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Archive for April, 2003

April 30th, 2003 by Zach

I Got My License Back!

Woo Hoo!

April 30th, 2003 by Sho

On Shock Value

It looks like some pro-life/anti-abortion activists are at it again. If you take a walk around the EMU Amphitheater today you’ll find yourself confronted by photographs of aborted fetuses and other graphic images. I recall this sort of stuff created a controversy around abortion and free speech issues a few years back when the Genocide Awareness Project was brought to campus by Justice For All, an anti-abortion student group.

The Commentator ran a good editorial about the whole fiasco, which is still relevant today.

April 30th, 2003 by Bret

Norman Mailer is at it again. Apparently we went to war to make white males feel better about their place in the world. I guess international security just isn’t a good enough reason to go to war for some people – they need something more … intriguing? Oil, money, regional hegemony, blah blah blah. Mailer also takes a swipe at Bush by suggesting that the reason half the population likes him (apparently Mr. Mailer doesn’t invest himself in a wide range of recent opinion polls) is that they like to have a president that is predictable and won’t say something unexpected. Apparently we should prefer slippery, unprincipled bastards who make important decisions based on political expediency and emotional appeals. Where could we find someone like that? Oh, Democrats.

April 29th, 2003 by Timothy

On Hubris

The RIAA just won’t stop pestering people this is funny because the Grokster/Morpheus case was just dismissed. The RIAA will refile, I’m sure. When the pro-corporation conservatives hate you, it’s time to quit with the shenanigans. Damned RIAA.

In other news, some Dems are demanding that Lyndon LaRouche be allowed at the debates in South Carolina. That I would pay to see. Okay, maybe not pay.

And, more evidence that the government has gotten too damned big. The US has never defaulted on its debts, most of which are in the form of bonds owned by individuals or the Fed, and it would be a bad precedent to set now. I find this somewhat troubling, but hopefully the economy will recover soon. What’s more worrisome, though, is the way the media refer to tax cuts having a price-tag. It’s not a price-tag because the government never owned that money in the first place, it’s $350 billion that won’t be taken from the American people in order to fund ineffectual programs like Medicare and Social Security (Social Security is part of the general fund, there is no “trust” that’s just political double-talk). Now, if we could only get the government to actually cut spending….

April 28th, 2003 by Bret

Just when you thought Olly was the only Brit to be like us, this amazing poll:The Edge of England’s Sword. And this is funny as hell (via Mr Sullivan)

April 28th, 2003 by Bret

Keep Your Waffles, And Your Courts

Belgium may bring war crimes charges against Tommy Franks? Europe continues to be an enigmatic vortex in which real problems, taken in serious and full view of history, are ignored in favor of extraordinarily petty politics. Those who believe in RealPolitik and a few other models of international relations will probably agree that the forecast of many nations attempting to hamstring a unipolar power is coming to fruition. I don’t know what they have to say about how the U.S. can start shaping the world in a better way (other than the pro-democracy foreign interventions), but anyone who has ideas will get a receptive ear from me.

Also, George Will has a piece on black Republicans while Bob Novak writes that tax cuts will have to be sold to the public.

Finally, this from McSweeney’s via Instapundit: Chomsky deconstructs the Two Towers.

April 26th, 2003 by Timothy

Get Out of My Bedroom and Out of My Armory

The Santorum debacle continues over at Sullivan, and he has posted a new article from Salon about the whole issue. Volokh has an interesting perspective on the whole ordeal. Also in the news, the RIAA case against Grokster and Morpheus has been dismissed. A victory for file-sharing, huzzah!

April 25th, 2003 by Bret

This is for Olly: Samizdata.net – Fingering the Dyke

April 25th, 2003 by Bret

More interesting news, including international intrigue and more unbelievable French anti-Semitism. Also, for all those who care about the U. Michigan Affirmative Action case (and who may want to write about it soon) check out this analysis and story that suggests UM knew that their legal argument wasn’t fully accurate.

April 25th, 2003 by Bret

Is Fire Against Santorum Salvo For Gay Marriage?

Stanley Kurtz responds to Andrew Sullivan’s attack by arguing that nobody is really in favor of the types of consentual sex sodomy laws, but Sullivan may be attempting to discredit Kurtz before an impending battle over gay marriage. Most conspiracy theories don’t hold up, but this idea would make sense since the only difference between Kurtz and his NRO counterparts who are favored by Sullivan seems to be the fact that Kurtz discusses the moral and sociological issues wrapped up in the “gay debate.”

April 24th, 2003 by pete

Also, be sure to check out Armed Prophet today, as yours truly is featured in a three-way discussion (kinky!) regarding the Hitchens story in The Onion.

April 24th, 2003 by pete

A SIDE: I Hate Michael Moore

B SIDE: You Should Hate Me

First, stop whatever you’re doing and read this golden letter to MM. Wow! Let that inspire you for the Hate issue.

Second, at some point this weekend stop whatever you’re doing and think about how much fun Pete, Sho, Aaron and Chris are having at Coachella. Then go back to your miserable existence. HAHAHA!

I’m Out….

April 24th, 2003 by Bret

I’m With Stupid

This morning’s ODE column du jour says “You see, I’m of the same ilk as Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks and Tim Robbins — actor, director, war protester. I think the war sucks, and I’m more than willing to say so.”

Good to see someone’s willing to stand up and attach their name to two wildly ridiculous figures. She also likens America to the story of the Emporer’s new clothes and suggests America doesn’t know what’s going on. You have to think, however, it is the current war protesters who have blinded themselves to the new world machinations and threats. It’s funny (or disturbingly tragic) that the majority of leftists and intellectuals, who take themselves and their mental acuity so seriously, choose not to see the most basic of geopolitical realities. Whatever, I’m out.

… Or, at least I was, until I read this blog from David Warren via Instapundit. Good stuff on the changing picture of the world, especially from Arab and Russian perspectives. A must-read.

April 23rd, 2003 by pete

You Heard It Here First

No numbers in yet, but my sources at the Emerald tell me that Maddy and Eddy have won the election. That would make them the ga… “most jolly” administration ever! God help those of you who are coming back next year.

April 23rd, 2003 by pete

Salon Vs. O’Reilly

Our current issue of the Commentator features a clever “O’Reilly Factor binge drinking game” penned by Brett Callahan (I believe). But I admit that I haven’t watched The Factor since this past summer, when I last had access to satellite television. I currently have bunny ears which pick up local networks and the much-maligned OPB, which I have been called to task for defending (even after I ripped Bill Moyers in print).

But to get to the point… Salon is challenging O’Reilly to an email debate with editor Gary Kamiya after Bill clearly used quotes out-of-context from a piece Kamiya wrote addressing the conundrum anti-war protestors faced after the fall of Saddam. If you don’t read Salon, then you may remember that Sullivan linked to the piece not too long ago.

Frankly, I’m rooting for Salon to pull O’Reilly out of the studio and into neutral territory. And I hope he loses. Have you ever read one of Bill O’Reilly’s columns? They’re awful. They read just like his talking points sound— condescending. The guy will never survive a debate where he can’t cut off the opposition’s mic.

I stopped being a fan sometime ago, certainly after he compared Eminem to Al-Queda. The guy’s an asshole. I don’t care if he can take Rosie O’Donnell and Janeane Garofalo in a debate. (Though his exchange with Amiri Baraka is still classic stuff…)

I have copies of both of his books if anybody wants them. He goes after Hillary Clinton! He goes after Al Sharpton! He goes after the ACLU! But it’s all fair and balanced.