Kids Say the Darndest Things

They sure do! Just check out today's Register's vapid Reply All.

Here's my favorite from this edition - From the incredibly insightful Sasha Kemmet:

Last week, a Brazilian man living in England was chased by plainclothed police officers, pinned down and shot five times in the head and chest. At the time, officers believed he was involved in the London bombings. Later, it was revealed that the man had no connection to the bombings. It is a tragic story, less about the mistakes of Scotland Yard than about underlying sentiments of fear and anger. People are angry about what happened and scared that it might happen again. [Emphasis mine.]

Ladies and gentlemen - behold the product of our politically correct, postmodern educational system. When people blow other people up in subway trains and busses, people get "scared and angry" and are afraid that it might happen again. And that's really "tragic" ya know.

What's tragic...? That those people may actually may want to do something about it to see that it doesn't happen again?

These emotions are not far from our own. According to a recent AP-Kyodo poll, six in 10 Americans think a new World War is likely. Fear, as history has shown us, is not a good leader. In the 1940s, fear led us to imprison thousands of civilian Japanese-Americans. In the 1950s, fear led us on a McCarthyism witch-hunt of scholars and entertainers exercising "too much" freedom of speech.

Ah... the old chestnuts - Japanese internment in the 40s and McCarthyism in the 50s. But the 60s... them were the days! Oh, Sasha - you forgot about Wounded Knee and the Robber Barons. If you're going to recite the litany girl, go for it all!

But of course, you're right. Because the West is imperfect, we have no right defend ourselves. I mean, isn't that obvious. We should be still, introspective, passive and think about how we created the "root causes" that made these poor young men strap on nailbombs and blow up some "innocent" commuters. Free Mumia!

Today, fear leads us to passively approve an act that allows the government to search our personal, medical and even library records without our knowledge or a warrant. We need to be a well-informed and well-educated populace, not spied on by Big Brother, to turn our fear into thoughtful, positive action.

And "even LIBRARY records...". Oh boy...

But I do agree that "we need a well-informed and well-educated populace". And Sasha, you make that argument more strongly than you'll ever know.

If these kids are Iowa's best and brightest - and that goes for their token conservative voice... oh man.

Update: I almost forgot the capper! In the print version of The Register, what was immediately left of Reply All? A David Broder column the Register titled: Our children are failing history.

Beautiful.

Fresh and Funny

City Journal has a piece on right leaning comic strips. If you don't already, check out Day by Day.

It is indeed both.

Like Going into Space in a '72 Plymouth Duster

We have got to junk this thing and start over. It first went into space 25 years ago. It was designed in the early 1970's for God's sake.

I'm a huge manned spaceflight supporter. I'm even for govenrment funding (consistency being the hobgoblin that is is...). But, we need a private/Federal partnership of some kind to get it back on track.

One way the Feds could at least get out of the way is to stop legislating safety regulations that would essentially prohibit space tourism. Look, if you have $500k or so and want to risk sitting on top of a giant roman candle to go suborbital or into low Earth orbit... why not?

Shit, liberals should love it. Think of all of the rich people who could put themselves in harm's way. And think of the potential death tax revenues.

[HomerSimpson]Ummmmm... death taxes...[/HomerSimpson]

Islamic Nailbomb

Take a look at this.


This is an x-ray image of one of the bombs that the authorities secured in London. Pretty nasty, huh?

I guess the only logical response is to outlaw nails. Sure... it's pretty extreme - it will play hell on the construction industry and do-it-yourselfers - but we can't have people going around and doing horrible, tragic stuff like this so it seems like the only solution.

Fallon for Governor

State 29 has been an early Fallon booster. Yeah, he may look good compared to the other yahoos. But check this out. And this. And this. This guy if a Wellstonian socialist of the first order.

However, this one kind of jars my preserves.

Oh... I don't know. Fallon has a reputation for being a straight shooter and a really good person. Despite his socialist tendencies and his boneheaded opinions on the War (which as a Iowa's Governor, wouldn't really matter all that much...) he may be the best choice. State may be right.

They DID Shoot a Civilian

And the London Police have not backed down from the policy. In the same situation, the will shoot the perp in the head. Which is exactly what they have to do.

Ugly? Yes.

Tragic in the case of the poor Brizilian guy who was killed? Yes.

But that man was a casuality of war - killed by al-Qa'ida and their tactics as surely as if he had been blown up by one of their bombs.

Much discussion on the topic here.

The truth...? You can't handle the truth..