An Interview with Professor Michael Behe.

From phillybrurbs.com (via AP):


Excerpts from an Associated Press interview with Michael Behe, the Lehigh University biochemist and intelligent design advocate who is scheduled to testify this week in a landmark trial that will determine whether a Pennsylvania school district can tell its biology students about intelligent design.

On how his views changed after reading "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" by Michael Denton:

"It took me aback because I realized then that my acceptance of Darwinian evolution was not based on knowledge that I myself had but rather (on) taking people's sayso. ... I looked for an explanation of how the blood clotting system may have arisen and was astounded to find that there were no papers that did anything except kind of raise their hands and say things like, 'Isn't it great how natural selection has provided us with this system?' And now that I was no longer taking Darwin's theory as a given but was looking for evidence to support it, such assurances no longer did the trick. And so at that point I became very skeptical of Darwin's theory and started to think to myself that I was believing in this less because the evidence demanded it than for sociological reasons, (because) my teacher said so and everybody else believed it."

On how he arrived at intelligent design as an alternative:

"If your explanation for how it might have arisen from some unintelligent process is knocked away, then the conclusion of design is pretty obvious. It kind of jumps out at you. ... If you don't have Darwin's theory, if all you've got is promises and unconvincing assurances, what you're left with is the strong appearance of design."

On intelligent design's religious implications:

"Maybe it does have philosophical and theological implications but it does not arise from those considerations. It arises from the data, just like the Big Bang theory arose from the data."

Comparing intelligent design to the Big Bang theory:

"This struck many people, including physicists and scientists of the day, as having strong philosophical, perhaps even theological implications. Perhaps this was the creation, perhaps this was the beginning of everything. Because of that, many people didn't like this. What if physicists of the day said, 'Well, let's not be too hasty? This idea of the Big Bang has objectionable, extra-scientific implications; it's pointing beyond nature ... so we'll just put (it) on the shelf.' ... If they had done that then physicists would have missed out on a lot of progress that was made in the past 70 years or so. I view ID in the same way."

On being an academic who backs ID:

"It's dangerous to your career to be identified as an ID proponent. I had tenure when I wrote my book. But if you don't have tenure - if you're a graduate student or a post-doc or an assistant professor - my strong advice is to keep your thoughts to yourself. You're just asking for big trouble if you go public."

On the hostile attitude his colleagues at Lehigh exhibit toward his views:

"These days they are more concerned than they used to be. They fear that their own research and their own students will be tarred by the hostility that is directed at me within the scientific community. And I can sympathize with that."

On criticism that he doesn't do any scientific research to back up his claims:

"I refer to work that has been done by the entire scientific community over the past half century or so. In my view, that makes my argument stronger. This does not depend on some experiment that I ran in my laboratory, rather this is an argument based on the accumulated work of all of biological science over the past half century. That is a much stronger basis for an argument than a paper that I might publish somewhere."

On detecting design in living things:

"Intelligent design becomes apparent when you see a system that has a number of parts and you see the parts are interacting to perform a function."

On the Dover Area School District statement on intelligent design:

"The fact that most biology texts act more as cheerleaders for Darwin's theory rather than trying to develop the critical faculties of their students shows the need, I think, for such statements."

A voice of reason is heard in a federal courtroom.

From The Morning Call (Allentown, PA) website:


Professor Michael Behe attempts to slay the neo-darwinist dragon with some straight talk and a whole lot of real science. Pay close attention to this man's words, kiddies.

Major scientific organizations and even his own colleagues have rejected "intelligent design," but a leading proponent of the concept testified in a trial over its place in public schools that their objections aren't supported by scientific evidence.

"Intelligent design is certainly not the dominant view of the scientific community, but I'm very pleased with the progress we're making," Lehigh University biochemistry professor Michael Behe said Tuesday.

Amen to that, Brother.

Behe countinued testifying Wednesday -- his third day as the first witness called by a school board that is requiring high-school biology students to hear a statement about the concept of intelligent design. The landmark federal trial could decide whether the concept can be mentioned in public school science classes as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

Behe contends that evolution cannot fully explain the biological complexities of life, suggesting the work of an intelligent force. The intelligent design concept does not name the designer, although Behe, a Roman Catholic, has testified that he personally believes it to be God.

AH HA! He's a ROMAN CATHOLIC! He must be taking his orders directly from that evil nazi, Pope Benedict XVI! And we all know how The Church hates science!

During cross-examination of Behe, Eric Rothschild, a lawyer for eight families suing to have intelligent design removed from the Dover Area School District's curriculum, cited a resolution from the American Association for the Advancement of Science as an example of opposition from mainstream scientists.

The resolution passed by the association's board in 2002 urges "citizens across the nation" to oppose policies that would allow the teaching of intelligent design as science in public schools.

"This is a political document," Behe said. "What scientific paper do you know where it says, 'whereas'?"

Heehee! Take that, you shyster pinhead!

Similarly, Behe said Lehigh's biology department cited no scientific evidence in a statement posted on its Web site in August that says intelligent design "has no basis in science."

"It doesn't carry the weight of a single (scientific) journal paper," Behe said.

Exactly.

On Wednesday, Behe continued under cross-examination, defending his 1996 best-seller "Darwin's Black Box" and backing the educational usefulness of discussing intelligent design.

The school board is defending its decision a year ago to require students to hear a statement on intelligent design before ninth-grade biology lessons on evolution. The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact," has inexplicable "gaps," and refers students to a textbook, "Of Pandas and People," for more information about the concept.

Read that last paragraph again. A "statement" is to be read to the students and they are to be referred to a book that is NOT taught in class. Oh, I'm positively swooning at the religious fascism under which those poor children will be suffering!

The real crime (from the point of view of the anti-God forces) is telling the impressionable the truth: Neo-darwinism in not fact. If you listen carefully, you may still hear the lysenkoists refer to it as "the theory of evolution". George Whackoff should tell them to start calling it "The Law of Evolution".

The families argue that the policy essentially promotes the Bible's view of creation, and therefore violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

In earlier testimony Tuesday, Behe said intelligent design relies on observing the natural world, not on religious belief.

"Intelligent design requires no tenet of any specific religion," Behe said, "It does not rely on religious texts, messages from religious leaders or any such thing."

Scientists who try to use the theory of evolution to explain complex biological processes, such as blood-clotting and the immune system, don't adequately support their claims, Behe testified.

Nope.

Behe said he analyzed nearly a dozen scientific articles on the processes and found the authors didn't make reference to random mutation or natural selection, concepts he said he expected to find.

"Much of these studies, in my view, are speculative. They assume a Darwinian framework," he said.

YES! The assumptions are blinding them to the truth.

Behe testified that teaching intelligent design would help clear up what he said were many students' misconceptions that evolution is fact and not a theory. Intelligent design, he said, provides students with another way of looking at the facts.

Exactly.

What do the pseudoscientists and the anti-God squad fear? If their monkey-ancestor fetish is objective fact, then prove it empirically. Don't just scream "Its true! Its true!" at the top of your lungs while bullying anyone who disagrees with you. I have news for you. That's not science.

The trial began Sept. 26, and it could last through early November.

The plaintiffs are represented by a team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The school district is being represented by the Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that says its mission is to defend the religious freedom of Christians.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Bertilla Boscardin, who died in 1922 after a life dedicated to serving children and the sick. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is Romans 6:19-23.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 12:49-53.


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

I get more mail from Citizen Vidikin.

YES! Mr. Vidikan gets it!

It seems he first suspected me of moslem terrorist sympathies. I guess I can't write after all.

Here is the sum of our correspondence:

3) Haha. I'm glad you responded that way.

Always glad to have you use MEMRI. Judging by the way you referenced him I just wasn’t sure if you were one of those guys that actually thinks MEMRI is Al-Qaeda trying to spread the message in English. You'd be surprised how many people complain about us spreading the message of Jihad.

Best Regards,

Michael Vidikan



2) From: Fyodor Garibaldi
Dear Mr. Vidikan,

I meant precisely and only what I wrote: Mr. Stalinsky is rather unfortunate to have that particular surname, as are people named Hitlery, Excrementos, Shamalamadingdong, Pusmaker, et cetera.

Obviously, this does not reflect negatively on Mr. Stalinsky or anyone else unfortunate enough to have what I consider to be an unfortunate surname. I, sir, am no surnamist.

In fact, in some quarters, Garibaldi is considered a curse.

I know it is increasingly difficult to resist the temptation to read things into the things we read, but resist it we must. I blame Jacques Derrida and the Deconstructionist mafia for this terrible affliction, but, then again, I am a rather old fashioned guy.

If you care to peruse my humble and idiotic blog, you will quickly realize I do indeed know the difference between the arch murderer who fancied himself "Stalin" and any Stalinsky I might happen to meet along the way. If not, you will just have to take my word for it.

Sincerely,
Fyodor Garibaldi



1) Michael Vidikan wrote:
Can I ask what you meant by the following:


Religion of Peace Update

...or, Happy Ramadan, kiddies! The rather unfortunately named Steven Stalinsky, (of course, that wasn't his real name) writing for JewishWorldReview.com, reminds us we are smack in the middle of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.



Are you just making a joke, or calling the person that wrote this “Stalin”?


Michael Vidikan
Director of Communications & Technology
http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/ym/www.memri.org
http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/ym/www.memritv.org
mvidikan@memri.org

The 100 (almost) best non-fiction books of the 20th century.

EDITOR'S NOTE: "The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books Of The Century" appeared in the May 3, 1999, issue of National Review.

THE PANEL:
Richard Brookhiser, NR senior editor; David Brooks, senior editor of The Weekly Standard; Christopher Caldwell, senior writer at The Weekly Standard; Robert Conquest, historian; David Gelernter, writer and computer scientist; George Gilder, writer; Mary Ann Glendon, professor at Harvard Law School; Jeffrey Hart, NR senior editor; Mark Helprin, novelist; Arthur Herman, author of The Idea of Decline in Western History; John Keegan, military historian; Michael Kelly, editor of National Journal; Florence King, author of Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady; Michael Lind, journalist and novelist; John Lukacs, historian; Adam Meyerson, vice president at the Heritage Foundation; Richard John Neuhaus, editor-in-chief of First Things; John O'Sullivan, NR editor-at-large; Richard Pipes, historian; Abigail Thernstrom, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute; Stephan Thernstrom, historian; James Q. Wilson, author of The Moral Sense.


THE LIST:

1. The Second World War, Winston S. Churchill
Brookhiser: "The big story of the century, told by its major hero."
2. The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
Neuhaus: "Marked the absolute final turning point beyond which nobody could deny the evil of the Evil Empire." I'd make it number 1.
3. Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell
Herman: "Orwell's masterpiece-far superior to Animal Farm and 1984. No education in the meaning of the 20th century is complete without it."
4. The Road to Serfdom, F. A. von Hayek
Helprin: "Shatters the myth that the totalitarianisms 'of the Left' and 'of the Right' stem from differing impulses."
5. Collected Essays, George Orwell
King: "Every conservative's favorite liberal and every liberal's favorite conservative. This book has no enemies."
6. The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper
Herman: "The best work on political philosophy in the 20th century. Exposes totalitarianism's roots in Plato, Hegel, and Marx."
7. The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis
Brookhiser: "How modern philosophies drain meaning and the sacred from our lives."
8. Revolt of the Masses, Jose Ortega y Gasset
Gilder: "Prophesied the 20th century's debauchery of democracy and science, the barbarism of the specialist, and the inevitable fatuity of public opinion. Explained the genius of capitalist elites."
9. The Constitution of Liberty, F. A. von Hayek
O'Sullivan: "A great re-statement for this century of classical liberalism by its greatest modern exponent."
10. Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman
11. Modern Times, Paul Johnson
Herman: "Huge impact outside the academy, dreaded and ignored inside it."
12. Rationalism in Politics, Michael Oakeshott
Herman: "Oakeshott is the 20th century's Edmund Burke."
13. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Joseph A. Schumpeter
Caldwell: "Locus classicus for the observation that democratic capitalism undermines itself through its very success."
14. Economy and Society, Max Weber
Lind: "Weber made permanent contributions to the understanding of society with his discussions of comparative religion, bureaucracy, charisma, and the distinctions among status, class, and party."
15. The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt
Caldwell: "Through Nazism and Stalinism, looks at almost every pernicious trend in the last century's politics with stunning subtlety."
16. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Rebecca West
Kelly: "For its writing, not for its historical accuracy."
17. Sociobiology , Edward O. Wilson
Lind: "Darwin put humanity in its proper place in the animal kingdom. Wilson put human society there, too." Huh?
18. Centissimus Annus, Pope John Paul II Why only one on the list?
19. The Pursuit of the Millennium, Norman Cohn
Neuhaus: "The authoritative refutation of utopianism of the left, right, and points undetermined."
20. The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank
Helprin: "An innocent's account of the greatest evil imaginable. The most powerful book of the century. Others may not agree. No matter, I cast my lot with this child." Caldwell: "If one didn't know her fate, one might read it as the reflections of any girl. That one does know her fate makes this as close to a holy book as the century produced." #20 seems a bit high.
21. The Great Terror, Robert Conquest
Herman: "Documented for the first time the real record of Stalinism in the Soviet Union. A genuine monument of historical research and reconstruction, a true epic of evil." Absolutely.
22. Chronicles of Wasted Time, Malcolm Muggeridge
Gilder: "The best autobiography, Christian confession, and historic meditation of the century." Excellent choice.
23. Relativity, Albert Einstein
Lind: "The most important physicist since Newton." Becoming less so by the day. Move it down the list.
24. Witness, Whittaker Chambers
Caldwell: "Confession, history, potboiler-by a man who writes like the literary giant we would know him as, had not Communism got him first." Should be in the top 5. And where is Dos Passos' memoir?
25. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn
26. Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
Neuhaus: "The most influential book of the most influential Christian apologist of the century." Amen to that, Father.
27. The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet
28. Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed.
Helprin: "The infinite riches of the world, presented with elegance, confidence, and economy." Ok, ok. Very funny.
29. Up in the Old Hotel, Joseph Mitchell
30. The Everlasting Man, G. K. Chesterton
Lukacs: "A great carillonade of Christian verities." Yes!
31. Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton
O'Sullivan: "How to look at the Christian tradition with fresh eyes." Yes!
32. The Liberal Imagination, Lionel Trilling
Hart: "The popular form of liberalism tends to simplify and caricature when it attempts moral aspiration-that is, it tends to 'Stalinism.'"
33. The Double Helix, James D. Watson
Herman: "Deeply hated by feminists because Watson dares to suggest that the male-female distinction originated in nature, in the DNA code itself." Under-rated.
34. The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Richard Phillips Feynman
Gelernter: "Outside of art (or maybe not), physics is mankind's most beautiful achievement; these three volumes are probably the most beautiful ever written about physics." Someday...
35. Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, Tom Wolfe
O'Sullivan: "Wolfe is our Juvenal." Ack!
36. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, Albert Camus No sir. Remove it.
37. The Unheavenly City, Edward C. Banfield
Neuhaus: "The volume that began the debunking of New Deal socialism and its public-policy consequences."
38. The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud Important? Yes, like disease is important. One of the best, never.
39. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs
40. The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama This clown must have naked photos of somebody. I'd rather read Freud. Off the list.
41. Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker Cooked animal flesh! Yum!
42. The Age of Reform, Richard Hofstadter
Herman: "The single best book on American history in this century, bar none." I'll have to read this one.
43. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes
Hart: "Influential in suggesting that the business cycle can be modified by government investment and manipulation of tax rates." Influential? Yeah, like Stalin was influential. See #38.
44. God & Man at Yale, William F. Buckley Jr.
Gilder: "Still correct and prophetic. It defines the conservative revolt against socialism and atheism on campus and in the culture, and reconciles the alleged conflict between capitalist and religious conservatives." Home town scorekeeper. But it is good.
45. Selected Essays, T. S. Eliot
Hart: "Shaped the literary taste of the mid-century." Of course.
46. Ideas Have Consequences, Richard M. Weaver
47. The Economy of Cities, Jane Jacobs
48. The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom Yep.
49. Ethnic America, Thomas Sowell Yes!
50. An American Dilemma, Gunnar Myrdal
51. Three Case Histories, Sigmund Freud
Gelernter: "Beyond question Freud is history's most important philosopher of the mind, and he ranks alongside Eliot as the century's greatest literary critic. Modern intellectual life (left, right, and in-between) would be unthinkable without him." And that's a good thing, Citizen Gelernter? See #38 again.
52. The Struggle for Europe, Chester Wilmot
53. Main Currents in American Thought, Vernon Louis Parrington
King: "An immensely readable history of ideas and men. (Skip the fragmentary third volume-he died before finishing it.)"
54. The Waning of the Middle Ages, Johann Huzinga
Lukacs: "Probably the finest historian who lived in this century. " I need to read this one.
55. Systematic Theology, Wolfhart Pannenberg
Neuhaus: "The best summary and reflection on Christianity's encounter with the Enlightenment project."
56. The Campaign of the Marne, Sewell Tyng
Keegan: "A forgotten American's masterly account of the First World War in the West." Yes, sir.
57. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Ludwig Wittgenstein
Hart: "A terse summation of the analytic method of the analytic school in philosophy, and a heroic leap beyond it." No freakin' way. Off the list with you!
58. Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, Bernard Lonergan
Glendon: "The Thomas Aquinas of the 20th century." I have been trying to find a copy of this book for more than twenty years.
59. Being and Time, Martin Heidegger
Hart: "A seminal thinker, notwithstanding his disgraceful error of equating National Socialism with the experience of 'Being.'"
60. Disraeli, Robert Blake
Keegan: "Political biography as it should be written."
61. Democracy and Leadership, Irving Babbitt
King: "A conservative literary critic describes what happens when humanitarianism over takes humanism."
62. The Elements of Style, William Strunk & E. B. White
A. Thernstrom: "If only every writer would remember just one of Strunk & White's wonderful injunctions: 'Omit needless words.' Omit needless words." Yep. So well known, it's ignored. (Crap! Now I sound like Wittgenstein!)
63. The Machiavellians, James Burnham
O'Sullivan: "Burnham is the greatest political analyst of our century and this is his best book." Absolutely!
64. Reflections of a Russian Statesman, Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev
King: "The 'culture war' as seen by the tutor to the last two czars. A Russian Pat Buchanan." Sounds interesting.
65. The Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah Berlin
66. Roll, Jordan, Roll, Eugene D. Genovese
Neuhaus: "The best account of American slavery and the moral and cultural forces that undid it."
67. The ABC of Reading, Ezra Pound
Brookhiser: "An epitome of the aging aesthetic movement that will be forever known as modernism." Ezra was a moron, but he sure could write.
68. The Second World War, John Keegan
Hart: "A masterly history in a single volume." Good.
69. The Making of Homeric Verse, Milman Parry
Lind: "Genuine discoveries in literary study are rare. Parry's discovery of the oral formulaic basis of the Homeric epics, the founding texts of Western literature, was one of them." Now that's cool!
70. The Strange Ride of Rudyard Kipling, Angus Wilson
Keegan: "A life of a great author told through the transmutation of his experience into fictional form."
71. Scrutiny , F. R. Leavis
Hart: "Enormously important in education, especially in England. Leavis understood what one kind of 'living English' is."
72. The Edge of the Sword, Charles de Gaulle
Brookhiser: "A lesser figure than Churchill, but more philosophical (and hence, more problematic)." Maybe someday.
73. R. E. Lee, Douglas Southall Freeman
Conquest: "The finest work on the Civil War."
74. Bureaucracy, Ludwig von Mises Yep.
75. The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton
Neuhaus: "A classic conversion story of a modern urban sophisticate." Recommended without reservations.
76. Balzac, Stefan Zweig
King: "On the joys of working one's self to death. The chapter 'Black Coffee' is a masterpiece of imaginative reconstruction."
77. The Good Society, Walter Lippmann
Gilder: "Written during the Great Depression. A corruscating defense of the morality of capitalism."
78. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
Lind: "For all the excesses of the environmental movement, the realization that human technology can permanently damage the earth's environment marked a great advance in civilization. Carson's book, more than any other, publicized this message." Memo To NR: Hello? NON-fiction! Hello?
79. The Christian Tradition, Jaroslav Pelikan
Neuhaus: "The century's most comprehensive account of Christian teaching from the second century on."
80. Strange Defeat, Marc Bloch
Herman: "A great historian's personal account of the fall of France in 1940." Another for my list.
81. Looking Back, Norman Douglas
Conquest: "Fascinating memoirs of a remarkable writer."
82. Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres, Henry Adams Why?
83. Poetry and the Age, Randall Jarrell
Caldwell: "The book for showing how 20th- century poets think, what their poetry does, and why it matters." Huh?
84. Love in the Western World by ??? A little help here?
Brookhiser: "What has become of eros over the last seven centuries."
85. The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk Yes.
86. Wealth and Poverty, George Gilder I don't think many future conservatives will look to Gilder for inspiration.
87. Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson Excellent book.
88. Henry James , Leon Edel
King: "All the James you want without having to read him." Who cares?
89. Essays of E. B. White , E. B. White
Gelernter: "White is the apotheosis of the American liberal now spurned and detested by the Left (and the cultural mainstream). His mesmerized devotion to the objects of his affection-his family, the female sex, his farm, the English language, Manhattan, the sea, America, Maine, and freedom, in descending order-is movingly absolute." Who cares?
90. Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov Higher! Higher!
91. The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe Oh, grow up!
92. Darwin's Black Box, Michael J. Behe
Gilder: "Overthrows Darwin at the end of the 20th century in the same way that quantum theory overthrew Newton at the beginning." YES! (He's currently testifying in federal court for common sense and against neo-darwinism. Look here.)
93. The Civil War, Shelby Foote
94. The Way the World Works, Jude Wanniski
Gilder: "The best book on economics. Shows fatuity of still-dominant demand-side model, with its silly preoccupation with accounting trivia, like the federal budget and trade balance and savings rates, in an economy with $40 trillion or so in assets that rise and fall weekly by trillions."
95. To the Finland Station, Edmund Wilson
Herman: "The best single book on Karl Marx and Marx's place in modern history." Good.
96. Civilisation, Kenneth Clark
97. The Russian Revolution, Richard Pipes Excellent.
98. The Idea of History, R. G. Collingwood
99. The Last Lion, William Manchester Popular, but still under-rated.
100. The Starr Report, Kenneth W. Starr
Hart: "A study in human depravity." The story of fin de siecle decadance and ignorance.

The criminalization of their enemies' success...

...by the totalitarian middle continues apace.

Jeffrey Bell and William Kristol have the latest from The Weekly Standard.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE CONSERVATIVE LEGISLATOR of--oh--the last century or so, Congressman Tom DeLay, was indicted last month for allegedly violating Texas campaign finance laws, and has vacated his position as House majority leader. The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, is under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for his sale of stock in the medical company his family started.

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove and vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby have been under investigation by a special federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, for more than two years. When appointed in 2003 by the Bush Justice Department, Fitzgerald's mandate was to find out if the leaking to reporters of the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was a violation of a 1982 statute known as the Philip Agee law, and if so, who violated it. It now seems clear that Rove and Libby are the main targets of the prosecutor, and that both are in imminent danger of indictment.

What do these four men have in common, other than their status as prosecutorial targets? Since 2001, they have been among the most prominent promoters of the conservative agenda of the Bush administration. For over four years, they have helped two strong conservatives, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, successfully advance an agenda for change in America. To the extent these four are sidelined, there is a real chance that the Bush-Cheney administration will become less successful.

Walter E. Williams: Is there a National Guard patrol in your future?

CuriousGeorge FlyingBushMonkey needs to wise up big time. And quickly.
BTW, "sheeple" is one of my favorite neo-logisms.

President Bush informed the nation, during a press conference, that he might seek to use the U.S. military to quarantine parts of the nation should there be a serious outbreak of the deadly avian flu that has killed millions of chickens and 60-some people in Southeast Asia. That's the second time Bush has expressed a desire to use the military for local policing. The first was in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. 1385) generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the U.S. National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the U.S. Constitution or Congress.

Enacted during Reconstruction, the purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act was to severely limit the powers of the federal government to use the military for local law enforcement. Would Americans tolerate such a gigantic leap in the federalization of law enforcement? I'm guessing the answer is yes. In the name of safety, we've undergone decades of softening up to accept just about any government edict that our predecessors would have found offensive. Let's look at some of it.
(Thanks to Townhall.com for the heads up.)

Walter E. Williams gives us a lesson in logic and race.

The good doctor cuts through the crap of the Bill Bennett kerfuffle I have come to expect nothing less.

Bill Bennett, former secretary of education and drug czar, now host of the "Morning in America" talk radio show, caused quite a stir and hand-wringing in his response to a caller. The caller hypothesized that had there not been so many abortions in America, Social Security wouldn't be facing its deficit problems. Why? Because there would be more workers per retiree.

Bennett dismissed what he called "far-reaching, extensive extrapolations," giving the following conditional statement: " . . . I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

So what does that comment make Bennett? Permit me to make some statements of the same genre: If a 100 square-mile meteor strikes the Earth, millions of people will be killed. If a person falls off the Empire State Building, he will die. Here's another: If a person goes 30 days without water, he will die. All of these statements, as well as that made by Bennett, are what are known as conditional statements. A conditional statement is an "if-then" statement of the form: "if P, then Q." P is the antecedent, the "if" part of the statement, and "Q" is the consequent, the "then" part of the statement. Going back to my first example, "If a 100 square-mile meteor strikes the Earth," is the antecedent; "billions of people will be killed" is the consequent.

To test the truth of a conditional statement, one need only examine the evidence. That is, will going without water for 30 days or falling off the Empire State Building cause death? Is making a conditional statement advocacy? In other words, do you interpret my conditional statements as calling for a 100 square-mile meteor to strike the Earth, or calling for people to fall off the Empire State Building or go 30 days without water? One would have to be an idiot to make such an interpretation.

Let's examine Bill Bennett's conditional "if black babies were aborted the crime rate would go down." According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports for 2003, blacks, who are 13 percent of the population, were 49 percent of murder arrests, 33 percent of arrests for rape, and 54 percent of arrests for robberies. That means Bennett's statement was true.

One could make another conditional statement: If male babies were aborted, there would be an even larger reduction in crime. While males are slightly less than 50 percent of the population, according to FBI reports, they constitute 90 percent of the arrests for murder, 99 percent of the arrests for rape and 90 percent of the arrests for robberies. What the crime statistics unambiguously demonstrate is that males, as a group, and blacks, as a group, are disproportionately represented in criminal activity.
If making the true statement that males are disproportionately represented in criminal activity doesn't make one a sexist, at least I haven't heard such an accusation, why then would making the true statement that blacks are disproportionately represented in criminal activity make one a racist as Bennett has been charged?

Actually, there's little originality behind Bennett's comment. Economists Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner argue in their best-selling book, "Freakonomics," that the legalization of abortion has reduced crime because babies who have been aborted were more likely to have grown up poor and in single-parent or teenage-parent households and therefore more likely to commit crimes. Their hypothesis has encountered criticism within the profession, but so far, no one has charged them with racism, sexism or making inappropriate comments.

Sobran: This is no accident.

(Note: The link above will take you to Joe's current on-line column. The archive is here. Not all of his past columns are available in the archive.)


Not only has the American Experiment failed, says Mr. Sobran, is was bound to do so by the very nature of everybody's favorite fetish, democracy.

[Originally published by the Universal Press Syndicate, January 15, 1998]

The late Henry Hazlitt, a disciple of the great Ludwig von Mises, was a classical liberal (or libertarian, as we’d now say) and an incisive critic of the modern centralized state. His little classic, Economics in One Lesson, is a model of showing the simple principles at the heart of complex issues.

Hazlitt died at age 99 in 1993. But he has reappeared in a new book, left unfinished at his death. Edited by Felix R. Livingston and published by the Foundation for Economic Education, it’s titled Is Politics Insoluble? Hazlitt’s answer to that question is pessimistic: Yes.

Why? Because of the very nature of politics. In a democracy, where all sorts of groups demand legislation favoring themselves, laws are easy to pass and nearly impossible to repeal.

“Since its beginning,” Hazlitt observes, “Congress has enacted more than 40,000 laws. It is a fair assumption that most of these are still operative in some form.” He cites a 1968 study by a congressional staff that concluded that “no one, anywhere, knows exactly how many federal programs there are.”

Of course, nobody wants to admit failure. I am sure Darius left behind many who were nostalgic for his regime as did Saddam. And don't forget Mussolini and his trains.

The vast majority of Americans will not know it's over until it is too late to salvage anything. Read some history, kiddies. This is not a huge surprize.

The rate of legislation and spending is always accelerating to meet the demand for special favors. Hazlitt quotes Frédéric Bastiat’s dictum: “The State is the great fiction by which everybody tries to live at the expense of everybody else.”

The logic of the situation dooms us to constantly encroaching tyranny, not Stalin-style, but (I paraphrase Hazlitt loosely here) pain-in-the-butt style. The piling up of petty laws and regulations is bound to continue indefinitely, gradually choking off freedom of action — and eventually even freedom of speech and thought.

Ironic, isn't it kiddies? We beat Hitler and the Russian commies and we lose our freedom to omnibus spending bills.

Hazlitt’s love of principle and distilled expression show both in what he says and in what he quotes. Many of his best citations concern the perversion of democracy into a system of what Bastiat called “organized plunder,” and of perverting voting into larceny by other means; while the good citizen who dutifully obeys the law and pays his taxes, asking no favors for himself, becomes the victim of venal politics.

Are there any good citizens left, or have we all been bought? E. Michael Jones believes we have gladly exchanged freedom for sexual license. Makes sense to me.

The British historian Alexander Tytler observed, “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can exist only until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse out of the public treasury.”

The British economic philosopher Herbert Spencer warned that in a pure democracy, people who don’t pay taxes would be free to vote themselves a generous share of other people’s money: “During the days when extensions of the franchise were in agitation, a maxim perpetually repeated was ŒTaxation without representation is robbery.’ Experience has since made it clear that, on the other hand, representation without taxation entails robbery.” Spencer noted that the “increase of freedom in form” has been followed by “decrease of freedom in fact.”

Ha! Irony again.

Spencer again: “All socialism involves slavery.... That which fundamentally distinguishes the slave is that he labors under coercion to satisfy another’s desires.” When some citizens use the franchise to enrich themselves at others’ expense, involuntary servitude has merely taken a new form; chattel slavery may be gone, but the state can become the instrument of the same general purpose of enabling some to live by the labor of others. As Spencer puts it, “The essential question is: How much is [the individual] compelled to labor for other benefit than his own, and how much can he labor for his own benefit?”

Spencer formulated the operative principle of modern democracy: “that no man has any claim to his property, not even to that which he has earned by the sweat of his brow, save by the permission of the community; and that the community may cancel the claim to any extent it sees fit.” Hazlitt himself amplifies this point: “The government may pass and enforce any law it sees fit, guided only by what it regards as the merit of the individual case; and no part of any citizen’s freedom or property shall be respected if a majority of 51 percent or more decide otherwise.”

Let Spencer provide the coda: “The function of Liberalism in the past was that of putting a limit to the power of kings. The function of true Liberalism in the future will be that of putting a limit to the power of Parliaments.” Unfortunately, even the word liberalism has now become a synonym for statism.

Will our great-grandchildren be lucky and smart enough to live in a system of North American cantons? I'm not holding my breath.

And I'm damn glad I won't be alive to see whatever happens to the good ol' USA. I'm angry and depressed enough as it is.

High school hosts 'National Coming Out'

A Maryland high school is observing "National Coming Out Week" with events organized by the campus Gay/Straight Alliance, prompting protests from parents.

The activities at Pikesville High School in Pikesville, Md., near Baltimore – all approved by school officials – include pink and rainbow shirt day and a homosexual film festival, according to local WJZ-TV.

There's only one thing to do, kiddies. Get your Straight Pride gear here.

HOLY CRAP! SENATRIX STUMBLEBUM APPEARS TO BE LITERATE!!!!

CA Dem Barbara Boxer’s New Novel Portrays GOPers As 'Snakes' And Dems As 'Saints'...

Ain't it hard to be a saint when you're buggering your neighbor while butchering the baby in his wife's womb?

Pray for those in the path of Hurricane Wilma.

Gathering strength at a fierce pace, Hurricane Wilma swirled into the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded Wednesday, a Category 5 monster packing 175 mph wind that forecasters warned was "extremely dangerous."
Wilma was dumping rain on Central America and Mexico. A hurricane watch was in effect for the east coast of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, parts of Cuba and the Cayman Islands, and forecasters warned of a "significant threat" to Florida by the weekend.

"All interests in the Florida Keys and the Florida peninsula should closely monitor the progress of extremely dangerous Hurricane Wilma," the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Wilma's top sustained winds reached 175 mph early Wednesday in the most rapid strengthening ever recorded in a hurricane, said meteorologist Hugh Cobb of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. At the same time Tuesday, Wilma was only a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph.

Its confirmed pressure readings Wednesday morning dropped to 882 millibars _ the lowest ever measured in a hurricane in the Atlantic basin, according to the hurricane center. The strongest on record based on the lowest pressure reading is Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, which dipped to 888 millibars. (Thanks to Breitbart.com and Drudge for the heads up.)

Scariest Headline of the Day

Sweden discovers 'zombie worms'

A new species of marine worm that lives off whale bones on the sea floor has been described by scientists.

The creature was found on a minke carcass in relatively shallow water close to Tjarno Marine Laboratory on the Swedish coast.

Such "zombie worms", as they are often called, are known from the deep waters of the Pacific but their presence in the North Sea is a major surprise.

Thank goodness. They're just called zombie worms. I was afraid that clown George Romero was milking his one good idea from forty years ago to make another dumbass movie. (Aw, nuts! He did!)

A UK-Swedish team reports the find in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Adrian Glover and Thomas Dahlgren tell the journal the new species has been named Osedax mucofloris, which literally means "bone-eating snot-flower".

"They look like flowers poking out of the whale bone. The analogy goes a bit further because they have a root system that goes into the bone," Dr Glover, a researcher at London's Natural History Museum, told the BBC News website.

"The part of the animal that is exposed to the seawater is covered in a ball of mucus, so they are quite snotty.

Great. That's just what we need. Sea worms with attitude.

Well, of course he does.

Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Federal Judge Blocks Georgia's Voter ID Law

Washington Times:
Bush vows to oust 'every single' illegal

Denver Post:
Male cheerleader quits squad over "gay" remark

Fox News:
Rove Cancels Appearances in Midst of CIA Leak Probe

Las Vegas Sun/AP:
'Why Us?' Florida Governor Asks

Drudge:
Saddam Hussein engages in shoving match with guards trying to lead him out of courtroom during break in trial...

Blair May Face Left-Wing Revolt Over Nuclear Weapons

Can you guess the operative word in the following statement by the Looney Party MP from Middle Suicide-on-the-Thames?

"We haven't got any enemies that we could possibly want to aim nuclear weapons at now," Flynn said. "The case that John Reid has given for these weapons is that we might possibly have the right sort of enemy in 15 years time."

And why, gentle reader, is that word so important?

Currently, the United Kingdom has four Vanguard-class submarines, each carrying up to 16 U.S.-built Trident missiles with nuclear warheads. Experts estimate that this weapons system could last for another two decades, but they also predict that it would take around 15 years to put a similar one in place. (Thanks to CNSNews.com for the heads up.)

Pro-Lifers Unconvinced About 'Ethical' Embryonic Research

Beware of those who play at being God, kiddies.

The first of the two new papers reports that the private company Advanced Cell Technology has managed to remove a cell from an eight-cell mouse embryo and use it to grow a batch of ESCs -- with no apparent harm to the embryo, which continued to develop normally.

The technique researchers employed is similar to that used in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) -- an established procedure to test embryos during IVF to weed out genetically flawed ones and only implant in the mother's womb embryos free of defects.

In the other study, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research researchers used a technique -- altered nuclear transfer (ANT) -- to disable a critical gene in a mouse skin cell and use it to create a cloned embryo (or embryo-like entity) that is incapable of developing normally into an adult. They then harvested ESCs from it.

What's so bad about that?, you may ask.

Some pro-life ethicists and scientists in the U.S. and Italy this week put their names to a joint statement cautiously endorsing a form of ANT that produces a cell which is "incapable of being or becoming an embryo.

"They voiced support for further research on animals, adding: "If, but only if, such research establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that ... [the technique] can reliably be used to produce pluripotent stem cells without creating embryos, would we support research on human cells."

But others, both in the U.S. and in other countries where bio-research is advancing rapidly, are skeptical.

Greg Pike, director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute in South Australia, voiced concerns about both methods.

He said by phone Wednesday that ANT was tantamount to "the intentional creation of a defective embryo" and so was highly questionable ethically.

"Morally it's not terribly different - in fact there is a way in which it could be viewed as a more sinister approach than using embryos spare from IVF programs or from other sources, because it has that predetermined human action built into it - to subvert a natural process and then legitimize something which would normally be considered immoral.

"That's of course based on the view that human life at that stage ought to be protected, which is a view that I hold.

"This embryo, for all intents and purposes, would be indistinguishable from any other, he said.

In its earliest days, development would be normal until it reaches a point where "a gene which usually kicks in to guide the next stage of the developmental process" fails to activate, having been switched off.

With regard to the second research project reported in Nature, Pike said the long-term impact of PGD, when used in IVF, was still unknown.

Some medical practitioners worry that when IVF babies conceived after PGD reach their 40s or 50s "a series of metabolic disorders may begin to appear."

He said it was also possible that the single cell removed from the eight-cell embryo in the Massachusetts research may itself have the potential to be a new embryo, but be robbed of that potential.

In Britain, the group Corethics said neither of the two new reported developments resolved basis ethical objections to ESC work.

Spokeswoman Josephine Quintavalle said the ANT procedure deliberately created an embryo with limited viability.

"It is nevertheless an embryo for the duration of its shortened life, and therefore our objections remain in place. Respect for the human embryo is not based on its life expectancy. While it exists it is living and the ... research brings that life to an end."

Of the PGD-related research, she said "we do not distinguish between embryos on the basis of quality assessments. All embryos have a right to their natural life span."

Another British group, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, commented: "These methods would still pose ethical problems as they would both involve the manipulation of human embryos."

In the U.S., the National Catholic Bioethics Center also voiced concern about the PGD component in the new research.

"While the attempt to obtain embryonic-like stem cells for the purpose of establishing embryonic stem cell lines without destroying embryos is in principle morally laudable, any procedure that places at risk the health and life of a human embryo for purposes that do not directly benefit the embryo is morally unacceptable," it said in a statement.

The center also objects to IVF, because it bypasses the natural method of conception.

Remember, kiddies: In vitro, no one can hear you scream.

Well, who'da thunk it? Grover Norquist is just another conservative-from-the-waist-up Repansycan stooge.

From CNSNews.com:

A number of conservatives are seething over the fact that Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), was the featured speaker at a fund-raising event for a group of homosexual Republicans last weekend. One pro-family leader called Norquist's appearance "an act of utter betrayal."

Norquist was the main attraction at the "Grand Ol' Party," the largest fund-raising event of the year for the Dallas, Tex., chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual advocacy group within the GOP.

Grover got groped inside that big tent.

Carla Halbrook, a member of the national Log Cabin board and the organization's chapter in Dallas, told Cybercast News Service that Norquist gave a "fantastic" speech at the dinner on Saturday night.

Halbrook said that during his speech, Norquist discussed "Social Security reform and reducing taxes and government in general. It was his normal message.

"The fact that the group is gay was irrelevant," she said. "It was one conservative talking to other conservatives."

Heehee! That's a good one, honey! What's conservative about about taking a...oops! family blog...

However, the event generated controversy even before it began due to an article in the Dallas Voice, a weekly newspaper for homosexuals that described the dinner and how the chapter would spend the funds raised that night.

"The money is used to fund [the chapter's] participation in events such as the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade, LifeWalk and other community endeavors," the Dallas Voice article stated. "The local group is paying part of the salary for a field director representing Log Cabin Republicans to work helping defeat Proposition 2.

"Proposition 2, which will go before Texas voters on Nov. 8, is a constitutional amendment "providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

One of these days I'm going to vent on the homo lunacy. It will be entitled "Sodomy: The New Black". Want a preview? It's one of the few topics Michael Savage gets right.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. John de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, and their companions, known as the North American martyrs. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is 2 Corinthians 4:7-15.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 28:16-20.


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

...much...too much...seriousness...must... have...beauty!

I give you the Hot TV News Babes of KPHO in Phoenix: Gina Maravilla (ABOVE) and Catherine Anaya (BELOW).

2 from Dr. Rummel.

Could it be true? The rest of academia is beginnning to catch up to Dr. Rummel and common sense.


More: The Democratic Peace Causes a Sharp Decline In Violence
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A study has just been published by the Human Security Center, War and Peace In The 21St Century (pdf here). I recommend reading it for the comprehensiveness of its data and analysis.

The reports conclusions are:

Over the past dozen years, the global security climate has changed in dramatic, positive, but largely unheralded ways. Civil wars, genocides and international crises have all declined sharply. International wars, now only a small minority of all conflicts, have been in steady decline for a much longer period, as have military coups and the average number of people killed per conflict per year. The wars that dominated the headlines of the 1990s were real—and brutal—enough. But the global media have largely ignored the 100-odd conflicts that have quietly ended since 1988. During this period, more wars stopped than started. The extent of the change in global security following the end of the Cold War has been remarkable:


°The number of armed conflicts around the world has declined by more than 40% since the early 1990s. [See the igure below from the report]


°Between 1991 (the high point for the post–World War II period) and 2004, 28 armed struggles for self-determination started or restarted, while 43 were contained or ended. There were just 25 armed secessionist conflicts under way in 2004, the lowest number since 1976.


°Notwithstanding the horrors of Rwanda, Srebrenica and elsewhere, the number of genocides and politicides plummeted by 80% between the 1988 high point and 2001.


°International crises, often harbingers of war, declined by more than 70% between 1981 and 2001.


°The dollar value of major international arms transfers fell by 33% between 1990 and 2003 (Figure 1.10). Global military expenditure and troop numbers declined sharply in the 1990s as well.


°The number of refugees dropped by some 45% between 1992 and 2003, as more and more wars came to an end.


°Five out of six regions in the developing world saw a net decrease in core human rights abuses between 1994 and 2003.The positive changes noted above date from the end of the Cold War. Other changes can be traced back to the 1950s:


°The average number of battle-deaths per conflict per year—the best measure of the deadliness of warfare— has been falling dramatically but unevenly since the 1950s. In 1950, for example, the average armed conflict killed 38,000 people; in 2002 the figure was 600, a 98% decline.


°The period since the end of World War II is the longest interval of uninterrupted peace between the major powers in hundreds of years.


°The number of actual and attempted military coups has been declining for more than 40 years. In 1963 there were 25 coups and attempted coups around the world, the highest number in the post–World War II period. In 2004 there were only 10 coup attempts—a 60% decline. All of them failed.





Those pesky Iraqis and their proclivity for polling places strike a chord in the hearts of all who have not yet tuned out the song of freedom.

Another Democratic Peace Victory
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What can I say? I'm thrilled at the greater than expected turnout in the Iraq referendum; I'm thrilled at the pictures of women voting, I'm thrilled at the Iraqi's dancing in the street. And although the count is not in, not even a partial count as of this writing, I confidently predict victory for the constitution. How can I be so confident? The Iraqis are voting for their future, for democracy, for their freedom. By secret ballot. This is not an interview by a Western newsman, this is not a minority demonstration with waving fists, and this is not a questionable survey. Shiites, Kurds, and yes, most important, Sunnis -- that is, the PEOPLE are free to vote their hearts and minds. And, I trust the people when freedom is the question (c'mon, now, they did not vote Hitler into power, or Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Tojo, Tito, Castro, Idi Amin, Saddam, and so on for the world's bloodiest dictators).This is a victory in the War On Terror. It is a stunning defeat for the terrorists, the dictators that support them, The New York Times, CNN. PBS, BBC, the academic left, moveon.org, Michael More, mother Sheehan, the ACLU, and their ilk. The democratic peace marches on.