Asymmetric

"Is" because the music endures and one's still alive. "Was" because one's dead and you may compare at each's peak. Choice please.

Michale Jackson:

The Essential Michael Jackson

Prince:

Ultimate Prince

A day after Gibbs this insulting statement:

"We are today handing responsibility to the Iraqis for an increased level of their security situation," Gibbs said during his daily press briefing. "The president will talk about why it's an important step but why we also have to remain vigilant in monitoring the situation."

The United States will also be monitoring the political reconciliation process in Iraq, he said.

When asked whether Mr. Obama is ready to declare victory in Iraq, Gibbs said, "We'll keep the banner printers from doing anything crazy."

Thousands of Americans died for this moment and Gibbs makes partisan jokes.

Obama today

Washington, 1 July (WashingtonTV)—US President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised the pullout of US forces from cities and towns in Iraq as an “important step” toward a full US troop withdrawal by the end of 2011, but warned of “difficult days” ahead.

“Today’s transition is further proof that those who have tried to pull Iraq into the abyss of disunion and civil war are on the wrong side of history,” Obama said at the White House.

Obama’s remarks came shortly after a car bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed at least 30 people, underscoring the fragility of the country’s security, according to Reuters.

“There will be difficult days ahead. We know that the violence in Iraq will continue – we see that already in the senseless bombing of Kirkuk earlier today,” said Obama.

Obama asserted that while insurgents will seek to “test Iraq’s security forces”, he was confident that those insurgents “will fail”.

“Iraq’s future is in the hands of its own people. And Iraq’s leaders must now make some hard choices necessary to resolve key political questions, to advance opportunity, and to provide security for their towns and cities,” he added.

Decent statement. I think some kind of ceremony is in order, however. The transition from brutal anti-American dictatorship to fledgling pro-American democracy is a great accomplishment for our nation. That it was difficult only makes it more praiseworthy. Ticker tape parade, perhaps?

Chicago ticker tape parade in Chicago for Apollo 11. Iraq ain't the moon, but still...

More on what this moment means after I get done teaching today.

1. I thought the "moment of silence" in congress for Michael Jackson was pretty odd. He's an entertainer with a mixed record of private harm-personal good. And, then I realized that the Democrats are in control; they probably admire Jackson's money management style.

2. American exceptionalism, for ill. Europe's been there-done that on climate change, green jobs, polar bears, health care, and the left in general.

What do we do? exactly the opposite: more government and taxes, less freedom. We'll briefly meet in the middle as they pass us by. Chart below.

3. Comparing the Iran situation to the Honduran one, the only possible justification for Obama's tougher stance with Honduras is that, placing the burden of proof on the Iranian protesters, the Iranian government seemingly followed their process while the Honduran army and supreme court illegally ousted their president. One can argue that Honduras followed their process as well. One can't argue, however, that the Honduran authorities are worse in any way than the Iranian mullahcrocy. The left penchant for appeasing enemies while getting tough with friends (the ousted Honduran president was a leftist) may have had something to do with Obama's different policy prescriptions as well. Being suspicious of anybody who supports us is almost like a reflex, for leftists,

4. I'm glad that the Huffington Post so strongly condemned the Honduran supreme court. Weren't they the ones who said that we shouldn't have anything to say on Iranian elections after our experience with the 2000 U.S. presidential elections. I think the supreme court verdict in favor of Bush is much more congruous to what happened in Honduras than Iran.

5. Obama thinks meddling is good when it's a weak country ousting an anti-American leftist.

...it would look like this:

1. They say that deaths happen in "threes." Well, Farrah, Michael, and now pitchman, Billy Mays. R.I.P.

2. On Michael: Who would have thunk that Michael would have ended up poorer than Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon?

3. Funny Michael Jackson joke: Farrah Faucet goes to heaven. God asks her for one wish, since she was such a nice person. She says, "I wish it was a less dangerous world for children."

4. I feel a responsibility to point stuff out, lest people lose their minds over Jackson or forget the inexcusable harm he's done.

5. Politicians should never confirm people's worst fears. Why do some fear Democrats? Job killing excursions into loony land. Well, now we have Cap and Trade. It is something that makes everybody's life a little worse, except for the greenly positioned, for no good reason. Indispensable Heritage has why Obama's numbers are wrong here and more here.

6. Think of Cap and Trade as a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to Al Gore.

7. Why don't rich liberals- Warren Buffet, George Soros, David Geffen, Steve Jobs, et al.- need our money to invest in supposedly sure-fire green tech? Because only the government can guarantee them a profit. Why? Because it's a dumb idea.

8. In an uncharitable, semi-devious way that I'm not at all proud of, I'm kind of glad Cap n' Trade passed. Millions of people will lose jobs, and we should feel sorry for them, but the inevitable decrease of revenue will diminish the chance that government will expand while the increase in misery will hasten a return to sanity, as many conservatives predicted would happen if Obama won. I was not one of those advocating the "Carter scenario," by the way.

9. (I still would have voted against it because I'm not totally motivated by Schadenfreudian hatred. My superego would have grabbed me by the lapels and shaken some sense into me before the vote)

10. Besides, the Carter scenario wasn't a complete success. We still have the education department, don't we?

11. Have you ever talked to a liberal that sounds quite conservative and sensible and then doesn't, when they find out that you're a conservative? I had this experience on Friday after my high school graduation ceremony. The wife of a teacher agreed with me that money is not the answer in education, that the current generation is degenerating in morals and values, etc..

12. Once I told her that my parents were Cuban, however, the gears in her head turned and she figured out that I was a conservative. She then said that she hates how conservatives call liberals "unpatriotic" and was sure that Bush lied about Iraq.

13. By the way, the two valedictorians and most of the honor students were girls, continuing a trend. More on this later.

Michael Jackson- further proof of the non-correlation between wisdom, virtue, and talent.

Michael Jackson was an unrepentant and unpunished child molester who happened to have been, twenty five years prior, a guy with an extraordinary and, with its high, non-falsetto, pitch, and vibrato-rich tone, extraordinarily unusual, voice; a nice touch at popcraft; and an original, repetitive dance style. We have what we need from him. He will not be missed.

Michael Jackson is also one of my favorite pop acts of all time. One of my earliest musical likes, actually, as his Off the Wall and Thriller albums came out in my junior high and high school years, respectively. I attended one of his concerts in Dodger Stadium in 1995 (or 1996- Hi, Earnest Holguin).

I didn't dress or act like him (I can imagine what my dad would have thought), but I watched him on Richard Blade's VH1 and listened to him on KISS FM in Los Angeles whenever I could.

Michael Jackson is often compared to another pre-pubescent star, Frankie Lyman, but Jackson was both a better singer, in part because he had assimilated the soul inflections of Otis Redding and James Brown, and his voice was stronger and more elastic. It never really changed, either.

Value-added assets of Michael's included an amazing James Brown-lite dancing ability and a nice personality, as a kid.

Two songs that most showcase his voice from the early years are his remake of Smokey Robinson's, "Who's Loving You," with its thrilling ending. Podcast above, video below.

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1. Mark Sanford: It's fair to say that anybody who preaches some sort of deprivation of pleasure, whether it be energy, sex, money, or meat, will have some moments of weakness. It's much better to say that something's that truly wrong is wrong and come short than to abandon the fight against it altogether. People overcome their weaknesses; they're much more likely to do so by maintaining the original principle.

2. It's fair for Mark Sanford to pay a political price, like political banishment. If he doesn't, then society is saying that it's "OK."

3. I went through every "Maria" in Argentina and came up with the most likely candidate, according to the criteria given (OK, she was first in google search):

Maria Silvana Belli, Miss Argentina 2008

3. What's the alternative to plain, old-fashioned shame? If there's no negative incentive, you need a positive one. Hence, North Carolina paying girls not to get pregnant. I guess this is supposed to counteract the opposite incentive of years of government support at about thirty or forty dollars a day.

4. I've said before that an Obama failure is the only thing that can revive the GOP. So far, Obama's exceeded every Limbaugh failure fantasy. The stimulus is an expensive joke, his foreign policy is helplessly naive, and his health plan will almost, literally, ruin everything.

5. Obama waited for the right time to condemn Iran. The right time for him is when 51% of the people think he should.

6. Liberals are sure to want some retaliation against Iran for comparing Obama to Bush. Nuclear incineration won't be enough for Keith Olbermann.

The reason is that Obama promised to make health care affordable. His plan actually costs people more money in taxes while providing the same and quite probably worse, service. Sound like a good deal to Americans who have or plan to have sometime in the future, health care coverage? Only those who think that they'll never get insurance or those committed to absolute, lefty-style equality would vote for the plan.

Me, returning from a hard day's work.

I talk to many women and men throughout the course of the day and have come to the conclusion that many fathers today don't have the proper attitude towards fathering (I've had my sucky moments so I know what I'm talking about).

Fathers,

Children and wives need to admire you, yet many of you don't do admirable things and do much that is contemptible. Is it any wonder that our esteem has decreased so much over the years?

Being a father is not about you. One doesn't become a father to inject fun into one's life (although you will eventually find it fulfilling, and even "fun"). Fatherhood is a duty to one's patrimony, country, community, world, and God.** Being a good father is a better public service than recycling or even voting. Once you commit to this principle, you won't consider less responsible alternatives.

Fatherhood isn't about helping your wife do her chores, either; it's a unique and near-vital skill set.

Essence of fatherhood:

Be a leader in your house, the rock that your family clings to during tough times. King of the castle. A protector and provider. The liaison between your family and the outside world.*** Know how to do practical stuff. Push your kids to take reasonable risks as your wife worries about the same things (her job).**** Stop watching that junk on the internet.***** Take pride in your family. Be the man that has the respect of his wife and children, not of the pathetic "bros" at the club. Be the Knight that every good man wants to be. Let the Hugh Heffners wallow their perpetual adolescence while you pity and disrespect them.

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What for? What's the world going to do?

Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests

At 19:05 June 20th
Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st.

A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij More.. member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes.
The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St.
The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me.
Please let the world know