Friday, February 11, 2005
Social commentary from a sociologist
They’ve got spirit, the little buggers. Me ‘n’ Hitch are quite the team, but when you’re trying your best to tell them the way things are, they will be interrupting and getting annoyed and saying unreasonable things like “Who are you to tell us what to do!?” What’s that phrase again? “The blame of those ye better, The hate of those ye guard.” But dissent is the lifeblood of democracy. Of course, we can’t permit them to pick the wrong government for themselves. “If the Iraqis were to elect either a Sunni or Shia Taliban, we would not let them take power” (Hitchens). The invasion force would consist of “the US and Britain … along with — hopefully — everyone here at this table” (Totten). Or, as Tom Lehrer put it more succinctly some years ago, “They’ve got to be protected / All their rights respected / Till somebody we like can be elected.”
Conservatives Eat Their Young
Conservatives Eat Their Young
Apparently the right half of the blogosphere is getting excited about something they call "Easongate". It involves a CNN executive making apparently unverifiable, and therefore stupid, accusations about American soldiers targeting journalists. Anyway, Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal (an upstanding card-carrying conservative) wrote his assessment of what happened there. Due to Stephens's gratuitous (but nevertheless commendable) cheap-shots at Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity and "the usual suspects", his otherwise-quite-critical-of-Eason article has placed him squarely in the sights of the blogosphere's more, um, hungry participants. Yum!
Apparently the right half of the blogosphere is getting excited about something they call "Easongate". It involves a CNN executive making apparently unverifiable, and therefore stupid, accusations about American soldiers targeting journalists. Anyway, Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal (an upstanding card-carrying conservative) wrote his assessment of what happened there. Due to Stephens's gratuitous (but nevertheless commendable) cheap-shots at Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity and "the usual suspects", his otherwise-quite-critical-of-Eason article has placed him squarely in the sights of the blogosphere's more, um, hungry participants. Yum!
The Choice is Between a Strategy for Victory -- or Defeat
No Exit; The Choice is Between a Strategy for Victory -- or Defeat
(02/10/2005) Clifford D. May, Scripps Howard News Service
No Exit; The Choice is Between a Strategy for Victory -- or Defeat When a politician or a journalist talks about an "exit strategy" from Iraq, there is only one appropriate response: Roll your eyes and leave the room. Imagine some senator or reporter during World War II asking Roosevelt and Churchill to define their "exit strategy" from Europe and the Pacific. They probably would not have dignified the question with an answer. Or, if they had, they might have said: "We have a strategy for victory. The alternative would be a strategy for defeat. Do we look like defeatists to you?" [Read More]
(02/10/2005) Clifford D. May, Scripps Howard News Service
No Exit; The Choice is Between a Strategy for Victory -- or Defeat When a politician or a journalist talks about an "exit strategy" from Iraq, there is only one appropriate response: Roll your eyes and leave the room. Imagine some senator or reporter during World War II asking Roosevelt and Churchill to define their "exit strategy" from Europe and the Pacific. They probably would not have dignified the question with an answer. Or, if they had, they might have said: "We have a strategy for victory. The alternative would be a strategy for defeat. Do we look like defeatists to you?" [Read More]
Pejmanesque
I assume the comment was ironic.
Pejman, for all your veneer of erudite sophistication, did you not recognize that Totten's dinner and drinking experience with Hitchens was clearly that of the naif acolyte entranced by the mere presence of a world-weary arbiter bibendi? Perhaps you should associate with academics more. I've experienced far more entertaining libationary disquisitions during the afternoon session breaks at academic conferences than what Totten posted from his evening with Hitchens.
Posted by: Michael Meckler at February 10, 2005 06:04 PM
Pejmanesque
"Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords." --Theodore Roosevelt
Pejman, for all your veneer of erudite sophistication, did you not recognize that Totten's dinner and drinking experience with Hitchens was clearly that of the naif acolyte entranced by the mere presence of a world-weary arbiter bibendi? Perhaps you should associate with academics more. I've experienced far more entertaining libationary disquisitions during the afternoon session breaks at academic conferences than what Totten posted from his evening with Hitchens.
Posted by: Michael Meckler at February 10, 2005 06:04 PM
Pejmanesque
"Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords." --Theodore Roosevelt
A Little Perspective
A Little Perspective
I understand the need to protect all children from sexual predators, but could we possibly make the punishment for aiding and abetting convicted terrorists a bit more harsh than fulfilling every seventh-grade boy's dream?
A possible 20 years for helping terrorists kill people, 100 years for pedophilia. I have an idea, let's make the punishment equal for both. Then we can have a new motto:
"Don't Screw With Us Or Our Kids!"
I understand the need to protect all children from sexual predators, but could we possibly make the punishment for aiding and abetting convicted terrorists a bit more harsh than fulfilling every seventh-grade boy's dream?
A possible 20 years for helping terrorists kill people, 100 years for pedophilia. I have an idea, let's make the punishment equal for both. Then we can have a new motto:
"Don't Screw With Us Or Our Kids!"
Children of the Stoplights: Part 4
This is the featured weekly post from Discarded Lies at Winds of Change.NET. The Children of the Stoplights series is about child trafficking in Europe.
Webcast replay: Election Coverage
Recorded on Sunday, January 30th, 2pm to 4pm (EST)
This unique conference from Washington DC will provide a consolidated picture of Iraq's elections featuring prominent Iraqis, selected guests (e.g., Christopher Hitchens), live call ins from the Friends of Democracy correspondents and bloggers, photos, video and stories.
This unique conference from Washington DC will provide a consolidated picture of Iraq's elections featuring prominent Iraqis, selected guests (e.g., Christopher Hitchens), live call ins from the Friends of Democracy correspondents and bloggers, photos, video and stories.
Reality-Check Time
Steve Silverposted a must-read essay in defense of the dreaded three-letter acronym known as the "MSM."
The Poisoned Earth
By lila
We poison ourselves So we
do not have to feel How we have poisoned the earth We create a worldview
Where nature is bad, out of control, needing to be tamed So that we can
justify destroying every square inch Leaving nothing untouched
The vibrant green of the rolling
hills Where I like to walk so much Rock outcroppings colored with lichen
and paint Humans' need to deface everything Is evidenced here "LSD &
Shrooms/ Fuck Paintballers" and "Party Hard Until You Can't" are sprayed
in white on the gray weathered stone Impossible to erase Bits of broken
beer bottles, old tires, tattered clothing Litter the wood We have left
our mark And will continue to destroy the native vegetation, animals, and
people To be replaced by our docile domesticated variety We must taste
victory To want to continue plundering The last few places of wildness
This small cluster of rocky
outcroppings and green hills Are now dotted with monitoring wells less
than a month old Someone wants to build here It is clear They will test
the groundwater To cover their ass in the case of lawsuit And build their
golf course in the sky On top of the sacred lands, hidden springs, pictographs
Artwork of someone closer to the land
I understand the red man's
pain at seeing the land devoured by the white sickness, Milky puss oozing
like a festering sore out of urban cities into the wild earth to tame and
fetter it, His distrust of this being who makes agreements Always with
one hand behind its back Fingers crossed
I need this wild place to
remember my roots To remind me of my true nature To remind me of life and
my many-legged relations and ancestors, the trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses
To bathe my eyes in vibrant green, Tara's warmest hues To bathe my soul
in the love of my kin
When this is gone, I also
will be gone
We poison ourselves So we
do not have to feel How we have poisoned the earth We create a worldview
Where nature is bad, out of control, needing to be tamed So that we can
justify destroying every square inch Leaving nothing untouched
The vibrant green of the rolling
hills Where I like to walk so much Rock outcroppings colored with lichen
and paint Humans' need to deface everything Is evidenced here "LSD &
Shrooms/ Fuck Paintballers" and "Party Hard Until You Can't" are sprayed
in white on the gray weathered stone Impossible to erase Bits of broken
beer bottles, old tires, tattered clothing Litter the wood We have left
our mark And will continue to destroy the native vegetation, animals, and
people To be replaced by our docile domesticated variety We must taste
victory To want to continue plundering The last few places of wildness
This small cluster of rocky
outcroppings and green hills Are now dotted with monitoring wells less
than a month old Someone wants to build here It is clear They will test
the groundwater To cover their ass in the case of lawsuit And build their
golf course in the sky On top of the sacred lands, hidden springs, pictographs
Artwork of someone closer to the land
I understand the red man's
pain at seeing the land devoured by the white sickness, Milky puss oozing
like a festering sore out of urban cities into the wild earth to tame and
fetter it, His distrust of this being who makes agreements Always with
one hand behind its back Fingers crossed
I need this wild place to
remember my roots To remind me of my true nature To remind me of life and
my many-legged relations and ancestors, the trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses
To bathe my eyes in vibrant green, Tara's warmest hues To bathe my soul
in the love of my kin
When this is gone, I also
will be gone
Interesting Links
Education World®
The World Bank Group
CIA - The World Factbook
BBC NEWS | News Front Page
PCWorld.com - Home
WTO | The WTO website
WHO | World Health Organization
The World Bank Group
CIA - The World Factbook
BBC NEWS | News Front Page
PCWorld.com - Home
WTO | The WTO website
WHO | World Health Organization
Resources
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Biography.com Search over 25,000 of the greatest lives, past and present.
The U.S. Small Business Administration established in 1953, provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses. With a portfolio of business loans, loan guarantees and disaster loans worth more than $45 billion, in addition to a venture capital portfolio of $13 billion, SBA is the nation's largest single financial backer of small businesses.
Public Domain Images
(Most of the images in these collections are in the public domain. Though you may not need to ask permission to use them when publishing on the Web for educational purposes, you still must cite these images unless otherwise notified! If you see any copyright notices on these pages, read them for further instructions.)
Cherokee an enchanted land, rich in tradition and located in the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Persian Puzzle, forrm CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack examines the historical tensions and inevitable clash between the United States and Iran.
Collecting the Modern Library: A Gentle Introduction Texts of Choice: The Books of the Modern Library Capital Gains Tax deferral companies, Enterprise Zone Trusts and Film Partnerships
Boris Sidis Born in Berditchev, Russia Oct. 12, 1867. At age of 17 imprisoned by Czar as political prisoner, for teaching peasants to read, against Czarist law.
William James Born January 11, 1842, New York - August 26, 1910 Chocorua, New Hampshire, philosopher and elder brother of the writer Henry James, was born in New York, son of a Swedenborgian theologian, Henry James, Sr. He received an eclectic and trans-Atlantic education as his eccentric father's son.
Albert Einstein German born American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955
Log In Adsense
Discovery.Com
History Channel
Biography.com Search over 25,000 of the greatest lives, past and present.
The U.S. Small Business Administration established in 1953, provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses. With a portfolio of business loans, loan guarantees and disaster loans worth more than $45 billion, in addition to a venture capital portfolio of $13 billion, SBA is the nation's largest single financial backer of small businesses.
Public Domain Images
(Most of the images in these collections are in the public domain. Though you may not need to ask permission to use them when publishing on the Web for educational purposes, you still must cite these images unless otherwise notified! If you see any copyright notices on these pages, read them for further instructions.)
Cherokee an enchanted land, rich in tradition and located in the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Persian Puzzle, forrm CIA analyst Kenneth Pollack examines the historical tensions and inevitable clash between the United States and Iran.
Collecting the Modern Library: A Gentle Introduction Texts of Choice: The Books of the Modern Library Capital Gains Tax deferral companies, Enterprise Zone Trusts and Film Partnerships
Boris Sidis Born in Berditchev, Russia Oct. 12, 1867. At age of 17 imprisoned by Czar as political prisoner, for teaching peasants to read, against Czarist law.
William James Born January 11, 1842, New York - August 26, 1910 Chocorua, New Hampshire, philosopher and elder brother of the writer Henry James, was born in New York, son of a Swedenborgian theologian, Henry James, Sr. He received an eclectic and trans-Atlantic education as his eccentric father's son.
Albert Einstein German born American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
British Naturalist
1809 -1882
I have called this principle, by which
each slight variation, if useful, is preserved,
by the term Natural Selection.
—Charles Darwin from "The Origin of Species"
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. He was the fifth child and second son of Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood. Darwin was the British naturalist who became famous for his theories of evolution and natural selection. Like several scientists before him, Darwin believed all the life on earth evolved (developed gradually) over millions of years from a few common ancestors.
From 1831 to 1836 Darwin served as naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. The expedition visited places around the world, and Darwin studied plants and animals everywhere he went, collecting specimens for further study.
British Naturalist
1809 -1882
I have called this principle, by which
each slight variation, if useful, is preserved,
by the term Natural Selection.
—Charles Darwin from "The Origin of Species"
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. He was the fifth child and second son of Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood. Darwin was the British naturalist who became famous for his theories of evolution and natural selection. Like several scientists before him, Darwin believed all the life on earth evolved (developed gradually) over millions of years from a few common ancestors.
From 1831 to 1836 Darwin served as naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. The expedition visited places around the world, and Darwin studied plants and animals everywhere he went, collecting specimens for further study.
Einstein
Around 1886 Albert Einstein began his school career in Munich. As well as his violin lessons, which he had from age six to age thirteen, he also had religious education at home where he was taught Judaism. Two years later he entered the Luitpold Gymnasium and after this his religious education was given at school. He studied mathematics, in particular the calculus, beginning around 1891.
In 1894 Einstein's family moved to Milan but Einstein remained in Munich. In 1895 Einstein failed an examination that would have allowed him to study for a diploma as an electrical engineer at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich. Einstein renounced German citizenship in 1896 and was to be stateless for a number of years. He did not even apply for Swiss citizenship until 1899, citizenship being granted in 1901.
In 1894 Einstein's family moved to Milan but Einstein remained in Munich. In 1895 Einstein failed an examination that would have allowed him to study for a diploma as an electrical engineer at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich. Einstein renounced German citizenship in 1896 and was to be stateless for a number of years. He did not even apply for Swiss citizenship until 1899, citizenship being granted in 1901.
William James
William James was born in New York, son of Henry James, Sr., an independently wealthy and notoriously eccentric Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have, since the 1930s, made it a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.
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