The Road Scholar

History will look back fondly on Tony Blair

2007-06-27T09:21:00.000-06:00

Tony Blair has stood down as UK prime minister after 10 years in the job.

History will throw-up a little in it's mouth when remembering Senator Lugar.

A Memorial Day present to a fallen hero

2007-05-28T17:23:00.000-06:00

Cindy Sheehan has decided to stop disgracing her son's memory.

Good Riddance Attention Whore

Hugo Chavez or Free Speech

2007-05-27T20:02:00.000-06:00

Pick one.

Ron Paul is an idiot

2007-05-27T19:37:00.000-06:00

The exchange between Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani regarding the 9/11 attacks that took place at a recent Republican debate is old news. If you've been busy with real life and would like a review, here's an article in The Nation. I'm only bringing it up because I heard some acquaintances discussing it today.

It seems to be yet another case of the wrong question being asked and followed-up upon, taking the whole discussion into never-never land.

Let's just say that Ron Paul is right. The reason we were attacked on 9/11 is that al Qaeda objects to U.S. foreign policy.

Good.

The real question is, who would want to live in a country with foreign policy that al Qaeda approves of?

Not me.

I want the murderous bastards to hate me. The alternative is repugnant.

Thomas Sowell can't figure it out either

2007-05-15T14:08:00.000-06:00

That people on the political left have a certain set of opinions, just as people do in other parts of the ideological spectrum, is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is how often the opinions of those on the left are accompanied by hostility and even hatred.

Particular issues can arouse passions here and there for anyone with any political views. But, for many on the left, indignation is not a sometime thing. It is a way of life.

The Anger Of The Left

Good news for the U.S. Army

2007-05-09T10:40:00.000-06:00

These generals don't work there anymore.

Good news for the CIA

2007-04-30T18:26:00.000-06:00

George Tenet and this bunch of whiny asshats don't work there anymore.

Can I get a witness?

2007-04-29T11:13:00.000-06:00

All of a sudden he just fired up and he wasn’t this smooth politician anymore. His hair, which is usually slicked back, was out of place, he had sweat on his brow, and he was gesticulating wildly. You could feel the energy from the back of the room. It was the moment when I felt I had touched on something real. That was the moment I really felt convinced.

Hallelujah!

I'm sure the feeling is mutual

2007-04-27T16:25:00.000-06:00

Murtha: "I've Lost Confidence in the Military"

A herd of bison, a gaggle of geese ...

2007-04-27T09:59:00.000-06:00

... a school of fish, a murder of crows, a pod of whales, a conspiracy of lawyers, a flock of sheep and a march of morons.

Give the Democrats credit

2007-04-26T15:28:00.000-06:00

They are the only force on earth able to defeat the United States Military. Twice. I'll bet they're proud.

Today is Anzac day

2007-04-25T11:25:00.000-06:00

Or tomorrow is or maybe yesterday. I can never figure out what day it is in Australia. I can figure out that Australia stands on the side of civilization.

Today, this small nation of 20 million on the other side of the world, with total air, land and sea forces of about 50,000, puts many nations to shame with its willingness to engage.

Jules Crittenden has more and some firsthand accounts of the battle of Gallipoli.

Also, a soft voice delivering a hard message.

What did we do to deserve such fine people?

2007-04-24T22:37:00.000-06:00

I don’t understand the stance that the populace has taken towards our military. I feel as if I went off and did the wrong thing at times. Why can’t people see that we fight for a greater cause? We sacrifice so you can have freedoms. We don’t die and get maimed because we have done something wrong or our society has accepted something wrong. We fight the global war on terror. You all remember 9/12/01. You know what it felt like to lose people or feel helpless.

American Soldier

I would rather have his respect than the respect of all the congressmen and journalists in the world.

Bad news for Senator Reid

2007-04-24T15:07:00.000-06:00

Just back inside some civilized wire (Camp Fallujah) and am reading Harry Reid's declaration then track back on the war in Iraq being lost.

The odd thing--is that I think there are parts of Al Anbar province where the war may be over and we just don't realize it.

Doesn't Look Lost To Me

More bad news.

Thank you for being here. Thank you. You are a reporter? Tell America how much we appreciate Marines. Tell the people thank you and that we want the Marines, the Army here to help us.

Tell America that the Iraqi Army is growing. We are getting stronger. Tell them thank you.

Message From Lt. Ala

What about the children?

2007-04-24T14:30:00.000-06:00

Nearly 60 percent of children said they feared global warming and environmental disasters - such as hurricanes, tornados and flooding - more than terrorism, car crashes, and even cancer.

This child abuse is happening all over the place.

It's not like Cho drew a Mohammed cartoon

2007-04-23T14:38:00.000-06:00

BLACKSBURG, United States (AFP) - Asian students at Virginia Tech university, where Korean-born Cho Seung-Hui shot dead 32, said Monday they felt no rebuke or blame from other students in the wake of the massacre.

Despite fear, campus Asians face no post-massacre backlash

Call for Senator Reid's resignation

2007-04-23T13:51:00.000-06:00

The Senate's top Democrat has announced to terrorists a U.S. surrender in Iraq. Considering our new strategy's documented successes, Harry Reid's determination to lose is practically treasonous.

D is for Defeatism

If that one square of TP isn't enough ...

2007-04-23T11:02:00.000-06:00

... those sleeves could come in handy.

Senator Joe says it ain't so

2007-04-22T13:38:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today made the following statement in response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comment that the Iraq War is "lost:"

"This week witnessed horrific terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists in Iraq, killing hundreds of innocent civilians and leading Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to declare that the war is 'lost.'

With all due respect, I strongly disagree. Senator Reid's statement is not based on military facts on the ground in Iraq and does not advance our cause there.

Al Qaeda's strategy for victory in Iraq is clear. They are trying to murder as many innocent civilians as possible in an effort to reignite sectarian fighting and drive us to retreat from Iraq.

The question now before us is whether we respond to these terrorist attacks by running away as Al Qaeda hopes - abandoning the future of Iraq, the Middle East, and ultimately our own security to the very same people responsible for this week's atrocities - or whether we stand united to fight them.

This is exactly the wrong time to conclude that we have lost the war in Iraq, or that our new strategy has failed. Instead, we should provide General Petraeus and his troops with the time and the resources to succeed. We should not surrender in the face of barbarism."

Dear Monsieur Reid

2007-04-20T07:32:00.000-06:00

Senator Reid: When you say we've lost in Iraq, I don't think you understand the effect of your words. The Iraqis I speak with are the good guys here, fighting to build a stable government. They hear what you say, but they don't understand it. They don't know about the political game, they don't know about a Presidential veto, and they don't know about party politics.

But they do know that if they help us, they are noticed by terrorists and extremists. They decide to help us if they think we can protect them from those terrorists. They tell us where caches of weapons are hidden. They call and report small groups of men who are strangers to the neighborhood, men that look the same to us, but are obvious to them as a foreign suicide cell.

To be brief, your words are killing us. Your statements make the Iraqis afraid to help us for fear we'll leave them unprotected in the future. They don't report a cache, and its weapons blow up my friends in a convoy. They don't report a foreign fighter, and that fighter sends a mortar onto my base. Your statements are noticed, and they have an effect.

Finally, you are mistaken when you say we are losing. We are winning, I see it every day. However, we will win with fewer casualties if you help us. Will you?

Respectfully,

LT Jason Nichols, USN
MNF-I, Baghdad

More letters to Senator Reid at MichelleMalkin.com

Je crois que cette guerre est perdue

2007-04-19T12:57:00.000-06:00

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a message for the enemies of western civilization, the Iraqi people, coalition partners and especially the U.S. Military.

"I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week"

More at Breitbart.com

On the other hand, Senator Reid believes his side is winning.

"We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) told reporters yesterday. "Senator Schumer has shown me numbers that are compelling and astounding."

Reid Sees Gains on Iraq

Appalling

2007-04-16T09:54:00.000-06:00

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims

Yesterday was Yom HaShoah. A day to remember the Holocaust. Remembering is sad. Forgetting is horrifying.

Creating Terrorists

2007-04-15T06:57:00.000-06:00

How many times have you heard that killing terrorists only creates more terrorists? How many more terrorists? One more? If it's only one more then it seems like we can just double-up a few times and the problem will be solved. So that's not really more terrorists in the long run. If killing one creates two terrorists they would be on to something, wouldn't they? Well, that depends. For instance, on April 12, 2007, coalition forces killed 35 Taliban in Afghanistan's Zabul Province. If killing 35 creates 70 then all that's needed is to kill as many tomorrow as we killed today to be left with as many terrorists as there were yesterday. Now, I've heard people say that killing one terrorist creates ten but that's just crazy talk when you consider the real scary prospect of creating three terrorists every time we kill one. If three terrorists are created every time we kill one then killing 35 creates 105 so even if we kill as many today as we killed yesterday there's still 70 new terrorists to deal with tomorrow. Even if we were to throw enough soldiers, guns and money into the fray to always kill as many today as we killed yesterday, in one month we would be facing 18,790,481,920 terrorists. That's 18 billion with a B. Whoa. Now you know why people who believe killing terrorists only creates more terrorists want to stop killing them as soon as possible.

The Truth Is Out There

2007-04-14T22:51:00.000-06:00

Everything you need to know about the conspiracy.

Just in time for Yom HaShoah

2007-04-13T22:50:00.000-06:00

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Vice Chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission here on Friday voiced preparedness to attend talks with the US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Iranian Parliament Ready for Talks with Nancy Pelosi

Islamic Army of Iraq. Splitters.

2007-04-13T10:06:00.000-06:00

"In the beginning, we were dealing with Tawhid and Jihad organisation, which turned into al-Qaeda in Iraq," Al-Shammari explained. Specifically after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died, the gap between us [and al-Qaeda] widened, because [they] started to target our members... They killed about 30 of our people, and we definitely don't recognise their establishment of an Islamic state - we consider it invalid."

The largest Sunni insurgent group has severed ties with al Qaeda and its Islamic State of Iraq

DJ Don Imus and the Senatizzles

2007-04-12T20:19:00.000-06:00

How angry would you be if you put your brand new hip-hop CD in the player and heard mainstream authors, journalists and United States Senators kissing Imus' ass? I'd be mad. I'd toss that CD out.

For reasons not clear to me, the Don Imus firing has generated a lot of noise about Al Sharpton, rappers, Rosie O'Donnell, and others. Enough straw man arguments have been raised to qualify for some sort of agricultural subsidy. The fact is, none of these people were in the room when 'The I-Man' used his national broadcast to insult the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team. Don Imus is responsible for his current predicament and no one else. If you insist that there is hypocrisy about, look no further than the mainstream authors, journalists and United States Senators who appear with Don Imus and lend an air of legitimacy to his vulgar behavior.

When I tune in a radio show about books, current events and politics and hear racism, misogyny and narcissism, I toss that radio show out.

It's all about context, folks. You can shout "movie!" in a crowded firehouse and get no more than some funny looks. If you shout "fire!" in a crowded movie house, you can get yourself arrested. You might even get a cap busted in yo' punk ass.

(props Samizdata)

88 members of the Duke University faculty have more to learn than they have to teach

2007-04-12T06:10:00.000-06:00

The rogue prosecutor case at Duke University is one of those stories that asks more questions than it answers. One question that seems unanswered is, "Who can the young students at Duke University look up to?" Certainly not the group of 88 faculty members who declared the accused guilty at the outset of the case and have never (to my knowledge) recanted the statements contained in this ad even as the rogue prosecutor's case unraveled.

I would like to suggest that the students look to the Duke University Women's Lacrosse Team. They attended hearings and announcements in support of their male colleagues. They wore armbands supporting the accused male lacrosse players and were rewarded for their principled stance with criticism and slander. While they were at it, they made the 2006 final-four.

And now for something completely different

2007-04-12T04:21:00.000-06:00

The Great Global Warming Swindle