Archive » 2004 » July

Teenage golf phenomenon Michelle Wie shared her Deep Thoughts on global warming with Golf Digest:
Global warming is a huge problem. Al Gore talks about it all the time. Have you seen “The Day After Tomorrow”? The huge hole in the ozone layer. Something has to be done about it.”
Michelle’s vacuous eco-musings prompted a wry member [...]

Can you believe there is now a UPN reality TV show called “Amish in the City?” Adam Buckman of the New York Post writes:
What’s next? “Sikhs and the City”?
At the risk of igniting a craze for copycat reality shows focusing on people who dress differently than the rest of us (working title: “The Joy of [...]

The National Debate links to my Clare Booth Luce Institute speech, which aired on C-SPAN2 yeserday. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
I’m appending the full speech below.

Regarding the inimitable Ann Coulter and last night’s USA Today brouhaha: Human Events Online has posted a hilarious line-edited version of the spiked column. This is apparently the real thing and the paper’s editing remarks are in CAPS.
Read all the way through and you’ll see that it seems that nobody at the newspaper understood [...]

Blecch. There were more fake smiles on stage last night than on the season finale of The Swan.

The New York Times (registration required) reports on recent efforts to rewrite the test of American citizenship:
In an effort to improve the quality and fairness of the citizenship test taken every year by hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the government is overhauling the naturalization exam.
Like the current exam, the replacement will test applicants in two [...]

Brenda McCormick died over the weekend. For 18 years, her non-profit organization, Mothers Inc., has served needy children and seniors with an annual Thanksgiving turkey drive and Christmas toy drive. The organization also provides families with back-to-school supplies and helps locate shelter for the homeless. To the consternation of some of her [...]

Apropos of Andrew Sullivan’s latest pledge drive to pay for increased bandwidth expenses, Wunderkinder wonders why Sullivan’s bandwith is so darn expensive. In an earlier post, Wunderkinder wrote:
Even if you estimate Andrew Sullivan’s homepage at 40KB (generous considering the lack of graphics), and you estimate his monthly visitors at 3,000,000 (generous considering I think [...]

This will be a continually updated file on the best of the worst of the Democratic National Convention’s freaks, flubs, and follies. Feel free to leave your nominations.
7/26 Edition.
“What liberal media?” moment of the day: From Spoons, CNN engages in some wishful thinking with its characterization of Carter, Clinton, and Gore as a “trio of [...]

ABC News reports tonight: Heinz Kerry Tells Reporter To Shove It
Teresa Heinz Kerry urged her home-state delegates to the Democratic National Convention to restore a more civil tone to American politics, then minutes later told a newspaperman to “shove it.”
Hey, did I call this or what? Flashback, Jan. 28, 2004, Howard Dean in a [...]

Best profile of an Olympic athlete: You will be spilling tears when you read this great story about Michigan decathalon competitor Paul Terek and his family’s struggles. (Donations are being accepted by the Patriot Club/Olympic Fund, 31000 Joy Road, Livonia, MI 48150.)
Best take on the 9/11 report: Thomas Barnett calls it a “National Security Self-Help [...]

Here’s a little piece I did for the New York Post today on the Linda Ronstadt imbroglio.
More blog commentary here and here and here and here.
Plus: Frank. J. deconstructs “Desperado.”
Update: Reader Jack from Queens writes:
About 2 months ago, I was listening to WABC Radio’s Mark Simone, a conservative entertainment industry veteran, interview Linda [...]

In an article published late Friday night, “Misbehaving Syrians Carried Expired Visas (registration required),” the Dallas Morning News confirmed that 13 members of Nour Mehana had expired visas at the time of their June 29 flight on Northwest 327:
Thirteen Syrian musicians whose behavior aboard a June flight stirred suspicions and talks of “dry runs” entered [...]

Does unfettered illegal immigration from Mexico increased America’s vulnerability to a major terrorist attack on our soil? Or is this argument a red herring cooked up by anti-Latino xenophobes to serve an anti-immigrant agenda, as Virginia Postrel has asserted? Before deciding, consider these recent stories:
Item: Congressman John Culberson (a Republican from Texas) tells the John [...]

From the Associated Press, “Iraqi Insurgents Issue Brash New Challenge:”
Iraqi insurgents issued brash new challenges to the country’s interim government, capturing an Egyptian diplomat as he walked out of a mosque and making new demands for the release of seven hostages that will almost certainly go unmet.
Militants kidnapped Mohammed Mamdouh Helmi Qutb outside a mosque [...]

Following the lead of anonymous air marshals (see Eric Leonard’s KFI news story), some in the blogosphere are piling on Annie Jacobsen. One blogger calls her a “sniveling little twit.” Kevin Drum pooh-poohs “Panic in the Skies.” Armed Liberal advises Annie to take a “chill pill.” And Commissar at Politburo Diktat writes:
We are freaking out. [...]

Will be on the radio roundtable at NRANews.com, hosted by Cam Edwards in a few minutes.
On Monday, I’ll be at the Conservative Leadership Seminar on Capitol Hill, hosted by the Clare Booth Luce foundation. (Background here)
Update: Just learned that the Conservative Leadership Seminar will be covered live on C-SPAN2 on Monday, July 26, from 1:00 [...]

I have been amazed at the speed and creativity with which bloggers have digested and dissected the 9/11 report. Here are a few useful links I’ve found helpful.

Iraq references in the report via Q and O.
Search the entire report.

Summary of the report with permalinks via Jason Kottke (hat tip: Jeff Jarvis, who has much good [...]

From WND: Teacher has kids tasting flavored condoms
According to a report in the Santa Fe New Mexican, parent Lisa Gallegos said that when her 15-year-old daughter balked at putting a condom in her mouth, instructor Tony Escudero told her, “Come on, sweetie, have a little fun.”

WNBC investigative reporter Scott Weinberger reported on Joe Scarborough’s MSNBC show tonight that the 14 Syrians on Northwest Flight 327 ALL had expired visas. He said his sources told him that law enforcement officials xeroxed the men’s paperwork without looking at the dates. The visas had expired nearly a month earlier, according to Weinberger.
This does [...]

One significant omission strikes me in Section 3.4 of the 9/11 report (PDF file), which provides a historical overview of the failures of the intelligence community to adapt to the “new terrorism.” The commission recounts CIA debacles dating back to the Bay of Pigs and details the woes of the understaffed Clandestine Service through the [...]

Asian-American leaders whiners are mad at John Kerry for not paying enough attention to them. Via the San Francisco Chronicle:

Last week, Democrat John Kerry launched $3 million worth of campaign ads targeting Hispanics and African Americans to shore up the minority vote in the presidential race.
On Wednesday, Asian American media leaders complained that the advertising [...]

If you haven’t seen the New York Times story posted late this afternoon on the 9/11 report’s account of Flight 93, you are in for another bone-chilling experience. Excerpt:
Of the 33 passengers on the plane who were not hijackers, at least 10, and two crew members, spoke to people on the ground. At least five [...]

Kathryn Lopez at NRO notes that journalist Mort Kondracke’s wife, Millie, has died of Parkinson’s Disease. He wrote movingly of their experience in his book, Saving Millie. Janice Krouse reviewed the book in 2002 and noted:
After the Clinton scandals, there’s little about celebrity marriages that surprises Washington anymore. But the tell-all book that has [...]

Just got back from D.C. I’m on deadline until this evening and won’t get to the 9/11 report until the wee hours. For now, make sure to read the always must-read analysis of Andrew McCarthy at NRO.
On a lighter (or is it heavier?) note, IMAO offers a very useful primer on black holes in light [...]

Here’s some food for thought: According to this calorie calculator, I need about 1,800 calories a day to maintain my current weight. My friend Mike Fumento points out that I can get 40 percent of that(!) from one 20 ounce serving of Krispy Kreme’s new drink.

Update: On a related note, Jeff Quinton has kicked off [...]

Apropos of my USA Today column on security moms, the fabulous Sekimori has designed some Security Mom gear.

More on security moms here and here.
Update: From Sekimori, “Top Six Signs You May Be a Security Mom.” Reader Cathy Cloud e-mailed me asking where she can buy a “Security Grandma” t-shirt.
Update II: Still more Security Mom t-shirts [...]

I’ve been summoned to do FOX News duty today…will be on around 130ish eastern time if you want to tune in and hear my Deep Thoughts on this story about a woman who’s being prosecuted for using a Six Flags amusement park as her own personal drop-off day care center for her 11 year old [...]

The front page of this morning’s Washington Post informs us that Kerry is beating Bush among Hispanics by a 2-1 margin. A nightmare for Republicans? Not really. Gore beat Bush by a nearly 2-1 margin in 2000, yet Bush still won (albeit barely). As Marshall Taylor pointed out in comments #2 and #5 [...]

Maureen Dowd column recipe:
1)Recycle latest Bush-bashing liberal talking points
2)Season with Ali G transcript excerpts, for “freshness”
3)Chill
Serves 2. See May 7, 2002: Is You Wicked? and July 22, 2004: Right Axis. Wrong Evil (registration required).
See also Cathy Seipp’s monthly MoDo Watch at the Inkwell and a flashback to Josh Chafetz’s Immutable Laws of Dowd.