Dean Esmay is gonna be SO PISSED!

I just watched American Idol - they kicked off Trenyce. Dean is in school - he hasn't seen the episode ...yet.

Bottom two this week - not at all a surprise to me, Trenyce and Ruben. The judges flipped, obviously feeling that Ruben didn't belong there and that Josh did. Funny thing is that I feel Ruben did actually belong there based on last night and we don't vote on their history - we vote on their performance that night.

Last night, I actually thought Treynce sucked. That's just me and the fact that I HATE The Captain and Tennille. I liked Josh better than her for certain. Ruben let me down a bit. He acted like he was a shoe-in and didn't really try to impress me and HE DIDN'T. At least, now, he knows that he can't just sit back and win - he has to earn it - EVERY week.

I recently received an email from a professor at the University of Tennessee:

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It's been weeks since we won the war; where's the democracy? Hurry up already!

Stehen Schwartz, author of one of the best books of 2002 (The Two Faces of Islam), has written an excellent piece on the Red-Brown Alliance, or what he calls "The Two Faces of Fascism." While I'm usually hesitant to recommend articles from Front Page Magazine, you really should read this article. It's about the historic alliances between far-left and far-right political groups, and how this old pattern has begun to repeat itself again.

I mean, really, can you even tell a Buchanan voter from a Nader voter these days, except perhaps by age and dress code?

(Via the ineffably lovely Lilac Rose.)

The Best performances last night were:

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Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs (aka "LGF") has a reputation in some circles for being virulently anti-Islam, anti-Arab, incoherent, nasty, spittle-spewing... you get the drift. This has always surprised me because, while I don't read it every day, I rarely find Charles Johnson's articles anything but thoughtful and well-reasoned. Sarcastic, sometimes, outraged occasionally, fulminating and frothy once in a great while. But I'd hardly be one to throw stones at anyone for that. Besides, I see worse every time I open the average editorial page.

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Today is the day on the Jewish calendar that is now known as Yom HaShoah: the Jewish Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Yad Vashem, the Jewish Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' museum in Israel, has lots of information for students and other visitors. It's worth a visit today.

(Hat tip: Ara and Meryl, who let me know about my oversight.)

I'm sorry to say that I forgot April 24th this year. It's the special day that Armenians have set aside to remember their greatest tragedy.

The Armenians? Yes. Let me tell you something about them.

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New Scientist reports that researchers have created a line of mice that are completely immune to cancer. They hope studying both the genetics of these mice, and the method by which they fight the cancer, may someday have an impact on human cancer treatments. Especially because they seem to be immune to all forms of cancer, not just specific types.

As interesting to me is this story on stem cells via pathenogenesis, which basically makes it possible to replicate stem cells without requiring fertilization. If successful, this would be an effective way to end the debate over the ethics of stem cell research.

Maripat and Lori have cooked up an excellent Travel Advistory for tourists heading for France, which you may want to read even if you aren't planning to go to France in the immediate future. Most informative.

They've also pointed me to an interesting report on my idol, the next President of the United States, Howard Dean.

Joe Katzman has summarized the North Korean situation in a form that will be helpful to fans of bad video games from the 1980s.

One of my biggest disappointments with Bill Gates has, frankly, been how he's chosen to spend his money. The lame, conservative, respectably trendy causes toward which he's thrown his money have not, that I've ever seen, reflected the vision of an inspired genius looking to move mankind forward. Anything I've read about his personal ventures have been astonishingly mundane. On the other hand, I may have missed something.

On the gripping hand, no product Microsoft has ever put out could ever be called an inspired work of genius. They've been conservative, imitative, and derivative from day 1. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

But by comparison, look what Jeff Bezos has been up to: helping Burt Rutan get into space. Phenomenal. Hats off to him. And to the other techie geeks made good, like PayPal's Elon Musk, or id Software's John Carmak (who I've partied with, by the way, although I'm sure he has almost no idea who I am), who've been working to move the human race forward with their fortunes.

Not that it's any of my business how other people spend their own money. But I've always dreamed of what I'd do if I had huge wads of cash, and it's usually involved scientific and engineering ventures. Stuff to inspire future generations, make the world a better place. I wondered why the biggest, richest geek in human history was so boring, and wondering if I wasn't missing something.

Nope, I guess I wasn't. He's just the same old lame, unimaginative, derivative Bill Gates he's always been.

(Hat tip: Rand Simberg.)

If a Mormon believes that cigarette smoking is sinful, is that Mormon a hateful bigot?

If an Evangelical Christian believes that drinking alcohol is sinful, is he a hateful bigot?

If a Catholic believes that sex outside of marriage is a sin, is he a hateful bigot?

If an Orthodox Jew believes that masturbation is sinful, is he a hateful bigot?

If a Buddhist believes that all war is bad and there is no justification for any war, ever, is he an intolerant bigot?

Okay. So why is it that if a Presbyterian thinks homosexuality is sinful, he's a hateful bigot?

While I am definitely a fan of Jeff Jarvis, I have to ask him: why shouldn't I think he's a hateful bigot for his obvious contempt and intolerance toward people whose religious views he doesn't share?

Maybe being a former Presbyterian gives him a right to be so harsh. Then again, I'm a former Presbyterian too, and I don't have such contempt for my former coreligionists. I wonder why he does. I mean, if you disagree, there's a very simple solution: don't be a Presbyterian. I found that an awfully easy solution myself. Not a single person tackled me on my way out the door and tried to force me to stay.

I thought that, you know, in a pluralistic and liberal society, we were supposed to respect each other's religious views. Including ones we disagreed with.

By the way, I shouldn't have to say this, but: I don't think any of the above-mentioned behaviors are sinful. Except, perhaps, for the bile-spewing toward people who don't share my religious views.

So. Apparently, you can model conversations and relationships mathematically. As my blog bud Jerry Kindall says, it takes the world a step closer to psychohistory. Although I still think psychohistory's a lame idea inspired by Marxist delusions that were trendy when Asimov was writing Foundation. ;-)

You should know that Glenn Reynolds is a puppy blending, Satan worshipping hobo murderer.

It is important that you let as many people as possible know about this.

Summary of the last seven days

April 25, 2003

* Fidel Castro's government said it achieved "a new moral victory" when the UN Commission on Human Rights failed to include a reference to the recent prison sentences of dissidents and executions in a resolution which asks Havana to allow the visit to the island of a special human rights envoy. Felipe Pérez Roque, Cuba's foreign minister said that Havana would not allow the visit. He also criticized "the hypocrisy and double standards of the European Union and Latin American governments incapable of contradicting the [United States] empire." (Granma, A.P. April 18).

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Dame Fortune spins her wheel
Left becomes right, right becomes left
Some haven't noticed

(Yes, I know it's not 17. Shut up.)

I have a question for those of you who read this blog.

Over on the far right, there's an option to "Change Dean's Color!" It lets you change the color scheme of this blog, in case you don't like the default color selections.

Here's my question: does anyone like this feature and use it? I mean, beyond entertainment value, do you actually find it useful?

I would specifically like to hear from any person who will say, "Yes, your default colors suck, and I use that feature to make your stuff easier for me to read."

I must admit that when I heard that Amin Gemayel, the former President of Lebanon, might be tapped to be the next Secretary General, I was less than enthusiastic. I think of Lebanon's government as mostly a puppet of the fascist Syrian government. But Kamil Zogby makes a pretty good case for why Gemayel is a good choice. Although a Rumself endorsement isn't an automatic thumbs-up for me, Zogby certainly makes a good case for all the man's other potential benefits.

Hey, the BBC has some pictures of Saddam's gallery. Okay, so it came out a couple of weeks ago. So sue me.

How could anyone hate such an obvious Frazetta fan?

(Hat tip: Thom Ryng.)

* Update * One of them's obviously a Rowena. Big shock.

In my recent thread, Can You Really Support 'The Troops' and be Anti-War?, I suggested that strident Anti-War people that proclaimed to "Support the Troops" were hypocrites. I used abortion as an example, masochist that I am, to show a moral equivalency. I said that people who say things like this: "I could never have an abortion myself but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong" are being hypocitical. I'm not saying that it's bad. But it is what it is - and it is total hypocrisy.

People don't like the word hypocrite very much. I'm not sure why - it's a good word with a very solid meaning.

See below

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Well. It appears that the alternative medicine folks can chalk up another one for their side: green tea is really, really good for you, apparently.

Of course, we won't mention all the stupidity in the alternative health field. But that's what you get when you play on the fringes of science: nuggets of gold hidden in piles of junk.

Okay, this guy is funny. Look out Scott Ott!

It appears that the most outspoken opponent of war with Iraq within the British parliament was paid millions by Saddam. It appears so, anyway. Or perhaps it's Tony Blair's Vast Centrist Conspiracy?

Some are calling him a fifth columnist. I don't know, do you think that's appropriate? Or is he just, you know, a filthy disgusting weasel?

Assuming there's not a reasonable explanation of course.

Regardless, Reverend Sensing has some cutting insights into why money works so very well in these circumstances. Even if--or especially if--you're already ideologically attuned with what you're doing anyway.

Well lookie lookie. Guess who's celebrating his birthday, and only a day after my lovely wife?

Happy birthday, boychik. I'll look forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of your half-century mark with ya in 2053.

The Noble Pundit has some cogent thoughts on Islam that more or less match up with my own prejudices. I added some comments to his article too.

It may well be that Islam is simply incompatible with modernity. But I just don't buy that, and I'd rather exhaust the alternative scenarios before I come to that conclusion. We have to live with these people somehow. Pakistan already has nuclear weapons, and they won't be the last Muslim nation to have them. I'd rather find a way to get along with the Islamic world, wouldn't you? Draining the swamp that the governing powers in the Middle East thrive on seems like the only answer to me--a scary prospect that's less scary than anything else I can think of.

Blogspot is in trouble. Check out Typepad. All the benefits of Blogspot--free blogging--with all the power of Movable Type.

Get out while the gettin's good, Blogspot kids. Permalinks that work, archives that don't disappear, and trackbacks for the asking. What are you waiting for?

On April 25, 1968, a girl was born to two Polish immigrants. Their third child, she was the first born in America. Her mother loved the classic movie Rose-Marie, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. But "Rosemary" sounded a bit more American, so they named her that.

Poland's loss. America's gain.

Mine too, since she's the mother of my child. Lucky, lucky me.

Happy birthday, baby.

Yes, I suppose you can but it always sounds so hypocritical. It's kind of like abortion. I get annoyed when I hear Pro-Choice activists say "I could never have an abortion myself but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong." Hypocritical reasoning. They are out there marching for YOU but THEY would never kill their own baby. That's just lip service and it is hypocrisy.

It rings very hollow when I hear people scream that WAR is WRONG but they support the troops.

If war is wrong how can you reasonably support people committed to doing wrong? What's up with that?

I would NEVER molest a child but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong. I support the Pedophile Catholic Priests!

I would NEVER make a fictitious documentary but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong. I support the Fat, Moronic, Talentless Hollywood Hacks!

I would Never commit a violent felony but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong. I support the INMATES INCARCERATED IN MAXIMUM SECURITY PENITENTIARIES!

Woohoo! Go Teams! Go!


Disclaimer: I do not want a ban on all abortions. I would like more limitations and such. I do not think abortion should be illegal.

If you want us to start a thread on the merits of Roe v Wade and the abortion debate let us know.

From todays New York Times:

"Do you want me to dig up everything or just the head?" the gravedigger asked. Mr. Jassim decided just to see the head, because he believed he could identify his brother by his two missing back teeth.

"There are so many graves that don't have numbers," he said. "We don't know what to do."

The dirt was dry and easily dug and soon the gravedigger held up a skull. "It's not him," Mr. Jassim said. "The teeth are complete."

At grave No. 444, a large family worked together to unearth Hamid Omran, who was 31 when he was arrested in 1994. As the family carefully lifted the bones onto fresh linen, his cousin, Farhan Jassim, 47, exploded in anger.

"I don't think there was a regime in the world that treated political prisoners the way Saddam did," he said. "You can't imagine such exaggerated injustice."

The jaw surfaced. Mr. Hussein, the cousin said, "hated every Iraqi. Believe me, he hated all Iraqis."

Then the family found the skull, which showed a crack in a temple. A guard kicked him when he was arrested, the family said.

Another cousin, Thaer Ghawi, 27, wept as he smoked a cigarette once the bones were out of the grave. "We are just people who opposed the regime," he said. "Why couldn't he just put political prisoners in prison?"

Mr. Hani, the man whose brother disappeared in 1995, spent three hours picking through the grave of his brother. It was laborious. After the teeth, a few small bones, perhaps from the feet or hands, were found. Finally, Mr. Hani had found enough to fill a small coffin. He did not find the skull.

"It is enough for me," he said as he loaded the coffin onto a truck. "I feel relieved. What worried me before was I didn't know if he was alive or dead. Now I know."

It's a shame we didn't give the inspections time to work, isn't it?

Looking forward: Democracy, wet and shaking, takes its first wobbly steps in Umm Qasr.

Looking backward: Iraqi scientists are saying that they were ordered to hide or destroy WMDs just hours before inspectors would arrive.

(Both taken from The Command Post - Iraq.)

Several well-known bloggers have linked this Matt Welch piece on Vaclev Havel. I don't care, because everyone should link it. In light of what's happened to Sina Motallebi, and to what we discovered when we opened the prisons in Iraq, it's as timely as ever.

There's a numbing, deathly darkness, a willful and stubborn ignorance infecting the souls of too many people today in the West. Havel shines a light on it, and calls it what it is.

I was going to re-poste about the Democracy in Iraq project this week--it isn't over yet--but something more pressing's come up in neighboring Iran:



If you haven't heard about the Iranian blogger who was imprisoned for simply running a weblog, click the image above to learn more. Or just click here.

If you haven't heard Dr. Frank's original song Democracy, Whisky, Sexy, you should. It's surprisingly good.

You all remember this from Fruitcake & Flowers

"On March 7, 2003, Janeane Garofalo appeared on The Factor with Bill O'Reilly. She promised, if the war went well, she would apologize to President G.W. Bush."

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Ack! It was Earth Day yesterday. I forgot. Well, here's something in honor of that day:

In commoration of Earth Day, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Knudson wrote a knockout series on the environmentalist movement last year entitled "Environmentalist, Inc." Knudson documented, in painstaking detail, what more and more people who care environmental issues have noticed: the near-hysterical tone of many so-called "environmentalists," the stridently negative and extreme left-wing agenda many espouse, and the large number of former members and leaders who have left some well-known organizations, disillusioned and disgusted. Not to mention actual damage done to the environment by some (not all!) of these groups.

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I see that the Dixie Chicks are #1 on the Country billboard charts.

Well, fine by me. Make one asinine, thoughtless, mean-spirited statement, and you shouldn't be branded for life. It's not like I've never said anything I wished I could take back.

On the other hand, it's not like they haven't been doing their best to play the role of martyrs:



Apparently, being thoughtless, shallow, inconsiderate and female makes you a 21st Century Hester Prynne. If I understand this correctly.

It's a well-known formula, isn't it? Piss a lot of people off, take heat from the pissed-off people, and then act like an innocent, vulnerable victim who's been pilloried by the forces of ignorance and stupidity.

Well hell, maybe such a formulation should work. There's something very healthy in the American character that respects people for speaking their minds. On the other hand, why can't I feel free to say something asinine, and why can't someone else can't feel free to say, "screw you, jerkwad?"

Still and all, let's get this sleight-of-hand out into the open, shall we? I won't be buying any of their albums any time soon, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they are outspoken and opinionated women. It has everything to do with their being shallow, thoughtless jerks.

Do you have any idea who Felice Bryant was? If not, you should.

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Have you by chance met Medusa and Baptista's love child yet? If perchance you should, I hope you survive the experience...

Perfect.

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I have a new favorite blogger: Brown-Eyed Handsome Man. He's a lefty-lib who thinks anyone who'd even think about voting for Bush is insane. He thinks I'm pretty much a dangerous psychopath who any sane person should oppose politically. But he's funny, he's a Heinlein fan, and his ego is firmly in check. You just have to get used to his abrasive manner. Plus, he's brand new to the blogosphere. Check him out.

Speaking of good bloggers, how is it that I have managed to go a whole year without blogrolling Rick DeMent? He's a great example of false advertising. His blog is called "The Rant," but to my disappointment, I've found nothing but thoughtful and well-reasoned arguments, solid writing, and a sense of humor. Damn you DeMent!

(By the way, do you think Rick's related to this guy?)

I seem to be disagreeing with everyone this week.

Just so everyone knows, it's nothing personal.

In the comments to an article on oppression and Islam, fellow blogger Robert Speirs said, "Please don't lump Stalin and Mao in with real secularists such as the followers of objectivism." And another blogger, Sam from Estonia, said that, "...an 'atheocracy' is pretty much tabula rasa as it comes to ideologies, whereas theocracies have a pretty bad track record of repression in the name of the Almighty."

I responded in the comments, but I want to say more here. Because both of them are off-base, in my view.

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Well. As of next Wednesday, there'll only be five competitors left. If you haven't been watching the show, next week will be a good time to start tuning in. (Don't bother watching the Thursday night shows.)

This competition has winnowed out over 30,000 people to get down to these five. It shows. The worst performances tonight were still well beyond amateurish. By next week the competition should be most fierce, and the next five weeks the most impressive.

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You people may think you know from geeks. But let me tell you. I am now King Geek of the Universe.

Want me to prove it? Okay.

Casey Tompkins made me a present. He recently sent me photos of it. And by doing so, proved to the world that I am, truly, King among Geeks.

Don't believe it? Well, how many of you schlubs have your own starship??

Oh yeah. The ladies all want me now!

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I'll apologize in advance for rambling this morning. I usually try not to do that.

Over at Joanne's weblog, I found this hilarious cartoon on the use of apostrophes. I utterly agreed with its sentiment. But it got me thinking about why, because as a rule I find myself so at odds with people who advocate for strict rules of grammar.

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Remember the story on the company that's produced a way to turn organic waste into oil? Well, I've been digging around the web trying to find any hard-nosed skepticism toward them and their products. So far, nothing solid. I really hope this isn't a hoax or a hyped-up overpromise--although it almost has to be, to some level. Even if the technology works, it's hard to believe its investors and inventors won't put forth the most optimistic vision possible of its potential. This is just what people do in these circumstances, even with legitimate technologies and solid business plans.

In the meantime, I did find the Changing World Technologies web site, which is the official site of the company with this supposedly world-changing technology. The claims are interesting, and it certainly doesn't smell like a hoax. They do have a letter from a ConAgra executive, and pictures of their pilot plants, including the one being set up outside the ConAgra plant in Missouri.

They certainly seem to be serious about what they're doing.

Arnold Harris sent me this interesting article on the necessity of cultural reform in the Middle East by Elan Journo. While I agree that the Middle East is a terribly repressive place, and that many reforms are needed in the region, so much of his article is based on false assumptions I had to take exception to it anyway.

Most of the faults are based on his criticisms of Islam. To whit:

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Have you seen Blogcritics lately? It really is quite a nice site. Most of the news and reviews are as good as anything you'll find in commercial publications, with the bonus that they aren't time-constrained, which means you're not just restricted to reviews of the latest and greatest of everything. Fair notice: I do publish there occasionally. But I still think it's a cool site.

I also understand they're looking for new authors. They don't pay, but you get the fun and experience of having something published. You might want to shoot them a line if you think you're interested in that. They only ask for one contribution a month to stay listed as a current contributor.

Hmm. The New York Times says:

A scientist who claims to have worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program for more than a decade has told an American military team that Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began, members of the team said.

They said the scientist led Americans to a supply of material that proved to be the building blocks of illegal weapons, which he claimed to have buried as evidence of Iraq's illicit weapons programs.

The scientist also told American weapons experts that Iraq had secretly sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria, starting in the mid-1990's, and that more recently Iraq was cooperating with Al Qaeda, the military officials said.

Read the rest of the story here. (Hat tip: TV's Henry.)

People who say "perception is reality" should stop saying it. Perception is a reality, in the sense that it's something we have to deal with. But perception isn't reality itself. In fact, perception is often demonstrably false.

Armed Liberal has a story to tell about false perceptions in Iran, and much of the Middle East. The question: is this really significant? Time will tell I suppose.

In honor of Easter, you may want to consider taking a moment to take part in a campaign to help prisoner of conscience Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly of Vietnam. It's easily done.

Yes, some people have issues with Amnesty International. If you're one of those people, I suggest you suspend skepticism in this case.

And have a happy Easter.

Scaled Composites, which is aircraft designer Burt Rutan's company, has photos of their private spacecraft system, and datasheets on same. Fascinating stuff.

The F.A.Q. on the site has this tantalyzing question and answer:

Q: How much does it all cost?

A: This is generally not known until the program is complete, but projections place it close to a Soyuz ride.

That's quite a tease. But if "it all" means the whole space plane system, and "Soyuz ride" is a sly reference to how much space tourist Dennis Tito spent to get his ride on the Soyuz a few years ago, that means the total cost should be only about $20 million.

I'm going to try to avoid editorializing excessively until this thing is tested succesfully a couple of times. But it's hard not to get excited.

(Thanks to Joe Katzman for the links.)

* Update * Own Strawn forwarded this Space.com article on Spaceship One that's also worth a read.

As you read this story on an apparently innocent couple accused of creating child pornography, your blood pressure will probably go up. It seems outrageously ridiculous.

On the flip side, think of all the times you hear about some horrendous case of abuse or neglect, and you got infuriated because the state authorities didn't do anything about it.

While you may be tempted to roll your eyes at the insanity of it all, you might want to think about this:

How difficult is it exactly to write this sort of thing into law, in a way that authorities can both comprehend, do something about, and stay within the legal strictures required by the courts? Because, unfortunately, in the legal system, common sense doesn't really apply.

The hard-core libertarian answer would be to have no laws about such things. Which is why hard-core libertarians will never be taken seriously by almost anyone who actually has children. How do you legislate these things in a way that you catch the bad people without bothering the good people?

Children are a vexing problem when it comes to legal issues, aren't they? If only we were a society full of immortal adults, everything would be so much simpler.

If this new privately-built space-plane works, I will name my next son Burt Rutan Esmay. I hope Rose doesn't mind.

This is the well-known aircraft designer who was behind things like the first non-stop flight around the world without refueling. And now, he's going after the first private trips into space.

As MSNBC notes: his system is completely built, with all components in place to begin testing for space flights, and it was built entirely from private funds.

It is very hard for me to express just how exciting I find this, and how hard I'm hoping he succeeds.

By the way: God bless Peter Diamandis.

(Hat tip: Casey.)