Posts Tagged ‘history’

Maybe Nordlinger is right instead

Posted: January 6, 2009 by datechguy in arthur vs carter, opinion/news
Tags: , ,

In this post I made a rather provocative assertion when explaining why 65,000 civilian deaths dead in the fight against the Tamil-Tigers provoked no protest on the left as opposed to Israel and Gaza:

How could this be? Simple answer. If you can’t blame Jews or Americans, then its not evil or important. Why? Because their final goal is dead Jews. Period.

In is column today, Jay Nordlinger may have a better explanation:

During the Cold War, we used to speak of anti-anti-Communists. These were people (on the left) who were not exactly pro-Communist. But they so hated the anti-Communists, they were . . . well, anti-anti-Communists — the best, the fairest name for them.

Today, there are anti-anti-Islamofascists. They are not on the Islamofascist side in the War on Terror. But they hate those who are fighting, or attempting to fight, the Islamofascists more than they could ever hate the Islamofascists. They are anti-anti-Islamofascists.

The similarities between yesterday’s anti-anti-Communists and today’s anti-anti-Islamofascists would make a very good essay — perhaps by David Pryce-Jones or Norman Podhoretz. Of course, many of today’s anti-anti-Islamofascists were yesterday’s anti-anti-Communists — I mean, the same people, in the flesh.

And it’s all embodied in a publication such as The New York Review of Books.

That is a much more charitable explanation, I’ll have to think on it.

He also touches on another quote I made during the first week of this blog.

You can take this to the bank: Any successful attack on American soil during an Obama administration is going to be wholly owned by not only that administration but the Democratic party.

Here is Nordlinger:

A wise Republican head said to me the other day, “I actually think Obama is going to have a hard time of it.” Here was his reasoning: “Two things Bush has done right are Iraq (after the surge) and preventing a second attack. Those are big achievements to live up to — especially if you don’t believe there is any connection between the president’s means and these ends.

This goes to the heart of the Arthur vs Carter question. Anyway its another reason why Nordlinger should be regular reading for you.

As for yesterday’s anti-anti Communists as today’s anti-anti-Islamofascists; I guess they are fooled twice. Shame on them.

The cleanest state? Update serious python moment

Posted: January 6, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: ,

Did I just hear Chris Matthews cite Wisconsin as the 2nd cleanest state when it comes to elections on Morning Joe?

Apparently he never read this, this, this, this, this, this, this or this.

The net never forgets.

Update: This is a serious python moment:

Great gift particularly for Atheists

Posted: January 5, 2009 by datechguy in Uncategorized
Tags: ,

I’ve had my share of atheists who have been hitting the blog lately due to my following of the raving atheist’s conversion. (Thanks for coming and reading btw) If you are one of them this e-mail I received should interest you.

The Royal Mint is coming out with a commemorative £2 of Charles Darwin for his 200th birthday. The link for the coin is here. The price is £7.78 or old style £7.15.3. (About $12 at today’s exchange rate).

From the Royal mint site:

This commemorative £2 coin for 2009 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin as well as the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. The reverse of the coin, designed by Suzie Zamit, features a profile portrait of Charles Darwin and a chimpanzee together with the denomination TWO POUNDS, the year dates 1809 and 2009 and DARWIN. The presentation folder tells the story of Charles Darwin’s life and achievements and includes a reproduction of original drawings he made during his travels.

With a max run of 25,000 on the folder I’d order now. The Royal Mint makes pretty neat stuff and this coin certainly qualifies.

It would seem to me to be the perfect gift for Atheists in particular but you don’t have to be an unbeliever to appreciate Darwin. His contributions to science are considerable and he certainly rates the coin. It’s a nice coin i’d recommend it to anyone. It would make a particularly good gift for a science or biology teacher too.

I would suggest ordering early however in my experience the royal mint ends up backordered pretty fast. I’d rather have the coins in hand and sit on them for 12 months then order them in November and get them in Feb.

Even more Sherman.

Posted: January 5, 2009 by datechguy in Uncategorized, war
Tags: , ,

Either Sherman was a much better analogy than I thought or there are a million Civil War buffs out there just dying to use him in a post. The latest is the American Thinker:

While the Union Army respected the sanctity of private homes, all public buildings and infrastructure including railroads were subject to complete destruction. Needless to say, resistance was not tolerated. Millions of slaves were freed in the wake of his march.

Recognizing that it was not in their economic interest to continue the fight, civilian political support for the Confederacy began a precipitous collapse and the war soon ended. Despite rebellious pledges that the “South Would Rise Again”, peace and prosperity has lasted 144 years.

It’s a good argument except for the religious component, if the Palestinian Arabs are convinced that there is a religious component they may fight anyways. Secondly unionists were not summarily executed in the south, just try to express support for Israel in Gaza, hell try to express support for Fatah in Gaza and see what happens. Thirdly you didn’t have schoolrooms teaching their kids everyday that the North was a bunch or murderous barbarians. Although AFTER the war the north didn’t do so well in southern classrooms.

I would have found a source other than Wikipedia myself, after all it’s history and not Doctor Who we are talking about.

Older Entries
Newer Entries