Blogworthies LVI

Because The Blog from the Core simply can't cover everything.

Noteworthy entries @ Captain's Quarters, Tapscott's Copy Desk, Power Line, Austin Bay Blog, extreme Catholic, Photios, The Paragraph Farmer, A Western Heart, Faith @ Christianity.ca, Southern Appeal, Michelle Malkin, Hoystory.com, The Nose On Your Face, Galley Slaves, In the Red Zone, Dr. Sanity, Patrick Ruffini, Diggers Realm, Discriminations, The Ombudsgod, cut on the bias, The Corner, and Mere Comments.

The Asymmetrical Offense @ Captain's Quarters:

The recent impulse for democratization has surprised and delighted the West as oppressive regimes thought untouchable have suddenly rethought their strategies in the face of popular discontent. The most dramatic example would be Egypt and Lebanon, two countries which suffered under some of the most constraining dictatorships in Middle East after the departure of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. The two controlling regimes, Mubarak and Assad in Syria, have reacted in opposite directions, at least at first, but the movements have continued to pressure for democracy regardless. They join with the popular will of the Iraqis, the Afghanis, and even a watered-down impulse of the Palestinians. Even Saudi Arabia has a nascent democratization program, and Iran has had street demonstrations for the past two years or more demanding freedom.

The wave of democratization promises to free the Muslim world from the grip of kleptocracies and mullahcracies, a welcome development all on its own. However, it also does something else that we have mostly missed: it creates a multi-front war for Islamofascists that threatens to exhaust their resources....

FEC Commissioner Says Court Decision Means Uncle Sam May Have to Regulate Political Speech on the Internet's Blogs @ Tapscott's Copy Desk:

Federal Elections Commissioner Bradley Smith claims in a CNET interview that his panel is only a few months away from officially beginning the process of regulating political speech on the Internet, including blogs....

Why "sound" isn't good enough @ Power Line:

Yesterday [Wed. Mar. 2], Rocket Man stated that the Supreme Court's decision on the juvenile death penalty should be viewed in conjunction with the deepening controversy over the confirmation of President Bush's judicial nominees and nominees to be. He is clearly correct. And that controversy should be viewed in its historical context....

What’s Wrong with CBS? — Noonan just nicks the bulls-eye @ Austin Bay Blog:

Okay, Peggy Noonan gets a couple of rounds solid black in her Wall St Journal essay deliciously titled “That’s the way it was.” She wants CBS to fire the bright young blonde newsreaders and hire back the “untelegenic” but talented news hounds CBS fired in the late 80s. Instead of taking its cue from the NY Times (which is what CBS does), she suggests a “distributed” reporting pool that feeds news up (an Internet model?)....

A Reply to the Statement of Bishop Robert N. Lynch (Diocese of St Petersburg FL) @ extreme Catholic (italics in original):

.... I dispute that this is complex. Terri Schiavo is unable to eat and drink without assistance. What's so complex about feeding her? In fact, the therapy to allow her to eat and drink without the assistance of tube has been requested by her family and denied by Michael....

Philosopher of Death — Peter Singer @ Photios:

My friend Tom, the Pooklekufr (and a Constitutionalist, BTW) sent me this, The most influential philosopher alive by Marvin Olasky and published by townhall.com. He also sent this short biography from Wikipedia....

The Zen koan of Middle Earth @ The Paragraph Farmer:

A web site called "Hobbit Lore" ended its successful four-year-run two days ago, when its architect decided that his inspiration, Peter Jackson's cinematic take on J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, had run its course....

Arab Spring? @ A Western Heart:

In 1989, I first became interested in what was going on in the world. In April of 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev was visiting the People's Republic of China. The world media descended on Beijing to get a glimpse of the introducer of glasnost and perestroika, who played the foil to Ronald Reagan. This charismatic Communist was proof that the International Left was the darling of the international press, and even then, with Solidarity already in full swing in Poland, the air was thick with anticipation that the year would be the most momentous in history. Indeed, for Europe, it was....

Old Bones and Stones Never Lie... @ Faith @ Christianity.ca:

... But what about some of the people who dig them? Recent major frauds in archaeology stem from an apparent need to make our race appear older than it is....

Thoughts (i.e., a rant) on the Ten Commandments Case @ Southern Appeal:

Yes, tomorrow [Wed. Mar. 2] is the day the Court hears arguments on whether the state of Texas may keep a monument depicting the Commandments on the grounds of the Capitol and whether two Kentucky courthouses may display framed copies of the Commandments....

How Many Americans Read Political Blogs? @ Michelle Malkin:

.... There seem to be a lot of implausible blog traffic numbers floating around lately....

Mixed? @ Hoystory.com:

When you say someone has a "mixed record," what exactly do you mean? They've done some bad, some good? They've had some failures, some successes? Either of those definitions, I can understand, but Sunday's Los Angeles Times, in the liberal spirit of kicking someone when they're down and dying, runs an editorial in Sunday's paper on Chief Justice William Rehnquist's "mixed legacy."

The term was plucked from the body of the editorial, but it appears the use of that term is a courtesy; by the Times estimation, Rhenquist's record is only mixed in the sense that Rehnquist is a bad, bad man and he hasn't always gotten his way....

Arnold Eats Stephanopolous @ The Nose On Your Face:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California reacted a bit strongly after a series of harsh questions from ABC News's George Stephanopolous during their interview Sunday on "This Week"....

TV Nation @ Galley Slaves:

Paul Mirengoff has discovered the soul-destroying truth about television.

I first realized this truth a few years ago....

Feminazis @ In the Red Zone (italics in original):

.... The photo in February 24th's New York Post shows a beautiful Iraqi woman with a proud smile and a dyed index fingertip. This is the face of Iraqi democracy, the image seems to say. The fact that she appears sans voile indicates that she is probably an ex-pat who voted beyond the borders of Iraq. And that's important, because the caption of the photo reads: "Iraqi voter: she's not worse off."

If this unidentified Iraqi woman lives in North America or Europe, no doubt that is true. But if she lives in Iraq — sorry, Mr. Murdoch, she is worse off....

Paranoia Strikes Deep @ Dr. Sanity:

.... The recent multiple sitings of paranoia exhibited by the Left would be amusing, if it weren't so alarming. Between the Gannon affair (which Glenn Reynolds wraps up here rather nicely) and Mo Hinchey's ravings; between the deeply disturbed fantasies at the Democratic Underground (I won't link to them); between the gay-baiting; the paternalistic and condescending attitude towards successful Blacks and Hisanics; the Left has plummeted into a hell of their own making....

Congressional Blogging: A Guide @ Patrick Ruffini:

.... Blogging by political leaders has the potential to revolutionize campaign communications in this respect: it takes the press out of press releases. Blogs mean that politicians can communicate with constituents directly, without the media filter.

Yet powerful institutional obstacles remain, as evidenced by the fact that only 4 Congressional offices have started blogs. If you're a communications director, chief of staff, or even a Member, and you're looking to overcome internal opposition to a blog, consider this post your guide....

Stephen And Virginia Pearcy Update — A Letter From A Neighbor @ Diggers Realm:

There are a few more things to add in the hanging soldier effigy fiasco that Stephen and Virginia Pearcy have attained fifteen minutes of fame for....

Prison v. College: The Supremes Dig Themselves Into A Deeper Hole @ Discriminations:

Unfortunately, the Supremes have proved themselves incapable of, among other things, following the common sense advice, "When you're in a hole, stop digging." ....

Dissecting Ted Rall @ The Ombudsgod:

Someone paid Ted Rall to cry all over his keyboard again, and he's got nothing good to say about bloggers. Let's take a look....

Enhancing experience: Right, wrong, or not my business? @ cut on the bias:

CodeBlueBlog, written by a doctor, has an interesting take on the question of using performance enhancers to heighten whatever talent you have. He points out a lot of famous people who took some highly assisted paths to greatness, including pointing out that Stephen King was actually into cocaine at one time. He concludes by saying that if he knew he could have better attention and alertness for minimal cost, he'd go there.

It's a good thing to think about for all of us....

One Lucky Kid @ The Corner:

A mom e-mails in response to that Philly Inquirer piece: ....

The End of the Rainbow @ Mere Comments:

Yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran a large feature article on the up-and-coming movers and shakers in city affairs, complete with color that made clear the bright and hopeful fact that these folks covered the gamut of racial, sexual, and ethnic persuasions. When faced with this kind of thing the mind with any experience in the world quickly poses two questions to itself: whether it is a lie, and if so, where the real power and influence lies, or, whether it is the truth and competence has taken back seat to the quota. Of course, it may in this case simply be a matter of selection. The writers, knowing what is good, honorable, and acceptable in the narrow little world of newspaper culture, and whatever it was they actually found, selected the rainbow for presentation. In which case it was a lie, but the paper’s rather than the city’s....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Sat. 03/05/05 08:47:36 AM
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