ELSEWHERE

"Sampan incident" belies Kerry heroic image: "John Kerry invented a 'war hero' persona in his private journals and in the home movies he filmed and staged in Vietnam. Playing the lead role, he developed a past intended to advance his future political ambitions. In reality, Kerry was regarded by his Navy peers as reckless with human life. Although Douglas Brinkley's biography 'Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War' recalls that Kerry used the call sign 'Square Jaw' for a short time, it doesn't mention the sign he actually used for most of his four months in Vietnam: 'Boston Strangler.'

What would Lincoln or FDR have done to someone like John Kerry who undermined the war effort in Vietnam? Answer here.

This article says that Kerry could lose because of the "dirt" associated with passionate New Jersey governor McGreevey.

Non-independence day: "Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of one of the major turning points in American social history. That was the date on which President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation creating his 'War on Poverty' program in 1964. Never had there been such a comprehensive program to tackle poverty at its roots, to offer more opportunities to those starting out in life, to rehabilitate those fallen by the wayside and to make dependent people self-supporting. Its intentions were the best. But we know what road is paved with good intentions. The War on Poverty represented the crowning triumph of the liberal vision of society -- and of government programs as the solution to social problems. The disastrous consequences that followed have made the word 'liberal' so much of a political liability that today even candidates with long left-wing track records have evaded or denied that designation."

Not only has France banned vending machines from schools, the country also now requires all food companies to include health warnings with their advertisements, or fork over 1.5% of their respective advertising budgets to the French equivalent of HHS.

Self-help: "On July 20th, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) introduced legislation to reform Social Security the right way -- with large personal retirement accounts and without tax increases or benefit cuts. These reform measures would allow all workers the option to invest up to half of their payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts and harness the impact of compounded interest -- what Einstein called the most powerful force in the universe."

Another triumph for America's Leftist educators: "He said Americans had a reputation for being ignorant of world affairs. The annual National Geographic Survey had thrown up the sad fact that only 23 out of 56 young Americans knew the whereabouts of the Pacific Ocean".

Marlon Brando's recent death has reminded many of his superb performance in "On The Waterfront". Less well known is that the movie's director Elia Kazan, who blew the whistle on communists operating in Hollywood, used 'Waterfront' to explain why he felt it necessary to expose his former party comrades. (See also here for more on the Hollywood Blacklist and recent findings that there WERE in fact Red operatives in tinseltown)

LOL: An hilarious excerpt here from the latest translation of the Bible -- recommended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. (Via Maverick Philosopher). How these alleged Christians hate New Testament Christianity! Although I am the most utter atheist you will ever meet (I don't even think the idea of God is meaningful) I have no hesitation in saying that the single book which has influenced me most is the New Testament -- so it saddens me to see it distorted out of all recognition.

Verbum Ipsum gives some interesting quotes about private property from the great Catholic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas (I read a fair bit of Thomas myself in my teens). From my reading of it, Thomas was much more respectful of private property than the present Pope is. Thomas sounds rather a lot like a modern conservative thinker, in fact.

Wicked Thoughts has some good stuff up at the moment: An excellent poem about media bias by a former member of the military and a humorous but thought-provoking projection of the news from the year 2035.

As there seems to be a bit of an oil crisis on at the moment, I have just uploaded a chapter by Milton Friedman from my 1974 book. What he says about the oil crisis of the '70s is still worth bearing in mind today. See here

For more postings, see GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH and GUN WATCH. Mirror sites here, here and here

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Leftists acclaim "diversity" yet say "All men are equal". Figure that one out.

Why can those who claim to understand the dangers of meddling with a complex ecosystem like the natural environment, not understand that government interference with a complex system like the economy is perilous too?

The conflict between conservatives and Leftists is not usually a conflict between realists and idealists. Mostly it is a conflict between realists and people who will say anything to win applause

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