Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital

But...but...anti-war protesters support the troops, don't they?

I guess not.

More from the NYT!

Just when you thought the NYT couldn't get any lower, they misrepresent Condeleeza Rice's position on the Palestinians!

Read it all at Jewish Current Issues.

Perspective

You mean to tell me that a player who is caught doing steroids gets a 10 game suspension, while a Marlins batboy who who loses a milk-drinking bet with LA Dodger Brad Penny gets 6 games from the Marlins?!?

As Penny says, "It's kind of ridiculous that you get a 10-game suspension for steroids and a six-game suspension for milk."

The Marlins are getting some bad PR, though. And even though the batboy lost the original bet, the Milk Processor Education Program offered the boy the $500 he would have won. Incredible how something so good can happen from something so bad.

Big Surprise

The New York Times is at it again, this time misrepresenting Professor Pielke, who made news after he quit the President Bush's Climate Change Science Program, by claiming such he "long disagreed with the dominant view that global warming stems mainly from human activity."

The New York Times tried to present him as a kook by claiming that he had "[contended] that changes in ladnscapes like the spread of agriculture and cities could explain many of the surface climate trends, while most experts now see a clear link to accumulating emissions...".

Pielke refuted that today, saying that "this statement is written out of an intentional attempt to mischaracterize my work or simply a failure to comprehend my various peer-reviewed papers on this subject."

I wouldn't be surprised if it were both.

Another meaningless Bush slam

Tell me, why in the world would you write a piece about how much fuel the President uses?

I mean, doesn't every President need to travel, and isn't every President beholden to fuel prices? So why are we interested in a piece like this? I especially like this:

"The motorcade generally doesn't cruise placidly at fuel-efficient speeds, but rather hurries along its route as fast as possible. It also often idles outside while Bush is at an event, burning up fuel but ready to depart at a moment's notice."

Well, gee, I wonder why? Maybe it's to protect a President from being assassinated?!?

What a insightful article. It's really enlightened me!

Cheese-eating surrender monkeys

You can almost hear the French glee regarding reports that Lance Armstrong allegedly took EPO, a blood-doping agent, in 1999. The schadenfreude is completely disgusting.

And really, that's the problem with France. It's a country that cannot succeed on its own because it squashes individual greatness in favor of conformity. And because it cannot succeed, delights in tearing down those who do.

They support the troops

If reports of anti-war protestors harrassing soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital are true, the anti-war liberals will have shown their true colors, and the 'we hate the war, but support our troops' battle standard will be shown as the lie that it is.

A Constitution? Iraqis Are Thinking About Their Lives First

Yeah, who needs a stupid thing like a constitution, anyway?

Great article, New York Times. Thanks for telling us that constitutions are worthless.

Pot, Kettle. Kettle, Pot.

Smearing Cameron Diaz's looks is pretty funny coming from a girl who looks like this.

Power Line: Some Thoughts on Casualties in Times of War and Peace

Read it all.

Powerful writing from John Hinderaker at Power Line.

Power Line: Preliminary thoughts on the emerging Iraqi constitution

This is good news, as much has been made about Islam being a central source of Islam. I had fears that this would cause the collapse of Iraq. However, it seems that the Iraqi constitution is much like the Afghani model, with strong protections in its language for democracy and human rights. It also protects the freedom of speech and religious practice, protections granted in our First Amendment.

Maybe this experiment in democracy has hope, after all.

From Power Line.

Islamic Jihad, Hamas to continue terrorism against Israel

After learning that Hamas and Islamic Jihad will not disarm and will continue their terrorism against Israel, I firmly believe that, for the good of Israelis and Palestinians alike, Israel should wipe them out once and for all.

Rattay picked as 49ers' starter over top pick Smith

Tom Nolan is the biggest idiot coach in the NFL. How can you not start your No. 1 pick, QB Alex Smith?!? The 49ers suck so much that starting Rattay would not give them the opportunity to get to the playoffs.

By not starting Smith, Nolan's automatically giving him a year's worth of rust. Nothing will help Smith grow better than playing experience. Give thanks to Nolan for ruining his rookie QB.

Lance

I have to admit that certain athletes (Raphael Palmeiro, anyone?) are less believable when they claim to never have taken illegal performance enhancers. However, with regards to Lance Armstrong, I just can't look at him with a jaundiced eye and proclaim him guilty. I'll just have to consider him innocent until proven guilty.

Even his peers are defending him. Miguel Indurain, five time Tour de France winner, believes that France is out to get Armstrong. Even his former chief rival, Jan Ullrich, can't believe it and speculate that it's possible that "sombody's trying to put him down."

We'll just have to see. L'Equipe, the newspaper that wrote the story, has to put up or shut up.

My take on Demarcus Ware

These are my thoughts on Demarcus Ware after the Cowboys defeated the Seahawks 18-10:

1) He's got loads of talent with 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a sack in the first half.

2) He's got a long way to go as a pass rusher. It seemed that his only move is the speed move. His counter "hump" move is lacking. There were quite a few plays in the game where he was easily ridden out of the play.

'Piano Man' revealed as German

My guess on the mysterious 'Piano Man' found wandering on the beach and not speaking for four months: he's a performance artist.

Sunnis call for secularism in government

I call 'em as I see 'em, and the Sunni call for secularism to be incorporated into the Iraqi constitution is the only way Iraq will survive without turning into Iran or fracturing. Religion is inherently totalitarian and cannot be integrated as a prevailing tenet of a democratic government.

A thing of beauty

Nikki Hilton looks incredible at the beach in Greece. And by incredible, I mean freakish.

Can we just end the big sunglasses trend already? It's the most hideous fashion accessory in the world! If you want to look like a bug-eyed alien, by all means, wear the sunglasses.

Changing Godwin's Law

I think that there should be a change to Godwin's Law that encompasses Vietnam. I also think that Sen. Chuck Hagel should stop the irresponsible use of Vietnam in comparison with the situation in Iraq.

Doing so marks him as a whiner. You know the type: the back-seat driver that does nothing but complain. Hagel doesn't offer any ideas on how to change the situation for the better except to cut and run. Man, if that was all it took to be senator, we'd all be qualified.

Is Your Boss a Psychopath?

Alan Deutschman tries to make the case that psychopathy in American businesses needs to be rooted out or we'll suffer through more Enrons.

Corporate psychopaths, according to Deutschman, are those who lack feeling and compassion with no sense of remorse or guilt. Also, they are only interested in self, willing to steal, manipulate, or lie to make money without having the interest of the company at heart. So, he points to such 'luminaries' as Andy Fastow and Leona Helmsley.

Of course, we all have a negative opinion of them both. Fastow, for one, conned everyone he worked with and stole millions, cooking the books in the process. However, isn't some kind of psychopathy indeed necessary in business? If I were to bring on a CEO, I would want one that is not hamstrung by emotions. I'd want a CEO who had a plan and a way to bring about the success of the company, even if it meant radically altering the lives of many people. And indeed, even self-interest isn't a deal breaker, as long as the psychopath understands the causality between the company's success and his own. Certainly, all of that brings along the risk of hiring an Andy Fastow, but under normal conditions, his success would have been limited had those above him done their jobs. Such is capitalism.

What really brought down Deutschman's case for me, however, was comparing the American situation with those of Europe. Really, if I had been Deutschman, bringing in Europe's lagging economy as a case against psychopathy wouldn't have been my first choice.

As for America, I find it amazing that there are still people like Harvard psychologist Martha Stout decrying America's individualistic culture like it was something to be avoided. Sorry, but living a life in an ant colony isn't my idea of a good time. There are certainly times when teamwork may produce good results in company, but only those willing to risk it all and not be bound by groupthink become truly great.

Northwest mechanics go on strike

Northwest, like all the major carriers, is struggling financially. In order to stay out of bankruptcy, it has asked the mechanics union for sacrifices. Predictably, the union has now gone on strike.

I generally have a negative view regarding unions. Though the members are generally hardworking people, I've known quite a few bad apples, and its leadership is as corrupt as you can imagine. I have a feeling that the Northwest mechanics union will be broken.

Militias Wresting Control Across Iraq's North and South

There are two ways of looking at the WaPo's article on militias taking hold in northern and southern Iraq.

1) In the best of all possible worlds, this will be like the situation in Afghanistan, where local militias would keep order while being supervised by the American military. This would continue until the federal army would become strong enough to take hold.

2) In the worst of all possible worlds, this will be a situation that will cause Iraq to fracture along ethnic lines, which would be disastrous since there would be a quick grab for oil in the northern and southern area.

I hope that it's the former, but WaPo makes it sound like the latter. Troubling news indeed.