Archive for July, 2008

Don’t take pictures of yobs trashing your neighborhood.

Happened to notice this on the front page of the Nike Store:

Do kids really want to look like these girls? If so, why?

Hey, look at me! I’m not just any dumb wasted-looking chick, mister! I’m a dumb wasted-looking chick with cool Nike gear.

The New York TImes rejected John McCain’s opinion piece about the war which he wrote in response to Barack Obama’s piece which ran last week. But they gave him another chance, with only a few requirements:

It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq. It would also have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the Senator’s Afghanistan strategy, spelling out how it meshes with his Iraq plan.

Ah. As long as McCain advocates a plan basically the same as Obama’s, the NYT will print it.

For the record, I don’t have much trouble with the NYT refusing. They can and should refuse anything that they want to. The key is that everyone needs to realize/admit that they refuse anything that they want to.

Richest 5% of Americans make 36% of the income, but pay 60% of the taxes.

This is something that is conveniently ignored by almost 95% of the population, most of whom cry about “tax cuts for the rich.”

Via Power Line, which also points out a Wall Street Journal editorial that begins

Washington is teeing up “the rich” for a big tax hike next year, as a way to make them “pay their fair share.”

Obviously, this is some meaning of the word “fair” that I’m unfamiliar with.

B-52 With 6 Airmen Crashes Off Guam

At least two people were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said.

Six vessels, three helicopters, two F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber were involved in the search, which had covered about 70 square miles of ocean, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Elizabeth Buendia.

“We have an active search that’s going to go on throughout the night,” she said Monday. The Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and local fire and police departments were involved.

The B-52 bomber based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana was en route to conduct a flyover in a parade when it crashed around 9:45 a.m. today about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor, the Air Force said.

No doubt more information will be available in the near future about the cause of the crash. For now let’s hope they find the rest of the crew.

Instapundit posts on the non-recession recession, noting that the Fed revised their 2008 economic growth predictions up:

Are there economic issues, relating to high energy prices and idiotic loan portfolios? Yes. But does that constitute a recession? Nope.

As usual, I will state that the economy is not rosy and that there are storm clouds all around. Also as usual, commenters will ignore that bit and pretend that I said everything is rosy. Go ahead. My comment policy cautions against making a fool out of yourself, but I’ll make an exception and allow it in this case.

Meanwhile, Reynolds gets the same thing in an email:

The looming recession is not a fabrication of the election-focussed MSM. It is real, and it is scary…I worry that in 6 months, there is a very high probability you will regret your cavalier attitude towards significant weakening of the underpinnings of our economy–namely consumer spending, available credit and accessible liquidity.

To which Reynolds responds:

A future recession? Quite possibly. We’re overdue — and, of course, people who predict recession are bound to be right eventually. But a present recession — much less one over the past year — not so much. If there’s a recession next year, it won’t retroactively justify bogus claims of a recession last year.

This reminds me of a guy I knew in junior high who was a big baseball fan. We’d watch or listen to our beloved Minnesota Twins every evening, and in the first inning it would be something like this:

FRIEND: Kirby Puckett is going to hit a home run!

(He wouldn’t.)

FRIEND: Tim Teufel up. He’s going to park it!

(He wouldn’t.)

FRIEND: Herbie, Herbie. Herbie is taking it to the upper deck!

(He didn’t. End of inning.)

By the time we’d reached the fifth inning or so, my buddy had predicted approximately 18 home runs, none of which were accurate.

FRIEND: Here we go! Tom Brunansky is going downtown!

(Tom didn’t, in fact, go downtown.)

FRIEND: Hatcher is gonna knock one out of the park.

(Mr. Spalding did not leave the park.)

FRIEND: G-Man is due. Next swing of the bat is going to be a mammoth blast!

(Gary Gaetti would then hit a home run.)

FRIEND: See?!? See?!? I told you he would! I CALLED IT!!! You heard me SAY he was going to HIT a HOME RUN! I didn’t hear YOU predicting a homer! I KNEW he would!

And no amount of discussion would convince my buddy that his prediction was idiotic and that he was basically acting stupid. He’d just go “I said he would hit a home run and he did. I don’t see how you can say I didn’t predict it.”

Instapundit:

Obama is humorless, and full of himself. That would make him a great target for satire, except that his followers take the position that any mockery or criticism is racist. The prospect of four years of that sort of thing is the best reason I can think of not to vote for him.

Honestly, I think there are a lot of much more important reasons to not vote for Obama.

U.S. troops quit remote Afghan base after attack

This is not how you win:

U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers earlier this week, officials said Wednesday…

NATO confirmed that the post, which lies amid precipitous mountains close to the Pakistan border, had been vacated while insisting that international and Afghan troops will “retain a strong presence in that area with patrolling and other means.”

“We are committed, now more than ever, to establishing a secure environment that will allow even greater opportunities for development and a stronger Afghan governmental influence,” NATO spokesman Capt. Mike Finney said.

Omar Sami, spokesman for the Nuristan provincial governor, said American and Afghan soldiers quit the base on Tuesday afternoon. He said they took the district mayor with them.

US troops armed some police officers before they left, but the officers immediately fled after enemy forces entered the area.

Things appear on the verge of spiraling out of nominal control in Afghanistan. It’s going to take more troops, and if NATO members aren’t going to send them, you know who will have to pick up the slack.

Navy Turns on Its Super-Destroyer

Burke-class USS O’Kane (DDG 77) heading out for RIMPAC 2008

Noah Shachtman:

The outbreak of common sense in the Navy’s former fantasyland continues. For years, the admirals have been clinging for dear life to their giant DDG-1000 destroyer program — despite the bloated budgets, despite the shady building plan, despite the fact that no one can come up with a half-decent reason why America needs the 14,000-ton, stealth ships. What was once a proposed 32-ship fleet was reduced to a mere handful, seven.

“Now, in a dramatic, behind-the-scenes about-face, the Navy is rescinding support for its Zumwalt-class DDG-1000 destroyer program, seeking to persuade Pentagon leaders to limit the program to two ships,” Inside the Navy has learned.

It’s difficult to believe, but the Navy seems to be coming to grips with reality. I wrote recently

A big part of the problem is that the Navy seems to want to live in imaginary land when talking budgets.

and while the budget craziness seems to continue unabated, the decision-making about what to do with the unrealistic numbers appears to be making a bit more sense.

Rather than more Zumwalts, some are suggesting that additional DDG-51 Burkes may be in the future. Others have even claimed that nuclear-powered DDG-51s might be worth a look.

As I wrote in that post:

I’ve never been much of a fan of the Burkes at all. Not as our primary surface ship, anyway.

But given the choice between a next-gen Burke and the DDG-1000, I’ll take the next-gen Burke. Let’s tweak an existing system rather than break the bank on a concept that is troubled at best.