The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism by Carrie Lukas

Celebrate a Politically Incorrect Christmas!

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism by Carrie Lukas
(From Human Events) -- For the past forty years, feminists have sought aggressively to remake the role of women in society -- badgering women to steer clear of traditional marriages, work full-time while striving to become CEOs, and put off having children. To further this agenda, feminists and their allies in government, media, and our educational system have put forth a number of dangerous myths about women -- while successfully suppressing evidence of the important inborn differences between the sexes. Now, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex, and Feminism exposes the most common and destructive of these myths, and takes on taboo areas of research not discussed in the politically correct world of academia and popular culture.

"For too long, the feminist movement has dictated what's appropriate to talk about -- and what's off-limits -- when it comes to issues affecting women's lives," writes author Carrie Lukas. "An ethic of silence has surrounded issues like the negative sides of casual sex, the relationship between age and infertility, and the effects of daycare and divorce on kids. This silence has real consequences for women, their families, and our society. This book fills the knowledge gap by highlighting research in areas of critical importance to women's lives -- from sex, love, and marriage to work, daycare, and divorce. It exposes how the feminist vision of what women should want their lives to be often runs counter to the hopes and desires of actual women."

PC myths busted, un-PC facts revealed:

• Recent discoveries about the differences in men's and women's brains that may account for some of the different characteristics we associate with the two sexes

• The top 10 worst lessons for women from Sex and the City

• Fertility: the unforgiving facts of nature that young women need to know before they delay childbearing

• The impossible feminist dream of "having it all": how women who put their careers first inevitably suffer in their personal and/or family lives

• How feminists want women freed from relying on husbands for support -- but pine for a sugar daddy in Uncle Sam

• This is "liberation"? What prominent feminists have said, pushing for big government to take care of them

• Research that shows that, even in our "liberated" age, women still tend to prefer men who are breadwinners, whom they consider intellectually superior, and who can physically protect them

• The two "politically incorrect" qualities that men are most attracted to in women

• Why married women report higher levels of happiness than single and divorced women

• Statistics: how married women (and men) live longer, stay healthier, and are more financially secure than singles

• Abortion: the significant health risks to women that feminists and the abortion lobby have tried to suppress

• Why women were the big losers in the Sexual Revolution

• Why, even in the modern workplace, women still find paid work less fulfilling than other, more personal activities -- especially marriage and motherhood

• Daycare delusions: what feminists and the daycare lobby don't want you to know about its harmful effects on children

• The torrent of research -- most of it suppressed -- suggesting that children with parents as primary caregivers are better off than those in full-time daycare

• Recent research that completely undermines the feminist claim that gender is a "social construct" with no basis in biology

• How gender differences in behavior can be observed from the first moment of infancy

• How traditional courtship protected women -- and how the modern way of "romance" leaves them unprotected (and, more often than not, ultimately miserable)

• Why most women regret casual sex -- not just immediately, but also years later when they're married

• Cohabitation vs. marriage: why cohabiting couples who eventually marry are more, not less likely to split up

• Do women have a biological aversion to casual sex? The evidence

• Study findings: the crucial role parents play in shaping teens' attitudes towards sex

• Abstinence programs: how, despite liberal opposition, research confirms their effectiveness

• The Big Lie of "safe sex" -- and why women are more at risk of permanent health damage than men

• "Domestic violence": How feminists distort the facts about violence against women -- and how the truth actually supports the case for traditional monogamous marriage

• Demolished: the feminist myth that "one in four" women have been victims of rape or attempted rape -- and the sleight of hand behind that dishonest statistic

• Why women who divorce usually have profound regrets -- and often end up unhappier than when they were married

• Recent research suggesting that children of divorce are far more likely to suffer from serious pathologies and to exhibit antisocial behavior

• The myth of the "gender gap": polling data from the 2004 election showing that women's top voting priorities were remarkably similar to men's

• Feminism on campus: an eye-opening look at the useless or counterproductive courses available on campus today

• From traditional dating to "hooking up": pitfalls (especially for women) of the new dating terrain -- and why we need a return to more conventional courtship

• "Women's Studies" warped view of relationships: outrageous-but-true quotes about heterosexual love from widely used feminist textbooks

• Why feminists are "pro-choice" only on abortion -- but want government making decisions about healthcare, retirement savings, and schooling

• Why women, like men, are better served by a limited government

"A whole generation of "liberated" women has been kept in the dark by feminists in the schools, universities, and media. Carrie Lukas exposes the damage these ideologues have wreaked and gives young women the chance to make truly informed decisions about their own lives. It's the advice your mother should have given you but may have been afraid to." -- Linda Chavez, author of An Unlikely Conservative: The Transformation of an Ex-Liberal

"A lively, well-written and well-researched antidote to feminist agitprop from an author who is authentically pro-women. This book is a must read for those who care about the next generation of young women." -- Kate O'Beirne, Washington Editor, National Review, author of Women Who Make the World Worse

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Combat Camera: Mission in Alabara

U.S. Army soldiers from Bravo Company, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, provide security during a familiarization mission at the Kahnarbat Primary School in Alabara, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisha Dawkins

U.S. Army soldiers from Bravo Company, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, are greeted by students and faculty of Kahnarbat Primary School in Alabara, Iraq during a familiarization mission, Nov. 21, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisha Dawkins

An Iraqi teacher talks to U.S. Army soldiers from Bravo Company, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, about issues with the Kahnarbat Primary School in Alabara, Iraq, during a familiarization mission, Nov. 21, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisha Dawkins

A U.S. Army soldier from Bravo Company, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, grabs a bottle of water for a village leader in Alabara, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisha Dawkins

A U.S. Army soldier from Bravo Company, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, provides security for fellow soldiers at a village leader's home in Alabara, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elisha Dawkins

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Update: 9/11 Commission Recommendations Mostly Implemented?

Democrat's promises unfulfilled.
Recall, if you will, the promises made by Democrats in the midterm election to fully implement the changes suggested by the 9/11 Commission.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently announced that the House of Representatives will open the first session of the 110th Congress on Jan. 4, 2007 and will remain in session for several weeks in January.

Pelosi said, "In the first 100 legislative hours, Democrats will get to work immediately to restore civility, integrity and fiscal responsibility to the House, while increasing prosperity, opportunity and security for all Americans."

Included in House Democrats' first 100 legislative hours are:

• Draining the swamp -- break the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go budgeting, no new deficit spending
  
• Making America more secure -- implement the independent 9/11 Commission recommendations
  
• Giving Americans a raise -- increase the minimum wage
  
• Making college more affordable -- cut the interest rate in half on federally subsidized student loans
  
• Making health care more affordable -- negotiate for lower prescription drug prices
  
• Ending subsidies for Big Oil
  
• Giving hope to families with devastating diseases -- allow stem cell research

However, a recent story reported by the Associated Press states Democrats poised to take control of Congress say they'll work to implement the unfinished business the 9/11 Commission recommended to better protect America from terrorists. But it won't be easy. Much of what the commission proposed has been accomplished, at least in some measure. And many other proposals won't get through because they're either too expensive or face stiff political opposition.

Yet, with Democrats eyeing the 2008 presidential election and eager to show they're strong on security issues, analysts say there are no still-lingering proposals that can easily be enacted into law.

The commission in July 2004 made 41 sweeping recommendations to prevent another devastating terrorist attack.

A third of the recommendations urged tighter domestic security and improved emergency response. Another third called for reform of intelligence-gathering and congressional oversight. The rest involved foreign policy issues and nuclear nonproliferation.

But, a year and a half after issuing the recommendations, the commission reconvened and announced that many of its recommendations had not been adequately addressed.

Now that the election is over, and it's up to the Democrats to live up to their promises, they have to lower expectations. It will be interesting to see if the Jersey Girls suddenly show up and start asking questions.

I'm not holding my breath.

Editor's note: This story was blogged here a full day ahead of its appearance on the Drudge Report.

Today's developments:

Update: Democrats Reject Key 9/11 Panel Suggestion
(Washington Post) -- It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement all of the recommendations of the bipartisan commission that examined the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

But with control of Congress now secured, Democratic leaders have decided for now against implementing the one measure that would affect them most directly: a wholesale reorganization of Congress to improve oversight and funding of the nation's intelligence agencies. Instead, Democratic leaders may create a panel to look at the issue and produce recommendations, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.

Update: Pelosi: Republicans Continue Indefensible Record of Underfunding Homeland Security
WASHINGTON, June 13 (U.S. Newswire) -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Emergency Supplemental appropriations bill, which includes funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, homeland security, and Hurricane Katrina recovery. The bill passed in the House today by a vote of 351 to 67.

"Republicans' misplaced priorities mean America is not as safe it should be. Democrats have a new direction for the American people -- one that will fully implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and make the security of the American people a top priority."

Update: Democrats have a plan for changes if victorious
WASHINGTON (Las Vegas Sun) -- With fewer than five weeks to go before the mid-term election and the very real possibility that Democrats could take over the House - and in some scenarios the Senate - the question comes naturally: Just what would Democrats do if they were in charge?

Reid said if Democrats take power, they would work to redeploy troops off the battlefields. Renew efforts to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Fully implement the 9-11 Commission's recommendations. Rebuild the military, which some estimates show needs a $75 billion investment to bring it back up to pre war levels of readiness.

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Combat Camera: Marines, Iraqis Conduct Patrol

U.S. Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, and Iraqi army soldiers conduct a joint patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

U.S. Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, and Iraqi army soldiers conduct a joint patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

Iraqi army soldiers take up kneeling positions during a joint patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 18, 2006. The patrol is being conducted with U.S. Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

Iraqi army soldiers stop a vehicle during a joint patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2006. The patrol is being conducted with U.S. Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

Iraqi army soldiers stop a vehicle to question a man during a joint patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2006. The patrol is being conducted with U.S. Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

U.S. Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, and Iraqi army soldiers speak with local Iraqi men during a joint patrol in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 18, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kristopher Battles, a combat artist for the I Marine Expeditionary Force, draws a sketch of the commanding officer of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, resting in Habbaniyah, Iraq, Nov. 18, 2006, as a fellow Marine watches. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Adaecus G. Brooks

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The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 29 Nov.

After reading: wash, rinse and repeat.

• FT.com reports the global political battle over climate change was also being fought at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday as judges bickered over the role of greenhouse gas emissions in global warming and disagreed on whether the Env­­ir­on­mental Protection Agency had the power to refuse to regulate such emissions.
  
  

  Wednesday’s arguments focused largely on the issue of whether Massachusetts could bring the case in the first place, with several conservative justices arguing that Massachusetts had not proved the danger to its coastline was imminent enough to merit the suit, or that the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that could be achieved by limiting exhaust emissions – some 2.5 per cent of total US greenhouse emissions – would be significant enough to give them the right to sue.

  “It depends what happens across the globe,” Chief Justice John Roberts said, noting that any reduction in US emissions might be overcome by a rise in emissions caused by China’s rapid economic development. Several liberal justices supported Massachusetts but the pivotal swing justice, Anthony Kennedy, did not reveal where he stood.

  The court appeared similarly divided on the issue of whether the EPA had the authority to refuse to regulate or whether its reasons for doing so were valid.

• The nine-member US Supreme Court appeared split as it took up the debate over global warming, with rival lawyers arguing whether some greenhouse gas emissions should be regulated, according to AP.
  
  

  The plaintiffs in the case include several US state governments who argue that the EPA should use its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the 1963 Clean Air Act.

  The plaintiffs, who have lost in a lower court and on appeal, are joined by religious groups, scientists, ski resorts, businesses as well as former EPA officials, who say the stakes are high.

• However, all the bickering may not matter. Reuters reports the earth has a fever that could boost temperatures by 8 degrees Celsius making large parts of the surface uninhabitable and threatening billions of peoples' lives, a controversial climate scientist said on Tuesday.
  
  James Lovelock, who angered climate scientists with his Gaia theory of a living planet and then alienated environmentalists by backing nuclear power, said a traumatized earth might only be able to support less than a tenth of it's 6 billion people.
  
  

  "We are not all doomed. An awful lot of people will die, but I don't see the species dying out," he told a news conference. "A hot earth couldn't support much over 500 million."

  "Almost all of the systems that have been looked at are in positive feedback ... and soon those effects will be larger than any of the effects of carbon dioxide emissions from industry and so on around the world," he added.

• More on this story: The Daily Mail reports billions of people could be wiped out over the next century because of climate change, a leading expert said.
  
  Professor James Lovelock, who pioneered the idea of the Earth as a living organism, said as the planet heats up humans will find it increasingly hard to survive.
  
  He warned that as conditions worsen, the global population which is currently around 6.5 billion, may sink as low as 500 million.

• The Daily Mail reports householders were warned today to check their security in an alert sparked by video website YouTube.
  
  Hundreds of videos are available on the site showing users how to pick locks, which experts fear will result in a spate of burglaries.

• In an open letter, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged the American people Wednesday to demand the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and reject what he called the US government's "blind support" for Israel and its "illegal and immoral" actions in fighting terrorism, according to JPost.
  
  The letter to "Noble Americans," distributed by Iran's UN Mission, denounced President George W. Bush's policies in the Middle East and US practices in the "war on terror." He appealed to the American people to work to reverse them and called on the Bush administration and the new Democratic-controlled Congress to heed the results of the recent midterm elections.
  
  

  "Undoubtedly, the American people are not satisfied with this behavior and they showed their discontent in the recent elections," Ahmadinejad wrote. "I hope that in the wake of the mid-term elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people."

  In a message to Democrats, he said, "you will also be held to account by the people and by history."

  "If the US government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America," Ahmadinejad said.

  "What has blind support for the Zionists by the US administration brought for the American people?" Ahmadinejad asked. "It is regrettable that for the US administration, the interests of these occupiers supersedes the interests of the American people and of the other nations of the world."

• Reuters boils down the message of and reports Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a letter to the American people on Wednesday, accused their government of "coercion, force and injustice" and urged the United States to pull out of Iraq.

• However, hours after Iran's president wrote to Americans attacking their government's foreign policy and urging that their troops leave Iraq, a US State Department spokesman dismissed the move as a ploy, according to AFP.

• In an effort to halt further the decline of the West, Billionaire insurance titan Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has begun buying huge blocks of New York Times stock to break the Sulzberger family's stranglehold on the media empire, The Post has learned.
  
  Sources confirmed that the famously combative Greenberg has been buying hundreds of thousands of Times shares, but did not disclose the exact number or the size of the stake he wants to own.
  
  Liberal E&P reports because of the "dual stock" status of The New York Times Co., the chances that Maurice "Hank" Greenberg -- the former AIG chairman and CEO now reported to be intent on taking over the company -- will actually succeed in his quest may be slim. Still, he is a man to be reckoned with, and who knows what ripple effects may appear.
  
  If Greenberg ever did get in the position to run the company, the political orientation of the paper might well change. Greenberg has strong Republican connections -- friend of Henry Kissinger, once mentioned as a Reagan appointee to help run the CIA, and a funder of GOP candidates.

Hallelujah!

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Dangerous Denial: Pelosi Says no al-Qaeda in Iraq

Not quite ready for prime time.
I saw a headline today on the DRUDGE REPORT that read, Pelosi: There's no Al-Qaeda in Iraq.... Alas, when I tried to access the link to the story at CNN, all I got was a blank white screen. Not about to be stopped by an overloaded server at CNN, I surfed right to the source to get the story.

Guess what?

Ever so (un)balanced in their coverage, CNN took down the story. I couldn't find it anywhere.

So, I Yahooed and Googled till I found some references.

Here's the story as it appears on NewsBusters:

Asked by a reporter about how “President Bush today blamed the surge of violence in Iraq on al Qaeda,” incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded with a disjointed answer about how “the 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad that the President is resorting to it again." Though al-Qaeda is clearly in Iraq and responsible for deadly bombings, and the 9/11 Commission conclusion was about links before September 11th, on Tuesday's NBC Nightly News reporter David Gregory treated Pelosi's off-base retort as credible and relevant. Without suggesting any miscue by her, Gregory segued to Pelosi's soundbite with a bewildering set up of his own about how “incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disagreed, warning that such rhetoric about al Qaeda will make it harder for Democrats to work with the White House."

Here's the relevant portion of the story from David Gregory, who filed from Riga, Latvia, on the November 28 NBC Nightly News:

David Gregory: “Iraq's worsening civil war will dominate the President's meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Concluding his visit to Estonia earlier today, Mr. Bush blamed the violence not on civil war but on Sunni terrorists.”

President Bush at a press conference in Estonia: “There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of these attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal. And we will work with the Maliki government to defeat these elements.”

Gregory: “Back in Washington, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disagreed, warning that such rhetoric about al Qaeda will make it harder for Democrats to work with the White House.”

Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “The 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad that the President is resorting to it again.”

Mistake or denial?

With an issue as important to folks as the Iraq war, Pelosi better get her facts straight.

Imagine, if you will, a distracted grandmother third in line to be President of the most powerful nation on the planet.

UPDATE: Hot Air, Video Added - Pelosi defends al Qaeda, chastises Bush

Here are some relevant stories in the news:

Special Report Roundtable - November 28
(RCP) -- FOX News Special Report With Brit Hume

Al Qaeda tries to foment Iraq civil war-US general
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) -- Iraq has not descended into a civil war but al Qaeda is trying to provoke one and the United States should focus on thwarting those efforts, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday.

Qaeda controls western Iraq: US intelligence
WASHINGTON (Daily Times) -- US forces can neither crush the insurgency in western Iraq nor counter the rising popularity of Al Qaeda in the area, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing a secret Marine Corps intelligence report.

DoD Press Briefing with General Pace at the Pentagon
November 29, 2006
GEN. PACE: Good afternoon, and thank you for your time. I'm looking forward to answering your questions, but I thought first I might try to clear up some of the confusion and speculation about what it is that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Joints Chiefs are doing individually and collectively with regard to recommendations on the way forward in Iraq. Read it.

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9/11 Commission Recommendations Mostly Implemented?

Recall, if you will, the promises made by Democrats in the midterm election to fully implement the changes suggested by the 9/11 Commission.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently announced that the House of Representatives will open the first session of the 110th Congress on Jan. 4, 2007 and will remain in session for several weeks in January.

Pelosi said, "In the first 100 legislative hours, Democrats will get to work immediately to restore civility, integrity and fiscal responsibility to the House, while increasing prosperity, opportunity and security for all Americans."

Included in House Democrats' first 100 legislative hours are:

• Draining the swamp -- break the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go budgeting, no new deficit spending
  
• Making America more secure -- implement the independent 9/11 Commission recommendations
  
• Giving Americans a raise -- increase the minimum wage
  
• Making college more affordable -- cut the interest rate in half on federally subsidized student loans
  
• Making health care more affordable -- negotiate for lower prescription drug prices
  
• Ending subsidies for Big Oil
  
• Giving hope to families with devastating diseases -- allow stem cell research

However, a recent story reported by the Associated Press states Democrats poised to take control of Congress say they'll work to implement the unfinished business the 9/11 Commission recommended to better protect America from terrorists. But it won't be easy. Much of what the commission proposed has been accomplished, at least in some measure. And many other proposals won't get through because they're either too expensive or face stiff political opposition.

Yet, with Democrats eyeing the 2008 presidential election and eager to show they're strong on security issues, analysts say there are no still-lingering proposals that can easily be enacted into law.

The commission in July 2004 made 41 sweeping recommendations to prevent another devastating terrorist attack.

A third of the recommendations urged tighter domestic security and improved emergency response. Another third called for reform of intelligence-gathering and congressional oversight. The rest involved foreign policy issues and nuclear nonproliferation.

But, a year and a half after issuing the recommendations, the commission reconvened and announced that many of its recommendations had not been adequately addressed.

Now that the election is over, and it's up to the Democrats to live up to their promises, they have to lower expectations. It will be interesting to see if the Jersey Girls suddenly show up and start asking questions.

I'm not holding my breath.

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Combat Camera: Firefighters Assess Attack Damage at Camp Victory, Iraq

Firefighters assigned to Station #1 North and Station #2 South of Victory Fire Department arrive to put out a fire, assess damage, and find a projectile after a 244mm rocket hit the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

Firefighters arrive to put out a fire, assess damage, and find a projectile after a 244mm rocket hit the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

Firefighters assess damage, and find a projectile after a 244mm rocket hit the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

Firefighters assigned to Station #1 North and Station #2 South of Victory Fire Department arrive to put out a fire at the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

A 244mm rocket attack on the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006, damaged windows. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

Firefighters assigned to Station #1 North and Station #2 South of Victory Fire Department arrive on the scene to put out a fire, assess damage, and find a projectile after a 244mm rocket hit the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

Firefighters assigned to Station #1 North and Station #2 South of Victory Fire Department and the U.S. Army military police assess damage at the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

A 244-mm rocket attack on the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006, left these projectile remnants. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

A U.S. Army soldier carries off the remains of a projectile after a 244 mm rocket attack on the Camp Victory base complex in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 15, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michele A. Desrochers

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Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 by Evan Thomas

BOOKS IN THE NEWS

Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 by Evan Thomas
(From Publishers Weekly) -- Starred Review. Thomas, Newsweek's assistant managing editor, turns his considerable narrative and research talents to Leyte Gulf, history's largest and most complex naval battle. He addresses the subject from the perspectives of four officers: William Halsey, who commanded the U.S. 3rd Fleet; Adm. Takeo Kurita, his Japanese counterpart; Adm. Matome Ugaki, Kurita's senior subordinate and a "true believer" in Japan's destiny; and Cdr. Ernest Evans, captain of a lowly destroyer, the U.S.S. Johnston. The Americans believed the Japanese incapable of great military feats, while the Japanese believed the Americans were incapable of paying the price of war. Both were tragically wrong. Halsey steamed north in pursuit of a what turned out to be a decoy, while Kurita's main force was positioned to destroy the American landing force in the Philippines. Evans repeatedly took the Johnston into harm's way against what seemed overwhelming odds. His heroism, matched by a dozen other captains and crews, convinced Kurita to break off the action. With Halsey's battleships and carriers just over the horizon, Kurita refused to sacrifice his men at the end of a war already lost. Ugaki bitterly denounced the lack of "fighting spirit and promptitude" that kept him from an honorable death. Evans fought and died like a true samurai. As Thomas skillfully reminds us, war is above all the province of irony. (Nov.)

(From the Publisher) -- Evan Thomas takes us inside the naval war of 1941-1945 in the South Pacific in a way that blends the best of military and cultural history and riveting narrative drama. He follows four men throughout: Admiral William ("Bull") Halsey, the macho, gallant, racist American fleet commander; Admiral Takeo Kurita, the Japanese battleship commander charged with making what was, in essence, a suicidal fleet attack against the American invasion of the Philippines; Admiral Matome Ugaki, a self-styled samurai who was the commander of all kamikazes and himself the last kamikaze of the war; and Commander Ernest Evans, a Cherokee Indian and Annapolis graduate who led his destroyer on the last great charge in the last great naval battle in history.

Sea of Thunder climaxes with the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the biggest naval battle ever fought, over four bloody and harrowing days in October 1944. We see Halsey make an epic blunder just as he reaches for true glory; we see the Japanese navy literally sailing in circles, torn between the desire to die heroically and the exhausted, unacceptable realization that death is futile; we sail with Commander Evans and the men of the USS Johnston into the jaws of the Japanese fleet and exult and suffer with them as they torpedo a cruiser, bluff and confuse the enemy -- and then, their ship sunk, endure fifty horrific hours in shark-infested water.

Thomas, a journalist and historian, traveled to Japan, where he interviewed veterans of the Imperial Japanese Navy who survived the Battle of Leyte Gulf and friends and family of the two Japanese admirals. From new documents and interviews, he was able to piece together and answer mysteries about the Battle of Leyte Gulf that have puzzled historians for decades. He writes with a knowing feel for the clash of cultures.

Sea of Thunder is a taut, fast-paced, suspenseful narrative of the last great naval war, an important contribution to the history of the Second World War

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Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 by Evan Thomas

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How Rangel Gets it Wrong on Facts, Draft

I recently authored a short post titled, Rep. Rangel Smears Military on Fox News Sunday. In the piece I pointed out when Fox journalist Chris Wallace presented Rep. Rangel with the facts about the makeup of our military as found in a Heritage Foundation study, Rangel disagreed and insisted the military is made up of poor and uneducated individuals.

Wallace:

[A] recent and very detailed study by the Heritage Foundation, Congressman, found the following and I'm going to put that up: 13 percent of recruits are from the poorest neighborhoods. That's less than the national average of people living in those neighborhoods. Ninety-seven percent of recruits have high school diplomas. Among all Americans, the graduation rate is under 80 percent. And blacks make up 14.5 percent of recruits for the military; the national average is 12 percent.

Rangel:

[Those] who have the least opportunities at this age find themselves in the military.

Here are the details of the Heritage foundation study:

Nathaniel Ward, writing for the Heritage Foundation, says the Left can’t seem to stop getting the facts wrong on the military. A few weeks back, Sen. John Kerry argued that the military is composed of those who do poorly in school.

Rep. Rangel has now come out with another whopper. In a New York Daily News column arguing for a new military draft to “share the burden” across the population, he states:

The great majority of people bearing arms for this country in Iraq are from the poorer communities in our inner cities and rural areas, places where enlistment bonuses are up to $40,000 and thousands in educational benefits are very attractive. For people who have college as an option, those incentives -- at the risk to one’s life -- don’t mean a thing.

Rangel told Fox News over the weekend that young people join the armed forces only as a last resort. “If a young fella has an option of having a decent career or joining the army to fight in Iraq,” he said, “you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.”

The Heritage foundation points out the myths:

Myth: Poor people with few opportunities enlist, often driven to military service because of structural unemployment.
Fact: U.S. troops come from wealthier neighborhoods than their civilian peers. In fact, the only underrepresented neighborhoods are those with the lowest incomes.

Myth: War is less likely under a draft because policymakers would not want to put their own loved ones in harm’s way.
Fact: There is simply no substance to the argument that a draft keeps the peace, but it must be said that “draft wars” were fought with higher troop levels, and higher casualties. In the last 60 years, America has fought two wars with conscription and two wars without. The logic that conscription was the critical determining variable does not hold.

Myth: The military would obtain better troops through a draft than it has through the volunteer force.
Fact: The all-volunteer force has had immense success in drawing highly motivated individuals through better pay. America’s military leadership is adamantly opposed to instituting a new draft. The generals and admirals argue that a draft would weaken mission capability and create enormous structural and management problems. Morale and force cohesiveness would suffer intensely, particularly with a two-caste military.

The study everyone is quoting:

Who Are the Recruits? The Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Military Enlistment, 2003–2005
October 27, 2006
by Tim Kane, Ph.D.
(Heritage Foundation) -- A pillar of conventional wisdom about the U.S. military is that the quality of volunteers has been degraded after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Examples of the voices making this claim range from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and New York Daily News [1] to Michael Moore’s pseudo-documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Some insist that minorities and the underprivileged are over­represented in the military. Others accuse the U.S. Army of accepting unqualified enlistees in a futile attempt to meet its recruiting goals in the midst of an unpopular war.[2] Read it.

Today's article:

No Justification for a Military Draft
by Tim Kane, Ph.D.
November 28, 2006
(Heritage Foundation) -- Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), soon to chair the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has announced his intention to reinstate the draft. He has offered three different justifications for the reversion to conscription after 33 years of an all-volunteer force: social justice, peace, and better troops. Read it.

It's an unfortunate thing when our leaders not only send our troops into harm's way overseas, but also stoop to using them as pawns in their political parlor games at home.

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