more than this. Some individuals believe that the Trilateral Commission somehow arranged President Carter?s election in 1976. This is a far-fetched misconception. The Commission is entirely non-partisan and has never supported any candidate. In the case of President Carter, one need only recall that he received his party?s nomination after a very demanding primary process. This was clearly not some kind of ?backroom deal? that could be arranged by a few persons. David Rockefeller is usually cited as the person responsible for ?making Carter President,? yet he voted for and supported President Ford. In the case of later presidential campaigns, many members undoubtedly supported particular candidates Republican, Democrat, and Independent but the Commission was not, and by its nature could not be, committed to any candidate.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/7/2002 11:48:17 PM ----- BODY: PunchtheBag has inspired me to start a new feature on TAM: Paleo Watch. I will occasionally point out a strange comment from the paleo-libertarian/anarchist crowd. The inaugural PW features Burt Blumert, president of the Center for Libertarian Studies. While promoting an upcoming gold conference, he wrote, "When we planned the conference, we never thought about the insanity of Iraq, this craziness, this hurtling train of destruction" (emphasis mine). To Blumert, there's no possible reasonable basis to support attacking Iraq to preserve the U.S. and the West. People like Glenn Reynolds, Andrew Sullivan, Brink Lindsey (a scholar for the libertarian Cato Institute), Stephen Den Beste, and myself are irrational loons or neoconservatives desiring warfare to increase government and somehow grant us power over other people. (Paleos like to follow in the footsteps of their patron saint, Murray Rothbard, who near the end of his life worried excessively about the Trilateral Commission and anything related to David Rockefeller.) A rational case for invading Iraq can and has been made my many writers. My reasoning is based on liberating Iraq now because it's inevitable and the total loss of life would be minimized because the U.S. wouldn't be going to war after a nuclear attack. Now, it's perfectly valid for war opponents to go after my assumptions and reasoning, but I'm pretty confident a reasonable person would declare my argument to be rational. No reasonable person would call me insane. "Gold, Liberty, and War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 11:14:46 PM ----- BODY: In Andrew Marr's analysis of Tony Blair's political trouble with an Iraqi war, he ends with
One thing was absolutely clear from his press conference here. If it comes to a choice between endless negotiation and conflict - what they used to call jaw-jaw or war-war - then you'd better believe it, it's going to be the second. Something pretty substantial and serious is going to happen this winter.Does this mean Blair may be abandoned by the Labour Party or is war imminent? "Blair's New Iraq Strategy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 10:59:45 PM ----- BODY: A coalition against Iraq is starting to form. Kuwait doesn't consider the Gulf War I to be over and will support the U.S. Then Tony Blair is willing to pay a "blood price" in the special relationship between the U.S. and U.K. "Kuwait Breaks Ranks on Saddam" [via C-Log] "Britain Will Pay 'Blood Price' - Blair" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 10:32:07 PM ----- BODY: While covering a little too much inside baseball stuff in D.C., this story on Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley over digital copying is well worth the read. "Digital Divide" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 10:05:06 PM ----- BODY: A banner reading "Guns save lives" will fly over tomorrow's Wisconsin/West Virginia football game. "Mountaineer May Carry His Black Powder Rifle" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 09:22:03 PM ----- BODY: Daypop has been down for a few days, but Dan's in Italy and can't fix it until he gets home. Bummer. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 09:10:28 PM ----- BODY: PunchtheBag (scroll down to September 3) offers a challenge to paleolibertarians and ararchists (i.e. the Anarchy Lew crowd):
How are you going to "Pepsi and McDonald-ize" your movement for maximum mass appeal? I?m not saying that you have to go politically correct but you might think twice before producing a short that shows neoconfederates, Hans Hoppe, and pictures of 19th century guys and gals. If you go too edgy, then people say, "What the hell was that?" You want to make them at least think for a few minutes (or maybe just a minute) after it?s over. Plus you have the added burden of trying to sell "anarchy." Most average folk gravitate towards safety and security. Don?t blame the public education system for that, it?s just human nature. How do you turn that perception around? If all you do is flash a picture of the Capitol in Washington with a middle finger pointing at the dome, you?re not going to get much of a reaction. All you?re doing in that case is saying "ha ha ha look at us" and then you dance and prance and congratulate each other. But you?re just preaching to the choir. You haven?t made the sale, instead you?ve sprayed graffiti under a bridge. I?m sure some of you creative types might jump at the challenge of producing at least a storyboard that you could upload to your websites for the rest of us to take a gander. Let?s see how you persuade the great-unwashed using imagery or do you just want to be an isolated, stale country club?Punch combines humor and seriousness into a potent concoction. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 09:02:43 PM ----- BODY: Admitted libertarian Ralph Reiland spanks Anarchy Lew on Gulf War II:
On most matters, I'm on the same page as Rockwell. I?m enough of a libertarian to agree that we're over-taxed, over-manipulated, over-sued and over-regulated, and enough of a libertarian, in fact, to have been published a dozen or so times by Rockwell's Mises Institute. But on this one, I've got to break rank. Let?s start at the bottom and work our way up. First, it?s my bet that Taliban John won't be killed in a gun battle with Dick Cheney. Second, after we won, did the U.S. "war machine" turn the Japanese, Germans or Russians into hostages? Third, after decades of holding our fire while under attack, how much "peace" did we get on September 11? Fourth, it?s not about whether they "like us"; it?s about people who want to kill us. Fifth, Iraq was impoverished by Iraq's policies. And sixth, the business at hand is to stop the killing, to stop a nutcase from delivering a suitcase nuke to Manhattan."A War of Words" [via PunchtheBag] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2002 12:02:01 AM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell notes that years of affirmative action has actually cost people their lives. Poorly educated black doctors allowed to graduate from medical school because of racial preference lead to patient's deaths. Lowing standards doesn't have to be done. In Sowell's experience "black students would meet higher standards if you refused to lower the standards for them." In the words of Frederick Douglas, "Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us!" Guilty white (not necessarily Southern boy) liberals have already done enough. "'Friends' of Blacks" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2002 11:53:41 PM ----- BODY: Patricia Owen got Borked by Senate Democrats. Orrin Judd now declares the party of the donkey (I know, I'm being nice) the "Party of Death."
But today the Democrats reached a new low as they rejected the appointment of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owens to a seat on the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for just one reason: she is insufficiently pro-abortion. Democrats are now so captive to the extremist pro-abortion forces that any limitation whatsoever on the killing of a fetus is unacceptable to them. Democrats voted against Ms Owens because of one single court case in which it was her opinion that a minor did not have an absolute right to abort her child. Period. End of story. Having reached a point in our politics where the attempt to limit abortion in any way shape or form makes a persion unfit for the bench in the eyes of every Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, it is sad but true that the Democrats have become the party of death.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2002 10:46:25 PM ----- BODY: Funny stuff from ScrappleFace:
CBS News anchorman Dan Rather hijacked a Boeing 757 over the weekend and flew it to an undisclosed location in "the Dakotas". The hijacking was part of an "up close and personal" investigative piece about flaws in the transportation security system. No one was harmed in the incident."CBS Hijacks Jetliner to Prove Security Flaws" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2002 07:02:19 PM ----- BODY: The Senate voted to let pilots bring guns on planes after the White House dropped their opposition. However, officials want to implement a training program that would cost $900 million to start and $250 million per year afterward. Unfortunately, they also say the money for training isn't available. Why would it cost $900 million to train pilots? Many pilots have military backgrounds and have experience with guns. This bogus number sounds like a way for the Transportation Department to not oppose armed pilots but prevent them from actually being armed. "Senate Approves Plan to Arm Commercial Pilots" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2002 06:53:59 PM ----- BODY: Tonight the NFL season starts. So, it's time for my NFL predictions. First the Packers: they came off an outstanding season, surprising many (including me). While going 12-4, they didn't win enough to claim home field advantage. That turned out to be key because the Pack had to play the NFC championship game against the Rams in St. Louis. On offense, Brett Favre comes off a 32 TD, 3921 yard 2001 season. Fine numbers, but the story was the emergence of Ahman Green as a dominant running back. Green almost had 2000 combined rushing and receiving yards along with 11 TDs. The biggest question on offense is the wide receivers. Terry Glenn is suppose to be the saviour and Favre's favorite target, but he only played one pre-season game due to injury. Antonio Freeman is now with Philadelphia because of salary cap reasons, and Corey Bradford and Bill Schroeder left in free agency. In there stead are first-round pick Javon Walker, who has shown glimpses of big-play talent, Donald Driver, who must be more consistent, and Robert Ferguson, who is big but has impressed little. The surprise in this year's team may be their defense. During the pre-season, the first-team defense gave up 20 points. While they lost safety LeRoy Butler to retirement, Darrin Sharper--arguably the best safety in football--comes back with pass rushing phenom Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. Hardy Nickerson brings veteran leadership. So, how will the Packers do? They were 12-4 last year, and they're better this year. I predict 12-4 with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. As for the Super Bowl, the Packers will meet and beat--drum roll please--Miami. Now, are you ready for some football?!? "Rams are the Best, but Packers will be Super" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2002 03:21:22 PM ----- BODY: Is it a coincidence that someone broke into the Deseret Chemical Depot and someone tried to kill Afghan president Karzai on the same day? "Intruder Warning Sounds at Utah Munitions Compound" "Karzai Survives Attempt on Life" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2002 01:18:21 AM ----- BODY: I saw the conversation between Phil Donahue and MSNBC editor-in-chief Jerry Nachman where Phil wondered about how long his show would last given the abysmal ratings. I was astounded that such insider shop talk was being aired. The candor was refreshing. What piqued my curiosity is Nachman wanting to give Donahue's show up to two years. "You don't think we get two years? Do we get a year?" Nachman's the editor-in-chief of the network, yet it doesn't sound like he has much say in the survival of a show. Is Nachman only in charge of news production? What's the extent of his role at MSNBC besides his interesting talk show? And if his role is limited, what's with the title "editor-in-chief?" "Donahue Says His Show is on Thin Ice" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/4/2002 11:13:24 PM ----- BODY: Rob Dreher went on an ugly-church rampage. Many of the ones he posted took the theme of flying saucer/silo/cylinder. There's St. Patrick in Armonk, NY; St. Hilary's in Fort Myers, FL; and St. Mary's in Rockledge, FL. These churches harken back to Frank Lloyd Wright's famous (infamous?) Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, WI. Compared to the others, Wright's is most distinctive. The blue dome, stained glass, and hut-like edge set it apart from being just a circular mold of concrete. It seems to me that the popularity of the circular church rests in a rejection of hierarchy and an embracing of egalitarianism. In your standard church, the minister presides at the altar before the congregation. At the front of the church is the cross. There's an order there: God, then the minister, then the congregation. With a church in the round, such layers are flattened. The altar is in the center surrounded by the congregation. The minister moves in and out performing the service yet keeping his place among the people. While not radical in its design, the renovated St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Milwaukee, WI incorporates the circular, egalitarian theme by moving the altar and bishop's chair into the congregation. (Here's a picture of the cathedral in 1942 in its traditional arrangement. Also, note the ornateness of the cathedral before a 1935 fire.) Last year, the controversial cathedral's renovation was questioned by the Vatican who wrote to the then Archbishop Rembert Weakland, "[The design] fails to respect the hierarchical structure of the Church of God that the Cathedral by its scheme is to reflect." [On an aside: Despite its gaudiness, the copper covered St. Boniface in Mequon, WI still retains the traditional church seating arrangement.] Circular churches are perfect for those denominations where self-improvement and self-esteem replace rigorous theology. For churches that try to maintain a more traditional (dare say conservative?) theology, round, egalitarian worship spaces are an anathema. As for me, my preference in a church can be summed up as "height and light." I love grand structures that are larger than life. Their bigness shows a seriousness to worship. After one brief look at Notre Dame in Paris you know it's an important building devoted to the transcendent. Churches also need to use light to express the beauty of God. Gorgeous stained glass can not only tell a biblical story, but it can awe you in the magnificent way it was done. Santiago Calatrava's Cathedral of Christ the Light has the potential to use light in such a way as to bring church-goers closer to God (the auditorium-style interior leaves much to be desired). Ultimately, that's the purpose of churches. They're houses of God. Missions like community center and concert hall should be secondary. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/4/2002 06:47:04 PM ----- BODY: Ladies and gentleman, your 2002 Green Bay Packers. Later this week, I'll offer my NFL predictions. Last year, the only prediction I got right was St. Louis in the Super Bowl. I must do better. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/4/2002 05:45:20 PM ----- BODY: The West Virginia football team is coming to Madison this weekend to face the Wisconsin Badgers. Madison was welcoming of the players, coaches, trainers, equipment, and fans. They were welcoming of anyone and everything connected to Mountineer football except the musket of West Virginia's mascot. UW associate athletic director Jamie Pollard tried to justify the decision when he told a reporter, "They asked if they could bring in a musket and shoot it off in the stadium. And there is a UW System policy that prohibits weapons on the campus." Wisconsin is the first school to ban the musket from a sporting event in the 65-year history of the WV mascot. Common sense prevailed this afternoon. UW athletic director, Pat Richter got a reversal of the decision from the chancellor So, even before kick-off, West Virginia has already scored over Wisconsin. "Mascot Can Shoot Musket at Wis. Game" "UW Takes Issue with Mountaineer's Musket" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/2/2002 04:23:21 PM ----- BODY: The post-Cold War U.S. thought so little of air attacks that the Northeast Air Defense Sector only had four armed fighters available on Sep. 11. "U.S. Mulled Ramming Jets In 9/11 Huddle" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/2/2002 12:29:40 AM ----- BODY: Last night, Joe Queenan was on Book TV (He'll be on again at 4:30 am EDT. Set your Tivos.), and I don't remember ever laughing that hard at something on C-SPAN. He made a valiant effort reading passages from his book Balsamic Dreams and answering questions, but he always ended up going off on some hilarious tangent. His endless thumping of Jimmy Carter was priceless. According to Queenan, Carter was the third worst President ever, but he couldn't think of the two in front of him. After watching him, Queenan may have vaulted above P. J. O'Rourke and Chris Buckley as the funniest writers in America. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/1/2002 11:28:54 PM ----- BODY: Rudy Gulliani on what to do with Ground Zero:
If it were up to me, I'd devote the entire 16 acres to the memorial. A soaring structure should dominate the site, taking its place along New York City's wonderful skyline. It should be visible for miles to demonstrate the spirit of those who gave their lives to defend freedom. There should be a museum and a library. Those who visit should be able to relive the experience in a way that does justice to the enormity of the events. The memorial should echo the goals of the city's Museum of Jewish Heritage, which sits a stone's throw away. The purpose of that museum is to demonstrate the horror of the Holocaust as well as celebrate the survival and strength of the Jewish people. Done correctly, the memorial at ground zero will commemorate the horror and the heroism of Sept. 11.A "soaring structure" "visible for miles" demonstrating the soaring spirit of the American Ideal is crucial to make any memorial transcend the memories of those who were living at the time. But making the entire 16 acre area off limits to anything but a memorial may be too much. Pearl Harbor is also a site of American calamity. Thousands died there in a brutal sneak attack, yet the entire base and bay isn't reserved as a memorial. Battleship Row wasn't shut down to memorialize the sailors who died in those waters. The area was kept active in its mission to win World War II. Space for commerce, living, learning, and entertainment wouldn't necessarily devalue the memory of September 11. One could argue that returning a portion of Ground Zero to its previous state would honor the lives of those who lived and worked there. "Getting It Right at Ground Zero" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/1/2002 12:34:50 AM ----- BODY: Another reason to ignore the Johannesburg: you don't have to bother with goofs hating flush toilets; and you don't have to put up with ignorant fools calling capitalism "sinister." Ex-Greenpeace member, Patrick Moore nailed it on the head when he told CNSNews.com, "The environmentalists try to inject guilt into people for consuming, as if consuming by itself causes destruction to the environment. There is no truth to that. You have the wealthiest countries on earth with the best-looked-after environment." And the wealthiest countries have flush toilets. "Introduction of the Flush Toilet Deplored at Earth Summit" "Capitalism's Allure called 'Sinister' By Environmentalist" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/31/2002 07:53:16 PM ----- BODY: U.S. News' Paul Bedard reports that CNN offered the White House a preview of their al-Qaeda video tapes. The White House declined because CNN wanted exclusive, instant reaction from President Bush and Condoleeza Rice. There's no mention of the CNN offering the White House copies of the tapes for analysis. A few weeks ago, I wondered aloud why CNN didn't hand over copies of the tapes to the government to help in the Islamist War. I wrote:
If CNN didn't offer copies, then their so-called neutrality helps anti-Western Islamists who would do anything to destroy the freedoms that allow CNN to do its job.There's still no evidence that CNN gave the government copies, nor is there evidence that they didn't. In trying to get an answer to my question here's what I submitted to Ask CNN:
When CNN bought the al-Qaeda training tapes, were copies given to the U.S. government to be used for analysis in the Islamist War? If not, then why not?I eagerly await their reply. "White House Rejected CNN’s Offer to View al Qaeda Training Tape" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/31/2002 06:02:00 PM ----- BODY: The NY Times covers the argument over September 11th lesson plans. There are the infamous National Education Association plans, and now there is the response produced by Lynne Cheney, Bill Bennett and others. "Lesson Plans for Sept. 11 Offer a Study in Discord" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/31/2002 03:36:07 PM ----- BODY: I haven't bother following the U.S.-bashing--I mean United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development. The talk is the same: evil multinational corporations are exploiting the Third World to line the pockets of the already super rich. The solutions are the same as at any other summit of this type: more foreign aid; a Tobin tax; drastic environmental regulations; barring genetic research. Protesters insult President Bush's intelligence, demand freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the end to free trade. This summit is like any other Lefty confab where the U.S. and capitalism is blamed for the world's troubles, while their solutions are risky, pie-in-the-sky, utopia schemes. But as Bjorn Lomborg notes, the world isn't in that bad a shape:
There is, however, one problem: this litany is not supported by the evidence. Energy and other natural resources have become more abundant, not less so. More food is now produced per capita than at any time in the world's history. Fewer people are starving. Species are, it is true, becoming extinct. But only about 0.7 percent of them are expected to disappear in the next 50 years, not the 20 percent to 50 percent that some have predicted. Most forms of environmental pollution look as though they have either been exaggerated or are transient--associated with the early phases of industrialization. They are best cured not by restricting economic growth but by accelerating it.People, like most editorial boards of U.S. newspapers, who are too consumed by white liberal guilt ignore the facts and support Leftist solutions. It doesn't matter whether the solutions actually do what they're designed to do or help people. As long as we (i.e. the U.S.) "do something" their guilt is assuaged. "The Environmentalists Are Wrong" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/31/2002 02:59:58 PM ----- BODY: UK engineers worry that needed natural gas will have to be imported. This isn't so bad from an economic standpoint. Who really cares whether the natural gas needed to heat homes or power electric generators comes from the British part of the North Sea or the Norweigan part? On a stategic level, however, energy dependence is more critical. If war or some trade dispute broke out between Britain and it's energy importers, they could hold the island nation hostage. So, it makes sense to have indigenous energy sources. Over the last two decades, what's been happening in Britain is increased natural gas dependence. Energy Minister Brian Wilson told the BBC, "It calls into question whether it was all that clever to go so heavily for gas over the last 20 years when our indigenous resource is so finite." This increased dependence may have been the result of low natural gas prices (implying that there might not be the potential shortage UK engineers fear), but I suspect the hand of government played an important role. What's needed to allow more energy diversity is not subsidized renewable resources that Wilson admits won't play much of a role in the next 8 years. Instead, regulations and government interference must be reduced to allow entrepreneurs to experiment with new energy projects. Those could be wind farms, hydro power, and biomass. It could also include nuclear power, the cleanest, most economically sound energy source available. "UK 'Running out of Gas'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/31/2002 02:02:28 AM ----- BODY: Patrick wants some data to number crunch with. He writes, "Crunching crosstabs is like crack to me." He needs a job with the census. But seriously, fill out his survey. It's quick, painless, and another worthless thing to do on the Web. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2002 11:02:10 PM ----- BODY: Does anyone know Eminem's beef with Moby? At the MTV VMAs, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog did a bit with Moby about it and tried to include Eminem. The white trash rapper snubbed the pooch. Then Eminem accepts an award and threatens to hit Moby. The Christian, vegan, placid techno-rocker has no idea what Eminem's problem is. On his website, Moby wrote, "i'm kind of stunned at the anger that he has for me seeing as i'd never met him up until last night." How about this: Eminem is just a filthy jerk so high on himself that he thinks it's alright to verbally assault others simply because he's Eminem. He's just a bully. A really popular bully, but a bully nevertheless. "VMAs: Guns, Roses, Feuds, Poses" [via jimlog] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2002 10:06:43 PM ----- BODY: Back to the strike that almost was: For what the owners wanted, they didn't cave like I expected them to. There will be more revenue sharing and the payroll tax will apply to payrolls above $117 million next year. In return, baseball won't contract until at least 2006 and the minimum salary will rise 33%. The AP story says mid-market teams are the big winners while big-spending teams like the Yankees are the biggest losers. As for my Brewers, this will marginally help. No one outside the team knows how bad the team's financials are. The two-year-old Miller Park was suppose to allow the team to afford better players, but their payroll has been almost flat. Then there's the question of team leadership. Brewers president Wendy Selig-Prieb accepts poor performance. If she didn't they why does she stick with general manager Dean Taylor? The best chance for future Brewers success is a deep-pocketed owner who sees the team as a long-term investment or hobby rather than a cash-flow generator. "Last-Minute Deal in Baseball Talks Prevents a Strike" "Baseball Strike Averted" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2002 09:35:03 PM ----- BODY: John Gray was once a shining light in intellectual conservative circles. He backed Margaret Thatcher and wrote approvingly of F.A. Hayek. Now, Gray hopes for mass death "and by the year 2150 the biosphere should be safely back to its pre-plague population of Homo Sapiens - somewhere between 0.5 and 1 billion." Daniel Klein critiques Gray's method of attacking classical liberalism in "The Ways of John Gray." "Of Lice and Men" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2002 12:44:32 PM ----- BODY: The baseball season has been saved. Now, I can look forward to watching the Milwaukee Brewers lose 100+ games. No time right now to see if the owner's caved. More later. "No strike: Players, MLB agree on deal through 2006" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/29/2002 11:50:01 PM ----- BODY: If you ever saw Tora, Tora, Tora or watched any of documentaries last year on the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, then you know the story about a U.S. ship sinking a Japanese sub. Well, the sub has been found. "Japanese Sub Found at Pearl Harbor" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/29/2002 11:35:17 PM ----- BODY: To: President Bush, Tom Ridge, and every member of Congress Charles Mann's article is outstanding. So far our security response to September 11th have been whiz-bang techno fixes. Legendary cryptographer and computer security expert Bruce Schneier sees that kind of approach as brittle and prone to bad failures. His security solutions entail flexible, multi-layered levels with human judgement as the most important feature. "Homeland Insecurity" [via ETWOF] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/29/2002 06:23:39 PM ----- BODY: From the "You Learn Something New Everyday" Department: U.S. ships have their own zip codes. [via ETWOF] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/29/2002 06:16:40 PM ----- BODY: Leon Wieseltier on the remembrance of September 11:
This was not the work of the gods, or the consequence of a series of physical and chemical reactions ("[i]t would be simplifying things, but not by much, to conclude that it was paperwork that brought the South Tower down"), it was the act of enemies of the United States who will act again. I know that Langewiesche knows this; but his articles are in their way complicit in the transformation of September 11 into "September 11," which was in large part a dissociation of the event's political and strategic aspects from the event's social and emotional aspects, so that what remained was a holy day and a homily about heroism. This concentrated the American spirit, but it dispersed the American will. What we will be commemorating on September 11, after all, is the beginning of a war.Remembering heroism is important, but September 11 marks the one-year anniversary of the Islamist War, and no one knows when it will end. Afghanistan has been liberated, but it needs to be supported. Iraq is in the crosshairs. With its eventual liberation, the entire Middle East could be positively shaken up. Few know if Osama bin Laden is dead or alive. Either way, his spirit lives on in his violent followers who would like nothing more than to kill thousands more Americans. So, this September 11, we should all take a moment to honor the civilians, firemen, policemen, and soldiers. More importantly, we must look at the video of the planes slamming into the towers. We must look at the smoking ruins that made Ground Zero and the Pentagon eery places. We must look at the photos of people leaping off the twin towers rather than dying by fire. We must remember that there are people in the world who want radioactive craters scattered across the U.S. To truly honor those who perished on September 11th, we must win the war. "A Year Later" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/29/2002 05:39:37 PM ----- BODY: Unlike the vast majority of webloggers (yours truly included), John Hawkins is actually doing some original reporting. He recently interviewed Middle East expert, Daniel Pipes--buy his new book. Here's Pipes on moderate Islam:
It's true that the voices of moderate Islam are scarce, they're intimidated, they're disorganized and they're in retreat. I think therefore there are two goals we need to pursue in our current war. One is to destroy militant Islam as we destroyed Fascism in WW2. The second goal, more subtle but no less important, is to build up and guide moderate Islam.Then there's Pipes' pessimistic view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
If you asked me that question ten years ago I would have said, "yes by 2010 a resolution to the conflict is possible." Because of the enormous reverses that resulted from the Oslo process I now think that a full resolution is decades away. The Oslo process set things back by twenty to thirty years. I believe the historical record shows that closure comes only when there is clear victory or clear defeat and in this case that would mean either the Arab destruction of Israel or the Israelis winning the acceptance of their neighbors. Assuming it's the second that we're looking at, that acceptance has been retarded by the Oslo process but it is feasible. It can happen eventually when the Arabs come to the realization that their decades long attempt to destroy Israel has failed, that they better find something else to do with themselves.An Interview With Daniel Pipes -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/28/2002 11:06:45 PM ----- BODY: Posting will be sparse for a few days. I'm finally working some day shifts, so no late night/early morning weblogging binges. We'll see if I'm in the mood in the evening. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/28/2002 09:36:51 PM ----- BODY: Amazon's stock hasn't been doing to well since they announced free shipping on orders above $49 dollars. Now, Bezos and the gang have dropped the limit to $25. They must be feeling the hit from Buy.com. A free shipping war isn't what's needed for a company trying to be profitable. "Opinion: Amazon's Slow, Painful Dip in the Free Shipping Pool" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/27/2002 03:31:11 AM ----- BODY: Rudy Giuliani on what should be done with Ground Zero:
The site should primarily be set aside as a memorial, not covered with office buildings for commerce. It is a burial ground and a historic site people will want to see 100 years from now.He wants a library and museum on the site. "Giuliani Reveals Thoughts on WTC Site" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/27/2002 03:27:33 AM ----- BODY: There's a report floating around the Pentagon listing the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) Iraq has. Sources say Iraq has battle-ready chemical weapons. That's not a surprise, since Saddam has a history of using them in battle against Iran and on Kurdish Iraqis. Sources won't say how far Iraq is from building a nuke. The report isn't enough to confince Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) that invading Iraq is necessary. Cochran told the Washington Times,
That´s a personal opinion. There´s no clear and present danger to the United States we know of right now. If there were, we would take action to prevent an attack against our country."Pentagon Brief Details Iraq's Arms Capability" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/27/2002 03:12:11 AM ----- BODY: Ronald Bailey reports on the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. As Bailey puts it "many of the measures favored by negotiators and activists would increase poverty, not alleviate it." "A Summit Misconceived" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/27/2002 02:52:53 AM ----- BODY: Courtesy of ScrappleFace (what's with that name?): Top 10 Reasons to Criminalize Homeschooling. My favorite is
Children who receive one-on-one homeschooling will learn more than others, giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. This is undemocratic.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/26/2002 02:02:05 PM ----- BODY: Time to have some fun with Gar Smith, editor of The Edge. In an interview with CNSNews.com, Smith showed off his wacko, radical environmentalist beliefs. On poverty, Smith said,
The idea that people are poor doesn't mean that they are not living good lives.Smith doesn't mention the life expectancy in the poorest parts of Africa: Sierra Leona, 25.9 years; Niger, 29.1 years; Rwanda, 32.8 years; Zimbabwe, 32.9 years. Electricity could do wonders for the poor. Hospitals and clinics could provide medical care. Factories could produce farm equipment that would increase food production and decrease malnutrition. Needed medicine, pesticides, and chemicals could give doctors and scientists a chance to reduce the AIDS epidemic plaguing the poor in Africa. A big complaint for Smith is that electricity "the fuel that powers a lot of multi-national imagery." Forget the life-extending benefits of zapping electrons, the world's poor must be protected from McDonald's golden arches, Nike's swoosh, or Coke's contoured bottle. As radical as Smith's views on electricity, his plan to save the planet is even wackier. He wants economic meltdown.
There is a solution to climate change and pollution. We saw it happen to Russia when their economy collapsed. Their industrial plants closed down, the skies got clear. Their air is a lot cleaner now.Electricity and a robust economy are goods and only bads in the eyes of a well-off radical Green. In the words of Greenpeace founder, Patrick Moore, "It's that kind of arrogance that is coming from a movement that is basically white upper-middle class and is saying that it's neat to have Africans with no electricity." "Environmentalist Laments Introduction of Electricity" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/26/2002 01:26:04 PM ----- BODY: The White House thinks it doesn't need Congressional approval to attack Iraq. Fine, but things would go smoother politically if Bush asked for a resolution (or a declaration of war for us old fashion types). On a related note, Vice President Cheney made the case for war with Iraq. "We will not simply look away, hope for the best and leave the matter for some future administration to resolve," Cheney told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. "Bush Aides Say Iraq War Needs No Hill Vote" "Cheney Presses Case for Iraq Action" [UPDATE: The text of Cheney's speech is now posted on the White House web site. (Link courtesy of Right Wing News.)] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/25/2002 01:55:31 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins catches law professor Jonathan Turley in a rather large exaggeration. John even got Turley to help him out. "Does John Ashcroft's 'Camp Plan' Actually Exist?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/25/2002 01:00:26 AM ----- BODY: Yuval Levin reviewed Capitalism and Commerce (not yet published). Levin calls it "a full-throated defense of the capitalist worldview," but mentions that capitalism does not create the values that allow free markets to flourish. "The Moral Case for Capitalism" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/24/2002 05:21:57 PM ----- BODY: We're at the point where using the word "Africa" to sell something is consider "insensitive." No one is saying it's wrong; it's just insensitive. The McAfrika hamburger is a marketing failure not because of the complaints from the P.C. crowd. It doesn't work because it's a stupid name. When I think of a hamburger, Africa doesn't pop into my head, even if the burger is served in a pita instead of a bun. "New from McDonald's: the McAfrika Burger (Don't Tell the 12m Starving)" [via Drudge] [UPDATE: The McAfrika is probably the talk the blogosphere now since Glenn Reynolds posted on it. He accuses Norweigan whiners of stereotyping Africans. He also found a picture of the burger. That thing would fall apart onto my lap after the first bite.] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/24/2002 04:24:24 PM ----- BODY: The great Bernard Lewis delves into why Osama bin Laden is still popular in the Arab world. His popularity comes from deep in Arab folklore.
In the Middle East as in Europe, there is a strong tradition of bandit heroes, challenging authority and eluding capture. The tradition is indeed longer and stronger than in Europe, since it has continued from the Middle Ages into modern times.If Osama is dead, but no body is found people will still follow him. It would be like the Shi'ite myth of the Tweleth (Hidden) Imam. Orrin Judd doesn't like Lewis' Robin Hood reference. "Deconstructing Osama" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/24/2002 03:35:26 PM ----- BODY: Weird story of the day:
Zac Monro played a mean guitar as he jumped on an outdoor stage in northern Finland, but he didn't even strike a chord. As the red sun set behind the dark fir trees, he changed tactics and rolled on his back while thrashing madly with his hands--enough to give him the Air Guitar World Champion title for a second straight year.I may have found my calling. "Briton Wins World Air Guitar Crown" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/24/2002 03:27:44 PM ----- BODY: A group at Baylor University say adult stem cells (ASC) may not be a flexible at transforming into other cells as once believed. Research as shown that embryonic stem cells (ESC) also have their problems, but it gives ammunition to backers of (ESC). This is just one groups of scientists and their anecdotal evidence doesn't prove that ASC won't be as useful as ESC. But if it is discovered that ASC aren't as medically helpful as ESC, I won't be jumping on the bandwagon of embryo harvesting. My argument against harvesting embryoes is not utilitarian, it's moral. Since it's a Western value not to use other individuals as means to other's ends; and since I consider human life to begin at conception, then this new information surrounding ASC doesn't change my opinion. Just as we don't harvest organs for needy patients from prisoners (unless we're China), human embryoes should not become the biggest cash crop of the 21th Century. "Adult-Stem-Cell Research Shows Some Limits" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2002 11:23:42 PM ----- BODY: Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping is correcting webloggers he felt took far too much from the controversy surrounding Millennium Challenge 2002. He writes that the exercise was rigged, and that's not a problem.
Well, duh. It was supposed to be. If it hadn't been it would have been a colossal waste of money.Paul Van Riper found a way to sink the U.S. fleet in the Persain Gulf. Two things could have happened afterwards: 1. continue the game with the lost fleet, possibly denying troops needed training; or 2. you could "refloat" the the fleet and continue on with the game, noting in the final analysis the sinking. Going with the second option just makes more sense. Then Sensing points out that the Army Times story doesn't appear accurate given that Marine Lt. Gen Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs told reporters that Van Riper didn't resign from the exercise. Chuck Watson also has some insightful thoughts. For the record, my concern was technological hubris. Van Riper found a way around U.S. military gizmos with a low-tech approach--sending messages with motorcycles and minarets. Such ingenious tactics must be respected by the military. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2002 11:10:39 PM ----- BODY: Brothers Judd, thanks for the generous link to my post on Tom DeLay's great speech. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2002 10:56:57 PM ----- BODY: The New Republic adds onto Tom DeLay's speech for reasons to attack Iraq.
What is it, then, about the villain in Baghdad that should provoke the United States to rid the world of him? One spectacular thing: He is the only leader in the world with weapons of mass destruction who has used them. He used them against Iranian troops and against Kurdish civilians. This is what makes Saddam Hussein so distinguished in the field of evil. Morally and strategically, he lives in a post-deterrence world. We do not need to speculate about whether he would do the dirtiest deed. He has already done the dirtiest deed. That is the case, and "the case."Not that hard to comprehend is it? "Best Case" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2002 10:43:20 PM ----- BODY: Courtesy of IMproPRieTies, here's a link to the Army Times' article on Paul Van Riper and Millennium Challenge 2002. It's much more detailed about what the military thought was the purpose of the exercise and how Van Riper thinks military strategy should be developed. "War Games Rigged?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2002 05:54:13 PM ----- BODY: So far, the only mentions in Big Media I've found of Tom DeLay's important speech is a little blurb in Howard Kurtz's latest column and one paragraph in the NY Times. The press is still talking about Brent Scowcroft's opposition to war, yet the best argument so far for war gets little attention. "Disappearing Act" "Bush Promises Patience on Iraq" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2002 05:40:24 PM ----- BODY: A Saudi banker blames Jews for the $1 trillion lawsuit filed by September 11 family victims.
The American-Zionist scheme against the Saudi economy ... became more clear with this baseless lawsuit."Saudi Bankers Deny Funding Terror" [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 11:42:31 PM ----- BODY: Europe must just love Tom DeLay's speech on war with Iraq. [Go to this page and select "08/21/2002: The Imperative for Action" under Speeches.] I'm sure writers for the Guardian and Independent along with pols in Germany, France, and Belgium must have especially liked it when DeLay said,
While the once great nations of Europe abdicate their responsibilities, danger grows. The spread of devastating weapons accelerates. And support by terrorism's state sponsors continues beneath the scenes. Despite the expanding capabilities of terror regimes and the growth of evil organizations, Europe peddles excuses for inaction. They demand we accept consensus as a first principle. They wish to direct the enterprise, but retreat seems to be their only war plan. Make no mistake about it, we're at war and we don`t have time to dawdle.Those Europeans also won't like this passage:
Europe stands paralyzed because European leaders seem unable to grasp a very fundamental principle: There's no moral equivalence between those defending freedom and the terrorists and tyrants who seek to deny it--first to their own people, later to others.I'd love to say DeLay read yesterday's TAM post. He probably didn't, but this part of the speech certainly restates my argument for toppling Saddam:
This fight is no longer about reacting to the attacks on New York and Washington. It's about stopping killers from robbing more widows and orphans of their loved ones. It's about preventing attacks on Chicago, Miami, Seattle, and yes, Houston. Who doubts that terrorists seek tools to do grave harm to the United States? And, once a madman like Saddam Hussein has nuclear weapons, there's no telling when an American city will be targeted at his direction or with his support. And so we must move ahead. Despite weeks of feverish hand wringing over the refusal by many to acknowledge the overwhelming supposed missing body of evidence against Iraq's dictator, the case is self-evident. Saddam Hussein is the most dangerous man in the world today. We say that because he's used chemical weapons against his own people. He's invaded his neighbors. And he concentrates the energy of his regime on developing and manufacturing nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Unrepentant for past crimes and ungoverned by reason or morality, he relentlessly seeks tools to commit infinitely worse offenses against humanity.DeLay even offers another reason to attack Saddam:
In 1993, he tried to assassinate former President Bush and the Emir of Kuwait.The evil tyrant has yet to pay a price for that crime. Then here's a passage that sounds like DeLay took it from any number of webloggers:
Removing Saddam from power and liberating the Iraqi people would do more to advance the war against terror than any step we've taken yet. Removing Saddam would send a clear and unambiguous signal to every other state sponsor of terror: "Shape up, because the price of subsidizing terror is now more than you can afford." Returning their government to the people of Iraq would signal democratic reformers around the region that the United States is deeply committed to expanding freedom. It would demonstrate that we stand ready to help any willing country discover the blessings of self-government. And, by assisting reformers in Iraq to govern themselves, we would show that the United States has no intention of ruling in place of fallen dictators. But most importantly, ending Saddam's dictatorship would deprive terrorist groups of refuge, training, support, and access to Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.These thoughts are so parallel to those by Glenn Reynolds, Stephen Den Beste, and others, that I'd love to know how influential warbloggers are with DeLay and his staff. DeLay has made the case for toppling Iraq as well as any public figure. It's better than anything the President has said. even though the speech echoes the totality of the President's thoughts on Iraq. This speech should rally the pro-war crowd after a few weeks of anti-war hollering. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 11:35:46 PM ----- BODY: John Podhoretz calls Blue Crush the Flashdance of the 00s. "Flashdanceing on Water" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 09:58:26 PM ----- BODY: Alright, the Milwaukee MEETUP didn't work. Maybe it was the weather. Nasty storms with wild lightning passed through tonight. I don't know if anyone showed up. A few people were in the cafe, but no one really looked like they were waiting for anyone. If you were there, sorry I didn't notice you. I was the dude in glasses with the white and green t-shirt. I'll try this MEETUP thing one more time next month. Heck, I'll even be the defacto host. Pick a place and we'll have a little confab. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 05:20:12 PM ----- BODY: This is a great start to James Lileks' latest:
Hold on, hold on. Let me get this straight. CNN reports the story like this: German tactical police stormed the Iraqi Embassy Tuesday, ending a five-hour siege and rescuing hostages taken by an obscure group opposed to the regime of President Saddam Hussein. The Embassy, of course, is Iraqi soil. Am I to understand that Germany invaded Iraqi territory all by itself, without consultation with the UN or its allies? Under what law? Under what international agreement? German tactical police - the very term ought to send shivers up anyone?s back. Who will stand up to these rogue armed unilateralists? Are we now to assume that Germany feels it can shoot its way into any embassy because it says it's rescuing "hostages"? Nowhere in these stories will you find the root causes of Iraqi discontent - no, it's just the usual bang-bang oil-poisoned warmonger solution. As if storming an embassy, subduing the occupiers and freeing the clerical staff accomplishes anything people can point to in 500 years. We must denounce these Gestapo tactics, and ask ourselves what drove these militants, these resistors, these freedom fighters to their desperate acts. Obviously, the problem is Saddam - Uh, hold on, wait a minute --------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 04:51:55 PM ----- BODY: I'll be at the Milwaukee Blog MEETUP at the Bella Caffe. Camera will be at hand, so I'll try to post some pics later tonight. No promises. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 04:36:48 AM ----- BODY: Yeah, crazy Cynthia McKinney lost. Bob Barr lost too. Not so happy about that. "Barr, McKinney Lose in Georgia Primary" [via Oliver Willis] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2002 04:19:42 AM ----- BODY: Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on preemptive strikes (reporter's question included for context):
Q: Okay, skip the international law part. What makes a preemptive strike okay, acceptable? Rumsfeld: Well, I would make the case that there are a whole series of things that ought to be looked at, and that there isn't a single one that's determinative, and that what one would have to do is to evaluate those and weigh them. And the construct I would suggest would be what are the benefits -- what are the advantages and disadvantages of not acting? And of course, the advantage of not acting against the moon would be that no one could say that you acted; they would say, "Isn't that good, you didn't do anything against the moon." The other side of the coin, of not acting against the moon in the event that the moon posed a serious threat, would be that you'd then suffered a serious loss and you're sorry after that's over. And in weighing the things, you have to make a judgment; net, do you think that you're acting most responsibly by avoiding the threat that could be characterized -- X numbers of people dying, innocent people -- and it's that kind of an evaluation one would have to make.Rumsfeld was worried that the question would be about Iraq so he used the moon instead. So, despite the Secretary's objections, let's apply his construct to Iraq. Would the U.S. avoid more innocent deaths (both American and Iraqi) by acting than by not acting? That's the crux of the issue. If Saddam wasn't developing weapons of mass destruction and didn't have a history of using them on enemies and his own people and wasn't allowing al-Qaeda members to currently stay in Iraq (Rumsfeld calls this "a fact") then destroying his government and liberating Iraq wouldn't be the right course of action. If Saddam weren't doing the nasty things he's doing, then he wouldn't be a threat to the U.S. and wouldn't deserve a nastier version of Desert Storm. But we know Saddam's history with chemical weapons. He used them in the Iraq-Iran war and he used them on Kurds. We know he's developing a nuclear weapon. We know Saddam is supporting Palestinian homicide bombers; and if al-Qaeda is in Iraq, then they're there with permission of Saddam. Rumsfeld said, "Well, in a vicious, repressive dictatorship that has -- exercises near-total control over its population, it's very hard to imagine that the government is not aware of what's taking place in the country." So, Saddam has access to WMD, the desire to build even greater weapons, the will the use them; and he is allowing members of a vicious terrorist group safe-haven in his country. If no U.S. military action occurred, what could be the result? A continued Saddam-led Iraq would, in time, build a nuclear bomb. There's no question. With a nuke at hand, what would Saddam do with it? He could wave it around and threaten countries in the Arab world to do his bidding. He could even become the leader of the Arab world with the strength and guts to challenge the West. It could turn into a real Clash of Civilizations. Or he could allow al-Qaeda or some other terrorist group to take the weapon or its technology and let them attack the West. There's even the possibility that Saddam could try his best to guard the secret to his newfound political power, yet fail to protect the knowledge and materials from terrorist groups. In the end, there's a good chance that anti-West terrorist groups would end up with a nuclear weapon or the ability to build their own. With such knowledge in terrorists' hands, any city on the planet would be in danger of being vaporized. Suppose Seattle was the unfortunate target, and it was learned that the nuclear technology came from Iraq. The President would ask Congress for a declaration of war, and it would be quickly given. There would be war in Iraq with an American public so angry they wouldn't care how many Iraqi civilians died. Many would call for Iraq to be turned into a sea of radioactive glass. There would be no mercy and Iraq would be destroyed. Imagining this scenario of inaction, let's count the bodies. Millions dead in Seattle. Millions dead in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers killed. All because Saddam was allowed to continue building WMD. Now, if the U.S. attacks Saddam it could be quick and decisive. The biggest numbers I've seen have a potential U.S. force of 200,000 attacking Iraq. It could be less if an Afghanistan-style operation took place. It certainly would be less than the 500,000 troops of Desert Storm and significantly smaller than battles in World War II and Korea. With smart weapons and our highly trained military, Iraqi civilians would get killed--that's a tragedy of war--but they would be kept to a minimum. Troops on both sides would die. With Saddam defeated, Iraq would start on its path to freedom. It wouldn't be guaranteed, and it certainly would be rocky (see Afghanistan). The U.N. sanctions would be lifted and Iraqis could start trading with the rest of the world. Examining a scenario of action, we see that troops on both side were killed along with Iraqi civilian casualties. What we wouldn't see is the millions of corpses from a destroyed American city along with the millions of Iraqis who died in the U.S. ruthless counterstrike. Would attacking Iraq be as clean cut as my thought experiment? No, the drama of real life always tosses in an unknown factor that could alter perceptions and assumptions. Nevertheless, these scenarios of inaction and action provide a reasonable place for continued discussion. DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Pace -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/20/2002 04:12:32 AM ----- BODY: It's great that CNN is showing the al-Qaeda tapes. The public must know the extent our enemies will go to to destroy us. What I wonder is did CNN give copies of the tapes to the U.S. government to boster their intelligence? Last night, Aaron Brown said government officials were allowed to watch the tapes, but he didn't say if the officials got copies of their own. If CNN didn't offer copies, then their so-called neutrality helps anti-Western Islamists who would do anything to destroy the freedoms that allow CNN to do its job. "CNN Shows al-Qaida Poison Gas Tapes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/20/2002 02:17:22 AM ----- BODY: What generals, military analysts, politicians, reporters, and interested citizens should take from Millennium Challenge 2002, a three-week American war game, is that technological arrogance by a superpower can lead to defeat. In the simulation, an enemy Arab force, named Red, abandoned sending orders electronically and used motorcycle messengers and code words from minarets. The result was severe damage of an aircraft carrier group and amphibious invasion force. An AP story says "Much of the Blue force's ships ended up at the bottom of the ocean." Now, those setbacks didn't stop American forces from victory, but it serves as a sign that a clever, quick-striking enemy could inflict heavy casualties. The effects militarily and politically could lead to American defeat. All this from some technique that bypasses American technological advantage. What's disturbing are the comments from Red military commander and ex-Marine general, Paul Van Riper. He devised the motorcycle messenger tactic. He worries that Millennium Challenge was "an exercise that was almost entirely scripted to ensure a Blue (friendly forces) `win.'" Van Riper felt constrained in the tactics and weapons he was allowed to use. The fleet Van Riper practically destroyed magically reappeared in order for the simulation to continue. That makes sense in order to fully evaluate all the people and operations that went into the war game. However, it gives all us war backers an understanding that American military power is not infallible. "U.S. Explores a New World of Warfare" [via Drudge] "Ex-General Says Wargames Were Rigged" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/19/2002 08:11:53 PM ----- BODY: The NEA suggests to teachers that they shouldn't assign blame on the September 11th attacks to any group because
Blaming is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault. In this country, we still believe that all people are innocent until solid, reliable evidence from our legal authorities proves otherwise.Yet when it comes to teaching tolerance, the NEA points to a PBS lesson plan that blames the U.S. for internment of Japanese Americans and abuse of German Americans during World War II. Charles at Little Green Footballs call this "indulging in a virtual orgy of American self-loathing." No mention is made that the U.S. fought to free Japan and Germany from ruthless dictators. Also, no mention is made that the U.S. established free nations in both countries in the wake of World War II. For the NEA and PBS, America can do no right. We're wrong in assigning blame to Islamist Arabs even though 15 of the 19 were Saudi Arabian nationals. We're wrong to assign blame to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda because no legal authorities have proved they're guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. They ignore the fact that bin Laden practically took credit for the attacks, gloating tht he didn't expect the twin towers to fall. Also, we're wrong to come to the conclusion that there's a whole lot of anger toward the U.S. and the West in the Arab world. The dancing Palestinians in the streets on September 11th along with the endless stream of anti-West essays and the glorification of homicide bombers demonstrate the Culture of Death prevalent in the Arab world. Heaven forbid that little things like facts get in the way of Leftist notions of tolerance. "NEA Delivers History Lesson" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/19/2002 06:57:29 PM ----- BODY: Those who don't understand the vile nature of the Islamist threat must watch the how-to chemical weapons video. The video shows that al-Qaeda will use any weapon available to kill as many Americans (and her allies) as possible. Chemical weapons analyst, John Gilbert comes to this conclusion:
The implication is that al Qaeda, or another terrorist group, could create a number of different ways of attacking people, for example, in an enclosed area, such as an airport lobby, or in a theater or a train or a bus. Another is that it could be used against individuals selectively, who are targeted for assassination.In the video, a dog is killed by some unknown gas. It might have been nerve gas, or it could have been cyanide. These evil people wanted to see how it would affect a living creature. First a dog, next an American? How will those critics of a war on Iraq respond to this video? After seeing the video, you know damn well the Islamists have no compunction to using weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Their goal isn't just war on Western terms. Their goal is to kill as many people as possible. After looking at the video, you know the Islamists won't stop with chemical weapons. If available, al-Qaeda would with no hesitation attack the U.S. with a nuclear weapon. What country has a beef with the U.S. and would be more than happy if al-Qaeda "accidentally" got a hold of a nuke? I'll give you a hint: the answer has four letters and it begins with an "I" and ends with a "Q." This tape reinforces the reason to liberate Iraq. A regime change would not only free Iraqis from Saddam's heel, but reduce Islamist terrorists' access to WMD. "Disturbing Scenes of Death Show Capability with Chemical Gas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/19/2002 06:27:11 PM ----- BODY: The latest count has 2,819 deaths in the World Trade Center attacks with over 6,700 total casualties. "WTC Victim Toll Lowered by Four" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/19/2002 12:25:41 AM ----- BODY: I'm cleaning out my stash of bookmarked pages and found this essay by Hans-Hermann Hoppe summarizing the ideas of his most recent book Democracy: The God That Failed. In the essay, Hoppe likes Monarchy over Democracy for time-preference reasons.
Theoretically speaking, the transition from monarchy to democracy involves no more or less than a hereditary monopoly "owner" – the prince or king – being replaced by temporary and interchangeable – monopoly "caretakers" – presidents, prime ministers, and members of parliament. Both kings and presidents will produce bads, yet a king, because he "owns" the monopoly and may sell or bequeath it, will care about the repercussions of his actions on capital values. As the owner of the capital stock on "his" territory, the king will be comparatively future-oriented. In order to preserve or enhance the value of his property, he will exploit only moderately and calculatingly. In contrast, a temporary and interchangeable democratic caretaker does not own the country, but as long as he is in office he is permitted to use it to his advantage. He owns its current use but not its capital stock. This does not eliminate exploitation. Instead, it makes exploitation shortsighted (present-oriented) and uncalculated, i.e., carried out without regard for the value of the capital stock.Like Christian Michel, Hoppe goes the anarchist route advocating what he calls "natural order." (Hoppe is a pal of Anarchy Lew Rockwell.)
In a natural order every scarce resource, including all land, is owned privately, every enterprise is funded by voluntarily paying customers or private donors, and entry into every line of production, including that of property protection, conflict arbitration, and peacemaking, is free.This feels too utopian. All problems seem to vanish in Hoppe's "natural order." It's too pat and doesn't take into account the future messiness Man always seems to get himself into. Nevertheless, it's provocative and throws plenty of stones at the "Democracy is the Goal" crowd. "Democracy: The God That Failed" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 11:30:22 PM ----- BODY: Som is an electronic musician who creates lush, soothing tunes. Some carry the highly sincopated breakbeat of drum and bass, while other songs go with a mid-tempo 4-4 beat. What Som offers is melodic, chillout trance that is relaxing, enveloping, and satisfying. "Sweet" and "Whill" be tossed into any downtempo mix for tasty change of pace. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 08:46:45 PM ----- BODY: Fareed Zakaria cuts through the mythology of the greatness of Democracy. We now live in an age where Democracy is the rule for more than 50% of the population, yet "half of the 'democratizing' countries in the world today are illiberal democracies." In these countries, the rule of law isn't dominant and many civil rights are abridged. Zakaria sees limited government--constitutionalism--as more important for freedom than democratic process.
Finally, we need to revive constitutionalism. One effect of the overemphasis on pure democracy is that little effort is given to creating imaginative constitutions for transitional countries. Constitutionalism, as it was understood by its greatest eighteenth century exponents, such as Montesquieu and Madison, is a complicated system of checks and balances designed to prevent the accumulation of power and the abuse of office. This is done not by simply writing up a list of rights but by constructing a system in which government will not violate those rights. Various groups must be included and empowered because, as Madison explained, "ambition must be made to counteract ambition." Constitutions were also meant to tame the passions of the public, creating not simply democratic but also deliberative government.He goes on to write,
Democracy without constitutional liberalism is not simply inadequate, but dangerous, bringing with it the erosion of liberty, the abuse of power, ethnic divisions, and even war."The Rise of Illiberal Democracy" [via Harrumph! Yeah, right...] [UPDATE: I'll add a link to Christian Michel's anarchist critque of Democracy. Although I see the need for a monopoly of force under jurisdiction of a democratic state, Michel notes that Democracy itself is no protection from tyranny:
Never mind what these goals may be (such as becoming a world power, improving citizens' standard of living or propagating a cultural model). The democratic ideology, like modern science, sees itself as wertfrei, or devoid of any reference to values. There is nothing in the ideology of democracy that prevents the majority from reintroducing torture in interrogating suspects, for instance, or from confiscating the property of Jews or any minority.Michel gave the speech at an ISIL conference I attended in France last year. I didn't get to see it live because I had to be in Paris the next day to catch my flight home. "Why I Am Not A Democrat (I Prefer Freedom)"] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 07:09:42 PM ----- BODY: From Virginia Postrel's latest NY Times column, Professor Sala-i-Martin gets to an important point about economic development and income inequality:
One would like to think that it is unambiguously good that more than a third of the poorest citizens see their incomes grow and converge to the levels enjoyed by the richest people in the world. And if our indexes say that inequality rises, then rising inequality must be good, and we should not worry about it!According to Professor Sala-i-Martin, as long as all strata are getting richer, who really cares if the rich are becoming more better off? This point is vital to any discussion about the supposed need for government to tax the well off just so it can redistribute it to those not so well off. Economic growth isn't a zero sum game. There isn't one big apple pie and if the rich take a big slice, then that's so much less left for the poor. No, economic growth is when people better meet the wants and needs of others. Intel will come up with a new microprocessor that doubles the speed of their current chips. They will sell the chip at the same price as they initially sold the slower chip. If I buy that chip for my computer (assuming all things being equal), I'm better off because I have a faster machine to post interesting thoughts and download porn--I mean pictures of GOP babes. Intel's better off because they got the money from my chip purchase. We both benefited and are better off. Now, someone with little understanding of exchange could see the transaction as only benefiting Intel, because the Silicon Valley behemoth ended up with a few hundred dollars that was once sitting in my pocket. What that person misses is the little piece of silicon I got in return for the money I gave Intel. I think I'm better off with the chip than without, and Intel thinks they're better off with my money than without. We're both subjectively better off than before, or we wouldn't have entered into the exchange. Next, this must be applied to globalization. Noam Chomsky and just about anyone who's written for IndyMedia think poor nations are being exploited by multi-national corporations. Workers in Third World nations toil in sweatshops while Americans get cheap khakis at The Gap or cheap trinkets in gas stations. But here's the dirty little secret: those workers want to work for them. For them, $2 a day is a lot better than the 25-cents they were earning plodding around in a rice paddy or digging a ditch. Sewing together a pair of wrinkle-resistant Dockers sure beats unemployment. Are these the greatest jobs in the world? Nope, not by a long shot. The hours are long, and the work is hard and sometimes dangerous. But what it is is a start to further economic development. No matter how much foreign aid is pumped into a place like Nigeria, an Intel microchip fabrication plan will not spout up and offer high five-figure engineering salaries. The most valuable resource developing countries have is cheap labor. In time, that labor pool will benefit from the knowledge and business practices of their multi-national benefactors, and they will move on to making more valuable goods and services. An example of this is Taiwan. For years, they were used as sources of cheap labor. Many of my toys were stamped with "Made in Taiwan." As the Taiwanese economy has developed, they've moved into more technical areas. Many of the world's memory chips are produced there as well as durable goods (Dell notebook computers and HP printers) made by contractors. It's now at the point where business are moving their operations from developed countries like Taiwan to countries like Vietnam and Thailand where the labor's cheaper. Sure, people are displaced, but countries like Taiwan are better off from the international investment. The multi-national corporations are better off, but developing countries are too. The rich win; the poor win. It's a win-win and a good thing. "The Rich Get Rich and Poor Get Poorer. Or Do They?" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 01:36:41 AM ----- BODY: The premise of The Washington Post's David Von Drehle and Juliet Eilperin on the GOP's anti-business rhetoric is flawed. Their first paragraph states,
Not since the days of Theodore Roosevelt have so many Republicans been talking so mean about big business.They then give some quotes from Republican lawmakers crying out for executives to go to jail. This is a far cry from T.R.'s calls for expansive new laws and agencies to regulate business. Roosevelt got the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act passed into law. T.R. also ordered antitrust suits. The recent corporate fraud law passed is no where near the level of regulation T.R. advocated, and no one in the GOP is calling for anything like T.R.-style measures. Far from the GOP turning on Big Business as the story's headlines states, Big Business is shrinking from politics this year. Von Drehle and Eilperin write,
First, Republican fundraisers are concerned about a possible drop-off in corporate contributions. Big business donors may be less willing to court criticism by giving large sums to the GOP -- even as labor unions, a key funding source for Democrats, get fired up. "Business is hunkered down," a prominent GOP lobbyist said. The rising anti-corporate tone "is having a stifling effect, rather than an energizing effect," on the willingness of big business to enter the fray.GOP pollster, Glen Bolger is spinning a bit when he says, "As long as Republicans have a level of aggressive response and talk about how corporate wrongdoing should be punished, people are siding with the Republican message." However, the jist of what he says is correct. If the GOP offers a response to corporate corruption that doesn't look like they're giving crooks a pass, they should be fine. A more important message that must be honed is how to get the sputtering economy moving again. Unless bombs start falling on Iraq and tanks roll into Bagdad by Election Day, the economy will be voters' primary issue. The reporters must be given credit for pointing out the most important races: the three Senate races in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Missouri. Whichever party wins the majority of those races will probably control the Senate (advantage: GOP). "As Voters Seethe, GOP Turns on Big Business" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 01:12:55 AM ----- BODY: Judge Jeffrey L. Simmons in Vinton County, OH told prosecutors they couldn't seek the death penalty for Gregory McKnight because the county couldn't afford the defense attorney fees. This is odd on a couple of levels. First, Judge Simmons is allowing questionalble financial considerations to trump justice. If the judge thought Vinton County could afford McKnight's lawyer fees, then it would be alright to go ahead. For Judge Simmons, the pursuit of justice isn't the most important factor here. Instead it's legal costs. Second, the judge performed a disservice to the victim's family. Too bad for Cynthia Murray, mother of Emily Murray, that her killer was found in a poor county. I'm sure that makes her feel better. Now, I'm oppsed to State-sanctioned killing beyond defense. The death penalty is morally flawed while other means of punishment are available. But what Judge Simmons has done is determine county budget priorities instead of leaving that to officials who were elected just for that purpose. "Citing Cost, Judge Rejects Death Penalty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 12:54:21 AM ----- BODY: A former Palestinian Authority treasurer calls Arafat corrupt. "I found out how he took aid money and contributions that were earmarked for the Palestinian people to his own account," Jaweed al-Ghussein told Ha'aretz. He's now in a British hospital after being relased from house arrest in Gaza. I'd love it if al-Gussein would tell the world how Arafat banked enough cash to make himself a billionaire. Enquiring minds want to know. "Arafat Foe Calls Him Corrupt" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2002 12:25:03 AM ----- BODY: Yikes! The suit against all those associated with al-Qaeda is $116 trillion(!). That's the mother of all lawsuits. "$116 Trillion Lawsuit Filed by 9/11 Families" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/17/2002 10:49:44 PM ----- BODY: A Cuban rap festival where performers are bashing the Communist government may seem like a threat to Fidel Castro, but reading farther into the story, you come across this quote from a member of Obsesion:
We want to improve the revolutionary process, to change what is wrong.This isn't pop culture being used to topple the status quo. An American who performed at the festival reinforced that. "The black youth are trying to create space for their own identity. They are critical, but they are not bashing the revolution." How did the Cuban government prevent rap from becoming a weapon?
The ruling Communist Party at first censored rap music but then sought to assimilate the rapidly growing social phenomenon by allowing rap on radio and television, and organizing an annual festival."Cuban Rap Festival Starts with Social Protest" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/17/2002 03:37:35 AM ----- BODY: Baseball players say they'll strike August 30 if a deal can't be reached with baseball owners. The snag in negotiations is the payroll tax. Players want it at $130 million, while owners want it at $102 million. The players are right when they say it will prevent salaries from rising as much as they would without the tax. The owners don't have the guts to ask for a real salary cap. Salary caps are in place in football and basketball and those players are continuing to see pay increases without constant labor conflicts. A strike would be devastating. Football is in its pre-season, and that's already driving interest away from baseball. Many cynical baseball fans will shrug their shoulders and give up on the sport they grew up with. "Baseball Is Two Weeks from a Strike" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/16/2002 02:15:40 AM ----- BODY: Here's a great bit from Mark Steyn:
Meanwhile, the left has an hilarious bumper sticker: "Celebrate Diversity." In the newsrooms of America, they celebrate diversity of race, diversity of gender, diversity of orientation, diversity of everything except the only diversity that matters: diversity of thought.The same can be said of most universities. "How About a Little Diversity of Thought?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/16/2002 01:56:20 AM ----- BODY: Donald Rumsfeld on the re-opening of the Pentagon's E-Ring:
I think it's -- that it certainly says that the folks who have been working day and night to finish this building have just done a superb job. And it is a real compliment to them that they are able to begin the process of moving in this E Ring, and they expect to be able to complete it, as I understand it, by September 11th. And we are all grateful to them for what they've done and for the dedication and the patriotism that they've shown. I think the fact that this building never shut down and the fact that it is going to be well along on September 11th, back in the shape it was in before September 11th last year, is an indication that the Department of Defense is in business, and it intends to stay in business. ... [W]e intend to live our lives as free people and to go about our business and to do everything we can to defend our people, our country, our allies and our deployed forces against terrorist acts. And we know that terrorists can attack at any time, at any place, using any technique, and it's not possible to defend every time at every place against every technique. So it is a difficult task that we're faced with, but we are determined to go about our lives like free people and not allow a terrorist to win simply by threatening and intimidating.DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Franks [UPDATE: Robert DeNiro was at Rumsfeld's briefing. Why, I don't know.] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/15/2002 11:30:41 PM ----- BODY: America's most ferocious weapon has entered the Islamist War. Families of the September 11 attacks are releasing the legal hounds. They're suing banks, charities, and three members of the Saudi royal family. Hell hath no fury than a lawyer seeking a big payday. This is one instance where I hope the trial lawyers sock the defendants for everything they're worth. "9-11 Families Sue Alleged Terror Financiers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 10:55:12 PM ----- BODY: With the coming one-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks, America seems to be "back to normal" as President Bush wanted us to be. While there's plenty of talk in the air of if and when to attack Iraq, most public discussion revolves around the stock market and corporate corruption. Democrats are focusing completely on the economy as their path to Congressional victory in the fall. Bar patrons wonder if pro baseball players will strike and if they really care. It may be collective denial or naive hubris, but it doesn't feel like we're at war. Rod Dreher worries about America's mental state:
There are not enough Americans like him, I fear. In the past year, the anger and resolve that gripped the nation in the immediate aftermath of September 11 seems to have dissipated. Not everywhere, mind you: on my recent trip down South, I saw American flags everywhere, and lots of men wearing NYPD and FDNY caps, and fading T-shirts trumpeting slogans like, "Never forget!" But nobody can doubt that America is not where it needs to be, emotionally and psychologically, as we get ready for a war that could result in thousands of American casualties, and perhaps even biological, chemical and even nuclear attacks on our cities.Dreher wants the networks to start showing the awful video of the planes crashing to the WTC. He also wants video of victims jumping from the towers to escape the fire and smoke. A visual jolt to the system is what Dreher is calling for. How's this for a visual jolt. At The Bunker in the Town of Rochester, WI a special ceremony is planned.
Make no mistake: The party will be just as heartfelt as others across the country. But Bunker owners Jeff Hartzheim, Steve Oschmann and Mike Fischer didn't want people to end Sept. 11 with heavy hearts. Hence, they developed an elaborate memorial celebration that will begin with a traditional military-style memorial ceremony and culminate with a "payback" where a figure of Osama Bin Laden will go up in flames.I think Dreher would approve. "America, Be Angry" "Burning Bin Laden" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 10:34:13 PM ----- BODY: Mount Pleasant, WI's Plan Commission ordered an owner of a Dairy Queen to repaint the resturant and pay a $50,000 fine. The crime committed was it was painted red, white, and blue without town permission. On Monday, the town board voted to nix the Plan Commission's punishment and put the issue behind everyone. "I introduced this motion because I want this issue to go away," said Supervisor Mark Gleason. Why it's the town's business when a business can paint their building and in what colors, I don't know. I'm sure it has something to do with "quality of life" or some other kind of schpeel that tramples on property rights. Maybe the dark sky people should jump on this. In a way, a building's color scheme could be considered light pollution. "Town Attorney to Rule on Dairy Queen Colors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 09:24:47 PM ----- BODY: James Bowman sees the strangeness in the clash over UNC's required reading of Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations:
Yet things are not so bad as either side likes to make out--and both sides would have good points to make if there were a genuine debate. Mr. Sells's supporters, the ACLU and the characteristically spineless university administrators at Chapel Hill are perfectly correct in saying that it is completely unfair of conservatives to imply that they are apologists for terrorism just because they believe in studying Islam. But the conservatives are also right to say that the version of Islam given in Mr. Sells's book is bowdlerized, and many of the more bloodthirsty texts from the Koran, particularly those to do with the slaying of infidels--by which is intended most of those who will read these words--are silently omitted.In the end, UNC isn't making students read the book to better understand Islam. It's all about political correctness and an inflated sense of piety. Bowman writes, "the UNC teach-in is all for the sake of making the teachers feel better, and more virtuous, for showing off their own tolerance in public." At least there's one UNC Christian making sense on the Islam dispute. Fred Eckel doesn't have a problem with the required reading.
It seems to me that studying religions is an important thing on a college campus. It helps us begin to recognize that we need to understand other people. I hope it will lead Christian students in making an effort to better understand their own religion."Teaching Islam" "A Kinder, Gentler Koran" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 06:07:51 PM ----- BODY: Alicia Colon went into a den of pro-abortion GOP women and came away unnerved.
But I wasn't about to get into an in-depth discussion with women who are obviously not interested in candor and I came away from that reception with two impressions. The first is that moderate Republican women are really just wealthy liberal Democrats who do not want their taxes raised. The second is that they have no concept of the core principles guiding the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan."No Such Thing as Moderate GOP Women" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 04:22:22 AM ----- BODY: A Washington, D.C. EMT believed that she would be fired if it was discovered she was pregnant. So what does she do? She gets an abortion. What kind of mindset does it require to choose a job over a baby? The rationale is simple: the baby really isn't a baby; it's just a clump of cells. Even if it was a baby, a job is much more important. Does the sanctity of human life even exist for the unborn any more? Through dehumanization and convience millions of children are legally killed. Does human progress exist? Abortion and its blood brother, the Culture of Death, sometimes makes me wonder. "Action Sought in Abortion Advice" [via Instapundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 03:44:50 AM ----- BODY: John makes a simple yet reasonable case for attacking Iraq and finishing the Gulf War. [Page down to the paragraph that starts "Why Is Iraq Our Top Priority."] However, he gets a little carried away about the repercussions of Iraq's liberation and a democratic revolution in Iran:
At that point, I expect Syria and Lebanon to just roll over rather than take us on militarily, Saudi Arabia is so reliant on our oil dollars that they'll almost have to comply once we have full access to Iraqi oil, and the Israelis can handle the Palestinians. Then our military's work will largely be done in the Middle East and we'll only have North Korea to deal with.This seems way too simplistic. Syria and Lebanon will roll over? I've heard no one make a case to remove the dictators of Syria and free its puppet Lebanon. And even if Washington officials have thought about it, would the American public support attacking Syria? Critics of another Iraq war have said that there's no direct link between Iraq and the September 11th. attacks. Therefore, there's no justification to invade. They're wrong, but imagine what more reasonable arguments they could make for not invading Syria. There's no link between Syria and September 11th., and no one thinks they're building nukes. Why would Syria roll over if it didn't think the U.S. would attack? And what does John mean when he writes that Saudi Arabia will "have to comply once we have full access to Iraqi oil?" After Iraq has been liberated, will the House of Saud see the err of their ways and allow their citizens some semblance of freedom? It's not that simple. The Saudi royal family has no history of supporting human rights and has no intention of giving up power just because there's a democracy to their north. John seems to think that an Iraqi war will solve many of the problems in the Middle East and end the Islamist terrorism threat. No, the Islamist threat has been brewing for years and years. It's the response to an Islamic world that has been economically, politically, and culturally defeated by the West (see Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong). The rage of the Arab street will not be placated by a liberated Iraq or the fall of the House of Saud. Cultural change within the Islamic world is needed. That means Muslims must find a way to treat women fairly, to understand the need to reasonably separate religion and government, and to respect and appreciate the power of human freedom. This will take time, decades, probably longer. Looking at it this way, war with Iraq becomes only a baby step. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 02:52:38 AM ----- BODY: Since much of the economic slowdown is because of a dramatic drop in capital spending (consumer has propped up the economy, although that's starting to falter), IBM laying off 15,000 workers because of "the recent decline in corporate spending on technology services" isn't encouraging for recovery. "IBM Cutting More Than 15,000 Jobs" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2002 02:41:59 AM ----- BODY: My Blogcritics review is up, but you've already read it, haven't you? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 01:39:21 PM ----- BODY: An e-mail posted at The Corner describes the Milwaukee Brewers' lame attempt at entertainment:
The weirdest "Rally animal" belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers, who always flash the Rally Rabbit on the replay screen. The Rally Rabbit is a grown man dressed in shorts, old tennis shoes, a Brewers jersey and an Easter Rabbit head. Just before the bottom of the 8th or 9th of a close game at Miller Park, they show this strange creature (who I'm sure would scare small children) prancing around the parking lot and then playing some drum set in front of Miller Park. They even brought out the Rally Rabbit before the bottom of the 9th of the All-Star Game. It's not very effective, judging by the Brewers' record.As a distraught Brewers fan, the rabbit makes me cringe. I'm pretty sure if they found this guy in costume banging away on his pail on a street corner in downtown Milwaukee, he would be arrested and given plenty of psychological treatment. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 01:21:51 PM ----- BODY: President Bush takes a stand against excessive federal spending by not releasing $5.1 billion in an anti-terrorism bill. Vetoing the huge farm bill would have been more fiscally responsible, but it's more symbolic than Bush's economic forum. What we need to see is Bush calling for pushing up last year's tax cuts. That might inspire more business investment while helping immediately with cash flow. "Bush Assures Summit Participants Economy Under Control" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 02:55:53 AM ----- BODY: John at Right Wing News has a pretty good rant on blacks and the GOP:
I'll grant you that the Republican party isn't the right choice for every black American. If you believe in group identity politics, view everything through a racial prism, are ultra-sensitive to perceived racial slights, are for Affirmative Action, racial set-asides for minority businesses, & reparations then you are probably better off voting Democrat. On the other hand, if you're Conservative, own a business, want school vouchers, are sick of having the government take so much of your paycheck in taxes, and want criminals in jail instead of walking the street, then you should be voting Republican.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 02:36:17 AM ----- BODY: Blogcritics is up and running. Today, there will be a chat with RIAA president Cary Sherman on the future of the music industry. My review of Willy Porter's latest disk isn't up yet. I know Eric is really busy with the wife and kids, but I'm getting antsy. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 01:52:33 AM ----- BODY: Australia is having an important debate over embryonic stem cells (ESC). Pro-lifers claim that scientists could go beyond harvesting stem cells to using embryoes for drug and cosmetic testing. The logic is sound if macabre. If it's alright to kill an embryo to get its stem cells, why not test the safety of cosmetics or the efficacy of drugs? The embryo is only a bunch of cells. How can moral qualms stand in the way of science and medicine? "Pro-Lifers Say Embryonic Stem Cell Researchers Not Motivated By Possible Cures" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 01:38:49 AM ----- BODY: The worst burden from Alzheimer's disease is that on family members who watch their loved one slip away from them. CNSNews.com reports that Ronald Reagan no longer recognizes his wife Nancy. Say a prayer for both of them. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2002 01:32:32 AM ----- BODY: The sudden popularity of DVDs over VHS tapes shows that "lock-in" may not be the anti-trust weapon some economists, lawyers, and policy wonks think it is. This has implications on the Microsoft anti-trust case. Paxton Hehmeyer writes:
As Microsoft and others await Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly?s imposition of a remedy for the company?s violation of antitrust laws, Microsoft is already developing new operating systems and features intended to replace Windows in the same way that Windows replaced DOS. This technology could very well render pointless all the litigation against Microsoft?s dominant position in the PC operating systems market by changing the very definition of the market itself. Consumer choices made DVDs one of the fastest growing electronics products ever, toppling VHS?s 20-year dominance of the recorded media market. Similarly, it should be consumer choices, not court-imposed restrictions or mandates, which select the new standard in OS technology ? one that will likely break Windows."Rise of DVDs Casts Doubt on Microsoft Ruling" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/12/2002 12:54:02 AM ----- BODY: Here's a treat. Alan Wellikoff, author of The Civil War Supply Catalogue, gives TAM a historian's view of Disney edutainment. It isn't pretty, folks. Thanks Alan, for allowing me to publish this. You may have earned the title TAM History Consultant. Goofy-American History by Alan Wellikoff "Today we came under attack by the combined forces of the Imperial (crackle, crackle, oooweeeooo, crackle)" - F.D.R.'s radio announcement of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Epcot Center's "American Adventure." Walt Disney believed that history was best taught as entertainment, which is partly why Pocahontas enjoys more fame than the 1909 Payne-Aldrich Tariff. Of course, Mr. Disney advanced this theory way back in the 1950s, just as the country itself was beginning to take on characteristics of a fun park, with its wild frontier getting carved into a site map of Mickey Mouse suburbs and burger-themed miracle miles. However, as it's been just a few years since the Disney Corporation proposed to build an American Historyland not far from the site of the Battle of Bull Run, it might do well to consider just how that subject fares at the company's existing wonder worlds. One place to go is Disney World's Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida. On my last visit, Disney's "American Adventure" stood like a neocolonial insurance company headquarters in the midst of nearly a dozen other national pavilions. In its lobby, tourists ignored revolutionary-era artifacts until permitted to enter a theater with seats that (unlike those at most other Epcot attractions) didn't move along tracks. The house was an admirably patriotic iteration of a Loew's movie palace, its stationary chairs redeemed by the "magical mix of motion pictures and Audio-Animatronics imagineering" that unfolded before their occupants. Signaling the start of the American Adventure, house lights dimmed and music swelled as -- trembling slightly on their lifts -- robots rose. These weren't sinister cyborgs, but effigies of Mark Twain and Ben Franklin that -- appropriate to the mixture of past and present they represented -- were to be our cohosts for the performance. Although artificial as a couple of diet Yoo-Hoos, robots Franklin and Twain were astonishingly lifelike and performed their tasks with no less skill that might be found, say, in a junior high production of Our Town. After introductions, Franklin and Twain yielded to a succession of fellow replicants from beneath the stage and a US history unfolded: Jefferson bantered amicably as he prepared a draft of the Declaration; silhouetted atop his horse Nelson, Washington contemplated nation-building at Valley Forge. Then, and in a gesture reminiscent of Jiminy Cricket snuffing out a candle in Pinocchio, George Washington Carver doused a lantern for the night on a Mississippi river raft. What's this, you say? G. W. Carver floating down the Mississip' on an old river raft? Well, I suppose it could've happened, perhaps on some well-earned break from peanut experimentation. But in iconographic terms, Carver riding a Mississippi raft is a bit like Huckleberry Finn working in a Tuskegee research lab. Sure, Carver's a genuine historic figure, but in American-Adventure terms, the ante-bellum river-rafting franchise belongs to the two greatest figures in American literature -- Huck and his runaway slave companion, Jim. Needless to say, these two have always been controversial figures, and only recently the scourge of a language police too horrified by 19th-century "N-word" usage to understand either the historical or the subversive political context in which they appeared. You'd think that Twain's cyborg might've lifted a servomotor in the defense of his characters. I've got a green-backed Franklin that says the old man himself would have done as much. This little episode was a harbinger of the schizophrenic political correctness that informs the American Adventure. Partly, it's one that reinforces the postwar California progress-ideal for which the original Disneyland stands as a monument. On the other hand, it's a variation on Disney's customary telling of American history that's a bit like Cubby and Annette being replaced in the Mouskateer lineup with Charles and Mary Beard. In the first instance, Andrew Carnegie, and other, less philanthropical robber barons emerge from beneath the American Adventure's orchestra pit to remind us that the progress ideal still so evident at all Epcot attractions had its beginnings in 19th-century Social Darwinism. Here, the indelibility of the Tomorrowland trust in technological progress trounces standard-issue political correctness. Thus, Disney's pro-tech article of faith is enough to save the memory of even Gilded-Age capitalists from the plundering cast of their popular image. However, although he's cordial toward fellow android Twain, Ben Franklin's favorite author appears to be John Steinbeck, to whom he referred twice. Was this the Wonderful World of Historical Revisionism with Disney returning Franklin to us as a Pinkerton-fighting Wobbly in a cocked hat? Was a coy parallel being drawn between the embattled farmers who first fired the "shot heard 'round the world" and the migrant farm workers of Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle? Maybe so, but the American Adventure cannot be dismissed as simply an endorsement of Depression-era polemics -- for Disney doesn't just leave the stage to reconstituted colonial grape-boycotters like Franklin. As part of history that diligently pays tribute to those political movements that have come into vogue since you, Fess Parker and I were young -- and as a likely sop to Epcot's many German and Japanese visitors -- the American Adventure covers both World Wars without any mention of just whom it was we fought, much less why we did so. Also, in a Magical Kingdom take on the revisionism for which American history texts have become so notorious, such denizens of the historical fringe as Chief Joseph, Susan B. Anthony, and even John Muir got full robot-and-set status, while even Honest Abe enjoys no more screen time than Say-Hey Willie. Why? Maybe it's because Lincoln's one dead white male whose animatron is doing nicely over at Disneyland, or -- as JFK also gets short shrift in this program -- perhaps it's because the American Adventure considers martyrdom more in the province of the Moroccan pavilion just down the street at Epcot. In all, these weird couplings, additions and omissions attain a greater strangeness when limned in the cartoon style of early Disney histo-dramas - only this time the politics have changed. A clockwork Sally Ride flying the Discovery space shuttle through the heavens like Herbie the Lovebug wouldn't have been out of place here. Nor would a funicular Mike Fink polling down the Big Muddy in concert with Emiliano Zapata, Haym Salomon, Rosa Parks and Squanto. Their finale might proclaim Disney's dictum that in order to entertain, history must also be inoffensively p.c. -- for in its own way, Disney history is anything-can-happen day. Email Alan at cwcatalog@aol.com Copyright 2002, Alan Wellikoff -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 10:57:41 PM ----- BODY: According to federal officials, scientists doing stem cell research can experiment on stem cell lines derived after 8.9.2001--the day Bush gave his stem cell speech--as long as private money is funding it. Some like OxBlog's Josh Chafetz don't mind it, but for me this shows the need for a ban on this kind of research. Proponents can claim all they want about the possible benefits, and they might be right, but the method towards those benefits is barbaric and inhuman. Notice this paragraph in the NY Times story:
Dr. Melton, who receives a mix of private and federal financing, said he had derived new stem cell lines in his laboratory. "Some of these presidential lines aren't as robust as we'd like," he said, referring to the lines covered by Mr. Bush's announcement. "That's why we have gone through the trouble to derive our own lines. But it's still early days."Melton "derived new stem cell lines in his laboratory." Unless I'm mistaken, the only way I know to get new stem cells is by fertilizing eggs with sperm, waiting a few days for the zygote to develop, then extract them from the embryo resulting in its death. I know stem cells have been harvested from umbilical cord blood, so I suspect that's not where Melton got his stem cells from. You "harvest" those cells not "derive" them. He created human life just to snuff it out for his scientific goals. Sounds awfully Mengelian to me. "U.S. Rule on Stem Cell Studies Lets Researchers Use New Lines" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 10:22:07 PM ----- BODY: A crass way of driving traffic to TAM is to link to a few shots of the lovely Ann Coulter, the Twiggy of the conservative world. Here's Ann living it up, adult beverage in hand. Here's Ann picking off Lefty webloggers who pissed her off (note the high heels with the shorts). Here are the four faces of Ann. Then there's Ann on Court TV. To make this post semi-newsworthy, she's on C-SPAN's Booknotes tonight. [link via Brothers Judd] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 02:51:26 PM ----- BODY: The amount of Republican loveliness is beyond words. During the 2004 political conventions watch carefully when the cameras panned the crowd. I'll guarantee you see sexier women at the GOP's convention than at the Democrats'. Republican BABE of the Week! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 02:24:33 PM ----- BODY: Bomb Iraq on September 11th? It would certainly make for a memorable anniversary. Europe would go bonkers. Writers for the Guardian and Independent would go balistic over the blood-lusting Americans taking out their anger against oppressed Iraqi civilians (whether any were hurt or not). Warbloggers would cheer. Just don't do it for symbolism. Do it to advance the goal of destroying Saddam. If it's only to boost American morale, then it would look awfully Clintonian. Bush et al. must focus on the goal: liberating Iraq. If a September 11th. strike fits into that, fine, drop a laser guided bomb for me. "Rush Limbaugh: Blast Iraq on 9-11" [via Right Wing News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 12:55:12 PM ----- BODY: Dan Santow has some words of advice for memoir writers:
As a memoir, however, every page of "Bronx Boy" rings false. Shouldn't something called a memoir by its author be a memoir, as opposed to a piece of fiction?He arrived at this because at the end of Jerome Charyn's "memoir" Bronx Boy there's a disclamer that reads:
Although this memoir was inspired by the experiences of my childhood, certain characters, places, and incidents portrayed in the book are the product of imaginative re-creation and these re-creations are not intended to portray actual characters, places, or events.So, it's not really a memoir at all. The closest thing it comes to is fiction deeply based on personal experiences. Sounds kind of like Saul Bellow's Ravelstein, but at least his fictional tribute to Allan Bloom was labled as ficiton. "When `A Memoir' Doesn't Really Denote a Memoir" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 02:37:12 AM ----- BODY: David Friedman has laid out the basis for reducing spam by selling access to your e-mail box. What is required is an easy-to-use program that takes care of the digital stamps and e-cash stuff (Hello, eBay/PayPal). One reason e-mail encyption isn't widely used is because it isn't easy to use. PGP may be the easiest, but all that public and private key business makes my head swirl, and I'm a rabid computer user. This idea is great on paper, but until it's developed into something practical, we're stuck with old fashion filtering. "Mail Me the Money!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 02:23:46 AM ----- BODY: It only took one column and I despise the Independent even more than the Guardian. What set me off? Adrian Hamilton's insipid piece the calls for the invasion of the U.S. Why? According to Hamilton
Not only is it building an arsenal the like of which the world has never seen, it has unilaterally withdrawn from the treaties designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, and has refused to accept any kind of international monitoring of its chemical or nuclear weapons facilities. It has a government in power without the legitimacy of a democratic majority, in the hands of a coterie from a single part of the country and clearly aiming at a dynasty of rule. Its rhetoric is one of violent aggression against anyone seen as its enemies. It opponents are locked up without trial or the right to habeas corpus.In other words, in order to protect the West from the Islamist and Communist threat (both China and North Korea), an American military build-up is immoral. Hamilton also claims Bush shouldn't be President because he didn't get a majority of the popular vote. I doubt Hamilton is aware that the U.S. has been under this sort of arrangement since the passage of its constitution. Ironically, an American leader at the time with the same surname would have spurned the suggestion of a purely popular vote for the Presidency. But does Hamilton stop? No, he offers another reason for invasion.
Of course it has a peculiarly obnoxious regime, ready to poison its own people with corrupt capitalism and deregulated pollution.Note the word "regime" instead of government, implying its illegitimacy. To Hamilton, the corporate scandals of Enron and WorldCom were born by the Bush administration. In fact, much of the illegal activity happened before Bush took office. Hamilton doesn't lambaste the Clinton gang for "poison[ing] its own people with corrupt capitalism." As for pollution, Hamilton thinks any disagreement with the environmental Left is cause to accuse Bush of poisoning people. The column is tongue-in-cheek, but the attitude toward America is real and biting. Hamilton can't accept the fact that the U.S. is the world superpower. He is opposed to anything that appears to have a great deal of power--he calls Microsoft, Exxon, and General Electric the Zaibatsu. As a knee-jerk Leftist, his instict is to attack big boys and refuse to see the good they offer to the world. For Hamilton, the U.S. can do no right, but deep down, I think he realizes that the world would be worse off with a lesser U.S. That's what really bugs him. "Yes, We Need a 'Regime Change' in this Rogue State..." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 01:46:39 AM ----- BODY: Patrick points out the same strategy I mentioned (here and here) Bill Simon must take to beat Gray Davis. Only Patrick used a few more words. He goes on:
A challenger's sole reason for being in our political system is to attack. And Bill Simon should attack. Simon should give a quick, candid mea-culpa, and then he should put this behind him and lunge to the attack--on Oracle, on energy, on taxes. That's what challengers ultimately must do, even if they're losing (and the polls don't seem to show that Bill Simon is). A challenger's has only a brief and limited time to convince voters and not a moment of it can be wasted in a defensive posture. If Simon defines a vulnerable Gray Davis well and relentlessly enough, political reality will eventually catch up with him.Every once in a while TAM can get ahead of the budding political strategist. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 01:32:27 AM ----- BODY: I know I posted a story on Jon Messner's hijacking of an al-Qaeda (al-Qaida?) website (pun intended), but Blogger's messed up my archives and Google isn't helping either. Anyway, Wired News has a report on how Messner did it. I'm still bummed that it took the FBI five days for someone with Net skills to talk to Messner. The feds have to hire lots of geeks and quickly. "How Al-Qaida Site Was Hijacked" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2002 12:53:53 AM ----- BODY: Prof. Reynolds pointed me to the song "The Secret World of Charles Kuralt" by The Tumblin' Sneakers Band. Funny yet sad. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/10/2002 04:50:22 PM ----- BODY: The British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine polled directors and critics on the best movie of all time. To no real surprise, Citizen Kane topped both lists. It's a great choice. The movie's epic in scope with great acting and innovative camera work. My only qualm with the lists is Hitchcock's Vertigo is on the lists while his Rear Window isn't. While not as unique in its production, the latter is more funnier, more entertaining, and Grace Kelly is a stunner. "Citizen Kane is Best Movie, Directors, Critics Say in Polls" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/9/2002 04:34:37 AM ----- BODY: Will we have a congressional committee investigate how the Bureau of Economic Analysis messed up their estimation of corporate profits during the Clinton administration? Will newspaper editorial boards call for heads to roll at the agency like they would if another Enron or WorldCom is discovered to have cooked their books? What the Commerce Department's correction does is destroy the Democrats' myth that President Bush's tax cut led to our present economic malaise and budget deficits. While the Clinton White House crowed about a vibrant, growing economy, in actuality corporate profits were already falling. In fact, the limited Bush tax cut may have prevented the recession from getting worse. "Clinton-Cooked Books?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/9/2002 04:16:34 AM ----- BODY: The Journal Sentinal doesn't even consider Saudi Arabia a friend. "Saudi Arabia, Friend or Foe?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/9/2002 03:49:43 AM ----- BODY: The University of North Carolina is in an uproar over a freshman required reading of portions of the Qur'an. Religious groups see it as forcing a religion upon impressionable minds. Bill O'Reilly compared the required reading to being forced to read Hitler's Mein Kampf. The criticism is over the line. Part of what makes university life so satisfying is the opportunity to discover new ideas and mull them over. Being exposed to the Qur'an at a time when we're at war with an enemy who's beliefs are based on it is a good thing. Michael Sells' book Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations may be one-sided, but it is the beginning not the ending of a discussion of Islam and its relation to the world. Let's remember that these freshmen are adults. This is the beginning of a process where they can decide how much they want to learn about Islam. At a minimum UNC freshmen will partially "know thy enemy." Hopefully, they'll begin to see the important differences between militant Islamists intent on destroying the West and those Muslims who are trying to drag their religion kicking and screaming into the 21th. Century. After reading Sells' book they can move on to the fine studies of Bernard Lewis or the contrary perspective of an Edward Said. "Qur'an Reading Assignment Stirs Passions for and Against" "A Timely Subject -- and a Sore One" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/9/2002 03:34:05 AM ----- BODY: Make your own Def Leppard live album with these legit MP3s. "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" aren't here, but "Animal" sounds good (even if Joe Eliot can't hit the high notes any more). Oh, by the way, the band also has a new album out. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/9/2002 01:07:28 AM ----- BODY: Who would have thought developers with a profit motive could think of a way to incorporate more green space in new communities? Reason Public Policy Institute fellow, Leonard Gilroy describes the approach:
With CSD, developers are allowed to build homes on smaller lots if they leave a portion of the land undisturbed as protected open space. For example, if a "traditional" residential zoning ordinance requires a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet, a 50-acre parcel could yield roughly 200 houses. In contrast, a CSD-friendly zoning ordinance might allow a developer to build the same 200 houses on 5,000 square foot lots if the other half of the land is left undeveloped. Some communities have even adopted incentive-based ordinances that offer density bonuses to developers that utilize CSD, allowing them to build more homes on a given parcel than would have been allowed under traditional zoning. Compared to traditional subdivision design, CSD offers the full development potential of a parcel while minimizing environmental impacts and protecting desirable open spaces. The developed portion of the parcel is concentrated on those areas most suitable for development, such as upland areas or areas with well-drained soils. The undeveloped portion of a conservation subdivision can include such ecologically or culturally-rich areas as wetlands, forest land, agricultural land/buildings, historical or archeological resources, riparian zones (vegetated waterway buffers), wildlife habitat, and scenic viewsheds.Developers have found that "[m]any people would gladly trade lot size for proximity to natural scenery." What's preventing this kind of development from occuring more often is outdated local zoning ordinances. "Conservation Subdivision Design: A Market-Friendly Approach to Local Environmental Protection" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2002 03:33:25 AM ----- BODY: Milwaukee's Willy Porter has come out with his latest album Willy Porter. It's a fine display of his guitar playing and songwriting but it lacks the umph of him playing live. Porter's live show is excellent. A few weeks ago at Milwaukee's Summerfest, I passed time waiting for another concert to start by checking out Porter. On stage it was just him and an acoustic guitar. Not much to see, but the power he brought forth from that instrument was amazing. On one song he picked and plucked enough to make a lesser guitarist's fingers fall off. The song was over and Porter just kept on going, diving into another one. Amazing. Much of that acoustic virtuosity comes out in his latest self-titled album. The listener is bathed in fine, staccato picking on the first track "Breathe." From there his brand of acoustic rock continues. It's an oxymoron but "Unconditional" is an urban pastorale. Porter describes the love of a mother on a train sitting with her baby and the love of friends to a man on his death bed. Gentle and moving. Willy Porter has plenty of emotion and soul. Porter doesn't hold back with his wailing on "Everything but Sorry." His raspy but melodic voice caresses "Big Yellow Pine." On "All Fall Down" and "If Love were an Airplane" it lifts like a helium balloon in the harmonies. But all is not serious on the album. "Dirty Movie" tells a voyeuristic tale of a couple making homemade porn. The chorus with falling bass line makes it the easiest song to stick in your head. There are plenty of pop hooks to keep you hummer long after the disk stops playing. What ties all the songs together is Porter's acoustic playing. That's the backbone to every song. Neither the drums nor keyboards dominate any of the songs. They're there to add the needed rhythms and textures. Nothing distracts from Porter's playing and his vocals. Willy Porter is more intimate than his live performance. Porter sounds like he's playing in a coffee shop or small club than a larger venue. Sometime, I would love to hear him capture the size of his live sound on an album. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2002 02:31:25 AM ----- BODY: U.S. troops in Bosnia bought themselves better two-way radios than were issued to them. The Army's response was to confiscate them. Richard Hart Sinnreich writes:
The irony is that both parties were trying to do the right thing. The troops were looking for a better way to do their jobs, just as we should want them to do. Their bosses were unhappy to see them spending their own money to do it, and rightly concerned about the risk of insecure radio communications and troop safety, just as we should want them to be. Moreover, while the issue in this case concerned radios, similar flaps have arisen over issue items as diverse as combat boots and laptop computers, as soldiers have attempted on their own initiative to substitute newer and better commercial equipment for older or less capable military versions. Nor is it entirely fair to criticize the military procurement system. The reality is that technology in many areas is outpacing the capabilities of current procurement procedures. Buying a new hand-held radio every year or so may cost an individual soldier a hundred bucks. Replacing several hundred thousand every year is another matter altogether, never mind issues of compatibility, reliability and security. The same problem applies to a host of other issue items, from field glasses to flashlights. This dilemma is only going to get worse, and resolving it will require genuinely innovative thinking. That should include a serious reexamination of the way we fund, purchase and replace common-use military commodities, including increasingly ubiquitous small electronic devices, such as hand-held radios, that until now have not been considered commodities."When the Troops Need Radios . . . " -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2002 01:39:04 AM ----- BODY: "Let's Roll" may be the most transfused meme that came from September 11. It's good because it describes so well the American approach to problems. When confronted with adversity Beamer et al. knew what was at stake, and they acted. Todd Beamer's call to action led to the first American victory in the Islamist War. If Beamer and company had failed in their ad hoc mission, we would be mourning three airplane attacks. United Flight 93's target may have been Capital Hill or the White House; we will never know. It didn't happen because Beamer & company beat the bad guys. "Let's roll" has become our battle cry. The phrase is our "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember the Maine!" It's a call to do what must be done. It's inspirational. Making that phrase the motto for this year's Florida State football team is a sign of admiration to those who gave their lives in the sky over Pennsylvania. "Let's roll" isn't being used to sell cheeseburgers, SUVs, beer, or even FSU football tickets. Bowden is using those words to patriotically unite his players like the nation was united after September 11. Bowden's use doesn't rob the phrase of it's meaning. Beamer used it to urge his fellow passengers to the front lines. Bowden is using it so his players know what real courage is. Sounds like a fitting tribute to me. Guys like Keith Olbermann may think anyone who wants to use the phrase should ask the Todd S. Beamer Foundation for permission, but those two words combined were around pre-September 11. Now, they've penetrated the very fabric of this generation's psyche. For sure, the phrase is being used tastelessly to sell schlock, but is it any worse than the oodles of ugly "United We Stand" t-shirts and stickers? No one has control over the phrase "Let's roll." Not the Todd M. Beamer Foundation and not Keith Olbermann. No one needs permission to use the phrase. It's a part of the culture. Criticism for its misuse is necessary, but Olbermann hasn't offered anything beyond drunk FSU fans yelling "Let's roll!" at games. "Bowden Defends Use of `Let's Roll' Slogan" [via Sportsfilter] "More Ways to Misuse 9/11" [via Sportsfilter] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2002 12:52:11 AM ----- BODY: The reason for the upgrading of a Qatar airbase is confirmed: the Saudis won't let us use their bases for an attack on Iraq. Prince Saud made it plain when he said, "We have told them we don't (want) them to use Saudi grounds." This decision isn't helping them maintain their claim to being our allies. There are too many connections between the kingdom and Islamist terrorism. Preventing us from using bases we built to protect them during the Gulf War is more evidence that they don't care much about the 70-year-old alliance accept when Saudi interests are on the line. The Saudis also don't have the same goals as the U.S. in regards to Iraq. While President Bush has stated that Saddam Hussein is a menace who must go, Prince Saud only wants the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. Right now, Iraq is contained and Saudi Arabia isn't threatened by invasion. Thus the Saudis can afford to stand up the U.S. endearing themselves with the rest of the Arab world. "U.S. Denied Access to Saudi Bases" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 06:58:17 PM ----- BODY: I didn't watch it and don't plan to, but NRO's Rod Dreher writes about the Anna Nicole Show. The best part is his description of the blond tart:
The joke is that Anna is a big dumb Texas-born hoochie, a white-trash Amazon whose lifestyle exemplifies the maxim popularized by social critic/Godfather of Soul James Brown, who observed, "You got to use what you got to get just what you want." The former Vicki Lynn Hogan worked as a topless dancer in Houston, and chose the nom de stripper Anna Nicole. Before a photographer discovered her and, with the help of cosmetic surgery and breast implants the size of dueling Astrodomes, got her into the pages of Playboy. In the early '90s, the big-boned Mexia, Texas, native went on to become a modeling superstar as the face and body of Guess? clothing."A Bust for Taste" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 06:21:36 PM ----- BODY: While pols and pundits are yapping about if and when a war in Iraq will occur, the Bush administration appears to be prepping an air base in Qatar as a major platform for operations. With analysis from GlobalSecurity.org, satellite photos show hardened aircraft shelters, newly built parking areas for planes, and a possible command center. What convinces me about the accuracy of the analysis is unnamed Pentagon sources are "not happy" with the pictures floating round the Net. These pictures do show that the Islamist War is humming along. Even though there's been not major military action in many months, the President is focused on the goal of destroying Saddam. At the same time, building up a base outside Saudi Arabia tells the Saudis that the U.S. isn't dependent on them and will go to war despite their protests. "War Plan" [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 05:19:26 PM ----- BODY: Eric Olsen is working with a representative of the RIAA. He wants questions from passionate music lovers. At Eric's request "FORMULATE YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE RIAA, AS SPECIFICALLY AS POSSIBLE." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 04:50:55 PM ----- BODY: Who are the greatest guitarists of all time? Total Guitar took a survey and came up with a list. The top three--Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton--are no-brainers. Only their order could be debated. Then we come to Slash at number 4. I don't think so, way too high. Metallica's James Hetfield (number 11) and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (number 14) shouldn't even be on the list. They're not known for their guitar work. They're known for their songwriting and singing. No one went to a Metallica concert just to see Hetfield shred; he's not even his band's lead guitarist. As for Cobain, did he ever really play a guitar solo? Nirvana announced the arrival of alternative rock. Part of that included a lack of guitar solos which still plague rock music today. One person who didn't make the list and should have is Living Colour's Vernon Reid. His jazz-influenced chaotic leads were a reincarnation of Hendrix. "Hendrix Voted Greatest Guitarist" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 04:09:41 PM ----- BODY: Andrew Sullivan is taking a break from weblogging, so now you have more time to read TAM. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 03:06:26 AM ----- BODY: Note to self: never live in a community where the condo association can dictate whether you can have an American flag on your mailbox. Nit-picky rules like this are even goofier than light pollution laws--and that's saying a lot. Do the owners of the complex have a right to do this? Yes, but they make fools of themselves. Should the state legislature pass a law preventing rules like this? No. It's private property. Ogden and Co. who runs the community and the condo association can make stupid rules if they want. Residents just don't have to live there, while people like me can make them look silly and unpatriotic. "Flag Flying not a Condo Freedom" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2002 02:55:08 AM ----- BODY: The backward nation of Nigeria will allow a travesty to happen if Amina Lawal is stoned to death. Her crime: she had a baby. Amina wasn't married when she gave birth, so she's considered guilty of adultery, and with the crime comes a death sentence. Human life in all its forms is sacred. But for fundamentalist Muslims the circumstances surrounding the conception dominate. Assuming she had access to such medical services, Amina could have had an abortion and no one may have found out about the pregnancy. Would the findamentalists be happy that the child was dead? "Sentenced to Death for Having Baby" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/6/2002 03:53:33 AM ----- BODY: Thomas Ricks points out that anti-Saudi views are present among "neoconservative foreign policy thinkers." But they're also present among webloggers who I think are more influential than anyone lets on. Glenn Reynolds has been quite vocal in his distrust with the Saudis. I've seen more anti-Saudi arguments in the Blogosphere than I've seen from foreign policy wonks. Here is a case where the wonks followed the webloggers. "Briefing Depicted Saudis as Enemies" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/6/2002 03:43:09 AM ----- BODY: Don't let your jaw drop too fast. This conservative commentator is actually supporting a pro-union decision. A state labor commission ruled that the University of Wisconsin Hospital can't prevent union members from sending union-related e-mail. This is a sensible ruling. Since the hospital does allow limited personal e-mail use as well as use of phones and internal snail mail, union communication via e-mail should be allowed. It would also be really hard for hospital officials to ban it. It's better just to accept this. "Blocking E-mail Ruled Unfair" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/6/2002 03:32:31 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins offers a fine look at how men only play a role in supporting a child. They have few legal rights to protect it as long as its inside the womb. "Court Allows Abortion Over Father's Protest" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/5/2002 03:02:02 AM ----- BODY: Jimmy Eat World gets a good review in the local paper. The show was hot, sweaty, and fun. Power pop live never tasted so good. "Jimmy Eat World a Sweet Pop Treat" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/5/2002 12:30:38 AM ----- BODY: I don't know if Bill Simon has the political skills to pull it off, but George Neumayr gives him a theme to hammer Gray Davis with: "Davis has viewed the public's money as his own." If Simon want's to win, he's going to have to throw as much dirt on Davis as he's receiving. "Resisting the Anti-Business Riptide" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/5/2002 12:19:43 AM ----- BODY: Lawrence Henry notes that few lefties have grumbled with the volume and intensity over other government tip lines than they have with the anti-terrorist Operation TIPS. "The Trouble With TIPS" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/5/2002 12:13:23 AM ----- BODY: Great essay by Steven Den Beste. There's plenty of good paragraphs I could pull out, but here's just one:
In actuality, they [militant Islamists] attacked us out of self defense, as they viewed it. They were attempting to defend their faith against the heretical influence of our culture, and the slow but sure way that it is destroying what they see as the true practice of Islam. And as long as we believe in things like freedom of expression, and freedom of behavior, then to a greater or lesser extent we will continue to eat away at the roots of Islamic culture simply by existing.America and the West is more than willing to live peacefully with Muslims. Unfortunately, some Muslims view us as evil creatures to be destroyed. The situation becomes a brutal zero-sum game. One side must win, while the other side loses. Either the U.S. and the West destroys Islamism or they will continue to attack and kill us. To that end, Saddam must be destroyed or he'll offer Islamists horrible weapons that would be used on America. Kill or be killed, that's the tragic lesson. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/4/2002 11:38:58 PM ----- BODY: It seems Jeremy Scahill, independent journalist, found the Donald Rumsfeld smoking gun. Back in 1983 and 1984, he had meetings with high-level Iraqi officials, including Saddam Hussein. During this time, Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iran. Today, Rumsfeld believes Saddam's possession of weapons of mass destruction--including chemical weapons--makes him a major threat to the U.S. Is Rumsfeld being a hypocrite? Why didn't he think Saddam was a threat back in 1984? Scahill fails to put the Iraq-Iran War in its proper context. At the time, the Iranian Islamic revolution was 5 years old. The sight of U.S. hostages held in Tehran still burned in the public's memory, and Iran was the bigger threat. The U.S. took the Iraq side to stem militant Iranian Islam. Was it perfect, no, but in many cases leaders have to pick the better of evils. But in order to do that, leaders must maintain the flexibility to change sides. After the Iraq-Iran War, Iraq became the strongest power in the area. That was fine for the U.S. as long as it minded its own business. When Saddam decided he could take Kuwait, the U.S. had to alter it's Persian Gulf strategy and fought the Gulf War. According to Scahill, Rumsfeld's sin was "the absence of Donald Rumsfeld's voice at the very moment when Iraq's alleged threat to international security first emerged." But the threat wasn't there in 1984 because Iraq was focused on fighting Iran. At the time, Iran was considered the greater threat. Let me reiterate, context is the key. Also what Scahill needs is a realistic approach to foreign policy. "The Saddam in Rumsfeld's Closet" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/3/2002 06:40:38 PM ----- BODY: The Washington Times named Milton Friedman Economist of the Century. I won't go that far. He's definitely in the top three. As a defender of liberty, no one has been as dedicated and effective. But Friedman is within the orthodox mathmatical economic school with all its methodological problems. He wasn't the one to make the best economic argument against socialism--that award goes to Ludwig von Mises. He also didn't make the most important economic insight of the century. Friedrich Hayek's development of dispersed knowledge was built from Mises anti-socialism arguments (see his "The Use of Knowlege in Society"). When I search out free market answers to economic questions, I don't run to Friedman, I go to the Austrians. What Friedman has done to enlighten us on the effects of monetary policy cannot be ignored (see Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose). We also cannot ignore his ability to promote libertarianism to a broad audience. For all that, freedom lovers should be thankful. "Economist of the Century" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/3/2002 02:55:06 AM ----- BODY: Bill Moyers: "objective" liberal journalist and former beaurcrat, NOW drunk driver. The roadside breath test gave Moyers a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit, yet he will contest the charge. "National Journalist Charged with DUI: PBS Newsman Bill Moyers Cited in Arlington" [via C-Log] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/3/2002 02:43:54 AM ----- BODY: Even More Light Pollution than You Can Wave a Light Saber At John McMahon writes: "When the night sky, with all of its inspiration and beauty, becomes more and more simply another extension of a strip mall world cluttered by the wasteful debris of human activity, we lose the sense of perspective humans have had since they first were able to look upward." Let me state it again: the night sky doesn't disappear. It's still there. Just drive a few miles away from the lights and those twinkling, sparkly dots in the sky are the stars. But John's statement revealed much about his thought. Dark sky advocacy is in the same rhelm as the anti-car, urban sprawl types. How dare people build houses with lawns and space. That reduces population density and increases car and SUV (the most evil device ever developed by mankind) use. The world is falling apart because people want new Targets and Wal-Marts near their homes while driving around in vehicles that get less than 20 miles/gallon. My response is pretty simple: too bad. Lots of people do a lot of things that irritate the hell out of me. They do things I think waste time, money, and energy. Yet I don't organize people in my community or through the internet to wage political war. I have no problem with dark sky people using the power of persuasion, but to resort to county ordinances and state laws to mandate an aethetic preference (I'm rather fond of bright shining lights going up into the sky; the World Trade Center light memorial had an etheral beauty to it.) is repugnant to me. Now, there are common sense situations where light can harm someone. A 50,000 watt floodlight into my bedroom window at 3AM every night would be irritating, but that's why there are local courts to handle disputes like that. This will probably be the last posting on the subject for a while unless I find some new story to comment on. Please e-mail me any links and continue to add comments. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/2/2002 04:04:43 AM ----- BODY: The Packers now have the Oneida Indian Nation as a major sponsor in the renovated Lambeau Field. The Oneidas run the local casino only a few miles from the stadium. I wonder what the NFL thinks about one of their teams financially tied to a gambling outfit. Sure, the casino doesn't offer sports betting because of the tribe's agreement with the state, but that could always change. It may not have been the wisest move to be so closely associated with a casino. Packers Announce Major Partnership With The Oneida Nation -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/2/2002 03:33:19 AM ----- BODY: This has been a bad few weeks for Bill Simon. He bumbled the release of his tax records, and now his investment company got hit with a big jury verdict for investor fraud. This is at at time when polls have him ahead of Gray Davis. Here's where lacking political experience is a disadvantage. Davis will pounce on this and try to link Simon to the corporate scandal in general. Simon will have to respond strongly, maybe even sling a little mud. How about bringing attention back to Davis and his problem with Oracle? Now is not the time to go soft and defensive. "Simon's Campaign Takes a Hit" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/2/2002 01:23:21 AM ----- BODY: The U.N. says there wasn't a massacre by Israelis in Jenin. The only ones left saying it are the Palestinians and lefties writing for the Guardian. "U.N. Rejects Jenin Massacre Claim" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/1/2002 03:08:38 AM ----- BODY: Light Pollution cont. In a comment, Scott Griswold put light pollution in the same vein as air and water pollution. Light pollution isn't destruction of the environment. A 30,000 candle bulb isn't destroying the night sky. The stars, moon, and planets are still there. They just can't be seen because of the light. According to this logic the biggest light polluter is the sun. When the sun's shining during the day you can't see the stars, moon, or planets either. I think an ordinance should be passed banning the sun. It's obvious that the sun is destroying our God-given heritage of a dark sky. Wait, someone proposed just such a law. Frédéric Bastiat's "Petition from the Manufacturers of Candles" was in satirical support of candlemakers because the sun had an unfair advantage. Why not pass a sun-banning law because it deprives us from having a dark sky 24/7? I'm being even more flippant because this really is a non issue. Some people really love a dark sky free from any hint of light. Unfortunately, the world around them changes and other people begin living nearby and illuminate the sky. Dark skyers don't want their world to change so they devise laws and ordinances to force their neighbors to accept their way of life. "Wasted light is wasted energy" and "Dark skies are our God-given heritage" they cry out. Do they ask their neighbors to turn down the lights? Do they try to persuade them to their way of thinking with their facts and logic? Do they consider buying the land or compensating their neighbors? No, they turn their aesthetic preference into an environmental issue. By calling it "light pollution" they claim moral authority. Evil people are poisoning the night sky with their halogen and neon. They run to county boards and state legislatures ensuring the debate becomes a zero sum game. One side will win, while the other loses. This issue is on par with people opposed to scents and electricity-producing windmills. Instead of taking a live-and-let-live attitude, they insist on instituting their way, because they know best. Until I see something beyond aesthetic preferences (like linking Wal-Mart's parking lot lights to cancer), I will have little sympathy. P.S. I'm flattered that Scott Griswold told his dark sky friends about TAM at the OutdoorLighting-Forum. Can I say the discussion has been enlightening even though we disagree? I think I just did. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/1/2002 02:44:13 AM ----- BODY: John Hawkins at Right Wing News has named TAM Website of the Day. Glad you like my yapping, John. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/31/2002 02:50:07 AM ----- BODY: Jon David is doing his part in the Islamist War. He took over an al-Queda web site and collected plenty of useful information. Unfortunately, it took five days for someone at the FBI to use it. That was a missed opportunity, but David noted that 90% of the web traffic was from Saudi Arabia. More evidence that our "ally" really isn't our friend. "An Interview With Jon David, The Man Who Hacked al-Queda's Homepage" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/31/2002 02:39:38 AM ----- BODY: Nobel Prize winner and free market guru Milton Friedman turned 90 today. Bruce Bartlett and Thomas Sowell honor the man. Happy B-Day. "Milton Friedman" "Milton Friedman at 90" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/31/2002 02:35:18 AM ----- BODY: American Atheists, Inc. may consider "Rina" to be a smart kid, but this is what the 14 year-old thought about Jews and World War II:
In my opinion, religion is a silly thing. Look at what it's caused. People being Jewish in the 1940s caused WWII.It's safe to say that Rina isn't a "smart kid." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2002 06:33:36 PM ----- BODY: Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I got some heated response to my rather flippant link to a story on light pollution. A little agitation is good for the old weblog. It looks like the Loudoun County light pollution ordinance would let busy body county officials start dictating what kind of lights people can have on their property. It's an extension of the nick picking many local officials do when someone wants to build something in a way the officials think is "ugly." Some have commented that light pollution laws would save money. Maybe, but that would be individual savings, and they would already be thinking of ways of conserving electricity if they wanted to. With electricity being plentiful, they're little reason to conserve. Light pollution laws shouldn't be the role of government. Rights aren't being violated. This debate revolves around aesthetics. One JNoles thinks light pollution laws would protect a "sacred American tradition, the freedom to enjoy the illumination of your own backyard from the natural nightsky." Some want to live in a suburban area surrounded by people with all the convinences (stores, restaurants, jobs), but accept none of the tradeoffs. I have a feeling, the Founding Fathers didn't pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor just so they could see some miniscule star in Orion from a parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Loudoun County. If people want to avoid light pollution, they should move to the country or persuade their neighbors to lessen their light use. What they shouldn't do is use the heavy hand of government to satisfy their aesthetic wants. International Dark-Sky Association -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2002 05:59:32 PM ----- BODY: Electric cars may be more environmentally friendly (if you really think about it, the jury is still out), but they could burn down your home. Model Veronica Webb had that happen to her. She's giving up on eco-friendly cars. "We got the car because it was supposed to be great for the environment, but no one ever warns you how dangerous they are." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2002 04:25:57 AM ----- BODY: Wisconsin printing king Harry Quadracci died yesterday. He built Quad/Graphics into a world printing powerhouse. Because of his fortune, he donated to many causes in the Southeast Wisconsin area. Stress from the death of his father-in-law and a deadly building collapse a few weeks ago (only 10 miles from my house) may have led to his death. "Printing Magnate Quadracci Found Dead in Pine Lake" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2002 03:46:36 AM ----- BODY: I'm at the same "Insignificant Microbe" level of the weblog ecosystem as Eric Alterman. Lots of people seem to bash him--just not as much as Robert Fisk--so I'm surprised he has so few links to his weblog. I thought the redesign of TAM would garner some new links but no such luck. I know many of you visit TAM through your bookmarks/favorites. If you have a weblog, I'd love a link. I'll even give you a virtual kiss. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2002 03:27:18 AM ----- BODY: You only have 5 days left to bid on a 1954 Princeton yearbook with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld posing in his football uniform. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2002 01:51:27 AM ----- BODY: So, Vice President Cheney has the President's ear when it comes to foreign policy. When Bush said the Palestinians needed new leadership, that was Cheney. When Bush called for change in Iran, that too had Cheney's fingerprints on it. His tough stance towards Iraq, Iran, and the Palestinians reassures me. This White House realizes what needs to be done to protect U.S. interests and to move other nations towards freedom and democracy. "Cheney Rewrites Roles in Foreign Policy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/29/2002 02:29:32 AM ----- BODY: While scanning the list of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a few groups aren't on the list who should be: Canadian power trio Rush and southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd. Genesis and Black Sabbath also comes to mind. Who are some others? One criteria is that the band's/artist's first album must have come out over 25 years ago. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/29/2002 12:58:46 AM ----- BODY: Bill Safire sure isn't young, yet he isn't fuddy-duddy about weblogs. He feels "the noun blog is a useful addition to the lexicon." I'm happy that he did some actual research and mentioned Jorn "Weblog Godfather" Barger and William "Blogosphere" Quick. "Blog" [via Andrew Sullivan] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/28/2002 11:17:44 PM ----- BODY: Mucho kudos go to Lance Armstrong for winning his fourth straight Tour de France. Those Frenchmen must just be hating the U.S. now for having an American completely dominate the biggest sporting event in their country. It's amazing enough that Armstrong has won the last four years. It's even more incredible to know he almost died from cancer. With heart, passion, and discipline, Armstrong proved once again why he's one of the world's greatest athletes. Bravo! "Armstrong First American to Win Four Tours" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2002 11:26:49 AM ----- BODY: Here's the transcript of the House debate on expelling James Traficant. I don't have anytime right now to find the funny stuff (off to a family reunion), but I'll be digging for some good nuggets later today/tonight. UPDATE: Don't bother with the above link. Bill pointed out in the comments that it's a temporary link. He recommends going to this link and clicking on item 39. That's the closest he could get. Not the best. The Library of Congress can do better than this can't they? Thanks, Bill. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2002 11:18:46 AM ----- BODY: McCain hosting SNL can't possibly be worse than when Steve "Teve Torbes" Forbes hosted a few years back. Forbes tried really, really hard, but he had no sense of comic timing or any ability to be funny other than looking like a bad joke. "Sen. McCain to Host 'SNL' This Fall" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/26/2002 02:24:24 AM ----- BODY: Philip Morris actually supports FDA regulation of cigarettes. In the past, PM has spent millions of dollars to stop any regulation of their products. Why the change? PM wants to develop a "safe" cigarette and FDA approval would help. Also, FDA regulation would lock in PM's dominant market share. Here's a case of a company trying to use government force to lock in perpetual profits. Now, if that isn't corporate corruption, then what is? It may not be illegal, but it certainly is immoral to the values of a free market. "Smoke Screen" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/26/2002 02:08:22 AM ----- BODY: Michael Kinsley on Washington's lust to pass corporate reform legislation:
This is all less about solving an actual problem than about a sort of law of political thermodynamics, which holds that every public frenzy produces legislation purporting to address it."The New Bull Market" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/26/2002 01:46:25 AM ----- BODY: This idea of posting one's notes from a lecture is irritating. It's cool to know that Doc Searls has the technology available to put down his thoughts about Larry Lessig's speech for the rest of the world to see. What I don't see is the added value. I don't care what points Searls jotted down into his computer. If I wanted to know what Lessig said, I'd visit his web page or the OSCon web page and hope there's a copy of his speech available. (Haven't found any.) What I want from Searls is his reaction to Lessig's speech. Was it good or bad? Was he convincing? Did Searls learn anything new from Lessig that he didn't already know? An evaluation of the speech is more important than some brief notes. "Live from OSCon" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/25/2002 03:49:08 AM ----- BODY: James Traficant gets the boot. No surprise. I should have watched C-SPAN to see what happened to deserve this paragraph from the story:
Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, presiding over the rare House expulsion proceedings, admonished Traficant more than once for uttering curse words during his defense.Could they have been "Beam me the f*** up!"? I'll never know. "House Expels Ohio Rep. Traficant" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/25/2002 02:21:47 AM ----- BODY: Despite the bear market and corporate scandals, most Americans believe that individuals should have the freedom to invest part of their Social Security taxes as they see fit. A more interesting question is how these people would act if their investments collapsed due to poor choices. Will the person who put every last penny into WorldCom beg for increased retirement benefits from the government to compensate for his lack of diversification? Being a cold-hearted conservative, I would say, "too bad." But if enough people were to start crying to their legislators, you could see government trying to "solve the problem." "Partial Social Security Privatization OK, Most Americans Say" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/25/2002 02:14:26 AM ----- BODY: If this D.C. suburb actually is dumb enough to impose light pollution laws, expect a rise in crime. Residents will never see the bad guys coming. "No Dimming the Controversy of 'Light Pollution' in DC Suburb" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/25/2002 02:04:46 AM ----- BODY: Rush Limbaugh has an answer to Apple's woes: Steve Jobs should get off his Democratic high horse and advertise on Rush's show. But that would require Jobs to actually "think different." "Apple Stupidity" [via Eat the Press] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2002 07:10:50 PM ----- BODY: If the Supreme Court hadn't of nationalized the abortion issue with Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Wade, then a bill passed by the House that would ban partial-birth abortions would be more troublesome to me as a federalist. Questions of crimes like theft, assault, rape, and murder should be left to lower levels of government. What interest could the federal government have in a murder unless it crossed state lines? Even then, the most serious question would be what state had jurisdiction. Abortions happen in one state. As such, states should be left to define the crime (or not to define it at all) based on the values and beliefs of its citizens. While I write this, I have a qualm with my reasoning. It feels too much like Sen. Stephen Douglas' answer to the slavery question in the 1800s: popular sovereignty. That was no answer because it went against the heart of the American ethos: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The result of Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska Act was small-scale civil war over "Bloody Kansas." I'll leave this as an open question. "House Backs Controversial Abortion Bill" UPDATE: President Ronald Reagan wrote an essay on the 10th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In it he points out the obvious, yet neglected point about the court's decision:
Make no mistake, abortion-on-demand is not a right granted by the Constitution. No serious scholar, including one disposed to agree with the Court's result, has argued that the framers of the Constitution intended to create such a right. Shortly after the Roe v. Wade decision, Professor John Hart Ely, now Dean of Stanford Law School, wrote that the opinion "is not constitutional law and gives almost no sense of an obligation to try to be." Nowhere do the plain words of the Constitution even hint at a "right" so sweeping as to permit abortion up to the time the child is ready to be born. Yet that is what the Court ruled."Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2002 06:44:08 PM ----- BODY: Despite the quickness of the arrests of members of the Rigas family, founders of Adelphia, a USA Today story reports that indicting and prosecuting executives is a long, arduous process. In many cases, piecing together white-collar crime takes considerable crimes. It's not like determining who broke into a house and stole the TV. Prosecutors must determine if a crime took place or if executives' actions were just poor business mistakes. Just because a business goes into bankruptcy and cost investors their investments it doesn't mean the management intended to defraud anyone. More difficulty in getting execs is their access to good, lawyers. Law professor, William Stuntz calls government lawyers facing legal hot shots "Goliath and Goliath." Despite the hurdles facing prosecutors, their efforts will give investors confidence in the capital markets. To say that people immediately phoned (or clicked) buy orders after seeing John Rigas led to a car in handcuffs is going too far. Just as some shouldn't blame the market's recent slide to to President Bush's "lack of tough talk," some shouldn't base one or a few news stories on the market's leap. Today's market rise may have more to do with a realization that corporate profits are doing alright. People may also have seen today as a good day to buy hard-hit stocks that got swept up in the bear market. What the arrests of the Rigas family members does is let the public know that the government is actively engaged in their proper role of enforcing law. Mark this date down; it could be the end of the bear market. "Former Adelphia Execs Arrested for Fraud" "Why It's Tough to Indict CEOs" "Stocks Rebound, Biggest Gain Since '87" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/23/2002 04:16:56 AM ----- BODY: Reason's Sara Rimensnyder points out the worth of bankruptcies:
Sometimes, it seems a wave of bankruptcies may be the only hope for substantive, effective changes in airlines' business strategies. But if the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem, today may be the turning point.What bankruptcies do is reallocate economic resources from owners with lesser ability to owners of better ability. Suppose US Air goes under. American Airlines, Delta, Northwest, or even someone outside the airline industry could swoop in and buy part or all of the assets. By getting them at a cut-rate price, the new owners have a better chance of making a profit. The winners are the new owners and customers who should find a better product at a better value, while the losers are the former investors who were wrong with their investment, the old management who couldn't properly run the airline, and the employees who weren't adding enough value to deserve remaining hired. Like the price system, bankruptcies are a signaling mechanism letting society know that resources are not being used effectively. "Flying High" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2002 01:46:07 PM ----- BODY: Pollution may have played a role in causing drought in Africa. The climate is a complex thing. Just as I won't jump to conclusions about man-induced global warming, I won't quickly accept the conclusions of these scientists. But suppose that pollution from the industrialized West caused a lack of rainfall in Africa, that doesn't mean it caused a famine. There's a difference between production and distribution. A lack of rain caused a decline in production; a lack of free markets caused a distribution problem. Countries like Ethiopia and Sudan were (and still are) plagued with war and authoritarian rule. One side prevented food that was available from being transported to where it was needed. It was used as a weapon. This story shows that these scientists need to have a more wholistic view before making their conclusions. A good dose of economics, history, and political science would have done wonders. "1970-85 Famine Blamed on Pollution" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2002 01:53:18 AM ----- BODY: TAM has a spiffy new look that I've been tweaking for a few weeks. The now almost cliche blogroll is up instead of a portal. Maybe, that will lift me a little in the weblog ecosystem. Thanks go to Helquin for the basic template (with plenty of tweaks) and BlogSkins for offering a great service to webloggers not graphically-inclined. (Not all of us can be Photoshop whiz-bangs like Patrick.) Any problems are completely my fault. If you notice that something just doesn't look right e-mail me. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2002 01:32:31 AM ----- BODY: Jane Galt's easy to learn public choice economics:
Pharmaceutical companies look at the size of the market; the government looks at how loud it is. Thus the government spends 10 times as much per victim on breast cancer research as colon cancer, even though the latter is far more likely to kill you; breasts, thank God, are expendable and easy to examine.Not as sophisticated as James Buchanan, but you get the drift. Oh, and read her fine examination of drug reimportation. [via Patrick Ruffini] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2002 12:35:03 AM ----- BODY: Howie Kurtz's "Awful Headline of the Week" is tasteless, yet funny.
"Roasted Nuts" -- the Trentonian in New Jersey, on a fire at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. The copy editor has apologized.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2002 12:23:41 AM ----- BODY: There's little real news about Janet Reno's dance party except that Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign manager got complementary tickets. Did some Miami house music bring a little Peace, Love, and Unity (PLU) to the campaign? "Reno's War Chest Is Lacking, but Her Dance Card Is Full" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2002 12:00:53 AM ----- BODY: A few weeks ago, TAM international correspondent, Eric G. recommended "What We Think of America". It's actually an issue of the magazine, Granta, and their website has selected essays from that issue. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/21/2002 11:23:41 PM ----- BODY: Be very wary of altering posse comitatus. The legal prevention of military forces for domestic police work has allowed the U.S. to have a large standing army in peacetime (abhorred by many of the Founding Fathers) with little threat to liberty. "U.S. Mulls Military's Domestic Role" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/20/2002 01:31:08 PM ----- BODY: Minnesota newspaper editors are loving bashing GOP Senate candidate Norm Coleman. Coleman offered the papers a weekly column as a way to get free media. The editors said no. It should be the end of the story, right? No, the editors didn't stop there. They started bashing Coleman. One editor said, "Just because we live more than 200 miles north of the Twin Cities doesn't mean we have 'Dumb' painted on our foreheads." Another editor said, "It seemed pretty astounding to me that someone who has the sophistication of Norm Coleman would believe we'd be so naive as to run this." All the campaign did was offer them a column, and the papers declined. Nothing more needed to be said. What could have been interesting was some paper to publish a weekly column by all the major Senate candidates. If the campaigns took it seriously, it would have harkened back to the days before television where much campaigning was done through the newspaper. For their part, Coleman's people said the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Does this show the newspaper editors' political colors? No. It's a safe bet to think most of them would vote for Paul Wellstone. What this show is media people love to toss their weight when they feel slighted. "It Seemed Like a Good Idea ..." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/20/2002 12:59:33 PM ----- BODY: Yes, even Tiger Woods is human. He's taken a tumble in the third round of the British Open. His round of +11 puts him at +7 for the tournament. "Woods Falls Apart in the Muirfield Rain" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 04:14:33 PM ----- BODY: The lack of trust in corporate managers have damaged stock values more than terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The Dow is at is lowest point since 1998. What this shows is character and values do matter. They are the building blocks for a dynamic economy. Managers must have the decency not to cook the books for their own benefit, and investors need to know that managers are telling the truth. Simple honesty allows people who have never met (and will never meet) transfer money to one another. Investors need to be reassured that companies won't decieve them. That's happening through internal corporate decisions, and it will happen when some people go to jail. But this will take time. My instinct is we're nearing a bottom to this. People are starting to be too pessimistic. Now is a good time to look at companies that fallen with everyone else, have solid, ethical managers, and good growth potentials. I own Cisco and have lost a bunch. I'm still holding it because since I've lost so much already I might as well hold on. They're also the type of company who have had no clouds of scandal and will continue to grow. A negative for the networking giant is an important executive recently left, so that could be a sign that people within the company are squeamish about the future. "Dow Dives 390 Points" "Cisco Exec Leaves Amid Tough Times" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 04:11:36 PM ----- BODY: If there wasn't a war and corporate scandals, Rep. James Traficant's (D-OH) ethics hearing would be the talk of the town. Instead, his hearings have been attended by Congressional interns who are there for the entertainment value and a chance to pal around with Traficant. During the hearings, the Ohio Congressman with the worst hair (real or fake, it doesn't matter) I've ever seen on a man threatened to kick people in the crotch, break out of prison, and claim a conspiracy is out to get him. Afterwards, he signed autographs, joked, and had his picture taken with interns. The Ethics Committee voted to expel Traficant, and it's now up to the full House of Representatives. He has few friends in the House. Democrats hate him for siding with Republicans often. Traficant even voted for Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House. Republicans don't want to see him stay because then they'd have a shot at getting a Republican elected in his district. Traficant stands alone and may finally get his wish to be "beamed up." "House Ethics Panel Recommends Expelling Traficant" "House Panel Votes to Expel Traficant" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 03:54:16 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY got into a shouting match with my senator (even if I never voted for him) Russ Feingold (D-WI). For the first time I can remember, I'm agreeing with Hillary. (How come we don't call any other Senator by their first name? Trent? John? Barbara? Tom?) The new campaign finance reform (AKA the First Amendment Supression Act) law will be used as a political weapon. Hillary should know, it happened to her. Now, I'm not saying the Clintons were innocent of all the charges that were investigated--they were arguably the most corrupt White House in U.S. history. What I'm saying is that investigations can and will be used to distract politicians and discourage them from persuing certain issues. Formally legalizing more and more aspects of our society will lead to more and more lawsuits. It won't matter whether the suits are filed with good intentions or used as a weapon. What they will do is bind us in a straightjacket and make us fear living our lives. "Hillary, Dem Shout it Out at Capitol" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 03:15:44 PM ----- BODY: Congressman are still missing the point on the so-called "Bermuda" tax loophole. Companies do it because taxes are too high. Instead, we're stuck hearing cries that companies are not "paying their fair share." What companies that use tax loopholes are telling Congress is that the current tax code takes too much and is too complicated. They're better off setting up a mail box in Bermuda.This isn't a problem, it's a signal that somethings wrong. "House Takes Up, but Drops, Bermuda Corporation Issue" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 01:41:01 AM ----- BODY: Beware, Leftists! David Horowitz is now webloging. I already discovered this nugget:
Don't journalists do their homework anymore? I'm tired of watching civil rights phonies come on TV talk shows and claim that the Inglewood police department is racist and no one listens to minority complaints. If this is a problem in Inglewood, blacks are responsible. The mayor is black, the police chief is black. The town is majority minority. So what's the beef and who's to blame? Why is the Justice Department on the case anyway? Are black people incompetent to police their own communities in a non-racist manner? Is the city administration of Inglewood a bunch minority dummies? What exactly is it that the government, the press, Al Sharpton and the rest of the crew are insinuating here?-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 01:23:14 AM ----- BODY: Yesterday, the Packers lost the services of a player who redefined his position, was popular with both fans and media, and invented the "Lambeau Leap." LeRoy Butler retired after 12 years of service to Green Bay due to an injured shoulder. Butler, the future Hall of Famer, redefined the safety postion by having the ability to cover receivers, defend the run, and rush the quarterback. Opposing offensive always had to know where Butler was on the field, or he would make them pay. Butler was also a team leader telling teammates and fans what needed to be said. Reporters were rarely disappointed by his after-game interviews. Butler loved his time in Green Bay, and the fans returned that love. At his retirement news conference, he said, "Coming out at Lambeau Field, shaking hands with the people in the end zone, that was awesome to me. That meant more to me than anything, that people were actually waiting for me to come out of that tunnel and shake their hand before (a game). . ." Such devotion to the fans led to the spontaneous invention of the Lambeau Leap in 1993. Butler's fine play, team leadership, and personality will be missed. He doesn't want people to be sad at his retirement. "In the real world I'm a young man, 33, 34 tomorrow. But in dog years and football, you're old, so I just think it's a celebration for me. I don't want anybody to be sad, I want people to be happy." I'm happy that I got to watch LeRoy Butler play. "Butler Ends Historic Career" "Packers Maintain Safety Net" "Butler Says His Farewells" "One-of-a-Kind Butler will be Missed" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 12:42:25 AM ----- BODY: Suman Palit takes on TAPPED's lame arguments against putting guns in cockpits.
Evidently, TAPPED is unaware that modern semi-automatic handguns are extremely safe to handle, refusing to go off even when dropped several feet with a chambered round and the safety off. There are also a wide variety of commercially available containment devices, like this rather compact (and cheap!) APC, which can contain even armor-piercing rounds safely. There has never been any serious consideration given to carrying weapons with high-penetration rounds on airplanes. The discussion has centered around appropriate loads like hollow-point ammo or even ratshot. In short, a loaded handgun with hollow-point ammo, mounted inside a containment unit, kept in a secure (but quick access) compartment behind a locked cabin door, has as much chance of damaging any airplane systems as a mid-air collision with a drifting snowflake in May.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 12:37:50 AM ----- BODY: After the past few weeks of 90 degree weather, I'm almost as happy as Brink Lindsey about the 100th anniversary of air conditioning. Lindsey praises its ability to turn a house into a "sweet, crisp, 65-degree heaven," while I can't comprehend driving more than five minutes in a car without AC. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2002 12:16:08 AM ----- BODY: Jim Schwab is fishing the "microbes" of the blog ecosystem looking for possible lunkers. He discovered TAM and didn't diss it. Thanks, Jim. Lynn of Poet and Peasant started this trend. I wonder if it will have any legs? Let's see if Glenn posts something about it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/18/2002 11:58:11 PM ----- BODY: An enemy bookstore chain interviewed Rush's Geddy Lee. He talks about getting the band back together after a long hiatus and the devestating tragedies that happened to drummer Neil Peart. He also goes into how constant jamming make Vapor Trails a more raw and exciting album. "What a Rush: Geddy Lee on the New Album and Inner Workings of Rock's Legendary Power Trio" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/18/2002 12:44:16 AM ----- BODY: Here are some thoughts on the WTC land proposals: Memorial Promenade's twin 63 story towers echo the original twin towers. It would signify American resiliency. New traffic tunnels as envisioned by the Memorial Plaza and Memorial Square proposals smell like a Boston Big Dig boondoggle. This doesn't have to cost a fortune and take forever to complete. The New York Daily News reports that the cost of the tunnel could be $2 billion. Double it, and you probably come to the final cost. Also, a tunnel doesn't integrate the area into the surrounding city as well as the tunnel-less proposals. Memorial Garden is the most striking skyline addition. Memorial Park is the only proposal that shows a place for sculpture. The Daily News story says the Promenade has a place for a monument. Such a defining American moment deserves grand sculpture. The obelisk in the proposal is a start, but it may not be grand enough to show off American strength and the power of her ideas. A monument will be the most recognizable and historic part of this area. It has to be done right. I hope that whichever plan is chosen in December, it's not set in stone. If someone want's to build a building pushing 100 stories, they should be allowed. There should be plenty of flexibility in the design of the buildings and park area while sticking to the overall theme. That appears to be Mayor Bloomberg's approach to these plans. "It is the beginning of the process ... and I think that what we finally wind up doing is probably something that today none of us envision," said Bloomberg. A spokesman for the Port Authority also said that the final proposal could incorporate ideas from all the proposals. This is a hopeful beginning. "A Great Urban Planning Debate" "Revival for WTC Unveiled" "Six Proposals for Redeveloping World Trade Center Site" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/17/2002 11:41:52 PM ----- BODY: This is not a way to endear me to read a story:
Efforts to improve corporate governance are coming from an unlikely source -- Corporate America itself.No, a falling stock market and increase public pressure don't affect the people who run companies. I guess Corporate America has no desire to keep their share value up and their stockholders happy. Companies are just full of evil, greedy, ugly white men trying to screw investors. They have no desire to build a prosperous business. Instead, they're just looking for the quick buck. Sara Teslik, executive director for the Council of Institutional Investors even went so far to say "Even companies opposed to substantive changes in the past are becoming converts. They're showing a lot of courage" No they're not. They're reacting to the market and their own self-interest. Adam Smith's concept of the Invisible Hand is working its way through this crisis. But I didn't stop at the first sentance of Gary Strauss' story and was rewarded with some instances of companies understanding that rules from Washington would necessarily end the current distrust of public companies. Some, including Coke and Bank One are now expensing stock options. That's fine for big companies that don't give out lots of options, but not so good for small start-ups who can only intice people to work for them with options. Then I found this statement from Carol Bowie, director of corporate governance for the Investor Responsibility Research Center:
As long as options are cost-free, there's a potential for abuse.I'm guessing it's been awhile since Ms. Bowie's last economics class so I'll give it to her straight: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAFL). While stock options aren't treated as an expense their cost is included in the company's earnings-per-share. Companies have to declare how many options are outstanding and the market includes that information into their ratios. Whether stock options should be an expense is question for accountants. I'm interested in the economic implications. I have an eery feeling that a law forcing the expensing of options would put small companies with little earnings at a disadvantage to bigger companies. What I'm also interested in is how the Market is forcing companies to change their ways in order to restore investor confidence. Internal reform is an important step, but investors will be more confident in the stock market if criminal CEOs are prosecuted and jailed. That would send a loud message that criminal behavior will result in criminal consequences. "Companies Take Action to Regain Investor Trust" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/17/2002 10:54:15 PM ----- BODY: Arafat's idea of appointing a prime minister is too ad hoc and arbitrary. Who's to say the appointed prime minister wouldn't be in Arafat's back pocket? After all Arafat would be the one giving the person the job. Why would Arafat appoint a person would be at odds with him? It wouldn't happen. This is a strange way to build a state with stable and trusted institutions. Where's the attempt to write a constitution and have the Palestinians vote on it a la the U.S. Founding Fathers? I'm not optimistic even though the State Department is. "Arafat May Appoint Prime Minister" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/17/2002 07:31:22 PM ----- BODY: Regnery Publishing will release Bill Gertz's Breakdown. In it Gertz uses his Washington sources to analyze how 9.11 happened and what could have been done to prevent it. If this is anything like his previous book Betrayal expect plenty of blame to be put on Bill Clinton. Regnery is having an outstanding year with bestsellers. There's Kenneth Timmerman's Shakedown, Dinesh D'Souza's What's So Great About America, and Michael Rose's Goodbye, Good Men. Not a bad year for a conservative publishing house. Also, this fall there look to be a number of 9.11 books. Thomas Friedman's Longitudes and Attitudes will come out in September (11th?). Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of September 11, 2001 will come out in August. CBS News is set to release their multimedia package What We Saw: The Events of September 11, 2001 also in August. Richard Bernstein takes the NY Times coverage of 9.11 and turns it into the book Out of the Blue set for September. The Times photographers won't be out done with their photo essay A Nation Challenged due out in August. All these books set for the one year anniversary of 9.11 may make good rememberances of that horrible day. They should be better than the blatant, overly emotional stuff we'll see on television. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/17/2002 04:50:35 PM ----- BODY: This is what Roger Altman said about the current stock market malaise:
It's an incredible punishment, far worse than anything the executive or legislative branch could exact. And that's why the ultimate solution to this--the restoration of confidence--can't really come from Washington. It never has, and never will. Sure, there are things governments can do at the margins. But the real force for change has to come from the capital markets themselves, and it will be a long time, I think, before the lessons of the past few months are forgotten.Congressional Democrats should heed the words of one of their own and ignore guys like Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) who made huge sums on Wall Street, but scare away average people from investing. "Who Should Mete Out Punishment?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/17/2002 04:25:17 PM ----- BODY: An iPod that holds 1000 songs and works with Windows for $299 is very tempting. But the bummer is you need FireWire on your computer. I wonder if there's some device that can connect FireWire with USB? "Apple Unveils IPod in Windows" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/16/2002 04:14:46 AM ----- BODY: Today, the first sketches will be released of how the World Trade Center should be rebuilt. Victims families may be upset with any plans that don't set aside the footprint of the towers for a memorial. The whole space doesn't need to be set aside. A memorial that shows the resilence of New York City and America could be tastefully built while allowing for development to happen around it that would integrate the area back into the rest of Manhattan. Steven Malanga writes that "downtown?s stakeholders--local businesses and residents--have been equally adamant: they don?t want their neighborhood turned into a necropolis." Malanga also came out with some of the first ideas about rebuilding last fall. "New WTC Plans To Be Released Tuesday" [via C-Log] "Pataki's WTC Monumental Folly" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/15/2002 01:15:44 AM ----- BODY: So far, I'm the only person who's RSVP'd for International Blog MEETUP Day (Milwaukee) on Thursday. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/15/2002 12:48:52 AM ----- BODY: Let me add one more reason to Ronald Baily's list of why wind power won't be a major source of energy: people don't want in their backyards (NIMBY). If the battle that raged in my neck of the woods in any indication, power companies will be finding few places to build windmills. "Wind Breaks" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/14/2002 10:51:21 PM ----- BODY: Maureen Dowd actually won a Pulitzer? After this bitter anti-Bush attempt at humor, I think the committee should ask for their award back. "Rub-a-Dub in the Hot Tub" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/14/2002 10:46:34 PM ----- BODY: The point behind bunker-busting nukes is pretty simple: if bad guys think you can't hit them, then they're not as afraid to do nasty things. Saddam didn't use chemical or biological weapons in the Gulf War because he knew the U.S. was willing to go nuclear. If Saddam thought he was safe from become a part of a new Iraqi sea of glass, he would have used the nasiest stuff he had. It's deterrence that any power-hungry leader can understand. "Nukes You Can Use" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/14/2002 10:30:03 PM ----- BODY: India and Pakistan could be one step closer to war after an attack on poor Hindus killed 27. "India Prepares Full Response to Kashmir Massacre" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 11:20:56 PM ----- BODY: There's lots of buzz at The Corner over Rod Dreher's column on conservatives accepting cultural behaviors associated with liberals. I have rarely let my politics affect my cultural tastes. If I only listened to "conservative" music, I'd be stuck with Ted Nugent and King's X. (The latter is a great band. While not explicitly conservative did make a beautiful anti-abortion song "Legal Kill" and mentioned how much Jimmy Carter taxed them in "Complain.") If I only read "conservative" books, I'd only be reading Shakespere and ignoring Tom Wolfe, the most innovative conservative writer of the 20th Century. Good art, music, books, and ideas aren't good because they're conservative, liberal, socialist, or libertarian. They're good because they display Man at his best through melody, poetry, logic, or imagination. They're most in tune with Truth. But beyond cultural taste, there's appearance. I'm a conservative/classical liberal but I refuse to look like one. I've had my ear pierced for over seven years. The only times I haven't worn it is when I worked for a religious conservative group in Minnesota as a lobbyist, and that was only during work hours. I've also have had a goatee most of the time since college. In fact, I have a funny story to tell about my appearance. In 1994, Bill Clinton came to campaign at my school, UMD. When tickets for the rally were being given to students, I was mistaken by a College Democrat for being a sympathizer. What tipped him off was my shaggy hair and goatee. The only thing missing to make me a true Lefty was a hemp bag and some Birkenstocks. My appearance gives me a little bit of edge that sets me apart from your typical staight-laced conservative. I think conservatives shouldn't be button holed , so I think my appearance does a little to break down stereotypes. Plus it's a display of individualism, a conservative ideal. "Birkenstocked Burkeans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 08:48:03 PM ----- BODY: According to the White House, the price of war and increased government spending is a $165 billion deficit. The new number was revised due to a faltering stock market. "Bush Forecasts 56 Percent Surge in 2002 Deficit" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 08:41:55 PM ----- BODY: How preventing CEOs from getting loans from their own companies stops another Enron or WorldCom is beyond me. Sure, it's a nice perk that average people don't get, but CEOs aren't average people, and such a decision should be left to the company's shareholders not Senators like Charles Schumer. Here's why this law would be goofy: if passed, Bill Gates wouldn't be able to get a loan from Microsoft, and he's the biggest shareholder. Other companies have similar situations. Like I said before, this should be up to shareholders and the market can consider it in the company's share price. Already, politicians are going overboard in trying to do something--anything--to appear to the public they're fighting corporate fraud. Let's first let the investigators and prosecutors do their thing before possible over-regulation is passed. If law enforcement can't convict due to loopholes in current law, then the Congress should go to work. Of course, that's in an ideal world. We live in a world where an election is in the fall, and politicians from both parties want to take the lead on this issue so they can bash their opponents. It's good politics, but not good policy. "Senate OKs Ban on Executive Loans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 08:35:43 PM ----- BODY: TAM International Correspondent, Eric G. takes off on my brief comments on recent 9.11 books:
At the risk of adding to an already enormous reading list: W.R. Mead's Special Providence is, in my opinion, the most articulate analysis of how American culture gets translated into foreign policy and how it's received overseas. How Did This Happen?, put together by the editors of Foreign Affairs, ranges wider in terms of policy analysis. Richard Betts, for example, sets American intelligence successes in counter-terrorism besides the failures. Alan Wolfe, in a piece called "The Home Front," remarks on American pragmatism and, Jerry Falwell's crowd aside, a notable lack of hysteria. Presciently, Michael Mandelbaum describes the policy consequences of Sept. 11 as a sharp focusing of diplomacy, a loosening of restraints on the use of force, calls to tackle the causes of terror, and the urgent removal of certain types of government. Did Saddam get a proof? The Age of Terror, co-edited by Strobe Talbott, has longer, more ruminative essays about American power and strategy. Two British historians--Paul Kennedy, now at Yale, and Niall Fergusson of Oxford University--play Athenians to the new Rome by turning to the past for lessons. Perhaps the outstanding essay here is from J.L. Gaddis, the dean of American diplomatic historians. He reflects from a height on America's foreign-policy failures in the 1990s and calls on it now to assume its world responsibilities more consistently. Joseph Nye's The Paradox of American Power is about why an unrivalled military and economic power still needs allies or partners and why, as world leader, America should rely also on soft, persuasive kinds of power: the appeal of its values and culture. Even Nye's multilateralism is tempered, however. Without rebuffing international support, America should be ready to go it alone to protect vital interests or when cooperative solutions become recipes for inaction. What We Think of America, is in another vein entirely. Ian Jack, editor of a London-based literary quarterly, asked 24 non-American writers across the world to describe what the U.S. means to them. Is America, he asked them, really so disliked? If so, why? You would be wrong to expect a set of anti-American sermonettes. With exceptions, these short pieces express admiration--even love--for Americans and American life. The ifs and buts are for American policies.All the above books mentioned are in the foreign policy relm. It offers international perspective that Americans (myself included) have lacked for too long. On top of that, I recommend the works of Bernard Lewis. Add a nifty comment or e-mail me something profound and you too might make it onto The American Mind. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 07:06:08 AM ----- BODY: A Washington Post story tried to put ex-Harken Energy director and now President Bush in the same evil light as ex-WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. Rich Galen stops that in its tracks:
The story points out that Bush got a loan to buy stock in Harken Energy. This used to be considered a good thing, having employees, officers, and directors showing their dedication to their company by actually investing in their company. But down in the third graf, the usually precise Allen wrote, incorrectly: "Corporate loans to officers came under scrutiny after WorldCom . . . revealed it had lent nearly $400 million to Bernard J. Ebbers to buy the company's stock when he was chief executive. He resigned in April as the stock price tumbled." Uh. No. Bernie Ebbers (as detailed in Mullings of May 1, 2002: "Greed") had bought a half billion dollars worth of companies for his own account and had pledged WorldCom stock to the banks as collateral. When the stock price of WorldCom began to drop, the banks wanted more collateral. To avoid selling his WorldCom shares to cover his loans, or - perish the thought - selling the companies he had purchased, Ebbers convinced WorldCom to lend him $400 million. In one case director Bush borrowed money from the corporation to invest IN the corporation. In the other case, CEO Ebbers borrowed money from his corporation to buy OTHER corporations - for himself."Hark(en)! I Hear the August Story's Roar" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 06:54:25 AM ----- BODY: It's amazing to what lengths people will do to come to the U.S. Buying visas from a U.S. embassy working in Qatar let some come here to work and live the American dream, but it's an obvious weak point that could be taken advantage of by terrorists (one of the 70 arrested lived with 9.11 terrorists in Virginia). "7 in Wisconsin Among those Accused in Qatar Visa Fraud" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/12/2002 06:47:52 AM ----- BODY: Another baseball game went into extra innings at Miller Park last night. Only this time there was actually a winner. Note to Bud Selig and the players: This is how fans want games to end--even All-Star Games. "Brewers Untied in Extra Innings" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 07:06:14 PM ----- BODY: Joe Morgan calls this year's All-Star Game "the day baseball once again hit the bottom." "In a Tie, Baseball Loses Again" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 07:06:07 PM ----- BODY: Joe Morgan calls this year's All-Star Game "the day baseball once again hit the bottom." "In a Tie, Baseball Loses Again" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 06:41:14 PM ----- BODY: Bud Selig's statement that a baseball team may not meet payroll just smacks of being a diversion to draw attention away from his horrible All-Star decision. Why do I suspect that? Because a baseball executive is already saying it won't happen by July 15 but could happen later in the season. "Selig Says One Team Might Not Make Payroll" "Baseball Says all Teams Will Meet July 15 Payroll" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 06:31:05 PM ----- BODY: Bud Selig isn't the only one who should be publicly ridiculed over the All-Star tie. Local radio talker Mark Belling is reporting that many players were partying it up at a bar in downtown Milwaukee when Selig made the decision to call the All-Star Game a tie after 11 innings. Now we know what Selig, A.L. manager Joe Torre, and N.L. manager Bob Brenly meant when they said they ran out of players. Barry Bonds was on his way to LA for the Espys, and others decided it was better to leave Miller Park and start celebrating even while the game was going on. Players' excuses were lame and didn't understand the passion of their fans. LA Dodger Shawn Green said, "At that point, you couldn't really go on. This is an exhibition, and we were out of players." Shawn Green is just wrong. The All-Star Game isn't a mere exhibition game. Exhibition games don't mean anything. An exhibition game is where the Chicago White Sox came into Miller Park last year to give stadium people a dry run at the new stadium before the regular season began. An exhibition game is the annual game in Cooperstown celebrating the newest entrants into the Hall of Fame. The All-Star Game is more than that. It's a celebration of a great sport's players and history. While way too sentimental (all the kids running around the field was sickly sweet), the pre-game was just such a celebration. If the All-Star Game is only an exhibition game as Green claims, then why were fans charged $175 per person for a package that included tickets to the Futures game, Home Run Derby, and the game itself. Fans who paid that much (and even more through ticket brokers) didn't think it was just an exhibition game. The only people who think it wasn't a special game are Bud Selig and myopic players. How can anyone top The Washington Post's Tom Boswell? His opening paragraph is accurate and heartbreaking:
There should be a sign here outside Miller Park that reads: "Game called on account of incompetence and indifference."Boswell has lost any faith in Selig as commissioner:
There are men who are suited to their period and rise to the occasion. And there are other men, no better or worse on the whole, who are painfully ill-suited to their times and the problems they face. Selig is the latter. Anybody who can't see that, after the 11th inning on Tuesday night, just isn't paying attention.Boswell also writes that Selig refused to stand up to the players and side with the fans who are the reason everyone was there:
Baseball acted just as it so often does. The managers were scared of their players. Oh, what if somebody gets a sore arm, what if some other manager gets mad at me. The commissioner was petrified to act like a leader and say, "Play one more inning, damn it, so we have time to prepare the crowd for what's going to happen." Without the time to make 30 phone calls to reach a consensus, Selig was frozen. Oh, what will Don Fehr say if one of his precious dues-payers files a grievance because he got back to the hotel too late to order room service?But Boswell hopes that good could from this disaster:
Actually, the farcical ending was so bad that it may actually bring some good. Every player and every owner heard those angry chants. The Brewers crowd usually only gets annoyed if the beer is warm or the bratwurst is cold. Perhaps players (though it's a lot to hope) will think, "We owe the sport more than we're giving back. How can we demand respect if we don't respect the game itself?""Baseball's Tie That Binds" "As Baseball's Leader, The Commissioner Strikes Out Again" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 04:55:04 PM ----- BODY: Here are few points I'm adding to Mike's thoughts on Bush and Harken: Bush was so sure of his innocence that he waived attorney-client privilege and let the SEC talk to his lawyers. Unlike WorldCom's Bernie Egger's who took the Fifth before a Congressional committee, Bush held his hands up and said, "Take a look. I've got nothing to hide." Harken bought Bush's Spectrum 7 but didn't think Bush was important enough to join their management. They put him on the company board and hired him as a consultant because of his name and connections. Bush wasn't on the company board's executive committee so he had limited knowledge of Harken's financials. Mike also mentions the importance of intent:
That's important because Bush's knowledge and intent are important elements of any "insider trading" allegations. If he didn't know about the bulk of the losses, and cleared the stock sale through the lawyers first, then there's no way he could have had the evil intent his critics claim he had.From Byron York's story, Bush sold the stock because he needed money to help buy the Texas Rangers. It was an asset available to Bush and he sold it. Unless sinister evidence appears, this seems to be the most reasonable explanation. "The Facts About Bush and Harken" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 02:55:05 AM ----- BODY: Take this anti-traders: globalization is good for the poor. "Globalization Cures Poverty: Study" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 02:40:58 AM ----- BODY: Steve Chapman points out that maybe new legislation isn't the best answer to corporate irresponsibility. After noting that there are already 300 federal laws dealing with stock fraud, he asks, "Does [Sen.] Leahy really think there's some new form of misbehavior that we've never bothered to outlaw?" Chapman looks to current law as well as market reforms to prevent future scandals. "Real and Phony Remedies for Corporate Corruption" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 02:07:10 AM ----- BODY: After listening to "Destiny" over and over because it's so gorgeous, I figured Zero 7's Simple Things would be a good album, but I had no idea it's as good as Bill Aicher claims:
It's an album of lust, spirituality, and empowerment; and it's an album which will undoubtedly increase the world's population as a result of its mere existence."Musical Sexplorations" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/11/2002 01:41:28 AM ----- BODY: I'm glad to know Amnesty International is finally focusing on Palestinian murders instead of Israeli forces intent of stopping future attacks. Better late than never. "Amnesty Raps Palestinian Attacks on Israelis" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/10/2002 04:09:29 AM ----- BODY: Maybe Milwaukee baseball is jinxed. The Brewers have been mediocre for almost twenty years. Their new stadium barely got through the state legislature and badly divided the community. Construction was set back a year after a crane fell on it killing three workers. The stadium governing board is arguing with the contractor of the retractable roof over cost overruns. The roof makes strange noises when it opens and closes (it looks like the problems were fixed during the All Star events, since I've heard no mention of roof problems) and leaks when it rains. Now, after a delightful few days where Milwaukee became the center of the baseball universe, it had to be marred with Commission Bud Selig's horrible decision to end last night's All Star game as a tie. Until that fateful decision, the game was full of great catches, outstanding hits, and wicked pitches. It was a great game befitting a great stadium and a great host city. Now, no one will remember Tori Hunter's leaping catch, or Barry Bonds' home run, or Damian Miller's two doubles. Milwaukee's All Star Game is tagged with being a tie--the only other being caused by rain in 1961. Sure, all the pitchers were used up and no one wanted anyone to get hurt, but no effort was made to end the game with a winner. Neither American League manager Joe Torre nor National League manager Bob Brenly put a position player on the mound to give fans a real ending to the game. Instead, Bud Selig decides that enough was enough and the game would be over after the 11th inning. Selig's explanation is "Given the health of the players, I had no choice." None of those pitchers could warm up again and go another inning? In this day of sports science and training, the modern pitcher isn't capable of going an extra inning? Old school pitchers like Milwaukee Brave Warren Spahn and St. Louis Cardinal Bob Gibson could have done it. If not a pitcher, then a position player should have stepped to the mound to continue the game. All those players are good athletes. Many of them even pitched in high school or college. After all the pitchers were used, the fans wouldn't have expected great pitching if someone came out from left field to pitch. What they would have gotten was a memorable ending to a memorable game. Doesn't Selig get that baseball is at a precipice? Doesn't he understand that with a threatened players' strike, steroid allegations, and continued disparities between large and small market teams, that fans are tired of being given short shrift? Selig decided that 11 innings were just fine for an All Star game. He didn't think it was important to give the fans a winner. People like Brewer great Robin Yount can comfort Selig by thinking that people will understand his decision in time, but they don't put this snub in perspective. The All Star Game isn't about player accolades. It isn't about showing off a city to the rest of the country. The All Star Game is a treat for the fans. It's the one opportunity of the year to have the game's best players all in one spot. It wouldn't be much for a player to take a small risk and give the fans a winner. Selig talks about being in the middle of a baseball renaissance, and for a brief time in 1998, America was transfixed with the Boys of Summer. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were spectacular in their chance of Roger Marris' home run record. The Yankees awed us with their record-breaking season. Baseball could have taken advantage of their new found fan devotion, but they didn't. Serious structural problems still plague the game and owners and the players' union don't seem to understand that it needs to be fixed in order to save the game. Sports reporters like CNNSI's John Donovan can piously say that "It's not really a game. It's a show. Nobody cares about winning." It's easy for him to say because he's probably seen plenty of All Star Games in person. It's old hat to him. But tell that to the guy (or gal) who's been a Brewers season ticket holder for years, spent a lot of money on All Star tickets, and wanted to enjoy the Midsummer Classic. That person understandably feels robbed. That doesn't justify the actions of the morons who threw things onto the field, but I understand their anger. Baseball has stuck knife after knife into the backs of its fans and always assumed they'd come back. Sometime it will stab them and the fans will just (figuratively) die. Look at soccer. Many critics, me included, don't like watching the sport. But the recent interest in the World Cup in the U.S. (even when the games were shown in the middle of the night or early morning) should worry Baseball. People have sports entertainment options. They don't want to be played for fools, and ending the All Star Game in a tie was another instance of baseball playing fans for fools. Baseball doesn't have a monopoly on summer sports. Everyone involved in baseball better understand this and get serious or baseball will cease to be America's Pastime. "Fit to Be Tied" "Selig Makes a Difficult Call" "Yount Feels Selig's Pain" "All-Star Game Ends in 7-7 Tie" "No Winner or Loser at All-Star Game" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/9/2002 01:41:21 PM ----- BODY: I don't see much for Najeh Davenport's Packer career if it isn't even his first training camp and he's already in trouble with the law. "Packers Fullback Charged with Burglary in Miami" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/9/2002 01:08:10 PM ----- BODY: EBay will buy PayPal. As a business strategy it makes sense. EBay now can cover more aspects of the online auction process. Buyers and sellers can post, bid, and pay through only one person. It should streamline efforts of major sellers while making it easier for new buyers. The purchase may cause fear in some EBay users. They may feel that since EBay now has PayPal and will eliminate their Billpoint payment system, that choice will be strangled. I don't think average buyers and sellers will be worried. EBay's biggest clients will make the loudest complaints. Then there's Evan who worries about PayPal reducing its innovation. All EBay has to do to avoid ill will is to reassure people that other online payment systems can still be used. Such openness is an EBay strength. What I noticed from EBay's purchase is it's following Amazon who has an internal payment system that customers use for auctions, used products, and non-Amazon payments (those begging boxes on many weblogs). Unless Buy.com starts making some inroads on Amazon's new products turf (and their current price war could do some damage) I see online consumer commerce becoming a war between Amazon and EBay. While each company does have their own niches--Amazon sells mostly new stuff, while EBay dominates the used market--each is moving into the other's turf. The quest for growth will continue to push these companies. "EBay Pays for PayPal" "EBay To Buy PayPalFor $1.5B" "S&P Upgrades eBay and PayPal on $1.5 Billion Stock Deal" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/7/2002 02:30:14 PM ----- BODY: I've thought about doing a little compare/constrast among the recent books responding to 9.11. I've consumed Dinesh D'Souza's What's So Great About America (outstanding) and Bill Bennett's Why We Fight has been tempting me. Maybe after I'm done with Michael Novak's The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. After reading Michael Lind's review, I'll avoid Roger Rosenblatt's Where We Stand: 30 Reasons for Loving Our Country. The book is filled with "conventional liberal opinions," not much more than Rosenblatt's bland PBS commentaries. Lind ends up prefering D'Souza over Bennett because of the latter's religiosity. For Lind, that doesn't lend well to persuading centrists and progressives--a vital point in Lind's opinion. D'Souza wrote a smart polemic that transcends the events surrounding 9.11. The ideas D'Souza takes on are the same ones that have opposed Americanism. Islamic fundamentalism, the Left, and conservative pessimists all are wary of the vibrant, dynamic, optimistic nature of America. Decadence, selfishness, and change happen here faster and with more intensity than anywhere else on earth. But what American freedom also allows is people to live their lives without too much outside interference. If one wants to live as a fundamentalist Christian conservative, he can. A whole parallel culture has arisen to satisfy those desires. If one wants to live a life of sexual and hedonistic abandon, there are the S&M freaks in many cities. The loss of control and the exposure to different ways of life may be what really disturbs America's critics. "Three Patriotic Sages Respond to a Defining Moment" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/6/2002 01:11:13 PM ----- BODY: James Buchanan sees expansive government intruding on the ability of people to be moral. He writes:
In Madisonian terms, if we put too much reliance on politics, we may stifle behavioral motivations that might qualify as near-angelic -- personal charity, working and sacrificing for others, aiding the poor, the sick, the uneducated, providing a "social safety net" laced by members of society, not by government strings. More politics means fewer angels, or at least fewer opportunities for people to act like angels."Madison's Angels" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/6/2002 01:04:26 PM ----- BODY: In honor of July 4th, Professor Gary Galles picked out some marvelous quotes by Thomas Jefferson. "Jefferson on American Liberty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/3/2002 03:05:14 PM ----- BODY: Usually the flag is flown upside down at times in emergency. Aaron Zelman, president of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) thinks now is such a time. The emergency is the attack on the Second Amendment. The American Legion is upset with Zelman's call, and they have a point. The Second Amendment, and with it our free nation, isn't in emminent danger. In fact, the Second Amendment is enjoying a resurgence in support. A bunch of states allow citizens to carry concealed weapons. John Ashcroft and the Bush administration believe that the Second Amendment in an individual, rather than, a collective right. Work by economist John Lott has been well received. And there's the case of Michael Bellesiles' Arming America. The book has been found to contain substantial errors. Outside the ivory tower, Bellesiles' reputation is now toast. While eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, the Second Amendment is not in danger. It's actually winning. "Upside-Down Flag Angers Veterans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/3/2002 04:08:08 AM ----- BODY: This judge is making law from the bench instead of interpreting it. Since the founders supported capital punishment, there's no way they would have considered the death penalty to be "cruel and unusual punishment." Even though I think the ruling is wrong, I'm oppose to the death penalty. It's late, so I won't explain my position, but maybe I'll do it in the near future. "Judge Declares Federal Death Penalty Unconstitutional" [via C-Log] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/3/2002 04:02:28 AM ----- BODY: With school vouchers' constitutionality now settled, Thomas Sowell beats back the rest of the Left's points of opposition. "Vouchers Vindicated" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/3/2002 03:46:50 AM ----- BODY: In the Milwaukee area, we've been suffering through a bunch of 90+ days. No problem, since I've got air conditioning in the house, car, and work. What hasn't been said is the lack of warnings about rolling blackouts over excessive electricity use. The past few years have been quite annoying. Last year and the year before, some companies with special contracts with Wisconsin Electric had to shut down because there wasn't enough juice to go around. But this year there's been no warnings or forced shutdowns. On a national scale, this time last year was the Great California Electricity Crisis. This year, not a peep about blackouts or price gouging for that matter. In Wisconsin, the reason is the nuclear power plants aren't under repair and are producing at full capacity. It's probably a similar reason in California. Oh, what a difference a year makes. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/1/2002 12:42:21 PM ----- BODY: Probably no more posts for the rest of the day. After work, I'm off to Summerfest to see The Gufs. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/1/2002 12:41:14 PM ----- BODY: The USDA won't allow private labs to test for Chronic Wasting Disease, a Mad Cow-like disease that affects deer. William "Butch" Johnson thinks the feds won't allow private testing because the labs could then test for Mad Cow. Any detection of the latter could cause a "tremendous panic in the country." "Testing of Deer to be Limited" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/30/2002 10:12:22 PM ----- BODY: While the Supreme Court gave its blessing to vouchers, some state constitutions bar any aid to religious schools. When the voucher wars move to state legislatures, anti-choice advocates will be using 19th Century, anti-Catholic law as weapons. "In States, Hurdles Loom" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/29/2002 12:13:23 AM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell goes to the heart of the Pledge decision. For too long the courts have moved beyond their role of law interpreters and into forming public policy. Sowell writes,
One of the reasons courts at all levels get away with imposing judges' personal views as the law of the land is that so much of the public and the media view each decision in terms of whether they agree with the particular policy it represents. But the destruction of the separation of powers, which is central to the Constitution, is infinitely more important than whether policy A is better or worse than policy B. Letting judges change the law by verbal sleight of hand is especially dangerous in a country where the people are supposed to have the power to control the laws they live under via their elected representatives. Those who question whether the government ought to be in the business of promoting any religious concepts among school children can raise that as an issue that we can fight out among ourselves. It is denying us the right to fight it out among ourselves by judicial fiat that is the real danger.In the case of the Pledge, the court thought the phrase "under God" somehow established a religion by government. How it could do that while not funding religion is beyond me? Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that states couldn't execute the retarded. Some how a majority of justices read the ban against "cruel and unusual punishment" to mean a particular public policy. In that case, if the murderer had an IQ below a certain level he was immune from execution. In both these cases there wasn't an interpretation of the law. There were no claims of original intent. Instead, the judges imposed their opinions onto the public. That is not the role of the courts. Judges are not in place to shape society as they see fit. They are not on the bench to force their views of society should be down everyone else's throats. They are on the bench to interpret the law, not make it up. Such undemocratic judicial activism robs power from the other two branches of government. The public can hold the executive and the legislative branches accountable more easily. Voting a bum out happens more often than impeaching a judge (speaking only on the federal level since those judges have appointments for life). So, what judicial activism actually does is rob the People of their sovereignty. So be it to have utopian social justice here on earth. "Religion and the Constitution" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/28/2002 09:40:06 PM ----- BODY: Andrew Sullivan wears the same pants size as me. But I think I have more hair. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/28/2002 09:13:46 PM ----- BODY: James Lileks' problem is that he booked with Northwest. The last time I flew that airline was when I was an eighth grader coming back to Wisconsin from Boston. The plane landed in Detroit, i.e. the airport closest to Hades, but couldn't get to the gate because another plane already in the gate broke down. I was stuck for two hours in a stuffy plane with 60 Minutes reruns to keep us occupied. For an eighth grader, this wasn't considered fun. So our plane finally makes it into its gate, but by that time, the connecting flight to Wisconsin (Appleton) left. My family and I were then exposed to the airport for a few hours. I don't remember anything in particular, but my sister will always recall eating a giant pickle. It couldn't have been that exciting if that's all she remembers. We eventually got into Green Bay late that night. That airport was the first place I ever saw a pay tv. Who in their right mind would pump quarters into a tv just to watch commercials? One big problem: the car was parked at the airport in Appleton, 30 south of Green Bay. Fortunately, my kind aunt met us in Green Bay and drove us to the car. As for the luggage, I believe it arrived the next day. The lesson I learned that day was never, ever fly Northwest. But I almost didn't heed my lesson when I was searching for flights to London spring a few months ago. Northwest had some good fares, but the itineraries were ridiculous. My eyes popped open in shock when I saw their Milwaukee to London through Minneapolis. Nice way to conserve fuel. I love flying over Wisconsin so much I would do it twice in an 8 hour period. I ended up going the Priceline route for my ticket and figured with my luck, I'd get stuck with Northwest going through Detroit. It didn't happen. Instead, I got Delta through Atlanta. No problems there. I know that someday I will confront my Northwest demon, and it won't be pretty. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/28/2002 08:44:04 PM ----- BODY: The Eye (don't worry, I'll hide your identity) offers this opinion on the Pledge of Allegiance decision in the post's comments. But it's so good I don't want others to miss it.
This is a difficult spot to be in. Clearly the founders held that "all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...", who "...with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence" pledged their lives to the United States against Great Britian. How does the phrase "one nation under God" (notice, no comma, it is not its own phrase, it is part of the sentence) establish a religion? Is it because it refers to our Judeo-Christian background, and implictly endorses that? Would we not be able to teach the Declaration to students anymore, because the founders had a belief in God? The first amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Now I ask, how is a SCHOOL BOARD'S (not Congress) requiring students to say the pledge unconstitutional? Because Congress codified the pledge to read "one nation under God," and so therefore Congress 'established' a religion? This atheist dope who sued claimed his daughter was "injured" by having to hear kids recite the pledge. It was not that she did say the pledge herself, or was forced to. She didn't say it at all. Hearing other kids say it (led by "a state-run teacher in a state-run school") was injurious? This case was ludicrous to start with. It should have been summarily dismissed long ago. If this guy didn't want his kid to hear other kids saying the pledge, he should have sent her to a private school, or home schooled her. People don't have a right not to be offended. There is a lot of offensive stuff out there, just choose differently and one doesn't have to be exposed to it. You're offended by nudity? Don't go to a strip club. You're offended by rock music lyrics? Turn on talk radio. So on that note, I agree with Lindsey: get used to the fact that not everyone will agree with you. But there are enough out there who do, or more closely align with your thoughts than others. So choose to be with them, instead of those who offend you. I will say this about atheists; I'm glad they are around. I'll need someone to park my cars and polish my boats once I get to Heaven.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/28/2002 02:19:31 AM ----- BODY: Here's a quick ripping of the NY Times editorial on the school voucher ruling:
The majority argues that the Cleveland program does not, as a technical matter, violate the First Amendment because it is parents, not the government, who are choosing where the money goes. But given the reality of education in Cleveland, parents do not have the wealth of options that would make their selection of religious schools meaningful. And in any case, the money ultimately comes from taxpayers, and therefore should not be directed--by whatever route--to finance religious training.Compare the Cleveland voucher program to the G.I. Bill. The latter allows soldiers to go to any college, religious or secular. Same for federal student loan programs. Is this a violation of the First Amendment? In both cases, individuals, not government, decides what school to attend.
This ruling does as much damage to education as it does to the First Amendment. A common argument for vouchers is that they improve public schools by forcing them to compete for students. What is holding the public schools back, however, is not lack of competitive drive but the resources to succeed. Voucher programs like Cleveland's siphon off public dollars, leaving struggling urban systems with less money for skilled teachers, textbooks and computers. They also skim off some of the best-performing students, and the most informed and involved parents, from public schools that badly need their expertise and energy.This argument is straight from the teachers union press releases. Funding of public schools does not correlate with student performance. If that were the case, Washington, D.C. which spends over $10,000 per student per year would be blowing the roof off of test scores. There would also be oodles of budding geniuses in the Kansas City area after a federal judge forced that school district to spend huge sums of money. What holds public schools back are poor, faddish teaching methods. Too many schools focus on self-esteem and social justice over the basics. Competition would give public schools a feedback mechanism so they can tell if they're actually doing the job they're suppose to do. "The Wrong Ruling on Vouchers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/28/2002 01:52:23 AM ----- BODY: There's not much I can add to Brink Lindsey's thoughts on the stupid Pledge of Allegiance ruling. Mere words don't establish a religion, money and tangible support do that. Also, note Lindsey's point about possible hurt feelings:
I've got a news flash for you, kiddies: It's a big world with lots of points of view, and sometimes people are going to think differently from the way you do. Get used to it.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2002 11:05:30 PM ----- BODY: I've discovered where some of Amtrak's money went. The rail service is trying to look cool by offering free entrance into Summerfest. (Just scroll down until you see the logo.) -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2002 11:02:58 PM ----- BODY: Tomorrow, Summerfest begins. It's 11 days of music, food, drink, people, and more music. For 11 days, Milwaukee's lakefront will turn into the greatest music festival on earth. Country, jazz, techno, rock, hip hop, and everything else will be available for your listening pleasure. The festival is a gem that draws people from around the world to Milwaukee. One drawback to Summerfest, besides expensive beer prices, is seeing lots of Wisconsinites wearing things they shouldn't be wearing. If you're anywhere in the Midwest, come and check it out. I'm sure you'll be hooked. I will be there tomorrow night, grooving to some dance tunes spun by DJ Colette or rocking to Sevendust. Fireworks will light up the night sky, giving me even more entertainment. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2002 10:47:36 PM ----- BODY: I hope to find some time to comment on the supposed unconstitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. Until then, Eugene Volokh has some thoughts. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2002 10:19:26 PM ----- BODY: Fredrik links to a Joseph Farah article where he declares his intolerance of liberalism. The Left uses the term "intolerance" as a weapon. They draw no distinctions between good intolerance and bad intolerance. For them, intolerance is a sin, plain and simple. If one is intolerant of something, they are evil, bigoted people who have no place in public discussion. The Right sees intolerance as a useful tool to promote the just and virtuous society. Farah writes,
I'm intolerant of Americans who don't want to live within the confines of our constitutional system. That's a good thing. Tolerance of unlawful behavior and the rule of men rather than the rule of law would be wrong.Farah's intolerance pushes him to fight for life, liberty, and property. If Farah were as tolerant of the Left as his critics want, he would shut down WorldNetDaily. If he wasn't opposed to the Left, he wouldn't have a need to publish a website devoted to promoting his political philosophy. Ironically, Farah's Leftist critics are intolerant themselves. They don't accept the rule of law over the rule of men. They don't fight for limited government. They don't accept individual's rights to life, liberty, and property. Instead, they push for more government spending, higher taxes, and abortion on demand. They are intolerant of opponents to their agenda. If you support lower taxes and a literal interpretation of the constitution, the Left will call you "uncaring," "insensitive," and "backward thinking." Tolerance does play a role in a peaceful society. We should be tolerant of people's thoughts and actions as long as they don't interfere with other's liberty. But when people's actions and ideas become a threat to liberty, they must be fought tooth and nail. "Why I'm Intolerant and Proud" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2002 09:59:18 PM ----- BODY: The greatest harm from President Bush's steel tarriffs is the reaction from poor countries where protectionism stiffles economic growth. Jagdish Bhagwati writes:
If you hold on to your own protection, no matter how much smaller, and in fact even raise it as the United States did recently with steel tariffs and the farm bill, you are going to undermine seriously the efforts of those poor-country leaders who have turned to freer trade in recent decades. It is difficult for such countries to reduce protection if others, more prosperous and fiercer supporters of free trade, are breaking ranks."The Poor's Best Hope" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2002 12:03:53 AM ----- BODY: Here are two reasons not to draft Yao Ming in the first round:
A student movement is not just a student movement. It's a student movement. Students, whether they are progressive or not, have the responsibility of knowing things, of thinking and discerning, of studying. A student movement should maintain the highest of standards, not ape the formulas of its elders or outdo them in virulence.While it's great a man of the Left such as Gitlin strongly criticizes anti-semetic Leftist, he's awfully idealistic of "student movements." From my experience, Left wing student movements (who ever hears of Right wing movements?) are full of some of the most unthinking people I've ever encountered. They only speak platitiudes that make Jesse Jackson's bad rhymes seem scholarly. When confronted with opposing facts for a different analysis, these students counter with ad hominem attacks and an emphasis on emotion over reason. Pre-9.11, the biggest issue for student movements was globalization. Along with peaceful teach-ins and rallys, many engaged in violent riots in Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Genoa. Their excuse for destroying property was that it wasn't a crime because it was only things, not people. Other student movements oppose geneticlly modified food and took part in raids that destroyed test fields. Little thinking, descerning, or studying there. "The Rough Beast Returns" [via Craig Schamp] [UPDATE: Some of those thinking, descerning, and studying students would "rather go naked than wear GAP" in Calgary. In Ottawa, police are preparing for violence from anti-trade protesters. Then there are the goofs knitting their way to revolution. "Local Impacts of G8 Agenda Exposed" "Canadian Authorities Prepare for Worst on Eve of G-8 Summit"] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2002 04:43:29 PM ----- BODY: Arnold Kling delves into whether weblogs* are a fad. He has this to say about local news and weblogs:
My prediction is that in niches where the ratio of information value to entertainment value is high, blogs will prove to be superior mechanism for disseminating news. For example, local politics tends to have lower entertainment value than national politics. To me, that implies that at some point we will start to see elections for school board or city council influenced more by coverage in blogs than by coverage in newspapers.I have a quibble with Kling's prediction and a strong example to back me up. In order for weblogs to influence local elections lots of voters have to read weblogs. There also have to be writers interested in covering local issues. Other than weblogs that monitor their local newspapers, I've seen little of the extensive local coverage needed to be influential. Even though the weblog craze has received a fair amount of coverage in mainstream media, most people, including Internet users, have no idea what they are. In fact, newspapers are far more influential on local issues. For example, in Milwaukee, a controversial pension plan led to the resignation of the county executive and recall elections for a number of county supervisors. The story broke way back in late 2001 in the quasi-weblog Milwaukee World, but didn't draw any public anger until the Journal Sentinel covered it in early 2002. After the newspaper brought the story to the public's attention, local talk radio inflamed passions that led to a massive recall petition drive for then County Executive Tom Ament The biggest winner from the scandal, besides newly elected County Executive Scott Walker, was Bruce Murphy publisher of Milwaukee World. He now has an investigative gig with the Journal Sentinel. It's unclear to me how such widespread public anger could have been aroused if people only got their news through weblogs. In essence, it would have been word-of-mouth. It would be electronic and faster, but still it would be word-of-mouth. There would have been questions of the story's accuracy and whether certain people were just spreading rumors in order to advance a personal agenda. With the newspaper putting it on the front page, it gave the story legitimacy. We may dislike newspapers and big media for their lack of diversity and inanity, but they have the ability to focus public attention on news. Finally, let me answer Kling's question in the title of his essay. Weblogging isn't a fad. It will be around as long as people have an easy way to publish on the Internet and as long as they have opinions. Since the Net mantra "Information wants to be free" does hold some weight and since people are by nature opinionated, we have the pleasure to be stuck with weblogs for a long time. "Is Blogging a Fad?" [* I use the term "weblog" and "weblogging" over "blog" and "blogging" for merely asthetic purposes. "Blog" sounds like the battle cry of a drunk barbarian. I may get used to it in the future.] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2002 03:44:58 AM ----- BODY: Microsoft has ambition plans for computer privacy, piracy, security, and authentication. By getting support from Intel and AMD, MS envisions a new PC architecture with specialized security chips combined with new software. For Palladium to take off MS has to make sure it's effective, easy to use, and inexpensive. Creating an industry standard that includes chip and computer makers is one way MS will try to make Palladium work. Computer makers should love Palladium. It gives them something beyond sheer processing speed and price to market to businesses and consumers. When people really don't see a need to buy a 2 GHZ computer just to get a small fractional performance boost over their 1 GHZ, price becomes the defining factor in buying a new computer. Makers are forced to lower prices to gain marketshare. They're then in the unenviable position of decreasing margins--not good for the company's stock price. Palladium will fail if users have to know about the gory details of public key encryption. While Pretty Good Privacy offers users the ability to encrypt e-mail, it's usability is daunting to most e-mailers. Geeks may see the jumble of numbers and letters that make up their public key as a badge of honor, but the rest of use look at it and go, "Looks way too complicated for me." Palladium is a big project from MS. This is the same company betting big on web services with .NET. Splitting mindshare on these two highly important projects may hurt the development of both. Or MS programmers and scientists could end up with better projects through synergy. What we do know is MS doesn't rest on their laurels. The best part of Bill Gates' management is his desire to always push his company forward. Palladium does just that. "The Big Secret" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/23/2002 09:54:02 PM ----- BODY: I'm back from Dubuque. The wedding was fine. For some the heat was unbearable. I didn't think it was that bad, and I was one of the few men to wear a suit jacket to the service. The dinner and reception were enjoyable. I caught up with seldom seen relatives and learned that I'll be going to another wedding next Memorial Day weekend. I took my time driving back. I stopped in Galena, IL and strolled through their impressive downtown. It's full of shops selling artists works, jewelry, and clothes and restaurants serving burgers, pasta, and high-end Italian cuisine. Then it was me taking my time avoiding interstate highways so I could actually see northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. No rush at all. Just me, my car, and plenty of good music. My mini-vacation is just about over. Tomorrow, it's back to the store. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2002 02:48:04 PM ----- BODY: I will be away this weekend. My cousin is getting married in Iowa. Probably no posts until Sunday night. Have a good weekend. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2002 02:42:30 PM ----- BODY: Arafat will now accept Bill Clinton's peace proposal of a few years back. It's now a little late to be trying to turn back the clock when Arafat was the one who rejected the proposal in the first place. Should Israel take the bait? No. When Arafat first rejected the proposal he now accepts there weren't the endless attacks on Israeli citizens. Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and terrorists with Arafat's Fatah movement must be destroyed or they'll continue their massacres. Arafat has still not denouced these groups in a forceful way. Sure, every time there's a bombing, he comes out and says he condones terrorism, but he hasn't called Hamas, etc. enemies of the Palestinian people. By doing that along with a real crack down (with U.S. and Israeli help if necessary), then the peace process could be restarted. This Arafat statement sounds like that from a desparate man. Israel's military response must be working. "Arafat to Ha'aretz: I Accept Clinton's Plan; Peace is Possible" [via Best of the Web] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2002 01:55:27 PM ----- BODY: Could pro-cloners like Ronald Bailey and Virginia Postrel calm down with their calls for unrestricted embryonic stem cell (ESC) research and see where the science of adult stem cells is? If adult stem cells can do many of the things ESC can, then most, if not all, pro-lifers would drop their resistance. Then scientists could get on with finding cures to diseases they thought were only possible with ESC. "US Adult Stem Cell Findings Re-Ignite Debate Over Embryos" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2002 02:45:18 AM ----- BODY: Bob Greene's Once Upon a Town charmed me with its portrait of Americans who loved their country and their soldiers. It's a story of goodness, generosity, kindness, and patriotism. For almost five years the residents of North Platte, NE gave six million traveling soldiers a taste of home. Sandwiches were made, coffee brewed, candy donated, popcorn balls rolled, eggs boiled, chickens fried, and cakes baked just for passing troops spending ten minutes at the depot while their train was being loaded with coal. It wasn't just food that was offered: Songs were sung, peopled danced, hugs and kissed were exchanged. The soldiers couldn't believe or understand the generosity, but they welcomed it and never forgot it. Whether they were on the front lines in Europe or island-hopping in the Pacific, those soldiers looked back to North Platte as a common memory. For many, this train took them farther than ever from home. Many were young and lonely. The sight of women bearing baskets of fruit warmed their hearts. During a few of Green's interviews with veterans, the men had to stop because tears came to their eyes. The people of North Platte gave unconditional love to men they wouldn't see again. Those beautiful hearts brought up tears in veterans' eyes. The depot that hosted the canteen is gone; torn down in the 1970s. All that's left are railroad tracks and bums drinking booze. Could a town ever be that generous again? Since we're at war now, the question's quite pertinent. If there is crisis and we feel it around us, then Americans display the same generosity that was shown at North Platte. Americans gave freely to the many 9.11 victims funds. New Yorkers pulled together after the attack despite their brash reputation. If sacrifices are needed, Americans are willing to do their part. Since this is a different kind of war, huge displays of generosity like that of North Platte aren't happening. The economy hasn't been massively reorganized for the war effort. There has been no call for rationing, victory gardens, or buying war bonds. In fact, taxes have actually been cut with many in Washington pushing for them to be permanent. No one's been drafted. Unlike World War II the country isn't focused on fighting the war. There is a general sense of complacency. Deep down, we know we will win. Unlike the citizens of North Platte we're not in fear of invasion if we lose. President Bush even wants us to live as we normally would. We're at war even if it doesn't feel like it. North Platte isn't an aberration anymore than New York City post-9.11. Human nature hasn't changed between those times. If Americans feel threatened they'll pull together in ways that bring tears to people's eyes. American's save their goodness for when it's most needed. "North Platte's War Effort" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2002 12:30:12 AM ----- BODY: This quote from Professor Joseph Kunkel adds to my contention that Jesse Ventura hurt the prospects for a significant third party:
He really didn?t help build a movement. His lack of political experience and interest in politics and the political process meant that he failed to build that third party position and represent it in a coherent way."Calling it Quits" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/20/2002 02:36:07 AM ----- BODY: Patrick has some good thoughts on weblogging as a business tool. Google's already doing it internally. He then made a quick thought that weblogs would be good for "information sharing in the hunt for terrorists." FBICIA.blogspot.com might have let lower level agents and analysts stumble on the 9.11 terrorists. What I find fascinating is many companies have been spending billions of dollars and huge amounts of man-hours developing software for employees to better communicate. Collaboration software is seen as a killer app. Heck, IBM bought Lotus a few years ago just for Notes. But big, sophisticated, expensive programs haven't made their mark. I'm sure there are plenty of businesses that use stuff like Notes to good effect. Then along comes weblogs and with them Blogger, Moveable Type, and Radio UserLand. These programs aren't huge, complex creations. They've been created by small teams to do a few simple things: allowing a user to edit text and upload it to a web site. The programs are allowed to do this because of Internet standards like HTML, TCP/IP, and FTP. While collaborative software systems attempt to integrate video conferencing, chat, calendaring, and other bells and whistles, weblogging software focuses on plain text. A user who only wants to type in their daily diary entry can do that, while tech heads who want streaming video or audio can integrate that into their own weblog. The result from these simple programs is an explosion of new, interesting voices commenting on everything. Now, we see weblogging move into the business setting. Could IBM be kicking itself for spending billions on Lotus? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/19/2002 02:46:59 AM ----- BODY: Guys, I'm thinking of putting my money where my mouth is. Since the Blogathon gang suggested a few too many Left-of-center charities (namely Planned Parenthood), I'll consider signing up if I can find a good charity and some sponsors. This is where I need your help: I'm looking for a charity that does good work effectively, but without the Leftist agenda. A charity that supports conservative/libertarian values is a plus, but a politically neutral one would be fine too. Please leave out the oodles of think tanks. Even though they're legally charities, they're blatantly political. Initially, I'm considering The Nature Conservancy. They're environmentalists, but they actually buy land to protect from owners instead of demanding government edicts. Consider it free market environmentalism. What would really be satisfying is some crisis pregnancy organization. I really want to balance the Planned Parenthood suggestion. After finding a deserving charity, I'll need sponsors. I'll be a complete sell out (within reason) and push other websites, offer blatant plugs to whoever the sponsor wants, even cheer for the Minnesota Vikings to win the Super Bowl. Oops, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea. If I find a charity and enough sponsors to make this worthwhile, I work on the logistics. I'm guessing that I have roughly two weeks to see what response I get in order to get time off of work and get mentally prepared to weblog for 24 hours. I'm willing to do it to raise money for a good cause and to inject a little real diversity into Blogathon. You can e-mail me, sign my guestbook, or leave a comment below. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/19/2002 02:02:15 AM ----- BODY: Cuban dissidents get thousands of signatures demanding a vote on basic human rights--the Varela Project. Castro's response is to force millions to sign a petition calling for Communism to be "untouchable." An unnamed European diplomat said in a mealymouthed way, "No doubt people support the regime. You can't force nine million people to sign. We have to accept that." The diplomat obviously doesn't comprehend that Cubans were forced to sign Castro's petition. Maybe that person did know and just doesn't care. "Cuba Musters Support for Communism in Hard Times" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/19/2002 01:51:46 AM ----- BODY: Again, I offer Arafat this suggestion: if he can't stop Hamas from bombing Israelis, then call for a joint U.S.-Israel-PA operation to destroy Hamas. Not only would much of the homicide bombing stop, but Arafat would be the one who a major risk to move toward peace. Sadly, this won't happen. Arafat sees his role as Palestine's most visible victim. Sympathy for him and the Palestinians is the source of his international standing. He has the Muslim world behind him with muted support from Europe. The U.S. looks like it will make a big push for Palestinian statehood. His biggest opponents are Sharon and Likud who will not back down to the ceaseless bombings. Another reason Arafat won't strike down Hamas is that too many Palestinians support Hamas' methods and their goal of destroying Israel. To fight Hamas would be to fight the people he supposedly represents. "Israel to Recapture Palestinian Land Over 'Terror'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/18/2002 02:08:09 PM ----- BODY: Governor Jesse isn't running for re-election. He lays part of his decision on the media. [It's difficult] "do these public service jobs when you know that your family can be assassinated by the media at any point," Ventura told Minnesota Public Radio this morning. It's partly the media's fault that Jesse became the most colorful political character in U.S. politics in the past 50 years? It was partly the media that had Jesse appear on Leno and Letterman and do commentary for the XFL? Maybe Jesse's problems with the media could be summed up by his suggestion to talk radio host Jason Lewis to "stick it where the sun don't shine." I understand why Jesse did what he did: he's a man who loves the spotlight. He loves to entertain. His days as pro wrestler and commentator were entertainment. He starred in Predator--entertainment Hollywood-style. He entertained talk radio listeners with his blunt, straight talk. Then he ran for governor. His campaign ads featuring a action figure Jesse were the political talk of the nation. Compared to his staid Democratic and Republican rivals, Jesse was fun, exciting, and cool. He deftly combined the entertainment factor with some serious policy to win a three-way election. Then political reality set in. While having public support, Jesse faced a state legislature with one house controlled by Democrats and the other by Republicans. Tough to get anything done in that environment. This year's state budget battle features plenty of political posturing. Since neither major party has their guy in the governor's mansion, they don't look to the head of the state to break any impasse. Jesse may not think so, but he hurt independent chances to win major offices. Jesse is just so charismatic, so unpredictable, so entertaining. The difference between him and Dean Barkley, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate on the Reform/Independent ticket, is that Barkley is a boring car-wash owner. Jesse and Ross Perot got much of their support from people tired of plain old, vanilla politics. Both these men shook things up with their style and substance. If independent runs for office require more of an entertainment factor to succeed, it will eventually become a literal circus where Bozo the Clown runs on his painted face platform while Alec Baldwin threatens to leave the country unless he gets enough votes. "Ventura: 'I am not Seeking Reelection'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/18/2002 02:16:06 AM ----- BODY: Could the Blogathon people suggest non-Leftist charities to support? Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, and Friends of the Earth don't inspire me to give. How about Habitat for Humanity or the Salvation Army? At least they're not suggesting donating to another 9.11 victims fund. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/18/2002 01:30:21 AM ----- BODY: I've preferred the word "weblog" over "blog." The later just feels too grungy and grimey--probably because it rhymes with "grog." But blog may enter the Oxford English Dictionary. [via Blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/17/2002 11:09:31 PM ----- BODY: It made be over a week old, but Josh Chafetz's description of spontaneous order is outstanding and would make Hayek proud. Since he recommended a few readings, I'll suggest my own. To really appreciate Hayek's application of spontaneous order to economics, read "The Use of Knowledge in Society" found in Individualism and Economic Order. After reading it, you'll understand why central planning is folly. You'll also see that Hayek's thoughts on knowlege can be applied in many, many areas of social analysis. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/17/2002 10:57:10 PM ----- BODY: Brock Yates sees that one big impediment to fuel cells is a rare element.
Of course the notion of brewing up together a few atoms of Hydrogen and Oxygen to produce electricity and a by-product of clean water vapor sounds terrific. But again, we're talking money. Big money. At the core of the fuel-cell is a catalyst that makes the Hydrogen and Oxygen to generate the kilowatts. This requires two exotic metals, Platinum and its ultra-rare cousin, Ruthenium (perhaps better called "unobtanium"). This stuff is so sparse that a number of experts researching fuel-cells are openly concerned that not enough Ruthenium exists on the earth to equip large fleets of fuel-cell vehicles. And with rarity comes huge cost."Fuel Cell Follies" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/17/2002 10:48:26 PM ----- BODY: John Burkett is a petty man. He doesn't realize that the All-Star Game isn't about baseball owners or players. It's tribute to the fans that pay for ballparks and salaries. "Burkett reiterates stance that he'll skip All-Star Game" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/16/2002 11:36:02 PM ----- BODY: Amazon.com has gone into the resturant menu business. They have scaned copied of menus from major American cities. Unfortunately for me, Milwaukee isn't on the list. This is a strange business strategy. The whole premise of Amazon.com is that it's an online store. I go to the site to buy books, music, DVD, bread makers, CD players, etc. I don't think of Amazon.com when I want to go out to eat and want to see the menu before hand. Amazon.com wants you to send take out orders through them, but it's much easier just to call the resturant (they provide the phone number with the menu). They aren't trying to cross promote other products while you're looking at a menu. This idea is too much like Microsoft's failed Sidewalk.com. Amazon.com is a store, sure an online store, but a store no less. They shouldn't lose sight of their focus and go into the city guide business. This feels like a 1995 dot-com idea. You know one of those Web-arrogant ones where if it can be done on the Web, it should be done. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/16/2002 11:27:52 PM ----- BODY: All I got to see were the highlights on SportsCenter on the U.S. Open. That's all I needed to see to understand the greatness of Tiger Woods. He's won eight majors by his 26th birthday. Will he go on to win golf's first grand slam--not just 4 consecutive majors? I can't wait to find out if Tiger can pull it off. Even if he doesn't, I already consider him the greatest golfer ever. The man is so dominant, so skilled, and so calm under pressure. Mucho kudos to Tiger. Patrick's rooting for Phil Mickelson at the British Open, while I want to see continued dominance. "U.S. Open: Woods Secures Second Major of the Year" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/15/2002 03:31:24 AM ----- BODY: AlGore may be a green, egghead, liberal weenie, but he's not a terrorist threat. A constitutional threat, but not a terrorist threat. But that didn't matter to security people who gave AlGore the special treatment twice. The biggest threat from AlGore on an airplane is boring passengers to death by yapping about the environment, and how he got more votes than the guy sitting in the White House. "Ex-VP No Airport VIP" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/15/2002 03:13:10 AM ----- BODY: Ronald Pestritto uses Flag Day to wonder if both liberals and conservatives want to fight for America's founding principles.
Liberals have for decades advocated ? and largely consummated ? a rejection of the limited government of the founding in favor of a modern welfare state. Starting about 100 years ago, Progressives like Woodrow Wilson decided that the Declaration and Constitution were "out of date," and inaugurated the idea of a constantly evolving, unlimited government. This makes it all the more ironic that it was Wilson who formally established Flag Day ? since he mocked what he called the "blind worship" of the founding and complained that "some citizens of this country have never got beyond the Declaration of Independence." Likewise, today's conservatives have cause to question how they have acquitted themselves ? perhaps even more than liberals, since conservatives are supposedly dedicated to "conserving" America's principles. Prominent conservative leaders today have essentially abandoned the aims of their counterparts in the 1980s and early 1990s to scale back the modern state. Gone is talk of eliminating those portions of the federal bureaucracy created to implement the failed policies of 1960s and 1970s liberalism. Instead, Republicans today help push through historic increases in funding for the Department of Education. Even the current strategies in the war on terrorism, unfortunately, make one wonder whether the government is more interested in curtailing the rights of its own citizens or in taking the fight abroad, to those regimes that hate us and sponsor those attacking us. Our conservative administration makes plans for a new federal bureaucracy of "homeland security," while it shies away from making real war on terrorist regimes out of fear of offending our "friends" in the Arab world and the quasi-socialist governments in Europe. Throughout our history, brave Americans in both the military and in politics have fought mightily to prove themselves worthy of Washington, the men he addressed, and the principles for which they battled. Let this Flag Day be a spark for those of us in the 21st century to continue in that noble tradition."What Does the Flag Stand For?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/14/2002 01:19:02 AM ----- BODY: Today is Flag Day. Don't be bashful. Wave that flag with pride.
I try to let data tell me what's actually happening in the world. And when the theory says one thing and things don't work that way, then I say something's missing in the theory. A priori, I had a belief that [file sharing] was different and it was likely to cause real harm. That's what the Cato piece was about. But if a year from now, when the economy picks up, we still don't see a decline of 15 to 20 percent at least, then file sharing is having a very small impact, considering how massive the downloading is. It's not that say, 10 percent of record sales is a trivial amount of money, but it's not going to be the death of the record industry.Leibowitz sees a future where people legally and easily get their music online. It may take upwards to a decade because of micropayment problems and conflicts with brick-and-mortar retail outlets. A problem I see with downloading music is broadband access. Until more people have a wide data pipe running into their computer, music downloading will remain the passtime of college students and workers with kind (or blind) bosses. "File Sharing: Innocent Until Proven Guilty" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/13/2002 05:01:24 PM ----- BODY: Which has a better chance of becoming law in Cuba: the Varela Project which supports a referendum calling for civil liberties or Castro's constitutional amendment calling Communism "untouchable"? "Castro Calls on Cubans to Back Single Party State" [via Popshot] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/13/2002 03:34:55 PM ----- BODY: I re-read the story on White House damage for my own clarification. It doesn't specify which keyboards needed to be replaced. Thanks to those of you who pointed out security concerns and added expenses to these keyboards. If they were from computers used for secretive government work, then a more expensive and secure keyboard would be in order. But I don't think that all those replaced keyboards were from computers that processed classified information. What I think happened is the media/policy people rather than the military/intelligence/diplomatic people were the jerks who did the damage. Given the mess in Florida after Election Day, they would be the ones with an ax to grind. J. Kerner is correct to bring the focus back onto the culprits. He writes, "The GAO should round up ALL of the former employees and require that they ante-up for the costs involved." I say take them to People's Court. For any of you interested here's the Complete, Unofficial Tempest Information Page. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/13/2002 03:12:58 PM ----- BODY: Welcome to new readers who discovered this little weblog via OpinionJournal's Best of the Web. Kudos go out to James Taranto for the link. Now, if I can get Citizens Against Government Waste to issue that press release. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/12/2002 12:10:01 AM ----- BODY: I still have no answer to what good a byline strike is. Louis Menand notes that Washington Post reporters have tried this before with no success. What a byline does--besides stoke one's ego--is "They tell you that a person--not a committee or an institution--produced the words you are about to read, and is prepared to stand behind them." I'm sure Post management quaked when they were told about the strike. Last week, Post Watch linked to a few stories about past byline strikes. "Says Who?" [via Media News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 07:59:34 PM ----- BODY: Paul Krugman accepts the Clintonian spin that they really cared about the country. Or as he puts it, "the Clintonites really, truly believed they were doing the right thing." That was why Clinton supported NAFTA and the Mexican bailout. Krugman doesn't mention the item that will forever be associated with Bill Clinton's Presidency: impeachment. Does Krugman actually think that Clinton's lies to a grand jury and the public was his way of "doing the right thing?" Isn't it more likely to admit that Bill has such a huge ego and a huge appetite for vice that there was no way he would allow his opponents to drive him out of office. I wouldn't really want Krugman to answer that; he's just an economist. "The Rove Doctrine" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 03:45:52 PM ----- BODY: Both the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Washington Post want "dirtybomber" Jose Padilla to have access to a lawyer and put on trial in a civilian court. Let's suppose these editorial boards had their way and Padilla got his trial. Then suppose Padilla was found not guilty and released. Then suppose Padilla carried out his dirty nuke attack. After the death and panic would these papers print an editorial apologizing to the American people for sacrificing American lives to preserve Padilla's civil rights? I'm not advocating giving the government a free pass to hold anyone they suspect of being a terrorist. Oversight must be a priority to prevent abuse. However, the criminal justice system may not be the best way to protect American from terrorists. "The Dirty Bomb Plot" "Detaining Americans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 03:18:40 PM ----- BODY: Paul Wolfowitz had some fine remarks at the ceremony celebrating the rebuilt portion of the Pentagon destroyed on 9.11:
Wisdom, strength, endurance, freedom, those are qualities that do define America, qualities we see across America every day, qualities we see in you, the workers in hard hats and boots, armed with hammers and saws. With your hearts and your hands, you have rebuilt this symbol of American values and strength stone by stone, and we thank you. You, our builders, adopted that battle cry that Todd Beamer led the passengers on that flight over Pennsylvania. "Let's roll" is what he said, and "Let's roll" is what you said. And that's exactly what you've done. You've healed this wall, and in doing so, you are helping to heal our nation. ... And because we are Americans, because of what we stand for -- our enduring values; our right to govern ourselves, to live in safety and security, to enjoy peace and prosperity, justice and freedom; to find and worship God in our own way -- all of those things that define who we are and what we stand for -- because of them, we will not only rebuild, but we will be better than we were before. That is also what America means. It is home to unfounded -- unbounded optimism and pride in what we can accomplish together.Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz Remarks at Dedication Capsule Ceremony "'Dedication Capsule' Installed Behind Rebuilt Pentagon Facade" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 03:06:46 PM ----- BODY: Eugene Volokh provides [via InstaPundit] some needed legal perspective on how to deal with citizen terrorists. Mark Belling, a Milwaukee talk radio host, is on record as saying that citizens will have to give up some rights to be better protected from terrorists. Potential abuse could happen by giving the government and the military a free pass when it comes to incarcerating citizen terrorist suspects. Volokh does seem too worried because of American tradition against "greater use of military justice against civilians." During WWII, the public endured food and fuel rations. The war ended and those economic controls were removed. A similar pattern could happen with this war. If we know when the Islamist War has been won, then I would know when the use of military justice could contract. Unfortunately, President Bush hasn't said what victory is. Is it when bid Laden is captured or killed? Is it when Iraq is liberated? Is it when Islamism is ended as the state religion in Saudi Arabia? Donald Rumsfeld has said again and again that the Islamist War is a "different kind of war," but is this war so different that we won't know when we've won? Once victory is known and achieved then we can try to a state of normalcy. Not complacency mind you, but a state where extraordinary state powers would not be the norm. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 02:49:30 PM ----- BODY: The effects from a "dirty nuke" would be far more psychological than anything. If such a weapon exploded on Wall Street, it would close down those markets for months. The financial world would grind to a halt until the physical markets could set up operations elsewhere. NASDAQ wouldn't be harmed as much since it's an electronic marketplace. If terrorists wanted to shut down the U.S. bond market, a dirty nuke in downtown Chicago would certainly do the trick. "Panic, Economic Turmoil Would Be Fallout from 'Dirty Bomb' Attack" [UPDATE: Iain Murray writes that the economic effects from a dirty nuke outweigh the number of possible casualties. He calls a dirty nuke a "paper tiger."] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 02:29:45 PM ----- BODY: $4850 isn't a lot of money when it comes to the multi-trillion dollar budget of the federal government, but when wasteful spending happens it should be pointed out. The Bush White House spend almost 5-grand to replace 62 keyboards damaged by outgoing Clinton staffers. That comes out to $78 per keyboard. After a quick price check at Price Watch, I've determined that either the White House spent way too much for keyboards or went on a spending spree and got fancy wireless keyboards. The Microsoft ergonomic model is going for less than half what the feds paid. I even found keyboards going for $12. This detail is just begging for a Citizens Against Government Waste press release. "Vandalism Suspected at White House" [via C-Log] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2002 02:09:23 PM ----- BODY: Jon at C-Log replied to an e-mail/post I sent him about his gripe with Tivo. (I won't get on him too much for misspelling my name--I'm always glad for a link.) I'm not as concerned as Jon about ads sent to my Tivo. Jon worries that the company's business plan will end up "where one has to pay extra to great rid of the annoying ads." Two comments:
What this example suggests is that the case for genetic science being overscrutinized is at least as strong as the case for neuroscience being under-scrutinized. If this is so, then the great mass of "ethical" discussion relating to cloning and other genetic science arguably has very little to do with actual ethics, and very much to do with the abortion wars and the enhancement of ethicists' careers and resumes.Sure, more attention is made about genetic ethics because of abortion, but Reynolds doesn't consider the abortion debate to be about "actual ethics." Abortion has everything to do with ethics. It goes to the heart of ethical Man. It deals with basic questions: When is a person a person? When does human life begin? Who lives? Who dies? Who decides? Our society is plagued with these questions because they deal with Man's essence as a trancendent being. The abortions wars are at a standstill. Because of Roe v. Wade and related cases a woman can kill her child even after the baby has been partially delivered. Senate Democrats tried to keep John Ashcroft from becoming Attorney General because his pro-life position was incompatible with their abortion-on-demand stance. Millions of unborn children have been killed--this in a time of decreasing birth rates. Now, cloning and embryo harvesting are issues used by the pro-life movement to draw another line in the sand. Reynolds might call me a "nattering nabob" for opposing embryonic stem cell research, but the fight against the Culture of Death can never cease. "Brains: Good, Bad, and Modified" [via Brothers Judd] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2002 10:58:59 PM ----- BODY: TAM's international correspondent, Eric G. reports from London on the Queen's Jubilee:
The parks and malls surrounding the London palaces, where most festivities were hosted, show it now -- the "morning after" a four-day holiday. It was a magnificent affair, bringing out the patriotic side of the Brits. Yet I sympathize with the queen, who when Paul McCartney asked Monday, "Can we do this again next year?" wisely replied: "Not in my garden." If you have to have a monarch, at least she's a sensible one.To echo Eric's mention of British patriotism, a woman at the festivities said, "It's particularly nice to be patriotic for a change, because it has become a bit unfashionable." Now, Brits are cleaning up 50,000 wine bottles. God save the Queen. "Street Cred that Won over 1m People" "Jubilee Party Clean-up Begins" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2002 03:33:02 AM ----- BODY: How exactly does a byline strike help a union during contract negotiations? Wouldn't it be harming union members because they're not getting credit for their work? Or is it some symbolic action? "Post Journalists Withhold Bylines" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2002 02:38:41 AM ----- BODY: On Monday, I was ready to go ballistic on President Bush over that global warming report sent to the U.N. The term "cave-in" and comparisons to AlGore's Earth in the Balance quickly came to mind. My screed was going to be as bombastic as those of Rush Limbaugh and James Glassman. I decided to hold back, take a deep breath, and see if I was overreacting. A great aspect of weblogging is writing an instant response to a story you're reading. A not-so-great aspect of weblogging is writing an instant response to a story you're reading. What held me back was Jonathan Adler's post at The Corner where he writes, "The report outlines some specific potential scenarios, but it carefully states all of its predictions in probabilistic terms and reiterates the National Academy of Sciences' conclusion that specific predictions about climate change are, as yet, impossible." Additionally on the blog front, Andrew Sullivan couldn't find the environmental policy U-turn. He sees it as a Howell Raines-driven story that Drudge and Rush Limbaugh hooked on to like big tuna. Mickey Kaus thinks the story is an orchestrated effort by environmental groups to hit Bush in a political soft spot. More importantly, President Bush shrugged off the report and restated his opposition to Kyoto. It doesn't really matter if Bush U-turned on Kyoto. There's no way the treaty would past the Senate. But continuing his opposition to Kyoto ticks off the Europeans--always a good thing. Looking through parts of the report, I haven't noticed any part where it wants climate change to be the "central organizing principle" of society a la AlGore in Earth in the Balance. Instead, "American ingenuity and resources" have played a large role in adapting to past climate change. Presumably, "technological change and knowledge about fluctuating climate" deal with future change. I'm glad I didn't write stuff I'd end up regretting and backtracking on. The past few months have not been good for me and the administration policy wise. Steel tariffs, a bloated farm bill, unconstitutional campaign finance reform, and a distracted war effort have made me a little nervous. At times, the administration looks too focused on fall elections rather than principled conservative governance. Priority must be placed on winning the war. Without national security, any other policy debate is moot. "Climate Changing, U.S. Says in Report" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/4/2002 02:33:32 AM ----- BODY: Dinesh D'Souza's What's So Great About America defends the nation from anti-Americans both inside and out. It's a fine read that instantly was place on the Book of the Year shortlist. Oh, Thomas Sowell likes it too. "Great America" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/3/2002 02:43:16 AM ----- BODY: I'm playing the role of meme sheep and latching on to Jim Hart's "Top 5 Favorite Bands/Musicians that I Really Shouldn't Admit that I Like":
The great attraction of politics, for some people, is that it allows them to impose their inner vision of the good life, without being restricted by costs that are inescapable when you make decisions through the marketplace. That is also what makes such busybodies so dangerous to other people.Economic purists would scream indignation that Sowell is mixing positive and normative economics, but he's accurate in his analysis. People run to government to "fix" problems they see the market failing to solve because they're no costs imposed on them. They want to use other people's money to solve their problem. "Priceless Politics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/3/2002 01:13:15 AM ----- BODY: I don't care if the French lost to Senegal, it's still World Cup soccer and I don't care. 1-0: I'm getting bored just thinking about it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/2/2002 11:35:12 PM ----- BODY: The stream of homicide bombers has desensitized us from remembering that the Palestinians are not a monolithic group. Although opinion polls say most Palestinians support bombing as a method in their war against Israel, some accept the inherent humanity of Israelis. 25-year old Thauriya Hamamreh is one such person. She was to be another martyr sacrificing herself for the cause. But after "thinking that I would be killing babies, women and sick people and imagined what it would be like if my family were sitting in a restaurant and someone bombed them" she refused to go on her death trip to Jerusalem. With more people like Thauriya, the violence could end. We can only hope. "Palestinian Woman Bomber Bows Out of Suicide Attack" [via Celestial Companion] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/2/2002 11:22:35 PM ----- BODY: Paul Gottfried noticed an anti-European strain in American conservative thought. No kidding. It didn't take much digging around in back issues of the National Review and The Weekly Standard to discover that. I would include myself with the Euro-bashers. I'm supportive of Europeans who aren't opposed to America using methods and tactics needed to win the War on Terrorism. Norweigian weblogger, Fredrik Norman is a European who understands what's required to win the war. One would be hard pressed to find a more hawkish person on the other side of the pond. If more European leaders took this war as seriously as Norman, and didn't see this as an opportunity to distance themselves from warmongering, cowboy America, then the American Right would be writing about the new convergence of American and European thinking and how it could be extended to other issues (trade, the environment, etc.). This anti-Europeanism isn't a knee-jerk reaction. It's a response to words and actions that stand in the way of American victory and security. "'Cheese-eating Surrender Monkeys?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/1/2002 05:33:46 PM ----- BODY: The planes that crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon were remote controlled. That's what Theirry Meyssan claimed in a lecture given before the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow Up (ZCCF). Now, I wouldn't bother commenting on a ridiculous, crack-pot, Art Bell, quack theory, but the ZCCF is a think tank created by the Arab League. This is the same Arab League that united behind a peace plan a few months back in Beirut. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/30/2002 11:41:22 PM ----- BODY: The FBI's new intelligence gathering policies must be watched closely to prevent abuse. What shocked me was learning that agents couldn't to go public places or search for counterterrorist information on the Internet unless they had approval. That means agents couldn't even do a simple Google search on bin Laden links in the U.S. These new policies don't assure that the FBI will get and use the information it gathers correctly. Information from Arizona combined with that from Minnesota could have given officials more warning that a big terrorist attack was planned. 9.11 may or may not have been prevented. We will never know. What we do know is that the FBI must do a better job analyzing and acting on the information they already have. Internal change has to happen and heads should roll. "FBI Gets More Freedom for Domestic Surveillance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/29/2002 07:39:39 PM ----- BODY: It's good to know that San Francisco, that bastion of free speech, doesn't respect the speech of pro-lifers. Am I shocked at the hypocricy? No. That area is governed by liberals with a mindset where their political beliefs are precious, but the opposition's are evil and must be squelched. "Pro-lifers Censored in San Francisco" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/29/2002 06:11:19 PM ----- BODY: Great, another season of watching a decrepit, hobbled Ozzy wandering around cursing incoherently. I watched a few episodes and do not understand the buzz. Instead of laughing at this family, I felt sorry for them. Ozzy's home life consists of painting in what looks like a coloring book, while complaining about pets. He limps around at home, yet somehow gets it together to put on a high energy show. Have they ever shown Ozzy taking shots so he can stand up straight on stage? The kids are just weird-looking teenagers who are allowed to swear in front of their parents. Sharon is the most normal. She's a workaholic who runs Ozzy's career and takes care of the heavy metal god. There is some sense of a normal family life. Ozzy and Sharon don't let their kids do anything they want, and they hold them accountable when they break the rules. Overall, it's just bland television. It's what the Real World has become: banality edited into 30 minute segments. Except, the Osbournes have no Barbie doll look-a-likes. "MTV Signs Osbournes to New Season" [UPDATE: Paul Cantor writes that "Ozzy and his clan are just plain likable." He also thinks the Osbournes uphold family values--something Dan Quayle also noted in a speech a few weeks ago. These points don't take away from what I see as boring television. It's mildly entertaining in a freak show kind of way, but it quickly becomes tiresome.] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/28/2002 04:45:50 PM ----- BODY: If it has any decent amount of gameplay, America's Army could be one of the most effective pieces of wartime propaganda in U.S. history. The Army is giving the game away for free, so their goal must be to get as many teens playing this game as possible. After completing missions in the Quake-like "Operations" portion of the game, those teens may hunger for the real thing and join up. Since the game was designed by the Army, it should be very realistic, giving civilians an inside look at how a platoon works. But will it show the bloody, ugly side of war? It's not all glory, courage, and victory. It's also death, pain, and agony. I'll soon find out, because my free copy is on its way. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/28/2002 04:31:04 PM ----- BODY: No shock in this small corner of the Web over Brian Williams as Tom Brokaw's replacement. I saw it back when he became the number one pretty face at newly-created MSNBC. What Williams won't be able to do is bring viewers back to network evening news. All-news cable channels and the Internet have changed news viewing habits forever. I'm guessing that Williams will be the last anchor of the "Nightly News." Eventually, NBC will see that news is best left to cable and will end the newscast. "Williams to Succeed Brokaw in 2004" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/28/2002 04:24:45 PM ----- BODY: Prediction time: No one will ever be convicted for the murder of Chandra Levy. I base this on the following quotes of Dr. Jonathan Arden, D.C.'s chief medical examiner:
In this case there was not sufficient evidence to ascertain conclusively the specific injury that caused her death. It is possible that we will never know the specific injury that caused her death. I cannot determine whether she died there or was brought there.Dr. Arden doesn't know where she died, what she died from, or when she died. Nevertheless, he thinks she was murdered. She probably was, but to convict requires evidence. If the police find anyone with the motive and opportunity to kill her, the suspect will have a field day with the medical examiner. It wouldn't take Johnny Cochrane to turn a prosecutor's case into a sieve. This should be my first and only five minutes on this story. Case closed. Move on and let true crime writers like Anne Rule figure out what happened. "Chandra Levy Was Murdered, Examiner Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/28/2002 02:04:06 AM ----- BODY: Rod Dreher had the Bayou at LSU. While going to UMD, I had the Anchor--even though it was across the bridge in Superior, WI. Just like the Bayou, the Anchor was a dive. The chairs, stools, and tables were old. The doors to the bathrooms didn't completely close. There was some pinball machine that was straight out of 1985. Did it have charm? Sure, a little. The place had a nook where board games sat on shelves--not that I remember anyone ever playing them. You always saw a sailor who just arrived back from delivering a load of taconite. Some grizzly woman fried hamburgers and fries in the back. But the reason friends and I went to the Anchor was the cheap beer. On Monday nights, you could get a big pitcher of Budweiser for $2. Bring 5 friends along and you were guaranteed a great buzz. Besides the cheap beer, my best memories of the Anchor are laughing at College Democrats believing the same socialist bunk after quaffing a few. Were College Republicans any better? We still believed the same conservative beliefs late into the night, but at least our ideas were correct in the first place. I wonder if the Anchor is still around. I have no desire to find out. Somehow going into a college bar years after being in school wouldn't feel the same. Returning to the Anchor would be like trying to relive the past. What's done is done. We should learn from the past, but not wallow in it. But do they still serve their 3-pound burger, the Gutbuster? "Memorializing the Bayou" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/28/2002 12:08:19 AM ----- BODY: I'm still hunting for the Gould-Marx connection. Here's a paragraph from the Times of London obituary:
Yet Gould never allowed his political radicalism - which he espoused sometimes in circumstances that demanded a good measure of personal courage - to compromise his belief in individual human rights. Marxism is now long out of fashion, but the beliefs he expounded in the prime of his career could perhaps best be described as those of a libertarian Marxist.A group of Net-savvy Marxists mourned the death of Gould [note 5.24 entry], but it doesn't explicitly say they considered him a comrade-in-arms. "Times Obituary: Stephen Jay Gould" [via Peter Pribik] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/27/2002 11:53:30 PM ----- BODY: To all those who are serving or have served to defend the U.S., thank you. Your sacrifice is not forgotten around here. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/26/2002 11:50:13 AM ----- BODY: It was too daunting a task for the newly created Transportation Security Administration to have federal workers running airport security checkpoints by 11.19. The TSA is now resorting to $500 bonuses to keep current security workers from finding other jobs until they're fully trained or replacements are found. Airport security was passed only for Congress and the President to demonstrate that they were doing something about airline security. They made no case that a properly monitored collection of private firms couldn't do the job better. (Europe contracts security out to private companies.) So now, we're stuck with nationalized airport security with all its bloat and inefficiency. "Airport Security Revamp Sputters" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/25/2002 01:42:59 PM ----- BODY: I may slap someone silly if I hear anyone cry out about the planet running out of room for people. Japan's worried that their population will begin decreasing by 2007. The U.N. says Japan would need to bring in millions of workers just to stabilize the workforce. If this happens (population predictions have bounced from one extreme to the other almost as much as global warming/ice age predications) immigration is one solution. Another is plain old entrepreneurship. Businesses and factories crying out for workers will have to redesign their business methods. Computers and robots may have to fill the worker gap. Maybe Japanese workers will have to push back retirement and work longer because of longer lifespans. What Japan shouldn't do is try to out guess the market and subsidized particular solutions. More than likely, the government would guess wrong and cause even more problems. "Population Trends Pose Major Risks For Stability In Japan, Elsewhere" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/25/2002 01:33:09 PM ----- BODY: The EU says they don't want a trade war with the U.S. over steel tarrifs. The Reuters story mentioned talks that would lower tarrifs on other goods to make up for increased steel tarrifs. It would tick off U.S. farmers but don't be surprised if agricultural duties are lowered. Bush gave farmers a huge gift by signing the farm bill last week. He has political wiggle-room here. "EU's Lamy Says U.S. Steel Dispute No Trade War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/24/2002 10:00:00 AM ----- BODY: The Culture of Death rears its ugly head. I'm apalled by Cynthia Fields' comment:
The doctor took away my rights. If I had known she [7-year old Jade] had a birth defect like this, in the blink of an eye I would never have had her.Ms. Fields thinks she has a right to a perfect child. No, she doesn't. No one can impose their will on Nature. Chance is always present. Good and bad happen. We must accept that fact. Life is a blessing, not the curse she thinks it is. Fortunately for Jade, her retardation prevents her from understanding the horrible words her mother said. We will only see more and more of these "wrongful-birth' lawsuits. With better control over human reproduction, people expect fewer "mistakes." Plus with the option of abortion, problems can just disappear. "Family of Disabled Child Settles for $1.65M" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/24/2002 01:17:31 AM ----- BODY: Sen. Russ Feingold said, "People have to pay money to get their music played." Hey, Russ, people also pay money to get their stuff on grocery shelves, and few complain about the lack of diversity of products in supermarkets. I'll admit most music on radio stinks. What I won't accept is orders from Washington organizing the radio industry. People who don't like commercial radio have plenty of options: non-profit radio; the Internet; satellite radio; CDs; MP3s. Radio giants like Clear Channel will only change when they think it will help the bottom line. If you don't like what's playing, don't listen. It's as simple as that. "Critics Seek Limits on Radio 'Payola'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/24/2002 12:57:14 AM ----- BODY: Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland admitted to paying off a man accusing him of sexual assault. The Archbishop denies abusing Paul Marcoux when he was a student at Marquette University in the 1979. When you take the Journal Sentinel story and combine it with a 1980 letter from Weakland to Marcoux, the easiest conclusion to make is that Weakland is a gay Archbishop who succumbed to temptation. The letter shows that both these men were troubled. Marcoux was dealing with depression, thoughts of suicide, and a break up with another lover. Weakland was dealing with his feelings for Marcoux and his vow of celibacy. Weakland writes:
During the last months I have come to know how strained I was, tense, pensive, without much joy. I couldn't pray at all. I just did not seem to be honest with God. I felt I was fleeing from Him, from facing Him. I know what the trouble was: I was letting your conscience take over for me and I couldn't live with it. I felt like the world's worst hypocrite. So gradually I came back to the importance of celibacy in my life - not just a physical celibacy but the freedom the celibate commitment gives. I knew I would have to face up to it and take seriously that commitment I first made thirty-four years ago. I found my task as priest-archbishop almost unbearable these months and I came to realize that I was at a crossroads - and I knew I had to get the courage to decide.In the end, Weakland abandons the relationship calling it "the greatest renunciations the Lord has asked me to make for His Kingdom." There are two problems with Weakland. First, he is a gay Archbishop who kept his sexuality away from the eyes of his parishioners. Since I'm not Catholic, I don't know if this is a breach of trust. Catholic doctrine opposes homosexual acts, but I believe homosexual priests are acceptable as long as they are celibate. Second, Weakland used $450,000 in church money to keep Marcoux quiet. To use Andrew Sullivan's words "that money was stolen by the archbishop from his parishioners." "Weakland Accused, Denies Sexual Abuse" "Milwaukee Archbishop Admits Settlement with Accuser" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/23/2002 11:56:06 PM ----- BODY: I knew my readers wouldn't disappoint me. According to Lowell Ponte, the late Stephen Jay Gould had a picture of Lenin above his desk. He was also raised by a communist father. A New York magazine article called Gould's politics "socialist" and his view of human history "Marxist." I've discovered an interview for Skeptic magazine where Gould is quoted as saying "It's true, my father was a Marxist so I had that background," but he also said he's proud of his "conventional liberal political attitudes." In a Washington Post obituary, it states, "Critics sometimes called him a Marxist" (emphasis mine). Then there is an essay in Gould's The Panda's Thumb where he parallels his "punctuated equilibrium" with Marxist dialectics. This is a start, but it's not definitive. It appears Gould kept his politics rather private, but with the numerous essays he wrote there has to be something where his political worldview stands out. Please keep the e-mail coming. We'll get to the bottom of this. "Political Scientist" "Look Who's Stalking" [thanks Rick] "An Urchin In A Haystack" "The Scientist Who Wrote Rings Around The Earth" "Stephen Jay Gould, Punctuationalism, and Dialectics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/23/2002 10:57:10 PM ----- BODY: The Senate passed fast-track trade authority for President Bush. This better get Bush back onto the free trade train. "Senate Hands Bush Major Trade Victory" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/22/2002 01:19:43 PM ----- BODY: Peggy Noonan writes that Pres. Bush put tariffs on steel and signed the pork-laden farm bill because he is focusing on the war. He doesn't feel pressure from his base because we (including me) know the war is most important. Granted, Bush's number one priority as commander-in-chief must be fighting the war, but at what cost? When America achieves victory, we will still be stuck with with a new trade policy that disrupted the decades-long trend of trade barrier reductions. We'll also be stuck with a farm bill that reversed 1996's small movement toward a free market in agriculture. After laws are passed, there is tremendous inertia preventing them from being reversed. In his book, Crisis and Leviathan, Robert Higgs put forth the theory that government grew as a result of national crisis. Economic panic from the stock market crash of 1929 brought about the quasi-socialist New Deal. World Wars I & II gave us more expansions of government power. Those expansions of power didn't disappear after the crisises vanished. An expansion that affects almost all Americans, income tax withholding, was started in 1943 to fund the war. Now, no one seriously considers its abolishment. In the short term, Bush's tactics to win a Republican congressional majority may work, but the effects may last beyond any of our lifetimes. Noonan thinks Bush's base understands his political tactics, but a few more cave ins and conservatives might come to the conclusion that fighting for a conservative Republican Congressional majority isn't that important since the President won't fight for conservatism. "Dubya's New Deal" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/22/2002 01:24:24 AM ----- BODY: Stephen Jay Gould was a mighty defender and innovator of Darwinism. Whether you accepted the idea that Man was derived from proteins in a mud puddle or the result of divine inspiration, he was well known intellectual who's ideas will long outlive him. I thought Gould had some link to Communism. I thought at one time he admitted to being a Communist/Marxist. I haven't had any luck finding any information via Google, so I'm doubting myself. If you know of any interviews, essays, books, or web pages that link Gould to Communism/Marxism, please e-mail me. If you're positive that a few of my neurons misfired, let me know too. Godspeed, Stephen. "Stephen Jay Gould, Biologist and Theorist on Evolution, Dies at 60" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 11:35:52 PM ----- BODY: Why didn't Democrats complain that the farm bill was a sop to the rich? Because it increased government's power. Will Sam Donaldson do a story on the pork-laden bill? Probably not, since he got $29,106 in subsidies from 1996 to 2000. Steel tariffs and this awful farm bill--Bush sure isn't showing off his economic conservative credentials. "Wealthy to Reap Bounty of Farm Bill" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 11:28:44 PM ----- BODY: Rumsfeld says terrorists will get nukes; Director Mueller says Palestinian-style homicide bomb attacks in the U.S. are likely; Dick Cheney said another major attack is "inevitable;" and Tom Ridge warns about possible attacks on apartments. All this is CYT--Cover Your Tush. If and when something horrible happens, government officials can use these statements to say, "See, we were on watch, and told the public to be aware. There was no dereliction of duty here." America is a big, free land. People, both good and bad, come here to experience that freedom. Having such freedom from government eyes allows bad guys to run around planning evil things against us. Unless we want to sacrifice our freedom, another terrorist attack will happen. We could heed Fareed Zakaria's advice and set up a domestic intelligence agency, but do we want government to given easy access to our mail, telephone, and electronic communications? Or we could heed Patrick Ruffini's argument for preemptive strikes at possible national threats? What these warnings do is reinforce the notion that post-9.11 is a different world. The days of watching reports of overseas terrorist attacks and feeling relieved that it can't happen here are over. We all still have that sense of unease, but it will pass. People living in Jerusalem, Belfast, and London have experience many more terrorist attacks than either New York City or Washington, and they've managed to continue functioning. Americans will do the same. "Rumsfeld: Terrorists Will Get Nukes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 11:02:21 PM ----- BODY: Transportation Undersecretary John Magaw, Secretary Norman Mineta, and Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge don't want pilots to defend their planes from hijackers. Instead, they place their faith in air marshalls who can't be on every flight. Hijackers, knowing air marshalls could be on the plane is somewhat of a deterrent, but knowing that every pilot could be armed would be better. The best would be to allow passengers to bring their own weapons on board. Since many states already have concealed carry laws that have reduced violent crime, this doesn't seem ridiculous. I'm pretty sure a terrorist would avoid any flights originating from Texas or Georgia. Pilots are our first and last lines of defense up in the sky. They deserve a fighting chance. "DOT Says No Guns in the Cockpit" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 10:24:35 PM ----- BODY: Nearly expired Coca-Cola was repackaged from white neighborhoods and sold in minority neighborhoods. My initial reaction is to say, "So what?" Notice that it wasn't expired Coke; it was "nearly expired" soda. Also notice that the local bottler didn't charge the stores in the minority communities full price. What this looks like is just plain good logistic strategy. The bottler found where the soda could be sold quickly before it expired. They got revenue for nearly wasted product, and minority consumers got a deal on Coke. Maybe that's why the local NAACP chapter isn't immediately screaming racism. "Coke Resold Nearly Expired Soda in Minority Neighborhoods, Workers Say" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 03:22:57 AM ----- BODY: Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! The planned additon to the Royal Ontario Museum looks like an alien civlization planted itself like a parasite onto the original building. There is no respect for the surroundings. It's designed to showcase the designer, not add to the building. The end result is a design made to stroke the ego of the architect. This is a building for Earth: Final Conflict, which is fitting since it's filmed in Canada. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 02:31:04 AM ----- BODY: While the media claimed mailbox bomber, Luke Helder played in a punk band, OC Weekly sets the record straight:
The first few bars of "Back and Black" sound like Nirvana covering the Wipers (which is what all the best Nirvana sounded like anyway). That?s fine. But then Helder gets to sing--sorta like Ani DiFranco, oddly--and Kurt starts rolling in his lipstick-and-overwrought-poetry-covered grave. And the song "Conformity"? It sounds like rural Minnesotans covering Nirvana, which may be hard to listen to, but that alone doesn?t make it punk rock. Apathy--as Mr. Helder would likely be the first to tell you, if he weren?t incommunicado in federal prison or something--is total grunge.Of course grunge--a horrible label put on a decent genre of music--is derived from punk. Mix in some Black Sabbath-style heavy metal with a pinch of 80s hair metal and you've got the Seattle music scene a la 1991. "Poseur Explosion" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2002 01:43:20 AM ----- BODY: Companies, like Stanley Works, moving their addresses (but not physical entities) to overseas may be the effect of a U.S. legal system gone wacko. At least that's what Paul Craig Roberts suggests. Here's how Roberts views the American legal landscape:
Today, the U.S. legal system has been laid low by: a great profusion of law and regulation, much of which is contradictory; class action and plaintiff civil suits that blame deep pocket defendants for the plaintiffs' mistakes; unscrupulous prosecutors who abuse their powers; asset freeze and forfeiture laws that have destroyed the security of property; and Benthamite legal influences that have stripped away the individual's protections, which were once the glory of the Anglo-American legal system. Today, not even lawyers know what the law is. This is due not only to the law's sheer bulk, but also to the ability of prosecutors and regulators to create law on the spot by interpreting statutes and regulations to suit their purposes. In effect, law has become a kind of silly putty out of which prosecutors and police fashion bills of attainder.Both Walter Olsen and Philip Howard have documented the law run amuck. A stable rule of law that everyone understands is crucial to economic development. Individuals need to know what the rules are, who enforces them, and what the consequences of violated them are in order to enter them into their economic calculations. A runaway legal system abused by officials as well as scheming lawbreakers adds uncertainty to peoples' calculations. That can force some to give up their enterprises or to move them to places with more stable legal regimes. "Fourth in a Series on America's Imperiled Future" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/19/2002 05:51:39 PM ----- BODY: Jim Lehrer sees the future of news, and it doesn't include the major networks. Matt Drudge quotes PBS' top news man, "They go about the business of entertaining and leave informing to others." I haven't watched Dan, Peter, or Tom in years, and much of America is ignoring them too. With all-news cable channels and the Internet, losing the nightly news would be a real loss. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/19/2002 05:43:42 PM ----- BODY: How perceptive of Mike to notice that "a Sith Lord controls the Senate," and he's not talking about Darth Sidious. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/18/2002 01:30:07 PM ----- BODY: No need for me to add anything about how much President Bush knew about terrorist attacks pre-9.11. That story is a non-story. Bush only received vague information about potential hijackings--little to deserve a counter-response that would have put a blanket on U.S. air travel. The real story is the media feeding-frenzy. "[T]he story is now about the story, not about the alleged facts that gave rise to it," to use Michael Uhlmann's words. Other than Hardball and the brief blurbs on Fox News Channel, the media has forgotten that war is still being waged in Afghanistan. Troops are still hunting down Al Qaeda and Taliban soldiers. That's what's really happening right here, right now. Instead of covering that, the press jumps on what President Bush might have known and when he may have known it. The Democrats for their part see this as a chance to knock Bush down a notch and show the public that he isn't a great as the public thinks he is. By going down this road, the Democrats repeat the strange accusations of Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) who believes Bush kept his knowledge of 9.11 quiet so his corporate buddies could get rich off the war. When McKinney made those comments, her fellow Democrats distanced themselves from her. Now, they sound like they're reading from her press releases. "Starving for a Story" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/17/2002 08:49:17 PM ----- BODY: Attack of the Clones is magnificent! Visually, it's the most spectacular Star Wars yet. From the lighted urban landscape of Corusant to placid Naboo to two armies clashing on Geonossis, Lucas takes viewers to imaginary places better than any other movie maker has ever done. The action and special effects are relentless and magical. Wondrous new creatures to gaze at along with a take-charge, kung-fu Yoda make for jaw-dropping visuals. The acting at times is stiff, but it's never been the series strong point. Nevertheless, Hayden Christensen as Anakin shows the emotional turmoil that will later push him to the Dark Side. What impressed me the most about Clones was the epic scope of the plot. The political bickering in the Senate is not the only sign of the Republic's decay. Knowledge is being lost. More and more Jedi are becoming arrogant and they're losing touch with the Force. Planets want to leave the ailing Republic. In response to this, the Senate give Chancellor Palpatine immense powers. He raises an army of clones (that he's had secretly grown) to fight in the insurrection. In the climatic battle scenes, we see Jedi and proto-stormtroopers fighting side-by-side. It was very eery to watch the defenders of justice fighting with an army that would one day enslave a galaxy. I've only seen it once, but I think this movie has staying power. I'm not just talking about at the box office this summer. For years to come, fans will never tire of popping Clones into the DVD player or flipping it on when it's on television. There's more heft than The Phantom Menace, with even more stunning scenes. I need to see it again. "Forceful Return of George Lucas' Serial Thriller" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/16/2002 03:59:56 AM ----- BODY: Open Source guru, Eric Raymond has joined the collective weblog organism. In a post on Luke Helder, he connects his pipe bomb spree to the pathetic state of modern art.
It was inevitable, I suppose, that sooner or later terrorism would become bad performance art. It's easy to condemn pipe-bomb-boy for callously putting people at lethal risk with his toys, but difficult to summon up the kind of personal hatred for this perpetrator that Al-Qaeda's flamboyant fanatic nut-jobs have so richly earned. I think our ire might be more properly directed elsewhere -- at all the people who have cooperated in dumbing down the definition of `art' so completely that Luke Helder actually thought he was doing it. Once upon a time, art had something to do with achieving a meeting of minds between artist and audience. The artist's job was to rework the symbols and materials of his culture into expressions that affirmed and explored the values of that culture and pleased audiences. Artists operated within interpretive traditions that they shared with the non-artists in the audience. The truly able artist earned the privilege of making his work personal and individual, but only by successfully finding an audience and communicating with it in acceptable conventional terms first. In the late 19th century Western culture began to admit a new definition of `art' and a new role for artists. Under the influence of modernism and various post-modern movements, artists began to see their job as the systematic subversion of the interpretive traditions they had inherited. "Back to zero!" was the cry. After zero, the new goal could no longer the meeting of minds in a culturally shared commons, but rather that the audience's minds should be invaded by the disruptive brillance of the artist's individual insight. In the hands of a few early moderns -- Stravinsky, Brancusi, Picasso, Joyce -- the new agenda produced astonishingly fine work. In the hands of too many others, it produced vacuous, narcissistic nonsense. Luke Helder inherited its most vulgar form -- the notion that all the artist is required to do is "make a statement" about the contents of his own muddled mind, and it's the world's job to catch up.Raymond echoes Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word. "Terrorism Becomes Bad Art" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/16/2002 03:08:00 AM ----- BODY: Good stuff from Jonathan Chiat. He points out that "prior to Israel?s offensive in the West Bank, suicide bombers were striking at nearly a once-a-day rate. Since then, they?ve struck at a rate closer to once a month." He also writes, "[H]istorical facts mesh better with the idea that Palestinian violence results from Israeli weakness than with the idea that it results from Israeli strength. The Palestinians may never really accept Israel?s right to exist, but they may make peace if they conclude that destroying Israel is impossible." While Chiat doesn't explicitly state it, the conclusion echos Ronald Reagan: Peace through strength. "Exploding Myths" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/16/2002 02:56:13 AM ----- BODY: Arafat is calling for reforms and new elections, but Reuters got it right when its story said, "Arafat unveiled his proposals in broad strokes but with scant detail." We also have to see if serious action follows Arafat's words. But he may see this as the only way he can remain a player in this game. "Arafat Calls for Palestinian Reforms, Elections" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/15/2002 02:07:13 PM ----- BODY: Is the baseball players union crazy? Don't they realize that another strike could drive even more fans away from the sport and kill it? Baseball is disfunctional the way it is; another work stoppage won't fix that. "Baseball May Strike by August" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/15/2002 01:38:02 PM ----- BODY: Alright, I'll give Jimmy Carter a little credit for criticizing Castro on Cuba television. But that's not a hard thing to do. I've never been to Cuba, and I know how poor and oppressive that island prison is. I still do not think that makes up for airing his public feud with the Bush administration in a foreign land. "Carter Criticizes Both Cuba, U.S. Trade Ban" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/14/2002 03:25:05 AM ----- BODY: Frank Gaffney has a fine article on Carter's Cuba visit. He writes,
It is outrageous -- but hardly surprising -- that Jimmy Carter would put himself into a position where he will be shamelessly used as a propaganda foil against his own government. To be sure, he has done it before. By his participation in Potemkin tours of Cuban factories and other sites at this juncture, however, he is not only lending credibility to a regime that makes no secret of its hostility to the United States. The ex-President is overtly undercutting the current President's policy of insisting on regime change in Cuba and the liberation of the long-suffering people of that island as a precondition to normalizing economic and political relations between the two countries."Ex-Presidential Misconduct" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/14/2002 02:56:06 AM ----- BODY: Jonah Goldberg's latest column got me thinking about elitism. I'm an elitist. I believe that some ideas and people are better than others. Copernicus' model of the universe was better than Ptolemy's. Darwin better explained how traits got passed on to descendants better than Lamarck. Capitalism is a much, much better way to run an economy than Communism/Socialism. Judeo-Christian civilization is historically better than Islamic civilization. Brett Favre is a better quarterback than Randy Wright. Shakespeare beats the pants off of Woody Allen any day. Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and any other rap-rock acts shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath with Anthrax's and Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise." Some of these are pretty obvious, while others do offer some debate. Regardless of my comparisons, I'm not afraid of establishing standards of quality and comparing people, ideas, and art to those standards. To do otherwise is intellectually dishonest and lazy. I'm not resorting to a knee-jerk feeling that respect and tolerance toward others requires that I reject standards. No one does this in real life even if many people "don't want to judge." Everyday people make choices. Coke or Pepsi? Paper or plastic? Country music or (eek) smooth jazz? Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green? We do this because we all have definite opinions on things. Being uncritical because we fear of being too elitist means we start accepting the bad along with the good. What happens is those very terms vanish, and we're left with a bland sort of everything. The world becomes a jumbled mess because we're too afraid of judging one object from another. The NY Times becomes as legitimate as the National Enquirer. Britney Spears is the equivalent of Ella Fitzgerald. Paul Krugman is considered to be as good an economist as F. A. Hayek. Goldberg rightly doesn't want to "eliminate altogether the positions they should rightly hold." Instead, we must reject those "who believe that a bone through the nose is equivalent to a moon launch." Criticism implies that something is better than others. A critic should compare the subject being reviewed with the critic's set of standards. Good criticism points out the good and bad regardless of how sympathetic the critic is of the subject. Matt Welch finds that Marc Cooper's review of a Gore Vidal book fails as good criticism. Welch writes,
By saying that some of Vidal's rhetoric "may or may not be hyperbole," and giving his own disagreement with Vidal's insane 9/11 remedies a big "so what", Cooper is basically arguing that specific ideas and statement simply don't matter. What matters, as Cooper states elsewhere in the review, is that Vidal "writes not from hatred but from a profound love betrayed and defiled, proudly casting himself as a noble defender of "the American Republic against the American Global Empire." What matters is that Vidal has been prolific, that he stands in opposition to things Cooper doesn't like, and that he writes "eloquently." Gore's heart is in the right place, so why bust his chops on an exaggeration or two?Cooper takes no stands on Vidal's positions. Is he afraid of sounding too judgmental? Welch explains that bad criticism is not good for the subject. "Failing to challenge those we sympathize with actually ends up insulting their intelligence, infantilizing them." That feels a little like having different standards for racial groups under affirmative action programs. Under represented groups obviously can't compete with the dominant white male, so let's make up some new standards. What elitism and good criticism do is let people know that there is good and bad, right and wrong. They put ideas and people up on a pedestal and show us all the possibilities of Man. They also encourage people to compete with new and better ideas and art. Elitism and criticism are not tools of the dominant socio-economic class. They're tools to appreciate the greatness of Man and to continue his greatness. "In Defense of Elitism" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/14/2002 12:39:19 AM ----- BODY: If you're opposed to a high school using the name "Packers" for their teams, you probably just love the latest PETA nuttiness. In a letter to Austin, MN High School, the group said the name Packers was "nothing to be proud of." Well, while messy and monotous, meatpacking is honest work. Animals go into the factory and wholesome food comes out. But what about the animals? Well, they're killed. Do I feel bad about that? No. They're mere creatures put on this planet to satisfy Man's wants and needs. These are creatures who don't recognize their own existence. To apply human standards of rationality and emotion onto a cow, pig, or chicken is ridiculous and robs those terms of any meaning. Notice that PETA sent a letter to a Southern Minnesota school instead of the more famous Packers in Green Bay. They know it's hopeless to promote their cause in an area where the third most common conversation involves deer hunting (#1 being the weather; #2 being the Packers). "Animal Rights Group Wants High School Packers Teams Renamed" [via Andrew Sullivan] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/13/2002 11:32:53 PM ----- BODY: Does Brendan Nyhan of Spinsanity understand politics? He criticizes President Bush for campaigning against a Democrat for a Texas Senate seat. Nyhan writes,
Bush is now presumptively defining Democrats as obstructionists (and nonindependent thinkers) simply for being members of their party. Kirk has not cast a single vote in the Senate -- indeed, he has repeatedly expressed his desire to work with the president.Uh, Brendan, that's how party politics work. The goal is to get more people from your party elected than from the other party. Because if you have more of your guys in the Senate, you can control committees, bills, debate, and confirmations. As the opposition party, the Democrats in the Senate aren't standing aside and passing anything Bush wants. Instead, they are promoting their own agenda while finding issues to run on in the fall. The ultimate goal of party politics is to get your ideas made into law. What the parties do is lay out their ideas then at the same time poke holes in those of their opponents. This mild, non-violent form of warfare involves many different tactics and strategies. One tactic is to slow down and "obstruct" bills and nominations an opposing party wants to get through. Based on this political reality, Bush has every reason to oppose a Democratic Senate candidate just for being a Democrat. If more Democrats get elected to the Senate than Republicans, then they retain control and can prevent Bush from getting things he wants passed. Moreover, Bush can rightly claim that any Democratic Senate candidate would be an "obstructionist" to his administration because that candidate probably would not vote for Bush's bills. "No Beating Around the Bush" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/13/2002 11:03:11 PM ----- BODY: Jimmy Carter has a vendeta against the Bush administration. How else to explain his public questioning of the government over Cuba's bioweapons program? Carter says officials didn't inform him about Cuba's possible help to rogue states. Administration officials, including Colin Powell stand by their intelligence. It's one thing to question the accuracy information, but it's another to publicly question it and challenge your own government in front of a man (Castro) who's thumbed his nose at the U.S. for years. This isn't the first time Carter has questioned the veracity of the Bush administration. Last May, Carter wrote an op-ed criticizing the administration's energy policy. He wrote that it was "based on misleading statements" and that they were "careful to conceal" facts about the California electricity crisis. Fidel must just be eating this up. He gets an ex-President to visit him. Not only that, he gets the man who he helped lose an election by cleaning out his jails and psycho wards and dumping the refuse onto Florida's shores. Then on top of that, this man publically criticizes the present administration. Castro's got plenty of anti-American ammunition out of Carter's visit for at least 3 four-hour speeches. Thanks, Jimmy. Thanks for kissing up to that thug Castro. Thanks for trying to embarass a government you once headed. Once again you've failed your country. "Carter Questions Cuba Terror Claims" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 11:47:50 PM ----- BODY: Fredrik Norman is living the good life.
Life is good when you can kick back in the garden outside your home, with a notebook connected wirelessly to the Internet, a glass of cold Fanta and a cute cat right by your side, and watch a live stream from American TV on Ayn Rand. Ahh. If those Muslim kooks want to take this away from me, they're going to have to fight pretty damn hard. A toast, to progress!I'm guessing the Ayn Rand show he was watching was the American Writers series on C-SPAN. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 10:15:46 PM ----- BODY: In a political economic context, Bush's steel tariffs stink. First, it protects inefficient domestic steel producers from adapting to a more competitive, international market. Second, it opened a Pandora's Box of protectionism. Democratic Senators won't give Bush fast-track trade authority unless he agrees to environmental and labor concessions. The new steel tariffs were suppose to help get fast-track through. Instead, it's embolden special interests while ticked off our major trading partners who are putting together retaliatory tariffs. The administration must abandon this path and move back to a principled advocacy for reduced trade barriers. "Downhill on Trade" [via Global News Watch] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 08:27:18 PM ----- BODY: Be wary of graduates from Swathmore College. Here's a portion of an e-mail from a Swathmore student.
Recently, a Swarthmore student was arrested by the FBI for possessing pornographic images of pre-pubescent children and soliciting sex from a minor over the internet. And wouldn't you know it but everyone came to his defense, writing letters to the Phoenix (our school paper) that this student posed no threat to the community. One girl, who is a student and has a 5 year old-daughter, responded to these letters by claiming that as a mother, she thought the pedophile posed a grave threat to the community. Well, she was lambasted in private forums as worse than a pedophile because she had chosen (gasp!) not to have an abortion when she was a pregnant teenager. So that about seems to be the consensus here, that a girl who chooses not to have an abortion is worse than a pedophile. Oh well. I suppose this sort of thing happening at Swarthmore won't surprise many, but I was shocked.She's not the only one shocked. Swathmore also has coed dorm rooms. I shutter to think what college life will be like when I send my children (none yet) to school. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 08:20:33 PM ----- BODY: I had a feeling NRO's The Corner was Blogger-powered. The URLs seemed mighty familiar. Since it's now listed as a Blogger "Blogs of Note" my suspicion is confirmed. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 07:44:31 PM ----- BODY: There are a couple Wisconsin links in this Sunday's NY Times Book Review. First, Ann Packer's The Dive From Clausen's Pier is set in Madison and New York City. After Carrie Bell's fiance becomes paralyzed from a swimming accident, she must choose between her stale 9-year love and self-fulfillment. Not my kind of book. Next, Sue Graham, a "former debutante from Milwaukee," writes about life with jazz great Charles Mingus in Tonight at Noon. "The Dive From Clausen's Pier: Choosing Between Betrayal and Self-Betrayal" "Tonight at Noon: Epitaph for Jazz's Angry Man" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 06:35:42 PM ----- BODY: Steve Den Beste points out that most carbon dioxide production is through natural processes. No matter how many laws California or Washington, D.C. passes, they can't stop bacteria in termites from releasing the greenhouse gas. Den Beste writes:
Collectively, human activity releases approximately 7 billion tons of CO2 per year into the atmosphere. Natural processes release 150 billion tons each year. In other words, humans are responsible for less than 4% of the CO2 release each year...Kyoto seems pretty pointless. [via A Coyote at the Dog Show] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2002 04:18:08 AM ----- BODY: It's been over eight months since the attacks on New York and Washington, yet it feels more distant. So much history has passed already: the attacks; national mourning; flags flying everywhere; Anthrax via mail; Afghanistan liberated; homicide bombers attacking Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian crisis has taken so much attention away from 9.11, but like the twin towers used to do in NYC, there's still a big shadow over us. On that Tuesday in September, we saw how evil Man could be. But we also discovered (actually re-discovered) how good Man could be. Heartbreak and sadness fill Officer Paul Mauro's account at Ground Zero. He writes:
Only occasionally is there more than this. One bag reveals a severed human foot, the toenails painted a heartbreaking violet. And this is what shocks you, what sits you down with a nauseated, displaced feel of a world spinning awry. Not the gore or the lack of it, but the small details that point tellingly to fragile lives caught in the maelstrom.Officer Mauro also got much needed public appreciation. He recalls getting a sandwich from two women. With it was a note saying, "Thank you for your bravery," and "God bless you." Simple and touching. "One Ground Zero Cop's Heartbreaking Account of Days Just After 9/11" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/11/2002 01:35:51 PM ----- BODY: The sexiest intellectual battle right now is over biotechnology. There have been plenty of articles, weblog posts, and even a petition drive. Just recently, Francis Fukuyama released his Our Posthuman Future to really get the debate going. But another heated intellectual battle has re-ignited with the release of Thomas DiLorenzo's The Real Lincoln. This battle is being waged in conservative and libertarian magazines and websites. In The Real Lincoln, DiLorenzo tries to de-mystify Lincoln from the favorable books written about him over the years. He punctures the notion that Lincoln went to war to free the slaves. Instead, DiLorenzo writes that he did it "to save the union." DiLorenzo doesn't stop just with slavery and the Civil War. He goes on to argue that our current Leviathan state got its first legs from Lincoln's administration. Lincoln defenders are a passionate lot and don't take such critisism lying down. Writing in the Spring 2002 issue of the Claremon Review of Books, Tom Krannawitter rebuts DiLorenzo. He calls The Real Lincoln "the latest attempt to finish the job so ignobly begun by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865," and then quips, "that his aim is not nearly as good as Booth's." The most powerful of Krannawitter's points is his examination of a quote DiLorenzo ties to Lincoln claiming he didn't believe that "All men are created equal." The quote is actually from a Virginia minister, and Lincoln was using it to criticise the man's position. While not anywhere close to the intellectual fraud of Michael Bellesiles's Arming America, it certainly appears to be either sloppy thinking or anti-Lincoln spin. Having read little about Lincoln and the Civil War except from high school textbooks and McPherson's outstanding Battle Cry of Freedom I can't take a firm position. I lean toward the Lincolnphiles because the war did end slavery and preserved the nation. However, I'm sympathetic toward sessionist positions. Remember, the United States itself was created by seceding from the British Empire. The Founders called it "revolution." Lincoln critics like DiLorenzo also point out the many, many abuses that took place during the war. I credit them for that. "Dishonest About Abe" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/10/2002 12:38:40 AM ----- BODY: Former Green Bay Packers coach, Dan Devine died. The Packers had this to say about Devine:
Perhaps best known for his success in the college ranks, Devine spent four seasons with the Green and Gold, accumulating a 25-27-4 record from 1971-74 as he maintained the duties of both head coach and general manager. It might have seemed meager at the time, the legend of Vince Lombardi still casting such an enormous shadow, but history looks upon Devine's Green Bay career more kindly.No mention is made of the story about distraught Packers fans killing Devine's dogs. Sorry, I couldn't find a link to the story. Anyone know more about it? Godspeed, Dan. "Dan Devine Dies At 77; Remembering His Packers Career" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/10/2002 12:28:50 AM ----- BODY: Have faith in the Saudi peace plan? I don't because in that theocracy they have men like Sheik Salleh Abdul Aziz Mohammed al-Sheik who said, "The suicide bombers are permitted. The victims are considered to have died a martyr's death." I would like to blame this all on the Wahabi strain of Islam, but I've heard few Islamic voices declare homicide bombers as enemies of a "religion of peace"--to use Pres. Bush's words. "Once Again" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/10/2002 12:07:21 AM ----- BODY: Ha'aretz reports that President Bush agrees with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Arafat can't be dealt with in negotiations. Sources say the plan is to agree to negotiations after "structural changes that would ultimately sideline Arafat." Bravo! No more chances for Arafat. He's failed his people and must disappear. I wonder what Colin Powell thinks of this? "IDF Massing Troops Near Gaza in Preparation for Retaliatory Strike" "Arafat's Out" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/9/2002 11:32:23 PM ----- BODY: Econoblog could be really intersting. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/9/2002 10:47:26 PM ----- BODY: A smiley face?!? A smiley face!?! Luke Helder has moved from anti-American terrorist to strung out loon (no offense to any fine bird readers). Since his beliefs parallel the Heaven's Gate cult, I would have expected the bombing pattern to look like a crop circle or some astronomical chart, but a smiley face? One reader e-mailed:
This has LSD written all over it. Forget the MJ, he went right to the big stuff.I see that. Smiley faces and acid go together like white on rice. (Brown on rice for you more health conscious readers.) During his hearing in Reno, he just starts hitting it off with his lawyers and the judge like they're all hanging out in the dorms of UW-Stout. Here's some of what went on in the courtroom:
As the session began, the judge asked if Lucas John Helder was his true name. "Yeah, that's correct," Helder answered. "Do you understand that you don't have to make any statements?" McQuaid asked. "Most definitely," the suspect responded. "If you do make a statement, it could be used against you," the judge said. "For sure," Helder replied.Does Helder even know what serious trouble he's in? Does he realize how many people he hurt and almost killed? This just screams of insanity, but there has to be more to this. In a week, this story has gone from frightening to the beginnings of a Saturday Night Live skit. "Police: Suspect Planned Smiley Face Bomb Pattern" [UPDATE: The FBI says that Helder threatened to blow up a mailbox in Minnesota in 1998. This may be the beginnings of a pattern.] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2002 10:08:12 PM ----- BODY: Welcome everyone who's found my little neck of the Web via InstaPundit. I have another post on Luke Helder below. Hope you come back for more than just comments on mailbox bombers. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2002 09:59:51 PM ----- BODY: Rem Koolhaas' idea of a new EU logo demonstrates the current problems with modern art. First, it's glaringly ugly. Second, it's a conglomeration of many ideas--here being all the national flags of EU states--with little thought. The British Union Jack loses its royalty by becoming only a few bands of red, white, and blue. Finally, there's no meaning behind it. It doesn't symbolize anything. The logo is just a bunch of colorful lines slapped together with little thought. With the American flag the stars represent the individual states, while the red and white stripes represent the 13 original colonies that broke off from Britain. By looking at that flag, you can see the historical span of a nation. You look at Koolhaas' creation and you wonder what's wrong with the television. "EU May Get New 'Bar-Code' Logo" [via Plastic] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2002 09:35:40 PM ----- BODY: Despite the conventional wisdom (i.e. Big Media), Pim Fortuyn wasn't the Dutch version of Le Pen. Much of his platform consisted of restructuring bureaucracies and cutting red tape. What linked Fortuyn with Le Pen was his resistance to endless immigration. Fortuyn wanted immigration restrictions because he feared the illiberal Islamic culture of many newcomers. He also opposed it because he didn't see the Netherlands as an "immigration country" due to high population density. There are no racial or anti-Semitic attacks. If I had to describe Fortuyn's political philosophy in a few words I would call it "reform libertarianism with a Pat Buchanan touch." Positions of Lijst Pim Fortuyn [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2002 09:00:00 PM ----- BODY: If Arafat is really serious about ending the bloodshed and moving toward peace, he should offer to work with Israeli forces in destroying Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and any other terrorist groups operating within Palestine. After today's homicide bombings, the PA condemned them by calling them "terrorist crimes." That's a start, but the PA must convince Israel that they want and end to all this is. To do that, Arafat must declare terrorist organizations enemies of Palestine and then have them eliminated. I have little faith that Arafat will do that. He just has too many connections to groups behind the bombings. He also doesn't want peace because then Arafat would have the difficult time of actually trying to build a prosperous Palestine. He's kind of like Castro. As long as he has some outside force to blame, he can continue to be the victim and hold power. "Sharon Anger over Suicide Bombing" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2002 04:20:48 PM ----- BODY: Mailbox bomber, Luke Helder has been captured and has confessed to his terrorism spree. The man the FBI considered "armed and dangerous" tossed a gun out his car when authorities pulled him over. While prosecutors across the Midwest filed charges against Helder, he remains in a Reno, NV jail under suicide watch. What should we make of this guy? The reason he may be under a suicide watch is because he was wearing a Kurt Cobain t-shirt. The picture of him being led in handcuffs by police show him with a goofy grin on his face. He's even slightly grinning in his mug shot. He certainly doesn't look too distraught. Is he posing for the cameras? I ask this because Helder's father said, "I think he's just trying to make a statement about the way our government is run. I think Luke wants people to listen to his ideas, and not enough people are hearing him, and he thinks this may help." Luke Helder's ideas appear to be laid out in a letter sent to a University of Wisconsin-Madison newspaper. In the letter, he denys the existence of death. Death is just a concept created by people who don't understand what happens beyond. In notes found with mailbombs on Friday, Helder wrote, "There is no such thing as death. The people I've dismissed from this reality are not at all dead." The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram has put Helder's possible motive best by calling them "strong philosophical religious beliefs." His statements feel more spiritual than political. They have a cultish quality that reminds me of the Heaven's Gate cult who made itself infamous in 1997. The cult said, "We know that it is only while we are in these physical vehicles (bodies) that we can learn the lessons needed to complete our own individual transition, as well as to complete our task of offering the Kingdom of Heaven to this civilization one last time." This falls in line closely to Helder when he writes, "The body is a temporary learning experience. You learn in the body, and play out of the body". Both beliefs about the body parallel each other. What differs is Helder makes no mention of space aliens, spacecraft, or having to leave one's "vehicle" (body) to go to the "Next Level." Jonas Cord thinks Helder's ideas may be derived from the "The Punk/Vegan/Rage Against the Machine crowd." Based upon my brief comparison between Heaven's Gate and his writings, I think Helder may be caught up in some cult with anti-government feelings from a drug paraphenlia charge. FBI: Suspect Admitted to Making Pipe Bombs" Text of Letter Helder Sent to UW Newspaper "Pine Island Remembers Helder as Polite, Ordinary" "Dad Aids Son's Capture" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/7/2002 01:56:18 PM ----- BODY: TAM's international correspondent based in London, Eric G (not to be confused with Ali G) provides this coverage:
Sunday's pro-Israel rally in Trafalgar Square reportedly attracted about 40,000 demonstrators. A pro-Palestinian counter-rally on the same day drew an estimated 300. Numbers aside, London in particular is home to a substantial, or at least vocal, Muslim community. American readers may be interested in at least one contrast between the two events: The pro-Palestinian rally was discredited to an extent by its inclusion of flag-burning and anti-Semitic slurs, in juxtoposition with the pro-Israelis, who channelled their passions through music and constructive criticism. Both events received a couple minutes of coverage on the evening news and a half-dozen paragraphs in the middle of daily newspapers.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/7/2002 01:28:27 PM ----- BODY: Luke John Helder, the man wanted in connection for the recent mailbox bombings spree is a resident of Pine River, Minnesota and a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout (about 65 east of the Twin Cities). WTMJ radio in Milwaukee is reporting that Helder is 21 or 22 and an art and industrial design major at the univerisity. UW-Stout's specialty is in applied arts. Some of the majors you can earn at UW-Stout include construction, applied science, engineering technology, technology education, and packaging. So, Helder may have had access to tools and materials to make pipe bombs while in school. "FBI Names Pipe-Bomb Suspect" "UW-Stout Student Sought in Pipe-Bomb Case" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/7/2002 03:52:52 AM ----- BODY: Add Rush's album to a bumper crop of new music for 2002. "Rush Vapor Trails" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/7/2002 03:24:09 AM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds has discovered someone with more traffic-pushing power than him. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/7/2002 03:10:01 AM ----- BODY: Mark Byron provides a fine summary and quick analysis of the events in Europe. Note the European concern about immigrant assimilation and state centralization. That continent has been in convulsions ever since they passed the Mastrict Treaty. 9.11 only intensified the Islam-immigrant issue. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/7/2002 02:36:59 AM ----- BODY: Scott offers some interesting comments and quotes about urban sprawl and the "New Urbanism." Included is this chilling comment from Jim Kuntsler, author of The Geography of Nowhere:
The argument that people like driving around in their SUVs and living in pod subdivisions is really beside the point. People also like shooting heroin. People also like drinking too much. People like eating more fatty food than is good for them. There are a lot of things that people like that the world does not necessarily reward them for.Within the chest of New Urbanism lies the heart of an authoritarian. Count me in favor of sprawl then. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2002 11:02:51 PM ----- BODY: Last month, during my vacation to London, I had the unfortunate privilege of seeing the aftermath of a huge pro-Palestine rally in Trafalgar Square. Rumors were that 80,000 packed the place. I was admiring fine works of art in the National Gallery while the "fun" was taking place outside. The only way I knew something was up was the announcement that the main entrance to the museum was closed due to the protesting masses. When I finally ventured into the square, the rally was over, and people were murmuring this and that before leaving. The lasting memory I have of the protesters is seeing a shirt calling for a free Palestine. On the shirt was a map of what a free Palestine should look like. It wasn't just the West Bank and Gaza. It was the area from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. A free Palestine to the shirt-wearer meant the rubbing out of Israel. I got chills. I bring this anecdote up, not just to fill you in a part of my English adventure, but to let you know that a big pro-Israel rally will take place today in the same Trafalgar Square. If you're in London and attend the rally (that means you, Eric), let me know how it went. Israel Solidarity Rally [via muslimpundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2002 10:48:07 PM ----- BODY: Condeleeza Rice, on Fox News Sunday said,
We also are making a major push to talk with the entire world about getting the kind of leadership for the Palestinian people that they deserve -- one that is not corrupt, one doesn't cavort with terrorists, and one that is democratic, transparent, and respects human rights.She went on to say,
And we are going to be very clear that the Palestinian leadership that is there now, the Authority, is not the kind of leadership that can lead to the kind of Palestinian state that we need. It has got to reform, it has got to make changes in the security apparatus, in the constitution, in the way that it leads.While saying a few times that the Palestinians could choose their leaders, her words suggest the Bush administration wishes Arafat would disappear from the Middle East picture. If this is the case, then it's right in line with Ariel Sharon's position that Arafat isn't a appropriate peace negotiator. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2002 10:14:57 PM ----- BODY: Bravo! Bravo! The U.S. is pulling out of the International Criminal Court. Collin Powell played nice when he said, "Since we have no intention of ratifying it, it is appropriate for us, because we have such serious problems with the ICC, to notify the depository, (the) Secretary General, that we do not intend to ratify it, and therefore we are no longer bound in any way to its purpose and objective." It's a seriously flawed concept to create a world court without a world government (something I don't support). Who would hold the court accountable if it abused it's powers? Since it's tied to the U.N. would the ICC extend the U.N.'s perpetual opposition to the U.S. and Israel? "Powell: U.S. Will Disengage From World Criminal Court" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2002 04:30:10 PM ----- BODY: What a shock! Le Pen lost. Not that that wasn't expected. More interesting will be French Parlimentary elections. If Chirac can get a center-right majority, he might actually get some things done. If not, then his scandals will plague him. The discontent with having to vote against Le Pen may encourage French Leftists to come out in droves to make sure Chirac doesn't get his majority. Chirac's landslide victory was largely anti-Le Pen. He might not be so lucky in a few weeks While Le Pen got slaughtered at the polls, his number one issue will be addressed. Le Pen ran on law and order. Chirac has said he will emphasise fighting crime. While seldom getting elected, fringe candidates like Le Pen do push issues to the forefront. But in this case, it freaked out people all over the planet (except for me). "Polls Show Landslide Chirac Victory" "Chirac Wins French Election Runoff Against Le Pen, Exit Polls Show" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/4/2002 01:33:14 AM ----- BODY: Why I bother with Paul Krugman, I don't know. Does this man have any idea about supply-side economic thought? Not by the looks of this paragraph:
The alleged economic justification for these moves [tax cuts]--which is, of course, that they will promote economic recovery--is so thin that I doubt anyone believes it. ("I was thinking of buying a new car, but I'm worried about my taxes in 2011.") What it's really about is exploiting a window of opportunity. Mr. Bush is still riding a wave of wartime popularity; the public still doesn't know how bad the budgetary situation is.Ignoring the silly claims made by President Bush that tax cuts were needed to increase demand, the purpose for tax cuts is to create more incentives for entrepreneurs to invest and build businesses. High tax rates encourage people to hold on to their money instead of taking risks on new ideas. By lowering rates, people are more inclined to take a chance on starting a new business, expanding production, or plowing money in a new idea. Krugman misses this because he's steadfastly within the mainstream Keynesian school where macroeconomic elements are the only thing seen. Supply-side (and I would include Austrian economics even though it isn't specifically supply-side) focuses on microeconomic elements. Tax cuts stimulate individuals to take more risks which cause macroeconomic effects. Krugman's whole economic approach along with his cynicism makes him blind to this. The one who ends up looking the most ignorant is Krugman. And this guy might win a Nobel? "Window of Ignorance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/4/2002 12:56:36 AM ----- BODY: Francis Fukuyama's Our Posthuman Future appears to be the most important book published this year. I know, there's lots of time left for some even more thought-provoking tome to come out. But the response to it already shows he's challenging deeply held positions. I haven't read it yet (it's still on the large, large "must read" pile), but what intrigues me most from the reviews is his discussion of human nature. Knowing the essence of human nature will make finding answers to biotech questions much easier. Human nature also goes to the heart of politics and political philosophy. Is Man, by his nature, good? Does Original Sin (if it exists) forever corrupt Man's quest for perfection? Is there such a thing as Progress? If so, to what end is Man progressing? How do people decide when enough Progress is enough? Can Progress be stopped at all? Who stops it and how? So many questions, so many answers. Fukuyama takes his conception of Human Nature from Aristotle. This shows that these questions have confounded human minds for centuries. It also shows that there may be human universals if people of the 21th Century can learn from a man from ancient Greece. "Our Posthuman Future: Biotechnology as a Threat to Human Nature" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/4/2002 12:35:18 AM ----- BODY: There shouldn't any surprise that our present war sparks curiosity in all aspects of war. War movies are big--think Behind Enemy Lines even if it wasn't that good. The upcoming Memorial Day holiday may for once focus on the real meaning behind the holiday--those who gave their lives to preserve our freedom. War-related books have sold well in the past few years with the immense popularity of Stephen Ambrose, warts and all. Now, Patrick Wright comes along with his Tank: The Progress of a Monstrous War Machine. Bruce McCall notes that Wright "liberates military history from the military expert's blinkered view and places the saga of the tank in human, political, philosophical and occasionally even metaphysical contexts that draw ideas into his book the way a magnet draws iron filings." "Tank: Annals of the Land Battleship" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/3/2002 12:28:22 AM ----- BODY: Can we end this ridiculous notion that Arafat gained power through free and fair elections? He rose to power like any other thug does: he bullies, shoves, and murders his way to the top. "Arafat, Elected?" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/2/2002 11:10:19 PM ----- BODY: Human Rights Watch is already indicting Israel for war crimes. When will they issue a similar report denouncing Palestinian crimes? They say they're working on "a separate report on those responsible for suicide bombings directed against Israeli civilians." Those attacks have been going on for months with no outcry from this group. But when Israeli forces go on the offensive to prevent future homicide bombings, HRW comes out quickly with a report bashing Israel. A little one sided from these eyes. This is not to say that everything the IDF did in Jenin was appropriate. Crimes may have occurred, and they should be dealt with by the Israeli government. For instance, there is some evidence that Israeli soldiers had Palestinian civilians open doors they believed to be booby-trapped. However, HRW doesn't mention that Palestinian fighters used civilians as protection and to later claim Israeli atrocities. HRW's chief investigator, Peter Bouckaert said civilians weren't forced by Palestinian fighters to stay in Jenin, but that could be because the civilians support the terrorists and oppose Israel. Remember, the Arafat-controlled media is constantly spewing anti-Israel propaganda. That doesn't mean it was right for Palestinian fighters to continue to hide among civilians. Maybe HRW will notice this in a future report. "Israel/Occupied Territories: Jenin War Crimes Investigation Needed" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/2/2002 12:09:22 AM ----- BODY: The fight for freedom is constant. Although the U.S. is the greatest country on earth, Deroy Murdock notes Marx's ghost haunts much of our public policy. "Mayday, Mayday" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2002 11:59:18 PM ----- BODY: Great news! Jimmy Eat World wanders to Milwaukee 8.3.02. "Performance Update: Jimmy Eat World, John Mayer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2002 11:15:07 PM ----- BODY: Ten thousand brave Cubans may have signed a petition demanding Castro to respect human rights, but don't expect this thug to change his ways. He's like Arafat: once a ruthless thug, always a ruthless thug. There are no principles behind his actions. It's all just a continuous grasp of power. The Cuban economy stinks, then blame it on the Yanqui embargo. The U.N. Human Rights Commission called Cuba on its human rights violation, then create a huge public protest denouncing the "treasonous sycophants" who dared tell the truth about the Communist prison island. In a twisted way, I wish Castro was developing weapons of mass destruction. Then the U.S. would actually get serious about liberating Cuba. Cuba would be on the axis of evil list along with Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Invasion plans would be coming together to avenge the Bay of Pigs. But as long as Cuba isn't a threat to the U.S. our unofficial policy is to wait until Castro dies then see what happens. The ones who suffer the most are those trapped under Castro's heal. That includes a little boy--Elian Gonzalez--sent back to that awful place with the help of the U.S. government. "A Cuban Petition" [via OxBlog] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2002 01:59:12 PM ----- BODY: The Palestinians now concede that 56 died in the Battle of Jenin, not the hundreds claimed by some. Kofi Annan is considering not sending a U.N. investigation team since a massacre didn't take place. This news won't stop the Arab street from proclaiming the evils of "war criminal" Ariel Sharon. Throughout the propaganda battle over Jenin, the Israelis have been more open and truthful about what happened. While Palestinians and their sympathizers screamed to anyone who would listen about the mass graves and atrocities, Israel offered pictures that showed little of the camp was actually damaged. They also didn't stop reporters from interviewing soldiers who were fighting there. What Israel has objected to is the U.N. investigation team, and for good reason. History has shown that the U.N. has been more sympathetic to homicide bombers and their cause than Israel's right of self-defense. "Jenin 'Massacre' Reduced to Death Toll of 56" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2002 01:59:00 PM ----- BODY: Now, U.S. and Czech intelligence don't believe Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi official before the 9.11 attacks. It won't stop preparations for Iraq's liberation, but it will certainly give war opponents ammunition. "No Iraq Meeting for Atta" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2002 01:31:13 PM ----- BODY: Stephen Ambrose has lung cancer. How this news will affect future writing is unknown. "Historian Stephen Ambrose Diagnosed with Lung Cancer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/30/2002 02:04:33 PM ----- BODY: Mahdi Abdul Hadid of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs understands Arafat very well. To Hadid, Arafat "is a maestro of tactics and his strategy is to survive.'' Not to bring peace, mind you, but to survive. If tossing out crumbs to make others believe peace will happen, so be it. But once a terrorist, always a terrorist. "Arafat Must Rally, Regroup" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/30/2002 01:58:40 PM ----- BODY: The "cruel" Israelis say Arafat is allowed to leave his Ramallah compound, but he might not want to leave. He seems to be eating well. Hummas, tuna, fresh fruits and vegetables, even Coca-Cola fill his kitchen. Wow, the Israelis certainly know how to starve a guy into submission. "13,200 Pitas Dispatched to Arafat During Siege on Compound" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/29/2002 11:00:19 AM ----- BODY: I will not be taking part in this charity function. Fourth Annual Masturbate-A-Thon [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/28/2002 11:16:00 PM ----- BODY: According to Dr. Michael Gazzaniga
Britain does not grant moral status to an embryo until after 14 days, the time when all the twinning issues cease and the embryo must be implanted into the uterus to continue developing.While I'm sure that decision doesn't prevent British women from aborting their children after 14 days, at least they're coming to a more sensible realization of the humanity of the unborn. I find it interesting how scientists use terms like "blastocyst" and "zygote" to refer to fertilized human eggs. It is a way to disconnect morality from science. Most would have serious qualms ripping stem cells from unborn children, killing them in the process, but extracting stem cells from a 13 day-old blastocyst removes any sense of the beings humanity, making the destruction process easier to bear. Now, let me directly confront one of Dr. Gazzaniga's points. He writes,
And we now know that in normal reproduction as many as 50 percent to 80 percent of all fertilized eggs spontaneously abort and are simply expelled from the woman's body.The simple response is "So what?" The doctor's point doesn't address the humanity of those unborn. It only addresses the means of their demise. Dr. Gazzaniga continues,
It is hard to believe that under any religious belief system people would grieve and hold funerals for these natural events. Yet, if these unfortunate zygotes are considered human beings, then logically people should.The reason people didn't hold funerals for naturally aborted children is the lack of knowledge. Natural abortions may occur without the mother's knowledge. No knowledge, no ability to mourn. In those cases when a mother does know she miscarried, there is sadness. I've witnessed it first-hand in the case of close friends. I didn't see any joy in that household. I heard the bad news and pondered what could have been. What could that child have been when they grew up? What would that child have looked like? What kind of joy would that child have brought to the world? So people do grieve. Dr. Gazzaniga's comments don't add to the debate over the humanity of a fertilized human egg. He goes on about how embryos divide and unite, but so what? That detail doesn't prove or disprove the humanity (and right to life) of that bundle of cells. Even hard line abortion advocates can't claim completely that an embryo isn't a human being. That has never stopped them from promoting abortion-on-demand. But if you're not a hardcore pro-lifer, at least you should err on the side of caution and consider the possibility that that blastocyst, zygote, whatever, is a person whose rights must be protected. That means banning abortion and scientific procedures where embryos are used as cell farms. "Zygotes and People Aren't Quite the Same" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/28/2002 01:13:16 AM ----- BODY: Ken Adelman wants the U.N. team investigating the Jenin battle to ask these questions:
What terrorist acts against Israel were being planned in Jenin? What Palestinian youth in Jenin were preparing to launch homicide bombings against Israelis? What Palestinian leaders in Jenin were purchasing explosives, belts, and other paraphernalia to blow up innocent Jews?The focus needs to be that Israel is using force defensively, not offensively like the terorists. It's not good enough to only ask what happened in Jenin. It's more important to ask what could have happened if Israel didn't attack. In Adelman's words "we must react even before they [terrorists] act." That's what happened in Jenin. Did civilians die? Most definitely. Were they "massacred?" No. Civilians weren't the intended targets as the Washington Post reports. The battle began with the Israeli army thinking the Palestinians would back down when they moved in. Instead, Palestinian fighters dug in and Israeli reservists were left frustrated. The story goes on into more detail, but the point that must be remembered is that the IDF went into the camp to prevent future homicide bombings. Their intelligence told them that Jenin was a hotbed for terrorist cells. If Israel wanted to they could have completely flattened the camp. They didn't. The point of Jenin wasn't to humiliate Palestinians, but to prevent future attacks. That's self-defense, a right any nation has. "The Right Questions" "Israeli Reservists Tell of Jenin Assault" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/27/2002 11:41:37 PM ----- BODY: So far, Zero 7's "Destiny" is the best song I've heard all year. It's beautifully layered. The vocals are soulful and gentle. Emotion drips from every note. It's romantic without being sappy. Great, great song. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/26/2002 01:15:36 PM ----- BODY: Technocrats would have a field day with the Senate's energy bill. First, as a matter of law, energy production from renewable sources would increase from 2 to 10% by 2020. By the stroke of a pen, we'll all start relying more on wind and solar power. How we get from 2 to 10% I don't know. If the long battle in my town means anything, then getting people to accept large wind farms in their neighborhoods may be hard to do. Second, the Senate bill mandates that California increase its use of Ethanol three-fold by 2012. Even liberal Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) doesn't like that provision because the state doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the increase. And third, the Senate tries to micromanage energy use through manipulations of the already complicated tax code. What the bill does is extend the reach of bureaucrats over American's energy system. They may be good people with the best of intentions, but they don't possess the incentives nor the knowledge to implement the Senate's goals. A regulator's job is not dependent on profit or loss like a manager or owner running a company. It's people in the private, wealth-producing sector that day-in-day-out have to reallocate resources to their best use. If they fail, their company dies and they lose their job. If a government employee fails, then Congress just passes another law to try and fix the effects of the previous one. The best mechanism for determining what energy sources should be used and how best to use them is the price system. While not perfect--no human institution is--it best collects dispersed knowledge from billions of people across the world into an abstract form that is easy to digest. (See Hayek's "The Use of Knowledge in Society") A manager in Peoria doesn't have to know that a port in Bahrain has been damaged and supertankers can't load oil. All he has to see is that the price of oil is going up, so he should economize. The manager economizes because he wants to make a profit. Bureaucrats and politicians don't have the incentive to consider this information so they can pass bills that drift far from reality while making others figure out how they could work. "Senate Approves US Energy Policy Overhaul" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/25/2002 11:02:20 PM ----- BODY: Ignore the teeny-boppers as immature sex symbols who can't make a song that will survive two years. I heartily recommend the Donna Woodall Group as an intelligent, entertaining alternative. Woodall's voice echoes some of the great songstresses of recent memory: Billie Holiday, Maria Carey, Dionne Warwick, and Gladys Knight. She doesn't overpower the music. She meanders down the path the song travels. The songs are great adult pop with tinges of jazz just to keep things swinging. May 4th will be the band's CD release party. If you're near Milwaukee, check them out. As an added incentive, you may just spot the infamous writer behind this weblog. Donna Woodall Group -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/25/2002 11:26:39 AM ----- BODY: A building in New York City has partially collapsed. No word on if it was a terrorist attack. "Partial Building Collapse in NYC" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/25/2002 12:46:41 AM ----- BODY: Note to self: Anyone who thinks the rich don't pay their "fair share" in taxes should get this web page shoved in their face. "Tax Share of Top One Percent Climbs to 36.2 Percent" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/25/2002 12:33:40 AM ----- BODY: How is this notated in the public record? Does it actually say that Elmo testified or the voice doing Elmo, or the puppeteer? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/24/2002 11:52:44 PM ----- BODY: Myron Magnet continues to push for a WTC memorial that remembers the victims yet displays America's strength and greatness. The monument can't be a reminder of the pain we all suffered on 9.11.01. It can't be a monument to weakness. It must be one that speaks to freedom, liberty, courage, pride, and faith. Any memorial shouldn't be abstract, where its meaning will become unknown after the artistic fad as faded. Magnet writes about a few Civil War monuments. That's what the WTC memorial should be modeled after. Seeing them at a battle field like Gettysburg, people can glimpse the greatness of the soldiers who fought there, while also understanding the incredible sacrifices made. Alexander Stoddart's twin statues echoing the twin towers is a great place to begin discussion of what piece of art should be erected to remember that black moment in U.S. history. "The Monument They Deserve" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/23/2002 02:06:11 PM ----- BODY: It shouldn't come as a shock that Alice in Chains' lead singer Layne Staley died. It is a bit of a shock that he lived as long as he did. It was known that he had a problem with heroin. That may have been the reason for the band's break-up in 1996. His sickly appearance and lyrical references to death and drugs certainly didn't quell any of the rumors. Alice in Chains lay on the dark side of the 1990s Seattle grunge scene. Of all the bands that became big from the area (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney), they sounded the "grungiest." They were also the darkest lyrically. Alice had the closest sound to the heavy metal bands of the 1980s and early 1990s. "Man in the Box" churns with a heavy riff and dark base. "Them Bones," "Grind," and "Again" bristle with angry, loud guitars that echo a slowed down Metallica. "Angry Chair" speaks for itself: it's angry, loud, with pain emanating throughout the song. On top of the crunchy sound, Staley layered bluesy vocals that reached the edge of screeching without entering the awful realm of death metal. His range could only be beaten by Soundgarden's Chris Cornel. On vocals, he wasn't alone. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell helped Staley create some wonderful harmonies on songs like "Rooster" and "No Excuses." Unfortunately, when a famous musician dies, some people go overboard on that person's talent and musical contribution. Peter Blecha called Staley "one of the great rock voices of all time." Uh, no, he wasn't. Staley had a unique rock voice. But it wasn't as copied as Pearl Jam's Eddie Veder's. It stand out from the wailing of 80s hair bands, but people won't be thinking of him in the same space as Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, or Axl Rose. I could even argue that Jerry Cantrell sang better than Staley. Blecha's comment explains why he is a "former" senior curator for Experience Music Project. We can also go beyond Staley's death and consider a larger question: legalization of drugs. Whether you're in favor or opposed, this sad event should provoke debate over what a society would look like without drug prohibition. Staley died from an overdose of an illegal substance. If drugs were legal, I have no doubt more people would die from overdoses. People wouldn't be afraid to use drugs if they knew they wouldn't be jailed. More experimentation would lead to more abuse and death. Also, the end of the War on Drugs would probably lower drug prices, increasing demand. Without prohibition any reported overdose would be considered on par with alcohol abuse. It wouldn't be as much of a shock or outrage, but more would die. On the other side, the black market for drugs would vanish. With that would be the crime and illicit nature of the trade. Fewer people would be in jail because of victimless drug possession and police resources could be spent elsewhere (victim crimes, terrorism prevention, etc.). The case for drug legalization boils down to what we want our society to look like. Are we willing to tolerate many more drugged up people who are wasting their lives away in exchange for less crime and a new allocation of law enforcement resources? Or do we want to continue a relatively futile quest to stop people's need for drugs because it's in their best interests--even if they don't know it? "Former Alice in Chains Rock Singer Dead at 34" "Fans Gather to Mourn Troubled Grunge Singer Layne Staley, Dead at 34" "Struggle with Addiction Infused Staley's Music" Official Statement from Alice in Chains -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/23/2002 01:47:26 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) wants federally mandatory bottle recycling. What he doesn't want is the law to be applied to his precious Vermont milk industry. Is this an attempt to soft drink makers on a less economic footing making milk a more inticing choice for consumers? Jeffords is completely beholden to Vermont milk farmers. I suspect part of his defection from the Republican Party last year had to do with preserving the Northeast Milk Compact. Is a new law needed? Probably not. Ronald Sutherland rightly asks, "If recycling [of soda bottles] is so beneficial, then why [won't] the private sector figure out how to do it?" Also, is it constitutional? Probably not, but that hasn't stop Senators before. "Senator Wants Soft Drink Companies to Impose Mandatory Recycling" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/23/2002 04:10:47 AM ----- BODY: Let me say this plainly: Le Pen's SECOND place finish isn't a political earthquake! Sure, it surprised France, but that country has a peculiar interest in Jerry Lewis. What the election results were was a reaction by French voters to dull major party candidates (Chirac and Jospin). To base anymore on what 17% of the voters did is reckless. "Le Pen's Success Shocks France" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/23/2002 03:07:38 AM ----- BODY: The French are ashamed, other European leaders are picking sides, and people riot in the streets. All this is because a mere 17% of French voters chose Jean-Marie Le Pen for president. In France, a tiny minority make a protest vote against rising crime and European integration and all hell breaks loose. (Kind of justifying Le Pen's point.) One Frenchman is scared that "It will make the rest of the world think that France is a nation of fascists." That will only happen if media continues to treat a small portion of French voters as representative of the whole country. By that thinking, in 1992, the world must have thought the U.S. abandoned its two major parties because of Ross Perot's 19% of the vote. Le Pen is also believing the hype by claiming he's the "candidate of the French people." At least he's the candidate of 17% of the French people. The Left is apoplectic because their man, Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin couldn't generate much support and made voters divide their votes among a host of Leftist candidates. Current President Chirac probably only won due to incumbency. Don't worry that Le Pen somehow means the French are becoming more anti- than just anti-American. According to Patrick Ruffini, Chirac is getting 78% support right now. "Now Le Pen is Le Leper" "Le Pen Says He Would Guide France out of EU" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/22/2002 09:01:13 PM ----- BODY: Well, despite what knee-jerk Clinton defenders said, vandalism did take place by staffers leaving before Pres. Bush's crew arrived in the White House. Of course, mentioning this could be considered "divisive" in this time of national crisis, but it wouldn't be as divisive as the actions that took place. "Damage to White House Cited" [via WOIFM] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/21/2002 12:11:33 PM ----- BODY: Time reports that pilots still don't feel safe in the air. An airline consultant recently demonstrated that any number of ordinary items could be used to kill a pilot. Anecdotes show that federal government efforts at security seem keystone cop-ish at best. A solution is to allow pilots to be armed. Why it's taking Congress so long just to hold hearings on the issue is beyond me. The idea seems straight forward. Give trained pilots a means of defending themselves and the plane they're flying, and terrorists will be less willing to hijack it. "Airline Security: Stuck on the Runway?" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/20/2002 12:02:16 PM ----- BODY: Kudlow has to get into some policy position. He understands that tax cuts lead to economic growth. He also has the courage to stand up to Leftist class warriors who constantly moan the mantra that tax cuts only help the rich. I've been pushing Kudlow to be the next Fed chief, but I'll take him as treasury secretary. At least he wouldn't disappear from public view like Sec. O'Neill. (Where are you? Hello, anybody out there?) Of course, Kudlow in any position of power is a pipe dream with his cocaine baggage. A vicious Democratic Senate would smile ear to ear while Borking Kudlow. "Dem Demagoguery" [via The Blue Button] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/19/2002 02:05:05 PM ----- BODY: What should one make of Gov. Gary Johnson (R-NM) after he says drug reform is the "biggest issue facing the country today that actually has a solution"? Does he not remember 9.11? Does he forget that the U.S. is at war? Sure, drug reform deserves an intelligent debate. It's an issue that delves into personal freedom, law enforcement, and how we want our society to look like. But to say that drug reform tops literal war is to ignore the present state of affairs. "Johnson and Thompson: The War on the War on Drugs" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/18/2002 04:34:43 PM ----- BODY: A computer with the power of a desktop, the portability of a PDA, and a spiffy look: WOW! I'm drooling, and with a $1000, I could actually afford it. Imagine the journalistic/weblogging possibilities. Someone could have documented the real-time chaos happening after that plane crashed into the building in Milan. If that person had some kind of wireless connection, after a few clicks the world could follow what was happening on the ground. If he didn't have a wireless connection, he could go home plug in and then upload to the Net. No more bother with syncing with the home PC. Portability and power are contained in one device. One major problem: what if you lose it? If you misplace it, or someone steals it, you're out of luck. Some company will have to invent and device to easily back up and restore data from this kind of computer. "Start-Up to Release Ultra-Portable PC" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/14/2002 07:45:19 AM ----- BODY: The Israelis really believe they have the goods linking Arafat to terrorism. Why else would they be offering the U.S. both documents in Arabic and translated? The NY Times story also offers Israel's sketch of how Palestinan terrorist cells operate. "U.S. Is Given Papers That Israelis Assert Tie Arafat to Terror" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/12/2002 05:55:36 AM ----- BODY: All is well in the land of tea and crumpets. After getting some sleep to combat a hard case of jetlag, I'm ready to play the role of the typical American tourists. Museums are on tap today. On a completely different note, if I ever have problems with my batting stance or jump shot. I'm giving the Big Guy in the Sky a call. Inspirational Sport Statues -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/10/2002 01:49:11 AM ----- BODY: For at least a week, Israel was free of suicide bombers. I thought Operation Defensive Shield might be preventing future attacks. Maybe it has, and now Palestinian terrorists have regrouped. What this attack does is give Sharon even more impetus to continue the operation and defy President Bush. "Israel Struck by Suicide Bomb" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/10/2002 01:43:37 AM ----- BODY: New Yorkers are thinking right about how to replace the World Trade Center. Two tall towers to replace the fallen ones aren't needed in a city with plenty of vacant office space. Instead, a number of smaller buildings are in the works. Along with them there should be a memorial that remembers the victims, praises the strength of those who saved thousands, and displays the greatness of a nation that stands for freedom throughout the world. "Breaking ground at Ground Zero" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/9/2002 01:33:26 PM ----- BODY: Louis Rukeyser will be taking on his old show. It's no surprise that CNBC picked him up. Rukeyser has a loyal following. What is surprising is CNBC is offering Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street to any PBS station that wants it. The Rukeyser intelligent faith in markets will continue along with his (in)famous puns. But will his elves be coming with him? "CNBC Inks Rukeyser for New Show" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/9/2002 02:40:51 AM ----- BODY: The Pulitzers have been announced. All the big newspapers got one. I'm more interested in the book awards. There was no surprise in the biography category. David McCullough won for his best seller John Adams. I would have guessed that Edmund Morris' Theodore Rex would have been his closest rival, but it wasn't even a finalists. The book might have been released too late to be considered for 2002. Louis Menand won the history catagory for The Metaphysical Club, a history of early 20th Century American philosophy. Another category I'm always interested in is commentary. Tom Friedman won this year. His scoop of the Saudi Prince's peace proposal probably gave him the award. I would have liked for Peggy Noonan to have won. Her pieces have been heartfelt, touching, patriotic, and authoritative. 2002 Pulitzer Prize Winners -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/9/2002 01:58:53 AM ----- BODY: The altered logo up in the corner doesn't mean TAM is growing closer to Mother England. Sure, I really appreciate the way Tony Blair has stood strong with the U.S. in the war. He's been loud about need to use military force to stop this assault on the West. The logo doesn't mean I'm trying to get closer to my English roots. I'm not a geneology geek who has traced their ancestors back to the exact place near Liverpool where some great-great-great-great grandfather Edward decided he wanted to dig a new pit for the outhouse. The logo also doesn't mean I'm showing off my new-found love for Austin Powers. The movies are pretty lame and definitely no "groovey baby!" The altered logo means I'm off to jolly old England. Why England? Well, I have a passport that's good for 10 years. Time's a ticking, and I figure I better get some more use out of it than just a trip to France. Another reason is I know someone there, and he's offered me a place to stay. Being the all-around nice guy that I am, I couldn't say no. So, it was off to Priceline to get a cheap ticket. (Did quite well even if I have to lug my stuff down to Chicago instead of Milwaukee.) Tomorrow, I'll be witnessing first-hand the current state of airport security. Will I be searched? Will I be profiled? Will I be stripped searched? (Only if she's cute and single.) Will I see something that strikes me as being completely ridiculous (HINT: The feds now run airport security)? Will I display a really bad case of air rage BEFORE even boarding the plane? We shall see. I'll keep you posted. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/8/2002 04:51:24 AM ----- BODY: Dave Kopel noticed the same phenomenon in Israel as I did. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/8/2002 04:36:57 AM ----- BODY: Bill Clinton can't handle this news. He wants us all to love him for the miserable lout (friends would say rogue) he is. Just imagine the sympathy-inducing cant he'll put in his memoir to make us all understand why he did what he did. He'll really want us to "feel his pain." "Clinton's Retrospective Job Approval at 51%" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/8/2002 04:15:46 AM ----- BODY: I hope Andrew Cuomo's letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee is more than kissing up to New York Jews. He does state plainly that Arafat "has taken the side of the terrorists who kill innocent civilians in the pursuit of their cause." "Cuomo Asks Institute to Rescind Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/7/2002 01:01:22 AM ----- BODY: Madison, WI: in the same government school system where the school board stopped students from saying the Pledge of Allegance, a 12-year old has been suspended for bringing a knife to school. Was straight-A student, Christian Schmidt, planning on slicing his teacher or going after some students who were picking on him? Was he lashing out at proposed state budget cuts to local government? Was he acting out in response to Israeli aggression in the West Bank? No, Schmidt brought it to school as part of a science project about onions. The school administration wants to expell Schmidt, but the boy's parents say that if he admits to doing wrong, undergoes psychological testing, and takes an anger management course, then he could come back to school. It's bad enough for common sense to be tossed aside because of strict adherence to a "zero tolerance" weapons policy. What's even worse if for the school district to demand Schmidt have psychological treatment. The only error by Schmidt was a lack of judgment for not asking his teacher if he could bring a knife to class. No malice was intened by him, nor did anyone get hurt. Assistant Superintendent Valencia Douglas was worried that a knife brought to school for benign reasons could fall into the wrong hands. That didn't happen here, nevertheless, Douglas said, "Why a student brings a weapon to school and under what conditions really can't impact our decision." No thinking is required by school officials. That shouldn't be a surprise, since this did take place in a government school. But let's go beyond the fact that the people who run Cherokee Middle School aren't the smartest people in the world. We live in a litigaous society. When something goes wrong many people's first reaction is to see who they can sue. Establishing legalistic rules is the response. That way if something wrong happens, then those who could be considered liable can claim they were following policy. No judgement is needed, therefore no one is responsible. The drawback to such strict rules is that flexibility and common sense are abandoned for protection from legal attack. Schmidt's principal couldn't just confiscate the knife and call the parents to discuss how such a situation could be better handled in the future. Instead 12-year old gets suspended and possibly expelled. School officials will claim they're "just following rules" and some people will support them because "rules are rules." For them, strict conformity is primary, while handling a particular situation is secondary. Philip Howard writes about how people sacrifice individual judgement for rigid legalistic rules in his The Collapse of the Common Good (formerly known as The Lost Art of Drawing the Line). As for Christian Schmidt, his fate rests with the Madison School Board. "Student Suspended for Bringing Knife for Project" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/7/2002 01:01:10 AM ----- BODY: At the state capitol, everyone has a way to balance the state budget. Gov. McCallum wants to stop sending state money to city and county governments. Republicans controlling the State Assembly want to cut state government and the state university budget. Democrats controlling the State Senate want to balance the budget on the backs of poor children. How are members of the supposedly "caring" party doing this? They want to gut the school choice program helping thousands of children in Milwaukee. This isn't the first time the Democrats have tried to kill a program that researchers say helps children. They tried to eliminate it last year, and this year it's being used as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. So, while parents taking advantage of the program worry about school choice's future, Democrats in Madison cynically use them in a game of political chicken. One thing this story shows is that Wisconsin Democrats are more loyal to the teachers' union than to minority communities. Most of the children in Milwaukee's school choice program are minorities that vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. With that kind of support, I'd expect more loyalty. But in reality, Democrats just take minority votes for granted. When it comes to choosing between a faction that constantly votes for you (minority communities) and one that can organize and fund campaigns (teachers' union), they choose the one with the money. This will continue to happen until minority communities stop supporting Democrats with such zeal. It will also continue until Wisconsin Republicans make a concerted effort to address the needs of these communities. "Democrats' Budget Slashes School Choice" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/7/2002 12:41:26 AM ----- BODY: Charles Paul Freund takes a crack at porn broadcast on Palestinian television:
Finally, many Israeli critics consider the "normal" programming of Palestinian Authority media to be morally objectionable in its own right. They regard it as a platform for anti-semitic extremism, an encouragement to suicide-bomber "martyrdom," and an outlet for those advocating the annihilation of the Jewish state. According to its critics, official Palestinian television will stage scenes of dead Palestinian children, downplay or ignore Jewish fatalities, and fail to report Arafat's English-language condemnations of Palestinian acts of terror and savagery. Thus, replacing such programming with porn clips (and clips of Intifada actions played in reverse) may well represent the substitution of one form of reprehensible programming -- political porn -- with its moral equivalent."Porn and Politics in Palestine" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/7/2002 12:38:38 AM ----- BODY: Get on board and shout with a loud voice that Yasser Arafat is underserving of a Nobel Peace Prize. RevokeThePrize.org UPDATE: The Nobel committee is upset that Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres is a part of the Israeli government. "Peres is responsible, as part of the government. He has expressed his agreement with what [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon is doing," one member said. Peres is a part of a government taking actions to stop bombings on its people that are allowed to happened because of Arafat's inaction and Peres is the problem? Are prominent Europeans like these knee-jerk anti-Israel or is there some reason to their thinking? One possibility is that holding Arafat responsible for suicide bombings would be "blaming the victims" which in their minds are the Palestinians. Is there any way for Israel to be the victim here? No, because they have the tanks, jets, and the will to use them. So, I guess these people are knee-jerk anti-Israel. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/6/2002 11:40:48 PM ----- BODY: Arafat has a golden opportunity to strike back at terrorism and reach out to Israel. Hamas is proud of the fact that they've been killing Israeli civillians and forced their military to strike back hard. The terrorist group is now aligning itself closer to Arafat's Fatah. Joel Brinkley writes,
Mr. Arafat "is Palestinian and I am Palestinian," said Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas. "We have the same problem now. Israel is our enemy."At first glace, having the two biggest Palestinian movements united against Israel doesn't sound like a good thing. It really doesn't sound good when one of the groups is highly adept at using weapons-grade explosive. With Hamas leaders out in the open talking to a NY Times reporter, it wouldn't be very hard for Arafat to capture or kill them. Such a move would show Israel and the U.S. that Arafat really wants an end to this continuing violence. Do I think Arafat will order them captured? No. That's because Arafat concerns himself with the continual importance of Yassar Arafat. If he were to attack Hamas, then the Palestinians would know the anti-Israel rhetoric he's allowed Palestinian media to spew for years was just propaganda designed to foment public rage. Hamas wants the destruction of Israel. They hate that nation with intense passion. It's the same passion displayed in the anti-semitic rants on Palestinian television and in textbooks and newspapers. An attack on Hamas would be the literal deathknell for Arafat. The international community may want to believe that he's the lead of the Palestinians, when in fact, he's following the rage of the Street. For years, he's deftly stoked those flames. Now, caught in a bloody war, any serious steps by him toward peace could leave him in a smoldering heap. "Bombers Gloating in Gaza as They See Goal Within Reach: No More Israel" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/5/2002 01:56:18 AM ----- BODY: Brock Yates has some questions about Americans and their SUVs:
Is it possible that the American public makes wiser decisions in these matters than the magnificios who monitor our lives? Is it possible that people purchase SUV's because they are functional, not because the buyers are witless status slaves? Is it possible that women purchase then in inordinate quantities because they added height of the vehicles enhances visibility and a sensation of security? Is it possible that men purchase them because they offer extra cargo space plus a wide range of utility and flexibility and the power to tow trailers of all descriptions? Is it possible that consumers of all stripes are prepared to sacrifice a few miles per gallon and a few extra bucks for the added benefits of an SUV? (Driving 10,000 miles a year and averaging 20 mpg, vs. 35 mpg from a compact car at $1.50 a gallon, will cost $322 extra. That's not a staggering amount to pay for added benefits.)The answers to all these questions are "Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes." Last year SUVs, pickups, and vans made up 51% of U.S. domestic car sales. This happened dispite anti-car snobs like those running the NY Times editorial page who don't comprehend that Americans see their vehicles as an extension of their freedom. SUVs and cars give people the flexibility to go where they want, when they want, and with what they want. These vehicles aren't bound by train or bus schedules, and you can lug along as much stuff as you can fit. Philosopher Loren Lomasky calls it "automobility." Anti-SUV zealots will just have to deal with them. Based on sales alone, they're not going away. "The Age of the SUV" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2002 10:56:07 PM ----- BODY: Arnold Kling analyzes environmentalists' economics through Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist According to Kling, the environmental movement ignores technological innovation and price adjustments to scarce resources; ignores the fact that any decision involves trade-offs; and refuses to discount future costs and benefits. As for Lomborg, Kling writes:
The way I read it, Lomborg is not disputing environmental biology or ecological modeling. He differs from ecologists primarily in the treatment of the economic aspects of the environment. Although he is not a professional economist, Lomborg uses mainstream analysis rather than the peculiar models of ecologists. (His analysis of global warming owes much to the work of Yale economist William Nordhaus.) If anything, his work rests on a better overall scientific foundation than that of his critics. I believe that the economist and the environmentalist can be friends. But it would help if environmentalists would, like Lomborg, try to understand important principles of economics, including substitutability, finite cost, and discounting. When environmentalists simply denounce economics, without making a convincing alternative case using analysis and data, they fail to advance our understanding."Common Sense and Sensibility" "Lomborg's Lessons" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2002 02:54:15 AM ----- BODY: The Israeli military has a wacky approach to psychological warfare. "Porn Upsets Palestinians" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2002 02:52:01 AM ----- BODY: While playing around with Teoma, I came upon these quotes by Thomas Jefferson relating to the "American mind":
"I join [with others] in branding as cowardly the idea that the human mind is incapable of further advance. This is precisely the doctrine which the present despots of the earth are inculcating and their friends here re-echoing and applying especially to religion and politics: 'that it is not probable that anything better will be discovered than what was known to our fathers.' We are to look backwards, then, and not forwards for the improvement of science and to find it amidst feudal barbarisms and the fires of Spital-fields. But thank heaven the American mind is already too much opened to listen to these impostures; and while the art of printing is left to us, science can never be retrograde. What is once acquired of real knowledge can never be lost." --Thomas Jefferson to William Green Munford, 1799.and
"The unquestionable republicanism of the American mind will break through the mist under which it has been clouded, and will oblige its agents to reform the principles and practices of their administration." --Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 1799. ME 10:83-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2002 02:26:09 AM ----- BODY: If Bill Kristol would let me, I would add my name to his letter to President Bush. My feelings coincide with this passage:
Mr. President, it can no longer be the policy of the United States to urge, much less to pressure, Israel to continue negotiating with Arafat, any more than we would be willing to be pressured to negotiate with Osama Bin Laden or Mullah Omar. Nor should the United States provide financial support to a Palestinian Authority that acts as a cog in the machine of Middle East terrorism, any more than we would approve of others providing assistance to Al Qaeda. Instead, the United States should lend its full support to Israel as it seeks to root out the terrorist network that daily threatens the lives of Israeli citizens. Like our own efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Israel's task will not be easy. It will not be accomplished quickly, or painlessly. But with fortitude, on our part as well on the part of the Israeli people, it can succeed in significantly reducing the risk of future terrorist attacks against Israel and against us. And, in so doing, we will give the Palestinian people a chance they have so far not had under Arafat's rule--an opportunity to construct a political culture and government that do not marry their national and religious aspirations with suicide bombers.Arafat is a barrier to peace. Kristol and I both know it. Hopefully, the President knows it too. An Open Letter to the President" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2002 01:34:42 AM ----- BODY: For all the abuse Israel is taking in the international community (British Minister for Europe Peter Hain called it "senseless hostility"), there have been no suicide bombers in the past few days. This operation is working at stopping the terrorists. What the end game is no one really knows. Sharon wants Arafat in exile, Hizbollah wants to create a second front in the north, while Saddam wants the war to expand to distract the U.S. from a future attack on Iraq. Clarity of vision is required right now by Israel and the U.S. if they want to move past this potential quagmire in the War on Terrorism. [Note: We have to find a better name for this war.] "Palestinians Resist Israeli Army, EU Plans Mission" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/3/2002 03:48:40 AM ----- BODY: Families of Palestinian suicide bombers are being paid by Saddam Hussein. Blow yourself up and kill a bunch of Israelis and your family can pocket $25,000. That's way up from the measly $4,000 our "friends" the Saudis were paying. "Saddam Stokes War with Suicide Bomber Cash" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/3/2002 03:28:35 AM ----- BODY: Ariel Sharon has shown his hand. Israeli troops are doing their version of Operation Enduring Freedom, while at the same time he wants to force Arafat into exile. The Palestinian leader is free to leave his Ramallah headquarters. It's just that he could never go back. Arafat doesn't want to leave. He would rather die a martyr. But does he really want to die? Or does he just want to bide his time, wait for a few more bombers to kill more civillians, and hope the Israeli public submits? There is a document directly linking a terrorist group to Arafat's inner sanctum. Now, would it make sense for the same man who controls Palestinian media the way Arafat does, not to know what his chief financial officer is doing? I don't think so. Arafat has to realize Israel has no faith in him as a peace player. Who knows if he even wanted peace with Israel to begin with. It's obvious he doesn't want it now. One thing is for sure: the U.S. must support Israel against terrorism. Unfortunately, it's not looking good. Despite the mounting evidence, Colin Powell and President Bush refuse to say Arafat is a terrorist or that he harbors terrorists. After 9.11, President Bush made it very clear that anyone who harbors terrorists should be treated as terrorists--the Bush Doctrine. Based on that thinking, we toppled the Taliban and liberated Afghanistan. If we ignore the Bush Doctrine now, then it was just hypocritical poppycock used to satiate public vengence. When Bush issued his declaration, he based it on a clear moral sense. Now, he must lean heavily on his moral clarity instead of relativist diplomacy. Terrorism is wrong, must not be tolerated, and should be smashed. "Sharon Offers Arafat A 'One-Way Ticket'" "Israel: Documents Link Arafat With Militants" "U.S. Won't Brand Arafat Terrorist" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/3/2002 02:54:57 AM ----- BODY: Alright, there's some use for PBS. Public television has produced The Commanding Heights, a documentary on how free market became the dominant political economic ideology in the 20th Century. It's based on the book by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw. Nobel Prize winner, Milton Friedman is interviewed. This fascinating interview covers the development of his thinking along with his views on some of the most important economists of the century. Here's his comparison between Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek:
INTERVIEWER: Some of those debates became very, very heated. I think [Ludwig] von Mises once stormed out. MILTON FRIEDMAN: Oh, yes, he did. Yes, in the middle of a debate on the subject of distribution of income, in which you had people who you would hardly call socialist or egalitarian -- people like Lionel Robbins, like George Stigler, like Frank Knight, like myself -- Mises got up and said, "You're all a bunch of socialists," and walked right out of the room. (laughs) But Mises was a person of very strong views and rather intolerant about any differences of opinion. INTERVIEWER: What was Hayek's personal style? What was he like personally? MILTON FRIEDMAN Oh, personally Hayek was a lovely man, a pure intellectual. He was seriously interested in the truth and in understanding. He differed very much in this way from Mises. There was none of that same kind of manner. He accepted disagreement and wanted to argue, wanted to reason about it and discuss it. He was a very cultured and delightful companion on any occasion. ... I must say, he undoubtedly was the dominant figure in all of the Mont Pelerin meetings for many, many years.Friedman also discusses his role in Chile during Pinochet's military dictatorship. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/2/2002 01:41:51 AM ----- BODY: Boy, do I feel better now. I must have eaten some bad fish or North Korean tree bark yesterday. I just don't know what came over me. To think I could have forsaken the beauty of freedom and opportunity just to wade in an intellectual septic tank of class envy and economic fallacy is scary. It's almost as scary as Glenn Reynolds getting a big check from Steve Case for InstaPundit. Like ex-politboro leader, Bjørn Stærk (who's name I have no way of manually typing so I must resort to cut-and-paste), I'm keeping a copy this halluncination tucked away for safe keeping. Note to self: next April Fools, remember to fast. Nevertheless, actions have consequences. I may plead partial insanity, but like Andrea Yates, I must pay for my crime. A few hours going through the Museum of Communism along with paging through The Black Book of Communism should be an adequate educational punishment. What this event did do for me was give me a break from slogging through the awfulness of the Israel-Palestinian War. I'm tired of hearing about another suicide bomber killing innocents. I'm tired having to defend Israel's response. Strong retaliation that actually destroys the terrorist cells within the Palestinian Authority looks to be the best chance to stop the bombings, but I cringe when another young person blows himself up. I'm sick of Arafat's minions yapping on television again and again about how Israel's occupation is the real terrorism happening. They ignore the fact that one side delibrately targets innocents while the other is trying to wipe out the enemy. Bodies weren't being buried before Palestinian militants decided that martyrdom is more important than working toward peace. Well, 4.1 is over. Back to the real world? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 08:49:33 PM ----- BODY: Comrades, Teofilo Stevenson is a hero of the People. Children should look up to this man. As Del Jones writes:
Tall. Black and handsome, he ruled the heavyweight and super heavy divisions in both the Pan-American and Olympic Games. He had three Olympic titles and was a national hero in Cuba. Many times he was offered millions of dollars to turn pro but each time the answer was no. Stevenson was a supporter of the Cuban people and their revolution and would not sell out. Whites longed to see the Cuban rumble Muhammad Ali, but the answer was always no. He was not interested in prize fighting like a slave, he was a firm supporter of amateur sports and was not attracted to sports for profit, gamblers and exploitation of man by man. In an era when young Cuban athletes defect to Amerikkka for profit, the lesson of Stevenson is clear "forward with the revolution." Now known as one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen he has always been fiercely loyal to his people. Recently, while leaving Miami he was harassed by some Uncle Tom Cubans at the airport. After one shouted some negative remarks at him about Cuba, its people and their leader Fidel Castro, Stevenson was accused of assaulting what turned out to be an airport official. Though detained, he was released and allowed to go home. He said he would allow no one to disrespect his country, his people, his leader. He is talking about the Cuba that exports doctors and dentists to poor country to care for the sick. The Cuba that has given asylum to political prisoners like Assata Shakur, queen of the Black Liberation Army. The Cuba that help defeat the South Afrikan Military in Angola which led to the liberation of Namibia, an embarrassing retreat by the South Afrikan Apartheid Army and the dismantling of Apartheid leading to the release of Nelson Mandela."A World Champ 'N a World Chump" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 03:48:18 PM ----- BODY: That capitalist Internet institution Google is exploiting pigeons along with engineers and computer scientists. All in the name of faster, more accurate Web searches. Some people have no shame and no conscience. How many birds must die just so the mind-numbed proletariat can find pictures that objectify women? "The Technology Behind Google's Great Results" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 03:39:29 PM ----- BODY: This story is just a schill piece by a corporate-dominated newspaper. Claiming average people can get huge returns in the stock market only tricks people into thinking they can do it too. It like those who think privatization of Social Security will protect future workers. Look at Enron. The executive fat-cats got to sell their shares while keeping those of the ordinary worker locked up. Social Security privatization and the stock market in general are just ways for investment bankers to steal even more from the People. What makes it even more evil is they smile back at you and claim you're doing it to better yourself. Bastard swine! "Investing Club's Fun-Loving Attitude Pays Off" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 03:08:03 PM ----- BODY: Comrades, Bjørn Stærk has also seen the light and renounced his capitalist sympathies. The portrait of the great Joseph Stalin is a beautiful touch. The politburo of Southeastern Wisconsin will now allow you to visit The People's Blog. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 02:48:46 PM ----- BODY: Comrades, The Internet could have been the place for Humankind to start fresh and build a new, more equitable order. Peace, harmony, and the exchange of ideas without monetary interference would have been a beautiful thing. But greedy, individualistic neo-capitalists can't look past the common good and have turned the Net into another place to buy and sell. The virtual country of Norrath has a higher per-capital income than the People's Republic of China. Millions of people buy and sell vitural stuff while homeless die on the streets and our fellow Cuban workers are squeezed into submission by horrendous U.S. terrorist trade sanctions. "Virtual Kingdom Richer than Bulgaria" [via Politechbot] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 01:05:44 PM ----- BODY: If Canada can have a single-payer health system, why not the U.S.? "Health Care Activists Push for Single-Payer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 12:55:30 PM ----- BODY: Fellow comrades, Mark 4.20.02 on your calendars. All people who believe in peace, justice, and the equitable redistribution of wealth must march on Washington. Tell your friends, neighbors, and even challenge capitalisist boss. Let's show our "leaders" that we want an end to the war abroad and at home. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 03:20:17 AM ----- BODY: It's a new month. Heck, it's a whole new season. Spring is a time of change. Winter turns to spring. Snow (if any falls, unlike these past few months) melts from spring showers and rising temperatures. Tulips start to push their way up through the soil. Birds return to lands vacated months before. As you can see, The Amerikkkan Mind has changed too. No longer will TAM be the lap dog for capitalist exploiters bound and determined to bury the prolitarian under its heal. I now side with those victims who are squeezed of every last dollar, pound, yen, and euro by multinational corporations. No longer will I sit by and accept the spew from corporate-owned media who just schill for their industrial sister companies. 9.11: that's just an excuse for the illegal Bush administration to show off their over-priced weapons over a defenseless country (Afghanistan) so defense contractors can get more tax dollars for more over-prices, unneeded weapons. TAM has seen the light. That light is communism. Karl Marx spoke truth when he wrote:
In the earlier epochs of history, we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations.The Internet and the rise of the "New Economy" haven't change the fact that there are the exploited and the exploiters. What has changed is the speed of oppression. Is "Campaign Finance Reform" really reform? Or is it a way for President Bush to claim he's for true democracy while knowing he can double the amount capitalists can legally give him to further their interests at the expense of the People? The oppressed are those with no health insurance, no stock options, no lobbyists passing out bribes to keeps us in power and luxury. Sure, we average folk just lie back in creature comforts eating Twinkies, watching Survivor, and being hypnotized by Oprah. The Man offers us pro wrestling like Roman Caesers offered their people gladiators. Both distract us. While distracting us they force us to consume Coke, Britney Spears, and The West Wing (a show truly dispicable for portraying government officials who think they're helping the People while continuing capitalist exploitation). I now join my comrades across the globe. From the followers of the late Gus Hall to my suffering comrades in North (Axis of Evil, my ass) Korea to those in the Workers' Paradise of Cuba, I am with you in solidarity. To paraphraise the Big K: "A spectre is haunting the world--the spectre of communism. Now, you may ask, "Is this just some cheap 180-degree April Fools' joke?" I can only say that you should stay tuned.... -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2002 12:51:34 AM ----- BODY: I hope everyone had a pleasant Easter. I worked at the store and encountered a lot of pathetic people who gave in to the urge to shop on a holiday. I wish I could say Israel had a good Easter. But with Israeli troops going after terrorists while Israeli civilians are still getting blown away by suicide bombers, everyone there is nervous about tomorrow, let alone the future. "Israel Pursues Crackdown on 'Terror' in West Bank" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/30/2002 10:23:30 PM ----- BODY: Dan at Happy Fun Pundit speaks brilliance on Arafat. Of course, I praise him because I agree with him, and I have been saying similar things. Here's the best part:
This is the way I see it: If Arafat has the power to call a cease-fire today, then he had the power to call one a month ago, or six months ago, and has been lying through his teeth the whole time. If he had that power and chose not to use it, then he is responsible for those deaths and must be held accountable. If he's not capable of calling for this cease-fire, then why in hell are we paying any attention to him? Alec Baldwin might as well announce a cease-fire, for all the good it will do.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/30/2002 10:16:22 PM ----- BODY: I might want to steal a Krispy Kreme truck too after smoking some crack. "Doughnut Trail Leads Cops to Thief" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/30/2002 09:21:26 PM ----- BODY: Larry Kudlow would like to see Dallas Fed president Bob McTeer replace Alan Greenspan. Not a bad choice. I met him last summer at a conference on the French libertarian, Frederic Bastiat. For a man like McTeer, to come to an event filled with people opposed to your very job is a sign of his self-assuredness. McTeer's a Bastiat and Adam Smith fan. He's an ardent free trader, and being in Dallas, he sees the good results from expanded trade with Mexico. Having an intellectual foundation of free market learning is essential in a good Federal Reserve Chairman. Also very important is an nominee's view of macroeconomics. Kudlow points out that McTeer rejects the Phillips Curve relationship between "falling unemployment and rising inflation." Inflation is a monetary issue. It's simply too much money chasing too few goods. McTeer knows this and Kudlow believes he wouldn't be trigger-happy at any hint of good economic news. But still, why not Kudlow for Fed Chair? His credentials are Wall Street, but that gives him an intuitive sense of how the market would react to Fed actions. Kudlow also believes in a stable dollar and wouldn't be afraid to lower interest rates to levels others (Paul Krugman) would consider ridiculous. One big drawback to Kudlow as Fed Chair is we wouldn't have the privilege of hearing him comment in papers, on CNBC, or the Web. But I'm willing to sacrifice to get a free market, supply-sider as the world's top banker. "Why Not McTeer?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/30/2002 01:43:58 AM ----- BODY: I should get hitched just to offer guests Krispy Kremes at my wedding. Any women, 21-30, interested in spending the rest of their life with a ranting, loud-mouthed, doughnut-addicted, conservative weblogger can e-mail me. "Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Take the Cake at Weddings" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/30/2002 01:22:58 AM ----- BODY: Kentucky's Rep. Thomas Burch (D) doesn't much like riverboat casinos. His response is to have the U.S.S. Louisville stalk the Ohio river on seek and destroy missions. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/29/2002 11:23:48 PM ----- BODY: I like Mark Bryon's blurb on Israeli-Palestinian peace proposals:
The Friedman Plan is now suitable for use as fertilizer.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/29/2002 11:13:24 PM ----- BODY: The "Fightin' Whites" may have some great t-shirts, but they're not very good on the basketball court. "Despite 56-33 Loss, 'Whites' Score Points" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/29/2002 10:47:51 PM ----- BODY: Yehuda Lancry, U.N. ambassador from Israel echoes my feelings about Yassar Arafat:
The glorification of suicide bombings against innocent civilians, precisely because they are innocent, and the continuing failure to arrest known terrorists who enjoy protection and support in the Palestinian territories and in the presidential compound of Chairman Arafat are but some of the signs that Chairman Arafat has no intention of reaching a peaceful settlement.Yet, the U.S. continues to consider Arafat a man who can be dealt with. Deputy U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham called Arafat "central to any meaningful effort to restore calm." I say he's an impediment to peace. He had a chance at Camp David, but turned it down. Now, he does little to stop suicide bombers while his propaganda machine spews anti-Israeli hatred. What I also noticed after Israel's attack on Arafat's headquarters was the quick response by world leaders, yet after the bombing that killed 22, only President Bush made a strong statement condeming it. Kofi Annan does his typical moral equivalence by saying, "Destroying the Palestinian Authority will not bring Israel closer to peace," and "Terrorism will not bring the Palestinian people closer to an independent Palestinian state." To Annan, it seems a legitimate response to terrorism is the same as terrorism itself. "Annan Wants Israel to Halt Attacks" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/29/2002 10:07:52 AM ----- BODY: Israel's cabinet has declared the Palestinian leader an enemy. Israeli forces then invaded Arafat's headquarters, but have no intention of capturing him. Arafat remains defiant and says Israel doesn't want peace. Let history show that Israel has bent over backwards for peace with Palestinians. They agreed to the Oslo Accords. They offered Arafat almost everything he wanted at Camp David a few years ago. Israel has even resisted a full-scale war that could wipe Arafat and his minions off the face of the earth. Yet, after all that, after re-writing textbooks and including Palestinians into the history of the region, Palestinian violence continues. If anyone doesn't want peace, it's Yasser Arafat. He either doesn't want the suicide bombings to stop or is incapable to prevent them. My bet is on the former. As Charles Krauthammer points out, Arafat controls the media and schools of Palestine. And what comes out of them anti-semetic propaganda that would put a grin on a neo-Nazi skinhead. If Arafat really wanted a stop to the bombings and is impotent in doing so, he would seek out Israel's help. If Arafat really wanted peace, he would see that these suicide bombers are enemies to both Israel and Palestine. Joint operations would a long way to building trust between the two peoples. Arafat doesn't ask for help, and the bombings continue. Arafat doesn't want peace and still is an enemy to Israel. "Israeli Forces Enter Arafat's HQ" "Arafat Vows No Surrender After Israeli Raid" "How Arafat Raised an Entire Generation to Murder" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/29/2002 09:25:16 AM ----- BODY: A world EPA? That's what some want at U.N. University. It seems international environmental laws have been created in too chaotic a manner. Along with that, big issues like global(oney) warming transcend nation-states. Great, let's centralize environmental protection with an unaccountable organization. That way highly individualized information that would best protect the enviroment is rejected for wide-ranging plans made by technocrats with lots of titles after their names. Let's also align this new global EPA with the U.N., an organzation whose goals are at times antithical to liberty and its greatest example, the U.S. "Study: World Environment Agency Would Ease Chaos" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/28/2002 02:10:23 PM ----- BODY: Bob Mould has gone crazy. Along with Modulate, he's released Long Playing Grooves under his LoudBomb moniker and a live album LiveDog98. His trifecta is complete. Don't expect anything more from him this year. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/28/2002 02:03:28 PM ----- BODY: I have a feeling Napster will never relaunch, and the music business may be paying the price. "Napster Puts Off Relaunch" "Music Biz Falls Off the Scale" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/28/2002 02:00:26 PM ----- BODY: Members of Britain's New Labour are quivering after learning that their party's government is willing to use nuclear weapons "in the right conditions." John Keegan sees this as a prudent decision. He writes:
Of course they are right to be concerned that, unless the rogue states are checked while there is time, civilisation will pay a terrible price. Kind, well-meaning people in the advanced states, who shrink from thinking ill of anyone, are naturally repelled by the idea of taking pre-emptive action. No doubt the inhabitants of the Christian lands said as much to each other before the eruption of Genghis Khan. They paid the price, which took centuries to recoup. Genghis Khan merely killed. Nuclear weapons lay waste, permanent waste. We have been warned."A Nuclear Threat - Labour's Biggest Surprise so Far" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/28/2002 01:21:52 PM ----- BODY: The big story from the Arab League summitt in Beirut was the peace offering to Israel, but more ominous was Iraq and Saudi Arabia playing kissy-kiss to each other. It decrease chances of the Saudi joining the U.S. in ousting Sadaam. Could the reason the Saudis are being rather slow in helping U.S. investigators about Saudi links to terrorism is because they know of a connection leading to Iraq? Such evidence would make it harder for the Saudis to prevent an attack on their new friend. "Arab Leaders Endorse Peace Proposal" "US Presses Saudis on Terror-link Charities" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/27/2002 01:53:33 PM ----- BODY: While moving to a flat tax is great for the Russian economy, its execution leaves something to be desired:
First, pick up forms from the tax inspector, since they are not available in post offices. Then read 32 pages of instructions and fill out the 12-page form. Print carefully — a misplaced mark is ground for rejection. Next, hand deliver the forms, which are truly considered filed only after the tax inspector signs them. (Translation: forms lost in Russia's spotty mail system are your fault.) Finally, to pay, go to the state-owned savings bank Sberbank (but not during its lunch break) and fill out the same form twice. Carefully copy the 20-digit number across the top."Russia Imposes Flat Tax on Income, and Its Coffers Swell" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/26/2002 01:32:25 AM ----- BODY: A. N. Wilson brings back the disturbing idea of state-sanctioned sterilization. He advocates this in order to stop from reproducing "the murderous morons, who are never going to contribute anything except misery to themselves and others." Such a blanket statement disregards the indivduality of "the murderous morons." For Wilson, there is no hope of finding a diamond in the rough in that sea of sewage that make up the underclass. Wilson envisons a system where multiple offenders are sterilized. But why not the sterilization of any offspring from the offender? The "criminal" genes are still present in society in the son or daughter. I envison criminal sterilizations leading to mass sterilizations of people on welfare. They too are sucking off the public teat. Then let's move on to the other side of eugenics: encouraging the "useful and intelligent classes" to breed. It would make for a very twisted policy to subsidize the "good" people with taxes from the "murderous morons." Imagine the class animosity this would create? Our future doesn't lie with state control over reproduction. It lies with a deep respect for human life and its individuality. "Our Future Lies with Eugenics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/26/2002 12:07:16 AM ----- BODY: Things aren't going well for Janet Reno in her bid be become Florida governor. While her Democratic opponent, Bill McBride, got the endorsement from the AFL-CIO, Reno got the backing of the Florida State College Democrats. "AFL-CIO Decision Linked to Reno's 'Electability' Problem" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/26/2002 12:04:15 AM ----- BODY: Primary documents illumate shadowy issues so well. Instead of just accepting the accusations from Ken Timmerman published by a conservative publishing house (Regnery), a letter has been discovered showing how Jesse Jackson used accuastions of racism to funnel money to particular companies. Jackson wrote the letter in regards to a recent bond issue from General Electric. In Jackson's letter he writes, "it is disappointing to think that GE, one of America's most innovative and respected companies, doesn't feel than any minority-owned firms have the capability to be part of what will probably be one of the largest bond offerings in 2002." He implies that GE is obviously racist and wants the company to prove otherwise. That's impossible because that would require GE to prove a negative. GE can rectify this racist stain by hiring any companies on a list provided by Jackson. He writes in the letter, "We have established relationships with several minority-owned investment banks that have the qualifications and expertise to deliver excellent results and value-added products." Could it be that these same investment banks are funding Jackson and his Wall Street Project to draw up business through intimidation? I haven't read Shakedown yet, but this letter adds to Timmerman's expose on how Jackson has made millions in the race-baiting business. "Letter Reveals Jesse Jackson's 'Shakedown' Bid of GE, Critic Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/25/2002 08:04:23 PM ----- BODY: Wendy McElroy surveys wrongful life/birth lawsuits. So far, the suits have been against doctors, but when will a disabled person sue their parents for allowing them to be born? It makes no sense, is completely irrational, but you know it will happen. "Parents Sue Doctors for 'Wrongful Birth' of Disabled Child" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/25/2002 12:52:03 AM ----- BODY: Leann has collected a whole lotta Wisconsin weblogs. There are many, many more than I expected. She's also been kind enough to add TAM to the list. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/24/2002 02:47:46 AM ----- BODY: 2002 is turning out to be a great year for music. Nine Inch Nails released their live album. The Chemical Brothers pumped out Come With Us. Bob Mould's experimental Modulate is at your favorite record store. Then, April 9, will arrive with Gutterflower, the new album from the Goo Goo Dolls. Later on this year come new released from Senor Moby and Underworld. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/24/2002 02:31:48 AM ----- BODY: The three pillars of leadership against communism at the end of the 20th Century are all ailing. Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and--now--Margaret Thatcher are suffering the effects of age. To say that these three should be forever honored for their moral strength to challenge an evil empire while displaying clarity of thought is an understatment. Thatcher's public speeches are no more, but don't expect her to stay quiet. An occasional op-ed here and there will allow her to remain in the public debate in the UK. "Thatcher Told to Quit Public Speaking" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/23/2002 11:24:09 PM ----- BODY: Arafat has joined a member of the Axis of Evil. The man doesn't want peace. But is he crazy enough to think he can drive Israel into the sea? What is Arafat's ultimate motive? "A Secret Iran-Arafat Connection Is Seen Fueling the Mideast Fire" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/23/2002 10:57:23 PM ----- BODY: I wonder who leaked that report on U.S. nuclear strategy and why. However, like Paul Greenburg, I see good coming out of it. Let me have Greenburg speak for me:
Let the word go forth that the United States has a commander-in-chief now, and that acts of terror against the United States, its cities and its people are no longer going to be treated as felonies and misdemeanors assigned to some district attorney's office in New York. Instead they will be considered acts of war. And they will be countered by whatever new weapons it takes. After Sept. 11, America has come awake, and the old, unexamined restraints on our power, and on our strategic imagination, need to be reconsidered."Good News, Bad News: Thinking the Unthinkable" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/23/2002 10:50:34 PM ----- BODY: The biggest lesson from Enron's collapse isn't that accounting firms shouldn't consult or massive changes in accounting rules are needed to restore investors' confidence or First Amendment restiction laws (AKA Campaign Finance Reform) are needed to clean up the system. No, the biggest lesson that should be learned from Enron is simple: don't put all your eggs in one basket. Even if your company gives you company stock for your 401(k), make sure you're diversified. France Smith offers some common sense advice. "Your 401(k) Plan -- Lessons from Enron" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2002 02:34:25 AM ----- BODY: Alex (not Alec) "Stone Hyde" Baldwin is up to 369 votes at Send Them Packing. $369 should be plenty to ship that bad-acting blowhard off to France. But maybe we should hold out for enough to send him to the workers' paradise of North Korea. I wonder if Alex likes the taste of tree bark, the national meal of that country? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2002 02:27:52 AM ----- BODY: The Onion honors Michael Dell. It's just not as serious as BusinessFans.com. "Corporation Reaches Goal, Shuts Down" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2002 01:52:49 AM ----- BODY: According to Andrew Sullivan, the King of personal websites, Matt Drudge, cruises around in his very own white convertible. Who said you can't make money on the Internet? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2002 01:21:56 AM ----- BODY: Rich "Nuke Mecca" Lowry expands on my thought that President Bush will break his oath if he signs the campaign finance bill in front of him. "Executive Privilege" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2002 12:30:08 AM ----- BODY: Can someone give Peggy Noonan a Pulitzer? She's just so damn good. Her column on the Catholic sexual abuse scandals is full of heart-felt meaning, faith, and a yearning for good to come from it. You don't have to be Catholic (I'm not, so I haven't felt comfortable commenting on the story.) to feel the pain she feels towards her church. "The Pope's First Statement" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2002 12:17:12 AM ----- BODY: Louis Rukeyser is leaving Wall Street Week, a television show he hosted for 32 years. Public Television is losing a man with a skeptical eye on Wall Street, the courage to ask the tough question, and a plethora of puns. It will be really tough for its replacement Wall Street Week with Fortune to match the quality of Rukeyser's show. "'Wall Street Week' Host Rukeyser Out" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/21/2002 11:57:40 PM ----- BODY: National political parties will be weakened but state parties and advocacy groups like the NRA and ACLU could benefit from the new campaign finance law. The Christian Science Monitor has already named the latest political evil: "bundlers." They are people who have contacts and persuasive powers to bundle individual contributions for a candidate. Those type of people used to be considered political activists. Now, they're the next big threat to democracy. "Money in Politics: a New Route" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2002 11:50:56 PM ----- BODY: Buying a Fighting Whites t-shirt: should I, or shouldn't I? That is the question. I don't find the shirts offensive (actually, they're pretty funny), but do I really want to financially support a bunch of whiny, Left-wingers who have too much time on their hands? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2002 10:48:41 PM ----- BODY: Watch closely at how politicos, parties, and advocacy groups respond to new free speech restrictions--I mean new campaign finance laws. You will see the Law of Unintended Consequences raise it's head and surprise us all. The biggest short-term winner may be President Bush. Last election, he did very well raising hard money. With the legal limit raised to $2000 and incumbency, any Democratic challenger will have a hard time financing a campaign capable of beating him. "Surprises Lurking in Finance Overhaul" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2002 10:37:53 PM ----- BODY: The First Amendment Restriction Act (AKA campaign finance reform) passed the Senate. President Bush is taking the cynical and political route by saying he'll sign it even though he thinks it's "flawed in some areas" and doesn't meet his idea of campaign finance reform, which is "full and timely disclosure of campaign contributions." My hunch is Bush thinks this will get thrown out by the courts. So by signing it, he tells voters he's for reform. Whether he thinks it will pass constitutional muster or not, he swore to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." That includes protecting the First Amendment, which states in part, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." Signing the bill will be a black mark on his (so far) extraordinary Presidency. "Campaign Finance Reform Passes, Bush Will Sign" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2002 03:51:38 AM ----- BODY: The New York Sun's op-ed page should be a nice antidote to that of the Left-of-center Times with conservative all-stars Peggy Noonan, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Richard Brookhiser, and Amity Shlaes contributing. However, it will have to be really good to reach the level of the Wall Street Journal's op-ed section. "The New York Sun Introduces its Editorial Staff" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2002 03:38:33 AM ----- BODY: For the first time, I've discovered a non-trivial Google search where TAM is #1!! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2002 03:29:36 AM ----- BODY: George Tenet's comments about Iraq and terrorism aren't really new. They are just a reminder that an Iraq that possesses chemical, nuclear, or biological weapons is a major threat to the U.S. No bombshells (no pun intended) were dropped at that Senate hearing. Tenet never said there was proof Iraq was behind the 9.11 attacks. If there was, it would already be out there so the international community would accept any U.S. retaliation. All Tenet said was "it would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility of state sponsorship whether Iranian or Iraqi and we'll see where the evidence takes us." This was just the administration offering reasons why the U.S. can and should invade Iraq. It's not a coincidence that Tenet made his comments at the same time Vice President Dick Cheney is in the Middle East talking to leaders about Iraq. "Iraq Has Had Contacts with al-Qaeda, Tactical Cooperation Possible: CIA Director" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/19/2002 01:21:33 AM ----- BODY: The Third-Party Hero is in political trouble. 63% of Minnesotans favor someone other than Gov. Jesse Ventura (I-MN) for governor. Jesse is suffering from a common argument against third party candidates: no allies. The Democrats and Republicans have locked him out of budget talks. No allies in the legislature means no way to get his budget passed. He can only sign or veto what's given to him. With the state suffering an almost $2 billion deficit vetoing a reasonable plan could be poltical suicide. "In Minnesota Polls, a Ventura Takedown" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/19/2002 12:43:58 AM ----- BODY: This story about lost Russian nuclear reactors that could be used by terrorists to make a dirty nuke is scarier than it really is. Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research said, "If you don't know what you are doing, it will kill you first." Disposal workers in Georgia used one ton lead shields and limited exposure to collect a reactor core found in the woods. The chances of moving that kind of equipment around Russia without notice seems slim. It'd be easier to raid a few hospital radiology labs to get radioactive material for a dirty nuke. The threat looks more James Bond than anything real. "Makings of a 'Dirty Bomb'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/19/2002 12:21:55 AM ----- BODY: The Saudis are walking a very fine line. While talking tough with the U.S. over a Gulf War-like invasion of Iraq and intervening in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to placate strong fundamentalists at home, they do support ousting Saddam Hussein (The only national leader I can think of known best by his first name. The Madonna of international affairs?). Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said, "Regime change in Iraq will only happen if the Iraqi people do it." It looks like the Saudis want to see another Afghanistan take place. A strategy I believe the Bush administration was looking at anyway. "Saudi Arabia Would Back Overthrow Led by Iraqis" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/18/2002 11:28:06 PM ----- BODY: Nicholas Maier's Trading With the Enemy took serious aim at money manager and financial commentator James Cramer. The book's publisher, HarperCollins, is admitting that some of the pages contain false material and will destroy thousands of the copies of the book. The value of Mr. Maier's other allegations are now worth about as much as the pulp from the destroyed books. Weeks ago, when the book was just coming out, Matt Drudge made it the banner headline on his website. I haven't seen any mention by him of HarperCollins' actions. "HarperCollins to Junk Copies of a New Book Cited as Libel" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/18/2002 03:05:10 PM ----- BODY: At Send Them Packing, your vote and donation could give a loud-mouthed Hollywood Leftist a one-way ticket out of the U.S.--a country many of them detest since George W. Bush's election. Kim Basinger is upset that she's been linked to this site and her ex-husband Alex (not Alec) Baldwin. Her publicist said, "I don't think that's fair. Because her husband at that time had opinions about it, doesn't mean that she had an opinion about it." But when talking about Alex's (broken) promise to leave the country, Basinger said, "I can very well imagine that Alec makes good on his threat. And then I'd have to go, too." She didn't say her husband was off his rocker and acting childish. No, she was all ready to head off to England, France, or wherever Alex wanted. "Website Offers to Send Liberal Actors Packing" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/18/2002 02:47:03 PM ----- BODY: CNSNews.com has a two-part series on politically-bent summer camps. The communist/socialist camp emphazies "group living, cooperative decision-making, and noncompetitive but challenging approaches to sports and games." Everyone wins (and loses) because no one keeps score. Campers are reinforced on standard Leftist causes like abortion-on-demand, child labor, and globalization. Is there any mention about the millions who died at the hands of communists? Is there any mention of the untold suffering, repression, and murder in the name of creating a new world order? As for the camp run by Robert Welch University, it's all fine and good that they emphasise American values like limited government and natural rights, but what about the wierd conspiracy stuff? Robert Welch founded the John Birch Society. John Birch-ers are anti-communists but see vast (Left-wing) conspriacies around every corner. At that summer camp are kids taught about the "secret plot" of the Tri-Lateral Commission and the Council for Foreign Relations to use the U.N. to create a communist world state? "Political Summer Camps Cater to Extremes" "No Socialists at This Summer Camp" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/17/2002 10:28:44 PM ----- BODY: No big celebration for me this St. Patrick's Day. Worked during the day, and now savoring a Leinenkugel's. (I know it isn't Guinness, but I didn't want to fight crowds just to get a good pint.). The extent of my celebration included corned beef a few days ago and listening to the audiobook of Liam Clancy's The Mountain of the Women. In a way, I'm passing St. Patrick's Day like those across the pond who "spent the day in quiet reflection." At least that was before they realized they could get thousands of drunk foreigners to spend lots of money in Dublin. "Doing St. Patrick's Day the Irish Way" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/17/2002 01:25:18 PM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds is probably drunk by now, and I still won't beat him in number of posts today. The guy is a machine. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/16/2002 09:22:55 PM ----- BODY: Scott deftly moves from the cola wars to Bill Gates to Starbucks to Survivior. His theme: the world is always changing. Either you wrestle with it or get trampled. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/16/2002 08:28:10 PM ----- BODY: James Tobin, Nobel Prize winner, died this past week. He won the Nobel in economics for his work on portfolio theory. He is also known for his idea to tax foreign exchange transactions ("Tobin Tax") to stablize currencies. Godspeed, James. "Professor, Presidential Adviser and Nobel Laureate James Tobin Dies" UPDATE (I feel like Glenn Reynolds or Patrick Ruffini): In Paul Krugman's column on Tobin's death, he calls Milton Friedman's monetarism "naive" and thinks it's common knowledge that the Great Depression was caused by laissez-faire economic policies. In a letter to the editor, Ben Stein takes Krugman to task. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/16/2002 05:12:49 PM ----- BODY: A good thing about the Final Four is that anything can happen. There are early match-ups which look like lopsided affairs on paper that turn out to be really exciting games. Anybody can win (except a 16 seed) and you watch the games for just that reason. A bad thing about the tournament is that anything can happen. You can spend hours pouring over statistics trying to guess the winners, and after two days half of your final four (Florida and Ohio State) have been booted out. "(5) Florida 82 (12) Creighton 83" "(12) Missouri 83, (4) Ohio State 67" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/16/2002 02:59:11 AM ----- BODY: Last time I heard, guns were still legal in the USA. An item for both self-defense and sport, guns play a significant role in many people's lives. While having every right to do so, Google--the King of all search engines--refuses gun advertisements. "Google Refuses Business from Gun, Knife, Bulk Food Advertisers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/16/2002 02:03:17 AM ----- BODY: Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has little influence on administration policy. He would love to see the corporate tax eliminated, but has made no push to even start a debate. He opposed steel tariffs imposed a few weeks ago, but his only reaction is an off-the-record comment to the Council of Foreign Relations. He's the weakest Treasury Secretary in some time. O'Neill is completely invisible on CNBC or general media. He's not pushing for serious tax reform or Social Security reform. You don't see him do much of anything. Robert Rubin he isn't. Neither is he a Larry Summers. It's time for a change. How about promoting Lawrence Lindsey or really shake things up by hiring Larry Kudlow? "Treasury Official Is Said to Fault Steel Tariff Move" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/15/2002 04:12:51 AM ----- BODY: Gonzaga may have gotten shafted by the tournament committee, but they failed to squash the underdog Wyoming. "Gonzaga Sees Other Side of Cinderella" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/15/2002 01:35:30 AM ----- BODY: It appears that Slate was fooled by a man named Ravi Desai. If it's him, then it's another hoax to add to his list. He's tricked a number of universities by telling them he was going to give hefty donations. "Who Is 'Robert Klingler'?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 11:39:20 PM ----- BODY: Here are some excerpts from Capt. Ron Henderson of the USS John F. Kennedy:
We are currently preceding at best speed to our launch point for tonight's strikes, off the coast of Pakistan, nearly 700 miles south of our targets in Afghanistan. At midnight, CVW 7 will launch into the dark night, and strike their first blows of Operation Enduring Freedom, the war on terrorism. For us this is a culminating point in space, a culminating point in time, and a culminating point in history. Our enemy is a group of religious fanatics, who pervert the peace of Islam and twist its meaning to justify the murder of thousands of innocents at the Twin Towers of New York, at the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania. They hate us and attack us because they oppose all that is good about America. They hate us because we are prosperous. They hate us because we are tolerant. They hate us because we are happy. Mostly, they hate us because we are free and because we will "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend or oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty." Make no mistake - this is fight for Western Civilization. If these monsters are not destroyed they will destroy us, and our children and children's children will live in fear forever. America is the only nation that can stop them and destroy them. Only America has the strength of character and the vast resources to hunt these fanatics down anywhere in the world. We have friends and Allies but we are the leaders of the world our forefathers made and died for. We represent America in all its power and diversity. We are men and women, rich and poor, black and white, and all colors of the human rainbow. We are Christian, Jew, and yes, Muslim. We ARE America. Stay sharp. Stay focused. Stay safe. Use the training that has made you the best Sailors in the world. Trust in your faith, and in your shipmates. God bless us all, and God bless America."Brothers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 11:29:43 PM ----- BODY: A future U.S. Army will have robots roaming the air and ground, light-weight, but heavily-armed tanks, and battlefield sensors connecting troops and equipment. The Army wants all this along with the ability to deploy 4000 troops anywhere in the world in 96 hours. "The Future of Combat" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 09:49:36 PM ----- BODY: Mayor Norquist may have declared today "Blue and Gold Day" in honor of Marquette's first round game of the NCAA tournament, but the Golden Eagles (AKA Warriors) disappointed fans by losing to Tulsa. The last 15 seconds were especially frustrating watching a nationally-ranked team run around the court like it was their first day of practice. Not a good way to end a season. "Mayor Norquist Toasts Golden Eagles' Success" "Tulsa Upsets Marquette in First Round" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 09:05:27 PM ----- BODY: Rep. Dan Burton's House Committee on Government Reform released a report on Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons. Clinton backers were all on the same page. A Clinton spokeswoman said the report "is filled with nothing but partisan accusations and innuendoes" and "contains no proof of wrongdoing." Ranking Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) couldn't think of anything original to add so he said, "This report is partisan, relies on innuendo, and makes unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing." "Clinton Abused Pardon Power, House Committee Claims" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 08:56:35 PM ----- BODY: From the Pot Calling the Kettle Black Department: North Korea is calling the Bush White House "lunatics" for putting it on the list as potential nuclear targets. This is the same "sane" nation that clings to Marxism so tightly that their people starve just so the military is well fed. "North Korea Reacts to 'Nuclear Lunatics' in White House" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 08:42:24 PM ----- BODY: There's a vast (Right Wing?) conspiracy trapping people in ever-expanding frames. Will Hutton calls that conspriacy the modern world. "Obesity, in short, is the result of modernity," writes Hutton. Fat people are "the victims of the great economic and social forces that generate obesity." At the same time, Hutton understands that he is his own worst enemy. He writes
My own body-mass index has been growing ominously for years despite valiant efforts at resistance, but I am unwilling to blame the health authorities for my plight; I know the consequences of my habits. My sedentary lifestyle, eating and drinking habits continue as they always have with counter-attacks at the margins because I am boxed in by the exigencies of the way I live.Hutton could change his lifestyle, but doesn't. He doesn't think the same about other people. Hutton's fat-fighting solutions are technocratic: fat taxes and getting "to grips with the entire food chain, from how food is grown to how it is manufactured and distributed." Being the good "progressive" that I'm sure he is, he should realize that a fat tax would fall disproportionately on the poor who don't have the time or money to seek out healthier food options. As for evaluating the entire food industry, he should recall that great example of food planning, the former Soviet Union. Russia has some of the best farmland in the world, yet they had to import millions of tons of grain every year just to feed their own people. "Fat is a Capitalist Issue" [via Overlawyered] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 08:12:02 PM ----- BODY: "Wrongful life" suits have reached Australia. What would these three children think if they knew their parents would have aborted them if they were informed about their medical conditions? How can a parent look into their child's eyes and tell them they love them unconditionally after filing such an awful lawsuit? Maybe they don't. That would be even sadder than these lawsuits. "Disabled Children Want To Sue Doctors For Being Born" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 08:04:11 PM ----- BODY: Add shoddy owl data to the list of trechery used by government scientists to advance radical environmentalists' goals. "Owl Data Knowingly Faulty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2002 06:22:56 PM ----- BODY: Be on the lookout for a Fatboy Slim mix album due out next month. "Fatboy Slim Turns Beach Party Into Album, Possibly Tour" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/13/2002 09:41:02 AM ----- BODY: Texas' insanity law didn't doom Andrea Yates, five dead children by her hands doomed her. Someone should tell that to USA Today headline writers. "Insanity Law Helped Doom Yates' Defense" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/13/2002 09:31:22 AM ----- BODY: I noticed this paragraph from Max Boot's report from Cuba:
One afternoon last week the galleries were crowded with middle-aged suburbanites from places like Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Greenwich, Conn., sporting fanny packs, Dockers and sensible shoes. Judging by the name tags around their necks, they had come under the auspices of the Museum of American Folk Art--a legal way to circumvent the U.S.-imposed travel ban, which allows Americans to visit here only for cultural, historical or journalistic purposes.Cuban travel restrictions are a joke if they're this easy to flount. Let's dump them "for American tourists bring not only dollars with them but also subversive ideas like freedom." "To Have and Have Not in Havana" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/13/2002 09:04:24 AM ----- BODY: If you want advice about sick sexual fantasies, don't ask Dear Abby. She might turn you in. "Milwaukee Man Turns to Dear Abby for Advice, then Lands in Jail" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/11/2002 03:48:31 AM ----- BODY: If Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher is still alive, he's been a prisoner for over 10 years! It would be a black eye on both Bush I and Clinton administrations. "Pilot Believed Alive, Held in Iraq" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/10/2002 09:49:09 PM ----- BODY: The Packers got their big-time reciever in Terry Glenn. The price for him may be long-time No. 1 wide out, Antonio Freeman. Green Bay is looking for a pay cut from him, but Freeman balks at that. "My role on the offense could be reduced, as well as my pay, and it's just not a situation I'm happy with. It's not about money, it's about happiness right now, and I don't think being back in Green Bay will make me happy," he said. If the Packers cut Freeman, it will break up the Favre-Freeman touchdown combo--one of the greatest in Packers' history. From Freeman's comments it looks like he isn't interested in another Super Bowl run. A Glenn-Freeman tandem would be right up there with any other in the league. Freeman went on to say, "Maybe Glenn is the fit for them, maybe he can get them to the Super Bowl. I don't know, but I've been there. I've done that. So it's no problem for me to step away." It's in the Packers' best interests to do everything possible to keep Freeman. Terry Glenn has had his on- and off-field problems. Glenn says, "I'll try to do my best to do what I can," but he could blow up. Freeman offers a known quantitiy: solid play and veteran leadership. "Packers' Freeman Says He's not Ready for Pay Cut" "Glenn Relishes Change" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/9/2002 01:33:03 AM ----- BODY: Doris Kearns Goodwin is on the board of Northwest Airlines (along with that well known business icon, Walter Mondale). What qualifications did she offer to be considered a representative of shareholders? What company did she work for? What does she possibly offer at board meetings? Does she offer a lot of Lindberg anecdotes? How about stories of how much Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt just loved airplanes. I have an idea: let's find the most rediculous, out-of-place people on corporate boards. There has to be some real laughers out there. "Historian Goodwin Comes Under Fire" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2002 01:46:23 AM ----- BODY: The government is even more justified in not telling NYC officials about a nuke threat. Dragaonfire made the whole thing up. "Officials: Source Made up Nuclear Plot" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2002 11:57:28 PM ----- BODY: I wish Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari the best of luck in bringing a reasoned point of view to the Arab world. Here are a few comments he made about the U.S.'s response to 9.11:
"It is unfair to name the American response [to September 11] 'terrorism,' because by so doing we are confusing the concepts of terrorism and self-defense or response to aggression -- and at a time when we are demanding that the international community not confuse 'terrorism' with 'legitimate resistance.' What happened in America is terrorism; the American response is a response to that aggression, and there is a world-wide consensus on this." "...[O]nly those with a hatred-of-America complex, whose goal is to permit the perpetrators to escape, [name America's response 'terrorism']. Any other country in which such an act of terror had taken place would have hastened to respond and to annihilate everything -- we have many examples of this in Arab history." "Yet, although America is a superpower, and could have responded immediately, it gave other options a fair chance, until it despaired -- and then had no choice but to launch a war..." "We feel sorrow for the innocent victims; we wish it were not a Muslim country that was being attacked. But what can be done with the group of fanatics [the Taliban] who rejected all calls for mediation, all initiatives, and all counsel, and persisted for over five years in protecting a group of terrorists..." "...Terrorism must be fought by any and all means. All Muslims must support the struggle against terror. Terrorism has claimed more victims in many Islamic countries than in the West. Any country or group protecting and defending terrorists must be fought, and the world must be saved from their evil... The time has come to call them to account, and punish them. We must all support the efforts to repress and bring to an end the damage they do." "There are always innocent victims of war, and we cannot prevent this? What we can do is demand protection for these innocents. Afghan refugees who escaped Kabul reported that the Taliban were concealing their tanks and heavy guns near the mosques and heavily populated areas. If this is true, who is responsible for the deaths of the victims -- America, or the Taliban...?" "We must have the courage to admit that what happened in Afghanistan was the liberation of our Muslim brothers -- even if, unfortunately, it was by non-Muslim hands..."-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2002 11:49:01 PM ----- BODY: There are thousands of frozen embryos across the country. Some people think it's alright to harvest them for their stem cells. Some encourage women to "adopt" them by having them implanted in their wombs. Some think it's immoral and a violation of the marriage sacrament to implant them. The problem arises from in vitro techniques that produce excess embryos. Doctors says it's needed to give childless couples the best chance at having a baby. Little thought is given to the fate of frozen embryos and those culled by selective abortion. Bishop Elio Sgreccia nailed it on the head when he said, "The point is we should never have gone down this road to begin with." I don't oppose in vitro fertilization. What I oppose is making child bearing the sole goal with no concern about the unborn life hurt in the process. "Where Do Frozen Embryos Belong?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2002 11:32:25 PM ----- BODY: Dr. Rif'at Sayyid Ahmad can spew the venom. He calls Camp X-Ray "The American Aushwitz." He even tosses in a few anti-semitic grenades calling Aushwitz an "exaggerated Jewish yarn," calling Vice President Dick Cheney "that super-racist Jew," and calling military men guarding the terrorists "impotent and homosexual fighters." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2002 06:33:03 PM ----- BODY: Clinton bashers (and freepers) are probably steaming that Robert Ray didn't prosecute Bill Clinton. I just want him forgotten. His stain (blue dress pun intended) on history is assured. "Clinton Could Have Been Charged in Lewinsky Scandal" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2002 06:30:33 PM ----- BODY: David Vise, author of the bestselling The Bureau and the Mole is a bookseller's worst nightmare. Even though Barnesandnoble.com is only a warehouse and a website, I'm pretty sure they weren't prepared for his orders of 4,000 books at a time. Then, when the price went down because the book reached the bestseller list, he wanted to be credited. The company should have done it just to get him out of their hair, but I'm pretty sure BN.com doesn't deal with crazy orders like this. Some are accusing Vise of buying and returning books to manipulate the bestseller lists. I just think he looks like a bumbling idiot with too big of a credit line. "A Case of Strange Book-Keeping" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2002 05:17:12 PM ----- BODY: Here's a hint about music reviews: the review isn't worth much if only 25% of the writing is devoted to the album. I don't care about Scott Henkemeyer's comments on the extension of dance music into "middlebrow" America. The focus is suppose to be on Rinocerose's new album Music Kills Me. The closest he actually comes to reviewing the album is calling it "a patchwork of the duo's references and a memorable juxtaposition of countless styles." Really enlightening. "RINOÇÉROSE: Music Kills Me" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2002 05:04:39 PM ----- BODY: A k-log (knowledge log) could be very useful for businesses to keep track of projects and for storing information. Employees would periodically comment on what they were doing, what problems they were having, and the solutions they discovered. There are two important parts to an effective k-log: easy-to-use publishing software and a very good search tool. Blogger (free of any hassles with templates and site design) can be an easy way to post items and have them archived. Google can be the ideal search tool for sifting through the information. Google's already selling a plug-and-play search box. All that would be needed is to add Blogger to the box, and you would have an Intranet killer app. "What is a k-log?" [via Daypop] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2002 04:38:00 PM ----- BODY: Stanley Kurtz wants college conservative webloggers. Blogging would be a great way to publicize crazy, Leftist stuff happening on campuses. I willing to help any conservative student who has the weblogging bug. Just e-mail me. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2002 03:17:46 PM ----- BODY: Atlanta's Chipper Jones doesn't mind moving to left field from third base. He'll be able to focus more on his hitting. Did he say this with a straight face? Last year he hit .330, had 38 home runs, and 102 RBI. What will he do when he finally "concentrates" on his offense? "Chipper Says Moving to Left Field Lets Him Focus on Hitting" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2002 02:57:37 AM ----- BODY: A Michael Kinlsey-less Slate got fooled, but they owed up to their readers. "We've failed your trust," writes Jack Shafer. "Slate Gets Duped" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2002 04:13:19 AM ----- BODY: Gory details on the military's new thermobaric bomb. BLU-118/B Thermobaric Weapon -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2002 03:58:44 AM ----- BODY: Saddam wants the Olympics. He probably wants them just so the U.S. can boycott them. What caught my eye was that the proposed Olympic stadium must "reflect Iraqi architecture in different stages of history." That must mean the design should combine the Hanging Gardens of Babylon with a bombed out chemical weapons plant posing as a baby food factory. And smack dab in the front should be a facist sculpture of Saddam himself grinning and sticking his middle finger up toward the U.S. A design truly in the Olympic spirit. "Baghdad to bid for 2012 Olympics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2002 03:32:15 AM ----- BODY: So Mayor Bloomberg thinks Giuliani should have been told about last fall's nuclear threat on NYC. What's he suppose to say? "No, don't let me know about any threats. Please keep me in the dark." I don't think so. Does that mean the federal government did something wrong by not telling NYC officials? No. The threat was rightly kept under wraps to prevent panic. Imagine if the White House informed NYC. It would have leaked out in a matter of days, if not hours. There would have been chaos. Roads would have been packed with people trying to get out of the city. Wall Street would have tanked. Any hope of getting business to move back into NYC would have been seriously threatened. All that from some rather vague intelligence from someone code-named Dragonfire? What could NYC officials do if they had the information anyway? The threat was that terrorists were planning on blowing up the city with a 10 kiloton nuke. What could have been done? Shut down the city? Imagine the panic from that. Set up road blocks at every possible entrance into the city? Not feasible. NYC is huge and the bomb might have already gotten in before the check points were set up. Search every building? Once again, not feasible. NYC is American's largest city. There are too many places to hide a nuke in a city of 5,000 let alone in a city of 10 million. If the feds knew who had the bomb, and how it was coming into the city (if not already there), then working with local police makes sense. They didn't and decided that keeping mum was the prudent thing to do. "Bloomberg: NY Should Have Been Told About Nuke Fear" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2002 02:49:48 AM ----- BODY: Fredrik just might have a winner with Businessfans.com. Giving praise to people who have transformed the world around us is deserving. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2002 02:14:13 PM ----- BODY: With Tom Ament resigning as Milwaukee County Executive, the race to replace him is on. It's a short election, so how much money a candidate has for commericals and how quickly they can organize are keys. "County Hopefuls Home in on Prize" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2002 01:45:21 PM ----- BODY: Ridge, Minetta, and President Bush are all wrong about not arming pilots. Armed pilots are another line of defense to stop terrorists from turning airliners into crude, manually guided cruise missiles. Ridge wonders "Where do you stop?" Other vehicle operators would want to be armed too. Good. Arming them isn't a bad thing either. To deter hijackings, terrorists' perceived costs for trying must increase. Fearing that an airline pilot, railroad engineer, or bus driver could effectively fight back would certainly do that. Guns are our friends. They could also be lifesavers. "Ridge Says Arming Pilots 'Doesn't Make a Lot of Sense'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/4/2002 01:11:42 AM ----- BODY: The Weekly Standard's Matt Labash would "probably get along famously" with Britney Spears. "Dirty Sweet: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Britney" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2002 11:46:51 PM ----- BODY: In Virginia Postrel's latest NY Times column she points out that Wal-Mart had a huge impact on U.S. productivity gains in the 1990's. Wal-Mart's real effect on the economy is demonstrated with their ever increasing stock price. Compare that to the dot bombs whose hype outmatched any added value they offered. "Lessons in Keeping Business Humming, Courtesy of Wal-Mart U." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2002 11:24:59 PM ----- BODY: Dr. Anthony Barnett on memetics and human nature:
We need to accept that we are not machines controlled by genes, and we are not empty vessels, we?re an argumentative species, a teaching species, and we?re always creating new conditions for ourselves. All these are parts of human nature, all need incessant study, and none can be reduced to a single idea. Memetics is beginning to deal with these complexities. In that book on memes that I?ve just mentioned, philosophers argue with biologists, psychologists with anthropologists, memeticists with everyone. Memetics is being transdisciplinary. A much-needed move. If they want to, memeticists can ask important questions, questions that can be answered by hard work, not by inventing new words. Memetics can then truly become scientific."Memetics: A Short Leap Forward?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2002 11:04:40 PM ----- BODY: For a fast, yet illuminating science read, check out Paul Davies' How the Build a Time Machine. After a few hours, Davies convinces you that physics can't prove that time travel can't be accomplished. Starting with Einstein's theory of relativity (especially as it relates to time's relativity), you discover that traveling to the future is all dependant on space travel capabilities. Going back in time is a little trickier; that involves using wormholes. But it doesn't stop Davies from putting together a rough idea of how a wormhole factory would work. Through the explanations you catch brief glimpses of quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics, and the unified field theory. No mathematics is required to keep up with Davies. (He notes that the theory of relativity only uses high school-level mathematics.) All that's needed is physics learned in high school or from watching Nova. What gets the head spinning around is all the paradoxes that time travel provoke. While Davies claims many of them are actually internally consistent, their strangeness makes me suspect. The idea is fascinating. The prose is plain, yet sophisticated. Davies has written a real gem. "How to Build a Time Machine" "Time Loops" [NOTE: This looks to be an early draft of Davies' book.] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2002 10:46:21 PM ----- BODY: I haven't been a big fan of browser toolbars. I didn't get much use out of Yahoo's, and Google's didn't interest me either since I have a Google Search button on my browser. But Nutshell looks pretty good. The best part is I can type in a book title I discover while surfing the Net, go immediately to the Amazon.com page, and add it to my wish list. With the way I seek out interesting books, I know I'll be using this feature a lot. Nutshell Toolbar -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/1/2002 02:11:13 PM ----- BODY: I'm sure I'm too young to reminisce, but when I was a kid, cartoons were funny. Most of what I watched were old Chuck Jones creations (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner and Coyote, etc.). Daniel Henninger blames our current drought of humor on political correctness. Maybe. Or maybe I'm just getting old. "Wascally Wabbit Made Us Laugh When It Was Legal" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2002 02:54:58 PM ----- BODY: On the Google-weblogs union:
...weblogs are the voters in this political system. In other words, weblogs don't get elected by Google... but the sites they voted for do. So even if you never visit a blog, you're being influenced by them. The collective votes of the weblog community are determing what sites you see on Google, the world's largest search engine.You'll also learn about the not-so-subtle art of "Google bombing." "Google [Loves] Blogs" [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2002 02:23:00 PM ----- BODY: John Madden runs off to "Monday Night Football." In his place, Fox will move baseball broadcaster Joe Buck up as their number one football announcer. Wrong! The trio of Dick Stockton, Troy Aikman (if he doesn't go and try getting another concussion playing), and Moose Johnston is the best play-by-play team Fox has. Stockton is solid as the typical announcer type, while Aikman and Johnston (both a little stiff but working into it) bring tactical insite to viewers. By pushing Joe Buck, Fox must think they have a future Bob Costas who can cover any sport. "Madden to Join 'Monday Night Football' -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2002 02:13:39 PM ----- BODY: Research from an unreleased U.S. government study claims nuclear fallout from above-ground tests caused thousands of cancers. The study doesn't say particular individuals got cancer from fallout. Instead, based on computer simulations, it paints a picture of where fallout may have been concentrated. The USA Today story doesn't say if any tests of soil, air, or water were conducted to support the simulations. My guess is they weren't, and this analysis is completely based on CPU cycles and whiz-bang programming. This looks an awful lot like global warming hysteria, but at least climate scientists are taking daily weather readings. I'm pretty sure they're aren't Geiger counters scattered across the country. This fallout study will only breed unproven fear. Just wait until the first lawsuit against the U.S. government from some eager lawyer briefly reading this story. "Fallout Likely Caused 15,000 Deaths" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2002 11:05:32 PM ----- BODY: Throughout their career, U2 always has held to Christian belief. Terry Mattingly writes,
U2 is attacking, in word and deed, the modern church's retreat from art and popular culture."Mock the Devil" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2002 09:46:39 PM ----- BODY:
We condemn the HFEA's sanctioning of the destruction of any number of embryos simply because they do not happen to be a good tissue match for the young boy."Floodgates Open After Britain's 'Designer Baby' Decision" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/24/2002 11:31:59 PM ----- BODY: Last night, Condolezza Rice received the NAACP President?s Award. I was shocked, but pleased, when it was announced. Maybe this is a sign of political sophistication. Maybe the NAACP finally realizes that Black Americans aren't monolithically liberal (even though they vote Democrat). "Bush Advisor Gets NAACP Award" "National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice To Receive The Presidents Award" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/24/2002 09:36:26 PM ----- BODY: Despite all the calls for new regulations and new oversight boards, the market seems to be finding a way to prevent future Enrons. Anytime there's a hint of an accounting irregularity, the stock market hammers the stock. Disney has said they won't allow accounting firms to perform audit and consulting, and the accounting industry looks to put some teeth into their self-reglulation. Let the politicians preen and pose for the cameras, but they should be very careful when trying to craft a one-size-fits-all fix to accounting practices. "Accounting's Role in Enron Crash Erases Years of Trust" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2002 06:53:42 PM ----- BODY: Alexandra Pelosi put together a George W. Bush campaign documentary. Matt Labash liked it, but will it be as interesting as The War Room? "George W. Bush, Movie Star" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2002 04:43:08 PM ----- BODY: Tom Jacobs points out that financial utopia won't come about even after months of Congressional hearings and legislative debate.
There's no way that criminal law, government regulation, or auditor independence will ever ensure a just and fair society or a squeaky-clean stock market. Any tax expert, investment banker, ambitious exec or teenager will, given enough time, find loopholes in any rules big enough to drive an SUV through. Things work pretty well, though. We plug the biggest holes in the ship, and watch and wait while the rats gnaw other ones. There will always be rats. Given enough motivation, any one of us can become a rat. I learned this as a teen, when my second stock investment turned sour and my then best friend's father went to jail."Enron Too Shall Pass" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2002 04:31:28 PM ----- BODY: Zain Hashmi has a rare genetic disease that requires a bone marrow transplant. His parents want to conceive a sibling to get stem cells for Zain. The family got permission from British authorities to use genetic testing to pick out an embryo that's disease free. British pro-life groups are upset. Peter Garrett asks, "Should we allow a child to be manufactured in order to serve the medical needs of an older brother? Life's answer is an emphatic 'no.'" I'm pro-life and don't see any problem with conceiving a sibling to save another. My problem is with the embryos that will have the disease. They'll just be tossed away. They're human life as much as Zain Hashmi. They may not look like you or me, but that doesn't mean they have a lesser right to life. To disgard them as so much medical waste is abhorrent. "Pro-Life Groups Outraged By Designer Baby Ruling" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2002 04:11:44 PM ----- BODY: Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History reminds me of a James Burke television show. There are just so many historic links to salt. It really shouldn't be a surprise, since the compound is vital for human health. "Salt: A History of Sodium Chloride" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2002 04:01:15 PM ----- BODY: Richard Brookhiser has come out with another book on a Founding Father. This time it's John Adams. John, along with his descendents John Quincy, Charles Francis, and Henry make up what Brookhiser calls "America's First Dynasty." Jeff Shesol's review notes that unlike his previous subjects (George Washington and Alexander Hamilton), Brookhiser is "ambivalent" toward his subjects. "America's First Dynasty: Adams Family Value" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/22/2002 02:40:05 AM ----- BODY: ANWR: pristine ecosystem or acres of swamp water? [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/22/2002 12:55:04 AM ----- BODY: I don't believe Rev. David Benke crossed the ecumenical line when he delivered a prayer at a 9.11 memorial service in Yankee Stadium last fall. What the disagreement within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (I'm a member) says is that the denomination does care about absolute truth. "Losing Lutherans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/22/2002 12:07:50 AM ----- BODY: The U.S. women couldn't get past Canada for the bronze medal in curling. Nevertheless, America's fascination with the sport continues. If you have no idea what those people are doing sliding rocks on the ice while sweeping, the U.S. Curling Association's web site can help you out. The curling club near work is holding an open house this weekend. I'm tempted. The Basics of Curling [via Mullings] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2002 07:15:52 PM ----- BODY: To be fair (I'd also say I'm balanced, but I'm not), I noticed this bit of bias in a Washington Times story on Clinton administration favors to Enron. Patrice Hill writes:
As congressional committees dig for evidence to tie Enron and Mr. Lay to the Bush administration, evidence of Mr. Lay's links to the Clinton administration are ample and well-documented.Not only is it a jab at the Clinton administration, it's also a shot at reporters who desire any kind of smoking gun linking President Bush to Enron while ignoring the obvious largess received from the previous President. I'm not upset with the story because people know the Washington Times is a conservative newspaper. They don't claim the lofty mantle of "objectivity" like the Grey Lady. "Clinton Helped Enron Finance Projects Abroad" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2002 07:07:45 PM ----- BODY: Rumsfeld shouldn't be afraid to lie and deceive to achieve American war aims. War is ugly and messy. This war on terrorism is especially so because of the shadowy nature of the enemy. This war won't be a set of simple acts of aggression. This will entail hiring nasty people to root out even nastier people. People will mislead; they will be tortured for information. Deals will be made with evil people for the sole purpose of victory. The U.S. was allies with the Soviet Union in World War II. Hitler was the more pressing enemy then. Does anyone regret joining Stalin? What must be looked at is the big picture. By doing things like lying, assination, bribery, and a host of other nasty things, will the U.S. be protected? The goal must be victory. You can talk about being the world's White Knight, but if your enemy cheats and you don't, you're dead. The world is a dangerous place, and serious leaders sometimes have to do things that appear at first glance to be immoral. "Military Won't Lie, to Use 'Tactical Deception" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2002 06:49:59 PM ----- BODY: A smile always comes to my face (followed by anger) when I see such blatant hypocracy from liberals. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's security guards carry MP5 submachine guns. These weapons, used only by law enforcement, may have been illegally imported into the U.S. What's hypocritical is Annan is the same man who last year said, "There is no single tool of conflict so widespread, so easily available and so difficult to restrict as small arms." It's all right for Annan to feel safe with well-armed guards, but average blokes can be damned. "Assault Rifles for Annan Guards Investigated" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2002 01:33:30 AM ----- BODY: American military unilateralism is inevitable because European forces can't keep up. Rosemary Righter writes,
To fight alongside the US in the future, its allies must be able to deploy globally, strike rapidly in response to live intelligence, hit hard against buried targets and be able in all weather to hit targets. Unless the Europeans, and that includes Britain, can make themselves once again militarily indispensable to the US, Nato will dwindle to being a sort of nightwatchman for Europe.Brussels can gripe all they want about the US's cowboy foreign policy. Their complaints are rooted in a deep inferiority complex. "The Insanity of Europe's Farewell to Arms" [via The Corner] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2002 12:00:59 AM ----- BODY: Besides linking to TAM, one thing that's great about The Blue Button is it uses the term "pinko." I tried to revive the term during my battles with socialist leaning College Democrats, but even some of my College Republican friends thought I was going overboard. Another thing is it's emphatic on the real cause of money in politics: excessive government interference. I'm pretty sure if the feds only did what was constitutional, then there would be a lot less money going into Washington. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2002 02:10:06 AM ----- BODY: The French ice dancing gold medals are tainted. The accusation is that French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne traded her vote in pairs figure skating so the French team of Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat could win in ice dancing. What happened? The French won. Did they win because they performed better than anyone else, or because the fix was in? Ice dancing has a history of crooked judges so I'm leaning toward the latter. I can't say anything about the French duo's performance, because I can't stand looking at Fabio-like Peizerat. "Ice Dancing Gold Goes to French After Emotional Performance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2002 01:43:45 AM ----- BODY: For supporting men who mean to destroy a system where human rights are respected, I consider William Goodman, director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, to be a fifth columnist. Intentionally or not, Goodman is helping the enemy. He may think he's defending three men's legal rights, but if he's successful, he's slitting (figuratively and possibly literally) his own throat. The prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay want to see the U.S. destroyed. They believe in an ideology that doesn't allow dissent, religious pluralism, or freedom; and considers attacks on innocent civilians to be a just method of warfare. Their human rights need to be respected (I've seen no report that they haven't been), but they must also be acknowledged as the evil people they are. "Guantanamo Detainees Sue Bush, Rumsfeld, Military Commanders" [via Musings] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2002 01:01:54 AM ----- BODY: If you read the NY Times story on their web site on companies incorporating in Bermuda for tax reasons you would have missed blatant bias on the part of the "objective" grey lady. Beneath the headline "U.S. Corporations are Using Bermuda to Slash Tax Bills" is the smaller headline reading "Profits over Patriotism." That phrase is from a Rep. Charlie Rangle (D-NY) quote, but no quotes were put around the headline. It makes it seem that "Profits over Patriotism" is a statement of fact when it's really just the opinion of a liberal member of Congress. For the most part, David Cay Johnston's story is pretty balanced. He quotes Rangle, but he also quotes a University of Chicago tax professor who sees such corporate maneuvers as a signal that we should seriously question our corporate tax structure. But how could an editor slap such a slanted headline onto the story? "U.S. Companies File in Bermuda to Slash Tax Bills" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2002 01:01:42 AM ----- BODY: Can someone please tell Mr. Derbyshire that his supposed "bloggings" aren't. Sure, they're short, random blurbs on things that strike his fancy, but where are the links? The point of blogging is to find interesting things on the Internet for your readers. It's a way to sift through the mountains of new content created daily. Derbyshire only has links to his own past "blogs." He's got to check out NRO' The Corner to see how it's done. If he wants to write comments on whatever, fine. He just shouldn't call it blogging. "February Bloggings" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/18/2002 01:55:21 PM ----- BODY: The U.S. Men's Hockey team is in great position for the medal round. A win over Belarus (the U.S. was leading through two periods) would give them the top seed. Even after 4 years of watching college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth, I still feel like a novice hockey fan. So, it may not mean much for me to say that I've seen some of the best hockey of my life at these Olympics. And I'm not even talking about the Americans. From the Russians, to the Czechs, to the surprising Swedes, I've seen fast skating, accurate passing, physical play, and lots of heart. The Olympic spirit is alive and well in Men's hockey. Great players from around the world are playing their hearts out for a world-wide audience. Bravo! "U.S. Can Lock up Top Seed with Win" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2002 10:59:27 PM ----- BODY: Modulate is the first of three albums coming out from Bob Mould. These will be his first releases since his The Last Dog and Pony Show three years ago. Modulate is incorporating electronic sounds to his edgy power pop flavor. In between albums, Mould lived a childhood dream by working for World Championship Wrestling. Modulate comes out 3.12.02. "Lord of the Ring" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/16/2002 10:46:33 PM ----- BODY: TiVo is not only a great product for television viewers, but it also provides aggregated viewing data. TiVo analyzed how users watched the Super Bowl. "TiVo Gauges Super Bowl Viewing Habits of its Subscribers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/15/2002 02:22:13 PM ----- BODY: Sale and Pelletier will get their deserved gold medals after French skating judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne was suspended. "Canadian Figure Skaters Get Gold, Russians Furious" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/15/2002 12:27:54 AM ----- BODY: Charles Krauthammer points out that the free market has already punished potential Enron IIs. In Krauthammer's words, "investors punished any company suspected of opaque accounting." Accounting firms are also reforming themselves by better separating their consulting operations from auditing. Any legislation to prevent future Enron's will only following the market's loud voice. "Enron is no Excuse" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 09:54:44 PM ----- BODY: A surprise at the Olympics is the cult status of curling. This is the second time the sport has medal status, and NBC/CNBC/MSNBC will offer 120 hours of coverage. I admit that I'm fascinated by the strategy and skill involved. Stone (the thing they slide across the ice) placement is key, and you have to think many moves ahead or your opponent will jump on you. I actually had a curling lesson once when I was going to school in Duluth, MN. Just keeping the stone on a straight line was tough. The American teams aren't doing so hot, but I'll still be watching. I wonder if there's ever been any accusations blood doping? I'm also pretty sure curling officials never awarded a gold medal for a silver medal performance. "Throwing Stones" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 09:30:48 PM ----- BODY: Jamie Sale and David Pelletier may be the most famous silver medalists around, but they may end up with gold around their necks. The Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze shouldn't be faulted for being awarded gold medals. Fault for that lies with corrupt skating judges. While the International Skating Union governs figure skating, it's the International Olympic Committee that's getting all the angry e-mail. Send your thoughts to this ISU address. "Two Golds Difficult, but not Impossible" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 07:51:25 PM ----- BODY: David Kipen writes,
For e- books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix would be the Killer App of All Time."Is J.K. Rowling Propping up the Book Biz?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 07:10:14 PM ----- BODY: If U.S. airline travel gets any worse, Norman Mineta may be taken to a secret location a la Vice President Dick Cheney. "Afghan Pilgrims Kill Transport Minister-TV" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 07:01:10 PM ----- BODY: If there was some actual thought from campaign finance advocates instead of knee-jerk "ban the dirty money" rhetoric, then maybe they would see that the reason many give contributions is because government has such vast authority over the economy. Walter Williams puts it simply:
If Congress did only what it's constitutionally authorized to do, influence-peddling would be a non-issue because Congress wouldn't have the power to grant favors.Limiting Congress' power won't happen because then politicians wouldn't have the pleasure that power offers. Sen. John McCain is on the Commerce Committee. His "reform" bill would limit how much people can give to political parties and when people can publiclly critcize their leaders. He isn't pushing for far-reaching deregulation that would lower the incentive for people and companies to give contributions for their own economic gain. By actually reducing government's power, McCain would lose his label of media darling. By focusing on a symptom instead of a root cause, individual free speech rights will be tossed aside all for the vaunted principle of "good government." Mike has a fine extended refutation of Shays-Meehan. "Campaign Finance Reform: Wrong Target" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 12:49:56 AM ----- BODY: The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that both the pairs figure skating and the ice dancing winners were predetermined. Some of these events should be banned from the Olympics until the sport can get its act together. One other thing: no matter what the results of the upcoming ice dancing competition are, a cloud will hang over the medalists. No matter how well they perform, everyone will wonder if the fix was in. That's a shame for those athletes who worked so hard to reach the pinnacle of their sport. "Pairs Finish was Predetermined" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/14/2002 12:24:00 AM ----- BODY: John Fund analyzes campaign finance reform and comes to this conclusion:
If Shays-Meehan becomes law, its supporters will tell their constituents they have reduced the influence of special interests in politics. But what they will really have done is increase their own influence over electoral outcomes. Some citizens may like the idea of "quieter" elections, with fewer outside groups running obnoxious ads, not as much money spent. But they should understand that it will come at a price. In most districts and states, voters won't be given a real choice at the polls. They will merely be ratifying the continued tenure of career politicians for whom the quest for campaign finance reform has become convenient political cover for entrenchment in office."Reform School" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2002 11:20:03 PM ----- BODY: I will always remember Waylon Jennings as the voice from The Dukes of Hazzard and his work with The Highwaymen. His was a distictive voice that will be missed. Godspeed, Waylon. "Country Great Waylon Jennings Dies" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2002 01:32:50 AM ----- BODY: The Enron Effect hits Krispy Kreme. Don't worry about accounting irregularities that have scared the heck out of investors. Instead, the company will finance their new plant without using a synthetic lease that would have kept it off their balance sheet. This story proves that the hottest area of business journalism is looking at esoteric accounting methods. This stuff definitely isn't the LIFO and FIFO picked up in Accounting 101. "Krispy Kreme Reverses Accounting Plans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2002 10:56:05 PM ----- BODY: Quote of the day goes to silver medalist, Jamie Sale.
Asked whether the cold war was still going on when it comes to figure skating, Sale replied, "It's always going on. That's the way skating works.""The Cold War Goes on" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2002 10:54:37 PM ----- BODY: Free publicity for Joe Boxer. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/12/2002 10:47:23 PM ----- BODY: You would think that putting on the best performance would win you a gold medal. That seems like the Olympic spirit. But reality is much more cruel in Salt Lake City. Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were robbed of a gold medal that was won by Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. ESPN.com reports that French and Russians judges were in cahoots to rig the results. The bribery and influence pedaling surrounding Salt Lake City in winning the winter games showed that corruption plagued the highest levels of the IOC. What this black mark on figure skating shows is that corruption is deeper than anyone thought. Athletes work too hard to have their outcomes determined by bartering by petty judges. Figure skating isn't like speed skating or downhill skiing. There is no stop watch to figure out the winner in pairs figure skating. Human beings must determine who puts on the best performance. Subjectivity can never be removed. What can be removed are judges who put politics before a sport's integrity. "Sources Say Russian and French Judges Made Deal" "Canada Wants Figure Skating Probe" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2002 02:09:31 PM ----- BODY: Preliminary AP reporting suggests only 500-600 civilian casualties in Afghanistan. That's a far cry from the thousands claimed by anti-war Leftists. "Review: Afghan Civilian Deaths Lower" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/11/2002 01:58:43 PM ----- BODY: Drug legalization advocate, Kevin Zeese points out that drug use doesn't fund terrorism. Illegal drug use funds terrorism.
Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars on Ritalin for youth, Prozac and Viagra for adults, and caffeine, nicotine or alcohol, but none of these drug dollars fuel terrorism. Thus, it is not the drugs but the illegality of the drugs that creates profits for terror - profits that also fuel organized crime, corruption and violence around the globe."Drug Terror Link Shows Sloppy Thinking of Drug War Advocates" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2002 01:11:32 AM ----- BODY: The Weekly Standard's blog parody is closer to reality than any of us really want to admit. [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2002 12:23:12 AM ----- BODY: Libraries are taking a cue from bookstores. Just last week a group of Milwaukee librarians met with staff at the store I work at to learn how they could take things done in a Barnes and Noble and use them in public libraries. "Carrollton Libraries Shed Bookish Image" [via Virginia Postrel] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/10/2002 12:11:53 AM ----- BODY: Artificial wombs open up a host of interesting what-if scenerios. What troubles me is the wanton use of human embryos in the research. At Cornell University, Dr. Hung-Ching Liu allowed embryos to live for six days in an artificial womb. Then the embryos were destroyed. The doctor who took an oath to protect human life, snuffed some out in the name of science. Virginia Postrel, Ronald Bailey, and their ilk would just say I have an irrational fetish for blastocysts. I believe that a human embryo deserves the same rights as any other person. I also believe that the denial of such rights devalues all human life. "Men Redundant? Now We Don't Need Women Either" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/9/2002 11:46:25 PM ----- BODY: Reporters at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have their e-mail filtered for explicit content. It may stop a lot of annoying spam, but it also blocks messages containing useful information. "Make the World Go Away" (scroll down to second story) -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/9/2002 11:37:56 PM ----- BODY: Bill O'Reilly bought the spin from the anti-drug ads during the Super Bowl. This is from a man who claims to live in a No Spin Zone. O'Reilly bought the line that American drug users are funding the terrorist groups out to destroy the U.S. That isn't true. Sure, the Taliban used grew poppies to sell as heroin, but most of those drugs never make it to the U.S. Most illegal drug users smoke marijuana, and I've seen no evidence that Osama bin Laden was funding his jihad from selling weed. O'Reilly also doesn't realize that the Drug War is a reason why drug are more expensive than they would be if legalized. If the prices weren't so high, there wouldn't be as much money going to bad people. O'Reilly is saddened that so many people waste away their lives by taking drugs. I am too. I don't condone drug use just like I don't condone excessive alcohol use. What I do condone is a failed effort by government to lessen people's appetite for drugs at the same time distorting foreign policy and homeland defense. "Buy Dope, Fund Terror" "Terror Tactic" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/9/2002 10:47:12 PM ----- BODY: Basketball is the most international of American professional sports (soccer's the most international, period). With lower ratings in the United States, it's no surprise that the NBA looks to outside the 50 states for growth. What is surprising is possible NBA expansion in Europe within the next eight years. Commissioner David Stern said that only preliminary discussion is taking place about what kind of expansion would happen. If economic conditions warrant, new NBA European teams would be the most lucrative. Owners would see big revenue growth from expansion fees and increased merchandise sales, and players would continue to see salaries rise at tremendous rates. On the downside, it would make for a hellacious road trip for the Lakers to head off to Berlin or Paris. "Stern: NBA Could Expand to Europe by End of Decade" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/8/2002 01:46:03 PM ----- BODY: I'm pulling for Rep. John Sununu to beat Sen. Bob Smith for the Republican nomination for New Hampshire's Senate seat. Both Smith and Sununu have good chances at beating Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. Smith is the same man who failed in his independent run for the Presidency, called his party "hypocritical," and came crawling back back to them from the political wilderness (Did the party suddenly change?). The purpose of a political party is to elected their candidates to public office. A substantial amount of party loyalty is needed to have any sense of coherence. Bob Smith may be a nice, but politically tone deaf man, but that doesn't mean he should get a free pass to the Republican nomination. "Race to Watch: Shaheen vs Smith in NH" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2002 01:27:56 AM ----- BODY: It's bad enough that Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament almost got away with lining his pockets with $2 million in pension money. When he was caught, he didn't have the decency to resign. Now, he's released his lawyers to stop a recall petition. Recall organizers say they have 85,000 signatures--73,000 are needed to force a recall election. Ament's lawyers claim that because one form wasn't filled out, all the signatures are invalid. Has Tom Ament no shame? Is he so lacking in self-worth that he feels the need to hold on to his job at all costs? All he has done is driven the county government he claims to serve deeper into crisis. "Ament Sues to Thwart Recall" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2002 01:08:56 AM ----- BODY: Yesterday was Ronald Reagan's 91st birthday. Peggy Noonan talks about him for NRO. "On Reagan?s 91st" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2002 12:47:15 AM ----- BODY: Andrew Sullivan's new book club (less introspective and more global than Oprah's) has pushed Robert Kaplan's Warrior Politics up to #20 on Amazon.com's bestseller list. Oh, the power of weblogs! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/6/2002 11:20:18 PM ----- BODY: If the IOC thinks they'll be able to quell American patriotism during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, then they don't understand Americans. Like it or not, Salt Lake will be covered in red, white, and blue. There will be chants of "USA, USA" echoing at every event site. Love of country is deeply imbeded in the American Mind. The 9.11 attacks brought out heroes and made us realize that the values we hold are seen as threats to others. Our response to the attacks shows the world that we won't back down to threats on our freedom. Flying the flag, cheering our athletes, and chanting "USA" tells the world that we are a proud nation that will not fall. Many may call that American arrogance, but I call it American pride. We have plenty to be proud of and we should feel no shame in letting the world know about our national confidence. The USA is a great and good nation. The petty jealousies of weasely Europeans shouldn't stop us from showing off that fact. "Olympic Committee To Allow Americans to Use WTC Flag" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2002 11:14:27 PM ----- BODY: Critics have at it over those government anti-drug ads during the Super Bowl. "White House Anti-Drug Ads 'Super Bowloney' Say Critics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/5/2002 11:08:17 PM ----- BODY: Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) opposes President Bush's USA Freedom Corps, calling it "obnoxious." "Armey Opposition to Freedom Corps Not Threatening, Bush Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/4/2002 02:03:06 PM ----- BODY: After reading Matt Labash's report from Camp X-Ray, I have little sympathy for the detainees. As for the reporters... "Guantanamo's Unhappy Campers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/4/2002 01:33:51 PM ----- BODY: Yasir Arafat stakes his claim to wanting peace. In his NY Times op-ed, he writes, he wants "a warm peace between two equals enjoying mutually beneficial economic and social cooperation." One problem with Arafat's vision is that democratic Israel isn't "equal" to authoritarian Palestine. Arafat is the political power. He isn't challenged because there isn't a real political opposition. Israel uses force to defend its people. Palestine uses force as a political tool to force Israel to capitulate. Israel (with all its socialist tendencies) is a growing free-market economy. Palestine is an economic quagmire. Arafat may want the world to view Israel and Palestine as morally equivalent, but the facts speak for themselves. What I noticed the most about Arafat's piece is no mention of the arms ship. He doesn't explain who was behind the shipment of 50 tons of weapons, where they were headed, and if he was cracking down on those behind it. That ship is serious business. To Israel it looks like the Palestinians want to arm themselves for a wide-ranging war. Nothing about that ship speaks to a Palestinian vision of peace. "The Palestinian Vision of Peace" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/4/2002 01:00:31 PM ----- BODY: The New England Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVI. (Can't we just start using Arabic numerals? Consider it reaching out to the Islamic world.) Few thought they could win--including me, but not NR's John Miller. I was right on how the Pats could win: they controlled the ball and scored on Rams' turnovers. The Rams' problem was they didn't run Marshall Faulk enough. A stronger running game could have eased the pressure on Kurt Warner. It was a fun watching New England quarterback, Tom Brady right himself into football history with that game-winning drive, and I can't be upset that a team called the "Patriots" won the whole thing. Kudos to New England. "This Story is One for the History Books" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/4/2002 12:48:30 PM ----- BODY: NRO's Ramesh Ponnuru asks, "Was I the only one who was appalled by the drug-war ads during the Super Bowl?" No, I was also shocked that the drug czar would blame American drug users for helping terrorists. The reason terrorists can fund their evil acts on drug money is because prohibition artificially raises drug prices. If the government was really serious about lowering drug prices, they would consider legalization. Also, when looking through terrorists' finances, we will discover many legal sources of their money. There may be plenty of plain, regular widget factories that fund terrorists. Will the feds make commericals trying to make widget buyers feel guilty for financing terrorists? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/3/2002 12:55:39 AM ----- BODY: Ron Cuzner, newly retired Milwaukee jazz DJ on why he won't do his show on public radio:
It's my opinion that jazz is too vibrant a music to be subsidized.I guess I'm not the only one who thinks the musical interludes in between stories on NPR's All Things Considered are rather lame. "Cuzner's 'Dark Side' Retires into the Night" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/3/2002 12:41:16 AM ----- BODY: Kurt Warner may have found the Lord, but that's not why his St. Louis Rams will beat the New England Patriots. No, the Rams will win because they're better on both sides of the football. The offense isn't nicknamed "The Greatest Show on Earth" for nothing. With weapons like Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Marshall Faulk, they can score on any play anywhere on the field. The Philadelphia Eagles held them down for a while, but still gave up 29 points. The Patriots' defense isn't as good as the Eagles. For the Patriots to win, they'll have to control the ball by pounding Antowain Smith and take advantage of any Rams' turnovers. That strategy will keep the Rams' offense off the field, and keep the score close where special teams or a defensive score could tip the balance. It won't happen, but that's what the Pats have to do. St. Louis is the best team in the NFL. They'll prove it today in New Orleans, but it won't be the blowout oddsmakers think. Let me pick some numbers: 27-17 St. Louis. "Warner Has Faith in a Higher Authority" "Patriots' Dream Run Ends Here" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/2/2002 11:44:18 PM ----- BODY: Maybe after $25 billion in subsidies over 30 years, Amtrak should close unprofitable lines and figure out how to actually make money. Even better, maybe Amtrak will die and new, more market-sensitive companies will rise from the ashes. What Amtrak's threat looks like is a attempt at blackmail. "Amtrak Threatens to End Service" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2002 02:16:06 PM ----- BODY: Mike's back with a rather loud redesign. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/1/2002 01:47:44 PM ----- BODY: It's been put off for a few days due to other pressing needs (I don't feel bad since Peggy Noonan's article on the speech appeared yesterday), but here's some reaction to President Bush's State of the Union Address: Bush singled out a number of terrorist groups and states, but he didn't mention the Palestinian Authority. No mention was made of the arms ship captured by the Israelis a few weeks ago. Maybe Bush thinks with Arafat hold up in his compound that no additional pressure is needed. I saw no surprises on the war front. The nation is united, and the war is far from over. On the domestic front, Bush is putting the onus on Sen. Daschel to move through fast-track trade authority and the House of Representatives' energy bill that would increase domestic oil production. Bush also wants an economic stimulus package that focuses on moving up the tax cuts from last year's law, although he incorrectly puts the reasons in Keynesian terms (the public needs a tax cut to boost spending). I read the text instead of watching Bush deliver the speech, but I did detect that it was Bush's voice. It wasn't highfalutin but honest. "The speech was fact-filled, dense and not airy," in Peggy Noonan's words. He acknowleges his faith and isn't afraid to point out obvious truths like "evil is real." "Plainspoken Eloquence" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2002 02:28:21 AM ----- BODY: Unlike some of us, I had to work last night and didn't hear the State of the Union address. I can make no comments until I read the transcript. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2002 02:19:17 AM ----- BODY: Is Hamid Karzai the first Afghan leader to witness a State of the Union speech first hand? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/30/2002 01:41:11 AM ----- BODY: A fine portrait of the 20th Century's greatest economist, F. A. Hayek sits in London's National Portrait Gallery. [via Greg Ransom] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/29/2002 01:39:35 PM ----- BODY: E. J. Dionne jumps on the "Enron proves campaign finance reform is needed" bandwagon, but admits,
It shouldn't have taken Enron to move campaign reform up the list of congressional priorities. Enron didn't invent influence peddling in Washington. But Enron does create delicate problems for both political parties. If there was ever a time to be on record against money politics, this is it.He also tries to tie in Vice President Cheney's refusal to name names and discuss discussions on his energy task force. In this case, taking advantage of a financial scandal and legitimate institutional debate to push one's pet (and unconstitutional) cause is just plain illogical. Suppose campaign finance reform were in place. That wouldn't have stopped Enron from cooking their books, nor would it stop Cheney from protecting Executive Branch autonomy from Congressman Waxman's (D-CA) fishing expedition. "Soft Money: Had Enough?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/29/2002 12:43:11 PM ----- BODY: The Motley Fool will be charging to get on their famous message boards. "Motley Fool Courts Online Subscribers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/28/2002 01:45:22 PM ----- BODY: Tom Tomorrow, the comic artist who isn't very funny, friviously tosses out this bit of conspiracy kookiness: "We've got at least one mysterious death--the apparent suicide of a former Enron executive who, from all reports, had nothing to hide, but was expected to be a major whistleblower in the case." Tom would be mentioning the death of J. Clifford Baxter. If you've read any of his This Modern World strips, you'll know Tom opposes anything to the left of Barbara Streisand. I'm not surprised he'd try to connect the suicide of a man to a President with no shred of evidence, but it's still tasteless. The death was ruled a suicide, but that won't stop Bush bashers like Tom. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/28/2002 01:35:32 AM ----- BODY: The Washington Post goes Pulitzer with their series on the days following 9.11.01. The first story follows President Bush from the moment he's told about the attacks until he finally sleeps in the White House after addressing the nation. The second part reports on the day after, including the development of the strategy of the war on terrorism. "America's Chaotic Road to War" [via InstaPundit] "'We Will Rally the World'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2002 09:40:01 PM ----- BODY: The terrorists held in Cuba aren't going anywhere anytime soon. That's the impression I got when Secretary Don Rumsfeld said, "They will not be determined to be POWs [Prisoners of War]." He won't call them POWs because then they would have to be released after the war is over in Afghanistan. The Bush administration believes these prisoners are direct threats to U.S. security and don't want to let them go. It sounds reasonable, but does that mean they'll be in Cuba permanently? That's what it looks like right now. "Rumsfeld: Afghan Detainees Not POWs" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2002 02:00:06 AM ----- BODY: While still in the talking stage, Miller Brewing could change from a stagnating No. 2 U.S. brewer to a growing No. 1 world brewer. Miller's headquarters would still be in Milwaukee, the name would still be on the Brewers' stadium, and no local jobs would be cut. "Miller May be Merged into World's No. 1 Brewer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2002 01:37:00 AM ----- BODY: A military commander for North American defense makes sense. Military response in future domestic attacks should be streamlined. I worry that mission creep could occur, and this new regional command could start getting involved with stuff like immigration and drug interdiction. Those are areas best left to civilian law enforcement. I also wonder how the new command would work with Tom Ridge's Office of Homeland Security. It could be another turf war for Ridge to fight. What you can't say is that the Pentagon isn't getting serious about domestic security. "Pentagon Plans New Command For U.S." [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/27/2002 01:05:31 AM ----- BODY: 2002 is already becoming a great year for music. Nine Inch Nails just let loose a live album, the Chemical Brothers will be releasing their new collection of songs, and Rush will be coming out with their first album in five years this spring. Here's hoping these great artists live up to my expectations. "Rush Wraps New Album" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/26/2002 11:18:18 PM ----- BODY: Brian Doherty notes that later in his life, Robert Nozick moved away from the anarchistic political theory in Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Nozick thought the State was a symbolic mechanism for channeling "private actions and concerns toward" problems. Note that the libertarian Doherty doesn't reject Nozick's thinking because he wasn't a "pure" libertarian or classical liberal (if such a demon exists). Anarchy is still an important book, and the vast expanse of his thinking is respected. Compare the tolerant intellectual view of the Right (broadly defined) to the Left. When a former Lefty like David Horowitz passes away, don't expect The Nation to fawn lovingly over his Communist works. "Anarchist in the Academy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/26/2002 10:40:44 PM ----- BODY: A deep belief and passion in a company is considered "cultish" in Froma Harrop's opinion. If Enron's employees were brainwashed, then the same could be said about certain Star Wars fans, political pundits, even webloggers. "Enron Cultists Follow the Leader" [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/26/2002 10:07:25 PM ----- BODY: TAM is now powered by Blogger Pro. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/26/2002 09:46:39 PM ----- BODY: Eric Burns thinks newspapers and all-news cable channels can more fully cover the Enron story. "The former can run articles with an indefinite number of column inches; the latter can run interviews with experts that take up as much time as required," writes Burns. I'll give the edge to newspapers. All-news channels are dependent on the talking heads acting like testosterone-drenched rams. Good tv for them is putting four people on one screen, and having them react to what the others are saying. Lengthy explanation, not yapping is required to understand what happen with Enron. Printed pages fit the bill better. "Can Journalism Pass the Enron Test?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/26/2002 09:35:11 PM ----- BODY: Kmart is so spooked by the potential for accounting problems that they've opened an investigation based on an anonymous letter to the company. "Kmart Launches Accounting Investigation" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/25/2002 01:34:51 PM ----- BODY: Any hint of an accounting problem gets Wall Street very nervous. The SEC is looking at the way RSA Securities previously reported revenue. One analyst said the accounting only deals with 1% of revenue, but another anaylst said that regardless, "RSA is now only appropriate for the most speculative investors willing to bet on the outcome of an investigation we know very little about." The stock has taken a tumble. I wouldn't worry about an Enron implosion. Andersen isn't their auditor, Deloitte & Touche are, but they're the same accounting firm that peer reviewed Andersen's auditing work and concluded it was alright. As always, investor beware. "RSA to Face Accounting Probe" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/25/2002 01:21:58 PM ----- BODY: The Rink Rage Killer only got 6-10 years. The judge admitted it was lenient, but didn't have the guts to hand out a longer sentence. So, in Massachusetts, not being able to control your temper and killing another human being is only worth a minimum of 6 years of your life. "Hockey Dad Sentenced to Six to 10 Years" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/25/2002 01:16:41 PM ----- BODY: Cooked books, shredded documents, calls to government officials for help, and now a suicide. What else will happen with Enron? "Ex-Enron Exec An Apparent Suicide" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2002 05:13:05 PM ----- BODY: Wal-Mart will soon become the world's largest company. The same can't be said for K-Mart. "Wal-Mart Aims for No. 1 Spot" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2002 05:10:22 PM ----- BODY: In his tribute to Robert Nozick, he writes:
But he will long be remembered for what he did best when he was young: To take up arms against the conventional wisdom in favor of big government and extensive political power, and in so doing to secure for himself a place as one of the great political philosophers of the twentieth century."Life of Liberty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/24/2002 01:04:25 AM ----- BODY: Influential libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick died. His most well-known and influential book Anarchy, State, and Utopia made the case for a minimal state and energized classical liberal thought. Godspeed, Robert. "Philosopher Nozick Dies at 63" [via Silicon Central] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/23/2002 01:58:24 PM ----- BODY: Iran's new alliance with Arafat is just a way for Iran's tenuous leadership to hold on to power. Many Iranians are fed up with the religious leaders and their government puppets. Forcing a fight with Israel may help them rally the populace. "Growing Concern Over Iranian Campaign To Destroy the Jewish State" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/23/2002 01:53:02 PM ----- BODY: Wendy Gramm certainly has a problem--more than anyone in the Bush administration. She serves on Enron's board of directors. Specifically, she is on the audit committee. Her problem is: did she know about Enron's accounting shenanigans? If she did, she certainly didn't take advantage of that knowledge like Enron executives did. Gramm sold her stock back in 1998 and lost more than $600,000 because of Enron's bankruptcy. If she didn't know about the companies misleading books, then she failed in her fiduciary duty. She failed to look out for the interests of Enron shareholders. "Gramm Defends Wife on Enron" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/23/2002 01:39:45 PM ----- BODY: Ev has demoed Blogger Pro. Robert Scoble was at the meeting. Some of the features are neat, like staggared posting. All I want is a stable, reliable Blogger, and at $30/year ($50 in the future) I hope Blogger Pro will fit the bill. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2002 02:03:07 AM ----- BODY: Didn't Robert Altman threaten to leave the country if George W. Bush was elected President? What's taking him so long? "Don't Come Back" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2002 01:24:34 AM ----- BODY: I've been trying really hard not to go all-Enron-all-the-time, but Bob Bartley is just too good. He takes a broader view of the largest bankruptcy in American history. He notes that in a capitalistic economy people make mistakes and businesses fail. The alternative would be "some group of brilliant and well-informed mandarins to head off human folly." Such a utopia solution would fail because "the mandarins would soon be marching to the tune of some or another batch of politicians feeding this or that narrow constituency." As to the failure of everyone to not see Enron's house of cards, Bartley writes that it's the result of a culture-wide lowering of standards. Being judgemental is the real sin. "What kind of behavior can an 'I'm OK, you're OK' society expect from its professionals or business leaders?" he asks. We know how to best run an economy. It's ironic that the solution is for no central authority to run it. With decentralized decision-making, the economy is dependent on individuals acting morally. To have a healthy, functioning economy, you need to have a healthy, functioning culture. "I'm OK, You're OK! Enron's OK?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/22/2002 12:45:31 AM ----- BODY: The West is doomed because Europeans and Americans aren't having enough kids while non-Westerners multiply like rabbits. That is Pat Buchanan's argument in his latest book. Buchanan has moved from traditionalist conservative to populist to nostalgic reactionary with racist overtones. "Closed Door Policy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/21/2002 12:15:43 AM ----- BODY: It's been a few weeks since Stephen Ambrose's copycat flap and finally the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel comments. Ambrose is originally from Wisconsin, and the state's paper of record gets around to offering a very bland editorial criticizing Ambrose's sloppiness. "An Author's Worst Nightmare" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/21/2002 12:00:00 AM ----- BODY: It's pretty simple to analyze Green Bay's loss to the Rams: Brett Favre biffed it. Throwing six interceptions (three were returned for touchdowns) doesn't give your team much of a chance to win. The Packers racked up more offense than the explosive Rams, but the turnovers were too much. Even with the disasterous loss, the Pack had an outstanding season. They did better than I expected, even with all the injuries on defense. Ahman Green had a great season, Favre should have won MVP, and they might have a superstar in defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. What's needed is wide reciever help. Antonio Freeman is getting old, and Bill Schroeder doesn't rise to the occasion in big games. The Packers also need to get more depth on defense so they can better survive any future rash of injuries. Next year, the team focus must be to win the division. A division championship means home playoff games at Lambeau Field. Bring the Rams to the Frozen Tundra, and the result might have been different. "Swept Under the Carpet" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/20/2002 11:42:24 PM ----- BODY: The big story in the Milwaukee area is the pension scandal. Long-time Milwaukee County employees could reap millions from the plan. County board supervisors claim ignorance for voting for the plan last year. The public is showing more anger and emotion than during the debate over building Miller Park. A recall petition has generated 10,000 signatures (73,000 are needed by March), and organizers envision 100,000 by Valentine's Day. The Journal Sentinel wants Tom Ament's resignation. I knew people were angry, but I didn't think they had much of a chance with the recall. 73,000 signatures is a lot to get in 60 days. Why are people so angry? Justine Morris put it simply, "He [County Executive Tom Ament] tried to take something out of my pocket." "Pension Furor Spreads Like Wildfire" "Tom Ament Should Resign" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/20/2002 11:30:52 PM ----- BODY: The Bush White House doesn't leak. Mary Matlin says it's because everyone's on the same page and no one is "trying to advance any position but the president's." There doesn't seem to be the left-right Republican camps struggling for power. "Loose Lips, Pink Slips" [via Kaus] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/20/2002 11:14:16 PM ----- BODY: It takes real talent to boil an complex issue down to one sentence. George Will does it with Enron's collapse by writing, "Rather, the cause was the growing arrogance of executives who became confident that no one was looking over their shoulders, watching -- and understanding -- what they were doing." "The Arrogance of the Executives . . . " -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/20/2002 10:14:17 PM ----- BODY: Black Hawk Down may be #1 at the box office, but according to my sister and mother, it's a bloodbath. Not for the squimish. I'm reading the book now, and it looks like Ridley Scott stays true to the book. Author Mark Bowden didn't flinch in reporting all the detail of bullets going through Somali men's heads like melons, or how an RPG took off the side of a U.S. Ranger. Since I cringe watching ER, I don't know if I want to see the movie. "'Black Hawk Down' Spreads Wings Atop Box Office" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/20/2002 10:08:07 PM ----- BODY: An interesting idea for accounting reform (that term has never been mentioned in a non-trade news source) is to make public companies rotate auditors. The theory is that accounting firms would be tougher on companies because a competing firm would be looking at their work some time in the future. "Big Five Quake as Andersen Faces Doomsday Scenario" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2002 10:57:20 PM ----- BODY: While stark, the treatment of Afghan prisoners in Cuba doesn't seem inhumane. They get fed and are allowed to pray. They're being treated that well in spite of the threat that they want to kill an American before they leave. Which brings me to this question: When will those prisoners leave? The point of holding them is to get information about al Qaeda out of them, and prevent them from attacking the U.S. If they spill their guts, how long will the Bush administration consider them threats? A permanent prison is being built at Guantanamo, so it looks like the prisoners will be there for a long time. "Afghan Detainees Threaten Guards" [via Sgt. Stryker] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2002 09:57:05 PM ----- BODY: Page down to the part where Jonah Goldberg writes about the Holy Grail. If you don't laugh, slam your forehead on a hard object for a few seconds, then re-read. "Immanent Corrections" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2002 06:18:46 PM ----- BODY: Enron fires Andersen. But what's really interesting is the comment from Enron attorney Bob Bennett:
We're very troubled about the destruction of the documents, and we're very concerned about the accounting advice we got.It's Andersen's fault? Andersen didn't set up partnerships to move debt and losses from the books. That was the decision of Enron directors and executives. "Enron Axes Andersen Accounting Firm" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/17/2002 03:27:21 PM ----- BODY: Andersen knew that Enron's accounting tricks to divert debt from their balance sheet wasn't the wisest thing to do. Executives of the accounting firm even talked about cutting ties with Enron. It's not a real shock that Andersen knew about the potential consequences. They were Enron's accountants. They had access to the books and were paid to ask hard financial questions. It's obvious, Andersen failed in their duty. "Andersen Memo Provides Smoking Gun on Enron Deals" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/16/2002 02:14:03 PM ----- BODY: A NOW spin-off wants to stick their paws in 9.11 relief money so they can promote affirmative action. The money is supposed to be used to rebuild New York City, not for liberal social engineering. "Women's Group to Congress: Give Us 9/11 Money or See You in Court" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2002 01:32:45 PM ----- BODY: It's interesting to compare how private business handles crisis compared to public entities. Andersen fired the lead auditor of Enron and suspended others. The accounting giant seems to be taking this scandal very seriously. Now, compare this to post-9/11. Most agree that the attacks were a complete failure of the intelligence community, yet no one's been fired. President Bush even gave a pep talk at CIA headquarters and publically supported Director George Tenet. I think Tenet should be fired, or he should have the decency to resign. Instead, he joined the gang on the cover of Vanity Fair. The difference between public and private institutions is feedback. Andersen's integrity as an objective accounting firm is threatened. Without it the firm would suffer financially. The Enron scandal is a direct threat to the company and its partners. Because of that self-interest they're firing people and suspending others. Public institutions (particularly government) have a more round-about feedback mechanism: voters. Politicians don't have to worry that they'll be fired because their term is for a specified length of time. Only on election day can they be fired or re-hired. Sure, there's public opinion, but they still wield the reigns of power unless they're recalled (if that's even possible). Because of that there's not the same urgency to hold people accountable or to change things. "Firm Fires Chief Enron Auditor" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2002 01:19:49 PM ----- BODY: Consumers are doing their part in holding up the U.S. economy. December sales fell slightly. If consumer spending holds up, the key to recovery will be capital spending, and businesses may gain confidence to invest more into their companies with this new data. "Retail Sales Dip Much-Smaller-Than-Expected 0.1 Percent in December" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/15/2002 12:23:34 PM ----- BODY: On the affect of large campaign donations from Enron on the Bush administrations "inactivity," Bill Allison of the Center for Public Integrity said officals couldn't act because "The appearance would have looked terrible. They felt that they couldn't act on behalf of Enron because of the political fallout." Whether Allison feels officals should have acted is uncertain, but it does sound a little like some Democrats' assertion that the Bush administration should have intervened to protect Enron investors and employees. If the administration would have acted critics would say it was because of campaign contributions, and if they didn't act it was because of campaign contributions. With this kind of spin, there's no way to win. (Sorry, the spirit of Johnny Cochran momentarily entered my body.) "Enron Employee Warned Chairman Lay" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2002 02:08:32 PM ----- BODY: Schottenheimer's out and Spurrier's in. Now, the Redskins are looking for a General Manager. One name floating around is ex-Packers GM Ron Wolf. He won't take the job. He'd want total control, and owner Daniel Snyder is running the show in Washington. "Redskins Fire Schottenheimer; Spurrier's in" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2002 02:04:56 PM ----- BODY: Congressman Waxman (D-CA) is taking advantage of the Enron affair. NRO's Byron York reports that Waxman's trouncing Sen. Lieberman (D-CT) and Sen. Levin (D-MI) in press coverage, and Waxman has no subpoena power. "Waxman?s Enron Attack" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2002 01:48:11 PM ----- BODY: Planet MR2 got a small bump in hits by mentioning Final Fantasy X. Am I desparate enough to do the same? I have never played any of the games, but I did see the movie last summer. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2002 02:37:12 AM ----- BODY: Did President Bush have money on Miami? That might explain the choking. "President Faints at White House" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/14/2002 02:03:01 AM ----- BODY: Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) is tossing around charges of "obstruction of justice" after learning of an Andersen memo ordering destruction of Enron documents. In the same AP story, Mr. Campaign Finance, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is taking advantage of the Enron scandal to promote his agenda. "We're all tainted by the millions and millions of dollars that were contributed by Enron executives, which ... creates the appearance of impropriety,'' said McCain. Notice where he said Enron's donations create "the appearance of impropriety." Actual wrongdoing or unethical behavior isn't enough to move an agenda. Now, only the appearance is necessary. By his logic, anything that goes wrong and involves a public official that gets the attention of the NY Times, the Washington Post, and 24-hour news channels ever seeking material to put on-air, can be considered "the apperance of impropriety." Well, here's a good appearance of impropriety: 9.11. The U.S. intellegence community failed horribly by being surprised of the attacks. Yet, no one has been fired in any major intelligence position. In fact, CIA Director George Tenet has the full confidence of President Bush. Sen, McCain (who received $9,500 from Enron) has bigger fish to fry than using Enron to promote campaign finance (and free-speech curtailing) reform. "Timing of Enron Memo Questioned" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/13/2002 03:28:18 PM ----- BODY: Andersen, Enron's accountant, should go down with the one-time Texas energy power house. Time reports that Andersen lawyers told employees to destroy documents. From now on when researching a stock, check to see who did the auditing. If it's Andersen, politely move onto another company. I have lost all faith in their ability to objectively evaluate companies. "Who's Accountable?" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/13/2002 02:56:15 PM ----- BODY: The Green Bay Packers move on to face St. Louis after beating the San Francisco 49ers, 25-15. The 49ers couldn't shake off the mystic of Lambeau Field where the Pack have never lost a playoff game. Cornerback Mike McKenzie earned part of his new contract by tipping a ball in the fourth quarter that turned into an interception by Tyrone Williams. Ahman Green added to the Packers' dominance over San Francisco by powering for 86 yards and a touchdown. Next, are the St. Louis Rams with the most explosive offense in the league. "Green Bay 25, San Francisco 15" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/13/2002 12:32:15 AM ----- BODY: Enron got $4 billion in corporate welfare. Much of it from the Clinton administration. "Enron and the Clintonites" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/12/2002 11:51:37 PM ----- BODY: With Daniel Snyder's yearning for Steve Spurrier, I see no chance of current coach Marty Schottenheimer coming back next season. I know I wouldn't be too happy if my boss was looking for my replacement while keeping me on the payroll. "Redskins again seeking Spurrier" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/12/2002 11:47:20 PM ----- BODY: It seems 24-hour news channels crave scandal so much that they're willing to create one in the case of President Bush and Enron. There has been no evidence or accusation that Bush or any of his staff did anything wrong, unethical, or improper. It looks like the media wants to balance things out for going after Bill Clinton and Whitewater. Former Clinton counsel, Lanny Davis warned his fellow Democrats not to use Enron for political points. "Democrats have to avoid using innuendo as a surrogate for fact. This is not payback time." "Enron Collapse Likened to Whitewater for Bush" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2002 06:55:21 PM ----- BODY: Andersen, Enron's accountant, is being dragged down because of their poor practices. I have no sympathy for them. It's not the first time they've helped cook a company's books. "Andersen's Future at Stake After Enron" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2002 06:38:39 PM ----- BODY: At the root of this story about Enron is that neither Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, nor Treasury Under Secretary Peter Fisher aided the now bankrupt company. They were asked, but no help was given. In fact, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin did more to help Enron than any Bush official. Millions in campaign contributions didn't help them. [NOTE: I'm still an Enron shareholder, and will be for at least a little while longer. The NYSE halted trading while waiting for more details about the sale of its energy trading operation.] "Treasury's Fisher Felt Enron Asked for Help" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2002 12:07:15 AM ----- BODY: This is weird. You need a ticket to get on the viewing platform overlooking Ground Zero. "Tragedy and Its Vendors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/11/2002 12:03:17 AM ----- BODY: Sure, I'm biased, but Stephen Hayes makes the case for a 4th MVP for Brett Favre. And I'm still ticked about him giving Michael Strahan that sack. "There's Something About Favre" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 11:52:33 PM ----- BODY: Democrats out to get Bush over Enron will probably claim Arthur Andersen is part of the Vast-Right Wing Conspriacy for destroying many documents. The accounting firm says the destruction was "required in certain circumstances." "Auditor Says Enron Documents Gone" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 11:12:05 PM ----- BODY: Instead of wasting time on investigations of Enron and Major League Baseball, Congress should look at Arafat's role in the boat-load of weapons Israel captured. Did Arafat know about the smuggling, and when did he know it? "U.S. Turns Up the Heat On Arafat Over Smuggling Affair" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 10:56:34 PM ----- BODY: I may have been wrong about the winner, but I'm glad a good guy won Survivor -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 05:28:34 PM ----- BODY: In a few hours the Survivor winner will be known. I'm putting my bet on Tom. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 05:26:00 PM ----- BODY: Because a French court ruled that a disabled child had a right "not to be born," doctors there won't use ultrasound on pregnant women. They fear future lawsuits. The law of unintended consequences slapped France right in the face. TheBlueButton.com put it succinctly: "The French are idiots." "Scan Strike by French Doctors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 04:38:16 PM ----- BODY: Enron's bankruptcy will only play a minor role in the Democrats' attack on President Bush. Here's their strategy: make a big fuss over Enron's collapse and its financial tricks. Then bring up all the Enron head honchos. Ask a few questions about the accounting schemes and then move on to the juicy stuff: Texas politics. Democrats will try to portray Bush's governor's office as a corrupt institution that doled out government favors for campaign contributions. CBS Marketwatch's David Callaway gave it all away when he wrote, "Enron, the company, will soon be gone. But Enron, the symbol of how big business and big politics sometimes conspire to fix the game, is just starting to dawn on the national consciousness." Let me stay on Callaway's article a little longer. He writes:
What it is about, and what the public will get to hear and read about in wrenching detail over the coming months, is how business gets done down in Texas. How a small group of business leaders exert enormous clout over Bush and his team in getting the rules changed to their benefit. It will explain why Bush has locked up presidential records, locked out any voices opposed to his pro-business agenda and rammed through an expensive economic plan that wiped out the budget surplus but to date hasn't had any positive effect on the economy.How did Enron executives get Bush's "economic plan" (i.e. tax cuts) passed? Why would it be in the interests of Enron executives to drain away the budge surplus? Callaway doesn't show any link. It's just anti-Bush prattle. He can't go after him on the war front because we're winning, so he has to find another route. "Enron is not Bush's Whitewater; It Will be Worse" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 04:20:19 PM ----- BODY: This op-ed is delusional. Bob Herbert spews class-warfare rhetoric ("Enron was a bonanza for — whom else? — the folks at the top of the pyramid.") and makes a vague claim that Enron got government goodies simply because top executives contributed to campaigns. Herbert does admit there's no hard evidence that Enron did anything illegal, yet he still tries to splatter mud all over the Bush administration. It seems that if it doesn't look like a Whitewater scandal, liberals will just convince themselves that it is. "Joined at the Hip" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 03:41:20 PM ----- BODY: Tom Wolfe notes that New York was changing before 9.11. Modern art and architecture is bankrupt; Asians are the fastest growing ethnic group; and women are pursuing men instead of the other-way-around. "The New New York" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 03:14:01 PM ----- BODY: Due to Blogger's illness, yesterdays posts are now available. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/10/2002 02:49:17 PM ----- BODY: Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is sticking his Congressional nose where it doesn't belong. He's calling for Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's resignation because his Milwaukee Brewers got a loan from a company owned by another baseball owner. The only things that makes professional baseball anything close to interstate commerce--an area Congress constitutionally has domain over--are the cross-country travel and the national broadcasts. Even if Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce, that doesn't mean it has to in every case. For the most part professional baseball is a group of private businesses. Many teams do receive big subsidies like the stadiums they play in, but the federal government has and should have little involvement. Minnesota Congressman, Bill Luther chimed in by saying, "the best interests of baseball are not served by having a team owner serve as commissioner." Fine, Bill. Then get your own team and vote to remove Selig. It isn't the role of Congressmen to dictate who should or shouldn't run a private organization. When team owners hired Selig as commissioner, they knew he was an owner, but they felt comfortable with his leadership. They made their bed, and they'll have to lie in it. Back to Conyers. He also thinks contraction is part of a dark conspiracy to improve the Brewers. According to Conyers, "Brewers stand to double their television revenue if the Twins are eliminated." The congressman doesn't know much about the Midwest sports scene. If the Twins go away, Minnesotans won't jump to the Brewers. They're not fans of any Wisconsin teams. Minnesota is a state where they don't support a tax payer-funded baseball stadium. If baseball leaves, they'll move on to other sports. "Selig Asked to Back Off Contraction" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 01:48:54 PM ----- BODY: One of the greatest coaches in college hockey history, Wisconsin's Jeff Sauer will retire after this season. "Sauer Will Resign from UW Hockey Post" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 01:44:53 PM ----- BODY: Wisconsin Republicans have a rather unique way to fix the gaping hole in the budget: freeze spending. "GOP Fix: Clamp Down on Spending" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 01:20:37 PM ----- BODY: If you think your public school is already too confining in its teaching, then hope your local school doesn't implement Minneapolis' "Small Learning Communities." Ninth graders there are forced to choose a career which will let administrators determine what school they should attend. While it is possible for a high schooler to switch their major (in high school!), they will have to wade through an already sluggish bueauracracy. "Minneapolis 9th Graders Told to Choose Career Path Now" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 03:38:08 AM ----- BODY: Scott wonders about using deceit to save lives. When it comes to abortion, sometimes it has to be done. We live in a culture of death. In too many instances when a woman gets pregnant, abortion is seen as the only solution. Lying to a pregnant woman in order to stop her from killing her child doesn't violate anyone's rights. Sure, the Supreme Court (incorrectly) allows abortion on demand with limited state restrictions, but that doesn't mean a woman's rights are violated if she doesn't undergo the procedure. Lying to prevent abortion is unseemly, but in no way does it violate rights, as would be the in the case of shooting an abortion doctor or blowing up a clinic. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 02:56:40 AM ----- BODY: The National Organization for (liberal) Women is despicable. After the 9.11 attacks, they want statistical gender equality in the rebuilding of New York. If too few women aren't getting contracts, then they'll release the hounds--I mean lawyers. But other than legal fees and increased fund raising from all the attention, Wendy McElroy doesn't answer how NOW could get any of the relief money. "NOW Grabs For WTC Relief Funds" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 02:44:56 AM ----- BODY: Fuel cells as a real technology won't happen unless companies think there's a way to make money with them. No amount of tree hugging environmental talk will do it. GM thinks that by replacing the internal combustion engine with a fuel cell they can expand the world-wide car/truck market from the 12% that currently own them. "GM Veers Towards Fuel Cells Cars" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 02:34:27 AM ----- BODY: Bill Gates on the Xbox:
I spent the holidays getting beaten on Xbox by my nieces and nephews. When I created Microsoft 27 years ago, I never thought I'd create something that would allow me to humiliate myself repeatedly."Gates Opens Windows to Wireless" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/9/2002 02:20:06 AM ----- BODY: I was waiting for David Horowitz to toss in his two cents on the West-Summers affair. I really liked it when he wanted West to bolt to Princeton because then Harvard's Afro-American Studies Department "would be even better." "Harvard Prof, Involved in Political Flap, Labeled 'Intellectual Lightweight'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 02:03:13 PM ----- BODY: More on Michael Strahan's cheap record-breaking sack: Packers coach Mike Sherman didn't seem too thrilled about Brett Favre giving away the sack. "I don't believe you give anybody anything in this league; everybody has to earn what they get. I've always felt that way. You people pretty much know what I stand for," said Sherman. Other Packers think it was a set-up. The Journal Sentinel story says that "even some of his own teammates merely smiled or smirked at the notion that he had deviated from the play called in the huddle for some other reason than to allow Strahan to sack him." The NFL is letting this bit of pro wrestling stand by not taking away Strahan's (and Favre's) sack. I demand an asterisk! "Sack Still Stirs up Giant Hornet's Nest" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 01:57:20 PM ----- BODY: An old man like Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) isn't a serious terrorist threat. If I were on a plane with 150 John Dingell, I would feel pretty safe. I would definitely feel safer with Dingell on board than some 20-year olds from Marian County, Califorinia. What the screeners did to Dingell was ridiculous. Call it limited profiling or call it what it really is: common sense. "Boxers or Briefs? Rep. Dingell's Airport Exposure" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 01:45:50 PM ----- BODY: Milwaukee County supervisors are livid that top county officials could get millions of dollars in pension money. They're calling for resginations, but the supervisors shouldn't be left off the hook. The pension plan was part of a bill passed by them late last year by a 20-5 vote. A few people forgot to read the details. "Pension Authors Under Fire" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 03:37:04 AM ----- BODY: This review of Berard Goldberg's Bias echoes my feelings. "Telling the Whole Story" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 03:28:01 AM ----- BODY: What Tiger 03 did in Afghanistan is WAY more impressive than watching bombs drop into the windows of Iraqi buildings during the Gulf War. The kill ratio of that Green Beret team is over 70 to 1. "1,300 Enemy Men Killed by Handful of Green Berets" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 03:20:50 AM ----- BODY: Virginia explains the concept of marginal cost better than any econ professor I had. She's prettier too. "Often, Basic Concepts in Economics Are Taken for Granted" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 01:45:05 AM ----- BODY: Wisconsin is one state that's facing a huge hole in its budget. Tax revenue increased throughout the booming 90's but government spending grew even faster. The American Legislative Exchange Council notes that this isn't limited to the Dairy State. "Watchdog Group: Higher Spending Comes Back to Haunt States" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/8/2002 01:30:22 AM ----- BODY: It's NFL Players Week on Wheel of Fortune this week. In a press release, Pat Allen of Players, Inc. said, "NFL Players are not only skilled athletes, but community leaders as well." Ok, but can they spell? Packers' Ahman Green to Appear on Wheel of Fortune "NFL Players Week" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/7/2002 01:44:28 PM ----- BODY: Fred Barnes concludes the Ambrose copying affair. This story moved fast. The speed of the Internet disemenated the story quickly. Pundits and quasi-pundits (like me) examined it with some care. Then Ambrose apologized two days after the story broke. This process may have taken days to weeks a few years ago. "Ambrose Apologizes" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/7/2002 01:24:22 PM ----- BODY: Steve Jobs wanted the new iMac to look like an sunflower. It looks more like an art deco piece. Can the chrome extention between the flat-panel screen and the computer handle abuse? It looks a little fragile. "Apple's Latest Fruit" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 11:27:36 PM ----- BODY: James Q. Wilson links the decline of marriage to Enlightment ideas. Since it's a cultural problem, Wilson sees little government can do. "Why We Don?t Marry" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 10:43:52 PM ----- BODY: Rich Galen combines Enron with Lanny Davis. The moral of his story: "Sometimes what looks like an excellent strategic move just doesn't work out. The best course is to admit it and move on." I'm betting that there's something left of value in that shell of a company. "Form 10-Q" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 10:17:39 PM ----- BODY: I love how the Journal Sentinel editorial page is more concerned about the conditions of the worst prisioners in Wisconsin, than the victims they harmed. "Good Boscobel Prison Deal" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 10:11:44 PM ----- BODY: The Journal Sentinal editorial page knows that the investigation of Enron (I'm still part owner) could turn into a partisan weapon. So, "to prevent a real circus" they recommend a joint commitee. Sounds reasonable to me. "Investigating Enron Corp." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 10:07:23 PM ----- BODY: The paleo-libertarians at the Mises Institute critique 200+ years of American Presidents. "Reassessing the Presidency" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 10:02:22 PM ----- BODY: There's a poll (to the right of the story) on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website. The question is, "Should the Packers have given Michael Strahan the gimme sack?" As of this moment, the no's lead 55.5% to 44.5%. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 08:35:14 PM ----- BODY: Stephen Ambrose had admitted his copying in The Wild Blue and will make changes in future editions of the book. His other books should still be looked into, but this embarassment should be enough punishment. However, it does put a cloud over all his future books. "Ambrose Sorry for Copying Phrases" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 08:21:30 PM ----- BODY: Clark Judge knows Favre gave Strahan a gift, but doesn't care.
But let's get something straight here. Strahan is deserving. I don't care whether Favre served him a gimme or not. The guy had a heckuva season, and he deserved to gain the record. It just so happens he had help.That's bogus!! Strahan is only deserving of the record if he actually earns the record. Ahman Green had a great season for the Packers. What he didn't do was become the first Packer to rack up 2000 yards in total offense. According to Judge's logic, the NFL should just give him that honor because Green "had a heckuva season." But Green didn't do what it took to get 2000 total yards, so he doesn't deserve the honor. By the same reasoning, Strahan's gift shouldn't count toward his sack total. Without Favre's flop, the not-as-big-a-story would be how the Packers shut out Strahan and kept him from breaking the record. At the very least, the sack should be split between the two. Then Favre probably would be the first (and only) quarterback to ever record a sack. "Gift or Not, Strahan Deserved the Record." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 08:08:23 PM ----- BODY: Michael Strahan had an outstanding season. He should be considered in the voting for NFL MVP, but the sack that gave him the NFL record was a gimme. Brett Favre's teammates thought he was going to hand off the ball. Instead, Brett rolls out right into the shadow of Strahan. Brett doesn't try to stiff-arm him or roll away from his grasp. He just slides to the ground giving up the record-setting sack. That's not sport; that's pro wrestling. Unfortunately for Strahan, an asterisk should go beside his record. He had a couple of legitimate chances to get Favre, but that last one shouldn't count. What ticked me off as much as Favre's gift was the ineptitude of Fox's sideline reporter Pam Oliver. She interviewed Strahan right after the game and never asked if he thought Favre let him sack him. Did it even come to her mind to ask? "Strahan Breaks Gastineau's 17-year-old Record" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 01:39:06 AM ----- BODY:
Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes.With that sentence, President Bush drew a line in the sand and took the same stand as his father while in office. If he keeps his word, he'll be re-elected, if not, he's doomed--just like his father. "Bush, on Offense, Says He'll Fight to Keep Tax Cuts" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/6/2002 01:25:40 AM ----- BODY: Lord of the Rings took an early lead in Oscar contention by taking the American Film Institute's award for best picture. LoTR is a wonderful movie, but I'm leaning toward the original and provocative Memento as my pick. "Lord of the Rings Earns AFI's Best Picture Honors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2002 07:38:15 PM ----- BODY: Edmund Morris has no regrets over adding fiction to Dutch, his biography of Ronald Reagan. Morris is back in the news because of the second volume of his three-part biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Rex is selling very well since part one, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt came out in 1979. I just started reading Rise and am already impressed with the intellect and psychological character of young TR. The man was a voracious reader and he never let his bouts with asthma or diarrhea hold him back from doing what he wanted. Just reading about TR's relentless energy makes me tired. "Reagan's Biographer, Unapologetic, Inserts No Fiction Into Roosevelt's Story" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2002 07:07:24 PM ----- BODY: Andrew Hofer's idea about licensing Blogger to ISP (how about web space providers?) makes great sense. Blogger, like e-mail, would be a service the ISP would provide subscribers. It would be like the difference between Napster and the Gnutella. A licensed Blogger wouldn't be strapped by a central server. By doing that pressure would lessen on Ev's servers, and he could focus more on making Blogger better instead of just keeping it functioning. At the very least, Ev should consider making users pay for Blogger with the condition being that it will be less prone to outages. "Helping Blogger?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2002 06:33:15 PM ----- BODY: Professor Marc Herold claims that 3767 Afghan civilians were killed by U.S. bombs as of 12.06.01. The tone of Herold's piece is anti-American. He uses quotes to try to claim moral equivalence between the terrorists who attacked the U.S. and the military who responded to those attacks. That doesn't mean almost 4000 Afghans civilians were killed, it just explains his sympathies. "A Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2002 05:40:53 PM ----- BODY: I read the military portion of the administration's summary of the first 100 days of the war on terrorism (needs a real name!) and no mention was made of casualties. Yesterday, Army Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman became the first U.S. soldier killed in action. Other soldiers have died away from combat, and CIA agent Johnny Spann was killed in a Taliban prison riot. No total U.S. dead was listed. Also, I've read nothing on the amount of causualites of our Afghan allies. There have only been sporatic guesses about civilian casualties, but no definitive numbers have been collected about them either. On another note: the report says that 460 people are being held by the INS. What about the claims that 1000 people have been detained by the government? This just might be some spin by the administration. The only mention of detainees is the 460 by the INS. That doesn't include any arrests by other law enforcement agencies. Another possibility is that administration critics are just using hyperbole and outright lies to advance their cause. Tactics like flagrant exaggeration is common in the environmental Left with who many war critics sympathize. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2002 04:21:08 PM ----- BODY: Maybe Stephen Ambrose, America's most revered living historian and Wisconsin native, has pumped out too many books in too short a time (four in the past year according his web site). Maybe it's all the side projects he's worked on (including Saving Private Ryan and HBO's Band of Brothers) Maybe it's just a sign of age, although 66 isn't that old. The Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes makes a good case that Ambrose's lastest book The Wild Blue has passaged copied almost verbatum from Thomas Childers' The Wings of Morning. This accusation comes after Putlizer Prize winner Joseph Ellis admitted to lying to students for years about his Army career and his civil rights work. In addition, Michael Bellesiles' book on the history of gun ownership in America is receiving tremendous criticism because much of the research appears to be made up. Ambrose can withstand this intellectual scandal. He's beloved by millions of readers, by WWII veterns, and by their families. Even Childress doesn't want to go after Ambrose because he's done "an awful lot of good work." Ambrose has done more than any other writer to praise the courage and sacrifices made by those soldiers. That goodwill will protect him, but from now on, a cloud of doubt will surround any of his future work. "Stephen Ambrose, Copycat" "Author Accused of Plagiarism" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/5/2002 01:32:25 AM ----- BODY: While children were opening presents and getting ready for Christmas Day church services, 611,000 New York City tv viewers kept their eyes on a burning hunk of wood. WPIX will air it again next Christmas. "Yule Log Wins Christmas Morning Ratings in New York" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/4/2002 11:40:34 PM ----- BODY: As part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit, the State of Wisconsin would change the name of its Supermax prison. (Rep. Mark Gundrum suggested the "'Jon Litscher Kittens and Rainbows Suites" in honor of Secretary of the Department of Corrections Litscher.) Inmates who filed the suit think it's demeanding to be considered the "worst of the worst." Also part of the deal is a ridiculous idea to have the state pay for bus trips for families of the prisoners. "Supermax Deal 'Coddles' Prisoners, GOP Lawmakers Say" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2002 09:27:56 PM ----- BODY: This may be my only comment on the Summers-West spat, and it's actually a response to Charles Ogletree's statement that Harvard president Larry Summers must be more forceful in his defense of afirmative action. Ogletree said,
It's absolutely critical that the president make an unequivocal public statement in support of affirmative action. That would be encouraging for those scholars who came to Harvard and were recruited because this was going to be the premier institution of black intellectual inquiry.I've heard no news that Harvard would be dismantling its affirmative action program, but Ogletree thinks that if Summers doesn't state his love for racial preferences loudly enough then that will damage "black intellectual inquiry." Two members of Harvard's Afro-American Studies department are Henry Louis Gates and William Julius Wilson. Both of them are Left-of-center, but still respected scholars in their fields. Cornel West is more known for his awful hip-hop and his political activities than his scholarship. David Horowitz points out West's intellectual emptyness, and Leon Wieseltier in The New Republic wrote that West's books are "almost completely worthless." West is probably doing more to damage black intellectual inquiry than anything Summers has (or hasn't) done. [Thanks to Andrew Sullivan via InstaPundit] "At Odds With Harvard President, Black-Studies Stars Eye Princeton" [via Kaus] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2002 08:52:11 PM ----- BODY: I'm impressed with myself that I almost watched the entire first half of the Rose Bowl. Miami is making it look like they're playing a video game. A Nebraska victory could have made loud case for a serious determination of college football's national champion, but calls for a playoff won't be listened to for another year. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2002 08:48:31 PM ----- BODY: Another 100+ story skyscraper would be a big middle finger to bin Laden, but Mayor Bloomberg doesn't think it's economically practical. Market forces must be allowed to work in the reconstruction of Ground Zero, but that doesn't mean a tasteful, aestheticlly pleasing complex of buildings and a memorial can't be erected. The Autumn 2001 issue of City Journal offers up a vision of the rebuilt area. "110-Story Skyscraper Unlikely in NY" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2002 05:08:35 PM ----- BODY: I've added another commenting feature to TAM. I hope this holds up better than the previous one. One benefit already is I've discovered Rate Your Music. YACCS -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2002 03:24:49 PM ----- BODY: Nine Packers made the Pro Bowl. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/3/2002 03:22:10 PM ----- BODY: Not surprising, but Sen. Lieberman and other Senate Democrats will open hearings on Enron's collapse. [NOTE: I'm still a proud shareholder.] The Governmental Affairs Committee will investigate how federal regulators didn't see the house of cards Enron really was. I'll give you a simple explanation: Enron's leadership along with their accountants all went along with moving debt off the books to partnerships and claiming earnings in an unconventional way. No one cared as long as the stock price went up. Regulators had no reason to suspect the company's collapse. Enron was the darling of the energy world. The end result of Enron's misdeeds was bankruptcy. The feds couldn't do more than what the market did. The stock market lost all trust in the company and the stock caved. The only serious question I see is if some Enron executives knew about the coming collapse and sold their stock, leaving other investors (including Enron employees) with huge losses. The attempt to link Enron to the Bush administration a la Whitewater will fail in its brazen partisanship. "Senate Panel to Investigate Enron" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2002 01:49:25 AM ----- BODY: The weblogging phenomenon is only a few years old and some people are putting together a Blog-Con 2002. Vegas in August would be hot, but this could be interesting. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2002 01:06:32 AM ----- BODY: Bad Elements examines the thoughts and feelings of Chinese exiles. Author Ian Buruma worries about China's future move from Communism to liberty. "Bad Elements: Gang of One Billion" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2002 12:36:01 AM ----- BODY: Mr. InstaPundit writes this fine defense of "evil" book superstores. Sure, Barnes & Noble (my employer) and the lot are great "third places," but they can be a pain when trying to shuffle customers out when it's time to close the store. The company's survival is secure since there are people who would never leave if the store was open 24 hours a day. "Community by the Book" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/2/2002 12:16:39 AM ----- BODY: Best prediction for 2002 (so far) comes from Jonah Goldberg:
National Review Online will feast on the rotting carcass of a defunct Salon.com.I hope it comes true. Does anyone read Salon anymore? "The 2002 Forecast" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/1/2002 11:23:49 PM ----- BODY: In Bias, Bernard Goldberg, ex-CBS News reporter confirms the feelings held by millions of news watchers: that news stories slant to the Left and give conservative ideas short shrift. The bias comes from reporters' cultural isolasion and elitism. It also comes from a strange perception of the world. Dan Rather thinks the NY Times editorial page is "middle of the road." After reading Goldberg's story, I see little hope of the media reforming itself. The institituion cannot handle criticism. The biggest weakness with the book is Goldberg's angry tone. He was unjustly pushed aside at CBS News over a Wall Street Journal op-ed, but the bitterness gets tiring. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 1/1/2002 12:00:03 AM ----- BODY: Happy New Year!!! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/31/2001 11:55:59 PM ----- BODY: Books are the medium that have the longest memory. Tattered remains of ancient texts are still with us today. The ideas they contain can persuade and move people to fight and die for them. The feelings and emotions they emit can bring the strongest man to tears. This year's crop of books covered the lives of great Presidents, and they went to the darkest parts of the human mind. Here are the TAM Awards for Best Non-Fiction Books 2001. 1. The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon The book's subtitle is "An Atlas of Depression," but it's much, much more. His study of melancholy emerges from his own breakdowns. The science, politics, history, and sociology of this mental illness is covered in rich, sympathetic detail. The National Book Award winner is both enlightening and deeply moving. 2. John Adams by David McCullough McCullough revives the reputation of our second President. He tells the story of a patriot with an incredible mind who sacrificed much for his infant nation. 3. When Character was King by Peggy Noonan Noonan offers this gift to the Gipper. The book gets to the heart of what made Reagan great: it was his steadfast character and his faith in the goodness of the American people. It's totally sympathetic, yet honest in its approach. 4. Big Issues by the editors of Forbes ASAP This collection of essays examine life in our new digital age. Peggy Noonan predicts a terrorist attack on New York City while Tom Wolfe writes about biotechnology and the death of the soul. 5. Friedrich Hayek by Alan Ebenstein This is the first biography of the most important economist of the 20th Century. Ebenstein does an adequate job of covering the important parts of his life and offering the reader a sample of the rich thought of this great classical liberal. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/30/2001 10:58:31 PM ----- BODY: Way back on 9.14.01, I kind of predicted Rudy Guliani would be Time's Man of the Year. There is a question mark after my pronouncement. It was just a guess, but a small pat on the back to myself even though it wasn't the best choice. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/30/2001 10:39:09 PM ----- BODY: The end of the year means best of lists. I've been doing them since TAM's birth. I'll start with the TAM Awards for Best Music and move on to the book awards tomorrow. Music makes the day brighter. Music tugs on the heart strings. Music also helps you cope when you're not getting along with reality. It's fair to say that songs have the ability to satisfy our emotional needs. In 2001, serious, adult pop music proved that catchy songs didn't have to come from only teeny-bopper girls and boy bands. In the right hands, pop music can be intelligent, emotional, and catchy as hell. Electronic dance music continued to flex its muscle by being the soundtrack to our technological age. While authorities were going overboard and scaring people about the dangers of raves and ecstasy, the repetitive rhythms and computer-created grooves filled movie soundtracks, commercials and sports features on ESPN and Fox. The events of 9.11 haven't seemed to affect the music scene yet. The biggest affect has been the increased sales of patriotic songs. Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" became a battlecry for the first time since the Gulf War. It even may be fortunate for a highly political band like Rage Against the Machine that they lost their lead singer and haven't performed recently. The public may reject their anti-authority and radical messages in light of the terrorist attacks. I haven't been able to play their well-done, but angry debut album since 9.11. Their sneering and bashing of government and corporate interests is too closely related to the anti-West fury of Osama bin Laden and his Islamist brethren. No more analysis about the intersection of the real world with music. Here are the best albums of 2001. 1. Jimmy Eat World Bleed American An unfortunately title for a very good album. JEW put punk crunch, very catchy pop hooks, and bittersweet lyrics together to form a beautiful collection of songs. Think of JEW as Weezer but who don't try to be funny, or as Blink-182 with more soul. The title track shows the power of the band, while the closing song "My Sundown" drips with raw emotion. 2. Pete Yorn Musicforthemorningafter Out of no where comes Mr. Yorn's roots pop. Bob Dylan, the Counting Crows, John Mellancamp, and the Eagles are heard in full effect. He takes accordions, acoustic and electric guitars, and a moody voice (that reminds me of the lead singer from Coldplay) and brews a wonderful American musical concoction. There's solid riffs in "For Nancy" along with a sprinkling of a drum machine. "Murray" echoes classic Eagles with a great chorus. Yorn makes serious pop music that makes you feel what he felt in making it. 3. Daft Punk Discovery Maybe cheesy 80's electro should have ended with the Reagan administration, but the French duo add fabulous hooks, incredible production, and a poinancy to make this album the choice for dance music fans. Discovery starts out with "One More Time," a fitting title to start a Daft Punk album. It's one more time to take a delicious pop hook, apply a beat, cover it with a luscious vocal and let it loose upon the world. The song speaks of celebration. I will play it loudly upon hearing the news that bin Laden is captured or dead. That will be a time for celebration. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is my pick for best produced song. The vocals are chopped up and mapped onto keyboards and guitars. You hear the instruments, but you also hear the words. It's mind bending. "Digital Love" and "Something About Us" track to the romantic side. Cheesy, yes, but completely addictive. 4. New Order Get Ready Sure Bernard Sumner and the gang are getting older, but they put together a great album of pop, rock, and dance. Sumner's lyrics show his vulnerability. "We're like crystal. We break easy," he sings on the song "Crystal." The band deftly unites dance beats to rock. It's what they've done their entire career and it still works. 5. Various Artists Platipus Beginners Guide The only dance compilation on my list is this from Platipus Records. The trend this year was to move to darker, more minimal, more serious dance grooves. The best of the bunch was John Digweed's latest Global Underground effort. Max Graham's Transport 4 delved into that relm but retained some of the catchy melodies that made trance the biggest thing in dance music. The problem with the new "progressive house" sound is it takes itself too seriously. The music is well made, but it's very serious and business-like. The point of it is to dance seriously because it's serious music. The focus is on texture, moodyness, and rhythm. What's lost is a fun melody; something to wave your arms in the air to. The Platipus mix ignores the trends and offers dance music fans beats and melodies while at the same it it doesn't insult one's intelligence. From Albion's "Air 2000" through Art of Trance's "Madagascar" the music shimmers. The beats rock, there are hooks, and the songs retain trance's trademark airiness. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/30/2001 12:30:52 AM ----- BODY: I first met Bob McTeer, the Dallas Federal Reserve president at a conference on Frederic Bastiat in France last summer. McTeer was back in France last month. This time at a meeting devoted to Adam Smith. In his speech, he dubbed Bastiat the "French Adam Smith." He also commented on the state of the U.S. economy. While the U.S. is in a recession, there will be a recovery. "In summary, history, monetary policy, fiscal policy, lower energy prices, and reduced inventories and better information offer hope for recovery. I'm not saying recovery is at hand or is imminent. I see no hard evidence of that yet." McTeer said that the economy was slowing down pre-9.11, but the biggest economic effects of the terrorist attack will be increased "overhead" costs. Money that would have been spend on non-security goods and services will now be spent on soldiers, smart bombs, metal detectors, and security guards. Remarks before the conference, "Adam Smith and Economic Development in the 21st Century" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/29/2001 11:57:38 PM ----- BODY: According to Maria Angelidas in the NFL's office, "Packer fans are the most loyal in the NFL." Why? Because everytime the Packers have been on television this season they were the highest rated show of the week in Milwaukee. "Packers Top Show in Milwaukee" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/29/2001 11:54:27 PM ----- BODY: Tony Snow's two-year-old column uncovers the facts behind that collectivist, manufactured holiday called Kwanzaa. "The TRUTH about Kwanzaa" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/28/2001 11:32:32 PM ----- BODY: What a beautiful piece of writing from Wendy McElroy. I especially like this quote:
Never doubt that small acts of kindness can change the world. Even the ones you forget, like drawing a blanket over a stranger. Even the ones you think are wasted, like failing to coax a child to speak."Random Acts of Kindness" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/28/2001 11:25:10 PM ----- BODY: Dan Mitchell points out that the IRS may force banks to report interest earned on foreign money in U.S. banks. This could drive billions of dollars from our shores. "The Anti-Stimulus Plan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/28/2001 10:49:52 PM ----- BODY: Country music may be the dominant genre on radio, but it didn't do well in concert. Tim McGraw was the biggest selling country draw, and his $24.9 million in ticket sales only placed him 17th. The Top 40 North American Concert Tours of 2001 -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/28/2001 10:45:05 PM ----- BODY: The University of Wisconsin's contribution to The Lord of the Rings movies is David Salo, a linguistics graduate student. He turned English dialogue into the Elves' tongue. "Scholar Helps Decipher Tolkien Talk" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/28/2001 12:12:54 AM ----- BODY: Alan Dershowitz has been in front of too many hot television lights. He thinks Lingua Franca was a French magazine. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/27/2001 11:46:31 PM ----- BODY: James Pinkerton wraps Tolkein, Plato, and politics into a nice little bundle. "Tolkien Rings True in His Distrust of Power" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/27/2001 11:34:43 PM ----- BODY: Deborah Solomon of the NY Times hasn't been to the Milwaukee Art Museum, yet she's been commenting on the "enormous white bird" that is the Burke Brise Soleil. Ms. Solomon should actually visit a museum before shooting her mouth off next time. "Times, Bowman Clash over Museum's Collection" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/27/2001 10:51:12 AM ----- BODY: Democrats' mouths are watering over Enron's access to GOP politicians. They see this as the Republican's Whitewater. It will be hard to make any psuedo-mud stick unless there's something there connecting Washington lobbying to personal benefit. The whole stink behind Whitewater was the pressure Bill Clinton and his cronies put on federal savings and loan regulators to look the other way at an Arkansas S&L. The closest smoking gun with Enron is a possible conflict of interest between ex-chairman of the Senate banking committee, Phil Gramm (R-TX) and his wife who was sitting on Enron's board at the same time. "Enron's Political Ties in Spotlight" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/25/2001 07:14:06 PM ----- BODY: Merry Christmas. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/24/2001 03:09:04 AM ----- BODY: Rudy Giuliani as Time's Man of the Year is an admirable choice. He rose above the smoldering ruins of Ground Zero and kept New York City from tumbling into chaos. At the same time, he displayed an image of sensivity, emotion, patriotism, machismo, and anger that all Americans have within themselves because of 9.11. Is he the best choice? No. That distinction must go to the evil mastermind of the terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden. His attacks on America to advance his Holy War against civilization has altered foreign relations, domestic tranquility, and the pop culture. The affects from bin Laden's henious acts will, unfortunately, leave a more permanent mark on history than Rudy's fine efforts in NYC. I know why Rudy was picked over Osama. Time is located in NYC. The magazine's editors are up close and in person to all that Rudy's accomplished. From their offices, they probably can still smell the metallic order from the fallen towers. It's a simple case of home town bias. Time 2001 Person of the Year [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/24/2001 02:12:00 AM ----- BODY: The book's finished. Now, bring on the movie. "Ring: One for the Book" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/23/2001 10:12:34 PM ----- BODY: Bombs in shoes. How do you combat that? Should I expect Japanese-style flying with everyone taking off their shoes before boarding? There are other ways to sneak explosives and weapons onto a plane. There are a few nooks and crannies on the human body that can be used. Will mandatory strip searches be next? Do you have faith in the newly federalized airport security bureaucracy to protect you? What the events on Flight 63 show is that it will be difficult for terrorists to carry out their attacks in the plane's cabin. Passengers will fight back. 9.11 raised the costs of not fighting back. Before then, the worst a passenger would expect from a hijacking is being taken to another country and possibly shot. Now, passengers know they could be potential riders of a poor man's cruise missile with assured death. Under those conditions people are more willing to risk taking action to prevent on-board attacks. As more and more passengers fight terrorists, hijackings should go down. The bad guys will look for less costly ways to reek havoc and destruction. "FBI Finds Explosives in Bomb Suspect's Shoes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/22/2001 12:28:25 AM ----- BODY: Bill Clinton won't fade away like Gerald Ford or (unfortunately) Ronald Reagan. He won't even clean up his reputation the way Jimmy "Habitat for Humanity" Carter did. Instead, Bubba will rev up the campaign to protect his legacy and his place in history. Let's remember a few things about Bill Clinton: He's a liar and perjurer. He is the only elected President to be impeached. He's tied to a real estate deal that landed an Arkansas governor in jail. To look tough in an election he let a mentally incompetent man be executed. When Bill Clinton needed to take some heat off him, he launched attacks on Afghanistan, Sudan, and Iraq. He is also a man who wanted to socialize healthcare. Those are just a few of his "accomplishments" off the top of my head. I don't even need to go into anything about his horrible treatment of women. To sum it up: Bill Clinton is a nasty person, a political genius, and one of the luckiest men ever to work in the Oval Office. He still hasn't and will never accept that what he's done was wrong. He can't do it. His ego won't let him. "Clinton and Aides Lay Plans to Repair a Battered Image" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/21/2001 11:23:34 PM ----- BODY: I will remember Dick Schaap as the collaborator with Jerry Kramer of Distant Replay. The book is Kramer looking back at what happened in the lives of the champion Green Bay Packers of the 1960s. Schaap was a man who loved sports and knew how to really talk about the games and the athletes. Did he get all the scoops and juicy gossip that today's best sports reporters dig up? No, but did it really matter? Godspeed, Dick. "Broadcaster Dick Schaap Dies at 67" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/20/2001 10:54:05 AM ----- BODY: From word-of-mouth I've gotten at the bookstore, LotR is a hit. Now, I just have to finish the book. "Fans Rave About 'Lord of the Rings'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2001 01:47:47 PM ----- BODY: Here's more evidence on why Israel considers Arafat "irrelevant": only a few days after calling for the end of Palestinian violence against Israel, Arafat declared, "We are all martyrs in paradise." He also said he's willing to sacrifice 70 Palestinians for every Israeli death. Arafat tries to have it both ways: on one hand he poses as the stateman seeking peace, while on the other hand, he riles up the masses to violent fervor. Secretary Colin Powell ignores Arafat's brazen hypocrisy by asking for security talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. When will Powell accept that Arafat is an impediment to peace? "Arafat's Call to Sacrifice: 'We are All Martyrs in Paradise'" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2001 11:33:17 AM ----- BODY: This story won't slip under the radar, but it won't be as big as when it was announced that Citigroup would buy the Travelers. Free market critics complain about huge, powerful corporations forming through mergers, but they become quiet when companies spin off portions of their business. It's similiar to the unequal coverage of job cuts versus job creation. Stories of huge job cuts (i.e. recent airline layoffs) top the evening news, but when millions of jobs are created across the country by small and medium-sized businesses, little is heard. "Citigroup to Spin off Travelers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2001 11:25:57 AM ----- BODY: NetFlix is a dot-com that survived the e-commerce meltdown. They did it by spending money effectively and by providing a service in a easy way. The company hopes to be cashflow positive next year and hopes to go public in the future. What I'm really impressed about is the customer praise NetFlix gets. I've read many a post on weblogs saying how easy it is to use NetFlix. A company doesn't have to burn cash through expensive marketing campaigns if they can get good word-of-mouth advertising. That seems to be happening with NetFlix. The biggest downside to the company is that it's in a transition market. Once Internet broadband service gets large enough, people will just download movies instead of getting DVDs. How NetFlix can adjust to that market will be its biggest challenge. "DVD Service Delivers Online" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/19/2001 11:08:52 AM ----- BODY: Shimon Peres says Israel will withdraw its forces from areas where Palestinian security forces "take over." In the same story, the Palestininan Authority arrested 15 members of the same security force for suspicion of terrorist activities. Does Peres really trust security to a force filled with (at least) 15 terrorist accomplices? How does this square with Ariel Sharon saying Arafat still hasn't "abandon the path of terror?" Some of these conflicting words have to do with political posturing. As leader of the Labour Party, Peres has to have some distance from Sharon's Likud Party even if they're both part of a unity government. "Peres: Israel Ready to Withdraw" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/17/2001 04:46:59 AM ----- BODY: Two reasons why Israel considers Arafat "irrelevant": Jassar Samaru and Nassim Abu Rus. These two men are suspected Hamas bombmakers. Israel put them on a list of most-wanted terrorists and gave it to Gen. Anthony Zinni who gave it to Arafat. Samaru and Abu Rus were arrested by Palestinian authorities previously. But they still managed to make bombs while in jail. "Two Bomb Makers are Teaching a New Generation of `Engineers'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/16/2001 11:56:56 PM ----- BODY: Most of the victims of the World Trade Center attack will never be identified. Their remains will be in a landfill named Fresh Kills. Daniel Henninger advocates building a national cemetary there to honor the dead. He writes:
I am able to see no good reason why each willing family should not have a site of its own, with an individual marker, atop 1/9, that would let them sit and mourn and remember, away from the city's unstoppable, certain tumult. Even now from this promontory, one can look straight out over New York harbor to where the Trade Center once was, and will be able to see what rises to replace it. Then, looking left, you would see the Statue of Liberty.Properly honoring the dead will tell those who live long after us how we really were as Americans. "What We Did For Normandy Do for New York" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/16/2001 11:49:11 PM ----- BODY: The "Judeo-Christian Tradiiton" is only 70 years old. "Love Bombs at Home" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/15/2001 01:10:55 AM ----- BODY: A novel dealing with the clash between East and West would be enlightening during times like these. Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup may touch upon that theme, but it seems to be more about people looking beyond their surroundings for something more fulfilling. "Nadine Gordimer's 'The Pickup': How the Other Half Loves" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2001 11:51:21 PM ----- BODY: Enron executives misled investors with their complex methods of removing debt from the company's balance sheet. Who shouldn't be forgotten is Arthur Andersen, their accounting firm. They signed off on Enron's books and helped the company mislead investors. Joseph Berardino, chief executive of Arthur Andersen, said the accounting profession is suffering a "crisis of confidence." Maybe a big fine from the feds will nudge the firm to act like the independent professionals they claim to be. [NOTE: I'm still an Enron owner.] "The Distorted Numbers at Enron" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2001 11:40:07 PM ----- BODY: Nicholas Kristof offers a real hand up for Afghans and Pakistanis: he wants a free trade zone among the U.S., Afghanistan, and Pakistan. People too busy going to work, filling orders, and thinking of new ways to make money will have less time grumbling over how the evil West is oppressing them. "Give the Afghans a Hand" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2001 11:28:43 PM ----- BODY: The U.S. leaves the ABM Treaty to Cold War history books. "I have concluded the ABM treaty hinders our government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue-state missile attacks," said President Bush. Critics of missile defense argue that it would lead to a new arms race with Russia and/or China. Well, Russia is tolerating the move while calling it an "erroneous" decision. If China wants to get into an arms race with the U.S. the Chinese Communists only needs look at the former Soviet Union as an example of a nation failing to win such a race. "Bush Offers China Talks on Arms as U.S. Pulls Out of ABM Treaty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2001 11:16:45 PM ----- BODY: The Palestinian Authority (in name only) can't stop Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Fine, then get out of the way and let Israel get the job done. Here are some interesting quotes from this NY Times article:
Palestinian officials have repeatedly said they lack the political strength to clash with the extremist groups without gaining some immediate benefit from Israel, like an easing of the blockade on Palestinian areas. They argue that any effort to resolve the conflict should include the imminent prospect of political negotiations over the fundamental disputes between Israelis and Palestinians.and
The United States official acknowledged that such an effort by Mr. Arafat could prove bloody. Mr. Arafat, the official said, might fear "the difficulties of going into, in effect, war with Hamas and Jihad."According to the story, Arafat can't control what happens in the Palestinian Authority. He's impotent and probably has been for some time. It's time for him to fade away. If his goal was really peace in the area, then he's failed miserably. "Arafat Halts Crackdown; Israel Breaks Links to Him" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/13/2001 10:12:36 PM ----- BODY: Israel has abandoned Arafat saying he's "directly responsible" for recent terrorist attacks. It's spooky that I recommended something like this only yesterday. Do pundits like Chris Matthews or even Glenn Reynolds ever get that weird feeling when something they recommend actually happens? "Israel Cuts Off Ties With Arafat" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2001 01:39:59 PM ----- BODY: On a lighter, and sweeter note, yesterday, my doughnut cravings were fulfilled when the first Krispy Kreme store in Milwaukee opened. I arrived at 11:30 and waited eagerly for 30 minutes to pick up my two dozen golden glazed goodies to take to work. These round bits of heaven were everything I expected and more. The hot ones I ate just melted in my mouth and the sugar glaze coated my tounge. Behind me in line were a couple who were in a five-year Krispy Kreme drought and drove 90 minutes just to get 5 dozen. She told me to buy one dozen more than I was planning because I would eat 12 as soon as I got into the car. I can understand the reaction after my first bite. These things are so heavenly and addictive. I have now dubbed them the "crack cocaine of junk food." "Getto Dips into Local Doughnut Scene" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/12/2001 01:24:04 PM ----- BODY: Today there were two more terrorist attacks on Israelis by Palestinians, yet the State Department urges Arafat to "act immediately and undertake all possible measures to pursue and apprehend those responsible for those horrific actions." This has to be the 300th time the State Department has asked Arafat to do this. All the others times were for naught. How about trying something new? For instance, admit Arafat is incapable of governing a nation-state since he can't stop terrorists in land under his jurisdiction. Then start looking for a new Palestininan leader that really wants peace with Israel. Or let Israel know that it has U.S. backing (unofficially, through back channels if necessary) for stepping up its attacks to destroy terrorist threats. "U.S. Blasts Mideast Violence, Tells Arafat to Act" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/11/2001 03:21:14 AM ----- BODY: Ev might be on to something with his micro ads. Amazon.com bought some ad space. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/11/2001 02:04:11 AM ----- BODY: The BCS just doesn't cut it. While Stephen Moore makes the case for Oregon taking on Miami in the Rose Bowl, you can't forget Colorado. They flattened Nebraska (who will play for the national title) and are the hottest team in college football. This situation just screams for a playoff system. This should be a no-brainer. The schools would rake in millions for the games, players would play more games and would be more conditioned to a longer NFL season if drafted, and this silly arguing over who the best team really is would cease. A playoff system works for every other level of college football, why not for Division I? "Bowled Over" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/11/2001 01:44:38 AM ----- BODY: A Congress (particularly a Dachle-led Senate) that has bogged down any economic stimulus bill found a way to make sure they got their scheduled pay raise. It's stuff like this that adds to public cynicism towards politicians. Not a good day for our leaders. "Congress Gives Itself A Pay Raise" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/9/2001 11:50:34 PM ----- BODY: In a free market, companies will fail. The Enron case shows that such failures can be spectacular. What company failures don't prove is that the free market is fundamentally at fault. Calls for more regulation or slowed deregulation of energy markets because of Enron are a poor idea. Bernard Weinstein explains that Enron and other energy middlemen "lower power costs across a wide geographic market in the short-term" while they "reduce risks for utilities and ratepayers by providing price certainty." [NOTE: I am newly proud owner of Enron stock. It's reckless speculation, but it would be fun story to tell if they come out of bankruptcy as some competent business.] "Country's Power Markets Will Still Need Dynegy, Reliant -- and Maybe Even a Reborn Enron" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/9/2001 11:16:24 PM ----- BODY: U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered "all computers within the custody and control of the Department of the Interior, its employees and contractors that have access to individual Indian trust data" be disconnected from the Internet. This comes from a lawsuit dealing with mismanagment of Indian trust funds. This means that the websites of national parks, the National Weather Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey are unavailable to the public. Interior Department employees also are unable to use e-mail to communicate internally and externally. Why Judge Lamberth's decison was so wide in scope, I don't know. Why should the public be unable to get information from agencies they pay for? Why should the public suffer because Interior Department employees not involved with Indian trust funds be prevented from using the most productive tools available? I wonder if Judge Lamberth realized what consequences his ruling would produce. "Interior Dept. Blocks Web Access at Judge's Order" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/8/2001 12:26:53 AM ----- BODY: Will environmentalists blame Man for Mars' changing climate? I can imagine the press release from Greenpeace now: "Pathfinder, Viking, and all those other probes have done irreprable harm to our red neighbor. Mars is a fragile ecosystem. The U.N should create a convention to make Mars a planetary preserve." "Study Suggests Mars Ice Caps Eroding" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2001 11:53:30 PM ----- BODY: How I wish December 7 would be the only day that would live in infamy, but there were the attacks on 9.11. No matter. The heroics and sacrifice at Pearl Harbor must not be forgotten. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2001 11:31:04 PM ----- BODY: ER without Greene and Benton? It may be old news to other web surfing fans, but it's news to me. Maybe it's time for the show to ride out into the sunset. It's had a great run. "ER Loses Another Doc" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2001 10:23:25 PM ----- BODY: Nine states attorneys general strike at Microsoft with an antitrust remedy of their own. One of the provisions would force Microsoft to bundle Java with Internet Explorer. Java's creator Sun Microsystems is, of course, thrilled. Another provision would force MS to open up the source code to IE. What this looks like is an attempt to turn Microsoft's software into common property. All of MS's competitors would be able to free ride on the years of development the Redmond company put into their products. MS risked time and capital and should be able to reap the benefits. The state attorneys general plan doesn't help consumer. It helps MS's competitors through government coercion rather than the quality of their products. "Proposal Cheers Microsoft Competitors" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2001 01:24:04 AM ----- BODY: Is Mariah wearing regulation camo? Does anyone care? [via highindustrial] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/7/2001 01:19:58 AM ----- BODY: Philip Morris (soon to be Altria Group) may be considering selling Milwaukee's Miller Brewing. Any sale probably wouldn't affect workers in Milwaukee. "Miller Time for Foreign Buyers?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2001 11:32:30 PM ----- BODY: Fareed Zakaria makes the obvious, but missed, point that although there soon will be victory in Afghanistan, the campaign to destroy Al Qaeda is far from finished. "Let Iraq Wait. Finish Al Qaeda" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2001 11:12:18 PM ----- BODY: Mickey Kaus' website must be lagging in hits. Why else would he decide to publicly think about President Bush's self-interest to keep the war on terrorism (this war needs a real name) going? This looks like his way of breaking through the pundit static. Kaus predicts he will be labeled "unpatriotic" for musing about this, but I won't do the labeling. He's just an entertaining loudmouth who likes to think out loud. Or maybe he's infected with Clinton-think, where every action is considered to be politically calculated. "Is It in Bush's Political Interest to Prolong the War?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/6/2001 02:25:43 AM ----- BODY: Based on Mike's research, Krispy Kreme should be building at least nine more stores in the Milwaukee area. Yum, yum. I'm just waiting for the first one to open next week. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/5/2001 12:19:00 AM ----- BODY: Pipes and Schanzer take on a some of the arguments against attacking Iraq and ridding the world of Saddam Hussein. Take that, Mr. Hardball. "On to Baghdad?: Yes - The Risks are Overrated" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/4/2001 11:00:58 PM ----- BODY: Richard Roeper calls Hillary's NY Senate campaign "the most cynical and condescending campaign in modern political history." "New Yorkers Say We're the Ones Who Talk Funny" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/4/2001 10:34:41 PM ----- BODY: Chris Matthews hasn't been this wrong since he admitted he's a pro-choice Catholic. He doesn't want the U.S. to attack Iraq, and if he could he would stop President Bush from doing it. For Matthews, invading Iraq, ending Saddam Hussein's bloddy reign, and liberating that country would be on par with Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Matthews is right that the U.N. and the Arab League wouldn't approve, but they wouldn't be able to stop us. The U.S. doesn't need their help, and it won't take the 500,000 troops Chris thinks are needed. Iraq is only a shell of their military "greatness" from back in the Gulf War. A strategy similar to the successful one in Afghanistan could be replicated in Iraq. Saddam's ability to develop weapons of mass destruction is his greatest threat to the U.S. Ex-U.N. weapon inspector Scott Ritter has said that it would only take less than a year for Iraq to re-start it's program to build those kinds of weapons. Inspectors haven't been in there for years so it's safe to assume that there's people are working on some nasty firepower. Saddam is a threat because he's used chemical weapons before, has harbored terrorists, and has the ability to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Is Matthews willing to let Saddam build a nuke and hand it off to a bin Ladden, Jr. so he can blow up a U.S. city? I'm not willing to take that risk. "Iraq -- and Ruin" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/4/2001 02:43:19 AM ----- BODY: Cal Thomas echos my point that there's a double standard for Israel in dealing with terrorism:
It is hypocritical in the extreme for the United States to be bombing and invading Afghanistan in response to terrorist incidents orchestrated thousands of miles away from New York and Washington while continuing to place restraints on Israel. If U.S. policy is to deter terrorism by killing terrorists, the United States should free Israel - diplomatically and militarily - to combat terrorism in like manner.Prime Minister Ariel Sharon put it perfectly when he cried, "It's either Israel or Arafat." "It's Time to Unleash Israel" "'It's Us - or Them'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/3/2001 12:30:59 AM ----- BODY: Kevin provides a local perspective on Houston's mayoral race. Unfortunately, the wrong guy won. "Final Thoughts on Houston's Mayoral Race" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/3/2001 12:14:48 AM ----- BODY: What did you do to celebrate Capitalism Day? I worked. Walk for Capitalism The Bernstein Declaration -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/2/2001 11:53:47 PM ----- BODY: The violence against Israel has gone on long enough. While the U.S. bombs Afghanistan, our state department hopes for a continued dialogue toward peace with the Palestinians. Twenty-five dead should make Colin Powell and his flock realize that one side wants to live in peace, while the other side attacks civilians to stop peace from happening. There are more calls for Arafat to crack down on terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. How many more times will he be asked to stop these opponents of peace and civilization before leaders realize that either 1) Arafat is incapable of stopping them or 2) he doesn't give a damn what they do? President Bush has declared that you are either on the side of the global war on terrorism or you are against it. Arafat's inaction clearly shows what side he's on. Just like the U.S. is justly destroying the Taliban and al-Quaeda in Afghanistan, Israel should have free reign in using as much miltary force as needed to protect its citizens. That means destroying Hamas and any other terrorist groups in the area. If that means that it's the end for Arafat, then so be it. He's had his chances and squandered them. "Bomb Blasts Kill Scores in Israel" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 12/2/2001 11:42:10 PM ----- BODY: How are parents going to explain this one to their Santa Claus-believing kids? I can imagine Dad's attempt: "Son, do you remember the news that a company cloned a human embryo? Santa's been doing it for years." I don't think the kids will buy it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2001 11:19:39 PM ----- BODY: Lawrence Kaplan hits it on the head when he writes about the number one obstacle blocking officials from going after Saddam. "Toppling Saddam, particularly with the aid of the Iraqi opposition, would topple a few legacies in Washington." How would President Bush explain his attack on Iraq as not being an operation his father should have ordered ten year prior? Toppling Saddam is the right thing to do, but it would put people like Colin Powell and Brent Scowcroft in an awkward position. "Phase Two" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2001 10:36:57 PM ----- BODY: The next terrorist attack on America will not be with hijacked planes because passengers and crews will fight back. Peggy Noonan quotes a flight attendent: "And let me tell you, if anyone starts any trouble on my flight he is going down, I mean I will break his legs!" Terrorists have a better chance using balistic missiles than planes as weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, I have to disagree with Noonan on one point in her article. She want the military to search bags before they're loaded onto planes. She writes that "it would make everyone safer, which is part of their job." But the role of the military is to destroy things and kill people in the nation's interest. Barring an invasion, domestic security should be left in the hands of the police. Stationing troops everywhere may make people feel safer, but it reeks of a police state. "A Wing and a Prayer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2001 09:46:50 PM ----- BODY: While not a Beatles fan, I appreciate the tremendous impact they had on popular music. And "Something" is just a gorgeous song. George, R.I.P. Now, I know why many people flock to bands full of old geezers who shouldn't be strutting around like rock stars anymore (see Mick Jagger). Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young will fill seats in the Bradley Center next year because no one knows how long they will be with us (especially Neil). These people won't be around forever, and we want to savor the memory of their songs. "George Harrison 1943-2001" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/30/2001 09:27:44 PM ----- BODY: President Bush's Social Security Commission backs private accounts. It appears they will offer three alternative solutions. "Panel Agrees on Options for Social Security" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/29/2001 11:07:38 PM ----- BODY: Andrea Millen Rich reports that Hernando De Soto was on the short-list for the Nobel Prize in Economics. I would be shocked if he ever won. While his ideas in The Mystery of Capital are profound and would deserve such an honor (he also wrote The Other Path) I don't know if he's written extensively in academic economic journals. I can't think of another Nobel Prize winner who didn't have many articles published. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/29/2001 10:25:45 PM ----- BODY: Happy B-Day B-52. "Still Bombing After All These Years" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/29/2001 10:00:41 PM ----- BODY: If you oppose liberal/socialist orthodoxy like Bjørn Lomborg does in his The Skeptical Environmentalist, then you're viciously attacked. Anti-Lomborg.com, while claiming not to "personally attack Lomborg" proudly displays a picture of him wiping a pie off his face from an attack in a bookstore. Such actions come close to the terrorist attacks by the Earth Liberation Front. "Bjorn Again! Fundamentalist Greens Launch Smear Campaign" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/29/2001 07:27:02 PM ----- BODY: Now, I might enjoy the intellectual stimulation of a school like Patrick Henry University for a few weeks, but the current cultural homogeneity would get stifling. However, it's good to know that there are higher education options available other than the typical Left-liberal university. "Higher Yearning" [via Scott] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/29/2001 05:57:02 PM ----- BODY: ARRGH!!! I now have to wait another week to get my Krispy Kreme fix. The grand opening of the first Milwaukee KK is planned for 12.11. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/29/2001 05:29:31 PM ----- BODY: Rich Lowry wants the U.S. to develop a special nuke to destroy underground bunkers. Think of it as the uber bunker buster, or the "Mother of all Bunker Busters" in Saddam-speak. Lowry writes,
But even if it were never used, developing such a weapon would send an unmistakable message about America's seriousness and resolve, and put the nuclear option back in play in a way that otherwise might not be possible.Unfortunately, he doesn't address in what situation using nukes would be appropriate. I'm glad no official (not even Colin Powell) has stated that nukes won't be used in this war on terrorism. All options should be kept on the table. What I don't want to see is the U.S. using nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack. That would mean we lost a crucial battle, millions are dead, and we're fighting from a position of weakness. "The Nuclear Option" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/28/2001 12:37:34 PM ----- BODY: Rush saw Bush was a little weak on some of his recent security decisions and comes to his rescue in the Washington Post. Let's see if G. W.'s Democratic opponents will criticize FDR for going far beyond any of Bush's actions. One other note: is this a sign of Rush's future? It's obvious from this article that the man can write. If his future attempts to alleviate his hearing fail, will he go to the writing business? "Bush's FDR Example" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/28/2001 12:30:44 PM ----- BODY: If the allegations are true, I hope Paul "Pee-Wee" Reubens never works in showbiz again. Getting caught in a sexually compromising position once can be explained as mere foolishness, but getting caught a second time (especailly with child pornography) speaks of an anti-social sexual fetish. "Porn Raid at Pee-Wee House" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/28/2001 12:23:46 PM ----- BODY: To prove the fact that anyone can get a record deal, Harvard Professor, Cornell West has just released Sketches of My Culture. Here's some lines from one of his songs:
Time gets interwoven to refrig and / or oven with variance coming after centuries of scientific observation. Heliocentric puts specific comprehension to circular flow with mass bind of mind velocity.Doesn't this sound like the blatherings of the computer geek from The Simpsons? An even better appraisal of West's album is where an Amazon.com customer writes, "Leonard Nimoy albums manifest more soul than this excruciating vanity project." Ouch! "C-Dub Is Not in the Hizz-ouse" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/26/2001 12:05:19 AM ----- BODY: All guns are blazing in the video game wars. Microsoft will have to sell lots of games for its Xbox in order to recoup the losses from the console. William "Trip" Hawkins, CEO of 3DO, even envisions MS dropping out of the video game market around 2003. An interesting item in the article is Nintendo doesn't have to be the king of the console to make oodles of cash. That's because most of the games for their machines are created in-house. "The Game of War" [via Fredrik Norman] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/25/2001 11:38:10 PM ----- BODY: Paul Johnson does a good job in trying to explain why the West has developed economically and politically while the Islamic World seems trapped in the 13th Century. The rule of law in the West is vital in explaining economic achievment and political liberty. Institutions do matter. "Why West Is Best" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/24/2001 12:11:23 AM ----- BODY: Bastiat's brilliant idea about the seen and the unseen is well illustrated in Thomas Sowell's column on drug costs. "Drugs and Politics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/23/2001 11:44:21 PM ----- BODY: French courts are just bizarre. They go after Yahoo for letting people sell Nazi trinkets online. Now, they award money to a man because he received psychological trauma from his mother. His mother was raped by French soldiers during the Algerian war of independence resulting in Mohamed Garne's conception. If anyone should be compensated by the French government it's Garne's mother. To hold French rapists responsible for Kheira Garne's mistreatment of her son denies her of her own responsibility. We're all dealt a hand in the game of life. Some are much, much better than others. How we play our hands is ultimately up to each of us. Kheira Garne was raped, but that doesn't justify abusing her son. "Algerian 'War Victim' Compensated" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/23/2001 11:34:55 PM ----- BODY: Cato's Ed Crane fights back against the many calls for expanded government in the wake of the 9.11 attacks. "We've been attacked precisely because our nation is seen as the symbol for respect for individual rights and human autonomy. That autonomy -- control over one's own life -- is the essence of the American experiment in respect for the dignity of humanity. As such, it calls for less government involvement in our lives, not more," writes Crane. "The Essence of America" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/23/2001 11:13:47 PM ----- BODY: Thanksgiving and war have been deeply linked throughout American history as John Pitney points out. Don't forget to thank God that the war in Afghanistan is going well. "God, War, Thanksgiving" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2001 12:10:30 AM ----- BODY: I'm thankful that Mike's been blogging for two years. Keep it up, buddy. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/22/2001 12:00:40 AM ----- BODY: Waller Newell argues "that the birthplace of Osama's brand of terrorism was Paris 1968, when, amid the student riots and radical teach-ins, the influence of Sartre, Fanon, and the new postmodernist Marxist champions of the 'people's destiny' was at its peak." "Postmodern Jihad" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/21/2001 11:11:01 PM ----- BODY: NRO Weekend offers some of the best war movies of all time. Here are my picks:
Thankful would be an understatement, for in this wondrous land I have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in matters of consequence. God, country and my family gave me this gift; Thanksgiving is the day to treasure it."Thanks for Everything" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/20/2001 06:53:38 PM ----- BODY: It must have been a slow news day over at Wired. Yesterday, they put out a two-pager on shipping boxes. "Shippers Wrestle With Box Issues" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/18/2001 11:16:13 PM ----- BODY: David Limbaugh loves Peggy Noonan's When Character was King. About this story of Ronald Reagan, he writes, "This book will make you feel good all over again, and grateful for this great man." "Noonan: When Character was King" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/18/2001 12:43:31 AM ----- BODY: There is incredible dedication at Ground Zero. Workers are toiling away 85 hours a week, but it's now considered a construction site. It's now time to move on. "As Dig Goes On, Emotions Are Buried Deep" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/17/2001 11:05:53 PM ----- BODY: Have any physics grad for friends? Get a few together over some beers, and you might come up with a serious plan for making a nuclear weapon. As Carey Sublette shows, much of the information is public knowledge. Engineering and Design of Nuclear Weapons -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/16/2001 12:08:22 AM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell notes that the Academy shuns REAL diversity: diversity of thought. "Diversity Versus 'Diversity'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2001 11:34:59 PM ----- BODY: While Safire is too harsh in his opposition to military tribunals, I do approve of his solution:
The solution is to turn his cave into his crypt. When fleeing Taliban reveal his whereabouts, our bombers should promptly bid him farewell with 15,000-pound daisy-cutters and 5,000-pound rock-penetrators.I have no desire to see bin Laden or members of Al-Qaeda on trial. They should be destroyed before we even need to deal with that problem. "Seizing Dictatorial Power" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2001 11:11:41 PM ----- BODY: The "universal shout" for freedom was heard loud and clear in Kabul. And in order to keep that love of freedom alive economic liberty must be promoted--even at the expense of political liberty. "'America, America!'" "Afghanistan After the War" [via Silicon Central] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2001 10:58:28 PM ----- BODY: Let's be clear about the military tribunals that could try terrorists: they would be more fair than anything our opponents would have. Remember, the Taliban are the same people who were going to put American relief workers on trial for the horrible crime of preaching Christianity. A U.S. military tribunal would be made up of people fully emersed in a culture of liberty and justice. Will they be perfect? Of course not, but John Ashcroft put it correctly that we are in a (unofficial) state of war. "Bush Plan for Terrorism Trials Defended" "War Crimes Are Different" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2001 10:28:57 PM ----- BODY: Bin Laden and his Taliban allies have no desire for peaceful coexistence. Mullah Omar made his feelings perfectly known when he said, "The real matter is the extinction of America, and God willing, it will fall to the ground." There is no more need to "understand" these people. It's clear they want to destroy us. In the case of bin Laden, he's even been working on plans to build nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Unconditional surrender and complete victory are the only things that will protect America from this threat. "Omar Wants 'Extinction of America'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2001 01:54:20 AM ----- BODY: I know Strom is doing his best to finish out his term so the GOP doesn't lose another seat in the Senate, but it's time to retire when you have to move into a hospital. Strom, you've had a good run. It's time to say good bye. "Thurmond Moves Into Hospital" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/15/2001 12:55:54 AM ----- BODY: I don't care that uber-snob Jonathan Franzen won the National Book Award for Fiction for The Corrections. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything bad about Oprah in his acceptance speech. I'm really happy that Andrew Solomon won for The Noonday Demon. It literally hurt to read it. The prose is powerful, touching, and deeply emotional. It covers genres such as memoir, straight-ahead journalism, and science writing with a strong, broad stroke. Solomon got a well-deserved award. "'Corrections' Is Winner of Top Prize for Fiction" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/14/2001 11:30:12 PM ----- BODY: Jeffery Hart has written a new book, Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher Education. Carol Iannone calls it an "excellent syllabus for a one-year introduction to the Great Books." It's a brief survey of some of the ideas and thinkers that form the basis of Western Civilization. "Enlightenment" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/14/2001 11:14:04 PM ----- BODY: Bernard Lewis writes:
One also sometimes gets the impression that the offense of imperialism is not -- as for Western critics -- the domination by one people over another but rather the allocation of roles in this relationship. What is truly evil and unacceptable is the domination of infidels over true believers. For true believers to rule misbelievers is proper and natural, since this provides for the maintenance of the holy law, and gives the misbelievers both the opportunity and the incentive to embrace the true faith. But for misbelievers to rule over true believers is blasphemous and unnatural, since it leads to the corruption of religion and morality in society, and to the flouting or even the abrogation of God's law. This may help us to understand the current troubles in such diverse places as Ethiopian Eritrea, Indian Kashmir, Chinese Sinkiang, and Yugoslav Kossovo, in all of which Muslim populations are ruled by non-Muslim governments. It may also explain why spokesmen for the new Muslim minorities in Western Europe demand for Islam a degree of legal protection which those countries no longer give to Christianity and have never given to Judaism. Nor, of course, did the governments of the countries of origin of these Muslim spokesmen ever accord such protection to religions other than their own. In their perception, there is no contradiction in these attitudes. The true faith, based on God's final revelation, must be protected from insult and abuse; other faiths, being either false or incomplete, have no right to any such protection.Muslims must rule because Islam is the true faith. There is no concept of the separation of church and state under Islam. For muslims, the political is the personal is the religious. Just as Mohammed was both religious and political leader of the first muslims, many Muslims feel the need for religious and political law to be as one. This idea is antithical to Western Political thought. But think of Western imperialism not as political, but as cultural. Mass communication and world trade has brought Western ideas and products to Muslim lands. Some can coexist with Muslim beliefs while others offend. Lewis makes a similar point when we writes, "More than ever before it is Western capitalism and democracy that provide an authentic and attractive alternative to traditional ways of thought and life." Muslims hate America because of our political, economic, and technological power. The source of this power is liberty. So it's not a stretch to say that America is hated because she is free. What is most unfortunate is that the West can do little to change the Muslim theo-political worldview. This is an internal struggle amongst Muslims themselves. The best we can do is provide a shining example of the benefits of political and economic liberty while providing an adequate defense. "The Roots of Muslim Rage" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/14/2001 10:28:49 PM ----- BODY: A divided Miami community elects Manny Diaz as the city's new mayor. Prior to this, Diaz claim to fame was his work for Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian Gonzalez's uncle. "Cuban-American Vote Lifts Diaz to Miami Mayor's Post" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/14/2001 07:14:33 PM ----- BODY: Chelsea Clinton was raised by two very smart (although amoral) parents and was surrounded by intelligent people. With all the opportunity for intellectual development, she's so shallow as to be concerned about the consequence of President Bush's tax cut while watching the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. I had sympathy for Chelsea growing up in the White House. I thought she could rise above the dismal level of honor, honesty, and decency in her environment. Now, I'm not too sure. "Chelsea Clinton Feared Bush Tax Cuts as Twin Towers Fell" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/14/2001 07:09:19 PM ----- BODY: The most important scholar alive on Islam and the Middle East is Bernard Lewis. His books are selling (his The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years is patiently sitting on my bookshelf), and leaders seek his insight. Emily Yoffe profiles him for Slate and defends him against the orientalist critique of Edward "Palestinian rock thrower" Said. "Bernard Lewis" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2001 04:13:16 PM ----- BODY: Peggy Noonan's When Character Was King just came out. She talked about the book on Hannity & Colmes. "How Would Reagan Have Done It?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2001 03:29:51 PM ----- BODY: I'm not sure what I would do with an 8MB key chain, but I still want one. [via Evhead] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2001 03:23:13 PM ----- BODY: Michael Lind's and Ted Halstead's new book The Radical Center may be the most provokative political book of the year. It's reached the pages of The Washington Times, and I'm sure plenty of self-described "moderates" will go ga-ga over it. I've added it to my wish list. "Bold Centrism" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/13/2001 03:12:25 PM ----- BODY: KABUL IS LIBERATED!! Despite gripes from pundits, progress is being made in Afghanistan. With Kabul under the control of the Northern Alliance, a peacekeeping force should be brought in to prevent the anarchy that led to the rise of the Taliban in the first place. "Afghan Opposition Fighters Roll into Kabul as the Taliban Abandons the Capital" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/12/2001 02:11:36 PM ----- BODY: This is pretty simple: Bush won. The Supreme Court didn't choose the President as people like Alan Dershowitz would like you to think. The only way Gore could have eked out a victory in Florida was to have a state-wide recount (something the Gore campaign opposed). The NY Times's story is interesting in that they write that Bush would have won if the Supreme Court would have allowed Gore's limited recount of selected Florida counties. The story also ends by stating that if the counties would have used their individual ballot standards in a state-wide recount, Bush would still have won. But throughout the rest of the story, it explains that Gore really should have won using the consortium's arbitrary standard (the Times even admits that the consortium's examination wasn't a "real- world situation"). The Times skirts around questioning Bush's legitimacy, while seriously questioning his victory. Reading between the lines, the paper doesn't want to appear unpatriotic, but deep down, they think Gore won. In a related commentary, John Lott and James Glassman discovered that Florida Republicans were more likely to have a spoiled ballot than Democrats. You won't hear much about this from race-baiters like Jesse Jackson, because it won't conform to their faith that the Florida election was a deeply racist affair. "Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote" "GOP Was the Real Victim in Fla. Vote" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/10/2001 12:07:18 AM ----- BODY: The Bush administration is getting tougher with Arafat. Bush won't meet with him if he comes to New York for an upcoming UN General Assembly meeting. Arafat must decide if he really wants to join the West by severing ties to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and to help protect Israel from terrorist attacks. Is the ex-terrorist capable of such a feat? I'm not hopeful. Ex-president Barak gave him almost everything he wanted for the creation of a Palestinian state, but Arafat turned him down. The latest round of violence soon began. "U.S. Tells Arafat to Stop Embracing Hamas, Hezbollah" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/9/2001 11:47:26 PM ----- BODY: Forget the daisy cutters and bunker busters. Nukes should be ready for use at a moment's notice. The U.S. should also publicly state that we're not afraid to use them either. It doesn't matter if he has weapons of mass destruction or not (I think not). Bin Laden shouldn't think he can threaten the U.S. Part of this war is a war for prestige. The U.S. must look like the strongest, toughest SOB out there so future bin Laden will think twice about challenging us. "Bin Laden Claims He has Nuclear Weapons - Paper" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/9/2001 12:41:37 AM ----- BODY: Wispolitics.com has the first poll numbers on the Wisconsin governor's race. Incumbent, Scott McCallum is stronger than I expected. The election is a year away, but McCallum is leading all democratic challengers including Milwaukee Congressman Tom Barrett and Attorney General Jim Doyle. Doyle is the strongest Democrat right now because he has the most name recognition, but I still think Barrett will be his party's nominee. WisPolitics Statewide Voter Survey - Base Results -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/8/2001 11:13:15 PM ----- BODY: From Ann Colter's latest mediocre column:
Unless the airlines are going to require all passengers, pilots and crew to fly naked with no carry-on luggage, keeping weapons off planes is a pipe dream.Ann may have found the answer to revive airline traffic: put beautiful, naked, blond Republicans on every flight. "HillaryCare For The Airports" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/8/2001 11:05:27 PM ----- BODY: What does Powell mean when he said, "nations such as Iraq, which have tried to pursue weapons of mass destruction, should not think that we ... will not turn our attention to them"? Is he in favor of a Desert Storm II operation? Does he regret not marching on to Baghdad after liberating Kuwait? Powell's statement does mean that the U.S. is serious about terrorism world-wide. Bin Laden isn't the only target so other groups and harbor nations much watch out. "Powell Says U.S. Will Deal with Iraq Eventually" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/8/2001 10:50:32 PM ----- BODY: Bill Maher, faux libertarian, sees the end of his lame, unfunny show. "Maher Expects to be Axed" [via Metafilter] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/7/2001 01:46:24 AM ----- BODY: An eBayer's dream. I'll trade you two Colin Powells for a Condoleezza Rice. You know the hot cards will be Bush and Giuliani, but don't underestimate the collectable potential of Tony Blair. One hip thing to do in the sports card world is add pieces of clothing to the card. How about a portion of the radar-resistent skin with the B-2 Spirit card? Enduring Freedom Picture Cards -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/7/2001 12:40:33 AM ----- BODY: Patrick Ruffini analyzes Brett Schundler's defeat. I must point out this paragraph from this NY Times' story:
But while Mr. Schundler was pouring forth with proposals for tax and toll cuts, a complicated overhaul of the public education system, and other ambitious measures, Mr. McGreevey said little that was specific and less that was controversial.In the eyes of reporter David Halbfinger, McGreevey coasted to victory with a vapid, empty campaign that relied on political inertia following the 9.11 attacks. It also didn't help that President Bush never made a trip to New Jersey and test whether his sky-high approval numbers could rub off on another Republican. "How Brett Could Have Won" "McGreevey Wins Handily in New Jersey Race" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/7/2001 12:24:36 AM ----- BODY: American Middle East scholars were as wrong about their subject as CIA analysts were about the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. "Getting It Wrong in the Middle East" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/6/2001 11:33:03 PM ----- BODY: Baseball will shut down two teams. One for sure is Montreal, who's fan base is so tiny as to be undeserving of a major league franchise. The other most-likely team is Minnesota. That's a team with real history. They had beloved stars like Kirby Puckett and Rod Carew, and they won two World Series. This decision does show the players union that there is real economic problems in the game. The next step is to put together real revenue sharing and a salary cap. "Owners Approve Contraction" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2001 02:07:06 AM ----- BODY: Donald Rumsfeld notice the same thing in picture from Ground Zero: "Today is Nov. 1, and smoke - at this very moment - is still rising from the ruins of the World Trade Center." Rumsfeld puts into perspective the speed this war is being conducted. It won't be fast for speed's sake. "It is about will - the projection of will, the clear, unambiguous determination of the president and the American people to see this through to certain victory." This will take time. Liberals and conservatives, get off this administration's back! "'War is Not about . . . 24-Hour News Cycles'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2001 01:49:50 AM ----- BODY: I feel another cliche coming on: 9.11 has brought Americans closer together. I again use a cliche because it's accurate. My proof? Students and teachers in an elementary school in Southeastern Wisconsin are forever linked to their counterparts in a NYC school 15 blocks from Ground Zero. Let me quote my sister:
We have an unusual opportunity to show these kids about helping one another, about showing that we have a responsibility to take care of each other.We have that "repsonsiblity to take care of each other" not just because it's right, but because it's a quality evil people like Osama bin Laden don't possess. We're better than him, and everyday we should do something to prove it. "Falls Class Sends Gifts, Support to N.Y." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2001 01:38:16 AM ----- BODY: Don't buy the conventional wisdom that Arab-Americans are under lots of duress because of the 9.11 attacks. Here's some material pulled from a Washington Times feature on Muslims around Detroit:
Mr. Saad says that reports of widespread harassment of Arab-Americans following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have been exaggerated. "This talk about Arab-Americans being harassed is a big misconception," he said. "I have had a great reaction. I hear all of this, and I thought, 'Well, maybe my suppliers won't work with me any more.' "But I have had well wishes from all of them, and all of my customers, Italian, black, white," he adds. Jeff Youssef, standing in the market gabbing with anyone who walks by, says the same thing. "The harassment has been inflated," he said. "The media has decided that is the story. But we are mostly left alone. Most people, no matter what color, get hassled at some point." Adds Angela Harb, a West Bloomfield woman of Palestinian descent: "These communities are very tight, and in some cases, some don't even see others." Growing up in Livonia, Miss Harb, 41, never went to school dances. "Instead, our community had its own affairs. Even when I go away, I miss seeing my culture everywhere," she said. Tim Attalla has three children ? Omar, Yusef and Allie. Mr. Attalla feared initially that they would be subject to the anti-Arab insults that were so widely reported by some media outlets. He lives in Northville, an affluent upscale suburb. "They have had no problems at all," Mr. Attalla said. "I think the media does more harm than the other kids." While the Arab-American media has also protested loudly about racial profiling and attacks on U.S. Muslims, most will, under direct questioning, say the incidents are isolated. When the Rev. George Shalhoub told media callers that he had received no threats following the September 11 attacks, the conversation was over. "They didn't want to talk to me at all if I wasn't being threatened," said Mr. Shalhoub, a Syrian immigrant who presides over St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in the suburb of Livonia."Muslims in America" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2001 01:31:34 AM ----- BODY: California Republicans shouldn't be griping about Richard Riordan not hiring enough Republican political hacks. After a successful run as Los Angeles mayor, he's the GOP's best shot at turning the lights out on Gov. Gray "Who turned out the lights?" Davis. Is Riordan a pure conservative? No, but California is a weird state that has a hard time electing die-hard conservatives (Ronald Reagan being an exception). When your party's highest office held is Secretary of State, electability must trump ideological purity. What I really think is some of Riorden's critics are miffed that their political friends aren't working on the campaign. "GOP Stalwarts Worry over Purity of Riordan Run" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/5/2001 01:21:55 AM ----- BODY: Big games from Ahman Green and Allen Rossum compensate for Brett Favre's sub-par performance. It also sets up next week's game as the biggest in years between the Packers and the division-leading Chicago Bears. "Bursting Bucs' Bubble" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/4/2001 11:51:34 PM ----- BODY: The Arizona Diamondbacks pull off a little ninth inning magic of their own to win the World Series. "Diamondbacks Beat Yankees to Win World Series" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/3/2001 01:33:33 PM ----- BODY: I'll use the cliche "politics makes strange bedfellows," because it fits in this case over the Republican energy bill in the Senate. The bill would allow oil drilling in Alaska's ANWR. The Teamsters are pushing very hard for the bill and think they have enough votes to stop a filibuster. That means they have enough Democratic votes to stop a filibuster. Teamsters and Republicans fighting side by side to boost oil production: a pleasant surprise. Most of the Teamsters support comes from the belief that the energy bill will create jobs that may boost Teamsters' ranks. But you can be sure some of the support is because the Democrats have treated the Teamsters so shabbily in the past. When Bill Clinton ran the party, they backed Ron Carey over current Teamsters' President James Hoffa. Democrats even helped funnel illegal campaign contributions for Carey's re-election. There's bad blood here. President Bush is also practicing good politics to bring the Teamsters' and his interests more in line. Pushing for tougher steel import restrictions made him more sympathetic with organized labor. There is also the fact that war brings groups together in ways that peace can't. If Bush plays this right, he could get the fast-track trade negotiation authority he want's and should get. "GOP Energy Bill Close to Busting Filibuster" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/3/2001 01:17:13 PM ----- BODY: Although we may be unprepared for a contagious bio attack (think smallpox), John Pike of Globalsecurity.org remains more afraid of conventional attacks. "Americans Unprepared for 'Dark Winter'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/2/2001 11:38:53 PM ----- BODY: Domestic terrorists strike (and I don't mean anthrax). "Federal Horse Corral Firebombed" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/2/2001 10:38:38 PM ----- BODY: In Thomas Madden's words, the Crusades were "in every way a defensive war." The Muslims won the Crusades and almost conquered Europe in the process. The reason the term "crusade" is such a pejorative is that they're looked at through a modern instead of a medieval prism. "Crusade Propaganda" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/2/2001 10:11:43 PM ----- BODY: "The enemy won't rest during Ramadan and neither will we." Case closed. "Bush: Strikes won't stop for Ramadan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/1/2001 05:08:43 PM ----- BODY: Jonathan Franzen: literary snob. The man is given the opportunity to show thousands of people his art by being picked for Oprah's book club. Is Franzen grateful? No, he starts complaining that Oprah's logo on the book cover somehow takes away from his work. Franzen is just too good for Oprah and her millions of fans. Being picked for the world's most popular reading list somehow takes away from "the high-art literary tradition." Franzen just doesn't appreciate the gift he's been given. It would be more understandable if Oprah's selection forced him to change parts of his book, but that's not the case. As Jonathan Yardley puts it, Franzen just shows how "snotty, self-absorbed and self-righteous" some writers can be. "The Story of O" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/1/2001 04:50:07 PM ----- BODY: Radio shock jock, Erich "Mancow" Muller, wants to run for Illinois lieutenant governor. This just may be his verison of Howard Stern's NY governor run. Mancow is a self-described "conservative, Bible-thumping radical who curses." Obnoxious and juvenille, yes. But political material? Why not? Minnesota has a bald, populist ex-wrestler. A good thing about Mancow is that he's for limited government and isn't afraid to say so. "Chicago Conservative Shock-Jock Plans Political Run" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/1/2001 04:41:35 PM ----- BODY: Scott Cunningham makes me laugh out loud with his take on independent book stores [DISCLAIMER: I work for one of the "evil" chains.]:
The independant bookstore is a lot like the neighborhood grocery store. It's interesting to go into, but pretty much only because we feel sorry for the guy, and because at that moment, we're feeling especially nostalgic or something.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 11/1/2001 04:21:27 PM ----- BODY: Bill Kristol wants a new war strategy. It's only been seven weeks since the 9.11 attacks. No one said this would be a quick war. The Gulf War took months of preparation and weeks of airstrikes before ground troops moved in, yet Kristol wasn't complaining (publically) about the poor strategy President Bush I was using. With his tone, I'm pretty sure he would have been livid over FDR's "dawdling" in the months after Pearl Harbor. "The Wrong Strategy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2001 04:15:53 AM ----- BODY: Glenn Reynolds also wonders how George Tenet still has a job. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/31/2001 01:33:55 AM ----- BODY: If Judge Judy just won't cut it for you, and Matlock is busy saving someone's ass, there's always The Law Office of Michael Alex Wasylik. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2001 11:57:31 PM ----- BODY: Gibson was a college star at Wisconsin. If he could stay physically fit, he would be a steal off the waiver wires. Hey, Packers, are you listening? "Lions: Cut Aaron Gibson" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/30/2001 11:53:28 PM ----- BODY: Anytime I have the chance, I travel on Midwest Express. They have comfy planes, and they have the best airline food (which may not say a lot). "Midwest Express Named No. 1 U.S. Airline" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/29/2001 12:55:57 AM ----- BODY: Wonder why the press is giving the Bush administration a hard time over the anthrax attacks? It's not because victory in Afghanistan isn't coming as quickly as all-news cable channels would like. (I'm sure MSNBC's Ashleigh Banfield would just love to get her sexy spectacles in front of a bombed Kabul background.) No, it's because the media were targets of the bio-attack. Remember, NBC, CBS, ABC, and the NY Post have all been hit with infections. Questions about officals "bumbling" became the story only after anthrax was found in a facility where White House mail is processed. The press corps freaked out during the press conference when Ari Fleischer released the news. He was bombarded with question after question to find out if it was a possiblity that anthrax got into the White House (and presumbably infected reporters). Then President Bush was questioned if he was tested for anthrax. Bush said he didn't have the bacteria--we must presume he was tested for him to say so. The press is understandably scared that they could be the next to get infected, but that's no reason to go berserk on the government. Yes, officals could have tested more people sooner, but that wouldn't guarantee that fewer people would be dead. Finally, let us remember that the mail is safe, and the attacks are localized in three areas (NYC, D.C., and Tampa, FL). If the press wants to blame the feds, the should also be honest in giving them some credit for minimizing some of the effects from this attack. "For Every Cool Head, a Thousand Overheated Mouths" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/29/2001 12:20:02 AM ----- BODY: If Daniel Bloch is right when he writes, "America must know that the alternatives to Sharon are not Peres, Beilin, or Barak, but Binyamin Netanyahu," then Israel will not back down in its struggle with Palestinian violence no matter how the U.S.'s war on terrorism is going. "It Isn't Our Fault" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/27/2001 02:00:58 PM ----- BODY: Greg Norman is about as close as you can be to retiring without actually doing it. "Norman Forfeits PGA Tour Membership" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/27/2001 01:32:45 PM ----- BODY: While more anthrax has been found, this is still a localized attack. Other than Florida, New York City, and Washington, D.C. The reason this is has become such a media frenzy is that the two media centers of the U.S. are NYC and DC. It also helps to infect media workers to really frighten the press corps. There isn't an anthrax epidemic, and the attacks might not even be state-sponsored. Calm reason must return. But if you're really scared of an attack, Laissez Faire Books is selling the First Responder Chem-Bio Handbook. I'm not buying and will be bringing powdered doughnuts to work. "Anthrax Discoveries Spread " "Senate Anthrax Could be Domestic" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/27/2001 01:22:26 PM ----- BODY: If you're a terrorist intent on sending anthrax through the mail, the U.S. Postal Service is providing this poster to show what your deadly package shouldn't look like. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/25/2001 11:03:43 PM ----- BODY: The only places people like Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) can get elected are college towns like Berkeley, CA and Madison, WI. It's bad enough that she worked with the Black Panthers on their revolution in the streets, but she helped a communist dictator with his P.R. campaign. "An Enemy Within" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/25/2001 10:53:36 PM ----- BODY: If Islam is a peaceful faith that many Muslims claim, then they should loudly denounce Sheik Muhammad Al-Gamei'a's statements made in a recent interview. Here's what Sheik Al-Gamei'a thinks about Jews:
The Jewish element is as Allah described it when he said: 'They disseminate corruption in the land.' We know that they have always broken agreements, unjustly murdered the prophets, and betrayed the faith. Can they be expected to live up to their contracts with us? These people murdered the prophets; do you think they will stop spilling our blood? No. You see these people (i.e. the Jews) all the time, everywhere, disseminating corruption, heresy, homosexuality, alcoholism, and drugs. [Because of them] there are strip clubs, homosexuals, and lesbians everywhere. They do this to impose their hegemony and colonialism on the world. Now, they are riding on the back of the world powers. These people always seek out the superpower of the generation and develop coexistence with it. Before this, they rode on the back of England and on the back of the French empire. After that, they rode on the back of Germany. But Hitler annihilated them because they betrayed him and violated their contract with him. We saw these Zionists, just one hour after the event, broadcasting on the BBC, the biggest media channel, that the Arabs, and particularly the Palestinians, were celebrating and rejoicing over the American deaths. [To do this] they broadcast a video from 1991, [filmed] during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. But Allah thwarted them when a professor from a Brazilian university stated that the video was a forgery, because she had a copy of it. These people have a script prepared in advance, and they have the ability to fabricate events in their favor.According to Gamei'a, the U.S. was attacked because "the Jews have the most to gain from an explosion like that." The U.S. is just a sop to "Zionist" interests. Why should the rantings of this anti-semite be taken seriously? Because he was the Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center and Mosque of New York City. This wasn't the hateful venom from some angry poster to a web bulletin board. Gamei'a is a man of inflence and authority. "A Fair Sheik?" Here's the interview in the original arabic. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2001 10:46:22 PM ----- BODY: The House passed an economic stimulus bill that relies on business tax cuts to spur growth. This makes sense because this economic downturn (dare I say recession?) is caused by a major reduction in business capital spending. Firms aren't buying new machines, computers, and other equipment. The effect can most easily be seen in the depressed stock prices of telecom equipment giants Nortel and Cisco. A tax cut focusing on boosting capital spending may spur growth, but there should have also been an accelerated reduction in across-the-board tax rates. That would provide a greater chance for sustained economic growth. In a time of war, the last thing the country needs is a sustained economic downturn. Economic uneasiness combined with attack anxiety could sway public opinion away from the sustained war that's needed. Just like in World War II, the U.S. will win the war on the economic front as well as the military front. "House Passes Stimulus Plan Favoring Business Tax Breaks" "Business Tax Cuts Crucial in a Slowdown" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2001 10:28:58 PM ----- BODY: Why resort to terrorism? Here's what P.J. O'Rourke had to say:
I think that terrorism is essentially a reactionary thing - it really has more to do with fighting back a world that is changing. The reason for much of terrorism in the world is that we are moving towards an open, liberal, cosmopolitan, tolerant, modern indeed middle-class world, and it terrifies certain people who have a hold on, and a power over, other people by virtue of things that are not tolerant, not liberal, not modern, not middle class. It isn't because they are intent on winning that terrorists resort to these things, it is because they are losing."'I Believe the Terrorists Wanted a Nuclear Attack on Baghdad'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2001 09:40:10 PM ----- BODY: Groove Armada's Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub) has the unfortunate distinction of being released on 9.11.01. The release date has no impact on the albums quality. It's good in a hazy sunshine sort of way. "Mix This! How Do We Ever Listen to Music Again?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2001 12:55:34 AM ----- BODY: Saddam blames the U.S. for the deaths of 1.5 million Iraqis. Instead, he should look in the mirror. Only there will he see the real reason for the massive amount of suffering in Iraq. Remember, this is the same man who used chemical weapons on his own people (Kurds in northern Iraq) and uses oil money to to beef up his military instead of helping his people. Any condolences from a man like Saddam is worth less than the paper they're written on. Iraq can never move forward as long as Saddam remains in power. Recent history shows that internal opposition won't topple him. Maybe U.S. military might can? Liberating Afghanistan is step one in the War on Terrorism. Liberating Iraq would be a good step two. "Saddam Sends Condolences to American" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/24/2001 12:23:33 AM ----- BODY: ARRGH!!!! I have to wait another month until Krispy Kreme arrives in Milwaukee. I want the HOT light, and I want it NOW!! I guess I'll have to survive on Zingers until those golden glazed goodies arrive in my area. West Allis, Wisconsin! Krispy Kreme is bringing the HOT light! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/23/2001 11:42:21 PM ----- BODY: REMOTE is an example of life imitating art. About 10 years ago, Janet Jackson's video for "If" was set in a nightclub where people could check out others through cameras and video screens all over the club. Lose sight of that pretty redhead that just arrived? Grab a joystick and use it to pan the club. I'm surprised no one's done this before. But REMOTE isn't just digital voyuerism. The club also hosts digital artists and a digital open mic. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/23/2001 11:31:40 PM ----- BODY: Apple has another design success. The iPod is sleek, has a big LCD screen, and holds lots of music. Too bad it only works with Macs. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/23/2001 05:29:17 PM ----- BODY: Papers please! "Carded" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/22/2001 01:30:14 AM ----- BODY: In the words of one government offical, "The gloves are off." I'd like to say that this could get ugly for bin Laden and the gang, but the CIA are the same people who didn't notice anything about the 9.11 attacks. And why does Director Tenet still have a job? "CIA Told to Do 'Whatever Necessary' to Kill Bin Laden" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/22/2001 01:22:47 AM ----- BODY: One downside to being President is having to wear stuff like this. [via Robot Wisdom] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/21/2001 11:44:59 PM ----- BODY: There are times when it's really hard to seperate conservatives from the stereotype of being lame, stiff people trapped in the 1950s. Finding out that the Heritage Foundation has a fight song is just one of those times. But I'm eagerly awaiting the MP3. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/21/2001 11:37:38 PM ----- BODY: Rep. Buyer is wrong for advocating using nuclear weapons on al Qaeda if they're connected to the recent anthrax attacks. I'm not against their use because the world community would get upset. I don't care what they would think, because if attacked, we are morally allowed to use every available means to defend our nation. Nuclear weapons shouldn't be used because such a response would be way too severe compared to the initial attack. While a vile and potentially deadly terrorist attack, anthrax sent through the mail doesn't constitute a weapon of mass destruction. Despite the years of misinformation over how nasty anthrax is, these current attacks have shown us that in reality anthrax makes a poor method for killing lots of people. Victims have to inhale a lot of spores to get the most harmful form of the disease, people can't pass anthrax to others, and there are plenty of antibiotics available to treat those infected. More people are affected by the fear from the attacks than from the bacteria themselves. Many more died from slamming planes into buildings on 9.11, yet there weren't serious calls for launching nukes. Now, if we're attacked with something more dangerous like smallpox or ebola where epidemics could occur, then nuclear retaliation should be considered. "Rep. Buyer Suggests Limited Nuclear Retaliation" "Anthrax Anxiety" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/20/2001 12:46:57 AM ----- BODY: Let's not worry about anthrax. It's not contagious and it can be treated with powerful antibiotics. What we should really worry about is smallpox because it can be spread from person to person, has no effective treatments, and there's a limited amount of vaccine. The CDC offers a scary possibility if terrorists used smallpox as a biological weapon. "'No Medications Proven Effective' to Treat Smallpox" "Smallpox: An Attack Scenario" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/19/2001 11:58:57 PM ----- BODY: The ground war has begun. "United States Stages Lightning Raid in Afghanistan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/19/2001 02:00:52 AM ----- BODY: Weekly Standard writer and Wisconsin native Stephen Hayes points out that many of the 9.11 terrorists weren't very good at playing the role of devout Muslims. "Strippers, Hookers, and Terrorists" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/19/2001 01:13:12 AM ----- BODY: In his speech at the Al Smith dinner, Vice President Dick Cheney called for total victory in the war against terrorism:
We cannot deal with terror. It will not end in a treaty. There will be no peaceful coexistence, no negotiations, no summit, no joint communique with the terrorists. The struggle can only end with their complete and permanent destruction and in victory for the United States and the cause of freedom.Those are stronger words than the "unconditional surrender" the Allies required of Germany and Japan in World War II. To echo Virginia Postrel's complaints, I had to go to the Washington Post website to find Cheney's speech, because it was no where to be found at the White House's website. Cheney Attends Charity Dinner in New York -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/18/2001 06:13:43 PM ----- BODY: Tommy Thompson won't make it past 2004 as HHS secretary. No one can says he's been a calming influence in the face of the current anthrax scare. During the years he was Wisconsin governor, Thompson was a strong, dominant political figure. He was the big fish in a little pond. He took big risks by pushing welfare reform and school choice. To realize how dominant he was in Wisconsin, his Lieutenant Governor, not current big cheese, Scott McCallum was pretty much a political unknown when he took the job. McCallum was the number 2 person in Wisconsin government and his biggest claim to fame were his public service announcements on late-night cable television. Now, in Washington, D.C. Tommy's no longer the top dog. Although he heads a cabinet department, he must defer to the White House. His job isn't to lead as much as it is to manage and to be a voice for the administration. Now, America is at war and that puts even more stress on people. Tommy never had a crisis like this as governor. The closest he came was the occasional deadly tornado or flood, but those awful events never required the reassuring touch the anthrax scare requires. Tommy's just not comfortable in D.C., and it shows as John Podhoretz points out. He loved being governor, but was loyal to Bush. So he went to Washington when the call came. Maybe he's in the wrong department. Labor Secretary might have been a better fit. Look to see Thompson leaving HHS in 2004, and don't be surprised if he makes another run for Wisconsin governor (especially if McCallum loses next year). "Thompson: Failing Before Our Eyes" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/18/2001 04:12:45 AM ----- BODY: Space.com holds Stephen Hawking to task for his prediction that Man won't survive the millenium (only 999 years to go) unless we head off to the stars. Echoing my thoughts, Benny Peiser says Hawking "manifest[s] a certain arbitrariness in his choice of end-time scenarios." "Stephen Hawking's Doomsday Prediction Called 'Regrettable Hype'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/18/2001 03:36:35 AM ----- BODY: Alright, I'll follow the crowd (see Harris, Jason, and jh3k). Here are my 5 songs I never get tired of listening to:
The Green Bay Packers have re-signed free agent wide receiver Mike Horacek to the team's practice squad, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman announced today. To make room for Horacek (the name is pronounced hur-AH-check), offensive tackle Mark Bristol was terminated from the practice squad.Is Mr. Bristol swimming with the fishes in the Fox River? How was he offed? Bullet, rope, anthrax? Should Ahman Green worry if he loses the ball a few more times this season? "Packers Re-sign Wide Receiver Mike Horacek, Drop Tackle Mark Bristol" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/18/2001 02:29:17 AM ----- BODY: Just when it looks like some progress can be made in the Israel-Palestine situation, a member of the Israeli cabinet is assassinated. Arafat must act decisively and hand over Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi's killers or he will face the rath of Israel's military. This will only further complicate the U.S.'s war on terrorism. "Israel Gives Ultimatum to Arafat After Slaying" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/17/2001 02:27:41 AM ----- BODY: A Palestinian state is acceptable to Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, provided, there are conditions for Israel's security. Can Yasser Arafat stop the violence on the Palestinian side when it seems like many there don't want peace? "Sharon Says `Yes, with Conditions' to a Palestinian State" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/17/2001 01:12:54 AM ----- BODY: Ideas have consequences. So it's no surprise that cultural relativism has negative effects when some confront the horrors of 9.11. John Leo writes:
A large number of our cultural and moral leaders are unable to say plainly that evil exists in the world and that it must be confronted. Instead they are content to babble about "cycles of violence" and how "an eye for an eye makes the world blind," as if the cop who stops the violent criminal is somehow guilty of crime, too."Cultural Relativism Leaves Some Blind to Evil" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2001 09:18:01 PM ----- BODY: No matter how esoteric or obscure our reading material is, we're connecting it to the 9.11 attacks. In Walter Berns' Making Patriots, he worries that our nation isn't inculcating patriotic feeling into our citizens. But the outpouring of sorrow for victims, the love of country, the displaying of flags, and the anger towards our enemies shows us that patriotism did lie underneath the surface. The massive show of patriotism doesn't discredit the book, because Berns still tells us it's important to teach a love for America and its ideals. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2001 08:09:51 PM ----- BODY: At first, it may seem surprising that a libertarian like David Boaz has some ideas on what government activities should be done in the war on terrorism, but Boaz understands that one of the proper roles of government is to protect its citizens. Most of his suggestions are pretty basic: go after al Qaeda and the Taliban, improve domestic defense, and boost the economy. Boaz also suggests designing a new long-range bomber in case the U.S. comes upon a situation where it can't use airfields in neighboring countries. "Responding to the Attack on America" [via zeropolitcs] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2001 05:39:50 PM ----- BODY: United Airlines may not exist next year. CEO James Goodwin blames part of the financial bleeding on the 9.11 attacks, but wrote in a company memo that "Before September 11 we were not in a comfortable financial state, with costs exceeding our revenue on a daily basis." The $15 billion federal bailout may not do a lot of good in this instance. United and other weak airlines should be allowed to fail. Bankruptcy is one way assets can be reallocated to more productive uses. "United Warns Airline May Perish" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2001 03:31:18 PM ----- BODY: The greatest living physicist, Stephen Hawking is pumping up a little publicity for his new book The Universe in a Nutshell (and no, it's not published by O'Reilly). How else can you explain why he said, "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space"? 999 years is long time. Anything can happen. We could be visited (and destroyed) by space aliens. Earth could get sucked up in a black hole or space anomaly and be removed from existence. I can say anything as vague as Hawking, but I don't have the prestige so no one will listen to me. He's survived ALS longer than anyone expected, but even he won't see if his prediction will pan out. "Colonies in Space May be only Hope, says Hawking" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/16/2001 02:45:59 PM ----- BODY: TAM is now listed in TownHall.com's RightPages. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/15/2001 01:58:58 AM ----- BODY: Milwaukee Art Museum spokeman, Pam Kassner put it well when she said, "People are looking for an uplifting moment; there's so much anxiety now." Yesterday, people's hearts were lifted with the wings of the Burke Brise Soleil at the grand opening of the museum's expansion. 32,000 people gave up watching a great Packers game to see a beautiful example of Milwaukee modernism. "Public Flocks for a View" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/15/2001 01:33:26 AM ----- BODY: Brett Favre shreds the vaunted Baltimore Ravens defense to lead the Packers to a 31-23 victory. There's something special about a team that can score 31 points on one of the greatest defenses of ALL TIME. The Pack will really have to fall apart to meet the average standards I set for them at the beginning of the season. Sometimes I don't mind if I'm wrong. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/15/2001 01:23:13 AM ----- BODY: To those who think poverty created terrorism, consider blaming someone other than the U.S. Consider looking at the corrupt, illiberal governments that keep their people from achieving economic success. "Not So Blameless" [via instapundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/14/2001 12:06:40 AM ----- BODY: Can an art museum fly? Well, the beautiful Burke Brise Soleil--part of the Milwaukee Art Museum's $100 million expansion--will certainly take off in the minds of the public as well as the architectural world. Santiago Calatrava wanted to impress the U.S. with his first project here, but the kinetic centerpiece was close to being an engineering flop. "Art Museum to Untuck its Wings for Public this Weekend" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2001 11:06:31 PM ----- BODY: The Travel America Now Act is not much of an economic stimulus. It's just a sop to the travel industry. TANA is a great example of why politicians should be very careful when putting together industry bailouts. Everybody saw that the airlines got oodles of cash and now want to line up at the trough. I'm all for lowering peoples' taxes (less money for the government), but getting it just for going on vacation? Give me a break. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2001 02:15:37 AM ----- BODY: A Ukranian missile shot down the Russian plane that crashed last week. Instead of another terrorist attack, this was just a horrible accident. "Ukraine Admits Russian Airliner Hit by an Anti-Aircraft Missile" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2001 01:59:16 AM ----- BODY: Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon gets a deserved National Book Award nomination. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2001 12:44:12 AM ----- BODY: David Brooks (by way of V.S. Naipaul) notices that bin Laden and his Islamic fundamentalist ilk live in a static world where there is only one history.
They believe in only one history, and it was defined and perfected long ago. Everything since is decline. In bin Laden's crackpot version of history, everything since the decline of the Ottoman empire and its alleged greatness is an additional outrage and insult to God. In this worldview the future is not especially important (so why not go blow yourself up in a plane?). In fact, the concept of an unknown and desirable future is something of an insult. America stands for the future. It's the land of promise. More than anywhere else, it is a country with a multiplicity of histories intertwining. It's the place where the different pasts of the world come together to bring human freedom to fruition. In Lincoln's words, it's the "last best hope of earth." The emphasis in that phrase is on "last." It's hard to imagine a time when America settles back into the realm of unimportant middle rank nations, because America is about chasing the future fastest, whatever that future is. That's what the phrase, "the pursuit of happiness" means, a phrase Naipaul dissects in his speech. So America's conception of history is the antithesis of bin Laden's. He recognizes an enemy when he sees one."The Closing of the Islamic Mind" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2001 12:06:07 AM ----- BODY: The Holy Qur'an -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/13/2001 12:05:20 AM ----- BODY: Based on this picture, it must be Usama bin Laden, but the caption calls him Osama. I'm about ready to just call him "The Director." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2001 02:18:38 AM ----- BODY: Rush has AIED. His own immune system is attacking his ears causing his deafness. "It's Called AIED" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2001 12:19:22 AM ----- BODY: John O'Sullivan correctly associates radical Islamic fundamentalism with Nazism and Communism. All three ideologies must be "defeated not only intellectually and spiritually, but also on the battlefield." "Mosque Mission" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/12/2001 12:11:50 AM ----- BODY: It seems the only way gun-haters can make their case is by lying. Too bad for Michael Bellesiles. He got caught. "Disarming America" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/11/2001 11:36:54 PM ----- BODY: White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer needs to lighten up:
With his name much in the news, we ran White House press secretary Ari Fleischer through the anagram engine at www.wordsmith.org yesterday. When the letters of his name are rearranged, the resulting combinations include: "I relish farce" (for a typical day in the briefing room), "Fresh Ice Liar" (an especially cold insult) and (for the White House regulars who really annoy him) "Reach IRS file." When informed of our investigation, Fleischer told us, "People who invent anagram Web pages or surf them have too much time on their hands."C.J. Craig he isn't. "What's in a Name?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/11/2001 11:30:00 PM ----- BODY: Tonight during his press conference, President Bush mentioned 17 times that he wanted to bring terrorists to justice. Not one single reporter asked him what that meant. What does "bringing them to justice" mean? Is the goal of Operation: Enduring Freedom (AKA Infinite Justice) to bomb the hell out of Afghanistan just so some special forces can waltz in and capture Osama (Usama?) bin Laden? What then if he is captured? Will bin Laden then be taken to New York City to stand trial? Douglas Kmiec thinks that the terrorists should be tried in a military tribunal. Should it even be allowed to go that far? Hilter took the easy way out by killing himself before he was captured at the end of World War II, so Humanity never had to witness his trial. How about a quick shot to the head or a firery end via a "bunker buster"? Then James Robbins brings up a horrible scenerio: bin Laden is tried, but gets off on a technicality. If you wanted to imagine a way for the vast majority of the public to lose any faith in the courts, then there might not be a better scenerio. Robbins does realize that any serious notion of a trial for bin Laden should be tossed overboard. He writes:
Bin Laden and his men have relinquished any possible claim to the rights and guarantees erected by states to moderate international behavior--to say nothing of the legal rights of the American citizens he has sworn to kill. Al Qaeda stands in opposition to the naked sovereignty of the United States and its allies. This is a case above criminal law--it is a matter only for Rules of Engagement.The primary purpose of government is to protect its citizens. The 9.11 massacres were acts of war, not mere criminal acts. Bin Laden's rights are meaningless compared to the continued liberty and security of Americans. Bin Laden's existence is a threat to American security. His destruction must be the goal so anyone else who is comtemplating attacking the U.S. knows what will happen. But since death in a holy war is the path to paradise for these terrorists, then governments who allow terrorists to run free must learn that they are on the same moral plane as the thugs they harbor and will be treated likewise. So again I ask, what does it mean to bring the terrorists to justice? The purpose of Operation: Enduring Freedom must be the destruction of Osama bin Ladan, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Forget bringing bin Laden and his terrorist thugs to justice. Take justice to them down the barrel of a gun! President Holds Prime Time News Conference "Infinite Justice" "Bring on the Dream Team!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2001 06:49:10 PM ----- BODY: Is it Osama or Usama? Or is it Ernie? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2001 03:19:41 PM ----- BODY: Kevin ran into some guy from Iron Maiden. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2001 03:08:58 PM ----- BODY: Did you have any idea what bin Laden was talking about in his video message when he mentioned "Andalusia" and "80 years"? Chris Suellentrop sorts out the references. "What's Osama Talking About?" [via Kausfiles] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2001 02:50:57 PM ----- BODY: Since Bert is evil, it's not a surprise he's helping Osama bin Laden. Dino Ignacio, who created the doctored picture, is "freaked out" and said, "Reality is imitating the Web!" "Osama Has a New Friend" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/10/2001 02:33:15 PM ----- BODY: Tucked away in geekdom's corner of society lies amateur military strategists who cut their teeth on wargames. "Wargames" [via genehack] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2001 04:30:52 AM ----- BODY: Who's next? Iraq?
Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader. Every nation has a choice to make. In this conflict, there is no neutral ground. If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers, themselves. And they will take that lonely path at their own peril.Presidential Address to the Nation -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/9/2001 04:19:05 AM ----- BODY: Christopher Hitchens no longer calls himself a socialist. That's just one interesting bit from his interview with Reason. Here's is thoughts on the current state of socialism:
There is no longer a general socialist critique of capitalism -- certainly not the sort of critique that proposes an alternative or a replacement. There just is not and one has to face the fact, and it seems to me further that it’s very unlikely, though not impossible, that it will again be the case in the future. Though I don’t think that the contradictions, as we used to say, of the system, are by any means all resolved.Hitchens also calls anti-globalization protesters "archaic." "Free Radical" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/8/2001 02:10:04 PM ----- BODY: On today's radio show, Rush Limbaugh announced that he's deaf. He's been steadily losing his hearing for the past few months. How will America's most listened to talk radio host continue (and let Limbaugh fulfill the big new contract he signed)? He's doesn't know yet, but he's going do his best to figure it out. "Rush Limbaugh: I am a Lucky Man" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/8/2001 02:06:13 PM ----- BODY: The Washington Times points out that the U.S. has its own nasty brand of domestic terrorists. These people don't fight for Allah, they fight for Mother Earth. But if left alone, they could be as destructive. "War Against Eco-Terrorists" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2001 10:53:52 PM ----- BODY: Newsweek pieces together the tale of the heroes of United Flight 93. "The Final Moments of United Flight 93" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2001 10:22:00 PM ----- BODY: Here's a bit of advice to all the female TAM readers: when traveling through Reagan National Airport ditch the underwire bra. That's from FAA spokesman Rebecca Trexler. I wonder if Ms. Trexler ever feels the need for added support? "At National, Workers Take a More Personal Look at Travelers, Bags" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2001 09:49:30 PM ----- BODY: We, Americans, have to try to live normal lives, but I expect a retaliatory terrorist attack because of today's air strikes on Afghanistan. "America Steps Up Security" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2001 10:11:25 AM ----- BODY: The Powell Doctrine: R.I.P.? "A New Kind of War Plan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2001 10:01:20 AM ----- BODY: Muhammad Ali Farahat writes:
The destruction of America is the destruction of the human dream across the world; the destruction of America is the cultural suffocation of man, freezing him in his place and in his heritage.Special Dispatch No. 282: Terror in America -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/7/2001 09:45:18 AM ----- BODY: Here's some good news that's a week old: the poverty rate is down to it's lowest level since 1974. The poverty explosion that was suppose to happen because of welfare reform never appeared. "U.S. Poverty Rate Declines to Lowest Level Since 1974" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/6/2001 07:00:18 PM ----- BODY: Jon Podhoretz on Politically Incorrect:
There is little room for a program whose major theme is that the news is nonsense and that you don?t need to know anything about a subject to express your opinion of it on national television."Politically Unforgivable" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/6/2001 06:00:07 PM ----- BODY: We need great works of art to truly honor those men who gave the ultimate sacrifice in order to save thousands. Great sculpture showing the power and bravery of the policemen and firemen would be a start. We also need great poems and symphonies and songs and movies. President Bush's speech to Congress was a start, but more is needed. Last week's West Wing was a history lesson mixed with some liberal psychobabble. Those men deserve epic works of art that last beyond their children's children. I want cultural items that will define the present so anyone in the future can know what it means to be brave, loving, and American. From the outpouring of sorrow and anger, we know the present generation has the patriotism needed to support this war, but do our artists, musicians, writers, and actors have the talent, ability, desire, and intellectual capacity to create beautiful monuments to capture these moments? "Courage Under Fire" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/6/2001 04:53:45 PM ----- BODY: It only took Barry Bonds three swings to go from 70 to 72. Congradulations on a tremendous accomplishment. "Bonds Smashes No. 71 and Keeps on Going" "72: Barry Breaks Record, and then Some" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/5/2001 12:12:54 AM ----- BODY: If we seriously want to talk about causes for such rage that breeds suicide bombers, then look at this exhibit in a Palestinian museum glorifying a recent attack on an Israeli resturant. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/5/2001 12:08:02 AM ----- BODY: AlGore did the right thing by standing behind President Bush. He also did the politcally smart thing. Continuing to hint that Bush was an illegitimate President in a time to national crisis doesn't smooth the path to a possible rematch in 2004. "Legitimate at Last" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/5/2001 12:02:41 AM ----- BODY: This speech by Tony Blair is Churchillian at times. Speaking to the U.S., Blair says, "We were with you at the first. We will stay with you to the last." Then there is this touching part:
And then a middle-aged mother looks you in the eyes and tells you her only son has died, and asks you: why? I tell you: you do not feel like the most powerful person in the country at times like that. Because there is no answer. There is no justification for their pain. Their son did nothing wrong. The woman, seven months pregnant, whose child will never know its father, did nothing wrong.Blair also goes after those intellectuals who think America had it coming saying, "America has its faults, but it is a free country, it is our ally and some of the reaction to September 11 betrays a hatred of America that shames those that feel it." While being completely tied to his Labour Party's socialism, I have faith in Tony Blair to stand by the U.S.'s side in this war on terrorism. Edited Version of Tony Blair's Conference Speech -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2001 11:41:43 PM ----- BODY: Buckley is right in stating that peace-loving Muslims have a responsibility to protect their religion from being used as a tool for murderous thugs. For them, it must be a holy war of a different sort. Peaceful Muslims must find a way to reconcile modernity with their faith. They have a choice: civilization or destruction, both internally and externally. It's similar to pro-life activists who must reject, excommunicate, and stamp out those zealots who advocate, condemn, and carry out violence against abortion doctors and clinics. If the zealots aren't contained, the movement as a whole is severely damaged. "So You Want a Holy War?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2001 11:24:17 PM ----- BODY: Reagan National is open! It's about time! Not surprisingly, the first plane to head to New York went south away from Washington, D.C. before heading northeast. "Party Atmosphere As Reagan National Reopens" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2001 10:52:29 PM ----- BODY: Rich Galen has some experience with the stringent security of El Al, Israel's national airline. "Be Careful What You Wish For" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/4/2001 01:07:52 AM ----- BODY: Emily Yoffe rejects poverty as the "root cause" of the 9.11 attacks. Some of the terrorists were highly educated and not from poor families. The terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is a millionaire. Knee-jerk Left-wing wealth redistributionists (and a certain writer for The West Wing) should heed Yoffe's words:
But the biographies of the hijackers and their commanders lead to another conclusion about the economic forces behind their actions. That is, terrorism is caused by money, education, and opportunity."Poor Excuse" [via Fredrik] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2001 11:15:23 PM ----- BODY: While Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson both made asses of themselves a few days after the 9.11 attacks to equate them with a terrorist leader like Osama bin Laden takes moral relativism to a truly tasteless level. Bin Laden organized the killing of thousands of people. When have Falwell and Robertson planned the death of any person? When have Falwell and Robertson called for the destruction of a nation? They haven't. Even with their faults, those men of God should not be thoughlessly tossed into the same basket as a murderous thug. The Falwell/Robertson/Bin Laden Quiz [via blogdex] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2001 10:59:41 PM ----- BODY: Any bloggers in the Southeastern Wisconsin area in gathering together in physical space? E-mail me. We'll have coffee. We'll talk. The Weblogger User Group [via Blogger] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2001 10:54:27 PM ----- BODY: Stick a fork in Salon, it's done. "News Coverage Worth the Price" [NOT!] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/3/2001 10:41:40 PM ----- BODY: I don't support Bill Maher, won't sign the petition backing him, and hope Politically Incorrect gets axed. It's not because he said lobbing cruise missiles from 2000 miles away was cowardly. He's right. Bill Clinton's reliance on cruise missiles was only a bit of style to appear tough while drawing attention away from his own scandals. I don't support Maher because his show isn't funny. Celebrities talking intelligently about politics doesn't happen on that show. The comedians crack a joke as soon as there's an opening. The supermodels act as dumb as the stereotype suggests. Then there's perrenial guest Arianna Huffington who got tired of being a sensible Gingrich-conservative and hopped on board the populist, big-government train. There's little humor, a lot of stupidity, and really little that is politically incorrect. If and when Maher gets canceled I won't be shedding a tear. Support Bill Maher -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/2/2001 04:27:22 AM ----- BODY: From GreyDay.org:
"What if the whole world wide web was like this?"It was like that way back in 1994 with Mosaic, but it sure beat Gopher. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/2/2001 03:21:51 AM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell doesn't see the 9.11 attacks as a jihad or religious war. He's see them based on simple envy. Is the conflict ideological or not? If it isn't, then it may be smothered through concerted military strikes and covert operations that destroy terrorist networks and deal with a limited number of people. But if it is ideological, then it becomes not only a military battle, but a battle of ideas. It becomes a battle of competing worldviews. In short, it becomes a new Cold War where populations must be convinced that one side is correct. "Islam and the West" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 10/1/2001 01:52:16 PM ----- BODY: Bob Novak has an answer to why President Bush still has faith in the CIA and the intelligence community. Novak reports that the FBI has some inkling of terroists using planes as weapons but didn't act on that information. With Robert Mueller in as new FBI Director, Bush must feel that the new leadership shouldn't be blamed for past incompetence. What must happen is to question ex-Director Louis Freeh about what went wrong for the attacks to happen as a complete surprise to law enforcement. "Tom Ridge's Challenge" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/28/2001 02:54:05 AM ----- BODY: Washington politicians and free-spending liberals may hate the thought, but I love the fact that less money is coming into the federal government. Reduced tax revenue combined with much needed defense spending may force the government to act more inline with its own constitution. "Tax Receipts Show Decline for First Time in 18 Years" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/28/2001 01:44:22 AM ----- BODY: They say laughter is the best medicine. Well, The Onion is doing it's part with stories like "Hijackers Surprised to Find Selves in Hell." Then there is "American Life Turns into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie." Just reading it straight gives a great sense of the power pop culture has on American lives. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2001 02:11:29 PM ----- BODY: Yesterday, one George got fired, while another one should have. The 9.11 attacks were the greatest intelligence failure in U.S. history. But President Bush still has "a lot of confidence" in CIA Director George Tennet. Bush may have faith in Tennet, but I don't. He should have been fired as soon as the fires were put out at the Pentagon. The blame game is looking a little like Waco: everybody says they're sorry it happened, but everybody keeps their jobs. I'm on Sen. Shelby's (R-AL) side when he says, "We need a rapid response. And, I'm afraid that the calcified bureaucracies of our national security institutions are not capable of rapid change." The Agency needs a shaking up. "Bush Confident in Tennet" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/27/2001 02:02:11 PM ----- BODY: It's embarassing for Reagan National Airport to still be closed with no idea when it will reopen. If there's a danger, at the very least, officials should say so. There are thousands of people in limbo who depend on that airport. Such uncertainty isn't doing them any good. "Congress Set to Reopen Reagan Airport" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2001 05:40:13 PM ----- BODY: A war on global terrorism is impractical. There are so many groups out there and only one or a handful took part on the 9.11 attacks. An open-ended quest to rid the world of terrorism would be a bigger failure than the War on Drugs. Terrorists would still exist and would attempt counterstrikes. The U.S. response must be focused on the groups behind the recent attacks, the nations that harbored or supported them, and any terror groups or nations that pose a direct, immediate threat to national security. Much of this will be done through covert operations, but the occasional blatant military strike will be called for (think Libya). To address Mike's question: the U.S. may be coordinating with Britain, but the U.S. shouldn't go after the IRA unless they took part in the attacks. "A War, Not a Crusade" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2001 03:11:15 AM ----- BODY: This was Rachael Anne Fajardo's first thought after glimpsing the first pictures of the attacks on 9.11:
Now everyone will have to realize how evil our government is, and this will be a great leap for liberty.This just goes to prove that wacko thinking is still wacko thinking even if it comes from the anarcho-right. Add Ms. Fajardo to the Blame America crowd. "Through the Eyes of a Child" [via ETWOF] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2001 02:45:32 AM ----- BODY: UPDATE: Phil Zimmerman was upset over the loss of life from the attacks on 9.11, not because he developed technology that could have helped the terrorists keep their plans hidden. Zimmerman writes on Slashdot, "Read my lips: I have no regrets about developing PGP." Zimmerman shouldn't be looked at as a villian in anyway. What he did was valuable to freedom lovers world-wide. He allowed any computer user access to powerful encryption. That's a good thing, not a bad thing. "No Regrets About Developing PGP" [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2001 02:24:12 AM ----- BODY: Simply beautiful. "What Is An American?" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/26/2001 02:02:47 AM ----- BODY: If NASA can build a satellite that can catch a comet millions of miles away, we can certainly build a missile defense shield. Unproven technology: I don't think so after the journey of Deep Space 1. "NASA Probe 1, Comet 0" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/25/2001 12:37:16 PM ----- BODY: The fight over school vouchers will come to a head next year. The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the constitutionality of Cleveland's voucher program. Voucher opponents should actually hope the Supreme Court allows vouchers. If vouchers are thrown out, parents will still search for ways to get their kids out of failing public schools. Homeschooling will rapidly grow, and there will be serious talk of removing government from education, which isn't a bad idea. "Supreme Court to Decide School Voucher Issue" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/24/2001 02:02:19 PM ----- BODY: Bill Clinton wasn't as close to taking out bin Laden as he now thinks. The man in charge of the opperation, Gen. Anthony Zinni didn't even think they would kill him. "Another Clinton Tale?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2001 04:49:42 PM ----- BODY: George Reisman demonstrates that free-market advocates can offer sensible solutions to these trying times. Instead of taking a knee-jerk neo-isolationist approach to dealing with world terrorism, Reisman aims for the source of Islamic terrorist funding: OPEC oil. A free market in energy production would reduce dependence on OPEC oil. That would lower the price of oil and reduce the money available to fund terrorism. "Free Markets Would Be OPEC's Undoing" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2001 04:38:24 PM ----- BODY: What a great Sunday. The NFL is back, there were stirring displays of patriotism, and the Vikings lost. "Chicago 17, Minnesota 10" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2001 04:34:58 PM ----- BODY: T-minus 6 and counting. "Bonds Hits 65th Homer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2001 11:37:09 AM ----- BODY: British news reports that British SAS officers have already engaged elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan. "First Salvos Fired In War" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/23/2001 11:31:09 AM ----- BODY: If it wasn't for the September 11 attacks, Andrea Yates would be America's biggest story. The mother who killed her five children was found competent to stand trial. The angle that interests me is if she's found guilty, should she be put to death. The crimes took place in Texas, so the death penalty is virtually assured. But should it be? After seeing the carnage of 9.11, many anti-death penalty advocates are all gung-ho about going to war and seeking retribution. How does that differ from "seeking justice" by killing Andrea Yates? I'm still opposed to the death penalty, but that view must be reconciled with my hawkish stance internationally. "Jurors: Texas Mom Competent for Trial" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/21/2001 06:10:59 PM ----- BODY: Did scientists working on the Manhattan Project feel the same guilt as Phil Zimmermann after the bombs were dropped on Japan? Encryption use by terrorists goes to show that technology has a double edge. It can be used both for good and evil. Encryption--like knowledge about atomic fission, like guns--is just a tool, a means to allow people to achieve their goals. Good people can use it to resist oppression, while evil people can use it to pass on their plans of destruction. The encryption cat is already out of the bag so laws to restrict its use will be useless against future terrorist attacks. Like gun-control laws, only law-abiding people will obey. What's needed is a re-evaluation of how the U.S. government collects and analyzes intelligence. Something went seriously wrong for such a well-exectued attacks to occur without any warning. I have a hunch that much of the information that would have tipped off authorities to the attacks are sitting on some hard drive in Langley. But because of a poor allocation of resources it was not examined. An overhaul of our current intelligence system must occur before any mention of limiting civil liberites is breathed. "To Attacks' Toll Add a Programmer's Grief" [via Politech] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/21/2001 04:43:58 PM ----- BODY: The first battle of the war took place in the skies over Pennsylvania. "Passengers Likely Halted Attack on D.C." [via The Scene] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/20/2001 02:08:34 PM ----- BODY: To the heros of United Flight 93. UnitedHeroes -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/19/2001 01:12:13 AM ----- BODY: Wisdom and history do not suggest a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan. Just to defend an airfield inside the country would take 20,000 troops. Then there's the complete lack of any human intelligence. Ahmed Rashid reports on a possible military strategy using bases in Pakistan. U.S. troops might also use a base in Tajikistan. Stratfor.com sees Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as possible Central Asian partners. Turkmenistan is crucial so planes from Turkey can penetrate Afghanistan. "US 'Lacks Knowledge to Launch Land War'" "Frontier Bases Deal Moves One Step Closer" "Central Asia: Backdoor to Afghanistan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2001 10:01:13 PM ----- BODY: Richard Dawkins may be one of the smartest people on Earth, but he's insulted all people of faith by naming Religion as the prime weapon that struck the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. This is some of the evolutionary vitrol Dawkins spewed on Man's quest for the transcendent:
As luck would have it, we have just the thing to hand: a ready-made system of mind-control which has been honed over centuries, handed down through generations. Millions of people have been brought up in it. It is called religion....What Dawkins is doing is just attacking Religion to preserve his own worldview. Dawkins is an atheist and an evolutionist. Any possibility that truth revealed through Religion is an assult on his worldview. This article is as insulting and "insensitive" as Jerry Fallwell's remarks, but you can bet they will receive little condemnation. "Religion's Misguided Missiles" [via Arts & Letters] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2001 09:44:00 PM ----- BODY: Either Italy's Defense Minister Antonio Martino was misquoted or he had a change of heart. Whatever the reason, Martin Sieff reports that he (and Italy's armed forces) are squarely behind the U.S. "Italy Backs U.S." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2001 09:29:28 PM ----- BODY: Rich Lowry is already cheerleading for the cause. He (rightly) worries that pundits and the American people will be dismayed at the obstacles against destroying Osama bin Laden and anyone who stands in our way.
So, let's remember. We breached the Atlantic wall in 1944: Osama bin Laden is a dead man. We--thirty years ago!--put a man on the moon: Osama bin Laden is a dead man. We vanquished Saddam's army in a 100-hour ground war: Osama bin Laden is a dead man."It?s Not Hard" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/18/2001 12:18:33 AM ----- BODY: Sam Dealey sees some real inadequacy with the FAA's new security measures:
So far the likely effect seems to be longer waiting lines, increased flight delays, and the banning of knives at airport restaurants - it's forks and spoons only, now. What's more, the procedures still don't work. Last Thursday three Northwest Airlines employees deliberately walked through security at the Phoenix airport with a pocketknife and a corkscrew. That a corkscrew has now been deemed a weapon gives one a sense of the impossibility of this approach. After all, if a corkscrew is a weapon, then conceivably one could hijack a plane with a fork.In a related note Midwest Express is looking at changing their meal offerings, possibly moving towards more finger food. The gormet meals Midwest Express was famed for may be dumped for chicken fingers and egg rolls. Just so no one has the slightest possiblity of having a knife on a plane. Forget overreactions in schools, the new zero tolerance policy overkill will be in airports and on airplanes. "How Not to Fix Airport Security" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2001 11:42:51 PM ----- BODY: It amazes me that people from other countries can put the Idea of America so much better than many of her own citizens. "The Idea of America Still Lives" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2001 11:35:07 PM ----- BODY: Real-world thought from an ex-spook. I especially agree with Gallagher when he writes, "I ask you to resist efforts to 'Do something, anything, NOW' and to speak out when you hear this type of rhetoric." "Musings of a Former Spook" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2001 11:29:02 PM ----- BODY: It looks like the next battle of the war will be along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. "Taliban Bring Scud Missiles Near Pakistan Border" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/17/2001 12:03:06 AM ----- BODY: I know this sounds really cliche, but Tuesday's attacks are a true coming-of-age event for children. I remember watching the Challenger explosion in school years ago, but this is so much more impelling. What happened Tuesday wasn't an accident. It was diliberate and evil. But if 13-year-old Natalie James' words are any indication, her generation can learn from this disaster. Too bad so many had to perish for this lesson. "Teen Learns Patriotism From Terrorist Attack" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2001 11:27:50 PM ----- BODY: One result of Tuesday attack is the run on Nostradamus books. I'm sick of telling customers that we ran out of tomes filled with his vague prophecies. It's disappointing to know that some people try to deal with reality by running to mysticism. These people need to accept the fact that evil does exist. Evil people planned out a brutal assault that killed thousands. Tuesday wasn't the fulfillment of a Middle Ages seer. It was the fulfillment of people who hate America, Americans, and what we stand for. God gave us free will. People act. Regardless of the awful words said and written by some on both the Right and Left the U.S. did not have this attack coming to her. Existence isn't some preconceived plan that can be glimpse beforehand. Instead, it's the result of actions of billions of people. The future isn't inevitable. It isn't preordained. It really is what we make of it. "Did Nostradamus Predict Attacks?" [via Arts & Letters] "Death, Downtown" "God Gave U.S. 'What We Deserve,' Falwell Says" "When Will We Learn?" "Terror: The Price of Hegemony" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2001 10:39:14 PM ----- BODY: I've added the banner on top of the page so you can donate funds for the victims of the September 11 Massacre. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2001 08:53:29 PM ----- BODY: While a Florida company can't handle employee patriotism, my boss is looking for a big flag to hang prominently in the store. "NCCI Pulls Workers' Flags" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2001 08:42:35 PM ----- BODY: President Bush or Collin Powell should phone the Prime Minister of Italy to make sure they'll hold up their end of the NATO treaty. Or is this minister just hoping his country can free-ride off of the U.S.'s campaign against terrorism? "Italian Defence Minister Rules out Italian Troop Role" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/16/2001 08:35:57 PM ----- BODY: It's not just the sheer horror of seeing an attack on your nation live on television that rips a hole in your soul. It's finding out you're only a few degrees of separation from someone who was turned into a human missile that shocks you. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 08:13:28 PM ----- BODY: While the military hunts down and destroys the bad guys, we citizens at home must remain vilgilent over threats to our personal liberties. "Fellow Americans" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 06:20:53 PM ----- BODY: Jerry Taylor & Peter VanDoren explain why gas prices went up in some areas after Tuesday's attacks. Politicians and pundits should read up on their basic economics before prosecuting people for price gouging. "Panic at the Pump" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 05:10:20 PM ----- BODY: Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) has introduced a Declaration of War against "Any entity that committed the acts of international terrorism against the United States on September 11, 2001, or commits acts of international terrorism against the United States thereafter." This declaration must be passed to show American citizens and the world that the U.S. is committed to defeating those who threaten the lives, liberty, and property of the United States. "Declaration of War Proposed" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 05:03:55 PM ----- BODY: Europe mourns with us. That's wonderful, but will they stand by us when the counter-attacks begin and the body count grows? "Arrests Reported As Europe Mourns Terrorism Victims" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 05:00:42 PM ----- BODY: Rudy Gulliani: Time's Man of the Year? "Giuliani's Finest Hour" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 04:57:10 PM ----- BODY: Unfortunately, civil liberties are threatened by an over-reaction to the attacks. I hope the House of Representatives can take the time needed to thoughtfully look over the bill the "World's Most Deliberative Body" passed. Americans should not be considered guilty-until-proven-innocent cyber-terrorists. "Senate OKs FBI Net Spying" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 04:45:26 PM ----- BODY: How serious is the U.S. government in letting loose the hounds of war? Here's a quote from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz:
It's not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism.Notice the mention of "ending states." Serious talk is being used for serious action. Pin-prick cruise missile attacks on asprin factories? I think not. "Pax Americana" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 04:31:11 PM ----- BODY: President Bush looks beyond our small blue marble in this vast universe to comfort a nation:
On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask almighty God to watch over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come."President's Remarks at National Day of Prayer and Remembrance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 01:47:52 PM ----- BODY: The AP reports that those detained last night at New York airports were not connected with Tuesday's attacks. "U.S. Releases Names of Hijackers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 02:39:19 AM ----- BODY: Today is a national day of prayer and rememberance. Even if you're agnostic or atheist, please offer some time for comtemplation and thought for the victims of the September 11 Massacres. National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims Of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 02:30:28 AM ----- BODY: Regardless of this latest attempt to attack the United States, we must remain defiant to any threat to our civilization. "5 Arrested Trying to Board Plane" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/14/2001 02:04:27 AM ----- BODY: Stratfor.com is providing some of the best, most well-thought out analysis I've read so far. Here's an obvious observation that hasn't been offered by any talking head I've listen to:
In an operation of this sort, the probability of detection is always high. There are too many people, too many actions required, too many possibilities for error. These operatives did not commit any detectable errors. They were very good. Simply consider that they were skilled enough with the use of cutting devices like box knives to intimidate plane-loads of people.The attackers' level of secrecy is incredible. However, I do think that with enough money an ordinary citizen like myself could have organized a similar attack. The tools were simple. These people only needed knives and dedicated people to carry out the attack. "The Sophistication of the Attackers" [via Jason] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/13/2001 12:49:46 AM ----- BODY: CNN is reporting more on United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Thomas Burnett, Jr. and Jeremy Glick are heroes. How many lives they saved by sacrificing their own, we will never know. R.I.P. "Passengers Voted to Attack Hijackers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/13/2001 12:24:31 AM ----- BODY: Stratfor.com doesn't think the U.S. could win a conventional war if it is found that Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, or any combination of states helped in some way with Tuesday's attacks. They advocate the "Israeli Model" where covert operations across the globe destroy the organization behind the attacks. I disagree with the notion that the U.S. could not win a war with any nation harboring terrorists. Unless it's found that Russia had something to do with the attacks, there's no potential nuclear threat. The U.S. and its allies do have the economic and technological base to offer enough military force. The question would be whether there would be enough political support for a potentially bloody war. A problem with the Israeli Model is that it would be invisible to the American public. There wouldn't be 24/7 news coverage over an assasination here, a bombing there, a plane crash over there. There is strong public anger. People want to see a response. More information about who was behind the attacks is needed to figure out the best form of counter-attack. If it turns out that our foes can't be defeated by conventional means, then other options will be necessary. However it's done, those people and organizations behind these attacks must be destroyed. Nothing less will be adequate. "Attacks on U.S.: Redefining the Response" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 07:22:10 PM ----- BODY: Virginia Postrel offers this very interesting bit of insight:
After yesterday, you will no longer be able to hijack a plane with a knife. You may not even be able to hijack a plane with a gun. In fact, you may not be able to hijack a plane at all. The incentives have completely changed. Now resistance could save thousands of lives.-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 07:04:51 PM ----- BODY: Eric Raymond (of The Cathedral and the Bazaar fame) points out the failure of current anti-terrorist measures and looks to a "policy of a distributed response to a distributed threat." Laws and regulations that limit our liberties are not the answer to prevent future attacks. Improved human intelligence without feel-good restrictions along with swift military retribution are part of a solution. "ESR: Decentralism Against Terrorism -- First Lessons from the 9/11 Attack" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 06:34:28 PM ----- BODY: How about a Die Hard twist to the WTC attacks? There might be over $1 billion in gold burried underneath what's left of the towers. With the series of events looking so much like a movie, would anyone be surprised to discover the gold missing? "Gold Depositories Buried Beneath Trade Center Rubble" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 06:22:32 PM ----- BODY: No request from President Bush for a Declaration of War. I'm hoping it's because officials want to be sure they know who was behind the attacks, rather than a lack of will. "Bush Requests Emergency Funding, Not War Declaration" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 05:08:09 PM ----- BODY: How many lives were saved because passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 challenged the terrorists? Horrible events are the font of heroism. "Passengers' Actions May Have Helped Curb Tragedy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 05:01:09 PM ----- BODY: What happened to Jish is absolutely unacceptable. Just because someone looks a certain way it doesn't mean they harbor ill will or violent feelings. People must be treated as individuals. Such blatant ignorance is intolerable. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 04:53:04 PM ----- BODY: A NASA satellite saw the smoke trail from ground zero in Lower Manhattan. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/12/2001 01:22:04 AM ----- BODY: This intro from the San Jose Mercury News:
The twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York were designed decades ago to withstand the impact of a 707 jetliner. But when just such a disaster struck Tuesday, it was not the impact that brought the 110-story buildings down. Rather, it was a pair of infernos fed by tons of jet fuel that weakened steel supports and caused floors to pancake into rubble. ``Steel structures usually do not disintegrate due to impact. They are very resilient,'' said Abolhassan Astaneh, a professor of structural engineering at the University of California-Berkeley. ``But they are vulnerable to fire.''Structural engineer Darell Lawver said, "The terrorists were very smart. All the hijacked planes were going coast to coast, and they were full of fuel. That was the primary weapon.'' "Fuel-fed Inferno, not Impact, May Have Toppled Towers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/11/2001 11:45:43 PM ----- BODY: Evil's shadow fell upon the United States today. Even now, a cloud of death covers the ruins of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The survivors from the WTC looked like ghosts. Their skin and clothes were covered with grey-white ash. Their mouths gaped open gasping for air. They were moaning spirits with very disturbed souls. Colin Powell said, "A terrible, terrible tragedy has befallen my nation." Newt Gingrich called these attacks a "21th Century Pearl Harbor." It's haunting that the spirit of that 1941 attack comes only a few months after a horrendous movie on it came out. After watching the television clips over and over, all the events still don't feel real. Sure, I saw a real-life plane dive-bomb into a perfectly good building and then I watched two of the world's tallest buildings collapse, but it just doesn't completely register as real for me. Last night, I watched a James Bond movie filled with explosions and typical Hollywood over-the-top antics. Then this morning, my mother yells for me to wake up because airplanes crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon. At first, I didn't believe it. I just laughed it off and asked her if it was the end of the world. Evil people actually hijacking planes and using them as flying wrecking balls is what happens on the silver screen, not in real life. But what happened is very, very real. Thousands of people are probably dead, and millions more fear of what will happen next (while causing gasoline runs as local stations). I refuse to succumb to simple-mindedness and blame foreigners in general and Arab-Americans in particular for these awful acts. Neither a racial nor ethnic group is responsible for the acts of individuals. In the Milwaukee area, Arabian Fest was cancelled for this weekend. I hope people will realize that very, very few Arab-Americans condone suicide bombing. Strong, decisive action is required to maintain the integrity and security of the United States. What happened today was an act of war and must be treated as such. Any action less than a declaration of war by the Congress will be a dissapointment. Of course, there needs to be a thorough investigation to determine who the bastards are who orchestrated these acts. If it does end up being Osama Bin Laden, he should be hunted down and destroyed along with every vestige of his organization. In war there is no place for trials. The United States is at war and must leave every possible military option available. Nations that have helped harbor the terrorists also must pay the price for their uncivilized deeds. America's way of life is at stake. We are the leader of the free world. This threat must be dealt with. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/10/2001 02:10:25 PM ----- BODY: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel deservedly calls her "the most generous Milwaukee philanthropist ever." Jane Pettit helped build the Bradley Center which kept the Bucks from moving; the Pettit National Ice Center which made Milwaukee the place for Olympic speed skaters to train; and the Lynde and Harry Bradley School of Technology & Trade. She gave without fanfare and with a sense of dignity. Although Milwaukee lost a wonderful person today, her gifts will carry on her generous spirit. "Philanthropist Jane Pettit Dies of Lung Cancer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/9/2001 10:50:07 PM ----- BODY: Will America buy cards of ordinary people? I know I won't. PeopleCards.net -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2001 11:44:24 PM ----- BODY: Gary Trudeau is still the same unfunny jerk even after his lame apology. Boy, do I miss Bloom County. "Doonesbury' Creator Sorry for Hoax" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2001 11:36:08 PM ----- BODY: The march to the Super Bowl begins tomorrow. My fantasy teams are set, and all that is left is to make my predictions for this season. My team, the Green Bay Packers, have one of the best quarterbacks of all time in Brett Favre. There offensive line is young, big, and has a nasty streak. Barring injury Ahman Green and Dorsey Levens are one of the best one-two halfback combinations in the league. So how do I think the Pack will do? The schedule is tough with games against Jacksonville, Tennessee, and the champion Baltimore Ravens. I really question their receivers. Antonio Freeman was non-existent in the pre-season and Bill Schroeder has to step up as the number two receiver. What most concerns me is their defense. Number one draft pick Jamal Reynolds couldn't generate a pass rush in practice, let alone in a game. Cletidus Hunt is suspended for the first four games, and LeRoy Butler is another year older. My conclusion: I'm an optimist, but my head will overrule my heart and I pick the Packers to go 8-8. Here's hoping I'm wrong. As for the Super Bowl, I'll go with St. Louis versus Oakland with the Rams winning their second championship. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2001 11:03:04 PM ----- BODY: The Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA) would mandate copyright functions in computers and electronic equipment. This is central planning that looks like something straight out of Havana. Media companies think copyright protection is important for their business. Fine, they have the ability to implement whatever technologies into their products and let consumers decide if they don't mind them. No matter how stupid, asinine, or cumbersome they are, these copyright-protections technologies should be allowed to compete in the marketplace. What is deplorable is using the federal government to make rules that force computer and consumer electronic makers to put copy-protection controls into products. This age of digital media is still very young. Who knows how consumers and producers will settle this copyright battle. Musicians, writers, and the companies that back them should be able to defend the work they help to produce. They shouldn't be able to use the government to create at one-size-fits-all solution. "New Copyright Bill Heading to DC" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2001 09:50:43 PM ----- BODY: Salon's Eric Boehlert thought the VMAs were as boring as I did. The King of Perverts--I mean Pop--looked old and danced worse than a 60-year old James Brown. U2 was the highlight performance, but the show just couldn't keep my interest. I must disagree on one of Boehlert's points: Andy Dick isn't funny. He makes Tom Green seem highbrow. "Rock Stars for Sale!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/8/2001 09:41:51 PM ----- BODY: In a strange bit of post-modern, technological irony, my new US name is Dean Bell. US Name Generator -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/7/2001 01:36:58 AM ----- BODY: In Milwaukee the homicide rate has stayed flat while in other cities it has gone down (New York City). Also in the past few years, more and more police officers have resigned. Questions and concerns are being raised about the effectiveness of Police Chief Arthur Jones. How does Jones respond? He accuses the Journal Sentinel of race-based coverage. While it remained just below the surface, no critic or news story focused on Jones' race (he's black). Jones is the first person to add racial fuel to the fire. This is Jones' trump card. He knows an already weakened Mayor Norquist will not attempt to boot him if it becomes a racial issue. What Jones is doing is cynical and wrong. To inject race into a non-racial debate only riles passions and deflects painful truths. For playing the race card for purely defensive purposes Jones should be fired. A city leader must make efforts to unite and lead, not divide and survive. "Jones Goes on Offensive as Backers, Foes Collide" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/7/2001 01:22:09 AM ----- BODY: Todd Dominey mentions seeing Anne Heche interviewed last night. I saw her on Larry King and was saddened by her spectacle. Now, I don't know if she really was chasing a UFO that would take her to the 4th Dimension, or if she really did have deep conversations with God. Maybe she's making all this up for publicity. But accept for a moment that she was (is?) as mentally unstable as she said, why make a fool of yourself in front of millions of people? A way to self-healing is self-control. Spilling out embarassing problems to Larry King or Barbara Walters isn't self-control. It's self-absorbtion and too typical of the Hollywood set. I hope Heche gets better. Maybe married life and motherhood will provide the stable environment she craves. "Confirmed: Anne Heche 3 Months Pregnant" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/7/2001 01:04:41 AM ----- BODY: Hooray! Team Bush is seeing the light and is pulling back from the U.S. government's attack on Microsoft. The whole case against MS defies logic. Under the abstract, foggy law of antitrust, MS is guilty of breaking the law by selling lots of software to people. In fact, they sold so much software that they are the king of PC software. But a point has been ignored by nearly every advocate of government prosectution of MS: no one forced consumers to buy and use MS software. Sure, MS has done its best to get its products in front of as many people as they could, but they never could force an individual or business to fork over the cash for the software. In the end there has been free choice. David Dieteman puts the incoherent ideas of antitrust law into focus when he writes, "Charge more than your competitors? Price gouging. Charge the same? Collusion. Charge less? Predatory pricing. It is actually illegal to charge: more, the same, or less. 'Bundle' your products? Unfair. Who gets sued for what depends on which way the political winds are blowing." "U.S. Abandons Microsoft Breakup Effort" "A Back to School Warning: Anti-Trust Law After Microsoft" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/6/2001 12:14:02 AM ----- BODY: Phil Gramm is justly praised (I did back his losing effort for President in '96) for his efforts to restrain the scope of government, but the downside to his retirement is the Republicans will have a harder time taking back the Senate. Sure, Texas will likely stay Republican, but in politics anything can happen. "Grand Gramm" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2001 11:28:28 PM ----- BODY: Just what television news needs: another morning show set on a street-side studio in New York City. What is mildly interesting is how Paula Zahn ended up with CNN. "Paula Zahn Heads for CNN As Anchor" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2001 03:21:25 AM ----- BODY: The October Vanity Fair might be the biggest seller in its history, and it's all because of Harry Potter. There will be kids who never heard of the magazine begging their parents to traipse from one Barnes and Noble to another searching for a copy. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2001 03:14:59 AM ----- BODY: Who in the states would want to watch Chinese Communist television? We already have CNN, MSNBC, and MTV News (I know the last one is an oxymoron). What shows would the Chinese show? Would they have their own version of Survivor where the tribe of Falun Gong votes on which person gets sent to the firing squad? Or how about a version of The West Wing only set in Bejing? But in all seriousness, this cultural opening could bring about the demise of Communism. Whether the Chinese leadership likes it or not, News Corp. and AOL Time Warner will bring in the West's idea of liberty and freedom through the programming and attitude behind it. So while Drudge will be crying over the amoral actions of uncaring multi-national corporations, I will be quietly cheering "Go Bugs! Go Bart! "China Offers Access Deal to News Corp and AOL" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/5/2001 01:29:55 AM ----- BODY: Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft have had a cantankerous past, while MS and Compaq have been busom buddies. Even though HP has been lately more accepting of MS technology, they still have the "HP way" philosophy. "Merger May Complicate Microsoft Relations" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/4/2001 01:56:38 PM ----- BODY: Mark Levin is short and sweet when it comes to Janet "Earthquake" Reno. "Janet Reno shouldn't be running for governor, she should be running from the law." "Reno Running" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/4/2001 01:48:12 PM ----- BODY: Some Wall Street analysts are lukewarm on the HP-Compaq merger. They see difficulties integreating the two companies while it gives Dell a year to operate without such distractions. European observers think the merger will spur others across the tech sector. "Wall Street: HP Plus Compaq May Not Add Up" "European Stocks Rise: L'Oreal, Marconi Gain; Ericsson Declines" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/4/2001 01:39:27 PM ----- BODY: Since the biggest problem with the economy is a drop in capital spending, a capital gains tax cut would have a greater economic effect than the checks the Treasury Department is sending out to everyone. "Bush 'Open-Minded' on Possible Cap Gains Tax Cut" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/3/2001 10:47:09 PM ----- BODY: HP will buy Compaq. This news is a total jaw-dropper. This could be a sign of consolidation in the computer hardware industry. This is going to have Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and everywhere in between talking. What will Dell do? What about EMC? How does Sun fit into all this? Will IBM seek out some purchase to retain its dominance? How does Microsoft fit into hardware consolidation? Then there are the questions of whether Carleton Fiorina and HP can pull this off. Compaq had a really hard time with their acquisition of Digital a few years ago. Will Fiorina do better? One things for sure, with this deal, Fiorina becomes the most powerful in business. Shares of stock and rumors will be flying at a frenzied pace tomorrow. Here's my bit of speculation: With Gateway in a weakened state, look for rumors of it being bought, possibly by Dell. "HP to Buy Compaq for $25 Billion" "Hewlett-Packard to Acquire Compaq in $25 Billion Deal" They're already discussing the story at Metafilter. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/3/2001 10:33:27 PM ----- BODY: Since Janet Reno appears to have the balls (be they real or not) to enter the race for Florida governor, she should be ready and willing to fully explain why she took responsiblity for the deaths at Waco but never held federal agents working at the siege accountable for the deaths. She should also be completely forthcoming as to her decision to use brute force to snatch Elian Gonzalez from a loving family and send him back to the prison island that is Communist Cuba. She can look all cute cruising around in her red pickup truck and wearing an anti-Jeb Bush t-shirt, but Reno has serious questions about her ability to lead a state in a civilized manner. "Reno Plans to Run for Florida Gov." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 9/2/2001 03:13:14 PM ----- BODY: The rest of the U.S. Open will be quieter: Monica "The Grunter" Seles lost today. "Seles Eliminated at U.S. Open" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/31/2001 11:45:17 PM ----- BODY: Anarchy Lew correctly realizes that anti-globalization protesters are just Communists and Socialists who like to cause civil unrest at international confabs. However, his solution to defeat them is astonishing:
Withdraw the troops. Dismantle the nuclear weapons. Scrap plans to build a provocative shield. Repeal sanctions against Iraq, Cuba, and other nations on the bad guy list. Withdraw from international agencies and mind our own business, while trading with the world.Sure, a re-evaluation of the need for some U.S. forces overseas is desparately needed. The same can be said for economic sanctions. But when it comes to nuclear weapons and a missile defense, Anarchy Lew couldn't be more wrong. Rockwell seems to be following the line that possessing nuclear weapons causes instability instead of Ronald Reagan's successful strategy of "Peace through strength." I highly doubt the Soviet Communists would have called an end to their quest for world domination if the U.S. would have unilaterally agreed to dismantle their nukes. Nuclear weapons were a needed tool for continued U.S. existence. Missile defense is also needed for defense. It would be immoral for the U.S. government to not make a serious attempt to protect its citizens from possible nuclear attack. As technology brings about new ways to destroy life and property, technology also brings about new ways to counter attacks. It's odd that a defender of the Second Amendment like Rockwell would advocate not properly defending our nation. According to Rockwell's thinking, the British should have sank their small fleet instead of standing up to the Spanish Armada. Maybe George Washington and the Founding Fathers should have dropped their muskets instead of rebelling against the British Empire. To Rockwell, War only leads to expanded government and diminished individual freedom. I wish Anarchy Lew's idyllic free trade world existed, but it doesn't. Powerful weapons and the will to use them are needed in a world where occasionally only brute force is listened to. "The New Communism" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2001 12:29:09 AM ----- BODY: Yesterday, I finally bought a DVD player along with a copy of the gorgeous Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Has anyone used Netflix? It looks like a great concept, and I have heard only good things third-hand. If you've rented from them, drop me a note and tell me what you think of them. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2001 12:26:31 AM ----- BODY: Avrum Lank notices the schizophrenic politics in Wisconsin. State officials went after Wal-Mart for selling milk at too low a price, while Congressmen and Senators fight to dismantle the New England Dairy pact that keeps milk prices high out East. "Price Controls Bad for Consumers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/30/2001 12:11:28 AM ----- BODY: If you're living in the Midwest, you've noticed that gas prices have creeped close to $2 a gallon. This is because there was a fire at a Citgo refinery. It could take up to six months to fix it. The EPA is doing the sensible thing by temporarily releaving Citgo of some environmental regulations so it can get more oil out on the market. But here's the nasty fine print: Citgo will pay the government about 13 cents a gallon to "offset any competitive advantage the company may have." Other gasoline companies are happy, but consumers are left with an empty feeling in their pocketbooks. "EPA Moves to Increase Midwest Gasoline Supply" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/29/2001 11:06:54 PM ----- BODY: Here's my token Condit link. With fellow Democrats speaking ill of him and his own family opposed to any re-election campaign, it's only a matter of time before Condit resigns. Then it will be good riddance to a sleazy Congressman. "Condit Children Quit Political Jobs" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/28/2001 11:23:47 PM ----- BODY: Our crass ex-President went bikini shopping. For whom the two bikinis were for I don't know and don't want to know. Imagining Hillary Clinton in a thong could give me a week's worth of sleepless nights. ICK! "Bill Clinton Goes Bikini Shopping in Rio" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/27/2001 01:32:22 PM ----- BODY: President Bush's attempt at streamlining government will probably be a futile as attempts by Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and AlGore, but the ideas are worth considering. Here's an idea that should seriously be considered: install Linux-based systems in government offices. Largo, Florida city government is saving time and money with open source software. "Bush Plan Could Cut Federal Workers" "Secretaries Use Linux, Taxpayers Save Millions" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/27/2001 01:25:13 PM ----- BODY: The dirty little secret is that there is no big pot of money labled Social Security Surplus. The excess funds that aren't needed to pay current SS recipients are being used to pay down debt. On the books, it may appear that the government is dipping into SS, but there was no money there to begin with. "CBO Sees Budget Tapping Social Security" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/26/2001 01:37:23 PM ----- BODY: French environmental terrorists destroyed fields of GM maize. These attacks will continue because the French government is sympathetic to the terrorists. In true socialistic fashion, Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany can't understand that private sector actions benefit the public good.
It's necessary to establish a difference between experiments conducted for public research, which are essentially geared toward deepening our knowledge and evaluating the benefits and potential risks of GM crops, and private sector tests, which aim for research into productivity.Isn't "research into productivity" "deepening our knowledge"? I guess not when it's possible that someone could make some money from it. "French Activists Destroy More Crop Test Sites" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/26/2001 12:37:56 AM ----- BODY: After reading Hooking Up Bruce Thorton is inspired to follow Tom Wolfe into the thick of the Culture Wars.
He illustrates what we need more of in the Culture Wars--hip, funny, mean commentators who won't let the other side, themselves quick to hurl question-begging epithets like "racist" and "sexist," hide behind the skirts of sensitivity and decorum. We have enough conservatives in the elegant, "Tweedy Prof mode." We need more warriors like Tom Wolfe who are willing to go thermonuclear on the commissars and fellow-travelers of intellectual tyranny."Making the Cinders Dance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/26/2001 12:12:10 AM ----- BODY: Krauthammer is right when he points out that there is no real Social Security trust fund, but he gets a little Keynesian at the end. "No Lock, No Box" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/25/2001 12:25:59 AM ----- BODY: Paul Gigot ends his 13 year run as columnist from Washington with this bit of wisdom about our nation's capital:
On the other hand, there is no more parochial place in America. Most of the city's intrigues, which can seem so compelling, count for little in the end.Gigot will become the Wall Street Journal's editorial page editor. "Farewell" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/24/2001 11:44:14 PM ----- BODY: President Bush reaches for the stars in his pick of Air Force general Richard Myers to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Myers is a former head of the Air Force's Space Command. "Bush Names Hi-Tech Arms Expert New Military Chief" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/23/2001 04:18:49 PM ----- BODY: Put the ABM treaty on the ash heap of history. "US to Renounce ABM Treaty: Bush" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/23/2001 04:04:30 PM ----- BODY: My referrer logs have spoken so I'm listening. Many of you have found TAM while looking for information on Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. To satisfy your appetite, I'm linking to a series of articles Lomborg recently wrote for the Guardian. I consider him another Julian Simon, only Lomborg is left-of-center and a former member of Greenpeace. His book won't be released until September, but it's already the most controversial book of 2001. "Take a Deep Breath... Air Quality is Getting Better" "Yes, It Looks Bad, But..." "Driven to Extinction: a Specious Theory" "Running on Empty?" "Why Kyoto Will not Stop This" The collection is also available as a single pdf file. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/23/2001 01:47:27 PM ----- BODY: Conservative, free-market financial news and analysis has arrived with National Review Online Financial. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/23/2001 01:41:27 PM ----- BODY: Congrads to Kevin for tossing out pithy one-liners with his links for a year. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/23/2001 01:06:36 PM ----- BODY: Happy Birthday Blogger! (And Ev, thanks to you too!) -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/23/2001 01:01:12 PM ----- BODY: It's only a rumor, but if true, then Steven Spielberg is going over the PC deep end and into Stalinistic revisionist history. The rumor is that the reissue of E.T. will have all guns digitally removed. AICN says it well when they write, "All of a sudden, dramatic tension will not be what it once was..." Would Elliot be as scared during the police raid, if the officers didn't have guns? E.T. Special Edition rumor... [via InstaPundit] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 09:10:49 PM ----- BODY: To those that think black conservatives/libertarians are full of self-hatred because of their skin color, I offer this quote from economist Walter Williams:
The bottom line indisputable fact of business is that black Americans have made the greatest gains, over some of the highest hurdles, in a shorter span of time than any other racial group in mankind's history. That speaks well of the intestinal fortitude of a people, and it also speaks well of a nation in which such gains were possible."A Usable Black History" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 09:06:05 PM ----- BODY: Think of "The Challengers"--a Wall Street Journal project--as a webified version of reality television for MBAs. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 09:02:07 PM ----- BODY: Israel Kirzner's latest book seeks to explain and clarify the ideas of Ludwig von Mises--the second greatest economist of the 20th Century (just behind F. A. Hayek). "Mises Expounded and Defended" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 07:41:03 PM ----- BODY: Do parents who file wrongful-birth lawsuits know the meaning of unconditional love? How will they explain to their kids that since they weren't perfect at birth, they wish they weren't even born? If abortion weren't considered a legal and acceptable option, these lawsuits wouldn't even exist. The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again. "Meet the 'Wrongful-Birth' Bar." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 07:28:06 PM ----- BODY: Vicki Cain performed in plays along side Sara Jane Olson, aka Kathleen Soliah. Soliah (Cain calls her her "comrade") was arrested in 1999 for taking part in planting bombs in 1975. Cain almost has an orgasm when she realizes how close to terrorism she was.
To think that I was in a play with an alleged former SLA member takes some getting used to. Even after 26 years, the Symbionese Liberation Army still strikes a certain amount of terror in people's hearts. They were terrorist revolutionaries who were responsible for murder, kidnapping and armed bank robbery. Six of their members were massacred in a showdown with Los Angeles police on live television in 1974. To think that I am one degree of separation from that extremist organization is, well, kind of sexy.She wants bygones to be bygones and to just forget about Soliah's terrorist escapades. For Cain, that would be taking the "high road." What Cain doesn't care about is accountability and responsiblity. Whether it was two months or 25 years since the crime took place, Soliah must be held accountable. Cain points out that nobody was hurt because no bomb ever went off ("After all, no one was injured, and there wasn't even any property damage."), but it wasn't the intention of Soliah and the SLA to plant a dud bomb. They wanted it to explode and cause damage and death. Soliah must be tried for such a blatant act of terrorism. Would Cain have a different opinion if she were the wife or sister of the officer under whose car the bomb was planted? She never saw the radical terroist Soliah. She only saw the actor, political activist, reader to the blind, and hot dish maven. She never tries to defend Soliah's innocence. She isn't even angry that Soliah lied about her past to her friends and neighbors. Cain just doesn't care if Soliah was an member of a group whose goal was the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. She just wants to ignore her friend's anti-American past because she never saw that side of Soliah. "The Actress I Knew" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 06:34:51 PM ----- BODY: It's official, if Russia can't make a deal over missile defense, the U.S. will withdraw from the ABM treaty and build it anyway. National defense must trump any outdated treaty. "U.S. to Quit ABM if Russia Talks Fail" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/22/2001 12:30:47 AM ----- BODY: I'm right there with Kevin. The Nature Conservancy understands that private property, capitalism, and sensible land management protect the environment and the bottom line. Forget calling The Nature Conservancy pragmatists. They understand human behavior and institutions much better than their socialist brethern. "Eco-Pragmatists" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2001 11:30:49 PM ----- BODY: Bill doesn't go crazy over spam in his mailbox.
I used to get annoyed with spam. Now I just delete it, unread. Takes about 10 seconds each time I get my mail, and I get lots of spam. I'd rather spend that 10 seconds than have the feds in my e-mailbox.Common sense trumps legislation. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/21/2001 11:04:16 PM ----- BODY: James Taylor (not the lame, whimpy singer) raped and tried to kill a little girl near Fond du Lac, WI. Sunday night, Taylor hanged himself in his prision cell. I have little sympathy for him because of the horrific pain he imposed on the eight-year old. However, I'm disturbed at the glee of some people who have called to talk radio. It sounds simplistic, but all human life is precious, even that of the evil James Taylor. To passionately cheer over his death illustrates society's comtempt for some human life. "Accused Molester's Suicide Confirmed" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/20/2001 07:48:14 PM ----- BODY: Thomas Sowell wonders if some people will cry racism if Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGuire's single-season home run record. "Barry Bonds' Great Season" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/19/2001 09:29:12 PM ----- BODY: Adam Smith wasn't the pure laissez-faire libertarian some would like to believe. You can come to this conclusion by reading Smith yourself or trust Alan Krueger's column. "Rediscovering 'The Wealth of Nations'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2001 09:27:34 PM ----- BODY: Any compensation will just show weakness to the Chinese communists. "U.S. Payment To China Unjustified" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2001 09:11:10 PM ----- BODY: Bill St. Clair: gun lover and U.N. hater. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/18/2001 09:09:22 PM ----- BODY: Here's a disturbing quote from a British embryologist when asked about doing research on human cloning:
There are plenty of people here [Great Britain] who would be interested. I have played around with embryos after hours.Yeah, after I come back from the pub, I love poking and prodding at unborn children just for kicks. For this scientist, human life isn't sacred, it's just something to play with after quaffing a couple pints. "Lawyer in Fresh Fight to Clone Dead Baby Son" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/17/2001 01:46:05 PM ----- BODY: Mount Holyoke College defends the integrity of the university while also holding Pulitzer Prize-winner Joseph Ellis accountable for his lies about military service. "Pulitzer Prize-Winning Historian Professor Suspended for Lying about Vietnam Combat" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/17/2001 01:17:29 PM ----- BODY: In Eau Claire, WI, the price for killing a newborn baby is 100 hours of community service. Judge Eric Wahl ordered that punishment for a 16-year old girl and also suggested that she quit smoking and not drink a lot of soda. The prosecutor isn't off the hook either. District Attorney Rick White was happy with the judge's decision because, "[t]he primary goal was not to punish this young lady, it was to hold her accountable for what happened." Abortion, assisted suicide, embryonic stem-cell research, and infanticide are all made out of the same cloth. For almost a generation, we have witnessed the declining respect for human life. Too many accept senseless human killing while actually encouraging it when it becomes convenient. Many people get more outraged when a dog is killed than when a child in allowed to freeze to death. "Girl Won't Face Detention in Baby's Death" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/16/2001 11:45:15 PM ----- BODY: The NAACP is offensive--not because the term "colored people" is in their name--because it abuses historical black oppression to prey upon white guilt. With this, they call for more statist policies that do more harm than good. Shelby Steele and John McWhorter have written that racism is not the primary barrier to black achievment. Embracing middle class values (respect for law, private property ownership, investment in education) have already lifted many blacks from poverty. The NAACP should praise this instead of attacking President Bush and complaining about the lack of diversity in the television industry. Mallard Fillmore -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/16/2001 11:32:42 PM ----- BODY: With the help of the national party, Bret Schundler may surprise everyone by winning the New Jersey governor's election. "Ruling May Aid Schundler Campaign" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/16/2001 11:16:55 PM ----- BODY: blogBuddy is a small, fast program that sits on your personal computer. After using it for just a few posts, I'm hooked. blogBuddy [via Evhead] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/16/2001 11:12:28 PM ----- BODY: I didn't get a chance to grab a corn dog at the State Fair, but I'm sure I can find something to satisfy my canine craving in one of these shops. "Frankly Tasty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/15/2001 09:30:52 PM ----- BODY: Dr. Bjorn Lomborg will be driven from respectiblity in Left-wing circles. Why? Because he's an environmentalist who doesn't buy the world-is-doomed scare tactics of the modern Green movement. "Bjorn Lomborg: A Chipper Environmentalist" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/15/2001 09:15:28 PM ----- BODY: KRISPY KREME IS COMING! KRISPY KREME IS COMING! "West Allis, Wisconsin! a href="http://www.krispykreme.com/opening1_WI.htm">Krispy Kreme is Bringing the HOT Light!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/15/2001 05:38:18 PM ----- BODY: Tibor Machan tells us the truth behind the Green movement:
They do not much like human beings and care little about how much pain their policies bring to them. But they are savvy enough to know that if they made this position clear on each occasion when it is relevant, they would lose their standing in the forums of civil discourse and would be seen for the hateful people they are.That's why environmentalists fight against farmers in the West in the name of protecting endangered species while keeping silent when a shark was killed to save a boy's arm. "Shark v. Boy’s Arm" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/15/2001 05:17:33 PM ----- BODY: Why is the media making a big deal over President Bush's month-long "working" vacation in Crawford, TX? Because many reporters call it his "home to the wasteland." Bush knows the media trapped in the town of 705 don't want to be there when he told them, "I know a lot of you wish you were in the East Coast, lounging on the beaches, sucking in the salt air. But when you're from Texas - and love Texas - this is where you come home." "No Grocery, $5 Haircuts - and the Bush Ranch" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/15/2001 04:25:41 PM ----- BODY: A forgetable band calls it quits. No loss to the music world. "Danish Aqua Pop Group to Disband -- Reports" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2001 11:52:33 PM ----- BODY: Rush will do it if the price is right, and it might send Larry King to an early grave. "CNN in Discussions with Rush Limbaugh" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/14/2001 10:49:00 PM ----- BODY: In the early 80s, I remember countless Saturday afternoons watching Earl Anthony school everyone in the PBA. I will never forget the man who looked like Ward Cleaver with glasses. "Anthony Considered Winningest PBA Bowler" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/13/2001 12:53:37 PM ----- BODY: In a New York Times op-ed, President Bush reiterates his reasons for limited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. "Stem Cell Science and the Preservation of Life" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/12/2001 12:23:49 AM ----- BODY: This is not news, yet I'm blogging it. "Gore Still Hasn't Shaved His Beard" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2001 11:48:49 PM ----- BODY: Your tax dollars at work:
A $6.2 million Pentagon experiment to let overseas soldiers vote by Internet last year netted just 84 ballots a cost of nearly $74,000 per voter."Military Net Vote: A Big Bust" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/11/2001 11:22:36 PM ----- BODY: An item in the Wisconsin state budget is being justly ridiculed by Matt Drudge. Unless Gov. Scott McCallum (R-WI) vetoes it, Wisconsin taxpayers will provide voice mail for the homeless. "Homeless Voice Mail in Budget" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/10/2001 08:46:51 PM ----- BODY: President Bush's decision to fund limited research on embryonic stem-cells is being criticised by pro-life groups and the "don't-interfere-with-science" crowd. Such responses may seem that Bush pulled off an almost King Solomon-like compromise. But looking at this more closely, pro-lifers (like myself) should be happy. His decision isn't perfect. While allowing federal funding on existing embryonic stem-cell lines makes sense because the "life and death decision has already been made," it's still uncomfortable because the cells are the result of an immoral process. More importantly, the government won't pay for the additional slaughter of embryos for their stem cells. Pro-lifers should be pleased; their worst nightmare of federal funding with no strings attatched was in their sights. Remarks by the Presidnet on Stem Cell Research "High-Wire Act" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/10/2001 07:57:12 PM ----- BODY: The Communist Chinese obviously consider the United States to be a threat. If they didn't, then they wouldn't have tried to influence our Presidential and Congressional elections. We already know about Johnny Chung pouring Communist cash into the Clinton/Gore campaign, but the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence informs us that Congress was also in the sights of the Chinese. The People's Republic of China (PRC) had an official plan to influence "the U.S. political process applied to various political office holders or candidates at the local, state, and federal level." While all this was discovered, few of our leaders, including the Bush White House, made any attempt to block the 2008 Olympics from being held in Bejing. The last thing you want to do with a thug is not hold it accountable for its uncivilized actions. "Report: China Had Covert Plan for 1996 Elections" Activities of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 1999-2000 -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/9/2001 07:40:59 PM ----- BODY: Along with the rest of the nation, I await President Bush's decision on federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. "Bush Will Address Nation on Federal Stem-Cell Funding" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2001 09:42:01 PM ----- BODY: This is the same state that elected Hillary Clinton U.S. Senator. "State Can't Bridge The Distance" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2001 09:26:11 PM ----- BODY: Here's more on my discourse over embryonic stem-cell research: Bill, links to Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) who opposes federal funding and a federal ban on human cloning and stem cell research. Paul grounds his view on a strict reading of the constitution. Paul writes, "Congress forgets that the Constitution grants only certain limited powers to federal lawmakers, reserving all other matters for the states under the 10th Amendment." His solution is to let states and local governments pass their own laws on this sensitive issue. "Government Cannot Mandate Solutions to Ethical Dilemmas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2001 09:17:50 PM ----- BODY: Maureen Reagan, Godspeed. "Maureen Reagan Dies of Cancer at Age 60" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2001 08:26:11 PM ----- BODY: Gov. Frank Keating (R-OK) knows that responsible oil drilling isn't devastating to his state and won't destroy ANWR. Keating writes that Oklahomans have lived in "harmony with more than 100,000 oil and gas wells." "Life Among the Rigs" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/8/2001 12:22:03 AM ----- BODY: Carson Holloway makes a very persuasive defense of why pro-lifers should reject violence in the pursuit of their goals.
I would contend, then, that violence in opposition to abortion ought to be rejected because the use of such violence, even though intended to save innocent lives, threatens to create a situation in which innocent life is even less secure than it is currently. The law, tragically and inexcusably, does not protect fetal human life. But we must ask whether that neglect authorizes private persons to exercise lethal force to prevent the evil. To answer affirmatively and to act accordingly would be effectively to destroy the social compact, in practice to authorize every citizen to kill to prevent whatever each one takes to be an injustice insufficiently addressed by law. If pro–lifers publicly assert and act on a right to kill abortionists, what is to stop their example from spreading to other activists for other causes, perhaps not as worthy, but nonetheless felt as worthy by those who profess them? If pro–lifers set the precedent, is it not to be expected that environmentalists, and animal rights activists, and population controllers, and euthanasiasts will follow it? Simply put, the private use of violence even in defense of innocent life will likely result in practice in rapidly growing anarchy, and hence in the untold loss of innocent life. This is not to oppose civil disobedience, a tactic which all these groups, including pro–lifers, have used. But civil disobedience, to remain "civil," must be nonviolent. In order to achieve the good of national peace, then, we should be willing to coexist for a time with the evil of abortion. This, however, is emphatically not a case of doing evil that good may come, but merely of tolerating an evil for fear of an even worse evil; and much of traditional Christian moral teaching indicates that our leeway in considering consequences is much greater when our actions are not causing the evil directly. Thus, for example, a nation could not morally commit genocide to solve even the most serious problems, but it could legitimately decline to intervene to stop another nation’s genocide out of a reasonable fear that such an effort would in fact cause the genocide to spread. Indeed, the pro–life rejection of violence rests on even stronger grounds than these, for it is not so much a tolerance of the evil—after all, pro–lifers are and should be committed to doing everything possible within the law to bring the practice to a halt—as an unwillingness to resort to the most radical means to stop it."Serpents, Doves, and Abortion" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2001 10:28:56 PM ----- BODY: USA Today/CNN/Gallup polled Americans on their views of embryonic stem-cell research. Someone should ask this question in a poll: Do you think federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research is constitutional? I would guess a majority would say yes, but I can't find where in the constitution it says that. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2001 03:05:11 PM ----- BODY: Michael Long: Conservative who doesn't bash MTV. "Not Satan, Not Really" [via jh3k] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2001 01:44:16 PM ----- BODY: Tannette Johnson-Elie has a lousy idea: affirmative action for Wisconsin State Fair vendors. She writes:
But if the state wants to reach out to minority vendors at State Fair, it ought to consider making microloans available to minorities who need the up-front money to exhibit.I'm sure there are plenty of white vendors who would also love to have a try at the state fair too. Why base this idea just on skin color? How about microloans for them as well? "State Fair Needs Diversity All Around" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/7/2001 01:35:54 PM ----- BODY: CNN thought 30 minutes was just too much to cover the world of news. Yesterday, CNN Headline News transformed into a Bloomberg box with an even shorter attention span. They now claim they can cover the world in 15 minutes. The bottom third of the screen is crammed with stock quotes, regional news headlines, and a tiny weather map. The talking head is in the upper right-hand area of the screen while to the left are info nuggets of the current story along with dumb quips like "Drop that Remote!" But why bother when you'll get all the news you need in 15 minutes. Think of this new change as CNN news at an MTV pace. Maybe I'm just getting old, but from first impressions I will be using the Net even more to get my news fix. "CNN Clutters TV Screen by Copying Web Design" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/6/2001 02:03:23 PM ----- BODY: Steven Horowitz makes a key point in his defense of free trade.
The key to free trade's liberating role is that those who possess capital are able to bring that capital to workers who lack it, which in turn raises their productivity and enhances their earning power.Violent anti-trade luddites need to recognize that free trade isn't exploitative but it's a means of lifting more people out of abject poverty. "Free Trade and the Climb out of Poverty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/2/2001 11:16:49 PM ----- BODY: Sometime in the next 10 days, I will be stuffing my face with a yummy, sweet cream puff. That's because the Wisconsin State Fair is off and running. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/2/2001 10:55:41 PM ----- BODY: Ross Mackenzie fills us in on Bill Clinton's activities for the past few months. "Bill is Back and Ready for Action" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/2/2001 10:08:56 PM ----- BODY: With a new $100 million contract, Whitney Houston should be able to find a really good brownie recipe "Whitney Houston Inks $100M Deal" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 8/1/2001 01:18:48 PM ----- BODY: Think Gary Condit would have a troublesome Congressional campaign in 2002? Then consider William Kennedy Smith who had his own problems with women. He would have been a shoo-in in Massachusettes because those voters have experience electing a killer. But no late-night tv jokes over this one because Smith decided not to run for Congress. "William Kennedy Smith Rules Out 2002 Congress Run" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/31/2001 11:59:16 PM ----- BODY: The worst team in baseball, my Milwaukee Brewers, lost again. "Florida 5, Milwaukee 1" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/30/2001 11:18:26 PM ----- BODY: President Bush supports a ban on human cloning. In a statement, the administration said, "The administration unequivocally is opposed to the cloning of human beings either for reproduction or for research. The moral and ethical issues posed by human cloning are profound and cannot be ignored in the quest for scientific discovery." It also said, "The administration would strongly oppose any substitute amendment ... which would permit human embryos to be created and developed solely for research purposes." Although he supports a ban on human cloning, no mention is made of embryonic stem cell research. The policy statement could easily be applied to defend a ban on federal funding for such research. The debate over using human embryos as medical slaves also involve "moral and ethical issues" that "are profound and cannot be ignored in the quest for scientific discovery." Following the logic of the statement, embryonic stem cell research should be banned because it would "permit human embryos to be created and developed solely for research purposes." If President Bush comes out in support for embryonic stem cell research, he will have a tough time squaring that circle. "Bush Supports Ban on Human Cloning" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/29/2001 11:16:45 PM ----- BODY: Killer hooks, solid guitar crunch, a sprinkling of harmony, and touching lyrics make Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American the best new album I've heard in 2001. The eleven songs should all get on the radio to enliven the musical landscape and revive the power pop genre. "Jimmy Eat World Bleed American" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/28/2001 02:22:36 AM ----- BODY: Ross Mackenzie has his crack at the embryonic stem cell debate:
For good or ill, science will roll on. Whether it rolls in the proper (in this case, proper bioethical) direction will depend on our own ethical prescriptions and our own humaneness - and most prominently on the humaneness of the scientific community itself.Right now, the scientific community is failing in its respect for human life. Too many scientists want to continue using human embryos as medical slaves to further their research regardless of the ethical considerations, while those scientists in opposition are not being loud enough in voicing their dissent. "Our Own Ethical Prescriptions Will Determine the Outcome" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2001 08:32:17 PM ----- BODY: Note to self: must pay a visit to Archer City, TX. "The Book Rancher" [via jh3k] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2001 08:14:18 PM ----- BODY: A bunch of unthinking, Lefty musicians are banding together to oppose President Bush's energy plan. Fine, let them try putting on a show by candlelight. What caught my attention was this paragraph from the news story:
[Alanis] Morissette hopes to bring attention to the New Power Project's cause with her July 31 show in Anchorage, Alaska, not far from the wildlife refuge, according to Nasty Little Man and the singer/songwriter's publicists.Launch.com has this blurb on the concert:
Anchorage is just a short plane ride from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.The New Power Project opposes oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) which is in the northern part of Alaska near Prudhoe Bay. Alanis "Abortion Rights are Artist's rights" Morissette's concert will be in Anchorage in the southern part of the state. Anchorage is no where near ANWR (see this map and this map). Whether ANWR is only a "short" plane ride from Anchorage depends on how fast the plane is, but to suggest Alaska's largest city is anywhere near the frozen tundra of ANWR is ridiculous. Either the publicists (and the musicians they work for) are geographical morons or huge cynics who think they can fool the public. "Beasties, Morissette, DMB Fight Bush Energy Policy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2001 07:18:02 PM ----- BODY: For all you white trash, here's lizziegrubman.com. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2001 12:35:13 AM ----- BODY: Two blogs have recently linked to TAM: Jason and jimhart3000. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/27/2001 12:17:58 AM ----- BODY: Jonathan Rauch has written the funniest book review I've ever read. His fictional dialogue mocks Russel Roberts' The Invisible Heart. Within the playful review, Rauch gives his one-sentence review of the plot:
Ah, that classic story: Boy meets girl, boy spouts hard-core free-market theories that repel girl, boy gets girl.Rauch does like the book even though it fails as a novel:
But didactic novels always fail as art; the question is whether they make their points in a way that engages while instructing. The book is a pleasant read, with a sense of humor about itself and a genuinely inventive twist. And so few economists even bother trying to communicate with a general audience—for that matter, so few economists can put together two sentences in English—that it's kind of endearing when some think-tank professor with a passion for Adam Smith and Milton Friedman tries to write a novel to sell ideas.After reading the book, let me add that the book teaches free-market economic ideas with a soft touch. Roberts also lets his reader know that free-market advocates (like myself) really do care about the world around them. "Economists of the World, Pucker Up" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/26/2001 11:06:04 PM ----- BODY: Lance Morrow notices a dramatic wound to Western Civilization's respect for human life. A French court ruled a disabled child could receive damages because doctors didn't offer his mother the option of abortion. Morrow writes:
The court's logic—which is the true deformity—would encourage wholesale prenatal slaughter. It stigmatizes the handicapped and states, as a principle of law, that they never should have been born. Such children are an error that would, in the utopia toward which the idealism of the law aspires, be eliminated, pre-emptively. Under the menace of this decision, French doctors, whenever the slightest shadow turns up on the sonogram, will advise: Abort. Perfect children are mandated by law. Parents will be considered irresponsible if they bring forth a specimen less than perfect. Think of the charming effect this decision would have if it were applied in those many countries around the world where a fetus that turns up with a vagina rather than a penis is considered to be defective.The culture of death won't be defeated until people realize that all of us are sacred, valuable human beings. Be wanted and perfection are not two requirements for living. We are not mere recepticles of pleasure. Children don't exist just to make their parents happy. We are more than Mr. Winkle looking cute and silly. People (including frozen human embryos) are not means to other's ends. Instead, we are creatures who have the ability to acheive great things and rise above the boundaries of this existence. To wantonly dispose of undesired human life is the tragedy of our times. "On Suing If Your Parents Were Not Given the Chance to Abort You" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/26/2001 10:29:37 PM ----- BODY: Rich Galen gives his readers this joke floating through D.C.'s stuffy, humid air:
How can you tell NBA star Patrick Ewing and former President Bill Clinton apart? Ewing told the truth about it under oath."The Times' They are A'Changin'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/25/2001 01:30:49 PM ----- BODY: While making some sensible points about musicians and the music industry, Alanis Morissette had to put her foot in her mouth when she equated musicians' rights with a woman's right to an abortion. "For me, this is a moral issue equal to a woman's right to choose," she said. So, Ms. Morissette considers the right to kill an innocent, unborn child on par with her own right to sell millions of albums. This is another fine example why celebrities shouldn't talk about politics. Most of the time they don't know what they're talking about. Call it Alec Baldwin Syndrome. Alanis, you're priorities are really screwed up! "Morissette Equates Artists' Rights With 'Woman's Right To Choose' " -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2001 07:00:47 PM ----- BODY: Don't expect Dick Gephardt to be Speaker anytime soon. Dick Armey (R-TX) offered this funny reply: "I heard that Dick Gephardt has just declared that he wants to retain his current title of minority leader." "Gephardt Hints at Increase in Taxes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2001 06:20:00 PM ----- BODY: Billboard now tracks the top selling electronic albums. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2001 05:59:37 PM ----- BODY: Mallard Fillmore notices the Left's religious intolerance. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2001 05:36:13 PM ----- BODY: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) gets the political blow-hard quote of the day when he cried, "Reluctantly I have come to the conclusion that Microsoft's release of Windows XP in its current form will likely be unfair, anticompetitive and, in the long run, extraordinarily detrimental to many consumers." As a self-proclaimed computer whiz, Schumer can peer into the future and see the evil Bill Gates ruling the computing landscape with an iron grip. If that's the case, why is MS so enthusiastic behind their .Net plan which will offer Web-based services? Schumer's computer expertise is also highly questionable, since no one has claimed that Windows XP will prevent users from using AOL's Instant Messenger. "Senator Demands Changes in Microsoft Windows XP" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2001 05:00:18 PM ----- BODY: President Bush should heed the words of Pope John Paul when making his decision on embryonic stem cell research:
Experience is already showing how a tragic coarsening of consciences accompanies the assault on innocent human life in the world, leading to accommodation and acquiescence in the face of other related evils, such as euthanasia, infanticide, and, most recently, proposals for the creation for research purposes of human embryos destined to destruction in the process."Legalized abortion has opened the door to assisted suicide, partial-birth abortion, infanticide, and an overall devaluation of human life (i.e. Columbine). I fear what path our civilization is going down if we permit using human beings in embryonic form as medical cannon fodder. "Pontiff: Reject Embryo Research Warns Against 'Tragic' Course" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/24/2001 04:49:59 PM ----- BODY: Democrats, labor unions, and senior citizen groups are eating their own when attacking President Bush's Social Security commission. Leftists are crying that the commission's recent report creates a crisis that scares people into supporting private retirement accounts. Critics also complain that the panel is biased towards Social Security privatization. Of course Bush ran for President on partial privatization, so it's not surprising that his commission would be sympathetic towards it. Leftist critics have even protested outside their meetings. The protests prompted CEO of Black Entertainment Television, Robert Johnson, to chastize critics. Democrats should "focus on trying to address a very serious problem that will not go away simply by calling out names and trying to hide in the sand." "Bush Social Security Panel Meets Under Fire" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/23/2001 11:04:26 PM ----- BODY: Milwaukee's best band, The Gufs, are working on new material and trying to find a new record company. Lead singer, Goran Kralj, says the new songs sound like their brilliant last album Holiday from You but with more positive lyrics. "Milwaukee talks: The Gufs' Goran Kralj" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/22/2001 12:05:34 PM ----- BODY: Is Milwaukee, home of die hard, beer drinking Green Bay Packers fan ready for major league soccer? I don't think so, but the $50 million plan would be privately funded. "Krause Wants Stadium Near Bradley Center" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/21/2001 02:15:14 PM ----- BODY: Malcolm Gladwell profiles America's informercial king, Ron Popeil. "The Pitchman" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/21/2001 02:11:56 PM ----- BODY: Cheney doesn't need to sink down to the level of Hillary Clinton. He should release all the information from the task force and defend its activities. "GAO Turns Up Heat on Cheney Over Energy Task Force" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/21/2001 02:10:05 PM ----- BODY: President Bush's unauthorized biographer killed himself on a drug overdose. "Author of Bush Biography Commits Suicide" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2001 04:53:48 PM ----- BODY: While inconsistent pro-life Senators are caving left and right, President Bush has still not said the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research. All the talk about the possible benefits from such research ignore the basic question of the debate: does a human embryo have the same rights as any other person or do they have fewer rights because of location or advancement of development? Reason's Jacob Sullum understands this point when he writes, "Regardless of the benefits promised by stem cell research, its moral status cannot be decided without addressing that question." Then there's the economics of stem cell research. While many tout the possible treatments from embryonic stem cells, in the June issue of The American Spectator (sorry, not online) Scott Gottlieb notices the much of the financing into the research is going to companies using adult stem cells. Right now, the market thinks the quickest, most profitable success is with adult stem cells rather than ones from embryos. But regardless of where the science could allow us to go with the help of capital markets, using unborn humans as means to (well intentioned) ends violates the sanctity of human life, individualism, and autonomy. Those three ideas are some of the backbones of Western Civilization. From those ideas billions of people have been given the chance to live free and prosperous lives. Let's not turn our backs on those ideas just to take advantage of scientific slavery. "Cell Division" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 7/19/2001 12:41:32 AM ----- BODY: Vacation's over! It's back to work--I mean blogging. France was fun. I'll try to get some pictures and narrative up to satisfy your curiosity. But another, more important, event captured my time. Last Saturday, my sister Sara married a swell guy named Brian.
America's commercial, civil, and military reliance on space inevitably will draw attacks from hostile powers that see its undefended capability as an Achilles heel, as Chinese military writings make clear. Adversaries will target America's military satellites to destroy critical infrastructure, and civilian systems to disrupt American life. Exploding a nuclear warhead in space would obliterate satellites nearby and release enough radiation to destroy other satellites in low-Earth orbit within months. Hostile nations that have ballistic missiles could explode warheads filled with pellets, sand, or shrapnel within 100 meters of a satellite, destroying it on impact. Currently, over 20 nations possess or are developing ground-based lasers capable of disrupting satellite signals. Reportedly, a British satellite was thrown out of orbit by invading computer hackers (the British government denies this account).Spencer's recommendation is to develop a next-generation space lauch vehicle to quickly send up needed payloads. Instead of depending so much on the federal government, Spencer should have also recommended relaxed regulatory rules to allow private interests to have a shot at low cost rockets. "America Needs a New Space Launch Vehicle" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2001 12:33:25 AM ----- BODY: Are you a "minder" or a "brainer"? "No Brainer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/26/2001 12:02:18 AM ----- BODY: For the sake of the oppress Cuban people, I hope last Saturday's fainting spell is a sign that Fidel Castro's days as a brutal thug are numbered. "Castro Falters, Recovers -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2001 11:53:34 PM ----- BODY: Slate got Glassed. A story posted on the magazine site describes an afternoon of monkey fishing. Supposedly fruit was baited to a hook and tossed onto an island off Florida's coast inhabited by rhesus monkeys. OpinionJournal.com didn't buy the story for a minute. Now, the NY Times reports that the story is a hoax. Even Slate publisher Michael Kinsley admits he was fooled. One lesson to learn: think twice before believing anything written by Jay Forman. Another lesson: if a story seems to be way too-out-there, it probably is. "Tortured Tale of Journalism and Monkeys" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2001 11:33:54 PM ----- BODY: Stephen Moore wants President Bush's picture on the tax rebate checks to be sent out later this year. He calls them "G. W. Checks." The picture's great, but the name is awful. Since the checks would have a President on it just like our currency, they should be called "Bush Bucks." That rolls off the tongue better. "G. W. Checks" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2001 10:42:06 AM ----- BODY: No matter how much Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) and Northeast socialists crow, price controls on milk don't help family farmers and force everyone else to pay more at the store. The Northeast Dairy Compact should be scrapped along with the socialized milk pricing formula that sets prices based on how far the producer is from Eau Claire, WI. I demand a free market in milk now! "The OPEC of Milk" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2001 10:36:24 AM ----- BODY: P.J. O'Rourke notices that California's energy problems are an excuse for some to attack capitalism:
The world is full of mental Californians who, despite a century of socialist catastrophes, are willing to blame the free market for things like the California energy crisis."Stupidity in the Golden State" [via ETWOF] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/25/2001 10:17:03 AM ----- BODY: Yeah!!!! John's getting hitched! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/24/2001 01:06:12 AM ----- BODY: Who says crime doesn't pay. In England, two teenagers will be released after eight years in custody. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were 10 when they killed James Bulger. Now, with their release Thompson, Venables, and their families will be given new identities to protect them from vilgilante attack. But not only will they get new identities, but the Sun reports
Both teenagers and their families have been given new names, birth certificates, passports and National Insurance numbers. They will also get fully-fitted £65,000 homes with the £270-a-week rent paid. On top of that they are in line for free cars, credit cards, police protection and cash handouts for the rest of their lives - all paid for by taxpayers.They get all this because these two creeps brutally killed a little boy. I wonder what goodies Tim McVeigh would have got if he blew up a building in London rather than Oklahoma City? "Bulger Killers Go on Hols" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/23/2001 01:36:29 PM ----- BODY: The Associated Press provides more on Sergio Bendixen and the Hispanic vote. "He's romancing them and appealing to them at a personal level and the Democrats are doing nothing," said Bendixen in an interview. The story also reported that 60% of Hispanics approve the way President Bush is doing his job. The Democrats' response is denial. "We carried the Hispanic vote 2-to-1 ... they have a problem and we don't," said Democratic strategist Michael Meehan. "Pollster Warns Dems: Bush and Hispanics Connecting" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2001 11:08:59 PM ----- BODY: I will be expecting my tax refund check in early September. I would like it now so I can convert it into francs. $300 equals 2,305.89 francs. When Should You Expect Your Refund Check? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2001 10:38:49 PM ----- BODY: The Texas legislature wants the U.S. to end its embargo with Cuba. The purpose of the embargo is to force Fidel Castro from power and return freedom to all Cubans. It's now been over 40 years since the embargo started, and there is no end in sight for Castro's brutal regime. A new policy is in order. Isolating Cuba from the U.S. hasn't brought freedom to Cuba. Maybe a healthy dose of American capitalism will. "Texas Calls for End of Cuba Embargo" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2001 10:26:55 PM ----- BODY: William F. Buckley's search for pants with a special cell phone pocket caused him to discover Abercrombie & Fitch's catalog with it's wanton displays of youthful flesh. Some odd thoughts popped into my head after reading the column: I can't imaging Buckley with a cell phone. My mind can't grasp the founder of the magazine who's motto is "Standing athwart history yelling, stop!" yapping away on a Nokia 5120. I also can't imagine staid Buckley entering an Abercrombie & Fitch with its booming music echoing throughout the store. I would think Buckley would arrive at the entrance, hear the thumping bass from some dance track, turn around to leave, and ask one of his grandchildren to help him buy his pants through their website. What Buckley does offer in his column is a description of America's continued loss of innocence and mystery. Sex and human sexuality are truly beautiful, but such candid displays of sexuality desensitize us from appreciating that beauty. It's been said that 99% of sexuality is between our ears. Such direct sexual exposure lessens the need to employ our brains. "Show Your ID Before Reading" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/21/2001 02:47:12 AM ----- BODY: Convential wisdom says Democrats are more in tune with minority voters. But Sergio Bendixen thinks the Democrats have a problem with Hispanics...a big problem. "My message is that Democrats are in deep trouble with Hispanics," Bendixen told The Washington Times. He thinks President Bush is making strong inroads with that growing voting bloc. Bendixen goes so far as to see the possiblity of Bush getting 50% of the Hispanic vote in the next election. Bendixen's counterattack for Democrats is to tell this constituency that "'W´ is not a good friend." It's not the wisest strategy to go negative and bash the opposition while admitting that the target of the attack "truly connects with Hispanics." You'll notice that this isn't a positive, issue-oriented agenda. Sure Bendixen mentions public education and the minimum wage, but he positions them as something President Bush opposes (which he doesn't). Nowhere does Bendixen or Donna Brazile (AlGore's 2000 campaign manager) offer a pro-active agenda. To them, Bush is just fooling Hispanics with his outreach. Such ignorance could prove costly in future elections. "Democrats Told to Woo Hispanics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/20/2001 09:28:37 PM ----- BODY: Please vote for Blogger in the Personal catagory of the Webby Awards People's Voice. Without that nifty service TAM wouldn't be quite the same, interesting, highly judgemental weblog you've come to love. Blogger deserves to win, so I'm asking for your support. Also write in National Review for the Print Ezine catagory. There is no conservative/libertarian voice in that catagory. Let the world know that the Right has a loud voice on the Web. Thanks. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/19/2001 02:04:56 AM ----- BODY: The Centers for Disease Control can't find evidence that people got sick from an allergic reaction to genetically modified Starlink corn. Too bad this fact hasn't stopped the environmentalists who want genetically modified food banned from human consumption. "Genetically Engineered Corn Cleared in 17 Food Reactions" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/19/2001 01:49:15 AM ----- BODY: A KISS coffin is only for the true "die"-hard fan. It also doubles as a really big cooler until Death's dark hand rips you from this world. "Simmons Offers One Last Kiss" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/19/2001 01:42:50 AM ----- BODY: With this latest attack by a knife-wielding criminal will Sarah Brady call for a 5-day waiting period before a Japanese can buy a knife? "New Attack in Japan Raises Alarm on Violent Crime" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/18/2001 02:14:26 PM ----- BODY: India's infamous monkeyman scare was caused by "emotionally-weak" people. "Mass Hysteria Manufactured Monkeyman" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/18/2001 01:21:43 PM ----- BODY: This was the weirdest ending to a final U.S. Open round I've ever seen, but it provide this funky quote from South African choker--I mean golfer--Retief Goosen: "Obviously, I'm not happy, but what can I do? I'm not going to jump out of my hotel room tonight. It's golf, and things happen." "Disasters at 18 Force Playoff" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/18/2001 01:17:20 PM ----- BODY: It wasn't a good weekend at Milwaukee's Miller Park. The Brewers lost 2 of 3 from the Kansas City Royals. Friday night's game was canceled because of a power outage. Then yesterday, an elevator trapped 13 or 19 people including Brewers' radio announcer Jim Powell. "It's a good story to tell, definitely a first for me," said Powell. "People Trapped in Elevator at Miller Park" "Group Rescued from Elevator at Miller Park" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/17/2001 12:30:44 AM ----- BODY: Milwaukee has its first oxygen bar. I can imagine this goofy West Coast craze coming to Madison, but not the more down-to-earth Milwaukee. "It's Okay to Inhale!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/17/2001 12:07:27 AM ----- BODY: Professor Robert Essenhigh doesn't think global warming is man-made. He's quoted as saying,
At 6 billion tons, humans are then responsible for a comparatively small amount - less than 5 percent - of atmospheric carbon dioxide. And if nature is the source of the rest of the carbon dioxide, then it is difficult to see that man-made carbon dioxide can be driving the rising temperatures. In fact, I don't believe it does.Essenhigh thinks global warming is just a natural climate cycle. Increased carbon dioxide in the atmophere is a symptom of the cycle and not its cause. This would put a damper on environmentalists' desire to regulate the economy in order to "save the planet," but facts won't get in the way of extending government's power. "Global Warming Natural, May End Within 20 Years, Says Ohio State University Researcher" [via Robot Wisdom] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/16/2001 11:27:36 PM ----- BODY: A Trotskyist group of screamers is trying to take over the Oakland, CA teachers' union. What teachers' union president Sheila Quintana doesn't realize is that her radical opponents are just taking ideas and values she subscribes to to their logical conclusion. "Class Struggle" [via Metafilter] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/16/2001 10:55:23 PM ----- BODY: Bret Stephens finds little real anti-American opposition in Europe. All the anger is from a small group of protesters, Leftist politicians, and publicity-seekers. So, while the average European isn't filled with rage toward Bush and the U.S., European Union propellerheads fear General Electric and oppose its merger with Honeywell. "GE/Honeywell Merger at La Mort's Door?" "Europe Doesn't Hate Bush" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/16/2001 03:50:23 PM ----- BODY: Jesse Helms: staunch conservative Senator and U2 fan. "Sen. Helms Takes in U2 Concert" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/14/2001 10:08:38 PM ----- BODY: Labeling egg cartons won't stop free-wheeling lawyers from filing lawsuits. Look at the tobacco industry. Waiter, make mine over-easy. I like to dunk my toast into the yummy gooey goodness. "Beware of Danger by the Dozens" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/14/2001 10:02:32 PM ----- BODY: The next thing we'll find out is that breathing (exhaling to be exact) causes pollution. It's all that carbon dioxide we expel. "Candles Now Blamed for Earth's Pollution" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/14/2001 09:57:05 PM ----- BODY: Professional athletes seem to be overwhelmingly conservative. John Solomon wonders why. Some of the great quotes he got include Charles Barkley explaining to his grandmother why he's for the GOP ("Grandma, we are rich.") and Arturs Irbe from formerly communist Latvia ("The Democrats are for big government. I experienced that, and I didn't like it."). "Sweep Right" [via Metafilter] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/14/2001 01:46:15 AM ----- BODY: Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon radiates with knowledge and understanding. Combining detailed horrendous experiences of his own depression with science, medicine, history, and anecdote, he offers a very human picture of this debilitating mental illness. If it's self-help you want, this book isn't for you. It's self-reflection because The Noonday Demon provides a broader understanding for those suffering from depression (or "The Blues" as I like to call it). Solomon's personal reflections can offer sufferers a vocabulary for explaining and dealing with own demons. For those who don't suffer from depression, the book offers insight into the irrational dispair the depressed suffer. From that, a greater empathy can be realized. At the end of the book, Solomon finds his daily choice to live to be invigorating. He knows his demon will never leave, but he draws strength from it to appreciate his own life. "Down but Never Out" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/13/2001 01:47:59 PM ----- BODY: With the most powerful politician in Wisconsin history off in Washington, D.C., state Democrats are going after one of Tommy Thompson's most important legacies: school choice. The Democratic-controlled State Senate slashed the voucher amount in half and capped the total number of kids who can take advantage of educational competition. The Democrats can crow all they want about how they want to protect public schools "for the children," but they neglect to help those kids who's lives could be seriously changed if they were allowed to escape shameful public schools. They don't care about the children; they care about the teachers' union that opposes any competition to the monopoly they control. "Senate Democrats Cut Choice Payments in Half" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/13/2001 01:39:20 PM ----- BODY: In one of the worst ideas I've heard in years, Eric Hufschmid, wants nationalized software development.
We could admit that free enterprise is not practical with desktop operating systems, so we could put desktop operating systems in the same category as public water supplies or airlines. Specifically, our government could release the Windows source code to the public domain, and any company that wanted to develop it would be allowed to work on it and sell copies. The government would supervise this in the same manner that they supervise the public water supply.I want to make two points. First, there isn't a serious problem with desktop operating systems. Sure, I wish Windows was more stable, and it could use more features. But software is a complex creature. While Moore's Law pushes processor performance to higher levels all the time, software development lags because it's hard dealing with a very complex end user--us. Better software development tools are needed to more quickly and effectively make complex programs. Nationalizing Windows source code would not bring about the torrent of new developers Hufschmid. After seeing Microsoft's crown jewels ripped away from them, what developer would want to create a popular program used by millions. There would be a legitimate fear that the government would steal it in the name of the "public good." Second, Hufschmid doesn't seem to acknowledge that analogous to "market failure" ("free enterprise is not practical with desktop operating systems") there is "government failure." In Hufschmid's limited model, the public sector can do no wrong. But how I wish that weren't the case. Government schools are pumping out uneducated children across the country; municipal water utilities dump raw sewage into lakes; over $5 trillion has been spent on the war on poverty since 1964, yet the poverty rate is about the same. Government failure exists, and to think such failure wouldn't happen with administrating Windows source code is beyond naïveté. If you really want to see a screwed up software industry, ask the same institution that runs the IRS to manage software development. I'll trust Bill Gates over any burearcrat or politician any day of the week. "GPL vs. Linux" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/12/2001 01:56:55 PM ----- BODY: In the world of Leslie James Pickering "property is not human. It is not violent to destroy property." So destroying research labs is justified to protect the planet from those "making a profit off the destruction of the natural environment." "Eco-Terrorist Attacks Prompt Federal Action" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2001 02:06:58 AM ----- BODY: Art should be about examining the human condition. This piece of bad black humor only makes me want to examine the artist's anti-Catholic sentiments. [via Robot Wisdom] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/11/2001 01:01:19 AM ----- BODY: The Christian Science Monitor is right when they mention that President Bush will have a tough time convincing the Europeans that he is a free-trader while backing possible imported steel sanctions. But remember, his European counterparts who love to subsidize domestic industries aren't pure free-traders either. "Protectionist Bush?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/10/2001 11:32:37 PM ----- BODY: I joked to a friend who is spending the week in Washington State to watch out for earthquakes. Me and my big mouth. "Moderate Quake Hits Western Washington" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/10/2001 11:27:14 PM ----- BODY: Janet Reno has announced that she will run for governor in Florida. Ooops! Maybe not. "Janet Reno to Run in Florida Governor's Race in 2002" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/9/2001 06:52:04 PM ----- BODY: Yeah, biotech food will win by default. With so much of it present already and the near impossiblity of preventing contamination, genetically modified food is here to stay. As Professor Jeanne Romero-Severson said, "If your standard is 100 percent pure, you better stop eating right now." "As Biotech Crops Multiply, Consumers Get Little Choice" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/9/2001 12:21:00 AM ----- BODY: National Review covers Bobby Flay's recent Iron Chef victory. Food Network has just arrived on my cable service, and I'm already hooked. "Grading Bobby Flay" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/8/2001 11:50:52 PM ----- BODY: Web content update: Salon's doomed too. Bummer...Not! "Support San Francisco's Finest" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/8/2001 11:33:51 PM ----- BODY: One half of the biggest governor's race in 2002 has announced his candidacy. Jeb Bush wants another term running Florida's government. Now, we wait for Janet "The Child Hater" Reno to shake and quake her way into the race. "Jeb Bush Says Will Seek Re-Election in Florida" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/8/2001 11:29:57 PM ----- BODY: Oh the injustice! Suck.com, the web's roving balloon-popping needle, has shut down. Feed (or FEED) is also "on ice." While both sites were permeated with liberals and lefties, they still had intellectual honesty. Feed in particular offered unique examinations of the future of science, technology, and media. Now, they're gone, but Salon.com, the reigning liberal propaganda machine continues to churn out uninteresting blather. "Web's Longest Running Daily Column Shuts Down" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/8/2001 12:40:54 AM ----- BODY: The latest tragedy in Japan proves a gun isn't required for mass murder. "Man Kills 7 Students at Japan School" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/8/2001 12:39:10 AM ----- BODY: Amazon.com is invading the space of MP3.com. There are quite a large number of free (legal) music downloads available. I've been finding some nice dance tracks like D:Fuse's "Bodyshock" and Jondi & Spesh's truly transcendent "We Are Connected." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/7/2001 11:54:02 PM ----- BODY: The media orgy over Monday's exectution of Timothy McVeigh makes me sick. First, the death penalty is an immoral, blood-thirsty form of justice. The only justifiable reason to kill another human being is self-defense. McVeigh won't be a threat to anyone if he remains locked up in a prison cell for the rest of his life. Second, the news companies do not need to feed the seemingly insatiable appetite for death. Our culture is enough of a culture of death. Millions of defenseless unborn children are killed every year because they're unwanted. Newborns are abandoned in dumpsters and toilets because raising them would be inconvienent. Kids shoot each other on the streets and in schools. Radical environmental terrorists attack animal research laboratories where work in done to improve human life. Princeton University hired Professor Peter Singer who advocates killing children and the elderly if it will "increase overall happiness." Respect for human life is decreasing at an alarming rate. The networks don't have to add to this obsession with human killing. "Networks Ready for McVeigh Execution" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/7/2001 10:56:14 PM ----- BODY: If Microsoft president Steve Ballmer had his way, he wouldn't get Microsoft into the media business. That doesn't mean MS is getting out of MSNBC anytime soon. It does mean we won't be seeing MS turning itself into another AOL Time Warner. Ballmer's comment does point out the two different paths MS and AOLTW are taking. MS mostly focuses on the technology while AOLTW takes the duel technology/content path. Comparing the two companies' stocks neither MS nor AOLTW have been lighting up the market. "Ballmer: Would Not Launch MSNBC Again" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/7/2001 10:11:50 AM ----- BODY: President Bush should stick to his free market gut instincts. In a move that could lead to trade restrictions that would have wide-ranging economic implications, Bush is asking the International Trade Commission to look into possible "unfair" trade practices by foreign steel producers. Ironically, Bush may be doing this to get the steel industry on his side to push a future free trade pact--expanded NAFTA. Or is he doing it to appear more "moderate" to liberal Senate Republicans? Isn't a little bit of protection for the steel industry all right as opposed to such an extreme stance as free trade? ;-) "Bush Takes Protectionist Step For Steel Industry" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2001 10:14:22 PM ----- BODY: John Fund provides another comparison of Sen. John McCain to Teddy Roosevelt. Fund guesses that if McCain ran for President as an independent, the best he could do is throw the election into the House of Representatives where party allegiance would stop him from claiming the Presidency. Fund concludes:
So McCain allies who back an independent candidacy, such as Marshall Wittmann of the Hudson Institute, are faced with a stark reality. Such a race would garner scads of media attention, the oxygen on which Mr. McCain thrives. In bad economic times it could throw the election to a Democrat by crippling the GOP incumbent, as TR did to President Taft in 1912. But such a last hurrah for Mr. McCain would have no realistic chance of winning the White House."The McCain Mutiny" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2001 08:38:43 PM ----- BODY: The arrests of President Bush's daughters for underage drinking stinks. Here's how John Williams put it:
It may be the first time a restaurant has considered underage drinking worthy of an emergency call in the home of the state's biggest university, said Becky Stewart, emergency services director for the Capital Area Planning Council.Here are two possibilites. Either the person who made the 911 call did it to get some easy publicity for the resturant, or the person has such indignation toward the President that embarassing Bush's daughters nationally as a way to attack him seems justified. "The 411 on Chuy's Decision to Call 911" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2001 08:22:17 PM ----- BODY: George Melloan offers this international perspective:
British Columbia and Italy are but two recent examples of how socialism, a powerful force in the world only 10 years ago, continues to lose appeal with voters. That old black magic of promised free lunches is shedding its power, mainly because voters are beginning to realize that the price of those free lunches is actually rather high."Socialists Lose Out" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/5/2001 08:16:59 PM ----- BODY: With churches getting more involved in environmental issues, will Left-wing, anti-religion bigots spew hyperbole that those activists should stop forcing religion into peoples' garages? Or will they only cry out when conservative Christians get involved in public policy (i.e. the now dying Christian Coalition)? "What Would Jesus Drive?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/2/2001 01:59:05 PM ----- BODY: Sen. John McCain's Left-ward drift is inspiring many to make the McCain-Teddy Roosevelt comparison. Both men challenge their party with a progessive mix of creeping government and patriotism. In both cases, the end result is bigger, more instrusive government. Teddy had a blood-thirsty love for war (a historic expander of government) and despised the rich industrialists (thus justifing antitrust laws) who were building the United States into an economic superpower. McCain sees conspiracies of lobbyists on K Street in Washington, D.C. (thus justifing his First Amendment-stomping campaign finance legislation) and wants to reinstitute the draft, but in this case it would be in the lofty name of "national service." It's time that conservatives re-examine Teddy Roosevelt's record. He wasn't a conservative, and, in fact, ran for President against the conservative Taft that allowed Woodrow Wilson to win the three-way election. Antitrust laws, the nationalization of land (i.e. the national park system), and many new federal regulations (i.e. FDA) are all a part of Teddy's record. An advocate of limited government, he was not. McCain should be free to go around comparing himself to Roosevelt. He just shouldn't try to claim that he's part of a long line of conservative leaders going back to the Bull Moose. "McCain Is Considering Leaving GOP" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 6/2/2001 01:36:43 PM ----- BODY: Supermodels will try to boost up Bible reading like their Wonderbras boost up their bosoms. At least that's the theory behind the Illuminated Bible. "'Erotic' Pictures to Bring Bible Back into Fashion" [via Off on a Tangent] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/31/2001 11:29:42 PM ----- BODY: Soon-to-be ex Majority Leader, Sen. Trent Lott has had a bad week. But he thinks he can be a good Minority Leader. Paul Gigot writes, "And he'll need to be, because, for all of his current silver-lining search, his own fate hangs on his performance in the next 17 months. If he can unite his troops and stymie Mr. Daschle, Republicans have a chance to regain Senate control in 2002. And Mr. Lott will keep his job. But if his caucus fractures and the GOP loses seats, he'll have a lot more time to spend in Mississippi." "Life In the Minority" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/31/2001 11:18:28 PM ----- BODY: Bruce Benson comments on recent government police failures and considers free market solutions:
The market has been providing us with a successful alternative to the political and bureaucratic delivery of policing services, if only we would pursue it further. Private firms in competitive markets almost always offer better service at lower costs than their government counterparts. However, the ultimate benefit to all Americans from privatizing more police services would not just be greater efficiency, but greater justice. Calls on Congress to once again investigate the FBI miss the mark. Changing the political and bureaucratic delivery of policing services requires fundamental reform, and the growth of the private security industry strongly suggests how those reforms ought to take shape.This doesn't mean that government should completely get out of law enforcement. Benson may be arguing along the same lines as those to back school choice. Competition from outside government can bring about needed reforms inside government. "The Countervailing Trend to FBI Failure: A Return to Privatized Police Services" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/31/2001 12:35:39 AM ----- BODY: Uber-DJ Paul Oakenfold is having a marvelous year. His first foray into music scoring with the Swordfish soundtrack will arrive to the public in a few days. He's remixed Madonna's latest single. He will be touring with Moby as part of the Area One festival (think of it as Lollapalooza for the 21st Century). And he is the first DJ ever inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you're curious about Paul's musical talent, I recommend his Global Underground: New York mix. "Oakenfold's Perfecto World" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/30/2001 07:54:40 PM ----- BODY: I'm always looking for new, interesting books. Powells.com makes finding them easier by offering a new book review daily from various online sources. Now, all I need is more hours in the day to get through my book pile. Book Review-a-Day -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/29/2001 11:18:30 PM ----- BODY: The Supreme Court ruled that Casey Martin could use a cart on the PGA tour. Libertarian Party national director Steve Dasbach provided a good response:
This ruling puts the ADA, not the PGA (Professional Golf Association), in charge of how professional golf is played. More important, it will set a precedent for other sports. It means that politicians and judges, rather than sports teams and their owners, will set the rules.The court is also displaying an inconsistency. This court allowed the Boy Scouts to determine who can be scout leaders and barred a gay man from participating, but it took away the PGA's ability to determine its own rules. In one case, an organization can make its own rules, while in another it can't. Did President Bush I and Bob Dole, both big ADA supporters, expect a ruling like this to come from their efforts to help the disabled? "Libertarians Criticize High Court Ruling In Casey Martin Case" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/28/2001 03:51:31 PM ----- BODY: As of 5.22.01, here is the latest on Krispy Kreme coming to Wisconsin:
Krispy Kreme is happy to announce plans to bring HOT doughnuts to Wisconsin. Currently our franchisee is searching for the perfect location(s). We do post updates as soon as they are available, so please check back on occasion for new information.My mouth is watering right now. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/26/2001 02:58:47 AM ----- BODY: Rich Galen points out that one-time Democrat Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX) has more class than Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) when he switched parties.
When Phil Gramm left the Democratic party in the 1980's as a Congressman, he resigned from the Congress, created a vacancy, ran for the seat he had just vacated as a Republican, and won again.Jeffords instead ran (and won) as a Republican and took lots of campaign cash from the GOP. Galen also offers the interesting spin that Jeffords was the aggressor and that the Bush administration "will not be held hostage by a single Senator." Nice attempt, but something went wrong when the news came out of the blue that Jeffords was leaving the GOP. Jeffords' 2001 version of Pearl Harbor is a political loss for President Bush, but it's not crippling. Bush already has a major victory with the tax package that will soon be sent to his desk. Also, with the Democrats in control of the Senate any inaction can be blamed on Democratic obstruction. "Mutt and Jeffords" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/25/2001 01:48:01 AM ----- BODY: I noticed this from National Review on the Jeffords defection:
At least the obnoxious Strom Thurmond deathwatch may finally come to a welcome end, and not because the old man has died.Strom Thrumond deathwatch. Where have I heard that one before? I know, here and here. Too bad I misspelled the old man's last name twice! Note to self: must invest in better editors. "After He’s Gone" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/25/2001 12:42:51 AM ----- BODY: What an outrageous abuse of authority! Washington, D.C. students were strip-searched during a jail tour to show them what would happen if they got arrested. Who the hell do these teachers think they are and why did jailers go along with this? "D.C. Students Underwent Strip-Search On Jail Tour" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/25/2001 12:35:28 AM ----- BODY: A vote in the House of Representatives signaled the end of school choice at the federal level. The House rejected President Bush's minor school choice proposal and also rejected a $50 million school choice test project. This issue is dead in D.C. because many Republicans voted against these tepid measures, and the GOP is the school choice party. This does return the issue where it belongs--the states. (On a sidenote, I'm still searching through my copy of the Constitution trying to find the justification for federal involvement in education. If you know where it is, e-mail me.) This setback doesn't stop states like Wisconsin from expanding their own school choice programs. But since the feds waste billions, a smattering toward a free market in education would have been nice. "House Rejects Bush Plan for School Choice" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/24/2001 11:57:22 PM ----- BODY: Always the contrarian, Andrew Sullivan isn't worried about Sen. Petty's--I mean Jeffords'--version of Pearl Harbor. He's happy the tax cut will pass, and it can play into Bush's hands because Senate Democrats can be blamed for any inaction due to gridlock on the Hill. In fact, Sullivan actually applaudes Jeffords defection because Republicans like him can undermine the party. Sullivan writes,
The Tory Wets, as Thatcher dubbed them, were forever bleating on about their "conscience," moderation, etc etc, while essentially supporting an ever larger welfare state and ever higher taxes. In the long run, best to get rid of them - because they are a treacherous breed who largely want to get rid of principled conservatives. And better to get rid of them before they try and get rid of you. Are you listening, Senator Chafee?-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/23/2001 01:39:52 PM ----- BODY: The biggest RINO (Republican In Name Only--but I prefer to call them "squishes") in the U.S. Senate is expected to leave his party tomorrow. Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont isn't taking the expected hardball politics from the Bush administration very well and will hand over control of the Senate to Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) and the Democrats. When Jeffords voted against Bush's tax-cutting plan and complained that the government didn't spend enough on education, did he actually think he would be treated with kid-gloves? It shouldn't be a surprise that Jeffords is leaving the GOP. What should be surprising is how long he's stayed a Republican. Mark Levin points out that Jeffords has a history of not voting like a conservative, let alone a Republican.
As a member of the House, Jeffords frequently abandoned his president and his party. In 1981, he voted against the cornerstone of Ronald Reagan's economic agenda — significant, across-the-board cuts in marginal income-tax rates. Jeffords's behavior followed him into the United States Senate. He voted for Hillary Clinton's national health-care plan even when many Democrats were jumping ship. He voted not to convict Bill Clinton for his high crimes and misdemeanors during the impeachment trial.When Jeffords announces he's leaving one positive result will be the end of the Strom Thrumon Death Watch. The Democrats won't care about Strom's demise if they already have control of the Senate. "Outing Himself" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/22/2001 02:08:58 PM ----- BODY: The most backward nation on earth is starting to resemble Nazi Germany. Non-Muslims have to wear badges in public. It's like the yellow stars-of-David the Nazis forced Jews to wear for differentiation. What's next, segregating the non-Muslim population to protect the purity of Islamic Afghanistan? "Afghan Taliban Orders Non-Muslims to Wear Badge" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/22/2001 01:00:07 AM ----- BODY: Rachel, thanks for the link. Here's one right back at you! You should be fine at George Washington University. You already know the Left is obsessed with social and human reconstruction. Ah, to be young again. I'm not really old (only 26), but I miss the days of ranting and raving with wacked out Liberals at college. Verbal Bitchsmack Blog -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/22/2001 12:07:13 AM ----- BODY: The late Edith Efron knew that pure idealism in an imperfect world leads to cultism. People who look for simple answers to complex problems can become, in her words, "robots." But Efron has some solutions: "The prescribed regimen is six months of steady reading of specialized journals and books in a half-dozen fields;" and "he must look for fellow travelers." "Secular Fundamentalism" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/21/2001 11:45:38 PM ----- BODY: The solution to the U.S.'s energy problems is increased electrical generation. The Bush administration is wise to support nuclear power as an effective method. Vice President Dick Cheney said it right when he said, "If we're serious about environmental protection, then we must seriously question the wisdom of backing away from what is, as a matter of record, a safe, clean and very plentiful energy source." No American has ever died from a nuclear power plant accident. The worst part is the nuclear waste, but with the development of new breeder reactors, it can be minimized. "Bush Puts Energy Into Nukes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/20/2001 01:01:34 AM ----- BODY: John Podhoretz rips West Wing overlord, Aaron Sorkin with as biting a quote as I've read in a long time:
I don't know about you, but frankly, I don't need any lessons on theology, destiny, public service, job creation, pay equity, or conservative ideology from a crack addict.While Podhoretz correctly blasts Sorkin for his liberal snobbery, I have to say that I like the show more than John. I accept the fact that it's filled with liberals spouting off on their brand of Democratic soft-socialism, but I expect that because it is from Hollywood. Regardless of the ideological bent, The West Wing is exciting with interesting characters and real world situations. The writing is intelligent. The dialogue is fast-paced but still substantial. The viewer can envision themselves in the characters' shoes and wonder if they could make the tough decisions or play hardball as well as the people on screen. "West Wing Theology" [via Kevin] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/19/2001 11:50:22 PM ----- BODY: Florida Democrats must be having problems in finding candidates for governor if they've talked Janet Reno into considering running. The worst Attorney General in U.S. history has way too much baggage to win the highest office in the Sunshine State. Here are her major weaknesses: She was a shill for Bill Clinton for eight years. She allowed all those people to die in the Waco fire. She must bear some responsibility for the fiascos at the FBI. As head of the Justice Department, she should have looked into the management failures of Louis Freeh. She also has Parkinson's Disease. Lots of people freaked out over Vice President Cheney's chest pains. What about a serious neurological disease? Then there's the whole issue of allowing an innocent child to be sent back to the totalitarian prison island that is Cuba. The Cuban community would do their damnest to stop Reno from becoming governor. Their battle cry would simply be, "Remember Elian!" and the picture would be on every independent ad spent against her. Even a weakened Jeb Bush could trouce her "shaky" candidacy. "Reno Considering Run for Fla. Governor" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/18/2001 07:20:46 PM ----- BODY: The summer movie season will soon be in full swing with big guns "Pearl Harbor," "Angel Eyes," and "Shrek" opening soon. Out of all three, I most interested in "Shrek." The animation looks gorgeous, and the story seems to be the most entertaining. The spoofs on fairy tales reminds me of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." I'm worried about "Pearl Harbor." I can understand tacking on a love story; it can't all be about Japan kicking major American ass. But I worry that Michael Bay will alter the events and fail to give it the historical accuracy the event deserves. Will it be another "Saving Private Ryan"? I doubt it. "Weekend Movies: A Sneak Attack on J.Lo & 'Shrek'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/18/2001 07:06:11 PM ----- BODY: Eazel closed up shop. It happened a few days ago, and I just found out about it via Bill. I wonder if this will affect Red Hat including Nautilus in their next distribution of Linux. I'm really tempted to install Linux on my old, no-name, beige box. Nautilus is supposed to be an easy graphical interface for Linux newbies, so I was going to wait for Red Hat to back it. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/16/2001 02:45:28 AM ----- BODY: Rich Galen, writer of Mullings, is off to India. He's writing a travelogue starting with pre-trip preparations. One of the many things Galen had to do was get shots against all the nasty bugs that don't like Westerners. While sitting in a clinic in northern Virginia, he makes this observations:
The first woman says she has to get shots (are you ready for this?) so she can start at the University of Virginia in the summer. You have to get the same shots to go to India as you need to go to Charlottesville.Then there's this bit about shopping at America's biggest retailer:
The problem with going to Wal-Mart is: You go in looking for an international power adapter and you walk out with that and a new Glock-Nine pistol you happened to walk passed.This stuff is hilarious, and he hasn't even gotten to India yet. "Currying Favor: A Trip to India" Chapter 2 -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/16/2001 02:25:30 AM ----- BODY: Blogger is working again. No, I didn't disappear or go on some wild, unexpected vacation. Since Blogger was sick, I decided to take a little break from info saturation. I was frustrated like many other Blogger users this weekend when blogs weren't being published. But unlike many who felt the need to scream about what a lousy service Blogger is, I understood that Ev is one man who can only do so much. Last weekend, he went to his grandfather's funeral while also trying to fix Blogger. He didn't have to do that. If I was one of those screamers on the Blogger help boards, I would be embarassed over my temper tantrum. A free service that's created oodles of goodwill with thousands of people should be able to withstand its owner's time in dealing with death. By the way, thanks Ev for keeping Blogger going and keeping it free. You've made personal publishing so much easier. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/13/2001 09:11:38 PM ----- BODY: While Blogger and I don't get along, I hope you had a good Mother's Day. If you're a good mom, thanks for being the way you are. If you forgot to thank you mom for all the incredible things she's done for you, log off and phone her NOW! TAM will still be here when you get back. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/12/2001 01:54:07 PM ----- BODY: Cathy Young comments on the Supreme Court's disturbing ruling that arrests for warrantless minor offenses are not unconstitutional. She doesn't see a consistent defender of the Bill of Rights among the nine justices. Justice Thomas comes closest, but he backed the arrest ruling. "5-Justice Bloc Imperils Rights" [via Unknown News] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/10/2001 05:32:37 PM ----- BODY: The House of Representatives voted to withhold some U.N. dues because the U.S. got booted off the human rights commission (and was replaced with Sudan!). For whatever reason, anytime Congress can stop the U.N. from getting money to waste on worthless, collectivist, anti-American programs, I consider it a victory. That's not to say the U.N. shouldn't exist. A forum where nations can come together to resolve disputes and foster new ideas is beneficial. The U.N. should be a place to talk. It shouldn't be an entity empowered to send peace-keeping troops to the far corners of the earth or to interfere in the legitimate sovereignty of nations. "House Votes to Withhold Some U.N. Dues" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/9/2001 02:00:15 PM ----- BODY: Mallard Fillmore on the U.S. Postal Service. And these bozos want to raise rates on their monopoly service. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/9/2001 01:57:43 PM ----- BODY: Paul Gigot observes that "The bigger story here is that Democrats have decided to turn judicial selection into political blood-sport." "Blue Slip" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/9/2001 01:41:40 PM ----- BODY: Political Centrists are just big spenders who don't want to appear to be big spenders. Here's a quote from a story on the budget bill:
The centrist coalition wants $6 billion more for education.I have a feeling they just pulled that number out of thin air. If you gave any of these "centrist" Senators $6 billion, they wouldn't have any idea what to do with it. Yet they want to empower a failed federal bureaucracy with even more cash. They don't know what that money will be wasted on, and they won't care either because as long as it's devoted "to the children" it meets political muster. Homeschooling sounds better all the time. "Budget Vote May Hang on Education" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/9/2001 01:31:04 PM ----- BODY: Today, President Bush announces his first batch of federal court nominees. This first group of 11 includes three women, two blacks, and two hispanics. While these nominees appear moderate, they all believe in "judicial restraint." One person not on the list was Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA). The conservative lawmaker is opposed by both of California's liberal Senators. Senate Democrats are upset. They may claim that they haven't been consulted enough, but it's all a ruze to delay these confirmations. Call it the Strom Thurmon Death Watch. The Senate is split 50-50. On any tie votes, Vice President Dick Cheney breaks the tie. If Sen. Thurmon (R-SC) were to move on to a better place (ie. die), the Democratic governor would probably appoint a Democrat to fill the post giving Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) control. A Democratic controlled Senate could then dictate what nominees would be approved. So, while people like Daschle and Sen. Leahy (D-VT) preen about not being adequately consulted, remember that this is one part of a bigger plan to stall judicial confirmations as long a possible. It sounds demented, but that's power politics in D.C. It's not pretty, but it's reality. "Bush Set to Offer First Group of Judicial Picks" "Bush Judicial Nominations Avoid Controversial Picks" "Texan Likely Among Appellate Nominees" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2001 01:53:26 PM ----- BODY: Parents, don't fret anymore. A bunch of shrinks said it's ok to read Harry Potter. I tried to finish the first book, but got bored 3/4 of the way through. I didn't find anything bad about the story or the characters. It just felt like I was reading a children's book (which I was). It's great seeing kids getting so enthralled by the stories. It's also reassuring that the Harry Potter books aren't filled with angst-ridden nihlists who see little good in the world. They are stories of good versus evil with good winning and Harry growing up in the process. "Harry Potter and the Shrinks" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2001 01:44:09 PM ----- BODY: The U.S. won't violate the ABM treaty if it builds a missile defense system. All President Bush has to do is tell Russia that it will withdraw from the treaty. Six months later the U.S. would not be bound by it. Of course, that assumes that the ABM treaty is still in effect. One of the parties to it (U.S.S.R.) doesn't exist anymore. "What Does "Abrogate" Mean?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/8/2001 01:38:54 PM ----- BODY: Words mean things. So Mike Potemra reviewed The Dictionary of Dangerous Words. "Danger Zone for Double-Talk" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/6/2001 11:41:54 PM ----- BODY: This passage illustrates why I hate most literary criticism:
[Professor] Fitting believes that far from intentionally subverting [science fiction], [Philip] Dick was often "confused," which made his work seem more complicated than it actually was.Well, much of the postmodern pap I've read is often "confused," which makes it seem more complicated than it actually is. Deconstructionsim is simply a way for some academics to justify their PhDs by draping papers and books in jargon-filled, unintelligible, Marxist babble. "Marxist Literary Critics Are Following Me!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/6/2001 11:14:11 PM ----- BODY: North Korea will suffer another famine this year. This tragedy can be avoided, but that would require that totalitarian state to give up its power and acknowledge the God-given rights all North Koreans possess. A European Union (EU) delegation visiting the Communist state offered fertilizer and ag equipment. They should have demanded privatization of agriculture. The profit motive would certainly do a better job of feeding those people than centralized planning. "N. Korea Says It's Facing Another Famine" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/6/2001 10:45:55 PM ----- BODY: Wisconsin Democrats in one house of the state legislature recently dumped their female leader. The Democrats have also never had a black or other minority as a legislative leader. Local radio yapper and columnists, Mark Belling, makes this observation:
Imagine if a company had a workforce that had more women than men and had a sizable number of minority employees. Imagine that most of those minority workers were black. Suppose the company had fired its lone female manager and NEVER gave a black person a top job. The EEOC would be assessing fines, Jesse Jackson would be picketing and the company would be labeled by the media as bigoted.That "company" is none other than the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Belling then concludes with this pithy remark:
The state’s Democratic Party is like a plantation. The workers get to live on the farm but they have to stay in the shack behind the barn. The elite — all white Madison men — get to eat dinner in the mansion and toast themselves for being so “inclusive.”"Democrats Preach Diversity but Practice as White Madison Males" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2001 01:46:54 AM ----- BODY: Pete Du Pont plainly describes the anti-trade protesters who pranced around Quebec City as socialists.
They are one part 19th-century Luddites arguing that trade and global commerce (for the Luddites it was machines and the industrial revolution) will cause exploitation, unemployment and poverty. And they are one part 20th-century Marxists, justifying violence (they threw Molotov cocktails at the police) and control over markets, governments and privately owned business in the name of a greater good: a society in which everyone is equal. The Quebec City protesters prefer a lower standard of living equally shared to growing prosperity unequally distributed.Those protesters don't believe in freedom and opportunity. They desire a false utopia where everyone is equal (in what way, I'm not sure), yet they fail to acknowledge that capitalism and free trade are what keeps them well fed, highly networked with their anti-trade friends, and allows them the time to protest. "Quebec's Commanding Heights" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2001 01:27:02 AM ----- BODY: Lance is still alive!! Long live Lance! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/5/2001 01:25:55 AM ----- BODY: Is Minnesota Nice dead? Drunken Twins fans threw stuff at ex-Twin Chuck Knoblauch. The story does go on to offer some explanations of increase fan rowdyness at games. "Cheap-Seat Rowdyism is Sign of Troubling Trend" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/4/2001 01:28:42 PM ----- BODY: Stephen Moore makes the unfortunate prediction that the federal budget may grow 7% this years--twice the rate under Bill Clinton. Moore also observes, "If Republicans allow the budget to grow at twice the rate it did under Clinton, many conservatives are going to start asking the legitimate question: what are Republicans good for?" That's why I consider myself a conservative first and a Republican second. "The Grand Old Spending Party" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/4/2001 01:21:53 PM ----- BODY: Colby, Colby, Colby! You lasted until the end because you could win immunity at will, but your final strategy stunk. Why choose to boot Keith over Tina when you even knew you had a better shot to win the million bucks with Keith? Let's back up further. Why did you help get Jerri kicked off? It would have been smooth sailing to the cash when compared to Satan's love child. You were also a little too happy when the votes were tallied and you LOST. You were the happiest loser I've seen in a long time. "Tina Takes 'Survivor 2'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/2/2001 09:00:26 PM ----- BODY: Ed Trudeau is a jerk. Instead of finding another way of being competitive in the Burlington, WI gasoline business, he decided to cry to the government and complain that chain stations were charging too little. Yesterday, Trudeau was selling gas for $1.85 a gallon, but a competing station was selling gas for $1.69 a gallon. Cry Baby Ed is upset because $1.69 a gallon is below Wisconsin's minimum markup law. So, because of Cry Baby Ed's publicity stunt, people in Burlington are paying more for gas than what a station was willing to sell for. As with most predatory pricing laws, the minimum markup law doesn't help consumers, it helps businesses who don't have the ability to compete. Cranky Ed should get out of the gas business. I recomend the balloon business; he's full of hot air. "No Fueling: Rivals Spar Over Gas" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/2/2001 08:39:03 PM ----- BODY: I fell for the myth that Thomas Jefferson sexually exploited one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Now, a group of scholars say the evidence is flimsy. This report won't receive anywhere near the same attention as the January 2000 one. That's because that one was used by Bill Clinton's sympathizers to defend an immoral man. If the mighty Thomas Jefferson could take advantage of a slave and still be considered a great man, how can we judge the "moral failings" of William Jefferson Clinton? The perfect response is that Jefferson never was accused of lying to a grand jury and giving the bird to the rule of law. An even better response is to deny Jefferson exploited Ms. Hemings in the first place. This new report does that. "The Fable of Tom and Sally" [via Zeropolitics] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2001 06:22:17 PM ----- BODY: Like Ronald Reagan, President Bush is rejecting the morally bankrupt argument that the only defense against nuclear war is mutually assured destruction. It's perfect that the first letters of that euphanism spell "MAD" becuase such a policy is mad. A proper role of government is to protect its citizens from foreign invasion. Whether it's from a navy assault (i.e. Pearl Harbor) or a nuclear missile attack, the U.S. government has an obligation to develop the means for an adequate defense. Bush has the moral high ground by calling for a missile defense system. Critics say that missile defense would violate the ABM treaty. However, Bush countered today by saying, "This treaty does not recognize the present or point us to the future. It enshrines the past. No treaty that prevents us from addressing today's threats, that prohibits us from pursuing promising technology to defend ourselves, our friends and our allies is in our interests or in the interests of world peace." The ABM treaty was signed in a day when Communist containment (rather than smart, moral confrontation a la Reagan) was the foundation of U.S. foreign policy. Now, the Cold War is over and only one member of that outdated treaty exists. Critics also say that building a missile defense would create a new nuclear arms race. Nations would build more and more nukes to overwhelm any shield the U.S. would build. That may be a result, but that doesn't address the moral argument that the U.S. government should provide its citizens an adequate defense. Defense technology does not remain stagnant or it becomes obsolete. The U.S. army improves the fighting capabilites of its jets and tanks. Other nations respond by developing new weapons to penetrate improved tank armor and jets' steal capabilities. Only anti-miltary pacifists would object to improving military technology for fear of starting an arms race. With that thinking, why even bother moving past wooden clubs and stones? Also, what's so bad about an arms race? The U.S. and the former Soviet Union ran one, and the good guys one. One nation is in the dustbin of history, while the other leads the free nations of the world. Anyone who thinks the U.S. couldn't win another arms race with China (or any other country) lacks any appreciation of U.S. economic dominance. Mark this down as an important event in the George W. Bush Presidency. "Bush Calls for Replacing ABM Treaty" "See Ya!" President Bush's remarks to the National Defense University -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 5/1/2001 03:33:18 PM ----- BODY: Anti-capitalistic feelings can't simply be swept under the rug. Today's protests world-wide demonstrate that many people think global capitalism is a threat. It isn't a threat, but with huge, complicated trade agreements like NAFTA and the WTO, many will find loopholes and exceptions that benefit some while harming others. Advocates of free markets and limited government must engage and counter the radical Leftist and anarchist collectivists who would love to see more "democratic" control over the means of production. It's no coincidence that these protests took place on May Day, an important Communist holiday. Pro-capitalist advocates (like myself) must make the case that capitalism is what allows millions of people to live more comfortable and productive lives. Capitalism is also the best chance for those gripped in dire poverty to rise out of their morass. "May Day Protesters Clash with Police" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/29/2001 11:18:11 PM ----- BODY: William Kucewicz provides much needed sane analysis of California's energy crisis:
The important point is, given the above constraints, the 1996 utility restructuring law can hardly be called "deregulation." Strict regulations continued to abound. Worse, the rules affected two of the power market's most essential functions -- pricing and contracting. California thus got the worst of both worlds: higher-than-necessary power prices and lower-than-needed electricity supplies. It's no wonder Californians are irate.Kucewicz also mentions that federal regulators haven't found the price gouging Gov. Davis and others claim is causing sky-rocketing electricity prices. Investigators found:
In November and December of 2000, the market was driven by extreme cold, high natural has prices and low storage levels, and by low water, precipitation and stream flow levels. These conditions were made worse by an operating environment with a large number of outages and environmental constraints, and the general atmosphere of market uncertainty surrounding the extreme nature of these fundament factors. In this environment, power prices rose to extremely high levels for much of the period, levels above short-term power production costs and, if sustained, above long-term costs as well.The bureaucratic blocking of new generating plants is also mentioned as a cause of the electricity crisis.
This isn't to say that power producers didn't want to construct new generating facilities in the Golden State. The industry asked to build 25 power plants in recent years, capable of producing 15,500 megawatts. This would have increased in-state power generation by more than one-third. It also would have represented more electricity than California currently imports. However, the agency responsible for siting and licensing approvals, the California Energy Commission, had, until recently, okayed only five of the units. In other words, California's rolling blackouts wouldn't have occurred had the commission acted in a more timely manner.For a solution to California's problem, Kucewicz goes back to Economics 101. There's more demand for electricity than producers are willing (or financially able) to supply. Since there's a ceiling on retail prices, prices can't go up. As a result, California has a power shortage. California needs more electricity, so Kucewicz recommends "jettison[ing] all controls on power prices." With prices allowed to rise, new suppliers would want to offer Californians electricity. The added supply will eventually force prices down. Along with removing price controls, new in-state power production must be freed from government hassles. Kucewicz likes the idea of "cookie cutter-style" plants that would meet environmental standards. These could then be quickly build without time-consuming bureaucratic interference. "California's Dreaming: California Electric Power Crisis; California Electricity Policy, Power Blackouts" Cato Institute's collection of electricity articles -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/29/2001 12:26:33 AM ----- BODY: Michelle Malkin gives President Bush a tongue-lashing over his environmental policy. No, she isn't upset about the arsenic and global warming stuff. She's thinks GW's giving in to the environmental Left. (I like to call them watermelons--green on the outside, red on the inside.)
Bush was supposed to restore rationality to America's approach to environmental risk in the modern world. Instead, he has sought vainly to score points with soccer moms, Sierra Club dads and MTV deadheads. The result is a pale green policy mish-mash of environmental guacamole that's thoroughly indigestible."Bush's Environmental Guacamole" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/29/2001 12:14:12 AM ----- BODY: The philosophical giant, Immanuel Kant wasn't the boring ivory tower thinker we thought he was. In a new biography of the man, Manfred Kuehn points out that Kant was a billiards man who rarely dined alone. Kant was definitely more than simply the man who Konigsberg set their clocks to. "Königsberg Confidential" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/28/2001 11:50:05 PM ----- BODY: The Sean right here is fully clothed (sorry, ladies), but this one is nude. Bare Naked Sean -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/28/2001 11:42:14 PM ----- BODY: Jorn has a new logo for his blog, but I don't get it. Robot Wisdom -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/28/2001 11:36:48 PM ----- BODY: I welcome all of you who've discovered TAM by way of Disturbing Search Requests. I hope you visit often. Wow, what traffic you can get just by finding little nuggets from referrer logs. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/28/2001 10:15:01 AM ----- BODY: Here's a little blurb from Paul Gigot:
Minnesota, the White House lobbied to clear the GOP field for St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman to challenge Sen. Paul Wellstone, who broke his term-limit pledge to run for a third term. GOP polling has them running even.As a former Minnesota resident (but life-long Wisconsinite), here's a bit of insight. Coleman would be governor right now if Jesse Ventura wouldn't have run. He's a fine example of Republican big-city mayors who actually solved problems. I put him in the ranks of Rudy Guiliani of NYC and Richard Riordan of Los Angeles. Sen. Wellstone's biggest asset is that he appears to be a politician detached from typical political interests. He's an old-school, big spending liberal and not afraid to show it. Whether they support his ideology or not, Minnesotans like his integrity and independence. By breaking his term limit promise his integrity and honesty is questioned. Coleman has the political skills, he just needs the money. "Bush Jumps Into Senate 2002 Battle" [via Kevin] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/27/2001 01:16:09 AM ----- BODY: Bob Kerrey performed a masterful bit of spin over his possible Vietnam massacre. He knew a story was coming in the NY Times Magazine so he quickly scooped them by talking to to a Nebraska paper and the Wall Street Journal. Even the editor of the NY Times Magazine is giving him credit. ''Obviously, he was trying to get his version of what happened out before this other version got released. I think he did a pretty good job of that," said Adam Moss. Be very wary of Kerrey's political instincts. This was good damage control. It will be even better if he decides to give up the Bronze Star he earned from the battle. He could possibly look like the victim after all this, and it wouldn't harm any possible Presidential run in 2004. Since he took this much effort at controling the story, one has to think he's planning on running. "Facing Allegations He Led a Massacre, Kerrey Quickly Got Control of the Story" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/27/2001 01:07:26 AM ----- BODY: Can you say SeaQuest or G.I. Joe's S.H.A.R.C.? "Warp Drive Underwater" [via Metafilter] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/26/2001 02:12:13 AM ----- BODY: Doug Bandow on the recent free trade summit in Quebec:
Curiously, globalization has become the latest cause celebre of left-wing activists. These First-World demonstrators self-righteously pose as defenders of Third-World peoples, even as they advocate leaving the latter destitute."Globalization Serves the World's Poor" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/26/2001 02:06:39 AM ----- BODY: Bush knows when to play political hardball. This week, a Vermont teacher was honored as National Teacher of the Year. Sen. James Jeffords (R-VT) wasn't invited to the ceremony. This is also the same Sen. Jeffords who voted against Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut. "Jeffords Not Invited to White House When Home-state Teacher Honored" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/26/2001 01:47:39 AM ----- BODY: Because of fears that Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) could leave the Senate due to his age, President Bush wants to send a big block of federal court nominees up to the Hill so they can fill vacancies as soon as possible. If Thurmond were to leave due to illness or (God forbid) death, the South Carolina Democratic governor would most likely fill the seat with a Democrat. That would hand control of the Senate to the Democrats. "White House Prepares Judicial Nominating Blitz" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/25/2001 12:16:19 AM ----- BODY: James Markels goes to the heart of why many want the U.S. entangled by the Kyoto Protocols:
If the Kyoto treaty is meant to address CO2 emissions, then it must allow for CO2 sequestering. If the production of CO2 is bad, then the absorption of CO2 is thereby good and must be rewarded. All the CO2 absorbed by plants in the United States should count toward America's CO2 emissions status. But this implicitly allows that CO2 production itself is not bad providing it can be "cleaned up" later by planting more trees and the like, and this is not the message that the EU is interested in sending with the Kyoto treaty. When one looks at the EU's proposals, one clear belief shines through: The United States is morally wrong to produce and consume so much, and we must be punished.Under the rubric of "saving the earth" Kyoto is being used to weaken the U.S. economically and strategically. "How to Improve the Kyoto Treaty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/25/2001 12:06:40 AM ----- BODY: Portrait of America polled Americans on their opinions of the last four Presidents. While George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter all scored high favorable numbers (all in the low 60s), poor Bill Clinton can't even get a majority to like him. It's a far, far cry from the high approval ratings that kept him from being thrown out of office. "What's America's Opinion of the Past Four Presidents?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/24/2001 11:17:02 PM ----- BODY: For Henry Lamb everyday is Earth Day.
We don't need a single day to celebrate, nor an excuse to pretend that we have some special appreciation for the earth. In fact, April 22, Earth Day, has become something of an embarrassment. There are always those would-be do-gooders, who think chaining themselves to someone else's tree, or hanging a stupid banner from the top of a water tower -- is going to save the planet. Those who need this kind of celebration actually need to be re-tested, or to get therapy, or both. Neither their words delivered from a podium, nor their antics delivered to the media, can help or hinder the planet. They are simply activities that provide the practitioners some temporary justification for their existence. I invite those people who get hopped up over Earth Day to get a life. Invest a tomato plant in the land and it will yield dividends far beyond the fruit."Who needs Earth Day?" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/24/2001 07:08:51 PM ----- BODY: Linus Torvalds has written his autobiography. Andrew Leonard says it's "an eminently readable account of Linus Torvalds' short life that gives a clear picture of the man." "A Boy and His Computer" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/24/2001 06:59:17 PM ----- BODY: This paragraph is complete blather:
Of 40 delegations assembled for preparatory political talks ahead of a resumption of full negotiations in Bonn in July, "all parties but one, the United States, declared themselves very strongly in favor of the Kyoto Protocol," according to meeting chairman Jan Pronk who is president of the ongoing climate negotiations.Members of the European Union (EU) were among those prancing around and denouncing President Bush for officially saying the Kyoto Protocols were dead. (The U.S. Senate gave it an unofficial obituary when it voted against it 95-0 a few years back.) If the EU cares so much about Kyoto, then why haven't they passed it yet? Maybe they know it would be a millstone around their economy. Maybe they also know that their already highly-regulated industries couldn't handle the stringent terms of the protocols which would have little effect on global carbon dioxide levels anyway. "Climate Regs: U.S. Stands Alone" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/24/2001 01:35:57 AM ----- BODY: I can picture Miss Aguilera as the alien queen leading an invasion of earth in a really bad movie flamed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Who's bright idea was it to wear that in public? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/24/2001 12:59:44 AM ----- BODY: China's aggression toward U.S. reconnaissance flights that led to this month's confrontation is unacceptable. China wants to be a prominent player in the world. Having hot shot fly boys ram into other planes over international waters is no way for a world leader to act. Then the Chinese detain those servicemen for 11 days and still refuse to return the plane. The Bush administration should have offered the Aegis defense system to Taiwan. Although the Chinese say doing so would have a "devastating impact," they must feel the consequences of acting as an uncivilized nation. Sometimes the best way of dealing with a bully is to pop him in the nose. Aegis would be quite a pop the Communists couldn't ignore. "U.S. Offers Arms Deal, Minus Aegis, to Taiwan" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/23/2001 02:57:49 AM ----- BODY: In any future confrontation with China, U.S. forces will be fighting against technology originally from the U.S. but transfered to the Communist state via Israel. "Chinese Arsenal Born in America" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/23/2001 02:45:06 AM ----- BODY: Greg Easterbrook wants the press and liberal pundits to give President Bush a break on his environmental policies. Easterbrook sees them as extremely similar to Clinton/Gore. It shows that Bush isn't the rabid conservative some want you to think. It also shows that conservatives and Republicans must do a better job at developing a pro-active approach to the environment. That way we don't have to always be on the defensive when these issues come up. A great place to start is free market environmentalism developed by the Political Economy Research Center. "W the Environmentalist" [via Upstairs] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/21/2001 03:43:34 AM ----- BODY: Mucho congrads to Bill and Karla for 10 years of wedded bliss. Now, which would they prefer as anniverary gifts: tin or diamond jewelry? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/21/2001 02:46:31 AM ----- BODY: The American Booksellers Association which represents a few thousand independent bookstores settled their lawsuit with Barnes & Noble and Borders. The independents claimed that the two chains illegally got discounts and subsidies from publishers. The chains argued that they had economies of scale that justified the discounts. The also argued that many independents negotiated favorable deals. Before I go on, I must be forthcoming: I work at a Barnes & Noble in Milwaukee. In fact, I probably work for the biggest (both in variety and in volume) and best bookstore in the area. Back to the lawsuit. Last month, the judge ruled against the independents and that forced this week's settlement. What I found astounding is that some independents were relying on the suit to give them a competitive edge. Incorporating a lawsuit into a business model doesn't seem to be the smartest idea. Some independents even think the suit wasted resources that could have been spend on developing a cooperative online bookstore. One independent bookseller said, "I think that they [ABA] went in the wrong direction." Another interesting note is that the ABA bankrolled the suit from a settlement with Penguin Putnam. One more thing: three cheers for free trade! There will always be a place for independent booksellers. I have a dream one day of visiting Powells in Portland. Independents can fill those quirky niches that the chains won't touch. Hopefully, they will learn that vigorous experimentation and creativity, and not wasteful lawsuits, will best help them survive. "Small Bookshops End Fight, Dropping Suit Against Chains" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/19/2001 04:42:18 PM ----- BODY: Alex Abramovich writes a nice ode to Joey Ramone. "Bop Till You Drop" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/19/2001 04:37:15 PM ----- BODY: The Cincinnati Enquirer has brief summaries of the 15 blacks killed by police officers in the past few years in Cincinnati. Based on this information, I have little sympathy for the rioters who shut down the city last week. At most, three of the deaths are suspect and two policemen are under indictment. Stories of 15 Black Men Killed by Police Since 1995 -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/18/2001 03:44:07 AM ----- BODY: Rich Lowry, National Review editor and non-mayoral candidate, on what President Bush should do with his tax-cut plan:
What he should be doing is ripping the thing up, stuffing it with pro-growth tax relief like a capital-gains cut, and calling it the "Economic Revitalization Act of 2001.""Growth Gap" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/16/2001 02:18:02 AM ----- BODY: One of the best things about Easter is all the egg salad you can eat for days after. YUM! Egg Salad III -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/16/2001 02:05:28 AM ----- BODY: Working for a free trade zone covering the Western Hemisphere is a great idea, but instead of waiting for all the nations to agree to a huge document (including thousands of exceptions and loopholes) the U.S. should just begin unilaterally lowering its own tariffs and trade barriers with these countries. Come on President Bush. Set up the U.S. as a shining example of free trade. "Americas Ministers Set 2005 FTAA Deadline" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/16/2001 01:00:00 AM ----- BODY: Godspeed, Joey. "Punk Pioneer Joey Ramone Dead at 49" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/15/2001 02:11:01 AM ----- BODY: For the really lonely, introverted guy, there's Jail Babes. The funny part is reading the personal ads and realizing that these women are in jail. There's lovely Darbie who is "a pretty easy going girl but I am always ready to try new things or go new places." Darbie won't be released until 2015! No going to "new places" for her for a while. Nevertheless, she wants "a single white male who is financially stable, emotionally secure and ready for a serious relationship." You just have to wait 14 years to kiss her. Then there's Jessica who's looking for any man between the ages of 18 and 99 (not very picky). Jessica is "outgoing" (while in jail) and "aggressive" (probably why she won't be released until 2002). She enjoys "relaxing" (can do plenty sitting in a cell) and "wild sex" (does she have her own girlfriend yet?). There's Carol who thinks she's a better person for being in jail. Good for you, Carol. Finally, there's Jennifer. She's "sweeter than candy and very sensitive." But how sweet and sensitive was she to be stuck in a California lock up until 2003? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/15/2001 01:38:47 AM ----- BODY: The answer is obviously soda, but I'm heavily biased due to my geographical upbringing. The Pop vs. Soda Page [via memepool] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/14/2001 03:43:42 PM ----- BODY: I think Angus has some devious plan up his sleeve with Yoshware. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/14/2001 03:41:51 PM ----- BODY: Bill: libertarian weblogger and Britney Spears fan. Who'd have thunk? -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/12/2001 09:41:34 PM ----- BODY: The Washington Post's Ken Ringle profiles Myron Magnet. Magnet wrote The Dream and the Nightmare, a book highly praised by President Bush. The fair profile allows Magnet to make his case that affecting culture can have a dramatic effect on poverty.
But he says genuine concern for ending urban poverty today calls for recognition that 35 years of federal government programs founded with everyone's best intentions have not only failed to do so but have made many things worse."The Hard Heart of Poverty" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/12/2001 05:22:04 PM ----- BODY: AOL is your friend. AOL loves you. AOL will protect you. "You've Got Ambulance!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/12/2001 04:55:06 PM ----- BODY: Virginia Postrel on Washington, D.C. parochialism:
What makes the D.C. seem like it isn't the "real world" isn't political power. It's that just about everybody you meet is in the game. That's a lot of fun because it means you don't have to explain why your work is significant; you can be terribly unimportant in the scheme of things and a mini-celeb in Washington. This parochialism leads Washingtonians to exaggerate their importance and to ignore the experiences, and voices, of the world outside. I love visiting Washington, and I have a lot more friends there than anywhere else in the country. But it's a surreal place, like a giant high school or college dorm. After all, everyone knows who Sally Quinn is. How weird is that?-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/11/2001 01:10:27 AM ----- BODY: The workers' paradise of Maine will be forcing private businesses to pay women and men equally for unequal jobs. This is under the rubric "comparable worth." For example, a female registered nurse and a male janitor working in the same nursing home would have to be paid the same wage because they both "provide a service that is equally vital to the institution." The obvious question is who decides what services are "equally vital"? According to comparable worth advocates business owners and managers can't make those decisions based on the supply and demand of labor in their local communities because it's obvious that women would get the short end of the stick. But there are just too many variables in comparing workers in different fields: job experience; quality of work; promptness; quality of skill; etc. Seeing some government busybody trying to weigh every aspect of a job to determine its comparable worth is laughable. It reminds me of medieval scholastics debating the number of angels who could dance on the head of a pin. Then there is the question of whether women actually do get short changed in the workplace. Comparable worth advocates always throw out the claim that women only make 70 cents for every dollar a man makes. (Tell that to my aunt who does consulting work for a six-figure salary and her accountant husband who doesn't make quite that much.) But just comparing women to men fails to take into account differences in work experience, education, and whether the woman is a mother or not. If you take these factors into consideration, the wage gap shrinks. Childless females between 27 and 33 years old make 98% as much as similarly aged males. This conclusion from the data suggests to Patricia Hausman that "it is not being a woman, but being a mother, that causes noteworthy differences in earnings." So, instead of letting individuals work out the messy details of determining how much people should be paid in the workplace, the government must move in and make those decisions instead. While that may make comparable worth cheerleaders' hearts warm over their political victory, there will be unintended consequences. Those can't be avoided. What will they be? If anyone knew, then they wouldn't be call "unintended." One possibility could be increased unemployment (especially of lower skilled females). Another could be slower economic growth. Another could be businesses (and jobs) moving from Maine to states without comparable worth laws. Regardless of the possible negative affects, what comparable worth does is prevent employers from experimenting and trying out various possible pay scales for their employees. That creatvitity is stifled. "Maine Becomes First State Requiring Pay Equity" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/9/2001 02:05:18 PM ----- BODY: UK researchers find that adult stem cells may be better at healing stroke victims than stem cells taken from embryos. "We expect that stem cells will prove far safer and more flexible for repair of brain damage than primary fetal cells," said Dr. Helen Hodges. "Stem Cells More Effective Than Those From Aborted Babies" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/8/2001 12:19:27 AM ----- BODY: China should get no apology for playing bumper cars at 30,000 feet. For weeks, Chinese planes have been playing a dangerous game in the skys of the South China Sea. That Chinese pilot flew a more manuverable aircraft and should have stayed safely away from the the U.S. plane. But if the Communist Chinese really want to play the apology game, then I expect one from them for their inhuman treatment of Christians and the Falun Gong. I also want an apology for the Tiennemen Square massacre and the savage abuse given to Tibet. "U.S. Refuses To Apologize to China" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/7/2001 10:44:43 PM ----- BODY: Ever since I earned my first paycheck, withholding of income taxes really bothered me. I'm not opposed to taxes per se (I want to see them very, very, very low), but the idea that the government gets first crack at a person's paycheck is wrong. If the government is so bent on getting my money, then they can wait until they get my check in the mail. Another problem with withholding is it makes the income tax less visible. Few people really know what percentage of their income is gone to taxes even with the oodles of accountants available. Ending withholding and making every citizen sit down and write a check to the government would definitely perk peoples' interest as to where and how their tax money was being used. People get upset when they discover their bank tacked on some new $2.00 fee. And they get really upset when they notice a $1.50 for using an ATM. It's possible sending off a few hundred dollars a month to Washington, D.C. would provoke some backlash. It's time to end tax withholding and let the public really feel how much government costs. Federal Tax Withholding Petition -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/7/2001 01:28:33 AM ----- BODY: While not a professional critic (at least not yet), I want to admit to not having read the following books: The Constitution of Liberty by F.A. Hayek I have no excuse. It's been sitting on my shelf for a few months, and Hayek is a huge reason I even bother to consider myself an economist. Constitution is considered by many to be his magnum opus. Witness by Whittaker Chambers Another 20th. Century classic just sitting on my shelf. What's preventing me from opening it up is its sheer size. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engles Since I'm such a strong opponent to Communism/Socialism/collectivism reading this should be a no-brainer for knowing one's enemy. But I've also never read Marx's Capital because what little Marx I have read has been almost unreadable. For better familiarity I'll stick with Thomas Sowell's Marxism. "The Literary Critic's Shelf of Shame" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/6/2001 12:01:27 AM ----- BODY: Hildegarde's idea of including blogging as part of a college course is intriguing. While not taking away from in-class discussion, it would allow more thoughtful debate while providing the instructor a vehicle to observe students' thinking processes. The inclusion of useful hyperlinks would also add value to the discussion. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/5/2001 11:46:40 PM ----- BODY: Bill Gertz is completely right when he says that China "appears to be testing the new Bush administration." They saw a soft target with Bill Clinton and now wonder how President Bush will react to Chinese aggression. Bush must remain strong because Gertz is also right when he says, "China's government already views the United States with disdain and as the main enemy or hegemon to be defeated." Will Bush pull off his first foreign policy test and get those soldiers home while looking strong to the Chinese communists? "The China Test" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/5/2001 11:23:39 PM ----- BODY: President Bush should find the new home of the Milwaukee Brewers to be as awe-inspiring as I do. He'll be throwing out the first pitch tomorrow. Brewers injured shortstop Mark Loretta is excited that GW is coming. He wants to see the nuclear football that contains U.S. nuclear launch codes. "Milwaukee's Night to Shine" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2001 06:16:32 PM ----- BODY: Democratic billionaire Robert Johnson opposes the death tax and offers a suggestion to pro-death tax billionaires like Ted Turner and Warren Buffett:
If Ted Turner and the others want to be taxed at 55 percent, I'm sure the government would be happy to set up a special bracket just for them."Black Billionaire Dubs Death Tax Racially Biased" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2001 05:03:05 PM ----- BODY: President Bush offered this clever joke during a dinner last week:
As you know, we’re studying safe levels for arsenic in drinking water. To base our decision on sound science, the scientists told us we needed to test the water glasses of about 3,000 people. Thank you for participating.Credit must be given to Karen Hughes who wrote it. "Read No Evil" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2001 04:57:43 PM ----- BODY: People like Kevin will be livid if President Bush ends up with $500 million to spend in the 2004 election. Even worse, he'll probably be running unopposed in the primaries. I know it's really early for election predictions, but McCain-Feingold may assure a second Bush term. "Bush's Secret Weapon" [via Upstairs] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/4/2001 04:01:27 PM ----- BODY: I'm in a feisty mood. Here's a link to the Better Business Bureau. I'm not a member or the organization, nor am I a news organization or search engine. Based on this NY Times article, the BBB won't like this link, but what are they going to do sue me? "When Linking Isn't Better Business" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/2/2001 02:40:53 AM ----- BODY: Science is routing around ethical problems. Researchers find promise in using stem cells from adults to generate into damaged organs. This would remove the controversy of using embryonic stem cells. "Adult Stem Cells Growing Strong" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/2/2001 02:40:01 AM ----- BODY: This not a joke. Memepool discovered a commercial Singer sewing machine controlled with a Game Boy. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/2/2001 01:27:25 AM ----- BODY: I must have been staring way too much at the roof in Miller Park last Friday. I wrote that former Brewers shortstop Jose Valentin hit the first home run in the stadium. That was wrong. Sandy Alomar, Jr. pop one over the left field fence. No more $4.25 beers for me while watching games. "Brewers 5, White Sox 4" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2001 12:30:55 AM ----- BODY: Friday night I took part in history. Now, some of you may think this isn't really that historic, but for being a guy, a baseball fan, and a life-long Milwaukee Brewers fan, being at the first game ever played at Miller Park was very special. The brick and glass exterior opened up to wide aisles teeming with curious fans. My seat was on the second level and was probably as close to the action down on the field as field-level seats at old County Stadium. The scoreboard is spectacular with its smaller color screen providing sharp pictures of replays and the larger black-and-white scorboard tallying the stats. Concession stands and bathrooms are plentiful. Both were only a short distance from my seat. One problem with the bathroom I used was that there were lots of windows with a wall separating the facilities from the view. One fan has it right that these windows will be a problem when he said, "There will be a lot of people showing stuff." The best part of the game wasn't watching Henry Blanco hit the first Brewers home run in Miller Park (Chicago's Jose Valentin had the first ever round tripper), nor was it watching the first ever sausage race in Miller Park. The best part was after the game. While the musical intro from 2001: A Space Odyssey played, the retractable roof opened. My jaw dropped, and I must have looked like at little kid at the circus. It was mesmerizing seeing how some huge steel panels could fold up into the sides of the stadium and open up the sky to the view of every stiff-necked fan watching. I'm going back! I must see more baseball there. But with the solid reviews, Brewers tickets will be in high demand. "Miller Park: Making the Grade" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 4/1/2001 12:02:55 AM ----- BODY: I hate I-told-you-so's when I was right about something this bad. But Fidel Castro is using Elian Gonzalez as a victory trophy over the "evil, capitalist, empire" of the United States. Myself and others who were extremely vocal in our displeasure at returning a child to a totalitarian state knew Castro wouldn't be able to resist showing off little Elian. "Cuban Exile Community Says Castro Is Using Elian As A Trophy" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/28/2001 11:21:20 PM ----- BODY: Human cloning per se isn't wrong. Twins are natural clones. The problem is treating embryos as material just to satisfy people's desires. When the unborn are not treated with the respect they deserve as human beings massive defects and miscarriages are ignored. Famed cloning scientist Dr. Ian Wilmut is even opposed to human cloning.
Since Dolly, scientists have cloned mice, cattle, goats and pigs. Dr Wilmut and Dr Jaenisch point out that very few cloned embryos survive to birth and many of these die shortly after. Survivors are often grotesquely large or have defects."Dolly's Creator Says No to Human Cloning" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/27/2001 09:24:26 PM ----- BODY: I'm the Cult of Personality. "Living Colour Reunite" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/27/2001 08:59:27 PM ----- BODY: Old-school country star Charlie Pride's newest CD will be on the technological cutting edge. The tracks are supposedly copy-proof. That means they can't be ripped and "shared" on Napster. Will this work? Only in the short-run until the gang over at Slashdot develops a work around. Talal Shamoon even says copy-protected CDs are "not a long-term solution" and are only a "bridge technology." "First ‘Napster-proof’ CD Set to Burn" [via Julie] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/27/2001 08:12:40 PM ----- BODY: California utility regulators are taking a progressive step by letting the two utilities awash in $13 billion of debt raise their electricity rates. While so-called consumer advocacy groups are saying it's a rip-off, the fact is Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. are losing a fortune by selling electricity below what it costs them to buy it on the wholesale market. Practically giving away electricity isn't exactly what I would call a "rip-off." What the rate hike does is tell consumers that electricity is scarce and they must limit their use or pay higher electricity bills. Instead of crazy schemes by Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) to have state government buy power production, the PUC is taking advantage of the Law of Demand. "Calif. Regulators OK Rate Increases" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/27/2001 01:09:12 AM ----- BODY: The Vancouver Grizzlies (a horrible, truly awful name for a team) wants to move to Memphis. The rumor is that Federal Express is interested not only in buying naming rights to the arena, but in buying naming rights to the team and calling them the Memphis Express. The idea works well in this case because Memphis Express does sound authentic. Names like the Memphis Swooshes or the Memphis Yahoos! wouldn't cut it even with media-savy fans. The biggest obstacle isn't possible public outcry. It's marketing conflicts with the NBA. If this deal happens, it could become like the Jerry Jones/NFL battles from a few years ago. "Heisley Taps Last Mother Lode of Revenue Streams" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/26/2001 01:53:51 PM ----- BODY: Like Sen. Lieberman (D-CT), Larry Kudlow wants immediate tax relief, but like me, he wants a tax rate cut.
The cash-rebate plan is primarily aimed at temporarily bolstering consumer spending. Ironically, personal-consumption expenditures are actually the strongest part of today's sagging economy. For example, in last year's fourth quarter, inflation-adjusted consumer spending increased at a 4.75% annual rate. In the current quarter, for which GDP will be reported in late April, real consumer spending could rise by 3.25%.The problem isn't a lack of consumer spending. The returns on investment need to be better so more investment and innovation can occur. Lower tax rates provide that incentive. The demand side isn't the problem, it's the supply side. "Rethink the Rebate" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/26/2001 02:21:02 AM ----- BODY: Tunku Varadarajan chastizes the Murdochs for toting water for the Chinese communists. He also thinks the Chinese are playing the Murdochs and not vice versa:
It is investment spending, however, in the form of diminished stock-market purchases and business-equipment expenditures, that is falling badly and pulling the economy down. In last year's fourth quarter, domestic investment spending declined at a 3.25% annual rate, and business investment in the first quarter is also likely to fall.
But China is run by sophisticated tyrants. They see the use of people like Messrs. Murdoch--père et fils--and will use them. They are not taken in by the flattery, the unctuousness, the bowing of the corporate knee. They are not unduly impressed by the Murdoch attempts to be more Catholic than the pope when it comes to China. They know that he wants to make more money in China and that he is willing to pay any price to do so."Bad Company" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/26/2001 02:03:38 AM ----- BODY: More great news for my stock portfolio: Cisco CEO John Chambers sees a U.S. economic downturn lasting at least three quarters. A tax cut would be nice. I'd even accept the $300 per worker rebate Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) is proposing, but an across-the-board tax rate cut would still be needed. That would offer the best incentive for people to invest, innovate, and grow their businesses. "Cisco Sees US Downturn Continuing, Spreading" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/25/2001 02:42:39 AM ----- BODY: President Bush is a true believer in partial privatization of Social Security.
With Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and the administration's other economic policymakers less than enthusiastic, the campaign proposal seemed to be drifting off the table. But the president himself insisted that Social Security reform must follow passage of tax reduction.Notice no reports of requests for polling data or reaction from focus groups? This man has solid conservative instincts. "Inside Report: Florida Retribution" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/25/2001 02:36:24 AM ----- BODY: If News Corp's future lies with a lap dog like James Murdoch, then don't ever count me as a future stockholder. It's just another example of a businessman giving capitalism a bad name. "News Corp. Heir Woos China With Show of Support" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/25/2001 02:28:53 AM ----- BODY: U2's Elevation Tour kicked off last night. I'm still looking for reasonably priced tickets to the 5.9.01 show in Milwaukee. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/24/2001 01:01:58 PM ----- BODY: A free trade deal with Australia would be great, but forget about what Collin Powell said that "it takes quite a while to put such an agreement together and then to present it to our respective legislatures." The U.S. Congress should pass a bill unilaterally removing all tariffs with Austrialia and President Bush should sign it. That would be the best idea for U.S. consumers. If Australia wants to do likewise, then more power to them. "U.S. Backs Free Trade Plan with Australia" [via Latte] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/23/2001 01:32:38 AM ----- BODY: David Horowitz has certainly stirred up lots of free publicity and inspired many inches in op-ed pages over his ad opposing slavery reparations. He has also exposed the thought police on some college campuses who can't tolerate opposing opinions. Yes, Political Correctness is alive and well at some universities. The editor of the Daily Californian apologized for printing the ad, ticking off defenders of journalistic freedom. Unfortunately, the campus radicalism took away from Horowitz's arguments against reparations. The most salient one is that justice can't be served because the victims (Black slaves) are dead along with their perpetrators (White slave holders). To expect compensation from those not responsible to those undeserving is absurd. Reparation proponents also ignore the tremendous achievments of the Black community in the 150+ years since slavery was outlawed. The Black middle-class is now larger than the under-class. Blacks are some of the most recognized and respected people (Michael Jordan, Collin Powell, Clarence Thomas) in the country. Reparations would only engulf this nation in harsh racial conflict. "Storm Troopers vs. Free Speech" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2001 03:37:44 PM ----- BODY: Musicians on tour are feeling the Napster effect and are hesitant from playing new songs live. "(Don't) Love You Live: Napster Fears Keep Bands From Playing New Songs" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2001 03:35:51 PM ----- BODY: Singer Carl Thomas wants "to be in on the hustle" with Napster. "Carl Thomas Discusses Napster, Mase, and Mary J. Blige" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2001 01:20:54 AM ----- BODY: Kudos to Bill for his fine letter to the editor on the uselessness of more gun control laws. I especially like the part where he wrote, "All the laws in the world won't stop a crazy person intent on hurting my kids, but one man or woman equipped with training, determination and a single gun can stop that killer in a second." "More Gun Laws Won't Stop School Shootings" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/22/2001 01:18:16 AM ----- BODY: If any storms of scandal that plagued the Clinton administration come up on President Bush, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Judiciary Committee Chairman (and my representative) will be there to investigate. Don't expect a free ride from him.
I told both Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Louis Freeh that just because I'm the chairman and the administration is of my party, they don't get a pass on oversight."'Tough But Fair' Judiciary Leader Maps Oversight" [via Wispolitics] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/21/2001 02:39:36 AM ----- BODY: Larry Kudlow thinks the S&P will reach 4640 by 2010. It's around 1100 right now. He bases this prediction on growing economic freedom: low inflation, a tax cut, expanded free trade, and reduced government regulations. For Kudlow, "It’s a good time for long-run investing." "Invest for the Long Run" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/21/2001 01:55:52 AM ----- BODY: Salon is trying a new subscription service. If you pay, you won't see ads. They're also adding a "new download feature enabling users to read Salon when not connected to the Internet and to conveniently print out multiple articles for offline reading." Doesn't that sound a little like the subscription incarnation of Slate? And we know how well that worked. "Salon.com Rolls Out Larger Ad Units and Readies Launch Of Premium Subscription Service" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/21/2001 01:16:59 AM ----- BODY: I've rediscovered B&L&F&R. Snazzy new look and Dreama's rejected the local GOP. B&L&F&R -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/21/2001 12:41:08 AM ----- BODY: President Bush will be in Milwaukee next month to help open Miller Park. "George W. to Throw Out First Pitch at Miller Park" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2001 01:22:54 AM ----- BODY: In the end, this is a losing battle, but a man in England is fighting to save his unborn child from a legal kill. I wish him the best of luck. "Former Partner Tries to Stop Abortion" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/20/2001 01:06:18 AM ----- BODY: Pages like this one via ETWOF make me seriously question the criminalization of marijuana. I have no desire to ever smoke a doobie, but is the stuff any worse than alcohol? 10 Things You Should Know about Marijuana -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/18/2001 11:01:00 PM ----- BODY: Pat Robertson rightly sees President Bush's faith-based social service plan as a possible intrusion into the defining characteristic of those services: an emphasis on faith. This is Robertson's proposed modification to Bush's plan:
Those faith-based organizations that desire federal assistance could request an audit by the new Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. The audit would be based on objective criteria not the least of which would be financial integrity, record-keeping, supervision, and basic accountability. Assuming these organizations were performing approved services for the less fortunate, they could be listed in an annual government registry, along with those projects that the government wishes to support.Wouldn't it be easier to just boost the tax deductibility of charitable donations? No Office of Faith-Based Initiatives would be needed. "What's Wrong With The Faith-Based Initiative" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/17/2001 05:49:47 PM ----- BODY: In academic economic thought, I ally myself most closely with the Austrian School of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. I firmly believe that Hayek's essay "The Use of Knowledge in Society" is the greatest contribution to economics in the 20th Century. As opposed to those economists who show off their mathmatical skill (and physics envy) with their razzle-dazzle models that make heroic assumptions, Austrians focus squarely on the individual in their economic analysis. Peter Boetke has a nice, simple introduction to Austrian economic thinking. "An Essay on Austrian Economics" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/17/2001 04:58:14 PM ----- BODY: Jim Glassman sees software companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and Symantec as defensive tech stocks in this bear market. He likes software companies because "Software is like the computer chip industry except you don’t have to build a factory. It’s like the pharmaceutical industry except you don’t need FDA approval. It’s like Hollywood without the $20 million salaries." In other words, software companies have low capital costs; they rely on "gathering a bunch of really smart people together to create something new and special." The downside is that low capital costs allow some other company to gather their own bunch of smart people and make something better. "'Defensive' Stocks in the NASDAQ" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/16/2001 08:45:53 PM ----- BODY: I'm losing more money. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/15/2001 10:22:16 PM ----- BODY: Rush Limbaugh has watched the dot-coms become dot-bombs and learned from their mistakes. Limbaugh is now offering a subscription service where subscribers can listen to 2-week archives of his radio show, get links to his famous "stack of stuff," and recieve occasional "audio blasts" on current events. Rush waited for the free-for-all Internet business to demonstrate its unprofitability and has a shot at making some serious dough. He offers a specialized product that can't be commoditized to a niche audience. It's a second generation Internet business model that many will watch to see if it succeeds. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2001 10:20:17 PM ----- BODY: America's favorite bow hunter/rock star says Napster is "un-American."
Then private individuals and corporations could make donations to the faith-based institution of their choice among those listed, and the donations could, in turn, be designated by the donor for desired worthy projects. The charity would then be required to segregate these designated funds and be prepared to document the fact that the donated funds were used in the manner specified. In turn, the government would not be making direct grants of federal money, but would offer dollar-for-dollar tax credits (not deductions) to the donors who give to approved projects.
We invest sweat and blood and millions of dollars creating musical products. It takes years of insane sacrifice and grueling tour schedules and intense effort. To think a third party should be allowed to give away our product for zero compensation is brain-dead and un-American.But could the record companies please realize the demand for easy-to-use music downloads? "Cat Scratch Thiever" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2001 08:36:17 PM ----- BODY: With St. Patrick's Day arriving this weekend, I re-read Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization. This delightful book tells the story of Christianity coming to Ireland and vital knowledge returning to Europe from the Emerald Isle. The Celtic barbarians take up the faith through the determined missionary work of St. Patrick. These new high-strung Christians then took to copying books--any and all they could get their hands on. So, while Rome was sacked and continential European church leaders fled to the confines of their cities, literacy deteriorated and books were lost. A few centuries later, like St. Patrick, Irish monks set off on their own missionary journeys taking their copies of Greek and Latin classics with them. That is, in Cahill's words, "how the Irish saved civilization." The prose is lyrical. Cahill obviously loved writing about the Irish. Pre-Christian Ireland is displayed in all its (sometimes) grandiose harshness. The book is a great example of good popular history: it's short, focused, learned, and the reader is never looked down upon. "Who Saved Civilization? The Irish, That's Who!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2001 06:13:30 PM ----- BODY: Angus has gone for the ADD look on his home page. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/14/2001 05:58:20 PM ----- BODY: The free market strikes again! Disposable cell phones and pre-paid credit cards offer privacy-seeking people some relief. "Prepaid Phones and Privacy, Too" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/13/2001 02:56:22 AM ----- BODY: Wired News has a great article on the Russian hacker/cracker culture. I liked one computer guru's bravado: "We call Russia the Hackzone because there are so many of us here, and we are so good at what we do." "Inside Russia's Hacking Culture" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/13/2001 02:17:00 AM ----- BODY: The Nasdaq is below 2000 for the first time in over 2 years. Along with that, Cisco's stock is at its lowest level since December 1998. I guess last summer wasn't such a good time to jump into QQQ and CSCO. But I'm looking at the long-term. John Chambers' company is still numero uno in networking equipment. People are still thinking of new ways to connect and use the network everyday. Technology isn't going away. The router king will just have to wait until telecom spending picks up. "Tech Stocks Drag Nasdaq to More Than 2-Year Low" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/12/2001 03:25:21 AM ----- BODY: Sonicnet interviewed DJ John Digweed on the release of his latest mix CD Global Underground: Los Angeles. John Digweed's Global Foundations" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/12/2001 01:10:22 AM ----- BODY: The Palm Beach Post thinks Al Gore won the election because of the all the overvotes from the infamous butterfly ballot. This is just pure speculation. Former Montana governor, now private citizen, Marc Racicot put it simply, "You're [Palm Beach Post] trying too hard to find a correlation here. You don't know these people, you don't know what they intended." "Over-votes cost Gore the election in FL" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/10/2001 11:53:56 PM ----- BODY: Can we please privatize Amtrak? On their most profitable train, it only makes $38 per passenger. Now, they want $30 billion over 20 years to build a high speed rail service. Let me concur with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): "Now it's clear it's not going to be self-sufficient–and we need a national debate over what to do about it." "The Train is Leaving the Depot" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/10/2001 11:52:44 PM ----- BODY: The most backward nation on earth is almost finished destroying two of the largest Buddhas in existence. "Taliban Destroys Buddha Statues" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 11:38:41 PM ----- BODY: While Mike is away, Kevin and I have taken over WOIFM? At the rate of our lengthy posts, Mike may have no readers to blog to when he gets back. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 06:24:04 PM ----- BODY: Christian bigot and billionaire, Ted Turner insulted a number of CNN staffers who attended Ash Wednesday services by saying, "I realized you're just Jesus freaks. Shouldn't you guys be working for Fox?" Will the Mouth from the South's comment get as much deserved criticism as Jerry Fallwell's? "Turner's Rep is in Ashes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 03:30:45 AM ----- BODY: Stephen Moore offers the essence of supply-side economics:
"Anti-Tax-Cut Nuttery" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 03:20:34 AM ----- BODY: Howard Kurtz reports on Rich Lowry's possible NYC mayoral bid. Why would Lowry run in a race he'll probably lose?Tax-rate reductions are economically beneficial because a cut in tax rates reduces the negative effects of the tax on economic behavior. A tax-rate cut increases the after-tax rate of return on capital investment, on starting a business, on saving, and on working. When you tax something, you get less of it. When you tax something less, you get more of it. This is why every time we've cut federal tax rates in the U.S. we've seen a spurt in productivity, employment, investment, asset values, and output.
Go, Rich, go! "Rich Lowry's Unlikely Manhattan Project" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 02:21:19 AM ----- BODY: In response to Angus' gun-control argument:You have Michael Bloomberg, a liberal Democrat, running as a Republican simply because it's the easiest route to Gracie Mansion. He wouldn't know a conservative idea if it showed up in his bank statement.
Angus, you forget the point I made about the "countless negative influences, and parents who would rather be their child's best friend than their disciplinarian." It's not as simple as banning guns. While gun control may work in Australia (at least with homicides, but what about property crimes?), it hasn't work in the U.S. American society is suffering from a culture of death. Women are allowed to kill their unborn children because they're inconvienent. Government kills murderers in the name of justice (more like revenge). Kids listen to Eminem rap about raping his mother. Death and violence seem to be the solution to life's problems. Many cultural influences desensitize us to violence or even encourage it. Add in an huge dose of cynicism toward many institutions, whether deserved or not, and a pinch of hopelessness from eco-nuts who think Mankind is the scourge of the earth and I can see how a kid picked on by others could resort to shooting fellow students. Before banning guns, teachers should be armed. Mr. Williams might have thought twice about going on his illegal escapade if he thought there was a chance of encountering someone armed and with the will to fight back. "Firearms Training School Is Offering Free Instruction For Teachers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 01:48:41 AM ----- BODY: That damn Mike! He beat me to this Onion story. What I want to see is a steel cage match between Majority Whip Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Rep. Charles "I brought Bill Clinton to Harlem" Rangel (D-NY). Or how about a hardcore match between Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) with the winner getting the Government Reform Chairmanship? "Vince McMahon's X-SPAN Promises Bone-Crunching Legislative Coverage" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/8/2001 01:31:46 AM ----- BODY: Is the federal income tax legal? The We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education doesn't think so and paid for an ad stating just that. But tax reform advocates think they don't know what they're talking about. Since the income tax has existed since 1913, one would think it's gone through many legal challenges already. It's continued existence seems to back the notion of its legality. "Tax Season Triggers Debate Over Legality of Income Tax" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2001 02:24:05 AM ----- BODY: Rush on yesterday's Napster news:Remember: the harder it is for kids to get guns, the less likely it is that they will go on shooting sprees.
While agreeing that Napster is allowing the theft of copyrighted material, I do think the record companies are being really stupid in not working with Napster to develop a legal digital music distribution system. I've played around with Napster myself and know how seductively simple it is to use. Search for songs you haven't heard in years, find the songs you only heard the last few seconds of on the radio, download them and burn them on a CD. It's that simple. I've seen the future of music distribution. Hopefully, the record companies have too. "Listen Like Thieves" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2001 01:43:05 AM ----- BODY: A post on Metafilter offers this comment on Napster and Net culture:Bad news, ladies and gentlemen, for you online music thieves and free loaders who think you ought to be entitled to the work of others for nothing. A federal judge gave the recording industry another victory today in its bid to control digital music, saying that Napster has just 72 hours - that's three days for those of you in Palm Beach County - to block any copyright songs. That means you had better start downloading fast, freeloaders. You had better log on like bats out of hell to download Meatloaf's "Bat Out of Hell," because in three days, the store door gets locked.
-------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/7/2001 12:54:18 AM ----- BODY: Gary Becker on the results of tougher law enforcement:Is anyone else embarrassed that while past generations illegally traded booze (prohibition) and drugs ('60s), we're going to be known as the generation that broke the law to traffic in pop music?
"Tough Justice Is Saving Our Inner Cities" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 11:16:41 PM ----- BODY: Jim Powell's sample chapter from his book The Triumph of Liberty is a great introduction to the Nobel Prize-winning economist F. A. Hayek. The life and times of F.A. Hayek, who explained why political liberty is impossible without economic liberty -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 10:15:35 PM ----- BODY: Will the 2002 New York City mayoral race be 1965 all over again? Will another National Review editor carry the conservative flag to counter a mediocre Republican? "National Review Editor Mulls Mayoral Run" [via Drudge] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 10:07:00 PM ----- BODY: Gene Callahan reviewed Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics.In fact, increased police enforcement particularly benefits minorities because the vast majority of violent and property crimes are committed against persons of the same race and ethnicity. Criminals seldom travel far to find homes to burglarize, and violent crimes tend to be committed against friends and family members. So inner-city blacks and Hispanics are the main victims of crimes, as confirmed by the federal Crime and Victimization Survey.
This is because "the flaws in the book are, from an Austrian perspective, significant, and undermine many of its strong points." I'm reading the book right now and can understand why Callahan finds flaws "from an Austrian perspective." Sowell isn't an economist of the Austrian School. He's a Hayekian greatly influenced by the University of Chicago where he earned his doctorate. While lacking in Austrian purity (whatever that means), Sowell's book is a good economics lesson or a refresher course. He emphasises the roles of prices and profits (or losses) and knocks down many economic fallacies. "Basic Sowell" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 09:52:24 PM ----- BODY: After all the time and money the King of Pop spent to make himself look like a pasty alien from the Roswell UFO crash, I have new-found respect for him. All that surgery has got to hurt. His pain tolerance must be incredible. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 09:42:53 PM ----- BODY: Rich Galen, a politico with his own heart problems, commented on Vice President Dick Cheney's hospitalization:In all honesty, I can neither give this book a whole-hearted recommendation or a thorough trashing.
Maybe I should re-evaluate my comments from yesterday. "Tunnels" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 08:39:28 PM ----- BODY: Moratorium 2000 advocates a death penalty cease-fire. I've signed the petition, how about you? Moratorium 2000 petition [via Mr. Mead] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 03:34:57 AM ----- BODY: President Bush should seriously consider a replacement for Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney's taking an extreme amount of responsiblity in running the administration. For all practical purposes, he's the chief of staff (sorry, Andrew Card). That work load requires a person healthy enough to handle the stress. Cheney's hospitalization puts some serious doubts in his ability to finish his term. He's a good conservative, but I don't want to see him die in office. How about Jack Kemp as a replacement? He would be the biggest tax-cutting cheer leader Bush could find. "Cheney has 'Non-Emergency' Procedure After Chest Twinge" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/6/2001 03:21:35 AM ----- BODY: What will come from the tragedy in Santee yesterday is an extremely heightened alertness to any possible threat of violence from kids no matter how tiny that threat is. Parents will yank the toy guns and Star Wars action figures out of their children's hands. If a kid does something innocuous like draw a gun on paper during art class or shape their hand into a gun and point it at another classmate, they will be instantly suspended. Any mention of bringing a gun to school no matter how much of a joke it is will be called in to the police. Governments will pour money into profiling software to try to predict who will be a killer. It'll all be done "for the children," but it's just an unthinking, knee-jerk response to the unexplainable. With a population of 270 million, countless negative influences, and parents who would rather be their child's best friend than their disciplinarian, horrible instances like the Santee and Columbine will happen again. Forget more gun control. Mr. Williams broke lots of laws doing what he did. More words passed by legislators wouldn't have stopped him. "Boasts to Friends Went Unbelieved" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2001 01:49:01 PM ----- BODY: Curt Brown was all psyched about helping his brother on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" His reference books were within arms reach on his desk and his computer was just begging for him to enter a search term and take advantage of a fast Net connection. Then he got a question about Vincent LaGuardia Gambini. "When Regis Calls: Confessions of a Phone-a-Friend" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2001 01:23:47 PM ----- BODY: Harold Stassen, former Minnesota governor, liberal Republican, World War II veteran, and perpetual Presidential candidate died yesterday. While seldom agreeing with him on politics, Stassen lightened up the super-seriousness that ensnares politics too often. Godspeed, Harold. "`He was Smart and He was Brave'" "Former Gov. Harold Stassen Dies; He was 93" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2001 01:07:12 PM ----- BODY: AFL-CIO (and Democratic Socialists of America member) President John Sweeney must have been ignoring the news in the past few weeks:Notwithstanding the breathless reporting, the procedure the Vice President underwent was apparently to open an area at an edge of the stent which was installed last Fall. That area had narrowed due to a natural reaction of the artery wall to the injury of the stent having been installed in the first place.
It happens.
One fact we must be absolutely clear about. George Bush did not win the election. And it's up to all of us here today to act like he did not win the election.Mr. Sweeney seems to have lost touch with reality. "Progressives, Democratic-Socialists Insist Bush 'Did Not Win the Election'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/5/2001 01:02:18 PM ----- BODY: Mike didn't get dumped. There goes my future career as a weatherman. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2001 02:29:31 PM ----- BODY: Mike and the D.C. area are going to get dumped.
"We're still watching the models grapple with exactly how it's going to come together," said Ressler. "We're looking for over a foot from southern New England through northern Virginia.""Nor'easter threatens Eastern Seaboard" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/3/2001 02:06:01 PM ----- BODY: President Bush is taking full advantage of the office's bully pulpit. Personal events, television speeches, radio addresses, one-on-one conversations, all are used by Bush to build support for his tax cut plan. Some may compare this campaign atmosphere to Bill Clinton's perpetual campaign he ran while in office for eight years. But the decided difference is the focus. Bill was always focused on the one person he always cared about--Bill. Focus groups and opinion polls were constantly employed to see how Bill could always remain in the public's good graces and how to massage public sentiment. Bush, on the other hand, is advocating a set of ideas. Sure, it's in Bush's long term political interests to win the budget/tax battle, but it's really refreshing to see the emphasis on ideas rather than personality. "Bush Takes to Radio Waves to Push Tax Cut" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2001 08:05:11 PM ----- BODY: Kausfiles has slapped an Amazon.com cash box and a mini-portal to the bottom of the site. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2001 07:57:11 PM ----- BODY: Afghanistan, the most backward nation on earth, is destroying its cultural past. "Afghanistan's Antiquities Under Assault" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/2/2001 07:26:08 PM ----- BODY: A great ship named after a great President, the USS Ronald Reagan wil be christened Sunday. "Navy, Shipbuilders Prepare Reagan Carrier for Christening" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/1/2001 02:19:04 AM ----- BODY: Zannah has a first-hand account of living through the Seattle earthquake. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/1/2001 01:58:25 AM ----- BODY: Professor Bart Beaty says the difficulty of securing copyright permission is "absolutely the most serious problem facing comic-book scholarship." There's actually comic book scholarship?!? The possible homoeroticism in Batman comics doesn't surprise me as much as the small industry of comic book scholarship. There's an International Journal of Comic Art and an International Encyclopedia of Comics soon to be published. Ah, the power of tenure. "Pow! Wham! Permission Denied!" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/1/2001 01:32:16 AM ----- BODY: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial page editor Paul Greenberg went from being a commentator blocked from a local public radio station because of his conservative views to a commentator defended by his liberal counterpart who will share air time with him. BEFORE "My Brief Radio Career: Shut Up, They Explained" AFTER "Back on the Air, or Radio Free Arkansas" Kudos go out to Kevin for the tip. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 3/1/2001 01:17:43 AM ----- BODY: The New York Observer wants Hillary Clinton booted out of her Senate seat:
It is clear now that we have made a terrible mistake, for Hillary Rodham Clinton is unfit for elective office. Had she any shame, she would resign. If federal officeholders were subject to popular recall, she’d be thrown out of office by springtime, the season of renewal."Clinton Corruption Plays Us for Fools—We Won’t Forget" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2001 01:51:13 PM ----- BODY: As if you didn't know, President Bush addressed Congress last night. I worked late and so I didn't catch it live or hear any of the post-speech spin. So this little piece of analysis is purely derived from the inner workings of my brain. Bush stuck to his campaign mantra of education, defense, tax cuts, and reforming medicare and social security. Instead of just mentioning his priorities if elected President, he put flesh on those policy bones. He proposed lots of money for a federal reading program; student testing to see if they're learning and to hold schools accountable; and parental options to save children from failing public schools. Bush wants a pay increase for soldiers and a complete review of our armed forces to see how they can best defend the U.S. in a post-Cold War world. Creation of savings accounts for younger workers (i.e. me) within social security was also mentioned. As a political economist, I was most interested in Bush's tax cut plan. He stood firm in it's size ($1.6 trillion) and reiterated his point that "Everyone who pays income taxes will get relief." That's his method of attack against the class warfare, soak-the-rich pablum thrown out by the Democrats. Bush even raised up the ghost of a tax-cutting Democratic President, John F. Kennedy and tossed him into the same sentence with a tax-cutting Republican President, Ronald Reagan. Then there were points I had to politely disagree. Giving oodles of cash to the Department of Education may be politically popular, but it isn't constitutional. I'm also worried that Bush's insistence on testing students will open up local schools to heavier regulation from Washington. This may not happen during Bush's term in office, but future Presidents could claim this power. Let me conclude by saying that Bush didn't offer any surprises. He's been consistently on message since last year's campaign. He's a disciplined politician who is getting comfortable with the grandure of the Presidency. Assuming he can get much of his proposals through Congress he could have one hell of a first term. Address of the President to the Joint Session of Congress -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2001 01:22:42 PM ----- BODY: Angus is as excited as I am about a new Battlestar Galatica series. I've been catching up on the episodes as they appear on the Sci-Fi Channel via Tivo. The story lines aren't as cheesy as you'd think, Athena's hot, and I can swear like Star Buck. (FRACK!) I need more! -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/28/2001 12:44:33 PM ----- BODY: Bill Clinton says, "I want to get out of the news," but don't believe him. This man craves attention. He feeds off the attention (both good and bad) of people around him. Clinton went on to say, "I am trying to go home and have a life." But his life for over 20 years has been in the public limelight. He's gotten used to the celebrity drug. Believe me, I want him to disappear. I want the media focused on President Bush's budget and his tax cut. "Clinton Wants to Shun Headlines, 'Have a Life'" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2001 02:39:42 AM ----- BODY: I've been meaning to post this for a few days, but I got distracted with putting the finishing touches on the new site. Kevin Whited's weblog has seemingly come out of no where to being a great source for high quality, though-provoking links. He's also RIGHT politically. I've added it to the TAM weblog family. If I ever get off my lazy duff and fire up my text editor, maybe I'll add it to the new portal I must work on. Reductio Ad Absurdum -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2001 02:32:41 AM ----- BODY: Robert Bartley's a fan of Calvin Coolidge:
President Reagan also cited the Coolidge (actually Coolidge-Mellon) tax cuts, which helped fuel the boom of the 1920s and increased rather than decreased government revenues. Succeeding with the death of Harding in 1923, Coolidge also cleaned up the Teapot Dome scandal by appointing a special counsel (actually two, a prominent lawyer and a former Democratic senator). In the process, he demanded the resignation of his attorney general. Handily elected in his own right in 1924, he presided over a extraordinary period of economic progress.Bartley isn't a fan of JFK:
My own view of President Kennedy is much more direct: His callowness and amorality got us into Vietnam. Or to be more precise, his blunders turned a limited commitment into an open-ended one."Viewing Reflected Images" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2001 02:15:43 AM ----- BODY: Jennifer Braceras followed the work of the United States Commission on Civil Rights as it investigated charges of minority voter disenfranchisement in Florida. They didn't find anything of any substance, but that didn't stop Chairman Mary Frances Berry from saying, "Most of what happened to people was not even being able to get to the polls or being able to vote." This only fuels the conspiracy mongers in the Democratic Party and liberal minority political groups who continue to think Al Gore won the election when we know he didn't. "Uncivil Commission" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/27/2001 12:29:40 AM ----- BODY: The women on Rep. Tom DeLay's congressional staff have been dubbed by the Washington Post as the "Whip Chicks." I'd love to read the letters to the editor from the male-hating NOW gang over the catchy name. ""Business Groups Eager to Ornament Tax Cut" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/26/2001 11:11:21 PM ----- BODY: What do sci-fi geeks do when they're not at their day jobs? They dig up tiny nuggets of movie news and complain that Spider-Man won't have mechanical web shooters. Why James Cameron thinks spider webs shooting out of Peter Parker's wrists are so important in the up coming movie, I don't know. Although it is interesting how the Internet allows die-hard fans to voice their opinions and actually have them acted on. "Web Shooting may be partly mechanical after all for Spider-Man." -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/26/2001 03:37:25 AM ----- BODY: Welcome to the new digs! After over a year of serious blogging, I decided that I needed some breathing room (thanks Dreamhost). A big long address on Angelfire wasn't as geeky as having my very own domain name (thanks Dotster) and I wanted to find out what all the fun was about with Blogger. After observing the soap opera at Pyra, I'm wondering what I got myself into. Let me know what you think of the new design. Mucho thanks go to Mike for his comments, tips, suggestions, and for finding the proud eagle adorning the top of the page. My portal is lousy, but it's my next project. A new feature you might like is the guestbook (thanks Dreambook). It needs someone to christen it. Just because it's a new look at a new domain powered by some spiffy software, TAM will still provide links and commentary I hope will provoke thought, entertain, and enlighten. If none of that happens when you come here, then just look at that really handsome eagle. If you really miss the old site, it's still at Angelfire. -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/26/2001 02:17:53 AM ----- BODY: Scientists have pretty much ignored metals as useful superconductors. They usually require really, really cold temperatures. Instead, they've been playing around with oxygen-based compounds. Now, scientists have discovered that a metal reaches superconductivity at a higher tempature. "Superconductivity Finding Could Aid in Building High-speed Computers" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/26/2001 01:56:47 AM ----- BODY: No more claims that President Bush is illegitimate. Based on a ballot review of votes in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Volusia Counties, Al Gore would have only gained 49 votes. And this review used very liberal standards like "counting every dimple, pinprick and hanging chad identified in the section for presidential votes on the ballots." It's over! Al Gore lost, and George W. Bush is President. Live with it! "Paper: Gore Gained Only 49 Votes" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/24/2001 11:36:22 AM ----- BODY: University of California president Richard Atkinson decided this week to jetison the SAT for admission purposes. He said SAT results "can have devastating impact on the self-esteem and aspirations of young students," and that the test is "perceived as unfair." Instead, he wants a more "holistic" approach to finding UC freshmen. Thomas Sowell sees this as "quotas through the back door." He writes, "In short, inconvenient academic criteria were being gotten rid of, so that group quotas could continue in new disguises. That is precisely what getting rid of standardized academic tests is all about." With all its flaws, the SAT does inject some objective criteria into the admissions process. Without standardized tests admissions would be completely at the subjective discression of Leftist university administrations continuing their fight for "social justice" through racial discrimination. "Back Door Quotas" [via Reductio] -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/23/2001 11:45:55 PM ----- BODY: Reagan, In His Own Hand is such an important book because it documents the real intellect of our 40th President. Let me quote Jay Nordlinger to back me up:
And that is a problem we Reagan champions have: always trying to prove that our man — undeniably a politician and leader of great skill — was an intellectual force as well. This has become an exhausting, sometimes pathetic mission. The strength of Reagan's mind has long been obvious to anyone who has given the man two seconds' thought; but, of course, many people — many influential people — are unwilling to put in a good two seconds. To them, Reagan will always be, if not quite a boob, a lightweight all the same — a lucky innocent, who stumbled onto some success as president."Reagan in Full" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/22/2001 09:48:29 PM ----- BODY: Jack Kemp wants President Bush's tax cut to be double the $1.6 trillion he has proposed. Kemp thinks surplus projections are underestimated and that Congress will be awash with money even after it pays off the national debt. "We Can Afford a Much Bigger Tax Cut" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/21/2001 03:07:22 PM ----- BODY: I love this time of year. Sports Illustrated has their lovely ladies up on the web to warm up my cold Wisconsin winter. Do take a look at my favorite, Amy Wesson. CNN/Sports Illustrated's 2001 Swimsuit Edition -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/20/2001 04:07:02 AM ----- BODY: The Gipper is beloved by the public. People like to look back on a leader who made them feel good about being Americans. They also remember that Reagan led the country out of economic hardship while also winning the Cold War. "Reagan Tops the List of 'Greatest U.S. President,' Poll Says" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/13/2001 02:13:13 AM ----- BODY: Moma's workspheres exibition looks at new innovative design perspectives due to the changing nature of work. Some of the exhibits are banal (1960s correction fluid), others are cutting-edge stylish but impracticle (the scooter desk), but all explore new ways of making work easier, more effective, more fun, and more comfortable. moma:workspheres -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/9/2001 12:08:06 AM ----- BODY: Technology has its pluses and minuses. Tough encryption lets shoppers protect their credit card numbers from theft, while it also allows truly private conversations (both e-mail and voice). Encryption also gives criminals and terrorists the means of keeping their nefarious plans secret. Strong encryption shouldn't be outlawed; then only the criminals (who would ignore the laws anyway) would have the means of keeping electronic secrets. Law enforcement will just have to find new, constitutional methods of finding out illegal plans. Terror Groups Hide Behind Web Encryption -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/8/2001 11:29:26 PM ----- BODY: Mike thought I should work on my color choices. This reference from Webmonkey helps. Color Codes -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2001 11:00:55 PM ----- BODY: Ms. Houston is following in the footsteps of her trouble-making husband. All she had to do was cough up a little cash and her marijuana charge would have vanished. Now, she faces 30 days in jail and a $1000 fine. If she goes to jail, she would be the sweetest sounding jail bird in world history. "Whitney Houston's Marijuana Charges May Be Reinstated" -------- AUTHOR: Sean Hackbarth DATE: 2/7/2001 10:57:04 PM ----- BODY: Why, oh why is Nirvana's Nevermind number 2 on VH1's 100 Greatest Albums of Rock 'N' Roll? I did think it was something fresh and new when it came out in 1991(?), but now Kurt Cobain's angst-ridden songs feel stale. Angry, hopeless music can only be entertaining for so long. Also, how can you put Nirvana at number 2 while leaving Led Zeppelin all the way back at 43 (their debut). Even worse, Guns 'n Roses' Appetite for Destruction ranks ahead of Zeppelin, and they certainly didn't out hard rock the masters. VH1.com: 100 Greatest Albums of Rock 'N' Roll --------
