Another teenage terrorist caught

Palestinian terrorists tried to recruit a 15-year-old as a suicide bomber, at one point locking him in a dark room, but also luring him with clothes, a cell phone and promises of paradise, his family said Tuesday.

I get how a Muslim kid would be desperate for 72 virgins and booze, but whom does he plan to call when he’s dead? And is there a clothing shortage in paradise or what? If it weren’t full of beautiful naked people, I’d demand to go downstairs. The climate is worse, but the company is great.

(Just kidding – I don’t believe in silly notions of heaven or hell. Glory be to the Supreme God Thor, who welcomes brave various to the glorious hall of Valhalla in Asgard.)

"Your Attention Please"

I think this is my favorite Cox & Forkum cartoon yet:

You can read my commentary here.

New Toy

The Swiss Army knife for the 21st century:

(Found here.)

McCain calls for un-bundling cable packages

Slashdot: Senator John McCain wants to force cable companies to sell cable channels a la carte, so you only pay for the channels you want. He argues that "When I go to the grocery store to buy a quart of milk, I don't have to buy a package of celery and a bunch of broccoli," McCain said. "I don't like broccoli."

McCain refuses to understand that the whole cable package is more than the sum of its parts: the more successful cable channels subsidize the less popular ones in order to provide a well rounded package that provides a better value that the individual channels – just as the Microsoft Office Suite provides a better value that the individual applications that compose it. If politicians were really concerned about cable prices, then they would remove the government monopolies, price controls, preferential treatment, and the legion of regulations imposed and granted to cable companies. Till then, their approach to industry can only be described as a see-saw between government-enforced “competition” and government-enforced regulations – when one fails, they resort to other – never considering that freedom from government might be the answer.

The "F Scale:" a test for fascist tendencies

Shortly after WWII, it was in vogue among leftist types to call people who’s politics they disagreed with “fascist” while “freedom and democracy” were used to designate favorable positions and governments, regardless of actual policy. Since this trend is on the rise again, I though a 1946-era quiz would be of interest:

The F Scale, is "an instrument that would yield an estimate of fascist receptivity at the personality level."

I disagree with a number of questions, but I still find the test a much better indicator of Fascist tendencies than today’s leftist rants. (I scored 2.3, mostly because of Q’s 2-4. 1950 avg was 3.84.)
(Link found here.)

7,700mph

Wow:

An experimental pilotless plane has broken the world speed record for an atmospheric engine, briefly flying at 7,700 kilometres per hour - seven times the speed of sound, NASA says.

The SCRAMjet program is an attempt to find a replacement the Space Shuttle. The air-breathing supersonic engine is NASA's prime candidate for the next generation of smaller, lighter, and much more efficient reusable space vehicles. The technology has the potential to revolutionize space travel, but the program is still in its infancy, and faces significant technical challenges such as sustaining thrust at hypersonic speeds and developing a composite replacement for the space shuttle's "tiles." Given the nature of NASA's bureaucracy, I think it's more likely that an intermediate Shuttle-era replacement will be developed in the meantime. Meanwhile, several X-Prize teams plan to use a variations of a supersonic-combustion ramjet engine. My bet for the next-generation spacecraft is Burt Rutan.

"Ask for Death!"

A deeply disturbing video about the systematic, government-run campaign to instill death worship in generations of children by the Palestinian Authority. Compared to this, Nazi brainwashing was child’s play. For more, check out my gallery of PLO child abuse.

This dialogue from the video comes from two 11-year-old Palestinian girls:

Host: "You described Shahada as something beautiful. Do you think it is beautiful?"

Walla: "Shahada is very, very beautiful. Everyone yearns for Shahada. What could be better than going to paradise?"

Host: "What is better, peace and full rights for the Palestinian people, or Shahada?"

Walla: "Shahada. I will achieve my rights after becoming a Shahida."

Yussra: "Of course Shahada is a good thing. We don’t want this world, we want the Afterlife. We benefit not from this life, but from the Afterlife... The children of Palestine have accepted the concept that this is Shahada, and that death by Shahada is very good. Every Palestinian child aged, say 12, says ’Oh Lord, I would like to become a Shahid." [PATV, June 9, 2002]

(Thanks to Hootinan for the link.)

P.S. Can you think of someone who expressed a similar sentiment?

Excellent op-ed at TCS: Which Anti-Terror Model Do You Like?

More lunacy

Kerry's plan to create 10 million jobs -- a plan that Republicans branded yesterday as unworkable and ineffectual -- depends on an array of tax cuts and changes in the tax code. The centerpiece is an end to a tax break enacted in the early 1960s, known as deferral, that allows US companies to delay paying taxes on foreign income so long as those profits are reinvested in those overseas operations. Kerry said this change would strip away an incentive for companies to move jobs abroad and generate about $12 billion annually, which would be used to pay for a 5 percent reduction in the corporate tax rate, from 35 percent to 33.25 percent. Citing IRS studies, campaign advisers contended that 99 percent of US companies would owe less in taxes after these twin changes. The plan also includes a one-year "tax holiday" for corporations that invest foreign revenues into their US operations, proposing to tax those profits at a special 10 percent rate.

Now first of all, economic predictions of this kind are insanely impossible. Second, politicians cannot “create” jobs by the very definition of politics – they can either make it illegal for people to work, or get out of our way so bussinessmen can create wealth. Third, let me get this “recovery plan” straight:

1. American companies are forced to be less competitive by limiting outsourcing.
2. Investment funds dry up as Bush tax cut is repealed.
3. Double-tax American companies for profits they make abroad.
4. (Some miracle)
5. Deficit is gone, so we can decrease taxes one again, making everyone happy.

Is that how it works?

Oh, the madness

His wife is suspected of being "six to eight" weeks pregnant, although an autopsy didn't show it:

Investigators are trying to determine if the victim, Ashley Nicole Wilson, 19, was pregnant when she died in January. If so, Leach could face a capital murder charge in the slaying of two people during the same act. Capital murder is punishable by death, while murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Pin the Tale on the Donkeys

A satirical video demonstrates the hypocrisy of leftist politicians who accuse Bush of lying about Iraq – when they themselves made the same claims. But the truly revealing thing the video shows is that peaceniks don’t find this hypocrisy new or shocking – they don’t let small things like facts get in the way of their dogma.

BB&T offers $1 million to study Capitalism

The University of South Carolina announced Wednesday a $1 million grant from North Carolina-based BB&T to promote the study of capitalism.

USC will get the funds over the next couple years, said business school dean Joel Smith III, and will use the money to create a capitalism ethics class, a capitalism-focused professorship, a lecture series and a room in the business library dedicated to the works of authors that support free enterprise such as Ayn Rand.

John Allison, chairman and CEO of BB&T, said USC and the bank jointly developed the focus of the endowment.

"If you look at a lot of business education programs, they do a good job of teaching people the technical part of business," Allison said. "But they don't often explain the philosophical foundations for capitalism, and anybody can make better decisions if they understand the context."

I saw John Allison speak at last summer’s Objectivist Conference, and I think its wonderful (and rare) to see a successful CEO defend capitalism. You can see how he applies Objectivism to the corporate philosophy of BB&T at their philosophy page.

The UN supports terrorism

It has become obvious to any honest individual that the UN is essentially a pulpit for dictators, communists, and looters of all sorts to attack and demand welfare from the few free countries of the world.

The latest resolution against Israel condemned "the most recent extrajudicial execution committed by Israel" and "all attacks against any civilians as well as all acts of violence and destruction." This was for the killing of a man “responsible for the deaths of 377 Israelis in at least 425 terrorist attacks over the past three-and-a-half years of the Palestinian Authority's war against Israel.” How many resolutions were passed to condemn the murder of all those innocent people? How many resolutions were passed against brainwashing and sending little boys who “don’t want to die” to blow themselves up? You guessed it – zero. No, the UN cannot even be accused of pacifism –the latest vote demonstrates its open support of terrorists.

Lest we forget that UN representatives represent the policies of the nations they represent, here are the nations that voted to support this mass-murdering “spiritual leader:” China, Russia, France, Angola, Chile, Pakistan, Spain, Algeria, Benin, Brazil, and the Philippines.

On a "lighter" note

Want to send email from the grave? Now you can!

Carving up the loot

I don't need to mention what I think of the EU ruling to fine Microsoft €497.2 million ($605 mil U.S.) for having the audacity to make superior software. However I was curious how the loot would be split it up. Turns out that it will be a trickle into the €100bn EU budget, which is allocated as follows:

Almost half of this is spent on agricultural aid, for subsidising farmers and their produce, and for improving rural development.

The second biggest portion - about one-third - goes on EU funding, which supports the poorer countries in the union. Currently Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece benefit most from this fund.

Money has also been allocated for the 10 countries set to join the union - some 40bn euros in the first three years of enlargement, in which time these countries will pay 15bn euros into the EU budget.

The remainder goes on research and educational programmes, aid to regions outside the EU such as Africa and the Balkans, and administration costs...

Yes, nearly 100% of it is welfare. The linked article also mentions that the DOJ is complaining – such a fat cash cow should not be shared that easily.

Rattling the Chains of Slavery

From "Rattling the Chains of Slavery" by Thomas Sowell:

Europeans enslaved other Europeans for centuries before the drying up of that supply led them to turn to Africa as a source of slaves for the Western Hemisphere. Julius Caesar marched in triumph through Rome in a procession that included British slaves he had captured. There were white slaves still being sold in Egypt two decades after blacks were freed in the United States.

It was the same story in Asia, Africa, and among the Polynesians and the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. No race, country, or civilization had clean hands.

What makes the current reparations movement a fraud, whether at Brown University or in the country at large, is the attempt to depict slavery as something uniquely done to blacks by whites. Reparations advocates are doing this for the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks: That's where the money is.

No one expects Qaddafi to pay reparations to the descendants of Europeans whom his ancestors captured on the Mediterranean coast or Western Europeans to pay reparations to Slavs who were enslaved on such a scale that the very word slave derived from their name.

Still less does anyone expect Africans to pay reparations to black Americans whose ancestors they sold to white men who took them across the Atlantic. Only in America can guilt be turned into cash.

Not quite. Europeans are getting quite good at seeking out willing victims themselves.

Hamas leaders are cowards after all

If you believe the mainstream media you might think that it’s “common knowledge” that Israel’s policy of assassinating terrorist masterminds creates more violence. New Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal would like you to believe that:

Your leaders, chaired by Sharon, will only bring you destruction. Blood begets blood. The Palestinian people can endure a long struggle and if you think that the confrontation will exhaust it then you are deluded. You will lose.

Rantisi said similar things just last year, after he himself survived an Israeli targeted strike: "By G-d we will not leave one Jew alive in Palestine."
... "Sheikh Ahmad Yassin rest in peace. They will never enjoy rest. We will send death to every house, every city, every street in Israel!"

What form of "death" did he send to Israel?

A 16 [edit:14]-year-old Palestinian with a suicide bomb vest strapped to his body was caught at a crowded West Bank checkpoint Wednesday, setting off a tense encounter with Israeli soldiers whom the army said he was sent to kill.
The family of the teenager, identified as Hussam Abdo, said he was gullible and easily manipulated.
"He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12 year old," said his brother, Hosni.
"He told us he didn't want to die. He didn't want to blow up," Milrad said.
The military said Abdo's mission was to kill soldiers at the crowded checkpoint.
"In addition to the fact that he would have harmed my soldiers, he would have also harmed the Palestinians waiting at the checkpoint, and there were 200 to 300 innocent Palestinians there," said the commander of the checkpoint, who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Guy.
Several teenagers have carried out suicide bombings over the past 3 1/2 years, and there has been recent concern that militant groups were turning to younger attackers to elude Israeli security checks.
Abdo, though 16, looked far younger, and the Israeli military initially said it believed he was 10 years old.

But what about all this talk about “cycles of violence?”

The number of suicide bombings and the number of victims has dropped, with 142 Israelis killed in 22 bombings in 2003, compared to 214 killed in 53 bombings in 2002. Analysts attributed the drop to Israel's partially built West Bank barrier, beefed-up intelligence and Hamas leaders' fear of assassination.

I suspect that the terrorist leadership is not nearly as death-happy as they fervently claim – they prefer to send scared little boys to carry out their threats of martyrdom.

Virus writers are getting more crafty then ever. Here is the content of two out of the dozens (!) of viruses I receive daily:

Please read the attached file!

++++ Attachment: No Virus found
++++ Norton AntiVirus - www.symantec.de

Dear user of Objectivismonline.net gateway e-mail server,
Your e-mail account has been temporary disabled because of unauthorized access.
…
Attached file protected with the password for security reasons. Password is 20530.
Sincerely,
The Objectivismonline.net team http://www.objectivismonline.net

Guilty of Being Innocent

Britain's Labor Home Secretary is suing people wrongfully imprisoned for crimes they did not commit to pay for the costs of their incarceration.
Diana Hsieh comments:

John McManus of the Scottish Miscarriage of Justice Organisation put his finger on the issue in saying that the government seems "to want to punish people for having the audacity to be innocent." Well, perhaps that's no surprise, given that they also want to punish people for the audacity of defending themselves against criminals.

Hamas leader killed in Israeli airstrike

Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas was just killed in an Israeli airstrike. MSNBC was quick to point out that he was a quadriplegic, but not that he has been planned uncounted terrorist attacks, openly assassinated IDF soldiers, and murdered many Palestinian “spies.” Earlier this year, he made his stance clear: "Muslims should threaten Western interests and strike them everywhere." We should celebrate the fact that Israel has made it's anti-terrorist stance clear – and demand that our leaders do likewise.

My Favorite Streaming Internet Radio Stations

A long time ago, I discovered my school’s file-sharing network and stopped buying music CD’s. Some time after that, I decided that while CD’s cost too much, stealing music is wrong. So, I switched to streaming internet radio, and have been listening to various streaming stations ever since. I’d like to share some of my favorites – just keep in mind that I listen to this while working or studying, so I prefer music that I can play in the background without distracting me too much. Feel free to comment with the streaming stations you like.

• Yahoo Launch offers personalized music streams and lets to rank your favorite genres/artists/albums/artists. They have a free ad-based and premium stations.
  
• Club977 is a "commercial free" 80’s station.
  
• Soma FM offers “Groove Salad,” a “ tasty plate of ambient beats and grooves. Takes the edge off work.”
  
• Digitally Imported offers a number of great stations including hard/soft/euro techno and classical stations.
  
• Shoutcast is a directory of thousands of free streaming stations playable with WinAmp.

"Overcoming Affirmative Action"

The Young Republicans group at Roger Williams University recently offered a $250 “why you are proud of your white heritage” scholarship contest. Following up on their lead, the Young Conservatives at my own Texas A&M have created a $10,000 “Overcoming Affirmative Action Essay Contest” that open to everyone.

The scholarship follows up on an “Affirmative Action Bake Sale” and other provocative actions by conservative groups across the nation. Such demonstrations rely on a strategy of reductio ad absurdum, “a type of logical argument where we assume a claim for the sake of argument, arrive at an absurd result, and then conclude the original assumption must have been wrong, since it gave us this absurd result.” The assumed claim is that an individual’s identity and personal worth are determined by ethnic/racial membership. The absurd conclusion is that Caucasians are just as entitled to ethnic pride and entitlements as other ethnicities. Therefore, one should conclude that neither whites nor any other group is entitled to racial pride or entitlements based on un-chosen traits.

While reductio ad absurdum can make a powerful emotional impact, it has a major pitfall as a method of persuasion: it requires that one’s opponent rejects the “absurd” conclusion -- and that they do so for the same reasons. It is not a logical argument, as much as a means of getting someone to see the inconsistency of his own position. In this case, the shared idea is that racism is wrong. White-only entitlements are meant to make people realize that racism is wrong no matter which group it favors. The problem is that advocates of multiculturalism do not reject the “absurd” conclusion for the same reasons because they do not hold a proper definition of “racism.”

Liberals are incapable of recognizing that one’s mind determines one’s identity and achievements, not his social/racial/ethnic group. Because of this basic premise, they cannot imagine an alternative to class or race-based discrimination. Hence, they reject white-only entitlements not because they are racist, but because they favor the wrong ethnic group. Their concept of “racism” means, “discrimination based on the belief that some groups are superior to others.” This definition fails to recognize the distinction between discrimination based on superior values and discrimination based on inherited traits. In practice, this means that the only “racism” that they recognize is that directed by a dominant group towards a weaker one – whether it is whites against blacks or Israel against the PLO, or successful businessmen “against” bums or the terrorists against America. Decades of public-school indoctrination has embedded such collectivist attitudes in the American public. Conservatives themselves are unable to recognize the root of racism because they accept their own collectivist doctrine of “original sin.”

While the Young Conservative’s protests are effective means of bringing attention to the multiculturalism that dominates our schools, only an explicit recognition of the individual’s mind and a rejection of collectivism can provide the intellectual ammunition necessary to combat it.

Interesting story on the WWII internment of Japanese Americans: A PC “Day of Remembrance” forgets key facts.

The Joy of Life

The Joy of Life by Berton Braley:

I'd rather risk gamely And lose for my trying Than grind around tamely --A cog in the mill. I'd rather fail greatly With courage undying Than plod on sedately With never a thrill!

The game's in the playing
And, losing or winning,
The fun's in the essaying
Your bravest and best,
In taking your chances
While fate's wheel is spinning
And backing your fancies
With nerve and with zest!

Let stodgy folk censure
and timid folk quaver,
But life sans adventure
Is weary to bear,
The dangers we're sharing
Give living its savour
I'd rather die daring
Than never to dare!

I came across a collection of some of Berton Braley's best poems at Quent Cordair. Check it out!

New Photos Up

New at my gallery: photos from this week's trip to San Antonio and some photos from my ski trip that I finally got on PhotoCD.

Alisa Veijo, California — City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.
Then they learned, to their chagrin, that dihydrogen monoxide - H2O for short - is the scientific term for water.

Foreign Leaders for John Kerry

I got an interesting email today from Orkut: Foreign Leaders for John Kerry

Socialist cave-in part of al Qaeda plan

Al Qaeda document:

We think the Spanish government will not stand more than two blows, or three at the most, before it will be forced to withdraw because of the public pressure on it,...
If its forces remain after these blows, the victory of the Socialist Party will be almost guaranteed -- and the withdrawal of Spanish forces will be on its campaign manifesto.

This al Qaeda plan was published months before the bombings and elections that accomplished it. Which U.S. ally will the terrorists go after next? Despite the president’s appeals, I think anti-Americanism is too pervasive for any European government to make a principled stand against terrorism and survive the elections.
(More at Cox & Forkum.)

Spring Break!

I will be on vacation all week. I won't be getting my usual email, but you can reach me at [email protected]

George Carlin Responds to Indecency Uproar

The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things — bad language and whatever — it's all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition. ... There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.

The below is from the Clean Airwaves Act, (H.R. 3687):

As used in this section, the term ‘profane’, used with respect to language, includes the words ‘shit’, ‘piss’, ‘fuck’, ‘cunt’, ‘asshole’, and the phrases ‘cock sucker’, ‘mother fucker’, and ‘ass hole’, compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms).

Astute readers will note that the list of banned words matches Carlin's 1972 “Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV” -- except that "tit" has been replaced by "asshole." My, how times (haven't) changed. I think Robert A. Heinlein's take on the matter is appropriate:

Of all the strange "crimes" that human beings have legislated of nothing, "blasphemy" is the most amazing - with "obscenity" and "indecent exposure" fighting it out for the second and third place.

The state of abortions rights in America recently got bleaker:

A woman accused of murder because she allegedly refused a caesarean section that could have saved her unborn twin denied the charge today, rejecting claims she avoided the surgery because she feared scarring.

The implications of these charges are clear enough:

Critics of the charges say the case could affect abortion rights and open the door to the prosecution of mothers who smoke, fail to follow their obstetrician's diet or take some other action that endangers a fetus.

Terrorists Bomb Madrid Trains

I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the Madrid bombings this morning that killed 190 and injured over 1200 people. While the Spanish government initially blamed Basque separatists, new evidence implicates Islamic fundamentalists, possibly cooperating the separatists. I have two observations to make about this:

Unlike Islamic fundamentalists, the Basque separatists are not death-worshipping suicide bombers. They did this expecting not only to get away their act, but also to survive long enough to reap the political benefits. What policies of the Spanish government and the larger war on terrorism led them to that conclusion?

Aside from the lackluster and self-defeating American response to 9/11, the European response to terrorism has been to portray Islamic fundamentalists as victims and America as the aggressor. If the Basque separatists anticipated the same attitude to be extended to them, they now expect a wave of sympathy for their cause, an attack on the Spanish government as the “imperialist aggressors” and a military response designed to capture their “hearts and minds” rather their bloody hearts and splattered brains.

So how did the Spanish politicians react? Did they pledge to hunt down and kill every single terrorist behind this attack? Did they renew their dedication to destroying the global terrorist network that is almost certainly at least partially behind this atrocity?

Three days of national mourning were declared and thousands of people took part in spontaneous anti-terror rallies across the country Thursday. The government called for nationwide anti-ETA demonstrations on Friday evening, and millions were expected.

Not a single article I read mentions anything about the Spanish government’s attempt to hunt down those responsible for the attack. In fact, the only pledge to go after the terrorists was offered by the U.S.:

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution expressing outrage and urging Bush to "provide all possible assistance to Spain" in pursuing the terrorists.

The Spanish response to today’s bombings is just another example of a larger lesson: terrorism cannot be defeated until we recognize whom it is that we are fighting – something that our enemies have been aware of from the start:

The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said it had received a claim of responsibility issued in the name of al-Qaida…. This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam," the claim said.

In the news: attack of the drive-by porn, Mecha Marines, and the latest DARPA project: AI-driven vehicle race.

Apologies to my readers for the lack of content, but I’ve been busy. Coders can find out what I’ve been up to at GotDotNet. I’m cooking up something original for the weekend :-)

Alexander Marriott has written a good post about Martha Stewart: "Stewart Treated Badly Because She is Successful, Not Because She is A Woman." Whatever her ideological faults, there is no excuse for the horrendous injustice inflicted on her by the government, or the treatment she is getting from the media. I've pondered about ways to show my support for her, and here is one of the simplest and most effective: go to MarthaStewart.com and buy something from her catalog.

Islam, the "Far-Right"

I think the title says it all: "Iraqi women juggle freedom, 'moral duty'"
And if you weren't clear enough on what Islam is about:

It's my moral duty to stay in the house," Hassan says, describing the life of a traditional Shiite Muslim wife. "Going out and being seen outside the house is against tradition. People will criticize a woman who leaves her house. This will create trouble for a woman in the community and trouble with her husband.

In other news, I often wonder what the labels "far-right" and "moderate" mean when referring to foreign political movements. The NYT has some clues:

Jörg Haider, the far-right political leader, brought his party an unanticipated victory in his home province Sunday… In final results, the Freedom Party had 42.4 percent of the vote, and the Socialists 38 percent.

This implies that “moderate” actually means “socialist” and “far-right” is capitalist. Then the article continues:

Many blame Mr. Haider for the party's national demise. He has been notorious for past remarks that sounded sympathetic to the Nazis and contemptuous of Jews, a visit with Saddam Hussein on the eve of the Iraq war and a friendship with Libya's leader, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi.

So what does “far-right” really mean – “capitalist” or “national socialist?” I know that commie reporters think that the two are the same, but I hope that my readers will know better.

Photos of Chernobyl after 18 years. I lived about 100 miles South-West of it at the time.

Martha Stewart convicted

Martha Stewart has been convicted on all four counts. I have nothing else to add to the matter other than this: a country that destroys its best, most productive minds does not survive for very long. If 30 years from now, all that is left of America is a broken-down starving dictatorship, today will be the day that finally doomed it. With the media in a witch-hunting frenzy, politicians of all stripes trying to beat one another to the next socialist regulation, and the courts going along, the thugs at the DOJ have nothing left in their way.

Every movement that seeks to enslave a country, every dictatorship or potential dictatorship, needs some minority group as a scapegoat which it can blame for the nation's troubles and use as a justification of its own demands for dictatorial powers. In Soviet Russia, the scapegoat was the bourgeoisie; in Nazi Germany, it was the Jewish people; in America, it is the businessmen. -Ayn Rand

To top off a lousy week, my digital camera broke today :-(
I'm in the market for a new one if any readers have suggestions for me.

Who stands to benefit from civil unrest in Iraq?

AlJazeera Poll: "Who stands to benefit from civil unrest in Iraq?"

Neighbouring Arab country : 13%
Neighbouring non-Arab country : 3%
Israel and the US : 38%
Internal Iraqi groups : 19%
Combination of the above : 12%
Unsure : 15%

Not surprisingly, "terrorists," "Baathist thugs," and "Al Jazeera" were not in the list. The article further implicates the US:

There might be infiltrators attacking the Shia to make it appear they are being targeted by Sunnis and the other way round. It is in the interest of both (Iraqi) Sunnis and Shia to agree on putting out this fire and not to react to such provocations," said Shaikh Salman al-Udah.

(Needless to say, the problem in Iraq is a bit more serious than “civil unrest.”)

Applied Death Worship 101

A wave of suicide bombings and mortar attacks on vast crowds of Shiite worshippers has killed at least 170 people in Baghdad and Karbala. ... The near-simultaneous attacks ripped through an annual ritual, banned under Sunni Saddam Hussein, during which Shiites beat their heads and chests and cut their heads with swords to honour a revered figure killed in battle 1,324 years ago.

Should it be any suprise that a religion glorifying death leads to death-worship in practice? Only to someone who glorifies death himself. The main difference between most Christians and Muslims is that the former tend to be much more consistent.

"Topless rights"

Do you support equal topless rights, allowing women to show their breasts openly, just like men?

Choice Votes Percentage of 10465 Votes

Yes 6366 61%

No 3869 37%

In related news, porn = adultery:

DALLAS -- This billboard in Dallas on Feb. 2, 2004, is a campaign by Dallas- based nonprofit software company by NetAccountability, a nonprofit software company that aims to help Christians confront the "secret sin" of pornography. The company is urging men to give their wives a special gift for Valentines -- abstinence from porn. The billboards are scheduled to be displayed on Friday, Feb. 13, 2004, the day before Valentines Day.

For the record, I am pro-porn, and pro-nudity ;-)