For the most arresting photoessay of the week, spend time with The Beacon :: Marines Find Faith Amid the Fire

Two dozen Marines stood quietly. Radetski, honoring the four Marines' request, said the baptism was also being performed to show respect for the fallen and wounded Marines.

The elementary school shows the ravages of three weeks of fighting. Its windows are broken, debris is strewn about, furniture is broken and books thrown to the dusty floor. Bullet holes cover all surfaces. Windows are boarded or sandbagged to hinder snipers.

Insurgents are holed up in houses a few hundred yards away, their weapons aimed at the school, hoping to kill Marines with a well-timed shot. Still, the four Marines thought that the courtyard was the ideal spot to make a public profession of their religious belief. "What better place to do this than here, in the middle of hell," Fuller said.

Yesterday, I wrote about what it was like to help The Spirit of America at Camp Pendelton. Today in the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Henninger captures the broader meaning of The Spirit of America's drive to help the war effort in A Good Start

"The war as it is presented in the U.S. and the war as it exists in Iraq seems to occupy separate spheres of reality. The political class and media treat the war as something whose "policy" details can somehow be revisited, even rethought. At home, the war is a political event, a normal partisan phenomenon. Its metaphors are borne out of Vietnam--quagmire, bogged down, body counts, Ted Kennedy.

Guess what? Vietnam isn't coming back. The people of this country tore the nation's fabric terribly over Vietnam. They are not going to do it again.

The grand response to the Spirit of America request says to me that the public understands that we are there in Iraq and the job now isn't to debate its value but to get the job done. Most Americans don't want to be one of the partisan bobbleheads on television. They want to be part of a genuine homefront, helping. One who responded to the Spirit of America appeal, Dick Kampa of Tucson, Ariz., put it this way:

"My sense is that there are many who would support civilian, home-front activity that would bolster troop morale and communicate to the Iraqi people that we really are their friends. Putting a political label on such activity would be counterproductive. I think Democrats and Republicans should, and many would, unite in these activities. Perhaps we need rallies or community meetings linked to constructive actions like funds for impactful projects in Iraq, adopt-a-communities, collection of goods, bandage rolling, etc., things that involve people across America."

You know for a fact that if Laura Bush undertook any such homefront effort, it would be dissected and mocked as hokey and irrelevant. Too bad. I don't think most Americans want to debate woulda, coulda, shoulda just now. They want to win. Spirit of America is a start, but someone high in the Bush administration ought to start thinking of ways to let more people pitch in.

But what can I do?
Do what God puts in front of you.

On the radio news at 3 AM this morning, the phrase "Camp Pendleton Marines today in Fallujah.... "

Its early and dark, but Im awake and sitting down with coffee when I hear those words. I hear them often these days. News of a brutal firefight in and around that forsaken city on the far side of the world is always attached to that phrase. Less often, but more distressing, the phrase includes ...were killed in action.

I always wonder if among those killed were any of the young marines I stood next to for a day last January. ( Small Moves ) It was a fine day and we helped the Marines pack up Spirit of Americas free school supplies and medical equipment for distribution to the people of Iraq. It was something I could do, so I did it.

I always think of those Marines whenever I hear the phrase. The private who asked me what I thought about God. The other who talked a lot about the big wheels he was planning to buy for his new Jeep. The ones who cooked us hamburgers. Brave men and, as always, very young.

Most of them are gone from Camp Pendelton now. Only a third of the bases compliment remain there. The rest are somewhere else ...today in Fallujah.... They and their brothers in arms are always in my thoughts these days, as I know they are in the thoughts of hundreds of millions of other Americans. I wish them all God speed and a safe return home. And yet I know that not all will have those things.

Like millions of others I want to know what, in any small way, I can do to help their mission, support their sacrifice, and hasten the day when they can return. Like millions of other Americans, I am frustrated by the fact that whatever I can do or give is small and unworthy compared to what they are prepared to do and give. Still, I look for ways to help, as I think all decent Americans do now. And so today I found myself driving back to Camp Pendleton in Southern California.

The purpose was to attend an event in which Spirit of America would turn over some of the video equipment theyd purchased as a result of their amazing fund-raising activities of the past month. The idea was to raise money to equip a few people in Iraq with the basic means of creating and broadcasting their own television. A kind of grass-roots antidote to Al-Jazerra, the project suddenly, with the help of big medias Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henniger, took off. What began with a goal of $100,000 ended with a sum in the region of $1,500,000. As I write a loose coalition of bloggers is still plugging away hoping to add another $50,000 to the pot. As I drive into the entrance to Camp Pendleton, Im thinking that this has to be one of those small miracles you read about but seldom get to witness. Why am I here? Im not quite sure. Im just doing what God put in front of me. Lately Ive found thats not a bad route to follow.

Its a small group gathered at the main gate waiting for our escort back into the base to Camp Margurita where the event will be held. Jim Hakes, the guiding force behind Spirit of America is there with the usual suspects and more suspects still the way. Its a smaller group than last time because, frankly, there wont be that much to do. In time everyone arrives and we convoy back into the other America behind the hills thats the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in Oceanside.

The first thing you notice is that Pendelton is quiet these days. Training continues and the life of the base goes on, but at a lower level of intensity than last January . Everything seems emptier and it is. In January you could see the helicopters moving about in the near and far distance. They seemed to be everywhere. Today, only about four all day. In January, there was artillery practice visible against the hills and a lot of machine gun fire from the practice ranges. Today, just one range with small arms fire.

The barracks and the parking lots at the Camp are almost empty. The base Exchange holds, at 10 in the morning, just the woman assigned as cashier. Instead of patrols of Marines and platoon formations, you see Marines at most in groups of three or four. Theres activity here and there, but once off the main road its hard to avoid the feeling that the Camp is, for the most part, on hold --almost, but not quite, holding its breath. After all, considered as a town, Camp Pendleton is a town that gets very bad news every day. It has learned, long ago, how to deal with that news, but that doesnt mean that dealing with it requires more courage and heart daily than the comfortable suburbs that ring it on three sides use in a decade.

Our small convoy of about a dozen or so cars pulls into a virtually empty parking lot. We walk back behind the deserted barracks to the warehouse where a lot of the video equipment is being stored before shipment to Iraq. Down the hill and across the valley, a platoon or two is having small arms practice. Sharp popping bursts of fire punctuate the morning. Then as I walk into the warehouse, I have one of those strange moments weve all had to get used to in the last few years.

In the warehouse, the Marines on duty are pumping Pink Floyd into the speakers. Its an odd 21st century American moment. If I stand edgeways in the doorway one ear hears rapid bursts of gunfire in the distance and the other hears:
No navigator to guide my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone
A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
I know it is best not to make too much out of a random epiphany, but there it is for what it is.

A friend of mine in who worked in rock and roll for years once told me its dangerous to listen rock too closely in emotionally charged situations because it will just come and get you. I think that I know now what he meant.

With the arrival of the rest of our group, the Marines turn off the music and we get on with the business of the morning. Unlike the January function with its packing and collecting, todays much more of a media event and, after putting a few Spirit of America stickers on boxes and equipment, theres really not that much to do.

Still, Im glad to be there. In a bit a group of about 15 school children show up. Four and fifth graders, theyre up for anything their day brings. What it brings them right away are Spirit of America tee-shirts and baseball hats. Bonanza! All the boys and girls put them on right away. A few minutes later group of five extremely cute girls are standing around talking among themselves and as I pass them I remark, Ah, you must be the Spirit of America Cheerleaders.

We are?, says one. Okay. Whats our cheer?

Im caught. Not prepared for that. I think for a minute and, in my befuddled state, can only come up with:
Were the Spirit of America!
The Spirit of America!
The Spirit of America!
Now!

Pretty lame. Until you see five small American girls doing it with real heart. Then it takes on a whole new dimension. It is, after all, the singers and not the song.

The boys, by the way, a busy chasing the Marines around and begging them to autograph their baseball caps. The Marines are initially non-plused by this, but politely comply to the delight of the boys who immediately set out to collect the whole set. The Marines do not disappoint.

Fred Brookwell of Greystone TV Productions got wind of the Spirit of America project via the Wall Street Journal, and has organized a full production crew to cover the event. In time other media, local and national turn up. Jim Hake handles the questions with aplomb, and the elegant Lady Doughan of Spirit of Americas umbrella organization Cyber Century Forum is lucid and charming and sharp as well.

Seeking to be vaguely useful I volunteer to go off and find some coffee, but driving through the base I just seem to pass one mostly empty barracks and deserted shop complex after another. Theres no doubt about it, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is not, for the most part, at home. I manage to find some coffee and return, but things are pretty much wrapped up. We chat about what more we can do and we all promise to carry the work forward. I say my goodbyes.

On the way out, though, it is clear that the Marines are not quite finished with me since, as the small arms practice continues, theyve gone back to Pink Floyd in the warehouse -- although at a lower volume. The last thing I hear over the gunfire is:
He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise
In his youth or a dream, he can't be precise
He's chained forever to a world that's departed
It's not enough, it's not enough

On I-5 heading north out of Oceanside, you have to drive though a 20 mile stretch in which Camp Pendleton takes up both sides of the road. About five miles into this stretch you pass a group of airplane hangers. In front of the hangers is a large concrete wall about fifty yards long. On it, in large letters, are three words: DUTY. HONOR. COURAGE.

Thirty miles later Im home in the Laguna Beach Hills. From my deck I can see north to Long Beach and out to sea beyond Catalina Island. Its a good life. A safe life. A beautiful life.

And tonight, Im going to tune into the news and no matter where I turn Im going to hear Camp Pendelton Marines today in Fallujah....

And I have to think that no matter what I am doing to help, no matter what I ever manage to do, Im still going to hear:

Its not enough. Its not enough.

An excerpt from Robert Hilburn's extensive and fascinating interview with Bob Dylan:

Dylan leans over and picks up the acoustic guitar.

"Well, you have to understand that I'm not a melodist," he says. "My songs are either based on old Protestant hymns or Carter family songs or variations of the blues form.

"What happens is, I'll take a song I know and simply start playing it in my head. That's the way I meditate. A lot of people will look at a crack on the wall and meditate, or count sheep or angels or money or something, and it's a proven fact that it'll help them relax. I don't meditate on any of that stuff. I meditate on a song.

"I'll be playing Bob Nolan's 'Tumbling Tumbleweeds,' for instance, in my head constantly %u2014 while I'm driving a car or talking to a person or sitting around or whatever. People will think they are talking to me and I'm talking back, but I'm not. I'm listening to the song in my head. At a certain point, some of the words will change and I'll start writing a song."

He's slowly strumming the guitar, but it's hard to pick out the tune.

"I wrote 'Blowin' in the Wind' in 10 minutes, just put words to an old spiritual, probably something I learned from Carter Family records. That's the folk music tradition. You use what's been handed down. 'The Times They Are A-Changin' is probably from an old Scottish folk song."

Pointer thanks to Outer Life which, strangely, "resisted Bob Dylan for a long time."

LAST DAY: GOING.... GOING....

GONE: Winning Bid was $800 BY ERIC B.

Auction CLOSED Wednesday Evening, April 28, at 10:00 PM Pacific Time.

Authors,Writers, and Fellow Americans! This is Your Chance to Join the Exclusive and Expensive Gerard Van der Leun Famous Writers Boot Camp at a Discount

Here’s the deal: If you give the most to Spirit of America via The Victory Coalition through the auction here, I’ll give you a day of professional editing. (Details below)

Why would you want that?

Because no matter who you are or what you write, you need careful editing and an honest evaluation. And I’m the man to do it.

For over 30 years I’ve been working with writers of fiction and non-fiction to bring their manuscripts up to par and seeing them through the publishing process. I’ve been a magazine editor and a book editor and a literary agent. I’ve seen it all. I’ve worked with the best and the worst. And I’ve made all of them better -- sometimes with a scalpel, sometimes with a hand grenade, but most of the time with my blue pencil.

Among those writers I have worked with in the course of my career are people such as Steve King, R. Crumb, Harlan Ellison, Andre Dubus, and Robert Fulghum.

I’ve edited and published more than 200 books for the Houghton Mifflin Company where I worked as Senior Editor and Director of Trade Paperback Publishing. I’ve edited dozens of writers as a magazine editor for Earth Magazine, Viva Magazine, Omni Magazine and Penthouse Magazine.

I’ve written and had published two books of my own and ghosted a few as well. (No, you don’t get to know which ones those were.)

My own magazine articles have been published in Time, Omni, Penthouse, and Wired among others.

I’m found among that rarest fauna of editors: the line editor. That means I don’t just opine and book you on the nearest talk show and then take a long lunch at Michael's. I get under the hood of your writing with my blue pencil and mark it up until it bleeds. Then help you stitch it back up, make it pretty, and send it out.

Warning! This can be a brutal process so if you are looking for someone to glance at your work and tell you how wonderful it is, ask your mother. If you want to BE ALL THE WRITER YOU CAN BE be prepared to donate until it hurts.

I currently bill my time at $200 and hour and up, but you can have a day of my professional working life applied to your manuscript if yours is the highest bid to donate to The Victory Coalition’s Drive at Spirit of America.

That’s a $1,600 value but bidding will start here at $200.00

It closes Thursday, April 29, at 12:01 PM Pacific Time.
CORRECTION: Auction will close Wednesday Evening, April 28, at 10:00 PM Pacific Time.
[Otherwise, how would we know?]

The Victory Coalition donation information and page can be found here at: The Spirit of America

Enter your bid here in the comments below in some amount north of $200 and, at the end of bidding, supply proof of your donation, and my time becomes your time. It can be one 8-hour day or the same 8 hours spread out over time. We’ll work it out.

If you live within a reasonable distance of Laguna Beach, California, we can arrange a face to face workshop. If not, we’ll do it via the Internet or even the old fashioned way -- real mail. Either way, there will be hard copy involved.The choice and timing and one day of my professional life will be yours.

Remember, some give all -- so you can give some. Plus your writing will be the better for it.

A stirring and deeply moving account of what it was like to escort the body of Marine PFC Chance Phelps home from Dover AFB begins,

Taking Chance Home

Chance Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday. Eight days later, I handed the medallion to his mother. I didn't know Chance before he died. Today, I miss him.

I'd say it was your duty to read it.

---

Pointer via: One Hand Clapping

An interesting announcement appeared on The Daily Kos yesterday. It seems that, after many years and many bazillions of words by Kos and his Kosocrat Cohorts, a publisher has decided to publish a book of the best -- in bumper stickers. Ten to be precise.

Yes, of all the screeds, analysis, commentary and fearless insight, the “ideas” that a publisher deems worthy of preserving from The Daily Kos are ten for a total of 45 words. Now that’s a data compression algorithm that Stuffit’s Aladdin Systems might want to emulate.

While keeping in mind the old adage that “Any philosophy that fits on a bumper sticker belongs there,” there is still something to be learned from the list of “winners.” Indeed, this list taken as a whole presents us with the entire spectrum of the mindset currently pretending to be The Democratic Party. A bit of meditation on the subtext of these pith-packed texts tells us a lot about the people behind them. And since an informed electorate is the bulwark of democracy, let’s have a go.

The ten bumper stickers are:

---

Asses of Evil
BUSH HATE FACTOR:A
HUMOR: D+
A poor play on the masterful “Axis of Evil” phrase used at the beginning of the First Terrorist War by George Bush. It reveals the Kosocrats thinking that Republicans are a) Evil and b) asses as in ‘stupid’ which is how they came to control the Congress and the Executive. While “Asses of Evil” may well raise a couple of Stooge-Toned “Nyuck-Nyucks, ” it lacks the flair of the much more brilliant construction “Axis of Weasels.” Indeed, the Kosocrat slogan here is no doubt a weaselesque pilfering of that phrase.

---

Thanks for Not Paying Attention
BUSH HATE FACTOR: C
PETULANCE: A+
This one is, well, just sad. If anything, more attention (and money) has been paid to the complaints, whines, and special needs of the Democrats than in the Clinton years. But since once the needle of victimhood goes in it never comes out, no amount of attention will be enough. This is the sticker for those Democrats who like to drive off in a 1968 Huff.

---

Four More Wars!
BUSH HATE FACTOR: B
FEAR FACTOR: A++
In three words, the Kosocrat Democrats manage to sum up the other major energy force they live on in this blighted year: FEAR. Hate can only take you so far in trying to impose your fantasy ideology on the citizens of a free country. To really get them going, you’ve got to make them FEAR. The promise of MORE WARS! seems to be a means of doing this -- until the polls tell you most Americans think we don’t yet have our game face on for the present one. American’s got a good dose of FEAR on 9/11. Their current FEAR is of another. The number of wars it takes to remove that FEAR is irrelevant to them. One would be nice, but if it takes 20, so be it.

---

More Trees, Less Bush
BUSH HATE FACTOR: B
FEAR FACTOR: B
BOGUSITY: A+
Birkenstock Kosocrats rejoice in a chortle fest when they think about this one. It really “socks it to him” on the environment, doesn’t it. Plus it insinuates a snide double entendre without being either sexist or overtly offensive to Lesbians. It's a two-fer win-win. That the environment is better off in 2004 than in 2000 is not the point. The point is that Bush hates trees -- which is why he’s always clearing the brush away from them in Crawford.

---

It Takes a Village Idiot
BUSH HATE FACTOR: C
UNINTENDED SLAM AT FELLOW DEM: A+++
Sigh. These people and their editors at Chronicle Books really need to put a professional such as myself on the case. I understand that their “intent” is to make us think of Bush, but when you cop the joke right from the well-known title of the Former First Publicly Humiliated First Lady’s first book, most people are going to think, “Idiot? Who? Hillary?” Ward, I don’t think we’re going to see Kos as Hillary’s choice for running mate in 2008.

---

One Person, One Vote (*May Not Apply in Certain States)
BUSH HATE: B+
SPORTSMANSHIP: F
Ah, the elections of 2000. Ye olde Florida Butterfly Ballot. The Gore recount gambit. The endless recounts. The Supreme Court.... and still they lost. Unable to understand that Al Gore will never be President and that the Beatles will never reunite dooms the Democrats to an alternate universe where it will always be October, 2000 and the world was still bright and new and fraught with possibility. They keep this up and the bumper strip for 2008 will have to read “Democrats: We Coulda Been A Contender.”

---

Putting the "Con" In Conservative
BUSH HATE: B
CHENEY HATE: B+
HALLIBURTON HATE: A+++
This little eructation tells the world that conservatives are, ab ova, by their very nature, criminal. It underscores the central belief of those that have little money that those who have more must be bad, and that those who have a lot must be really evil, unless you get it when your wealthy husband dies or you marry a woman whose wealthy husband has died. Then you are a visionary and would never, ever, try to con the electorate about your voting record, your medals, your botox abuse....

---

We're Gooder!
SELF-ABUSE: A
grammar: F
This goes to the very heart of the Democrats’ current self-image. They are the party of the good. Everyone else is, at the very least, among the ‘not-good.’ This brings to mind the old mindset popularized by St. Augustine about “the city of God, that, being placed in comparison with the other, it may shine with a brighter lustre." Clearly the only way to be a decent human being is to be or become a Democrat. That is the only way you can be “gooder” than all those sinners. It smacks a bit of the Christian fundamentalism that is always driving Democrats into paroxysms of FEAR, but we’ll let that pass.

---

Leave No Billionaire Behind
BUSH HATE FACTOR: B
ENVY: A+
As we learn in the Sacred Book of Bob Dylan, “Everybody’s always trying to get you down in the hole that they’re in.” No Democrat wants to be seen seeming to favor billionaires, not even Billionaire Democrats whose money worries can be summed up with “Huh?” Still, we think the bar was raised to the Billionaire level in this knee-slapper only because the Heinz-Kerry’s fortune seems to be stuck at a few measly hundred million.

---

Bring Back Monica Lewinsky
INSIGHT INTO MIDDLE AMERICA: F
TWISTED NOSTALGIA: A+++
Yes, indeed, if anything is going to push those swing voters into the Democrats’ camp it will be the image of Monica servicing Bill Clinton in the Oval Office. The thong. The cigar. The whole catastrophe. Everyone wants those glory days back. What the authors and editors don’t seem to realize in selecting this “edgy” one is that, at the very least, it will cause most people to wince and think, to paraphrase Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietquagmire: “Democrats -- in more dire need of a blowjob than any party in history.”

Humm, come to think of it, that’s a bumper sticker with real potential.

THIS JUST IN: In a sweeping night raid that has left our enemies in a smoking heap of shambles, and filled the air with the lamentations of their women, LILEKS (James) has dropped THE BIG ONE for The Victory Coaliton.

Now we've got it all: taste, discernment, and regrettable food. Unless those opposing us surrender, we shall lob Corned Beef Salad Loaves in their general direction.

Victor Davis Hanson has drafted a few choice questions the press might ask President Lincoln. Excerpt:

Mr. Lincoln, would you please respond to General McClellan’s charges at the recent Chicago convention that with the establishment of the Emancipation Proclamation you misled this nation in the reasons you gave for this war. Is it not true, Mr. President, that you assured Americans that you have started this war to preserve the Union and protect federal property in the South? Yet now you claim that in fact our sons are dying to free slaves and provide equality to the Negro? What was the real reason, Mr. Lincoln, that you cooked up this war and got us into this mess, and why did you not tell us the full story when the shooting started?...

Mr. Lincoln, do you not think it was naïve to assume that Northerners could impose by force Yankee-style democracy and culture on the traditional society of the South? Isn't this arrogance on our part to think we can force others to be like us?

What is it about you, Mr. Lincoln, that leads your opponents to such vitriol and invective, to such a degree that you appear as an ape in cartoons and a scoundrel and nave almost daily in public essays and opinion-pieces? And why do the Europeans especially seem to hate you, so much so that England threatens to intervene on the side of our enemies?

Now that it is clear that neither General Grant can take Richmond nor General Sherman Atlanta, have you thought of stopping the war and bringing our boys back home? When will you resign Mr. President?

There are more.

Les Zombies Hippies Doivent Mourir

-- From the dissident frogman's Propaganda Bureau

Twice in One Day.... Aieeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Not content to ruin my morning with a Tom Oliphant column in the Boston Globe, The PBS Newshour (No longer paid for by people like me) saw fit to drag this consummate weirdo before its cameras just as my evening began.

Look, I’m as tolerant as anyone, but this guy just freaks me out! The look, the haircut, the bow tie, the mannerisms, the enunciation, the fey turning away. What era, what subculture, what species, what planet does this sock-puppet represent? He seems to me to be a demographic of one.

Can somebody please get in touch with Scout Productions and book this guy for a Fab Five makeover pronto? I mean, I could sort him out for the camera with about $1,200 (cheap), but he obviously needs professional media training, three qualuddes, a cup of ether and about six strenuous bong hits. For starters.

Oliphant’s appearance on PBS this evening was so over the top as to beggar description. A choice quote from his opining on the Kerry Medal brouhaha that I felt compelled to write down went like this: “Kerry wanted to throw... er... return... some ... ‘decorations’.... if I may use the term....”

To which we can only answer, "Why, yes, Tom you may... but only if you promise to check into ideological detox by dawn tomorrow. They've got openings in a DEA-funded program for wholesale brain transplants and you are pre-qualified."

Unless and until Tom Oliphant gets his image straight, he should be forbidden to appear in any public forum. It can only harm our chances for a full and fair election for voters of every persuasion if we are continually presented with a liberal commentator that every time he speaks makes us hear, ever so faintly in the background, the tune:

The priss goes on, the priss goes on.
Media keeps pounding a rhythm to the brain.
Democrats have finally gone insane.
La de da de de, la de da de da.

Democrats were once the rage, uh huh.
History has turned the page, uh huh.
The terrorist’s the current thing, uh huh.
Gunships are our newborn king, uh huh.

And the priss goes on, the priss goes on.
Media keeps pounding a rhythm to the brain.
Democrats have finally gone insane.
La de da de de, la de da de da.

Pundits sit in chairs and reminisce
Kerry’s chasing Bill to get a kiss.
The news keeps going faster all the time.
Dems still cry 'Hey let’s tax you another dime?'

And the priss goes on, the priss goes on.
Media keeps pounding a rhythm to the brain.
Democrats have finally gone insane.
La de da de de, la de da de da

Unless, of course, Oliphant is being paid by the Republicans as part of the vast Right Wing Conspiracy. In which case, it is a brilliant use of soft money. Tell me where to send a check.

Embrace -- A painting by Robert Fulghum
Click to enlarge

My good friend and author Robert Fulghum is blogging. Well, he's a bit retro and doesn't consider what he's doing as "blogging," but rather as "NEW STORIES." No matter.

Lately he's been at the village he lives in when in Crete, and we've been getting semi-daily reports on bug racing, contessas of dubious lineage, and what he's reading. If you know Fulghum's writing, and many millions do, you might consider putting his new stories page into your toolbar favorites folder. You never know what you might find. Here's a sample:

April 19, 2004
Kolymbari, Crete, Greece
Written Sunday, April 18, 2004

BUG OLYMPICS

"So what is it you do in Crete?" People often ask me that. As if to imply that it would be boring sitting on a beach in Greece doing nothing year after year.
A funny thought, since, outside, as I write tonight, it is cold and windy and raining. And the closest beach is too rocky to sit around on, anyhow. So what do I do?

Today, for example, after attending a funeral, I sat by a fire all afternoon reading the thoughts of Epictetus, the 4th century BC stoic philosopher. Born a slave, he became famous for his lectures, which were written down by his student, Arrian, and collected into a manual, The Enchiridion. That little book, by the way, has never been out of print in more than 2,000 years.

Sample: "Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not."

Sample: "Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor what they seem to be. They are what they are."

Sample: "We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them."

Epictetus was a Stoic. And as I age I find increasing favor for their point of view. If you want to read more, get a modern translation: The Art of Living, a new interpretation by Sharon Lebell, HarperCollins 1995. There is also the Loeb Harvard Classics two-volume set in Greek and English if you want all there is of Epictetus.

That's the serious side of today's endeavors. On the other hand . . .

Last night some silly friends and I drank a little too much wine and started the Bug Olympics. The first event is the Rolling Down Hill and Walking Away contest. Each one of us found one of those little fast-crawling armored pill bugs. We touched them gently to make them roll up into a ball, and then using a piece of paper, scooped them up, held them in line at the top of an inclined cookie sheet, and let go at the count of three. The bugs rolled down and out onto the stone floor. The first bug that got up and walked away was the winner. My bug, Manolis, won 5 times in a row. Gold Medal Bug. And no harm done to the bugs, I think. (Wonder what the bugs think?)

Tonight all Greece will shut down at 8:30. The two top soccer teams will go at it in Athens. Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Piraeus. If one is not there in front of the TV, one will not know exactly what happened. And one will have nothing to talk about tomorrow. If the Turkish air force attacks Greece tonight between 8:30 and 10:30, the prime minister will say Greece cannot come to fight now. But he will say that, in two hours, half of Greece will be really mad and ready to kill, so maybe the Turks should pick another day.

I wondered what Epictetus would say about such matters, being wise and all.
Sample: "Once you have deliberated and determined that a course of action is wise, never discredit your judgment. Take a stand. Don't be cravenly noncommittal."

With that ancient philosophical admonition in mind, I went off to the Argentina Taverna to support Panathinaikos! And tried not to step on any Olympic Bug competitors as I went out the door.

Afterward. Tuesday. A 2-2 tie. Satisfying to all in that the game was played hard and well. Epictetus would have been pleased. As he said, speaking of skillful ballplayers: "None of them considers whether the ball is good or bad, but only how to throw it and catch it. For where a man has proper reason to rejoice, his fellow men have proper reason to share in that rejoicing."

N.B. -- Since I have found that whatever Fulghum is reading is well worth reading, I added the Amazon links. Fulghum does many things, but he does not surf. Nor does he have email, so furgeddaboutit.

Air America continues to make more news than it has listeners:

Mark Walsh, a former America Online executive and adviser to the Democratic National Committee, said Tuesday that he gave up his CEO title earlier this month ... of the Air America Radio network....

"I'm still staying involved, but now a lot of it is granular day-to-day stuff," Walsh said. -- Air America Reshuffles

And who is, you ask, Maynard G. Krebs? A great American...

Maynard G. Krebs will always be best remembered for his response whenever anyone mentioned the subject of work.  He would instantaneously shudder, and let out a plaintiff cry of "WORRRK!?!?" -- On Maynard

On the other hand, Walsh, who has a history of getting off the stage before the lights dim and the elephant dies, may just know something the rest of Air America doesn't understand. Nothing like putting a little distance between yourself and the implosion.

In other news, we find that Air America is about to blow more minority broadcasters off the air in the humongous metroplex of.... San Luis Obispo (Population -- 44,000) :

Air America Radio

"Air America Radio welcomes KYNS in San Luis Obispo," said Evan Cohen, Chairman of Air America Radio.  "The initial response to Air America Radio by listeners and advertisers has been overwhelmingly positive...

Right. Nothing like a media behemoth whose current "penetration" of America's air is summed up thus:
New York: WLIB 1190 AM
Chicago: WNTD 950 AM
Portland, OR: KPOJ 620 AM
Inland Empire, CA: KCAA 1050 AM
Minneapolis/St. Paul: WMNN 1330 AM
Portland, ME: WMTW 870 AM
West Palm Beach, FL: WJNO 1290 AM
Key West, FL:  WKIZ 1500 AM
Plattsburg, NY & Burlington, VT: WTWK 1070 AM
XM Satellite Radio: Channel 167
SIRIUS Satellite Radio: Channel 125

No doubt about it, when they write the history of Air America it will be entitled, "The Station America Turned Left to Hear... And Then Turned Back."

-- Pointer via Considerettes

Pierre's Web -- Click to Enlarge

orkut.com bills itself as an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends. We are committed to providing an online meeting place where people can socialize, make new acquaintances and find others who share their interests.

Right. Well, a trusted friend not on Orkut sent me a a piping hot link yesterday in an email entitled: Security Hole of the Day.

Orkut has the standard drivel about privacy and things "we'd never...." do, but you don't have to join Orkut to see who is talking to who. You just have to go to aptly named Data Whore House and start digging about in the datamine.

Want to know who Mitchell Kapor is talking to? That's right here.

He seems to be much more well-connected to the Digiterati than that wild and crazy eBay billionaire Pierre Omiydar whose connections are displayed here.

Indeed, for all his efforts Pierre (58 links) just can't get himself as well connected as Mitch who seems to be one of the reigning connectoids of Orkut with 268 links. Perhaps Pierre just leads a quieter life at his residence at The Montage, Laguna Beach, California “Nevada", while begging for his taxes not to be cut -- "Please!" "

A noble sentiment from a man whose primary residence is in the high taxing state of Nevada ... err, California. Yes, California. I think that's right. All those lines on his connections map just happen to lead to a small red dot in Nevada by sheer happenstance.

You'd think that something like Orkut which is "associated" with the now hypersecret Google would be better at keeping its inside information inside. You would be wrong.

From Frontline Photos : An Iraqi man throws gas onto a burning Army Humvee in Baghdad on Monday. An explosion leveled a building in the northern part of the city Monday, setting four nearby Humvees on fire. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in the blast. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.

Okay, but I'm willing to bet the cause of the next explosion will be glaringly obvious.

Here's one of those moments in modern photojournalism that make you want to see the next frames on the roll. What could be about to happen?

Note the position of the open flames licking at the man's shoes. Note the languid arc of the glimmering gasoline just above.

At the very least, this photo is an argument for more time spent in school on the subject of "Cause and Effect." Looks like there's about to be a pop quiz.

The always thoughtful and fascinating Belmont Club has a detailed scenario on what has been happening and what is likely to happen in Fallujah.

" Mortensen's earlier story indicated the Marines were returning to positions north; since it is known that they already hold positions south it seems clear that the enemy is now squeezed from two sides and is probably contained in the northeast corner of Fallujah, an area full of meandering streets and mosques. The enemy would prefer a linear American advance, hoping as in the case of Jenin, to mine buildings and blow them up as Americans occupy them. Not wanting to oblige, the USMC is mounting relatively small probes forcing the enemy to react. The current Marine strategy is ripping up the mobile defense. The company plus unit which attacked the platoon is probably no more. However, it will not be long before the enemy must retreat into a continuous perimeter, as his manpower dwindles to the point where a mobile defense is no longer viable. The remaining enemy forces are probably in the battalion plus range. And then the ghost of the Shuri line will rear up, in which there were no other option but to go directly into the teeth of the defense. The density of the defense displayed in the recent encounter may mean that time is near.

Belmont's conclusions about what will happen at that time are sobering.

Here's an example of $3 Billion of your foreign aid tax dollars at work. The following "explanation" is from the Egyptian government daily newspaper Al-Gumhouriyya titled 'The Secret Israeli Weapon,' by the deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab 'Adas:

"If you want to know the real perpetrator of every disaster or every act of terrorism, look for the Zionist Jews. They are behind all the violent and terror operations that have occurred everywhere in the world. [They do this] first of all in order to slap [the label of the attacks] on the Arabs and Muslims, and second to harm them, distort their image, and represent them to the world as terrorists who endanger innocents. What is even more dangerous is that after every terror operation they perpetrate, they leave a sign, clue, or traces meant to show that the perpetrators are Arab Muslims.
-- via MEMRI

And now you know what $3 billion a year buys you in Egypt. But you knew that already, didn't you.

Eyewitness to Prisstory

Thomas Oliphant, one of the Democrats most prissy pecksniff's came to the party today to say "ON THE WAY to the fence where he threw some of his military decorations 33 years ago, I was 4 or 5 feet behind John Kerry."

While this sort of supercilious commentary is Oliphant's stock and trade, it still sets my teeth on fire. It's an item whose sole functin is to pump up the vanity of the commentator. It's neither news nor "views" when an incident has been recorded on film, audio tape, and in dozens of reporters' notebooks. You will recall that Kerry's medal moment was not a secret ritual, but a staged media event which the media duly attended en masse.

All Oliphant's little memoir amounts to is vain primping in front of the mirror: "Can you hear me, History? It's me, Tom."

We mourn the passing of a perfectly good question out of the media's playbook: SO WHAT?

As the pablum of this political season proliferates, it seems to me good way to reduce it to a bowl that any sensible person would consider eating, is to first and foremostthrow our the useless carbs. When confronted with what I shall term an "Oliphantism" (That which seems like a story but is really an advertisement for the self) a wise editor should apply the question: SO WHAT?

The mere application of such a question carries the answer: SO NOTHING.

Do editors really want their readers' teeth to burst into flame? Too many Oliphantisms and readers of the Boston Globe may find themselves saying: "The Boston Globe? SO WHAT?"

Where There's A Will There's A Weblog is minting new American words as well as tracking anti-Atkins moments in American culture.

The word fresh out of the forge for today? Carber One who wantonly discriminates against Atkins carnivores in search of their ultimate fix.

Here's the whole item:

Where's the Beef? Not at this Chuck-A-Rama.

No-Carb Dieters Booted From Buffet
SALT LAKE CITY, April 26, 2004 -- According to this report on CBSNews.com, a pair of Atkins newbies in their second week of "induction," the brutal all-the-meat-and-butter-you-want-but-no-Krispie-Kreme phase of the diet, went to their local, and they thought, friendly, Chuck-A-Rama for the special $8.95 buffet. But after their 12th trip back to the carving station, they were asked by the management to please quit coming back for more. And more. And more.
"I really feel like we were discriminated against, I feel like we were treated unfairly," said Atkins dieter Isabelle Leota.

WTWTAW comments:
Well, Isabelle, I couldn't agree more. If your husband Billy Ray wants to go back for 12 plates of beef, then that's his God-given right as an American in this land we call the U.S. of Atkins.

And I'll bet, I'll just bet that the Manager was a carber.

What's next? Monitoring the flow of half and half at Starbucks?
I tell you, this senseless and bitter persecution of Atkins dieters has got to stop. That's why I've formed M.E.A.T. (Meat Eaters Against Tyrrany).

Our slogan?
Bite me.

We're signing up for M.E.A.T. right now! How about you?

Glenn Coggeshell is running for congress at The Lord of the Political Rings

The battle for middle earth has begun
In Washington DC.

"I fight not for what is gained, I fight for what can be lost."

With the choices we're getting , it is obviously time to send a Tolkien fan in. It might be just the ticket. At the very least, we can say "Now, he's really ready to cut the fat out of government."

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
Pick up on one and leave the other behind.
It's not often easy and not often kind.
Did you ever have to make up your mind?
-- The Loving Spoonful

No Answers Here. Just Observations and Anecdotes

Like most serious people in America today, I’ve had to struggle with my “views” on abortion. You are required, in this deadlocked and soul-locked society to have a view on this issue. “I don’t know,” just won’t cut it. You’ve got to know. It says so right here in “America: The Instructions.”

But what *do* I know? Here’s what I thought I knew then and what I think I know now. Why today? Because I read the news today. Oh boy.

Any day that sees long lines of pro-choice demonstrators massing in Washington and across the nation in an event advertised by them as “non-political” makes it certain that you’re going to get a lot of political coverage right away.

The media did not disappoint in its usual disappointing way and today we get Senator Kerry’s wife’s position on the issue:

”I don't view abortion as just a nothing. It is stopping the process of life....

"Ultimately you're either for choice or you're not, so I am" for abortion rights, she says. "I ask myself if I had a 13-year-old daughter who got drunk one night and got pregnant, what would I do. Christ, I'd go nuts."

An admirable, understandable and human position. Refreshing because it is true.

Alas, we do not get the same sort of candor from her husband-who-would-be-president in his now daily disappointing statement on one issue or another:

When I ask [John Kerry] if their views are similar, he says, "I do not know the answer to that. We've never—she's never had to vote."

The in media res contradiction of that statement convinced me yet again that this man is not ready to make any decision other than deciding to not to decide.

Abortion is, as we all know, one of the 25 or 30 third rails of American politics. So what? You don’t get be President unless you can prove to the American people that, from time to time, you can reach out and touch a few of these rails with both hands. This can be, as I am sure George W. Bush has discovered, a shocking experience, but I wouldn’t want a man as President who couldn’t do it.

Like it or not the issue of abortion is one of those rails. Bush has grasped it. Whether or not you like his choice depends on yours. But grasp it he has. I’m pretty clear where he stands on abortion. Kerry is just the big question mark over the head of Felix the Cat on abortion. He’s vexed. And well he should be.

The Vexation and the Fear. The Abstract Issue and the Real Child

Abortion is one of the most vexing issues going... and going... and going. There’s no good in it and no good end to it.

It is currently resolved one way, in favor of choice, but the palpable, visceral fear of those who support choice no matter what is that “one supreme court appointment” could overturn Roe v. Wade. I’m not so sure about that, not sure at all, but the energy source here is fear and fear is a big motivater, especially if you are on the Left in America these days. Indeed, fear and hate seem to be driving most of the concepts coming out of the Left lately which is why I distrust them so deeply.

On abortion, my view has shifted over time. It shifted noticeably after the birth of my daughter. Something about birth makes you realize the stakes involved in the abortion issue in a way that was merely abstract before.

It seems to me that if the issue remains, or is contained, as an abstract notion (“What would you do if...) then "choice" -- given the agnostic temper of the times -- remains paramount. In the abstract. we’d all like a choice and not a mandate -- from the state, from God, from our society, or from ourselves. We’d all like to go through life doing what we want, when we want, with no consequences. You know, “No judgments, man. Hey, no blame.” Alas, abortion is not an abstract procedure or some harmless gedankenexperiment, although many of the more virulent Pro-Choice people would like it to remain that way.

My own experience has been that when you are confronted with the abortion issue after having nurtured a child, abortion is no longer an abstraction -- i.e. “Resolved, all women should be able to control their bodies without interference” -- but becomes more concrete -- i.e. “Resolved, all women should be able to control their bodies without interference including ending a life within them at will.”

It seems to me that (absent the usual banal disclaimers involving crime, rape, incest, danger to the mother, etc.) the abortion issue splits between those base their position on the abstract notion of choice, and those with more concrete experience -- parents. This is not to say that those with children and remain pro-choice are caught in an abstraction, quite the opposite. I place them in the latter camp. It is to say that, no matter where they stand on the issue, the opinion of people with children have more standing, to me at least, than those without children. They have, to use an expression not without irony, “Real skin in the game.”

Beginnings: Life and Human Life

Evidence that life begins at conception is obvious and conclusive. If an egg has become a zygote that zygote is alive. This is how babies are built. Once fertilized and viable, a zygote will become -- barring misadventure or intervention -- a blastula, a gastrula, a pharyngula and so on, but always alive. Life is a property is possesses by definition and it needs to grow. No life, it does not grow. Life, it grows. Life begins at conception. Full stop. Period. End of discussion.

When human life begins is harder to know.

Certain lower life forms can already be grown to term from zygotes in artificial environments by our scientists, and it is foolish to think that human life will be immune from our technologies in this regard, unless by decree -- and even that is foolish. American policy may currently be squeamish and retrograde in this regard, but other cultures are neither so religious nor so delicate.

The crux of the abortion dispute is, as mentioned above, the question of when human life begins. At this point, we all know the oppossed political and religious positions. At some point, human life begins and the fate of the fetus is either at the absolute will of the mother or it is not. Nevertheless, it is still hard to say exactly when humanness happens since:
1) We do not agree on the term “human” and
2) as a result, all evidence on this issue remains anecdotal once you strip away the slant of your preferred “research.”

A Small Island of Agreement -- But Isolated

Still, a bit of progress in this politically religious or religiously political cleft-stick has been made.

Continued...

Around and about the media and the blogsphere John Kerry's Vietnam war medals and their final disposition are a gigantic "Squawking Point ™" today. Asked by Gibson on Good Morning America:

GIBSON: Can you explain?
Answer:
KERRY: Absolutely.

And Kerry goes on to be anything but absolute about anything. This is typical but it doesn't harm him as far as the hero issue is concerned by any stretch of the imagination.

Still, since the media mind is more and more given over to imagination these days we can count, we will have several news cycles of this particular stretch until their off on the next thing that comes swirling into the realm of "The Politics of the Next Five Minutes" (™ 2004 -- Roger L. Simon)

At the risk of stating the obvious (which many others seem to have missed), this issue is not whether or not Kerry is a war hero who later became less than a hero by doing this, that, or the other with his or other's medals.

John Kerry is a war hero by virtue of the deeds he performed in order to be awarded his medals. It's the deeds that count and only the deeds in determining heroism. The medals don't count and what is done with the medals doesn't count. Once you get them, they're your medals. You can, as many have, sell them or pawn them. They are your property. You'd think the staunch conservatives calling for "Bloooood!" on this basis would have understood that much.

The deeds make the hero. And, from everything I've read about his decorations, the deeds were real and honorable.

Hence, regardless of whether or not the medals were kept, tossed, or melted down to make a large bling-bling peace symbol for John F. Kerry to wear as a erring, he remains a War Hero.

The question of whether or not John F. Kerry is a Political Coward is a different issue. On that he will have to run on his political record just as he runs on his war record.

Cruel people would caption this "Which evil twin has the Tony?"
Even crueler people would caption this "Which evil twin had little Tony?"
But we would never do that.

Most of the time, we try to keep AD a pervert-free zone, -- with the exception of certain political figures. However, every so often a little Jackson has to pop up like poison toadstools after a spring rain. It got us today when we noted that:

Michael Jackson has dumped his high-powered attorneys, Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman. Jackson is replacing them with Thomas Mesereau Jr., best known as the lawyer recently fired by Robert Blake. -- E! Online

We don't know much about trial lawyers but when you take on a lawyer "best known as the lawyer recently fired by Robert Blake," we'd say it's time to pump up your PayPal account and start scanning eBay for "underwear, solid steel."

Translation: First report to Johann Schöner on the Books of the Revolutions of the learned gentleman and distinguished mathematician, the Reverend Doctor Nicolaus Copernicus of Torun, Canon of Warmia, by a certain youth devoted to mathematics. -- Rheticus

$1.5 million buys book that put world in its place

By ERIC ADLER

The $1.5 million book is tucked inside its own protective case, sitting on a shelf in a huge vault with a steel door 5 inches thick.

It is the rarest and most expensive book the Linda Hall Library of Science has ever bought. Carefully, Bruce Bradley, the library's curator of rare books, picked up the case and carried it into an adjoining room rich with the dark wood paneling of a grand English library.

He picked up a pair of white cotton gloves, slipped them on and opened the case. Gently, he removed a thin volume weighing a few ounces and placed it on a flat wood table. The book is 464 years old.

"Doesn't look like such a big deal, does it?" Bradley said.

Except, of course, that it helped change the world.

Published in Latin in 1540, the book is one of the few remaining first editions of the Narratio prima by German mathematician Georg Joachim Rheticus.

Three years before famed astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published De revolutionibus, the revolutionary treatise stating that the sun, and not the earth, was at the center of the universe, Rheticus published Narratio prima.

More at ... The Kansas City Star (Reg. Required)

Pointer via Arcturus

"The culture war is over, and American values reign supreme, even over our most dedicated foe!"

-- Dave Trowbridge @ Redwood Dragon -- via IP

HubbleSite: The Lure of the Rings
Click to enlarge

"Resembling a diamond-encrusted bracelet, a ring of brilliant blue star clusters wraps around the yellowish nucleus of what was once a normal spiral galaxy in this new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This image is being released to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Hubble's launch on April 24, 1990 and its deployment from the space shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990. The galaxy, cataloged as AM 0644-741, is a member of the class of so-called "ring galaxies." It lies 300 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado."

Spirit of America and The Victory Coaliton need you help and your dollars now. Unlike many charities, 100% of your donations go to the projects taken on by Jim Hake and the Volunteers of Spirit of America.

Right now a fund-raising drive is on to make this coming week one that will count in the battle to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis throughout that blighted country.

I've personally helped this fine organization at events such as getting school and medical supplies to Iraq. I can assure you that this is one group that talks the talk AND walks the walk. For every dollar you give, 100 cents gets to those in need.

Some give all. You can give some. Click on the banner above. Just do it.

Hot prose purples the air:

"Back in 1971, the square-jawed, clean-cut decorated combat veteran, with a generous mop of dark hair, told a rapt audience of senators of atrocities he said had been reported to him by his fellow soldiers in Vietnam....."

"At 60, the hair is graying, though the jaw is still square. And he is still explaining and defending those strong, vivid words, which continue to divide."
From: CNN.com - Kerry's 1971 testimony on Vietnam reverberates by Candy Crowley

Wheww! It's clear that Candy has got it going on for John. The only question is if ,when Teresa tumbles to this, more CNN bimbo eruptions will be allowed.

Roger Simon continues his wordsmithing with: "Blogaganda "

"I think we need a new term for a kind of blog that is beginning to appear on the Internet, which does not solely represent the opinions of its "innocent" author. Perhaps someone will come up with a better one, but I am proposing the simple "Blogaganda" to describe the new blog by Mohammed Ali Abtahi, a Vice President (no less) of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

"Blogaganda" -- so let it be written, so let it be done.

Excerpt from the entire letter via The Conservative Cajun

"And oh by the way, we do have some common ground. I'm with you on not sending jobs out of the country. I have been against NAFTA since it's inception and believe it should be repealed.

"Now having said that I have an idea how you can help bring jobs back into the United States.

"Why don't you have your wife talk to the folks who run Heinz Foods and
get them to move all their factories into the U.S.A. since the lion's share of them are in foreign countries? That ought to help some."

This from the spam can this AM . I think the recipe is;
One can of rap,
A cup of Nigerian English,
Two random fortunes from the Fortune File
Blend well before spamming:

From:  
"Wanly L. Spangles" 

To:  
Publisher 

Date:  31 Mar 2004, 07:01:02 AM

Subject:  Publisher, Supreme medication for you!

Well!
Incidents should not govern policy
but, policy incidents

Publisher, looking for a place
to order medication?

Adaptability is not imitatione
It means power of resistance and assimilatione
Loving kindness is greater than laws
and the charities of life are more than all ceremoniese

If you care enough for a result,
you will most certainly attain ite

We are able to ship worldwide
The only time you don't fail
is the last time you try anything -- and it workse

Your easy solution is here
You are completely anonymous!

The sooner I fall behind,
the more time I have to catch upe
The highest exercise of charity
is charity towards the uncharitablee

From now on, all my poetry will be signed “Wanly L. Spangles,” and I will never cease my search for “Supreme Medication”

"We get asked a lot of questions about how to choose the right RAM for your system - and generally we like to say that the most important factor to consider is whether or not your RAM is named after pirates. As everyone knows, pirates are utterly excellent, perhaps being only slightly less cool than astronauts from the early 70's and spies. Like Billy Connolly before he started wearing mad trousers and bombing around Australia on a fruity tricycle, they sport exotic facial hair and pay excitingly scant regard to basic maritime health and safety regulations. So naturally, when you're trying to build the gnarliest gaming rig your puny human brain can comprehend, you'd be madder than a barrel of doorframes not to choose the stuff that has gently homoerotic nautical overtones!

"There's a wealth of information about Corsair memory at a new site here - either go for the brazenly fast XMS2, using memory so new and spangly it's technically illegal, or - my personal favourite - try out the overclocker's favourite stick, and go with the Pro. Like any true pirate, the Pro sticks come with an array of LEDs on top, which allow you to see how much of his brain he's using. Also, they have lots of tiny fins on - in the pirates' case this was to make sure his sleek, coconut-oiled torso slipped through the azure Caribbean seas like a freshly buttered otter. I presume they fulfil the same sort of function on the RAM.

"So, ask us what kind of RAM you should put in your new killer system, and we'll simply reply "YARRRR!" - before leaping from the top floor of our warehouse shelving with a network card between our teeth, swinging to the ground from 20m of CAT6 network cable, and finally leaping out of the window and making good our escape with 6 doubloon's worth of external hard-drives. YAAARRRRRR!"

From:
Komplett

The caring nature of our friends across the pond as show in: Goldfish rescued from drain death

"He may only be a goldfish in the eyes of the person who poured him away, but this street really wanted to see him rescued," Inspector Craig said.

"Goldfish may not be as cute as cats or dogs, but they still deserve our respect and the chance to live out their lives safely and without distress. "

John Weidner of Random Jottings displays this moving image this morning:

A caisson carries the casket of Lance Cpl. Torrey Stoffel-Gray in a procession through Patoka, Ill., on Monday. The 19-year-old Marine was killed April 11 by hostile fire in Iraq's Anbar province. He was stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif

Weidner asks:

So why don't we see more things like this? And what's the big deal about Dover?

He answers:

Dover AFB is where large shipments of coffins with our war dead arrive. They are then forwarded to various localities. The press wants to show coffins en masse because they think it will help their party in the next election by causing Americans to lose heart. (A side-effect like undermining their country in time of war is too trifling to worry about.)

This certainly rings true, but I think there's another factor working here that is not quite so political: the lazy/cheap factor.

There might be, if the Pulitizer committee were not itself subject to corruption, a prize for photojournalism to be found in tracking the effects of the war at home, but most of the press would be too lazy and too cheap to try for it.

It would entail a long series of assignments in the small towns and dusty backwaters of America. There would be lots of short hops on small commuter airlines, many nights in Motel 6, many days in cheap rented cars, and a host of meals snatched at Waffle Hut. Not an assignment many would treasure. Not an assignment many editors would give. Most would like to stay home and cover something local like dog fights, small fires, and milking contests.

Dover is close to DC where the media keeps its standing army. Much more efficient to just send a team out there and be back in time for cocktails in Foggy Bottom. Lazy and cheap, the two signature qualities of many of the career officers in the Media army.

Besides, this push to cover large numbers of coffins is only a stalking horse for the real desire of the insatiable media. They live and die by circulation numbers and ratings and what they really want is a piece of the Iraq reality show near home and safe.

Look for some craven employee of the media to start pushing for "Our Iraq War Dead: The Autopsy" as the next step in the downward spiral of 'reality TV.' "After all," the argument will go, "doesn't the public have a right to know the real costs of the war? We need to see the bodies come out of the coffins and how they are examined and prepared."

I'm sure that some of the real bottom feeders of the media will even hunt up a bereft and confused family of a soldier killed in Iraq and get them to sign papers and give interviews demanding that this revolting kind of story be allowed. Will it be allowed? You might think not, but given the almost instant cave-in to a bogus FOIA request earlier this week that's no longer certain. It's clear that to some in the Pentagon you can't do enough or go far enough to satisfy the media's claim that it be allowed to penetrate every facet of our national life. What's privacy and decency when it is standing in the way of reallly big ratings and a large bump in circulation?

Even odds that we'll see something like "Our Fallen Hero:The Autopsy" on HBO within the year.

The Curmudgeon seeks an answer to the question: Why Do They Hate Us?

[T]o hate a country is an exercise in abstraction. To do it properly, one must discern the philosophical basis for the country, separate out the critical threads, and find a rationale for condemning them. This is beyond the mental powers of most on the Left. They prefer to hate something concrete. Americans who love and defend their country are their usual choice.

But why?

It's not about patriotism. There are a lot of patriots in the world. The only variety the Left excoriates are American patriots.

It's not about armament. The Red Chinese, the Iranians, the Saudis and others are all straining to become serious nuclear threats to the United States. None of these nations has received any criticism from the Left.

It's not about warfare. The Left has never condemned the wars initiated by socialist dictatorships. The Soviet Union's incursions into Afghanistan, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and East Germany were perfectly okay with them. Castro's deployment of thousands of heavily armed "advisers" into Angola didn't cause them a moment's alarm.

It's not about racism, sexism, or any other collectivist perversion. Collectivism is the Left's lifeblood. Racism is just fine with them, as long as it's directed against their political enemies. And you've never seen sexism like that on the Left, whose street activists invented the idea of "chicks up front": men shielding themselves from the police behind rows of women.

It's not about "compassion." No one who understands the word could rationalize the brutality routine to the Palestinian terror brigades, Castro's prisons, or North Korea's concentration camps.

So, at bottom, what do they hate? His answer is inevitable as well as illuminating.

Pat Tillman 1976-2004

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder high-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It whithers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echos fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.

-- A.E. Housman

The truth of the matter is that the opinions stifled on our campuses run counter to a prevailing orthodoxy that abuses its power and prevents the expression of opinions it opposes.

This coercive stifling of opinion permeates daily life, not just our campuses. It is very hard to think of an area of life that is free of the exhortation of intrusive moralizing. We are told what food is right or wrong to eat; how we should treat our pets; what clothing to wear; how we should spend our after-tax income; how precisely we should phrase invitations for sex; what kind of bags we should carry our groceries in; when and where we are permitted to pray or smoke; what jokes we are allowed to tell; who should pick the fruit we buy at the supermarket; how we should invest our money; what chemicals we should use in our gardens; by what method of transportation we should go to work; how we should sort our garbage; what we ought to think about cross dressing, sex change operations, teenage sex, and pot smoking; we are forbidden to inquire after the age, marital status, drug use, or alcoholism of job applicants; we are liable to be accused of sexual abuse if we spank our children or hug our neighbor's; our 19 and 20-year olds are permitted to fight our wars, but they are not permitted to buy a beer; we are not supposed to say that people are crippled, stupid, mentally defective, fat, or ignorant; and we must not use words like "statesman," or "He" when referring to God.

-- John Kekes @ Tech Central

In the world of very small, but widely seen art, icons hold a special place in the hearts of computer users and their operating systems. While the schizm between Windows users and Mac users is, at bottom, religious, what is not in dispute is that Mac Icons are, well, simply more beautiful. So beautiful in fact that annual contests are held for the most attractive and elegant icons. Chief among these is Pixelpalooza, hosted by The Iconfactory , a site where Mac Icons go to find loving foster homes on desktops and laptops across the Web.

This year, when they opened the envelope at The Icon Factory's Pixelpalooza 2004!, the winners were .... seen here

N.Z. Bear is the latest observer to chronicle the decay at the once interesting web site, Salon, in One of these things is not like the other

“Salon continues its descent into liberal insanity. Nice photo montage. No, I don't care if it's explained later in the article, thank you very much.”

He’s pointing to “Who's a fascist? The ultimate political insult is making a comeback,” illustrated thus:

One can only imagine the glee that this picture stimulated in the cube farm publishing this hapless fossil. Lattes on the house at whatever espresso bar the staff repairs to after extracting paychecks from whatever Silicon Valley mogul is underwriting Salon this week.

“Cool graphic, Laura. Really framed your fascist piece.”

“Ah, David, I don’t think it really reflected what I wrote.”

“Don’t fret, Laura. They’ll remember it long after your review is forgotten. Besides, most of your review is in the pay zone. Nobody goes there. It’s what’s up front that counts. That’s why me editor, you writer.”

One could go on at great length on the question of “Whatever happened to Salon?” Many have, more will. The real story on Salon can be given in just a few paragraphs.The decay of Salon parallels the decay of the Left, the liberal establishment, and the Democratic Party since 9/11. Once the shock wore off and time passed, the process of laughter and forgetting took hold and the old obsessions came swarming back. As Gary Snyder wrote, “Once a bear is hooked on garbage, there’s no cure.”

Looking at Salon’s spiteful graphic this morning, a biblical phrase came to mind. I am not a religious man. My knowledge of scripture is scant. Still, my first thought was, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Being unsure of the phrase, I found the original passage:

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
-- Matthew: 7

”By their fruits ye shall know them.” Let’s apply that to the picture above for a meditation on the persistence and flowering of bad Americans in this time of war and terror.

In the aftershocks of 911, Salon’s editor David Talbot underwent a brief conversion experience in which he actually seemed to support the culture and the country that made Salon possible. Alas his revelation soon dissolved. His was the faith of fear. When the fear faded his faith faded as well. Like others of his ilk, as soon as it became clear that the First Terrorist War was going to be something more than a Special Forces social call on Afghanistan, Talbot and his crew began to see the real enemy not as those who killed 3,000 Americans and swore to kill hundreds of thousands, but those Americans who were determined to eliminate the killers root and branch.

Why? Because those Americans were led by the one man more dangerous to Salonistas than Osama, Hitler, and Milosevic combined -- George W. Bush. Bush of atrocities such as “Guantanamo,” “The Patriot Act,” and “The Marriage Protection Act.” Bush who said “Adios Kyoto,” and “Hit Iraq.” In minds now relieved of the feeling of a clear and present danger from terrorists, Bush became a condensed Satan: Adolf Osama Slobodon Bush -- War Criminal, Mass Murderer, Christian, Homophobe, Chimp. And, worst of all, Thief .

Once they felt safe in cultural hamlets such as the Bay Area, surrounded by tens of thousands of others who provided ideological insulation, the Salonistas reverted to the central obsession of the Left and the Democrats -- It is not really the loss of American soldiers that motivates them (although they will say it is). It is not the risk of Americans being killed here at home that drives them (although they will say it is). It is not the fretting over the “loss of our freedoms” that seems to have been, so far, delayed, or the “suppression of dissent” which seems instead -- if the picture above is any guide -- to be thriving. None of this powers the bozo eruptions spurting daily from house organs like Salon. Their primal energy source remains “Florida, 2000.”

Today no one can say what might have been the course of the last few years had the Butterfly ballots of Florida been a bit more clear as they spread their wings before addled voters in that graying state. Nor can one say what would have been the result if Ralph Nader’s Pinto has been tee-boned by an SUV on the Interstate in October of that year. But the post-mortem effects are with us every day as a large block of our more educated citizens refuse, in their bones, to accept the fact that -- by law -- George Bush is President until our citizens, educated or otherwise, vote him out or 2008, whichever comes first.

Instead the Salonistas eat the bitter fruit of their corrupted tree every morning. They eat it cold and since, by dint of the makeup of their characters, they inhabit a large section of the mass and minor media, we can expect them to pass on this fruit to us in heaping portions.

As their diet, low in carbs and high in the toxicity of hate, it ulcerates tissues deep within them. The gnawing pain from those tissues overcomes their political good sense. Surrounded only by others who consume the same fruit, they drive more and more Americans away from their fixation on the past and towards those who see that the way to peace is forward, not back to a future that never was.

Salon remains an example of subsistence farming in this blighted orchard, limping from one disappointing day to the next on the kindness of Sorosesque “backers” who sigh and kiss their money good-bye as soon as they hit the PayPal button. Still, Salon is an important site in that it allows you to see the mindset of the Left in a slick interface.

Like a canary in an ideological coal mine, Salon will wheeze along in the dusty dark for a few years more. After all, it is not just a product of institutionalized BushHating, it is an institution of San Francisco and the Bay Area; a safe seat for sitting out the Terrorist War.

Sensible San Franciscans long ago realized they were in no danger from Terrorists. Looked at from a military point of view, the city has little value as a strategic or economic target. The elimination of San Francisco would not have as crippling an effect on America as the reduction of New York, Washington, Los Angeles, or a couple dozen other prime targets. At the same time, San Francisco has great value as a city congenial to fellow travelers, quislings, and sleeper cells of all colors and affiliations. San Francisco is, indeed, the reigning capitol of anti-Americanism in America. As such it is both a safe haven and a bastion of useful fools. Our enemies know enough to keep San Francisco intact and untouched. They’ll eat it last.

For now, it is enough to know that Salon, as one of the prime online house organs for surrender, appeasement, and BushHate, is doing its part to keep itself and San Francisco safe from terrorism. Civic spirit at its very best.

Or -- Why Johnny Can't Code

Imagine that there was a Brick Science major in a university. What would it look like, if it were modeled after most Computer Science programs? 

In the freshman year, we teach the students about bricks. The kinds of bricks. The sizes of bricks. The purposes of bricks. Plain bricks, glazed bricks, outdoor bricks, paving bricks, fire bricks. Each exam tests their knowledge of specific kinds of bricks and what they are used for. 

In the sophomore year we introduce them to Brick Theory. How bricks are made. What goes into the mix. The effects of impurities in bricks, both negative (defective bricks) and positive (coloration). We teach them the chemistry of bricks. The proper firing temperatures for different kinds of bricks. They learn how to analyze brick performance (breaking strength, water permeability, robustness and other considerations in Analysis of Bricks). They finally understand why some bricks come with three little holes in them (they knew about the existence of these in their freshman year, but not why they are present). 

In the junior year we explain about how mortar puts bricks together. Since they now have more background, in two semesters we start with basic mortar theory and work down to optimum blends of mortar for various purposes. They learn about curing time. They learn about brick-mortar combinations. They learn about pointing, and why it is necessary. They know how to determine the bonding strength by measuring the forces that are required to split two bricks that have been mortared together. 

In the senior year we introduce them to systems. We talk about the costs of field deployment of brick-mortar systems, including installation and maintenance, long-term issues such as system robustness under weather, salt, and other stress conditions. And we have a senior project. Each group of students gets to build a three-block-high, six-block-wide wall, using bricks and mortar of their choice, and explain why they made these choices. 

They graduate. They have a B.S. in Brick Science. 

Their first assignment: "Build a decorative brick wall". 

Pointer from The Inscrutable Muxway

One would hope that Reuters would adopt a policy of sending seasoned reporters to Washington instead of those barely out of some high school in the Ukraine.

David Morgan, callow youth that he must be, reveals his stunning ignorance of basic American political structures in his report: Nuclear-Armed Iran Would Be 'Intolerable' -Bush

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A nuclear-armed Iran would pose an intolerable threat to peace in the Middle East and a mortal danger to Israel, President Bush said on Wednesday, adding that any such threat would be "dealt with" by the United States and its allies.

In strongly worded remarks before an audience of newspaper editors and publishers, the Republican president pressed the secretive leadership of the Islamic republic to heed U.S. and European demands not to pursue a nuclear weapons program.

We await the young Mr. Morgan's report on the words of the Democratic president, no matter where he may be.

UPDATE
Email brings us this footnote to history:

Gerard Van der Leun should at least be informed that the name of the state is "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine". There are no articles in the Ukrainian language.

This way of refering to Ukraine is believed by many Ukrainian-Americans to have been pushed by the Soviets as a way of making Ukraine appear to be only a region of the USSR. -- Charles Osgood

Gerard Van der Leun regrets his ignorance in this matter and has corrected the entry accordingly.

He would also like to state that by mentioning Ukraine in the same anecdote as the Reuters news service, he in no way meant to tarnish or defame the proud people of Ukraine.

Incident filed under: "Osgood"

THIS JUST IN!

File under "Markets Plunge Due to Irrational Ignorance"

What do these damp grief counselors do between disasters? Why they write books, of course. Such as this instant downer from Publishers Marketplace Offerings

GOD KNOWS: I'M GRIEVING! is co-authored by Marilyn Stolzman, Ph.D., L.M.F.T, a practicing psychotherapist specializing in grief counseling, a popular lecturer, and the Director of H.O.P.E. Unit Foundation for Bereavement and Transition, a Los Angeles-based, ongoing bereavement support organization and book buyer, and widow, seasoned PR-savvy, published author Gloria Lintermans. GOD KNOWS: I'M GRIEVING! The Journey from Loss of Love, to Life and Laughter speaks to that widow/widower/partner -- over 15 million people in America - who have lost a spouse, and, the additional millions of surviving partners from non-traditional relationships (gay, lesbian and life-partners).

GOD KNOWS: I'M GRIEVING!, a 75,000-word cutting edge, prescriptive approach to healthy, healing grief, is a practical guidebook for the bereaved and their support network -- not psychobabble, but workable steps to moving through the important and necessary Stages and Time Sequences of Grief in order to realize a healed, gratifying new life. Unlike any book currently available on grieving the loss of a spouse or partner, it is unique to this important marketplace, because: GOD KNOWS: I'M GRIEVING!, while providing insights into the five Stages of Grief, also explores the previously ignored five Time Sequences of Grief while keeping in mind the mourners' temporary inability to concentrate by presenting each chapter in an easy-to-navigate format of four sections. They are: (1) Lintermans' firsthand experience to which mourners will comfortingly relate; (2) questions about day-to-day life common to mourners; (3) Dr. Stolzman's reassuring explanation of what the mourner is feeling; and, (4) a roadmap of practical Do's and Don'ts to guide the mourner on the path to recovery.

We certainly can't wait to "comfortingly relate," we're shipping off an "offering" this afternoon to our agent titled: GOD KNOWS: I'M HEAVING!