They just don't get it

I saw this Mark Noonan post on Blogs for Bush about the comparative birthrates for liberals and conservatives, and I started wondering about the future -- of the conservative movement:

In the United States, the percentage of the population under 5 years old is 7%. San Francisco? 5.5%. Manhattan? 4.9%. Key West? 4.7%. Beverly Hills? 3.7%. Malibu? 4.5%. West Hollywood? 1.6%. Vermont? 5.6%. Seattle? 5.9%. Marin County? 5.9%. Santa Monica? 5.4%.

So, as you can see, in our liberal bastions, you liberals just ain't having the number of kids you should have. I haven't been able to find the figures, but I'll bet a lot that in none of these jurisdictions - or anyplace else where liberal Demcorats do real well at election time - is the fertility rate 2.1% - which means each woman having, on average, 2.1 children over their life time. That is mere replacement rate - you don't grow, but you don't decline. if you aren't replacing yourselves, then you haven't got a future.

Now, some other stats - more population under 5 years old:

Salt Lake City? 8.9%. Las Vegas? 7.9%. Kansas City? 8.5%. Norfolk, VA? 9.6%. Palmdale, CA? 10.4%.

Getting the picture? The areas of the country which tend to vote heavily Republican are having kids - a lot more kids than you liberals are even thinking of having (and what is up with West Hollywood? I know there is a large gay community there - but isn't anyone doing heterosexual sex with a purpose out there?). Thing is, if you liberals out there keep voting for liberal politicians and by some weird set of circumstances get us to be like the Europeans - something you liberals seem to want - then you'll start to have us become enervated, just like they are, and in a short while we'll have as few children as they have in once-traditional but now liberal-soaked Italy...which is to say, hardly any at all. Since you aren't replacing yourselves, the only way for you to ensure that there is a liberal San Francisco in, say, 2050 is to selectively recruit someone else's kids to your worldview - which means you have to have kids to begin with, and only conservatives grounded in Judeo-Christian values do that sort of thing...unless, of course, you want to import the most fertile people in the world, Moslems...but having America become majority Moslem might not bode well for the annual Gay Pride parade in San Francisco, huh?

All joking aside, the only way you can preserve the liberal lifestyle you love so much is to continue to have it piggyback on a Judeo-Christian, conservative society. We're willing to do the heavy lifting (all that being in the police force, joining the Army and generally doing the useful work while you're out getting a piercing and heading to the next Live Earth concert). But we can't do it alone - we need conservative Presidents and Congresses and Supreme Courts...all the things we need to defend traditional values against attempst to export Manhattan to Kansas City.

Logical and statistically accurate ... and completely wrong.

For Manhattan is not being exported to Kansas City. Just the opposite: Kansas City is being exported to Manhattan. The argument about birthrates proceeds from a false assumption: that these children lack mobility and will stay in their Red States.

For those Red State birthrates may be high, and they may be having a lot of children. But when those children grow up a lot of them leave. For places like Manhattan or San Francisco or Los Angeles -- places that conservatives generally consider the dark heart of modern liberalism.

When I was in New York City last weekend, I was amazed at the number of young people (ages 20-40) on the streets. The conversations I had and overheard with them indicate a very high level of education. They were also friendly -- yes, New Yorkers can be and generally are friendly -- and very happy, happy to be in New York City.

I returned to Indianapolis, and the place seemed dead. There is no shame in being dead compared to New York City, but I walk the streets here and I see relatively few young people. The young people I do see here don't seem happy, particularly if they're educated. I see a pretense of being happy, but little outward expression of it, like I saw so much of in New York. The bars and restaurants are there -- but they're all chains. Indianapolis has spent a ton of money on the convention center and hotels in an effort to lure visitors and travelers -- but very few of them seem to want to relocate here. That's a problem.

There's no spark, no excitement, no creativity, no energy, no buzz here.

Indiana has had very well-documented problems retaining college graduates. The young and educated flee this place in droves. The birth rate is of no value to Indiana if the young people flee and never come back. I've known quite a few who have left the state or are considering doing so, and almost all of them tell me the same thing -- they don't like the atmosphere here: the conservative, Bible-thumping atmosphere.

Indianapolis is hardly alone in this regard. My own native Ohio is not far behind. Pennsylvania is struggling. And so is Missouri, but Indiana is what I am most familiar with, and I can see the problems here first hand.

There's no spark, no excitement, no creativity, no energy, no buzz here because any natural manifestation of it has been strangled in its crib by the extreme right in Indiana. They try to manufacture it when needed, but it tends to come off more like bread and circuses.

Any non-conformity to their "religious" or "family" values is punished. Enforced conformity destroys creativity. But creativity produces innovations and businesses. Most importantly, creativity is what makes a place fun. And young educated people want a place that's fun, and educated people tend to have more mobility. So if where they live is not fun, they will leave for someplace that is.

There seems to be no acknowledgement among people in Indiana or in the GOP as a whole that an extreme brand of conservatism is a turnoff to the very people who make a place exciting. New Yorkers actually take pride in the weird things you will see in New York. But many of the Red states make fun of it.

They are trying to stem the hemorrhaging of college graduates in Indiana -- tax breaks, reduced tuition, attracting high-end jobs and the like. And they are failing. They're doomed to failure unless the cultural issue is addressed. Most of the people I know who left already had steady jobs -- they left because of the atmosphere. No amount of tax reductions can change that. And businesses won't locate to a place where they feel they can't attract workers.

Defense and foreign policy have always been Republican strengths -- or were until W messed up the Iraq War -- as was fiscal responsibility -- or were until W messed up the budget. But no one wanted to live in the town in Footloose, yet that is the logical end result of cultural conservatism. Do we really want that?

And if you think I'm exaggerating, try buying a bottle of wine on a Sunday here.

Cultural conservatism is being rejected by young people. The rate at which those Red states create children can't cover for those very children voting with their feet.

(h/t: Conservative Grapevine)

A calculated risk

When I first heard the Bush administration is preparing a multi-billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia, I was dumbfounded. The House of Saud's friendship with the US is only a marriage of necessity at best. Their promotion of Wahabbist and anti-US sentiment across the globe is well-documented. There are definitely Islamofascist elements of the very large Saudi royal family. Selling them weapons risks information about those weapons systems -- or, worse, the weapons themselves -- getting into Islamofascist hands. The Bush administration has not exactly shown a sensitivity to this risk in the past, if the Dubai Ports World deal is any indication.

Captain Ed, though, has a different take:

Iran sees a disturbance in the balance of power, not in stability and certainly not in security. The Iranians have spent a fortune developing nuclear weapons which they still do not have. Their goal has been to establish themselves as the regional superpower and to dominate the Arab, primarily Sunni states of the Middle East. They also want to wipe Israel off the map, a desire made explicitly by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

However, Iran does not have the resources to bolster its conventional forces, in large part because of their nuclear program. American arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Egypt make it possible for those nations to prepare a deterrent to Iranian adventurism. If the US doesn't want to conduct a war against the Iranians -- and we have plenty of reasons to avoid one -- we can rely on our friends in the region to present Iran with a mini-MAD doctrine with real teeth that will keep them from gaining enough military confidence to put their plans into play.

This is a logical strategy on the part of the US, but he also sees the same risk I see:

Arming the Saudis entails some risk. The large and sprawling royal family has an uncomfortable diversity of belief, which includes radical jihadist impulses. The ruling clique has kept those princes at the margins, but that doesn't mean they'll remain there forever. Part of the American effort has been to bolster the moderates in the royal family by trading with them and providing arms to strengthen them militarily -- and so far, they have remained moderate in their foreign policy, even willing to engage Israel under certain circumstances.

A reasonable strategic calculus, all things being equal, but they may not be.

Back when the Shah was in power in Iran, we showed our friendship and support to him by selling him weapons, including then-state-of-the-art F-14s. They all fell into the mullahs' hands when they took power in 1979 (that's right, Ayatollah Khomeini had our F-14s in his arsenal. Not a good thing.) This is a definite possibility with Saudi Arabia. Once those weapons leave our hands, we can't control what happens to them. For example, we had an agreement with the Israelis about elements of our air defense technology -- and they sold it to the Chinese anyway. Finally, the autocratic governments of the Middle East traditionally have large security forces, but very small military forces. Why? The military is liable to topple the government. Witness how Saddam Hussein came to power. By selling the Saudis these weapons we may very well help create the disaster we hope to prevent.

A calculated risk, but one I'm not sure I'd take. Better to use our best weapons ourselves than to sell them.

Just added to my book rotation

Battles of the Dark Ages by Peter Marren and Medieval Warfare: England's Army in the Wars of the Middle Ages by Peter Reid

The Good and the Bad (OK, mostly the Bad)

I just finished Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862, by Edward Cunningham, edited by Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith. for a book to keep the attention of attention-span-of-a-six-year-old me to finish it so quickly is a major accomplishment. And to be sure, I highly recommend the book.

That said, it was a bit disappointing. This book is based on a manuscript by the late Prof. Cunningham. Professors Joiner and Smith edited it before publication. After Prof. Smith's excellent Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg, I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, they were not entirely met.

My guess is that Cunningham was not quite the writer that Smith is. The book is beset by problems that don't exactly kill it in my eyes, obviously, but can make reading it frustrating.

First, Cunningham tried too hard to weave human interest stories into the battle. While such stories can help illustrate a battle and give it a human element, it can also get in the way of the overall narrative and the tactical analysis. he kept interchanging the names of the units and their commanders, which is OK to a point, but then with he starts to use pronouns it gets confusing. Plus, on more than a few occasions I saw accounts of how Private Such-and-Such of the 71st Ohio took a slug in the hand, or something like that. It does not add to the story and only serves to muddy it.

Worse, in some places, Cunningham's account is not clear or even contradictory. For instance, in one paragraph he will say how the Union troops took a beating but still held, and in the very next paragraph, they are beating a hasty retreat. He says the Union gunboats Lexington and Tyler were an important element in the battle, then proceeds to question their effectiveness in shelling the Confederate advancing on Pittsburg Landing, then describes how they were, in fact, effective. He goes into detail describing the so-called "Hornet's Nest," a Federal defensive position based on a sunken road, and indicates that the engagement there was not all that important to the battle. All well and good, but the position that was unquestionably important to the outcome of the battle, Grant's final defense line at the gates of Pittsburgh Landing, is not described at all.

Finally, the most irritating element of the book proved to be the maps. The maps go to great lengths to identify the Federal campsites, long after they had lost their relevance to the battle. The maps also label the fields -- occasionally. For one thing, the narrative describes an encounter at the Peach Orchard, which is not marked on the accompanying map. But for the most part, roads, streams and terrain features are not marked. I saw too many references to a Rebel line ending at the Nark Road, but the Bark Road was rarely labeled on any of the maps. Furthermore, all the road indicators on the maps were the same. There were three major roads crossing the battlefield, but not onlydid the maps not label them, they made those major roads look the same as all the minor ones. Bloody Pond was not on the maps at all. The maps were so useless I had to look at the beautifully done map in The Golden Book of the Civil War by Charles Flato just to get some sense of the battlefield.

All in all, though, it is a gripping account of the battle and a worthwhile read.

Light posting for a bit (or "Have they found Greek fire?")

Light posting for a bit because of work, but my latest issue of Archaeology contains a bit about a new dig in Istanbul where they appear to have found an ancient Eastern Roman (Byzantine) warship. I wonder if this find can help unravel the mysteries of "Greek fire," the Eastern Roman version of napalm that was squirted from its warships onto enemy vessels or the water around them. To this day, no one knows the formula or even precisely how it was discharged from the Byzantine warships.

And the scandal continues to unfold

No, I'm not talking about Indiana's property tax disaster, or the debacle that was the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council meeting last night. I'm talking something far worse, if not exactly unexpected.

That's right, I'm talking about the NBA officiating scandal.

As you might expect, ESPN is attacking this thing like Kido Butai at Pearl Harbor. Take your pick:

Marc Stein
Bill Simmons
Wayne Drehs
Chris Sheridan

This could become the biggest scandal in sports history, far worse than the Black Sox. And it even has the potential to bring down the already deteriorating NBA.

Forget the Mob

If this video is any indication, allegedly dirty NBA referee Tim Donaghy might have to look over his shoulder for irate fans of the Phoenix Suns (and possibly the Cleveland Cavaliers).

People have wondered about NBA officials fixing ballgames for at least a quarter century now. This is the first hard evidence. David Stern needs to act quickly and take a hard look at the officiating, because this has the potential to be worse for the NBA than Barry Bonds, Pete Rose and the 1994 baseball strike put together were for baseball.

(h/t: the Corner)

Speaking of the Mexican KKK ... er, La Raza

this statement is the textbook definiton of gall.

New York thoughts

My second trip to New York City -- and first in 19 years -- has let me with numerous thoughts of New York City, all of them good.

1. First, as to my first game experience at Yankee Stadium, it was incredible. You can tell the stadium is old, but it is lovingly maintained. And everything in there is about the Yankees. Advertisements for other products and services are present, but not overpowering and you barely even notice them. Security was very present -- terrorism alerts, maybe? -- but did not detract at all from the experience, and, much to my surprise, I felt completely safe in the South Bronx.

The stadium itself is beautiful -- surprisingly clean with blue seats (though many are faded) and great sightlines. My only food experience there was a Nathan's hot dog, but it was excellent. They still use an actual organist, a rarity in baseball these days, but it is always my preference to use live music, which is another reason why one of my favorite sports figures is organist Vince Lascheid of the Pittsburgh Pirates and formerly of the Penguins. Even so, they did play a lot of recorded music.

The scoreboard is a little dated at this point -- LED boards were not bright enough to be seen consistently, and the operator often did not put up necessary statistical information, particularly involving the pitchers. Public address announcer Bob Sheppard is not called the "Voice of God" or the "Voice of Yankee Stadium" for nothing. He has been there since 1951. No hype in his voice, reverence for the game and its players, a real class act. None of the shouting that everyone seems to use today. His style is what every public address announcer should strive to achieve. That said, I often could not hear him over the recorded music.

I also listened to the Yankee radio broadcast (periodically pulling off my headphones to hear Sheppard), featuring two of the best announcers I have ever heard. You can tell that play-by-play guy John Sterling is rooting for the Yankees, but it does not overpower his game call by any means, let alone completely ruin it like it can for some broadcasters (Ken Harrelson, I'm talking about YOU). He would call the Yankees to task for mistakes and poor play. The amazing part for me, though, was the excellent analyst given buy the color commentator, Suzyn Waldman. You read that right, a woman is the Yankees color commentator.
I note that only for her accomplishment. She did a great job on the game by any standard, better in fact that most analysts I've heard before. Sterling and Waldman definitely added very much to the game experience, and I salute them.

All in all, Yankee Stadium was even better than I hoped it would be. I have to rank it as my second favorite baseball stadium, behind only Dodger Stadium, and not by much. It might overtake Dodger Stadium, because I'm basing my opinion of Dodger Stadium on my trips there in the mid-1990s, before Fox Corp. possibly ruined it.

2. I started off this post with the Yankee Stadium trip for a reason. The very jarring thing for me came at the Seventh Inning Stretch. Sheppard asked for a moment of silence to honor our service members across the globe, including those who gave their lives for our country. Sometimes, It takes a stadium a little bit to quiet down, and you can still hear the scattered voices. Not at Yankee Stadium. Library, pindrop quiet. Next thing was a recording of Katie Smith singing "God Bless America." You could hear the crowd sing it loudly in Yankee Stadium.

I may disagree with New York's politics, but these people are as patriotic as anyone, including me. I will trash the vile Hillary Clinton for her stated policies, lies, arrogance and veiled anti-Americanism, but disagree as I might with much of Charlie Schumer's policies, I do not question his patriotism one bit. He is like those people with me at Yankee Stadium.

3. As we left Yankee Stadium after the Yanks' victory over Tampa Bay, they played "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra over the loudspeakers. And you could hear much of the crowd singing that, too (I even saw one girl dancing to it). I talked to a number of New Yorkers who, without prompting, expressed their love for the city. New Yorkers generally seem to take an immense pride in their city, and love it dearly. They should. They have every reason to.

4. Given New Yorkers' (undeserved) reputation for rudeness, it's also amazing how friendly people were with me. I wonder how much of it had to do with my new Yankee jersey.

5. For places to eat, I highly recommend Mickey Mantle's at Central Park South (great burgers and cheesecake) and Katz's Deli on Houston Street. Loved them both. Katz's has had a program of shipping its east to the troops overseas since World War II. Another sign of patriotism.

6. I also lost count of the number of different languages I heard being used in New York City. Made me wonder if my fears about the balkanizing effect of the Spanish language on the US, particularly in the Southwest, might be overblown. But it would help if the Mexican KKK (this means you, La Raza), would shut up and leave.

7. I was also amazed at how young New Yorkers seemed to be. Lotsa 20- and 30-somethings. I've heard some claims that the GOP has the demographic advantage because red states have higher birth rates than blue states. i think this "advantage" may be overstated at best, in that the kids born in these red states might hate living there and move to a place like New York at first chance. Indiana, with its persistent hemorrhaging of young, educated singles, might be a good example. Walk the streets of Indianapolis and you get nowhere near the life, energy and youth you see in New York City. In fact, compared to New York, Indianapolis is dead. I should probably do an independent post on this at some point.

8. I also visited Ground Zero, or as they officially (and properly) call it, the World Trade Center site. The World Trade Center is still there, just not the Twin Towers. The MTA and PATH stations are operating, and 7 World Trade Center is rebuilt and operating. The World Financial Center, continues to curve around where the Twin Towers once stood.

I wondered how I would take to this site. My big memory of my first trip to New York City was standing on Liberty Island staring into gorgeous Lower Manhattan and the sheer majesty of the Twin Towers reflecting the morning light. I could not find an image at that time of day specific to the Twin Towers; the closest thing I could find to the vuew itself was off of Michael Patrick Corriss' site.



That will always remain my ideal image of Lower Manhattan. I have been adamant about rebuilding the Twin Towers, and you can now see why.

That said, after seeing the actual plans for the so called "Freedom Tower," whose offical name will be 1 World Trade Center, I feel much better about the replacement.


It is not clear from this photo, off of Wikipeia, is not clear, but the photos posted at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's kiosk at the World Trade Center indicate that the single tower will have an outward appearance very similar to the Twin Towers, with a sort of exoskeleton that may be just decoration in a nod to the Twin Towers. The building itself will be structurally more sound, octagonal with a larger base. Finally, though they do not show up on the Wiki entry, the LMDC kiosk shows photos with what might be called an "offensive line" -- skyscrapers surrounding 1 World Trade Center. Not nearly as tall as WTC, but tall enough -- attacking them is not worthwhile, but they force a 9/11 style attack to hit only the top floors of WTC, with a corresponding minimization of damage and reduced risk of collapse. The LMDC images show them almost in a stairstep pattern -- the buildings increasing in height. Actually, the pattern might be called a ramp, since the buildings appear to have slanting rooftops that fit together.

Finally, there is supposed to be a restaurant at about Floor 110. Windows on the World returns.

I think it's time

for one of those occasional military coups that occur in Turkey to protect the secularism of the government.

Where in the world

have I been, instead of blogging? Here's a hint:


I LOVE NEW YORK!!!

A capital crime

is there anyone else who thinks that Michael Vick and his associates (dog fighting) and those two teenage girls in northern California (setting an 8-week old kitten on fire) should face the death penalty if they are found guilty of animal cruelty? I mean, it takes a pretty vile .. I won't call them humans; how 'bout "human debris?" -- to pull of these kinds of stunts.

Animals, particualry small ones, are helpless against people who seek to do them harm. People can at least defend themselves and reason their way out of situations. Animals cannot.

I would definitely add animal cruelty to murder, rape, child molestation, robbery, residential burglary, auto theft, and arson as capital crimes for entry into my points system. Anyone who commits these crimes is beyond redemption.

And before you ask

here are some of my favorite male Hollywood personalities:

Ian McDiarmid -- Star Wars
Christopher Lee -- Star Wars, Lord of the Rings
Alan Rickman -- Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Bruce Willis -- Die Hard movies, the Fifth Element
Jack Nicholson -- the Shining, Batman
Christopher Walken -- Batman Returns, A View to a Kill
John Cleese -- Fawlty Towers, Monty Python
Leslie Nielsen -- Police Squad, Naked Gun
Bruce Boxleitner -- Babylon 5
Harrison Ford -- Star Wars, Indiana Jones movies
David Hyde Pierce -- Frasier
David Caruso -- CSI: Miami
Brendan Fraser -- the Mummy
Anthony LaPaglia -- Without a Trace
James Spader -- Boston Legal
Edward James Olmos -- the new Battlestar Galactica
Steven Weber -- Wings
Norm MacDonald -- Saturday Night Live

The Anti-Skanks

And now for something completely different.

In the spirit of my earlier post on Emily Deschanel, while many of today's female stars have sold some or all of their souls for fame -- without going into much more detail, we call them "skanks" -- and others have sold and mortgaged themselves so much that they have achieved what I call "Total Skankitude" -- this means you, Paris Hilton -- there are a select group of occasionally obscure female entertainment personalities of beauty, intelligence, grace and character who not only have not sunk to the level of the Britney Spearses of the world, not so much as let it touch them. They have maintained their dignity and class throughout their time in Hollywood. I call them the Anti-Skanks, because they are the opposite of what now gets the publicity today, but they are what Hollywood should be.

Not surprisingly, they are also my favorite female personalities. So, to these people, regardless of their political affiliation, I say thank you for helping to maintain some semblance of my faith in the good remaining in Hollywood.

Melina Kanakaredes -- CSI: NY
Haylie Ecker -- classical violinist, lead violinist of the group "Bond"
Kelly Rowan -- The OC
Dina Meyer -- the Saw movie series; Star Trek: Nemesis
Julie Bowen -- Boston Legal
Emily Deschanel -- Bones
Lake Bell -- Boston Legal
Emmanuelle Vaugier -- CSI: NY, Saw II
Radha Mitchell -- Silent Hill
Poppy Montgomery -- Without a Trace
Marina Sirtis -- Star Trek: The Next Generation and its movies
Susan Misner -- Chicago
Deborah Gibson -- singer
Jennifer Paige -- singer
Sarah Michelle Gellar -- The Grudge
Kerri Russell -- Felicity
Maren Jensen -- the original Battlestar Galactica
Claire Forlani -- CSI: NY
Mira Furlan -- Babylon 5
Claudia Christian -- Babylon 5

Inspirational quote of the day

I gotta have more cowbell!!!-- Bruce Dickinson (Christopher Walken)

My latest female fascination of the actress variety

Emily Deschanel, who plays Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones. They need to make more women like "Bones" -- beautiful, smart and intellectually confident.

The real cause of global warming

It's the SUN, dammit! Not cars, not power plants, not cows. The SUN!!!

Latest addition to my book rotation

Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862, by Edward Cunningham, edited by Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith. I've been trying to add the Civil War to my knowledge of military history, which is generally centered on the ancient world (Greece, Rome and Egypt) and World War II. My Civil War library is somewhat small at the moment, but it growing.

Smith, who has edited this work, also wrote Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg, which is the best Civil War book I have read so far and is on my list of best military hostory books ever. If Shiloh is half as good as Champion Hill, it will be excellent.

Slouching toward stupidity

Michelle Malkin has updates on two major outrages:

First, Dunkin Donuts did not want to renew its franchise agreement with a Muslim man who refused to sell Dunkin Donuts' pork breakfast products. Naturally, he sued, claiming discrimination. His suit got tossed, rightfully, at the trial court, but the 7th Circuit reversed:

A discrimination lawsuit filed by a Muslim Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee who was not allowed to renew his contract with the chain because of a refusal to sell pork products can proceed, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The decision reversed an Illinois federal court judge’s 2004 ruling that rejected Walid Elkhatib’s argument that Dunkin’ Donuts discriminated against him based on his race by making the sale of breakfast sandwiches with bacon, ham or sausage a mandatory part of his franchise agreement.

According to court papers, Elkhatib, a Palestinian Arab, has been a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee since 1979, before the company began selling any pork.

Once breakfast sandwiches were introduced in 1984, Elkhatib’s Chicago-area Dunkin’ Donuts outlets sold them without bacon, ham or sausage for nearly 20 years. The company did not object, even providing him with a sign that said “Meat Products Not Available.”

In 2002, however, Elkhatib was told he would not be able to relocate a store or renew his franchisee agreements due to his failure to carry the full product line.

Elkhatib sued Dunkin’ Donuts and its former parent company, Allied Domecq, later that year, claiming that the chain’s refusal to renew his franchises constituted racial discrimination.

In an opinion Tuesday, U.S. Circuit Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner wrote that because three other Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees in the area were allowed to continue operating without selling breakfast sandwiches for reasons other than the owners’ religious views such as space or lease restrictions, that there was sufficient evidence to take the suit to trial.

Nice. Where were these guys when Indiana public schools used to refuse to serve fish on Fridays during Lent? I guess it's OK to be anti-Catholic, but you can't inconvenience the Religion of Peace.

It's a contract, guys. You can put any term you want in it, so long as it's legal. Nothing illegal about what Dunkin Donuts did.

Even more infuriating to me are the actions of the NAACP. Take a wild guess at what they did this time. Nothing you haven't seen before:

“Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said he stands by his comments about black youth despite a call from the local NAACP to apologize.

McCrory said he commented accurately when he wrote that “too many of our youth, primarily African American, are imitating and/or participating in a gangster type of dress, attitude, behavior and action.”

His remarks came in a July 5 letter to the city manager in which McCrory congratulated police for their presence the night before, when 169 people - mostly black - were arrested in uptown.

Ken White, president of the Charlotte Branch of the NAACP, said Wednesday that the mayor’s comments painted “African American youth with a broad swath that cuts deep in many of our communities.”

“Everyone is aware that black people have been saddled with many negative stereotypes,” White said. “Mr. McCrory’s comments reinforce that stereotype especially to those inclined to hold on to racist thinking and behavior.”

White said the mayor’s letter would have been fine had he not singled out black youth.

McCrory said he understands his remarks offended some people. But, citing statistics showing more than 60 percent of Charlotte’s gang members are black, McCrory said he wouldn’t write the letter any differently today.”

“We in this community pride ourselves in equality and justice” The NAACP speakers stated in a press conference a week later.

It's the "Every time you arrest a black guy it's racism" routine.

Remember, every time some black thug is shot robbing a liquor store, it's excessive force because of racism. It's never the black thug's fault. It's racism. It's racism even to notice. Every. Single. Time.

Here in Indianapolis, we are having a major crime wave. Yet we are expected to ignore the statistics that show young black males commit a larger share of crime to their percentage of the population. We're supposed to not feel threatened when we see some black guy with a ballcap turned sideways wearing a FUBU jacket in 90-degree heat with baggy male capri pants hanging down so low thatthey reveal his (dirty) underwear, shoes that cost more than my car, more bling than King Tut and more paint on his body than on the Sistine Chapel, walking toward your car on a dark street corner. We're not supposed to notice the spike in crime downtown during Indiana Black Expo and the Circle City Classic, in spite of the massive police presence, which is not needed and is there only because of racism, of course.

North Carolina blogger Michael Kraft has this to say:

“We in this community pride ourselves in equality and justice” The NAACP speakers stated in a press conference a week later.

This justice doesnt seem to include justice for other ethinic groups and honest citizens that continue to see 85% of crimes at public events from the community that the NAACP represents.

We are still awaiting the press conference from the NAACP where they do something, anything to help the entire community rid themselves of the problems downtown.

The NAACP is so incredibly blind and racist in light of the statistics and facts, that they should be apologizing to the mayor and to the 95% of the community that is trying to live in a safe community.

If the NAACP is willing to give 145 apologees for every arrest that supports the statements of Pat McCrory, then perhaps that can get there 1 apology for having their feelings hurt by the truth.

I for one an sick of the NAACP and their attemnpts to divide communities for their own benefit.

The NAACP empowers criminals and predators on the good people of America who just want to be left alone.

if you want to look at who bears responsibility for the increasing crime rate and everyone feeling unsafe, the NAACP deserves to be charged as an accessory.

UPDATE: bad link fixed

Fawltianapolis?

Lately, I have been partial to the British comedy Fawlty Towers starring John Cleese, and written by Cleese and his then-wife, Connie Booth, who is from Indianapolis.

For those of you who have not seen Fawlty Towers, it is about a hotel run by a manager (Basil Fawlty, played by Cleese) who believes he would run a world-class hotel ... if not for the guests. At the same time, he desperately wants to attain a higher social class. So he falls all over kissing up and giving every benefit possible to anyone who is rich or has a title, while generally looking down on and even mistreating the everyday commoner, which forms the vast majority of his hotel's guests. On top of that, he's cheap.

Without expressing any opinion as to local politics, does anyone see any parallels between Fawlty Towers and the City of Indianapolis.

Discuss.

UPDATE: I changed the title to something I liked better.

But does it make up for Karen Holbrook?

Good news for THE Ohio State University today, as Gordon Gee returns as university president:

Gordon Gee, the affable, bow-tie-sporting president of Ohio State University from 1990 to '97, will return.

This morning, Gee informed trustees of Vanderbilt University, where he is currently chancellor, that he will leave for OSU, said Vanderbilt spokesman Jim Patterson.

Gee, 63, denied his interest in the job in a June 26 story in the Nashville Tennessean, saying "his commitment to Vanderbilt is unwavering and unshakable."

But OSU, which has been without a president since Karen Holbrook retired in mid-June, apparently proved irresistible. Gee has been enormously popular at Vanderbilt. But he recently came under scrutiny after the Wall Street Journal last year detailed his expensive renovations to the school-owned presidential mansion and his wife's use of marijuana at the house. Gee has since divorced his wife, Constance, who is on the faculty at Vanderbilt.

Gee was president at tOSU when I was an undergrad there, and he did a great job, except for that whole not-firing-John Cooper thing and calling our 1992 tie with scUM "one of the greatest victories" in Ohio State history.

But aside from that, he was good for the school. Gee was frequently seen walking the campus and actually (gasp!) talking to students about their concerns. And he kept PC crap to a minumum.

But after the utterly disastrous tenure of Karen Holbrook -- hint: at Ohio State you do NOT wear BLUE to an athletic press conference -- tOSU needed to hit a home run. And they appear to have done so.

Yes, I am a geek

Posting has been light because I have been pouring over the 1,000-page (literally) war college analysis of the Battle of Surigao Strait. I'm also planning a post on environmental factors in military strategy.

Good news on the constitutional front

Last fall there was a certain, um, federal judicial decision that ruled Bush's warrantless surveillance of international communications illegal and demanded a cessation of the NSA's activities in this program last fall. Not a proper decision, to say the least, IMHO, but what do I know? I'm only a lawyer with a national security policy degree, not a federal judge on Mount Olympus. Fortunately, the US 6th Circuit overruled the decision. Orin Kerr has analysis here. Don't think this is the end of the story.

I'm surrounded by idiots

Literally. I've got brainless rednecks and thug teenagers shooting off fireworks to the west, east and south of me. Sounds like the friggin' Gaza Strip out there. We'll be lucky if our entire subdivision isn't burned down by these morons.

I thought I told you to keep that torpedo in your pocket.

© 2007 Jeffrey R. Cox

(About the title: no, it’s not what you think. Get your mind out of the gutter!)

I’ve just finished reading Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. Again. I cannot overstate how excellent this book is. Best. World War II Book. Ever.

Leaving aside the nature of the engagement, it does feature a cameo by one of my favorite ships of the Pacific War, the Japanese heavy cruiser HIJMS Mogami.

I have a number of favorite ships from World War II. On the U.S. side, the most famous are probably the battleships Missouri, where the Japanese surrendered, and Arizona, whose destruction at Pearl Harbor became the visualization of why we fought.

But have you heard of the Enterprise? No, not the starship, or the space shuttle, or the nuclear aircraft carrier that used to have a control island that resembled one of Anna Nicole Smith’s breasts. I’m talking the World War II aircraft carrier, CV-6, which fought in every carrier battle in the Pacific War except for Coral Sea – and she didn’t fight there only because she was escorting the carrier Hornet to her famous raid on Tokyo with B-25 bombers.

How ‘bout the heavy cruiser Portland, “Sweet Pea,” who was a faithful consort to our carriers across the Pacific and held the line at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of Surigao Strait? The heavy cruiser Houston, who fought a hopeless campaign against the Japanese in Indonesia at the outset of the war? The destroyer Laffey? She fought in only one battle of note, the savage First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal where she was sunk by the Japanese battleship Hiei, but she may have saved the day for the outgunned Americans by machine gunning the Hiei’s bridge, killing her captain and wounding Japanese Admiral Abe, helping to convince him to withdraw.

On the Japanese side, though somewhat more obscure for the American audience, the superbattleship Yamato is the most famous, and justifiably so. She was a work of art. But I cannot forget other Nihon Kaigun ships, either. The battleships Fuso and Yamashiro were old and militarily useless, but they were beautiful, taking the Japanese trademark of the towering pagoda superstructure (oddly absent on the Yamatos) to such an extreme that if you put Fuso and Yamashiro side-by-side they resembled the World Trade Center.

There is also a nemesis of the US Navy, the heavy cruiser Chokai, Nihon Kaigun’s version of the Portland, except she had torpedoes and a giant bridge structure.

Then there is the Mogami, a fine cruiser who was well-handled and well-crewed, but whose record was not all the Japanese had hoped for.

Mogami was completed in 1935, at a time when the Japanese were allegedly bound by the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The treaty required cruisers to have a displacement no more than 10,000 tons. The Japanese weren’t real happy about this, so they tried a few tricks.

They tried to save weight by welding hull plates together instead of riveting them. In addition, Mogami was completed as a light cruiser, with 6-inch guns in 5 triple turrets. Even with these adjustments, Mogami came in at more than 13,000 tons. But foreign naval observers couldn’t very well weigh her, so they couldn’t prove anything. Still, they were suspicious.

But those welds came with a price. When Mogami fired her main armament, the welds along her sides popped. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, a bad thing. Back to the drawing board, where reinforcements to Mogami’s overloaded hull were designed and implemented.

Shortly before the war, Mogami had her turrets replaced. It seems that her turret rings were designed to accept a 6-inch triple turret or an 8-inch dual turret. The Japanese replaced the 6-inchers with the 8-inchers, and – Presto! – instant heavy cruiser. The 6-inch turrets were not discarded, but found their way to Yamato, where they served as secondary armament.

Mogami was the namesake of a class of four ships, the others were Mikuma, Kumano and Suzuya. All of which were converted to heavy cruisers as Mogami was. The Japanese had a habit of keeping ship classmates together, which they did with the Mogamis in Cruiser Division 7 (CruDiv 7). Yet Mogami was apparently never the flagship of the division. Maybe everyone remembered those welds popping.

Mogami went on to the Pacific War to compile a record that was, shall we say?, unique.

Mogami made her combat debut on the night of February 28, 1942, in what has been called the Battle of the Sunda Strait. To this day, what happened in that battle is unclear and the subject of debate.

What is clear, though, is that the forementioned USS Houston and the light cruiser HMAS Perth, desperately low on ammunition, were attempting to flee the defeat at the Battle of the Java Sea and the Indonesia, whose fall was imminent, by cutting through the Sunda Strait. They did not know that the Japanese had already begun landing troops in Bantam Bay, at the entrance to Sunda Strait. The bay was packed with transports unloading troops, guarded by only three Japanese destroyers. In the dark, Houston and Perth stumbled onto them.

The Japanese, fearing they were outgunned, called on nearby CruDiv 7 for help. CruDiv 7 was under the command of Rear Admiral Kurita Takeo, flying his flag in the cruiser Kumano. Showing the fortitude under fire that would make him so famous later in the war, Kurita decided to stay behind while having Mogami and Mikuma handle the situation. A destroyer division led by the light cruiser Natori also came in.

Houston and Perth fought gallantly by any measure, their heroics continue to live on in the annals of both the US and Royal Australian navies, but hopelessly outnumbered and out of ammunition they ultimately succumbed. So did four Japanese transports, including the one carrying the army general commanding the invasion, and a minesweeper. It would be nice to think those sinkings were the work of the Houston and Perth, and many histories give them the credit. The Japanese, impressed by their heroics, attempted to do so. And certainly the Houston and Perth were responsible for the sinkings. But those ships were sunk by torpedoes -- torpedoes fired by the Japanese that sped past their intended targets and into the bay filled with transports.

Who fired the torpedoes that sank the transports? No one is sure; it depends who you believe. Eric LaCroix and Linton Wells II believe it was the destroyer Fubuki.John Toland says it was the Mikuma. CombinedFleet.com asserts that it was the Mogami and the Fubuki.

Not an auspicious beginning, perhaps, but it had to get better. Right?

Mogami next shows up at the battle of Midway. In the confused and desperate effort to salvage the battle, on June 5, 1942, Admiral Yamamoto orders CruDiv 7 to bombard the Midway airfield in preparation for the invasion, but he changes his mind and orders Admiral Kurita and his charges to retire.

In the night, while CruDiv 7 is traveling in line-ahead formation, Kurita’s flagship Kumano spots the American submarine Tambor. Kumano sends up the alarm and Kurita orders a 45-degree echelon turn to port. Yet Kumano panics and turns too sharply. Suzuya, right behind it, makes the proper turn but has to swerve to starboard to avoid the Kumano. Mikuma, right behind Suzuya, makes the proper turn, but also has to swerve to avoid Kumano, this time to port.

Mogami, right behind Mikuma, makes the proper turn, but sees Kumano and Suzuya taking off without her, so she turns to starboard to match Suzuya’s course. She does not see Mikuma’s turn to port to avoid Kumano, does not see Mikuma at all until she is broadside dead ahead of her, with no time to avoid a collision. Mogami’s bow plows into Mikuma.

The damage to Mikuma is limited, with only an oil tank holed. But Mogami is sorely hurt. Her bow is crushed, losing some 40 feet of its length, and is bent almost perpendicularly to port in front of the No. 1 turret. As a result, her speed is roughly halved.

Once again showing the fortitude under fire that would make him so famous later in the war, Kurita decides to continue his flight and let his two damaged cruisers fend for themselves with only a pair of destroyers to help them, though in fairness to him he had American air power to worry about.

Which was proven in spades. Mogami and Mikuma got through June 5 all right, but on June 6, US aircraft, following an oil slick coming from Mikuma’s damaged oil tanks, arrive and subject the pair to a day-long battering. One bomb hit detonates Mikuma’s torpedoes and blows the aft half of the cruiser to perdition. Mikuma is abandoned and sinks sometime later. The cruiser is photographed in her death throes by a US pilot; the picture becomes one of the most famous images of World War II.

Japanese Mogami-class cruiser Mikuma, burning after the Battle of Midway. Mikuma was damaged in a collision with her sister ship Mogami. Later US air attacks detonated her aft torpedo stowage, destroying her mainmast, aft superstructure, aft half of her stack and most of the aft half of the ship. The torpedo mounts can be seen tained outwards, probably in a futile attempt to jettison the torpedoes. Salors can be seen at the stern abandoning ship.

Mogami is badly beaten up as well, but after the collision her damage control officer had jettisoned her torpedoes. A bomb hits the torpedo stowage, but the foresight of the damage control officer prevents a similar fate to Mikuma. Mogami is able to limp back to port. For all of the concern after her welds popped, she showed herself to be extremely resilient.

But while repairing all her damage, the Japanese decide they need another seaplane cruiser. Before the war, the Japanese had designed what were often called “seaplane cruisers” – heavy cruisers with their aft turrets removed so they could carry a lot of float planes – to act as reconnaissance support for their aircraft carriers. They already had two of them, the Tone-class cruisers Tone and Chikuma. For some reason they decided that they needed another one, even though Midway had shown that they didn’t do all that good a job, partly because the Japanese had assigned the wrong planes to the cruisers, and after Midway they had a lot fewer carriers to support. So Mogami was lengthened, her aft turrets removed, stowage spaces added, and she was converted to a seaplane cruiser.

But she didn’t serve with the carriers, though ultimately neither did Tone and Chikuma. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, she was assigned to the First Striking Force, under the command of Kurita. But she was assigned to its Third Section (sometimes called “Force C”), and supposed to accompany the forementioned battleships Fuso and Yamashiro and four destroyers through the Surigao Strait, the southern entrance to Leyte Gulf. Mogami carried all of one floatplane. Third Section was under the command of Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji, flying his flag in the Yamashiro.

Nishimura would go on to show the fortitude under fire that was so often found lacking in Kurita, but not necessarily the astuteness under fire. On October 25, 1944, Third Section tried to force the Surigao Strait in what became known as the Battle of the Surigao Strait. Nishimura's force was attacked by torpedo-firing US destroyers in the darkness – the US Navy had learned a lot about night time fighting in the Solomons – yet Nishimura took almost no evasive action. Their attacks were effective – they knocked out three destroyers and the battleship Fuso. In the Fuso’s case, she represented about half of Nishimura’s firepower. She was also positioned right behind Nishimura’s flagship Yamashiro, but not only did Nishimura not notice her being torpedoed and shearing out of line, he also apparently did not Fuso later exploding and breaking in two.

In any case, by the time they reached the US battleships blocking the entrance to Leyte Gulf, all that was left of Third Section was Mogami, the destroyer Shigure, and the battleship Yamashiro, which had sustained several torpedo hits. They didn’t stand a chance.

Yamashiro took an avalanche of shellfire from US battleships that had been raised from the mud at Pearl Harbor before turning around, only to be sunk by torpedoes from yet another group of US destroyers. Mogami and Shigure turned around to retreat as well, but in the process Mogami took a salvo from the forementioned Portland. One shell exploded on her bridge, killing her captain and executive officer. Other shells so badly damaged her engines and steering that she came close to stopping. But she didn’t stop.

Enter the rather optimistically named “Second Striking Force” under Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide. Unlike Kurita’s mammoth First Striking Force, Second Striking Force was small, consisting only of three cruisers and four destroyers, and one of those cruisers had by this time been torpedoed by US PT boats. Shima had no information on what happened to Nishimura. He had seen only the blazing wreck of the Fuso (which he had mistaken for two burning battleships) the destroyer Shigure (who had told him nothing) and the burning and apparently adrift Mogami.

Still, Shima thought he was coming to Nishimura’s support. He saw two targets on his radar, such as it was, and decided to attack them with torpedoes. His two remaining cruisers, heavy cruisers Nachi and Ashigara, would turn to starboard to stay out of the glare of Mogami’s flames. They turned and fired their torpedoes. Only then did Nachi discover that Mogami wasn’t stopped, but was moving slowly southward, directly into Nachi’s path.

Nachi swerved to starboard, but her momentum carried her – she basically “skidded” – into Mogami. Nachi’s port bow was damaged and her speed reduced. Mogami was holed on the starboard side near the No. 1 turret above the waterline, but the impact may have unsettled some of the torpedoes, because some of them were detonated by the continuing fires, which disabled the starboard engine.

For the second time on the Pacific War, Mogami had collided with another ship. Once again, it had been in a combat zone.

(To add insult to injury, the radar contacts Nachi and Ashigara had attempted to attack turned out to be not US ships, but two islands.)

Neither would live to see home. Damaged Nachi was only able to make it to Manila, where she was sunk in spectacular fashion by air attack on November 5, 1944.

Mogami was further damaged by gunfire from the US cruisers Louisville, Portland and Denver, but she survives this attack, and even manages to drive off a PT attack, only to have her remaining engine break down after dawn. Helpless and immobile, she was attacked by US torpedo bombers and had to be scuttled.

Mogami was a remarkable ship, partially because of her ability to take incredible punishment. But also because of one simple fact:

Mogami was one of the few warships in history that had a hand in sinking more of her own ships than those of the enemy.

Race-based voting discrimination

in Mississippi? I mean, who knew?

Except in this case, it was a black political machine discriminating against whites. But that's OK, right? Nothing to see here. Move along.

I still say to anyone who doesn't believe there is a problem with vote fraud in this country, I've got two words for you: East Chicago.

Speaking of RPGs

Why is it that whenever you hear or see a boom car, it's always playing (c)rap? Not country, hard rock or disco, rap.

Boom cars are a nuisance, and should be considered per se probable cause. We should be able to hit them with RPGs. That is, rocket propelled grenades.

Another Universal Sign of Stupidty

You are using fireworks and you are NOT a licensed professional. Yes, it is time for my annual admonition to NOT USE FIREWORKS.

In the Indianapolis area, we have apparently had least two fires in two days caused by idiots using fireworks -- one each in Carmel and Noblesville. Another one may have taken place in Camby.

Yes, bottle rockets may look nice and M80's may make a big boom, but frankly, the vast majority of people don't know what they're doing with them. I have no issue if they blow themselves or their own houses up, but I have major issues with them if threaten my house and my car -- at one point, spomeone tossed a firecracker under my car in the driveway.

Generally, we are talking about unsupervised children, thug teenagers, simple rednecks or drunk lawyers. All too stupid to handle fireworks.

These things should be banned in Indiana, but some of our less-astute lawmakers refuse to do so.

Bottom line: peoiple cannot handle fireworks without threatening others. Leave them to the professionals. Go see a professionally-prepared show and stop threatening everyone else.

Otherwise we smart people should be legally justified in coming after you with an RPG.

Why can't we vote?

I don't normally discuss Indiana politics, aside from the occasional crime or daylight saving time issue, both of which are passions of mine and on both of which my opinions are pretty obvious. With respect to crime, murder, rape, child molestation, robbery, car theft and residential burglary all deserve the death penalty. With respect to daylight saving time, there is no legitimate reason whatsoever to oppose it in Indiana.

But we do seem to be having a bit of a tax issue here in Indiana. I won't comment on it directly, but I will ask this:

In most other states (notably Ohio, Pennsylvania and California) when a new tax or a tax increase is proposed, the taxing body, be it the city council, school board or whatnot, must put it on the ballot for the public to vote on it in the next election. If it passes, the new tax is imposed or the tax is increased. If it fails, there is no new tax or tax increase.

Again, this is what happens most places, and it works pretty well.

But we don't have that in Indiana. If the city council, the school board or the library board (and mind you the library board is unelected) decide your taxes must go up, they go up. The public has little say in it. It's like a Third World country.

Amidst all the talk of what's going to happen with Indiana's new tax issues, and the complaints about how our tax money is being spent, this last point has gotten almost no attention.

Why can't the public vote on this stuff in Indiana? What in God's name is the reason our public officials won't let us vote on this stuff? I mean, if the law does not require such a vote now, why can't we make it require such a vote, and bring Indiana up to the standards of most other states?

Why?