Excellent. Let's "talk" to terrorists - starting with Hamas. One campaign promise coming true? James Robbins at The Corner.
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Whether one agrees with the notion of the U.S. opening a direct diplomatic channel to Hamas or not, talking about it right now is very poor timing.
Friday, January 09, 2009
The Chicago Way Comes to Washington
Great column by John Kass at the Chicago Tribune. (HT. Michael Graham) John is giving us a little heads -up on how the government will be run now that we've put a Chicago Pol in the white house. Great metaphoric read.
----------------
So the Chicago Way hauled off and slapped the U.S. Senate in the face—one of those backhands with the knuckles to unsuspecting lips—and guess who blinked?
It wasn't Chicago.
It was the Senate.
...
In political terms, Reid rolled up his sleeves, put on his favorite "Kiss the Chef" apron, got his fingers dusty with flour and baked himself a big humble pie. He scarfed it down in front of reporters Wednesday, without a fork, all but licking his fingers, that pie was so sweet and tasty. Mmm-mmm.
...
"People ask a lot of times why we have to do various things procedurally here in the Senate," Reid told reporters. "It's because we're the Senate: That's how we operate."
Correction. That's how you used to operate. You're from Nevada, but Obama comes from Chicago.
It's sure got to be difficult to eat a big hunk of humble pie when your lips are stinging, but here's some advice, Senators.
Have another slice. There's plenty more.
----------------
So the Chicago Way hauled off and slapped the U.S. Senate in the face—one of those backhands with the knuckles to unsuspecting lips—and guess who blinked?
It wasn't Chicago.
It was the Senate.
...
In political terms, Reid rolled up his sleeves, put on his favorite "Kiss the Chef" apron, got his fingers dusty with flour and baked himself a big humble pie. He scarfed it down in front of reporters Wednesday, without a fork, all but licking his fingers, that pie was so sweet and tasty. Mmm-mmm.
...
"People ask a lot of times why we have to do various things procedurally here in the Senate," Reid told reporters. "It's because we're the Senate: That's how we operate."
Correction. That's how you used to operate. You're from Nevada, but Obama comes from Chicago.
It's sure got to be difficult to eat a big hunk of humble pie when your lips are stinging, but here's some advice, Senators.
Have another slice. There's plenty more.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Chink in the Armor?
Huffington Post publishes an article questioning man-made global warming. Harold Ambler sites several data that allow for the plausibility that maybe there are other sources of climate change. Is the left opening up to the possibility that global warming might just be a natural cycle? If you read the comments, they don't seem to be open to the discussion.
As an engineer, I tend to side with Ambler. The simple argument about the specific heat of CO2 vs. H2O a big. And the many cycles of the climate over the history of earth is also unsubstantiated in the man-made global warming argument. What man-made period reversed the ice age? Also as a scientist, I always keep my mind open to alternative views. Anyone who says the argument is over is not scientific (Thanks, liberal public education).
Here in lies the challenge in loosening the grip of the man-made global warming argument. If you say, "The argument is over." you have crossed the line into faith/religion. Most who have committed themselves to the man-made global warming cause stick to it like a religion. How do you convince a Christian there might not be a God?
As an engineer, I tend to side with Ambler. The simple argument about the specific heat of CO2 vs. H2O a big. And the many cycles of the climate over the history of earth is also unsubstantiated in the man-made global warming argument. What man-made period reversed the ice age? Also as a scientist, I always keep my mind open to alternative views. Anyone who says the argument is over is not scientific (Thanks, liberal public education).
Here in lies the challenge in loosening the grip of the man-made global warming argument. If you say, "The argument is over." you have crossed the line into faith/religion. Most who have committed themselves to the man-made global warming cause stick to it like a religion. How do you convince a Christian there might not be a God?
Friday, January 02, 2009
Cast Lead
Read this whole article at Haaretz. Maybe this time it's different.
God speed, Israel.
--------------------
"I've been talking to friends of mine, former Palestinian Authority intelligence officials (ejected from power by the Hamas coup), and they tell me that not only are they rooting for the Israelis to decimate Hamas, but that Fatah has actually been assisting the Israelis with targeting information," Goldberg writes.
One of those friends, he continues, "told me that one of his comrades was thrown off a high-rise building in Gaza City last year by Hamas, and so he sheds no tears for the Hamas dead. 'Let the Israelis kill them,' he said. 'They've brought only trouble for my people.'"
...
No people on earth have been hurt more by Islamic terrorism than the Palestinians.
God speed, Israel.
--------------------
"I've been talking to friends of mine, former Palestinian Authority intelligence officials (ejected from power by the Hamas coup), and they tell me that not only are they rooting for the Israelis to decimate Hamas, but that Fatah has actually been assisting the Israelis with targeting information," Goldberg writes.
One of those friends, he continues, "told me that one of his comrades was thrown off a high-rise building in Gaza City last year by Hamas, and so he sheds no tears for the Hamas dead. 'Let the Israelis kill them,' he said. 'They've brought only trouble for my people.'"
...
No people on earth have been hurt more by Islamic terrorism than the Palestinians.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Bush Legacy I
In what I expect to be series of legacy posts, here is my first.
The unspoken truth of the current war in Gaza is that the reason the Arab League is not coming to the rescue of Hamas is due to the Bush Administration's work over the last 8 years.
Ahmawackajob via RedState
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“Aren’t these oppressed Palestinians Arabs?” asked Ahmadinejad in a televised speech. “So when should the capacity of the Arab League be used? The Arab League should act quickly.”
The unspoken truth of the current war in Gaza is that the reason the Arab League is not coming to the rescue of Hamas is due to the Bush Administration's work over the last 8 years.
Ahmawackajob via RedState
--------------
“Aren’t these oppressed Palestinians Arabs?” asked Ahmadinejad in a televised speech. “So when should the capacity of the Arab League be used? The Arab League should act quickly.”
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Blago, where were you 3 months ago?
Add this at the WaPo to Charlie Rangle - tax evader, Chris Dodd - sweet-heart loan taker, just to name a couple of the latest Dems. to be exposed as crooks and frauds. How would the world be different if this had come out in October...
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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint former state attorney general Roland Burris to the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama further complicates an already difficult situation for state and national Democrats.
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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint former state attorney general Roland Burris to the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama further complicates an already difficult situation for state and national Democrats.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Confluence of Despair
What a depressing set of articles. All compliments of Instapundit. I can't stress how good Instapundit is at identifying good links. Make this site required reading multiple times a day.
First, Mark Steyn eulogizes the auto industry and parleys that into a eulogy for the nation. Depressing.
-----------
See the USA from your Chevrolet: An hereditary legislature, a media fawning its way into bankruptcy, its iconic coastal states driving out innovators and entrepreneurs, the arrival of the new Messiah heralded only by the leaden dirge of “We Three Kings Of Ol’ Detroit Are/Seeking checks we traverse afar”, and Route 66 looking ever more like a one-way dead-end street to Bailoutistan.
-----------
Next comes Roger Kimball at PajamasMedia asking why we are not in Washington right now with torches and pitchforks.
-----------
What is so depressing about such episodes is the fact that they dramatize the decadence of our democracy. An institution becomes decadent when it maintains its outward scaffolding but loses its inner vitality. The inner pulse of a modern democracy lies in citizen involvement and public accountability. Where have those ancient desiderata gone? A few days ago, I asked why people weren’t up in arms about the 137 new taxes and fees with which the governor of New York was proposing to saddle his subjects (can they still be called citizens?). Glenn Reynolds speculated that these days people
only riot over select ethnic grievances; matters of governance, civil rights, and taxes — once the main reason to riot and engage in “out of doors political activity” — are now left to shouting pundits on TV.
-----------
And in case you wanted to feel a little worst, here's a post about the possibilities of the financial crisis. I may be hunting to feed my family. Will the power grid stay up? God help us.
-----------
The defining characteristic of this downturn is the unexpected breaking of links in the economic machinery. Home prices crash far beyond anything seen since the 1903’s. Major finanical institutions crash. Astonishing floods of government money poured onto the fire. Perhaps this slowed the crash, perhaps it had no effect. Every step of the way brought new surprises.
First, Mark Steyn eulogizes the auto industry and parleys that into a eulogy for the nation. Depressing.
-----------
See the USA from your Chevrolet: An hereditary legislature, a media fawning its way into bankruptcy, its iconic coastal states driving out innovators and entrepreneurs, the arrival of the new Messiah heralded only by the leaden dirge of “We Three Kings Of Ol’ Detroit Are/Seeking checks we traverse afar”, and Route 66 looking ever more like a one-way dead-end street to Bailoutistan.
-----------
Next comes Roger Kimball at PajamasMedia asking why we are not in Washington right now with torches and pitchforks.
-----------
What is so depressing about such episodes is the fact that they dramatize the decadence of our democracy. An institution becomes decadent when it maintains its outward scaffolding but loses its inner vitality. The inner pulse of a modern democracy lies in citizen involvement and public accountability. Where have those ancient desiderata gone? A few days ago, I asked why people weren’t up in arms about the 137 new taxes and fees with which the governor of New York was proposing to saddle his subjects (can they still be called citizens?). Glenn Reynolds speculated that these days people
only riot over select ethnic grievances; matters of governance, civil rights, and taxes — once the main reason to riot and engage in “out of doors political activity” — are now left to shouting pundits on TV.
-----------
And in case you wanted to feel a little worst, here's a post about the possibilities of the financial crisis. I may be hunting to feed my family. Will the power grid stay up? God help us.
-----------
The defining characteristic of this downturn is the unexpected breaking of links in the economic machinery. Home prices crash far beyond anything seen since the 1903’s. Major finanical institutions crash. Astonishing floods of government money poured onto the fire. Perhaps this slowed the crash, perhaps it had no effect. Every step of the way brought new surprises.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"Ehtics Czar"
Of coarse the answer is "hypocrisy" (VDH)
--------------------
I don't understand why in the world — for all her obvious academic and business achievements and in all due respect — Obama associate Valerie Jarrett (or Caroline Kennedy) — never elected to a single office — would be qualified to be a U.S. senator by a fiat appointment, especially in a political climate where Sarah Palin (16 years in local and state politics, and several elections) was deemed by the media too inexperienced for high elected office.
And I don't understand why Charles Rangel mired in serial ethics and legal messes, and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd at ground zero of the Fannie-Freddie meltdown, haven't stepped down from their committee chairmanships, especially given the nexus between the money they received and the entities they were supposed to oversee.
...
In short, we need an ethics czar, pronto!
--------------------
I don't understand why in the world — for all her obvious academic and business achievements and in all due respect — Obama associate Valerie Jarrett (or Caroline Kennedy) — never elected to a single office — would be qualified to be a U.S. senator by a fiat appointment, especially in a political climate where Sarah Palin (16 years in local and state politics, and several elections) was deemed by the media too inexperienced for high elected office.
And I don't understand why Charles Rangel mired in serial ethics and legal messes, and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd at ground zero of the Fannie-Freddie meltdown, haven't stepped down from their committee chairmanships, especially given the nexus between the money they received and the entities they were supposed to oversee.
...
In short, we need an ethics czar, pronto!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Ya don't say...
LA Times:
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Everybody knows how President-elect Barack Obama's amazing campaign money machine was dominated by several million regular folks sending in hard-earned amounts under $200, a real sign of his broadbased grassroots support.
Except, it turns out, that's not really true.
In fact, Obama's base of small donors was almost exactly the same percent as George W. Bush's in 2004 -- Obama had 26% and the great Republican satan 25%. Obviously, this is unacceptable to current popular thinking.
------------
Everybody knows how President-elect Barack Obama's amazing campaign money machine was dominated by several million regular folks sending in hard-earned amounts under $200, a real sign of his broadbased grassroots support.
Except, it turns out, that's not really true.
In fact, Obama's base of small donors was almost exactly the same percent as George W. Bush's in 2004 -- Obama had 26% and the great Republican satan 25%. Obviously, this is unacceptable to current popular thinking.
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