Separated at birth

This is really funny, with Demos/commies/terrorists shown to be separated at birth with their brothers who grew up to become monsters. Of course, the monsters may actually be tamer than their siblings.

Cronkite says Rove set up the OBL thing

Walter Cronkite (sounds like German Krankheit = sickness or disease, though I am not particularly fond of playing with people’s names) says, perhaps half jokingly and half ironically, that Karl Rove was behind the reappearance of Osama bin Laden. I think in saying this, Cronkite unwittingly admits that OBL’s tape will help W.’s election because it brings to the forefront the issue of terrorism to the consciousness of the amnesic Americans. This is also an admission that Kerry is simply not up to the challenge of dealing with terrorists. (Of course, “dealing” means crushing them not negotiating with them.)

In a way, the Americans are in a situation similar to the Taiwanese a few years ago, when, during the election, Taiwan was threatened by the Chinese Communists but went ahead and gave Lee Teng-hui a landslide victory, thumbing their collective nose at the Commies. Unlike the Spaniards who caved in to the terrorists’ demands, I suspect the Americans will have the spine to stand up to them, and at the end defeat them.

It’s still a tough call

The polls are all over the place, and even though I am cautiously optimistic (what can I do?), in these last few days of election numbers still look pretty precarious.

The folks at The Weekly Standard are mostly calling for a Bush win, but a few are calling for Kerry. Notable among the pessimists is Stephen Hayes, whose book The Connection documenting the links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein has by and large been ignored by the MSM (yawn).

Mark Steyn, on the other hand, puts his job (does he have one?) on the line, predicting a Bush win. His argument pretty much rests on the rationality of the voters, but one can only hope that the voters are in fact rational. The fact that, for example, Ohio’s voters may not go for Bush (ostensibly because of the economy) shows that not all voters are informed or concerned about the most grave issue of the day (and of many years to come)—Western civilization’s survival. If we perish because we capitulated to the Islamofascists, every other issue is moot.

Germany’s largest paper endorses Bush!

Apparently this is not a joke. And what a surprise! The following is a translation of the article in BILD (courtesy Davids Medienkritk):

1. Bush has clear priorities. He sees the inhuman Islamic fundamentalism and the murderous mullahs as the largest danger for the Western world.

2. Bush has learned the lessons of history. Military strength, not pleasant talk, is the only thing that helps against violent fanatics. And with Bush -- unlike with Kerry -- there is no doubt about this.

3. Under Bush, the US, as a superpower, will continue to bear the financial, military and casualty burden in the fight against terrorism in a "holy war" which Islamic fanatics unilaterally declared.

4. Along with fighting terror and the terrorists, a re-elected Bush will do everything he can to prevent nuclear proliferation. That is especially true with regard to the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

5. Bush has learned that America can defeat every country in war, but needs allies in peace. Thus, his second term will be characterized by cooperation with international partners. But he will not depend on how Syria or Libya vote at the UN.

6. Bush knows that Europe and Germany don’t have the military at their disposal to become involved in any further foreign military engagements. Therefore he won't ask them for help. Kerry will do exactly that – and will further burden already damaged German-American relations.

7. Under Bush, America will remain a reliable partner for Israel in its fight for survival. That must especially be in our German interest.

8. Republicans have always been stronger supporters of free trade than Democrats. That is also true of Bush when compared to Kerry. And that is good for Germany as an export nation.

9. Every new American administration makes mistakes. Bush has already made his. Kerry, on the other hand, has of yet held no (executive) position in the government. He would be worse prepared than most Presidents preceding him.

10. With Bush, we know what to expect. With Kerry, nobody knows what he stands for and where he wants to lead America – and the world.

Some spot evidence

... that W. is likely to win re-election. A friend of mine who is officially independent and probably more often than not votes Demo, yesterday told me that he voted for W., even though he somewhat objected to the war (not logically, in my opinion). But he said he voted for W. because he thought W. should be given time to finish the job. Even more amazingly, his wife, who usually votes straight Demo, also voted for W. I guess Kerry is just not very appealing to “swing voters.”

This really made my day. I paid for the lunch, but it was after-the-fact that he told me, so I don’t think this counts as vote-buying.

Stolen Honor video available online

http://www.stolenhonor.com/documentary/watch-video.asp

I don’t know how anyone can watch this film and still vote for a traitor like Kerry. And the fact that the MSM conspire to suppress this documentary speaks volumes about their bias.

How low can Demos go?

These thugs’ behaviors are getting worse. A registered Demoncra* tried to run down Katherine Harris, the Florida Republican Representative who was the state’s Secretary in 2000 and who became famous during the recount commotions. The police report is here, posted by Smoking Gun.

Demoncra*s complain constantly about (nonexistent) voter intimidation, but they are exactly the ones doing the intimidating.

Kerry as Chamberlain

Another interesting parallel, by Beldar.

Another interesting election predictor

This predictor is based on coffee drinkers at 7-11. Each customer is asked to pick a Bush-cup, Kerry-cup, or a 3rd-Party/No-Opinion cup, and the results are tallied. Unscientific, to be sure, but it did correctly call the 2000 Election. The current figures are for Bush, 51.17% to 48.83%.

A surprising bit is the California statistic, which has Bush at 51.03%, about the same as the national average.

(Hat tip: Bill at INDC Journal)

Truman and Bush

William Stuntz draws interesting parallels between the presidencies of Truman and Bush, and Truman’s campaign against Dewey and the current campaign.

Liz Edwards: no riot if Demos win

Mrs. John Edwards’s gaffe has been noted all over blogosphere. My reaction: considering the thuggish behavior of lefty Demos (stealing or defacing Bush-Cheney signs, intimidating Bush-Cheney supporters, etc.), it will not be shocking if there turns out to be riots if W. wins. On the other hand, Republicans are civilized and will accept a legitimate victory of the opposition. Ergo, no riots.

Perfectly logical.

Better to die for a noble venture

... than government health care. Mark Steyn, in an article in which his characteristic biting, acerbic humor is strangely absent (OK, maybe the comparison and contrast between Osama bin Laden and the Loch Ness monster counts as biting, acerbic humor), has an insightful article here, criticizing Kerry’s Europhilic delusion and socialist “healthcare.” Read the whole thing.

Book on Christianity vs. Islam

The new book by Alvin Schmidt, The Great Divide: The Failure of Islam and the Triumph of the West, seems to be an interesting read. A related article by Lev Navrozov can be found here at NewsMax.

Is Daschle disqualified from representing South Dakota?

Tom Daschle may be disqualified from running for South Dakota’s seat in the Senate. This is because he bought a $2M house in D.C., and claimed homestead deduction there. So he may in fact not be considered a South Dakotan for the purpose of election, and S.D. law seems to say that a candidate must be a resident of the state.

I doubt whether this will be played out the way I desire to see. Still, I am hoping that Republican John Thune will unseat him.

Nobel laureate criticizes Bush tax cuts

... as being not enough. Edward Prescott, who was the cowinner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in economics, shows how higher tax rates hurts the economy by reducing “market time,” that is, useful, productive time a person would put to work on his specialized area rather than something that he is less good at. (He has an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.) This is called a “tax wedge.” The graduated tax system is especially harmful because of the diminishing returns. If additional work only earns me 50 cents on the dollar after tax, for example, I would need to work a lot more hours to make the money necessary to hire someone (with after-tax money) to repair my house. I would then be discouraged from making the best use of my “market time” and do the repair myself, at which I am not as good as a contractor. The tax system therefore results in an inefficient allocation of resources in the economy.

And the Leftists still want central planning and control of everything!

Victor Davis Hanson on Election 2004

VDH is not only a cool-headed thinker, but he is also a very gracious (too gracious, I think) writer. His article on Election 2004 focuses more on “style” (of the Kerry camp, that is) than on “substance,” and portrays the characters in that camp as essentially of good nature. For instance, he writes of Teresa Heinz-Kerry,

So despite her elegance, intelligence, wealth, and verve, Teresa Heinz Kerry throughout the campaign has proven to be a walking time bomb.

And again,

... and her earlier promises to tap her fortune if the campaign got rough and we are left with the image not of a kindhearted philanthropist (which she probably really is), but a headstrong, do-it-my-way heiress, using a deceased Republican's fortune to subsidize trendy Democratic causes while retaining the lifestyle of the true corporate capitalist.

Wealth? Yes, but elegance? intelligence? kindhearted philanthropist? Prof. Hanson, you’ve taught me a great lesson, namely, to think of others in the best possible light and not to pass judgment. And I mean this sincerely.

Democrat candidate’s son caught stealing Bush/Cheney lawn signs

Captain’s Quarters nominates the Golojuch family for the Darwin award.

Gore to stump for Kerry

Does Kerry really want Gore to be involved in his campaign? Given Gore’s sorry record (think of, e.g., how his endorsement of Howard Dean during the primary sank Dean), his endorsement is not exactly a desideratum. But then, I will not complain.

Update on Synopsys–Magma patent dispute

Magma fires back at Synopsys, claiming, among other things, that Synopsys is “engaging in efforts to spread false and misleading statements about Magma and its products.”

More thoughts on shared-appreciation mortgages

I have sometimes joked that the IRS has a better understanding of the Christian (Reformed) doctrine of imputation than perhaps many Christians. Forgiveness of debt is treated by the IRS as imputed income, just as Christ’s work of atonement (both his active and passive obedience) is treated by God as imputed righteousness to us. Except that IRS wants to tax that income.

Anyway, shared-appreciation mortgages have another complication when provisions are made for additional contributions from either party (e.g., for the purpose of improvement and remodeling). How should the percentage of the lender be adjusted? Should it be a percentage based on the value of the property, or based on the appreciation of the property (i.e., value minus basis)?

Another reason why Teresa wants to raise your taxes

The Wall Street Journal has two recent articles about Teresa Heinz-Kerry’s taxes (here and here), following the disclosure (a very incomplete one at that!) of her tax return. A couple of readers noted another reason why the superrich like THK want to raise our taxes. Writes O.G. of New York:

In "Teresa's Fair Share" you miss the fact that the tax-exempt investments of Sen. Kerry's wife provide a financial reason for her, and by extension her husband, to be so enthusiastic about raising income tax rates. When a tax-exempt municipal bond is issued, the market accepts an interest rate that is at least equal to the net after-tax interest rate of an equivalent taxable security. When tax rates are cut, newly issued equivalent municipal bonds must pay a higher interest rate to be equal to the net of a like taxable bond. So, if you want to sell municipal bonds that were issued when taxes were higher, you have to sell them at a capital loss in order for the effective interest rate to be equal to that found in the current market, ceteris paribus. Conversely, the value of your tax-exempt bonds can increase, if taxes go up. Therefore, Sen. Kerry's putatively sacrificial proposal to raise income tax rates on the wealthy, instead of hurting him, could have the self-serving effect of increasing the value of his wife's bond portfolio.

Shared-appreciation mortgage and tax implications

A shared-appreciation mortgage is one in which the lender offers the borrower an interest rate that is lower than the “applicable prevailing rate” in exchange for a percentage of the appreciated value of the mortgaged property at the time when the loan is due or when the property is sold.

But how much can or should the rate be reduced below the applicable prevailing rate? The IRS sets minimum rates that lenders much charge; these are known as applicable federal rates (AFR) and broadly classified as short-, medium-, and long-term. If a lender charges a rate that is below the applicable rate, he is considered (1) to have received “imputed interest” that is the difference between applicable rate and the lender’s rate and (2) to have gifted the borrower that difference. From a bookkeeping point of view, going below the applicable federal rate is a nightmare, and I would recommend that private lenders just use the published AFR.

Now, with shared-appreciation mortgage, setting the rate is not trivial. On the one hand, California civil code 1917.133(d) stipulates a minimum percentage (as a function as the shared percentage) by which the fixed rate must be reduced. On the other hand, this document (view as html) (paragraph 10 on page 8, or search for “imputed”) seems to indicate (without quantifying how much) that if the rate is set too low, the transaction may run afoul of IRS’s imputed-interest rule. So what is reasonable? I am not trained in real-estate or tax law, but I think the following scheme seems to be reasonable: split the interest rate into two parts, the first part being the fixed-rate that requires regular payments, and the second part providing a “floor” on the appreciation. That is, if the appreciation does not exceed the accrued interest according to the floor rate, then the borrower must pay that minimum amount.

Teresa Heinz

Teresa Heinz-Kerry (whose first name is pronounced te-RAY-za, of which James Taranto has a good memory aid: she wants te-RAY-za your taxes) is a great source for satire and irony. She said that she didn’t know if Laura Bush ever had a real job. That’s really an indirect way of saying that (unless THK is so ignorant) she didn’t think being a schoolteacher is a real job. Well, I for one don’t know if THK ever had a real job. Did she ever pay any payroll taxes?

Speaking of which, her recently disclosed tax return (two pages for upwards of $5M!) shows that she pays an effective rate much lower than I do, when I make much much less than she does! Of course, she probably derives much of her income from tax-favored investments such as municipal bonds and dividends. I have no qualms about that; double-taxing dividends is bad economics, and I am in favor of abolishing that double taxation rather than the stupid 15% with endless qualifications. But it shows that the really rich people are not affected much by tax policy, so they don’t mind raising other people’s taxes and thereby have even more control of other people’s lives. Such blatant hypocrisy does’t seem to bother the leftist Demos who engage in the lowest kind of demogoguery all the time (hey, they’re supposed to be the party of the common man!). And it is the working people (we who have real jobs) who are being coerced into paying into bankrupt systems such as Social (In)security and Medicare.

More on stem-cell research

Apparently, the quote from John Edwards in my previous post was slightly truncated. Here’s the full sentence, which Edwards said at a Monday rally in Newton, Iowa (from Charles Krauthammer’s WaPo editorial):

If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.

Krauthammer hammers Edwards thus:

As a doctor by training, I've known better than to believe the hype -- and have tried in my own counseling of people with new spinal cord injuries to place the possibility of cure in abeyance. I advise instead to concentrate on making a life (and a very good life it can be) with the hand one is dealt. The greatest enemies of this advice have been the snake-oil salesmen promising a miracle around the corner. I never expected a candidate for vice president to be one of them.

Krauthammer, who himself suffers from paralysis, also notes that Bush was in fact the first president to provide federal funding for stem cell research (with some limitations), contrary to the lies of Kerry and Edwards implicating that Bush’s “ban” stands in the way of a cure for diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Edwards shamelessly exploit Christopher Reeve for political gain, pandering “snake-oil” giving false hope to those who might be deceived to vote for Kerry. The cure for Alzheimer’s by way of stem cells is a fiction, as Ronald McKay, an NIH stem-cell researcher, has admitted publicly, but “people need a fairy tale.”

On a separate note, I voted NO on California’s Proposition 71 which would provide funding for stem-cell research by borrowing $3 billion over 10 years. Putting aside my ethical objections to embryonic stem-cell research, this is also bad fiscal policy. California is still trying to recover from the fiscal mess, and the proponents of Prop. 71 want to plunge it further. [economic libertarian hat on] If stem-cell research has any merit, let the private sector invest in it. Government will only waste money that benefit only the snake-oil panderers. [economic libertarian hat off]

An interesting predictor for the election

BuyCostumes.com has an interesting predictor for the presidential election: Halloween mask sales. Since 1980, the candidate whose mask had the higher sale number won the election. The current prediction is for W. to defeat John Kerry.

(UPDATE 13:49 15-Oct-2004): W.’s lead over Kerry is 53-47, narrower than W.’s lead over Gore back in 2000, which was 57-43. Could it be the Herman Munster factor?

The Road to Serfdom

Got the 50th anniversary edition of F. A. Hayek’s classic, The Road to Serfdom. Milton Friedman, in his introduction to this edition, has a footnote on page xi saying,

I use the term liberal, as Hayek does in the book, and also in his Preface to the 1956 Paperback Edition (p. xxxv below), in the original nineteenth-century sense of limited government and free markets, not in the corrupted sense it has acquired in the United States, in which in means almost the opposite.

I cannot agree more. In my previous post about classical liberalism, I complained about the same corruption of the use of this fine term.

The other feature of classical liberalism that I did not explicitly note is the respect for private property. Collectivism refuses to recognize private property rights, because in that ideology the state (read: the elite) owns the means of production and therefore effectively enslaves the general populace. I believe that the Eighth Commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” presupposes the recognition of private property; for if there is no such recognition, what does it mean to steal?

I think The Road to Serfdom should be required reading for every voter. But that’s only a pipe dream.

44 Montgomery Street, San Francisco

It’s kind of odd that in these days of electronic transactions physical addresses are still needed in bank wire transfers. Thus it was really annoying that many, if not most, bank websites do not have their physical address information readily available; one has to click, click, click, and if one is lucky one might find it.

So it came to pass, on Tuesday when I sent in a request to wire some money to Wells Fargo Bank, I got a call from the originating bank that it needed the physical address of WFB. Well, first, do not banks know each other? Especially with a big bank like WFB? Anyway, I tried a google search and came up with “44 Montgomery St.” and I gave that to the representative of the originating bank. It turned out, however, that was an old, old address. In fact, it appears that “44 Montgomery St.” has become a symbol, the “Old Wells Fargo Building”. Only later did I realize the correct address is 420, not 44. Adding to the confusion was the fact the the WFB webpages that I searched indicated that that was the address of its museum.

At any rate, I am glad the wire went through. Perhaps the receiving clerk would appreciate the fond memories of 44 Montgomery that this wire brought him. But then, it’s most likely a soulless computer that got the wire.

Kerry won’t impose his views on Americans

... except when he will. Robert Novak writes of the debate last Friday:

The way this issue works was shown in the town-hall-style debate when selected questioner Sarah Degenhart asked Kerry for assurances that "tax dollars would not go to support abortion." He answered as he often does when he is on the wrong side in terms of national support. Not addressing the question of federal funding (which is unpopular), the senator made a Clinton-like gesture of feeling Sarah's pain. As a lifelong Catholic and former altar boy, he said, "I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins." But, he said, he could not impose his views on others.

But if he could not impose his views on others, why does he support using tax dollars to subsidize abortions? Get out of my face, Senator Kerry: when you use our tax dollars to subsidize abortions, you are forcing us to pay for things that are abhorrent to us. Your statements show that you are not neutral. You are pro-abortion, and you want to impose your view on us.

City of Lost Altos

Hmm ... is this a joke or a typo? A google search turns up this pdf document, which has the title “CITY OF LOST ALTOS”. The title of the document, however, is hidden in the raw pdf and cannot be seen through the reader—one has to use a text editor to see it. However, it got picked up by the google search engine. I am accustomed to calling Los Angeles the “City of Lost Angels”, and now we have a rival.

John Edwards thinks Kerry is Jesus

Does John Edwards think Kerry is Jesus in saying this?

When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.

Embryonic stem-cell research has been overhyped, peddled along with many lies. Bush is just restricting federal funding for this type of research, and has not prohibited private funding. Those guys who make a lot of noise just want government money because they cannot get private funding by the merits of their achievements, actual or potential.

(UPDATE 17:23 12-Oct-2004): ScrappleFace is on a roll. This piece about Edwards is killing me.

Program notes for the recital

Although Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was best known as a virtuoso organist during his lifetime, his compositions for the violin testify to his superb knowledge and exceptional skill on the instrument. The So­nata in F minor is one among the six that he has composed for the violin and cembalo, written between 1717–23 during his career in Cöthen. The first movement is a four-part contrapuntal dialogue between the two in­struments, the keyboard parts building on a theme that would occur again in one of his mo­tets and the violin part entering with a motif foreshadowing the aria Er­barme dich, mein Gott (Have mercy upon me, O God) from the St. Matthew Passion. The second movement is a three-part fugue in two sections. The opening theme of the first section shifts to the bass part supporting the second theme which alternates between the violin and the right hand on the keyboard. The adagio movement consists of a harmonic progression in which arpeggios go back and forth between the two hands, accompanied by steady two-part chords in the violin. The sonata concludes with a vivace that weaves together three seemingly independent parts into a seamless, syncopated fugue.

César Franck (1822–1890) was born in Belgium and became a French citizen later in his life. He was a celebrated organist and an influential figure in French music during the second half of the 19^th century. The Sonata in A major is his only published sonata for the violin and piano, which he dedicated to the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. It employs cyclical themes—themes that occur in two or more different movements. The first movement opens with dissonances, nostalgically yearning and searching for the “home” tonality. The second movement changes to the minor key, with quick succession of themes, some agitated and some lyrical. The melodic lines in the piano part are often embedded in sequences of semiquavers (16^th notes). The fantasia movement portrays a melancholic reverie, with a long introduction leading to new major themes. The arpeggios harmo­nizing these themes—sketched by the violin in the introduction—are among the most memorable elements of the sonata. A delightful canonic dialogue between the piano and the violin, interspersed with reprises of themes from the earlier movements, brings the sonata to an exultant con­clusion.

Manuel Ponce (1882–1948) was a Mexican composer and pianist. A “musical phenomenon,” he began taking piano lessons at the age of six and was chief organist at San Diego, Aguascalientes, at the age of 15. After some years of study in Europe, he returned to Mexico and taught at various institutions. He published the song Estrellita (“Little Star”) in 1914, which became widely loved in Latin America. Jascha Heifetz’s transcription (1927) has added a treasure to the violinist’s repertoire of short pieces.

Please put me on the “Do-Not-Terrorize List”

Haven’t written anything over the weekend, as I prepared for the recital and was recovering afterwards. Now everything is almost back to normal, except I need to catch up with what’s happening in the real world. Anyway, this piece from ScrappleFace is a real killer ...

Unsafe Deposit Boxes

Yikes! Hope this doesn’t happen to me.

$40,000 mural has misspellings of names

AP reports from Livermore, California, that the city library has just unveiled a $40,000 mural that has 175 names on it, 11 of which are misspelled. The picture shows Einstein misspelled as Eistein. The final two paragraphs of the story are revealing:

The mistakes wouldn't even register with a true artisan, Alquilar said.

"The people that are into humanities, and are into Blake's concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words," she said. "In their mind the words register correctly."

Wouldn’t even register with a true artisan?

Newcomer on Hailey

Joseph Newcomer has some words for Hailey. Wizbang deserves credit for exposing this hack.

The real coalition of the bribed and coerced

The Duelfer report is out, and it is now clear (though not surprising) that there is a real coalition of the bribed and coerced, and they have permanent seats in the UN Security Council. These are (in no particular order of weaseliness): China, France, and Russia. They were all involved in the corruption of the UN oil-for-food program. They were all bought off by Saddam Hussein. No wonder they were adamantly opposed to the liberation of Iraq: their tremendous financial interests in the corrupt regime were about to be disrupted.

Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) has a bit of suggestion for Kerry's foreign policy: "We'll outbid the bad guys."

Demos and online polls

Are the Demos really so self-deluded that they ran an email campaign urging party faithfuls to stuff the various online polls and then actually believe the results of those polls? In an increasingly bipolar nation that the US has become, can any major issue or candidate really get 99% of the vote (see the Philadelphia Inquirer poll number -- And this bit of irony is sweet: LOL!!! Go Philly folks! Are they *sure* PA is a swing state?)

Kind of like Saddam Hussein’s getting 99% of the Iraqi votes, except the Demos are supposed to be more civilized (i.e., the other 1% is still alive). Or maybe not.

Good questions for John Edwards

PoliPundit has a list of good, tough questions for John Edwards. Chances are these questions will not be asked by the moderator of the debate tonight. What wimps!

Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit

Learned the origin of this Latin proverb today (if the source is correct): Thomas à Kempis, who is best known for his book Of the Imitation of Christ. Interestingly, Chinese also has a similar proverb: mou2 shi4 zai4 ren2, cheng2 shi4 zai4 tian1.

This webpage has more Latin phrases to keep me busy learning.

UPDATE: Corrected the typo in the title

Reformation and Pajamahadeen

Doug Kern (what a name! so appropriate for the present controversy) has an interesting article on TechCentralStation drawing parallels between the Protestant Reformation and the revolt of bloggers against mainstream media. The key here is the unmediated access to information. It is true that the blogosphere is full of mud and misinformation, just as it is true that individualistic theologies and interpretations often lack the required hermeneutic discipline. Yet when the wheat gets separated from the chaff, we get the benefit of keeping everyone honest and restrain people from abusing their power.

Who will be grading the global test?

Anne Bayefsky shows us who, in this article on Nationa Review Online. Yes, the member nations of UN want it to be democratic, but they keep oppressing their own people. UN has become a tool for power brokering and profiteering for the thugs and despots. And Kerry wants the US to defer to such an organization?

A rare sane voice from Massachusetts

Ah, even Massachusetts has a few sensible people. The Lowell Sun (Lowell, Mass.) endorses W. in an editorial (via PowerLine).

Phishing alert

This is apparently a phishing attempt to steal eBay users’ passwords. The link points to the Physics Department at Kent State University (http://131.123.234.136/%20/eb/login.php).

From: aw-confirm@yahoo.com [mailto:aw-confirm@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 2:26 PM
Subject: ***URGENT eBay Account Security Measures***

Alert ID : 0262341143

You have received this email because you or someone had used your account to make fake bids on eBay. For security purposes, we are required to open an investigation into this matter. To help speed up this process, you are required to verify your eBay account by following the link below.

http://scgi.ebay.com/verify_id=ebay&user=02626454

Please save this fraud alert id for your reference
Please Note - If your account informations are not updated within the next 72 hours, then we will assume this account is fraudulent and will be cancelled. We apologize for this inconvenience, but the purpose of this verification is to ensure that your eBay account has not been fraudulently used to combat fraud.

We appreciate your support and understating, as we work together to keep eBay a safe place to trade.

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Regards, Safeharbor Department (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc.

Please do not reply to this e-mail as this is only a notification message.

Copyright 2004 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
eBay and the eBay logo are trademarks of eBay Inc. is located at Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125

(UPDATE 15:04 08-Oct-2004): I sent an email to postmaster at the Physics Department of Kent State University on the day the fraud was received, and today (finally) the page was taken down.

Bad move, Messrs. Brokaw and Jennings

A real journalist rejoices when truth is made known. By now, the infamous memos have been convincingly shown to be fabrications. Dan Rather and CBS’s initial reaction will go down as a tremendous disgrace in journalism, and showed that they were more interested in promoting leftist agenda than in reporting truth. It is amazing that even at this point, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings were still coming to Rather’s defense. The arrogance of MSM continues to insult the public, but we are smarter than that. By jumping on Rather’s sinking ship, Brokaw and Jennings have also shown beyond any doubt that they are leftist hacks posing as journalists.

More post-debate thoughts

Hugh Hewitt counts four blunders of John Kerry in the debate, while Bill Roggio counts six. Regardless, at least we can credit Kerry for being honest (assuming, of course, that he did reveal his views willingly and not inadvertently betray them). If so, it is now up to the American people to decide whether they will vote themselves in the direction of self-destruction.

Another key weakness of Kerry’s argument

Global test: that’s the standard by which John Kerry would have for deciding whether to take preemptive action. This is in sharp contrast to the Bush doctrine, and W. rightly pointed this out during the debate. Joseph Knippenberg has an excellent article arguing that Kerry needed a homerun but got only a single. He suggests that the Bush campaign turn this exchange over “global test” into the defining moment of the debate. In fact, the Bush campaign has already made an ad attacking Kerry’s “global test” criterion.

John Kerry the debater — ship him to the U.N.

Many of my fellow conservatives (for the lack of a better term) appear dismayed at W.’s performance on Thursday night. Although it is arguable that Kerry “won” on overall presentation (most polls show this, which is being spread around by MSM), the internals of the Gallup poll tell a slightly different story (nuances, please!): People still trust Bush more than Kerry. My nephew’s instinct is right: Kerry is all talk and no action. (In fact, his “actions,” as judged by his voting record, have been worse than no action.) W. is not known to be a good speaker, and he tends to repeat himself a lot with simple phrases. But it is more important in practice for a President to be a doer than a talker.

Here’s an idea for Senator Kerry. Since he is a good debater, the U.N. seems to be a perfectly good place for him. The U.N. is the world’s foremost debate society, and it has been doing more harm than good. Genocides and massacres have taken place under Kofi Annan’s watch, and all the U.N. can do is to debate whether a war is illegal, or once in a while to issue resolutions that it has no intention of enforcing, while people are getting slaughtered. Worse yet, the oil-for-food scandal has shown the U.N. to be indeed an utterly corrupt organization. Why doesn’t Senator Kerry go for Kofi Annan’s position as the Secretary General, and get some real reform done there? (Actually I would rather see the U.N. demolished, but substantive reform is preferrable to its present state of being.)

Newcomer vs. Hailey

This is getting interesting. Charles at LGF is in communication with Dr. Joseph Newcomer, whose article on the fake CBS memo is now widely regarded as definitive. (Charles’s overlay of the CBS facsimile and his own Word-generated document is no less a definitive gotcha.) Dr. Newcomer appears to be writing something (not very complimentary, according to Charles) about Prof. Hailey’s “work.” Stay tuned.

Mark Steyn on Kerry

Steyn asks,

But none of that matters. If John Kerry is so polished and eloquent and forceful and mellifluous, how come nobody has a clue what his policy on Iraq is? As he made clear on Thursday, Saddam was a growing threat so he had to be disarmed so Kerry voted for war in order to authorize Bush to go to the U.N. but Bush failed to pass ''the global test'' so we shouldn't have disarmed Saddam because he wasn't a threat so the war was a mistake so Kerry will bring the troops home by persuading France and Germany to send their troops instead because he's so much better at building alliances so he'll have no trouble talking France and Germany into sending their boys to be the last men to die for Bush's mistake.

Have I got that right?

Read the whole thing.

A post-debate bounce for Kerry?

TradeSports has W. down 4.3 at 58.7, while the Iowa Electronic Markets has W. at 62.6, which is substantially lower than it was a few days ago.

Hugh Hewitt is all over one of the weak points that John Kerry put forth in the debate: Kerry’s outrage at the U.S.’s development of the nuclear bunker-buster. John Kerry seems to think U.S. is part of the nuclear proliferation problem. No, Senator Kerry: WMD in the hands of terrorists is not the same as WMD in the hand of the U.S. If you do not think the U.S. can be trusted with these weapons, it means you cannot be entrusted with the office of the POTUS. Disarmament on the part of ths U.S. will only weaken us and lead us toward destruction. Kerry (along with his Eurobuddies) has shown that he has no understanding of the nature of the struggle the civilized world is engaged against the Islamofascist jihadists.

John Kerry: Walking U.N.

The Washington Times has this bit in its October 1, 2004, edition of “Inside the Beltway,” about John Kerry, the haughty, French-looking Democrat Senator from Massachusetts, who by the way serverd in Vietnam:

Perhaps Sen. John Kerry does have an advantage after all over President Bush in understanding the complex political issues of the Middle East. New research by Burke's Peerage reveals that Mr. Kerry is the only presidential candidate in U.S. history who has genealogical descent from Muslims, Jews and Christians.

"Senator Kerry ... is a virtual walking United Nations," says Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's.

Mr. Kerry is kinsman of the Shi'ite shahs of Persia (the most famous was Shah Abbas I, who reigned from 1587 to 1629), as well as the Muslim kings of Tunisia, all of whom — Democratic presidential nominee included — descend from the prophet Muhammad.

Oh no! If John Kerry gets elected, we will return to the dark ages and be enslaved by Islamic rule!

Bates Gill

Yes, there’s someone with that name — someone who works for Centre for Strategic and International Studies. John Derbyshire had a little fun here:

Whoa! "Bates Gill"? Is that some kind of bizarro version of the great software mogul?

Or are the Pod People taking over? Shall I wake up tomorrow and find that the presidential race is between Jerry Kohn and Gush Beorge? With Rader Nalph running a third party?

Or do I just need another cup of coffee?

Debate humor

Check out this video on DailyRecycler!

Victor Davis Hanson: Perfect Storm Part 3

VDH again. Perfect Storm (Part 3) puts forth a scathing criticism of postmodernism at work in the powerful elite.

My nephew on the presidential debate

My nine-year-old nephew was watching the debate last night, and commented that (I paraphrase) “Kerry is all talk and no action. He won’t accomplish anything. Bush will do well; he has been President since I was a bit more than five years old.”

This is the same nephew who, in 2000, when the presidential election was still hotly disputed, asked, “Is Gore still refusing to concede?” He said that in Mandarin, using a phrase (lai4 pi2, to refuse to concede) that conveys sneer and scorn on the person who cannot accept his defeat and thereby ironically humiliates himself even further.

Islamization of Europe

Princeton professor and expert in Islamic history Bernard Lewis has told Die Welt (Hamburg) that Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century at the very least (Christopher Caldwell’s article in the Weekly Standard). I, as a casual observer nowhere near the learning of Professor Lewis, before reading the aforementioned article, had made an even more dire prediction that Europe will be conquered by Islam by the end of the decade. If the best France can do to combat Islam (or any other religion, as France is officially secular) is to forbid schoolgirls to wear headscarves, when the Islamic radicals are advancing their cause by blowing up people (primarily civilians) everywhere, it doesn’t take the sophisticated understanding of the French to see who will be ruling whom if the trend does not reverse. (No, I am not advocating that the French blow up innocent civilians. But terrorists are another matter—they deserve to be destroyed.) Europe, wake up! Know thine enemies and subdue them before it is too late.