Right As Usual

I was reading Jay Nordlinger, of the National Review , and I found a reference to a recently deceased soldier of WWII, who had been captured in Japan. After his return, he worked as a Christian missionary in Japan after the war. Why? Amid his misery, Corporal DeShazer had one source of solace. “I begged my captors to get a Bible for me,” he recalled in “I Was a Prisoner of Japan,” a religious tract he wrote in 1950. “At last, in the month of May 1944, a guard brought me the book, but told me I could have it only for three weeks. I eagerly began to read its pages. I discovered that God had given me new spiritual eyes and that when I looked at the enemy officers and guards who had starved and beaten my companions and me so cruelly, I found my bitter hatred for them changed to loving pity. I realized that these people did not know anything about my Savior and that if Christ is not in a heart, it is natural to be cruel.” Corporal DeShazer gained the strength to survive, and he became det...

I read the above article in Real Clear Politics (you really must check them out), and was struck by the way the article clarified what, to me, was the puzzling differences in the way the media and NGOs treat Israel and - well - just about every other country. Except us, of course. The kicker is at the end: Israel's Jewishness is a major part of the Muslim world's hatred of Israel. It is also part of Europe's hostility toward Israel: Portraying Israel as oppressors assuages some of Europe's guilt about the Holocaust -- "see, the Jews act no better than we did." Hence the ubiquitous comparisons of Israel to Nazis.

I just got off the phone with someone I knew about 30 years ago. We haven't seen since a few years after that. We re-connected when my husband Googled her, and sent an email. We're just making plans to get in touch this summer in person. I gotta lose weight.

I'm watching The Biggest Loser, and I'm getting steamed. The guys on that show are acting like jerks, deliberately ganging up on the women. They decided to work together to make sure that neither woman could possibly win the competition. The women were saying, if a woman falls below the line, she's gone. And it's true. The guys systematically work to eliminate the women, sparing men in their place, even when a man's performance is weaker. They're calling it teamwork. I'm calling them JERKS.

I was checking out Instapundit , and came across a reference to Obama's tax returns. Being curious, I checked them out. I did come across a curious thing, relating to Treehouse Foods. In their December 2007 balance sheet , Treehouse declared a Goodwill Asset of $ 590,791 (in thousands), up from $ 432.581 in Sept, 2007. It seemed a little high, compared to an inventory of $ 297,692 (in thousands), for the same period. Without that seemingly inflated goodwill, their Net Tangible Assets ($ 163.863 loss) would have been even worse. So, my question about the Treehouse income for 2006, of $ 51,200 - where did that come from? Was that a sale of an asset? Or something else? It was reported as ordinary income.

I was reading some posts in Gates of Vienna , and noticed an interesting commenter. I followed his link, and discovered escape from freedom . A taste from an especially thoughtful post: When one of these Pakistanis was asked why he would move to a country so alien and brave the long and cold winters he replied that he liked the law and order. That got me to thinking. There you have it in a nutshell. My home country is an utter mess so I will move to yours not to assimilate and appreciate your own unique culture. No siree bob, I will take what took your country hundreds of years of hard work and bloodshed to accomplish and become the ultimate usurper. Why not? It’s easier this way, and all I have to do is cry racism and your elites will give me what I want. It is almost the same as buying a successful company and reaping the rewards that took that business years to build. My country is a loser so I will take yours. What these dolts fail to recognize is that the reason their home count...

In an interview of prominent female bloggers, Emily of American Princess, is quoted as saying: I think politics isn't something women are necessarily as interested in. I have to disagree - in my experience, many women are avidly interested in politics. However, many of those women are less inclined to argue, considering disagreement to be unpleasant. Me, I don't care. I grew up in a family that used the after-dinner hour around the table as a wonderful excuse to air their opinions on EVERYTHING. None of us hesitated to put in our thoughts, and my youth was not used as a way of negating my heatedly stated opinions. I breathed in the stuff of local, state, and national politics at an age when my peers were watching Leave it to Beaver. As my family often had visitors to the table, I was able to hear what a variety of people had to say. As a result, I was a classroom whiz at Current Events, History, and Civics. School was like grade school, compared to the graduate-level tra...

He visited Charlotte. The local news stations gave him the Full Obama Adoration Treatment. At least in NC, he's been undamaged by the Wright controversy.

I just read of the finall settlement ($ 46 million + change) - less than the $ 100 million Paul was willing to settle for. Mills, of course, turned that down, and was reportedly FURIOUS about the final result. After a four-year marriage, she really has no reason to complain. She made out very well, and is in better shape than she was before the marriage. She is being called a gold-digger by many. I won't stoop that low - it simply isn't any of my business. But, it does confirm my bias in favor of not bringing in the lawyers, and attempting to settle amicably.

OK, maybe I may have a LITTLE problem. Honest, I was in the middle of grading papers, and just stepped away for a few minutes.... And it's almost 45 minutes later. But I have a good excuse. OK, not that good, but kindof...I was reading Rachel Lucas .

Of all the recent stories, this has to rank as the DUMBEST . Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate. The New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a districtwide school wellness policy, said school spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo. Shelli Sheridan, Michael's mother, told the New Haven Register that he is a top student with no previous disciplinary problems. It's CANDY, people, not DRUGS!!!!!!! I'm all for a reasonably healthy diet, but you have to be reasonable. Suspending kids for buying and selling candy? I'm betting that they're more focused on that than on weeding out the stoned kids. Yeah, I'll bet they have them, but they're so busy keeping the kids off crack -- I mean sugar (the other white stuff) they are bypassing the serious stuff. Look, other than the guy who killed Harvey M...

I found this link to an international study at Absinthe (which I love, even though the posts are relatively infrequent - SOME people have an actual life, it seems). I am fascinated by the way culture dictates so much that is political. We often talk of a "national character", and, although some stereotypes are clearly outdated, the concept has a core of truth. Americans are generous and honest, outgoing and friendly, forgiving of others, prone to trusting, and expecting change to happen quickly. By almost 60, I've traveled enough that I can say that such a characterization largely fits most Americans. In this game, first everyone's individual actions were masked, then revealed - and there is when the differences appeared: striking national differences then arose when freeloaders were punished for putting their own interests ahead of the common good. In countries such as the US, Switzerland and the UK, the freeloaders accepted their punishment, became much more co...

I'm not seeing full coverage of the Times Square recruiting office bombing. Tantalizing hints of a larger story linger around the edges of MSM reports. From the FoxNews story First oddity: Police sources also say the letters on Capitol Hill are not connected to The New York Times Square bombing. Currently, police are questioning someone connected to the letter, but, according to the story, don't consider that person connected to the bombing. Second oddity: FOX News has learned that the offices of Reps. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., John Tierney, D-Mass., and Lois Capps, D-Calif., received the letters. There is some speculation on Capitol Hill that members of the Out of Iraq Caucus may be the targets of the letter. Solis, Tierney and Capps are three of the more than 70 members of that caucus. Now, I can't imagine why those members would be picked to receive the letters. There's no connection to over-the-top rhetoric and kooks who are inspired to act, is there. Michelle Malkin...

Haleigh Poutre, the girl beaten into a coma, who courts were urged, just days after her injuries, to let go into death, has begun speaking about her beating. Though the girl's recovery is unusual, Larry Goldstein, director of the Center for Cerebrovascular Disease at Duke University Medical Center, said there have been other reported cases of people recovering from persistent vegetative states within a few months. So, why are people in such a hurry to move these patients from life to death? I'm getting more inclined NOT to "pull the plug" on patients. The above case, and the one below show why.