No room for “enlightened Westerners” hubris

Spotted in today’s Journal:

...Modern technology also gives authoritarian regimes new power to monitor and punish critics.  Tehran slows Web access in advance of planned protests.  China has closed off Internet access to the resistive Xinjiang region...

Which raises the question:  Why shouldn’t the U.S. go further and endure access to the Web by people in especially deserving countries such as Iran? - L. Gordon Crovitz

...or maybe New Zealand?

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:17:00 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Latest DSM talking point spotted

First, Politico (who managed to find a pro-Obama “Evangelical” to quote. Whoops!):

The rise of a new conservative grass roots fueled by a secular revulsion at government spending is stirring fears among leaders of the old conservative grass roots, the evangelical Christian right.

Next, Christian Science Monitor:

Emergence of the grass-roots “tea party” movement as a major force on the American political right is having a quiet but fundamental effect on the Republican tribe: Social conservatives have been voted off the island.

Yeah. Which has these guys so worried that there might  possibly be a small-l libertarian / SoCon split.  R-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-g-h-t!

And the Sunday papers aren’t even out yet!

I don’t think it’ll happen; I believe the social conservatives are smart enough to take half a loaf.

But should things go the other way, I tend to agree with Roberta:

...If things start to sort out into Those Who Would Run Your Life “For Your Own Good” (real scorn quote) and limited-gov’t people who figure morals are your own biz if you don’t harm others, I’ll be a happy camper.

And I know which I’ll vote for.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 20:31:28 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey, they’re POLITICIANS, remember?

Glenn Reynolds:

The failure of the Republicans to take advantage of the entertainment industries’ unpopularity during Bush’s first term was a colossal mistake.

No, Glenn, it just shows the Republicans were bought, too.

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Best line about the Oscars that’s not about the Oscars

“I’m just happy NBC didn’t carry it because then it would have been tape-delayed for the West Coast.” - “former law student,” in a comment at Althouse

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 16:27:42 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Follow-up: Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Backpedals; IndyStar plays “Name That Party”

For those who tuned in late, this story from March 3:

A Southern Indiana prosecutor has threatened criminal charges unless stores with DVD rental kiosks remove R-rated movies and other material considered harmful to children.

The rollout of hundreds of automated Redbox-style kiosks

(which, by the way, require a charge/debit card to operate...)

to grocery stores, McDonald’s restaurants, Wal-marts and other retailers in Indiana has met resistance in some communities over the perception that they provide children younger than 17 with easier access to adult-rated movies.

Letters sent to retailers in recent weeks by the office of Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stanley Levco may amount to the largest crackdown yet in Indiana...

Needless to say, there’s a lawyer behind this...

“I’m not on a crusade,” said Paul Black, an Evansville attorney who says he suggested the inquiry to Levco’s office on behalf of a client who operates several video store locations.  “We’re just looking for a level playing field here.”

Black, who declined to identify his client, said Levco’s office sent letters to about a dozen stores in Vanderburgh County...  ...One letter -- addressed to the general manager of a Schnuck’s grocery store and dated Jan. 27 -- cites an Indiana law prohibiting dissemination of matter harmful to minors, a Class D felony...

Felonies: Just can’t avoid ’em!

It says that category might include adult-rated videos in that store’s MovieCube kiosk, a Redbox competitor.

“We suggest that the machine or machines dispensing these materials at your location no longer provide access to videos, movies, games” and other material that are unrated or have ratings of R or even PG, the letter [signed by William Roberts, an investigator in Levco’s office] says. - Jon Murray, Indianapolis Star

Today:

A crackdown on Redbox and other DVD kiosks in Evansville is off.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco said Friday that he decided to drop an effort to compel retailers to remove adult-rated movies from the automated kiosks because children might rent them.

Levco said he based his decision on a review of the law, the fact that the kiosks have some procedures to limit children’s access, and the difficulty of convincing a jury, based on negative feedback he received from the community...

Well, good for him.  Too bad he didn’t change his mind before this foolishness attracted national notice.  (Example: Coverage at The Consumerist generated 170-some “stupid Hoosier tricks” comments.  Way to go, Sparky!)

Oh, and notice the one piece of information that’s missing from both Star stories.  Like we don’t deserve to know, or something...  (Although I can’t say I’d be confident that a Republican would do any better.)

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Somebody needs to remind Comcast who their customers are

Instapundit:

OKAY, THE FIRMWARE IS UPGRADED IN MY COMCAST DVR, and now it won’t seem to let me skip commercials.  You can fast forward, but when you go back to play, it jumps back to the commercial you were watching when you started.  Bug?  Or a new “advertiser feature?”  If this sticks, I’m switching to somebody else.

Comcast’s “business services” people have been after my company to switch to their VOIP + internet package.  Stuff like this (along with the seemingly endless stories of the company’s customer service fiascos at Consumerist^[1]) serves to remind me that doing business with sleazeballs only leads to frustration.

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Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 16:29:07 GMT | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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What would you trade for dinosaur-powered space lasers?

Joanna:

In a perfect world, any defense or NASA expenditure could be justified with the words “Because it’s AWESOME! Eh? EH?”  If it makes a randomly selected 14-year-old boy drool around his braces, it gets funded.  Granted, we’d end up with an arsenal of dinosaur-powered space lasers run by ninjas and the Swedish bikini team, but at least it would have full funding.

I’d trade the entire Department of Homeland Security for dinosaur-powered space lasers any day of the week.  If I can get “ninjas and the Swedish bikini team” too, I’ll throw in the Department of Education.

And further wise words from one so young:

We ended up here because we stopped encouraging 14-year-old boys to be 14-year-old boys.

Yep. 50 years ago, we dreamed of going to the stars.  Today Our Betters dream of turning America into 1950s eastern Europe.

I prefer AWESOME.  Let’s do it FOR THE CHILDREN!

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:45:41 GMT | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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What happened at the summit isn’t important...

Jay Nordlinger:

This health-care summit was a bad idea for the Democrats for this reason: They have long benefited from a perception — a perception greatly abetted by the media: The Republicans don’t care about health care, they don’t know about health care, they are the Party of No.  All the ideas and caring are on the Democratic side.

It is not so, and it has never been so.  And now everybody knows it.

Everybody who watched C-SPAN, that is.  But most people don’t, and the ones who don’t will judge the Republicans by how the DSM reports the summit.

I’ll wait to see whether the Republicans manage to cut through the spin before accepting any sweeping claims about what “everybody” now knows.

LATER:
Instapundit:

Reader James Somers offers two ways to tell that the Dems lost the health care summit today:

If you look right now:

1.  It’s not the lead headline on CNN.
2.  It’s not the lead headline on the NYT.

If this had turned out the way it was supposed to, it would be leading both of those sites in 60 point font.

Yep.

Previously:

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 00:48:39 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Coming headline: “BATFE Raids DHS”

USA Today:

The nation’s Homeland Security officers lost nearly 200 guns in bowling alleys, public restrooms, unlocked cars and other unsecure areas, with some ending up in the hands of felons...

Most of the misplaced weapons — including handguns, shotguns and military rifles — were never found. Most losses occurred because officers did not properly secure firearms,” says the Homeland Security inspector general report.

At least 15 of the guns ended up in the hands of gang members, criminals, drug users and teenagers...

Well, the obvious solution is for the BATFE to aggressively investigate the DHS’s poor weapons security and recordkeeping.

Thus making a start at keeping BOTH agencies out of our hair.

Via:  IP

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:22:22 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Blast from the past

WRAL.com^[1]:

Durham [NC] police arrested Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Gale Mangum, 33, late Wednesday after she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, set his clothes on fire in a bathtub and threatened to stab him.
...
Police charged her with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of arson, assault and battery, communicating threats, three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, injury to personal property, identity theft and resisting a public officer.

I expect K.C. Johnson to have something about this shortly.

Via: alexthechick
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