The First SPOTD Blog (February - December 2005)

The Truth Page

Before I knew what a blog was I set up this page as a place where I could write about current events and the political issues that were of interest to me. Eventually I discovered that there were easier ways to track and create my posts, so I abandoned this page in favor of the SPOTD blog. For a time I also blogged at Right Wing Pundit with some friends from BYU, but it seemed simpler in the end to use one place for all of my "stuff." Visit the blog for more.
In order to bring in this "archive" I had to lose the formatting, and in turn, the accompanying links. As the newest link is now over a year old it may not even matter.

12/1/05

I have been reading an excellent book called Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield. It describes the efforts of a small number of Greek soldiers, led by 300 Spartans, at Thermopylae. There they battled the enormous army of the Persion king Xerxes.It is a fictional account, but written with such authority that I can't help but take it as a true reckoning of Spartan and Greek life. There is content that may be offensive to some, but to lovers of war literature it is a must-read.I first learned of this book by reading Michael Yon's blog. Gates of Fire is standard reading for one of the units he was with in Iraq, and it is easy to see why. Some other books about war that I have enjoyed (all non-Fiction):Band of BrothersWe Were Soldiers Once...and Young, Black Hawk Down. The first is my favorite, but each has power.

Abortion may be the most divisive and ugly debate in American politics. I can't think of any topic that brings tears and anger to the surface more rapidly across a broad cross-section of the populace.Last Tuesday, the L.A. Times published an article about an Arkansas abortion doctor. I found it stunning in many ways. My friend J-Red at Right Wing Pundit has already done an excellent job of pointing out some of the more unnerving sections. I thought the topic deserved a little more comment.Here are some facts on abortion (from the article):The U.S. abortion rate has been dropping since 1990, but abortion remains one of the most common surgical procedures for women. A quarter of all pregnancies end in abortion. A third of all American women will have had an abortion by the age of 45, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.Just some thoughts:1. It seems shameful that abortion would arise for a matter like this one:His first patient of the day, Sarah, 23, says it never occurred to her to use birth control, though she has been sexually active for six years. When she became pregnant this fall, Sarah, who works in real estate, was in the midst of planning her wedding. "I don't think my dress would have fit with a baby in there," she says.So she was too lazy to use birth control? Where is the sense of responsibility? I guess it is her body and none of my business.2. Do men have any rights at all with regard to the children they conceive? Amanda, a 20-year-old administrative assistant, says it's not the obstacles that surprise her — it's how normal and unashamed she feels as she prepares to end her first pregnancy."It's an everyday occurrence," she says as she waits for her 2:30 p.m. abortion. "It's not like this is a rare thing."Amanda hasn't told her ex-boyfriend that she's 15 weeks pregnant with his child. She hasn't told her parents, either, though she lives with them."I figured it was my responsibility," she says.She regrets having to pay $750 for the abortion, but Amanda says she does not doubt her decision. "It's not like it's illegal. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong," she says.She never told her ex-boyfriend? It is definitely her choice whether or not to do so. It just doesn't sit right. Had she decided to keep the baby, it is likely that he would have to pay child support. There is a disconnect here.Going back to the statistics I quoted above, the biggest problem I have as I write this is that abortion has become the way to compensate for a lack of personal responsibility. I found this article highly disturbing. Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't.On Tuesday The Wall Street Journal published a piece by Joe Lieberman entitled "Our Troops Must Stay." He writies convincingly of the progress being made by U.S. forces in Iraq as part of the broader War on Terror. He correctly describes the conflict there as a war of 27 million versus 10 thousand, the former being the Iraqi citizenry and the latter the terrorists. Iraqi leaders are conscious of their current situation:None of these remarkable changes would have happened without the coalition forces led by the U.S. And, I am convinced, almost all of the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if those forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country.The leaders of Iraq's duly elected government understand this, and they asked me for reassurance about America's commitment. The question is whether the American people and enough of their representatives in Congress from both parties understand this. I am disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq almost three years ago, and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November's elections, than they are concerned about how we continue the progress in Iraq in the months and years ahead.Lieberman also notes the effect of the Iraq situation on its neighbors, including Lebanon. How sad that Iraq's leaders cannot be sure of our commitment. We are making progress and adapting as necessary. The Democratic party does a disservice to our country when they demand immediate troop withdrawl. Lieberman may be the only one in his party that understands this fully. Read the whole article.

11/21/05

I'm not sure that I will have a chance to write anything before Lacy and I go to San Diego for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to link to this handy summary of the Bush administration's efforts to defend their handling of the decision to go to war, courtesy of Instapundit. I hope everyone has a great holiday. I know I will.

11/18/05

The war in Iraq continues to be a contentious issue. Yesterday, a well-known Democratic Congressman urged the administration to pull the troops out of Iraq soon. His comments have been countered by Administration officials, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and some politicians. The reason his comments have received so much attention is because he is a decorated combat veteran. I respect his service to the country, but disagree with his remarks and think his reasoning for a pullout is flawed. Here is a letter written by U.S. Soldiers that deserves a reading alongside his comments.

11/17/05

Christopher Hitchens, a well-known writer for online Slate Magazine is not a Bush apologist. He is, at least in this instance, a fair-minded person examining the futility of the 'Bush Lied' rhetoric. Check out today's piece and understand the inanity of this far-left conspiracy talk.

11/16/05

The following is an unedited excerpt from last Sunday's Meet the Press with Tim Russert (transcript here):

DR. DEAN: We have an alternative agenda. We made it very clear. We want a strong national security based on telling the truth to our people at home, our soldiers and our allies. We want jobs in America that'll stay in America, and we believe that renewable energy is one of the areas where we can do that. We want a health-care system that covers everybody, just like 36 other countries in the world. We want a strong public education system. And most of all, we want honesty back in government. I think that's a pretty good agenda.

MR. RUSSERT: But those are words that will appeal to people. But when you go behind them, for example, what is the Democratic position on Iraq? Should we withdraw troops now? What do the Democrats stand for?

DR. DEAN: Tim, first of all, we don't control the House, the Senate or the White House. We have plenty of time to show Americans what our agenda is and we will long before the '06 elections.

MR. RUSSERT: But there's no Democratic plan on Social Security. There's no Democratic plan on the deficit problem. There's no specifics. They say, "Well, we want a strong Social Security. We want to reduce the deficit. We want health care for everyone," but there's no plan how to pay for it.DR. DEAN: Right now it's not our job to give out specifics. We have no control in the House. We have no control in the Senate. It's our job is to stop this administration, this corrupt and incompetent administration, from doing more damage to America. And that's what we're going to do. We're doing our best. Look at the trouble they're having putting together a budget. Why is that? Because there's still a few moderate Republicans left who don't think it's OK to cut school lunch programs, who don't think it's OK to do some of the appalling things that they're doing in their budget. I saw a show last night which showed a young African-American man in California at the UC of Davis who hoped to go to law school. The Republicans want to cut $14 billion out of higher education so this kid can't go to law school. We're going to do better than that, and together, America can do better than that.

MR. RUSSERT: But is it enough for you to say to the country, "Trust us, the other guy's no good. We'll do better, but we're not going to tell you specifically how we're going to deal with Iraq."

DR. DEAN: We will. When the time comes, we will do that.

MR. RUSSERT: When's the time going to come?

DR. DEAN: The time is fast-approaching. And I outlined the broad outlines of our agenda. We're going to have specific plans in all of these areas.

MR. RUSSERT: This year?

DR. DEAN: In 2006.

Of course there was more to the interview than this, but read it. What is your impression? Mine is of a party that has no ideas, or at least ideas so poorly developed that they are unable to provide any specifics. Check especially the bold portion of Dean's remarks. Dean is saying that his job is to be obstructionist without offering alternatives. I don't mind different ideas. The problem is that the Democrats are all criticism and no ideas.

11/15/05

As if to punctuate yesterday's post, the Republican Party has produced an advertisement that effectively demonstrates the weakness of the Democrats on the issue of pre-War intelligence. See it here.

11/14/05

Continuing last week's campaign to out the real Iraq War liars, the following articles make a good case for why President Bush's critics are guilty of much more than partisan politics as usual. I make the assertion that their lies and distortions ARE a disservice to the men and women in the Armed Forces and do undermine our mission there.Michael Barone pulls together some quotes from President Bush's speech, as well as a defense of the President by John McCain. I don't understand how a fair-minded person can read this and maintain that President Bush lied. It is an untenable position to take in an age where a Google search exposes their fraud. More effectively even, Norman Podhoretz, editor-at-large of Commentary, provides an absolutely comprehensive dismantling of Bush Lied! crowd. If you can read this, and still maintain that the President lied, there is no hope for you. I don't expect people to agree with the war. I don't expect people to agree with the war's execution. I DO expect people to learn the facts and be reasonable. I DO expect elected officials to tell the TRUTH! In other news, I am linking to the text of an excellent speech given to the Federalist Society by Karl Rove . It is on judicial activism and worth a look, even if Karl Rove is the devil (because he is...oooooo).

11/11/05

I am writing from a Starbucks in Jacksonville, FL where I am on business. As such I was unable to listen to President Bush's speech, having to resort to reading the transcript. I think it is a very good speech, and he clearly calls out the liars in Congress for making false and misleading statements. We needed a speech like this. We need more motivation and clear declarations of fact. Iraq is important! That is a fact, and we can win.The recent bombings in Amman, Jordan occurred a world away. Andrew Breitbart, who runs an excellent news site, lost a friend in the attacks, and didn't even realize it at first. The point is that terror is a danger to all of us and must be stopped. This is a tragic story of lives cut short. Terrorism is not cancer. It is preventable. We have to fight if it takes decades or longer.

11/10/05

More on France...or is it Moron France? Well, the French have problems. They are systemic and have nothing to do with whether French people are nice to Americans. I know more nice French people than not-nice ones (I don't know many in absolute terms) and I don't feel like blaming all French people for these riots. Nevertheless, these are systemic problems. John Vinocur, a writer for the International Herald Tribune, writes a scalding critique of the embedded hypocrisy of French society. Based on what has happened there, our political divides seem relatively minor by comparison. It can't help but bolster my already high degree of American superiority vis-a-vis the failure of the European Welfare state.

11/8/05

The riots in France are unfortunate, but not surprising. Europe has failed to assimilate its immigrants. Unemployment in France is more than twice that of the U.S. and for the young men composing most of the rioting groups, it is more than 20%. In today's Wall Street Journal, a man named Joel Kotkin writes about the European welfare state. I think his statements are valid, and his ability to prognosticate strengthened by correctly predicting the eventual triumph of U.S.adaptability over the Japanese in this book (via Instapundit).

11/7/05

A hero of the anti-war left has been exposed as a fraud. He looks pretty dweeby. Probably thought that becoming a famous protester might get him some female attention. It has if you count Cindy Sheehan (No thanks!). This article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a rundown of Massey's lies and distortions. Who are the liars?

11/2/05

I think this is a disgrace. I don't care if I am white, criticizing some African-Americans, you have to read the article to get a sense of corruption of thought present among Steele's critics. It's wrong.

More on Harry Reid's efforts to marginalize the Democratic Party from Glenn Reynolds. You should read the whole post, but I liked this part:

The anti-war fundraising base of the Democrats -- as exemplified by organizations like MoveOn.org -- is powerful enough to require Democratic politicians like Harry Reid to pretend that all the WMD stuff began with President Bush. That is, not to put too fine a point on it, a gross and partisan lie.There is no other way to characterize it- Democratic leaders are lying on a regular basis and the Media is broadcasting it for free.

And Joe Wilson is a liar. If you don't know who he is, read this editorial from the L.A. Times. Either that or pretend you never heard of him. Either is fine with me.

11/1/05

Harry Reid is a member of my Church and as such, I felt inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. In the time since he has become Senate Majority Leader he has blown any consideration I might have shown him, revealing himself to be inarticulate and foolish. His latest stunt, to close the Senate and debate the merits of Pre-Iraq War intelligence, smacks of political opportunism. He is using the recent indictment of Vice-Presidential aide Libby as justification, but Michael Barone explains why this is not really pertinent to the debate. If the law regarding the disclosure of identities was not violated, then Reid's use of the indictment to call for the session is weak.I think this is a development that is under most people's radar right now. This is major news, and will require a major fight to bring about. Unfortunately, precious few lawmakers are that interested in seeing real reform as this will mean key interest groups may lose clout. More on the Alito nomination...From this morning's New York Times comes this editorial from law professor Ann Althouse. I particularly like her ending:In a more general sense, President Bush should be commended for nominating someone with so substantial a judicial record. In the decades since the defeat of Robert Bork's nomination, presidents have unfortunately tended toward "stealth" nominees out of fear that actual evidence of the person's jurisprudence would only give ammunition to his opponents. Mr. Bush had followed that pattern: his thwarted nominee Harriet Miers had no serious constitutional law writings, and even Chief Justice John Roberts had only a handful of constitutional law cases from his two years on the bench. Those Democrats who are already insisting that Judge Alito's record on the bench makes him unacceptable should keep in mind that someday they, too, will have a president with a Supreme Court seat to fill, and it would serve the country well if that president wasn't forced to choose only among candidates with no paper trail. To oppose Judge Alito because his record is conservative is to condemn us to a succession of bland nominees and to deprive future presidents of the opportunity to choose from the men and women who have dedicated long years to judicial work.I find it frustrating that Democrats get so much airplay while complaining about "changing the course of the court." We live in a spoils system, where the winner gets the spoils, in this case, the right to choose judges. Those who think the Democrats have a point with the argument that the Court's constitution must remain the same have little understanding of history.

10/31/05

Today's Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito made my morning! I was driving home from the gym and happened to turn on NPR. They carried the nomination live, and I was very impressed with Alito's statement. He showed a nice touch, aluding to his first experience on the Court opposite Sandra Day-O'Conner, the very justice he would replace. Here are some first Reactions from various prominent people. Their responses are fairly predictable, and the detractors don't concern me a great deal.Much will be made of Alito's dissent from a 1991 case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Slate has a clearly biased article that still provides some important facts and allows me to make a point. The author of the article makes the issue of abuse a main point, and it should be a consideration (rape was a justifiable exception to the spousal notification law). The left makes a big stink about the woman's right to choose, but this quote from Glenn Reynolds nice sums up the other side of the argument.I am a big fan of Antonin Scalia. I like his judicial philosophy and think that if Alito is anything like him, the President made an excellent choice. If you want to know why I like Scalia's philosphy, e-mail me (joe@spotd.net) and I will send you an excellent speech where he gives a brief look. More than anything, I am glad that Democrats do not like him. I want a fight. I want to force the Democrats to show their hands. I want to win what we fought for when we reelected this president. Barone writes that opposing him may be difficult for some Democrats, either based on previous support or voting bloc issues. The Italian-American angle is particularly interesting. He also looks at the Casey case.On another note,when it comes to Nuclear Terrorism, don't believe the hype. Richard Miniter has written several well-received books on the War on Terror. I encourage you to read this article. There are things that I believed that he debunks quite effectively.Also, we now have over 2000 dead in the Iraq War. What does this really mean? Victor Davis Hanson examines this is an NYT Op-Ed piece, 2,000 dead, In Context (registration required). The death of U.S. soldiers is tragic, but the ignorance of history by the media even more so.

10/25/05

The President has nominated Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. It seems a good choice, greeted warmly on all sides, and this favorable look at his life indicates smooth sailing through the confirmation process. He also is a bit of a maverick in other ways (registration required for both links).More on the Plame issue and her weasel husband, Joseph Wilson. He is being portrayed in the media as some kind of courageous truth-teller, but he has serious credibility issues. Read this and feel the sweetness of clarification. This transcript of a radio interview with Michael Barone also gives some background into the issue and Wilson's character.More Hollywood hypocrisy, courtesy of Opinionjournal.com. I am not in favor of quotas, but I do question those who are, but don't do anything to change the industry they work in.

10/24/05

When I heard that Harriet Miers was a candidate for Supreme Court Justice, I was underwhelmed based on my limited knowledge of her. When I heard that she was the likely pick, I hope the rumor was wrong. When Bush introduced her, I felt no excitement. I still feel none. Why? Lets go down the list:1. The resounding victory of George Bush in 2004 prepared many conservatives to enjoy the spoils of that victory. With a Congressional Majority and popular majority, was there anything to prevent the appointment of conservative judges to the Court? I didn't think so, and I was hoping to see the kind of people that I felt we had EARNED.2. Miers' track record is one of distinction. But none of her experience provides insight into what kind of justice she would be. President Bush's assurances are insufficient. When he says that she will be the same person twenty years from now that she is today and will vote accordingly, I think 'I hope not.' It is unrealistic to believe that she will not change at all. 3. Although a conservative woman on the bench would be welcome, why was it necessary to nominate a woman? Coming to that decision at the start of the process seemed premature and limited the President's options.4. Conservatives are tired of being bitten. We've been bitten by a high-spending Congress and an increasingly liberal judiciary. Once bitten, twice shy.I should make it clear that I don't have a problem with her close relationship to the president. So much of life is WHO we know. She should not be faulted for knowing the president. I think that many human relationships have a purpose, so that is not a concern to me. Do I see anything in Miers' favor?1. A knowledge of business law. I think views of business that demonize it work counter to the interests of our country. Someone sympthetic to that is a welcome choice, though I can't help but ask if there is anyone better.2. I keep waiting for more....In the coming weeks we will see the resolution, for better or worse. Until then, I am neutral on the Miers nomination. The following are a few articles that I saw last week, but didn't have a chance to place on the website. It is far from politically correct, but is racial profiling in the case of Islamic terrorism really immoral? This man argues that whatever issues it may involve, the facts do not justify its wholesale exclusion from our arsenal of anti-terror techniques. I think there are ways of accomplishing this that don't involve humiliating someone or acting in a way that demeans another. Something to think about.The start of Saddam's legal proceedings allowed normal Iraqis the chance to see his new situation, and their responses are telling. Democrats are often saying that Republicans are out of step, or in the extreme. Saddam's Sunni followers would have to fall in that category, being a minority of the populace, and disconnected from Saddam's (and their) new reality.The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) tackled this today, and The Weekly Standard last week: The criminalization of conservatism. Do the issues being investigated by Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald merit federal charges? Or was the "outing" of Valerie Plame the result of hardball politics? By all accounts, Fitzgerald has been ethical, responsible, and methodical in his approach. I have no fault with him. My concern is whether the American public understands exactly what went on here. I don't think they do, and I don't think they care. Maybe they should.I like guns, but am far from an expert on issues related to gun control. I found this piece by John Stossel very informative and recommend it to you.10/18/05Heaven forbid that large numbers of Iraqis in some areas are in favor of a constitution! That might not be transparent! This piece from this morning's NYT is not much a news story- Shiites & Kurds vote 'yes' in high numbers, Sunnis 'no' in high numbers. Why not check the results of union voters here in the states? I am concerned about a lack of transparency in the education process that leads some places to vote so heavily Democratic.

10/17/05

More from Michael Barone, this time on the malaise afflicting the Democratic party. The most critical part of this post is the idea that there are liberals who are more loyal to certain ideas than to their own country. You really need to read the whole thing. And if you now agree with me that this guy is an excellent commentator, check out his blog for more entries on topics like the economy, perceptions of the Iraq issue, and lying in higher education.Charles Krauthammer writes for the Washington Post, and he brings up some important questions related to the decoding of the Spanish Flu of 1918. I am a strong believer in the important of science. I don't see pharmaceutical companies as evil. Just the same, scientists should ask themselves "Should we?" just as often as they ask "Can we?" That is not censorship or the squelching of ideas. It is moral inquiry and is essential. One of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, makes this a centerpiece of his books.

10/10/05

Michael Barone wrote an extended commentary on the speech that President Bush gave last week regarding the War on Terror. I think he makes some excellent points and I hope each of you will take a look at it. I could quote this guy every day. This speech by the president was one of the better ones on this topic in his presidency.I don't know very much about Harriet Miers, the president's choice to succeed Sandra Day O'Conner. I don't have anything against her. I also don't have anything for her. I think many pundits may have jumped the gun with their criticism/support of Miers for the post. John Fund provides some reasons why we (conservatives) should be a little concerned.

10/7/05

It's hard not to like John Bolton. This article from the Yale Daily News reports on his visit to his Alma Mater.

9/30/05

The SPOTD is all about truth. I think Michael Barone does a great job of clarifying some issues related to race and the political parties, all in the interest of providing a truer perspective.I didn't check until today, but a letter I wrote to the BYU paper, The Daily Universe was actually published yesterday (see it here). I was responding to an editorial that I felt was ambiguous and poorly-written (here it is). If the editorial board thinks we should leave Iraq, I would rather see them say it than use a trite and inaccurate story to hint at it. I often wrote letters to the editor while a student there, and only had one published (a fairly poor one) so this was fun for me. Why am I still reading the BYU paper, 2+ years after graduating? So I can point out lame articles and write mean letters, of course. Something that I didn't address in the letter, but later researched, was this post by Michael Barone that provides more insight into casualty figures and how they compare to this time last year.

9/27/05

This is the article of the day, a harsh indictment of some of the problems at American universities. I personally have problems with rising tuition rates being accepted as necessary. There is too little accountability on such issues. Read it.For more proof on the media as a major Public Enemy, check out this story. Reporting rumor as fact has become quite popular these days. Politicians use it to spread rumor, saying this like, "I don't know if it is true or not, but I heard..." or "Some have said..." thus absolving themselves from blame because they themselves never said they were facts. These are the most pernicious kinds of lies and good reporters should be more careful. Like Wyclef Jean says, "Don't believe the hype."Christopher Hitchens is no conservative, but he writes an excellent piece in Slate dissecting the groups responsible for last weekend's antiwar rally in Washington.

9/26/05

I'm not a huge John McCain fan. I think he is a little pleased with the way that the press is enamored with him. Just the same, he is a smart man, and one who sees many issues in a practical light. This post by Michael Barone looks at spending and immigration. McCain speaks frankly about both.Spending is one issue that distresses me most about the Bush administration. Lacy and I take great pains to avoid debt, but our legislators are blind to it. Fortunately, the recent hurricanes and subsequent relief efforts have brought the issue of spending to the public eye like never before. Some websites, like Instapundit are leading the way toward offsetting the costs of relief. If this concerns you it is worth a look.The issue of rebuilding New Orleans is also at the forefront. Americans have opened their wallets and extended their hands to help, but now that the initial efforts have begun, it is time for the nation to demand accountability for the disbursement of these monies. John Fund takes a moment to look at the serious issues that have plagued Louisiana politics for decades. Katrina and Rita may not be all bad if they allow things to be put on a better footing in that troubled state. We also have to ask the tough question- How much should even be rebuilt?

9/25/05

This comment from Arnold Schwarzenegger demonstrates why I like the guy:"I have a daughter," Schwarzenegger said in an interview with The [Sacramento] Bee. "I wouldn't want to have someone take my daughter to a hospital for an abortion or something and not tell me. I would kill him if they do that." I don't condone the killing part, though I sympathize with it. I just like that it reflects a normal, human response and one that he probably didn't go through his advisors to concoct

9/20/05

Yesterday, James Taranto closely scrutinized a New York Times editorial that questioned John Roberts as a nominee for Chief Justice. Read the first piece of his daily compilation to witness the contradiction that is the NYT editorial page.

9/15/05

I have been following the Roberts hearings a bit and found David Brooks' New York Times column very, very funny. It is worth a read.

Glenn Reynolds has an interesting idea- why not make senators ineligible to run for President? I love it, and it might keep pontificating down a bit.

9/14/05

Michael Barone makes a statement about the broader issues related to liberalism and the poor. It is true that the Left has a poor record of providing sustainable help to the poor. New Orleans is a prime example.

9/13/05

From Judge John Roberts' opening statement: "I come before the committee with no agenda. I have no platform. Judges are not politicians who can promise to do certain things in exchange for votes. I have no agenda, but I do have a commitment: If I am confirmed, I will confront every case with an open mind. I will fully and fairly analyze the legal arguments that are presented. I will be open to the considered views of my colleagues on the bench. And I will decide every case based on the record according to the rule of law without fear or favor to the best of my ability. And I will remember that it's my job to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat."I like it...I like it a lot. As I have reviewed a little bit of today's questioning, I think Roberts is extraordinarily well-prepared, and handily outclassing the senators.From the Washington Post on yesterday's opening hearing:Yesterday's opening of the John Roberts confirmation hearings was a time for historic firsts. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made 49 first-person references in a 10-minute statement that was, ostensibly, not about himself. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) showed exceptional emotional versatility, working a crossword puzzle during the hearing and then choking back a sob while making a prosaic statement about partisanship.What a joke! Some Senators also used the opportunity to play on feelings related to Hurricane Katrina: "Today, the devastation, despair facing millions of our fellow Americans in the Gulf region is a tragic reminder of why we have a federal government, why it's critical that our government be responsive," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and ranking minority member of the panel. "We need the federal government for our protection and security, to cast a lifeline to those in distress, to mobilize better resources beyond the ability of any state and local government -- all of this for the common good." Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, said lessons should be learned from the hurricane. "The powerful winds and flood waters of Katrina tore away the mask that has hidden from public view the many Americans who are left out and left behind," he said. "As one nation under God, we cannot continue to ignore the injustice, the inequality and the gross disparities that exist in our society." As reported by the Washington Times, Senator John Cornyn said something worth reading and repeating:Within moments, the office of Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and member of the committee, issued a statement accusing Mr. Leahy and Mr. Kennedy of using the victims of the hurricane "in an attempt to score political points." "I believe the American people will see this for what it is," said Mr. Cornyn, according to the statement. "We ought not to appropriate a national tragedy in a misguided effort to further a political interest of any sort." The Cornyn statement went on to predict: "Others likely will make similar attempts in a bizarre effort to link Judge Roberts to the tragedies in the Gulf of Mexico. But Katrina victims should not be used to score political points."Thank you Senator! Too bad so many of your colleagues on both sides of the aisle are self-serving sycophants.Good news from Iraq. A group of Iraqi soldiers made a small contribution to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is a wonderful gesture.From Michael Barone, the Dutch demonstrate effective coexistence with nature amid the threat of surging seas. This article by Bruce Babbit, former Secretary of the Interior, suggests radical change for the "City Beneath the Sea."President Bush has accepted responsibility for the failures of the Federal Government with regard to Hurricane Katrina. It seems an appropriate response for a Chief Executive. Just how badly did the Feds fail? In some respects they did not, at least not compared with past performances, according to Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Will the President catch more flack based on his admission of responsibility? Possibly, but it shows leadership in a time where blame and finger-pointing have become its replacement.

9/9/05

I have made no effort to hide my support for the President. I like that his response to 9/11 was to reject business-as-usual with regard to terror. Nevertheless, I have to admit that there are things about the war in Iraq and the administration in general that are troublesome. Unfortunately, these are not the kinds of things that can be removed simply by changing the Commander-in-Chief. As a nation, our defense problems are systemic. Mark Helprin writes this painful and scathing piece that I highly recommend. I don't agree with it point-by-point and I emphasize that I think Bush has done well, certainly better than any Gore or Kerry would have. I just know we can do better. We have to encourage these kinds of thoughtful critiques if we are going to improve. It is not about assigning blame- that is costly in time and energy, but about doing a better job.The director of FEMA was relieved of his duties related to the Katrina effort, though not fired as the head of the agency. It seems like a wise decision by Director Chertoff of Homeland Security. I think that Michael Brown, the departing director, has handled it quite gracefully.

9/8/05

Go here to find a highly informative and comprehensive timeline of the government response to Hurricane Katrina.I love Ben Stein. He is the guy from countless movies and the ClearEyes commercials. You know, "Bueller...Bueller...Bueller." He writes a truly excellent rebuttal of many of the President's critics. I'd like to see the Democrats offer point by point responses using FACTS. I don't think they can or will. It is an issue of inclination & capability.Finally, this is less suitable for inclusion on the truth page than in the SPOTD e-mail, but I thought it was clever enough that it merited placement in a timely fashion. Greg Gutfield writes for the pretentious Huffington Post, and today's entry is a winner! He's one of the few independent voices there.

9/7/05

I've had quite enough of the Hurricane blame-game. It's time to set the record straight on what went wrong in terms of government involvement, and what continues to go wrong. I will try to add some perspective:New Orleans, as a city, was sick long before Hurricane Katrina hit. This story from the New York Daily News sheds light on the problems that the city government created for itself. You have to read the article to understand the systemic issues at play. From OpinionJournal.com, this article breaks down the Mayor and Governor's failings:It must be made clear that the governor and locally elected officials are in charge of the "first response." I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to take corrective action there, also. However, if citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's role is to offer aid upon request.Furthermore, the governor elected to wait before formally requesting the Federal Government's help. For more on New Orleans' systemic issues, check out this post from U.S. News & World Report's Michael Barone. We have to ask why New Orleans did not keep pace with its peers. His conclusions are reasonable.Also at issue is the amount of preparation for disaster. Many people blame the Federal Government, and the Bush Administration in particular for cutting this budget, or that item. Michael Barone looks at the facts behind the levees in New Orleans. This is an issue that should have been settled decades before Bush took office. I have trouble condemning him for this particular disaster's damage. The efforts of celebrities to aid storm victims is good. John Grisham and his wife pledged $5 million to Mississippi relief efforts. Many others are giving of time and means. Unfortunately, politically minded celebrities take the focus off the relief and onto themselves. Witness Sean Penn, whose hubris has distinguished him on past trips to Iraq and Iran:Movie star and political activist Penn, 45, was in the collapsing city to aid stranded victims of flooding sparked by Hurricane Katrina, but the small boat he was piloting to launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak. The outspoken actor had planned to rescue children waylaid by the deadly waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch. When the boat's motor failed to start, those aboard were forced to use paddles to propel themselves down the flooded New Orleans street. Asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor replied: "Whatever I can do to help." But with the boat loaded with members of the Oscar-winner's entourage, including his personal photographer, one bystander taunted: "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"Penn's idiocy was preceded several days before by Kanye West, a hip hop star whose skills as a producer do not extend to the political arena:Appearing two-thirds through the program, he claimed "George Bush doesn't care about black people" and said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible." "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food." While allowing that "the Red Cross is doing everything they can," West — who delivered an emotional outburst at the American Music Awards after he was snubbed for an award — declared that government authorities are intentionally dragging their feet on aid to the Gulf Coast. Without getting specific, he added, "They've given them permission to go down and shoot us."West's rant is particularly unfortunate (see it here). It reveals an ignorance that stems from decades of Democratic dogma. More to come later.

9/2/05

More on the Hurricane...What else is there to talk about? Here are some interesting articles:Will New Orleans ever Recover?The Moral Depravity Unleashed by KatrinaThe New Orleans Times-Picayune has one of the most complete collections of hurricane photos. I think we need to see these images, and learn the lessons they teach.The tenuous oil situation gives me cause to welcome this bit of news. We need all the energy sources we can get. Diversification is strength.

8/30/05

The situation in the Gulf Coast almost defies description. I was in southwest Florida last year after one of the hurricanes and was amazed by the destruction. I cannot imagine that kind of result coupled with tremendous flooding, something that the area I was in was spared. This is a very comprehensive look at New Orleans on the day after the storm. Their troubles are just beginning. I hope we can all be sensitive to their need.

8/29/05

More views from Mark Steyn on the reasons for Israel's withdrawl from Gaza. I agree with him, and see the rationale for a pullout as clear: We will give them Gaza in exchange for nothing. When they continue their terror attacks, we now have the high ground to crush them. Gloria Salt agrees and fleshes it out here.It is time for significant change in the American tax system. I am in favor of the abolition of the sales tax in favor of a national sales tax, but I would settle for a flat tax. John Fund points out how America is lagging behind its peers in this regard- and the reason is the influence of special interest groups.

8/24/05

How will today's oil prices affect the energy prices of tomorrow? According to Larry Kudlow, these high prices are setting off a "tectonic shift" for the better. Read it and have hope.

8/22/05

Senator Chuck Hagel is a Republican senator from the state of Nebraska. He has done no great good for his party or his President recently, and this is icing on the cake. Breaking ranks with the party is not his big sin in this case- it is his seemingly total ignorance. I challenge any of the people who compare Iraq to Vietnam to defend the comparison with facts. The insurgency in Iraq is not nationalistic, is not supported and armed by a rival superpower, and holds no territory. For someone like Hagel, who fought in Vietnam, to make these characterizations is irresponsible and intellectually lazy.Furthermore, the make-up of our military is substantially different than it was during Vietnam. Mark Steyn offers this spot-on diagnosis of the flaws in modern media analysis of the soldier's plight.

8/18/05

With Joseph's recovery continuing I am back in action. Some people think that vaccines are dangerous. I think not vaccinating your child is much more dangerous. A lot of vaccinationphobes point to a substance called thimerosal as the reason for their fear. This excellent article from Slate does a good job of debunking thimerosal's alleged link to autism in children. Needless to say, Joseph will have ALL his shots.

7/27/05

Needless to say, the Truth page is on hiatus, as is the regular SPOTD e-mail. I hope to return soon.

7/25/05

More news and views of the impact that nominee Roberts may have if confirmed to the Supreme Court. It seems useless to speculate too much, but this review seems very comprehensive.Ted Kennedy has distinguished himself as a first-rate bozo for the last several decades. His continual involvement in national politics reflects very poorly on the voters in Massachusetts. On a visit to Guantanamo Bay recently, he was taken to task for his idiocy in a much deserved and underreported exchange.

7/22/05

Grand Theft Auto is not a good game. It cannot have a good effect on someone. In addition to the game's violent theme, there is a modification available that turns an implied sexual encounter- Hot Coffee- into an explicit and viewable event. Obviously the sex and nudity in the game are an issue, but the violence can be just as bad. As this New York Times editorial states, "It's proper to worry about what young gamers will see when they stop for hot coffee. But what's more worrying still is what they see on the way."

7/21/05

Busy day in the news:The terror attack today in London prompted further recriminations by leftist journalists regarding the impact of British involvement in Iraq. The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, provided a scathing rebuke to one of those journalists. His answer is very statesmanlike. Tony Blair provides succinct affirmation.More on the nomination of John Roberts: He may not be a radical constitutionalist in the mold of Scalia, but incremental moves to the right may be just what conservatives need.This article from several years ago highlights a refreshing bit of candor from Orrin Hatch to Charles Schumer- "Dumbass Questions." Unfortunately, Schumer seems to think himself the people's inquisitor, so he is up to his old tricks again. He's just a special interest puppet, and if he thinks he is representing me, he presumes too much.Finally, Charles Krauthammer offers an analysis of neo-conservatism, the ideology vilified by opponents of the Iraq war, which now finds some support in the uneasy equilibrium that country has achieved. It is a helpful look at how this ideology compares to that of earlier Republican and Democratic administrations.

7/20/05

The nomination of John Roberts has returned abortion to the forefront, and with it, wild assertions as to the eventual danger to women of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Factcheck.org debunks one argument by Barbara "Bonehead" Boxer.

7/19/05

President Bush has made his nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, Jr. He seems like a good choice. You can find information about him here and here. The latter link has illuminating commentary. He may have problems with the abortion issue, based on some prior statements. Notwithstanding the possible issues surrounding his confirmation, he has received widespread support in the past and is regarded as a conservative that will interpret the Constitution based on original intent and not judicial activism.I am very pleased with the pick. O'Conner was seen as a swing vote. Roberts is a conservative. President Bush won the election outright, and he has a Congressional Majority. For too long he has been overly accommodating to the Democrats. To me, this pick is a bit of muscle flexing we who voted for him deserve. If the Republicans don't support the pick and get this guy confirmed, I am going to be royally upset. We don't have to make the Dems feel good. We won, and to the victors go the spoils. These days the Supreme Court is as important a spoil as it gets.

7/18/05

I try to separate politics and entertainment. I think Spielberg's politics stink, but I enjoy his movies. Unfortunately, the screenwriter for War of the Worlds has gone too far, and I feel like warning people away from the movie. He actually said that "the Martian attackers in the film represent the American military, while the Americans being slaughtered at random represent Iraqi civilians." The linked column by John Leo has a nice turn on that. That guy Koepp is a real burro.

7/17/05

You have to check out this story of the U.S. Army medic that was shot in the chest, saved by his body armor, and then participated in the capture, arrest, and medical treatment of the man who shot him! This is a great story that, like many others, saw no coverage in the media.

7/15/05

To continue my criticism of Live8, here is an excellent article by a Cameroonian (that's an African nation) columnist, reprinted in today's New York Times. He says it better and more succinctly than I could ever hope to.

7/14/05

This excellent article by David Brooks of the New York Times, urges President Bush to pick the justice with "the biggest brain." He makes a persuasive argument on an issue that is critical to our future. Liberals claim to want someone who is not controversial (to them) or that would unify (the left), but someone like McConnell is precisely what we need to protect our liberties and to protect our freedoms. They are two different things.*** This just in- an excellent response to Brooks' article that brings up some important points. I think I liked the McConnell idea so much that I didn't catch onto the "Big Brain" problem.I am hopeful that President Bush will do as Brooks suggests. I am distressed that the President has not flexed his muscles more, to the Democrats and even his own party. Its time to act like he won the election, and picking a justice that will help the country stay true to the intent of the Constitution would be one way to do that.

7/13/05

I have always believed in our efforts to explore space. It gives us something to dream about, and the by-products of the space program have blessed our society tremendously. This excellent editorial by Richard Blomberg in today's New York Times, does a great job of explaining that effort and its perils. There is danger to every endeavor that is worthwhile. The space program is no different. Hopefully, the cancellation of today's shuttle launch is a temporary setback, and no more.

7/8/05

As I read this article, I was reminded why I like the British. As different cultural currents serve to distance us from our past, our kinship with the British is really something to be proud of. This little island sprouted an empire, from which this great country sprang. Although we fought them to do it, our common heritage has united us in ways that (I hope) will never be erased.

7/6/05

One of the most interesting possible outcomes of Roe v. Wade- the abortion of the Left. James Taranto, the author of this article and an editor for the Wall Street Journal, has argued his Roe Effect theory for some time, and it is a fascinating and coherent idea. Admittedly, it has not gone through the rigmarole of full statistical testing, but it is still an idea that merits full consideration. I'd be interested to know what you think.

7/5/05

Live8 continues to be a topic of interest. I receive a weekly e-mail from a guy named Kevin Hogan (his website). He's an expert in persuasion, influence, and other areas. This week's edition included some excellent points on the issue. It is kind may seem long, but it is right on: Uganda, like all Africa needs free trade. But it's not going to happen. Besides, Bono and Geldof would never go for that. And before going further it's always worth considering that debt relief to Uganda meant/means that President Musevni will likely be able to win the next election...for which by law he is not allowed to run because of constitutional term limits he is fighting to stay in power. But back to the core issue. What Bono and Geldof won't tell their followers.... is that debt relief is NOT the answer. It's not even a little answer. The answer Africa is literally dying for is a lift of import taxes INTO the US, the UK, Japan, etc....from other countries and fully stopping protectionism. That means, letting your kids buy shoes that are made in Uganda that won't be made by American workers...or Chinese workers... That is the reality in Africa today. Because there is no real money coming IN to these countries, *in a transparent fashion that gets to the people*.....to create jobs there is poverty. What's maddening is if these coordinators of Live 8 go on TV and say the truth, "hey, come on UK, Japan, USA, let free trade be cool so the African countries can make shoes and shirts for 5 cents per hour to compete with the CHINESE out who supposedly "stole" the jobs from the US and UK," ...well you see where I'm going.... But don't worry.... the people (voters) of wealthier nations would freak out about what African's so desparately need...jobs to earn money to buy food...that the voters would vote the rascals out who would allow such a thing to happen. Africa will get "debt relief" because it sounds cool, is taxpayer paid and APPEARS to solve a problem...when in fact it does next to nothing. Almost nothing. Let's look at this debt relief scheme and compare it to what would make a real difference. If a country has 20 million people and the the government has accrued a billion in debt, you're looking at $50 per person. (This is nothing. In the USA, each person has a debt to the US Government of approximately $50,000.00, due on demand at any time...really) If the country had free trade with every country on earth but especially the G8 countries, that would create enough jobs and income to give those starving people food, a hut and clean water. About $2000 per annually person. But there is a belief in the citizenship of G8 countries that if someone in an impoverished country starts making shoes...they (our friends in manufacturing in the USA or UK) could "lose" their job. And "government" debt relief sounds so much easier than losing UK manufacturing jobs or a US autoworker job to someone in Rwanda. So instead, the Live 8 slogan is "debt relief." And of course politicians couldn't be happier. The rock stars look good, the politicians look good and the people in Africa get zero change. They starve. Literally. Some of these countries are "run" by wacko war lords that make Saddam Hussein look like a nice guy. In one sense, they'd be getting the debt relief (historically that doesn't mean food or anything good in most situations like this) and like all these kinds of countries where the horrifying leadership or anarchists are running the show, the benefit is for the politicians and often armies in power and not the people. The G8 has tried to work out a way to make debt relief to countries happen so that history doesn't repeat itself. One UK leader (Gordon Brown) noted months ago, that IF the money relieved the various countries (not all in Africa by the way...another important point) would help health, teachers and infrastructure then it would likely be a go. This of course is wonderful (in theory again). In THIS hypothetical world...the relief WOULD matter...a little... Unfortunately with an event of Live 8 magnitude....what could have been done would be to actually *raise* money AND bypass the bad guys in power (something like we did in Indonesia, for example, after the Tsunamia at Christmas) and get real food and medicine to real people who need it. But that extra step doesn't make for good TV and the blind sense is that it will happen anyway, especially to today's young viewer who doesn't know better. And the young viewer will never know the difference... believing that their spokespeople like Geldof and Bono have done something that means something... (and we haven't said that it means *nothing.* It's only naive...I hope.) The request and action from the G8 for debt relief HAS ALREADY HAPPENED for many African nations, and is something they were going to talk about for others (in and out of Africa) long before Live 8 came along. The G8 WANTS debt relief for these poor people. It's a cheap way to make it look like current administrations are doing something that makes a difference. But that too is an illusion. Nothing new is happening here. For example, Somalia (currently not qualifying for debt relief but in need of LOTS OF HELP) owes a lot of money. Now, if the G8 forgives their debt? Big deal. Geldof and Bono can say they have done something cool. Right? Not necessarily. Why? THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT IN SOMALIA to pay or renege on debt. Answer to the Problem? If we REALLY want to feed the starving, we can open up completely free trade with these countries. That is the ONLY long term solution because without jobs there is no money and without money there is no food. Pretty simple math we all get. Finally, there is nothing wrong with 200,000 people squeezing into Hyde Park to see McCartney and Bono, Sir Elton and the rest for a good time....I wish I would have been able to attend. You just hope people don't go home thinking, "I did my part." Because it's like an affirmation: They "thought" something "positive," but nothing tangible for the starving child on the street in Africa will "happen" because of this series of rock concerts and the well intended and very good hearted crowds that went to see their mostly well intended heroes. A few years ago, Coffe with Kevin Hogan did it's annual fundraiser for children in Rwanda. We helped a little, but it was the least "successful" of all of our fundraisers (Afghanistan and Iraq twice, the other years.). The need is unfathomable in Rwanda. But it's so ugly that no one wants to report it. Maybe someday we'll all figure out that borders don't divide the affection of the human heart and that the man in Africa has the same right as the woman in China as the teenager in the USA to live on a planet where they are free to work and feed their family. That's the America, the UK, the Japan, that I want to see emerge. Fearless that we will evolve while we let innocent people who are dying play the game of life on a level playing field.In the British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, Mark Steyn makes some interesting points on the topic of celebrity giving vis-a-vis celebrity earnings. Besides making some good points, his bio page is a pretty funny read.

7/4/05

I have always admired the ability of the private sector to mobilize and do good and worthy things to alleviate the suffering of others. Normally, something like the recent Live8 concerts around the world would fall into that category. However, I read a quote yesterday by Chris Martin of Coldplay (one of my favorite bands) and it says something about the elevated sense of importance that seems to be a part of the whole event. My issue with Live8 was its stated purpose to encourage governments around the world, particularly those in the G8, to forgive African debt and do other things of that nature. To grossly oversimplify, the problems with Africa are endemic and are based on issues of bad government, more than the burden of foreign debt. Live8 is a missed opportunity to mobilize private citizens to give of their money, rather than put pressure on governments to do it.Glenn Reynolds, quoted below in another post, provides some other, possibly more meaningful, issues related to Africa's future.6/30/05The new president of Iran may be a terrorist. Why is this surprising? The international community treated Yasser Arafat like a hero for years, despite his past wrongs. I can't imagine that they will treat this guy any differently. This does bring to mind an interesting question- to what extent are people allowed to change? Is a terrorist always a terrorist? I don't have a problem making that statement regarding this man, or anyone else that considers civilians in a diplomatically shielded embassy to be fair game. In fact, no terrorists of note have ever shown themselves to be anything different. Please correct me if I am wrong.This is a good interview with President Bush by The Times (UK) on some of the issues related to the upcoming G8 summit. As I read the introduction, I can't help but think that the picture liberals paint of him is so totally wrong. Whether you agree with his views is your choice, but the personal attacks are so persistent and prone to hyperbole that they lose all effect. By all means Liberals, keep it up.

6/28/05

Bill Simmons has more about the useless blather that passes for sports commentary these days. What does tremendous upside potential mean? If someone didn't have potential, why would they be drafted? And doesn't it follow that with upside comes downside? It's all a gamble.

6/23/05

The Supreme Court came out with a ruling that is a complete and total disaster. See this post by University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds. This is an affront to property rights and is government intervention at its most extreme, and Justice Thomas' dissent highlighted this perfectly (Here and Here). He, Rhenquist, O'Conner, and Scalia were the dissenters. This is shockingly bad law.

6/16/05

The outcome of the Terri Schiavo ordeal has some finality with the release of her autopsy. This case was so muddled for me. I think the one lesson that each and every one of us can draw is that we should have our legal documents in order. I'm not all that comfortable with what was done, or what was attempted. Everyone was a loser here.Is PBS worth saving? Peggy Noonan thinks so, and I am inclined to agree. That is, if PBS would provide the kind of programming she describes. There should be a place for educational programming that is just not profitable in the arithmetic of commercial television.

6/15/05

I for one don't plan to retire young. I think there is something wrong with our culture. Do we really deserve all that time? We certainly can't afford it anymore.

6/14/05

I thought this was an interesting piece, though incomplete in its analysis of the Madrassa threat. Madrassas are the Saudi Arabian schools known to be breeding grounds for Fundamentalist Islam. This article dismisses their danger because, of the persons known to be involved in terrorist acts on U.S. soil, none of them attended a Madrassa. We should know by now that terrorism off of U.S. soil is just as detrimental to our interests.

6/13/05

This excellent article, by the Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger, demonstrates how the Supreme Court decision allowing federal prosecution of medicinal marijuana users wounds conservatism. I never thought of this, and especially enjoyed reading the excerpt of Clarence Thomas' dissent. Draw your own conclusions.

6/7/05

How diligent and intellectual was John Kerry during his college years? Not very different from, and perhaps inferior to, the President. Interesting.

6/6/05

Happy Anniversary to Lacy & I! 2 years come and gone, and Big 'J' 6 weeks away!Mitt Romney ran the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic games, and now he is the governor of Massachusetts. He is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How is a Mormon doing as chief executive of one the country's most liberal states? What does this, and his faith. say about a run for the U.S. Presidency? The Weekly Standard has some answers (Thanks to Right Wing Pundit). It is a very well-rounded article.In the same site, find this positive portrayal of the French. I don't know many people who have as negative an opinion of the French system as I do. Over the past several years, I have been particularly tough on them. Where I have been unfair, is in my mental lumping of the French people with the system. While you can't disconnect them completely from the problems of that system, you must read the article to find the commonality of thought that made them our allies for so many years. Sovereignty matters.

6/2/05

Additional perspective on the identity of "Deep Throat" by Peggy Noonan. As always, she looks at things on a deeper level. This article from the New York Times provides background on the story, and how the revelation was even more unexpected for some.

5/24/05

Some of you may have heard that there was a deal to end the impasse over President Bush's judical nominees. As a conservative, I think this is a disaster. Senator George Allen stated (quoted by the Washington Post):Overall this is a major disappointment on principle...This so-called deal is disappointing for all of us who believe in the principle that persons should be accorded the fairness and due process of an up or down vote. Everyone should also clearly see that ultimately, nothing has been settled when a vacancy arises on the U.S. Supreme Court.I thought we won this election. I thought that meant that we would not only nominate conservative judges, but use our newfound might to get them confirmed. The Democrats have been dishonest about this issue, and McCain and his six Republican allies have let down their party, as well as those who elected them. I hope Bill Frist ignores the deal, and forces them to take sides and be counted.

5/23/05

Back from vacation, so here goes:This article is by Daniel Okrent, the departing Public Editor of the New York Times. He writes an excellent column that sums up many of the problems with journalism, and the NYT in particular. It is worth the time of the free registration.

5/5/05

Anybody who doesn't think there are serious problems with our educational system needs to read this article in the New York Times. All that money parents spend on preparation, all the tips and tricks for a higher score come down to this simple plan: write longer. (free registration required).I read Peggy Noonan every Thursday on www.opinionjournal.com. Her insights are excellent. This week's column is apolitical, and touches on some very interesting points on privacy and the sharing of personal information. I guess there is some kind of talent, if that's the right word, that allows people to share such things with class and dignity, while others often fail so miserably.Link of the Day: Another great column by Bill Simmons on Steroids and the loss of baseball's innocence. I don't share his lackadaisical reaction to steroid use, but I do agree 100% with his criticism of the whiners (I said as much in my entry from March 22).

5/2/05

Check out this page for some really specific criticism of American Idol. ABC is planning a major piece that is highly critical of the show for different reasons, among them a rumor that Paula Abdul had a relationship with a contestant. It will air on Primetime Live sometime soon.

4/28/05

This is a great article about a man named Ted Hayes. Hayes is a resident of Los Angeles, is a social Activist, and a black Republican. It is worth checking out. Here is a photo: . He has had an interesting life.I am pretty pumped about some of the summer movies, but in particular this one. I have always been a Superhero fan, but if I had to choose a favorite, Batman edges Superman and Spiderman. As a kid I did my share of "flying" and "webslinging," but for some reason the Dark Knight is the fave.

4/26/05

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent commentary piece by Thomas Sowell. It takes a look at the effect of culture vs. race, and its conclusion is one that Bill Cosby would probably agree with.And this is a pretty interesting article about a Utah billionaire. Its worth taking a look at (links good for 7 days).

4/25/05

I find Russia's Putin a bit disconcerting. Bush is friendly with him, which seems smart, but he is definitely someone to watch. Check out this article for more. I think Reagan would not be a big fan.

4/15/05

From John Fund of the Wall Street Journal's Political Diary:With a Supreme Court vacancy likely to open up in June with the expected retirement of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Republicans are dithering on whether or not to end filibusters of judicial nominations. They should know that if they fail to use parliamentary procedure to restrict future filibusters only to actual legislation, they are inviting months of Senate gridlock this summer over any Bush Supreme Court nominee."There's nothing in the Constitution that says that there has to be 51 votes for that judge," claims New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the mastermind behind the Democratic filibuster strategy that has so far blocked 10 of Mr. Bush's appellate court nominees. He sang a different tune back in 2000, when he wanted to dislodge some Clinton nominees from the Judiciary Committee before the November election. "I also plead with my colleagues to move judges with alacrity -- vote them up or down," Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor. "But this delay makes a mockery of the Constitution, makes a mockery of the fact that we are here working, and makes a mockery of the lives of very sincere people who have put themselves forward to be judges and then they hang out there in limbo." Mr. Schumer had a legitimate point back then about Republican obstructionism, which makes his current turnaround on the issue shamelessly opportunistic. He should know that the Constitution's Advice and Consent clause clearly states that a simple majority of Senators can confirm nominees, and a Supreme Court decision in 1892 upheld that interpretation. That standard is well known and is the only logical answer to why Democrats did not filibuster Justice Clarence Thomas' nomination in 1991. Back then, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, flatly rejected calls by outside liberal groups for a filibuster of the Thomas nomination. "The president and the nominee and all Americans deserve an up or down vote" on the nomination, Leahy said. "I am totally opposed to a filibuster."Mr. Leahy was joined in his opposition by Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who had been the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1988. In decrying a possible filibuster of Mr. Thomas, he wrote: "As a matter of high priority, the Senate should change its rules so that we can act responsibly, more rapidly and with more certainty on the major issues our nation faces."Today, rather than face down the more extreme interest groups urging filibusters of judicial nominations, Senate Democrats seem to have abdicated their responsibilities to them. On the Hugh Hewitt radio program both Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, and Ralph Neas, executive director of People for the American Way, pledged this week to filibuster any conservative Bush nominee to the high court. When asked if he would oppose Mike McConnell, a widely respected judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals who has criticized the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision in 2000, Mr. Neas noted: "Mike was a colleague of mine at the University of Chicago Law School. Lovely individual, but truly extreme on a wide range of issues." Former Democratic Senator Zell Miller of Georgia told me last year that his former colleagues are incapable of saying no to the liberal groups that want to block any Bush court nominee. But he also said that Republicans are foolish if they believe Democrats will shut down the Senate if filibusters on judicial nominations are ruled out of order. "Senators need to get business done and folks back home will demand they do," he said. "A work stoppage wouldn't last long."

3/22/05

Recently, the U.S. congress held hearings regarding the issue of steroids in baseball. This was really irritating to me. I don't think Congress has any business getting involved in this issue. Wouldn't our money be better spent by working on some of the truly substantive issues that we face.All the business about the "sanctity of the game" is a crock. Baseball is a business. Congress needs to get a sense of perspective about this. Moreover, the issue of teens and steroids will not go away because of federal or state hearings. This is a cultural problem. I don't want kids using steroids, but Congress' involvement does nothing more than provide pre-election photo-ops

3/6/05

What to make of all the turmoil in the Middle East? What has emboldened the Lebanese to stand up to their Syrian occupiers? You have to credit the Palestinian and Iraqi elections. You have to attribute at least part of it to the presence of American troops in the region. The everyday Lebanese likes America, just as the everyday Iranian does. They like our culture and want to emulate it, and now we are there, nearby. I don't think democracy in the Middle East is as far away as people think.Liberals everywhere are forced to face the prospect that this may be Bush's doing. They have to face the prospect that using force to punish bad people leads to positive shockwaves around the world. This is hard for some who, having deep dislike for Bush, would see our failure in the Mid East as a sort of blessing.The truth is that people want freedom. The gift of agency, to make decisions about your own life is a gift from God. Each of us is born with a desire to choose for ourselves, and given the opportunity, we will take it.

2/21/05

Some of you may be aware of the recent scuffle up at Harvard University over remarks made by the current president, Larry Summers. He made some comments to the effect that women are underrepresented in careers in Math and Science because of hard-wired genetic differences. Basically, women are genetically less capable than men.My purpose here is not to debate the validity of his opinion. I am shocked that the left, the self-proclaimed champions of tolerance and openness, are skewering one of their own because he said something contrary to liberal orthodoxy. This is just evidence that some liberals welcome only opinions that they agree with. This is blatantly hypocritical. Just something to think about.

Joseph's Story (July - August 2005)

Joseph's Story
As written by me in July & August of 2005

This page is dedicated to my son, Joseph Edward Lowry III. It was always my intention to make a page where I could keep track of his growth. I never anticipated that he would have such an exciting beginning. Some people might look at what I've written and wonder how I could have written so much. To be honest, I didn't do it for you. I wanted to have a record of everything that had happened to Joseph, for his benefit and mine. I do hope that it is of interest and provides perspective on what has been a very tumultuous little life.
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Joseph was born on July 27, 2005 at North Florida Regional Medical Center. He weighed 9 lbs and was 22 inches long. Lacy was incredible during the labor and delivery, and we were overcome when our son finally arrived. The photo above was taken by my mom just seconds after Little Joey was born.
Unfortunately, it became apparent that his color was not right. Most babies have a bluish appearance when they are born. This rapidly changes when the lungs inflate and oxygen-rich blood goes through the body giving it a nice pink color. J-III did not turn that pink color so they took him to test his lungs. After a moment of examination at Lacy's bedside they decided to take him to the nursery to examine him more closely. I followed him there as they looked him over. After a moment they asked me to leave so that they could intubate him, or put a tube down his throat to help him get more oxygen. I left the room as they started not really knowing what it all meant.
We waited for a few minutes, expecting that all would surely be well and they would bring him back to our room. After a time our nurse midwife Ann Marie Fenn, OB-GYN Anthony Agrios, and pediatrician Marci Slayton walked in to discuss what was going on with Joey. At that point we were told that the level of oxygen that he was receiving was not sufficient and that our sick little boy would need to be transported to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida very soon. Needless to say, we were both shocked. Thus continued a very long day.
We were told that there were at least two possible causes for his condition- a diaphragmatic hernia or a heart defect. I think we were both still in shock, and it took some time for me to understand what all of that meant. I should take the time to point out that everything in this pregnancy had been wonderful, from Lacy's health to the entire labor and delivery up to that point. The occurrence of his condition only further highlighted some of the other things that went right.
That day a neonatologist from Shands was on his normal visit to North Florida and he was able to see Joseph right away. He prescribed a drug that improved Joey's oxygen levels, so that he was a pale white color, rather than the unusual blue. Dr. Morse (the neonatologist) referred him to Shands very soon, and the helicopter was able to take him there within 1 1/2 hours after birth. All of these things were a blessing for us, in the midst of a very scary time. All of the staff at North Florida were fantastic, and attended to Lacy and me with so much compassion and concern. Additionally, two of Lacy's friends from her time working as a diabetes research assistant, Jen and Liz, were there to care for her when I went to Shands to see to Joseph. There were so many people there who had a part in her recovery. Our hearts are full of gratitude for them.
As much as any of these occurrences, faith played a major role in our ability to cope with what was going on. Before he was taken to Shands from North Florida, my father and I had time to give him a priesthood blessing. It was difficult for me to put my hands on his little head and then focus on what Heavenly Father had in mind for this little guy. I felt very peaceful and knew that Heavenly Father would watch over him and those taking care of him. That peaceful feeling has been with me since that time, and I know that he is being watched over by Heavenly Father.
Joseph arrived at Shands that morning and was immediately subjected to a whole series of tests. They diagnosed him with a defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries. This page from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital explains the nature of this defect. If left uncorrected, it is usually a fatal defect. Fortunately, the doctors at Shands Hospital, specifically Dr. Paolillo with the help of others, performed a heart catheterization procedure called a septostomy. This procedure widens an existing space between the left and right ventricles of the heart to allow mixing of oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood. This allowed his oxygen saturation levels to improve so that the major surgery is no longer considered an emergency. Now it was time to determine where it should be performed.
Surgery on congenital heart defects is a highly specialized field. After consulting with one of the cardiologists at Shands we agreed that Miami Children's Hospital provided the best mix of expert surgeons and convenience for us, owing to my family presence there. After they contacted the hospital in Miami, they were told that they would come pick him up by jet that day (Thursday, July 28th). We waited at Shands until they took him, planning to follow him the next day. We arrived in Miami in time to visit Joey before going to my Uncle & Aunt's house, Ari & Kelly Sastre for some much needed rest after a long day. Joseph was stable, and we felt good about the people caring for him.
Today is Sunday, July 31st. Joseph continues to be stable, and we await his surgery, scheduled for Tuesday, August 2nd. The surgery is called an arterial switch. The surgeon will take the aorta and the pulmonary artery and switch them. This is the easy part of the procedure. The more delicate part of the surgery is moving the coronary arteries to the right place. All of Joseph's blood vessels are small, but the coronary arteries are very small. We feel very fortunate that our surgeon is highly skilled and very experienced. Additionally, Transposition is a common defect, and he has a lot of experience repairing this kind of condition. I will update this page with news on his condition as I can.
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Monday passed without incident. Sunday night was especially nice, because the nurse asked us if we wanted to give Joseph a bath. I changed his diaper for the first time. We went home tired, happy to have been able to participate in his care in a more meaningful way. Monday we met with Cristi, a nurse practitioner in the practice of Dr. Redmond Burke, the surgeon who would be performing the procedure. She explained what we should expect to occur. I'll provide a run-down of the procedure as I understand it:
Joseph is taken from the ICU by several nurses and the anesthesiologist to the operating room, where he will be connected to all the necessary machines. He is sedated and prepared for the surgery to begin.
A person known as the profusionist prepares the heart-lung bypass machine. In order for this to work properly, they have to reroute the blood away from the heart and lungs. Because blood wants to clot when it leaves the body, they must use blood thinners to keep it flowing. This allows the doctor to stop the heart so that the procedure can be performed.
The doctor can now begin the surgery, severing the aorta and pulmonary artery above the heart valves. The arteries are then switched, reattached with hundreds of tiny stitches.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the surgery comes next, where the coronary arteries are moved. The coronary arteries supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. These too must be reattached to insure that the heart gets nourishment. These are very small in an adult, and tiny in a child. Once again, much precision and many, many stitches are required.
Some time after the above procedure, he is removed from the bypass machine (hopefully) so that normal blood flow can be restored to the heart. This will allow the doctor to see that the heart is pumping normally and that there are no leaks in any of the valves.
At this point, his chest may or may not be closed, and the amount of time on the ventilator will vary. We are hopeful that he will be able to go home in about 2 weeks. During that 2 weeks many things will occur, and I will keep a record of that here.
The highlight of Monday occurred about 6:30pm. Our nurse at the time, Luisa, told Lacy that she should go to the bathroom because if she was going to hold the baby, she wouldn't be able to get up. Needless to say, this overjoyed her as she has been unable to hold him since the birth. When he was placed on her after being born, there was so much commotion that this constituted the first real time she has had to hold him in her arms. It was very emotional for both of us (I was fairly jealous) and he was calm and seemed so happy to be in his mom's arms. I gave him a father's blessing while he was there. She held him for almost an hour before it was time for us to go back to Ari & Kelly's house for dinner and sleep. Tuesday would be a long day.
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We got to the hospital this morning (Tuesday, August 2nd) at about 6:45am. Joseph looked very peaceful, and had a good night's rest according to Susie, his nurse. We had a few moments with him, snapped a few photos, and waited for Dr. Burke. He arrived and had a very reassuring manner. He explained a few things, and assured us that he would be gentle and do his best for Joey. We asked him if we could have a prayer with him, and he agreed. We accompanied Joseph to the opening of the operating room and returned to wait. At 9:30 we got an update that he was on the bypass machine and that we would hear from them again at 11am. We are calmer than expected, and have faith that Heavenly Father will hear our prayers and watch over our son.
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As we sat talking at about 12:30, Linda (another Nurse Practitioner from Dr. Burke's practice) came in to tell us that the surgery was completed and that they were able to seal his chest. This was great news, and seemed earlier than expected. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Burke came in to discuss the surgery, showed us some pictures of his tiny heart, and told us that Joseph would be out shortly. He came out and the change in his color was astounding. He almost looked like a different baby. We are so grateful, and know that the fasting and many prayers on his behalf were instrumental during this time.
We just went in to see him (2pm). The past six days made us accustomed to the sight of his little body and all the different tubes that helped him gain strength. As you can imagine, the number of tubes in his body post-operation seem to have multiplied. It still fills us with some apprehension to see him like that, but the peace that I've felt since shortly after we learned of his condition continues. We sat in his room for a while and watch him enjoy heavily sedated slumber. Very tired, we returned to the house to get some rest.
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We went to the hospital today and were excited to hear that they were going to extubate him. We did not expect this for at least another day, so it was a real relief to be able to look at his face. His swelling improved as well. The most difficult part of the post-surgery period is the waiting. It may yet be several weeks before we can take him home, so in the mean time we wait as various tubes are removed day by day. We see more and more of his personality (he has blue eyes) and feel a little bit more like real parents. He is a beautiful little boy, and I feel so grateful for his good recovery. Even Dr. Burke, the surgeon, mentioned today that he is a strong baby and having a very fast recovery. I just need to be patient and trust that all will continue to go well. Once again, Lacy and I discuss how blessed we are.
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Two days have passed since the surgery and Joseph's progress is exceptional. I came to the hospital this morning to see how he was doing and Dr. Bolivar, one of the cardiologists, mentioned that Joseph's progress was "amazing." He also added that he was on pace for one of the fastest recoveries they have ever had. The only concern was a collapsed lung that they optimistic about. It seems to be normal for someone who has been on a heart-lung machine and who has all of the accompanying secretions. This will probably take some time to pass.
Today was markedly better than yesterday. It is hard to watch him there, and today was so much more interactive. I got to hold him for the first time, and Lacy was able to feed him some breastmilk. His stomach was able to keep it all down without a problem, and so we are hopeful that they will be able to shift him to 100% breastmilk within a short period of time.
We also continue to be impressed with the breadth and quantity of prayers offered for Joseph. We received a nice teddy bear and some ballons from Investacorp, the Broker-Dealer with whom I am a registered securities representative. My father spoke with the CEO Bruce Swiegart, a very nice man, and he mentioned that some individuals confessed that while not normally inclined to pray, they felt impressed to pray for Joseph. He has been prayed for by Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and Jews in Churches, Chapels, and Temples. His welfare has been the source of fasting and pleading. All of this for one small child, my child. It overcomes me to think of it, and fills me with gratitude. My own life has been so free of trials. The outpouring of love on his behalf is a source of strength and promotes my own faith.
All of this makes me think of the man who pleaded for healing from the Savior. He said, "I believe...Help thou mine unbelief." This was my prayer for my son, and the Lord has answered it and continues to answer it. This great blessing is not without price, for the responsibility it places on Lacy and me is to teach him to love and serve God and his fellow man. This means that our own lives must be consistent with that goal. Sometimes these kinds of prayers are not answered the way that we want them to be. Lacy and I feel very fortunate that ours was answered in the desired way, and we feel like something is expected of us as a result.
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August 5th- my birthday. I have everything that I could want- a loving wife and a healthy (and improving) son. I have seen the power of faith manifest in the life of my son, and that gift will last much longer than the other things I might hope for. I am also impressed by how blessed we are with regard to Joseph's heart condition being limited in scope. Many of the infants here in the Cardiac ICU are very small or have multiple significant defects. We can anticipate no further surgeries and a normal life for Joey. That is another gift.
I ran to the hospital to deliver some breastmilk and then Lacy's mom, my mom, Lacy and I went to the Gables Diner for a big birthday breakfast. Since then we've spent a great day with Joseph ( I fed him for the first time). Soon we will be heading back to Ari & Kelly's for some birthday pizza, and then perhaps back to the hospital tonight. Lacy's mom heads back to California tomorrow, and it has been wonderful having both of our moms here to see us and the baby. We will miss her when she leaves.
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I had a great little birthday party, a surprise by Kelly & Ari, and we had a nice night with everyone, which included missing our little guy. August 6th was a nice day as well, as Joseph's condition continued to improve. He had been eating expressed breastmilk from the bottle for the past two days, and they told us that Lacy could try to breastfeed him directly. Immediately he latched on to Lacy, and although the duration of the feeding was not all that long, it was promising. By the end of the day she had nursed several times and he seemed to be a natural. We went home pretty happy, but it gets harder to leave him each day.
I spoke to a father whose daughter has the same condition. She has not yet received the arterial switch operation, and I could see on the father's face the same look that I must have had. Even having passed through the same situation, I find it hard to put myself back in his shoes, so different do I feel today. Additionally, the complexity of these procedures is such that I could hardly promise him anything based on our experience. I do have great confidence in the Dr. Burke, and I told him as much. Even giving all due credit to Dr. Burke's prowess, I have to attribute a lot of Joey's success to Heavenly Father.
As if to further punctuate this, J-III was moved out of the ICU to what they call "The Floor." We share a room with a young kid named Joe (so at one point there were 4 Joe's in one room) and he is nice and keeps the volume down. We were surprised to be moving from the ICU so soon. They told us that Joe was just too healthy for the ICU. One step closer to going home. This also means that we are responsible for more of his care, and that Lacy can stay here overnight to nurse him. We are not happy about the separation and are even more eager to get home. Of course our concern from Joseph outweighs this desire, but I do think that we will be home by next Friday at the latest. That would be fantastic.
Some of you may noticed that I refer to Joseph by several different names (Joseph, Joey, J-III). The reason is that we still haven't figured out what to call him. I like J-III for fun. Its like his street name, or rap name. I know that some in the family like Lacy's sister Lillie like Joey for him. Lacy has yet to weigh in with her firm choice. Maybe when we get home this decision will fall into place for us.
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Sunday was our first night in a regular room and it was a long, tiring night. We quickly realized how pampered we were in the ICU with regard to the amount of nursing care that he received. We are grateful to have him close to us though, and look forward to having him home for good. Monday was a lot of sitting, with some errands thrown in, as we waited for Joseph's progress. By Monday night he was free of any oxygen tubes of any kind and had a much better night (or at least, I had a much better night). Monday morning the doctor mentioned that he would like for us to be able to leave in a few days. We didn't know exactly what that meant.
When the doctors came by for rounds Tuesday morning, we were so close to being discharged. They elected to keep him in the hospital for one more day, just to check on his chest congestion. The day has passed without incident, and as I type this at 10:49 on Tuesday August 9th, it is with confidence that Wednesday is a day of liberation for all of us, and only 8 days after surgery. I keep looking around for Joseph's gold medal, but I guess they don't actually have anything like that. We are so glad to be going home. We have developed a pattern here that is workable, but the idea of going home is the utopian ideal.
I feel like I should reiterate how fortunate we have been at every step of the way. Everyone we have interacted with has been wonderful, within the hospitals and without. Things like this bring out the goodness in all of us. I can honestly say I am grateful for trials.
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It is now the evening of August 14th and we have been home for several days. The routine of being a "normal" parent is decidedly lacking in routine. There have been a few sleepless nights, for Lacy mostly, and a few days where it seemed like all the little guy wanted to do was eat (another thing that has affected Lacy primarily). Still, for all these minor inconveniences, we are so glad to be home. After all, it will take some time for Joey to establish the behaviors that he was unable to learn over the time that he was in the hospital.
I went to Church today and I felt overwhelming gratitude, for God, family, and friends. My heart was full, and it was hard to keep all my feelings in check. I don't think I could describe them in a way that makes any sense, but they were there and in full effect. I know that the trials of parenthood will be many and varied, but Lacy and I have established the foundation upon which to build our future. We're so fortunate that Joseph will be a part of that.

My Kids (August 2005 - March 2007)

When I was wondering what to name this page, I realized that Joseph really is the Son of the Spanish Phrase of the Day. When I first met Lacy, I had only been writing the SPOTD for a few months. Her then-roommate, Cara Larson, was a recipient and this allowed me to get Lacy's e-mail address under the guise of adding her to the list. This led to regular correspondence, then a relationship, and finally, almost 3 years after our first meeting, to the birth of Joseph Edward Lowry III, the son of SPOTD.

17 March 2007
It's hard for me to imagine an age that is as much fun as Joseph's right now. At the same time it is a difficult age, but the speed of his development is amazing. He says new things all the time. He gets excited by it too.
I've added some new photos. In the first new one Joseph is walking in the woodsy part of my parent's backyard. In the second he and Nicole are having a "hwisy ride" as Joseph likes to say. The bottom left photo is Joseph enjoyed some of Lacy's salad (he'll eat almost anything). In the middle is Joseph with a phone (he loves the phone) and in the last he is enjoying some toast (who doesn't?).
I guess kids start to learn when things are funny, and even try a little comedy. Joseph does some funny things and especially likes to wrestle around, throw the ball, and build with his blocks. He looked at Lacy's belly today and called it a ball. We both got a kick out of that. It will be interesting to see how he is around his sister.


24 February 2007
I had one of those moments the other day. I was walking with Joseph to the playground near our house and I looked at this funny litle kid of mine and thought, "This is my son." It is a little surreal to think about having a child, raising a child, and everything that goes along with that. The time passes so fast. He is such a little sponge, sometimes he learns things that we don't even realize he is learning.


17 February 2007
We're having a lot of fun with Joseph. His new thing is singing. I've shown that in the video below. We wrestle a lot and he loves to be thrown around, especially on our bed. We are excited to move into our new house soon. We don't have much of a yard right now in our townhome and the new place will have a much larger space. Joseph is fun, sometimes a little crazy, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
He's learning to share and is a great eater. He chows down on every kind of fruit, loves bananas more than anything, and continues his obsession with The Wiggles. I can now sing most of the Wiggle songs from memory, but there are worse afflictions.

Lacy is closer and closer to the arrival of Lowry Baby Girl. No name yet, and we are keeping it a secret when we do come up with it, much to the consternation of the family. We are excited to have a little girl in our home. Joseph should be a good older brother.
14 January 2007
I made this little video of Joseph dancing and playing the other night. In the first part he is dancing to the Wiggles and even tries to stand on one foot. It's the first time that we realized that he knows the motions to the song. In the second one he is trying to catch up with the video camera, which leads to a Hollywood style chase in the living room.

12 January 2007
We had a great trip to San Diego and had a ton of fun with Lacy's family. I've included a few pictures from the trip above. Lacy's sister has also posted some great pictures on her blog.
Joseph is learning so fast. I plan to put together a little video that I took today of him dancing and chasing the camera. He is so smart (of course) and communicating just gets easier and easier. He loves to play and building has started to replace destroying as the game of choice. All in all good news.


15 December 2006
I've been a slacker lately, but much has happened. Joseph continues to get bigger and understand more and more. Among his favorite words are milk, Wiggles, and yeah. It is so much fun to be able to communicate with him more


20 October 2006
I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I last wrote. Joseph has been adding new things at a rapid clip lately. He treats everything like a telephone, from acorns to wheat thins. He loves to hold things to his face and say his own version of "hello."


27 September 2006
Today marked Joseph's 14 month birthday. The time continues to fly by, and today was a special day for me as well because, for the first time, Joseph got really sad when I left for the office. He has never been all that clingy with me, but when he saw me going through my normal "get ready to leave" routine he came over and wanted me to hold him. I picked him up, gave him a kiss and put him down to leave and he followed me to the door where I could see him crying (really crying) as I walked away. It was a proud moment for me. Who'd have thought that seeing my son cry could make me so happy?
I've added a few photos above, with the most recent ones being of Joseph's recent trip to California with his mommy. You should also check out this little video that I put together.


7 September 2006
Joseph is walking everywhere now. He spends very little time crawling, almost none really, and enjoys climbing all over the furniture. As you can see from the picture above, he has taken to sitting in my favorite chair.
He continues to grow and develop at a normal pace, and his antics are a lot of fun. He talks more than ever, sleeps well at night, and loves to play and wrestle with us. He is a fun guy.


5 August 2006
Joseph turned one year old last week, the 27th. We were in California with Lacy's family and spent the day at the Beach, where Joseph enjoyed his first cupcake (see last picture above). It was a fun day. Today we had a small party with family and friends in Gainesville (my birthday is today) and it was also fun, though the heat kept he and his cousins a bit subdued.
It has been a wonderful year. Despite some of the issues related to Joseph's heart, being a father is something that is rewarding and well worth whatever effort is required. Joseph is walking frequently, talking all the time, and getting into EVERYTHING, but I'd rather have a spunky kid like him.


4 July 2006
Joseph is 11 months old and he is so close to walking. He has taken a few unassisted steps, and he can tell by our reaction how excited it makes us. As soon as his bottom hits the ground he is smiling and clapping. He is a pretty stubborn kid too, and teaching him to leave certain things alone is a bear.
Besides saying "Mama" or "Dada" we heard him say hello today as I was passing the phone to Lacy. We weren't sure if he actually said it, but a moment later he did it again. Pretty exciting stuff. He really loves going to the beach and going to the pool, which is a lot of fun for us. As you can see in the picture above, he got a little tricycle as a new toy and it is fun to see him push it around.


18 June 2006
My first Father's day was a good one. We woke up bright and early (Thanks Joseph) and left Naples where we were attending a conference. Being a dad continues to be pretty great. My life has changed a great deal since Joseph was born and I wouldn't have it any other day. It is a remarkable thing to hold him and see his growth.


4 June 2006
Being a dad is a wonderful experience. Joseph doesn't sleep as long as we'd like, but aside from that he is pretty much as easy a baby as we could hope for. Watching him develop is remarkable too. It seems like new things just come to him. The other day he lifted himself up and took his hands off of the bouncy seat to stand unassisted. It was only for a few moments, but Lacy and I saw and when he fell back to the ground we cheered and clapped. Now he understood this was a good thing and began doing it a lot. He is able to stand for longer periods of time, and I guess this a precursor to walking around.
Joseph's favorite song is Upside Down by Jack Johnson. Its from the Curious George soundtrack and we heartily recommend it. Every time it comes on he starts to bob his head or wave his hands. He's always liked music, but responds most consistently to that one. Needless to say, we play it a lot, especially when he is eating. By the way, when a baby eats, it is messy- ME-EH-SSY. I'm still getting used to this, including my probably-futile effort to have a 'clean feeding.' No doubt other parents will call me a dreamer.


23 May 2006
The news on Joseph is all good. He stands up all the time and we have become well acquainted with several kinds of gates to find the one that works in our house. It is not a perfect solution for his newfound tendency to get into EVERYTHING, but it will do.
We've taken him swimming and he really seems to like the water.


29 April 2006
Joseph got sick with some kind of stomach bug. It was no fun, but after a few days he seems back to normal and we enjoyed a really fun visit by Ross & Lillie Biesinger and their daughter Sophia. Lillie is Lacy's sister. Sophia is adorable and she and Joseph had fun getting to know each other. I have attached some pictures on this page for you to see.


20 April 2006
Joseph is crawling like a champ, loves to clap his hands together, and can pull himself onto his feet by using furniture. It is fun to see him grow and develop.
We visited the cardiologist a week ago and they are very pleased with his progress. He continues to have a murmur, probably due to the way they repositioned his arteries during surgery, but the volume of bloodflow is very good. I hadn't been to a cardiologist visit since right after we returned from the hospital, so it was a little bit surprising how it felt to be in a doctor's office talking about his condition. He is doing well.


29 March 2006
Joseph has now executed some successful crawls and weighs almost 20 lbs. One of his favorite things is (when he is in a good mood) to have someone say 'Da da da.' He will then repeat it, sometimes doing this funny thing where he holds his breath and turns red. Its really funny. I would like to be able to day that his 'Da da da' refers to me, his da-da-dy, but I think it is just a fun syllable for him.
We did the March of Dimes WalkAmerica last weekend and Joseph was great for the entire 8.6 miles. It took one mid-Walk feeding and 2 diaper changes, but we made it through. It was fun to see a lot of other families and babies. We were glad to participate.


5 March 2006
Joseph is doing great. He is on the verge on crawling, just got his first two teeth, is eating solid foods (pureed at least), graduated to a bigger car seat, and gets to be more and more fun. His heart is strong and the cardiologists have been very pleased with the outcome of his corrective surgery. He has a slight murmur, but it may not cause any significant trouble down the road.
I am going to put together some clips of the baby to post on the web. It will be fun to show him off to some of you that are far away. More on that to come.


4 December 2005
It has been a few weeks since I've written anything about Joseph. He is now 16 & 1/2 pounds and more than 26 inches long, placing him in the 90-something percentile for height and the 75th for weight. He is more interactive with his surroundings and can stand up quite well, though not balance- one thing at a time folks.
We saw some of the new babies in our Church congregation yesterday, and it is amazing to think that he was ever that small. Lacy and I are so glad to have him. We set up our Christmas tree and decorations last night and it is fun to know that we will share this Christmas with our little Joseph. He continues to smile all the time and was a great little traveler during our Thanksgiving trip to San Diego. He is generally sleeping better at night, despite being a bit restless these last few nights after having his second set of immunizations.


17 November 2005
Joey is over fifteen pounds and getting very strong.


7 November 2005
Joseph continues to develop. He makes all kinds of fun noises now really likes to play. I know that these kinds of things must sound mundane, but every day has new surprises and fun new developments. He is getting stronger in his legs as well (I work them out on occasion- he'll be walking in a week, I know it).
He still doesn't sleep for very long periods at night. We're not sure when this will change, and have tried a few different things to remedy it. I've put some new pics in. I hope you like them. Most of these were taken over the past week or so. He is now almost 3 1/2 months old now.


31 October 2005
Sorry to all of you other parents, but my kid is just about the cutest around. Check out the new pics.


18 October 2005
Joseph III is now over 14 pounds. We can really see his growth. I think I mention this everytime, but he smiles most of the time that he is awake. It tends to slow me down in the morning, because I can't really ignore him when he is looking at me. It is great to see how he develops.


7 Oct 2005
Joey gets cuter and cuter. We are still working on the sleep thing, but its not such a bad thing when you pick him up out of the crib and he is smiling at you before too long. He loves music and likes to play. I don't think we could ask for a better kid.
I added some pictures below of J-III with his little friend Hunter White. They're not really aware of each other yet, but putting them on the ground together was fun.


30 Sept 2005
Joey has decided that he would rather wake up every 2 or 3 hours to eat at night, rather than sleeping for 4 or 5. He seems to have picked up his parent's taste for food. I think it may be an issue with how we wrap him at night. He is a wiggler, so sometimes his blanket comes undone and he wakes up. Funny kid. He really is an easy baby otherwise, and we are in more of a parental rhythm now than ever.


23 Sept 2005
Time rolls on as Joseph is over 12 pounds now. He smiles even more and has started making some really cute noises. He had his shots this week and took it like a pro.


15 Sept 2005
Joseph is over 11 pounds now and doing great. His second follow-up with the cardiologist here in Gainesville was even better than the first and everything is looking well. Joseph is smiling a lot now, and is a lot of fun for us to interact with.


7 Sept 2005
Yesterday Lacy went to a New Mother's Lunch at the hospital where J-III was born. While she was there, she weighed him and he is a whopping 10 1/2 pounds. That's my boy!


29 August 2005
I got Joseph to stop crying and smile at my today. It was a major breakthrough in the "When will he be more interactive?" watch. Lacy and I are sure that he is very advanced (what parent doesn't?). He had his first trip to Church yesterday as well, and performed like a pro. He enjoys taking walks in the stroller as well, which makes it nice for Lacy and I.


24 August 2005
Joseph continues to grow, now over 9lbs 4 ounces, having gained almost a pound in a week. You wouldn't even know that he had open-heart surgery except for the scar. We continue to be delighted by everything that he does. He seems to be focusing more on objects that he sees, and we are hoping to see more smiles out of him- this is supposed to be the timeframe where that happens.


17 August 2005
Joseph had his three week birthday and is doing fantastic. Since being discharged from the hospital he has almost regained his birthweight. We went to the pediatrician and cardiologist on Monday. Both were very pleased with Joseph's progress. Not a bad thing when the only good news is good news.

My Kids (April-October 2007)

October 30, 2007
The kids keep on growing. It's really hard to break down months into a paragraph or two. Lacy has been blogging and provides some really funny stories. Joseph amuses us all the time with his endless energy and the stuff that he says. When he is finished eating he says "I feel much better." When we as him if he wants a particular food he sometimes says "No thank you." When he falls down playing soccer he gets up and says "I'm 'kay, I'm kay." He also says "Run Daddy! Run!" Sometimes I get home from work and asks, "Come play soccer with me Daddy!" It is a lot of fun.
Millie had her six month appointment today. She is over 27 inches, over 17 lbs and as sweet a little baby as I've ever seen. She laughs a lot, smiles even more and is sleeping every well most nights. It's dramatically easier in that department than it was with Joseph.
August 18, 2007
I can't believe this much time has passed since I've written here. A lot has happened. Joseph moved to a big bed and due to some special provisions is now sleeping very well at night. For about a week Millie has slept through the night. This is unreal for us, because Joseph took more than a year to sleep through the night, and it took a lot of work to get him there.
Millie is absolutely delightful. She smiles all the time, is getting so strong. She also laughs, likes to be on her stomach and has started sucking her thumb. At least for the time being it is adorable.
Joseph is growing up, in every way. Check out Lacy's blog for some great pictures- http://lacylowry.blogspot.com.

July 9, 2007
We have been in Marco Island enjoying the beach since the 1st. It has been a lot of fun to have Joseph at the beach with his cousins Nicole, Michelle, & Tison. We do the beach in shifts, as Millie is too small for our lovely summer weather. We built (and Joseph has destroyed) many sand castles. This morning Lacy is out with Joseph. He has settled into a nice little routine. Out around nine or ten, back for lunch, nap and then back out between 3 and 4. He loves to "fwim in da water." For him that means sitting on the steps, blowing bubbles, and screaming whenever I take him for a lap around the shallows. He is getting progressively more comfortable with the water, and with 21 days to go I think he may quit screaming before we leave.
Millie is as sweet as can be. She has an extremely mild temperament and smiles all the time. She is sleeping very well at night, last night from 10 to 5. Since we arrived at the beach Joseph has been sleeping on a full-size air mattress in our room. It has been an interesting challenge for him to transition from a crib. He has done fairly well, but it does make me miss the confines of the crib. 5:30 am has been my wake-up for the last few days.

June 23, 2007
Millie continues to grow. I'd forgotten how rapid the changes are when they are this small. She coos (sp?) all the time, and really likes to be spoken to. She shows a lot of interest in Joseph and he continues to be very sweet with her.
He learns new words every day. Did I already say he could count to ten? He can, and is quite enthusiastic about it. Then again, he's enthusiastic about everything.

June 11, 2007
We've had a very busy and very fun couple of weeks. Matt and Amber Nielsen were with us for the last week and we had a lot of fun. They have a five month old boy and it was great to have them around. I've put some pictures from the week in the photos section as well as up above. The big baby in the photo with Millie is Matt & Amber's son Carter. He was born to be a linebacker. The little girl in the picture with Joseph is Sahara Eichelberger. Her dad and I met freshman year at BYU, and they are here in Gainesville so he can attend law school.
Millie smiles all the time. She is really active, which is fun to see, but also reminds us of her brother, who doesn't know how to take a break. He is fun, but crazy. But I think crazy is a good thing for 22 month olds to be. He is doing this funny thing these days where he puts his index finger up to his mouth and says "Hmmm...I know!" and then he tells me what he knows. It is really cute. He's learning so much, so fast. He likes to sing along with the lullabyes, which is also fun.
Something funny- the other day I was changing Joseph's diaper outside of Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Que. He proceeded to pee in his own face! I felt bad for him, and quickly covered the source of urine, but couldn't help but laugh.

May 25, 2007
Millie is now 4 weeks old! The time is flying by. She has started smiling a little bit, and I definitely think it is more than gas. This past week we had some great pictures taken by our friend and photographer Lisa Emmerich. She also had her second child in April. Her oldest, Sasha, is just a day younger than Joseph. Millie is sleeping better, and her strength also seems to be increasing as she is also squirmier. She is at least 10lbs 8oz. That was her measurement last Friday at her 3 week appointment. I'm a little surprised at how much I enjoy having a little girl.
Joseph loves music. And jumping. I think his favorite toy would be a trampoline that makes music as he jumps. He is a very good brother and although he misses having Lacy's full attention, I think he is adjusting well (for now). He got to play with his cousins Nicole, Michelle, and Tison yesterday, and that makes him as happy as anything else. He is also enjoying his increasing footspeed, as running away after the bath is a new fun trick.

May 6, 2007
This has been a very nice time for our family. I have spent most of it at home, and we were glad to have the company of Lacy's mother. I'll start with Millie.
She is a great little girl, who eats and sleeps well and just seems to be the sweetest thing I've ever seen. To our eyes she looks like a little girl and gets prettier every day. She is very strong, and every time she is awake and uprights she lifts her head up. She also seems to try and focus hard on faces. She responds well to our voices and is fun to watch.
Joseph has adjusted well to Millie's joining our family. He kisses her goodnight and gets excited sometimes when she appears from a nap. His vocabulary is really growing. Its hard to remember the time when he couldn't tell us when he was hungry or thirsty, or when he wants to get down from his high chair. He has some new habits. At bedtime he sometimes like to take one of his favorite books to bed. A few times when I have put him in his crib he looks up at me and says "Bye."
He still loves The Wiggles and Backyardigans. His absolute favorite activity is jumping up and down. He has gotten quite good at it, and especially enjoys playing at the gymnasium near our house, where they have free play on Friday mornings. He is as much fun as a dad could hope for. Life is good for the Lowry's.

April 26, 2007
Today is an eventful day for our family. At about 2 am, Lacy woke up with contractions and what she believed to be her water breaking. The pattern was similar to what transpired the day of Joseph's birth. We got to the hospital, but not without some excitement (which you will have to ask me about) and learned that she was not as far along in the process as we expected. This caused some frustration and anxiety, but Lacy possesses impressive fortitude and before too long, but not before intense contractions, Lacy began to push. Just thirty minutes later she gave birth to Camilla Jane Lowry. Millie weighed 9 lbs 14 oz, and many of the hospital staff were rightfully impressed by Lacy's all-natural delivery.
To me the birth of a child is beyond miraculous. From a detached perspective, it fascinates me how a complete, functioning human is formed over a period of months within the womb of a woman. From a personal perspective, it is one of the most moving emotional and spiritual experiences that you can have. I don't even have to elaborate on the way that my experience in the birth of my children has differed from Lacy's, but I know that the tremendous relief I felt was amazing to me. I cannot express in words what it is like. I see divinity in it, and I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for the well-being of my wife and daughter.
When Joseph was born in 2005 and diagnosed with a severe heart defect (you can read about it here) it was a complete shock. Lacy had experienced a worry-free pregnancy and we were stunned that anything could have gone wrong. We were fortunate in that instance that his outcome was so positive (something I must also ascribe to a divine blessing). I didn't realize how that had affected me until today. When Millie was being examined I kept waiting for bad news. Its almost the opposite this time around. There isn't anything wrong with this little girl and we couldn't be happier.
My mother offered to watch Joseph during this time and it is a tremendous help. I really miss him, but it is great for Lacy to actually be able to relax and spend time getting to know Camilla. We love our little girl.

Awesome Video Saturday LXXV

A great spoof on the "Whopper Virgins" ad:



I've always loved Beaker:


Ode To Joy from Beaker on Vimeo.

You've Got a Friend

The tremendous popularity of social networking has led to some questions about friendship. One of those is when and how to "unfriend."

This New York Times article looks at the politics friendship in the online age. I like this quote from Henry Blodget, interviewed in the piece:

Mr. Blodget asked Facebook to develop new friendship levels that would let users sort their acquaintances by degree of separation. He suggested categories like “ ‘personal friends’ or ‘work friends’ or ‘extra special friends’ or ‘BFFs’ or ‘friends you want to hear meaningless trivia about all day long,’ ” and implored, “Please give me the ability to put friends in these groups without telling them I have done so.”

It's a fun article.

The Lost Generation

My parents are members of the baby boomer generation, and wonderful people. They are not alone in that regard. Despite many individuals who dignify this generation, as a whole I find Baby Boomers to be quite disappointing.

I'm not alone. Victor Davis Hanson has a condemning post on The Corner:

The reaction to the economic panic was sort of analogous to the call to 'charge it!' after 9/11 (cf. Ike's fights about the surtax to pay for Korea), or to the Iraq 2006 upsurge in violence, when suddenly our leaders declared the war lost, blamed the nebulous "they" for tricking them into voting for the war, and calling for immediate withdrawals and retreats. Ditto the Stalag-Gulag Guantanamo that, by January 19, had ruined the Constitution, shredded the Bill of Rights, and forever tarnished our reputation. Yet, on the 20th, it was suddenly complex and problematic, and required a "task force" to do a year-long inquiry into the bad and worse choices confronting us. At some point in all this serial hysteria, we are beginning to see the problem is not in the stars of the economy or of the war, but in ourselves—a weird generation that, when it finally came of age, proved to be just about what we could expect of it from what we saw in its youth.

Its not too late for this to change, but the continual love affair of Baby Boomers with the misbegotten social experiement that is 60's sure isn't helping.

Fighting the ...?

This may surprise no one, but I've never had a problem with the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The great outcry against the facility is borne of luxury. By luxury I mean the tremendously good fortune we have enjoyed since 9/11 in the form of ZERO major terrorist incidents on American soil.

7 years ago we didn't have that luxury. We didn't have years to feel safe, to feel like so much of the Bush administration's response was overreach and overreaction. Now we look back, and despite government statements that attacks were planned and averted we find ourselves repudiating the actions of the previous administration. I hope we continue to know such luxury. The Israelis certainly don't know it. They live in a state that is perhaps more measured and controlled than what we could attain in similar circumstances.

As David Rivkin and Lee Casey point out in this Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, we should be concerned less with the actual closure of Gitmo and more on how the Obama administration plans to prosecute the war on terror (or whatever they choose to call it).

What Mr. Obama's national security team will quickly discover is that the civilian criminal-justice system is an inadequate tool to deal with terrorists. President Bush's policies -- particularly treating captured terrorists as unlawful enemy combatants and employing a military court system to try them -- were dictated by the very real need to defend American citizens, not by disdain for the rule of law.

The Bush administration chose the law-of-war paradigm because the international law of armed conflict gives the U.S. maximum flexibility to meet the jihadist threat, including the right to attack and destroy al Qaeda bases and fighters in foreign countries. The alternative legal framework, the civilian criminal-justice system, is unsuitable for several key reasons. Civilian criminal suspects quite obviously cannot be targeted for military attack. They can be subjected only to the minimum force necessary to effect an arrest. They cannot -- consistent with international law -- be pursued across national boundaries. And finally, they are entitled to a speedy trial in a public courtroom. These rules cannot be ignored or altered without constitutional amendment.
In addition, the type and quality of evidence necessary for convictions in civilian courts is simply unavailable for most captured terrorists. One federal district judge recently concluded that although the government's information on one detainee was sufficient for intelligence purposes -- that is, he presumably could have been targeted for deadly attack -- it was insufficient to hold him without trial.

So we are right to ask how the new administration will deal with captured terrorists. The news about Guantanamo's closure had brought with it various reports of released terrorists who are now more prominent in their organizations and very involved with ongoing terrorist efforts. Will this become a recurring theme? Will the only options our military have be to (A) Kill the target rather than allow him to be captured and then freed, or (B) Capture the target knowing that he may profit from the generosities of a civilian criminal court system that was never intended for him? The American people deserve better. As the authors enumerate our military deserves better.

Awesome Video Saturday LXXIV

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Changefest '09 - Obama's Inaugural Speech

Ending Polio

It's possible that many of you have little knowledge of polio. By the time of my birth the polio vaccine had been eradicated in the United States. By the time of this writing it originates in only four nations: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, & Nigeria.

We are very close to seeing this crippling and often deadly disease completely eradicated. Now, during the Rotary International Assembly comes this phenomenal news from the fight against Polio. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will add $255 million to a previous $100 million grant to end the disease. These grants will be matched by $200 million raised by Rotarians. Additionally the United Kingdom and Germany have pledged huge sums to help the cause. The video below is Bill Gates delivering his remarks just 2 days ago.



This link will take you to another video on the partnership to end Polio. This is good work.

SPOTD #147

With the beginning of a new administration comes the completion of the SPOTD's 7th year.

I've been on a Popular Mechanics kick lately. Their website is fantastic, and very diverse in terms of what they write about. You can visit PM here.

Today's phrase:
The periodic change in presidential leadership is one of the strengths of our system. Even if the person in question is not your top choice, change in government is quite often a good thing.

Actual:
El verdadero progreso consiste en renovarse.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Ell vair-dah-dare-oh pro-gray-so con-see-stay ain rain-oh-var-say.

Translation:
True progress comes through renewal.

Bugatti Beauty
Want a really old car? Its only $4.3 million. I used to have this car in Matchbox form and it was one of my all-time faves. I recently found it in a box of old things I'd saved. I gave it to Joseph and it promptly disappeared. Así es la vida.

20,000 Leagues
I've written several times about advancements being made in the non-military personal submersibles market. PM has an article about how new technologies are making it easier for the personal submarine to become a reality. Pretty cool.

Movies
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Written about at IRF.
King of Kong: I wrote a brief review here.

Prince Caspian: The followup to The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe was pretty good. I love the books, and neither movie has really matched the source material, but it was a fun movie. The characters were fairly thin, even the ones from the previous film.

Space Chimps: A fairly enjoyable computer-animated film. Clearly inferior animation than Pixar or Dreamworks, but Joseph III loved it, so other kids probably would as well.
In terms of upcoming movies, this is a link to some merchandise for Where the Wild Things Are. This is a classic book, one that I've enjoyed reading to Joseph. I hope it turns out to be a good film,

Common Cleaners
This is a great resource about common household items that can make excellent household cleaners, also from Popular Mechanics.

All Dressed Up...
In an interesting sign of the decline of automaker fortunes these are various photographs of vehicle stocks around the world. I'm not sure how typical some of these things are.

Link of the Day
This video is PHENOMENAL

Ending an Era

So the Bush Presidency is over. I'm one of those people that thinks history will be kind to him. I'll share one reason: Iraq.

William McGurn writes in today's Wall Street Journal that the most infuriating thing George Bush could have done before leaving office was to turn Iraq into a success.

Here in the afterglow of the turnaround led by Gen. David Petraeus, it's easy to forget what the smart set was saying two years ago -- and how categorical they all were in their certainty. The president was a simpleton, it was agreed. Didn't he know that Iraq was a civil war, and the only answer was to get out as fast as we could?
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- the man who will be sworn in as vice president today -- didn't limit himself to his own opinion. Days before the president announced the surge, Joe Biden suggested to the Washington Post he knew the president's people had also concluded the war was lost. They were, he said, just trying to "keep it from totally collapsing" until they could "hand it off to the next guy."

The most important thing is that Iraq is headed on a good trajectory. I think it will continue down that path.

I'm ready for the Bush years to be over, but I am one who does not think them a failure, and I wanted to get on the record with that sentiment.

Whatever you think of Obama, Inaugurations are very impressive. Watch it below!



This is a great article on the significance of Obama's inauguration, from some less-considered historical perspectives.

Musical Chairs...

The Financial Times has this helpful interactive graphic that breaks down the Who's Who of the incoming Obama administration.

If you want to try and get those names in order, this is a good place to go.

A Special Day

The imminent inauguration of Barack Obama adds a certain poignancy to the observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Dr. King was indisputably a visionary man, and he was able to share that vision with many who then adopted it as their own. Decades have demonstrated how important and influential he was.

I am frustrated by the need of some in our society to make hasty judgements about public figures and their "place in history." I would be happy for Mr. Obama to be regarded, 40+ years hence, as a King-like figure. It is obviously premature to make those kind of comparisons now, yet they are made.

I wish him every good thing, and hope the road is smoother than it was for his predecessor.

As a side note, the Volokh Conspiracy remembers the birthday of a great Abolitionist and Libertarian theorist, Lysander Spooner. He helped lay the groundwork for reformers like Martin Luther King, Jr. We should revere him as well.

Awesome Video Saturday LXXIII

I've enjoyed the Apple products that I own, which includes several iPods and an iMac, but this is one product that I can't wait to own!



This is a cool video of Paul McCartney's song "222." It's pretty mesmerizing.

Bush: Economic Legacy

I think this is a great editorial from the Wall Street Journal. It attempts to explain the real way that Bush's economic policies have contributed to what's happened in our economy over the last 8 years, the good and the bad.

A Downward Spiral

I can understand people who are frustrated with the leadership of George W. Bush. While I disagree, I can understand people that think he is a bad person. What I do not understand, and have little patience for, are the people who allege that he his administration has led to a meaningful erosion of our rights. Those people have little understanding of history and what it means to live in a place that is not truly free.

I give Venezuela as an example. For some on the far left Hugo Chavez is a hero. For others, including Mary Anastasia O'Grady, he is a demogogue and a dictator:

...the art of dictatorship has been greatly refined since Stalin killed millions of his own people. Modern tyrants understand that there are many ways to manipulate their subjects and most do not require the use of force.
One measure that Mr. Chávez relies on heavily is control of the narrative. In government schools children are indoctrinated in Bolivarian thought. Meanwhile the state has stripped the media of its independence and now dominates all free television in the country. This allows the government to marinate the poor in Mr. Chávez's antimarket dogma. His captive audiences are told repeatedly that hardship of every sort -- including headline inflation of 31% last year -- is the result of profit makers, middlemen and consumerism.

More and more Venezuelans are recognizing that Chavez is not who he professes to be. The first question is whether enough of them will do something about it when it matters, at the same time. The second is whether Chavez will allow it to matter.

From the Earth to the Moon

Currently the Ares rocket is the vehicle being designed to carry American astronauts back to the moon. This Popular Mechanics article looks at the Ares and one alternative, the Jupiter Direct. The picture below provides further information.

Awesome Video Saturday LXXII

This pretty much defies easy explanation.



This is a fascinating music video- mesmerizing really.

Great Literature

I love to read. One of the most influential books I've ever read is Atlas Shrugged. With very little idea of its intellectual and cultural significance I read it as a tenth grader, at the age of 15. It "made" me a capitalist. Subsequent rereading has entrenched in my mind the major messages of that long novel.

This mention of it from the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore explains how today's leaders would benefit from Rand's cautionary tale:

Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.
One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:

Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"

Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"

"And you'll obey any order I give?"

"Implicitly!"

"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."

"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"

"Fire your government employees."

"Oh, no!"

Oh, yes.

Risque Business

I've written on a delicate topic at In Rare Form.

How many Angry Men?

Though not a lawyer, I've always been interested in the law. I found this op-ed very interesting. It looks at the historical precedent for having a 12 person jury, and also the inadequacy of smaller panels in providing better legal outcomes.

I served on a jury for a felony court case in Florida. There were seven of us on the panel, 6 jurors and one alternate. We are among the states that do not require a higher number of jurors. Although the case we heard was fairly straightforward, I can see where a smaller group might fail to provide the robust discussion of a larger number.

Were I a defendant I would prefer twelve. It seems like the Founding Fathers felt that way also.

Rules of Engagement

It's not new, but debates about international conflict often involve the legality of those conflicts. Krauthammer looks at the way Israel has waged its most recent conflict with Hamas, and how that differs from Hamas' modus operandi.

Wrapping it Up

2008...what a year.

Wars, rumors of wars. Elections, resignations. Scandals, tributes. I don't know about you, but I'm tired.

I'm also optimistic. Challenging years are also rife with opportunities. From the chaos of 2008 will come a stronger America.

This is a conservative's idea of the top 7 political blunders of 2008.

This is a cautionary warning from a great scholar, Samuel Huntington, as told by Fouad Ajami. He looks at Huntington's main fear about America's future. I like to think we can address these.

Courage, friends, courage.

50 Years of Fidel

2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the communist takeover of Cuba. It is a somber occasion for most Cubans, marked by contempt for the Castro regime and also lamentation for the loss and deterioration of their homeland.

I believe the time has come to end the embargo, but I can't say that it wasn't the right thing to do almost 50 years ago. That question has little bearing on what should now be done. There arew thorny legal issues involved in this question as well. For some U.S. firms, like Bacardi, to return to Cuba for business would likely open up the question of how their property, appropriated by the Cuban government in the takeover, should now be treated.

The human side of modern Cuba is illustrated in this story from the New York Times. Cuba remains a source of real personal pain, 50 years after the revolution.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year!

Evil, thy name is Che

There are some topics that get me all riled up. The deification of Che Guevara is one of those. I have long bristled at the ignorant (at best, stupid at worst) people who wear his image on shirts and hang it on walls, often with the barest understanding of his deeds.

In one of her best columns of the year, the WSJ's Mary Anastasia O'Grady lays to rest any notion of Che's heroism. A new film has been made about him, and it does us a disservice in its portrayal of a man who admonished the use of hatred in his struggle, a hatred meant to push "a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective and cold-blooded killing machine."

Don't believe the hype. Speak up when you see idiocy masquerading as fashion.

Climate Change, Shmimate Change

This is an interesting column that explores the weakening "consensus" on Global Warming.

Ever shriller and more frantic has become the insistence of the warmists, cheered on by their army of media groupies such as the BBC, that the last 10 years have been the "hottest in history" and that the North Pole would soon be ice-free – as the poles remain defiantly icebound and those polar bears fail to drown. All those hysterical predictions that we are seeing more droughts and hurricanes than ever before have infuriatingly failed to materialise.
Even the more cautious scientific acolytes of the official orthodoxy now admit that, thanks to "natural factors" such as ocean currents, temperatures have failed to rise as predicted (although they plaintively assure us that this cooling effect is merely "masking the underlying warming trend", and that the temperature rise will resume worse than ever by the middle of the next decade).
Secondly, 2008 was the year when any pretence that there was a "scientific consensus" in favour of man-made global warming collapsed. At long last, as in the Manhattan Declaration last March, hundreds of proper scientists, including many of the world's most eminent climate experts, have been rallying to pour scorn on that "consensus" which was only a politically engineered artefact, based on ever more blatantly manipulated data and computer models programmed to produce no more than convenient fictions.
Thirdly, as banks collapsed and the global economy plunged into its worst recession for decades, harsh reality at last began to break in on those self-deluding dreams which have for so long possessed almost every politician in the western world. As we saw in this month's Poznan conference, when 10,000 politicians, officials and "environmentalists" gathered to plan next year's "son of Kyoto" treaty in Copenhagen, panicking politicians are waking up to the fact that the world can no longer afford all those quixotic schemes for "combating climate change" with which they were so happy to indulge themselves in more comfortable times.

It really comes down to the question of priorities. Where do we allocate our finite resources? It should be focused on the issues that we KNOW we can affect, such as child mortality due to unsafe water.

Dolphins Turn it Around

If you need further proof about the futility of sports prognostication here is one: One year after going 1-15, the Miami Dolphins are in the playoffs with an 11-5 record. They have a tough road, but considering, not just last season, but how long it has been since they've even made the playoff, this is great news.

Awesome Video Saturday LXXI

A post-Christmas gift for my Twilight loving friends.

SPOTD #146

I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays. We've been visiting Lacy's family, and having a great time.

Today's phrase:
This is a great time to perform service for people less fortunate. From Dr. Martin Luther King

Actual:
Si ayudaras a una sola persona a tener esperanza, no habrias vivido en vano.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
See ah-yoo-dahs ah oo-nah so-lah pare-sewn-ah ah tain-air ace-pare-ahn-sah, no ahs vee-vee-do enn vah-no.

Translation:
If you help only one person to have hope, you would not have lived in vain

Condi lays it down...
I've made a concerted effort lately to keep the SPOTD e-mails apolitical, but I wanted to share this article. It is drawn from a conversation between a Wall Street Journal writer, Kimberley Strassel, and Condoleeza Rice. Rice challenges the notion that the Bush Administration has left the U.S. in a worse situation in terms of international relations. She draws comparisons between the situation inherited by Bush versus the one being inherited by Obama. You may disagree with the policies of the Bush administration, but I think she makes some valid points.

Tebow
The recent Heisman voting left last year's winner, Tim Tebow, in 3rd place. I am not really a Gator fan, giving my allegiance to BYU and Miami, but Tebow is an outstanding player and individual. This bit from the Wall Street Journal makes a case for why he may be the best player of all time.

Last Minute Shopping
Looking for a way to spend a Christmas gift? Popular Mechanics has a series where they look at various tv-sold products. I wrote about one, the Shamwow, at In Rare Form.

Failed Promise
I love movie trailers. They are so expertly made these days that many very mediocre films look like they're going to be much better. This site looks at some great trailers for mediocre 2008 films.

Link of the Day
This is incredible. In order to maintian New York City's aquifer, divers are living underground in a tank, breathing a mixture of mostly helium.
You must read this fascinating bit.

¡Felíz Navidad!

Disney and Christmas just seem to go together. Enjoy this Christmas-themed clip.



Of course, these kinds of things are secondary to the real significance of the holiday, the birth of Jesus Christ.

On Economic Leadership

I am concerned by the lack of economic leadership in our time. Neither Bush nor Obama has given the American people much to look forward to. Yesterday saw Obama talking about economic recovery, and how "It will take longer than any of us would like — years, not months. It will get worse before it gets better." Joe Biden said "There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That's the only short run." Indelicate words.

I don't mean to imply that the economy is healthy right now. It isn't, but we don't need leaders thst confirm the most negative assessments proferred by the media. We need leaders that acknowledge our problems while offering a clear understanding of America's unique advantages. Are we getting that from anyone right now? Obama was elected in part on his ability to inspire people. Though I failed to be moved by him I could understand the appeal. I'm not seeing a whole lot of inspiration right now.

Meanwhile, Congress failed to demonstrate leadership by allowing a scheduled pay increase to pass. Good work folks.

At least Illinois seems likely to provide a fascinating sideshow for a while.

Awesome Video Saturday LXX

I used to have this dream where I was Mario. I was in the game, jumping up and down, moving forward and backward but never side-to-side. It was kind of claustrophobic.

Anyway, I thought this video by some crazy French guy was cool.

Global Warmism's Hubris

This post is not about whether there is global warming. Nor is it about whether climate change is manmade. It is about the foolishness of the many that presume that we can manipulate climate to our own ends. A CNN meteorologist agrees:

CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers had never bought into the notion that man can alter the climate and the Vegas snowstorm didn’t impact his opinion. Myers, an American Meteorological Society certified meteorologist , explained on CNN’s Dec. 18 “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that the whole idea is arrogant and mankind was in danger of dying from other natural events more so than global warming.
“You know, to think that we could affect weather all that much is pretty arrogant,” Myers said. “Mother Nature is so big, the world is so big, the oceans are so big – I think we’re going to die from a lack of fresh water or we’re going to die from ocean acidification before we die from global warming, for sure.”

People like Bjorn Lomborg have argued very effectively that there are many more worthy causes for our money and time. This is not to say that we shouldn't address environmental issues. We should address the things that can be controlled, and I just don't think that climate is one of those.

It you think I'm wrong, please let me know.

NY No ♥ U

The State of New York has unveiled a devastating budget for 2009. It's full of budget cuts and tax increases. Get the rundown here.

Florida is having some tough times as well, but not quite like this. I'm sure the NY plan will only decrease incentives to stay in the state.

Principled Opposition

I love Atlas Shrugged. The book promotes a kind of ideological purity that I would find difficult to apply, but I still admire it. This statement from the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights examines the real reason why Republican opposition to an auto bailout should be offensive:

A principled opposition to the auto bailout would have denounced as immoral any attempt to use taxpayer money to prop up failing companies. It would have insisted that such attempts at central planning are destructive and un-American. It would have said that the government’s proper function is not to engineer the economy, but to protect individual rights and otherwise leave the economy free. That is not what the Republicans claimed.
“In his floor statement opposing the bill, leading Republican senator Mitch McConnell’s ‘stinging’ criticism consisted of finding that the bill ‘does not’ lay out ‘an effective strategy for securing the long-term viability of these companies,’ that it did not give the proposed ‘Car Czar’ enough power, and--the ultimate deal-killer for Republicans--the bill would have adjusted auto worker wage rates at ‘too slow’ a pace.
“The tragic fact is that Republicans do not regard central planning as objectionable--they merely disagree with the Democrats’ central plan.”

It is a damning but accurate critique, and Republicans will continue to fail among many of their former supporters if they don't wise up.

Kennedy Shmennedy

Isn't there anyone qualified for the New York senate seat that is not named Kennedy? Is New York that devoid of talent? Must the replacement come from the political establishment at all?

Claudia Rosett compares the New York situation to what we might find in some banana republic. It's pathetic.

Saying Thanks

Say what you want about the guy, but you can tell from their reaction that a visit from the President was very meaningful for these soldiers. It is fitting that he would visit them once more before the end of his term.

Death & the Failed State

As a follow-up to my previous post on the effect of inconsistent maritime law on piracy, here is a great article by Max Boot on the matter, as well as what can be done to improve things. He focuses on the impact of "failed states" like Somalia, and how the absence of a legitimate ruling power creates a vacuum that is all too attractive for pirates and their ilk.

Similarly, this post from a New York Times blog looks at how failed states harm their own citizens internally. In this case, it is the failure of the government of Zimbabwe to act decisively against a serious outbreak of cholera. The author poses some good questions, most of which I think are addressed in Boot's prescription:

The essential problem in both Somalia and Pakistan is a failure of governance. The question is: What if anything can outside powers do to bring the rule of law to these troubled lands? In the 19th century, the answer was simple: European imperialists would plant their flag and impose their laws at gunpoint. The territory that now comprises Pakistan was not entirely peaceful when it was under British rule. Nor was Somalia under Italian and British sovereignty. But they were considerably better off than they are today -- not only from the standpoint of Western countries but also from the standpoint of their own citizens.
You might think that such imperialism is simply unacceptable today. But you would be only partially right. There have been a number of instances in recent years of imperialism-in-all-but-name. Bosnia and Kosovo -- still wards of NATO and the European Union -- are prominent examples of how successful such interventions can be in the right circumstances.

Is this a Maslow thing? I think so, in the sense that security and the rule of law are essential if we want the niceties of government, such as disease prevention and democratic regimes. This is something that we will be dealing with for a long time.

Awesome Video Saturday LXIX

In the end, this is really just a long commercial, but its a good one.