Lincoln's Racial Views

According to historian Garry Wills, black historian Henry Louis Gates thinks that Abraham Lincoln had the following three strand in his racial outlook:

(1) There is opposition to slavery, which could (but need not) free him
from racism. (2) There is the belief that blacks are inferior to whites in
intelligence and "civilization." (3) There is the belief that blacks must be
kept apart from whites, so far as that is legally and logistically possible,
which is usually but not necessarily a racist position (some blacks held
it).

Vitamin C and E: To Take or Not

A recent study seemed to show that antioxidants like Vitamins C and E blocked the positive effect of exercise. This could confuse people and cause them to stop taking these valuable supplements.

Here is an article that discusses this study and indicates that it does not necessarily indicate what some have assumed it indicates.

Bureaucrat Unbound

Time Magazine writes about Sec. of Defense Gates, which supports Obama's reasoning in keeping him on:

After a quietly impressive career in government that has spanned more than 30
mostly Republican years, Robert Gates is suddenly seeming almost, well,
charismatic. He reeks authority. He is, according to several sources, the most
respected voice in National Security Council debates. The President is said to
love his unadorned manner. Much of which is attributable to the fact that, in
the self-proclaimed twilight of his public career, Gates has emerged as that
most exotic of Washington species — the bureaucrat unbound, candid and fearless.
He tells members of Congress what he really thinks about their pet programs. He
upends Pentagon priorities, demotes the military-industrial hardware pipeline
and promotes the immediate needs of the troops on the front line. He fires
high-ranking subordinates without muss or controversy — an Air Force secretary
and chief of staff who didn't agree with him on the need to end production of
the F-22 aircraft; the commandant of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who
presided over disgraceful conditions; even a well-respected general like David
McKiernan, a conventional-warfare specialist unsuited for the asymmetrical
struggle in Afghanistan.

When, in a recent conversation, I noted that he
seemed gleefully outspoken these days, Gates offered a twinkly smile and said,
"What are they going to do, fire me?"

Sullivan on Obama and Gays

Andrew Sullivan writes:

“One of them said, 'Obama keep your promise.’ I thought that’s fair. I
don’t know which promise he was talking about,” - Barack
Obama mocking gay protesters at a celebrity-packed fundraiser in LA.

Yes, we all know Obama opposes marriage equality. But milking that
opposition for laughs a day after the court ruling upholding Prop 8?

But since he asked, how about an end to the HIV ban, an end to the
military ban and a federal recognition of full civil equality for gay married
couples? Three clear promises. After this quip, by the way, the NYT
reports:
The people in the audience – who paid $30,400 per couple to attend –
laughed as they ate a dinner of roasted tenderloin, grilled organic chicken and
sun choke rosemary mashed potatoes.

And then I remember why I'm not a Democrat.

Ouch! It seems that Obama tends to get into trouble with his attempts at humor. It shows his 'insensitive', cynical side.

The Worldview of Religion

I'm reading a book by Huston Smith, the renowned professor of world religions, under whom I studied at Syracuse University in the early '80s. One of his more recent books is entitled Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief. I ran across this paragraph which sums up well what I've read so far:

If science cannot tell us what (if anything) is outside our universe, what
can? Nothing definitively, but it would be foolish not to draw on
every resource available. Inclusively, things are neither as science says
they are nor as religion says they are. They are as science, and religion,
and philosophy, and art, and common sense, and our deepest intuitions, and our
practiced imaginations say they are. What all of these complementing
resources--with the exception of modern science, which works with a limited
viewfinder--have said about the Big Picture throughout human history has shaken
down into a single, wondrously clear and inspiring worldview. This
worldview, which I consider the winnowed wisdom of the human race, is found
distilled in the world's great, enduring religions. (p. 43)

Torture is Counterproductive

Andrew Sullivan posts an interview with an experienced Air Force interrogator, who persuasively argues against torture, because it is counterproductive to our mission and goals. It shows Dick 'Darth Vader' Cheney to be the blowhard he truly is.

Valkyrie

I watched the new Tom Cruise movie, Valkyrie, over the weekend. I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, but I really liked this movie. It seemed to be a serious attempt to put on the big screen the true story of an attempt by German army officers to assassinate Hitler and bring WW II to an end. It was moving and thought-provoking, especially regarding how close they came to accomplishing their goal. The German people were not all brainwashed by Hitler, as shown by this film, and some gave their lives attempting to stop him.

The Right Choice

Just so you know, it sounds like Sonia Sotomayor is a great choice for the Supreme Court. Credentialed, experienced, fairly centrist. Summa cum laude at Princeton. Yale Law School. Assistant DA in Manhatten. District Court Judge (appointed by President George H. W. Bush). Federal Appellate Justice for 10 years. Widely respected across the board.

Conservatives think Obama is doing the quota thing by picking a minority woman. Wrong. Why do conservatives think only white men can do this job? If they are credentialed and experienced, what does it matter what their skin color or gender? Simple fairness and balance would seem to argue that with all the white male justices in the past, the next 50 should be minority women!

Calling her a 'Latino racist' just shows how radical the Republican right has become.

Peak Oil: Its Past, Present, and Future

If you haven't seen a good video on the Peak Oil issue, here's one. It also deals some with the 9/11 attack as well. The participants interviewed are articulate, intelligent, persuasive, and they present a position which is interesting, radical, and totally absent from the mainstream media. Don't know if I buy it all, but it's fascinating. Watch it when you have a chance.

The World Turns

Bill Bonner, uber-contrarian, writes in his daily essay:

Yesterday was a holiday in the US. Little news from that quarter. But
while Americans were enjoying their backyard barbecues, the rest of the world
turned."

Obama plans 'leaner' car industry," says the BBC. While most readers
will focus on the last three words of that sentence, we direct your attention to
the first two. The subject is the important part...not the
predicate. That the car industry may or may not get 'leaner' is of little
interest to us. It will do what it needs to do. But that the
president of the United States of America is now creating the business plan for
an automobile company is surely a sign of something big. The world has already
turned...perhaps more than we realize.

It was only a few months ago...we're almost sure...that a private company
figured out for itself how it would compete. If it was well- managed - and lucky
- it would grow. If it made a serious mistake, it would go out of
business...leaving the premises vacant for another entrepreneur. Americans not
only accepted this model, they applauded it. They thought the "free enterprise"
system was the best in the world. They believed it was responsible for their
wealth...their progress...and their place in the world.

Now, they seem to have come to believe something else: that the president
of the United States - an elected politician - should have a direct say in how
individual private enterprises are organized and run.