Shots Across the Bow

Daniel Pearl, A sign of things to come? This article in The Idler by John LeBoutillier tells us why the murder of Daniel Pearl is a cause for greater concern than we might think.

It signals a new stage of this certain-to-be long conflict with fundamentalist Islam. We need to recognize the enemy. It is a strain of thought that happily kills - and almost wants to be killed itself.

"We know your weakness."

These chilling words were spoken 21 years ago by the North Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand when he was asked about US POW's still being held alive in Southeast Asia, long after the war had ended.

"Your wives and mothers and daughters," he continued, "want their men home."

In other words, capturing and holding Americans is a very powerful weapon to use against the United States precisely because we value life above all else.

The Islamic fundamentalists who captured Danny Pearl are slightly different from Hanoi.

These enemies of America executed Pearl on videotape to send a strong message: the next time they kidnap someone we will know for certain they will kill him or her. Thus we are backed into a corner. Either we give in or that American is as good as dead.

Read the rest of his article.

Like I said earlier, we need to make it very clear that taking an American life, particularly a non-combatant, is the absolute worst thing you want to do.

An unbiased press? In the latest article from the Yates trial, I read the following:

"Do you remember her making a statement, 'After thinking about my options, I decided drowning would be the best way to end their life'?" assistant district attorney Kaylynn Williford asked.

Yates said "something about drowning, that drowning was the way," Ferguson replied.

Ferguson testified Yates told her she thought about killing her children for at least three months and thought about it the night before the children were drowned.

Other testimony this week is expected to include doctors who treated Yates before the killings.

Did you catch it? I don't know if it was Pam Easton's paraphrasing, or Dr. Melissa Ferguson's testimony, but the quote shifts from the active to passive voice when discussing how Yates drowned her children. Check this sentence again:

Ferguson testified [active] Yates told her she thought [active] about killing her children for at least three months and thought [active] about it the night before the children were drowned. [passive]

What kind of garbage is this? If you want to share your opinions, get a blog like the rest of us. Don't peddle your propaganda and call it reporting.

Wooohooo! I am a professional now! Don't worry; I'm not going to quit my day job. At this rate, I'll have to post for 2 years before I can go to the movies. At a matinee. Three years if I want popcorn.

But it is still pretty cool!

By special request A loyal reader (Hi Mom!) has requested that I do a piece on capital punishment.

It's interesting that she asked that question because my thoughts have recently changed 180 degrees. I used to be a supporter of the death penalty. There are some crimes so heinous and horrible that the only possible response is to kill the perpetrator. I can think of several right off the bat.

I don't worry that innocent people might get caught up and executed by mistake. That argument works for any sentence; which would be worse, to die innocent of crime, or to live the rest of your life in prison as an innocent man? Should we outlaw life sentences on that basis? Of course not. We build every possible appeal we can into the system, and it must be working, because we haven't had a documented case of an innocent man being executed yet. We've had several close shaves, and there may be one or two that we haven't heard of, or been able to prove.
But, how many lives have we lost by not sentencing these animals to death? How many additional lives have they been able to destroy, because of our compassion? The numbers game can be played either way, but is ultimately meaningless because you can't put a number to the worth of a life. Is the man who is mistakenly executed more innocent than the victim of a murderer released on parole? Both are dead based on an error of the system. How can you distinguish the two? Do you go by quantity? Two lives are worth more than one? I don't think so.

So, two of the most common, rational arguments against the death penalty fail. So why do I oppose it?

I have two issues with the death penalty. First, I don't think the state should be in the business of deciding who lives and who dies. That's more power than I feel comfortable giving up. Second, I don't like the toll it takes on the people responsible for carrying out the execution. Unless you are a complete sociopath, taking a life changes you. No matter how deserving of death the animal may be, to kill in cold blood would place a terrible burden on the executioner. If it didn't, he would be just as bad as the monster he is executing, only he is sanctioned by the state.

"When you dance with the devil, the devil doesn't change; the devil changes you."

I believe this is true, but would still be willing and able to pull the trigger, throw the switch, or pop the needle myself, and sleep like a baby that night. I don't like that part of me, and don't trust it; I sure as hell don't want to encourage it in myself, or in my government.

They should be horsewhipped. She'd worked very hard to get Swan ready for the show, fed her a special diet, hired the best trainers, kept her under constant discipline and training. She took her from show to show, always striving to do better, to get Swan to place higher. She was very demanding, but She only wanted the best for Her little prize.
Swan lived for Her approval, and would do anything to get it, but She doled out praise even less frequently than the treats She used to reward good behavior, or success at shows. Finally, the big day came, the biggest show to date. Swan was tired and scared, but determined not to let Her down. And finally, after all of the training, the sacrifice, the demands, Swan won Best in Show.

Swan is a five year old girl in a beauty pageant.

Her parents should be horsewhipped.

The stomach churning story is detailed on HBO America Undercover. They pitch it as humorous on the website. Don't believe it.

On the drive to work today I was listening to NPR, when Amy Quinton profiled the Charlotte NC school system's plan to end busing and allow parents the opportunity to pick which school their children attend. Oh the horror! What caught my attention was how Ms. Quinton marvelled at allowing parents to decide where their children should go to school, like this was some radical new idea. I have a basic problem with that sentence, by the way. How in the world did we allow the government to take away that right to begin with?

Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but this is the direct result of Lee's surrender at Appomatox.(Yes, I just tied the failings of our educational system to the War Between the States. What will I do for an encore?)

The state of education A little while ago, I posted this story on education. Michael Pearson (mutecypher-at-earthlink.net) wrote an excellent response which made several good points. He says:

...I certainly would agree that as a country we should do a better job of education. But I think that often times we fail to take into account the cultural/societal flower that our forebears have planted that makes us such a creative, vibrant nation. There is a part of me that says we should be sure that whatever reforms we make in our schools, we don't kill our native, American form of intelligence by educating it into a European dessication.

I don't think that vouchers run any risk of doing that, but much other reform does concern me. The weekly drumbeat about self-esteem that comes from my daughter's school - forgetting that unearned self-esteem is nearly the defining feature of a criminal mind. The moronic whole language method of teaching reading. The unexamined assumption that more government involvement (non local) is a necessary part of the solution. Those things strike me as some of the potential poisons under consideration.

As an aside, I realize that some pundits and diplomats in Western Europe and the Middle East think we are the opposite of both things I am discussing - uneducated and stupid. They are the product of systems that provides an education lacking in a true, real world appreciation of the tradeoffs involved in action. One unstated premise in Neil's description is that education has a static aspect to it (facts don't change) while intelligence has a more active aspect (dealing with a complex world). Hence, the existence of the unintelligent educated pundit.

Mike has hit on one of my favorite themes; the difference between 'book smart' and 'street smart.' I deal with engineers all of the time, and am disturbed by the lack of practical knowledge they have. Many mechanical engineers don't even have a basic familiarity with mechanics tools, which shows when they design access covers, or calibration adjustments that are inaccessible, unless a special tool is created. The ability to process information, to gather and evaluate data, and to apply that information in a real world environment is crucial in everyday life.

The problem is that our schools aren't even giving our kids the basic tools they need to carry out these functions. Math knowledge is weak, which inhibits analysis of data, english skills are weak, which inhibits the ability to communicate knowledge effectively, and historical knowledge is practically non-existent, which denies the long term perspective needed to understand where we are and where we are headed. I think we can strengthen our curriculum significantly without our schools becoming arid wastelands of facts, with no soul.

Mike goes on to give some interesting ideas on directions for education reform:

1. There's the old joke that college deans are supposed to tell. You have to be good to the A students, since they come back to be professors. You have to be good to B students, since they send their kids to the same college they attended. You have to be good to C students, since they become rich and give large grants to the college. Somehow, the last portion of the joke seems particularly American to me. Those students do get an education, but they are not wholly devoted to the process. Their minds end up sharpened in a way that pays the most dividends in the material world.
   
2. How much do we want reform to be national - meaning the federal government directs - and how much do we want it to be local? With a national orientation, we really can standardize on the things that we should all know to be Americans. Should every 10th grader be able to recite the Declaration of Independence? Should every sixth grader be able to give a five sentence summary of events at Little Round Top? Can you possibly imagine a federal agency doing a good job of defining such things before the end of the universe?
   
3. What is the state of our trade schools? It probably varies from trade to trade. College is not the appropriate goal for every 18 year old, but more training than is given in high school is valuable for many. Trade schools are private, I don't even know how well regulated they are. What lessons can be learned from them? Some folks have suggested that we allow non-college bound students to leave high school at 16 and attend trade schools. Do those become publicly funded? I don't really have a feel for these schools, but I think some scrutiny here can give us all some good information.

This last is one I'm really interested in. Right now, the only place to go for a good trades education is the military, or a union shop with a good apprenticeship training, or an overpriced, for-profit trade school like ITT. This is a disgrace. Let's fae it, not every kid needs or wants a college education. We spend so much time trying to get every kid ready for college that we wind up with a group of young adults who are prepped for college AND NOTHING ELSE! Vo-tech is not a bad word, although you would think it is when at high school.
I know a little about this. As I said earlier, I went to a college prep school. After washing out of college (A minor disagreement with my professors. I figured as long as I passed the tests, I didn't have to go to class. They disagreed.) I wound up working in a convenience store. I had no other skills. Oh, I could have sold vacuum cleaners door to door, a job which really sucks(sorry, couldn't resist), but I really had no saleable skills. I wound up going into the Navy (getting robbed at gunpoint for the $50 in the till has a way of bringing perspective to your life. I highly recommend it if you are having trouble finding your way in life) where I received technical training in electronics and nuclear reactor operations. (There's another comforting thought for you, convenience store night clerk to nuclear reactor operator in five easy lessons! What a country!)

Finally, Mike is interested in other comments on his ideas. You can e-mail him directly at the address above, or send your comments to me, and I'll publish them here.

Good Morning! In response to a reader who noticed that my archives were not accessible, I've spent the last few minutes (ok hours) trying to get my archives functioning. I believe they are functional now, so life is good. My weekend was very busy, installing a new drill press, and a new computer. The drill press is wonderful, and so is the computer, except for the modem, which won't dial. It's always something.

Time for a break Short posting day, but I have to go pick up a new drill press for my woodshop, then my new computer. I'll post tonight, if I get the thing hooked up in time.

Great minds, and all that Wiliam Sulik commented on Sarah Hughes performance. He links to the judges scorecards.

I know as I watched Slutskya get ready to skate that NBC flashed a graphic that showed Kwan in first, Sarah Hughes in second, and Cohen in third. I couldn't begin to figure out how Sarah would get the gold she clearly deserved. Scott hamilton did say that it was possible, but they obviously don't use the old math where 1+1=2. In any case, the outcome was as it should be. The best skater of this years Olympics walked away with the gold.

Anybody remember The Next Karate Kid? Terminator 3 will feature a female Terminatrix shades of the Borg Queen. (I watch way to many movies!)

I'm betting the female Terminator will be based on the gynoids of Sorayama.

Now here's a shocker! Russia may pull out of the closing cremonies.

This wouldn't have anything to do with their abysmal medal count, would it?

Irina Slutskya didn't make her triple triple, and she bobbled the landing on another triple. Her moves were mechanical, and she didn't skate to her strength. She still performed well enough to beat Michelle Kwan, who fell during her short program. Sarah Hughes skated a nearly flawles program, and deserved the gold.

Give it up, Victor, this isn't basketball, and you can't put more seconds back on the clock.

A judge said she was manipulated. The IOC discounted her, which resulted in a tie. You kids kept their gold, which, based purely on performance, they didn't deserve.

I heard about this last night. The reporter, Daniel Pearl is dead.

``I AM A JEW''

Pearl's death was formally announced late Thursday night.

His body has not been found and it is unclear exactly when and where he was executed.

But in a account of Pearl's last moments, the Pakistani official, who asked not to be identified, said Pearl's last words uttered on camera before his killing were that he was a Jew and his father was a Jew.

``I have been told that the last words uttered by Pearl in the videotape, immediately before his throat was slit, were 'Yes I am a Jew and my father is a Jew','' the official said.

From The Untouchables:

Here's how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of your men to the hospital, and you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago Way......"

We need to send a message that harming an American citizen is the worst idea you could ever have.

My dad owned a business that used to be located on Central Street in the Old City, before the place was bought up and renovated. Just a few doors down was a tackle and bait shop run by a man by the name of Jerry. I never did know his last name. He kept to himself most of the time, but was friendly when you got around him.

But Jerry had a look in his eyes that let you know he was capable of anything, that there were no limits to what he would do if he felt like it. He wasn't a man you wanted to have mad at you.

He was talking to my dad one night, and told him that he used to be a bouncer in a biker bar. These weren't Gold Wings.

"One night," he said, "a group got a little too rowdy, and I had to throw them out of the place. They took it personally, and when I left later that night, their club jumped me, stabbed me, shot me, and left me for dead."

Jerry was in the hospital for several weeks recovering. When he got back out, he didn't go back to work in the bar, but set up just outside it. Over the next year, each and every member of the club that tried to kill him died. They were shot off of their motorcycles, cables were stretched across the road to knock them off of their bikes, some were found stabbed in alleys, but all were dead.

Did Jerry get them all? Probably not, being in a motorcycle gang can be a dangerous life, but no other biker ever messed with him again.

Americans all have a little of Jerry inside of us. We cover it up with smiles, and polite conversation, but push us too far, and Jerry is right there, grinning in our eyes, and ready to cut loose. Seems like it might be time to remind some people of that.

Ethics pt 3 I just completed my third essay on ethics. The conclusion is excerpted below, and the full text is here along with the first 2 installments. Commetns are welcome at the email address to the left.

Altruism, self sacrifice, compassion, patriotism. These are the qualities that raise us from the rest of the animal kingdom. They all involve being able to see beyond our own interest, beyond the interest of our family to the interests of our nation, and maybe soon, our species. This new perspective, unprecedented in nature, demands a new ethic, one which goes beyond "To the victor, goes the spoils."

OK, I get it now. Social commentary, 20 hits a day. Jokes, 700 hits a day. All right then:
A guy walks into a bar.
"Ouch, who put that there?"

Thank you, I'll be here all week.