Better Banter

The British Navy is actively recruiting gays and lesbians, according to an article in the International Herald Tribune (link from Drudge). But I bring your attention to it not to revisit "don't ask, don't tell," but to point out this chuckler (emphasis mine): In response to the ruling, in 2000 the services abruptly changed their policy, stopped monitoring a recruit's sexuality, and began allowing gays to serve. Gay men and lesbians have since fought in Iraq alongside heterosexuals, as well as alongside Americans , without it being an issue, military officials say. And I'll let you decide whether the following was intentional: The change in the law followed a long and agonized debate here, similar to that in the United States, over the possible consequences of allowing gays and lesbians to serve. But when it took place, it was an anticlimax.

Those of us who are involved in the vast right-wing pajama media conspiracy have noted many troubling stories in recent years regarding the rise of European anti-Semitism. Better late than never, the New York Times weighs in today with a piece about how Jews have been abandoned by Europe's left-wing elite. But what is wonderful about the article is that it relays to America and the world at large that European Jews are not content to let this happen, and have moved markedly rightward in recent years. In Britain in the last 60 years, the number of left-of-center Jewish members of Parliament has dropped from more than two dozen to about a dozen, primarily older, members while the number in parties of the center and right has climbed from none to about half a dozen. The Tories' would-be finance minister, Oliver Letwin, is Jewish, as is the party's new leader, Michael Howard. Mr. Lerman says Jews in Britain are now identified in public opinion more with the Conservative Party t

Last night as I creeped home from work in stop-and-go traffic I noticed a small pickup truck pass me, its bed cap bedecked with pro-Kerry and anti-Bush stickers. Over the space of two or three traffic lights, I was able to read all of them, as she in the left lane and I in the right (naturally) passed each other with the natural ebb-and-flow of city driving. I have my own sticker (of a markedly different variety) on the back of my car, and was hoping she'd notice, but alas, she was consumed with a cell phone conversation. One sticker on the back of the truck had the unintended consequence of making me laugh out loud. It said: "Ideas are more important than knowledge." That, my friends, explains a lot. I was still considering this monumental admission when I received an email from a friend containing many musings from the great Thomas Sowell. One seemed like it was written in response to that sticker: People who pride themselves on having ideas often fail to understand tha

Spring training kicked off today as pitchers and catchers reported to camp in Florida. Gear has not been fully unpacked and we have our first breakout of animosity between the World Champion Boston Red Sox and the also-ran New York Yankees. Check out Trot Nixon's comments regarding Alex Rodriguez: "Like Rodriguez says," Nixon said, "his running stairs at 6 in the morning while I'm sleeping and taking my kids to school. I'm like, well I'm not a deadbeat dad, Alex." On Nov. 18, Rodriguez's wife gave birth to a daughter. "He's got a kid now, too, so I guess he'll have his limo driver take her to school," Nixon said. It's going to be a great season. Let the posts fly.