Posted 9/28/2002 12:20:48 PM by Edward Driscoll
HAMMER TIME: Charles Krauthammer on Al Gore's recent speech against Bush:

The New York Times reports that Gore wrote the speech "after consulting a fairly far-flung group of advisers that included Rob Reiner." Current U.S. foreign policy is the combined product of Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz and the president. Meanwhile, the pretender is huddling with Meathead.

Found via Little Green Footballs.

Posted 9/28/2002 11:44:20 AM by Edward Driscoll
ANTI-SEMETIC STUPIDITY: The New York Times has an article titled "New Jersey Laureate Refuses to Resign Over Poem". The poem, written by Amiri Baraka, the poet laureate of New Jersey, includes these eye-rolling lines:

Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers To stay home that day Why did Sharon stay away?

Apparently, there's some controversy over who can fire Baraka, and naturally, he's not resigning:

"I'm not resigning," Mr. Baraka said at his home in Newark, vowing to fight removal. "Let's see if they can do that."

Please--let's. UPDATE: Joanne Jacobs has some thoughts.

Posted 9/28/2002 11:25:09 AM by Edward Driscoll
CONNECT THE DOTS: Reuters says that Turkish paramilitary police have seized more than 33 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and detained two men accused of smuggling the material, in the southern province of Sanliurfa, which borders Syria and is about 155 miles from the Iraqi border. Over to you, Teddy, Tom, and Al.

Posted 9/28/2002 11:22:02 AM by Edward Driscoll
REBEL WITH A CAUSE: "The real Hollywood rebel is the only unabashed Republican out there, uber-nerd Ben Stein," according to Michael Long in National Review Online.

Posted 9/26/2002 11:12:17 AM by Edward Driscoll
BUT WHAT DOES SHARON STONE THINK? Matt Drudge links to information about a "blistering" memo written by Barbra Streisand to remind Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt that "Saddam Hussein did not bomb the World Trade Center". Incidentally, the above headline is courtesy of another classic Barbra moment:

Clinton brought Sharon Stone to a summit meeting in Vancouver and later held a conference on health care for Barbra Streisand and friends. When Barbra learned that Sharon visited the President more often than she herself did, she reportedly fumed: “What does Sharon Stone know about policy?”

About as much as you do, Babs.

Posted 9/26/2002 10:32:50 AM by Edward Driscoll
UN-NATTY DREADS: The Washington Post says, School Bans Dreadlocked Student. Whether you agree with the decision of the Whitefish Montana High School officials or not (they're also banning mohawks, incidentally), I love this sentence:

"It's not really my hair," said 15-year-old Kisteesha Lanegan, who hasn't been to school since the first day of class. "They're trying to mold me into a person that I'm not. My hair is totally irrelevant to education at the school."

Yes, they are trying to mold you into the person you're not, Kisteesha. That's the whole purpose of school, which both students and their teachers seem to be forgetting. James Bowman addresses a similar trend away from molding students in higher education, called "Be Yourself, Get Into College".

Posted 9/26/2002 02:05:23 AM by Edward Driscoll
"SEMIOTICALLY SPEAKING", (That's easy for you to say, Reason), "this is the most inept administration in years. Either that, or its art department is trying to tell us something." But you know--that Information Awareness Office logo is pretty creepy.

Posted 9/26/2002 02:01:24 AM by Edward Driscoll
WHY DO MEN LOVE DR. STRANGELOVE? My essay on the subject is now on the Blogcritics site.

Posted 9/26/2002 01:47:49 AM by Edward Driscoll
WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORIST PLOT FOILED, by the Southern California police.

Posted 9/26/2002 01:18:28 AM by Edward Driscoll
HIS AUDIENCE IS BECOMING MORE SELECTIVE: Like Spinal Tap, The Sabertooth Journal says that Jesse Jackson just doesn't pack 'em in like he used to.

Posted 9/25/2002 10:23:55 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE MONEY 'GRAPH: James Lileks sums it up:

Two Democrats, two views. Senator Miller’s comments focussed my mind the nation, on a future I’d like to avoid. Senator Daschle’s comments focussed my mind on Senator Daschle.

Posted 9/25/2002 08:58:26 PM by Edward Driscoll
DE-HOOVER FBI HQ? John McCaslin says that a growing chorus on Capitol Hill is demanding that J. Edgar Hoover's name be removed from FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Posted 9/25/2002 05:42:51 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE WORK ACT: It doesn't.

Posted 9/25/2002 04:26:30 PM by Edward Driscoll
HOW OUT OF TOUCH IS ACADEMIA? Very, according to Michael Medved.

Posted 9/25/2002 12:57:50 PM by Edward Driscoll
LOSING IT: Maureen Dowd already has. David Broder is on his way, according to the Brothers Judd.

Posted 9/25/2002 12:43:07 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE IMPORTANCE OF IRAQ. Jay Bryant writes:

Saddam is arguably the most dangerous man to rule in Iraq since Nebuchadnezzar. He is megalomaniacal and ruthless. He invades his neighbors whenever he gets the chance, and for no good reason, since none of them pose any real threat to him. He builds weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons, which he has no qualms about using against people he dislikes, foreign or domestic. He is in the process of assembling a nuclear arsenal and a flock of missiles, which could easily reach, say, Jerusalem, a city in which pious Jews still recite the 2600-year-old Lamentations of Jeremiah over the capture of their nation by Nebuchadnezzar.

Posted 9/25/2002 12:22:43 PM by Edward Driscoll
IT'S AN ELECTION YEAR, which means that everyone's outraged about being outraged.

Posted 9/25/2002 12:14:38 PM by Edward Driscoll
BLOGSPOT SERVERS AT RISK OF CRASHING, thanks to all of the hits that Group Captain Mandrake has recieved over this post, a letter from Germany. So click over and read it, while you can!

Posted 9/25/2002 11:58:10 AM by Edward Driscoll
UK SOLD NUCLEAR BOMB MATERIAL TO IRAN, according to Little Green Footballs.

Posted 9/25/2002 11:52:20 AM by Edward Driscoll
RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: An Islamic court in the UK has given a death sentence for blasphemy to a gay playwright who wrote a play depicting Christ as a homosexual.

Posted 9/25/2002 11:49:17 AM by Edward Driscoll
MY REVIEW OF CITIZEN KANE ON DVD IS UP, on the Blogcritics site.

Posted 9/25/2002 11:37:25 AM by Edward Driscoll
THE SECRET REASON BEHIND WAR WITH IRAQ UNCOVERED.

Posted 9/25/2002 11:28:56 AM by Edward Driscoll
HIS MOTOR IS ALWAYS RUNNING: Randy Moss spent the night in jail facing a possible felony charge after being arrested for allegedly pushing a traffic agent a half-block with his car. The arrest could keep the Minnesota Vikings' star receiver out of the team's game Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. What's really astonishing is Moss's previous rap sheet, as this Yahoo Sports article demonstrates:

He squirted a referee with a water bottle in 1999 -- which resulted in a $25,000 fine from the NFL -- and verbally abused corporate sponsors on the team bus in 2001. The last infraction resulted in the team fining him $15,000 and forcing him to attend anger management classes. He had a scholarship revoked by Notre Dame in 1995 after being charged with beating up a high school classmate in Rand, W.Va. Moss pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He was allowed to defer most of the sentence until after his freshman year in college. He went to Florida State, where he redshirted his freshman season but was kicked off the team for violating probation by smoking marijuana. That got him a one-year jail sentence, which was reduced to about one month of time served. Virtually out of chances, Moss walked on at Marshall and quickly became a star. The 25-year-old Moss is in his fifth year with the Vikings and is the team's highest-paid player. He signed an eight-year, $75 million contract last year.

And now he's allegedly pushed a traffic agent half-block with his car. Nice to know that character and professionalism are alive and well in the NFL.

Posted 9/24/2002 09:19:48 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE PHOTO: I realize I'm beating a dead horse, because Glenn Reynolds already linked to this photo of MacArthur and Hirohito. But it's still very much worthy of examination if you haven't seen it--it really brings home what our goal in Iraq should be: regime change, followed by society change.

Posted 9/24/2002 05:26:32 PM by Edward Driscoll
PAGING ALEX P. KEATON: Berkeley study finds youths more conservative than parents.

Posted 9/24/2002 03:34:37 PM by Edward Driscoll
JUST SUE, BABY! Judge orders new trial in the Oakland Raiders' lawsuit against the NFL.

Posted 9/24/2002 03:25:53 PM by Edward Driscoll
MY KIND OF MULTICULTURALISM: We took friends staying with us for a few days to Sushi Expo in San Jose. Ala The Blues Brothers, I've taken to calling it "Bob's Country Sushi Bunker". What an astonishing restaurant--the menu is the usual sushi, sashimi and tempura fare, but the music is strictly country and western. The two young girls sitting next to us were Jennifer Lopez clones. A large plastic James Brown doll stared back at us from the bar. Regular patrons have their own deluxe chopsticks, kept behind the bar. (The oddest touch? The sushi, prominently displayed on little boats that run through a water-filled track at the bar, is individually wrapped in cellophane. Safe sushi is apparently their motto.) We once met the winner of a Kenny Rogers look-a-like contest (no really!) there. And he did have his own chopsticks.

Posted 9/24/2002 03:11:00 PM by Edward Driscoll
NFL HALL OF FAME CENTER DEAD: Mike Webster, legendary center of the Pittsburgh Steelers during their Super Bowl years, dead at 50.

Posted 9/24/2002 03:05:37 PM by Edward Driscoll
ENRON SHRUGGED: USA Today says that recent business scandals have lead executives to dust off their copies of Ayn Rand 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged.

Posted 9/24/2002 02:41:38 PM by Edward Driscoll
TURN ON THE MONEY SPIGOTS: Larry Kudlow says "It’s Up to Greenspan".

Posted 9/24/2002 12:53:20 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE U.S./FONZIE CONNECTION: Jonah Goldberg's latest essay is called "Not Getting America". He writes:

my point is simply this: Saying we rule the world doesn't make it so. We don't rule the world. We lead the world-this is a huge distinction to people who live outside the intellectual menagerie of an Ivy League English department. If the coolest guy in school wears a leather jacket and all the other kids follow suit, that's hardly the same thing as the coolest guy forcing them at gunpoint to buy a leather jacket from him.

It's actually a very good piece--do check it out.

Posted 9/24/2002 12:48:01 PM by Edward Driscoll
RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Muslim terrorists stormed a crowded Hindu temple in western India today and opened fire at random, killing at least 23 people.

Posted 9/24/2002 12:45:10 PM by Edward Driscoll
U.S. MAY NIX RANDOM AIRPORT CHECKS, according to ABCNews.com:

A spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents major airlines, said the random checks are unnecessary. "Random gate screening doesn't really add any additional measure of security," Michael Wascom said via cell phone from Tampa International Airport, where he was about to be screened at the gate. He said more sophisticated passenger and baggage screening makes random gate screening unnecessary. Loy, who became head of the TSA after his predecessor was accused of ignoring passenger convenience, said he wants to balance security with customer service. He has already gotten rid of the requirement that passengers be asked questions about whether they have kept a close eye on their baggage. He has also decided to allow passengers to carry drinks through security checkpoints. He calls the random gate screenings "hassle checks."

Posted 9/24/2002 12:42:11 PM by Edward Driscoll
JESSE JACKSON WANTS A MOVIE CENSORED: Why? because Barbershop made a joke or two at his expense.

Posted 9/24/2002 01:48:18 AM by Edward Driscoll
NEW REVIEW UP ON BLOGCRITICS: My review of Blogcritics: Behind the Glass By Howard Massey, a collection of interviews with top music producers, is now online.

Posted 9/23/2002 05:33:57 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE DAILY WHINE: Courtesy of Terrell Owens of the San Francisco 49ers, of course.

Posted 9/23/2002 05:24:34 PM by Edward Driscoll
SOMEWHERE, HAROLD STASSEN IS LAUGHING: "Gore in California Speech Warns Against Iraq Attack". InstaPundit rounds up the Blogosphere's reaction

Posted 9/23/2002 05:22:25 PM by Edward Driscoll
RADIO FREE NUREMBERG: Nationally syndicated radio columnist Andy Martin thinks we should invade Israel instead of Iraq. "Israel is the more dangerous outlaw state," says Martin.

Posted 9/23/2002 01:59:12 PM by Edward Driscoll
LET IT BE COMING TO DVD? It sounds like Paul McCartney is working on it, which would be a good thing: In between all of the inter-band squabbling on the documentary, there's also some wonderful music, some of the last made by the band, and their last live performance.

Posted 9/23/2002 01:46:18 PM by Edward Driscoll
REEFER MADNESS: Stephen Green says that a Mill Valley KFC restaurant employee was arrested after a customer received a little something extra with his chicken dinner... Two bags of marijuana. Funny how you never did see Colonel Sanders and Timothy Leary photographed together.

Posted 9/22/2002 11:27:20 AM by Edward Driscoll
ALL RIGHT ALREADY: "Alfred Regnery's Publishing House Goes for the Conservative Gusto, and Leaves The Left Behind", says The Washington Post.

Posted 9/22/2002 09:37:42 AM by Edward Driscoll
P.J. O'ROURKE VISITS EGYPT: "Hatred between Palestinians and Israelis abides. Arab-led Islamic fundamentalism destabilizes nations from Algeria to the Philippines. The threat of terrorist attacks by al Qaeda continues. Also, our car needs gas. It is important to understand Arab culture." O'Rourke writes:

To blame the existence of al Qaeda on poverty like Egypt's is a slur on the poor. The September 11 attackers were taking flying lessons in America, not rug-weaving lessons in a village on the Nile. Yet there must be some economic, or political-economic, roots to the burning —flaming, bursting, exploding—bush of current events. Fouad Ajami, the author of The Dream Palace of the Arabs and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, has written, "Atta struck at us because he could not take down Mr. Mubarak's world, because in the burdened, crowded land of the Egyptian dictator there is very little offered younger Egyptians save for the steady narcotic of anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism." Narcotics aside, this "very little offered" raises a question about Arab culture. Why has Egypt—and the whole Arab world—made relatively little economic progress? Even the oil-flush Gulf states have not become rich the way we understand rich in the West. Kuwait is little more than an oil spigot with people sitting on top, and all they have to do is turn the tap. But Kuwait's per capita GDP is $15,000, whereas utterly resourceless Luxembourg's is $36,400.