DART - Unaccountable Cattle Car

Dallas.Org | RecentCoin:

“DART has turned into a cattle car northbound. As gas prices continue to soar, more and more people ride the train each day. ... Now, however, gas prices are dropping and the trains are emptying back out. Most people would rather drive than deal with public transit as it currently exists.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

This reminds me of the old Yogi Berra joke, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded." If the only thing keeping more people from riding Dart is that Dart doesn't have enough capacity, then that's a problem most businesses would love to have. And if cheap gasoline is what keeps people from riding Dart, then that's a problem that will take care of itself, sooner rather than later, given the trends in the oil-producing regions of the world.

Southwest Airlines became very profitable even with a "cattle car" reputation. Or maybe it was the business decision not to buy more planes so that the ones they owned were always fully loaded that allowed Southwest to remain profitable when so many other airlines went bankrupt. Dart should be so fortunate. It could do worse than earn a "cattle car" reputation.

Newt Gingrich v. Robert Novak

Dallasblog.com | Tom Pauken:

“Once I had finished reading Robert Novak’s new best-seller on his 50 years reporting in Washington entitled 'The Prince of Darkness', I understood why Gingrich was so upset with Novak. The author’s discussion of Gingrich in his book makes it clear that he is no fan of the former Speaker and that Novak sees Newt Gingrich as more of a political opportunist than a true conservative.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

There goes Tom Pauken again, breaking Ronald Reagan's eleventh commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. The falling out is over claims to be the standard bearer for "true" conservatism. Political analyst Rick Perlstein first recognized this Republican attitude that 'conservatism never fails; it is only failed.' In this case, it's Newt Gingrich that Mr Pauken is throwing under the bus for failing to live up to Mr Pauken's definition of conservative. Newt Gingrich, of all people. It seems that the shrinking conservative tent has room for only Goldwater, Reagan and Mr Pauken himself, and two of them are dead. Maybe Fred Thompson, now being vetted for inclusion himself, will pass muster with Mr Pauken.

Rick Tyler, Communications Director and Spokesperson for Speaker Newt Gingrich, was moved to comment on Mr Pauken's Dallas Blog post:

Pauken, no stranger to political opportunism, was likely asked to write a review to help sell Novak’s book and I want to help. Please buy Novak’s book 'Prince of Darkness'. But when you get to the parts about Newt, remember that we need another true conservative political opportunist like Newt.

It appears the battle over "true" conservatism is on.

P.S. Tom Pauken's censorship blocks me from commenting directly on Dallas Blog. Is that conservative? I'm just asking.

Cities sue gangs in bid to stop violence

Yahoo! News:

“Fed up with deadly drive-by shootings, incessant drug dealing and graffiti, cities nationwide are trying a different tactic to combat gangs: They're suing them. Fort Worth and San Francisco are among the latest to file lawsuits against gang members, asking courts for injunctions barring them from hanging out together on street corners, in cars or anywhere else in certain areas.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Cities are on shaky Constitutional grounds trying to prevent crime by barring otherwise legal activities just because the perpetrator happens to belong to a gang. That probably won't pass muster with courts. But cities may be on to something anyway. If they can establish some kind of legal liability for gangs, they may be able to sue gangs for damages inflicted by gang members in committing crimes. Just as corporations are sometimes liable for the actions of officers of that corporation, perhaps cities can find some way to make gangs liable for the actions of gang members. Of course, gangs don't usually have bank accounts and real estate and databases of dues-paying gang rosters. Nevertheless, cities ought to review all the methods law enforcement has used against organized crime, seeing if any of those tactics might be of use against gang crimes, too.

Conservation or Control?

DallasArena.com | Sharon Boyd:

“I will fight hard to keep our neighborhoods single-family -- to prevent any rezoning to allow for multi-family. Still, it is wrong to tell someone what kind of single-family home they can build on THEIR property. So long as a single-family home is built inside front, side and back yard setbacks, it should not matter what kind of single-family home they want to build.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Sharon Boyd is objecting to a move to create a conservation district in the Midway Hollow neighborhood of northwest Dallas. She acts as if it's self-evident that it is not OK to zone out two-story homes, but it is OK to zone out multi-family homes.

In both cases government is telling the property owner what she can and cannot build on her own property. Ms Boyd, like the backers of a conservation district, is willing to draw a line in the sand, but it's not in the same place. In other words, this is a dispute over implementation, not principle.

Moreover, Ms Boyd tries to downplay the need for a conservation district, arguing that the market for McMansions is slow right now anyway. She argues that the movement "is all much ado about nothing." She's probably right, But in the end, her own defense of property rights, full of sound and fury, doesn't amount to much more.

Are we Rome?

Dallas Morning News | Rod Dreher:

“Are we Rome? That is, are we Americans, citizens of the mightiest empire the world has known since the days of the Caesars, living in the last days of our civilization? Is the United States, like the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century, doomed to collapse from its own decadence? Or can we avoid Rome's fate?”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Yes, of course we are Rome. I might quibble with some of the similarities and differences Mr Dreher lists, but overall there is no doubt that the United States today commands the position of ancient Rome at the height of its empire.

Is the United States at the height of its own empire? That depends on how Americans view their empire. If the worldview of George W Bush and his foreign policy persists, decline is inevitable sooner rather than later. The United States cannot impose its values on the world through the force of an overstretched military. A continuation of current foreign policy will only hasten the decline.

On the other hand, if the United States leads by example, the rest of the world will likely be eager to follow. That requires taking many of Mr Dreher's recommendations:

• appreciation of a wider world
• accepting change
• promoting assimilation (including jump-starting America's upwardly mobile lower and middle classes -- the income gap is widening, not closing, now)
• treating government as a useful tool for collective action (and not an evil, or worse, a source of wealth to be plundered)
• using the military for defense, not for imposing America's will on an unwelcoming world

If the United States takes Mr Dreher's prescriptions, it can postpone that day of inevitable decline. Mr Dreher can put off looking for that 21st century version of a Benedictine monastery to which he can retreat to preserve civilization through the coming Dark Ages. Instead, the United States can lay the groundwork for whatever civilization replaces the United States and ensure that it is civilization and not the barbarian hordes that brought down Rome.

Why Harry Potter is 'essentially Christian'

DallasNews Religion | Jeffrey Weiss:

“[C.S. Lewis] was creating a world where Christian teachings are visibly, unambiguously, part of the day-to-day framework. The same way that, say, the gravitational acceleration of 10 meters per second squared is simply part of our everyday life.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

As Jeffrey Weiss contrasts C.S. Lewis' fiction with J.K. Rowling's, he employs a wonderful analogy of gravity. The example comes from Newton, but anyone with exposure to Einstein's theories knows how strangely the "real" world behaves compared to what we take for granted about the world. If Einstein's universe was "visibly, unambiguously, part of the day-to-day framework", many of our supposedly common sensical notions about God, the Universe and Everything would be recognized to be as misguided as I imagine C.S. Lewis wanted us to think a world view without Christianity is.

For example, some Creationists argue that the Big Bang proves there must be a God because something had to exist before the Big Bang to cause it to happen in the first place. And that something must be God. In fact, a proper understanding of physics leads us to discard our everyday notion about time. Time itself was created with the Big Bang. The very concept of anything before the Big Bang is non-sensical, just as the notion of something being north of the North Pole is illogical. You can form sentences using the words, sentences that seem to make sense, but at heart are logically faulty. Just as most of the arguments of Creationists are logically faulty.

Leave Iraq, intervene in Darfur?

Dallas Morning News | Ted Galen Carpenter and Christopher Preble:

“In the latest Democratic presidential debate, the candidates were united on the need for the United States to withdraw from Iraq. But most were equally convinced about the need to intervene in Darfur. Such an attitude suggests that the Democrats have learned little from the Iraq debacle.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

It suggests no such thing. It suggests that the Democrats are the better party to entrust such desisions to in the future. The Republicans are the party of "stay the course", affirming the conventional wisdom that they have learned nothing from the debacle in Iraq. The Democrats are well aware of that debacle and the need to employ a wiser foreign policy. An American intervention in Darfur, led by a Democratic administration, is much less likely to repeat the mistakes of Iraq.

Democrats are more likely to use diplomacy, to rely on the international community, to rally allies and even foes to positively influence the course of events in Darfur. Democrats are less likely to take unilateral, military action, to shut off diplomatic initiatives, to fail to understand that it is much easier to start a war than to end one.

Carpenter and Preble detail all the sins of the Republicans in Iraq and try to pin those sins on Democrats in Darfur. Darfur doesn't have to play out the same way. Given the current choices for the Democratic nomination for President and what those candidates are saying on the campaign trail, it won't play out that way under a Democratic administration. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Republicans and what that party's candidates are saying about what they've learned about Iraq.

Do The Democrats Mean It? Probably Not

Dallasblog.com | William Murchison:

“The Democrats are poised to hurl America right over the cliff, to the rocks below. ... So what eats at these people, these Democrats? One more reasonable guess and I'll quit: opportunism eats at them; gnaws their ankles, consumes their innards. The Democrats frankly don't care what they say so long as whatever it is appears to inflame the voters, stir discontent with the present Republican regime; so long as it seems to lift the Democratic Party a little nearer the goal of power. Yes, power, wonderful power! Power to stick it to those who took power from you; to pay them back but good; to rub their noses in powerlessness and humiliation. I'd say that's the motive power of the Democrats right now: pay back; vengeance; revenge.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Something is surely eating at William Murchison. He gives us a mirror into his own tortured soul, revealing more about the rage caused by the failures of conservatism than is revealed about his political nemesis, the Democratic Party. Given that his own side's turn in power has been such a disastrous failure, his only consolation is the hope that Democrats will, in turn, fail, too. So sad.

Bill Richardson pledges to appoint an envoy for Muslim relations

DallasNews Religion | Bruce Tomaso:

“Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson says if he's elected, he'll appoint a top-level envoy to rebuilding shattered ties to the Muslim world. Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, also called for a 'multilateral Marshall Plan' to rebuild the Middle East.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

The Marshall Plan was one of history's most successful proactive efforts to advance civilization. But I don't think it can be transplanted easily to the Middle East. The cultural differences are much greater there. It'll take new genius, maybe greater genius, to figure out how to rebuild that part of the world, genius that seems to be sadly lacking in Washington, DC, today.

A creationist tome sent around the world

DallasNews Religion | Bruce Tomaso:

“A Muslim creationist from Turkey is sending out unsolicited copies of a huge, expensive book he's produced, Atlas of Creation, which is intended to disprove the theory of natural selection.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

I haven't read the book, but I have browsed the author's Web site. He does a good job of bringing together in one place all the (flawed) Creationist arguments against science, including some new ones I hadn't heard before, like the fossil crabs that supposedly prove there's been no evolution because there are still crabs around today. Cataloging bunkum can be a useful service, even if he doesn't see it that way.

But what struck me most was that for all the bunkum arguments against natural selection, he presents no evidence in favor of the theory of divine creation. Does he have none? Does he want us to believe in creation on faith alone?

Christian Zionists Call for Iran Attack

Dallasblog.com | Tom Pauken:

“Thousands of Christian Zionists descended on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. yesterday to lobby Congress in support of a U.S. attack on Iran.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Leave it to Tom Pauken and Dallas Blog to feature a story about a Christian Zionist rally. If it has to do with extremist Christians feeling persecuted or advancing Armageddon, Tom Pauken will find the story on so-called news media such as World Net Daily, CNS News or World Faith News and pass it along to Dallas Blog readers. Often, the biases are bare, truthfulness suspect, independent corroboration lacking.

But this account doesn't quite fit that mold. This is a convention of thousands of people in our nation's capital. The organization and its leader were clearly identified (Christians United For Israel, led by the Reverend John Hagee of San Antonio, Texas), and most striking, the advertised speakers include a former Speaker of the House of Representatives (Newt Gingrich), a former candidate for Vice President of the United States (Joseph Lieberman) and a former Prime Minister of Israel (Benjamin Netanyahu, by video). President Bush supposedly sent greetings.

I suppose there are conventions going on all the time all over the US and the world. Most are not newsworthy, even if the President says hello. But this one, featuring heavyweight politicians, where the leader calls for an attack on Iran, is ignored not only by the mainstream media, but by everyone except a few Jewish papers and a few more right-wing Christian news media (and Dallas Blog, but that's kind of redundant). It's almost enough to make one start believing in conspiracy theories.

P.S. Tom Pauken blocked me from posting this comment on Dallas Blog itself. And that's no conspiracy theory. ;-)

A Lesson in Ethics from D’s Tim Rogers

Dallasblog.com | Sam Merten:

“[Frontburner's Tim] Rogers got a tip that Sherry Jacobson at the Dallas Morning News was working on a story ... and he went ahead and made the post. ... 'What do you think about that?' Rogers asked the [SMU journalism] class. 'I hadn’t made a single call.' ... If Rogers is relying on emailers whom he’s never met and isn’t taking time to do independent research and reporting, is he doing his due diligence as executive editor of D Magazine?”

Ed Cognoski responds:

I may not often agree with Sam Merten's politics, but his ethics seems to be top notch. Read the rest of this story about the journalism ethics at Frontburner. It's not pretty. But it's consistent with my impression that the journalists at Frontburner value snarkiness over ... well, journalism.

P.S. Tom Pauken has blocked me from making this comment on Dallas Blog itself. But that's another story. Sigh.

A Hard Topic, Without Apology

Dallasblog.com | Tara Ross:

“Americans pulled through the moral crisis of the 1800s, correctly deciding to recognize all American men and women as human beings, fully protected by the Constitution, regardless of their race. Indeed, today, we are rightfully shocked that anyone could ever have viewed slavery as defensible. Here’s hoping that a day will soon come when all Americans recognize the indefensibility of labeling one group of individuals as 'not persons,' allowing them to be killed, simply because they are younger and more vulnerable than the rest of us.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Ms Ross is right that abortion is the great legal question of our age. Slavery isn't. No American today would defend slavery. Ms Ross does us all a disservice by implying that the issue of abortion is as simple as condemning slavery. If society ever reaches a consensus on abortion that fetuses, zygotes, fertilized eggs should have civil rights equal to hers and mine, then the parallels she wants us to see would be hard to deny. But that won't happen because her analogy is wrong.

Slavery has been with us since biblical times. Slowly, but surely, nations recognized its injustice and outlawed it. The United States was a relative latecomer and it required a great civil war, but it was finally stamped out here. There was a progression from slavery at one time being common, legal, and widely practiced to slavery being illegal and, where practiced still, at least denied.

Abortion does not have the same history at all. It's not the case that abortion was once common, legal and widely practiced, but is now slowly being suppressed as societies develop rule of law. In fact, it's more the opposite. As societies recognize and honor individual liberties, abortion rights are more likely to be recognized as well. At the same time, scientific advances make it possible to separate primitive religious notions of God breathing a soul into a fertilized egg from a more mature understanding of human development as a gradual process from sperm and egg to fully aware adult.

In short, as much as Tara Ross would like to equate the evil of slavery with the evil of abortion, the analogy fails because the difference between a superficial trait like skin color is very different from the difference between an adult human and a zygote. African-Americans could be forgiven if they are insulted by Ms Ross's sophistry.

Salman Rushdie revisited

DallasNews Religion | Bruce Tomaso:

“The Indian-born writer [Salman Rushdie] was awarded a British knighthood last month. Many Muslims, still angry at his portrayal of their faith in his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, protested.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Bruce Tomaso passes on a claim that former President Jimmy Carter was critical of Salman Rushdie in 1989. In fact, at the time, former President Carter condemned the fatwa and affirmed Rushdie's right to free speech. But just because someone has a right to do something doesn't make it wise to exercise that right. Personally, I think it's just as regrettable to condemn Carter for pointing that out then as it is for Muslims to condemn Britain for knighting Rushdie now.

Evils of capitalism

FrontBurner | Trey Garrison:

“Frank Timmins writes to the Dallas Morning News a much-needed defense of capitalism in response to Rod Dreher's attack last week. As Timmins points out, the problem (as with most problems today) can be traced back to a single source [i.e., Baby Boomers].”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Rod Dreher claims that today "capitalism is defined not by a producer mentality but by a consumer ethos. The prosperity we see is in some respects a mirage, purchased with a credit card." Frank Timmins sees consumerism and our debt-ridden society not as a knock on capitalism, but as "a cultural and educational problem [that] should not sully the most perfect system of prosperity the world has known." Then, Trey Garrison places the blame not on capitalism or consumerism, but on when you were born — if it's between 1946 and 1964, you personally are the cause of most problems today.

First, Mr Dreher. Capitalism has always gone hand-in-hand with consumerism. Herbert Hoover won the Presidency in 1928 promising voters "a chicken in every pot." Henry Ford became a titan of industry making and selling cars that Everyman could afford. The post-war boom in single family homes was made possible by bank-financed home mortgages, putting millions of Americans in their own homes in return for long term debt. Valuing the work ethic always was predicated on the promise of eventual reward through promotion, higher pay, and a better life. If personal debt is a problem today, and it is for many, it's not simply because of a new phenomenon called consumerism.

Second, Mr Timmins. Blaming unwelcome side effects of capitalism on human character flaws is no more justified than blaming the failings of communism or socialism on character defects of humans unwilling to work for the greater good of society. Unfettered capitalism does have the potential of breaking down into the law of the jungle. Human life in that circumstance was "nasty, brutish, and short." Capitalism may be, as Mr Timmins says, the most perfect system of prosperity the world has known, but it has always come with some form of regulation to control its undesired excesses. Mr Dreher may have identified places where those excesses have gotten out of control.

Finally, Mr Garrison. Huh?

To some evangelical Christians, GOP not preaching to the choir

Dallas Morning News | Wayne Slater:

“Eugene Brookshire is a Christian conservative who intends to vote in next year's presidential election, even though none of the candidates have touched his soul. 'It's a shame we're going to be voting for the lesser of the two evils – or the 10 evils,' he said.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

The Republican successes over the last quarter century are due to a grand coalition of social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and national security hawks. For various reasons, all three have been temporarily discredited, leading to poor electoral prospects for Republicans.

The social conservatives are likely to rally to ex-Senator Fred Thompson. And the social conservatives may still have enough weight in the Republican Party to get their man nominated. Whether they can get him elected in the general election anymore is less likely.

Heroes Need Not Apply

Dallasblog.com | Jerry Patterson:

“Texas heroes like William B. Travis, John Bell Hood, Earl Rudder and Audie Murphy would shudder to think Texas is denying educational benefits to her veterans. ... The law is called the Hazelwood Act and it exists in Section 54.203 of the Education Code. It exempts eligible military veterans from paying tuition and most fees at state colleges and universities. ... Yet, in the fine print, the Hazlewood Act only provides this benefit to veterans who are U.S. citizens residing in Texas at the time they joined the Armed Forces.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Jerry Patterson points out an injustice and makes a sensible suggestion to correct it. Veterans who are legal permanent residents are denied education benefits that are available to citizens. These men and women are allowed to fight and die for us, but they are not given the same educational benefits as the men and women who fought alongside who do happen to be citizens.

What struck me most about this article is not the commonsense highlighting of this injustice, but the reader response. David A Hill writes, "I agree for the most part but I feel the person should be a citizen in order to receive the educational benefits." Huh? What part of the article is it that Mr Hill agrees with if it isn't the recommendation to give education benefits to permanent residents?

Then there's Paul D. Perry, who says, "Some [of] us get up every morning and figure out how to produce an income so someone on government salary can figure out how to take it away in the name of patriotism!" For Mr Perry, the injustice isn't the unfair treatment of some veterans, it's that he's paying too much in taxes. He feels that he's the victim here.

HSH recognizes the weaknesses in these other readers' arguments and points them out. What's noteworthy is not HSH's voice of reason, but that he isn't blocked from posting. Dallas Blog is tilting more and more to the right (it's hard to believe that's possible, I know), both in contributors (whatever happened to Ed Ishmael or Ken Molberg?) and readers (more and more who aren't on the right end of the political spectrum seem to be permanently blocked from posting). Keep it up, HSH, while you still can!

New Mosque in Germany creates Controversy

Dallasblog.com | Tom Pauken:

“A major controversy has erupted in Cologne, Germany, over plans to build a large mosque there. ... One of the concerns expressed by Christian leaders in Germany is that while Muslims can build large mosques in their country, Christian minorities in predominately Muslim countries like Turkey have few rights to practice their faith freely.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

There he goes again... Tom Pauken alerting us to the Muslim hordes who are overrunning Christendom. And what is his solution? Complain about freedom of religion in Europe. Maybe adopt the religious discrimination that is institutionalized in the Muslim world. Yeah, that'll solve the problem. Defeat our enemies by becoming more like them. No, thanks.

P.S. Tom Pauken has blocked me from commenting on Dallas Blog itself.

Congressional Snake Pit

Dallasblog.com | William Murchison:

“Congresses come and -- fortunately -- go all the time, but the present specimen appears determined to be rated among the worst ever. Triumphalist Democrats seem bound on no higher mission than that of grinding down a president with an unpopular war on his hand. Defeatist Republicans can't figure out a mission so coherent even as that one. ”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Worst ever? No, I think that might have to be reserved for the Congress that gave Bush everything he wanted in his first term — tax cuts that turned huge surpluses into huge deficits and a blank check for turning a war against Osama bin Laden into a war against Saddam Hussein. It'll be a long time before another Congress exceeds the ineptitude or villainy of that Congress.

The current Congress is stymied by the fact that the Congress is held by one party and the White House by another. Often that keeps government handcuffed, which can be a good thing, if you believe government is the problem, not the solution. William Murchison probably used to believe that, but now seems to argue that the current deadlock is leading to bad results. Maybe he's yearning for unified government, as we temporarily had in the first term of the Bush Presidency. Be careful what you wish for. With the way things are going, government is likely to be unified in 2008 — under Democratic rule. Just wait for the squealing William Murchison will do then.

P.S. Tom Pauken has blocked me from commenting on Dallas Blog itself.

The Boomer Legacy: Everything Sucks

Dallasblog.com | Caroline Walker:

“How could we have gone from Horatio Alger to Michael Moore in the span of a single generation? Because by now the guiding principle enshrined by Boomers forty years ago at San Francisco’s 'Summer of Love' – Challenge Authority! – has so thoroughly infiltrated every American institution and art form that no one remembers anymore when it wasn’t the dominant worldview.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

More whining by Caroline Walker. The Boomer Legacy is divided. There were the flower children from the Summer of Love, the vanguard of the liberal and progressive culture of the second half of the twentieth century. Then there were the uptight, offended bluenoses, the conservatives who today write columns for Dallas Blog about how Everything Sucks. The Boomers encompass both types.

By the way, Michael Moore may not be today's Horatio Alger, although he has risen from a working class background to become a very successful independent filmmaker. No, he's more like today's Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair or Frank Norris — muckrakers who exposed corruption, scandals and inhuman conditions for the poor and working class. "Challenge Authority!" is a guiding principle for every generation faced with great injustice. The Caroline Walkers of long ago had nothing good to say about that era's muckrakers, either.

P.S. Tom Pauken has blocked me from commenting on Dallas Blog itself. Maybe he thinks I suck.

In Seattle, an Episcopal Muslim

DallasNews Religion | Bruce Tomaso:

“The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding is an Episcopal priest in Seattle. She's also a Muslim -- or so she says. The Episcopal Church says: Time out.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Play on! For thousands of years, schisms have left the followers of the God of Abraham splintered into thousands of sects - between Judaism, Christianity and Islam; between sects within each religion; and between factions within each sect. It is heartwarming to see someone find a way to bring together two of these communities. Now, if the cardinals would just elect her Pope...

Romney, Mormonism and Christianity

Dallasblog.com | Tom Pauken:

“'Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography,' said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Mr Burress is criticizing Mitt Romney, who served on Marriott's board of directors from 1992 to 2001.

I have to wonder how Mr Burress came up with 70 different types of hardcore pornography. 70. Wow. I think I'd have a difficult time coming up with a dozen, but maybe I'm not into pornography as much as Mr Burress is. I can just see him and his friends checking into a Marriott Hotel and counting all 70 types. I wonder if the audit team included men and women. I wonder what their room bill was.

P.S. Tom Pauken has blocked me from commenting on Dallas Blog itself.

Bombings in Britain

The Dallas Morning News | Rod Dreher:

“I don't believe that all Muslims are hateful, violent, wicked. That would be absurd, and anyway, I know from personal experience that this is untrue. The point I keep trying to make ... is that there appears to be something about the Islamic religion that predisposes its adherents to violence against non-Muslims. One would have to put out one's eyes and pierce one's eardrums not to notice this.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

There are a billion Muslims in the world. There are a few thousand that are driven to violence against non-Muslims. Agreed, it is their interpretation of their religion that predisposes this tiny minority to do this, just as Rod Dreher suggests. But what about the billion who don't wage war? Is their religion (the same Islam) predisposing them not to wage war on infidels? If so, why? That is the question the West ought to be focusing on.

The West can't eliminate Islam. It can't wall itself off from it anymore, either. It's time the West started learning about the Islam that predisposes a billion Muslims to lead full, fruitful, and, yes, peaceful lives. The West doesn't have a clue about that side of Islam, either. It's time we learned. We'll need the support of a billion Muslims in the world's fight against the many fewer Islamic terrorists.

By taking Rod Dreher's lead and focusing on what it is about Islam that predisposes a tiny few of its adherents to violence, the West will never understand what it is about Islam that predisposes so many to peace. Worse, it risks alienating the billion Muslims who are peaceful, driving more to the very violence the West seeks to quell.

You Got to Have Faith

Dallasblog.com | Wes Riddle:

“You can’t see electricity or microorganisms or love but you know they are real. It is not science that proves these things; rather, it is faith that makes them real. ”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Yes, you can "see" electricity. You can "see" micro-organisms. You might not be able to "see" love, but science is starting to make discoveries about the chemical reactions and electrical impulses in the brain that influence this and other human emotions. None of this depends on "faith".

This is only one point that Mr Riddle gets wrong in this long essay. Mr Riddle has such a muddled notion of faith and science (and mathematics) that I despair of anyone untangling this mess.

In any case it won't be me, because Dallas Blog continues to block me from commenting on its Web site itself. Maybe "you got to have faith", because reasoned debate is not welcome.

Thompson Under Fire for Lobbying Connection

Dallasblog.com | Tom Pauken:

“Even though he has not yet officially announced his candidacy for President, one would think that former Republican Senator Fred Thompson must be the Republican frontrunner since he already finds himself under attack in the pages of the New York Times.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Tom Pauken's lede implies that the story here is not the lobbying positions given to members of Fred Thompson's family after his election to the Senate, but that Fred Thompson is under attack by the New York Times. It's almost as if Mr Pauken wants us to believe that the source of the investigative report is a priori evidence of its falsehood. That negative press is a good sign, a sign of strength and a sign his rivals for the Presidency, Republican and Democratic, must be "worried". As if Mr Pauken is trying to spin this story into a badge of honor for Senator Thompson. Mr Pauken never tells us what he thinks of Senator Thompson's lobbying background and the lobbying positions doled out to his family. Maybe he doesn't want his readers to think about that too much.

P.S. Tom Pauken has blocked me from commenting on Dallas Blog itself.