In a rant so over the top that he seemed to be channeling Howard Beal, Keith Olbermann on Wednesday night accused President Bush of creating "cold-blooded killers … who may yet be charged someday with war crimes" and who have "laid waste to Iraq." Of course, this was on MSNBC, so almost no one saw it.
(text | text with commentary | video)

They're lapping it up at Democratic Underground, Huffington Post, Pandagon, Crooks and Liars, etc.

But don't you dare say they don't support the troops.

Estimated number of polar bears in 1970: 8,000 - 10,000

Estimated number of polar bears today: 20,000 - 40,000 

Estimated increase in Quebec, Labrador and southern Baffin Island polar bear populations in the last 20 years: 160% 

Percentage of relevant scientific forecasting principles applied by Dept. of Interior research studies predicting polar bear decline due to global warming: 10 - 15% 

Number of reputable peer-reviewed studies published since last October (by NASA and the journal Nature) showing that the melting of Arctic sea ice in recent years is not caused by global warming: 2

Degree of confidence that the models and predictions and projections about Arctic sea ice and polar bear populations will prove to be accurate: Zip, zero, zilch, nada 

Number of lawsuits environmentalist will file to stop human activities that generate CO₂, now that the Interior Dept. has listed polar bears as a threatened species anyway: Countless

Thanks, Bush administration.

Remember all the fuss last December over the bookshelves in this Mike Huckabee Christmas greeting ad?

 

Liberals were all upset at Huckabee's "subliminal" attempt to mix politics and religion (in a Christmas greeting, no less). Some religious leaders objected:

Catholic League president Bill Donahue said Huckabee went beyond wishing people a joyous holiday. Donahue said he was especially disturbed by the cross-like image created in the background of the ad, saying he believed it was a subliminal message.

“What he’s trying to say to the evangelicals in western Iowa (is): I’m the real thing,” Donahue said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends. “You know what, sell yourself on your issues, not on what your religion is.”

And libertarian Republican Ron Paul flirted with Godwin's Law, suggesting there was something quite ominous about it:

Asked about the ad today, Ron Paul decried Huckabee's religious iconography with his own veiled reference on Fox and Friends:

"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.' Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly. So, I don't think I would ever use anything like that."

I wonder if Ron Paul, Bill Donahue, the folks at Huffington Post, and the Kos Kids were reduced to apoplexy when they saw the flyer the Obama campaign is distributing in Kentucky:

 

Somehow I don't think so. After all, Barack — or should I say Barry? — is just trying to counter those rumors that he was brought up Muslim. And look, he's promising us Hope! And Change!

Double standard? What double standard?

If this story is true, John McCain is about to make it utterly impossible for me (and lots of other libertarian, classical liberal, and economic conservative types) to vote for him:

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is at the top of the list of John McCain's possible running mates, according to a top McCain fundraiser with ties to his inner circle.

Economic conservatives are likely to oppose the choice of Huckabee as McCain's vice presidential candidate, given the populist tone of his campaign and his tax record as governor of Arkansas.

But in his "Capital Commerce" column for U.S. News & World Report, James Pethokoukis points to the fundraiser's disclosure and cites several factors that could make Huckabee a strong asset for McCain.

For one thing, the former Baptist minister is a great campaigner who could garner support in the South among social conservatives and at the same time appeal to working-class voters in the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Huckabee would also appeal to many more voters on a "he cares about me" level than millionaire investor and possible vice presidential choice Mitt Romney, especially given all the turmoil on Wall Street this year.

<snark>Yeah, that's how "maverick" McCain can solidify the base and restore the Reagan coalition: pick a tax and spend, anti-business, anti-free-trade, populist demagogue who makes people think "he cares about me."</snark> Excuse me, I have to go throw up again. 

McCain's Portland speech on the environment and global warming, in which he embraced "cap and trade" (AKA "ration and tax") greenhouse gas controls, was bad enough. At this point, I'm a long way from ready to vote for him (although I keep making myself read that Obama statement on Supreme Court justices). 

A McCain-Huckabee ticket? I won't vote for that under any circumstances. I'll just cross my fingers that Obama doesn't do too much harm (before becoming the next Carter and being crushed in 2012).

I'll vote for the Libertarian Party nominee. 

Unless it turns out to be this guy instead of this guy.  

Maybe if I read the following CNN transcript excerpt every day until the election, it will motivate me to vote for McCain: 

BLITZER: You used to teach constitutional law.

OBAMA: Yes.

BLITZER: You know a lot about the Supreme Court. And the next president of the United States will have an opportunity to nominate justices for the Supreme Court.
…

BLITZER: Are there members, justices right now upon who you would model, you would look at? Who do you like?

OBAMA: Well, you know, I think actually Justice Breyer, Justice Ginsburg are very sensible judges.

I think that Justice Souter, who was a Republican appointee, is a sensible judge. What you're looking for is somebody who is going to apply the law where it's clear. Now, there's going to be those 5 percent of cases or 1 percent of cases where the law isn't clear. And the judge then has to bring in his or her own perspectives, his ethics, his or her moral bearings.

And, in those circumstances, what I do want is a judge who's sympathetic enough to those who are on the outside, those who are vulnerable, those who are powerless, those who can't have access to political power, and, as a consequence, can't protect themselves from being -- from being dealt with sometimes unfairly, that the courts become a refuge for judges.

Yes, we can have more justices like Ginsberg and Souter, who'll ignore the Constitution and turn the courts into "a refuge for judges." Excuse me, I have to go throw up.

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Club for Growth president Pat Toomey had a fine op-ed column entitled "In Defense of RINO Hunting." The Club for Growth is frequently attacked by Republican leaders for opposing RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) in primaries. Such prominent non-RINOs as Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich have joined in the criticism. Recently, Rep. Tom Cole, chair of the NRCC and 4th-ranking GOP leader in the House, denounced the Club:

"The problem I have with the Club is I think they're stupid," Mr. Cole said. "They spend more money beating Republicans than Democrats."

Republicans would be better off, the argument goes, if the Club PAC spent its money targeting Democrats instead of liberal Republicans. This is the argument of politicians who care more about maintaining power than using that power to implement conservative policies.

Toomey cited some of the RINOs that the Club was criticized for opposing (including Sens. Arlen Specter and Lincoln Chafee, and Reps. Joe Schwartz and Wayne Gilchrest) and looked at "how these liberal Republicans are serving the GOP today." It's not a pretty picture. 

The sorry record of these RINOs contrasts sharply with that of candidates backed by the Club for Growth: Sens. Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn are the #1 and #2 pro-growth, limited-government advocates in the Senate, according to the Club's latest Congressional Scorecard Senate rankings. The top four in the House rankings — Reps. Flake, Lamborn, Hensarling, and Pence — were all major beneficiaries of Club support, as were such other high-ranking up-and-comers as John Campbell, Scott Garrett, and Tim Walberg. 

Toomey summarized the Club's argument this way:

Winning for the sake of winning is an excellent short-term tactic, but a lousy long-term strategy. Just look at the consequences of the 2006 congressional elections, when the GOP lost control of both houses of Congress.

A Republican majority is only as useful as the policies that majority produces. When those policies look a lot like Democratic ones, the base rightly questions why it should keep Republicans in power. As the party gears up for elections in the fall, it ought to look closely at the losses suffered under a political strategy devoid of principle. Otherwise, it can look forward to a bad case of déjà vu.

Rush Limbaugh also doesn't think much of the current GOP strategy:

The Republican Party, as a party, does not have an attack machine. The Republican Party doesn't even have a defense machine. The Republican Party is just sitting around twiddling its thumbs and hoping people continue to send it money.

Despite Bush fatigue, war weariness, and the current mild economic slowdown, the Republicans ought to be able to do pretty well this year. After all, the Democrats are about to nominate for President a man who is more radically leftist than George McGovern — maybe closer to socialist Henry Wallace. The whole party has lurched far to the left and is controlled by the George Soros / MoveOn.org / nutroots crowd. And approval of Congress ranks below that of the President, thanks to the leadership of Pelosi and Reid, two utterly incompetent ultra-liberals.

But the GOP leadership and many of its elected officials have become so enamored of their perks and pork, and so estranged from the principles of limited government, freedom, and prosperity that the party supposedly represents, that many of its former supporters are disgustedly dismissing the whole institution as RINO. Or Democrat Lite.

If the GOP is going to avoid a thrashing this November, they'd better seize the opportunity the Democrats are handing them, start paying attention to people like Pat Toomey and the editors of Investor's Business Daily, and adopt once again Ronald Reagan's "banner of bold, unmistakable colors, with no pastel shades."

Unfortunately, they've selected a Presidential candidate who's quite enamored of pastels, a "maverick" who loves to "reach across the aisle" and has always seemed much more comfortable talking to his Democratic colleagues and Washington reporters than to the conservative Republican base.

Unless something changes, McCain will have a hard time turning out that base, much less classical liberal / libertarian types like me.

This, the 60th anniversary of Israel's Declaration of Independence, is an appropriate time to counter some of the falsehoods about how the current situation came to be — falsehoods that the Palestinians and their many sympathizers and apologists have so successfully promoted. The Terrorism Awareness Project has two excellent resources I commend to you wholeheartedly.

The first is a Flash movie entitled What Really Happened In the Middle East that's a terrific short history lesson (less than ten minutes). It refutes the most oft-repeated lies about Israel and the Palestinians, and it does so in a clear, direct, and riveting manner. Watch it. Then tell your friends to watch it.

The second is a fine essay by Steven Plaut, "How 'Nakba' Proves There's No Palestinian Nation." The enemies of Israel refer to its founding in 1948 as the "nakba" — or "catastrophe" — and tell a fable about the 1948 origin of the term. Plaut described a much earlier use of the term, citing a thoroughly biased source for his account — the 1938 book The Arab Awakening by George Antonius, a rabid anti-Zionist and Arab nationalist. The real origin of "nakba" had nothing to do with Jews, Israel, or Palestinian self-determination:

Before World War I, the entire Levant - including what is now Israel, the "occupied territories," Jordan, Lebanon and Syria - was comprised of Ottoman Turkish colonies. When Allied forces drove the Turks out of the Levant, the two main powers, Britain and France, divided the spoils between them. Britain got Palestine, including what is now Jordan, while France got Lebanon and Syria.

The problem was that the Palestinian Arabs saw themselves as Syrians and were seen as such by other Syrians. The Palestinian Arabs were enraged that an artificial barrier was being erected within their Syrian homeland by the infidel colonial powers - one that would divide northern Syrian Arabs from southern Syrian Arabs, the latter being those who were later misnamed "Palestinians."

The bulk of the Palestinian Arabs had in fact migrated to Palestine from Syria and Lebanon during the previous two generations, largely to benefit from the improving conditions and job opportunities afforded by Zionist immigration and capital flowing into the area. In 1920, both sets of Syrian Arabs, those in Syria and those in Palestine, rioted violently and murderously.

On page 312 of The Arab Awakening, Antonius writes, "The year 1920 has an evil name in Arab annals: it is referred to as the Year of the Catastrophe (Am al-Nakba). It saw the first armed risings that occurred in protest against the post-War settlement imposed by the Allies on the Arab countries. In that year, serious outbreaks took place in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq." 

So, rather than symbolizing the crushing of Palestinian aspirations for a state, the term "nakba" instead proves they never had such aspirations — until they wanted to justify their desire to wipe out the Jews. Read the whole thing. But I can't resist one more excerpt:

Speaking of Palestinians as Syrians, it is worth noting what one of the early Syrian nationalists had to say. The following quote comes from the great-grandfather of the current Syrian dictator, Bashar Assad:

"Those good Jews brought civilization and peace to the Arab Muslims, and they dispersed gold and prosperity over Palestine without damage to anyone or taking anything by force. Despite this, the Muslims declared holy war against them and did not hesitate to massacre their children and women.... Thus a black fate awaits the Jews and other minorities in case the Mandates are cancelled and Muslim Syria is united with Muslim Palestine."

That statement is from a letter sent to the French prime minister in June 1936 by six Syrian Alawi notables (the Alawis are the ruling class in Syria today) in support of Zionism. Bashar's great-grandfather was one of them.

I wonder what Assad would say today about his pro-Zionist great-grandpa. I wonder what the Middle East would be like if the views of the Alawis in 1936 had become more widely accepted, instead of the pro-Nazi views of men like Haj Amin al Husseini and Sami al Joundi.

In the Hebrew calendar, May 8 is 3 Iyar, 5768, and Yom HaAtzma'ut — Israel Independence Day. Sixty years ago (it was May 14, 1948, in the Western calendar), the British lowered their flag and withdrew from Palestine, and the Jewish community, led by David Ben Gurion, declared the independence of the state of Israel:

The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world.

Exiled from Palestine, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to hope and pray for their return and the restoration of their national freedom.

Accordingly, we, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly today, the day of the termination of the British Mandate over Palestine, by virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish people and the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine to be called Israel.

For 57 years (until the Iraqis adopted a democratic constitution on Dec. 15, 2005), Israel was the only democratic state in the Middle East. It's far from perfect, and far too socialist from my perspective. But its 60-year history is a remarkable and uplifting story. The Israelis have indeed made the desert bloom, and they've created a modern society full of world-class science, technology, business, and industry out of nothing. They achieved this despite their lack of natural resources, socialist tendencies, and a crushing defense burden because — unlike their neighbors — they embrace Reason and the Enlightenment.

The population of Israel is about 7.3 million, and almost 1.5 million of them are Arabs. Those Arab citizens of Israel have more freedom, opportunity, and human rights than the citizens of any of its Arab neighbors.

Happy birthday, Israel! Please join me in signing the world's largest virtual birthday card to honor this occasion. 

An ad insert in yesterday's paper made me laugh out loud. This has to be one of the dumbest products I've seen in ages. It looks like something you'd see in a Saturday Night Live parody commercial. A quick Google search determined that the Shredding Scissors have been around for a couple of years, and they've come down in price from around $17 to $8 ($6 in quantity).

But glowing ad copy can't make this product idea any less silly:

The Shredder Scissor is the most convenient and compact way to get rid of those expired coupons, unwanted papers and confidential paper documents. At first glance it's just a pair of scissors, but with further exploration you will see that you can shred documents, or just parts of documents, without any electric or battery-operated power. Being the cheapest shredding option around it is amazing to think that it also has a long life and is small enough to be transported easily from the home to the office or classroom. The shredder's potential does not stop there, it may also be the perfect instrument for your next arts and crafts endeavor, making customized confetti or even to cut Nori to top your favorite dish of sushi!
...

Not a Toy. Keep away from childrens.

If you feel compelled to shred expired coupons, I suggest you seek professional counseling. 

I suppose if the term "customized confetti" actually makes sense to you, you might get all excited about how artsy-craftsy you could be with a pair of these.

And if you pride yourself in how green you are, you might feel smugly self-satisfied as you shredded documents "off the grid." At least until your hand started to cramp up. 

Personally, I like having a large carbon footprint, and I use an electric shredder. Mine is about 6 or 8 years old and cost me, IIRC, $20 or $25 on sale. If it needed replacing, I'd probably run down to Office Depot and get one of these.

I heard an interesting Obama supporter on the radio this morning. He argued that he and millions like him are justifiably "disgusted" with America and feel like they're living in an "occupied" country. He said there's no freedom because corporate interests and the military-industrial complex control everyone and everything. And he said that Hillary Clinton and the Bushes are part of the same groups that are controlling everything. If Hillary got the nomination, he claimed, she'd "run to lose" in order to serve the interests of these groups that control everything.

Listening to his rant, two thoughts occurred to me. First, I was struck by how much his world-view resembled that of some of the more looney Ron Paul supporters I've listened to. There is a space where the "true believers"* in the messianic ultra-leftist Barack Obama are practically rubbing shoulders with the "true believers" in the libertarian Ron Paul. That space is the fever swamp of generalized disaffection, unfocused resentment, and bizarre conspiracy theories involving mysterious, powerful groups that control everything. I expected this Obama supporter to start ranting about the CFR and Bilderbergers, had he not been cut off.

The second thing that occurred to me is this: Just how divorced from reality do you have to be to believe that Hillary Clinton would take a dive?

* If the phrase "true believers" doesn't immediately ring a bell, I strongly recommend to you Eric Hoffer's essential book about how frustrated, alienated, and dissatisfied individuals are drawn to mass movements, The True Believer.

Oh, yeah — congrats, Sen. Clinton, on a great victory in Pennsylvania. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh will be practically giddy tomorrow about how well Operation Chaos is working. 

Last Saturday, one of our breakfast group said something along the lines of "can you believe Hillary's trying to make a big deal out of Obama saying some Americans are bitter?" This was news to us, but we agreed it seemed silly and not exactly important news.

Days later, it's still news. I've since read the complete Obama quote and gotten the whole story (including his non-apologies and the "clarifications" from his staff that just made it worse). Now, Clinton's criticism no longer seems as silly as it did when I'd only heard the short, Obama-sympathetic (probably NPR) version of the story.

Obama was speaking to an audience of rich liberal San Franciscans when he characterized the working-class people of fly-over country as bitter, gun-toting, Bible-thumping, bigoted yahoos. He thought his remarks were off the record, so it's likely that either (a) he was being candid and this is what he really thinks, or (b) he was saying what he thought these rich liberal donors wanted to hear.

Knowing something of Obama's background and ideology, I lean toward explanation (a). There's a decades-old joke that goes, "I love humanity. It's people I can't stand." This mindset is endemic in leftist circles, especially among the many in the socialist and far-left intelligentsia who come from an upper or upper-middle class background, attended prestigious schools, and are certain that the average American is an ignorant bumpkin who doesn't know what's best for him.

Tom Sowell addressed this phenomenon in his latest column:

Like so much that Obama has said and done over the years, this is standard stuff on the far left, where guns and religion are regarded as signs of psychological dysfunction - and where opinions different from those of the left are ascribed to emotions ("bitter" in this case), rather than to arguments that need to be answered.

Like so many others on the left, Obama rejects "stereotypes" when they are stereotypes he doesn't like but blithely throws around his own stereotypes about "a typical white person" or "bitter" gun-toting, religious and racist working-class people.
...

However inconsistent Obama's words, his behavior has been remarkably consistent over the years. He has sought out and joined with the radical, anti-Western left, whether Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers of the terrorist Weatherman underground or pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli Rashid Khalidi.

Obama is also part of a long tradition on the left of being for the working class in the abstract, or as people potentially useful for the purposes of the left, but having disdain or contempt for them as human beings.

"The working class," said Karl Marx, "is revolutionary or it is nothing." That is, they mattered only insofar as they were willing to carry out the Marxist agenda.

Fabian socialist George Bernard Shaw included the working class among the "detestable" people who "have no right to live." He added: "I should despair if I did not know that they will all die presently, and that there is no need on earth why they should be replaced by people like themselves."

Similar statements on the left go back as far as Jean Jacques Rousseau in the 18th century and come forward into our own times.

Think Sowell and I mischaracterize Obama's ideology by comparing him to socialists and Marxists? If you haven't read Obama's Dreams For My Father (and I haven't; only excerpts), read this PrestoPundit post. According to Greg Ransom, Obama made it clear in the book that "his father's ideals were a driving force in his life," but never described those ideals. So Ransom did some research into the political life and writings of Barack H. Obama, Sr. This was one hard-core socialist dude — a man who railed against "weak-tea" African socialism and in favor of "scientific socialism" (a.k.a. communism), who was allied with communist Oginga Odinga against moderate socialist Jomo Kenyatta.

As I've learned more about Obama's history, friends, mentors, and associations, it's become clear that he's the most radical leftist presidential candidate of any stature since Henry A. Wallace. He's also charismatic, articulate, and able to speak in airy generalities that appeal to many people. That's a frightening and dangerous combination.

UPDATE: One of the really amusing ironies of this affair is that Hillary Clinton, a hard-core anti-gunner and liberal elitist par excellence, has been defending Christian gun owners. It was almost enough to make me tune in tonight's Democratic debate to see if she'd defend gun ownership. … Almost.

Instead, I settled for Stephen Green's drunkblogging of the event. Which included this profound observation: 

I’m an atheist and Obama is a churchgoer, and yet I get the feeling I have more respect for Christians (at least white Christians) than Obama has.

Amen.

My blog would undoubtedly attract more readers if (besides posting more regularly and frequently) I were more focused — posting on one topic, not 20 or 30. But that's just not me. I may go through periods of focus on a topic, but eventually my attention — and therefore my posting — turns elsewhere.

I recently encountered a few examples of truly focused blogging, however. As something of a language maven with a prescriptivist bent, I admire the single-minded dedication these bloggers exhibit:

Typo Hunt Across America — The chronicles of a road trip across America by the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL), making this a better world one typo correction at a time.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks — This one's even more narrowly focused. No broad grammar focus, no quest to make corrections. Just pictures of "signs" with "inappropriate" quotation marks and "snarky" comments about "them."

Apostrophe Abuse — Another blog dedicated to a single punctuation mark. Apparently one of several that rail against the greengrocer's apostrophe and other inappropriate sprinklings of apostrophes.

If you're into writing and language, and especially if you're the nitpicky compulsive editor type, you'll get a kick out of these.

"The Study of Political Islam" first appeared in Frontpage magazine in February 2007 and was posted at the Center for the Study of Political Islam's blog last August. It's an interview with the Center's director, Bill Warner, and it's a must read. I discovered it at ACT for America!, where it's presented with an informative introduction by Jerry Gordon. Here's an excerpt:

Endless ink has been wasted on trying to answer the question of what is Islam? Is Islam the religion of peace? Or is the true Islam a radical ideology? Is a moderate Muslim the real Muslim?

This reminds a scientist of the old arguments about light. Is light a particle or is light a wave? The arguments went back and forth. Quantum mechanics gave us the answer. Light is dualistic; it is both a particle and a wave. It depends upon the circumstances as to which quality manifests. Islam functions in the same manner.

Our first clue about the dualism is in the Koran, which is actually two books, the Koran of Mecca (early) and the Koran of Medina (later). The insight into the logic of the Koran comes from the large numbers of contradictions in it. On the surface, Islam resolves these contradictions by resorting to "abrogation". This means that the verse written later supersedes the earlier verse. But in fact, since the Koran is considered by Muslims to be the perfect word of Allah, both verses are sacred and true. The later verse is "better," but the earlier verse cannot be wrong since Allah is perfect. This is the foundation of dualism. Both verses are "right." Both sides of the contradiction are true in dualistic logic. The circumstances govern which verse is used.
…

All of Western logic is based upon the law of contradiction--if two things contradict, then at least one of them is false. But Islamic logic is dualistic; two things can contradict each other and both are true.

What Warner calls the law of contradiction is also known as Aristotle's law of non-contradiction, and it's a corollary of the law of identity (those of us with a Randian background know the short version: "A is A"). A culture that hasn't adopted the laws of identity and non-contradiction is, IMHO, pre-rational.

It's not just a characteristic of primitive cultures, however. Many modern academics reject reason, and they eagerly embrace and defend inconsistency and contradiction. Ironically, an Islamic philosopher proposed an appropriate response to such nonsense about a thousand years ago:

Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned.
— Avicenna (Ibn Sina)

Apparently, Avicenna's rather colorful method of teaching the law of non-contradiction wasn't widely adopted, so Islam's dualistic "logic" persists still today. As does UC-Berkeley's. Too bad.

Getting back to the Warner interview, here's another, somewhat more provocative, excerpt: 

Let's examine the ethical basis of our civilization. All of our politics and ethics are based upon a unitary ethic that is best formulated in the Golden Rule:

Treat others as you would be treated.

… On the basis of the Golden Rule--the equality of human beings--we have created democracy, ended slavery and treat women and men as political equals. So the Golden Rule is a unitary ethic. All people are to be treated the same. All religions have some version of the Golden Rule except Islam.

FP: So how is Islam different in this context?

Warner: The term "human being" has no meaning inside of Islam. There is no such thing as humanity, only the duality of the believer and unbeliever. Look at the ethical statements found in the Hadith. A Muslim should not lie, cheat, kill or steal from other Muslims. But a Muslim may lie, deceive or kill an unbeliever if it advances Islam.

There is no such thing as a universal statement of ethics in Islam. Muslims are to be treated one way and unbelievers another way. The closest Islam comes to a universal statement of ethics is that the entire world must submit to Islam. After Mohammed became a prophet, he never treated an unbeliever the same as a Muslim. Islam denies the truth of the Golden Rule.

Read the whole thing, by all means. You might want to look around the Center's website, Political Islam, too. The latest article expands on the above discussion of Islamic ethics.

Buster Martin is reportedly Britain's oldest worker at the age of 101. It's not a desk job, either. He cleans vans three days a week for a plumbing company.

If his age is accurate, Martin set another record on Saturday, completing the London Marathon in a bit over 10 hours. That's better than he'd predicted, and in line with his training. A month earlier, he ran a half marathon in 5:15.

But the folks at Guinness World Records won't certify his achievement as the world's oldest marathoner because there are doubts about his age. He may be "only" 94.

It doesn't matter. He's still my hero. Martin never drinks water, so his trainers arranged to have pints of bitter (a British pale ale) available for him along the way to keep him hydrated. And he's smoked since he was seven, and isn't about to quit now. Halfway through the race, he took a beer and cigarette break. And after the race, he celebrated with a beer and a smoke. 

101 or 94, running 26.2 miles fueled by alcohol and tobacco is an awe-inspiring feat. You go, Buster! 

UPDATE: It just occurred to me that none of the half-dozen stories I read about Buster mentioned his diet. I bet he's not a vegetarian. I bet he likes steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash, fish and chips …

In the last five years, another American manufacturing industry has quietly been decimated destroyed (see comments), and more well-paying American jobs have been lost. And once again, the Federal government is doing nothing to save these American jobs. In fact, it's helping to drive them abroad. Government bureaucrats insist it's a good thing:

According to the DEA, there were 44 meth lab busts on the local, state and federal level in Colorado last year. In 2003 there were 345 of those types of busts.
…

Jeffrey Sweetin, Special Agent in Charge of the Denver Field Division, oversees DEA operations in four states including Colorado. He says decreasing the number of labs locally is a major step in the right direction.

"There were hundreds of labs seized in each of my four states every year. Now we do 2 or 3 in a state per year. So that's a great success story."

So, what's happened to America's meth manufacturing jobs? Apparently, 80% of them have been outsourced to Mexico:

Federal agents say as much as 20 percent of the meth found in the country was made here. The rest typically comes from Mexico, and the meth out of Mexico is getting more potent and more dangerous.

"There's still a demand. There's still a demand for meth so the Mexican drug traffickers have filled that demand," Sweetin said.

Mexican meth, made with cheap third-world labor, comes into this country tariff-free. And thanks to NAFTA, it may even be transported on uninspected Mexican trucks.

Shouldn't something be done to keep these skilled manufacturing jobs here in America? What do Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs think of this? Have Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton addressed the growing unemployment problem among America's meth workers or promised to protect their jobs from this unfair foreign competition?

Imagine a public charter school co-located with an evangelical Christian church and filled with Christian symbols, where learning how to be a good Christian and practicing Christian rituals are part of the school day, where fundamentalist Christian ministers lead daily prayers that all students have to attend, and where the buses don't take kids home until after the "optional" after-school Christian Studies program. Can you imagine the reaction from the National Education Association, American Civil Liberties Union, People for the American Way, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and countless other liberal/progressive organizations?

I suspect that hours after the news got out, there would be pickets in front of the school, rallies at City Hall and the Board of Education, and scores of pro bono attorneys filing lawsuits and motions for restraining orders in every courtroom within a hundred miles. 

Apparently, Jefferson's "wall of separation" has an exemption for Islam. Or maybe the people who eagerly pursue an in-your-face adversarial stance toward Christianity, who work tirelessly to banish creches, Christmas trees, and St. Nicholas from the public square, are just a bit more reluctant to confront Muslims.

I remember a story last year about a taxpayer-funded New York madrassa. It seems there's one in Minnesota, too, and the usual defenders of secular public schools are looking into complaints and queries very reluctantly, cautiously, and slowly — if at all.

Katherine Kersten of the Star-Tribune first wrote about the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) — a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights named after the Muslim conqueror of Spain — more than a month ago. She revisited the topic this week. It's not hard to find evidence that this school promotes Islam: 

TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.

Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food - permissible under Islamic law -- and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day.

The imam denied that TIZA is a religious school, but wouldn't let Kersten visit and simply didn't respond to additional inquiries. Apparently, nothing was done by anyone in the wake of Kersten's first report about this taxpayer-funded Islamic school — no investigations, lawsuits, outcries, pickets, or demonstrations from the many zealous guardians of Jefferson's "wall of separation." 

Kersten's new story adds an eyewitness account — by substitute teacher Amanda Getz — from inside the school:

Arriving on a Friday, the Muslim holy day, she says she was told that the day's schedule included a "school assembly" in the gym after lunch.

Before the assembly, she says she was told, her duties would include taking her fifth-grade students to the bathroom, four at a time, to perform "their ritual washing."

Afterward, Getz said, "teachers led the kids into the gym, where a man dressed in white with a white cap, who had been at the school all day," was preparing to lead prayer. …

"The prayer I saw was not voluntary," Getz said. "The kids were corralled by adults and required to go to the assembly where prayer occurred."

… "When I arrived, I was told 'after school we have Islamic Studies,' and I might have to stay for hall duty," Getz said. "The teachers had written assignments on the blackboard for classes like math and social studies. Islamic Studies was the last one -- the board said the kids were studying the Qu'ran. The students were told to copy it into their planner, along with everything else. That gave me the impression that Islamic Studies was a subject like any other."

After school, Getz's fifth-graders stayed in their classroom and the man in white who had led prayer in the gym came in to teach Islamic Studies. TIZA has in effect extended the school day -- buses leave only after Islamic Studies is over. Getz did not see evidence of other extra-curricular activity, except for a group of small children playing outside. Significantly, 77 percent of TIZA parents say that their "main reason for choosing TIZA ... was because of after-school programs conducted by various non-profit organizations at the end of the school period in the school building," according to a TIZA report. TIZA may be the only school in Minnesota with this distinction.

There's more. Why doesn't the Minnesota Department of Education do something about this massive breach in Jefferson's wall? They said they hadn't received any complaints.

After a month of inquiries, news reports, and complaints, the Department decided to conduct "a review" of the school, and the ACLU said it's begun "an investigation." 

If this were the John Calvin Academy run by the Rev. Billy Bob Tubthumper of Faith Evangelical Christian Bible Fellowship Church, it would have been shut down two weeks ago, and state psychologists and social workers would be interviewing the students, looking for evidence of abuse.

Are you a Colorado blogger? Have you ever thought about blogging, but don't know how to get started? Would you like to know more about blogging and get some advice from successful, liberty-oriented Colorado bloggers? On Saturday, April 19, the Sam Adams Alliance is presenting Samsphere Colorado, an all-day event at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Denver.

Samsphere is a new media forum, hosted by the Sam Adams Alliance, where bloggers and e-activists from across the country can gather together to network and share ideas.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Heavy-weight (and awesomely weird) national blogger Jeff Goldstein
  
• Independence Institute President Jon Caldara (one of the smartest and funniest people on the Colorado political scene)
  
• The Denver Post's David Harsanyi (whose columns are the best thing about that rag, and whose new book, The Nanny State, I'm really looking forward to reading)
  

With a lineup like that, Samsphere Colorado is worth far more than the price of admission — which is only $20 (cash or check at the door), including lunch.

If you're a blogger, or remotely interested in blogging, you won't want to miss the Blogging 101 presentation and other blogging workshops, either. Afterward, at the Happy Hour, you can hobnob with big-time bloggers (and small fry like me) and take bets on whether Goldstein remains sober and civil. ;-)

Click the banner in the left sidebar (or the link above) to sign up now! There's only room for about 50 attendees, so reserve your place now. And look for me at the event — I'll be the bearded curmudgeon.

Offensive powerhouse Stanford scored 90 in each of the last two games, and most people thought they'd easily beat a Tennessee team that squeaked by LSU on a last-second shot, whose star player was still recovering from two shoulder dislocations. But not Coach Pat Summit. Not Candace Parker and her teammates. They told themselves they'd hold Stanford to 50 points and win.

Final score: 64-48.

How did the Lady Vols win back-to-back titles and a record 8th national championship? Defense, defense, defense.

Well, it also helps to have tremendous team discipline, great ball-handling, and the ability to make free throws (which is purely a matter of practice).

This was Coach Summit's 987th win (175 of those were in the AIAW, before there was women's NCAA basketball). I've expressed my admiration for her before, calling her "one of the greatest coaches of any sport, men's or women's, ever." If next year's record is remotely close to this year's (36-2), by mid-season she'll reach 1000 total (825 NCAA) wins. I believe Bobby Knight has 880. 

Charlton Heston was a great actor and a great champion of freedom and individual rights, as Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation noted:

“Mr. Heston stood head and shoulders above other civil rights activists,” Gottlieb recalled, “because he recognized that the Bill of Rights was all-inclusive. He marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King long before it was fashionable for Hollywood stars to involve themselves in social issues. He was a firm believer in freedom of speech, and yet he was not afraid to hold this nation’s press corps and our institutions of higher learning accountable for their stifling political correctness.

“It is not often that a man of such international stature, and with such unquestionable dignity, steps forward to take a leadership role in a struggle of such importance as did Charlton Heston, in his ardent defense of the Second Amendment,” he continued. “Our prayers and most heartfelt thoughts are with Mr. Heston’s family.

“While we join our friends at the NRA in mourning the loss of this great American,” Gottlieb stated, “we should also celebrate the fact that he lived, and that he stood up when it counted. He was certainly an inspiration to those whose lives he touched, and to the millions of gun owners whose rights he unselfishly defended.

“Charlton Heston set an example by doing what he thought was right,” Gottlieb concluded, “and as a nation, we are the better for it.”

What I remember most about Heston is his aesthetic sense, sense of life, and profound understanding of the nature of art, as exemplified by two quotes that have stuck in my mind for many years. I can't seem to locate either one on the Web, so I'll simply paraphrase from memory. 

In an interview where he talked about the nature and role of art, in which he echoed some of Ayn Rand's ideas on the subject, Heston observed that Dustin Hoffman may be a great actor, but Michelangelo is so much more interesting than Ratso Rizzo.

And in response to the observation that many of the historical characters he played were "larger than life," Heston objected that they weren't larger than life, they were real people whom we could aspire to emulate. 

You young people out there could do a lot worse than aspire to emulate Charlton Heston. 

Tonight, the people who hang on Al Gore's every word and love feeling smugly self-righteous about their environmental consciousness are participating in another one of those stupid, meaningless gestures that's just one step above World Jump Day. It's called Earth Hour:

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. …

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

…

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

I plan to do my part to fight this nonsense. I'm going to celebrate technology tonight. From 8 to 9, I'll turn on every light in the house and both TVs, crank up the sound system, and open the front and back doors.

My ancestors didn't survive the Black Plague and Dark Ages, create the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, and bring about the past two hundred years of astonishing scientific and technological progress so that we could huddle in the dark.