It is a sad day whether you are in Virginia or not - whether you belong to the University or not…
BLACKSBURG, Va., April 16 - The gunshots were so slow and steady that some students thought they came from a nearby construction site, until they saw the police officers with rifles pointed at Norris Hall, the engineering building at Virginia Tech. Bang. Bang. Bang.Ultimately, it is all a bunch of cliches…
I guess today is my day to find everything Ann Althouse posts interesting (well, almost everything anyways) and comments on it.
BREITBART.COM - Bangor Makes It Illegal to Smoke in Cars
This link really made me go, “Oh, come on!” - again, I am not a smoker. I hate smoke. My husband smokes, but always in a safe distance from Neel and never in his car with Neel. That aside, I find it really intrusive. Who gives a damn what someone does in his car?
If smoking in the car is hurting someone other than who is in the car, I admit there is a point - see the laws about DUI, etc. - but why should the state care if someone smokes in their own damn car?
It is for the children ™, y’all!
The case seems to be getting better and better…..
update: Here is a little more information on the investigation….All findings still point strongly in favor of the airlines and against the Imams’ claims of discrimination.
While a pretty interesting happening on its own right, this sure raises a few questions in my mind. The excerpt below states that Ellison held several strongly liberal positions -
First Muslim elected to Congress - Politics - MSNBC.comHe advocates an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq along with strongly liberal views. While Ellison did not often speak of his faith during the campaign, awareness of his candidacy drew interest from Muslims well beyond the district centered in Minneapolis.Ummm…..except for his anti-war position, what are his other strongly liberal positions? Is he pro-gay marriage? pro-choice? His wikipedia entry doesn’t say much and the article is strangely silent too. Unless being anti-war is the only requirement to be strongly liberal, what other positions does Ellison hold? Did he speak out against his “brothers” during the cab-driver problem? Is he really a liberal?
Not Streep, Yourish - Yourish.com � Attention, Virginia voters.
We will throw the full support of our 5 readers behind her! Go, Meryl!
If you heard an emergency siren blare out that there was a pandemic and you need to go to a drive-thru flu clinic to get a shot, would you go by? What if you knew it was a simulation? Would you do it just for the free shot or to make the simulation work?
Fredericksburg.com - Flu shots on the fly About 400 people take part in eventLocal hospitals were full and medical supplies were running low, according to the simulation. State officials declared a mock emergency and ordered the vaccination of as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. In the Fredericksburg area, health officials participated in the exercise by scheduling a real-life, drive-through flu clinic. Those interested were told to roll down their car windows and roll up their sleeves for a free shot. The state Health Department supplied 400 doses of flu vaccine.
I had talked in an earlier post about a Muslim woman who refused to be photographed for a drivers’ license picture, so I had to point out this post by Ali - Christian Women Refuses License Pic Versus Muslim Woman Doing Same � Eteraz.
Here we have two women of two different religions, both hiding behind their religious beliefs to get around law. The only difference? One got away with it, while the other didn’t. Read the link above to see who got away and who didn’t - you might be surprised.
Personally, I think both of them are wrong and law needs to be applied to all people equally - it just makes it really awful that some religions are considered better than others in skirting rules. I hope the ruling is overturned and both of them either get photographed or be made to sit at home with no drivers’ license instead of getting away with this stupidity.
update: I guess as is usual in such cases, there is a little more to the story than was posted - Check out the comments on this post at Dean’s World. The Christian lady’s case was from 1983, which kinda puts a different spin on things - I mean, is a 20+ year-old case really relevant to the current society?
I am appalled by this - Althouse: “Lefty Blogger Outs Senator As Gay.”. Seriously, how dare someone open up another person’s private life to public scrutiny just because that person might be gay? I have worked with and been friends with enough gay people to understand why everyone might not want their lifestyle publicized. Not everyone is comfortable talking about their sexlife with total strangers - something that is unfortunately a byproduct of anyone coming out of the closet these days.
This was an extremely disgusting thing to do - I wonder if someone will stop and think, what now? Is it OK to publicize someone’s abortion? a rape? childhood-abuse history? I shudder to consider that!
This was just heartwrenching to read about such a show of courage in 13-year-old almost-child. To give herself up in the hope of saving her friends and sister…
ABC News: ‘Shoot Me First,’ Amish Girl Said to Ask
Oct. 5, 2006 — The oldest of the five Amish girls shot dead in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to “Shoot me first,” in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates. Rita Rhoads, a midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News’ Law and Justice Unit that she learned of 13-year-old Marian Fisher’s plea from Fisher’s family.
I actually agree with Glenn on this post about us being nowhere near recession - Instapundit.com -. Anecdotal evidence I know, but the job market is extremely hot in the areas of technology I work in. I have recently changed jobs - I was able to negotiate for a very decent salary and benefits. I have seens tons of people I know switch companies for better offers and other companies that cannot attract anything but mediocre talent for reasonable prices.
What has been your experience? Raises? bonuses? new jobs with better salaries? What do you think the economy is like personally?
update: Now this is what I am talking about - I guess I wasn’t hallucinating after all!
“Voting to Kill” by Jim Geraghty is a book that seeks to explain the transformation of the Democratic Party from the party of FDR, Truman and Kennedy to that of the perpetually anti-war party.
This book has been so engrossing so far (I am half-way through), I gotta say there have been very few non-fiction books that kept me turning the pages so fast. So far, Jim has covered Americans’ reaction to 9/11, Democrats and their actions on national security issues since 1968, Democrat and Republican reactions to 9/11, war in Afghanistan, elections in 2002, 2004 and the buildup to the war in Iraq. A pretty big list you say? It is and it is very well laid out with tons of cites that make me wish the book were in HTML format and I could simply click on the citations as links and read them.
I was really surprised as to how little I knew of American politics before the Clinton era. I am even more surprised as to how vividly I remember how disgusted I had felt at events like Cynthia McKinney’s shameless pandering to the Saudi Prince whose money Giuliani rightly rejected. There are numerous such instances mentioned in the book and each of them reminded me of my ill feelings towards the people who acted so obtusely those days. It almost makes me believe in Jim’s theory….that Democrats are digging their own graves as long as national security trumps all other issues for the general voting population.
So, by now the entire world is abuzz with word of how Mr. Alito’s wife cried yesterday towards the end of the hearings. The pro-Alito people lose no time to call “shame” on the Democrats for making the woman cry. The antis get all defensive and redirect their anger towards the poor woman, calling her crying staged and contrived. A pox on both the houses as far as I am concerned.
First of all, the Democrats were really doing their job questioning Mr. Alito on his qualifications and abilities to function as a good justice on the Supreme Court. It is a lifetime appointment and I have absolutely no problems with the senators making the quationing as hard as they can. If Alito wants it that bad, he will keep his cool.
As for the other guys poking fun at the poor woman, shame on you all too! Why is it so easy for people to laugh at a woman when she cries? Who says a woman who is bound by tradition to just sit there behind her man and watch as he gets brutally criticized cannot react emotionally to the event? Why do the sexists have to jump on her and call her tears theatrics? Have some empathy for her whether you are on her side or not. I promise, it will not kill you. It will just not show you up as the sexist jackasses that you are, that’s all!
update: Here is a good example of reasoned criticism of Alito without resorting to cheap shots at his wife. (link via Instapundit)
update: One of the reasons why the making fun of Mrs. Alito got to me viscerally is that as a woman working in what is largely a man’s world (the IT industry), I am expected to not be womanly. I am expected to be one of the boys and any sign of femininity is subject for ridicule and taken as a sign of weakness. It is as if the minute you show a crack in your armor, your opponents can go, “Ha! I knew she couldn’t hold it together! She is a woman afterall!”. It is almost a double-standard where “be a man!” is a compliment, while being a woman is somehow seen as a drawback. It completely and totally sucks!
…especially for those that question the patriotism of Muslims in America just on the basis of their religion - the story of an EMT in Manhattan on 9/11.
(via Dean’s World)
American justice
- too liberal to let Terri schiavo live
- too puritanical to let her die a quick death!