Belated Happy Birthday, Rob’t E. Lee

On the anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s birth, a tribute to my Southern heritage. (Okay, his birthday was Jan. 19, but I just now stumbled across this.)

Yankees just don’t get it.

Name-Calling in the Name of Science

Brad Allenby catalogs several of the outrageous epitaphs that have been hurled at those who question the current hysteria over global warming. He sees a very unscientific mindset at work here.

The sheer volume of articles, the vicious language and the retranslation of so many social and cultural trends — divorce, obesity, gender conflict and much else — into terms of carbon footprint suggests that something more fundamental is going on.

Most obviously, the extreme language — comparing academics who disagree about interpretation of data to Hitler or to Holocaust deniers — is indicative of a profound if subtle reframing of climate change. One does not debate Hitler: the use of such language indicates a shift from helping the public and policymakers understand a complex issue, to demonizing disagreement, especially regarding policies favored by the scientific community.

The data driven and exploratory processes of science are choked off by inculcation of belief systems that rely on archetypal and emotive strength. . . .

Climate change science and policy is rapidly becoming carbon fundamentalism, an over-simplistic but comprehensive structure of moral valuation that can be applied to virtually any individual or institution.

Someday the current hysteria over global warming will be taught in universities as a good example of how not to do science.

Iraq and the Future of Our Military

It’s not getting any headlines, but several years of hard fighting in Iraq is going to shape the leadership of our military for years to come.

The large number of soldiers and marines who have seen combat, or at least been close, comprise a group of military leaders that will be changing the U.S. Army and Marine Force for the next two decades. The large number of combat experienced NCOs and officers creates a different leadership climate, and a different attitude towards combat, and getting ready for it.

The media has run stories in the last year or so about the alarming number of officers and NCOs who are leaving the military, the implication being that this stupid war is driving out our best and brightest. But there could be another explanation:

What the army did not publicize was the large number of officers and NCOs that were encouraged to leave, or get out of their combat job, to make way for people who wanted to fight and were willing to learn how.

Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD

I have never been one to jump on the latest “hot” technology, especially when competing technologies are still duking it out for dominance. So the current battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats in the high-definition market is a non-issue for me. (Hey, I’m still in the process of replacing my VHS library with standard DVDs.)

Still, it’s good to see the smoke beginning to clear and a winner emerge: the future belongs to Blu-ray.

The Hillary Joke-of-the-Day

From ABC News “Political Radar” Blog:

Senator Hillary Clinton, in an interview with ABC News’ Cynthia McFadden for ABC News’ Nightline, was asked about President Clinton’s controversial comments about race and Senator Obama  in the past weeks. Clinton apologized for her husband.

“I think whatever he said which was certainly never intended to cause any kind of offense to anyone,” Clinton said, “if it did give offenses then I take responsibility and I’m sorry about that.”

“Can you control him?” asked McFadden.

“Oh of course,” Clinton replied.

Ha, ha, ha, ha!!!  Get it? After Monica, Gennifer, Kathleen, Juanita, Paula, etc., etc., why, of course she can control him – wink, wink!

Why these people are still in the running as serious contenders for national office, I’ll never understand.

Dems Turn on Bill

John F. Harris surveys the damage that Bill Clinton has done to his wife’s presidential campaign among the very people she desperately needs in order to win — fellow Democrats. They are disgusted and turned off.

The problem is not that Bill Clinton is Bubba but that he is Eddie Haskell — smug, smarmy, self-absorbed.

(Note to those under 50: If you don’t get the Eddie Haskell reference, go do a little research on the old Leave It to Beaver TV series. It’s a perfect analogy.)

The damage is serious, but not necessarily fatal. Harris has seen the Clintons bounce back from worse.

In his own career, Clinton’s errors have always been followed by recovery, self-indulgence by self-correction. The next several weeks will determine whether he can follow the same pattern on behalf of his spouse.

UPDATE: Here is a great video montage of clips from the Sunday talk shows, featuring a wide range of pundits excoriating the performance of the Billary machine. Hillary definitely has to go into damage control mode. (via Ann Althouse)

That Marine Commercial: The Background Story

Earlier I posted a link to the new Marines ad that is getting a lot of attention. Behind this ad is an interesting story — two stories, actually.

First, the Marine Corps has a web site that describes the production details behind the filming of the commercial. The Silent Drill Platoon that starred in the commercial traveled to fifteen locations throughout the U.S. to perform for the ad. The site captures the highlights of their travels, as they met with veterans, families of fellow Marines, high school students, and participated in other civic events.

Second, if you’ve seen the video, you’ll recall that the last scene shows the drill platoon performing near the Golden Gate Bridge. That scene was actually shot first. But that location was a hastily arranged substitute for the original plan: on California Street in downtown San Fransisco. Unfortunately, city bureaucrats nixed the idea because of “traffic control issues.” (Yeah, right.) The Marines finally had to go to a National Park Service location to find a suitable substitute. The rejection by the city stirred up quite a controversy. Oh, one other detail: This segment was filmed on Sept. 11, 2007.

Which Clinton Are We Voting For?

I’ve not posted any comments about the ongoing fracas between Obama and Billary. I have a growing sense, however, that Bill’s performance in this campaign is going to cost Hillary dearly. Josh Marshall (a passionate Clinton supporter) summarizes the problem perfectly:

With the exception of a few days in early January I’ve gone on the assumption for many months that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. But I think Bill’s actions have greatly diminished her. He has put her back under his shadow where she hasn’t been for years.

For the moment, I doubt either of them is losing much sleep over that. Get through today and then worry about tomorrow. But I think she looks much smaller now. He’s dominating the race. And that makes her look like a weaker figure — something that will not wear well in the general election. And this campaign really suggests this is going to be some sort of co-presidency. When Hillary’s getting knocked around by the folks on the Hill is Bill going to go Larry King to knock her enemies around? Will he be going off to foreign countries on his own little diplomatic missions?

Okay, Hillary’s advisers will somehow push Bill back in his box to keep him quiet for the next few months and minimize this kind of damage. But who really thinks he’ll stay there in a Hillary presidency? Mark my word — if Hillary is elected the next President, Americans will see that office transformed into something ugly. And our nation will pay a price for it.

Think long and hard about this. Are we really ready for a Clinton co-Presidency?

UPDATE: Bruce Feirstein picked up this candid Bill quote in a response to an Obama campaign tactic in Nevada:

“It’s okay. And we’re not hung up about it. And we won anyway. We fought hard. And we won.”

In other words, We are running for president. Not Hillary. Not the junior senator from New York. But We—Bill and Hillary—in a de facto end-run around the 22nd Amendment.

I don’t care what your politics are — that is scary.

Semper Fi

This ad for the Marine Corps has been popping up around the blogosphere recently. It will give you goosebumps.

I’ve been reading David Halberstam’s The Coldest Winter, a lengthy tome on the Korean War, and just finished his account of the heroic Marine retreat (“attack from a different direction”) at Chosin Reservoir. America’s Finest.

UPDATE: Here’s an earlier Marine ad, just as inspiring. (The link went bad, so I replaced it with another. Same commercial.)

And one more. Do you suppose these commercials have anything to do with headlines like this?

Confessions of a Peeping Cube Dweller

Recently I posted about my new cubicle arrangement, which allows me to stand at my computer at the office. Spending the majority of my work day on my feet keeps me active and alert. I love it.

Unfortunately, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the new digs. I am over six feet tall, and the cube walls are five feet. So most of the time I’m in a position to look over the walls into my neighbors’ cubes. Of course, I don’t — what’s there to see? — but the sight of a tall guy towering over one’s work space is enough to freak out some people.

Yep, someone complained about it. Rather than get Facilities involved in the matter, and turn it into a bureaucratic mess, our department artist used a section of foamboard to fashion a pair of wall extensions. Now I am completely hidden from the offended party, while my basic work environment remains unchanged.

Aside from this little drama, my new work space continues to generate quite a few comments from passersby.

The Fascists at Our Borders

Our northern border, that is.

The Canadian “Human Rights Commissions” have lately provided a couple of chilling examples of how fragile our freedom of speech really is.

They came after Mark Steyn for allegedly misrepresenting Muslim interests in a Maclean’s Magazine article. Visit the “Free Mark Steyn!” website for the latest developments on that front.

They also came after Ezra Levant, former publisher of a Canadian magazine who had a complaint filed against him by a Muslim for publishing the infamous Mohammad cartoons. Levant tells the whole story on his website. His opening statement to the Commission (see video below) is a classic defense of our most basic human right.

Those who are having fits over the title of Jonah Goldberg’s new bestseller, Liberal Fascism, need to take a long, hard look at what is happening across our Western culture. As political correctness slowly chokes our freedom to speak our minds, our societies are gradually being transformed into gulags of thought control, dominated by fear of reprisal.

The Looming Ice Age

Recently I noted that the Russians seem to be more concerned about global cooling than global warming. Now, another Russian scientist, Khabibullo Abdusamatov, has gone on record predicting a coming global ice age — with dire consequences.

According to the scientist, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has risen more than 4% in the past decade, but global warming has practically stopped. It confirms the theory of “solar” impact on changes in the Earth’s climate, because the amount of solar energy reaching the planet has drastically decreased during the same period, the scientist said.

He predicts that solar activity will continue to decline until around 2041, leading to a deep cooling period beginning a decade or so later. The impact on global climate will be catastrophic, rivaling the “Little Ice Age” that ravaged Europe and North America between 1645 and 1715.

Therefore, the Earth must brace itself for a growing ice cap, rather than rising waters in global oceans caused by ice melting.

Mankind will face serious economic, social, and demographic consequences of the coming Ice Age because it will directly affect more than 80% of the earth’s population, the scientist concluded.

Hmmm. Wonder how long it will take for the media to pick up on this latest sky-is-falling scenario. Or for Al Gore to come out with An Inconvenient Truth: The Sequel.

The Global Warming Debate Gets a Website

Finally, a website devoted exclusively to presenting both sides of the global warming controversy: http://climatedebatedaily.com.

The home page is laid out in two columns, one listing recent news items supporting global warming alarmists, and the other listing recent news items supporting the global warming skeptics. As one reviewer noted, this approach fails to account for the broad range of nuanced opinions that fall somewhere between these two poles. Nevertheless, it’s refreshing to see a public forum that encourages open debate on the subject. The site includes a host of links to other websites and blogs, both pro and con.

The creators of the site, Denis Dutton (con) and Douglas Campbell (pro), are professors who are committed to an editorial policy of “studied neutrality,”

. . . allowing each side to present its most powerful and persuasive case. Our object is to allow readers to form their own judgments based on the best available information.

Now this is the way true science should be conducted. Well done, professors.

I’m Confused, Too

Roger Pielke, Jr., is an environmental scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He recently encountered two messages from the University Chancellor, Bud Peterson, that have left him very confused.

The first message was an email from the Chancellor to UC faculty warning them not to engage in any political advocacy during this campaign season.

The second message was an announcement that Chancellor Peterson will be the keynote speaker at a program conducted by “Focus the Nation,” a non-profit group that nevertheless is deeply involved in promoting policies dealing with climate change.

As Pielke notes, that’s a very puzzling mix of messages.

I am so confused.

Focus the Nation is unadulterated political advocacy. But my campus forbids me to use my official time, paid for by taxpayers, to advocate for particular campaign issues. But global warming is so important. But my Chancellor forbids me to engage in political advocacy as part of my job. But my Chancellor is the keynote speaker for our Focus the Nation activities. But my job is to teach not indoctrinate. But I actually agree with many of the proposed policies. But it is not my job to use my platform as a professor to tell students what to think; I am supposed to teach them how to think and come to their own conclusions. But if I don’t go along I’ll be castigated as one of those bad guys, like a Holocaust denier or slave owner. But doing the right thing is so obvious.

It’s almost like there’s a double-standard or something, huh? Ya think?

Literature and Culture

David Plotz, writing in Slate, describes a recent visit to The Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, which houses a collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. His article is an interesting recounting of the history of the Scrolls, the Essenes, and the fortress at Masada. But the following paragraph really caught my attention.

The difference between the Jews and the Canaanites, Moabites, Edomites, and all the other Ites who bedeviled us in the Bible is that we wrote the book, and they didn’t. Jews survived not because we went forth and multiplied—we didn’t—but because we kept going to the library. Again and again, Jews as people have barely survived extermination, skirting wipeouts at the hands of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans. We were scattered by diaspora, savaged by the Inquisition and Holocaust. If you are religious-minded, you may believe that Jews persisted because God chose us. But even if you’re not, you must acknowledge that the holy books are the root of our survival. Jews endured because our book endured. We remained a people because we preserved a culture, and we preserved a culture because we kept a book.

This is an excellent defense of the power of literature to preserve a culture, despite every effort to wipe it out. This prompts a couple of sobering thoughts.

First, it might explain why Christianity is in decline across much of the Western world today. Christians on the whole no longer look to “the Book” — the Bible — as the lodestone of their faith. The Bible is routinely disparaged and ignored as the source of guidance and hope — and that by the very people who ought to be zealously defending it.

Second, on a broader level, this concept portends doom for a nation whose education system no longer honors its literary heritage. Children who pass through our education system today are not exposed to the literary genius of earlier English and American authors like they once were. The result is a generation of young Americans who look with disdain on anything older than last week’s edition of People Magazine as outdated and irrelevant.

Literature is to a culture what blood is to a human body. When we lose it, we die.

Diet vs. Exercise: And the Winner Is . . .

. . . Not all that surprising, really. The secret to a long, healthy life is just common sense. Plus, it can be fun, if done right.

Minority Report is Here!

Not the Pre-crime Unit technology (thank goodness), but the large interactive computer screen. Panasonic demo’d a prototype at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the article. Prepare to be wowed.

Are We Really Ready for This?

Christopher Hitchens, writing in Slate, takes us on a little trip down memory lane, reminding us of all the sleaze, dishonesty, and shameless pandering of the Clinton years, and asks,

What would it take to break this cheap little spell and make us wake up and inquire what on earth we are doing when we make the Clinton family drama—yet again—a central part of our own politics?

One does not have to dig very deep in the current campaign to see evidence that nothing has changed.  Bill and Hillary both are busy fudging facts, rewriting history, sliming opponents, weaving and dodging on issues — whatever it takes to fool the electorate and seize the power.

The case against Hillary Clinton for president is open-and-shut. Of course, against all these considerations you might prefer the newly fashionable and more media-weighty notion that if you don’t show her enough appreciation, and after all she’s done for us, she may cry.

Iraq: Setting the Record Straight

In October 2006, The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, published a shocking article claiming that over 600,000 Iraqis had been killed in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion. The article–curiously released just before midterm elections in the U.S.–helped fuel the public outcry against the war that hurt the Republicans in the election.

Now we learn it was all bogus.  Jeff Jacoby summarizes the details here. The statistical methodology used to gather and analyze the data was badly flawed, and the funding for the study carried serious doubts about it’s political objectivity. The authors clearly had a political agenda in view in conducting the study. Jacoby concludes:

The claim that the US-led invasion of Iraq had triggered a slaughter of almost Rwandan proportions was a gross and outlandish exaggeration; it should have been greeted with extreme skepticism.

But because it served the interests of those eager to discredit the war as a moral catastrophe, common-sense standards were ignored. “In our view, the Hopkins study stands until someone knocks it down,” editorialized the Baltimore Sun.

Now someone has, devastatingly. But will the debunking be trumpeted as loudly and clearly as the original report? Don’t hold your breath.

There was a day when journalists could get by with this kind of slanted reporting. But those days are gone now. The more this kind of shoddy research is offered as “news,” and exposed as fraudulent, the less confidence the public has in the media’s product.

Transformation of the U. S. Military in Iraq

Whatever else one might say about the U.S. experience in Iraq, the good news is that our military has learned some valuable lessons on how to wage asymmetrical warfare. That’s the evaluation of Erik Swabb in the WSJ.

The Iraq war is also dramatically improving the military’s understanding, training and capabilities in irregular warfare. Since this is the preferred method of Islamic extremists, the experience in Iraq is transforming the military into the force required to help win the Long War.

He offers the recent experience of his old Marine unit in Anbar Province as an example:

Soon after occupying its forward outpost, the company met heavy insurgent attacks. But it did not over-react with mass detentions and other alienating tactics. Instead, the Marines took a patient approach to win the support of the population and eject the extremists hiding among them. They partnered with Iraqi police, established a pervasive security presence throughout the city, and worked with local leaders to improve basic services, governance and the economy. Such tactics used to be rare, but are now increasingly the norm, thanks to Gen. David Petraeus’s dogged emphasis on seeing counterinsurgency conducted by all units.

The war in Iraq is not over, and could still be lost — if politicians in Washington force a precipitous pullout. But events of the last year prove that the U.S. military is still the most resilient, most capable fighting force in the world.

UPDATE: Sadly, as CNN’s Tom Foreman notes, this good news is being deliberately downplayed by the politicians in this election year.

On the whole, both parties are shelving the issue because it contains too many uncertainties that could upset their plans for political power.

Most Americans — and all the politicians — have insisted that no matter how we feel about the war, we should support our troops while they are there.

It is hard to imagine how ignoring something for political expedience translates into support.

Here’s an inconvenient truth: Our fellow citizens are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan to carry out a difficult scheme, which was approved by both Republicans and Democrats; yet our political leaders will not even risk even their careers to talk about it now.

A Bush Secret Weapon Used Against Iran?

Most people probably haven’t caught on to this, but careful analysis of several news stories reveals startling evidence of another Bush plot to take over the world.

First, it’s no secret that George Bush is looking for a way to go to war against Iran.

Second, it’s also no secret that George Bush doesn’t care that the planet is burning up through our use of those evil fossil fuels.

Third, though skeptics laugh, it’s also true that weather extremes such as below average temperatures and blizzards are the result of global warming.

Finally, Iran has just been hit with the worst snow storms in recent memory.  Bitterly cold tempertures, up to 22 inches of snow, dozens of people killed, government offices shut down.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on here. Obviously, Bush and his Big Oil buddies have figured out a way to accelerate the extreme effects of global warming, and even isolate them against a specific target, namely, Iran. A few more attacks with this new secret weapon, and Iran will be begging for terms.

He may have thought he could get away with this, but we’re on to his sinister schemes. Just one more reason why Bush must be impeached.

Weather vs. Climate: Let’s Have Some Consistency

I accept the fact that one cannot project long-term climate trends on the basis of short-term weather fluctuations. Most objective students of science recognize this.

But environmental scientist Roger Pielke, Jr., of the University of Colorado, notes a curious lack of consistency among climatologists when commenting on weather anomalies. He offers two quotes from the folks at Real Climate as evidence. First, they tied the record-setting Arctic ice melt last summer to the long-range IPCC climate model. But later, they criticized Pielke and John Tierney for challenging the IPCC model on the basis of weather patterns over the span from 2000 to 2007.

Pielke concludes,

So according to Real Climate, one-year’s ice extent data can be compared to climate models, but 8 years of temperature data cannot.

Right. This is why I believe that whatever one’s position of climate change is, everyone should agree that rigorous forecast verification is needed.

For the record, Pielke is not a global warming skeptic. He is not in the pocket of the energy companies. He is a scientist who is pleading for intellectual honesty in the climate debate.

I repeat: Some day the current hysteria over global warming will be taught in universities as a good example of how not to do science. Hmmm. Perhaps Prof. Pielke is already teaching that.

No One Can Accuse Me of Sitting Down on the Job

Several weeks ago I came across this article about a novel way to lose weight: stand up. Research now indicates that office workers, who generally tend to sit down all day, can burn more fat by simply standing up to do their work.

I’ve been somewhat frustrated with my attempts to lose a few pounds, so inspired by this article, I contacted our facilities people and had them raise a portion of my workspace up to standing height. Here’s what my new digs look like now.

I’ve just completed my first week with this arrangement, and I like it a lot. Note that I still have my chair and a couple of normal height desktops. That’s a good thing, since I do need to sit down for a few minutes now and then to give my feet a break. But at the end of the day, I definitely feel like I’ve been, well, working.

Naturally, the sight of me standing at my computer has sparked a lot of questions from passersby. In fact, I got so many questions, I finally just posted a copy of the article outside my cube.

I’m curious if anyone else out there uses a standing height cubicle. What do you think of it?

From Battlefield to Beauty Pageant

Now this is a Miss America candidate I could get interested in. Er, in a wholesome way, of course.

Jill Stevens — Miss Utah, aka G.I. Jill — is a member of the Utah National Guard, with one tour of duty in Afghanistan as a combat medic under her belt. Be sure to check out the rest of her Flickr photos, too.

Seeing young people like this really restores my hope for the future of this country.

UPDATE: See a brief bio of Miss Stevens — with more photos — here.

Finally, here is a video of G.I. Jill describing her path to the pageant.

The Islamification of Great Britain

A British columnist sounds the alarm on the growing threat of Islam to English culture in Great Britain.

Enthusiasts for multi-culturalism continually demand that the indigenous British people show tolerance towards those of other faiths but when it comes to fundamentalist Islam, there is no pressure for this mood of tolerance to be reciprocated.

Islam in Britain could be portrayed as a combination of the outstretched palm of victimhood, begging for official support, and the clenched fist of grievance, threatening violence if demands are not met.

All too often the political establishment has surrendered, dressing up its feebleness as multi-cultural sensiti­vity. But, as the Bishop of Rochester asserts, the outcome of this defeatism has been catastrophic. Civic institutions might blather about “unity in diversity” but, in reality, urban Britain is scarred by divisions. Integration has given way to separatism.

He recounts numerous examples of Muslim culture replacing English culture, and concludes,

Christianity helped to build the safe, tolerant society which for generations has attracted migrants fleeing persecution or squalor. Yet now, as Christian­ity withers, large swathes of our country are starting to replicate the Third World.

This is happening not only in Britain, but all across Europe. And there are dunderheads here in the States who champion the same multicultural claptrap that has gotten Europe to this sorry state.

Global Cooling — The Momentum is Building

Jeff Jacoby provides an excellent compendium of evidence (some of which we have already called attention to here) that suggests we are on the cusp of a period of global cooling, not warming. He concludes,

Climate science isn’t a religion, and those who dispute its leading theory are not heretics. Much remains to be learned about how and why climate changes, and there is neither virtue nor wisdom in an emotional rush to counter global warming – especially if what’s coming is a global Big Chill.

It’s refreshing to see some in the mainstream media now beginning to question the global warming alarmist industry. Let’s hope that true science, unadulterated by political considerations, wins out.

Hillary on the Defensive

For a candidate whose nomination was “inevitable” just a short time ago, Hillary Clinton is having trouble maintaining that aura, especially after her poor showing in Iowa. Now, at a large meeting of Democrat supporters with the candidates in New Hampshire, Hillary gets booed, and doesn’t know how to handle it.

A few minutes into her speech she trots out her standard line about how “some people think you get change by demanding it and some people think you get change by hoping for it” (a dig at Edwards and Obama)–there’s actually some booing. It throws her off. After starting the speech upbeat and sunny, she becomes a bit brittle. The response from the audience gets fainter with each applause line until you can actually see the Obama supporters sitting on their hands, their “O” signs resting on their laps.

“We have to pick a president who is ready on day one,” she says, to muted applause from her small contingent. The Obama crowd then waves their signs and begins chanting “Obama! Obama!” while she keeps speaking. It’s a tense moment and Clinton seems rattled by it.

The Clintons are not accustomed to rejection.  It will be interesting to see how she — no, they — deal with this over the next few weeks.

No Income Tax — in Massachusetts?!

The good citizens of Massachusetts are making a serious push to abolish the state’s income tax. Naturally, those who live on the public dole are screaming that civilization as we know it will come crashing down.

I grew up in Texas, which does not have an income tax. When I moved to Kansas, one of the painful adjustments I had to make was getting used to paying two income taxes instead of one. I still hate it.

There is a refreshing irony in seeing this modern tax revolt unfold in the same state that started it all 234 years ago.

Jesus vs. Mohammad

Saber Point responds to a Muslim critic who claims the Bible predicted the coming of the prophet long before he was born. Saber Point agrees, after a fashion.

I am very well read on the history, life and acts of Muhammad. It is Muslim writings that most strongly describe the evils committed by Muhammad, namely the Hadith. If you read your own histories written by your fellow Muslims you would know the truth of this evil man.

Muhammad mass murdered Jews, assassinated poets and others who criticized him, raped the widows of men he murdered, tortured captives, robbed caravans, held captives for ransom and sold women and children into slavery to fund his false and odious “religion.” His only contributions to the human race are oppression, misery and death. As the Bible says, “by their fruits ye shall know them,” and all of the fruits of Islam are bitter and poisonous. . . .

Your comments about Jesus are ridiculous and absurd. The Bible says nothing about Muhammad, except for when it states that “false prophets will arise, and lead many astray, even the elect.” Muhammad was one of the false prophets predicted by the Bible.

Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead; Muhammad robbed, raped and murdered the defenseless. There is no comparison between the two. Your glorious prophet was nothing more than a common thief, bandit and cutthroat, the very dregs of humanity. I see nothing in the man to be admired or emulated and much to be condemned and shunned, namely, lust, greed, falsity and cruelty. It is time for you Muslims to confront the truth about the man you follow, about the evil of your own societies and the deep pathologies of your religion and culture. The truth will not be pretty.

Powerful stuff. Read the whole thing.

Get Your Carbon Credits Here, Cheap!

Satirist John Fogle is performing a real public service in offering carbon credits at a discounted price.

In the spirit of being a good neighbor, I’ve decided to offer a needed service for all of the believers in human-caused global warming. That’s right, step right up, folks, I’m going to be selling carbon credits to those who want to assuage their guilt about heating up the planet with their SUVs. . . .

My gimmick is that I’m offering $100 carbon credits for only $89 each. If you buy carbon credits from Al Gore, you’ll have to pay the full retail price. But if you send your money directly to me, you’ll receive an official certificate for $100 in carbon credits for every $89 you send. But wait, there’s more. If you are among the first 500 purchasers, we’ll include a fantastic vegetable chopper, a $19.99 value, absolutely free.

Getting into the spirit of this, he is also offering another service for the weight challenged:

Expanding the same general principle, I’m also pleased to offer healthy food credits to folks who need to improve their diet. Just send me $5, and I’ll eat a stalk of celery for you. Of course, that’s with a big blob of Cheese Whiz spread all over it. Sorry, if you want me to eat the thing with no topping; it’ll cost you 10 bucks.

What will he do with the income generated from this public service enterprise? Why, he will buy a carbon-friendly sailboat, of course!

Preposterous, you say? Not any more than those who peddle real credits to gullible buyers.