Musings Archive January 2005
Monday, January 31, 2005 WHY NOT JUST LET THEM GO?: It seems some judges are pretty eager to let loose hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida being held at Guantanamo Bay.
A federal judge ruled Monday that foreign terror suspects held in Cuba can challenge their confinement in U.S. courts and she criticized the Bush administration for holding hundreds of people without legal rights.
Judge Joyce Hens Green, handling claims filed by about 50 detainees at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, said the Supreme Court made clear last year that they have constitutional rights that lower courts should enforce.
Green serves in Washington, D.C...and might not be alive had some passengers not risen up against their hijackers.
Read on. Read the decision here (PDF format).
Posted by steve @ 04:07 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ I WANT TO BE PROUD: So says one soldier who served in Iraq. Judging by his essay in today's Guardian, Nicholas Cademartori has good reason to be.
Posted by steve @ 04:00 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Sunday, January 30, 2005 YEAH, THEY COME TO STOP THE ROOSTER: I don't know if the American military pays out danger pay but it's safe to say that Lance Cpl. Tony Stevens has earned every dime of it. The Marine has survived not one, or two or even three bombs, but rather nine bombs in Iraq. Stevens offered this bit of wisdom to a reporter:
"When you hear the explosion, that's actually good," Stevens said, pointing out that because sound travels relatively slowly, hearing the blast means you have survived it. "It means you're still in the game."
You have to love the plain-spokeness of Marines.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:24 AM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Saturday, January 29, 2005 THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT'S RECORD JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE: Not content with never having done anything to actually move a species off the endangered species list, the Endangered Species Act is now protecting animals that don't exist.
The Preble's meadow jumping mouse, once seen as a costly impediment to development, is now viewed by the government as a critter that never really existed — and is no longer in need of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The Interior Department said Friday that new DNA research shows the 9-inch mouse, which can launch itself a foot and a half into the air and switch direction in mid-flight, is probably identical to another variety of mouse common enough not to need protection.
"That action is based on new research that indicated the Preble's meadow jumping mouse should not be classified as a separate mouse," Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson said Friday, calling it "an example of the use of best available science that was peer-reviewed."
And it only took more than 5 decades to figure out that the mouse didn't exist! I know the Leviathan moves slowly but this is ridiculous.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:05 AM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Friday, January 28, 2005 THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T GET PAID WRITE FOR ESR: It seems a third person got some dough from the American government to promote Bush policies, at least that's the way the media is spinning it.
Columnist Mike McManus received $10,000 to train marriage counselors as part of the agency's initiative promoting marriage to build strong families, said Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families.
To be accurate, Armstrong Williams was the only one who was actually paid -- $240 000 -- to promote the administration's policies. Maggie Gallagher was paid to develop materials for the "healthy marriages" initiative while McManus was paid to train counselors. The "only" thing that the three have in common is not declaring to readers that they have received the money, which they should have.
Well, in that spirit I'd like to declare that I and ESR have not received so much as a dime from any government to promote their policies. Further, I'd like to know just why that is the case. If there are any government agencies interested in making use of this fine journal and blog, feel free to send email.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:19 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ HAVE YOU SIGNED A PETITION TODAY?: Progress for America has launched an online petition to press the Bush administration for meaningful reform of the Social Security system. Frankly, the petition is swanky enough you should sign it for that reason alone...well, along with agreeing with Social Security reform of course.
Sign here.
Posted by steve @ 03:39 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, January 27, 2005 THIS SHOULD MAKE THE PALEOS HAPPY: Or not. Citizen Smash reprints an email that Condi Rice sent all employees of the State Department.
Posted by steve @ 04:09 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~ WHAT, SO THEY ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGED HIS DEATH?: The Chinese government will hold an official memorial for Zhao Ziyang this weekend.
The "body farewell ceremony" at Beijing's Babaoshan Cemetery will be a lower-status event than a state funeral. Government officials have yet to say where Zhao would be interred.
Foreign reporters won't be allowed at the event, the Associated Press reported.
Read on.
As a special treat, click on "More" to read an op-ed that wasn't picked up by any papers concerning the minor brouhaha about a Conservative Party MP visiting the Zhao family home.
[more]Posted by steve @ 01:17 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]
~
NEVER FORGET: The Holocaust, symbolized by Auschwitz, the worst of the death camps, occurred in the wake of consistent, systematic, unrelenting anti-Jewish propaganda campaign. As a result, the elimination of the Jews from German society was accepted as axiomatic, leaving open only two questions: when and how.
As Germany expanded its domination and occupation of Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, the Low Countries, Yugoslavia, Poland, parts of the USSR, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Italy and others countries, the way was open for Hitler to realize his well-publicized plan of destroying the Jewish people.
After experimentation, the use of Zyklon B on unsuspecting victim was adopted by the Nazis as the means of choice, and Auschwitz was selected as the main factory of death (more accurately, one should refer to the “Auschwitz-Birkenau complex”). The green light for mass annihilation was given at the Wannsee Conference, January 20, 1942, and the mass gassings took place in Auschwitz between 1942 and the end of 1944, when the Nazis retreated before the advancing Red Army. Jews were transported to Auschwitz from all over Nazi-occupied or Nazi-dominated Europe and most were slaughtered in Auschwitz upon arrival, sometimes as many as 12,000 in one day. Some victims were selected for slave labour or “medical” experimentation. All were subject to brutal treatment.
The meeting at Wannsee established the mechanism for "the final solution" -- shipment of Jews to eastern labor and death camps -- as the official policy of the Third Reich. Ever efficient and unashamed, the Nazi kept a record of the meeting, which were discovered in 1947 in the files of the German Foreign Office.
The conference addressed every aspect of Nazi genocide in chillingly ordinary logic and language, e.g., " Europe will be combed through from West to East," "forcing the Jews out of the various spheres of life of the German people." Ever efficient, the participants foresaw that, "[i]n the course of the final solution and under appropriate direction, the Jews are to be utilized for work in the East in a suitable manner. In large labor columns and separated by sexes, Jews capable of working will be dispatched to these regions to build roads, and in the process a large number of them will undoubtedly drop out by way of natural attrition."
The minutes reflect an intention to dispose of "roughly eleven million Jews." This figure was derived after a horrifyingly detailed discussion of those with only partial Jewish ancestry, sparing some only a quarter Jewish, and magnanimously exempting others from evacuation only if "sterilized in order to prevent any progeny . . . Sterilization will be voluntary, but it is the precondition for remaining in the Reich."
Many conference participants survived the war to be convicted at Nuremberg. The conference, and the bureaucratic sounding murderous minutes, provide a prototypical example of Hannah Arendt's Banality of Evil.
In all, between three and four million people, mostly Jews, but also Poles and Red Army POWs, were slaughtered in Auschwitz alone (though some authors put the number at 1.3 million). Other death camps were located at Sobibor, Chelmno, Belzec (Belzek), Majdanek and Treblinka.
Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945, sixty years ago, after most of the prisoners were forced into a Death March westwards. The Red Army found in Auschwitz about 7,600 survivors, but not all could be saved.
For a long time, the Allies were well aware of the mass murder, but deliberately refused to bomb the camp or the railways leading to it. Ironically, during the Polish uprising, the Allies had no hesitation in flying aid to Warsaw, sometimes flying right over Auschwitz.
There are troubling parallels between the systematic vilification of Jews before the Holocaust and the current vilification of the Jewish people and Israel. Suffice it to note the annual flood of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN; or the public opinion polls taken in Europe, which single out Israel as a danger to world peace; or the divestment campaigns being waged in the US against Israel; or the attempts to delegitimize Israel’s very existence. The complicity of the Allies in WW II is mirrored by the support the PLO has been receiving from Europe, China and Russia to this very day.
If remembering Auschwitz should teach us anything, it is that we must all support Israel and the Jewish people against the vilification and the complicity we are witnessing, knowing where it inevitably leads.
Photos and text courtesy of BlogBurst
Posted by steve @ 09:41 AM EST [Link] [No Comments]
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 WHERE'S THE BLOGGING?: Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. I've been on strike this week from both answering my email in a timely manner and blogging. I just have to recharge the batteries.
Posted by steve @ 09:24 PM EST [Link]
~ RSS FUN: If you've noticed that our RSS feed hadn't updated in a while, well you noticed right. Our new feed can be found at http://205.210.235.93/feeds/esr.rss.
Posted by steve @ 02:22 PM EST [Link]
Monday, January 24, 2005 I WOULD HAVE PEGGED HIM MORE AS WILSONIAN: Robert Higgs, on the other hand, says that there are some "disturbing similarities" between George W. Bush and Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of them, unfortunately, sees Higgs buy into the "stupid president" theory which I think it impossible. As screwed up as politics is, idiots (and screamers) are usually weeded out pretty early on, hence my lack of public office to date.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:28 PM EST [Link]
~ I CAN'T EVEN AFFORD ONE WIFE, LET ALONE TWO OR MORE: As you may have noticed in this week's ESR, I address the issue that's being debated up here in Canada that permitting same-sex marriages may one day lead to legalized polygamy. I know a lot of people, including the federal government, are brushing aside any notion it could happen but as I point out in the piece, a court decision in 1995 led directly to same-sex marriage cases. The same arguments for same-sex marriage are appropriate for polygamy.
At any rate, Colby Cosh also takes on the issue over at his blog in a response to an Andrew Coyne article. Well worth reading.
Posted by steve @ 03:57 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, January 23, 2005 CHAIRMAN, CHOICE, ETC.: George Will gives the rundown on the leading candidates for the DNC chairmanship.
According to the National Journal's Hotline poll, Howard Dean is the front-runner. Former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) is a strong contender, but his heresy on abortion - he is pro-life rather than pro-choice - is a major, perhaps insurmountable stumbling block.
But here's the top-tier candidacy that makes no sense to me. Lodged in the top three between Dean and Roemer is apparently former Congressman Martin Frost (D-Texas). Frost is reasonably moderate, at least by mainstream Democratic standards. He is from a red state. But he also lost his House seat during the 2004 election!
Alright, I know that gerrymandering and being forced into a race against another incumbent, Republican Pete Sessions, is what cost him his seat. Nevertheless, if the main task of the new Democratic National Committee chairman is to beat Republicans and make inroads in the red states, shouldn't they go with a candidate with a track record of accomplishing those goals rather than someone who loses his House seat the first time he has to run in a district with a high percentage of Republicans?
It seems to me that Frost's candidacy makes only marginally more sense than David Leland's. That would be the David Leland whose tenure as Ohio Democratic Party state chairman was marked by the Republicans winning every statewide office and both houses of the Buckeye State's legislature. Thus endeth the rant.
Posted by antle @ 04:45 PM EST [Link]
~ JOHNNY CARSON, R.I.P.: Just days after reports that the he was occasionally writing jokes for David Letterman, the retired King of Late Night has died. The longtime "Tonight Show" host had been battling emphysema. Another link to television's golden age lost.
UPDATE: Steve Sailer has some thoughts on Carson representing a more intelligent time in late-night TV.
Posted by antle @ 03:59 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, January 22, 2005 ROE AT 32: Michelle Malkin has a nice round-up of pro-life comments on the 32nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade abortion decision. The Associated Press, meanwhile, headlines a story on this unfortunate milestone "As Abortion Rights Turns 32, Rallies Endure."
Posted by antle @ 11:58 PM EST [Link]
~ TOLERANCE BY SEGREGATION: I guess they've been watching Queer as Folk with its "Liberty Street" (it's actually filmed on Jane Street in Toronto) because gays in Spokane -- long a bastion of conservatism -- want to create a "gay district".
Even though they face little discrimination, gays stay under the radar in Spokane, said Aspen, a member of the Inland Northwest Business Alliance, an association of gay and gay-friendly businesses that is pushing the idea.
"Visibility equals freedom," Aspen said. "Invisibility we have dealt with all our life."
I'm not sure what that means. In theory, does not every person not actually fornicating on a public street hide their sexuality? I'm libertarian enough not to care if someone wants a gay ghetto but the reasoning seems a little suspect.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:51 PM EST [Link]
~ NO LONGER AUSTRIAN: Arnold Schwarzenegger's refusal to grant clemency to a man who murdered two women triggered a small protest in Austria where a Green Party politician called on the government to strip him of his Austrian citizenship.
Peter Pilz, a top official with the environmentalist Green Party, said the Austria-born Schwarzenegger no longer is worthy of citizenship in his homeland because he broke the law by clearing Donald Beardslee's execution on Wednesday.
Capital punishment is illegal here, and Schwarzenegger -- who holds dual U.S.-Austrian nationality -- should be stripped of his Austrian passport for "heavily damaging the reputation of the republic," Pilz said.
No offence to Mr. Pilz, but I doubt most Americans even know that Der Governator still holds his Austrian citizenship. I've been to Austria and I like the country a lot but anyone there worried about this smearing their reputation should chill out.
The backlash against Schwarzenegger underscores how he has lost popularity in his homeland over his support for the death penalty. Most Austrians -- and many other Europeans -- abhor capital punishment as cruel and inhumane.
Unless it's directed at Jews and other undesirables.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:41 PM EST [Link]
~ AND NOW SOMETHING FROM POP CULTURE: Tara Reid declares herself a victim of a wadrobe malfunction and questions her reputation as a party girl.
''What's the worst I've ever done? Dance on a table? Like, get drunk and dance on a table, what's so bad about that?''
She added that now that she's getting older, she's ''calming down a lot.''
Indeed, who among us has not drunkenly danced on a table? Let them cast the first stone.
Posted by antle @ 03:57 PM EST [Link]
~ NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT: The legacy of Abraham Lincoln has always stirred up passionate debate in some quarters, but lately the focus has been on the Great Emancipator's sex life. In The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, C.A. Tripp argued that the 16th president was gay. Mark Schatzker makes a more humorous case for Lincoln's homosexuality over at Slate, examining evidence from past biographies.
"Then, so they said, Abe Lincoln called out, 'I'm the big buck of this lick. ... If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns.' " (Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years, by Carl Sandburg, Page 15)
"Abraham Lincoln was one of those who danced." (Lincoln, Page 85)
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 03:42 PM EST [Link]
Friday, January 21, 2005 HERE'S ONE WAY TO TRY AND MAKE MONEY: Publish the writings of Ayman al-Zawahiri, founder of Islamic Jihad and best chum of Osama bin Laden. Doubleday even says they're looking for new material.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:50 PM EST [Link]
~
I THOUGHT HE WAS ONLY WORSE THAN HITLER: It seems that George W. Bush is not only Hitler, at least according to some protest signs, he's actually in league with Satan.
Yesterday Bush, as you can see in the picture to the right, gave the traditional "Hook 'em, 'Horns" salute Texans show to the University of Texas Longhorns football team who marched as part of the inaugural parade. In Norway, however, that sign is interpreted as a salute to Satan. I bet it confirmed everything that Norwegians think about Dubya!
The author of the story is a bit confused however. They say that the symbol is popular with heavy metal fans and bands from that region, which may be true but isn't the origin of the symbol. Popular history states that Ronnie James Dio, lead singer of Black Sabbath for part of the 1970s and 80s, actually came up with the signal.
According to one web site:
Ronnie apparently brought the raised index and little finger hand sign to metal world in 1980. It was quickly adopted by the metal bands in '80s and somewhat identified as "heavy metal sign".
However, it has much older meaning too. In the ancient Egypt, the sign was called the evil eye sign. It was used to put a spell on someone, to cast "an evil eye". Many of the pharaos buried in the pyramids had sculptures guarding them, those sculptures often showed the evil eye sign to curse the grave robbers and to guard the pharao.
The sign has also many other meanings, depending on the culture where it is shown. It is called for example The Horned Hand by some religious groups. Some satanists also use it in their rituals.
There you go...Texans are either Longhorns fans, metal fans or Satanists.
Posted by steve @ 04:30 PM EST [Link]
~ CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES: Dr. BLT has a new song out! It celebrates the inauguration -- pity they didn't play it yesterday. At any rate, you can download for free "We're Havin' a Republican Party" here.
Posted by steve @ 04:13 PM EST [Link]
~ STEVE LECTURES CANADA'S NEW MILITARY CHIEF: What's the point of being a pundit if you can't lecture someone far more qualified then you about his job? Last week the Canadian government named Lieut.-Gen. Rick Hillier the new chief of defense staff so I take it upon myself to tell him what he should do. As you'll learn in the essay, I and Hillier have a bit of a history together.
At any rate, pick up the Kitchener-Waterloo Record and read the essay on the Insight page or just click on the "More" link to read it.
[more]
Posted by steve @ 03:33 PM EST [Link]
~ MEMO TO RELIGIOUS RIGHT: CHILL OUT: It's news stories like these that make the religious right -- which has a lot to offer in the political debate -- a joke to many. Several conservative Christian groups have issued a warning that SpongeBob SquarePants is being used to market homosexuality to children.
The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.
But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.
"A short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality," wrote Ed Vitagliano in an article for the American Family Association.
The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family" using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and other TV cartoon characters. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in an effort to promote healing.
Christian groups however have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation's Web site, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race.
Trust me on this one, today's schools don't need SpongeBob to indoctrinate children into believing whatever PC line they're selling at the moment. They've been doing it for years. And besides that, the video itself doesn't make any children take a pledge (I thought those were bad!).
Of course, since I take care of a three and a half year old every day, perhaps my mind has been turned into mush. Alex has several SpongeBob DVDs and believe me, I know them all by heart.
Posted by steve @ 12:01 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, January 20, 2005 ONLY TWO INVITES LEFT: If you want a Gmail account move fast because I only have two invites left. Be the first two to post a comment to this blog and I'll send you each an invite. Make sure to put your email address in the spot for it on the form otherwise I won't be able to send it to you.
Posted by steve @ 04:04 PM EST [Link]
~ NOT BAD: I watched CBS' coverage of George W. Bush's inauguration and I have to commend Dan "Kenneth" Rather and the rest of the crew for being pretty evenhanded. Heck, Rather even brushed aside the notion that Dick Cheney was the power behind the presidency. I guess he's trying to resuscitate that reputation before he retires.
Now if Americans could only get a president who just swore to uphold the Constitution to not use his speech to talk about stuff that the Constitution says is not the responsibility of the federal government.
Posted by steve @ 12:14 PM EST [Link]
~ BOWLING FOR NEW YORK: Police arrested Michael Moore's bodyguard after he admitted he was carrying a handgun while at New York's JFK.
Oh don't be shocked! Moore is the latest in a long line of Hollywood celebrities who have blasted America's gun culture while either owning firearms themselves or employing bodyguards that do.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:53 AM EST [Link]
~ MURDERED TENS OF MILLIONS? HERE'S A STATUE!: We've run an increasing number of articles here at Enter Stage Right wondering what the hell is going on with Vladimir Putin and Russia and when you see news reports like the one I just read, it's not surprising.
Moscow plans to erect a new statue of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, returning his once-ubiquitous image to its streets after an absence of four decades, a top city official said Wednesday.
Since President Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000, a number of Soviet symbols -- including the national anthem and an army flag -- have been restored to use, reflecting widespread nostalgia for Russia's communist years.
Cool! I hope when people start to go "missing" and "labour" camps start up again that they're just as nostalgic for Russia's communist years. I guess it's true, you really do get the government you deserve.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:57 AM EST [Link]
~ DEMOCRATS ONCE AGAIN SHOW WHY THEY ARE AMERICA'S MINORITY PARTY: They've already got a bad reputation for being sucks but that sure isn't stopping Senate Democrats! Rumours suggest that a few Democrats are going to try and delay a full vote on Condoleezza Rice until after later in the evening.
Aides said Boxer and Robert Byrd of West Virginia plan to give long speeches opposing the nomination in an effort to extend the debate until 7 p.m., when the inaugural balls begin.
The aides said Boxer and Byrd hope some GOP members will not want to stay and debate the nomination, and the vote will be pushed back until next week.
While acknowledging that Rice will be confirmed eventually, some Democrats want to show they are ready to fight the president in his second term -- amid grumbling that party leaders did not stand up to Bush in his first term.
And knowing the blockheads that make up the Republican Party, they'll still believe that they can work with the Democrats over the next few years. One day, I may still be alive to see it, the Republicans will learn that the Democrats play for keeps. When they speak of bipartisanship, it means that the GOP has to compromise all of its positions. When they speak of working together, it means that they want all the power. When they play, they play to win.
Despite countless examples of this in just the past ten years alone, Republicans just don't seem to understand that the Democrats aren't their friends. For some reason, and this includes George W. Bush, they keep wanting to make nice with the Democrats and always get bitten on the bum for their troubles.
I'm going to say this once and once only: Republicans, it's a war on Capitol Hill. Either fight every battle with the aim of winning -- what the Democrats do -- or go home. If they want to rumble over something as inane as Rice's vote, they'll fight over anything. You better fight back.
Posted by steve @ 03:49 AM EST [Link]
~ ANONYMOUS RESPONDS: See what getting published in Enter Stage Right gets you? Fame, power, wealth. Okay, perhaps not but you never know who will drop by. This week we're running Rachel Alexander's review of Michael Scheuer's Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror.
Mr. Scheuer spotted the review through Google News and sent Rachel an email. You can read it here.
Posted by steve @ 01:51 AM EST [Link]
~ HOW TO GET OUT OF IRAQ: Ivan Eland, whose new book The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed I reviewed for this week's issue, has released an interesting report about what he sees as the future of Iraq.
Eland argues that things don't necessarily have to go to hell if American soldiers leave the country soon after the elections if Iraqis are granted real self-determination. He believes that a decentralized Iraqi state may be the best bet because of the fractured ethnic, religious and tribal nature of the country, and not a federalized state like Americans enjoy.
From the summary:
The only hope for Iraq is a deliberate decentralization of power, the study argues. The alternative likely will be an uncontrolled rush toward civil war. The United States needs to cancel what is likely to be seen as a failed and illegitimate election and immediately call together a legitimate national conclave of the various groups (perhaps along the Afghan model) and allow them to negotiate among themselves for genuine self-determination. Even radical and insurgent leaders must be part of this process, and the United States must take a hands-off attitude toward the conclave to make it legitimate in the eyes of the Iraqis.
Well, there's no chance in hell that the election will be called off but I think Eland does make some interesting points in his report. You can find it here.
Posted by steve @ 01:40 AM EST [Link]
~ DON'T BLAME ME...I VOTED FOR KODOS: John Hawkins over at Right Wing News surveyed a number of us right of center bloggers to find out who we wanted to see (and not see) running for the Republicans in 2008. The results are now up. Most desired? Condi Rice. Least desired? John McCain.
So who did I vote for?
Most desired: Condoleeza Rice, Bill Frist, Bill Owens, George Allen and Mitt Romney
I'm not sure about Romney but he interests me so I figured I'd include him on the list. Condi Rice because she's my secret wife, and Frist, Owens and Allen because they're decent conservatives. Frankly, out of that list I'd like to see Owens the candidate with Condi taking VP. If that were reversed, though, I wouldn't be disappointed.
Least desired: Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Dick Cheney.
Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki because they were too liberal. Newt Gingrich because aside from his ideas I don't think he would do the GOP much of a service. Rick Santorum I don't mind but he's very polarizing. Dick Cheney? He'd be too old.
See the results here.
Posted by steve @ 01:34 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 REMEMBER WHEN CARNIVORE TERRIFIED EVERYONE?: If you're old enough to remember the mid- to late-1990s, stretch your memory back that far and ponder what comes to mind when you combine the words "FBI" and "Carnivore". Oooooooo! Scary!
Well, it was. Back in the late 1990s we were confronted with a new FBI technology which essentially monitored internet traffic via a machine hooked into an ISP's system. Although the FBI said it wasn't going to do anything hinky with the data collected, plenty of Americans were worried that it was going to be deployed willy nilly, particularly with the freedom hating Clinton administration in power which never missed an opportunity to incinerate a farm full of people or give new powers to law enforcement.
So what happened with Carnivore? Well, not much apparently.
The FBI has effectively abandoned its custom-built Internet surveillance technology, once known as Carnivore, designed to read e-mails and other online communications among suspected criminals, terrorists and spies, according to bureau oversight reports submitted to Congress.
Instead, the FBI said it has switched to unspecified commercial software to eavesdrop on computer traffic during such investigations and has increasingly asked Internet providers to conduct wiretaps on targeted customers on the government's behalf, reimbursing companies for their costs.
The FBI performed only eight Internet wiretaps in fiscal 2003 and five in fiscal 2002; none used the software initially called Carnivore and later renamed the DCS-1000, according to FBI documents submitted to Senate and House oversight committees. The FBI, which once said Carnivore was "far better" than commercial products, said previously it had used the technology about 25 times between 1998 and 2000.
I'm not sure whether this is a positive or negative development.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:58 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 FAMOUS LAST WORDS: I'm already on record stating that the U.S. will not attack Iran because it does not have the political will to do so but I almost want to see a war just to settle the Iranian leadership down. Apparently, according to their defense minister, Iran could easily deter an attack by any country in the world.
"We are able to say that we have strength such that no country can attack us because they do not have precise information about our military capabilities due to our ability to implement flexible strategies," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted [Defense Minister Ali] Shamkhani as saying Tuesday.
"We can claim that we have rapidly produced equipment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent," he said, without elaborating.
Holy cow, is ex-Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf working for the Iranians now?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:31 PM EST [Link]
~ EVERYTHING'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT: So says a poll of Americans who are pretty confident about what four more year of George W. Bush will bring them. I tend to agree but only if he stops spending like a poet on payday.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:57 PM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK - REALLY LATE EDITION: How about that, all four games right this weekend. Yeah, I know I didn't register my picks ahead of time so my claim is suspect but I was just too lazy to do it last week.
Pittsburgh/NY Jets -- I thought that the Steelers would roll over the Jets but colour me surprised, the boys from New York made it a game. I wouldn't be surprised if Doug Brien was looking for a new job next season. It's never good to leave it up to your kicker to win a game but once it's in his hands, he has to do his job. Is it just me or are teams finally figuring out Ben Roethlisberger? He hasn't had a good game since early December.
St. Louis/Atlanta -- If there was going to be an upset this weekend I figured it would happen in Atlanta. Like many, I agreed that if this game took place in St. Louis, the Rams would win it. The Falcons apparently disagreed and stomped the Rams.
Minnesota/Philadelphia -- Last week it was all that I could do to stop laughing everytime an "expert" expressed concern about the Eagles. They haven't played since the end of the season. They're missing Terrell Owens. The starters haven't played together in a few weeks. Minnesota showed the world something beating the Packers. Whatever. Am I the only one who remembers the Eagles before Owens? You know, the team that made it to the conference finals three years in a row? I'd like to know the real rationale for picking a wildly inconsistent team like the Vikings over the Eagles but I couldn't figure out any of the ones offered publicly.
Indianapolis/New England -- I figured New England would beat Indianapolis soundly but I didn't think Peyton Manning would be held touchdown-less. All you can say is that the Pats have a plan to deal with Manning and it works every year -- don't let him throw clean passes when he has the ball. No need to analyze this game: the Pats owned the Colts on all sides of the ball.
Alright, so what about this weekend.
Atlanta at Philadelphia -- I like Michael Vick but when I match up the Eagles against the Falcons position-for-position I have to give this one to Philadelphia. With or without Owens, the Eagles are a better team. That said, I'm only giving them 6 points.
New England at Pittsburgh -- Or as I like to call it, the real Super Bowl. So New England stomps all over Indianapolis but everyone questions why they're favoured over the Steelers by 3 points in Vegas despite losing to Pittsburgh in Week 8. Well, as I stated above, the Steelers haven't had a strong game in a month while New England only looks more impressive now then they did a month ago -- and they were no slouches then either. I think New England is the team to beat right now so I'm picking them by 5 points.
This week's Cheerleader of the Week goes to Lisa from the Atlanta Falcons. Let me be frank, I don't think the Falcons will be around next week so this is a consolation prize to the team but well-deserved for Lisa. How can you not choose a cheerleader who also happens to have a BA in biology and pre-med.
Posted by steve @ 06:35 PM EST [Link]
~ I DON'T KNOW IF IT COULD QUITE BE CALLED A MOVEMENT JUST YET: Apparently because someone scrawled some anti-government graffiti on a picture of Kim Jong Il, a democracy "movement" is operating in North Korea.
If authentic, it would be the first time images of dissent in the highly secretive North have come to light. But there was no way to independently confirm the validity of the footage.
The 35-minute videotape, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, shows written statements posted on a wall, urging North Koreans to fight to retrieve freedom and democracy.
A man is heard, but not seen, reading a statement, demanding Kim Jong Il be removed from his post. "The North Korean people are suffering from hunger and poverty because of Kim Jong Il's dictatorship and dogmatic politics," the man says.
I'm not insulting the guy who did this at enormous personal risk but calling this a movement is a bit much.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:27 AM EST [Link]
Monday, January 17, 2005 REFORM SOCIAL SECURITY, CHANGE POLITICS: There are aspects of this Jonathan Rauch column with which I'd quibble - I think the potential economic payoffs of privatization are potentially greater than he assumes and Social Security's financial problems more serious, to the point where we should cease relying on payroll tax hikes every 15 to 20 years to keep it propped up - but I think his basic point about the best reason for free-market entitlement reform is sound.
Conservatives used to speak derisively of liberal social engineering. The attempt to create private Social Security accounts is, so to speak, conservative social counter-engineering. Government should help provide for unforeseeable contingencies: tsunamis, unemployment, open-heart surgery. But if there is one event in all of human life that is wholly foreseeable, it is the advent of old age. Why, then, shouldn't people save for their own retirement, instead of relying on welfare from the government—which is what Social Security, as currently constituted, really is?Read on.
Posted by antle @ 05:05 PM EST [Link]
~ CBS TAKES ON BLOGGERS...AGAIN: Oh CBS, will you ever learn? Several bloggers noticed that CBS' PDF report on the Rathergate fiasco changed a few hours after it was initially posted.
With the help of Seth Finkelstein, a programmer and fellow blogger (sethf.com/infothought/blog/), Mr. Miller found that the document's encryption settings had been changed and, as a result, the text could not be copied. Anyone who downloaded the panel's report from either the CBS News servers or those of the law firm would have to retype any passages they wished to include in, say, an e-mail message or a blog post.
Apparently CBS was advised by its lawyers that same big bad meanie might alter the report and pass it around the web.
Read on.
Make sure to keep up on the latest with Rathergate.
Posted by steve @ 03:57 PM EST [Link]
~ MLK THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO THE SOUTH SINCE AIR CONDITIONING: Read Steve Sailer's Martin Luther King Day VDARE column.
Posted by antle @ 03:29 PM EST [Link]
~ A SALUTE TO SUBMARINES
For those who don't know, I spent over 27 years in the US Navy, all of it either on nuclear powered submarines or in support of submarine operations. Most people I talk to about it say "I could never do that!" I won't brag or pat myself on the back. I stayed that long in the Navy because it was interesting and challenging. My career had its high points and its lows, but overall I enjoyed it.
I bring this up because there is an interesting piece today, the anniversary of the USS Nautilus and her first underway on nuclear power.
Read it at the New York Post online.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 11:20 AM EST [Link]
~ THE LIBERAL CASE FOR REAGAN-BUSH: Chris Suellentrop argued last week over at Slate that liberals should hope that George W. Bush governs like Ronald Reagan - tough conservative in the first term, foreign-policy peacemaker in the second.
It's an interesting piece, but it sort of misses the point about Reagan. His willingness to risk confrontation with the Soviets and also hold successful, peaceful negotiations with them was complementary, not contradictory.
Posted by antle @ 12:09 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, January 16, 2005 FOUR GMAIL INVITES: I have four Gmail invites to give away. First four people to leave a comment to this post gets them. Make sure to fill in your email address in the form so I can send you an invite.
Posted by steve @ 11:49 PM EST [Link]
~
MR. ZIYANG: One of the few senior Chinese Communist Party officials to side with the students during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Zhao Ziyang, died today.
In the late 1980s, when Zhao rose to become China's premier and later party chief, he stood out by pushing political reforms, but he clashed with conservative leaders as students gathered to agitate for freedom and democracy.
He was last seen in public in May 1989, when he visited hunger strikers at the Square.
"We have come too late," he tearfully told the students.
You were a communist but your heart was in the right place that day Mr. Ziyang. Rest in peace.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:37 PM EST [Link]
~ IT MAY BE TRUE BUT...: I don't think anything will come of it. Reuters reported today, based on an article by Seymour Hersh, that the U.S, has been sending recon missions inside of Iran since last summer to identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets.
One former high-level intelligence official told The New Yorker, "This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush administration is looking at this as a huge war zone. Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign."
I don't believe that with continuing unrest in the Sunni triangle in Iraq that the U.S. would entertain the notion of going into Iran. Despite what the naysayers think, the U.S. has the operational capacity to do so, I just don't think the political will exists.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:31 PM EST [Link]
~ DON'T GET ANY MAN MAD WHO SQUINTS ALL THE TIME: Apparently Clint Eastwood is not a fan of Michael Moore as this news item from IMDB would argue:
Clint Eastwood has chillingly warned documentary-maker Michael Moore he'll face certain death if he ever points his camera at him. Picking up a Special Film-making Achievement prize for Million Dollar Baby at the National Board Of Review Awards dinner in New York on Tuesday, Eastwood urged the Fahrenheit 9/11 director to avoid making him the subject of a future project if he values his life. However, Eastwood - a staunch supporter of the Republicans - did admit he and Moore have a shared view of how American society should operate. He said, "Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression. But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera - I'll kill you." And when Eastwood noticed the audience had erupted in laughter to his threat, he emphasized, "I mean it." However, Moore's representatives insist the comments were intended as a joke: "Michael laughed along with everyone else, and took Mr Eastwood's comments in the lighthearted spirit in which they were given."
Posted by steve @ 03:15 AM EST [Link]
Saturday, January 15, 2005 I'M SURE HE WASN'T WELL LIKED WHILE HE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL: Michael Moore may have won an Oscar for a factually challenged documentary but he can't even get elected to his old high school's hall of fame.
Despite his fame and many honours, the filmmaker has been rejected all four times he has been nominated for Davison High School's Hall of Fame.
"Would you want him as a role model? Would you want your son or daughter to be like him?" asked Don Hammond, a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee. "I haven't talked to anybody yet who's for him."
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:33 PM EST [Link]
~ HAVE YOU VOTED YET?: You have until January 17 to vote for the Best Education/Homeschool Blog at the Best of Blog Awards 2004. Remember you can vote once every 24 hours per email address and we suggest casting your ballot for Isabel Lyman's The Homeschooling Revolution.
Vote here.
Posted by steve @ 05:51 PM EST [Link]
~ DEMOCRATS ATTACK BLACKWELL: Earlier this week, Tim Carney had a piece over at NRO arguing that the Democrats' real target in their "challenge" of the 2004 election results was not President Bush; instead, they were trying to tarnish Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's reputation.
I can vouch for the fact that Blackwell is a stand-up and standout conservative among the Nixon Republicans who hold most of Ohio's other statewide elective offices.
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 05:07 PM EST [Link]
~ THE OLD SOUTH WINS AGAIN: A study released Friday declared that Charleston, S.C. is for the tenth straight year is the most polite city in the United States. I can totally believe that because the Ivy League look (and anyone from old school New England knows what I am talking about) is incredibly alive and well in the Old South. Along with dressing properly, old school manners are still required in many parts of the southern United States.
Steve's Old School Manner's Tip: When entering an elevator, be sure to take off your hat. When you exit the elevator, you may put your hat back on.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:02 AM EST [Link]
Friday, January 14, 2005 REAL HEROES
Amid all the talk of Defense transformation and strategy in the war on terrorism, let's not forget the men on the ground who are winning that war, one mission at a time. Heroes always seem to materialize during war. With this in mind, we at The Patriot will, from time to time, endeavor to introduce you to a few of the new ones.
From New York: Brian Chontosh is a graduate of the Churchville-Chili Central School class of 1991, graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, husband and expectant father. A first lieutenant and platoon leader in the Marine Corps, he was rolling up Highway 1 in a Humvee on the march into Baghdad when, as they say so picturesquely, "all hell broke loose." Chontosh moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead his men to safety. As he tried to make a way through the Iraqi line, his Humvee came under direct enemy machine-gun fire. He told his driver to floor the Humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them and had his gunner on top with the .50 cal unload on the Iraqis. Momentarily there were Iraqis slumped across the machine gun and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the Humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines. The Humvee went forward and Chontosh jumped out the door, carrying an M16 and a Beretta. He ran down the trench in the face of mortars, riflemen, machine guns and grenadiers, and killed them all. He used the M16 and the Beretta until each was out of ammo. Then he picked up two dead men's AK47s and fought with them until each was empty. He even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying. When he was done, he had cleared 200 yards of entrenched enemy fighters, killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more; he was later awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy's second highest award.
--The Federalist Patriot, January 14, 2005.Thank God for men like Chontosh.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 01:36 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, January 13, 2005 THE CONSERVATIVE'S BEST FRIEND: Collin Levey argues that Michael Moore may very well be conservatism's best friend. Every time he shines a light on what he perceives to be an outrage, he reveals the critics of said outrage to be silly. Fahrenheit 9/11 sure helped the liberals in November, didn't it?
At any rate, Levey welcomes Moore's "investigation" of the healthcare industry.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:12 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: If you live in Vancouver feel free to pick up today's Vancouver Province where I lightly make fun of Ralph Klein's mumbling about third ways in delivering health care. Unfortunately you need to be a subscriber to access the piece on the web but you can find the unedited piece by clicking "More."
[more]
Posted by steve @ 02:50 PM EST [Link]
~ ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
The CBS – Dan Rather scandal story has gone on long enough. I’m tired of hearing it over and over. Every news broadcast and news outlet has expended entirely too much time, breath and ink on this mess.
I can’t believe that anyone is surprised with the report recently released by the “independent” panel hired by CBS. When CBS announced it was hiring the panel to look into the fiasco involving forged documents making false accusations regarding Bush’s National Guard service, any reasonably intelligent person could have predicted the outcome of the panel’s report. The report boils down to four points: 1) Mistakes were made; 2) No evidence of political bias was found; 3) No determination was made regarding the authenticity of the documents in question; 4) CBS has found a few expendable scapegoats to fire.
To tell the truth, I have not watched CBS News, Dan Rather, or 60 Minutes (1 or 2) in over 20 years. I got tired of watching the biased, one-sided “reporting”. The liberal, anti-corporation, anti-capitalism, and blatantly dishonest actions that CBS tried to pass off as “hard-nosed” journalism drove me away. I could care less if Dan Rather is retiring as anchor, or that he is staying on as a 60 Minutes “reporter”. CBS News has no credibility.
Now that I’ve said all that, please excuse my inconsistency while I direct you to a great piece on this subject by Ann Coulter over at Townhall.com.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 10:07 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 WHEN DID SHE BECOME AN ICON?: Apparently feminist Germaine Greer is because that's how the AP describes her. At any rate, after describing the contestants of British show Celebrity Big Brother as exhibitionists who "risked the wreck of their pampered egos," Greer's pampered ego was wrecked so she fled the show.
The Australian writer and academic left British show "Celebrity Big Brother" after five days of being locked in a house with an underwear model, a teenage musician, a drug-loving dancer and an ex-wife of Sylvester Stallone.
Speaking at a press conference, Greer compared the house to a "fascist prison" and said producers had behaved with "complete irresponsibility" in introducing Stallone's mother, Jackie, to the house.
I don't know whether to laugh or yawn.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:34 PM EST [Link]
~ IS THIS GOOD OR BAD?: Iraq's homegrown terrorists -- oh sorry, insurgents -- are having a bit of a problem. Seems they're afraid that Osama bin Laden will hijack their activities for his own ends.
Media reports and Web statements have speculated that a Saudi carried out the December 21 suicide bombing of a U.S. mess tent in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that killed 22 people.
But Ansar al-Sunnah, the homegrown group that took responsibility for that deadliest of attacks on a U.S. target in Iraq, named the bomber as Abu Omar of Mosul, a nom de guerre that pointedly claims him as an Iraqi.
Earlier this month, a posting on Ansar al-Sunnah's Web site told foreign militants to stop coming. The group, which defines itself as both nationalist and Islamic, said it needed money, not more recruits.
"We have concrete information that a sharp division is now broiling between" Iraqis waging a nationalist war and foreign Arabs spurred by militant Islam, said Mouwafak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi government's national security adviser. "They are more divided than ever."
If they start fighting each other, who do we cheer for?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:26 PM EST [Link]
~ ALWAYS A GOOD DAY WHEN A NEW CITY JOURNAL APPEARS: The Winter 2005 edition of City Journal is now online and I have to say it's a stellar issue. Brian C. Anderson says the liberal grip on academia is beginning to shake loose, Victor Davis Hanson discusses why terrorists won't be able to use American strength against the U.S. any longer and Kay S. Hymowitz discusses shows like The Apprentice, among other interesting pieces.
What are you waiting for? Read it now.
Posted by steve @ 02:35 AM EST [Link]
~ THE BATTLE OVER SOCIAL SECURITY BEGINS!: Well, on television anyway. Progress for America began a national cable buy promoting Social Security reform and voluntary personal savings accounts for younger workers. You can see the commercials here in either Windows Media or Quicktime formats.
Posted by steve @ 02:26 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE WAS GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT: The New York Post reports that the criminal probe of Sandy Berger has moved to the grand jury level. You will of course remember Berger took top secret documents out of the National Archives by hiding them in his socks.
The "Socks Docs" probe forced Berger, who was President Clinton's national security adviser, to step down as Democrat John Kerry's top foreign-policy adviser last summer.
"It may have been off the front pages, but the investigation has been active," said a source with knowledge of the probe.
"[Berger] has been interviewed several times by federal agents — FBI and prosecutors."
Berger admits removing 40 to 50 top-secret documents from the archives, but claims it was an "honest mistake" made while he vetted documents for the 9/11 commission's probe into the Twin Towers attacks.
Berger has also acknowledged that he destroyed some documents — he says by accident.
It's unclear if he destroyed documents with handwritten notations that don't appear on other copies.
Some Republicans, such as House Speaker Dennis Hastert, have charged that Berger pilfered the documents because they were embarrassing to Clinton and Clinton aides such as Berger.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:54 PM EST [Link]
Monday, January 10, 2005 MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK - EARLY EDITION: How so very embarassing. To only get half of the games you predict correct is bad enough but I only got one out of four.
The only game I got right was Indianapolis, a game where I asserted, "I don't think the Colts will shred the Broncos defense, but they will overpower them." Right, I suppose scoring 49 points isn't shredding them.
In retrospect I shouldn't be surprised that Seattle disappointed me. In my write up last week I said that both teams fought hard every week to try and lose games so I wasn't dumbfounded by the play of the Seahawks. I also predicted that San Diego wouldn't last long in the playoffs but I didn't think that the New York Jets would knock them out in the first round. I think Marty Schottenheimer needs to name a temporary coach for the playoffs because he just can't win in the post-season.
I'm not going to lie, I thought Green Bay would easily beat Minnesota yesterday. They'd posted two come from behind victories against the Vikings already this season and this time the game would take place in the unfriendly confines of Lambeau Field. To be frank, I haven't seen that sloppy of a game by Green Bay in the post-season in longer than I can remember. Minnesota absolutely dominated the first half of that game, including scoring on their first three possessions, and deserved to win.
Who else can you give the ESR Post-Season Cheerleader of the Week Award to but a Vikings cheerleader? This week Katie takes the prize. She has a BSc in interior design and construction management with a minor in marketing from Minnesota State University and likes camping. We like that.
Posted by steve @ 04:06 PM EST [Link]
~ RUSSIA RETURNING TO DARKER DAYS?: (via Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog) As you may have noticed, ESR has run a number of pieces over the past five or six years questioning the path that Russia has been taking (so many so that I could turn this blog entry into a link-for-all). Some of them argue that Russia is making progress, while others are worried that it may turn totalitarian again.
At any rate, Mark McDonald reports that the slowly growing consensus is that things are getting worse in Mother Russia, not better.
Posted by steve @ 03:51 PM EST [Link]
~ WHERE LARGE SUMS OF MONEY ARE CONCERNED, IT IS ADVISABLE TO TRUST NOBODY: So says Agatha Christie and agrees Glenn Reynolds in a new column about the Armstrong Williams scandal. Trust what you read, he argues, but make sure to verify it.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:39 PM EST [Link]
~ THAT'S A SHOCK: Released a day earlier than expected, audits of the Oil-for-Food program show that U.N. officials were repeatedly warned of "serious irregularities."
"[The audits] paint a picture of widespread mismanagement and incompetence," said Nile Gardiner, a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "I think it's going to greatly increase the pressure on Kofi Annan to step down."
Edward Luck, director of the Center for International Organization at Columbia University, said that despite the numerous examples of such mismanagement, as outlined in the audits, there is no sure evidence of actual corruption.
"We don't see any smoking gun at this point," he said.
No, but we do have the smoking bullet holes, or is all the money that was paid out across the world -- allegedly including a certain U.N. official that knows Kofi Annan really well -- not evidence enough of corruption?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:23 PM EST [Link]
~ TOOK LONG ENOUGH: Heads have finally rolled in the Bush/Air National Guard documents scandal from way back in September. Among the casualties are Mary Mapes.
Suddenly those pajama wearers are looking pretty powerful, aren't they?
Read on.
Read the incomplete report here. (PDF format)
Posted by steve @ 03:15 PM EST [Link]
~ YES, THEY REALLY ARE STINGY: Mark Steyn had a good column in The Australian on who the real stingy people are when it comes to aid for the tsunami victims.
The path of the tsunamis tracked the arc of the Muslim world, from Sumatra to Somalia; the most devastated country is the world's most populous Muslim nation, and the most devastated part of that country is the one province living under the strictures of sharia.
But, as usual, when disaster strikes it's the Great Satan and his various Little Satans who leap to respond. In the decade before September 11, the US military functioned, more or less exclusively, as a Muslim rapid reaction force – coming to the aid of Kuwaiti Muslims, Bosnian Muslims, Somali Muslims and Albanian Muslims. Since then, with the help of its Anglo-Australian allies, it's liberated 50 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:44 AM EST [Link]
~ THANK GOODNESS FOR TSUNAMIS: (Via Michelle Malkin and Hit and Run.) After a natural disaster, it is not uncommon to hear some unthinking commentator talk about how good the relief effort will be for the local economy. After all, people will have to buy material to replace what has been broken, jobs will be created for people to fix things and income will be generated for all of the above. This is known as the broken window fallacy.
Boneheaded as this economic fallacy is, at least it doesn't approach the anti-people ideology represented in this AP news item:
Greg Ferrando glistened with sweat and sea water as he went for a barefoot jog up the immaculate white sand beach, where the tsunami has wiped away almost all signs of humanity.
"This whole area was littered with commercialism," said the 43-year-old from Maui, Hawaii. "There were hundreds of beach chairs out here. I prefer the sand."
Ferrando is like many who believe the tsunami that devastated this tourist hotspot and killed thousands Dec. 26 had one positive side: By washing away rampant development, it returned the beaches to nature.
"Everyone is talking about it. It looks much better now," he said. "This looks a lot more like Hawaii now, where vendors aren't allowed on the beach."
Yes, everything is better when you wipe away all signs of humanity. Why worry about the loss of human life when a few privileged Western tourists get to see pristine beaches free of commercialization?
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 01:01 AM EST [Link]
~ ALBERTO GONZALES NOT THE RIGHT CHOICE?: In ESR this week, Josh Rosen argues that there are good reasons for conservatives to oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be John Ashcroft's successor as attorney general. Steve Sailer also lays out a conservative case against Gonzales.
Posted by antle @ 12:20 AM EST [Link]
Saturday, January 8, 2005 FOGGY BOTTOM TURF WARS: Fred Kaplan over at Slate argues that the Robert Zoellick pick at State is a win for Condi. Take that, John Bolton.
Posted by antle @ 07:46 PM EST [Link]
~ GINGRICH FOR PRESIDENT?: No, it's not an old news item from the 1990s. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is sounding very much like his old self and even making noises about a possible 2008 presidential run.
There are many things I miss about Republicans in Congress circa 1994 compared to today, though I'm not sure whether Gingrich himself is one of them.
Posted by antle @ 06:49 PM EST [Link]
~ LEFTIES AND EVANGELICALS AS STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: Harvard Law Professor William Stuntz's first Tech Central Station column on the academic left and the Christian right, noted by David Brooks in the New York Times, was an interestingly executed, thoughtful exploration of understanding and common ground among two sections of that stubborn red-blue divide. But his recent follow-up disappoints.
In some places he is too unrealistic; in others he aims too low; throughout Stuntz fails to take the principled disagreements between Christian conservatives and secular liberals sufficiently seriously. Even agreement on ends - such as the amelioration of poverty at home and in the Third World - does not mean we can discount the strong disagreement between these groups on the means. And the sections on both trade and nation-building are simplistic.
Ramesh Ponnuru's criticisms of the Stuntz piece in The Corner, especially regarding abortion, seem sound. It's one thing to note that changing the culture is at least as important to pro-life goals as changing the law (if not more so), but one shouldn't pretend that there is no role at all for the law to play. And why should evangelicals give up on reversing Roe when even many pro-choice liberals are starting to think about life without the decision (see Benjamin Wittes in the January/February issue of The Atlantic)?
Posted by antle @ 06:31 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: I have an article in the Jan. 31 issue of The American Conservative, hitting newsstands shortly, on populist red-state Democrats and the liberal writers who love them. More exactly, it is a report on the debate raging among Democrats about whether economics can trump culture among financially struggling but socially conservative voters. An excerpt:
Partisans of every stripe inevitably become disappointed when their preferred candidate loses an election, but some sectors of the Democratic Party responded to John Kerry’s defeat with outrage and despair. George W. Bush was weighed down by war and lackluster job growth, and regarded by most Democrats as a right-wing incompetent self-evidently undeserving of re-election – and yet still they lost to him, however narrowly. Morally conservative values voters were the major targets of post-election liberal anger.
But not all Democrats are busy penning op-eds proclaiming the death of the Enlightenment or chortling over e-mails that depict the states Bush carried as “Jesusland.” A growing number of party insiders and savvy activists are instead doing something more productive: devising plans to turn red states blue. And they hope to do so by negating the Republicans’ advantage on moral issues.
This strategizing is not limited to socially conservative Democrats who fear their party has moved too far to the left on issues like abortion and gay marriage. Progressives also ardently believe values can be discussed on Democratic terms by offering economic populism as a counterweight to cultural conservatism.
You can pick up The American Conservative in Barnes & Noble and other fine bookstores or subscribe.
Posted by antle @ 04:50 PM EST [Link]
~ BAWITABA, UP JUMP THE BOOGIE, SAID THE BOOGIE INAUGURAL BALL: Here's another item for the "not sure which is dumber" file. I'm not one who cares overmuch about profanity in song lyrics - there are more than a few things in my CD, cassette and record collections that might have made Tipper Gore raise an eyebrow back in the day - but I can understand why parents dislike their children listening to some of the raunchier stuff that's out there.
So reports that Kid Rock would be playing at an inaugural youth concert did seem a little politically tone-deaf, a sure way to ignite unnecessary controversy while irking a whole bunch of "values voters" who just handed President Bush a second term. Michelle Malkin makes the case against Kid Rock, quoting some of his particularly obscenity-laden lyrics. (WARNING: You'll see words used in her entry that are definitely not part of the usual ESR Musings fare.)
That's all well and good, but then we get to the social conservative self-parody alert. Jan LaRue, Concerned Women for America chief counsel, says of Kid Rock, "This guy ought to be inaugurated into jail life for violating obscenity laws."
Groan. So here we go from a perfectly reasonable discussion about whether Kid Rock is an appropriate choice to perform at a White House-sanctioned event to offhand comments about throwing rock musicians in jail for using naughty words. I haven't seen anyone else bring up this remark, but it's exactly the sort of thing that gets quoted to make the religious right seem incompatible with a free, pluralistic society.
Posted by antle @ 03:59 PM EST [Link]
~ THE WRONG SIDE - NO ETHICAL FLAP LEFT BEHIND: I'm not sure which part of this story is more disturbing and less wise. Armstrong Williams - of whom I'm generally a fan - taking the money to flak for the No Child Left Behind Act or the federal government offering it in the first place.
UPDATE: A lot of interesting commentary on this story out in the blogosphere, including from LaShawn Barber on the right and Matt Yglesias on the left.
Posted by antle @ 01:42 AM EST [Link]
Friday, January 7, 2005 NO, IT'S NOT CALLED UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS: Merry Christmas to all of those celebrating the Orthodox/Eastern rite version of the holiday!
Christians of Orthodox churches -- Syrian, Coptic, Greek, Russian, Ethiopean, and Serbian, among a few others -- and Eastern rite nations like the Catholic Ukrainians -- celebrate Christmas today. Members of these faiths use the Julian calender for their religious holidays, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calender.
Notable events to happen on January 7 in history? The Harlem Globetrotters played their first game in 1927 and in 1999 the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton began.
Posted by steve @ 01:30 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, January 6, 2005 DEMOCRATS REALLY ARE LOSERS: And I don't mean electorally. As I'm sure you heard, a few Democrats attempted to halt George W. Bush being formally declared the winner of the election by challenging Ohio's certification. Leading the charge is Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Boxer said, "The centerpiece of this country is democracy and the centerpiece of democracy is ensuring the right to vote."
"Our people are dying all over the world ... to bring democracy to the far corners of the world," she said. "Let's fix it here."
Hey, that's rich. Isn't Boxer critical of America's presence in Iraq? Why would she suddenly resort to praising her country's efforts there? Right, because she's a Democrat and they are incapable of consistency. Pity that Republicans didn't challenge the morons from New York State who tried to cast their ballots for "John L. Kerry." Remember, it's the Red States that are filled with idiots, not Blue States.
Read on.
[Update] Okay, America's long national nightmare is over.
Posted by steve @ 04:34 PM EST [Link]
~ STEVE'S SUPER GUARANTEED PICKS: Well, the NFL playoffs begin this week and I know you're just waiting to find out who I think will win in round one.
Saturday
St. Louis Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks
- I hate this game because I don't trust either team to actually win -- if it could happen, they'd both figure out a way to lose the game. Not tie, but both lose. Seattle is favoured by four points at home. Only because they're at home: Seattle. Yes, that's right, this is the year Mike Holmgren actually wins a playoff game while coaching the Seahawks. They'll play a conservative brand of football and make St. Louis' inevitable mistakes very expensive.N.Y. Jets vs. San Diego Chargers
- I like San Diego. I don't think they'll make it that far into the playoffs -- more gut instinct then anything else -- but they're better then the Jets. New York stumbled into the playoffs after a couple of losses while San Diego looks like they're out for blood. I say San Diego's offensive attack is going to be too much for the Jets defense to contain.Sunday
Denver Broncos vs. Indianapolis Colts
- Didn't I watch this game last week? Denver may have beaten them last week but do remember half the Colts starting squad was watching most of the game from the bench. I like Jake Plummer -- from his first days with Arizona I said he could be a great quarterback in the right system -- but if you think I'm going to go against Peyton Manning, you'd be insane. Besides, Vegas is favouring the Colts by 10 points. I concur...I don't think the Colts will shred the Broncos defense, but they will overpower them. Indianapolis to win.Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers
- Did you know that the Vikings have 20 of the last 22 games they've played on grass? The Packers beat them a couple of weeks ago and they'll do it again on Sunday. It won't be a blowout but Brett Favre's boys will take this one by a touchdown and some change. In my world, the Vikings wouldn't even be in the playoffs.There you go, all home teams. Now go out and bet your family's life savings! *
* Or not.Posted by steve @ 02:51 AM EST [Link]
~ WHY NOT PROVIDE THEM WITH FAKE IDS AS WELL?: Before 9/11 I was one of those libertarian open borders types. If money and information could cross borders easily, why not people! Needless to say the events of that day woke me up about the need for increased border security and the necessity to crack down on illegal immigration. Still, there is a residue of that open immigration in me. I amend that to "was a residue."
The proverbial straw that broke my back is a lovely comic book printed by the Mexican government and distributed to its citizens. The comic book provides tips for illegal immigrants attempting to get into the U.S.
About 1.5 million copies of the pocket-size book titled "Guide for the Mexican Immigrant" were published by Mexico's Foreign Relations Department and distributed as a free supplement in comic books popular with adults that are sold throughout the country. The booklets are also available online and at Mexican consulates in the United States.
The comic book's introduction shows an illustration of three men huddling by riverbank bushes accompanied by the statement, "This guide is intended to give you some practical advice that could be of use if you already have made the difficult decision to seek new job opportunities outside your country."
Handy tips include guiding yourself with light and telephone polls if you get lost and to avoid wearing heavy jackets when crossing water. Wow, illegal and stupid immigrants. It's stuff like this that makes me more understanding of people who just want to close the borders off to everyone, regardless of where they come from. I don't dig that kind of thinking, but some days I can understand it.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:28 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 SPEAKING OF CROSSFIRE: Will CNN bid farewell to its long-running left-right debate program along with Tucker Carlson? Probably so, according to an AP story.
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 10:51 PM EST [Link]
~ PUPPET CROSSFIRE: Jonah Goldberg points out this DVD of Ralph Nader, excluded from the 2004 presidential debates, debating puppets of John Kerry and George W. Bush.
This prompted Jeremy Lott to propound Lott's Law: "Whenever you debate puppets, you lose."
Posted by antle @ 09:54 PM EST [Link]
~ THEY DIDN'T VOTE FOR YOU ANYWAY: George W. Bush's next big agenda item might be tort reform. During a visit to Missouri earlier today he says that out of control lawsuits are driving up the cost of medicare. If Bush wants to know how to fix it, he can just read ESR as I think we've run a thousand pieces on the subject. Dubya, just search for "tort reform".
Now if he could just do something about all of those law firm commercials. I swear that Fox Rochester only airs Simpsons episodes and commercials for two personal injury firms. If you have Fox from Rochester, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Posted by steve @ 11:39 AM EST [Link]
~ ONLY THE FRENCH: (Via Instapundit) The marines are ashore, an aircraft carrier is in the region, tons of materials are handed out daily and private aid is exploding. Sounds like the tsunami victims are getting some help from the U.S, right? Well, that's bugging a couple of people at Le Monde.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:16 AM EST [Link]
~ CANADA RULES THE (hockey) WORLD! CANADA RULES THE (hockey) WORLD!: How about that game! After some smack talking by our Russian friends, Canada's world juniors, perhaps the best team we've ever fielded, whomped Ivan 6-1. It's a sweet victory because we lost the gold to Russia in 2002 and 2003.
This team was so dominant that even I could have goaltended. They scored 41 goals in six games during the tournament but even more impressive is that they played defense so perfectly that they only allowed seven goals. Canadian commentators were actually concerned about Canadian goaltending for the gold medal game because they had seen so few shots during the tournament.
I haven't seen that much diving since Greg Louganious at the Olympics. The Russians were doing it so often, particularly during the first period, that commentator Pierre Maguire joked they were going down faster then "free beer at a frat party." Of course, given the physical pounding that they were taking from the Canadians, going down on your own was less painful then being checked. Ask Alexander Ovechkin.
Everyone's been talking about how much of an impact Sidney Crosby is going to make when he hits the NHL (likely next year), but I'm more interested in Dion Phaneuf. That kid played defense like he was like an iron fence.
So, the Canadians have won every major men's and women's hockey tournament since (and including) the 2002 Winter Olympics. Good to know we have something to brag about...well, besides our superior beer, women and poutine.
At any rate, congrats to the Russians winning the silver and the Czechs their bronze.
Posted by steve @ 01:10 AM EST [Link]
~ I HEAR THIS BLOGGING THING MIGHT CATCH ON: According to a BBC report on Monday, Americans are becoming quite the little blog readers. About 32 million of them read blogs in 2004, up 58 per cent from the year before.
Well, they have one more to read! Charles Morse -- ESR contributor, radio talk show host and recent congressional candidate against Barney Frank -- has his own blog. It's called Morse's Code and you can find it at http://morsescode.com/.
Posted by steve @ 12:47 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 A SAD WAY FOR THE MESSAGE TO GET OUT: CNN has an interesting story about how the earthquake and tsunami in southeast Asia may actually help the war on terrorism. Rohan Gunaratna says that images of the American military delivering aid to those hit by the natural disaster highlights the fact that terrorists have done nothing for those suffering.
It reminds me of what happened after a powerful earthquake in Turkey a few years ago. The government was completely unprepared for the quake and had few supplies or plans ready for such an eventuality. Who stepped in with aid? The Greeks, long promoted by the Turkish gover
