Posted 1/11/2003 12:09:15 AM by Edward Driscoll
OLDIES ACTS DRIVE CONCERT TICKET SALES: Aren't new rock acts embarrassed to sell less tickets than Cher and Neil Diamond ??

Posted 1/10/2003 09:58:32 PM by Edward Driscoll
MEDIA WERE THE REAL CHRISTMAS GRINCH: Dave Kopel writes that "Despite the gloomy headlines and tone of these stories, the facts from the articles told another story":

Christmas sales set an all-time record, up 1.5 percent from last year's best-ever sales. The increase in sales was the lowest in 30 years, but a small increase from a record high is still a new record high. Since inflation was about 2 percent, the population is slightly larger and the number of post-Thanksgiving shopping days fewer in 2002 than in 2001, an accurate headline and article might have said "Christmas sales stable," instead of the overly gloomy picture painted by most of the media.

InstaPundit agrees (or more accurately, Kopel agrees with InstaPundit--since InstaPundit's post is dated... the day after Christmas).

Posted 1/10/2003 09:35:57 PM by Edward Driscoll
AT $41.00, IT'S THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE HAMBURGER, and Asparagirl has the skinny on it. Too bad The Four Seasons stopped serving their $8.00 baked potato. It would be the perfect compliment.

Posted 1/10/2003 08:00:07 PM by Edward Driscoll
HITLER AS FRUSTRATED ARTIST: Speaking of dictators (as we were yesterday), Rex Reed likes the new film Max, James Bowman doesn't. (But both agree that the best reason to see it is Noah Taylor's apparently riveting performance.) If that topic doesn't give you pause for thought... Coming soon: Hitler as frustrated homosexual.

Posted 1/10/2003 07:24:08 PM by Edward Driscoll
DIDION AND SONTAG: Andrew Sullivan slices, dices, and Fisks Joan Didion and Susan Sontag, and finds their dated rhetoric wanting.

Posted 1/10/2003 07:13:59 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE PARTY OF THE UNBELIEVERS (And no, I don't mean Objectivists): OpinionsGalore has some thoughts on why newscasters have been quick to identify religion within the GOP, "but never reported the Democratic voting and policy activism of those without religion".

Posted 1/10/2003 03:55:17 PM by Edward Driscoll
WHERE'S JOE BIDEN WHEN YOU NEED HIM? James Taranto describes Gray Davis's State of the State speech as "Great Moments in Euphemism":

California's Gov. Gray Davis delivered his State of the State speech Wednesday, an address "seen by many as the most important of his career," according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The speech bore a remarkable resemblance to President Clinton's first State of the Union address. These two quotes come from Hotline Last Call, a subscription-only newsletter from National Journal:

Davis: "When governors speak from this podium, they ordinarily discuss a range of issues. But these are not ordinary times. We have one overriding task before us. We must come together to create new jobs and get our economy back on track." Clinton: "When presidents speak to the Congress and the nation from this podium, they typically comment on the full range of challenges and opportunities that face us. But these are not ordinary times. For all the many tasks that require our attention, one calls on us to focus, unite, and act. Together, we must make our economy thrive once again."

By the way, speaking of recycling, Davis has called for raising taxes to balance the state's budget, something that certainly did wonders for George H.W. Bush and Herbert Hoover's careers.

Posted 1/10/2003 02:10:53 PM by Edward Driscoll
TWO SILICON VALLEY ENGINEERS INDICTED for allegedly stealing American technology for Red China. They are the first to be charged under a 1996 economic espionage law.

Posted 1/10/2003 01:18:34 PM by Edward Driscoll
NEXT TIME SOMEBODY DREDGES UP THE HOARY OLD "BABY KILLERS" RIFF FROM THE 1960s about American soldiers, show 'em this photo on OpinionsGalore.

Posted 1/10/2003 11:52:19 AM by Edward Driscoll
SPORTS BLOGGING: William Sulik has a pretty good preview of this weekend's Jets versus Raiders AFC playoff game. My take? Put your money on Heidi.

Posted 1/10/2003 11:36:42 AM by Edward Driscoll
TURNING THE TABLES: Samizdata.net looks at self-defense against would-be carjackers. I love this paragraph--but read the whole thing:

When a propagandist tells you that you shouldn't rely on anecdotes and that it's a more complicated issue, that means that the people he's arguing against are winning the anecdote war and have succeeded in simplifying the issue in a way that he doesn't like. He's trying to complicate it by adding his argument to the one that is winning.

Exactly. And hopefully Samizdata can turn a few tables of their own in England. UPDATE: On a related note, check out 74-year-old J.C. Adams, an extremely brave Georgia convenience store owner.

Posted 1/9/2003 11:33:31 PM by Edward Driscoll
ANWR RETURNS. For our previous coverage on the Bush administration's attempt to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and its persistent and predictable foes, click here.

Posted 1/9/2003 11:23:18 PM by Edward Driscoll
ATLAS SHRUGGED, SOUTH AMERICAN STYLE: Too bad Ayn Rand isn't around to see this.

Posted 1/9/2003 11:18:11 PM by Edward Driscoll
CALLING CENTRAL CASTING: Right after 9/11, National Review Online started a column titled "Kumbaya Watch", which ran for a few months on their Web site. You can practically hear this person playing that tune on her acoustic guitar. Incidentally, great quote posted by one of Charles Johnson's readers:

"Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help out that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, 'he that is not with me is against me.'''

George Orwell, 1942

Posted 1/9/2003 11:05:55 PM by Edward Driscoll
RADICAL CHIC AND MAO-MAOING THE MAO PRINT: Thanks to the Brothers Judd and InstaPundit for linking to my piece (below) on Francis Ford Coppola and Chairman Mao. (Be sure to check out the Brothers Judd post--they have a link to an audio interview with Walter Murch). For more recent Hollywood idiotarian action, check out today's Bleat by James Lileks. UPDATE: I should have included The Money Line from Lileks' Bleat about Scorsese, which InstaPundit highlighted. It perfectly sums Coppola and Mao as well:

Maybe directors like dictators because they understand the desire to have final cut.

At least Kubrick had the good sense to admire a more historical dictator, who had less technology available to slaughter people with.

Posted 1/9/2003 11:00:20 PM by Edward Driscoll
CONYERS AND RANGEL: the Happy Fun Pundit interview. By the way, HFP are celebrating their first anniversary as a blog! Click on over to join in the fun--and see the stone knives and bearskins their blog began on.

Posted 1/9/2003 11:47:09 AM by Edward Driscoll

MAO AND THE GODFATHER: Instead of my usual urbane voice of reason, allow me to risk sounding like Floyd R. Turbo for a moment. I was recently sent a copy of The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film, written by Michael Ondaatje, to review for Blogcritics. It's a series of interviews with Murch on the artistic choices that he made when editing the classic films he's worked on over the years, including Francis Ford Coppola's best films--The Godfather movies, The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now. Those are all staggering movies (The Conversation is criminally underrated), and Murch is, without a doubt, one of the most talented editors to emerge in the "new Hollywood" of the 1970s. And it appears to be a well-written, very readable book, which, while I haven't finished digesting it (I'll post a proper review of it on Blogcritics--this isn't it), I can easily recommend to any film buff. But the photo above, which I scanned from the book, "knocked me for six", as the English would say. Here's Francis Ford Coppola, at the height of his powers, shortly after making his fortune from the first two Godfather movies. It's taken, I believe, in Coppola's Napa Valley mansion, in what I assume is either his dining room, or perhaps a conference room. In any case, notice the Warhol Mao print, and its placement directly behind Coppola, who it's safe to assume always sat at the head of the table. It was clearly hung there to establish some sort of "we're both powerful men" relationship. Perhaps (and I'm being really charitable here), Coppola was making a statement about how dictatorships are powerless before the power of mass media (Warhol of course, cranked these prints out like mad). But probably not. Imagine dining with someone who had a print of Hitler, Stalin, or Castro (heck, that last one is probably still hanging in more than a few unrepentant leftists' homes). Wouldn't you have some second thoughts about your host? What is it with the left and their love of evil men who have the murders of tens of millions of people on their hands? Is it the desire to seek some sort of weird, Palpatine-like father figure? Is it a belief that all of the evidence against their heroes is slanderous? (I'd pull off an Orwellian, "seeking the love of Big Brother" reference here, but that would be awfully cliched.) Or that the genocide they commit--all those broken eggs---is justified? Remember this photo next time Sean Penn goes to Baghdad. Or Spielberg to Havana. UPDATE: Here's the review of the Murch book. Surprisingly--and enjoyably--free of overt politics, with the obvious exception of the above photo.

Posted 1/9/2003 11:20:01 AM by Edward Driscoll
THE BILL COSBY/SOUTH KOREA CONNECTION, as found by InstaPundit. (Editor's note: who's this Ed fellow Glenn keeps talking to? It's not me! (At least he's not talking to Jonah's couch.))

Posted 1/9/2003 10:54:17 AM by Edward Driscoll
AUSTIN BAY WRITES that "What the US Needs is a Liberal Hawk".

Posted 1/9/2003 10:50:55 AM by Edward Driscoll
"NOW FOR SOME NYT SMACKDOWN!" Opinions Galore has an opinion (not surprisingly) on the Grey Lady and Charles Pickering's resubmission to the Senate as a judicial nominee.

Posted 1/9/2003 10:38:59 AM by Edward Driscoll
SHAKEDOWN: Ward Connerly writes on how the NFL caved in to Johnnie Cochran.

Posted 1/9/2003 01:26:06 AM by Edward Driscoll
AN EXCELLENT ANALYSIS of Bush's economic plan by Bob Novak.

Posted 1/8/2003 10:45:46 PM by Edward Driscoll
THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER BIG APPLE BLOGGER BASH (try saying--or even typing--that ten times fast!):

Posted 1/8/2003 03:51:00 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE VAST RIGHT WING MEDIA CONSPIRACY: It's even more powerful than we first thought!

Posted 1/8/2003 02:56:52 PM by Edward Driscoll
WHICH IS THE WORLD'S FASTEST GROWING RELIGION? The answer may surprise you.

Posted 1/8/2003 02:15:13 PM by Edward Driscoll
GROUP CAPTAIN MANDRAKE IS IN LOVE. Of course, if the object of his affections reciprocates, then we'll talk!

Posted 1/8/2003 02:12:13 PM by Edward Driscoll
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN Geraldine Ferraro and Neil Cavuto spar? Naturally, when Ferraro can't answer Cavuto's questions about her assumptions regarding taxes and policy, it gets personal.

Posted 1/8/2003 11:34:18 AM by Edward Driscoll
DAWN OLSEN WANTS STIMULATION--and a lot of it!

Posted 1/8/2003 11:13:03 AM by Edward Driscoll
JIMMY--AND THE NEW YORK TIMES--ONCE LIKED IT, TOO: When you hear Democrats tut-tutting President Bush's plan to reduce taxes on dividends, remember this article by Bruce Bartlett:

In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter made elimination of the double taxation of corporate profits a key campaign theme. "We presently tax corporate income when it's earned and we also tax dividends to shareholders," he said. "I would favor taxing income only once," Carter told Fortune magazine. When President Carter took office in 1977, he reiterated his goal of taxing corporate income only once and had the Treasury Department examine the issue. He received support from many voices of liberalism in this effort. For example, Americans for Democratic Action called for abolition of the corporate income tax at its convention in May. On September 11, the New York Times editorialized in favor of this action. Unfortunately, Carter failed to include any proposal for reducing or eliminating double taxation in his 1978 tax-reform plan. The reason, interestingly, appears to have been opposition from the Republican-leaning corporate community. According to an article by Robert Samuelson in the National Journal in September 1977, businesses basically killed the idea. According to Samuelson, corporate executives suddenly had a lot of problems with the idea of eliminating double taxation once confronted with its possible reality. Some worried about increased pressure to pay out dividends. This especially concerned small businesses that normally don't pay dividends. Executives also feared a loss of control over retained earnings, which they could invest as they chose. And they saw many specific tax breaks as better for them.

Bartlett says that "President Bush is right to try and relieve the double taxation and overtaxation of corporate income. Not only will it increase the economy's long-term growth potential, but it could provide short-run stimulus by boosting the stock market." And besides, he can point to Jimmy and the Times' blessing!

Posted 1/7/2003 09:32:31 PM by Edward Driscoll
MOVE 'EM OUT: Scott Ott reports that Bush has offered the Palestinians a new homeland. I rather like his choice of locations. But where does that leave moving Israel to Baja?

Posted 1/7/2003 08:52:00 PM by Edward Driscoll
WE WEREN'T PLANNING TO EAT THERE...now we're really not coming in! PETA, who never saw a PR stunt they didn't like, is boycotting Kentucky Fried Chicken. James Taranto writes:

"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Monday it is launching a boycott against KFC because of alleged animal-rights abuses by the chain of fried-chicken restaurants," the Associated Press reports. PETA's Web site devoted to the boycott declares that "chickens are inquisitive and interesting animals and are thought to be at least as intelligent as dogs or cats." Well, whatever. Does PETA really think its boycott is going to be effective? After all, how many animal-rights nuts chow down on Original Recipe drumsticks anyway? Besides, if chickens were so intelligent, they'd cross the road to get away from Colonel Sanders.

How do you protest a restaurant whose food you wouldn't eat in the first place?

Posted 1/7/2003 02:45:24 PM by Edward Driscoll
CAN'T SAY I BLAME HIM: Steven Den Beste really, really doesn't want the French supporting us in Iraq:

The British will come, and will be welcome. I will be proud to have them by our side and I know that our men in the theater will feel the same way. We will happily rely on them, and know that they won't let us down. But as to the French, WRONG. I do not want them anywhere near our men in combat; I do not trust their government in this and I do not want our men to be relying on French combat support, because it may vanish at a moment's notice on orders from Paris. I don't want their jets in the sky over our men, I don't want their ships near ours, and I don't want their soldiers within a hundred miles of ours on the ground. These are the people who, last March, offered jets to support Operation Anaconda and who, when issued orders to bomb a certain location during the heat of battle, refused to do so. We will not have a repeat of that. You don't get a second chance to leave our guys hanging their ***es in the breeze without support.

Hey, there's a reason why they're called the cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

Posted 1/7/2003 01:42:31 PM by Edward Driscoll
"TOO MUCH MERCY FOR PATTY MURRAY" says Brent Bozell:

Murray placed the apparently compassionate superstar terrorist on a higher moral plane than the United States. While Osama allegedly built hospitals and day care centers, “We have not done that. We haven’t been out in many of these countries helping them build infrastructure. How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that, rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?” The U.S. dumps billions of dollars in aid across the largely undemocratic Middle East every year. If Osama built a hospital, the U.S. rebuilt Afghanistan. Are we to believe that Sen. Murray…forgot? And how can you measure popularity in a tyranny? Gregg Herrington, a staff writer for the local newspaper, the Columbian, saw the gaffe as it happened. He reported the remarks the next day, and made sure readers knew that the Senator’s remarks were the real deal, transcribed from a recording. The newspaper was inundated by Internet interest when the Drudge Report posted the Murray story on December 20. Talk radio, led by Rush Limbaugh, hopped on. The Washington Times followed up. Fox News nibbled on the story in snippets on “Special Report with Brit Hume,” “The Beltway Boys,” and “Fox News Sunday.” But where were all those national media outlets that the liberals say are now dominated by the right wing? Where were those broadcast networks that had reported so dutifully every (mis)statement by our former majority leader? ABC, CBS, and NBC had nothing to say on Murray’s remarks, nothing at all. It popped up on NPR and CNN chat shows when GOP politicians brought it up, but hosts left it hanging. What about our great print outlets? There was nothing in the news pages of The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, or USA Today. They could devote their covers to Trent Lott, but Time and Newsweek had no room anywhere for a mention of the Murray gaffe. Ditto, U.S. News and World Report. The only liberal media outlet that noticed was The Washington Post, with a couple of paragraphs in a political roundup on Sunday, December 22. Then on Christmas Day, the Post’s editorial page mustered a remarkably lame defense, headlined “Inept but Entitled to Her Say.” The Posties called the reaction to Murray “the massive overreaction to perfectly useful ideas that have been badly stated or misinterpreted.” Despite admitting Murray’s facts were “very wrong,” they claimed “it ought to be possible to discuss America’s image in the Islamic world, and the kinds of mistakes the United States has made there.” The problem with the Post argument is that Washington-state Republicans are now asking for precisely that – a discussion with Sen. Murray about her goofball theories – and she’s not responding.

Maybe she could tag-team with Michael Moore.

Posted 1/6/2003 11:27:17 PM by Edward Driscoll

LAW PROFESSOR, BLOGGER, SITH LORD, MUSICIAN: In the January issue of Poptronics magazine, I have an article titled "Virtual Graffiti" (why yes, I am a Led Zeppelin fan!) on home recording that features several quotes from an interview I conducted in the fall with Glenn Reynolds, the Dark Lord of the Sith Blogosphere. You know, other than that strange moment when I somehow had an asthma attack as he pinched his fingers together and mentioned "these aren't the questions you're looking for", he's really a much nicer guy than his recent photos would indicate! Seriously though--if you've ever thought about using your PC to make your own music, or if you'd just like to read about what Professor Reynolds does during the 30 seconds or so a day when he's not blogging or teaching law, this article might be a great place to start. Pick up a copy or ten at your newsstand today!

Posted 1/6/2003 07:34:11 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE SHIZZOLATER: Ever wonder what this Blog would sound like if Snoop Doggy Dog instead of yours truly was the host? Yeah I know--me neither. But now you can find out! Here's some of the text on our home page...

Links to all of those great Bloggers, and many more can be found on the Links page, which is a great jumping off point for a variety of sites, on all sorts of topics, as well as classic articles by other authors that have "that certain something extra". The Articles and Essays pages not surprisingly, link to articles and essays of mine that are available on the ‘Net. These pages also link to material that's exclusive to this site. The FAQs and About Me pages explain everything you ever wanted to know about me—and more. (Probably lots more!) And the Photo pages allow you to see what I look when I'm not sitting behind a desk and typing. For easy searches of all of the material on this site, click on the Google-powered Search page.

And here's that text run through the Snoop Doggy Dog Shizzolater (yes, I censored some of the naughtier words, prude that I am:

Links izzall of those bomb diggity Bloggers, 'n many mo' can be found on da Links page, which is a bomb diggity jumping off point fo' a variety of sites, on izzall sorts of topics, as well as classic articles by other authors that has "that certain something extra" n' s**t. The Articles 'n Essays pages not surprisingly, link articles 'n essays of mine that are available on da ‘Net n' sh*t. These pages also link material that's exclusive this site." The FAQs 'n About Me pages explain everything yo' ass ever wanted know 'bout me—'n mo' n' shit. (Probably lots mo'!) And da Photo pages allow yo' *ss see what I look when I'm not sitting behind a desk 'n typing." For easy searches of izzall of da material on this site, click on da Tha G-double-O-G-L-E-powered Search page, know what I'm sayin'?

As Orwell wrote:

'You haven't a real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston,' he said almost sadly. 'Even when you write it you're still thinking in Oldspeak. I've read some of those pieces that you write in the Times occasionally. They're good enough, but they're translations. In your heart you'd prefer to stick to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of meaning. You don't grasp the beauty of the destruction of words.

Ahh, but I do...

Posted 1/6/2003 04:23:20 PM by Edward Driscoll
WHY NOT THE GOP? Robert A. George asks "Why would a black person even think about becoming a Republican?", and answers his own question with:

Greater involvement of blacks within the Republican Party can do the same. Both parties would have to respond to the concerns of the black voter - on a host of issues. Both parties would have to compete for votes. No longer a one-party voting bloc, African-Americans could then take find pride in the knowledge of having power and influence in the broad spectrum of the nation's political system.

Read the whole thing. (Link found via The Brothers Judd.)

Posted 1/6/2003 03:41:15 PM by Edward Driscoll
PENN VS. STATE: Penn Jillette, the taller and vocal half of Penn and Teller, gets, err...tweaked...by "federal leather-sniffers" (his words) at (I believe) McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Mr. Jillette is not happy. (Link found via Reason's "Hit & Run" blog.)

Posted 1/6/2003 01:36:31 PM by Edward Driscoll
SCREWED BY HER MAJESTY: CPO Sparkey, part of Team Stryker, writes "If you wonder why you don't read more about good Muslims fighting the "War on Terror," consider the experiences of one Reda Hassaine as related by Jake Tapper in his article The Spy Who Came in From the Mosque". I'd like to think we'd treat our ex-spies better, but I honestly don't know if we would. But we'd better, if we hope to receive, as Sparkey writes, a "flood of Muslim volunteers to help rid Islam of the murdering tyrants."

Posted 1/6/2003 12:16:34 PM by Edward Driscoll
COMING TO AN ISLAMOFACIST DICTATOR NEAR YOU: Thousands of US troops are heading for the Gulf.

Posted 1/6/2003 12:14:36 PM by Edward Driscoll
COMING TO A BIG APPLE NEAR YOU: "New York Wins 2004 GOP Convention".

Posted 1/6/2003 12:13:30 PM by Edward Driscoll
"HELEN THOMAS SHOULD NOT HAVE A WHITE HOUSE PRESS PASS", says Kathryn Jean Lopez on National Review Online's "Corner" blog. I agree. She's gone far beyond reporting to a weird combination of proselytizing and hectoring--but the boohooing that would occur from all corners of the "conservative" (snort, chuckle, guffaw) press if she was ever denied a press pass would far outweigh the hassle of her usual loaded questions. And Ari Fleischer sounds like he can handle himself pretty well around her.

Posted 1/5/2003 10:19:07 PM by Edward Driscoll
RICH LOWRY LOOKS AT racial parody in the NFL.

Posted 1/5/2003 01:21:36 PM by Edward Driscoll
BRITAIN'S GUN BAN AND INCREASING GUN CRIME: Group Captain Mandrake has some thoughts.

Posted 1/5/2003 01:19:36 PM by Edward Driscoll
SGT. STRYKER has an important safety tip when it comes to depleted uranium. We should all (or, more or less half of the population, should) heed his advice.

Posted 1/5/2003 01:15:36 PM by Edward Driscoll
NON-NUCLEAR EMP? Hidden within a Steven Den Beste essay on our upcoming war with Iraq, entitled "Whither Surprise?" is this little jaw-dropper:

I also think it is highly likely that we will turn out to have a significant new capability to use non-nuclear means to generate ElectroMagnetic Pulses (EMP), for purposes of destroying inadequately shielded semiconductors and other electronics. That's never been used in any significant way in war before, and this may be the first. We might well demonstrate the ability to immobilize an entire column of vehicles with a single airburst which harms no one. Even an army as obsolescent as that of Iraq relies heavily on transistors. If we turn out to have the ability to destroy transistors in a wide area, we could turn large formations of very expensive equipment into inanimate junk very rapidly. Such non-nuclear EMP weapons would be particularly interesting because they would cause virtually no casualties.

That's just staggering. Read Den Beste's essay for other, slightly less-staggering surprises that we may have up our sleeves, to be put on the table, fairly shortly.