Justice?

Rush on the justice of awarding Obama the Nobel Prize:

"George Bush liberates 50 million Muslims in Iraq, Reagan liberates hundreds of millions of Europeans and saves parts of Latin America. Any awards?"

Ann Althouse points out that the guy who should really be upset is Clinton. Obama and Gore both got the Nobel, but for him zip.

Read about it here.

Check out Greg Mankiw's take here.

This Day In History

Today is Leif Eriksson Day, honoring the first European who can be documented as having set foot in the Americas. Sometime around 2002 AD he sailed westward from Greenland and found a new land which he called Vinland. Today the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland is considered to be a settlement he founded.

Eriksson was not the first European to see America..., that honor goes to Bjarni Herjulfsson, who made the journey west from Greenland approximately fifteen years earlier, and reported seeing new lands, but he never went ashore. It was Herjulfsson's report that inspired Eriksson to take his journey.

And on this day in 1781 Continental and French troops at Yorktown under the command of George Washington begin shelling the British defenders..., for Cornwallis the end is nigh. And on the same day in 1888 the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is opened to the public. Back in the old days, when they allowed you to do silly things there, my sister and I raced to the top. She beat me.

And on this day in 1865 the first underground pipeline for carrying oil was laid in Pennsylvania. People forget this, but the worlds first great oil boom took place in Western Pennsylvania.

And on this day in 1916 Babe Ruth set a World Series record by completing a streak of 29 2/3 scoreless innings. [People forget that Ruth was first a great, great, pitcher before he became the greatest hitter in baseball history]. The record stood until 1961 when Whitey Ford broke it, (coincidentally on the same day of the year).

And on this day in 1950 UN troops, spearheaded by the First Cavalry Division, drove north of the 38th parallel in Korea.

And on this day in 2009 the Nobel Peace Prize became what many of us have long suspected it of being..., a joke...., a bad joke.

Regina's Revenge

National Enquirer reports that Letterman's wife. Regina, is divorcing him and want his 300 million.

Ouch!

It seems that she's angry more at being humiliated by his confession on national TV than on the affairs themselves.

Read it here.

This Day In History

Today is "American Touch Tag Day" so try to reach out and touch someone [in an entirely appropriate manner, of course].

On this day in 1823 New York Governor, DeWitt Clinton, inaugurated the Erie Canal [it took two more years to complete its whole length] linking the Hudson River with Lake Erie. Once finished this canal changed the face of America. Before it, Philadelphia was America's largest and most dynamic city; after it, New York was. The canal spurred the economic development of the midwest, gave American farmers access to world markets, made New York the primary import-export hub of the nation and its financial center, and stimulated America's first great investment in infrastructure development as other states and cities sought to emulate its success. Clinton's "Big Ditch" was probably the most effective and profitable instance of public investment in the nation's history.

On this day in 1871 the Great Chicago Fire began. By the time it was over more than one third of the city was destroyed. 250 people died, about 100,000 were homeless. It seems that the fire started in or near a barn owned by Patrick and Katherine O'Leary [the story was that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern, but that was made up by a local reporter]. The fact is that we don't know for sure what happened and speculation runs rampant. One theory is that it was caused by a Jewish gambler. Alternatively it was blamed on an impoverished Irish immigrant trying to steal milk. Historians are quick to point out that there is a degree anti-Irish, anti-Catholic, or anti-Jewish sentiment on display in these stories. They don't however mention anti-bovine bias. Wonder why?

On this day in 1915 the Phillies, after 32 years of futility, won their first World Series game. They would not win another until 1980. Think of that -- one win in 97 years. Just think of that!

On this day the "Murderers Row" Yankees completed a four game sweep of the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1927 World Series. That's all right -- the Bucs got their revenge in 1960.

And on this day in 1950 the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers met for the first time. Cleveland won, 30-17.

On this day in 1935 Ozzie married Harriet.

Happy birthday to the Rev. Jesse Jackson [born in 1941]. And also to Juan Peron [born in 1895] the man who took Argentina from being one of the richest countries in the world to abject poverty. Many in Latin America and a number of U.S. intellectuals still see him as a heroic figure who stood up to the United States and international capitalism, and blame the United States for destroying the Argentinian economy.

On this day in 1956 Don Larson of the Yankees pitched a perfect world series game against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Have a nice day.

Hawks on Ardi

John Hawks has a nice summary article in Seed on the recently published analysis of "Ardi" [ardipithecus]. It serves as a good corrective to a lot of the hype that has appeared in the press.

Check it out here. For more detail check out his blog here.

Lionel Tiger notes that the interpretation of what Ardi represents will invariably reflect current political, ideological, and cultural imperatives. He's right, of course. That's true of all scientific information -- we reinterpret it in light of our current concerns.

Lessons of History

Fools prattle on and on about learning the lessons of history, but historians know better. History teaches many lessons -- a plethora of them == and they are often contradictory. An article in today's Wall Street Journal illustrates this simple truth. The authors write:

WASHINGTON -- The struggle to set the future course of the Afghan war is becoming a battle of two books -- both suddenly popular among White House and Pentagon brain trusts.

The two draw decidedly different lessons from the Vietnam War. The first book describes a White House in 1965 being marched into an escalating war by a military viewing the conflict too narrowly to see the perils ahead. President Barack Obama recently finished the book, according to administration officials, and Vice President Joe Biden is reading it now.

The second describes a different administration, in 1972, when a U.S. military that has finally figured out how to counter the insurgency is rejected by political leaders who bow to popular opinion and end the fight.

It has been recommended in multiple lists put out by military officers, including a former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who passed it out to his subordinates.

Read it here.

The fact is that history, properly viewed, provides us with a confusing welter of facts. What matters is how we relate these facts one to another, and ultimately to our present circumstances. What we gain from a study of history are not lessons to guide our actions and decisions but stories -- narratives that may or may not prove to be useful in charting our course into an unknown future. The study of history has many functions in our culture, but providing a clear and consistent guide to the future is not one of them.

UPDATE:

For more on this check out "Battle of the Books" here.

This Day In History

Today is "World Smile Day" so make like Tony Perkins and do it. Just do it!

First, for the patriots among you:

On this day in 1765 the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York. Representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies attended to discuss how to respond to the recent imposition of a tax on legal papers, cards, dice, newspapers and pamphlets. Americans protested the tax, but were more concerned with the enforcement mechanism. Violators would be tried in British Admiralty courts [perogative courts without jury trials] and this provision of the act was widely seen as an unwarranted extension of British authority into colonial affairs. The Congress debated in secret, but drew up a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances that laid out some important points of agreement -- (1) the right to trial by jury, (2) only colonial assemblies could tax colonists, (3) since colonists could not vote for members of Parliament, it could not represent them, and (4) colonists were entitled to all the rights of free Englishmen.

And on this day in 1777 Continental troops under General Horatio Gates drove the British regulars commanded by Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne back from Bemis Heights near Saratoga, New York. This was the decisive engagement of the Revolutionary War. To that point it had seemed that the rebels could not win, but Burgoyne's defeat convinced French King Louis XIV that the revolution was not a lost cause. Negotiations began that soon produced a Franco-American alliance and France's entry into the war. Britain was forced to divert most of its military and naval resources away from the colonies to meet the French threat.

And on this day in 1780 patriot militia defeated a force of loyalist militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain in North Carolina. British General Charles Cornwallis had been depending on loyalist militia to support his North Carolina campaign but the loss at Kings Mountain coupled with the loss of many regulars in battle with Nathaniel Greene's Continentals forced him to change his plans. Instead he marched into Virginia and we all know how that turned out.

Today, those of you who lean to the Left can celebrate the birth of two heroes.

On this day in 1879 Joe Hill [Joel Emmanuel Hägglund] was born in Sweden. As a young man he emigrated to the United States, became an itinerant worker, folk singer, and labor organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World [the "Wobblies", a radical labor union]. In 1914 he was arrested in Utah and put on trial for a double murder. The union claimed that he was being framed because of his radical labor ties and the trial became a national sensation. He was convicted and hanged and remains today a martyr in the eyes of some of the less sane precincts of the political Left. There have been poems, songs, even a movie about him. I remember during the Sixties hearing Pete Seeger singing "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night." Funny how these things stick with you.

And on the very same day Lebya Davidovich Bronstein [better known as Leon Trotsky] was born in Russia. While at school in Odessa, he became involved in radical politics and eventually embraced Marxist and became a leader of the Bolshevik political movement. He spent most of the early years of the Twentieth century in exile and arguing with Vladimir Illich Ulyanov [Lenin]. When the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917 Trotsky reconciled with Lenin and played a major role in bringing the Bolsheviks to power. He served as foreign minister, then as leader of the Red Army. In the contest for control after Lenin's death in 1924 Trotsky was outmaneuvered by Josef Jugashvili [Stalin], was marginalized and driven into exile. For more than a decade he wandered the world, finding support from radical groups in a number of countries. Then in 1940 one of Stalin's assassins finally caught up with him in Mexico and drove an ice pick into his brain. Ever since Lefty loons who were repulsed by the excesses of Stalin's terror state have tried to argue that Trotsky was a humane alternative to Stalin's brutality, but the historical record shows that during the years when he wielded power, Trotsky was every bit as ruthless and inhumane as Stalin. Trotsky was one of the Twentieth Century's great monsters but many on the Left still see him as a heroic figure.

And on this day inn 1907 Chuck Klein was born. Before Mike Schmidt, he was the greatest hitter in Phillies history. He had a lifetime batting average of .320 and hit 300 home runs. He led the league in home runs four times, twice in RBIs, and won one batting title. And he was more than just a slugger; he could run. In 1932 he led the league in stolen bases and finished third in triples and was the NL MVP. Quite a guy!

And maybe the most important date of all:

On this day in 1952 a teenage dance show named "American Bandstand" began broadcasting from "Studio B" on the 4500 block of Market Street in West Philadelphia [just a few blocks from where I used to live]. Originally it was a local show hosted by Bob Horn and Lee Stewart, but in 1957 a new host, Dick Clark, took it national. The rest, as they say, is history.

Have a good day!

Brooks' Best

David Brooks has been much maligned, and justly so, for some amazingly silly columns he has recently produced, but today he redeemed himself somewhat. His latest column playfully asks how Jeremy Bentham and David Hume would approach questions regarding the government's approach to health insurance and greenhouse emissions policy. This is Brooks at his best. Highly recommended! David Hume is easily my all-time favorite philosopher and I abhor Bentham's cold-blooded utilitarianism. Throughout the article I kept approving (as I suspect Brooks does) Hume's position as obviously superior, but in the end Brooks brought me back to earth by noting that governmental authorities invariably gravitate toward Bentham.

Check it out here.

This Day In History

Today is "Physician Assistant Day" so find a physician and offer to assist him or her.

On this day in 1876 the American Library Association was founded in Philadelphia.

This is a momentous day in film history -- on this day in 1889 Thomas Edison showed a motion picture. He had already patented the concept in 1888 [he often did that, filing patents on an idea before he actually had a working device] and had a team of technicians headed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson working on the project. Now he could actually demonstrate the concept, although the specific technique, using images mounted on a cylinder, was ultimately scrapped in favor of the kinetoscope.

And on this day in 1923 Ernie Padgett, playing for the Braves, executed the National League's first unassisted triple play. Of course it came against the Phillies.

And on this day in 1927 Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer" opened at Warners' flagship theater in New York City. In Hollywood legend it was the first of the "Talkies" but many short sound films had been made prior to it and the technology had been available in some form since the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The importance of "The Jazz Singer" was that it was a feature length film -- mostly silent, but with short sound segments -- that proved to be a commercial success. It demonstrated the economic feasibility of using sound in feature productions, and over the following few years "talkies" replaced silent films as the dominant form of the medium, at least in the United States [Europe took a bit longer].

This is also a momentous date in the history of the Middle East. In 1973 this date marked the outbreak of the "Yom Kippur War" [also called the "Ramadan War", the "Fourth Arab-Israeli War", and the "October War"] in which Israel was attacked by Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. The Israelis won handily and the humiliating Arab defeat led to peace negotiations that eventually produced a permanent agreement between Israel and Egypt at the 1978 Camp David accords. This separate peace on the part of Egypt infuriated Muslim radicals and three years later, on this very day, they assassinated Egyptian signatory President Anwar el-Sadat.

And also in film history, on this day in 1991 Elizabeth Taylor married for the eighth time, to construction worker Larry Fortensky. It didn't last.

And on that very same day David Cone tied a National League record by striking out nineteen players in one game. Of course his victims were the Phillies.

Bobby Jindal's Health Care Proposal

The excellent governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has some suggestions on how to improve health care insurance.

1. Voluntary purchasing pools

2. Portability

3. Lawsuit reform

4. Cover pre-existing conditions

5. Transparency

6. Electronic medical records

7. Tax-free health savings accounts

8. Reward healthy lifestyles

9. Cover young adults

10. Refundable tax credits for he uninsured

Sounds pretty good to me. Read all about it here.

Getting Back To Nature

Latest German fad -- naked hiking. Read about it here [warning, not safe for work]. No rush to book airline tickets; nude hiking season doesn't start until May. Wonder why.

This Day In History

Today is "Do Something Nice Day" and also "World Teacher Day" so go out there and do something nice to a teacher.

Today has been a bad day [one of many] for American Indians. On this day in 1813 the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh was killed. Tecumseh's brother, Tenskwatawa "The Shawnee Prophet", had led an Indian revitalization movement seeking to roll back the tide of white settlement. Tecumseh himself built upon this movement to create a broad political and military alliance involving several Indian nations. Beginning in 1809 Tecumseh was involved a number of confrontations with American forces led by William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Northwest Territory. In 1811 Harrison defeated Indian forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe and burned Tecumseh's headquarters at Prophetstown. One year later Tecumseh, allied with British forces, participated in the capture of Fort Detroit. Then in 1813 Harrison invaded Canada and defeated Tecumseh's forces at the Battle of the Thames. So feared had Tecumseh been that Harrison rode his victory at Tippecanoe all the way to the Presidency and the man who claimed to have personally killed Tecumseh, Richard Mentor Johnson, was elected Vice President.

And, on this day in 1877 Chief Joseph, leader of the Wallowa Nez Perce, after a 1700 mile series of running conflicts with the U. S. Army, formally surrendered to Gen. Nelson Appleton Miles. Celebrated as the "Red Napoleon", Joseph's fame continues down to the present day. Most Americans today remember the conclusion to his famous surrender speech, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." Unfortunately, however, historians today are agreed that much of Chief Joseph's story is fantasy. Joseph was not the Nez Perce's primary war chief and his speech was fabricated by a white poet.

Happy Birthday to Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President of the United States. Arthur entered the presidency under the worst circumstances possible. He had been a protege of Roscoe Conkling, who headed the "Stalwart" Republican political machine in New York after the Civil War. Although Arthur seems to have been personally honest he was associated with a lot of corrupt politicians and was part of a political machine that derived its power from the spoils system. In 1880 James Garfield, a political rival of Conkling's, chose Arthur as his running mate in order to gain Stalwart support for his presidential campaign. So far, so good.

Garfield won and Arthur became Vice President. But then in 1881 Garfield was assassinated by Charles Guiteau who stood over the President's body brandishing his gun and shouting "I am a Stalwart, and now Arthur is President!" [or something along those lines, reports vary]. You can see how people jumped to conclusions. In office, Arthur seems to have worked hard to distance himself from the Stalwarts [understandably]. This led to his major accomplishment. He worked to pass the Pendleton Act which in 1883 established the Civil Service Commission.

This was also a bad day for outlaws. On this day in 1882 Frank James, the older and smarter brother of Jesse James, turned himself in. Jesse had been killed several months earlier. And ten years to the day later the Dalton gang tried to simultaneously rob of two separate banks in Coffeyville, Kansas in an attempt to build a reputation bigger than the James gang. It didn't work out well. When the gang exited the banks the townfolk were waiting for them. In the ensuing shootout Bob and Grat Dalton were killed along with two other members of the gang. Their brother, Emmett survived despite receiving twenty-three [that's right 23!!!!] bullet wounds. He served 14 years in prison then, upon his release, moved to Hollywood and became an actor and technical advisor for the movies.

Cleaning Up Rio

The IOCs decision to award the next Olympic Games to Brazil will have some definitely beneficial effects. Bloomberg reports:

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who as a boy sold peanuts on the street, beat the world’s two richest nations for the 2016 Olympic Games. Now, he must defeat Rio de Janeiro’s violent crime, which residents call the biggest cloud over their city’s postcard-perfect bid.

Lula will also have to push Rio, the sea-side city of Carnival and the 2007 Pan American games, to improve its transit system, renovate its crumbling airport and double its hotel space before it can host its largest international event ever.

Read it here.

The crime culture is going to be the hardest nut to crack, but it is a good thing that Lula da Silva's administration is going to make a strong effort to clean it up. Why do I suspect that there would have been no comparable effort in Chicago?

Penn Wins!

Woo Hoo! The mighty Quaker warriors finally broke out of their torpor and demolished the hapless young men of Dartmouth 30-17. That makes them 1-0 in league play. May today be the start of something big.

More Pennsylvania Pictures -- Fall is Coming

Just a few shots from around the hood. I've lived a lot of places and visited many more, but I keep coming back to the gorgeous commonwealth, in large part because it is..., well, gorgeous. Like the State song goes, "where ere I roam, my only home...."

Are African-American Studies Still Relevant?

John McWhorter asks the question, notes that the major imperatives that created such intellectual self-segregation no longer apply, and suggests:

It’s time that African-American Studies departments let go of the sixties imperative to defend blacks as eternal victims of racism. Black people can do their best even under imperfect conditions--and if that reality is irrelevant to an African-American Studies curriculum, then we must question the value of said curricula to those whom they purport to speak up for: real people in this real world. This real world which will never be perfect--even for descendants of African slaves.

Read the whole thing here.

Just Because I'm In The Mood For It

Al Jarreau, "Teach Me Tonight".


Aaaaaah! Nice!

Must Watch TV -- Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel, legendary instructor at Harvard, has taped his "Justice" course lectures and they will be presented on PBS. These are not to be missed. Read about it here.

Now if they could just talk Greg Mankiew into putting his course on line....

The Problem With Foreign Policy "Realism"

Makes you sort of wonder who is living in the real world.

Zombama

Looking for a Halloween mask -- this one's available from Amazon.

The Chicago Debacle

Obama/Chicago's failure is substantively insignificant, but it gives the media a pivot point on which to change the narrative, and that is very significant. A lot of deeply-held assumptions about Obama blew up in their faces and now they are searching for a new line of argument. It will be interesting to see what direction they take.

Rooting for Rio

Chicago and Tokyo have been eliminated from consideration for the 2016 Olympic games. Obama's trip to Copenhagen failed to convince the international committee. All things considered it's probably for the good. Recent revelations regarding the corruption surrounding Chicago's bid make the thought of allowing the Windy City to host the games more than a little off-putting. I'm also glad that Tokyo, with its preachy environmental moralizing, lost. We already suffer far too much of that stuff. Madrid would be nice, but I'm rooting for Rio.

Killing Republicans

So Garrison Keillor wants all Republicans to die? That's what could be reasonably inferred from his proposal, presumably written in jest (but with Keillor you can never be sure) to deny Republicans access to health care [here].

I haven't read or listened to the "Old Scout" in years, but decided to check out his recent columns to see just what is happening with him. The answer is not comforting and more than a little sad. Keillor seems to have lost all touch with reality. He's feeling old and sour and nasty and disappointed that the world didn't turn out the way he wanted -- for which we can all give thanks.

He rails against the culture wars [here] which, he claims, have coarsened the fabric of our political system. Conservatives should just give up, he suggests, admit their racism and other psychoses, and just accept the court-mandated changes that he supports so that Obama's enlightened technocrats can get on with the serious business of governance [here]. He thinks he's a "nice" old man [here], but he's not. He's just a cranky old bigot, and the hatred that seethes from his columns is... well, repulsive.

I'm not sorry to have ignored Keillor for the past several years; my life has been better for his absence. Perhaps, given his incandescent antipathy toward the world in which he has to live, he should consider just checking out.

Re: Letterman

I have nothing to say about the Letterman affair except that I hope people will extend to him and his family a degree of consideration and respect that was notably lacking in his treatment of Governor Palin.

Ardi Mania

Really big news on the anthropology front this week. Science magazine, in a special issue, has published a series of articles on Ardipithecus ramidus, a 4.4 million year old fossil ape that is quite close in age to the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and australopithecines. As such it has quite a lot to tell us about the evolution of humans and our closest relatives. Not only the age of the specimens, but their completeness and rich context make this one of the most important discoveries ever published in the field of human evolutionary studies.

Here's Time's writeup on "Ardi". Not really very informative but it gives you a sense of its importance.

For a much better idea of what it all means check out John Hawks' commentary here.

This Day In History

Today is "National Custodial Worker Day" so do something nice for the people who clean up your messes.

On this day in 322 BC Aristotle expired under suspicious circumstances [officially he died of a "stomach ache" but it was no secret that Alexander the Great wanted him out of the way]. He was one of the greatest founding figures of Western philosophy. He was a student of Plato and mentor of Alexander [the ungrateful]. He articulated a comprehensive system of philosophy that encompassed ethics, politics, logic, aesthetics, science and metaphysics. You can read a nice short summary of his thought here.

On this day in 1263 Alexander III repelled Haakon IV at Largs on Clyde. Today the site is marked by "The Pencil". [Check it out here].

Happy Birthday Montreal [1535].

On this day in 1800 Nat Turner was born. In 1831 he led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia. For two days he and his followers traveled from house to house, freeing the slaves and killing all Whites they encountered. Ultimately, 55 white people died. The rebellion was brutally suppressed by the local militia but Turner escaped and eluded capture for several months during which time panic ruled in the area and nearly 200 Blacks were tortured and killed. When finally apprehended Turner was tried, sentenced to death, hanged, flayed, beheaded and quartered. His lawyer, Thomas Ruffin Gray, later published The Confessions of Nat Turner, based on conversations he had with his client. You can read it here.

Historians note that in the wake of Turner's rebellion the slave system in the Upper South became much more rigid, that free Blacks lost many rights, that slaves by the hundreds of thousands were transported out of the region to new owners in the Deep South, and that the southern anti-slavery movement was, to all intents and purposes, extinguished. It was a deeply polarizing event that contributed greatly to raising the tensions that ultimately led to Civil War.

And on this day in 1869 Mahatma Mohandaschand Karam Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India. One of the greatest spiritual and political leaders of the Twentieth Century, and the foremost exponent of the tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience [ahisma], Ghandi is today revered in India as the "Father of the Nation" for his inspirational role in the Indian independence movement. You can read his "Freedom's Battle" commentary here.

Happy Birthday, Groucho! [1890]



On this day in 1967 ground was broken to build Veterans Stadium. Ah, the memories! And on the very same day Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as America's first Black Supreme Court Justice. Coincidence? Maybe. I report, you decide.

On this day in 1980 my former Congresscritter, Michael "Ozzie" Myers, was expelled from the House of Representative, the first to suffer that punishment since 1861. The reason? He had been filmed taking a $50,000 bribe from an FBI agent posing as an Arab sheik. Yes folks, that was the ABSCAM scandal. Ozzie's finest moment was when he was seen on the tape telling an undercover agent that "Money talks, and bullshit walks". I have the unenviable distinction of once having lived in the districts of two ABSCAM sleazeballs, Ozzie and Jack Murtha.

"Naked Female Zombies Running in Slow Motion" -- Slate Goes For the Hits

Check it out here.

OK, you got me! By posting the title I'm fishing for hits too.

This Day In History

Today is "World Vegetarian Day" so go out and graze to your hearts content.

On this day in 331 BC Darius III, the Persian emperor, met in battle an invading Greek and Macedonian army commanded by Alexander the Great at Gaugamela. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the Macedonians and led directly to the downfall of the Achaemenid Empire. Wikipedia has a good overview of the course of battle here. It was one of those days when the course of history turned.

And on this day in 1903 the Pittsburgh Pirates met the Boston Pilgrims [now the Red Sox] in the first game of the first World Series in history. Pittsburgh's Deacon Phillippe won the game, but Boston won the series 5 games to 3 [it was a nine-game series in those days]. Honus Wagner, suffering from injuries, committed six errors in the series.

And on this day in 1932 Babe Ruth strode to the plate and faced Chicago pitcher Charlie Root in the third game of the World Series. Falling behind in the count 0-2 Ruth pointed his finger toward right-center field and then blasted the next pitch, a curve ball, more than 440 feet over the right-center field wall. This was Ruth's famous "called shot" home run, and it is still debated by people who have an unhealthy obsession with our national pastime. Did Ruth really mean to call his shot, or was he just pointing at the pitcher? Who can say, but the legend persists.

On this day in 1924 James Earl Carter, 39th President of the United States and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was born. Make of that what you will.

And on this day in 1940 the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened for business. It is considered to be America's first "superhighway".

And on this day in 1968 a little film made in and around Pittsburgh by local guy George Romero and titled "Night Of the Living Dead" premiered at the Fulton Theater. The film was made for $114,000 and grossed 42 million in initial release. Not bad..., not bad at all! It's success inspired a whole new genre, the zombie apocalypse and revolutionized the horror film. Who can forget the first time they heard "They're coming to get you Marsha"?

UPDATE:

I missed this in the earlier post. On this day in 1746 John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was born and 61 years to the day later he died. He was a remarkable guy. Educated at Penn and in Germany, was a cavalry officer in Germany, a Lutheran minister in New Jersey, became an Anglican priest in 1772. During the Revolution he headed up the Committee of Safety [sort of a provisional government] in Dunmore County, VA., was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses [along with Patrick Henry, George Washington and others], helped draw up the Virginia State constitution, raised a regiment and served first as a Colonel, then a General in the Continental Army, was at Valley Forge, Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth as well as Yorktown, wound up a Major General and retired to Mongomery County, PA, served on the Pennsylvania Executive Council, and later served in the House of Representative and the Senate, representing Pennsylvania.

Quite a career, and definitely one to remember.

Susan from Glendale Speaks Out

This afternoon I had to run an errand. I got in the car, turned on the radio, and listened to one of the most impassioned statements I have ever heard. The woman's name was Susan. She was calling from Glendale. And she was talking to Rush Limbaugh, who had the sense to just shut up and let her speak. It was a powerful statement.

Here's the transcript and a link to the audio. Listen to it -- it's very effective.

This is why Obama and the Democrats are having so much trouble. They scare the hell out of people.

Polanski Reviews Hanna Montana

Roman Polanski reviews Hannah Montana here.

This Day In History

Today is National Mud Pack Day, so get out there and start slinging and packing.

On this day sixty years ago [the formal date is October 1st, but because we are east of the international dateline we should note it today] the People's Republic of China was established. Under the leadership of Mao Zhedong the PRC became perhaps the most brutal regime in human history. It is estimated that policies instituted under Mao resulted in approximately 70 million excess peacetime deaths. Together with casualties inflicted during the Communist drive to power, Mao was probably responsible for more than 100 million deaths. He was easily the most lethal ruler ever [Stalin and Hitler don't even come close]. Supporters of Mao argue that such extreme measures were necessary to bring about Chinese independence, to restructure the nation's economy, and to establish a regime based on social justice. Others, myself included, would disagree. The reign of terror did not end until Mao's death in 1976.

Compared to that anything else I might note fades into insignificance, although, for the benefit of the movie buffs among you, I should note that today is James Dean's deathday.

More Lies Of the Left -- The Hockey Stick

One after another the "scientific" pillars supporting global warming hysteria are falling. It now appears that Keith Briffa's famous study of tree rings, often cited in support of the "hockey stick" graphs embraced by the IPCC to support their claims of impending environmental doom, were based on a "cherry picked" set of data. Some found it suspicious that for many years Briffa refused to allow access to the original data sets on which his graphs were based, but they were ignored by the warming enthusiasts. Now we learn that Briffa massaged his data to get a desired result.

Read about this incredible fraud here.

The Sarah Palin 2010 Calendar

Check out Don Surber's Sarah Palin 2010 Calendar here.

Orwell on Polanski

In his essay on Salvador Dali [a monstrous and disgusting figure, so much so that he would have enjoyed being considered monstrous and disgusting] George Orwell makes the point that having artistic talent does not excuse a person from the standards of decent human conduct by writing:

If Shakespeare returned to the earth to-morrow, and if it were found that his favourite recreation was raping little girls in railway carriages, we should not tell him to go ahead with it on the ground that he might write another KING LEAR.

Read it here.

Obviously he wasn't French or Polish or a denizen of Hollywood.

Polanski did not just rape a thirteen year old girl, he drugged her, sodomized her, and kept her against her will [which I believe is called "kidnapping"]. He admitted as much, pleading "guilty" in court, then skipped the country thus becoming a fugitive from justice. Yet powerful figures in the United States and Europe are protecting him and denouncing those who would make him pay for his crimes.

Faugh!

Dave Gibson asks whether Polanski would receive the same treatment if he were a Catholic priest [here].

UPDATE:

Ann Althouse demolishes Polanski defender, Bernard Henri-Levy here.

This Day In History

There's not much of historical interest to write about today -- Jamestown was resupplied, Leo I became Pope, Saladin entered Jerusalem..., that sort of thing. I suppose I could do a short essay on any of them, especially Leo ["the Great"] who was the pope who negotiated with Attila the Hun and supposedly convinced him to spare Rome [there's some debate on that] and was the first Pope to claim universal jurisdiction within the Church, but that would take too much time and I have other things I need to do today. So, I will have to content myself with a few markers in the history of American popular culture.

On this day in 1915 the Phillies clinched their first pennant; it would not be their last.

On this day in 1957 the New York Giants played their last game in the Polo Grounds losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-1.

And on this day in 1961 Bobby Zimmerman [aka Bob Dylan] took part in his first recording session, playing backup harmonica for Caroline Hester.

And on this day in 1963 the pride of Donora, PA -- Stan "the Man" Musial -- played his last game. That evening the Rolling Stones embarked on their first tour, opening for Bo Diddley and the Everly Brothers [talk about a mash of styles]. Coincidence? I think not!

And on this day in 1995 the defense rested in the O. J. Simpson murder trial.

In Germany -- Another Win for the Good Guys

Even as Obama and his minions try ever more desperately to drag America leftward, Europe has begun to move decisively to the right.

From the NYT [you know it had to kill them to write this]:

PARIS — A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of Socialism’s slow collapse.

Even in the midst of one of the greatest challenges to capitalism in 75 years, involving a breakdown of the financial system due to “irrational exuberance,” greed and the weakness of regulatory systems, European Socialist parties and their left-wing cousins have not found a compelling response, let alone taken advantage of the right’s failures.

German voters clobbered the Social Democratic Party on Sunday, giving it only 23 percent of the vote, its worst performance since World War II.

Voters also punished left-leaning candidates in the summer’s European Parliament elections and trounced French Socialists in 2007. Where the left holds power, as in Spain and Britain, it is under attack. Where it is out, as in France, Italy and now Germany, it is divided and listless.

Read it here.

This is a wonderful development, but I can't get too excited about Europe's repudiation of the Left's brand of government. In the European context, moving right means embracing socialism lite.

Europe’s center-right parties have embraced many ideas of the left: generous welfare benefits, nationalized health care, sharp restrictions on carbon emissions, the ceding of some sovereignty to the European Union. But they have won votes by promising to deliver more efficiently than the left, while working to lower taxes, improve financial regulation, and grapple with aging populations.

Europe’s conservatives, says Michel Winock, a historian at the Paris Institut d’Études Politiques, “have adapted themselves to modernity.” When Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Germany’s Angela Merkel condemn the excesses of the “Anglo-Saxon model” of capitalism while praising the protective power of the state, they are using Socialist ideas that have become mainstream, he said.

So, I find myself having to curb my enthusiasm for Angela Merkel's accomplishment. What she has done in Germany is important, but it will take far more to roll back the collectivist tide.

Sarah Hits the Stands

Sarah's autobiography will hit the stands on Nov. 17th. The title is "Going Rogue: An American Life".

Read about it here.

Priorities

Today's headlines from Drudge:

Iran conducts third round of missile tests...
'Could reach Israel'...
Russia: Iranian missile tests cause concern...
Revolutionary Guards begin war games...
Venezuela exploring uranium deposits with Russia...
China to display upgraded missiles in parade...
India raises nuclear stakes; Can make high-yield weapons...

And this comes on top of last weeks foiling of terror plots here in the U.S.

U.S. Terror Suspects Accused of Targeting Marine Base [here]

Illinois Man Charged In Plot to Bomb Federal Officer [here]

Man to Be Arraigned In Dallas Skyscraper Bombing Plot [here]

Does anybody but me find it disturbing that the President of the U.S. in such challenging times should take off time to fly to Denmark to lobby for Chicago's Olympic bid?

Liberal Paranoia [cont.]

The MSM has been trying to convince us that Republicans and conservatives are paranoid conspiracy freaks. But it was no less than Bill Clinton who over the weekend reprised his wife's insane maunderings about the existence of a "vast right wing conspiracy" [here].

Yes there are paranoid conservatives, but they have always operated at the fringes of the movement, but ever since the Sixties, paranoid delusions have issued from the core of the Democrat Party. From the absurd allegations that right wing rhetoric inspired the assassination of John and Robert Kennedy to the current delusion that a vast right wing conspiracy is operating to frustrate left-wing programs and policies, paranoia has been a major element of the liberal world view and such idiocies have issued not from the fringe of the movement, but from the mouths and writings of its leaders.

This Day In History

I missed this earlier -- on this day in 1924 Marcello Mastrionni was born and ten years to the day after that Brigitte Bardot was born. They just don't make people any more beautiful than those two.

Today is "Ask a Stupid Question Day" (presumably in honor of the Washington Press Corps) so let's all get out there and be ourselves. Actually, the day was originally thought up by a classroom teacher trying to get students to ask more questions in class.

On this day in 1066 William, Duke of Normandy [also known as "William the Bastard" and "William the Conqueror"] landed troops at Pevensey Bay in Sussex, England. His purpose -- to challenge Harold Godwinson for the throne of England. Thus began the Norman Conquest.

And on this day in 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay and claimed California for Spain.

And on this day in 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie, "The Young Pretender" [Charles Edward Stuart, or in Gaelic Teàrlach Eideard Stiùbhairt] became King of Scotland. He then decided to invade England. That didn't work out very well, so he fled to France and spent the rest of his life drinking and fornicating.

And on this day in 1781 the Siege of Yorktown, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, began.

And on this day in 1787 the Federal Constitution, having been approved by the Confederation Congress, was sent to the States for their approval. Thus began the long ratification debate that was not concluded until 1789. Few people today pay much attention to the ratification debate, preferring instead to focus on the deliberations at the Constitutional Convention or to simply read one set of documents produced during the debate, the "Federalist Papers". This is unfortunate because it was during the long public debate that the real meaning of the provisions of the Constitution was hashed out and the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights articulated. If you want to understand the full meaning of the Constitution as it was understood by the Founders and their contemporaries, you have to consider the full range of opinion expressed in the debate, not just a few of the Federalist editorials. Fortunately, the most important of these documents have been collected by Harvard historian, Bernard Bailyn and are available in a two volume work titled Debate on the Constitution. It is part of the "Library of America" series. I recommend it very highly, especially for anyone who is interested in constitutional issues. It should be required reading in every law school in America.

And on this day in 1820 Fredrich Engels, who collaborated with Karl Marx on the Communist Manifesto was born.

And on this day in 1895 three Baptist groups met in Atlanta to form the National Baptist Convention. Today it is still the largest African-American religious demonination in America and, for that matter, in the world.

And on this day in 1902 Mansfield State Normal School in Mansfield, PA, played the first night football game against Wyoming Seminary at Smythe Park. Neither team was able to score, presumably because nobody could see what was happening, and the game was stopped at the half. Still, it counts as another Pennsylvania first. [read about it here]

On this day in 1919 the Giants defeated the Phillies 6-1 in 51 minutes -- still the fastest major league game on record.

On this day in 1941 the Phillies lost their 111th game of the season -- still a club record.

Reaganism, Thatcherism, Merkelism

The German elections provide more proof that European leftism is on the wane. Chancellor Merkel won re-election promising tax cuts and economic de-regulation. What is more, her margin of victory means that she no longer has to rely on a "grand coalition" that formerly restricted her conservative tendencies.

Bloomberg reports:

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she’ll press ahead with tax cuts and labor-market deregulation after winning re-election with enough support to govern with the pro-business Free Democrats.

With Germany struggling to recover from the deepest economic slump since World War II, voters spurned plans by Merkel’s Social Democratic challenger to raise taxes on top earners. Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s SPD had its worst postwar result in what he called a “bitter day” after sharing power with Merkel for four years and governing for the previous seven.

“There’s a clear sentiment in favor of economic changes, especially on income taxes,” Tilman Mayer, head of the Bonn- based Institute for Political Science, said in an interview. “Voters have turned their back on grand coalition-style compromise politics.”

Read about it here.

So, just as Europe begins to embrace Reaganite principles, the United States under Obama is precipitously veering in the opposite direction. Which course will prove to be the better one. We shall see, but I certainly wouldn't bet on Obama [if I had a choice in the matter].

The Health Benefits of MeganFox

In the past I've been highly critical of scientific studies that purport to confirm political or cultural biases, but Mark Steyn reports on one I can really get behind.

A study by German scientists showed that 10 minutes a day of ogling women’s breasts by men was as good at warding off heart disease, high blood pressure and stress as 30 minutes of aerobic exercise.

Read about it here. Follow his link for the latest on penguin poop.

Of course it depends on the breasts. Ten minutes ogling Megan Fox's breasts should be more benefit than several centuries in the company of Code Pink partisans. This clearly calls for more research. Now if we could only get Ms. Fox to volunteer some time.

OK, you got me. I only linked to Steyn's story in order to have an excuse to post the picture.

More Pennsylvania Pictures -- Coal Country

We drove up through the coal region north of Pottsville recently. Here's a little bit of what we saw.


Row houses in Pottsville. This picture points up one of the problems of taking pictures in these towns. Power lines -- they're everywhere and, unless you are able to take your time and wander around on foot looking for the best angle, you just can't keep them out of your shots.


Ghost signs -- nearly weathered away, they provide a glimpse into the past. From horse stock dairy poultry and feed, to tires, carpets and rugs. The times, they were a changin'. You see a lot of these in the coal country. One of these days when I'm not on a tight schedule I'm going to go back to focus on them.


The old and the new. Right in the heart of anthracite country there is a heavy investment in wind energy. Back in the nineteenth century energy resources brought this region to prominence. Maybe it can happen again.




Steeples. Like the power lines they are everywhere in coal country -- churches and bars. Sounds a lot like the town I grew up in.

Obama's Disastrous Foreign Policy

Once again the "intelligence community" has screwed up big time. Anyone who has read Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes understands that this is about par for the course and has been since the CIA's inception, and that inaccuracies are often politically or ideologically driven. So too, as Victor Davis Hanson reminds us, is the journalistic response to intelligence screwups.

Remember all the outrage in the major media regarding the intelligence reports that Saddam Hussein was developing WMD? Of course you do. When it turned out that those weapons could not be found anger in the press was directed not at the intelligence services that had provided bad information, but at the Bush administration that had acted on bad information. The mantra that emerged was "Bush lied, people died". And of course "veteran intelligence professionals" were eager to push the line that the problem lay not with the intelligence services themselves but with the politicians who used the information they provided. And, also of course, the media and liberal commentators avidly promoted that line of argument.

Then in 2007 the intelligence professionals again issued a bogus report. This time a National Intelligence Estimate claimed that the Iranian government had halted their nuclear weapons development program in 2003 and had not since resumed it. Based on this estimate, which was widely leaked to the media, Democrat politicians and their media toadies developed a line of attack on the Bush administration and its confrontational stance toward Iran. Reluctantly, and to widespread international approbation, Bush adopted a more conciliatory stance toward the Iranian regime and liberals congratulated themselves for pulling the nation back from the brink of conflict.

Since then the "soft power" approach to Iran advocated by liberals has been spectacularly non-productive. Rather than moderating, the regime has been threatening a genocidal attack on Israel, has been supporting radical terrorist organizations throughout the region, including terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan who have killed Americans. And, as the public now learns, they have been continuing, even accelerating, their clandestine WMD programs.

And now we learn that Obama knew, as early as last year, that the 2007 NIE report was bogus and that Iran had in no way moderated its activities. Yet, even in possession of this knowledge Democrats not only concealed it from the public, they actually demagogued the issue. What is more, for months after assuming power, committed by their demagogic rhetoric to a non-confrontational, "soft power"approach to Iran the Obama administration stubbornly ignored heightened provocations and evidence that Iranian-backed forces were killing Americans, and recently refused to criticize the brutal suppression of democratic protests within Iran itself. And not only Iranian policy was affected. In support of the soft power approach Obama recently reversed the decision to supply our Eastern European allies with missile defense systems so as to get a newly-aggressive Russia on board for proposed sanctions. The consequences of this decision are to give Putin's Russia a green light for reasserting control over newly-freed peoples on their borders.

And, as Dr. Hanson reminds us, ignoring hostile acts for the sake of negotiations is dangerous business. The recent terror plots uncovered here in the U. S. make a conciliatory course even more so. If Iran successfully develops and is a position to disseminate nuclear devices the world will become a far more perilous place than it is now and no American community anywhere will be safe.

And Dr. Hanson wonders, where is the press on this most vital of issues? Why is there no outrage at the production of a bogus intelligence assessment that led to a change in policy? Why no outrage at the cynical suppression of evidence to the contrary? Why no consideration of the adverse effects that have ensued from the Democrats' manipulation of intelligence for political gain and in service of a questionable ideology?

UPDATE:

If the American press has been content to ignore the perils of Obama's approach to foreign relations, the same cannot be said for Europe. At the recent UN gathering French President Sarkozy blasted Obama, calling his diplomacy "naive", a fact that was ignored by the U.S. media, but widely reported in Europe [see previous post here]. Now from Britain comes a devastating critique of Obama's policy with regard to Eastern Europe.

Obama has done more to restore Russia’s hegemonial potential in Eastern and Central Europe than even Vladimir Putin.

His latest achievement has been to restore the former satellite states to dependency on Moscow, by wimping out of the missile defence shield plan. This follows on his surrender last July when he voluntarily sacrificed around a third of America’s nuclear capability for no perceptible benefit beyond a grim smile from Putin. If there is one thing that fans the fires of aggression it is appeasement.

....

Thanks to President Pantywaist’s supine policies, the former satellite states can see that they are fast returning to their former status. The American umbrella cannot be relied upon on a rainy day.

....

If the word is out that America is in retreat, it will soon find it has no friends. The satellites will pragmatically accept their restored subordination, without openly acknowledging it, and co-operate with their dangerous neighbour, ushering in a new generation of Finlandisation.

Bringing unstable states like Georgia into Nato would be a liability, not a defence. The crazy notion of a US-Nato-Russian combined defence policy has all the staying power of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.

....

Barack Obama is selling out America and, by extension, the entire West. This is a catastrophe for America and the wider world.

Wow! No pulling punches there. Read the whole thing here.

"President Pantywaist" -- kinda like the sound of that.

Sarkozy Speaks Out

The MSM was far too busy giving Obama tongue baths over his dreamy proposal for a nuclear-free world to take much note of what French President Sarkozy had to say in response. It's important:

“President Obama dreams of a world without weapons … but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite.

“Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993.

“I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe a UN member state off the map,” he continued, referring to Israel.

The sharp-tongued French leader even implied that Mr Obama’s resolution 1887 had used up valuable diplomatic energy.

“If we have courage to impose sanctions together it will lend viability to our commitment to reduce our own weapons and to making a world without nuke weapons,” he said.

Mr Sarkozy has previously called the US president’s disarmament crusade “naive.”

Read it here.

As Big Government notes, Sarkozy's comments were widely reported in the world press. Why not in the American MSM?

The Cynic In Chief

Something really bothers me about the recent revelation that Iran has had a second, secret nuclear weapons production facility.

If the intelligence community, as it claims, has long been aware of this second facility, then our fine young president also knew about it and understood that the Iranian regime was lying to us and the international community. Yet he still stubbornly persisted in a policy based on the politically attractive assumption that the Iranian regime was trustworthy and susceptible to rational persuasion. And in furtherance of that policy, which he knew was doomed from the outset, he not only lied to the American people, he turned his back on Iran's democracy movement. Some say Obama is merely naive or incompetent, but these recent revelations show him to be profoundly amoral, cynical and duplicitous. Bush was right, the Iranians are not to be trusted and must be dealt with strongly, and Obama knows he was right -- he just refuses to admit it.

The Terror Threat Continues

The headlines are blood curdling:

U.S. Terror Suspects Accused of Targeting Marine Base [here]

Illinois Man Charged In Plot to Bomb Federal Officer [here]

Man to Be Arraigned In Dallas Skyscraper Bombing Plot [here]

Clearly, despite the assurances of the administration, the "Global War On Terror" is not over. And the election of Barak Hussein Obama to the presidency has not diminished the determination of Islamic radicals to do us harm, in fact it seems to have encouraged them in their course.

The latest round of arrests should wake the country to the continuing threat. In the past leftists and cynical Democrats greeted Bush administration warnings and arrests with scepticism, charging that the terror alerts were simply political ploys. The implication [and sometimes the explicit charge] was that the war on terror was a politically inspired fantasy cooked up by nefarious Republicans to justify constraints on civil liberties.

The first step toward accommodating reality came when Obama's administration decided to continue many of Bush's policies regarding surveillance, detention, interrogation, rendition, and the like. This caused no little amount of confusion on the Left. How could their new Messiah countenance the policies of the hated Bush? Now this latest round of arrests and charges, coming under the Obama administration should drive home, rather belatedly, the realization that there was a real threat and that the measures taken by the Bush administration to address it were reasonable and prudent.

At least we can hope.

Lies of the Left -- Disappearing Data On Climate Change

Wonderful piece over at NRO by Patrick Michaels on the deep duplicity of the British "scientists" who provided the basic data upon which the IPPC had based its climate change predictions. When asked to produce their data so it could be critiqued, they refused to do so and eventually said it had disappeared.

So their conclusions are unverifiable and are therefore "unscientific".

Read it here.

I Thought Obama Was Supposed To Bring Us Together

Violence on the streets of Pittsburgh. Read about it here.

Lefties and their tools in the MSM are still pushing the idea that conservatives are dangerous and violent, but in almost every case when violence erupts it is instigated from the Left. The behavior of these anarchists stands in stark contrast to the orderly protest observed at the Tea Parties. Once again history gives the lie to leftist attempts to construct a plausible self-serving narrative.

Instapundit writes: "Until we see scenes like this, I don’t want to hear yammering about the violence inherent in the Tea Party movement." [here].

Yammering indeed.

This Day In History

Today is national comic book day, so everyone go out there and improve your reading skills [at least that's what education "experts" say reading comics does for you -- that is, if you have the reading abilities of a three-year old].

On this day in 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa stood upon a peak in Darien and first saw the Pacific Ocean. There is so much to say about this fascinating and, to be frank, repulsive character, but I have not the time today. Read his Wikipedia entry here.

And on this day in 1555 the Peace of Augsburg was signed bringing to an end the long conflict between the Habsburg emperor Charles V, and the Schmalkaldic League. This document established the principle that local rulers could determine the formal religious affiliation of the people who resided in their realms and marked the first formal recognition by a Catholic monarch of the legitimacy of a Protestant faith [the Lutheran Church] and the ideal of a united Christendom in the West was forever abandoned.

On this day in 1890 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [Mormons] issued a "manifesto" prohibiting polygamy. The reason, the Supreme Court [in Davis v. Beason] had ruled unanimously that a territorial law denying the right of citizenship to practitioners of non-traditional marriage was constitutional. In addition Congress was refusing to grant Utah statehood until it abandoned the practice of polygamy. This court ruling has never been overturned, although a contrary ruling was issued in Romer v Evans in 1996. The two cases have never been reconciled. This is a potentially explosive issue, especially since Sharia law specifically endorses polygamy and there is a push on in Muslim communities to gain formal recognition of Islamic legal principles.

On this day in 1982 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, George Emil Banks, a Camp Hill prison guard, slaughtered thirteen people including five of his own children. He claimed that it was a statement against racism. Later in life he declared war on Monica Lewinsky.

Latest From Iowahawk

Iowahawk takes on the NEA scandal.

Earn big bucks from art, sign up now for the Federal Art Instruction Institute:

Federal Art Instruction Institute doesn't waste your time on boring Post-Modernist theory, messy bodily fluids, or painful self mutilation. With our easy-to-learn program you will quickly learn how to channel your natural artistic ability and suburban self-loathing at state enemies who, when you think about it, are a lot like your parents.

Can you draw triangles? The Federal Art Instruction Institute will show you the easy way to turn them into Ku Klux Klan hoods. Turn them upside down and they become scary vampire fangs! Even a simple black rectangle can become a Hitler mustache with our easy to learn methods.

Our award winning studio instructors includes some of the top young professional kowtowers, bumnuzzlers and bootlicks working in the government art field today....

Read the whole thing here.

Palin's Hong Kong Speech

Barbara Curtis has a roundup of reactions to Sarah's Hong Kong speech. What is surprising is how positive most of the MSM accounts were. Curtis wonders, "Maybe they’re noting the contrast with Obama at the UN?"

Check it out here.

Gleichshalatung

Roger Kimball explains why the attempt to enlist National Endowment for the Arts members into the Obama movement is a really creepy and sinister thing:

There is a German word for what we are witnessing at the NEA and elsewhere in the Obama administration’s effort to push its agenda. It is Gleichschaltung. It means two things: first, bringing all aspects of life into conformity with a given political line. And second, as a prerequisite for realizing that goal, the obliteration or at least marginalization of all opposition.

Read the whole thing here.

This sort of thing is disturbing because it reveals, not just hardball politics, but a twisted totalitarian sensibility among Obama's supporters. These young zealots are really scary people.

Obama Snubs Brown

Obama seems to really, really, really dislike Brits. Ever since he took office there has been a constant stream of snubs directed against Britain. The Guardian reveals the extent of the contempt:

Gordon Brown lurched from being hailed as a global statesman to intense embarrassment tonight, after it emerged US President Barack Obama had turned down no fewer than five requests from Downing Street to hold a bilateral meeting at the United Nations in New York or at the G20 summit starting in Pittsburgh today.

Read it here.

Actually, he doesn't seem to think much of any of the European nations. Could it be that he's just not that impressed by Western culture?

This Day In History

Today is "Checkers Day" [alternatively known as "Dog in Politics Day"]. The reference is to Richard Nixon and his famous "Checkers" speech. Back in 1952 when Nixon was being considered for Vice President political opponents charged that he had taken an illegal gift of several thousand dollars. Nixon struck back by going on TV to specifically refute the allegations. He closed his appearance by noting that there was one exception: his daughters had been given a dog, "Checkers", as a gift and they were going to keep it no matter what. The audience ate it up and Nixon, for perhaps the last time in his life, emerged as a sympathetic character.

On this day in 1779 a seven-ship American squadron commanded by John Paul Jones, commanding from the deck of Bom Homme Richard, defeat and capture the British warship Serapis. It was during this battle that Jones, when asked by the British commander if he wished to surrender, issued his famous statement "I have not yet begun to fight". With his own ship sinking under him, Jones grappled with the British ship, immobilizing it while other ships in the squadron fired on both combatants. Realizing he could not escape, the British commander surrendered and Jones took possession of the Serapis while his own ship was scuttled. This was a minor confrontation, actually a diversion from the major battle shaping up between British and French fleets, but reports of the victory made Jones a popular hero in America and France. The Brits considered him to be a pirate.

On this day in 1806 the Lewis and Clark expedition returns to St. Louis after three years exploring the northwest. The "Corps of Discovery", headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, had been sent westward by President Thomas Jefferson to find out just what was in that vast Louisiana territory he had just purchased and most importantly to find a water route to the Pacific. Needless to say they failed to find one. This was not the first trans-continental journey. Cabeza de Vaca and four companions had traversed the continent from Florida to California in 1536, and Sir Alexander Mackensie had explored the breadth of Canada in 1793. Nor was the Lewis and Clark expedition particularly fruitful. They did catalogue a number of plants and animals, so naturalists gained some information, and they did enjoy good relations with some of the Indian peoples they encountered, but as many historians have noted the expedition did not lead to anything of importance. There was no followup. The account of the expedition is, however, a rousing good story that appeals to the popular imagination and has been told and retold time and again, and that is important because it tells us something about how Americans see their national history.

And on this day in 1845 a group of young men led by New York fireman and "town ball" enthusiast, Alexander Joy Cartwright, formed a club called the "Knickerbockers", rented the "Elysian Fields" in Hoboken, New Jersey on which to play, and adopted formal rules for playing a game they called "base ball".

And on this day in 1912 Mack Sennett, the original "King of Comedy", issued his first "Keystone Kops" film. Sennett is largely forgotten today, but he was an amazing figure. He started in vaudeville as a singer, dancer, and clown, moved to Hollywood and did odd jobs for the early studios, then talked some money men into backing him and established a small studio and began churning our short comedy films. He had a talent for taking obscure talents and turning them into major stars. Among the stars who got their start with Sennett were Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Bing Crosby, and W. C. Fields. Through the twenties Sennett moved from success to success, then in the 1930s public tastes changed and he didn't. After producing several flops his backers abandoned him and by 1933 he was bankrupt. In 1938, after producing more than a thousand films he retired at age 55 and finished out his days in relative obscurity. Great Hollywood story, isn't it?

And on this day in 1939 the Dodgers, led by Cookie Lavagetto who went 6 for 6, the Dodgers cranked out 27 hits and smashed the hapless Phillies 22-4.

On this day in 1990 Saddam Hussein pledges to "destroy Israel". That didn't work out quite the way he expected.

This Day In History

Today is Elephant Appreciation Day, so go out and find an elephant and hug him/her. If you can't find an elephant, a Republican will do.

Today is also 1 Vendémiaire of An I in the French Revolutionary Calendar, the first day of the first month of the first year of the First Republic of France.

On this date in 2390 [Shire Reckoning] Bilbo Baggins was born.

And on this day in 1776 Captain Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy by the British in New York City.

On this day in 1862, Abraham Lincoln announced his Emancipation Proclamation. At the time this was a hugely controversial act and it has remained so. The wikipedia article [here] does a pretty good job of sketching out the major lines of controversy. Technically, Lincoln's proclamation did not free any slaves, nor was it primarily intended to do so [it was meant to encourage secessionist states to rejoin the Union and also to influence British public opinion] , but it inspired many slaves to seek their own freedom and, in the eyes of some military commanders and politicians, made freeing the slaves a major war aim.

And on this day in 1911 Cy Young, age 44, shut out the Pirates to notch his 511th [yes, that's right..., 511] career victory.

And on this date in 1960 Joan Jett, a girl who really loves rock-'n-roll, was born in Philly, and on the very same day Scott Baio was born in New York. Wow.

And one year to the day after Joan and Scott were born President Kennedy established the Peace Corps [hey, just connecting the dots, as Glenn Beck would say].

And on this date in 1975 Sara Jane Moore tried and failed to assassinate President Ford. [Coincidence? I think not!]

And on this date in 1980 Saddam Hussein launches an attack on Iran, initiating one of the bloodiest conflicts since WWII. [I'm not saying Joan and Scott had anything to do with it, but you gotta wonder.]

Media Mayhem

Iowahawk, still the funniest man on the net, exposes a crime link that the MSM refuses to touch:

A Denver newspaper columnist is arrested for stalking a story subject. In Cincinnati, a television reporter is arrested on charges of child molestation. A North Carolina newspaper reporter is arrested for harassing a local woman. A drunken Chicago Sun-Times columnist and editorial board member is arrested for wife beating. A Baltimore newspaper editor is arrested for threatening neighbors with a shotgun. In Florida, one TV reporter is arrested for DUI, while another is charged with carrying a gun into a high school. A Philadelphia news anchorwoman goes on a violent drunken rampage, assaulting a police officer. In England, a newspaper columnist is arrested for killing her elderly aunt.

Unrelated incidents, or mounting evidence of that America's newsrooms have become a breeding ground for murderous, drunk, gun-wielding child molesters? Answers are elusive, but the ever-increasing toll of violent crimes committed by journalists has led some experts to warn that without programs for intensive mental health care, the nation faces a potential bloodbath at the hands of psychopathic media vets.

Read the whole thing here.