Not Yet A Buddha

How To Help

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by hilzoy

A member of Andy Olmsted’s family has just written me to say that if people want to do something in honor of him, they can send donations to a fund that has been set up for the four children of CPT Thomas Casey, who served under Andy and was killed while trying to help him. The address is here:

Capt. Thomas Casey Children’™s fund
P.O. Box 1306
Chester, CA 96020

Thanks so much.

Also, below the fold I am going to try to compile a list of the blogs that linked to Andy’s final post, so that his friends and family can see some of them without having to go to the trouble of tracking them all down. I’m going to do this gradually — it will take a while. I’ve been bookmarking them since Friday, and I think there are nearly 500. However, if anyone notices a blog post that I haven’t found by, say, noon tomorrow, just leave it in comments, or email the kitty or me.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated everyone’s willingness to put politics aside on the threads about Andy, and the way this entire community has responded. Special thanks to everyone who has emailed me about comments that need to be taken down — there were too many comments in the various threads for any one human to keep track of, and it helped a lot. It meant a lot to me, and I think it would have meant a lot to Andy. Thanks to you all.

[Update: Do not click “Continue Reading…” unless you want to see the long and growing list of links to Andy’s final post. If you don’t, just click “comments”.]

[Update 2: Someone had asked me to bump this, but having the software eat most of the post and redate it was not exactly what I had in mind…]

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Posting Rules Reminder

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by hilzoy In response to, um, recent threads, I am planning to enforce the posting rules more strictly for the foreseeable future. This means: no profanity, no incivility, no disrupting conversation for its own sake, no abusing or vilifying commenters or posters. Just. Don’t. Do. It. It is not a horrible, earth-shattering tragedy if you … Read more

At Last!

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by hilzoy

Like many of you, I’ve noticed a certain lacuna in commentary on the Virginia Tech shootings. To be sure, Debbie Schlussel has provided her usual incisive commentary*, those bravos at NRO have carefully graded the heroism of each and every one of the victims, and Rush Limbaugh offers us this tasteful speculation: “maybe the liberals and their culture of death is the problem, folks.” But I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that what we really need to know is: What does Dinesh D’Souza have to say about this?

Well, wonder no more.

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Vonnites Of Von-Nation, Rejoice

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by von (of course) I WAS QUITE flattered to be asked to provide a profile for Norman Geras, who has profiled a good chunk of the blogosphere at Normblog.  Geras is one of the better bloggers around, and his site is well worth a visit. In any event, the profile is here if you’re interested. 

Weird

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by von SO ANYWAY, I’m wasting a moment and clicking through a couple links and I come upon a piece by Rabbi Marc Gellman on so-called The Jesus Tomb.  Now, I really don’t have a dog in this hunt — my faith, such as it is, really doesn’t depend much on Biblical inerrancy on even … Read more

Undercarriage? Cheeseburger???!!

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by hilzoy Via Feministing, a sign that some people need to get a life: “The marquis for Atlantic Theaters advertises a number of plays including, the Masquerade Ball, Band Jam, and now The Hoohaa Monologues. (…) “We got a complaint about this play The Vagina Monologues,” said Bryce Pfanenstiel, of the Atlantic Theater. The Hoohah … Read more

Choices

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by Andrew "For a warrior there is no other end to the journey." — Alyt Neroon, Babylon 5 Geez, I’m sick for a few days and I miss a thread where I’m actually a featured player. I’m going to lose my egotist’s society membership card if I’m not careful. Fortunately, I’m firmly of the belief … Read more

Heroes

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by hilzoy And now for a change of pace: I was sitting on the airplane reading the NYTimes, when I found a story whose first paragraph just took my breath away: “A 50-year-old Dallas man whose conviction of raping a boy in 1982 cost him nearly half his life in prison and on parole won … Read more

Martin Luther King

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by hilzoy “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” (cite) … Read more

Happier Birthday!

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by hilzoy Lawyers, Guns and Money notes that it’s Rush Limbaugh’s birthday, and Ann Althouse’s too. Feh. Why note these annoying birthdays when there’s a much better cause for conservative celebration? Do you know whose birthday it is? Edmund Burke’s! Ah, for the good old days, when conservatives were conservative, and wonderfully perceptive students of … Read more

Woe! Woe! Woe!

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by hilzoy According to Ecclesiastes, “In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” Unfortunately for me, this is not one of the passages that makes me doubt the Bible’s inerrancy. Unfortunately for you, misery loves company, and so I’m about to pass on some of that miserable, grief-inducing knowledge. Foreign … Read more

Agendas — With Feet!

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by hilzoy Pam at Pandagon linked to this bizarre article from WorldNetDaily, published at Free Republic. After describing the New Jersey decision on gay marriage, the author gives this amazing explanation for it: “But why? What’s the real goal of the activists, the judges and the radicals who seek to subvert a moral worldview? The … Read more

Conservative in the Mi(d)st

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by Andrew In any relationship, there comes a point where the participants must weigh whether the benefits of the relationship outweigh the costs. That time has come in my relationship here at Obsidian Wings. As the commentary in response to my latest post scrolled in, I was, as I frequently am, surprised by how people … Read more

Christian Values

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by hilzoy

Via Balkinization, a statement from the Traditional Values Coalition, which, according to its website, “is the largest non-denominational, grassroots church lobby in America”, and seeks “to empower people of faith through knowledge”:

“The Traditional Values Coalition asked members of Congress to support President Bush’s reform of prisoner treatment policies because “this is a war unlike any other we have fought — the enemy is faceless and deliberately attacks the innocent.”

TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon said American military and intelligence experts are hampered by a vague “outrages upon personal dignity” statement in Article Three of the Geneva Convention of 1950.

“We need to clarify this policy for treating detainees,” said Rev. Sheldon. “As it stands right now, the military and intelligence experts interrogating these terrorists are in much greater danger than the terrorists. Civil suits against our military personnel are tying their hands as they try to get vital information which will save the lives of our young military people and the innocent.”

“Our rules for interrogation need to catch-up with this awful new form of war that is being fought against all of us and the free world. The post -World War II standards do not apply to this new war.

“We must redefine how our lawful society treats those who have nothing but contempt for the law and rely on terrorizing the innocent to accomplish their objectives. The lines must be redrawn and then we must pursue these criminals as quickly and as aggressively as the law permits.

“And since this debate is, at its very core, about preserving the traditional value of prosecuting injustice and protecting the innocent, TVC will score this vote in both the House and the Senate. We encourage all of our supporters and affiliated churches to contact their elected representatives and let them know we support President Bush’s efforts to update our methods of interrogating terrorist detainees in order to provide greater protection for our troops and the innocent.””

Brian Tamanaha, who wrote about this at Balkinization, adds: “This can’t be right (although I’m not a Christian).” Well, I’m not a Christian either, but I used to be one, and retain a lot of respect for my old religion. Therefore, I don’t feel the least hesitation about saying: it’s not just that this isn’t Christianity; this is the antithesis of what Christianity is supposed to be all about. And I think it’s worth documenting this. I am not in favor of pretense generally, and so I am not in favor of Democrats who don’t like religion pretending that they do. For that very reason, however, I think it’s worth pointing out that there’s a lot in Christianity that is genuinely worthy of respect; and that whenever those in power, or those who wish to ingratiate them, have sought to pervert its message, they have always stood condemned by the words of the God whose name they take in vain.

Documentation below the fold.

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Public Service Announcement

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by hilzoy For our female readers. Also for guys with romantic anniversaries coming up. (Don’t just guess the size, though.) Personally, I think the blindfolds and cuffs are a bit much. Even if I were into that sort of thing, I can’t imagine producing any such object without bursting out laughing. The bras are pretty … Read more

Question Of The Day

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by hilzoy As I wrote in comments just now, I was sitting in my study, reading the news, when all of a sudden a voice from my computer asked: “Do you suffer from erectile dysfunction?” It took me ages to figure out how to stop it — my browser blocks most of this stuff, and … Read more

Beliefs

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by Andrew "[W]e cannot help him.""Then he will stand alone.""At the end, Captain, we all stand alone." Delenn and Captain Elizabeth Lochley, Babylon 5 How do we determine what we should believe? Part of the reason debates about politics get so heated is that we are often debating the what rather than the how. When … Read more

I Do Not Avoid Women, Mandrake …

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by hilzoy Jessica at Feministing is right: this is the funniest anti-feminist article ever. It starts out predictably enough: feminist harridans spooked men into thinking that they had to turn into craven, querulous wimps who never talked back and tried desperately to understand the alien concept of ‘feelings’; but “now, over a decade later, women … Read more

Ewwwwww

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by hilzoy This LATimes profile of Joe Francis, the guy who makes the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ videos, is really worth reading, though in a way that made me want to take a shower afterwards. — I started out trying to explain exactly why I found this story so disturbing, but failed miserably. So just a … Read more

It’s Sad That This Counts As Progress…

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by hilzoy From the BBC: “One of the Roman Catholic Church’s most distinguished cardinals has publicly backed the use of condoms among married couples to prevent Aids transmission. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said that in couples where one had HIV/Aids, which could pass to the partner, the use of condoms was “a lesser evil”. The … Read more

In Which I Grovel And Plead

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by hilzoy Katherine pointed out, in comments, that our series on the Graham Amendment is a finalist for Best Series at the Koufax Awards.. If you feel like voting for it, you know what to do. Arguments in the Uighurs’ appeal have been scheduled for early May, and I’m going to try to go. Meanwhile, … Read more

Lagniappe

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Being a better man than Atrios, I offer you, in addition to the long-overdue open thread, the news item (via Instapundit) that Tom Delay has emerged victorious from the Texas Republican primary.  Which prompts the question: just what does one have to do to get thrown out of office these days?  I’m thinking murder, where … Read more

Ain’t Too Proud To Beg…

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by hilzoy The Koufax Awards are open for voting, and we’re honored to be nominated for some of them. You can vote for us in the following categories: Best Blog (non-pro) Best Writing (um, me) Best Post (Failures Of Will, As If She Wanted To Change Her Skin, Requiem) Best Series (for the Graham Amendment … Read more

Personal Status Update

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I just now got the MRI results from my doctor: normal.  Which rules out some of my worst fears; that I had something structurally wrong up there, or that the mice had chosen that site to put up a playground (I’m picturing an exercise wheel, here). All of which is good news, in that it … Read more

Patrick Fitzgerald

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by hilzoy “Fontenelle says, “I bow before a great man, but my mind does not bow.” I can add: before a humble common man in whom I perceive uprightness of character in a higher degree than I am conscious of in myself, my mind bows, whether I want it or whether I do not and … Read more

The Incredibly Edible Open Thread

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By Edward NOTE: Sincere apologies for the previous version of this post with Moe’s signature. I was in the system earlier clearing out spambots and only noticed after I posted that I was logged in as Moe. Then, to make matters worse, I only noticed folks had commented when I tried to quickly delete it. … Read more

Armed Dolphins On The Loose

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by hilzoy Via Ezra Klein: this story is from the Guardian, not the Onion: “Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts who have studied the US navy’s cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying ‘toxic dart’ … Read more

Pork: It’s not just for dinner

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I’ve got a couple of free moments on hand, and at the same time I saw this (via Glenn Reynolds): Bloggers, too have latched onto this theme. A coalition of bloggers have launched a website called “porkbusters.” The site lists every member of the House and Senate by the name and has a column next … Read more

To the Old Gray Whore: Anti-MSM Open Thread

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There are few things I loathe more than people who seem to be altruistic but end up demonstrating that they were merely pretending in order to screw someone over down the road. I’ve been around…I know how the world works, but even crooks have integrity, so long as they admit they’re crooks. Here’s a letter … Read more

September 11, 2005

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It is, once again, a stunningly beautiful day here in New York City, this September 11th. Folks are making their way through the streets, Sunday paper and a coffee in hand, walking their dogs, pushing strollers, riding bikes, holding hands, and turning their faces upward to soak up the rays of the glorious September sun. … Read more

Open Thread: Neither Fair Nor Balanced

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by hilzoy I think we are in need of an open thread. As I have nothing particularly interesting to say myself, I’ll just cite some quotes that I love. “Are we all living like this? Two lives, the ideal outer life and the inner imaginative life where we keep our secrets? … The Buddhists say … Read more

Random Acts Of Kindness

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by hilzoy

BitchPhD, who is always worth reading, has a great post called: “Open letter to the woman working at the K-Mart snack bar”:

“Thank you so much for your kindness. I was having a sh*tty day. First I had to pour my entire change jar into the CoinStar so I would have enough money to buy gas to get home. Then I was feeling incredibly stressed and anxious, no good reason, just the depression coming on again after a couple of days of exerting myself to be social and good company. So the fact that I was having to do an eight hour drive with a little kid and no money was feeling really scary to me, and when Pseudonymous Kid fell asleep I spent two hours sobbing while I drove. Then he woke up and I stopped, and then the car overheated, which is why I pulled off the road and ended up at your K-Mart.

So thanks for seeing me pulling out the $3 I had left in my pocket in order to buy Pseudonymous Kid, who was hungry after his nap, and hot, because our car doesn’t have a/c, something to eat. And thanks for undercharging us so that I could afford to buy him a hot dog AND an icee. And thanks for telling us “not to rush” when I realized that you were ready to close up and we were still sitting in the snack area. And thanks for sitting at the next table and engaging PK in conversation and offering to get him some more ketchup so he could finish his hot dog. And thanks for telling me where a phone and a gas station were, and for asking kindly how much further we had to drive, and for wishing us luck and expressing sympathy when I said that the car had overheated. Thanks for pretending to believe me when I pretended for PK’s sake that this was no big deal and it would be fine and I wasn’t worried about it at all.

I know you couldn’t have had any idea what was going on behind all of that (…) You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. And I’ll never see you again. But you really helped me out today. Thanks.”

It’s so easy to be nice to total strangers when it looks as though they need it, and also so easy to forget and just not bother. Why don’t we do this all the time? I have no idea. However:

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