FIRST SHOPPING DAY OF THE SEASON...



...and I can't believe how full I still am. Really.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING



I hope you all have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Take care!

DON'T TREAD ON ME

AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT...



I loved this letter to editor which appears in today's Wall Street Journal:

Islam in Practice



According to Mr. Moeser, chancellor of UNC at Chapel Hill, requiring the reading of parts of the Koran is fulfilling the responsibility of the university is to provide students "with an atmosphere in which they can deepen their sense of themselves and the complex, often contradictory world around them" (Letters to the Editor, Aug. 20). To that end, may I suggest that the program include a study of the genocide and forced slavery in Sudan, or how Islam has brought its version of "peace" to Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Balkans, as well as a consideration of democracy and human rights in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, et al. Interviews with those attempting to practice a religion other than Islam in Islamic countries would be enlightening, along with interviews of women, or family members of those who have disappeared at the hands of these "enlightened" governments. Video clips of the numerous celebrations in various Muslim countries at the destruction of the Twin Towers and the murder of 3,000 innocent Americans would also be instructive.



Alan Biehl

Dallas

Excellent work, Mr. Biehl!

CLINTON LIES YET AGAIN -- NO SURPRISE



Mr. Clinton revises history yet again by claiming that President Bush (#41) somehow was to blame for the disaster in Somalia. Here are the actual facts, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal editorial staff:

President Bush the Elder sent U.S. forces into Somalia in December 1992 to aid the United Nations in relieving a massive famine. In May of 1993, four months into his term, President Clinton declared that mission accomplished and pulled out most of the U.S. forces. In a speech on the South Lawn to associate himself with the effort, he extolled the decision to intervene: "If all of you who served had not gone, it is absolutely certain that tens of thousands would have died by now." It was a "successful mission," he said, and "proved yet again that American leadership can help to mobilize international action ..."



But back in Somalia, with no U.S. deterrent, Somalia's warlords began fighting again. After a series of bloody attacks on U.N. peacekeepers, Mr. Clinton launched a new mission: In August 1993, he sent in a force of Rangers and Special Forces units to capture the brutal warlord Mohammad Farrah Aidid and restore order.



That force asked for heavy armor -- in the form of Abrams tanks and Bradley armored vehicles -- as well as the AC-130 gunship, but the Clinton Administration denied those requests. On October 3 on a mission to pick up Aidid, two Black Hawks were unexpectedly shot down; in the ensuing urban gun battle, 18 American soldiers were killed and another 73 injured.



Many military experts believe that if the U.S. forces had had armor, fewer would have died. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin resigned two months after Somalia, having acknowledged that his decision on the armor had been an error. A 1994 Senate Armed Services Committee investigation reached the same conclusion. But perhaps the most poignant statement came from retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry Joyce, father of Sergeant Casey Joyce, a Ranger killed in Mogadishu: "Had there been armor ... I contend that my son would probably be alive today ..."



Mr. Clinton's responsibility in Somalia doesn't stop there. Despite the mistakes that October day, Aidid had been struck a blow. The U.S. military, with 18 dead, wanted nothing more than to finish what it had started. Mr. Clinton instead aborted the mission. The U.S. released the criminals it had captured that same day at such great cost, and the U.N., lacking U.S. support, was powerless to keep order. Somalia remains a lawless, impoverished nation. Worse, the terrorists of al Qaeda interpreted the U.S. retreat from Somalia as a sign of American weakness that may have convinced them we could be induced to retreat from the Middle East if they took their attacks to the U.S. homeland.



Those are the facts. The reason Mr. Clinton can't blame the events of "Black Hawk Down" on President Bush's father is because those events had nothing to do with him. They were Mr. Clinton's responsibility, and his alone.

I'M COMING HOME



It's been many days since I last posted here. Sorry for the absense. Work has been crushingly busy as of late. Also, my parents are here in town for a visit.



Although I keep my primary residence in San Francisco, CA, I currently spend my weekdays working in Vancouver, British Columbia. I hope to post, over the next several week, my observations as an American living here. Keep watching this space for more...

IQ SCORES ARE NOW PRAISED BY LIBERALS



Ann Coulter makes an excellent point about the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Daryl Renard Atkins -- a murderer whose conviction was overturned because he has a low IQ.

WHAT A BUSY DAY



The Supremes give the nod (correctly) to the Cleveland school voucher program. Expect similar programs to blossom across the nation.



The moron on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled that the Pledge of Allegience is unconstitutional stayed his own order today, pending futher legal review. Attorney General John Ashcroft pledges a rehearing before the court.

IDIOCY IS ALIVE IN THE NINTH CIRCUIT



From the front lines of the Left Coast, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has given a potentially huge gift to the right with this ruling. The President is upset, and politicians on both sides of the aisle are livid. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, has already issued a screed condemning the delays in the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying

It's time for the Senate to move forward and confirm some common-sense jurists.

Interestingly, it seems that attacks on the Pledge have been more prevalent lately, particularly in Wisconsin and Minnesota.



::What Next?:: sincerely hopes that the government will appeal this boneheaded decision made by the most overturned court in America.

WEEP FOR THE INNOCENTS



This web page is in Arabic. Even so, I somehow suspect you'll be left with a greater understanding of how radical Islamists are destroying an entire generation of their own children.

BAD BOYS BAD BOYS, WHATCHA GONNA DO...



From the "Ouch!" file, a prison escapee in Panama meets a decidedly icky fate.

THE NEXT ICE AGE COMETH



What, you ask? The next ice age? You must be kidding me!



No, I'm not. Check out this excellent piece by Andrew Kenny at the Spectator online. Those pesky Greens just can't catch a break.

MEDIA BIAS DU JOUR



Be sure to read Howard Mortman's NRO analysis of a Palo Alto Daily article about the Stanford commencement speach given by former Provost Condoleezza Rice. This is a textbook example of how editors shape the news.

RALPH NADER: NON FACTOR



This AP story is very gratifying. Thankfully, Ralph Nader isn't nearly as relevant has he once was:

SAN FRANCISCO � Ralph Nader wants the NBA to review Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, saying the nation's confidence has been shaken enough lately by business headlines.





The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 106-102 in the game with the help of 27 free throws in the fourth quarter. The Lakers scored 16 of their final 18 points at the foul line.



Nader, a consumer advocate and former Green Party presidential candidate, and the League of Fans, a sports-industry watchdog group, sent a letter to NBA Commissioner David Stern on Tuesday asking for a review, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.



"At a time when the public's confidence is shaken by headlines reporting the breach of trust by corporate executives, it is important, during the public's relaxation time, for there to be maintained a sense of impartiality and professionalism in commercial sports performances," the letter said. "That sense was severely broken . . . during Game 6."



The letter also addresses an incident where Lakers guard Kobe Bryant elbowed opponent Mike Bibby in the nose. A foul was not called with less than 20 seconds remaining in the game.



"Unless the NBA orders a review of this game's officiating, perceptions and suspicions, however presently absent any evidence, will abound," the letter said. "A review that satisfies the fans' sense of fairness and deters future recurrences would be a salutary contribution to the public trust that the NBA badly needs."

ISRAELI EMBASSY IN FRANCE BURNS TO THE GROUND



I didn't even know this happened! The silence of the American Press in this matter is deafening. I wonder why??

RADICAL LEFT-WING FEMINISTS: "MOTHERHOOD IS OK AFTER ALL"



One of the hidden gems at FoxNews.com is a recurring column called "iFeminist", a critique of modern left-wing feminist thought. This week's column confronts the attempted ursuptation of the family by the radical left. Check it out here.

AMERICANS: COMPASSIONATE, FREEDOM LOVING



Writing for The Spectator in the UK, Mark Steyn has written yet another brilliant piece which destroys the illusion of European sophistication.

THE DUTCH MOVE TO THE RIGHT



The pundits predicted it, and now it's happened.

THIS MAN MADE ME A REAGANITE



I'm disgusted with former President Carter's vist to Cuba. Why is such an intelligent human so easily duped by Castro's communist thugs? How embarassing, and how unsurprising.

THE MASSACRE THAT NEVER HAPPENED



The dean of modern intellectual conservatism, William F. Buckley Jr., writes a great piece on NRO about the habitual lying regarding the claims of an Israeli massacre at Jenin. Buckley here describes the histiriocity of lying in the Middle East.

HAVE YOU ENTERED THE :: WHAT NEXT? :: CONTEST?



The deadline for entries is May 31st, 2002. You can read about the contest and submit your entry here.

SELL, SELL, SELL!!



I must apologize to you, dear reader, for my absense. I was suddenly called away on business, and our scheduled was such that I could not find any spare time to post to the blog. I'm pretty tired, but I must blog on!!

THOU SHALT NOT KILL



In Uganda, a radical organization pledged to forming a state based on the 10 Commandments commits an atrocity that is remarkably disgusting.

DISTRUST NORTH KOREA



I read this Reuters story and have concluded that this says much more about North Korea than was perhaps intended. By asking from Clinton to "mediate" interactions between the Washington and Pyongyang, North Korean communists have selected America's least trustworth political figure.

HOW MUCH LONGER WILL WE PUT UP WITH SAUDI ARABIA?



Our "friends" in the Saud family, busily running telethons on state television to pay off suicide bombers, has been caught red handed giving money directly to these terrorists. Thanks for Fox for posting this article on how Israeli intelligence agents discovered the damning evidence in -- you guessed it -- Yasser Arafat's compound.



Make no mistake: The radical Islamofacists don't want peace. They want Israel destroyed and wiped off of the earth.

NEWEST CAUSE OF CANCER -- BREAD



That's right, bread. And this threat must be regulated out of existence, of course.

LOOK AT WHAT PASSES FOR INTELLIGENCE THESE DAYS



For the last couple of days, the Best of the Web at OpinionJournal.com has been running some quips on silly patents that have been issued by the Federal Government. I saw this one today, and had to share it with you:

On Sept. 25, 2001, Joe W. Armstrong of Lenoir, Tenn., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,293,874 for "as amusement apparatus including a user-operated and controlled apparatus for self-infliction of repetitive blows to the user's buttocks by a plurality of elongated arms bearing flexible extensions that rotate under the user's control. . . . As the user rotates the crank, the user's buttocks are paddled by flexible shoes located on each outboard end of the elongated arms to provide amusement to the user and viewers of the paddling.



Here the link to the actual patent. Make sure you check out the "Images" link for an illustration of this contraption.



Actually, now that I've seen this, I think we need one in the office.

A RELIGION OF PEACE, TOLERANCE, AND LOVE



From Ananova.com, dateline Nigeria:

Nigerian Muslim prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for two men accused of converting from Islam to Christianity.

You can read the entire pathetic story here.

A COMPREHENSIVE MIDDLE EAST PRIMER...



...can be found here.

RACISM AT YAHOO AND MSN



James Taranto has picked up on the racist propoganda at Yahoo (noted on this page a few days ago). You won't believe some of the garbage these people put out.

TODAY'S ECONOMICS COLUMN



Today's column by Paul Krugman is amazing. Pure fantasy. Has Paul become a paranoid? Read for yourself. I particularly enjoyed the damning line about the all-and-ever-evil John Ashcroft.

YAHOO UPDATE: ANTI-JEW GROUP TOS-ED



Some good news: After sending in an e-mail complaint to Yahoo's customer service folks, I am pleased to report that the "death_to_israel" group has been deleted. Kudos to Yahoo for taking quick action in this matter!

WHY DO DEMOCRATS DISLIKE ISRAEL?



William Safire hits a home run with his scathing critique of wishy-washy Democrats on the issue of Israeli safety and security.

YAHOO SHOULD "TOS" ANTI-SEMITES



After reading James Taranto's interesting "Best of the Web" item in OpinionJournal today about Microsoft Network "community" called "Death to Israel", I thought's I'd check in at Yahoo (my portal of preference), and discovered, to my horror, that Yahoo Groups hosts a group with the same name ("death_to_israel").



Yahoo's Terms of Service contains the following:

You agree to not use the Service to:



a. upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable

This group is clearly anti-Semitic and threatening. So why does Yahoo! allow the group to exist on their web service?

THE REASON YOU DON'T EVER HEAR FROM ARAB MODERATES IS...



...Because they are summarily executed. From today's Wall Street Journal:

April 7: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- In a secret session before dawn Sunday, a Palestinian military court sentenced six Palestinians to death for collaborating with Israel, Palestinian security officials said. . . . Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must approve the death sentences before they can be carried out. Some 40 similar sentences await Arafat's approval.



April 5: RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -- Masked Palestinian gunmen shot dead three men suspected of collaborating with Israeli forces in their West Bank village of Toubas . . . Friday, Palestinian sources said.



April 1: NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- In the West Bank town of Tulkarem, gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade entered an apartment where seven suspected collaborators were being held by military intelligence Monday, the officials said. The gunmen took the prisoners into the street and shot them, leaving their bodies behind, the security sources said. . . .



In Qalqilya . . . the bodies of Iyad Abu Ishab, 20, and Walid Radwan, 22, were found riddled with bullets in a side street Monday. Palestinian security sources said the two men, who had been arrested on charges of collaboration more than a year ago, were killed by their prison guards. . .



The body of Mahmood Rahamie, 21, was found in Bethlehem near Manger Square, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The Al-Aqsa Brigades, which is close to . . . Arafat's Fatah movement, said in a statement that Rahamie had been killed after he was caught sending information to the Israelis through the Internet and e-mail.



March 15: NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) -- A group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction said it executed two alleged Palestinian collaborators Friday in the West Bank city of Nablus.



March 14: BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian militiamen shot dead two alleged collaborators with Israel on Thursday, then tied the body of one to the back of a pickup truck, dragged him through town and attempted to hang him from a rooftop overlooking the traditional birthplace of Christ.



March 12: RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- In a grim warning, the blood-streaked body of a Palestinian shot to death for allegedly collaborating with Israel was strung up by the ankles Tuesday in the middle of this West Bank city. Raed Naem Odeh was left dangling in a traffic circle downtown. . . .

Islamofacists groups are like any other brownshirt organization -- dissent is supressed with by specter of instantaneous death.

BIBI NETENYAHU FOR THE PEOPLE



Former (and future?) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu has written brilliantly in today's Wall Street Journal. You can check out his editorial here.

FREEDOM FROM PUBLIC EDUCATION DESPOTS



In a supremely wise move, Philadelphia's School Reform Commission has voted to turn over control of 1/4 of the city's failing schools to privately operated groups.



The Associated Press reports that 16 year-old Andrew Hopkins doesn't approve of the plan:

We are talking about our education here. They shouldn't be giving these schools to private companies that care mostly about their own profits [said Hopkins]. We want a parent vote in every school they want to take over.

What might explain this student�s opposition? I think the last paragraph in the story holds a big clue:

Edison Schools feature a longer day and school year, a heavy investment in technology and intensive staff development.

FROM THE CIVILIZED FRENCH



Mon Dieu:

PARIS (AP)- Nearly 360 crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions in France have occurred this month, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.



The ministry said 70 people have been questioned and 16 jailed in connection with incidents that have taken place in the first two weeks of April. The wave of anti-Semitic attacks in France has coincided with intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence.



More than 60 percent of the acts involved anti-Jewish graffiti, while the number of people victimized by anti-Semitic slurs had also risen, the ministry said.



Law enforcement agencies also reported a dozen attempts to set synagogues and graves on fire.



Suspects in the attacks generally are young, with an average age of 20, and of "Maghreb origin," chiefly Arab youths from North African countries, the ministry said.



Anti-Jewish violence in France began increasing after Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out in September 2000 and has mounted further since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.



A book published last month by a leading French anti-racism group and Jewish students chronicled about 400 recent attacks against Jews and their religious sites around the country. That number apparently does not include the latest Interior Ministry figures.

WHEN IT COMES TO PEACE, THE ARAB NATIONS ARE MIA



Scot Lehigh has a great column in today's Boston Globe.

QUOTE OF THE DAY



A good reminder for all of us, given recent Middle Eastern events:



"In this conflict there is no neutral ground, there can be no peace in a world of terror...We did not ask for this mission but we will fulfil it."



President George W. Bush

IDIODIC STATEMENT OF THE WEEK



Here it is:

We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th. . . . What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? . . . What do they have to hide?

Thanks to psychopath Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) for this week's Idiotic Statement.

TERRORIST PROPAGANDA AND GULLIBLE BIG MEDIA



The so-called "Jenin Massacre" was a crock.

AMERICA IS GREAT



John Derbyshire has penned a great review of "What's So Great About America" by Dinesh D'Souza.



I was fortunate to see Mr. D'Souza speak at my alma mater when I was a young student coming to age politically. At that time, his book Illiberal Education was quite popular. In it, D'Souza eviscerated the PC-laced curriculums at our "greatest" universities. Ever since that time, I've been a big fan of D'Souza's work, which is characterized by a lucid wit and logic which so often eludes many intellectuals these days.

HORSE, DOG, AND PORK RACING



Well, the 37th annual Atlanta Steeplechase at Kingston Downs went off without a hitch. Rain was the primary threat but, as it turned out, was a relatively empty one. In all, over 30 horses raced in five sponsored events. Betting isn't a "formal" part of the day's activities, but our little group made petty side bets amongst ourselves. I was fortunate to win one of the races, having picked a horse by the name curious name of "Najjm."



Bagpipes sang in the distance, with pig races and doggie drag racing (with Jack Russell terriers) the featured activities in the infield. As we sipped beer, sparkling wine, and at food, the soft sounds of bluegrass could be heard over the din of summer-dressed men in peach colored button-down shirts, accompanied by women wearing their fanciful hats -- a prototypical Southern event if there ever was one. I love visiting the South.

Buh, Bye



The PLO has been evicted from their office in Washington, D.C. Good riddance.

MY FIRST HORSE RACE



I'm about to dash off to the airport for a weekend in Atlanta, where I'll be taking in my first-ever horse race, the Atlanta SteepleChase.



Look for my report of this classic Southern event on Sunday.

DUDE, YOU'RE IN MY SURF. I MUST NOW BEAT YOU UP.



Two surfer dudes, having discovered a wave-rider dude surfing on their turf, beat up and attempted to drown the wave-rider dude.



Unfortunately for the surfer dudes, their "turf" happened to be in a federal maritime jurisdiction. They are now charged with assault causing serious bodily injury.



I've been to Fort Point, where the alleged assault occurred. Wind-propelled waves come through the Golden Gate and crash against the sharpest rocks I've every seen. One must be mentally unbalanced to risk a gnarly death by surfing in such a dangerous place, so I'm not surprised to read about people beating each other up for the privilege.

THE ABUSE OF LANGUAGE



Last night I had the pleasure of sharing some beers and snacks with some coworkers from around the United States, Australia, and Denmark. Our conversation drifted from philosophy and religion to science, politics, and (of course) the Middle East.



During this enjoyable colloquy, while I sipped from my foamy pint of Guinness, the coworker from Denmark made what was for me an infuriating comment. He expressed his belief that the recent Israeli defensive actions in Janin, Ramallah, etc., were fundamentally immoral. Another coworker, who happens to be a very good friend of mine (as well as my boss), immediately jumped in to agree with this assessment, stating that he thought Prime Minister Sharon was �crazy.� Not one word was said about the conduct of the Palestinians, or Yasser Arafat, their terrorist leader.



My blood instantly boiled when I heard these ridiculous statements. Fortunately, I was able to check my anger and thus spared myself from what could have been a career-ending outburst.



Now that I�ve had time to reflect on the events of the evening, I�ve found myself asking the question: �How can intelligent people come to such incoherent, incorrect conclusions about a situation which is easy to evaluate and, yes, judge?� Both of the individuals I've mentioned are highly intelligent, and yet I know that neither one of them would be able to factually support their respective opinions.



I think that a large part of this phenomenon is explained by the abusive use of language. For example, when the major news outlets assaults our ears the simple refrain �violence in the Middle East,� they are in essence equating murders committed by Palestinian terrorists with the justified reprisals delivered by a democratically elected government defending its citizens. Such obfuscation of the truth is intellectual fatuous, and deserving of our condemnation.



Caudia Rosett at OpinionJournal.com has written today about the use of language to obscure the truth. I encourage all of you to read Claudia�s excellent analysis of wartime doubletalk.



There�s only one way we�ll see an end to terrorist assaults on Israeli sovereignty: We must continue to call Palestinian suicide-bombers what they are � terrorists and murderers; and we must not fall prey to the vacuous appeasers in Europe who are, even as I write this, snickering with pleasure at the rapid decline of American prestige. President Bush needs to lead this charge, and he needs the help of all those who believe that they truth will set Israel, and innocent Palestinians, free.

A DATING INNOVATION: "WOMEN DATE DOWN DAY"



Stanley Kurtz has created a stunning proposal which may very well result in the androgynous equlity that we all yearn for in America.

TRAFICANT FOUND GUILTY



Reuters has just reported that Ohio Rep. James Traficant, known for his habit of concluding his House speeches with the statement "beam me up!", will be beamed directly to a federal penitentiary for up to 63 years.



The articulate Traficant, who has been down a similar legal road before, acted as his own council. He was found guilty of bribery, corruption, and racketeering. I've heard that prison officials have graciously agreed to give Rep. Traficant a complimentary haircut upon his arrival.

ONCE AND FUTURE PRIME MINISTER?



Benjamin Netanyahu's website contains all kinds of interesting facts about the man and his policies, as well as a link to his most recent speech (a must-read) to the United States Senate. Now this is a man with moral clarity.

CONFUSING AND FRUSTRATING



Rich Lowry at the National Review Online has written a very good synopsis of the collapse of President Bush's foreign policy in the Middle East. At every crossroads, the position of the United States has weakened further -- to the point where our Secretary of State agrees to meet terrorist leader Yasser Arafat without any conditions.



I suspect that the President has quietly given Sharon implicit approval of his actions to eliminate the terrorists in Israel's back yard. However, in the long term our lack of moral clarity -- which was so refreshing when President Bush took office -- will ultimately prolong the terrorist incursions of Yasser Arafat. The terrorists will have learned, as Mr. Lowry point poignantly states, "that a few street protests and howls from Arab governments can serve to stifle American power, to make its leaders reverse themselves and generally seem confused and weak."

TERRORISTS IN OUR MIDST



Earlier today, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the indictment of four individuals, including the infamous "blind sheik" Abdel Rahman and his American lawyer Lynne Stewart, for providing material support to a terrorist organization known as The Islamic Group. If you want to see how this incendiary felon and his aides-de-camp are alleged to have conspired against your country, you can read the indictment here.



According to the Associated Press:

Stewart is a 62-year-old civil rights attorney and political firebrand whose clients have ranged from Weather Underground radicals to cop killers and recently, mob killer and turncoat Sammy "Bull" Gravano.

What a fantastic person.



It should be obvious that the Patriots Act, which includes provisions allowing the government to listen in to the conversations of federal inmates and their attorneys, is vital to our national security.

ANTI-SEMETIC MORAL EQUIVILANCY AT BERKELEY



Clownish behavior has long been a tradition an UC Berkeley, but today's clownish behavior turned criminal when a group of "pro-Palestinian" (read: pro-terrorist) protestors stormed Wheeler Hall.



Even more disgusting was the attempt by protestors to subvert the Yom HaShoah observance at Berkeley by equating the current situation in the Middle East with the Holocaust. Thank goodness for free speech: We now know who the anti-Semites are. Several of them were photographed by the Associated Press.

:: WHAT NEXT? :: GOOD WRITING CONTEST COMMENTARY



I start this entry with a big "thank you" to Dan at www.bluedaniel.com. Dan ran across What Next? while surfing around and was kind enough to give me, and the "What Next? Good Writing Contest," a plug at his website.



Dan's blog has a nifty feature that allows his readers to make shared comments on each of his postings. While visiting his website today, I noticed several comments on Professor Butler's award-winning bad writing entry. The comments are somewhat amusing, to wit:

Okay. Professor of Rhetoric, I can understand. But professor of Comparative LITERATURE? Please. I may shoot myself. The only thing I can pray is that this is some sort of cross-disciplinary excursion....that Dr. Butler is perhaps comparing her writing to....dadaist art. Or something. Because to think that this woman is helping form the minds of others--others who will be reading and critiquing MY writing--



--I shudder. Up against this, no wonder I'm working at a library. Does that sentence even have a PREDICATE? Jeezus.



Dan? Please shoot me. I beg of you.



-sara

-Apr 07 2002, 08:55 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I think it's a secretly coded interpretation of "Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle".



-penguin

-Apr 07 2002, 11:39 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Pour another cold one, this one may take a while...



-Dan

-Apr 06 2002, 09:29 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



All I know for sure is that it gave me a whopping headache.



-Lisa

-Apr 06 2002, 09:20 pm

By the way, Dan is a DJ for a great public radio jazz station in the Newark/New York City metro area, WBGO 88.3 FM (you can listen to the streaming broadcast here).

DECONTRUCTING MORAL EQUIVALENCY



Jonah Goldberg at National Review Online has just written the definitive article crushing the arguments of so-called "peace activists" who are incapable of distinguishing Palestinian misery -- caused by Palestinian leaders -- from the murder of innocent Jews in Israel by bloodthirsty, brainwashed, cultist fanatics.



Kudos to Prime Minister Sharon for his bold, principled stand on behalf of Israeli security interests. His actions are perfectly justified and consistent with the philosophy of our own government. This, too, is a war against evil, and the President and his worrywarts at State must support Israel. Our interests are Israel�s, and Israel�s interests are our own. That�s not to say the Palestinian Authority doesn�t have its own set of interests. It does. It�s mission is the complete destruction of Israel and its citizens.

THIS REVIEW CONFIRMS THAT I'M NOT MISSING ANYTHING



Dude, here's, like, a majorly cool review of "The Bachelor". Very cool.

EVEN THE "ILLITERATI" CAN PUBLISH BOOKS



This great article by Gregory Baruch of the Washington Post asks the fundamental question: If we can sue for all manner of misrepresentation in business and personal affairs, why is the publishing industry somehow exempt when it comes to the use of ghostwriters?

BASEBALL: THE AMERICAN GAME



Because I'm somewhat new to you, dear reader, I should tell you that I'm a big fan of the National Pastime. Later today, I'll be driving to Pac Bell Park for my first baseball game of the season, featuring the SF Giants versus the San Diego Padres.



The more baseball I watch, the more I'm convinced that it's a mirror of our individual lives. I'll get more into that thought later on.



Have you entered the What Next? Good Writing contest?

FROM THE "WHY DIDN'T THIS HAPPEN 17 YEARS AGO?" FILE



Bryant Gumbel will leave morning TV, ending 17 years of ante meridiem arrogance. His most recent gig brought the CBS "Early Show" from third place to, well, third place. The reason he won't be back is that this champion of the poor and downtrodden couldn't get the raise he asked for (he currently makes somewhere between $5 million and $6 million, according to Reuters). He will continue to host his HBO sports show.



In memoriam, here are some of Gumbel's more profound "fair and tough" comments (courtesy of the Media Research Center, which features video clips of Gumbel's comments):

Number 1: "This comes at a time when Republicans are looking to gut the Clean Water Act and also the Safe Drinking Water Act. What are our options? Are we now forced to boil water because bottled water is not an economically feasible option for a lot of people?" -- To Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer Erik Olson, June 1, 1995 Today.



Number 2: "Largely as a result of the policies and priorities of the Reagan administration, more people are becoming poor and staying poor in this country than at any time since World War II." -- July 17, 1989 Today



Number 3: "And Kathleen Willey also spoke about Linda Tripp, a Clinton-basher who seems to be at every ugly turn in this controversy. Tripp was outside the Oval Office when Willey emerged from her encounter with the President. Just how is it that Linda Tripp is so often conveniently involved in the President�s troubles? For some clues let�s bring in The New Yorker�s Jane Mayer, who has profiled the controversial Miss Tripp in this week�s issue. You write that co-workers often viewed her as an inveterate busybody. Has she always been a snoop and a gossip with a particular interest in other people�s romantic lives?" -- On Public Eye, March 17, 1998.



Number 4: "The bottom line is more tax money is going to be needed. Just how much will be the primary issue on the agenda when Congressional leaders meet with the President later today, Wednesday, May the 9th, 1990. And good morning, welcome to Today. It�s a Wednesday morning, a day when the budget picture, frankly, seems gloomier than ever. It now seems the time has come to pay the fiddler for our costly dance of the Reagan years." -- Leading off Today, May 9, 1990.



Number 5: "In the first two years this is a man [Clinton] who tried his best to balance the budget, to reform health care, to fight for gay rights, to support personal freedoms. Couldn�t those be considered doing the right things, evidence of true character?" -- To David Maraniss, MSNBC�s InterNight, October 10, 1996.



Number 6: "Do you give Bill Clinton credit for addressing serious issues that went untouched for 12 years -- deficit reduction, gun control, world trade, health care. He has certainly taken on tough issues, and made them not a question of if, but how much." -- To Mother Jones Editor Jeffrey Klein, January 7, 1994, Today.



Number 7: "We keep looking for some good to come out of this. Maybe it might help in putting race relations back on the front burner after they�ve been subjugated so long as a result of the Reagan years." -- On the Los Angeles riots, April 30, 1992, Today.



Number 8: "Scott, as you and I both know, a popular move these days is to make a titillating charge and then have the media create the frenzy. Given Kenneth Starr�s track record, should we suspect that he�s trying to do with innuendo that which he has been unable to do with evidence?" -- To CBS News reporter Scott Pelley, January 21, 1998, Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel.



Number 9: "If I�m a young black man in South Central L.A., where poverty is rampant and unemployment is skyrocketing, I see that Washington�s promises of a year ago have gone unfulfilled, I see that perhaps for a second time, the court�s inability to mete out justice in a blind fashion, why shouldn�t I vent my anger?"

-- To U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), April 15, 1993, Today.



Number 10: "We've got an awful lot to talk about this week, including the sexual harassment suit against the President. Of course, in that one, it�s a little tough to figure out who�s really being harassed." -- Today, May 10, 1994.

Goodbye, Bryant.

A HISTORY LESSON



George Will is right on in his latest column. Make no mistake about it, the so-called "occupied territories" were occupied for a reason, which you can read about here.

ISRAEL MUST PREVAIL



Anyone with have a normal, healthy mind should realize that Israel's struggle is directly linked to our War on Terrorism. The situation that Israel faces right now, in conjunction with the anti-Semitic violence in such "educated" and "tolerant" and "intellectual" places like France, should be a call to arms against all those "peace activists" who support the homicidal, gay-hating, women-oppressing radial Islamofacists. The President's words immediately after September 11th, and at yesterday's speech at the White House, are right on:

Everyone must choose; you're either with the civilized world, or you're with the terrorists

There is no middle ground.



I get so fed up with the mainstream press and their characterization of the President's remarks, which make him sound like he's completely caving to the admonitions of the "enlightened" Left. Why, when the President says something like this...

The Chairman of the Palestinian Authority has not consistently opposed or confronted terrorists. At Oslo and elsewhere, Chairman Arafat renounced terror as an instrument of his cause, and he agreed to control it. He's not done so.



The situation in which he finds himself today is largely of his own making. He's missed his opportunities, and thereby betrayed the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead. Given his failure, the Israeli government feels it must strike at terrorist networks that are killing its citizens.

...does President Bush's remarks get headlined like this?

President Demands Israel Withdraw from Occupied Territories

The New York Times calls Israel's action an "offensive". Yet the official name of the "offensive" in question is "Operation Defensive Shield." [Emphasis mine] This defensive designation is absolutely correct, as Israel's reaction was brought about by homicide-bombers who initiated killing operations against innocent Jewish citizens and fellow-Palestinians.

ENTRIES ARE COMING IN!



Don't forget to enter the new What Next? contest! I'm very impressed with the quality and thoroughness of the entries received thus far.

IDIODIC STATEMENT OF THE DAY



From the OpinionJournal's "Best of the Web Today" by James Taranto:

Meanwhile Tikkun's Michael Lerner, the far-left rabbi who once aspired to be Hillary's guru, has this to say about suicide bombings: "Though we at THE TIKKUN COMMUNITY oppose the outrageous and disgusting acts of terror against Israelis, we know that the actual level of violence is small compared to the number of Israelis who die each year in automobile accidents.

Well, I guess that means everything really is a-okay. Those homicide bombers really aren't that evil after all.

AN OUTSIDER PERSPECTIVE



Sometimes it is good to see what other people say about your country. Check out this Australian article from the Centre for Independent Studies.

AH, TO BE A BLOGGER IS TO SUFFER FOR TECHNOLOGY



I don't know if it's because I'm writing from Canada today, or if servers are simply very busy, but I've been having a very tough time posting to the blog. I will prevail through this latest technical glitch!

WHEN GLOBAL COOLING WAS A THREAT



Do the words in this article sound similar to what we hear today about "global warming?"

ROE V WADE HYSTERIA ALERT



The San Francisco Chronicle is having a hard time with terminology this morning. The headline of the story in question reads "Fetus found in downtown wastebasket". Then, right underneath the headline, we read "Police question S.F. building where abandoned preemie's body discovered." [Emphasis is mine]



The use of the word "preemie" is very interesting. It seems that the Chronicle doesn't know what to call the, well, "thing" that was found in the trash.



And what should we make of this paragraph?

An autopsy was being conducted by the San Francisco medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death of the fetus, which police Inspector Mike Johnson described this morning only as premature.

What is premature? The "fetus", or the "autopsy?" I presume that the writer, Henry K. Lee, was referring to the "fetus", "preemie", or, perhaps "baby?"



Obviously, all of the major style guides at the Chronicle couldn't help with the authorship of this story. If the writer were to have actually stated that the dead baby was, in fact, a baby, you can bet your life certain pro-abortion groups would come out of the woodwork to condemn the story. So we are instead treated with vague language regarding the very subject of the story, a human baby (you won�t find �baby� in the story until you read the very last word in the article).



The SFPD homicide detail is looking into the case, but they are not entirely sure that they should:

"Until the cause of death is determined, we don't know if it's a homicide or not," [Inspector Maureen] D'Amico said.

I guess it's murder if the autopsy demonstrates that the subject question was a premature baby. But what if the coroner concludes otherwise? Will this just be a case of unlawful disposal of hazardous material?



Oh what a confused world we live in.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNING BLOCKHEADS & NEW WHAT NEXT? CONTEST



P. J. O'Rourke excoriates a ludicrous press release by 103 Nobel laureates at the Atlantic Monthly online.



Such Nobel silliness reminds me of the indecipherable blather that frequently issues forth from the halls of academia, for example:

The move from a structuralist account in which capital is understood to structure social relations in relatively homologous ways to a view of hegemony in which power relations are subject to repetition, convergence, and rearticulation brought the question of temporality into the thinking of structure, and marked a shift from a form of Althusserian theory that takes structural totalities as theoretical objects to one in which the insights into the contingent possibility of structure inaugurate a renewed conception of hegemony as bound up with the contingent sites and strategies of the rearticulation of power.

This prize-winning entry from the Philosophy and Literature Bad Writing Contest was written by Judith Butler, professor of rhetoric and comparative literature at none other than the University of California at Berkeley.



What Next? Good Writing Contest: If for some reason you actually know what professor Butler is saying, send me an e-mail entry with your plain English definition. The entrant with the clearest explanation will win a free copy of David McCullough's biography of John Adams (which I first mentioned yesterday). Rules: (1) I alone will judge all contest entries, and (2) my decision will be final. The deadline for entries is May 31st. Good luck!

A HISTORY LESSON



A great piece by Victor Davis Hanson in today's Wall Street Journal on the spoils of war and revisionist history in the Middle East.

JOHN ADAMS � TERRORISM EXPERT



I�ve just begun David McCullough�s beautiful biography of John Adams (available online here). I�m not yet 100 pages into this book, but I can already tell that it�s changing my perceptions about the man who was arguably one of the most influential players in the American Revolution.



McCullough quotes Adams�s voluminous writings throughout the book, demonstrating that Adams had an uncanny ability to predict the future. When he was in his youth, Adams crafted what has turned out to be an profound prophecy about the ascendancy of America in the global political stage. Adams had this to say about the appeasement and conciliatory measures that were being punted about the Continental Congress during it�s deliberations prior to the Declaration of Independence:

But I was not content with all that was done, and almost every day, I had something to say about advising the states to institute governments, to express my total despair of any good coming from the petition [the "Olive Branch Petition" to King George III] or of those things which were called conciliatory measures. I constantly insisted that such measures, instead of having any tendency to produce a reconciliation, would only be considered as proofs of our timidity and want of confidence in the ground we stood on, and would only encourage our enemies to greater exertions against us.

This philosophy, which could be characterized as "peace through strength" must prevail in places like Afghanistan and Israel. There can be no reconciliation with an enemy that is committed, strategically, to the destruction of not only Israel, but of the West.



Binyamin Netanyahu exhibits this Adams-esque understanding in Israeli politics, and although he is no longer Prime Minister (for now?), he obviously still exerts a strong influence, as demonstrated most recently by the justified actions Israel is taking to secure herself from terrorism.

A CONCEALED WEAPON FOR ME, BUT NOT FOR THEE



Dateline Oakland, CA -- State Senator Don Perata, from the other side of the Bay, will introduce legislation to impose a "small" 5-cent tax on each bullet sold in the state of California. Here's a link to the senator's letter requesting renewal of his CCW permit to carry a concealed firearm. Senator Diane Feinstein was also caught with a concealed weapon permit when she was trying to ban guns she felt were bad.



Naturally, none of this rank hypocrisy will make your local news broadcast.

HAPPY EASTER!



My apologies for the belated Easter greeting. I had a great time today with my friends here in San Francisco. I hope, wherever you may be, that you find the peace and joy you're searching for.

THIS IS WHY YOU WANT TO KEEP THE LID ON GOVERNMENT GROWTH



Check out the last paragraph of this article. What a great thing it is to work for a government agency -- you never have to say your sorry because you run no risk of getting fired.

"... A CULTURE OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS..."



Please check out Mark Steyn's brilliant piece in The New Criterion Online. Mr. Steyn is one of those essayists who consistenty pens thoughts you wish you had thought of first.

THE UN: APOLOGISTS FOR TERRORISM



The UN Security Council, predictably, passed a resolution demand Israel withdraw from Ramallah-la-la-ding-dong after yet another terrorist attack on innocent Israeli civilians. What was not so predictable was the 14-0 vote, which includes the support of the United States. Are we trying to fight terror or not? These bomb attacks, which have become a daily occurrence in civilian populated areas, really prove that terrorist Yasser Arafat is no longer in control of the situation in his security area. Israel�s response is amazingly restrained, given that they have left Arafat without electricity and water and left him with his life in situ.





If Arafat truly wants peace, he needs to tell his militant groups, in Arabic, to cease all violence immediately. I, for one, have had enough of Arafat's Arabic praise of these immoral and sick acts while simultaneously complaining to everyone else in English that he's a victim of oppression. He isn't, but the people he's responsible for are victims -- of a violent, dictatorial, brainwashing regime with little or no remaining credibility.

PEDOPHILIA IS A BAD WORD



A "distinguished" state university here in the United States will publish a book which seeks to legitimize certain forms of "intergenerational sex", also known to you and I by the more common term "pedophilia."



From the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal column "The Best of the Web" by James Taranto:

The University of Minnesota Press plans to publish a book called "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex," which opposes what author Judith Levine calls "the ideology that it's always harmful for kids to have sexual relationships with adults." Reports the Newhouse News Service:



But arguments have emerged in academic journals, books and online that at least some such sex should be acceptable, especially when children consent to it. . . . These academics seek to change the language, moving away from "pedophilia," which often evokes a charged negative response, particularly in light of the priest-pedophile cases challenging the Roman Catholic Church. In its place would be more neutral terms such as "intergenerational sex" or "adult-child sex."



With more research, some scholars say, it may be only a matter of time before modern society accepts adult-child sex, just as it has learned to accept premarital sex and homosexual sex.



We suspect they're wrong. Some ideas are so stupid, only an intellectual could believe them.

The forward to the book was written by none other than Joycelyn Elders, former President Clinton's Surgeon General, who was forced to resign her post after calling on public school educators to teach masterbation techniques to your children.



Yet another example of the misuse of your tax money.

70 VIRGINS LAUNDRY DETERGENT



Rush Limbaugh just ran the funniest spoof ad for "70 Virgins Laundry Detergent". I laughed and laughed! Regardless of what you may think about him (and I admit to being a big fan), it's hard to deny that he's a riot.

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY



Christians around the globe are observing Good Friday, the "the Friday on which the Church keeps the anniversary of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ" (from The Catholic Encyclopedia). Interestingly, the "Good" in Good Friday is of unknown origin. Even so, I find the name of this observance to be very comforting.

YASSER ARAFAT - TERRORIST



Beware any of the pronouncements from this terrorist. Whenever he says he wants a "cease-fire" or "peace", you ought to hear what he tells his murderous cabal in Arabic (here's a hint: "murders" become "martyrs"). Binyamin Netanyahu is good to always point out Arafat's two-faceness whenever he appears on the Sunday morning blah-shows. Why doesn't erstwhile objective press do the same??



Make sure you check out �ber-blogger Andrew Sullivan's fine piece on the "peace process" today (alliteration was intentionally left in).

GREEN FRAUD



One of the major underreported stories of this year is the flagrant fraud being perpetrated by several federal "green" agencies. Read about the spectacular abuse of your personal freedoms (and tax dollars) in the name of the precious suckerfish here.

THE BLOG IS HERE



Welcome to Christopher Drew's What Next? blog. You are in for a treat. Seriously. I am so totally not kidding about this.