Sunday, July 31, 2005

Bad Hair Day (Humor)

Bill Cosby hosts a TV show titled "Kids Say The Darndest Things" (formerly hosted by Art Linkletter).

I need to arrange for my four-year-old son Dawson to appear on that show. He already has a talent for embarrassing me. His talent might as well be put on public display. Perhaps Dawson would be discovered by a Hollywood talent scout.

While I was blogging, Dawson climbed up on my chair and stood so that he could see the top of my head. At that moment Dawson spoke the words that every middle-aged man dreads to hear:

"No hair."

Upon hearing Dawson's words, I felt like Larry the Cucumber without his hairbrush.

For the record, both of my grandfathers had full heads of hair when they died. My father still has all of his hair, and Dawson was born with a full head of hair.

I don't need my son telling me that I am turning into Larry the Cucumber.

Does anyone know a talent scout in search of an adorable 4-year-old boy?


Dawson

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PS: Dawson's daddy has updated his biography to include (Gasp!) a photo of the Dodo. Click here to see it if you dare.

Poverty in America: It Ain’t What It Used to Be

Michael Bowers at The Star has some interesting statistics on the meaning of poverty today compared to that of yesteryear:


Today, even the poor have a bewildering array of comforts. "More than 98 percent of American homes have a telephone, electricity and a flush toilet," the study says. "More than 70 percent of Americans own a car, a VCR, a microwave, air conditioning, cable TV, and a washer and dryer." In 1900, almost no homes had such conveniences.

[...]

Now go to the Web site "globalrichlist" and type in $39,000. Guess what. Your new household income ranks in the top 4 percent of all the people in the world. Only 72 million people make more than you do. Almost 6 billion make less. And you didn't even have to go to college.

Click here to read it all. Poverty just isn't what it's cracked up to be...and that's a good thing.

Renaming GWOT

What do you think is the best new acronym?

WARM = War Against Radical Muslims
WORM = War On Radical Muslims
Glo-WORM = Global War On Radical Muslims
WW4
WORI = War on Radical Islam
WARI = War Against Radical Islam

Vote at the Astute Blogger.

Thanks, Polipundit for the link.

Judge Declares She Know’s What Everyone Is Thinking

Federal Judge rules that key parts of the Patriot Act are unconstitional because those portions, "remain too vague to be understood by a person of average intelligence and are therefore unconstitutional."

Other than the fact that she feels that her opinion alone is higher than 550 elected officials, why didn't she tackle, say, the federal tax code or the Democratic Party platform first?

JUST WHEN Y’THOUGHT YOU’D HEARD IT ALL

Is this a joke? Was the 14-yr-old babysitter charged? After reading the account, I can't fathom why the 8-yr-old was charged with anything.

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8-Year-Old Charged For Sexual Conduct With Sitter
(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY, Utah A mother is upset after a 14-year-old babysitter engaged in sexual conduct with her eight-year-old boy, and the eight-year-old was charged with lewd conduct. Prosecutors have since dropped the charges against the boy, but his mother is still concerned... Prosecutors say that, while the babysitter initiated the contact, the young boy was a willing participant.



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Democrat Quote of the Day (07/31/05)

"Unlike most of America, I don't actually hate Hillary. I am prepared to believe she is a good senator. But the fact that anyone's taking her seriously as presidential material just shows how out of touch the Democratic Party is. I love this party. It is my party. Its ideals are my ideals. I am not about to abandon it. However, I can't help feeling that at the moment it has abandoned me. Looking desperately for leadership in a scary world, the Democrats offer me a choice between whackos and cowards."
- Susanna Rodell, editorial-page editor of The Charleston Gazette

WAR GAMES

This map was probably outdated by the time it was originally posted. However, it's still worth posting for its wallop. Once again Mark Steyn has written a must-read piece on how radical Islamists are not playing games; they're playing for keeps.

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Terrorists way too cozy in United Kingdom

So here's how things stand four years after 9/11: United Kingdom taxpayers are subsidizing the jihad.
...
A ''criminal'' approach gives terrorists all the rights of criminals, and between British and European -- and, indeed, American -- ''human rights,'' that's quite a bundle. If it's a war, you can take wartime measures. But, if you fight this thing as a law enforcement matter, Islamist welfare queens will use all the above to their full extent. So today imams living off welfare checks openly promote the murder of Tony Blair, British troops, etc., with impunity.
Madrid and London -- along with other events such as the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh -- are, in essence, the opening shots of a European civil war. You can laugh at that if you wish, but the Islamists' most oft-stated goal is not infidel withdrawal from Iraq but the re-establishment of a Muslim caliphate living under sharia that extends to Europe, and there's a lot to be said for taking these chaps at their word and then seeing whether their behavior is consistent with that.
Furthermore, there's a lot more of the world that lives under sharia than there was, say, 30 years ago: Pakistan adopted it in 1977, Iran in 1979, Sudan in 1984. Fifty years ago, Nigeria lived under English common law; now, half of it's in the grip of Islamic law. So, as a political project, radical Islam has made some headway, and continues to do so almost every day of the week.

And by all indications it's only going to get worse:
Biggest suicide wave in a bloody 2,000-year history

The use of suicide attacks in conflict dates back to at least 2,000 years ago but the savage wave of bombings that has hit the Middle East, America and much of Europe in the past five years is the worst that the world has known.
Since the twin towers of the World Trade Center were brought down by Al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001, scores of suicide attacks across the globe have killed more than 4,400 people.
According to a study by Robert Pape, associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, the monthly toll of attacks has been steadily escalating and shows no sign of abating.

Meanwhile, if you thought that granting the Nobel Peace Price to Jimmy Carter would shut him up, think again. In the midst of this terror, Jimmy Carter is traveling everywhere and anywhere people will listen and telling them, in essence, that the terrorists are justified for their acts because America, and President Bush in particular, are wrong. Isn't this the definition of treason?

Carter: Guantanamo Detentions Disgraceful

Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq as "unnecessary and unjust."
"I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A.," he told a news conference at the Baptist World Alliance's centenary conference in Birmingham, England. "I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts."


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Brooks: Life Lessons from Baseball

David Brooks' column this weekend is a pleasant and light-hearted look at his son's youth league baseball team, and the lessons drawn therefrom.


They have a physical confidence about them now, which comes from knowing they have become good at something really hard. They have come into contact with coaches who commanded an authority that, frankly, surpasses that of many of their teachers; coaches who talk more directly about character, self-sacrifice and discipline than other people in their lives or in their culture. They have become members of the community of baseball, the oddballs, near-stars and legends from Little League to the Hall of Fame, who speak a similar language and share a common attitude.

The attitude comes from the reality of the game, which is that the difference between a home run and a pop-up is minuscule. A pitcher dominates one day and is shelled the next. So the players, even our boys, develop this emotional resilience, this fatalistic ability to accept the good and the bad, which will serve them well in life.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Democratic Implosion

Someone at the Democratic Party's national headquarters must have pushed the "Self Destruct" button, because each day the party acts like a sinking ship.

The Dodo isn't the only person to think so. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has published an editorial titled Dems in the doldrums/The party still hasn't got its act together.

Among the many Democratic problems is the problem concerning Senator Hillary Clinton. She is seen by Democrats as a 2008 contender for the U.S. presidency. Yet, she is a devisive figure within her own party. The Washington Times reports the following:

But some of the [Democratic] party's leftist groups are unhappy with Mrs. Clinton's cozy relations with the DLC, a group founded in the 1980s to wrest control of the party from its liberal leaders. "By aligning herself with the DLC, it is pretty well guaranteed that there will be somebody running for the nomination to her left," said Roger Hickey, co-director of Campaign for America's Future, a liberal activist group that has been playing an increasingly influential role in the party. "She is going to have to choose between the DLC and the progressive activist base of the party," he said.

During a meeting of the DLC, Senator Clinton said, "I know the DLC has taken some shots from some within our party, and that it has returned fire, too."[Quote Source]

To make matters worse, Senator Clinton has a bit of an image problem. Jacob Weisberg explains:

[Hillary] still lacks a key quality that a politician can't achieve through hard work: likability. As hard as she tries, Hillary has little facility for connecting with ordinary folk, for making them feel that she understands, identifies, and is at some level one of them. You may admire and respect her. But it's hard not to find Hillary a bit inhuman. Whatever she may be like in private, her public persona is calculating, clenched, relentless—and a little robotic. . . in American elections, affection matters. Democrats lost in 2000 and 2004 with candidates Main Street regarded as elitist and aloof, to a candidate voters related to personally. Hillary isn't as obnoxious as Gore or as off-putting as Kerry. But she's got the same damn problem, and it can't be fixed.

Meanwhile, a Democratic fissure has appeared in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prior to the vote on CAFTA, FOXNews reported the following:
"House Democrats, who traditionally oppose such free-trade agreements, say they are united in opposition." [Quote Source]

Such proclaimed unity turned out to be false, because 15 House Democrats voted in favor of CAFTA. If just 3 of those Congressmen had voted the other way, then CAFTA would have failed.

Finally, the Democratic Party's ATM machine keeps breaking apart. Recently, the United Food and Commercial Workers union joined other unions in breaking away from the AFL-CIO. It is no secret that some Democrats fear that the break up of the unions will result in less union money being given to the Democratic Party.

The Dodo doesn't believe that the Democratic Party is a lost cause. However, the Party is seriously needing a dose of political medicine.

THIRDWAVE HAS RETURNED

They caught the perp and THIRDWAVE identified him.

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Tierney: Mission to Mars

His latest piece is the beginning of a series on a private group that is currently running simulations:

The Marsonauts are sticklers for staying "in sim," simulating every inconvenience they can imagine on Mars. No venturing outside the Hab without at least half an hour of preparation: putting on a spacesuit and helmet, wiring a radio, and going through five minutes of decompression in the airlock. No removing a glove to dig for a fossil. No food or bathroom breaks in the field.

Hard to gauge this one, but it's certainly an interesting read. Tierney arrived somewhat skeptical but was won over by the serious approach.

Friday, July 29, 2005

JUSTA REMINDER

Do you like to write? Ever wonder if your writing is any good? Miss Snark, a NY City literary agent, has generously offered to critique your work. Feedback from an agent is rare; mostly they send form letter rejections. So, take advantage of this opportunity! Miss Snark admires bravery! Click here for the details.

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“WE DO NOT HELP THE ENEMY”

Cindy Adams is a gossip columnist for the NY Post. She knows everyone and they in turn talk to her. She's scooped the snooty top shelf reporters/journalists on many occasions. I honestly don't know what Cindy's politics are, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's voted for Democrats in the past. Whatever. Regardless of her politics, Cindy is an American and today's column proves it:

AREN'T we lucky? Isn't it great? We have patriotic ingrate Jane Fonda, the multiple divorceé who was born with a silver hoof in her mouth, acting as spokespig for our country again. Although she's born here, isn't there a way we can throw her out since her basic career is to bad-mouth the United States of America? If being a smoker is against the law, how about being a traitor? If spitting on the sidewalk is not allowed, how come spitting on the U.S.A. is OK? If double-parking gets a fine, shouldn't there be some small punishment for treason?
Hanoi Jane taking the money she made in this God-blessed country and spending it on a nationwide oink against us? Hanoi Jane who in 1972 betrayed United States prisoners of war during the blood-filled Vietnam days? Harming our nation and then apologizing just long enough to sell a book, a video or a monster of a movie? Three husbands left her. The whole rest of us should, too.
While signing her book someplace, this woman announced a hideous anti-Iraq bus tour she intends to take. She now announces she'll take her 32-year-old son, Troy, with her. Isn't anyone going to stop this? Isn't there some law against this? And her kid's comment about why mummy dearest is doing it? "I guess she thinks it's time for people to do something."
I know what they can do. They can drive her the hell out of here. Look, we don't all favor this war, but we do favor our country. Right or wrong, it's our country. We love it. We support it. We do not help the enemy.

Go to Jackson's Junction for the t-shirt!

YOUR KICK BACK FRIDAY GRIN

Gone Country A week before the last Presidential election, a liberal friend of mine e-mailed me that he thought Kerry would win by about two percentage points. I should have told him to turn on the country music station where he lived. That week found John Kerry criss-crossing the Midwest with aging rock and rollers. President Bush hung out with NASCAR drivers and with country stars who never age. It was obvious who was going to win.

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Krugman: Why Can’t We Be French--Updated!

Here's one of those silly little fluff articles that the NY Times' editorial page writers toss off quickly.

Americans are doing a lot of strutting these days, but a head-to-head comparison between the economies of the United States and Europe - France, in particular - shows that the big difference is in priorities, not performance. We're talking about two highly productive societies that have made a different tradeoff between work and family time. And there's a lot to be said for the French choice.

First things first: given all the bad-mouthing the French receive, you may be surprised that I describe their society as "productive." Yet according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, productivity in France - G.D.P. per hour worked - is actually a bit higher than in the United States.

Yes, but the key is "per hour worked". The French work far fewer hours on average, and fewer of them work; the unemployment rate is over 10%. You might think that Krugman, who just wrote a column claiming the current 5% unemployment rate is much higher might be a little timid about championing an economy with a far higher unemployment rate, but you'd reckon without Krugman's willingness to ignore inconvenient facts.


I've been looking at a new study of international differences in working hours by Alberto Alesina and Edward Glaeser, at Harvard, and Bruce Sacerdote, at Dartmouth. The study's main point is that differences in government regulations, rather than culture (or taxes), explain why Europeans work less than Americans.

But the study also suggests that in this case, government regulations actually allow people to make a desirable tradeoff - to modestly lower income in return for more time with friends and family - the kind of deal an individual would find hard to negotiate. The authors write: "It is hard to obtain more vacation for yourself from your employer and even harder, if you do, to coordinate with all your friends to get the same deal and go on vacation together."

Sigh. No, government regulations don't allow people to make a tradeoff. They force them to make that tradeoff. And it's curious that in a column that stresses more time with family, the lament is the inability to coordinate a vacation with friends.

Update: Our buddy Bulldog Pundit at ABP has more on this ridiculous article.

Update II: Tom Maguire notes the same thing:

Briefly, Krugman has been telling us for several years to ignore the signs of an improving economy and focus on the fact that the job market in the US is not as good as it was at the height of the boom.

But with the French Choice, we are advised that folks not working can be a good thing, too.