Distance irony: how far we've come

Watched "Flight 93" on A&E last night. Thousands demonstrated "against the war" in NYC yesterday -- a few miles from Ground Zero.

Provo weather

As the Brits would say, the weather is fresh: two perfect days in a row, slight breezes, blosssoms on the wind, perfect temperature. "Ah, there is blessing in this gentle breeze."

A Day in Court (the U.S. Supreme Court, that is)

Daniel Henninger in "Wonder Land" (in the WSJ) tells the story:

Justice Stevens brings down the house with the morning's best probable-cause line: "The adults were intoxicated? That's a serious crime in Utah!"

Read the whole thing.

Global Warming's Secret Garden: "we're going to die!"

It's not a bedridden Colin in the musical (or the book), it's Algore. Mark Steyn weighs in.

Without civilization

James Lileks says we can't communicate with terrorists.

Bowing to ballots, not bullets

Jonah Goldberg says let the Iraqis decide about whether American troops should leave.

Partisan leaks: the double standard

WSJ editorial page weighs in.

Peggy Noonan on "The Big Three"

What the Bush administration should focus on in the next (last) 1,000 days.

Flight 93

Todd Beamer's dad weighs in on the flight and the film in the WSJ.

BYU 68th Ward: Farewell

Am just finishing my "freshman" year as an LDS bishop in the BYU 68th Ward (consists of two dorms in Heritage Halls, Young and Carroll Halls; approximately 140 students -- 145 Fall Semester, and 137 Winter Semester). We had a wonderful 3 1/2 hour closing testimony meeting yesterday. So many are going off to serve missions: San Diego, Rome, Athens, Armenia, Boise, Mexico, Dallas-Fort Worth, etc. We had every FHE group over to our home this semester for a short lesson and banana splits. So satisfying to see young people change their lives and overcome mistakes. The Gospel is true and shines in their eyes. Bittersweet. The most fulfilling church calling I've ever had. The greatest joy in service. What a privilege. Hard to see them go.

"Swing hard, in case you hit it"

This is a major league hitting coach's advice to players facing Randy Johnson or other flamethrowers in the bigs. Advice for life from PowerLine.

Ann Madsen's "Making Their Own Peace: Twelve Women of Jerusalem"

Read about it here and here.

TrumanMadsen.com

A new DVD series, "On Sacred Ground" about the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Check it out here.

Iraq: the price of freedom

Personal loss and resolve in Iraq.

Response to Iran nukes: "Can't we kill 'em tomorrow?

Mark Steyn is, as usual, on target.

Apple gets big slice of product-placement pie

"Apple's products were mentioned or viewed 250 times over the past four months on TV shows around the dial." Read more about it in WaPo.

The Arab-Israeli conflict by the numbers

While searching for something else today in Jewish World Review, I came across this column by Dennis Prager, which is worth reading and pondering. And even though the column was first published a couple of years ago, there is little information in it that needs to be updated.

Spring has sprung

A low of 26 and snow on the ground the day after Easter in Provo, and a high of 101 at DFW. Go figure.

The "Gospel" of Judas: dark thrill of denigration

American Digest slams the intelligentsia's latest passion.

MacBook Pro 2.0 Ghz

Got it today at CompUSA. Here's the scoop on it from Apple.



Got a Brenthaven 12/15 Pro, too. Neat bag.

Very happy with both.

P.S. My wife inherited my 12" PowerBook G4. Her PowerBook G3 "Lombard" (inherited from my dad) has been on its last legs...

Views of an Iranian dissident

Iran is on my mind a lot these days, partly because the regime's nuclear saber-rattling is a subject that should be of concern to any well-informed person, and partly because I have developed a cherished friendship with someone who actually lives there. In my view, she, rather than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs who call the shots for him, represents what this beautiful and remarkable country is really all about. This interview with an Iranian dissident suggests that my view does not represent mere wishful thinking, and that with 70% of its population under the age of 30, Iran may in fact be full of individuals cut from the same piece of cloth as my friend.

Iran president: saber-rattling

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Palestine will shortly be free and that Israel can't escape annihilation. We may dismiss him as a nut case. We may dismiss Moussaoui as a nut case. We may dismiss every suicide bomber as a nut case. But the body count continues to mount. Better to take them seriously. See here, here, and here.

Moussaoui: terrorist poster-child

Abu Ghraib abuse photos were bad PR for the coalition.


Zacarias Moussaoui's trial testimony was bad PR for terrorists. "Kill them. Kill them all."

Pope condemns an "inane apologia of evil"

The Pontiff stands firm. Here here!

Liberty, Equality, Mediocrity

Krauthammer zaps the current French revolution: "Against Precariousness." Ouch.

Apple v. Apple: "morons in a hurry"

Another reason I love the Internet -- count on a blogger to get to the heart of the matter: it's not a trademark case, it's a contract case, and Apple (Computer) looks like it has clear language on its side (paragraph 4.3).

A Goggle search discloses only a "placeholder" website for Apple Corps. Wikipedia has more of the story on Apple Corps.

Heavy weather

In the South, and in Israel: tornado and hailstorm in the Galilee, 9-foot waves in the Red Sea. Hmm.

Cockroach democracy

Alert reader Abbie Duston has pointed out an interesting study on cockroach group dynamics.

Will Apple's Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) "change its spots"?

If Windows XP can now run natively on an Intel-based Mac, will the next version of the Mac OS X ("Leopard" 10.5) run on other Intel boxes?

Can Cupertino trump Redmond?

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here's Walt Mossberg's WSJ piece on his experience using Boot Camp.

UPDATE II: It doesn't make sense given Apple's history for it to become just a software company. Its claim to fame is the seamless connection between its software and its hardware. It makes mores sense for Apple to try to increase its hardware market share by offering the XP-native option on its machines.

Apple: Windows on a Mac is here

While Microsoft struggles to get its new OS to market, an Apple fanatic's best-of-both-worlds dream comes true: Apple Computer announces release of a public beta version of Boot Camp, software that enables Microsoft Windows XP to run natively on Intel-based Macs.

The software, which will be included in Mac OS X 10.5, called Leopard, is available for download now. Apple will also preview Boot Camp in August at its Worldwide Developers Conference, the company said.

"Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple's superior hardware, now that we use Intel processors," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement. "We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch."

Here's the link to Boot Camp.

BYU LB Q&A

BYU senior linebacker answers important questions about the team.

BYU tight end Q&A

Senior tight end Daniel Coats answers the important questions about the team.

Bush was right

Song here. Words here.

General Conference

Friend Garry Wilmore has some thoughtful posts over at I miei cari amici. Keep scrolling. Suffice to say that there is a prophet in Israel. You can watch online here and transcripts will be available on Thursday at the same link.

Nixon's lawyer: Bush's spying worse

Headline in this morning's local paper.

My take: Senator Russ Feingold (D) is running for president. John Dean is trying to sell books. And the President is not trying to collect evidence for a criminal trial. He's trying to protect America from another 9/11.