Babies and Their Fathers

Oh my, this is funny. ROTFLMAO.

NY Times

I agree with this thread on Instapundit.

I think there should be consequences for someone who releases secret information.

Instapundit buys deck chair from FRANCE!!

Is the boycott over?

The Professor has been tempted by the charms of a high-priced French deck chair.

What could he have been thinking?

:-)

WMD

Holy cow, they found WMD in Iraq.

I agree with Prof. Reynolds that WMD was never high on my list of reasons for freeing Iraq. At the same time I never doubted that they existed. I always thought everyone jumped too quickly to the conclusion that since we didn't find them in the middle of the road into Baghdad they weren't there. Iraq is a big country. Why anyone thought it could have been thoroughly searched in the midst of war just wasn't thinking clearly or honestly.

I'm glad they found them so maybe people will shut up about them now. I always thought there were more important reasons for the invasion -

• Saddam was evil
• He was violating UN sanctions
• He was a supporter of terrorists
• He wanted to kill all the Kurds (and yes I think we should be doing something more in Darfur, too)
  

Mainly, though, I think it's vital to the war on terror that we work to change the culture in which islamic terrorism flourishes. A free, democratic Iraq will flourish and serve as a constant reminder to the rest of the Middle East that such a system can work. The people of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Iran will find it hard to blame anyone but their own governments and religious leaders for the state of their countries and their lives.

It won't be easy, but it needs to be done. Chasing down individual terrorists and blowing them up may be fun and rewarding, but ultimately this is a cultural war. For the moment I'm taking the word of everyone who says it's not a religious war, who says Islam is a religion of peace and the jihadists are extremists not unlike some white supremecist groups in the US. For the moment.

To truly win this war we have to change the cultures that are attacking us.

Yahoo mail

The last few times I've sent group emails, Yahoo has made me verify by typing in a verification string. If that keeps up I'll probably switch completely to Gmail.

The UN hates homeschooling

This (HT instapundit) piece on the trials of a couple of home-schoolers in Belgium is chilling.

Fear the nanny state - it wants only to rub down the rough edges that make life interesting.

Euro-hooligans

If you've watched the world cup at all you've probably noticed that the players benches are protected by clear enclosures. This strikes me as a capitulation to the hooliganism that's given soccer fans - particularly in Europe I think - a bad reputation. I don't really think emotions run any less high in American football stadiums, but I haven't noticed any sort of shield protecting the players. Any fan who threw something at a player would be thrown out of the game and - I expect - charged with a crime. Apparently that's not the case in Germany.

An unfortunate turn of phrase ...

See if you can spot it ...

When Moscow's mayor can abuse fundamental freedoms with impunity, it is doubtful that Russia is fit to hold the presidency of the Council of Europe - or even be a member.

President Putin's silence is damning. He has said nothing in defence of the right to protest or of the human rights of Russia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Nevertheless, Moscow Pride was a huge success, despite all the homophobia it revealed and the savage repression it unleashed. It is a major milestone in Russian queer history. A handful of courageous gay Russians got up off their knees and stood tall, proud and defiant. They dared to take on the authoritarian regime of Mayor Luzhkov.

By insisting on the right to protest, they were defending more than gay rights: they were defending the democratic freedoms of all Russians, gay and straight.

Spotted here on Instapundit.

I admire their resolve and courage, but I did laugh out loud as I read one bit.