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August 30, 2006
Life of Bill
Now that CBS has decided Katie Couric is thin, and NBC has made Rosie O'Donut less fat (but not less repulsive), I thought it might be appropriate to introduce a photo of me:
and my wife:
and our new house (feel free to stop by anytime):
Posted by bill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2006
Spitzer, Cuomo, Clinton, Schumer, Barf
Gadsden Flag emails this article on NY Gubernatorial shoe-in Eliot Spitzer ("no book, no bad press, nothing short of an asteroid can knock out Eliot Spitzer right now"), previewing what he will and will not be doing after he's elected in November. The news is not all bad; the article concludes that "[t]he groups that will do the most to elect him—unions, liberals, minority voters—will blanch at the compounds Spitzer wants to mix in the New York laboratory." And he's not George Pataki.
Posted by bill at 08:55 PM | Comments (1)
What he said
Unless you live in a cave, you already know that today is the 1-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. Oodles of reading, but if you read just one item, read "Media Race Baiting & Ugly Truths Everyone Ignores" over at Rightwinged.
Posted by bill at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2006
Innocent? I don't think so
John Mark Karr won't be prosecuted for killing JonBenet Ramsey, prosecutors now say. Still, I don't look at this guy and think "innocent"; I think "not prosecuted." Call me judgmental, but there's something about this guy that screams, "Yay kiddie porn," or something along those lines. Cree-py.
Posted by bill at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
LCPL MICHAEL D. GLOVER (1978-2006):
As many CJ readers know, my cousin Kieran Lalor is a veteran of the Iraq war. On Saturday his friend and comrade, Lance Corporal Michael Glover, was buried in New York, having come home from Iraq, as Kieran puts it, "a hero for the ages," after being killed by a sniper in Fallujah. I'd met Mike just a few times and was trying, but struggling post something here, but Kieran's words are a wonderful tribute to his friend. Please read it:
"Michael Glover was a true Renaissance Man and will forever be remembered as an authentic American Hero.
Below is a brief biography of a great man who gave his life for his country.
Mike Glover was Mr. New York. A Rockaway man through and through, he worked the beaches as a lifeguard for several summers as a young man. He also brought music to New York's bar and club scene as a DJ, worked for a technology firm in White Plains and helped run his father's medical device business.
He was a graduate of prestigious Xavier High School in Manhattan, where he was an outstanding student who went on to graduate from University of Albany with honors.
Motivated by the heroism of the 9/11 firefighters from his neighborhood, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve and went to Boot Camp on Parris Island in the summer of 2004. The following Summer Glover completed the Marine Corps' School Of Infantry.
When Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, motivated by the way the country rallied behind his beloved New York on 9/11, Glover rounded up two other Marines and drove 1400 miles to the effected area. Using a potent combination of persuasiveness and moxie, he navigated through police and National Guard checkpoints making his way to the command post of the search and rescue efforts in downtown New Orleans.
A New Orleans police officer, who was also a ranking member of a Marine Reserve unit in Louisiana, took notice of Glover's exploits and put him up for a medal. Prior to deploying to Iraq, Glover was awarded the Navy And Marine Corps Achievement Medal. The citation reads in part:
"Lance Corporal Glover conducted numerous rescue missions by land and water working from dawn until dusk...Lance Corporal Glover's initiative and selfless devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."
He earned an academic scholarship to Pace Law in White Plains and began studying law just weeks after his boot camp graduation. He completed two semesters before volunteering to deploy to Iraq with Bravo Company 1st Battalion 25th Marines.
Glover was offered a job with the New York Attorney General’s office in White Plains but put the opportunity on hold to go to Iraq.
As if he didn't have enough on his plate he began playing the guitar in 2003, rooted hard for the New York Yankees and was known to party like a rock star.
Mike Glover deployed to Iraq in March 2006 and served for five months near the volatile city of Fallujah in the An Bar Province. On 16 August he gave his life on the battlefield.
For the hundreds of friends and family members who adored this very unique and determined young man, the loss is so deep it is not yet fully comprehendible.
Mike Glover, a man among men in life, died a hero for the ages."
Posted by bill at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2006
Spitting into the wind on Israel
Rachel Neuwirth says Ehud Omert "must go" as Isreal's Prime Minister. This seems like an odd topic at a forum directed toward an American audience that has no input in Israeli leadership. It's important, of course, that Israel's conduct of its war with Hezbollah may be making the U.S. less safe. But the US cannot oust Omert, and the opinions of Neuwirth's American readers don't matter much, so the next step has to be the one very few are taking -- one that Gene Lalor did take here last week -- which is to question whether the US' relationship with Israel has been (and is) a strategic asset or a liability. The answer's always assumed to be the former, and simply raising that issue invites, even from conservatives, the "anti-Semitism" stink bomb, a tactic (ending a debate rather than engaging in it) derided by those same conservatives when it's employed against them. But if Omert's decisions may be endangering the US, why not ask the only question that matters: is our relationship with Israel worth the cost? The answer may be "yes" and it may be "no." The problem is, we'll never really know, because so few are asking the question.
Nonetheless, as Jim Pinkerton points out, the early success of Pat Buchanan's new book indicates Buchanan's America-first policies – and "paleocons" -- may be gathering steam. Pinkerton doesn't link that success with Buchanan's foreign policy, but the idea that Americans should consider America's interest first is the idea that matters.
Posted by bill at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
Pluto in the news
No, not the Pluto in the picture.
It's not often that our solar system loses a planet, but it happened yesterday. Do not worry, though. Pluto did not vaporize. It was simply re-categorized - demoted - to "Dawrf Planet" status, defined loosely as those big objects in our solar system that have not "cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and [are] not a satellite."
The decision is not without controversy. The demotion "came after eight days of contentious debate that involved four separate proposals" on the definition of "planet," reports Space.com.
Posted by bill at 10:27 AM | Comments (1)
August 22, 2006
Tuesday melange
-- Thomas Sowell says "we are fast approaching the point of no return" and makes a point similar to the one Pat Buchanan is making: that the US, and the civilized West, cannot assume life will go on simply because we cannot imagine what happens if it doesn't.
-- Friend of CJ Gregg Jackson continues his meteoric rise. His book, Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies, is the topic of Gregg's recent interview with Human Events. Gregg's a good egg who's busting his butt with Kevin Whelan at Pundit Review, and his book's worth a read. We'll be posting a review here soon.
-- Incidentally, Gregg is based in Boston, home of the Red Sox. Gregg won't be discussing the Red Sox on Pundit Review Radio and that's in part because they stink.
-- Tom Elliott reviews the DVD of Good Night, and Good Luck here, pointing out its convenient lies.
Posted by bill at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2006
America needs John Bolton
My article previewing the John Bolton confirmation hearings has been published at American Thinker, somehow sans paragraph breaks. Would love to hear feedback; comments section is free of charge.
Posted by bill at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
Do as I say, and you won't be bored
Don't feel like working today? Me, neither. That's why I'm grateful for sites like this. Inspired by the, err, imitable Snakes on a Plane, there's "Blanks on blanks" -- llamas on a skateboard, aardvarks on a surfboard, a donkey on a bus, etc. Independent filmmaking at its very best.
Posted by bill at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2006
As Al Gore does
A libertarian Republican I know has remarked that liberals, if they are truly anguished by tax cutting Republicans, are welcome to send personal checks to the federal treasury. They don't, of course. Al Gore's a liberal, too, which is why it's all right for him to tell us to life "earth-friendly" lifestyles while he and Tipper fly here and there in a private jet and live in 15,000+ sq. feet + of zinc mine-funded splendor, etc. "If Al Gore is the world's role model for ecology," Peter Schweizer concludes, "the planet is doomed.
Posted by bill at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2006
Breaking News: UK to engage in self-preservation
The Times Online (U.K.) reports that "the Government is discussing with airport operators plans to introduce a screening system that allows security staff to focus on those passengers who pose the greatest risk."
To quote my nieces: Duh. Still, the news isn't all good: "The DfT has been considering passenger profiling for a year but, until last week, the disadvantages were thought to outweigh the advantages. A senior aviation industry source said: 'The DfT is ultra-sensitive about this and won't say anything publicly because of political concerns about being accused of racial stereotyping'...Tarique Ghaffur, an assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: "We must think long and hard about the causal factors of anger and resentment."
Posted by bill at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)
Jihadists in our midst
Dirka, Dirka.
Posted by bill at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2006
Mike Wallace/Mahmoud Admadinejad tickle fight
As I watched Mike Wallace's 60 Minutes interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it struck me that Wallace came damn close to sticking his tongue down Mahmoud's throat as they exchanged pleasantries. It's bad enough that Wallace provided this kind of forum for Iran to propagandize; it's worse yet that Wallace went so utterly soft. Can't wait for the reax tomorrow.
UPDATE:
Posted by bill at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2006
The New York Times: Not just for wrapping fish
On Monday, I injured a muscle in my right calf, in a Vinny Testaverde-like flop that did the Central Park Lawyers Softball League proud. Soon enough my orthopedist suggested padding the heel of my shoe about an inch or so, to relieve strain on the calf. "Something like the New York Times," he suggested. And here I thought the Grey Old Lady had outlived its usefulness.
Posted by bill at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2006
"Americans will die for liberty"
Mark in Mexico emailed and excerpted this fantastic article appearing in Friday's (U.K.) Telegraph and written by Andrew Gimson. It is entitled, "Americans will die for liberty". Excerpts:
The Americans are more old-fashioned than us, and what is equally admirable, they are not ashamed of being old-fashioned. They know Churchill was a great man, so they put his house on the map. There is a kind of Englishman to whom this sort of behaviour seems painfully unsophisticated.
We are inclined, in our snobbish way, to dismiss the Americans as a new and vulgar people, whose civilisation has hardly risen above the level of cowboys and Indians. Yet the United States of America is actually the oldest republic in the world, with a constitution that is one of the noblest works of man.
While Europe has engaged in the headlong and frankly rather immature pursuit of novelty - how many constitutions have the nations of Europe been through in this time? - the Americans have held to the ideals enunciated more than 200 years ago by their founding fathers.
The quiet solicitude that Americans show for the comfort of their visitors, and the tact with which they make one feel at home, can only be described as gentlemanly. These graceful manners, so often overlooked by brash European tourists, whisper the last enchantments of an earlier and more dignified age, when liberty was not confused with licence.
Again some Europeans will give an unkind smile. All this sounds so Puritan, so naïve and so self-righteous. We cannot help feeling that the Americans ought to have been able to settle their quarrel (the Civil War) without killing each other, and, while we cannot defend the institution of slavery, we wonder whether the North had the right to impose its will by force.
These are vain quibbles. The North went to war and was victorious.
The Americans are prepared to use force in pursuit of what they regard as noble aims. It is yet another respect in which they are rather old-fashioned. They are patriots who venerate their nation and their flag.
The idea has somehow gained currency in Britain that America is an essentially peaceful nation. Quite how this notion took root, I do not know. Perhaps we were unduly impressed by the protesters against the Vietnam war.
It is an idea that cannot survive a visit to the National Museum of American History in Washington, where one is informed that the "price of freedom" is over and over again paid in blood.
But when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say.
These formidable people think freedom is so valuable that it is worth dying for.
Posted by bill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)
Muslims victimized - details at 11
I don't know about where you live, but where I live, the local nightly news tonight discussed the gigantic terrorism plot for a few minutes, then briskly moved to: (1) a bomb-making (and -detonating) tutorial; and (2) why we should be concerned about the "Muslim community." Nice to see we're keeping eyes on the ball.
On the other hand, President Bush finally acknowledged "we're at war with Islamic fascism," which is progress for the White House, to say the least.
Posted by bill at 06:16 PM | Comments (0)
"Intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale"
British security authorities have thwarted a plot to carry out what would have been a spectacular attack on U.S.-bound jets, using liquid bombs smuggled onto planes via carry-on luggage. Although DHS hasn't yet implicated Al Quaeda, Michael Chertoff highlighted the plan's apparent sophistication, saying it was "about as sophisticated as anything we've seen in recent years as far as terrorism is concerned...This was not a situation with a handful of people sitting around dreaming about terrorist plots." It is, in other words, a very real - and "imminent" - threat; DHS has raised its threat level to Elmo red for air travel, up from Bert yellow.
As usual, Hot Air is collecting the bestest links.
UPDATE -- Tom L. emailed this article a few weeks back describing Pakistan-bound Muslims' unhappiness with "humiliating" and "harassing" treatment at Glasgow airport. A few details are especially chilling -- first, the story focused on Dr Mohammad Anwar of "Glasgow's Central Mosque," who hspecifically praised security at Manchester and Heathrow -- as Tom notes, both are focal points of the plot -- as "completely different" and "very courteous" to Muslim cultural "sensitivities." Second, Drudge is linking (link seems to be down) to a report that the plot involved "citizens of Pakistani descent" -- and the July story specifically involves UK-Pakistan flights. Hmm.
Posted by bill at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2006
When was that again?
Oh, right. September 11, 2001:"Some 30 percent of Americans cannot say in what year the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington took place...Of that group, six percent gave an earlier year, eight percent gave a later year, and 16 percent admitted they had no idea whatsoever."
Ho-lee crap.
Posted by bill at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)
Sober up the lawyers, then kill them all
The AP reports on a lawyer in Las Vegas, Joseph Caramango, who was told by a judge that he was "too intoxicated" to defend a criminal trial on behalf of his client who, incidentally, was facing a life sentence.
Posted by bill at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2006
The left's big problem
Lanny Davis (yes, that Lanny Davis), who's been working with CT Senator Joe Lieberman in his primary fight against millionaire socialist Ned "cash money" Lamont, has abandoned the old liberal lies that the "left was inherently more tolerant and less hateful than the right" and that "liberals couldn't possibly be so intolerant and hateful [as the "far right"], because our ideology was famous for ACLU-type commitments to free speech, dissent and, especially, tolerance for those who differed with us." He cites examples from the campaign trail and from the lunatics over at Daily Kos and Huff'n Post. Heading into what should be a compelling primary night in CT, which itself may preview a splintering among Democrats, Davis' article is worth the read.
There's something to be said for the fact that Larry Davis is a Bill Clinton lap-dog, and that the Clintons very much need Lieberman to survive. I'm not willing to confer instant crediblity upon Davis; the "Gunga Din of water carriers" in the Starr/Lewinsky Clinton scandals doesn't deserve this simply for having come to terms with "liberal McCarthyism." In fact, it seems to me Davis could be acting as Hillary Clinton's surrogate -- taking shots at the looney left that Hill herself cannot make but that Hill needs to somehow interject into the dialogue in order to portray herself as a "moderate." Nonetheless, Davis' acknowledgement that an "Angry Left" indeed exists is a turning point.
Posted by bill at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
There's no threat, until there is
The AP reports that 11 young men from Egypt entered the U.S. last month on student visas and have now disappeared. Then men are presumably Arab, and presumably Muslim, and were here "for a 32-day cultural-exchange program to intensively study English, learn about Montana history and go on several field trips."
If this sounds absurd to you, that's because your post-9/11 brain has not turned to morally ambivalent mush. If it doesn't, it's because you're far less judgmental than I am. Kudos to you.
UPDATE 08/09 : Obviously profiling is sinister, but here's the "broad strata" of missing Mohameds, Moustafas, Ahmeds and an Ali:
1. Ibrahim, El Sayed Ahmed Elsayed; DOB OF 4/29/1986.
2. El Dessouki, Eslam Ibrahim Mohamed; DOB OF 02/21/1985.
3. El Bahnasawi, Alaa Abd El Fattah Ali; DOB OF 04/02/1986.
4. Abd Alla, Mohamed Ragab Mohamed; DOB OF 02/15/1984.
5. El Laket, Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi; DOB OF 09/01/1986.
6. El Ela, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Abou; DOB OF 02/02/1985.
7. El Moghazy, Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed; DOB OF 08/08/1986.
8. Abdou, Ebrahim Mabrouk Moustafa; DOB OF 02/25/1984.
9. El Gafary, Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa; DOB OF 07/01/1988.
10.Maray, Mohamed Saleh Ahmed; DOB OF 09/12/1985.
11.El Shenawy, Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad; DOB OF 08/12/1988.
Posted by bill at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2006
Is it Friday yet?
Some miscellany:
- "Political pornography" is not a new concept, but if you're unfamiliar with the phrase, think Farenheit 911: liberals loved the imagery, and it excited them, but there wasn't much logic, or much of a storyline -- classic political porn. Today the BBC reports some scientists are wary of "climate porn" that uses "cataclysmic imagery" in reporting "global warming" stories. Glad to see someone's speaking out. (Via the NY Sun's blog, "It shines for all," which, incidentally, I'm adding to the CJ blogroll.)
- Take a look at Gene Lalor's review of Ann Coulter's book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism." He makes the case that conservatives should appreciate Coulter as a right-wing flame-thrower who's willing to confront the sheer stupidity of the Angry Left. (We want her on that wall; we need her on that wall.)
- Speaking of sheer stupidity, the 9/11 conspiracy peddlers "Loose Change" are exposed over at Hot Air. These videos are a bit long, but must-sees.
Posted by bill at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)
August 01, 2006
An idle Tuesday morning
A friend of mine emailed this video a few days back -- the emergency call placed by Kevin Cosgrove, who was on the 105th floor of the South WTC tower on 9/11. I debated for a bit whether to post it. It's among the most disturbing, heart-wrenching videos I've ever seen, but truth be told I think scenes of 9/11 can indeed be played too much. Nonetheless I kept coming back to two words: "never forget".
Never forget, either, our Islamist enemies having a good chuckle in their caves watching this footage, as though they were reminiscing about some fraternity prank. Or how liberals have approached this war.
Posted by bill at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)
Spontaneous human combustion...
...hasn't happened yet in NYC, but anyone who's trekked in an around the sweltering bowels [note: yuck] of midtown Manhattan knows it might not be too far off. To quote Roosevelt E. Roosevelt:
It's hot. Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest things is my shorts.
I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking."
[Well, can you tell me what it feels
like.] "Fool, it's hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It's damn hot! I saw--It's so damn hot, I saw little guys, their orange robes burst into flames."
Posted by bill at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)
