Harvey Korman RIP

Read the details here.  Harvey Korman was best known for his work as the "straight man" on the Carol Burnett Show and as the dastardly Hedley Lamarr in the film Blazing Saddles. Here are a couple samples of his work:

Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles

Harvey Korman on the Carol Burnett Show

Chesterton on Fences

"Don't ever take a fence down until
you know the reason it was put up."

The Quotations Page

For Those With Ears to Hear

John Hinderaker's Powerline post, Are We Safer?, provides the empirical evidence which answers that question for any reasonable person. It is astonishing that, not only have there been no successful attacks inside the United States since 9/11/01, there have also been no successful attacks on U.S. interests overseas for over 4 years. One could attempt to attribute this to the long periods of time that traditionally elapse between al Qaeda attacks. However, that doesn't explain all of the attacks cited by Hinderaker for each year from 1995 through 2001. Also, the longest stretch without an attack was from 1988 to 1991 -- three years. Most of the attacks were within 1-2 years of the last attack. With respect to the lack of attacks abroad, they are significantly more vulnerable than mainland targets. Yet, no successful attacks.

Success in the past does not guaranty success in the future. However, it does indicate that President Bush has been doing something right in preventing further terrorist attacks. There are many reasons to be unhappy with the President, but this is not one of them.

Google: Free Speech for Terrorists

UPI has reported that Google has refused to remove all terrorist videos from YouTube. In defending their decision, Google issued as statement that, in part, says:

". . . YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view."

Apparently, this policy doesn't apply in Communist totalitarian regimes which have a population of more than 1 billion people and are located in Asia. Fortunately, we live in the good ol' USA where we are free to have the propaganda of our worst enemies -- people who would love to rip your child's face off with piano wire while you watch in horror -- treated the same as some teenager's anti-Archuleta rant.

At least we know that Google won't let any sense of morality cloud their judgment. That task is reserved for "the bottom line".

Back to the (Farm) Future

With the rising gas prices, a Tennessee farm family decided to park their tractor and hook up Dolly and Molly. Before you get the wrong idea, Dolly & Molly are a pair of mules the family purchased last year. The money quote was uttered by one of the brothers who said, "It's the way of the future."

Ain't progress grand.

When Casualties Equal Progress

With the recent increase of U.S. casualties in Iraq, many of the usual suspects are citing that statistic as proof that we are losing and need to withdraw immediately. However, this assumes that, in war, casualties always indicate failure. In his New York Daily News article, In Iraq, a Storm Before the Calm, Michael Yon explains why that is not necessarily the case. In fact, in the case of General Petraeus' surge strategy of last summer, it meant exactly the opposite. Michael's article suggests the latest spike in casualties is due to a second phase of what began last summer.


Order Michael's new book: