Musings Archive December 2003
Wednesday, December 31, 2003 WHY DO I THINK WE'LL BE HEARING MORE ABOUT JEWS CONTROLLING AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY?: Richard Perle and David Frum have a new book out entitled An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror, urging the Bush administration to continue actively fighting the war on terror.
President George W Bush was sent a public manifesto yesterday by Washington's hawks, demanding regime change in Syria and Iran and a Cuba-style military blockade of North Korea backed by planning for a pre-emptive strike on its nuclear sites.
The manifesto, presented as a "manual for victory" in the war on terror, also calls for Saudi Arabia and France to be treated not as allies but as rivals and possibly enemies.
I find it humorous that the book was released yesterday and it has already garnered a number of negative reviews by Amazon.com's readers. Hey, I read fast but I doubt I could do 304 pages in less than 24 hours. Read on. (Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 06:13 PM EST [Link]
~ WHY WE KEEP WINNING: The biggest boon to the conservative movement in the last 20 years -- outside of Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh -- has been the tinfoil hat crowd on the far left. In that spirit, John Hawkins presents his list of the 10 worst quotes of 2003 from The Democratic Underground.
By far the worst, for me at least, is the attack by one jerk on the late Michael Kelly. Mr. jackswift, I wish death to my enemies as well...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:43 AM EST [Link]
~ HARD TO IGNORE A STRENGTHENING ECONOMY: Larry Kudlow argues that America's investor class, buoyed by a strengthening economy, will begin to strongly support George W. Bush's reelection bid.
If there is any reason why I hope Bush gets elected -- outside his performance on the war against terrorist activity and groups -- is Kudlow's belief that Dubya is going to push Americans to save more money and use tax incentives to do it. Guiding Americans to save more carries with it huge potential benefits for the future.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 11:31 AM EST [Link]
~ THE HEROES OF 2003: Radley Balko lists who he believes are the libertarian heroes of 2003. Some are well-known names, others less so. All good people though.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:48 AM EST [Link]
~ LAST CALL!: Today is the last day you can vote for ESR's Eighth Annual Person of the Year. We've had a ton of entries but that doesn't mean your vote won't matter!
Posted by steve @ 01:59 AM EST [Link]
~ LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON - IS BUSH ALIENATING CONSERVATIVES LIKE HIS DAD? This article in the Washington Times quotes many people who would make that case.
Now, I've often been critical of Bush from the right, as any regular reader is likely to have noticed by now. I've written a great deal about conservative irritation with Bush. But I just don't buy this.
Certainly, a lot of conservatives don't like what Bush is doing on government spending, wish he would do more on social issues like marriage and otherwise have been finding reasons to grumble about various administration policies. But his situation is in no way comparable to his father's in 1992. First of all, criticism of Bush is most intense among Beltway think-tankers, activists and pundits, not actual conservative voters. He still polls through the stratosphhere among registered Republicans. Second of all, I don't think any of Bush's departures from conservative orthodoxy - with the single possible exception of amnesty for illegal immigrants - rises to the level of something that will produce an open revolt among the right's rank and file, like his father's 1990 tax increase.
Combine these two factors with the war (both in Iraq and the broader war on terror) and the general repulsiveness of Howard Dean (who at this point is the likely Democratic nominee) and I think conservative support for Bush is likely to gain in strength. Conservatives have a stake in the Bush administration. They also have exhibited two strong political tendencies in recent years: Strong partisan loyalty to the Republicans and an even greater dislike and disgust for the liberals in the Democratic Party. I wish conservatives did more to shift the Bush administration to the right. But to say that there is any real risk of electoral abandonment is just wishful thinking on the part of a few activists. And conservatives wouldn't really benefit if it was more than wishful thinking.
Posted by antle @ 12:27 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 CARUBA INVADES CANADIAN AIRWAVES: Alan Caruba -- regular ESR contributor and head honcho of The National Anxiety Center -- will appear on Toronto's CFRB tonight at about 11:00pm with host Mark Elliot. Be sure to listen in!
Posted by steve @ 06:32 PM EST [Link]
~ THE ONLY VIEWPOINTS THAT WILL BE PROTECTED WILL BE THE POPULAR ONES: (Via Instapundit) If you live in California, make sure not to say anything bad about illegal immigration. If you do, you might end up like 17-year old Tim Bueler who has been targeted by both his fellow students and by his high school's faculty.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:32 PM EST [Link]
~ TMQ: Gregg Easterbrook's final regular season Tuesday Morning Quarterback is up and I have to say I like his cheerbabe of the week. Other weighty issues he considers include a seeded playoffs, something I have to confess I don't like.
"Why should a team that wins a weak division get privileges in the playoffs over a team that finishes second in a strong division?"
I can understand that line of thinking -- I've had the same thoughts about the NHL playoffs (currently the number four and five times in the NHL's western conference have better records than the number three team) -- but in my mind you may as well wipe out the divisions and simply have two divisions in each league with a one-two finisher and one wildcard if you go the seeded route (actually, I'd drop the wildcard myself in that situation). If a division is persistently weak, then change the division. After all, the NFL is all about parity, right?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:07 PM EST [Link]
~ ONE NATION UNDER ALLAH: Alyssa A. Lappen over at FrontPage Magazine as an interesting investigative report on the Ford Foundation which seems to be doing its best to infringe on the right of free speech in the United States when it comes to Islam.
To most Americans, it may seem unlikely that the U.S. Constitution could -- or should -- ever be revised to conform to strict Islamic law. But an educational program funded by the Ford Foundation has explored that very possibility, challenging our right to unfettered freedom of speech. The program, administered by the woefully misnamed Constitutional Rights Foundation, asks students to ponder how the Constitution could be amended or otherwise interpreted to prohibit blasphemy against Allah.
The most dangerous enemies are always the ones in your midst and I think the Ford Foundation certainly qualifies. I have a message for anyone immigrating to the West who is uncertain about some things: We have the right to criticize whatever we want here and that includes your religion. If you don't like that, stay the hell where you are. Seriously.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:44 PM EST [Link]
~ SOUNDS LIKE A PUNDIT TO ME: Mark Styen has a nice piece in the Telegraph detailing the insatiable desire for doom and gloom among the punditry. You know, the class of intellectual that swore Baghdad wouldn't fall even as it was falling.
Read on. (Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 12:36 PM EST [Link]
~ IS THERE A CURE THOUGH?: Victor Davis Hanson has a marvelous piece on what he calls "the western disease" on NRO today that is well worth reading.
There is something terribly wrong, something terribly amoral with the Western intelligentsia, most prominently in academia, the media, and politics. We don’t need Osama bin Laden’s preschool jabbering about “the weak horse” to be worried about the causes of this Western disease: thousands of the richest, most leisured people in the history of civilization have become self-absorbed, ungracious, and completely divorced from the natural world — the age-old horrific realities of dearth, plague, hunger, rapine, or conquest.
Indeed, it is even worse than that: a Paul Krugman or French barrister neither knows anything of how life is lived beyond his artificial cocoon nor of the rather different men and women whose unacknowledged work in the shadows ensures his own bounty in such a pampered landscape — toil that allows our anointed to rage at those purportedly culpable for allowing the world to function differently from an Ivy League lounge or the newsroom of the New York Times. Neither knows what it is like to be in a village gassed by Saddam Hussein or how hard it is to go across the world to Tikrit and chain such a monster.
Our Western intellectuals are sheltered orchids who are naïve about the world beyond their upscale hothouses. The Western disease of deductive fury at everything the West does provides a sort of psychological relief (without costs) for apparent guilt over privileged circumstances. It is such a strange mixture of faux-populism and aristocratic snobbery. They believe only a blessed few such as themselves have the requisite education or breeding to understand the “real” world of Western pathologies and its victims.
You really must read this.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:23 PM EST [Link]
~ CANADIANS FOR AMERICA: Kathy Shaidle over at Relapsed Catholic has a great essay in the Dallas Morning News about being a recovering anti-American.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:23 AM EST [Link]
Monday, December 29, 2003 SPILLING THE BEANS: Saddam Hussein has reportedly given his interrogators a wealth of information concerning hidden weapons and as much as $40 billion he stole from his people.
"Saddam has confessed the names of people he told to keep the money and he gave names of those who have information on equipment and weapons warehouses," Iyad Allawi, a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily.
Dean was right, the capture of Hussein really wasn't anything...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:15 PM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: I have a column in Toogood Reports on the tendency of Republicans to pander to the opposition and consequently surrender on issues where the conservative position is in the majority.
Posted by antle @ 10:34 AM EST [Link]
~ NOT A BAD TRACK RECORD: It's fun to make predictions but so few people actually bother to check how right they got it. Mark Steyn looks back at 2003 and some of his more famous guesses.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 09:45 AM EST [Link]
~ AGING: Personally I believe that a woman who ages gracefully is one of God's gifts to the planet. Unfortunately, the lady known as Playboy is beginning to look a trifle worn. So says Andrew Stuttaford who reviews the shambles that is the 50th anniversary issue.
However good the party, the morning after is always depressing. There will be cigarette ash on the carpet, half-empty glasses in the sink, and, usually, a baleful selection of uneaten snacks on the kitchen table, curling and discoloring as they begin to decay. Seen in the unforgiving light of the hangover dawn, even the memories soon start to spoil. Was that conversation truly so witty, that woman really so attractive? And so it is that studying Playboy’s 50th Anniversary Issue (yup, yet another tough assignment for NRO) left me, well, a little bit sad. Oh, Melba Ogle (July 1964, and was that really her name?), where are you now?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 09:26 AM EST [Link]
~ SO SAURON IS ALLAH?: The latest edition of Tongue Tied is out and among the stories are an idiotic attempt to declare the Lord of the Rings trilogy racist (the good guys are from the West, the bad guys ride elephants!) and the BBC's determination to call Saddam Hussein an ex-president, among other stories.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:54 AM EST [Link]
~ ENJOY THE GOLDEN CLOAK: In Dante's version of hell hypocrites were amongst the worst treated sinners. They were forced to parade around in beautiful cloaks made of golden thread which appeared to be as light as silk. This being hell, of course, the exact opposite was true. The cloaks were as heavy as something made of solid lead and the sufferers, who appeared to be wearing fine light garments, would receive no consoling words from onlookers.
I tell you this because Howard Dean will be wearing one of those cloaks one day. It has now been learned that Dean, who has been blasting away at Dick Cheney for months about secret meetings of his energy task force, himself had a secret energy task force when he was governor of Vermont. In fact, he used the exact same arguments in defending why his energy task force needed to be secret.
"The governor needs to receive advice from time to time in closed session. As every person in government knows, sometimes you get more open discussion when it's not public," Dean was quoted as saying.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:50 AM EST [Link]
~ WHY NOT CALL YOURSELVES THE 9/11 BOYS?: A firestorm recently erupted in California after it was learned that a Muslim football tournament included some teams with names like Intifada, Soldiers of Allah and Mujahideen. The organizers are shocked -- shocked! -- that some people would take offense to something as wholesome as those names!
Muslim leaders have asked the teams to reconsider the names.
"Sensitizing our youths is our role as adults," said Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southern California.
But he also said he believed the players were not being malicious when they decided the names.
"In this case, the choices were totally innocent and meant for a small intra-Muslim tournament whose members all knew what the terms stand for," Ayloush said. "Unfortunately, we are aware that a few of those terms are being tainted by the abominable actions of a few Muslims."
Yes Mr. Ayloush, and "gay" means happy but I don't know many people who use the word in its proper context. "Intifada" and "Mujahideen" have very different meanings for everyone these days.
That said, this reminds me of back in high school when we were organizing a floor hockey team for an intramural competition. The faculty was shocked -- shocked! -- when we decided our team name would be "The Canis Lupus Majors". Now the learned in the audience will immediately recognize that canis lupus refers to wolves but apparently the faculty, including one particularly moronic vice principle who bore a small resemblance to Pat Sajak, thought it referred to the Evil Weed, marijuana. Needless to say the brain trust blocked our team name though that didn't stop us from handily winning the tournament.
Now we shouldn't go on a, ahem, crusade against these youths for making some unfortunate choices in team names but nor should we make claims that they weren't being provactive with those names.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:44 AM EST [Link]
~ THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER: (Via Brothers Judd Blog) Good story in today's Christian Science Monitor about the progress being made by coalition forces in stopping insurgents in Iraq. As Dan Murphy points out, this aspect of the war is far more difficult than the first part.
Attacks on soldiers have dropped steeply in the Tikrit area over the past month. After more than six months of intensive raids, foot patrols, and intelligence gathering, commanders believe they have tapped into the rhythm of the insurgency. "We're making steady, [unstoppable] progress,'' says Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who commands the 1st Battalion of the 22nd Infantry.
Yet despite recent successes in Tikrit, the war being fought is not the kind to be won with a single, crushing blow. The picture pieced together by troops and intelligence officers across Iraq is one of a fractured, decentralized insurgency. There is no single Professor Moriarty masterminding the violence against coalition troops - and so no silver bullet.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:25 AM EST [Link]
~ SEARCH PHRASE FUN: Just looking over the logs for the last week and as always a couple of interesting search terms that led people to ESR:
"different cultures belching" - Not one but two people found us this way. In some cultures belching apparently is a compliment to the chef.
"do women date bald men" - No, unless you are rich.
"michelle malkin pretty" - Very much so.
"the times credo by jonathan sacks the egg perfect food" - The perfect food is bacon.
"preteen nude" - 14 people used the Microsoft Network to search for this term and find us. How very disconcerting. Nearly two dozen people also used terms that included "nude children", "nude teenage girls", "nude teen boys" and "nude preteen girls", among others. Wrong place people!
Posted by steve @ 01:18 AM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK - EARLY EDITION: I tell you, the Arizona-Minnesota game is the perfect argument for buying a satelite dish and subscribing to an NFL package. Of course I can't afford to do so so I had to make due with Fox and CBS games. Minnesota needs to get into the playoffs and can only do so if they beat the Cardinals. Easy win? Guess again. The Cardinals, clearly trying to make a point, gave the Vikings everything they could handle and a marvelous final play which saw Josh McCown throw a touchdown pass to Nathan Poole capped off a 12 point comeback and the win. Not only that, but the Vikings loss propelled Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers to the playoffs.
Favre, who has had what anyone would call a difficult week, credited the Packers win and the Vikings loss to his father.
"I felt like he was watching. Something's going on here," said Favre.
"I've been around people who have lost a family member or lost someone close to them and they say that that person is there watching, or the angels, whatever. I'd say two weeks ago I didn't really believe in that. But I think we better start believing in something, because the odds were against us and they were really [against us] at the end of the Arizona game."
Orrin Judd believes that football is "anti-American/anti-human" but could it actually be the sport of God? Of course not, everyone knows hockey is His favourite sport.
Of course, the victory didn't come without a price for the Cardinals. By winning the game they lose the first pick in the NFL draft and fall to third. Hey, as Gregg Easterbrook would likely say, the Football Gods shall reward the Cardinals for playing the game to win. The Cards will also lose coach Dave McGinnis, who went 17-40 during his tenure in Arizona. The only person who should be fired is team owner Bill Bidwill, a man who personifies incompetence.
Odd weekend for me: Seattle decides they can actually play on the road at beat San Francisco, Atlanta beats Jacksonville, Cincinnati is downed by Cleveland, Dallas decided it was a bye week and let the Saints win (allowing Seattle entry in the post season), and St. Louis -- even after throwing in Kurt Warner -- lost to the Lions and thereby threw away home-field advantage in the playoffs. This after leading 20-10 at the half. Turnovers are always a key stat when it comes to wins and Marc Bulger's hamhandedness gave the gift of 10 points to the Lions.
ESR game balls go to Jamal Lewis for becoming the fifth man to rush for 2 000 yards in a single season, going for 2,066, second best in NFL history. The other ball goes to the Cardinals for actually winning.
Week 1: 9 of 15 (Thursday night game not counted)
Week 2: 13 of 15
Week 3: 10 of 15
Week 4: 10 of 15
Week 5: 11 of 14
Week 6: 11 of 14
Week 7: 8 of 14
Week 8: 10 of 14
Week 9: 7 of 14
Week 10: 9 of 14
Week 11: 12 of 16
Week 12: 12 of 16
Week 13: 8 of 16
Week 14: 8 of 16
Week 15: 12 of 16
Week 16: 11 of 16
Week 17: 10 of 16Season %: 67 (171 of 256)
So about the playoffs? Glad you asked. For Wildcard Weekend I predict that Tennessee will win on the road against Baltimore and Dallas, also on the road, will beat Carolina. On Sunday, Green Bay will beat up on Seattle while Indianapolis will knock Denver out of further contention.
The cheerleader of the week can only go to an Arizona Cardinal and my selection is rookie pom pom waver Bridgot. Though she breaks my heart being married, Bridgot impresses me by graduating Summa Cum Laude from ASU and teaching. As a special bonus, here's Brooke, the Cardinals' Pro Bowl bound cheerleader.
Now off to watch the Dallas/New Orleans game which is being re-aired on Canada's Global Television! It's never too late to watch football...
Posted by steve @ 12:23 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, December 28, 2003 YES, BUT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT F------- LANGUAGE: John T. McWhorter writes in the Washington Post that we better get used to foul language because we're only going to hear more of it on television.
This has never been more clear than it became a couple of weeks ago, when flavor-of-the-month Nicole Richie, appearing on Fox TV's "Billboard Music Awards" broadcast, casually dropped some classic four- (and more) letter words into her reminiscences of her stint on the reality show "The Simple Life." Fox's switchboard lit up with indignant callers, but the network received not even a slap on the wrist from the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that watchdogs on-air language. That's because two months before, unbeknown to many of us, the FCC had decreed a new era in American public language usage.
After receiving complaints that Irish rocker Bono had crowed, "This is really, really f -- -- ing brilliant!"on the "Golden Globe Awards" broadcast last January, also on Fox , the FCC's enforcement bureau ruled Oct. 3 that this adjectival usage of the F-word does not qualify as "patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium." Predictably, this has not gone down well with some, from the Parents Television Council (which organized most of the Bono complaints) to congressmen to FCC Chairman Michael Powell himself, who played no part in the ruling and deemed it "reprehensible" that children might hear the F-word in any form on the air. But like it or not, we'd better get used to it. We are today a society that elevates giving the finger to "the man" to a sign of enlightenment. So there are bound to be more such rulings, and at the end of the day, we are best advised to fasten our seat belts and accept them.
Another gift from the 1960s. Thanks.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:03 PM EST [Link]
~ YES, BUT WHAT WILL YOU SAY NEXT?: John Kerry, who can't seem to make up his mind about what he believes (or has believed as the case may be) today tore into Howard Dean for a series of muddleheaded statements.
"People are left wondering: What will he say next?" said Kerry, addressing about 180 supporters in a city library auditorium.
"We need more than simple answers and the latest slip of the tongue," he said. "This election is too vital for us to lose it if voters refuse to take a gamble on national security and the steadiness of our leadership."
I get the impression, Mr. Kerry, that the American people are increasingly refusing to take a gamble on national security and leadership. They already have someone at 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue who's doing the job. And as for Kerry, I still can't figure out if he was in favor of the invasion of Iraq or not...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:49 PM EST [Link]
~ THEY COULD HAVE HAD IT AT MY HOUSE FOR CHEAPER: Canada's federal government spent $323 000 in May to announce plans for the Canadian History Centre, one that may not get off the ground now.
The May 26 announcement included 350 guests and featured speeches by Jean Chretien and Sheila Copps, the former Canadian Heritage minister. Costs included $10,350 for wall banners and a $6,000 catering bill.
Hosted by Senator Laurier LaPierre, it included two performance pieces by the National Theatre School, a slide and video presentation and singing of the national anthem by the Christ Church Cathedral Girls Choir.
Documents obtained by CanWest News reveal that Heritage's communications firm, Scott Thornley + Company, billed the government $67,000 to develop proposals for the announcement and another $196,000 to stage the event.
The documents also show that on top of this, about $60,000 worth of work for the announcement was subcontracted by the Government Conference Centre, where the announcement was made, including costs of $25,000 for rigging and lighting.
But the $323,000 total bill could have been higher, according to one draft prepared by the firm, which proposed a presentation alone that would have cost $417,000.
If they had done it at my house, I would have laid out a nice spread -- garlic bread, pizza, nachos and some sub sandwiches (I would have raided my Sunday football stores) -- and it would have been a lot cheaper. Oh well.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:38 PM EST [Link]
~ COOL: Andrew Sullivan writes today that PBS' Bill Moyers has written him to refuse the prestigious Begala Award he received a couple of days ago.
In a dramatic gesture, Bill Moyers has refused the prestigious Begala Award prize. Despite the fact that the Nation reported Moyers making the statement attributed to him, Moyers writes to say he didn't say exactly that. It's a mystery how the Nation reporter misheard it.
Read on.
Also make sure to check out his Derbyshire and Poseur Awards here and his Sontag Award winner here.
Posted by steve @ 05:48 PM EST [Link]
~ NO GOOD GOODRIDGE: In a valuable and characteristically thoughtful contribution to the marriage debate, Eve Tushnet critiques the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Goodridge decision for the National Catholic Register. Whatever your position on same-sex marriage, this piece goes to the heart of the problem of judicial activism, which we discuss so much here at ESR.
Too bad they didn't go with Eve's original draft title, which she said on her blog was, "From the state that brought you Harvard."
Posted by antle @ 04:07 PM EST [Link]
~ WHO'S AFRAID OF ANN COULTER?: It's tough to find a liberal who will go toe to toe with conservative uber-pundit Ann Coulter. At least that's what
humor columnist Gene Weingarten found. In his latest column, he offered to moderate a discussion between Coulter and Al Franken. Franken begged off, and both Michael Kinsley and Molly Ivins did the same. Tim Graham over at The Corner found this pretty funny, since Franken has been crowing about what a tough-guy he is since challenging National Review editor Rich Lowry to a fistfight; Lowry of course demurred. But I'm not entirely sure what in Weingarten's column really happend and what was just a joke.
Posted by antle @ 03:55 PM EST [Link]
~ LIBERAL HATE SPEECH: Want to see examples of liberals wishing death and disease on conservatives and other ideological opponents? Hear outrageous rhetoric comparing support for limited government, low taxes and the war against terrorism with Nazism, fascism and apartheid? Learn about how your Republican neighbors are all closet racists, sexists and homophobes?
Read Jeff Jacoby's annual liberal hate speech column.
Posted by antle @ 03:26 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, December 27, 2003 IF ONLY HE WOULD DO THIS WITH JUDGES: The Washington Post has reported that President Bush has bypassed the Senate by making a number of recess appointments.
This is the approach he should take to breaking the stalemate over his judicial nominees: If the Democrats won't allow a floor vote on his nominees, he should make recess appointments temporarily filling these slots with even more controversial conservatives. I wonder if Robert Bork is busy...
Posted by antle @ 04:35 PM EST [Link]
~ WALTER WILLIAMS ENDORSES THE FREE STATE PROJECT: In a sign that libertarians are starting to get more creative about their pursuit of liberty, syndicated columnist Walter Williams has issued his strongest endorsement to date of the Free State Project. Some of his points about secession and the Constitution are certainly debatable, but the project remains an interesting gambit that might at least be worth a try.
Posted by antle @ 03:18 PM EST [Link]
~ THANK GOD FOR THE JUSTICE SYSTEM: "Prosecutors said Friday they have offered Lionel Tate a plea bargain that could mean almost immediate freedom for the boy whose murder conviction and life sentence in the slaying of a 6-year-old playmate were thrown out earlier this month.
"The deal is identical to one Tate and his mother rejected in 2001, before he went to trial."
Read the news story here.
Read ESR's 2001 take on it here.
Posted by steve @ 03:52 AM EST [Link]
~ LIEBERMAN RUNS AFOUL OF THE ABORTION PARTY: The columnist Don Feder on occasion refers to the Democrats as "the Abortion Party," and the tempest that Sen. Joe Lieberman now finds himself in supports his contention. Lieberman has consistently voted pro-choice in the Senate and, despite his alleged social conservatism, has never taken a public position on abortion that could be construed as anything other than supportive of its legality. He reportedly made some innocuous comments to a newspaper about the implications of medical science's progress in lengthening the window of fetal viability. He now must scurry to defend his commitment to the Democrats' Holy Grail, Roe v. Wade.
Now, if fetal viability is the Supreme Court's standard for abortion rights, wouldn't changes in viability need to be taken into consideration? I don't think you need to be a stealth pro-lifer to make that point, but the Lieberman campaign isn't leaving anything up to chance, swearing up and down the senator is still pro-choice. Read the full story here.
Posted by antle @ 02:02 AM EST [Link]
Friday, December 26, 2003 THE SPECTER OF CHAIRMAN ARLEN THE BEST REASON TO VOTE TOOMEY: I can understand why Republicans feel conflicted about the GOP primary race in Pennsylvannia between incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter and his conservative challenger Rep. Pat Toomey. Specter is pretty liberal for a Republican and often a pain in the butt to conservatives, but he has managed to hold onto that seat in a competitive state and is more conservative than anyone the Democrats are likely to nominate for it. Pat Toomey is a solid conservative with a more Republican voting record than Specter, but he would shift the seat from being a reasonably safe bet for the GOP to a toss-up.
Yet with Orrin Hatch term-limited out of the position, Specter is line to become the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A staunch liberal on many of the issues that provoke the most controversy in judicial confirmation hearings, he could become an obstacle to President Bush's nominees and therefore be as destructive as any Democrat in that seat. Unless the GOP comes up with a plan to deny Specter the chairmanship, that by itself may be a decisive reason for conservative to vote Toomey.
Read the full story about the specter of Chairman Arlen here.
Posted by antle @ 11:27 PM EST [Link]
~ IT'S AN HONOUR JUST TO BE NOMINATED: Andrew Sullivan presents his famed Begala and Von Hoffman Awards today. Find them here. The others shall be presented in a second stage.
Posted by steve @ 07:27 PM EST [Link]
~ DEAN SLOWLY LOSING GRASP ON REALITY: (via Brothers Judd Blog) In interview that ran today in The Concord Monitor, Howard Dean stated that we shouldn't prejudge Osama bin Laden before we actually determine whether he was behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Asked whether bin Laden should be tried in the United States and put to death, Dean told The Concord Monitor, "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."
In an interview with the New Hampshire newspaper for Friday editions, Dean added: "I'm sure that is the correct sentiment of most Americans, but I do think if you're running for president, or if you are president, it's best to say that the full range of penalties should be available. But it's not so great to prejudge the judicial system."
I pray to God and all that is holy that Dean becomes the Democratic nominee for president because George W. Bush couldn't lose against this boob.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:17 PM EST [Link]
~ IT WAS FUNNY THOUGH: If you watched the Houston-Tennessee game this past Sunday you saw a truly funny stunt. After Houston QB David Carr threw a touchdown to Corey Bradford, Carr and teammate Steve McKinney ran to the goal post and McKinney bent over as if to retrieve something hidden under the padding. As it turned out there was nothing there and Carr motioned to the fans to that effect.
It was, of course, a spoof of New Orleans receiver Joe Horn's cell phone call a week earlier and it was far funnier than Horn's celebration.
Well today the No Fun League...errr sorry, the NFL, fined both Carr and McKinney for the stunt. Guys, lighten up already.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:05 PM EST [Link]
~ QUAKE PROMPTS ANGER AT IRANIAN REGIME: According to the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran, the earthquake that struck Iran and pratically destroyed the ancient city of Bam has prompted anger targeted at the regime.
Anger is rising against the Islamic republic regime following the deadly quake which jolt the historic southeastern City of Bam. Many Iranians are already blaming the regime for the lack of appropriate help and as the cold wave is expected to take more lives in the region with the start of night fall.
The few choppers, planes and tractors sent to the area, cut from neighboring cities, are judged to be unsufficient for the heavy task of rescuing thousands of wounded and many missing residents which have been trapped under the ruins or to transfer those laying in the streets to medical facilities.
This reminds me of when that big earthquake hit Turkey a few years ago and the government was so ill-prepared that Turks relied on their 'enemies' the Greeks for relief. It opened up closer relations between the two nations and forced the Turkish government to be more liberal. Hey, America, are you listening?
Read on.
Here's the latest on the quake itself.
Posted by steve @ 06:12 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, December 25, 2003 MUSHARRAF, U.S. DODGE BULLET: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf survived yet another assasination attempt today. Musharraf isn't perfect, but he's been an important ally in the region and has taken some constructive steps against terrorism since 9/11. His removal from power would be a serious setback in the war on terror. Everytime he dodges a bullet, so does the U.S.
Posted by antle @ 11:09 PM EST [Link]
~ VERY DUBIOUS INDEED: Alan Caruba of the National Anxiety Center has a round up of the most dubious news stories of 2003 here.
A ban on Oreo cookies indeed...
Posted by steve @ 05:31 PM EST [Link]
~ MERRY CHRISTMAS!: I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you on behalf of the entire ESR family a peaceful and joyous Christmas. May you spend it with those you treasure the most!
And here's an appropriate cartoon -- at least for Americans -- courtesy of Linda Eddy. View it here.
Posted by steve @ 01:03 AM EST [Link]
~ MOVIE NIGHT AT FORT SINATRA: There is a short little scene in Richard Linklater's 2001 movie Waking Life (which if you remember I wrote about last month) which sees characters named Jesse and Celine in bed talking about love and life. After I listened to the director's commentary I learned that they were picking up on conversations from an earlier movie they appeared in called Before Sunrise (1995), Linklater's third movie (after Slacker and Dazed & Confused). Based on that I decided to buy Before Sunrise unseen. Yeah, I liked Waking Life that much.
I wasn't disappointed. The movie takes place over only a few hours after Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train in Europe. Jesse is getting off in Vienna to catch a flight home to America while Celine is traveling on home to Paris. After a short conversation in the train's buffet car -- one that shows there is a clear attraction between the two -- he convinces her to get off with him and catch a later train. He has about 18 hours to kill before his plane leaves and he wants to spend it with her.
Linklater is known for movies filled with dialogue and Before Sunrise is no different. As the two walk the streets of Vienna they talk about everything from their childhoods, the nature of love, sex, fate and everything else that a pair of 20 year olds would discuss. Hanging over all their conversations is the stark fact that the next morning will see them split, probably never to see each other again.
I have to admit it was one of the more tender films I've seen. There is no pretence or artifice, Linklater just wants to tell the story of two people who've fallen in love. Whether it's the shy looks they give each other in the record listening booth or the "phone" conversations they share in a restaurant, the movie rings true. These are two real people and Linklater lets them stay that way. When their story ends it's impossible to know that they will met again even after making the promise.
Celine: I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away.
Before Sunrise is a bit of a cult film so it's surprising to learn that Linklater is making a sequel, reportedly set nine years after they first meet and entitled If Not Now. I can only hope that it captures the magic of the original.
Oh yes, and my love for Julie Delpy continues unabated. I'll even watch the dreadful An American Werewolf in Paris for her.
Posted by steve @ 12:58 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 I RATHER LIKED KEITH RICHARDS' LINE: Tim Blair has a roundup of the best quotes of 2003. Quite an intertaining list.
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
One of my favourites, in salute of Dubya, appeared in December:
"The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones." -- Iraqi blogger Alaa
There was also this one:
"WHO the F-CK is that man? He's a f-cking traitor. Get his ass off the stage. Oh, F-CK him. Who IS that fat f-ck anyway?" -- Joan Collins critiques Michael Moore's Academy Award speech
And this one:
"They stand, they fight, sometimes they run when we engage them. But often they run into our machine guns and we shoot them down like the morons they are." -- Brigadier-General John Kelly on non-Iraqi Muslims fighting outside Baghdad. He continued: "They appear willing to die. We are trying our best to help them out in that endeavour"
Posted by steve @ 03:39 PM EST [Link]
~ IT ACTUALLY WAS A GOOD YEAR: If you were a politically correct thug that is. Gillian Cosgrove illustrates some of the more egregious PC escapades that took place in Canada during 2003. My favourite was Patrick Watson's urging the Canadian government to launch a national newspaper because Canadians need an "independent" voice. I didn't sleep well at all that night...
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:22 PM EST [Link]
~ ANOTHER REASON GADDAFI BECAME A NICER GUY?: According to Canadian intelligence, al-Qaida backed militants in Libya have placed Muammar Gaddafi in their sights, one reason why he decided to make nice with the United States and Britain.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service report shows that Col. Gaddafi, once a major sponsor of terrorist violence, is now a terrorist target who shares a common enemy with the West: Osama bin Laden.
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) is the most powerful radical faction waging holy war against Col. Gaddafi. It aims to establish an Islamic state in Libya and views the current regime as oppressive, corrupt and anti-Muslim, CSIS said.
"The group has clearly stated its view on the use of force, promoting the ideology that Libyan people can only gain freedom by actively supporting the mujahedin in the war against Gaddafi's regime," the report said.
Wow, I guess the enemy of your enemy really is your friend. Still, this does support the notion that the war against terrorism is reshaping the politics of the Middle East. When you have Gaddafi warning other rogue nations to stop messing around before they get Afghanistan/Iraq whomped, you know something major has shifted in the world. So I find myself in an odd position...Do I hope that Gaddafi not get whacked now?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:17 PM EST [Link]
~ GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD: Anyone who picked John Kerry to be the first to drop out of Mark Styen's pool undoubtedly will be displeased to learn that the senator is about to loan his own campaign more than $6 million by mortgaging his family's home. To be more accurate, he's borrowing money against the share he owns of his wife's home.
By all accounts Teresa Heinz Kerry, a Republican until her husband decided to run for the presidency, is a smart woman. I'm surprised she didn't tell him to stop wasting his money. If you have to fund your own campaign it should be a less than subtle sign you aren't very popular.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:07 PM EST [Link]
~ DEMS FOR BUSH: Joining Zell Miller, today former New York mayor Ed Koch announced that he will be voting for George W. Bush in 2004.
I intend to vote for President George W. Bush in the next election, because in my view he is best able to wage the war against international terrorism. There is no greater threat to the United States than that posed by Al-Qaeda and similar groups. President Bush has confronted that threat head on.
After 9/11, the President announced the Bush Doctrine, which in my opinion rivals in importance the Monroe Doctrine which barred foreign imperialism in the Western Hemisphere, and the Truman Doctrine which sought to contain Communism around the world. The Bush Doctrine, simply stated by the President before a joint session of Congress, is "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." The President has applied that doctrine in Afghanistan and Iraq and has put other countries on notice that he will do so elsewhere, if necessary.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:51 PM EST [Link]
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 HEZBOLLAH IN AMERICA?: The Iran Politics Club says Iranian.com publisher Jahanshah Javid is tied to Hezbollah.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 10:39 PM EST [Link]
~ NO BLUNTS FOR YOU: Canada's Supreme Court ruled today to uphold a federal law banning possession of small amounts of pot. For the record, I'm in favour of legalization. That said, I don't care for most of the people on my side.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:15 PM EST [Link]
~ HITCH ON LIBYA: I can't believe I didn't see this earlier today. Christopher Hitchens says he agrees that Libya's announcement on WMDs this weekend is a result of the war against Saddam Hussein.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:12 PM EST [Link]
~ LIMBAUGH SAGA CONTINUES: The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports on the latest developments in the Rush Limbaugh painkiller story.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:49 PM EST [Link]
~ SOUNDS AS GOOD AS ANY PLACE: WorldNetDaily reports this morning that al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden is currently in Iran. The basis of this report? A "respected Islamic leader."
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:27 AM EST [Link]
~ BUT ALL THE EXPERTS SAID IT DIDN'T PLAY A ROLE: Moammar Gadhafi told CNN Monday evening that the American-led war against Saddam Hussein may have played a role in Libya's decision to renounce its WMD programs.
Apparently the only people who didn't know that were the so-called experts who credited Anyone But Bush.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:42 AM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: Always take advantage of an opening. Take me for instance on Saturday night and an attractive blonde. I saw you looking at me frequently and giving me a small smile. I know you wanted me to come over. I was only waiting for the band to take a break so I could talk to you without shouting. When you saw me leave, I was only going out for a cigarette. You unknowingly passed right by me outside when you left with your friend. You didn't give me the chance to come up to you. Or rather, I didn't take advantage of the opportunity.
It's the same with football. You have to take your opportunities when they come despite what difficulties come your way. Tampa Bay nearly came back against Atlanta but you can't let yourself go down 30-7 before deciding that you're going to make your play. The Buffalo Bills had a natural advantage playing at home against Miami, a series they've dominated when playing at Ralph Wilson Stadium in December (especially given Miami's tendency to collapse during the last month of play) but instead you got blown out.
Other games that cost me? Kansas City losing to Minnesota, Philadelphia losing to San Francisco and Indianapolis dropping the ball against Denver.
Props to Brett Favre who despite the loss of his father during the weekend, played Monday night and passed Fran Tarkenton on the career touchdowns list. He now only trails Dan Marino. MNQ offers its sincerest condolences to Favre who has long been one of the classiest men to ever play professional football.
A game ball should also go to Steve McNair who threw off his back leg for the entire game against Houston and looked better than most quarterbacks this weekend who had the full use of both their legs.
Week 1: 9 of 15 (Thursday night game not counted)
Week 2: 13 of 15
Week 3: 10 of 15
Week 4: 10 of 15
Week 5: 11 of 14
Week 6: 11 of 14
Week 7: 8 of 14
Week 8: 10 of 14
Week 9: 7 of 14
Week 10: 9 of 14
Week 11: 12 of 16
Week 12: 12 of 16
Week 13: 8 of 16
Week 14: 8 of 16
Week 15: 12 of 16
Week 16: 11 of 16Season %: 67 (+0.1% / 161 of 240)
I don't usually reward teams for messing up my pool sheet but I'll give it up for San Francisco this week with my selection of Tiffany as cheerleader of the week. How can you not love a cheerleader whose favourite quote is from Plato? When not cheerleading, Tiffany is a full-time student and enjoys Mexican food. ¡Estoy en amor!
Posted by steve @ 12:26 AM EST [Link]
Monday, December 22, 2003 I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THEIR POINT: Unions in the Czech Republic say that the constant playing of Christmas carols is driving retail workers insane.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:12 PM EST [Link]
~ PARTICULARLY SHAMELESS SELF-PROMO ALERT: I get a mention in Bruce Bartlett's latest syndicated column.
Posted by antle @ 05:37 PM EST [Link]
~ WHAT A CLYMER: Yesterday career bureaucrat Wesley Clark announced he'd "beat the s**t" out of anyone who questioned his military record or patriotism (the same man who also said that he would allow Europe to veto America's foreign policy). Today? "Georgia for Wesley Clark" is using those words to raise money for his campaign. So we aren't accused of selectively quoting facts, the organization is unafiliated with Clark's presidential run.
No offense Wes, but you aren't no George Patton. You sound like a bloody joke making physical threats.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:07 PM EST [Link]
~ MEH: Gina Dalfonzo has a good piece over at NRO about the changes that Peter Jackson made in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, specifically what he did with Frodo (Elijah Wood).
Though I’ve enjoyed these three films, I have a bone to pick with the director and his team, a weakness that many other viewers have observed as well. Let me put it this way: Jackson never errs in the direction of making any character nobler. So while watching the second movie in the series, The Two Towers, I started to worry about what they were doing with Frodo, one of my favorite literary characters. I hadn’t a fault to find with Elijah Wood’s performance; he’s been consistently good throughout the films (and, it now turns out, extraordinarily good in the latest installment, The Return of the King. Wood communicates so effectively with his eyes in certain scenes that I’m inclined to think he made an extensive study of Jimmy Stewart’s famous wheelchair-bound performance in Rear Window). Again, it was the adapters who just couldn’t keep their hands off the character. Though the ring Frodo carries is notorious for driving people crazy, it seemed to me he was going crazy too early and too often.
There are alot of legitimate criticisms of Jackson's LotR and I could use quite a bit of space to spell them out but I'm taking today off after this post so perhaps I'll leave that for another day. I have to admit that I've been "meh" about the trilogy so far -- I don't think it's very bad but I'm not some fanboy who thinks it's the ultimate in Western cultural effort.
One thing I will argue about with Dalfonzo is her belief that Wood did a great job as Frodo. Not to become scatalogical or anything, but every time he looked scared in the trilogy -- which was pretty well the entire time -- he adopted the expression of a man who hadn't been near a bathroom for a day.
I will give Jackson his props with the Ents...he did a nice job with them though they should have gotten more screen time.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:59 PM EST [Link]
~ I WOULDN'T GIVE MY ALMA MATER A DIME: But if you are going to give money to yours, William C. Dennis has a few important suggestions for you.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:48 PM EST [Link]
~ CANADIANS LOVED IN KABUL: Good story out of Kabul: the Canadian soldiers are amazed at the economic progress in Kabul and Afghans love our boys in green.
Not surprisingly, the best line goes to former NHL tough guy Dave "Tiger" Williams:
"Any countries in the Western world that are not over here supporting this, they should absolutely be ashamed of themselves," he said after touring ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) headquarters.
"If they're not at least contributing with some funding, I mean, they should get a kick in the ass."
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:34 AM EST [Link]
~ NEVER FORGET: William Safire says that we shouldn't be too enthused over Libya's renunciation of WMDs -- though it is good news -- and that we shouldn't forget the monster that Muammar Qaddafi is.
Read on. (Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 04:28 AM EST [Link]
Sunday, December 21, 2003 WE LIKE ANZAR: Imitating George W. Bush, Jose Maria Aznar visits Spanish soldiers in Baghdad. We've always liked the Spanish here at ESR.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 05:40 AM EST [Link]
Saturday, December 20, 2003 YET ANOTHER CANADIAN LEADER DISSES U.S. COUNTERPART: (Via Brothers Judd Blog) He promised a new relationship with his American counterpart but it didn't take long for new Canadian prime minister Paul Martin to condescend to George W. Bush. That's the view of Edmonton Sun columnist Paul Stanway and I agree with him.
So, the first time Paul Martin chats with U.S. President George Bush, the new PM bugs him about Iraqi reconstruction contracts for Canadian companies and then lectures him on how to deal with Saddam Hussein.
I don't know about you, but if I were Bush I'd be thinking twice about calling back. The holier-than-thou pomposity evidenced by Martin during his 15-minute telephone call to the White House has, sadly, become ingrained in the world view of many Canadians.
The Americans have provided the bulk of our defence for 40 years. The U.S. is our largest trading partner by a mile and the source of much of our prosperity. We consume American culture with as much gusto as we consume American products, and because of this self-inflicted inferiority we feel the need to define ourselves, mostly, by an alleged superiority to the Americans!
Is there something in our Canadian DNA that makes us want to be jerks to Americans?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:03 PM EST [Link]
~ I'M SORRY...COULD YOU SAY THAT LOUDER?: The New York Times, a newspaper that could blame a cloudy day on the Bush administration, manages to avoid swallowing its own tongue today by crediting George W. Bush along with Tony Blair in the breakthrough over Libya.
Over the past five years, by turning over two suspects for trial, acknowledging its complicity in the Lockerbie bombing and paying compensation to victims' families, Libya finally managed to persuade the United Nations Security Council to lift the international sanctions that had shadowed its economy and its international reputation for more than a decade. Those sanctions were lifted in September. This page recommended lifting American sanctions as well, but President Bush left them in place pending further steps, most notably Libya's decision to end its unconventional weapons programs. It is now clear that he was right to do so. The added American pressure worked just as intended.
Wow, if only the paper could always be so forthright with its acknowledgments.
Read on. (Free registration required)
Posted by steve @ 05:55 PM EST [Link]
~ FUNNY HOW MANY THINGS AREN'T BECAUSE OF DUBYA: Everyone is falling over themselves to argue that George W. Bush and his war against terrorism isn't responsible for Libya's announcement yesterday.
I hear that Dubya wasn't even responsible for Afghanistan and Iraq!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:44 PM EST [Link]
Friday, December 19, 2003 SOME GOOD NEWS: U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced today that Moammar Gadhafi has promised to destroy Libya's WMD program and stockpiles.
Bush said Libya's leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, had "agreed to immediately and unconditionally allow inspectors from international organizations to enter Libya.
"These inspectors will render an accounting of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and will help oversee their elimination," Bush said.
I've said this before and I guess I'm saying it again, but in the last couple of years Gadhafi has become really hard to figure out. If you listen to him he often sounds like any other respectable leader. Unlike many of his counterparts he showed real sympathy with the United States after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and he's made moves in recent years to act responsibly. Out of the blue, however, he'll occasionally make statements that remind you of the Gadhafi that Ronald Reagan decided to bomb into submission.
So is Gadhafi serious? The fact that Bush and Blair both believe so leads me to believe that the old boy will actually do what he says he will. Although some are arguing that Gadhafi is merely responding to the butt kicking the Iraqi army received at the hands of the coalition -- and dating Libya's new cooperative attitude to March of this year -- I believe the pattern goes further back then that.
He's got a bloody history given his support of international terrorism in the past but will we one day have arguments about what Gadhafi really was?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:57 PM EST [Link]
~ WHAT IRAN REALLY MEANT: Michael A. Ledeen responds to an offer by Iran to allow international experts to inspect its nuclear sites and what's likely to happen to Ahmad Shirzad, a nuclear expert who may have told the world too much.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:21 PM EST [Link]
~ PADILLA V. RUMSFELD ISN'T OVER: Although the media was falling all over themselves to declare the ruling in Padilla v. Rumsfeld to be a major blow to the Bush administration, Eugene Volokh cautions that the legal battle is far from over.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:56 AM EST [Link]
~ IRAN BEHIND KHOBAR BOMBING, SAYS FREEH: Former FBI director Louis Freeh testified yesterday that he believes senior Iranian government officials funded and planned the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:51 AM EST [Link]
~ WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED?: A little late but a couple of days ago a lawyer stood up and announced he'd be glad to defend Saddam Hussein. Would it surprise you to know that he's from France?
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:43 AM EST [Link]
~ SELF-PROMO ALERT: I have a piece in today's American Spectator Online concerning Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Rather than use her speech to highlight the battle against the theocratic regime destroying Iran, Ebadi instead chose to use much of her remarks to attack the United States.
Earlier this month Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi became the latest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. As she pointed out in her speech, she was the first Iranian and the first woman from a Muslim nation to win the prize. It was an extraordinary opportunity for Ebadi to speak of the turmoil in her country as Iranians are challenging the rule of the extremist theocracy. Instead she took her moment on the international stage not to criticize a brutal regime but to take aim at the West -- specifically the United States.
In her speech Ebadi criticized the war against terrorism, a war she should be reminded the West wasn't interested in until it was brought to its shores, as a global attack on human rights. During the past two years "some states have violated the universal principles and laws of human rights by using the events of 11 September and the war on international terrorism as a pretext."
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:44 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, December 18, 2003 AMERICANS FARSIGHTED...AND SHORTSIGHTED: A new Zogby Poll finds that Americans believe a potential nuclear crisis in Iran is the higest foreign priority. Unfortunately, fewer than half believe the rebuilding of Afghanistan is a high priority.
For God's sake, don't make the same mistake again.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:35 PM EST [Link]
~ STUDENTS TAKE OVER CAMPUS IN IRAN: According to translated copy by Radio Forda, students in Tabriz's Sahand University took control of the campus, announced member of the university's Islamic student council Behruz Safari. The takeover followed three days of sit-in protest against remarks by the university's president which students found offensive. Sahand's president Cheraqlou had created a fearful police atmosphere in the university, and summoned the students who dared to express their opinions to the disciplinary committee, he says, adding that students have asked the university president to resign.
Posted by steve @ 02:31 PM EST [Link]
~ ARREST AND TORTURE IN IRAN ON THE RISE: The National Coalition of Pro-Democracy Advocates said today that the arrest and torture of pro-democracy activists in Iran is on the rise.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 02:28 PM EST [Link]
~ THE RETURN: Starting in early 2004, Canadians (particularly those in Western Canada) will once again have a conservative magazine. Ezra Levant has announced all the details.
Ezra, remember that resume I sent you!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 01:06 AM EST [Link]
~ GET SOMEONE ELSE TO START YOUR CAR GIMLI: John Rhys-Davies will likely have made a lot of enemies because of recent comments he made about defending civilization in connection with the storyline in the Lord of the Rings movies.
Pointing a finger at the media, Rhys-Davies went on, “What is unconscionable is that too many of your fellow journalists do not understand how precarious Western civilization is, and what a jewel it is… The abolition of slavery comes from Western democracy. True democracy comes from our Greco-Judeo-Christian Western experience. If we lose these things, then this is a catastrophe for the world.”
Rhys-Davies revealed that as far back as 1955 his father had predicted that “the next World War will be between Islam and the West.” The actor recalled his response: “I said to him, ’Dad, you’re nuts! The Crusades have been over for hundreds of years!’ And he said, ’Well, I know, but militant Islam is on the rise again. And you will see it in your lifetime.’ He’s been dead some years now. But there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and think, ’God, I wish you were here, just so I could tell you that you were right.’”
I always liked him.
Read on. (Scroll down to "Gimli raises axe for Western civilization")
Posted by steve @ 12:49 AM EST [Link]
~ POPE DUG 'PASSION OF CHRIST': According to the National Catholic Reporter, Pope John Paul II has seen Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ and liked it.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:41 AM EST [Link]
~ WHAT, WOULD YOU HAVE USED THOSE CAREER BUREAUCRAT SKILLS TO DO IT?: Wesley Clark announced Wednesday that by golly he would have caught that rascal Osama bin Laden already.
"If I'd been president, I would have had Osama bin Laden by this time," Clark said at a news conference in Concord, New Hampshire, where he was campaigning for votes in the nation's first primary, January 27.
"I would have followed through on the original sentiment that the president gave us -- Osama bin Laden, dead or alive.
"Instead, he executed a bait-and-switch. He took the priority off Osama bin Laden. He shifted the spotlight onto Saddam Hussein."
Of course you would have dude...you'd have caught him yourself with your own bare hands. I can't swear on this blog but I do have an acronym for the brave general: STFU.
Read the story here.
Posted by steve @ 12:38 AM EST [Link]
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER TAKES QUESTIONS...FROM IRAN: Cool story...Iranian born Shaul Mofaz, who is Israel's defence minister, took and answered a stream of questions from callers listening to Israeli Radio. What's so interesting about that? The program was in Farsi and the callers were in Iran.
Shaul Mofaz was only six when his family emigrated from Iran to Israel. His knowledge of Farsi is rudimentary at best. But that didn’t stop the Israeli defense chief from getting his message across to a stream of callers from the Islamic Republic who appealed to him for help on Israel Radio’s Farsi service this week.
One caller from a city in central Iran asked when Israel and the Jews would finally repay their historical debt to Cyrus the Great and rescue the Iranian people from the dread ayatollahs, just as US President George W. Bush had helped the people of Iraq and Afghanistan throw off their oppressors.
(It was in 538 BC that Cyrus, king of Persia, fulfilling the word of God as spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah, issued a proclamation allowing the Jews to return to Zion from their exile in Babylon and rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem.)
Mofaz, admitting he was not in the miracle business, wished the Iranian people success in their struggle for freedom. But then a stream of callers pleaded for Israel to intervene to help overthrow the Islamic regime. The defense minister replied it was up to the Iranian people to determine its fate. But he also mentioned the United States role in the region and said the Americans still had much work to do after prevailing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran and Syria were still there as key elements of Bush’s axis of evil.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:28 PM EST [Link]
~ PRIORITIES: Ardavan Bahrami bemoans the fact that Shirin Ebadi didn't use her Nobel Prize speech to talk about the plight of her people.
At this point in time when our students have been most courageous in their fight for democracy and secularism, one would have hoped that an internationally recognized lady such as Shirin Ebadi would have taken this unique opportunity and when the world media is focused on her speech to express her concerns for the lack of freedom, mass executions and the daily abuses of human right in our own country rather than broadcasting Islamic Republic's foreign policies regarding America's war against terror and Palestinians!
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:24 PM EST [Link]
~ CRIMINAL-FRIENDLY SCHOOL ZONES
Another example of how our idiotic gun laws -- we do it "for the children", you know --do more harm than good. In two incidents recently in Richmond, VA, armed criminals attacked parents in gun-free school zones. Of course, since the parents are law-abiding citizens, they didn't have their guns in the gun-free school zone.
The story is in the Richmond, VA Times-Dispatch.
Disarming the victims only leads to more victims. And again we learn that criminals - being the criminals that they are -- don't obey laws. Amazing.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 11:12 AM EST [Link]
~ CYNICISM TO THE POINT OF NAUSEA
This from CNSNews.com:
'Madeleine Albright Thinks Bush Knows Osama's Whereabouts
(CNSNews.com) - Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Fox News Channel analyst Morton Kondracke that President Bush may know where Osama bin Laden is - but is just waiting for the most politically advantageous moment to announce his capture. Kondracke said Albright was not making an accusation - but was harboring an "offhand" thought. "It was more a conspiratorial idea that popped into her head," he commented Wednesday morning on Fox & Friends. Albright is on a media tour to promote her new book, "Madam Secretary, A Memoir," and she made the controversial remark about Bush on Tuesday, off-camera in a Fox green room, while awaiting an appearance on "Special Report With Brit Hume." Kondracke called it "another example of the Democrats irrationally believing that the Bush administration is capable of absolutely everything, which is part of their political problem, I think."" '
These people are sick.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 09:46 AM EST [Link]
~ THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS...: Leaders across the world reacted pretty quickly to George W. Bush's comments Tuesday evening that he believed Saddam Hussein deserved the "ultimate penalty" for his crimes against the Iraqi people. With the exception of Australian PM John Howard, everyone pretty well believes that the Lion of Babylon shouldn't be executed.
In the category of opinions that count, Britain is opposed to his execution but would go along if an Iraqi court ordered it while Howard had no problem with it at all.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 04:10 AM EST [Link]
Tuesday, December 16, 2003 UNFAIR AND UNBALANCED: Isntapundit.com takes a survery of CNN's coverage of what's going on in Iraq and finds, not surprisingly, that bad news is always covered in depth while good news barely gets a mention.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 09:43 PM EST [Link]
~ WHY ARE THE LEAST RELIGIOUS THE MOST PRONE TO APPEAL TO RELIGION?: Documents found with Saddam Hussein link him to at least 14 guerilla groups -- dubbed 'Mohammed's Army' -- operating in Baghdad.
The documents describe minutes of meetings with Iraqi government officials who are believed to be financing such cells. They prove Saddam communicated with Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, No. 6 on the U.S. military's 55 Most Wanted list, the New York Post reported.
"We took one document that had obvious and immediate applicability to Baghdad and we acted on it," Gen. Martin Dempsey of the 1st Armored Division told Fox News. "There are many, many, many more documents."
U.S. commanders told Fox News there were five or six specific names listed in that document, which led to two raids Sunday and Monday night on more than 10 cells in Baghdad; two fighters were nabbed. A former Iraqi general was among those detained within 24 hours of Saddam's capture.
U.S. troops have recently broken up six to 14 cells in Baghdad, each made up of up to 25 people. Officials estimate they are still dealing with some 1,000 "hardcore" regime loyalists in Baghdad alone, who are paid by former regime members.
Minutes of meetings? Pretty anal for a guy living in a rat infested hole.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 03:57 PM EST [Link]
~ SO MANY CANUCKS, SO LITTLE TIME: In the spirit of Carnival of the Vanities/Capitalists, David P. Janes has launched Carnival of the Canucks, a weekly roundup of the best posts from Canadian blogs.
Carnival of the Canucks is a weblog collaboration design to gain exposure for blogs and posts you may not have seen during your regular week's readings. The Carnival will be hosted at a different blog every week. Each week's host blogger is responsible for gathering their favorite posts and posting their Carnival on Tuesdays.
Check out the first issue here.
Posted by steve @ 03:15 PM EST [Link]
~ TREASON CONTINUES
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), also known as "Baghdad Jim" for his past criticism of Persident Bush from Baghdad, has again shot off his treasonous mouth. This time, Baghdad Jim is claiming that US Military Forces could have caught Saddam Hussein anytime they wanted. The capture of the Butcher of Baghdad was timed to help Bush. "There's too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing," said McDermott. "It's funny," McDermott added, "when they're having all this trouble, suddenly they have to roll out something."
What's "funny", or at least absurd to the extreme, is that comments like this can come from a member of Congress, and that apparently intelligent people in Washington State actually vote for him.
Congressman, this is not a game. People die to protect your right to say stupid things. You should engage your brain before you run off at the mouth.
The story is here.
cb
Posted by clbloomer @ 11:56 AM EST [Link]
~ MONDAY NIGHT QUARTERBACK: I said last weekend never to change your picks after you've settled on them and yet again I didn't follow my own advice. This time I only changed one pick and it cost me. I went initially with Dallas but changed it to Washington after someone told me the home team always wins when those two teams play. Clearly this time that rule didn't apply.
Other disappointments? As much as I love my Bears, I didn't expect them to beat Minnesota, Baltimore's loss to Oakland was pathetic and Miami failed to win Monday night so forget about my giving them a 6 point spread. Bah. Still, after an awful couple of weeks I had 12 of 16.
Week 1: 9 of 15 (Thursday night game not counted)
Week 2: 13 of 15
Week 3: 10 of 15
Week 4: 10 of 15
Week 5: 11 of 14
Week 6: 11 of 14
Week 7: 8 of 14
Week 8: 10 of 14
Week 9: 7 of 14
Week 10: 9 of 14
Week 11: 12 of 16
Week 12: 12 of 16
Week 13: 8 of 16
Week 14: 8 of 16
Week 15: 12 of 16Season %: 66.9 (+0.6% / 150 of 224)
In honour of Cincinnati's fine victory over the Squared Sevens I offer Ben-gals cheerleader Amber as our Cheerleader of the Week. Amber is a graduate of Georgetown College in the field of cardiovascular research and has a brother serving in Iraq in the U.S. Marine Corp. Three words that describe her? "Patient, Energetic, Intelligent." I love her already!
Posted by steve @ 12:46 AM EST [Link]
~ WHO ASKED YOU?: Koffi Annan announced Monday that he opposes any trial that would see Saddam Hussein put to death afterward.
"The UN does not support death penalty. In all the courts we have set up (UN officials) have not included death penalty," Annan said in a brief encounter with reporters at the United Nations.
"And so as secretary general and the UN as an organization are not going to turn around and support a death penalty," Annan said.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 12:24 AM EST [Link]
Monday, December 15, 2003 GOOD LINE: Members of the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division tell CNN that they thought their search of the location that turned up Saddam Hussein was simply another raid.
Outside the hovel, the soldiers saw a rug on the ground, pulled it back, and found an 8-inch thick piece of Styrofoam covering a narrow hole that appeared to be 6 to 8 feet deep.
They heard noises from below.
They were about to execute a "clearing procedure" -- firing into the hole or dropping a grenade into it -- when someone saw upraised hands belonging to a bearded, bedraggled man. The man had a pistol but did not fire it.
When the soldiers assisted the man from the hole, he said, in English: "I am Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq. I want to negotiate."
The soldiers replied: "President Bush sends his regards."
Good one.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 08:19 PM EST [Link]
~ IT'S ONE WAY TO TRY AND WIN: Matt Drudge reports that the campaigns of Howard Dean and Wesley Clark may be in a little trouble due to leftist web site MoveOn.org.
Frustrated with the lack of domestic support, left-leaning website MoveOn.org has apparently been reaching beyond American borders to generate cash revenue over the internet!
The provocative international fundraising strategy threatens to embroil the presidential candidacies of General Wesley Clark and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.
Both men are named on international fundraising websites suggesting donations to MoveOn.org.
Meanwhile, MoveOn.org, which has been running ads critical of the Bush Administration, has named an "International Campaigns Director," the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
It is not clear how much money has been raised -- to date-- from foreign sources, but political websites from London to Portugal to Montreal are directing their citizens to stop the American president George Bush by donating to MoveOn.org!
Tsk, tsk.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 07:19 PM EST [Link]
~ FUN IN TIKRIT: A pro-Saddam rally turned violent today in Tikrit after security forces moved in. One of the chants? "Saddam is in our hearts, Saddam is in our blood."
Given what we've heard about him, he probably quite literally stood in the blood of many Iraqis. At any rate, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police responded with a chant of their own.
Read on.
Posted by steve @ 06:57 PM EST [Link]
~ AFTER THIS COMES OUT I CAN DIE IN PEACE: The trailer for Spider-Man 2 is now online! (Broadband a plus though there is an option for those with slower connections)
Doctor Octopus exceeded my expectations (though his lack of a German accent bothered me) and the movie -- at least in the preview -- looked as stunning as the first one. Now the only problem is waiting until July 2, 2004 for its release...Yeah, I'm a total geek.
Posted by steve @ 03:29 PM EST [Link]
~