tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101155672011-04-21T14:19:47.967-07:00<small>Because nothing is self-evident. Sorry.</small>Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1166846291145140502007-07-12T19:53:00.000-07:002007-12-03T21:24:49.753-08:00

Greetings to readers of other blogs, who frequently track me to this page wondering what this Van Dyke fellow is all about.Best to find my latest here, as contributor and putative editor of thenewswalk.com. But do scroll down and try the salmon croquettes recipe below. It gets the most traffic here, and for damned good reason. Yum.

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-84753429389866797282007-06-19T19:44:00.000-07:002007-07-17T15:23:48.596-07:00

(A version of the following was published by The American Spectator Online in June 2007.)Via CBS News, what we should come to call The Iraqi Orphanage Nightmare:Inside the building, a government-run orphanage for special needs children, the soldiers found more emaciated little bodies tied to the cribs. They had been kept this way for more than a month, according to the soldiers called in to

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1132877798500679562005-11-24T16:14:00.000-08:002006-12-22T20:04:02.600-08:00

Solution below.

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1122167317759374202005-07-23T18:08:00.000-07:002007-03-26T11:17:43.448-07:00

For your consideration, in guy-recipe form:TVD's Crab-Salmon Croquettes1 big can salmon (drained, reserve liquid)1 little can crabmeat (ditto)4 diced celery stalks1/4 cup minced green onions, onions, or a little dried onion, onion powder, whatever1 golfball-sized hunk of mayo3/4 cup smashed crackers or matzo meal, or a combo of both5 splashes Worcestershire sauce1 or 2 eggs, whipped up with a

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1122084400319696272005-07-22T19:06:00.000-07:002007-12-03T20:47:24.040-08:00

(A version of the following was published by The American Spectator Online in February 2007.)I've been on the fence about this thing until America's most highly-paid newsman Katie Couric wrote this on her blog:"And all the experts agree. Well, almost every expert. (There are a handful of scientists -- many of them on the payroll of big oil companies -- who wonder if global warming is a reality.)"

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1120789275460058232005-07-07T19:21:00.000-07:002007-12-03T20:51:18.840-08:00

9. Mini-sudoku solution, as promised.

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1120437815206789292005-07-03T17:43:00.000-07:002007-12-03T20:50:42.282-08:00

Live 8, besides calling for debt relief for Africa, asks for free markets for African products, which cannot compete with European products because of EU subsidies.The playing field isn't level---African producers get no help from their governments, because their governments are focused on corruption and Swiss bank accounts. How can Africa compete in the poker game of life when France keeps

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1119235470489264712005-06-19T19:44:00.000-07:002005-06-19T23:31:49.036-07:00

Caught Christian apocolyptic author Tim LaHaye on Sunday's blab TV. Seems the Book of Revelations sez the anti-Christ isn't some weirdo like Christopher Walken, but someone who's "attractive, intelligent, and articulate." Somebody who isn't seen as bad, but good.Whew. Great news for our friends on the left---they can stop worrying about the current Republican White House occupant.Now, the wife

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1118806070293084882005-06-14T20:07:00.000-07:002005-07-30T23:47:58.736-07:00

My pal Philosoraptor gave me a generous plug, even though I give him nothing in return but existential grief, pain and suffering. He urges me to rock on, and I can now reveal how wise and knowing he is, in that Kantian sort of way of his.The humble narrator of this blog has been away to the land of Miami, mastering an album for his all-time favorite band, The Cookies. (As a matter of

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1118196591188859142005-06-07T18:40:00.000-07:002007-12-03T20:53:30.356-08:00

Since Watergate, the press has put itself in opposition to whatever the current administration says, to balance things out. But what if what the administration says never sees the light of day?Detainees “provide useful information on locations of training compounds and safe houses, terrain features, travel patterns and routes used for smuggling people and equipment, as well as for identifying

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1116813097869889922005-05-22T18:20:00.000-07:002007-12-03T21:07:05.459-08:00

Via CUANAS, from Opinion Journal:"George W. Bush has unleashed a tsunami on this region," a shrewd Kuwaiti merchant who knows the way of his world said to me. The man had no patience with the standard refrain that Arab reform had to come from within, that a foreign power cannot alter the age-old ways of the Arabs. "Everything here--the borders of these states, the oil explorations that remade the

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1116106811043909402005-05-14T14:32:00.000-07:002007-03-26T11:44:06.230-07:00

Idealist writes:If I really believed our aims were so altruistic I'd be supportive and I suspect others in the world would be, too. However, I can't see it as anything other than a power grab by cynical Imperialist Straussians. I did read the Report for the 20th century by the Wolfowitz, etc. think tank whose name escapes me and it scared the hell out of me. I don't want to be an imperialistic

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1116051263131576352005-05-13T21:31:00.000-07:002005-05-13T23:16:16.196-07:00

Complaining about political language is to me a lefty thing, and I have avoided it. Surely there's a basic core of an idea, even an opinion, that doesn't depend on manipulating words. But the media (yes, even FoxHitlerNews and of course Auntie Beeb) calling these homicidal/suicidal maniacs in Iraq "insurgents" has just got on my last nerve.I understand WWII hero Rodger Young, who gave his life

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1115939572947420902005-05-12T16:12:00.000-07:002007-03-26T11:21:57.985-07:00

 That's noted satanist Jimmy Page boogie-in' on down at the New York Stock Exchange. It all fits now, doesn't it?

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1115597324330021192005-05-08T15:29:00.000-07:002007-12-03T20:57:10.693-08:00

I'd bet less than half of Americans know what V-E Day is. It means Victory in Europe, and today is the 60th anniversary of the Nazi surrender. There is some buzz in Europe, but the American media is almost completely silent about the occasion. Not surprising, since there are parallels to today's crises, and none of them suit our media's worldview. President George Dubya Bush is over at the

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1115422021460020102005-05-06T16:19:00.000-07:002007-12-03T20:58:58.016-08:00

Blair survives today's election, the Tories are up but their leader Howard's out, and in the biggest surprise of the day, the staunchly anti-Iraq war Lib-Dems pick up the Muslim vote.Situation normal---status quo, and everybody in Britain's still miserable. I think they like it that way.

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1115067503149564202005-05-02T13:58:00.000-07:002005-05-02T19:20:17.060-07:00

Went to a university jazz recital last night, and there were quite a few 21st century phenomena. First, midway through the show, there was a power failure and the room plunged into darkness. Fortunately, only the keyboardist was electrified, and he sucked anyway, so the rest of the band kept cranking. Since next to nobody in Los Angeles smokes anymore, nobody in the crowd had a lighter, but

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1114650236034696492005-04-27T18:03:00.000-07:002005-04-27T18:06:22.403-07:00

Since most here gathered don't agree with The Philosodude but kindly read him anyway, he passes this on as a sort of twisted thank you. 

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1114649284190455562005-04-27T17:04:00.000-07:002005-04-27T22:20:30.240-07:00

So Tory chief Michael Howard is OK with calling Tony Blair a liar.This shows how low the Tories have sunk, and the fact it's helping Howard in the polls says nothing good about the electorate, either, folks.Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, delivered a sermon on the danger of cheapening the debate. "The leaders of the three main parties are all honourable men," he said. "It is quite wrong to

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1114380769659538472005-04-24T15:05:00.000-07:002007-12-03T21:23:28.567-08:00

Thanks to everyone who stopped by this past week and found...nothing new posted here. There were some great theological concerns (see below) and computer problems. I hope to get back to more frequent gems and to being my usual snarky and shallow self.Today's tip is this: when you're considering a purchase, go to Google, type in the product name, followed by the word "crap." My Western Digital

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1114380094901929672005-04-24T13:50:00.000-07:002007-07-09T21:34:27.425-07:00

One of the most troublesome things about the Bible is when God orders the Israelites to massacre the wicked Canaanites down to the last man, woman and child.How could God order such a thing? And if He did, does that all of a sudden make an evil thing Good, just because He ordered it? This is sometimes called the Euthyphro problem, referring to Plato's Socrates asking just that question.It's a

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113931314645852322005-04-19T10:20:00.000-07:002005-04-19T12:47:59.010-07:00

Despite the world press' advice that the next pope be hip and groovy, they went and elected a Catholic anyway.Go figure.Cardinal Ratzinger's words on Monday, at the opening of the Conclave:How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking… The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves –

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113703938795589982005-04-16T18:54:00.000-07:002005-04-24T18:42:13.703-07:00

Our friend from the Land Downover, DKelly, offers his take on the UK election:I believe it is be more accurate to say that this is the swing the Conservatives would need across the country to make the seat they need for a majority winable. There is actually a huge difference between this and actually requiring this percentage across the board.That they need this result has little to do with the

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113700045706500692005-04-16T18:06:00.000-07:002005-04-16T18:37:38.586-07:00

YahooNews has the latest update: Labour is heading for a third General Election victory, according to a clutch of recently-published polls. But the projected margin of Tony Blair's victory varied as pollsters put his lead over the Tories at anywhere between one and 10%... An ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph found Mr Blair was heading for another landslide victory and a majority of 158. That

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113596979312874192005-04-15T13:29:00.000-07:002005-04-15T16:36:26.056-07:00

¡La Migra!Duck your head in and yell that into any Los Angeles restaurant kitchen, and you're likely to see half the staff bug out the back door.It's slang for the immigration man, or in other words, "RAID!"I've lived in LA for over 20 years and have been a dove on illegal immigration. Mexicans and Central Americans are legendary for never asking for handouts, only work. On freeway exit ramps,

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113533798418339082005-04-14T19:44:00.000-07:002005-04-14T20:00:43.100-07:00

Blogger.com tells your humble narrator (that's me) that your new favorite blog (that's this) got a referral and a long look from this blog.Now I had to use the Google Spanish-English translator, but this is what it said:EVERYTHING ARRIVES!!!!!THE OLD WISE PEOPLE COUNT...THAT The VIBORAS, CAN SWALLOW THEIR OWN POISON And WHEN THEY THROW TOO MUCH CAN BE CHOKED And BEEN ABLE TO HAVE WHOLE WEEKS OF

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113510385829465572005-04-14T13:26:00.000-07:002005-04-14T16:07:27.286-07:00

The governor of Wisconsin is going to nix any law that would permit the hunting of feral cats, which are blamed for the deaths of 47 million to 139 million songbirds a year in that state.It's not illegal here in California. At least I don't think it is. I bagged this beauty with a thirty-ought-six and a 125-grain load in the Santa Monica Mountains, just outside Malibu. The taxidermy fees were a

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113430511479009912005-04-13T15:15:00.000-07:002005-04-13T17:56:21.746-07:00

 That's supposed to be John Kerry, not Jesus.It seems the good senator is trolling for hard luck stories from our troops in Iraq. I'm sure it's to help them, not embarrass the administration. Heaven forbid. If he does for the Iraq vets what he did for the Vietnam vets, well...never mind.Thing is, after 20-odd useless years as a senator, I just can't explain John Kerry's sudden interest in

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113373305612785012005-04-12T22:45:00.000-07:002005-04-13T14:00:02.320-07:00

Or maybe you can.My new Harper's, which remains a supremely literate American treasure (founded 1856) despite its present left-psychotic editor's attempt to pervert it, has a letter citing a study that 75% of those who get Schiavoed are female.They say it's because females are practical. So are their husbands, I reckon.75% of divorces are initiated by the woman. Good strategy---get rid of him

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113343172688918112005-04-12T14:56:00.000-07:002005-04-12T15:34:33.280-07:00

The latest UK polls show Labour and the Tories in a 36%-36% tie. Still, constituency boundaries being what they are, Labour would still get a lead of 100-140 seats. The Conservative Party needs about 42% of the vote to win the PMship.I dunno, our electoral college doesn't seem so bad.

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1113084295765032632005-04-09T14:11:00.000-07:002005-04-09T15:50:11.610-07:00

Millions butchered in Africa. Where's the outrage among Blacks?When two million non-Muslim Africans were killed by a fundamentalist Islamic regime (well before the recent janjaweed/Darfur stuff), even the reliably far-left Black Commentator was forced to note the silence, perhaps explained by the Nation of Islam's unwillingness to criticize. Then, re Congo, where the toll is 3 million dead and

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1112910723403424872005-04-07T14:20:00.000-07:002005-04-07T18:12:09.576-07:00

Well, the AP took a poll, and everybody pretty much agrees the Catholic Church better get with the program in electing their next pope.I mean, how could a religious leader call abortion a sin against "non-violence to all sentient beings," condemn homosexual activity (indeed, putting one's genitals in any fun place that doesn't have to do with making babies), and expect his clergy to be celibate?

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1112419757217662232005-04-01T20:23:00.000-08:002005-04-07T12:10:35.406-07:00

No, it's not what you might think. Read on, Macduff.Friends from across the pond are still on their ear (and mine) about the Iraq war. They'd punish Tony Blair for it in the upcoming May 5 election if the Conservatives weren't so comically clueless or if the mommy party (health care, public transportation, the environment, etc., etc.), the Liberal Democrats, were ready to govern a Great

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1112062914446272242005-03-28T18:21:00.000-08:002005-03-28T19:30:34.306-08:00

I mean, this is kinda funny. That's supposed to be Jesus, not John Kerry.Nothing that I wouldn't have drawn in the margins of my copybook during religion class. I might have given it its own page. It's from a graphic novel (that means comics for adults) -type thingee that just earned its creator an arrest warrant from the European Union.Yup. Here in the land of museums showing crucifixes in

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111709195941965082005-03-24T15:55:00.000-08:002005-03-29T15:06:53.466-08:00

Re my consideration of the GOP's inability to resonate with Black America, except a bit among the religious-minded, Brother Daly comments:And that is why the left is SO opposed to the Faith-Based Initiative and why they have revved up the "Separation of Church and State" crowd...I don't know if they're thinking that far ahead, Jim. The left, which seems to be ideologically the same in both the

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111700688139435682005-03-24T13:35:00.000-08:002005-03-24T19:19:25.866-08:00

At the heart of the dilemma we find ourselves in these days is the conflict between reason and revelation, or as one great thinker put it, Athens and Jerusalem.Plato believed morality, specifically justice, could be derived by the intellect, and The Republic set out to prove just that. He did a good job.However, few of us have read Republic, and fewer of us each year read the Bible. Before we

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111543798542317422005-03-22T17:43:00.000-08:002005-03-23T18:19:04.140-08:00

It is Tuesday night, and the legal challenges by Terri Schiavo's parents are melting away. It has been four days since she has had any nourishment or water. My best understanding of things is that they have no real chance of ultimately prevailing, and preserving her life. Even the conservative Catholic Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, who might be thought to be her

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111524270950621802005-03-22T12:22:00.000-08:002005-03-29T23:46:07.700-08:00

Strange story in the morning paper I hadn't heard much about. Seems there's a "right to die" case down in Florida that's being compared to capital punishment, the war in Iraq, and all sorts of things. But society asserts it has a compelling interest in continuing to execute (justice, deterrence, what have you). Iraq is a similar case.What's missing for me in this whole thing is society's

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111365090179859552005-03-20T16:07:00.000-08:002005-03-20T16:34:24.440-08:00

Lost in all the "little Eichmann" hubbub was his charge that the US (read Clinton Administration)-led sanctions on Saddam caused the deaths of some 500,000 innocent Iraqis.My favorite lefty, Alexander Cockburn, reported the following exchange:In 1996, Madeleine Albright was asked the following question on CBS’ “60 Minutes” by Lesley Stahl: “We have heard that half a million children have died (in

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111362693559974102005-03-20T15:51:00.000-08:002005-03-20T16:07:06.890-08:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1111274844809936572005-03-19T15:26:00.000-08:002005-03-19T17:05:45.126-08:00

Why won't the vast majority of Black people even consider voting Republican today? What can the GOP do about it? By way of preface, I've done a lot of research and a ton of dialogue on this question. Here we go:Even though the Democratic Party didn't elect its first Black congressman until 1935 (the Republicans' first Black congressman was in 1869), the hugely popular Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10115567.post-1105562522673738572005-01-12T13:41:00.000-08:002005-02-27T18:17:21.896-08:00

I don't know.A recent exchange in another forum:You know (tvd), being a liberal I'm not naturally an isolationist and I'm not opposed to improving human rights throughout the world, and nation building as a concept.Funny, however, that nation building was not given as a reason for our toppling of Saddam..."Nation-building," in its accurate sense, is us going in with troops to try and straighten

Tom Van Dykehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com0