three days, man

i really ought to post something interesting...

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and for those of you not interested in ellipses (ellipsises?), go read about grimzore - parts one, two, and three.

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due to vacation (of sorts), blogging may be light for the rest of the week. so in the meantime...

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conservative rock?

NRO assembled a list of songs that are about conservative ideas, or at least have a couple of conservative(-ish) lyrics. Some are great, but at least half of them are taken waaaay out of context. Some of the better examples are:

• “Taxman” by The Beatles
• “Don’t Tread on Me” by Metallica
• “The Trees” by Rush
• “Obvious Song” by Joe Jackson
• “Government Cheese” by The Rainmakers
• “I Can’t Drive 55” by Sammy Hagar

Plus, they forgot about "Bound And Gagged" by Ted Nugent, which summed up what many Americans thought about the Iranian hostage crisis.

Hawapartheiid

Congress needs to "just say no" to race-based government in any form.

crushing of dissent, yet again

This time in downtown DemoKKKratic ACLUmerica...

There is no purer example of hypocrisy than this.

campaign finance reform

Captain Ed has an idea:

"If the FBI planned to apply more resources in pursuit of that kind of corruption, that would be a tremendous boost for public integrity. According to The Hill's report, however, the additional agents will focus on the felonies and misdemeanors created by the BCRA (McCain-Feingold). This demonstrates the problem of creating an overwhelming regulatory regime in any process; it creates crime where little or no intent to harm is involved. By forcing contributors and politicians to create ever more fanciful corporations with ever more barriers to accountability, the transition and use of the funds becomes so opaque that practically any use appears criminal, and all of it requires forensic accountants to ensure compliance within a labyrinth of laws.

The best solution is the elimination of the regulatory regime altogether and its replacement with instant-disclosure laws. In the age of the Internet, political candidates and their parties have the ability to quickly reveal their donors and the extent of their contributions. That would make those whom the voters select the most accountable for their fundraising and the message their funds produce. We can then eliminate the 501(c)s, the 527s, the PACs, and all of the other artificial creations that obfuscate responsibility and create criminals where they would otherwise not exist. Once that happens, then the FBI can concentrate on real corruption in government instead of becoming the executive branch's version of Price Waterhouse Cooper."

But, but, but, if the FBI did that, what would happen to our preciousss bureaucracy?

what does muy sabroso mean?

yours truly, of course!

scenes we'd like to see

"Saddam, Bin Laden Concede Missteps in War" - from Scrappleface

third party?

As much as we might wish for a third party, Pseudo-Polymath explains why it may no longer be possible.

Intelligent Discrimination

Here's an angle I hadn't thought of:

1) The Dover vs Kitzmiller trial demonstrated, to the satisfaction of many opponents of Intelligent Design, that ID is religious, not scientific.

2) There are people (such as P.Z.Myers) who are prepared to veto tenure appointments simply on the grounds that somebody believes in ID - they don't even need to teach it.

3) Given 1 above, this represents religious discrimination, which is not constitutionally permissible.

Duh Vinci 3

Even The New Yorker doesn't like it:

There has been much debate over Dan Brown’s novel ever since it was published, in 2003, but no question has been more contentious than this: if a person of sound mind begins reading the book at ten o’clock in the morning, at what time will he or she come to the realization that it is unmitigated junk? The answer, in my case, was 10:00.03, shortly after I read the opening sentence...

The trouble with Howard’s film is that it is far too dense and talkative to function efficiently as a thriller, while also being too credulous and childish to bear more than a second’s scrutiny as an exploration of religious history or spiritual strife. There is plenty going on here, from gunfights to masked orgiastic rituals and mini-scenes of knights besieging Jerusalem, yet the outcome feels at once ponderous and vacant...

Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, except at Columbia Pictures, where the power lunches won’t even be half-started. The Catholic Church has nothing to fear from this film. It is not just tripe. It is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith. Meanwhile, art historians can sleep easy once more, while fans of the book, which has finally been exposed for the pompous fraud that it is, will be shaken from their trance. In fact, the sole beneficiaries of the entire fiasco will be members of Opus Dei, some of whom practice mortification of the flesh. From now on, such penance will be simple—no lashings, no spiked cuff around the thigh. Just the price of a movie ticket, and two and a half hours of pain...

the home front

don't like to use the term "must-read" too much, but i just ran across three.

This post at MilBlogs references this post at Belmont Club about the home front in the war on terror. And this post at TexasSparkle discusses the ongoing battle against the decline of society.

space

Varifrank makes two interesting points about space exploration:

• Voyager II will finally reach the edge of our solar system this year.
• If we were to place the SETI radio telescope dish on Pluto, it would not be able to detect life on earth.

the pot calling the kettle inconvenient

TCS Daily notes some inconvenient truths about Algore's bore-a-thon "An Inconvenient Truth".

...and flattery is the sincerest form of imitation, or something like that...

alligators down in the sewer lines

Opinion Journal debunks other - more malignant - urban legends.

the best defense is a good offense

"The First Amendment does not guarantee the right to publish all forms of classified information that can jeopardize national security when it enters the public realm."

cold numbers

The Futurist presents an interesting analysis that as "more nations achieve prosperity and democracy, the costs of war outweigh the benefits."

school reform

Why don't liberals demand removal of religion from Saudi classrooms?

Didacts and Narpets

"Listen!"

Captain's Quarters discusses what happens when American conservatives are ignored.

Duh Vinci Too

Lone Star Times says:

Judging from early reviews, it seems likely to me that the film The Da Vinci Code is going to do about as much damage to worldwide Christianity as some of the senior student drama productions I suffered through back at hippie college (i.e, "none").

Nevertheless, you might get stuck on an elevator next week with some doofus who either wants to urge you to go see the film "to learn the truth", or has had their faith shaken to the core by a former Bosom Buddy under the direction of Opie – so here are some "talking points" for response.

balance imbalance

it's not all bad