About
Captain Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather. He lives with his wife Marcia, also known as the First Mate, their two dogs, and frequently watch their granddaughter Kayla, whom Captain Ed calls The Little Admiral.
Read More
The Crows Nest
Rule 1: Drag The Corpse On Over First
If I've learned anything in four years of blogging, don't try to be out in front of the death rumors, especially with the villains of the world. Saddam died a hundred deaths before we caught him alive in his spider hole, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi almost as many before his demise last year. Osama may or may not be alive, but everyone's avoided speculating on his fate for a while now. Maybe Val at Babalu Blog will get luckier with his "Castro Is Dead" story. We all hope so. I'll wait for the announcement ....
Hobbs Choice
Volunteer Voters is holding its annual "Best of Nashville" on-line polls, and one of the categories is for the best political writer. Our friend Bill Hobbs, now posting at Newsbusters, and he'd like his on-line fans to cast their votes. Drop by and put one in for Bill if you get a chance!
Murtha Getting Backlogged On Apologies
Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring sees another case collapsing on the Haditha charges. He's called for Murtha to apologize earlier, and adds another reason to the tally.
No Such Thing As 'Moderate' Islam?
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan told a television interviewer that he finds the label "moderate Islam" offensive. Shrink Wrapped has a lot more on this, but at least in the same interview Erdogan acknowledged that "radical Islam" exists, and that it's been a catastrophe. Be sure to read the whole post.
MS-NBC Gets Punk'd
Power Line has a great post on a lack of journalistic effort on the part of MS-NBC. In covering the Michael Vick story, they reported on what they thought was Al Sharpton's website proclaiming Vick's innocence. I guess Alex Johnson and two other MS-NBC reporters couldn't bother to read the title bar of the site, which proudly proclaims it as a "parody site".
New Instapundit Podcast On Pharmaceuticals
I just caught this e-mail from Glenn Reynolds about his new podcast with Richard Epstein, the author of Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but the topic is important enough to make sure I carve out time for it tomorrow. Get their first and tell me what I'm missing ....
Fed Trying A 'Stealth Easing'?
The Federal Reserve seems to have conducted a quiet campaign to steady markets that started spinning out of control, according to King Banaian at SCSU Scholars. He thinks that the Fed has conducted a "stealth easing". Be sure to read his explanation and follow his lnks.
A Shameless Bit Of Sel-Promotion
Gateway Pundit and Val at Babalu Blog note a crass PR move by Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has responded to Peru's eathquake disaster with food shipments -- and with Hugo's smiling picture on the cans. He also uses the tuna-can label to undermine President Garcia of Peru, who narrowly defeated Chavez' pal Ollanto Humalla, whom the labels extol for his "solidarity" with Chavez.
Tacky beyond belief.
Bush Going After Palestinian Terror Financing?
George Bush's new orders to USAID forces them to review the executive management of all NGOs to ensure that they have no terrorist connections. Carl in Jerusalem says at Israel Matzav that the order specifically intends to target Palestinian front groups for terrorists. Let's hope he's right.
Slow Start!
Yes, I'm off to a slow start today, thanks to some scripting issues, a bad back, and an alarm clock that needs replacing. Bear with me -- I'm ramping up, I promise...
And Now, In Little League Action Last Night ...
I once played in a Little League game where we lost, 30-1, obviously before mercy rules came into being. The only comfort during that shellacking was that 13-year-olds don't have to justify their salaries for being on the field. You have to wonder what the Baltimore Orioles have to feel without that caveat today, after losing 30-3 to the Texas Rangers. Sixteen of the runs came in the last two innings .... (via TMV)
Bush Speech On Iraq
I got a couple of e-mails wondering why I haven't linked to George Bush's speech today. I liked it; I just didn't have much to add. Rush Limbaugh covered it well on his site, and Power Line also links approvingly but has nothing much more to say. Michael Goldfarb notes that the Weekly Standard had made a similar argument regarding Vietnam a year ago.
Rove Fears Me -- No, Really!
Hot Air notes the latest fundraising letter from John Edwards. No longer content to indulge his paranoia when Ann Coulter mentions him, now he wants to indulge it when Karl Rove doesn't. Has any candidate seemed this desperate before now?
Racism Or Hard Truth?
Angela Winters looks at an editorial cartoon and the controvery it has caused in Jacksonville, Florida, especially in the black community. Truth or racism? When rap artists tell young listeners not to cooperate with the police, how much responsibility do they have for the victimization that follows? Read all of the essay at The Moderate Voice.
Support Citizen Journalism
Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal reminds us that there is a reporter shortage on the front lines. The best way to solve that problem? Donate to Public Multimedia, the citizen-journalist organization that supports Bill Roggio, Bill Ardolino, and others. (And a direct donation to Michael Yon would be much appreciated as well.)
Comments (7)
Posted by docjim505![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 10:04 AM
Cap'n Ed wrote:
The cause [of Yeltsin's death] is not yet known...
Hmmm... He's a Russian bigshot, so he either drank himself to death or he accidentally, coincidentally, not-on-purpose cut off his head while combing his hair (courtesy of Putin and his death squads).
He had guts and I think he tried to do the best thing for his country and his people. God speed.
Posted by Carol_Herman![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 10:04 AM
By the time he died, he was forgotten.
And, given that lots of russians "drink," Yeltsin was considered to drink to such excess, that he staggered through office.
I guess he's now pickled? But not quite the way Lenin got pickled. And, then Stalin, followed suit.
Just a bunch of innept russians, still keeping all the peasants at bay.
But Yeltsin's funeral? Not on par with that of a Czar. For that? You need more KGB people who'd even fear your ghost.
Sorry. My symptahy meter went out of whack long ago.
And, putin has not yeltsin shadows at all. It's as if when you're constantly drunk, to the point where russians notice, by the time you "go" you haven't got minions left.
"Minyans." That's something Jews say to honor the dead. Yeltsin's got none of those, either.
Of course, I expect Jimmuh carter to make a big speech. He'll come out with "remember me?" I remember you..ou...too.
Posted by Carol_Herman![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 10:12 AM
The only thing russian tanks are good for, are parades.
Every time they're carted out, they return to the garage in need of parts. Russian repairs always take something from a working vehicle; to put it into one that's "more broken" stilll.
They have no factories in that country that really work. Do you know why? The workers are in charge.
As to the tanks, if you forgot hat they look like; you can look again, at the Ukraine. They always seem to appear when people don collors to respresent being "freedom seekers."
Ain't go no capitalism, over there. Ain't got freedoms on the way, either. Because of it. Works like a circle, should.
As to 1991. That's when the Rodney King riots came down the pike. And, yes, Yeltsin, think it had propaganda values; unleashed his one TV station to run the videos of the looting; wall to wall.
1991. At that event. The russians woke up to discover America had stores. And, the store shelves were stocked.
Heck, if the Blacks and Hispanics went to russia. And, went "wild" ... they'd have found NO TV sets available for sale to ordinary folk.
Why don't we spout the obvious?
Posted by IAmFree![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 10:15 AM
Yeltsin was a good man whose vision was bigger than his abilities.
Oddly enough, that may also be the worst thing that can be said about our president with any degree of truthfulness.
I am saddened, not only by the death of Yeltsin, but by the even more tragic death of his vision.
Posted by Dino P Crocetti![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 10:20 AM
"The only thing russian tanks are good for, are parades."
I think Saddam Hussein found that out the hard way!
Posted by reddog![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 10:34 AM
I would raise a toast to Boris' memory but I'm fresh out of raw, potato based distillates,
Posted by jerry![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 23, 2007 12:29 PM
Outside of a limited number of conservative circles Boris Yeltsin gets little respect in the United States and in the West. Gorbachov remains the darling of Western elites because they never shed their affection for communism. These elites held out hope the Gorbachov could “reform” the system and make the USSR the leading world power. It didn’t work out that well for them principally because Yeltsin got in the way. Recently Gorbachav lamented that he should have sent Yeltsin into exile and prevented the collapse of the Communist System.
Yeltsin failed because the Russia left behind by the Leninist state was beyond salvation. Economic planning and a penchant for massive industrial complexes left major Russian enterprises incomplete as the USSR fell apart. The 72 year suppression of civil society left a population without a sense of civil society and the lack of property rights prevented the efficient function of markets. The only people who could operate under these conditions were the criminal elements and the KGB (somewhat redundant). No leader could have made post-Communist Russia work. That Yeltsin tried and failed should not be held against him. He was last great leader of the 20th Century.