I can’t help much with the fatwa envy but I’m sure I can find out where Kinsella gets his vanity death threats.

It is “average”.

I recommend you read Richard’s discussion here before commenting.
Update – A critique – “this anecdote illustrates the problem with Libertarianism/Objectivism: the majority of people aren’t as intelligent as your average Libertarian/Objectivist thinks they (themselves) are. […] Many, many people are just stupid. By definition, 49% of the population is below average.”
And my response – Find the average of these three numbers; 100, 130, 150.
(See? Objectivists are smarter. )
Further comments – I’ve heard variations of this statement often (so won’t make a point of pinning it on Kathy Shaidle) that “49% of the population is below average”.
Setting aside for a moment the fun with the math earlier, statements like this suggest that IQ scores (for want of a better measure) are evenly distributed across the cognitive range. That is – that the number of people who score 100 would be roughly the same as those who score 60, 80, 120, 140. That’s quite obviously inaccurate – the vast majority of test scores are clustered in the middle range, at what is considered “average”. If they weren’t, we’d truly be in big trouble as a species.
I agree that many, many people are “just stupid”. But they aren’t the majority, and I don’t know that it does our societal systems much good to design public policy around what best serves the lowest common denominator.

So, get them a plane ticket already! Stanley Kurtz on immigration and Fort Dix;

Chain migration through extended family unification is a potentially huge barrier to assimilation. My recent two-part study of cousin marriage and failed Muslim assimilation in Britain is essentially the story of how the loophole of family reunification was turned by in-marrying extended Muslim clans into an immigration disaster. (See “Assimilation Studies,” and “Assimilation Studies, Part II.”
Today’s NYT story seems to tell an at least somewhat similar story. The same pattern of immigration based on extended clan ties, and the maintenance of links with clan-dominated villages in the originating country, seems to apply. This pattern is a recipe for failed assimilation.
[…]
I am not saying that anyone in the Duka family, outside the plotters themselves, was involved here. The point is, when you bring over a vast extended clan through chain migration, and when that extended family group maintains constant ties with an originating village, it becomes vastly more difficult to assimilate. For one thing, chain migration means a constant supply of new family members who don’t know English and are unfamiliar with Western ways. For another thing, you are least likely to give up traditional practices, notions of honor, etc., when you are surrounded by people who know you from your home village. In England, it’s gotten to the point where marriage-based chain migration has resulted in entire Pakistani villages almost literally being picked up and transferred whole to Britain.

Jeff Goldstein;

George Bush was vilified for appearing at Bob Jones University—the idea being that his appearing at a private conservative Christian university meant he necessarily supported (even if it was only with a wink and a nod) all of their social policies, and so could be painted with a racist, “Christianist” brush. Which is why we heard so much about what “lessons” we were to draw from Bush’s stumping at a school that had a ban on interracial dating (a ban it lifted in the wake of Bush’s visit).
Yet we seldom hear the same kind of criticism from “progressives” when Democratic politicians visit black Baptist churches. Are Bill and Hillary anti-gay? Is Edwards?
I rather doubt it, but that’s beside the point, really. Because the trick of identity politics is to gather up grievance groups as voting blocs, and to do that, one has to embrace their grievance narratives and sympathize—usually with government largesse or group-specific legislation. When the grievance narratives of two identity blocs sharing the same political affiliation conflict, the “pragmatic” thing to do, progressives have found, is to pretend they hadn’t noticed.

Roger Kimball lists eight amusing anecdotes on how things were more sane in the 50s:

7. Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1956 – Ants die.
2006 – BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Add yours in the comments.

Tension between environmentalists and their aboriginal mascots:

There is nothing more enjoyable than watching European environmentalists squirm as they are taken to task by Canadian Inuit communities over their opposition to the (seal) hunt.

Britain’s decay continues;

Private Johnson Beharry’s courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle’s crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross.
For the BBC, however, his story is “too positive” about the conflict.
The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain’s youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq.

I can’t be certain, but it’s possible the author of this carefully worded critique may have a position with the UN Relief Works Agency (Google search).
Translated from Arabic from the Palestinian newspaper Neda Al Quds, you’ll have to read between the lines;

While preparing for a visit to the Arab region and to meet with its leaders, she rejected all calls for a cessation of hostilities. Instead, she announced that the U.S. would continue to provide the aggressors in the Israeli occupation army with hundreds of the most dangerous and deadly weapons and smart bombs, giving the Zionist war machine the green light to continue killing innocent children, women, and the elderly and to destroy the infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority and the Lebanese State.
And this abhorrently ugly woman is becoming more and more audacious every day. When she invited her subordinates in the region [Arab leaders] to support her efforts to create a New Middle East – free of anyone affiliated with any national liberation movement that resists American and Israeli colonial dominance – this succubus stated quite clearly that the ongoing war in Lebanon was an American one run by Israel on America’s behalf as part of the wars America started in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is because America, which is drowning in the mud of the countries it has already occupied and destroyed, can’t open up any news fronts on its own. To finish implementing the plans of the neo-conservatives; spread U.S. dominance over the entire Middle East region; and eradicate all opposition forces and remaining resistance – especially in Palestine and Lebanon, and before, during and after the siege of Syria and Iran – America needs Israel.
Rice acted in a manner similar to that of the Black Widow spider, weaving her web to catch her prey. Rice and the Black Widow have many similarities, beyond the fact that they are both Black (with great respect to the Blacks) and aside from the fact that they are both biologically female (there’s no need for women to get angry at me, since technically, Rice does belong to the female gender). The overriding similarities are that they both have poison dripping from their mouths, kill mercilessly and take horrifically sadistic pleasure in tormenting their victims and sucking their blood. But more importantly, both perfectly plan their hostile acts ahead of time.

I did consider for a time whether I should draw attention to it, as it’s certain to draw approving links from members of the progressive left.
In the end, the spirit of non-partisanship won out.
(You can read it from start to finish at Watching America.)

A sure reminder that spring is upon us is the arrival of naked moonbats and international recognition of the fifth annual Eat an animal for PETA day. Since they also take this day to remind the world that we Canucks like to club seals for fun and profit, it’s a fine day to promote that traditional Newfoundland fare of Seal Flipper pie. In case you can’t pop in to Belbin’s Grocery in St. John’s and pick up a ready-to-bake one for $8.99, we present a traditional recipe for the club-it-yourselfer:

Ingredients: # 4 seal flippers (don’t forget to club at least two seals!) # 1 L water # 500 ml soda # 125 ml fat pork, diced # 1 cup milk # 2 onions, chopped # 5 ml salt # 60 ml flour # 250 ml cold water # 5 ml Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Soak flippers in 1 L of water and soda. Trim off excess fat.
Dry flippers and dip in seasoned flour.
Brown in pork fat. Add onions and make a gravy of flour, water, and sauce. Pour over flippers.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 2-3 hours.
Make a pastry and cover the flippers. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Hmmm. Actually, no. These overgrown maritime rats taste like rancid cod entrails. Given the choice, I’d take the cod entrails. This is one of those cases where the clubbin’s better than the eatin’.
But that’s no reason to pass on up on that wholesome tradition and the satisfying sound of crushing their skulls with a blunt club.

These rats may taste awful but they make warm and waterproof boots, as well as attractive handbags.

Good luck with the hunt in Newfoundland! You know we wish we could join in the fun.

Footnote from Kate: I second the motion.

Looks good so far.
Update: Latest results as of 8:30 Eastern Time.
VanishedDate: For some reason there is now a blank spot on the web site where the poll used to be.

Open Market has the story here:

Last summer’s outbreak of E. coli contamination in packaged spinach that killed at least three people and sickened more than 200 others has now been confirmed to have come from a 50-acre organic farm in California’s San Benito County.

Now I don’t really think organic foods are hazardous to your health, but the organic food industry so shamelessly hypes non-existent dangers to promote their products I’m happy to let them wear this one.
Yes, organic vegetarian spinach-eaters, organic fertilizers carry risks of their own.

From a commenter at Reason, we present the Gorean Creed:

We believe in Global Warming
the Sea-Raiser, the All-Powerful,
maker of tsunami and hurricane,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Cause, The Activities of Man,
the lowest of all creatures,
except the ones that are brown.

Continue reading →

Now that I’ve seen Al Gore’s latest documentary I’ve decided those rising seas will offer great new business opportunities.
Are you a scuba diver? Are you tired of diving at the same old boring shipwrecks? Well, here at SDA we’re now offering you a chance to reserve now and be the first one to experience the whole new diving experience the reality of global warming will offer.
That’s right, if you book now you could be the first to scuba dive and explore the soon-to-be submerged Kennedy compound at Hyannisport. This is bound to be a hot spot among divers once it’s under water, but we’ve already reserved all diving rights for SDA Scuba Tours, so you can count on a pleasurable dive in uncrowded waters.

See? People are always looking only looking at the down side of global warming, but in any change there are bound to be both winners and losers. They might be exclusive sites for the rich and powerful at the moment, but they’re soon to become your favorite dive site!

In addition to the Kennedy compound, we’ll also be making a snorkeling/scuba tour of the houses of other famous celebrities currently on the shores of Martha’s Vineyard.
So if you want to reserve your spot on this exclusive tour, just hit the paypal link on the left of your screen and we’ll have this fantastic vacation opportunity rolling just as soon as those houses are under water. We regret to inform you that in the unlikely event Al Gore’s predictions of rising sea levels don’t come true and these houses don’t end up under water we’ll be unable to supply a refund. But what are the chances of that, really?

They’re in-laws.
It took but a few days in Calgary for one Jordan Michael Smith to discover a truth about Canadian identity that they don’t teach in Carleton University political science classes – that we are more like Americans than we are one another.*
That, and all orthodontists reside east of Thunder Bay. I figure there’s about a week between now and his first ass-kicking.

A sure way to tell if environmentalists want to control the climate or if they’re really interested in cutting off the economy with fuel rationing is to debate the merits of geo-engineering methods of cooling the planet.
Personally, I think the expected warming (if any) in the next century will bring far more benefits than harm. But in any case, one of the many reasons to not to be too worried about global warming is that we have alternative methods of cooling the planet if it were ever to really be necessary. Like space mirrors:

Continue reading →

It’s a Monty Python skit.

Support their mission.

Wire Services…
The Office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will release a press statement tomorrow affirming that she supports the troops in such a bipartisan manner that what she was actually doing was communicating with Senator John McCain in his native Morse code.
“Speaker Pelosi loves veterans after all, and has a special less-cold place in her heart for POW’s . And what better way to forge that special bond than by honoring Admiral Jeremiah Denton during a Presidential Address,” sources quote from the text.
In fact, it will be revealed, she remained seated during the call for victory only to maintain eye contact with him and continue to convey her unwavering support, both for him and for all American servicemen everywhere in service to this nation. “United We Stand.”
Developing…

Via email from an angry MilBlogger offended that the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives sat silent on a call to victory in Iraq yet stood in ovation at the call to support the troops.’ who says; “If this is how you support us, please, just *&^%ing stop.”

Cowyoto:

Among the many reasons to cut the bull on global warming, it turns out a
staggering 24 million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions are coming
from the exhaust pipes of Canadian cattle and other farting farm animals.

In the overall ecological scheme of things, that means farmyard flatulence
is contributing as much to heating the planet as half of all the regular
passenger cars on Canadian roads today.

Exactly how one coaxes Bessie into a raspberry reduction to help save the
Earth is a problem we are happy to leave to Canada’s enthusiastic new
environment minister, John Baird (although we do hope there will be pictures)…
— Greg Weston / Ottawa Sun

So does this mean that I should stop feeding the cows nachos and refried
beans when I invite my father-in-law’s cattle herd over to watch Monday Night
Football?

Support the mission. You cannot have it both ways. To withhold support for their mission is to advocate their – and our – defeat.
Finally, a poll done in the US demonstrates that a significant percentage of Democrats understand this. Ace of Spades

A full 34% of our troop-supportin’ patriotic loyal opposition flatly wishes failure upon the US military.
I suppose some people may not fully listen to the question, so within that 34% are some respondants who just figure the more “No’s” they offer the more strongly they register their opposition, and some people who add the interpretation “I don’t want the surge to succeed, because I don’t want it to happen in the first place.”
But I don’t think you get to 49% based on misunderstanding the question alone, do you?

I shudder to think what the percentage would be if such a poll were taken here.