Good For Him!

After reading this, I feel like a bigger slug than usual:

President Bush turned 59 years old this month and his health is in the "superior" fitness category for men his age -- greater than 99% percentile for 55-59 year-old men!

The latest health results make Bush the "most-fit" president in modern history.

He has not had a sick day in the past year -- and he works out 6 days a week: Workouts include bicycling (15-20 miles, 15-18mph), treadmill (low impact "hill-work"), elliptical trainer, free weight resistance training, and stretching.

The President takes a daily multi-vitamin, low-dose aspirin, glucosamine/chondroitin, and an omega 3 supplement.

Bush Weight: 191 pounds(last year 199)

Body Composition: Body fat 15.79% (last year 18.25%; normal for age 16.5-20.5%)

Resting heart rate (seated): 47 bpm

More Than Just a Pretty Face

A classy comment from Rob Lowe:

Lowe says, “I feel very honored that your country has stood by our war on terror - the war in Iraq and this [performing throughout London’s terror-scare] is my way, if only by helping in a tiny way, to repay you for your support. I know there has been a tremendous cost for supporting my country’s war on terror, but I appreciate it.”

(Hat tip: Southern Appeal)

Ouch

Don't miss ScrappleFace on Bill Frist.

Amen!

Gary, inspired by Patrick, says "Tattoos Are Dumb":

Tattoos make absolutely no sense. Tattooing is a fad, which means it is temporary. But tattoos themselves are permanent. So they are by definition oxymorons. One day they are going to be out of style. But everyone with tattoos will be stuck with them. Imagine having a surgically implanted mullet hairstyle and you get the idea.

As one of the few untattooed women on this island, I giggled at that last sentence. Read the whole thing for some wit and wisdom.

Quote of the Day

Again, from JC Ryle's Practical Religion (chapter on the World):

In short, we must not look for a perfect Church, a perfect congregation, and a perfect company of communicants, until the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Wacky Search Words of the Week

Here are some of the searches, Google and otherwise, that have led folks to my blog:

"lost his left hand" - I just have to wonder what that person was hoping to find...

What is the word of the Lord - Ummm, the Bible!

why doesn't a washer spin all the water out? - Beats me.

old irish hymn lyrics extreme makeover home edition - I watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition, but I have no idea what the connection is to old Irish hymn lyrics.

Is "a curse on both your houses" a Biblical term? - I'm pretty sure it isn't.

A couple of people had eating cats on their mind with these two searches:
eating cats
eating cats in Hawaii

And the weirdest search of the week is: brigham young run with blood

UPDATE Aug. 1: I guess I still had "eating cats" on my mind when I read this Honolulu Star-Bulletin headline today:

Isle teen beats scientists in cat taste study

I leapt to the wrong conclusion...

Quote of the Day

From JC Ryle's Practical Religion (chapter on the World):

When St. Paul says, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean that Christians ought to take no interest in anything on earth except religion. To neglect science, art, literature, and politics, -- to read nothing which is not directly spiritual, -- to know nothing about what is going on among mankind, and never to look at a newspaper, -- to care nothing about the government of one's country, and to be utterly indifferent as to the persons who guide its counsels and make its laws, -- all this may seem very right and proper in the eyes of some people. But I take leave to think that it is an idle, selfish neglect of duty. St. Paul knew the value of good government, as one of the main helps to our "living a quiet and peacable life in godliness and honesty." (1 Tim. 2:2) St. Paul was not ashamed to read heathen writers, and to quote their words in his speeches and writings. St. Paul did not think it beneath him to show an acquaintance with the laws and customs and callings of the world, in the illustrations he gave from them. Christians who plume themselves on their ignorance of secular things are precisely the Christians who bring religion into contempt. I knew the case of a blacksmith who would not come to hear his clergyman preach the Gospel, until he found out that he knew the properties of iron. Then he came.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I have a running list (and pile) of books that I want to read, and lately I've had precious little time to do so. And then I see this list of recommended reading. Big sigh...

Be Still My Beating Heart

Victor Davis Hanson has a wonderful essay on history:

History is evoked more and more these days, even as fewer of us read it.

That apathy explains why when public figures turn to false historical analogies for political purposes, they're often given a free pass to exaggerate or distort.

Take, for example, filmmaker Michael Moore, who once compared terrorists in Iraq to our own Minutemen, or Yasser Arafat, who implied that the taking of Jenin was as brutal as the battles for Leningrad and Stalingrad. Even Sen. Dick Durbin recently likened the conditions found in Guantanamo Bay to those in Nazi death camps.

So, the next time someone quotes philosopher George Santayana for the umpteenth time that "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it," just assume that what follows will probably be wrong. Having a Rolodex of cocktail party quotes to beef up an argument is not the same as the hard work of learning about the past.

Read the whole thing.

Help, Please

Could someone tell me where my summer went? It seems that one day I was going to the beach, reading, and enjoying life, and the next day I was back to being busy. And it doesn't help that it is an absolutely gorgeous day.

Nice!

Hugh Hewitt's site has a whole new look, and I like it.

Consequences

More of this please:

Soldiers from Massachusetts and Hawaii who work at the U.S. military detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, gave visiting home-state senators a piece of their mind last week.
Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Democrat, met with several soldiers during a visit led by Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican.
Pentagon officials said soldiers criticized the harsh comments made recently by Senate Democrats.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall...

Read more at Austin Bay. (Hat tip: Instapundit)

The Best of (LA) Times & the Worst of (LA) Times

Don't miss David Gelertner's piece on affirmative action:

There's dramatic evidence in President Bush nominating a garden-variety white male to O'Connor's seat. He said something important by doing so. Consider the fact that for much of the 20th century, the "Jewish seat" was a Supreme Court convention. To have one Jew on the court (no more, no less) seemed proper and fitting. But in time Jews went mainstream and the single "Jewish seat" quietly disappeared. (There are now two Jewish justices).

Bush has delivered a comparable message to women and minorities: Welcome to the mainstream! We don't need a "woman's seat" on the court. There are no more outsiders in American life.

Now let's get rid of affirmative action.

In contrast, don't bother with Jonathan Chait's whiny complaints about President Bush's exercise regimen. He's got a grudge against the president, and it clearly clouds his thinking. Devoting a column to a man's fitness routine reveals a pettiness and small-mindedness that is truly pathetic.

Quote of the Day

From JC Ryle's Practical Religion: (keep in mind that this was originally published in 1878 in England)

Political liberty, civil liberty, commercial liberty, liberty of speech, liberty of the press, -- all these, and a hundred other kindred subjects, are swallowing up men's attention. Few, very few, find time to think of spiritual liberty. Many, too many, forget that no man is so throughly a slave, whatever his position, as the man who serves sin.

Who Is the Greatest Sinner I Know?

He is absolutely right.

My Father's Wisdom

I started my morning with a laugh when I read my dad's comment to my post below about the University of Alabama (at Birmingham):

You would't go to Bama because of your first love..no not Auburn..I'm thinking of BOOKS.

Good one, Dad! I miss you!

Regrets, I've Had a Few

Via CDR Salamander (Happy Blog Anniversary, CDR!) by way of Skippy, comes this thoughtful meme:

List 3-5 things that you would put in a "Back to the Future" type letter from you now, to your younger self you, say 20-21 year old you about to graduate college or any other similar pursuit. There are only two caveats here: 1) you cannot direct your younger self to do anything or violate the principle of free will in decision making and 2) you should not try to reveal specific events in the future since, in theory, if any of your advice is accepted it will already screw up the time line and the events won't happen at all. This should, however to allow you to give your younger self some advice, and in the process force some introspection into your own existence. It can be as shallow or as revealing as you like, and feel comfortable with.

Hmmmm. At 20-21, I was finishing college and getting married (the day after graduation!). Looking back, I can't believe that I got married that young (what were my parents thinking?!), but it has worked out well. The PalmPilot and I have grown up together, so to speak. I wouldn't change the big things. I firmly believe in God's sovereignty and that He had me learn things when He wanted me to learn them. There are a few things I wish I'd learned earlier, though:

(1) Get wisdom - Study the Bible as if your life depended on it because it does. The lives of your children will depend on it, too. You'll need buckets of wisdom when you're a wife and mom, and it's harder to learn on the job. Take some Christian counseling classes so you can counsel yourself and your children.

(2) Education - Get a degree that can be used by a Navy wife. Accounting isn't the one. You'll move around far too much (3 times in 2 years!) before you have children to use that degree or to get your CPA. Given that, you might as well study what interests you - history and/or politics. Do what you love. Don't be so practical all the time.

(3) Travel - At any opportunity, go! When your husband is in Puerto Rico or Italy or Spain, go visit! (I learned this lesson, but later on. Now I jump at any chance to go anywhere - except the desert, of course.) Don't be so darn practical all the time.

(4) Don't take offense where none is given - Don't waste valuable time being oversensitive or overanalyzing what people really mean by what they say or do. Give others the benefit of the doubt.

(5) Don't wish your life away. (Actually my mom gave me this advice when I was younger than 21, so I'd heard it. I just didn't "get" it then.) Don't spend time thinking about the next season of life at the expense of living in the current one. Enjoy each season for what it is. None of them lasts long!

Hey, thanks, CDR! This meme was a good exercise in looking back, and it is advice that I'll have to give my children in the very near (yikes!) future.

I now tag Megan, Christian, and Steve -- if y'all have the time and inclination. I will not take offense (see #4 above) if you don't participate! :-)

Priceless

I'll never forget the look on the PalmPilot's face tonight when we saw Cheryl Ladd, his childhood crush, doing a menopause commercial. His jaw is still on the floor...

Lucky.

I imagine that this is the only thing that would make me want to visit the University of Alabama at Birmingham. But GOSH! I can't go. (Hat tip: Southern Appeal)

Quote of the Day

From JC Ryle's Practical Religion (chapter on Zeal):

Depend upon it, the Church seldom needs a bridle, but often needs a spur. It seldom needs to be checked, it often needs to be urged on.

NAS Brunswick

I am sad to see that NAS Brunswick (Maine) was added to the base closure list. It was already on the list for downsizing, but now it may be closed altogether. We lived there for three years, and PalmGirl was born in Brunswick. I have many happy memories of life in that beautiful location. Nostalgia aside, though, it doesn't seem to make much sense to close what the article calls "the last active-duty Defense Department airfield in New England". I'm wondering what they'll do with the P-3 squadrons there.

Quote of the Day

I'll direct you to Soul's Expression for her Tuesday's Quote. It's from one of my favorite books.

Big Flippin' Deal

It seems that flip-flops (we call them slippers out here) are causing a controversy at the White House:

Before visiting the White House, Kate Darmody carefully planned her outfit. She bought a sundress from Ann Taylor. She put on a strand of white pearls.

And then she slipped on flip-flops to meet the president. So did about half of her teammates from the national championship Northwestern University women's lacrosse team, invited to the White House last Tuesday after a 21-0 season.

She didn't think twice about the footwear until she got an e-mail - in all capital letters -from her brother.

"YOU WORE FLIP-FLOPS TO THE WHITE HOUSE????!!!!" he wrote after checking out the picture on the team's website.

As a southern gal, I should be having the vapors that anyone would wear flip-flops (slippers!) to the White House. However, my three years here in Hawaii have changed me. I now detest wearing close-toed shoes, and I don't even own panty hose (my grandmother would cringe). But, Mom, don't worry. I'd wear a nice pair of sandals if I were to visit the White House. In the PalmHouse, though, it's all slippers, all the time. (Thanks to CDR Salamander for the gouge.)

Life (and Crime) in a Small Southern Town

My dad sent me a copy of the local newspaper from my hometown, and I got a kick out of reading the law enforcement activity. Here's a sample:

Theft by taking
Fourth St NE/At Home Storage.
Household items stolen from storage unit - shelf, ladder, treadmill, artificial tree, glass angels, flowers, make-up, sandcastle dogs [What in the world is a sandcastle dog?], owl on a log, airbed.

Burglary - no forced entry
8:29 p.m., 7th St. SW.
Victim, 41, reported someone moved his computer from front room to back porch. No forced entry found, nothing reported missing.

Simple battery, criminal trespass
11:30 p.m., Harlem Dr. NW. Male and female accused each other of being wrong. Female said male pushed and hit her; male said female used key to scratch side of his 1993 Lexus. Subjects advised on procedure to take warrants.

Shoplifting
1:12 p.m., Hwy 84W/Sun Valley Market. Male taking beer from cooler advised beer sales banned on Sundays, but later seen putting beer in pants, held under citizens arrest until officers arrived.

Harrassment
9 p.m., Hwy 84W. Complainant said another male threatened him with bodily harm. Offender reportedly thinks complainant is "messing with" offender's girlfriend.

Dad asked if it made me homesick. Actually, yes, it does... The crimes here just don't have the same "charm".

Earthquake

I felt this one yesterday during Sunday School.

Mama Is Happy

All of my chicks are safely back in the nest.

Quote of the Day

From A Year With C.S. Lewis:

That is why we must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time. When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected) he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along -- illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation -- he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us. -- from Mere Christianity

John Piper on Rigorous Education

His latest Fresh Words has me shouting, "Amen!". Here's a portion:

The reason Christians have always planted schools where they have planted churches is because we are a people of THE BOOK. It is true that THE BOOK will never have its proper effect without prayer and the Holy Spirit. It is not a textbook to be debated; it is a fountain for spiritual thirst, and food for the soul, and a revelation of God, and a living power, and a two-edged sword. But none of this changes the fact: apart from the discipline of reading, the Bible is as powerless as paper. Someone might have to read it for you; but without reading, the meaning and the power of it are locked up.

Is it not remarkable how often Jesus settled great issues with a reference to reading? For example, in the issue of the Sabbath he said, “Have you not read what David did?” (Matthew 12:3). In the issue of divorce and remarriage he said, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4). In the issue of true worship and praise he said, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have prepared praise for yourself’?” (Matthew 21:16). In the issue of the resurrection he said, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’?” (Matthew 21:42). And to the lawyer who queried him about eternal life he said, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” (Luke 10:26).
----------------------
The ability to read does not come intuitively. It must be taught. And learning to read with understanding is a life-long labor. The implications for Christians are immense. Education of the mind in the rigorous discipline of thoughtful reading is a primary goal of school.The church of Jesus is debilitated when his people are lulled into thinking that it is humble or democratic or relevant to give a merely practical education that does not involve the rigorous training of the mind to think hard and to construe meaning from difficult texts.

Please read the whole thing. (No pun intended)

The Battle Within

A battle rages within me. The soft, maternal, mama-bear part wants my children to be protected and to never hurt. The no-nonsense, suck-it-up girl in me wants them to be tough. Yesterday, the battle intensified.

Here's what happened: PalmGirl is taking sailing lessons, and her lesson yesterday was cut short when she was hit in the head with the boom. It knocked her into the bay and left a nasty lump on her forehead. She was understandably shaken, and she lost some enthusiasm for sailing. In fact, she said, "Sailing is hard and scary, and I don't want to do it anymore." I refused to let her quit after 2 lessons, reminding her of times in the past (tennis lessons, for example) when she didn't like something at first but ended up enjoying it. I was actually frightened by her accident and the sight of the bump on the head, but I had to pretend to be calm for her sake (a part of the mom job that no one warned me about!). She was fine, with no signs of a concussion, and she was riding her bike later that afternoon. She's up now and dressed for her lesson today.

Then last night PalmBoy called from Boy Scout camp. It's his first time away from home without family for this long, and he's homesick. He was upset and wanted to come home. He said his friends were homesick, too, and that one was getting to go home early because of it. I kept our conversation upbeat and got him to tell me about what he's been doing. He calmed down as we talked and even laughed about some things. I told him that he would regret it if he gave up and that I knew he was tough enough to stick it out and enjoy camp. I reminded him of our conversation about giving his worries and fears to God, relying on Him for strength and comfort. He seemed receptive and better by the time we hung up. PalmPilot called back and talked to his scoutmaster, and he said that all the first-time campers were homesick, but that they'd be okay. He said PalmBoy had been maturing on this trip -- taking initiative about things, etc. That made me feel a little better, but I still tossed and turned much of the night.

I don't like to see my "babies" in pain. I don't like to remember how homesick I was at Girl Scout camp and know that my son is going through that. I don't like to pretend to be calm and in control when on the inside I'm crying. The mama-bear in me is miserable right now.

The no-nonsense, suck-it-up girl in me, however, knows that in the long term, the PalmKids will grow through these experiences. If I jump in and make everything better for them they won't learn to be strong. They won't have confidence that they can try new things. They'll be paralyzed or, at the very least, crippled. They'll regret the things they didn't do.

I'm writing all of this now so I can look back in those "weak" moments when I want to gather my chicks into the nest and stay safe. I'm reminding myself that I must keep the long view in mind. What kind of adults do I want my children to be? I must consider that and work backwards from there. I must not be carried along by my emotions, teaching my children to be captive to their emotions. Most of all, I want them to have a strong, unshakeable faith in God. They need to see that in me, and I've failed countless times. They need to see me not giving up, though. They need to see me sticking it out in the tough times. Oh, God, increase my faith!

The battle rages, and it shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. May we parents fight hard, long, and strong.

Oh, My!

The Auburn University men's swimming and diving team gave President Bush a Speedo:

“Auburn is here as three-peat champions,” President Bush said of the Tigers. “Congratulations. We are glad you are here. Thank you for the Speedo. However I am not going to wear it, at least not in public.”

Auburn, which has won the last three men’s NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, presented the President with an Auburn jacket with his name on the back and a framed wall hanging that included pictures of an eagle flying in front of an American flag as well as a shot of the 2005 national champions celebrating.

War Eagle!

Supporting the Troops?

Dennis Prager asks, "Does the Left Honestly Support Our Troops?":

Lest this argument be dismissed as an attack on leftist Americans' patriotism, let it be clear that leftists' patriotism is not the issue here. Their honesty is.

In order to understand this, we need to first have a working definition of the term "support the troops." Presumably it means that one supports what the troops are doing and rooting for them to succeed. What else could "support the troops" mean? If you say, for example, that you support the Yankees or the Dodgers, we assume it means you want them to win.

But most of the Left does not want the troops to win in Iraq. The Left's message is this: "You troops may think you are winning; you may think you are doing good and moral things in Iraq; you may believe you are fighting the worst human beings of our age and protecting us against the scourge of Islamic terror. But we on the Left believe none of that. We believe this war is being fought for oil and for Halliburton and other corporations; we believe you are waging a war that is both illegal and immoral; we believe you have invaded a country for no good reason and have killed a hundred thousand Iraqis [the Left's generally mentioned number] for no good reason; but, hey, we sure do support you."

As ever, read the whole thing.

A Laugh for Tuesday

This letter to the editor of the Honolulu Advertiser is a howler:

COLUMNIST HANSON NOT WORTH PRINTING

I can only congratulate Mr. Roy Kamisato for his July 5 letter "Paper should identify biased columnists." I have read several of Victor Davis Hanson's pieces myself, and each time I shook my head in disbelief. Not so much over the author himself; he is, after all, nothing but another right-wing extremist who derides the very same media that gives him a platform to spread his toxic half-truths and bumper-sticker slogans.

I wasn't even surprised about his audacity to use the name of a very reputable university in his attempt to gain credibility for his extreme conservative views, which regularly blame institutions of higher learning as arrogant and elitist liberal hotbeds. What really irked me was that The Honolulu Advertiser would lend a forum to one-sided extremism.

Everyone has a right to an opinion, even Mr. Hanson. But an institution like The Advertiser must make sure that both sides are given a chance to speak, and there is no liberal counterpart to Mr. Hanson in sight.
Bert Wissig
Kailua

If you don't know why this is so funny, you've never read the Honolulu Advertiser.

On This Day in History

11 years ago, God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl. She's our little songbird, and she's brought countless joys to our home. Happy Birthday, PalmGirl!

All in One Handy Place

John Hawkins at Right Wing News debunks 8 anti-war myths about the war in Iraq.

UPDATE: Don't miss Victor Davis Hanson's latest.

Making a Difference

Today's Honolulu Advertiser brings a great story about a medical unit from Hawaii serving in Iraq. Here's a peek:

Capt. Ray Ouano, 40, from Burbank, Calif., gave some hydrocortizone cream for eczema to a 15-year-old girl in a pink and purple dress and a veil that exposed only her eyes.

Ouano also cleaned and bandaged the arm of a screaming toddler with second-degree burns.

"OK, almost done," he said, using his best bedside manner. "All pau," he said later.

Barbieto said it was the second time as a company that the medics had gone out. An earlier medical visit was provided at a school.

A boy of about 15 said there are "no doctors, no medicine" in the village, and that "maybe it's good" that the Americans paid the visit.

Sabah Ahmad Ateya, the headmaster of the school, a man in his 30s who was wearing a dark dress shirt and dark slacks, said it was "very good" that the Americans provided medical help. The nearest doctor is about seven miles away, but not everybody can get there, he said.

"But we need it (medical assistance) more when the people go to school," he said. "There are a lot of emergency situations at school."

He asked for bandages, and Mitsui handed over handfuls, along with alcohol wipes.

Please do read the whole thing. I'm thankful for these people. May God keep them safe.

Hurricane Dennis

Once again, much of the PalmPilot's family is in the path of a hurricane. Last year's Hurricane Ivan destroyed one of PalmPilotParents' offices and just as they were preparing to move into the new one next week, along comes Hurricane Dennis. PalmPilot's parents have safely evacuated, but other family members are still close to the action. I feel so sorry for all those folks in the Pensacola area, too, who are still digging out from Ivan. Please keep that part of the country in your prayers today.

NY Times Desecration

Scrappleface has the scoop here.

UPDATE: More "torture" news here. (Hat tip: Wizbang!)

Bibliodeficiency Phobia

I have it, too!

Was This War Worth It?

Robert Kagan offers his opinion here. A peek:

Wars remain subjects of debate not just because their "necessity" is in doubt but also because their results are mixed. No war has produced unmitigated successes. The Civil War did not completely "free" African Americans, who remained oppressed for another century. World War I destroyed Europe, and helped pave the way for the rise of Hitler and the Soviet Union. World War II defeated Hitler but enslaved half of Europe behind the Iron Curtain and introduced the world to nuclear warfare. The Persian Gulf War drove Hussein out of Kuwait but helped produce the Osama bin Laden we know today. Add to that the millions of innocent lives lost, and the toll of these wars, generally regarded as "successful," is high. Does that mean those wars were not "worth it"? Demanding unmixed results and guarantees against the unintended consequences of war is as unrealistic as demanding absolute confidence in the "necessity" of going to war in the first place.

One simple answer to the problem is not to go to war, ever. But for those not inclined to absolute pacifism, the question of whether a war is worth it has to go beyond such simple categories as "necessity" and whether or not the aftermath of war is an unmitigated success. It requires delving into the messier and hazier calculations that good historians spend careers contemplating.

One problem is that we always know what did happen as a result of war, but we never know what didn't happen. What if we had not gone to war in Europe in 1917, Korea in 1950, or even Vietnam in the 1960s? Would we have rued those decisions not to act as much as we now rue the decision not to drive Hitler out of the Rhineland in 1936? To answer such questions requires predicting, with only the conflicting and incomplete evidence available, what the world would have looked like had we not gone to war.

The whole thing is definitely worth the read. (Via Southern Appeal)

Denial: A River in Honolulu?

The Honolulu Advertiser offers another opinion of the war on terror in light of the terror attacks in London. Their brilliant observation (or should I say "brilliant"?) is that these attacks are "another face of terror". Notice how they use the scare quotes around the word war, as if this is not really a war:

The horrifying bombings in London yesterday remind us that terrorists and their tools remain among us all.

After Sept. 11, we began to become accustomed to the idea that the "war" on terror was being exported to the home territory of those who use this terrible weapon.

Indeed, that is one of the basic arguments behind our invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq.

"We can fight them there or we can fight them here," goes the argument. "It is better to fight them on their home turf."

Well, the London attacks reinforce the point that there is no "home turf" for terrorists. They operate when and where they wish.

Captain Ed's rebuttal to a similarly lame Minneapolis Star Tribune opinion piece applies here:

Sure, terrorists don't wear the insignia of a particular country, at least not since we squashed the Taliban; that's why we don't give them POW status at Gitmo, a point that the Strib also misses on a regular basis. What Daalder misses is that these groups would not present an existential danger to the West if not for the support they get from states such as Iran, Syria, and Saddam's Iraq.

Another fact that Daalder neglects is that while the terrorists don't have their own country, they have physical form that takes up space, and these countries allow them to build camps and conduct training within their borders. The Bush Doctrine speaks directly to that for a reason: it removes the rationalization that such states bear no responsibility for acts of war committed by their "guests". We deliberately tie their behavior to the state involved to provide the incentive for that state to eject its terrorists before they have a chance to do any further harm.

And to the Honolulu Advertiser, yes, terrorists can attack anywhere, but I'm betting that they "wish" to do it here and often, and so far they haven't. It could happen at any time, but it has gotten tougher for them to come and go as they please. That is no accident. And do you think all of those responsible for the bombs yesterday were born and raised in London? I doubt it. They came from somewhere as did the cash and other support they needed. Great Britain will have to address the homegrown Islamofascism, but it's unlikely that the attack was entirely conceived and carried out without ties to those countries who typically sponsor terrorism.

My main problem with this editorial is that what happened in London yesterday is not a "new" face of terror at all. It's the same old, same old. Radical, militant Islamofascists murder and injure unarmed civilians - men, women, and children, Christian, Jew, Muslim, atheist, etc. To deny that is to refuse to face reality.

The Advertiser offers more "insight" here:

The London attacks also remind us that the enemy is not "terror." Terrorism, after all, is simply a weapon used by all manner of people, from Islamic jihadists, to fighters seeking to win independence from what they see as an uncaring central government, to garden-variety crackpots.

So the lesson is clear: One cannot identify any particular group, go after its members and describe them as the object of a war on "terror." Their thinking and motivation are as varied as their methods.

They're right in that the enemy is not terror. The enemy is Islamofascism. But the Advertiser's conclusion is not even close to truth. Those responsible for 9/11 here and 7/7 in London were not "fighters seeking to win independence from what they see as an uncaring central government" or "garden-variety crackpots". Those responsible are radical, militant Islamofascists. Denying that is, again, a refusal to face reality. They are a group that can indeed be indentified and gone after, but it takes backbone and a refusal to bow at the altar of multiculturalism and political correctness.

Read the rest of the piece if you're interested. It offers nothing substantial, only pablum about people of "good will and strong hearts". This means little coming from those who are more worried about the living conditions of those held at GTMO while refusing to consider that those same prisoners would very much like to be wreaking the kind of havoc seen in London yesterday. The laughline is this, though:

We cannot, and will not, allow the terrorists to shake our resolve.

Ummmm, what resolve would that be? The resolve to refuse to face up to who the enemy is? The resolve to refuse to do what it takes to stop the enemy, even if that means hurting someone's feelings? Some people are resolved in this war against terror, but the editors of the Advertiser (or the Minneapolis Star Tribune, etc.) can't be counted among them, I'm afraid.

In Solidarity

You can download this image from AreYouConservative?. Very cool. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ)

A Classy Smackdown

Check out this letter to the editor and the response. I echo Laer in adding my thanks to Captain Fresques' family and to Lt. Col Pleus.

London Terror Attacks

Because Hawaii is six hours behind Eastern time, the first thing I do each morning is check the news (on the internet) to see if anything "happened" while I was sleeping. What happened this time was especially terrible, horrible, and evil. My prayers are for the victims and their families, for those who are and will be involved in the investigations, for Prime Minister Blair and other government officials, and for the terrorists to be caught and stopped.

Sci Fi

Overheard in my backyard, from PalmBoy's friend to PalmBoy:

Okay. You'll be my dark side trainer...

I was relieved to find out they were playing Star Wars.

What Type of Homeschooler Am I?

Abraham Lincoln

You have a Bible and a library
card. What more could you possibly need? You
prefer the Charlotte Mason Method of reading
living books for everything: historical
fiction, biographies, real histories, nature
guides, etc. No soon-to-be-outdated textbooks
for you.


What Type of Homeschooler Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Hat tip: Mrs. Happy Housewife)

Back to the Books

Just when the summer was getting fun and relaxing, it's time to get back to work. We're starting slowly with just math this week, and so far it hasn't been too painful. PalmBoy is beginning algebra, and I've enlisted a DVD program to help both of us. We're using VideoText, and so far so good. He likes that he doesn't have to do a gazillion problems for each lesson, and I like the fact that I'm not the one teaching it. We watch the DVD together, pausing and discussing as necessary, and then he does some problems. The next day he takes a quiz on the previous day's lesson. I like the emphasis on the why's of algebra, and it fits in perfectly with the trivium's (previously discussed here) logic stage. I also like the possibility that I might finally understand algebra!

PalmGirl is beginning Rod & Staff 6th grade mathematics. Rod & Staff materials are put out by Mennonites, and we use their grammar program as well. This particular math text is a lovely shade of purple, and when I gave it to PalmGirl yesterday, she said, "I feel sorry for those Mennonite boys..."

Some Good GTMO News

The PalmPilot brought home the June 2005 issue of All Hands (The Magazine of the U.S. Navy) so I could read an interesting article about how the Navy is protecting the environment aboard Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO). The base even has a game warden -- an aviation ordinanceman. Here's a peek at the piece:

Conservation and respect for ecology are a huge part of military life on Gitmo. Residents feel the close interaction between Sailors and nature yields a sustainable and rewarding relationship for both. The preservation of natural resources offers Sailors stationed here outdoor recreation unlike any other naval base in the world.

----------------------

The future preservation of Gitmo looks promising. To reduce impact on all life residing within the confines of the base, a first-of-its-kind energy producer has been implemented on the base -- four large windmills. Not only are the large propellers energy efficient, providing 30 percent of all energy on the base, but there are no waste emissions to contaminate the air or sea.

To read the whole thing, click here for a PDF. The article (along with some beautiful photos) begins on page C9. Just thought you might like to read some good news out of GTMO for a change. I was stunned to read that the US military could be a force for good! (insert heavy sarcasm here)

Quote of the Day

This one is among my favorites. I've posted it before, and it is quite appropriate for today:

"And so many of the blessings and advantages we have, so many of the reasons why our civilization, our culture, has flourished aren't understood; they're not appreciated. And if you don't have any appreciation of what people went through to get, to achieve, to build what you are benefiting from, then these things don't mean very much to you. You just think, well, that's the way it is. That's our birthright. That just happened. [But] it didn't just happen. And at what price? What grief? What disappointment? What suffering went on? I mean this. I think that to be ignorant or indifferent to history isn't just to be uneducated or stupid. It's to be rude, ungrateful. And ingratitude is an ugly failing in human beings." David McCullough

Happy Independence Day!

The view from my backyard today...

Perspective

Victor Davis Hanson, as usual, has it:

There are lessons here. When the United States has stayed on after fighting dictatorial enemies--admittedly for decades in Italy, Germany, Japan, Korea and the Balkans--progress toward democracy and prosperity ensued. Disengagement from unresolved messy problems--whether from Europe after World War I, Vietnam in 1973, Beirut after the Marine barracks bombings, Afghanistan after the Soviet defeat, or Iraq in 1991--only left murderous chaos or the "peace" of authoritarian dictators.

Fighting sometimes intensified just before the end. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's horrible summer of 1864 almost broke the Union. The surprise of the Bulge cost more American lives than the 1944 drive from the Normandy beaches. Okinawa was not declared secure until a little more than two months before the Japanese surrender. It was the worst-thought-out campaign of the Pacific and cost about 50,000 American casualties.

Sacrifices are judged senseless by factors that go beyond sheer carnage. While we are, of course, tortured over the American dead of the Civil War, World War I and World War II, we nevertheless find solace that those lost ended slavery, restored the Union, stopped the Kaiser and eliminated Hitler and Tojo. On the other hand, we agonize as often over the much smaller losses of Vietnam, Beirut or Somalia precisely because we are not sure whether they led to any permanent improvement.

Those who now evoke Vietnam should think carefully of the entire lesson of that tragedy. We hear daily of how we once foolishly got into that chaos but rarely of the lessons on how we got out.

Read the whole thing here.

A Recommendation

Don't have coffee in your mouth when you read this.

The Only Reason to Read the LA Times

David Gelertner on quagmires:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has announced that the Iraq war "has been consistently and grossly mismanaged," and our troops "are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire." "Quagmire" is not a state of war but a state of mind. So the senator's words aren't necessarily wrong, they are merely irresponsible and potentially deadly — to U.S. interests and Middle East freedom.

When U.S. troops landed on Omaha Beach on D-day, they were pinned down by heavy fire and couldn't move. If some wiseguy had grabbed a megaphone and announced, "I hate to tell you, but this invasion has been grossly mismanaged and we are now stuck in a quagmire," he would not have been wrong. But luckily those soldiers decided that Omaha Beach was no quagmire. They fought their way inland and helped liberate Europe.

The U.S. has been stuck in countless potential quagmires in many wars. Each time, we could have announced "this is a quagmire and we're going home." Thank God we didn't — usually.

He's right. And he nails it here:

The Bush administration must explain to the nation that quagmires are created by politicians and pundits, not soldiers.

As ever, read the whole thing. (Hat tip: Betsy's Page)

Quote of the Day

I started reading Jeff Shaara's Rise to Rebellion, a fictional account of the American Revolution. In it, Abigail Adams says in reponse to John's suggestion that she and their children leave Boston just after the Boston Massacre:

No, John. There is no danger if we are together. I will not cower away like some weak and helpless damsel while you face the dragon alone. Where's my sword?

I don't know that this is an actual quote of Mrs. Adams, but it is certainly in keeping with what I've read about her. She's my kind of girl!