Musings Archive May 2004
Monday, May 31, 2004 THE BIGGEST FAILING OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION: (Via Brothers Judd Blog) Is their apparent inability to get their message out. A good example of that is what's happening in Fallujah. As Robert Kaplan points out in today's Wall Street Journal, the city is reasonably calm and the decision not to pound the city into rubble is probably the right one.
But none of the above matters if it is not competently explained to the American public--for the home front is more critical in a counterinsurgency than in any other kind of war. Yet the meticulous planning process undertaken by the Marines at the tactical level for assaulting Fallujah was not augmented with a similarly meticulous process by the Bush administration at the strategic level for counteracting the easily foreseen media fallout from fighting in civilian areas near Muslim religious sites. The public was never made to feel just how much of a military threat the mosques in Fallujah represented, just how far Marines went to avoid damage to them and to civilians, and just how much those same Marine battalions accomplished after departing Fallujah. [...]
[I]...found that there are many different Iraqs and different levels of reality to each of them. Presently, the administration lacks the public relations talent and the organizational structure for conveying even the positive elements of the Iraqi panorama in all their drama and texture.
I'm not blaming the administration alone, I think the media is also playing a role. Stung by the failure to find WMDs in Iraq after they reported their existence, the media is probably now not giving the administration the benefit of the doubt...or for that matter ignoring the administration's point of view unless the evidence is overwhelming that its right. That said, Kaplan is right, the administration is doing a very poor job of telling the world what's going on.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:09 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY IS TOAST: At least in this election. The LP had a real opportunity this year given the number of conservatives frustrated with the Bush administration's record on spending and government growth. They also had the potential to appeal to the growing number of non-liberal/non-socialist opponents of the Iraq war.
But instead of Aaron Russo or Gary Nolan, the Libertarians decided to nominate the most obscure candidate running. With the exception of 1980, the LP seems to top out at around 400,000 votes even when they run reputable candidates like Ron Paul or Harry Browne, so the odds were always somewhat against them influencing the outcome of the election. Maybe there is something about this guy I don't know, but it seems to me that the odds are longer now.
Note in the story the nominee's observation that if he would win the nomination (by prevailing among the convention's 800 delegates) he could win the election (in which there will probably be something like 100-110 million voters). This is the lack of seriousness that keeps a lot of small-l libertarians out of the Libertarian Party.
Posted by antle @ 12:33 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ THE REPERCUSSIONS OVER IRAQ CONTINUE: The rapid victory the coalition enjoyed in Iraq is forcing a lot of countries to reevaluate how they would fight a war, particularly against an American military force. One of those countries is China.
The report said China is rethinking the concept that U.S. airpower alone is sufficient to prevail in a conflict -- a concept it inferred from the 1999 air war over Kosovo, which involved no U.S. ground forces.
"The speed of coalition ground force advances and the role of special forces in [Iraq] have caused the People's Liberation Army theorists to rethink their assumptions about the value of long-range precision strikes, independent of ground forces, in any Taiwan conflict scenario," the report said.
Other aspects of the Iraq war have reinforced the Chinese belief that the United States' long-range strategy is to dominate Asia by containing the growth of Chinese power, the report said. These include recent Pentagon decisions to base long-range bombers, cruise missiles and nuclear attack submarines to the Pacific island of Guam -- moves related in part to the Iraq conflict.
"China's leaders appear to have concluded that the net effect of the U.S.-led campaign [against terrorism] has been further encirclement of China," specifically by placing U.S. military forces in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian nations, and strengthening relations with Pakistan and India, concluded the Pentagon analysis.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:40 AM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
Sunday, May 30, 2004 JEREMIADS BLOG ENTRY SIGHTING: Speaking of the goings-on of Fairfax, VA, Jeremy Lott has posted an interview with the scholar and writer Philip Jenkins.
Posted by antle @ 11:04 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ DISTURBING OBSERVATION FOR THE EVENING: Roughly 50 percent of the movies located in the "family" section of my local Blockbusters are straight-to-video releases starring Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Posted by antle @ 10:26 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ A LOVELY BIT OF NEWS: Various sources are reporting that the Iranian government has established "what could be the first training center for Islamic suicide attackers."
Iranian sources and media asserted that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has established a center to train suicide attackers throughout the world. The sources identified the center as the World Islamic Martyrs and Fighters Staff Headquarters.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 09:35 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
Saturday, May 29, 2004 THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE NDP: Always head of the curve. Today NDP leader Jack Layton announced that the party no longer was interested in pulling Canada out of NATO. Instead, Layton would like to see it transformed into some 'human defence' oriented organization.
Wow. Years after NATO has essentially become irrelevant, the NDP have finally got around to accepting Canada's membership in it. I predict in 2034 the party will finally accept the free market as a valid way for human beings to organize economies.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:15 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ AL GORE - DIDN'T HE USED TO BE FAMOUS?: I'm not really sure why the news media made such a big deal out of Al Gore's eye-popping, vein-bulging speech before MoveOn.org.
Was it a secret that Gore loathed Dubya? Are we supposed to be surprised that Gore isn't impressed with the administration of the guy he ran against four years ago? Is it shocking that Gore disapproves of Condi Rice or Donald Rumsfeld?
It seems to me that, given Bush's falling approval ratings, the media could have found a critic of the administration with less personal involvement than Al Gore.
Posted by antle @ 04:41 PM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ ANOTHER STORY NO ONE TOLD YOU ABOUT: George W. Bush scored a massive victory this week. Did you hear about it? No, it wasn't in Iraq. This week the Bush administration helped both sides in the Sudanese war come to a peace accord, ending a conflict that's last for two decades.
Yeah, I didn't hear about it either.
Nicholas Kristof states:
If the peace holds, hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved, millions of refugees will return home, and a region of Africa may be revived.
But there's a larger lesson here as well: messy African wars are not insoluble, and Western pressure can help save the day. So it's all the more shameful that the world is failing to exert pressure on Sudan to halt genocide in its Darfur region. Darfur is unaffected by the new peace accords.
Read on. (NYT, Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 04:05 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ WHO DOESN'T LOVE TOM SELLECK?: Well, outside of Rosie O'Donnell everyone does. John J. Miller interviews Tom Selleck over at NRO in regards to his Ike biopic that's on A&E on Memorial Day.
Read on.
The day I win the lottery I buy a 1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi, one of the three Ferrari's Thomas Magnum drove during Magnum P.I.'s run.
Posted by steve @ 03:55 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ IT ISN'T A MYTH: Stephen Hayes in an essay for the June 7 issue of The Weekly Standard says there is plenty of evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.
Posted by steve @ 03:45 PM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ WHAT HAPPENED TO PAT TILLMAN: The U.S. Army Special Operations Command will release today information surrounding the circumstances surrounding the death of Pat Tillman.
Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger, USASOC's commanding general, was to issue a statement about a completed military investigation into the circumstances of Tillman's death, the Army said in a statement released late Friday.
Tillman, 27, died in a firefight near the Pakistan border as he was leading his team to help comrades caught in an ambush. Until now, the Army has given few details about his death, saying he was fatally shot while fighting "without regard for his personal safety."
Something makes me think that coward Ted Rall won't be reading that report.
Read on.
[Update - 3:38pm] The U.S. Army says that Tillman was likely killed by friendly fire.
Posted by steve @ 04:40 AM EST [Link] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ SOMEONE HAS TO DEFEND HIM: I missed this one it first appeared on Thursday but Christopher Hitchens takes up the unlikely task of defending Ahmad Chalabi.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:32 AM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
Friday, May 28, 2004 I'M NOT HAPPY: Canadian conservatives across the blogosphere are crowing today over the release of a new poll that shows Liberal support has dropped considerably.
The Liberals have 38 per cent support among decided voters — a three percentage point drop since last month — while the Conservatives and New Democrats are climbing, especially in Ontario.
The poll conducted for the Star and La Presse, shows Liberal support bleeding to the Conservatives, at 30.4 per cent, and the NDP, at 18 per cent. The Bloc Québécois is at 10.7 per cent and support for other parties is at 2.8 per cent. The Tory and NDP numbers nationally represent two percentage point climbs for each of them since April.
If the trend continue -- and if you know me you know I don't believe in trends -- we can expect a minority Liberal government; or as I like to phrase it: the worst of all possible worlds.
Let's be realistic, if the Liberals do end up with a minority government they won't be looking to the Tories for their support. They'll either call the NDP or the Bloc Quebecois. Both are rather left of center and both would pull the Liberals over to the political left. You know what means: tax and spend! I'll be honest, I'd sooner have a majority Liberal government over a minority Liberal government nearly every day of the week.
So who may be responsible for this shift away from the Liberals? The provincial Liberals. A budget in Ontario which broke every single promise made by Dalton McGuinty during last year's provincial election has pretty well angered Ontarians, meaning the province may be in play for the first time since the 1980s. Will it be enough though?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:03 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ NICE TIMING: The managers of an Omaha, Neb. apartment building are trying to force 89-year old World War II veteran Donald Lamp from flying an American flag from his balcony. Lamp has been flying the flag every day since September 11, 2001.
It's almost ironic that this is occuring days before Memorial Day and that the city this is happening in lent its name to the beach saw the bloodiest combat on D-Day. Another interesting fact: Lamp is the father-in-law of none other than Clarence Thomas.
I realize building rules prohibit flying flags but come on, lighten the hell up. Your nation is at war.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:40 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 2 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ ABU GRHAIB IS THE LATEST IN A LONG SERIES OF THESE TYPES OF EVENTS: Peter Worthington, a former soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces, discusses Abu Ghraib in relation to what used to be allowed by Canadian military prisons.
Abu Ghraib brought to mind the Canadian military justice system of WWII and Korea, before King's Rules and Regulations were replaced by the National Defence Act.
A friend from army days and Korea, Vince Courtenay, recalls the system better than I.
It sounds primitive now, but sentences of three to seven days on nothing but bread and water were routine for minor offenses. The commanding officer could dish out 28-day sentences.
Bread and water consisted of eight slices of white bread and a canteen of water, which Vince recalls troops calling "piss and punk."
A full meal was required every third day on this diet, and "heavy fellows lost weight rapidly," says Vince, who insists he's not talking from personal experience.
I had a friend who was sent to a military jail after a fight with another soldier and he never got into trouble again. I have to confess I nearly landed there myself after a brawl between the infantry and the engineers outside of an on-base bar one night. For some reason the engineers refused to accept the superiority of the infantry and felt compelled to argue the fact. Fortunately most of us disappeared before the MPs showed up. I didn't want to discover the joys of military jail myself.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:41 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ THE BOY MAKES HOWARD DEAN LOOK NORMAL: When the Boston Herald jumps over a Democrat you know that boy has done something stupid. Today they postively hammer Al Gore for his insane speech on Wednesday at a Moveon.org conference (You can read the speech by clicking on the "More" link below).
He never mentioned Nicholas Berg. Or Daniel Pearl. Or a single person killed in the World Trade Center. Nor did former Vice President Al Gore talk of any soldier by name who has given his life in Iraq. And he has the audacity to condemn the Bush administration for having "twisted values?"
Gore spent the bulk of a speech before the liberal group MoveOn.org Wednesday bemoaning Abu Ghraib and denouncing President Bush's departure from the "long successful strategy of containment."
Yes, the very same strategy that, under Gore's leadership, allowed al-Qaeda operatives to plan the horror of Sept. 11 for years, while moving freely within our borders.
Read the Herald's response here.
[more]
Posted by steve @ 05:35 PM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [2 comments]
~ IRAQ IS ALREADY A SUCCESS STORY: Though the media doesn't bother to tell you, democracy is Iraq is blooming. As Charles Rousseaux points out in a story on TechCentralStation, democratically elected councils have sprung up everywhere in the country and the Iraqis are beginning to take control of their own futures.
Notwithstanding an awful start last year, when Coalition commanders cancelled elections shortly after announcing them, Iraqis have gained experience in self-government. President Bush noted that, "many of Iraq's cities and towns have elected town councils or city governments." Under the oversight of Paul Bremer, a group of local government representatives, including members of the Baghdad City Council, elected engineer Mahmood al Tamimi as city mayor last month.
The Baghdad City Council, largely a mix of previously apolitical technocrats, ranging from sheiks to secularists and from lawyers to engineers, has become a power in its own right. Council members were selected by their neighbors almost a year ago, and after first focusing on their neighborhoods, have since started to speak out on national issues. A February Washington Post profile of the group said, "They are the closest thing Iraq has to a democratically elected representative body with real clout." For instance, council member Ali Hadary pushed hard for the reassembly of classrooms, and received almost $500,000 to repair 20 schools in his area.
The entire Iraqi educational establishment is being rebuilt. Mr. Bush said, "Under the direction of Dr. Ala'din al-Alwan, the Ministry [of Education] has trained more than 30,000 teachers and supervisors for the schools of a new Iraq." According to the White House, over a third of the 15,000 teachers fired by Saddam have been rehired and more than 5.5 million Iraqi students are back at school. Earlier this month, the World Bank issued a $40 million grant to the Ministry of Education.
Schools aren't the only things going up. Spending on reconstruction is finally surging, according to retired admiral David Nash, who is overseeing construction. Earlier this week he said at a briefing, "Things are going very well." $75 million in new construction being set up each week. Over the last two months, $4 billion has been put towards specific projects. That is twice the amount two months ago, and the pace is still increasing. Over 8,000 Iraqis hammer away at those projects each day, bringing electricity and water to their fellow citizens. According to the Los Angeles Times, soldiers in Kut are even hiring away suspected followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to work on reassembling an amusement park.
Mark my words, regardless of what happens in November, George W. Bush will be remembered by history as a liberator of millions -- both in Afghanistan and Iraq. He'll probably be more loved by Muslims than by Americans and Arabs have a very long memory. That's why there are still people running around the Middle East named after T.E. Lawerence.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:26 PM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ I'D PUNCH HIM IF HE WASN'T A LOT BIGGER THAN I WAS: Former Denver Bronco Reggie Rivers argues in a column today that America's soldiers are slaves.
Yes, our slaves signed up of their own free will, but most of them were as misled about their job as the rest of us were about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
And I don't think "slave" is too strong a word to describe someone who is not permitted to quit his job no matter how dangerous it becomes or how much he hates it. For most of us, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and guaranteed that we have the right to withhold our labor. It doesn't protect soldiers.
At the risk of blowing our PG rating, WTF? The ironic thing is that Rivers' father served in the US Air Force. I'd rant but this essay just fisks itself.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:19 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ NO GRIP ON REALITY: James Lileks has a beautiful post tonight regarding the concern America's allies have over the situation in Iraq. It's so good that I won't quote a word of it.
Read on. (About half way down)
Posted by steve @ 03:28 AM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
Thursday, May 27, 2004 ALL WELFARE IS BAD: And despite what the corporate sector will tell you, so is corporate welfare. Today, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper promised that he would do away with it.
I agree with him but in Canada everyone is on the teat, including business. Everyone's a capitalist until they're offered 'free cash.' This will be a hard sell to a lot of people, even if you're promising lower taxes in return.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:24 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ NEWS TO EVERYBODY BUT ME: A new study reports that in divorces after the age of 40, 2/3rds of the time it is the woman who initiates the divorce proceeding. The old story of the man exchanging his 40 for a pair of twenties is largely just that, a story.
Duh.
I've long believed -- without empirical evidence to back me up, mind you -- that once a man reaches his 40s he realizes that true happiness isn't drinking, women and nights he can't remember. He knows that real happiness can only be found with a woman he loves and a couple of kids. That necessarily means that most men in this situation wouldn't divorce their wives because at that age they aren't likely to replicate this life and they are genuinely satisfied with their lives.
Ok, you're asking, why would a woman who has little chance of rebuilding her life with a new marriage (and no chance what-so-ever at having children again) divorce her husband while in her 40s? Why would she give up what most women want? According to the AARP study "most women said they filed for divorces because of physical or emotional abuse, infidelity or drug and alcohol abuse."
For men, on the other hand, "they fell out love, they had different values or lifestyles or infidelity." For the most part, a different order of problems.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:18 PM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND: Once it's on the World Wide Web it's out there for good. Right Side Redux proves that by Googling Adam Gadahn. He's one of the seven people wanted by the FBI that you heard about earlier this week. Turns out you could find out quite a bit about him.
Nice bit of original and exclusive reportage by Justin!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:48 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ CAPTAIN HOOK CHARGED: Radical English cleric Abu Hamza was today charged by American authorities with 11 related terror charges.
Hamza, 47, who was arrested this morning in London, is accused of "hostage-taking" and of setting up terrorist training camps in America and Afghanistan.
US Attorney General John Ashcroft told a press conference the charges carried the death sentence.
But British law prevents suspects being extradited to countries that carry out executions.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:38 PM EST [Link] [Karma: 1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ BUT THERE AREN'T ANY WMDS IN IRAQ: Charles Duelfer says that the new threat facing coalition forces in Iraq may be bombs utilitizing chemical weapons. You know, the type of weapons that apparently don't exist.
Posted by steve @ 04:29 AM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
~ NOTHING IS BETTER THAN KETCHUP ON A BURGER: And since it's Memorial Day pretty soon, Sean Hackbarth has a special Kerry's House of Ketchup up.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:10 AM EST [Link] [Karma: -1 (+/-)] [No Comments]
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 I'M ALMOST LAUGHING: Today the NY Times called itself out and declared that its reporting on Iraq has been abysmal. Are they apologizing for their relentless stream of biased reporting about the situation after the war? Nope. They're apologizing for reporting what we all knew, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
But we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge.
The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on "regime change" in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks. (The most prominent of the anti-Saddam campaigners, Ahmad Chalabi, has been named as an occasional source in Times articles since at least 1991, and has introduced reporters to other exiles. He became a favorite of hard-liners within the Bush administration and a paid broker of information from Iraqi exiles, until his payments were cut off last week.) Complicating matters for journalists, the accounts of these exiles were often eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to intervene in Iraq. Administration officials now acknowledge that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources. So did many news organizations — in particular, this one.
Some critics of our coverage during that time have focused blame on individual reporters. Our examination, however, indicates that the problem was more complicated. Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper. Accounts of Iraqi defectors were not always weighed against their strong desire to have Saddam Hussein ousted. Articles based on dire claims about Iraq tended to get prominent display, while follow-up articles that called the original ones into question were sometimes buried. In some cases, there was no follow-up at all.
See, they're real sorry for reporting that Iraq had WMDs but not real sorry for reporting that everything in Iraq is going to hell in a handbasket. The scuttlebutt is that although they didn't name her, Judith Miller is the one whose articles are under review.
I wonder also if the Times isn't doing this to put pressure on the Bush administration. See, they were big enough to admit they were wrong, so why won't the president?
Read on. (Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 08:06 PM EST [Link]
~ I'VE GOT THE SALT: David Janes goes off on a rant and declares that the "Ontario Children's Aid Society should be folded, all it's members forbidden to have jobs that bring them into contact with children again in their lives, and their buildings should be razed and the ground sown with salt."
What's the reason for this anger? The CAS is attempting to take two children away from their foster parents -- whom they have been raised by since babies -- essentially because they're white. The children, however, are aboriginals.
But David Feliciant, the lawyer for the Hamilton CAS, said the case is not about any unfair treatment accorded the foster families, or about the band flexing any political muscle. Nor, Mr. Feliciant added, is the case about love.
"It is naïve to suggest that love conquers all," he snapped. "It doesn't."
To which David responds: "Yes, and certainly not the mighty power of the goon and the bureaucrat."
I like seeing David angry.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:12 PM EST [Link]
~ NOW HE'S FLIP FLOPPING OVER HIS OWN NOMINATION!: John Kerry floated the trial balloon of not accepting his party's nomination at the convention -- he wanted to do it a month later so he could continue raising money -- and was promptly hammered for it. Roger Simon called the idea "too dumb even for politics."
If Kerry does not accept the nomination at his convention, how will he get anybody to watch it? The damn things are dull enough, but a convention without the presidential candidate accepting? Who would tune in to watch such a thing? And by giving up their audience, the Democrats will give up tons of free publicity.
And even among Democratic party stalwarts, how many will want to go to Boston in late July to experience traffic jams and security delays without the pay-off of an acceptance speech to boost their spirits and rally them for the fall campaign to come?
And where does this leave the vice presidential candidate? Does he or she also delay accepting the nomination? And give up one of the biggest viewing audiences he or she may ever get?
Mickey Kaus, on the other hand, thinks it's a "brilliant scheme."
I was initially skeptical of the delayed-acceptance idea myself, thinking it too clever by half. But that was before I realized its diabolical tactical brilliance. You see, Kerry's handlers have clearly been busy analyzing reams of scientific opinion research--and they've reached the same conclusion that pollster Scott Rasmussen reached a couple of weeks ago:
Senator Kerry loses a few points every time the spotlight focuses on him. Kerry's numbers bounce back when the focus returns to the President.
Indeed, Kerry has been virtually invisible on the national radar screen lately--and he's been slowly climbing in the polls.
Well, according to a report on Bloomberg News, Kerry has changed his mind and will now accept the nomination in Boston. Can this guy ever actually make up his mind? Do Democrats really want him as president?
Posted by steve @ 06:11 PM EST [Link]
Tuesday, May 25, 2004 IT'S ALWAYS THE JEWS: Richard Baehr has a great piece over at The American Thinker about retired General Anthony Zinni, a man who has made bigger news after his retirement than he did before it. In case you missed his appearance on 60 Minutes on Sunday, Zinni is completely against the Iraqi campaign.
He makes that very clear in a new book -- one that coincidently arrived in the mail at Fort Sinatra earlier today -- he co-authored with Tom Clancy. Who is responsible for the war? Neoconservatives. And judging by who he names: Jewish neoconservatives. Why? For Israel.
But Zinni is not comfortable just with criticism of how the war or post war effort was run. He needs to blame people, and he wants heads to fall. And he names names -- in particular the group he calls the “neocons”, naming five men: Doug Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis Libby, Richard Perle, and Ellot Abrams, as the key ideologues who caused this war to occur. And their real justification for pushing the US to war, we learn from Zinni, were not the three stated by the Administration -- weapons of mass destruction, terror links, or gross human rights violations.
Rather, it was to secure Israel, and to remake the Middle East in our image, a noble but unrealistic vision, according to the General. The fact that the named neocons are all Jewish, Zinni says, is accidental. He says this is irrelevant to him. But if it is irrelevant, why does he only provide the names of Jewish neocons? Are there no others? How Jewish is Jeanne Kirkpatrick or Bill Bennett? And what evidence does he have for his charge that the war was fought for Israel? Zinni never even touches on the three justifications the Administration offered for the war in the 60 Minutes segment. But Steve Kroft repeats the neocon slander, and the link to Israel, and names the Jewish names. This after all is the important part of the story.
It's always the Jews isn't it?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 09:48 PM EST [Link]
~ FILE THIS UNDER 'BAD IDEA': That transfer of power in Iraq that we're all expecting in June is more than simply political power. British PM Tony Blair today said that the interim Iraqi government will have veto power over any coalition military operations. That has yet to be confirmed by George W. Bush.
Look, I believe that the coalition is a liberating force, not an occupation force, but that doesn't mean you cede military control until the situation is stable. That isn't going to happen in months as Iraqi defence minister Ali Alawi seems to believe.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:03 PM EST [Link]
~ THEIR WAR WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER: Sorry (again) for the lack of blogging today. It was a nice cool day here at Fort Sinatra so I took the opportunity to play the manor lord and I went outside into the backyard with a Romeo y Julieta cigar -- courtesy of my sister's visit to the Caymen Islands last week -- and a book of poems.
At any rate, a good story over at NRO about the problems that women are facing in Iraqi society. Iraq may be liberated but the war for women's rights in an Islamic society is just beginning.
Even though I know schwayya Arabic, I sensed the Iraqi truckers squatting in the shade of an 18-wheeler weren't happy. After all, seated on the sidewalk opposite them, a foreigner was chatting with a beautiful Iraqi woman whose beige scarf, worn with a maroon blouse and tan-colored slacks, indicated she was Muslim. As they waited to drive their vehicles through the British checkpoint, the truckers' stares burned holes through us. My friend, Nour Al-Khal, a 20-something press liaison for an American NGO, felt it too, but advised me to do what she did when confronted by what she called her country's "ignorant men" — ignore them. "Believe me, Steve," she said, stretching out her legs and crossing them at the ankles. "There's nothing you can do."
We were sitting outside the British military base at Basra International Airport, waiting for soldiers to open the gate. The afternoon was hot, a desert wind blowing dust and grit across the asphalt. As the boredom mounted, a trucker stood and crossed the roadway. Looming over Nour, he snapped something in Arabic, causing her expression to fall and her body to flinch as she curled her legs beneath her. As the trucker strode back to his companions, I asked Nour what he'd said. "He demanded that I sit more like a respectable Muslim woman," she replied in an embarrassed voice. Angered at the man's effrontery, I rose to confront him, only to be halted again by Nour's demurrals. "You'll only cause me trouble." Sadly, she was right. Convening a one-man Morals Police for the sole purpose of humiliating a woman, the trucker had acted in the name of the force we had no defense against: Islam.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:58 PM EST [Link]
~ IF YOU ANTICIPATE THE PAIN, DOES IT HURT LESS?: I ask because when you live through a Canadian election you know that the ruling party spends taxpayer dollars like a poet on payday. See, it's all about buying votes, though they'll tell you that they are just funding announcements that happened to coincide with the election. Later today Paul Martin is expected to announce that the Liberals are going to shovel billions of dollars into new health care programs "that would create a national home-care program, reduce waiting times, train new doctors and promise regular funding boosts."
See, the current system doesn't work regardless of how much money you spend. So what's the solution? Spend more money! Yea! And the bonus: Martin refused to say Monday whether all this new money will result in a tax hike.
At a certain point you just stop caring.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:13 AM EST [Link]
~ GETTING THE FACTS ABOUT THE FACTS WRONG: The Globe and Mail recently trumpeted a study that shows newspapers are reporting scientific issues correctly. And? Well, it turns out they were wrong.
But even in covering a study about media accuracy, the Globe and Mail got the story wrong -- What the CMAJ study actually showed was that more than one-third of newspaper stories about scientific studies held exaggerated claims, while nearly one-fifth held scientific and technical inaccuracies (Bubela and Caulfield, 2004).
Well done G&M, you've once again shown me why a lack of faith in journalists is justified.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:05 AM EST [Link]
~ REALITY CHECK: The fact that 801 Americans have died in Iraq is sad -- and my heart goes to the families of every soldier who has fallen -- but as Peter Robinson pointed out over at NRO Monday evening, it's an incredibly low number.
The number of dead we suffered in Vietnam peaked in 1968 at 538 in September and then the same number again in November. (For details, click here: http://members.aol.com/forcountry/kiamonth.htm).
The number of American dead on the Normandy beaches of D-Day is unclear—the official figures combine several kinds of casualties (dead, wounded and missing) and several forces (Americans, British, and Canadians)—but a reasonable estimate, several readers suggested, would put the figure at about 1500. A still more arresting statistic: During the Second World War the United States suffered an average of 400 dead every day for a thousand days.
Obviously cold numbers do nothing to assuage the grief that each death causes, and nor should they. That said we have to put these numbers in perspective. As the National Bureau of Economic Research pointed out a couple of years ago, "Traffic accidents claim over 40,000 lives each year in the United States, roughly the same as the total number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War." That averages out to nearly 110 Americans killed every day just driving their cars. By the time the next issue of ESR pops up on Monday, almost as many Americans will have died in their cars as have died in Iraq since April of last year.
If we can take any solace in the 801 deaths it's that they are contributing to the cause of American and international security.
Posted by steve @ 12:17 AM EST [Link]
~ GIVING IRAQ BACK TO THE IRAQIS: Sorry for the utter lack of blogging today. I spent most of Monday reading and frankly couldn't be bothered to turn on the PC for any length of time.
At any rate, Monday night saw the unveiling of Bush's five step plan to turn over the governance of Iraq to Iraqis. The plan itself was hardly revolutionary, merely a obvious list of things that needed to be accomplished: Handing off authority to an interim government, security, infrastructure, international support and national elections. I'm not a big fan of "international support" which is merely a euphemism for the United Nations. That said, nothing really surprising here since pretty well all of this has been hashed out by both the administration and the pundits who prattle continuously about things they have never done. Yes, that includes me.
What I rather liked was the emphasis that Bush placed on staying the course. It was a good signal to America's enemies -- and ostensible allies -- that "no power of the enemy will stop Iraq's progress." It's a message that should be repeated every day until it no longer has to be.
The situation in Iraq is going to play a role in Bush's election this November -- and ultimately how seriously Americans will continue taking the war on terrorism -- and it's absolutely vital that Bush and the rest of his staff are out there every single day repeating that America will not leave until the job is finished and no thugs are going to run them out of Iraq. He should be making a lot more of these speeches to signal to everyone around the world that things are getting better, will continue to do so and Iraq will one day stand above all other nations in the Arab world for being free -- and that not only helps keep America more secure but everyone everywhere.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:04 AM EST [Link]
Monday, May 24, 2004 FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT: Leader of Canada's socialist NDP party Jack Layton announced today that if he formed a government we could expect fiscally responsible governing with no deficits.
Oh yeah, he's do that while spending more on health care (and fighting privatized health care), post-secondary education, cut the GST on some things, pump more money into urban infrastructure, create a 'green' economy....I'm running out of breath there's so much stuff. Yeah, I believe him too...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:26 PM EST [Link]
~ CAMPAIGN 2004: I'm not speaking of America's election but rather the Canadian federal election that was called yesterday by Paul Martin for June 28. I'll go on record right now predicting a narrow majority government for the Liberal Party.
At any rate, here's a little story of the issues that will likely be in play over the next couple of weeks. Not surprisingly, health care is the top priority for Canadians.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:05 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, May 23, 2004 I KNEW I HAD A COUPLE OF DRINKS LAST NIGHT: So I'm wondering if there's some Crown Royal still swirling around in my noggin as I write this. Sen. Hillary Clinton today called for a larger U.S. military. Yup, you can see why I thought maybe I over did it last night.
"A number of us have been sounding this alarm," Clinton told the TV show Fox News Sunday. "We have to face the fact we need a larger active-duty military. We cannot continue to stretch our troops, both active-duty, Guard and Reserve, to the breaking point, which is what we're doing now."
The irony, of course, is that under her husband's administration, the U.S. military shrank as part of Clinton-Gore's campaign to reduce the size of government. Rather than trim the number of civil servants, they made their largest gain by not replacing soldiers leaving the ranks. Ms. Clinton didn't bother to point that out.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:23 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, May 22, 2004 CHILDREN! CHILDREN! FUTURE! FUTURE! THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE, HEY, HEY HEY!: Fans of a certain show will get that musical reference. Shahla Samii argues in a new essay that the youth of Iran are key to overthrowing the theocratic regime.
My sincere belief is that if we give the youth in Iran the necessary tools to overthrow the IRI from within, and give them a chance to advance their agenda, they would. As in all struggles for freedom, the spark that ignites the fire begins inside the core of the system. The students and other courageous protestors have through their actions, words, and demonstrations started a movement. They yearn and seek support from their compatriots outside Iran. As in all struggles for freedom, the spark inside is easily extinguished by the suffocating system in which it tries to burn. In order for it to thrive and succeed, those outside the country whose voices are not stifled, whose passions can drive and energize those within, must raise the banner. The Prague Spring of 1968 is an example of a spark extinguished, a hope suffocated. The world learned a vital lesson then, hoping never to be repeated again. On the other hand, the South African and Polish struggles are beacons of success. South Africans and Poles around the world, inspired by their compatriots back 'home', raised their voices and helped lead their nations to freedom. Iranians abroad must recall the successes of the Polish and South African struggles, that through solidarity Iran can once again be free as well.
It would be pretty sweet to screw over the Islamists by helping their key demographic overthrow a radical regime.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:04 PM EST [Link]
~ THIS WAS SO PREDICTABLE I SHOULD HAVE PUT MONEY ON IT: Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" today won the Cannes Palme d'Or.
While "Fahrenheit 9/11" was well-received by Cannes audiences, many critics felt it was inferior to Moore's Academy Award-winning documentary "Bowling for Columbine," which earned him a special prize at Cannes in 2002. Some critics had speculated that if "Fahrenheit 9/11" won the top prize, it would be more for the film's politics than its cinematic value.
With Moore's customary blend of humor and horror, "Fahrenheit 9/11" accuses the Bush camp of stealing the 2000 election, overlooking terrorism warnings before September 11 and fanning fears of more attacks to secure Americans' support for the Iraq war.
If it was inferior to "Bowling for Columbine," which had so many factual errors -- deliberate or otherwise -- that attaching the term 'documentary' to it was an act of chuztpah, than it's obvious that "Fahrenheit 9/11" won simply because of its politics. And wow, Bush stole the election! I never heard that one before.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:34 PM EST [Link]
~ IS THE GUN CONTROL MOVEMENT DYING?: Probably not but John Lott Jr. argues that it isn't exactly looking very strong these days.
This month, the Million Mom March in Washington drew an anemic showing of only 2,000 people, while this year, all of the Democratic presidential candidates— however unenthusiastically— spoke of Americans’ Second Amendment right to own guns. These are just a few of the signs that the facts finally seem to be catching up to the movement. The future for the movement looks even worse.
Whether the subject is concealed handgun laws or bans on semi-automatic so-called “assault weapons,” gun control debates have been filled with apocalyptic claims about what will happen if gun control is not adopted. One common prediction is that laws allowing the carrying of a concealed weapon will result in crime waves, or permit holders shooting others. However, with 37 states now having right-to-carry laws, and another nine states letting some citizens carry, permit holders have continually shown themselves to be extremely law-abiding. It is becoming more and more difficult to attack those laws.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:05 AM EST [Link]
Friday, May 21, 2004 THAT EXPLAINS THAT: One of the Ahmad Chalabi's home was raided this week is because Ameircan officials believe his intelligence chief is an Iranian spy.
Intelligence chief Aras Karim Habib, 47, is a Shia Kurd who ran a program for Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress which the Pentagon funded to gather Saddam Hussein-era documents and provide informants until it abruptly dropped its support this month. The Information Collection Program had received $340,000 a month since October 2002.
A U.S. intelligence source said that information about Karim's activities came in part from a detainee at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are being held.
Another source with access to sensitive intelligence and who was interviewed separately confirmed that the United States had developed information leading the government to believe that "this guy is an agent of the Iranians."
Read on.
[Update - 2:34pm] Ummm, okay, according to Fox News Chalabi himself is suspected of spying for the Iranians.
U.S. officials believe they have "rock solid" evidence that Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, once a darling of the American government, passed secrets to Iran, Fox News has learned.
"There is no need for an investigation because we're quite certain he did it," one senior Bush administration official said.The official first described the evidence against Chalabi as "pretty solid" and then characterized it as "rock solid."
Posted by steve @ 02:28 PM EST [Link]
~ ARE THE BRITISH REALLY AMERICA'S ALLIES?: I don't know if we need this kind of talk right now but Dariush Shirazi raises some good points in an essay over at Project: Free Iran.
Several weeks ago, Michael Rubin returned from the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, and upon his return resigned from the Pentagon. In recent weeks Mr. Rubin has expressed his views regarding the region, most notably illustrating the many links between the Islamic clerical regime in Iran and much of the violence that has broken out across Iraq, evident in the actions of Al Sadr and his fanatical brigade who have reportedly received millions of dollars in funding from the mullahs in Iran.
An article published in the Telegraph of London yesterday quoted Mr. Rubin's sentiments that "British officials clearly had little interest in pursuing the White House vision of a democratic Iraq, a keystone of its foreign policy, and were too 'soft' in confronting dissent." The article goes on to say that "many US officials had been startled at their British counterparts' attempts to capitalize on their presence in southern Iraq for a 'freelance' fostering of ties with Iran, one of Washington's most implacable enemies." The article also discusses the tension between Paul Bremer and his British counterpart, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, by quoting a provisional authority insider who said, "There was an understanding in the CPA that Bremer and Greenstock didn't like each other. It personified the differences between the two views. Greenstock thought Bremer was naive; Bremer thought Greenstock was pursuing the wrong policies."
Read the whole thing here.
Posted by steve @ 12:25 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, May 20, 2004 HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU BE WRONG BEFORE EVERYONE STOPS LISTENING?: When you're a member of the environmentalist movement, your credibility never suffers no matter how many times you're wrong. A case in point is Paul Ehrlich. He has a new book out arguing that -- wait for it! -- humanity is standing at the edge of an environmental disaster.
Environmentalist Paul Ehrlich has proved himself to be a stupendously bad prophet. In 1968 he declared: "The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s, the world will undergo famines--hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death." They didn't. Indeed, a "green revolution" nearly tripled the world's food supply. In 1975, he predicted that, by the mid-1980s, "mankind will enter a genuine age of scarcity," in which "accessible supplies of many key minerals will be facing depletion." Far from it. Between 1975 and 2000 the World Bank's commodity price index for minerals and metals fell by nearly 50%. In other words, we abound in "key minerals." Naturally, Mr. Ehrlich has won a MacArthur Foundation genius award--and a Heinz Award for the environment. (Yes, that Heinz: Teresa Heinz Kerry is chairman of the award's sponsoring philanthropy.)
So why pay him any notice? Because he is a reverse Cassandra. In "The Illiad," the prophetess Cassandra makes true predictions and no one believes her; Mr. Ehrlich makes false predictions and they are widely believed. The gloomier he is and the faultier he proves to be as a prophet, the more honored he becomes, even in his own country.
I still remember back in the mid-1980s watching a movie in a high school geography class that warned of the impending collapse of the world. Ehrlich was one of the 'experts' in the movie who warned that everything was going to go to hell in just a few short years. When were his predictions to have come to pass? Why the late 1970s. Mr. Stewart unintentionally taught me the value of the environmentalist creed that day, probably the best thing he ever did for me.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:36 PM EST [Link]
~ THE WEDDING PARTY STORY: The Belmont Club, who are rapidly becoming a must-read blog has a very interesting take on the alleged American bombing of an Iraqi wedding party.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:24 PM EST [Link]
~ IMAGINE HAD LIMBAUGH SAID THE SAME THING ABOUT CLINTON: Talon News reports that a Seattle talk show hosted fronted by liberal Mike Webb featured some interesting comments about George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld.
A listener to The Mike Webb Show, which airs from 10:00 p.m.-1 a.m. on 710 AM KIRO in Seattle, Washington, informed Talon News that Webb had "called for the death of President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld for 'war crimes.'" The listener said that he was "very upset at this."
And people say Republicans had a pathological hatred of Bill Clinton? Even among the more outlandish statements and claims conservative pundits and talk show hosts made about the Man from Hope, death threats were never among them. I guess the left is more tolerant.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:13 PM EST [Link]
~ IRAN IS THE SOVIET UNION, CIRCA 1989: An interesting series has been running on the National Review Online, particularly today where Lt. General Thomas McInerney (Ret.) & Maj. General Paul Vallely (Ret.) discuss Iran. The two describe Iran as being similar to the Soviet Union in 1989, a comparison that rings true in my mind.
Iran reminds us of the Soviet Union circa 1989. It is a large country with a huge population (more than sixty-eight million), and it should be a rich country, sitting as it does on huge reserves of oil. The country's wealth, however, does not make it down to the majority of Iranians. Instead, approximately 40 percent of Iranians live in poverty, because the clerics who control Iranian political and economic life siphon off much of the national income for their own uses.
The Constitution of the Soviet Union promised numerous rights to its citizens. Likewise, the Iranian constitution presents a façade of political freedom. It has an elected parliament and a democratically elected president. The catch, however, is that the constitution also vests all ultimate power in an nonelected body of six clerics and six religious lawyers, the Guardian Council, and the post of Supreme Ruler, a cleric chosen by another nonelected body, the House of Experts.
For many years, the Islamic Republic apparently was popular within Iran. However, over time, many Iranians have come to oppose the theocratic nature of the Iranian state and resent the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of the mullahs, their families, and their cronies. Among the youth of Iran there are many who find Western political forms and even elements of Western culture more attractive than the political and cultural construct offered by the mullahs. In fact, judging from recent political developments in Iran, it appears that the rule of the mullahs survives only because they manipulate Iran's political process. Democratic reform won't happen naturally in Iran — because the mullahs probably will block it, using their constitutional power and, if that fails to stem the tide of democratization, the quasi-official paramilitary forces at their command, their own versions of the militias and "fedayeen" of Ba'athist Iraq. It cannot be denied, however, that the people of Iran are ready and eager for it. The broadly popular Iranian movement in favor of democracy deserves our support for three simple reasons: the Iranian people want to be free, they deserve to be free, and the Web of Terror will greatly diminish when they are free.
They also discuss North Korea and Syria.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:09 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: On Tuesday the Canadian Supreme Court upheld government restrictions on how much third party groups can spend during federal elections, essentially limiting free speech during campaigns. If you live in Kitchener-Waterloo I wrote a piece that appeared today on the Insight page of The Record. You can also read it by clicking "More".
[more]
Posted by steve @ 03:02 PM EST [Link]
~ KERRY'S HOUSE OF KETCHUP: Another week, another collection of Kerry-isms
Posted by steve @ 03:01 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 IF I WAS A JERK: I'd tell journalists to go find a Bible and read Galatians, chapter 6 verse 7. Oh alright, I know journos are too lazy to actually research stories so here's a link for them.
Glenn Reynolds has an interesting post from a journalist who is whining that his profession's credibility has fallen so far that the implications are 'seismic'.
Boo hoo.
I feel no sympathy for the profession -- which at one time in my life I wanted to pursue -- because they created the situation for the slide in credibility. They are the ones who pursue agendas, who spin their stories, who tell only one side of the story, and for whom the truth is merely that which reinforces their worldviews. If the vast heartland of America despises you, it's only your fault. Your master used to be the truth...now it's just the New York Times.
And the best thing? We no longer need you as badly as we did before.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:44 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-RULE IN IRAQ ALREADY UNDERWAY: Good story in today's Christian Science Monitor about the increasing amount of self-rule in Iraq's government. The paper's story focuses on the Ministry of Health.
On March 28, this Iraqi ministry became the first to be granted full control by US authorities, who celebrated its turnaround after "more than 30 years of neglect and isolation." Ministers now have control of eight of Iraq's 25 ministries, with more being transferred each week as officials gear up for the June 30 handover of sovereignty.
Health officials like to weigh their spending today against that of Saddam Hussein, whose 2002 health budget of $16 million for 25 million Iraqis amounted to just 64 cents per person. The 2004 budget is $948 million, with an additional $793 million coming directly from the US - all told, a 100-fold increase.
The influx is making a difference at the Al Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital in northwest Baghdad, where large projects are focused on revamping a steam-pipe system critical to sterilization, improving sewer networks, and installing new boilers.
Some $3.5 million has been set aside for the projects, due to begin in a couple of months. The health ministry is spending more than $30,000 per month for maintenance at this facility alone. Monthly salaries have shot from $5 to between $200 and $500.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:17 AM EST [Link]
~ MEDALS FOR ALL OF THEM: Every soldier who joins the army learns how to use their bayonet but few actually use them in combat. Well, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders showed why no training is ever wasted.
British soldiers killed 35 Iraqi attackers in the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago.
The fearless Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stormed rebel positions after being ambushed and pinned down.Despite being outnumbered five to one, they suffered only three minor wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting near the city of Amara.
The battle erupted after Land Rovers carrying 20 Argylls came under attack on a highway.
After radioing for back-up, they fixed bayonets and charged at 100 rebels using tactics learned in drills.
That is so cool and brave that I have nothing clever to say.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:11 AM EST [Link]
~ NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Kelly Jane Torrance on the death of the short story.
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 12:02 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, May 18, 2004 ALL GAY MARRIAGE, ALL THE TIME: Some Freepers thought my recent American Spectator article was too easy on Gov. Mitt Romney and gave him more credit than he deserved for his opposition to gay marriage in MA. For a tougher stance, read Hadley Arkes' piece in NRO.
Arkes makes some good points, but at the end of the day Romney went further in his opposition to Goodridge than most of the rest of the state political establishment. Is he obligated to become a political martyr on gay marriage when so few other politicians and voters are willing to take more aggressive action with him? Especially given the fact that a lot of his voters simply want the whole issue to go away? I don't know if I have a good answewr for that.
One of the most eloquent supporters of gay marriage, Jonathan Rauch of the National Journal, has a piece posted over at Reason making the case for taking a chance on same-sex nuptials. He has published a new book on the subject that is guaranteed to get a lot of attention among people interested in this debate.
Finally, my report in the May 24 issue of The American Conservative on gays in the U.S. diplomatic mission to Bucharest and how the taxpayers are already underwriting the de facto civil unions of government employees abroad is now online.
Posted by antle @ 11:45 PM EST [Link]
~ THE DAY IS OVER: And civilization has yet to ground to a standstill. I'm sure you're wondering why this blog didn't see fit to post anything about the first day of gay marriage in Massachusetts. We did post an article by Jim Antle this week but outside of that we've been quiet.
Well, I can't speak for anyone else but I have to admit that I can see the merits of both sides of the debate. I think that conservatives are right that we haven't properly debated the full ramifications of what gay marriage represents to society. I also understand why those with what we euphamistically refer to as 'alternative lifestyles' feel so strongly about having the ability to be married and aren't satisfied by the stop gap notion of civil unions.
I guess like Jim said in his essay we'll only really be able see how this transforms society in the decades to come. Either the institution of marriage will be further eroded or not much will change.
It's a bit hard to talk about an issue in any authorative way when you can't really make up your mind. At any rate, Brian Tiemann has an interesting post looking at both sides of the issue.
Posted by steve @ 03:08 AM EST [Link]
Monday, May 17, 2004 STICK TO GOSSIPING ABOUT TELEVISION: I know I have no shot of ever placing a freelance piece with the Toronto Star because of my politics so I feel free to basically say anything I want about that rag. Oh wait, I just said it. If you want to know why that newspaper isn't worth reading, a good indication is when they take a second rate gossip/TV columnist named Antonia Zerbisias and let her write third-rate op-ed pieces.
The latest example came Sunday with a piece mocking warbloggers for being so quiet as the situation in Iraq supposedly deteriorates into chaos...you know, like it's been doing for the past year or so.
The warblog drums are growing silent.
They're either running out of time, or money, or steam — or the conviction that Operation Iraqi Freedom was going to be a cakewalk in the sand.
If the above makes no sense to you, then you have not been paying attention to the chest-thumping chaterati of the cybersphere, a post 9/11 class of might-is-right and right-is-might wordsmiths who rode the "War on terror" wave with their warmongering web logs.
But now, with the news getting more dire, the quag more mired and the cost of war ever higher, the warbloggers find themselves on the wrong side of history. And so some of them are putting down their mice and putting up a white flag.
Well, it's true, some bloggers have felt themselves chastened after the problems in Fallujah and Najaf, the controversy at Abu Ghraib and the continuing attacks on coalition forces in the Sunni triangle. Hell, some days Andrew Sullivan sounds like he's about to drop his chad for John Kerry in November. Prominent pundits like David Brookes have publicly announced that they were wrong when they argued that Iraq would be a glorious first (and easy) step in bringing democracy to the Middle East. The media thinks it was right when it was predicting quagmire (insert obligatory Vietnam reference here).
Well, they're all wrong. Zerbisias is wrong. Those chastened bloggers are wrong. People like Brookes are wrong. The media is wrong. Who is right? Well, I still think it's the warbloggers. David Janes says it best (In his comments section):
Well fair enough. We're advocates for a position. The opposite position we get to hear every day, just turn on the TV or listen to the radio. That position that you're hearing is, IMHO, 90% XXXXXXXX. Everything's a diaster, blah blah blah. The funny thing is the definition of "diaster" is "whatever the situation is today". 14 months ago we were hearing about Stalingrads and millions of Mogidishus (however the hell you spell that), millions of refugees, 100000s of civilian deaths; 2.5 years ago I was hearing about how Afghanistan was the crucible that western armies have been crushed within for countless millenia.
It's also fair to critisize the "circle of re-enforcement" of the warblogosphere -- some might call that community though -- but there's a lot more to it than that. If it wasn't for the warblogosphere, you would never hear these failures of media analysis _ever_ be critisized, except perhaps in some minor technical journal a decade hence.
Remember 4 weeks ago? The "general insurrection" in Iraq where the Americans have finally united the Sunnis and Shi'as, blah blah blah blah blah? The guy on Global TV was practically ready to XXXX in his pants, he was so excited that the Yanks were about to get their commupance. Then one day they stopped talking about it. Tonight you can turn to Channel 3 (or whatever it is in Kingston) at 6:30 and they'll tell you about the "worsening situation in Iraq".
Despite what Zerbisias 'writes', the warbloggers are still right and the media is still wrong. Is the situation in Iraq to our liking? Of course not, but anyone who expected an easy post-war ride was a fool to begin with. Iraq is not post-war Germany or Japan and the dynamics of the Middle East are different from those in post-war Europe. The coalition is going to take casualities, reverses will occasionally occur and people on all sides will continue to die. I'm not happy about that but I only have to look at the history of reporting after WWII (have you ever seen the 1945 headline that announced the Allies won the war but were losing the peace in Germany?) to know that the media is simply incapable of looking at a situation over the long-term.
When it comes to accurate reporting on what's going on in Iraq, I don't look at the mainstream media for guidance. They have consistently spun the war and the aftermath for their own purposes and people like Zerbisias are merely their barely talented pundit foot soldiers. It's the warblogger community which has repeatedly fact checked the media and corrected many of their most egregious examples of slanted reporting.
In essence, however, what seems to bug Zerbisias the most is that she and her heroes, people like Paul Krugman, Robert Fisk, Maureen Dowd and Heather Mallick are being taken to the mat by people who realize them for what they are: wrong. They are wrong so often that it simply becomes tiresome to correct them. Maybe that's why the 'guns have fallen silent' Antonia.
Posted by steve @ 05:26 PM EST [Link]
~ OTHER CANADIANS INVOLVED IN THE OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL?: We all know that one Canadian, Arthur Millholland, president of Oilexco Ltd., appeared on a list of people who allegedly received oil vouchers/allocations from the Hussein regieme in exchange for kickbacks. According to Canada Free Press, the list of canucks could be longer.
Canadians are also said to have made oil deals with Saddam, and ties with the Canadian Company involved go all the way up to Prime Minister Paul Martin’s office.
A man called Benon Sevan may be the UN kingpin in the oil-for-food program.
In the Canadian connection, it’s a man called Paul Desmaris. Desmaris is the largest shareholder and director of TotalFinaElf, the largest corporation in France, which held tens of billions of dollars in contracts with the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
And who is Desmaris' son married to? Why none other than Jean Chretien's daughter!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:42 PM EST [Link]
~ BIG NEWS OUT OF IRAQ: That's what you get when you take care of your niece for the day...you miss two big stories out of Iraq. The first is the tragic murder of Izzedine Salim, head of the Iraqi interim council, and the second is the discovery of an artillery shell with sarin nerve gas.
If it is sarin, and we've all heard about the false-positives before, I'm sure people will brush it off as a lone artillery shell. But who manufactures nerve gas for just one shell?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:19 PM EST [Link]
Sunday, May 16, 2004 BOY, WAS I WRONG ABOUT ENSIGN: One of the professional harzards of political commentary is that sometimes events prove you wrong in a pretty spectacular fashion.
In 2000, I predicted that the newly elected Sen. John Ensign (R-Nevada) might emerge as a leading constitutional conservative in the Senate. Looks like I was wrong.
Instead of exercising leadership on behalf of restoring constitutional government, Ensign is leading the charge to use the power of the federal government to get Hollywood to show less smoking in movies.
I'd like someone to show me where in the Constitution this power is enumerated. Via The Agitator.
Posted by antle @ 03:02 PM EST [Link]
~ THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR SLEEPING IN: Not only did I sleep through church, I missed this exchange on "Meet the Press" where one of Secretary of State Colin Powell's press aides attempted to cut off the interview under tough questioning. According to the portion of the transcript posted on Drudge, Powell interceded and overruled the aide.
Read on.
Posted by antle @ 02:42 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, May 15, 2004 MORE PHOTOS AND FILM FROM ABU GRHAIB: Except it isn't what you think it is. Roger Simon reports that al-Hurra has obtained pictures and film from the days of Saddam Hussein's reign and they are truly horrific.
These are all acts performed by Saddam's soldiers and police in uniform. I am not sure what Al Ahurra will broadcast, but they will be culled from among the following. I am told that when their people saw these tapes, they were unable to watch them.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:47 PM EST [Link]
~ IT WOULD MAKE FOR AN INTERESTING ELECTION: (via Brothers Judd Blog) The NY Times reports that several prominent Democrats are continuing in their campaign to recruit Sen. John McCain to be John Kerry's running mate.
The enthusiasm of Democrats for Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, is so high that even some who have been mentioned as possible Kerry running mates — including Senator Bill Nelson of Florida and Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska senator — are spinning scenarios about a "unity government," effectively giving Mr. Kerry a green light to reach across the political aisle and extend an offer.
"Senator McCain would not have to leave his party," Mr. Kerrey said. "He could remain a Republican, would be given some authority over selection of cabinet people. The only thing he would have to do is say, `I'm not going to appoint any judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade,' " the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, which Mr. McCain has said he opposes.
I don't think these Democrats (and a lot of Republicans for that matter) realize how conservative John McCain is. Sure, he was responsible for the most recent campaign finance reform but on other issues he's solidly right, whether it's abortion, gun control, military or spending. How exactly would a liberal like Kerry co-exist with a conservative like McCain on the campaign trail? In other words, how do you get these guys to read off the same page when they're reading different books? They may be really good friends but I really don't see that being enough to paper over some big differences.
Unless, of course, McCain is simply interested in being vice president and will sell himself out ideologically to do it.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:39 PM EST [Link]
~ HOW QUICKLY THEY GROW: It's been a while since I posted a picture of my niece so here goes with one that I took just a few minutes ago:
Who says only Lileks can do stuff like this?
Posted by steve @ 04:42 PM EST [Link]
~ MUSLIMS ANGERED BY GENE SIMMONS: Boy, there's an intro I never thought I'd write. Gene Simmons got Australian Muslims angry earlier this week when he refered to their culture as 'vile' and blasted the treatment of women in Islam.
"This is a vile culture and if you think for a second that it's willing to just live in the sands of God's armpit, you've got another thing coming," Simmons said during an interview on Melbourne's 3AW radio Thursday. "They want to come and live right where you live and they think that you're evil."
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:34 PM EST [Link]
Friday, May 14, 2004 YOU HOPE AND YOU DREAM: But you don't let yourself believe that it can actually happen. Today, it finally did. Liberal MP Sheila Copps has announced that she is leaving politics and will not run in the next federal election.
Unfortunately Copps did raise the spectre of running sometime in the future.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:58 PM EST [Link]
~ HELP RUMMY OUT: From The Federalist (04-19):
In his latest election-year stunt to undermine the Bush administration -- and our national resolve to finish the job in Iraq -- John Kerry launched a petition calling for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Kerry claims that Secretary Rumsfeld should be held personally responsible for the actions of a few soldiers in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, who humiliated a group of the captive terrorists in their search for "actionable intelligence." Kerry claims his petition received about 250,000 signatures.
By way of reply, PatriotPetitions.US, the nation's leading public opinion advocate for U.S. national security and sovereignty, released its petition in support of Secretary Rumsfeld, who has proven to be a very capable leader of DoD. This petition received more than 75,000 signatures in its first day, but we have a long way to go to catch up to Kerry's campaign.
If you have not already done so, please act now to support Secretary Rumsfeld.
Sign the petition here.
Posted by steve @ 01:46 AM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: Gay marriage is coming to my native Massachusetts on Monday, May 17. I have a piece on what this looming deadline has so far wrought running in The American Spectator Online.
Posted by antle @ 12:12 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, May 13, 2004 AMERICA AND ISRAEL'S ENEMIES ARE THE SAME: Jerusalem Post editorial page editor Saul Singer, who doesn't publish nearly enough of my work, says in an interview with Washington Jewish Week that Israel and the U.S. are fighting the same enemy.
"They [the two battles] should be understood as a single conflict because the nature and motives of the enemies of both the U.S. and Israel are similar," says Saul Singer, who will be in the area later this month to speak at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference.
"Israel's opponents whom we are fighting now are trying to destroy Israel in the same way that al-Qaeda is trying to destroy the U.S.," says the writer, who also will be speaking at Kesher Israel, the Georgetown Synagogue on May 22.
If you're in Georgetown that day, it's worth going to see him.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:47 PM EST [Link]
~ LAUGH DAMNIT: Have you checked out ESR's cartoon page recently? We've got Chris Muir's Day by Day, Ted Goff's Mostly Business, Charles Stouff's Top Secret, Dan Lacey's Faithmouse and others. Don't just anguish over politics, laugh as well.
Check it out.
Posted by steve @ 03:19 PM EST [Link]
~ THEY ONLY PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE HER ARE HER OWN PEOPLE: Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, in town to make a speech, was yesterday boycotted by Iranians in the Washington, D.C. area.
Ebadi had to make her speech just for a selected audience of 5,000 individuals filing only half of the Maryland College University's conference hall while the WDC area's Iranian community is estimated to be strong of more than 100,000 souls. It's to note that many of the Iranian participants were transferred by the so-called Iranian or Iranian-American entities which are seeking to use Ebadi's speech as a propaganda tool in line with their policy of legitimizing the Islamic regime. Many curious Americans and especially Arabs and non Iranian Muslims were part of the participants.
Despite the selection, tens of participants used the occasion in order to show their opposition to the Islamic regime by singing the banned National Anthem, "Oh Iran..!" during Ebadi's speech while other asked loud questions about her true agenda. The protest was made in reaction to the policy of the organizers to avoid live oral questions from the one labeled as being the "voice of the Iranian people" but accused by many as being the "mouthpiece the Islamic republic's foreign policy".
She sure seems to have squandered all of that goodwill very quickly. The problem is that westerners have yet to learn that she isn't the force for tolerance that they think she is.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:10 PM EST [Link]
~ WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CENSORSHIP?: First Michael Moore claims that Disney refused to distribute his 'documentary' Fahrenheit 9/11. Then a few days later he admits that he knew a year ago that his deal with Miramax didn't include distribution. Now it seems that Disney will be allowing the distribution of his propaganda.
Miramax spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said Disney had agreed to sell rights to Moore's film to Miramax co-chief executives Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob Weinstein, who could then go out and find a new distributor.
A Disney spokeswoman, however, characterized the parties as still being in negotiations.
If this deal falls through I eagerly await Moore's version of events.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:35 AM EST [Link]
~ I'M ALREADY RUNNING OUT OF KETCHUP RELATED JOKES: Another week, another Kerry's House of Ketchup is up over at The American Mind.
Posted by steve @ 01:23 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, May 12, 2004 DO THEY HAVE A MERIT BADGE FOR SURVIVING TYRANNY?: Oh those evil Americans...first they deposed Saddam Hussein, now they're helping out Iraqi boyscouts!
Often meeting furtively, with no communication with fellow councils throughout the country, Iraqi scouts remained active despite oppression under Saddam Hussein's regime and subsequent war with Iraq — a miracle say Arab scouting representatives.
"The (scouting) movement never died in Iraq, and that is something no one knew," said Malek Gabr, deputy secretary of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Now, scouts in Iraq are facing a resurrection with the help of an American, who has sparked a scout reunion of sorts while at the same time putting together an organization of about 350 former scouts among U.S. coalition members based in the "Green Zone" in Baghdad.
Former Navy commander Chip Beck said contacts he made in the city informed him that local Iraqi scouting councils in the 18 provinces had survived attempts by Saddam to cut off sources of funding, meeting places and communication between brother and sister organizations. The scouts were alive and waiting for a chance to resurrect themselves, he said.
Does American imperialist tyranny know no bounds?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:03 PM EST [Link]
~ OR HOW ABOUT THIS?: Okay, if you find Larkin too elevated for your taste, why not this excerpt from The Hardy Boys Casefiles No. 1, "Dead on Target" (1987):
Apparently, Walker was putting on quite a show. Words and sometimes whole phrases of his speech came floating up-things like "I refuse to be intimidated..."
Joe [Hardy] smiled. "You tell 'em, Phil, baby," he muttered.
A little later, he heard the phrase "Freedom from Fear." That drew lots of applause.
Some of the people below chanted, "U.S.A, U.S.A., U.S.A."
Joe stopped. If things had happened differently, Iola would probably be down there, leading those chants. She'd been so up for the rally, so excited over the chance to meet Philip Walker in the flesh.
Iola...From below came the words, "A brave girl, brutally murdered by terrorists..."
Joe spun away from the railing. Already the candidate was finding a way to use her in his speeches.
[Then an exciting page later]
But Joe was at a perfect angle to see what was there-a mini-Uzi in a shoulder rig.
Joe ducked behind one of the towers that had been built for the spotlights, hiding behind the thick electrical cables before Al-Rousasa spotted him.
The terrorist leaned over the railing, staring down into the central well. He kept one hand in his jacket pocket, but the other slipped slowly inside the jacket. Joe's mouth went dry.
Al-Rousasa needed only a couple of seconds to empty the twelve-bullet clip into Philip Walker and the crowd below.
How could Joe cross nearly a hundred feet of thin air in time to stop him?
I'll leave it at that spine-tingling cliffhanger.
It's amazing how many elements were anticipated by that multiperson writing team known as "Franklin W. Dixon" way back in 1987. A presidential candidate with the moniker of "Walker" who's hated and feared for being strong on terrorism, an Arab terrorist group gearing up to assassinate him (in the book, they're oh-so creatively named the Assassins, "started as a bunch of fanatics in the days of the Crusades...in the business of terrorism ever since-almost a thousand years of experience;" the network of intelligence agents sent to thwart their devious schemes is called..."The Network"), and of course, the terrorist-assassin sent to do the deed codenamed, Al-Rousasa, "The Bullet," because "they say whenever the Bullet is aimed, the target is dead" (the first time I read that, even at my young and innocent age, I thought, "Wait a minute. Isn't it a gun that you're suppose to aim?").
Posted by Barton @ 04:28 PM EST [Link]
~ ARAB REPORTING OF THE BERG MURDER: (via Instapundit) The Arab world's media is being very cautious in how it's treating the video and news of Nick Berg's murder by al-Qaida.
Opinion makers condemned the execution of Nick Berg, a US businessman who had been kidnapped in Iraq in April. The main pan-Arab satellite television channels broadcast an edited version of the video, but omitted to show the decapitation itself.
"This shows how base and vile those who wear the robe of Islam have become," said Abdullah Sahar, a political scientist at Kuwait University.
The video was released on the internet yesterday, but appeared too late for columnists in the Middle East to comment. But many Arabs said today that the grisly execution, attributed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, surpassed the US military's abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, which has been the top story for the past 10 days in the Middle East.
The consensus seems to be that the Berg murder has taken the life out of the Abu Ghraib story.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:24 PM EST [Link]
~ LITERARY EXCERPT: Not completely apt for the present situation, as you shall see, but relevant enough for something that could potentially happen-
"Homage to a Government"
Next year we are to bring the soldiers home
For lack of money, and it is all right.
Places they guarded, or kept orderly,
Must guard themselves, and keep themselves orderly.
We want the money for ourselves at home
Instead of working. And this is all right.It's hard to say who wanted it to happen,
But now it's been decided nobody minds.
The places are a long way off, not here,
Which is all right, and from what we hear
The soldiers there only made trouble happen.
Next year we shall be easier in our minds.Next year we shall be living in a country
That brought its soldiers home for lack of money.
The statues will be standing in the same
Tree-muffled squares, and look nearly the same.
Our children will not know it's a different country.
All we can hope to leave them now is money.-Philip Larkin (1969)
The government in question is the first Labour administration of Harold Wilson and the "homage" is referring, of course, to Wilson's accelerated decolonization policies, which many conservatives (such as Larkin) felt were more like "cut and run" policies that left the colonized peoples completely unprepared for self-governance and led to the subsequent chaos we see today in so much of the Third World.
Posted by Barton @ 03:48 PM EST [Link]
~ PETE STARK. TOUGH GUY: Last week Daniel Dow sent a letter to congressman Pete Stark protesting his vote against a House resolution condemning the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. He didn't think he'd get a response...and certainly not the one that he actually did. It pretty well confirms what you've always thought your elected representatives think about their constituents.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:14 AM EST [Link]
~ WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE?: The world is flipping out over prisoner abuse in Iraq but apparently sex abuse by UN workers in Congo don't rate much anger.
The United Nations is setting up a team to investigate reports that UN personnel sexually abused civilians, including minors, in a volatile northeastern Congolese town, UN officials said Tuesday.
There are several thousand UN troops deployed in Bunia to stem fighting between rival tribal factions and "some elements" of the force are alleged to have sexually abused Congolese citizens, said Leocadia Salmeron, a spokesman for the UN mission in Congo.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:59 AM EST [Link]
~ DID ABU GRHAIB HAPPEN BECAUSE OF JESSICA LYNCH?: According to an AP report, the abuse at the Abu Grhaib prison may have happened because the 320th Military Police Battalion wanted to settle the score with prisoners they believed raped Pvt. Jessica Lynch during the war.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:57 AM EST [Link]
~ THE BLACKLIST IS ALIVE AND WELL: Thomas Sipos sent this to me a couple of days ago and unfortunately I haven't gotten around to blogging this yet. In a story he wrote for his web site Hollywood Investigator, Sipos investigates the case of a conservative filmmaker who made a small indie movie about Islamic terrorists, something that seems to have gotten him into a little trouble.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:56 AM EST [Link]
~ ANSWERING TED RALL: The P.R.I.D.E. Institute has written an open letter to Ted Rall over his recent cartoon concerning Pat Tillman's death. You can hear the letter here and sign a petition boycotting any organization that publishes his work here.
Posted by steve @ 01:40 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 I WOULDN'T EXACTLY CALL THIS DEFINITIVE: Laurie Mylroie reports over at FrontPageMagazine.com that it has been definitively established that Mohammed Atta met with Iraqi intelligence before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Important new information has come from Edward Jay Epstein about Mohammed Atta’s contacts with Iraqi intelligence. The Czechs have long maintained that Atta, leader of the 9/11 hijackers in the United States, met with Ahmed al-Ani, an Iraqi intelligence official, posted to the Iraqi embassy in Prague. As Epstein now reports, Czech authorities have discovered that al-Ani’s appointment calendar shows a scheduled meeting on April 8, 2001 with a "Hamburg student."
I certainly think it's worthy of more investigation but I'm not going to proclaim this as proof that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11...yet.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:21 PM EST [Link]
~ AMERICAN KILLED BY AL-QAIDA: A video was released today apparently showing the beheading of American hostage Nick Berg by members of al-Qaida. The execution is allegedly for the prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib.
Read on. You can read a profile about Mr. Berg over at the Philadelphia Inquirer here.
Posted by steve @ 04:09 PM EST [Link]
~ LET THEM EAT CAKE
A Chicago city councilwoman thinks she deserves special police protection just because she is an "elected official".
What a bunch of elitist, hypocritical nonsense. This woman thinks she needs armed protection, while the rest of the law-abiding citizens are prohibited from arming themselves for protection. Marie Antoinette would be proud.
Read it at CNSNews.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 10:15 AM EST [Link]
~ I CAN UNDERSTAND: Andrew Sullivan write Monday night on how blogging can move from being fun to being a job.
It can become grueling. I just checked how many words I have written for the blog this year and it's already approaching 200,000 words. If I wrote four books in five months, I'd rightly give myself a vacation. And I'd be rolling in it. But, as it is, I'm already figuring out what to say for tomorrow's blog, absorbing the news in this terribly grueling time, and writing (last week) five separate columns/reviews. And I've been at this now for almost four years - almost every day. I begin to wonder what the half-life of a blogger is.
I can totally dig what Andrew is saying. There are days when I don't want to turn on the computer or watch the news because I know I should be commenting on this blog because...well, that's what the blog is for. It's an addendum to the magazine to make it as current as possible. And yet there are days...sometimes an entire week, when the blog (and the magazine for that matter) stops being fun and becomes what James Lileks recently referred to as a "blogligation". This is the 3234th post on this blog (4768 when you count in the old version of the blog) to which you can add 50 weeks of ESR every year -- totaling about 4200 articles from myself and many other authors -- for the past number of years.
That's a lot of work...and a lot missed sleep, gulped down meals and bleary eyes. And I'm not Glenn Reynolds, Andrew Sullivan or James Lileks who are far busier than I am.
As a blogger (who incidently quit her popular blog) said a couple of years ago, appreciate this. It's free but it's not guarunteed.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:51 AM EST [Link]
Monday, May 10, 2004 SIR, YES SIR!: As millions, if not more, of men can testify, nothing makes you prouder of yourself and your peers then military training. A lot of exercise, marching and training can turn even the biggest slacker into a man who stands straight up, aware of who he now is and what he is capable of. It's the one thing that people who never serve can't fully appreciate.
Over at Iraq the Model, Mohammed talked to one of his relatives recently who joined the new Iraqi army being trained by the United States.
“But what are you doing for a living now? I hope you’ve found a job”. I asked. He smiled as he said, "I volunteered in the new army". “Really! I thought you’d never wear a uniform after that terrible experience” he replied "Oh no, this is entirely different". I said, “ I'm sure it is, but who convinced you to do so!? And when did that happen?” "A friend of mine who volunteered before I did told me some nice stuff that encouraged me to do the same, so I volunteered about a couple of months ago". He replied. “So tell me about it, are you happy with this job?” I asked. "You can’t imagine! It’s nothing that we’ve learned or knew about the military life". He answered. “I expected it to be so, but can you tell me about it” I asked and I didn’t have to ask anymore, as my relative started talking excitedly without a stop.
Be proud my friend. Read the whole thing.
Posted by steve @ 06:51 PM EST [Link]
~ HAS ANYONE EVER READ IT?: I got into a a bit of a debate with the editor of a metro newspaper this weekend about the Bush administration. One of the clubs he used was the Patriot Act, legislation so evil that apparently Hitler has returned to life.
The Wall Street Journal has a good piece today by Michael Mukasey asking if any of these critics have actually read the Patriot Act.
Read on. (Annoying free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 03:51 PM EST [Link]
~ WHO'S STUPID NOW?: This weekend Jim blogged about the study that 'proved' those states that voted Democrat in 2000 had higher IQs on average. It was a hoax that so many left-wingers fell for that you have to wonder if it was a reverse IQ test. Just to update, Steve Sailer's complete round-up of posts regarding this can be found here.
Posted by steve @ 03:37 PM EST [Link]
~ HE'D GO BACK: Fox News interviewed Thomas Hamill who says he'd go back to Iraq to carry on his work in helping to rebuild the country. You have to admire him.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:49 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, May 9, 2004 THE OTHER SIDE OF ABU GHRAIB: Interesting post written by someone who talked to a doctor who worked recently at the Baghdad prison making the news.
Posted by steve @ 05:14 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: This is more of a vanity self-promo alert but if you live in Hong Kong feel free to check the book section of the South China Morning Post to read a review of Joachim Fest's latest book by yours truly.
Posted by steve @ 04:24 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, May 8, 2004 DUMB AND DUMBER: As a conservative, it always irritates me when commentary from right-of-center pundits reads like self-parody. This trend has been particularly pronounced during the Iraq war.
Exhibit A: Kathleen Parker's column suggesting that Abu Ghraib is the result of American troops... watching too many Farrelly brothers movies. Seriously.
This is particularly noteworthy, because I never thought I would have occasion to link to the Woonsocket Call, a local rag published near my hometown. Via Hit and Run.
Posted by antle @ 02:09 PM EST [Link]
~ SMARTER THAN THOU: A hoax has been spreading around the Internet as a number of liberal blogs have linked to a study purporting to show that the blue states (which voted for Al Gore in 2000) generally have higher IQs than the red states (which went for Dubya). Steve Sailer has been all over this, pointing out that these numbers are fraudulent.
But it is interesting that this "blue is better than red" preening, begun shortly after the election by Paul Begala, is continuing. Some people seem to have a lot invested in the notion that liberal Democrats are inherently superior, both morally and intellectually, to conservative Republicans. As Sailer and others have noted, this also demonstrates the left's inconsistency when it comes to IQ. Liberals have taken the lead in opposing IQ tests as culturally biased, savaging books like The Bell Curve and minimizing the significance of IQ - except when IQ can ostensibly be used to show that liberals are smarter than conservatives or Democratic presidents are smarter than Republican presidents. IQ testing in schools bad; studies claiming to show that George W. Bush has the IQ of a chimpanzee good.
Posted by antle @ 01:55 PM EST [Link]
Friday, May 7, 2004 THE MEDIA IS DOING A GOOD JOB: If you believe the media's responsbility is to paint the worst picture it possibly can, it's coverage of Iraq is stellar. According to a new poll, half of Americans think it wasn't worth going to war in Iraq while a majority believe the situation is bad.
Well done!
In an attempt to provide a balanced view, check out these pictures of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. You won't be seeing these in the cover of the New York Times.
Posted by steve @ 06:50 PM EST [Link]
~ I GUESS THIS IS WHY WE CAN TRUST THE U.N.: Sorry for the lack of posting today. My back is giving me major problems today so I'm spending most of my time in bed. At any rate, the NY Post reports that the U.N. is continuing its efforts to silence people who may have information about the Oil for Food scandal. I'm shocked.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:44 PM EST [Link]
~ IS YOUR NEWSPAPER REPORTING THIS?: I just this email written by a National Guard medic serving in Iraq and I think it paints a different picture of what's going on over there:
As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home. And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)
* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.
* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.
* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.
* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
* An interim constitution has been signed.
* Girls are allowed to attend school.
* Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.Don't believe for one-second that these people do not want us there. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.
Ray Reynolds, SFC
Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion
The letter has been verified by Snopes.com to be real.
Posted by steve @ 03:16 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, May 6, 2004 MORE POP-CULTURE RAMBLING: So I was watching the new Paris Hilton video - no, not that video, a rap music video that she of the "Simple Life" appears in - and I was struck by something.
Here is someone who is not an actress, not a singer, not especially talented in any easily discernible area who is famous mainly for being famous. And her biggest claim to fame, aside from that other video, is that she is a "party girl." Yet for someone who goes to all the right parties and frequents all the best clubs, she really doesn't even dance that spectacularly.
Maybe if she wasn't appearing alongside choreographed professional dancers in the video, I'd have a different impression of her rug-cutting abilities. But I can't escape the impression that in tens years, our Paris is going to make the members of the Partridge Family and the cast of "Diffr'nt Strokes" look like models of celebrity longevity.
Posted by antle @ 10:59 PM EST [Link]
~ MAKING FRIENDS, FOR THE WORLD TO SEE: I have never been more than an occasional watcher of "Friends," so I can't say that I'm particularly impacted by the series' end. In my opinion, the show doesn't hold a candle to "MASH," "Cheers," "All in the Family," "Seinfeld" or even "Everybody Loves Raymond."
But this piece in Slate is an interesting look at a reason for the show's success. Among twenty- and thirtysomethings I know, including myself, there is an awful lot of hanging out with friends. In fact, many of us continue in a lifestyle very similar to college (albeit more restrained and mature) for up to a decade of our post-collegiate lives. One of the criticisms of "Friends" has always been that a show where everyone just sort of hangs out all the time yet still lives a comfortable lifestyle just isn't realistic. Perhaps in other ways the show was somewhat realistic.
Posted by antle @ 10:14 PM EST [Link]
~ SCHIAVO LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL: A Circuit Court judge ruled today that the Schiavo Law, signed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to keep Terri Schiavo alive, is unconstitutional.
The ruling by Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird ends the first legal fight over the October law, passed just days after Terri Schiavo was disconnected from the feeding and hydration tube which has kept her alive for more than a decade. Her husband Michael had fought a long court battle to carry out what he said were his wife's wishes not to be kept alive artificially but her parents have said there were no such wishes.
The law allowed Bush to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reconnected.
Well, we all knew this fight wasn't over. Bush's office has filed an appeal so this is probably far from over.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:15 PM EST [Link]
~ TO HELL WITH KOFI ANNAN: The New York Post has a good op-ed on the Oil for Food scandal.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan talks grandly of "transparency" in the so-called probe of the world body's festering Oil-for- Food scandal - but don't believe a word of it. For he seems to be running a coverup.
Benon Savan - the former Oil-for-Food boss, whose name appears on a list of foreigners bribed by Saddam Hussein's regime and who has been on a mysterious "vacation" pending retirement since the scandal broke - has ordered the program's contractors not to cooperate with requests for information.
Even if officials proceeding in Savan's name are merely foot-dragging, a stonewall is a stonewall.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:11 PM EST [Link]
~ LET'S SEE CNN RUN THIS AD: They've ran MoveOn.org commercials so now I want them to run this one. Professor Glenn links to and comments a CrushKerry.com commercial that attacks John Kerry over his comments about the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:01 AM EST [Link]
~ INFO ON RS 2477: Back in February we ran an essay by Mark Boslough on Revised Statute 2477, legislation passed in 1866 allowing the creation of rights-of-way across public lands.
A.J. Chamberlin, a member of Property Owners for Sensible Road Policy, informs me that the organization taking the lead in protecting protect individual property owner's rights has a web site you can find here.
Posted by steve @ 01:48 AM EST [Link]
~ KERRY'S CHUMS ON KERRY: (via reader Gary Larson) A new web site has popped up called Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth.
We believe it is incumbent on ALL presidential candidates to be totally honest and forthcoming regarding personal background and policy information that would help the voting public make an informed decision when choosing the next president of the United States.
Now that Senator John Kerry is the presumptive nominee of his Party for president, numerous questions have been raised concerning Mr. Kerry’s service in Vietnam and concerning his subsequent antiwar activities. Our mission is to provide solid factual information relating to Mr. Kerry’s abbreviated tour of duty as a member of Coastal Division 14 and Coastal Division 11. Since many who are involved with Swiftvets.com themselves had swift boat duty and knew John Kerry personally, they are in a unique position to provide such information.
Check it out here.
Posted by steve @ 01:43 AM EST [Link]
~ 57 VARIETIES OF POSITIONS: Another week, another Kerry's House of Ketchup!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:32 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, May 5, 2004 WHO WOULD YOU TRUST?: If football is a test -- and you know my love of football -- you'll trust George W. Bush over John Kerry. Why?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:34 PM EST [Link]
~ I'M DEVASTATED: The Walt Disney Co. has reportedly told Miramax Films that it will not be distributing Michael Moore's latest 'documentary'.
Moore attributes Disney's decision to concerns that the documentary will endanger tax breaks the company receives from Florida and anger Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Perhaps Michael, they're concerned about a consistent pattern of distortion and lies that have been featured in every documentary you've ever made. Even the left is getting tired of your act.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:25 PM EST [Link]
~ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: It's hard to believe. It was ten years ago this week that Paula Jones filed her lawsuit against Bill Clinton and set in motion a series of scandals that lasted for half a decade.
Posted by steve @ 03:27 PM EST [Link]
~ ABOUT TIME: That the western media reports that most Shiites don't like Moqtada al-Sadr.
Representatives of Iraq's most influential Shiite leaders met here on Tuesday and demanded that Moktada al-Sadr, a rebel Shiite cleric, withdraw militia units from the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, stop turning the mosques there into weapons arsenals and return power to Iraqi police and civil defense units that operate under American control.
The Shiite leaders also called, in speeches and in interviews after the meeting, for a rapid return to the American-led negotiations on Iraq's political future. The negotiations have been sidelined for weeks by the upsurge in violence associated with Mr. Sadr's uprising across central and southern Iraq and the simultaneous fighting in Falluja, the Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad.
Read on. (NYT, Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 03:18 PM EST [Link]
~ MORE FROM THE BELMONT CLUB ON IRAQ: A couple of days ago the Belmont Club made waves around the blogosphere with an interesting article about Fallujah. Today they have an equally interesting piece about the Green Zone.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:14 PM EST [Link]
~ PERLE TALKS TO IRANIANS: KRSI Radio and Channel One TV invited Richard Perle yesterday to an interview that was broadcast in Iran.
KRSI interview with Richard Perle was a great success, and went very well, with many questiones from students inside Iran that were addressed by Mr. Perle. His comments were very assuring to the people of Iran in their struggle against the suppression and tyranny of cleric rulers.
Links to the interview can be found here.
Posted by steve @ 03:02 PM EST [Link]
~ MORE ON THE ABUSE SCANDAL: Professor Glenn has an interesting roundup of links and posts on the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, including thoughts from people in Iraq.
Read on.
[Update - 1:37am] Just received an email from the National Center for Public Policy Research with links to reactions by American soldiers over this whole sordid mess. You can read them here and here.
Posted by steve @ 01:30 AM EST [Link]
~ MY TEARS ARE FLOWING: My beloved Toronto Maple Leafs were knocked out of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers. I hereby announce a day of mourning.
Posted by steve @ 01:18 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, May 4, 2004 THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME II: The Sudan was reelected to the UN Commission on Human Rights despite massive abuses of human rights in the western region of Darfur.
I will say this: It took plenty of cojones for the U.S. delegation to walk out given the abuses that have occured in Iraqi prisons. Now I know it isn't the same thing but human rights abuses are human rights abuses regardless of who commits them. I am ready now for a flood of hate email.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:51 PM EST [Link]
~ MORE SPITTING ON PAT TILLMAN: If perra Rene Gonzalez and coward Ted Rall weren't enough, an organization has stepped forward to show its class regarding Pat Tillman. The Independent Media Center recently posted an article on its web site entitled "But he's still another dumb killer -- not a hero".
I'd link to the article itself by IMC's indymedia.org web site is so poorly designed that it makes ESR look amazing.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:34 PM EST [Link]
~ I'M SURE IT WILL BE AS SUCCESSFUL AS AIR AMERICA: Well Al Gore has finally found something to do with the rest of his life. Today Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt acquired Newsworld International, a 24 hour international news channel produced by Canada's CBC.
"This will not be a political network," Gore said in a statement. "These stories will be in a voice that young people recognize and from a point of view they identify as their own."
Which would mean what? Oh right, liberal television. There isn't enough of that already, is there?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:29 PM EST [Link]
~ CARNIVAL OF THE CANUCKS #18: It's time for another Carnival of the Canucks and this time Vicki from Just in From Cowtown is hosting the festivities.
Check it out here.
Posted by steve @ 04:24 PM EST [Link]
~ THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME: So you'd think that with this Oil for Food scandal seriously tarnishing the UN -- or it would be if the mainstream media would bother reporting on it -- that Kofi Annan would be eager for an open investigation. You know, a move to restore confidence. Well, I guess not.
The United Nations yesterday threw up a stone wall in the oil-for-food scandal, insisting that contracts between the world body and private companies should not be turned over to investigators.
In a defiant move that has infuriated probers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan threw his support behind a letter from former oil-for-food head Benon Sevan to officials of a Dutch company that inspected Iraqi oil shipments. The letter directed the company not to hand over documents to congressional committees and other "governmental authorities."
Hey, but don't worry...we can still trust the UN to run Iraq if the U.S. decided that was a good move!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:21 PM EST [Link]
~ GETTING RID OF NUMBER 17: As you may have heard, Sen. Zell Miller last week introduced a resolution seeking to repeal the 17th Amendment, hoping to return to the days when state legislatures picked their senators. You can read more about it here.
Here's a web site with some more information about the drive to repeal the 17th Amendment.
Posted by steve @ 01:45 AM EST [Link]
Monday, May 3, 2004 I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE WENT TO PRISON: Mark Bonokoski has a sad funny essay in today's Toronto Sun comparing prison life to working life. Hey, being in prison isn't all that bad...pizza and porn and it's paid for by the taxpayers!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:58 PM EST [Link]
~ THE PRICE: Fantastic piece by Mark Steyn in today's Washington Times about Ted Koppel's stunt on Friday reading out the names of American dead in Iraq. Stunt? Because Koppel didn't bother to place those sacrifices in any context.
So Friday evening on ABC he read out the names of the more than 530 American men and women to die in combat in Iraq. " 'Nightline' will not include those who died by accident and other causes because of time constraints," reported the New York Times, deadpan, acknowledging even the cost of war must defer to the cost of air time. "Mr. Koppel," it continued, "will barely have 2 seconds for each name."
Is reminding people of the "cost of war" really the most important thing a journalist can do? Costs don't exist in a vacuum, but are relative to their benefits.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:23 PM EST [Link]
~ DOIN' GOOD WORK: Time Magazine surprises me by actually covering the Thulfiqar Army, that mysterious group that's been going around killing members of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
The dark blue Volvo sped toward the guard post near Najaf's Safi al-Safa shrine just as the muezzin began his evening call to prayers. Inside the car, three gunmen prepared to fire. Their targets were members of the Mahdi Army, a band of militants loyal to the firebrand Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has holed up in Najaf for the past month to avoid capture by the 2,500 U.S. soldiers surrounding the city. As the Volvo neared the tiny brick-and-reed building, a gunman in the car opened up with his AK-47, hitting one of al-Sadr's men. Mahdi Army members say they ran the Volvo down, killing one of the three gunmen and capturing the remaining two. But other witnesses say the car disappeared into the night, its occupants unharmed. Either way, it was a blow for al-Sadr's army, which last month staged dramatic uprisings against coalition forces in several cities.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:35 PM EST [Link]
~ HAND, MEET RALL'S FACE: It's been a while since Ted Rall did anything stupid enough for the blogosphere to get angry at him so I'm sure he was hoping for something like Pat Tillman's death. Not surprisingly, Rall goes after Tillman with a disgusting cartoon that ran on MSNBC.com until it was pulled. You can see the cartoon here. (Pop-up, 36K)
I don't want to get into dangerous legal territory here, but I'd so love to meet Rall one day. He would enjoy it far less I think.
MSNBC.com explains why they pulled it here.
Posted by steve @ 04:31 PM EST [Link]
~ FUKUYAMA SPEAKS: Al-Ahram has an interview with Francis Fukuyama, someone I started out liking years ago but have since soured on, and he says he's not sure who he's voting for in November.
Posted by steve @ 03:32 PM EST [Link]
~ THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR PLAYING UP THAT MILITARY EXPERIENCE OF YOURS: CNS News reports that hundreds of veterans will declare tomorrow that they believe John Kerry is unfit to be Commander in Chief.
"We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief," O'Neill said.
O'Neill, currently a Houston, Texas, based attorney, is no stranger to Kerry. O'Neill served in the same naval unit as Kerry and commanded Kerry's swift boat after Kerry returned to the United States. Kerry's command of the PCF boat lasted four months and ended shortly after he received his third Purple Heart. According to naval regulations at the time, any sailor who received three Purple Hearts could request a transfer out of the combat zone.
Kerry and O'Neill engaged in a nationally televised debate in 1971 on The Dick Cavett Show over Kerry's allegations that many Vietnam soldiers had routinely engaged in atrocities such as raping and cutting off ears and heads of Vietnamese soldiers and citizens. Kerry was the then spokesman for the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
"We are going to be presenting a letter that deals with Kerry's unfitness to be commander and chief that has been signed by hundreds of swift boat sailors, including most of those who served with Kerry," O'Neill explained.
"The ranks of the people signing [the letter] range from admiral down to seaman, and they run across the entire spectrum of politics, specialties, and political feelings about the Vietnam War," he added.
Of course, this will receive as much press coverage as the UN Oil for Food scandal has...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:22 PM EST [Link]
~ HE JUST KEEPS MAKING IT BETTER: The work on Jäger, David Janes' fantastic RSS aggregator, continues! If you surf a lot of blogs then there is no bloody reason why you shouldn't be using Jäger to do it. Let them come to you!
Read/download here.
Posted by steve @ 03:15 PM EST [Link]
~ CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HAYES FAMILY!: Jason Hayes, occasional contributor to ESR and Calgary-based independent consultant, has announced the birth of his third child Finnbarr Connor Hayes. Finn came into the world on April 27 weighing 10 lbs. 2 oz. and 23 1/4" in length.
Congrats!
Posted by steve @ 01:14 AM EST [Link]
~ KRIKORIAN ON IMMIGRATION: John Hawkins of Right Wing News fame interviews Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, on the subject...of well...immigration. What else?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:27 AM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT(S): I have a piece running in The American Spectator Online that takes a semi-serious look back on my IT career.
Also, in the next few days the May 24th issue of The American Conservative will be hitting the newsstands. It contains my first bylined article for the magazine since I've been on staff. It's also noteworthy because it contains more reporting and less opinion than anything else I've ever written. If it is made available on the web, I will link to it here. Or you could always subscribe.
Posted by antle @ 12:13 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, May 2, 2004 LIAR: A prominent anti-war artist -- Micah Wright -- has long claimed that his opinion on war should be respected more than others because he was an Army Ranger. While you were sitting on your can watching Dynasty, he was liberating Panama. You don't know what it's like man! You weren't there!
The most noteable came when he had a rather nasty exchange with Kevin Parrot, in which he stated:
I've seen combat to "liberate" people before in Panama. Have you? Did you volunteer to fight for your country? I &%#!ing doubt it. I especially doubt your leg ass ever made it through Airborne School and I KNOW for a fact that you wouldn't have survived one week of Ranger School.
Well, neither does Wright.
Turns out the closest he ever got to Army Ranger school is ROTC. In simpler language, George W. Bush's opinion on military matters -- to use Wright's criteria -- are more important than Wright's. For that matter, so are mine.
Michele at A Small Victory reports -- in a very profanity-laden manner -- on the whole story.
If there are any Army Rangers out there reading this and you meet up with Mr. Wright...well, you know.
Posted by steve @ 06:46 PM EST [Link]
~ MY NOSE, YOUR FIST: Douglas Kern, who has caught my attention as a fine writer, has a nice piece on the limits of libertarianism over at Tech Central Station.
I'm something of a libertarian myself ahd a believer in natural rights (I've defended rights theory from fellow "presumptive libertarians" here), for reasons similar to what Kern lays out, I've always taken my libertarianism with a healthy side order of conservatism.
Posted by antle @ 04:01 PM EST [Link]
~ FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS: U.S. hostage Thomas Hamill is free.
Posted by antle @ 02:59 PM EST [Link]
~ NO GREATER LOVE: This weekend, Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham was laid to rest. He died when he dove on top of an exploding grenade to save his brothers in arms.
Does Rene Gonzales want to write a column for the Daily Collegian arguing he isn't a hero? How about Andy Rooney? This story of sacrifice is worth reflecting on in a time when some need to be reminded.
Posted by antle @ 02:52 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, May 1, 2004 A CONTRARIAN'S CONTRARIAN: Here's an item I missed a few days ago: John Derbyshire builds a bridge between neocons and paleocons with a piece making the case for supporting both immigration restriction and the Iraq war.
Read Bernard Chapin's interview of the Derb for ESR here.
Posted by antle @ 09:39 PM EST [Link]
~ BEHIND THE SCENES: A very interesting post from Belmont Club concerning the U.S. Marines and what's happening in Fallujah.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:33 PM EST [Link]
~ SORRY FOR THE LIGHT POSTING: A deadline for at the magazine I work for and other projects have kept me away from blogging and the front page of ESR recently. My apologies; hopefully, I'll be less of a stranger in the coming days.
But on the bright side, nothing makes you feel more like a real blogger than when you apologize for "the light posting."
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