Video:

There you have it. Straight from the donkey's mouth.

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:24 PM | Permalink | |

The editors of The Review have asked me to write another column for them (I had a guest editorial in March of this year), this time on the election. Let's hope they don't edit it too much!

It will appear in print tomorrow across campus, and I'll link to the online edition.

I also did an interview for one of their news articles, so I'll link that as well, as I got the impression it was going to be their lead article on the election.

UPDATE: Changed the time on this post to preserve comments.

Excerpt of my editorial:

This country is facing a crisis of leadership. We are coming to a fork in the road. A choice lies before us.

The choice may not seem clear, but upon closer inspection, there is only one road this country can embark upon. We must continue down the path of Republican leadership. The country cannot afford otherwise.

The Democrats' "alternative" is nothing but dressed-up rhetoric, while Republicans have shown that they can take the difficult road and succeed. What the national issues come down to is how the Republicans have acted, and how the Democrats claim they will act.

Here's the link to the whole thing.

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:11 PM | Permalink | |

CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A quarter century after the Reagan revolution and a dozen years after Republicans vaulted into control of Congress, a new CNN poll finds most Americans still agree with the bedrock conservative premise that, as the Gipper put it, "government is not the answer to our problems -- government is the problem."

The poll released Friday also showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans perceive, correctly, that the size and cost of government have gone up in the past four years, when Republicans have had a grip on the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House.

This is one of the reasons the Republicans are doing so bad. It isn't true that people are running to the Democratic Party en masse. They're just sick of the GOP not being fiscally conservative. Unfortunately, I don't think that voting for the POG (Party of Government) is going bring better fiscal times.

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:33 PM | Permalink | |

Looks like the News-Journal does have some sense after all, as they endorsed Ferris Wharton for Attorney General today:

Ferris Wharton has the experience needed for the job. He knows the reach and limitations of the law. He knows how Delaware's courts work and don't work. And, as his history shows, he knows how to keep an eye on the professional bureaucrats and politicians who might be tempted to abuse the system.

Ferris Wharton should be Delaware's next attorney general.

Posted by Ryan S. at 1:09 PM | Permalink | |

My heroes this week are the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. They are helping to build both a physical and a virtual fence across part of the Arizona/Mexico border:

"We're helping our Border Patrol agents do their job," Bush said before the signing, noting the bill is "an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders."

But months before the Secure Fence Act was passed by Congress, the MCDC decided to take border security into its own hands. In May, the group barb-wired a 10-mile stretch of border on another Arizona ranch.

"If the government won't build it, we're a self-governing people, we need to step up and do it," Hair said.

Utilizing high-tech gadgetry straight out of a "James Bond" movie, the Minuteman's latest project is a .9-mile-long barrier designed to be an early detection and warning system to aid the U.S. Border Patrol in its fight against illegal immigration.

"We're trying to demonstrate that you can have an extremely effective, multi-tiered approach to the problem of illegal immigrants coming across the border, and we're trying to show that you can combine technology with just a good old-fashioned tall fence," said Peter Kunz, project manager for the Minuteman fence system.

My hack this week is James Webb, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate for some really ribald stuff found in his novels. Now, you can write whatever you want, but Webb really proved himself dumb because you don't write stuff like that if you might be engaged in public office in the future (see also: Scooter Libby).

Wizbang:

I seem to remember hearing there was some embarrassing stuff in Webb's novels a while back, but didn't hear any specifics and had forgotten about it. These excerpts are very graphic, and go way beyond "embarrassing."

I wonder if Allen will take some grief for bringing them up now, in the final days of the campaign. Whatever criticism Allen gets has to be far outweighed by the content of those passages, though. There is a serious "ick" factor here. I think a lot of voters will just have to ask themselves if they want to elect a senator with such creepy thoughts running through his brain.

Note: This is the first post that I have composed with Firefox 2. Love the built in spell check!

Posted by Ryan S. at 3:45 PM | Permalink | |

Yesterday, my absentee ballot came in the mail, and I opened it up, looked at, and decided who t vote for. Looking through thr boxes, the only thing I haven't decided on are the three Philadelphia referrendums. My big issues this cycle were going to be illegal immigration and earmark reform. In the end, my vote for Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick and Sen. Rick Santorum came down to what is really best for the country.

While I am more displeased than not about how the Republicans have governed over the past several years, should the Democrats gain control of either the House or the Senate, this country will be ripped apart.

I mentioned before that I wanted to keep Congress only to keep the Republican Party from sliding further to the left. I was wrong. The more I thought about it, the Lesson of 1998 kept coming to the forefront of my mind. If Jason and his ilk gain control of Congress in January, then this country will be torn apart by investigation after investigation and trial after trial. Most will turn out like the Clinton impeachment proceedings, politically motivated, damaging to the political enviroment in general, and mostly fruitless. I am sure that many of you remember the Plamegate/Libby thing that turned from anticipation of Dick Cheney on a silver platter- 'Fitzmas," to nothing. Imagine two years of that.

I think the Republicans deserve to lose. They have done nothing to merit my votes, but the Democrats have done everything to make me want to keep them out of power for the next two years.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:20 PM | Permalink | |

Here's some stuff found over the past couple days that is fairly interesting, but never got around to posting:

1. "How Reagan Would Handle Islamism" - from the Brussels Journal

"In dealing with Islamism in the present day, we make the very error that Reagan eschewed with the Communists. We proceed from Islamist premises — namely, that Islam is inherently peaceful; that it is inherently sane; that it is inherently just; and that it is a welcome and benign participant in our post-modern public square."

2. "A vote for civil war" - Diana West, The Washington Times

"What would a war policy "about us" look like? First, as a matter of national security, it would call for energy independence. It also would be designed to keep jihad out of the West, and emphatically not to bring democracy to lands of jihad. Such a mission would necessarily engage the military in the Middle East, destroying or neutralizing myriad Islamic threats, from Iran to al Qaeda, from Syria to Hezbollah. Maybe what I envision darkly doesn't sound like the kind of "limited war" the West has exclusively waged for a half century. But it doesn't sound like the kind of "limited war" the West has fought without definable end for half a century, either. And here I'm thinking back to Korea, the very first "limited war" fought to stalemate, not victory, by the last total warrior, Gen. Douglas MacArthur — at least until President Truman fired him for the general's not wanting to fight to stalemate."

3. "A Final Commercial Frontier" - Mark R. Whittington, The Washington Post

"If the Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program works, NASA will have a low-cost way to service the space station, freeing up money for exploration of the moon and Mars. Companies will get a lot of help developing the space vehicles of the future, which promise to lower the cost and increase the reliability of space travel. The help will consist of not just dollars but also the kind of expertise and access to facilities that only NASA can offer."

Enjoy.

Posted by Ryan S. at 1:13 PM | Permalink | |

My hero this week is Congressman Jim Saxton from New Jersey, chairman of Congress' Joint Economic Committee. While Senator Saxton seems to be pretty moderate, he is a voice of reason on a recent issue: the IRS taxing so-called 'virtual economies'- those economies which operate inside some Massively Mulitplater Online Ropleplaying Games (MMORGs). Saxton released a statement:

“There is a concern that the IRS might step forward with regulations that start taxing transactions that occur within virtual economies. This, I believe, would be a mistake,” Chairman Jim Saxton said today. In response to this concern, the staff of the Joint Economic Committee has begun an examination of the public policy issues related to virtual economies. A virtual economy is defined as the universe of transactions that occur within an online community, such as Second Life or World of Warcraft. These transactions include the sale of goods and services and take place entirely within virtual economies; there is no real-world or physical exchange. However, a real-world value can often be assigned to such transactions using exchange rates or other methods.

Based on existing law, if an individual generates cash income in U.S. dollars from transactions in virtual economies, the question may arise whether a tax is due on that real-world income. However, if the transaction takes place entirely within a virtual economy, then it seems there is no taxable event. Such distinctions should be addressed and resolved in a common-sense manner. Clearly, virtual economies represent an area where technology has outpaced the law. The goal of the forthcoming JEC study is to help lawmakers understand the issues involved and head off any premature attempt to impose a tax on virtual economies.

This makes sense to me, and absurd that the IRS would try to get its hands on videogame players' hard earned rupees (or whatever their called). Now if only we could extend that logic to the evil capital gains tax!
(hat tip: TaxProf)

My hack this week is a blast from the past, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr. Gorbachev compared America's plan for a border fence to his own Berlin Wall.

"You remember President Reagan standing in Berlin and saying, 'This wall should be torn down,'" said the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "Now the United States seems to be building almost the Wall of China between itself and this other nation with which it has been associated for many decades and has had cooperation and interaction with.

This is lunacy! The border fence is to keep unwanted people out, while the Berlin Wall was built primarily to keep unfree people in and under Soviet control! In fact, the border fence is the complete opposite.

UPDATE: 10/22 Fized Saxton's title. Thanks, Anon commenter!

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:17 AM | Permalink | |

Earlier today, I attended the "Teach-In" on University of Delaware's campus sponsored by a group called "Historians Against the War." The two main speakers where J. Kenneth Campbell, director of the University of Delaware's International Relations program, and former member of John Kerry's Veterans Against the War [in Vietnam], who said he was involved in "the same kinds of activity as John Kerry. Joining him was David Farber, a history professor at Temple University in Philadelphia (director of their graduate program). Farber was introduced as "an expert on the 1960s." This was organized by Susan Strassman of UD's History Depatrment.

In attendence were assorted faculty members, students, and local Newark moonbats, or "peaceniks," as they liked to be called. More than one person reminisced about the days of protesting Vietnam during the Q&A period. Lots of Marixism all around. More on that later.

David Farber delivered the opening remarks, and though he seemed to tried to sound rational, his real views came apparent as time when on. He said that there were "good reasons to believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." He then went on to say that the fact that the Bush Administration was wrong made the war more "problematic," and that "fear and anxieties were not a good reason to be at war." He eventually said that Iraq's dislike of the United States has it's roots in anti-British and anti-Israel feelings.

Then Professor Campbell spoke mainly on comparing Iraq to Vietnam. To him, they are so strongly linked in his mind that he has trouble differentiating betweent the two. He said the entire process of "quagmire" was "a process of deception and lies," from "deception getting in," to "denying atrocities," and "deception to block exit." Professor Campbell made the claim that Iraq was "entirely based on lies," and that "torture was system-wide in Iraq, Afghanistan, and certainly Guantanamo."

A UD history professor, whose name I didn't catch, seemed angry that the first two speakers were not angry enough. He went through a rundown of what caused the Iraq War in his mind. To him, Karl Rove was for the war because of "Bush's sagging political fortunes," and that Cheney and Rumsfeld wanted to "kick some ass" and build an oil pipeline. An oil pipeline. I'm sure Halliburton is working on it right now. He also said that the end of the war was "near to an unconditional defeat for the US."

One audience member, an older man, said that the stories of people spitting on veterans after Vietnam was "slander against the peace movement." The same man said fighting the war calls for some "risky behavior."

It was about here that I knew the real character of these people was going to come out soon. They can only hold their friendly demeanor for so long. After being pressed by an audience member, Professor David Farber yelled his response of "this Administration hasn't had to pay for the F***ING PRICE FOR SCREWING UP!"

After Farber's outburst, things picked up a little, with one audience member, idetifiying herself as a "public school administrator" calling the United States' support for Israel a "detriment to the UN." I don't think that even makes sense!

There was one thing that really stood out for me. I've heard stuff akin to this for years, but what I noticed this evening was the horribly eletist rhetoric by most of the speakers. One blamed the war on "American ignorance," another said that "anyone who could read knew" the Administration was lying. I find remarks like that incredibly offensive. There are plenty of rational arguments that can be made opposing the war, on both sides of the ideological spectrum. None of them were on display tonight.

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:07 PM | Permalink | |

Martin Fridson argues that we don't need a Manhattan Project or an Apollo program to wean us off of energy...we need a Longitude Prize.

In creating monetary spurs for innovation, Congress could consult with disinterested scientific experts to identify the most valuable technological milestones. Realistically, it would be impossible to depoliticize the process entirely. Corporations would be unable, however, to load the specs with lucrative make-work projects.

Summing up, the fact that the Manhattan and Apollo Projects accomplished their missions does not automatically make them worthy of emulation for present purposes. If something beyond the ordinary profit motive is required to bring forth the means for greater energy independence, the government should follow two principles:

1. Encourage scientific exploration on multiple fronts, rather than put a thumb on the scale for any single technology.
2. Spend the taxpayers' money on outputs, rather than inputs.

Read the whole thing at TCS Daily.

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:58 AM | Permalink | |

I am now a ripe old 62, writing to all of you from the not-as-distant-as-you-think future of 2048. Here is a timeline of sorts, begining in two years:

2008: Hillary Rhodam Clinton becomes president of the United States, in large part to nostalgic memories of her husband's administration and gross infighting in the GOP between social conservatives and libertarians. Bill Clinton becomes Secretary of State, which allows him to fulfill the dreams of Jimmy Carter, with the second most post-presidential power (after William Howard Taft), and also makes Hillary happy by keeping him mostly out of the country.

October 10, 2009: Dirty bomb attack on New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Detroit, and Dallas. Detonated by the NIJA (New Islamic Jihad ofAllah) Initial casualites in number in the hundred thousands, but radiation poison will kill close to 100 million in the next 30 years. After the bomb, Hillary maintains control of the government, and vows to renew the now mostly lapsed Global War On Terror.

October 11, 2009 The European Union halts all further immigration from Islamic nations.

October 18, 2009 A full military draft, including women (mostly justified because the Commander-In-Chief is a woman) is instated, and mobilization for war begins. American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan pull in to military bases in Baghdad and Kabul.

February 2010 The countries that once constituted Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Turkey, Sudan, fearing threat from the United States and Europe, form The Islamic People's Republic (IPR). Political capital is Istanbul. It has the most oil of any country in the world, and is also one of the largest by population, with a very low median age.

April 2010 The Global War on Terror is renewed on the ground after air strikes across the IPR do not force a peace treaty. War is officially declared by Congress. A formal treaty is forged between the US, EU and Israel. Thus begins World War III, the conflict that gives Hillary the destinction by some to be the "greatest wartime President since Lincoln."

October 2011 By this time, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Djbouti, have joined the IPR, and local riots and violence have erupted across Europe and in India.

November 2012 Hillary is reelected, and only faces minor opposition from the Republican and Libertarian Parties. By this time, the USA PATRIOT Act is brought back and expanded as never before. The ACLU and the Libertarians are the only ones who cry out.

April 2013 The tide turns as India and Russia formally join the Allies after three years of war.

July 2014 WWIII finally ends, the IPR to be ruled by an administrative coalition.

November 2016 Jeb Bush-John Kyl ticked is elected, thus ensuring the House of Bush a third presidential administration. Jeb promises to restore normalcy to the United States as much as possible, as well as continue the Clintons' New Marshall Plan for Europe, which had seen the heaviest urban fighting outside the Middle East.

November 2020 Jeb relected, first referrendum for secession voted on in California. The proposition is voted down 70-30. Pundits are shocked that there were 30% that voted for it.

November 2024 Chelsea Clinton elected President of the United States as a Democrat. The Bush-Clinton alternating dynasty enters its 36th year. Referrendums for secession appear on the ballot in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and get an average of 40% in favor.

November 2028 Chelsea reelected. California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas pass referrendums leaving the United States.

January 2029 After a grace period in which US citizens are free to leave, Phoenix becomes the capital of Nuevo Mexico. Because they were three of the five most populous states in the Union, the United States is powerless to stop them.

November 2032 George P. Bush is elected President of the United States.

September 2033 The old IPR beings to mobilize and invades Israel. Israel falls inside of three months because the median population of Jews in Israel is 60. The IPR reforms and begins mobilizing towards the Balkans.

January 2034 The Allies send troops to halt the IPR's advance. A EU-wide draft generates a fraction of the toops needed to halt the advance.

September 2034 Seige of Vienna begins. IPR forces are halted, and the Allies are able to hold the line.

May 2035 Neuvo Mexico consolidated into Mexico, Pheonix becmoes capital of Mexico. Fence along the Missippi River/Oklahoma/Colorado/Utah/Nexada/Oregon border is completed

November 2036 George P. Bush relelected President.

July 2037 E-mail surfaces from Istanbul to Pheonix urging Mexico to enter the war on the side of the IPR. In order to disuade Mexico, and to prove that the tide can be turned, Medina is nuked by the United States. Latin American states are outraged and delcare war against the Allies.

July 2037-?? Allies try to hold on to whatever they have left. China becomes economic world leader, and is generally regarded as the most stable nation on earth.

November 2048 Laura Walker Bush, granddaughter of both Laura Bush and Chelsea Clinton, is elected President of the United States as a Democratic-Republican. Bush won in a landslide against 85-year old Libertarian Party candidate and former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. It is the closest election in over thirty years.

Author's note: Though I don't think any of this will happen, an interesting exercise nonetheless.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:15 PM | Permalink | |

Hube from Colossus of Rhodey has a guide/review of the DE blogosphere up. It is quite excellent and very thorough. I have no idea how long it took him to compile, but I am impressed. Here's his review of Jokers to the Right:

JOKERS TO THE RIGHT
Politics: Right.
Blog Software: Blogger.
Layout Appeal Grade: A.
Notes: Member of the Delaware Conservative Bloggers Alliance. Owner Ryan Silberstein is a University of Delaware college student who's very active in local/national politics. Unabashedly conservative, Ryan's perhaps best-known feature is his weekly "Hero/Hack" post.

Link to the entire guide (remember to bring a towel!)

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:56 PM | Permalink | |

Raj Peter Bhakta, former reality TV star and now candidate for the 13th Congressional District in Pennsylvania, pulled a campaign stunt of...mammoth proportions:

In Brownsville, he witnessed half a dozen men swim under one of the international bridges “with complete immunity” which in turn prompted him to take the immigration issue to the next level.

Bhakta decided to see if he could get an elephant accompanied by a six-piece mariachi band across the river.

According to his Web site, he is in favor of “sensible immigration reform” and supports a border fence, local law enforcement assistance with immigration laws and the use of the National Guard troops to help the U.S. Border Patrol.

“To my surprise, the band played on, the elephants splashed away, and nobody showed up,” Bhakta said of the stunt. “I’m astounded.”

That is one of the great campaign stunts in modern politics! The end of the article allows Bhakta to make his point as well as an amusing sentence:

“If I can get an elephant led by a mariachi band into this country, I think Osama bin Laden could get across with all the weapons of mass destruction he could get into this country,” Bhakta said.

The mariachi band was not immediately available for comment.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:47 PM | Permalink | |

The Brussels Journal, a reader-recommended blog (Thanks, Albert!) points to something that puts the final nail in the coffin of the British Conservative Party:

Not content with picking up the support of Chris Perry in Hampshire, David Cameron has now got the approbation of that paragon of British politics, the far-left MP George Galloway.

In an interview with the Scotland on Sunday, George Galloway lends Dave a hand: “Looked at objectively, I would have to say I can see his appeal. It will play – it is playing right now.” He adds: “He is doing and saying the right things. His job is to slay the ghost of Margaret Thatcher.” (Emphasis Mine)

Sigh. That seems akin to Nancy Pelosi joining the Republican Party and praising Bush for slaying the ghost of Ronald Reagan.

Sickening.

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:34 PM | Permalink | |

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to post it.

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:01 AM | Permalink | |

My heroes his week are European centrists who are coming to realize that Islam and Europe are not as compatable as once thought. The New York Times:

With each incident, mainstream leaders are speaking more plainly. “Self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practice violence in the name of Islam,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said in criticizing the opera’s cancellation. “It makes no sense to retreat.”

The backlash is revealing itself in other ways. Last month the British home secretary, John Reid, called on Muslim parents to keep a close watch on their children. “There’s no nice way of saying this,” he told a Muslim group in East London. “These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombing, grooming them to kill themselves to murder others.”

My hack this week is Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) for his actions relating to pork supporting. Robert Novak:

WASHINGTON -- Staring into the abyss of minority status in Congress, Republicans signaled dedication to pork barrel spending before recessing for midterm election campaigning. Behind closed doors, the GOP's King of Pork dressed down the party's leading foe of earmarks. In the open, the last bill passed before the election was filled with carefully hidden pork.

In a caucus of Republican senators, 82-year-old, six-term Sen. Ted Stevens charged that freshman Sen. Tom Coburn's anti-pork crusade hurts the party. Stevens then removed from the final version of the Defense Department appropriations bill Coburn's "report card" requiring the Pentagon to grade earmarks. The House passed, 394 to 22, the bill, stripped of this reform and containing some 2,800 earmarks worth $11 billion. That made a mockery of a "transparency" rule passed by the House earlier this year, supposedly intended to discourage earmarks.

Honorable mention for hero this week goes to the wonderful Pope Benedict XVI.

According to reports, he is going to revive the Latin Mass. Sweet.

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:22 AM | Permalink | |

According to the News-Journal's blog, Christine O'Donnell has launched a write-in campaign for U.S. Senate. N-J:

A public relations specialist from Wilmington, she hopes to mobilize anti-abortion forces from all over the political spectrum. That means that in addition to Carper, who has won 11 straight elections since entering politics back in the days when disco ruled, O'Donnell is also trying to harvest votes from Republican challenger Jan Ting, a law professor and tax expert, and Libertarian Bill Morris.

Most insiders give O'Donnell no more than a slim chance to gather even 10 percent of the ballots cast, but in this country it's still okay to throw your hat in the ring no matter how the odds are stacked against you.

Now I have met Christine on several occasions, and I think she is very dedicated and very bright. However, rather than split the anti-Carper vote a third way, why not be a conservative write-in against Mike Castle?

Christine is a pro-life activist, and Castle's record on that issue is far from stellar in terms of pro-lifers. That seems like it would send a message to Castle at the very least.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:07 PM | Permalink | |

Washington Times:

President Bush has signed off on a small down payment for a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, but legislators and fence advocates worry the barrier will never be fully funded and fear a lack of White House commitment.

Lawmakers -- including Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee -- are forcefully reminding the Bush administration and Homeland Security officials that Congress' "directive" that the fence be built is not optional.

"We didn't put the fence as a goal or an option or something that should be mixed with other solutions, we made it mandatory," Mr. Hunter told The Washington
Times yesterday.

"It is not an option for the Department of Homeland Security. What part of 'shall' don't they understand?"

On top of all that, it is going to take until May 2008 for the fence to be built. How come the government only uses emenent domain when commerce is on the line?

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:31 AM | Permalink | |

Just a note that today is General Polaski Memorial Day, which honors his death at the Seige of Savannah, and general Polish-American heritage.

My high school marching band always took part in Philadelphia's Polaski Day Parade, and I was glad to do it.

Take this day to honor Poles you know. We've done a lot more than you think, from Copernicus to Pope John Paul II.

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:22 AM | Permalink | |

On this day 1274 years ago, in 732 AD, Charles Martel led a Christian Army against the invading Spanish Moors, defeating them at Tours.
Wikipedia summary:

The battle pitted Frankish and Burgundian forces under Austrasian Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel against an army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by ‘Abd-al-Raḥmān al-Ghāfiqī, Governor-general of al-Andalus. The Franks were victorious, ‘Abd-al-Raḥmān was killed, and Martel subsequently extended his authority in the south. Ninth-century chroniclers, who interpreted the outcome of the battle as divine judgment in his favour, gave Charles the nickname Martellus ("The Hammer").

Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, felt this was one of the most decisive battles in Christian history, and the victory most important:

A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet.

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:19 AM | Permalink | |

Those words were uttered by Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in 1985but I feel they sum upmy reaction to the North Korean "nuclear" test. The biggest danger outside the South Korea and Japan is not what the NK's will do with their bomb, but who they give the technology to. That being said, this is going to have an interesting effect on the East Asian power balance.

The Independent has an interesting article and a roundup of world reaction:

GEORGE BUSH, US PRESIDENT: 'The transfer of nuclear weapons or materiel by North Korea to states or non-state entities would bea grave threat to the US'

BAN KI MOON, SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER: 'I stand here with a heavy heart'

SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PM: 'The development of nuclear weapons by North Korea will transform the security environment in North Asia and we will be entering a new nuclear age'

MARGARET BECKETT, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: 'We shall be pushing for sanctions'

FOREIGN MINISTRY OF CHINA: 'China expresses its resolute opposition'

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: 'Enormous damage has been done to nonproliferation'

Posted by Ryan S. at 8:25 AM | Permalink | |

The man. The legend.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:52 AM | Permalink | |

It is not often I buy new music the first week it is out. I think this is mostly because I buy a lot of old music (the sidebar contains both a "Last CD(s) Bought" and a "In Heavy Rotation" section). As you can tell right now, I am on a Kinks kick.

I enjoyed The Killers prior release, Hot Fuss, but at the time, I thought Franz Ferdinand (yes, named after that Franz Ferdinand) was a much better band, as FF's eponymous rookie disc wowed me much more than Hot Fuss had. I actually was going to wait on Sam's Town until I heard feedback from friends, but noticed that Rainbow, a local Newark music/used books/DVD shop on Main Street had it for the same price as the iTunes download. I was able to pick up Sam's Town with a copy of "The Penguin Complete Father Brown" by G. K. Chesterton, which at $6.00 is a steal.

Anyway, on to the review. I was pleasently surprised by this CD. I think this is miles better than Hot Fuss, which seemed to rely too much on the New Wave/80's dance gimmick. The songwriting is superb, and the music itself sounds vaugely 80's to me, but still follows logically from Hot Fuss. Fans of that release may think that they sound very different, but this reminds me of the differences between Rush's pre/post-synth albums compared with their synth-heavy albums.

Some of the tracks are stronger than others, but overall a solid album, which seems to be unusual these days. The title track, "Read My Mind," and "Bones" particularly stick out in my mind. Some people are comparing this album to a late 70's-early 80's Springsteen album. I think I understand why they are saying that, but I still think that particular attribute is off the mark.

Overall, a solid effort, and I would recommend it. Definately one of my top three albums of original material this year thus far, the other two being The Raconteurs' Broken Boy Soldiers and The Eagles of Death Metal's Death By Sexy, though overall, I think the best release of the year is Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions (that doesn't count because it the music itself is old).

More insight into my music tastes here and especially here.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:16 AM | Permalink | |

No hero this week. I couldn't find a single one. It happens.

My hack this week is Bob Woodward.


There has been outcry sparked by the release of "Bush At War III: State of Denial." Tom Bevan at RealClearPolitics has the details:

What do former Washington Post reporter Thomas Edsall, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and former NSA Director Brent Scowcroft have in common? All three went on record this week questioning some of the assertions made by Bob Woodward in his new book, State of Denial.

In an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday, Mr. Edsall said he had "real problems" with one of the scenes described in the book. When pressed about the authenticity of Mr. Woodward's recollection and the larger question of his credibility, Mr. Edsall said he's "not sure Woodward makes things up." Rather, he continued: "There are significant problems in Bob's reporting techniques, and the product that he produces, that every reader of his work should be aware of."

Also on Tuesday Mr. Card said in a nationally televised interview that he was "concerned that the perception that he [Woodward] was creating may be a perception to reflect his bias, than the reality that I lived in." Mr. Card disputed Mr. Woodward's charge that he and First Lady Laura Bush pushed to oust Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, saying, "Laura Bush never said to me that she wanted to have Secretary Rumsfeld removed. Never."

On Wednesday, Mr. Scowcroft released a brief statement to the press on State of Denial which read, in part: "There are statements in the book, directly or implicitly attributed to me, that did not and never could have come from me."

Mr. Woodward's work has come under criticism before, but this time those questioning his methods and accuracy are a surprising set of strange bedfellows: a left-leaning former Washington Post colleague, a White House insider, and a Republican who has been fiercely critical of the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq. That's quite an achievement for Mr. Woodward.

Mr. Woodward has shown us not to trust the government, but why should we trust him?

Posted by Ryan S. at 11:43 AM | Permalink | |

Press Release:

Wilmington, DE - Oct 06, 2006 The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Immigration Reform Political Action Committee (USIRP) announced today that it is endorsing Republican candidate Jan Ting in the race for Delaware’s U.S. Senate seat now held by Democratic Senator Tom Carper.

“As a first-generation American, former Assistant Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and distinguished professor of law, Jan Ting is among the most qualified candidates in the country for addressing our nation’s failed immigration policies,” said USIRP communications director Phil Kent.

“Tom Carper’s voting record in the Senate shows that he is out of touch with the American people when it comes to immigration policy. Among other things Sen. Carper voted to give amnesty to illegal aliens, provide them with Social Security benefits, and reward them with in-state tuition at state supported colleges and universities,” said Kent.

“Professor Ting has made the urgent need for immigration reform a centerpiece of his campaign. The thoughtful positions he has taken offer a clear choice to Delaware voters concerned about the implications of our broken borders for the future security and wellbeing of our nation,” he added.

“Sen. Carper’s immigration votes have earned him a grade of ‘D’ from the watchdog group, Americans for Better Immigration. We urge Delaware voters upset at the persistent failure of the federal government to control our borders to vote for Jan Ting on Nov. 7,” said Kent.

Ting thanked USIRP for its endorsement, saying "This is an endorsement that I'm proud to receive. Americans from all over the country have recognized my campaign as an important contest in the fight to secure our border and reform our immigration policies. The future of every institution we care about in this country, from healthcare, to education, to criminal justice is at stake when Washington politicians like Tom Carper granting amnesty and benefits to illegal aliens."

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:32 AM | Permalink | |

Joe Scarborough walks through exactly how Foley might hurt the GOP:

But the 2006 election is not shaping up to be about ideology. Instead, it seems destined to become a referendum on the Republican scandals.

Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley have all been driven from power over the past year because of ethical and legal challenges. Only DeLay's arose from political battles. The others were busted in various sexual, financial and ethical scandals that will haunt all Republicans this fall.

It is impossible for voters to get a clear picture of the quagmire in Iraq. With Shiite death squads killing Sunni citizens and Sunni insurgents blowing up Shiite children, it is hard to find good guys in that war. It is also difficult to get a read on America's economic outlook. Gas prices are down, interest rates are steady but the deficit and debt are at all time highs.

With Republican and Democratic spokesmen spinning every issue at warp speed, scandals like Mark Foley's are easiest to grasp.

A Republican congressman preyed on young boys. His leaders knew about inappropriate emails. They did next to nothing. And when it hit the fan a month before the election, Republican leaders spent the first days of the scandal pointing fingers at each other. One more scandal.

One more indictment. One more reason to vote Democratic.

For those of us who were once proud to be Reagan Republicans, these are dark political days. Most conservatives find themselves asking how things could get any worse in the Republican Congress. If history is a guide, I'm confident our GOP leaders will find an answer to that question soon enough.

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:18 AM | Permalink | |

Tony Blankley of The Washington Times follows up on his previous editorial explaining why Hastert should go:

And if it is unfair that Democratic voters often give their politicians a pass on such matters (e.g. former Massachusetts Democratic congressman Gerry Studds got re-elected by his liberal voters after a similar incident was made public), that is just the price we have to pay in this wicked world for holding fast to our values and principles. If virtue were profitable, the whole world would be virtuous.
How in the world will Republicans be able to champion our values in the future if we weasel and excuse the cover-up of such conduct in one of our own? We have more to protect than the next election, we have our historic reputation among more than half the country for our principles.
It has been excruciating watching Republicans on television in the last few days grimly and ineffectively trying to defend Mr. Hastert. Better to take a stand on principle, and elect a new speaker for the last three months (the retiring Henry Hyde, a man of principle who is held in esteem on both sides of the aisle, would be ideal). We may or may not take a political hit, but better to go to the electorate with our heads held high for doing the right thing, than to slink around like a pack of phonies.

Here, here! I would much prefer to do the right thing no matter what the political cost. Republicans should stand for something, and not be reduced to trying to spin something like this. The Democrats are politicizing this issue as we speak. Now is the time to put the kibosh on that and stand for what is right.

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:23 AM | Permalink | |

John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, made an excellent speech the other day. Viva Australia!

Story:

In a speech delivered last night for the 50th anniversary of the conservative magazine Quadrant, Mr Howard said the left had a history of denigrating the nation and was now doing the same with the war in Iraq, describing Islamic terrorism as the new tyranny.

He said Australian universities were still breeding leftists and described pro-communists of decades past as “ideological barrackers for regimes of oppression opposed to Australia and its interests”, Fairfax reports today.

Mr Howard said the left was wrong in its view that the Cold War was an equal struggle between the ideologies of the United States and the Soviet Union.

“It became the height of intellectual sophistication to believe that people in the West were no less oppressed than people under the yoke of communist dictatorship,” Mr Howard said in his speech.

Mr Howard praised Quadrant for its record of countering “stultifying orthodoxies and dangerous utopias that have, at times, gripped the Western intelligentsia”.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:25 AM | Permalink | |

The Washington Times has a post calling for Dennis Hastert to resign. After thinking about this scandal since I heard the news, and have been watching it unfold in horror as one of the most prestigious positions in the nation has been disgrased by an individual (Rep. Foley), who obviously needs help, I have come to the conclusion that Speaker Hastert needs to resign. The Times says it better than I probably could, and so I give you their editorial:

The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened.

Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, the Republican chairman of the House Page Board, said he learned about the Foley e-mail messages "in late 2005." Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the leader of the Republican majority, said he was informed of the e-mail messages earlier this year. On Friday, Mr. Hastert dissembled, to put it charitably, before conceding that he, too, learned about the e-mail messages sometime earlier this year. Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. Hastert insisted that he learned of the most flagrant instant-message exchange from 2003 only last Friday, when it was reported by ABC News. This is irrelevant. The original e-mail messages were warning enough that a predator -- and, incredibly, the co-chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children -- could be prowling the halls of Congress. The matter wasn't pursued aggressively. It was barely pursued at all. Moreover, all available evidence suggests that the Republican leadership did not share anything related to this matter with any Democrat.

Now the scandal must unfold on the front pages of the newspapers and on the television screens, as transcripts of lewd messages emerge and doubts are rightly raised about the forthrightness of the Republican stewards of the 109th Congress. Some Democrats are attempting to make this "a Republican scandal," and they shouldn't; Democrats have contributed more than their share of characters in the tawdry history of congressional sexual scandals. Sexual predators come in all shapes, sizes and partisan hues, in institutions within and without government. When predators are found they must be dealt with, forcefully and swiftly. This time the offender is a Republican, and Republicans can't simply "get ahead" of the scandal by competing to make the most noise in calls for a full investigation. The time for that is long past.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance.

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:04 AM | Permalink | |

My mother attended the dedication for the Garden of Reflection yesterday in Lower Makefield, PA. She offers her thoughts and some pictures:

I attended the official dedication of the "Garden of Reflection" on Saturday, Sept.30th, 2006. It is the official memorial for the state of Pennsylvania for the victims of the 9/11 attacks. It began as a tribute to the 17 victims from Bucks County PA. who perished in the World Trade Center attacks. Having never received any remains of their loved ones who were killed on 9/11, three widows and one mother decided to build a lasting memorial to honor the lives and the sacrifice of their loved ones. These women were the sole genesis for the memorial and the driving force behind all the fund raising, designing and construction.

The memorial is a beautiful and serene place to come think and reflect, as the name implies. It has two fountains surronded by two circles of glass panes. There are 17 trees surrounding the circle, one for each victim, and 42 lights, which represent the children of the 17 local victims. One glass circle has the names of the 17 Bucks County victims and the other has the names of all 2,996 victims from 9/11. There is an actual beam from the World Trade Center that you can touch, and an American flag that was flown over Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA (where Flight 93 crashed) before being raised at the memorial.

The dedication itself was tastefully done. It was not sad or somber. The main theme was the assurance that even out of tremendous darkness there will always be light. There was bell ringing after each name, a military jet fly over, music, and prayers. Speeches were given by the women who brought this to fruition, as well as Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick, Philadelphia radio personality Michael Smerconish and CN8's Lnn Doyle, all Bucks County residents. At the conclusion, everyone was given a flower and were allowed to walk through the memorial and leave flower wherever they chose.

This memorial will always be special in that it was conceived, built, and dedicated to the world by ordinary people who were turned extraordinary by the events of 9/11. The government was not involved in any way except to ask if this could be made the official memorial of Pennsylvania.

Alot of hard work and effort went to the Garden of Reflection. Having donated money to this cause, and seeing it come to fruition, I feel that this memorial is a part of all of us who gave and all who were present at the dedication left a part of us with it.

Everyone should go and see and feel how breathtakingly beautiful this tribute is and how it brings peace and cleansing to the inner soul. It is truly a sight to behold not only by the eyes but by the heart as well. It is a proud achievement to show the world that Americans will never stay down, that we will always rise up that there will always be light.

The Garden's website, and the WCAU NBC10 story.

Labels: September 11

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:11 PM |