tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33892062011-12-07T11:56:06.495-08:00Conundrum - the Cosmic PilgrimE-mail me at robspe@myway.com. I won't post your email without first getting your consent.<p>
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"Some are born posthumously."
Nietzsche<p>
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"Oooh, so Mother Nature needs a favor?! Well maybe she should have thought of that when she was besetting us with droughts and floods and poison monkeys! Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she's losing. Well I say, hard cheese." -- Mr. Burns
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comBlogger9131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-6251210308546205802008-05-15T15:16:00.000-07:002008-05-15T15:27:16.726-07:00She's back - better than everSo poor Swifty has been laid up for a few days while I figured out how to change a tire. It was a little more complicated than I thought. But I did it and today was her first day back on the road! I had to get the back wheel off, with the drive belt complications. I followed the instructions painstakingly, though, and after a lot of fumbling around, got the tube Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-45462036625604424482008-05-12T07:09:00.000-07:002008-05-12T07:19:29.908-07:00Swifty lets me down - or does she?So I come out of work and Swifty has a flat tire. Oh, heck. I've been riding her pretty hard, I guess, and she's picked up a nail or some glass or something. So I walked home (I needed the exercise) and got Ned to help me pick her up with my truck. And on the weekend I took the back wheel off - not an easy task. Getting the tire off was even harder - the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-29231618051432840122008-05-08T08:02:00.000-07:002008-05-08T08:10:38.041-07:00One week of Supermemo ItalianI've been using Supermemo's "English-Italian phrase book" online system for one week now. And, sure I'm prone to enthusiasms, but I could not hope for a better result. I've studied lots of languages in my day, from German in Germany at the age of three and Spanish in Florida at six to Russian in college and French, Latin, Czech, Bulgarian and Turkish at various Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-78078824714108599362008-05-06T08:19:00.000-07:002008-05-06T08:26:18.293-07:00Supermemo(ry)!I have found a great tool called "Supermemo", a system that lets one learn in a rational way extremely complex or voluminous material. I'm studying Italian using the system. In the first week, I've learned hundreds of tourist-type phrases but, more important, have derived a real appreciation for the structure of the language. It's the little words that count: fra, da, tra, gia, Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-73796489595162954582008-04-30T05:53:00.000-07:002008-04-30T06:00:46.929-07:00Still coldHere it is April 30 in Tallahassee and it was in the forties this morning. And tomorrow may be 51, not exactly freezing but needing my Blogger hoodie on Swiftcurrent at 7:30 AM. I can wait for summer.I'm having a bit of trouble mastering the fine art of cornering. Perhaps it's because I have done so much cycling in my life. And Swifty is not balanced like a bicycle. She's much moreRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-45170690302427818732008-04-28T10:53:00.001-07:002008-04-28T11:26:27.627-07:00Rainy MondayLeft the house this morning, sky was gray - hey, that sounds like the beginning of a song. But it's merely the truth. And I hopped unthinkingly on Swiftcurrent, barely feeling the first few scattered pinpoints of rain. And, you guessed it, by the time I got out on Apalachee Parkway the rain was driving down. Now I had thought I would take the truck when it rained. I gassed it up Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-83756742805190624452008-04-20T15:37:00.000-07:002008-04-20T16:43:19.583-07:00Go far, go fastSwiftcurrent has two modes: "go far" and "go fast". I had to do a little shopping at WalMart, so afterwards, I decided to head out Apalachee Parkway and see what the little gremlin could do. I streaked out four miles or so, in "far" mode, until I started to get nervous about whether I could get back or not. I got to the Capital City Baptist Church, about a half-mile before the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-52674091500586642922008-04-20T06:21:00.000-07:002008-04-20T06:30:53.272-07:00TrunkSilvercurrent got a nice little trunk today at the scooter dealership. Now I can stow my helmet when I go in a shop or to work. And I can put a modest amount of groceries away. So I don't have to wear a knapsack to go shopping any more. Swifty just became more capable and convenient. I love it that the gas needle on my truck hasn't budged for two weeks. That's real savings. And the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-84085324468655317962008-04-18T11:23:00.000-07:002008-04-18T11:29:35.758-07:00Lunch with SwiftyPower went out at the building where I work today. So what could one do when one needs a computer to do almost anything? I went for a quick ride on Swifty, scoping out a better, less annoying route to the mall. She performed great. I needed to go to Sears to get a garage door opener remote control. I knew the choices would overwhelm me, but I just had to get an idea of what Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-8840458883097608732008-04-17T10:07:00.000-07:002008-04-17T10:29:54.843-07:00Frosty Swifty!So I took a couple of days off, one of which happened to be record-breaking cold in the morning - 34 degrees yesterday. In April, in Tallahassee, Florida! And today I woke up and turned on the web and it was 37, so I'm thinking, no way, the truck will be nice and warm. But then I thought, hey, summer's coming, I'll have six months of sweaty weather, better take my frostbite when Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-66073282260645975342008-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:002008-04-15T12:05:55.141-07:00Swiftcurrent betrayed?!OK, so I took the truck to work today. Big deal. It was cold - really cold. It was 52 degrees at noon, it might break the record of 36 tonight. So a nice warm truck was a lot more appealing after my second cup of coffee than a too-invigorating zoom on my favorite electric bike. I'm sorry, Swifty, nobody ever said you were the perfect vehicle for every situation. I Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-61089431045058695462008-04-12T07:39:00.001-07:002008-04-12T07:47:40.882-07:00Swifty brings home the bacon - and moreUp early today and out to the supermarket on a somewhat hung-over Swifty. Misery loves company. Walking through the aisles, I warmed up from the more-than-a-little-breezy ride. I kept seeing things I "needed" and forgot that I would have to put everything in my backpack. No matter. Bacon, shrimp, hamburgers, bottles of soda, sausages - can you guess I'mRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-84048132450424996302008-04-12T07:25:00.000-07:002008-04-12T07:34:40.117-07:00Not yet there aren'tThe above was my reaction to this news story about unusual seismic activity off the coast of Oregon. I was especially taken by the following statement by heavily credentialed geophysicist Robert Dziak:"It looks like what happens before a volcanic eruption, except there are no volcanoes in the area," Dziak said.I was paying attention because the kids and I are planning to Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-56007353492819202162008-04-11T16:46:00.000-07:002008-04-11T16:58:34.994-07:00Swiftcurrent survives!Yes, the strong and the brave and the wise survive. Even after a few brandy-sodas. And so as the sun went slowly down Swiftcurrent V. (for voltage) Electrobike (Swifty for short) brought his master home from the fancy totally jam-packed French restaurant halfway across town. Oh, yeah, the voltage bars were flickering on the last mile or so but there was no need to worry.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-59564608553091877542008-04-11T12:20:00.000-07:002008-04-11T12:25:55.424-07:00Swiftcurrent goes out and gets drunk?So here's the first big test for Swifty. My friend Bill is going to this fancy French restaurant tonight - Chez Pierre's - not to eat snails, but to drink. So he wondered if I would like to come along. The truck's still hors de combat, so it's going to be Swifty or nothing. After an exhausting day carrying me to work and back, with no time to recharge, Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-24755853728289398212008-04-11T05:58:00.000-07:002008-04-11T06:07:29.198-07:00First electro-weekSo I've completed my first five mornings of riding to work on Swiftcurrent. It has become routine to find ways around traffic, zipping in and out of parking lots and side roads and parking right at the door nearest my office. Swifty is still banned from the building. I'm thinking of protesting but may not bother. This morning I nearly forgot my helmet, which I don't legally Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-56047344863218138302008-04-10T05:31:00.000-07:002008-04-10T05:40:01.058-07:00So many different roads homeOn my fourth day of electro-commuting, I'm realizing that there may be easier ways to get to work than the main highway I have used for five years with my pickup truck. So each time I'm trying a different way, like The Who and their magic bus, except this isn't magic, it's electric. I'm finding that I can get to work by about a dozen routes using mainly quiet Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-25743176070585752272008-04-09T15:25:00.001-07:002008-04-09T15:35:20.675-07:00Ridin' in the rainBummer. I came out of Publix with a knapsack full of food and it was raining. So what do I do, cry and call for a taxi? Nah, not with Swiftcurrent right there to get me home safely. Of course, Swifty's seat was wet, but what the heck, I was going to get wet all over anyway. I am becoming a careful, skilled electro-cyclist. I never take anything for granted. I shut off theRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-36251790068764679642008-04-09T07:49:00.000-07:002008-04-09T08:11:15.875-07:00 Swiftcurrent exiled!I've been pulling my electrobike Swiftcurrent into my office building during the workday, locking it to a railing near an outlet from which I can recharge it. This morning a maintenance functionary told me that the head maintenance guy noticed it and said that it had to be kept outside. I asked the guy if he knew it was electric. Apparently he thought it was a gas scooter.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-34781221774844748722008-04-08T06:40:00.000-07:002008-04-08T06:58:48.097-07:00SwiftcurrentI bought an "E-go"(!) electric motorcycle at "All about scooters" to go to work on. Is it just a coincidence that I made a reservation at a place in Glacier National Park called "Swiftcurrent"? For that seems to me an ideal name for this contraption. So Swiftcurrent it is. It has fifty-five pounds of lead-acid batteries, which I am sure in a few years will sound awfully obsolete.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-55168669879758446312007-12-24T10:24:00.000-08:002007-12-24T10:45:43.329-08:00Four types of menSome men are smart. Some are stupid. Some men are weak, some are tough. I do not use the word "strong" because the toughness I speak of has nothing to do with bodily strength, except in that tough men usually take steps to make sure their bodies are strong to the extent their genes make that possible. A very physically strong man can be mentally and morally weak.These Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-86578284364626870372007-08-13T12:21:00.000-07:002007-08-13T12:28:01.445-07:00Elephants create marshmallowsTo those who say that government creates jobs, I say, sure, in the sense that elephants create marshmallows. So there's this elephant and he has gotten it into his fermented-banana-fried brain that marshmallows are evil. And he finds a factory that makes marshmallows. And, being an elephant, he starts stomping on the factory, driving away the workers, destroying Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-189089808425946152007-05-13T08:05:00.000-07:002007-05-13T08:35:54.360-07:00Do you really care? What is the main producer of carbon dioxide - the poison that will make the Earth into Mercury by next Tuesday? The hydrocarbon combustion engine, of course, pushed tyrannically and cynically by the oil companies. So in the supermarket one should look around and see what is being transported more by oil and what less and buy the less-transported. Right? One immediate Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1166489168306818452006-12-18T16:39:00.000-08:002006-12-18T16:46:08.326-08:00Just beginningThis war is just starting to get interesting. Until everyone's against it, there's really no reason to be for it. You'll just be one of a crowd. But now, when everyone's saying it can't possibly work, why that's the time to get into the details and figure out what's going on and what startling results could occur if things don't go as expected. And, of course, they never go as Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1162947241313623222006-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:002006-11-07T16:54:01.333-08:00Did you dance for rain?So everyone is dancing for rain today, even though it was sprinkling most of the day here in Tallahassee. I didn't bother to dance. But I thought of another metaphor for voting. It's sort of like buying a lottery ticket, and thinking your purchase is going to affect the outcome of the lottery. Or buying a ticket on a horse and thinking you've made a difference in how Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1159468677733676192006-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:002006-09-28T11:41:43.336-07:00Islamic analysisRants and Raves has a sharp and interesting essay on Arabs and tribalism and what he found out by living in Saudi for a year. A sample:1) They don’t think the same way we do.No, I mean THEY REALLY DON'T THINK THE SAME WAY WE DO.***3) Their values are fundamentally different from ours, their self-esteem is derived from a different source.And you know what? Theirs is PHONY. So I Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1159390441182364772006-09-27T13:45:00.000-07:002006-09-27T13:54:01.203-07:00Analogy?Thinking of the idiocy that is global warming theory, I was reminded of another collectivist delusion. Communists and fascists have long thought that a government can run an economy more efficiently than the free market. All it takes is massive amounts of computing power and the right theory, which they figured was handed to them by Marx or Hitler or Mussolini. How complex could it be?Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1158860628137415272006-09-21T10:37:00.000-07:002006-09-21T10:43:48.163-07:00Help with smokingI need some help with my smoking. I never smoked tobacco when I was younger. I'm 58 now and I think it would be appropriate to my dignity to start smoking a pipe. My father smoked one and I have often remarked on the attractive fragrance of pipe tobacco. I bought myself a pipe and some tobacco and tried it out. Twice so far. The second time I felt a bit sick and disorientedRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1158781176195927862006-09-20T12:36:00.000-07:002006-09-20T12:39:36.223-07:00What he saidFrom the Ayn Rand Institute website (hat tip to Diana Hsieh):It is often said that we must win the "hearts and minds" of supporters of totalitarian Islam. Indeed we must: their hearts must be made to despair at the futility of their cause, and their minds must be convinced that any threat to our lives and freedom will bring them swift and certain doom.Amen, brother. Amen.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1158759604596130642006-09-20T06:37:00.000-07:002006-09-20T06:40:04.616-07:00DiscoveryI am impressed by this Adamant guy. I just can't see why he has so few commenters when idiots like Kos and Andrew Sullivan have hundreds. You don't think that's because most people are idiots, do you???Here's a sample of Adamant:Al Qaeda cadres and Islamist Kashmiri separatists can readily lose themselves among the flux of refugees in a region famed for discreet hospitality. It cannot Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1157987360770953992006-09-11T08:05:00.000-07:002006-09-11T08:11:38.533-07:00John Buchan, Greenmantle:As I follow events, there's a skunk been let loose in the world, and the odour of it is going to make life none too sweet till it is cleared away. It wasn't us that stirred up that skunk, but we've got to take a hand in disinfecting the planet.Plus ca change, eh? And at that particular time British troops were having a hot time in Basra and the Persian Moslems were Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1157636643481355692006-09-07T06:39:00.000-07:002006-09-07T06:51:13.616-07:00As I continue to read Oswald Spengler's "Decline of the West", I get a clearer and clearer picture of just what Islam is and how it works. This is useful in an era when, as related by Victor Davis Hanson at RealClearPolitics:Islamic fascism is also anti-democratic and characteristically reactionary. It conjures up a past of Islamic influence that existed before the supposed corruption of Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1157489278381700782006-09-05T13:42:00.000-07:002006-09-05T13:54:12.666-07:00Rate your spamCertainly spam can be mocked and hated, but why not get a little more analytical about it? There's well-done, technically and artistically proficient spam - that almost, very nearly gets you to open it - and there's terrible, loser spam. I say tackle some of the boredom of wading through sixteen spam messages when you sit down to the computer and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10, Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1157486563767923302006-09-05T12:49:00.000-07:002006-09-05T13:02:43.790-07:00If you didn't dance, you can't complainToday is Primary Election Day in Tallahassee and everyone is going around wearing those self-righteous "I voted" stickers. I've been searching for a metaphor to explain the voting phenomenon. And finally it came to me. It's like a rain dance. Your village is having a drought and everyone gets together and someone says, "I have an idea! Let's do a rain Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1156877706670002372006-08-29T11:53:00.000-07:002006-08-29T12:01:01.576-07:00Rare HeadlinesIn the category of headlines you don't see very often, from Fox:Balloon Fire Kills Circus ClownContinuing the Eastern Europe theme from the last post, the doomed clown (I know it's heartless to say so, but that's still funny!) was from Belarus.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1156877332920849722006-08-29T11:35:00.000-07:002006-08-29T11:50:27.936-07:00Cossacks and Tartars and Poles, Oh, My!I just finished reading Henryk Sienkiewicz's "With Fire and Sword", a mind-bending 1100 pages of fury and passion in the steppes of the Ukraine and Poland. Well, OK, today you've got Belarus and maybe a bit of Moldava in there as well. But I was swept away by the narrative. And there are two more volumes to go! It has pre-echoes of The Lord of the Rings,Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1156876435562829662006-08-29T11:23:00.000-07:002006-08-29T11:35:00.096-07:00I inserted a "meme" I've never seen anywhere else on a backtalk post that opined thusly: ...the only real question is this: what approach would you favor if you became convinced that Iran's actual plan was to develop a nuclear bomb no matter what they verbally agree to do in response to UN demands and no matter what the cost might be in terms of economic sanctions?What then?Here's the comment:If Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1156362825316873322006-08-23T12:50:00.000-07:002006-08-23T12:53:45.430-07:00Comment on JihadwatchRadical, infidel-butchering Islam is as powerful an ideology in large parts of the Islamic world today as Nazism was in the early twentieth century in Germany. So it will take as much death and violence, proportionate to population, to extirpate radical Islam from the Islamic world as it did to root out Nazism from Germany. And if that job is not done, we can expect the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1156338763552995392006-08-23T05:30:00.000-07:002006-08-23T06:12:43.580-07:00Name-dropper extraordinaireJust finished reading The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig. What a wonderful book! It starts before the turn of the twentieth century and ends with Zweig's suicide in Brazil during World War II.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155836765210471552006-08-17T10:40:00.000-07:002006-08-17T10:46:22.253-07:00I love you, Caroline Glick!This splendid piece in the Jerusalem Post is delivered by a splendid young woman who may be the last real man left in Israel:Diplomatically, in the space of five weeks the government managed to undermine Israel's alliance with America; to hand Syria, Hizbullah and Iran the greatest diplomatic achievements they have ever experienced; and to flush down the toilet the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155832655367935482006-08-17T09:24:00.000-07:002006-08-17T09:37:35.426-07:00Government, Lebanese-styleLet it never be said I lack for ideas. I didn't say good ideas, but:Israel needs to proclaim that they recognize Hezbollah as the only legitimate government of Lebanon and Nasrallah as the head of government and then transfer the state of war to Nasrallah's regime. Then they would be free to attack and destroy the Lebanese army and Hezbollah, wherever they can be foundRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155828712742340902006-08-17T08:30:00.000-07:002006-08-17T08:35:12.360-07:00Diana Hsieh's rather despairing post about the outcome of the Hezbollah War of 2006, typified by this line:Without a doubt, any supposed military victory in which the enemy is also capable of declaring victory to the world is no victory at all. stimulated me to leave this comment on Noodlefood:The only good thing about Olmert's half-war is that its outcome seems to have stiffened Israeli spines Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155647435165012192006-08-15T05:53:00.000-07:002006-08-29T12:07:10.266-07:00This VDARE article by Steve Sailer about how to deal with Islam: "Can we all get along?"Well, when it comes to Muslims and Westerners, the answer is:No, we can't.So, deal with it. When we get in each other's faces, we get on each other's nerves. It's time to get out of each other's faces.************* In particular, as I outlined last fall, Europeans need to begin a push-pull system to persuadeRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155583562397439702006-08-14T12:24:00.000-07:002006-08-14T12:26:02.420-07:00This is excellent:Dignity is having your entire neighborhood bombed, your children killed, and your only reaction is to dance in the streets like zulu warriors in support of Hezbollah. That's what dignity, pride and honor are all about. I get that now.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155300609566557942006-08-11T05:43:00.000-07:002006-08-11T05:50:09.600-07:00You never expect the Objectivist Inquisition!Polipundit had a news post about the difficulties of controlling Islamic access to airlines after the recent bomb plot:Tell me again why it’s ok that security isn’t allowed to pull more then 2 Middle Eastern looking passengers off of airport check-in lines for searches or how nuts it is that security is strip searching a 75 year old grandmother or Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1155069091823710352006-08-08T13:27:00.000-07:002006-08-08T13:31:47.006-07:00Mice, bees and CastroMarginal Revolution had a speculative post on Castro's situation:Note that Raul has not shown his face either. Are there alternative hypotheses? The desire for a grand reentrance? After all, a growing number of Cuban officials are talking of Castro's return...I had to respond to a comment about how if you judged someone's potential for continuing tyranny by whether they Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154859919999252642006-08-06T03:21:00.000-07:002006-08-06T03:25:20.010-07:00Mark Steyn gets itA propos of my last post, it would appear that Mark Steyn understands the importance of using the right terminology:"In the struggle between America and global Islam, ...After all, since the Islamists are railing against the whole "modern" world, to treat them as a unit would only be "proportionate", right?Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154713686219062732006-08-04T10:43:00.000-07:002006-08-04T10:48:06.340-07:00War on IslamOK, for Conundrum purposes, it's no longer the "War on Terror". It's the "War on Islam". Amounts to the same thing, anyway. A real concentration on undermining the existence of the Mohammedan religion is the only practical path to reducing the risks of terrorism. Whatever it takes.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154709032126432382006-08-04T09:22:00.000-07:002006-08-04T09:30:32.300-07:00Nazis as role models?The Cap'n posts about German soldiers protecting Israel's borders:So now we have the spectacle of another genocidal nutcase threatening to kill off millions of Jews in the form of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the nation that will protect them will be the last nation with the same genocidal impulse, if Olmert gets his way.Some German history would appear to have application to theRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154638165252700982006-08-03T13:17:00.000-07:002006-08-03T13:49:25.366-07:00Spengler agreesI have always said that instability in the Middle East favors the US, not the Islamists.Now Spengler at the Asia Times agrees with me.:The benefits of chaos most likely redound to the US and Israel, even though squeamishness prevents Washington from thinking this way. The Iranians, who are utterly ruthless, profligate in the expenditure of human blood, and adept at the use of Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154462356569571242006-08-01T12:50:00.000-07:002006-08-01T12:59:17.360-07:00Cedar FraudI'm bemused by the lack of attention paid in the press and among pundits of all stripes to the obviously fraudulent nature of the "Cedar Revolution" that supposedly marked the emergence of an independent Lebanese state a couple of years ago. It's now clear that everyone, including me, was fooled by the euphoria of a few upbeat pictures of proud, independent, young Lebanese women into Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154458457362212922006-08-01T11:28:00.000-07:002006-08-01T11:56:28.646-07:00Freedom and The ScotsmanDavid Farrer, one of the intrepid blogsters at Freedom and Whiskey, posted (scroll down) about his surprise that Brian Wilson (no, not that one!) founder of the West Highland Free Press, published an article in the Scotsman showing some sense about the Israeli reaction to Hezbollah aggression: When criticised, it (Israel) can point out with justification that listening inRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154377570557121332006-07-31T13:21:00.000-07:002006-07-31T13:26:10.650-07:00VDH agreesVictor Davis Hanson must have received my thought transmissions. He points out the factor that is energizing the terrorist world:Why, then, are socialists such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia now expanding an anti-capitalist bloc in Latin America--nationalizing companies, jailing dissidents, and whipping up the cult of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro from Peru to Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154374006273542562006-07-31T12:21:00.000-07:002006-07-31T12:26:46.310-07:00Thinking outside the warRemember all those people saying that without oil the Muslims would be irrelevant? Well, let's do something effective about the Middle East, something to convince Bill in DC that, though he's right:there's a common idea, almost exclusively promoted among right-wing pundits, that more force is necessarily more effective force. that more force exerted against the right Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1154264449950001772006-07-30T05:49:00.000-07:002006-07-30T06:00:50.003-07:00Four MothersIf you want to understand the last few decades of the struggle, you have to understand this article and especially this statement from it:I am in Israel, because only in Israel will my child not be turned into soap. Haaretz is one of the most left-leaning Israeli newspapers. And yet even they understand. The latest Hezbollah outrage makes me understand even better the nature of thisRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1153508819255975762006-07-21T12:05:00.000-07:002006-07-21T12:06:59.266-07:00AgricultureFrom Marginal Revolution, a post on how agriculture got its start stimulated this comment:I remember reading somewhere (Spengler?) that agriculture developed because some smart, aggressive guy realized he could use control of agricultural resources like water to expand his power over other men and expand the size of the unit over which he has control to maximize his wealth. Sounds veryRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1153491049091881612006-07-21T07:08:00.000-07:002006-07-21T07:20:15.963-07:00I'm right againOn a trenchant post titled "Is Israel's strategy working?" on Alenda Lux, a blog I've just found, after this statement:Even without taking Israel's side, world opinion has clearly come down against Hezbollah as the instigator of the crisis. Admittedly, this is a somewhat more complicated situation than those that simply involve two governments and the people of the target state. Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1153221944837597702006-07-18T04:18:00.000-07:002006-07-18T04:25:44.873-07:00Israel=North Korea?I was playing War Nerd, considering how things could be if Syria got crushed and its territory could be used by our - and Israel's - military. this post on The Adventures of Chester stimulated my thinking with these remarks:In the past few days, Tigerhawk has excerpted two reports from StratFor discussing the likelihood of an Israeli attack on Syria. First was an excerpt on Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1153146161452094712006-07-17T07:17:00.000-07:002006-07-17T07:23:11.966-07:00Trouble in the Mideast?Yeah (And I don't just mean the misspelling of a three-letter word in the title of the post):On Sunday, Jeff Jacoby writes “It all boils down to Iran.”:A sustained assault into southern Lebanon, one that leaves Hezbollah in shards and Israel's northern border at peace, would be welcome evidence that the old Israel is back. And it would represent a significant victory in theRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152295418516649442006-07-07T10:55:00.000-07:002006-07-07T11:03:38.760-07:0040. Denial of realityThis Frontpagemag.com story makes it clear how far the organs of Western culture will go to deny an obvious threat to the very existence of that culture: “In investigators’ offices, an intricate graph plotting the links between the 17 men and teens charged with being members of a homegrown terrorist cell covers at least one wall. And still, says a source, it is difficult to Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152293347626177492006-07-07T10:25:00.000-07:002006-07-07T10:29:07.776-07:00The post from Samizdata containing this:For myself I'm only surprised the cops did not take careful note of the brand of footware, and take his footprints for the national footprint database, which they have recently acquired the power to do - I kid you not. Or perhaps they did...inspired my favorite comment of the day:If we all started wearing Bozo-size shoes when wearing offensive T-shirts we Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152284724744517192006-07-07T08:00:00.000-07:002006-07-07T08:05:24.746-07:0039. Too many lawsThis preposterous story from the Washington Times relates the failure of the bureaucracy responsible for administering the Social Security system to, you know, ADMINISTER the Social Security system:Privacy concerns prevent the Social Security Administration from notifying an employer that a hired foreign national is not authorized to work in this country, including someone who Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152108372784293422006-07-05T07:02:00.000-07:002006-07-05T08:25:03.513-07:0039. The decline of Suspenders, rise of the proletarian beltNot to be confused with the Bible belt, where I'm sure some men still wear suspenders. At least some people still revere the suspender:In theory, suspenders should be functionally superior to belts and therefore belts would be expected to be the rarity. Suspenders, provided they don't become detached, can be adjusted just so in order to Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152058280862059032006-07-04T17:09:00.000-07:002006-07-04T17:11:20.886-07:0038. "Humankind" instead of "Man"Need a man say more? What reason is given for this replacement? What argument is allowed or listened to? A Man's a Man for a' that.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152035402321382582006-07-04T10:40:00.000-07:002006-07-04T16:18:59.150-07:0037. oikophobiaHatred of the culture within which one has been brought up is an unmistakable feature of decline. And I do not mean to imply that such hatred does not exist in cultures on the rise or at their zeniths. But in such times self-hatred and the lack of self-confidence it signifies is not tolerated or even glorified the way it is today. This feeling is certainly relevant to 31. on Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152023369315766272006-07-04T07:21:00.000-07:002006-07-04T07:29:29.436-07:0036. He/she and MsOf course these are related to 2. and 3., as part of the attack on men and the family. The rewriting of history to portray women as the stupid powerless dupes and victims of men by insisting on the need to remake the language is one of the most arrogant and irrational aspects of the attempt to restructure the culture. The irrationality is not hidden, it is proudly on display, Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1152020841178692252006-07-04T06:40:00.000-07:002006-07-04T06:47:21.210-07:0035. Loud carsSurely there could be no more certain sign of imminent collapse of a civilization than idiots crusing around in flashy cars booming out loud music that they know 95 per cent of the public hates. This is done simply to annoy and proclaim the idiots' immunity from punishment or even verbal chastisement. Not that I don't try. Add in that this occurs in the early morning on a holiday Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151959594973891762006-07-03T13:41:00.000-07:002006-07-03T13:46:34.976-07:00Not doom, just changeI hasten to make clear that my new pessimism about the chances for survival of classic Western culture have nothing to do with the moronic doomsaying characterized by Frank Furedi in spiked as:fantasies of romantic primitivismI do not see any prospect that the race of Man will disappear from the Earth, even through lack of breeding (both kinds!). We will struggle on and in Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151958861191111662006-07-03T13:29:00.000-07:002006-07-03T13:34:21.193-07:0034. DepopulationAn older A/Spengler column that I don't remember reading before goes over the descent into infertility that characterizes declining cultures:In fact, the main reason societies fail is that they choose not to live. That is a horrifying thought to absorb, and the average reader would much rather delve into the details of obscure ecosystems of the past than reflect upon why half of Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151958010588500952006-07-03T13:11:00.000-07:002006-07-03T13:20:10.740-07:0033. Primitive authenticityI stole this one from another Spengler:Primitive peoples, it appears, were nasty, brutish, and short, not at all the cuddly children of nature depicted by popular culture and post-colonialacademic studies. Rousseau is the archetypical villain here. And the acceptance and promotion of his "noble savage" idiocy was among the first indications that it was all over with Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151954456532133292006-07-03T12:17:00.000-07:002006-07-03T12:20:56.600-07:00Another32. International law, in general. (Higher level than 21. Related to 27. Hey, maybe I should make this a sort of organizational chart of stupid ideas, ranked by internal relatedness and level of stupidity. Hm. Thinking hyperlinks here.)Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151953238040650742006-07-03T11:53:00.000-07:002006-07-07T07:52:56.233-07:00Can't believe I missed this one31. Control of national borders. This one is obvious:In recent times it has been fashionable to talk of the levelling of nations, of the disappearance of different races in the melting-pot of contemporary civilization. I do not agree with this opinion, but its discussion remains another question. Here it is merely fitting to say that the disappearance of nations Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151951983890787522006-07-03T11:32:00.000-07:002006-07-04T15:39:01.333-07:00More signs27. (From a comment on Rush) The decline - heck, the absence - of a desire and commitment to punish treason, not just to a particular nation but to a culture. Again, the failure to defend a culture equals and is caused by apathy toward its loss.28. Global warming, ozone layer, etc. hysteria. Acceptance of such myths on feeble grounds and without even considering whether they would Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151950380846612232006-07-03T11:05:00.000-07:002006-07-03T12:24:44.366-07:00More signs21. The UN. World peace through empowering bloody dictators with a vote on policies meant to assure collective peace. 22. Socialism - sort of goes without saying, but I had to get it down. And of course guilt-trippers have been around forever. What changed was the response by the dominant culture to this dishonest piece of corrupt pathology.23. Worship of youth and childhood. This Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151949121942929932006-07-03T10:38:00.000-07:002006-07-03T10:52:02.050-07:00Untergang des AllesI am in the process of reading The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler. It is as mind-boggling as advertised. So I thought I'd start making a list of signs that Western culture is becoming a "civilization", that is , declining, becoming a "thing-become" rather than a "becoming":1. The Cold War (set the seal on the culture's unwillingness to defend itself)2. The attack on Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151612478640228102006-06-29T13:09:00.000-07:002006-06-29T13:21:18.753-07:00It's that badI am totally disgusted. Global warming, tobacco fascism, cholesterol, alcohol puritanism, ADD, Universal allergy panic, it's all wrong and no one will listen to me. Believe nothing you read in the papers. Especially about "the environment" or tobacco Michael Fumento has pretty much nailed the passive smoking nonsense on Townhall.com:“Secondhand smoke debate ‘over.” That’s the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151438092126845972006-06-27T12:53:00.000-07:002006-06-27T12:54:52.136-07:00'ello, 'elloHow depressing!Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151330755714026062006-06-26T06:42:00.000-07:002006-06-26T07:05:55.810-07:00These guys are just as bad I blogged about how pathetic the play seemed at the US Open, but I have been equally unimpressed lately with the sorry spectacle that is the World Cup of soccer. Is it my imagination, or is the standard of play noticeably lower than four years ago? Germany is the only team that has shown me anything, and then not much. And yes, since you ask, I will pick the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151329134688119012006-06-26T06:33:00.000-07:002006-06-26T06:38:54.746-07:00Birthday whisky and baconSo why shouldn't I have a bit of single malt with my breakfast on my 58th birthday, when I'm off work? Who knows if I'll make it to my 68th? I changed the spelling of "whisky" after consulting a certain great Scotblog even though they're on a mild hiatus. My that sounds painful.And my sister from Nigeria is coming to visit tomorrow and my older son is moving in with meRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1151244471045149222006-06-25T07:01:00.000-07:002006-06-25T07:08:27.010-07:00I pity the altruistBeen reading"Beware of Pity", by Stefan Zweig, one of my favorite authors (The Buried Candelabrum, Balzac, Erasmus, etc.) So coincidentally (lot of that going around these days!) I found a discussion of pity on Noodlefood:In the case of pity, I'm struck by the difference between his concept of pity and our modern concept thereof. In particular, notice that Aristotle holds thatRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150807809630572092006-06-20T05:05:00.000-07:002006-06-20T10:47:34.636-07:00A realistic proposalA sensible approach to the Mexican border problem has to deal with two realities. First, Mexicans and other immigrants with few skills and low cognitive awareness levels are coming to this country illegally because they have no or very little economic opportunity at home. Second, illegal immigration poses an unacceptable risk of economic and cultural dislocation, as well as Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150804834622667052006-06-20T04:57:00.000-07:002006-06-20T05:01:12.756-07:00Cheapest so far?Another fare to Istanbul in the fall - but I know I can do better. What amazes me is that the fare right from Tallahassee is so little larger than the fare direct from Atlanta or New York. It's almost like they're flying me to Orlando or New York for free. Every time I think of driving to another airport I look at what I'd save and it just isn't worth it. The only kicker in Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150748046638719632006-06-19T12:33:00.000-07:002006-06-19T18:47:59.726-07:00Whale of a tailA story on Samizdata about the fishy goings on at the World non-Whaling Conference led me to hook up with this burger saga about whaleburgers. This is one of the reasons I want to go to Japan - so I can eat some good cetacean. So let's look at a package tour:Package detailsPrice detailsTotal: $1,746.55 Included: * Items selected, taxes, & fees for flight. Flight: 1 Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150678308682354122006-06-18T17:43:00.000-07:002006-06-19T13:16:12.776-07:00These guys are ... terrible!Just finished watching the US Open golf tournament. I don't think there was one birdie in the last six holes among the top leaders. It was drives in the rough, in the sand, in a garbage can, in the corporate tent - and that was only Phil Mickelson! And the iron play wasn't any better. The putting made one think these so-called professionals had never seen a fairly Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150554872211544582006-06-17T07:18:00.000-07:002006-06-17T07:34:32.240-07:00Compared to what?I am getting mighty disgusted by all these articles yammering on about how much the liberation of Iraq has hurt the President's political standing. I have to ask, "Compared to what?" Compared to if he hadn't done anything, if Saddam was still in there killing thousands every month, threatening his neighbors, moving confidently forward on his nuclear program? What's that you Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150483390271615772006-06-16T11:36:00.000-07:002006-06-20T05:51:15.856-07:00Forget South AmericaOK, so forget South America. What do they have down there I want to see, anyway? I admit the main attraction in BA was steak. But I won't beef about giving that up. Now on to Turkey (Oops. Link appears to be broken) in the fall. I've been wanting to go to Turkey for a long time, since I read a book about Trebizond and started dreaming. Sure it's now called Trabzon, but Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150479867344787782006-06-16T10:37:00.000-07:002006-06-16T10:56:02.576-07:00Travel bloggingEver since spending a week in Paris in April with my two older kids, I've just been crazy about travel planning. So many countries, so little time and money. One example that drives me crazy came up last week. I looked at a flight to Buenos Aires. South America in the summer seemed like a smart idea, right? Southern Hemisphere winter is a good break from Tallahassee in August.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150477651178885452006-06-16T10:04:00.000-07:002006-06-16T10:19:53.040-07:00Randi - Snarky?James Randi's in good form today, slapping around defenseless psychics:When you say psychic, many people have an image of an old woman in a gown with a crystal ball. They don't associate themselves with that.Randi: Then what image should we conjure up – pun intended – Simon? A middle-aged opportunist with no other means of support, who has attended the College of Psychic Studies Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150473360258816132006-06-16T08:47:00.000-07:002006-06-16T10:18:50.776-07:00Economics and immigrationSteve Sailer reports on the VDARE blog about a plan to charge immigrants $2000 to immigrate:And, two polls conducted by the Pew Hispanic Trust showed that over 40% of Mexicans say they would immigrate to America if it were legal. And, just about anybody could borrow $2,000 based on their future earnings in America.So $2000 isn't the right price. But that got me thinking.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150386163901853672006-06-15T08:25:00.000-07:002006-06-15T08:43:06.336-07:00No wage, José!In a Chequerboard post about the minimum wage even Pejman gets a little snarky:And to support an increase in the minimum wage is to be on the side of the angels? Right?So I had to leave a supportive comment, dragging in the immigration issue: I've always found it strange that the strongest supporters of the minimum wage tend to be those who also support the rights of illegal aliensRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150377056605155082006-06-15T05:54:00.000-07:002006-06-15T06:10:56.660-07:00He's ... differentThe lefties gang up on Jeff Goldstein to hilarious effect:Jeff: Do you have a response to this essay about your writing?http://sadelyno.com/archives/002902.htmlI suggest you read it (or have your therapist read it). It is quite enlightening.By the way: why haven’t you finished your MA or PhD yet?Posted by dartmouth prof and So, I saw this post about at SadlyNo. Instead of Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1150141542088574272006-06-12T12:37:00.000-07:002006-06-12T12:45:42.166-07:00Tears for the murdering clownsTears come to my eyes to read this swissinfo article about internecine strife in "Palestine":Gunmen set fire to the Palestinian prime minister's office on Monday as clashes escalated between his Islamist Hamas followers and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.***In the southern Gaza confrontation, Hamas gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149880741340766282006-06-09T12:00:00.000-07:002006-06-09T12:19:01.483-07:00Just WarAn excellent article in the American Thinker on just war theory swam into my gaze. It's by Don Crawford, a radio talk show host I'd never heard of before. A sample:The cause in Iraq was unquestionably just due to Saddam’s continuing efforts to: • attack our pilots who enforced his agreement to air restrictions that ended the ’91 Gulf War; • torture to death in the most horrific Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149874026335073812006-06-09T10:18:00.000-07:002006-06-09T10:27:06.336-07:00Ann Coulter is God(dess)At least, she must be a minor deity to me. I always find myself worshipping her and defending her against all threats. Even against Pejman's histrionics: Won't Ann Coulter just go away? We'd all be so much better off if she did.And those of a commenter:Coulter's caustic columns are examples of how outrageous rhetoric will obfuscate substance and logic.Since Ann was Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149873055536201752006-06-09T10:05:00.000-07:002006-06-09T10:10:55.620-07:00Anti-intellectualism rears its ignorant headI really never thought I'd read a Samizdata comment like this: "Oops - dictated, not written. Mohammed was illiterate."As was Socrates. Surely you aren't suggest that ability to draw shapes with a pen correlates with quality of thought, are you?What an insight! The ability to write (which kind of goes along with the ability to read) is irrelevant to Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149858914629581782006-06-09T05:57:00.000-07:002006-06-09T06:15:14.756-07:00The headless snake goes nowhereLots of thinking about the Iraqi terrorist organizations post-Zarqawi is happening in the blogosphere. Not only do we not have to wait for the NYT or Newsweek to tell us what to think about these events, we don't even care any more. Which is great. Patrick Porter on Oxblog, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite bloggers, has some thoughts on the utility of Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149624710515968052006-06-06T13:07:00.000-07:002006-06-06T13:11:50.530-07:00Oldie but goodieA polygamy post on Econlog inspired this comment:If you legalize both gay marriage and polygamy and still allow citizens to bring their spouses into the US and make them citizens, at some point one legal Mexican will be able to bring in the entire remaining population of Mexico to East L.A. with one signature.I know I've used it before, but I don't think I've blogged it Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149514258649250852006-06-05T06:24:00.000-07:002006-06-05T06:30:58.676-07:00Blogging is good for the brainThis is why I love reading blogs and commenting on them. I've been thinking about the Vietnam war for forty years, like most American men my age. This post on Oxblog about Vietnam, therefore, attracted my attention, especially this part:Why was the Army so intransigent? The answer is that old saying about the hammer and the nail. When you have a hammer, everything Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1149254790785830722006-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:002006-06-02T06:30:02.320-07:00To Fed or not to FedThis sort of statement in a linked article:Conservatives claim to believe in federalism, until the states do things they don’t like. Then they turn into New Deal liberals, believing that the federal government should correct the errors of the 50 states.almost forced me tocomment on this post on Pejman's Chequer Board. I've always thought it ironic that it was the liberals whoRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389206.post-1148997972856439642006-05-30T07:01:00.000-07:002006-05-30T07:06:12.913-07:00More path-ologyNow Samizdata, in the person of Dale Amon pontificating about the minimum wage, is stimulating comments about the "path to citizenship":The interesting thing will be what would happen should amnesty come to pass in the US. Once all the aliens become citizens they too can demand the minimum wage. If employers have to choose between a worker that speaks perfect English and costs Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747859029040319691noreply@blogger.com