Tsunami disaster an opportunity for the UN?: Seriously, that's what a reporter asked Annan and Egeland.

Q: Will you go to the region? Are you considering a trip? Can you update your statement at your end-of-the-year news conference regarding what a horrible year it was? And, describe looking at the images, I assume, on vacation, and whether you thought about coming back earlier and just what you were looking at. And the role of the United Nations after being bashed all year: is this, unfortunately on the back of horrible disaster, an opportunity for the United Nations?

I understand the context of the question, and I don't think it's the worst question ever asked, even if it is a little insensitive. But can you imagine that kind of question being asked of President Bush? Can you imagine a Fox News reporter asking him, "Mr. President, isn't this a good chance for your administration to score points with the Muslim world?" Talk about a leather-strap-breaking, spittle-flecked rave by the left, it would be like a rabies outbreak at DNC HQ.

And note that compassionate Kofi stayed on his skiing trip while this was taking place. Again, I don't think it was necessary for him to drop everything and fly personally down to the disaster area. Leaders lead, sometimes from thousands of miles away, and while I'm loathe to characterize Annan as a leader, he does head the organization, so it's not necessary for him to be personally handing out food. But we heard lots of complaints about President Bush staying on vacation instead of getting more involved, and of course the fact that he didn't quit reading to those schoolchildren when Sept. 11 happened. Why are there no comparable calls regarding Annan's vacation or his inaction?

Happy New Year

I just wanted to extend my wishes for a happy and healthy new year to all of you and your families. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this site these past few months, and being a part of this on-line community has been one of the highlights of the past year.

God bless you all. See you in 2005.

ROLL TIDE!!!!!
Today the Crimson Tide will apply a good ole fashioned Southern styled smack down to Minnesota. My prediction; Alabama will beat them like a nark at a biker rally. Go get ‘em boys.

Here's something you don't see everyday: An essay on theodicy in the Wall Street Journal.

Mass Immigration in England

Over at the American Spectator, there is an essay up by Christopher Orlet on recent immigrant mob activity in England. According to reports, in Birmingham on Dec. 18, a mob of some 400 radical Sikhs stormed the Birmingham's Repertory Theatre prior to a performance of Gurprett Bhatti's play "Dishonor". During the subsequent melee, 800 theatergoers had to be rushed from the theater, while the mob smashed doors, shattered windows, battered security guards, and destroyed equipment. Apparently the mob found offensive a scene in the play where murder and rape occur in a Sikh temple.

Unfortunately, some quisling Britons have tried to excuse the violence. For example, the Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, The Most Rev. Vincent Nichols observed that "such a deliberate, even if fiction[al], violation of the sacred place of the Sikh religion demeans the sacred places of every religion." That sentiment is silly. Had Rev. Nichols' congregation acted in a similar fashion by, say, storming an exhibit containing Andres Serrano's Piss Christ, the Church would have condemned the mob activity and lectured the offenders on freedom of expression. But it seems that we are all too willing to look the other way when immigrants engage in lawlessness. Why, if you object you might get labeled a racist.

Orlet sums up the current situation as follows:

The West now finds itself ill-equipped to deal with great numbers of immigrants from Muslim and developing countries who have no tradition or experience in Western freedoms, who literally sat out the Enlightenment and the subsequent 300 years of human progress. The concepts of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, equal rights and separation of church and state are not only foreign to vast hordes of Muslims and Sikhs, but they are inimical.

The events in England remind me of what happened in Los Angeles in February 1998 when a crowd of over 91,000 fans, made up predominantly of Latinos who live and work in southern California, gathered for the Gold Cup soccer match between the Mexican and U.S. national teams. These fans not come to root for the home team. Rather, they booed and whistled through the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner," and then proceeded to pelt the players on the American team with food, bottles, and cans.

When will Britons and Americans summon the will to close the borders and defend their countries and cultures against what is a true invasion? We still have time to take some action, but that window is closing as mass immigration continues.

Common law vs. civil law in promoting prosperity: There's a short, very readable summary of the important empirical work done by four economists (LaPorta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer & Vishny, collectively, "LLSV") on this question in the current issue of Legal Affairs. Their first article, published in 1998,

showed that common law countries protect both shareholders and creditors better than civil law countries do, and they also tend to be less corrupt. LLSV took dozens of specific financial indicators—ranging from key gauges, like the odds that a company's assets will be confiscated by the state, to smaller measures, like whether shareholders can vote at company meetings—and regressed them all against legal origin. The regressions showed that the measures that indicate high investor and creditor protection or low corruption connect to common law origin, just as height connects to weight. The measures that represent low protection and high corruption connect to civil law origin.

They have argued more recently that the greater level of "judicial independence" in common law countries is a key element in the explanation of this difference between the two systems. The article canvasses some of the criticisms levelled at the LLSV project, and some of their responses -- including this:

"Lawyers don't do empirical work," said Shleifer. "They just argue with each other."

(Via Mike Rappaport on The Right Coast.)

Paul Greenberg has visited the Clinton Library, and he's not happy about what he saw:

Here generations of innocent schoolchildren will be told how an innocent president, the sainted William Jefferson Clinton, was martyred by a Republican mob, aka the Radical Right. Not since those endless, unreadable editorials in the old Pravda has a text adhered so faithfully and dully to a party line.

(Note: This was written just before Thanksgiving, but I have only just now run across it.)

Look back in humor: Dave Barry is about to take a hiatus (or a sabbatical, or a vacation; I forget), but before he leaves, he posted his annual look back at the year's happenings. It includes this nugget about September:

With more bad news coming from Iraq, and Americans citing terrorism and health care as their major concerns, the news media continue their laser-beam focus on the early 1970s. Dan Rather leads the charge with a report on CBS's 60 Minutes citing a memo, allegedly written in 1972, suggesting that Bush shirked his National Guard duty. Critics charge that the memo is a fake, pointing out that at one point it specifically mentions the 2003 Outkast hit Hey Ya. Rather refuses to back down, arguing that the reference could be to ''an early version of the song.''

The Miami Herald's site is registration only, but thanks to the good folks at bugmenot.com, I can tell you that the email address bettles@bettles.com, and the password bettles, will get you in. Happy reading.

My Predictions for 2005: Some serious, but most aren't:

Yasser Arafat will continue to be dead.

Ole Miss football team will go to a decent bowl game, i.e one not located in Shreveport, LA.

I will maintain my stunning good looks.

VH-1 will produce more shows where b-list and c-list celebrities comment on top 50 best or worst of something. Other channels will copy this formula.

Michael Moore will go on a diet, get some exercise, and produce a documentary that is not willfully distorted and misleading...ah, who am I kidding? He'll remain the rotund lying liar and make some asinine comments.

Quebec will become an independent country, thereby creating another annoying Francophone country for us to make fun of.

There will be special theatre presentations of all three Lord of the Rings movies (extended cuts, of course) back-to-back-to-back.

Bret Schundler will win the NJ Governor's race.

John McCain and Chuck Hagel will continue to be thorns in President Bush's side.

Some form of Social Security reform legislation will be introduced in the House and Senate and it will pass.

Iraq will slowly, but surely stabilize as a new interim government is elected in Jan. and a new constitution put into place later in the year.

Ukrainian President Yushchenko will layeth the smacketh-down on those elements of the government and corporate sector that enjoyed the rotten fruits of the previous corrupt regime.

ACLU et. al. will shriek over supposed infringements on civil rights by the Bush Administration. Such crying wolf will make it harder for geniune enroachments to be identified and countered in the future.

Bush nominates one or two Supreme Court justices. He only asks that instead a Senate confirmation hearings for there to be steel cage matches of the nominees vs. any Democrat Senators. If the nominee pins any Democrat in a 10-count, he or she is confirmed. However, if a Democrat wins, then the nominee is rejected. Sales revenues from the Pay-Per-View will help cover the deficit.

Happy New Year. May 2005 bring peace and prosperity to each and every one of you.

How dare the U.S. go helping flood victims!: You can always count on the UN. Always count on them to be, in the words of a Southern expression, as useless as teats on a boar hog. Now they're fuming that the U.S. has the audacity to help tsunami victims.

United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster.

The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the world’s response.

But former International Development Secretary Clare Short said that role should be left to the UN.

“I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,” she said.

Yeah, the important issue isn't the 100,000 or so dead, it's that the UN gets its moment in the sun. Those who can, do. Those who can't join the UN.

SEX, LOVE AND ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
That is the title to the new Social Distortion CD. For fans of the band this latest offering is a must have. Whereas the band does not break any new ground with this CD they do provide yet another collection of songs that feature their classic sound. And what a sound it is. Social Distortion’s music is a vigorous mixture of Punk, Rockabilly, Country, and aggressive, hard driving Rock ‘n’ Roll. Although I love the entire CD songs like Reach for the Sky, Highway 101, and Nickels and Dimes really stand out.

Now I readily admit (as if it is not already obvious) that I am a huge Social Distortion fan. I have been ever since I first heard their version of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. The first time I heard that song I was in my car. I was so impressed that as soon as I got home I called the radio station to find out who performed it. They also do a slamming’ version of Wanda Jackson’s Making Believe.

Additionally, for those, like myself, that find much of the glam-country garbage belched forth by Nash-Vegas annoying I would also recommend the two solo CDs from Social Distortion’s lead singer, Mike Ness. Cheating at Solitaire and Under the Influences, while retaining a Punk edginess, are far more Country than most of what is currently played on “Country” radio.

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Before I pulled back from my college football obsession, I thought the time after Christmas was the most wonderful time of all, with a plethora of games ranging from the real (Sugar, Fiesta, etc.) to the Ridiculous (Emerald Bowl? Huh?). And while I'm not nearly as bowlphilic as I used to be, it's still a pretty good time of year. Which is why I'm posting this, which has to do with Auburn and Alabama, and the twisted way the infernal NCAA determines a champion.

Cal had its pocket picked. Auburn had its house robbed.

Cal had its watch pilfered. Auburn had its dog stolen.

Cal needs to call a cop. Auburn needs to hire a lawyer.

Perhaps you are looking forward to the Orange Bowl. Maybe you are interested in the Sugar, intrigued by the Fiesta, incensed by the Rose. Maybe you are ashamed to admit it, but you are planning to watch the Peach.

Me? My favorite bowl game is always the D.W. Cooper Who-Got-Jobbed Bowl, where teams gather to compare short ends of the stick. This year, it involves Auburn and California. One was mugged. The other was swindled.

For all their faults, that's one thing you can count on the polls to provide: Victims. Every year, one or two teams get the short end of the computers. After that, they spend the holiday season comparing their scars.

Mr. Shelton makes some good points, including his listing of the top 10 national championship travesties. Not surprisingly to Crimson Tide fans, the 1966 Alabama team takes the title for biggest miscarriage of justice.

1. ALABAMA, 1966: The most outrageous, preposterous swindle in the history of college football was suffered by, yep, Alabama. Frankly, it was worst than the Great Train Robbery. It was '66 when Notre Dame played for the tie in the closing seconds against Michigan State. That left Alabama, the two-time defending champion, as the nation's only unbeaten, untied team. It finished third.

Even now, Crimson Tide fans will swear that their granddaddy could beat up the other guy's granddaddy.

That's the thing about protests. It lasts as long as trophies do.

Let's hope 2005 is the year the NCAA goes down in flames.

Sigh: Lord knows we need to do what we can to help the people hit by the tsunami, but you can't help but sigh a little when you see this picture that's floating around the blogosphere. Look behind the body on the stretcher.

Review of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

Over at the Mises Institute, David Gordon has a review up of Thomas Woods new book. Here is a taste:

The book is no mere compilation of surprising facts. Woods has rather organized his account around a central theme. Americans have, from the colonial period to the present, flourished so long as they lived in a free economy, accompanied by a government strictly limited in powers. But throughout much of our history, the efforts of Americans to live freely have confronted a formidable enemy: the Leviathan state. Woods shows that the federal government, far from being the protector of the rights of minorities, has been the main obstacle on the path to liberty.

Don't go back to Kookville: The king of Southern snakeoil salesmen, disgraced former chief justice Roy Moore (of the Alabama Supreme Court), has a book coming out in March 2005, entitled "So Help Me God."

Yes, Lord, please do help Roy Boy to realize that his 15 minutes of infamy are over, and convince him to join a 12-step program for those suffering from a pronounced messiah complex.

ID and Falsifiability
There's an interesting discussion in the blogosphere intiated by Hugh Hewitt's criticism of the Washington Post's account of the debate over teaching Intelligent Design in a Pennsylvania school district. (I've written a little bit on the top of ID and public education in a book and several law reviews, the latter of which may be accessed on my site here)

Amidst this discussion--which has become heated at times--is the incessant repitition of the slogan that "ID is unfalsifiable." I take that to mean that ID, as a theory (if it is a theory), cannot be refuted in principle. It would be like claiming that the world is run by invisible undetectable leprechans. That account of course, could never be refuted, since the leprechan believer could always attribute the apparent evidence against (or the absence of evidence for) the leprechans to their cleverness.

But are design theories like that? It depends. For example, Darwin offered natural selection as an account of biological complexity that had been previously attributed to divine agency. So, at least for Darwin, he thought that design was falsifiable, since he thought his account counted against its predecessor, a design theory. Neo-Darwinists seem to believe the same. They offer an account of biological complexity that appeals to non-rational causes, which seems to me counts against design by agency, since the neo-Darwinian account is offered to explain the exact same phenomena for which traditional design theories were offered. So, here's the conundrum for those that issue the "unfalsifiability" charge against ID: if it is unfalsifiable, then one of the reasons to accept Darwinian or neo-Darwinian accounts vanishes--it counts against a design alternative. But if ID is falsifiable, then ID is making a claim about the world for which one may marshall evidence. Of course, ID may fail on those grounds, as Darwinians and neo-Darwinians argue. But in that case, the unfalsifiability objection is not necessary.

Tsunami Horror. I know the tragedy in Asia is getting plenty of pub elsewhere, but I still feel the need to post something.

The aftermath can only be termed horrific at this point; estimated death tolls have risen to more than 70,000 people. There are orphans on one hand and parents burying children on the other. There are international visitors from all over the world trapped in a strange land (now made stranger) far from home looking for lost loved ones.

Imagine for a moment that five minutes from now you will find yourself wet and stranded on a hill or rooftop somewhere that you think is near your home, but you're not sure. Water will be rushing all around you along with floating bodies, furniture, cars... everything you have to your name is lost under that water. If you're lucky you're in sight of others who can call for help, or maybe you have a cell phone on you. What do you do? Even if you are rescued, how do you get back on your feet?

If you're not sure just how merciless and sudden this catastrophe was, you can see some video here. Some examples get you as close to "ground zero" as you'll ever want to be. I wasn't convinced of how bad this was until I saw the videos, so I encourage my fellow skeptics to view them as well.

My thoughts an prayers are with the millions who must be feeling the sorrow of such a terrible and unexpected loss. If you're so inclined, please give something to relief efforts. You can donate here.

And let's not forget those black-eyed peas on New Year's

Enough about collards; lets talk black-eyed peas. This too is one of my favorite foods. I especially like them prepared with hot peppers to give 'em a kick. While Hoppin' John (black-eyed peas cooked with rice) is good, I prefer my black-eyed peas served alone as a side dish.

The black-eyed pea, also known as the cow pea, is thought to have originated in North Africa, where it has been eaten for centuries. It may have been introduced into India as long as 3,000 years ago, and was also a staple of Greek and Roman diets. The peas were probably introduced to the New World by Spanish explorers and African slaves.

To whoever introduced them here, I say thank-you. Black-eyed peas are good eatin'.

Russ Feingold: World-class jerk.

"Battle over recess appointments--High court may rule on the legality of President Bush's use of the controversial tactic to fill judicial vacancies": The key word, of course, is "may," which in this case means "highly unlikely."

"The Monument in the Judicial Building": Here is a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the Roy Moore/Ten Commandments circus, courtesy of Justice Gorman Houston (Alabama Supreme Court).

Go Irish!: Beat Oregon State!



[Ed., Sorry for the lack of posts, folks. I am in Nashvegas visiting my mother, who, alas, has dial-up access to the Internet. Ugh. I'll try to post more soon.]

Susan Sontag dead at 71: To me, Sontag was one of those writers that lots of people, especially "correct people" in literary circles, keep copies of their work on prominent display, but have actually read very little of. I know that outside of tiny excerpts, I haven't read anything by her, although of course I'm usually hardly correct in any measure. But just reading this obit in Newsday tells me I haven't missed much.

"So when I go to a Patti Smith concert, I enjoy, participate, appreciate and am tuned in better because I’ve read Nietzsche. The main reason I read is that I enjoy it. There’s no incompatibility between observing the world and being tuned into an electronic, multimedia, multi-tracked, McLuhanite world and enjoying what can be enjoyed about rock ’n’ roll."

That's the kind of statement that makes people in black turtlenecks, granny glasses, and Birkenstocks nod their heads in emphatic, brie-scented agreement, and the rest of us go, "Huh?" And the rest of us are right. Obfuscation and name-dropping doth not a cogent statement make.

Then there's this:

An early and passionate opponent of the Vietnam War, Sontag was both admired and reviled for her political convictions. In a 1967 Partisan Review symposium, she wrote that "America was founded on a genocide, on the unquestioned assumption of the right of white Europeans to exterminate a resident, technologically backward, colored population in order to take over the continent."

In her rage and gloom and growing despair, she concluded that "the truth is that Mozart, Pascal, Boolean algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Marx, Balanchine ballets, et al., don’t redeem what this particular civilization has wrought upon the world. The white race is the cancer of human history; it is the white race and it alone — its ideologies and inventions — which eradicates autonomous civilizations wherever it spreads, which has upset the ecological balance of the planet, which now threatens the very existence of life itself."

Which goes a long way toward explaining her worldview. That much guilt has really got to gnaw at you, make you long for causes to rail against, names to drop, issues to be active about. It's sad, really, and I'm not being facetious when I say that.

Rest in peace, Susan Sontag.

Reading: As expected, I Am Charlotte Simmons was a good read. My view on the book is that Wolfe has created the "perfect storm," if you will. While all of the events that take place in the book may seem extreme to some, the fact is, in one way or another, they are realistic and do, in fact, occur, albeit usually not all together. Someone left a comment to a post of mine, when I recommended the book, saying something to the effect that after reading the book, you will not want to send your daughter off to college. I'd tend to say that is a gut reaction; however, college today is not all that bad. I digress from my ramblings on the book and will recommend it once more.

Now, I move on to Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton, which I received for Christmas. Already, I'm finding myself growing sympathetic to Hamilton, something I've never done after reading numerous biographies on John Adams. My goal is to try and finish it between now and 10 January, when classes resume, although I'll be somewhat distracted while spending next week in lovely Steamboat Springs, Colorado, trying not to break a leg.

Thus, should I find time lacking to deal with dial-up at the in-laws, I'll go ahead and wish a Happy New Year to the SA community.

More on those delicious Collards

But I have never tasted meat, Nor cabbage, corn nor beans, Nor fluid food on half as sweet as that first mess of greens.

James T. Cotton Now (1869-1953), American writer and poet.

Amen to that!

For those of you curious about greens and their history, please see this short piece from What's Cooking America. Collard greens date back to prehistoric times, and are one of the oldest members of the cabbage family. Though collards are thought of as purely Southern, they are somewhat international. Collards originated in the eastern Mediterranean and became a staple of the African slaves' diet in America. The typical method of preparing the greens has been traced backed to West Africa.

It seems that collards are also very healthy as reported by The World's Healthiest Foods:

In terms of conventional nutrients, our food ranking system qualified collard greens as an excellent, very good or good source of the three main antioxidants in foods, vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene.

. . . .

As members of the Brassica genus of foods, collards stand out as an anti-cancer food. It’s the organosulfur compounds in collards that have been the main subject of phytonutrient research, and these include the glucosinolates and the methyl cysteine sulfoxides.

Good for you and good tasting--I can't wait to get me a mess of greens on New Year's day!

Get your black-eyed peas and collards ready

For most of us Southerners, it is a tradition to eat black-eyed peas and collards on New Year's day. They are supposed to bring good luck in the New Year. They both happen to be favorites of mine anytime, so I am already thinking about that New Year's day feast.

Today over at LewRockwell.com, Brad Edmonds has an essay up on this New Year's day tradition and how it got started. I don't know if it is true, but here is my favorite theory:

Among the black-eyed pea hypotheses are that on Sherman's crop-burning march through Georgia, black-eyed pea crops were left alone since Yankees thought they were weeds. Black-eyed peas and salt pork were all some Southerners had to keep themselves alive, so the tradition of associating these beans with good luck started there.

So this year when we Southerners indulge in black-eyed peas and collards, let's think of our ancestors who persevered and felt blessed to have this modest food. Most of us will never know times that hard--and that is all the more reason to be thankful for what we have in the New Year.

My secret is out: Damn you, Poon (scroll down to answer 11).

Merry Christmas all!

Merry Christmas, everybody: I'm about to start a self-imposed blogging hiatus for the holidays, but I wanted to wish all SA readers, a Merry Christmas. And here's a little sonic present, courtesy of Dailywav.com.

We wish you are Merry Christmas: Engrish gives us a Japanese-flavored Christmas message.

Merry Christmas: Ah, not only do we get the merry news that the President plans to re-nominate the list of judges, infra, including our own Patron Saint, but we get a wonderful blurb from SJC Chair Arlen Specter in this morning's NYT. Speaking on the President's plan, Mr. Specter had this to say:

"It has been my hope that we might be able to approach this whole issue with some cooler perspective," he said in an interview. "I would have preferred to have some time in the 109th Congress to improve the climate to avoid judicial gridlock and future filibusters."

Way to go, Senator.

N.B. I wish all of SA's contributors, as well as loyal readers, a very merry Christmas. Enjoy the time off from work and school with your families.

American Christianity and Christmas: A few "holiday" thoughts from James Q. Wilson.

The future of Bill Pryor's nomination is the subject of this story from the Birmingham News.

"I'm optimistic about Bill's chances," said Sessions, his protege's biggest advocate in the Senate. "But it's not going to be easy with the numbers the way they are."

Oh, and Ralph Neas makes his obligatory appearance.

Redstate voters and blue state drinks: K-Lo, what is it with all of this Manhattan talk? What ails you Cornerites? It's called bourbon, y'all should look into it. :)

They make some good points: Super Mario Brothers: Hit 80's Video Game or Subtle Communist Propaganda Campaign?"

The President's plans re judicial nominees: The White House press office released a statement this morning indicating the President's intention "to nominate again . . . 20 individuals who did not receive up or down votes in the President's first term, 16 of whom were nominated more than a year ago[.]" Included in this group are the following Circuit Court nominees:

Terrence W. Boyle (4th Circuit) (first nominated May 9, 2001)
Priscilla Richman Owen (5th Circuit) (first nominated May 9, 2001)
David W. McKeague (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)
Susan Bieke Neilson (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)
Henry W. Saad (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)
Richard A. Griffin (6th Circuit) (first nominated June 26, 2002)
William H. Pryor (11th Circuit) (first nominated April 9, 2003)
William Gerry Myers, III (9th Circuit) (first nominated May 15, 2003)
Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit) (first nominated July 25, 2003)
Brett M. Kavanaugh (D.C. Circuit) (first nominated July 25, 2003)
William James Haynes, II (4th Circuit) (first nominated September 29, 2003)
Thomas B. Griffith (D.C. Circuit) (first nominated May 10, 2004)

Re-nominees to the District Courts include:

James C. Dever, III (E.D. North Carolina) (first nominated May 22, 2002)
Thomas L. Ludington (E.D. Michigan) (first nominated September 12, 2002)
Robert J. Conrad (W.D. North Carolina) (first nominated April 28, 2003)
Daniel P. Ryan (E.D. Michigan) (first nominated April 28, 2003)
Peter G. Sheridan (New Jersey) (first nominated November 5, 2003)
Paul A. Crotty (S.D. New York) (first nominated September 7, 2004)
Sean F. Cox (E.D. Michigan) (first nominated September 10, 2004)
J. Michael Seabright (Hawaii) (first nominated September 15, 2004)

More on Festivus: JD has already mentioned the Festivus article in the NYT, but y'all may also be interested in the following links:

Festivus Christmas cards

Airing of grievances worksheet

Official feats of strength challenge card

[All of the foregoing links come from Katherine Willis's website]

Festivus e-cards, courtesy of Crazy Girl.

It's a Festivus miracle!

Bob Casey's Revenge
You simply have got to read this essay at First Things. William McGurn hits a homerun with this dissection of the Democrat party, and it's never-met-an-abortion-we-can't-support attitude. He quotes the deceased former pro-life governor of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, who in his autobiography wrote:

Many people discount the power of the so-called “cultural issues” — and especially of the abortion issue. I see it just the other way around. These issues are central to the national resurgence of the Republicans, central to the national implosion of the Democrats, central to the question of whether there will be a third party. The national Democrats may, and probably will, get a temporary bump in the polls—even, perhaps, one more national election victory — from their reactive strategy as the defenders of the elderly and poor who rely on Medicare and Medicaid. But the Democrats’ national decline—or better, their national disintegration—will continue relentlessly and inexorably until they come to grips with these values issues, primarily abortion.

Governor Casey wrote those prophetic words in 1996. He was correct -- the Democrats did win one more national election, and we now see the beginning of the party's "national disintegration."

McGurn continues:

In the aftermath of Senator Kerry’s defeat the Democrats are wondering how it is that the first Catholic nominee for President since 1960, a man who spoke glowingly of rosary beads and his days as an altar boy, lost the Catholic vote, lost the Mass-going Catholic vote by an even larger margin, and lost it by larger margins still in key swing states such as Florida and Ohio.

They have much to ponder, as do all Americans who truly care about life, for it should be clear that a Democratic Party in its current shape is not healthy for America. We need pro-life Democrats to be able to breathe again. This means that we need a Democratic leadership that doesn’t demand that Democrats vote against, among other things, judicial nominees whose only crime is their “deeply held” personal beliefs or a suspected skepticism toward the one dogma in the Democratic Party: that while all other Supreme Court decisions are malleable and must bend to the social and political agenda of the day, Roe v. Wade is holy writ.

(Cross posted at We Win, They Lose)

RE: And speaking of Google: Not only can you search in standard Latin, you can also search in the Porcine dialect of that language.

Homemade Segway? Yep, it is possible to build your own balancing scooter and this gentleman shows you how.

Can Catholics Vote Democratic Anymore?
is the title of a piece at the Claremont Institute by Dennis E. Teti. A taste:

The role of the Catholic Church within American democracy has been controversial in each of the three presidential elections involving Catholic candidates. But the "theological-political problem" has changed since the days of Al Smith (1928) and Kennedy (1960). Kennedy and Smith were forced to defend themselves against anti-Catholic groups who feared that they would be more loyal to the Pope than to America. Kerry had to defend himself against Catholics because he was more loyal to his liberal ideology—on issues like abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and same-sex "marriage"—than to his faith. Kerry was the first Catholic dissenter to run for President.

*****

In 1992 the late pro-life Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, Robert Casey, was denied permission to address his party's national convention. Since then the Party's platforms and candidates have ever more stridently advocated policies that undermine the traditional family structure, such as unrestricted abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and homosexual "marriage." The Democrats' extreme platforms recognize no right of conscientious dissent: in other words, these policies have become the very basis on which the Party rests, and their candidates willy-nilly must accept them.

The Catholic Church, which has labored for decades to preserve and promote the dignity of the person and the family, is threatened by these policies. Indeed, the founding principle of our country—that all men are created equal in their natural rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness—is equally contradicted by the Democratic Party's dedication to policies that weaken families, kill unborn human beings, and manipulate human nature in the name of science.

Until the Democratic Party reforms itself, most Catholics—educated by their bishops to recognize these policies as sinful—will no longer vote for Democratic presidential nominees. But Catholic Americans should take the next step to meet the Vatican Council's challenge. Recognize that the charism of bishops does not include political prudence. But the "priesthood of the laity" implies a right and an obligation in faith to say, through lay organizations as well as the ballot, that it is no longer possible to be a loyal Democrat and a loyal Catholic American.

Festivus for real?: You might think Festivus was invented by Frank Costanza, George's father on "Seinfeld." And you might think it's a big goof that's gotten a life of its own, even though the show has long since rode off into the syndication sunset. But you'd be wrong.

The actual inventor of Festivus is Dan O'Keefe, 76, whose son Daniel, a writer on Seinfeld, appropriated a family tradition for the episode. The elder O'Keefe was stunned to hear that the holiday, which he minted in 1966, is catching on. "Have we accidentally invented a cult?" he wondered.

Maybe.

To postulate grandly, the rise of Festivus, a bare-bones affair in which even tinsel is forbidden, may mean that Americans are fed up with the commercialism of the December holidays and are yearning for something simpler. Or it could be that Festivus is the perfect secular theme for an all-inclusive December gathering (even better than Chrismukkah, popularized by the television show The O.C.). Or maybe, postulating smally, it's just irresistibly silly.

Interpretations of the holiday's rules differ among Festivus fundamentalists. Take the pole. On the show Frank Costanza says it must be aluminum and "it requires no decoration." But he does not specify what should hold it up nor its exact height.

Krista Soroka, 33, the host of an annual Festivus party in Tampa, sank her 5-footer into a green plastic pot filled with sand this year. "It's just an aluminum pole," she said, "like Frank says."

The author is right about Festivus having a life outside the television screen. Yesterday I received an "Official Feats of Strength Challenge Card" from a co-worker. The card reads, "I challenge you to Feats of Strength. You must pin me to end Festivus." The time for this throwdown is 8 a.m. So I'd better go polish up my figure-4 leglock skills.

"Barred from prom for her Rebel flag dress, a teen sues": Y'all know that I view confederate flags and imagery through a different lens than most in this day and age. That having been said, I think that those of us who cherish the many positive attributes of our Southern heritage ought to be cognizant of the fact that the vast majority of our fellow citizens (especially African Americans) do not share this view (e.g., the overwhelmingly hostile reaction by the MSM to "Gods & Generals"). And while the right to express one's self is certainly important, I think it is equally important to do so in a way that does not intentionally offend.

That's what bothers me about this young lady's actions. I don't believe that she is a racist or a bad person. But there is a "how do you like them apples?" quality about her dress. In other words, it would seem that she is intentionally seeking to provoke those who might not share her love for the Confederacy. Why do that? To me, one of the greatest attributes of Southerners is our hospitality and genteel nature. That seems lacking here.

Should have posted these earlier...
I have two book recommendations for your holiday reading: The Private Life of Chairman Mao, by Li Zhisui (roughly translates as "you will not put this book down") and The Moral Sense, by America's foremost scholar James Q. Wilson. Do yourself a favor and pick up either or both of these excellent books. You will be glad you did.

SA buttons: Look at the cool blog buttons that Maystar, the wonderful young lady who designed SA, sent me tonight as an early Christmas gift:







Which one do y'all prefer?

For those two or three people on the planet: In case you're on the last helicopter out of Saigon, Gmail-wise, and still need an invite, I have several to donate to the cause, in the spirit of Christmas. The boss says they've got to go! We've lost our lease! No reasonable offer refused! Make clicky-clicky with the JD link and let me know if you need one.

Apparently, you don't work: That's what this game said to me, after I scored 26.7 29.4, which seems to be the most you can score. At least, that's the case for me. Waddle your penguin self over and see if you can do better.

More Electoral College news: If this post on A Bama Blog is correct -- and I sure hope it is -- Alabama's slate of electors includes Mr. Floyd Lawson, currently a resident of Cullman County.

Over to you, JD!

(And could someone on the blog who's more technically savvy than me -- that is, anyone else on the blog -- post a little picture of Floyd to go with this post? Thanks.)

Lileks vs. Wolcott--Only one can be crowned "King James": Over on the Bleat, James Lileks has turned his withering stare on the hurricane-loving James Wolcott. And if you're wondering who wins that clash, you haven't been paying attention.

Note: in one of those classic little asides meant to endear him to the chic upper-left-side Mo-Dowd demographic whose uteruses have turned to something indistinguishable from papyri rescued from Herculanuem, he refers to me as a “blogger beloved in the daycare community.” Whether this is a swipe at my infantile politics or tendancy to write about my child, I don’t know. I doubt he knows anything about me beyond a few excerpts, or he wouldn’t have thought “Lilek” is the name and “Lilek’s” is possessive. But when I read that, I thought: he has cats. Everything about his work suggests that he has cats. Not that there’s anything wrong with cats. I love cats, even though I prefer dogs. But sometimes you just get the impression of a soul whose incessant pissy hauteur is best expressed at the moment when they dump a stinky disk of fish guts into the bowl and mutter something clever to the elegant creatures feasting at their feet. The fact that the cats don’t quite get what you’re saying is irrelevant. No, on some level, cats get it. Whatever "it" is.

Brownback in 2008: He may just be the right man for the job.

And speaking of Google: How cool is it that one can google in Latin?

MSM panic: Will Google/Amazon kill NYT?

"New [N. Ga.] U.S. attorney steps into familiar territory": The AJC has a nice profile on the new U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, David Nahmias, who is wicked smart.

Deadbeat Dads of the World, Unite!
A few years ago, I wrote an essay by that name in which I argued that men should seek their own "right to choose." I wrote:

A “deadbeat dad” is merely a biological father who has chosen not to financially support his offspring. What is so horrible about that? So the kid’s father didn’t buy him some food, diapers or the GI Joe with the kung-fu grip—so what? Compared to what the pro-choice feminists are getting away with, the average deadbeat dad’s behavior is commendable, even laudable. For instance, when a pro-choice feminist kills her unwanted baby, she is seen as merely exercising her “right to choose.” However, when a man decides he no longer wants to blow his paycheck supporting his baby, he is labeled a deadbeat dad. It’s just not fair. At least he didn’t kill the child. Which is worse – murder, or withdrawal of financial support? Why aren’t mothers who abort labeled “murderous moms” or some other such moniker?

What these men need to do is manipulate the language to work in t