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Intellectual Conservative PoliticsIowa.com Weekly Weblog No Runny Eggs
This is the personal weblog of Aakash Raut, established Sept. 2002. It will cover current affairs, worldwide & national topics, local & university events, and provide insight and commentary on contemporary issues and the news from his perspective. Enjoy! --------------- ARCHIVES Sept 2002 - Now -------------
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E-mail - uisconservative-at-yahoo About Aakash 
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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Last night (actually, this morning), I was looking through Adrianne Truett's fine weblog (I finally updated the blogroll link), and I came across this interesting entry. Interestingly, I am actually leaving this afternoon, with my family, to go to my cousin's wedding; she is getting married on New Year's Eve in West Palm Beach... on the beach! She met her soon-to-be husband through medical school (both of them are doctors), and this should be a great event. Since I'm going to be away, I decided to do something that has never been done before at this weblog... though many other bloggers do it. Until I return next year (actually, it's just Jan. 2nd when I'll be back), a guest blogger will taking over here. Say hello to Nathan Averbeck (a.k.a. NateDogg). This is the first time since I started this weblog (over two years ago... wow!) that I've had a guest blogger... so be nice to him! :-) Well, I gotta go... Maybe I'll get to do some blogging from Florida, though I don't know how much time (or internet access) I will have from there. (Then again, it's been difficult, off late, to find the time for blogging from here at home!) Thank you, Nathan, for agreeing to blog here while I'm away. Good luck! Saturday, December 25, 2004
Friday, December 24, 2004
Merry Christmas... Eve! I hope that this season has been filled with merriment and goodwill for all of you... and that you feel free to be able to share the Truth about this holiday with friends, family, and others, as we honor and reflect upon the birth of our Savior. Oh, how the time passes! - Christmas Eve 2002 at University Blog Check out this disturbing news article from World Net Daily. It seems that the official White House website [whitehouse.gov] may be indicative of the mentality that has affected the White House, and the federal government. I also noticed the special section that is featured at that site, on this season: www.whitehouse.gov/holiday "A Season of Merriment and Melody" Say what?? I guess that the White House seems to have overlooked something important - I saw this hanging on someone's wall some years ago: Update: Bill Hobbs certainly hasn't forgotten that (via Sean Hackbarth). Neither has "King of Fools." Update (1/04/05): I just found an article on this issue featured at the website of someone who I just found out about from the Sobran's links page. "Season of Merriment and Melody"... my left foot! I also want to point out that I found an entry a little while ago, posted by Mrs. Friedrich at the great "Backwater Report" site (then "Blogs for Peroutka"), on how President Bush and the White House website are promoting "Kwanzaa". Apparently, this is not the first year that they have done this. Via the article that Mrs. Friedrich linked to (by Joe Farah), I was able to find this 2002 article by Paul Mulshine, a great conservative columnist who I recently discovered. (He was added to the [partial] compilation of conservative columnists who opposed the Iraq war, in this past entry.) Here's some info and perspective on Kwanzaa from the VDare website... also check out their current home page for info on their annual "War Against Christmas" competition. Update (12/27/04): After that recent World Net Daily article was posted at FreeRepublic (you should be able to guess the reaction of them Freepers), someone posted the President's Christmas Message from two years ago. Notice the difference between then and now. Thursday, December 23, 2004
She looks good in that dress... Yesterday's World Net Daily had some really good news items. Among them was this one, which I found interesting [this past entry might explain why]. After this, I was just thinking of my prom... actually, "proms" - I remember that my date in '98 had a good dress, and my date the following year did as well (the latter one ended up actually somewhat matching my tux!). Anyway, best of luck to Miss Jacqueline Duty... [latest news] I just found this web page, with a larger photo that looks better than the one in that WND piece. Check out the home page of the Kentucky Division of the SCV, which features this news story. This is the high school that Jacqueline went to. (She is in college now.)  The principle of the school is D. Sean Howard. According to the lawsuit, he arrived at Jacqueline's car with two police officers, and prevented her from entering the dance. The suit alleges that Mr. Howard "intimidated [her] by physically striking the vehicle in which she was sitting." The key article about this recent news is from the Lexington, KY newspaper. In addition to Principle Howard, school superintendent Ronnie Black is also named in the suit. "It was a very difficult decision," said school superintendent Ronnie Back. "We don't have a policy on these things; we decide them on a case-by-case basis. We decided it would be problematic if she wore it and made our decision." This was a dress that Jacqueline says that she had been working on for four years - it was custom-made, and she says that she had to work two jobs in order to pay for it. Mr. Howard allegedly called her the Friday night before the prom and told her not to wear it. The day before that (Thursday, April 29th... the prom was on Saturday, May 1st), he had called her into his office. She did not have another one readily available, and she came to prom anyway, hoping that the school officials would let her attend. The aftermath of this incident allegedly prevented her from receiving a number of college scholarships. "They called her into the office on Thursday (April 29) and told her she couldn't go to the prom if she wore her dress," Mrs. Duty says. "She called me crying. She said she'd been told that if she wore the dress, she'd be suspended and not be allowed to graduate." I just found an informative article from back in May, when these events were taking place. It was posted at the great Liberty Post site (a refreshing alternative to the declining FreeRepublic). The quotes above are from that article. Click here for something neat. Update: Here are some other photos that I came across that seem to be interesting: Click on these thumbnails for a larger picture. I will probably be removing some of these and other front-page images soon, due to loading time concerns.  -----  -----   -----  -----   -----   When life gives you lemons... The Bravo television station has been having a lot of trashy programming off late; it has been nice, therefore, to have noticed that, within recent days, they have been frequently showing the well-known '80s movie Working Girl. [Check out an encyclopedia entry on that film; here's the DVD or the soundtrack CD.] It was around this time of the year three years ago when the U.S. Postal Service released a television ad, featuring a song - A web search showed me that it was Carly Simon's hit song, "Let the River Run," which was featured in this movie, for which it won the 1988 Oscar Award for Best Song, as well as a Golden Globe. It was some months later that I saw that film on TV; since then, I have seen parts of it when it has been re-shown. I think that that is an uplifting and inspirational movie - and that it can be viewed that way by men as well as women. The same is true for the film Legally Blonde (don't laugh) - that film could be inspiring for anyone who is struggling or who is having trouble in school, and in law school (and from what I've heard about law school, that includes just about everyone). I don't know if I'll ever end up going to law school, but if I do, then that might be something to rent during the tough times (perhaps The Paper Chase would be appropriate as well??... I don't know; it's been awhile since I've seen that one). Stories like those which form the plot lines of the aforementioned movies are meant to be inspirational, and (despite the female-based overtones of the first two I've mentioned above) the symbolism of works like this should apply to anyone who is struggling to overcome obstacles, regardless of gender, race, age, or status in life. Right now, I have been struggling with a tense academic situation; there is a ton of course work that I have gotten behind on, and the semester is over... I'm supposed to be on break, and I was hoping to finish my undergraduation this term. I need to get this work finished and turned in ASAP. But as I've mentioned before, it has been extremely difficult to focus and concentrate... and this time period can be stressful for other reasons as well, which I blogged about last year. I am going to need all the inspiration and energy that I can get. ...Let the river run I was glad to find out yesterday that I am not the only student blogger who finds inspiration from Melanie Griffith and Carly Simon. (And his post has to do with law school, as well... where I may be some day.) It sucks having all this work to do right around Christmastime; and it affects my ability to blog as well. :-( Gotta go... Tuesday, December 14, 2004
There's still time... The semester is now complete, but my course work - quite unfortunately - is very much not. I wish that things had gone better for me these past couple of weeks; if they had, I may have had some good stuff up here - especially with respect to the 'Spirit of America' blogger challenge. I have, in fact, done one entry on this great effort, and on my team, the 'Fighting Fusileers for Freedom.' I would have liked to have been doing more posts on this (sorry, John!), like my teammates have been doing... but things have not been working out. Please see my previous post (below) on this challenge, and please consider making a donation to this great cause. To contribute to this project, via our 'team' (the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom), please go to this web page: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/challenge/t/45 Here is an updated list of my teammates. I will try to post something more about the 'blogger challenge' before I get to bed. (Which may, once again, be very late...) Remember - The 'blogger challenge' ends at 2:00 AM central time on Wednesday, December 15th. Yikes - That's just a few hours away! I really wish that I could have blogged more about this. Well, please try to contribute as much as you can before that time. Thanks! Update (12/16/04): Here is a listing of my fellow team members, on the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom: Team Members (in alphabetical order) Some of these are non-bloggers. A Black and White World A Texan Abroad AFSister Argghhh! The Home of Two of Jonah's Military Guys Army of One As I See Things Baboon Pirates Barb Ben's World Blackfive Boudicca's Voice Brain Shavings CPTHAM CandyUniverse CatHouse Chat Chapomatic Cowboy Blob's Dean's World Dog Snot Diaries Drink this... Inside Allan's Mind Instapilot Intelligent Intercourse Jason's Blog Mind of Mog Mossback Culture Neutral Not Exactly Rocket Science OkieMinnie Me Pedophiles for Kim Jong-Il Quality Weenie Random Fate RedNeck Ramblings Right Wing Nut Jobs Unite SMASH Secure Liberty Seven Inches of Sense Sgt Hook She Who Will Be Obeyed! Southern By Blog!! Target Centermass Technicalities The BLOG The Last Amazon The Patriette The Razor The Tiger in Winter University Blog Wizblog baldilocks dustmybroom.com Many bloggers posted a couple of days ago on Spc. Thomas Wilson's important question to our beloved Secretary of Defense, regarding the widespread concern over the perceived inadequacy of armor protection for our military humvees in Iraq. In the early morning hours Monday (that was just yesterday... it seems like longer), I posted a comment to as many of these blog entries as I could, asking them to check out the interesting commentary about this issue that was currently at the home page of 'Soldiers for the Truth' - a great pro-soldier, pro-America organization that I have mentioned before. I am checking that site again now - that material is still up there. Check out that site: SFTT.org --------- (12/17/04): I've been meaning to comment more about this and related issues... I wish that these papers would write themselves. For some pro-Rumsfeld items, check out the latest at the Politics Weblog of The Detroit News Online. I actually went to that blog after going to their [very excellent] pre-election editorial, in which they gave their presidential "endorsement." Check it out! (Keep in mind that The Detroit News is a pro-Republican newspaper... See what they say about President Bush and the Iraq war.) Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
The Half-Naked Bill Many of us are very busy at this time, in the midst of a hectic finals week... I definitely have a ton of work to get in - especially considering that I've gotten behind, due in part to all of the political and election-related events. However, I saw something last night at the home page of the great Team America PAC, that requires me to post something now, in the hope that something can still be done to prevent the passage of a phony "security" bill that has been stripped of its armor, and for which its success may do our country more harm than good. 
Jam the phone lines!! Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) has caved in to White House pressure, but the brave Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) is still sticking up for us. The original version of the House bill [H.R. 10] was fully clothed (attempts to strip it were overcome), and it passed overwhelmingly [roll call]. Then, after pressure from the White House and other powerful groups, the key measures were stripped from the bill. The American Conservative Union had thought, a few weeks ago, that this new bill was dead, which it deserved to be. [Note: It wasn't just the ACU - many believed that this watered-down bill wasn't going to pass this year.] But apparently, it has been revived, and is on the verge of being passed. Related news and views: - 9/11 Families organization backs Sensenbrenner, and opposes this bill - Sensenbrenner's Sense - GOP's cheap-labor wing is brewing poisonous politics - National security necessitates secure borders - No reform is better than bad reform - Protect our citizens! (It's better to have no bill at all, rather than a weak and ineffective one.) - Immigration reform crucial to security - More info from the 'John and Ken Show' - Update: Kill Bill II: Even the neocon Center for Security Policy think tank agrees! ... "Kill (the) bill" It is better to re-schedule the job interview than to attend it wearing only your underwear. Once you've blown your first chance, it's hard to get anything major accomplished. Help send a wake-up call to Washington - Let them know that we can no longer afford to play politics with our national security, and that they need to stop pandering to Big Business interests and ethnic lobby groups. This is something that conservatives, liberals, libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, independents, and others should all be able to agree upon. If you don't have much time, focus on these four U.S. House members to contact with your frustrations about this bill. (For Rep. Sensenbrenner, you won't have to convince him to oppose the bill - of course - but you might want to thank him for sticking up for our nation's security.) Saturday, December 04, 2004
Student Affairs Tonight's CR Christmas Party was okay... A lot of people couldn't show up, though. Final exams begin on Monday, and this end-of-the-semester period is a stressful time for many of us. A couple of months ago, some students at UIS (who were chosen by the admissions department, I think), started offical UIS student weblogs. Some of us others who are students at this university were already blogging. Here are the weblogs of some of my fellow UIS students, who I know: Matt Wallace John Kelly Gabrielle Wiegand Kate Johnson After I started this blog (it was shortly after moving onto campus, at the beginning part of the Fall 2002 semester), I thought that I was the only student blogger here at UIS. I later found out, after a cool conversation with this guy, that I wasn't even the first. I just saw that there's another non-newbie blogger at UIS who I kind of know... He is part of a group blog that started at about the same time as the aforementioned one, but is also still running as of today. And no discussion of student-run websites at UIS should be completed without a mention of Brad Ward's famous TwoSouth.com site... I don't know how long it's been running, but I do know (as I've said before) that Mr. Ward is very good at this type of thing - a lot of people are aware of that by now. I just saw that his personal home page has been redone. There are some other good students websites at UIS; I may go over some of them in the future. For now, best of luck to everyone on finals!! I have to prepare, right now, for the annual UIS College Republicans Christmas Party, which is this evening. For last year's party, Santa Claus (who happens to be a Republican... you didn't know that?), dropped some surprises off for the attendees. Perhaps he will again. Before any more time passes, however, I should blog here about an exciting opportunity that I recently discovered for us to contribute to the goal of bringing peace and success to the people of Iraq. I am a newbie to this project, so I am not sure about the specifics, but I do know that the organization doing this is credible and well-established. 'Spirit of America' is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that has been working to help our troops better serve the people of Iraq, during this turbulent time period. For the 2nd year in a row, bloggers have been invited to assist in these efforts, by hosting a fundraising drive for Spirit of America. In fact, this "Friends of Iraq" Blogger Challenge has taken the form of a friendly competition, with bloggers either raising funds as individuals, or joining 'teams,' to get as much donated as possible to help this worthy cause. I have chosen to join a team called the "Fighting Fusileers for Freedom," led by our friends John and Beth Donovan. Please contribute what you can to this cause... It is totally legitimate, and your donations are tax-deductible. To contribute to this project, via our 'team' (the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom), please go to this web page: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/challenge/t/45 
For more information about this "Blogger Challenge," go here. 
Here is a list of my teammates (in the 'Fighting Fusileers...') - I'm probably supposed to copy and paste a listing of all of them in this entry, but I'm too tired (or too lazy) to do that right now... I will have more information posted here about this worthwhile challenge soon. Until then, please contribute what you can. Update: Like him, I've procrasinated, and haven't yet linked to the inaugural entry for our team's efforts in this fundraising drive (by John Donovan) or the 2nd entry (by Dean Esmay). Since then, there have been a couple of more entries... I think that each of us is supposed to do one for each day of this 'blogger challenge'. This 'blogger challenge' competition ends at 2:00 AM central time (3 AM eastern, midnight pacific) on Wednesday, December 15th. Tuesday, November 30, 2004
We should celebrate... what ? I write below about this year's Wizbang! Weblog Awards contest - I was just looking at the results from last year's (which I went to via the sidebar link from Kimberly Swygert's excellent education blog). From the 2003 awards page, I went over to Swanky Conservative, which did well in its Ecosystem category. Over there I found that it's somebody's birthday today. (The entry links to NRO's Corner... Surprise, suprise!! But this over at Michelle's is disappointing... Well, even the beautiful Ms. Malkin does stuff like that sometimes. I had thought awhile ago about writing on today's birthday boy - but I never got around to it. And with class coming up in a few hours, I shouldn't do any writing now either. But expect some more stuff on this and other topics in the near future. Update (12/2/04): For some reason, it's been hard to stay awake - yesterday and today... Here is a 5-part series on this topic, written by historian Ralph Raico. It is from the highly-recommended Costs of War, edited by John V. Denson. Also, check out Adam Young's in-depth article, and a shorter one by Michael Lind. Karen DeCoster recently blogged on this subject, as did another blogrollee here (and there), Australian Tim Gillin. And of course, here's something from Ann Coulter's good friend, Mr. Sobran.  ------  ------ 
------- Since I'm immersed at the moment with coursework, I thought it might be appropriate to feature some interesting books here that are connected to my current curriculum. These two were published just a few years ago, and were authored by one of my professors. (Plus, if you purchase them using the links above, I will receive a small commission... through Amazon.com's "Associates" program.) Monday, November 29, 2004
Focus and Concentration Once again, I stayed up all night. It seems quite difficult to concentrate sometimes; I've had several major assignments that need to be done, but they're taking longer than I thought. And it is frustrating, because there is so much that I want to comment on, and blog about. Right now though, I need to master the Turabian bibliography format, and finalize a History project that needs to be e-mailed to my professor. I just found out last night/this morning that Kevin Aylward is doing his Weblog Awards again (which some of us remember from last year). I tried to get in many nominations, despite the fact that the deadline for submissions was Sunday... I wonder if he will accept those that were posted after midnight. Last year, several of the blogs that I nominated were chosen for the ballot. It would be nice if that would happen again. Update: Last evening, I saw that a few of the categories for nomination were still open. The sites that I nominated for best "military blog" include Jason Van Steenwyk's excellent weblog... When I first found that site, it was called "Iraq Now," and Jason was stationed in Iraq. He is home now, I believe. I also nominated Jo Fish's Democratic Veteran and libertarian Andrew Olmsted's site. Both of those are very well-designed, and provide insightful commentary on both foreign affairs and domestic issues, from varying perspectives. For old time's sake, I nominated Sgt. Stryker's site and Tacitus'. And for new time's sake, I nominated a refreshingly-insightful weblog that I just found the other day: Southern Loyalist. It's great to see more traditionalist conservative and pro-liberty, anti-state sites in the Blogosphere. I also had to nominate Mr. Mays' blog: Army of One. And by the way: I probably would have nominated John Donovan's Argghhh! (for some category) if it hadn't already been. He has a great site... Also check out Mrs. Donovan's. Also, I think it would have been wrong for me not to have nominated the weblog at the "Operation Truth" site. I found out about that site awhile ago, but I don't think I knew that it now has a weblog. I hope, for the sake of fairness and balance, that Mr. Aylward includes this blog on the ballot. Thursday, November 25, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving!! I want to wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving holiday. Despite all that could be better (today, and in the recent past), I have a lot to be thankful for... We all do. It's already 8:45 PM, and I haven't even had anything to eat all day (my sleep/wake pattern has been screwy since the election time). I should be getting home now, but here are my past entries for this holiday: Thanksgiving 2003 Thanksgiving 2003 - Watchblog Thanksgiving 2002 There's a lot of good stuff there (if I do say so myself... though I think others might agree :-). I will be doing some more blogging over break, but until then - HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and yours!! Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Swamped I owe the readers of this weblog an apology. The past several weeks have been unbelievably hectic and stressful... I am the Chairman of the UIS College Republicans this year, and this semester has been especially significant - being the period of time during the key phase of a 4-year election season. Additionally, the UIS CRs has been much different this year that in years past; we have been doing so much more than before, and have become one of the most visible and active organizations on campus. I would love to elaborate on some of the great things that we have been working on, and which we still have planned for the future, and I would have liked to have been doing commentary on the elections, and on current affairs, like I've been doing at this site for over two years now. But unfortunately, one person can only do so much. In the period of time before the election, it seemed that there was so much to do, and way too little time to get it all done. (Those working on the GOP campaigns - such as those of Keyes for Senate and Zinga for Congress - probably especially felt this way... This has been a very frustrating election cycle, for those of us who are Republicans in Illinois.) One would think that after the election was over, things would get better for some of us. While that may have happened to some extent, there is still a lot going on, especially for those of us who are students. For the College Republicans, I had wanted to do something for Veterans Day (we did get some flyers posted up around campus), and I would still like to do a Thanksgiving or Christmas-related project for charity. We did commemorate "Freedom Week," and may have incited a little bit of dialogue between us and the campus leftists. But aside from that, I am way behind in many things... And it is going to be a great deal of work to get caught up. I will try to get back to blogging soon, but for now, I have overdue course work to complete, and... some other things to get straightened out. Please don't remove this site from your blogrolls, and I will try to have new material up here somewhat soon. Thanks! Wednesday, October 27, 2004
I had wanted to post this entry Thursday night... YES!! Finally, we go all the way to the pennant. Now, it's time to go all the way all the way!! Saturday, October 23, 2004
Before I forget A mole is a unit, or have you heard? Containing 6 x 10 to the 23rd. That's 6 with 23 zeros at the end, Much too big a number to comprehend. Happy Mole Day!! Update: I am super-duper busy right now, but here are the pertinent entries for this topic from the past two years: ||| 2003 ||| 2002 ||| (See - I've been around here for quite some time now!) Tuesday, September 28, 2004
What Keyes really said ----- [related story] Keyes exemplifies what people claim to want Alan Keyes vs. Barack Obama Central Illinoisans give Keyes standing ovations Does Alan hold the Keyes to Illinois? The Keyes candidacy is no laughing matter ------------ Updates (10/6/04): As I've said before (and as others have said as well), Democrats love war! Kerry & Obama concur with the war hawks "Rising Star" (not!) Barack Obama might support bombing Iran... (or Pakistan?) ---- President Musharraf's brother is voting for Obama... 'Adopt the Chief' ? Petition Drive If they ever choose to senselessly ban their honored symbol of tradition and pride, we should be happy to have him. Go Illini! Note: This link is just for informational purposes; an endorsement of this petition drive is not implied. 'The Real Deal' http://www.uis.edu/bloggers But some of us were already here! Update: Among the chosen "UIS Bloggers," I know Matt Wallace and John Kelley and Gabrielle Wiegand. Also check out Brad Ward's TwoSouth.com site, which chronicles the adventures of the young Capitol Scholars living in Lincoln Residence Hall. Brad also maintains the website for Christian Student Fellowship at UIS. As you can see, he's really good... Saturday, September 11, 2004
9/11 Anniversary Round-Up - Rev. Donald Sensing lets us know about a 9/11 retrospective by Joe Katzman - From La Shawn Barber: Where were you on September 11th? - The Blogfather provides a link to some 9/11 photos taken by his cousin-in-law - I wonder what type of themes Protest Warrior will be exhibiting in their demonstrations... I don't know if I really want to know... - Victor David Hanson provides us with the same old, same old... over at NRO - Check out the article for this occassion by Dr. David Alan Black - Here's what Libertarian Party presidential nominee Michael Badnarik has to say [It's Badnarik, and the Constitution Party's Michael Peroutka, who could be a real threat to Bush, more so than Nader's (or Cobb's threats to Kerry.] - And don't miss Peter Brimelow's article on VDare.com - Our friend Dan Flynn has been blogging about the 9/11 anniversary this week. But from his more-recent entry, I found out something that I didn't know... September 11th is also the anniversary of the famous Sharon Statement (which I've cited several times before), which laid out the guiding principles for the modern conservative movement. Via TownHall.com: Young conservatives vow to never forget Conservative campus activists rally to unify their campus communities on the anniversary of 9/11. Young America's Foundation: 'NEVER FORGET' Project From NewsMax.com: Nation Marks Third Anniversary of 9/11 Fisk: We Should Not Have Allowed 19 Terrorists to Change World Mystery of Those Who Jumped Bush: This Enemy Will Be Defeated [video and audio available at White House site] Canadian Remembers How Firefighter Saved Lives America Arises! The Washington Times editorial for today President Bush proclaims Patriot Day [WhiteHouse.gov] ** NEVER FORGET ** NOTE: The viewpoints expressed at this weblog are my own, and do not represent those of the UIS College Republicans, or any other organization with which I am involved. The semester is now almost in full swing, and things are really picking up. I have been very busy - not just with class, but also with heading the College Republicans chapter at my university. I've been working on a lot of things for CRs... You can see about some of them at the official UIS CR weblog. I am off now to one of our 9/11 Remembrance events listed there... The Candlelight Vigil. I'll have more stuff up here soon. For now, I want to suggest that we all spend today (what's left of it), reflecting on the atrocity that befell our nation three years ago, and about the issues, policies, people, places, and events regarding this tragedy. God bless our nation. May he keep us strong and safe, and be with our leaders, and our people, in the near and distant future, helping to guide our actions and emotions. Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Before I start posting my planned entries, I need to comment on something that I discovered just last night - though I wish I had found out about it sooner. As I mentioned below, I have moved back onto campus housing; I wasn't living here last school year, but I did the year before (I moved onto this campus, for the first time, in the Fall 2002 semester). Within about a month, I started this weblog. As I've said before, doing so is one of the best things that I've accomplished while a student here. There were several good weblogs and bloggers who I came across around that time, something that inspired me to start a weblog of my own, and to keep working on it, and to participate in the activities of the Blogsophere community as well. I was just looking through my UIS e-mail inbox earlier this evening; there are still e-mails in there from two years ago... and I came across a Washington Post article about fellow youth blogger Ben Domenech, which I had forwarded to others shortly after starting my blog - I think I was using that as an example of how people my age can be involved in politics and current affairs, and can deliver insightful commentary and analysis about the contemporary issues and controversies in the world around us. Also around that time, I began regularly reading, and posting comments at, the IU family of blogs - Hoosier Review, Paul Musgrave dot net (now Paul Musgrave dot com), and of course, the weblog of Josh Claybourn. It is the latter-mentioned individual who I've said, several times before, is the #1 collegiate conservative blogger - and is, without a doubt, one of the most principled, prolific, honest, and friendly individuals in the Blogosphere. I mentioned this in a comment post at the blog of another "Joshua" - Mr. Price - and I showed how my blog is a 'child' of JoshClaybourn.com, as per the blog 'family tree' system. (JoshClaybourn.com is, by the way, actually a child of But the purpose of this entry of mine is not just to comment on what some of you already know, but also, to send my condolences to Mr. Claybourn in regards to something that I found out last night, while looking for some material that I was wanting to use for a composition for class. In the process of doing that, I came across Josh's blog's front page (in the past, I've been reading it regularly... but in the past several months, my Blogosphere participation has been drastically less, and at times, almost non-existent). At his front page, I saw the news from about two weeks ago, about something very sad that happened in Josh's life. His mother passed away. So, for the first time that I can recall since I found his great blog (and perhaps, for the first time ever), JoshClaybourn.com has gone without daily posting. Guest bloggers will take over there very soon, but I hope that everyone who is reading this now will check out the touching and poignant web page that Josh has put together, in remembrance of his mother, describing what happened on her final day.  www.joshclaybourn.com/mom.html Once again, I wish that I had been reading Josh's blog regularly, like I had been doing before, and that I had known about this sooner. From my observations and interactions with him, I think that Josh is a very strong individual, and a man of strong faith and conviction. A situation like this is one that everyone our age hopes that we will never have to experience; I cannot even imagine how hard something like this must be. But out of sadness and grief can come renewal and growth, and with the help of friends, family members, and the goodness of God, we become able to continue leading our lives fulfillingly, while never, ever losing the memories and experiences that we know we will forever cherish. Josh is a courageous and gifted individual, and I am sure that he will remain so in the near and distant future. I want to extend my deepest condolences to him and his family, and to ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. - If you have a website, please consider 'signing' this digital card from Dr. Adrian Warnock. - Here is the pertinent post at blogs4God by Dean Peters. - Here is a prayer for the Claybourn family from Rick in VA. - Here is the local newspaper's obituary for Mrs. Michele Diane Tooley Claybourn. Update: Please read this excellent and pertinent post by Ryan Reynolds. And, as Ryan and Andy have reminded us, now would be a good time to call your mother... Call your father, as well. "...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 First Week 
Settling in... (on campus, once again); getting things in gear... participating in things... Getting CR stuff organized, etc... Check back soon! (later today, hopefully...) Update: Don't you just love the OfficeMax commercials - with "Rubberband Man"? Check this out. I actually found this via Neal Boortz. For some reason, I was at this blog the other day. Boortz claims to be a libertarian (perhaps he is), but he has been a cheerleader for "the liberation of Iraq" and "the War on Terrorism." This created some controversy when he was asked to once again address the Libertarian Party's national convention. In a column about this matter, Mr. Boortz does mention the Iraq issue, but instead chooses to focus on the [quite legitimate] criticism of the Libertarians with regard to the issue of drug legalization. I think that Boortz will be backing Bush, not Badnarik, in this year's election. (Though I'm not sure about this, I think the same may be true for conservative/libertarian Larry Elder, even though he endorsed Harry Browne over George W. Bush in the last election.) This column by Boortz is horrible and misleading - what he is doing is criticizing Democrats for not voting in favor of liberal, Democratic foreign policy measure; check out Jonah Goldberg's article about this. But at least this later column by Boortz is pretty cool. Sunday, August 08, 2004
 ----------  There were a few setbacks, but the 26th annual National Conservative Student Conference was an overall success. I met a lot of great people there, who share a lot of my views on major issues, such as life, liberty, foreign policy, immigration, neoconservatism, government, President Bush, and current affairs... There was also some diversity in the viewpoints among the conservative and libertarian students there, regarding these subjects. There were many excellent speakers there (though I would have liked to have seen some others as well), and it was a very educational and captivating time. The greatest event that I participated in at the conference was the exciting - and combative - "bull session" with the unbelievably outstanding Reginald Jones; issues were raised about lockstep partisanship, the statist and neoconservative philosophy, and about the Republican Party leadership's perceived treatment of its conservative base. Also - when Rich Lowry was our dinner banquet speaker on Thursday night, three of us traditionalists ganged up on him in the lobby following the dinner... It was a good debate, and I think that we perhaps won (though he might disagree). A major discussion point of the conference was the dissatisfaction by many of us at the policies of the Bush administration, but uncertainty about what to do about it - many of the students indicated that they would end up voting for President Bush however, though they wish the situation wasn't like it is. When we attended a White House briefing at the Einsehower Executive Office Building, the spokesman, during the question-and-answer session, got an earful, as student after student raised issue with the policies of this administration, on issues such as prescription drugs, profligate spending, amnesty for illegal aliens, border security, and Bush's perceived lack of dedication to conservative principles. In defense of President Bush, the guy made some pretty ridiculous, and rather arrogant, remarks; that was rather troubling to hear. Anyway, I will go into more detail about the conference events, the speakers we heard from, the issues that they raised, and about the broader topics regarding current affairs and politics, in future entries. This conference is likely an experience that I will never forget, and I would highly recommend that other conservative/libertarian students (college as well as high school) look into attending Young America's Foundation events, and contact YAF to get involved with their activities. They can help provide the resources, information, assistance, and inspiration that can help us make our campuses, our communities, and our country, better places in which to live. www.yaf.org (800) USA-1776 Related material:  NEW! - Time Magazine article on our convention NEW! - Agape Press: Commentary and News Briefs (2nd to last news item) NEW! - Even the liberals know that: We are WINNING the 'campus wars'!! NEW! - Family News in Focus: Conservative College Group Holds Convention Judge Roy Moore to students: U.S. legal system has lost its way Taking on Liberal Newspapers, Hans Zeiger [Good luck in the contest, Hans!] Republican Party at war with itself, Kyle Williams No Room for Nationalists on Kemp's "Shining Hill", Pat Buchanan The GOP's Blue-State Convention Slate, Terence P. Jeffrey Conservative Congressmen want Hyde in Prime Time, Joseph A. D'Agostino Don't Push Me, Mr. Bush, Edward Daley Unhelpful Conservative Bush-Bashing, Bill Sizemore Bush-Bashing Conservatives should focus on the big picture, Bobby Eberle Why Bush Will Win Re-Election, Alan Caruba Media Catches up with Spoons, Say Uncle [See my comment at that entry... Our friend from central Illinois has been making this point for awhile, and while I myself am not advocating anything, this is related to the party phenomenon issue that I brought up at a conference event, and which I've discussed before. Sometimes, the lesser of the two evils can yield worse results than the better evil.] WorldNetDaily Exclusive - Whistleblower Magazine: REVOLT ON THE RIGHT! Why the Republican Party is losing conservative voters NEW - There's Only One Choice, Charley Reese [Conservative columnist Charley Reese's endorsement of Bush in 2000 may have been key to his victory in Florida, i.e. - his election to the White House.] NEW - Conservative gets immigration platform plank, Washington Times [Congresswoman Hart was a speaker at the 2002 YAF Conservative Student Conference... We need more people like her in Congress!] NEW - Conservatives push for prime time spots at convention, LA Times NEW - The Conservatives case against George W. Bush, William Bryk, NY Press Update (8/11/04): Here is some of the material that I referenced or referred to on the convention floor (in connection with the scheduled events): At the Ron Robinson speech: Activists on Right fear waning influence, Washington Times Memo from Donald Devine (American Conservative Union): Revitalizing Conservatism The Return of Fusionism Frank Meyer and Fusionism At the Nigel Ashford speech: Christopher Hitchens --- Peter Hitchens "This is a left-wing conflict and Conservatives should not support it", Peter Hitchens Pertinent background material: - Paul J. Cella on the Hitchens/Hitchens dichotomy - Yours truly [commenting] on the Hitchens/Hitchens dichotomy - Dr. James Joyner on the intersection of neoconservatism and liberal internationalism - Yes, Lady Thatcher might perhaps now be possibly opposing the Iraq war.... At the Edwin Meese speech: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ginsburg is linked to liberal group At the Dan Flynn speech: Daniel McCarthy's column on young traditionalist conservatives: Young Men of the Old Right Jonah Goldberg's entry before Mr. McCarthy's column Dan Flynn's entry regarding Mr. McCarthy's column NY Times article that initially prompted Jonah's comments I just looked again at Mr. McCarthy's column - though he wrote that a couple of weeks ago, what he wrote about was relevant to this convention, as well as, I see, to YAF conventions of the past. Check out his mention of Reginald Jones! That column is a must-read for all YAFers, and for all young conservatives & libertarians and College Republicans. Wednesday, August 04, 2004
I had a pretty bad experience at the convention tonight. I'm kind of secluding myself in the computer lab here, not wanting to be around the other conference attendees for the moment (though they're all pretty much really nice). At this hour, I don't know if I have the emotional or physical fortitude to keep on blogging, but I will say this: Our libertarian friend Radley Balko, in a previously-mentioned entry at his blog - with a humorous fisking of an Ann Coulter speech, included a story that showed Ms. Coulter's softer side. I am not Ann Coulter (just as last night, Charles wasn't Jeane Kirkpatrick), but tonight, I thought I could relate - even though our situations were different... Here's what commenter RHJunior said at that above-mentioned entry by John Cole (in which Radley's entry is excerpted): The woman puts up on a daily basis with nastiness, pettiness, viciousness and outright libel and slander that would send any leftwing dingleballs into **public** wailing and blubbering for sympathy. Whatever made her break down and cry, Anne Coulter did so *offstage.* Then she wiped her face off and went on with the day like every other.... kicking liberal a-- like it so richly deserves. Very good. Here is some good stuff: - 'Be not afraid to fall down... You stall rise' - Hero And yesterday was a first for me, on a matter regarding the Blogosphere and fellow bloggers. Charles and Allison know about that. The rest of you will have to wait until I'm better able to blog... which hopefully won't be too long from now. This has, overall, been a neat convention so far. C-SPAN has been covering a lot of it - yesterday C-SPAN 2 covered about 4 hours in the afternoon, including a speech by John Stossel, Dr. Walter Williams, Ed Meese (I asked a question during that one), and Christina Hoff Sommers. www.yaf.org I think that I see the sun starting to come up... perhaps over The Watergate Hotel (which is right across from where we're staying). Well, the sun coming up over Watergate could be the signal of a new day ahead... hopefully, better than the last. Saturday, July 31, 2004
Liberals support war I've been asserting, for some time, that support for U.S. military intervention in foreign countries is typically a left-wing, Democratic, and statist viewpoint. I just saw the current Google News front page, at which the 2nd one of their "Top Stories" featured there is a certain Washington Post editorial: 'Realism' and Darfur Washington Post - 50 minutes ago THERE HAVE always been beggars outside palaces, and comfortable people have always preserved their capacity for happiness by screening out other people's pain. But this self-protective instinct seems particularly powerful at the moment, as genocide ... Powell implores Sudan to abide by UN resolution Dallas Morning News (subscription) Sudan govt. to accept UN resolution on Darfur crisis: ambassador EastDay.com New York Times - ABC News - Sydney Morning Herald - Guardian - and 1132 related ยป That WaPo editorial [rather disapprovingly] summarizes the viewpoint of foreign policy realism, which many conservatives believe in (though this has been less true within the past couple of years, since a Republican administration has been opposing it [though that may be changing... Let's hope...]). The Washington Post is a liberal newspaper, and in accordance with its leftist viewpoint, it seems to be advocating a U.S. military intervention in Sudan, on humanitarian grounds. The Post also supported the Iraq war, probably also in accordance with the viewpoint of liberal internationalism. That editorial implies the decreased importance of national sovereignty that is promoted when this type of liberal interventionism occurs. That is one reason why most conservatives and Republicans and libertarians opposed the interventionist foreign policy of the Clinton/Gore/Albright administration, and why many of us have continued to oppose it (or have been raising strong doubts and serious questions about it) during this administration. Democrats and liberals largely supported this type of foreign policy during the 1990's, but more of them oppose it now. This is what oftentimes happens in politics. Still, there are some principled Democrats and liberals who supported the Iraq war, just as they have supported warfare and military intervention in the past. For those who think that the Democrats will provide opposition to agressive warfare and military intervention, they need to better understand political philosophy, and the different schools of geopolitical thought. Democrats and liberals generally support warfare and military intervention more than most conservatives and Republicans do... I'm going to have to leave this entry truncated for now... I have a 6:00 AM flight tomorrow morning - For the first time ever, I'm attending the annual National Conservative Student Conference, sponsored by Young America's Foundation. It should be a week of enrichment, enjoyment, and education. With respect to the subject of this entry, check out the latest updates in the top post at my 'Antiwar Conservative' blog. If the Democrats are allowed to take the White House, we could have more warmongering and interventionism than we would if Bush were re-elected. http://warconservative.blogspot.com http://uis.blogspot.com/#107455604648659084 Updates: Here are some related readings, some of which are also found in that in-depth blog entry listed right above: - Liberals and Democrats should be supporting our policy in Iraq - Conservatives should not be supporting our policy in Iraq - Conservatives should not be supporting a war with Iraq - This is a left-wing conflict and Conservatives should not support it - Against liberal interventionism - In favor of liberal interventionism - A Liberal War: What the Left won't see - Moral imperative: Any self-respecting liberal would support the Iraq war - Liberals should support the Iraq war... Many already do - This war is justified only on liberal grounds - Where are all the liberal humanitarian interventionists now? - Antiwar movement inconsistent with liberal values -----> UPDATE (5/22/10): It's been years, but I thought I should add this very-pertinent and detailed piece, from The New Republic (one of several left-of-center organizations that strongly supported the Iraq war; others include the Progressive Policy Institute and Social Democrats USA). AN ARGUMENT FOR A NEW LIBERALISM - A Fighting Faith, Peter Beinart, Dec. 2, 2004 Hat tip: Sarah Wildman's recent column on Beinart Friday, July 30, 2004
Off to the conference... YAF.org I'm juggling a lot of things right now... and I have a lot to do before I leave the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some Amazon.com items that I hope you'll consider buying. (Note: The real reason I hope that you'll purchase these items - via the links below - is because I just became an Amazon.com 'Associate'... One of the things that I need to do right now is to find a good job, but for the meantime, any way to get some extra money would be useful. I knew that some people are able to do that from their blogs, and thanks to Elise, I have some ideas about how to do so. I just joined Amazon.com's 'Associate' program, so if you purchase the items below by following these links, I am supposed to get a little 'compensation' for that.) -------- -------- Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Note (7/27/04): I've been very busy, and somewhat tired, these past few days - I'll let you know what's been happening soon. I've made several amendments to this and other entries... On the subject of this post, I just found Josh's entry that it very pertinent. From there, I see that, despite our side not winning this game, my team was well-represented in it. Oops... I just realized that that post was from last year. I hope that Josh's hopes for this year come true, unlike those from the last. And now, it looks like they may indeed, as even those who doubted it have acknowledged. Oh yeah... I didn't even realize it - The All-Star Game is tonight... It's just about to start - at the Astros' Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas (the park once famously known as "Enron Field" [Oops!] and then as "Astros Field"). I hope the NL wins. Updates: Darn, they didn't... And it really sucks for Roger Clemens. Here are some good baseball-related blogs: Baseball Crank Baseball Musings Baseball Junkie Baseball Blogs Baseball News Blog Baseball Primer Baseball Boys Boy of Summer Only Baseball Matters Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat Dick Allen's Baseball Blog Jeremy Heit's Blog The Southpaw Clark & Addison Chronicle I included that last one because it belongs to our friend Jason Steffens (of 'Antioch Road')... Via the Baseball News Blog, I find that there are indeed blogs for my team: Redbird Nation Get Up, Baby! Royalties and Cardinalate (Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever been to any of those Cardinals weblogs. If there are any other St. Louis Cardinals blogs out there, drop me a line, and I will probably list it above.) Update (7/25/04): I should mention here the only sports-oriented weblog that blogrolls this one - Off Wing Opinion by Eric McErlain. I think that Mr. McErlain is a conservative who used to blog about politics as well, but now dedicates his weblog to sports. He is taking a break from blogging until August 9th, but he has a few guest bloggers at his site, including Prof. Jeff Cooper, who recently turned the big 4-0 (a few days after I turned the big 2-3). Update (7/24/04): I haven't been following the season this year (last year, I was in Josh's fantasy baseball league), but maybe I should have been. I need to point out something that I also remember gloating about my sophomore year of high school. * FIRST PLACE! * |
