Andy McCarthy on Free Speech and It's Enemies in the State and in the Culture

"Free speech cannot work if the government it is designed to restrain does not respect it. A lawful American government — one that takes seriously its sworn obligation to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution — would not only enforce the First Amendment; it would refrain from engaging in unconstitutional schemes in the first place."

McCarthy always writes a good article. This is one of his best.

Read more ...

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Mighty Mouse

Here I come to save the day!

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Superman

When I was in second and third grade, this show was on every afternoon, right after I got home from school. Never missed a show.

 

Scott Adams Nails It

 Boy, does this ever remind me of my doctrine days.

http://www.dilbert.com/

On Race

Thomas Sowell

In Tampa last night, four young black men assaulted a young, white, off-duty soldier in a quiet neighborhood. Tampa Bay's Channel 10 News has video.  After you've watched this video, read Thomas Sowell's article.

Mr. Thomas Sowell, one of my esteemed counselors (see right-side column of this blog), has written a must read article about race in National Review Online.  Interestingly, Mr. Sowell's piece was not prompted by last night's violence in Tampa but by his own observations of a nationwide trend. It calls attention not just to recent acts of black violence, but looks back on a trend several years in the making.

Years, not hours, not weeks.

So none of what Thomas Sowell wrote about could be attributable to the ongoing flap over the Trayvon Martin case (for a sample on that, see The Mob in Mobile, by Quin Hillyer, at the American Spectator, and The New Black Panthers' Unpunished Threats, by John Fund, at National Review Online).

All this is but another facet of the problem Naomi Shaefer Riley wrote about.

There is a racial problem in this country.  And it seems to be getting worse.

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Batman

Naomi Schaefer Riley, Black Studies Programs, and the Sorry State of Higher Education

Naomi Schaefer Riley

I have added to my list of "counselors" author Naomi Schaefer Riley.  I heard Ms. Riley on the radio a couple of mornings ago being interviewed by former education secretary, Bill Bennett. She is the author of a recently published book on higher education: The Faculty Lounges: And Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Pay For.  It's a book I'm looking forward to reading because, over the years, I've had the distinct privilege of working with a lot of people who obviously did NOT get the college education they (or somebody) paid for.  Her interview with Bill Bennett drew my attention because it was mentioned during the course of the discussion that she had been fired for something she had written.  I should mention that it never fails to grab my attention whenever I hear of someone has written something that has gotten them in hot water with the powers that be.  So, obviously, I'm looking forward to reading her book.

The Book

The subject of the piece that led to Ms. Riley's dismissal as a contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Brainstorm" blog was the concept of black studies programs in major colleges and universities or, more specifically, why they should be eliminated.  After a storm of mostly juvenile criticism, Ms. Riley published a response on the same blog.  At some point in this war of words, she was fired, and the editors of blog had this to say by way of justification.  In response to her firing, Ms. Riley took to the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, where she is a frequent contributor, to declaim about the "mob mentality" that prevails in many circles of higher education these days.

So, it's not just because the catchy title of her book interests me, it's because, after listening to her discuss the subject with Bill Bennett, and after reading the aforementioned articles, I am persuaded that Naomi Schaefer Riley not only knows what she's talking and writing about, she's such an authority that she deserves a place on my exclusive roster of counselors.

twh

It's the Troops' Fault

The SECDEF

In a sign that the Obama Administration may have moved on past its propensity to blame the preceding administration for its own ineptitude, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, seeking to blunt media criticism of the administration's aimlessness in Afghanistan--and to divert discussion away from this administration's headlong rush to gut the military via the budget process--blames the troops.

Chipper Jones

Chipper Jones

Chipper Jones hit a 3-run homer in Braves' sweep of the Brewers.

I hope the Chipper and Braves are playing this well come October.

Methamphetamines

Analysis from Stratfor.com

Methamphetamine production is on the rise in Mexico. More cost-effective to produce than other illicit drugs, meth presents distinct advantages to Mexico's criminal organizations: Unlike other drugs, it can be manufactured independent of environmental or climatic considerations. Equally advantageous is that it can be produced in small spaces on both small and industrial scales.

However, production is limited by the quality of precursor chemicals used and the integrity of the manufacturing process. These precursor chemicals are regulated to varying degrees around the world, though most of them can be legally obtained because they have licit, industrial applications. Therefore, in assessing the dynamics of Mexico's methamphetamine market, and by approximation the U.S. market, the legal regulations of precursor chemicals is critically important. The effectiveness of law enforcement to enforce the laws regulating these chemicals is likewise important, as is the manufacturer's ability to circumvent the laws in countries where precursor chemicals are obtained -- and in the countries where the final product is manufactured and sold.

Methamphetamine: An Introduction

Meth is a potent stimulant of the amphetamine drug class. It heightens alertness and activity, decreases appetite, induces euphoria and provokes overall feelings of increased personal power and strength. Its effects also last longer than other stimulants, such as cocaine. Meth can be fabricated into a pill, capsule, crystal or even a powder, which means the drug can be ingested, smoked, injected intravenously or snorted. The preferred method for most users is inhalation because the effects are instantaneous.

Meth has not always been illegal ...

Read more at Stratfor.com.

Having just been to the hospital, couldn't resist this ...

 

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: All in the Family

Those were the days!

 

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: The Beverly Hillbillies

Still watch re-runs whenever I can!

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Gomer Pyle, USMC

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: McCloud

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Lost in Space

My favorite character was the Robot.  "Warning! Warning!"  "That does not compute."  Danger, Will Robinson!"  And that stupid ninny, Dr. Smith!

Favorite TV Shows of the Past: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

I think this show had a lot to with me deciding to join the Army.

My Top Ten List of Acts of Insensitivity

10.  People who burp out loud or break wind in the presence of others.
9.  Newspaper carriers who deliver the "morning" paper after six a.m.
8.  Automated telephone calls.
7.  Store managers who open only one or two check-out lines when several more are obviously needed to take care of customers.
6.  People who avoid looking you in the eye, especially when you are paying them for a product or service.
5.  People who drive through your neighborhood and throw their fast food trash, beer bottles, or cigarette butts out their window.
4.  Verizon Wireless customer service (you pay them an insurance fee on your monthly bill but, if you have a problem, you have to deal with the insurance company; "we don't handle that").
3.  Parents who allow their children to misbehave in public.
2.  Parents who yell, scream, beg, plead, cajole, bribe or hit their misbehaving children in public.

And the number one most egregious act insensitivity I've experienced lately is ...

Yes, I Question Their Patriotism!

The Birth of Old Glory by Edward Percy Moran (c. 1917),
depicting the presentation by Betsy Ross of the first
American flag to George Washington

If this were Bill O-Reilly's blog, Charles Skidmore, the principal of Arlington High School in Massachussetts, and most of the teachers on his staff, would be labelled pin heads. 

You see, Mr. Skidmore presides over a school that had, until recently, abolished US flags from its classrooms, and still--over the protests of some of its students--will not allow the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited within its confines.

Fox News has a story on this.  One of the students (who apparently has more understanding than all his teachers) has been fighting to overcome the extreme radical leftism that has not only banned the recitation of the Pledge, but has also banished US flags from classrooms.  Seems he won the battle over flags in the classrooms was defeated on the other front.

The Fox News article says--

The Arlington, Mass., school committee has rejected the 17-year-old's request to allow students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because some educators are concerned that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite it, according to a report in the Arlington Patch.  (Emphasis mine).

Interestingly, one notes that students of Arlington High School are obligated to perform 40 hours of community service before receiving their diplomas.  Well, they could all do double that and it still would not overcome the collossal disservice that Mr. Skidmore and associates have wrought in that little corner of the northeast and in the hearts and minds of those pupils.

Pin heads, indeed.

Should Supreme Court Nominees be Waterboarded?

It is, of course, a facetious suggestion.  But waterboarding gets results and everyone knows it.  In times of great peril, when the suspect is not cooperating, this enhanced interrogation technique has been proven to get 'em talking. 

Sotomayor and Kagan are just the latest in a long line of suspects (nominees to the nation's highest court) insulting the nation's intelligence by stonewalling, obfuscating, heming and hawing, and otherwise being less than forthright.  Senators should ask themselves, which is the greater risk:  embarrassing the nominee, perhaps hurting his/her pride, with 15 seconds under the spigot, or confirming the appointment of a leftist ideologue who could potentially afflict the nation for the next 25 years?

Of course, to most senators, the greatest risk of all would be having to actually make a hard decision.