Score One for Horowitz

Daniel Foster has the summary on The Corner:

Horowitz fields a “question,” such as it is, from a UCSD Muslim Student Association hack in a keffiyeh. Horowitz asks her if she will condemn Hamas. She won’t, and relates her worry that publicly expressing support for the terror group at an American university will lead to her immediate arrest by the Department of Homeland Security. (Ha! If that were true, Gitmo would be the size of Connecticut.) But despite her paranoid effort at self-restraint, she is eventually goaded by Horowitz into revealing exactly what she is:

I find support for Islamic extremism hard to understand, but when a woman supports it, it’s just too weird to grasp.

See No Evil

As if we needed more evidence that the paleomedia is still in the tank for socialism, here’s a sobering article by Claire Berlinski on the Soviet empire’s hidden history. You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing. Here are some excerpts, with emphasis added by me:

In the world’s collective consciousness, the word “Nazi” is synonymous with evil. It is widely understood that the Nazis’ ideology—nationalism, anti-Semitism, the autarkic ethnic state, the Führer principle—led directly to the furnaces of Auschwitz. It is not nearly as well understood that Communism led just as inexorably, everywhere on the globe where it was applied, to starvation, torture, and slave-labor camps. Nor is it widely acknowledged that Communism was responsible for the deaths of some 150 million human beings during the twentieth century. The world remains inexplicably indifferent and uncurious about the deadliest ideology in history.

…

Perhaps it doesn’t surprise you to read that prominent European politicians held these views. But why doesn’t it? It is impossible to imagine that figures who had enjoyed such close ties to the Nazi Party—or, for that matter, to the Ku Klux Klan or to South Africa’s apartheid regime—would enjoy top positions in Europe today. The rules are different, apparently, for Communist fellow travelers. “We now have the EU unelected socialist party running Europe,” Stroilov said to me. “Bet the KGB can’t believe it.”

And what of Zagladin’s description of his dealings with our own current vice president in 1979?

Unofficially, [Senator Joseph] Biden and [Senator Richard] Lugar said that, in the end of the day, they were not so much concerned with having a problem of this or that citizen solved as with showing to the American public that they do care for “human rights.” . . . In other words, the collocutors directly admitted that what is happening is a kind of a show, that they absolutely do not care for the fate of most so-called dissidents.

Remarkably, the world has shown little interest in the unread Soviet archives. That paragraph about Biden is a good example. Stroilov and Bukovsky coauthored a piece about it for the online magazine FrontPage on October 10, 2008; it passed without remark. Americans considered the episode so uninteresting that even Biden’s political opponents didn’t try to turn it into political capital. Imagine, if you can, what it must feel like to have spent the prime of your life in a Soviet psychiatric hospital, to know that Joe Biden is now vice president of the United States, and to know that no one gives a damn.

…

We rightly insisted upon total denazification; we rightly excoriate those who now attempt to revive the Nazis’ ideology. But the world exhibits a perilous failure to acknowledge the monstrous history of Communism. These documents should be translated. They should be housed in a reputable library, properly cataloged, and carefully assessed by scholars. Above all, they should be well-known to a public that seems to have forgotten what the Soviet Union was really about. If they contain what Stroilov and Bukovsky say—and all the evidence I’ve seen suggests that they do—this is the obligation of anyone who gives a damn about history, foreign policy, and the scores of millions dead.

The greatest propaganda coup in Soviet history was convincing the world that the Nazis were right-wingers and not the socialists they really were. As bad as the Nazis were (and they were terrible) communism is worse by any measure. And yet it still enjoys a free ride in the press.

This should be a huge story. Huge. That it isn’t is shameful.

Attack!

What’s the Best Way to Pop a Bubble?

Try to read the whole thing. But at least get this bit:

The critics of investors who go short (i.e., bet that an asset’s price will decline) and of the firms that create the investment vehicles by which they may do so are mistaken when they say these investments produce nothing of value. Most obviously, many investors who take short positions are simply trying to hedge other long bets. Their short positions therefore produce valuable risk reduction that enhances liquidity. But even the derivatives traders who aren’t hedging their own bets — even those who are merely “speculating” or, to use the favored term of derision, “gambling” — are producing something that’s absolutely essential to economic growth: information. When an investor buys a put (an option to sell), short sells a stock, or purchases a credit default swap on a debt security, he’s sending a powerful signal: “I believe this asset is overvalued, and I’m willing to bet my own money on that belief.”

Freedom works. And the idea that a government Oracle can “manage” markets is as dangerous as it is stupid. “Fat Cats”, on the other hand, help everybody and harm nobody. Stop and think about it: What do the rich do with their money?

Awesome Apollo XI Launch Footage

Life under the greatest hot rod America ever built.

This clip is raw from Camera E-8 on the launch umbilical tower/mobile launch program of Apollo 11, July 16, 1969. This is an HD transfer from the 16mm original.

Decline of the West, Cont’d

Douthat nails it.

This is what decadence looks like: a frantic coarseness that “bravely” trashes its own values and traditions, and then knuckles under swiftly to totalitarianism and brute force.

You thought the TSA was bad?

Congressman Duncan of Tennessee tried last June to make the case that the Federal Air Marshal Service was a bigger waste of money. It includes a couple of claims I have not checked out yet, but which I’m inclined to believe:

In fact, more air marshals have been arrested than the number of people arrested by air marshals.

and

Their thousands of employees are not making one arrest per year each. They are averaging slightly over four arrests each year by the entire agency. In other words, we are spending approximately $200 million per arrest. Let me repeat that: we are spending approximately $200 million per arrest.

Clueless Bimbo?

Or rapier-like parody? I honestly can’t tell. There’s so much pro-Obama stuff out there that looks like parody that I just can’t tease it apart.

What do you think?

So Much for that Party Crashing Idea

Didn’t work out quite like the Lefties hoped.

The Price We Pay

Smile

Update:

Now watch this. Stick with it. It’ll pay off.

Does God Have a Future?

The quick answer is “not if Deepak Chopra is his best defense.” Recently ABC Nightline held a “face-off” to debate the question. ABC really stacked the deck against God by choosing Chopra (the idiot who thinks his meditation caused the Easter earthquake) and the personable but vacuous Jean Houston to take the affirmative .

Michael Shermer is a hero in the world of skepticism, having founded the influential Skeptic Magazine. He comes off well on substance, but not so much on TV skills this time around. To be fair, if I had been debating that charlatan Chopra I would have done worse than bury my head in my hands one too many times. The biggest laugh of the event for me was hearing Deepak Chopra literally invoke the “god of the gaps” argument. But don’t miss the moment he’s questioned by an actual physicist during the Q&A.

I already knew that Chopra was a fraud. What was surprising was seeing what an inconsiderate, rude fraud he is. Check out the part where he’s tugging on the moderator’s arm like a toddler begging for attention.

The real winner of the evening was Sam Harris, who was new to me. His TV skills are very good, and on substance he really kills. A friend forwarded a link to a talk he gave at an Atheism conference which is really worth a listen – especially if you aren’t an atheist. He makes a very good case that the “atheist” label is worse than useless; it’s counterproductive. Do you know of a word that means “not a racist”? Neither does Harris. While I don’t agree with him 100%, and he falls for the false mormonism vs. christianity dichotomy, he’s a very thoughtful and thought-provoking speaker.

Parenthetically, if you think that a skeptical atheist is going to out of hand reject meditation or all things spiritual, then do yourself a favor and watch. In a bit of synchronicity a recent study seems to back him up on that.

Best Cooking Show Ever

Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

So far this looks almost as good as the last review. There are at least moments of brilliance. The same caveats about language apply, of course.

Handy Chart

I hope this clears up the differences for you between criminals and congress.

How A Country Dies

Nuit Blanche

A nice take on ships that pass in the night.

Sign Here

The Patriot Post has a declaration for you to sign.

I can see nothing objectionable in it, and much good. They were even careful to use the secular compromise language of the constitution (ie: “Creator” and “Nature’s God”) so that we agnostic and/or atheist types can be on board.

Sign, and spread the word.

Japan Surrenders

OK, so it’s not late-breaking news. The claim is that this newsreel, which includes audio from General MacArthur, has not been shown publicly before. I don’t recall seeing it, but I have my doubts as to that claim. In any case it’s quite the historic document. History buffs will enjoy it.

Why So Serious?

Both of my regular readers probably wonder why this blog hasn’t mentioned the whole Obamacare debacle. Well, I’ve been busy, and it’s been easier to vent on Facebook and Twitter. On both places I’ve tried arguing constitutionality with liberals, who spit, sputter, call names, and simply cannot undertake to lay their fingers, either, on the part of the constitution authorizing this mess.

I felt pretty awful there as, I’m sure, many of you did. Just now, though, I had my first good laugh about the situation. It’s in Allapundit’s musical question, GOP to Dems: Will you join us in voting to ban Viagra for sex offenders?

The idea is that by securing even a slight adjustment in the language, the Senate will have to send the bill back to the House of Representatives for reconsideration. Drawing out the process makes it more likely for it to be tripped up.

On Tuesday, the GOP put its strategy into action, with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okl.) introducing an amendment beyond agreeable. Titled “No Erectile Dysfunction Drugs To Sex Offenders” it would literally prohibit convicted child molesters, rapists, and sex offenders from getting erectile dysfunction medication from their health care providers.

While it will undoubtedly be difficult for Democrats to vote against the measure (one can conjure up the campaign ads already), the party plans to do just that.

“Democrats in the Senate are very unified that this is not going back to the House,” Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.) told the Huffington Post on Tuesday, minutes before the Coburn amendment was introduced.

Allapundit adds:

Everyone get the joke here? If the Dems amend the reconciliation bill for any reason, they have to send it back to the House for yet another vote. So anything the GOP proposes — anything — they’re basically bound to vote no on. And Coburn knows it. One tasty shinola sandwich, coming up! Although I’m confused: If, as the left has convinced itself, ObamaCare is pure win for them politically (see, e.g., today’s ridiculously overhyped Gallup poll), what’s the aversion to another House vote? In fact, why not ping-pong the bill back and forth between the chambers for another month, loading it up with ever more crowd-pleasing amendments? It’s time to own the glorious political victory that looms in November, liberals.

An emailer to Instapundit writes:

Maybe an entire raft of amendments simply praising American soldiers for their victory in Iraq, praising motherhood and apple pie, praising puppies and kittens. By God I’d have a thousand of them and raise them one at a damned time…or until they made me stop.

Oh, and there’s this.

Man Dogs

Michael Yon files a dispatch from Afghanistan.

In years gone by, many people seemed to imagine suicide attackers were the ultimate expression of commitment.  Today, we see suicide attackers for what they are: Stooges.  Ignorant suicide bombers are not brave martyrs, but gullible Man Dogs trained to fetch myths.   The Taliban select and condition Man Dogs as precision guided weapons.  They are myth guided munitions.

He has some nice photos of air ops, including making a Van Gogh with a digital camera and an F-16.

Update (and bumped)

Yon just posted a note on his Facebook page:

After suicide attacks in Iraq, fellow mass murderers would often search out the body parts of the disassembled murderer. There was always something left. A foot. A face removed from the flesh. Usually there would be a penis and testicles (many soldiers noticed this) from the bomber. Dogs treated bombs like dinner bells and would come to snatch meat. When fellow jihadist murderers recovered the parts, the jihadists often smelled the body parts, apparently thinking the parts would smell sweet.

That’s a preface to this comment from his web site:

Michael, you characterizatize of suicide bombers as “gullible Man Dogs trained to fetch myths. The Taliban select and condition Man Dogs as precision guided weapons. They are myth guided munitions.” I believe that is the kind of brutally frank language that arises from your direct experience of the war and makes you such a valuable reporter. Most editors would soften that for domestic consumption and something important would be lost. For example, I now recognize that is what I saw in Fareed Zakaria’s documentary on the Mumbai attacks. It was significant that the one surviving myth guided munition was broken when confronted at the morgue with the stinking, rotting bodies of his fellow jihadis. They did not smell like perfume as promised by his trainers and that is what broke the hold of the myth. By bringing us real accounts of war you give us the opportunity to come to therms with the harsh reality we face.

So there you have it. Islamism stinks.

A Story Worth Telling

Mac Owens on HBO’s new miniseries, The Pacific.

It would be a pity if an inane comment from Tom Hanks in Time regarding The Pacific caused people to dismiss the HBO miniseries as nothing but Hollywood-style, “politically correct” revisionist history. In fact, if the first episode is any indication, the series promises to be another Band of Brothers, Hanks’ earlier program for HBO. Hollywood makes people stupid on occasion, but if they are fundamentally decent and patriotic — and Hanks is — they can still make riveting, history-based drama.

As for me, I’ll have to wait for it to hit Netflix. Looking forward to it.

That’s It For Whitman

Since I live in California, and not in a cave, I’ve been exposed to Meg Whitman’s long campaign for governor. Much of what she says in the ads sounds OK, but there were a few “red flag” turns of phrase. Then, recently, I heard Mark Levin dismiss her as someone who has made fun of conservatives. That got me really doubting.

This morning a news item about a debate between Whitman and Steve Poisner pretty much sealed the deal. When debating tax breaks, she said she favored targeted reductions for businesses and start-ups as a way to stimulate jobs. That’s sort of OK as far as it goes. Poisner countered with a “10/10/10” plan to cut corporate, income and sales taxes each by ten percent, saying that only an accross the board overhaul would help. That’s a lot more like it.

Then Whitman sank herself by calling Poisner’s plan irresponsible and saying that California “cannot afford” that kind of tax cut.

BZZZZZZT!

Whitman clearly has forgotten the basic rule about taxes: It’s not the government’s money. Anybody who talks about “affording” tax cuts has bought into the liberal/Keynesian mindset.

Whitman’s out in my book. I don’t care if she’s a smart businesswoman. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a very smart businessman. It didn’t help. Time to investigate this Poisner fellow.

Oh, and over in the Senate race I’ve been following Chuck DeVore. He seems a lot better than Carly Fiorina so far. Either would, of course, be better than Barbara Boxer. But being smarter than Barbara Boxer is setting the bar microscopically low.

Update:

A quick look at DeVore’s stands on the issues is very, very encouraging. Hard to find anything to disagree with here. My $20 to Brown worked so well I may just have to send Chuck twice that. Of course, the longer I think about booting Babblin’ Babs the more it’s worth to me.

Catholic Child Abuse

I don’t know if the incidence of child abuse is statistically any higher for the Catholic Church than for the population at large, and suspect that it isn’t. Yet it’s hard not to suspect that the incidence among Catholic clergy is much higher. Their priesthood seems designed to attract perverts (although I know not all of them are). My dad used to say that there’s something wrong with single men wearing dresses and telling married couples how to behave. He probably wasn’t far off the mark.

There are two separate but related matters here: First, the individual responsibility of the pope in one instance of this moral nightmare and, second, his more general and institutional responsibility for the wider lawbreaking and for the shame and disgrace that goes with it. The first story is easily told, and it is not denied by anybody. In 1979, an 11-year-old German boy identified as Wilfried F. was taken on a vacation trip to the mountains by a priest. After that, he was administered alcohol, locked in his bedroom, stripped naked, and forced to suck the penis of his confessor. (Why do we limit ourselves to calling this sort of thing “abuse”?) The offending cleric was transferred from Essen to Munich for “therapy” by a decision of then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, and assurances were given that he would no longer have children in his care. But it took no time for Ratzinger’s deputy, Vicar General Gerhard Gruber, to return him to “pastoral” work, where he soon enough resumed his career of sexual assault.

At least child abuse in the Catholic world doesn’t involve strapping explosives to them.

Obama by Proxy?

I’m not sure I agree with this hypothesis, but it does have some plausibility. The liberal establishment does project a lot (cf. Rush Limbaugh’s purported racism).

I’m not a huge fan of Sarah Palin, but I am fascinated by the Left’s stark-staring derangement about the woman. I suppose that projection is as good a guess as any.

Toyota is the New Audi?

I have been very skeptical about the claims of runaway throttles on Toyotas from the get go. The whole thing smelled just like what happened to Audi years ago, and which turned out to be pilot error. Specifically, older drivers were getting confused and causing the wrecks.

When ABC’s chief investigative nitwit, Brian Ross, ran this video purporting to show how it could happen, I was even more skeptical. Well, it turns out that not only do Toyotas not rewire themselves, but the college professor is linked to an attorney suing Toyota.

With the owners of GM publicly grilling Toyota on the matter (ignoring, of course, their conflict of interest) it was to be expected that lots of people would smell blood in the water.

As if on cue, we get the harrowing and uncritically-reported story of a man in San Diego spending 20 minutes speeding along in an out of control Prius. Twenty minutes? At 90 mph he drove 30 miles like this?

Finally, it seems the MSM is finding holes in his story. Of course, as Michael Fumento points out, with a couple of minutes of work and a little thought (two things journalists are allergic to) they would have known that from the start.

It’s not just conservative bloggers who smell a rat. Even liberal lawyers do.

I hope you’ve followed all the links. If you have, you aren’t surprised to learn that the San Diego Speeder was also planning to sue Toyota.

Blood in the water.

Take This With a Grain of Salt

The Nanny State in New York may be officially moving beyond parody with a proposal to ban the use of salt in restaurants.

What’s next from Assemblyman Ortiz? How about regulators at swimming pools ensuring people don’t swim within 30 minutes of eating? Levying a fine on anyone who snacks before dinner? Establishing a squad of “Floss Police”?

NB: I have it on good authority that the injunction about waiting 30 minutes to go swimming after a meal is an old wive’s tale.

While the claim that the body regulates its own sodium input has plausibility, I’m skeptical on that claim mostly since one study doesn’t mean a lot. But it’s clear from this post at SBM that the war on salt is on, at best, shaky scientific ground.

And Ortiz is nuttier than a jar of Planter’s.

Knee Jerk Overreaction OTD

The FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Union need to take a pill and calm down. They have their dainties in a bunch over a controller at JFK letting his kid do the radio work for a couple of minutes.

Listen to the audio at the above link. Several things are abundantly clear from it:

1. The kid was only doing the talking, not any of the actual decision making
2. His broadcasts were clear and competent. (I’ve dealt with controllers who were a lot worse.)
3. Not one of the pilots on frequency had any objection at all.
4. Nobody was put in any danger whatsoever.

If they want to attract more controllers (and Lord knows they have to) they need to lighten up about this.

Out Of A Forest

Levin:1, Beck:0

A little grown-up talk from The Great One for The Clown.