For The Children. Really

Democrats will do anything for children except defend their right to be born or to have mothers stay at home with them. The former has been done to death. Now Here Rich Lowry writes of a book taking on the latter.

The book is Day Care Deception, by Brian C. Robertson. The link offers a number of bullet points from the book. No, I haven't read the book, but I probably will.

Expect out-and-out hysteria from the left against the data and conclusions in this book.

Putting your money where your mouth is

Glenn Reynolds speaks of James Abourezk as " an exceptionally dumb former US Senator" for suing a blogger who called Abourezk a traitor.

Can Abourezk sue me for calling him "litigious"?

A visit to North Korea

There's a very interesting account here, along with lots of pictures.

Stolen from Freddie, whose site probably is not safe for work unless your boss is Larry Flynt.

Alright, I fixed the link now.

The pinstriped peril

I've been around long enough to have made a few observations about institutions. Number 1 is that when they consist of transients and lifers, like colleges (students vs. faculty) or govt agencies (political nominees vs. civil servants), the lifers end up running the show. Number 2 is that regulatory organizations get "captured" by those they are to monitor and often end up putting the interests of the regulated above those who are to be protected from them. The latter is in part influenced by the fact that the monitored organizations are in a position to reward their regulators while they serve (which is illegal) or afterwards (which usually is not illegal, and is also common). Number 3 is that they have political views and interests of their own independent of those who found or support them, and tend to react to events in a ways that maximizes their power and influence. Nothing controversial so far, right?

OK, now apply these ideas to the US Department of State and you must conclude 1) politicians will not be able to control it very well, 2) The same department is likely to be more sympathetic to the needs of foreign govts than to our own. 3) Its institutional self-interest isn't always allied with those of the rest of the US govt.

Hmm, does it follow that we can't trust our State Department?

That's probably a bit strong. But as a minimum it means that we must keep a close eye on it, and that is borne out by experience. For instance we do know that there have been Communists in the State Department since way back in FDR's time, and if any group has interests contrary to those of the US, that's the one. And we've seen some disconcerting behavior for some time recently, as Joe Mowbray has documented in many places. Here is his latest piece, and a forthcoming book.

Scumbag?

Thus spake Meryl Yourish about Charles Lindbergh in the comments to this post. Yep, Lucky Lindy - the guy who flew "The Spirit of St. Louis" across the Atlantic in 1927 and became an international hero. I'm guessing he didn't start supporting WWII soon enough to suit her, but who knows?

Now let's consider another VIP from the period. He had a St. Louis of his own. That is, a German ship named the St. Louis had 900-odd Jews aboard who were seeking asylum.

Anyway, the Jews aboard originally sought asylum in Cuba, but the Cubans reneged. What did the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt do?

As the St. Louis slowly sailed past the land of the free and the home of the brave, the US send Coast Guard cutters to make certain that the potential immigrants were not able to swim ashore to take refuge in the USA. During this time, Washington and the State Department ignored the situation of the St. Louis, even though the saga was reported in the local press. It seemed that to admit 900 refugees destined for Hitler's gas ovens would harm the security of the "mighty" USA.

Sanctuary was eventually found for the refugees in Britain, France, Belgium and Holland. Although the story may have a happy ending, at this point, the lesson was not lost on Hitler who saw America's unwillingness to help as a sign of weakness.

Unfortunately, those alternate locations weren't good enough for some, who wound up in Nazi death camps anyway. But some good came out of it - FDR could avoid charges that some Jews might draw him into conflict with Germany.< /sarcasm>

Ms. Yourish is Jewish and justly proud of it. If it's anti-Semitic she's all over it. Which makes me wonder - if Lindbergh was a "scumbag", I wonder what she thinks of FDR?

More "gay marriage" stuff

Bryan Preston has two good posts in succession on marriage Communist style and gay marriage.

That this is even an issue IMO is revolting. That tiny subsegment of our population which consists of gays who want to call themselves married is so utterly selfish that they would endanger one of the most fundamental and important institutions in our society so they can save on some legal paperwork. Fairness my eye.

The last straw

I don't miss the word "gay". I've unilaterally decided to quit saying "fabulous". But as a long-standing, true-blue frustrated fan of Chicago professional sports, by God, they can't have "Da Bears".

Pearls before swine

Dean Esmay points to this, the zillionth case of a woman putting up with who appears to be a world-class prick, and a commenter who offers some suggestions.

I don't know if "Handsome"'s comments are so valuable though. Some women are just drama queens, and if you don't make the hell for them they'll make it themselves or find someone who will. Be her friend if you want, but no more unless you're into living the drama yourself.

The Battle of the Grand Canyon

Do you give money to the American Civil Liberties Union? Congratulations - here is an example of what you're fighting against - the terrifying spectacle of plaques bearing Psalms at the Grand Canyon.

It is worth noting that no Jewish or Christian organization has ever protested the Hindu names of some of the peaks in the Grand Canyon, and no religious group would ever oppose posting American Indian sayings at such a place. Once again, the secular left shows itself to be far more intolerant than the religious right.

The marriage debate

See the blog here.

If we must debate, let's at least be honest with it. This is not about gay rights or civil rights. Nobody else has a right to get married either.

And not all gays are in favor of gay marriage, either.

For a great comeback, look here.

And here's a link to "What marriage is for", by Maggie Gallagher.

Truckers and technology

It makes sense that truckers are the most well-connected travelers on the road. They need to stay in touch with the trucking company and with family. Also, they increasingly use Web-based services that help them find loads to drive home and avoid deadheading, or driving an empty trailer—every trucker's worst nightmare since those miles produce no revenue. In an attempt to remedy this situation, companies such as The Internet Truckstop, Insight Technology and On Time Media have set up Web-based load matching services. A trucker can log on to these sites, enter the city where he will be dropping off a load and the city to which he needs to return. The system will then tell him of any loads that need to be hauled between those cities. It gets sophisticated. For example, if a load is being dropped in Orlando and the trucker needs to go to New York, the system may find an Orlando-Memphis load, followed by a Memphis-Cleveland load and then a Cleveland-New York load.

Some IT investors follow the online movements of truckers closely because they are not traditionally thought of as early adopters of technology. Like travelers who pull over to eat where the truckers do, investors feel a sense of comfort once a technology becomes viable at truck stops. According to Jack Vonder Heide, president of Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based Technology Briefing Centers, 18-wheeler operators have led the way in road testing technologies that have filtered down to consumers. He notes a laundry list of technologies used today, including cell phones, ruggedized notebooks, touch screens, discount long-distance services, self-serve gas pumps, "and, lest we forget the past, CB radios."

Via Technology Review (may require subscription).

MCJ has moved

...from here to here.

So what are you reading this for? Go over there already!