Posted by bubba138 at 02:11 PM | Comments (0) |

Liberal Media Bias Myth

If you have been to to Alterman's blog five times, you have probably read him plugging his book "What Liberal Media" all five times.

The book has been out for months now, generating only lack-luster sales. And it's taken some time for people to get around to reading it, which may be why we are only now starting to see critical articles like this one come out:

There was a touch of irony in Alterman’s choosing the Times to place an ad declaring liberal bias to be a "myth." For that paper has lately been embroiled in the greatest scandal in its history, the Jayson Blair affair, caused by its almost blind devotion to liberalism’s god of "diversity" in the newsroom. And, as a judge of bias, Alterman is poorly situated. He is so far left he considers network anchors Dan Rather and Peter Jennings to be conservatives. Moreover, he argues from exceptions to prove his rules.

Conservative do have a voice, however:

After the breakthrough by conservative columnists came the breakthrough in talk radio. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neil Boortz, Ollie North, Gordon Liddy, Michael Savage, Michael Reagan and other conservatives dominate talk radio, nationally and locally. It is hard to name a liberal who has succeeded in national radio.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) |

Who is A Greater Threat?

Hillary Clinton or the Hulk?

Posted by bubba138 at 01:13 PM | Comments (0) |

A Look At The Electoral College

One aspect of the upcoming Presidential race that should soon be of great interest is the roll that will be played by electoral college. In 2000, the electoral college set the stage for the dramatic Florida counts and recounts. Without the electoral college, the entire nation would have been embroiled in a recount -- what a mess that would have been.

The number of electoral college votes is determined by the number of seats in the House of Representatives (this is a loosely stated but practical). The number of seats in congress is determined by the population in each state.

As a result of the 2000 census, the 2004 electoral college picture has changed. In 2000, there were 537 seats in Congress, there are now 538. But more interesting, the census reflects a population shift that changed the map of both the House of Representatives and the electoral college. In other words, the number of seats (and electoral votes) that each state has changed -- to the benefit of the Republicans and detriment of the Democrats. This table sums up the differences:

So what we see here is a net swing of 14 electoral votes for the Republicans. Not quite enough to make up for the 25 (or now 27) votes that Bush and Gore fought over in Florida, but still substantial. Knowing they must make up 14 electoral votes before campaigning even begins puts pressure squarely on the Democrat's shoulders.

Sources: Project Vote Smart: U.S. Electoral College 2004
Federal Election Commission: 2000 Official Presidential General Election Results

Posted by bubba138 at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) |

A Problem That Needs Fixing

The New York Times surveys legislator's web sites:

A New York Times analysis of the Web sites has found that only 11 percent of senators and 40 percent of representatives provided some kind of information about their voting records, either a partial list of their major votes or a link to a vote-listing service. Many list their opinions, the bills they have sponsored and press releases. Only one senator, Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, provides her complete voting record.

I experienced this first hand yesterday. I was looking for the voting records of the Democratic Presidential candidates and the best I could find was this motion-by-motion Senate record. I could not look up a Senator and have a related list of his/her votes. The House does things the same way.

In this age of information, there is only one reason our legislators wouldn't make this information easy to obtain -- they really do not want us to know what they are doing. Mr Fitch is right:

He added: "The only thing a member does by not providing this information is send the wrong message to constituents. You're inviting them to go someplace else, and that's a lost opportunity, from a political and a communication standpoint."

By the way, kudos to Diane Feinstein. Regardless of the fact that I disagree with her on many issues, she deserves to get credit for her openness, forthrightness, and honesty.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:13 AM | Comments (0) |

Davis Sticking Through It

CNN reports:

Gray Davis said Monday he would "absolutely not" step aside even if his gubernatorial tenure goes before voters as a referendum. "I'm not going to retreat," Davis, a Democrat, vowed in an interview with CNN's "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics." [...] Asked specifically if he would step aside if the recall effort reached the ballot, Davis replied "absolutely not."

This begs the question, if Davis doesn't resign, and all the big name Democrats have committed to not run for his seat, what Democrat will be on the ballot?

Three strategies come to mind. First, no Democrat will run and they will make this a "Gray against the bad-guys" campaign. Gray's camp will do everything they can to discredit each and every Republican candidate, showing them to be corrupt and incompetent -- everything that Gray himself is but worse. The goal of this strategy is to defeat the recall entirely. It may work, too. While Gray's popularity is way down (as low as 21% approval on a recent poll) the majority have yet to say they would actually recall him.

Strategy number two is to run a Democrat that hasn't yet bowed out of contention. Since all the known Democrats have already stated they will not run, that means a no-name Democrat would be put before the voters. This has some appeal, because in many Californian's minds, any Democrat is better than the best Republican. In the long run, however, I think this is a loser.

The final strategy is for one of the big-name Dems to go back on their word and run. This, of course, presents a credibility issue, but Californian Democrat candidates not maintaining credibility rarely translates into a problem at the voting box.

Bottom line is that polling will determine what happens. As the clock ticks down the last minutes possible to enter a horse in the race, they will check the polls. If they think Gray willnot survive the recall, they'll run Feinstein or Bustamante. If not, they'll run no one.

And if they can't figure out what to do before the deadline, no worries. They'll legislate from the judicial bench -- ala New York -- and change the deadline if they have to.

He added, "7 million people went to the polls last November ... and asked me to be governor of this state for four more years, and I have an obligation to them."

Posted by bubba138 at 08:38 AM | Comments (0) |

Death Knell For Democrats

We may be hearing the first slight rings of the death knell for any Democratic hopes for the Presidency. The stock markets are on a general incline, unemployment is easing up, and now it looks like consumer confidence is turning around as well:

"While consumers' assessment of current conditions has lost ground since April, expectations for the next six months are up," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "In fact, consumers have grown increasingly optimistic over the last three months. The recent turnaround in the stock market and an easing in unemployment claims should keep consumer expectations at current levels and may signal more favorable economic times ahead," Franco said in a statement. [...] The index is still close to its highest since November last year, before anxiety over the war in Iraq began to undermine confidence.

This article doesn't exactly paint a rosy picture, but it does indicate a general trend toward an economic recovery. If things continue in this direction the Democrat's main point of contention -- the economy -- will be yanked from, or even backfire on them.

Since the economic slide began in the last year of the Clinton era, and all the untoward corporate behavior occurred under his watch, the Republicans will be able to use the economy as a beating stick, saying they were able to fix what Clinton and crew had let go. Even more, Bush will be able to say that his policies also withstood the economic disaster caused by 9/11 and the drain of two wars.

The choice will be clear. Choose the man who stands for strong foreign policy, strong national security, money that stays in the taxpayer's pockets, and a humming economy, or choose the man who stands for not using our military to protect us, the government taking our hard earned dollars, and a cash flush bureaucracy.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) |

Posted by bubba138 at 08:17 AM | Comments (0) |

Freeing a Nation From a Tyrant's Grip

Colin Powell has a few things to say about Chirac's buddy, Zimbabwe ruler Robert Mugabe:

Like the Burmese junta, President Mugabe and his Politburo colleagues have an absolute monopoly of coercive power, but no legitimacy or moral authority. In the long run, President Mugabe and his minions will lose, dragging their soiled record behind them into obscurity. But how long will it take? How many good Zimbabweans will have to lose their jobs, their homes, or even their lives before President Mugabe's violent misrule runs its course? [...] But our efforts are unlikely to succeed quickly enough without greater engagement by Zimbabwe's neighbors. South Africa and other African countries are increasingly concerned and active on Zimbabwe, but they can and should play a stronger and more sustained role that fully reflects the urgency of Zimbabwe's crisis. If leaders on the continent do not do more to convince President Mugabe to respect the rule of law and enter into a dialogue with the political opposition, he and his cronies will drag Zimbabwe down until there is nothing left to ruin — and Zimbabwe's implosion will continue to threaten the stability and prosperity of the region.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) |

The Anguish of Apple

Linux is kicking butts and taking names. Microsoft is not one of them, though:

But while listing the new machine's impressive specs, Jobs left out a related, eye-popping statistic: Business Week columnist Alex Salkever dropped the bomb last week that next year, "Linux should pass Apple in market share for desktop operating systems on computers." [...] But like another holy war, the Linux-Microsoft fight has resulted mostly in collateral damage. Instead of wiping out Windows, Linux evangelists have driven one after another of Microsoft's competitors out of the operating system business. IBM, DEC, SCO, and finally Sun have lost the non-Windows portion of the server market to Linux, and no wonder: Linux is basically a better version of their Unix products, for free. [...] Now, with Linux's emergence as an acceptable alternative for the consumer desktop, Apple is standing in position to become its next friendly-fire casualty. By blending gorgeous design with user-friendly software, Apple lets you buy your way out of the Microsoft world...But it comes at a hefty premium: Apple's new desktop models start at $1,999.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:50 AM | Comments (0) |

Jewish Jump

The political shift among Jews continues:

"I became a Republican to make come to life the ideals I had as a Democrat," Coleman told a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington last month. "I believe in equality and social justice. The key to justice and equality is for mom and dad to have a job." [...] Among them is Geoffrey Greene, a 55-year-old physician from Columbia who came to hear Coleman speak last month. "The main thing for me was the security issue," said Greene, who quit the Democratic Party last year. "Security and the survival of Jews and Israel became the key issues for me."

The increased Jewish support for the Republican party is -- at least for this election -- worrisome to some Democrats:

One senior Democrat aide told Roll Call magazine, "I think the thing Democrats are worried about is that they are taking all the positions this group cares about, but [Jewish voters] don't seem to know it." Democrats in the House have created a 15-member committee to help communicate the values of the Democrat Party to Jews across the U.S., lead by Rep. Robert Matsui (D-CA), who is not Jewish, and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who is Jewish.

The anti-semites among us will use this as confirmation that U.S. policy is steered by the mere 2% Jewish minority. But the truth comes out when you observe that the Republicans are focusing more and more effort into courting all minorities, not just the Jewish.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:13 AM | Comments (0) |

I Don't Dowd It

Bernard Chapin has started a new feature: The Maureen Dowd Two Minute Mock.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:07 AM | Comments (0) |

Hoy Does Russert Does Dean

Matthew Hoy reviews this weekend's Russet interview with Howard Dean:

Russert: Let’s turn to the campaign. This is what you said last month about the Bush tax cut and I’ll show you and our viewers. “It has become clear what this president is attempting to do and why we must repeal the entire package of tax cuts.” The Department of Treasury, we consulted and asked them: What effect would that have across America? And this is what they said. A married couple with two children making $40,000 a year, under the Bush plan, would pay $45 in taxes. Repealing them, under the Dean plan, if you will, would pay $1,978, a tax increase of over 4,000 percent. A married couple over 65 making $40,000 and claiming their Social Security, under Bush would pay $675 in taxes. You’re suggesting close to $1,400, a 107 percent tax increase. Can you honestly go across the country and say, “I’m going to raise your taxes 4,000 percent or 107 percent,” and be elected? Dean: Well, first of all, were those figures from the Treasury Department, did you say, or CBO? Russert: Treasury Department. Dean: I don’t believe them. Well, I think those numbers are certainly possible -- even probable. Try it yourself by going to the IRS Witholding Calculator here. I was able to get the tax burden down to $407 dollars for the aforementioned married couple with two children -- without putting in any deductions for mortgage interest. Admittedly, it's different for every family, but the Treasury Department figures are not outside the realm of possibility.

That's not all. Go read it.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:56 AM | Comments (0) |

June 23, 2003

Michigan Diversity

Make sure you check out the Yin-Blog dissection of the Supreme Court decision on Michigan law school's affirmative action policy.

Posted by bubba138 at 03:47 PM | Comments (0) |

Making Momentum in Miami

Bob Graham is looking good in Florida. But G.W. is looking better:

Matched against Bush, the survey of 600 voters — Democrats, Republicans and independents who regularly vote in statewide elections — put the president ahead of Graham 53 percent to 40 percent, with 7 percent undecided. [...] Some of the president's strongest support came from Hispanics, who backed him over Graham by 68 percent to 29 percent. Florida Hispanics have strong Republican leanings, particularly Cuban-Americans who favor the GOP's tough foreign policies against communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) |

End-Run on the Recall

California Democrats may have found a way to do an end-run around the recall:

Oakland Mayor (and former California governor) Jerry Brown, in Washington this past week, speculated that Davis could instantly destroy the recall movement by resigning. That would elevate Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to the governorship. Sen. Barbara Boxer has sketched the same scenario in private conversations with fellow Democrats.

With DiFi saying she won't run this looks like a very possible situation.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) |

The Democrats PUSH/Rainbow

CNSNews has rather excellent coverage of the Democrat Candidate's Fearfest '03 hosted by Jesse Jackson's PUSH/Rainbow organization. Highlights:

Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri summed up the mood when he declared that a "radical extreme administration has sold your government to the special interests of the country."

Al Sharpton accused Bush of intentionally fabricating the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "If President Clinton had told the lie that George Bush has told, he would have been impeached," Sharpton said to enthusiastic applause.

Sharpton also cautioned that simply having African Americans serve in government is not sufficient for racial advancement. "[Supreme Court Justice] Clarence Thomas is an example of the danger of that. A black with the wrong position is as bad as a white or a Latino in the wrong position," Sharpton said. "If we doubt that, just look at Clarence Thomas. Clarence Thomas is my color, but he is not my kind," Sharpton said in one of the loudest applause lines of the debate.

If color of skin doesn't define race, what does? Oh! A black man with the wrong ideology isn't really black...now I get it!

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean told the mostly black audience that "there is no such thing as quota at the University of Michigan and there never has been." "The word quota is a racially loaded word that is designed to appeal to people's fears who are afraid they going to lose their jobs," Dean explained.

Kerry accused the Bush administration of dividing America. "We deserve a president of the United States who understands we are all in this together, and we need a president who is president for all Americans," Kerry said.

Seeing as how Americans are two-to-one with Bush is a pretty good indicator that he is uniting them. It is the Democratic nine who are promoting division.

Jackson ridiculed the Bush administration for having a plan "to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq" but not a plan to rebuild America.

You gotta love Jesse. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the U.S. isn't recovering from being bombed into the middle ages? I think we're doing ok. Where is Jesse seeing the need to "rebuild" America? I think he got confused. He meant to say "re-educate."

Gephardt told an approving audience what he intended to do on his first day in office if he is elected. "In my first week as president, I will ask the congress to rescind the Bush tax cut," he said.

Brilliant. I hope this guy gets the nomination. I would love to see him in a debate with GW:

Gephardt: "In my first week as president, I will ask the congress to rescind the Bush tax cut,"
GW: "Last month, millions of hard working Americans received their tax-cut refund checks. In January, if elected, Rep. Gephardt will come and take that away. Is that really a good plan?"
Homer: "DOH!"

Posted by bubba138 at 12:02 PM | Comments (0) |

The Dean Is In The House

Or at least he wants to be. Howard Dean formally announced his candidacy for President today. The announcement brought out widespread rejoicing in the streets:

A turnout of that size would validate Dean's boast that he is building an Internet-driven, national grass-roots organization. It was impossible to verify Dean's projections, but in one city, Des Moines, Iowa, 87 supporters signed up to watch his address at the campaign headquarters; 47 showed up.

Well, 47 out of 492,493 ain't bad. But at least the Deanites are down with Dean's message:

"It's a good way to get out of the office," said Ben Stone of Des Moines.

But why have a formal announcement anyway? He's been campaigning for months now and people still don't know it. Oh. That's one of those questions that answers itself, isn't it? Howard must figure the little extra publicity from a formal announcement can't hurt.

In all seriousness, this does look impressive.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) |

Theme Of The Week

This Week is Middle-East Free week.

No, this is not a new drive promoting free press, free speech, free practice of religion, or freedom for all people in the Middle-East. Instead, it is a self-imposed moratorium on all Middle-East news items. I then swear, for the next seven days to:

For seven days I won't do it. Nope. For my own good, I won't.

Update: This isn't Middle-East related...it's business.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) |

A Good Cause

Organizations devoted to starving third-world children came together in protest in Sacramento yesterday. Their behavior, of course, was as expected:

Earlier in the day, milling activists upended trash bins, tore down chain-link fences and briefly charged officers with the city's own street barricades -- sending a police car into rapid reverse to evade the protesters. A cadre of activists also took over the site of the former Mandella Community Garden in midtown.

Isn't it amazing how activists that claim to be for a clean Earth would do something like upend trash bins? I thought littering was a grave sin for Earth worshipers. Yet, the protestors themselves don't even know what their central message is:

Incongruous images of whimsy and force were the order of the day. Merry vegetarians danced along, dressed as ears of corn and butterflies. Beside them strode young anarchists, masked and clad in black, who taunted police and shouted obscenities. A female wearing fairy wings darted through the crowd on a bike, striped stockings flashing. An elderly man using a walker pushed gamely along with the rest.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:01 AM | Comments (0) |

Glenn Sez..

About producing a good blog:

There's only one hard-and-fast rule: get rid of the typos. No blog that's full of typos looks good.

Glenn sez about Bellicose Women:

Having looked at the book, I feel pretty sure that this passage wuldn't have appeared (the bio isn't exactly hard-hitting) if anyone thought that this revelation would hurt Jewel's reputation in her target market.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:49 AM | Comments (0) |

Harry Potter

The Blogosphere is a-buzz with Harry Potter reviews. I haven't bought the new book yet. I probably won't either. No one in the Scott house has read a Harry Potter Book. Why?

It isn't because the stories hold non-Christian messages or is based on the occult and magic and the like. Too many times Christians take up a crusade against things like this and do not realize that the crusade itself detracts from the witness for Christ that they want to project. Instead of projecting Jesus' love and His message of forgiveness, such Christians display judgment, fear, and loathing. These attitudes provide a ripe atmosphere for the spreading of lies such as this chain-email that I have received several times from otherwise well thought of Christian friends:

Harry Potter.......Please Read..........we need to pray for ALL THE Children who read this book and other books like it [...] "The Harry Potter books are cool, 'cause they teach you all about magic and how you can use it to control people and get revenge on your enemies," said Hartland, WI, 10-year-old Craig Nowell, a recent convert to the New Satanic Order Of The Black Circle[...] finally, a quote from the author herself, J. K. Rowling, describing the objections of Christian reviewers to her writings: "I think it's absolute rubbish to protest children's books on the grounds that they are luring children to Satan," Rowling told a London Times reporter in a July 17 interview. " People should be praising them for that! These books guide children to an understanding that the weak, idiotic Son Of God is a living hoax who will be humiliated when the rain of fire comes,... while we, his faithful servants, laugh and cavort in victory."

Christians should not spread such hooey. Yet, because it agrees with something some brimstone-breathing preacher has spouted they pass it on without thought or effort to check its veracity. Christians need to remember that we have been given the Spirit of Christ, and that is a Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. Some Christians use the sound mind they've been given. Some do not.

I haven't bought into the Harry Potter craze because I view it as just that: a craze. I have cognitively grouped it with Cabbage-Patch Kids, Beanie Babies, Pokemon and Yugi-oh.

I realize that all those are type of collectors items, and that the Potter phenomenon is a literary series. But the Potter series shares the same mindless devotion, the same herd mentality as these collections.

I guess, bottom line, the reason I am not into the Potter books is because everyone else is. There is something about not being a part of the vast, Hogwart conspiracy that makes me feel, well, different -- in a good way.

Update: Colby Cosh has found someone who almost captures what I feel:

Here's humorist Daniel Radosh, groping for a contrarian angle on the Harry Potter phenomenon: Call me a muggle, but this whole thing about not wanting to "spoil the surprise" of the new Harry Potter book only proves that HP is less and less about literature (I like the books, except for Goblet of Fire) and increasingly about hype. After all, if HP loses value because readers might hear something about it, doesn't that give it a shelf life of about a week? Are the Narnia books or Lloyd Alexander or Wizard of Earthsea "spoiled" for kids, because the plots aren't a big secret?

Posted by bubba138 at 07:29 AM | Comments (0) |

June 20, 2003

Good News / Bad News

George Bush isn't the only high-profile politician with problem kids. Howard Dean had to cut out from the campaign trail to deal with an arrest in the family:

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said Friday that his 17-year-old son was cited in the burglary of a Vermont country club with four teenagers searching for liquor. Dean, who canceled several campaign appearances, said his son, Paul, and teammates on the high school hockey team apparently were discovered early Friday morning at the Burlington Country Club by a police officer on routine patrol. Dean said it was his understanding that his son would be charged as an accessory.

That's the bad news, the good news is that Dean doesn't have to deal with Jesse Jackson this weekend:

Dean said he still planned to be in Washington on Sunday for an appearance on the NBC show "Meet The Press," but he had not decided whether to participate in the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition candidate debate in Chicago and a subsequent fund-raiser in Chicago.

Posted by bubba138 at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) |

Globa Warming and Fart Tax

The New York Times is blasting the Bush administration for removing from the EPA's final report on the environment items concerning global warming that were in the draft version. They even go so far as to call it "censorship":

The latest example of this ostrichlike behavior involves some heavy-handed censorship of a draft report that is due out next week from the Environmental Protection Agency. As described by Andrew Revkin and Katharine Seelye in yesterday's Times, the report was intended to provide the first comprehensive review of what is known about environmental problems and what gaps in understanding remain to be filled. But by the time the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget finished with it and hammered the E.P.A. into submission, a long section on the risks posed by rising global temperatures was reduced to a noncommittal paragraph.

Never mind that the science behind the global warming parties is suspect. Never mind that the jury is still out on whether or not global warming actually exists. What is dangerous is the extremes people want to go based on unproven assumptions.

A glaring example is found in New Zealand where the government has begun to tax ranchers for their livestock's flatulence:

Now farmers will have to pay up to 72 cents (24p) per cow and nine cents (3p) per sheep to reflect the damage they cause to the environment. Deer and goat farmers will also be taxed... The tax is expected to cost the typical family farmer up to $300 (£100) a year. Jeff Grant, chairman of Meat New Zealand, called it "overkill" and said farmers were already suffering from a high dollar, low commodity prices and drought.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) |

Health Care

As the Democratic Nine are chanting "health care", the Republicans are doing it:

Two months ago, Missouri Democratic Rep. Dick Gephardt stepped out of the pack of Democratic presidential candidates by framing a stark choice for Americans - the president's tax cuts or Gephardt's vision of health care for all. But these days, Republicans are leading the charge to give seniors a $400 billion prescription drug benefit, and Bush is cheering them on. Their message is that Americans can have both tax cuts and more generous government-subsidized health care benefits.

The Democrats had eight years to do something about health care and did nothing at all. Their best shot was Hillary's socialized medicine plan that Lenin himself would have turned down. Now the Republicans are going to push real legislation through and the only thing the Democrats can do is scream, "It's not enough!"

Posted by bubba138 at 02:37 PM | Comments (0) |

Dean Excitement Continues

Dean is not out in front yet, but he sure is generating a ton of excitement:

"I was at a party dinner earlier in the year, and I was amazed at the people holding up Dean signs," said George Bruno, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "It reminded me of the Gene McCarthy campaign, these young people, with a freshness, an enthusiasm, an exuberance I haven't seen in politics in a long time."

Wait a minute, for those of us who were only four years old in 1968, who was Gene McCarthy, again?

McCarthy was an anti-Vietnam War candidate in 1968 whose success in the New Hampshire primary opened the way for Sen. Robert F. Kennedy to challenge President Lyndon B. Johnson, who later withdrew from the race.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:32 PM | Comments (0) |

The Sky Isn't Falling?

Yesterday I linked to Mark Styen's article that postulates Iraq is not in the trouble the media is showing. Today, CBS News has released the first poll of Iraqi opinion -- and guess what, we aren't as disliked as some would have us believe:

Sixty-five percent of Iraqis polled in Baghdad claimed they want the U.S. military to stay until Iraq is stable and secure; only 17 percent want American soldiers out now.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) |

North Korea

The administration's handling of North Korea has been nothing less than brilliant. Not only did it make the Democrats look like fools right before the war in Iraq, but it is working too:

Over those eight months, President Bush's administration has stuck with its position that it will not negotiate a non-aggression pact - Pyongyang's key demand - or offer any other "inducements" for the North Koreans to return to their commitments and dismantle the nuclear program in a verifiable way... ...the strategy of maintaining that position, while working to get support from other nations to isolate North Korea, appeared to be paying off. "We have gone from a situation where the debate was over who was more stubborn or irresponsible, Bush or Kim Jong-il, to a point where the rest of the world has essentially lined up behind [Secretary of State Colin] Powell's approach and is echoing the U.S. call for a immediately, complete, verifiable halt to the North's nuclear weapons program." Every time Pyongyang edges closer to admitting outright that it has nuclear weapons, Cossa said, "it makes it harder and harder for any responsible member of the international community to argue its case." This was especially so, he added, "as Washington continues to pledge its commitment to a peaceful diplomatic solution while Pyongyang, on any given day, threatens a war against the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and/or the international community in general ..."

Dean doesn't agree with the way the administration is handling North Korea:

He also said the United States should agree to resume shipments of food and fuel, plus offer diplomatic recognition, in exchange for North Korea's pledge to dismantle its nascent nuclear weapons program. Constructive engagement works, he said.

Of course, playing "Let's make a deal" is exactly what Clinton did, and we all see who got the better end of that bargain, don't we? I wonder if Dean ever sits down and reads the news?

But wait, Gephardt thinks Clinton did O.K. with North Korea, placing his handling of Pongyong in a list of foreign policy "victories"
:

Gephardt said in an interview from Los Angeles. “There’s also a contrast in the way he did foreign policy; he was very engaged in the world, solving problems in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, the Middle East and North Korea. “

Posted by bubba138 at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) |

No Moe Roe

The motion to review the Roe vs. Wade Supreme court decision on abortion has been turned down:

(CNSNews.com) - A federal court has turned down a motion from the plaintiff once known as "Jane Roe" to reconsider the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on abortion because the request was not made within a "reasonable time" after the Roe v. Wade decision. Norma McCorvey - the "Roe" in Roe v. Wade - filed a "motion for relief from judgment" on Tuesday, asking the court to reopen the case. "Whether or not the Supreme Court was infallible, its Roe decision was certainly final in this litigation," Judge David Godbey ruled in response. "It is simply too late now, 30 years after the fact, for McCorvey to revisit that judgment." However, McCorvey's attorney, Allan Parker, said his client will probably ask the court to reconsider Godbey's decision. "This is not a case of newly discovered evidence, which must be brought in a short amount of time," Parker asserted. "It's a case of changed factual conditions and law." After converting to Catholicism, McCorvey changed her position on abortion and joined the pro-life activist group Operation Rescue in 1995.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) |

Misled Candidates and Misleading Statements

At this point things don't look too well for the Democrat candidates. Dean and Gephardt are publicly arguing about a meaningless online poll that hasn't even taken place yet.

And none of the candidates are having much polling success when matched up against Bush:

Also, in a Quinnipiac University poll of voters nationwide, Kerry loses to George W. Bush 53-37. Actually, EVERY Democrat tested loses to George W. Bush including the Recently Re-Sainted Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham who loses to the President by a 53-40 bulge.

Hillary's book is selling well, but it hasn't helped her against GW. Also of note, Kerry is "misleading" the anti-war crowd:

In New Hampshire the other night, Kerry said (according to the AP's Ron Fournier) of President Bush and the war in Iraq: ''He misled every one of us... That's one reason why I'm running to be president of the United States.'' Inasmuch as Mr. Kerry used his December 1, 2002 "Meet the Press" appearance to announce his intention to file the papers necessary to run for President, I need some help understanding the notion that he just now decided to run because he was misled by the President. Would this be Mr. Kerry attempting to mislead the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party? Lest you think I am attempting to mislead you, this from the same Fournier piece, "Kerry fielded several questions about Iraq from a small group of anti-war Democrats after he addressed about 250 people in a downtown Lebanon [NH] park." Kerry is a current member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. If he had some questions about the intelligence one can only wonder why he waited until last night - at a park in New Hampshire - to share his doubts with the rest of us.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) |

Who Is Strongest?

Hulk of course!

Posted by bubba138 at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) |

AIDS Memorial

From WorldNet Daily:

Despite a $38 billion deficit, California lawmakers want to help fund a $500,000 AIDS memorial designed in the form of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, prompting threats of a lawsuit... Organizers of the project have asked the state for $400,000. "This is just plain corrupt," said Scott Lively, the law center's president. "I think most Californians could think of much better uses for that money than building a monument to dead homosexuals and IV drug users in the form of a pagan god once worshipped with human sacrifice."

Scott Lively and his group are going at this from a moral outrage stand, which is self destructive. It is enough to say that the state has no business providing $400k in funding for a memorial of any sort when it is $38 billion in the hole.

This is exactly why we haven't passed a budget for California yet. Republicans know the only way to prevent frivolous spending is to make sure the money is not available. Democrats don't care about spending our money, what they care about is making the republicans look bad. So, instead of denying requests like this memorial and countless other non-government related expenditures, they cut education, health care and law enforcement and blame it on the Republicans because they are stingy, pro-business, and want to steal from the poor and give to the rich.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:46 AM | Comments (0) |

Recall Update

The signature collection is continuing and the goal of 900,000 signatures has almost been reached. The organizations are pushing to reach the goal by the end of this weekend -- well before the informal Independence Day deadline.

Good strategy would require that they gather a bunch more than the required 900,000. Gray Davis and flunkies are not going to take this lying down and each signature will be examined with a microscope. I expect at least 10-25% of the signatures will be disqualified.

Also, don't expect them to be verified anytime soon. The applications for the recall effort had to go through many iterations before they were approved. Each time the state took the full time legally allowed before it returned the paperwork. I would be surprised if the validation of the signatures doesn't follow the same pattern.

The goal here is for Davis' flunkies to delay the recall so it does not appear on a ballot in November. If they can do that, the recall will happen in March, concurrent with the primary elections. Democrats will be out in droves selecting Howard Dean as their 2004 presidential candidate. The recall's chances are slimmed in such a situation.

Update: Bustamante is now out of the running:

"I will not participate in any way other than to urge voters to reject this expensive perversion of the recall process," Bustamante said in a statement issued by his campaign consultant. He could not be reached for additional comment... A passage in Bustamante's prepared statement -- "I do not intend to put my name on the ballot" -- left room for the same sort of interpretation.

It is looks like the Democrat's strategy is to circle the wagons and stay unified. It's possible it may work. If no Democrat puts his or her hat in the ring, it means only Republicans will be running for the seat. If that becomes the case, Davis can turn the recall effort into a Democrat vs. Republican issue, saying, "You don't really want a Republican governor, do you?" I expect the scare tactics to come out early -- "They'll take away your abortion rights! They're going to give guns to children. They'll force prayer in schools -- and then cut all funding for public education."

Posted by bubba138 at 06:15 AM | Comments (0) |

DUH!

AP Headline: Powell Calls Hamas 'Enemy of Peace'

Well that's news. Here's more:

At least one person was killed and three were wounded on Friday in a Palestinian ambush of an Israeli car in the West Bank, the Israeli army said. A settler spokesman said two of the wounded were Americans who came to Israel on Thursday to visit relatives. "Terrorists opened fire at a car, which then overturned," an army spokeswoman said of the attack on a road used by Jewish settlers to bypass the nearby Palestinian city of Ramallah. "One person is dead and three are wounded, two critically."

The bottom line is that there is a large contingent of Palestinians who do not want peace -- not now or ever. They will continue to do what ever it takes to derail the peace process. Abbas has said he will not launch a crackdown for fear of triggering a civil war. But if he does not find a way to curb these attacks he will never have the peace for which he is working.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:09 AM | Comments (0) |

June 19, 2003

Arnold's Getting the Attention

The view from the California Insider:

He is pro-choice, favors gay rights and supports gun control. He is basically a fiscal conservative and social moderate, similar in some ways to Pete Wilson when he ran in 1990. But with those positions these days, Arnold would have a difficult time winning a Republican primary. The magic of the recall is that there is no primary. It’s a winner take all election. So if the Democrats clear the field and allow Gray to portray the recall as a partisan attack, the gov might survive. But voters are asked on the same ballot to choose his potential replacement. Nearly every Democrat who votes no on the recall then turns around and votes for Arnold, rather than Issa, Simon, or McClintock. Plus he gets most of the independents and a decent number of Republicans.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:30 PM | Comments (0) |

Dishing Up Dowd

Suzanne Fields serves up some roasted Maureen Dowd -- well done, no less:

When a successful (single) career woman pokes fun at women with babies in strollers, you know she's either feeling unsure of the choices she's made or she's down to her last idea for a Father's Day column. Maureen Dowd, femme fatalist for the New York Times, may be feeling a little woozy after the sturm and drang at her newspaper. Maybe we should cut her a little slack. But knocking motherhood? The Maureen Dowdies are 30 years behind the curve and they know it - and hate it. They're the childless chicks, robotically reacting to the women who enjoy family life more than their abandoned treadmills to the fast track.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:08 PM | Comments (0) |

Day By Day

Guess who DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe is is really working for.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:50 PM | Comments (0) |

Democrats: The Inclusive Party

At least that's the way they talk. Getting them to actually vote that way is another story. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah(D) has this to say about the Mayoral race in Philly:

"Every time there is an African American who is the lead candidate on a ticket, there are Democrats who find it difficult to cast a vote for them because they can't get past the color of their skin," Fattah said. "Street will have to spend a long amount of time making appeals, and working to get a percentage of the white Democratic vote in Philadelphia that would ordinarily be guaranteed to him."

Is it really the white Democrats with the problem? Perhaps the Mayor himself could use some racial sensitivity training as well:

Standing before a roaring audience at an NAACP convention last spring, Mayor John F. Street gloried in a tremendous accomplishment... "Let me tell you: The brothers and sisters are running the city. Oh, yes. Running it!" Street said. "Don't you let nobody fool you; We are in charge of the City of Brotherly Love. We are in charge! We are in charge!"

Posted by bubba138 at 04:12 PM | Comments (0) |

The Sky Is Falling...Or Is It?

Mark Steyn is sticking it to the doom-sayers:

On Monday the Daily Telegraph gave a big chunk of its comment-page real estate to Mr Will Day of something called Care International. I’ve never heard of it myself but doubtless that’s because I’m a fully paid-up member of Don’t Care Unilateral... He includes one hard statistic, in the midst of a paragraph claiming that Iraq is ‘on its knees. The supply of electricity is erratic and unreliable, clean water is fast becoming scarce and rubbish is piling high in streets flooded by sewage — an estimated 500,000 tonnes of raw sewage, at least, is being poured into the river daily... Nicholas Hallam, who sent me the following press release from the self-same Care International: Sewage treatment has collapsed, resulting in 500,000 tons of raw sewage being discharged into water sources every day.... ...far from the headline’s claim that ‘Things Are Getting Worse In Iraq’, things seem to be pretty stable. In January, there were 500,000 tons of raw sewage. By June, there were 500,000 tonnes of raw sewage... In October 2001 Faizul-Aqtab Siddiqi, president-general of the International Muslim Organisation, said bombing Afghanistan would create a thousand bin Ladens. It didn’t. In March this year President Mubarak of Egypt said bombing Iraq would create a hundred bin Ladens. So right there you’ve got a tenfold decrease in the bin Laden creation programme. But even that modest revised target wasn’t met. There’s widespread starvation and disease and millions of refugees in Iraq. Except there aren’t. The Baghdad Museum was looted of its treasures. Only it wasn’t... There is, of course, a real humanitarian crisis in the world today — in the Congo, an environment blessedly free of blundering Yanks, where ‘international law’ has ridden to the rescue and, as in the Balkans and elsewhere, the UN is providing the usual genteel multilateral cover for ethnic slaughter. But, because it doesn’t accord with the New Universal Theory of Texan-Zionist neocon aggression, nobody cares. In Iraq, the Americans and British are muddling through; in the Congo, ‘international law’, as represented by the French and the UN, is failing big time. That’s my view and it happens to fit my prejudices. But it also fits the facts.

Now the world and the anti-U.S. crowd will fallaciously say the U.S. is doing nothing about the Congo because there is no oil there. Closer to the truth would be that we've learned our lesson about engaging in "limited" military involvement between warring tribes. Vietnam taught us that. Somalia taught us that. Neither of those conflicts had anything to do with oil.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) |

The Object of Complex Admiration

One day in Bulgaria an MP said, without thought, "Yeah, I'll do that interview."

Posted by bubba138 at 08:42 AM | Comments (0) |

Y All The Fuss?

Scientists are finding out all sorts of new things about the Y chromosome:

The Y chromosome – the piece of DNA that makes a man a man – is independent, crafty, and far from the genetic wasteland it was thought to be... Scientists had predicted the Y chromosome, filled only with repetitive and uninteresting DNA, would be a barren wasteland. Only one gene of importance resided on the Y, detractors said. That gene, called SRY, determines whether an embryo will develop as a male or a female.

If you ask me, only that one little fact makes the Y chromosome extra important! But wait, there's more -- the Y chromosome is like "a man, a plan, canal panama":

The tiny chromosome is full of chemicals arranged like palindromes – words or phrases that read the same way forward or backward... Such sequences pair up, creating a hairpin curve in the chromosome. A gene on one side of the palindrome can repair damage to its twin on the other half of the hairpin. The self-repair mechanism keeps the Y from degrading into the genetic junk pile many scientists thought it was.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:24 AM | Comments (0) |

Hillary Clinton and WMDs

NPR had a one-on-one interview with Senator Clinton today. The text on their page isn't the whole of what was broadcast in the audio, so be sure to listen to that. Here's her take on Iraq and WMDs:

Juan Williams: Do you regret having voted to authorized the President to go to war against Iraq? Hillary Clinton: ...the vote I made...was based upon evidenced that was presented to me. In my mind the jury is still out as to whether or not that evidence merited my vote or anyone else's...But In know from my husband's administration that he certainly received the same kind of intelligence reports. Here was a man who was intent, obsessed with having weapons of mass destruction. He had thrown the inspectors out in '98, He certainly acted like someone who had something to hide. So, I'm not ready to say either that the intelligence was wrong, or that the intelligence was selectively applied and and skewed for a certain result. JW: But let me clarify something. You're saying President Clinton got exactly the same kind of information that President Bush got, so why doubt it? HC: ...If there was even consistent intelligence going through a number of years, and yet we cannot find the evidence...I wanna know, who are the people giving us this information? Because this administration has taken a very aggressive posture. You know, they talk about preemption. Therefore, I'm concerned that when I'm given information, it is scrubbed and as accurate as it possibly can be, especially when I see an administration that is willing to go a little further perhaps to pursue what they view as appropriate means to achieve ends that I may or may not agree with.

Hillary makes a good point here. For eight years the intelligence community did not have to worry as much about the depth and accuracy of its information because there was little chance that the administration would do anything with it. The most Clinton and crew were prepared to do was to let eighteen of our service men get killed while we fed the starving Somalians. Or stand by idly while the Yemenese investigated the bombing of one of our battleships. Or lob missiles into aspirin factories.

This administration, as we all have seen, is prepared to act aggressively on the information they are given. So the quality of the information is more important.

The very fact that the information was identical from administration to administration disproves any talk of deceit on the part of the Bush White House. Congress voted on information given to them by the Bush administration and that information was no different than that which the Clinton administration had.

This is not to say the intelligence was bad. What no one seems to be talking about is that our "rush to war" began before August of last year, through November when the UN Security Council passed resolution 1441 up through March when hostilities actually began. Has it not occurred to anyone that seven or so months is more than enough time to relocate hundreds of tons of weapons and materials? The question isn't, and never has been, "Were there weapons?" We know they had those weapons because they themselves declared them. Even if we never find the weapons in Iraq, the question will remain, "Where are they?"

Posted by bubba138 at 07:24 AM | Comments (0) |

June 18, 2003

Italy Joins The French Smack Down

Looks like America isn't the only country that is fed-up with the French:

''They missed a good opportunity to shut up,'' Berlusconi told reporters in response to French criticism of his decision not to meet Palestinian leaders during a recent trip to Israel. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said this week that Berlusconi had ''not satisfied the European position'' by holding talks only with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during his June 9 visit to Jerusalem. ''I went (to Israel) as the prime minister of Italy. There's no way France can issue criticism over something that was the sole right and responsibility of the Italian prime minister,'' Berlusconi said, clearly bristling with irritation.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:03 PM | Comments (0) |

Poetry In Pictures

At least this bookstore got it right

Posted by bubba138 at 04:45 PM | Comments (0) |

Kneejerk, California

Bob Parks writes an excellent piece about why the recall is a bad idea:

I do understand there is a right and wrong conflict here. The right thing to do is remove the cancer so the body may live. Unfortunately, I don’t believe the cancer is isolated to one discreet area. 1. The Los Angeles Times may be leading the print charge now, but how many incidents have they “missed” over the last eight years? Didn’t the Los Angeles Times endorse Gray Davis not once, but twice? And now, since the Times has “woken up” and has been bloodying Davis daily, can we really rest easier? Davis bashing is en vogue. If you trust the L.A. Times THIS time, you may be a fool. 2. The People seem to have “woken up”. The same Californians who voted for Proposition 187 to pass have since voted for officials who ignore illegal immigration as a political issue and continue programs that allow illegals to drain state coffers. Some of these same voters say to this day that President Bush was selected, not elected. Some of these people are celebrities who have a lot of money and live in the Hollywood Hills, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, and Pacific Palisades. They will eventually raise their heads and obstruct with big checks. 3. A California Assembly that despite the calamity that is the fiscal state of California, still seeks to spend, lies about budget “cuts”, and uses race-baiting and class warfare as their primary mode of offense... Okay, so you re-call Gray Davis. Republicans and like-minded Californians obtain their primary objective. Everything gets better, right? 1. Gray Davis can now claim to be the latest victim of the “vast right wing” conspiracy that overturned another election. Nothing like diminishing a mandate from Day One. 2. The very same Los Angeles Times, whose poll questions Republicans cite, will turn on them tomorrow with slanted coverage. Hollywood celebrities will go mental and funnel more money to whoever runs next. 3. The new governor, should he be a Republican, will be “immediately responsible for all the problems of the past”. And there’s always the danger of the people of California removing Davis and replacing him with another disastrous Democrat. There are quite a few out there who have been elected in easy districts or who have been termed out. They still like the power, perks, and parking spaces. You want Antonio Villaregosa or Willie Brown as Governor? They are alot of voters who are pissed at Davis and would vote for Brown.

Yep. He makes several of the same points I have stated in the past:

Gray needs to stay for three reasons. First, by staying on, he will be forced to take care of the problems he's created, instead of passing them on to someone else. Second, if there was a recall, and Gray lost his position, the next guy/gal would have only two years to clean up the mess before facing another election. Of course, campaigning would take said person's eyes off the task, so even less attention would go toward fixing our state's horrendous problems. Finally, Californians [and the national Republican party] need to learn there are consequences for their actions. Democrats elected a partisan government, based upon nothing but party affiliation. They knew Gray was crooked and incompetent. But better to have a crooked Democrat than any Republican. Republicans couldn't -- or wouldn't -- unify. Once Bill Simon had gained the nomination, all Republicans -- including Rove's bunch -- should have rallied around the banner, but they did not. Now, we Californians have to pay for that.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) |

Who Isn't Running -- and Who may Be

Several Democrats have stated they will not run for Governor if the recall gets on the ballot:

The public statements by state Treasurer Phil Angelides, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Controller Steve Westly and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi followed weekend strategy sessions held in Sacramento by the California Labor Federation to determine how Democratic politicians and organized labor could best block a recall from going forward... Democratic voters may be less open to the recall, Pulaski said, if they know their only option is to replace Davis, unpopular because of an energy and budget crisis, with a Republican. "It's a message to voters now that says, 'Your choices are stark choices.' "... "A number of polls have shown that Angelides and Lockyer are both surprisingly weak in a recall election for governor," compared with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, said Republican consultant Kevin Spillane. "They're trying to look like they're Democratic loyalists and win political Brownie points for not running in an election that they would be almost certain to lose." ...

That leaves Feinstein:

The strongest candidate in a Golden State that has become reliably Democratic is Dianne Feinstein. If the popular senator agrees to run, Davis is cooked and Feinstein will almost surely be governor of California by October. But here is the rub. For Feinstein to become governor, she must put a knife in Davis' back by letting her name go onto the fall ballot, while he is fighting for his life. This would be seen as an act of betrayal of a fellow Democrat whose sole crime was that he had become unpopular managing a historic budget crisis. Could Feinstein do this? Would she want to replace Gray Davis in Sacramento and herself find $38 billion in new taxes or spending cuts? Why would Sen. Feinstein want to be Gov. Feinstein in 2003, rather than wait until 2006 and run after the budget crisis has been resolved? Sources in California are saying that Feinstein does not want to be seen as stabbing Davis, does not want to be governor in October and will not permit her name to appear on the fall ballot... Sources tell this writer Schwarzenegger has agreed to run, that ex-L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan supports him, that he has begun to reach out to the right to cut a deal where it plays a lead role in balancing the state budget and is given concessions on partial birth abortion. If Conan the Barbarian is in Sacramento by fall, his robes awash in blood from slashing the California state bureaucracy, recall where you read it first.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) |

A "Fat Tax" Is On The Way

So far -- not for lack of trying -- the health-Nazis haven't been successful in suing fast food establishments. So they've changed tactics: how about a "fat tax?" Obesity is, after all, worse than smoking:

To me, this is the greatest idea since sliced bread (better still, considering that sliced bread is most likely laced with hydrogenated oil). As a nation, we have become so fat that we really do deserve to be called ugly Americans... So if we can tax cancer sticks, why can’t we attack obesity oils or treacherous trans fats? After all, the annual health-care costs associated with tobacco, according to the CDC, is $75 billion, compared with the $117 billion for obesity... On talk radio you hear the argument that Americans don’t need government to be our Big Brother or, in this case, our Big Nanny. I would argue that we do.

I just love the ideology that the masses must be protected from themselves. That gets my votes every time. Kuntzman is so far out that he has deluded himself into thinking that California has a "notoriously vocal anti-tax community." I have lived in California all my life, and seldom do Californians come across a tax-and-spend measure they do not like.

Fortunately, there is some sound thinking out there:

For the public health lobby, Sturm's paper performs the essential intellectual task: it redefines overeating from a private, personal failing into a social menace that affects us all, thus clearing the way for state intervention. This task has been greatly advanced as well by a sly shift in language among public health professionals, who have begun applying what they call the "disease paradigm'' to overeating. In the popular press and elsewhere, they routinely dub obesity a "disease'' that has become an "epidemic,'' the cause of which is traceable not to individuals but to a "toxic food environment.'' It is a collective rather than individual problem, in other words, requiring a collectivist, and not a private, response.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:34 AM | Comments (0) |

The wisdom Of George Bush

He must be wise, he's taking my advice to hold off the Democrat's calls for a confab on any potential Supreme court nominees:

"Unless and until there is a vacancy, this is idle chit chat," said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer... "But the Constitution is clear, and the Constitution will be followed," Fleischer said, referring to the president's unfettered constitutional right to fill Supreme Court vacancies... But Fleischer told reporters Wednesday that Daschle and other Senate Democrats had "come up with a novel new approach of how the Constitution guides the appointment process."

Posted by bubba138 at 09:07 AM | Comments (0) |

The "Jesus Box" Is a Fake

From CNN:

Officials with Israel's Antiques Authority announced Wednesday that while the box may date from the correct era, the inscription is a forgery added at a much later date. "The inscription appears new, written in modernity by someone attempting to reproduce ancient written characters," the officials said in the statement.

It kills me each time Christians shoot themselves in the foot like this.

However, Oded Golan, the Israeli owner of the "James ossuary," dismissed the findings. "I am certain the ossuary is real, I am certain that the committee is wrong regarding its conclusions," he said. Golan had earlier said he had problems with the committee and its methods of investigation saying they had "preconceived notions." He said he had bought the ossuary in the mid-1970s from a dealer in the Old City of Jerusalem for about $200, but he was unable to remember the dealer's name.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:56 AM | Comments (0) |

Al-Asqa Did It

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Two Palestinian nationalist groups, in a statement issued in Beirut, have jointly claimed responsibility for an attack near the West Bank town of Qalqilya that killed a seven-year-old Israeli girl. The attack just inside Israeli territory late on Tuesday was claimed by Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).

Posted by bubba138 at 08:34 AM | Comments (0) |

Zealots and Whores

From VoxPolitics:

Political bloggers fall into two functional types: zealots, and whores. Zealots are chaste in their affection, and loyal. Like The Lefty Directory on the far left of the map, or Right Wing News on the top right, they only link to those with their own political persuasion... Whores are of easy virtue, indiscriminate in their affections, existing in the red light distict of the web. Like Instapundit at the centre of the map, they link to lots of people, regardless of their political persuasion.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:24 AM | Comments (0) |

Can You Go Back Home?

One young woman comments on her return to Iran after living in the West for four years:

As I walked down the familiar streets I felt like a stranger in a foreign country. I didn’t feel like a true Iranian. I watched the people pass me by and didn’t feel like them. They had a different pain than I did. They live somewhere where they can’t speak their mind. If they do, their life might be in danger. I realized that no matter how hard I try, I could not possibly feel what they felt. I didn’t like the feeling of not belonging in my own country. I didn’t like the feeling of having more than they did, or living a better life than them. I tried to forget those feelings and continued walking with my brother.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:52 AM | Comments (0) |

Letter to Khameneii

I Believe That (Blogger permalinks, of course, are not working...so scroll down) shares a letter from an Iranian to the Ayatola Khameneii:

Mr Khameneii I read in news you said people who protested are enemies, and they must be treated cruelly... Mr Khameneii neither you are more loved in Iran than Saddam Hossein in Iraq nor Ansar Hezbollah , basij , sepah ,.. have the motives of Saddam's lovers.For God's sake see his fate and learn lessons of that.Saddam Hossein ,who at a time his name made every Iraqi frightened, melted and now is not except a bad dream in Iraqi's mind... Mr Khameneii! being leader of a regime which its people are waiting for its final hours is a hard job,isn't it?

Posted by bubba138 at 07:43 AM | Comments (0) |

What To Do About Iran?

As this article opines, let's try nothing:

...The other head represents the Iranian nation-state, one of the oldest in the world, that has little interest in Islamic piety, let alone militancy. For instance Tehran, with a population of 12 million, has just over 700 mosques, compared with 2,600 in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with two million inhabitants. A poll conducted by a state-owned company in Tehran in February revealed that 70 per cent of Iranians had a favourable view of the US (which is thus more popular in Iran than in Britain, let alone in France and Germany). More than 60 per cent of Iran’s population of 70 million is aged under 30 and cannot clearly remember life before the Islamist revolution of 1979. The country is unable to provide the educational, leisure and job opportunities its discontented youth needs. In terms of disposable individual income the average Iranian today is 50 per cent poorer than in 1977. A report by the International Monetary Fund on brain-drain puts it at No 1 among 91 developing nations. Each year up to 180,000 highly educated Iranians emigrate, mostly to North America, and there are more Iranian doctors in Canada than in Iran. Youth unemployment hovers around 30 per cent. This discontented generation, yearning for a more liberal and open society, should give the US cause for hope of evolutionary regime change... The American presence in countries neighbouring Iran, especially Iraq and Afghanistan, has put the fear of God in the Khomeinist Establishment. This does not mean, however, that there is any support for an aggressive posture by the US among the demonstrators... Dealing with Iran requires tact and patience. Broadly speaking, Iran is on the right path, although zigzags and even temporary reversals cannot be ruled out. Less chatter about regime change by hot-heads in Washington circles would help Iran’s moderates.

I think what is happening here is that people are getting caught up on terminology. Many in the U.S. sees the Iranian government as a theocracy ruled by the clerics. Iranians view it as a democracy that is overseen by the clerics. From a U.S. point of view, removing the clerics from government is a "regime change." Iranians consider that amending their current system. Iranians hear the U.S. speak of regime change and they translate that into military action. But -- and let this point be clear -- there is absolutely no evidence that the U.S. is considering any military operations in Iran. Even defense hawk Richard Pearle foresees a peaceful resolution.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:08 AM | Comments (0) |

Case of Mistaken Ethnicity

I just found out that I am Iranian. Hmmm. you learn something new every day.

To be honest, I am American, through and through. I was born here, my parents were born here, my grandparents were born here. My great grandfather on my father's side came to the U.S. from either Syria or Lebanon sometime around 1900. Originally, the family surname was Skaff -- it was changed to Scott to be more American.

Mother's side is patently European -- French, Scandinavian, German.

I have absolutely no ancestry from Iran, however. But I know a couple Iranians. Does that count?

Posted by bubba138 at 06:47 AM | Comments (0) |

June 17, 2003

The Path to Sovereignty

A history lesson for Abu Mazen. Let's pray he takes it.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) |

Go Howard, Go!

Hugh Hewitt is liking the Dean campaign:

I opined on air yesterday that the Dean campaign is reproducing the McGovern campaign of 1972 --a move by activists in the aftermath of a narrow defeat (Humphrey in 1968; Gore in 2000) to demand purity and zealousness as an answer to an incumbent Republican whom they collectively loathe but whom --on at least an unconscious level-- they recognize as the dominant force in American politics for the foreseeable future. This may even seem like a pretty safe bet for the Democratic Party: Allow the hard-core their lurch off the cliff in a year when the Party can't possibly win anyway, and assemble the pieces thereafter. The trouble for the serious Democrats is that they recognize (1) the Senate Democrats are in deep trouble throughout the country, with vulnerable seats in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Nevada, South and North Dakota, Washington State and even California, and (2) had Nixon not committed political suicide in the aftermath of his huge win in 1972, the consolidation of the GOP win would have kept the Democrats on the sidelines from then until now. Flirting with Dean on the theory it is a good time to indulge the nuts violates the first rule of holes. Let's hope they keep digging. Seventeen months from now, with barely 40 votes in the Senate, a 50 seat deficit in the House, and a 48 state win for Bush, the Dean fantasy won't look so good. Saner heads are already whispering about propping up Gephardt in order to keep the collapse at bay and run a respectable though doomer campaign, like Dole's in '96. But Dean has clear momentum. To which all good GOPers should reply: Go Howard, go.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) |

Here is Something That Really Will Scare Them

The Democrats will be scared out of their pants by this:

Norma McCorvey, the former "Roe" of Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, is filing an historic motion today to re-open her case and request that it be overturned. The filing is based on changes in law and factual conditions since the high court handed down its decision 30 years ago. As a party to the original litigation, Norma McCorvey may petition the court to re-open the original case based on changes in factual conditions and/or changes in law that make the prior decision "no longer just," said Allan E. Parker Jr., lead attorney for the Texas-based Justice Foundation... "I long for the day that justice will be done and the burden from all of these deaths will be removed from my shoulders," McCorvey said. "I want to do everything in my power to help women and their children. The issue is justice for women, justice for unborn, and justice for what is right."

Posted by bubba138 at 04:16 PM | Comments (0) |

Scare Tactics

The Democrat Nine are complaining about the Bush administration's "scare tactics:"

Democratic presidential nominees aren't wasting any time securing votes in the 2004 campaign... While voters chowed down on lunch, the nominees chewed out the Bush administration.. They say republicans used scare tactics to garner public support for the war with Iraq. While they support the troops they still question the reasoning behind the war.

So is it scare tactics that are bad, or are scare tactics justified by the ends? If scare tactics themselves are bad, then how about this cartoon [Warning: there is sound] by the Democratic National Convention?

Scare tactics have been part and parcel of the DNC strategy for the entire of my political aware lifespan. "The Republicans will take away Social Security! They'll starve the poor! They'll take everything you own and give it to the rich!" This cartoon is no different. Heck, they even have Bush's monster smashing down public education for crying out loud. Amazing how they try to brainwash the populace into believing that a Federal post can abolish a state funded, state controlled program.

So we must conclude that the DNC doesn't believe that scare tactics are not, in and of themselves, wrong. So what these candidates must be saying is that going to war in Iraq was wrong. That freeing imprisoned children was wrong. That preventing future mass graves was wrong. That is what they really must be saying then, isn't it?

Posted by bubba138 at 03:17 PM | Comments (0) |

It Is Now A Concerted Effort

Here's the problem -- the people see the Democrats as obstructionists. Whatever the administration is for, they are against. Their only principle is to reject what Bush supports.

One of the glaring examples of this is the blocking of lower court nominees on no other grounds than that they are too conservative. Particularly in the case of Miguel Estrada, they fear the Repbulicans will gain political points by actually practicing color-blind policies, instead of just shouting about them.

The solution -- make Bush look like the obstructionist. It started last week with Senator Schumer:

``You, more than any other president in history, have chosen judges through an ideological prism,'' Schumer wrote in the letter. The Estrada-Owens conflict ``has frustrated both of us,'' he wrote. ``If you were to select a mainstream nominee, you would do the process, the judiciary and the nation a real service.''

And then, two days ago, Senator Patrick J. Leahy parroted the request:

"Though the landscape ahead is sown with the potential for controversy and contention over vacancies that may arise on the court, contention is avoidable, and consensus should be our goal," Mr. Leahy wrote on Wednesday. "I would hope your objective will not be to send the Senate nominees so polarizing that their confirmations are eked out in narrow margins."

Now Daschle is piling on with the same rhetoric:

"We believe that it is not necessary to have a divisive fight over a Supreme Court appointment," Daschle wrote in a letter to Bush. "If there are vacancies, we would like to see them filled by nominees who unite all Americans."

My advice to George [didn't you know he reads this every day]? Hold out. According to the Washington Times, things may be looking better for Bush's court nominations in 2004:

Senate Republicans are in a position to make gains in 2004 because of a combination of vulnerable Democratic seats and likely retirements, according to congressional election analysts... One advantage for Republicans is that the Democrats have more seats to defend this year — 19 seats compared with 15 for Republicans — and most of the states where these elections will take place are friendlier to Republicans than Democrats. "Only three of the 15 states with GOP senators up for re-election in '04 were won by Democrat Al Gore in 2000 — Illinois, Iowa and Pennsylvania," Mr. Rothenberg said. "In contrast, nine of the 19 states with Democratic senators up for re-election were carried by Gore, nine went for Bush and [Florida] was a virtual tie.

That coupled with improving stock market gains -- a precursor to an improving economy -- puts GW in a great position in 2004.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:22 PM | Comments (0) |

Rantisi Hit

Ha'aretz's Bradley Burston is reporting that Bush's disappointment with Sharon's hit on Rantisi was short-lived.

It may have been the most dangerous gamble of his premiership, and certainly the least immediately comprehensible: A bid to literally bury the Hamas hierarchy, days after President George W. Bush staked the prestige of the United States - and, to a degree, his hopes for re-election next year - to a newly minted peace plan that appeared dangerously vulnerable to shockwaves of violence. In fact, almost immediately, close U.S.-Israel ties seemed on the verge of becoming a collateral casualty of the assassination drive. Now, however, one week into the campaign, Bush has given indications of having signed on to Sharon's war.

I am not so sure the White House has changed its position. Bush wasn't as concerned about the attack itself as he was about the timing of the attack. The IDF could have assassinated Rantisi any time on the last twenty-four months, but instead chose him as a target six days after the Road Map's first three-way summit -- and in the middle of PA/Hamas cease fire negotiations.

Mr. Bradley goes on to say the world didn't seem to care much about the hit either:

On balance, however, world response to the Israeli war on Hamas has shown a notable lack of the condemnation that was once all but automatic. The UN Security Council has not censured the attacks, and even pan-Muslim anger has been measured. In fact, to the delight of Israel, EU foreign ministers hosting their Palestinian counterpart this week, issued unusually strident condemnations of Hamas as a primary obstacle to progress on the road map.

Further, he thinks things do not bode well for Hamas if it does not accept a cease fire:

As a result, the trigger for the Rantisi "hit" - a joint Hamas-Islamic Jihad-Fatah operation in which gunmen posed as workers leaving Erez, then killed four IDF soldiers in a nearby army position - actually sapped Hamas support. Palestinians reacted with great anger to the operation, viewing it as an attack on their own opportunity to go out and make a living, Bar'el says. "People were clearly greatly disappointed at being unable to go out to work in Israel. Today the ambition of the Palestinian public is to go to work, to make a living, and therefore, to see the peace process advance... In the meanwhile, the hudna concept dovetails nicely with Hamas ideology. "Hamas can now earn points with the population by agreeing to the truce, while saying - everyone, the Americans, the Egyptians, they are all coming to us, to the Palestinians to ask us for a hudna. We didn't ask them. Therefore, hudna is not a matter of surrender, but rather an expression of honor."

Posted by bubba138 at 12:58 PM | Comments (0) |

Total Recall

Carol Liebau, who isn't a supporter of the recall, now seems resigned to it inevitability. Since it is going to happen, she has these excellent points (as always) to make (scroll down to 7:45):

...It's becoming pretty clear that a Davis recall will make the ballot in California -- the first statewide recall for any elected official in California history. The reasons are manifold... There are some problems, as an abstract political matter, about a recall that is motivated more by personal animus than by any definable behavioral standard that the governor failed to meet -- there's really not much for voters to oppose about him or his record NOW that they didn't know when they voted to reelect him in November of 2002. Even so, now that Republicans have decided to take on the governor, they'd better make sure they win... The answer? The state Republican party (such as it is), in conjunction with the White House, should choose ONE Republican to carry the party's banner in any recall election (urging any others to consider a race to beat Senator Barbara Boxer, up in November of 2004). And then "the few, the proud" -- the California Republican voters -- should be informed in detail about the merits of bloc voting.

Exactly. If the California Republicans are going to do this -- which is undoubtable -- they need to come together like they never have before. (Which shouldn't be too hard since they've never come together at all in California.)

As far as the White House getting involved, I wouldn't bet on it. They are already facing unjustified accusations of running a gestapo administration. Helping to oust an opposition Governor wouldn't do anything to change that impression. On the contrary, it could very well create a national backlash that serves as a rallying cry against Bush. The 54 electoral votes the Bush camp may pick up in California as a result of supporting the recall could very well be lost in several other swing states across the nation.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:32 AM | Comments (0) |

Joan d'Arc Is Alive and Well

France has a new hero, Sabine Herold:

"We have put a full stop to decades of silent submission. This time, for the first time, we have told them no," she added, referring to the strikers she calls "reactionary egotists". France, she said lacks dynamism - and needs a good dose of Margaret Thatcher. "France needs someone capable who would mobilise people and smash the unions. Well, I don’t know if we can put it like that, but someone who could give a reforming spirit. I think the French at the moment are lacking in desire, they don’t have a ‘French dream’ like the American dream," she said. She is unimpressed with the president, Jacques Chirac, part of what she calls the "spineless centre" of French politics. Ms Herold believes the silent majority support the government’s pension reforms, and have had enough of being taken hostage by a minority of left-wing unions. Young enough not to worry about her own retirement plans, her cry that "enough is enough" has made her the darling of the conservative French media. Her political beliefs make her an almost revolutionary figure in modern-day, post-soixante-huit (1968) France. A self-confessed liberal, a term she says is considered "almost a dirty word in this country", she is not only against the strikes but was also in favour of the war in Iraq.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) |

Trade Towers Memorial

Christopher Benfey has some thoughts on the Trade Towers memorial:

So, I have a simple proposal. My proposal is that we put nothing at all in that space—that it be left as a hollowed-out void... When Henry Adams, himself a literary master of absence, traveled to Japan in 1886, he particularly admired the Great Buddha at Kamakura, where a 15th-century tidal wave had swept away the huge temple housing the 40-foot statue. Did the Japanese rebuild the temple? No. Its very absence, with its "footprint" marked by broken pillars, was a powerful presence... We need to heed the message in Emily Dickinson's stanza about "a certain slant of light": Heavenly hurt it gives us; We can find no scar, But internal difference Where the meanings are. There may be a time during the coming decades when memory will require some more specific physical reminder of what happened on Sept. 11. That time is not now. We should be looking instead for ways to honor the "internal difference," starting with the void at the heart of Ground Zero.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:21 AM | Comments (0) |

June 16, 2003

Can't Win this One

Last week's Best of the Web jab at Sacramento politician Lauren Hammond has caused a bit of an uproar by the reporter who carried the story:

But I also say that those sneaking in their little digs are obviously less interested in what Hammond had to say than enjoying a laugh at her expense. What Hammond said was that having half the students succeed in Sacramento city schools isn't good enough. We want more of those in the bottom half doing better on the test. I don't know one parent who would be happy with their child's school if little Billy or Maria scored in the 60th percentile, much less in the 40s.

Never to be outdone, James Taranto responds:

Here's the problem with this logic: In whatever total set of students you're measuring, half of them are always going to be below the 50th percentile. That's what the 50th percentile (also known as the median) means. So if Sacramento kids' performance improves to the point that more than half of them are above the 50th percentile, an equal number of kids from elsewhere in the state will end up below the 50th percentile. It's a zero-sum game. If Hammond's goal is to have a majority of Sacramento kids above the median, it means she not only favors improvement in Sacramento but opposes it elsewhere in the state.

Posted by bubba138 at 03:41 PM | Comments (0) |

The Enemy We Face

When I say "we" I refer to all the freedom loving people of the world. It can be summed up in this one post:

I absolutely reject the concept of "democracy" and "freedom" as nakedly false phantoms of the west. Who would ever want to be "free" when they could instead live in the glorious order and sanctified grace of Sharia? Why does anyone need to have an opinion for himself? Shahin Shahida, Iran

What is Sharia? Simply put, Sharia is Holy Islamic law, the law of Allah himself. Hence, no man can make law, and no law can change. This leaves no room at all for different forms of government, nor tolerance for dissent.

Explained by proponent Br. Abu Dujanah Al-Canadi, the current state of Sharia is thus:

There can be absolutely nothing legislated other than the Shari'ah of Islam. And there can be no governing except by what Allah has revealed. Whoever has put his own laws, instead of the Shari'ah, into the governing of man; they are committing shirk [sin]and Kufr [disbelief]and have left Islam. The rulers who have done this are the leaders of Kufr. They are at war with Allah and must be fought and killed until all deen is for Allah alone. Whoever knowingly accepts this anti-Islamic form of governing is worshipping the Kafir leader who has put himself as a god of his own deen. And this person has therefore left Islam. The nations before us were destroyed for implementing only some of the Shari'ah. And this is what has happened to us. This is why Muslims are in the state that we are in today. We have abandoned that which Allah has prescribed and accepted other deens to rule and govern us with little or no resistance... Brothers, we can see quite clearly that our Ummah is a dead nation. We know why and how it died. We know that Allah wants us to be led by a Khalifa [religious ruler, the keeper of the Sharia law and direct descendent of the Mohammed -- Bry]who will implement His Laws and rule man by Islam. We know that this Khalifa is coming back. It was the promise of the Prophet (s.a.w.) that it would leave and then return by Allah's Will. We know that under the leadership of the Khilafa, our Ummah was alive. We know that this Khilafa will bring our Ummah back to life. And from Allah's Book, the Qur'an, we know what we must do to those tyrants who oppose this ruling of Islam; who have made themselves enemies of Allah by waging war against Him. May Allah hasten the day when the Khilafa will return and remove us frothe oppression of our tyrannical rulers. May He bless and reward His warriors, the Mujahideen, and give Islam victory by their hands. And may Allah join us with them to fight for Allah against His enemies. Ameen.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) |

What is happening in Iran?

Here are some eyewitness reports (scroll down):

Yesterday I was nearly beaten by the anti-riot police because I was watching the protestors from across the street where I live. There's a university there. They kept telling me I had to go inside and I wouldn't. Finally the commander came up to me and yelled: "Go inside!" All I said was: "What are YOU so frightened of?" when he turned to hit me... Today a lot of women have gathered around the front gate of the Tehran University and they've taken off their scarves in the demonstration. They've been severely beaten by chains....I broke down in tears when I heard this....they're beating the students on the streets. They're stabbing them with knives. This violence is actually taking place on the streets of Tehran...but you know these students out-number the "hezbollahi" by millions..... They have the masses on their side... Shady E., Iran I was in the protest. All civil clothed hezbollah attacked, they were more than us. They beat and swear at us. They chased us all the way to dormitory and now looking for all of us to hand over to the prison. Most of them were not Iranian, they had Arabic accent. Roghiyeh, Iran I read your comments about the Iranian students and their protests against the regime of the mullahs. I was in Teheran at the weekend, some policemen hit me, but I fought for Iran. I wish that Mr Bush would help us in our fight for freedom. I have a dream! Maybe one day, every Iranian man and woman will be free. In a country without Mullahs, without radical groups. Until this day has come, we'll fight for our right to live freely. Freedom for Iran. Yanic Meier, Germany I had a telephone conversation with my nephew who is 22 and lives in Tehran. He told me that he had never in his life run the way he did two nights ago when he went to the demonstrations in Tehran. The vigilantes had ran after him with chains and clubs, the reason being that he saw them beating a girl to death and she was bleeding. He said four of them were at her and kicking her in the head, stomach and another one was beating her with the chain he had. So he shouted you sons of the bitches, leave her alone, you animals..... Then they ran after him and luckily he managed to escape from them. Shahrokh Biniaz, Kuwait

There is much more. Go read them all.

"It has not faded from my memory. Many people will never forget this incident," said 65-year-old retired communications engineer Zhang Xianling, whose youngest son Wang Nan was 19 when he was shot dead near Tiananmen Square.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:54 PM | Comments (0) |

Peace in Israel?

Well, short of that, the U.N. wants to send in peace keepers:

After a particularly bloody week in the Middle East, a growing chorus of voices, led by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is calling for the deployment of armed force to keep the warring parties apart so they can begin implementing a new peace plan.

Posted by bubba138 at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) |

Recall Update

Both CNN and MSNBC have articles covering the Davis recall on the front page of their politics section today. From MSNBC:

To hear the statements coming from the media and other observers last week, California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is beginning to look like a goner... But there’s also another important part to this political story that’s mostly being ignored: The unpopular Davis, according to observers, has a much better chance than many people think of defeating the recall... For starters, many Californians seem reluctant to recall him. A state Field Poll released two months ago found that while just 24 percent of registered state voters approved of Davis’ job as governor, 59 percent said that holding a recall was “a bad thing,” and 62 percent said they wouldn’t sign a recall petition... Another poll released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California, however, discovered that 51 percent of likely voters would vote to remove Davis, while 43 percent would vote to keep him... ... it’s quite possible that it will occur instead on March 2, 2004, which would greatly benefit Davis because that’s the date of the state’s Democratic presidential primary when herds of Democrats will be heading to the polls.

Posted by bubba138 at 12:03 PM | Comments (0) |

Headlines from the Wisconsin Democratic Convention

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Presidential hopefuls differ on tactics -- Kerry exercises caution; Dean grabs attention

Asked to discuss what divides Democrats in the battle for the 2004 presidential nomination, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry demurred. "I'm not focused on that," Kerry told a reporter last week. "I'm focused on George Bush." But raise the issue with Howard Dean, and the floodgates open. He plunges into an attack on "inside the Beltway" Democrats, accusing those in Congress - which includes all his chief rivals in the race - of failing to stand up to Bush. "The Democrats have put up no effective opposition," Dean, former Vermont governor, said in an interview in Milwaukee Friday. "We let (Bush) set the agenda. That's what my whole campaign is about. Let's take the Democratic Party back. We're going to have to do that before we can take the country back."

Dean's address drew the loudest cheers, his afternoon rally outside the convention hotel was the best attended, and he easily prevailed in a straw poll. Unfortunately for Dean, he got little bounce from the straw poll result, as more than three-quarters of the delegates refused to participate in a vote that had the feel of a publicity stunt for the media outlets that ran it. But there's no doubt that Dean's appeal to core Democratic values played well at the convention. As a result, Dean campaign has begun to establish a serious campaign infrastructure. For instance, he gained the endorsement of state Senate Minority Leader John Erpenbach, D-Middleton, giving Dean his first prominent supporter in vote-rich Dane County.

They want to pick the Democrat who is most aggressive in challenging Bush. "Moving to the center may have been the right thing a decade ago, but not now," said Dan Drumer, a retired electrician and union activist from Wind Lake, Wisconsin, who attended a two-day gathering of more than 1,000 Democratic activists in Milwaukee. "Trying to please everybody never works for Democrats," said Drumer, who is still undecided in the Democratic race. "You have to stand for something."

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, told the crowd he still does not regret his vote to support military action in Iraq because he felt Saddam Hussein needed to be removed from power. But he didn't approve of the "arrogant" way President Bush handled diplomacy efforts with the United Nations in the days leading up to the war. "To me the words last resort mean last resort," said Kerry, a Vietnam veteran. "The United States should never go to war because it wants to, we should go to war because we have to, and you don't have to until you exhaust the remedies that are available to you."

Dean said he had serious doubts about the credibility of the Bush administration when it pitched its war plan on the premise that Hussein was operating a nuclear weapons program. No weapons of mass destruction have been located in the country since the war, and Dean said the issue now is whether Bush exaggerated the threat to gain support for military action. "The question is, what did the president know and when did he know it? I think he has not leveled with us," Dean said.

These straw polls don't mean much, but I guess they make good fodder for a printable article.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:13 AM | Comments (0) |

The Horror

A tribute to Brittney you must not miss.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:55 AM | Comments (0) |

Big Money Goes Around the World

Or at least around the Federal Legislature. Who are the big money makers?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who this year became the first woman to lead a political party in Congress, is also among the Democrats' wealthiest members, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday. [her assets] include a vineyard in St. Helena, Calif., valued at $5 million-$25 million; another vineyard in Rutherford, Calif., listed at $1 million-$5 million; and an option on San Francisco commercial property valued at $1 million-$5 million. They list as liabilities a mortgage on the St. Helena property and a line of credit, both listed at $1 million-$5 million... The House leadership also includes lawmakers notable for their lack of extraordinary wealth. Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., a professor-turned-politician and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he had no major assets, unearned income or major liabilities. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., the 79-year-old chairman of the International Relations Committee, listed as his major asset a Congressional Federal Credit union account worth $50,000-$100,000. He received $7,277.76 as a pension for being a former member of the Illinois General Assembly.

It's a good thing we have those Democrats in there protecting us from the rich Republicans.

That was a cheap shot, I know. Obviously, there are many very rich Republicans and many not-so-well-to-do Democrats. But the Democrats are so good at playing the "we're against big money and especially big business" act that it is only appropriate to point out that they may talk a good game but thay are't much different than Republicans on this count.

Update: The Democrat Nine have also disclosed their net worth. Some look about right, others are obviously not telling the whole truth, while one in particular is not telling anything at all (no surprise on which one):

Richard Gephardt of Missouri between $153,000 and $545,000 -- about right

Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who puts his at between $2,000 to $32,000 -- ummm, yeah, right

John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida -- are multimillionaires -- watching out for the little guy

Joseph Lieberman between $320,000 and $1.5 million

Howard Dean has put his net worth at between $2.2 million and $5 million -- also watching out for the little guy

Moseley Braun between $127,000 and $380,000

Al Sharpton no disclosure -- He'll open his books just after Jesse Jackson does -- that is when hell freezes over.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) |

¿Se Prepara Para La Elección?

The Repubs are doing the full-court press on the Hispanic vote:

Twenty Republican lawmakers and about 50 of their staffers signed up last week to take Spanish lessons in Washington. They are the largest group to do so since Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, started a program in 1999. It's all part of the GOP drive to recruit Hispanic voters. Republican strategists believe increasing their party's share of the Hispanic vote is mandatory if things go wrong and President Bush finds himself in a tough race next year.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) |

With Sentences Like This Terrorism Will End Quickly

From MSNBC last week:

Working closely with U.S. agents, police in Thailand arrested a man Friday who was trying to sell them radioactive material that could be used to make ''dirty bombs.'' ... An analysis of the material revealed it was not uranium but the industrial material cesium-137, suitable for making dirty bombs, which spread radioactive chemicals over a wide area. Narong was charged with illegal possession of nuclear materials, punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of $240.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:17 AM | Comments (0) |

Medicare Drug Benefits

One thing is for sure, passing a Medicare drug benefit for Medicare Seniors can't hurt Bush's chances for a second term. I have said that health care is a on-issue in the upcoming election because it has repeatedly been important only at election time. And repeatedly, nothing has ever been done. It is my impression that because of this inaction very few will believe any health care rhetoric from either camp.

Here's why I think this plan just might work:

To be sure, there is still plenty of grumbling from conservatives and liberals. Many Democrats say the plan is stingy, complicated and requires recipients to shell out too much money. They also have complained that the plan would not begin until 2006 and could change from year to year. "I hope seniors will not have to hire accountants and attorneys to tell them what their options are," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). Some Republicans, on the other hand, complain that the plan is too expensive and would not require seniors to contribute enough money. People who are elderly and poor or disabled would pay about 10 percent of their prescription drug costs.

Great. if neither side likes it because it is simultaneously too much and too little, it must be middle-of-the-road enough to work. I'm not the only one who is optimistic:

"The legislation has tremendous momentum. It's going to pass. It's going to be enacted. The president's going to sign it," said Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat who helped write the Senate bill. "But in the meantime, there are very legitimate questions that we are going to be addressing as assiduously as we can. And they're good questions."

The Democrats in the legislature (at least those up for election in 2004) are going to vote for this bill because none of them will want to have "voted against health care reform" as a rallying cry against them. The Democrats involved in the presidential campaign will trumpet the failed economics of the program and focus on the few who don't get benefits; not wanting the voters to consider the many who do.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) |

Woe Be to David Nelson

It stinks to be David Nelson:

Even Ozzie and Harriet's son has been a victim in the case of mistaken David Nelsons. Now a film producer living in Newport Beach, David Nelson -- a star of ABC-TV's "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," a family sitcom that ran from 1952 to 1966 -- was stopped by a ticket agent at John Wayne Airport in December while on his way to visit his daughter in Salt Lake City. While waiting, the 66-year-old Nelson chatted with two Laguna Beach police officers who knew him and who asked the ticket agent: "Don't you know who this guy is?" But the officers were met with a blank stare from the agent. After some checking, the officers told Nelson: "Evidently the name David Nelson is on the terrorist list." Nelson replied: "I don't think (terrorists) have the middle name Ozzie, but I'll stay right here." Eventually he was allowed to board his flight.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) |

June 13, 2003

Time Off

I am going on retreat this weekend, so there will be nothing new until Monday.

Check these blogs out for a change:

Oh, and don't forget to get over to Cool Like You and cheer Teddy Nutmeg up. Teddy! Lay off the valium, dude.

As long as I'm talking about time (time off, that is) check out this new way to keep time:

New time unit - the .beat Instead of dividing the virtual and real day into 24 hours and 60 minutes per hour, the Internet Time system divides the day into 1000 ".beats". Each .beat is 1 minute and 26.4 seconds.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:00 PM | Comments (0) |

Existence Is Futile

Evan Coyne Maloney attacks the "fabricated WMD evidence" hub-bub head on:

Does Saddam Hussein exist? How about Osama bin Laden? Or Eric Rudolph? Saddam and Osama must not exist. Why? Because they cannot be found. And, as we all know from witnessing the recent hyperventilation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, if something can't be found, it must not exist... If Bush did fabricate evidence of Saddam's weapons, he must have done so in the 1990s, before becoming president. What else could explain the prior involvement of Clinton, Blix, the U.N. inspectors and everyone else who "knew" about the Iraqi weapons program? Maybe they all hatched the scheme at a meeting of the Secret Government Where Jews And Space Aliens Control The Fate Of The World. Or, maybe President Bush planned it more recently. Yeah, post-September 11th hubris. But that would require Bush to travel back in time and brainwash all those people. It could happen - it's about as plausible as Saddam Hussein unilaterally disarming.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:23 PM | Comments (0) |

Wobegon in Sacramento

From Best of the Web Today:

The Sacramento Bee reports that Lauren Hammond, a member of the City Council of California's capital, recently "dissed" Jim Sweeney, the city's superintendent of schools. The paper quotes Hammond as follows: "I don't doubt that Jim Sweeney loves children and had dedicated his life's career to improving education," she said. "The school district has done some wonderful things . . . but (on state tests) half the students are still below the 50th percentile. That's a problem." It's not clear if Hammond is a product of the Sacramento schools, but her father was an elementary-school teacher in Compton, near Los Angeles. In any case, we suppose it is a problem if the public schools are producing adults who don't understand that half the kids are below the 50th percentile by definition.

Hey, that's California politics -- you don't have to be educated or intelligent -- only Democrat. How do I know she's a democrat? Because she's for higher taxes, that's how:

Sacramento City Council members Sandy Sheedy, Dave Jones, Lauren Hammond and Bonnie Pannell all said they would support resolutions urging the Legislature to impose higher taxes on corporate-owned properties.

Posted by bubba138 at 01:06 PM | Comments (0) |

Who Is Responsible For the Looting?

Ok...I admit it, I haven't stopped posting yet. But I do have to leave for the weekend soon...

For now, read this article that asserts that the looting of Iraq was planned and deliberate:

In the rest of cities, things were different. It seemed to me that many hands -- domestic and foreign -- were involved in the destruction of Iraq. In Basra, I had my answer. A friend who held a senior position in the former regime provided me with a "top secret" document, issued by the Iraqi General Intelligence, a service known to be under the direct command of the Iraqi presidency. The document is stamped with the seal of the Iraqi republic and dated 23 January 2003. It urged members of Iraqi intelligence apparatuses and the Ba'ath Party to destroy all government buildings and infrastructure, loot and burn all government offices, and then take refuge with ulema (religious scholars) in the city of Al- Najaf before seeking to join and gain membership of the political and national parties and groups that may surface. The document carried the serial number 549 and was entitled "Secret Emergency Plan".

Posted by bubba138 at 12:49 PM | Comments (0) |

It's The Best Show in the State

How about some mud wrestling?

Here's the part I like:

Because any candidate who can gather 10,000 signatures or scrounge up 65 signatures and $3,500 can get on the recall ballot, it raises the prospects of a crowded and confusing field. If Davis loses the recall vote, the candidate with the most votes wins.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) |

I Stand Corrected

Looking over the rather depressing news this last week, I saw something that I had earlier missed:

Over the weekend, Palestinian militants killed four Israeli soldiers in an attack in Gaza and another Israeli in the West Bank town of Hebron. Three militant Palestinian groups -- Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- claimed responsibility for the coordinated attack in Gaza. The United States and Israel have labeled all three groups as terrorist organizations.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) |

June 12, 2003

Hopeless

Six weeks ago I mused how nice it would be if Bush could achieve through strength what Clinton tried to achieve through giving everything away. It now looks as if hope for peace is completely lost:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swore on Thursday to hunt Palestinian militants "to the bitter end'' in response to violence that has killed 28 Israelis and Palestinians in less than a day. The Islamic militant group Hamas issued a new threat, saying it has ordered "all military cells'' to take immediate action and carry out more attacks on Israelis.

Well,it does look like it will go to the bitter end. The road map was the best chance for peace in Israel, and neither side wanted anything to do with it.

Mostly, I cannot contain my disappointment of Sharon. He had but to restrain himself for a little while, but that was beyond his capacity. Now the cycle will continue tit-for-tat, without end. Now he is sounding more like Marie Antoinette than a modern statesman, wondering why the Palestinians aren't happy eating cake instead of bread:

In a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Sharon dismissed Palestinian leaders as "crybabies'' for saying they can't use force against the militias, according to a Cabinet official briefing reporters. Israel said it will not stand by until Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas -- described by Sharon as a "chick that hasn't grown its feathers yet'' -- persuades the armed groups to halt attacks.

What Sharon doesn't comprehend, or care about, is that although Abbas may be a chick without feathers, he could have matured into a powerful eagle. Instead of nurturing this chick, and allowing it to grow in strength and influence, Sharon himself opened the hen-house gate and let the wolves in. By attacking Rantisi when he did, Sharon stripped from Abbas all ability to advocate for the Israeli position. He pulled the carpet out from under Abbas and now he seeks to lay the blame upon the one who is least responsible. He could have had a great ally in Abbas. He now has an enemy.

This is not to say that Hamas without an accounting. Hamas is comprised of the most bloodthirsty, hate-mongering excuses for human beings ever to breath air. To think that they would have acted peacefully through this process goes against not only all sound thinking but against Hamas' own statements of intent. The fact that Hamas must go is not a pint of debate. But the how they must go and the who must do it is worth considering. Israel cannot do it. Each attack against Hamas draws more Palestinian hatred against them. Therefore, Hamas and its younger, weaker cousin Islamic Jihad are better eradicated by the Palestinians themselves. A poosibility that is less likely today than it was only a week ago.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:52 AM | Comments (0) |

June 11, 2003

Look Who Lied...

...about weapons of mass destruction.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:14 PM | Comments (0) |

Recall Update IV

The Los Angeles Time has more on Arnie, Davis and friends:

Ain't we got fun. Arnold Schwarzenegger told Esquire magazine he would love to be governor, and would consider trying to topple Davis "if the state needs me." ...Conan the Republican as a candidate for governor? I'll tell him anything he wants to hear. Schwarzenegger says he can't make a decision on a political career right now because of the exhausting demands of his film career. He's busy gearing up for the marketing of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," a true story based on the political ascent of Gray Davis. Yes, it's true that Davis must lie awake at night, fretting about being tossed out of office in shame. But on the up side, the predicament plays to his strength and brings him the only joy he knows. It's another chance to raise money. Taxpayers Against the Recall has passed the hat for roughly half a million dollars on Davis' behalf, including $100,000 from Zenith Insurance Co. And you can trust me when I say Zenith is only interested in good government, not trying to influence the outcome of the workers' comp crisis. As one scenario has it, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein may elbow all the scrubs out of the way and try to cut her commute from 3,000 miles to about 75. I wouldn't bet on it, except that roughly every 10 minutes, I get an e-mail from Feinstein's office telling me what she's been up to since the last e-mail. She's got something to say about nuclear plants, SUVs, Bob Hope, you name it. If the next e-mail has her coming out against June gloom, we'll know she's in the race.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:38 PM | Comments (0) |

Recall Update III

Who is giving money to the poorly named "TAXPAYERS AGAINST THE GOVERNOR'S RECALL"? Here's who.

Point of note: The California Professional Firefighters PAC has several contributions totalling almost $120 thousand, but not a single contribution is over $50,000. Many of the checks are posted on the same day. I wonder if there is a $50k per check limit under which they are trying to stay?

Posted by bubba138 at 05:08 PM | Comments (0) |

State Senator's Daughter Hurt In Bombing

This from Newsday:

TRENTON, N.J. -- The daughter of a New Jersey state senator was injured when a Palestinian blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus and killed 16 other people, state officials said Wednesday. Sarri Singer, 30, the daughter of Sen. Robert Singer, D-Middlesex, was among more than 70 injured. Her condition was not immediately known. Robert Singer was traveling to Israel on Wednesday to be with his daughter, said Micah Rasmussen, a spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey. The bus bombing was carried out by a man dressed as a religious Jew. Hamas claimed responsibility and rejected a call by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a halt to the violence in the Middle East. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-Robbinsville, said the Israeli Embassy informed him that Sarri Singer was injured in the bombing. He added that she is an active member of the National Conference of Synagogues.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:53 PM | Comments (0) |

Riding Herd

Here's one Israeli who doesn't like Bush riding herd on the peace process:

I do appreciate the president's "western" (as in spaghetti western) view of the world, reflective perhaps of the view of the Mideast as one large field of oil reserves to be made safe for, well, if not democracy then at least for some form of relatively efficient dictatorship which will keep the pipelines free and clear. Some might find this attitude to reflect a kind of arrogance of power, a might-makes-right attitude... However, I am more concerned with your decision to send the CIA in once again to train the Palestinian security forces in more efficient ways to kill us. Who do you think those guns will be pointed at, and fired on?... Mr. President, if you really intended to "ride herd" on Palestinian terrorists that would be one thing. But it is now becoming clear that all you expect is that the PA under Arafat (and nobody should doubt that he continues to run the show) merely trot out the same old declarations opposing terrorism and saying that they will make "100% effort" to oppose it... Mr. President: We will continue and support you when you are right. But we will oppose you, respectfully but unrelentingly, when you are wrong... So you'll forgive me, sir, if I address you in Texan terms and say what is on the minds of most Israelis...Mr. President, your road map is bull crap. You may mean well, Mr. Bush, but "riding herd" on us will do for your Presidency what "read my lips" did for your daddy... But as one of a people that has been forced into cattle cars before and led to the slaughter, allow me to say this, with all due respect: you can hurt us, but you can't herd us.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:44 PM | Comments (0) |

Recall Update II

The effort is picking up steam:

Mike Todd says there is something "viral" about the work collecting signatures to oust Gov. Gray Davis from office. It spreads and multiplies on Internet chat rooms and conservative talk radio, outside the sliding doors of Target and Wal-Mart, in strip mall parking lots and offices, until it becomes a force in itself. "I don't want to sound esoteric here," said Todd, standing outside a Target store near Fashion Gal Plus and the Bible House, "but there is almost a revolution going on."... But so far, the effort to oust Davis is outpacing any effort to tell his side of the story. The governor has only recently acknowledged the inevitable by assembling a team of political experts to fight the recall. So many signatures are being gathered, in fact, that a special election could be called. That would put Davis at a political disadvantage compared to consolidating the recall on the March Democratic primary ballot. If the threshold is reached by mid-July, well before the final Sept. 2 deadline, then a special recall vote is inevitable. With almost bloodless efficiency, the signatures keep piling up.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) |

Recall Update: Is Arnie In the Mix?

It is starting to get national attention. Here are the highlights from a Washington Post article:

At first, the latest ballot campaign roiling California looked like nothing more than a sideshow... But then California's massive budget crisis grew more extreme, and public opinion polls showed Gov. Gray Davis (D) sinking to abysmal new lows.... Now, amid signs the recall movement is gaining momentum, Democratic and Republican leaders are bracing for a political earthquake in the nation's most populous state, one whose tremors could ripple all the way to the White House. "I don't think I've ever seen a political situation so uncertain and with so many potentially bizarre outcomes," said Bill Carrick, a veteran Democratic strategist here. "It's a really strange, eerie thing."... And that's only the beginning of the political intrigue emerging in the Golden State. Leaders in both parties say a recall could create a political free-for-all that California's 15 million voters have never seen. Even as they scramble to crush the recall, prominent Democrats have begun discussing whether the party may have to take the extraordinary step of abandoning Davis if it reaches the ballot and rallying to a more formidable candidate, such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), to stop Republicans from seizing control of California. Meanwhile, Republican leaders say they fear the move could galvanize the state's huge but disconsolate Democratic electorate and ruin President Bush's hopes of attracting many of those voters to his reelection campaign next year... Some influential Republicans are so worried the recall could propel a conservative firebrand into a polarizing duel ...they are encouraging film star and political moderate Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for governor if a special election is held. He has not dismissed the idea.

Arnold hasn't exactly embraced the idea, either. He's more concerned with people "voting" at the box office than at the poll box:

"I'm telling you right now that I'm just thinking about `Terminator' and not about anything else," he told The Associated Press.

That may be so, but he's talking more and more like a politician:

"There comes a point when we the people must demand more out of our elected officials than for them just showing up," Schwarzenegger said. "Howard Jarvis used to say it is time to show the politicians who is the boss. We are at such a point right now, ladies and gentlemen. "Our elected officials in Sacramento are facing a budget crisis unseen in this state since the Great Depression, and it was entirely avoidable. Entirely avoidable. Teachers are getting pink slips, cops are getting laid off and the taxpayers are facing an increase in taxes and California's future is in danger."

At least as far as the recall is concerned, Arnold let people know where he stands:

The actor mentioned the recall only indirectly in his speech, quipping at one point, "This is really embarrassing. I just forgot our state governor's name, but I know that you will help me recall him."

Posted by bubba138 at 09:28 AM | Comments (0) |

Gray Davis: Water, Water Everywhere -- And Not a Drop To Drink

From the Sacramento Bee:

The state is preventing Southern California from getting its hands on millions of gallons of water it bought from Sacramento Valley farmers, letting the water flow out the Golden Gate as punishment for Southern California's opposition to a crucial water-sharing arrangement championed by Gov. Gray Davis... Richard Katz, senior adviser to the governor, said the state can't transfer the water south because there's no room at Lake Oroville, the main reservoir of the State Water Project, where it would have to be stored first.

Here's the deal. Northern California is water rich. Southern California is water poor. We scrape by, each year losing more and more of our water rights to Arizona and other Colorado river states.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California bought and paid for $14 million of water from Sacramento rice farmers. The state agreed to hold the water for them at Oroville. Now they are saying that because we've had heavy rains this year, they must let the water out into the ocean -- never to be used.

Now, who is to say the water that is released into the Pacific isn't the "free" rain water and not the paid-for water? The Governor's administration is, apparently. The fact that Southern California is perpetually facing eminent drought isn't a concern.

Bottom line, this is nothing less than tit-for-tat political punishment:

But even if there was room at Oroville, the state wouldn't cooperate with MWD, he said. That's because MWD is resisting a water-sharing deal that Davis believes will stave off a statewide crisis, Katz said.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:03 AM | Comments (0) |

We don't Like Bullies -- Waaah

California Republic Blog hits the nail on the head:

The Editors of SF’s paper of record thinks that Jim Brulte is bad, bad man. He’s almost Newt Gingrich quality of bad. He doesn’t play nice. He isn’t being bi-partisan. "It's pure, brazen intimidation," Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-S.F., said of the Brulte threat. "This guy's a big bully." A responsible leader would be looking for bipartisan solutions, not line-in-the-sand pronouncements that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to pass a budget by the end of June. Yikes! But, hmm, why this upset from the city paper where the mayor is Willie Brown? You’d think they’d be used to “brazen intimidation” by now.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:54 AM | Comments (0) |

June 10, 2003

Top Ten?

VH1 is doing the top 100 songs of the past twenty five years. Here are their top ten:

10) Madonna - Like A Virgin
09) The Police - Every Breath You Take
08) Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
07) Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry
06) Run-D.M.C. - Walk This Way
05) U2 - One
04) Eminem - Lose Yourself
03) Guns N’ Roses - Sweet Child O’ Mine
02) Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
01) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Posted by bubba138 at 09:13 PM | Comments (0) |

Frank Rich

Idiot of the week:

But Rich had an administration to bash. And in the wake of this extraordinary military victory, it was vital for left-wing ideologues to find something -- anything -- with which to denigrate the liberation. Rich had found his cause célèbre... It was too tempting a target. When you're a Manhattanite culture-macher like Rich, the one thing you know is that you're smarter, more civilized and more intelligent than anyone who might ever call himself a Republican, let alone the mindless hicks now running the country. A chance to embarrass the idiot rubes in Washington was just too good to pass up... As to the critics -- the Riches and Conasons who hyped reports they couldn't confirm in order to trash the administration? A correction would be nice, wouldn't it?...Some kind of factual accountability should now be restored. Rich needs to correct, explain and apologize. But I won't hold my breath.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:06 PM | Comments (0) |

The Spectre of Deceit?

New York Democrat Senator Charles Schumer wants Bush to nominate moderate Republican Senator Arlen Specter for the Supreme court. He says he wants to just get along with the President nad have no more bickering over court nominees:

"If you were to select a mainstream nominee, you would do the process, the judiciary and the nation a real service.''

I suspect this has less to do with wanting a moderate judge than it does to do with vacating a Senate seat. Spectre is up for re-election in 2004, and he'll be facing the more conservative Pat Toomey in the primary.

If Spectre is out of the picture, then Toomey wins the nomination hands-down. The Democrats must believe they have a better chance against an ultra-conservative than they do against a moderate incumbent.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:25 PM | Comments (0) |

George Is Green

The New Republic refutes Graham's attacks on Bush's environmental policy:

As for "repeatedly losing out to big business, big coal and big oil," here is where Graham joins many pundits and enviros in using the Big Lie. The two-year Bush administration has made three spectacular pro-environmental decisions, and all over the howls of big interest groups. Just after taking office, Bush ordered that diesel fuel--studies show diesel fumes contribute to urban asthma and to premature deaths of the elderly--be reformulated to reduce its inherent pollutant content... Then Bush ordered that new diesel engines for trucks and buses meet significantly higher environmental standards... Later Bush ordered that "off-road" engines--the motors of lawnmowers, snowmobiles, boats, and construction equipment--be regulated for air emissions for the first time...

Posted by bubba138 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) |

Iraqi Body Count

Marc Herold counts a minimum of 5531 civilian deaths from the war in Iraq.

The AP has done their own count and it is 59% of Herold's low estimate, and a mere 44% of his maximum of 7203 deaths. To be fair, the AP is bracing for higher numbers:

Even if hospital records were complete, they would not tell the full story. Many of the dead were never taken to hospitals, either buried quickly by their families in accordance with Islamic custom, or lost under rubble. The AP excluded all counts done by hospitals whose written records did not distinguish between civilian and military dead, which means hundreds, possibly thousands, of victims in Iraq's largest cities and most intense battles aren't reflected in the total.

The article also mentions:

This time it was very different. In a war in which the Iraqi soldiery melted away into crowded cities, changed into plainclothes or wore no uniform to begin with, separating civilian and military casualties is often impossible.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:33 PM | Comments (0) |

Which Is Right?

Early this morning from Ha'aretz:

Rantisi was lightly wounded when an IDF helicopter gunship fired at least six missiles on the car that held Rantisi, killing three people - a woman, a three-year old girl and one of the Hamas leader's aides - and wounded 25 others, including Rantisi's son Ahmed.

Minutes ago from AP:

Israel sent helicopters to kill a senior Hamas political leader in the crowded streets of Gaza on Tuesday but failed, leaving two other Palestinians dead and 27 wounded.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:24 PM | Comments (0) |

Thousands of Iranians Protest Near University

The psy-war has started:

Other chants were directed against Iran's clerical rulers, a most unusual development. Residents said the chants were the most extreme since the unrest four years ago. Many people said they had gathered after hearing calls by U.S.-based Iranian exile satellite television channels to go to the campus after student protests there on Tuesday.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:17 PM | Comments (0) |

Blogger's Trade Association?

I'm all for it.

1. It could collect some dues and have an annual convention where various factions of bloggers could scream at each other and then blog about it. Who knows? I bet quite a few politicians would feel compelled to speak to it.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:14 PM | Comments (0) |

Screaming And Yelling

Look for a lot of screaming and yelling about Iran in the next couple of days. The neo-cons will be calling for Iran's head, the leftists will be calling the administration war-mongers. All this because the Washington Times reports that Iran is harboring al-Qa'eda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

But in the midst of all the raised voices, let's not skip over the little points:

The U.S. official said any approach is likely to be carried out through a friendly third party, such as Jordan or Saudi Arabia. The official said al-Zarqawi is not a member of al Qaeda but "worked with them when it was convenient." "He's a real bad actor," said the official, who cautioned that al-Zarqawi's presence in Iran is not a certainty. "There are reports he's washed up in Iran."

Did you catch that?

Posted by bubba138 at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) |

Talk About Bad Timing

There can be no debate (although there is) that Israel's attack of Abdel Rantisi is a huge mistake.

Now many Palestinians who were hopeful for the success of the road-map will turn against any plan for peace. One of these may even be Abu Mazen himself:

Abbas said the Israeli operation - which Israel confirmed several hours after the attack was an assassination attempt - was intended to sabotage peace moves. "Palestinian Pime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemned the criminal and terrorist Israeli attack today," Abbas's office said in a statement issued in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "Such attacks obstruct and sabotage the political process."

At the same time, no one should confuse this as an unprovoked attack. Rantisi is a terrorist. His organization is responsible for the deaths of hundreds in suicide bombings. The attack on him was justified, but the timing was horrible. No one, either should be swayed by Rantisi's rhetoric:

Hamas said that the attack was an Israeli "declaration of war," and that all cease-fire talks with the Palestinian Authority are off, Army Radio reported.

My question here is, when were the talks on? Rantisi himself rejected talks with the PA last Wednesday -- long before any missile strike. Therefore, any lack of cooperation by Hamas cannot be laid upon Israel's shoulders.

The reason this was a blunder on Israel's part, is that they could have let the new of the day be about the dismantled settlements -- thereby showing Israel's good will in the peace process. Instead, that news will be totally overshadowed by headlines of Israel's "terrorist" attacks.

Posted by bubba138 at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) |

June 09, 2003

Pro-Bum, anti-Bush

Why is it whenever a bunch of naked people get together an anti-Bush rally breaks out?

Finally, with thousands of people gathered, Mr. Tunick began speaking into a microphone. "No clothes," he said. "No socks. No shoes. No hats!" He discussed various housekeeping items: clothes should be left in places where you could find them again; people should lie on the ground when instructed. "Outside, be nice and pay attention. Please be friendly to your neighbors." The crowd erupted into cheers and then chants of "No War!" and "No to Bush!"

Posted by bubba138 at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) |

Freeman Not Free to Hide Face

From the Miami Herald:

A Florida judge ruled Friday that a Muslim woman cannot wear a veil in her driver's license photo, agreeing with state authorities that the practice could help terrorists conceal their identities...

The ruling went the way it should have. Never fear, however, Freeman's ACLU-backed attorney states he will be filing an appeal, so there is still more merriment to come.

James Taranto has this take on the whole situation:

A CNN sidebar surveys drivers-license rules in Muslim countries. It turns out that women don't cover their faces for ID photos in any of the listed countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, of course, women aren't allowed to drive at all. Why should a Muslim be able to use her religion to claim a legal privilege she wouldn't be accorded in Mecca itself?

Posted by bubba138 at 01:57 PM | Comments (0) |

Anti-Americanism

Check out this piece on global anti-Americanism. I'll be commenting on it later.

Update: OK. I now have time to comment on this article. First off, the most insightful thing the article has to say is that...

Officials appear to believe that whatever action they take to protect their country against future terrorist attacks will always provoke antagonism in the Islamic world.

Why would officials believe in this way? What evidence do they have? Let's look deeper into the article and see:

Among many shocking conclusions, the report states that 'the bottom has fallen out of support for America in most of the Muslim world'.

No. Actually, the bottom has fallen out of support for Muslim violence in most of the American street. That is what has changed most.

Muslims in America were not surprised. They note how the war on terror focuses on Muslim countries, not on more threatening nations like North Korea.

Hmmmm...perhaps that is because North Korea doesn't fly planes into our buildings? Neither do they ram our naval ships with dinghies full of explosives.

Yet, despite their soaring anti-Americanism, Muslims worldwide said they wanted Western-style political freedoms. They blame the US for the fact that they do not have them.

Huh? They want American style democracy but it is our fault they do not have it. How does that work?

In their view, Washington supports autocratic rulers for its own ends - rulers who suppress opposition parties and independent journalists.

Oh, that's how. So then they're O.K. with us removing said dictators? That is evidenced, of course, by the wide support the Muslim street gave the U.S. when it purposed to take out Saddam. So it was:

Now where would we get the idea that no matter what we do it provokes antagonism in the Islamic world? Here's the capper:

As a result, as the Pew survey indicated, the US-led war on terror is viewed with deep suspicion in the Muslim world. Mr Husain explained: 'It is increasingly seen as a war against Islam.'

Posted by bubba138 at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) |

Iran: New Clear Days or Nuclear Days?

George Perkovich has some ideas on how to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons:

The answer to the Iranian nuclear challenge is in Iraq, not Vienna... Now that the Saddam regime is gone, President Bush should seize the opportunity to convince Iran that it doesn't need nuclear weapons. Iraq was the gravest threat to Iran, followed by the United States and Israel. America helped Iran immensely by removing the Iraq threat and the anti-Iranian Taliban. The administration should convince the Iranians that we can work with them – that Iran will not be a target of Israeli or U.S. military attack if it does not acquire weapons of mass destruction and threaten Israel's existence.

George is right. The key to Iran is to help them to perceive the U.S. as an immediate threat, while at the same time standing firm that there will never be acceptance of states that support terrorism.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:43 AM | Comments (0) |

Democratic Nine and WMDs

Took the wife to the airport today, so I didn't even boot the computer until 9am this morning. Let's get started:

A few of the Democrat nine stumped in Iowa this weekend:

New questions about how the Bush administration used intelligence data to justify the Iraq war have rekindled the debate within the Democratic Party over whether some presidential contenders were right to oppose the war and others wrong to support it.

Did you notice that no one was right?

Graham is hot on Bush and the missing WMD thing. The Des Moines Register filed not one, but two pieces highlighting Graham's questioning of how Bush handled the intelligence.

"That information was essentially politicalized, manipulated," said Graham, a U.S. senator from Florida, during a campaign stop in Council Bluffs. "Those parts that the president liked became placed in the president's speeches, and those that they didn't like got put in the trash can."

Get some backbone, Bob. Come out and say you think he lied, everyone knows that's what you are thinking.

"This administration created the impression that there was 100 percent agreement as to not only that (the weapons) were there but where they were and what kind were there. We're finding that, in fact, there was significant dissent from that view,"

Really? Who, before the war, thought there were no weapons? If there were any, the number was very small. Here's the sober truth about the WMD's that Graham and cohorts conveniently forget (or politically ignore):

Starting from the top, it is too early to claim that Saddam had no WMD. Iraq is big and the Baathists had 12 years to stash the stuff. Throughout the 1990s, United Nations inspectors – at least when Saddam allowed them to operate – discovered ample evidence of biological and nerve agent programs. Shortly before the U.S.-led invasion, the United Nations estimated Saddam's regime might have as many as 10,000 liters of anthrax hidden away. Even if we find no biological or chemical weapons in Iraq, we likely will discover what happened to them. There are accounts that the Iraqis transported WMD over the border into Syria, a charge we already have confronted the Syrians with. And British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that he had already seen plenty of evidence of Iraq's WMD, evidence not yet released to the public. "Have a little patience," he advised.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) |

June 06, 2003

City Council / Galardi Update

A former city council member went before a grand jury today (more here). While there, George Stevens stood up for current member Charles Lewis:

But he said it would be out of character for Lewis, his former chief of staff who now holds the District 4 seat Stevens vacated last year. "That's not Charles' profile," Stevens said. "He worked for me for over 12 years. That is not his profile. That's not Charles Lewis."

Posted by bubba138 at 03:42 PM | Comments (0) |

Gag Me With A Spoon

Companies are finding out that bloggers are not subject to the same rules as professional journalists. At least now, they're not:

The bigwigs agreed to talk partly because journalists covering the event were subject to reporting ground rules. Anything said onstage was deemed "off the record," and wouldn't be reported without the express consent of the speaker. But a couple of members of the audience, who weren't privy to the gag rule, reported onstage comments on their weblogs. Denise Howell, a lawyer based in Los Angeles, and David Hornik, a venture capitalist, posted reports of interviews given by Steve Jobs and Bill Gates... Jobs' onstage interview was particularly candid. In a rare foray from Apple's policy of not discussing product plans or commenting on rumors, Jobs denied Apple had any plans to make a PDA or webpad.

Posted by bubba138 at 03:04 PM | Comments (0) |

Environmental Disaster Has Sweeden's Panties In A Wad

No, really:

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hundreds of tonnes of human waste have leaked from containers at a Swedish fertiliser plant, sparking a health scare in a town called "Panties". Officials told the Sodermanlands Nyheter newspaper on Friday that hot weather may have made methane gas expand and burst the plastic sewage tanks in Trosa -- whose name, as the paper gleefully pointed out, is what Swedes call women's underpants.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:57 PM | Comments (0) |

Bush is Riding Herd on the Middle East

Yep, the cowboy actually told the Middle Eastern leadership that he plans to "ride herd" on them:

Waving his arms, the president earlier told reporters his aim was to keep the process moving, like a cowboy on horseback herding cattle. "I used the expression 'ride herd.' I don't know if anybody understood it in the meeting today," he said.

I love this guy!

One person he won't even deal with, though, is Arafat. And he expects the Arabs to keep him in line:

Anticipating that Mr Arafat could seek to spoil the peace plan, the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, had sought the help of the Palestinians' neighbouring Arab states to defeat any such sabotage. "In conversations with the Arab leaders," Mr Powell said, "particularly the foreign ministers, we made it clear to them that one of the things we expected them to help with was to make sure that Mr Arafat does not become an obstacle. They understood. They will help."

Posted by bubba138 at 02:47 PM | Comments (0) |

The U.N. Is On Board

The U.N. has determined that Iran has not lived up to its nuclear obligations.

Well, now that the U.N. is on board, maybe something will be done about this. I'm sure they'll get right on it. In about twelve years.

Of course Russia, staying true-to-form, doesn't care what the U.N. has determined [you mean they're acting unilaterally? -- Bry]. They are still bent on supplying the terrorist-sponsoring state with nuclear material:

Russia, contradicting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said yesterday it would supply Iran with fuel for a nuclear reactor whether or not Tehran signed an additional inspection agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:28 PM | Comments (0) |

Why Ashcroft Must Go

I know he's trying to do his job, and I gave him a fair shake...more fair than many I know. But his department's behavior is so retched it is time for him to go. Here are some reasons why: 1. Using the Rave Act as a club for shutting down pro-legalization rallies.

2. Holding U.S. citizens without charge and without access to legal representation. Example: Mike Hawash.

3. Patriot Act II

Posted by bubba138 at 02:04 PM | Comments (0) |

Best of the Web Strikes Again

Referring to this AP dispatch, Taranto has this to say:

"Belgian police said Thursday they detained an Iraqi man after letters containing a nerve-gas ingredient were sent to the prime minister's office," Reuters reports from Brussels. Let's review Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism. Iraq doesn't have chemical weapons. Pursuing a less-aggressive foreign policy is the best way to prevent terrorism. It's a myth-busting trifecta!

Posted by bubba138 at 10:21 AM | Comments (0) |

Pile On the Pile On

Kevin Drum over at CalPundit thinks the folks at NRO are going overboard on their Hillary coverage:

They have an entire category devoted to Hillary today, with a full four articles in it. Their interest in Iraq, conversely, has dwindled to the point where the "At War" section only has two entries... Not a single one of them believes her! Imagine that. But did they really need four separate people to write four separate columns saying that Hillary lied in four separate ways? I guess Howell Raines isn't the only editor who knows how to flood the zone.

1. Didn't Hillary just come out with a new book? I think this makes her news right now. News is supposed to cover recent events, NRO is doing that.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) |

Hope On The Horizon?

Will neighboring Arab states ever accept Israel's right to exist? The AP thinks so:

Arab states - ranging from those that won't even allow the word "Israel" to be uttered on their airwaves to the two with peace treaties - all have pledged to one day accept the Jewish state as a neighbor... At a 2002 summit in Lebanon, the Arabs adopted a Saudi proposal as a challenge to Israel to prove it wanted peace: Offering normal relations in exchange for Israel's full withdrawal from war-won lands, acceptance of a Palestinian state and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees. That proposal was incorporated into the road map. And the idea that Israel should one day become "part and parcel of the Middle East" has become the Arab leaders' consensus, Jouejati said. The Arab people could also come to that conclusion if they see Israel responding to the overture and the United States pressuring Israel to meet its road map obligations, said Eric Davis, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. After all, he said, Arab acceptance of Israel is no more farfetched than a growing Israeli consensus that settlements must go.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) |

Will the Real Democratic Candidate Please Stand Up...

The Democrats are still experiencing recognition problems according to this Fox new report. In a survey conducted June 3rd and 4th, here is how the Democrat Nine rated:

I'm going to read the names of some people. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each. If you've never heard of one, please just say so.   Favorable Unfavorable Can't Say Never Heard Of Can't Rate* Lieberman 46 23 18 13 31 Gephardt 36 24 19 21 40 Sharpton 14 45 15 26 41 Kerry 28 19 19 34 53 Graham 22 17 24 37 61 Edwards 17 13 21 49 70 Moseley-Braun 13 16 17 54 71 Dean 12 12 20 56 76 Kucinich 08 9 13 70 83 *Can't Rate is a combination of the "Can't Say" and "Never Heard Of" columns.

Sharpton's biggest weakness is that his name is recognized, but three out of four of those who know of him disapprove of him.[Woo hoo! -- Bry]

The surprise to me is Dean's turn out. Even Moseley-Braun finished better than him, for cryin' out loud. He has been trumpeted as the "internet candidate", and the blogosphere has been live with Dean supporters. But as much as we hope to have a great influence over our world, I think the internet still represents an infinitesimal minority of voters. (But the Dean camp is always able to find good news somewhere.)

Posted by bubba138 at 08:31 AM | Comments (0) |

Road Map

Hamas wont talk peace with Mohammed Abbas and the Palestinian Authority:

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has been trying to negotiate with the militias rather than use force, saying he wants to avoid civil war. It was not clear whether a Hamas refusal to negotiate a truce would set the stage for a crackdown by Palestinian security forces. Rantisi, a Hamas leader and hard-liner, told reporters Friday that efforts to reach a truce were off. He said Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, made too many concessions at a summit Wednesday in Jordan... "We were shocked when we saw Abu Mazen and his new government giving up all the Palestinians' rights," he said. "Abu Mazen committed himself in front of Bush and Sharon to very dangerous issues that closed the door of dialogue between us." Other Hamas officials said they would meet Saturday with Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group, to persuade it to break off truce talks as well. Hamas, founded in 1987, is vehemently oppose to peace with Israel.

Abu Mazen committed to shutting down terrorist organizations in Palestine. This is what Hamas is calling "all the Palestinians' rights." Not having a free pass to blow themselves and others up when ever they feel like it is what they view as committing to "very dangerous issues."

Abu Mazen wants desperately to avoid civil war. It is a noble ambition, but when you have the likes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, it it probably unavoidable.

The quoted article tries to paint the picture as if Israel's actions are responsible for a "surprise reversal" of direction for Hamas:

The official, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, spoke just hours after Israeli troops killed two Hamas activists in an arrest raid in the West Bank.

But Wednesday's statements from Hamas make it clear that the decision had already been made to maintain their commitment to violence and death.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:35 AM | Comments (0) |

Not Often, But Sometimes We Win One

From the Sacramento Bee:

An East Bay assemblywoman on Wednesday shelved hotly contested legislation that would have made it easier for schools to survey students about sex, morality or religion without first obtaining parental permission. Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said she chose to drop AB 661 because Republican foes vowed not to allow late amendments or procedural rule waivers on any Democratic bill until it was killed. Hancock said she will resuscitate the measure in January. AB 661 would have let schools survey students about various issues without permission slips from parents. However, the bill required that notification be sent to parents, who could review a survey and decline to let their children participate.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:22 AM | Comments (0) |

June 05, 2003

Nanobots Pose Security Risks to UK

The Prince of Wales is concerned about non-technology:

Fears by the Prince of Wales that armies of microscopic robots could turn the face of the planet into an uninhabitable wasteland have prompted the nation's top scientists and engineers to launch an inquiry.... Concerned by claims by environmentalists that swarms of rogue "nanomachines" could one day reduce all in their path to "grey goo", the prince has asked the Royal Society to help him to weigh up the risks.

Posted by bubba138 at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) |

Psalm 14 Foolish Times

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." -- Psalm 14:1

"...there is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection" -- Thorkild Grosboel, pastor of Taarbaek, a town near the capital Copenhagen.

"A fool" -- The Three Muskateers

Posted by bubba138 at 02:35 PM | Comments (0) |

The Ted is In

The Ted has his own blog now. He's a Howard Dean fan, so he should be glad I overcame my insouciance over the event and gave him this plug.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:00 PM | Comments (0) |

Sullivan Weighs In On Raines

He says Raines was forced to resign because of the power of the internet:

And a few years ago, they would have been able to ride out the storm, using the Times' enormous media power to protect themselves. But the Internet has changed things. It means that the errors and biases of the new NYT could be exposed not just once but dozens and dozens of times. It means that huge and powerful institutions such as the New York Times cannot get away with anything any more. The deference is over; and the truth will out.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) |

Matthew Hoy Has Been Right On Lately

He's posting a storm of good stuff. Go check him out.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) |

John Kerry Barely Passes Intellectual Honesty Test

The New Republic calls Kerry on his bloviated statement about improving the jobs outlook:

Then in the same speech he promised to replace the 2.7 million jobs lost during the Bush administration within 500 days of taking office. Well, you had me right up until that last part, senator. But promising to create a specific number of jobs by a specific date is just ludicrous--and highly cynical--since it assumes a level of causality between the president's economic policies and actual economic outcomes that just doesn't exist.

Since when have presidential campaign promises hinged on having a "level of causality" between policies and outcomes?

This is like the education issue that comes up every presidential election. Everyone wants a president that supports education. The problem is education is an issue for the states, not the federal government. But that has never stopped a president from campaigning on it.

So most people will buy into Kerry's unfounded statement, just as they do statements about education. It sounds good. It feels good. It's right up the same ally as "a chicken in every pot." In a democracy the people will vote themselves bread and circuses every time.

Update: The Lieberman camp gives the New Republic an "F" for Intellectual Honesty.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) |

Rift Rocks Recall or Davis Dudes Desire Dissension?

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story earlier today that says all is not well in the recall Davis effort:

The drive to recall Gov. Gray Davis has set off an unexpected tug-of- war between rival Republican camps supporting the effort -- a rift that could affect the outcome of an election to decide the Democratic governor's fate... Ted Costa ...said Tuesday that taxpayers might be better served by putting the recall on the March 2004 ballot... But Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista...is pushing hard to gather the 900,000 signatures by July and force a recall election later this year.

I found out about this article from an email I received from Howard Kaloogian's The Recall Gray Davis Committee, I.D. #1253179. Here is their take on it:

The official proponent of the measure, Mr. Ted Costa, is the only individual that is legally authorized to turn in the signatures directly to the counties. He has assured others and us that there will be no further delays in turning in recall petitions and that he was misquoted in today’s Chronicle story. Please, continue to collect Recall Gray Davis petitions as quickly as possible. We’ve made tremendous progress, and we cannot allow inaccurate or negative stories in the news media to distract us from our focus of qualifying the recall effort against Gray Davis in time for a special election later this fall. We have now received information that Gray Davis operatives actually planted the story in the Chronicle to create dissension in our ranks.

True to form, Gray's minions are using their same old tactics -- negative attacks and fund raising. This article says they've raised astounding piles of cash almost overnight:

There is an easy way to tell when the heavyweight political season begins in California: Jerry Perenchio writes another check...the president of the Spanish-language Univision network now has given $50,000 to a committee supporting Gov. Gray Davis in his fight against a proposed recall. A handful of other wealthy Californians have joined him as well, raising $344,000 for the Davis anti-recall committee.

If you can't win the hearts of the voters, buy them off. Even if that is not successful, Gray will have something up his sleave. I suspect he'll have the recall tied up in red tape so long it will become wearisome to the voters (from the first article):

The state Constitution requires that a special recall election be called within 60 to 80 days of the signatures being verified, or on the March 2004 primary ballot, depending on what lieutenant governor decides. County registrars have officially reported just 19,000 signatures turned in to date, but recall supporters, including Costa, say they have as many as 400,000 banked.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) |

Arafat Speaks Out on the Roadmap

Yassir isn't exactly brimming with praise over yesterday's summit:

Arafat, who was excluded from Wednesday's landmark talks in Jordan but apparently played a behind-the-scenes role, dismissed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pledge to uproot some settler outposts in the West Bank as meaningless. "Unfortunately, he has not yet offered anything tangible," the Palestinian leader told reporters at his battered West Bank headquarters in Ramallah. "What's the significance of removing a caravan from one location and then saying, 'I have removed a settlement'?"

Arafat's pals are going for it as well.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other factions behind attacks on Israelis rejected Abbas' call to lay down their arms. Chanting, "We are all martyrs in waiting," fighters belonging to an armed offshoot of Arafat's Fatah faction trained with assault rifles and mortar launchers in the southern Gaza Strip.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:16 AM | Comments (0) |

Sullivan Forces To Find New Material

With the resignation of Howell Raines, what is Sullivan going to write about?

Posted by bubba138 at 08:12 AM | Comments (0) |

Hillary's in the Limelight

Asked if Mr. Clinton would now join her on the promotional tour for the book [in which his indiscretions are detailed], Mrs. Clinton burst out laughing. That was one question, Mrs. Clinton said, that she had not considered.

Meanwhile, Hillary's publisher is none too pleased with her grabbing the spotlight so early. It seems the publicity has caused leaks in the media that are interfering with their carefully laid marketing plans:

The publisher had been withholding any information about the book so it could orchestrate television interviews, magazine excerpts and book signings to coincide with the first sales of the book around the country next week.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:41 AM | Comments (0) |

AIDS of the Brain

A recent survey indicates there are some disturbing misconceptions about AIDS research:

However many also believe that a vaccine already exists, but is being kept "secret" from patients and the general public. According to the survey, one in five Americans subscribe to this view, with that number rising to 28 percent and 48 percent of Hispanic and African-American respondents, respectively.

And I imagine the reason the vaccine is being kept secret is so the researchers can find ways to get it only to white people.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:33 AM | Comments (0) |

So Passes a Legend

Freddie Blassie died earlier this week.

Blassie also mastered the television interview, boasting his superiority over other wrestlers he liked to call "pencil-neck geeks." Those colorful interviews helped make him a celebrity in the newly expanding medium of television.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:20 AM | Comments (0) |

June 04, 2003

Real or Scrappleface?

Unfortunately, real. The next time some over-the-top lefty starts banging on Bush for his execution record in Texas, tell them about Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi:

Saudi Arabia’s leading executioner Muhammad Saad Al-Beshi will behead up to seven people in a day. “It doesn’t matter to me: Two, four, 10 — As long as I’m doing God’s will, it doesn’t matter how many people I execute,” he told Okaz newspaper in an interview. He started at a prison in Taif, where his job was to handcuff and blindfold the prisoners before their execution. “Because of this background, I developed a desire to be an executioner,” he says

Developed the desire? You mean he actually aspired to the position? Must be the sword thing. But he does get some variety. Sometimes he uses a gun, and he's not always chopping off heads:

When executing women he will use either gun or sword. “It depends what they ask me to use. Sometimes they ask me to use a sword and sometimes a gun. But most of the time I use the sword,” he adds... An executioner’s life, of course, is not all killing. Sometimes it can be amputation of hands and legs. “I use a special sharp knife, not a sword,” he explains. “When I cut off a hand I cut it from the joint. If it is a leg the authorities specify where it is to be taken off, so I follow that.”

I guess you've got to mix it up from time to time to keep the job interesting?

A father of seven, he is a proud grandfather already. “I have a married daughter who has a son.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:23 PM | Comments (0) |

Living and Active

It is almost a sure bet that bin-Laden has not yet departed this world. According to Arab News, the al-Qa'eda operative recently shot to death by Saudi security forces was in touch with him:

The body of the man identified as Yousuf Saleh Fahd Al-Ayeeri, one of 19 militants wanted for alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, was searched after he was shot dead... “The sources revealed that a folded handwritten letter, stained with blood, signed with the name Bin Laden ... was found in the pocket of the killed,” the paper reported... It said the note congratulated a certain person on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr and commended accomplishments of groups under his command.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:10 PM | Comments (0) |

Hamas' Colors Shine True

Hamas' reaction to the peace process:

Hamas vowed to continue its armed resistance to any Israeli occupation. A Hamas leader, Abdelaziz Rantissi, told Reuters news agency: "We will never be ready to lay down arms until the liberation of the last centimetre of the land of Palestine."

Every last centimeter? Since Hamas defines all of Israel as Palestine, that means they will never stop until Israel is completely eradicated. Here is more insight on how Hamas views the peace process:

The Hamas leader said that summits patronized by the USA never succeeded, adding that the Aqaba summit on Wednesday between Bush along with the Jordanian monarch, the Zionist premier and the Palestinian Authority premier would meet the same fate. He attributed the cause of such failures to the fact that those summits were part of the American-Zionist attempts to beautify the conspiracies against the Palestinian people.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) |

What Sharon Didn't Say

BBC radio is constantly harping on the fact that Sharon did not say that Palestine would be "an independent, sovereign" state. They have asked questions using this phrase once of Abbas' spokesman and twice in within two minutes in an interview of Jordan's King Abdullah.

Posted by bubba138 at 10:22 AM | Comments (0) |

Results Already?

How's this for a headline: Sharon vows to remove unauthorized outposts -- reported in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. Here's what Sharon had to say:

It is in Israel’s interest not to govern the Palestinians but for the Palestinians to govern themselves in their own state. A democratic Palestinian state fully at peace with Israel will promote the long-term security and well-being of Israel as a Jewish state... We can also reassure our Palestinian partners that we understand the importance of territorial contiguity in the West Bank, for a viable, Palestinian state. Israeli policy in the territories that are subject to direct negotiations with the Palestinians will reflect this fact.

This just hours after Bush's visit with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers. And Abu Mazen? He willingly does what Arafat only does when his arm is twisted so far behind his back he can scratch his ear -- that is, condemn Palestinian terrorism and commit to fight against it:

"We will exert full efforts to ending the militarization of the intifada [uprising]. The armed intifada must end and we must resort to peaceful means to achieve our goals," he said, addding that the Palestinians "do not ignore the suffering of the Jews throughout history," Abbas said. "It is time to bring this suffering to an end."

Posted by bubba138 at 09:37 AM | Comments (0) |

Calls For Inquiry

The lack of finding WMD's in Iraq has caused calls for investigations and accusations of administration lying (or at least exaggerating) about the evidence they had. The U.K. even brought a proposal to start a formal inquiry to a vote today:

Announcing that Parliament's all-party intelligence and security committee would be conducting an inquiry into the row, the prime minister said the allegations were "completely and totally untrue". Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said the whole credibility of the government was now at stake in the row. A Liberal Democrat motion, backed by the Tories, calling for an independent judicial inquiry, was defeated by 301 votes to 203 - on government majority of 98.

Blair supporters are not taking this lying down:

Earlier, Dr Reid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was a "disgrace" that the integrity of the leadership of the security services was being impugned by "obviously rogue isolated individuals". He urged critics to "put up or shut up" in the light of "15 years of evidence" that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Posted by bubba138 at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) |

Dean: A Clear Message, But Not A Winner

The Daily Kos is looking expectantly at the effect of blogs on the election process. Mostly, he give Kudos to Dean on his mastery of the medium:

The passion we demonstrate for politics is making waves. The Dean people are pioneers in this regard, but by next cycle all campaigns will be "working" the blogs. By becoming engaged in the political process, we will help shape it. Indeed, do any of you think Dean would be where he is without the power of the weblog? The other candidates, thanks to their techno-ignorance, have ceeded this entire territory to Dean. You better believe no one will make that mistake in future campaigns.

Kevin Drum over at CalPundit has this to say about Dean:

On the other hand, as much as I like Dean's message and his charisma, I keep reminding myself that his opposition to the war and his lack of credibility on national security make him unelectable. Maybe that's not fair, but I'd like a Democrat to win the presidency in 2004, and I'm very skeptical that Dean can beat Bush.

I think Kevin is right on here. Dean's message is bold, clear, has purpose, and is gaining popularity. But issue number one for Americans -- whether polls bare this out or not -- is national security. An anti-war candidate will not be trusted enough by the electorate to win the presidency.

Arianna Huffington, on the other hand, seems to think the strong anti-war theme is a winner. She's upset her party isn't more forcefully presenting the exact opposite of the administration on every issue:

These dithering poltroons are so paralyzed by the fear of doing or saying something that could be turned against them in GOP attack ads they've rendered themselves utterly impotent when it comes to mounting any kind of challenge to President Bush on the two most important issues of the day: tax cuts and Iraq.

She seems to think that the Dems lost their influence in the 2000 mid-term elections because they were trying to be Bush-lite. That may be the view from inside of the left-left-left wing of the party, but the American voters saw something totally different. All they saw was that the Democrats were opposed to the Republicans. They had no message of their own, they cast no vision, they exuded no hope. The entire Democratic platform could have been summed up by the phrase, "if they're for it, I'm agin' it."

Posted by bubba138 at 08:09 AM | Comments (0) |

Who's Against the Recall?

According to Davis friends, its the taxpayers, as indicated by the name of the group fighting the recall. George Neumayr doesn't think the name is very accurate:

The name of the committee is appropriately ludicrous: "Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall." Taxpayers want to save Davis's political career? Taxpayers would like to end it. Especially now as Davis plans for an $8 billion tax hike, an idea he opposed until he was safely reelected. Taxpayers now face a $38 billion deficit, thanks to Davis's incompetence, excessive spending (36% increase in spending), and miscellaneous corruption.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:56 AM | Comments (0) |

Davis Recall Blog

California Republic has started a blog that focuses exclusively on the Davis recall.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:51 AM | Comments (0) |

This Century's Biggest "DUH"!

Hillary says her husband lied to her about Lewinsky affair. No, really.

"For me, the Lewinsky imbroglio seemed like just another vicious scandal manufactured by political opponents." More than six months later, with the president preparing to testify before a grand jury, Mrs. Clinton was still adamant that her husband had done nothing wrong and was the victim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

But has she ever apologized for her unfounded paranoia? Has she ever come out an said "Oops, I guess I was wrong about this conspiracy thing"? Nope.

Here is what she has said:

Mrs. Clinton insists she will not consider entering the race for president this year, but has not ruled out a run in 2008.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:27 AM | Comments (0) |

One Culture -- Two Visions

One of the crises in the Arab world today is one of division. Instead of being united against the West and its policies, two diametrically opposed camps have emerged, both opinionated, both vocal:

The emerging picture, however, was one of division, polarisation, charge and counter charge, and sometimes even slander. The argument over the path the Arab world should pursue was -- in some cases -- reduced to a war of words between "the Egyptian marines" or "the neo-liberal Arabs" on the one hand (as they were called by their opponents for their supposed complete acquiescence to US dictates in the region), versus "the Arab fascists, Stalinists and their Islamist substitutes" (as their opponents have termed them -- accusing them of the same empty rhetoric and outdated "isms" that have resulted in one historic Arab disaster after the other, with Iraq as its most recent manifestation), on the other... Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, proponents of both arguments acknowledged that Arab intellectuals are clueless about the perils ahead, and have failed -- thus far -- to speak in a unified voice...

This is interesting. The pro-Western camp is the on the left -- the right are ideologues, and they argue in the same way as our lefty ideologues. According to Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies director Abdel-Moneim Said:

"There are indeed two camps emerging -- our camp, which includes realists, democrats and liberals, and the other camp, which includes Nasserists, Islamists, radicals and nationalists," Said explained. The problem, in his view, was that even within such a debate, no real process of dialogue between the opposing parties was actually taking place. "The whole process is futile because even when some of the nationalist writers respond to what I write, they respond to arguments which have nothing to do with what I wrote," Said said. [emphasis mine]

Posted by bubba138 at 07:12 AM | Comments (0) |

June 03, 2003

Fascist Lefties

Go see what Roger Simon has to say about Paul Krugman and his friends on the fascist left:

This “Old Consciousness,” call it politics-as-usual or pre-9/11 or Party Politics, if you will, has placed Krugman and his ilk clearly, and I assume inadvertently, on the side of fascism—what should be a very uncomfortable spot for a left/liberal, former or otherwise. But on the side of fascism they are because the focus on missing WMDs, instead of on the unearthing of thousands of mass graves and the overthrow of a brutal, torturing regime that supported terrorism, distorts the reality of the victory in Iraq, which has already freed the people of that country and has changed the equation in the Middle East so that Israeli-Palestinian peace seems possible for the first time in years.

Posted by bubba138 at 04:30 PM | Comments (0) |

The Poor In Berkley

I just came across this almost year old dispatch of Alistair Cooke's Letter from America.

First, everyone told gravely their American interviewers that the United States was entirely governed by Jews, that the Congress was a lackey of Jewish interests, that Americans saw on television only the Israeli view of the violence - only the dead and the poor among Israeli families. Never was total ignorance, overwhelming prejudice, expressed with such gravity, such gentleness. Any bystander who had no personal experience of the United States would be much inclined to believe it all to be true. But everything they said - which might have been learned from a catechism written by Hitler's propaganda minister, the vile Dr Goebbels - was wildly false.

And today's entry:

The president laid a wreath at Arlington, the national military cemetery, on the grave of the unknown soldiers. We did not see on television happy July 4th Thanksgiving-type crowds on the beaches of Florida, we did not see and hear senators making proud, soaring patriotic speeches in most public places. It seems there was a new decent awareness of the meaning of Memorial Day.

Posted by bubba138 at 08:04 AM | Comments (0) |

Dean Thinks Like a Brit

Yesterday Dean said "namely, that Americans have to start taking more responsibility for their health care" -- to which I quipped about smoking and fast food consumption. As if on cue, the Brits have begun the health responsibility dance:

Smokers and overweight people will be asked to sign contracts with their doctors to agree a programme to quit smoking and lose weight under radical plans being drawn up by the government. In an attempt to remind people of their own responsibilities the health secretary, Alan Millburn, is examining plans for patients and doctors to agree a formal programme of treatment.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:38 AM | Comments (0) |

Martian Kings And the Bush Administration

Bush has become so well known that even extra-terrestrial monarchs are seeking out his administration:

The space creature, one King Bloop Zod of planet Mars, sent an e-mail to the White House Web site in hopes of communicating with earthling Mel R. Martinez, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who was holding a Web chat. Their historic exchange follows. King from Mars writes: Greetings Mr. Secretary. Although there are no humans on Mars at present, I would like to invite the human race to consider Mars as an ideal location for a vacation home or just a place to get away from it all. Would you consider offering incentives to those who might want to build a home on Mars? I'll tell you, it is a beautiful place and oh, let me tell you, there is nothing like Autumn on Mars. And please don't tell me that you are looking at Venus first. Kindly, King Bloop Zod, Mars

Posted by bubba138 at 07:32 AM | Comments (0) |

June 02, 2003

Was This a Spy Mission?

Iran picked up a boat with four U.S. soldiers and several civilians of other origin on Sunday and held them for several hours. U.S. claims the boat was just a ferry on the Shatt al-Arab waterway:

The Maritime Liaison Office statement said the boats were transporting "one U.S. civilian engineer, four U.S. Army soldiers, two Kuwaiti civilian operators, and possibly one other unidentified person."... The vessels had been on their way to the Iraqi port of Faw to pick up Iraqi oil company workers, Gage said. Initial reports indicate the boats may have strayed into Iranian waters...adding that the incident remained under investigation.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:28 PM | Comments (0) |

Road Map to Peace

It can't be hurt by this:

Israel released a jailed member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee in a good-will gesture on the eve of a Middle East summit on Tuesday led by President Bush. About another 100 Palestinian prisoners were likely to go free by Wednesday, when Bush follows a meeting with Arab leaders in Egypt with landmark talks in Jordan with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers on a new "road map" for peace.

This also gives some hope that Israel may be softening its stance:

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will announce plans to uproot some rogue Jewish settler outposts at a summit with his Palestinian counterpart and President Bush, a diplomatic source said Monday. Israel's readiness to begin removing West Bank outposts, coming on the heels of promises from Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to rein in militant violence, could help smooth the way for Wednesday's landmark peace talks in Aqaba, Jordan.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:17 PM | Comments (0) |

The Jewish World / Germany grapples with its Jewish paradox

That's a headline at for this article at E.I. News' Germany site.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:10 PM | Comments (0) |

Hard For Gerhard

Gerhard Schröder's coalition government may be in big trouble:

A federal government source, who asked not to be identified, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that dropping the Greens would have “a massive impact“ on the coalition in Berlin, since it would seriously undermine the party's already tenuous claim to be a major political force across the country... Steinbrück, who said earlier in the week that he was not prepared “to offer any oaths of allegiance to red-green,“ caught his junior partner off guard last week when he declared that the situation within the coalition was “very serious“ and that the coalition was undergoing a “re-examination process.“ “The pistol is lying there on the table,“ the premier said in a later newspaper interview.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:46 PM | Comments (0) |

Life Is Rough

...for Saddam's daughters. The war has forced them to “wash clothes by their own hands, cook their own food and clean the house by themselves and live without electricity." Such hardship has threatened their mental health:

“They live in a severe psychological disorder.” Al Majid said the daughters blamed Saddam’s closest aides for betraying him “at the last moment” before trying to obtain asylum in Britain or other Arab states. “The regime fell because of the aides employed by my father, whose only interest was to stay in power and seek personal gain,” Izzi-Din quoted Raghad as saying in reference to Iraqi officers and ministers who held senior positions within Saddam’s regime.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:41 PM | Comments (0) |

Arafat Most Go (quietly)

Fareed Zakaria is right:

The only path to peace is one that sidelines Arafat. It would be best not to do so publicly, which would only brand him as the leader who defies the Israelis and Americans. Better to ignore him but systematically weaken his power. The summit will be a good start. Its principal effect will be to elevate Abu Mazen, who will be seen throughout the world—in the company of George W. Bush, Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah and others—as the leader of the Palestinian people. If the Arab leaders in particular treat him with honor and give him material support, it will translate into stature back home... For Abu Mazen to succeed, he must crack down on terror. But to do so he needs broad support among his people. Palestinians need to look up to him as their leader. They must see their lives improving under his rule. They must believe that he can get the Israelis to ease the occupation. If he fails, the perennial survivor, Yasir Arafat, is waiting in the wings, ready for yet another close-up.

Posted by bubba138 at 05:29 PM | Comments (0) |

The Sempiternal Story...

Weintraub's blog notes:

Contractors remodeling Ruth Holton’s Land Park home knocked down a wall and inside the lathe and plaster discovered a copy of the Sacramento Bee from March 6, 1939. The lead headline reads: Battle is Seen as Legislature is Reconvened Olson Reiterates Intention to Press His Tax & General Appropriations Program The article recounts Republican attacks on Democratic Gov. Culbert Olson’s budget proposal as too high and Olson’s retort that he had already slashed spending enough. The article also refers to fiscal hits on California from recent federal cutbacks and a fight for compulsory health insurance. So for those of you who sometimes feel as if you've been fighting these battles all your lives, you're right, and then some.

Posted by bubba138 at 02:46 PM | Comments (0) |

Marin Has Got Company

...in former mayor of Los Altos Hills, Toni Casey. She announced her candidacy for Barbara Boxer's senate seat earlier this month. Problem is, no one knew:

"As a Republican from Silicon Valley, I am announcing my candidacy over the Internet," she said in the video. "My campaign will have a fresh, engaging, entrepreneurial and focused approach to articulate a bold new vision for California and America." The problem with her announcement was that few people knew about it, and Casey now is convinced that the splash she had hoped for was instead a digital dud.

Rosario Marin still has not officially announced her candidacy, despite resigning her federal post. She did say she planned to leave her position as U.S. Treasurer at the end of June, so perhaps that is when she'll announce.

Update: The Washington Prowler says Marin is moving silently, but moving nonetheless:

Marin has met several times with White House political guru Karl Rove, who while not promising to clear the field for her, indicated his happiness that she was entering the race... Marin was expected to make no immediate formal announcement about her plans, but fundraisers in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco were already being planned at this writing...

Posted by bubba138 at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) |

UK Eclipse

These photos of the annular eclipse in the UK are must see.

Posted by bubba138 at 12:38 PM | Comments (0) |

Dean Gets Good Grades

Democrat primary dark horse Howard Dean is getting good grades over a The New Republic. This week he checks in with an "A" for political courage:

But Dean made it clear that there are some strings attached to the plan: namely, that Americans have to start taking more responsibility for their health care. "Most politicians treat voters as children: 'Elect me, and I'll solve all your problems,'" Dean said. "When are we going to talk about our own responsibilities? If we're going to have health insurance for everyone, you don't get health insurance unless you sign a living will or directive." Yes, it's easy to blame our health care woes on pharmaceutical companies and HMOs, but individuals must be accountable, too. Good for Dean for saying so.

Posted by bubba138 at 11:17 AM | Comments (0) |

Why Kucinich Doesn't Have a Chance

In a recent campaign speech, Kucinich had this to say:

"I have a holistic view of the world," Kucinich explains. "I see the world as interconnected and interdependent and that leaves no room for war."

Unfortunately for Dennis, his "holistic" view doesn't include those in the world who are committed to violence as a way of getting their agendas forwarded. Therefore, if his view leaves no room for war, then his policies will leave no room to protect the citizens he is seeking to serve from such forces. That view may be "holistic", but it isn't very "whole-istic." That is reason one for why he won't last.

Reason two: Dennis is very confused about who he is:

At a peace conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, last year, Kucinich was more specific about his beliefs. He spoke about how the Eagle Nebula, a star-forming region that is 7,000 light years from Earth, reminds him of the relationship between stardust and the human spirit. "The energy of the stars becomes us. We become the energy of the stars. Stardust and spirit unite and we begin: One with the universe," Kucinich said... Kucinich, a Roman Catholic, also is close friends with actress Shirley MacLaine, who is the godmother of his daughter. It was MacLaine who first introduced Kucinich to Griscom, whom MacLaine wrote about in her best-selling book, "Dancing in the Light."

Posted by bubba138 at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) |

More On Rudolph

This isn't a question I can answer in any way, but it is worth asking.

America has been searching for Rudolph for nigh-on five years now. The media beat this story into the ground several times over that period. We have all but been convinced that he committed the Olympic and abortion clinic bombings.

Given that, is it possible for Rudolph to get an unbiased jury of his peers? He has, after all, been convicted in the court of public opinion. The only thing left to do is sentence the guy.

It reminds me of the old western satire:

"Get a rope! We're gunna hang him!"

"We can't hang him. We gotta give him a fair trial."

"Alright then, get a jury together. We'll try him and then we'll hang him."

Posted by bubba138 at 08:21 AM | Comments (0) |

"The Question" About Eric Rudolph

The Washington Times puts it like this:

THE QUESTION is not just whether Rudolph is a terrorist, or whether he considers himself a Christian. It is whether he planted bombs at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, two abortion clinics and a gay nightclub to advance a religious ideology — and how numerous, organized and violent others who share that ideology may be.

The article covers the high and low points well, even pointing out that Rudolph's religious affiliation is not considered Christian by orthodox Christians:

Another expert on such groups, Idaho State University sociology professor James A. Aho, said he is reluctant to use the phrase “Christian terrorist,” because it is “sort of an oxymoron. I would prefer to say that Rudolph is a religiously inspired terrorist, because most mainstream Christians consider Christian Identity to be a heresy,” If Christians take umbrage at the juxtaposition of the words “Christian” and “terrorist,” he added, “that may give them some idea of how Muslims feel” when they constantly hear the term “Islamic terrorism,” especially since the Sept. 11 attacks.

It is good to see Prof. Aho's reluctance to use the phrase "Christian terrorist." However, to compare that to the label that Islamist terrorists have received is less than complete. One of the great differences in the two religions can bee seen by examining their founders. Mohammed wasn't only a religious leader, but also a capable military commander responsible for the conquest of several cities. Violence was a part of the Muslim prophet's ministry from the beginning. Continuing for many generations, the primary mode of Islamic evangelism was the sword.

Christ's, on the other hand, was a ministry of peace and reconciliation -- even when hanging on the cross His last utterances included words of forgiveness, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."

Why is this germane? These differences create a clear distinction between the followers of each religion. There is always a shred of justification for the followers of Mohammed to commit violence for religious reasons, as they follow the example of their leader. Christians, however, have no recourse for religiously motivated violence. To behave in such a fashion is antithetical to what Christ taught, how He lived, and how He died.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:55 AM | Comments (0) |

Weasel Watch

The French continue being comfortable dealing with thugs:

With regard to the Palestinian leg of the trip, Dominique de Villepin met first with prominent Palestinians from Jerusalem at the French Consulate. Then in Ramallah the minister met his counterpart, Nabil Shaath, the head of government, Abu Mazen, and President Arafat. To all he reaffirmed France’s commitment to support the full implementation of the roadmap and insisted on the efforts that must be made by both sides to achieve this.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:30 AM | Comments (0) |

A GR8 Start For the G8

They're at it again at the G8 summit. For some reason these guys think we should take seriously their opinions of world affairs:

In the Swiss city of Geneva authorities spent more than nine hours battling with demonstrators as they rampaged through the city centre. Shop windows were smashed and stores looted, leaving the city streets awash with broken glass and choking fumes from tear gas canisters. After protesters began to hurl rocks and petrol bombs, the German police were brought in for reinforcements, storming the front line to scatter the rioters and chasing ringleaders all over the city, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Geneva said. In Lausanne demonstrators wearing black face masks blocked roads with burning barricades and attacked the hotel area where some summit delegates were staying before being driven away by riot police with tear gas. Several demonstrators were injured, one seriously, reports said.

Posted by bubba138 at 07:22 AM | Comments (0) |

Day By Day Is Exceptional Today

Posted by bubba138 at 07:13 AM | Comments (0) |

A Great Weekend

Me and the misses went away for our 19th anniversary this weekend. We spent too much and ate too much, but it was well worth it.

While there I actually read the news on some funny contraption called a "new-paper". No, really, some enterprising young man has actually taken words and put them on paper for people to read. It was amazing!

While sitting on the deck of my room at Dana Point, I read this excellent piece on the principled life. It is aimed at those about to graduate, but is applicable to all, no matter what the age or station.

Posted by bubba138 at 06:34 AM | Comments (0) |