The Goals of Communism
Right here.

Is it authentic? Beats me. But I don't see anything on the list that is inconsistent with the goals of those who would like to bring down the US, and nobody had more to gain by than than Communists.
posted by J Bowen at 8:59 AM ~

What you're missing...
If you've been watching "The Apprentice", you might have been handicapping the players. Troy was a favorite, but he was fired last night.

Now he's on NBC's Today show and now he's talking about the experience.

He took it well - he's happier than "a puppy with two peters".

And if you're bummed about missing that precious moment in televised journalism, wait until I tell you that they also showed a live colonoscopy on Al Roker.

What am I doing watching this stuff anyway? My last job ended a couple of weeks ago, and another one starts shortly, so I'm at liberty to waste my time this way. I'm still in the DC area, on my fourth work site since this blog started.
posted by J Bowen at 7:56 AM ~

Were we misled about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
Flashbunny's take.

Yes, it's the same one Glenn Reynolds linked.

There's also a spy photo of Kerry formulating policy. You know - first he goes this way, then he reverses, constantly going downhill until ultimately falling down and blaming someone else.
posted by J Bowen at 4:06 AM ~

"Clinton, advised by Dick Clarke, did nothing."
From a devastating column by Ann Coulter, who revisits our dealings with radical Muslims from the Carter administration to today.


posted by J Bowen at 5:03 AM ~

Scientific rudeness
No, it's not just your imagination - people are getting ruder, and the extent is being quantified here.

Via Milts File.
posted by J Bowen at 4:11 AM ~

Military schools producing army of solid performance
From USATODAY.com, found via Rosenblog.
posted by J Bowen at 3:55 AM ~

Daschle's Very Own Nader?
It seems that a third party may enter the South Dakota senatorial race. And this candidate is expected to draw votes from former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Heh heh. Via Rosenblog

Meanwhile Powerline points to a blog covering the Daschle v. Thune election. Specifically, an item entitled "Daschle Foundering: Even the True Believers Have Doubts"
posted by J Bowen at 3:44 AM ~

"Leftists don’t give a damn about the Palestinians. They just hate Israel."
By the irreplaceable David Horowitz.
posted by J Bowen at 3:32 AM ~

Bloginality
Ever heard of Myers-Briggs typology? You too can have your personality boiled down to 4 letters. Here's a quick and dirty quiz.

I'm an ISTP.

Correction: I'm an ISTJ - I mistyped with the first one. You may proceed with your life now.
posted by J Bowen at 2:17 PM ~

"You want me to touch THAT? Do you know who I am?"
Alright, handshaking can be overdone. Especially by John Kerry. Our poor baby needs some work on his shoulder, and he'll have to lay off of handshaking for a while.

Then again, Bob Dole didn't have a problem shaking hands, and he had to do it backhanded with his one good arm. John McCain didn't have a problem with it, and he had both arms and a shoulder broken while under the kindly care of the Hanoi Hilton. Fellow Democrat Bill Richardson recently set a record by shaking 13,392 hands in an 8 hour period - he stuck his hand in some ice afterwards but otherwise he's still at it.

So what's wrong with John Kerry? Is he a wimp? Is he looking for an excuse to avoid having to touch the commoners? Did he sustain injuries when he fell on his skinny behind while skiboarding (he doesn't fall down, you know - it was some "son of a bitch" from the Secret Service who was at fault). Or did he hurt it patting himself on the back? (did you know he'd been to Vietnam?)

No, the story is that he did it bracing himself for an abrupt bus stop while campaigning in Iowa in January. It is not reported whether anyone else was hurt. I guess it's too much to ask of a patrician like Kerry to know how to ride on a bus without hurting himself - perhaps he was too busy arguing that that President Bush was "out of touch".

Enough. Stay tuned to see if Kerry can stay in one piece until the elections.


posted by J Bowen at 8:05 AM ~

Shifting context
An argument that liberals will buy in a sex education context suddenly isn't so convincing when applied to guns. Imagine that.

It really wasn't that long ago when high schools in NYC had their own rifle teams, and students would take their rifles on the public transit system.

posted by J Bowen at 6:40 AM ~

Fear of a Boob Planet?
Andy takes issue with my post here, where I dare to suggest that women might cover up while breastfeeding in public. I made a couple of comments on his site, then decided to write an entire post here.

Sheesh, it wasn't so long ago that breastfeeding in public simply wasn't done. Now we're cramping their style just by asking for some consideration of those members of society who, for whatever reason, don't think this should be displayed in public. Yeah, if they back down on this one, two weeks later Ayatollah Pat Robertson will have the women in burkas.

Well, no, Andy didn't say that, and it's unfair to speculate on what he's thinking. But he shows no such compunctions - he speaks of his opponents' "screwed up sexual proclivities".

Nice try, but the perv appeal is on Andy's side. I'm sure that if Beavis and Butthead were made flesh and asked about it they'd be all in favor of uncovered breastfeeding in public at every opportunity - "Yeah, then we'd get to see more boobs! Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha!"

Of course it's rude to stare (or is it? Can Andy justify constraining people in this way?). But I'm having a hard time being sympathetic under the circumstances - IMO she's rude to nurse without covering up in the first place. Or am I the only one who thinks it's perverse to do something in public that you don't want people to see?

And surely Andy and his wife have heard of breast pumps? Andy, who has praised bonding, can do it himself by helping with the feeding while giving his wife a break. And his wife can be discreet anywhere. (And if she's blonde, it'll be easier when she sterilizes the nipples).

In conclusion, this isn't about sex at all. It's about class and manners.
posted by J Bowen at 1:49 AM ~

Christmas shopping hint
How about this?
posted by J Bowen at 9:50 PM ~

Treating the wrong patient
But there's nothing wrong with her that some cyanide couldn't cure. See Medpundit for details.
posted by J Bowen at 7:55 AM ~

Fort Freedom
Professor Petr Beckmann might well be new to you unless you're a nuclear power junkie. Or perhaps you've read books of his, with titles as inviting as "The History of Pi".

He's gone now, but some of his works remain alive on Fort Freedom. And he was the founder of the "Access to Energy" newsletter, which has continued and been expanded into this website.


posted by J Bowen at 7:31 AM ~

A long hot summer?
Could be:

Higher temperatures and increased demand for electricity Monday, perhaps due to a rebounding economy, drove electricity reserves below 7 percent, prompting a Stage 1 emergency.

The Independent System Operator, which manages much of the state's power grid, lost two plants that supplied about 800 megawatts early Monday, then saw electricity use surpass forecasts by 1,100 megawatts, mainly due to higher than average temperatures, said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle.

Note the reference to the rebounding economy's potential to drive electrical demand. Unfortunately that cuts both ways - lack of power can throttle the economy.

And this time they won't be able to blame Enron.
posted by J Bowen at 12:18 AM ~

Yahoo! News - Heinz Seeks to Disavow Kerry Connection
Heh:

The company has received about 150 calls this month from consumers vowing to boycott Heinz products, or in some instances to buy more, said company spokeswoman Debbie Foster.

"It's just crazy," Foster said. "We haven't been involved in politics since Morris the Cat ran for president in 1988" — when the company ran a spoof campaign with Morris, the face of Heinz 9 Lives cat food, as the finicky candidate.

Yep, it's a cheap shot. No fair-minded person would say that this has anything to do with John Kerry's politics. But it just sounds so right...
posted by J Bowen at 11:43 PM ~

What's cooler than cool? Georgia Tech in the Final Four

Right here

posted by J Bowen at 7:39 AM ~

French this
A few days ago some Frenchman saw fit to send an email to James Taranto, the man responsible for the WSJ's Best of the Web Today. Mr. Taranto published the email and solicited responses. You'll find some of those here.

My favorite was: "Has anyone noticed the propensity of the French to convert an unhappy necessity into a virtue? Their foodstuffs were inedible, so they invented sauces; their plumbing was medieval, so they invented perfume; and their military was humiliated wherever it set foot, so they invented 'diplomacy,' by which they meant, first, collaboration and, second, appeasement. "
posted by J Bowen at 7:30 AM ~

Where's Bull Connor when you need him?
A mob of self-important jackasses harassed Karl Rove at his home yesterday.

There is never any excuse for this nonsense, and the creeps deserved nothing better than firehoses, dogs, rubber bullets, nightsticks and tear gas.

The three main goons behind this are profiled here.
posted by J Bowen at 7:14 AM ~

Does he ever shut up?