Moved

This blog has moved to http://davedufour.wordpress.com

Foi gras is legal in Chicago again

Since this bit of silliness has been repealed, can smoking bans and other politically correct restrictions be far behind? One can only hope.

Surgery Over

Here I am after my surgery this morning. Two rather annoying hernias. It's almost 1:00 am and I'm hurting somewhat, but that's all tempered with Percocet and Advil. All in all, a pretty easy procedure. Good doc -- Dr. Schiebel, all done at the Elkhart Clinic's Endoscopy and Surgery Center. Kind of a mini-hospital.

Luncheon reunion

Got together with some old friends at Elkhart's Lakeshore Grill -- great lunch, really nice seeing these folks again. From left - -Me, Inga and Jim Bowyer, Dave Miller

Tentacles of an Onion

Tentacles of an Onion, originally uploaded by BerndDaub.

Happened upon this in Flickr. Beautiful.

Just a few bedtime comments.

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End of semester and some other comments (VIDEO)

Experimenting with video, talking about end of this, my fifth or sixth semester as an adjunct college teacher, plus miscellaneous other stuff.

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The case for euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Wednesday AM at the Clinic

Looks exciting, doesn't it?
(Cell phone pic)

Leaning Towers of South Bend

Here's an interesting effect I just discovered. Apparently, cell phone cameras scan (relatively) slowly from the top down, which accounts for the strange perspective in this picture, which I took in downtown South Bend from a moving car (moving from left to right relative to the image.)

Flock me!?

Just installed the new Flock browser.  Benefits:  Everything bloggy, twittery, flickry etc., is at one's fingertips.

Drawbacks: Everything bloggy, twittery, flickry etc., is at one's fingertips.

Bizzy bizzy bizzy.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The bad guys won, unfortunately

Liveleak.com has taken Geert Wilders' anti-Islamist film Fitna off of its website with the following notice:

Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.
This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one anothers culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.

Unfortunate as this is, I guess I understand. But it underscores the issue and proves Wilders' point -- that radical Islam is not interested in any such thing as a reasonable exchange of ideas, and certainly can't stand up to the kind of criticism that is presented in Wilders' film and earlier in Theo Van Gogh's Submission.

Both filmmakers are Dutch (Van Gogh was publicly murdered for the "crime" of making his film), and the problem of Islamic intolerance is especially bad in the Netherlands. But it's the fate that faces much of the rest of the world if we aren't ultimately honest about how primitive and evil these radicals are. There is no moral equivalence between radical Islam and Western culture. Whatever Christians may have done 500 years ago is of no importance today. We know better today. Virtually all terrorist acts committed today are done in the name of Allah. It's time we stopped making allowances for this kind of thinking.

Wilder's (and Van Gogh's) films are still available on YouTube -- albeit Wilder's seems to be showing up in a couple slightly different versions, making me wonder if some posters are making "embellishments." In any case, take a look. There are also several good interviews with Wilder, who is also a member of the Dutch Parliament.

In the Fox News interview, the (unseen) interviewer keeps trying to get Wilder to admit that maybe he shouldn't "insult" Islam and its millions of followers. Rightly, Wilder basically says we can't be cowed by savages who have no respect for us. I hope he stays alive to see some good come of his efforts -- as can be expected, the death threats arrive daily.

Plenty of people left to lie to

In Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish today, a reader points out the obvious that I can't HELP but point out, and the MSM refuse to. The Clinton Lie Factory.

Boogah-boogah!

Dave gets new glasses.

A Valentine Treat

Don't send a lame Valentine's Day eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Set taking shape at Bristol

This is the PostMortem Set under construction.

Hitchens Rules

A day at Wrigley

The day (today) was beautiful, the opening run by Soriano held such promise, and the Cubbies floundered around like Little Leaguers. But Wrigley Field still has its charms and even with Zambrano's current slump, the Cubs are in first place in the ALC. Paige became a Cubs Convert, and a good time was had by all.

Paige is graduated

My beautiful daughter Paige graduated from Indiana University Saturday. Despite a raging case of mononucleosis, she managed to get through the ceremony plus the fawning of family and friends. Great job, honey. We're proud of you.

Amber Crossing??

Another completely irrelevant name for a strip mall (click to magnify). This is a plain vanilla ticky-tacky building that's out in the middle of what used to be a cornfield. Where's the amber? Hell, where's the crossing? There ought to be a law.

Great comic.

Thanks to Paige

This is my lovely wife Michele. I haven't posted a picture of her here lately, so here it is, even it if it is a camera phone shot. Love you, Michele.

China cracks down on online IDs

Once again, China proves Microsoft and Google shouldn't have cooperated with its constrictive internet rules. In FT.com. Why US businesses continue to condone China's human rights record is beyond me.

When the going gets tough ...

... the tough (obviously) go shopping. Pelosi at work, while troop funding waits. The WH not-so-subtly requested Ms. Pelosi to call the house back so they can get to work on a clean troop funding bill. Unlike the Senate did, Ms. Pelosi neglected to appoint conferees on the bill prior to her Middle-East trip, so any possible progress was completely stalled on reconciling the current bill, which is destined for veto anyway. Pelosi ought to be an embarrassment for the Dems. Thanks to Drudge.

Kids as Art

kids, originally uploaded by dufourda.

Done with at free tool at dumpr.net.