Bad weather

It's been a very rainy past couple of days on campus (of course not nearly as rainy as it has been in New Orleans), and a lot of people have been attributing it to the hurricane. Glenn has quite a bit on the unfolding story. Also, Rob found this video of a CNN weatherman losing his cool during his segment. I guess even experiencing this thing from afar is a bitch.

Bond's roots

The new film takes us back to the beginning. MGM has hired the guy that wrote "Million Dollar Baby" to take care of the script for the project, which will be based on "Casino Royale," the first Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. I only wish Brosnan was still young enough to be in the game.

Evening things out

Jewish settlers may have been forced out of Gaza, but there is another religious group that feels it's losing out right now in the Holy Land. However, I doubt statements like this will serve to help their cause in the long run:

According to Maariv, [Bishop] Irineos sent a letter to Arafat in which he wrote that the Holy Sepulcher Fathers are feeling "disgust and disrespect" for "the descendents of the crucifiers of our Lord Jesus Christ, actual crucifiers of your people."

Ouch.

The storm

Hugh recommended Josh Britton for info on Hurricane Katrina. It is interesting how much attention people are paying to this thing (because I sure haven't), considering that during our welcoming ceremony, one of the Deans offered assistance with "accomodations" for families that had just come up from the Gulf Coast. I guess it's serious business.

College

Moving in yesterday was a pain. Sorry for the severe lack of posting, but my computer was only hooked up to the university network a number of hours ago. I'm not quite sure at this point how I'm going to keep up a decent frequency of posting due to all of the Orientation events that have been planned (uggh). So you guys are just going to have to bear with me for the next few days. Apologies.

Breaking it down

Ze'ev of Israel Perspectives has made some conclusions about the state of things in the world. I can't help but agree in most cases because, well, he's right.

Threats

The Vatican is on alert.

The threats, which were faxed to a Spanish television station and newspaper earlier in the week, carried the heading "The Pope of the Vatican Goes to War," and were signed by an unknown person named D. Abdouh. The document said that after years of neutrality, the Vatican has come out against the Islamic world since Benedict became pope in April.

Alright, so Benedict has yet to kiss the Qu'ran. Let's cut him some slack.

That's the Christian way

Apology accepted? We'll see.

The leader of a major U.S. evangelical association said Friday that he may be close to apologizing to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez personally for religious broadcaster Pat Robertson's call for the United States to assassinate him.

I have to say: this situation is a bit embarrassing. Why isn't Pat the one apologizing? Oh wait, it's because he spoke to God and God told him that he approved of the hit. Right?

Right on

I couldn't have said it much better myself.

SOME INTERESTING POLL DATA:

People with friends or relatives serving in Iraq are more likely than others to have a positive view of a generally unpopular war, an AP- Ipsos poll found.

Kind of like the higher re-enlistment rates, I wonder if this is because they're getting information from someone other than the big media.

Good call, Glenn.

Not sure yet

"The End of Diplomacy?" asks Steve Clemons of Talking Points Memo. At first, I have to say, I wasn't too thrilled with the thought of John Bolton representing us at the UN. But I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he can somehow bring the UN to a consensus on how best to reform itself (which is what I have heard he wants to do... in part), perhaps it would be worth it to give him a chance. However, my worry is this: he actually isn't an idealist at all, but rather a Bushite in idealist clothing (bear with me here). If he's just going to be there to argue and tote the go-it-alone stance, then I can't say I'm a fan. But if he really feels like he's there to give constructive criticism and sincerely wants the ideal of the UN to be realized, then I say all props to him. I suppose only time will tell.

Unbelievable

Journalists of tomorrow indeed. What is the media coming to?

For two years a student newspaper publishes the sad letters of a little girl to her dad in Iraq. She begs him not to die. He does. They also publish her anti-war letters to President Bush. It was all a hoax. No daddy in Iraq, nothing. The reporters checked nothing for two years.

More here.

A meltdown? Please...

Rob says he is worried about the state of affairs in Iraq based on one article and one article alone. I, on the other hand, see right through the Telegraph in a number of places. The sense I get is that everyone is worried about the Sunnis. They don't want federalism, yada, yada, yada. This is what Omar has to say about that.

However, that's not what all Sunnis think; there are the tribal chiefs of Al-Anbar who announced yesterday that they have no objection to the idea of generalizing federalism and there is also the governor of Mosul who seems to be in favor of federalism and in a statement he gave a few days ago he expressed his interest in turning Mosul into a federal state without the need to include other provinces in that state since Mosul alone was one of the four (or was that five?) counties from which modern Iraq was established after the fall of the Ottoman empire.

Bottom line, I think that even if the draft gets approved by the National Assembly tonight or tomorrow, we're still going to face more obstacles with this constitution that focused on unnecessary details; these details were introduced to please politicians and serve partisan ambitions while the interests of the people came only in the 2nd place and believe me, till this moment no one can know for sure if Iraqis are going to accept or reject the constitution, maybe the Kurdish people are most likely to vote with "yes" but the Shaet and Sunni people's position is not definite yet and that particularly applies to the Sunni whose current spokesmen do not necessarily represent the mainstream Sunni opinion.

There ya go. Always question the picture that the MSM paints. I kind of thought that was your general opinion as well, Rob. Challenging the status quo? Eh?

But anyways, back to the original article that began this debate (link at top):

Throughout the day in Baghdad, politicians bickered over how to proceed with the constitution without driving the country to civil war.

I actually don't think I've ever heard anyone in Iraq use the term "civil war" since this entire process began. This seems to be the work of the Western media alone. Yes, there have been clashes... that was to be expected. But come on now:

The drafting began amid the optimism engendered by January's successful elections, when Iraqis turned out to vote in defiance of bombers and gunmen. But US hopes of establishing the first secular democracy in the Arab world have foundered on ethnic and religious divisions.

Foundered?!? FOUNDERED?!? Like suddenly everyone in Iraq that voted in the January elections just decided that they are going give it up and deal with anarchy and chaos for the rest of their lives? Who is this reporter to speak for any Iraqi (he sure did a great job quoting people)? All he is doing is making a number of terribly unfounded assumptions based on a series of minor clashes between rival fanatical groups (fanatical, as in, not mainstream).

At least 12 people were killed as [Sadr's] Mahdi Army militia clashed with members of the Iranian-linked Badr Brigade in six cities and a Baghdad suburb.

Yeah, that definitely sounds like a civil war is starting up. Everyone, head for the hills.

Another report

CIA director George Tenet, along with a number of former and current intelligence officials, might be in trouble (of course, we've known this for a while now).

A classified report by the CIA's independent watchdog, delivered to the US Congress on Tuesday night, sharply criticised more than a dozen senior officials at the CIA, including Mr Tenet, former clandestine service chief Jim Pavitt and former counterterrorism centre head Cofer Black.

The gist of it is: the CIA failed to place certain hijacker suspects on a government watchlist (which would have given the FBI the go-ahead to pursue), they failed to "develop and carry out a strategic plan" against Al-Qaeda before 2001, and they allowed "thousands" of Arabic intercepts to go untranslated.

I find it interesting how much people tend to blame the current administration for the situation we are in right now without realizing that the bulk of what should have been the "war on terror" should have been carried out by Clinton. Anyone remember that penicillin factory incident in Sudan? Yeah... that sure made a lot of progress.

Good idea

Group Captain Mandrake of Across the Atlantic has developed a very good standard response for "scumbag" spammers, which is sent from a junk e-mail account.

Hi, Thanks for the uninvited e-mail. It was about as welcome as junk snail mail. You just joined my scumbag e-mail spammer list. It being a list of businesses I will never knowingly do business with. Congratulations.

Hehe. I gotta get me one of those.

No comment

Rob thinks he is a funny guy.

It's perfect. He speaks perfect English, perfect Arabic. And he supports the war. Remz, why not stop talking about all the good being done in Iraq, and actually contribute, so that we can end this damn war, and bring our men home.

I'm actually not fluent in Arabic, but I know enough to get by. Nevertheless, I don't think it would quite pass by U.S. Army translation standards. Sorry, Rob. The uniform was a nice touch though.

Hating on Juan Cole

For a while during the "combat" stage of the Iraq War, Juan Cole was considered a hotshot Mid-East pundit because of his academic credentials, which seem pretty decent. However, his far-left stance (and some say, lack of sound judgment) has angered many center-right bloggers lately, including the likes of Mark A. R. Kleiman.

It seems to me, Professor Cole, that you have allowed your contempt for someone infringing on your scholarly turf without appropriate credentials to combine with your hatred of those who support current Administration policies in Iraq in a way that has blinded you to the ordinary human decencies.

I guess some professors have a way with those who infringe on their "scholarly turf." I'll definitely look forward to that.

Iraq, Federalism, and Hugh Hewitt

It seems like every time I watch CNN or tune into NPR, someone is talking about how Iraq will never survive as a united, sovereign nation. "The British arbitrarily drew it up," some guest speaker will say. "There's no way the Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites will want to work together in the long run." Many cite religious differences among Iraq's ethnic groups as their main concern for the fledgling democracy. Yet here we are, with a working constitution in hand, one that will, in the words of this Wall Street Journal editorial, "empower legislators, not clerics." When it comes to peace, stability, and cooperation, my money is on the legislators. Also, even if some clerics became more involved with Iraqi politics, it's important to note their track record so far, as this article points out:

...[A]larums about Iranian-style Shiite theocracy in Iraq have been raised repeatedly over the past few years, often by American or Arab proponents of the Sunni dictatorships that are the Mideast status quo. But one of the most underappreciated stories in post-Saddam Iraq has been the extent to which the Shiite community has remained committed to a constitutional, democratic process--despite the best attempts of the terrorist Zarqawi or cleric Moqtada Sadr to provoke them to violence. Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who adheres to a "quietist" school of Islam that shuns excessive mixing of religion and politics, has continued to play a particularly constructive role.

Very good.


Oh, and how could I forget, in light of these positive developments, Hugh's ode to Sheehan?

The document is a huge achievement, as is the entire Iraq intervention, though the cost has been high in both life and money. Only the Bush-haters can argue that the Iraqis and the world would have been better off with Saddam --and then his sons--in power, and with the corruption of oil-for-food-for-tyrants-for-terrorists pumping tens of millions of corrupting dollars into secret pockets and numbered accounts.

Only those blinded by partisan hate or ambition denigrate the effort underway in Baghdad.

Indeed.

Why the hype?

Rob was excited to learn about the release of Google's new chat program, however, Wired News has this to offer:

After several months of feverish speculation about a mysterious new service under development, Google unveiled its latest tool Wednesday: Google Talk, a text-chat and voice-communication program that looks nice, but has no obvious advantage over competitors.

The article goes on to talk about the program's lack of features, making it out to seem more like a prototype than anything else. For example, unlike AOL Instant Messenger and other messenger programs, there is no way you can transfer files to your buddies. Also, unlike Skype (an Internet telephone program), there's "no way to call to or from traditional telephone networks."

Welcome, Mr. Williams

The blogosphere has a new addition to its ranks: The Daily Nightly, which was begun by none other than the anchor of NBC Nightly News himself, Brian Williams. Guess the MSM finally figured out how useful the blogosphere is in communicating with its audience on a more informal level. And I think that's exactly what Brian understands.

"There is no better way to say this than to whip out a cliché from the old cliché bag or drawer," Mr. Williams said in an interview. "We are trying to lift the veil. We're trying to expose ourselves as a collection of humans grappling with how to spend our precious 22 minutes each night."

And exposed they have already been... on numerous occasions. It's good to know they can admit that they "grapple."

Alenda Lux on the media

Glenn had this link on his site today. You know me... I always love a good media bashing.

Alright, let's see what the [Iraqi] Constitution draft has to say about the role of Islam.

The religion of the state...is the sacred religion of Islam.

Followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law.

Article Three Ch. 1, Art. 3

...no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.

Oh dear, that is worrisome. Oh wait! That's Afghanistan's Constitution. My mistake. Could someone let me know where to find the Post or Times article predicting the descent of the Dark Ages on Afghanistan because of the provisions in their Constitution?

Yet, almost two years later, Hamid Karzai is still President, no Islamic Revolution, record numbers of women are registering to vote and registering to run for the Wolesi Jirga, for which there is a provision stating that a minimum required number of seats that must go to women...

I am in no way supporting the institution of a state religion in Iraq. However, I can't help but agree with Alenda in this matter. The word Islam may have had to be included in the Constitution in order to appease the religious establishment, but that in no way can be considered conclusive evidence that Iraq will begin a process of regression.

Thoughts on energy

Andrew Sullivan found a very good piece from TNR about oil consumption and the very simple steps we could take to conserve energy (meanwhile loosening our dependence on sketchy regimes in the Middle East).

A simple one-third increase in the mileage of new vehicles would have a remarkably beneficial impact on the United States-Persian Gulf relationship, and quickly. -TNR

Of course, John McCain backs this strategy. 9/11 was the obvious opportunity to revolutionize American energy policy to rid ourselves of having to deal with Islamo-fascist cartels. Bush blew it.

Very ironic. Republicans (at least the ones I know) are so gung-ho about the WOT yet at the same time love their SUV's to death. Ugh.

Too little too late

Robertson is trying to save his skin, but we all know what he meant. I think there's no question that in the English language, assassination means "kill." (Yes, I have provided a dictionary definition for your convenience, so that no one will be confused.)

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time," Robertson said on "The 700 Club" program. (Watch video)

Let's watch the tape again, shall we?

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it," said Robertson on Monday's program. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." (Watch Robertson's comments)

You didn't say assassination, huh? You sure about that, Pat?

Business as usual

Mormons need to stop making profit on stuff that isn't worth a dime (article courtesy of Rob).

Gotta love Middle America

Apparently Rob picked up on Hugh's recent news blurb. My reaction was similar in nature.

Political junkies

It's like fantasy football except... not quite.

Keeping their distance

Republi-can does not necessarily mean Robert-son. And the point is being made.

Can it work?

The NYT has a partial text of the Iraqi Constitution. While the basis of it looks good, I am still a bit weary about the presence of Islam and how that might affect the affairs of the state, especially in terms of civil law and religious freedom.

Article (2): First, Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation:

a) No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.

At the same time though:

b) No law can be passed that contradicts the principles of democracy.

Hmm, this should be quite the political experiment. Luckily, they tried to make this point clear:

Article (7):

1st -- Entities or trends that advocate, instigate, justify or propagate racism, terrorism, ''takfir'' (declaring someone an infidel), sectarian cleansing, are banned...

No infidels? Sounds good to me.

Life: Version 2.0

College is fast approaching (I leave on the 28th). Rob has a few good comics posted up on his site. I'll try to hunt around for a few of my own at some point.

More thoughts on Robertson

Christian blogger Mark Daniels thinks Pat is a dumbass to say the least:

From a political perspective, Mr. Robertson's comments were unwise. He is seen by those in other countries as being part of the ruling elite in America, although for the Bush White House he may be deemed an expedient, though potentially embarrassing, contact and among Christians I know, he has zero influence. Nonetheless, his remarks are impolitic, playing into the hands of America's enemies, giving them propaganda to prove notions that America is out to conquer others and take their oil.

Ouch. Although I'm glad to know that he has zero influence. I hope things stay that way.

Whoa there, Pat

Leave it to Christian fundamentalists to watch their words.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him [Hugo Chavez of Venezuela], I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."


Heh. And this isn't the first time (or the last time, I'm sure):

In October 2003, Robertson, criticizing the State Department during an interview on "The 700 Club," said "maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up," referring to the nickname for the department's headquarters in Washington.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the remark "despicable."

You're not funny, Pat.

War Against Spammers

Someone should start one. And quick.

Red Eye review

I went out for a cheap thrill and came back having experienced as much. This movie is 85 minutes of pure cinema goodness. I liked how director Wes Craven limited the violence and chose to focus more on character interaction. Some reviewers have made comparisons to Hitchcock in regards to this movie, and in a lot of ways, I happen to agree with them. The protagonist, Cillian Murphy (who plays Jackson Rippner, a professional who specializes in "high profile assassinations and flashy government overthrows"), does an excellent job building up the suspense. He was the perfect choice for the role of the "nice- guy- turned- wacko" (I was a fan of him as The Scarecrow in Batman Begins as well). Rachel Reisert (played by Rachel McAdams), a hotel manager, is innocent enough to fall for his charm before he hits her with the news: he is assigned to aid in the assassination of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, who is staying at her hotel. If she doesn't make the call ala Air Fone for him to switch rooms, her dad gets killed. "One call and it'll all be over," he reassures her. Of course, the movie gets complicated fast, as Rachel tries her best to escape the clutches of Jackson Rippner (sounds an awful lot like Jack the Ripper... and yes, that gets brought up in the movie, to which Rippner responds, "Yeah, I hated my parents for naming me that. But then I killed them."). Of course, there was still a fair share of cheesy, unbelievable moments, but what movie is completely devoid of such things? I was able to quickly forgive Craven and walk out of the theater in delight.

Important to note

We've heard a lot of talk about the role that Islam will play in the new Iraqi constitution. It seems as though that issue has been settled once and for all.

Regarding Islam and the constitution: it was agreed upon that no laws that are against the widely agreed upon values of Islam can be issued and no laws that are against the values of democracy and human rights can be issued.

If someone could please define "democracy" and "human rights," I'll be all set.

Also, in terms of oil reserves (ahem):

Natural resources according to the draft will be managed in cooperation between the central government and the local administrations of the federal states/provinces.

So no one can hog it all. Excellent.

Constitution developments

Iraq the Model has all the latest. More on this later.

Lack of positive traction

Michael Crowley of Talking Points Memo (Josh is out this week) has some thoughts on the Democratic Party and its uphill climb towards the White House:

...[L]ately solidarity has again given way to a familiar brand of infighting. Two big articles today in the Times and the Post chronicle surging tensions between the party's liberal base and its Washington establishment -- over Iraq on the one hand and the Roberts nomination on the other. Call for withdrawal from Iraq, or support the war while criticizing Bush? Go nuclear on John Roberts, or skip an uphill fight and focus on other issues? The debate rages -- and the wheels spin.

Consider the following: the party's liberal base (i.e. Cindy Sheehan-types) is disconnected from reality and the Washington establishment isn't. Okay?

Sloppy speechwriting

Yeah, so Kerry may not think that America needs a "second Republican Party" (although the Democrats would be wise to learn a thing or two from the Republicans at this point), but he certainly has a funny way of putting it.

"We have to go out and fight for the real issues that make a difference in the lives of the American people and we don't need some "great lurch" to the right or "lurch" to the left or redefinition of the Democratic Party," the Massachusetts Democrat said.

Hey, who's he calling a lurch?

Terrorism shouldn't be allowed to work

If Abu Mazen can say this at such a sensitive time, what is supposed to guarantee a future peace?

In his Friday speech, however, Abbas praised the "martyrs and their patience" for Israel's withdrawal.

Enough with the martyrs already.

Space elevators

Glenn had this link on his blog. The idea sounds fascinating, especially when considering this:

It all boils down to dollars and cents, of course. It now costs about US $20 000 per kilogram to put objects into orbit. Contrast that rate with the results of a study I recently performed for NASA, which concluded that a single space elevator could reduce the cost of orbiting payloads to a remarkably low $200 a kilogram and that multiple elevators could ultimately push costs down below $10 a kilogram. With space elevators we could eventually make putting people and cargo into space as cheap, kilogram for kilogram, as airlifting them across the Pacific.

Third floor, Scotty!

Sorry, Kip

Your days are numbered...

...[O]nce the media picked up on the hype with films such as "Must Love Dogs" and Disney (Research)'s ABC Networks documentary/reality show "Hooking Up," it became evident that the mystique was gone. Blame some of that on the creepiness factor, in which users finally tired of the endless barrage of oddball suitors from various sites. One former online dater said the abundance of freaks that sent her e-mails -- one resembled the Incredible Hulk while another said he preferred educated women who would spend their lives serving him -- turned her off the online scene.

Better hold off the full-body shot for now, Kip.

Let's be rational

This has gotten way out of hand (link courtesy of Josh). Of course, it's a joke, but what if...

"Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.

"Let's take a look at the evidence," said ECFR senior fellow Gregory Lunsden."In Matthew 15:14, Jesus says, 'And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.' He says nothing about some gravity making them fall—just that they will fall. Then, in Job 5:7, we read, 'But mankind is born to trouble, as surely as sparks fly upwards.' If gravity is pulling everything down, why do the sparks fly upwards with great surety? This clearly indicates that a conscious intelligence governs all falling."

What with Kansas reverting back to the Middle Ages these days, I would not have been at all surprised to see this headline on the front page of the NYT.

Playing defense

Bush is on the move:

In his weekly radio address, Bush argued that the war in Iraq will keep Americans safe for generations to come. He'll try to drive the point home with speeches in upcoming days in Utah and Idaho.

"Our troops know that they're fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to protect their fellow Americans from a savage enemy," the president said in the recorded broadcast.

This is very true. I was talking to my cousin again last night (he goes back to Iraq today) and he feels that the majority of soldiers over there absolutely know what they are fighting for. It's something that these anti-war protestors will never understand, he says, and it's useless for him to try to convince every one of them that they are wrong. No, I said... that's my job.

What would Oprah do?

Heh:

Cindy Sheehan screaming about her dead son, the Gaza settlers pleading for their homes, the families of the BTK killer's victims confronting the monster in court -- it's been an emotional past few days on the cable news shows, like a gigantic encounter session, sort of, or an international Oprah Winfrey show with higher than normal stakes. That sounds facetious, and I guess it is, but an overdose of raw emotion tends to wear on the nerves after a point and invite a defensive mental reaction.

He has a point.

Overheard in New York

A friend of mine sent me this link... very funny. I guess between all 8 million New Yorkers, they truly have seen and said it all.

Observations from the Holy Land

I guess the Israeli media outlets aren't much unlike their American counterparts:

I find that the media is overly obtrusive. Here we have Jews being pulled from their homes, from their lives, and all I keep seeing are cameras and microphones shoved in their faces. I understand that the media is going to be there, but show some basic human decency. These people do not want to be interviewed right now, get your shots from a respectable distance - we do not need to have an up-close-and-personal shot of the heartbreak and disgrace that our fellow brothers and sisters are going through.

Decency and dignity is something the MSM doesn't quite understand... I think that's been established on numerous occasions.

Not quite like the Cole

When I first read this headline, I admit that I prepared myself for the worst. But thank God most terrorists (and insurgents alike) can't aim for s**t. In any case, it's kind of scary to think that it would be that easy, had the terrorists been lucky, to cause serious damage to one of our Navy vessels.

Hugh noticed

Not quite sure how he's taking it:

I was at sea when James targeted my denomination. Well done, James.

That's it? No defense? I thought this guy was a lawyer.

Say it ain't so!

Mickey, why'd you have to bring Disney into this, for cryin' out loud?

Differences

I hate left-wing comparisons of the war in Iraq to the war in Vietnam. The two conflicts are not the same for a number of reasons, the biggest one being: most people in Iraq actually want us to be there. However, I do agree with this point:

One of the grave sins of the anti-Vietnam War movement was, I think, a conflation of the conflict with the combatants. Instead of focusing their fire and their ire on the commander in chief, too many liberals wound up blaming the conscripts who so bravely fought Mr. Nixon's war. This was a tragic error.

Yes it was, and I'm glad that this new generation of anti-war movements doesn't focus on the soldiers much anymore. Even so, the feeling I get is that many of the soldiers that are stationed over there do not favor pulling out because they genuinely want to get the job done (a job that was a million times more difficult to complete in Vietnam). So in a sense, by demanding that they all leave right now, the anti-war movement still is not honoring the men that have fought and died for freedom.

Some commentary on left-wing Christians

In light of recent events, I found this editorial to be extremely interesting (link courtesy of Glenn):

There is something the Islamic extremists and some Christian groups share: They agree that Israel is the problem.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) -- not the members, but the learned elders -- has announced it will use its stock holdings to target Israel for being mean to the Palestinians.

A few paragraphs in particular stuck out at me. They all helped reinforce my belief in the ridiculousness of being "anti-Zionist."

It doesn't matter that one side is a liberal democracy that grants rights to women and non-Jews while the other has thugs and assassins for rulers and sends its kids to summer camps where they learn the joys of good ol' fashioned Jew-killing.

...[F]or no reason Israel invaded the West Bank and Gaza -- which for some reason had not been set up as New Palestine by the Egyptians and the Jordanians, but never mind -- and made everyone stand in line and get frisked. Those who joined the line in '67 are just getting through now. Evil Zionists.

Don't tell the Presbyterians about Tibet or Sudan. It would absolutely ruin their day.

Now, before you make assumptions, I don't happen to completely side with right-wing Christians on this issue either. The fundamentalists are only pro-Israeli and pro-expansion because they want Christ to return quicker and send all of the non-believers to hell. In short, they have an agenda that involves some serious rapture (yes, pun was intended). A large part of my views are rooted in the fact that the Palestinians have had many chances to get their act together (I've always said, "why not protest the way Ghandi did?" At least then they could have garnered my sympathy) and refused to do so.

All eyes on Israel

Sorry for the light posting... I've been glued to the news this morning. Some of the images of the withdrawal are unbelievable. Also, I've been trying to locate some good Israeli blogs to monitor as this process unfolds. So far I've found this one and a handful of others, but I have yet to find a solid index of the most popular blogs. More on that later, hopefully.

Thoughts on Bond

Rob is confident it'll be James Purefoy. We'll see.

Tao? What tao?

Tim Blair on the bombings in Bangladesh:

“Bush and Blair be warned and get out of Muslim countries,” declare leaflets dispersed following hundreds of bombings. “Your days of ruling Muslim countries are over.”

The bombings took place in Bangladesh.


Yeah, last time I checked, Bangladesh was not occupied by British or American forces. So my question is: why did those people have to die? Gotta love the terrorist attitude: Don't know, don't care.

Peace out Pierce

It's official: Pierce Brosnan is James Bond no more. RIP indeed... I definitely agree with a lot of people that think he was second only to Connery. But we still don't know who is coming in to replace him. Let's hope that Moneypenny (and the rest of the movie-going world) approves.

The point has been made

Yeah, so the Bush Administration may have acted somewhat oblivious to the rising threat of Al-Qaeda terrorists before 9/11... but then again:

1. So did the Clinton Administration
2. We haven't had any further terrorist attacks on American soil since 2001

Any questions?

No shame

Gateway Pundit has some news on Zimbabwe. I always find myself thinking, "Just how low can you go, Mugabe?"

After destroying thousands of the homes and leaving over 700,000 homeless, the Zimbawean Government is just now asking the UN for help in building homes for those who are homeless!

Disgusting.

This ain't no Heaven's Gate

I guess there's always a few of them in every religion. You know, the suicidal ones.

Neve Dekalim Settlement - Members of a New York-based ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement were threatening to commit mass suicide on Wednesday in protest at the Gaza Strip pull-out, security sources and associates said.

D'oh.

How about just Bling King?

Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy, Puffy, P Diddy) is changing his name once again: Diddy. Ah, what acceptance money can buy.

So why the identity crisis? To make things more simple... and because he can.

Diddy told the New York Post: "I noticed people were uncomfortable when I'd first meet them, and they'd ask me what they should call me."

Just wait a few more years and it'll be Did Did Didio.

I almost feel bad... almost

Cindy Sheehan's husband is filing for divorce. Apparently he couldn't stand the heat.

Mrs Sheehan says that the stress of the death had already led the couple, who were high school sweethearts, to separate. She admits that he does not agree with the "level of intensity" she has devoted to peace in the past year.


I love how that last line was phrased by the British media. Devoted to peace? I think not.

Sounds fun

Apparently a group of Evangelical Christians had a "How to get more involved in U.S. politics" conference in Nashville yesterday. Ann Althouse was invited, but declined to go for various reasons. I don't blame her.

This familiar rhetoric would drive me crazy to have to sit through, I must say. There's no detail or serious analysis of the kind that would be interesting to someone who has studied law. These are ridiculous overstatements, and I'd be embarrassed to be sitting still listening to such empty jabbering.

I'm sure it was all about the jabbering, my dear. Besides, as if we didn't have enough pro-Christian presence on the Supreme Court.

I thought it was the same Church everywhere

Surfing around on religion blogs, this little post on Roman Catholic Blog caught my eye:

Read this statement from the Diocese of Brooklyn's ecumenical office. An excerpt explains the office's purpose: "To embrace and learn from the differences between us, rather than reconcile them, gives each of us a new understanding of conversion. Rather than seeking to change the faith of others, we hope that through dialogue our own hearts and minds can be changed, allowing us to see new images of God, new glimpses of Truth."

This is rubbish. The mission of our Church is to boldly proclaim the teachings of Christ, not coddle the errors of those who refuse to embrace Her truths. Any thoughts?

I guess they never got that memo.

A bold move

I respect Sharon a lot for making concessions for the cause of peace. Almost as much, I respect the fact that he is a hawk that can admit he's wrong about things.

"It is no secret that I, like many others, believed and hoped that we could forever hold on to Netzarim and Kfar Darom," Sharon said in a pre-taped, five-minute radio and television address. "However, the changing reality in this country, in this region, and in the world, required another reassessment and changing of positions."


Even more important to point out:

Repeating his oft-articulated argument that the disengagement plan has given Israel the diplomatic initiative, Sharon said that now the "burden of proof" was on the Palestinians.


As far as I'm concerned, it always has been. This new plan just removed any last doubt I may have had in that regard.

Some thoughts on blogging

Rob Taylor has some thoughts on the nature of "quality blogging":

Simply put, I believe that when a blogger starts to put too many posts in one day, that don't contain enough substance, he trivializes the entire blog, and the value of his commentary. It happens with even the most prominent of bloggers (Instapunidit, America Blog). It's no longer worth coming to their site to read their insights on subjects, because all they're doing is linking to articles they've found which do the investigative or opinion work for them.

I definitely see where he is coming from. However, I believe that the nature of the blogosphere differs greatly from that of the MSM, where you typically have a set number of solid articles written and laid out for the next day's issue. We are all aware that the Internet moves at lightning speed, with new news becoming old news sometimes in a matter of hours. The frequency of updating one's blog becomes key in attempting to "keep up" with things. Because often times before you know it, the debate about a particular subject has been wrapped up and all the points have been made. That's just the name of the game. If, for the sake of time, one finds it easier to acknowledge a major story or issue through more linking and quoting as opposed to commentary, I see that as being better than not playing a hand at all. But of course, as I think Rob is trying to say, if that becomes the norm rather than the exception, then perhaps your readers will tire of the "same old."

While on the subject of the nature of blogging, I would recommend that anyone interested in the topic should check out Hugh Hewitt's book Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World. It's a fairly quick and easy read and it will give you a lot of insight into the rise of the blogosphere and how it compares/impacts/relates to current mainstream media.

Lennon

Let's face it: The Beatles are what put John Lennon on the map. But according to reviewers, the new musical about his life doesn't seem to care.

The show skips through the early years of his musical career, when the Beatles revolutionized popular music, and gives little weight to his first marriage and son before he met Ono, and then quit the Beatles in 1970. It also glosses over a later affair when he and Ono lived apart for more than a year.

"Imagine there's no Beatles, imagine no iconic movies, no White Album, no poetry books, no drawings," Newsday's Linda Winer wrote. "Then imagine there's no son before Sean, no mistress named May Pang, no deep depression, nothing really serious with drugs."

One more reason why I'm not (and never was) a fan of Ono. I think they should have let Paul or Ringo in on the musical... at least they would have done John some justice.

Bad prophecy

The Dean of Harvard Business School, a Mormon, is opting to head BYU-Idaho on orders from Gordon Hinckley. Some are saying it's a bad call. I can't blame them.

Clark's decision has aroused much debate, even among church members. On an LDS-related Web site called "Times and Seasons," some called Clark's move to largely Mormon eastern Idaho a wasteful sacrifice of church influence in the northeastern U.S.


Yeah, what kind of an awful religious power move was that? Asking someone to give up a top postition at Harvard for a bumf**k college in the Northwest? Check your meds, Hinckley.

Has Iran found its "Stalin"?

Harvard Professor of History Niall Ferguson thinks so (link courtesy of Hugh).

Obviously, Ahamadinejad's victory is proof that democracy in the Middle East does not necessarily translate into victories for Western liberalism. On the contrary, it may reveal the popularity of fundamentalism and nationalism among the impoverished Muslim masses. But it also suggests that Americans and Europeans alike are misreading the trajectory of the Iranian revolution.


Besides the fact that sometimes I think that academics live in a bubble, I generally don't agree with Ferguson's analysis. The world is rapidly changing and the "subdued masses" of revolutionary regimes aren't going to stay that way for long. We live in an Information Age, where the Internet has become a global medium for the free exchange of ideas. It's only a matter of time before the Iranian people tap into that power and realize that there is a progressive world out there that is not held back by repressive Islamic fundamentalism. I have confidence that they will soon emancipate themselves, hopefully with the support of the U.S. and the powerful MSM. Does Ferguson really believe that Iranians are fully content living under the conditions that they are under right now? Does he really believe that the election of Ahmadinejad was a true gauge of popular opinion? I sure hope not, otherwise his tenure might be in jeopardy.

Hawkish remarks

Mahmoud Abbas is getting overly ambitious. I guess the thought of a moderate Palestinian leader was just too good to be true after all.

Less than three days after he urged Palestinians to refrain from excessive celebrations over the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday presided over a huge celebration in Gaza City where he declared: "Today we are celebrating the liberation of Gaza and the northern West Bank; tomorrow we will celebrate the liberation of Jerusalem."

PA Civil Affairs Minister Muhammed Dahlan, who appeared next to Abbas, told the crowd that the Palestinians were celebrating "the day of victory and the beginning of a new era that was achieved with the blood of our martyrs."

In the words of my favorite space pirate: Don't get cocky.

The Moderate Voice

Joe Gandelman has a very good recent post that addresses the political impact of the unfolding anti-war movement in Crawford. What I found most useful about it is the abundance of quality links he has placed, namely this one. Sheehan's own words (or should I say, ignorance) speak for themselves:

I want to let him know that millions of Americans believe that the best thing we can do - for our own security, for our soldiers and for the Iraqi people - is to bring the U.S. troops home from Iraq now.


And in which foreign policy journal did you read that one, may I ask?


Anyway, I don't want the president to use Casey's memory to justify continuing this war, which will end up only needlessly killing more wonderful young men like him.

No one else, not one more mom, should have to lose her son in Iraq.


Let me reiterate this one more time: I do feel for her loss. However, I do think that she is acting somewhat selfish here. What gives American mothers the more right to keep their sons while others die half a world away? What about all the Iraqi mothers that lost their sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, and uncles to Saddam all those years? How do you measure one life against another? What would she say to that, I wonder. As a matter of fact, I don't care what she would say because, judging from her editorial alone, I know that it would be irrational before it even came out of her mouth.

Always second best

It seems like poor Apple hasn't gotten a break since the early 90's:

Although Apple introduced the iPod in November 2001, it did not file a provisional patent application until July 2002, and a full application was filed only in October that year.

In the meantime, Microsoft submitted an application in May 2002 to patent some key elements of music players, including song menu software.

As a result:

In July, the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected Apple's application, saying some ideas were similar to an earlier application filed by a Microsoft employee, John Platt.

Now Apple might have to pay a "license fee" of up to $10 for every machine sold. I guess it never pays to be slow in this business.

Rob on gas prices

He says that car companies could have saved us money years ago. Another one of his conspiracy theories? Well, judging by the lack of links present in his post...

A message from the heart

Mohammed of Iraq The Model wrote a letter to Cindy Sheehan. It's probably the most heartfelt sentiment I have read in a long time. I only hope that she reads it and decides to change her views.

Ma'am, we asked for your nation's help and we asked you to stand with us in our war and your nation's act was (and still is) an act of ultimate courage and unmatched sense of humanity.
Our request is justified, death was our daily bread and a million Iraqi mothers were expecting death to knock on their doors at any second to claim someone from their families.

We did nothing to deserve all that suffering, well except for a dream we had; a dream of living like normal people do.

We cried out of joy the day your son and his comrades freed us from the hands of the devil and we went to the streets not believing that the nightmare is over.
We practiced our freedom first by kicking and burning the statues and portraits of the hateful idol who stole 35 years from the life of a nation.
For the first time air smelled that beautiful, that was the smell of freedom.

Read the whole thing.

Pumped up

A friend of mine sent me this link, with an attached comment: The war was worth it after all.

Hehe.

I was suprised to learn this though:

"The most popular sport after football (soccer) in Afghanistan is bodybuilding," said Sayed Mohammed Payanda, secretary general of Afghanistan's National Bodybuilding Federation. "Most people in Afghanistan, especially young people, like bodybuilding very much."

Ya, ze are not girlie men over zer.

The "Q" word

Dan Savage, a guest blogger on The Daily Dish, signs off today. But this "liberal hawk" wasn't about to go out without a bang. Some highlights:

Thanks to the incompetence of this administration, we can no longer avoid the “Q” word. It’s a quagmire. Period.

Does anyone in the White House know what the fuck they’re doing?

George Bush is good at one thing and one thing only: winning elections and coasting along.

...[W]e should get out [of Iraq] because, with the Bushies running the show for the next three years, we’re simply not going to win. It’s just go to drag on and on. This war, as I see it now, is either going to be nasty, brutal and short or nasty, brutal and long. I prefer nastry, brutal and short, if only because it will mean fewer Americans will die. And fewer Iraqis too, I suspect.

I admit that I can sympathize with this guy. Because like him, even though I backed the war, I'm not the biggest fan of the Bush administration's handling of it. In some sense he may be right: things aren't going to get much better while Bush is still in office. Although I might question just how bad the condition really is to begin with. We know for a fact that the media focuses on the negative. But yes, people are dying... we know that. American soldiers and innocent Iraqis are dying every day due to needless violence and bloodshed on the part of insurgents. But what I think Dan should understand is that, in essence, this war started because of them and not because of us. Radical Islam is a hostile force, one that has been building up strength for years now, and it will not rest unless and until democracy is brought to that region. Cutting and running now would be like handing Iraq over on a silver plate to the extremists. It simply can't be done.

A change of heart?

Ann Althouse noticed this article in the NYT today. She thinks it's funny how the tone seems almost "pro-recruitment."

Camp Liberty, one of the best-appointed compounds in the constellation of American military bases in Iraq, has the vague feel of a college campus, albeit with sand underfoot, Black Hawks overhead and the occasional random mortar attack.

The soldiers live in trailers on a grid of neat gravel pathways, and the chow hall offers a vast selection of food and beverages, ethnic cuisine nights, an ice cream parlor and, occasionally, a live jazz combo. Camp Liberty, like many other bases, also has Internet cafes, an impressively stocked store, gymnasiums with modern equipment, air-conditioning everywhere and extracurricular activities like language and martial arts lessons.

Wow. What liberal media?

So it can be done

A North Carolina woman had luck losing weight by eating an all McDonald's diet for 90 days. Sounds crazy?

[Merab] Morgan used nutritional information downloaded from McDonald's Web site to create meal plans of no more than 1,400 calories a day. She only ate french fries twice, usually choosing burgers and salads. Those choices are a stark contrast with those made by [Morgan] Spurlock, who ate every menu item at least once.

I find it interesting that this article failed to leave out any other possible changes that took place in the woman's body, namely an increase in cholesterol levels or higher blood pressure (due to high salt intake). Way to hit every angle, CNN.

Is this the way to Amarillo? Not quite...

Look what a few British troops stationed in Iraq have cooked up recently. Good stress reliever I suppose, but I can't help but think: maybe that's why they haven't been able to stabilize the south yet. Also, this statement is hilarious:

"Her Majesty's armed forces never cease to amaze me. To be able to carry out such acts of determination, sacrifice and heroism in so many spheres of the world and, at the same time, to be recording hit videos is a measure of the quality of the British Armed Forces. - Defence Secretary John Reid on opening the Queen's Speech debate on defence 18th May 2005.>

Bloody good show, chaps.

Could this work?

Christopher Walken in '08? We'llllll see.

Light blogging

This year's ABS Conference is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I'm going to head down there today to scope things out. Back later... perhaps with some more enlightenment.

On Sheehan

Yes, this is a free country and people can protest all they want, but I still hold to this fact: demanding that the troops come home now is wrong. It's unreasonable and unrational and the troops over there don't appreciate it. That's not to say that my heart doesn't go out to all of those grieving mothers. Heck, I have a loved one in the military myself. But we all should understand the risk. However, I do think it's wrong that Bush isn't giving these mothers the time of day. He needs to be there for them and he's not (even though he's on vacation). If anything meaningful comes out of this protest, I hope that will be it.

Anyone amused?

Talk about being PC... yeah, right.

Partygoers are entitled to free showers in the gas chambers at Housewitz, the massive dance party where tanzen macht frei (dancing makes you free), according to a shockingly irreverent video spoofing Auschwitz. In addition to playing on the expression arbeit macht frei (work sets you free), the video also touts Nazi soldiers as DJs and encourages would-be revelers to dress like "skinny Jews" held captive in concentration camps.

Heh.

The on-going battle against trans fats

New York has become the first city to publically "request" that restaurants stop using cooking oils that contain trans fats.

Today, most scientists and nutrition experts agree that trans fat is America's most dangerous fat and recommend the use of alternatives like olive and sunflower oils.

Sounds like a good idea, but let's be frank with ourselves. In another couple of years, most scientists and nutrition experts are going to say that olive oil causes cancer. My philosophy is, and always will be, moderation in all things.

Everpresent Iranian influence

Mohammed of Iraq The Model today:

Abddul Aziz Al-Hakim the head of the SCIRI [Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq] called to day for the formation of a federal state in the south of Iraq and Hadi Al-Amiri chief of the Badr organization (the military wing of the SCIRI) said that if the Sheat don't persist in forming this state they will regret it.


The British military clearly isn't doing its job in Basra. A divided Iraq is one that will not function correctly. Furthermore, Iranian access to southern Iraq's oil reserves would not serve the U.S.'s interests in the least bit. This is from a BBC Arabic forum:


"I've been working in trade between Iraq and Iran for a long time and I've seen a lot of things in my trips and with all respect to our Iranian neighbors, I can say that 80% of the troubles in Basra is caused by the Iranian intelligence. I know about Iranian officials working in Basra under cover of humanitarian organizations or trading firms.
The Iranians fear that Iraqi lands might be used by the US to attack them and that's why they're implementing the theory that says 'if there has to be a fire, let it be outside my home' and now Basra is on fire"

-Karrar Murtada- Basra

Let's put it out. Or better yet, start our own fire.

On personal freedom

The Daily Dish has had a couple of recent posts on the subject of personal freedom, and how the new GOP is seeking to expand the government's role in cultural issues.

Basically [Senator Rick] Santorum’s GOP is all for personal freedom—so long as you freely choose to refrain from smoking pot, pulling feeding tubes out of brain dead loves ones, and doing what you like in your own bedroom...

Whatever happened to the party that backed rugged individualism? Of personal freedom? Of autonomy?

While I don't think the government should get involved in people's personal decisions, I do believe that it has a responsibility towards society's well-being as a whole. I sympathize with lawmakers that have religious beliefs and those that feel it is their duty to use those beliefs as a guide in their work. However, we have to be somewhat realistic here. Legislation that is passed on peoples' sex lives (i.e. masturbation, adultery, etc.) will not be respected or enforced, as they do not affect anyone but the people that choose to take part in these activities. But there is a distinction that can be made: consumption of drugs like pot, crack, or even alcohol is a detriment to society as a whole. It is the government's responsibility to make sure that these things are not allowed to destroy the fabric of the family unit, as they so often do.

Way more extreme than I

My dad says I'm too much into blogging these days, but I think Oscar Madison can easily prove him wrong (link courtesy of Ann Althouse).

I don't trust the Russians

Would anyone really pay $100 million to fly to the moon aboard an outdated Soviet spacecraft?

"We have identified over a thousand people around the world who have the financial resources to participate in an expedition to the moon," said Eric Anderson, president and chief executive of Space Adventures Ltd.

Throwing down a promotional gauntlet, he added: "But the question remains, who among this group has the sense of exploration and adventure to undertake such a historic mission?"

Not I. The Russians can't even get submarining right. The moon is a bit far for a rescue mission, you know what I'm saying?

The bottom line

After a fairly extensive conversation with my cousin this evening, I came away feeling almost exactly what I have always felt since this war began: the media portrays an extremely distorted view of what is going on in Iraq. If you want the real scoop, you must talk to the people that were (or still are) really serving over there. Only then will you begin to understand the significance of what we are accomplishing in the Middle East.

Stay tuned

I'm going to visit my cousin today who is home on leave from Iraq (he was serving as a medic with a hospital unit somewhere near Tikrit). And believe me, he is going to get the full treatment from the Pundit.

Save the Garden of Eden

NPR ran a story today about the continuing effort to restore Iraq's marshlands, making the point that the Bible's description of the Garden of Eden is very much in line with what we see in that region. So maybe it wasn't merely a war for oil after all...

Primordial ooze

Thoughts on Kansas:

“Kansas Board Backs Limits on Evolution” —NYT

So that’s what’s the matter with Kansas. I have a policy proposal: Anyone who doesn't believe in evolution shouldn't enjoy the benefits of evolution. No eyes, no walking upright, no opposable thumbs. It's back to the primordial ooze for members of the Kansas Board of Education.

Hehe indeed.

New York Senate race

Having just returned from the Empire State, anything Hillary-related is catching my eye. Megan McArdle has thoughts on the upcoming Senate race (Glenn is currently on vacation... sheesh, why couldn't I hire "guestbloggers" to fill in?), and what it could mean for Hillary's bid for the presidency:

[Jeanine] Pirro's biggest weakness, that her husband was convicted of tax evasion (Pirro herself was cleared as an "innocent spouse) is harder for Hillary to capitalise on, since Pirro can always say "Why don't we take the focus off my husband's arrest and your husband's lost law license, and talk about the issues". I still think Hillary is probably the clear winner, but it will be an interesting race to watch. Pirro is a pro-choice, socially liberal and fiscally conservative Republican. She may well be able to take some of the shine off Hillary's presidential campaign.

Fugedaboutit!

The economics of illegal immigration

Rob is clearly a supporter of illegal immigration, and up until this point I have not been. However, the pro-business aspect of it is slowly becoming more and more appealing to me. Key quote from his article in CNN Money:

"This is a huge untapped market with people that live and work in this country and are capable of buying homes to realize the American dream," said Chan Peterson, executive vice president and head of community banking at Banco Popular, one of the earliest banks to enter this field.

He added that there's a common misperception that illegal immigrants will be more likely to default on their loans than a documented resident. But the company has found that there is no higher rate of default in this loan portfolio than any other market the company serves.

"There's a pride that comes with people moving from renting to owning and we've found that these borrowers are driven to hang on to their homes," Peterson said.

Psychologically speaking, this may actually hold water. Yet judging from the amount of "pride" I've seen in many Latino immigrants in being here... I'll have to go with the classic "I'll believe it when I see it."

Not good

According to The New York Times, there is currently a radical Shi'a element that controls the Iraqi capital. Apparenty, a group of armed militia stormed the municipal building in Baghdad and deposed the mayor, installing a member of the Badr Organization. And from what I've read, these guys are serious business.

The militia has been credited with keeping the peace in heavily Shiite areas in southern Iraq but also accused of abuses like forcing women to wear the veils demanded by conservative Shiite religious law.

This cannot stand.

So sue me

Yeah, I said I'd be back on Tuesday, but what can I say? Traffic is a bitch. It was hell trying to leave NYC at rush hour (too much time spent at the Met really killed our momentum) let alone the entire Tri-State area. Phew... so glad it's over. The trip itself was fun though. It had been more than 3 years since I'd been back in New York (I used to live about an hour upstate) and a lot of things have definitely changed. I gotta hand it to Guiliani (and now Bloomberg) for cleaning up the city. Driving through Harlem was a shock: I actually didn't feel in the least bit unsafe. Greenwich Village, however, has not changed for reasons that are better left undisclosed (wink, wink).

Anyways, it was hard staying up with the news while I was there, but I did hear that Peter Jennings passed away. And yeah, he was a hot-shot journalist and all, but I can't say I was a fan. Perhaps if it had been Tom Brokaw, I would have paid more attention to the media coverage. Besides, my dad met Jennings once at a press conference and said he acted like a jerk. I'm frankly not that surprised.

Oh yeah, and the Discovery returned to Earth safely. Woo. I heard on NPR on the way back that the White House is planning to keep the shuttle flying until 2010. Now, I know that nothing happens very quickly with NASA in terms of planning and designing new flight programs, but I'm not so sure that after two flights in a row having problems with insulation (the first one costing the crew their lives) that anyone is going to be willing to go back up there on one of those antiques.

Real blogging to come later this "morning" hopefully.

The Big Apple

I'm heading out there tomorrow morning with my family for some good old fashion tourist fun. Back Tuesday for more blogging.

Russian sub update

Gateway Pundit has video on the current situation. The Russians are trying to play down fears (as usual) and the RAF is assisting in the rescue. Let's hope that "using cables to drag the submarine to shallow water" idea the Russian Navy formed is going to work.

One more liberal controversy put to rest

Tariq Aziz confessed today that the American ambassador in Baghdad never gave Saddam "the green light" to invade Kuwait in 1990.

Aziz was asked by his American interrogators about if the American ambassador in Baghdad encouraged Saddam or gave him the "green light" to invade Kuwait back in 1990, Aziz answered with "NO" and said that this was merely a rumor and this is according to his lawyer who gave an interview to the Iraqi paper Al-Mashriq.

One more reason why you or I shouldn't buy into Rob's conspiracy theories.

This sounds familiar

Those Russians don't have very good luck with their submarines, Soviet or post-Soviet era. Oh, wait, I think they're the same.

Detainee transfers

Josh is a bit worried about recent efforts to hand over "nearly 70%" of Guantanamo detainees to their native governments. I don't blame him.

More specifically, the article says that most Afghan nationals (110 at Gitmo and 350 at Bagram) will be turned over to the "exclusive" control and custody of the new Afghan government. And if you read down further into the article what becomes clear is that this is being done because of mounting international and internal pressure to scale down if not shut down the extra-legal prison system we're running at these various detention facilities around the world.

Face it. We can't have any real confidence that the new Afghan government will even exist in a few years. And we're turning these hardened terrorists over to them? Please.

We don't think there might be some anmesty? Someone might lose the keys and a few might slip away?

I don't like this at all. I frankly think that one of the big reasons why we haven't had any terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11 is because of all of the people that we are holding right now in detention centers. And now we are planning to return most of them to areas that give them a much higher chance of escaping (whether through terrorist-aided jailbreaks or amnesty)? Something isn't sitting right.

Gateway Pundit and news from Iran

Glenn links a lot to this guy, and for good reason. He's always got some interesting story from the Middle East that we don't hear about in the mainstream media. Just today there was a protest in a mainly Kurdish area of Western Iran that got put down by brute force. Iranian military helicopters (yes, they had to call in helicopters like any other civilized government) reportedly opened fire on the crowd, killing 11 people. Now that's the way to get the populace on your side.

A few comments: I think that Iran is slowly building up to "powderkeg status," and by that I mean eventually it's going to explode with anti-government riots. Because let's face it, the regime there has not lived up to the revolutionary appeal that allowed it to overthrow the Shah in the first place. The current generation of Iranian youth are tired of the ultra-conservatism that the mullahs are constantly spitting out at them. They want to be progressive and modern like any other state in the Middle East right now. I believe it's only a matter of time before that whole country begins to erupt...

More details on Novak

The Chicago Tribune gives a number of reasons as to why Robert Novak may have decided to walk off the set of "Inside Politics" yesterday. In the meantime, CNN has reportedly suspended him "indefinitely." The second paragraph is key:

Novak may have been concerned about Ed Henry's plan to ask him about the CIA leak case, set in motion by one of his syndicated columns. But he responded to ribbing from fellow commentator James Carville with an eight-letter barnyard epithet and walked off the live mid-afternoon program before Henry could get to that subject.

Was it really about James Carville's comments or could you simply not handle the pressure, Novak?

Dukes of Hazzard

It looked darn stupid to me, and Rolling Stone is confirming this. I might just see it for Jessica Simpson's sake.

Terrorist grievances

Yes, yes, we've all heard the whole "war for oil" thing again and again from the Western media. Even Al-Zawahri brought up that issue today in his tape.

I mean, you’d think he’d be more interested in, say, Andalusia and the Crusades. Not that I’m suggesting Zawahiri’s comments were influenced by Western politicos and their partisan political mouthpieces in the media who’ve shown a tendency to provide al Qaeda with rhetorical cover, mind you.

Hehe.

Some thoughts as to the real reasons "why they hate us" courtesy of Protein Wisdom (with Pundit commentary included):

1. Abu Ghraib / Gitmo --> post-9/11

2. Supporting Israel --> We've already established that most Arabs don't even care about Palestinians anyway.

3. Women drivers --> Well, they darn well can't do much with that beekeeper thing they have to wear... can't blame them there.

4. Allowing homosexuals to live --> Yeah, we should really bring back public stonings.

5. Infidel boots on sacred Muslim soil (though not sacred enough that keeping open the option to target that sacred soil might conceivably act as a deterrent against WMD attacks in US cities) --> Uh huh.

6. R-rated movies / freedom --> I'm pretty sure most terrorists have The Godfather Parts 1,2, and 3 on DVD.

7. Pork --> Who can say no to a rack of ribs? I sure don't know of anyone.

8. An unwillingness on the part of the majority of Westerners to submit to the will of Allah and Sharia law… --> Not gonna happen.

9. Harry Potter --> Now why do you have to bring him into this?

There ya go.