There's a switch.

Two men were stoned to death for adultery in Iran. Usually it's women being stoned for being raped.

Good to see.

Someone's giving President Bush credit for what he's gotten right.

Granted, I'd have appreciated having Social Security privatized, at least partially, but I can't argue with Barnes's assessment of what Bush has done right.

Heck, Obama needs to thank Bush for setting things up for him for as easy a presidency for a rookie senator as possible, rather than work to reverse so much of what has been done.

But then again, what do I know? I'm only a part time English professor.

Oh, no. Not the right move at all.

President Elect Obama is setting us up for the next terrorist attack on our soil. He's closing Guantanamo Bay's holding facility.

This is a big, big, big mistake. It looks like we're yielding to outside pressure. We may well be; however, it's justifiable (or it would be) were it a negotiation tool being used in brokering a peace with a sane, responsible regime.

However. We are not working with a sane, responsible regime. We are not even working with an insane irresponsible regime. We're fighting off an aggressive, totalitarian ideology that will see this move as nothing more nor less than America showing weakness. Thus, they will come at us harder.

Beyond that, the reporter writing the story made a heinous mistake: "Detainees held on U.S. soil would have certain legal rights that they were not entitled to while imprisoned in Cuba. It's also not clear if they would face trial through the current military tribunal system, or in federal civilian courts, or though a to-be-developed legal system that would mark a hybrid of the two."

Were these individuals fighting in uniform on behalf of a nation, this might well hold true under the Geneva Convention. However, there are two issues at stake, here.

These prisoners, are not covered by the Geneva Convention. First, they do not fight for a country. They do not fight in uniform. They hide amongst women and children. As such, they break the rules of war that signatories of the Geneva Convention have agreed to abide by amongst themselves. This leads me to the second issue: they haven't signed the Geneva Convention (and even if they had, their treatment of POWs would have broken the agreement), which means that we don't have to abide by it in our dealings with them.

I do not (always) advocate that we don't adhere to the Geneva Convention in dealing with these monsters. It would hurt our troops, on a level that they might or might not understand, to dish out the same treatment.

Besides. The Geneva Convention spells out, very clearly, what the penalties for the behavior displayed by the Gitmo detainees should be. I think we should hold to it, if President-Elect Obama is going to carry out this incredibly poor decision.

Why hit our consulate?

They must be idiots. There's no other way to explain why Pakistani protestors angry about Israel's spanking Hamas would attack our consulate. Or why they think that we control, or even influence, Israel's actions.

Man, the massadras need to be closed and some real schools opened, with universal attendence manditory for both sexes. And all ages. These people are stuck in the dark ages, and they need to come into the bright light of the twenty-first century.

Hell, I'd settle for the nineteenth.

Odd

California Man Wielding Samurai Sword Killed by Police

Okay. Why he had a sword, and why the officer shot him, I don't think we, elsewhere in the country, will ever know.

And, coincidentally, Florida Police Searching for Heavyset Ninja

At least with this one, we know he tried to knock over a couple of ATMs.

Still. What's with the Far East flavor to the wierdness, today?

Seven Deadlies: Pride

Over the past few weeks, I’ll be dealing with the seven deadly sins, and their applications in the modern world by those who give lip service to being Christian, and those who declare that sin doesn’t exist.

The seven deadly, or serious, sins are wrath, greed, envy, sloth, lust, gluttony, and pride. I’ve so far covered all but the last—and it’s a doozy.

I don't mean that pride in your accomplishments that's nothing more than a warm feeling of satisfaction. I mean that pride that whispers "I'm better than everyone around me. I know better than my neighbor what's good for him."

So, where in the world do we see that kind of pride? Who thinks they know what's best for everyone more than the political left?

Environmentalists believe that they know better than everyone else what's best for the earth, and since they do, they're going to force everyone to do what they know is Right!

Several government health organizations believe they know better than anyone else what's best for the American population. They issue guidelines. Other people, who believe that they know better than their neighbors what's Right, take those guidelines and pass laws designed to force their ignorant neighbors to do What's Best--bans on smoking in public places, bans on fast food in certain places, bans on advertising food during Saturday morning cartoons. They pass Fat Taxes (one good example is the tax on non-diet soda that New York is discussing). They pass legislation forcing restaurants to print nutrition information (based on the idea that, if others knew what they were eating, they wouldn't eat it because it's Bad For Them).

Many leftist groups believe that they know best how to fight crime--ban guns. We all know how that turns out: the cities that have the most stringent anti-gun laws have the highest violent crime rates. The leftists believe that Guns Are Evil, And Will Hurt You, No Matter How Careful You Are, and since they know best, they'll keep the rest of us from hurting ourselves.

The Mommy Government believes it knows what's best for everyone, and it will pass laws designed to keep people safe and healthy in spite of themselves, just as if we were children. Those beliefs come from the Mortal Sin of Pride.

I used to think that I tended toward this mortal sin. Maybe I do, in some ways; however, I do not think I am better than anyone else, or that I know better than anyone else. I do not believe that, since I know best, it's my responsibility to force everyone to do as I say, for their own sake.

Unfortunately, those that most need to read this, either won't, or won't understand that what's actually best for all is letting them choose their own paths, whether that includes junk food, guns, cigarettes, all of the above, or none of the above.

I'm glad to see that they have the testicular fortitude to keep going.

Israel has rejected a U.N. demand for an immediate cease fire in the Gaza Strip.



It's good to see them standing up for themselves. And they've got more support than they used to: Italy and several of Israel's neighbors support their offensive against the terrorist group that "govern" Gaza.



Govern, indeed. The following illustrate Hamas's idea of "government:"

Looks like somebody needs to go outside.

Several somebodies, in fact: Exxonmobil has come out in support of a carbon tax to help combat global warming. They obviously haven't noticed the record cold and snow this winter.

Oh, please let this be satire...

Unfortunately, I'm not sure it is.

The $13 Billion Industry Is In No Fear Of Collapse, But Why Take Chances?

The blogger that quotes the press release remarks that Larry Flint of Hustler and Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild do a good job of pointing out absurdity by being absurd, but I'm not sure that's their intent.

At least they're honest in their whoring, as compared to the UAW.

The first step a tyrant takes is disarming the people.

It looks like that step is about to be taken.

"The submission is H.R. 1022 by New York Democrat Carolyn McCarthy and 67 co-sponsors. It was introduced in February 2007 and the next month referred to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, where it has
stayed."

Not surprising, there--they knew they had same chance of getting it passed as the ice dog's chance chasing the asbestos cat through hell, to paraphrase Robert Heinlein.

"But that could change in the 111th Congress, sworn in today. And Korwin said the plan would allow the U.S. Attorney General – possibly Holder – to add to the list of guns banned to the public any 'semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General.'"

Umm...what? That kind of bans every semi-auto larger than .22. And I have a whole bunch of guns larger than .22. So does my husband. (By the way, these aren't all we have, so don't get any ideas.)

"'Note that … Holder … wrote a brief in the (District of Columbia) Heller case supporting the position that you have no right to have a working firearm in your own home,' Korwin said."

What part of "shall not be infringed" do they not understand?

"In making this determination, the bill says, 'there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.'"

Every last one of my guns, except for my .22 pistol and rifles, and my .380, is military surplus. Each and every one (except for one which wasn't properly cared for long before it came into my possession) is superbly accurate. I use them for hobby shooting: taking my time and aiming each shot at the local conservation department gun range. Their incredible accuracy and militarily precise triggers make them eminently suited to sporting purposes, whether that is poking holes in paper or poking holes in game animals.

This is nothing more than a blatant attempt to disarm the people so that the government can do as it wishes without fear of its populace.

It's kind of scary to see my government following in the jackboot steps of Stalin, Mao, and Castro.

News flash: you can't dictate a higher price than what people are willing to pay in a free market.

Russia is being reminded that the world isn't a command economy. If no one is willing to pay what they want to charge for their natural gas, they won't be selling their natural gas. Yes, it hurts Europe, but Russia's stubbornness in pricing (likely because their economy's hurting) is going to hurt them far worse in the long run.

It's about time we got into the action.

I mean, seriously. If France has a naval force fighting Somali pirates--and succeeding--we look pretty piss poor if we don't get stuck in.

Fortunately, someone else came to that conclusion, too.

Fight it! Don't give in!

As I predicted, Israel is starting to get some external pressure to stop bullying the poor terrorist group.

I hope they don't give in to the pressure. Especially with Lebanon piling in. I hope President-Elect Obama has no one to open talks with by the time he enters office.

And I wish that they'd gone after Iran's nuclear capability first. If they had, they might not be facing quite as much trouble as they currently are, considering that both Hamas and Lebanon are nothing more than Iran's proxies in the region.

Go, Israel!

Last week, Israel responded to Hamas's most recent violation of the peace. They're rolling them up, quickly and easily, despite international disapproval.

Excellent work, guys. For what it's worth, you have my full support.

Here's why.

Iran is behind Hamas's choice of timing.

In fifteen more days, Israel's window for taking out Iran's nuclear capabilities will close.

If Hamas can drag out the conflict in the Gaza Strip for that much longer, this conflict that they've started will have served its purpose, and they'll be screaming to the U.N. to come in and force Israel--big, mean, bullying Israel, whose only crime is that they're successful in stopping rocket attacks and other terrorist attacks on their own people in their own country--to ceace fire. The peace that would come from that forced ceace fire would benefit Hamas by allowing them to regroup and attack Israel again when they're up to strength.

Why fifteen more days?

In fifteen more days, President-Elect Obama will take his oath of office. More likely than not, he will side with the U.N., which is, by the way, packed with Israel's enemies, in attempting to force a peace on the region.

And, unless Israel's government has grown a bigger set of balls than it has heretofore shown, Israel will cave to that pressure, because we're pretty much one of the only countries in the entire world that supports it, and thus far, they haven't wanted to lose that support.

They need to push the offensive, and make sure they finish the job in Gaza in time to accomplish what they need to with Iran.

Because, while President-Elect Obama has made noises about putting Israel under the nuclear umbrella with Japan (i.e., a nuclear attack on Israel is a nuclear attack on the U.S.A.), Iran not only won't care that we'll hit them back, but welcome it as the opening shot of the Apocalypse.

Sickening

And this is one of the reasons America is failing: the family unit is falling apart. Men aren't taught how to be men by their fathers. That's been made pretty clear in the case I linked to, where the father killed his child so he wouldn't have to pay child support.

And this shining example of fatherhood probably wanted, but didn't mention this desire, his child's mother to get an abortion. After all, one of the demographics that support abortion on demand is, after all, young men, who support it precisely because they do not want to be held responsible for their actions.

Call me pessimistic, but I doubt this individual will be sentenced to death, and actually executed. Ironic, that: the most guilty are allowed to live, while the most innocent are murdered, both before and after they're born.

I can't believe it!

Not only does France have at least one working naval vessel, but it actually didn't surrender when it came face to face with a Somali pirate vessel!

Good for them! Maybe the success, small though it was, can help France's armed forces learn to grow a pair.

Resolutions

Every year, about this time, most of us make resolutions for the new year. We resolve to lose weight, to use credit less, to eat at home more. We resolve to finish the things we'd started that need to be finished before we can move on to other things.

Why?

Because we all know that we're capable of being better than what we are.

That ability to better ourselves is what makes us Man and not beast. Of all of the creatures on the face of the earth, humanity alone is capable of denying his lower nature and reaching to become something better. Something more.

Few of us keep those resolutions through the entire year, but we make them. And many of us try to keep them. Most slip once, and decide that since they slipped, they've failed, and stop trying.

Of course they slip. Everyone does. Just because we're capable of bettering ourselves doesn't mean it's easy; in point of fact, it's almost impossible without determination and support. For example, say someone resolves that they'll quit smoking in the new year. They throw away their cigarettes, and declare that they're done.

For some that works. For others, however, it simply doesn't. It doesn't mean that they're weak, just that they need something to step in and help them quit smoking, whether that something is a nicotine patch, a self-help group, or a supportive friend or loved one to nag them about it.

If they falter and have a cigarette, they haven't failed--only slipped. Unless they decide it's too hard, and give up the attempt completely.

For the past several weeks, I've written about the Seven Deadly Sins (six down, one to go). At the end of each post, I mention that it's hard, but not impossible to fight the lower part of human nature that leads us into these faults. It's easily said, but not easily done.

However, nothing worth doing is easily done. Remember that when you slip with your New Year's Resolution. You've only failed if you stop trying to keep it.

Good.

A few days ago, I mentioned the gang rape of a woman in California. Well, the authorities have arrested four suspects, no thanks to the media which refused to publish physical descriptions.

Oh, wait: the two adults named were both Latino! Of course the media can't publish physical descriptions of criminals when the criminals are minorities! That's racist, because it's understood that if some minorities are violent, nasty people, all members of that minority group are violent, nasty people.

Actually, in my opinion, the refusal to describe some criminals because of their race is racist.

Everything I wanted to say, with far more eloquence.

Victor Davis Hanson sums up 2008 quite neatly.

Happy New Year

Here's hoping 2009 doesn't live down to what we're all afraid of (in no particular order):

Russian rearmament.

Gun bans (or what amounts to such).

A new depression worse than that of the 1930s.

Socialized medicine.

Free speech stifled.

A nuclear attack on one of our cities.

Global warming.

I think I have most of it covered. Did I miss anything? Post it in comments.