Author: VD

I’m still kind of at a loss as to why Mowbray went after General Zinni like that. (see CURRENT COLUMN on the left for details) He wasn’t that vicious about the State Department, even though they actually had it coming to them. I don’t think he seriously believes Zinni is a Jew-hater, so I suspect that he’s simply trying to defend the term “neocon”, which is coming into increasingly bad odor among leftists, conservatives and libertarians alike.

The neocons in the press seem to be getting pretty jumpy. Michael Ledeen just about had an aneurysm going off on Ron Paul, who is the only member of Congress for whom I have any respect regardless of how poorly read he happens to be on Ledeen’s ouvre. And speaking poor reading comprehension, Ledeen himself ignored the very substantive points that Paul correctly made with regards to the failure of Republicanism.

If Ledeen’s strange overreaction is typical, the neocons are also kind of girly. “His attack… incitements to personal violence.” Eeek! It’s a slow week that I don’t get at least one direct threat of something unpleasant. BFD. Maybe if Ledeen and the other neocons hit the gym once in a while they wouldn’t wet themselves every time someone said something less than flattering about them. And perhapsJoel Mowbray wouldn’t feel the need to stand up for them either.

I mean, I’m from Minnesota. We have something like eight Jews in the state. Growing up there, I thought I was ethnic because I’m of English descent with dark brown hair. Since I have little interest in the media circles, I have no idea who is and who isn’t a Jew except for Jonah Goldberg and Rabbi Boteach. What I do know, however, is that I like very little of what I hear from the neocons, who seem to use conservative language to defend left-liberal actions and policies.

Just for the record, I like much of what Joel Mowbray and Michael Ledeen have to say. They’re not the bad guys.

I’ve argued for years that the average journalist is not only far less intelligent than he thinks, he is usually poorly educated as well. I’m acquainted with more than a few, and I’ve yet to meet one who could acquit himself well on anything but politics and current events. Their knowledge tends to extend primarily to subjects they’ve covered, and they have a strong inclination to assume that having heard of something is equivalent to knowing about it. Thus, I found this tidbit from Suzanne Fields’ column to be vastly amusing.

“…the Chutzpah Award for the year that just died must go to Polly Toynbee of London’s daily Guardian for an enlightened rationalization and demonization that boiled over like volcanic lava. Toynbee fell for the infamous Nigerian scam and had to find somebody to be mad at, and it couldn’t be herself. She received a letter purporting to be from a 14-year-old Nigerian girl who needed money to pay to complete her education. Toynbee was touched. She sent the child a check for 200 pounds ($356) and immediately felt warm and fuzzy for her act of charity.

Warm and fuzzy soon evaporated. A perfect copy of her signature was soon attached to a form asking her bank to transfer a thousand pounds ($1,783) to an account in a bank in Japan. A suspicious clerk at her bank stopped the transfer just in time. The Nigerian bank scam is familiar to millions, and many of the greedy and gullible have been taken in by the familiar gross e-mails that clog computer terminals with offers of breast enhancement, penis enlargement and videos promising pornographic pleasure.

Toynbee’s brush with financial disaster taught her a lesson that has eluded everyone else. She learned that the villain in the fraud is not a Nigerian scammer, but … George W. Bush. “We reap from the Third World what we sow,” she told her readers. “If some Nigerians learned lessons in capitalism from global oil companies that helped corrupt and despoil that land, it is hardly surprising they absorbed some of the Texan oil values that now rule the White House.”

Damon Runyon nailed the likes of Polly Toynbee: “Life is tough, and it’s really tough when you’re stupid.””

At least this answers Space Bunny’s question: what kind of idiot responds to this junk? Elite journalists, for one. For my favorite response to the scammers, check out this epic tale of scammers, Mighty Cthulhu and one evil-minded Lovecraft devotee, complete with color commentary.

Good first round, promising a more interesting second round than usual. Carolina’s defense has the ability to slow down the Rams offense, while Green Bay’s running game will hammer Philadelphia. I can’t see Indy staying with KC or Tennessee beating New England at home, though. It still looks like a St. Louis vs. New England Super Bowl, but if Carolina upsets St. Louis, I could see Green Bay getting there too.

I cannot stand ABC’s B-team, though. “You don’t think the Ravens want to win this game?” “You don’t think Steve McNair is tough?” “You don’t think [fill in the blank]?” Nobody thinks that and you know it. Someone buy the man a new expression, please. You don’t think we’re sick of it?

From the Washington Times: Students in Maryland again scored dismally on high school competency examinations last year, according to results posted recently by the state Education Department…. About half of 65,000 students failed the algebra and biology tests in 2003 – about the same rate as in 2002. Four in 10 failed government, and six in 10 failed English.

That would be why one reason I don’t want government schools teaching religion, or anything else for that matter.

IM writes: A dark day! As a new supporter of the Axis of Naughty, and one of your loyal fans, I must say that I am disappointed in your support of a centrallized, organized Alliance… I joined the Axis precisely because it is a decentrallized, truly free movement of individuals seeking to support a man who has been viciously demonized by his detractors…..

Viciously demonized? What other form of demonization is appropriate for a man who is known to have invested large portions of his ill-gotten puppy-blending gains in the Mark of the Beast?

The results of a poll taken by Kevin McCullough after the radio show I did with him on Tolkein. Who is the hero of The Lord of the Rings?

Sam: 511

Frodo: 126

The Entire Fellowship: 63

Gandalf: 49

Aragorn: 28

Eowyn: 21

Gollum: 2

I’d be curious to know if there’s any difference between those who have read the book and those who have only seen the movie. Space Bunny points out that although Sam did resist the lure of the Ring, so did Frodo before he’d spent all that time carrying it. Samwise is heroic, to be sure, but the hero of the trilogy? I’d put Frodo first, followed closely by Aragorn, with everyone and anyone else a distant third.

Speaking of the show, Kevin writes: Several of you have been writing asking if you can re-hear that segment with VOX, we may re-run it on the air today or sometime this week… Cool. Or heck, let’s just do another one discussing why 511 people are off their rockers, or better yet, this.

GH has a few beers and writes: Every time there’s an accident the non-aviation media print more misconceptions then the truth. I do not consider myself an aviation expert, for the subject areas of aviation are too vast for any one individual to claim themselves an expert. I have 36 years of experience in aviation. I have license and certificates that say I have the knowledge and skill to perform the task required by the law. I define my knowledge of aviation to my students by this comparison. I am only a case of beer in the vastness of all the beer and you are the empty cup waiting to be filled. Some have called me a keg. I’ll drink to that.

The press is a half empty shot glass, the other half is 99.999% misconception. My experience is that it takes a minimum of eight months with a big emphases on minimum to find out the truth. The press is too impatient to wait that long. They need closure. They will find individuals with a six pack of more or less knowledge than me. They give them their fifteen minutes of fame and the title of expert. The conclusion is based on opinion, not fact. When the truth does come out a year later it is a non-story.

I was on the light side when I said a million hits. It’s election year, I have no doubt that you will. Blast your political foes. People are going to say did you read Vox Day blog today.

Being a libertarian is never having to fear dearth of political targets.

PZ demonstrates his failure to learn that touching a hot stove is a bad idea: People like you want the Ten Commandments in public buildings but you don’t erect massive granite stones in your churches our your backyards.

Right, as if no church has the Ten Commandments displayed somewhere. Those little monuments and friezes hardly stand comparison with the grandeur of many a cathedral, or the overpowering sci-fi aesthetics of one church that a Jewish friend describes as “the church with the direct link to God”. (Seriously, the massive spire looks like an antenna designed to reach the Horsehead Nebula.) I don’t see any real need for such monuments, but there’s nothing wrong with them if the people of a community want one.

For those who are too simple to understand why there’s nothing wrong with them, I’ll elucidate:

1. A public building is not Congress. Nor is a judge or a community board.

2. A monument is not a law.

3. Erecting a religious monument in a public place is not the establishment of a state religion. Have a look at the Church of England or the Sharia for details if you are confused as to what comprises a state religion.

People like you want prayer in school because you’re too lazy to pray with your own children. It’s not the place of government to teach your children religion. That’s why we have Churches.

Right, two million children are being homeschooled by parents who are too lazy to even pray with them. What a blitheringly stupid assertion! We’re not only teaching our children the Lord’s Prayer, we’re teaching them to read the New Testament in Greek and the Vulgate in Latin, while the government schools are teaching those poor kids with indifferent or ignorant parents how to put a condom on a banana. It’s not the place of government to teach children anything.

PZ, that big thing sticking out of your back is a fork. You’re done.

The 2004 Stadium Debate: Why it will be different

Happy New Year, and welcome to the 10th annual Great Minnesota Sports and Public Policy Scrum, otherwise known as The Stadium Debate. Rep. Phil Krinkie, a longtime opponent of sports plans, describes another stadium battle as “same [stuff], different day,” adding that it’s similar to a rider saying, “Hey, cab driver, one more time around the block!” But Roy Terwilliger, chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, said he feels “a real sense of urgency” this go-round….There’s a sense among stadium proponents that opposition seen in earlier episodes might be subsiding.

We’ve heard that one before. In fact, we’ve heard all of them before, including the bit about interest rates never being lower. This time, however, the interest rate point is probably true. Nevertheless, no government should fund sports stadiums. Ever. Period. The very notion is ridiculous and every argument for it has been repeatedly exploded.

But greed and the desire to spend other people’s money knows no bounds.

All 148 passengers and crew perished when chartered Egyptian Air Flash airliner crashed in Red Sea Saturday minutes after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh. Plane carrying mostly French tourists and 13-man crew was bound for Paris via Cairo. No signal from pilot before plane disappeared from radar screens 11 km south of Sharm airport.

Although Egyptians say cause was mechanical fault, French justice minister Perben asked for preliminary inquiry into manslaughter. DEBKAfile raises 8 points below to explain why it is too soon to eliminate terror as cause of Egyptian air crash

The Egyptians claimed that the crash of a Boeing 737, operated by the Egyptian company Flash Airlines, was “absolutely not the result of a terrorist act but is linked to a technical failure of the plane. DEBKAfile’s aviation experts say the investigators will be called upon to consider a host of anomalies and enigmas before they reach any such definite conclusion.

I should hope so. Interesting that they can say “absolutely not” before they’ve even begun to look into it. Sure, it’s possible, but this appears to be a case of the Egyptian lady protesting too much, too fast. You certainly won’t catch me flying Air Egypt.