The Fish Eye

2005-02-13T12:21:00.000-05:00

God Bless America, Baby

Our good friends the Saudis -- in yet another show of "reformation" -- have banned red flowers and red cards from being sold in the run-up to the Day of Unholy Infidel Celebration (i.e. Valentines Day). This comes a few weeks after "democratic" elections, in which, er, men who could read were allowed to vote for fundamentalist candidates, which actually isn't all that democratic...

Regardless, I'm all for banning Valentines day.

2005-01-16T10:43:00.000-05:00

More on the Palestinian Demographics Story

This from Powerline.

2005-01-15T11:56:00.000-05:00

Palestinian Population Inflated?

Here's a story about the perhaps inflated (only by a little less than double) Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza. As far as I can see, the Washington Times is the only MSM source harking the claim at the moment. If it were true and verified, however, the implications would be enormous.

For years we've been hearing that Palestinians will overtake Israelis as the most populous people in the area, and this claim has helped quicken the pace for an independent Palestinian state. Imagine if it weren't true; further, imagine that the Irsraeli population is increasing at a faster rate than the Palestinian population.

Now, imagine that the Palestinian leadership knew all of this and perpetrated the illusion.

Yeah, oops.

2005-01-15T11:44:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com: the Savior of College Students Around the World

I just finished ordering one of my textbooks from Amazon.com, George's Understanding and Manaing Organizational Behavior. At my school bookstore (and the indy textbook bookstore across the street) the text was a whopping $140, and $98 used. Of course, neither store had a used copy. I decided to check out Amazon, and I was able to get the book, new, for $47 including shipping.

Perhaps I'm speaking too soon and the package will end up containing a bunch of red bananas and an aging lemur, but right now I worship you, Amazon.

2005-01-13T14:57:00.000-05:00

Are you Kidding Me?

Certainly, the Patriots coach wouldn't allow the field to turn into a swamp or a skating rink for Peyton Manning and his dangerous receivers in Sunday's playoff game against the Colts.

Or would he?

(CNN/SI)

This game is the most anticipated event of the new year, and that dirty, coniving, evil genius Belichick is going to ruin it. I can see it now, ice an inch thick, fake snow obscuring the frigid air as the Patriots decimated secondary merely needs to keep pace with the slipping, unsure gait of the Indy recieving core...

Oh well, there's always the next Lost episode.

2005-01-12T13:40:00.000-05:00

Nurses Set to Join Strike in Nigeria

And you thought that the US had healthcare issues:

IN what may turn-out a total collapse of the health sector, nurses and midwives yesterday threatened to go on strike in the next seven days should government fail to address issues bordering on their welfare.
The health workers, in giving government the ultimatum, said they had been subjected to untold hardship as a result of their employers inability to pay them salaries and allowances for several months.

Already, resident doctors have been on strike industrial action in the last six weeks over alleged underfunding of the hospitals by government leading to unpaid allowances and salary increments.

(All Africa)

2005-01-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

Last UN post of the Day

Although the day is still young, so perhaps that's a hasty statement. This is from the Telegraph, dealing with the audits on the "Oil for Food Program" that have been made available within the past couple of days. The earlier report deals with overpayments made to Kuwait after the inital Iraq war, but as the Telegraph notes "...the degree of embarrassment at that admission was dwarfed by yesterday's audits."

At least $1.7 billion was skimmed off UN-managed sales of oil from 1996 to 2003 by Saddam Hussein. Some of those millions were diverted to bribe foreigners thought sympathetic to the regime rather than going to Iraq's sick and starving, who it was designed to help during the years of UN sanctions.

(The Telegraph)

My sources tell me that Brian Williams is not going to lead with this tonight. Developing...

2005-01-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

Dislike the UN? Here's the editorial for you!

Kanchan Gupta, in an editorial entitled "Party time for the UN" lays it on thick:

A pioneering study on how the UN operates while administering aid provides a revealing insight: In a particular year, the 'Executive Board of the (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation received $1,759,584 for travel and lodging. During the same time it spent $49,000 on education for handicapped children in Africa, and $1,000 to train teachers in Honduras.'

...

After a rather bleak 2004 when the UN found itself squeezed out of Iraq and the lucrative multi-billion-dollar 'oil for food' programme, and scandal after scandal of financial malfeasance and worse surfaced, painting the world organisation, to quote a particularly colourful though apt description, as a 'miasma of corruption beset by inefficiency,' a 'Kafkaesque bureaucracy' that deliberately obfuscates the truth and maintains a conspiracy of silence, it is party time for Kofi Annan and his aid administrators.

(Rediff News)

Gupta also laments the US allowing the core group to dissolve, writing "It's a pity that the US caved in rather than stand up to a sulking Kofi Annan and his petulant fellow travellers in Europe..."

Ditto. The core group was, in fact, an unheralded success that the MSM did its best to ignore, all the while touting the UN's "coordinating" role.

2005-01-11T13:24:00.000-05:00

Comments

Killing comments in an experiment; feel free to email.

2005-01-11T13:22:00.000-05:00

Pinochet Granted Bail

It's not bad enough that he was granted bail, but he was given an amount that I could post.

But Pinochet will remain confined to his country estate near Santiago until the Court of Appeals rules on Judge Juan Guzman's $3,500 bail bond order.

Prosecution lawyer Eduardo Contreras said he will ask the court to keep Pinochet under arrest "because he is a danger for society."

(AP Latin America)

2005-01-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

Chavez and Mugabe: More than Just Good Buddies

Hugo Chavez -- an ally of Robert Mugabe -- makes good on land reform promises:

President Hugo Chavez signed a decree setting up a commission to inspect farmlands and told thousands of supporters gathered in a convention center that the plan provides "land for those who work it! Justice in the farmlands!"

...

Chavez told thousands of cheering supporters that the measure clears the way for a "war against the large estates."

...

Chavez said the new commission of officials and farming leaders will be in charge of inspecting lands all over the country. The military will participate in the inspections, Chavez said, although he didn't say what their task will be.

(AP)

The forced redistribution of land and the use of the military as "inspectors" should make Venezuela a really attractive target for foreign investment.

Did wonders for Zimbabwe!

2005-01-10T17:03:00.000-05:00

Mass. GOP Registers Domains of Top Democrat

I wonder if "Obamaforprez.com" is still available?

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Republicans have launched a pre-emptive strike against Democratic Attorney General Tom Reilly by snapping up online Internet addresses that would have been obvious picks for him if he decides to run for governor in 2006.
Reilly has not yet said whether he will challenge Republican Governor Mitt Romney in 2006. But if Reilly does run, it will be hard for him to use the Web sites reillyforgovernor.com, tomreillyforgovernor.com, reillyforgovernor2006.com and reillyforgovernor06.com.

(Reuters)

This could lead to some huge problems for Reilly, since there are only about forty variations of web domains that he could possibly use.

2005-01-10T13:59:00.000-05:00

Ukrainian Iraq Pull-out Watch, Day 2, Final Day

Crap, I'm going to need some new material:

Ukraine, whose 1,650 troops are the fourth-largest contingent in the U.S.-led operation in Iraq, previously expressed intentions to withdraw this year, but Kuchma's order speeds up the apparent timetable.

That order came a day after eight Ukrainian soldiers died in an explosion at an ammunition dump in Iraq, which was reported as an accident.

(AP: Ukraine Orders Troops Withdrawn from Iraq)

Related: Ukrainian Iraq Pull-out Watch, Day 1.

2005-01-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

"Democracy is like this", comments Mubarak

"Yes yes, just like this. Trust me":

Parliament has yet to choose the sole candidate allowed to run in the September referendum. But Mubarak is expected to be nominated again, despite reformers' calls for the government to amend the constitution and allow more than one candidate to run.

Three prominent intellectuals have announced their intention to run for the position in a symbolic challenge to Mubarak.

Asked about those seeking to run against him, 76-year-old Mubarak said: "Let them go ahead, this is good. Democracy is like this. I hope that 100 nominate (themselves). Why will I get angry? I won't get angry."

The comments, originally made in a television interview, were carried in newspapers Sunday.

Although parliament has yet to decide, the semi-official al-Ahram newspaper has recently carried reports pre-judging the decision, either saying Mubarak will win the nomination or the referendum itself.

Sunday, al-Ahram reported that the Interior Ministry would start referendum preparations "after parliament finishes in May the nomination of President Mubarak for a new term."

(Reuters)

Well, I see that someone needs a refresher on Democracy 101.

2005-01-10T13:38:00.000-05:00

Cuba and Europe: Back in the Saddle Again

I just knew they couldn't stay apart forever:

HAVANA - Cuba said Monday it was resuming formal ties with all of Europe, ending a deep freeze in relations following a 2003 crackdown on dissidents and the firing-squad executions of three men who tried to hijack a ferry.

Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told journalists that official contacts had resumed with the Havana-based ambassadors of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands, as well as with the European Union (news - web sites) mission.

"Cuba has re-established official contacts now with all of the EU countries," Perez Roque said. Although diplomatic ties with the European countries were never severed, high-level contacts between Cuba and many EU members were limited for more than 1 1/2 years.

...

Relations between Cuba and Europe chilled after Cuba cracked down on the island's opposition in March 2003, rounding up and sentencing 75 dissidents to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years.

(AP)

Perez Roque went on to say that Cuba expected the diplomatic ties to stay open until the next repressive crackdown, at which point the EU would "threaten to break up with us, but we know that they don't really mean it".

2005-01-10T13:31:00.000-05:00

Big Day for Righty Bloggers

Righty bloggers have their second Christmas in two months today, as CBS released its report on the Rathergate documents. I'd blog about this, but I really don't care all that much. Though I will say this: I suspect if the report had said "the 60 minutes segment is indicative of the lack of moral center on the left, its allegiance to such false idols as Michael Moore, and the overall idiocy of the liberal agenda, not to mention..." bloggers like Hugh Hewitt would still be complaining that it was a "whitewash".

Depressing thought of the day: no Monday Night Football.

2005-01-09T22:59:00.000-05:00

Toronto Police Arrest Man Posing as Red Cross Worker

Only a couple hundred dollars, and I'm sure it's an isolated incident:

Toronto police arrested a man who was allegedly defrauding people by posing as a Red Cross worker collecting money for tsunami disaster relief.
...

Police say the man complemented his scam by providing contributors with phony tax receipts. They also uncovered bogus donation forms for a non-existent Christian organization that was supposedly collecting on behalf of the Red Cross.

(CTV)

2005-01-09T22:25:00.000-05:00

Indonesian Economist Worries about what Indonesia will do with Aid

From the Jakarta Post:

Faisal also warned the government not to be lax in maintaining the 2005 state budget at a balance -- such as by slackening its tax revenue target through tax amnesties -- just because it would receive fiscal incentives from the aid pouring into Aceh.

Calling it "inappropriate", he said such a scenario was possible as the government could gain more from the monetary aid for Aceh than for its expenditure.

"The debt relief offers themselves can be greater than the cost of rebuilding Aceh," he said.

Further down:

Mulia also said that the 2005 state budget spending for Aceh and North Sumatra would be less than Rp 100 billion from the government's original allocation of Rp 300 billion. The reduced amount was due to the monetary donations from the public and from foreign countries.

Well, as Bob Dylan said, "money doesn't talk, it swears" to which the Indonesian government is replying "fuck yeah!".

2005-01-09T13:29:00.000-05:00

Chirac Warns French Media to Stay Out of Iraq

From CNN:

(CNN) -- French President Jacques Chirac has warned journalists in France to stay out of Iraq, because their safety cannot be guaranteed.

Chirac's warning at a private reception on Friday came after a French newspaper reporter, Florence Aubenas, and her Iraqi interpreter in Baghdad disappeared, said Laurence Auer, deputy spokeswoman for the French leader.

Why can't their safety be guaranteed? Can't the French soliders in... Oh, nevermind. Well, how about the UN peacekeepers patrolling... Oh, forgot about that.

On another note, those will be my two CNN links of 2005.

2005-01-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

Ukrainian Iraq Pull-Out Watch, Day 1

Seven Ukrainian soldiers and one Kazakh serving in Iraq were killed in an explosion Sunday when troops were detonating ordnance at an ammunition storage point, the U.S.-led military said.
It is believed to be an accident. An investigation is under way.

(CNN)

2005-01-09T13:05:00.000-05:00

Aid Workers Fear after Gunfight in Aceh

Not surprisingly, violence is flaring up in the Indonesian in the Aceh region. Aceh, as has been noted, has been a hotbead of extremism and violence for decades:

Gunfire echoed through the main tsunami-hit city on Indonesia's Sumatra island Sunday, underscoring the threat to the scores of foreigner aid workers, while a tropical downpour lashed the airport in the provincial capital, turning a major hub for relief supplies into a muddy mess.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated north after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan agreed to a government request that he not visit tsunami-stricken areas under Tamil rebel control.

(ABC News: Aid Workers face Danger in Indonesia)

You can't separate politics from disaster, and, in some places, you can't separate violence from politics.

2005-01-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

UN Warning on Darfur #1,379

We've seen this before:

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned that swift action must be taken over the security situation in Darfur or intense violence could break out.

In a report to the Security Council, he said groups were re-arming and violence was spreading beyond the region.

...

Every month, the UN's reports on Darfur paint an increasingly bleak picture and this one is no exception.
Mr Annan said the build-up of weapons and intensification of violence, including air attacks, suggested the security situation in Darfur was deteriorating.

He said both the government and rebels had repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement, and the government had started a massive build-up of forces and logistics.

(BBC)

Yet another report, though I suppose we shouldn't be surprised at this point. For past reports and warnings from Kofi Annan, see this thread. On the other hand, you could just read the BBC story about six times, making sure to note that every go-through is two months and a few thousand lives.

2005-01-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

Black on Black Makes it Okay

Here's a comment from Steve Gilliard -- a black man -- on Armstrong Williams, the black radio host who took money from the Whitehouse to push NCLB:

It's like that line from Trading Places: "Of course I would never let a nigger run our company" Well, of course, if Williams is a crook, they would never defend his lying nigger ass.

Gilliard caused a blogroversy over a post in which he used slave-lingo to describe Armstrong; the post was linked by the Corner and that post was linked by Instapundit.

When I first read Gilliard's post, I suspect he was black; he was using racist terms in his post and comments with almost glee, and it seemed clear he felt free from condemnation, but was going to let the traffic build before he told people new to his blog that he was black.

It just seems sort of sad and disgusting.

2005-01-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

Further Reports on a Similar Theme

Who bears the brunt of catastrophes, ethnic warfare, and poverty? Women and children. The UN review of the Congonese exploitation (read: rape) is out, and, well, no big surprise:

Peacekeepers regularly had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money, investigators from the world body's Office of Internal Oversight Services found.

"We have had and continue to have a serious problem of sexual exploitation and abuse," William Lacy Swing, the United Nations' special representative to Congo, said at a news conference.
...

Officials have found it difficult to crack down because the United Nations doesn't want to offend the relatively small number of countries that are willing to provide peacekeepers.

The question now becomes, from which countries did the offending peace-keepers generally come from?

I think it's an important question, because it might indicate from which countries peacekeepers should not come from in the future. If the answer to the question is that there is no set pattern, then my next question is: what the hell is the UN going to do to make sure it doesn't happen in the future? Peacekeepers will need to be sent to poor nations, and the women and young girls of poor nations are the most vulnerable to (a) whoever it is the peacekeepers are protecting them from and (b) disgustingly, the peacekeepers themselves.

(AP)

2005-01-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

This is Great

BoSox first baseman won't let go of historic World Series ball:

"I know this ball has a lot of sentimental value," Mientkiewicz said. "I hope I don't have to use it for the money. It would be cool if we have kids someday to have it stay in our family for a long time. But I can be bought. I'm thinking, there's four years at Florida State for one of my kids. At least."

Yankees fans everywhere are smiling.

2005-01-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

Sri Lankan Women Fear Rape in Aftermath of the Tsunami

At least three other cases of child sexual abuse in relief centres have been reported since the tsunami struck December 26, said Sujeeva Amarasena, chief paediatrician at Karapitiya hospital, the main one in the country's south.

Two gang rapes of woman survivors have been confirmed outside the camps, he said.

(AP)

That's one of my biggest worries about the Tsunami aftermath. The other worry invovles corruption. We're going to pour millions upon millions of dollars into affected countries that are ruled by corrupt leaders and governments -- you do the math. For what it's worth, the UN is now coordinating the relief effort, so both of those fears are magnified.

2005-01-07T13:05:00.000-05:00

The NYTimes Mulls Subscription Fees

Well, that's one way to get me to stop reading the Times. I have to say, I'd miss some of their reporting on Science, Health, and even the International stuff. Nevertheless, it's not like there's not ten thousand other places to get similar sorts of news.

2005-01-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

Army Doctor Ordered to Shut Down Blog

The army doctor who blogged about the deadly messhall incident has been ordered to shut down his blog. I certainly hope that this is not a harbinger of things to come, since the blogs of soldiers in Iraq are a very useful and insightful source of information.

(H/T Truth Laid Bear)

2005-01-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

The Opposition in Swaziland "Becoming more Militant"

Sithole said the core issue of the nationwide strike was the imposition of what pro-democracy groups are calling an illegitimate constitution drafted by King Mswati's brothers. The document is currently before parliament. Mswati has said he would sign the new constitution into law, allowing him to retain his absolute governing powers unopposed by political opposition groups, which will continue to be outlawed.

...

Swaziland's security forces have traditionally kept demonstrators on a short leash: the commissioner of police has to grant approval for political marches, which is routinely denied on the grounds that politics are "banned" in Swaziland.

(All Africa)

As the Swazi "Government" is finding out, politics are not, indeed, banned in Swaziland.

2005-01-05T23:01:00.000-05:00

UN To Take Control as US, Aussie, &co Core Group "Dissolves"

Rather disappointing, but it looks like we'll be "going blue":

According to delegates, the summit is also expected to dissolve the “core group” of nations announced by US President George W. Bush to channel aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami after just eight days as the United Nations takes control of the relief effort.

I mentioned to a friend that I thought the US should link its aid to Indonesia and other countries to greater cooperation on rebels, along with those pesky groups that like to kidnap and kill US citizens. It looks like the Germans have the same idea:

Earlier, Germany linked its pledge of €500m ($665m) to the ending of rebellions in Sri Lanka and the Aceh region of Indonesia. Joschka Fischer, German foreign minister, said on Wednesday he would use a trip to the region starting the following day to urge the two countries' governments to prioritise “national reconciliation” as relief efforts grow. But Andrew Tan, a Singapore official, warned against complicating the relief and reconstruction drives by “tying them to insurgency problems.”

The Aceh region, particularly, has been a hotbead of extremism and rebellion for, oh, forty years or so.

Financial Times: World leaders attend Tsunami Donors Summit.

2005-01-05T17:14:00.000-05:00

Iraq Update

Twenty-one killed in separate attacks throughout the day; most of the dead were Iraqi Police Academy recruits.

The attacks were the latest by insurgents who have killed more than 90 people, mostly policemen, this week alone in a campaign targeting the U.S.-backed interim government and its fledgling security services.
They came a day after gunmen assassinated Baghdad's provincial governor, Ali al-Haidri, and a suicide truck bomber killed 11 people outside a police commando headquarters, a surge of violence that drew fresh calls for delaying the ballot.

...

White House officials said Wednesday Bush spoke with Yawar about the need to push ahead with the polls.
Allawi vowed on Wednesday to proceed with the vote.

(Reuters)

We've passed the "don't look back" stage and now we're at the "point of no fucking return" stage; the issue, to my mind, is that delaying the election only delays the attacks. No matter when you set the date for the election, insurgents are going to increase the frequency of the attacks in an attempt to disrupt the election or make the outcome appear illegitimate. The second problem is that they are disrupting the election, and, with news of political groups pulling out, may succeed in making the outcome appear illegitimate in the eyes of "ordinary Iraqis".

Then again, it might just tick those ordinary Iraqis off and make the Iraqi Islamic Party look like political neophytes. Jeebus, I hope so.

2005-01-05T17:10:00.000-05:00

Nifty Site for Exercise Fanatics

Caloriesperhour is a site with lots of exercise information, most of which is common sense. However, it also boasts a "calories per hour" calculator, which is really cool.

In the time it took me to research and post this entry, I burned four calories.

2005-01-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

Richard Gere Urges Palestinians to GoTV

This is fantastic:

In a transcript obtained by The Associated Press, he said: "Hi, I'm Richard Gere, and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important: Get out and vote."

Appearing with Gere in the spot are the head of the Islamic court in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. The spot is apparently an attempt to use both glamour and religion to get Palestinians to the polls. It will air soon.

It's unclear what kind of sway Gere may have with Palestinians. One man who appeared with him in the spot said he'd never heard of Gere.

(NBCSandiego, Via the Drudge Report)

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants continue to show support for the incoming Prez:

PALESTINIAN militants have defied the appeals of presidential election favourite Mahmud Abbas to stop firing rockets into Israel, hitting an army base in a new strike launched from the Gaza Strip.

(News.com.au)

Democracy in action!

2005-01-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

The Tsunami Disaster as Seen from Le Monde

Note the cartoon is linked to this story entitled "How the U.N. is Coordinating Aid to a Devastated Asia." What's it about? Basically, French resentment that the U.S. is making a bid at being the leader of a "humanitarian coalition" assisting the hundreds of thousands devastated by the massive seaquake. The short article is, encore, obsessed with the U.N. (read: France) having a major role! Yawn.

(H/T Instapundit)

The Belgravia Dispatch: The Tsunami Disaster as seen from Le Monde

2005-01-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

Fake MasterCard Commercial about the Red Sox Winning the World Series

This is absolutely hilarious. Beware of hot beverages and soup while watching.

2005-01-04T17:32:00.000-05:00

Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi Probably not Captured

But, on the bright side, Yasser Arafat is still dead as a doornail.

2005-01-04T17:27:00.000-05:00

Tsunami Updates

Americans have given over 200 million to relief agencies for the Asian Tsunami.

AP: Americans Open Wallets for Tsunami Relief

Britian and the US urge freeze on Debt owed by Tsunami Countries.

Reuters: Brown Urges Tsunami Debt Relief

2005-01-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

More on Abbas

Heir apparent Mahmoud Abbas called Israel "the Zionist enemy":

Moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called Israel "the Zionist enemy" for the first time on Tuesday after an Israeli tank killed seven Palestinian youths in a Gaza strawberry field.

The Israeli army said it had targeted militants who had crept into the strawberry field and fired mortar bombs into a nearby Jewish settlement in the occupied territory.

Palestinian witnesses and medics in Beit Lahiya, a north Gaza village, said the militants had vanished by the time the tank shell crashed and all the dead were youths aged 11-17 from two farming families. Four people were critically wounded.

(ABC NEWS)

Sounds fishy. Anyway, those "freedom fighters"! Using a strawberry field to launch attacks from! What will they think of next...

Related on Abbas: The More Things Change...

2005-01-04T10:33:00.000-05:00

Jim Klauder on Why Development Smothers Poverty

According to a recent study by the World Bank, 2004's growth reflected "an expansion without precedent over the past 30 years." Equally encouraging, the report notes that "the rapid growth of developing economies ... has produced a spectacular, if not historic, fall in poverty."
...

When Americans do hear about the World Bank, it's usually because an unruly mob is protesting against it. The protesters are long on rhetoric but short on facts.

But it's not just protesters who are misguided. Many of our nation's teachers also don't realize why poverty in developing countries is declining at such a rapid rate. Far too often, teachers are uneasy when they realize that free markets are the best way to help those in poverty.

(SF Gate)

H/T Crumb trail, which also quotes Mugged Liberal:

“I am asked to discuss it — the kind of ‘Why are you a heretic?’ conversation,” he says. “Often they are in the entertainment industry and on the boards of environmental groups. It soon becomes clear they have no information, only attitudes.”

(CrumbTrail: Good Developments)

2005-01-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Baghdad Governor Assassinated

With all the press about the Asian Tsunami, it's been easy to temporarily push the bad news in Iraq to the back burner. The Governor of Baghdad, Ali al-Haidri, has been assassinated in a roadside shootout; 10 people were killed in a bomb blast (near the green-zone? in it?); and insurgents killed 22 Iraqi National Guard members. That's within the past two days.

There are basically two competing interpretations of these, and other, incidents. On the one hand, people look at these and say that what we're seeing is desperate insurgents trying to stall the inevitable push towards democracy. On the other hand, people look at these incidents and say we've basically screwed up, we've lost the battle for "the hearts and minds" and the battle against the insurgency, and, also, Bush looks like a chimp.

As someone who has been a supporter of this President and a defender, if not supporter, of the decision to invade Iraq, I'm not sure which interpretation I subscribe to. I'm sure of this: I wouldn't bite at more than half of that first interpretation. I think these insurgents are trying to stop the push to democracy, but I don't think they're desperate. As for the second interpretation, I don't think we've lost yet, just that we're losing at a quicker pace.

2005-01-04T09:54:00.000-05:00

Stunning Pictures from the Beeb

BBC: In Pictures: The ruin from Above.

2005-01-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

Al-Zarqawi Reportedly Arrested in Iraq

However, the only sources are one Chinese newspaper, one Russian newspaper, and an old man named Charlie who also sold me a one hundred percent legitimate rolex 2005s.

Nice.

(Itar-Tass: Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi Reportedly arrested in Iraq)

2005-01-03T23:33:00.000-05:00

A Short Note on Hatred

I hate blog typos, but they stick to me like deli-meat sticks to a wall on a warm, humid, summer day.

2005-01-03T22:52:00.000-05:00

Leaders on Vay-kay take the Heat

Tony Blair becomes the most recent western leader to take criticism for not shortening his holiday due to the Asian Tsunami disaster:

Tony Blair has arrived home from holiday to mounting criticism of his decision not to cut short the break to deal with the Asian tsunami disaster.

The Prime Minister returned to Downing Street as originally planned.

(This is London)

I must confess, I don't really understand the urge to criticize these leaders for not ending their vacations earlier than planned. Kofi Annan stayed at his holiday hot-spot for the first three days of the disaster, and President Bush remained at the Western Whitehouse for the entire planned time. What's the big deal, here? If anyone should take the heat, it should be Kofi; after all, these sorts of occurrences are what the UN is supposed to be there for. Nevertheless, it's hard to argue that leaders of modern countries are somehow less effective on holiday when a disaster strikes areas of the world thousands of miles from their own.

Related editorial: The Tsunami and George W. Bush.

2005-01-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

Revisiting an Old Friend: King Mswati-III

Labour groups in Swaziland are rejecting the government's propoganda, while calling for democratic reforms. Meanwhile, King Mswati (he of the 12 wives and a hi-tech boeing) has recently purchased a new car:

In response, the outlawed opposition party, the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), promised greater political activism in 2005, with public demonstrations and appeals for "selective" international sanctions against the royal family.
PUDEMO cited Mswati's recent purchase of one of the world's most expensive cars, a US $330,000 Maybach, as evidence of his insensitivity and lack of accountability in a country with a 70 percent poverty rate.

In its year's end statement, the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations called for "citizens' involvement in the budget making process and the immediate cessation of government expenditure on luxury items".

"Forty percent of Swazis are infected with HIV, [and] a quarter of the nation survives on food aid, but the authorities continue to spend tax funds for non-essential but expensive luxuries such as houses for royal children living abroad, increased allowances for the extended royal family and the redecoration of royal palaces," the group said.

(All-Africa)

What the hell? Is this Camus' posthumanous sequel to his epic masterpiece of absurdist literature, "Caligula"?

Off with his head!

2005-01-02T13:16:00.000-05:00

The More things Change...

Palestinian Leader to Shield Militants:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he wants to shield Palestinian militants from Israel and indicated he has no plans to crack down on gunmen after upcoming presidential elections.

(LGF)

It's become increasingly clear that Abbas is just Arafat II, with only a slightly less unsavory past. I'd like to think that Abbas is just fashioning himself in this manner so as to "win" the election, but I'd also like to think that the next Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks movie won't be a steaming pile of bullshit, and I highly doubt that. Abbas seems to realize the obvious: gain power, protect the terrorists, maintain ties with Europe, mobilize the global "Blame Israel" movement, and continue to collect aid from the oblivious US administrations that are always so worried about "Peace in the Middle East", which is sort of like medicare but more important. A long time ago I wrote that what we needed was an Arab Nelson Mandela in the West Bank. Well, guess what? Maybe next year.

2005-01-02T11:29:00.000-05:00

Even Einstein had his Days off

Good OP-ED in the NYTimes today, though nothing too unfamiliar to those with a passing fancy in Einstein and the creation of the universe, &etc. On another note, Jared Diamond had an OP-ED in the Times yestersday, which also happened to be very interesting -- if long. Diamond, of course, wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning Guns, Germs, and Steel which was one of the more interesting and informative books I've ever read. Diamond's OP-ED "The End of the World as We Know Them" is sort of a preface to the "sequel" of Guns, Germs, and Steel, entitled Collapse: How Societies Choose or Fail to Succeed. It's not clear to me whether or not Diamond makes it the rather worn-out objective of his work to target the collapse of America, though his OP-ED seems to indicate that he does. GG&S was so good that I'm sure I'll buy "Collapse", but I tend to hope that its focus is more on the collapse of past nations, rather than on the impending collapse of the US.

Because, you know, that song has been sung before.

2004-12-31T14:49:00.000-05:00

Jaques Chirac's Response to the US's $350mil Tsunami Pledge

Chirac: "Well, sure, and I would have pledged $500 million if I were the dictator of a overly-religious, materialistic and ignorant nation. And hey, someone has to quell those barbarians in the Ivory Coast, you know, and that isn't cheap. So pass the brie." *

2004-12-27T11:54:00.000-05:00

Allah is in the House

Allah's moved back to blogspot, apparently due to legal troubles, drinking problems, and a nasty case of gout.

I made the last two up.

2004-12-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

Snow, Wind in Maine

Tsunamis elsewhere. Perspective.

2004-12-24T19:23:00.000-05:00

BBC Reports, You Deride II

Maybe he means "popular rebellion".

They are part of the insurgency in Saudi Arabia. It's not a rebellion, it's a relatively small number of people who are dedicated to violent acts to drive out westerners and try to bring down the Saudi government.

The author is talking about men like the ones who had shot him. He dicusses what happened after the men had fired five bullets into his body.

It was a long time before anyone came and when it did they weren't any help at all.
The local people - very uncharacteristically for Muslims, who are normally fantastically good at helping people in trouble - stood around and just discussed me.
Eventually the crowd built up, and the police turned up, no ambulance, and they bundled me in a police car and took me off on an agonising journey to a pretty ropey hospital.

I wonder how Saudi Muslims normally react when a Brit with a rather pale cast about his features has been shot five times in their neighborhood? You know, frankly, I haven't read too many stories along the nature of "I was pumped full of bullets by Islamo-Fascists, and the locals were just outrageously helpful", but I have read one where the locals just sat around and enjoyed the show.

2004-12-24T11:13:00.000-05:00

While We're on the Subject of Screwed up African Nations...

Glenn posts more about the UN's kiddie porn industry in the Congo:

The expert was a Frenchman who worked at Goma airport as part of the UN’s $700 million-a-year effort to rebuild the war-shattered country. When police raided his home they discovered that he had turned his bedroom into a studio for videotaping and photographing sex sessions with young girls.
The bed was surrounded by large mirrors on three sides, according to a senior Congolese police officer. On the fourth side was a camera that he could operate from the bed with a remote control.

When the police arrived the man was allegedly about to rape a 12-year-old girl sent to him in a sting operation. Three home-made porn videos and more than 50 photographs were found.

(Instapundit)

He also links to a Sudan Genocide Roundup [I've been blogging about this for year, but I don't get an instalanche!]. Well, blogging's an unforgiving mistress. I need another muffin.

2004-12-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

Relating to "The Attack on Christianity in America"

All these conservativists bemoaning the attack on Christianity in America should visit China or Sudan or Saudi Arabia and try stringing up the holly and setting up the tree. Then they'll have an attack worth complaining about, dammit.

Merry effin.

2004-12-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

Bush Signs bill Authorizing Aid, Sanctions in Sudan

President Bush has been authorized to spend up to 300 million on humanitarian aid in Sudan; he has also been encouraged and authorized to impose sanctions on Sudanese leaders and government businesses.

(Reuters) Sanctions.
(AP) 300 Million Sudan Bill.

On another note, our favorite Islamo media corporation gives us this quote:

Al-Khalifa said the "so-called Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act passed by the US Congress has not deterred Sudan from continuing its economic development, with the help of other countries such as China and a number of Southeast Asian countries, and even some European countries".

Al-Khalifa is Sudan's chief negotiator with the Darfurian rebels. And, of course, he's being extremely honest.

There are two existing UN resolutions threatening possible sanctions against the Sudanese authorities.
But China and Russia, which have a veto on the council, oppose sanctions.

(BBC)

Merry Christmas, tyranny, oppression, and violence -- from two of your oldest friends.

2004-12-24T09:53:00.000-05:00

Troops Bemoan Crappy Media, Media Finally Reports

During Rummy's surprise trip to Mosul, US troops voiced frustrations concerning the bad press (i.e. oh that liberal media) and the media decided, oh, what the hell. We'll report it.

A soldier at his first stop in Mosul asked Rumsfeld how the "propaganda" worked?

Rumsfeld, under attack since he appeared to brush aside a question about poor equipment from a U.S. soldier in Kuwait that later turned out to have been composed with help from a reporter, jumped at the opportunity to turn the tables.

"That doesn't sound like a question placed by the press," he told his audience to loud applause.

A few hours later in Tikrit, the same frustration surfaced with another soldier complaining that she had a hard time explaining what they were doing in Iraq when she got back home and asking what could be done to get past the bad press.

Rumsfeld said the message was getting through anyway.

Oh, but wait. No mention of the complaints in that bastion of fair reporting, The New York Times. No mention in the Washington Post, either.

2004-12-23T21:44:00.000-05:00

Putin Calls Yushchenko a Sissy

(BBC)

Mr Putin criticised the "revolutions" that have taken place in Georgia and Ukraine - dubbed the "rose revolution" and the "orange revolution" respectively - saying that "they will think of something like blue" next time.

Rose and blue are colours associated in Russia with homosexuality.

Putin also wonders if the US is trying to isolate Russia through its policy in Ukraine, Georgia, and, most interestingly, Chechnya:

"If it's indeed so, then the position on Chechnya is becoming more understandable. That means that there, as well, a policy aimed at creating elements that would destabilise the Russian Federation is being conducted," he added

He's going to bring it up with George the next time they're eating steak down in Crawford.

2004-12-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Memories, Sweet Sweet Memorieees...

With all the bloggers linking to the WSJ story about Denton being a man to watch in 2005, I decided to check out his personal blog. He hasn't updated it too frequently, and his response to exit poll data during the election is still up. Denton is rather smug, noting that bloggers are pushing the numbers (which he believes to be legit) while the MSM is not. He writes

In an internet era, it's impossible to maintain an information embargo, particularly when attention is so intense. The news organizations put up bland holding headlines, so as not to affect polling while stations are still open. This is the last election cycle they'll be so restrained. This embargo has gone beyond responsible journalism; it's verging on Luddism. But, hey, guys: thanks for making the internet look good.

As we all know, in fact, the bloggers who pushed those numbers made the internet look bad, not good. If bloggers truly reached a wider audience than they do, such hasty posting of early numbers might have actually had an effect on the election outcome. If CNN "called the election for Kerry" -- as Denton did -- that would have been a very bad thing.

2004-12-23T21:12:00.000-05:00

Politicizing Christmas: Lighten up!

Article from Goldberg in the old NRO.

2004-12-23T19:59:00.000-05:00

Wow

I eventually had to begin killing people in order to get home. Mall is packed; Wal-Mart is like swamp of wandering zombies and screaming midgets.

2004-12-23T01:07:00.000-05:00

BBC Reports, You Deride

But both Mr Rumsfeld and the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Richard Myers looked embattled and weary as they entered the Pentagon briefing room, says the BBC's Rob Watson in Washington.*

Rummy needs a hug and a pink slip.

2004-12-23T01:02:00.000-05:00

Who's Next?

Kos and Co, along with Newsweek, all starry-eyed over Barak Obama. He's like their holy grail or something, the unattainable jus-out-of-reach guy who can win back the Whitehouse. But I mean, don't get too excited yet kids: four years to go, then he can have a shot at being next to lose.

2004-12-22T23:43:00.000-05:00

OxBlog Wonders...

Still, this is the first time that the American public has been so decisive in its judgment. By the same token, an identical 57-42 majority disapproves of how Bush is handling Iraq.

I have to admit I'm somewhat puzzled by the numbers. Why were the American public so much more confident on Bush on election day? The media have generally presented the post-election battle in Fallujah as victory for our side. There have been a lot of major bombings, but we had those in October, too.*

But wait! In this old article by Josh Marshall entitled "Bill Buckley, You and I know the War was a Mistake", Marshall notes...

...perhaps it is uniquely possible for a man at the summit or the sunset of life — choose your metaphor — to state so crisply and precisely what a clear majority of the American public has already decided (54 percent according to the latest Gallup poll): that the president’s Iraq venture was a mistake.

I could hunt down that old Gallup poll, but I just found out that there are naked pictures on the internet. Wonders never cease!

2004-12-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

They'll be Coming Around the Mountain, Coming Around the Mountain...

In yet another sign that the apocolypse is upon us:

The "Who's Your Daddy?" show, in which a young woman given up for adoption as a child gets a $100,000 (52,000 pound) prize for picking out her biological father from a line-up, is the latest in America's obsession with reality TV programming.

2004-12-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

Now This is a Dumb Essay!

You know when an essay starts out with this line:

"Anti-Semitism" today is a genuine problem. It is also an illusory problem.

You've got yourself something to fisk. It's a real problem, and it's also not a real problem. Confucius say: genius.

Next:

The American view clearly reflects an exaggerated anxiety. The problem of anti-Semitism in Europe today is real, but it needs to be kept in proportion. According to the Stephen Roth Institute at Tel Aviv University, there were 517 anti-Semitic incidents in France in 2002 (503 in 2003) and fifty-one in Belgium (twenty-nine in 2003). These ranged from anti-Semitic graffiti on Jewish-owned shops to Molotov cocktails thrown into synagogues in Paris, Lyons and elsewhere.

Measured by everything from graffiti to violent assaults, anti-Semitism has indeed been on the increase in some European countries in recent years; but then it has in America as well. The American Anti-Defamation League reported sixty anti-Semitic incidents on US college campuses alone in 1999, 106 in 2002 and sixty-eight in 2003. The ADL recorded 1,559 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2002 (1,557 in 2003), up from 906 in 1986. Even if anti-Semitic aggression in France, Belgium and elsewhere in Europe has been grievously underreported, there is no evidence to suggest that it is much more widespread in Europe than in the United States.

Population of France: roughly 60 million. Population of the United States: roughly 300 million. But yeah, it needs to be kept in proportion, so there's no evidence to suggest that anti-semitism is more widespread in Europe than it is in the US, even if anti-Semitism has been under-reported in France. And we're relying on two different statistical gathering mechanisms: the Stephen Roth institute based in Tel Aviv, gathering information on France (presumably no one in France gathers the info) and the ADL, based in the US, gathering info on the US.

Further, who do you think is more worried about repercussions if they report an incident: a Jewish person living in America, or a Jewish person living in France?

UPDATE: The Department of State's 2003 report on International Religious Freedom cites a different number:

The annual National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (NCCHR) report on racism and xenophobia, released in March, noted a significant increase in the number of attacks and threats against Jews in 2002. Following a decrease in incidents from 2000 to 2001, anti-Semitic attacks and threats, ranging from graffiti and harassment to cemetery desecration and firebombing, increased dramatically in early 2002, then decreased sharply in May 2002. The NCCHR reported 924 anti-Semitic incidents of violence and threats in 2002, compared to 216 in 2001. The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) hotline received 308 reports of anti-Semitic incidents in 2002, ranging from verbal insults and hate mail to physical attacks on people and property. The CRIF hotline received 215 reports of anti-Semitic incidents from January 1 through June 30, compared to 231 during the same period in 2002. Government leaders, members of the religious community, and NGOs strongly criticized the violence, which some linked to increasing tensions in the Middle East. It appeared that disaffected youths were responsible for many of the incidents, and some arrests were made.

2004-12-22T13:41:00.000-05:00

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire, written by that grizzly red gob of genius, George R. R. Martin, is one of my favorite serious of books. The most recent book in the series, A Storm of Swords, was released in March of 2003. Fans of the series have eagerly been awaiting the next installment; amazon.com, which is ever wrong, now has the release of A Feast for Crows set for July 26th, 2005.

I think authors who plan on writing a multi-volume work should release warnings on the first installment

WARNING: WILL TAKE YEARS TO WRITE ONE BOOK

so that I would know better than to ever get involved in the whole charade.

2004-12-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

Religion under Attack; but Which one?

Reading a statement on a blog, any blog, that "...the ongoing liberal attack on Christian belief" is something we presently have to worry about is enough to make me want to launch an attack on the Christian belief, or at least stop reading any blog that suspects such an attack is in place. And to think, this whole debate got started when Jeff Jarvis and Hugh Hewitt began to discuss the issue of, er, "Merry Christmas".

A quick comment on something that Hugh says:

Jeff doesn't defend racist humor or anti-Semitic humor...

There's a huge difference, of course. Humor relating to religion is humor of an idea, not of a state of being. If Hugh wants to start saying that humor relating to religion is off limits, what's next? Religion -- as powerful as it is for some people -- is still just an idea, or a philosophy. Being black or Jewish or white is not a philosophy or an idea.

Anyway, I see the whole debate as a convergence of three American religions, two of which are secular in nature:

Christianity, which is still the largest religion in the US
Multiculturalism
And finally, the newest and most important American religion: Litigation, baby.

Hell, if I were running a business that employed over fifteen people, I'd tell them to say "Happy Holidays". You never know when you're going to offend some Sikh lawyer with a lot of free time on his hands.

2004-12-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

Four Percent!

...and maybe it'll get revised up or something... *

2004-12-21T21:19:00.001-05:00

Maine Blog

Found a Maine blog almost accidentally, and then read the whole thing. Now I've got it in my head to hunt around for blogs by other Mainers; I estimate that there may be three or four of them, so it's off to blogwise!

2004-12-21T17:49:00.000-05:00

Good Post over at Pughwatch

Gives a few links to past polls of Iraqis, and gives his conclusions of those polls. On a related note, I found Pughwatch by using the "next blog" button on the blogger bar above. It's sort of like flipping through the radio and looking for a good song, which is (or so I have been told) an especially annoying habit of mine.

2004-12-21T14:57:00.000-05:00

Eighteen US Soldiers Dead in Mosul Attack

Eighteen US soldiers have been killed in an explosion at a US military base in Mosul, making it the worst single incident for the US military in Iraq.
Six Iraqi civilians were also killed in the attack which happened in a dining tent at the base at noon (0900 GMT).

The US military said there was a single explosion in the Camp Merez base, south-west of the northern city.

The attack comes amid an upsurge of violence in the run-up to elections planned for 30 January.

More than 60 people were injured, the US military said.

(BBC)

In other news:

Elsewhere, five American soldiers and an Iraqi civilian were wounded when the Humvee they were traveling in was hit by a car bomb near Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

In Baqouba, a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, unidentified assailants shot and killed an Iraqi nuclear scientist as he was on his way to work, witnesses said. Taleb Ibrahim al-Daher, a professor at Diyala University, was killed as he drove over a bridge on the Khrisan river. His car swerved and plummeted into the water.

In northern Iraq, insurgents set ablaze a major pipeline used to ship oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, a principal export route, an official with the North Oil CO. said. Firefighters were on the scene, 70 miles southwest of Kirkuk.

(APNEWS)

So what, Dubya is telling us that if he cuts Rummy, things are going to get worse? I think the argument that you don't change leadership during a war is tenuous, but convincing up to a point. Guess what? We've passed that point. There's a difference between a quagmire and a clusterfuck, but we're fooling ourselves if we don't believe our incompetence will lead to the former. Attacks such as this will only embolden the insurgents and attract more people to their cause. Pressure at home to respond harshly will only further alienate Iraqis, thereby leading to more support for the insurgents. I once wrote that we couldn't just stand around clicking our M16s together and say "there's nothing like democracy, there's nothing like democracy" and hope that would work. Well, guess what: that's about all we can do at this point.

Oh yeah, and Rumsfeld has some letters to sign.

2004-12-21T14:29:00.000-05:00

To be a White, Furry rug at a Photoshoot for some Showtime Series

For some odd reason, this photograph is the AP's most popular of the day.

EDIT: Took the actual photo out in case someone was browsing the site at work. (i.e. photo not really safe for work)

2004-12-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

More Good News from Sudan!

Peace talks end! Another aid agency quits!

ABUJA (Reuters) - Sudan's government and Darfur rebels agreed to formally end faltering talks on Tuesday and the African Union urged both sides to stop fighting so peace efforts could resume in January, mediators and delegates said.

The break up of peace talks in the Nigerian capital came as British aid agency Save the Children announced it was pulling all 350 of its staff out of Darfur after the killing of four of its staff and renewed clashes in the western Sudanese region.

...

Aid community sources in the region say rebels have been attacking aid and goods convoys along the Nyala to El-Fasher road, where two Save the Children workers were killed recently.

"We are devastated that we are unable to continue to offer health care, nutritional support, child protection and education to the approximately 250,000 children and family members served by our current programs," said Save the Children chief Mike Aaronson.

Over one year. The US is too busy "spreading democracy" in Iraq and the UN is too busy "monitoring the situation" to really bother saving a few thousand black people.

2004-12-21T13:38:00.000-05:00

UN Gives Sudanese Guvment 30 Days to Stop Fighting...

...way back in July. When that happened, I wrote:

What's actually happened (from my view, anyway) is that the UNSC passed a watered down version of an already weak resolution. Instead of sanctions, -- punitive measures. The UNSC has also set what is presumably the first of many ultimatums.

In November, Kofi said:

'`I regret to report that the security situation in Darfur continued to deteriorate despite the cease-fire agreement signed earlier,'' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Security Council members.
He urged the council to issue ``the strongest warning'' to all forces fighting in Sudan. He added that an agreement to end the war in southern Sudan would provide a basis for bringing peace to Darfur.

``When crimes on such a scale are being committed, and a sovereign state appears unable or unwilling to protect its own citizens, a grave responsibility falls on the international community, and specifically on this council,'' he said.

It's December!

In a yet another effort to implement a ceasefire in Sudan's western Darfur region, the United Nations and its partners have called on both the Government and rebels to cease hostilities in the latest deterioration in a conflict that the UN has termed the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Hell, it's easy to love the UN: they never fuck up because they never do anything of consequence (although, as was stated earlier: wonderful job in the Congo!).

2004-12-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

On Second Thought...

56 Percent in Survey Say Iraq War Was a Mistake:

While a slight majority believe the Iraq war contributed to the long-term security of the United States, 70 percent of Americans think these gains have come at an "unacceptable" cost in military casualties. This led 56 percent to conclude that, given the cost, the conflict there was "not worth fighting" -- an eight-point increase from when the same question was asked this summer, and the first time a decisive majority of people have reached this conclusion.

Well, bummer. I don't think that the war was a mistake, but I think that mistakes have been made. How can a majority go from saying that it wasn't a mistake, to a majority saying that it was a mistake -- especially when the principles haven't changed since the summer:

No WMDS;
Increasing US Casualties;
Lots of documentation about soldiers abusing prisoners;

I can see why more people think that mistakes have been made, but not why more people think that it was a mistake to go. It's a mentality I don't care for: well, these people messed up -- it was a bad cause. I think it would be better to say: well, these people messed up -- but it was still the right thing to do.

At least this is comforting:

A strong majority of Americans, 58 percent, support keeping military forces in Iraq until "civil order is restored," even in the face of continued U.S. causalities. By a slight margin, 48 percent to 44 percent, more voters agreed with Bush's position that the United States is making "significant progress" toward its goal of establishing democracy in Iraq. Yet, by a similar margin, the public believes the United States is not making significant progress toward restoring civil order.

It may well be that such numbers are appearing now because (a) there's been such a deluge of crappy news, or (b) with the election over more people are paying attention to the already crappy news than were before.

2004-12-21T12:53:00.000-05:00

Related to the Post Below

From the BBC:

Another document said an executive order signed by President George W Bush had authorised techniques such as "sleep management", stress positions, use of military dogs and sensory deprivation.

The White House was quick to respond to this allegation, saying: "What the FBI agent wrote in the e-mail is wrong. There is no executive order on interrogation techniques."

I just can't help but think that if we all listened to the sweet, seductive sound of Allison Kraus' angelic, majestical voice, that everything would be okay.

2004-12-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

All Expenses Paid Trip to the Hague?

Big Media Matt Says...

Laura Rozen looks at the latest developments on the torture front and remarks that it "is not at all inconceivable that some day not too many years off Rumsfeld and Bush will face arrest if they travel abroad for command responsibility for war crimes, like Pinochet." Indeed, not only is it conceivable, I think in some ways it has to be regarded as expected at this point. I only hope the good judges of the rest of the democratic world recognize that it would be counterproductive to hand down indictments before this crew has left office, as such action would only inflame the embers of brain-dead nationalism that have done so much to get them re-elected. *

Let Much Ado be the first to say, er, no. Not only do I not think it likely, but I also doubt that there's a significant case against Bush, though perhaps there may be one against Rummy.

One reason that I don't think there's a significant case is that I'm not sure that the tortured parties have any rights under the Geneva convention. You know, they have to have an insignia, have to show their arms, have to wear uniforms, and can't use innocents as shields. If those benchmarks aren't met, they're not considered POWS. Of course, we've had this discussion before.

Let's assume, though, that some of the tortured prisoners were indeed innocent. In fact, this assumption is probably correct, because we know Iraqis kept at Abu Ghraib were released (though we don't know the circumstances of their release, i.e., if they had attacked US forces and US interrogators decided that they were no longer a threat). It's safe to assume that innocents were captured, and some interrogation tactics were used on them that are a violation of human rights. While it seems clear from what we know of the situation that Rummy had knowledge that this stuff was going on, all media accounts seem to agree that the President didn't know; this could be a ruse, of course, though it might not be. It would seem to me that the President would have to have had knowledge that this sort of behavior was going on and done nothing to stop it to be held liable. It seems clear that such a standard of liability would apply to Rummy, who may have known and may have authorized the techniques.

This assumption may be incorrect, though. The ACLU has recently claimed to have found evidence of a document wherein the POTUS authorized such interrogation tactics:

NEW YORK -- A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.

...

The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.

It would seem to me that if the President authorizes such techniques against "enemy combatants", he would be all set against an all expenses paid trip to the Hague; however, if these techniques were used against an innocent, well, he may find himself munching on airplane peanuts in a few years.

Maybe a lawyer blogger will pick this up.

2004-12-20T14:31:00.000-05:00

Dooche Ex Machinas

In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, many people called for Rumsfeld's resignation. I didn't think is was such a bad idea, though I wasn't entirely convinced that it was practically correct. I think that this is quite damning, though:

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier pledged to sign letters of condolence to the families of dead soldiers himself.
He was speaking shortly after his admission that he had used a machine to sign such letters.

(BBC)

To be fair, though, it's not like this is news. I wish I could recall where I first read of it, but the lefty blogosphere was all in a tizzle about the signature signing machine. I think Rumsfeld's response, though, was quite horrible:

"While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter," Rumsfeld said in a statement to the U.S. military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

(CBC NEWS)

"Expeditious contact", eh? A number of conclusions could be drawn from such a phrasing, including:

Def. Sec. Rumsfeld is so extrodinarily busy that taking even a moment to sign each letter individually would drastically put the nation at risk;
The are so many letters that it would take a long time to sign them all (now there's a message the DOD wants to send out!);
Def. Sec. Rumsfeld writes really, really slow.

Of course, there's an even bigger problem here: Rumsfeld is divorcing himself of contact with the troops that die, and therefore the army as a whole. If he has to sign each and every letter, he has to know and be aware of the gravitas of his role, the decisions he makes, and the effects that those decisions have. If a machine signs his name for him, he can divorce himself of that sense of responsibility. Hi-tech military, indeed.

2004-12-20T13:30:00.000-05:00

"How Iran is Winning Iraq"

David Ignatius in WaPo:

Iran is about to hit the jackpot in Iraq, wagering the blood and treasure of the United States. Last week an alliance of Iraqi Shiite leaders announced that its list of candidates will be headed by Abdul Aziz Hakim, the clerical leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. This Shiite list, backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, is likely to be the favorite of Iraq's 60 percent Shiite majority and win the largest share of votes next month.

Now there's a comforting thought.

It's hard to get a handle on "Iraqi opinion", because many people want you to believe that it's one thing, and other people want you to believe it's another thing.

I think it's probably a little of the good and a lot of the bad; or, that is to say, I think that the majority of Iraqis hate the insurgents and hate the Americans, too. And I think Ignatius is on to something, because -- let's face it-- in the Middle East religious bonds are quite strong, and the Shiite clerics in Iraq have always been reputed to have had strong ties to the religious leaders in Iran.

If you're a hardcore Republican and you go to the polls, you're likely to vote for Republicans, and political affiliation -- though certainly strong -- is likely not as strong as religious affiliation. If you're a Shiite you're probably going to wait in line to vote for Shiite candidates, who, it just so happens, likely have strong ties to Iran. The only possible wedge, as I see it, is if the Sunnis and Kurds also vote along the lines one would suspect them to vote, and there's some sort of fracture within the Shiite block. Then the Shiites might not have a pure majority government, but rather have to form some sort of coalition with the Sunnis or Kurds, or if the Sunnis and Kurds form a coalition.

But I mean, just imagine it, a nuclear armed Iran with a sort of Vichy Iraq neighbor -- oh, the irony!

On the other hand, Iranians and Iraqis spent a bunch of time killing one another during the 80s, so perhaps Ignatius is full of shit.

(H/T OxBlog)

2004-12-19T10:51:00.000-05:00

Powerline Named "Blog of the Year" By Time Magazine

...Daily Kos demands a recount.*

2004-12-18T13:55:00.000-05:00

Surely not

For instance, Sartre, Voltaire, Gérard Depardieu...*

2004-12-18T10:18:00.000-05:00

In the Final Post Regarding the UN for the Week

Slate's take on the UN Oil-for-Food scandal is interestiing, and perhaps quite original. Michael Crowley starts his piece like this:

Conservatives everywhere are in high dudgeon over the U.N. oil-for-food scandal. And certainly, the tale of how Saddam Hussein evaded and exploited U.N. sanctions to reap more than $21 billion in illegal profits from 1990 to 2003 is tawdry and venal. But it's also not quite as simple as Fox News claims. The details are complicated, and pinning blame isn't easy.

And this is how he ends it:

The greatest tragedy of the oil-for-food program may be that, for all its Byzantine corruption, we never realized just how effective it was.

In other news, I need a drink.

2004-12-18T10:02:00.000-05:00

In Which I Compare Apples to Some Other Fruit

The New York Times is running last week's story today about the 150 UN Peacekeepers that are accussed of "sexual abuse" in the Congo, among other places. I had already read the story, but it is the Times, so read it again, and when I got to this part...

In this same eastern outpost, another United Nations peacekeeper, unable to communicate with a 13-year-old Swahili-speaking girl who walked past him, held up a cookie and gestured for her to draw near. As the girl, Solange, who recounted the incident with tears in her eyes the other day, reached for the cookie, the soldier reached for her. She, too, said she was raped.

...I thought to myself: what's worse, US soldiers in Abu Ghraib torturing suspected or known terrorists, or UN Peacekeepers raping little girls in the fucking Congo, where they're supposed to protect little girls against rape? Hell, the US certainly got what it deserved over Abu Ghraib (in the form of derision, calls for resignation, etc.) but you won't hear a peep from anyone to the left of Chuck Hagel about how this questions the UN's whole existence, Kofi's ability to lead, etc. etc. If the Abu Ghraib scandal was enough to question the integrity of the US's mission, its leadership, and its solders -- why not the same with the UN? Clearly, it's just as widespread. And -- in my view -- raping twelve year old girls (whom you know will probably say nothing, for fear of being beat by their own parents) is just as bad as, if not worse than, the horrible things that happened at Abu Ghraib.

Atrios was big on Abu Ghraib. I'm sure he'll make the same comparison latter in the evening.

2004-12-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

In Which I Express Empathy for Bernie Kerik

Poor Bernie. In the good ol'days if you knew you were going to get smeared -- and dropped out -- you probably wouldn't get smeared. But now you can drop out so you won't get smeared, and still get smeared! My God, he might as well have just stayed the nominee for a couple of more weeks and run up the Whitehouse bill at the mini-bar.

(H/T Kaus)

2004-12-17T19:59:00.000-05:00

"In Which I am a Fly on the Wall at the meeting between Kofi and the EU Council"

Kofi: "...so, you know, we'll have to wait until a few hundred thousand Sudanese are killed, then we'll boldly take up a mop, courageously gather our spades, and heroically do some post-conflict peacekeeping..."

EU member: "The pastries. Pass the pastries."

2004-12-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

Sudan Planning 'Huge' Darfur Attack

Don't worry. In a few years, we can hold touching memorial services and donate some money.

Gen Okonkwo, who heads an African Union mission of 834 ceasefire monitors in Darfur, says both sides are amassing troops and weapons in South Darfur.
"The quantity of arms and ammunition brought into Darfur to meet the present build-up of troops in the region is [so] astronomical that the issue is no longer whether there will be fighting or not, but when fighting will start," he said.

(BBC)

Meanwhile, Kofi and the EU are pondering how to build a safer, more secure world. Together. Forever.

“If 2003 was a year of deep division, and 2004 has been a time of sober reflection, 2005 must be a year of bold action,” he declared. “Historic, fundamental progress is possible. There is much to be done. I do not underestimate the difficulties. But we must succeed. Together, we can and must build a safer, prosperous, more just world.”

Ah, yes. 2005 will be the year of bold action. Bold moves.

2004-12-17T19:44:00.000-05:00

Bill O'Reilly is Kind of an Idiot

"Okay, but is he really a conservative...?"

2004-12-17T18:20:00.000-05:00

The Blogosphere becomes the Apple of its own Eye

The blogosphere's recent foray into the public spotlight has seemed to induce bloggers to reflect -- to an even greater extent -- on their own self-importance. I had never taken note of this phenomenon in the past, mostly because bloggers tended to be important only in the context of the blogosphere: the reference point for an important blogger was only other bloggers, or the readers of bloggers. The election, the Rathergate snafu, and the media's covetous eye have all increased the "importance" of blogs and bloggers.

I'm mostly unconvinced that this is a good thing; just as I disliked "sponsored" blogs (e.g. Kevin Drum over at the WM*) I tend to think that mainstreaming blogs will likely to lead to consolidation and market cornering. Glenn made a post earlier today in which he stated that blogging served a sort of cathartic purpose: one blogs because one loves it, and not to make money.

I'm not sure that's entirely the point, or entirely true. I don't think one blogs because they feel a deep need to do so, such as, for instance, someone who makes music. Music serves a deep psychological need (hell, even Stephen Pinker thinks so) and it's unlikely that one can compare that need to blogging. Rather, I think bloggers blog because they have a desire to participate in a conversation, and blogging facilitates that need. So we'll say that blogging isn't the desire, but communication is the desire.

My suggestion is that the blogosphere developed in a metaphorically "unregulated" business environment, and the increased attention to the blogosphere is leading to a "regulated" environment in which the top blogs will find themselves in a favorable market position. That is, they will have cornered the market on media attention and possible economic benefits. New readers will be "directed" to these blogs through mainstream outlets, and sponsorship is a corollary of this: media outlets will use their mass marketing capabilities to direct readers (and readers' dollars) to sponsored blogs. And readers do have dollars that bloggers target. Just look at all the links to Amazon that Glenn puts up that lead to revenue, bloggers asking for paypal donations, bloggers making merchandise to sell, or even bloggers asking for money to live off of.

I don't consider any of this bad; in fact, I think it's all wonderful and no one should complain about it. I do think, however, that the mainstreaming of blogs can be a bad thing, because I think it leads to a less competitive environment. I also think that it can lead to a sort of new-readership consolidation, whereby blogs referenced by the mainstream will gain more new readers and, of course, more reader revenue.

*I like Kevin Drum's blogging, I just don't like sponsored blogs.

2004-12-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

After a four month absence, I've decided to dive back into the joys and tribulations of blogging.

2004-08-01T10:46:00.000-04:00

France moved 200 troops to the Chad-Sudan border yesterday, in an attempt to stabilize the region and prevent further attacks by the Janjaweed. While there is much to criticize France for in regards to her previous statements/actions on the UNSC Darfur resolution, any movement of troops to protect the refugees is welcoming. Kudos to le grande Republic.

2004-08-01T10:32:00.000-04:00

Purchasing a laptop is becoming an exercise in self-analysis. There are so many options, so many upgrades, so many models, that I am becoming paralyzed with indecision. Initially, I thought my choice would be rather simple: the dell 1000 inspiron, which is cheap and would serve all my needs. But oh, the perilous consequences of websites such as mysimon.com and epinions.com, the ease of comparisons, the incremental addons that cost only fifty dollars, then fifty dollars more, then fifty dollars more, -- and suddenly! -- I have nearly purchased the dell 600m for nearly $400 more in the wee hours before two am. How about Averatecs? Cheap price with amazing specs, decent reviews -- but they have only been "out" for a short time. How is the quality? How long will they last? Do they come in cobalt blue?!

2004-07-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

Check that, here's a pretty negative look at Kerry's speech.

2004-07-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

I watched all of Kerry's speech last night, and went to bed thinking that is was a serviceable speech delivered poorly. I have woken up, however, to find out that it was actually a very good speech. Family members, friends, and most media stories portray it as more than serviceable: it was a good speech.

Perhaps. It was interesting to note that much of Kerry's speech -- or the issues he focused on -- were defensive issues. That is, he needed to defend himself on being weak, defend his position on "values", defend himself against charges that he would give the UN a veto over US foreign policy. I'm not sure that this was good strategy -- though I should note, neither the DNC nor the RNC has yet made me a highly paid consultant. Nevertheless, I found myself asking: is he going after the Bush vote? Did he pay enough attention to his own base (which is, perhaps, sufficiently motivated)?

One thing is for sure: he's won Boston.

2004-07-30T21:55:00.000-04:00

The BBC is ever optimistic, stating that the UN has set a deadline for the Sudanese government to take strong action on the Darfur ethnic cleansing. What's actually happened (from my view, anyway) is that the UNSC passed a watered down version of an already weak resolution. Instead of sanctions, -- punitive measures. The UNSC has also set what is presumably the first of many ultimatums.

2004-07-25T10:53:00.000-04:00

Things like this are just too funny.

2004-07-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

The Beeb on Rape as a Weapon in Sudan:

Sudan's pro-government militias are using mass rape as a weapon in their conflict against non-Arab groups in Darfur, says Amnesty International.
Girls as young as eight and women of 80 have been raped, says the human rights group, which wants an enquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Peace talks between the government and Darfur rebels broke down on Saturday.

The Beeb also quotes a Sudanese official as claiming that reporters are fabricating stories, or else embellishing them. This has been a staple of the Khartoum government since the Darfurian conflict became big news about a month or two ago: don't listen to the reports, listen to us. Don't listen to Amnesty, because these women are making things up. Just like Rwanda. Just like it!

The stories of rape as a weapon are nothing new for Africa: the DRC conflict has seen widespread use of rape, and the same thing in Zimbabwe, and Kenya. The situation in the latter two countries has been deteriorating as of late, but they've been "overshadowed" by Darfur, as silly as it sounds. Kenya is facing what is possibly a massive famine problem.

2004-07-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

Safire on those "Sixteen truthful words".

Wilson testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that he had assured U.S. officials back in 2002 that "there was nothing to the story." When columnist Robert Novak raised the question of nepotism by reporting that he got the assignment at the urging of his C.I.A. wife, Wilson denied that heatedly and denounced her "outing," triggering an investigation. The skilled self-promoter was then embraced as an antiwar martyr, sold a book with "truth" in its title, appeared on the cover of Time and every TV talk show denouncing Bush.

Two exhaustive government reports came out last week showing that it is the president's lionized accuser, and not Mr. Bush, who has been having trouble with the truth.

2004-07-18T09:08:00.000-04:00

Iran ends the trial of murdered journalist Zahra Kazemi, which was largely seen as a test of Iran's human rights commitment. Coming as it does on the heels of the Senate September the 11th commission's report on Iran-Al Qaeda ties, and following the election of hardliners earlier this year, one can only conclude that Iran has indeed taken a large step backward after years of hope.

2004-07-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

I wrote this elsewhere, and I'll post it here for my own sake:

The President's Weekly Radio Address this week focused on the issue of gay marriage and the protection of "traditional marriage". As should be obvious to those familiar with my political leanings, there are broad areas of policy (specifically, foreign policy) where I support President Bush. On many social issues, I take polar opposite positions.

Being neither gay nor religious, the issue of "Protection of Marriage" or "Gay Marriage Rights" -- whichever you prefer to call it, just as "pro-choice" or "pro-life" -- is not one that is particularly important to me. My desire would be to see some sort of national recognition of civil unions, that would carry the full legal and economic rights of marriage, and would allow nonreligious persons such as myself an alternative to what we now call marriage. There are many people who are against gay marriage that I respect and admire, and many who are for gay marriage that I respect and admire. I also believe that those of the President's generation are typically adverse to the idea of gay marriage.

My preference would be for the President to simply not talk about the issue, and not push for a ban on gay marriage. His radio address today focused prominently on the issue, and I will now critique this address.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/07/20040710.html

There are many lines used by those who are against gay marriage, and many of these lines are (I believe) demonstrably absurd. Typically, these are of a religious leaning; I respect those who are religious, but I do not wish my President to be religious to the point where I believe it to be a problem.

One proposition that I find suspect is this one:

Senators are considering a constitutional amendment to protect the most fundamental institution of civilization, and to prevent it from being fundamentally redefined.

Let's remember that when President Bush speaks of marriage, he means only one sort of marriage (else the debate is pointless) :

The union of a man and woman in marriage is the most enduring and important human institution

The most fundamental institution of civilization is not marriage, but rather some form of governance or hierarchy. In our current historical period, most forms of governance are either parliamentary or autocratic or some mix thereof. Human civilization, of course, has existed for thousands of years -- and for many of those years, marriage was not confined to strictly one man and one woman. Civilization is not predicated on monogamy, but rather on the linking of non-kin groups under the rule of a person or a group of persons, whether this be a "Strongman" or a Prime Minister.

The President also criticizes a statement of the Massachusetts Supreme Court:

The Massachusetts court, for example, has called marriage "an evolving paradigm." That sends a message to the next generation that marriage has no enduring meaning, and that ages of moral teaching and human experience have nothing to teach us about this institution.

Of course, marriage is indeed an evolving paradigm. The first anti-Polygamy law was signed by President Lincoln, in 1862 (the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law). In 1715, the colony of Maryland passed a law which made marriage between an African American man and an European woman illegal. Servants in the late 17th century were not allowed to marry until they were free, which generally led to late ages marriages for poor Europeans working as indentured servants. And, of course, it need not be mentioned that what was once called “marriage” is now called “child abuse” or statutory rape.

But let’s not forget: the President does not just say, “Americans” or “American society” – he says “civilization”. Certainly India is one of the oldest civilizations, and there were once strict laws against marrying across castes. The Ivory Coast is a civilization, and those who are called pedophiles in Chicago are called legal husbands in that small African nation. Are these places – among many others that have laws different from those in America – not civilizations, or are their marriages not actually marriages? It would seem clear to me that marriage is nothing but an evolving institution, just as the other fundamental institutions of civilization – laws, governance, and art – have evolved and are evolving.

For ages, in every culture, human beings have understood that traditional marriage is critical to the well-being of families.

For every age – in every culture – traditional marriage typically has vast differences. I am not a cultural relativist; I believe that some societies are more civilized than other societies – and the more civilized societies typically have adopted laws that are used to protect those who enter into the institution of marriage on unequal footing, such as children or women in a male dominated society. Banning gay marriage does not follow the suit of allowing repressed people to marry (such as slaves or indentured servants) or of protecting at risk people from abuse (such as children and women). I believe that in ten years or fifteen years or perhaps twenty years, homosexuals will be allowed to marry in every state in the republic. The President is on the wrong side of this issue, and I now believe that focusing on this issue can only do him harm.

2004-07-12T22:06:00.000-04:00

The morality police crack down in Tehran:

Witnesses said scores of police - including female officers in chadors - raided the Milad commercial centres in western Tehran and took away dozens of young women in special minibuses.

Shops selling fashion clothing for women - especially bright figure-hugging coats - were also targeted.

The police chief in Tehran recently warned that anybody caught involved in what he called social corruption would be punished, the BBC's regional analyst Sadeq Saba says.

Reports from other major cities suggest that similar harsh measures are being adopted there, he adds.

In the historic city of Isfahan, police recently banned women who were improperly veiled from entering public places, the country's official news agency Irna reported.

The Beeb suggests that the crackdown might be a part of usual summer police measures. It seems that the rebellious young women feel so inclined as to try to shrug of the chador in the summer heat -- but the mullahs will have none of it.

2004-05-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

Sort of an interesting read on why Don Rumsfeld should not resign, or be fired.

Over at The National Review.