Duthie On...

If you’ve got 10 minutes, you can learn how we got where we are (h/t Hot Air):

Take the time to watch this, then share it with your friends, family, etc.

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The By Any Means Necessary strategy... don't let the people vote : "The key to defeating the initiative is to keep it off the ballot in the first place. That's the only way we're going to win," said Donna Stern, Midwest director for the Detroit-based By Any Means Necessary. There's something intensely wrong about groups that do not trust voters to decide issues, and it's no surprise that these groups are almost uniformly on the political left. Unlike most of her peers, Stern openly acknowledges that...

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Never mind that this guy wasn't elected, but is only governor because his predecessor had to resign in shame, nevermind that neither Paterson nor Spitzer ran on a promise to legalize gay marriage, and most of all, never mind asking the citizens of New York what they want: David Paterson has unilaterally declared New York a gay-marriage-friendly state: ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gay rights advocates had reason to celebrate on both coasts Thursday, with New York set to recognize same-sex marriages performed...

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A powerful indictment of CO2 restrictions as a means to combat "climate change": It is not possible to stop climate change, a natural phenomenon that has affected humanity through the ages. Geological, archaeological, oral and written histories all attest to the dramatic challenges posed to past societies from unanticipated changes in temperature, precipitation, winds and other climatic variables. We therefore need to equip nations to become resilient to the full range of these natural phenomena...

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Chictivism (shēk'tə-vĭz'əm)

n.

1. the fashionable support of a particular political or charitable cause
2. the attempt to improve ones social status with peers through political activism

see chictivist, Tibet, ribbons

There's so much wrong with this story that it's hard to know where to begin: A powerful federal arts commission is urging that the sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. proposed for a memorial on the Tidal Basin be reworked because it is too "confrontational" and reminiscent of political art in totalitarian states. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts thinks "the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed statue recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other...

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Guess I won't be shopping at Whole Foods anytime soon: Whole Foods Market won't offer plastic shopping bags at their stores after Earth Day this year. It is a savvy move for the upscale natural foods retailer, who estimates that by the end of the year the policy will have averted use of 100 million new plastic grocery bags at their 270 stores. It won't save the company any money-since the paper and multi-use bags that will replace plastic bags at their stores cost more to manufacture, stock and handle...

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Who would have predicted this : Compact fluorescent light bulbs, long touted by environmentalists as a more efficient and longer-lasting alternative to the incandescent bulbs that have lighted homes for more than a century, are running into resistance from waste industry officials and some environmental scientists, who warn that the bulbs’ poisonous innards pose a bigger threat to health and the environment than previously thought. Oh yeah, that's right... I did , almost a year ago: So it seems to...

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Good for The Daily Show for taking on more than just conservative targets: How can you possibly out-parody the self-parody that is Code Pink? The final moment of the video is just hysterical, and so representative of the clue-free nature of this debate. Also watch for the lib answer to the question, "so if we got rid of the police, we wouldn't have crime? (around 3:50). Priceless."...

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Oops : Twelve-month long drop in world temperatures wipes out a century of warming Over the past year, anecdotal evidence for a cooling planet has exploded. China has its coldest winter in 100 years. Baghdad sees its first snow in all recorded history. North America has the most snowcover in 50 years , with places like Wisconsin the highest since record-keeping began. Record levels of Antarctic sea ice, record cold in Minnesota , Texas, Florida, Mexico, Australia , Iran, Greece , South Africa, Greenland...

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This time, it's the U.S. Naval Academy, which is considering overhauling a traditional ritual contest in the name of "safety". The Herndon Climb, which involves a "thousand first-year midshipmen struggl[ing] to conquer a 21-foot granite obelisk coated with 200 pounds of lard," has been a part of the academy for many years, but may now be revised "with...safety in mind." As many of those interviewed for the story point out, it's rather absurd to obsess about the safety...

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Is this what our future holds? Robin Page compensated over 'race' arrest A 64 year-old man was arrested for a "hate crime" for making a smart-ass remark at a country fair. It took 5 years and the use of the UK equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act for him to clear his name. Bacon gift to Muslim officer costs Pc's job A police officer, during a "secret santa" exchange, gave one of his fellow officers, who is a muslim, a pack of bacon and a bottle of wine as a joke. Granted...

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This is just plain outrageous: They’re watching you right now. They counted every beer you drank during last night’s Red Sox [ team stats ] game. They see you sneaking out to the garage for a smoke. They know if you’ve got a gun, and where you keep it. They’re your kids, and they’re the National Security Agency of the Nanny State. I found this out after my 13-year-old daughter’s annual checkup. Her pediatrician grilled her about alcohol and drug abuse. Not...

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Here's his deadpan take on the episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" in which Frank Gorshin and another actor run around in half black, half white makeup on their faces for the entire episode: Some have speculated the episode may have been a commentary on racism. It's stuff like that that makes me so impressed with Lileks. No further commentary necessary. James Lileks on Star Trek Weekend 2007 on National Review Online...

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That's one of the few words that comes close to describing this: Brave New World Watch [ Kathryn Jean Lopez ] Guardian : Plans to allow British scientists to create human-animal embryos are expected to be approved tomorrow by the government's fertility regulator. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority published its long-awaited public consultation on the controversial research yesterday, revealing that a majority of people were "at ease" with scientists creating the hybrid embryos. Researchers...

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OK, they are letting him go...but they insist on a name change : Who remembers playing with G.I. Joe as a kid? For those of us who grew up with normal childhoods, instead of the moonbat-infested, politically correct childhoods forced onto kids today, G.I. Joe was the action figure to have. It was originally started in the 60s as a WWII soldier, with soldiers from other countries (Germany, England, and believe it or not, France), but saw its most successful sales during the resurgance in the 80s,...

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Apparently Freeman Dyson (yes, that Freeman Dyson ) doesn't buy into the hype on global warming: My first heresy says that all the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated. Here I am opposing the holy brotherhood of climate model experts and the crowd of deluded citizens who believe the numbers predicted by the computer models. Of course, they say, I have no degree in meteorology and I am therefore not qualified to speak. But I have studied the climate models and I know what they can do....

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What is it with Al Gore...I mean, I've come to expect that he does not live by the conservationist message he preaches to the rest of us peons, but you'd think he would be at least a tiny bit embarrassed by all the attention : ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore's green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills. Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's most threatened fish species. Also known as Patagonian...

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John Fund : Last week a federal district judge found direct evidence that the political machine in Noxubee County, Miss., had discriminated against voters with the intent to infringe their rights and that "these abuses have been racially motivated." Among the abuses catalogued by Judge Tom Lee were the paying of notaries public to visit voters and illegally mark their absentee ballots, manipulation of the registration rolls, importation of illegal candidates to run for county office, and publication...

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James M. Taylor : In his new book, The Assault on Reason, Al Gore pleads, "We must stop tolerating the rejection and distortion of science. We must insist on an end to the cynical use of pseudo-studies known to be false for the purpose of intentionally clouding the public's ability to discern the truth." Gore repeatedly asks that science and reason displace cynical political posturing as the central focus of public discourse. If Gore really means what he writes, he has an opportunity to make a difference...

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I'm pretty sure this is supposed to evoke sympathy: Mexican illegal immigrant Jose Madrid, 28, said he has been unable to find a construction job over the past six weeks because of the crackdown, and hasn't been able to send money to his parents and his 7-year-old son back home. "We immigrants, we are leaving Panama City. People are afraid they will be deported," he said. "The companies don't want to hire illegal people. Now they're only hiring those with papers." But while I'm sorry to see anyone...

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As an American of Scots descent who was married in a kilt, this makes me both angry and sad. How far one of the cradles of western civilization and freedom has fallen: Kilt wearers could face prosecution if they do not have a licence for their sporran under new legislation which has been introduced in Scotland. The laws are designed to protect endangered species like badgers and otters, whose fur used to be favoured by sporran makers. What's really disturbing is the government officials who think...

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How else would one describe this: Fairfax County middle school student Hal Beaulieu hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office. Among his crimes: hugging. All touching -- not only fighting or inappropriate touching -- is against the rules at Kilmer Middle School in Vienna . Hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives? Banned. The rule has been conveyed to students this way: "NO...

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Excerpt: Not only do I believe that trying to take the wildness out of boys is a doomed social experiment, but I'm certain that genetic scientists will eventually discover that males carry the Cowboy Gene. That's my name for whatever is responsible for all the wrestling in my house, and the dunking during bath time, and my 5-year-old's insistence on wearing his silver six-shooters to Wal-Mart in order to protect our grocery cart. I only pray that when the Cowboy Gene is discovered, some well-meaning...

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It's the simple ideas that no one cares about...at least no one who's more interested in pontificating about how we need to sacrifice our lifestyles to "save the planet": SAVING THE PLANET -- or at least some energy -- with white roofs. It's worth a try! Megan McArdle has thoughts, and so does Mark Kleiman, who says that the idea is too simple and obvious to interest the political/policy community. "Just as a child is unlikely to be impressed with a highly efficient engine, because it fails to make...

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Instapundit asks an important question: WILL ETHANOL LEAD TO FOOD SHORTAGES? Ethanol is a renewable, homegrown fuel that can help lower U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But as more and more ethanol is made from corn, less and less corn is available for food production, and that’s causing some unforeseen problems. Corn is a mainstay of American agriculture— it’s an important ingredient in cereals and baked goods, and corn syrup is used to make processed foods like candy, chips and soft drinks. But...

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Think environmentalists care about the world's poor? Think again: H/T: Planet Gore...

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"But", one of Brumshagen's carpenter colleagues said of the model Ark, "I am not so sure that it will float." So ends this ridiculous Reuters story about a group of environmental activists who are apparently rebuilding Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. The activists (the news story doesn't mention whether they're actually believers in the Bible, or whether they're simply exploiting the story for their own ends) are attempting to highlight the purported danger of rising seas from global climate change by...

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Rich Karlgaard, in Forbes.com, discusses one of the most egregious cases of unintended (but utterly predictable) consequences in the brief history of the environmental movement, that of the banning of DDT in the wake of the release of Silent Spring, the book that is credited with starting the whole movement. It's author, Rachel Carson, has the status of a saint on the left, is lionized in the media, and even has schools named for her, such as this middle school in Herndon, VA (ironically, the location...

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Ever the pedant, Andrew Stuttaford reminds Andy McCarthy, who had posted some commentary about Koranic support for wife-beating, that: Nevertheless, it's worth remembering that there's plenty of savagery to be found in the Old Testament too. What really matters is not what was said or written back in the Dark Ages (or, in the case of the Bible, even earlier), but how those words are interpreted now , if, indeed, at all. I'll let McCarthy's response speak for itself: Yes, Andrew. And I'll address...

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Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker is the latest example of the asinine arguments put forth by those who wish to use the horrific murders at Virginia Tech to argue for more gun control. After starting his piece by tugging at our heartstrings with the picture of cell phones ringing in the pockets of dead students, Gopnik proceeds then, in typical fashion, to blame the guns. Not the mentally unhinged attacker. Not the mental health system that allowed him to remain free and enrolled at VT, despite ample...

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Is it the elite New Yorker, with the clipped, shrill phrasing, or the down-home Southern girl on display here ? Well, I guess since her husband has been lauded as the first black president, perhaps she feels entitled to insult a black audience with a little put-on drawl. Don't hold your breath for statements of outrage from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson on this one. Hill will get a pass on this, thanks to her impeccable liberal credentials....

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Jeez, I'm not sure which of these guys is more irritating, but the specter of Imus apologizing on Sharpton's radio show was bad enough...now Imus is chiding Sharpton for not apologizing to the Duke Lacross players . While I'd certainly agree (and pointed out earlier this week) that Sharpton is hardly a model of racial probity, for Imus to be the one pointing this out after having attempted to use Sharpton to mitigate the effects of his foot-in-mouth disease is kinda pathetic. In fairness, Imus is...

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In an earlier post , I pointed to an article on American Thinker about the problems with compact fluorescent bulbs, and also proposed a spoof of the "got milk" ad campaign to highlight the issue of mercury in CFLs. Now, American Thinker has been kind enough to pick up the graphic and put it on their homepage. My thanks to AT for their interest....

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American Thinker has the story . Perhaps we should start an ad campaign...Got Mercury? Feel free to pass the above image along, if you're so inclined. UPDATE: I wanted to add a link to the Wikipedia article on CFLs , which confirms the 5mg figure cited in the graphic I created, and which is referred to in the article I link to. Note that the Wikipedia article also claims that the overall output of mercury from a CFL should be less, given the theoretical reduction in emissions from coal-fired power...

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...and other tactics to discredit those who don't toe the catastrophic global warming line: PowerLine blog has a great example of the full range . It says something about the poverty of argumentation on the side of the supporters of catastrophic global warming theory that they, and the media, must distort the views of those who oppose their doom-mongering. And worse, these tactics make it harder to have a reasonable debate on reasonable steps we could be taking today, at significantly less cost than...

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So says Michael Crichton in an interview with Scott Burgess . Crichton has a remarkable facility for breaking things down to their essence, and this interview is no exception. I doubt he's the first to say it, but the notion merits repeating, often and loudly...science is not, nor should it be, a matter of consensus. We don't vote on science, we form hypotheses, and test them to weigh their merits. The global warming bullies don't want anyone to upset their apple cart, so they attempt to browbeat...

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If you live in Loudoun County, VA, you should be aware of the activites of a group calling themselves "Mainstream" Loudoun. This is a group that fought against internet filters in Libraries (because we all know that the Constitution protects our right to download porn in public places), and is currently fighting tooth and nail to prevent abstinence from being a part of the sex ed curriculum in Loudoun County public schools. Barbara Curtis, who writes a monthly column for the Loudoun Times-Mirror...

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Ann Coulter is at it again. I should state up front that I am a sometime fan of some of Ann's antics, and that I think she is very smart and possessed of a biting wit. She is also, alas, prone to descending into sophomoric stunts designed to outrage and grab attention, the most famous being her post 9/11 column in which she claimed: we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. Her most recent attack/stunt, being used as a fundraising tool by its target ,...

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...hooking up, that is. At least according to an email sent out recently by the Harvard Dean of Freshman Activities , entitled "Hooking Up: Hot Hints For Making Your Harvard (or Future) Sex Life Great." Ignoring for the moment the stunning impropriety of a school administrator encouraging destructive sexual behavior (for those of you who've been living in a cave, "hooking up" makes one-night stands look like long-term relationships), as a college graduate myself, I don't seem to recall anyone around...

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I'm a big fan of Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, who is as stalwart an ally as the United States could hope for in a world where too often those whose freedoms came at the price of American blood view the U.S. as an enemy. So it's disappointing to see his administration jump on the greenhouse gasbag bandwagon, deciding to ban incandescent light bulbs in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. When the government can decide for you what kinds of light bulbs you may or may not purchase, that's...

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Melanie Phillips reports on a disturbing statement by the IPCC which seems to indicate an intent to modify the findings of their own climate scientists to bring them in line with the "summary for policymakers" released last week: The content of the authored chapters is the responsibility of the Lead Authors, subject to Working Group or Panel acceptance. Changes (other than grammatical or minor editorial changes) made after acceptance by the Working Group or the Panel shall be those necessary to ensure...

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Over at The New Atlantis, there's a pretty thorough debunking of the overhyped potential (or lack thereof) of hydrogen as a fuel for motor vehicles. If only half of the article's claims regarding the costs of hydrogen-powered vehicles are true, it really puts a stake through the heart of this particular vampire of taxpayer dollars, not that it'll die as a result, alas. Popular Mechanics covered much of the same ground in a cover article on hydrogen recently, so I'm inclined to accept the conclusion...

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...and the first thing the FBI can think of to say is that it doesn't appear to be terrorism-related? While I understand the desire to avoid being seen as jumping to conclusions, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that whether or not the Pakistani Muslim man responsible for shooting six women (one pregnant, and another who died) at a Seattle Jewish center was associated with a terrorist organization, his goal was to terrorize Jews. When will we be willing to name things properly? This...

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Discover Magazine has a list of five lessons we should learn from the Avian Flu outbreak . Strangely enough, "don't buy into pseudo-scientific hype and doom-and-gloom stories" doesn't appear in the list. What's more, many of their "lessons" (#5 starts out "We are at the mercy of viral evolution.") could be construed as buying into the notion that we barely dodged a bullet in avoiding a major avian flu pandemic. The subhead of the article, "Work, Watch, Wait, Worry, and Wonder," only reinforces this...

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This op-ed reaches new heights (or perhaps depths would be more appropriate) in the art of refusing to take personal responsibility. The short version...a 42 year-old lawyer, "in a sudden rush of passion," fails to use contraception during some "rare couple time" with her husband and becomes pregnant. She attempts unsuccessfully to obtain the Plan B morning-after pill. She and her husband subsequently choose to abort their baby. Who does the Virginia lawyer blame? Not herself, certainly. Among the...

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Julian Bond is a disgrace, and has an ugly soul. He should resign as chairman of the NAACP. If he won't do it voluntarily, honest people should demand it. Why do I say this? Because of the latest in a series of tirades Bond has aimed at conservatives and the GOP. I have no problem with critics who attack on the issues, and who disagree vehemently. But for Bond to assert that "The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side" is simply disgusting, defamatory,...

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Here we go again. The New York Times (motto: All the Bush-bashing fit to print), published a silly global warming hit piece today featuring a NASA climate scientist whining about being warned not to make policy speeches or discuss policy with the media. The scientist, one James Hansen, has called "for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming," according to the article. Well, color me shocked. Hansen's supervisors have asked him to desist from making such calls publicly...

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This article , in the Financial Times, illustrates to devastating effect the extent to which the current debate on global warming and what, if anything, we should be doing about it, rests on a foundation of ignorance. While adherents of the Kyoto protocol insist that current computer models of global warming are accurate and predict a dire future, apparently these models have missed a few things. For one, apparently climate scientists missed the fact that trees and other plants may be producing as...

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Many of you (OK, given my readership, perhaps many is the wrong word) have probably heard about the recent robbery of former D.C. mayor (and current D.C. Council member) Marion Barry, and his subsequent outrageous comments . In a nutshell, Barry was reportedly approached by two young men as he return home from the grocery store, who asked if they could help him with his groceries. According to Barry, this is not uncommon. He allowed them to carry his bags into his home, gave them a few bucks, and...

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You just can't make this stuff up. Apparently there's a " feminist-based environmental group " that is asserting that men are the primary culprits in global warming, and that women are bearing the brunt of its purported effects. No, I'm not joking. One might hope that it's an elaborate hoax, but I think one would be disappointed in hoping that. An example of this idiocy is the statement of Ulrike Rohr, the director of the group: "To give you an example from Germany, it is mostly men who are going...

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Yet another case of moral idiocy on the part of the mainstream media. This time it's Katie Couric and Matt Lauer on NBC's Today show who, despite some discomfort, promoted an exhibition that includes 22 human corpses, some of whom had had their skin or other body parts removed. Despite on-air musings about the propriety of the exhibition, Couric and Lauer were shown on-set with one of the corpses, which had been posed to resemble Rodin's "The Thinker", only without any skin. Apart from the repugnant...

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In a world where outrage follows the death of a sparrow:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4450958.stm

It's truly the case that parody is dead (along with the sparrow).

(via The Corner)

Via The Corner , as this Newsweek article discusses, apparently hollywood is at it again. Specifically, several notables have teamed up to produce a special entitled "Earth to America!", in which. [sic] Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell and other Hollywood A-listers urge people to join the Stop Global Warming Virtual March on Washington (StopGlobalWarming.org), an online petition. Get that? It's not just an online petition. Any idiot can create an online petition (and any idiot can sign...

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If you're a Republican, you can expect every word out of your mouth to be parsed carefully for any hidden racist meanings, and even innocuous birthday greetings can result in a fall from power (witness Trent Lott). If you're a Democrat, you can be the dean of the Senate, and a leader in your party, despite having been a member of the KKK (Robert Byrd). If you're a Republican, you can reach out to the NAACP, favor policies which would greatly benefit black Americans (social security privatization...

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From The Corner on NRO, this nasty little bit from an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America. Could someone please explain to be why liberals get away with insinuating that Clarence Thomas (and other prominent black Republicans and/or conservatives) are somehow less black because they do...

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Reading this story in the Toledo Blade about rioting in the wake of a planned (but not actually completed) rally by a neo-nazi group in Toledo, the question that comes to mind (apart from why idiot neo-nazi groups continue to pursue their warped agenda, for which there is probably no coherent answer) is why we, as a society, continue to excuse inexcusable behavior. The rioters didn't attack the few (apparently around 15) actual neo-nazi rallygoers who showed up. No, instead, they went on a rampage...

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This is kind of scary: There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production– with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now. The regions destined to feel its impact are the great wheat-producing lands of Canada and the U.S.S.R. in the North, along with a number of marginally self-sufficient...

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...just traveling for more than a week, then recovering from same. In the "news of the weird" vein, apparently UNICEF thinks that bombing Smurfs is an excellent fundraising tool. You can't make this stuff up. Apparently reality isn't "real" enough, so the folks responsible thought it would be more disturbing to show Smurfs being bombed to smithereens. All this in an effort to prevent "let[ing] war affect the lives of children." Which I suppose I'd find less absurdly hypocritical if it wasn't coming...

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According to this article , it would appear that the negative effects of our profligate consumption of fossil fuels has extended even to another planet. OK, so perhaps the article doesn't quite come out and say that, but it does note that "for three Mars summers in a row, deposits of frozen carbon dioxide near Mars' south pole have shrunk from the previous year's size, suggesting a climate change in progress". And since we all know that climate change is caused exclusively by man's burning of fossil...

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Yesterday, in one of the more ugly political hatchet jobs I've seen recently, the L.A. Times asserted in an editorial entitled "Bolton's Mischief" that actions by U.N. Ambassador John Bolton "would be a death sentence for millions." This remarkable assertion comes because among the hundreds of amendments the U.S. has proposed to a draft reform document, "[h]is most odious change was to delete all references to the Millennium Development Goals, which commit industrialized nations to cutting world...

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Well, it's back. No, not the actual SARS virus. I'm talking about the latest hyped threat to mankind, the Avian Flu, aka Bird Flu. Not since SARS have we gotten so worked up about a disease with such a relatively small impact on humans. One need only do a quick internet search to recall the breathless predictions of impending doom that accompanied the SARS virus as it attacked around the world. Only trouble was...it turned out to be a dud, relatively speaking. Without diminishing the sad loss of...

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One of the reasons I was motivated to get the blog back online was the recent contretemps involving DC station WMAL host Michael Graham, and his moderately over-the-top remarks about Islam and terrorism. I won't re-hash the entire thing, since other bloggers and writers have covered the topic well ( here , here , here , here , here , and here ), but in it's essence, the troubling statement (which is really only troubling when taken out of context) was Graham's assertion that "Islam has, sadly, become...

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This story , in the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, suggests either that Vermont politicians have too much time on their hands, or perhaps that they're suffering from a little of their own mental illness: Despite mounting opposition – including Vermont Gov. James Douglas – the makers of a straitjacket-wearing teddy bear said Thursday they would continue selling the controversial stuffed toy. Although he did not directly call on the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. to remove the 15-inch bear from...

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That's the title of a CD due in stores today, according to a story in the Washington Post Style section (link may require registration). I'm sure that the timing of the article is coincidental and has nothing to do with the election (yes, that was sarcasm), but what's particularly striking about the article, and indeed the CD itself, is what it illustrates about the worldview of those who oppose President Bush. The basics of the story are that a Norwegian music producer heard Bush's “Axis of...

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…when a group of clothing merchants band together to prevent a competitor from selling products to “their” customers, merely because of the color of his skin? When the spokesman for the competitor quits and goes to work for the aforementioned group instead because of pressure from this group, saying: “I can’t look over my shoulders over no clothes…I don’t need nobody killing nobody over [these clothes].” I’d say it certainly looks a good deal...

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In the latest evidence that even the obvious is beyond the liberal media without “scientists” telling them, the BBC is reporting on an analysis by the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich that suggests that sunspot activity is greater than at any time in the past 1,000 years, and that the historical record suggests a correlation between sunspot activity and the earth’s temperature, with warmer temperatures correlating with higher sunspot activity. Of course, the “scientists”...

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According to a story reported by AFP , there are doubts being raised about building a case against Saddam Hussein, in part because witnesses may still be afraid to testify against him for fear that they and their families might be targeted for revenge. Now, I suspect that this report is overblown, and that Saddam will be tried, found guilty, and punished (and if justice is to be done, probably executed). But if you want to understand the major difference between the foreign policies of Bush and Kerry...

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...and this from a theatre review by a Michael Feingold. The first paragraph reads: No U.S. president, I expect, will ever appoint a Secretary of the Imagination. But if such a cabinet post ever were created, and Richard Foreman weren't immediately appointed to it, you'd know that the Republicans were in power. Republicans don't believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the...

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A story in the UK Telegraph tells of rape camps in the Sudan, used by Sudanese Arab soldiers to drive civilians out of their settlements. The story features a 13-year-old girl who was tied to a tree and raped all night, then left for dead. Why does the U.S. media ignore such horrors? Because the atrocities aren’t being committed by Americans? Or because we don’t want to offend people’s sensibilities by telling the truth about yet another group of Arabs committing appalling acts...

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…and it’s obvious that it’s in part because they don’t really listen to him. A prime example is a recent article on Salon.com (requires either registration, or watching a brief ad to view the full article), in which the writer reveals that the discovery that her therapist is a Rush fan created huge problems for her. While I can sympathize with her concerns about sharing very personal discussions with someone who’s worldview is different from one’s own, I think...

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…that Planned Parenthood thinks that protecting unborn lives is fodder for April Fool’s humor: http://www.saveroe.com/whitehouse/ I’m sure that they think their humor is very cutting, but I can’t say as I find it very funny. Of course, Planned Parenthood would probably respond that I’m just a humorless right-winger who’s against women’s rights, so what do I know. Never mind the rights of the unborn. Find another subject to spoof, Planned Parenthood. Abortion...

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BrainWash , the online magazine of America’s Future Foundation , an organization focused on freedom and liberty, has been kind enough to publish a piece I wrote for them on the recent movement towards government mandates for open source software. The article examines the claims that have been put forth by governments in either mandating, or giving elevated consideration to, open source software, and whether these claims are being borne out by the available evidence. My thanks to Jerry Brito...

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…people kill people: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8907485%255E2862,00.html This has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve heard in a long time. Banning swords? And to think that we were assured that they would stop with guns. No, clearly people are not to be trusted with weapons of any sort. Next, it’ll be butcher knives and cleavers. Sure, they’re very useful in the kitchen, but they’re also potentially deadly in the wrong hands. You’ll...

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OK, so it’s been a while since I posted. Starting a new job, traveling a lot, so sue me. In the good news department, Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist , has been completely vindicated in the case of the criticism leveled against his book by the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty, which had accused Lomborg of being “objectively dishonest”. Last December, the Danish Ministry of Science and Technology overturned the DCSD’s report, and sent it back...

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In a thoughtful column on Townhall.com , Jay Bryant wonders why it is that Democrats can credibly claim the mantle of protector of the rights of blacks in this country. He’s not the first to ask the question, nor to observe that, among other things: The filibusterers of the Civil Rights bills in the 1960's were Democrats. The liberals whose welfare-state policies destroyed families in post- Great Society inner cities were Democrats. But Bryant also brings up something very important. Democrats...

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…on what is expected to be the coldest day in New York City in a decade! And possibly the coldest in New England since the late 50s. Naturally the speech is sponsored by MoveOn.org and Environment2004, who are clearly as out of touch with both the weather (and the populace) as Gore is. You just can’t make this stuff up. [via Drudge via The Corner ]...

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The op-ed section of Saturday’s Washington Post contained an opinion piece by Ellen Goodman, entitled “Oops! Help for Same-Sex Unions” in which Goodman argues that the shameful antics of one Britney Spears in getting married and having her marriage annulled in only 55 hours provides an argument for supporting gay marriage. This is an awfully slender reed on which to hang her argument, IMO. The argument, which I’ve heard from a number of media outlets, goes something like this...

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Ole notes another instance of: Want to see an example of CNN anti-Israeli bias? Check out this headline: Israelis kill Palestinian, another dies in explosion. Read the story to find out the Palestinian in question was lighting a Molotov cocktail, and the explosion was a suicide bomber whose explosives detonated prematurely. Horrible. The bias is so evident, it probably backfires. I hope so. [ Critical Section ] I hope Ole’s right about the bias backfiring, but unfortunately, I don’t think...

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Iain Murray, of TechCentralStation , body-slams the recent Nature study whose lead author has been claiming more than a million species could be irrevocably headed for extinction by 2050. He also highlights the fact that while most news organizations say nothing about the limitations of the study, a New York Times reporter, of all things, was the one to note that the actual study only claims that 15 to 37% of the 1,103 species that were studied could be headed for extinction. In other words, the...

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Howard Dean makes his debut as a theologian on the front page of today’s Washington Post, with an article that describes his newest claim: that his decision to sign civil unions for homosexuals into law was “influenced by his Christian views.” The article quotes dean as saying the following: The overwhelming evidence is that there is very significant, substantial genetic component to it. From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have...

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…and the usual suspects whine and complain. According to a story in the Metro section of The Washington Post, the Virginia legislature responded to the fact that several of the al Qaeda terrorists responsible for the attacks of 9-11 illegally obtained Virginia driver’s licenses (which they used as proof of ID at airports and flight schools) by passing a law that forces the Virginia DMV to require applicants to prove they are in the country legally. Contrast this with the attempt by Gray...

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The story I discussed yesterday regarding the projected impact of global warming on habitat and the resulting predicted extinction of “millions of species” hit the front page of The Washington Post today. As usual with stories like this, the liberal bias is obvious. For one, the Post article gives the study complete credence, offering only token reporting of any skepticism of its results. The one critic of the study quoted is identified as a the “president of the George C. Marshall...

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Yes, it’s the very latest in global warming hysteria… According to this article from the BBC web site, a “scientific study” published in the journal Nature predicts that “a quarter of animals and plants living on the land could be forced into oblivion,” among other dire predictions. The culprit? Why mankind’s thoughtless use of fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases, of course. Before you park your SUV for good, however, you might want to note the following...

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In my opinion, one of the main driving forces of political correctness is guilt. More specifically, liberal guilt. If you want to get right down to it, white liberal guilt (and probably several more sub-types, but I'm too lazy to classify it further). Now why would I think something like that? Well, it has to do with how liberal guilt operates, in my experience. Here's how it typically shakes out (DISCLAIMER - this post is laden with generalities...if you don't like generalities, you should probably...

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This time of year has become one for media types, and the PC brigade to offer "Kwanzaa" greetings, even as sharing Christmas greetings becomes more frowned upon, a trend I noted earlier . Now I should state from the outset that I have absolutely no problem with people celebrating whatever they choose, and I think that cherishing one's heritage is a good thing. But Kwanzaa, which was invented in 1966 by an American named Ron Karenga, is not in fact a celebration of some set of universal African values...

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My favorite Christmas album is the Chieftains' "Bells of Dublin". It's usually the first CD I pop in when the Christmas season arrives (alternating with "A Charlie Brown Christmas"), and one of the last to be played before the Christmas music gets filed away 'til next year. But when I need a dose of Christmas humor, I pop in The Therapy Sisters ' "Codependent Christmas" for a lighter view of the holiday season. Of course, one of the reasons I like that album is that it has a song that expertly skewers...

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