Just had a conversation with someone deploring the fact that a nephew had just joined the Marines. Made me think of this dialog from the underrated Western “Open Range“:

Mack: Shame what this town’s come to.
Charley Waite: You could do something about it.
Mack: What? We’re freighters. Ralph here’s a shopkeeper.
Charley Waite: You’re men, ain’t you?
Mack: I didn’t raise my boys just to see ‘em killed.
Charley Waite: Well you may not know this, but there’s things that gnaw at a man worse than dying.

There are things worse than dying.

Good news from the head of the CIA:

While cautioning that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat, Hayden said Osama bin Laden is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world and has largely forfeited his ability to exploit the Iraq war to recruit adherents. Two years ago, a CIA study concluded that the U.S.-led war had become a propaganda and marketing bonanza for al-Qaeda, generating cash donations and legions of volunteers.

All that has changed, Hayden said in an interview with The Washington Post this week that coincided with the start of his third year at the helm of the CIA.

‘On balance, we are doing pretty well,’ he said, ticking down a list of accomplishments: ‘Near strategic defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al-Qaeda globally — and here I’m going to use the word ‘ideologically’ — as a lot of the Islamic world pushes back on their form of Islam,’ he said.

The sense of shifting tides in the terrorism fight is shared by a number of terrorism experts, though some caution that it is too early to tell whether the gains are permanent. Some credit Hayden and other U.S. intelligence leaders for going on the offensive against al-Qaeda in the area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where the tempo of Predator strikes has dramatically increased from prevous years. But analysts say the United States has caught some breaks in the past year, benefiting from improved conditions in Iraq, as well as strategic blunders by al-Qaeda that have cut into its support base.

“One of the lessons we can draw from the past two years is that al-Qaeda is its own worst enemy,” said Robert Grenier, a former top CIA counterterrorism official who is now managing director of Kroll, a risk consulting firm. “Where they have succeeded initially, they very quickly discredit themselves.”

Nice to see others concur.

Good point:

Reporters may now give Mr. Obama’s many gaffes more notice. But don’t count on them correcting an implicit bias in writing about such faux pas.

Over the years, reporters have tagged a long list of conservative public figures, from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, as dim and uninformed. The reputation of some of these men has improved over time. But can anyone name a leading liberal figure who has developed a similar media reputation, even though the likes of Al Gore, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have committed substantial gaffes at times? No reporter I’ve talked to has come up with a solid example.

It’s clear some gaffes are considered more newsworthy than others. But it would behoove the media to check their premises when deciding just how much attention to pay to them. The best guideline might be: Show some restraint and judgment, but report them all.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young singing “Helpless.” Great song.

(Hattip: Falsani)

Instapundit links to some surprisingly good news coming out of Iraq:

BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi military officials said violence in Iraq has decreased significantly in recent weeks to levels not seen in four years.

That offers some hope to officials that Iraqi security services may be making gains, following recent Iraqi-led military campaigns in Basra in the south, Baghdad’s Sadr City, and Mosul in the north.

Law prof Glenn Reynolds points out again that much of the recent news doesn’t fit the dominant media narrative that the war is a lost cause, a quagmire that will never see any semblance of victory.

On the same day this latest good news emerged, the American Journalism Review published an article entitled “Whatever happened to Iraq?” In the lengthy piece, journalists are interviewed about why there’s been such a precipitous drop in news coverage of the war.

Paraphrased by the AJR author, the Los Angeles Times’ foreign editor Marjorie Miller cites three factors. Miller points to the ongoing interest in the Obama/Clinton race and the fantastic cost of supporting a bureau in Baghdad. But the third factor proves most revealing:

• With no solutions in sight, with no light at the end of the tunnel, war fatigue has become a factor. Over the years, a bleak sameness has settled into accounts of suicide bombings and brutal sectarian violence. Insurgents fighting counterinsurgents are hard to translate to an American audience.

Talk about a media narrative.

We’ve been seeing light at the end of the tunnel for more than half a year. Pretty much everyone — even the sharpest critics of the war — have admitted that the situation in Iraq has improved dramatically since the troop surge early last year. To refer to the present situation as “bleak sameness” is simply not an accurate assessment of the recent progress. Miller and the AJR appear to have missed the fourth — and most probable — factor contributing to the downturn in news stories on Iraq:

• With the situation in Iraq improving dramatically, there’s nothing considered newsworthy to trumpet on the front page.

The after picture of my bathroom.

Memorial Day Grill Bread

This is cool:

French skydiver Michel Fournier takes his life in his hands when, weather permitting, he leaps from a balloon 40 kilometres (25 miles) above Canada’s western plains.

The 64-year-old parachutist said it was his life’s dream to make the record jump, which will begin at the outer reaches of the stratosphere — about four times higher than the cruising altitude of a commercial jet.

Fournier spent Sunday resting and making the final arrangements in the small city of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, from where he will head up into the heavens in a stratospheric balloon and then throw himself off.

He will be wearing a pressurized suit capable of withstanding temperatures of minus 100 degrees Celsius (minus 148 Fahrenheit) as he hurtles to Earth at more than 1,500 kilometers per hour.

If he succeeds, Fournier will actually break four world records: for fastest freefall, longest freefall, highest jump, and highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon.

Hope he makes it.

Environmentalism as a religion

The last few graphs from Freeman Dyson’s global warming book reviews in the New York Times:

The United Kingdom has made up its mind and takes the view that any individuals who disagree with government policy should be ignored. This dogmatic tone is also adopted by the Royal Society, the British equivalent of the US National Academy of Sciences. The Royal Society recently published a pamphlet addressed to the general public with the title “Climate Change Controversies: A Simple Guide.” The pamphlet says:

This is not intended to provide exhaustive answers to every contentious argument that has been put forward by those who seek to distort and undermine the science of climate change and deny the seriousness of the potential consequences of global warming.

In other words, if you disagree with the majority opinion about global warming, you are an enemy of science. The authors of the pamphlet appear to have forgotten the ancient motto of the Royal Society, Nullius in Verba, which means, “Nobody’s word is final.”

All the books that I have seen about the science and economics of global warming, including the two books under review, miss the main point. The main point is religious rather than scientific. There is a worldwide secular religion which we may call environmentalism, holding that we are stewards of the earth, that despoiling the planet with waste products of our luxurious living is a sin, and that the path of righteousness is to live as frugally as possible. The ethics of environmentalism are being taught to children in kindergartens, schools, and colleges all over the world.

Environmentalism has replaced socialism as the leading secular religion. And the ethics of environmentalism are fundamentally sound. Scientists and economists can agree with Buddhist monks and Christian activists that ruthless destruction of natural habitats is evil and careful preservation of birds and butterflies is good. The worldwide community of environmentalists—most of whom are not scientists—holds the moral high ground, and is guiding human societies toward a hopeful future. Environmentalism, as a religion of hope and respect for nature, is here to stay. This is a religion that we can all share, whether or not we believe that global warming is harmful.

Unfortunately, some members of the environmental movement have also adopted as an article of faith the be-lief that global warming is the greatest threat to the ecology of our planet. That is one reason why the arguments about global warming have become bitter and passionate. Much of the public has come to believe that anyone who is skeptical about the dangers of global warming is an enemy of the environment. The skeptics now have the difficult task of convincing the public that the opposite is true. Many of the skeptics are passionate environmentalists. They are horrified to see the obsession with global warming distracting public attention from what they see as more serious and more immediate dangers to the planet, including problems of nuclear weaponry, environmental degradation, and social injustice. Whether they turn out to be right or wrong, their arguments on these issues deserve to be heard.

Great points, particularly about the religious nature of environmentalism. Humans appear hard-wired to believe in something greater than themselves. Radical environmentalism fulfills that innate need.

Dyson, a mathematician and physicist, also envisioned the eventual creation of the Dyson Sphere, a structure built around a star to harness its power. They found one in Star Trek once.

(Hattip: Instapundit)

One of my former students is returning to Bulgaria, her native land. She certainly added a unique perspective in my classes. She apparently plans to blog about her experiences:

Well, after six and a half years of living in the ‘land of milk and honey,’ my boyfriend, Mark, and I have decided to return to the Old Continent and reconnect with our roots. The romantic myth of America is haunting many people in countries all over the world, countries that cannot provide their nations with the conveniences and luxuries America can, but as they say: ignorance is bliss. It’s those same comforts that make people jaded and complacent.”

I’d say that’s a fair assessment. I look forward to keeping up with her observations.