Dutch: Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
From Cox and Forkum:
Generation Chasm: D-Day
From Cox and Forkum:
A cultural establishment that (on the whole) doesn't give a damn about World War II or its veterans thinks it can undo a half-century of indifference verging on contempt by repeating a silly phrase ("the greatest generation") like a magic spell while deploying fulsome praise like carpet bombing. The campaign is especially intense among members of the 1960s generation who once chose to treat all present and former soldiers like dirt and are willing at long last to risk some friendly words about World War II veterans, now that most are safely underground and guaranteed not to talk back, enjoy their celebrity or start acting like they own the joint.If you ever get a chance, be sure to visit the The National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.
Yale Kramer has posted an excellent article he wrote for The American Spectator for the 50th anniversary of D-Day: EASY RED, FOX GREEN: THE MEANING OF OMAHA BEACH. It contains a brief account of D-Day, specifically Omaha beach. Highly recommend. [Hat Tip: TIA Daily, LGF]
The Day After Tommorow
From Cox and Forkum:
Ray Bradbury Rips Michael Moore
From "Ray Bradbury Rips Michael Moore", WorlNet Daily:'Fahrenheit 451' author says filmmaker stole his title for Bush-bash... ...Moore's film won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival last month and is scheduled to hit theaters on June 25. Of the Cannes award, Bradbury told the paper: "I have won prizes in different places and they are mostly meaningless. The people there hate us, which is why they gave him the d'Or. It's a meaningless prize."Hat Tip: Kristoffer Bohmann
Federal Judge Declares Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act Unconstitutional
From Yahoo News:...a federal judge declared the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional Tuesday, saying it infringes on a woman's right to choose. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton's ... agreed with abortion rights activists that a woman's right to choose is paramount, and that it is therefore "irrelevant" whether a fetus suffers pain, as abortion foes contend. "The act poses an undue burden on a woman's right to choose an abortion," the judge wrote....In a statement, the Bush re-election campaign said: "Today's tragic ruling upholding partial birth abortion shows why America needs judges who will interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. ... John Kerry's judicial nominees would similarly frustrate the people's will..."The "people's will" is irrelevant to the matter. The issue is individual rights--specifically a women's right to her own life. The women has a right to her life, and the unborn child does not have a right to it.
Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee voted to restrict late-term abortions when the measure contained a "clear exception for life or health of women."This is better than Bush, but not by much. "Clear exception" is an unclear standard. Either the women has a right to a partial-birth abortion or does not.
..."When John Kerry is president he will appoint judges that are committed to upholding the Constitution, not pursuing an ideological agenda."The problem is not that Bush is pursuing an ideological agenda, but that his ideology on this issue is based on the supremacy of religion and the pursuit of self-sacrifice, as opposed to being based on the supremacy of individual rights and the pursuit of happiness. The American constitution being founded upon the the ideology of the latter. Observe that on other issues--from confiscatory taxation to handing over American sovereignty to the United Nations-- Kerry is more than willing to sacrifice the life and happiness of Americans.
Justice Department spokeswoman Monica Goodling said the government "will continue to devote all resources necessary to defend this act of Congress, which President Bush has said 'will end an abhorrent practice and continue to build a culture of life in America.'"...Violating the law carries a two-year prison term. ["Judge: Bush Abortion Ban Unconstitutional"]Translated: a culture of women undergoing back-room illegal "partial-birth" abortions because they have no other choice. Recommended Website: Abortion is Pro-Life
Lifeblood: Islamic terrorists Execute Westerne Oil Workers in Saudi Arabia
From Cox and Forkum:
Saudi Arabia's leaders rushed to assure the world they were in full control, hours before global markets pass judgment on Tuesday on a suspected al Qaeda attack on their oil industry. Many oil sector analysts said the militants' shooting and hostage-taking rampage at the weekend in the world's biggest oil exporter, in which 22 people were killed, could push fuel prices higher.[...] Arab countries joined in the condemnation [of the attacks] and many will be at an OPEC meeting later this week at which Saudi Arabia is proposing production increases to help ease present high oil prices that threaten to stunt global economic growth. State-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has vowed to keep supplies flowing smoothly.As for the "militants," it's reported that Saudi security forces 'allowed the killers to escape'
SAUDI authorities struck a deal with al Qaeda hostage-takers which led to three of them escaping, it was claimed yesterday. Checkpoints set up across Saudi Arabia also failed to trace three Islamic militants who went on the run following Saturday's attacks in the eastern oil city of al Khobar. The allegation of collusion involving Saudi Arabian security forces emerged amid fears that the latest terrorist outrage in the country may have a knock-on effect on the global economy by sparking further rises in oil prices. [UK Herald]Now there's some crack anti-terrorism tactics for you. Where's the cry of "No Blood for Oil" when you really need it?
Writes Victor Davis Hanson: Appeasing al-Qa'ida will only encourage militants:
Much of the West's problem in the Middle East has been the false dichotomy between authoritarian regimes and their Islamo-fascist critics, who sometimes work conjointly against the West, while on other occasions turning on each other. The Saudi royals, like most autocracies in Jordan, Egypt and Syria, play a tired game well known in the West. To ameliorate increasing misery among the populace (unemployment in Saudi Arabia is more than 40 per cent while $US800billion [$1.1trillion] is held by the royal family outside the country), few Arab regimes embark on liberalisation, constitutional government, open markets, free speech, sexual equality or religious tolerance. Instead, popular frustration in state-controlled media is carefully filtered and directed against the US and Israel -- as if those in New York or Tel Aviv can explain why Saudi jobs are scarce or Egyptian water undrinkable. Direct aid to Islamic "charities", funding of hate-spewing madrassas and subsidising firebrand clerics were the old Danegeld that Saudi elites meted out to turn bin Laden's fury against us. And such triangulation worked, if we remember that 15 Saudi suicide killers struck on September 11, 2001 -- and earned smug, though private, smiles among many in the kingdom. But feeding monsters is dangerous.