http://grdurand.com/blogger/ Charter member of the lunatic fringe. en-us 30 Jul 2010 04:11:04 GMT 30 Jul 2010 04:11:04 GMT http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Zeta Woof's BlogWare grdurand@yahoo.com (Gordon R. Durand) grdurand@yahoo.com (Gordon R. Durand) http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/john-derbyshire.html On "the narcissism of small differences." "It is my experience that among white Americans of all regions and classes, feelings about black peoplemuch less Hispanic peoplein the generality are never as strong as feelings about other white groups. The passion you can hear from a liberal college professor in Massachusetts when he is talking about, say, NASCAR fans, far exceeds anything he will exhibit in regards to black people, if he ever thinks about black people at all. And vice, to some... 30 Jul 2010 04:05:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/john-derbyshire.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/no-first-amendment-here.html Julea Ward's Christian beliefs violate the American Counseling Association code of ethics. "A federal judge has ruled in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. ""Code of ethics." Ha. It's a code, all right. Nothing ethical about it. 29 Jul 2010 03:39:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/no-first-amendment-here.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/spare-me-soundtrack.html Uncle David sent a link to the Republican Governor's Association advertisement. I'm sure the message was great, but after about five seconds I had to shut it down. Let me tell you guys something. You have got to get some new music. Thirty years ago when Vangelis composed the music for Blade Runner, it was awesome. Ten years later it had become a clich. After twenty years it was boring. Now it's positively grating. If I never again in my life hear synthsized strings fading in to the crack of... 29 Jul 2010 03:20:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/spare-me-soundtrack.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/my-poor-car.html Marianne LaPiedra surveys the damage to her BMW at her home Monday in Encinitas, Calif., in an incident authorities suspect was arson. That photo made page A4 of The Wall Street Journal this morning, with no story. Just the caption. Like their readers wouldn't care. Because if they did, they could just google it like everybody else. 28 Jul 2010 01:18:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/my-poor-car.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/radical-in-chief.html Simon Schuster will publish Stanley Kurtz's new book on October 19. Given that reviews will appear in the preceeding few weeks, I'd say the timing is perfect. "Part biography, part history, part detective story, RADICAL-IN-CHIEF reveals the carefully hidden tale of Barack Obama's political past. Stanley Kurtz, whose research helped inject the Bill Ayers and ACORN issues into the 2008 presidential campaign, presents the results of more than two years of digging into President Obama's radical... 27 Jul 2010 14:44:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/radical-in-chief.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/ho-hum.html Another day in paradise. 26 Jul 2010 04:42:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/ho-hum.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/coals-to-newcastle.html Firearms to Alaska. The TSA guidelines are here, along with this dire warning. "Airlines may have their own additional requirements on the carriage of firearms and the amount of ammunition that you may have in your checked baggage. "Uh-oh, better check with Alaska Airlines. "The following items may be included in your normal baggage allowance..... Shooting Equipment One rifle case with rifles, scopes, one shooting mat, noise suppressors and small tools, orOne shotgun case with shotguns, orOne... 25 Jul 2010 20:56:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/coals-to-newcastle.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/commandeering-people.html James Taranto discusses the constitutional challenge to ObamaCare with Randy Barnett, author of Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty. It is not an encouraging read. Barnett laughs at the end, but it is gallows humor. Along the same lines, my current bedside read is The Citizen's Constitution: An Annotated Guide by Seth Lipsky. I want to understand what we had, and how we lost it. 25 Jul 2010 15:06:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/commandeering-people.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/she-said-it.html "If I am going to write to someone, I am going to write to them. In complete sentences. With punctuation. I am going to use the English language like Shakespeare and Milton by-gawd intended for it to be used, and I am damned well going to make it sit up and jump through little flaming hoops while I am at it! I am not going to be reduced to poking at buttons on a cell phone with my thumbs, turning out crap that looks like it was disgorged by an illiterate devolved protosimian fifth grader! "... 24 Jul 2010 23:44:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/she-said-it.html http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/refudiation.html William Kristol applauds Palin's neologism. "The case for linguistic innovation is this: We need a word that captures and conjoins the meanings of refutation and repudiation. And we need it now. To save the country from the ravages of contemporary liberalism, we have to refute liberal arguments and see liberal politicians repudiated at the polls. So the conservative agenda is, in a word, refudiation. Indeed, given the dramatic moment at which we have arrived, one might say that we now have... 24 Jul 2010 18:46:00 GMT http://grdurand.com/blogger/2010/07/refudiation.html