Abortion

This is one of the best discussions about abortion that I've seen. It explains very well the personal responsibility aspects of abortion. Go read it. Right now.

RickRolling...

Yeah, it's another stupid Internet meme... but I find it hilarious, but then I don't have a very discriminating sense of humor. I wonder what happens if you Rickroll Rick Astley...

• Over 7 million views
  
• April Fools!
  
• Hilarious Muppet Bloopers!
  
• Those crazy Nazis!
  
• Play Kongai Launch!
  
• Play it!
  

I'll add more as I find them!

Hanoi Jane vs. John McCain

Once again, Jane Fonda is lining up on the opposite side from John McCain. Last time, it was during the Vietnam War and she was supporting the North Vietnamese soldiers who were shooting at American pilots (like John McCain).

Now she's supporting Barack Obama for President. Her endorsement won't help much with anyone who isn't already supporting him and might hurt him with anyone who is undecided.

The "You" Campaign

The "You" Campaign is the perfect response to Al Gore's inane "We" Campaign. Al Gore needs to go away and find something productive to do. Flying around the country in his jet plane and preaching to the hoi polloi about depriving ourselves of modern conveniences to save the world is going to get really, really annoying. I mean, even more annoying.

Typical White Person

Wow. Just wow.

Barack Obama is showing his true colors. He is saying things about white people that would get a white person crucified if he said them about black people. I wonder how long he'll be able to get away with this stuff. The latest example is referring to how a "typical white person" is afraid of people who are different.

Well... to some extent, all humans are more afraid of strangers than they are of people who are familiar. That's human nature. And probably smart. Not only that, but a group of strange young men wandering around at night are probably worth avoiding, no matter what color they are.

Here's the transcript of his comments:

The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. But she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know. . .there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

Get your t-shirt...

U.S. Congress Debates Sabotage of U.S. - Turkish Relations

What the heck is Congress thinking? Why do they bother with passing so many non-binding resolutions? I guess they give the illusion of accomplishing something without Congress having to worry about screwing anything up.

Still, passing a resolution that states that the killing of over a million Armenians during World War I is officially "genocide" is kind of pointless and can only hurt relations with Turkey.

The Armenian Genocide was obviously a terrible thing and it's unfortunately that those responsible can't be punished. I certainly wouldn't let Turkey tell others not to talk about it or make demands about how we teach it in school, etc...

I suspect I know why the Democrats in Congress are so eager to pass this non-binding resolution. They are hoping that Turkey will stop allowing the U.S. to use Turkey as a supply conduit for the war in Iraq. This would make continuing the war more difficult and more costly. Without actively opposing the war, they can sabotage it under cover of opposing genocide.

lolterizt

One of the many offensives in the war on terror should be the humor offensive. They nutjobs are so full of themselves that they must hate being mocked. They really, really want to be taken seriously. So while our military takes them seriously, and kills them, the rest of us should mercilessly mock them. IMAO is one brave warrior in the humor offensive (not to mention just downright offensive...).

Successes in Iraq

I've recently started reading Classical Values. Go read this post about the successes we've had in Iraq. You won't read about this stuff in the mainsteam media, unfortunately, and the Bush Administration has done a terrible job of getting this information out.

Remembering 9/11

I was at work, walking by the front desk, when I first saw the attacks. A TV was mounted on the wall, showing either news or company propaganda. In this case, it was showing the attacks as they happened. By the time I got there, the first tower had been hit. I saw the second impact without realizing what it was. Soon, the IT department had set up the various conference room televisions and projectors to show the events. I watched as the towers collapsed. I felt an incredible anger inside of me as I watched the events. I knew that our response would be strong and I was afraid it would be extreme.

My wife called and I left work early to be at home with her and our baby daughter. We spent the rest of the day quietly watching the news and playing with our daughter to take our minds off the terrible tragedy.

I will never forget.

Male Abortion

Kathryn Jean Lopez writes about the case filed by the National Center for Men in Michigan. She calls this so-called "Roe v. Wade for Men" case "dispicable."

While it does seem wrong for a man to declare that he is not responsible for his child, there is a great disparity in so-called reproductive rights in this country. As it currently stands, a woman who is pregnant can choose to have an abortion or not. The father of her child has no choice in the matter. If he wants to raise the child himself, he does not have that choice. The fate of his child is entirely up to the woman. On the other hand, if he does not want to have the child but she does, then his fate is entirely in her hands.

I realize that the woman is the one who suffers the inconvenience and risk of pregnancy, but a man who wants to do so quite simply can't. Forcing women to have children isn't an ideal solution but then neither is telling a man that his child is going to be terminated and he has no say in the matter.

Megan Moved

I've been reading Megan McArdle's blog for a while now, starting with her old "Live from the WTC" and Assymmetrical Information blogs. She recently left The Economist for The Atlantic and has moved her blog there. The Atlantic has a different demographic than her old blog and the Lefties have come out in force. While the comments are still interesting to read, the level of vitriol has increased somewhat. She's curbed that by actively moderating the more egregious ad hominems and non sequitor posts. Apparently, though, I am "too stupid to breathe" because I don't have any trace of BDS.
Megan has become disenchanted with Bush and the War and is probably more of a moderate than a lefty or righty. I don't agree with her on everything but find her posts interesting. Her commenters consist of an mix of libertarians, progressives, and a few conservatives. The comments provide a wide variety of perspectives, ranging from sensible to various extremes.

Love Your State, Check the Date

I just got my new registration sticker and it has the above motto printed on the back. Ironically, the back of the sticker is an opaque blue so I can't see the date from inside the car. The old sticker was translucent and I could easily see the date from inside the car.

Inconsistent Energy Policy

One of the big items on the Democratic Party Agenda is energy independence. Yet, they are in a rush to punish domestic oil producers with high taxes and royalties. While it would be nice if alternative, clean, renewable energy sources could power the country and end our dependence on oil, the fact is that, barring nuclear power, there is nothing that can replace oil in the short term. We are stuck with oil and coal for decades as our primary source of energy.  So which is it? Drive domestic oil production overseas or achieve energy independence.

Sex and Violence on TV

The comment period for posts on the Volokh Conspiracy is too short...

In response to this post on the regulation of TV violence, what I'd really like to see is accurate descriptions of what is in the shows that will be shown on TV. I would like to decide what is appropriate for my children to watch. A single rating tells me nothing as my standards for what is appropriate for my own children will be different from those of other people. Every kid is different and every parent will have different standards. I can't make an intelligent decision with a rating like "PG". The more descriptive ratings that I've seen that list out what is in a show are vastly more helpful. I don't really want the government regulating what is shown on TV, though I can see a case for regulating broadcast TV and not cable.

Something that might help is if private organizations certified certain channels to meet certain standards... like "Kid Friendly" or whatever. Then I could check out a channel's certifications or credentials and know that they would pick shows that met that standard. But unlike a lot of the net filtering systems out there, I'd want it to be totally transparent so I'd know what they were basing the ratings on. I would prefer that the government stay out of the censorship business, though.

PC Terrorists

So the Burlington Township High School holds a terrorist attack drill and who are the terrorists?

Two Burlington Township police detectives portrayed the gunmen. Investigators described them as members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the "New Crusaders" who don't believe in separation of church and state. The mock gunmen went to the school seeking justice because the daughter of one had been expelled for praying before class.

All but a vanishingly small number of terrorists are Islamic extremists. So let's pick on another religious group, instead. They should have at least made up something silly like people who are opposed to the murder of trees used to make books or extremists who believe in restoring Latin education to schools or something like that.

Via the Corner.

Danny Jackson Dog Park Closing?

Apparently, the Danny Jackson Bark Park is closing. This is a great park in a great location. It's really unfortunate that it's being shut down. It's only been there for a couple of years and is already very popular. The land is owned by Metro and they need it back. There are other dog parks in the area, though.

I'll update this with more information once I find it....

Fred Thompson for President?

I'm not sure what the Constitutional implications are, but Fred Thompson has already served as President, Senator, CIA Director, and had a distinguished military career...

Isn't it Ironic?

Today's Question of the Day on NewsRadio 740's website is somewhat ironic:

Has media coverage of the astronaut love triangle and Anna Nicole&'s death been excessive?

Though I guess it's not ironic if you think the answer is "No." Given that Anna Nicole just died, they haven't had time for excessive news coverage, but I'm sure they will more than make up for it in the days to come. The astronaut love triangle thing is just plain wierd. The part of the coverage that is excessive, though, is the part where reports questions aspects of NASA or the space program based on the actions of a clearly unbalanced individual.`

I Hate Rebates

I went to the store the other day and picked up something that was listed as costing $139. When I went to check out, though, the price was $179. When I pointed this out, I was told that there was a rebate. How annoying. The price tag probably did indicate that there was a rebate, but in very small print. Now I have to either give up my purchase or go through the ordeal of sending in the rebate form and hope that the rebate judges will deem it sufficient and send me my money (in 4-60 weeks).

Doonesbury and the National Park Service

Doonesbury once again gets it wrong. When I read this strip about the National Park Service not discussing the age of the Grand Canyon to avoid offending Creationists, I was suspicious. I looked at the web site for the Grand Canyon National Park, though, and didn't immediately find anything specifically showing the age of the Grand Canyon. But now, thanks to The Corner, I have learned that I was right and that the whole story is bogus.
It is true, apparently, that the Grand Canyon book store sells a Creationist book. But it sells it in the "Inspiration" section where you can find other books on mytholoigy and folklore... I also suspect that if the Grand Canyon book store refused to sell books based on ideology of any sort, it would get into trouble.

No Unbiased Testing Allowed

Given that general intelligence has been found to be one of the few good predictors of future job performance, it's ironic that the Civil Rights act forbids such testing unless it can be shown to be directly related to the job at hand. Given that general intelligence is not directly related to any job but is indirectly related to every job, that's kind of a stupid test. I understand that a wholly unrelated requirement may be unreasonable and could be used to discriminate, but general education level and intelligence are almost always relevant.

Source: The Corner

IKEA

I love IKEA. They have good furniture at good prices and they have a wide selection. But more importantly, they have a great customer experience.  My kids love Smaland, their play area. My wife and I love that we can drop the kids off and shop freely. They have a restaurant with good food. We've gone several times recently where we arrived in the morning, ate breakfast, dropped the kids off at the play area, and then shopped. Other times, we've gone for lunch.

Their return policy is great, too. They have a standard policy that returns should be in the original packaging and that you should have a receipt. But they give you a free one-time return without a receipt. More imprtantly, though, they accept returns that are not in the original packaging. We bought a shelf that I assembled, with glue. Then my wife realized it as the wrong color. I took it back and they gave us a full refund, no questions asked.

I have heard that the CEO, when asked about going public, said that he'd never do it as it would not allow him to do anything different or risky. Stockholders demand short term, constant returns. A public company can't lose money for a couple of years as part of a long-term strategy. Apparently, much of the management team agrees and would quit if the company went public.

Whatever they are doing appears to be working, though.

SMU "Welcomes" the Bush Library

Why did SMU seek the Bush Library if the campus is so hostile to President Bush and his policies This makes it sound like "pro-Bush politics" is a disease:

Mindful of reports that President Bush wants a conservative think tank with his presidential library, Southern Methodist University's top official is trying to allay concerns that pro-Bush politics might spread through campus.

Watch out! You might get some on you!

I think it's time to look for another home for the Bush Library... one that is at least not overtly hostile to the Bush Administration.

Save Nazanin

Nazanin killed her rapist. Now she is being tried for murder. She was already convicted once and sentenced to death by hanging. Now she goes to trial again. This is how the law is enforced in Iran. This is what the Muslim extremists want for all of us.

Help save Nazinan.

The Feds are Reading Your Mail!!!

My local newstalk radio station repeated the assertion that President Bush has assumed broad new powers to read mail at will and without a warrant. The story as read on the air had several inconsistencies. First of all, it completely failed to point out that the law was passed by Congress. The story continually stated that President Bush assumed the powers on his own. Second of all, towards the end, the reader mentioned that the mail could be opened without a warrant only if authorities had probable cause or if there were exigent circumstances. They failed to mention that under current law, the police can enter your house or your car, search or detain anyone, or search any building or poperty if they have probable cause or there are exigent circumstances. So where's the story? The mail is subject to the same standards as all other poperty? That's not especially remarkable.

For a more detailed analysis of the new statute and the signing statement issued by President Bush, go to the Power Line.

Oil Prices Rise and Fall...

On January 2nd, the top two stories in the Energy section of the Houston Chronicle:

Oil prices slip in quiet trading—Oil prices slipped in quiet trading today, turning lower on warmer than usual winter weather in the United States and expectations of an agreement between Russia and Belarus over natural gas prices.

Oil prices rise slightly in quiet trading— Trading was expected to remain muted through the day because the New York Mercantile Exchange closed its trading floor in observance of the national day of mourning for former U.S. President Gerald Ford.

To be fair, they were posted at different times, one early in the morning after trading in Europe and one later in the day. The second is clearly the first story, modified. Both are from the Associated Press, that bastion of solid news reporting...

Early Heinlein and Late Heinlein

Instapundit just read the Heinlein/Robinson book Variable Star and commented that it was not quite up to classic Heinlein standards. While that's probably true, it leaves a lot of room to still be better than later Heinlein works. He deteriorated as he got older and his writings turned into fantasies where older men cavorted with younger women in search of immortality. Having said that, I plan on getting many of his early works for my kids as they get older.

Gun Control

The correct way to use guns:

Two men were fatally wounded and two others taken into custody early Wednesday after homeowners in east Harris County opened fire on them during an attempted robbery, the sheriff's office said.

The incorrect way to use guns:

On New Year&'s Eve 1996, 7-year-old Mary Farmer finished her cup of holiday cheer — a mixture of sherbet and 7-Up — and wanted more.

Her mom thought she had had enough, but her dad, Randy Farmer, gave her his cup. He liked to spoil her.

A short while later, he accidentally shot her dead. After firing off several celebratory rounds in his northeast Harris County backyard, Farmer's gun jammed. It later fired as he worked to clear it, sending a bullet into the little girl's chest.

Perhaps it was safe to celebrate the New Year by firing guns into the air when people lived in the country, but it poses a threat in densely populated neighborhoods, said Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Dorothy Edwards.

Bullets descend as fast as 200 feet per second. That's fast enough, Edwards said, to fatally pierce a person's skull. "Celebratory gunfire is not an appropriate way to celebrate anything," said Katherine Cabaniss, director of Crime Stoppers of Houston.

It is a Class A misdemeanor to fire a gun into the air without cause in Houston.

Actually, this is a pretty silly example of the problem. The man in the article wasn't shooting his gun into the air.

Farmer, now 44, was charged with criminally negligent homicide in the shooting of his daughter, but a grand jury refused to indict him.

His .25-caliber pistol jammed after he fired several rounds at a tree in his backyard. He took the gun into his home to examine it under a light.

It discharged as his daughter got up from the couch. He held her in his arms as her eyes rolled back in her head.

He failed to keep his gun pointing in a safe area when attempting to clear the jammed round. He was not firing his weapon into the air. Both, though, are incorrect ways to handle a gun. The problem (a good problem) is that there are very few actual injuries or deaths from guns fired into the air (at least in the United States). There are some, though:

A better example would be this story:

A stray bullet fired into the sky last New Year's Eve in Orlando, Fla., landed more than 2,200 yards away and killed Henry McDaniel, 75.

After an investigation, forensics experts linked the bullet to an assault rifle confiscated that night at Richardo Roach's home about a mile away.

In October, Roach was found guilty of manslaughter.

If you must fire your gun into the air on New Year's Eve, at least use blanks.

Another incorrect way (and Darwin at work):

HELOTES — A 16-year-old girl died early today after playing a variation of Russian roulette, investigators said.

Bexar County sheriff's deputies said the girl and a man in his 20s handed a gun containing one bullet back and forth, taking turns pointing the weapon at each other's heads and pulling the trigger.

More on Killing Babies

I guess killing babies is becoming more and more popular . I'm sure that Peter Singer will be happy to see that more people are discussing the idea of killing newborns with mental and/or physical handicaps. This has got to be a new low, though. I can sympathise with the idea of mercy killing a newborn with handicaps so severe that it will likely not live or will live only in pain or misery. I may not always agree or like the idea, though. But I have a lot ot trouble with considering emotional or financial stress as a factor in deciding the fate of a newborn. Healthy babies cause financial and emotional stress. If that becomes a criteria for killing unhealthy babies, then the door is open for debate on how much stress is too much. Do you consider the financial situation of the parents? If not, why not? The stress caused by an unhealthy baby will be less if the family has more money. Do you consider the family situation of the parents? Parents with a strong support network would most likely be able to handle more stress than a single mother. So a poor single mother's baby would need to be healthier than that of a wealthy family with lots of close by relatives. This is a door that we should not open, in my opinion. Let's work to find ways to help babies survive and live longer, healthier lives rather than try to figure out when it's okay to kill them. If we're going to discuss the killing of babies, let's look for reasons not to rather than reasons to do so.

President Ford's Legacy

It's too bad that President Ford's death is now tainted with the controversial Iraq War. His legacy and his Presidency should be remembered as they were. Unfortunately, Bob Woodward is releasing his interview with Ford now instead of waiting and letting him be honored for who he was. The interview will distract everyone and polarize opinion on Ford. He should have waited until his planned book.

Unfortunately, I'm too young to really remember President Ford but old enough to remember Chevy Chase. I plan on reading more about him, though, over the next few days.