 |
|
|
|
||
|
<% printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>ELTON FOR RENO [Andrew Stuttaford]
The news that Elton John will be performing at a benefit for the Janet Reno campaign is remarkable indeed. I could easily be wrong, but so far as I know, Sir Elton is neither a green card holder, US citizen nor a resident of Florida, so what exactly is it about the Sunshine State's politics that have drawn him to its gubernatorial race?
Posted 2:57 PM | [Link]
BAD VLAD [Andrew Stuttaford]
One of the more alarming aspects of being a friend of Martin Amis must be the danger of having one's more ridiculous opinions being quoted in his books. In Koba the Dread, his new work on Stalin, Amis has plenty to say about the views of journalist Christopher Hitchens, amongst which is the opinion that Lenin was a 'great man' . Whether Mr. Hitchens also thinks that the world is flat goes, sadly, unrecorded.
Christopher Hitchens has now reviewed Amis' book in the September 2002 edition of The Atlantic Monthly (sadly it's not yet on the magazine's website, but go on, splash out a few bucks on an original copy). As is very often the case with something written by him, the piece is well worth a read, and it merits much, much longer discussion. Nevertheless, one point in particular made startling reading: Mr. Hitchens' suggestion that there was no prospect of parliamentary pluralism in a Russia devastated by the First World War.
This is nonsense. The last legacy of the vaguely liberal Provisional Government that succeeded the Czars was a democratic election for a constituent assembly. The Bolshevik coup took place too late to stop this vote, and the results were profoundly embarrassing for the new Soviet regime. Turnout was high, the campaign was vigorous and the Bolshevik share of the poll (ten million votes, or 24 percent. of the total) was unacceptable to Lenin. Less than two months later he shut down the new assembly.
It wouldn't have been easy, but Russia in 1917 had a chance of moving towards democracy. That it didn't get to take that opportunity was the fault of one individual more than any other: Lenin, the tyrant who Christopher Hitchens apparently still considers to have been a 'great man'.
Posted 2:08 PM | [Link]
AFGHANISTAN.COM [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
First Internet café opens in Kabul. But I don’t think the censors are letting them read The Corner.
Posted 11:41 AM | [Link]
SPLISH SPLASH [John Derbyshire]
OK, survived day at splash park with the fambly. Lessons learned:
1. If you assemble a large number of people together in one place and play low-grade pop music at them through crappy speakers at deafening volume, they don't notice.
2. The commonest conversational exchange in the English language is this one: "Whaddya ya wanna do next?" "I dunno. Whaddya you wanna do next?"
3. After age 20, hardly anyone looks good in a bathing suit. Around 50 percent of us look downright ridiculous. (NB: The word "us" in that last sentence is intended to mean "People who frequent splash parks in the greater New York metropolitan area." It does not mean: "Us NRO staffers." NRO staffers are buff and cut.)
Posted 11:17 AM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 11:17 AM | [Link]
YA DON'T SAY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Must be a slow weekend. This is on the FoxNews.COM homepage: "Bad Girl Britney? Some wonder if the pop icon is trying to trash wholesome image."
Posted 11:13 AM | [Link]
NOTHING CATHOLIC ABOUT THEM [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Often portrayed as a legitimate voice of Catholics in the pews, sham group Catholics for a Free Choice—little more than small staff and a fax machine and lots of abortion-industry money—darling of the likes of the New York Times and CNN, got a far more accurate treatment from Fox than they are used to (here). No doubt it had something to do with their head, Frances Kissling, refusing to be interviewed. If you’re interested, here’s a piece I did on them a few months back.
Posted 11:12 AM | [Link]
THE WEEK IN REVIEW > [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Joe Bob Briggs's style.
Posted 10:58 AM | [Link]
A FLYING MONKEY OF DISTINCTION [Jonah Goldberg]
Under the subject header "your influence on my son" a woman writes me the following:
Dear Jonah,
My 16 year-old son, Andy, is a fan of yours. He loves your columns and the Corner. I have to fight to read my NRODT before he runs off with it. Well, you'd be proud of him tonight. He went to a costume party. Each person was to come as a super-hero of his or her own creation. Andy came up with the following character.
Canada Guy: jealous and bitchy sidekick of American Man. He can do most things American Man can do, just not as well.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted 9:13 AM | [Link]
|
|
|
|
||
|
MORE ON IRAQ [Andrew Stuttaford]
This looks to be yet another reason to be worried about the threat from Sadaam - and yet another reason to do something about it.
Posted 10:23 PM | [Link]
HITTING THE WRONG TARGET [Andrew Stuttaford]
Mick Gault is one of the finest shots in England. He has just won his fourth medal (a bronze, after three golds) at the Commonwealth Games which are currently being held in Manchester, England. The bronze was in the 25-meter standard pistol competition, and it was much more of an achievement than you might think for, under Britain's 'sensible' gun control laws, Mr. Gault has been forced to train for this event abroad. The London Daily Telegraph reports that Mr. Gault has been confined to just a handful of training sessions in Switzerland" since the introduction of the [British] government's handgun legislation in 1997". More background to this saga of gun control at work can be found here.
Posted 7:41 PM | [Link]
COMMON SENSE UP NORTH? [Andrew Stuttaford]
Remember the claim that the US is 'alone' in its opposition to the Kyoto treaty? Well, there are further doubters up North. Reuters is reporting that, at a meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada's ten provincial premiers and three territorial leaders 'agreed to disagree' on whether the federal government should proceed to ratify the climate accord. Eight provinces and the Yukon Territory have, apparently, strong reservations about the treaty. The yes camp comprises Manitoba, Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Posted 7:25 PM | [Link]
HEARD IN THE GROCERY LINE: [Rod Dreher] I'm in the line at Calandro's Supermarket on Government Street in Baton Rouge this afternoon. The cashier, a dame of Cajun extraction, if her accent tells me anything, looks me square in the eye and says, apropos of nothing, "She thinks that man who got killed yesterday in his trailer mighta been killed by him." You mean the serial killer? I say. "Uh-huh. That lady who just left, she thinks that man in the trailer musta known too much, and that killer" -- dat killah -- "got him. He was a painter. Whoever killed him didn't take nothin'. You know, I feel sorry for everybody's got a white truck. They lookin' at everybody's got a white truck, because somebody saw somebody in a white truck pullin' off th' innastate at three in the mornin', near where that lady's body was found." They said they saw a naked lady's body in the pickup, I say. "You tell me who's gonna reckanize a naked lady's body at three in the mornin', in a pickup truck!" she says. The cashier one register over jumps in: "An eighteen-wheelah coulda reckanized her." I paid for my groceries and left the cashiers talking about th' killah. That's what's going on in Baton Rouge today. That, and the fact that you can buy "Nubian Snoballs," whatever they are, on Government Street.
Posted 5:55 PM | [Link]
SIGNS: [Rod Dreher] It's pretty good, though no Sixth Sense, for sure. It gives some genuine scares, and you have to love that M. Night Shyamalan tries to make supernatural/sci-fi thrillers without resorting to expensive special effects. He succeeds at that. It's really a movie about God, and faith, and it makes some decent points about the manliness of having faith in God (how often do you see that in a Hollywood movie?). But it's fairly slow in parts, and too much of it doesn't make a lot of sense (e.g., there's no real reason for Mel Gibson and family not to flee the house, nor is there any reason for them not to carry a freakin' knife!). I think the kinds of conversations Signs will start, re: coincidences and hidden meanings, will be more interesting than the movie itself. Even when he isn't working at the peak of his powers, Shyamalan is one of the most interesting filmmakers out there, one of the few Americans who really is an auteur.
Posted 5:48 PM | [Link]
SHAME ON ME: [Rod Dreher] I've only been on the NR payroll for seven months, so I had no idea at all that John Derbyshire was as pessimistic about life, the universe and everything as I am. Callooh! Callay! I'm going to buy that man a drink as soon as I get back to New York. If I stay here much longer in Louisiana, I shall well and truly turn into Ignatius Reilly. Julie and I went to see Signs today, and the previews for coming attractions promised such unmitigated crap that I nearly started yelling at the screen. And do you know who was sitting near us in the theater? Some idjits and their 18-month-old daughter. What kind of dumba*s brings a tiny child to a scary movie meant for grown-ups? Anyway, I know I'm becoming Ignatius because John Podhoretz is turning into Myrna Minkoff, sending me e-mails telling me to get the hell back to New York before my brain rots. First, I got me a six-pack of Abita to finish off this afternoon.
Posted 5:42 PM | [Link]
DITTO ONLINE VOTING [Jonah Goldberg]
I made similar points in this golden oldie from the mag on cyber democracy. Note the dramatic old NRO styling.
Posted 4:52 PM | [Link]
GEEK LOYALTY [Jonah Goldberg]
There's also the more serious point that EJ misses. The geeks already vote. Remember the dork (played by Anthony Michael Hall) in "The Breakfast Club" had a fake ID so he could vote. The kids EJ wants to get to vote are the rest of the teen coalition: jocks, stoners, slackers, musicians, skate rats, et al. And the way he wants to get them to vote is by -- let's face it -- bribing them. He may think the political system requires an influx of the young and ignorant who couldn't be bothered to vote unless it came with free food and whatnot. But, I for one do not think American democracy is enriched by the added voices of those who need party favors to participate.
Posted 4:46 PM | [Link]
RE: GEEK ALERT [James S. Robbins]
Jonah, absolutely. It's like those ads that say smoking isn't cool. The fact that the adults are telling you not to do it makes it cool. If you want to make voting attractive to the hip kids, hold elections at 2 in the morning and don't announce where the polling places are. As it stands voting is as cool as eating your vegetables.
Posted 3:56 PM | [Link]
THANKS, GUYS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Derb's telling us we really are all doom and gloom. Ramesh is covering breast feeding. The Corner was out of control throughout the week. I'm going home.
Posted 3:53 PM | [Link]
THANKS, JONAH [Robert A. George]
Jonah, thanks for the 411 on Ramesh's whereabouts. I'm confident he is going tit for tat on Talk Back Live! (Sorry, Kathryn, but you knew I would milk this opportunity for all it was worth...)
Posted 3:50 PM | [Link]
SORRY ROBERT [Jonah Goldberg]
Ramesh can't come to the Corner right now. He's on Talk Back Live trying to avoid talking about public breast feeding at the moment.
Posted 3:39 PM | [Link]
GEEK OUTING [Jonah Goldberg]
James, you're absolutely right. Think of it this way: if the local radio station announced the names of kids on the chess team, would those kids suddenly become cool? If they gave out special awards to the 9th grader who checked the Public Interest out of the local library the most times in a month, would little Poindexter suddenly become a babe magnet? Outing nerds only alerts the bullies as to where they should apply their wedgies most efficiently.
Posted 3:35 PM | [Link]
REALLY, RAMESH... {Robert A. George]
Ramesh, provacative analysis on Rehnquist. However, I have one question: Why would Democrats care (i.e. put up a big fight over/be demoralized) about Rehnquist stepping down? For that matter, why would it necessarily rev up the conservative base? If the Chief Justice steps down, it's most likely that Bush would nominate either O'Connor or Kennedy as replacement CJ (Scalia would be the most qualified, but it could be a very tough confirmation sell). The next Justice will be a conservative in some fashion. The Dems know this and would have to recognize that it doesn't really change the ideological balance of the court. Now, the retirement/death/disablement of one of the left Justices -- Stephens, Ginsburg, what have you -- THAT would send the Democrats into war AND revitalize conservatives. However, calling for the incapacitation -- or worse -- of a Supreme Court justice is an extreme to which not even The Corner would stray...
Posted 3:20 PM | [Link]
GEEK ALERT [James S. Robbins]
E. J. Dionne writes in the Washigton Post under the rubric "What Young Voters Want" that "Just because democracy is important doesn't mean it can't be cool." He waxes approvingly of promoting youth voting by having radio stations reading off the names of young first-time voters, and having election night parties where you have to have voted to be allowed in. All of this is apparently somehow related to cool, but the links to coolness are not self-evident, nor are they explained. One cringes when middle aged white guys start thinking up "cool" things for 18 year olds to do. I think the Post opinion page editor accidentally switched headlines with the Charles Krauthammer piece on the same page, "Disturbed Nerd Chic."
Posted 2:14 PM | [Link]
DOWN ON DA BOSS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
David Skinner at The Standard thinks Bruce is too soft....
Posted 2:13 PM | [Link]
CLINTON'S NOT INCONSISTENT [Mike Potemra]
Kathryn, I think you're jumping to conclusions about Clinton. I think it's quite possible that if the Vietnamese had been crossing the Jordan River, he would have taken up arms against them. But he needs to be asked the tough question: "What if--instead of crossing the Jordan River and invading Israel--the Vietnamese had been crossing the Rio Grande and invading Texas? Would you have fought them then?" If Clinton says no, then, well, I might start worrying that he's some kind of traitor....
Posted 12:28 PM | [Link]
CALIF. GIRLS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
If you recently clicked on the MSNBC story about the kidnapped California girls ("TOO MUCH INFORMATION") I linked to before looking for mentions of the girls' names and the AG's comments on Larry King, you won't find that stuff anymore, because now, after the late-night and morning news cycles have passed and we all know, media types are deciding to belatedly respect the girls' privacy. MSNBC changed their story sometime late this morning. Here's Bill Lockyer, the California attorney general, revealing the rapes on Larry King last night.
Posted 12:25 PM | [Link]
"THE ELEPHANT" [Stanley Kurtz]
Andrew Sullivan and Dan Savage have been complaining of late about social conservatives’ alleged double standards toward heterosexual and homosexual pedophilia. Have a look at “Amorality Tale,” Thomas Hibbs’s excellent review of Tadpoleon NRO today. It rightly raises questions about the moral status of the movie, and about the failure of mainstream critics to take issue with it. Andrew Sullivan’s response to Mary Eberstadt’s very important piece on the role of homosexuality in the priesthood scandal, “The Elephant in the Sacristy,” has so far been confined to attacks on her motives, and on the alleged hypocrisy of social conservatives on the matter of pedophilia. Yet neither Sullivan nor the liberal press has said anything to contradict the actual substance of Eberstadt’s argument. Eberstadt answered critical letters on her piece with great clarity and success in the July 22 issue of The Weekly Standard. Among that correspondence was a letter from Philip Jenkins, Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State, and author of Pedophiles and Priests, an important early treatment of the scandals. What’s interesting is that, despite his libertarian views, Jenkins called Eberstadt’s argument in the “Elephant” article both “fair” and “effective.” I have yet to see a good refutation, or even a good attempt at a refutation, of Eberstadt’s article from either Sullivan, or anyone else.
Posted 11:15 AM | [Link]
TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET [John Derbyshire]
...Is where our civilization is pretty obviously headed (see today's column). Me, I'm headed to the splash park with wife & issue. Signing off for the day.-----Derb.
Posted 10:19 AM | [Link]
STUPIDITY DOESN'T SELL [NRO Staff]
At least not in the West. London's Sun tabloid reports that "Shoot the Dog," the George Michael single that has come under criticism for being anti-Blair, anti-Bush, and anti-American, probably won't make it into the UK's top ten. One London critic calls the lack of record sales "embarrasing." Perhaps Michael should compose an Arabic translation of the screed-that might boost sales in places like the West Bank and Egypt, at least.
Posted 10:11 AM | [Link]
DEAD AMERICANS CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
For example, why didn' the Justice Department issue fresh indictments of Hamas after the bombing? We know Hamas did it, and last I heard it was a big deal to murder Americans. Hamas even "claimed responsibility" for the attack. Which raises another peeve of mine. Why does the media always say "Hamas claimed responsibility"? What's wrong with saying "...Hamas confessed to the crime." Journalistically, it conveys as much information but maintains the moral context. Actually "claiming responsibility" is morally misleading because Hamas doesn't actually take responsibility for the act in the full meaning of the word. They reject any suggestion that they should be held accountable for their acts, which is what "taking responsibility" is supposed to mean. Memo to Fox News: "Confessed to the crime" is what "fair and balanced" journalists would say.
Posted 9:56 AM | [Link]
DEAD AMERICANS [Jonah Goldberg]
I can't shake the feeling that the murdered Americans at Hebrew University are being treated differently because they're Jewish. Or perhaps, it's more appropriate to say it's because they're Jewish Americans in Israel. If five Americans -- Jewish or otherwise -- were killed at a French or German or Indian university, I can't help but think that the media and political class would make a much bigger deal. Yes, I know there are some sticky issues involved here, but that doesn't make it any less true.
Posted 9:48 AM | [Link]
NRO READERS STRIKE BACK AT CYBER TERROR [James S. Robbins]
NRO Readers Strike Back at Cyber Terror: NRO reader Josh Foust writes
that he posted my piece on al Qaeda and the web on his blog, and his buddy Jeremy tracked down the Alneda ISP and got them kicked off. The full story is here. Kudos, Josh and Jeremy. If I can paraphrase Burke, all it takes for evil to fail is for good men to do something.
Posted 9:43 AM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 9:10 AM | [Link]
TOO MUCH INFORMATION [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A friend--who is a father of girls--points out the news stories this morning on those girls who were kidnapped in California. Their kidnapper was looking for somewhere to bury them when he was shot by authorities. They were also, we all now know, raped. But do we have to know that? There faces have been all over the news, we know something terrible happened to them and now they are back with their families, but do we need to know everything? If they decided to tell the whole story--including that they were raped--to Katie Couric next week, fine, but that decision has already been made for them. Seems there are laws about this, too... (Though this MSNBC story points out that the Calif. AG was the first to tell about the rapes, on Larry King....and so MSNBC makes a big deal of this...it's now a legit to cover, the newsmen say.)
Posted 9:10 AM | [Link]
RAY ROLLS ON: [Rod Dreher] New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has expanded his anti-corruption sweep. Yesterday, investigators raided the building inspector's offices at City Hall. Here's the Times-Picayune report.
Posted 8:59 AM | [Link]
ATTN INACTIVISTS!: [Rod Dreher] Columnist Danny Heitman has identified a tome that could fairly be titled The Big Book of Inactivity. Maybe I'll get around to making it to the bookstore today.
Posted 8:55 AM | [Link]
WHAT HE WOULDN'T DO FOR US... [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Bill Clinton - who avoided serving in Vietnam - says he would take up arms and "fight and die" for Israel if Iraq attacks the Jewish state.
"If Iraq came across the Jordan River, I would grab a rifle and get in the trench and fight and die," the ex-president said to wild applause at a Jewish fund-raiser in Toronto.
Posted 8:43 AM | [Link]
I LIKE MIKE: [Rod Dreher] Baton Rouge, the state capital of Louisiana, has a serial killer on the loose. Gov. Mike Foster, a Republican, offered some commonsense advice for female citizens on his radio show yesterday: get a concealed-weapons permit and start packing heat. Good on him. Can your governor do that?
Posted 8:40 AM | [Link]
MEGADITTOES, DERB: [Rod Dreher] I was outraged, Derb, when I heard a newscaster say that President Bush deplores the Hebrew University bombing, but nevertheless believes that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process should go forward. Oh, vomit. Is there no end to our government's pro-Arab appeasement? If the president really believes that, he is an incompetent. I do not think for one second the president is an incompetent, or really believes that. So why does he permit such things to be said in his name at this late date? I know, I know, some of you are going to say, "He needs to say this to keep open the possibility that friendly Arab governments will help us fight Iraq, or at least not stand in our way." At some point, though, the offense against truth, decency and moral courage required by the calculations of diplomats becomes intolerable.
Posted 8:38 AM | [Link]
CITY OF BRASS [John Derbyshire]
I'm sorry, but the more I think about this -- the murder of our citizens in Jerusalem, and the wellnigh silence from our government and representatives -- the more I seethe. As NRO readers well know, at times like this I reach for my Kipling. There it is, all the warning we need: "An host had prepared their destruction, but still they denied it."
Posted 8:22 AM | [Link]
MORE EVIDENCE OF ARAB NEWS'S SCREWED UP WORLDVIEW [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
From the cartoon page.
Posted 7:33 AM | [Link]
WHITE HOUSE NOW TALKING 9/11-IRAQ CONNECTION [Kathryn Jean Lopez]Senior admin official confirms to LA Times that Atta met with Iraqi agents. Promises we'll be hearing more about it.
Posted 7:30 AM | [Link]
CONTINUING OUR QUICK TOUR OF SAUDI ARABIA'S OFFICIAL ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PAPER [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A former Gore campaign staffer sighted.
Posted 3:31 AM | [Link]
JAMES TARANTO MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Our Saudi "friends" at the Arab News are attacking him again.
Posted 3:26 AM | [Link]
JENIN LAST WORD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The U.N. report is atop the Arab News today, Jonah. The Palestinians are demanding a special session of the U.N. to try again--to "incriminate Israel" (from an Arafat mouthpiece).
Posted 3:25 AM | [Link]
SEEN ON TOP OF WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM: Video: Post's Priest on FBI Probe [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Very weird for a second. I read that the wrong way. (It's reporter Dana Priest.)
Posted 3:05 AM | [Link]
"YOU'RE NOT FAILING MY KID" > [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Yep, parents are suing teachers over "F"s.
Posted 2:59 AM | [Link]
DID PRAYER SAVE THE MINERS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Posted 2:40 AM | [Link]
|
|
|
|
||
|
JENIN B.S. CONTINUED [Jonah Goldberg]
As various people have been noting in the Corner for months, the Jenin "massacre" never happened. The UN, which always bends over backward to make Israel the bad guy, issued a report today which found that Israel's casulaty estimate was entirely accurate. Alas, the news networks which touted the "massacre" as fact for weeks have ignored the report almost entirely. Let's see if the Post or the Times -- which also gave the massace story great traction -- put it on their front pages tomorrow. If they don't, shame on them.
Posted 5:03 PM | [Link]
YOU KNOW YOU'RE SCREWED WHEN... [Jonah Goldberg]
The LAPD calls out the fixed-wing aircraft to catch you. The LA kidnapper-suspect has been shot and killed, by the way.
Posted 4:34 PM | [Link]
GETTING CLONING WRONG: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
The latest New Republic has an article by Jerome Groopman, a professor of medicine at Harvard, making the case for cloning human embryos for biomedical research (link not available). All the old polemical standbys appear: Barring the destruction of a single-celled zygote would be like prohibiting research on skin cells; when twinning is possible no individual can be said to exist; few people mourn spontaneous abortions early in pregnancy; etc. There are answers to all of these facile arguments—some of them contained in the Kass council report that Groopman is criticizing—but Groopman engages none of them. (I am unaware of any major proponent of cloning who has done so.) He appears to believe that the primary scientific use of cloning will be to develop tissues for patients with diseases. His allies on the council know better than that. Groopman’s description of President Bush’s position on stem-cell research is confusingly written, but appears to be factually inaccurate. There is, in short, no reason for anyone involved in the debate to read the latest TNR piece except to get more evidence of how poor that debate has been.
Posted 4:06 PM | [Link]
ILLEGALS: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
The Wall Street Journal is at it again. Today’s lead editorial criticizes congressional Republicans and Democratic senator Robert Byrd for blocking a measure to legalize illegal immigrants. The Journal says, “Back in March, the White House supported an extension of the Section 245(i) program, which expired more than a year ago. The program applied only to immigrants who entered the country legally on a visa that had expired or was about to.” The Journal has said something similar on two previous occasions. But it’s not true. People who entered the country illegally would have been eligible for the program that the White House and the Journal backed.
The Journal also says that “a minority of restrictionist Republicans” fought the program in the House. It’s true that the opponents were a minority of House members. But they were a majority of Republicans.
Posted 3:48 PM | [Link]
WELL... [Jonah Goldberg]
...Mr. Capano, I figured I'd start with cleaning the downstairs toilet at your house. Then I'd move on to the rain gutters. Then maybe I'll mow your lawn....if that's okay with you, sir.
Posted 3:41 PM | [Link]
HEY JONAH . . . [Ed Capano, NR Publisher]
. . . where you working next week?
Posted 3:24 PM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 3:22 PM | [Link]
A JOB WELL DONE [James S. Robbins]
The IP address for al Qaeda's Alneda web site published here Tuesday is now not responding. Many thanks to whichever NRO reader got the job done.
Posted 2:58 PM | [Link]
U.S. UNDER-REACTION TO JERUSALEM MURDERS [John Derbyshire]
Does anyone else think that the U.S. administration is under-reacting to the murders at Hebrew University? Five Americans were killed, in a building named after an American. Administration reaction: "'We have grieved with all the people of Israel as they have faced Palestinian terrorism,' said [U.S. Ambassador] Kurtzer, speaking in front of the Frank Sinatra International Students Center, where the blast tore apart a cafeteria a day earlier. 'Now that five American citizens have been killed, our grief is even deeper.'" [AP] Uh-huh. Perhaps we should send for Oprah? "President Bush mourned the American dead as he met Thursday with King Abdullah of Jordan on how to move the Mideast peace process forward. 'I am
just as angry as Israel is. I am furious,' he said. 'But even though I am mad, I still think peace is possible,' the president said at a picture-taking session with the king at the start of a meeting in the Oval Office." [AP] Oh, that's all right then. Heaven forbid anything should stand in the way of the "peace process."
What would be wrong with this?-- A clear public announcement by the administration that any person known to be associated in any way whatsoever with Hamas is a target of opportunity for U.S. troops and special services; similarly with anyone know to be friendly with or related to such; similarly ith any employee or owner of any news organization transmitting any message or announcement from Hamas, or any owner or inhabitant of any building, car or truck ever used by Hamas...
These savages are laughing at us. We should put the fear of Almighty God into them. Then, we should kill them all, along with everyone known to have shaken hands with them or given them a light for a cigarette. If we don't have the guts to do this--to avenge our own slaughtered citizens--let's engage proxies to do it for us. Yes, I am mad. Are we ever going to deal with these scum, these murderers of Americans? Do we actually have any plan to do so?
Posted 2:25 PM | [Link]
ABOUT COUNTING DOGS [Jonah Goldberg]
A reader asks:
If dogs are counting when they bark, that means beagles must have a thorough grasp of the concept of infinity. Does Derbyshire know about this? Maybe packs of beagles could be trained to find ever more prime numbers.
Posted 2:10 PM | [Link]
BACK TO SCHOOL [Jonah Goldberg]
It's amazing, I've been out of high school for a long time and the back to school commercials still depress me every time they come on the radio or TV. I just thought I'd share.
Posted 1:59 PM | [Link]
FIRST WORLD WAR [John Derbyshire]
Andrew: The true First World War was the one against Napoleon, 1792-1815. There were engagements in Europe, Africa, the Far East and the Americas (both North & South). Only Antarctica was left out of it. (Though, if I recall my Patrick O'Brian, the naval war got pretty close.)
Posted 1:53 PM | [Link]
NEEDLESS TO SAY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jonah meant besides the Bob Levy piece on NRO.
Posted 1:42 PM | [Link]
HAS ANYONE SEEN.... [Jonah Goldberg]
...a good anti-TIPS article? Please, no links to blog posts or news articles. I've got plenty of that already. But if you've seen a non-hysterical (I cannot stress that enough) anti-TIPS piece I'd like to see it.
Posted 1:03 PM | [Link]
JUST AS I EXPECTED... [Jonah Goldberg]
Dogs are smarter than we thought.
Posted 12:54 PM | [Link]
I WAS WRONG [Jonah Goldberg]
The professional, charitable, kind and thoughtful management of National Review did not deserve to be parodied in such a hurtful, immature and flatly inaccurate way. These exceptionally capable leaders have sacrificed mightily to make National Review as successful as it is. They are good men -- kind to women, children and small animals -- who often spend money with a sometimes Devil-may-care attitude. These generous souls could not be more supportive of often ungrateful writers like myself. I apologize totally. I have not been coerced in any way to make these statements. No car batteries have been hooked to me. I have not been invited to the Publisher’s Office (AKA "the Nutcracker Suite"). There’s no reason whatsoever for anyone out there reading this to call 9-1-1. Tell my wife I love her very much.
Posted 12:12 PM | [Link]
GET YOUR FREE "SUITS CAUGHT ON VIDEO" VIDEO! [Jonah Goldberg]
That's right: We'll send you a FREE COPY of Suits Caught on Video if you subscribe now! Suits contains never-before-seen footage of NR’s Money Guys in outrageous situations! SEE mature adults grapple in the gutter over loose change! WATCH as family men smash orphans’ piggy banks! LOOK as MBAs use hot pokers to force magazine editors into running pop-up ads and grasping subscription deals! And, if you call now we’ll throw in a FREE COPY of "Writers In Pain." This 100 page picture book contains images so shocking, they’ve been illegal outside Europe…UNTIL NOW! Be the first person you know to see famous conservative scribes drink puddle water just to survive!
Posted 11:56 AM | [Link]
BUT WE LOVE CHINESE FOOD [Jonah Goldberg]
Einstein is too Jewish for the Chinese.
Posted 11:10 AM | [Link]
EURO ENRONITIS [Andrew Stuttaford]
There's been a lot of crowing over in Europe about the current "crisis" in American capitalism, unreliable accounts and so on. Well, here's something worth reading from today's Financial Times on the EU Commission's own accounting systems. A (leaked) paper from the EU's court of auditors appears to suggest that the Brussels bureaucracy's accounting systems may have a touch of Enronitis.
Killer quote from the FT's summary of what the EU's auditors had to say: "In constructing this system, "no account has been taken of generally accepted accounting standards, mainly double-entry book-keeping", the report said. Moreover the final data it produces may be inconsistent, so that a different line of expenditure can have two different values."
The FT notes that this embarrassing document may never be published.
Apparently, EU officials feel that it contains "inaccuracies and the tone of the language [is] inappropriate."
Posted 11:06 AM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 10:40 AM | [Link]
WAR NAMES [Andrew Stuttaford]
John, in your piece this morning you note, quite correctly, how Brits now refer to "The First World War" rather than "The Great War." That's quite true, of course. This is not the only time such a change has taken place. I have a History of England cowritten by Rudyard Kipling (it wins no prizes for political correctness) bought in a flea market about 20 years ago for 10p. The "Great War" it refers to is the war we now call "The Seven Years War" (!756-63). Eerily, the Kipling book dates from 1913. Definitions were about to change.
Posted 10:39 AM | [Link]
"BLEGGING" (A.K.A. HELP WANTED)[Kathryn Jean Lopez]
In the fine tradition of John Derbyshire (who coined the term above, as he explains in his column today), Dear Leader Rich Lowry, and, of course, Jonah, I ask readers for help. I’m working on a piece (SHHH…for another magazine) on "ex-Catholics"—folks who have left the Catholic Church—and am looking for people who would be interested in talking about their experiences/gripes/messages/lessons (for a Catholic pub). Please e-mail me at klopez@nationalreview.comif you are interested. Thanks!
Posted 10:34 AM | [Link]
HEY RICH... [Jonah Goldberg]
Have I ever told you about the cool refreshing taste of a Marlboro? You might want to think about picking up the habit.
Posted 10:31 AM | [Link]
TANKS VS TALK CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
A loyal G-File reader, who's also a cop, sent me this in response to yesterday's column:
I spent a year in Bosnia with the peacekeeping mission. Whenever one of these euro intellectuals starts in about our simplistic methods just throw Bosnia in their face-250,000 dead including 20,000 children, rape camps. I could go on and on and on (but I won't). US bombs stopped that war, not European diplomacy.
Posted 10:09 AM | [Link]
PAGING MR. SCHMIDT [John Derbyshire]
I am touched by the loyalty of my readers. Two of them have already emailed Mr. Paul Schmidt with angry defenses of me and my kin. Alas, they tell me that Mr. Schmidt's e-address doesn't work any more. Well, it was an old e-mail. (I keep a "hate mail" folder of the real gems, to review when my opinion of the human race looks to be in danger of rising above 0 degrees Celsius. Plucked that one at random.) Possibly Mr. Schmidt has moved. To Afghanistan, perhaps?
Posted 9:53 AM | [Link]
RE: GERMAN SCANDAL [Andrew Stuttaford]
Yes, Kathryn, that Chris Caldwell piece is interesting and well worth checking out. I was slightly surprised, however, to read his comment that the scandal "will cost Germany some of its most gifted politicians" with,
presumably, negative implications. I suppose that good guys may ultimately be shown to be involved, but so far the people who have been forced out are two Greens and one Communist. None of them are any loss. It was particularly interesting to see that one of those implicated is the oleaginous Gregor Gysi. Gysi is a prominent member (and former leader) of the PDS (the re-named and supposedly reformed East German Communist party).
Just how reformed is an open question (the PDS found it painfully difficult
to apologize for the Berlin Wall). As Caldwell notes, five of Gysi's
flights were to Cuba, suggesting that this is one 'former' Communist who
has retained his soft spot for tyranny.
Disgracefully, Germany's governing Socialists continue to flirt with the PDS (both parties are in the coalition that runs Berlin's local government, for example), something that doesn't seem to bother the usual keepers of the EU's conscience.
Posted 9:48 AM | [Link]
WEIRD POLITICAL SCANDAL IN GERMANY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Chris Caldwell reports on frequent-flier-gate.
Posted 8:50 AM | [Link]
'NOTHER FUNNYCON [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Larry Miller. And Drew Carey's a libertarian. (The pre-8AM Corner readers speak!)
Posted 7:44 AM | [Link]
THE GUYS HAVE CONEY ISLAND HOT-DOG EATING CONTESTS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
And the gals—at least in Berkeley—have…breast-feeding contests. They’re going for the Guinness record for "Most Women Breastfeeding Simultaneously."
Posted 6:24 AM | [Link]
FUNNY CONSERVATIVES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Garafalo also said that the bullies can go see conservative comics if they don’t like her. Are there many, besides, say Ben Stein? Folks like NR's Rob Long and Dave Konig, who has written for us, are funny. P. J. O'Rourke is funny. But none of these guys are Saturday Night Live grads or on the stand-up circuit. Is Adam Sandler or someone a big conservative and I just haven't heard?
Posted 6:18 AM | [Link]
LATE-NIGHT WHINING [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I’m sure this is not news to a lot of you: Carson Daly’s late-night talk show is awful. I know, I know…so many talk shows are, but this one…it’s amazing it’s on television. Of course, I imagine if he was any good, he would not be on after one in the morning, but still. Anyway, last night (this morning) he had on angry white woman Janine Garafalo who kept ranting about the neo-McCarthyism of America today. She used the phrase a few times in case you were slow to realize the seriousness of her accusation. She complained about Republican "bullies" who pick on her at her standup shows when she plays "social critic," attacking the White House’s assault on civil liberties in America, a role for the "really good" comics. She admits that the bullies don’t know what they are in for when they show up, not knowing she will be pontificating. Advice to Republicans—bullies and non-bullies alike—save your money and stay home.
Posted 6:14 AM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 6:03 AM | [Link]
Al QAEDA FANS IN SCOTLAND [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Leaflets going around Edinburgh urging the killing of Americans.
Posted 6:03 AM | [Link]
CUOMO’S DUMB AD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who laughed when I saw the new Andrew Cuomo television ad. Dick Morris takes it on this morning:
ANDREW Cuomo (Cuomo II) has a new TV ad in which he features endorsements from Ted Kennedy (Kennedy III), Martin Luther King III and Adam Clayton Powell IV.
Once upon a time there was a Gov. Cuomo, a President Kennedy, a civil-rights leader named King and a congressman named Powell. Now, their heirs and assigns have gathered in a TV commercial to celebrate their common faith in genetics.
What genius in Cuomo's campaign thought up this ad which, at first glance, one cannot help but think is a Saturday Night Live parody?
Posted 6:02 AM | [Link]
9/11 FAKE ID SUSPECT FLEES U.S. [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
An Egyptian who sold fake ids to two 9/11 hijackers.
Posted 6:01 AM | [Link]
THE GREATEST [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I have no doubt I will come to regret pointing this out: Bugs Bunny is the greatest cartoon character, ever.
Posted 1:31 AM | [Link]
"I FEEL PRETTY" [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
More men are getting cosmetic surgery done.
Posted 1:26 AM | [Link]
MARKET REPORT [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Jim Glassman and Kevin Hassett say it's ok to chill about the stock market in today's Journal.
Posted 1:24 AM | [Link]
GITMO LIMBO> [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A federal court ruled yesterday that Gitmo prisoners have no rights in the American justice system.
Posted 1:20 AM | [Link]
BE CAREFUL [Robert A. George]
Finally, this whole thing reminds me of how Republicans were SO certain that
releasing the videotape of Clinton's grand jury testimony would be the silver bullet to slay the beast. Clinton's popularity went UP afterwards, because he looked sympathetic against the big, bad evil "Starr Chamber."
Robert Rubin is no Bill Clinton, but the lesson is still the same: Be careful what you wish for...
Posted 1:16 AM | [Link]
HE’S NOT ALONE [Robert A. George]
On the other hand, Rubin is also the living embodiment of the '90s Boom years. It might be fashionable now to try and suggest that that economic environment was ALL binge, but hardly anyone believes that. Certainly not Republicans and conservatives -- our argument was that the Reagan tax cuts were responsible for a lot of what occurred in the '90s (ONLY the "non-binge" stuff? a difficult argument to make). Remember, Democrats control the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and can direct questions in any number of ways that make it advantageous to them. Republicans on the committee can jab hear and there, but it may be difficult for them to make a full-fledged attack on Rubin's actions. Meanwhile, the Democrats can permit Rubin to defend both his "Enron-related" actions AND subtly talk about the Clinton Economy vs. the Bush Economy.
A related point is that Rubin -- fairly or otherwise -- still makes Paul O'Neill look rather weak and ineffectual in the current economic environment.
Posted 1:16 AM | [Link]
YOU SURE ABOUT RUBIN? [Robert A. George]
Hmmm...I hate to destroy Mark Levin's world, but am I the only one who thinks that jumping on the force-Rubin-to-testify-in-the-Senate bandwagon is not necessarily such a great idea? Is Rubin implicated because of his pre-Enron collapse phone calls to Treasury? Sure. Would it be delicious to see Rubin, the Great High Blessed Fiscal One, being forced to answer questions from, Lieberman, the, uh, Great High Blessed Conscience, thereby spreading some of the Enron "blame" around? Of course.
Posted 1:14 AM | [Link]
|
|
|
|
||
|
BRODER’S PLEA FOR CENTRAL PLANNING: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23880-2002Jul30.html
“What is conspicuously missing from this picture is any forum where elected officials at all three levels of government can have a serious discussion about national goals and national resources. Nowhere are the law enforcement needs of Detroit or the education needs of Montana weighed in the balance against the elimination of the federal estate tax or the purchase of the latest generation of high-tech weaponry. . . . [N]o real dialogue about priorities and revenues takes place. The Founders, who thought of almost everything, did not consider this need or supply any way of meeting it.”
Come to think of it, there’s no national dialogue that weighs all my budgetary needs against those of David Broder, either. I suspect that the Founders had a good reason for “not considering the need” for such a dialogue, and that their reason has something to do with the hope that governments would compete with one another more than they would cooperate.
Posted 6:58 PM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 4:35 PM | [Link]
WANTED: BILINGUAL POLL WORKERS
If only some counties in Florida had had poll workers to punch ballots for the slow.
Posted 4:33 PM | [Link]
SPREADING THE WORD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
King Fahd has ordered a Koran dump. 82,500 copies to be distributed in various countries in various languages.
Posted 4:11 PM | [Link]
HELLO! [Robert A. George]
What the hell is going on here? I ignore The Corner for two days and come back to hear Dan Savage AND Michael Signorile being praised (and Savage praising NR)!!! Has the whole world gone mad? Talk about (and you knew this was coming) "strange bedfellows"!!
Incidentally, Signorile's New York Press column IS rather remarkable. I would enjoy seeing a discussion -- online or otherwise -- between Signorile and his sometime-arch enemy Andrew Sullivan, especially given the issues raised with respect to "super" HIV-positive transmission.
Posted 4:01 PM | [Link]
IT's NOT YOUR FATHER'S NATIONAL REVIEW [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
When a NR staff writer writes about "barebacking."
Posted 3:19 PM | [Link]
A GAY READER WRITES: [Rod Dreher] In response to my link to Mike Signorile's column earlier today: "Though it pains me to admit it (after all, criticizing mainstream gay ideology makes me a bad homosexual), there is a great amount of disingenousness within the gay community regarding [AIDS and how one gets it]. Despite the devastation wrought within the community by the HIV virus, many gay men are at pains to maintain a delicate denial of the facts, the risks, and the simple truths about infection, how to combat it, or merely how to prevent it. ... Try telling a group of twentysomething and thirtysomething year old gay men that they oughtn't to sleep around with whomever they want, wherever they want. It doesn't go over well. If the powers that be in the gay movement ever pushed for monogamy or castigated gay men for rampant promiscuity, they would lose their standing. That alone is excuse enough for many gay 'leaders' to avoid the subject altogether."
Posted 2:59 PM | [Link]
RAY NAGIN, THE CREOLE HITLER: [Rod Dreher] That's the view of Marc Morial crony and current New Orleans city councilman Marlin Gusman, as reported in today's Times-Picayune. Says the councilman, who is emerging as leader of the anti-Nagin opposition, "I remember from reading in history books how some of the greates atrocities in the history of the world started off with, 'Let's stamp out corruption.' Hitler in Nazi German, Fidel Castro in Cuba, racist whites in Reconstruction, just to name a few." Notice too how Gusman is playing the race card against a black man.
Posted 2:55 PM | [Link]
AROUND HEBREW U [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A reader writes:
I ate in that cafeteria ("Meet me at 'Frank' ") countless times during my one-year stint at HU. All of these deaths are devastating but really hit home when you know the territory.
On the subject of building names - the Sinatra building flanks the Nancy Reagan Plaza. There is also a Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme wing nearby.
Posted 1:42 PM | [Link]
BROOKS SQUEAKS BY [Jonathan Adler]
Third Circuit nominee D. Brooks Smith was confirmed today by the U.S. Senate. The vote was 64-35. Smith is the second appeals court nominee confirmed this week. Julia Gibbons was confirmed for the Sixth Circuit on Monday.
Posted 1:31 PM | [Link]
GET TOUGH ON CRIME [Jonathan Adler]
If all those posturing Senators are serious about fighting financial corruption they should take Instapundit's advice.
Posted 1:02 PM | [Link]
HELP: [Rich Lowry]
This is more serious than my usual pleas for help. I'm looking for someone who is interested in helping me with research on a book project for very low pay. I'm looking for someone who is bright, politically engaged, and very reliable. Also--unlike Jonah--this person shouldn't mind working for less than a living wage. Probably a part-time job. E-mail me if you're interested or know someone who might be. Please make the subject line "research assistant." It might take me a week or two to get back to you. Thanks!
Posted 12:55 PM | [Link]
THE CABLE AND TERROR WARS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Interesting bit of juxtaposition as I channel-surfed the AM news shows. As the king of Jordan was telling Katie that Israel needs to moderate its approach towards the Palestine, over on FoxNews, E.D., Steve, and Brian were breaking with "at least 6 dead in a Jerusalem explosion."
Posted 12:17 PM | [Link]
GET 4 FREE ISSUES OF NATIONAL REVIEW!
That's right: We'll send you 4 FREE issues of National Review at absolutely no risk to you. If you're impressed by National Review's superior writing style, analysis, and wit, we'll send you the next 12 issues — for a total of 16 in all! — for only $19.95. Click here for details.
Posted 12:17 PM | [Link]
SAUDI JUSTICE [Andrew Stuttaford]
In March 2001 three Chechens hijacked a Russian passenger jet to "Saudi" Arabia. Over 170 people were aboard. To their credit, Saudi special forces stormed the plane and after a melee that left one passenger, one flight attendant and one hijacker dead the plane was liberated. Prospects for the two surviving hijackers would, you might think, have been grim. The loppers and choppers of the Saudi justice system are well-known for imposing tough sentences for trivial crimes and the "Kingdom" is, we are always told, a foe of terrorism.
Well, you would be wrong: Bloomberg News is reporting that the two surviving hijackers have just received their sentence: 4-6 years in jail.
Posted 11:54 AM | [Link]
THANKS AND FYI [Jonah Goldberg]
Thanks to everybody who sent in serious suggestions for how we can get Cosmo to Alaska. To those who sent in jokes about how I should wear dark glasses or take Ray Charles with us: ha ha, but please stop. The joke gets pretty old when you've heard it 75 times. Anyway, nobody's offered to fly Coz in their private jet or pull strings at an airline yet, but we have some leads. If there's someone out there who can declare him a service or search and rescue dog for me, please let me know. In the meantime, FYI, here's my syndicated column on why we should invade Iraq.
Posted 11:00 AM | [Link]
SUMMER IN THE BATON ROUGE AREA: [Rod Dreher] We've got a serial killer, and possibly the largest-ever outbreak of West Nile virus in the nation's history. It's raining so much that what's left of the tomatoes are waterlogged and mealy. It's not even noon yet, and I need me a drink. I'm mad at Walker Percy for up and dying on us, when nothing would suit my mood better today than roadtripping over to Covington, finding him and sitting on his front porch with a hi-ball.
Posted 10:56 AM | [Link]
BRAVO MIKE: [Rod Dreher] In his New York Press column this week, gay journalist Michelangelo Signorile deplores the media's ignoring a devastating report from the recent international AIDS conference in Barcelona. A top AIDS researcher from Harvard revealed evidence that HIV-positive men who have sex with each other can become "superinfected" with other strains of HIV that their bodies cannot fight. This makes it highly unlikely we'll ever have an AIDS vaccine, and gives the lie to the notion that HIV-positive men can safely have sex with each other. The media, Signorile notes, largely ignored this. The "barebacking" phenomenon, in which gay men have condomless sex, is also being largely ignored by the media, even though it's keeping the epidemic raging. I make these same points in the new print issue of NR, but it's more important when a prominent gay journalist writes these things.
Posted 10:44 AM | [Link]
JUST NOTICING [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The name of the building where today's attack in Israel was: The Frank Sinatra International Student Center.
Posted 10:32 AM | [Link]
MORE ISRAELIS DEAD[Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Same old: Explosion rocks Hebrew University, killing at least seven.
Posted 10:26 AM | [Link]
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES! [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Surprisingly nice piece on Wade Horn in yesterday’s USA Today. He was among the Left’s most-hated enemies among Bush nominees last year for, basically, being pro-marriage. NOW’s still no fan, but there's less venom.
Posted 10:14 AM | [Link]
CASUALTIES, BY THE NUMBERS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A useful analysis from TechCentralStation.
Posted 9:59 AM | [Link]
JOHN PODHORETZ LIKES THE NEW SPRINGSTEEN [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
"'The Rising' is the first great work of popular art to emerge from the war on terrorism."
(If you missed it, NRO has had some good things to say about the Boss, too.)
Posted 5:51 AM | [Link]
WHERE’S BILL CLINTON? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
He’s not to be found in Harlem.
Posted 5:50 AM | [Link]
|
|
|
|
||
|
RE: DAN SAVAGE LOVES: [Rod Dreher] Did you read further into the Dan Savage interview, Jonah? He says people hate to hear him say it, but the problem with the Catholic Church sex scandal "is gay priests." Savage's view, which he states rather more bluntly than I can in The Corner without risking the wrath of our Den Mother, is that the kind of gay man who is attracted to the priesthood of a Church that says homosexuality is morally disordered is bound to be one messed-up dude. I don't agree with his reasoning, but the main reason I like Dan Savage, even though I disagree with most of what he stands for, is that he's a straightforward guy who does not suffer from sanctimony. He'll probably hate my piece in the new NR, though.
Posted 9:53 PM | [Link]
DAN SAVAGE LOVES... [Jonah Goldberg]
...Men with cages and National Review. In an interview with Media Bistro, the gay sex guru praises NR to the heavens. He lists as his career highlights: "Editor of The Stranger; Randy Cohen praising my column in his interview with mediabistro.com; my upcoming dinner engagement with Katha Pollitt; seeing something I wrote for The Stranger on Iraq praised in National Review; dating a really hot German guy in Berlin in 1989 who had a cage in his bedroom." The full interview is not for NRO readers turned off by casual conversation about casual (homosexual) sex.
Posted 4:33 PM | [Link]
COINCIDENCE? [Andrew Stuttaford]
I'm probably - certainly - not the only person to have asked this, but I wonder if there is any connection between the enormous increase in the number of options issued to senior management in established corporations (early-stage companies are a different question) over the last few years and the Clinton-era law prohibiting companies from treating salaries of over $1,000,000 as a tax-deductible expense.
Posted 4:09 PM | [Link]
FAT CHANCE [Andrew Stuttaford]
New Mexico senator Jeff Bingaman is on CNBC talking about his new obesity
bill. Rumors that the senate will be recommending a diet of pork are unkind
and unfair.
Posted 4:08 PM | [Link]
PATENTS: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Robert Goldberg's piece on NRO makes the standard conservative case against weakening drug patents, and makes it well. But I find the genre unconvincing. It may be true that shortening patent length would reduce innovation, as he argues; but if so, it would also be true that lengthening patents would encourage more innovation. Presumably, there is a point at which the expense of encouraging innovation becomes excessive. Where are we in relation to that point? Goldberg provides no reasons for thinking that existing patent law encourages an optimal amount of innovation. . . . That said, it is a bit disturbing to see senators mucking around with a complicated law that seems to have worked pretty well when they clearly have no idea what they're doing.
Posted 4:07 PM | [Link]
THOSE DEFECTING CUBANS: [Rod Dreher] Mark Shea speaks truth about the World Youth Day defectors from Cuba. How dare this Cuban Catholic official lie about the free practice of the Catholic faith under the Castro dictatorship?! Over to you, Jay Nordlinger... .
Posted 4:03 PM | [Link]
AQUAMAN'S AGONY [Jonathan Adler]
More evidence that Marvel is better than D.C.
Posted 3:42 PM | [Link]
GREENS AGAINST CLEANER AIR? [Jonathan Adler]
It sure seems that way. The Bush Administration proposes legislation to dramatically reduce utility emissions over the next fifteen years, and environmental groups cry foul because the plan relies on tradable permits. There may be reasons to fault the Bush plan, but that isn't one of them. Why is it that so many "environmentalists" exert greater effort opposing markets than encouraging conservation?
Posted 3:41 PM | [Link]
GREENS AGAINST BIG GOVERNMENT? [Jonathan Adler]
Not exactly, but Sierra Club honcho Carl Pope joins Cato Institute President Ed Crane calling for the elimination of all energy subsidies across the board -- coal, oil, gas, solar, wind, etc. If only members of Congress would listen (and other environmental groups would heed the call).
Posted 3:41 PM | [Link]
ALASKA! HELP [Jonah Goldberg]
The fair Jessica and I are going to Alaska in August. We have this crazy notion of driving back. This would mean another series of G-File dispatches from real America (and much of real Canada). There's one hitch. We can only do it if we can bring Cosmo with us. We can't -- and don't want -- to put him in a kennel or with friends for three weeks to a month. Indeed, much of the idea's appeal revolves around Cosmo letting his freak flag fly across this great nation of ours. The problem is it appears to be very difficult to get Cosmo on our flight. One difficulty is that few airlines will permit a dog on a plane if it's more than 85 degrees on any leg of the flight. It's doubtful it will be less than 85 in DC in mid-August and it's certainly unwise to plan on that. I considered driving to Minneapolis, where we have a stopover, and loading the pooch there, but our tickets don't permit me to do that. And, besides, if it's over 85 degrees in Minneapolis and they won't take Cosmo, we'll really be screwed. So, the question is: is there an answer to this dilemma -- other than driving all the way to Fairbanks and back?
Note: NR doesn't have a jet. And, while airlines do allow "celebrity" dogs in the main cabin, I'm not sure Northwest Airlines will consider Cosmo the Wonderdog on par with the Taco Bell Chihuahua. If someone out there makes a successful suggestion or provides a workable solution, Cosmo and I will be very grateful and we'll do our best to demonstrate our gratitude appropriately.
Posted 3:05 PM | [Link]
THE "OTHER 50" STATES? [Jonah Goldberg]
The State of Nevada's website tells visitors "what the other 50 states are doing" as part of Governor Kenny Guinn's "Working toward a better Nevada!" efforts. Maybe one thing they're doing better in the other 49 states is teaching kids how many states there are.
Posted 2:16 PM | [Link]
LA ROUTE EST DURE, MAIS JE SUIS FORT [John Derbyshire]
Jonah: A year spent not-finishing a proposal? Impressive. Here I've been, feeling pleased with myself for having spent a week not-finishing a book review for Mike Potemra. Plainly I have taken only the first few steps on the path of wisdom.
Posted 1:26 PM | [Link]
"NO MORE TV FOR YOU!"[Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Traficant gets eight years.
Posted 1:16 PM | [Link]
OWEN ON THE EDGE [Jonathan Adler]
The nomination of Justice Priscilla Owen to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals may come down to a few decisions interpreting the "judicial bypass" provisions of Texas' parental notification law. This Legal Times article illustrates the weak ground of Owen's opponents. The only question is whether her supporters can muster an adequate response.
Posted 12:29 PM | [Link]
SAUDI "THIRST" [Jonah Goldberg]
Andrew, sorry but I just read your post from this morning on the Saudi prince who died of "thirst." How exactly does this happen? Isn't much of Arab culture pretty much designed around the avoidance of death by thirst? Do princes often forget their canteens? Or, more likely, their retinues of servants who carry the canteens (and cell phones)? I'm sure I'm missing something, but dying of thirst in a desert isn't quite the same thing as drowning. You don't just fall of your camel or Humvee and dehydrate. I need more information. In the meantime, here's my contribution to Saudi conspiracy-mongering from last March.
Posted 12:26 PM | [Link]
WHERE'S LOWRY? [Jonah Goldberg]
The mysterious Dear Leader seems to be in his hidden compound. Please report any sightings here.
Posted 12:13 PM | [Link]
NOT WRITING CONT'D [Jonah Goldberg]
Does the fact that I've spent a year putting off finishing a book proposal get me anything?
Posted 11:59 AM | [Link]
ON NOT WRITING: [Rod Dreher] I'm with you, Derb. In fact, I've been putting off revisiting the scene of the crime to put together my crunched-and-munched story from last night (by the way, my poor father, a Windows user ever since he's had a computer, has been under the impression that the constant crashes he experiences are his own fault; no, I told him, Bill Gates just wants you to think that). Anyway, I've had a whole pot of Community Dark Roast already this morning, watched the end of Whit Stillman's Barcelona on satellite TV (Whit Stillman movies always make me happy), watched the last half of The E! True Hollywood Story: 'The Beverly Hillbillies', caught a live Fox interview with bosomy idiot Anna Nicole Smith (the existence of Anna Nicole Smith makes me very happy, but probably for the wrong reasons), and finally had to turn the TV off before I had a gran mal seizure triggered by speedballing trash-culture pleasure. I suppose I'd better write the story now. My brother-in-law the fireman/EMT is at work this morning, so I can't pump him for more stories of weird stuff he's seen on late-night emergency calls (his account of the medical emergency involving a 400-lb. naked redneck woman, a marital aid and a half-eaten can of cinnamon frosting is the best story I've heard all week). A diller, a dollar... .
Posted 11:53 AM | [Link]
THE POPE'S FRAILTY [Jonah Goldberg]
I am baffled by the "debate" over whether or not the Pope is still fit enought to keep Poping. Again, I'm not Catholic, but it seems to me that endurance against physical hardship in order to do the work of the Church is a big part of what Christianity is about. If JP II wants to do it, who are the carpers to say he shouldn't? Moreover, in the future won't the Pope's efforts be seen as an inspiration to Catholics -- and others -- everywhere?
Posted 11:53 AM | [Link]
HARD-HITTING JOURNALISM [Jonah Goldberg]
James Fallows has a 3-part "dialogue" with Kevin Phillips the "Republican" critic of all-things having to do with Republicans and money. The Atlantic is legitimately the best general interest magazine in America these days, thanks to Michael Kelly & Co. But one has to wonder who else will appear in this series. Perhaps in the next installment Larry Kudlow will grill Milton Friedman, or maybe Robert Bork will hold Clarence Thomas's feet to the fire or perhaps Noam Chomsky will really take the battle to Edward Said. It's not that the dialogue is uninteresting, it's just that I can't think of a more sympatico pairing than Fallows and Phillips.
Posted 11:46 AM | [Link]
DON’T BLAME ISLAM [John Derbyshire]
Here was me a couple of weeks ago on not blaming Islam. Here is Daniel Pipes in today's New York Post. As I said, Islam isn't going to go away. let's look for the good in it.
Posted 11:23 AM | [Link]
MORE ABOUT THAT AWFUL WOMAN [Jonah Goldberg]
Pro-McKinney email continues to trickle in. Here's one I just got. The logic is as impeccable as the writing. My apologies, it's in ALL CAPS:
I AM MORE AND MORE CONGNISANT OF HOW MUCH 'TRASHING' REPRESENTATIVE MCKINNEY
IS 'IN VOGUE' NOW. SINCE HER STATEMENTS REGARDING SEPT 11TH, CONGRESS HAS 'JUMPED ON THE BANDWAGON' - GUESS THEY NEEDED SOMEONE TO 'TAKE THE HEAT' BEFORE THEY COULD 'DO THEIR JOB OF CHECKS AND BALANCES WITH THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE. DUH!
I SEEM TO REMEMBER THAT OUR EARLY 'FOREFATHERS' NOTE THE USE OF FATHERS - WERE PRETTY UNPOPULAR WITH THEIR 'EXECUTIVE BRANCHES' TOO.
DOES THE FACT THAT CONGRESSWOMAN MCKINNEY SPEAKS THE UNPOPULAR PRESENT A PROBLEM TO SOMEONE, OR IS JUST 'NOT DONE'. THE PRESIDENT IS NOT GOD, HE IS A HUMAN, CAPABLE OF MISTAKES, THUS THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT WE FORMED.
AND LASTLY, ISN'T IS A THE FACT THAT SHE IS AN OUTSPOKEN BLACK WOMAN AND IS OF COURSE HARD TO SWALLOW FOR MOST OF OUR COUNTRY? I BELIEVE THE TERM USED IN THE SOUTH JUST 50 MORE OR LESS YEARS AGO IS 'UPPITY ----' DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF RACIAL PROFILING? SURELY YOU HAVE SEEN IN HISTORY WHAT 'SWELLS OF YELLS' AND FEAR OF CONFONTATION WITH INJUSTICE CAN DO TO A RACE?
PLEASE DIG DEEPER INTO OUR REPRESENTATIVE'S HISTORY OF REPRESENTING HER DISTRICT. IT IS A COMPLEX DISTRICT, NOT EASY TO REPRESENT. SHE HAS ONE OF THE MOST 'DIVERSE' DISTRICTS IN THIS COUNTRY. I KNOW, I LIVE IN IT. PLEASE LET US NOT THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATHWATER.
Posted 11:16 AM | [Link]
AN EMERGING DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY?: [Ramesh Ponnuru]
No, says Patrick Ruffini. I hope he's right.
Posted 11:03 AM | [Link]
TOO MUCH YANG, NOT ENOUGH YIN [John Derbyshire]
Rod: Not-writing about Windows vs. Mac is only the first of the twelve steps to enlightenment. The thing you have to master is not-writing, period. Inspired by the sages Lao-tzu, Chuang-tzu and Goldberg, I am devoting my entire morning to perfect inaction. "By doing nothing, all can be accomplished"--the Tao Teh Ching. "Bugger this, there's a Simpsons rerun on Channel 11"--Goldberg. The outside temperature here on Long Island just went through 90--ideal weather for not-doing. Ommmmmmm.
Posted 11:00 AM | [Link]
BIDEN REPEATS HIMSELF [Jonah Goldberg]
In politics, it's necessary to repeat yourself often in order to get the message out. But I'm getting sick and tired of a few repetitions. For example, Joe Biden has told the following story, by my count, several dozen times -- and each time he's told it as if it just occurred to him to tell it. This is the version from National Public Radio:
The president sometimes kids me when I meet with him and he always says to me, 'Well, you know, basically you agree with me on Iraq about taking down Saddam. Why are you more cautious about this?' I said, 'Mr. President, there is a reason your father stopped and did not go to Baghdad. The reason he stopped is he didn't want to stay for five years.'
He's also told this story on CBS' and ABC's Sunday shows, he's told it to the New York Times, the Associated Press, the British newspaper the Independent and in numerous Congressional settings. Last Sunday, he tried to tell it again on ABC's "This Week" and Cokie Roberts cut him off, saying something to the effect of "you've told us that story before." A bunch of things bother me about Biden's use of the story. First, obviously, there's the practiced spontaneity of it. But there's also the lecturing tone, as if Biden is an old buddy of Poppa Bush as well as the subtle bragging about standing up to Bush. And, there's also the monumental "so what?" factor. He offers the story as if it closes debate when all it does is demand a "and therefor what?" in response. By Biden's logic, we would have been in Iraq until 1996. Does that seem so terrible now? Perhaps if we had a US ally in the region in the form of a democratic Iraq, we wouldn't have the war on terrorism today.
But most of all, I just can't stand hearing him say it anymore. Please make him stop.
Posted 10:26 AM | [Link]
BRINGS BACK BAD MEMORIES... [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
To see Joel Klein in the news again: He's the new NYC schools' chief. The NY Post is cautiosly optomistic.
(P.S. I assume Rod is a long-time fan.)
Posted 10:04 AM | [Link]
23 CUBANS DEFECT [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
They left Cuba for World Youth Day and are not going back.
Posted 9:54 AM | [Link]
KILLJOYS: [Rod Dreher] Well, hell, Kathryn and Jonah, if a feller can't have a hissy fit at two in the morning when his software eats his homework, of what use is the Corner? I'll have to find some other topic to write about. Let's see, the first anniversary of Aaliyah's untimely death is only a month away. Watch this space for a remembrance (NOT!).
Posted 9:44 AM | [Link]
PORN IN THE USA [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
At least in the U.S. porn peddlers, when not campaigning for Al Gore, are hunting down terrorists (see Jim Robbins today).
Posted 9:34 AM | [Link]
FRENCH CULTURE [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I was going to take a dumb French swipe at this story in the
A thousand a month?
Posted 9:26 AM | [Link]
DROPPING SAUDIS [Andrew Stuttaford]
Weird coincidence perhaps, but Bloomberg News is reporting that a third member of the Saudi royal family has died in just over a week. Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Saud Alkabeer (25) has been found dead in the desert. The cause of death is described as 'thirst'. Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud (41) was killed in a car crash on July 23rd on the way to the funeral of his cousin Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (43) (the owner of the horse War Emblem) who had died of a heart attack shortly before. The Saudi royal family has thousands of members, but conspiracy theorists wanting to connect the dots will remember last weekend's British press reports (posted on the Corner) talking of major divisions within the House of Saud.
Posted 8:48 AM | [Link]
ANTI-CRIME Vs. ANTI-REGULATION [Jonah Goldberg]
The Washington Post's op-ed page has a bunch of stuff about the corporate scandals: EJ Dionne on the usual, Chuck Colson with a nice piece on how laws are less important than conscience. For me, it just underscores how terrible Republicans have been on the corporate scandals. When the stories broke, the GOP ignored them until the Democrats owned the issue and Republicans got caught playing "me too." Worse, though, the Dems managed to portray conservatives' anti-regulation stance as pro-crime. It seems such a simple argument. I am for free speech but slander and libel should still be illegal. I am for free enterprise but fraud and theft should be illegal. Crime is crime. If Republicans had simply come out of the block with a solid law-and-order message we might have been spared the feeding frenzy of the last month.
Posted 8:38 AM | [Link]
DING, DONG [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
After yesterday's DLC speech and the previously mentioned AP "moderate" press release, I think it ok to hate Hillary again.
Posted 7:41 AM | [Link]
REMINDER [Jonah Goldberg]
Rod, I feel your pain. But, remember everybody: the first ban of topics from the Corner was any debate over the obvious superiority of Macs Vs. PCs.
Posted 7:28 AM | [Link]
TERRORISTS IN DUBLIN [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
No, not the ones you think, Derb.
Posted 6:10 AM | [Link]
TARGET: WATER SUPPLY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Two in custody in U.S.
Posted 6:09 AM | [Link]
FOR THE RECORD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
While I have never been to the Tea Room, I have been to the pizza place across the street.
Posted 6:02 AM | [Link]
THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT FEEDS RED-BLUE DIVIDE TALK [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Judy Collins has an op-ed in the NYTimes today bemoaning the loss of the Russian Tea Room. "In a year when the city has lost so much, it's sad to see the Tea Room, one of its happiest places, close."
Posted 6:01 AM | [Link]
MY ADVICE TO READERS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Save your work while you are working on it. :-)
Posted 6:00 AM | [Link]
YOU DID NOT DO THAT ROD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
...Start that bloody Mac-Windows debate again. No. It's not happening. If you feel the need to vent on this topic, readers, share it with your spouse, your kids, the wall. DO NOT e-mail anyone at NRO. We are not having this debate again. NOT.
Posted 5:59 AM | [Link]
THE OLD NEW WORLD: [John J. Miller]
The parchment containing a controversial map of the New World has been carbon-dated to approximately 1434--about six decades before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Posted 5:42 AM | [Link]
I'M HAVING A BIG MAC ATTACK!: [Rod Dreher] One of the stupidest things I ever did was leave Macintosh for a Windows machine. This *%$#& Windows software crashes every other day, it seems. Here I sit in Louisiana after working all day to report a story for Tuesday's NRO, and having spent the last three hours writing it. All I needed -- I kid you not, ALL I FREAKING NEEDED -- was the age of a politician mentioned in the story. At that point, literally seconds away from sending it to K-Lo, Windows crashed. Hard. It did something weird, the upshot of which was, I lost the entire story. All my work, except -- thank you, God -- the notes. I have to start all over again. It is now two in the morning. My advice to you, reader, is this: STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS! DANGER! DANGER! IT WILL MAKE YOU MISERABLE! I think I'm going to sell a kidney or something just so I can buy a Mac laptop, and put this awful Windows experience behind me. How a product that's so undependable got to be so popular is beyond me. It's like Trabants were taken for Toyotas, or something.
Posted 2:03 AM | [Link]
|
|
|
|
||
|
THANK ALLAH [Jonathan Adler]
A band of bombers was unable to drive straight.
Posted 5:25 PM | [Link]
DIRTY TRICKS AT THE IRS? [Jonathan Adler]
There are many reasons not to like Judicial Watch. The outfit always struck me as the Christic Institute of the Right. Nonetheless, Larry Klayman and his minions have uncovered some important information. Robert Novak's latest column details internal IRS documents suggesting the IRS audit of Judicial Watch was politically motivated. This is the first real confirmation that the Clinton Administration and its allies used the IRS to squelch political opposition. If more turns up, this should be a big deal. Note that President Nixon tried to use the IRS for political purposes too -- but back then the IRS resisted.
Posted 4:43 PM | [Link]
YEAH...YEAH... [Jonah Goldberg]
Today's G-File is in. I know I'm not supposed to step on my own product, but I don't like it. I had a plan to write this big philosophical thing about the nature of the temporal order and I got stuck writing about how Al Gore sucks. This happens sometimes. It doesn't mean it's a bad column, it's just not what I set out to write this morning. Sorta like screwing up an omelet or fried eggs and deciding to make the best of it by going for scrambled.
Posted 3:53 PM | [Link]
FROM MY IN-BOX [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
"Doesn't Jonah have a column to finish? Who cares if the Thing is Jewish?"
Posted 3:48 PM | [Link]
MAYBE THE THING IS OBSERVANT [Jonathan Adler]
I'm hardly an expert on Jewish law, so it seemed obvious to me that The Thing couldn't have observed the Sabbath as a member of the Fantastic Four. A more informed reader, however, notes that it is permissible to violate the Sabbath in order to save someone's life. While this might not excuse Senator Lieberman's decision to campaign for veep seven days a week, it would seem to allow The Thing to devote the occasional Saturday to fighting the evil machinations of Dr. Doom, Mole Man, Super-Skrull, and other assorted bad guys.
Posted 3:31 PM | [Link]
NO FAIR! KATHRYN'S PLAYING FAVORITES! [Jonah Goldberg]
Posted 3:28 PM | [Link]
ANDREW, DID I EVER TELL YOU YOU ARE MY FAVORITE? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Thanks for leaving the dark side.
Posted 3:06 PM | [Link]
CLEANING UP THE CORNER [Andrew Stuttaford]
Here's my suggestion, Kathryn, why don't you re-post John Derbyshire's comment on "Civil-Military Relations in China." We can
then start from there and pretend that the last few hours never happened.
Posted 3:05 PM | [Link]
DOES THE THING OBSERVE THE SABBATH? [Jonathan Adler]
A reader asks whether there are any observant Jewish superheroes. Unless Sabra counts, I doubt it.
Posted 2:53 PM | [Link]
MAYBE WITCH A WITCH, BUT WICCAN? [Jonathan Adler]
A Corner reader provides a useful link to all you'd ever want to know about Scarlet Witch. He notes that the Scarlet Witch did train with a sorceress, so could have been exposed to Wicca. It's also relevant that she was raised by adoptive parents, the Maximoffs, and she also had a fairly traditional marriage (if you excuse the fact that her husband was an android), which would still cut against the Wiccan thing.
Posted 2:52 PM | [Link]
ARRRRGGHH!!!! [Jonah Goldberg]
Email box ...filling with...comic geeknesssss...losing...consciousness. A few quick points. Jonathan, yes, the Scarlet Witch was a mutant. But as she got older she started to dabble with the black arts and I'm not talkin' Maya Angelou stuff. Also, let's just stipulate that all superheroes with "occult" or cultish powers -- Dr. Strange, the Iron Fist (not the porn movie, you sicko), and even the Juggernaut (like Elmer Fudd, he has a Magic Helmet) etc. are not pure secular humanists. Thor and Hercules, obviously, are Methodists. Woops, just kidding. But they clearly have religions as they are Gods and adopting atheism would be suicidal. I'm told, as I suspected, that Nightcrawler is a devout Catholic (I could only remember that he was Christian). Speaking of Thor and Hercules, a number of people note that they are stronger than the Thing. They're probably right, but cut the Thing some slack as he can only score with blind chicks. Magneto, I am reminded, is not Jewish but a Gypsy. I've been told that "Sabra" was a nice Jewish girl too.
Posted 2:08 PM | [Link]
LUCKY GUY [Andrew Stuttaford]
On the other hand, Jonah, I know that you will be pleased to know that if Superman is indeed Jewish--and keeps kosher--there is a chance that he may still be able to enjoy some tasty Marmite feasts. Check this exciting link and scroll down.
Posted 2:08 PM | [Link]
SUPERMENSCH [James S. Robbins]
Kal-el had to have been circumcised on Krypton, where it could reasonably have been done. Surely his parents would not have shot him into space without a bris. Besides, what are the odds of finding a mohel in Smallville? And talk about lost tribes, how did they get out there anyway?
Posted 1:54 PM | [Link]
OBSERVANT [Andrew Stuttaford]
Kathryn, Jonah, look, think about it for a second. Superman's principal adversary is called Luthor. The Man of Steel is obviously a dyslectic Catholic.
Posted 1:53 PM | [Link]
WITCH NOT WICCAN [Jonathan Adler]
I have to disagree with Jonah on the Scarlet Witch. As I recall, she's not a true "witch," she's a mutant. Therefore, I doubt she's a Wiccan.
Posted 1:46 PM | [Link]
...AS HAS THE NEW YORKER [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Posted 1:46 PM | [Link]
TSA ABANDONS CHICK QUOTAS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Can't find enough women airport-security screeners. Dropped 50-percent goal.
Posted 1:33 PM | [Link]
THERE ARE... [Jonah Goldberg]
Some problems with the idea that Superman is Jewish. First of all, the mohel would have to use a diamond cutter at the bris. More important, this is all based on subtext. Of course, Superman was an idealized product of the Jewish imagination of two Jewish guys. But, that's a very different argument. I prefer to stick with the stuff above the subtext, what's that called again? Oh, yeah, the text.
Posted 1:23 PM | [Link]
SUPERMAN'S JEWISH? [Jonah Goldberg]
A reader says:
Dear Mr. Goldberg:
Your noting the piece in the NY Post about The Thing being revealed as Jewish is interesting, but those of the Tribe have had their own superhero for decades.
The Man of Steel is Jewish, and this fact has been known all along, both by pro-Superman readers, and by anti-Semites (Goebbels is known to have belived this and have it referenced in wartime Nazi radio propaganda). Consider: created by two Jewish boys, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. Real name, Kal-el. And his origin...think a moment about his origin, and remember that this was being written by a pair of Jewish teenagers in 1939. Baby Kal-el, refugee from a holocaust that wipes out his entire people! Where else would he end up but...America?
Alas, his name got changed to "Clark Kent" (and isn't that **exactly** the sort of name a poor Jewish immigrant would come up with, if he were trying to fit In?) and his ethnic origins got laundered fairly thoroughly. Not much left except blue-black hair and a difficult girlfriend.
Posted 1:19 PM | [Link]
SON-O'-GOD COMICS [John Derbyshire]
The ultimate argument for the constitutional separation of church and comic strip was the "Son-o'-God" strip that ran in National Lampoon (see, e.g. the December 1974 issue). Sample dialogue, between two shepherds watching their flocks by night. First shepherd: "Hey, what's that light in the sky? What's it supposed to advertise?" Second shepherd: "Who knows? Hurry up with that ewe, it's my turn next."
Posted 1:03 PM | [Link]
CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN CHINA [John Derbyshire]
That splendid Aiustralian quarterly The China Journal (which unfortunately puts very little of its content online) has a long profile of the Chinese heir-apparent, Hu Jintao, in its current issue. From which, the following: "It is notable that, despite the positive relationship between Jiang [i.e. Jiang Zemin, current president] and the top brass, one implicit reason for the PLA's acceptance of Jiang appears to be his apparently weak personal authority as compared to Mao's and Deng's [i.e. Deng Xiaoping, previous Supreme Leader]. It is easy for both Jiang and the PLA to concur on non-controversial issues, but the real test of authority comes only when the two sides encounter sharp policy differences. While Jiang's predecessors could prevail comfortably when such differences arose, Jiang has always tried to avoid them. ... For the first time since Deng dominated proceedings, the PLA is free from strongman control; and it obviously does not want to have another Mao or Deng sitting over it again. The PLA is increasingly exerting itself as a powerful interest group in Chinese politics..."
Posted 1:01 PM | [Link]
IT'S KABBALAH TIME! [James S. Robbins]
The Thing does bear some similarity to the legend of the Golem.
Posted 12:30 PM | [Link]
FOR THE RECORD [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Both comic books and Star Trek are better than Marmite.
Posted 12:05 PM | [Link]
BTW [Jonah Goldberg]
Comic book geeks have been writing me in regard to the news that the Thing is Jewish. Yes, I did know that Kitty Pryde was Jewish too. But her powers were awful. Being intangible is much less impressive than being the second-strongest Marvel superhero -- I'm working on the assumption that the Hulk remains number 1. While religion is rare in Marvel comics, it's not unheard of. After all, Daredevil, I believe, is a lapsed Catholic. Nightcrawler is definitely Christian. And, I have to assume, that the Scarlet Witch is some kind of Wiccan (though, since she's the daughter of Magneto, she might be Jewish). I know K-Lo doesn't like comic stuff in the Corner and I am aware that this is chum in the water for Robert George. But A) it's damn hot. And, B) I'd rather read about comic book stuff than see another post about Marmite (Spreads like butter, tastes like death).
Posted 12:03 PM | [Link]
THANKS, JONAH [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
It's 97 in NYC in the shade and rising, so I assume the edict to "leave if you can" holds true for the whole Northeast corridor. I'm outta here!
Posted 11:57 AM | [Link]
GET OUT OF WASHINGTON! [Jonah Goldberg]
The heat and humidity in Washington is so bad today, scientists have matched it under lab conditions only once -- in Al Sharpton's armpit. Your firearms are useless against this heat. Leave if you can.
Posted 11:54 AM | [Link]
INACTIVISM AT ITS BEST [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Repeat posts in The Corner. :-)
Posted 10:54 AM | [Link]
EXTRA! EXTRA! [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Hill's a moderate now.
Posted 10:26 AM | [Link]
MY FAVORITE INACTIVIST SLOGAN SO FAR [Jonah Goldberg]
"Arms Are For Shrugging"
Posted 10:02 AM | [Link]
HILARIOUS HATE [Jonah Goldberg]
If you read the WSJ's "Best of the Web" you've already seen this. But it really is worth checking out. The Arab News, as K-Lo's noted, reads like the Onion of the Islamic world. But their piece grilling James Taranto as the moral equivalent of Osama Bin Laden is downright hilarious.
Posted 9:59 AM | [Link]
SUPERHERO OF THE TRIBE! [Jonah Goldberg]
The Thing is Jewish! The heart and soul of the Fantastic Four is a Hebrew according to a report in the New York Post. Scroll all the way down.
Posted 9:42 AM | [Link]
JOE LIEBERMAN GETTING ANXIOUS? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Posted 9:35 AM | [Link]
THE CITIZEN CORPS FILES [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
A Moussaui/Atta/McVeigh/Iraq connection?
Posted 9:28 AM | [Link]
BLAMING DEMS FOR THE MINING ACCIDENT [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
The NY Sun, which now has a website, found a political hook in the Pennsylvania mining accident this weekend.
Posted 7:30 AM | [Link]
HOW ABOUT MOVING HOLLYWOOD? [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Posted 5:39 AM | [Link]
|
|
|
|
||
|
USEFUL IDIOTS [Andrew Stuttaford]
There's a lengthy story in the New York Times today about the ways in which the educational establishment is gearing up to meet the anniversary of 9/11. Reading between the lines, this promises to be a PC extravaganza. To take one example, all freshmen showing up at the University of North Carolina will be required to read Approaching the Qu'ran, "a translation of 35 selections from the Koran, with commentary". Now, it may be that this is a splendid, dispassionate look at Islam's holiest book, but one clue that this might not be the case is the spelling of the word 'Qu'ran' itself, something which, in the academic world at least, is usually a reliable indicator of drably conventional multiculturalist thinking (the works of Bernard Lewis are an honorable exception). While 'Qu'ran' may be a more accurate transcription of the Arabic script, the word in English is 'Koran', just as Moscow is 'Moscow', not 'Moskva' and, yes, Peking is 'Peking', not 'Beijing'.
There have, predictably, been some protests from Christians about the selection of this text. Whatever one may think about that, the response of the UNC authorities has been staggering in its disingenuousness. The university's Chancellor, James Moeser, has said that reading the Koran is no different from reading the Iliad or Greek myths. The New York Times quotes him as saying, "When we do that, nobody ever accuses us of proselytizing Zeus".
The difference, as Moeser must know, is in the classroom discussions that will follow. Student readers of the Iliad know that they are free to say what they want about that text. They could, for example, mock the theological underpinnings of Homer's great work without being accused of 'insensitivity' by Tar Heel Dionysians. Will the same freedom of speech be guaranteed to the UNC student who says that he believes that the Koran is nonsense?
Somehow I don't think so.
Posted 2:51 PM | [Link]
A HOUSE DIVIDED [Andrew Stuttaford]
Interesting story today in the British press on divisions within the House of Saud. It becomes ever more clear that the US needs to be supporting a more secular, modernizing alternative to the regime now clinging to power. Instead, it finds itself tied to the existing corrupt despots, who have themselves proved to be fair weather friends at best. Opposition meanwhile finds itself pushed towards the Islamic extreme. The technical name for Washington's current policy?
The worst of both worlds.
Posted 2:05 PM | [Link]
MINETA WATCH [Andrew Stuttaford]
Judging by a depressing letter in the August issue of the NRA magazine America's 1st Freedom, stupidity continues to prevail at our airports. A reader (who had been traveling to Reno for a NRA convention) reports that she had her gun-themed lapel pins confiscated at LAX. The reason? Not that they were potentially dangerous in themselves, but because they represented weapons.
Well, in a way that makes sense. After all, Norm Mineta's efforts only represent airport security.
Posted 1:54 PM | [Link]
JESSE'S MAN: [Rod Dreher] U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, probably won't face a primary challenge from State Sen. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge. Fields says he will likely forego the race to devote himself fulltime to his new job as national co-chairman of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. I'd say Jesse Jackson has found the right man for the job. In 1997, Fields was videotaped by undercover agents receiving $20,000 in cash from then-Gov. Edwin W. Edwards, a political ally, in connection with riverboat gambling licenses. Fields narrowly escaped being indicted along with Edwards, who was later convicted of racketeering and other charges in connection with the case. Fields has never explained what he did with the wad of cash, and was never required to by his constituency. Fields now joins such Democratic political worthies as former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds, convicted of having had sex with a minor, on the Rainbow/PUSH payroll. Go team!
Posted 1:50 PM | [Link]
ASKING FOR IT: [Rod Dreher] Conservatives like me love to complain about the ACLU's ridiculous attempts to drive religion out of the public square. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. Here in Louisiana, Gov. Mike Foster's program to provide tax dollars for abstinence education was invalidated by a U.S. District Judge, ruling on a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. As this Baton Rouge Advocate editorial, the judge found that state money disbursed under the abstinence-education program was being used for all kinds of explicitly religious activities, including distributing Bibles and holding prayer rallies in front of abortion clinics. A state official even admitted as much. I'm sorry, but that's just asking for trouble from the ACLU.
Posted 1:41 PM | [Link]