In the Heart of Freedom, in Chains

Very interesting article on current race relations and responsibilities:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_black_america.html

More Government Waste

Eliminate this waste, and there would be no deficit:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19912382/

Another Clinton Transgression?

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

When an undercover detective called Brooks, she said her girls were clean and only serviced upscale clients, a police report said. She later boasted that she had more than 40 women working for her and that her clients ranged from basketball star Shaquille O'Neal to a former president, according to the report.

Hmm.  What are the chances this will even be noticed.  We can compare this news coverage to David Vitter's coverage in the MSM.

American's for Prosperity came out with its list of Senate Earmarks in the Labor, HHSA, Education Appropriations Bill.   Tthe earmark list includes:

$1 million for the Museum at Bethel Woods, which is dedicated to recreating the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival experience and will feature "An interpretation of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Fair" exhibit in 2008, according to the museum's website. The earmark is at the request of New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer.

$250,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, which includes among its programs making and sailing ancient canoes from Hawaii to Japan. The earmark is requested by Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

$100,000 for "Lighten Up Iowa," an online program encouraging people to lose weight while also preaching the benefits of vegan diets. The earmark is requested by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.   

$500,000 for the New York Botanical Garden's Virtual Herbarium, a project to scan images of herbs and post them online. The earmark is requested by New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer.

$100,000 to fund the celebration of Lake Champlain's 400th Anniversary – an event that doesn't take place until 2009. The earmark is at the request of Vermont Senator Pat Leahy.

You can view the complete list here.  It is amazing to just page through the Excel file and see all the money going out.

The New York Times Surrenders by Victor Davis Hanson

Great article from City Journal:

On July 8, the New York Times ran an historic editorial entitled "The Road Home," demanding an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq. It is rare that an editorial gets almost everything wrong, but "The Road Home" pulls it off. Consider, point by point, its confused—and immoral—defeatism.

1. "It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit."

Rarely in military history has an "orderly" withdrawal followed a theater-sized defeat and the flight of several divisions. Abruptly leaving Iraq would be a logistical and humanitarian catastrophe. And when scenes of carnage begin appearing on TV screens here about latte time, will the Times then call for "humanitarian" action?

Great points.

Why Buyers Bought the Prius.

From Slate.com:

Why are Prius sales surging when other hybrids are slumping, the Times asked? Because buyers "want everyone to know they are driving a hybrid." According to a marketing survey (which the Times ran in a graphic I couldn't hide from), more buyers bought the Prius this year because it "makes a statement about me" (57 percent) than because of its better gas mileage (36 percent) or lower carbon dioxide emissions (25 percent) or new technology (7 percent).

Freedom and Benevolence Go Together

Interesting exchange between John Stossel and Michael Moore from RCP:

Doesn't it stand to reason that someone who wants everyone to be free of tyranny does so partly because he cares about others? Wishing freedom to one's fellow human beings strikes me as a sign of benevolence. But Moore and the left don't see it that way.

Moore thinks respecting others' freedom means refusing to help the less fortunate. But where's the connection? All it means is that the libertarian refuses to sanction the use of physical force (which is what government is) to help others. Peaceful methods -- like voluntary charity -- are the only morally consistent methods. [. . .]

Moore followed up with a religious lesson. "What the nuns told me is true: We will be judged by how we treat the least among us. And that in order to be accepted into heaven, we're gonna be asked a series of questions. When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was homeless, did you give me shelter? And when I was sick, did you take care of me?"

I'm not a theologian, but I do know that when people are ordered by the government to be charitable, it's not virtuous; it's compelled. Why would anyone get into heaven because he pays taxes under threat of imprisonment? Moral action is freely chosen action.

U.S. leg of Live Earth hits key notes - Newsday.com

U.S. Constitution.  Article 3 Section 3 on Treason:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Robert Kennedy Jr.  at Live Earth

However, Etheridge aside, it was nonmusicians at this concert who made the most passionate pleas about demanding action for the environment. "Get rid of all these rotten politicians that we have in Washington, who are nothing more than corporate toadies," said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmentalist author, president of Waterkeeper Alliance and Robert F. Kennedy's son, who grew hoarse from shouting. "This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/ny-etliveus085286071jul08,0,3908150.story?coll=ny-music-print

Simply lunacy.  Who is "them"?  Humanity?  

David