Good morning.
- A common error of today’s stimulus packages, they all raise taxes … which counter the intended effect.
- “Alcohol may have been involved” … ya think!?
- Obama and the Blago scandal … the real problem … recalling the Plame and recall the shoes are on the other feet now. And no, I think it unlikely Obama did anything wrong … but then again, neither did anyone in the Plame fiasco either.
- Uhm, non-violent protest involves a likelihood of jail time … its in the cards and not necessarily a bad thing.
- On opinions.
- A book recommendation for the younger set, and one which I jumped on for my daughter’s upcoming birthday. Another book here.
- Cash and Mr Phelps.
- Verry English.
- A bunch of book recommendations. I concurr on Father Elijah (the book that should have replaced that execrable Dan Brown thing). It gives me pause on taking Anathem on the holidays though.
- Simply amazing.
- Cost cutting comes to health care. As the Instapundit (somewhat annoyingly often offers), “more please.”
- For your prayer list.
- A story to watch (and why).
- Modern art.
- We were “told” that this was just “GOP scare tactics”, hmmm.
- Whatever. Color me unsurprised.
- I’m fairly certain that’s satire, but I’m not sure.
- Russian worship demographics.
- Not about crass commercialism or ever repeating holiday music “classics” I think.
- I remember baking a batch of beheaded gingerbread boys when we studied the French revolution back in the day.
- Serious about Islam.
- Bad news about the Good News.
- Our (recent) debt and promises in perspective.
- Mr Obama’s education choice.
Obama and the Blago scandal … the real problem … recalling the Plame and recall the shoes are on the other feet now.
Are they? Do you always count your chickens before they hatch like this? If only we had a time machine we could have gotten you a good job on pre-crash Wall Street!
We were “told” that this was just “GOP scare tactics”, hmmm.
Indeed, it is all but unstoppable now. One Congresswoman has come out in favor of it! Who will hold back the floodgates!
I do agree with you, though, that it is not a GOP scare tactic. A scare tactic should be, like, scarey.
Obama’s education choice.
If English could survive 8 years of Bush and 4 years of his father, I think we can consider it safe for now.
Obama and the Blago scandal
The Plame affair, like the Clinton one, had an underlying crime. The people ultimately got into trouble for lying about it is really just a technicality. The only time Obama’s name came up with the Blago affair is Blago calling him an expletive for doing the right thing and not playing ball. This is evidence that he is NOT corrupt, all your insinuations aside.
We were “told” that this was just “GOP scare tactics”, hmmm.
Do you have any idea how many idiotic ideas are pushed by single congresspeople? This means NOTHING. And from your own link: “Obama has twice told B&C through an aide that he is opposed to the return of the doctrine, which required broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues.” It’s just a scare tactic because there is zero chance it would ever happen, not because zero Democrats want it to happen.
A story to watch (and why).
It’s not about “qualifications.” It’s about the fact that Palin is clearly ignorant. If Caroline Kennedy tells Katie Couric on national t.v. that she’s qualified to discuss foreign policy because she knows a lot of foreigners and then tries to defend that stance in long, run-on sentences with bizarre syntax, and then the media gives her a free pass on that, it will be equivalent.
Immediately after the publication of the study, an atheist group based out of Seattle, WA responded. The group, named More Atheist Dogma (MAD), said in a statement…
Uh, yeah, I think that was a satire.
Actually, the correlation between IQ and atheism is pretty substantial. I’m not sure about negative mental states as they apply to atheism, but religiousness is somewhat correlated to happiness and health.
Whatever. Color me unsurprised.
Whatever. I’m pretty sure Playboy has dealt with a lot more nuisances from Christians than vice versa. I’m not aware of Mr. Hefner ever attempting to outlaw Christian magazines, for example.
Boonton,
I’m not sure what your trying to get at with the Blago reference. You don’t think the shoe is on the other foot, i.e., you think Obama is implicated in wrongdoing? I don’t.
English teaching has been on the skids for a century … not one administration. I notice as well, the new suggested Education guy likes NCLB. Hmm. We’ll see about phonics?
JA,
There was no crime in the Plame affair, that came out very clearly.
I’m not disagreeing that Obama is against the Fairness doctrine.
Uhm, who said anything about Palin?
Plame affair:
Bush administration implicated in wrong doing.
Blago affair:
Obama admin. NOT implicated in wrong doing
For the shoe to be on the other foot it seems like we gotta multiply that NOT by a negative one.
English teaching has been on the skids for a century … not one administration. I notice as well, the new suggested Education guy likes NCLB. Hmm. We’ll see about phonics?
1. Since we have plenty of English speakers, writers, readers and so on it seems kind of odd to assert English teaching has been on the skids for a century. As bad as Bush’s term was, he didn’t butcher the language so much that people decided to switch to French or Italian or whatnot.
2. We’d be better off getting away from education fads. Yea phonics cultists have a point about non-phonics ideas holding too much sway but phonics itself, I suspect, has become it’s own fad selling itself as the magic bullet that solves all education problems. I’d rather a Sec. of Education have an opinion on NCLB but remain neutral on phonics.
Definitely find something better than Anathem for your holiday reading, Mark. It’s nothing more than an overly long and entirely transparent anti-religion screed, yet one that plunders religion for all its most striking imagery. It caters to a smug pseudintellectual ignorati that is worthy only of contempt.
Iain M. Banks’ Matter is a hefty holiday-sized scifi tome that I’ve heard good things of. I’ve got a copy on order from our local scifi-fantasy-mystery bookstore (I’ve made it a practice to buy all my scifi and mystery books from them for years now, to contribute toward keeping them open), so I’m waiting for it to arrive, and can’t give you a personal evaluation yet. All his other books are excellent, however.
Boonton,
Bush administrated innocent, yet then tangled in wrong doing.
Obama admin, likely innocent, but tangled, not yet … but as the link suggests we shall see as things progress if they get implicated. That was sort of the while point being made.
On English, two points first a few years back I purchased on eBay two 6th grade textbooks from 1905 in English and math. We have been on a long slide in my amateur opinion. And secondly, as with a lot of other things, I’d rather have a Sec of Education whose opinion was that he should abolish his office and almost all (federal) involvement in education.
Kevin,
I’ve actually got 3 Ian Banks books on my shelves only one of which I read. That’s a very good idea. Thanks a lot!
Mark,
Fitzgerald may not have been able to prove anything about the Bush administration because they lied and obstructed justice but I think it’s pretty clear that they did wrong. According to Scott McClellan, for instance, Bush told him personally that he had authorized Libby to leak the classified information. Is McClellan just fabricating that? Why did Bush call the Libby verdict “fair?” Why didn’t he pardon him instead of just commuting the sentence? What about Cheney’s involvement? Etc.
JA,
This was about a leak right? The administration wasn’t the source of the leak. Fitzgerald knew that very early on in his investigation but it didn’t matter. Why doesn’t that matter?
Huh? Armitage (who was in the administration, btw) was Novak’s source, but according to Fitzgerald, Rove and Libby also discussed Plame’s employment at the CIA with various members of the press. McClellan has said that Bush personally confided in him that he authorized Libby to leak classified information.
JA,
Armitage was charged with????
If the President authorizes it, isn’t it legal then?
Happy reading!
On English, two points first a few years back I purchased on eBay two 6th grade textbooks from 1905 in English and math. We have been on a long slide in my amateur opinion
Ahhhh but look a bit deeper. How many kids in 1905 didn’t even finish 6th grade or finished it after we would normally expect a kid to be done with 6th.
If the President authorizes it, isn’t it legal then?
This is how you demonstrate the administration wasn’t entangled in the Plane scandal?
Boonton,
No crime was charged, yes or no? If no law was broken, what was Fitzgerald doing? If there was in fact no crime, his willingness to “dig” where there is no actual fault … is exactly what I’m suggesting might happen in the current case as well.
I’m not sure why it is relevant whether kids did or didn’t finish the 6th grade. The question of how old these kids were when they were in 6th grade is of course relevant.
How was it established that no laws were broken? If Bush or Cheney could legally ‘out’ a CIA operative then by calling for a criminal investigation of something they knew was legal they were engaged in obstruction of justice. Failure to charge someone with a crime is not proof or even evidence that no crime was committed.
“I’m not sure why it is relevant whether kids did or didn’t finish the 6th grade. ”
Ask what it is you’re seeing in that textbook. Are you seeing what was taught to the elite of America’s children? If so then you must compare it not to what is taught to today’s average children but to today’s elite children.
I concur on Father Elijah as well. Great read.
currently I’m stuck trying to quickly read The Shack for a book club this weekend. Dreadful is the only word that comes to mind. My poor husband has had to put up with my moaning and complaining at this piece of tripe.