June 02, 2007

GOREMANIA! Direct from Nashville!

MICHAEL TOTTEN on Al Qaeda in Lebanon.

LAMAR! MEETS WITH HIS CONSTITUENTS: According to this account, it didn't go very well.

UPDATE: Similar problems for Trent Lott.

DO WE FACE THE CRIMINALIZATION OF NAPPING?

Everybody wants to demonstrate that they care about kids by ratcheting the standards for parenting and childcare ever-higher. But in doing so we raise the costs of having kids -- you can't even go out, because who'll babysit if the liability is so extreme? -- and that probably does more societal damage.

I also note that when I was on the state's Juvenile Justice Reform Commission, I heard a lot of child-welfare authorities who testified make the same kind of excuses for the neglect or abuse of children in their care that they refused to accept from parents, etc. -- we're so busy, there's not enough money, it's not our fault they live in a building that's old and unsafe, etc. As Reverend Lovejoy said, when the state does it, it's not wrong!

I think it's safer to assume that most of the time parents, and those they select to watch out for their kids, know what they're doing, and that they already have adequate incentives to try to keep them safe. That's not perfect, but this inquisitorial approach, plus the ridiculous effort to purge all risks from childrens' lives, aren't perfect either and do significant harm of their own.

UPDATE: Brendan Loy: "Sometimes, a tragedy is just a tragedy, not a crime."

CARBON CREDITS cause global warming? It's just perverse enough to make sense.

SO I SPOKE THIS AFTERNOON at a program put on by the University of Tennessee's Howard Baker Center for Public Policy, about political campaigning and the online world.

The audience was mostly local political types and journalists, and it was interesting to see the dramatic increase in web- and blog-literacy among all the participants. Several of the people there were already blogging, and most everybody seemed generally familiar with the subject and the area blogs.

Still, there were people who were surprised that you could set up a blog for free with Blogger.com -- I guess that just seems like too good a deal to be true.

One interesting thing, though, was a question about voters -- most people who vote in local elections are over 45, and some people wondered if any of them would read blogs. I noted that the characterization of bloggers and blog-readers as "tech-savvy youth" is pretty much bogus, with the bulk of blog readers, or at least political blog readers, being well over 30. That blog stereotype is one of those media tropes that seems immune to the facts. At any rate, if people over 45 are the ones most interested in local politics, then that's who'll be reading local politics blogs.

Surfing the web isn't that hard. People of all ages can do it. And do!

SUING EHARMONY AND TRIVIALIZING ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAW: That trivialization has been going on for years, and has robbed it of most of its moral force. It's a real tragedy of the commons -- sensible self-restraint is important if antidiscrimination law is to retain its moral currency, but no particular plaintiff or lawyer gains anything by not filing a claim.

MICHAEL YON EMAILS TO RECOMMEND this article on Anbar. The most important lesson: Don't let up.

AS PORN GOES, SO GO THE REST OF THE MEDIA, which may be worrisome to some:

The Internet was supposed to be a tremendous boon for the pornography industry, creating a global market of images and videos accessible from the privacy of a home computer. For a time it worked, with wider distribution and social acceptance driving a steady increase in sales.

ut now the established pornography business is in decline — and the Internet is being held responsible.

The online availability of free or low-cost photos and videos has begun to take a fierce toll on sales of X-rated DVDs. Inexpensive digital technology has paved the way for aspiring amateur pornographers, who are flooding the market, while everyone in the industry is giving away more material to lure paying customers.

And unlike consumers looking for music and other media, viewers of pornography do not seem to mind giving up brand-name producers and performers for anonymous ones, or a well-lighted movie set for a ratty couch at an amateur videographer’s house.

Other media folks, beware!

THOUGHTS ON FRED THOMPSON and anti-Southern bigotry.

TRADITIONAL MALE SKILLS: I've mentioned before that we're in something of a cultural moment, and here's more evidence -- an interesting dialogue on Rush Limbaugh (thanks to Ed Driscoll for the link). The topic is a commercial for Lowe's, where the husband keeps saying that he doesn't know how to do anything and the wife keeps encouraging him. A caller said it made men look dumb (which is common for commercials, of course) but Limbaugh disagrees here:

But this could have been appealing from the Lowe's standpoint to men's aspirations. They want to be able to fix things but they aren't sure they know how, and they don't want to be embarrassed in front of the girl. They don't want to be embarrassed in front of the woman. They don't want to look dumb by screwing it up. The commercial, actually from the Lowe's standpoint, Lowe's could say, "Hey, look at the ending of our commercial. This commercial affirms that men can learn to fix things."

Now, that's kind of insulting itself, but given where we are in our culture today, who knows.

He even mentions The Dangerous Book for Boys.

I think he's onto something with this business about the loss of traditional male skills and men feeling unhappy about it. Here's an essay that a bunch of readers have emailed me: I Can't Do One-Quarter of the Things My Father Can.

And guys, visit the Skill Sets page to learn some of this!

HERE'S A Disaster Preparedness List for those who are interested. Just remember: It's important to have supplies, but disaster preparedness is about more than just buying things.

RUSSIA: If we can't own the pipeline, we'll control the faucet.

ROGER SIMON has thoughts on Danny Glover.

The actor, not the blogger.

JFK TERROR PLOT BUSTED. Well, good.

IN THE MAIL: From Smithsonian Books, Larry Berman's Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent. The North Vietnamese fed him "scoops" to raise his stature in the magazine, even as he was spying and manipulating on their behalf. I wonder how many similar "infiltrators" are at work in Western press agencies covering the Middle East today. And whether those agencies even care much.

UPDATE: A reader points to this post, too. Also these comments by Ben Stein.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Michael Yon sends another email:

Was going on a mission today but it was canceled, so am on base writing. I was just in the dining facility here on Camp Hit. It's a simple affair. This Saturday's lunch was hotdogs and hamburgers. Paper plates. The tables are wooden and rickety. For some, it's very spartan. For others it's cush. One of the Soldiers (Army) came at sat at the same table. The Soldier was not in the best mood, and one of his buddies, a Marine, asked how he was doing. The soldier came back with some grumpy talk, "All I can get's hamburger and hotdogs."

Marine answered, "Sorry I asked." Marine seemed a little put off.
Soldier continued, "When I get home, I ain't taken' nothin' for granted." I chuckled and the Marine smiled slightly while the Soldier continued, "Gonna get home an' get me a bacon lettuce and cheese, hamburger. A cheeseburger." (The cheese had run out, and so had the mustard.)
Marine answered, "Burger King?"
Soldier said, "Yep, when I get home, ain't taken nothin' for granted."
"Amen, I smiled, and the Soldier smiled a little bit and the grumpiness retreated a bit.
The Soldier continued, "When I get home, taken' nothin' for granted, and I'm gonna get on that field and get on my knees and kiss the ground where that 3rd ID patch is."

There's no place like home.

Much progress out here in Anbar, and I haven't seen any combat since I got here some weeks back. Will be back in the thick of things soon, though. Back in the shooting war.

Michael's latest full post can be found here.

FRED KAGAN on Iraq as it is..

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS UPDATE:

Most people along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts haven't made hurricane survival plans, despite pleas from emergency officials for residents to prepare before the season starts, according to a poll released Thursday. . . .

One forecaster said odds were high that a major hurricane would hit the U.S. this year.

Nevertheless, 53% of people surveyed in 18 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states say they don't feel that they are vulnerable to a hurricane, or to related tornadoes and flooding, according to the Mason-Dixon poll. Eighty-eight percent said they had not taken any steps to fortify their homes.

Officials encourage a 3-day stock of food and water. That's not really enough,"But 61% of poll respondents had no hurricane survival kit. Of those who did, 82% packed a fire hazard — candles or kerosene lamps. Missing from most of those kits were axes, which emergency officials recommended after many residents were trapped in their attics as they tried to escape the flooding following Hurricane Katrina."

You should have at least a week's worth of nonperishable food and medicine, and you should have a bag packed with essentials in case you have to evacuate. And that's regardless of whether you live in a hurricane zone. More here. Also here.

And are candles bad? Judging by the picture, you need them for a proper hurricane meal presentation. Standards must be upheld!

EUROPE'S SHAME: This is pathetic.

RAND SIMBERG ON information war, and complicity in silence.

ANOTHER POSITIVE REVIEW for Evan Coyne Maloney's documentary Indoctrinate U., from Linda Seebach in the Rocky Mountain News. Excerpt:

There's a lovely Roger and Me scene in the film where Maloney is trying to interview a college president about incidents on his campus. (Maloney says Michael Moore inspired and encouraged him to start making documentaries.) He's talking with a nervous administrator who can't come up with any explanation about why the president's office won't return Maloney's phone calls asking for an appointment, and keeps sidling away. Meanwhile an equally nervous secretary has called the cops.

While still looking for a distributor, the filmmakers are running a little viral marketing campaign. Visit the Web site, tell them where you're from, and say you'd like to see the film. They promise to arrange local screenings whenever at least 500 people in an area have signed up. Why not Denver?

Read the whole thing. And if you like, visit the webpage and sign up.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH!

L.A. ANTIGUN ACTIVIST caught with illegal machine gun: "Note to LA government: be cautious about trusting a million bucks to a guy who goes by 'Big Weasel.'"

THE STRAIGHT DOPE on disappearing bees.

STREET FIGHTING MEN in Iran.

June 01, 2007

BORDER SECURITY: "A globe-trotting Atlanta lawyer with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was allowed back into the United States by a border inspector who disregarded a computer warning to stop him and don protective gear, officials said Thursday. . . . The unidentified inspector explained that he was not a doctor but that the infected man seemed perfectly healthy and that he thought the warning was merely 'discretionary,' officials briefed on the case told The Associated Press." Feel safe now?

JEEZ, THAT WOULD MAKE ME WHAT, 29? Is 70 the new 50?

YET ANOTHER RECORD HIGH FOR STOCKS: I credit the Democratic Congress! Well, that and good economic news:

Investors found reason for optimism in a stronger-than-expected jobs report for May. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 157,000 last month, a larger increase than in April and more than analysts anticipated. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent, as forecast, according to the Labor Department report.

The economic picture appeared brighter still following a lower reading on inflation from the Commerce Department and data from the Institute for Supply Management's May survey, which indicated that the manufacturing sector was strengthening.

Well, that all sounds good.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

It is not only the U.S. where stocks are hitting records highs but also most markets in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America too. Lost amongst the cacophony of the MSM is the fact that economically the world has never had it this good and as a result millons of people are being lifted out of abject poverty every year.

I am employed as an emerging markets fund manager and witness this first hand. Two weeks ago I was in Shanghai and had dinner at a restaurant called M on the Bund. The Bund is where the banks and trading houses built their headquarters during the last great boom in Shanghai in the 1920's & 30's. M has a roof terrace overlooking the Hangpu River which is the main waterway for the city. The whole evening I witnessed a procession of barges and other ships laden with coal, cement, oil etc. heading upstream full and downstream empty. Looking out I could see the lights of welders flicker from various construction sites (sites are active 24/7) throughout the city. Scenes like these are occuring throughout the developing world though most without the vigor of the Chinese. As a result the various local economies are booming as are their stock markets. It is interesting to note that the two areas where the markets aren't hitting new highs are Russia and the Gulf. I wonder if that tells us something about the future direction of oil prices?

That's interesting. It probably tells us more about the corrosive effect of bad governance.

BYPASSING HUGO CHAVEZ'S CENSORS, with YouTube:

An opposition Venezuelan television station whose broadcast license has not been renewed by the government is now turning to YouTube to get its message out after its transmitter was taken over by a state-run channel. Hugo Chavez's "Bolivarian Revolution" has no time for media groups that criticize his government; Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is now off the air, and another channel, Globovision, could be next, according to CNN.

RCTV journalists and producers have not been arrested or stopped from working, but their main link to the public has been removed. Rather than giving up, the station has turned to YouTube, where it now has its own channel for the show El Observador. A Colombian channel is also broadcasting RCTV content into Venezuela.

El Observador clips have been seen 175,000 times since May 28, and the channel is currently the most-subscribed channel of the week.

Heh.

TEN TIPS ON saving water. Useful if, like me, you're laboring under a drought.

KERRY HOWLEY says that if you support free markets, you should support open borders.

ANOTHER CAMPAIGN BLOGGER GETS SOME SCRUTINY.

This will get less attention than Amanda Marcotte, though, since most people, upon hearing about Chris Dodd's campaign blogger, will respond by saying "Chris Dodd is running for President?"

THOUGHTS ON MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN, inspired by the movie Knocked Up.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: John Wixted writes: "I'm looking forward to the day that I can bring you good news about civilian causalities in Iraq. Today is not that day."

Plus this, on American troop casualties: "At this rate, 2007 will be more deadly for US troops than any previous year of the war. Casualties are still extremely low by historical standards, but not according to the new American standard according to which wars are fought in which no one gets hurt. The only good news continues to be that things are turning against al Qaeda in Iraq. Iraq might be a mess for a long time to come, but the chaos that al Qaeda deliberately created is, for the moment, not working out as they planned." Read the whole thing.

FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING BY flying to the Virgin Islands at taxpayer expense!

I volunteer. We all have to do our share to save the planet!

A LOOK AT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS'S editorial priorities.

And read this post, too.

SO I SAW THIS LIST OF Father's Day gift suggestions and while there's nothing wrong with it, I wonder if anyone would post a list of Mother's Day gift suggestions that consisted of things like vacuum cleaners, stoves, and mops. But tools and grills for dads are different, somehow. Why?

UPDATE: CaltechGirl says I've got the question backward: Why aren't people giving moms cool power tools? Good question!

Of course, I'd have liked a new stove -- instead I bought one for myself. And vacuum cleaners can be cool, especially the hovercraft kind. Heck, even some mops.

PESHMERGA WOMEN STEAL THE SHOW at Iraq security handover ceremony.

EVAN COYNE MALONEY emails that there's been a phenomenal response to his new film Indoctrinate U. He's been asking people to enter their zipcodes after watching the trailer, as a way of showing distributors that there's a market:

The overall conversion rate is something like 25%, which is absolutely unheard of in any other media. Direct mailers would sell their firstborn for that kind of conversion. Sometime in the next week, we will break 20,000 signups. And that's without spending a single dime promoting the site! If we get five times that--certainly feasible--I think distributors will have a hard time ignoring us.

I would think so. Anyway, if you haven't done so, consider watching the trailer and entering your zip code. It's a film that deserves a wider audience.

DELL NON-HELL: Reader Hazen Dempster emails:

I want to thank you for your various posts about Dell customer support and their in-home repair service. My wife's Dell laptop died over the Memorial Day weekend -- It's several years old so I figured there was no way is still had any warranty left. I had it in the car to take it to a Geek Squad location when I remembered your posts and decided that I ought to at least check with Dell before paying someone to work on it. Well, I called Dell on Memorial Day night - they diagnosed the problem as a failed motherboard and told me that I was still eligible for in-home repair. The technician called me the next day (Tuesday) to let me know that he had the service order and would have the part on Wednesday. On Wednesday he called to say he had the part and to schedule a time to come out. He was willing to come out that afternoon, but that didn't work for my wife so he came out Thursday morning, spent about 30 minutes working on it and it's like new again. Total bill -- $0. Will I buy another Dell? Uh, yeah!

As with the bad stories, your experience may differ. But my own experiences with Dell have been good.

UNREST IN MEXICO CITY.

THOUGHTS ON summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. From the Knoxville News-Sentinel's new military blogger, Fred Brown.

AMY ALKON LOOKS AT who's exploiting the poor.

I'VE SAID THAT HOT AIR DESERVES A NETWORK DEAL, and now it's got one!

A GERMAN BRAIN DRAIN: " For a nation that invented the term 'guest worker' for its immigrant labourers, Germany is facing the sobering fact that record numbers of its own often highly-qualified citizens are fleeing the country to work abroad in the biggest mass exodus for 60 years. Figures released by Germany's Federal Statistics Office showed that the number of Germans emigrating rose to 155,290 last year - the highest number since the country's reunification in 1990 - which equalled levels last experienced in the 1940s during the chaotic aftermath of the Second World War. . . . Fed up with comparatively poor job prospects at home - where unemployment is as high as 17 per cent in some regions - as well as high taxes and bureaucracy, thousands of Germans have upped sticks for Austria and Switzerland, or emigrated to the United States." Seems like the more socialist the country, the more its talented citizens tend to go elsewhere.

THE FABLE OF THE BEES: Joel Garreau looks at the disappearing honeybee story and notes various efforts by various people to put their favored spin on it. I'm particularly amused at how disappointed some people are that the cellphone explanation turned out to be bogus.

I'm inclined to agree with Bill Joy: Complex systems behave unpredictably. But I think his suggestion that this sort of thing is new is iffy -- it's just that in the old days it either wouldn't have been noticed, or would have been attributed to supernatural causes. And I think that environmentalists should actually be happy!

"From an ecological standpoint, it is opening up the possibility for local pollinators like the mason bee to come back." Honeybees, after all, are an introduced species. They were brought here by European explorers and settlers. The Indians called them "white men's flies."

Forward, into the past!

WELL, THIS IS A SWITCH: "Ahmadinejad's spiritual advisor, Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, was shouted down by angry Iranian and Afghan protesters a minute into his talk at a liberal college in Canada this week."

I guess they figure silence is complicity.

IN THE MAIL: Daniel Gross's Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy. Irrational exuberance is good for you!

BILL QUICK: "In the vein of LBJ and Walter Cronkite, I think it is fair to say that if George W. Bush has lost Peggy Noonan, then he has lost the Republican Party."

Hey, Rush Limbaugh savaged me when I said it last fall before the election, but it's like there's some bizarre Republican death wish. (But Limbaugh seems to have caught on to my point more recently.) I'd disagree with Noonan, though, in that I think the GOP Congress was just as bad as the White House is now. In both cases, it's an attitude of entitlement that seems to be endemic among our political class, and certainly one that the Democratic Congress is already displaying in full measure.

And, despite Bush's many flaws, not everything is Bush's fault -- though it would surely be convenient for lots of people if it were.

UPDATE: And read this report and this one about Republican problems with grassroots support. All I can say is, "I told you so." Repeatedly. In fact, all you have to do is listen to this podcast interview with Ken Mehlman, then RNC chair, to realize that these problems were obvious over a year ago, but that the GOP establishment was either oblivious, or unwilling to address them. Can't anyone here play this game?

ANOTHER JOHN EDWARDS CAMPAIGN MISSTEP:

John Edwards told a Google "town hall" yesterday that he had read the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, the summary of the evidence that led to war in Iraq. . . . His assertion that he read the NIE seems to contradict what his campaign told me last week, when Edwards spokesman Mark Kornblau said his boss hadn't read the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. That put him in the same position as all the other senators from the time running for president, save Joe Biden.

However, Kornblau said today that Edwards had "misunderstood" the question yesterday, and that he was referring to having read the declassified version of the NIE, and other intelligence documents.

For some reason, the Edwards campaign seems to have had a series of these unforced errors.

EVERY TIME I POST ABOUT THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS, I get loads more email, which makes me think that there's a genuine cultural moment going on here. That makes me wonder if one of the various political candidates won't try to capitalize on it somehow, but it's not clear to me just what they could do. Any thoughts?

UPDATE: Reader Don Spoon emails:

While growing up in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I ran across a used book from one of my uncles called "The Boy's Book", which became my bible until I joined the Boy Scouts. I am EXTREMELY glad to see a replacement for it! My grandson will benefit from it just like I did. I am saddened that my sons didn't have a reference like this!

You see similar sentiments in the reader reviews, too. Check out the one that quotes G.K. Chesterton.

ANOTHER UPDATE: In a related vein, reader Charles Vinod emails regarding my earlier post about hands-on toys:

I bought the Radio Shack Electronics kit 101 for my six year old son this week on the occasion of his kindergarten “graduation”. Needless to say, he loved it and has not asked to watch TV or play video games since receiving the kit. Most interesting of all, even at this age, he just doesn’t want to build the circuits; he wants to know the reason “why” each one works differently. This point especially makes his scientist dad proud.

And rightly so! So why don't schools use things like this?

SPEAKING OF TIPJARS: James Lileks makes a discovery:

Augh. Brilliant! I put up a tip jar, and it doesn’t work. Turns out that a picture of an Amazon tip jar does not actually link to an Amazon tip jar. Tomorrow, your host learns that clicking on a picture of a telephone does not generate a dial tone.

Live and learn! Plus, thoughts on sex and free will.

STUMBLING INTO SUCCESS: J.D. Johannes posts another report from Iraq. Read it and then ask: Why are we only getting this kind of reporting from people like him and Michael Yon?

And remember, like Michael Yon he's supported by his readers. So if you like what you're reading, hit the tipjar.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: "Just how vulnerable is the U.S. economy to troubles in China?"

AMITY SHLAES HAS A NEW BOOK OUT, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. Arnold Kling has read it, and has some observations, including this one:

The struggle over economic policy in the 1930's was really an episode in the long, historical conflict between business participants in the market and anti-business academics. Roosevelt gave free rein to the professors, until the start of the Second World War led him to realize that he would need the tycoons to help mobilize to defeat Hitler. I suspect that one reason that Roosevelt and the New Deal come off so well in the conventional wisdom is that history books are written by professors, not by entrepreneurs.

Read the whole thing, which is quite interesting.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Sen. Jon Kyl is behind the latest effort to block transparency:

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ, has conceded that he is the senator behind the secret hold on the proposed Open Government Reform Act of 2007, which would provide much-needed improvements in the federal Freedom of Information Act.

AP reports that Kyl explains his decision to place the secret hold on the bill as a result of "uncharacteristically strong" objections from the Justice Department. Kyl will maintain his hold until supporters of the FOIA reform bill, which includes its primary architect, Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, and opponents can work out their differences.

Memo to Sen. Kyl: Some differences are irreconciliable, such as the difference between those like Cornyn who believe transparency in government is the first essential for democratic accountability, and those in government like the career attorneys at the Justice Department who ALWAYS find a reason to oppose increased transparency. . . .

What is really aggravating here, Sen. Kyl, is that you profess to be a conservative, a believer in limited government and individual liberty, but here you are taking up the cause of Big Government's first line of defense.

Of all people in Congress who ought to be first to proclaim that the public has an inherent right to see how the public's business is being conducted, one would think it would be a conservative from a western state where people remember Barry Goldwater.

Read the whole thing.

IT'S BETTER THAN TIM RUSSERT ON A GOOD DAY! The latest Corn & Miniter Show is up!

I'M ON THE COVER OF THIS MONTH'S BLOGGER & PODCASTER MAGAZINE: Together with Seth Godin and Michael Geoghegan. We did a panel interview on . . . blogging and podcasting!

May 31, 2007

A RATHER EMBARRASSING EXERCISE by The Economist Intelligence Unit. I've always looked at the ads for their expensive services and wondered what I was missing. Not much, if this is any guide.

A "REACTIONARY TURN IN THE INTELLECTUAL WORLD," in the reception of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Full story (registration required) here. And here's an excerpt:

About Hirsi Ali we do not have to wonder: where does she stand on the question of stoning women to death? Or on the obligation for husbands to beat their wives? Read one page by her and you will know the answer; and if you read two pages, you might begin to suspect that, on the television screens of France, the man who defended the oppressed of the oppressed in the poorest neighborhoods of Europe was Nicolas Sarkozy. But that has got to be the problem from a perspective like Buruma's. This talk of women's rights--doesn't it point ultimately in directions that ought to be regarded as (here is the mystery of our present moment) conservative? Better the seventh century than Nicolas Sarkozy. . . .

But this means only that Hirsi Ali's critics have lost the ability to distinguish between a fanatical murderer and a rational debater. Here is "the racism of the anti-racists," in Bruckner's phrase. It is the racism that, while pretending to stand up for the oppressed, would deny to someone from Africa the right to make use of the same Enlightenment tools of analysis that Europeans are welcome to use. Bruckner took note of the nasty personal tone with which Hirsi Ali had been discussed--the masculine condescension, to mention one aspect, which scarcely anybody could have missed in Garton Ash's New York Review essay, where he suggested that Hirsi Ali's literary success must be owed significantly to her looks. . . .Salman Rushdie has metastasized into an entire social class, a subset of the European intelligentsia--its Muslim wing especially--who survive only because of their bodyguards and their own precautions. This is unprecedented in Western Europe during the last sixty years. And yet if someone like Pascal Bruckner mumbles a few words about the need for courage under these circumstances, the sneers begin.

The progressives aren't looking particularly progressive these days.

A LOOK AT THE FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS:

Right now there’s a dispute at Romanesko over whether Google is to blame for newspapers’ problems – why, they link to things they don’t pay for. One writer confronted the future square on, and came up with two forward-thinking responses: a class-action suit, and union pressure.

That’ll do it. I can see the headline: Newspapers win $1.6 billion verdict against Google, use the money to start a youth-oriented tabloid giveaway paper that competes with YouTube. If you flip the corners of the pages really fast, the pictures appear to move!

It's a winner.

QUESTIONS ABOUT eavesdropping on phone calls and the Clinton campaign.

IN UNDERSTANDING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, it pays to read their opinions rather than simply relying on political stereotyping.

IF YOU CAN'T WIN THE GAME, change the rules!

Dartmouth blog Dartlog reports: "Petition candidate Stephen Smith ’88’s recent accession to Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees has inspired the unhappy Alumni Council and the Board of Trustees to change the rules by which trustees are elected. As outlined in two speeches given during the Alumni Council’s annual Green Key meeting in Hanover this year, the Board may take drastic measures during their June 10th meeting to revamp the current election system for alumni trustees." Insiders seldom yield power to outsiders without a fight.

UPDATE: Here's more from Joe Malchow.

DON SURBER ON TORTURE, SILENCE, AND COMPLICITY.

IMPORTANT THOUGHTS ON HOLODECK SEX from Professor Bainbridge. And Naomi Wolf should be pleased that her old article is still spurring discussion in the blogosphere.

(Link was bad earlier. Fixed now. Sorry!)

HELEN AND I JUST WATCHED EVAN COYNE MALONEY'S FILM, Indoctrinate U. It's a gripping hour-and-a-half, and the college administrators -- and there are a lot of them -- who call the cops on Evan rather than answer simple questions about matters of public record certainly give higher education a jackbooted-thug ambience. Even your dumber corporate PR people would know better, but they are used to a lot more public scrutiny than the folks who run colleges and universities.

I hope that the film gets a lot of attention. It certainly deserves it, and I think it's going to leave a lot of people angry.

A NEW BUSH CLIMATE POLICY: Jonathan Adler has a roundup.

HOW TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL KIDS: Stay married.

Well, my parents didn't, and I'm . . . well, never mind.

More on this topic here.

MICHAEL MALONE looks at strange doings in the tech world and offers some explanation.

CAPITALISM AGAINST climate change.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: More on Murtha's secret Johnstown earmark, from CNN:

(Via Tom Elia). I like the term "Soprano-type politics."

HANDS-ON TOYS FOR BOYS (AND GIRLS!): My earlier post on hands-on toys seem to have generated some interest, and there are still lots of cool things that will get kids away from the PlayStation and encourage them to do a few things with their hands. Something that was big in my childhood: The Estes model rockets, which are still around, and still fun, safe, and cheap. (Infinitely safer than building your own rockets from scratch, too: I did that and escaped unscathed, but I know a guy whose matchhead-and-scuba-tank rocket leveled his house and cost him some fingers. In fact, I think the impetus for the Estes-style model rockets was to provide a safe alternative to homemade pyrotechnics.)

In response to my earlier post on hands-on skills, Martin Greenberger emails:

Boy can I second the lack of basic skills in adults. I volunteer a lot with Habitat for Humanity here in Los Angeles. The volunteers that come out occasionally to help frequently can't do something as basic as reading a tape measure (beyond the numbers which are printed on it of course). Many of my Saturdays are effectively a clinic on how to pound a nail.

If shop classes were oriented to teach good work habits along with basic instead mechanical skills, instead of worrying that the students weren't learning on state of the art equipment, everyone
would be better off.

I got a lot of emails along these lines. My high school (and junior high) required this -- and actually required a kind of home-ec-in-disguise course for seniors of both sexes on how to shop, budget, cook, and generally run a household that was really quite good. Of course, nowadays it's all about teaching to the standardized tests, and they don't test people's ability to hammer a nail. If they did, every class would be hammering for an hour a day.

PARANOIA STRIKES DEEP. Or, in this case, maybe it's shallow . . . .

RISING UP against Al Qaeda in Baghdad.

UPDATE: Omar at Iraq the Model says that this was actually a fight between Al Qaeda and another insurgent group. Between AP and Omar, I think I'd be inclined to trust Omar. But if one group of terrorists is killing another, well, I can live with that, I guess.

TORTURE: The sounds of silence. Silence is complicity, you know.

APPLE HIDES USER INFO in DRM-free iTunes tracks. "The big question, of course, is what might Apple do with this information?"

INDEED: "It's the arrogance and condescension that finally makes your blood boil."

BLUESTATERS BUY MORE compact fluorescent lights: Unless, apparently, they're the blue-staters who hang out at Daily Kos!

Maybe they're holding out for those promised high-efficiency incandescents.

AN ARREST IN ANBAR: Michael Yon has posted a report on the arrest of the Iraqi general that he emailed about the other day. He adds, via emails: "Note: An official press release stated that Iraqi Police conducted the arrest. That statement is untrue. Instapundit Readers found out first!"

Indeed they did. Thanks, Michael! And don't miss the post, which offers insight into what's going on, and how, that you won't find many other places.

PRAISE FOR BUSH from an unlikely source:

STOP THE PRESSES!!! Barbara Lee has just issued her second press release in two days commending President Bush.

The liberal California Democrat, who is among the most vocal critics of the war, issued a statement Tuesday applauding the president for ratcheting up pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the killing in that country's Darfur region. Now, she's acknowledging Bush for asking Congress for another $30 billion to fund his AIDS relief program in Africa.

He's been pretty good on that, but not many people have noticed.

NEWS ABOUT THE NEWS: And about not getting it.

FEW WILL MOURN:

A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail.

Upon conviction, he should be forced to consume off-brand Viagra substitutes and herbal penis-enlargement supplements while refinancing people's houses.

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Passionate? or Political?

IN THE MAIL: Jim LIndberg's Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life. The Amazon reviews are mixed -- I'm not a particular fan of Pennywise, but this comment is kind of harsh: "This clown seems to think he's somehow different than other suburban dads, just because he's in a marginally successful 'punk' band. Sorry schmuck, you're just another whitebread neocon who wears Vans." Those punkers are a tough crowd!

IT'S EVERYWHERE: The Dangerous Book for Boys inspires this column by Christina Hoff Summers in the New York Post. Excerpt:

In a radical departure from modern schoolroom readings, the book has almost nothing to say about feelings, relationships or how boys can learn to cry. It valorizes risk, adventure and manliness.

Today's boys inhabit a danger-averse world where even old favorites like tag and dodge ball are under a cloud - Too competitive! Someone might get hurt! The National Parent Teacher Association recommends a cooperative alternative to the fiercely competitive "tug of war" called "tug of peace."

By contrast, "The Dangerous Book for Boys" has detailed instructions on how to hunt, kill, skin and cook a rabbit. . . .

The sad lesson of this book's success is how far our current education culture has drifted from the world of boys. The special art of teaching boys - once so well understood by educators everywhere - is at risk of being lost forever.

One literacy expert reviewed several junior-high social studies texts and concluded: "Many students may well end up thinking that the West was settled chiefly by females, most often accompanied by their parents."

Read the whole thing. As Dangerous Book author Conn Iggulden noted in our podcast interview, things seem to be changing. It's about time.

THE EXAMINER WONDERS WHY BUSH IS insulting his most loyal supporters? As I've noted before, there seems to be some sort of bizarre Republican death wish at work. There's a difference between disagreeing with your base and disrespecting it. And they've been very disrespectful to everyone who disagrees with them on this. Heck, I'm basically pro-immigration and I find the Administration's arguments for the bill sufficiently unpersuasive and insulting that I'm leaning against it on that basis alone.

UPDATE: Uh oh.

OUTSIDE THE BOX:

Looking to prevent the next terrorist attack, the Homeland Security Department is tapping into the wild imaginations of a group of self-described "deviant" thinkers: science-fiction writers.

"We spend our entire careers living in the future," says author Arlan Andrews, one of a handful of writers the government brought to Washington this month to attend a Homeland Security conference on science and technology.

Those responsible for keeping the nation safe from devastating attacks realize that in addition to border agents, police and airport screeners, they "need people to think of crazy ideas," Andrews says.

The writers make up a group called Sigma, which Andrews put together 15 years ago to advise government officials. The last time the group gathered was in the late 1990s, when members met with government scientists to discuss what a post-nuclear age might look like, says group member Greg Bear. He has written 30 sci-fi books, including the best seller Darwin's Radio.

Now, the Homeland Security Department is calling on the group to help with the government's latest top mission of combating terrorism. . . . Why offer their ideas to the government instead of private companies that pay big bucks?

"To save civilization," Ringworld author Larry Niven says. "We do it in fiction. Why wouldn't we want to do it in fact?"

Not a bad idea.

UPDATE: N.Z. Bear emails that it's about time!

I FOUND THE NOKIA N800 a bit underpowered. But I have to say this new quasi-mini-laptop from Palm, the Foleo, looks pretty cool. All it needs is EVDO to be a terrific blogging tool.

LOVE THE SINNER, hate the sinner's sex toy business.

A PORNOGRAPHY-BASED STRATEGY for the War on Terror: "Whatever military action we take is just a holding action while our culture does a number on them."

THE NRO EDITORS CHALLENGE THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORS to a debate on immigration.

A BLOG DUSTUP IN NASHVILLE: Bob Krumm has more background.

Here's the post that started it all. I don't agree with it, but it seems relatively tame to me. It's no "screw 'em," that's for sure.

UPDATE: Michael Silence: "The bottom line: The intent to drive traffic is working."

We've been had. D'oh!

HUMAN SHIELDS in Iraq.

DRINKING FROM A FIREHOSE:

One of America’s busiest guys these days is Mark Corallo of Corallo Comstock Inc. in Alexandria. He’s the media strategist and former Justice Department public affairs director who is the public voice of Fred Thompson’s prospective presidential campaign. A few hours after The Politico reported on Wednesday morning that the actor and former senator was moving swiftly toward declaring his candidacy, Corallo e-mailed: “The response is unreal. Total explosion. Can’t keep up with the incoming. Received over 300 e-mails from people who want to contribute and/or volunteer. Drinking from the fire hose.”

Hey, if Al Gore gets in the race, we might wind up with two Tennesseans facing off in the general election.

GOOGLE MAPS IS SPYING ON MY CAT!

HARIRI UPDATE:

The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the killing of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri whose supporters celebrated by dancing in the streets of Beirut.

The vote at U.N. headquarters in New York was 10-0 with five abstentions _ Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar. Nine votes were needed for passage.

South Africa hasn't really lived up to its human-rights reputation. Still, that's a bit of a surprise. The others, not so much.

Michael Totten observes: "What Assad fears most has come to pass."

UPDATE: Reader Mike Hertz makes a good point:

I'm not quite sure what the Post means when it says that the Security Council "unilaterally" established a tribunal. I thought a decision taken by the Council was, by definition, collective. Does "unilateral" simply mean that the Post disapproves? Or that the U.S. was part of the group that took action (much like the Iraq coalition was referrred to as unilateral)?

Any group involving the U.S. is "unilateral," I guess.

MASS DELETIONS PRODUCE A LIVEJOURNAL REVOLT.

JOURNALISTIC ETHICS: Paying for perverts?

VIRGINIA POSTREL: "Kidney patients need ACT-UP. Instead, they've got the way-too-complacent National Kidney Foundation, an organization more for doctors than patients. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Lisa Cunningham has died. She's the woman Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center told it would refuse to transplant if she found a kidney donor through local press coverage."

AN ARGUMENT FOR TERM LIMITS? "The authors study the make-up of Congress since 1789 with a view to tracking 'the self-perpetuation of political elites'. They find that, the longer the tenure of a legislator, the more likely his relatives are to enter Congress later."

May 30, 2007

A BLOGGER'S DREAMS, crushed by Michelle Malkin.

MORE SKEPTICISM about the FBI.

OKAY THIS IS STUPID:

The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone should test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive tests on their larger herds as well.

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

The dangers of false positives from mass testing are not trivial, as evidenced in discussions of mass-testing for HIV. Nonetheless, this is hardly the same thing. As I've noted before, food testing is something we're not doing well, and we ought to do better. The meat industry people are just afraid of competition from "real food" producers and the like, and don't want to give them an opening.

I mean, do we want China to be our model?

GREENHOUSE UPDATE:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she followed all Senate rules when she accepted rides on a private jet from a longtime benefactor.

"Whatever I've done, I complied with Senate rules at the time. That's the way every senator operates," the Democratic presidential contender said in an interview with The Associated Press during a campaign stop in Las Vegas. . . .

Sen. Clinton, who complained about corporate America's largesse and skyrocketing executive pay during campaign events Wednesday, said she did not believe her message was undermined by her acceptance of the private flights. In line with Senate rules then in effect, Clinton's campaign has said she reimbursed Gupta at the cost of a first-class flight, typically a significant discount off the expense of a private jet.

"Those were the rules. You'll have to ask somebody else whether that's good policy," she said.

Senate rules or not, it's bad for the planet. Doesn't anyone care?

ED MORRISSEY INTERVIEWS John McCain and Mitt Romney.

UPDATE: Social conservatives backing Rudy? Interesting discussion in the Powerline forum.

MISS UNIVERSE BOOS AND U.S. / MEXICAN RELATIONS: "For what it's worth, I think this kind of episode has more impact on Americans' attitudes toward other countries than is generally recognized. The fact that millions of Americans witnessed the rudeness in Mexico City will not make matters easier for those who are pushing immigration legislation in Congress."

It's not a big deal, but that's right. "We hate you -- let us in!" is a poor approach.

PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE EXPLAINS WHY HE LIKES FRED THOMPSON: "He bugs James Dobson, who bugs me." I like that, too.

DANIEL DREZNER AND MEGAN MCARDLE on BloggingHeads TV.

HERE'S THE MNF PRESS RELEASE on the arrest that Michael Yon emailed about yesterday. (Via North Shore Journal.)

THE STOCK MARKET CONTINUES TO BURN HOT:

Wall Street shot higher Wednesday, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its first record close in more than seven years, as investors grew more confident that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates in the second half of 2007. The Dow Jones industrials also reached a new high close.

I credit the new Democratic Congress! What does this mean? Beats me. I tend to be bearish on the markets -- every new high looks to me like the top before the plunge. But I'm usually wrong: Like Paul Krugman, I've predicted nine of the past two recessions.

TERROR IN THE SKIES: An update on Flight 327, from Orin Kerr.

UPDATE: Much, much more here.

MORE BLOGGING ABOUT breasts and porn. Plus, when Hillary books collide.

DECLARING VICTORY IN THE WAR against global warming! Yeah, it's just weather, not climate -- but they won't be saying that in July.

Er, unless there's snow.

IT'S A FESTIVAL OF FRED (THOMPSON) at ElephantBiz.

A RESPONSE TO LAURIE DAVID ON GLOBAL WARMING at The Huffington Post: "If we really want to StopGlobalWarming, we've got to curb our enthusiasm for whatever is new and easy."

Well, in Laurie David's case it's new, easy, and hypocritical. It's fine to take environmentalism beyond its hairshirt phase, but her stuff seems more. . . opportunistic.

A CLOSE CALL for J.D. JOHANNES: but, happily, without effect.

ANOTHER SECURITY BREAKDOWN AT THE FBI: "The FBI's famed National Academy recently expelled a student from a troubled African nation after learning he was not a cop, as he had claimed, The Post has learned. The incident raises serious questions about the FBI's screening process for prospective National Academy students. . . . The 'quiet' Sinie lived, studied at and strolled around the Quantico facility with a still and video camera for 91/2 weeks before he was found not to be a cop, expelled and sent home to Chad, sources said." Well, that's comforting.

YESTERDAY'S POST on giving kids hands-on skills raised the question of what to do about adults, many of whom never acquired the skills that people used to take for granted. That's actually something that the Popular Mechanics folks are trying to address via their Skill Sets feature, complete with how-to instructions everything from how to hammer a nail properly to how to solder a circuit board. Many items include video.

Seems to me that we ought to bring back shop class as a requirement, too, for both sexes -- along with Home Ec for both sexes.

LAPTOPS CAUSING BACK PROBLEMS:

Booming sales of laptops have led to a surge in the number of computer users with back and muscle problems, experts have warned.

Girls as young as 12 are being diagnosed with nerve damage caused by slouching over screens, a group of leading chiropractors said.

Millions of others are at risk of "irretrievable damage" to their spines, necks and shoulders because of poor posture when using laptops, it was claimed.

Back specialists say as many as four in five patients have chronic nerve damage caused by working on portable PCs.

As an early (1986) laptop adopter, I can attest to this. Though in some ways using a laptop is better -- your posture may be bad, but if you use it in lots of different places it's at least variably bad. But this stuff is nothing to sneeze at. You've been warned before.

Maybe what you need is Yoga for Geeks!

JACOB SULLUM IS UNHAPPY with public-health paternalism.

IT'S OFFICIAL: Fred Thompson say he plans to run.

UPDATE: David Boaz warns libertarians against Giuliani.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: Hillary's Iraq problem, and why it's not going away. Actually, Hillary's stance on the war is her strongest point in my book.

C'MON, KOSSACKS, YOU'RE STILL LAGGING:

I guess my earlier trash-talk wasn't enough of a motivator. What, have you all bought so many carbon offsets from Al Gore that you feel free to stay all-incandescent?

Okay, actually the Kossacks aren't doing so badly -- they'll soon be in the #2 position, and that's without the benefit of the kind of front-page touting that the campaign has had on InstaPundit. So Markos -- how about front-paging the post? We're talking about saving the planet here, after all!

A SECRET PENSION BOARD at the Washington Metro? I wonder who's collecting pensions.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: CNN rounds up some delightful Congressional action. Well, okay, "delightful" isn't the right word. They make a big point of noting how Democratic promises on pork have been broken repeatedly, with particular emphasis on David Obey's stealth earmark move.

Meet the new boss, yada yada. (Via Tom Elia).

NOW HE TELLS US: Patrick Fitzgerald says Plame was covert.

Tom Maguire is unconvinced: "Folks who think the prosecutor gets the first and final word will be satisfied with the current state of play. For myself, I would at least like to see the defense response (Newsweek says we will get one this week) and I continue to hold out hope that the CIA Counsel will respond to Congress, which will then generate a leak to Novak, if he likes the answer, or to Newsweek otherwise." I'd just like to see this kind of outrage generated on behalf of leaks that actually hurt the war effort.

UPDATE: A reader emails: "Unless her cover identity was 'Valerie Plame', MSNBC is drinking some pretty weak beer."

Regardless, given the many obviously more damaging leaks that no one seems to care about, I'm finding it hard to get excited about this one.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Just talked to a reporter from Salon who wanted to know if I was going to "retract" an earlier blog post in which I said it looked as if Plame wasn't covert. I noted that one normally issues a retraction for original reporting, not commenting upon other people's news stories. (I think he meant this post -- I guess I shouldn't have paid attention to Joe Wilson. Or maybe this one.) But I also suggested that he ask Richard Armitage for a comment on Plame's covert status and what it means . . . .

MORE: A reader emails: "It seems pretty lame for Fitzgerald to say so now. Since his tenure is over, he doesn't have to explain why he never indicted anybody for the crime which he was investigating in the first place."

Par for the course with Fitzgerald's lame investigation, I'm afraid.

OVER AT THROWING THINGS they're liveblogging the National Spelling Bee. As an alumnus -- yes, my geekdom knows few limits -- I think that's cool.

IN THE MAIL: Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder's The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity. Looks very timely.

CAN SCIENCE OUTWIT STORMS LIKE KATRINA? Sure. But it can't do much about human corruption and stupidity, which alas were the real problems. Though as Lou Dolinar demonstrated, many aspects of the Katrina response went better than reported. The media response, however, as Dolinar also demonstrated, was not one of those, and in fact probably cost lives.

IT'S NOT JUST AMERICANS: Chinese consumers are worried about the safety of Chinese food products, too.

MORE EXTRASOLAR PLANETS: I think we've found enough to suggest that planets are pretty common. This is good news for space colonization, though of course we don't know how common earthlike planets are.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I think that celebrities did not expect that free speech is a two-way street, and that on the Internet, we can now talk back to them. And so when they preach that we get rid of our SUVs, those middle class out there who go to Costco with their three or four kids … while they’re flying in private jets — I don’t think that celebrities understood … that putting out ideas that marginalize them from their core audience, that shows a sense of elitism, is probably not in their best interest.”

WHY MODERN NOVELS are boring.

A LOOK AT POLITICS AND CIVILITY -- we've got rather more of the former than the latter.

HOW CUSTOMER SERVICE undercuts advertising in the blog age.

PIMP MY JET:

John Kerry spent $1.4 million more than federal rules allowed during his 2004 presidential bid, primarily on customizing two campaign planes, according to a draft audit by the Federal Election Commission.

If the commissioners approve the staff findings at a meeting Thursday, Kerry’s campaign could have to repay the overspending to the U.S. Treasury, since his unsuccessful general election campaign was funded by tax dollars.

This makes Kerry look silly, but if you read the story it also underscores the silliness of campaign-finance rules.

SOME IMPORTANT ADVICE on breasts. But is an E cup really the new C cup? Seems as if I would have noticed that . . . .

But then, there's apparently a whole book's worth of information on this topic, so I guess my education on the subject is incomplete.

UPDATE: Boy, it didn't take long for readers to write that they prefer "first hand knowledge" to "book learning" on the subject. That was predictable! Meanwhile, I'm reminded of this headline from The Onion.

A MODEST ADVANCE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, in Arizona.

HEAVEN AT THE PLANCK LENGTH: "I think it’s high time somebody founded the Church of Planck. "

Well, Frank Tipler has given it a start.

MICROSOFT SURFACE: A coffee table that will change the world?

UPDATE: Read this, too.

A BEAR FOUND IN DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE: "Police corralled a black bear early today in the Old City after it spent hours wandering around Knoxville. . . . Reports of the bear began coming into the E-911 Center a little after 10 p.m. Monday. The first caller said they had seen a bear near Rohm & Haas off Dale Avenue. The bear also was seen later in the Fort Sanders area, and then ambled down Summit Hill Drive to the Old City. Officers found the bear near the railroad tracks at Jackson Avenue and State Street."

Sounds like something that might have happened 200 years ago. Shades of David Baron.

DIVIDED VIEWS on the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit.

SHARE FIRST, LECTURE LATER.

WHY WE HAVE KIDS, even though they're a lot of trouble: When I got up this morning, I looked in on the Insta-Daughter, who'd been a bit ill last night. She was sleeping and I kissed her on the cheek. She smiled, murmured, "I love you Daddy," and went back to sleep. My day is already made.

May 29, 2007

MORE PROBLEMS FOR TED "BRIDGE TO NOWHERE" STEVENS:

The FBI and a federal grand jury have been investigating an extensive remodeling project at U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Girdwood that involved the top executive of Veco Corp. in the hiring of at least one of the key contractors. . . . Ted Stevens, the most senior Republican in the U.S. Senate and Alaska's most famous political figure, has not been directly connected with the corruption investigation.

The wide-ranging federal inquiry surfaced in August when agents raided six legislative offices, including those of then-Senate President Ben Stevens, one of Ted Stevens' sons. The FBI said at the time that it also had executed a search warrant in Girdwood, among other places, although the location of that search has never been officially disclosed.

Veco, an oil-field service company that has long been a strong lobbying presence in Juneau, was one of the early targets of the agents, according to some of the search warrants that became public. On May 7, the company's longtime chief executive, Bill Allen, and a vice president, Rick Smith, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, bribery and tax charges. They are now cooperating with authorities.

The investigation spread to the commercial fishing industry, including Ben Stevens' consulting clients and associates. Federal subpoenas served on fishing companies in Seattle last year sought records concerning both Ben and Ted Stevens.

Four current or former Alaska state lawmakers have been indicted and are awaiting trial on corruption charges, and an Anchorage lobbyist has pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.

It's not clear where the remodeling fits in. More at TPM Muckraker.

TRIUMPH OF the will.

THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN dead pool.

PHOTO-WRECKBLOGGING, from Brendan Loy.

UPDATE: Hey, check out the updates to Brendan's post -- several of his photos wound up being used by local TV and newspapers.

I DON'T LIKE THIS NEWS:

A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by the U.S. government after possibly exposing passengers and crew on two trans-Atlantic flights this month, health officials said Tuesday. It is the first time since 1963 that the government issued a quarantine order. The last such order was to quarantine a patient with smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC urged people on the same flights to get checked for tuberculosis.

The government issued the order after a CDC official reached the man by phone in Italy and told him not to take commercial flights, but he flew back to North America anyway, said Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine. . . . The man was infected with "extensively drug-resistant" TB, also called XDR-TB. It resists many drugs used to treat the infection. Last year, there were two U.S. cases of that strain.

Ugh. (Via Michael Silence).

NEW ZEALAND: A Christian nation? There seems to be a strong current of opinion among Maoris.

UPDATE: Thoughts from Eugene Volokh. And, via the comments to Eugene's post, here's more background.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON is deconstructing the news.

TRYING TO BUY THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS at a Borders leads to this conclusion: "Brick and Mortar Blows."

A REPORT ON THE SURGE from Baghdad. Very much in the "no single coherent narrative" vein.

UPDATE: A useful roundup here.

A LIVE MUSIC VIDEO from my brother's band, 46 Long. No chili is involved.

SOME BRADY CAMPAIGN AL QAEDA disinformation.

A NEW LOOK FOR The Huffington Post.

HATE CRIME BILL UPDATE: In the latest National Journal, Stuart Taylor writes on Hate Crimes and double standards:

Consider three criminal cases.

No. 1: Christopher Newsom and his girlfriend, Channon Christian, both students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, were carjacked while on a dinner date in January, repeatedly raped (both of them), tortured, and killed. His burned body was found near a railroad track. Hers was stuffed into a trash can. Five suspects have been charged. The crimes were interracial.

No. 2: Three white Duke lacrosse players were accused in March 2006 of beating, kicking, choking, and gang-raping an African-American stripper, while pelting her with racial epithets, during a team party.

No. 3: Sam Hays bumped against Mike Martin in a crowded bar, spilling beer on Martin's "gay pride" sweatshirt. Martin yelled, "You stupid bastard, I should kick your ass." Hays muttered, "You damned queer" and threw a punch, bloodying Martin's lip.

Now the quiz.

Which of these would qualify as a federal case under a House-passed bill -- widely acclaimed by editorial writers, liberal interest groups, law enforcement officials, and many others -- expanding federal jurisdiction to prosecute "hate crimes"?

Bonus question: Why have the interracial rape-torture-murders in Knoxville been completely ignored by the same national media that clamor for more laws to stop hate crimes -- the same media that erupted in a guilt-presuming feeding frenzy for months over the far less serious Duke lacrosse charges, which were full of glaring holes from the start and turned out to be fraudulent?

The answers.

The interracial Knoxville rape-murders would probably not qualify as hate crimes. The reason is that although the murderers were obviously full of hate, it cannot be proven that they hated their victims because of race. (Or so say police.)

Both the Duke lacrosse case and the (fictional) barroom scuffle, on the other hand, would probably be federally prosecutable under the bill that the House passed on May 3 by 237-180. This is because the angry words attributed to the accused could prove racist and homophobic motivations, respectively.

Do such distinctions make any sense? Not much, in my view.

He also notes a media double standard: "The reason that the national media have ignored the Knoxville case is that the defendants are black and the victims were white. The media would also be uninterested if both the victims and the defendants were black. But had the victims been black and the accused white, the media would have erupted into the same politically correct sensationalism that characterized the Duke case. And many would have cited the case as proof that we need more hate crime laws."

I think that's probably right. The link above is subscriber-only, but you can read the whole thing for the next few days at this link.

Meanwhile, A.C. Kleinheider says "Nazis! I hate those guys!"

UPDATE: More from Nat Hentoff.

A PEARL HARBOR NOVEL FOR BOYS.

BIG -- AND POTENTIALLY BAD -- tax news for LLCs.

THOUGHTS ON GOOD WRITING, from John Leo.

SHOOTING STUDENTS in Venezuela. Video at the link.

JESSE JACKSON ALLY calls for "snuffing out" gun store owner. Eugene Volokh thinks he might have chosen better words. And some people see a double standard.

JAY MANIFOLD TAKES BLOOD-BLOGGING to a whole new level.

NEWS FROM KURDISTAN:

Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan region, will today sign a security agreement with the international coalition forces, said Kurdish security officials.

Under the agreement the Kurdistan civilian authority will assume the security operations in Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniya, said the officials.

More news at the link.

SPACE UPDATE: Here's a roundup of ISDC coverage from media big and small.

THE FACTS ON FACTCHECKING.

I'VE WRITTEN BEFORE that the real immigration crime is how legal immigrants are treated. Here's another example. "Leaders of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rejected key changes because ending huge immigration backlogs nationwide would rob the agency of application and renewal fees that cover 20 percent of its $1.8 billion budget, according to the plan's author, agency ombudsman Prakash Khatri."

One reason that legal immigrants are treated badly is that they have no power. I think we should change the policy to adjust incentives by simply allowing each newly-minted citizen to fire one federal employee upon becoming a citizen. This would encourage politeness and efficiency . . .

SEMEN AS AN ANTIDEPRESSANT FOR WOMEN. There's new research supporting the original finding, reportedly. (Via Sullivan).

UPDATE: Liz Phair fans are unsurprised.

WARD CHURCHILL UPDATE: More calls for his firing.

A TROUBLING LOOK at the implications of the Estonian cyber-attack. (Via Slashdot).

Plus, an amusing comparison of real cyberwar vs. that in cyberpunk novels. The problem is that if you portrayed network security in a novel as being as slipshod as it actually is in real life, no one would believe it -- they'd think it was just the author making things easy for his characters. . . .

A LOOK AT THE REALITIES OF CUBAN HEALTH CARE, in The New York Times:

“Actually there are three systems,” Dr. Cordova said, because Cuba has two: one is for party officials and foreigners like those Mr. Moore brought to Havana. “It is as good as this one here, with all the resources, the best doctors, the best medicines, and nobody pays a cent,” he said.

But for the 11 million ordinary Cubans, hospitals are often ill equipped and patients “have to bring their own food, soap, sheets — they have to bring everything.” And up to 20,000 Cuban doctors may be working in Venezuela, creating a shortage in Cuba. . . .

Until he had to have emergency surgery last year, Fidel Castro — who turned 80 this year — was considered a model of vibrant long life in Cuba. But it was only last week that he acknowledged in an open letter that his initial surgery by Cuban doctors had been botched. He did not confirm, however, that a specialist had been flown in from Spain last December to help set things right.

Read the whole thing.

ANOTHER EMAIL FROM MICHAEL YON:

I was present today when an Iraqi General was arrested on suspicion of murder and other crimes. The American commander, LTC Doug Crissman, narrowly averted a possible bloodbath today when he intervened, without orders from above, and arrested the General. The General was with 14 heavily armed men. I was a few feet away and snapped a photo of Crissman and the Iraqi General only seconds before Crissman silently grabbed the General's pistol out of his holster. Crissman's men had silently disarmed the other 14 men who were all around the building. The General was clueless. Incredible, and brilliantly executed by LTC Crissman. More in a couple of days. (I got it all on video/photo.)

Instapundit readers are the first to know.

And I'd like to know more.

THE REALLY IMPORTANT TECH-NEWS OF THE DAY: A review of the first true draft beer mini-keg! This technology might be bad for my waistline -- I considered buying a Kegerator but concluded that the plus -- I'd drink more good beer -- would also be about a 20-pound plus that I could do without. I've got a friend who owns a microbrewery and he quit keeping kegs at home for that very reason.

JEFF FOUST has more from the ISDC.

I'M ON BLOGGINGHEADS TV with National Journal's Conn Carroll, talking about politics, the future of newspapers, and whether Hillary is like Margaret Thatcher.

A FLIP-FLOP TOO FAR, even for John Kerry: "Kerry, Clinton ventured, should consider defying Democratic interest groups by endorsing the Bush proposal for a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage."

HOW TO BUY a President's friendship.

THAT'S NOT VERY NEIGHBORLY: Mexican audience boos Miss USA. If an American audience booed Miss Mexico, it would be racism.

SHUT UP ABOUT ISLAM, and be safe. I keep pointing this out, but if this technique works it will be adopted by others.

ANSWERING LIFE'S IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Like, are Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett related? (Via Bainbridge).

EARLIER, I MENTIONED THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS, and the Mad Scientists' Club books, leading some people to wonder how to encourage boys (and girls) to get more interested in hands-on electronics stuff. I'm not sure, but when I was a kid I had a lot of fun with the Radio Shack version of this 200-in-1 electronic project kit, and I actually did learn a fair amount while building some cool stuff. And I would have loved something like this. And this looks kind of cool, too.

UPDATE: Reader Brent Sperling emails:

I too had a Radio Shack 200-in-1 kit, and I definitely agree with you that it would be a great way to get kids interested in electronics.

I'd add, however, that today's kids (especially teens) would greatly benefit from a subscription to Make magazine (http://www.makezine.com/). It's nerdy, cool, and inspirational. I only wish I had had something like that.

Good point, for somewhat older kids.

MORE ON THE SITUATION IN IRAQ, from J.D. Johannes, who's been there for a while. The "Anbar Awakening" appears to be spreading. But read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Rand Simberg emails that it's all explained by evolution.

THE FTC IS LOOKING AT THE GOOGLE/DOUBLECLICK DEAL: I think we'll see Google getting a lot more regulatory scrutiny in the near future. (Via Slashdot).

THE CREATION MUSEUM: "Like most natural history museums, this one has exhibits showing dinosaurs roaming the earth. Except here, the giant reptiles share the forest with Adam and Eve. That, of course, is contradicted by science, but that’s the point of the $25 million Creation Museum rising fast in rural Kentucky."

Hmm, I guess I've forgotten the part of Genesis where Adam kicks the ass of a bunch of velociraptors. It would have to be pre-apple, of course.

You can find the Creation Museum's website (Slogan: "Prepare to Believe!") here.

UPDATE: Mark Twain was ahead of the creationists. Funnier, too.

WATER INTO FUEL: There's video at the link, too. I'd like for this to work out, but I wouldn't sell my Exxon stock just yet . . .

BUSH MOVES ON DARFUR: Gateway Pundit has a roundup.

CAPTAIN ED NOTES THAT A.P. CONTINUES TO GET ITS KYOTO HISTORY WRONG: By this point, it's kind of hard to explain this away as simple incompetence. But as a commenter observes: "The MSM claim to superiority over bloggers was their professional fact checkers, was it not? No wonder the papers are sinking fast - it's tough to beat 'more accurate and free' on the web."

UPDATE: Not that the bloggers are perfect.

ADVICE TO FASHION DESIGNERS, from Rachel Lucas: "I don't need every single shirt I own to look like maternity wear."

UPDATE: Reader Madhu Dahiya emails:

So now Instapundit is breaking out into fashion-blogging? Well, yeah!

Totally trivial comment to Rachel Lucas' observation, but, I prefer the new Empire waistline (translation: maternity wear) shirts to the old Britney-fied cropped t-shirts and low-rise jeans/track suit bottoms/shorts/skirts. Mostly, because, there are some body areas on some women (and men!) that look better with a little cover, and we, the public, are spared the sight of those whose good body image and self-esteem, while healthy, could be improved by a little dollop of 'if it doesn't suit you, don't wear it.' Oh, and that goes for the new dresses and tops which are all roomy up top. There are clever alternatives out there, in fact, most of the students I see walking around Boston look much, much better than they did a few years ago. Clothing-wise, I mean. I much prefer the new fashions.....

I suspect that Britney would look better in them nowadays, anyway.

THIS IS KIND OF COOL: The Swiss Army Rescue Tool. Lacks the corkscrew, though.

UPDATE: Reader Chris Fountain emails:

Glenn - a close friend of my daughter's (and a young Marine home for Christmas) drowned when his car flipped over a low bridge and landed upside down. Friends of mine, cops, told me that the poor kid's hands were bloodied from pounding on his (electric, hence disabled) window, trying to get out. Hearing that, I went on line and purchased key chain window breakers for all 3 of my kids.

He recommends this gadget. It's cheap.

LIVING IN A "VULCAN UTOPIA."

UPDATE: Read this, too.

GAY-BASHING in Moscow.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Shockingly, more earmark issues with Rep. John Murtha:

Democrats controlling the House of Representatives demonstrated this month the hollowness of their claim that they have ended the corruption of 12 Republican years. Rep. John Murtha quietly slipped into the Intelligence authorization bill two earmarks costing taxpayers $5.5 million. The beneficiary was a contractor headquartered in Murtha's hometown of Johnstown, Pa., whose executives have been generous political contributors to the powerful 17-term congressman.

This scandalous conduct would be unknown except for reforms by the new Democratic majority. But the remodeled system is not sufficiently transparent to expose in a timely manner machinations of Murtha and fellow earmarkers to his colleagues, much less to the public. It took Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, the leading House earmark-buster, to discover the truth.

Jack Murtha, the maestro of imposing personal preferences on the appropriations process, looks increasingly like an embarrassment to Congress and the Democratic Party. But there is no Democratic will to curb Murtha, one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's closest associates. Nor are Republicans eager for a crackdown endangering their own earmarkers.

Meet the new boss, yada yada.

A FEW THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED, if you were off, you know, having a life or something this weekend.

My report on space capitalists, from the International Space Development Conference. Plus, attractive women.

This email from Michael Yon. And this one, too.

What I did on Memorial Day.

Me trash-talking the Kos Krowd.

Follow the links, or just scroll.

NOT THAT ODD, REALLY: "Why aren’t they angry about the people doing the killing? The odd thing about the conversation is I could tell it was the first time he’d heard this argument. " But then, maybe he was talking to a BBC viewer.

THOUGHTS ON POLITICAL IGNORANCE and "libertarian paternalism." The root justification for the latter is the notion that "experts" are better decisionmakers than ordinary people, something for which the evidence is . . . weak.

Related thoughts here: "I'm picking up a bit of the old: if only people thought clearly, they'd agree with me."

And some thoughts on why voter irrationality isn't all bad, here.

ANOTHER poll of Muslims.

THOUGHTS ON CARBON TAXES VS. CARBON CREDITS, from John Tierney.

MORE SPACE NEWS FROM THE ISDC, at Wired.

May 28, 2007

A MEMORIAL DAY EMAIL FROM MICHAEL YON, with photos:

Iraqi Policeman at a meeting today

Glenn,

Another day has passed without my having seen a shred of combat. The area around the city of Hit, in Anbar Province, has mostly fallen silent. A dust storm swept in late yesterday, and as normal, the enemy used the storm for cover to seed a few small IEDs on roads. The bombs were small and were discovered without incident.

I am becoming very interested by the city of Hit and surrounds; the fighting turned-off abruptly in February after Task Force 2-7 Infantry arrived. Why did the fighting end so suddenly?

The commander of Task Force 2-7 Infantry, LTC Doug Crissman, circulates the towns in his area each day. Today, we spent about twelve hours driving to or conducting various meetings. The most interesting meeting revolved around tribal politics.

Meeting today in Anbar Province with Police and sheiks

Three of the five sheiks present

During this meeting, three Iraqi Police lieutenant colonels, and five tribal sheiks, talked for perhaps two hours with LTC Crissman about the shape of the emerging Iraqi Police in this area. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior allocated 576 slots for new police in this area of operations. LTC Crissman is trying to distribute slots reasonably equally among the tribes and towns, while each tribe makes a grab for as many slots as possible.

Tribal intrigue and politics surface as a dominant factor in Anbar Province.

The sheiks want more police openings, and since many “police” have been working without pay for more than two months, one sheik proposed an idea to cut the already-meager pay in half, so that twice more police can be hired. A stream of such proposals come at LTC Crissman during every meeting, and each time I ask myself, “How will the commander field this one?”


Iraqi interpreter talking to the sheik.

I would like to write more candidly about what Crissman faces, but Internet is available in the towns here, and I wish to avoid unnecessarily affecting local politics during this sensitive time. I will say that over a period of more than two years, I’ve attended countless such meetings in Baghdad, Baqubah, Mosul and other Iraqi cities, but never have I seen an area where fighting ending so abruptly.


After the meeting: Kabobs, baked chicken and vegetables.

Iraqis have told me many times that the larger part of this war is not about religion. Fanatical groups such as al Qaeda surely have wreaked havoc, but a huge part of the war is about business, influence and resources. The American Commanding General, David Petraeus, has said repeatedly that money is ammunition in this war. The meetings I attend with local leaders around Iraq are never about religion. Religion is seldom if ever brought up. The meetings are about security, electricity, jobs, water projects. The meetings often are about influence, and politics fit for a novel.

Everything I see at these meetings indicates that those Coalition officers who say that money is ammunition in this war, are right. Al Qaeda is proving itself to the Iraqis to be bankrupt morally, and financially. There is a chance to fill the vacuum.

A Memorial Day message.

MORE CLASHES IN VENEZUELA: Gateway Pundit has a roundup.

MICHAEL MOORE gets no love from Andrew Sullivan. Well, if you care about the quality of health care, you won't be listening to Michael Moore.

TERRORISTIC THREATS from winemakers. And I was just planning on ending my boycott of French wines.

J.D. JOHANNES' producer David Chavarria posts some Memorial Day thoughts.

CINDY SHEEHAN SAYS GOODBYE:

However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the "left" started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong."

Yes, when her utility as a Bush-bashing tool evaporated, the media weren't interested. Not even most of the alt-media. More here.

And Don Surber is amused.

UPDATE: They're trying to replace her, but Mickey Kaus observes: "I'm willing to believe U.S. soldiers in Iraq are disillusioned, but 'more than a dozen' does not seem like a large number."

I don't know why any troops would be disillusioned, when they're getting so much support from American media and the Democrats in Congress.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More on Cindy Sheehan and the media here.

THE KOSSACKS HAVE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO if they're going to beat InstaPundit readers in the One Billion Bulbs competition:

Their banner may be bigger but their score's much, much smaller. What, does nobody read the DailyKos anymore? Or do Kos readers just care less about the environment than InstaPundit readers?

Yeah, Kos readers: This fluorescent-bulb trash-talk is aimed at you!

UPDATE: Several readers wonder if there's anything geekier than enviro-trash-talk about compact fluorescent bulbs.

Well, not much, probably. But what's your point?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Anything geekier? Lissa Kay emails: "Umm ... how about going on a date and quoting Firefly and Serenity to each other? Heh ... guess ya had to be there, but not really ... um, nevermind."

A MEMORIAL DAY POST from Major John Tammes.

UPDATE: A photo from Rick Lee.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A slideshow of photos from the National Memorial Day Parade in DC, from Robert Bluey.

SO MY MEMORIAL DAY ACTIVITY WAS GIVING BLOOD: I missed the blood drive at the law school this spring, and I try to give twice a year, given that under the new, stricter rules I'm one of the relatively few people who can give blood these days. They had the blood drive set up at the mall, so I donated while the Insta-Wife and Insta-Daughter shopped for swimsuits. (They scored big at Guess.) As I've noted before, the questionnaire gets longer and longer, but the Medic folks did a pretty good job of moving me through quickly. Unlike some of my experiences donating at the University, the crowd here was more than half male. Then again, the sex-ratio has evened out the last couple of times I've donated at school, too.

If you're eligible, consider donating -- I'm not really kidding about the shortage of donors these days.

UPDATE: Amusing caption: "Already I feel the power of the nanobots coursing through my veins! Soon I will be fit to sire a race of immortal robot lawyers." But one that comes years after the fact. . . .

MUCH BETTER THAN MY EXPERIENCE WITH DELTA: I flew home yesterday, via American. Like Delta, they wound up with no airplane. Unlike Delta, instead of giving us a runaround, they sent the captain of the plane out to tell us what was going on, managed to find us another airplane, and got me to Knoxville only a little more than half an hour late. I don't know if American is typically better, but in terms of making the effort, and showing sympathy and good cheer rather than sadistic glee, the American folks were way ahead.

MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS: "Personally, I owe my own life to the Army and the smell of coffee, but to be more like my mother, I shouldn't tell it as a personal story: There was a war. People did what had to be done."

And for further Memorial Day reading you could do a lot worse than this. Or this.

MORE ON SPACE TOURISM: Here's an AP report from the ISDC:

Space tourism companies can survive the inevitable disaster if they warn passengers of the risks that a privately operated rocket ship could crash, an executive of one of the leading firms said Friday.

"God forbid it should happen on the first flight. Hopefully it's many, many years out," said Alex Tai, chief operating officer for British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space venture.

Tai said customers who are given an honest assessment of the risks won't be able to successfully sue operators after a crash. And he said the public understands the danger of space travel after two disasters involving NASA-operated space shuttles.

Virgin Galactic plans to begin test flights next year and carry the first paying customers — $200,000 per seat — in late 2009 or early 2010.

That's right. People engage in all sorts of risky "adventure tourism" -- from scuba diving, to rock climbing, to whitewater kayaking, to mountain climbing to much riskier sports -- and we accept accidents as part of the cost.

And here's more reporting:

Virgin Galactic's chief operating officer revealed Friday at the National Space Society's 26th Annual International Space Development Conference that the suborbital spaceliner research and development company is in talks with space mogul Robert Bigelow to use his expanding modules to create Virgin Galactic orbiting hotels.

Alex Tai said his boss, Sir Richard Branson, and Bigelow have huddled recently to work out the details. Tai also said the suborbital spaceliner is coming together on various floors at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif.

Tai said test flights of SpaceShipTwo -- the passenger carrying ship -- will begin in 2008 and could last between 12 and 18 months.

They expect ticket prices to start out at $200K and drop to $100K or less over a few years.

Meanwhile, on a slightly different topic, NASA is looking favorably at using commercial space firms for mission support:

NASA is in the market for commercial relationships and private capital as it gears up for its next manned missions to the moon.

"That would make our life a lot easier," said Neil Woodward, acting director of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. . . .

"If somebody says 'I have this really great way to be able to extract water ice from lunar regolith (lunar rocks) that I've developed on my own dime' we would be interested," Woodward said.

"If we could be in a commercial relationship with somebody who has the capability that's fine because in many cases they can do it for less money than we can," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a space development conference in Dallas.

Venture capital in space exploration was a key theme at the conference.

Read the whole thing.

ACTUALLY, I HAD TO LOOK TWICE to realize that this was a photoshop.

SOME MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS, from Peter Collier. A must-read.

And here's a Memorial Day roundup from Jules Crittenden.

UPDATE: Reader Gerald Dearing notes that, like last year, Google isn't observing Memorial Day. But, also like last year, Ask.com is.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Heh.

A VENEZUELAN MEDIA CRACKDOWN: Xeni Jardin has video.

BIG MEDIA ARE CATCHING UP WITH THE BLOGOSPHERE on events in Anbar. Here's a report from the Chicago Tribune:

By all accounts, the results in Anbar have been impressive: Where barely 200 police officers had served in Ramadi, the provincial capital, last summer, now there are more than 8,000. The number of attacks on U.S. forces dropped from 108 a week last year to seven during the first week of May.

"We started remembering what had happened [with Al Qaeda] and how things went, and we decided to fight," said Tariq al-Duleimi, who heads security for Sattar Abu Risha, the young sheik who was the host of the meeting at his compound last October.

I wonder if, like Joe Klein, they'll be savaged by lefty bloggers for daring to mention this.

COULD BRITISH MEDIA SWING THE U.S. ELECTIONS? They'd certainly like to.

AFTER EATING BABIES, THE WI-FI ROUTERS WILL grow to enormous size and destroy our cities.

May 27, 2007

IT'S THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE JARRELL, TEXAS TORNADO: Warnings are better, but tornadoes like this are hard to survive. Makes me glad I got the weather radio that I mentioned a while back, though happily tornadoes aren't a big issue in Knoxville. We get 'em, but they tend to be comparatively weak and short-lived.

And if tornado-related issues interest you, check out the NOAA Skywarn page.

BEWARE OF "BIG RECREATION." They're eeeviilll!

LOTS MORE on the continuing Nifong / Duke University false rape charge scandal fallout, over at K.C. Johnson's place. Just keep scrolling, as things keep coming out.

RALLYING BIG FOR FREE SPEECH In Venezuela.

IOWAHAWK AND JIM TREACHER DEBATE the most important media topic of the day: What should happens on The View with Rosie gone?

JULES CRITTENDEN CRITICIZES the AP's body-count mentality. "I thought body counts went out with the Vietnam War."

TROOP CUTS IN IRAQ? Don Surber says we've heard this story before.

On the other hand, this story, not so much. More on that silence from James Taranto. And a roundup here.

But here's some good news:

U.S. forces raided an al-Qaida hide-out northeast of Baghdad on Sunday and freed 42 Iraqis imprisoned inside, including some who had been tortured and suffered broken bones, a senior U.S. military official said Sunday.

Al Qaeda tortures people? Who knew? I wonder if they have a manual for that sort of thing?

MORE: A not-very-convincing claim that the torture manual is a fake. Could be, of course -- but that's not why the press isn't covering it. If there were any actual evidence that it were a fake, they'd be slamming the Bush Administration with it, after all.

ROGER SIMON REVIEWS THE MANOLO'S The Consolation of the Shoes.

IF ALL THIS SPACE TALK INTERESTS YOU, I should note that I'm reading Michael Belfiore's Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots Is Boldly Privatizing Space, which I'll be reviewing in a while.

And Belfiore has a blog, where he's talking about these issues, too.

SO MY PANEL was on -- hold your breath -- blogging, and featured Anthony Duignan-Cabrera of Space.Com, Alan Boyle of MSNBC's Cosmic Log, Rob Pearlman of CollectSpace, and uber-spaceblogger Jeff Foust. (Another uber-spaceblogger, Clark Lindsey, wasn't here, and was missed.)

It was interesting, though the dramatic light meant that I couldn't actually see anyone in the audience. It makes for pretty cool photos, though -- this is moderator Anthony Duignan-Cabrera, who looks as if there's a Martian sunrise behind him.

As I mentioned earlier, I haven't been to an International Space Development Conference in years. Things have changed a bit, and that was probably more apparent to me than to people who have been going every year. But lots of people were remarking on some changes.

Most notably, the character of the attendees has changed. There's less of a science-fiction-convention feel, as more of the people attending are actually making their living in the space biz, and particularly the commercial space biz. One of the people I was talking to last night was noting that there were a lot more attractive women than in the past, a change she put down to the presence of a lot more "good-looking men with money."

There's something to that, and Alan Boyle has a post on the entrepreneurial activity at the conference. I have to say that it's the first time I've seen Brioni suits at an ISDC -- as happened a few years ago with the nanotech conferences I attend, suddenly there's a sizable contingent of venture capitalists, investment bankers, big-firm lawyers, and the like. There's not a space bubble yet, but a guy I spoke with who knows a lot said that "the bubble's scheduled for two years from now," and that seems about right.

What's going on right now isn't vaporware, but real stuff. And what's really interesting is that we're seeing an entire infrastructure of secondary suppliers -- engines, avionics, spaceports, etc. -- springing up, often having contracts with numerous ventures. There's also an interesting mix of cooperation and competition among the players, who all want to succeed themselves, but who also really want to see others make it too. It's really looking more and more like the early days of the computer industry.

Below: (L-R) Alan Boyle, Jeff Foust, Rob Pearlman. Not pictured: Me, taking the picture.

It wasn't all venture capitalists, though. There was a large contingent from Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Those people go far -- I found out that one woman I remember as a very active SEDS member from the early '90s is now a professor of astronautics at MIT. Here's the SEDS booth.

Of course, it wasn't all entrepreneurialism and career opportunities. Sex in space remains a perennial favorite topic:

Surely this will give space tourism an, er, jumpstart. It's clear, though, that the "NewSpace" entrepreneurialism is the source of the energy and excitement in the space community. There are some people who are excited by the Bush Administration / NASA Vision for Space Exploration initiative (more on that here and here) but while most people like the intent, it's generally regarded as unlikely to get the longterm support from Congress that it needs to go anywhere. This view is apparently widespread within NASA, too, public statements to the contrary. The biggest fear is that we'll wind up losing any ambitious programs, then trying to limp along with the Shuttle rather than bringing on a replacement vehicle as planned., But -- and this is why people are excited -- if the private space ventures succeed it won't matter much as we'll have access to orbit that way instead. Let's hope that works out.

There was a lot of talk about the 2008 elections, as you might imagine. Bill Richardson is a clear favorite among a lot of people because of his excellent record on space entrepreneurialism in New Mexico. I heard someone talking about trying to sell Barack Obama on settling Mars ("Talk about an example of 'the audacity of hope!' This is it!") but most doubt that either he or Hillary would be much good on space. Republicans are seen as representing something closer to the Bush Administration's policies, which isn't much of a compliment. Right now I don't think that space is on any candidate's radar screen very much. That may change: A good policy on space, particularly one that identified with the new entrepreneurial ventures, would get a candidate the support of some smart and energetic people, as well as imbuing his/her campaign with an overall sense of optimism and progress. Space still has a lot of mana, notwithstanding NASA's problems.

One prominent space activist said that his strategy is to "save the baby" -- that is, he's not so much interested in getting Congress and the Administration to do what he wants, as just trying to ensure that they don't manage to kill the space industries before they really get started (something that's certainly not beyond Congress or, for that matter, the NASA bureaucracy if it feels sufficiently threatened).

And the best line on space policy is actually an old one from Rand Simberg, but it represents how the next Administration, of whatever party, ought to approach the subject: "It's not NASA's job to send a man to Mars. It's NASA's job to make it possible for the National Geographic Society to send a man to Mars." Indeed.

UPDATE: Another report here.

And some earlier ISDC posts here (Mars rovers) and here (Buzz Aldrin). Or just scroll for multiple additional posts.

BRAIN-EATING ZOMBIES in San Francisco.

It's always Zombies, isn't it?

FROM ANBAR, MICHAEL YON POSTS A MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE: It's a must-read, but here's an excerpt on the situation in Iraq as he sees it:

I am out here in Anbar Province with Task Force 2-7 Infantry. The area around Hit (pronounced “heat”) is so quiet previous units likely would not recognize the still. There was a small IED incident this morning, and the explosion was a direct hit, but the bomb was so small that mechanics had the vehicle back in shape by late afternoon. Calm truly has fallen on this city.

Dishes are appearing on rooftops and people are communicating more freely. During today’s prayers, one mosque announced that divorce is bad and that parents should take care of their children. One mosque cried about Christians and Jews, while yet another announced that Al-Jazeera is lying and people should not watch it.

Long-time readers know that I deliver bad news with the good. I was first to write that parts of Iraq were in civil war back in February 2005, well over a year before mainstream outlets started reporting the same. I was also the first to report, back in 2005, that Mosul was making a turn for the better. Mainstream outlets hardly picked up on that story, however, although the turn was easy to see for anyone who was there. When I returned from Afghanistan in the spring of 2006, after writing about the growing threat of a resurgent Taliban, bankrolled with profits from the heroin trade, I wrote that parts of our own military were censoring media in Iraq. The recent skirmishing over blogging from Iraq supports that contention. These reminders are for new readers who do not believe that a province that most media outlets had put at the top of the “hopelessly lost” column is actually turning a corner for the better.

Although there is sharp fighting in Diyala Province, and Baghdad remains a battleground, and the enemy is trying to undermine security in areas they’d lost interest in, the fact is that the security plan, or so-called “surge,” is showing clear signs of progress.

Read the whole thing. And remember that he is supported by his readers, so if you like his work, hit the tipjar.

UPDATE: Michael emails this photo, and reports: "I made this photo in a market in Hit, Anbar Province Saturday. LTC Doug Crissman walked through the market with only two soldiers and an unarmed interpreter. We took our time and walked about two miles. The people just wanted to talk, but as late as February this year, Hit was a gun battle. Yet on Saturday, the only battle I saw was that of a very rotund boy trying to slurp down an ice cream before it dripped away in the heat. Just down the road, hundreds of men were lining up to join the police."

THE KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL OFFERS FACTS VS. FICTION in the Channon Christian / Christopher Newsom murders. Excerpt:

# Fiction: Christian was held captive four days.
# Fact: Christian was dead within 24 hours of the kidnapping.

# Fiction: Christian's breasts were cut off and Newsom's penis severed.
# Fact: Neither Christian nor Newsom was mutilated, although both suffered tearing injuries from being repeatedly raped.

# Fiction: Christian was dismembered and placed in five separate trash bags.
# Fact: Christian's intact body was wrapped in trash bags and dumped in a large garbage can.

# Fiction: Acid was poured down Christian's throat.
# Fact: A cleaning solution was poured in Christian's mouth in an apparent attempt to wash away DNA evidence.

# Fiction: The slaying suspects allegedly targeted white people.
# Fact: The slaying suspects have told authorities they targeted Christian's Toyota 4Runner.

The truth seems bad enough. And here's more on the story and how it's been played.

UPDATE: Related thoughts here.

ANTIWAR BASE directs wrath at Democrats.

THE NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY gives its Wernher von Braun award once every two years. This year it went to Prof. Steven Squyres, father of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, whose 90-day mission has now run over 1200 Mars days (or "sols" as they're called). He's also the author of Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet.

He gave a very interesting talk, and showed some pictures and video from Mars that I hadn't seen before. The $400 Million for this mission seems quite well spent, as we've learned all sorts of useful things about Mars. The pathfinding role of these probes, which have produced all sorts of data we'll find useful in the event of manned missions or colonization, also illustrates the silliness of the manned vs. unmanned exploration debate.

I saw Ben Bova -- another former NSS Chair whom I hadn't seen in years -- and he was doing quite well. It was his first International Space Development Conference in a while, too. "What made you come this year,?" I queried. "They asked me to," he responded. "That's pretty much what it was with me," I replied.

I had a good time -- I used to be stuck in Board meetings at these things, but this time I actually got to enjoy the conference. I had dinner with Bob Zubrin -- author of The Case for Mars and a forthcoming book on energy policy and how to destroy Opec -- who is shown below explaining the superiority of Methanol as an alternative fuel.

More on the conference later.

UPDATE: Who's Zubrin talking to? Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, co-founder of Yuri's Night.