Simply Amazing

3:07 PM Mar 31, 2006by Rob Ritchie

One of The Beatles' best songs, interpretted in the medium of... juggling?

Pious gratitude to: Powerline

2:49 PM Mar 31, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Victor Davis Hanson discusses illegal immigration:

The Protests -- Whose Backlash?

If many thousands of illegal aliens marched in their zeal, many more millions of Americans of all different races and backgrounds watched--and seethed. They were struck by the Orwellian incongruities--Mexican flags, chants of "Mexico, Mexico," and the spectacle of illegal alien residents lecturing citizen hosts on what was permissible in their own country.

If the demonstrators thought that they were bringing attention to their legitimate grievances--the sheer impossibility of deporting 11 million residents across the border or the hypocrisy of Americans de facto profiting from "illegals" who cook their food, make their beds, and cut their lawns--they seemed oblivious to the embarrassing contradictions of their own symbolism and rhetoric. Most Americans I talked to in California summed up their reactions to the marches as something like, 'Why would anyone wave the flag of the country that they would never return to--and yet scream in anger at those with whom they wish to stay?' Depending on the particular questions asked, polls reveal that somewhere around 60-80% of the public is vehemently opposed to illegal immigration.

When schools were dismissed due to student walkouts and traffic disrupted, Americans began to see the wages of their own indifference to the problems of illegal immigration. Insidiously over the last 30 years we have allowed an entire apartheid community to grow up in enclaves in the American Southwest and occasionally beyond--one by language and psyche that may well feel more romantically attached to the Mexico it left and won't return to the United States it sought out and must stay in.

To understand the backlash to all this that is rising, think back to the 2003 California recall election for governor. When it was clear that Gray Davis had lost public support and was finished, for a while it looked as if Democratic Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante might well be a shoo-in. After all, California was a solidly blue state, and the Republican challengers, actor and political novice Arnold Schwarzenegger and the unknown State Senator Tom McClintock, would probably split the minority Republican vote.

But then Bustamante very quickly began to scare the electorate. He was unapologetic about his past MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) ties, even when that otherwise irrelevant radical student group's mottos and separatist constitution found their way into the public discourse. He tried to redefine his unsavory fund-raising with the Indian gaming industry as a point of ethnic pride, promised driver's licenses for illegal aliens, and then aired seemingly suicidal television ads showing him shouting to Latino crowds in a sea of waving red flags.

As usual, you will be rewarded if you read the whole thing.

It's not new...

12:41 PM Mar 30, 2006by Rob Ritchie

...but it's new to me:

An Easy Way to expose concealed Anti-Americanism

There are two superpowers in the world today. The United States of America, and anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism is very powerful, as it is the sordid glue that holds the UN, fifth-column Americans, Euro-socialists, the world's fashion elite, and terrorists together. It is the invisible force that forces the US to withstand massive double standards that have been there for so long that they are taken for granted.

Interestingly, with the exception of terrorists, such individuals go to great lengths to conceal their anti-Americanism, pretending to stand for 'nonviolence', 'peace', 'equality', the 'world community', etc. This begs the question of why they don't feel comfortable with declaring their dislike for the US. Maybe it is due to the guilt of knowing they are being unfair, or guilt that they are opposing a force of liberty and prosperity in the quest to be fashionable. Maybe it is all this plus juvenile envy of success and power. In any case, having a strong dislike for America, yet not having the integrity to be honest about one's true feelings, makes such a person easy to defeat through skillful debate.

There are many ways to do this. Two examples are below.

Curious? Read the rest...

Spam Slam!

9:07 PM Mar 29, 2006by Rob Ritchie

This email is almost like poetry:

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Then, there's this:

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3:22 PM Mar 29, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

The Blogfather's grandmother passed away yesterday at the age of 91.

Glenn, you have our condolences.

Mmmmm....roundworms!

6:13 PM Mar 27, 2006by Rob Ritchie

Bring Home the Biotech Bacon

Geneticists have mixed DNA from the roundworm C. elegans and pigs to produce swine with significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids -- the kind believed to stave off heart disease.

..... "We all can use more omega-3 in our diet," said Dr. Jing Kang, the Harvard Medical School researcher who modified the omega-3-making worm gene so it turned on in the pigs.

Quote this!

3:36 PM Mar 24, 2006by Rob Ritchie

Rumsfield: If you believe everything you read in Maureen Dowd, you better get a life.

8:54 PM Mar 21, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

In one of his rare lengthly posts, Glenn Reynolds answers A FRIENDLY EMAIL FROM THE PRO-AMERICAN LEFT

12:54 PM Mar 21, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Ben Domenech's inaugural post on his new Conservative blog at the Washington Post is up, and it's a good one. He describes the committee meeting where they were trying to name this new feature:

"What about 'Red Dawn'?" said one helpful editor.

"Well, only if you want to make people think it was a gun blog," I said, to puzzled faces.

"Red Dawn? You must know it - the greatest pro-gun movie ever? I mean, they actually show the jackbooted communist thugs prying the guns from cold dead hands."

Heh. Give it a look.

12:43 PM Mar 21, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

John Hinderacker over at Power Line notes a story about a Christian in Afghanistan who is on trial because he used to be a Muslim, and sends us to Michelle Malken for more. But John writes:

This is, I think, a watershed moment. The American people will bear a great deal of sacrifice, but only on behalf of principle. If, after our liberation of Afghanistan, a man may still be executed for being a Christian--or a Jew, although to my knowledge that case hasn't arisen--there is no logical basis on which our government can continue to request the ultimate sacrifice from its most devoted supporters.

He's right.

10:12 AM Mar 21, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Christopher Hitchens writes about his Ideal War

Let us start with President Bush's speech to the United Nations on Sept. 12, 2002, which I recommend that you read. Contrary to innumerable sneers, he did not speak only about WMD and terrorism, important though those considerations were. He presented an argument for regime change and democracy in Iraq and said, in effect, that the international community had tolerated Saddam's deadly system for far too long. Who could disagree with that? Here's what should have happened. The other member states of the United Nations should have said: Mr. President, in principle you are correct. The list of flouted U.N. resolutions is disgracefully long. Law has been broken, genocide has been committed, other member-states have been invaded, and our own weapons inspectors insulted and coerced and cheated. Let us all collectively decide how to move long-suffering Iraq into the post-Saddam era. We shall need to consider how much to set aside to rebuild the Iraqi economy, how to sponsor free elections, how to recuperate the devastated areas of the marshes and Kurdistan, how to try the war criminals, and how many multinational forces to ready for this task. In the meantime—this is of special importance—all governments will make it unmistakably plain to Saddam Hussein that he can count on nobody to save him. All Iraqi diplomats outside the country, and all officers and officials within it, will receive the single message that it is time for them to switch sides or face the consequences. Then, when we are ready, we shall issue a unanimous ultimatum backed by the threat of overwhelming force. We call on all democratic forces in all countries to prepare to lend a hand to the Iraqi people and assist them in recovering from more than three decades of fascism and war.

Read the whole thing.

Pious gratitude to: lgf

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

11:34 PM Mar 17, 2006by Rob Ritchie

In honor: Green Superheroes

Michelle Malkin discusses...

9:47 PM Mar 16, 2006by Rob Ritchie

...the Falling Man.

Remember...

10:23 AM Mar 15, 2006by Rob Ritchie

Today is Eat An Animal For Peta Day, so size up the local livestock and dig in.

Me, I'm heading over to the Doublemeat Palace for a Doublemeat Medley.

I'm considering a move....

5:38 PM Mar 14, 2006by Rob Ritchie

Woman gets beer from her kitchen faucet

OSLO, Norway --It almost seemed like a miracle to Haldis Gundersen when she turned on her kitchen faucet this weekend and found the water had turned into beer.

Two flights down, employees and customers at the Big Tower Bar were horrified when water poured out of the beer taps.

By an improbable feat of clumsy plumbing, someone at the bar in Kristiandsund, western Norway, had accidentally hooked the beer hoses to the water pipes for Gundersen's apartment

If it's at least possible for this to happen again, I think I may have to move.

4:22 PM Mar 14, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Daniel Pipes discusses Sudden Jihad Syndrome.

Happy π Day ! ! !

1:16 PM Mar 14, 2006by Rob Ritchie

Remember to pay homage at 1:59pm today.

4:55 PM Mar 13, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Tigerhawk discusses the Islamic Thomas Aquinas, and his contribution to Western Civilization (and his lack of contribution to Muslim Civilization).

Pious gratitude to: lgf

Related post: What Arab Civilization?

10:19 AM Mar 13, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Yesterday, Mrs. Agnostic and I went to the Antiquarian Book Fair in Tampa, and enjoyed ourselves very much.

Our experience was very much like it was two years ago, which is to say, nice and hard on the feet. I didn't take pictures this time, so if you want to know what we saw, click the link.

11:06 PM Mar 10, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

Though frightened to distraction by creatures 1/100th his own size, Mitch takes a stab at debating a wild moonbat on his blog.

Makes for interesting reading, especially the comments.

Why I love Florida!

9:20 PM Mar 6, 2006by Rob Ritchie

No, not the flying cockroaches (though they do keep week-kneed Minnesotans away).

It's March the sixth, and this is blooming in my back yard.

Flames make the car go faster!

9:14 PM Mar 6, 2006by Rob Ritchie

Flames got here.

Mitch Berg is an enormous wimp!

12:59 PM Mar 5, 2006by Rob Ritchie

In an otherwise interesting post about Tom Monaghan's efforts to build a "Catholic City" back in my old Collier County stomping grounds, Mitch reveals that his tough-guy Northland personna is a thin cover for what can only be described as womanly cowardess in the face of nature red in tooth and claw:

I'm in no danger of moving to "Ave Maria" - leaving aside that I'm a committed protestant, it's in fecking Florida, where the cockroaches fly through the fecking air, for crying out loud

As children, we Floridians learn to bat away flying cockroaches with our bare hands. (Head-butting them works well too).

La Belle Paris

10:24 PM Mar 4, 2006by Rob Ritchie

A 360° photograph of Paris by night. (Big picture, so be patient.)

Still the most beautiful city in the world.... I sure hope it stays that way.

Pious gratitude to: fark

11:59 PM Mar 3, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

John Hinderaker reviews Indian press reports of President Bush's visit, and comments:

It's interesting how odd it seems to read accounts of President Bush that are written by people who don't hate him.

All For One

6:23 PM Mar 3, 2006by Rob Ritchie

It is worth emphasizing that Khomeini’s ideas and philosophy were those of a revered and highly knowledgeable exponent of Islamic doctrine, one who represented the basic views of his countrymen. In other words, he was no “hijacker” of Islam, but a consistent practitioner of it -- and Iran’s actions from his time onward must therefore be interpreted as true expressions of Islamic policy.

So what happened when he took power? In the first days of his rule, on Nov. 4, 1979, Khomeini’s religious followers stormed the US embassy in Tehran and captured 66 Americans. Most of the hostages were held for 444 days, during which time many were beaten, psychologically tortured, and subjected to extended periods of solitary confinement.

Now remember that these were American citizens, working directly for, or with, the American government, captured in an embassy (which is technically American soil and to which International Law has provided the highest form of immunity going as far back as the Congress of Vienna in 1814). Breaking such immunity has always been an act of war. So did our government declare war to protect its citizens, who not only were acting lawfully, but who were in fact put in harm’s way at the request of their government? No. Instead our government, under the pacifist Jimmy Carter, wrung its hands and negotiated with a regime which had just broken the most basic law of diplomacy. (Two half-hearted, under-manned and under-planned rescue attempts were made, but the fiascos only underscored how unwilling the government was to use its military force to remedy the problem).

This event signaled to all observers, that though the West still had abundant physical means to defend its citizens, it had lost its will to do so. In fact, not only would it not defend its citizens, it would even act against them, as did the US State Department when, after the eventual release of the hostages, it quashed their attempt to seek redress in international courts, simply to avoid “stirring up” trouble with foreign nations!

The absence of any military response and the complete abdication of the government’s responsibility to its citizens was the first sign to the Islamic world that it could act with impunity against any Western citizen -- and act it did. A series of attacks throughout the Middle East followed.

Read it all.

10:00 PM Mar 2, 2006

by Rob Ritchie

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have a new job, and I'm busy learning all sorts of new stuff.

I don't know if every blogger's experience is the same as mine, but I'd bet that a very large percentage of them blog at work, which requires a certain comfort level that I don't have right now.

I don't really know what the future of this blog will be.

Of course, I don't really know what the future of anything will be.