Mike Cuellar, 1937-2010. R.I.P.

Baltimore Orioles pitching legend Mike Cuellar died today of stomach cancer. He was 72.

The Cuban born Cuellar was arguably the best left-handed pitcher in the American League if not all of Major League Baseball between 1969 and 1974. In those years, Cuellar obtained 125 of his 185 wins. In 1969, Cuellar shared AL Cy Young Award honors with Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers. During this six year period, the Orioles won five AL East titles, three AL championships and a World Series in 1970.

When most people think of the Orioles of the late 1960s and early 1970s they think of Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Jim Palmer and manager Earl Weaver. Yet one can make the case that without Cuellar's stellar pitching was just as responsible for the Orioles success during this period than the contributions made by the other aforementioned players all of whom are in Cooperstown save for Powell.

I would make the case that Cuellar was to the Orioles what Sandy Koufax was to the Dodgers. Cuellar's 125 wins between '69 and '74 stack up to Koufax's 129 wins between 1961 and 1966. Now, of course, Koufax routinely struck out over 300 batters and posted ERAs below 2.00. Cuellar was lucky to strikeout half that many batters and his ERAs were generally over 3.00. While Koufax could throw a blistering heat accompanied by a big breaking curveball Cuellar relied on a screwball. It must also be remembered that Koufax retired at 30. Cuellar came into his own after he turned 32.

In 1971, Cuellar along with Palmer, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson each won 20 plus games. It's the only time in MLB history four starting pitchers had at least 20 wins. To put that into perspective no pitcher in MLB won 20 games in 2009. It is worth noting that with Cuellar's passing Palmer is the only surviving member of this quartet. McNally died of lung cancer in 2002 while Dobson died of leukemia in 2006.

John Forsythe, 1918-2010. R.I.P.

Actor John Forsythe died yesterday after battling cancer and pneumonia. He was 92.

Although Forsythe's acting career began in the 1940s he is best known for playing Blake Carrington on the ABC hit series Dynasty between 1981 and 1989.

I was amused by Forsythe's assessment of his acting talents. Shortly after Dynasty became a smash hit he said, "I figure there are a few actors like Marlon Brando, George C. Scott and Laurence Olivier who have been touched by the hand of God. I'm in the next bunch."

So it's not surprising to see a 1970 TV Guide profile describe Forsythe "as a professed Adlai Stevenson-JFK-RFK liberal....yet he can find nice things to say about California's arch - conservative governor, Ronald Reagan." Now how many Hollywood actors can we describe as Obama liberals who have nice things to say about George W. Bush?

Check out this really weird video with Forsythe and Joan Collins on Austrian TV back in 1993 speaking and singing in German.

Kumar Prefers Burgers to Barack

Kal Penn, best known for playing Kumar in the Harold & Kumar movies, is leaving his post of Associate Director of Public Engagement in the Obama Administration after less than a year on the job.

Penn is set to reunite with Harold & Kumar co-star John Cho in the third installment of the series A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. The movie will be shot this summer and due to be released in November or December of 2011. Penn & Cho rose to fame after Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle became a box office hit in the summer of 2004. I guess Penn prefers burgers to Barack.

When Penn (whose given name is Kalpen Modi) accepted this post he played Dr. Lawrence Kutner on the FOX TV series House starring Hugh Laurie. Penn's character was written out of the show by way of suicide. At the time I wrote, "Hopefully, Penn won't face a similar fate to Dr. Kutner should he not live up to President Obama's expectations."

Well, it might be more a case of the Obama Administration not living up to Penn's expectations. He wanted to give this gig "at least" a year or two. Certainly he wasn't making the kind of money he was making in movies and in television. Let's also consider that he was in a low level position and probably couldn't effect the kind of change he wanted. No doubt it's easier to get things done in Hollywood than it is in Washington. Although the White House doesn't have Hollywood's cutting edge special effects it does have plenty of smoke and mirrors.

Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker Reports Near Quarter Million Dollars For AZ Congressional District Three Race

RACE TO REPLACE CONGRESSMAN SHADEGG

 PHOENIX, ARIZONA.  April 1, 2010.  Despite entering the Republican race in late January to succeed Third District Congressman John Shadegg, Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker is raising some eyebrows with his first quarter fundraising totals.  


With the March 31st deadline now passed, Parker said his “Restoring Faith In America” campaign had raised more than $230,000 in just over two months from a broad, Arizona-based group of some 700 donors.  Contributions were still coming in late Wednesday night.

Jerry terHorst, 1922-2010. R.I.P.

Former White House Press Secretary Jerry terHorst died yesterday of congestive heart failure. He was 87.

Gerald Ford appointed terHorst after he was sworn into office upon the resignation of Richard Nixon. Immediately there was speculation that Ford would pardon Nixon. When asked about it terHorst informed the White House press corps that no such action was planned. But when Ford pardoned Nixon in September terHorst promptly resigned. His letter of resignation is remarkable in its candor:

So it is with great regret, after long soul searching, that I must inform you that I cannot in good conscience support your decision to support President Nixon even before he has been charged with the commission of any crime.

He went on to say that he could not defend such a decision without pardons being extended to both Vietnam era draft dodgers and to the men convicted in the Watergate scandal. Now terHorst wasn't the only Republican in Washington questioning Ford's decision. Senator Barry Goldwater, when told by Ford in advance, asked the President, "What are you pardoning of? IT doesn't make any sense."

Thomas DeFrank covered the Ford White House. In today's New York Daily News, DeFrank writes of this exchange he had with terHorst over the phone after learning of Ford's pardon of Nixon:

As a young White House correspondent, I called terHorst late that afternoon, a few hours after Ford had pardoned Nixon on national television. It was a routine safety check to make sure no new bombshells might be coming.

I asked terHorst if there had been any adverse reaction to the pardon among Ford’s staff. I hadn’t heard of any, but there was something in his terse, uninformative answer that gave me pause.

“What’s your question?” he asked.

“Has anybody on the Presisdent’s staff resigned in protest over the pardon?”

“Yes,” he said.

The Mouth was stunned.

“Who?”

“Me.”

NBC correspondent Ron Nessen would succeed terHorst who faded into relative anonymity.

Although Ford's pardon Nixon probably cost the election to Jimmy Carter his decision has earned retrospective praise especially after his death in 2007. However, I think terHorst did the only thing he could have done under the circumstances. He was not a creature of government nor party. Not only did the Ford pardon create a double standard it effectively put the President above the law. It also contributed significantly to the decline of public trust in elected officials.

Intellectual Conservative Washington state has launched

Check out the first article, demanding that Kitsap County Commissioners do their job and require women working in coffee shops frequented by families to wear shirts.

Jaime Escalante, 1930-2010. R.I.P.

Jaime Escalante, the math teacher who inspired the 1988 movie Stand & Deliver featuring an Oscar nominated performance by Edward James Olmos, has died of bladder cancer. He was 79.

The Bolivian born Escalante spent nearly two decades teaching algebra and calculus to inner city students at Garfield High School in Los Angeles. His students excelled beyond expectations and their achievements garnered attention from the likes of President Ronald Reagan.

Sadly, Escalante's methods while popular with his students were not popular with either school administrators or teacher unions as demonstrated in this article written in 2002 by Jerry Jesness for Reason magazine. Escalante was forced out of Garfield and the school's math program never returned to its former glory and future generations of students lost out.

So while it's possible for students to learn it would seem that school administrators and teacher unions never do.

Code Pink Disrupts Rove Book Signing

A talk given by Karl Rove in Beverly Hills in support of his book Courage & Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight was disrupted by protesters from the anti-American group Code Pink.

Jodie Evans, one of Code Pink's co-founders, approached the former top advisor to President Bush with handcuffs and attempted to make what she described as "a citizen's arrest."

For all the criticism that has been leveled against Tea Party activists I don't see any of them disrupting speeches by left-wing public officials in this manner.

One sentence from the account of the incident provided by CBS irked me:

A riled-up Rove may have added to the chaos.

Oh really now? And what does Katie Couric and company think Rove should have done under the circumstances? Somehow I can't imagine the likes of either David Axelrod or Rahm Emanuel having reacted much differently. Nor could I imagine CBS blaming them for adding to the chaos.

Eric Tunney, 1964-2010. R.I.P.

Comedian Eric Tunney was found dead in his apartment in Windsor, Ontario on Sunday. He was 45. The cause of death is unknown.

Most of you will have never heard of Eric Tunney. But he was one of a very long line of comedians Canada has produced. If you lived in southern Ontario in the early 1990s, you probably saw him host Ed The Sock (I kid you not) or in a comedy club or in the occasional TV commercial.

Like many Canadian comedians he made his way to Hollywood but unlike Rich Little, Jim Carrey or Howie Mandel he didn't find himself in the company of success. Oh, he guest hosted NBC's Later and did a short lived TV show on FOX with Terry Bradshaw. But he would return to Canada about a decade ago with little to show for his efforts. The breakup of a marriage and a drinking problem didn't help matters.

Here are some kind words for Tunney here. There's a video link to one of his stand up routines but apparently it doesn't work outside of Canada. Perhaps it's only fitting.

Mike Lupica Needs to "Stop"

I read Mike Lupica's absurd column on the Tea Party in The New York Daily News.

There is a picture of a STOP sign with the name "Obama" spray painted under it. The caption under it reads, "Near a suburban school, one of many graffiti-hit signs that serve as mindless political protest." It pretty much sets the whole tone for Lupica's article which begins ominously:

We are 100 yards, no more than that, from the front entrance to the school. There is a stop sign here, and underneath the word "Stop" someone has spray-painted " Obama."

Stop Obama.

Why has somebody done it? Because in the current climate, people have been convinced they can. Or, more likely, that they should.

My son is in the seat next to me in the car. He says, "This isn't the only one. There are others in different parts of town."

Um, where exactly was Lupica between noon on January 20, 2001 and noon on January 20,2009? Maybe he was too busy paying attention to the New York Yankees to notice. But I spent most of that time living within walking distance of Boston's Fenway Park and there were "Stop Bush" signs everywhere.

In fact, there were "Stop Bush" signs all over America. Even in Reno, Nevada.

If only Lupica would "stop" and take a moment to think before he committed pen to paper.

Thoughts on the Terrorist Attack in Moscow

I am sure you have heard by now that two suicide bombings took place on the Moscow Metro this morning killing 38 people. The attacks occurred approximately an hour apart and both bombers were female.

When I heard about the attacks I thought back to the Beslan school massacre back in September 2004 in which over 300 hostages were killed. More than half of them were children. Today's attack, as with the Beslan school massacre, appears to have been perpetrated by Chechen separatists.

It is also worth noting that there were two attacks on the Moscow Metro in 20o4. The first attack took place in February of that year resulting in the loss of 41 lives while the second took place in August and resulted in 10 deaths. Chechen separatists are also believed responsible in carrying out these acts.

There are those who bemoan the loss of civil liberties in this country after September 11, 2001. However, if you want to look at a case of infringement of civil liberties look no further than Vladimir Putin's response to the attacks with the creation of the Public Chamber of Russia which severely undercut the authority of an already weak Russian parliament and court system and increased his powers exponentially.

I fear Putin will implement similar measures in response. I also fear such measures will do little stop the Muslim Chechens from carrying out terrorist attacks in Russia.

Obama Walked Out on Netanyahu During WH Visit

I am afraid I was entirely too optimistic in my assessment of the results President Obama's visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week would yield.

Not only was there no public meeting but when Netanyahu held firm on settlement construction in East Jerusalem, Obama got up and walked out of the room.

I wonder what Christopher Buckley thinks of Obama's "first-class temperament" now.

Something for Jamie Oliver to Chew On

While doing my laundry this evening I watched the first two episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC. (The first episode can be seen online here).

The program follows the acclaimed British chef to Huntington, West Virginia, a town named the unhealthiest in America. He wants to change the diets of Huntington residents but they are wary of his motives and methods and I must say I can't blame them. Oliver had a particularly contentious interview with local radio talk show host Rod Willis. "I really take issue with a guy coming into town and telling us how we should conduct our lives," said Willis.

Oliver comes off as a patronizing, condescending twit who thinks he's better than everyone else. He spends much of his time in a school cafeteria and dismisses the female cafeteria workers as little more than "lunch ladies". But the "lunch ladies" know a phony when they see one and he gets served. But even worse is his sarcastic attitude around children.

Look, I understand wanting children to have a healthy, balanced diet. But the surest way to get children not to eat a healthy, balanced diet is to either tell them to eat something because it is good for them or to not eat something because it is bad for them. If Jamie Oliver genuinely wants the children of Huntington to eat healthier then he needs to convey the joy of healthy eating. Dump trucks full of fat make for a memorable visual but don't satiate the appetite. Most importantly, the food has to taste good.

Gloria Estefan Speaks Up For The Ladies in White

Pop singer Gloria Estefan led a demonstration in Miami's Little Havana section to protest the Cuban government's recent actions against The Ladies in White.

For those unfamiliar with The Ladies in White they are the wives and mothers of Cuban dissidents jailed by Fidel Castro in March 2003.

Last week, Cuban authorities violently broke up a demonstration by The Ladies in White and have detained approximately thirty of them.

President Obama, to his credit, has taken Cuba to task for its behavior.

However, I wish he would condemn the Castro regime with the same vigor he so unwisely expends against Israel.

Then again if not for Gloria Estefan, President Obama might not have been moved to say anything at all.

Trust Without Verification? Obama Strikes Arms Control Deal with Russia

Today, President Obama announced the United States and Russia have reached a new arms control treaty. Obama will co-sign the treaty with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on April 8th:

Furthermore, since I took office, I’ve been committed to a “reset” of our relationship with Russia. When the United States and Russia can cooperate effectively, it advances the mutual interests of our two nations, and the security and prosperity of the wider world. We’ve so far already worked together on Afghanistan. We’ve coordinated our economic efforts through the G20. We are working together to pressure Iran to meet its international obligations. And today, we have reached agreement on one of my administration’s top national security priorities -- a pivotal new arms control agreement.

First, this treaty being signed on Czech soil must be a bitter pill for them to swallow. When the Czechs hear "reset" it means Obama giving up ballistic missile defense to appease Moscow.

Second, what a tepid statement about U.S.-Russian co-operation on Iran. President Obama doesn't say, "We are working together to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon." Instead, it's "we are working together to pressure Iran to meet its international obligations." In fact, the Russians and Chinese have pushed the Obama Administration into softening its positions on sanctions against Iran.

Sergei Rybakov, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister stated, "It is important for these sanctions to be well-focused and exact, if we make a decision on them, and they must not be a method of punishing the whole country or its people." Translation: Nothing must be imposed that would impede Iran from developing its nuclear program.

I mean it's not like the Iran is building apartments in East Jerusalem.

As for the merits of arms control treaties, Mitt Romney has an interesting take in his book No Apology (which I am currently in the midst of reading). I have put his most germane points in bold:

Ideally, we would rid the planet of nuclear weapons. But we are unlikely to be successful in doing so, at least within the coming decades. To begin with, Russia's conventional capabilities have badly deteriorated, it derives its power from its nuclear stockpile and strategic weaponry and it has no interest in losing its place in the world by eliminating its nuclear weapons. It does, however, have a great interest in paring down the U.S. arsenal. Iran is committed to becoming a nuclear nation because it believes that achievement will vault it to superpower status amongs Middle Eastern nations, perhaps securing its candidacy as the twenty-first-century caliphate. And with nuclear power in hand, Iran is virtually guaranteed that no foreign power will invade, as the United States did in Iraq. Iran learned its lesson from North Korea: No matter its size, a malevolent country can thumb its nose at the world with impunity - if it has the bomb.

Global nuclear disarmament also has the problem of verification. Deceptions are routine. Both India and Pakistan developed their programs in secret, and there are believed to be many other nations that could "go nuclear" in a relatively short period of time. Nuclear technology is so widespread that it could be harnessed by any number of foes. Could America, or even Russia for that matter, ever realistically rely on signed treaties and agreements to guarantee no group, no terrorist, and no nation would secretly develop nuclear weapons? It is inconceivable that jihadists would ever abandon their pursuit of nuclear weapons, regardless of agreements. As long as even one country or group of fanatics pursues nuclear weapons, the United States must maintain robust nuclear capability.

We must not allow wishful thinking to obscure the truth. We are not on the verge of nuclear disarmament; we are on the cusp of greater and extraordinarily dangerous nuclear proliferation. North Korea and Iran's nuclear arms will compel others to follow suit. While America and the world still have a chance to stop Iran, neither the current administration nor the global powers have yet shown the stomach for deploying and enforcing the truly withering sanctions that goal would require. As a result, the American nuclear deterrent - updated, tested, and ample - and a highly effective missile defense system are essential not just to our security but to the security of the world.

It was President Reagan who said, "Trust, but verify." President Obama is content to trust.

Henry Champ Doesn't Get The Tea Party

For many years, Henry Champ was the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) man in Washington, D.C. He retired in 2008 but still occasionally writes columns for cbcnews.ca.

Like most members of the liberal media he is not fond of The Tea Party. But Champ takes it to a new level:

Don't believe the nonsense that the offenders are a minority who have attached themselves to well-meaning protesters.

On this day they were clearly the majority and everyone cheered them on when they performed these miserable acts.

It's interesting that free assembly and protest now constitute "miserable acts." How dare those cretins protest Obama who knows what is best for us. Champ is basically buying into the Janeane Garofalo school of American politics. If you disagree with Obama you are therefore a racist.

Indeed, Champ goes on to compare the Tea Party protesters to crowds he had seen in the American South in the 1960s. Hmmn, could Mr. Champ tell me how many African Americans would have been invited to speak at Ku Klux Klan rallies in Selma in 1960? Somehow I don't think Champ would have witnessed this sight in the American South in the 1960s. Or this sight for that matter. Frankly, Henry Champ doesn't get The Tea Party and I suspect he never will.

I Still Don't Believe Lewis & Carson

On Sunday, I expressed skepticism that Congressmen John Lewis and Andre Carson were the subject of racial epithets when they walked to the Capitol for a procedural vote.

However, I also indicated if I were "presented with irrefutable, unimpeachable evidence that corraborates Lewis and Carson were subjected to racial epithets then I will condemn those acts with the vigor they deserve."

Today, I was anonymously sent a link to this video. It was the same video supplied by Dana Loesch. The person who sent the link drew my attention to the 11 second mark of the video. I have played this video a dozen times and it is still not clear to me what was uttered at that point in the video.

So once again until I receive "irrefutable, unimpeachable evidence" I stand by my skepticism of Lewis and Carson.

Celebrate Human Achievement Hour instead of Earth Hour March 27

"Earth Hour" is coming up this Saturday evening, and you may have noticed certain businesses, celebrities, and environmental groups urging "lights out" for an hour, ostensibly to call attention to global warming. You may think this sends the wrong message - to plunge us all into darkness as a rejection of technology and human achievement. We sure thought so. Or, as my colleague Michelle Minton and others have aptly noted, it's Earth Hour every day in Communist North Korea, where people lack basic freedoms, as well as affordable, reliable access to many human achievements, such as electricity.

Good news is, there's now an alternative to Earth Hour - it's called Human Achievement Hour! A celebration of all that humans have accomplished. What can you do to participate?

• In honor of HAH, leave your lights on, Saturday, March 27, at 8:30pm!
• Tweet or blog about it, and let us know about how you observed that hour. (#HAH2010).
• Follow HAH on Twitter, Twitter.com/hah_2010
• Join HAH on Facebook
• If you're in the Washington, DC area, join us for a cocktail hour celebrating HAH.
• Read Michelle Minton's commentaries on specific human achievements, on Openmarket.org

Happy Human Achievement Hour!

Best,

Christine

Communications Director

Competitive Enterprise Institute

www.cei.org // openmarket.org

202.230.4937

---

Contacts:

Michelle Minton, 202-340-7078

Richard Morrison, 202-331-2273

Force of Darkness “Earth Hour” Challenged by Power of Light “Human Achievement Hour”

CEI Announces 2nd Annual Celebration of Human Achievement

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2010—The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a leading free-market think tank, will celebrate the Second Annual “Human Achievement Hour” between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on Saturday, March 27, 2010. The one-hour celebration coincides with “Earth Hour,” an hour in which governments, individuals, and corporations will dim or shut off lights to symbolically renounce the environmental impacts of modern technology.

“Earth Hour’s creators suggest that human inventions and technology are a problem, but we see the ability to create and innovate as the ultimate resource,” says Human Achievement Hour founder and CEI Policy Analyst Michelle Minton. “Environmental challenges will not be solved by turning off our lights and symbolically hiding in the dark,” Minton added. “If anything, we should be looking to technology and innovation to help solve environmental problems.”

Just like last year, countless individuals, organizations, agencies and businesses will be celebrating Human Achievement Hour without even realizing it. Just by not shutting down their lights, operations and stores, they will be acknowledging that productive effort and the pursuit of happiness are a better alternative than sitting in the dark.

In addition to the observance of Human Achievement Hour, wherever people may find themselves around the world, CEI will be hosting a happy hour event outside of Washington, D.C.

Human Achievement Happy Hour

Saturday, March 27, 2010

7:30pm-10:00pm

Rira Irish Pub and Restaurant

2915 Wilson Boulevard

Arlington, Virginia

703-248-9888

MORE RESOURCES: Watch the video “Celebrate Human Achievement Hour,” follow us on Twitter and join the Facebook group.

###

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.

Johnny Maestro, 1939-2010. R.I.P.

Doo-wop legend Johnny Maestro died yesterday of cancer. He was 70.

Born in Brooklyn as John Mastrangelo, Maestro is famous for singing lead on two enormous hits that came a decade apart.

In 1958, Maestro sang lead with The Crests on "16 Candles". The Crests were unusual in that they were amongst the first pop acts to be racially integrated.

After leaving The Crests in 1960 to embark on a solo career, Maestro soon joined the Del-Satins. In 1968, the Del-Satins had a chance encounter with a brass ensemble known as the Rhythm Method. The two bands merged becoming Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge. Late that year, they had an enormous hit with the Jimmy Webb penned "The Worst That Could Happen" (which had originally been recorded by The Fifth Dimension).

Maestro continued to perform with The Brooklyn Bridge on the oldies and doo-wop circuits up until earlier this year when his illness overtook his powerful voice.

NOW Toronto Columnist Defends Coulter's Banishment

I caught Megyn Kelly's interview with Susan G. Cole, a columnist for NOW Toronto. Cole defends Ann Coulter's banishment from the University of Ottawa last night.

Let me highlight several of Cole's statements and provide commentary.

I don't think she's really an appropriate choice to be speaking on campuses in Canada.

Well, is it really for Susan G. Cole to tell the Conservative club at the University of Ottawa who they can and cannot invite to speak on campus? Do they require her permission to pursue their activities?

Up here we're trying to create an enviroment which is a safe place to think and to learn.

The University of Ottawa certainly wasn't a safe place to think and learn on Tuesday night. There were people who wanted to hear what Coulter had to say. Instead, there was a mob of people who created an environment of intimidation where people were rendered unable to hear Coulter because they wouldn't permit Coulter access to campus.

It was inappropriate for those who invited her to invite her because she wasn't going to contribute to an actual conversation.

Again, who is Susan G. Cole to decide what is and isn't an actual conversation? Why does she begrudge people who want to hear Coulter? They are free to accept, reject or ignore Coulter's arguments as they see fit.

They could have that conversation. It's not clear why they would have to have it on the campus except they knew they were going to provoke people to have this kind of action. Have it at a conservative think tank. Have it at a lecture hall. The campus has to be a place and there are all kinds of ways in which these things are made evident. Students sign off on all kind of agreements as to how they'll behave on campus in order to respect diversity, equity. All of the values Canadians really care about and those are the things that drive our political culture. Not freedom, not rugged individualism, not free speech. It's different and for us it works.

The campuses have to be a place for what? I thought university campuses was a place of learning. Last I checked university campuses have lecture halls including the University of Ottawa. As for diversity, as a friend once told me, "The Left believes in diversity in everything except for opinion."

Well, we don't have that same political culture in our country and that's exactly what the Provost at the University of Ottawa was trying to tell Ann Coulter when he advised her to be careful what she said because she could indeed violate some of our hate speech laws. So here in Canada we don't have a first amendment, we don't have a religion of free speech. It hasn't been etched in stone for over 200 years the way it is in the United States of America. Very different. It's exactly the information she needed to know before she came.

Hmmn, so if Coulter was in danger of violating hate speech laws on campus then why wouldn't she be in the same peril if she spoke off campus? How disingenuous. They just don't want her to be heard. Period.

Cole also denies Canadians have freedom of speech. Yet according to Part 1, Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms everyone has:

freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.

Surely this would apply to Ann Coulter.

Section 2(c) guarantees "freedom of assembly" which the mob gathered at U of O violated by preventing Coulter from speaking and the audience from listening.

As for Ann Coulter, here is her take on the whole sordid affair.

Finally, on a personal note, on Saturday I will have been in this country for exactly ten years. Given the sorts of things that are going on in my home and native land it would appear I made the right decision in coming to America.

Robert Culp, 1930-2010. R.I.P.

Actor Robert Culp died today of head injuries after sustaining a fall at his Hollywood home. He was 79.

Culp is best known for teaming up with Bill Cosby in the 1960s hit NBC TV series I Spy. The show is noted for Cosby being the first African-American to be a co-star in an American TV series. It is also noted for Culp and Cosby's chemistry.

I remember him best from the early 1980s TV series The Greatest American Hero with William Katt and Connie Sellecca which aired on ABC.

Culp appeared in movies such as Bob, Ted, Carol & Alice with Elliot Gould, Natalie Wood and Dyan Cannon as well as The Pelican Brief with Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts. He also had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond as Ray Romano's father-in-law.

I never saw I Spy until this year when it started airing on RTV. Although I have heard various accounts about how NBC was nervous about having Cosby in a co-starring role on I Spy. Culp listened to NBC's concerns and politely informed them he would not be doing the series without Cosby. That ended that discussion.

Less than two decades later, Cosby would be the King of NBC. Thank goodness for Culp's firmness. He would guest star on one episode of The Cosby Show and also reunited with him in a 1999 episode of the CBS series Cosby a dream sequence reprising their roles on I Spy.

Here's a 2007 interview with Culp discussing his relationship with Cosby. The full three hour interview for the Archive of American Television is here.

Pence Pounces on Obama for "Bullying" Israel

Bravo to Mike Pence.

The Indiana Republican yesterday blasted President Obama for his administration's posture towards Israel. “The time has come for this administration to stop bullying Israel," Pence said.

Pence, who is the number three Republican in the House behind John Boehner and Eric Cantor, also said, “I never thought I’d live to see the day that an American administration would denounce the Jewish State of Israel for rebuilding Jerusalem." He rejected the notion that housing construction in East Jerusalem was an affront to the United States let alone the peace process.

Pence made his statements before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Of course, Netanyahu also met with President Obama yesterday in a private meeting.

No Free Speech for Coulter at The University of Ottawa

Well, I guess Canadian college campuses can't countenance Ann Coulter.

At least not at the University of Ottawa.

Over at The American Spectator, Robert Stacy McCain informs us Coulter was prevented from entering Marion Hall because students were surrounding it.

Now, I've been to Marion Hall. It's a pretty large building. Clearly, there are some at the U of O who are really determined to keep people with different ideas off campus.

For her part, Coulter says this is the first time in all her years in public speaking that she has been prevented entry on a college campus. But it isn't the first time a conservative has been prevented from speaking at a Canadian university. In September 2002, Benjamin Netanyahu (who was then Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs) was prevented from speaking at Concordia University in Montreal by violent Palestinian protesters. So let's just say Bibi is well prepared to handle the disrespect shown him by the Obama Administration.

Shame on both the administration and students at the University of Ottawa for their closed mindedness. If you don't like Coulter do what Fatima al-Dhaher, a Muslim student at the University of Western Ontario in London did. She asked her a question. I know, I know. That's pretty radical thinking these days.

As for Coulter perhaps she'll have better luck tomorrow night at the University of Calgary. Alberta is Canada's bastion of conservatism and I suspect she will receive a warm dose of Western Canadian hospitality.

Elinor Smith, 1911-2010. R.I.P.

Aviatrix Elinor Smith passed away on March 19th. She was 98.

Smith was both a contemporary and rival of Amelia Earhart. More than a decade younger than Earhart, Smith was first licensed to fly at the age of sixteen. Her certificate was signed by none other than Orville Wright.

Smith made headlines in 1928 when she illegally flew under four bridges on New York's East River. Although it would result in a temporary suspension of her licence this came only months after Earhart crossed the Atlantic as a passenger aboard The Friendship. Smith also set a number of altitude, distance, speed and endurance records for a woman pilot. These achievements were viewed as a threat by Earhart's husband and publicist, George Palmer Putnam would did in everything in power to thwart Smith's ambitions "to take Amelia's place as number-one woman pilot." This was dramatized in last year's Amelia biopic with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Smith was portrayed by Mia Wasikowska, the same actress currently starring in Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

Smith would retreat from the air to raise a family but would return to flying in the 1950s. In 2000, at the age of 89, she was invited by NASA to pilot the Space Shuttle flight simulator. She landed on her second try. Sometimes things are most satisfying the second time around.

Eating Less Meat Hurts The Poor

Remember a few weeks back when I wrote about efforts to bring "Meatless Mondays" to the People's Republic of Cambridge?

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claims livestock are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than automobiles. Hence the campaign, "Less Meat=Less Heat."

But Dr Frank Mitloehner, an air quality expert at the University of California/Davis, begs to differ. While Mitloehner agrees that livestock produce methane he argues the solution is "smarter farming" not cutting back on production of meat. Mitloehner further argues, "Producing less meat and milk will only mean more hunger in poor countries."

The meat of the matter here is that food choices are up to the individual and their family. If a person wants to go vegan of their own volition then fine. Let them eat all the tofu jerky they want (which is actually pretty good). But no government agency should be telling people what they can and cannot eat or when they can eat it.

Just something to chew on.