DADvocate

Not raping = de-humanizing. Redstate posted on a Hebrew University paper that claims IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) not raping Palestinian women was de-humanizing.

This was a very serious paper that asked two important questions: Is the relative lack of IDF rapes a noteworthy phenomenon, and if so, why is it that there are so few IDF rapes when in similar situations around the world, rape is much more common?"

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The paper further theorizes that Arab women in Judea and Samaria are not raped by IDF soldiers because the women are de-humanized in the soldiers' eyes.

More HERE.

Well, this certainly explains a lot about the hatred in the Near East. IDF soldiers systematically de-humaninzing women. And, we thought the left in the West twisted logic beyond its limits. Can it get any worse than this?

USA Today published this story, Designers push to make cities more female-friendly.

Chunks of the sidewalk behind the 16th Police District building off Lancaster Avenue are so torn up that mothers pushing strollers and women in wheelchairs can't negotiate the jumbled concrete slabs without venturing into the street.

Many then must climb a flight of stairs to get to the front door of the old row houses in west Philadelphia. If kitchens are on the second floor, they lug groceries, canes or strollers up another flight of stairs. All along the way, they fear crime.

"There are some areas that aren't well lit at all," says Blaine Straub, 25, who lives near Lancaster Avenue and had to get around in a wheelchair after she broke her ankle in October. "That's a little intimidating."

Do men not face these same obstacles? Does the sidewalk suddenly become smooth when a man comes along? Do stairs turn into escalators for men? Are men able to see in the dark?

Another chapter in the never ending story of female victimhood.

G. M. Roper reminds us: "...the mightiest works of man cannot come close a simple work of God; examine if you will, Sunset in the Gulf of Mexico."

This reminded me of hiking with a friend up to Spence Field nearly 30 years ago. Upon reaching Spence Field, we saw a towering cumulus cloud directly in front of the sun. Rays of light emanated from both sides and above the cloud. It was a magnificent sight.

My friend felt an irresistible urge to describe the sight and went into a lengthy monologue comparing the sun/cloud view to a great god from mythology, etc., ad nauseum. It quickly became apparent to me that what he loved most was his description of the scene, not the scene.

Thanks, G.M., for recognizing the beauty and keeping it simple.

Some friends of mine traditionally parked an old Farmall tractor in front of their house and decorated it with lights for Christmas. This year they changed their pattern. I drove out to photograph the tractor for my faithful reader(s) and found the Christmas bus. If you look closely, you can see Frosty at the wheel.

Please have a Merry Christmas
and a peaceful, prosperous New Year!

Ever wonder what happens while you're sitting in the waiting room when you child goes to the orthodontist? During a idle moment my daughter pulled out her cellphone and took this self-portrait. The oversize glasses protect her eyes from flying debris.

Almost everyone agrees that my daughter has a great sense of humor and can find humor in the most unexpected places. Once again, she proves us correct.

Yesterday, for our employee Christmas lunch for our department, we ate at Boi Na Braza. If you like meat, especially beef, this is the place to eat. It's not cheap. For lunch the price is $29.99. But for all you can eat fillet mignon, sirloin, lamb chops, and more, brought to your table by gauchos, what can you expect. The food tasted as good as I've had. The service was excellent and the atmosphere enjoyable. Highly recommended.

I just love it when Hillary talks about her experience. Hillary's touting her foreign policy experience.

Clinton began the back-and-forth in a speech at a high school auditorium Thursday, warning the crowd of mostly women and students against thinking ``we don't need a president who is up to speed on foreign affairs and military matters.''

``That's the kind of logic that got us George Bush in the first place,'' she said to laughter. ``Experience in foreign affairs is critical for ending the war in Iraq, averting war in Iran, negotiating a Middle East peace and dealing with North Korea.''

Hillary is more experienced than Obama. But, does she several years experience or one year's experience several times? Obama always held the position on Iraq that Hillary now claims. Is she a slow learner or just keeping her finger in the wind?

Hillary is also bragging about her experience in fighting poverty.

"People talk about poverty in this campaign," Clinton said in Independence, Iowa, this afternoon. "Well, we lifted more people out of poverty during the 1990s than anytime in our history." - emphasis added

WE!? I don't remember Hillary holding any official office in the 1990s. Was Bill simply her puppet? John Edwards did more to fight poverty by raising the average income of barbers.

Indeed, Hillary has admitted that she is not experienced enough to deal with terrorist - "Responding to a questioner who asked whether she was capable of handling evil-doers like Osama bin Laden, Hillary Clinton grinned as she answered, 'What in my background equips me to deal with evil and bad men?'"

Hillary's strongest experience is in two areas - 1) Riding her husband's coattails while pretending to be an independent woman. 2) Being "some little woman 'standing by my man' like Tammy Wynette." The first necessitates the second.

From The Washington Times:

Congress last night passed a giant new spending bill that undermines current plans for a U.S.-Mexico border fence, allowing the Homeland Security Department to build a single-tier barrier rather than the two-tier version that has worked in California.

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But the measures did not pass before House Republicans blasted the changes to the border fence.

"The fact that this was buried in a bloated, 3,500-page omnibus speaks volumes about the Democrats' unserious approach on border security and illegal immigration," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. "Gutting the Secure Fence Act will make our borders less secure, but it's consistent with the pattern of behavior we've seen all year from this majority."

The 2006 Secure Fence Act specifically called for "two layers of reinforced fencing" and listed five specific sections of border where it should be installed. The new spending bill removes the two-tier requirement and the list of locations.

I'm far from convinced Congress, or the President, can be trusted on this issue. They get too much in campaign donations from companies that enjoy paying below prevailing wage to illegal aliens. And, of course, Democrats are looking for votes, even illegal votes. Why else would they be more concerned about non-citizens than citizens. If we are not diligent, bit by bit they chip away at the plans and promises.

Headline at World Peace Herald: Women's share of college enrollment highest ever. What does the AARP do? Provide scholarships for women, of course. The hell with men.

I just came across AARP's new Women's Scholarship Program. No mention of any program for men. I thought this organization was an advocate for retired persons, not just women. AARP also has a Women's Leadership Circle. I can't find any similar programs focused solely on men. Except for gender specific issues, such as prostate cancer or menopause, AARP programs should focus on both genders equally unless they change their name to Association for the AAOL.

I left an email message through AARP's contact page. Hopefully, I'll hear something. I don't think I'll be renewing my membership. I can get the motel discounts through AAA.

Philadelphia Emmy award winning anchor Alycia Lane was arrested in New York for assault with intent to cause physical injury to an officer. The incident sounds like a prima donna news woman losing control.

According to the police complaint, the Emmy-winning anchor yelled at the female police officer, "I don't give a f--- who you are, I'm a f---ing TV reporter, you f---ing dyke," according to Philadelphiawilldo.com, a Philadelphia Weekly blog.

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Lane, 35, her current honey, Q102 morning host Chris Booker, and another couple were in a cab behind a slow-moving unmarked cop car, the New York Post reported. One of the males jumped out and headed to the police vehicle, screaming, "I don't care if you're a cop, drive faster!" the newspaper said.

The officers got out and identified themselves to Lane and company, and Lane began to take photos, according to the paper. The female cop asked her to step back and that's when Lane lost it, according to the Post.

A station source said Lane's iPhone was confiscated by cops as evidence.

The confiscation of the iPhone is important.

As much as I'd like to revel in the problems of a more than pretty, possibly narcissistic minor celebrity, a couple of other items I came across today make me wonder.

Reason.com posted an article on cops getting away wit murder in Chicago.

An eight-month Chicago Tribune investigation of 200+ police shootings going back 10 years found that within hours of a police shooting, the police department convenes hastily-assembled, wagon-circling "roundtables" of law enforcement officials where police and witnesses are questioned but not sworn or recorded, where the officers involved are allowed to confer to get their stories straight before being questioned, and where the inevitable conclusion is always that the shooting was justified. From there, broader, show-investigations begin. Key witnesses go uninterviewed. Forensic evidence is ignored. And the shooting officer is inevitably exonerated.

Combine this with the apparent cover-up of Drew Peterson and his wives' fates and you get a pretty ugly picture beginning to develop.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds (I'm not sure why he includes "Harlan", but I like it.) wrote a column for the January issue of Popular Mechanics, Watching the Watchers: Why Surveillance Is a Two-Way Street. A few of his points:

But try shooting photos or video of police or ­other public officials as they go about their business and you might find yourself in wrist restraints.

In recent months such cases have been piling up. Brian Kelly of Carlisle, Pa., was a passenger in his friend's car when the police pulled the vehicle over for speeding. When Kelly began videotaping, he was arrested and charged with violating a state wiretap statute and thrown in jail overnight. Charges were dropped when the district attorney recognized that recording police in public isn't much like wiretapping. In addition, the DA said that the police had no expectation of privacy when they themselves were recording the incident. Michael Gannon, of Nashua, N.H., faced similar charges when he used a front-door security camera to record what he considered to be overly aggressive behavior by a detective. The charges against Gannon were dropped. That's the eventual outcome in most such cases, though sometimes photographs and video are lost in the process. (Emphases added)

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In October 2007, an elite unit of the Chicago Police Department was disbanded after video emerged of its members shaking down barroom customers. A policeman in Puerto Rico is under FBI investigation because video—uploaded to YouTube—apparently shows him executing an unarmed man. And a Baltimore woman recently won a $180,000 false arrest and imprisonment lawsuit based on police videotape evidence that confirmed a different but similarly dressed woman was the one buying drugs.

Supporters of widespread surveillance often argue, "If you're obeying the law, you have nothing to fear." Why shouldn't the same go for police officers? The cases above all involve accusations of extreme misconduct or errors on the part of police. Let's hope those are rare.

That is the same Chicago police department that seems to be getting away with murder. Ms. Lane tried "shooting photos or video of police" and she found herself in wrist restraints. Was Reynolds being prophetic?

So, what happened in New York? Do we really have a prima donna news lady slapping a female police officer or do we have police officers using their color of authority to arrest and "teach a lesson" to the news lady? Will ALL pictures Ms. Lane took be on the iPhone when it is returned to her? And, should we start watching the watchers more closely?

Once again, why are people this stupid teaching our kids?

An elementary student in Marion County was arrested Thursday after school officials found her cutting food during lunch with a knife that she brought from home, police said.

The 10-year-old girl, a student at Sunrise Elementary School in Ocala, was charged possession of a weapon on school property, which is a felony.

According to authorities, school employees spotted the girl cutting her food while she was eating lunch and took the steak knife from her.

Zero tolerance equals zero brains.

I received this greeting in an email today.

To All My Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The creek behind my house enters the Ohio River about 100 yards past the right side of this picture. I took this picture this morning, Dec. 15, 2007. The water is about 6 feet above usual. I'm sure it's due to global warming. The water would have to rise another 6-8 feet to threaten anyone. It would need to rise about another 20-25 feet to threaten my home. Oh, the humanity!

Wandering through blog land the other day, I stumbled across this article in Scientific American on raising smart kids. Someone had linked to the article in the comments of a blog that I failed to note and now can't find. Sorry, guys. Believe it or not, I can't really tell you how excited I was to find this article. It describes a part of parenting I consider essential.

Nearly twenty years ago, when my oldest son wan an infant, we received magazines on parenting in the mail. I can't remember which one(s) but what I can remember is the essence of an article I read in one of them - hard work is more important than being smart or talented. That is message in the SA article also as the subheading states: "More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life." More:

• Many people assume that superior intelligence or ability is a key to success. But more than three decades of research shows that an overemphasis on intellect or talent—and the implication that such traits are innate and fixed—leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unmotivated to learn.
  
• Teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, produces high achievers in school and in life.
  
• Parents and teachers can engender a growth mind-set in children by praising them for their effort or persistence (rather than for their intelligence), by telling success stories that emphasize hard work and love of learning, and by teaching them about the brain as a learning machine.

This made complete and perfect to me and I've tried to incorporate it in my parenting. One piece of advice I don't follow is "not telling my kids they're smart." I tell them they are smart but I also tell them that without hard work being smart means nothing. An example I use is this: Your IQ may be in the top 1-2% of the population. This means that in a county of 20,000 people like the one we live in, there are 200-400 people as smart or smarter than you. If you really want to reach your potential, to achieve and become what you want to be, you have to work hard.

I try to use handy examples when possible. Fortunately, good examples are easy to find. Some of our family members have achieved pretty well, all did it by hard work as well as intelligence. My ex's father became a millionaire farmer by working smart and very hard. Most wouldn't want to follow his footsteps but he showed it could be done.

The same principle applies to achievement in sports. My children enjoy sports. I remind them that they have more natural talent than most but that's not enough. If you really want to be good, you must work hard. A fond local example is University of Tennessee basketball player and All-American candidate, Chris Lofton. Although listed taller, Chris is truly only about 6'1" tall. But he can shoot you eyes out on the basketball court. Everyone around here knows Chris spent hours practicing his shooting. Eventually, he became the best high school player in Kentucky.

My children perform at what I consider to be a very high level academically and athletically. As performance is an ongoing process, I focus on continuing development and improvement with a focus on the future. But, I also celebrate their accomplishments. We sometimes go out to eat as a small celebration. I never berate them for a sub-par performance. We all have bad days. You simply get up and try again (harder). Find joy in the struggle.

Enjoying the struggle is one of the best parts of the puzzle. My 14 year old son played well enough on his freshman football team to be promoted to varsity when the freshman season ended. One of the results was him lining up against two seniors lineman whom the head coach described as the best pair to play side by side that he's ever had. Instead of dreading the match up, my son said he considers it an honor to be pancaked by these two guys. Spoken like a true football player.

Enough of that.

The current fad is to focus on the ephemeral quality of self esteem. That and $1 will get you a double cheeseburger. Hard work will bring real accomplishment and an excellent meal at any restaurant in town.

BTW - look at the self esteem link (same as above) and tell me why women need so much reinforcement to build self esteem. Can you find a similar site in the Internet for the self esteem of boys or men? It must be hell being a fragile female who needs her self esteem constantly built up lest you fall apart.

Some days I think I live in a world of idiots.

Wonkette posts on the Surgeon General's attack on Santa Claus. (Picture at the link that you women might like.)

Acting U.S. Surgeon General Rear Adm. Steven K. Galson has launched the Administration’s first attack in this year’s War on Christmas. The ASG declared that Santa is too heavy to be a good role model, telling the Boston Herald, “It is really important that the people who kids look up to as role models are in good shape, eating well and getting exercise… Santa is no different.” The ASG’s comment comes in the wake of Australia’s war on “hohoho” and made one of us crave, um, cookies.

Here's a video on the stupidity from FoxNews.

If a fat Santa made kids fat why weren't there more fat kids when I was young in the 1950's? Because, A FAT SANTA DOESN'T MAKE KIDS FAT!!! I sat on Santa's lap for many years at the old Miller's department store in Knoxville. Entering the 8th grade I was 5'11" and 128 lbs., definitely not fat.

Here's what makes kids fat - ingesting more calories than they burn. In today's world this seems to be largely a result of less activity for which people find numerous blame objects from McDonalds to, now, Santa.

You know what I think makes kids lazy and fat? Lazy and fat adults. The more active and involved you are, the more active and involved your children will be. If need be, take walks with them, take them hiking, take them camping, go outside and throw ball with them, shoot some baskets. Yeah, you might break a sweat and miss some lame TV show but you'll be amazed how much more fulfilled you life will be.

Yes, we had a couple of chubby kids in my 8th grade class. Guess what? They lived a sedentary lifestyle. They weren't outside playing ball with us after school or performing other physical activity. They didn't burn the calories.

Go out and start a sports league, hiking club or something.

But stop the idiocy and leave Santa Claus alone!

Looking through the browser history the other day, I found a youtube video of black girls attacking a white man on a New York subway. Apparently the original video was removed because police started investigating the incident. But FoxNews has this report:

Pathetically, Alan Colmes suggests that the attack may have been staged because there is no police complaint filed by the man. One can easily think a a dozen reasons the man didn't file a complaint, from not wanting the publicity of being beaten by girls to, since he doesn't appear to have been seriously hurt, not wanting to fool with the police. It is not unknown for police to literally laugh at the victims of these attacks.

Moving to Baltimore, a .white woman was attacked and severely beaten by a group of black teenagers, male and female, (corrected) on a bus.

Sarah Kreager, 26, suffered broken facial bones and other injuries after she was punched, kicked and dragged off the bus Tuesday afternoon. Kreager's companion, Troy Ellis, was also attacked, but not beaten as severely.

This video from MSNBC shows some of her wounds.

Very brutal stuff. More pathetic and disgusting than Colmes suggestion is the parents claim that the girls were provoked. As if such a beating is justified by any words.

I wonder if any of the Jena 6 advocates will have anything to say about these crimes.

One point I'd like to make about the Jena 6 regards the charge of attempted murder resulting from the attack on Justin Barker. Many liberal dimwits seem to think because Mr. Barker was treated and released from the hospital the same day it just couldn't have been attempted murder.

Attempted murder is not necessarily related to the extent of the injuries received by the victim although more serious injuries would aid in the proof, I'm sure. Ten years ago I sat on the jury that convicted this man of attempted murder, burglary and felony stalking. (A bit of history: we were the first jury to convict someone of felony stalking in the state of Kentucky.) His victim was treated and released from the hospital the same day. You'll notice this guy still has a long time left to serve in prison.

During the 1970's, I was a juvenile probation officer in Knoxville, TN for 9 months. I felt the juvenile court system at that time was prejudiced against black kids. I wondered how we could expect kids to change for the better when they were clearly treated so unfairly. But that was 30 years ago. I'm certain that, at least in Knoxville, things are much better now. We must base our responses to violence and racism on what is happening now, not what happened 30 or more years ago.

Violence of this nature is never justified by anyone. The longer we rationalize and seek to justify it or explain it away, the longer it will exist.

GM Roper posted on Hillary's meltdown today. He concludes with "How long will it be before she once again dons the mantle of the victim and claims that those mean old men are once again ganging up on her? Why, it gives her the vapors!"

Well, Robin Gerber, senior faculty with the Gallup Organization, is right there claiming Hillary is the victim.

But they're blaming the victim. Clinton is running for president in a sexist culture that persists in seeing strong, capable women as suspect.

It's not that voters and her opponents think Clinton's experienced and competent, and they don't like or trust her. It's that they think she's experienced and competent and that's why they don't like or trust her.

Poor baby. I wonder what she's capable of. Judging from her response to Obama and her history, plenty that we don't want.

"they think she's experienced and competent..." Umm, I doubt it. Her experience is as good or better than her Democratic opponents but pales in comparison to most of the Republicans in the race. Gerber goes on to base much of her argument on a single study that women are "forced to choose between competence and being liked and trusted by their colleagues, but leaders must have both to succeed."

Naturally, all the evidence towards reasonable lack of trust of Hillary is ignored. No mention of the commodities trades, no mention of Whitewater, Travelgate, the FBI background reports (Is that how she got the info on Obama?), etc. What has Hillary done to show she can be trusted? People spoon out trust in small doses. You must earn it.

Indeed, Gerber states:

Is there evidence proving that Hillary Clinton can't be trusted? To quote one of the great presidential debate responses: "No."

Do we live on the same planet? As they say, denial is not a river in Egypt.

Gerber's recommendation?

What's a woman running for president to do? Pull the gender card out of the deck and hold it up high. Most people are unaware of their bias or don't want to recognize or acknowledge it.

And just how aware is Gerber of her bias? Not at all is my guess. Introspection is a beautiful quality, Gerber should try it.

In the mean time, I'm going into the printing business. Victim cards, gender cards, and race cards are selling like hotcakes.

UPDATE: Susan Estrich has some thoughts on Robin Berger's article. I don't completely agree with her but we're close.
Hat tip to Right on the Left Coast.

The Anchoress discusses Hillary's reaction to Barack Obama accusing some other candidates of "planning to run for president for however number of years..." The most obvious of those other candidates is Hillary. So how do Hillary and her camp respond? They dig up "dirt" from kindergarten and third grade on Obama, i.e. that he said he wanted to be president than.

Wow!! Unbelievable. Hillary is just plain scary.

What's pathetic about this is that Hillary could have turned Obama’s accusation on its ear. She and her camp could have responded with something like:

“Yes, I have been preparing to be president for a long time. The Presidency of the United States is the most important job in the world. It is not a position for someone who impulsively decides he/she wants it. It is a job of a person who is well prepared.

Doctors spend many years preparing for their profession. Americans should look for a well prepared person as president.”

Instead she responded in a very juvenile and scary manner. Digging up dirt from kindergarten is scary. Everyone knows Hillary has lusted for the presidency for at least a couple of decades. She figures if a redneck bubba from Arkansas, like Bill, can be president, why not her. But digging up stuff from kindergarten and grade school? She has no shame and plenty of poor judgement.

What kid hasn't said they wanted to be president at some time or another? Heck, we used to argue about which one of us would be president. Does Hillary have an SS corp out there ready to dredge up every possible little incident on an opponent or political enemy? This beats swift boating by far.

I wonder just how far she is willing to go. Can you say "police state?"

Jason Whitlock wrote a column on the murder of Sean Taylor and the "Black KKK" as Whitlock calls it.

Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long.

When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.

Our new millennium strategy is to pray the Black KKK goes away or ignores us. How's that working?

About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an "injustice" the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.

While four black men have now been arrested in the murder of Taylor, Memphis is watching the prosecution of four other young black men charged in the the murder of University of Memphis football player, Taylor Bradford. Michael Roy Hollihan writes a moving piece about Taylor's father Jimmie Bradford and his enduring pain over his son's death. (Includes link to video interview with Jimmie Bradford.)

According to a Department of Justice report, blacks make up a grossly disproportionate number of murder victims. 93% of black murder victims are killed by other blacks.

Around 8,000 of nearly 16,500 murder victims in 2005, or 49 percent, were black Americans, according to the report released by the statistics bureau of the Department of Justice.

Broken down by gender, 6,800 black men were murdered in 2005, making up more than half the nearly 13,000 male murder victims.

Black women made up 35 percent, or 1,200, of the nearly 3,500 female homicide victims.

Young black men aged between 17 and 29 bore a disproportionately high burden in the grim statistics, making up 51 percent of African-American murder victims.

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Most murder victims -- 93 percent of blacks and 85 percent of whites -- were killed by someone of their own race.

I'm with Whitlock on this one. Why don't we hear more outrage? Why don't we see more action by black leaders to stop the violence?

Tens of thousands protested the Jena 6 prosecutions. Riots broke out in Los Angeles when a black man was beaten by police. Not killed, beaten. A local NAACP president takes offense at an Agatha Christie play being presented at a high school.

But the murder of the approximately 7,440 blacks murdered by other blacks is greeted with deafening silence.

Hat tip to Instapundit.