Morgan Spurlock Watch: Watch out for Big Food

Last year I was having a meeting with a group of teachers at my child's school. During a side conversation my wife mentioned to one of the teachers present that we had just come from McDonalds and that my youngest daughter loved the fries.

The teacher suddenly had an urgent and anxious look on her face and asked us in deadly serious tones, "Have you seen that movie, "Super-Size Me"? "You should really see that movie."

Before I could respond the meeting was called to order but I was left with a disturbed feeling that one of my child's educators had been ignorantly duped into fearing McDonalds by Morgan Spurlock.

Morgan Spurlock Watch is a web site dedicated to helping folks like the teacher I mentioned to consider the source.

I first learned skepticism of Spurlock when I saw a spot on ABC Primetime where several people had eaten at McDonald for a month and actually lost weight and gotten healthier.

It turns out that Spurlock is a charlatan who peddles falsehoods to protect us all from Big Food.

Just as I suspected. It would have worked if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

Staff Conference

I've been all week at the bi-annual Campus Crusade staff conference in Ft. Collins. The highlights have included a sharp talk by John Piper regarding the importance of teaching truth to a generation that has lost it's biblical literacy.

Coming up this next week we will hear from Dr. Alice Mathews and Joe Stowell as well as the usual suspects on the staff of CCC.

All Rock, No Action - New York Times

All Rock, No Action: "Neither debt relief nor huge amounts of food aid nor an invasion of experts will change anything. Those will merely prop up the continent's dictators. It's up to each nation to liberate itself and to help itself. When there is a problem in the United States, in Britain, in France, the citizens vote to change their leaders. And those times when it wasn't possible to freely vote to change those leaders, the people revolted.

In Africa, our leaders have led us into misery, and we need to rid ourselves of these cancers. We would have preferred for the musicians in Philadelphia and London to have marched and sung for political revolution. Instead, they mourned a corpse while forgetting to denounce the murderer."

Wow.

Ex-Clinton Aide Charges Republicans 'Want to Kill Us' : from his mouth to your campus

Ex-Clinton Aide Charges Republicans 'Want to Kill Us' -- 07/15/2005: "Young liberals this week flocked to the nation's capital to hear, among other things, liberal television pundit and Democrat political strategist Paul Begala accuse Republicans of wanting to kill him and his children to preserve tax cuts for the rich.

Begala was featured at the first-ever Campus Progress National Student Conference, which was designed to provide campus liberals with the tools necessary to fight the conservative movement."

Sounds like a Campus Crusade for Liberalism. Fortunately they are too PC to call it that.

Neocon Prophecy

Captain's Quarters: "Osama bin Laden's standing has dropped significantly in some key Muslim countries, while support for suicide bombings and other acts of violence has 'declined dramatically,' according to a new survey released today.

In a striking finding, predominantly Muslim populations in a sampling of six North African, Middle East and Asian countries are also as alarmed as Western nations about Islamic extremism, which is now seen as a threat in their own nations too, the poll found. ...

Compared with previous surveys, the new poll also found growing majorities or pluralities of Muslims surveyed now say democracy can work in their countries and is not just a political system for the West. Support for democracy was in the 80 percent range in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco and the highest score at 43 percent in Pakistan and 48 percent in Turkey, where significant numbers were unsure.

'They are not just paying lip service. They are saying they specifically want a fair judiciary, freedom of expression and more than one party to participate in elections. It wasn't just a vague concept,' said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center and director of the project. 'U.S. and Western ideas about democracy have been globalized and are in the Muslim world.'"

Darn those Neocons! The got another one right.

Technorati: A New Public Utility to follow the Global Conversation

Wired News: Technorati: A New Public Utility: "'"You really felt as if you were there," Powell said of the blog posts and Flickr photos he surveyed, "as opposed to watching CNN or reading MSNBC.com, which are fine for the facts but stale and bit removed."

Powell was far from the only one who turned to the blogosphere for perspectives on the London terror attacks. David Sifry, founder of Technorati, a real-time search engine for blog content, reports that traffic to the site in the hours after the attacks was so heavy that its servers had trouble handling the load, causing performance problems.

The number of posts on blogs tracked by Technorati increased 30 percent, from about 850,000 a day in July to 1.2 million on the day of the attacks. Nine of the 10 most popular search requests involved the unfolding tragedy in London.

If you think about it, Technorati has become a public utility on a global scale.

While Google didn't invent the internet, it made it easier to navigate by organizing billions of web pages. Today there are about 12 million blogs, with 10 new ones created every second. Since March, the number of posts has increased 40 percent a month, from about 350,000 a day to 850,000 a day.

At its essence, Technorati may be a search engine, but its approach is vastly different. Google, for instance, views the web as the world's largest reference library, where information is static. Instead of the Dewey Decimal System, Google employs its PageRank technology, which orders search results based on relevance. Google uses words like web page, catalogs and directory, which are more than just words: They convey an entire worldview.

In contrast, Technorati sees the internet as a stream of conversations. This makes it much more immediate. Google requires two to three weeks to input a site into its search engine. (Although it does post frequently updated content from news sites.)

For Technorati, it takes about seven minutes to index a post. Those who use complementary tools like LiveJournal, AOL Journals and Blogger can expect their posts to pop up on Technorati almost instantaneously.

"With Technorati, you know what is being said, when it is said, and who is saying it," Sifry said. You can track the metamorphosis of an idea, not only who commented on it last but who came up with it first."

A handy time saver...

Instapundit.com -: "CLAUDIA ROSETT has more on connections between Saddam and Al-Qaeda. I know it's an article of faith -- in the most literal sense -- of the antiwar crowd that no such connections exist, but assertions to that effect mostly serve as a time-saver, by making clear who doesn't know what they're talking about."

Who said it?

See if you can guess who said the following: "the United States should remain in Iraq until peace can be maintained by the Iraqi people, saying the mission was part of the 'long struggle against terrorism' by the U.S."

Is it:
a) George W. Bush
b) Karl Rove
c) Dick Cheney
d) Hillary Rodham Clinton

Click the link to find out.

Elite Graduate Schools Students: Israel is the problem.

Canadian Jewish News: "NEW YORK — A new survey of attitudes toward Israel among graduate students at top U.S. universities offers a disturbing if not frightening picture of increasing sympathy for the Palestinian cause and blame on the Jewish state for the lack of peace."

Looks like grad students at Harvard and Hamas have something in common.

NASA Calls Off Discovery Shuttle Launch

NASA Calls Off Discovery Shuttle Launch: "CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A faulty fuel-gauge reading forced NASA to call off Wednesday's launch of Discovery on the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago. The mission was put off until at least Saturday."

Bummer.

The End of Israel?

HughHewitt.com: "'It can be a temporary solution, for a maximum of 5 to 10 years. But in the end Palestine must return to become Muslim, and in the long term Israel will disappear from the face of the earth.'"

Wake up Western World!

Christopher Hitchens - WE CANNOT SURRENDER

Christopher Hitchens is pro-choice, liberal with regard to social and political issues. He is anti-religious in his personal life. He and I would disagree on any number of issues.

But he gets it. He understands that we are in a war, and who it is we are fighting against. I pray that the Democratic Party in the U.S. would begin to adopt the same understanding.

Read the whole column linked below.

Mirror.co.uk - News - WE CANNOT SURRENDER: "I remember living in London through the Provisional IRA bombing in the 70s. I saw the very first car-bomb explode against the Old Bailey in 1972. There was no warning that time, but after a while a certain etiquette developed.

And, even as I detested the people who might have just as soon have blown me up as anyone else, I was aware there were ancient disputes involved, and that there was a potential political solution.

Nothing of the sort applies in this case. We know very well what the "grievances" of the jihadists are.

The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won't abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism. The grievance of East Timor's liberation from Indonesian rule. All of these have been proclaimed as a licence to kill infidels or apostates, or anyone who just gets in the way.

FOR a few moments yesterday, Londoners received a taste of what life is like for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, whose Muslim faith does not protect them from slaughter at the hands of those who think they are not Muslim enough, or are the wrong Muslim.

It is a big mistake to believe this is an assault on "our" values or "our" way of life. It is, rather, an assault on all civilisation. I know perfectly well there are people thinking, and even saying, that Tony Blair brought this upon us by his alliance with George Bush.

A word of advice to them: try and keep it down, will you? Or wait at least until the funerals are over. And beware of the non-sequitur: you can be as opposed to the Iraq operation as much as you like, but you can't get from that "grievance" to the detonating of explosives at rush hour on London buses and tubes.

Don't even try to connect the two. By George Galloway's logic, British squaddies in Iraq are the root cause of dead bodies at home. How can anyone bear to be so wicked and stupid? How can anyone bear to act as a megaphone for psychotic killers?

The grievances I listed above are unappeasable, one of many reasons why the jihadists will lose.

They demand the impossible - the cessation of all life in favour of prostration before a totalitarian vision. Plainly, we cannot surrender. There is no one with whom to negotiate, let alone capitulate."

Pin the tail on the Islamofascist...

Bloomberg.com: Europe: "Van Gogh's Self-Confessed Killer Declines to Testify in Trial

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Mohammed Bouyeri, the self-confessed murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, declined to testify as prosecutors opened their case against him in Amsterdam today. He faces a maximum penalty of a life imprisonment.

Bouyeri, 27, is on trial in a specially secured courthouse called ``the bunker'' in Osdorp, a district in the southwest of Amsterdam. The case is scheduled to last, at most, until July 13. The court expects to give its verdict two weeks later.

At the trial's start, on Jan. 26, Bouyeri's lawyer Peter Plasman said his client took full responsibility for Van Gogh's killing, according to a the Web site of the public prosecutor. Bouyeri today refused to be defended and exercised his right to remain silent, prosecution spokesman Robert Meulenbroek said.

Van Gogh's mother and sisters testified in court today.

Van Gogh was stabbed and shot to death on Nov. 2, 2004, in an Amsterdam park. He had received death threats following the showing of his movie ``Submission,'' about the treatment of women in Islamic societies. He was 47 at the time of his murder.

The same day, police arrested Bouyeri, who has Dutch and Moroccan passports. Amsterdam District Attorney Frits van Straelen will put in his sentencing request tomorrow.

``Submission,'' a 10-minute film, features images of a Muslim woman wearing a transparent veil, which reveals her breasts. Koranic texts describing physical punishments for ``disobedient women'' are written on parts of her body."

If you can find the connection between this and the 7/7 Bombings in London, 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, then your smarter than many of the leading lights in the Democratic party.

Sigh.

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

On the way back from New Mexico yesterday we put in the DVD player this classic Disney adventure movie: Swiss Family Robinson

The kids loved it. I had to listen to it since I was driving but the kids (Ages 11, 9, 6) in the rear view mirror were alternately riveted and laughing hysterically.

Where have you gone Walt Disney, the nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.

My Rating: Rentable

On the ranch...

I've been out of pocket for a few days. I spent this weekend at the V7 Ranch thanks to the generosity of the Van Sweden Family. I spoke at their church yesterday. Our kids had the time of their life riding horses, 4 wheelers and playing with the many Van Sweden grandchildren. It truly is God's country.

Report: Islamic group makes claim of responsibility

Report: Islamic group makes claim of responsibility: "CAIRO, Egypt-- A group calling itself 'The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe' posted a claim of responsibility for Thursday's blasts in London, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."

If this is true it raises an important question: Why is it that the left-wing of the Democratic Party can't see the relationship between Iraq and Global Terrorism.

To me, this bombing is a sign that we are winning in Iraq and Afghanistan and the terrorist thugs are trying to shift focus in a desperate attempt to regain credibility.

Eric Swanson: My son stands watch tonight

Eric Swanson: My son stands watch tonight: "My son stands watch tonight as July 4th sees its final hours in Baghdad.
The fireworks he has seen today are not symbolic--they are the 'bombs bursting in air.' He has seen the 'rocket's red glare.'
The youthful days of backyard barbecues and sitting on a blanket at the golfcourse looking with other innocents into the Colorado sky have been replaced with the soldiers reality of peering into the Baghdad night.
Because he is awake we sleep in peace.

His celebration of freedom will have to wait. One day he will return again to warm summer evenings with his wife by his side and his children at his feet. They will lie on their backs gazing into the sky watching the fireworks. And perhaps his mind will think back to this July 4th in Iraq, when he was setting the captives free.
He stands watch tonight to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of people he will never meet and for their sons and daughters yet to be born.
He stands watch tonight for ideals too important to let die...so he puts his own life on the line to preserve and protect them.

My son stands watch tonight.
If I could I'd take this watch for you so you could be home for a few hours and lie on your trampoline with your wife in your back yard and talk about your dreams together. But for now all we can say is thanks...for standing watch tonight."

As my friend Cody Banks did last July 4, so this year the watch was kept by Jeff Swanson.

Thank you for your service. May your tribe increase.

Straight, Gay or Lying?

Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited - New York Times: "The study, by a team of psychologists in Chicago and Toronto, lends support to those who have long been skeptical that bisexuality is a distinct and stable sexual orientation.

People who claim bisexuality, according to these critics, are usually homosexual, but are ambivalent about their homosexuality or simply closeted. 'You're either gay, straight or lying,' as some gay men have put it.

In the new study, a team of psychologists directly measured genital arousal patterns in response to images of men and women. The psychologists found that men who identified themselves as bisexual were in fact exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other, usually by other men.

The study is the largest of several small reports suggesting that the estimated 1.7 percent of men who identify themselves as bisexual show physical attraction patterns that differ substantially from their professed desires."

Pelosi Turns In Delinquent Reports for 3 Sponsor-Funded Trips

Pelosi Turns In Delinquent Reports for 3 Sponsor-Funded Trips: "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) filed delinquent reports Friday for three trips she accepted from outside sponsors that were worth $8,580 and occurred as long as seven years ago, according to copies of the documents.

The filing is among hundreds of revisions from members of both parties who have amended missing or incomplete reports as scrutiny of lawmaker travel has intensified.

The most expensive trip was not reported on Pelosi's annual financial disclosure statement or on the travel disclosure form that is required within 30 days of a trip.

A more common violation among members filing corrections was to list a trip on the annual statement but not file the more detailed form about a specific trip. The House ethics committee plans to examine the tardy disclosures after being stalled since January in partisan disputes."

"Partisan disputes" means a witch hunt to single out Tom Delay. Looks like Nancy Pelosi is just as "corrupt" as Delay.

Do movies show Americans in decline?

Do movies show Americans in decline? - Glenn Reynolds - MSNBC.com: "So ask something of us, movie-makers. You don't need to demand as much as religion does, but at least challenge us to understand a little science along with the action. Neal Stephenson thinks that Americans are in decline because we've lost our interest in science and that movies simply reflect our decline. But maybe movies are in decline because they've underestimated us."

The comment above stems from the steady decline in movie sales over the last 17 or 18 weeks. Even Star Wars couldn't change this. I think the crucial flaw in the Star Wars movies is not a lack of science but a lack of religion and philosophy. In a nutshell: right action, without right thinking.

The return of the Jedi left me cold because it is so morally confused. The Jedi are to care about no one; but they sure seem to care a lot about the Republic. Why? The Jedi don't deal in absolutes; but they are absolutely sure that the dark side is bad (evil?). The Sith are the "bad" guys but at least they care if their spouse is going to die. Yoda, the ultimate Jedi, should care the least about anything right? Yet he looks awfully pained by all the Jedi who are murdered. Is he a hypocrite or is Jedi philosophy and steaming pile of incoherent nonsense.

I think the first Star Wars film in 1977 was so overwhelmingly popular because it had the advantage of being morally coherent. Good guys vs. Bad Guys. Ever since then it's been mostly cool special effects on top of a ridiculous moral universe.

I think movies have waned in popularity for other reasons as well. Video games and Tivo make movies less important. And let's face it: Movies are expensive. In the age of Netflix, I think more and more people evaluate movies on whether it's worth it to see it in the theatre. There used to be no choice.

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)

I'm watching this right now and I'm wondering something:

Why is it that everyone in this film is white and upper class?

Could it be that Tsunami victims wouldn't think much of the idea that they have chosen their reality?

Tell the victims' families of the BTK killer that their anguish is just a reality they have chosen.

More later.

The Supreme Irony

Freestar Media, LLC: "Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the 'Kelo vs. City of New London' decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.

The proposed development, called 'The Lost Liberty Hotel' will feature the 'Just Desserts Cafe' and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel 'Atlas Shrugged.

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."

Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.'"

Live free or Die.

Cinderella Man (2005)

I just watched Cinderella Man.

It's easily the best movie I've seen in a theatre in a long time.

The depiction of Depression era poverty is haunting for anyone with children I would think.

Do not miss it on the big screen.

My Rating: Own It.

The title reminds me of one of my favorite trivia questions: What was Cinderella's real name.



Answer: Ella

...of whom the world is not worthy...

Pastor Hamid Pourmand of Iran Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for failing to Disclose he was a Christian while serving in Iran military: "Pourmand was arrested September 9, 2004, together with 85 other participants of the annual general conference of denomination. The other Christians were released within the next three days, but pastor Pourmand was charged with hiding his conversion from his superiors. According to Iranian law only Muslims can be officers in the army.

The Middle East Concern spokesperson went on to say, 'On Saturday May 28th an Islamic judge in Bandar-I Bushehr, on Iran's Gulf coast, acquitted pastor Pourmand of charges of apostasy and proselytizing Muslims. Christian news agency Compass Direct has been told that the judge reportedly stated 'I don't know who you are, but the rest-of-the-world does,' a clear reference to the international attention that this case has attracted.''

Pastor Pourmand was formally charged with apostasy from Islam and proselytizing Muslims in early April. Starting on April 13th He appeared before an Islamic court in Tehran every two or three days. He was repeatedly pressed to return to Islam. These hearings stopped after two weeks. He was transferred to his home town of Bandar-i Bushehr on the 16th May.

'On February 16th 2005 pastor Pourmand was found guilty of this charge despite presenting documents in court that proved his superior were aware he was a Christian before he was promoted to the officer ranks. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment and dishonorably discharged from the army with lost of his income, pension and housing for his family. However, the local authorities delayed evicting his wife and two teenage sons from their army provided housing until the end of the school year.'

The spokesperson concluded by revealing that in the last 16 years three Iranian church leaders have been charged with apostasy.

"All were convicted and sentenced to death," they said. "Pastor Hussein Soodman was hanged in 1989. Deacon Maher had a noose round his neck when he signaled his willingness to recant and was released after signing a paper to that effect in 1992. Pastor Mehdi Dibaj was condemned to death in December 1993. He was released three weeks later after a strong international outcry; only to be found murdered six months later."

This is a friend of a friend.

The Genogram

The Genogram: "A genogram resembles a family tree however it includes additional relationships among individuals. The genogram (pronounced: jen-uh-gram) permit the therapist and the patient to quickly identify and understand patterns in family history. The genogram map out relationships and traits that may otherwise be missed on a pedigree chart."

My wife and I are going to be doing this during this week to better understand our family history and how it affects our marriage and emotional life.

A Genogram is a really interesting excercise for an engaged couple to do to understand the family history they will bring into marriage.

Radio (2003)

Last night I did something I've wanted to do for almost two years. I sat down with my 9 year old son and watched the movie Radio.

Radio is an important movie for me because it shows a very strong, masculine man who is compassionate. Often the two are set at odds, so much so that the term macho is synonymous with a lack of compassion. Yet this film shows an icon of traditional machismo (a southern football coach) who has compassion on a mentally disabled boy in his community.

My son enjoyed the movie in part because there's a lot of hard-hitting football in it. That's the genius of the story as a teaching tool for boys. It shows that it's possible to thrive in a man's world of toughness and competition, and still be compassionate.

I showed it to my son because the film portrays the kind of man that I want him to be; the kind of man I want to be.

The Book of Virtues taught me that stories are among the best ways to teach what virtue looks like; far better than rules. Rules fall far short of training in virtue. Stories like Radio can help teach boys and men about the virtue of compassion. They also can teach the vice of evil. My son could see the cruelty of some of the characters depicted in Radio and be appropriately reviled.

I commend the film to you.

My Rating: Own It.

Incidentally, if you search for the word "movie" in the search box on my blog, you can read my past movie reviews.

Proverbs on Leadership

From the Message:

The mark of a good leader is loyal followers; leadership is nothing without a following. 14:28

A good leader motivates, doesn't mislead, doesn't exploit. 16:10

Good leaders abhor wrongdoing of all kinds; sound leadership has a moral foundation. 16:12

Good leaders cultivate honest speech; they love advisors who tell them the truth. 16:13

An intemperate leader wreaks havoc in lives; you're smart to stay clear of someone like that. 16:14

Good tempered leaders invigorate lives; they're like spring rain and sunshine. 16:15

Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm With Brain

Finally, "we can rebuild him, make him better than before. Better, stronger, faster." It's the 6 Million Dollar Man.

local6.com - News - Bionic Man Moves Artificial Arm With Brain: "By the time it's perfected, the cost of manufacturing the bionic arm is expected to be about $6 million, according to the report."

Dennis Prager: Choose life: The case for Judeo-Christian values: IX

Dennis Prager: Choose life: The case for Judeo-Christian values: IX: "Egyptian civilization was steeped in death. Its bible was the Book of the Dead, and its greatest monuments, its very symbols, the pyramids, were gigantic tombs. One of the Torah's first tasks was to destroy the connection between civilization (and, of course, religion) and death. That is the reason, I am convinced, for the absence of overt mention of the afterlife in the Old Testament -- it was greatly concerned with getting humanity preoccupied with life. With a few noble exceptions, preoccupation with the afterlife has led to denigration of life. The Islamic terrorists and the cultures that support them are only the most recent examples.

One of the greatest insights of Sigmund Freud, who, his atheism notwithstanding, was perhaps the greatest mind of the 20th century, was that human beings have a Death Instinct, a death wish that is as strong as the Life Instinct. He wrote this decades before Nazism and the Communist genocides of the 20th century proved his point.

Yet, he was only saying in psychoanalytical terminology what Moses had said in Deuteronomy thousands of years earlier."

Much of what we assume about love of life today has been underwritten by the Judeo-Christian tradition (cf. The Romans, Vikings, Mayans, etc.).

Jackson's Junction: But But But But........there are no WMDs!

Jackson's Junction: But But But But........there are no WMDs!: "How is it the Left Lunatic Libs keep crying about no WMDs an yet these stories (and other WMD related stories) are reportedeveryday. I am confused, but not nearly as confused as the MSM."

Sleep long and sound MSM. Your days of credibility are gone.

David Harsanyi: ACLU Hypocrisy

DenverPost.com - David Harsanyi: "We'll see if the ACLU, which selectively fights for freedom, has a problem with the concept of 'impermissible expression of beliefs.'

After all, I'm sure they were mortified when an AFA coach hung a banner that read, 'I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.'

They had every reason to be.

Problem is, if that banner had read, 'I am a member of Team Bin Laden,' the ACLU would have a lawyer shielding his First Amendment rights before you could say, 'Who would Jesus bomb?'

And that's hypocrisy."

I am regularly impressed by Harsanyi's perspective.

Eric Swanson: Evangelistic Apparel

Eric Swanson: Evangelistic Apparel: "I think how different it may have been had I worn a t-shirt with 'His Pain, Your Gain' or a hat that said 'WWJD.' Most likely it would have been hard to get someone to look me in the eye. So which type of clothing is more evangelistic? Which kind of apparel draws people to you? I think I'll wear my 2005 College World Series hat that I picked up this week at the Series in Omaha today...just to see what happens. Who knows who I might meet..."

This is how you do evangelism in Boulder and places like it. Maybe it's how you connect with people anywhere. I've often wondered how much of Christian apparel and paraphernalia is a defense mechanism against feeling judged by others. I suppose it depends on the person.

Read the whole thing. In fact read Eric's whole blog. It's new and chock full of rich bloggy goodness.

More on Men on Campus

jobetodd said regarding this post:

Ryan

I'd like to know more about you're take on why this is. Certainly time viewing porn, playing video games, and playing sports are taking their time and energy, but aren't there deeper cultural things going on? The feminist fearing institutions of our country have played a part in driving men into passivity, haven't they? A man with a vision for anything other than leftist ideology doesn't have a place, and is usually run off of the university campus. What do you think?

I'm sure there's plenty of blame to go around. However I've seen guys with great parents and upbringing, spend far more time playing video games than in class while at college. It's a little like a drug. It's entertainment. It's good but if you dont' watch out it will crowd out what is important.

Red-on-Red

Anyone who implies that we are losing the war in Iraq is just not paying attention.

Winds of Change.NET: Red-on-Red: "The brutal acts of violence directed at civilians and Iraqi police is losing favor among some of the members of the Iraqi insurgency. During Operation Matador, we saw examples of the local tribes, some of whom are sympathetic or even participating in the insurgency, rise up to fight the foreign jihadis after their attempts to impose a Taliban-like rule of law in Western Anbar. Today’s New York Times reports further cases of ‘red-on-red’, AKA the enemy fighting amongst themselves. The Marines gladly watched as insurgents duked it out along the Syrian border."

"There is a rift," said the official, who requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the talks he had held. "I'm certain that the nationalist Iraqi part of the insurgency is very much fed up with the Jihadists grabbing the headlines and carrying out the sort of violence that they don't want against innocent civilians."

Gee, I wonder where those Jihadists would be killing innocent civilians if it wasn't in Iraq. Hmm.

Missing: Males on College Campuses

FOXNews.com - Missing: Males on College Campuses: "Kleinfeld, author of 'The Myth That Schools Shortchange Girls', states, 'In my own college classes, I see a sea change in the behavior of young men. In the 1980s, the young men talked in my classes about the same as young women. I know because each semester I measured male and female talk. Now so many young men are disengaged that the more articulate, ambitious women dominate the classroom ....and my office hours.'

Kleinfeld tried to trace the problem backward by interviewing high school students on plans for their future. She states, 'The young women almost always have a clear, realistic plan, go to college, have a career, often directed toward an idealistic goals about improving the environment.'

This clarity of vision and was generally absent in young men."

I believe this is because most of the waking hours of young men are spent on video games, pornography and sports in that order.

AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films

The AFI has put out a list of the top 100 quotes in movie history. My favorite didn't make the list but Casablanca did have a bunch on there. My favorite quote is from Casablanca when Louie says, "I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in this establishment." Of course this is followed up by a pit boss offering, "here are your winnings, sir."

Classic.

Here's another one.

AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films - Yahoo! News: "32. 'Round up the usual suspects,' 'Casablanca,' 1942."

I climbed this...

I few years ago my good friend Eric Heistand took me out for my second climb ever. We climbed this: The Third Flatiron (brought to you by Google Maps).

My first repel was the 300 foot drop of the back of this giant granite finger. As I prepared to swing my weight into the repel and trust the rope for the first time, I thought to myself, "It probably wouldn't do to just burst into tears right now." I was a little scared. But with Eric's encouragement, I did it.

Climbing with Eric helped prepare me for moving to Boston. Sometimes you just have to move out, even when your scared.

Who can stop the rise and rise of China? The communists, of course

Telegraph | Opinion | Who can stop the rise and rise of China? The communists, of course: "China hasn't invented or discovered anything of significance in half a millennium, but the careless assumption that intellectual property is something to be stolen rather than protected shows why. If you're a resource-poor nation (as China is), long-term prosperity comes from liberating the creative energies of your people - and Beijing still has no interest in that. If a blogger attempts to use the words 'freedom' or 'democracy' or 'Taiwan independence' on Microsoft's new Chinese internet portal, he gets the message: 'This item contains forbidden speech. Please delete the forbidden speech.' How pathetic is that? Not just for the Microsoft-spined Corporation, which should be ashamed of itself, but for the Chinese government, which pretends to be a world power but is terrified of words."

Run! It's Intelligent Design! Iiiiiiieeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaah...

WN: Wired News: "Seeking to quell a growing movement to teach creationism in U.S. schools, the National Academies has unveiled a new section of its website dedicated to teachers' resources on evolution.

'The theory of evolution is one of science's most robust theories, and the National Academies has long supported the position that evolution be taught as a central element in any science education program,' said a statement released by the organization Thursday.

The site was designed 'to confront advocates of intelligent design, which is not a science,' according to National Academies spokesman Bill Kearney."

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. I hope I can find information on this site that will explain why racism is wrong if evolution is true, not to mention a working model for the evolution of a microbiological machine like the flagellum.

x3blog..OFF TO EROTICA LA

This post may shock you a little but since porn is the single greatest barrier (IMHO) between men on college campuses enjoying a relationship with the God that made them, I felt it appropriate.

The guys at XXXChurch went to a porn festival last week to try to bring truth and grace to a place filled with lies and judgment (porn is about false intimacy earned through performance = lies and judgement).

This is evangelism at it's edge. Here's my favorite passage from their memoirs of the event:

x3blog...the ramblings of mike and craig: OFF TO EROTICA LA: "From JR (My top 10 porn show moments)

It?s funny? I found myself answering the critics in my head before I started writing this. Then it occurred to me. The critics of XXXchurch.com were not at a porn show over the weekend. If you don?t get that, You?re probably a critic.

1. Sonny, the 25 year old x-professional skater now porn star, who told me ?All I want is fame, money and God is ok with how I?m doing it.? 2. James, a paraplegic who said, 'If you want to help me don?t pray for me, give me money so I can buy a prostitute to touch me? no one will touch me.? 3. The hundreds of people who told me I can?t get enough porn. 4. The guy in the red shirt who just got out of rehab for booze and was filling his bag with porn until he came to our booth. We talked and prayed, I?m pretty sure I ruined his porn show. 5. The guy in the blue shirt who told me he?s so addicted to porn he has no friends. 6. Donna who works for the LA convention center who thanks God she is no longer in the porn business. 7. Craig and Mike?s push to see healing and recovery in the name of Christ. 8. The 213 people who took the Wally Porn Free Challenge. 9. The young porn producer who admitted his industry is destroying people, after he told me XXXchurch is stupid. 10. My walk back to the hotel on Saturday night? I took an 8 block look at my life given the days events. I felt remorse, joy, disappointment, sorrow and peace. God wants us in the trenches. I will no longer be comfortable sitting in a pew, and if you don?t get that? your probably a critic. Thanks Craig, thanks Mike for getting it."

Chuck Colson: Is sexual identity malleable?

Chuck Colson: Is sexual identity malleable?: "McHugh then turned to the practice of sex-reassignment surgery for baby boys with ambiguous genitals. For years doctors had told parents that that their child’s sexual identity would conform to environmental conditioning: They would happily grow up as girls.

But a study found exactly the opposite. These re-engineered boys endured “prolonged distress and misery.” When they discovered their true genetic heritage, most of them began to live as males.

Given that there’s no evidence that sex reassignment surgery helps either adults or children, why did doctors recommend it in the first place? The answer is that psychiatrists were enamored of the feminist theory that sexual identity was determined, not by biology, but by cultural conditioning. Psychiatrists went along with this, despite the fact that animal research had long shown that male sexual behavior is directly derived from exposure to testosterone in utero. And so, today, the transgendered movement is firmly protected by rigid codes of political correctness. You’re a “bigot” if you say that a person is made a certain way and can’t change his gender.

Well, thanks to this research, Johns Hopkins no longer performs sex-reassignment surgeries."

Hat tip: Dad's Love

Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents - New York Times

Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents - New York Times: "KARABILA, Iraq, Sunday, June 19 - Marines on an operation to eliminate insurgents that began Friday broke through the outside wall of a building in this small rural village to find a torture center equipped with electric wires, a noose, handcuffs, a 574-page jihad manual - and four beaten and shackled Iraqis.

The American military has found torture houses after invading towns heavily populated by insurgents - like Falluja, where the anti-insurgent assault last fall uncovered almost 20 such sites. But rarely have they come across victims who have lived to tell the tale."

"They kill somebody every day," said Mr. Fathil, whose hands were so swollen he could not open a can of Coke offered to him by a marine. "They've killed a lot of people."

...and at Guantanamo...

Compare and contrast. Good for the NY Times.

Senator Disgrace

HughHewitt.com: "Dick Durbin is a disgrace, a low, dishonorable weasel, and the country knows it. He is also the Dems' #2 in the Senate. He can issue new statement after new statement, but the verdict is in: Durbin is no friend of the American military. Durbin has harmed the country and the military, greatly. He should resign. Democrats should call on him to do so. They will not. Political advantage means more than standing up for the troops.

The Perils of Post/Modern Leadership

Here are some spicy comments about the "emergent church" with regard to the appointment of a "national director". It's so hard to be post-modern. How am I not myself?

emergent-us: Report From Emergent Summit - Part 1 of 4:

"as a total plebian out-side of any denomination realm. Someone from the margins, a stranger in the emergent kingdom, A NATIONAL DIRECTOR!! So the emergent movement is now officially anglo-white-western. I was once banned for saying that gen-x, pomo, emergent conventions institutionalize was going to become like the Promise Keeper once was. Well...

*my emergent god can beat up your traditional god, I read it on a blog.*"

Another one:

"EC has come out as the egalitarian and inclusive movement when it comes to its direction and theology, but is now starting to present itself as more complementarian and exclusive when it comes to certain things.
As you can also read from the posts, there is a love of chaos by the emergings that is being lost. There is a love for confusion, which authority starts to destroy. It sort of reminds me of the evil villains in movies and tv talking about how beautiful destruction is and chaos is. (Is God a God of chaos/confusion now?) But this move begins to put an end to it because authority means order."

What does all this mean? We report, you decide.

Lies and Statistics from Krugman

A while back I noted this about NY Times "economist" Paul Krugman. The other day Krugman tried to claim that the middle class has not benefited from the last 30 years of economic growth, mainly because evil Republicans have given all the money to the rich. The response below puts this foolish notion in bold relief.

Power Line:

This, in turn, reminds me of my deconstruction of a silly article in the New York Times by one of our premier Chicken Littles, Paul Krugman, and the response I received from Dafydd ab Hugh, who pointed out that I had not articulated anything like the real scale of the improved standard of living over the past thirty years:

I think you missed an even more basic critique of the Krugman opinion piece.

You wrote that "the Census Bureau data show that for the category "Married-Couple Families," median income went from $46,723 in 1973 to $62,281 in 2003. (All numbers are in constant 2003 dollars.) That's a hefty 33% increase in real income."

With all due respect, Hindrocket, that's bullpuckey. The increase in "real income" would be hundreds of times that 33%, once you take into account the value of what you can now buy. Riddle me this:

* In 1973, how many households could afford a desktop computer with hundreds of megabytes of RAM? Ans: none.

* How many could afford a portable telephone that fits in a pocket? Or for that matter, how about a portable computer terminal? Ans: none.

* How many could afford to have genetic diseases in their children repaired by gene therapy? Ans: none.

* How many childless couples could afford in-vitro fertilization? Ans: none.

* How many could afford to have diseases diagnosed with Positron Emission Tomography or treated by laser surgery? How many could afford to have Lasik corrective eye surgery? How many could afford to have depression or anxiety cured or controlled by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox or Celexa? How many could afford to have their teeth repaired by composite resin fillings? How many could afford laser microsurgery, radio-telemetry surgery, foetal-abnormality surgery, minimally-invasive surgery, robotic surgery, or "beating heart" cardiac surgery? Ans: none.

* How many could afford to start their own "magazines" that could be read by tens or hundreds of thousands of people each week without even being distributed? Ans: none.

* How many could afford a luxury family vehicle suitable for offroading adventures? Ans: none.

* How many breadwinners could afford to telecommute? Ans: none.

* How many could afford a Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino? How many could buy fat-free potato chips? How many could afford NutraSweet? How about lactose-free milk? How many could afford to go out routinely for Pad Thai, Japanese sushi, Armenian khorovatz, Ethiopian aleecha, Chorizo Argentino, Lebanese hummus and shawarma, or even a nice, simple blueberry bagel? Ans: none.

The point should be clear: it is impossible to legitimately compare buying power in 1973 with buying power today, for the simple reason that a huge proportion of what we buy today simply did not even exist thirty years ago. This is more obvious when you try to compare today's economy with the economy of the Middle Ages: the strides in technology and society are so staggering, they swamp any attempted calculation of monetary value: how many emperors in A.D. 750 could afford antibiotics?

Claiming that "working families have seen little if any progress over the past 30 years," as Krugman claimed, is so manifestly preposterous -- even before taking economics into account -- that I don't question his veracity so much as his sanity. Is he mentally ill?

On the last question: no comment.

Debunking Looney Moral Equivalency: Priceless

Power Line: "Just for the record (as if that matters to the left) Rowan Scarborough in the Washington Times reminds us of the following:

Adolf Hitler - About 9 million dead
Soviet gulags - About 2.7 million dead
Pol Pot - About 1.7 million dead
Gitmo - zero dead
Gitmo - five instances of Koran abuse by prison guards
Gitmo-15 instances of Koran abuse by prisoners.

The big lie is nothing new in politics. Hitler and Stalin were master practicioners. What's unusual about Durbin's lie is that it slanders his own country. Normally that kind of slander is uttered only by revolutionaries seeking the violent overthrow of the government. Yet Durbin purports to be part of a loyal opposition.

What possessed Durbin to do it? How, after harping constantly on the importance of our image to winning the war on terrorism, could he cast the U.S. in such a false light?"

The Dutch-Muslim Culture War

The Dutch-Muslim Culture War - Yahoo! News: "Seven months ago, Hirsi Ali's implacable campaign against what she views as Islam's oppression of women prompted a Muslim fanatic to ritually slaughter Theo van Gogh, her Dutch collaborator on the film Submission. The murderer used his knife to affix a five-page letter to the corpse promising the same treatment for Hirsi Ali and another Dutch politician who has criticized Islam. The murder sent Dutch society into paroxysms of rage and fear, sparking dozens of attacks on mosques and schools. But it didn't seem to faze Hirsi Ali. In a series of defiant interviews, the former refugee refused to be intimidated. When a group of Muslims tried to block her from making a sequel to Submission, she fought back in court and won. Like a dark avenging angel, she seemed to loom over Holland's wintry Dutch, her ubiquitous media presence a virtual guarantee of further conflict."

"In the United States, where few people have had the chance to read or see her critiques of Islam, the 35-year-old Hirsi Ali has been almost exclusively portrayed as a champion of free speech and women's rights. In the Netherlands, however, she remains the subject of intense controversy. Well before van Gogh's murder, she had become a major hate figure among Dutch Muslims, who accuse her of stirring up Islamophobia on behalf of a cabal of right-wing politicians and columnists. Since the murder, a surprising number of native-born Dutch intellectuals have come around to the Muslim point of view..."

"In what appears to be a Europe-wide pattern, some feminists are aligning themselves with the anti-immigrant right against their former multiculturalist allies on the left. Joining them in this exodus to the right are gay activists, who blame Muslim immigrants for the rising number of attacks on gay couples."

Educational.

Peter Jackson: The new kids on the blog

calendarlive.com: The new kids on the blog: "While it is hardly surprising that cyberspace can be fertile soil for misinformation, Jackson's ruse underscores a newer phenomenon: the rapid evolution of weblogs — or blogs — as movie marketing tools.

Costing almost nothing to maintain, the vast majority of blogs are mental clearinghouses for their authors, lo-fi Web confessionals or bully pulpits that vary from current events to niche pastimes to sex. Directors' blogs, by contrast, are slickly engineered to virally market their movies — to stoke fan ardor.

Some observers say this approach allows studios to put a spin on moviemaking — and, by playing to fan interest, head off potential controversies. Movie marketers say the sites allow blogger-directors to reach out to fans in an up-close-and-personal way."

Camera of Sean Penn, Journalist, Confiscated in Iran

Camera of Sean Penn, Journalist, Confiscated in Iran: "NEW YORK Iran was rocked by bombings on Sunday, killing at least nine and wounding more than 30, as dozens of journalists from around the world gathered in advance of the presidential election this Friday. One of those journalists, actor Sean Penn--covering the events for the San Francisco Chronicle--was involved in a separate incident, and had his video camera confiscated for a time."

I don't understand. If there are bombings in Iran then it's a quagmire right. How can Sean Penn blame Bush for the quagmire if he hasn't attacked Iran yet.

He'll figure it out. He's documenting the lovely state of life there so that if Bush does attack Penn can talk about how peaceful and free things were before the "invasion":

"Several hundred women at a sit-in outside the entrance to Tehran University demanded rights revoked after the 1979 Islamic revolution. As chants and taunts arose, police and plainclothesmen surrounded the demonstrators, pushing away those trying to join the group. Officials also cut off cell phone service in the area, and challenged reporters nearby."

"In the process, they briefly seized the video camera of Penn, 44, who arrived in Iran as a reporter for his friend Phil Bronstein, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle."

I'll bet this whole incident was a Karl Rove operation. Right Sean? Let's ask Howard Dean.

Don't tell me about Gulags...

The American Spectator: "Prof. Bass, the perfect modern academic, obviously greatly admires this man, spent days with him, and has not one bad word to say about An's bosses, who, again, killed civilians without remorse by the thousands, who even sent An to be 're-educated' after the war because he had so much contact with Western ideas.

I am not sure how many mothers or fathers or children or widows of Vietnam war casualties read the New Yorker. I am not sure if anyone who edited the piece -- and it is edited well, although utterly without moral input -- had friends or family who fought there (such as my late father in law, Col. Dale Denman, Jr.). But how insulting, how insulting must an article like this be to them. How insulting it is to us all: to lavish praise on a man who helped kill our fellow Americans, to describe him in endearing terms, to try to make him seem like a kindly uncle.

If the New Yorker is one of the flagships of the Mainstream Media fleet, they are sailing in maddeningly disloyal, contemptuous waters and obviously have been for a while. Small wonder the media gloried in Mark Felt and Watergate last week. In those days, Americans actually trusted the Mainstream Media. The New Yorker piece by Prof. Bass makes it clear how wrong we were. He's a fine writer but a man whose piece lacks any moral compass at all. And what of the fellow journalists in Saigon cheering him on? Now we know a bit more about why the war turned out as it did."

Hmm. A Professor, the MSM, lack of moral compass: what a surprise. Sigh.

Church of the Masses: NY TIMES CALLING...

Church of the Masses: NY TIMES CALLING...: "James: So, in the last six months, there have been 37 pairings in the Times of the word "Christian" with words like "scary", "frightening", "theocratic" and "intimidating". My question is, what is it about Christians that makes you so scary?

Barb: (loud, snorting and sneering laughter) Are you kidding me?

James: What?

Barb: I finally get interviewed by the New York Times, and you ask me a question like that?! (more snorting and laughing)

James: (sniffs) Are you laughing because you think it's funny that people find Christians frightening?

Barb: No. I'm laughing because you want me to tell you why you and your friends are scared of Christians -- and I think you should ask your therapist!

Anyway, the interview went on from there. Basically, James was working on a story about how the same conservative Christian think-tanks that were behind the ascendancy of the Religious Right are now trying to take over Hollywood.

Barb: Are they?

James: Aren't they?

Barb: My experience is that the Christian initiatives in Hollywood are all organic - arising out of the industry itself.

James: Yeah, but where is the funding coming from?

Barb: They are all shoe-string underfundeds! Act One's funding comes from all over. Little drops of water from many sources --

James: Are you a Bush voter?

Barb: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

In the end, I gave him some soundbites about post-Passion Hollywood, but it was clear that James had pretty much decided what he was going to write about (ie. Vast Rightwing Political Conspiracy spreading into Hollywood), and was searching for proof.

So, during this follow-up interview, Sunday, we had the following exchange.

James: I'm having a hell of a time chasing down the money connections between the DC conservative think-tanks and Hollywood Christians.

Barb: That's because they don't exist.

James: ("I'm no fool" snort) Yeah. How about you tell me 'off the record'?

Barb: Off the record, on the record, we don't get any money from rightwing covert opps!

James: Would you take money from them if they offered?

Barb: From whom?...Heck, I'd take money from Hugh Hefner! I'm just trying to meet payroll for the summer.

James: You're funny.

Barb: And poor....but with a few exceptions, Evangelical Christians outside of Hollywood don't financially support Hollywood Christians. They don't trust us.

James: Yeah, yeah...(trying another tack) So, is it your sense that some Evangelical Republicans from DC are trying to build a network in Hollywood?

Barb: I think that is accurate.

James: (Gotcha! exclamation) And why is that?!

Barb: Because being generally derided and despised by cultural leaders is a concern to them? You should ask them...

James: I'm trying, but everyone is being very paranoid in talking to me.

Barb: Does that surprise you?

James: Why is that, anyway?

Barb: You mean, besides the fact that the NY Times hates Christians?!

More laughter from James.

Barb: Honestly, the other reason you aren't getting the scoop is people don't have anything to say about this. There is no funneling of money from political Evangelicals to cultural ones. Is it being cagey and paranoid to not having anything to say about a plot that doesn't exist?

James makes an exasperated laughing sound.

A bit later, James asked me about a meeting that Act One co-sponsored last December between our writers and some Christians from DC.

James: Isn't it true that, as a result of the meeting, a feature film project was financed with money coming from DC?

Barb: Are you smoking crack?! No! There was no money! We bought a couple dozen sandwiches -- and lost money on that, as a matter of fact!

James: So, what was the purpose of the meeting?

Barb: The folks from Washington wanted to start a dialogue on some policy issues in the hopes that they could assist folks on this side of the country with government studies about some issues of joint concern.

James: (Ha!) What issue?

Barb: Well, we talked about global AIDS. Such a terrible plague. Hollywood doesn't talk about it enough.

James: Yeah, yeah. What else?

Barb: Oh yeah. There was information about the persecution of Christiansin the Sudan. There's another one you never see on primetime.

James: (depressed sigh) Anything else?

Barb: Yes. Sex.

James: Yeah! Tell me!

Barb: We talked about the problem of pornography and STD's. All about the societal wages of the Sexual Revolution.

James: (humph...)"

A view of your local campus...

Tom Wolfe has written a novel capturing life at your local elite college. In my experience he's right on the mark.

VDH's Private Papers :: The Right Stuff: "That Wolfe is, as his ageist detractors never fail to point out, a 74-year-old Southern man, only makes his accomplishment all the more impressive. His eyes and ears are as sharp as ever. Friday nights at his fictional Dupont University, as at any school, bump with profane nursery rhymes (popularly known as gangster rap) and shrieks of girlish delight at manly antics. Wolfe notices that young men consider it a matter of duty to watch ESPN in 3-hour blocks, even when it means being up as early as ten-thirty. (My roommates went beyond the call by placing a second TV atop the main one, for ESPN-2.) He notices that the Mashed Potato or whatever dance they did in ancient days has become The Act, Clothed. Here is a sound that every college student recognizes: that terrible ascending chime of AOL Instant Messenger ringing into dorm hallways from every room. And below the computer is a nest of wires attached to the “techie alphabet toys…the PC, the TV, the CD, DVD, DSL, VCR, MP4…each asleep rattlesnake-style with a single tiny diode-green eye open….” Wolfe paints a portrait true to life itself, composed of hundreds of acute social observations, garnered through years of research on nearly a dozen campuses. "

"One passage explores how campus parlance has the F-word as an exclamation (“F!”), a noun (“You silly F!”), an imperative expressing contempt (“F that”), or an adverb modifying and intensifying an adjective. But if you think that’s F-ing insightful, observe that the S-word has become a synonym for everything: possessions (“Where’s your S?”), lies or misleading explanations (“Are you S-ing me?”), drunk (“S-faced”), trouble (“in deep S”), ineptitude (“couldn’t play point guard for S”), care about (“give a S”), ignorance (“he doesn’t know S”), hopeless situation (“up S Creek”), disappointment (“oh, S!”), startling (“holy S!”), et cetera (“and massages and S”), very (“mean as S”), violence (“before the S hit the fan”), verbal abuse “(don’t give me S”), self-importance (“he thinks he’s some S”), and feces, literally (“S”). Wolfe records 32 usages. I’ve personally heard all 32 of them as part of my higher education, but I’d never reflected on the phenomenon quite so vividly."

I've spent enough time around college dorm rooms to know this is dead on.

"But did they have Girls Gone Wild way back when? How about roofies, ecstasy, coed bathrooms, proliferating sex columnists, AIDS? (One thing remains constant: since 1980, about 45% of students have reported an excessive fondness for drink.) Slang, too, bespeaks campus change. I consulted Connie Eble, a lexicographer of college slang at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 1974, she says, students there were asked to list what they considered “good, current campus slang.” Thirty years later, they were asked again. The 2004 study found that 95% of the terms from 1974 were no longer used. (Put another way, only 5% of the slang words survived.) “Bad,” which in ’74 meant “good,” now means “bad” again. The word for “impressive” or “interesting” is “tight.” To express approval, avoid “That’s cosmic!” Try “Off the heezy fo’ sheezy.”

The study also found that these days, “words are more explicitly sexual and derogatory.” Disco-era sorority sisters may have disliked being called “foxy mamas,” but less so, I’m sure, than “sorostitutes.” Worse is the term butterface, a ‘female with an attractive figure but a less-than-appealing face.’ (As in “…everything but her face.”) But that language should become more sexualized is appropriate seeing that everything else on campus has. Sexual liberation is no longer a movement, but brisk business. A new student-run porn magazine with real students has sold tens of thousands of copies at Boston University. “We wanted Boink to represent college and all that college is,” says the editor, not unreasonably. At my alma mater, adult film producers would drive up from Los Angeles to host parties in which their actors performed with—on—our students. The story made the cover of Rolling Stone. There is more of this on the way. But we’re supposed to think this is all old hat? What about the speech codes? And the aggressive political correctness?

Wolfe, of course, notices these, too. One day at Dupont U., a class is shown a photograph of bullfighting and a girl lets slip, “That—is— horrible! It’s—so—wrong!” “That’s your reaction to a culture different from your own?” snaps the professor. “Spanish culture is far older than ours, by a factor of millennia…. Would you favor us with a list of alien cultures you find most objectionable?” The students chuckle while Charlotte absorbs the lesson: “Denigration of another culture, especially one whose people are less well off than your own, and referring to anything as evil, which would indicate you might very well have religious convictions, were more socially unacceptable at Dupont than cruelty to animals.”

Political correctness, along with literary postmodernism (“B.S.”), radical feminism, and an obsession with race appear in Charlotte Simmons just as they appear on nearly every American college campus. And because this appearance is unpleasant to those politically disposed to defend them as signs of progress, Wolfe has been denounced for writing a jeremiad disguised as a novel. Wolfe is “a right-wing scold, a moralizing antique, William Bennett in an ice-cream suit,” said the Chicago Sun-Times’s Henry Kisor, echoing other liberal critics. In fact, such a deluge of this kind of criticism greeted the publishing of Charlotte Simmons that the deluge itself became a news item. But these literati are reacting exactly like those university presidents who insist on continuing Byzantine and morally shocking racial quotas while demanding even more insistently that these policies remain secret. Wolfe is telling it like it is. If his liberal critics don’t like what they see, their quarrel is with the universities, not Mr. Wolfe.

In truth, the university has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. For instance, the number of women enrolled in higher education rose from 5,035,862 in 1975 to 9,263,000 in 2003, an increase of 84%. (Male enrollment rose by 15%.) Minority undergraduate enrollment increased from 16.3% to 30.1% between 1976 and 2001. But perhaps the greatest transformation is this: the activist students and junior faculty of the ’60s and ’70s are today’s department chairs and administrative grandees. And they have been working hard to refashion the campus in their image. The result? A survey of 183 colleges shows that in four departments—English literature, political science, religious studies, and philosophy—more than 80% of the faculty identifies as liberal, and no more than 5% identifies as conservative. In sociology departments, 0% identify as Republicans. (One lonely discipline seems to resist the spirit of progress: agriculture.) Federal Electoral Commission filings report the first- and second-ranking organizations in the country in terms of per capita contributions to the Kerry ’04 campaign: the University of California and Harvard, respectively.

The one-party university promotes intellectual rigor with the sort of success achieved by the one-party state. This helps explain why the Larry Summers affair at Harvard became a show trial. The outrage…the self-effacement…the formal reprimands promulgated in large halls via secret ballot—it's enough to make you a believer in what Roger Kimball called the “Sovietization of intellectual life, where the value or truth of a work is determined not by its intrinsic qualities but by the degree to which it supports a given political line.” The spectacle of radical feminists savaging and humiliating Summers—while pledging to tolerate campus bullying no longer—is proof enough that the supposed oppressed are in control of academia’s commanding heights. But Wolfe is as alive to the comedy as to the tragedy of the American university. “Queer Theory” and “Ethnic Separatist Studies” remind one less of Leninism than the 19th century’s numerology and phrenology, in that they both discourse in bizarre pseudo-scientific lingo about things that don't exist. Still, the high priests of the academic occult have been successful enough at churning out half-educated true believers to ensure that Reason will not reign on campus any time soon."

Read it and weep.

JustOneMinute: Bush Aide Edited Science! and sauce for the gander.

JustOneMinute: Bush Aide Edited Science!: "Please, I'm begging now - can we drop the notion that the intersection of science with government was pure until Evil BushCo corrupted it?"

I posted that it is wrong to insert bias into scientific data. That works both ways.

Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming - New York Times

Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming - New York Times: "A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.

The dozens of changes, while sometimes as subtle as the insertion of the phrase 'significant and fundamental' before the word 'uncertainties,' tend to produce an air of doubt about findings that most climate experts say are robust."

This is wrong. It's wrong when the MSM inserts their bias into the story, and it's wrong when Bush administration officials do the same.

Level 5 Leaders

Power Line: Stand up for Janice Rogers Brown: "As California's Chief Justice has ruefully acknowledged, Justice Puglia was 'a strong personality...not shy of stating his beliefs, nor about challenging others to justify theirs' but surprisingly willing to listen and modify his views. He was, as his long-time colleague Justice Coleman Blease noted: 'formidable' and 'intimidating,' but he had a 'heart of gold.'
...There are similarities in the descriptions of Justice Puglia and President Lincoln that are striking.

In a speech in 1906, Norton Parker Chipman recalled that his friend Abraham Lincoln was 'firm as the granite hills,' yet capable of great patience and forbearance. Carl Sandburg described Lincoln as 'both steel and velvet...hard as rock and soft as the drifting fog. Reading these words caused a shock of recognition, for I had been seeing exactly this sort of paradox and contradiction in the life of Justice Puglia."

This sounds very much like the Level 5 leader described in Jim Collins' brilliant book on leadership: Good to Great.

ScrappleFace: Gitmo Study Sparks Arab Probe of Bible Abuse

ScrappleFace: Gitmo Study Sparks Arab Probe of Bible Abuse: "(2005-06-04) -- Friday's release of a Pentagon study on mishandling of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay detention center has sparked Saudi Arabia's leader to call for similar probes of Bible handling in detention facilities throughout the Muslim world."

Now that's comedy.

Yale grades portray Kerry dumber than Bush

Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Washington - News has the story.

The pictures would have decided the election anyway. Holy cow.

Kubrick and the Human

Triablogue: "'Man isn't a noble savage, he's an ignoble savage,' says Kubrick, reaching for the iced water. 'He is irrational, brutal, weak, silly, unable to be objective about anything where his own interests are involved - that about sums it up. I'm interested in the brutal and violent nature of man because it's a true picture of him. And any attempt to create social institutions on a false view of the nature of man is probably doomed to failure.'

Like what? 'Well, many aspects of liberal mythology are coming to grief now -- but I don't want to give any examples or I'm going to sound like William Buckley....'"

A friend of mine convinced me that all of Kubrick's films were about dehumanization. Maybe we were wrong. They are about Humanization: Depravity.

Church Webmasters - Stop Working for Free

Boyink Interactive, LLC : "Are you a web developer working on your church's website on a volunteer basis?

Stop it.

Immediately.

Walk away.

Or start billing for your time, at rates competitive in the local market.

Why?

Because when a church gets a website for free, it evidently has no value. Things with no value get replaced or reimplemented on a moment's notice, on staff whim, or as soon as the person leading the effort is called away."

This is sound thinking. (Hat Tip: effective web ministry notes)

Here I am

I'll be the resident stenblographer for a meeting of pastors from around the globe. You can follow the action here:

Geldof condemned over Pope 'invite' - Yahoo! UK & Ireland News

Geldof condemned over Pope 'invite' - Yahoo! UK & Ireland News: "The National Secular Society (NSS) is pointing to the Vatican's refusal to condone the use of condoms, saying it has helped spread HIV in Africa.

The society, which campaigns for religion to be taken out of public life, says it will create a counter-campaign of protest against any decision by Pope Benedict XVI to get involved.

NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood said Geldof should not have written to the Pope about attending the Hyde Park event."

Is the Pope more tolerant the the National Secular Society? Will the Pope reject the invitation because secular people will be involved?

We report, you decide.

Personal Data for 3.9 Million Lost in Transit

Personal Data for 3.9 Million Lost in Transit - New York Times: "In one of the largest breaches of data security to date, CitiFinancial, the consumer finance subsidiary of Citigroup, announced yesterday that a box of computer tapes containing information on 3.9 million customers was lost by United Parcel Service last month, while in transit to a credit reporting agency."

What has Brown done to you?

The way back machine: Chirac's corruption battle

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Q & A: Chirac's corruption battle: "France's President, Jacques Chirac, has been accused of corruption during his time as Mayor of Paris and as president of the Gaullist RPR Party.

Judges investigating the allegations wanted to question him, but have been thwarted by Mr Chirac's claim to presidential immunity, causing one of them to resign in disgust."

Maybe Michael Moore will do a documentary: Jacques and Me.

When will the quagmire end?

Transterrestrial Musings: "PARIS (Routers) August 25, 2004

Sixty years after Paris was seized by the 'Allies,' and the beginning of the American occupation, France remains a failed nation, mired in political corruption and beset by vast pockets of Muslim extremism and anti-semitism, into which the gendarmerie fear to tread. The economy continues to struggle under economic policies driven by failed ideologies, and many of its best and brightest continue to flow out of the country, with only ex-dictators and their families, and hysterical movie stars willing to move there.

Sadly, history has born out the predictions of those who, in the spring of 1944, warned against invading. Many had pointed out what a poor prospect the region was for any kind of democracy, with its long history of belligerence and arrogance, and failed republics."

The Politics of Art

OpinionJournal - Extra: "Two things are worth noting about this article. The first is that it was written by a well-known, much-admired novelist. The second is that it appears to be representative of the political views of a considerable number of other artists who think that all conservatives (including conservative artists) are evil or stupid, or both. Ms. Smiley goes so far as to use the theological term 'invincible ignorance,' which implies that there's no point in arguing with such benighted folk, since their ignorance is invincible.

One finds the same quasireligious language in virtually all of Mr. Kushner's plays, used to much the same purpose: it is meant to indicate that disagreement with the author is not merely wrong but evil, and must necessarily lead to damnation. (Conversely, a play like 'Trumbo' exists not to persuade anyone of Dalton Trumbo's goodness--that is taken for granted--but to serve as a quasireligious ritual of collective self-congratulation, an opportunity for progressives to join together in celebrating a fearless defender of the true faith. That the defender in question was a hack screenwriter who tacitly connived at mass murder on a near-genocidal scale is irrelevant; all that matters is that he 'stood pat' when ordered by the House Un-American Activities Committee to inform on his similarly complicit colleagues.)

Now, it's one thing to feel like this, much less to say so out loud, if you're an elected official. That way lies a more proximate form of damnation. But what if you're an artist? What if you not only believe that more than half of your fellow men are ignorant, but allow this belief to influence the way you make art? The answer is to be found in plays like 'The God of Hell' and 'Embedded,' which are written not for a hypothetical mixed audience of red and blue Americans but for a 100% left-liberal audience whose 100% agreement is presupposed."

This is a very intelligent piece on the nature of art. I've often said that the place least likely to have real debate is the college campus. I must admit I am wrong. It seems there is even less debate in the "arts community". Everyone there knows what you're "supposed to think".

Question authority.

United Airlines Wi-fi

The New York Times > Technology > United Airlines Approved for In-Flight Internet Service: "United Airlines plans to announce today that it is the first domestic airline to receive approval from regulators to install wireless Internet networks on its planes."

Praise the Lord! Now they just need to offer it free and mix in a power supply and they've got my business.

Harvard’s Diversity Grovel by Heather Mac Donald

Harvard’s Diversity Grovel by Heather Mac Donald: "The “underlying . . . fact” of universities, he told the faculty at a February 15 meeting, is that they were “originally designed by men and for men.” In Summers’s view, the male origin of universities undermines any claim they might make to using objective tests of merit. “That reality [of a male founding],” he said, “shapes everything from . . . assumptions about effectiveness in teaching and mentoring, to concepts of excellence.” In other words, there is a male “concept of excellence” in genome research, say, that may not be the same as a female or black “concept of excellence” in genome research.

The deconstruction of objective standards into race and gender politics is common throughout the humanities. If Summers acts on his embrace of deconstructive relativism—he called on February 15 for “rethinking our assumptions in [such] areas [as ‘excellence’]”—standards in science will be the next to go. Any department that claims that it cannot find qualified candidates to meet the Senior VP for D’s “metrics” could face the charge that it is using white male “concepts of excellence.” Thank you very much, but I think I’ll stick with those “concepts” in the interest of ensuring that my medicine works and the airplane I’m using stays in the air."

If you wan't to see the decline of Higher Education at Harvard and probably most other elite institutions, you must read this article.

If you don't read this whole article... well, woe unto you.

New York City church holds 'Clown Eucharist' - 5/31/05

New York City church holds 'Clown Eucharist' - 5/31/05: "Looking like refugees from Clown Alley at Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, ministers and many parishioners participated in a 'Clown Eucharist' at an Episcopal church in New York City.

Earlier, the rector of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel Trinity Church, the Rev. Dr. James Herbert Cooper, encouraged the parish family to come to church 'in clown dress, big hats, floppy shoes or some sort of foolish garb. Those watching on the Internet might even be foolish enough to put on some white face or a big grease-paint smile as we worship God and learn about the structure of the Eucharist by being the circus which came to town and to church on that day.'"

This is isn't a joke. There's even pictures.

Death throes . . .of failed ideas. - VDH

Death throes . . . - The Washington Times: Commentary - June 03, 2005: "Why all these upheavals?
Global communications now reveal hourly to people abroad how much better life is in Europe than in the Middle East and Asia -- and how in America, Australia and Britain the standard of living is even better than in most of Europe.
The removal of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein and their replacement with democracies proved the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, was neither weak nor cynical. In fact, it was the utopian United Nations, with its oil-for-food, snoozing in Darfur and scandals about peacekeepers, that proved corrupt and unreliable.
The mass mourning of the pope's death revealed a renewed desire for spirituality. Two billion in India and China quietly keep copying the West. Car bombs, fist-shaking mobs and beheadings dispel all the old romance about the Third-World postcolonial 'other.'
What are we left with then?
Democracy, open markets, personal freedom, individual rights, pride in national traditions, worry about big government -- which is what we see in the United States, Britain, Australia and their allies in Japan and the breakaway countries in Europe. Elections in Ethiopia, France, Iraq, Lebanon and Ukraine all point to a desire for more freedom from central state control. "

For Fruit Flies, Gene Shift Tilts Sex Orientation - New York Times

For Fruit Flies, Gene Shift Tilts Sex Orientation - New York Times: "In a series of experiments, the researchers found that females given the male variant of the gene acted exactly like males in courtship, madly pursuing other females. Males that were artificially given the female version of the gene became more passive and turned their sexual attention to other males.

'We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior,' said the paper's lead author, Dr. Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. 'It's very surprising.

'What it tells us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose.'"

I guess the gender of fruit flies is not socially constructed. This is bad news for university professors in the fruit fly community.

More on Europe and the Left

View From a Height: "In his Washington Post column from today, George Will pretty much sums up Europe's Nanny-state infantilization:

It is fine for people who are not French to admire from afar how 'civilized' the French are in cherishing their 'way of life' -- short workweeks, many weeks of vacation, laws 'protecting' labor by making it difficult to fire people. But those laws, by making employers reluctant to hire, help explain France's double-digit unemployment.

Cast a cold eye on this way of life -- this amalgam of desires for increasing affluence and leisure and weight in the world -- and 'civilized' looks like a euphemism for 'childish.' Children are unaware of the costs of things, and the incompatibility of many desires.

Will doesn't say so, but there's no question that 50 years of living under the American defense umbrella, in a world economy powered by American growth, has reduced the western part of the continent to the emotional stage of teenagers: old enough to operate the toys but not to produce or even understand them.

The EU was the means by which the delinquent French, Germans, and Belgians would entice college-bound New Europe to hang out for the summer rather than working.

The truly sad part is that Europe has entrepreneurial talent out that wazoo - just look at cell phones - but that talent is stifled by a system that resents success, especially new success. America has always benefitted by welcoming such people. Perhaps one of our greatest systemic threats is a China that now also does so, combined with a Democratic party that wants to replicate Europe's political culture here."

Dennis Prager: Hate evil: Case for Judeo-Christian values, part VII

Dennis Prager: Hate evil: Case for Judeo-Christian values, part VII: " As the leading German weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, recently wrote: 'Mr. Bush's recent speeches have made no retreat from the good vs. evil view of the world that the Europeans hate.'

Patrice de Beer, an editor of the leading French newspaper, Le Monde, wrote that in the European Union: 'The notion of the world divided between Good and Evil is perceived with dread.'

Entirely typical of the Left's view of good and evil is this series of questions posed on the leftist website Counterpunch by Gary Leupp, professor of history and of comparative religion at Tufts University: 'Questions for discussion. Was Attila good or evil to invade Gaul? Saddam good or evil to invade Kuwait? Hitler good or evil to invade Poland? Bush good or evil to invade Iraq? Are 'good' and 'evil' really adequate categories to evaluate contemporary and historical events?'

Western Europeans and their American counterparts loathe the language of good and evil and correctly attribute it to religious -- i.e., Judeo-Christian -- values. Among those values is fighting evil and 'burning evil out from your midst.' And to do that, you have to first hate it. Because if you don't hate evil, you won't fight it, and good will lose."

War is not the answer?

Instapundit.com -: "This passage points to a solution, though: 'There hasn’t been any revolution so far because the potential rebels cannot get guns. No one is willing to arm the dissatisfied majority, and over two thirds of the population lives in poverty. . . . The government seems determined to starve its enemies to death, secure in the knowledge that the victims are unarmed, and the government forces have lots of guns.'"

Those who say "nothing comes from violence" (like Sting) should consider Darfur and then choose between war and starvation.

Slashdot | Microsoft Ends Era Of Closed File Formats

Slashdot | Microsoft Ends Era Of Closed File Formats: "If this interview is correct, it could mean the beginning of the end of Microsoft's proprietary file formats."

Praise the Lord.

Journalist Who Criticized Syrian Presence Is Killed in Lebanon - New York Times

Journalist Who Criticized Syrian Presence Is Killed in Lebanon - New York Times: "UBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 2 - An outspoken journalist known for his writings against Syria's presence in Lebanon was killed in a car bombing in Beirut today, raising tensions in Lebanon just four days after elections for a new Parliament began.

A journalist for Lebanon's top daily paper who had been a critic of Syria was killed in Beirut when a bomb destroyed his car.
Anwar Amro/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Samir Kassir led a call for the resignation of Lebanon's pro-Syrian security chiefs.

The bomb was placed in a vehicle outside the home of the journalist, Samir Kassir, in the predominantly Christian district of Ashrafiya. Mr. Kassir's body lay slumped on one side after the blast as fire crews arrived on the scene, witnesses said. The blast shattered windows in the nearby area.

Mr. Kassir, a columnist at the Lebanese daily An Nahar, was known for his opposition to Syria's role in Lebanon. He blamed Syria for the assassination on Feb. 14 of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and railed about that country's need to pull out of Lebanon. He also led a call for the resignation of Lebanon's pro-Syrian security chiefs."

Anyone like Eason Jordan or Linda Foley who accuse our troops , without proof, of this kind of murder, deserve to be fired.

Kudos to the New York times to report on the real thing.

Take it to the Bank

All change is experienced as loss, even if the result is a net gain. -Rich Bledsoe

Fear and Rejection Of Liberalism- New York Times

Fear and Rejection - New York Times: "Forgive me for making a blunt and obvious point, but events in Western Europe are slowly discrediting large swaths of American liberalism.

Most of the policy ideas advocated by American liberals have already been enacted in Europe: generous welfare measures, ample labor protections, highly progressive tax rates, single-payer health care systems, zoning restrictions to limit big retailers, and cradle-to-grave middle-class subsidies supporting everything from child care to pension security. And yet far from thriving, continental Europe has endured a lost decade of relative decline..."

"The core fact is that the European model is foundering under the fact that billions of people are willing to work harder than the Europeans are. Europeans clearly love their way of life, but don't know how to sustain it.

Over the last few decades, American liberals have lauded the German model or the Swedish model or the European model. But these models are not flexible enough for the modern world. They encourage people to cling fiercely to entitlements their nation cannot afford. And far from breeding a confident, progressive outlook, they breed a reactionary fear of the future that comes in left- and right-wing varieties - a defensiveness, a tendency to lash out ferociously at anybody who proposes fundamental reform or at any group, like immigrants, that alters the fabric of life."

You are forgiven.

A Brave New Blogging World

Companies subvert search results to squelch criticism: "But Quixtar is not alone. Every major company, non-profit and religious group now has to worry about their Web reputation and has to pay very close attention to that first page of search results.

'Managing brand credibility and press exposure is nothing new,' said Nan Dawkins, co-founder of Red Boots Consulting, which focuses on SEO for non-profits. 'The only new wrinkle here is the medium [Internet/search engines] and the tactics used to get visibility in that medium. The reality is that search engines are VERY IMPORTANT to an organization's brand. Search engines are where people look for answers to their questions, and there are a lot of different takes on those answers. Your side of the story may appear, but it is a certainty that it will appear alongside other, varying opinions. If you don't manage it, it may manage you.'"

Interesting.