Archives for December, 2006
Thresholds
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 31, 2006 A brief note before a New Year’s dinner. The 3000th US soldier has died in Iraq. I suppose that means it’s 2007 in Iraq, but the landmark fatality will be mourned in the United States as we swallow the dregs of 2006. I hope that future generations remember last November’s elections as a turning point,…
Something to look into
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 27, 2006 A few years ago, a number of small children got sick from E. coli infections; the bacteria were traced to petting zoos. Ms. TfK and I both thought that a smart Congresscritter could win the suburban mothers’ votes by requiring better scrutiny of hygiene at petting zoos. Little did we know that within years, we’d…
Protect the Polar Bears
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 27, 2006 A source tells the Washington Post that Uafter much pressure, the Feds will be listing the Polar Bear as a “threatened” species: The Bush administration has decided to propose listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, putting the U.S. government on record as saying that global warming could drive one of…
“Bipartisan”?
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 27, 2006 The Wichita Eagle’s staff ask “Could private savings accounts be a bipartisan reform?” I cannot identify the bipartisanship in their text, though: I was surprised when President Bush said last week that Social Security reform was one area on which he hoped to reach an agreement with the new Congress. ? But Sen. Jeff Sessions,…
Like a, like a sex machine no more
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 26, 2006 Superbad no more, James Brown, has passed away. Benn Loxo has some tracks from the Godfather of Soul in Africa. Fluxblog writes that “James Brown’s greatest gift to the world was his ability to express an undiluted yet highly stylized sexuality via a funk so intense and visceral that it served as the foundation for…
Happy Birthday to Mike the Mad
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 24, 2006 Go send him good wishes. And don’t forget that the day after tomorrow begins Kwanzaa.
Belated Friday Find: Helium shortages
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 24, 2006 Little known fact: Kansas is (apparently) the world’s leading producer of helium, accounting for 4 billion cubic feet per year out of the world’s production of 6 billion cubic feet. Alas, production problems in Algeria and Qatar are leaving global shortages, as are problems with the helium pipeline leading from Bushton, KS to Amarillo, TX:…
Point-Counterpoint
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 24, 2006 Ivo Daalder examines Candidate Bush’s critiques of Clinton-era foreign policy with President Bush’s foreign policy. You can imagine the result when I tell you that the first item he quotes from the 2000 GOP foreign policy platform is “The [Clinton] administration has run America?s defenses down over the decade through inadequate resources, promiscuous commitments, and…
Judge quashes Kline’s abortion claims
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 22, 2006 Within hours of Phill Kline’s last attempt to intimidate Wichita-area doctor George Tiller, a state judge tossed out 30 misdemeanor charges. Judge Paul Clark agreed to local district attorney Nola Foulston’s request, finding that Kline had filed those indictments “without invitation, request or acquiescence of the duly elected and authorized District Attorney.” And so Phill…
Kline’s parting shot
Posted by Josh Rosenau on December 22, 2006 Having been demoted to a county district attorney in no small part because of his panty-sniffing obsession with patient records from family planning clinics, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline has decided that one of his final official acts will be charging Dr. George Tiller with 30 misdemeanor charges. The allegations involve whether Tiller properly filed…
Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at the