Remembering and Linked by History and Destiny
Friday, July 08, 2005
VDH's Private Papers::The Same Old, Same Old
VDH's Private Papers::The Same Old, Same Old: "In the short term, Bush and Blair will appear as islands in the storm amid an angry and anguished public. But as 7/7 fades, as did 9/11, expect them to become even more unpopular, as the voices of appeasement assure us that if they just go away, maybe so will the terrorists.
It is our task, each of us according to our station, to speak the truth to all these falsehoods, and remember that we did not inherit a wonderful civilization just to lose it to the Dark Ages.
�2005 Victor Davis Hanson"
It is our task, each of us according to our station, to speak the truth to all these falsehoods, and remember that we did not inherit a wonderful civilization just to lose it to the Dark Ages.
�2005 Victor Davis Hanson"
One Hand Clapping � Blog Archive � BBC gets with the program
One Hand Clapping � Blog Archive � BBC gets with the programI await renewed calls from certain quarters to set an “exit strategy” and a “timetable.” Note well, though: al Qaeda has no exit strategy but victory or death, and no timetable except to kill us as soon and as often as possible.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Monday, July 04, 2005
Political Notio: Happy Birthday America
Political Notio: Happy Birthday America: "Happy Birthday America
We Americans like to think that freedom everywhere is because of us. Sure it’s an unrealistic way of thinking, but it’s not entirely untrue either. Since the end of WWII Americans have been taught that they did no less than save the world. The effects of that Second Great War, however, did no less than create this modern world.
It is hard to acknowledge the birth of America without mentioning Europe. Likewise, it’s hard to mention the imperialistic spread of freedom throughout Europe without acknowledging America. The thought of that same spread of freedom that used to inspire people to tear down giant walls with nothing more than hammers; or to stand unrelenting in front of oncoming tanks; or to cross vast bodies of water on overcrowded ships, nowadays makes most people squirm with aversion. Why such a change?
229 years ago this country was born with the belief that all men are created equal. We all know those words meant land owning white men and nothing less. Look where we are today. This republic of ours, as imperfect as it has always been, was designed with nothing more than a dream, but it was a dream with so much promise. Jefferson first coined that dream in the Declaration of Independence. It’s a dream that has not relinquished to this very day.
For the fourth Independence Day in a row America is at war. It’s not the first time that this has happened and it probably won’t be the last. Yet this dream that freedom is a birthright has been borrowed the world over. To think that people everywhere if given the choice would not want to rule themselves is probably as incorrect as to think that democracy imposed from the outside is also a value of that dream. To dream small with the American Dream is as wrong as dreaming too big.
America has been the lone pillar of promoting the democratic rule of people in this world. Despite all those who claim that this new form of “imperialism” is as wrong as the centuries worth of European colonialism, please name one country that has guaranteed democracy to so many people more than America has. Our grandest examples are Europe and Japan. Those are the standard at which all other American interventions are measured. As unfair as that might be, it is nevertheless the American standard.
Today the people of Iraq want to dream too. The dream that shook off our own chains of tyranny is now in Iraq waiting for the moment of calm so that they all may rest and finally dream.
Michael Ignatieff, in his essay “Who Are Americans to Think That Freedom Is Theirs to Spread?,” says it as clear as possible: “Who else is available to sponsor liberty in the Middle East but America? Certainly the Europeans themselves have not done a very distinguished job defending freedom close to home.”
It was our soldiers then too in Europe who fought and died to defend freedom “for strangers.” It is our soldiers today that fight and die in Iraq to defend freedom for a different set of strangers. “There is nothing worse than believing your son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother died in vain. Even those who have opposed the Iraq war all along, who believe that the hope of planting democracy has lured America into a criminal folly, do not want to tell those who have died that they have given their lives for nothing. This is where Jefferson’s dream must work.”
Happy Birthday America. And thank you to all our men and women in uniform, you have dreamed more than any of us. Never, ever quit dreaming."
We Americans like to think that freedom everywhere is because of us. Sure it’s an unrealistic way of thinking, but it’s not entirely untrue either. Since the end of WWII Americans have been taught that they did no less than save the world. The effects of that Second Great War, however, did no less than create this modern world.
It is hard to acknowledge the birth of America without mentioning Europe. Likewise, it’s hard to mention the imperialistic spread of freedom throughout Europe without acknowledging America. The thought of that same spread of freedom that used to inspire people to tear down giant walls with nothing more than hammers; or to stand unrelenting in front of oncoming tanks; or to cross vast bodies of water on overcrowded ships, nowadays makes most people squirm with aversion. Why such a change?
229 years ago this country was born with the belief that all men are created equal. We all know those words meant land owning white men and nothing less. Look where we are today. This republic of ours, as imperfect as it has always been, was designed with nothing more than a dream, but it was a dream with so much promise. Jefferson first coined that dream in the Declaration of Independence. It’s a dream that has not relinquished to this very day.
For the fourth Independence Day in a row America is at war. It’s not the first time that this has happened and it probably won’t be the last. Yet this dream that freedom is a birthright has been borrowed the world over. To think that people everywhere if given the choice would not want to rule themselves is probably as incorrect as to think that democracy imposed from the outside is also a value of that dream. To dream small with the American Dream is as wrong as dreaming too big.
America has been the lone pillar of promoting the democratic rule of people in this world. Despite all those who claim that this new form of “imperialism” is as wrong as the centuries worth of European colonialism, please name one country that has guaranteed democracy to so many people more than America has. Our grandest examples are Europe and Japan. Those are the standard at which all other American interventions are measured. As unfair as that might be, it is nevertheless the American standard.
Today the people of Iraq want to dream too. The dream that shook off our own chains of tyranny is now in Iraq waiting for the moment of calm so that they all may rest and finally dream.
Michael Ignatieff, in his essay “Who Are Americans to Think That Freedom Is Theirs to Spread?,” says it as clear as possible: “Who else is available to sponsor liberty in the Middle East but America? Certainly the Europeans themselves have not done a very distinguished job defending freedom close to home.”
It was our soldiers then too in Europe who fought and died to defend freedom “for strangers.” It is our soldiers today that fight and die in Iraq to defend freedom for a different set of strangers. “There is nothing worse than believing your son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother died in vain. Even those who have opposed the Iraq war all along, who believe that the hope of planting democracy has lured America into a criminal folly, do not want to tell those who have died that they have given their lives for nothing. This is where Jefferson’s dream must work.”
Happy Birthday America. And thank you to all our men and women in uniform, you have dreamed more than any of us. Never, ever quit dreaming."
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Melanie Phillips's Articles: The demographic death-wish
Melanie Phillips's Articles: The demographic death-wish: "Britain is sitting on an infertility time-bomb. A leading fertility expert, Professor Bill Ledger, has warned that within the next ten years the number of couples experiencing problems conceiving children is expected to double.
By 2015, he says, one in three couples may need fertility treatment. Low success rates from IVF mean soaring numbers will be left childless, with extra thousands going through this draining treatment at huge cost to the health service.
He blames this looming crisis on modern lifestyle factors such as delays in starting a family, obesity, falling sperm counts and rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases."
VERY INTERESTING
By 2015, he says, one in three couples may need fertility treatment. Low success rates from IVF mean soaring numbers will be left childless, with extra thousands going through this draining treatment at huge cost to the health service.
He blames this looming crisis on modern lifestyle factors such as delays in starting a family, obesity, falling sperm counts and rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases."
VERY INTERESTING
The Belmont Club
The Belmont Club: "Politics at its most corrupt is the art of promising something for nothing; or more realistically, concealing the price for services rendered. Nobody wants to mention that 'free health care' is paid for by tax deductions. Still fewer want to admit that security is obtained by force; information by compulsion; or that war involves violence. The process of 'extraordinary rendition' is a case study in laundering responsibility; a description of how a commodity is provided by an astute political division of labor."
OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan
OpinionJournal - Peggy NoonanHow exactly does it work? How does legitimate self-confidence become wildly inflated self-regard? How does self respect become unblinking conceit? How exactly does one's character become destabilized in Washington?
The Supreme Court this week and last issued many rulings, and though they were on different issues the decisions themselves had at least one thing in common: They seemed to reflect a lack of basic human modesty on the part of many of the justices. Many are famously very old, and they have been together as a court for a very long time. One wonders if they have lost all understanding of how privileged they are to have lifetime sinecures of power and authority. Do they have any sense anymore of common human wisdom, of the normal human arrangements by which Americans live?
Maybe a lot of them aren't bothering to think. Maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no longer in the habit of listening to arguments but only of watching William Rehnquist, and if he nods up and down she knows to vote "no," and if he shakes his head she knows to vote "yes." That might explain some of the lack of seriousness in the decisions. Local government can bulldoze Grandma's house because it's in the way of a future strip mall that will add more to the tax base? The Ten Commandments can appear on public land but not in a courthouse, but Moses, who received the Ten Commandments can appear in the frieze of the House but he'll be sandblasted off the Supreme Court? Or do I have that the other way around?
What are they doing? All this hair splitting, this dithering, this cutting and pasting--all this lack of serious and defining principle. All this vanity. Readit all
The Supreme Court this week and last issued many rulings, and though they were on different issues the decisions themselves had at least one thing in common: They seemed to reflect a lack of basic human modesty on the part of many of the justices. Many are famously very old, and they have been together as a court for a very long time. One wonders if they have lost all understanding of how privileged they are to have lifetime sinecures of power and authority. Do they have any sense anymore of common human wisdom, of the normal human arrangements by which Americans live?
Maybe a lot of them aren't bothering to think. Maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no longer in the habit of listening to arguments but only of watching William Rehnquist, and if he nods up and down she knows to vote "no," and if he shakes his head she knows to vote "yes." That might explain some of the lack of seriousness in the decisions. Local government can bulldoze Grandma's house because it's in the way of a future strip mall that will add more to the tax base? The Ten Commandments can appear on public land but not in a courthouse, but Moses, who received the Ten Commandments can appear in the frieze of the House but he'll be sandblasted off the Supreme Court? Or do I have that the other way around?
What are they doing? All this hair splitting, this dithering, this cutting and pasting--all this lack of serious and defining principle. All this vanity. Readit all
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Anubis
Anubis: "Islamic barbarity watch
Much is made of the 'elevated' civilization the various Muslim Caliphates allegedly enjoyed while Europe was enduring the Dark Ages.
While my ancestors managed to claw their way back into the light, it seems that, at some point, Islam - and especially Islamic law - fell into the abyss and never got out:
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Rapist cop booked under controversial religious law
A Pakistani policeman charged with raping a teenaged girl in a police station has been charged under a controversial religious law that carries the death penalty - but which could also enable him to walk free.
Sub-inspector Qaiser Shah was booked under Sections 10 and 11 of the Hud Zina Ordinance, which puts the onus on the victim to prove she was raped.
Under this law, the victim has to produce four male Muslims who were witness to the rape. If she fails to prove the allegation, she can be ostracised and even charged with adultery.
------------------------------------------------------
There's an enlightened bunch for you."
Much is made of the 'elevated' civilization the various Muslim Caliphates allegedly enjoyed while Europe was enduring the Dark Ages.
While my ancestors managed to claw their way back into the light, it seems that, at some point, Islam - and especially Islamic law - fell into the abyss and never got out:
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Rapist cop booked under controversial religious law
A Pakistani policeman charged with raping a teenaged girl in a police station has been charged under a controversial religious law that carries the death penalty - but which could also enable him to walk free.
Sub-inspector Qaiser Shah was booked under Sections 10 and 11 of the Hud Zina Ordinance, which puts the onus on the victim to prove she was raped.
Under this law, the victim has to produce four male Muslims who were witness to the rape. If she fails to prove the allegation, she can be ostracised and even charged with adultery.
------------------------------------------------------
There's an enlightened bunch for you."
Babalu Blog: Cubanisms: Only in Miami...
Babalu Blog: Cubanisms: Only in Miami...These are building contractor terms in Miami Spanglish. For your enjoyment and miseducation, a few of those terms follow:
Draibol: Dry Wall
Guedarpru: Weatherproof
Guatartai: Watertight
esto: Stud
grei: Grade
bin: Beam
pos: Post
rufeador: Roofer
tailero: Tiler
plastero: Plaster (I always thinks of the word plasta in Spanish or cowpie, so I imagine that their work is pretty bad!!!!)
estin: Steam (for heating)
chutaras: Shutters
And many others...
Plus the reckless translations from Spanish, literally:
White Carpenter: Carpinteria en Blanco (unfinished carpentry, construction carpenter who puts up wood siding or wood beams and plywood in the roof)
Cabineter: Ebanista, Cabinet maker
Final Carpenter: No, it's not the last carpenter on your list, it's somebody who delivers a finished product!!! Also Fine Carpenter, from Spanish carpinteria fina.
I simply think that this is pathetic. They should be learning English, and if that's too difficult for people of a certain age or level of education, well, they at least should use the correct terms in Spanish so they don't become the laughing stock of the world. I think that one needs to speak properly whichever language one prefers to communicate with others, but that this kind of half tongue lingo is totally unacceptable. Many people would not hire somebody with this kind of business card and that's detrimental for both the person who is trying to earn a contract and the trades of construction in general.
Draibol: Dry Wall
Guedarpru: Weatherproof
Guatartai: Watertight
esto: Stud
grei: Grade
bin: Beam
pos: Post
rufeador: Roofer
tailero: Tiler
plastero: Plaster (I always thinks of the word plasta in Spanish or cowpie, so I imagine that their work is pretty bad!!!!)
estin: Steam (for heating)
chutaras: Shutters
And many others...
Plus the reckless translations from Spanish, literally:
White Carpenter: Carpinteria en Blanco (unfinished carpentry, construction carpenter who puts up wood siding or wood beams and plywood in the roof)
Cabineter: Ebanista, Cabinet maker
Final Carpenter: No, it's not the last carpenter on your list, it's somebody who delivers a finished product!!! Also Fine Carpenter, from Spanish carpinteria fina.
I simply think that this is pathetic. They should be learning English, and if that's too difficult for people of a certain age or level of education, well, they at least should use the correct terms in Spanish so they don't become the laughing stock of the world. I think that one needs to speak properly whichever language one prefers to communicate with others, but that this kind of half tongue lingo is totally unacceptable. Many people would not hire somebody with this kind of business card and that's detrimental for both the person who is trying to earn a contract and the trades of construction in general.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Power Line: Where Will It End?
Power Line: Where Will It End?: "The hate, that is. Victor Davis Hanson recapitulates the liberals' hate campaign against President Bush, ranging from Charlie Rangel ('This is just as bad as the 6 million Jews being killed') to John Glenn ('It's the old Hitler business') to Amnesty International. Like us, Hanson worries about where all this will lead:
As a result, the bar is lowering. In today's climate, Alfred Knopf has already published a novel about killing the president. Charlie Brooker writing in the Guardian in London prayed for another Lee Harvey Oswald to take out George W. Bush. Comedians, New York plays and art exhibits also bandy about assassination.
Each time a public official evokes Hitler to demonize the president, the American effort in Iraq or its conservative supporters, cheap rhetorical fantasy becomes only that much closer to a nightmarish reality where the unstable, here and abroad, act on the belief America really is Hitler's Germany.
We will all soon reap what the ignorant are now sowing.
Let's hope that somber prophecy doesn't prove true. Michelle Malkin notes more evidence of the same phenomenon. She links to the Huffington Post, where, in response to a rumor that Vice-President Cheney was hospitalized in Colorado, Democratic commenters openly wish for Chency's death, much as some (to be fair, not all) liberals recently cheered for conservative commentator Laura Ingraham to die of breast cancer.
It's not a pretty picture. Meanwhile, to put all of this in perspective, Gateway Pundit has a good roundup of developments in the trial, in Jordan, of 13 al Qaeda terrorists for plotting to perpetrate the worst chemical weapons attack in history. (We most recently commented on the Jordan trial in 'Pay No Attention to the Terrorists Behind the Curtain'.)
The Jordan trial is significant in part because it shows what an important base for al Qaeda-directed terrorism Saddam's Iraq was. But this is of little interest to the left; as best I can tell from a site search, readers of the New York Times don't even know the Jordan trial is going on. Liberals are convinced they know who their enemies are, and they're not talking about the al Qaeda terrorists who, directed from Iraq, schemed to kill tens of thousands of Jordanians and Americans."
Here!
As a result, the bar is lowering. In today's climate, Alfred Knopf has already published a novel about killing the president. Charlie Brooker writing in the Guardian in London prayed for another Lee Harvey Oswald to take out George W. Bush. Comedians, New York plays and art exhibits also bandy about assassination.
Each time a public official evokes Hitler to demonize the president, the American effort in Iraq or its conservative supporters, cheap rhetorical fantasy becomes only that much closer to a nightmarish reality where the unstable, here and abroad, act on the belief America really is Hitler's Germany.
We will all soon reap what the ignorant are now sowing.
Let's hope that somber prophecy doesn't prove true. Michelle Malkin notes more evidence of the same phenomenon. She links to the Huffington Post, where, in response to a rumor that Vice-President Cheney was hospitalized in Colorado, Democratic commenters openly wish for Chency's death, much as some (to be fair, not all) liberals recently cheered for conservative commentator Laura Ingraham to die of breast cancer.
It's not a pretty picture. Meanwhile, to put all of this in perspective, Gateway Pundit has a good roundup of developments in the trial, in Jordan, of 13 al Qaeda terrorists for plotting to perpetrate the worst chemical weapons attack in history. (We most recently commented on the Jordan trial in 'Pay No Attention to the Terrorists Behind the Curtain'.)
The Jordan trial is significant in part because it shows what an important base for al Qaeda-directed terrorism Saddam's Iraq was. But this is of little interest to the left; as best I can tell from a site search, readers of the New York Times don't even know the Jordan trial is going on. Liberals are convinced they know who their enemies are, and they're not talking about the al Qaeda terrorists who, directed from Iraq, schemed to kill tens of thousands of Jordanians and Americans."
Here!
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