tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93521012011-11-27T19:09:48.824-05:00This blog is a collection of random thoughts. I in no way take responsibility for them. They came to me of their own volition, all by themselves. I sure never asked them to intrude on my personal space.bennoreply@blogger.comBlogger4301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-50943141082560847802007-08-01T12:29:00.000-04:002007-08-01T13:30:29.756-04:00

(why? I'm not going to grad school yet. So, I have no idea, other than, it's a good idea to do. And it's kind of fun. Yeah, I'm a nerd. That's going to be a theme.)So, I'm sitting at work and I'm realizing what a nerd I am. I've bought a GRE study book and I'm reading through it.Um, this sounds like fun.It's on the computer, and it's long. But, the benefit of it being on the computer is that the

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-64405550360849223612007-07-02T14:24:00.000-04:002007-07-02T14:28:40.990-04:00

This is presented as a "ha-ha" story - one where the dumb thieving teenagers kind of get what they deserve - but there's an elephant in the room. The country know as Myanmar is really Burma, and it's ruled by a dictatorship that has an iron fist which crushes dissenters. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that these "thieves" were actually people acting out against the government. Copper wire is

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-68123656746469632152007-07-02T14:14:00.000-04:002007-07-02T14:21:54.724-04:00

I don't get it. Why are so many people giving him money? I've been following his campaign, somewhat, and I haven't really seen anything that distinguishes him. Yes, he's not Hilary, his name is not John, and he's not visibly crazy. Yes, he's a personable politician - maybe even more so than other politicians. But, those things aren't really points in his favor, just points that aren't strikes

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-65607675181740753002007-06-27T08:01:00.000-04:002007-06-27T08:02:49.637-04:00

If I am ever hung, it will be for my love of puns. The one at the link is a good one.

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-58590076762139431432007-06-25T09:53:00.000-04:002007-06-25T09:54:50.408-04:00

I'm adding fish to the watchlist, where they'll sit right next to the squirrels.

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-65108232280687366772007-06-25T09:50:00.000-04:002007-06-25T09:53:34.305-04:00

" So now we're six and a half years into Bush and everyone from Helen Thomas on down is declaring him the worst president ever. What no one is saying is the one overarching reason he's the worst: the Bush administration is the first that doesn't even mean well. "The guy who wrote that is saying that every other world leader is better than Bush, no matter what they did, because at least they

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-15908589521346343232007-06-23T12:41:00.000-04:002007-06-23T19:58:49.304-04:00

He's a fool. Why is he still wasting his money with a campaign? He has absolutely no chance at winning the nomination - that much was clear after he said we caused 9/11 ourselves in the GOP debates. Whether or not that's true (I think you can make an argument that our actions pissed people off enough that they would want to attack us - I don't buy that, because it's not that simple, but there is

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-31105684412183813842007-06-23T12:32:00.001-04:002007-06-23T12:38:39.717-04:00

I'm getting lazy in my old age and summer status. There's stuff to chat about, but to be honest, I'm thinking more about life at the moment, so my brain is firing on all cylinders, but they're the wrong ones to create really blog-able thoughts.So, sorry bout that...not that anyone probably checks this very often anymore. So, as a heads up, I'm going to get back into blogging as soon as my

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-73734395267247423282007-05-24T20:50:00.001-04:002007-05-24T20:59:31.320-04:00

But I do like the idea of a gas-tax. I think it would be a good way to discourage driving, and encourage efficient cars without silly CAFE standards.Trust the intelligent readers of the Economist Blog, Free Exchange to give me another reason to be ok with a gas tax -"The costs of driving should show up in gas prices. These costs include road maintenance, medical costs from accidents, traffic law

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-35314455986298996242007-05-24T12:24:00.001-04:002007-05-24T12:24:33.761-04:00

(Crazy) People willing to commit violent acts for the purpose of a political show (Otherwise known as terrorists) live in America, too. And they aren't all religious, and they don't all look so different from "us."I'm glad we come down hard on them too, even if some of their stuff doesn't seem as violent as a car bomb, both because we need to keep ourselves safe here, and because we need to keep

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-54999836595670998632007-05-19T12:40:00.000-04:002007-05-19T12:43:16.251-04:00

Check this out from Tiger Hawk. Key Phrase (comes at the end):"Wow.Is there anything more fun than buried treasure?"Answer: no.

benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12484436861155026586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-79380213549800135292007-05-03T22:03:00.000-04:002007-05-03T22:06:18.292-04:00

Even Sweden allows for school choice. Why are we left in the dark ages? Why don't we care about the wellbeing and education of Our Children! Give in to the market! It makes better decisions in your best interest than any and all politicians! All the time!The strongest evidence against this criticism comes from Sweden, where parents are freer than those in almost any other country to spend as they

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-87189714735165759372007-05-03T09:11:00.000-04:002007-05-03T09:17:42.068-04:00

It's been a while, and it's going to be a bit longer before I return full time. I'm dealing with a pretty tough semester, both academically and extracurricularly, but there are only a couple weeks left. And, this summer, I intend to be blogging everyday.However, I couldn't pass this up. One of my old Professor's blogs (good for him) and brought my attention to this. There are so many good things

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-12835856467073451672007-03-22T13:31:00.000-04:002007-03-22T13:34:01.557-04:00

My blog is considered too dangerous to be available in China. Good for me, bad for Chinese citizens.Do you qualify?Thanks to Curmudgeonly and Skeptical for the link.I'm not kidding, this is pretty exciting. I make the cut, but the Daily Kos does not. How awesome is that?

bennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-47889723083830700512007-03-19T23:37:00.000-04:002007-03-19T23:40:14.498-04:00

I'll be out for mid-terms and spring break. So, I might not post something soon. Go read Consul for lots of good stuff today.Also, does anyone have a suggestion of a good documentary about the Iraq war? We've got some leftists planing a film festival, but since they're my friends, they're open to allowing a bit of truth to enter into the spectrum. It should be a fun experience, but since I don't

bennoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-46751731107401398382007-03-10T17:05:00.000-05:002007-03-10T17:08:48.710-05:00

I'm running for President of my student government this week, so I've been pretty busy. Too busy to come up with something worthy of posting, anyway.I have, however, been able to read a bit. I want to take a moment to give Dean, of Dean's World, some props about his line in the sand. It's easier to have a discussion about what is to be done that includes all sides when one side refrains from

bennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-48574980020406469732007-03-01T15:40:00.000-05:002007-03-01T15:47:12.782-05:00

And, finally, a published article. I know I haven't been blogging as much lately, and this is one of the reasons. Here's the note as it ended up:Going Greener | March 01, 2007 Colby students this week found hundreds of new travel mugs in the dining halls, allowing them to grab one to keep their coffee, tea, and cocoa warm on their way to class. When they bring the mugs

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-80274488319179088752007-02-22T00:09:00.001-05:002007-02-22T00:09:40.091-05:00

This post is interesting for me to read. What do you all think?

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-22809148082088408482007-02-21T21:20:00.000-05:002007-02-23T13:46:02.836-05:00

The real reason Britain is pulling out of Iraq is that we're getting the upper hand there, especially in the provinces where the Brits had a presence. And, now that they won't be busy with terrorists in Iraq, they'll have a freer hand to deal with terrorists in Iran.UPDATE: Also, they can send some much needed troops to deal with Afghanistan. The fact that countries can get credit for sending

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-80906563976560523892007-02-15T19:36:00.000-05:002007-02-15T19:38:23.237-05:00

He's back at it...though, I actually have to say that people might get more work done in the library without facebook. Make sure you watch the video as well.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-42087336122117561022007-02-15T00:02:00.000-05:002007-02-15T00:03:30.805-05:00

Methinks these guys are faking it.But, beards are still cool. And, they get an A+ for location.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-7156066778183596402007-02-14T14:35:00.000-05:002007-02-14T14:39:52.874-05:00

There are a lot of terrorist attacks that are scary. We have lots to pick from. About a week ago, we were reminded of the threat of a dirty bomb exploding in our cities when a man was arrested for smuggling 80 grams of 90% enriched radioactive material. Then, they could load up tractor trailers with fertilizer and run them into buildings, like the guy who couldn't speak english well and had no

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-73170334993518791552007-02-08T13:45:00.000-05:002007-02-08T13:32:05.431-05:00

"So, we have 6 al Qaeda leaders captured, and possibly dozens more killed. All in the last 48 hours." - as reported by My Pet Jawa. However, I do need to take issue with one assumtion they made to get at that number:"But four is such a lonely number. A facilitator of foreign fighters was captured by the Iarqi Army on the Syrian border. And foreign fighters tend to mean al Qaeda. "Foreign

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-61701883062904848142007-02-08T13:18:00.000-05:002007-02-08T13:15:32.973-05:00

Are us Americans trying to revive the cold war with russia?YesCome again?Yes, but the Jewish Lobby has taken control of Washington, so it's not really our fault.Why would we want to?No pollcode.com free pollsRead this article for some context.There are some quotes that are gems:""This surely is the beginning of an arms race in some sense," he said. "Which is all the more unjustified given that

bennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-34314326535569241152007-02-08T10:41:00.000-05:002007-02-08T00:53:14.716-05:00

So, I like lobsters, and I like the idea of a Whole Foods-like store, even if I would never spend the extra money to buy stuff from there.However, I'm not sure I understand their reasoning in this decision. I'll wait for you to go read it and check it out.Ok, so they seem to object to the fact that lobsters are shipped in boxes with other lobsters. Hmm...well, lobsters have hard shells, so they

bennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-80315997003351865692007-02-08T00:49:00.000-05:002007-02-08T00:48:54.172-05:00

I think this would be a good time (what with the 5000'th visitor and all) to restate my thoughts about commenting.I'm a big believer in taking credit/responsibility for what you think. You are free to think/say anything you want on this site (of course), especially if you can back it up with real arguments. (Cause then it would be a fun discussion, instead of just me making fun of you) However, I

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-62569127614760224672007-02-08T00:36:00.000-05:002007-02-07T21:37:49.491-05:00

So, I'm pretty upset about something that's going on at my school. Evidently someone is placing Christian tracts in the books in our library. The worst part is that they're evidently singling out Jewish history/study books to place them in. Now, there are two sides to this.First, the library shouldn't be upset because it doesn't destroy the books and it's not really hard to take the piece of

bennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-46697559335931689872007-02-06T15:24:00.000-05:002007-02-06T15:27:24.478-05:00

You may have noticed the new Pajamas Media banner flying at my site. This is just a way for you to do a straw poll about the 2008 elections, as you have already figured out. It's not really an endorsement of Pajamas Media, though if they want to add me to their advertising stream, I won't turn them down.I do want to know what you think about the elections. So if you don't mind participating

bennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-5699230209635483112007-02-06T10:05:00.000-05:002007-02-06T10:07:29.034-05:00

I just went up over 5000 visitors! That's pretty good for a little over a year of blogging, I think. Thanks for all the visits, and I hope you keep coming back 'cause you enjoy the experience.I'm big on de-briefing, so why don't we take this time for some feedback? Can you post a comment with what you like and dislike about this blog? If you've been around a while, tell me what keeps you coming

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-57852954407495929082007-02-05T17:07:00.000-05:002007-02-05T17:11:38.825-05:00

Global Warming (And a beautiful photo) - Althouse. This is for the textually challenged readers. It is a commercial, presented without further comment: Sweet Mother of Awesome! - Surviving Grady.Some great political analysis from Red - They call me Red.I was going to write this post today, but then I found this, and realized that I didn't have to. It's a good thing, because I just started spring

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-30859457312604972502007-01-27T21:43:00.000-05:002007-01-27T22:47:42.623-05:00

Good Point.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-68920447725316865552007-01-26T11:45:00.000-05:002007-01-26T11:49:58.878-05:00

Heh. I love it... Someone came and left this comment to an old post: Anonymous said... Beacause it is a fact, worse. president. ever. Does that sentence even make sense? No, no it doesn't. Does it relate to the post? No. no, not really. My question was not why do the T-shirts in question exist, but rather, why do they think that they'll get money by advertising said

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-62933965175436137262007-01-26T11:44:00.000-05:002007-01-26T11:45:41.372-05:00

Why is Greece getting hit by terrorists all of a sudden? What has changed in the past several months?If anyone knows/has a theory, please share. I'll look into the issue more and get back to you all.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-27504332466195566572007-01-22T19:48:00.000-05:002007-01-22T19:52:54.777-05:00

These pictures are beautiful: (Click the pic., slick)You can go here too.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-8554776286209440192007-01-22T19:42:00.000-05:002007-01-22T19:46:23.779-05:00

Go read Frank J.'s surprisingly serious (and well put) column on one-issue conservative crybabies. (The title is "The Main Challenge Facing Conservatives Today Is for Them to Stop Being a Bunch of Hysterical Little Girls") It's great. I'm just disappointed that he sacrificed his usual high level of humor content to make a valid and excellent but serious point.And then go read the Dilbert blog's

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-82880471253107204282007-01-22T19:34:00.000-05:002007-01-22T19:42:22.057-05:00

This list is depressing. It's a list of companies that don't use oil from the middle-east, which this group says makes them "terror-free." The only two companies that don't use any oil from the middle east are the Hess Corp and Yukos. The listing for Hess has a note which says they do get oil from Algeria (the home of the GSPC which just allied itself with Al Qaida International and refreshed

bennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-61752399434236360472007-01-22T19:31:00.000-05:002007-01-22T19:34:00.300-05:00

I love baseball, and every year right around now (now being the day after the patriots are out of the patriots) I start longing for spring training.So, here's a baseball themed post.One of my favorite Red Sox players, Trot Nixon, is no longer with us. Boo. He was a hard player, and he came up through the Red Sox farm system as well. He was never a superstar, perhaps, but he did give his all

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-19444214286479489722007-01-16T11:54:00.001-05:002007-01-16T11:54:53.598-05:00

Here's something from the Chicago Boys blog...good stuff, good point.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-14478452807347140892007-01-16T11:53:00.000-05:002007-01-16T11:54:10.639-05:00

Not a good video to watch. Here's the reference.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-22384287940569020222007-01-15T12:06:00.000-05:002007-01-15T12:22:12.426-05:00

His legs were beaten by planks of wood. A drill had been used to bore holes into all of his ribs, his elbows, his knees, and into his head. Doctors estimated the man endured this torture for days. Apparently when the fun was over, or they’d extracted what they needed, or the terrorists were worried about being discovered, or they had another victim waiting for their attentions, they shot him.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-21215977773900851752007-01-14T23:14:00.001-05:002007-01-14T23:14:49.899-05:00

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-52514612450238604502007-01-10T19:15:00.000-05:002007-01-10T19:56:53.036-05:00

Here.And, this is a good close second.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-88712533343286238692007-01-10T17:27:00.001-05:002007-01-10T17:27:59.461-05:00

It must be true. And I repeat it cause I want to hear it!

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-84072173303702145952007-01-10T17:26:00.000-05:002007-01-10T17:27:05.665-05:00

Go read Yon's embeded piece. Him and Bill Roggio are always worth a read.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-68835151168245587752007-01-10T15:05:00.000-05:002007-01-10T17:26:03.766-05:00

Please, read this and let me complain about it. The first comment is that it's a public interest story about a serious issue. That practically guarantees that the story is going to be distorted. As it turns out, I wasn't disappointed. Well, I was, but I was right that the story would be distorted.Quote: "Passage is expected, with Senate approval soon to follow, and if President Bush signs the

bennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-38680523412657691072007-01-10T13:58:00.000-05:002007-01-10T13:59:06.508-05:00

Because of the last line. I know it makes us look kind of stupid to the rest of the world, but it is high-larious.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-77911074019168366782007-01-10T13:20:00.000-05:002007-01-10T13:22:01.538-05:00

Yet another reason to not buy gas at Citgo...Does anyone else know of companies that are owned by the Venezuelan government that I could avoid as easily as Citgo?

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-46302815047009056022007-01-10T13:19:00.000-05:002007-01-10T13:20:30.432-05:00

I guess. Because I can't think of anything to say to this story, except "Cool. Maybe he'll die and we can start to fix things in Burma."

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-1079251068713052832007-01-09T15:13:00.000-05:002007-01-09T15:15:16.812-05:00

It bothers me to no end that I have adds to "anti-bush t-shirts" on my site. I don't pick them, but they show up based on what I'm posting. Am I doing something wrong? I mean, Bush isn't my favorite president (that would be Teddy Roosevelt), but neither do I think he's totally screwed the whole world up. How, exactly, do those Google word algorithms that figure out which adds to sell for my site

bennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-9919588585579587362007-01-09T14:47:00.000-05:002007-01-09T16:54:30.118-05:00

These are spawned by the comments on this post over at Althouse. She's still on the old blogger, so it's slow going and hard to post comments. But whatever, I still like the site.So, I posted a comment over there saying that I thought it would be ok for Muslims to use the old mosque in Cordoba to pray if they want to...I'm assuming that some moderates are making this request, and someone rightly

bennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-60321459095870120482007-01-09T11:11:00.000-05:002007-01-09T11:19:40.955-05:00

Some good news in the terrorism world. Two down, but many still to go...And Chavez is still a jerk.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-17107473225208552792007-01-08T00:38:00.000-05:002007-01-08T00:43:25.661-05:00

I want to share this poem that I found in my Russian Lit class...Velimir Khlevnikov -We chant and enchant,Oh charming enchantment!No raving, no ranting,No canting enchantment!This ranting enchantressHas cast her enchantment -We see what her chant meant!Here rant! There cant!You charming enchanter,Cast out her enchantment,Uncast it, uncant it,Discast it, Discant it,DescantL Decant! Recant!He can't

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-20395220863563855862007-01-07T20:57:00.001-05:002007-01-07T20:57:55.361-05:00

When are they going to learn? And why don't we have an Israel in the area that can bomb their stuff back to the stone age?

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-33316954775693999762007-01-06T22:33:00.000-05:002007-01-07T20:59:19.487-05:00

I'm intrigued by this post at Free Exchange, a blog from the Economist, and the comment there.The post mentions that the Stern Report on Global Warming uses a 0% discount for future human lives when calculating the costs and benefits of a particular action. Normally, an economist decides that when calculating benefits accruing in the future, a discount is used because of the uncertainty of the

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-5917443964947453642007-01-04T15:54:00.000-05:002007-01-04T15:55:21.385-05:00

That I still want Condi to run. Can you see anyone else worth voting for? I don't want to make the mistake the democrats did in 2004 and vote for someone I think will be "electable." I'm still young and idealist, so I want to vote for someone I can be excited about. Hence, go Condi. Boo everyone else. Mostly.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-2178806732622796102007-01-04T15:44:00.000-05:002007-01-04T15:46:25.556-05:00

From a commenter over at C and S (one of the new blog's I blogrolled):is this another example of why we win?i honestly feel, this plastic pig could be a better US SENATOR than Rodham, Schumer, Boxer, Leahy, Kennedy, Kerry, Dodd, Reid, Biden, etc...that's honestly feel(sic)...Here's the link.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-23961532455038299942007-01-04T14:26:00.000-05:002007-01-04T14:28:59.383-05:00

So, I've been busy the past few weeks. I think I made up for it by updating the blog. I've added a bunch of links and moved a few things around. Let me know how you feel about it, if you'd like to.Also, I've been remiss in posting the rest of my paper. I do this because I don't think it's working out as a series of blog posts. If you think differently, let me know. If you'd just like to read the

bennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-74017303784086172902006-12-25T00:40:00.001-05:002006-12-25T00:40:36.858-05:00

bennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-26873424968917161052006-12-22T23:20:00.000-05:002006-12-22T23:38:25.506-05:00

I consider all my readers to be extremely well informed. So, you'll all forgive me when I don't provide you with a link to what I'm talking about in this post. I'm tired/lazy, and I know you know what I mean anyway. Ok?Alright. First of all, all the people predicting doom because one of our congressmen in the 110 (A democrat from Michigan/Minesotta? Not important) will be sworn in on a Koran.

bennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-39385436552182395672006-12-20T12:41:00.000-05:002006-12-20T12:42:47.446-05:00

(Eventually I'll provide links between the posts, but since it's not hard to find the previous one, I'm just going to be lazy now.)The perception of terrorism among the general public is not very well developed. When asked what terrorism is, most people would respond with something like: “violence targeted at civilians." While it is true that a terrorist might target a bomb at a civilian group,

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-45440508491940567162006-12-18T15:26:00.000-05:002006-12-18T15:31:24.592-05:00

So, I'm going to try something a little bit different. This past semester, I wrote a paper that discussed the nature of terrorism, and proposed a definition and a system of classification. It is quite long, so instead of posting it here in full, I'm going to post parts of it at a time, and then interlink it. I hope people are interested in it, cause I had fun writing it, and I think the points I

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-85183300427826597192006-12-15T19:14:00.000-05:002006-12-15T19:21:49.287-05:00

There's no reason you should be interested, but tonight is my last night in DC. I have had a wonderful time here, and I've met the most wonderful people.I spent the semester interning at The Terrorism Research Center, which is quickly becoming the foremost private intelligence and analysis firm in the world. They are now a part of the Black Group, which includes Blackwater, and they produce some

bennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-30052320019483676022006-12-14T22:56:00.000-05:002006-12-14T23:11:59.576-05:00

So, tonight I went with my dad to see the Christmas (good word to describe them) Trees that the Congress and the White House put up. I'm surprisingly technophobic (I scored a 52% on the Geek Test) where cameras are concerned, so I have no pictures. Sorry, go find it yourselves.The Congressional tree was the first one we went to. It was nice. It was a tree given by a native tribe from out in the

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-36533439599178328152006-12-12T01:05:00.000-05:002006-12-12T01:07:27.087-05:00

So, over at Frank J.'s blog, a bunch of liberal commenter's got a head start on the regulars, and the result is priceless. I urge you all to go over there and check it out.I felt the need to post a comment, and I want to put it here too...check out a couple of the comments over there for context, and then take a look at this. Enjoy.Wow! This is the comment thread that keeps on giving! Frank, I

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-30442889148475183912006-12-08T18:26:00.000-05:002006-12-08T18:28:09.843-05:00

I took the Oral Assessment. I didn't pass, but got a 4.7. Which is fine, because I'll be taking the test again anyway. The score isn't low enough to make me think I'll never pass, and I've still got plenty of time to take the test. This was the first year I was eligible anyway. Thanks to everyone who helped me, I appreciate the advice, and I'm sure that I'll do better next year.

bennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-34600752154372751292006-12-08T18:24:00.000-05:002006-12-08T18:26:17.918-05:00

"If I am correct about this, which I am" - Christopher Hitchens.I haven't read the whole essay yet, but the parts I have read (Found on Althouse) are pretty good.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-3114543329806793382006-12-08T18:22:00.000-05:002006-12-08T18:24:02.546-05:00

This is in response to this post, over at Consul-@-Arms.While the sentiments of this post are right-on, it's still not a good idea to have congress sit around in DC all week. Most of the congressmen go home on the weekend - not just to hang out with their families, but to check into regional offices on Friday, and then attend events all weekend. Obviously this isn't true for the Alaskan and

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-51779208533350556322006-12-05T11:12:00.000-05:002006-12-05T14:30:23.027-05:00

...if the Dixie chicks had a press release like this after their infamous out of the country quotes?I mean, here's a good celebrity. She's probably still crazy liberal, but at least she's got her heart in the right place...and England's a decent enough place too...Oh, and to make sure people don't get the wrong idea about this, I noticed a few weeks ago that Paltrow had allegedly said that the

bennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-23769314260311850092006-12-04T21:26:00.000-05:002006-12-04T21:29:35.696-05:00

Althouse does this sometimes, and I think it's fun, but this is the first time I've had a worthy word.cairazqydefinition - crazy to the max. Ubercrazy doesn't even come close to describing that which is cairazqy.For a real world example of this phenomenon, please see, CAIR.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-37177346652315548202006-12-04T21:21:00.000-05:002006-12-04T21:24:55.018-05:00

Well, I'm glad you asked.First off, he's done an excellent job representing our president at the UN. He may not have gotten as much reform as he would have liked, but that's a tough nut to crack. Plus, since everyone watches American politics, especially foreign diplomats, everyone knew he didn't have the full support of congress. That made it easier to ignore his inconvenient truths. (heh, I

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-24427835736610776972006-12-04T21:14:00.000-05:002006-12-04T21:25:39.956-05:00

The context is that a friend of mine just got home from class, and I'm chatting with my friend who is her roommate. This girl generally works out everyday, but the gym closes at 9:30. It is now 9:08. Thus, the following conversation ensues. (oh, and we plan to go watch some football and have me watch them eat wings later tonight at a bar)Ben: I figured she was out...J: not yetBen: foolish athlete

bennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-86000845220397753892006-12-04T09:44:00.000-05:002006-12-04T09:49:22.488-05:00

in the interest of fairness, we should applaud the MSM when they do something good. The bar is set so low, however, that just doing their job deserves props.I have followed the MSM relatively closely as part of my job, and ABC seems to do the best job. They haven't plastered sketchy AP stories on their news sites and such after following them up themselves, and they do good reporting on their own

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-78102043572271877782006-12-04T09:36:00.000-05:002006-12-04T19:49:53.628-05:00

"Dare greatly. It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena." Theodore RooseveltTR is my favorite. He had a good foreign policy, he had a decent domestic policy, and he worked hard to protect the environment. Plus, he had a

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-9799108276684718002006-12-02T00:10:00.000-05:002006-12-02T00:12:02.238-05:00

Go check out the Instapundit...I'm not too excited about my last name being used without a link, but, hey I'm not going to complain.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-641078330716054982006-12-01T23:51:00.000-05:002006-12-01T23:54:41.680-05:00

But in a sign of the continuing high alert on the political level, the government's top level COBRA committee, which usually meets in national emergencies, was convened again.Why can't we have awesome names for emergency committees? I guess that's just what you get when you have a government as old as the Brit's do.I'm also carefully following this spy case, especially the connection between this

bennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-51945269846888478352006-11-28T12:46:00.000-05:002006-11-28T13:25:07.313-05:00

You'll probably be hearing more about this idea in the next few weeks (as soon as I get that paper on terrorism done), but here's a sketch of my plan for world peace. I explained it well in this IM conversation with my friend...plus, you get the benefit of me seriously explaining why a draft is such a bad idea that it will never happen.(jeez, sometimes liberals need the most basic things

bennoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-84955815259009806562006-11-28T00:33:00.000-05:002006-11-28T00:35:20.739-05:00

However....What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas.

bennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-57036457911835037052006-11-23T10:56:00.000-05:002006-11-23T10:59:56.447-05:00

bennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-83845890405189531562006-11-23T10:55:00.000-05:002006-11-23T10:56:09.423-05:00

Quick! Look Busy!That was a bumper sticker I saw on the drive down to my family's house for Thanksgiving. It made me laugh for a long time.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-5894987848553553502006-11-17T08:55:00.000-05:002006-11-17T08:58:36.550-05:00

So, here is a preliminary final account, which also pays due tribute to the Navy team, which crossed the line first. Thank you all for the support you've given us!If you'd like to follow the project during the off time throughout the year, check this blog out.And if you'd like to see more analysis of the statistics, check this place out.And congratulations to everyone who helped, and big thanks

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-56389013533620964742006-11-16T14:41:00.000-05:002006-11-16T14:43:43.756-05:00

This isn't part of the great beards series, cause there's too many of them, and some of them don't count as beards, just facial hair...but which one of these is great?

bennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-51342099053343040362006-11-16T14:01:00.000-05:002006-11-16T14:05:59.216-05:00

Cause I've got a question for them.So this past weekend I went to a great band at a cool bar. It was an Irish bar, which they had actually shipped over from Ireland, piece by piece. It was quite a lot of fun. But the company that does this is not all that old, maybe 10 years or so, from what I can tell. Their name is Ri-Ra, with an accent over the i which I can't put in. Does Ri-Ra mean anything

bennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-70095276159464524642006-11-14T17:20:00.000-05:002006-11-14T17:35:47.793-05:00

So, I don't normally diary my life here on the blog, but tomorrow is exciting enough to merit a post. If only to calm me down a bit by telling someone about it!Tomorrow I'll be going to the State Department for my first full working day there. I'll be at the OSAC security briefings, because the internship I have currently, is intricately involved in international security matters. I'll just be

bennoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-56908299351576649382006-11-11T13:58:00.000-05:002006-11-11T14:00:48.433-05:00

Marines and Navy are over the line! Well done guys! Now, lets help the Air Force out, because the army's got the biggest team, and they should be able to get the rest of the money.Give some cash to help the fly-boys!Also, take a moment to remember our veteran's today. They have given us the world, we should give them a few moments of remembrance.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-9563897364816157822006-11-10T12:36:00.000-05:002006-11-10T12:37:47.926-05:00

Good work!Now go help the Marines! It is their birthday, after all...

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-7995363421056166822006-11-10T10:29:00.000-05:002006-11-10T11:14:34.384-05:00

You're a hell of a fighting force.“The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle.”— U.S. Army Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing “The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight!”— U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Frank Lowe “Marines have it [pride] and benefit from it. They are tough, cocky, sure of themselves and their buddies. They can fight, and

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-34177547879450103212006-11-10T10:07:00.000-05:002006-11-10T10:14:24.031-05:00

I've been hearing some Republicans bemoan the fact that Rumsfeld waited to announce his resignation until after the election.What they're forgetting is that American politics don't happen in a vacuum. Sure, having Rumsfeld step down would probably have helped us with a few voters, but the reason Republicans in the field didn't vote for Republican's in the elections is not really that the war was

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-67497814055482057802006-11-10T09:56:00.000-05:002006-11-10T10:06:15.678-05:00

I suspect lots of people feel this way...I too wanted the Republicans to take losses this election, but I think I realized that we were going to loose the House and Senate (Though I held out hope for the senate until the end). I'm not sure everyone had the foresight to see that this is what would happen if enough republicans were thinking the same way that Althouse and I were, and were therefore

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-23013700603609180932006-11-09T12:15:00.000-05:002006-11-09T12:21:46.080-05:00

Well, the Gregg at TMQ put this paragraph in his column: "The most offensive attack ad of the season is the "Harold, Call Me" spot run by the Republican National Committee against Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee. The woman who declares in the spot, "I met Harold at a Playboy party" has, in fact, never met Harold -- she's an actress reading lines. All the people who give

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-59520758240587087172006-11-09T10:19:00.000-05:002006-11-09T10:20:39.247-05:00

This is a good way to remember our Rummy. Later I'll talk about the silver lining of losing him and losing the congress.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-53259534133358347872006-11-07T15:38:00.000-05:002006-11-07T16:17:10.053-05:00

So, I've been listening to NPR today at work, cause I wasn't getting enough election stuff from the web...but then I ended up getting a long screed about some road they're building somewhere near a wet-land environment. And I didn't care.But, I did hear this clip, which I thought was interesting, since it was a republican on NPR. They even let her talk. 'Course, she was black too, so they were

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-8054513593164711532006-11-06T13:54:00.000-05:002006-11-06T13:57:35.810-05:00

Ok, so the republicans aren't the only party playing dirty tricks, but they may have the funniest technique. According to the new Economist blog, Democracy in America, some republicans are computer dialing voters with a message from a democrat, and setting it to redial anyone who hangs up. This is wonderfully funny and creative. Those silly republicans, what will they think up next? Push Polling?

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-10973788938563294842006-11-06T10:51:00.000-05:002006-11-06T11:09:53.471-05:00

So, sometimes even the NYT can't help but put out inspiring stories about our troops. They do at least pretend to tell the truth, so one can't be surprised that sometimes a few things they'd rather not publish get slipped through the cracks. Today we've got two stories that show the honor and valour of our troops, although they ran sometime last week. You have to get through the first couple of

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-6105904598825379552006-11-04T19:15:00.000-05:002006-11-04T19:23:20.049-05:00

It is for this reason, and this reason alone that I withdraw my previous opinion that it might be better if the Republicans lost the House. I love to read The Economist, but I'm not a fan of their current endorsement. In it, they say that the Democrats should have control of the House, and then go on to list many reasons why, in my opinion, Nancy Pelosi should never get close to that kind of

bennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-61771974343769426012006-11-04T19:05:00.000-05:002006-11-04T19:55:18.463-05:00

Here's the link.I'm pissed at us for listening to PM Maliki about withdrawing from Sadr City. It's actually more complicated than that - Maliki told us we should take down our barricades, not that we should stop searching for our soldier, and we should probably do our best to work with the PM of Iraq. However, we got no back up from the Iraqi's who should have replaced us at the barricades, but

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-23560781862217244192006-11-03T14:18:00.000-05:002006-11-03T14:35:06.956-05:00

"You are going to burn in a very special level of hell.""Hello? Woman-person?""Yeah, we're pretty much just giving each other significant looks and laughing incessantly."Firefly quotes that are running through my head after recent events. Not in the context that they were said on the show, of course...I don't talk at the theater or anything like that. But they fit into my situation anyway...Wow,

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-7625509407679602702006-11-02T15:26:00.000-05:002006-11-02T15:29:21.095-05:00

They've already got enough trouble at home.This is from an article on Oct. 28'th, the first anniversary of the start of riots that errupted across France last year."Some 100 cars were torched nationwide overnight, half of them in the Paris region, police officials said. The figure was higher than usual ?? police say between 30 and 50 cars are set on fire during an average week, though some

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-67007026324815743572006-11-02T11:59:00.000-05:002006-11-02T12:01:20.474-05:00

I'm worried that no one has finished my comment over at this post on IMAO. Will I have to go finish it myself? I know it's not exactly the same as the quote I'm going for, but I feel that it's similar enough for a fan to understand (and there are plenty over there) yet subtle enough to not impede the flow of comments...oh well. Maybe I'm crazy.

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-34046251222538034842006-11-02T11:52:00.000-05:002006-11-02T11:57:59.810-05:00

And donate money to our team! Go Navy! Beat Army!

bennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9352101.post-88865636547834396172006-11-02T11:51:00.000-05:002006-11-02T11:52:32.013-05:00

Just more evidence for the conclusions that I posted earlier on this blog.

bennoreply@blogger.com0