Batavia Nervosa Diagnosis

If you've ever had to live in close proximity with someone who is simultaneously obsessive and borderline-psychotic at any perceived offense - then you will recoil in recognition at the story of Charles Martin, a 67-year-old man who shot a 15 year old boy to death for walking on his lawn. Prior to the killing he tracked every interaction with the neighbors he despised in a small pocket diary, which was made available in court. A sample:

Oct. 1, 2003: For the last 3 to 4 weeks, I have been getting a much larger amount of grass on my driveway after Larry (Mugrage) cuts their grass. After watching closer, I found Larry was (mowing) the grass on my property along the road. I measured a length of 14 feet today past their (property) line. I asked Larry why. He said he must be going crazy. After I showed him the difference between (how) our mowers cut, he said he had not cut that far. He also told me he hadn't used the push mower last week. Another lie.

Oct. 21, 2003: Little Larry is cutting the grass as they were cutting the strip between our property line. He and his mother were talking very loudly and shaking their heads as they (looked) over at me on my back porch. They were acting as if I had done something to their property. After they were done, I went out and looked at the property lines. I have not cut on their property. Anita is watching two girls and a boy after school from 3:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. This whole thing could be a ploy for the kids to be able to come into my yard. Their behavior makes very little sense to me.

There's no excusing Martin's actions, no mitigating factor that should cause his sentencing to be less than any other capital offense. Still, it's made more difficult by the fact that the 15-year-old, on the day of the murder, decided to exacerbate the situation by calling Martin names. It's exactly the type of thing any teenager might do, especially with friends nearby.

Once I had a neighbor like this, and I was lucky enough to have somebody point out that the behaviors were off the chart of normal because of mental illness. Once you understand you cannot handle the situation the same way as any other social relationship, because almost every action will feed into the hostility complex, and be calculated into their paranoid narrative. Eventually it may become a legal matter, but until then the only recourse is unflinching, stoic detachment. (Not a bad philosophy in many instances, I've discovered.)

In the Martin case the signs may have been too subtle. And the standard of accountability remains the same, regardless. But it's hard not to imagine how the confrontation could have gone differently when you consider the family's grief.

Mornings In Pandemonia

Enough politics and society. Today, domestic-blogging. Apropos of nothing.

My share of the household work includes the 6:30 to 8:00 AM shift - when three little girls (ages 11 years, 8 years and 5 months) need to be roused, dressed correctly, given some kind of nutrition, and brought to school and the babysitter's house. This must be done - here's the kicker - while getting myself ready for work. The retinue also includes such activities as completing last minute homework and offering words of encouragement and advice about mean girls, good choices, and sensible hair-dos. All the while a golden retriever is running from room to room, hoping to snarf down an unattended English muffin, and making the baby shriek with glee. (She recently decided he's a bucket of laughs.)

So the first couple hours of the day involve pandemonium. Sometimes it doesn't work, and the price is paid in a homework or lunch left on the counter, an unkempt appearance, hurt feelings, or a 9AM meeting that Dad is rushing to attend, cell phone forgotten, gas on empty.

When it does work - this is what I didn't expect about fatherhood - it seems like a miracle. A chaotic ballet performed with precision - almost smashing apart into pieces, but finally not. I imagine a stop-motion video of people running everywhere in my home in a fury of activity, then finally out the door. Before it closes a doggie treat is thrown and tumbles in slow motion through the air towards the golden retriever, who snatches it quickly and settles in for his long daily vigil, gazing out the window and guarding the house from treacherous squirrels and their dastardly plots.

Then the girls are unloaded in the mini-van lineup at school, usually with a few encouraging words - remember that science project you are supposed to bring home, and after school, drama class. (Drama class is every day, with these girls.) Finally when my better half - who has her own frenetic schedule, out the door even earlier - calls later in the morning and asks me how it went, I say "It worked." And hopefully everything is working, and when we're older and the kids are away we may wonder how we pulled it off, but also remember that these so-ordinary challenges are when we at our most alive.

Random Acts and Fraudulent Compassions

"The less at stake, the greater the grieving."

Hitchens is so insightfully snarky, such an equal-opportunity offender, beholden to no ideology - that I'm starting to think that he's next to get the Imus workover.

This week he eviscerates the false sentimentalism on display following the shootings at Virginia tech as a media-manufactured occasion whereby people get to demonstrate compassion towards one another. He's not really talking about actually feeling bad for the families or keeping them in our prayers. It's quite a different phenomenon that troubles Hitch.

He's talking about the ostentatious pronouncements, ceremonies and mawkish effusions of public officials - the dutiful lowering of the flag. His take is that these are undertaken with such vigor because it's a free pass at virtue, since there was nothing larger at stake. No clash of civilizations, not martyr for a cause, no justification or elaborate victimology that would cause an argument. Bland "keep them in our thoughts" pablum is a way to show you care, and earn karma points.

And the secondary implication is that we are doomed - we simply lack the spine - if something truly serious comes our way in the form of national danger. This is a sobering thought, and one with which I support a little more keenly. Hitchen's observations about bogus sentimentalism is probably correct too, but it's a harsh critique. People "care", Chris - how can you complain?

Something grimmer and more deadly, something which endangers us - boy, we better hope those kinds of threats were left behind last century - and that the event six years ago was anomalous blip. Better hope and hope harder - cause we just couldn't take it.

Lamenting Rosie

Rosie O'Donnell is leaving The View, after one of the most productive years of pulverizing culture-war agitprop in recent memory.

This must necessarily be a bad thing for folks like conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and Fox's quasi-Right-wing Bill O'Reilly. Her steady stream of lunatic pronouncements about Bush, gun policy, and media - and of course, most memorably the Trump kerfuffle over beauty pageants - has summoned a fertile tide of viewers for not just the catty gabfest itself, which has seen ratings spike 15% in the past year.

But with it, too, the possibility of a backlash:

Statements by public figures are being watched more closely in the post-Don Imus era. The lobbying group Focus on the Family said it was preparing to contact advertisers on "The View" as part of a campaign against O'Donnell. The group is angry at O'Donnell for comments they feel were insulting to Catholics.

As a Catholic I would have been against such a boycott - on principle, because I prefer people to use the market directly, by simply not watching 'The View' - not resorting to pressure groups. But also because O'Donnell is a useful fool to have in the media spotlight. When folks need a good example of the half-brained Connecticut Leftism that pervades media outlets, all you needed to do was wave a hand towards this looming monstrosity as exhibit A.

Rosie was one lucky enemy of mainstream, conservative-leaning America.

Heh: "Our long national nightmare is over."

Ambiguous Prepositional Phrases And Justice

So a man locally is accused of trying to sell his son. The crux of it relates to a conversation he (aparently) had with a woman in the parking lot of a quick-stop drug/gas mart in a neighborhoord known for questionable transactions.

If you were there filling up the family sedan, and a dude came up to you carrying a child and said, emphatically: "Will you give me money for my son? Would you assume this means:

1) I'll give you this baby human for some cash. Let's trade.
Or ..
2) Will you help my son - right here, in the form of a baby - by donating money.

The news that the government of SK is suggesting a fast

thanks, but Cho is ours. His detatchment may have been exacerbated by cultural differences along the way - notably the shame the prevents immagrent familes from recognizing symptoms and seeking out mental health professionals - so yeah, that's irritating and unecessary.

But the fact is, everything else about this bloody rampage was about as American as possible

TMZ and the Widening Gyre

Last night I went to the local Irish Pub for a Guinness, a salad, and a few minutes of watching the Reds struggle against Houston. When I returned to the estate my better half says, "Check this out," and clicks at something on the PC. And then I listen to Alec Baldwin verbally assualt his 11-year-old daughter on an MP3 file that presumably was being listened to by half America at the same time.

Welcome to 2007. We're finally getting the hang of the Internet. Movie stars are using it to discredit their former spouses (not without some justification in this case, it would seem), college students are using it to send video and IMs during a shooting rampage, while the killer himself prepares ranting, angry "multi-media" packages for post-mortem disbursement. Scandals like Imus-gate are compressed and amplified and play out in a couple of days - thanks to the "lock step" liberal activism of groups like Media Matters.

I'm a geeked out blogger with RSS newsfeeds coming out the wahoo, and even I can't keep up. News items are sometimes into several cycles before I learn about them. John McCain said what about Iran? And the media already got in his grill? Oh, and he already told them to where shove it in response? Sorry, I was out walking the dog. Did anything else happen while I was gone?

Our society needs to take a break, and go to the beach wearing flip flops. We need to check out of the relentless media hurricane for just a few minutes and find some way to reconnect. Now don't get me wrong - regular readers know I'm too much of an old salt to get behind some bogus, wellness seminar chicken-jive. But I look at how desensitized we've become - and the furious pace of media in the infromation age and I think something is Koyaanisqatsi, the center cannot hold.

I guess I'm down with Peggy Noonan.

Yale Daily News - Weapons to go offstage

Yale Daily News - Weapons to go offstage

Dumb DJs Vs. Evil Non-sanity

Which did more harm - the release of Cho Seung-Hui's insanity on tape - or the offhand words of Don Imus? We may have to wait to know for sure - but the first was broadcast by accident (assuming they would have otherwise stopped it) in a failed attempt at joking around. Even Imus' detractors don't claim he ever was a serious racist.

But the second was broadcast intentionally, and came complete with images and video. Sure there was much hand-wringing of whter it was "right" - but in the end it was propogated all over the media , for VA Tech victims, bystanders, and potential homicidal crazies of the future to witness in awe.

His rantings don't make any sense, really. He's really crazy, and some would na,e it correctly as evil. Viewing the video is like staring at a static channel and wondering why it doesn't add up to a picture - there's no human sense there. But Cho sure recieved a national stage, thanks to the producers at NBC with a profit oboigation to GE/Universal.

Hybrid Wolf Attack

In an area of Northern Kentucky not far from here, there are apparently a pack of hybrid wolves on the loose. According to reports a truck pulled up on a suburban street and unloaded about twelve of these beasts. Nobody knows why, although presumably this is the work of Karl Rove.

These creatures are considered, technically, dogs. But according to a media report:

"[They] still could be dangerous just because of their size and, quite frankly, their instincts," Wright added. "You know as a wild animal, they have instincts to hunt."

That has Cunningham and her neighbors anxious and concerned. "They're flesh-eating animals, you know," said one neighbor, Marilyn Wuebold.

Many are the posts that I begin writing that have a gentle-yet-snarky tone regarding the dangers of living outside of the city. Although most of these don't get published, there are plenty of available topics. Weird outbreaks at water parks, firemen wearing dresses, police chases and shootouts - now the list of potential dangers include - are you kidding - hybrid wolves? One minute you're unloading the SUV after a trip to Costco and the next minute you're in the middle of a SciFi Channel CGI-of-the-week movie feature. Honey, get me the rail gun from the garage.

I'll continue to nurture my Red State sensibilities in these Blue State environs, thank you, here at the Spacetropic estate in the neighborhood. Give me the occasional over-aggressive panhandler and a few kids muttering rap lyrics any day of the week.

The Shorthand of Anger and Ill Communication

Much of our national dialogue is beginning to resemble the type of communication that takes place in a very bad relationship that has evolved over the years to the point where one verbal cue sets off a simmering tirade. For example: "All I did was bring up A, and next thing I know you're yelling at me about B." Or: "I know what that tone in your voice means."

Any longtime significant other will gain the capacity to push our proverbial buttons. But if you're lucky you don't end up married to a spouse - or otherwise secularly attached to a significant other - who spends most of their time, along with you, in a hyper-reactive state, ready to feel offended or go on the attack with these elaborate, and cutting forms of emotional shorthand.

No, strike that, it's not only luck, it's effort: You must be vigilant and ready to work to find useful and positive ways that conflict can be truly defused or made productive, not avoided or repressed. This I've leaned, in part, from now being married to miraculously wonderful spouse who shares a keen eye on how things should or shouldn't work. (Years ago, however, I had some relationships that were a nest of these kinds of problems.)

---

Our national debate is like a bad relationship.

This is obvious when I read Michelle Malkin post about the New York Times article set to run in Wednesday's edition about gun control. Of course Malkin could "call it" in advance - and of course the NYT would pump the same dismal policy point that has animated the boomer-generation Left for 40 years. As soon as the news blipped across the wire - 32 dead in college shooting - any acute observer of our national dialogue could write the script for the next several weeks.

How long will it take before somebody begins clamoring for hearings about the Bush Administration's gun control policy? Part of this is driven by partisan hate - part of it is driven by a reflexive notion that the government needs to respond to everything tragic and make a law that will somehow prevent it from happening again.

Either way it's depressingly familiar, and neither side is working to avoid the predictable downward spiral. All we should be doing, for many weeks ahead, is letting these families grieve and eventually begin healing. The parents have a right to be angry and righteous (or not - everyone handles this differently) but everyone else should put away the negative communication and loud, advanced arguments.

Professor Liviu Librescu

In a very dark moment we discover heroes:

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter, who had attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.

Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said the son, Joe.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."

And his biography tells us more:

His daughter-in-law Ayala has said the professor was very passionate of his work and a dedicated family man, while University colleagues described him as a “real gentleman”.

Liviu Librescu graduated the Politechnical University in Bucharest in 1952 with a specialization in aeronautical engineering. In 1972, he received the Traian Vuia Award of the Romanian Academy of Sciences. In 1979-1886 he served as mechanical engineering professor at the Tel Aviv University.

According to ynetnews.com, he and his wife were survivors of the Holocaust who immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978.

He already lived through the unthinkable in his early life. And his reaction in his final moments was simply that of a father. In a moment of true crisis you hope you have the deep courage to protect young life to your last breath.

[Via Phi Beta Cons]

Tags: Virginia Tech

VA Tech Tragedy

Some observations on the Virginia Tech tragedy.

First, it's already political. Before we even knew the details of the tragedy, or even the number of casualties, the White House press corps was pummeling the assistant press secretary with questions about gun control. And people on the Right were all over the Internet with the news item from January about a bill that was struck down by the Virginian legislature which would have allowed students to carry guns in self defense.

Second, there's going to be a lot of imagery available everywhere concerning this event, thanks to the fact that university students these days are, even more than the general population, almost surgically attached to their cell phones, most of which have video and camera capacity. It will surpass what is available directly from the media, and their coverage will rely on it heavily - but it falls on the scale between citizen journalism and lurid voyeurism.

What we won't see is the unfathomable suffering of these families. My perspective here is as a parent - you would do anything for your kids, and you would (and should) die before your kids. And college is the most hopeful, potential-filled stage of life. This must be blackest, most horrible loss imaginable.

Kinky's Last Word

Sometimes being right doesn't always mean being popular:

When you reach the bottom line
The only thing to do is climb
Pick yourself up of the floor
Don`t know what you`re waiting for
Big Audio Dymanite

Chilling Effect On Dissent

Unbelievable, how this story has exploded. But not as surprising when you consider how the media loves to talk about itself and, since most of them are liberals, agonize over what is acceptable - in other words politically correct. The Don Imus story has become an excuse to settle back for a long and vigorous high colonic. MSNBC has even prepared a graphic.

Turning it into a "bigger issue" is a convenient way to dance around the breathtaking hypocrisy. For example journalistic high priest Tim Russert was a frequent Imus guest, especially during book promotions. Instead of getting grilled about what he knew about Imus shtick and when he knew it (keeping in mind that Imus has been doing the same type of routines for 40 years), Russert, who earns his paycheck by giving leaders a very cross look, asking tough questions, and "holding them accountable" was allowed to make a few gaseous comments about a "national dialogue".

Coward.

The most important dialogue took place - between Imus and the Rutgers team, and they accepted his apology. This should be the end of it, but wait - Hillary needs a piece of the action, and has booked a ticket to New Jersey. Meanwhile the Reverend Al Sharpton and many on the far left are drawing up their hit list. For too long they've tolerated free speech from renegades, conservatives, and other dissenters.

Time to take them down in the guise of "national dialogue". Like all purges it will begin with a legitimate offense and then become broader and more loosely defined until anyone who doesn't hew to orthodoxy is a potential target.

Update: LaShawn Barber is worth reading (HT Axinar.)

A Real Ohio-Based Terrorist

My goodness, Al-Qaeda here in the Buckeye State. Who knew?

Admittedly this dude looks more like an assistant librarian than some wild-eyed bomber from the caves. But still. Shouldn't Ohio get some credit for being more cosmopolitan than the Blue Staters suggest? London, Madrid, Bali - they've all got home-grown AQ franchises. Now add Columbus to that list of exotic, international locales!

Are the terrorist cells in the Midwest generally friendlier? Do they kick back on the weekend with their buddies and talk sports, going on for hours about the infidel-head soccer league? And do they get uncomfortable around fast-talking, coastal jihadis?

We will hopefully discover what drove Mr. Christopher Paul into the arms of bin Laden. With all of the choices available to the modern-day malcontent, he might have just as easily become a Green, or a survivalist, or an adjunct professor of post-structural criticism at a small Midwest college. From a competitive marketing standpoint I wonder what gave Al-Qaeda the edge to a young lad on the make from the old town of Columbus.

Take that, East Coast sophisticates.

We're also finally getting an Ikea.

The Last Stand of John McCain

The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial today, reminds us why in some respects, the brave John McCain of yore is back. In an interview with 60 Minutes, which aired on Sunday, the issue of his support for the Iraq war was discussed (emphasis mine):

The most revealing exchange came when Mr. Pelley, in all apparent seriousness, asked the Senator "at what point do you stop doing what you think is right and you start doing what the majority of the American people want?"

Answered Mr. McCain: "I disagree with what the majority of the American people want. I still believe the majority of the American people, when asked, say if you can show them a path to success . . . then they'll support it." Later Mr. Pelley observed that Mr. McCain was betting his entire campaign on the success of the current "surge" strategy in Baghdad. The Senator replied that he'd "rather lose a campaign than lose a war."

With that statement we again know the better, courageous John McCain.

Any politician who seeks public office should make their political career subordinate to the prestige of the country. One talking point from the Right seems just plainly true: The Democrats are deeply, irrevocably invested in the failure of this war. Their deep hatred towards Bush (which began after the 2000 election) has become so distorted that any outcome besides international chaos and bloodshed following an American withdrawal - in other words, the alternate possibility, winning - would knock over the tent pole around which their party has been united.

They would, to paraphrase, rather lose the war and win the campaign. In fact, the first item is an important precondition which helps enable the second item.

Strictly in terms of electoral handicapping, McCain is still a long-odds candidate. But before his time on the stage is finished he may still have much to contribute in keeping a burning spotlight on true backbone and integrity - doing what's right even when it isn't apparently popular or expedient - and reminding everyone why some items should transcend party and election.

Update: Krauthammer and Barnes really get it.

Tags: John McCain

Some Thoughts on the Imus Debacle

During a series of business trips to the West coast a few years back I found myself wide awake at very early hours, due to the time change. With time to kill at the hotel I found myself watching Don Imus on MSNBC. Since then I've been a fan of the show, catching it intermittently while readying myself and the kids each morning. Despite his spineless politics he can be quite funny in an irascible old man way, and many of his guests (usually from the highest echelons of liberal media) seem to relish a format in which they can speak with relative candor.

Now they are letting him twist in the wind.

They could have seen this coming. His show has always been ablaze with abusive trash talk in every direction. Just last week there was a skit involving a Catholic bishop character and the very personal anatomy of Imus' own wife. As a Catholic myself I can say it was actually quite offensive, but hardly worth getting upset about, and the double standard of political correctness would prevent me from lodging a complaint. Besides, I understand that when you try to be spontaneously funny it can involve loosening some social filters, and permitting a few outlandish remarks. On Imus' show, the way he did business, everything was fair game.

None of that excuses Imus' remarks about the women's Basketball team from Rutgers. Sure it was an offhand remark, but it was incredibly offensive. Setting aside the double standards and selective outrage - there are some sensitive issues in America. And young women like the girls on this basketball team should be celebrated for their genuine accomplishments - which is the real source of the much-abused notion of self esteem. With three daughters in my family I can tell you they appear to be worthy role models, and worth emulating.

And now Imus is paying the price, watching the David Gregories and Evan Thomases and Chris Matthews and the other bright lights of the Martha's Vineyard circuit abandon him in droves. So Imus is reacting partly by anxiously scrambling to prove he is part of their tribe. This morning his guest was Paul Begala, the rodent-like former Clinton consultant. Begala said something innocuous, like "Well, you have guests from both sides, guys like me and right wingers." Imus responded by disavowing himself of any pretensions of nonpartisanship by sputtering defensively "How many right wingers? Come on. Not a lot."

So ... even while your hardcore liberal friends are hanging you out to dry you're attempting to disassciate yourself with any folks on the Right? Those people are the ones who are most likely to point out the incredible hipocricy of your accusers - critics who can't spare much indignation abusive rap music (because those "artists" are just being creative about the "reality" of their experience); and likewise the charalatan demgoguery of self-promoting "leaders" like Reverand Sharpton, who (Tawana Brawley aside) has much to gain by targeting a big icon like Don Imus - especially in light of his much-publicized frosty relations with Barack Obama, a leader who actually got elected and appears to have a bright poltical future. The Reverand knows that one way to stay relevant is to prove he can take somebody down. Are the talking heads on NBC going to point that out? Of course not.

Don Imus has wanted all of the benefits of an association with the cultural elites while also playing loose with free speech for entertainment. It can't be done, especially if you're an old white dude who very occassionally can be seen in remote association with non-PC folks who are ever-slightly to the political Right. Imus deserves everything he gets from the Rutger's team, great kids who have suffered an terrific insult. He may not completely deserve the rest of it, but he's sure getting it, and finding out who his friends are - or might have been.

Retraction: Pelosi In Syria

Okay, it's a little late - it's ages ago in Internet time - and I could probably let the whole thing slide, but I hereby make a full retraction of the faint praise I offered for Nacy Pelosi's trip to Syria.

There's really no other way to spin it. It was bad voodoo in terms of foreign policy. Yes, in my estimation the Bush administration has been a disappointment, and no, I don't think diplomacy is "a reward" (it can be everything short of war) - but by the time the Washington Post and the Lebanese are calling it a blunder-headed move ... well, there's no other way to spin it.

As a matter of best-practices government, independent of the administration in power, the country needs to act in a consistent manner when it comes to affairs of state, and for better or worse the tone and tenor of official policy should be set by the executive branch.

Pelosi's visit succeeded in making everybody look like idiots - Pelosi, Bush, and their respective political parties, and it managed to tick off both Israel and Lebanon. That takes an impressive amount of incompetence.

Update: Romney weighs in on the visit.

Hitchens In YouSpace

The gimmick in 2006 was the yourselfness of culture these days, with Time magazine slapping a cheap mirror on the issue traditionally devoted to the person of the year. Now Slate magazine's always indispensible Christopher Hitchens has declared the You Decade to be as tedious and empty as the Me version of same. He rants amusingly away:

I have just been sent a link to an Internet site that shows me delivering a speech some years ago. This is my quite unsolicited introduction to the now-inescapable phenomenon of YouTube. It comes with another link, enabling me to see other movies of myself all over the place. What's "You" about this? It's a MeTube, for me. And I can only suppose that, for my friends and foes alike, it's a HimTube.

It reminds me of the exasperation I used to feel, years ago, when one could be accused of regarding others as "sex objects." Well, one can only really be a proper "subject" to oneself. A sentence that begins with I will be highly solipsistic if it ends only with me, and if the subject is sexual, then the object of the sentence will be an object. Would people rather be called "sex subjects"? (A good question for another time, perhaps.) Or "sex predicates"? Let us not go there.

Perhaps global-scale problems and mass-society populism somehow necessitate this unctuous appeal to the utter specialness of the supposed individual.

Here we have self-centeredness writ large, extended with the reach of technology. Grandma has a MySpace page, grandpa has a blog, and uncle Joe has opted for the hot pink RAZR (with the customized ringtones). The difference between the You and Me generations is mostly about your preferences within the range of pre-fab commercial choices - the same old application with a newly customized "skin". As Hitchens observes, most of this is only the latest variation of overly-ingatiating consumerism.

Who are You, anyway, and why should we care? (Said the blogger with a twitch of irony.)

Playing Nice In the Blogosphere

There's an effort underway to create a formalized bloggers code of conduct to prevent the type of grief created by ranters and malcontents who use the anonymity of the medium to behave in ways that are rude and in some cases unspeakably cruel. So the New York Times - never missing a chance to slam new media, even while they're hearing footsteps - promptly went to press with this snide headline: 'A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs' - highlighting some of the most egregious examples of antisocial netiquette.

Sure it sounds like a great idea. Discourse in the Internet is often besmirched by the ravings and off-topic hatred brought in by fools who would never say the things they do without the protection of anonymity.

But some of the wise old men of the men of the blogosphere like Jeff Jarvis (whose must-read post also has links to others) think an official code is a terrible idea. Anonymity in some cases is valid - imagine a whistleblower or a political dissident post from inside a regime like Iran. And furthermore the issue of liability is very problematic. If a blogger who has adopted the code accidentally fails to moderate an abusive comment on their website, or one that may leak sensitive information, do we want them held responsible in a court of law?

Philosophically this is yet more evidence of a society that reflexively chooses to make more and more meddlesome rules in the absence of individual responsibility. The best solution to unruly Internet discourse is the same as the prescription for many social ills. We need a society comprised of serious and courageous grownups who take responsibility for their words, promises, and actions - and who raise children accordingly. In such a world people are actually empowered, and not the wards of nanny governments, corporations, and centralized bureaucracies.

Tags: Blogs, Responsibility

Imus

Demands continue for the resignation of morning talk show host Don Imus, whose program is watched and heard by millions of people theough MSNBC and radio channel WFAN in New York. The uproar began when he called the Rutgers women's basketball team a group of "nappy-headed hos" during Wednesday morning program. Those who are demanding Imus' resignation include the Reverand Al Sharpton and the editor-in-cheif of Essence magazine.

Was the remark offense to some people? Cetrainly. There's a long list of cultural, religious and special-interest groups who are regully offended by Don Imus and his cohorts. As a Catholic I can tell you there's plenty

Was it any more offensive than this segment - in which producer Bernard McGurk
There's a practical reason why the forces of political correcness and multiculturalism periodicall y demnd

Blackmail

The extent

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/07/iran.sailors/index.html


"We share in the British people's happiness and we believe it is the right time for the British government to affirm its willingness to establish sensible lines of communication with Iran," the ambassador was quoted as saying.

He said "the prime issue for Iran" was recognition from the West of its right to a nuclear power program.

In Praise of Darrell "Viper" Issa

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is going to run out of pita chips and spinach dip with all of the American lawmakers that have been dropping by the state compound. All it takes is a recommendation from the Iraq Study Group and soon enough you're playing Martha Stewart to every congressional delegation from here to Poughkeepsie. It must be the dictator equivalent of getting five stars in the Michelin Guide.

Well, at least he won't have to worry about guests from the State Department.

The latest Congressperson to ring the sitcom doorbell in Damascus is Lebanese-born Darrell Issa, Republican (cough) member of the House Committee on Intelligence. Issa's wikipedia biography suggests that as a one-time bomb disposal technician he may be uniquely qualified to "defuse" tensions in the region (sorry, sorry). But not only that:

Issa made his fortune through his company, Directed Electronics Incorporated, that is most famous for its flagship product, the "Viper" car alarm. It bears one notable siren which is a recording of Issa's voice, "Warning, you are too close, this vehicle protected by Viper."

No playing around with this guy. Stand back, Bashar.

Notwithstanding his career as a capable American businessman, something tells me that Issa won't become the fodder for talk radio scorn that was reserved for Speaker Pelosi. Just today Dick Cheney was on the airwaves saying something about about how we shouldn't "reward" the Syrians by talking to them - a concept that, I'll admit, has me baffled. Merely talking is a reward, Mr. Vice President? No disrespect to your famous Montana stoicism, but heck, there's many things a fella can say while a-talking.

He might say, for instance:

• Stop screwing around with Lebanon, al-Assad.
• We have plenty of evidence of how you and your crackpot Iranian pals channel funds to Hezbollah.
• Look at this picture of our cool new spy drone. Badass, eh?

Smart-aleck remarks aside, it's a tricky problem from a Constitutional perspective - which branch has authority to speak on behalf of the United States. One things for certain - we are more powerful when Congresspeople, Presidents and Secretaties of State all speak with one voice when it comes to our most serious interests. That's the way it should be in a time of war. But channels of communication, especially with external parties, become very confused in any organization when leadership is ineffective.

And that's the real problem that's been troubling me about the Bush Administration: Diplomacy and a willingness to forcefully engage both domestic and are international opponents are not worthwhile goals because they feel warm, fuzzy and inclusive. They are worthwhile goals because you need as many people on the bus to get the job done - to be effective. Being hard-headed, blaming everyone else, and locking out diplomacy just hasn't served us well.

Tags: Darrell Issa, Nancy Pelosi, Syria, Diplomacy

The Cross-Dresser of Heritage Oaks

Now let's be honest, fire-fighting attire can be a little drab, sometimes. Who wouldn't want to spice things up once and a while in between calls, maybe with a fun bikini or some go-go boots?

Since everybody and their sister (?) keeps sending me the link - and since Drudge has featured the article - I suppose I'll offer a post on the local fireman who was arrested for appearing drunk in public wearing a bikini, a blonde wig, and tan-colored balloons taped to his body in strategic locations. The officer on the scene had a few understandable questions:

"I asked Cole what he was doing wearing a woman's bikini at the park where families frequent," Miller wrote. "Cole did state he was headed to a 'gay bar' in Dayton to perform as a woman for a $10,000 prize."

We'll never know what might have been when it comes to Mr. Cole's ill-fated shot at gay stardom. But one thing is clear: By the time our local first-responders are forced to compete in drag shows to make a few extra bucks it may be time to stop the cutbacks in public services. (Where does COAST stand on this?)

Is this a culture war issue? (Can I make it one?) Are the officers who arrested this colorful character guilty of some kind of narrow-minded bigotry - the critique so tediously offered by folks like Brian Griffin at Cincinnati Blog - who is as single-mindedly critical of the exurbs as he is enthralled by the city? Shouldn't we be more cosmopolitan about one of our fellow citizens wearing fake tits and drinking a 40 next to the playground?

Tags: Cross-Dressing, Public Intoxication, Brian Griffin

Victory for Ahmadinejad!

The news that the 15 members of the Royal Navy are being "pardoned" and released as a "gift" to Britain is a total public relations victory for Iran and humiliating defeat for a weak, self-loathing Europe that will continue to bend to the will of the mullahs in the years ahead. Ahmadinejad has nothing to fear - full steam ahead on the nuclear program, boys. What just took place here with this hostage situation was the geopolitical equivalent of that famous scene from "Deliverance".

And the spinoff benefits are many. A consolidation of internal power among the Iranian hardliners? Check. An assertion of regional authority as the one Middle Eastern state willing to stand up to the West? Check. Evidence that Tehran can play the game of diplomacy and public relations with a defter hand than Europe or America? Check. Most people lacked the courage to even call them hostages, lest we offend.

The game of belligerent incrementalism is underway, and the mullahs are far ahead. Goodness me - look at the picture on the CNN homepage. Those smiling, apologetic sons (and daughter) of once-noble England, emblematic of the stockholm syndrome and dhimmitude of a civilization.

But at least they're coming home, right?

Tags: Iran, Blair, Eurabia

Our Enemies Closer: More On Pelosi

Following up on Nancy Pelosi: Nixguy wants to know what I'm smoking, and lays out some very clear criteria for determining whether or not her visit to Syria is productive. And every one of his objectives is on the mark - supporting a free Lebanon, halting the state sponsored terror, leaving Israel alone - these are the primary interests of the United States before anything else.

But I still cannot see how Nancy Pelosi is doing anything to endanger these objectives. And, to be honest, I'm not entirely clear on how the Bush policy of ignoring and isolating Syria is helping achieve these goals either. Can somebody enlighten me on any great successes that have been achieved in these areas by the Bush policy of closing down diplomatic channels? The mere act of communicating does not signal a tolerance for Syria's categorically unacceptable behavior.

Yes, Pelosi's visit makes the Bush doctrine look shoddy, small-minded, and isolationist - and that's not an entirely fair picture. But they (the Bush team) have opened themselves up to this kind of political move from the Democratic party by allowing our diplomatic relations to deteriorate. We're no longer speaking softly and carrying a big stick. The Bush doctrine has been half wrong: Avoid speaking entirely ... and carry a big stick.

And yes, culture does matter. To preserve ours - the liberal West, founded on liberty, democracy, free markets and individualism - we need to engage theirs very forcefully, in dialogue. As Americans we place a premium value on products and concrete objectives (the goals as articulated by Nixguy) - but in that region of the world, relationships are more important. You might have tea many times before trading camels - and if they prefer you to wear a scarf in their tent, by all means, observe the custom.

It should have been Condoleezza.

In Praise of Nancy Pelosi

What, exactly, did Nancy Pelosi do wrong?

She visited Syria. She hardly offered any support for Hezbollah or Hamas. In fact she used the occasion to acknowledge and criticize their support for these groups. She is visiting Assad - and let's hope she strikes the right somewhat-frosty tone when she leaves the meeting - but that's one better than Condi Rice, who has done little more than dispatch an undersecretary.

And Pelosi made the sign of the cross while visiting a tomb within the Omayyad Mosque - one which is said to contain the head of St. John the Baptist. These types of gestures are not lost on folks in the Middle East, especially the often-oppressed Christian minorities.

There was a time when the elder statesmen of the Republican Party recognized the virtues of an open channel of communication. Nations might be on the verge of war, but there's no downside to having a representative of America charge right up the steps and ring the doorbell of the worst regimes. Bush senior had this skill - and surrounded himself with others, like James Baker, who had the finesse necessary to make it happen. As a full supporter of the war on terrorism I think there's wisdom in the old proverb - keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Now lets be clear: Nancy Pelosi can take stick party's thinly-veiled tax increase where the sun don't shine (no, it's not just for "the rich", a definition which has been rigged to include firemen and teachers) . And the notion of a victory date for the Iraq insurgency (excuse me, a "pullout date" for U.S. troops) would cause 20 years more to be added to this global struggle if enacted into law.

But a cool-tempered visit to Syria by one of America's genuine leaders? Not a shabby idea. It reminds me of another proverb, one which is said to sound better in the original Klingon: Only Nixon could go to China.

Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Syria, Obstinate Contrarianism

Who are the "Final Five" Model Muppets?

[Warning: Spoilers and advanced geekitude ahead.]

Having recently watched the season finale for the still-criminally underrated Battlestar Galactica, the wife and I began to speculate.

What if Jim Henson, the late and much-beloved puppeteer, created a group of 'sleeper' muppet agents, unknown even to themselves, who would be called into service with a precise sequence of triggers? And what if they are some of the most unlikely members of the celebrity pantheon? I'm imagining Orlando Bloom, Dakota Fanning, and Neil Young converging on the same location, haunted by the lyrics of a song: Someday we'll find it / The rainbow connection ... then realizing with horror their true nature. And is there a muppet equivalent of "Inner Six"? Maybe some of the frequent guest stars (Anne Murray, Paul Williams) start hearing ominous piano music, and suddenly they are haunted by a giggling, hallucinatory "Inner Elmo", who loves them but encourages the most destructive kind of vanity.

They put on music. They dressed up right. They raised the curtain.

And they have a plan.

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Jim Henson, Muppets