Ancient Scrolls Deciphered. Philologists Go To Heaven

The ancient Oxyrhynchus Papyri, discovered years ago in Egypt have
succumbed to modern technology, and are being rapidly
deciphered, according to a
report in The Independent.

“In the past four days alone, Oxford’s classicists have used it to make a series of astonishing
discoveries, including writing by
Sophocles, Euripides, Hesiod and other literary giants of the ancient world, lost for millennia.
They even believe they are likely to find lost Christian gospels, the originals of which
were written around the time of the earliest books of the New Testament.”

Wow. The papyri were discovered over a century ago and constitute 400,000 fragments. It is
reckoned that their deciphering will increase the available ancient texts by over
a fifth. And it’s a transatlantic project. “Oxford academics have been working alongside
infra-red specialists from Brigham Young University, Utah. ”

Steyn: Don't Put Your Hands on Hips Around Me Young Man

Mark has had it with this anger management thing. So John Bolton in not qualified to be Ambassador
to the United Nations because he once spoke to an underling with his hands on his hips.
Pu-leez!
Democrats like Barbara Boxer are starting to parody themselves. And anyway, growls Mark, does this
mean that government underlings can underperform as much as they want and not deserve a reprimand? Is
that what the Democratic Party has come to?

Steyn: Don't Get Flushed Down the Eurinal

Is nothing sacred? Now they are outsourcing tax returns to India! And that’s not all. Even Steyn Global
Enterprises is outsourcing.
Mark Steyn
is outsourcing “certain administrative and managerial functions” of Steyn Global Enterprises
across the world, and
he’s willing to forgo the chance to hit on the help at the office Christmas party. He’d rather likes
the help to be working hard while CEO Mark is
sleeping it off. Better wake up Europe/Canada, before you get flushed down the EUrinal.

Spot the Fascist

On Wednesday, conservative advocate David Horowitz took his campaign for the Academic Bill of Rights
to the University of Texas.
Here
is the report on the event in The Daily Texan, and
here is the report from
conservative bloggers. But let us let our minds wander a little. How would such a disturbance have
been reported if conservative students were screaming, holding up signs, and tooting air horns at a speech of
some icon of the left?

Cheerleading Hits Britain

Have the Evil Bush Neocons no shame? They are taking over Britain by exporting cheerleading to the
land of Edmund Burke and punk rock.
Michele Kirsch reports
on a sport that is growing by 30 percent a year in the UK. And yes, the cheerleaders are on the
sidelines cheerleading for their college rugger teams.

The Tax Code Foments Conflict

As we all rail about the tax code and snigger as we take our special tax deduction, let us not
forget that the politicians are laughing all the way to the bank. When Americans are
fighting each other, they are leading the troops. As
Edward Hudgins
reminds us, the complexity of the tax code is the result of hundreds of special interest battles to
use some of your tax money for their special subsidy. The only way out is to refuse to benefit
at the expense of a fellow American and support broad based, low rate taxes.

If Liberals Hate Wal-Mart...

Then it stands to reason that there must be something good and noble about Wal-Mart that
they are trying to destroy. The funny thing about liberals is that, as often as not, their idealistic
campaigns to help the little guy turn out to be cynical attempts to bolster the status quo and the
established interests—pure power plays. Here’s one writer’s
look at the Wal-Mart effect.