The Shame of Yale -- PTS

Diana West, an accomplished reporter whose work has appeared in many leading publications over the years, is best known for her knowledge and writing about the Middle East and the rise of radial Islamic states and organizations.  It is her belief that we in the West are far too complacent about the threat posed by this rise, and in particular are not doing enough to counter it.  Coincidentally she does not believe the wars in Iraq or Afgahanistan are an effective response by the West to the threat of radical Islam.  Her point of departure in these accompanying articles for this point of view is the issue involving the publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed that appeared in a Danish newspaper some time ago and the concomitant violent reaction to this event by the Moslem community in Denmark and worldwide. Recently Yale University Press agreed to publish a book about these cartoons and their significance and subsequent freedom of speech issues raised by those events in Denmark.  Her two recent articles relating to this matter are here, and here.  There's not a lot to be said about the Yale Administration in this matter other than that it is obvious that both the Administration and the student body are deeply mired in the swamp of politically correct multiculturalism.   Diana West's articles are enough to make an alumnus cringe.

Helen's Cuisine Extraordinaire -- PTS

Sausage and friends with red tomato garnish

One of the benefits of living with an accomplished cook is the serendipitous experience of watching and tasting the mundane become the exceptional. Such is the case with the dish above which doesn't really have a name but might be described as fried sausage, cauliflower and friends.  According to the creator the ingredients are:  turkey sausage, fresh cauliflower, 4 sliced fingerling potatoes, one sliced red onion,  fennel seeds, and finally a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Begin by sauteeing onions and potatoes in one tablespoon of canola oil in a frying pan over high heat.  Add sausage mixing well all ingredients.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Add cauliflower with 2 ounces of water and simmer until cauliflower is tender and browned, adding a bit more water if necessary.  Sprinkle fennel seeds and pepper on top and serve.  It's as tasty a meal as it is simple.  My mouth waters just thinking about it once again.

Public Option debate -- PTS

There are many issues in the healthcare debate, but none more controversial than the so-called "public option". A link to Paul Samuelson's article in WAPO is here, where he explains the issue.  For an even more in-depth article by a free lance economist, Morgen Richmond, go to here, and here, for parts one and two. Richmond lays the blame for the confusion about the public option squarely on the shoulders of the press for not explaining how Obama and others have been consciously and consistently misleading the public on the intent of this part of the plan for reforming healthcare.  It is a sordid story and highlights how corrupt the media has become, and how little it can be trusted to fairly explain issues because of its bias.


JDW adds:  These articles conclusively prove that this whole public option is, as advertised, a Trojan horse that the Democrats understand will lead them to their promised land, the single payer system.  This system is failing in both Great Britain and Canada.  Is there any reason why we should want it here in the US?

Chris Matthews, POTUS, and the left's agenda -- PTS

It's hard to believe how disgusting Chris Matthews, most other leftie commentators, and the POTUS are when it comes to the 24/7 Bush bashing they engage in week in, week out.  Once again tonight Matthews, as he does almost weekly on his MSNBC program, accused George Bush of lying about the intelligence that led to the Iraq war. Matthews in the course of noting that some organization recently invited Bush to talk to them about leadership, and so forth, wondered why anyone who dragged us into two wars that were unnecessary and ill-advised would be invited anywhere to speak about leadership, or anything else, for that matter.  Same old same old.  Matthews is a broken record on the subject, and the POTUS rarely fails to mention all the messes he inherited from Bush every time he is delivers speeches.  Once and for all doesn't he, and all the rest of the facts deprived left recall that every intelligence organization in the western world thought Hussein possessed WMD, and no one doubted that he would use them since he already had on his own people, that he was harboring or at least allowing al Queda groups to train their recruits on Iraqi territory?  Do they forget that authorization for Bush to go to war with Hussein was almost unanimously voted by members of both political parties? Furthermore is there any doubt that Hussein refused to allow UN inspections of suspected atomic weaponry facilities and that he defied United Nations resolutions on seventeen separate occasions. What's behind all this silly whining by these puerile talking heads and the president who repeatedly ignore facts and distort history?  The bigger story is probably the plan liberals have to change the American way of life. To do this they must discredit any and all attempts by conservatives to preserve the old way of life.  Here's what Thomas Sowell,  one of the clearest thinking pundits out there had to say in a published column today:

Nothing so epitomizes President Obama's own contempt for American values and traditions like trying to ram two bills through Congress in his first year-- each bill more than a thousand pages long-- too fast for either of them to be read, much less discussed. That he succeeded only the first time says that some people are starting to wake up. Whether enough people will wake up in time to keep America from being dismantled, piece by piece, is another question-- and the biggest question for this generation.

It begins by degrading the goals, objectives, and values of any conservative leaders and ends up touting the cause of those who believe that all nations are better served by giving up their sovereignty to a world order and governance under the banner of some transnational organization like the UN. Defense? Who needs defense in a world where every state's rights are equally valid and must be protected from an aggressive super power, like the US.  Obama and his crowd are taking this Republic into territory we've never seen before.  It is dangerous.  If one wants to know how dangerous it is, here's a link to an article that sheds light on this administration and it's putative leader: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/narcissistic_rage_in_the_white_1.html, for a link to an article in American thinker that should give everyone pause.