This commercial gave me goosebumps. Here's the transcript:
An old man rounding a corner into an alleyway looks up and sees young, masked militants facing him down. A couple joins the old man. Slowly, more and more people join the old man.
Voiceover: On January 30, we meet our destiny and our duty. We are not alone, and we are not afraid. Our strength is in our unity; together we will work and together prevail.
Those joining the man now outnumber the militants. He nods and they move forward. The militants run away.
Written on screen: Don't worry about Iraq. We are its people. We will allow no one to deprive us of our rights. For the building of Iraq: Peace, freedom and democracy. The heroes of Iraq.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
From Good to Bad
What started out as a nice story on former Xavier guard Lenny Brown...
In the five-plus years since he graduated from Xavier University, Lenny Brown had gotten used to receiving the letters most college alumni receive from their alma maters.
So it wasn't a big deal last month when Brown opened another piece of mail from Xavier probably asking for a donation to the university or the alumni association or whatever group that needed support.
But then, Brown read a little closer.
"It wasn't asking for donations," Brown said.
The letter was from Xavier president Michael Graham. It was a congratulatory note sent to inform the school's fifth all-time leading scorer that he was going to be inducted into Xavier's Athletic Hall of Fame.
...quickly turned bad:
"There's not a lot of opportunities here in Delaware," said Brown, who was almost swallowed by the dangerous streets of Wilmington in high school.
"I want to take advantage of attending a school like Xavier, get a job. I've talked to my teammates, Gary Lumpkin, Sherwin Anderson. They said, 'Come on and don't even worry about it. Xavier will take care of you.' "
So now Brown is torn.
He has two sons and a daughter who live in Wilmington but a heart that wants him to return to Cincinnati.
He hasn't figured out how the relationship with his kids will work if he moves to Cincinnati. He can think about those details later, though.
This is a microcosm of society in general, the black community in particular. Children (in this case, two sons and a daughter) are relegated to details that can be worked out later. They take a back seat to the wants and desires of their father.
A real father sacrifices his desires and dreams for the good of his children. At least, that used to be the case.
In the five-plus years since he graduated from Xavier University, Lenny Brown had gotten used to receiving the letters most college alumni receive from their alma maters.
So it wasn't a big deal last month when Brown opened another piece of mail from Xavier probably asking for a donation to the university or the alumni association or whatever group that needed support.
But then, Brown read a little closer.
"It wasn't asking for donations," Brown said.
The letter was from Xavier president Michael Graham. It was a congratulatory note sent to inform the school's fifth all-time leading scorer that he was going to be inducted into Xavier's Athletic Hall of Fame.
...quickly turned bad:
"There's not a lot of opportunities here in Delaware," said Brown, who was almost swallowed by the dangerous streets of Wilmington in high school.
"I want to take advantage of attending a school like Xavier, get a job. I've talked to my teammates, Gary Lumpkin, Sherwin Anderson. They said, 'Come on and don't even worry about it. Xavier will take care of you.' "
So now Brown is torn.
He has two sons and a daughter who live in Wilmington but a heart that wants him to return to Cincinnati.
He hasn't figured out how the relationship with his kids will work if he moves to Cincinnati. He can think about those details later, though.
This is a microcosm of society in general, the black community in particular. Children (in this case, two sons and a daughter) are relegated to details that can be worked out later. They take a back seat to the wants and desires of their father.
A real father sacrifices his desires and dreams for the good of his children. At least, that used to be the case.
Friday, January 21, 2005
More on Abusive Male Coaches
From ESPN:
Title IX has revolutionized sports and opened up a world of thrilling possibilities for women athletes, but it also has had a terrifying and underestimated side effect: sexual abuse by coaches. In the past two years, widely respected and accomplished girls' basketball coaches in Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash., Denver, Colo., and Berkeley, Calif., have faced accusations of abuse from current or former players. A Seattle Times investigation from 2003 found 159 coaches reprimanded or fired for sexual misconduct in the past decade in Washington state alone. Of those 159, the Times reported, 98 continued to coach or teach at schools.
In the first extensive study of its kind, sociology professor Sandra Kirby of the University of Winnipeg found that 22.8 percent of respondents in a Canadian sample had sexual intercourse with a coach or other person in position of authority within their sport. The epidemic spawned from a combination of controlling coaches, enabling parents, precocious girls and a stunning lack of oversight of youth sports. "The numbers are staggering," says Kirby, who wrote her book, "The Dome of Silence," in 2000. "The coach is one of the barriers between athletes and the brass ring, and to them that's the only road. There's no other way."
The problem has worsened in the United States with the relatively new promise of fame and success in women's basketball. "We're following the men right down this road of kids playing 12 months a year, 80 to 100 games," Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer says. "The club coaches can be powerful brokers. Girls live in a more emotional world. The chemistry, the camaraderie. So much is about being accepted. Then you have a male coach with a 14-year-old girl wanting to please this person. Girls are really motivated by being pleasers. Are they more vulnerable? Yes, I think they are."
Like I've always said, males coaching teenage females is a very bad idea.
UPDATE: On a related note, is Tara VanDerveer a sexist for saying what she said? She's only pointing out obvious female characteristics, but isn't that taboo these days. Ask Larry Summers.
Title IX has revolutionized sports and opened up a world of thrilling possibilities for women athletes, but it also has had a terrifying and underestimated side effect: sexual abuse by coaches. In the past two years, widely respected and accomplished girls' basketball coaches in Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash., Denver, Colo., and Berkeley, Calif., have faced accusations of abuse from current or former players. A Seattle Times investigation from 2003 found 159 coaches reprimanded or fired for sexual misconduct in the past decade in Washington state alone. Of those 159, the Times reported, 98 continued to coach or teach at schools.
In the first extensive study of its kind, sociology professor Sandra Kirby of the University of Winnipeg found that 22.8 percent of respondents in a Canadian sample had sexual intercourse with a coach or other person in position of authority within their sport. The epidemic spawned from a combination of controlling coaches, enabling parents, precocious girls and a stunning lack of oversight of youth sports. "The numbers are staggering," says Kirby, who wrote her book, "The Dome of Silence," in 2000. "The coach is one of the barriers between athletes and the brass ring, and to them that's the only road. There's no other way."
The problem has worsened in the United States with the relatively new promise of fame and success in women's basketball. "We're following the men right down this road of kids playing 12 months a year, 80 to 100 games," Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer says. "The club coaches can be powerful brokers. Girls live in a more emotional world. The chemistry, the camaraderie. So much is about being accepted. Then you have a male coach with a 14-year-old girl wanting to please this person. Girls are really motivated by being pleasers. Are they more vulnerable? Yes, I think they are."
Like I've always said, males coaching teenage females is a very bad idea.
UPDATE: On a related note, is Tara VanDerveer a sexist for saying what she said? She's only pointing out obvious female characteristics, but isn't that taboo these days. Ask Larry Summers.
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
EAST LANSING - The Michigan Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice will hold its annual commemorative lecture celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road. The speaker is Leslie Watson Malachi, director of the Black Church Initiative and the Women of Color Partnership at the national Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in Washington, D.C. The public is welcome.
"Celebrating"? What's more discouraging is that this group is supported by most of the mainline Christian denominations.
UPDATE: How ironic is it that the scheduled speaker for this "celebration" is named Malachi. I think the old prophet's words are as relevant today as in his time:
Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, "Wherein have we wearied him?" When ye say, "Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them"; or, "Where is the God of judgment?"
"Celebrating"? What's more discouraging is that this group is supported by most of the mainline Christian denominations.
UPDATE: How ironic is it that the scheduled speaker for this "celebration" is named Malachi. I think the old prophet's words are as relevant today as in his time:
Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, "Wherein have we wearied him?" When ye say, "Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them"; or, "Where is the God of judgment?"
More on Iraqi Voters
An overwhelming majority of Iraqis continue to say they intend to vote on Jan. 30 even as insurgents press attacks aimed at rendering the elections a failure, according to a new public opinion survey.
The poll, conducted in late December and early January for the International Republican Institute, found 80 percent of respondents saying they were likely to vote, a rate that has held roughly steady for months.
Unbelievable.
The poll, conducted in late December and early January for the International Republican Institute, found 80 percent of respondents saying they were likely to vote, a rate that has held roughly steady for months.
Unbelievable.
Another Inauguration
Kiev — President-elect Viktor Yushchenko meets Friday with the European Union's foreign policy chief, underlining his aim to bring Ukraine into closer co-operation with the West.
The meeting with Javier Solana comes two days before Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration, the date for which was set only Thursday after Mr. Yushchenko cleared a Supreme Court challenge filed by the losing candidate in the Dec. 26 election, Viktor Yanukovych.
The meeting with Javier Solana comes two days before Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration, the date for which was set only Thursday after Mr. Yushchenko cleared a Supreme Court challenge filed by the losing candidate in the Dec. 26 election, Viktor Yanukovych.
It's Good to be Stan Lee
Cha-ching!
SPIDER-Man creator Stan Lee is in line for a multi-million pound windfall from publisher Marvel.
A judge in New York awarded Lee ten per cent of the profits from both Spider-Man films — which netted £900million.
Stan, 82, who accused Marvel of going back on a profit-share deal, gets a further cut from TV shows and toys.
He said: “I’m sorry it has come to this.”
SPIDER-Man creator Stan Lee is in line for a multi-million pound windfall from publisher Marvel.
A judge in New York awarded Lee ten per cent of the profits from both Spider-Man films — which netted £900million.
Stan, 82, who accused Marvel of going back on a profit-share deal, gets a further cut from TV shows and toys.
He said: “I’m sorry it has come to this.”
Congratulations
I can hear those Delta employees right now: "We're #1! We're #1!"
ATLANTA — In an industry where huge losses have become common, Delta Air Lines Inc. is now in a class all its own.
The nation’s third-largest air carrier said Thursday that it lost $5.2 billion last year — more than any U.S. airline has ever lost in a year, easily dwarfing the $3.5 billion loss American Airlines reported for 2002. Atlanta-based Delta said it lost $2.2 billion in 2004 ’s fourth quarter alone.
ATLANTA — In an industry where huge losses have become common, Delta Air Lines Inc. is now in a class all its own.
The nation’s third-largest air carrier said Thursday that it lost $5.2 billion last year — more than any U.S. airline has ever lost in a year, easily dwarfing the $3.5 billion loss American Airlines reported for 2002. Atlanta-based Delta said it lost $2.2 billion in 2004 ’s fourth quarter alone.
Abbas Keeps Hitting the Right Notes
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- In a move to stop rocket and mortar attacks on Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered a two-phase deployment of security forces along the border with Israel, a statement from his office said Friday.
"The president ordered the Palestinian police, preventative security and the Intelligence units to spread inside the cities and refugee camps in the Gaza Strip to maintain order and protect the interests of the population," according to the statement.
The movement of Palestinian security forces came under threat of Israeli military action.
"The president ordered the Palestinian police, preventative security and the Intelligence units to spread inside the cities and refugee camps in the Gaza Strip to maintain order and protect the interests of the population," according to the statement.
The movement of Palestinian security forces came under threat of Israeli military action.
Good Ruling
The Defense of Marriage Act easily survived its first Constitutional test.
US District Judge James S. Moody disagreed. Moody, an appointee of former president Bill Clinton, sided with outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft, who had argued in court filings that the government has a legitimate interest in permitting states to ban same-sex marriages, namely to encourage "stable relationships" to raise children with both biological parents. Moody ruled that the law was not discriminatory because it treats men and women equally, and that the government had argued compellingly in favor of allowing marriages to form only between men and women. Moody said he could not declare marriage a "fundamental right," as lawyers for the women had urged him to do. Moody cited past legal cases as establishing states' rights to regulate marriages. "The legislatures of individual states may decide to overturn its precedent and strike down" the law, Moody wrote. "But, until then, this court is constrained to hold [the law] and the Florida statutes . . . constitutionally valid."
This is great news. I've always thought this is a state issue and should be decided by the states. DOMA, if properly interpreted and applied, makes the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA)moot. However, the FMA may return as an issue as long as you have judges willing to overrule the will of the people on this matter (as was the case in Massachusetts).
US District Judge James S. Moody disagreed. Moody, an appointee of former president Bill Clinton, sided with outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft, who had argued in court filings that the government has a legitimate interest in permitting states to ban same-sex marriages, namely to encourage "stable relationships" to raise children with both biological parents. Moody ruled that the law was not discriminatory because it treats men and women equally, and that the government had argued compellingly in favor of allowing marriages to form only between men and women. Moody said he could not declare marriage a "fundamental right," as lawyers for the women had urged him to do. Moody cited past legal cases as establishing states' rights to regulate marriages. "The legislatures of individual states may decide to overturn its precedent and strike down" the law, Moody wrote. "But, until then, this court is constrained to hold [the law] and the Florida statutes . . . constitutionally valid."
This is great news. I've always thought this is a state issue and should be decided by the states. DOMA, if properly interpreted and applied, makes the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA)moot. However, the FMA may return as an issue as long as you have judges willing to overrule the will of the people on this matter (as was the case in Massachusetts).
"I Think People Will Be Shocked"
"I think people will be shocked," said an official of another international organization deeply involved in preparing Iraq's nascent political class for the ballot. The official, who insisted that neither he nor his organization could be identified because of security concerns, said most Iraqis remain intent on exercising their right to elect a government after decades of dictatorships. "I think the real story of this election is what's gone on beneath the radar," the official said. "They may not know what they're voting for. But I think they recognize it's something called democracy."
Isn't it the media's job to report "the real story" that has "gone beneath the radar"? Hell no. That wouldn't support their cause.
Anyway, I'm beginning to think that the Iraqi people are much braver - and better - than I.
Isn't it the media's job to report "the real story" that has "gone beneath the radar"? Hell no. That wouldn't support their cause.
Anyway, I'm beginning to think that the Iraqi people are much braver - and better - than I.
Fair and Balanced
Chrenkoff has the goods on the media's obsession with bad news from Iraq. Well, just bad news in general.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Congratulations!
I can hear those Delta employees now: "We're #1! We're #1!"
ATLANTA (AP) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), which is transforming its business to reduce costs and attract more fliers, blamed high fuel prices, low fares and hefty charges as it reported a $2.2 billion fourth quarter loss, capping the worst annual financial performance in the industry's history.
The results, announced before the market opened Thursday, missed Wall Street's reduced expectations and pushed the total losses at the Atlanta-based carrier in 2004 to $5.2 billion. That dwarfs the $3.5 billion loss American Airlines' parent reported for 2002.
Shares of Delta fell 26 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $5.69 in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
ATLANTA (AP) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), which is transforming its business to reduce costs and attract more fliers, blamed high fuel prices, low fares and hefty charges as it reported a $2.2 billion fourth quarter loss, capping the worst annual financial performance in the industry's history.
The results, announced before the market opened Thursday, missed Wall Street's reduced expectations and pushed the total losses at the Atlanta-based carrier in 2004 to $5.2 billion. That dwarfs the $3.5 billion loss American Airlines' parent reported for 2002.
Shares of Delta fell 26 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $5.69 in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
Summers should listen to one of his own faculty members:
In an e-mail exchange with The Crimson yesterday, Johnstone Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker, who teaches the popular spring core class “The Human Mind,” opined on the latest flap over President Summers’ comments on women in science.
CRIMSON: From what psychologists know, is there ample evidence to support the hypothesis that a difference in “innate ability” accounts for the under-representation of women on science faculties?
PINKER: First, let’s be clear what the hypothesis is—every one of Summers’ critics has misunderstood it. The hypothesis is, first, that the statistical distributions of men’s and women’s quantitative and spatial abilities are not identical—that the average for men may be a bit higher than the average for women, and that the variance for men might be a bit higher than the variance for women (both implying that there would be a slightly higher proportion of men at the high end of the scale). It does not mean that all men are better at quantitative abilities than all women! That’s why it would be immoral and illogical to discriminate against individual women even if it were shown that some of the statistical differences were innate.
Second, the hypothesis is that differences in abilities might be one out of several factors that explain differences in the statistical representation of men and women in various professions. It does not mean that it is the only factor. Still, if it is one factor, we cannot reflexively assume that different statistical representation of men and women in science and engineering is itself proof of discrimination. Incidentally, another sign that we are dealing with a taboo is that when it comes to this issue, ordinarily intelligent scientists suddenly lose their ability to think quantitatively and warp statistical hypotheses into crude dichotomies.
As far as the evidence is concerned, I’m not sure what “ample” means, but there is certainly enough evidence for the hypothesis to be taken seriously.
For example, quantitative and spatial skills vary within a gender according to levels of sex hormones. And in samples of gifted students who are given every conceivable encouragement to excel in science and math, far more men than women expressed an interest in pursuing science and math.
CRIMSON: Were President Summers’ remarks within the pale of legitimate academic discourse?
PINKER: Good grief, shouldn’t everything be within the pale of legitimate academic discourse, as long as it is presented with some degree of rigor? That’s the difference between a university and a madrassa.
In an e-mail exchange with The Crimson yesterday, Johnstone Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker, who teaches the popular spring core class “The Human Mind,” opined on the latest flap over President Summers’ comments on women in science.
CRIMSON: From what psychologists know, is there ample evidence to support the hypothesis that a difference in “innate ability” accounts for the under-representation of women on science faculties?
PINKER: First, let’s be clear what the hypothesis is—every one of Summers’ critics has misunderstood it. The hypothesis is, first, that the statistical distributions of men’s and women’s quantitative and spatial abilities are not identical—that the average for men may be a bit higher than the average for women, and that the variance for men might be a bit higher than the variance for women (both implying that there would be a slightly higher proportion of men at the high end of the scale). It does not mean that all men are better at quantitative abilities than all women! That’s why it would be immoral and illogical to discriminate against individual women even if it were shown that some of the statistical differences were innate.
Second, the hypothesis is that differences in abilities might be one out of several factors that explain differences in the statistical representation of men and women in various professions. It does not mean that it is the only factor. Still, if it is one factor, we cannot reflexively assume that different statistical representation of men and women in science and engineering is itself proof of discrimination. Incidentally, another sign that we are dealing with a taboo is that when it comes to this issue, ordinarily intelligent scientists suddenly lose their ability to think quantitatively and warp statistical hypotheses into crude dichotomies.
As far as the evidence is concerned, I’m not sure what “ample” means, but there is certainly enough evidence for the hypothesis to be taken seriously.
For example, quantitative and spatial skills vary within a gender according to levels of sex hormones. And in samples of gifted students who are given every conceivable encouragement to excel in science and math, far more men than women expressed an interest in pursuing science and math.
CRIMSON: Were President Summers’ remarks within the pale of legitimate academic discourse?
PINKER: Good grief, shouldn’t everything be within the pale of legitimate academic discourse, as long as it is presented with some degree of rigor? That’s the difference between a university and a madrassa.
Summers Caves
You gotta love that academic freedom at Harvard.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - Harvard University President Lawrence Summers has written a lengthy apology, admitting he was wrong to suggest women do not have the same natural ability in math and sciences as men.
In his third and most repentant statement this week, the Ivy League school chief sought to make amends to faculty not just at Harvard but across the country who were offended by his remarks at a conference last Friday.
"I deeply regret the impact of my comments and apologize for not having weighed them more carefully," Summers said in a letter to the Harvard community posted on his Web site and dated Wednesday. "I was wrong to have spoken in a way that has resulted in an unintended signal of discouragement to talented girls and women."
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - Harvard University President Lawrence Summers has written a lengthy apology, admitting he was wrong to suggest women do not have the same natural ability in math and sciences as men.
In his third and most repentant statement this week, the Ivy League school chief sought to make amends to faculty not just at Harvard but across the country who were offended by his remarks at a conference last Friday.
"I deeply regret the impact of my comments and apologize for not having weighed them more carefully," Summers said in a letter to the Harvard community posted on his Web site and dated Wednesday. "I was wrong to have spoken in a way that has resulted in an unintended signal of discouragement to talented girls and women."
UK Slips Past Ole Miss
Last night was awful. The Cats better get their rears in gear if they hope to do anything in the post-season. Here are my areas of concern, in no particular order:
1. Slow starts. Is it asking too much to score at least one field goal in the first seven minutes of the game?
2. Randolph Morris. What a disappointment. Can't score, can't defend, can't pass out off the double team.
3. Patrick Sparks. He's got to start shooting better. I'll chalk it up to a slump. But he better get out of it...and fast.
4. Energy. Most of these guys are just going through the motions. Give me more of Ravi Moss and Sheray Thomas - they play hard and play tough.
5. Josh Carrier. Nice kid. However, he's a designated shooter who hasn't made an outside shot in 4 years. He needs to sit.
1. Slow starts. Is it asking too much to score at least one field goal in the first seven minutes of the game?
2. Randolph Morris. What a disappointment. Can't score, can't defend, can't pass out off the double team.
3. Patrick Sparks. He's got to start shooting better. I'll chalk it up to a slump. But he better get out of it...and fast.
4. Energy. Most of these guys are just going through the motions. Give me more of Ravi Moss and Sheray Thomas - they play hard and play tough.
5. Josh Carrier. Nice kid. However, he's a designated shooter who hasn't made an outside shot in 4 years. He needs to sit.
Not Rollin' with Rolling Stone
Why is this news? Rolling Stone can accept, or reject, any advertisements they want to. It does seem a bit odd, but that's their prerogative.
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) -- -- Rolling Stone magazine declined to run an advertisement for a new translation of the Bible aimed at young people, the nation's largest Bible publisher said Wednesday.
Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, bought space in the magazine months ago as part of an ad campaign for Today's New International Version, said Doug Lockhart, Zondervan's executive vice president of marketing.
"Last week, we were surprised and certainly disappointed that Rolling Stone had changed their mind and rejected our ad," he said.
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) -- -- Rolling Stone magazine declined to run an advertisement for a new translation of the Bible aimed at young people, the nation's largest Bible publisher said Wednesday.
Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, bought space in the magazine months ago as part of an ad campaign for Today's New International Version, said Doug Lockhart, Zondervan's executive vice president of marketing.
"Last week, we were surprised and certainly disappointed that Rolling Stone had changed their mind and rejected our ad," he said.
Pray!
Pray for the people of Iraq and the upcoming elections.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Intelligence sources estimate 150 car bombings and 250 suicide attacks are planned ahead of Iraq elections at the end of the month.
A top Iraqi police official told CNN Thursday the information came to light during interrogations of recently-detained insurgents who said targets of the attacks would include election centers and other locations, without being specific.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Intelligence sources estimate 150 car bombings and 250 suicide attacks are planned ahead of Iraq elections at the end of the month.
A top Iraqi police official told CNN Thursday the information came to light during interrogations of recently-detained insurgents who said targets of the attacks would include election centers and other locations, without being specific.
Where was God During the Asian Tsunami?
An intellectual and a theological giant square off. In this corner, the great British historian Paul Johnson:
The Lisbon business, like the Big Wave of Boxing Day, makes me doubt not the existence of God but the common sense of those who claim to be leading thinkers. What had the deaths of 150,000 Lisboans to do with a fundamental question like the existence of God? They were going to die anyway. You might argue that the existence of death itself told us something about God, but not the acceleration of extinction in a few particular cases . . .
The notion, put forward by the Darwinian Central Committee, that the Indian Ocean disaster should persuade us to turn our intellectual backs on a God-directed universe, seems to be puerile. Why did God kill so many people? But God kills people all the time, millions every day. For that matter, God creates people, millions every day . . . Against a total of 150,000 or so, we have to remember that four billion have been added to the number of people in the world during the last 70 years. That 150,000 is only the tiniest ephemeral blip on the world’s demographic radar . . . We are asked to draw transcendental conclusions from this event because of its scale. But the scale, in terms of the magnitude of the world and its inhabitants, is puny, almost insignificant.
...The true theological or philosophical point to be made about the Indian Ocean wave — if, indeed, there is one — is that it is a timely reminder of the fragility of our existence in this world . . . And any reminder of the ultimate and total powerlessness of human beings, made always necessary by our arrogance and boasting, must be an act of God, and a very sensible and benevolent one too. It can also be argued . . . that such events make us think about transience and death, and our own preparedness for our extinction and the life to come. So the calamity — so distressing for those individually involved — was for humanity as a whole a profoundly moral occurrence, and an act of God performed for our benefit.
And in the other corner, the respected Eastern Orthodox theologian David Hart:
The Christian understanding of evil has always been more radical and fantastic than that of any theodicist; for it denies from the outset that suffering, death and evil have any ultimate meaning at all. Perhaps no doctrine is more insufferably fabulous to non-Christians than the claim that we exist in the long melancholy aftermath of a primordial catastrophe, that this is a broken and wounded world, that cosmic time is the shadow of true time, and that the universe languishes in bondage to "powers" and "principalities" -- spiritual and terrestrial -- alien to God. In the Gospel of John, especially, the incarnate God enters a world at once his own and yet hostile to him--"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not" -- and his appearance within "this cosmos" is both an act of judgment and a rescue of the beauties of creation from the torments of fallen nature.
Whatever one makes of this story, it is no bland cosmic optimism. Yes, at the heart of the gospel is an ineradicable triumphalism, a conviction that the victory over evil and death has been won; but it is also a victory yet to come. As Paul says, all creation groans in anguished anticipation of the day when God's glory will transfigure all things. For now, we live amid a strife of darkness and light.
When confronted by the sheer savage immensity of worldly suffering -- when we see the entire littoral rim of the Indian Ocean strewn with tens of thousands of corpses, a third of them children's -- no Christian is licensed to utter odious banalities about God's inscrutable counsels or blasphemous suggestions that all this mysteriously serves God's good ends. We are permitted only to hate death and waste and the imbecile forces of chance that shatter living souls, to believe that creation is in agony in its bonds, to see this world as divided between two kingdoms -- knowing all the while that it is only charity that can sustain us against "fate," and that must do so until the end of days.
I agree with Johnson after listening to Johnson; Hart after listening to Hart.
The Lisbon business, like the Big Wave of Boxing Day, makes me doubt not the existence of God but the common sense of those who claim to be leading thinkers. What had the deaths of 150,000 Lisboans to do with a fundamental question like the existence of God? They were going to die anyway. You might argue that the existence of death itself told us something about God, but not the acceleration of extinction in a few particular cases . . .
The notion, put forward by the Darwinian Central Committee, that the Indian Ocean disaster should persuade us to turn our intellectual backs on a God-directed universe, seems to be puerile. Why did God kill so many people? But God kills people all the time, millions every day. For that matter, God creates people, millions every day . . . Against a total of 150,000 or so, we have to remember that four billion have been added to the number of people in the world during the last 70 years. That 150,000 is only the tiniest ephemeral blip on the world’s demographic radar . . . We are asked to draw transcendental conclusions from this event because of its scale. But the scale, in terms of the magnitude of the world and its inhabitants, is puny, almost insignificant.
...The true theological or philosophical point to be made about the Indian Ocean wave — if, indeed, there is one — is that it is a timely reminder of the fragility of our existence in this world . . . And any reminder of the ultimate and total powerlessness of human beings, made always necessary by our arrogance and boasting, must be an act of God, and a very sensible and benevolent one too. It can also be argued . . . that such events make us think about transience and death, and our own preparedness for our extinction and the life to come. So the calamity — so distressing for those individually involved — was for humanity as a whole a profoundly moral occurrence, and an act of God performed for our benefit.
And in the other corner, the respected Eastern Orthodox theologian David Hart:
The Christian understanding of evil has always been more radical and fantastic than that of any theodicist; for it denies from the outset that suffering, death and evil have any ultimate meaning at all. Perhaps no doctrine is more insufferably fabulous to non-Christians than the claim that we exist in the long melancholy aftermath of a primordial catastrophe, that this is a broken and wounded world, that cosmic time is the shadow of true time, and that the universe languishes in bondage to "powers" and "principalities" -- spiritual and terrestrial -- alien to God. In the Gospel of John, especially, the incarnate God enters a world at once his own and yet hostile to him--"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not" -- and his appearance within "this cosmos" is both an act of judgment and a rescue of the beauties of creation from the torments of fallen nature.
Whatever one makes of this story, it is no bland cosmic optimism. Yes, at the heart of the gospel is an ineradicable triumphalism, a conviction that the victory over evil and death has been won; but it is also a victory yet to come. As Paul says, all creation groans in anguished anticipation of the day when God's glory will transfigure all things. For now, we live amid a strife of darkness and light.
When confronted by the sheer savage immensity of worldly suffering -- when we see the entire littoral rim of the Indian Ocean strewn with tens of thousands of corpses, a third of them children's -- no Christian is licensed to utter odious banalities about God's inscrutable counsels or blasphemous suggestions that all this mysteriously serves God's good ends. We are permitted only to hate death and waste and the imbecile forces of chance that shatter living souls, to believe that creation is in agony in its bonds, to see this world as divided between two kingdoms -- knowing all the while that it is only charity that can sustain us against "fate," and that must do so until the end of days.
I agree with Johnson after listening to Johnson; Hart after listening to Hart.
The Implosion of Big Media Continues
From ABC's web site:
Jan. 19, 2005 — For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below:
Nice. Why only Iraq? What about a dead soldier from Afghanistan, or maybe one killed while aiding tsunami victims in Indonesia or Sri Lanka. But that doesn't fit the agenda, does it?
UPDATE I: ABC has now taken down its solicitation of a military funeral to rain on the inaugural parade. I wonder why.
UPDATE II: If ABC wanted to show a casualty of the Bush Administration, they could always put on Dan Rather's reputation (thanks to Glenn Reynolds for that dig).
Jan. 19, 2005 — For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below:
Nice. Why only Iraq? What about a dead soldier from Afghanistan, or maybe one killed while aiding tsunami victims in Indonesia or Sri Lanka. But that doesn't fit the agenda, does it?
UPDATE I: ABC has now taken down its solicitation of a military funeral to rain on the inaugural parade. I wonder why.
UPDATE II: If ABC wanted to show a casualty of the Bush Administration, they could always put on Dan Rather's reputation (thanks to Glenn Reynolds for that dig).
This is a Great Idea
Back in January '03, you may remember a group of Western liberals who volunteered to go to Iraq as human shields in case the US enforced UN resolutions that Saddam violated. Key graf:
"...they are willing to put themselves in the firing line should US and British forces bomb Iraq.
They plan to identify potential bombing targets such as power stations and bridges and act as human shields to protect them."
Well, I think I have just the job for these globe-travelers: Iraq Election Poll Worker. They are familiar with the terrain and people, they have a self-professed desire to help and they seem very articulate. However, their biggest asset is bravery. If they are willing to hunker down between Coalition Forces and a bridge, standing between a foreign terrorist and a polling precinct should be no big deal. Any takers?
"...they are willing to put themselves in the firing line should US and British forces bomb Iraq.
They plan to identify potential bombing targets such as power stations and bridges and act as human shields to protect them."
Well, I think I have just the job for these globe-travelers: Iraq Election Poll Worker. They are familiar with the terrain and people, they have a self-professed desire to help and they seem very articulate. However, their biggest asset is bravery. If they are willing to hunker down between Coalition Forces and a bridge, standing between a foreign terrorist and a polling precinct should be no big deal. Any takers?
Freakin' Norwegians
Now this really is stingy.
TSUNAMI-struck Thailand has been told by the European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry.
While millions of Europeans are sending aid to Thailand to help its recovery, trade authorities in Brussels are demanding that Thai Airlines, its national carrier, pays £1.3 billion to buy its double-decker aircraft.
The demand will come as a deep embarrassment to Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner, whose officials started the negotiation before the disaster struck Thailand - killing tens of thousands of people and damaging its economy.
While aid workers from across Europe are helping to rebuild Thai livelihoods, trade officials in Brussels are concluding a jets-for-prawns deal, which they had hoped to announce next month.
As the world’s largest producer of prawns, Thailand has become so efficient that its wares are half the price of those caught by Norway, the main producer of prawns for the EU.
Norway? Hmmm, who do we know from Norway? Oh yeah, the one and only Jan Egeland of "rich countries are stingy" fame.
TSUNAMI-struck Thailand has been told by the European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry.
While millions of Europeans are sending aid to Thailand to help its recovery, trade authorities in Brussels are demanding that Thai Airlines, its national carrier, pays £1.3 billion to buy its double-decker aircraft.
The demand will come as a deep embarrassment to Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner, whose officials started the negotiation before the disaster struck Thailand - killing tens of thousands of people and damaging its economy.
While aid workers from across Europe are helping to rebuild Thai livelihoods, trade officials in Brussels are concluding a jets-for-prawns deal, which they had hoped to announce next month.
As the world’s largest producer of prawns, Thailand has become so efficient that its wares are half the price of those caught by Norway, the main producer of prawns for the EU.
Norway? Hmmm, who do we know from Norway? Oh yeah, the one and only Jan Egeland of "rich countries are stingy" fame.
The Clock is Ticking
CIA reports predicting possible problems in Iraq are front page news. Let's see if this CIA assessment gets any play from the major media:
THE CIA has predicted that the European Union will break-up within 15 years unless it radically reforms its ailing welfare systems.
The report by the intelligence agency, which forecasts how the world will look in 2020, warns that Europe could be dragged into economic decline by its ageing population. It also predicts the end of Nato and post-1945 military alliances.
In a devastating indictment of EU economic prospects, the report warns: "The current EU welfare state is unsustainable and the lack of any economic revitalisation could lead to the splintering or, at worst, disintegration of the EU, undermining its ambitions to play a heavyweight international role."
It adds that the EU’s economic growth rate is dragged down by Germany and its restrictive labour laws. Reforms there - and in France and Italy to lesser extents - remain key to whether the EU as a whole can break out of its "slow-growth pattern". . . .
The report says: "Either European countries adapt their workforces, reform their social welfare, education and tax systems, and accommodate growing immigrant populations [chiefly from Muslim countries] or they face a period of protracted economic stasis."
As a result of the increased immigration needed, the report predicts that Europe’s Muslim population is set to increase from around 13% today to between 22% and 37% of the population by 2025, potentially triggering tensions.
THE CIA has predicted that the European Union will break-up within 15 years unless it radically reforms its ailing welfare systems.
The report by the intelligence agency, which forecasts how the world will look in 2020, warns that Europe could be dragged into economic decline by its ageing population. It also predicts the end of Nato and post-1945 military alliances.
In a devastating indictment of EU economic prospects, the report warns: "The current EU welfare state is unsustainable and the lack of any economic revitalisation could lead to the splintering or, at worst, disintegration of the EU, undermining its ambitions to play a heavyweight international role."
It adds that the EU’s economic growth rate is dragged down by Germany and its restrictive labour laws. Reforms there - and in France and Italy to lesser extents - remain key to whether the EU as a whole can break out of its "slow-growth pattern". . . .
The report says: "Either European countries adapt their workforces, reform their social welfare, education and tax systems, and accommodate growing immigrant populations [chiefly from Muslim countries] or they face a period of protracted economic stasis."
As a result of the increased immigration needed, the report predicts that Europe’s Muslim population is set to increase from around 13% today to between 22% and 37% of the population by 2025, potentially triggering tensions.
Bowling for Columbine
Apparently, Mike thinks it's kosher for his bodyguard to carry a gun. Doesn't this just add to America's "culture of fear"?
NEW YORK — Filmmaker Michael Moore's (search) bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York's JFK airport Wednesday night.
Police took Patrick Burke, who says Moore employs him, into custody after he declared he was carrying a firearm at a ticket counter. Burke is licensed to carry a firearm in Florida and California, but not in New York. Burke was taken to Queens central booking and could potentially be charged with a felony for the incident.
Moore's 2003 Oscar-winning film "Bowling for Columbine" criticizes what Moore calls America's "culture of fear" and its obsession with guns.
NEW YORK — Filmmaker Michael Moore's (search) bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York's JFK airport Wednesday night.
Police took Patrick Burke, who says Moore employs him, into custody after he declared he was carrying a firearm at a ticket counter. Burke is licensed to carry a firearm in Florida and California, but not in New York. Burke was taken to Queens central booking and could potentially be charged with a felony for the incident.
Moore's 2003 Oscar-winning film "Bowling for Columbine" criticizes what Moore calls America's "culture of fear" and its obsession with guns.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
The Final Word...
...on the Joe Crawford saga from Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press. This little nugget stuck out:
Sources close to the situation said Smith was willing to release Crawford from his letter of intent but was overruled by athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who apparently has tired of the impetuousness of youth.
Good for Mitch.
Sources close to the situation said Smith was willing to release Crawford from his letter of intent but was overruled by athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who apparently has tired of the impetuousness of youth.
Good for Mitch.
Beware
Here's a link to a great series from the Albuquerque Tribune on the problem of male coaches and female players.
I'm always suspicious of older males spending time with younger females - in whatever the setting. The same with men spending time with small children that are not their own. It's not judging; just a healthy suspicion of behavior that doesn't pass the smell test.
This series confirms many of my fears.
I'm always suspicious of older males spending time with younger females - in whatever the setting. The same with men spending time with small children that are not their own. It's not judging; just a healthy suspicion of behavior that doesn't pass the smell test.
This series confirms many of my fears.
Larry Summers, Call Your Office
Larry Summers has some company...from Scientific American. Here's the scoop:
Men and women differ not only in their physical attributes and reproductive function but also in many other characteristics, including the way they solve intellectual problems. For the past few decades, it has been ideologically fashionable to insist that these behavioral differences are minimal and are the consequence of variations in experience during development before and after adolescence. Evidence accumulated more recently, however, suggests that the effects of sex hormones on brain organization occur so early in life that from the start the environment is acting on differently wired brains in boys and girls. Such effects make evaluating the role of experience, independent of physiological predisposition, a difficult if not dubious task. The biological bases of sex differences in brain and behavior have become much better known through increasing numbers of behavioral, neurological and endocrinological studies.
Men and women differ not only in their physical attributes and reproductive function but also in many other characteristics, including the way they solve intellectual problems. For the past few decades, it has been ideologically fashionable to insist that these behavioral differences are minimal and are the consequence of variations in experience during development before and after adolescence. Evidence accumulated more recently, however, suggests that the effects of sex hormones on brain organization occur so early in life that from the start the environment is acting on differently wired brains in boys and girls. Such effects make evaluating the role of experience, independent of physiological predisposition, a difficult if not dubious task. The biological bases of sex differences in brain and behavior have become much better known through increasing numbers of behavioral, neurological and endocrinological studies.
Oh God, Make It Stop
The Next Great Rock Star, the current working title for reality uber-producer Mark Burnett's upcoming CBS reality show which will feature contestants competing for the chance to become the lead singer of the world-famous INXS Australian rock band, will begin its international open audition tour this week. Rock Star will air in Summer 2005 over a thirteen week period that will feature two hours of programming a week, the exact breakdown of which is still to be determined.
I'm sure my mate Pete Yates is pumped about this. INXS, Midnight Oil and Men at Work are the holy trinity of Australian rock.
I'm sure my mate Pete Yates is pumped about this. INXS, Midnight Oil and Men at Work are the holy trinity of Australian rock.
Interesting News from Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino said, "I voted for Mel Gibson for best director for the Oscar nominations." Really? Is he religious? "Not really, but I felt (The Passion of the Christ) captured the power of silent cinema at its finest. It's a great piece of cinema."
"Believe in Yourself"
Those words represent the worst advice ever given from one man to another. Case in point: American Idol.
I caught a bit of the show last night. Two things became very apparent. Those with talent were nervous, timid, and even scared. Those with none "believed in themselves." It was a striking contrast.
How often have you been told to "believe in yourself"? I hear it on television (see the theme song to the cartoon Arthur) and in movies. In books and magazines. Believe in yourself! Believe in yourself!
Well, as it turns out, belief in yourself is suicide. The awful performers last night believed in themselves. Even after they were told how horrid they were, they continued to believe in themselves, oblivious to the world around them and the lack of talent that they so clearly displayed.
So here's some advice...don't believe in yourself. Believe in God, believe in your family, or even your friends. But not yourself.
I caught a bit of the show last night. Two things became very apparent. Those with talent were nervous, timid, and even scared. Those with none "believed in themselves." It was a striking contrast.
How often have you been told to "believe in yourself"? I hear it on television (see the theme song to the cartoon Arthur) and in movies. In books and magazines. Believe in yourself! Believe in yourself!
Well, as it turns out, belief in yourself is suicide. The awful performers last night believed in themselves. Even after they were told how horrid they were, they continued to believe in themselves, oblivious to the world around them and the lack of talent that they so clearly displayed.
So here's some advice...don't believe in yourself. Believe in God, believe in your family, or even your friends. But not yourself.
That Amazing WD40
Don't snort, spray
WD40 is not a chemical normally associated with combating illegal drug use. Defoliants over Colombia, maybe. But not WD40.
According to a report on the BBC Radio Five Live Breakfast show (wind the player through to 01:40 and listen), Avon and Somerset police are advising Bristol bar owners to spray the household cleaner and lubricant in their bathrooms to stop cocaine use.
The spray puts an "invisible film" over toilets and basins that absorbs the cocaine when any tries to snort it off them. It instead turns it into a congealed mess. The advice comes just a few days after BBC Wiltshire reported that a pub owner in Swindon was spraying it on toilet seats because anyone who then tried to snort cocaine off them got a nose bleed.
When telephoned, a spokeswoman for WD40 told Guardian Unlimited it did not recommend the use of the spray internally. But the company is otherwise keen to promote as a wide a use of its products as possible and the press release section of its website is a testament to ingenious PR. Even things that you never knew were problems – such as snow stuck to shovels or too-tight wheels on rolling ping pong tables – can be remedied with WD40, it claims.
It doesn't end there - most imaginative is the advice from "TV's Handy' Andy" on how the spray can pep up your love life. Before a night of romance unstick the dimmer switches, free-up the corkscrew and fix creaky bedsprings. Around the point I stopped reading it suggested WD40 can "ensure zips slide freely". Drugs and WD40, you can just about take it - but please, not sex.
WD40 is not a chemical normally associated with combating illegal drug use. Defoliants over Colombia, maybe. But not WD40.
According to a report on the BBC Radio Five Live Breakfast show (wind the player through to 01:40 and listen), Avon and Somerset police are advising Bristol bar owners to spray the household cleaner and lubricant in their bathrooms to stop cocaine use.
The spray puts an "invisible film" over toilets and basins that absorbs the cocaine when any tries to snort it off them. It instead turns it into a congealed mess. The advice comes just a few days after BBC Wiltshire reported that a pub owner in Swindon was spraying it on toilet seats because anyone who then tried to snort cocaine off them got a nose bleed.
When telephoned, a spokeswoman for WD40 told Guardian Unlimited it did not recommend the use of the spray internally. But the company is otherwise keen to promote as a wide a use of its products as possible and the press release section of its website is a testament to ingenious PR. Even things that you never knew were problems – such as snow stuck to shovels or too-tight wheels on rolling ping pong tables – can be remedied with WD40, it claims.
It doesn't end there - most imaginative is the advice from "TV's Handy' Andy" on how the spray can pep up your love life. Before a night of romance unstick the dimmer switches, free-up the corkscrew and fix creaky bedsprings. Around the point I stopped reading it suggested WD40 can "ensure zips slide freely". Drugs and WD40, you can just about take it - but please, not sex.
I Have Seen the Enemy...And It Is Us
More humiliation for the NY Times. Bottom line:
"There are interesting points of contrast between Sarah Boxer's speculation on the affiliations and motives of the Iraq the Model bloggers and Associated Press' determination to protect the anonymity and refusal to judge the motives of a stringer who photographed the execution of Iraqi electoral workers at fairly close range on Haifa Street."
"There are interesting points of contrast between Sarah Boxer's speculation on the affiliations and motives of the Iraq the Model bloggers and Associated Press' determination to protect the anonymity and refusal to judge the motives of a stringer who photographed the execution of Iraqi electoral workers at fairly close range on Haifa Street."
Now That's Commitment
Austin Bay sums up the Iraqi elections:
"The Iraqi people are going to deal the Middle East's ancien regime of tyrant and terrorist a devastating political and psychological defeat. Despite the campaign of chaos and intimidation, a recent poll in Baghdad found 60 to 70 percent of the capital's voters intend to vote. Kurdish and Iraqi Shia leaders predict a good turnout in their regions. Americans can barely manage a 50 percent voter turnout, and here, nobody lobs mortar rounds at the electorate."
"The Iraqi people are going to deal the Middle East's ancien regime of tyrant and terrorist a devastating political and psychological defeat. Despite the campaign of chaos and intimidation, a recent poll in Baghdad found 60 to 70 percent of the capital's voters intend to vote. Kurdish and Iraqi Shia leaders predict a good turnout in their regions. Americans can barely manage a 50 percent voter turnout, and here, nobody lobs mortar rounds at the electorate."
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Bible-Thumping Democrats
From the WaPo:
...when Senate Democrats met at the Kennedy Center on Jan. 5 as Congress convened, they invited as their main speaker the Rev. Jim Wallis, a liberal [Evangelical] minister who has been urging Democrats to speak more openly about religion. “They gave more time to this than any other issue,” Wallis said in an interview.
Wallis’s main pitch is that Democrats needlessly have ceded to Republicans the religion-faith issue, allowing voters to believe Democratic candidates are indifferent or hostile to organized religion. In fact, he says, the Bible—and Jesus’s teachings in particular—are filled with messages that align more closely to Democratic policies than GOP policies: Help the poor, share the wealth, work for peace.
“Democrats should welcome a moral values conversation,” Wallis said. “As an evangelical Christian, I find 3,000 verses in the Bible about the poor,” far outnumbering mentions of same-sex unions or low taxes. Wallis, author of the book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, said federal budgets “are moral documents,” and Democrats should portray them as such.
I like Jim Wallis. Jim Wallis is a good man. I even agree with much of what Jim Wallis has to say. Here's hoping he carries more influence in the future over the secularized, radical Left.
...when Senate Democrats met at the Kennedy Center on Jan. 5 as Congress convened, they invited as their main speaker the Rev. Jim Wallis, a liberal [Evangelical] minister who has been urging Democrats to speak more openly about religion. “They gave more time to this than any other issue,” Wallis said in an interview.
Wallis’s main pitch is that Democrats needlessly have ceded to Republicans the religion-faith issue, allowing voters to believe Democratic candidates are indifferent or hostile to organized religion. In fact, he says, the Bible—and Jesus’s teachings in particular—are filled with messages that align more closely to Democratic policies than GOP policies: Help the poor, share the wealth, work for peace.
“Democrats should welcome a moral values conversation,” Wallis said. “As an evangelical Christian, I find 3,000 verses in the Bible about the poor,” far outnumbering mentions of same-sex unions or low taxes. Wallis, author of the book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, said federal budgets “are moral documents,” and Democrats should portray them as such.
I like Jim Wallis. Jim Wallis is a good man. I even agree with much of what Jim Wallis has to say. Here's hoping he carries more influence in the future over the secularized, radical Left.
Pope Paul VI Was Right
A reconsideration of Humanae Vitae and the destruction that contraception hath wrought. The bottom line is best expressed by Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Seminary:
Thirty years of sad experience demonstrate that Humanae Vitae [correctly] sounded the alarm, warning of a contraceptive mentality that would set loose immeasurable evil as modern birth control methods allowed seemingly risk-free sex outside the integrity of the marital bond. At the same time, it allowed married couples to completely sever the sex act from procreation, and God’s design for the marital bond. . . . Standing against the spirit of the age, evangelicals and Roman Catholics must affirm that children are God’s good gifts and blessings to the marital bond. Further, we must affirm that marriage falls short of God’s design when husband and wife are not open to the gift and stewardship of children.
Thirty years of sad experience demonstrate that Humanae Vitae [correctly] sounded the alarm, warning of a contraceptive mentality that would set loose immeasurable evil as modern birth control methods allowed seemingly risk-free sex outside the integrity of the marital bond. At the same time, it allowed married couples to completely sever the sex act from procreation, and God’s design for the marital bond. . . . Standing against the spirit of the age, evangelicals and Roman Catholics must affirm that children are God’s good gifts and blessings to the marital bond. Further, we must affirm that marriage falls short of God’s design when husband and wife are not open to the gift and stewardship of children.
The "C" Stands for Comedy
This is a great idea:
Asked twice, Moonves wouldn't rule out a role on the evening news for Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, whose "The Daily Show" skewers politicians and the news media each night. Moonves is co-chief executive of Viacom, which owns both CBS and Comedy Central.
CBS would essentially be replacing one unintentional clown (Rather) with an intentional one (Stewart).
Asked twice, Moonves wouldn't rule out a role on the evening news for Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, whose "The Daily Show" skewers politicians and the news media each night. Moonves is co-chief executive of Viacom, which owns both CBS and Comedy Central.
CBS would essentially be replacing one unintentional clown (Rather) with an intentional one (Stewart).
Lord Have Mercy On Us
The Church of England took a radical step towards backing 'mercy killing' of terminally ill patients last night after one of its leading authorities said that there was a 'strong compassionate case' for voluntary euthanasia.
Canon Professor Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. Last week Gill was sent by Williams to give evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating euthanasia.
Gill's stance marks a major shift by the Church of England and was welcomed by groups campaigning for a change in the law to allow for people to be helped to die under strictly limited circumstances.
Sinners are blind to truth...capable exclusively of sin. Only God's grace can remove the blinders from their eyes.
The elect - of which I count myself - are reborn, new creatures in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and guided into all truth. Our blinders have been lifted...we are without excuse. God have mercy on us.
Canon Professor Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. Last week Gill was sent by Williams to give evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating euthanasia.
Gill's stance marks a major shift by the Church of England and was welcomed by groups campaigning for a change in the law to allow for people to be helped to die under strictly limited circumstances.
Sinners are blind to truth...capable exclusively of sin. Only God's grace can remove the blinders from their eyes.
The elect - of which I count myself - are reborn, new creatures in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and guided into all truth. Our blinders have been lifted...we are without excuse. God have mercy on us.
Lord Have Mercy On Us
The Church of England took a radical step towards backing 'mercy killing' of terminally ill patients last night after one of its leading authorities said that there was a 'strong compassionate case' for voluntary euthanasia.
Canon Professor Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. Last week Gill was sent by Williams to give evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating euthanasia.
Gill's stance marks a major shift by the Church of England and was welcomed by groups campaigning for a change in the law to allow for people to be helped to die under strictly limited circumstances.
Sinners are blind to truth...capable exclusively of sin. Only God's grace can remove the blinders from their eyes.
The elect - of which I count myself - are reborn, new creatures in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and guided into all truth. Our blinders have been lifted...we are without excuse. God have mercy on us.
Canon Professor Robin Gill, a chief adviser to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said people should not be prosecuted for helping dying relatives who are in pain end their lives. Last week Gill was sent by Williams to give evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating euthanasia.
Gill's stance marks a major shift by the Church of England and was welcomed by groups campaigning for a change in the law to allow for people to be helped to die under strictly limited circumstances.
Sinners are blind to truth...capable exclusively of sin. Only God's grace can remove the blinders from their eyes.
The elect - of which I count myself - are reborn, new creatures in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and guided into all truth. Our blinders have been lifted...we are without excuse. God have mercy on us.
Are We Witnessing History?
Jonah Goldberg agrees with me...democracy is on the march.
Amid the media din about the tsunami, Dan Rather's implosion, and the usual grim news from Iraq, an amazing story has been unfolding — but has received scant appreciation from the chattering classes. Democracy is on the march.
The Ukraine election reversal is the most significant victory for democracy in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Palestinians have held the first legitimate nationwide (so to speak) election in their history (Arafat's previous "election" was a sham). And while the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, leaves much to be desired, his fair victory is significant and momentous in its own right.
Meanwhile, Iraq is preparing for its first fair elections since before Saddam Hussein came to power. Those elections won't be perfect. Heck, they may even be a disaster (though I doubt they will). But they are finally going to happen — and that very fact is amazing. . . .
The expansive, decent version of democracy will come to the Middle East and the rest of the world — eventually. If the Iraqi elections fail, even their failure will reinforce the desire for successful elections. Many complain that in Iraq the process is too bloody or too expensive, but these critics are determined to make the perfect the enemy of the good. At the end of the tunnel we, or our children, will look back on America's role as the catalyst for democracy, and we'll be proud that we were on the right side of history and its end.
Amid the media din about the tsunami, Dan Rather's implosion, and the usual grim news from Iraq, an amazing story has been unfolding — but has received scant appreciation from the chattering classes. Democracy is on the march.
The Ukraine election reversal is the most significant victory for democracy in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Palestinians have held the first legitimate nationwide (so to speak) election in their history (Arafat's previous "election" was a sham). And while the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, leaves much to be desired, his fair victory is significant and momentous in its own right.
Meanwhile, Iraq is preparing for its first fair elections since before Saddam Hussein came to power. Those elections won't be perfect. Heck, they may even be a disaster (though I doubt they will). But they are finally going to happen — and that very fact is amazing. . . .
The expansive, decent version of democracy will come to the Middle East and the rest of the world — eventually. If the Iraqi elections fail, even their failure will reinforce the desire for successful elections. Many complain that in Iraq the process is too bloody or too expensive, but these critics are determined to make the perfect the enemy of the good. At the end of the tunnel we, or our children, will look back on America's role as the catalyst for democracy, and we'll be proud that we were on the right side of history and its end.
Shut Your Word Hole, Europe
After years and years in the Senate, Joe Biden finally says something worth listening to:
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., urged Europe to "get over" the fact President Bush was re-elected and work with the United States on common problems.
"I spent a little time in Europe recently, and I have one simple message: Get over it. Get over it. President Bush is our president for the next four years, so get over it and start to act in your interest, Europe," Biden said during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to confirm U.S. Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice. "But that requires us to engage in the hoped-for diplomacy from the gentle lady from Stanford."
Instead of telling this to Europe, he ought to try telling it to his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Get over it, Mrs. Boxer.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., urged Europe to "get over" the fact President Bush was re-elected and work with the United States on common problems.
"I spent a little time in Europe recently, and I have one simple message: Get over it. Get over it. President Bush is our president for the next four years, so get over it and start to act in your interest, Europe," Biden said during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to confirm U.S. Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice. "But that requires us to engage in the hoped-for diplomacy from the gentle lady from Stanford."
Instead of telling this to Europe, he ought to try telling it to his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Get over it, Mrs. Boxer.
More From the Confederacy of Dunces
Arthur, Barney, Bear, Big Bird, Clifford, JoJo and SpongeBob, as well as over 100 other beloved children's characters, have united to re-record the smash hit "We Are Family" in an unprecedented music video to promote tolerance and diversity to America's children. The video, which demonstrates to children the importance of togetherness embodied in the word “family”, will be distributed to 61,000 public and private elementary schools in the United States on March 11, 2005, in celebration of the proposed National We Are Family Day.
The program will include a tolerance pledge that states:
Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination.
To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.
I hope that pledge covers my “belief” that it is ignorant and insensitive to expect me to accept certain beliefs and behaviors that are immoral. Does their definition of tolerance stretch that far? Or would my beliefs make me the black sheep of the family?
The program will include a tolerance pledge that states:
Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination.
To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.
I hope that pledge covers my “belief” that it is ignorant and insensitive to expect me to accept certain beliefs and behaviors that are immoral. Does their definition of tolerance stretch that far? Or would my beliefs make me the black sheep of the family?
Hmmmm
Comair president Randy Rademacher resigned Monday less than a month after a blizzard and a computer-system crash forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights and stranded tens of thousands of passengers for days over Christmas weekend.
Officials at the Hebron-based regional carrier denied the departure had anything to do with the shutdown and said Rademacher left for "personal reasons." Rademacher, who has run the airline for five years, made no statement and could not be reached for comment.
Officials at the Hebron-based regional carrier denied the departure had anything to do with the shutdown and said Rademacher left for "personal reasons." Rademacher, who has run the airline for five years, made no statement and could not be reached for comment.
Stop the Attacks
I'm somewhat optimistic about Abbas. He's not perfect - he can't be dealing with the likes of Hamas - but he may be good enough.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday ordered Palestinian security forces to stop attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis.
The move comes after a Palestinian attack Thursday on the Gaza-Israel border that killed six Israeli civilians. (Full story)
Abbas has ordered an investigation of the attack for which three Palestinian militant groups -- Hamas, the Popular Resistance and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- claimed responsibility.
The use of Palestinian security forces to rein in Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets has long been a key sticking point in the Mideast peace process between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday ordered Palestinian security forces to stop attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis.
The move comes after a Palestinian attack Thursday on the Gaza-Israel border that killed six Israeli civilians. (Full story)
Abbas has ordered an investigation of the attack for which three Palestinian militant groups -- Hamas, the Popular Resistance and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- claimed responsibility.
The use of Palestinian security forces to rein in Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets has long been a key sticking point in the Mideast peace process between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
The Biggest S.O.B. in Baseball
My vote goes to catcher A.J. Pierzynski:
During a Giants exhibition game last spring, Pierzynski took a shot to his, shall we say, private parts. Trainer Stan Conte rushed to the scene, placed his hands on Pierzynski's shoulders in a reassuring way, and asked how it felt. "Like this," said Pierzynski, viciously delivering a knee to Conte's groin . . . The incident went unreported because all of the beat writers happened to be doing in-game interviews in the clubhouse, but it was corroborated by a half-dozen eyewitnesses who could hardly believe their eyes. Said one source, as reliable as they come: "There is absolutely no doubt that it happened."
During a Giants exhibition game last spring, Pierzynski took a shot to his, shall we say, private parts. Trainer Stan Conte rushed to the scene, placed his hands on Pierzynski's shoulders in a reassuring way, and asked how it felt. "Like this," said Pierzynski, viciously delivering a knee to Conte's groin . . . The incident went unreported because all of the beat writers happened to be doing in-game interviews in the clubhouse, but it was corroborated by a half-dozen eyewitnesses who could hardly believe their eyes. Said one source, as reliable as they come: "There is absolutely no doubt that it happened."
Doesn't Everybody Need an Ocular Enhancer Machine
Good work if you can get it:
NEW YORK -- The Mets signed Carlos Beltran to play center field for the next seven years. They'll be paying him for the next 14.
New York will not make the final payment on Beltran's $119 million contract until July 1, 2018, according to details of the agreement that were obtained by The Associated Press.
Beltran's deal contains $22 million in deferred salary that will be paid out in the seven years after the contract expires. He will be 41 by the time he receives all the money, which will be paid each July 1 starting in 2012 in yearly installments of $3,142,857 plus interest that will accrue at the rate of 1.7175 percent annually.
Like Pedro Martinez, who signed with the Mets in December, Beltran will get an array of perks as part of the contract, including a hotel suite on all road trips and a 15-person luxury suite for all home games, although he must buy tickets for the suite for any postseason games. In the most unusual clause of the deal, the Mets agreed to lease for Beltran an ocular enhancer machine, a device that throws colored, numbered tennis balls to batters at 150 mph or faster.
NEW YORK -- The Mets signed Carlos Beltran to play center field for the next seven years. They'll be paying him for the next 14.
New York will not make the final payment on Beltran's $119 million contract until July 1, 2018, according to details of the agreement that were obtained by The Associated Press.
Beltran's deal contains $22 million in deferred salary that will be paid out in the seven years after the contract expires. He will be 41 by the time he receives all the money, which will be paid each July 1 starting in 2012 in yearly installments of $3,142,857 plus interest that will accrue at the rate of 1.7175 percent annually.
Like Pedro Martinez, who signed with the Mets in December, Beltran will get an array of perks as part of the contract, including a hotel suite on all road trips and a 15-person luxury suite for all home games, although he must buy tickets for the suite for any postseason games. In the most unusual clause of the deal, the Mets agreed to lease for Beltran an ocular enhancer machine, a device that throws colored, numbered tennis balls to batters at 150 mph or faster.
Summers Update
That a boy. Hang tough.
The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, who offended some women at an academic conference last week by suggesting that innate differences in sex may explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers, stood by his comments yesterday but said he regretted if they were misunderstood.
"I'm sorry for any misunderstanding but believe that raising questions, discussing multiple factors that may explain a difficult problem, and seeking to understand how they interrelate is vitally important," Dr. Summers said in an interview.
The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, who offended some women at an academic conference last week by suggesting that innate differences in sex may explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers, stood by his comments yesterday but said he regretted if they were misunderstood.
"I'm sorry for any misunderstanding but believe that raising questions, discussing multiple factors that may explain a difficult problem, and seeking to understand how they interrelate is vitally important," Dr. Summers said in an interview.
You Don't Say?
Larry Summers is in big trouble because he said this:
The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, sparked an uproar at an academic conference Friday when he said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. Summers also questioned how much of a role discrimination plays in the dearth of female professors in science and engineering at elite universities.
What? Differences between men and women? I don't believe it? I'm sure this will bring Summers down, but it shouldn't. Many will call this sexist; I call it common sense.
The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, sparked an uproar at an academic conference Friday when he said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. Summers also questioned how much of a role discrimination plays in the dearth of female professors in science and engineering at elite universities.
What? Differences between men and women? I don't believe it? I'm sure this will bring Summers down, but it shouldn't. Many will call this sexist; I call it common sense.
Monday, January 17, 2005
NFL Playoffs
Two important stats:
1. Tony Dungy teams are now 5-7 in the playoffs, with his team scoring 7, 6, 3, 9, 0, 14, and 3 in the 7 losses. Manning deserves some blame, but Dungy deserves more. This is Tampa Bay all over again.
2. Big Ben R. has 7 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in his last 8 games. I think time is running out on the Steelers.
1. Tony Dungy teams are now 5-7 in the playoffs, with his team scoring 7, 6, 3, 9, 0, 14, and 3 in the 7 losses. Manning deserves some blame, but Dungy deserves more. This is Tampa Bay all over again.
2. Big Ben R. has 7 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in his last 8 games. I think time is running out on the Steelers.
The Age of Egocasting
This article by Christine Rosen is worth a read. I agree with much of what it says, and fear - like Rosen - that we've become a society of mush-brained dolts.
Bottom line:
TiVos and iPods will never destroy us. But our romance with technologies of personalization has partially fulfilled Krutch’s prediction. We haven’t become more like machines. We’ve made the machines more like us. In the process we are encouraging the flourishing of some of our less attractive human tendencies: for passive spectacle; for constant, escapist fantasy; for excesses of consumption. These impulses are age-old, of course, but they are now fantastically easy to satisfy. Instead of attending a bear-baiting, we can TiVo the wrestling match. From the remote control to TiVo and iPod, we have crafted technologies that are superbly capable of giving us what we want. Our pleasure at exercising control over what we hear, what we see, and what we read is not intrinsically dangerous. But an unwillingness to recognize the potential excesses of this power—egocasting, fetishization, a vast cultural impatience, and the triumph of individual choice over all critical standards—is perilous indeed.
Technology is only as good as those who use it. Because we now live in a "post-sin" era, I'm afraid. I'm very afraid.
Bottom line:
TiVos and iPods will never destroy us. But our romance with technologies of personalization has partially fulfilled Krutch’s prediction. We haven’t become more like machines. We’ve made the machines more like us. In the process we are encouraging the flourishing of some of our less attractive human tendencies: for passive spectacle; for constant, escapist fantasy; for excesses of consumption. These impulses are age-old, of course, but they are now fantastically easy to satisfy. Instead of attending a bear-baiting, we can TiVo the wrestling match. From the remote control to TiVo and iPod, we have crafted technologies that are superbly capable of giving us what we want. Our pleasure at exercising control over what we hear, what we see, and what we read is not intrinsically dangerous. But an unwillingness to recognize the potential excesses of this power—egocasting, fetishization, a vast cultural impatience, and the triumph of individual choice over all critical standards—is perilous indeed.
Technology is only as good as those who use it. Because we now live in a "post-sin" era, I'm afraid. I'm very afraid.
I Love That Voodoo
Good fiscal news here. And how about those tax cuts?
Behind this really big budget story is the even-bigger story: The explosion in tax revenues has been prompted by the tax-cut-led economic growth of the last 18 months.
With 50 percent cash-bonus expensing for buying plant and equipment, productivity-driven corporate profits ranging around 20 percent have generated a 45 percent rise in business taxes. At lower income-tax rates, employment gains of roughly 2½ million are throwing off more than 6 percent in payroll-tax receipts. Personal tax revenues are rising by nearly 9 percent.
Meanwhile, in the wake of strong stock market advances over the last two years, non-withheld revenues from individuals — including investor dividends and capital gains now taxed at only 15 percent — have jumped more than 14 percent.
Behind this really big budget story is the even-bigger story: The explosion in tax revenues has been prompted by the tax-cut-led economic growth of the last 18 months.
With 50 percent cash-bonus expensing for buying plant and equipment, productivity-driven corporate profits ranging around 20 percent have generated a 45 percent rise in business taxes. At lower income-tax rates, employment gains of roughly 2½ million are throwing off more than 6 percent in payroll-tax receipts. Personal tax revenues are rising by nearly 9 percent.
Meanwhile, in the wake of strong stock market advances over the last two years, non-withheld revenues from individuals — including investor dividends and capital gains now taxed at only 15 percent — have jumped more than 14 percent.
Leisure is Essential to Right Action
Some thoughts on leisure from Roger Kimball.
One of the greatest casualties resulting from this policy of premature superannuation concerns the word "leisure," an idea that for the Greeks and for the doctors of the Church was inextricably bound up with the highest aspirations of humanity.
For Plato, for Aristotle, for Aquinas, we live most fully when we are most fully at leisure. In the Politics, Aristotle noted that "The first principle of all action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure is better than occupation and is its end."
Leisure in the sense intended by Aristotle--the Greek word is schole, whence our word "school"--meant the opposite of "downtime." Leisure is not idleness, but activity undertaken for its own sake: philosophy, aesthetic delectation, and religious worship are models.
It is significant that in both Greek and Latin, the words for leisure--schole and otium--are positive while the corresponding terms for "busyness"--ascolia and negotium (whence our "negotiate")--are privative: not at leisure, i.e., busy, occupied, engaged. And for us? Of course, we still have the word "leisure." But it lives on in a pale, desiccated form, a shadow of its former self. Think for example of the phrase--and the odious object it names--"leisure suit": it goes quite far in epitomizing the unhappy fate of leisure in our society.
...What time could be of higher quality than leisure, understood as Aristotle understood it? (Cardinal Newman was right when he observed that, about many subjects, "to think correctly is to think like Aristotle.") But all such remedial gestures serve to underscore the extent to which our society has devoted itself to defeating genuine leisure, replacing it where possible with mere entertainment and disparaging efforts to preserve oases of leisure as the pernicious indulgence of an outmoded elite.
One of the greatest casualties resulting from this policy of premature superannuation concerns the word "leisure," an idea that for the Greeks and for the doctors of the Church was inextricably bound up with the highest aspirations of humanity.
For Plato, for Aristotle, for Aquinas, we live most fully when we are most fully at leisure. In the Politics, Aristotle noted that "The first principle of all action is leisure. Both are required, but leisure is better than occupation and is its end."
Leisure in the sense intended by Aristotle--the Greek word is schole, whence our word "school"--meant the opposite of "downtime." Leisure is not idleness, but activity undertaken for its own sake: philosophy, aesthetic delectation, and religious worship are models.
It is significant that in both Greek and Latin, the words for leisure--schole and otium--are positive while the corresponding terms for "busyness"--ascolia and negotium (whence our "negotiate")--are privative: not at leisure, i.e., busy, occupied, engaged. And for us? Of course, we still have the word "leisure." But it lives on in a pale, desiccated form, a shadow of its former self. Think for example of the phrase--and the odious object it names--"leisure suit": it goes quite far in epitomizing the unhappy fate of leisure in our society.
...What time could be of higher quality than leisure, understood as Aristotle understood it? (Cardinal Newman was right when he observed that, about many subjects, "to think correctly is to think like Aristotle.") But all such remedial gestures serve to underscore the extent to which our society has devoted itself to defeating genuine leisure, replacing it where possible with mere entertainment and disparaging efforts to preserve oases of leisure as the pernicious indulgence of an outmoded elite.
Quote of the Day
"Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you know forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience." - Martin Luther King Jr, in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
Hee Hee
A network source tells TIME the Today show co-anchor has been approached about the job. If she could be persuaded to jump, CBS would have to wait 16 months--when her NBC contract is up. But the network could name an old hand like Face the Nation's Bob Schieffer or Early Show host Harry Smith as a caretaker until then.
I'd comment on this, but I can't stop laughing.
I'd comment on this, but I can't stop laughing.
U.S. in Iran?
I hope this is true:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday.
The article, by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, said the secret missions have been going on at least since last summer with the goal of identifying target information for three dozen or more suspected sites.
But Seymour Hersh is notoriously unreliable.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday.
The article, by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, said the secret missions have been going on at least since last summer with the goal of identifying target information for three dozen or more suspected sites.
But Seymour Hersh is notoriously unreliable.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
UK Dilemma
What to do:
1. Take Crawford back and take the chance of having a malcontent on the team for the remainder of the year?
2. Refuse to take Crawford back and hold him to his NLI?
3. Refuse to take Crawford back and release him from his NLI?
I'd take him back and make the best of it. The other two options set dangerous precedents.
1. Take Crawford back and take the chance of having a malcontent on the team for the remainder of the year?
2. Refuse to take Crawford back and hold him to his NLI?
3. Refuse to take Crawford back and release him from his NLI?
I'd take him back and make the best of it. The other two options set dangerous precedents.
Tressel on the Hot Seat?
Nope. OSU fans care about one thing...W's.
In Tressel's four years, 15 players have been arrested, and there is strong evidence boosters paid his players, tutors wrote papers for his players and instructors fixed grades for his players. Congratulations, Buckeyes, you have completed the transgressional hat trick. A coach can't know everything a player does off the field, but is it too much to ask for a coach to know something?
Then again, it doesn't matter to the fans. Not when Tressel has delivered them a national title and is 3-1 against Michigan."We love you, Coach," one booster called out as Tressel left the Citrus Bowl the other day.Love is blind. Almost as blind as coaches who close their eyes to the corruption around them."
In Tressel's four years, 15 players have been arrested, and there is strong evidence boosters paid his players, tutors wrote papers for his players and instructors fixed grades for his players. Congratulations, Buckeyes, you have completed the transgressional hat trick. A coach can't know everything a player does off the field, but is it too much to ask for a coach to know something?
Then again, it doesn't matter to the fans. Not when Tressel has delivered them a national title and is 3-1 against Michigan."We love you, Coach," one booster called out as Tressel left the Citrus Bowl the other day.Love is blind. Almost as blind as coaches who close their eyes to the corruption around them."
Beware of a Half-Truth...You May Get the Wrong Half
A soldier in Iraq takes the media to task for their coverage in Iraq.
The Middle East and Anti-Americanism
Something just dawned on me this morning.
Name the Middle-Eastern countries where a majority of the population hates/dislikes America? You have Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and even Kuwait and Yemen. What do these countries all have in common. America has traditionally supported the ruling dictatorial regimes.
Now, name the Middle-Eastern countries where a majority of the population likes America? Iraq, Syria, and Iran. What do these countries all have in common. America actively works against, or has deposed, the ruling regimes.
Very interesting. This would imply that the "stability" argument forwarded by the "realists" in American foreign policy (Kissinger, Bush 41, Scowcroft, et al) has actually worked against our interests in the region.
I'll have to give this some more thought.
Name the Middle-Eastern countries where a majority of the population hates/dislikes America? You have Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and even Kuwait and Yemen. What do these countries all have in common. America has traditionally supported the ruling dictatorial regimes.
Now, name the Middle-Eastern countries where a majority of the population likes America? Iraq, Syria, and Iran. What do these countries all have in common. America actively works against, or has deposed, the ruling regimes.
Very interesting. This would imply that the "stability" argument forwarded by the "realists" in American foreign policy (Kissinger, Bush 41, Scowcroft, et al) has actually worked against our interests in the region.
I'll have to give this some more thought.
Keystone Cops
So I'm traveling back from Chicago last night. As I'm standing in line to pass through the security checkpoint at O'Hare, I notice a middle-aged Arab man in front of me with his wife (head scarf included), and a white couple behind me who appeared to be in their late 60's or early 70's.
As I'm standing there, I think to myself, "If I were the TSA, who would I pull aside to search." Naturally, the old, white geezers. And that's what they did.
What about the younger, white male? No, young men never commit crimes. What about the Arab couple? Nah, what kind of threat would they present. Old, white geezers? They have "terrorist" written all over their faces.
Amazing.
As I'm standing there, I think to myself, "If I were the TSA, who would I pull aside to search." Naturally, the old, white geezers. And that's what they did.
What about the younger, white male? No, young men never commit crimes. What about the Arab couple? Nah, what kind of threat would they present. Old, white geezers? They have "terrorist" written all over their faces.
Amazing.
Just Go Ahead and Give USC the Trophy
LOS ANGELES -- Matt Leinart passed on the NFL for a chance to make history at Southern California -- and to remain a college kid for another year.
The Heisman Trophy winner will return to USC for his senior season and try to lead the Trojans to an unprecedented third straight national championship.
"I went with my gut. I went with my heart," the quarterback said.
Leinart opted to complete his eligibility rather than enter the NFL draft, where he figured to be one of the top selections in April and become an instant millionaire.
Instead, he'll have a chance to become just the second two-time Heisman winner.
Mostly, though, Leinart was just having too much fun to leave.
"I realized the opportunity right now to support my family by going to the NFL early, but to me I think college football and this whole atmosphere here and being with my friends and my teammates ... is ultimately more satisfying and will make me happier than any amount of money could make someone happy," he said.
The Heisman Trophy winner will return to USC for his senior season and try to lead the Trojans to an unprecedented third straight national championship.
"I went with my gut. I went with my heart," the quarterback said.
Leinart opted to complete his eligibility rather than enter the NFL draft, where he figured to be one of the top selections in April and become an instant millionaire.
Instead, he'll have a chance to become just the second two-time Heisman winner.
Mostly, though, Leinart was just having too much fun to leave.
"I realized the opportunity right now to support my family by going to the NFL early, but to me I think college football and this whole atmosphere here and being with my friends and my teammates ... is ultimately more satisfying and will make me happier than any amount of money could make someone happy," he said.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Now These are Maps
If you are a Civil War buff like me, you'll love perusing these Civil War era maps. Very cool.
The Lavender Army
Ok, this is really weird, but I like it. The biggest challenge for large bureaucracies is original thinking. Well, this is definitely original.
THE Pentagon considered developing a host of non-lethal chemical weapons that would disrupt discipline and morale among enemy troops, newly declassify documents reveal.
Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an "aphrodisiac" chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behavior among troops would cause a "distasteful but completely non-lethal" blow to morale, the proposal says.
Other ideas included chemical weapons that attract swarms of enraged wasps or angry rats to troop positions, making them uninhibitedly. Another was to develop a chemical that caused "severe and lasting halitosis", making it easy to identify guerrillas trying to blend in with civilians. There was also the idea of making troops' skin unbearably sensitive to sunlight.
The proposals, from the US Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, date from 1994. The lab sought Pentagon funding for research into what it called "harassing, annoying and 'bad guy'-identifying chemicals". The plans have been posted online by the Sunshine Project, an organisation that exposes research into chemical and biological weapons.
Spokesman Edward Hammond says it was not known if the proposed $7.5 million, six-year research plan was ever pursued.
THE Pentagon considered developing a host of non-lethal chemical weapons that would disrupt discipline and morale among enemy troops, newly declassify documents reveal.
Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an "aphrodisiac" chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behavior among troops would cause a "distasteful but completely non-lethal" blow to morale, the proposal says.
Other ideas included chemical weapons that attract swarms of enraged wasps or angry rats to troop positions, making them uninhibitedly. Another was to develop a chemical that caused "severe and lasting halitosis", making it easy to identify guerrillas trying to blend in with civilians. There was also the idea of making troops' skin unbearably sensitive to sunlight.
The proposals, from the US Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, date from 1994. The lab sought Pentagon funding for research into what it called "harassing, annoying and 'bad guy'-identifying chemicals". The plans have been posted online by the Sunshine Project, an organisation that exposes research into chemical and biological weapons.
Spokesman Edward Hammond says it was not known if the proposed $7.5 million, six-year research plan was ever pursued.
This is Promising
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea told a visiting U.S. Congressional delegation that it is ready to return to six-party nuclear talks and would treat the United States as a "friend" if Washington doesn't slander the rule of totalitarian leader Kim Jong Il.
The North Korean overture on Friday came shortly after a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation concluded talks with senior communist officials in Pyongyang. The delegation called the meeting an "overwhelming success," and said in Seoul that North Korea appeared ready to negotiate within weeks.
"Our unanimous impression is that the DPRK is ready to rejoin the six-party process," said Republican Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, using the acronym for the North's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The North Korean overture on Friday came shortly after a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation concluded talks with senior communist officials in Pyongyang. The delegation called the meeting an "overwhelming success," and said in Seoul that North Korea appeared ready to negotiate within weeks.
"Our unanimous impression is that the DPRK is ready to rejoin the six-party process," said Republican Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, using the acronym for the North's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
You're Cut Off
Tipsy Teddy Kennedy at the National Press Club:
Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, calling him "Osama bin … Osama … Obama."
Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, calling him "Osama bin … Osama … Obama."
Bizarro World
You've got to check out my alter ego at Radio Free Newport. This guy can't be serious, can he?
I'm Scratching My Head
This is about the most bizarre ruling I've seen:
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that a school district in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, must remove an evolution disclaimer inside textbooks.
The stickers inside the Cobb County School District's science books said "Evolution is a theory not a fact."
The ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said the stickers violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Parents in Cobb County, a politically conservative area northwest of Atlanta, and the American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the stickers in court, arguing they violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
1. The phrase "Evolution is theory not a fact" is true. Any scientist will tell you. Now, those backing the inclusion of the statement may have different motives, but the Court is not asked to rule on motives. It must rule on the activity in question.
2. How does this scientific statement violate the Establishment Clause? What is it establishing?
3. Cobb County is indeed a "politically conservative area". But what about the American Civil Liberties Union? Is that not a "politically liberal organization"? It seems to me if you are going to label one side, you probably ought to label the other. But that would be fair and balanced, wouldn't it?
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that a school district in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, must remove an evolution disclaimer inside textbooks.
The stickers inside the Cobb County School District's science books said "Evolution is a theory not a fact."
The ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said the stickers violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Parents in Cobb County, a politically conservative area northwest of Atlanta, and the American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the stickers in court, arguing they violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
1. The phrase "Evolution is theory not a fact" is true. Any scientist will tell you. Now, those backing the inclusion of the statement may have different motives, but the Court is not asked to rule on motives. It must rule on the activity in question.
2. How does this scientific statement violate the Establishment Clause? What is it establishing?
3. Cobb County is indeed a "politically conservative area". But what about the American Civil Liberties Union? Is that not a "politically liberal organization"? It seems to me if you are going to label one side, you probably ought to label the other. But that would be fair and balanced, wouldn't it?
Top Ten Proposed Changes at CBS News
10. Stories must be corroborated by at least two really strong hunches.
9. "Evening News" pre-show staff cocktail hour is cancelled until further notice.
8. Reduce "60 Minutes" to more manageable 15-20 minutes.
7. Change division name from "CBS News" to "CBS News-ish"
6. If anchor says anything inaccurate, earpiece delivers an electric shock.
5. Conclude each story with comical "Boing" sound effect.
4. Instead of boring Middle East reports, more powerball drawings.
3. To play it safe, every "exclusive" story will be about how tasty pecan pie is.
2. Not sure how, but make CBS News more like "C.S.I."
1. Use beer, cash and hookers to lure Tom Brokaw out of retirement.
9. "Evening News" pre-show staff cocktail hour is cancelled until further notice.
8. Reduce "60 Minutes" to more manageable 15-20 minutes.
7. Change division name from "CBS News" to "CBS News-ish"
6. If anchor says anything inaccurate, earpiece delivers an electric shock.
5. Conclude each story with comical "Boing" sound effect.
4. Instead of boring Middle East reports, more powerball drawings.
3. To play it safe, every "exclusive" story will be about how tasty pecan pie is.
2. Not sure how, but make CBS News more like "C.S.I."
1. Use beer, cash and hookers to lure Tom Brokaw out of retirement.
Quote of the Day
"We as Democrats may be in the minority in Congress, but we speak for the majority of Americans." - Ted Kennedy
Huh?
Huh?
Aim High
If you are going to go bad, you might as well go all the way.
Sir Mark Thatcher has pleaded guilty in South Africa over his part in an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.
The son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was fined three million rand (£265,000) and received a four-year suspended jail sentence.
Sir Mark, who denies any knowledge of the plot, agreed a plea bargain and will now co-operate with investigators.
He admitted breaking anti-mercenary legislation in South Africa by agreeing to finance a helicopter.
It has been reported the businessman said he did not initially know the helicopter's alleged purpose - that it was to be used in the alleged coup attempt, instead believing it was to be used as an air ambulance.
But in his plea bargain statement, Sir Mark says he came to realise the helicopter was to be used for mercenary activities before the deal was finalised.
Sir Mark Thatcher has pleaded guilty in South Africa over his part in an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.
The son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was fined three million rand (£265,000) and received a four-year suspended jail sentence.
Sir Mark, who denies any knowledge of the plot, agreed a plea bargain and will now co-operate with investigators.
He admitted breaking anti-mercenary legislation in South Africa by agreeing to finance a helicopter.
It has been reported the businessman said he did not initially know the helicopter's alleged purpose - that it was to be used in the alleged coup attempt, instead believing it was to be used as an air ambulance.
But in his plea bargain statement, Sir Mark says he came to realise the helicopter was to be used for mercenary activities before the deal was finalised.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
A Sad - and Common - Story
For every Kobe Bryant, there are 10 Joe Fortes.
Bottom line:
"As a player, there's no question he was ready to leave school," Wootten said. "He could not have had a better season than his sophomore year at North Carolina. The tougher question is: 'As a person, was he mature enough for the NBA?' "
..."My whole life, I had people looking out for me," Forte said. "At DeMatha I had Coach Wootten, and at North Carolina I had Coach Guthridge. Those guys took me under their watch, man. They made sure I did everything right.
"Then in the NBA, I didn't have anybody watching me. I had to make my own decisions, and I guess I wasn't totally ready for that."
Bottom line:
"As a player, there's no question he was ready to leave school," Wootten said. "He could not have had a better season than his sophomore year at North Carolina. The tougher question is: 'As a person, was he mature enough for the NBA?' "
..."My whole life, I had people looking out for me," Forte said. "At DeMatha I had Coach Wootten, and at North Carolina I had Coach Guthridge. Those guys took me under their watch, man. They made sure I did everything right.
"Then in the NBA, I didn't have anybody watching me. I had to make my own decisions, and I guess I wasn't totally ready for that."
This Kid Gets It
UK's Bobby Perry has to be a Tubby favorite.
On losing Joe Crawford …
“Joe is a great person. I chose not to say anything about Joe. I wish him the best and hope he has a great career.”
On waiting for a starting lineup position…
“Coach Smith is the kind of coach who runs a basketball program. He is not a quick-hitter, a one and done kind of guy. He runs a program and develops guys. Sometimes it’s not all about basketball it’s about life, and that’s what I like about Coach Smith. I realized coming in I was willing to learn and I had to wait my turn, I didn’t know everything right away and had a lot to learn to get in that starting line-up. I am playing behind a guy like Chuck Hayes who is an awesome player, I can only learn from him and my time will come if I keep working hard.”
On pulling together being one down going into the SEC…
“Yeah we are still going to be a great team. It’s a tough loss losing Joe, anytime you lose someone if it’s an injury or any reason its tough, but we are going to regroup and come back and try to have a strong game against a great Vanderbilt team."
On losing Joe Crawford …
“Joe is a great person. I chose not to say anything about Joe. I wish him the best and hope he has a great career.”
On waiting for a starting lineup position…
“Coach Smith is the kind of coach who runs a basketball program. He is not a quick-hitter, a one and done kind of guy. He runs a program and develops guys. Sometimes it’s not all about basketball it’s about life, and that’s what I like about Coach Smith. I realized coming in I was willing to learn and I had to wait my turn, I didn’t know everything right away and had a lot to learn to get in that starting line-up. I am playing behind a guy like Chuck Hayes who is an awesome player, I can only learn from him and my time will come if I keep working hard.”
On pulling together being one down going into the SEC…
“Yeah we are still going to be a great team. It’s a tough loss losing Joe, anytime you lose someone if it’s an injury or any reason its tough, but we are going to regroup and come back and try to have a strong game against a great Vanderbilt team."
The Wicked Witch is Dead
The main-stream media is dead. So says Howard Fineman of Newsweek (a.k.a., the main-stream media).
This is Good News
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. government ran a $1 billion budget surplus in December, helped by a rise in corporate tax payments, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest budget report released on Friday. The surplus, which compared with an $18 billion deficit in the previous December, helped create a smaller fiscal deficit for the first three months of the 2005 fiscal year, than in the same quarter of the prior year.
Can Any Marriage Last?
The Brad and Jen split has Katie asking the question.
You know, Larry, I usually tease you about kind of the inordinate attention some of these stories get, but everybody I know, they were very upset this weekend about this particular breakup, because it sort of made you feel like, 'Gosh, can any marriage last?' And here they seemed really suited to each other. They were, you know, so attractive. They both seemed like very nice people. And I actually called our newsdesk on Saturday and said: 'I know that we have this tsunami going on, and--and all these people, but is it true that they broke up? I mean, so I think a lot of people are really interested particularly in them as a couple. Why do you think that's true?
Our people in television really that naive. Apparently so.
You know, Larry, I usually tease you about kind of the inordinate attention some of these stories get, but everybody I know, they were very upset this weekend about this particular breakup, because it sort of made you feel like, 'Gosh, can any marriage last?' And here they seemed really suited to each other. They were, you know, so attractive. They both seemed like very nice people. And I actually called our newsdesk on Saturday and said: 'I know that we have this tsunami going on, and--and all these people, but is it true that they broke up? I mean, so I think a lot of people are really interested particularly in them as a couple. Why do you think that's true?
Our people in television really that naive. Apparently so.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Big Ben Comes Through
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Ben Roethlisberger has surprised his Pittsburgh Steelers' teammates many times during his unbeaten rookie season. He did so again Tuesday, announcing he'll donate his first NFL playoff paycheck to the tsunami victims relief effort.
Even on a team that openly encourages its players to participate in charity activities and community events, Roethlisberger's $18,000 gesture before Saturday's Jets-Steelers game created a positive stir.
"Wow, I didn't even know that," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "Guys do a lot of different things in different ways that people don't always hear about, but that's great -- that's for a great cause, definitely. That's a big tragedy, and I hope everyone will at least donate (something)."
Unlike the regular season, when each player earns a weekly share of his base salary, playoff salaries are determined by the league's collective bargaining agreement and each player is paid the same.
Roethlisberger, who is 13-0 as a rookie quarterback, hopes other NFL players will follow his
lead.
"I'm going to donate my game check this week to the tsunami relief -- and hopefully maybe (it will be) a challenge for other people to do that, too," Roethlisberger said.
Even on a team that openly encourages its players to participate in charity activities and community events, Roethlisberger's $18,000 gesture before Saturday's Jets-Steelers game created a positive stir.
"Wow, I didn't even know that," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "Guys do a lot of different things in different ways that people don't always hear about, but that's great -- that's for a great cause, definitely. That's a big tragedy, and I hope everyone will at least donate (something)."
Unlike the regular season, when each player earns a weekly share of his base salary, playoff salaries are determined by the league's collective bargaining agreement and each player is paid the same.
Roethlisberger, who is 13-0 as a rookie quarterback, hopes other NFL players will follow his
lead.
"I'm going to donate my game check this week to the tsunami relief -- and hopefully maybe (it will be) a challenge for other people to do that, too," Roethlisberger said.
Tony Said What?
Randy Moss likely will draw a fine from the NFL, but Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy had to chuckle nonetheless when he saw the Minnesota Vikings' wide receiver pretend to moon the fans at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Dungy knew Moss' gesture -- acting as if he was dropping his pants and mooning the end-zone crowd after catching a 34-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 31-17 victory -- was tantamount to payback.
"I thought it was kind of humorous," Dungy said Monday afternoon. "Anybody that's played in the NFC Central knows what that's all about.
"Green Bay has a reputation with their fans being great, and they really are. But one of their traditions is when they beat you, they stand around the parking lot, all around the fence, and they moon the bus when you leave."
What the *%#^&? Isn't this the same Tony Dungy that blasted Monday Night Football and ABC for the T.O./Desperate Housewives skit? He said it was degrading to the black athlete and classless? Well, what do you call Randy Moss' antics?
Sorry Tony, you can't have it both ways.
Dungy knew Moss' gesture -- acting as if he was dropping his pants and mooning the end-zone crowd after catching a 34-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 31-17 victory -- was tantamount to payback.
"I thought it was kind of humorous," Dungy said Monday afternoon. "Anybody that's played in the NFC Central knows what that's all about.
"Green Bay has a reputation with their fans being great, and they really are. But one of their traditions is when they beat you, they stand around the parking lot, all around the fence, and they moon the bus when you leave."
What the *%#^&? Isn't this the same Tony Dungy that blasted Monday Night Football and ABC for the T.O./Desperate Housewives skit? He said it was degrading to the black athlete and classless? Well, what do you call Randy Moss' antics?
Sorry Tony, you can't have it both ways.
UK Fights Back
Now I like the sound of this. Bottom line:
If Crawford leaves without the waiver, he will face a significant loss of his college eligibility. He'll have two and a half years available to complete one and a half years of eligibility. The penalty would simply mean he'll be a junior when he resumes his college career, rather than a sophomore.
If Crawford leaves without the waiver, he will face a significant loss of his college eligibility. He'll have two and a half years available to complete one and a half years of eligibility. The penalty would simply mean he'll be a junior when he resumes his college career, rather than a sophomore.
Poor Dan
He just doesn't get it.
Tue Jan 11 2004 14:56:11 ET
The panel report is part of a process -- a necessary process to deal with a difficult issue -- at the end of which four good people have lost their jobs. My strongest reaction is one of sadness and concern for those individuals whom I know and with whom I have worked. It would be a shame if we let this matter, troubling as it is, obscure their dedication and good work over the years.
Yet good can come from this process if CBS News, and the hundreds of able professionals who labor every day to fill an essential public service in an open society, emerge with a renewed dedication to journalism of the highest quality. We should take seriously the admonition of the report's authors to do our job well and carefully, but also their parallel admonition not to be afraid to cover important and controversial issues.
CBS News is a great institution with a distinct and precious legacy. I have been here through good times, and not so good times. I have seen us overcome adversity before. I am convinced we can do so again. That must be our focus and priority. And we can fulfill that objective by getting back to business and doing our jobs better than ever. Lest anyone have any doubt, I have read the report, I take it seriously, and I shall keep its lessons well in mind.
Dan Rather
Tue Jan 11 2004 14:56:11 ET
The panel report is part of a process -- a necessary process to deal with a difficult issue -- at the end of which four good people have lost their jobs. My strongest reaction is one of sadness and concern for those individuals whom I know and with whom I have worked. It would be a shame if we let this matter, troubling as it is, obscure their dedication and good work over the years.
Yet good can come from this process if CBS News, and the hundreds of able professionals who labor every day to fill an essential public service in an open society, emerge with a renewed dedication to journalism of the highest quality. We should take seriously the admonition of the report's authors to do our job well and carefully, but also their parallel admonition not to be afraid to cover important and controversial issues.
CBS News is a great institution with a distinct and precious legacy. I have been here through good times, and not so good times. I have seen us overcome adversity before. I am convinced we can do so again. That must be our focus and priority. And we can fulfill that objective by getting back to business and doing our jobs better than ever. Lest anyone have any doubt, I have read the report, I take it seriously, and I shall keep its lessons well in mind.
Dan Rather
Fighting "With the Army You Have"
Kevin Drum nails the "not enough troops" chorus:
Of course, no one seriously suggests that we should strip every last soldier from Europe, North Korea, and our other overseas deployments. Realistically, then, the maximum number of troops available for use in Iraq is probably pretty close to the number we have now: 300,000 rotated annually, for a presence of about 150,000 at any given time.
The only way to appreciably increase this is to raise the Army's end strength by several divisions, and this is exactly what Kagan and Sullivan think Rumsfeld has been too stubborn about opposing. But as they acknowledge, doing this would take a couple of years — and as they don't acknowledge, it would have made the war politically impossible. The invasion of Iraq almost certainly would never have happened if Rumsfeld had told Congress in 2002 that he wanted them to approve three or four (or more) new divisions in preparation for a war in 2004 or 2005.
In other words, when Rumsfeld commented that you go to war "with the army you have," he was exactly right. Kagan and Sullivan both supported the Iraq war, but it never would have happened if Rumsfeld had acknowledged that we needed 100,000 more troops than we had available at the time.
For that reason, conservative critiques of Rumsfeld on these grounds strike me as hypocritical. Would Kagan and Sullivan have supported delaying the Iraq war a couple of years in order to raise the troops they now believe are necessary? If not, isn't it a little late to start complaining now?
Of course, no one seriously suggests that we should strip every last soldier from Europe, North Korea, and our other overseas deployments. Realistically, then, the maximum number of troops available for use in Iraq is probably pretty close to the number we have now: 300,000 rotated annually, for a presence of about 150,000 at any given time.
The only way to appreciably increase this is to raise the Army's end strength by several divisions, and this is exactly what Kagan and Sullivan think Rumsfeld has been too stubborn about opposing. But as they acknowledge, doing this would take a couple of years — and as they don't acknowledge, it would have made the war politically impossible. The invasion of Iraq almost certainly would never have happened if Rumsfeld had told Congress in 2002 that he wanted them to approve three or four (or more) new divisions in preparation for a war in 2004 or 2005.
In other words, when Rumsfeld commented that you go to war "with the army you have," he was exactly right. Kagan and Sullivan both supported the Iraq war, but it never would have happened if Rumsfeld had acknowledged that we needed 100,000 more troops than we had available at the time.
For that reason, conservative critiques of Rumsfeld on these grounds strike me as hypocritical. Would Kagan and Sullivan have supported delaying the Iraq war a couple of years in order to raise the troops they now believe are necessary? If not, isn't it a little late to start complaining now?
NCAA Reform
This is a huge development that his been flying under the radar screen. I like it.
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) -- The NCAA approved the first phase of a landmark academic reform package Monday under which about 30 percent of Division I football teams would have lost scholarships had it been implemented immediately.
On the last day of the NCAA convention, the Division I Board of Directors approved the Academic Progress Rate (APR), the standard teams in every sport must reach beginning in the 2005-06 school year to avoid scholarship reductions.
Schools will receive warning reports in the next few weeks that let them know which of their teams fall below the APR set by the Division I Committee on Academic Performance. The rate is based roughly on a 50-percent graduation rate over a five-year period.
The Academic Performance Program applies to every men's and women's sport -- more than 5,000 teams at the 325 Division I schools.
University of Hartford president and committee chairman Walter Harrison said the biggest problems were in football (about 30 percent of teams), baseball (25 percent) and men's basketball (20 percent).
"Our hope, of course, is not the penalty," Harrison said. "We hope it encourages different kinds of behavior so that the numbers will be lower."
The so-called "contemporaneous penalties" are considered rehabilitative in nature and expected to serve as warnings for teams with poor academic performance. Such penalties could begin after December 2005.
Another phase of the program will be historical penalties, which will be more severe and directed at schools with continued problems. Harrison's committee is still working on the penalties, and they will have to be approved by NCAA directors later.
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) -- The NCAA approved the first phase of a landmark academic reform package Monday under which about 30 percent of Division I football teams would have lost scholarships had it been implemented immediately.
On the last day of the NCAA convention, the Division I Board of Directors approved the Academic Progress Rate (APR), the standard teams in every sport must reach beginning in the 2005-06 school year to avoid scholarship reductions.
Schools will receive warning reports in the next few weeks that let them know which of their teams fall below the APR set by the Division I Committee on Academic Performance. The rate is based roughly on a 50-percent graduation rate over a five-year period.
The Academic Performance Program applies to every men's and women's sport -- more than 5,000 teams at the 325 Division I schools.
University of Hartford president and committee chairman Walter Harrison said the biggest problems were in football (about 30 percent of teams), baseball (25 percent) and men's basketball (20 percent).
"Our hope, of course, is not the penalty," Harrison said. "We hope it encourages different kinds of behavior so that the numbers will be lower."
The so-called "contemporaneous penalties" are considered rehabilitative in nature and expected to serve as warnings for teams with poor academic performance. Such penalties could begin after December 2005.
Another phase of the program will be historical penalties, which will be more severe and directed at schools with continued problems. Harrison's committee is still working on the penalties, and they will have to be approved by NCAA directors later.
Crawford Out?
This is surprising:
One of Kentucky's ballyhooed freshmen, guard Joe Crawford, appeared on the brink of transferring, Coach Tubby Smith said on his weekly radio show last night.
Smith's comments came after meeting with Crawford's parents to "explore the option of transferring," team spokesman Scott Stricklin said.
"Their first inclination is to transfer," Smith said on the radio. "If he does, we wish him the best." The UK coach made it clear he preferred that Crawford, a McDonald's All-American from Detroit, stay. Smith noted the would-be waste of "energy and resources" devoted to recruiting prospects. He gave Crawford an indefinite period to think over the options.
"He's a great kid," Smith said. "I hope he understands we want him here. He also understands he has to do what's best for him."
What's interesting is that Crawford is averaging over 13 minutes a game. Under Tubby, that's a lot. Crawford may be upset that Rondo and Morris are playing more, but Crawford hasn't shown much to this point. Here's hoping he grows up and sticks it out.
One of Kentucky's ballyhooed freshmen, guard Joe Crawford, appeared on the brink of transferring, Coach Tubby Smith said on his weekly radio show last night.
Smith's comments came after meeting with Crawford's parents to "explore the option of transferring," team spokesman Scott Stricklin said.
"Their first inclination is to transfer," Smith said on the radio. "If he does, we wish him the best." The UK coach made it clear he preferred that Crawford, a McDonald's All-American from Detroit, stay. Smith noted the would-be waste of "energy and resources" devoted to recruiting prospects. He gave Crawford an indefinite period to think over the options.
"He's a great kid," Smith said. "I hope he understands we want him here. He also understands he has to do what's best for him."
What's interesting is that Crawford is averaging over 13 minutes a game. Under Tubby, that's a lot. Crawford may be upset that Rondo and Morris are playing more, but Crawford hasn't shown much to this point. Here's hoping he grows up and sticks it out.
Unbelievable
More nonsense from The Left. This time, instead of foolish action, it's foolish inaction.
When he was 21 years old, Hadi Salih was seized from his home in Baghdad by Saddam Hussein's secret police and summarily sentenced to death. His crime? Forming a trade union and campaigning for decent wages and basic health and safety conditions.
Amazingly, Salih survived. After five years in an Iraqi dungeon, his death sentence was commuted to permanant exile. He never gave up campaigning against Baathism and - although he opposed the recent war because of the civilian casualties it would cause - he headed home the moment Saddam was toppled.
Salih quickly became the leading figure in the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), one of 12 trade union organisations formed in Iraq over the past two years. He knew that no society has needed trade unions more than Iraq does right now. Trade unions are a secular space where it doesn't matter if you are Sunni, Shia or Christian; they provide an opportunity to bridge sectarian divides and unite in a common democratic cause. Even more importantly, trade unions are the only way for Iraqis to resist the IMF programme of "shock therapy" and corporate rule being imposed undemocratically (with the support of the British and US governments) on their country.
Speaking a few months ago, Salih expressed his hope that trade unions could play the same role in regenerating Iraq that they played in post-war Japan. "The labour movement in Japan has been fighting for their country and for social justice for 50 years. If they can do it, we can too. That is why, despite everything, I am enthusiastic." He had already recruited over 300,000 members.
On Tuesday night, a masked gang broke into Salih's home in Baghdad. They bound him hand and foot and they blindfolded him. They beat and they burned his flesh. Once they had finished torturing him, they strangled him with an electric cord. As a final touch, they riddled his body with bullets.
Salih's close friend Abdullah Muhsin, the international representative of the IFTU, told me yesterday, "He was an ordinary but a very decent man. He worked in the print industry in Iraq and in exile, and the passion of his life was Iraqi workers and their desire to live as free people. And now I hear people describe his murderers as 'the resistance'. Resistance to what? To trade unions? To a decent man who loved his family and loved Iraq and wanted his country to be free? They cannot silence Salih. They cannot silence the Iraqi trade unions. Not again."
The IFTU has reported a pattern of attacks on trade union offices and trade union members. The murder of Salih bears all the hallmarks of Saddam's Mukhabarat - the Baathist KGB. Whatever you thought about the justice of the recent war in Iraq - and there were plenty of good reasons to oppose it - the only decent path now is to stand with a majority of Iraqis against the murderers of Salih and dozens of other Iraqi trade unionists.
Yet - I can't believe I'm saying this - a significant portion of the left is not standing with them. John Pilger - who says he has "seldom felt as safe in any country" as when he visited Saddam's Iraq - now openly supports the resistance on the grounds that "we can't afford to be choosy". The Stop the War Coalition passed a resolution recently saying the resistance should use "any means necessary" - which prompted Mick Rix, a decent trade unionist, to resign from the STWC on the grounds that this clearly constituted support for the murder of civilians. George Galloway has attacked the IFTU as "quislings" and described the tearful descriptions of one of their members of life under Saddam as "a party trick".
When he was 21 years old, Hadi Salih was seized from his home in Baghdad by Saddam Hussein's secret police and summarily sentenced to death. His crime? Forming a trade union and campaigning for decent wages and basic health and safety conditions.
Amazingly, Salih survived. After five years in an Iraqi dungeon, his death sentence was commuted to permanant exile. He never gave up campaigning against Baathism and - although he opposed the recent war because of the civilian casualties it would cause - he headed home the moment Saddam was toppled.
Salih quickly became the leading figure in the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), one of 12 trade union organisations formed in Iraq over the past two years. He knew that no society has needed trade unions more than Iraq does right now. Trade unions are a secular space where it doesn't matter if you are Sunni, Shia or Christian; they provide an opportunity to bridge sectarian divides and unite in a common democratic cause. Even more importantly, trade unions are the only way for Iraqis to resist the IMF programme of "shock therapy" and corporate rule being imposed undemocratically (with the support of the British and US governments) on their country.
Speaking a few months ago, Salih expressed his hope that trade unions could play the same role in regenerating Iraq that they played in post-war Japan. "The labour movement in Japan has been fighting for their country and for social justice for 50 years. If they can do it, we can too. That is why, despite everything, I am enthusiastic." He had already recruited over 300,000 members.
On Tuesday night, a masked gang broke into Salih's home in Baghdad. They bound him hand and foot and they blindfolded him. They beat and they burned his flesh. Once they had finished torturing him, they strangled him with an electric cord. As a final touch, they riddled his body with bullets.
Salih's close friend Abdullah Muhsin, the international representative of the IFTU, told me yesterday, "He was an ordinary but a very decent man. He worked in the print industry in Iraq and in exile, and the passion of his life was Iraqi workers and their desire to live as free people. And now I hear people describe his murderers as 'the resistance'. Resistance to what? To trade unions? To a decent man who loved his family and loved Iraq and wanted his country to be free? They cannot silence Salih. They cannot silence the Iraqi trade unions. Not again."
The IFTU has reported a pattern of attacks on trade union offices and trade union members. The murder of Salih bears all the hallmarks of Saddam's Mukhabarat - the Baathist KGB. Whatever you thought about the justice of the recent war in Iraq - and there were plenty of good reasons to oppose it - the only decent path now is to stand with a majority of Iraqis against the murderers of Salih and dozens of other Iraqi trade unionists.
Yet - I can't believe I'm saying this - a significant portion of the left is not standing with them. John Pilger - who says he has "seldom felt as safe in any country" as when he visited Saddam's Iraq - now openly supports the resistance on the grounds that "we can't afford to be choosy". The Stop the War Coalition passed a resolution recently saying the resistance should use "any means necessary" - which prompted Mick Rix, a decent trade unionist, to resign from the STWC on the grounds that this clearly constituted support for the murder of civilians. George Galloway has attacked the IFTU as "quislings" and described the tearful descriptions of one of their members of life under Saddam as "a party trick".
RatherGate is Over
Andrew Sullivan sums it up:
THE END OF RATHER: He has to go now, doesn't he? When all the people directly associated with this debacle have quit or been fired, on what basis does he stay? He fronted the report. He stood by it. He took responsibility for it. On his watch, CBS News became a laughing stock. Is he really going to let everyone else take the hit? Has he lost all sense of self-respect as well as loyalty? For goodness' sake, Dan. Go. Even Howell did eventually. People will remember the rest of your legacy. But if you hang on to your job as long as you hung on to that "story," all you will prove is your pride.
THE END OF RATHER: He has to go now, doesn't he? When all the people directly associated with this debacle have quit or been fired, on what basis does he stay? He fronted the report. He stood by it. He took responsibility for it. On his watch, CBS News became a laughing stock. Is he really going to let everyone else take the hit? Has he lost all sense of self-respect as well as loyalty? For goodness' sake, Dan. Go. Even Howell did eventually. People will remember the rest of your legacy. But if you hang on to your job as long as you hung on to that "story," all you will prove is your pride.
So Now We Know
I was wondering what happened with this:
WASHINGTON — The criminal probe into why former Bill Clinton aide Sandy Berger illegally sneaked top-secret documents out of the National Archives — possibly in his socks — has heated up and is now before a federal grand jury, The Post has learned. . . .
"It may have been off the front pages, but the investigation has been active," said a source with knowledge of the probe.
"[Berger] has been interviewed several times by federal agents — FBI and prosecutors."
Berger admits removing 40 to 50 top-secret documents from the archives, but claims it was an "honest mistake" made while he vetted documents for the 9/11 commission's probe into the Twin Towers attacks.
Berger has also acknowledged that he destroyed some documents — he says by accident. . . .
The documents include multiple drafts of a review of the 2000 millennium threat said to conclude that only luck prevented a 2000 attack.
That story conflicts with Berger's own testimony to the commission, in which he claimed that "we thwarted" millennium attacks by being vigilant — rather than by sheer luck, as the review reportedly suggests.
WASHINGTON — The criminal probe into why former Bill Clinton aide Sandy Berger illegally sneaked top-secret documents out of the National Archives — possibly in his socks — has heated up and is now before a federal grand jury, The Post has learned. . . .
"It may have been off the front pages, but the investigation has been active," said a source with knowledge of the probe.
"[Berger] has been interviewed several times by federal agents — FBI and prosecutors."
Berger admits removing 40 to 50 top-secret documents from the archives, but claims it was an "honest mistake" made while he vetted documents for the 9/11 commission's probe into the Twin Towers attacks.
Berger has also acknowledged that he destroyed some documents — he says by accident. . . .
The documents include multiple drafts of a review of the 2000 millennium threat said to conclude that only luck prevented a 2000 attack.
That story conflicts with Berger's own testimony to the commission, in which he claimed that "we thwarted" millennium attacks by being vigilant — rather than by sheer luck, as the review reportedly suggests.
With Congressman Like This...
...who needs enemies.
Most alarming to White House officials, some congressional Republicans are panning the president's plan — even before it is unveiled. "Why stir up a political hornet's nest .... when there is no urgency?" said Rep. Rob Simmons (Conn.), who represents a competitive district. "When does the program go belly up? 2042. I will be dead by then."
Yep, leave the fiscal crisis to your children and grandchildren. That a boy.
Most alarming to White House officials, some congressional Republicans are panning the president's plan — even before it is unveiled. "Why stir up a political hornet's nest .... when there is no urgency?" said Rep. Rob Simmons (Conn.), who represents a competitive district. "When does the program go belly up? 2042. I will be dead by then."
Yep, leave the fiscal crisis to your children and grandchildren. That a boy.
Monday, January 10, 2005
This Sounds Like Hell
Here's a nice story from this morning's Enquirer:
In District 1, about three-quarters of last year's shooting victims were black males. Most victims were in their 20s and 30s, although their ages ranged from 8 to 54. At least three were suspected shooters in other incidents.
All but three of the District 1 shootings occurred in Over-the-Rhine and the West End.
Police arrested 12 suspects in the 94 shootings. But nine cases were dropped for lack of sufficient evidence or cooperation, and only three suspects were charged, indicted and prosecuted through the system.
Two of them went to prison.
Why so few convictions?
The cycle of violence involves people like Jason McClure.
Three times last year, the 24-year-old Over-the-Rhine man was charged with shooting people. But none of the victims or witnesses ever showed up for court. So each time, McClure went free.
"What happens is when he shoots people and nobody shows up for court, he's going to keep shooting people," Officer Sean Woods says. "It lets him run the streets. We have to just keep picking him up."
In the latest case, McClure was accused in August of shooting two men. The charges were dismissed because neither victim would cooperate with detectives, police say. Then, three weeks later, one of the victims was suspected of shooting McClure. McClure wouldn't testify, either, even though he'd been shot five times.
He could not be found for comment.
If officers didn't think of it as a game, Officer Matt Hamer says, "we'd probably just cry and go home."
Now, McClure is wanted again. This time he is accused of sticking a black-and-silver handgun in the face of an Over-the-Rhine corner store clerk in December. Police say McClure threatened the clerk not to testify before a grand jury looking into a case in which McClure is accused of robbing the same store. McClure casually grabbed a few Black & Mild cigarettes on his way out, says Woods, who filed the latest charges.
"The last time I saw him, he said, 'I'm straightening out,' " the officer says. "They all say that."
...Police say chances are minuscule that somebody might see McClure's picture, do the right thing and call. Still, they can hope.
McClure stays on another list, too.
"Every cop has a list in his head of five or six guys we think would shoot us in the back," Woods says. "He's on my list."
In District 1, about three-quarters of last year's shooting victims were black males. Most victims were in their 20s and 30s, although their ages ranged from 8 to 54. At least three were suspected shooters in other incidents.
All but three of the District 1 shootings occurred in Over-the-Rhine and the West End.
Police arrested 12 suspects in the 94 shootings. But nine cases were dropped for lack of sufficient evidence or cooperation, and only three suspects were charged, indicted and prosecuted through the system.
Two of them went to prison.
Why so few convictions?
The cycle of violence involves people like Jason McClure.
Three times last year, the 24-year-old Over-the-Rhine man was charged with shooting people. But none of the victims or witnesses ever showed up for court. So each time, McClure went free.
"What happens is when he shoots people and nobody shows up for court, he's going to keep shooting people," Officer Sean Woods says. "It lets him run the streets. We have to just keep picking him up."
In the latest case, McClure was accused in August of shooting two men. The charges were dismissed because neither victim would cooperate with detectives, police say. Then, three weeks later, one of the victims was suspected of shooting McClure. McClure wouldn't testify, either, even though he'd been shot five times.
He could not be found for comment.
If officers didn't think of it as a game, Officer Matt Hamer says, "we'd probably just cry and go home."
Now, McClure is wanted again. This time he is accused of sticking a black-and-silver handgun in the face of an Over-the-Rhine corner store clerk in December. Police say McClure threatened the clerk not to testify before a grand jury looking into a case in which McClure is accused of robbing the same store. McClure casually grabbed a few Black & Mild cigarettes on his way out, says Woods, who filed the latest charges.
"The last time I saw him, he said, 'I'm straightening out,' " the officer says. "They all say that."
...Police say chances are minuscule that somebody might see McClure's picture, do the right thing and call. Still, they can hope.
McClure stays on another list, too.
"Every cop has a list in his head of five or six guys we think would shoot us in the back," Woods says. "He's on my list."
Abbas Wins
The often described "moderate" accepted his win with this:
"I present this victory to the soul of Yasser Arafat and present it to our people, to our martyrs and to 11,000 prisoners."
Not promising.
"I present this victory to the soul of Yasser Arafat and present it to our people, to our martyrs and to 11,000 prisoners."
Not promising.
Rummy Must Go
In The Weekly Standard, Frederick W. Kagan comes out against Rummy. This is a signficant development and not a good sign for Rummy, Iraq, or the war on Islamic terror.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
The Big O...Prophet
Here's a gem from the Big O in this morning's Cincy Enquirer:
ST. LOUIS - Former University of Cincinnati great Oscar Robertson says the NCAA rules under which UC freshman Vincent Banks has been declared academically ineligible for this year are biased against kids from inner-city schools who have trouble on standardized tests that help determine their eligibility.
"I think it's biased against a lot of schools that have poor academics," Robertson said Saturday. "I think it's biased against kids in the inner city where the schools don't have a good academic record. This only hurts the kid."
Standardized tests are biased against kids from bad schools? No, you don't say. I hear they're also biased against stupid kids, lazy kids, kids without a father in the home, kids who spend all of their time watching TV, kids who smoke dope, drug-dealing kids, and kids who happen to be athletes.
ST. LOUIS - Former University of Cincinnati great Oscar Robertson says the NCAA rules under which UC freshman Vincent Banks has been declared academically ineligible for this year are biased against kids from inner-city schools who have trouble on standardized tests that help determine their eligibility.
"I think it's biased against a lot of schools that have poor academics," Robertson said Saturday. "I think it's biased against kids in the inner city where the schools don't have a good academic record. This only hurts the kid."
Standardized tests are biased against kids from bad schools? No, you don't say. I hear they're also biased against stupid kids, lazy kids, kids without a father in the home, kids who spend all of their time watching TV, kids who smoke dope, drug-dealing kids, and kids who happen to be athletes.
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