MarinerPundit

POTUS Speechifies at that-place-across-the-sound-from-Fort-Schuyler

2006-06-20T08:25:00.000-05:00

Thank you for the warm welcome -- if you know what I mean. Admiral Stewart, Secretary Mineta, members of the United States Congress, Academy staff and faculty, distinguished guests, proud family members, and most importantly, the Class of 2006. I'm honored to be the first President to address the United States Merchant Marine Academy. I know that a presidential visit to Kings Point has been a long time in coming. And, Admiral, I hope it's worth the wait.
This is a proud moment for the Class of 2006. You have worked hard for this day. You sweated through the hardest indoc in Academy history; you braved the Jamaican beef patties of Delano Hall -- You spent a year when your classroom was a ship and your campus the Seven Seas; you've made it through endless drills on the Grinder; you've survived the restriction musters that come with missing the train back from Manhattan. This fall, your football team brought home the Secretaries Cup by beating the Coast Guard. You've rung the bell outside Wiley Hall. And the words etched in your class ring affirm your commitment to teamwork: "Not for you, not for me, but for us." Your parents are proud of you, your teachers are proud of you, and this Academy is proud of you. On behalf of the American people, I congratulate you on a fine achievement, and I thank you for choosing to serve the United States of America.
This morning, I flew here on Air Force One with my friend, Andy Card. You might remember Andy -- he was my former chief of staff, and he attended this Academy in the 1960s. It just so happens when he was a plebe, he was stuffed in a duffel bag and run up the flagpole. I know he appreciates the much warmer welcome he received here today.
Secretary Card also reminded me that the President of the United States has the authority to lift all demerits and restrictions. So I bring you a graduation present. In keeping with the longstanding tradition at our nation's service academies, I hereby absolve all midshipmen who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses -- I leave it to Admiral Stewart to define exactly what "minor" means. Life at this Academy is demanding -- and it is meant to be. America is a great maritime power, and our Merchant Marine has a vital role to play. In times of peace, the Merchant Marine helps ensure our economic security by keeping the oceans open to trade. In times of war, the Merchant Marine is the lifeline of our troops overseas, carrying critical supplies, equipment, and personnel. For more than six decades, the mission of this Academy has been to graduate highly skilled mariners to serve America's economic and national security needs. To train you for these responsibilities, this Academy sharpens your mind, it strengthens your body, and builds up your character. The Academy has made you strong and instilled respect for the Kings Point motto -- Acta Non Verba -- "Deeds, Not Words."
"Deeds, Not Words" was the hallmark of this Academy in World War II. In the early years of the war, America's efforts to supply our allies in Europe were threatened by the U-boats that were sinking American ships faster than we could build them. The need to arm and defend our merchant ships was urgent, and King Pointers answered the call. One
of them was an 18-year-old named Edwin O'Hara, whose statue stands not far from here. In September 1942, Cadet O'Hara was serving on the USS Stephen Hopkins when it came under attack from two Nazi raiders. After the entire gun crew of the Hopkins was killed by enemy fire, O'Hara singlehandedly served and fired the last five shells in the ready box, scoring direct hits on the German warship Stier. Cadet O'Hara was mortally wounded in the action, but not before he helped send the Stier to the bottom of the South Atlantic.
Edwin O'Hara is one of 142 Academy graduates who gave their lives in the second world war. Today Kings Point is still the only one of our five service academies that sends its students into the theaters of war -- and for that reason, it is the only Academy authorized to fly a Battle Standard.
"Deeds, Not Words" was your response on the morning of September the 11th, 2001. From this campus, every man and woman could see the black smoke rising from the Twin Towers. Within hours, your midshipmen were working side-by-side with the Coast Guard and marine division of the New York City Fire Department. Over the next nine days, you moved firefighters and police and emergency response teams into Ground Zero. You moved tons of food and water and supplies. The heroic response to that terrible day showed the spirit of America -- and the spirit of this fine Academy. And I thank you for your service.
"Deeds, Not Words" defines the Academy's role in the global war on terror. Your cadets are forward deployed in the Middle East, where they're supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Your Global Maritime and Transportation School is providing advanced training in areas from marine engineering to port security for military units like the Navy Seabees and Surface Warfare Officers. And your graduates are serving our nation in every branch of our Armed Services, as sailors projecting American combat power across the Earth; as Marines and soldiers leading platoons from Khandahar to Tikrit; as Coast Guard officers securing our homeland; and as airmen delivering justice to terrorists hiding in safe houses and caves. In the global war on terror, the men and women of this Academy are making a difference on every front -- and the American people are grateful for your service.
To win the war on terror, we will continue to build and strengthen ties with our friends and allies across the world. America's alliance with Europe is a key pillar of our strategy for victory. And tomorrow, Laura and I will depart on my 15th trip to Europe since I have taken office. This visit comes at a critical moment for America and our allies. We have important decisions to make that will affect the prospects for peace and prosperity across the world. And today I'm going to talk to you about the objectives I will pursue on this important trip. My first stop will be Vienna, where I will attend the annual summit between the United States and the European Union. And then I'm going to travel to Budapest to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. And I'm really looking forward to the trip. Americans have strong ties to the European people. We have warm friendships with European nations. And on my trip this week, we will strengthen our close and growing partnership with the European Union.
America's partnership with the European Union grows from sturdy roots -- our common love of freedom, and our commitment to democratic principles. Those of you graduating today have grown up with a Europe whose major powers are at peace with one another. Yet in the sweep of history, this is a dramatic change. There was a time in history when Europe was the site of bloody conflicts and bitter rivalries. As recently as the last century, Europe was the site of two devastating world wars. Now, because generations have sacrificed for liberty and built strong democracies, the nations of Europe are partners in common union, and neighbors on a continent that's whole, free, and at peace.
A free and peaceful Europe is one of the great achievements of the past century. My generation, and yours, will be judged by what comes next. So America and Europe must work together to advance freedom and democracy. We will cooperate to expand trade and prosperity. We will strengthen our efforts to combat terrorism. And we will stand together to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Our work begins with a common commitment to extending the reach of freedom and democracy. On Prime Minister Blair's recent visit to America, he said: "The governments of the world do not all believe in freedom. But the people of the world do." As people who have secured our own freedom, America and Europe have a duty to help others do the same. We're fulfilling that duty together in Belarus, where we support the reformers seeking to erase the stain of dictatorship from Europe. We're fulfilling that duty together in Georgia and Ukraine, where we stand with brave people striving to consolidate democratic gains. We're fulfilling that duty together in the Balkans, where people who have suffered so much have made a choice to live in liberty, and should be welcomed as a part of Europe in the 21st century.
As we saw on September the 11, 2001, the actions of a repressive regime thousands of miles away can have a direct impact on our own security. In this new century, the loss of freedom anywhere is a blow to freedom everywhere. And when freedom advances, people gain an alternative to violence, and the prospects for peace are multiplied and all nations become more secure. So America and Europe have launched bold initiatives to aid democratic reformers across the world, especially in the broader Middle East. We've worked with the United Nations to end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon -- and we will not rest until the Lebanese people enjoy full independence. We're determined to end the conflict in the Holy Land and bring about a solution with two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.
Our shared commitment to extending freedom and democracy is clear in Afghanistan and Iraq. Together America and Europe have helped bring about a historic transformation in those countries. Two of the world's most dangerous regimes have been removed from power, and the world is better off for it. Al Qaida's training camps have been closed in Afghanistan. Al Qaida's leader in Iraq has been killed. Two violent dictatorships are being replaced with growing democracies that answer to their people, that respect their neighbors, and that serve as allies in the war on terror. Afghanistan and Iraq are taking their rightful place in the free world -- and America and Europe must work tirelessly to help them succeed.
One week ago today, I left Camp David and flew to the capital of a free and democratic Iraq. In Baghdad I met with Prime Minister Maliki and members of his cabinet. The Prime Minister is a man of strong character; he has a clear and practical plan to lead his country forward. He briefed me on the immediate steps he's taking to improve security in Baghdad, to build up Iraq's economy and to reach out to the international community.
The formation of a new government and successful raids on al Qaeda targets in Iraq have created a moment of opportunity. Iraqis must seize this moment -- and we will help them succeed. I assured the Prime Minister that when America gives a commitment, America will keep its word. By helping Prime Minister Maliki's new government achieve its aims, we will expand opportunity for all the Iraqi people, we will inflict a major defeat on the terrorists, and we will show the world the power of a thriving democracy in the heart of the Middle East.
A free and sovereign Iraq requires the strong support of Europe. And some of the most important support for Iraqis is coming from European democracies with recent memories of tyranny -- Poland and Hungary and Romania and Bulgaria and the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Georgia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Others in Europe have had disagreements with our decisions on Iraq. Yet we've all watched the Iraqi people stand up for their freedom -- and we agree that the success of a democratic government in Baghdad is vital for the Iraqis and for the security of the world.
The European Union has been the world's most -- among the world's most generous financial donors for reconstruction in Iraq. And Europe and America will encourage greater international support to help Prime Minister Maliki implement his plans for recovery. The international community has pledged about $13 billion to help this new government. Yet only $3.5 billion has been paid. This is a critical time for Iraq's young democracy, and assistance from the international community will make an immediate difference. All nations that have pledged money have a responsibility to keep their pledges -- and America and Europe will work together to ensure they do so. America and Europe also stand together in our determination to widen the circle of prosperity. We're cooperating on projects to develop clean, secure energy sources, especially alternatives to fossil fuel. On the continent of Africa, we're working to strengthen democracy, relieve debt, fight disease, and end the genocide in Darfur. At the World Trade Organization, we're working to lower trade barriers by concluding the Doha talks. America has made a bold proposal to eliminate trade-distorting agriculture subsidies and tariffs -- and I call on Europe to join us, so we can set an example of free and fair trade for the world. By spreading prosperity, America and Europe will create new opportunities for our people, to help alleviate poverty, and deliver hope and dignity and progress to millions across the world.
Together America and Europe are laying the foundations for a future of peace and prosperity. And yet the terrorists are threatening this progress. So at our summit this week, we'll take new steps to strengthen our cooperation on counterterrorism, to improve transportation security, and to crack down on terrorist financing. And we will renew our commitment to support the voices of peace and moderation in the Muslim world, to help provide a hopeful alternative to radicalism. America and Europe must stand united in this war on terror. By being steadfast, and by being strong, we will defeat the enemies of freedom.
America and Europe are also united on one of the most difficult challenges facing the world today, the behavior of the regime in Iran. The leaders of Iran sponsor terror, deny liberty and human rights to their people, and threaten the existence of our ally, Israel. And by pursuing nuclear activities that mask its effort to acquire nuclear weapons, the regime is acting in defiance of its treaty obligations, of the United Nations Security Council, and of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Nuclear weapons in the hands of this regime would be a grave threat to people everywhere. I've discussed the problem of the Iranian regime extensively with leaders in Europe, particularly in Great Britain and Germany and France. I've also consulted closely with the Presidents of Russia and China. We've all agreed on a unified approach to solve this problem diplomatically. The United States has offered to come to the table with our partners and meet with Iran's representatives -- as soon as the Iranian regime fully and verifiably suspends its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. Iran's leaders have a clear choice. We hope they will accept our offer and voluntarily suspend these activities, so we can work out an agreement that will bring Iran real benefits. If Iran's leaders reject our offer, it will result in action before the Security Council, further isolation from the world, and progressively stronger political and economic sanctions.
I've a message for the Iranian regime: America and our partners are united. We have presented a reasonable offer. Iran's leaders should see our proposal for what it is -- an historic opportunity to set their country on a better course. If Iran's leaders want peace and prosperity and a more hopeful future for their people, they should accept our offer, abandon any ambitions to obtain nuclear weapons, and come into compliance with their international obligations.
I've a message for the Iranian people: The United States respects you and your country. We admire your rich history, your vibrant culture, and your many contributions to civilization. When Cyrus the Great led the Iranian people more than 2,500 years ago, he delivered one of the world's first declarations of individual rights, including the right to worship God in freedom. Through the centuries, Iranians have achieved distinction in medicine and science and poetry and philosophy, and countless other fields.
In the 21st century, the people of Iran, especially the talented and educated youth, are among the world's leaders in science and technology. Iranians have a large presence on the Internet, and a desire to make even greater progress, including the development of civilian nuclear energy. This is a legitimate desire. We believe the Iranian people should enjoy the benefits of a truly peaceful program to use nuclear reactors to generate electric power. So America supports the Iranian people's rights to develop nuclear energy peacefully, with proper international safeguards. The people of Iran, like people everywhere, also want and deserve an opportunity to determine their own future, an economy that rewards their intelligence and talents, and a society that allows them to pursue their dreams. I believe Iranians would thrive if they were given more opportunities to travel and study abroad, and do business with the rest of the world. Here in the United States, Iranian Americans have used their freedom to advance in society and make tremendous contributions in areas from business to medicine, to academics.
To help provide more opportunities for the people of Iran, we will look for new ways to increase contact between Americans and Iranians, especially in education and culture, sports and tourism. We'll provide more than $75 million this year to promote openness and freedom for the Iranian people. These funds will allow us to expand and improve radio and television broadcasts to the people of Iran. These funds will support Iranian human rights advocates and civil society organizations. And these funds will promote student and faculty exchanges, so we can build bridges of understanding between our people.
Americans believe the future of Iran will be decided by the people of Iran -- and we believe that future can be one of progress and prosperity and achievement. We look forward to the day when our nations are friends, and when the people of Iran enjoy the full fruits of liberty, and play a leading role to establish peace in our world. The advance of freedom is the calling of our time -- and the men and women of the United States Merchant Marine Academy are answering that call. In a few moments, you'll walk through Vickery Gate and leave the Academy that's been your home. You leave with a bachelor's degree, a license as a Merchant Marine officer, and a commission in one of the branches of our Armed Services. And you leave with something else: The great truth that duty and honor and courage are not just words; they are virtues that sustain a free people, people who are determined to live under self-government. They're the virtues that will be your anchor and compass in a life of purpose and service. These are the virtues that America demands of those entrusted with leading her sons and daughters in uniform. And these are the virtues that America has come to expect from the blue and grey.
We see the devotion to duty and honor and country in the life of one of this Academy's finest graduates, Aaron Seesan. Aaron was an Ohio boy who grew up dreaming of being a soldier. He brought that dream with him to this Academy -- and when he walked through these gates three years ago, he carried on his shoulders the gold bar of a second lieutenant in the United States Army. After entering the Army, Lieutenant Seesan trained as a combat engineer. And he was serving at Fort Lewis, Washington, when a group of soldiers who were based at the fort were struck by a suicide bomb in Iraq. Two of the men were killed. And that's when this young lieutenant volunteered to go to Iraq to take the place of a wounded platoon leader.
When Lieutenant Seesan arrived in Iraq, some of his fellow soldiers wondered what was the Army thinking. His platoon sergeant said, "I didn't know what the hell a Merchant Marine graduate was doing here in the 73rd Engineering Company." The sergeant quickly changed his mind when he saw Lieutenant Seesan in action, taking care of his men as they patrolled the most dangerous roads in and around Mosul. In May 2005, he was leading a routine sweep of a city street when a bomb exploded and hit the fuel tank of his Humvee. Those who were with him recall his last words: "Take charge, Sergeant Arnold, and take care of the others."
He died on May 22 -- on National Maritime Day. For his act of bravery, Lieutenant Seesan was awarded the Bronze Star. And the campus memorial that bears his name will remind all who come here of Kings Point commitment to Aaron Seesan gave his life freely. While still in high school, he wrote a poem that now seems prophetic. He wrote, "Mourn not my terrible death, but celebrate my cause in life." Aaron's cause in life was freedom, and as you take your place as officers in our Armed Forces, I ask you to celebrate the freedom for which Aaron fought and died. America has invested in you, and she has high expectations. My call to you is this: Trust your instincts, and use the skills you were taught here to give back to your nation. Do not be afraid of mistakes; learn from them. Show leadership and character in whatever you do. The world lies before you. I ask you to go forth with faith in America, and confidence in the eternal promise of liberty.
In all that lies ahead, I wish you fair winds and following seas. As I look out at the men and women before me, I will leave here knowing that you will bring honor to our nation, and to this Academy that has prepared you for the challenges you will face. May God steer thee well, Kings Point. And may God bless America.

Wisdom from Ben Stein for Memorial Day

2006-05-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

For my fallen brothers and sister. Lux aeterna dona, Domine...
And for those currently serving, especially my Command & Staff classmates soon to deploy in the sand box. Our brethern shield in dangers hour.

Yes, damitall, emphasis is mine.
They Did God's Work
By Ben Stein (who, I must note, is a former Marine)
Published 5/26/2006 11:59:59 PM

Remarks delivered on Saturday evening in Arlington, Virginia, at the Memorial Day weekend seminar and grief camp of TAPS -- the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME be a part of your family. This is the most important family on the planet right now. There is a First Family on Pennsylvania Avenue, but this is the real first family. The family of those who have paid the ultimate price to keep us free and dignified and alive.

A bad day for me is when I get stuck in traffic or have a toothache or notice that I have gained weight or my teenage son is surly.

A bad day for you is realizing that the only man or woman you have ever loved is gone for this lifetime.

A difficult day for me with my wife is when she's out at her bridge lesson and comes home late so my dinner is late.

A difficult day for you is when you wake up from a dream that your husband or wife or son or daughter or mother or father was alive and laughing with you and realize you'll never see that loveable person again for the rest of your natural lives.

A bad day for an ordinary American is seeing the stock market go down or watching his son sneak a beer.

A bad day for you is a sort of loneliness, a hopeless, cruel loneliness that cuts right to the bone like the cut of a knife, that tells you that there is no one there to hug you, no one to kiss you, no one to fix the kids' bikes, no one to wipe away the tears that just come uncontrollably when you least expect them.

A bad day for me is getting stuck in an airport security line. A bad day for you is being on the plane alone.

Yet your loneliness has meaning. Your loneliness, your pain, is the mortar and concrete that anchors the nation. The sacrifice your loved ones made, the sacrifice you made, that your kids made, is what makes the whole American world safe from terror.

Your loved ones' lives had what we all want: meaning. The knowledge you were doing something big for others. That is EVERYTHING in life.

Wall Street does not have it. Hollywood does not have it. They're just in it for the fame and the money.

Your loved ones were in it for unselfishness, for kindness, for love of one's fellow man. There is no higher meaning on this earth.

The media try to rob your husbands' and wives' and kids' lives of meaning saying this war is not about anything.

They're wrong and they say what they say because they don't see the truth. They print a story on the front page about Marines killing civilians in a town in Iraq and if they did, it was wrong. But the big media never report a MARINE throwing himself on a bomb to protect an Iraqi child, or a Marine giving his life to rid a town of murderers or a Marine or an Army man or woman or a Navy Seal or a Coast Guardsman offering up his life so that Iraqi human beings can have the same freedoms and rights we take for granted here in America.

The media are like grave robbers, robbing you of the certain knowledge that your spouses gave their lives for something deeply worthwhile: human dignity.

Your loved ones' lives and deaths had as much meaning at the lives and deaths of every American who died for freedom from Valley Forge to the Battle of the Bulge to Cho-Sin Reservoir to the Cu Chi tunnels to the Balkans to Kabul, Afghanistan, to Falluja, Iraq.

And if the media doesn't know it, every other American does. This is a very difficult fight, but the ordinary American knows what your loved ones have done and respects them.

Your families, your loved one, your children have more respect than Sean Penn and Barbra Streisand and the Dixie Chicks all put together times a million. And the media like to criticize because they know -- in their hearts -- that they will never have the guts that the man and woman in uniform have. I think media envy of your loved ones' courage has a lot do with media mockery of the war.

To heck with them. Your husbands are the real stars. Your wives and kids are the real stars. They burn brightly forever as long as there are free men and women and the longing for human freedom burns bright in the human heart.

John F. Kennedy said that here on earth, God's work is our work. That doesn't mean Wall Street's work. It doesn't mean the Washington Post's work. It doesn't mean Hollywood's work. It means the work you guys do and the work of your husbands and wives and kids. Living and dying for your fellow man. That is God's work in the deepest sense, and God bless you for what you do, and God keep you until you are with your loved ones again.

Up the Jocks!

2006-05-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

The Royal Scots will merge with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers Battalion to form The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Thanks, as always to Dr. Jerry Pournelle.

The link is here.

This merger, btw, is not uncontroversial.

WELCOME, COMMAND & STAFF MARINES!

2006-05-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

The maritme blog you're looking for is here.

Nope, I haven't posted since 4/21. Sorry.

The Brookings Institute figures from Iraq

2006-05-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

The Brookings Institute -- generally considered a [modern] liberal group of people -- has released a pile of numbers on Iraq.

Here's a summary from a decidedly un-liberal source:
1. Per Capita GDP (USD) for 2005 is forecast to increase from the previous year to $1,051. In 2002 it was $802.
2. Increases in GDP for the next five years: 16.8, 13.6, 12.5, 7.8, and 7.2.
3. Actionable tips from Iraqis have increased every month this year. In January, 4,025 tips were received; February, 4,235; and March, 4,578.
4. On an index of political freedom for countries in the Middle East, Iraq now ranks fourth, just below Israel, Lebanon, and Morocco.
5. Crude oil production reached 2.14 million barrels a day (MBD) in April of this year. It had dropped to 0.3 MBD in May of 2003.
6. Revenues from oil export have only slightly increased from pre-war levels of $0.2 billion, to $0.62 billion in April.
7. Electrical output is almost at the pre-war level of 3,958 megawatts. April's production was 3,600 megawatts. In May of 2003, production was only 500 megawatts. The goal is to reach 6,000 megawatts.
8. The unemployment rate in June of 2003 was 50-60%, and in April of this year it had dropped to 25-40%.
9. The number of U.S. military wounded has declined significantly from a high of 1,397 in November 2004 to 430 in April of this year.
10. Iraqi military casualties were 201 in April of 2006, after peaking at 304 in July of 2005.
11. As of December 2005, countries other than the U.S., plus the World Bank and IMF, have pledged almost $14 billion in reconstruction aid to Iraq.
12. Significant progress has also been made towards the rule of law. In May 2003 there were no trained judges, but as of October 2005 there were 351.
13. As of January 2006, 64% of Iraqis polled said that the country was headed in the right direction.
14. Also as of January 2006, 77% said that removing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do.
15. In May of 2003, Iraqi Security Forces were estimated at between 7,000-9,000. They numbered 250,500 in March of this year.
16. The breakdown of foreign terrorists by country of origin is interesting. The largest number come from Algeria, at 20%. The next two countries are Syria and Yemen, at 18% and 17%, respectively.
17. The number of foreign terrorists fighting in Iraq was estimated at between 300 and 500 in January 2004. That number increased in April of this year, to between 700 and 2,000.
18. From May 2003 and April 2006, between 1,000 and 3,000 anti-Iraqi forces have been killed each month.

Rule Brittania!

2006-04-21T19:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday,Ma'am.

Market Kidney?

2006-03-15T22:09:00.001-05:00

Virginia Postrel (www.dynamist.com) donated a kidney to a friend (see "Let us now praise famous outcomes" from a few days ago). This donation doesn't fit the heartless-libertarian reputation.

Comes now a Bloomberg columnist named Amy Schlaes with some spicy comment and an outline of a very intriguing idea by Dr Steve Postrel, who is, ahem, inter alia, Virginia's husband. Quoth the Maven:

The reputation of libertarians is that they are selfish, and that the female of the species is the more selfish.

After all, libertarians insist on applying commercial paradigms to moral problems, which seems asocial and downright unfeminine.
--snip--
After spending so much time thinking renally, Virginia's husband Steve even came up with his own elegant little market solution to the fatal organ shortage. Citizens who give an organ get a holiday from federal taxes for a year. High earners pay lots of tax, and low earners pay next to none. As Postrel points out, the holiday idea is therefore less vulnerable to the usual criticism that organ dealing exploits the poor.

The kidney holiday sounds quirky enough to also appeal to the philanthropist, who tends to want two contradictory things: the satisfaction of giving and the sense that he really is getting something out of it.

Still, Virginia in the end gave not because she was Right, but because it seemed right.

``It was not as Virginia, the libertarian, but Virginia, the friend, that I was giving'' Postrel says. ``People who believe in markets do all sorts of non-market transactions.''

"Without thinking much about it, Postrel and Satel have made some important points. Well-intentioned policy can be fatal. Arch-conservatives can have big hearts, as big as any heart at the London School of Economics or at the Democratic Leadership Council. Market-orientation and charity are not opposites. Sometimes they go together. Public institutions can't monopolize morality, as much as they would like to. And they probably shouldn't be allowed to monopolize kidneys, either."

Read it all

Hej Danes! We've been here before

2006-03-14T23:36:00.000-05:00

US News & World Report (USNWR)columnist John Leo reviews a forshadowing of the cartoon mess here
In 1976 a Syrian born Muslim directed a film in which Anthony Quinn starred as the Prophet's uncle. Money quote: "Later, a group of black American Muslims attacked three buildings in Washington, D.C., taking 149 hostages. One of their demands was that The Message must not be released. In a 39-hour siege, a reporter was killed and many hostages were stabbed, beaten, or shot. The movie, in an Arabic version, was shown in the Middle East. The English version, never released, appeared for the first time on a DVD last November 1, not long after the appearance of the Danish cartoons."

Yes, the emphasis is added.

Let us now praise famous outcomes

2006-03-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

Virgina Postrel is out of the hospital and both she and her recipient friend are doing fine.
Good news!
Read it all here: http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/archives/002077.html

Good will

2006-03-04T20:02:00.000-05:00

Virginia Postrel, one of the US' greatest treasures donates a kidney to a friend in need, because "if your kidneys stop working, you have three options: die, go on dialysis (regularly described as "living hell" by dialysis patients and their loved ones), or find a donor kidney. And donor kidneys are in short supply, made shorter by legal restrictions and social taboos."

She also acknowledges the presence of large-scale jackasses (a social breed which is, alas, entirely too scalable)who are trying to prevent "made-to-order replacements that are exact genetic matches, either through therapeutic cloning or some now-unknown future technology"

Randites, this is an example of what Ayn Rand herself referred to as good will among men. Look it up. So, enough with not-so-sotto-voce comments about altruism.

This is intestinal fortitude. Read it all here:
http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/archives/002075.html

Rwanda

2006-03-02T21:45:00.000-05:00

So...
A couple of months ago, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College embarked on a study of Rwanda. An example of a peacekeeping mission that went as wrong -- I hope -- as it's possible to go.

Simplistic overview: Rwanda is inhabited by two major peoples (or tribes, if you'd prefer), the Hutu and Tutsi. Hutus are the majority. Tutsi are ethnically similar, but are often physically larger and were chosen by the colonial power of Belgium to be the dominant peoples.

After independence, along with wheels within wheels, various forms of fighting developed between the two. After many missteps and fumbles and the beginning of civil war, the UN injected a peacekeeping force under the command of a Canadian General named Dallaire (also a graduate of the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College).

Dallaire was tipped off to a plot to slaughter Tutsis, made a plan to confiscate the equipment, advised his chain of command, and was ordered not to proceed.

The massacre started with the death of the president of Rwanda in a plane crash -- actually the a/c was shot down. At its height, the killers were murdering more per hour than the Nazis did during WWII. In about 100 days, about 800,000 people were killed.
1. If Rwanda had never been a colony, the Hutu and Tutsi would be, at worst, tribes that don't like each other and occasionally go to war.
2. If the UN had done nothing, the civil war would have fought itself out. Tragedy? Yes. Massacre? Probably no.
3. If the population had been armed, the killers would have been considerably more circumspect.
Here's a review of a book on the subject: http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2005_07_005966.php

Any Port in a Storm, from Reason Express

2006-02-22T14:52:00.000-05:00

Executive summary: there's nothing a Port Operator can do in the way of mischief which the other parties using that port (shippers, ship operators, Longshoremen...) can't also do. T'ain't that there's not a problem in the ports, it's that requiring port operators to be U.S. companies won't fix that.

So it takes a lot to stoop to the level of stupidity shown by the politicos and shysters killing themselves -- not that there's anything wrong with that! -- to get in front of cameras to denounce the port operation deal.

News flash: Chuck Schumer -- who's a politico and a shyster -- isn't even entitled to have an opinion on this issue.

Economic phrasing: what, in the way of terrorism or mischief, can a port operator do which a shipper or operator can't do? Hint, the answer is: nothing.

The point, friends, isn't that our ports aren't security problems it's that you haven't solved any security problems by blocking this deal and you may very well have created some. For example: the U.S. is the country who abandoned the Shi'a and Kurds the the murderousness of Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War. The people of the gulf are entitled to think of us, U.S., as untrusworthy.

And now, demonstrating the tone-deafness for which this branch of the Republican party is so justly famous, the White House is announcin that the Prez didn't know until it was a 'done deal.' See: www.drudgereport.com.

Herewith some wisdom from Reason.com. emphasis added:

This just in, foreign ships dock in American ports! On one level, the Bush administration is the victim of straight-up hysteria over the sale of some U.S. port functions to a state-run United Arab Emirates company. But it is also political tone-deafness of the first order not to anticipate that hysteria would bubble up given the current seal-the-borders climate.

On the issue of port security, yes there are legitimate anti-terrorism concerns. But port ownership (sic. The issue is port operations, not ownership. The ownership won't change) does not guarantee good or bad security. In fact, the assumption that international airline traffic was somehow more dangerous than domestic flights was a big hole in pre-9/11 airline security. Not even national directives in Washington can guarantee good security procedures at the local level, at each individual port or airport.

Finally, there is the question of money. If the UAE relationship can provide the kind of deep pockets needed to finance security upgrades, then overall port security might be better off. Until that can be demonstrated, however, the howling will continue, particularly from a Congress in full mid-term election mode.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-02-19-voa27.cfm

Danmark

2006-02-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

I have Danish relatives who risked an early departure from this veil of tears working in the Danish resistance in the 1940s. Least I can do is sound off.
Here's a great link to something by an Egyption called "The Big Pharoh" who whomped up a variation on the Ten Commandments: http://haloscan.com/tb/bigpharaoh/113948714526054499.

I can sum these commandments up very briefly: "Hey diaper loaders, are you interested in accomplishing something or do you just want people to laugh at you?"

Specifically, here's what the BP wrote. Italicized comments are mine:

1.Thou shall not have westophobia. The west is not plotting against Islam, they don’t give a hoot about your religion nor the religion of this old Hindu man walking in downtown Calcutta, India. The West is busy with far more important things.

2.Thou shall remember that millions of Muslims in Europe have far more rights than non-Muslims in Arab/Muslim lands (for more info, contact the Christian villagers of el-Udaysaat) So quit playing the victim here. I simply don’t buy it.

3.Thou shall understand that the West is a pool of ideas and people. In the west you will find: Non-muslims who love Islam (Karen Armstrong and Prince Charles), non-Muslims who hate Islam (J-Posten and Oriana Fallaci), converts to Islam who love Islam (Murad Huffman, Roge Garoudi), converts out of Islam who hate Islam (Hirshi Ali and Ibn Warraq). So for heaven’s sake, you can’t paint the West with one brush.

4.Thou shall understand that the West gets their info on Islam not from your preaching nor from the books you translate to them but from your actions.

5.Thou shall riot and protest when Muslims kill other Muslims (for more info, contact the Shia families of Iraq and Darfur Sudanese)

6.Thou shall try to riot and protest when Muslims kill non-Muslims. If that’s not possible, at least try to do commandment 5.

7.Thou shall NOT riot over cartoons published 4 months ago. Try to riot over cartoons published 2 months ago. At least it might make more sense that way.

8.Thou shall not boycott an entire nation because a single newspaper, TV channel, radio station, politician, actor, actress, etc, etc, in that nation said or wrote or drew something that offended you. Why? Because its stupid and childish to do so and it fur

We've lost one of the good guys...

2006-01-19T19:35:00.000-05:00

An old friend of mine died yesterday. Jeff Bloomberg was a classmate from my brief (spring semester, 1971) sojourn at Adelphi University. The number of stories I have...

I really can't write through tears, so I'll hand this over to another classmate (and once upon a time apartment-mate) Dave Smukler, who was with him:

"It breaks my heart to tell you that our old friend Jeff Bloomberg passed away yesterday afternoon.

"Jeff was diagnosed with cancer only last Fall, and had been having chemotherapy
treatments. He had tolerated the first few rounds of chemo very well, but last week was very difficult. I spoke to him on Sunday evening, and sores in his mouth and throat made it difficult for him to talk for long. He said he'd call me back the next day, but he wasn't able to. Something went badly wrong on Tuesday, and he was taken to the hospital, and quickly slipped into a coma. His wife Linda called me Wednesday morning, and my wife Ann and I joined her in the hospital. We were with Jeff, along with Linda, Jeff's parents, his brother Norman, and a few other relatives and close friends, when he died at about 2pm.

"It probably won't surprise you to know that Jeff had a positive attitude to the very end. We had a long talk a few weeks ago; he told me about having read Lance Armstrong's book, and how much he identified with Armstrong's "never give up" attitude. In addition to traditional treatments, Jeff aggressively pursued alternative treatments and a strict diet. (Can you picture our old friend on Green Tea and a vegetarian diet...?... he was...) The last time we went out to dinner with Linda and Jeff was at a Vegan restaraunt, and he had fully embraced it.

"Jeff had continued to work until the end, going into the office two days a week, and from home a few days a week. Amazingly, he had actually taken on greater responsibilities at AIG since he was diagnosed, supervising other attorneys for the first time in his career. He and I spoke about the trials and tribulations of supervising people, and as always, he had a sensible and non-judgmental perspective on it."

Godspeed, old friend.

American Wisdom

2006-01-18T22:20:00.000-05:00

In Dr Steven Levitt's latest bestseller "Freakonomics", he mentions the very poor risk assessment people do. Specifically, friends, compare the danger between being killed in an automobile accident or dying in a terrorist attack. Now, guess which problem gets more tax dollars?

Making the point even better is www.janegalt.com with this post.

Quoth the maven (actually, the maveness)who is entitled to have an opinion:

Conservatives who want to berate me for not appreciating the threat of terrorism, let me take a little, er, pre-emptive action here. Unless you have lost the ten or so people that I bid farewell when the towers collapsed, including my first boyfriend, have watched the smoke rising off the ruins from the roof of your childhood home, have tried frantically to find out if your current boyfriend had been taking training down at the WTC that day, and have numbly tried to convince yourself that the buildings you knew so well were really and truly and forever gone as you turned up for another weary day of work at Ground Zero . . . unless you have done all those things, then please do not lecture me on terrorism. I get it.

Amen, sister. I spent 9/11/01 trying to contact friends who work for DOD. Within a week I'd found that, although I'd dealt with many of the people who died in the Navy Command Center, the victims i knew well enough to say 'hi' to were aboard American 77. I.e., I get it too.

So let me join with Sister Jane. What makes us Americans is our insistence that the government can't do certain forbidden things. Assertions, a la France, that the government won't don't cut it.

Porkbusters to Republicans: smarten up!

2006-01-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.

We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

Read it all, and see who's signed up, here.

You don't have to address God in 6th Grade English...

2006-01-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

A year ago last Sunday, Epiphany Sunday 2005, I paid a visit to a local evangelical Episcopalian church. The people there are openly loving and caring people who do a lot of good and 'worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness' but would be unlikely to say so. After the service, the Pastor asked me what I thought and I hesitated before answering, "Well, today's music didn't have much to do with Epiphany."

I guess I should point out that music in Anglican services are supposed to reflect the theme for the day's readings. You shouldn't, for example, be singing "Away in a manger" on Good Friday.

I expect the Pastor 'got it' but I also suspect his music minister wouldn't have. And the reason he wouldn't have is because we have -- intentionally -- dumbed down Anglican Worship in the US. Any Episcopalian over the age of 40, for example, can properly use the formal English word "Wherefore" correctly without thinking about it.

The current prayer book, contrariwise, seems entirely too frothy... "Yay, God!"

My objections are mostly stylistic, or I thougth they were. Ponder with me now the following from Virginia Postrel, Economics columnist for the New York Times and writer extraordinaire in an essay she calls the "Pap-ist Threat:

Some years ago, an editor asked me how he could give his children an appreciation for the English language. He wanted them to write well. Since he's an evangelical Christian, I told him he should teach them Psalms from the King James translation of the Bible. My mother did that with me as a child, and it gave me an early sense of metaphor and rhythm. It taught me to appreciate, and understand, complex, beautiful English.

My friend didn't like my suggestion. After all, nobody reads the KJV anymore. Forget poetry (not to mention sensitivity to the underlying Hebrew), today's suburban Christianity is all about accessibility. It's been dumbed down.
You may read it all here

The incomparable Peggy Noonan

2006-01-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

The Steamroller
The road to big government reaches a dead end at Jack Abramoff.
We can only hope
Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:01 a.m.

The problem with government is that it is run by people, and people are flawed. They are not virtue machines. We are all of us, even the best of us, vulnerable to the call of the low: to greed, conceit, insensitivity, ruthlessness, the desire to show you're in control, in charge, in command.

A point that needs to be made and remade forever and ever, amen. "We mean well and do ill and ask that our ill-doing be forgiven because we are well-meaning."

--snip--

This is essentially why conservatives of my generation and earlier generations don't like big government. They don't even like government. We know we have to have one, that it is necessary, that it can and must do good, that it has real responsibilities that must be met. Madison again, in Federalist 51: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself."

These are wise words.

But conservatives are not supposed to like big government. It's not our job. We're supposed to like freedom and the rights of the individual. (Individuals aren't virtue machines either, but they're less powerful than governments and so generally less damaging.) We're supposed to be on the side of the grass the steamroller flattens.

Are you listening, neocons? Members of the Bush/Dole/Nixon/Dewey part of the Republican party. I'd hoped you'd gone home after 1996, but it's still not too late.

--snip--

What followed was the trauma of the end of the Clinton years, the 2000 election, the Bush administration, and the historic rise in the antisteamroller party of a new operating assumption: that the steamroller will always be with us. And that if it is destined to become always and every year bigger, heavier and more powerful, then you might as well relax and learn how to run it, how to drive it and direct it. Make friends with the steamroller. Run it to your own ends and not the other team's.

This was understandable, especially after 9/11. Defense is expensive; technology has its own demands; the stakes are high.

And yet. All other parts of the government grew. The size and force of it grew in ways that were not at all necessary or crucial.

And we have a *republican* VPOTUS saying deficits don't matter.

Read it all. Read what Noonan has to say every week!

VP titles it "Get a Wife"

2006-01-01T22:36:00.000-05:00

Virginia Postrel every now and again writes something that causes them who profess and call themselves feminists to wax wroth. If I can find it online, I'll post her essay pointing out the wage gap between men and women's wages can be closed by encouraging educated women to marry uneducated men. Here's another gee-I-wish-I-could-write-like-this moment courtesy of the aforementioned Virginia Postrel who (I hope) considers her blog type-c procrastination, quoting a chap named Paul Graham:
"There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.
VP then contrasts with the latest essay from David Brooks:
Graham's point cuts against the zeitgeist. In today's NYT, David Brooks argues that, at least for those not blessed with a Y chromosome, errands are what matters most. His paean to domesticity as the highest and best use of women's time, and maybe even men's, does not conclude with an announcement that he's quitting the Times and PBS to spend more time with driving the kids around. (For those who hate Times Select, the column is on p. 8 of Week in Review.)

Taken together, these arguments address several old questions: Why, as Sir Francis Bacon asked, is it that the most important contributors to human progress have often been childless? Why did the rise of the 18th-century city, with its coffeehouses and abundance of servants, promote science, philosophy, and literature? And, of course, why have relatively few women made enduring contributions to fields that require single-minded devotion?

Quite simply: Somebody's got to do the errands of life. You can either do them yourself, hire someone to do them, or get a wife. Historically, the last has been the most common option.

Let me be clear: I do not believe there is One Best Way to live. I do not believe that the gracious life created by attending to small chores (including, but not only, those necessary to raise children) is inferior to one devoted to more focused pursuits. What I believe, and what you'll almost never see suggested by an establishment pundit, is that different people are suited to different sorts of lives and that both strategies have their downsides and their risks. (I wrote about one aspect of this topic--the politicization of parenthood--here.)

My New Year's resolution: Fewer errands, less sleep (I sleep a lot), more reading, more writing. Still to be determined: Is blogging an errand? For me at least, I suspect so. But perhaps I can find a way to manage it.

Read it all.

From TCS Daily - The Most Important Economic News of the Year

2005-12-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

Quoth the inimitable Dr Kling:
TCS Daily - The Most Important Economic News of the Year: "The politicians have done nothing to slow the growth of entitlements. The mainstream media have totally missed the most important economic news of the early 21st century, which is the strong productivity growth. The state of the economy in 2005 is that it is performing well in spite of both the pols and the pundits."

Of more interest
In a recent TCS interview, Robert Fogel suggested that productivity growth of 2 percent per year would be sufficient to ensure the soundness of Social Security. With three percent productivity growth, even Medicare may be sound.

Yep, emphasis is added.

Sacco, Vanzetti, and Upton Sinclair

2005-12-29T00:32:00.000-05:00

A note from the LA Times via "Jane Galt" of "Asymmetrical Information":
Upton Sinclair's novel "Boston" is a fictionalized account the Sacco & Vanzetti trial of the early 20th century. There is, alas, a bit of a problem:
"...Soon Sinclair would learn something that filled him with doubt. During his research for "Boston," Sinclair met with Fred Moore, the men's attorney, in a Denver motel room. Moore "sent me into a panic," Sinclair wrote in the typed letter that Hegness found at the auction a decade ago.

"Alone in a hotel room with Fred, I begged him to tell me the full truth," Sinclair wrote. " … He then told me that the men were guilty, and he told me in every detail how he had framed a set of alibis for them."

Here's the link to Jane Galt.
Here's the link to the LA Times article

I don't think it was malice; musta been ...

2005-12-26T00:59:00.000-05:00

So...
The local NBC franchise here in the DC area starts a bit on the holidays by announcing the end of the twelve days of Christmas and the beginning of Hannukah.

The twelve days of Christmas, of course, start on Christmas day. That's why Epiphany (6 Jan) is also called twelfth night.

So was the Anchor or, more likely, the newswriter speaking from ignorance or from malice?

Well, there's the old adage attributed to Bonaparte: "Never ascribe to malice what is adequately described by stupidity." That might be a paraphrase.

Does Napoleon's wit apply here?

Yep, I think so. Which invites the following question: if they're screwing this up, what else are they screwing up?

A Christmas wish for all of you...

2005-12-25T21:34:00.001-05:00

The most evocative carol for me is found in the penultimate verse of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. Apparently Dr. Jerry Pournelle and I share the view:

O ye, beneath life's crushing load, whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,
Look now! For glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing:
O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing!

Yet with the woes of sin and strife, the world has suffered long
Beneath the heavenly strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not the tidings that they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!

For those defending themselves this night, as some did on Christmas Night, 1950, this is not meant as insult; it is a wish that it might be so. I do not think anyone in the situation of having to bear arms on Christmas Night will misunderstand or take this amiss.

And the best wishes of the nation to all our troops overseas. To those who are under arms this night, may you be safe from harm.
Amen, Doctor.
NOTA BENE: the [colorful adjective] numbskulls who created the modern Episcopal Hymnal bowdlerized this, among many other, hymns and carols. Please accept my presentation of the true lyrics as a show of deliberate disrespect to those responsible.

Everyone else, as our British cousins say, Happy Christmas!

People who fail to save for their own retirement...

2005-12-24T00:08:00.000-05:00

are irresponsible and don't deserve government assistance. Specifically, they're more irresponsible than the much whined-about teenage single moms.
Quoth econlog:

One of the main stumbling blocks to Social Security reform is the view that left to their own devices, many people will fail to save for their own retirement, and "we as a society" can't allow them to live in poverty. Objectively speaking, however, there is a strong case that people who fail to save for their own retirement are much more irresponsible than teenage single moms.

How so? You can become a teenage single mom just by yielding to impulse once. And once you have a child, it takes two decades of hard work to make up for your youthful indiscretion. I won't say "It could happen to anyone," but there are a lot of responsible adults out there who are lucky that their risky teen-age behavior didn't happen to mess up their lives.

In contrast, no one fails to save for his retirement because of a few minutes of teen-age passion. To fail to save for your retirement, you need to make the wrong decision week after week, year after year. If you're too immature to save for your retirement in your twenties, you have a second chance in your thirties, a third chance in your forties, and so on. In short, to fail to save for your retirement, you have to be consistently irresponsible for decades.
Yep, the emphasis is added

Read it all here.
or here: http://econlog.econlib.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1232

Also sprach the PC crowd

2005-12-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

From Dr Helen's blog: If you think that boys don't suffer from abuse at the hands of women, than you have to read this. It is the story of a 13-year-old boy who was first abused by his mother and then by the school system who treated him as a criminal rather than a victim of abuse. Why is it that liberals will go to great lengths to fight for the rights of people who are not really victims and then deny the real victims any solace? It is hard to believe that such an abusive counselor is allowed access to a school system--if I were this kid's parent--I would be down at this school in a flash.

Admittedly, it doesn't take much to get me out of the starting blocks when the educational industry starts stomping 'round the room. I dealt with at least my fair share of jackasses (and jillasses) whilst growing up back in the dark ages. BUT, an article like this really raises my blood pressure.

Tell you what, let's all send copies of the article to our congresscritters.
Congresscritter (Fill in last name)
State (s)he represents
Washington, DC 20515
It'll go faster if you add the four digit extension, which you can find here. However, it will get there with the simple address above.

If what Saddam might do with WMDs...

2005-12-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

Is a 'good enough' reason to remove him from power, does the lack of WMDs change things?

Answer: no. We know what Saddam did when he had WMDs...

Here's James Zumwalt in "Marine Corps Times" on the subject:
"Obeidi’s revelations raise an interesting question: If Saddam acted as if he had WMDs because he believed, however illogically, he possessed them, how can we fault our own intelligence agencies and the president from arriving at a similar conclusion? After all, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, one would not be unreasonable in concluding it was a duck — even if such a conclusion later turned out to be inaccurate."
Read it all.

Journalists? Statistics? Naw, couldn't be a problem!

2005-12-04T22:17:00.000-05:00

So, ye olde WAPO this am publishes a Why-are-men-disappearing-from-Higher-Education article. The article itself's here.

Well, there are two reasons why the percentage of men-on-campus is falling:
1. The percentage of men going to college is decreasing; or,
2. The percentage of women going to college is increasing.

If the answer's #1, we might have a problem, Houston. If, howsomever, the answer's #2, then the statistic's actually good news.

Here, from -- nota bene -- Salon is a posting saying the answer's #2; everyone with constricted bowels and tightened sphincters can relax.

So who's right? The answer could be "Both". The percentage of women entering college is expanding (though not, alas, in the hard-science-engineering pursuits which would lead to some real change in the status of women) but there is some evidence, which I am too lazy to dig out now, that the percentage of men choosing specialized and technical education vice the mark one, mod one college is expanding too.

Stand, as the saying goes, by.

Jane Galt on the engineering failures of GWB

2005-12-03T19:33:00.000-05:00

From the disaster reviewer in N'awlins:
"The floodwall on the 17th Street Canal levee was destined to fail long before it reached its maximum design load of 14 feet of water because the Army Corps of Engineers underestimated the weak soil layers 10 to 25 feet below the levee, the state's forensic levee investigation team concluded in a report to be released this week.
Quoth Jane Galt:
"What really chaps my ass, of course, is that if George Bush had been doing his job, checking the soil substrates under the levees, this never would have happened. We expected him to protect the country from disasters, and this is the one of the biggest disasters ever to hit the country. Yet where was George? Not taking soil cores, doing sonar analysis,or analysing soil samples in the lab--that much is clear. What the hell does he think we elected him for?"

Read it all.

Ye flippin' stars, in lieu of a more pungent term. Let's review some basics. Disaster recovery, especially from a disaster you can see coming, needs to be a local job. If it isn't you'll get my fellow bureaucrats establishing blizzard standards for New Orleans and tropical storm emergency preparations for Anchorage. I kid you not. Want to know what else? Reviewing the infrastructure and looking for disasters-in-waiting is a local job too.

The Prez, which is one reason why I don't 'specially care for his branch of the Republican Party, has [dramatic sigh] again rolled over for the bad guys and allowed a substantial amount of federalization for no very legitimate reason. Politics, in this case, is not a legitimate reason.

Bless his heart.

Sic semper, y'all. And worldwide too!

2005-11-28T22:47:00.000-05:00

Yep, the emphasis is added:
TUNIS, Tunisia--Cuba, Iran and African governments lashed out at the U.S. government this week, charging that the Internet permits too much free speech and that the way it is managed must be reformed immediately.

The U.S. and other Western nations "insist on being world policemen on the management of the Internet," Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who has been the country's leader since 1987, said at a United Nations information society summit here.

"Those who have supported nihilistic and disorderly freedom of expression are beginning to see the fruits" of their efforts, Mugabe said, adding that Zimbabwe will be "challenging the bully-boy mentality that has driven the unipolar world."

Read it all here.

Listening to Mugabe and Castro on the freedom of speech is much akin to listening to Benito Mussolini on the subject of Synagogue design. They're not entitled to even have an opinion.

NOW, will western leaders have the intestinal fortitude to say so?

Wal-Mart portrayed as the good guy! In the WAPO!

2005-11-28T15:49:00.000-05:00

Sebastian Mallaby (who is always worth reading, especially when you disagree with him) on the corporation the left loves to hate:
"Companies like Wal-Mart are not run by saints. They can treat workers and competitors roughly. They may be poor stewards of the environment. When they break the law they must be punished. Wal-Mart is at the center of the globalized, technology-driven economy that's radically increased American inequality, so it's not surprising that it has critics. But globalization and business innovation are nonetheless the engines of progress; and if that sounds too abstract, think of the $200 billion-plus that Wal-Mart consumers gain annually. If critics prevent the firm from opening new branches, they will prevent ordinary families from sharing in those gains. Poor Americans will be chief among the casualties."

You can read it all here

The average wage at Wal-Mart is $10.00/hour That comes out to $20K/year for a single person and (duh) $40K/year for a couple. Well above the poverty line in both cases.
BUT WAIT, I hear you say, WHAT ABOUT A FAMILY? Well, $10.00/hour takes a family of four above the poverty level. If one adult must stay home -- say with young kids -- the other can bring a family of seven above the poverty level by working a 60-hour week. May not be ideal, but it's possible.

Religion and Harry Potter

2005-11-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

Harry Beasts - Christianity Today Magazine: "The Harry Potter stories, in their formulaic journeys that end every year with love's triumph over death in the presence of a Christ symbol, find their power and popularity in the resonance they create in our hearts. We connect with them because they point toward the Truth Myth that saves us. The gospel has rarely, if ever, been smuggled into the hearts and minds of readers so successfully and profoundly."
I am a fan of the Harry Potter series. Deal with it. Further, I have no patience with those that see deviltry in JK Rowling's use of magic as a literary device; please check your biblical history: the Old Testament direction on Witches and Warlocks refers to those who reject God and worship magic. Rowling's characters do neither. The paragraph above is from an article in Christianity Today and makes the point somewhat better."
You can read it all here.

joannejacobs.com: Anti-choice feminism

2005-11-26T23:28:00.000-05:00

joannejacobs.com: Anti-choice feminism: "In American Prospect, Linda Hirshman tells educated women to choose full-time careers in lucrative, elite fields. Choosing to stay home with the kids or work part-time -- a popular choice according to a recent New York Times story -- betrays educated women's abilities and prevents the full integration of business, professional and academic elites, she argues. Feminism has failed to change marriage and gender roles, and should finish the job, Hirshman believes. 'Half the wealthiest, most-privileged, best-educated females in the country stay home with their babies rather than work in the market economy,' she writes."

Holy [modifier] cow! There might, somewhere, be a world in which a couple have children and neither adult has to make any career sacrifices, but t'ain't this world! There is, and I don't think anyone should be surprised, substantial evidence that women, er, mothers bond with their kids in ways that Dads don't and that maternal bonding is often expressed in a desire to be the dominant figure in their kids' life. This is either cultural and 'fixable' by feminism, or it's genetic and not.

Atta Lambaster!

2005-11-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

Michelle Malkin: JUST A YELLOW WOMAN DOING A WHITE MAN'S JOB: "The racist and sexist 'yellow woman doing a white man's job' knock is a tiresome old attack from impotent liberals that I've tolerated a long time. It is pathetic that I have to sit here and tell you that my ideas, my politics, and my intellectual capital are mine and mine alone in response to cowardly attacks from misogynistic moonbats with Asian whore fixations. My IQ, free will, skin color, eye shape, productivity, sincerity, and integrity are routinely ridiculed or questioned because I happen to be a minority conservative woman. As a public figure, I am willing to take these insults, but I cannot tolerate the smearing of my loved ones. Because I have always been open and proud about his support for my career, my husband has taken endless, hate-filled abuse from my critics. His Jewish heritage, his decision to be a stay-at-home dad, and even his looks, are the subject of brutal mockery."

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: $100 laptops aim to bring children the world

2005-11-19T19:32:00.000-05:00

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: $100 laptops aim to bring children the world: "TUNIS, Tunisia, Researchers unveiled a prototype of a $100 hand-cranked laptop computer on Wednesday and said they hoped to place them in the hands of millions of schoolchildren around the globe.
About the size of a textbook, the lime-green machines will be able to set up their own wireless networks and operate in areas without a reliable electricity supply, MIT researchers said at a United Nations technology summit.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other groups have been pushing hard to create a low-cost laptop, part of a U.N. effort's aim that 'everyone, everywhere should have the opportunity to participate' in the benefits of information technology.
The goal is to provide laptops free of charge to children in poor countries who cannot afford computers, said MIT Media Lab chairman Nicholas Negroponte.
Governments or charitable donors will pay for the laptops but children will own them, he said.
'Ownership of the laptops is absolutely critical,' he said. 'Have you ever washed a rented car?'"

SSRN-Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy by Benjamin Barton

2005-11-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

SSRN-Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy by Benjamin Barton: "This Essay examines what the Harry Potter series (and particularly the most recent book, The Half-Blood Prince) tells us about government and bureaucracy. There are two short answers. The first is that Rowling presents a government (The Ministry of Magic) that is 100% bureaucracy. There is no discernable executive or legislative branch, and no elections. There is a modified judicial function, but it appears to be completely dominated by the bureaucracy, and certainly does not serve as an independent check on governmental excess.

Second, government is controlled by and for the benefit of the self-interested bureaucrat."

You already knew this, I hope, but

2005-10-31T23:11:00.000-05:00

The Truth Laid Bear: "'I support the Fiscal Watch Team Offset Package'" Here's the link: http://www.truthlaidbear.com/porkbusters.php

The choices on intergenerational transfers

2005-10-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid
Thanks to The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid: "Unless Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are reformed, lawmakers face three options:
A) Raise taxes every year until taxes are 60 percent ($11,000 per household) higher than today.
B) Eliminate every federal program except Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by 2045; or
C) Do nothing and watch the federal debt expand so much that even a minor interest rate response would induce a
spiral of rising debt and interest rates, threatening the entire economy.
This is no scare story. This is real Reidl has all the facts and figures. Read the whole thing. If you have a strong stomach and a stiff drink."

A $300Billion + budget surplus

2005-09-25T19:22:00.000-05:00

Added advantange: the proposal really irritates them what're really entertaining when irritated!

Instapundit.com - Hurricane Katrina Link

2005-08-31T14:00:00.000-05:00

The inimitable Instapundit has a list of aid agencies here: http://instapundit.com/archives/025235.php

A brother-in-law who was in the Pentagon 9/11/01 was particularly impressed with the work of the Salvation Army. That's not statistically significant, it's a datapoint which I find useful.

Nevada needs teachers; hat tip: Joanne Jacobs

2005-08-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

joannejacobs.com: Nevada needs teachers
And the legislature wastes no time demonstrating that fellating the teachers unions is way more important than doing right by the kids:

"The district is importing English-speaking teachers from the Philippines and 'bilingual' math teachers from Spain, but legislators rejected alternative certfication, notes the Center for Education Reform."

Click on the link up top and read it all!

Aptitude Aplenty LONG bloody post

2005-07-31T19:44:00.000-05:00

Aptitude Aplenty:
The WAPO, in their rush to be loved, pubished an editorial -- they'd want it to be called an article -- which is embarrasing to the the point they're trying to make. The subject is Dr. Larry Summers' "hit me with a sucker punch" speech musing aloud about the relative dearth of women in the top tiers of math and science.

Let's start at the very beginning. Summers said that three point five to four standard deviations above the mean IQ, women are underrepresented. He said that women are underrepresented, not unrepresented.

So, WAPO publishes an article which demonstrates that there are women to perform at this level and there are girls who may someday perform at this level. This isn't news, Dr. Summers would be the first to agree.
"Aptitude Aplenty For these young women, and their mentors, science is what comes naturally
By Kathy Lally

Sunday, July 31, 2005; Page W08 of the Washington Post Magazine

The article starts describing a couple of young women who are finalists in the Intel Science Search. The girls involved aren't this issue; young women have been part of the Intel (fomerly Westinghouse) for a long time now. Even here, however, the female of the species is rarer than the male.
-- snip--

Though boys always outnumber girls in the Intel finals -- 25 to 15 this year -- Abby and Sherri didn't pay much attention to the disparity. Nor did they mind being in the minority in the program at Blair, where, according to magnet coordinator Eilenne Steinkraus, about 35 percent of the students are girls. They felt confident even in the toughest math and science classes. Eight girls and 20 boys in Abby's physics class? She didn't see that as intimidating. Five girls and 20 boys in Abby's optics class last year? "What does that matter?" Sherri asks.

They've grown up surrounded by women who are good at math and science. Half the teachers in Blair's magnet program are women, including Glenda Torrence, who has a PhD in chemistry and teaches the research class that helps students prepare Intel-worthy projects. Abby's mother went to MIT, Sherri's is an engineer. Female astronomers and neuroscientists running top-flight labs mentored them during their research projects.

Yet the girls were celebrating their Intel achievement less than two weeks after Harvard President Lawrence Summers questioned the "intrinsic aptitude" of women in science. His remarks at a conference in Boston provoked a furious reaction at his own university and across the country, particularly among established female scientists.

Dr. Summers did indeed say, "there are issues of intrinsic aptitude" which cause women to be underrepresented in the sciences and math. If WAPO has 'issues' with that statement, they need to demonstrate that Summers' assertion is wrong.

--snip--

"I've never felt there's something I can't do because I'm a girl," says Sherri, who co-edits Montgomery Blair's highly regarded student newspaper. "Our generation feels empowered to do things." She's been encouraged to think that way all her life. "My parents have always told me it's what's here that counts," says Sherri, motioning to her brain. And everything in her experience confirms that that's true.
--snip--
WAPO finds a way to demonstrate the fallacy of wishful thinking:
"Science is a very collaborative field," Kathy Fraeman says, "and the ability to work with others is very useful. When you have several minds working on the same problem, you'll get better results."
Fraeman -- the mother of one of the girls -- is partially right, perhaps even mostly right. However, at the upper reaches, the supergeniuses often do their breakthroughs alone: think Einstein, think Newton.

Fraeman, 49, has discussed Summers and his remarks with Abby. She was an undergraduate at MIT at the same time as Summers, when biology was being taught by Nancy Hopkins, the MIT professor who walked out in anger as the Harvard president explained why women are underrepresented on the science faculties of major universities. Besides wondering if women were innately inferior at math and science, he also cited 80-hour work weeks and the reluctance of many women with children to make that kind of sacrifice.

At least in the popular press, Dr. Hopkins has never done much more than say how upset she is.

Fraeman knows just how daunting it can be for women in science to combine work and family. After she got a master's degree from Harvard in public health and environmental science, Fraeman worked as a computer programmer, then took 10 years off to care for Abby and her older sister, Dora, 20. She enjoyed that time immensely, she says, but couldn't command the salary she felt she deserved when she returned to the workforce in 1994. That rankled her. So eight years ago, she went into business with another woman, performing statistical analyses of medical trials from home.

Now if she (Fraeman) could show that her salary was substiantially less than that of a similarly qualified man who had taken a decade off, she might have a point. She doesn't, so she doesn't.

--snip--

Many of the female scientists at Carnegie and Walter Reed watched Abby and Sherri work with a mixture of pride in their abilities and hope that the obstacles that had confronted earlier generations were disappearing.

Discrimination isn't overt, but it bubbles up, says Debra Yourick, a researcher in pharmacology and neuroscience at Walter Reed. It's persuasive enough that women don't like to draw attention to themselves as women. "You almost apologize for being pregnant," says Yourick, a mother of three girls ages 4 to 14, who has watched some colleagues return to work three weeks after giving birth. She says she still struggles to balance her work with her children, racing home to get to a soccer practice by 6. "I'm out of my mind," she says.

At Walter Reed, the female scientists all make their own coffee, so they won't be put in the position of having to make it for one of the men. Marti Jett, a research chemist and chief of the department of molecular pathology, goes a step further. "I don't drink it," she says, which allows her to say: "Coffee? Oh, I never drink coffee."
This strikes me as just plain weird. I'd want some indication, demonstrable and repeatable before I'd be willing to grant the premise that a senior male scientist thinks women are only suitable for making coffee.

We now meet a woman scientist who is performing at the super-academic level:

At Carnegie, Abby worked in the same building as Vera Rubin, a revered astronomer in the department of terrestrial magnetism who also happened to be one of the 12 Intel judges. The offices adjoining Abby's were filled with women with postdoctoral appointments, and to work among them would be to assume that being a female astronomer is completely unremarkable. That was not Vera Rubin's experience.

Rubin, 77, remembers being a lonely and uncomfortable girl in science class 60 years ago. "I certainly didn't like my high school physics class," she says. "My teacher didn't know how to treat a young woman." Rubin wanted to take mechanical drawing, but she didn't have the nerve to enter that male domain until she persuaded another girl to take the class with her.

Vassar rescued her. It was a women's college at that time, and Rubin found an atmosphere that encouraged women to pursue what interested them. She went on to a brilliant career. Rubin, who has been at Carnegie for 40 years, confirmed the existence of dark matter in the universe, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and received the National Medal of Science. She also married and had four children, including a daughter who is an astronomer.

When she was working on her PhD, Rubin says, she and her husband would put their children to bed, and she would work from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., getting up with the children in the morning. She has one tip in particular for aspiring woman scientists: Marry the right man, one who understands the importance of your career.

Let's stick to the subject: the author's trying to show that Summers was wrong when he said when he asserted that women occur less often at the 3.5-4.0 STDEV above the IQ mean. The author found an exception. Summers didn't say women were unrepresented, he said they were underrepresented. His assertion still stands.

By the time she started judging the Intel competition, and saw girls like Abby and Sherri coming along, she thought the path had been cleared, and girls could go wherever they wanted in the world of science and math. Then came Summers, whose remarks dismayed and infuriated her.

"I think I've really been wrong on this," she says. "I really thought things were getting better. The fact that my generation could do it -- we thought it would change for others."

Though more and more women are getting doctorates, The number of women getting Doctorates in the hard sciences and math is substantially lower than the number of men. Question: Does this number reflect the IQ data? If no, then perhaps Dr. Rubin has a point; if yes, Dr. Rubin needs to show why this isn't significant.she says, they are not getting the academic jobs they deserve. "It's still possible to get a PhD never having studied under a woman," Rubin says. "Women don't have role models." In 2001, according to the National Science Foundation, 6,867 women received doctorates in science and engineering, compared with 9,395 men. That same year, there were only 9,490 women who were full professors in college science and engineering departments, compared with 60,470 men.

These are the numbers that Saavik Ford, one of Abby's mentors, fears. The blatant discrimination of 30 years ago has disappeared, says Ford, who is 27, and her own postdoctoral appointment at Carnegie testifies to this.

Ford is pursuing an academic research career along a path that Abby might one day tread as well. First there's the PhD, then a series of short-term, postdoctoral appointments of two or three years. "Typically, you spend five to 10 years leading a nomadic life, moving from short-term appointment to short-term appointment," Ford says, building toward a tenure-track job. But there aren't enough tenure-track science jobs out there, so two out of three of today's postdocs will have to go elsewhere, she says. "They won't end up sleeping on the street in a cardboard box," she says, but taking jobs in industry, government or policymaking. Others will teach high school.

Even when women reach the point of being considered for a tenure-track job, Ford says, it's difficult to break through that final barrier. Most hiring is done by white male faculty members, who got there first and are still running things. "They're interviewing six to eight people, deciding if they want to spend 30 years with one of these people," she says. "You feel comfortable around the people who are like you. You choose a man."

And if a woman in academia marries a man in academia, as Ford has, she's really asking for trouble. Trying to get post-doctoral appointments and tenure-track jobs in the same cities can be nearly impossible. More often than not, it's the woman who ends up leaving the field. Which is just what Ford is doing. Her astronomer husband, better positioned for a tenure-track opportunity because he is a little farther along in the pipeline than she is, has an offer in North Carolina. They're packing up and moving on. Ford is giving up her dreams of becoming a tenured professor. Perhaps, she says, she can get into science writing.

Some teachers in Blair's science and math magnet say that girls and boys behave differently in class. Adolescent boys call out answers, not caring whether they're right or wrong. Though Abby says she feels no reluctance to raise her hand in class, many of her female classmates are quieter, her teachers say, waiting until they're sure they're right. More girls wait to ask questions after class. But when it comes time for a test, the girls at Blair score as well as the boys.

Speaking up -- Elizabeth Mann still wrestles with that. She graduated from the Blair magnet program in 1993. Like Abby and Sherri, she was a finalist in what was then called the Westinghouse science contest. She went to Harvard, got her doctorate at Oxford and now is at MIT, about to begin the final year of a three-year post-doctoral appointment. She's teaching multi-variable calculus and a version of theoretical calculus, not bad for someone who never liked to speak up.

Her teachers at Blair remember Mann as a brilliant student. She remembers herself as hesitant. She used to think her reticence didn't matter. It didn't keep her from soaring right to the top on tests. Now, as a teacher herself, she sees it differently.

All of which demonstrates, dare I say it?, an intrinsic difference, no?

OK, I'm done. You can read the WAPO article here and Dr. Larry Summers' remarks here.

I really don't think reports believe significance is significant.

Kendall Harmon: Bishop Duncan M. Gray Swings and Misses

2005-07-30T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have stiven mightily to avoid commenting on the continuing crisis in the Mondo Anglicana, not least because others are doing it better. One of those doing 'it' better is the Reverend Canon Kendall Harmon of the Diocese of South Carolina.
Here the goode Canon is quoting Bishop Tom Wright of the Church of England:

"The situation is indeed new. We have not been this way before; and the Lambeth Commission was challenged to map out, cautiously, the new territory we have entered. Never before in the Anglican Communion has there been a moment when, after each of the four so-called Instruments of Unity have advised against a particular action, a Province or a Diocese has gone ahead with it unilaterally."

As Canon Kendall is wont to say, read it all.

Mr. Dave Arnold, meathead, and NEA member* demonstrates why...

2005-07-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

People snicker when they hear, "NEA."
Quoth the numbskull:

"There's nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education.

"There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let's say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all.
Same goes for cars. Not many people have the skills and knowledge to perform all repairs on the family car. Even if they do, they probably don't own the proper tools. Heck, some people have their hands full just knowing how to drive.
The premise, 'cause he takes a while to get to it, is that teachers are the equivalent of mechanics, doctors, plumbers. The reason this article's so funny: we, consumers, would never tolerate a plumber to plumbed like NEA members teach."
"So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children? You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children's minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals. That is, to those who have worked steadily at their profession for 10, 20, 30 years! Teachers!"

Read it all

An un-politically-correct grumpy old reprobate frazzles some whiskers

2005-07-22T08:44:00.000-05:00

As put in another forum: "Absence of evidence is not proof of absence." That is, btw, a version of the logical fallacy of accidence; because 'x' does not here, now, exist doesn't mean that 'x' never exists or never existed.
Read it all: Fred's latest rant

Bipartisanily afflicted upon us

2005-07-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

Marginal Revolution: Department of Uh-Oh (another continuing series):
"I am willing to buy the notion that prescription drugs do people more good than most other forms of medical care. So a Medicare program, for a given level of expenditures, should not penalize drug expenditures. But the benefit plan we are getting is surely one of the most ill-conceived pieces of legislation in modern times. "

Truer words wuz never spoke

Ready? Aye, ready.

2005-07-12T21:04:00.000-05:00

ayc: In Solidarity...

The Chronicle of Higher Education: How to be a college Cheapskate

2005-07-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

Here's the link: The Chronicle: 7/15/2005: The Goshorn Method:
"It all started about a decade ago when the Goshorns' firstborn was about to graduate from high school, and the other children were not far behind. The father, Lawrence, a computer engineer and former professor at Arizona State University, looked at the situation analytically.
'I had a practical problem,' he says. 'I couldn't afford to spend $200,000 per kid.'

Amen Bruddah!

"The solution: Have the children start earning college credits while still in high school. Then send them to a community college for all but one or two years of their undergraduate studies, which they would finish at the University of California at San Diego. Finally, have them pay for graduate studies through work, scholarships, or financial aid."

Incidentally, the master of financial planning, Ric Edelman, agrees

The Folk Song Army Sings Africa

2005-07-11T16:13:00.000-05:00

TCS: Tech Central Station - The Folk Song Army Sings Africa:
"Forty years ago, 'The Folk Song Army,' by singer-satirist Tom Lehrer, captured the smugness of Live 8 and the demonstrators at the G-8 summit. One self-described activist says that flying to Scotland, where the summit is meeting, 'shows you that people are passionate about ending poverty...' Unlike the rest of you squares."

Tom Lehrer, lyricist and melodist of the "Folk Song Army" is an article of faith among the self-annointed thinking crowd. They should read him more often.

Today is the birthday of Robert the Bruce

2005-07-11T10:16:00.000-05:00

Scotsman.com Heritage & Culture - Robert the Bruce:
ROBERT the Bruce, like so many figures in Scottish history, has developed a popular and colourful biography that freely weaves truth and legend. Listed among the BBC's 'Top 100 Great Britons' list in 2003, the 'Warrior King of Scotland' was, prior to Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace in Braveheart, probably the historical character held dearest to the nation's heart. However, where Wallace, included in the same list, was driven by anti-English sentiment and a fiercely patriotic pursuit of vengeance, Robert the Bruce switched allegiance when necessary to further his goals.
Unlike Wallace, he was successful in achieving his aims."
Gibson's movie makes up in entertainment what it lack in historical accuracy. Matter of fact, based on Gibson's film history, you can make a pretty good case that anti-English sentiment is a major part of his makeup too. Emphasis is mine.

Read it all

International News Article | Reuters.com

2005-07-11T08:43:00.000-05:00

International News Article | Reuters.com: "SREBRENICA, Bosnia (Reuters) - Families grieved over the skeletal remains of Srebrenica victims on Monday at the 10th anniversary of the massacre, as the West acknowledged its failure to prevent Europe's worst atrocity in 50 years.
Women in white headscarves wept and touched some of the 610 green-draped coffins lined up under a gray sky at the Potocari cemetery, now a muddy field after an overnight storm.
The dead had lain for years in hidden pits where they were flung by Bosnian Serb troops in July 1995 after the systematic slaughter of 8,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys taken from what was supposed to be a U.N.-protected 'safe area.'

What the article doesn't say: the Serb army felt very much that they'd been publicly humiliated on an international stage. A reasonably-well-equipped military force posessed of ancient hatred and a huge chip on their shoulders just looking for a reason.

Identified by DNA analysis, their bones came home for burial in narrow, cylindrical boxes tagged with a number and a name.
'Srebrenica was the failure of NATO, of the West, of peacekeeping and of the United Nations. It was the tragedy that should never be allowed to happen again,' said former U.S. Balkans envoy Richard Holbrooke.
A message from U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan repeated that Srebrenica would haunt the world body forever. Some 400 lightly armed Dutch troops guarding Srebrenica's Muslims were swept aside by Bosnia Serb forces while the U.N. rejected appeals for air strikes by NATO to halt their advance."

The Dutch troops weren't just swept aside; the Commander was bluntly told, "If you resist we'll kill everyone, women and children, boys and men, and peacekeepers."

Are boys and girls hardwired differently?

2005-07-10T13:40:00.000-05:00

Are boys and girls hardwired differently? - Books - MSNBC.com: "Over the past two decades, research has shown that differences between the sexes are more significant than previously acknowledged. Using a biological-based approach, Leonard Sax has developed a valuable resource to help teachers and parents understand the gender-specific ways children think, feel, and learn. Psychologist and family physician Dr. Leonard Sax, the author of 'Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences,' was invited on Today to talk about his contentious argument for single-sex education and more. "

Read it all

Godspeed, Great Britain

2005-07-07T21:19:00.000-05:00

I spent most of today wondering what to post. Turns out that Asymmetrical Information did it for me here.

The Education Wonks: The Carnival Of Education: Week 22

2005-07-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

The Education Wonks: The Carnival Of Education: Week 22

Quoth the mavens:
As always, the secret for having a well-attended Carnival is publicity. Please consider helping to spread the word. The more folks that know about this collection of exhibits, the more that will "drop-in" and visit the midway. Trackbacks, links, and mentions all help.

And, of course, your comments and constructive criticism are always most welcome.

There are, I assert, three levels of qualification.
1. Ordained by the Diety. I, ahem, haven't seen this often, 'specially not in the education realm, but I've seen plenty who claim this mantle... or is it a halo?
2. Entitled to have an opinion. A Medical Doctor diagnosing a cough, for instance, or -- ahem, again -- an experienced teacher describing classroom practices. By far the largest of the three groups, there are a couple of points that need to be made.
2a. Such people are appointed, not anointed. They don't, in other words belong in category 1, above. The more they rest on their qualifications in the face of contrary evidence, the more they leave category 2 and fall into
3. Walkin' talkin' examples of why appeal to authority is a logical fallacy.

From Virginia Postrel: Is Nancy Pelosi Stupid, or Does She Think We Are?

2005-07-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

Dynamist Blog: Is Nancy Pelosi Stupid, or Does She Think We Are?:
Based on this:
"The House has passed an amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds to seize private property for private economic development projects. In its report on the bill, the LAT quotes the Runaway-Bride-Eyed minority leader's reason for opposing it. She said she doesn't want to withhold federal dollars "for the enforcement of any decision of the Supreme Court, no matter how opposed I am to that decision."

My money's on both.
Virginia Postrel, former editor of Reason Magazine and author of The Future and Its Enemies, has a blog at http://dynamist.com/weblog/index.html

Wesley Pruden on Live Aid: Slaking a thirst with a fire hose

2005-07-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Times (a/k/a WaTi):
Wesley Pruden, WATI editor, is unreconstructed un-pc. Quoth the maven:
"Live 8 concerts are nice, and the photographs of starving children will break the coldest heart, but unless Europe and the West accompany aid with the kind of supervision nobody has the courage to impose, the aid will wind up in the usual Swiss banks, and 20 years from now another generation of children will die while naive hearts bleed."

Socialism, alas, is not yet dead in the UK:
"Tony Blair's No. 2 man, George Brown, talks giddily of a Marshall Plan for Africa, but Nigerian despots alone have already pocketed the equivalent of six Marshall Plans."

Ayuh, the emphasis is mine.
Click on the link up top and read it all.

Wisdom from the Fordham Foundation via Rocky Mountain News

2005-07-03T20:36:00.000-05:00

The Rocky Mountain News: Archival Article:
"Chester Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, says, 'This field is awash in jargon, self-proclaimed experts, unwarranted claims, strong feelings and lots and lots of snake oil peddlers."

Amen, bruddah. It takes alot for an industry to develop more of a herd mentality than does the press; however, education shewah enuff duz it!

Doctor Don Boudreaux blogs Jeff Jacoby on Kelo

2005-07-01T14:00:00.000-05:00

Cafe Hayek: Kelo and Just Compensation:
"The government is very sure that its theft of private property will generate ample economic benefits to citizens at large, as well as increase the City's own tax revenues."

The government is also very sure that, if they're wrong, there won't be so much as a "sorry 'bout that" to the people whose houses were stolen. Yes, that's obnoxious. Nope, I'm not apologizin'.

Emphasis, as always, is mine.

Hearken ye to the wisdom of Joanne Jacobs

2005-06-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

joannejacobs.com: ADHD warnings: "
From USAToday via Joanne Jacobs:
"New warnings about psychiatric side effects will be added to the label of drugs used to treat children for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The FDA is reacting to 'reports of hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, psychotic behavior and aggression' among users of Ritalin and similar drugs."

Can you say over diagnosed? Knew you could!
The educational industry is particularly prone to this. Here's the correct answer to a teacher yapping about ADD or ADHD: "That's a medical diagnosis. Would you please hold that medical degree up again? I didn't quite see it the first time."

The Brits on GWB

2005-06-30T21:09:00.000-05:00

Instapundit.com Quoth the maven: THIS BUSH INTERVIEW from The [London] Times is worth reading, but this part seems to have caught the eye of a lot of InstaPundit readers:

"In person Mr Bush is so far removed from the caricature of the dim, war-mongering Texas cowboy of global popular repute that it shakes one’s faith in the reliability of the modern media."

Recalling for the record, US elites were head over heels for FDR whom our Gallant British Allies described as a "second rate mind wrapped up in a first rate personality" (that may be a paraphrase, not a quote). US elites loathe GWB whom the Brits describe above.

Term paper about 'God' earns student failing grade

2005-06-29T19:43:00.000-05:00

Term paper about 'God' earns student failing grade:
The subject -- approved by the Professor -- was "Religion and its place within the Government." The instructor told her she couldn't use the word "God".
"Hauf took her concerns about not being able to use 'God' in her report to her teacher, then to the department chair.
Sterling souls all, they chose to enshrine the bureaucratic process:
During a joint meeting between all three the options were laid out: Hand in the report with the 'G' word or revise, edit or re-write the paper, Solis said.
'She continued to write her paper,' Solis said. 'She knew what the consequences were.'"
"Sols is one of the college bureaucrats. I don't think the bureaucrats know what the consequences are. Over to you Chris Johnson!

Our gallant British cousins strike a blow against Gov't -- your papers, please -- IDs

2005-06-27T07:58:00.000-05:00

Scotsman.com News - Top Stories - Doubts over ID cards as cost soars to �18bn: "POLITICAL and public support for identity cards drained away yesterday as the Prime Minister faced the first potential rebellion of his third term in office.
Tomorrow, MPs will get their first chance to vote on the proposals since the election, when the Identity Card Bill gets its second reading in the Commons.
While the government is unlikely to lose the vote, the size of the rebellion by Labour back-benchers concerned at the erosion of civil liberties will be seen as a crucial test of how far the Prime Minister's writ runs. "

Eighteen billion pounds is over $27Billion; real money even for the federal beast. Further, I'm assuming the fed could bring this in with the same level of safety, privacy, and economy as the Brits. Har.

Take it to the bank, friends, if the bad guys steal an ID and a tragedy results, my fellow bureaucrats are much more likely to persecute the ID holder than they are to admit they did something dunderheaded.

Yer virgins are waitin'

2005-06-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

The Sydney Morning Herald
From the Sydney (Australia) Morning Hearald
Wood's fellow hostage hires bounty hunters
June 26, 2005 - 7:18PM

A hostage held alongside Australian Douglas Wood in Iraq has hired bounty hunters to track down his former captors, promising to eliminate them one by one.

Swede Ulf Hjertstrom, who was held for several weeks with Mr Wood in Baghdad, was released by his kidnappers on May 30.

Mr Hjertstrom has since claimed he shared information with US and Iraqi troops about Mr Wood which led to the release of the 63-year-old Australian engineers two weeks ago, after 47 days in captivity.

Now, he wants to find those responsible.

"I have now put some people to work to find these bastards," he told the Ten Network today.

"I invested about $50,000 so far and we will get them one by one."

Wow. Mr Hjertstrom, the PC critters will take your passport away from you for sure!

News of lasting importance

2005-06-24T14:34:00.000-05:00

Almost Unnoticed, Bipartisan Budget Anxiety
The chickens will com home to roost in 2040. All emphasis is mine. Quoth the WaPo:
The timing could not have been more apt. On the eve of a titanic partisan clash in the Senate, eggheads of the left and right got together yesterday to warn both parties that they are ignoring the country's most pressing problem: that the United States is turning into Argentina.

It's a measure of how screwed up the political atmospherre is DC is. If the author, Dana Milbank, hadn't set the bipartisan bonafides in the first paragraph, a disturbingly large part of the readership would have filed it in a convenient little box ("they're attacking social security again" or "the liberals are blaming GWB again.").

While Washington plunged into a procedural fight over a pair of judicial nominees, Stuart Butler, head of domestic policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation, and Isabel Sawhill, director of the left-leaning Brookings Institution's economic studies program, sat down with Comptroller General David M. Walker to bemoan what they jointly called the budget "nightmare."

And here's an example of why I call myself neither democrat nor republican:

There were no cameras, not a single microphone, and no evidence of a lawmaker or Bush administration official in the room -- just some hungry congressional staffers and boxes of sandwiches from Corner Bakery. But what the three spoke about will have greater consequences than the current fuss over filibusters and Tom DeLay's travel.

With startling unanimity, they agreed that without some combination of big tax increases and major cuts in Medicare, Social Security and most other spending, the country will fall victim to the huge debt and soaring interest rates that collapsed Argentina's economy and caused riots in its streets a few years ago.

"The only thing the United States is able to do a little after 2040 is pay interest on massive and growing federal debt," Walker said. "The model blows up in the mid-2040s. What does that mean? Argentina."

Got that? The only thing. Right out of the starting gate, the liberal concurs:

"All true," Sawhill, a budget official in the Clinton administration, concurred.

And the conservative agrees:

"To do nothing," Butler added, "would lead to deficits of the scale we've never seen in this country or any major in industrialized country. We've seen them in Argentina. That's a chilling thought, but it would mean that."

Each of the three had a separate slide show, but the numbers and forecasts were interchangeable.

Walker put U.S. debt and obligations at $45 trillion in current dollars -- almost as much as the total net worth of all Americans, or $150,000 per person. Balancing the budget in 2040, he said, could require cutting total federal spending as much as 60 percent or raising taxes to 2 1/2 times today's levels.

Butler (the conservative) pointed out that without changes to Social Security and Medicare, in 25 years either a quarter of discretionary spending would need to be cut or U.S. tax rates would have to approach European levels. Putting it slightly differently, Sawhill (the liberal) posed a choice of 10 percent cuts in spending and much larger cuts in Social Security and Medicare, or a 40 percent increase in government spending relative to the size of the economy, and equivalent tax increases.

The unity of the bespectacled presenters was impressive -- and it made their conclusion all the more depressing. As Ron Haskins, a former Bush White House official and current Brookings scholar, said when introducing the thinkers: "If Heritage and Brookings agree on something, there must be something to it."
--snip--

Courtesy of the Washington Post. Read it all here. Or click on the link at the head of this post.

Marginal Revolution: Do we have too much choice?

2005-06-22T11:48:00.000-05:00

Marginal Revolution: Do we have too much choice?: "Will customers trust businesses to select for them? If too much choice alienates you, won't the store put the high-margin items on the front table right before your eyes? Maybe so, but competition across firms should limit such mark-ups. And if the mark-up gets too high, people will cope. Schwarz himself notes: A small-town resident who visits Manhattan is overwhelmed by all that is going on. A New Yorker, thoroughly adapted to the city�s hyperstimulation, is oblivious to it."

Jenny D.: Education Carnival #20

2005-06-22T11:27:00.000-05:00

A summary of summaries of the education world. Really good stuff. Enjoy some of her wisdom:
And Instructivist does math this week as well, from quite a different perspective. When is math not math? When it's Mayan math, or New Guinean math, perhaps. Is math culturally relative? Is two plus two something else in another culture? I've gotta add that the math educators in my school would have a heart attack about this. Sure, they like new ideas, but this seems, well, kind of silly.

I would have said, "really stupid", but I'm, like, toadally unreconstructed, man.

Read it!

joannejacobs.com with a really depressing answer to "What works in teacher education?"

2005-06-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

What works in teacher education? We don't really know concludes a report by the American Educational Research Association. After evaluating the research, "there's little empirical evidence to show that many of the most common practices in the field produce effective teachers," Education Week summarizes. The AERA panel recommends ways to strengthen the knowledge base.

Read it all

2005-06-22T11:03:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Scientific American: Nepalese Porters Operate at Pinnacle of Efficiency

2005-06-22T07:51:00.000-05:00

On average, male porters carried around 90 percent of their body mass and females lugged loads weighing around 66 percent of their body mass.

Holy...smokes

Shipping, shipbuilding, offshore news

2005-06-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

Shipping, shipbuilding, offshore news:
"USCG port state detentions rise
The U.S. Coast Guard has issued its Annual Port State Control Report for 2004, examining the safety and security compliance of foreign-flag vessels visiting the U.S. last year.
Safety compliance declined slightly in 2004 with 2.43 percent of vessels detained because of poor compliance with safety standards, an increase from 1.99 percent in 2003, but still less than the 2.5 percent that were detained in 2002.
But the report notes that foreign-flagged vessel compliance with new international security requirements was better than expected in the first six months of implementation, with only 2.5 percent of vessels arriving in U.S. ports found to be significantly non-compliant with the new security requirements, and denied entry to port, detainedor expelled from port as a result. In all, there were 176 safety related vessel detentions last year, compared with 153 in 2003. "

It's possible to make a case that Port State enforcement does as much good as everything else put together. I won't, but one could!

Numbskullery from Professor Barry Schwartz, meathead

2005-06-12T08:25:00.000-05:00

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Choose and Lose: "This brings me to the final defense of privatization: the payroll taxes you pay are your money, and you ought to be able to do what you like with your money. This, I suspect, is the real justification behind the move to privatize, and it is the worst reason of all. The payroll tax is not 'your' money; it's our money. Social Security was created as an insurance scheme, not a pension scheme. It was meant to provide a safety net, to protect the unlucky from immiseration in old age. The benefits we get are not payouts from accounts in which we have accumulated our own private stash. What we get is largely determined by what we earned, but we keep getting it even after we've taken out every penny we put in. And if we happen to die early, someone else reaps the benefits of our contributions. "

Well, no. Social Security has never been an insurance scheme. If you want to call it such, you need to come up with another phrase to describe real insurance schemes. SS, hell all intergenerational transfers are Ponzi Schemes; further, the day of reckoning approacheth in less than half a century.

Common sense trumps 'expertise',

2005-06-08T13:09:00.000-05:00

especially self-annointed experts. Like 911 operators and dispatchers who are miles from the scene.
Money quote (yes, the emphasis is added):
"We know that US borders are porous, that major targets are largely undefended, and that the multicolor threat alert scheme known affectionately as "the rainbow of doom" is a national joke. Anybody who has been paying attention probably suspects that if we rely on orders from above to protect us, we'll be in terrible shape. But in a networked era, we have increasing opportunities to help ourselves. This is the real source of homeland security: not authoritarian schemes of surveillance and punishment, but multichannel networks of advice, information, and mutual aid."
Wired 13.06: START

Star Wars -- the science of consistency

2005-06-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

Todd Seavey's glue starts to melt:
Metaphilm - Star Wars: "As a writer/editor at the American Council on Science and Health, I often criticize "crank" scientists who cling to a faltering theory long after it has become plain to all sane observers that the pet idea just doesn't hold together logically. They are pathetic, quixotic figures.
We science fiction fans are not so different, though, when we struggle to rationalize away the contradictions in our favorite fictional universes."

As I said, I like having my fancy struck!

McCain-Feingold, Free Speech, and Bloggers

2005-06-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

Instapundit's on the case:Instapundit.com -: "So much for all that 'make no law' stuff, I guess. John McCain should be tarred and feathered, not spoken of as a presidential timber, for the travesty he produced. "

IMO Orcs prepare to strike again.

2005-06-02T08:17:00.000-05:00

The premise behind the development of goal-based standards is that IMO should play a larger role in determining the
fundamental standards to which new ships are built.
Here's SNAME's summary.
IMO is the Int'l Maritime Organization -- a United Nations agency which has waged a pretty effective war against mariners from Southern Asia, Africa, and parts of South America. Now it's apparently going to tackle the shipbuilding industry.

It's not that they're not interested in safety; it's that they're more interested in preventing competition with established builders.

'Disposition' Emerges as Issue at Brooklyn College - May 31, 2005 - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper

2005-05-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

'Disposition' Emerges as Issue at Brooklyn College - May 31, 2005 - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper: "Brooklyn College's School of Education has begun to base evaluations of aspiring teachers in part on their commitment to social justice, raising fears that the college is screening students for their political views.
The School of Education at the CUNY campus initiated last fall a new method of judging teacher candidates based on their 'dispositions,' a vogue in teacher training across the country that focuses on evaluating teachers' values, apart from their classroom performance.
Critics of the assessment policy warned that aspiring teachers are being judged on how closely their political views are aligned with their instructor's. Ultimately, they said, teacher candidates could be ousted from the School of Education if they are found to have the wrong dispositions."

Ya think?
There is, btw, a description -- I can't really call it a definition -- of "Social Justice" later in the article.

Departments and Schools of Education are sliding into the laughingstock category in a smart, seamanlike fashion. This doesn't help.

Instapundit's one-word take on the issue's here

NYT upscrews on education (again)

2005-05-27T14:57:00.000-05:00

Man, if there's one area where I'm a rabid dis-admirer of the George Bush-Bob Dole-Richard Nixon branch of the Republican party, it's education. But, just as a busted clock's right twice daily, I do think their emphasis on cognitive skills is on target. Doesn't mean the feds ought to be involved, though.

Sea story: back in the day, when I was starting policy studies, I discovered the Head Start program wasn't allowed to teach their young charges to read. [Colorful noun].

Herewith, the inimitable Joane Jacobs coverage of the subject:"According to Yale study, pre-schoolers are more likely to be 'expelled' than older children. You might think that shows some little kids aren't ready for a group environment. But no. It's Bush's fault! Well, it's the rising academic standards pushed by No Child Left Behind, suggests a New York Times story.
Read it all

Texas Clipper I, RIP

2005-05-27T08:20:00.000-05:00

The Bryan-College Station Eagle > Community: "Texas Clipper I, a ship that for three decades helped train thousands of Aggies for careers at sea, now floats at dock in Beaumont with dozens of other idle vessels.

The 473-foot ship used to sail each summer on voyages that provided maritime experience to student cadets from Texas A&M University at Galveston. Now, state officials plan to write another chapter in the life of the retired ship.

In November, Clipper I will be towed into the Gulf of Mexico and sunk to create an artificial reef, school officials said."

Editor note: I sailed as a watch officer for the Shakedown cruises of 1989 and 1990.

Why it's smart to disobey officials in emergencies

2005-05-26T16:04:00.000-05:00

Wired 13.06: START: "For more than four years - steadily, seriously, and with the unsentimental rigor for which we love them - civil engineers have been studying the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, sifting the tragedy for its lessons. And it turns out that one of the lessons is: Disobey authority. In a connected world, ordinary people often have access to better information than officials do."

Confusicating Arab names

2005-05-23T13:57:00.000-05:00

Let's see H'ard Dean says "Osama" when he means "Saddam"; Sir Theodore of Chappaquiddick flipflops a fellow senator with Osama bin Laden. I think the prez can stop 'pologizin' for saying 'resignate' 'steada "resonate."
This is why Instapundit has a stomptillion readers:Instapundit.com -

Reed praises rednecks

2005-05-23T08:08:00.000-05:00

Fred Reed, Capo di tutti Capi of the crowdus politcalus incorrectus, observes the advantages of red neckitude. Includes the phrase, "larcenous parasitic lawyer". Fred didn't useta be so redundant!
Read it all: Fred Columns:

Would some power..

2005-05-20T12:58:00.000-05:00

Gerard Baker, US Editor of the London Times sounds off on the subject of George Galloway, a recently elected Member of Parliament, p'haps best known for fawning over Saddam Hussein.

The article, from the vantage of the west coast of the pond, is useful for a British-eye-view of the U. S. Senate.

Betcha can't read without laughing!
Opinion - Gerard Baker US Editor Times Online

Proving a negative

2005-05-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

Newsweek's assertion that they have no evidence that the guards at Guantanamo didn't throw the Q'ran down the toilet invokes a logical fallacy. The weekly is demanding the proof of a negative: "Prove that you did NOT do this". Proving a negative is impossible; that's why is a fallacy.
Much better, crisper, and funnier comment is here:
Day By Day by Chris Muir, cartoon for: 5/19/2005

Lecture Economists in Economics

2005-05-19T14:43:00.000-05:00

From American Shipper:
Economists have not taken advantage of supply chain tracking tools to improve their forecasts, which are frequently predicated on monthly economic indicators of productivity, Frederick Smith, president and chairman of FedEx Corp., said Thursday. The U.S. economy is still growing at a solid pace despite a temporary slowdown during March, he said. Speaking at the Bear Stearns investor conference on the global transportation industry in New York, Smith said that macroeconomists often overreact to small blips in economic activity because they don’t understand that the in-transit tracking and warehouse management systems in use today give corporate executives the ability to quickly adjust production and inventory levels to meet rising or falling demand, rather than relying on lagging economic data for their business decisions. “Most recessions are simply inventory corrections” and not a sign of fundamental economic problems, Smith noted. “People see one or two numbers and extrapolate into broader trends that may have been true several years ago, but today businesses instantly correct, lower their inventory, make some adjustments, and the economy remains overall strong.” The minute demand increases, companies restock and order more inventory, he added.

Read it all:FedEx chairman gives economists lesson in economics

Shipping Coordinating Committee -- no, really!

2005-05-17T13:35:00.000-05:00

: "Shipping Coordinating Committee--Notice of Meeting

The Shipping Coordinating Committee (SHC) will conduct an open meeting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15, 2005, in Room 6319 of the United States Coast Guard Headquarters Building, 2100 2nd Street, SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001. The primary purpose of the meeting is to continue our preparations for the 48th Session of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessels Safety to be held at IMO Headquarters in London, England from September 12th to 16th."

ID Card Trick: Can we count on the DMV to foil terrorists?

2005-05-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

Reason magazine on the "Real ID" act.
Reason: ID Card Trick: Can we count on the DMV to foil terrorists?
The answer -- duh! -- is 'no.' This is another example of the eternal truth of government service: it's more important to be seen doing something than it is to do something effective. Thanks Senator Warner, Senator Allen. We'll remember next November.

Instapundit collects a buncha stuff on the Newsweek debacle

2005-05-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Money quote:"Really, I don't want to hear another word about the superior "responsibility" of Big Media. Not one more word."
HOWEVER, our crack intelligence team couldn't confirm that he was wearing pajamas
Instapundit.com -

The inimitable Jerry Pournelle visits Roma, d'Italia

2005-05-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

Current View: "Anyway, we're in R XIII which might or might not be unlucky, and tomorrow is Friday the 13th. Or Friday is Friday 13th anyway.
The streets are lively at 9 PM. Every possible parking place, some ingeniously illegal, is taken up. Most of the cars are small. There are also about 1.2 motorbikes and motorcycles per inhabitant, leaving the interesting question of who drives the cars since clearly there are more than enough motorbikes to go around. This district was not so lively, and certainly had far less traffic, in the 1980's. I haven't yet located the place we stayed then, largely because we walked from it to the Forum in those days, and now the traffic is so thick it is a life threatening experience to walk almost anywhere. I do recall they had abandoned the excavations at the Circus Maximus and I walked among the remains of the dig. The signs said the work was sponsored by Umberto, Rex, and Benito Mussolini, Duce. All those signs were gone last time we were here, as were the big signs crediting them with building the Da Vinci Airport. Of course the airport is enormously expanded from the 1980's too."

On CAFTA, Dems must choose unions or Hispanics

2005-05-12T15:40:00.000-05:00

On CAFTA, Dems must choose unions or Hispanics: "Those who oppose illegal immigration cannot have it both ways. Either you alleviate poverty in Central America and encourage would-be immigrants to stay home and share in the increasing wealth or you keep them in poverty and watch as they flock over our borders."

Fred irritates the PC Crowd.

2005-05-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

Fred Columns: "The only good thing that can be said about Democrats is that, when they are in power, the Republicans are not."

Indonesia Says No to Escorts with Armed Guards in Malacca Strait

2005-05-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

Indonesia rejected a proposal that would allow commercial ships to hire armed escorts to transit the pirate-infested waters of the Malacca Strait.
Listen, those pirates paid good money to our officials. They should be able to ply their trade without worrying about being shot.
Read it all, thanks to Maritime Executive:
http://www.newsletterscience.com/marex/readmore.cgi?issue_id=97&article_id=822&l=1&s=3428

What sort of parenting matters

2005-05-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

The worth-checking-in-with-daily Joanne Jacobs links to a study that throws alot of assumptions into the ashcan!
joannejacobs.com: What sort of parenting matters
Briefly, here's the stuff that matters and that doesn't matter:
Matters: The child has highly educated parents.
Doesn't: The child regularly watches TV at home.
Matters: The child's parents have high income.
Doesn't: The child's mother didn't work between birth and kindergarten.
Matters: The child's parents speak English in the home.
Doesn't: The child's parents regularly take him to museums.
Matters: The child's mother was 30 or older at time of the child's birth.
Doesn't: The child attended Head Start.

I can hear the PC crowd now! Doesn't matter if the kid watches TV at home, doesn't matter if the kids parents take him to museums, doesn't matter if the kid attended head start.
But I want it to matter!

Cap'n Arbyte with some good advice

2005-05-05T15:21:00.000-05:00

arbyte.us: Anti-Money-Laundering Software

UK Awards Its First Victoria Cross to a Lving Recipient Since 1965

2005-05-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

From Kipling:
The earth is full of anger,
The seas are dark with wrath,
The Nations in their harness
Go up against our path:
Ere yet we loose the legions --
Ere yet we draw the blade,
Jehovah of the Thunders,
Lord God of Battles, aid!
StrategyPage.com - Measure of respect- �Britain Awards Its First Victoria Cross to a Lving Recipient Since 1965

A butcher knife on a blind date...

2005-04-29T20:21:00.000-05:00

AP Wire | 02/13/2005 | Airport screener misses butcher knife
An amusing story, but it misses the real point: God made men and women, Colonel Colt made them equal (which I swiped from Ann Coulter, politically incorrect person that I am).
Ladies, if you need to be armed, take a stand-off weapon. A knife lets the bad guy get too close!

The New York Times Editorial: The Ship That's Sinking the Navy

2005-04-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Editorial The Ship That's Sinking the Navy.htm">The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: The Ship That's Sinking the Navy

The editorial illustrates some very good points that need to be made -- although these aren't the points the grey lady had in mind.
First, although the short term threat is assuredly littoral, there is no very good reason to believe we won't face a blue-water threat at the end of the DDX's life. Vide: PRC.
Second, although the DDX (and, for that matter, the Arleigh Burke class) certainly aren't optimized for littoral warfare, they're not incapable in that area. In other words, the threat is multifaceted; therefore, the response must be multicapable. An attempt to overspecialize the shrinking fleet would lead to a return to the high/low concept of the mid-late 70s.
Last, although it's extraordinarily easy to claim the Navy's over-the-moon with advanced technology, the added capabilities are largely driven by perceived threats twenty-to-thirty years out.

Invented evils...

2005-04-22T15:46:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Diana Hsieh:

"I vaguely remember hearing (perhaps from Stephen Hicks) that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the hard left faced an inescapable either-or choice between socialism and reality. Unsurprisingly, they abandoned reality in favor of socialism -- and thus postmodernism was born. Based upon my readings on Soviet Russia and Red China, I'm certain that most (if not all) hard leftists abandoned reality decades earlier. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, the last shred of their pretend concern for the facts disintegrated. Postmodernism then served as a convenient rationalization for their abandonment of that pretended concern for facts: Wow, as it turned out, the idea of objective fact was just a myth!"
Yep, the emphasis was added
Read it all:
Diana Mertz Hsieh: NoodleFood

Error Theory

2005-04-22T09:01:00.000-05:00

Error Theory

A major, albeit pointed, hoot: Earth Day 2030: "A new eye blinked open upon the world"

2005-04-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Error Theory: Earth Day 2030: "A new eye blinked open upon the world"I do believe I'll have to keep track of "ErrorTheory"!

Wired News: U.S. Military's Elite Hacker Crew

2005-04-19T16:15:00.000-05:00

To the surprise of every two-year old, DOD has cyberwarfare plans. Duh.
Wired News: U.S. Military's Elite Hacker Crew

Diane Knippers, Godspeed

2005-04-19T12:13:00.000-05:00

Home - Institute on Religion and Democracy - LIVE SITE

I don't agree with her on everything; nonetheless, the world's a little dimmer today.