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February 28, 2005
Let Freedom Ring
With shouts of "Syria out!," more than 25,000 flag-waving protesters massed outside Parliament today in a dramatic display of defiance that swept out Lebanon's pro-Syrian government two weeks after the assassination of a former prime minister.Cheering broke out among the demonstrators in Martyrs' Square when they heard Prime Minister Omar Karami's announcement on loudspeakers that the government was stepping down. Throughout the day, protesters handed out red roses to soldiers and police.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) |
February 27, 2005
Oscars
I'd rather be brushing my teeth but my wife LOVES awards shows so I have relinquished the remote.
Best line so far (and most probably of the night: "Oprah is in the house. She's so rich I saw John Kerry proposing to her in the hall."
Posted by bubba138 at 07:41 PM | Comments (0) |
February 25, 2005
Life Imitates Dilbert
Read this, published Wednesday:
She used to be known as the receptionist.Now this, published January 3rd:Now she's the Director of First Impressions.
Barbara Levine is one of several employees in the Scottsdale Unified School District whose job titles have changed in a sharp departure from the traditional titles that parents grew up using.
Was the school bus late? Blame the "transporter of learners," formerly the bus driver.
Got a problem with your school principal? Take it up with the 10-word "executive director for elementary schools and excelling teaching and learning," formerly known as the assistant superintendent of elementary schools.
Sound confusing or like hyperbole?
Scottsdale Superintendent John Baracy, who created the new titles for about a half-dozen employees, doesn't think so.
"This is to make a statement about what we value in the district. We value learning," said Baracy, who pledges to back up the new titles with better customer service.
Does it get any better?
Posted by bubba138 at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) |
The Test of Mouhamod Abbas
Mouhamod Abbas's test begins now:
An explosion went off late Friday among Israelis waiting in line outside a night club near Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade, and police reported some 30 casualties, including several dead.Now we shall see if Mouhamod Abbas is serious about peace. If he hunts down and prosecutes those responsible for this horrific act, then he's on the right track. If he does any less we will know that the hopes we have had for Israel since Arafat entered his stable condition of lifelessness are for naught.Israel Army Radio said the blast was set off by a suicide bomber, but police said the bomb might have been planted by assailants.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:02 PM | Comments (0) |
Apple "Slashes" iPod Prices
The geek/music world is all atwitter because Apple is lowering the prices of its iPod:
Trying to stay a giant step ahead of its competitors, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) slashed the prices of its mega-selling iPods by as much as 25 percent.Call me an old man, but please, how am I supposed to get excited about a digital music player that has had its price "slashed" to two-hundred dollars? That's a bit much to pay for a glorified CD player.The trendy high-end computer maker cut the price of its basic iPod mini by $50 to $199 and introduced another mini with more memory that can play 1,500 songs, priced at $249.
"They're being proactive," said Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Group. "They want to maintain their leadership position and make sure people don't migrate to other products."
Wake me when I can pick one up for forty bucks.
Posted by bubba138 at 02:49 PM | Comments (0) |
More Bad News
Bad news for the Democrats, at least:
The economy grew at a solid 3.8 percent annual rate in the final quarter of 2004 stronger than previously estimated an encouraging sign that the business expansion was firmly entrenched at the start of the new year.As much as the Democrats want bad news to continue, the world just is not cooperating. All last year they tried to tell us the economy was in the tank, but to no avail. Had the American voter bought into their gloom-and-doom hype, Kerry would be president and he'd be reversing the President's policies that are working and paying off now (either that or he'd be taking credit for the results).The new reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department Friday, was better than the government's initial calculation made a month ago. That estimate showed the economy growing at a 3.1 percent pace.
The improvement reflected more robust spending by businesses on capital equipment and to build up inventories of goods. The trade deficit also was less of a drag on fourth-quarter growth than initially thought.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) |
Juan Cole v Ralph Peters
Dueling op-eds (or spontaneous fisking) over at LegalXXX.
Actually, Chris is on a roll, so read his blog from the top and keep scrolling.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) |
Anglicans to Episcopalians: Please Leave
The Anglican church has asked the Episcopalians of the U.S. and Canada to step out from one of their key councils:
Anglican leaders have asked the US and Canadian Churches to withdraw from a key council temporarily because of their stance on homosexuality.So Bishop Robinson's selfishness and insistance of his right to sin has finally led to a formal split in the worldwide fellowship. Although this is not a complete split -- the Episcopalians are still technically part of the communion -- being removed from the Anglican Consultative Council is an obvious rejection.
They want the North American Churches to "consider their place within the Anglican Communion", a statement said.Dr Williams, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, told a news conference: "The North American Churches have been told very clearly and directly about the potential cost of the actions they have taken."
The statement by the Church leaders calling for a withdrawal from the Anglican Consultative Council until 2008 came after a four-day meeting in Northern Ireland.
The communique said top clerics were "deeply alarmed" that the "standard of Christian teaching on matters of human sexuality" had been "seriously undermined by the recent developments in North America".
Posted by bubba138 at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) |
Another "No Win" Situation
I have stayed away from the Jeff Gannon / Guckert story becuase it is really no story at all. After all, just who reads Talon news anyway. Even though I am obviously a right-leaning blogger, when I Google a subject I skip right over articles from Talon, Human Events Weekly, and most times Town Hall. (Although I do occasionally link to the last. Occasionally.)
I just went to Talon News, and this is what is on their home page:
The recent public focus on Talon News, while much of it malicious, has indeed brought some constructive elements to the surface. It has also brought many kind messages of support, and for that we are extremely grateful.In order to better serve those readers across the country who enjoy Talon News content and look forward to receiving it each day, we feel compelled to reevaluate operations in order to provide the highest quality, most professional product possible.
Thus, Talon News will be offline while we redesign the web site, perform a top-to-bottom review of staff and volunteer contributors, and address future operational procedures.
We look forward to bringing an even better product to our readers in the future.
The lefty bloggers are probably busy patting themselves on the back. But I am blown away at how they are "SHOCKED, SHOCKED" that the White House let a gay reporter into the press corps. As one of Glenn's readers puts it:
No big deal the white house allowed a gay escort into white house press briefings with faulty credentials, although you have to admit that sure is a lot of irony.So the White House is under fire now for being too inclusive? Imagine what would have happened had the White House refused Gannon entry. The left would be equally incensed that the bigot George Bush was unfairly excluding gays from press briefings. Andrew Sullivan would be well along a new crusade against the White House because not only do they not want gays to be married, but now they cannot even be reporters. This was a lose-lose situation for the White House from the beginning.
Another striking aspect of this is the target the left has chosen. They gleefully compare this to the Dan Rather/Memogate affair. Yet the lead bloggers primarily went after CBS/Rather. The thrust of that charge was to get CBS to fess up that the documents were dubious at best and most probably blatant forgeries. Very little of the blogging had anything to do with John Kerry. There was some speculation that the Kerry camp may have leaked the memos to CBS, but that was on the fringes of the discussion, not the focus of it.
Yet the target in the Gannon / Guckert affair is anything but Gannon / Guckert. He is merely a conduit through which the lefty bloggers are attacking the President. Somehow, in their minds allowing a right leaning reporter in the White House press corps is tantamount to treason.
Here's the bottom line. If the worst thing the left can pin on the President is that his staff allowed a gay Republican into the White House press corps, this country is alot better off than they would have you believe.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:31 AM | Comments (0) |
February 24, 2005
Spirit at Work
"Greater things than these shall ye do:"
A founding member of the heavy metal band Korn is leaving to focus on his religious beliefs.Perhaps all those years touring with P.O.D. had some influence?"Korn has parted ways with guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch who has chosen Jesus Christ as his saviour and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end." said a statement posted on Korn's website.
Welch told The Bakersfield Californian that his decision might be surprising to some, "A lot of people think I'm crazy. I don't care."
Welch said he'd become increasingly disenchanted with producing heavy metal music that invokes dark and morbid images.
"Those guys in the band, they're not bad guys. They're just a bunch of kids getting marketed how these guys in the big corporate firms want to do," Welch said. "It makes us look like bad people, but we're really just a bunch of kids who never had a chance to grow up."
Posted by bubba138 at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) |
More Than Just Flu
It looks like the situation is more serious than a little flu:
Pope John Paul has been rushed to hospital for the second time this month after suffering renewed breathing problems and Italian media report that surgeons are preparing to operate on his windpipe.Italian television reports the Pope has been moved to an operating theatre and is expected to have a tracheotomy.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:08 PM | Comments (0) |
Good News in Palestine
Mahmoud Abbas' influence is increasing, and that looks to be a good thing:
The Palestinian parliament on Thursday approved a 24-member Cabinet dominated by professional appointees, including nearly half with doctoral degrees, in a major move toward long-promised government reform.The further away the Palestinians get from Arafat's regime the better things will be for them, for Israel, and for the world. Arafat never wanted and never worked for peace. His aim was ever bent toward death, destruction, and the accumulation of power. The jury is still out, but so far, Mahmoud Abbas has demonstrated cool-headed resolve. Because of him, hope exists.The 54-12 vote, with four abstentions, ended days of wrangling between rebellious legislators and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, who initially sought to reappoint political cronies of the late Yasser Arafat.
On Wednesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas intervened in the dispute between parliament and his prime minister, and persuaded legislators from his Fatah Party to support a Cabinet largely consisting of ministers chosen for their expertise, not political loyalty.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) |
Gay Marriage: Let the States Decide?
President George W. Bush sufferred tremendous backlash when he stated last year that we needed a Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA). He was harangued as a bigot because only hate could prompt one to propose such a thing.
But the reality is the President announced his support of such an amendment because the strategy of gay-marriage proponents has been, and continues to be to press their rights in the courts. This is their only course because even in the bluest of states public opinion is against legalizing same sex marriages.
The President announced his support for the FMA soon after the Massechusetts supreme court ruled that the state was required to recognize gay marriages. It was only a matter of time before same-sex couples flocked to that state to perform their nuptials only to return and try to force their home state to recognize their new status.
"Not possible," screamed same-sex proponents. "Massachusetts law specifically denies out-of-state couples the right to marry if it would be illegal in their home state." The vocal pro gay marriage faction assured America not to worry, Massachusetts marriages would be for Massachusetts people only. The President was being paranoid, they said.
Massachusetts' highest court, which legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts, has agreed to hear a challenge to the 1913 law being used to bar out-of-state gay couples from getting married in the state.But no worries, because there is no gay agenda.The law denies out-of-state couples the right to marry if it would be illegal in their home state.
The Supreme Judicial Court agreed in late January to hear the case, but no public announcement was made. Because of an earlier ruling by the court, Massachusetts last year became the only state that allows gays couples to marry.
Oral arguments on the 1913 law are tentatively scheduled for September, said Joan Kenney, a spokeswoman for the court.
"We're optimistic about our chances because the court has already decided the commonwealth can't deny marriage rights to gays and lesbians," said attorney Michele Granda, who is representing eight [out-of-state] couples challenging the law.
Critics charge the 1913 law was written to block interracial marriages, but in its ruling the Superior Court said the state had presented credible evidence the law was passed to prevent abuse of existing divorce laws.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:26 AM | Comments (0) |
Cloudy Days
Sometimes, cloudy, rainy days are cool.
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Posted by bubba138 at 09:07 AM | Comments (0) |
Syrian Influence
The professor points to an article today that details Syrian cooperation with the insurgency in Iraq.
S&A readers know this isn't the first person to detail Syria's influence in Iraq:
Cooperation with Syria began in October 2003, when a Syrian intelligence officer contacted me. S'ad Hamad Hisham and later Saddam Hussein himself authorized me to go to Syria. So I was sent to Syria. I crossed the border illegally. then I went to Damascus and met with an intelligence officer, Lieutenant-Colonel "Abu Naji" through a mediator called "Abu Saud." I raised the issues that preocupied Saddam Hussein and the leadership. There were four issues: First, the issue of the media; second, political support in international forums; [third], aid in the form of weapons, and [fourth], material aid, whether it is considered a debt or is taken from the frozen Iraqi funds in Syria.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:34 AM | Comments (0) |
February 23, 2005
Darfur in the Sudan
Everything is OK, because the U.N. says it's not a genocide.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:02 PM | Comments (0) |
Where Can We Go?
Mad Mikey is talking about our politician's (specifically the President's) lack of backbone on illegal immigration:
there are quite a few Republicans that, while supporting President Bush on a great many topics, will NOT support this 'guest worker/amnesty' program. There are quite a few of us really cheesed about this - so much that (at least I am) tempted to draw a line in the sand and say Cross this and you'll be sorry in 2006.While I agree to some extent, my question is for which party is Mikey going to vote?There are some things that go beyond blind allegiance to one's party and that's defending the integrity of our nation.
After all, the Democrats are hardly in a better position on this issue. Here in California, not only are they telling us the economy's foundation is built upon illegal immigration (the same argument used by slave owners in the 1800's, by the way), but they want to further encourage the unlawful practice by giving drivers licenses to people who are in the U.S. illegally.
So voting for Democrats is also out of the question. Further, Mikey says the Republicans will be sorry in 2006, obviously referring to the mid-term elections. But in California, our Congressmen have been right-on when it comes to illegal immigration.
What we really need to examine here is what is the real problem? Are we concerned with immigration itself, or are we concerned that the immigrants are coming to America illegally, without due process, and therefore are ghosts in the system. To be sure, there are xenophopes in our society that would like nothing less than to completely shut down our borders (I am not in any way suggesting that Mikey is one of these). But in light of 9/11 the real concern should be National Security.
The grand majority of aliens slipping across our borders are honest people who want nothing more than to provide a better life for themselves and their future generations. As much as third and fourth generation immigrants want to complain and convince us that California and Arizona really are Mexico (Atzlan) and they should be returned to them as such, those risking their lives to cross the border do so knowing the American way of life is vastly superior in terms of economic opportunity.
Because those coming across our borders in waves do so without documentation we have no idea who they are, why they are coming, and most importantly, what their backgrounds are. The more that come the easier it is for nefarious types to slip in with them. So what we need to do is develop a more reliable system of assimilating workers legally. More to the point, we need to make it easier for honest workers people to immigrate -- to stream line the process in such a way in which workers can be efficiently background checked, documented and integrated into the work force.
Stream-lining the assimilation of workers -- if done correctly -- could simultaneously increase national security and reduce the number of illegal immigrants. Security concerns would be lessened because thousands who would have slipped into our country undetected would now be documented.
Lets say such a stream-lined system is put into place. Our borders would more easily be crossed legally by those who wished to improve their lives. But what then do we do with those who are already here? Do we require them to exit the country and start the process from scratch, or do we give them the ability to be legally processed into the newly streamlined system, in effect making them legal, documented workers?
If we go with the first option -- requiring them leave the country before starting the process -- there is little incentive for the current undocumented workers to attain legal status. After all, many have built a life for themselves here -- they are fully invested in our society, had children, bought houses -- and to leave the country just to achieve legalization would be too much of a sacrifice for them. They would continue their illegal status because pursuing legalization would be more of a liability than a benefit. Allowing them to remain unidentified and undocumented is as much a security concern as allowing thousands to stream across our borders without notice.
So it is obvious we must find a way to assimilate not only those who wish to come to our country but also those who have already made the journey but remain hidden from the system. Call it amnesty if you wish, but the fact remains something must be done with the productive workers who wish to be an positive, active participant in our society.
The President's plan may or may not be the right way to address illegal immigration. Regardless, we do ourselves a disservice in rejecting it outright without deeply defining, analyzing, discussing and understanding the problem. Further, if we argue against one plan, and do not present another that addresses the problem more sufficiently, we are no more than whiners.
Update: Clayton Cramer makes a good point:
As I have pointed out in the past, we have enough manpower to stop 98% of all illegal immigration--it would just take some political willpower to do so. The President has authority to call up the unorganized militia for home defense, and my guess is that large numbers of Americans, especially in the border states, would be quite willing to serve one day a month on active duty. While there are some pretty dangerous and nasty smugglers along that border, the vast majority of the illegal aliens aren't particularly dangerous.I'm not too sure about giving the average homeowner a gun and a uniform once a month, but the thrust of Clayton's view -- that we have the resources to stem the tide -- is worthy of consideration.
Especially painful is the President's lack of follow-through in providing increased manpower considering that more than 65 thousand non-Mexican (including Iranians and Syrians) illegal aliens enter through our southern borders each year.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:19 PM | Comments (0) |
Jesus Done Left Chicago...
I have never been the type to spend much time getting all nostalgic mourning days past or living in long dead glory. But sometimes going backwards is tasty. I was never a huge ZZ Top fan, but they did have one album I loved: "Tres Hombres." On a whim yesterday, I bought and downloaded the album off WalMart's music site.
The beared bards from Tejas first served up this delicious audio feast more than thirty years ago, but in my mind it stand the test of time. The album is full of heavy, soulful blues guitar, and great lyrics that take you to New Orleans with Jesus, to heaven with a "Hot Blue and Righteous" angel, and to the street with "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers." It's everything a blues record should be.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:29 AM | Comments (0) |
Carnival of Education
It's over at The Education Wonks this week. Check it out.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:14 AM | Comments (0) |
February 22, 2005
Yes, It's Raining
Southern California is taking it hard this year. Just so all y'all non-Cali dudes get the picture:
In the first fifty three days of 2005 we have received more than 11.22 inches -- equal to or more than all of 2003, 2002 or 2001.
Now that's wet.
(Source)
Posted by bubba138 at 02:23 PM | Comments (0) |
Stupid Law Time
As if California hasn't enough laws, today is the last day our state legislature can propose new laws. So our Senators and Assembly persons are rolling up their sleeves to get the dumb ones in before the deadline. Here are some of my favorites (ie: the ones that should be filed in the garbage bin asap):
Bills vetoed last year by Schwarzenegger that have been resurrected include SB 60 by Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), which would let an estimated 2 million drivers with undocumented immigration status get licenses after they submit fingerprints for a background check. [An illegal law that encourages and aids illegal activity]Leno's bill, AB 19, would redefine state law to make marriage a civil contract between two people, not just a man and a woman. [Ignore the the fact that this bill would be in direct conflict with Proposition 22, which passed with an overwhelming majority of voters]
California would become the second state after Oregon to allow people to get a prescription to end their lives under AB 654 by Assemblywoman Patty Berg (D-Eureka) and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys). [Yep, let's promote death]
Guns: Would require semiautomatic handguns to include a technology that stamps the gun's serial number on the cartridge to help police identify weapons used in crimes. AB 352 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood). [Perhaps we can get it to stamp the shooter's fingerprints as well]
Income tax: Would raise the personal income tax on top earners from 9.3% to 11%, as it was between 1991 and 1996. AB 6 by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan (D-Alameda). [Higher taxes in California. Again.]
Cigarettes: Would require that all cigarettes sold in California be self-extinguishing and would ban smoking on coastal beaches. AB 178 and AB 17 by Koretz. [Self-extinguishing cigarettes. Perhaps they can make them so they just won't light?]
Sexual slavery: Would make human trafficking a felony. AB 22 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View), AB 41 by Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), SB 180 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). [Isn't this already a felony?]
Write-in candidates: Would make a vote for a write-in candidate valid even if a voter does not also fill in the oval next to the candidate's name. In the San Diego mayoral race last year, more than 5,500 write-in votes were disqualified because voters did not fill in the oval next to candidate Donna Frye's name. AB 43 by Assemblyman Juan Vargas (D-San Diego). [What about a bill that upholds the law that says there can be no write-ins for San Diego's Mayoral general election?]
Mascots: Would ban the use of "Redskins" as a nickname or mascot name for public school sports teams. AB 13 by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles). [Ummmm, yeah.]
Posted by bubba138 at 12:04 PM | Comments (0) |
Thompson Suicide
It was, of course, President Bush's fault:
Outlaw, druggie, Dunhill-smoking, Chivas Regal-drinking, anti-establishment literary icon Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide after becoming depressed about the United States' shift toward conservatism, said one longtime friend who spent the weekend at the Aspen, Colo., home of the late "gonzo" journalist.What evidence is there ti support Mr. Jenkin's theory? None, of course. But who needs evidence when something bad can be blamed upon the eeeevveeel rethuglilcans? One would think if Thompson were depressed over the election he would have mentioned it in his suicide letter. Alas, that was not the case:"He was depressed about the state of society," said Loren Jenkins, foreign editor for National Public Radio in Washington.
A vehement opponent of President Bush, Mr. Thompson, 67, "was feeling maudlin about the current conservatism sweeping the country," Mr. Jenkins said.
Was there anything specific that led Thompson, the model for a character in the comic strip "Doonesbury," to commit suicide? Tobia said he did not know, but noted Thompson has written about suicide and talked about it with friends.The decision, he said, had nothing to do with the reelection of George W. Bush or the current trend in national politics, which provided a certain grist for Thompson's mill.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) |
Paris Hilton and al Qa'eda
While everyone else is talking about Paris Hilton's data from her T-Mobile Sidekick being broadcast all over the internet, mainstream media has deliberately refused to cover the much more important (if completely without factual basis) link between her and al Qa'eda chief, Osama bin Laden.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) |
Wet Mars
A European space probe has found evidence for large blocks of water ice just beneath the Martian surface in relatively warm conditions near the equator.The newfound pack ice, just five degrees from the equator, might have collected millions of years ago when volcanic tempests and water floods brought it down from nearby areas in the Elysium region of the planet, researchers say. Scars to the landscape serve as evidence of those past floods.
“The fact that there have been warm and wet places beneath the surface of Mars since before life began on Earth, and that some are probably still there, means that there is a possibility that primitive micro-organisms survive on Mars today," study co-leader John Murray at the Open University in the UK said in today's statement. "This mission has changed many of my long-held opinions about Mars – we now have to go there and check it out."
Posted by bubba138 at 11:00 AM | Comments (0) |
Free Mojtaba and Arash Day
BBC:
Iran is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to keep an online diary.Today has been declared Free Mojtaba and Arash Day. If you blog, make sure to raise attention to these two bloggers and call for their release. Even if you don't click on this banner to find out what you can do to help these two Iranian bloggers, and by extension the cause of free-speech worldwide.Web logs have become a popular forum for dissent. And the Iranian government has responded by arresting dozens of bloggers.
Bloggers Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both currently in prison in Iran.
Mr Sigarchi has been in detention since 17 January while Mr Saminejad was first detained in November.
"Freedom of expression is really at stake at the moment," says Julien Pain, who runs the Internet Freedom Desk at the Paris based group Reporters without Borders.
"The Iranian authorities have been clamping down on regular media for a long time, but it's only in the last six months that they're harshly attacking cyber-dissidents and webloggers. It's really a serious situation."
"Saminejad was kept in solitary confinement for 88 days, and he was subjected to severe beatings and torture. He was briefly released on 27 January for a short time, but because bail had been set at $125,000, and he wasn't able to pay that, he was rearrested, and his conditions are unknown."
Here is more:
Also, visit these blogs and show your support.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) |
Bush Assassin Caught
The federal indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified co-conspirator discussed plans for Abu Ali to assassinate Bush. They discussed two scenarios, the indictment said, one in which Abu Ali "would get close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" and, alternatively, "an operation in which Abu Ali would detonate a car bomb."According to the indictment, Abu Ali obtained a religious blessing from another unidentified co-conspirator to assassinate the president. One of the unidentified co-conspirators in the plot is among 19 people the Saudi government said in 2003 was seeking to launch terror attacks in that country, according to the indictment.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:15 AM | Comments (0) |
February 21, 2005
Bring the Troops Home
Ted Kennedy has been harping for months to bring the troops home from the occupation. The good news for him is someone is finally responding to his pleas. The bad news is that it isn't the U.S.:
Syria indicated on Monday it would start withdrawing some of its troops from Lebanon soon, but President Bush insisted it should "end its occupation" of its neighbor.Is it reasonable to think this would be happening had the U.S. not gone into Iraq? I think not."President Bashar al-Assad stressed more than once in (our) talks his firm intention to press ahead with the implementation of the Taif agreement and to plan a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in line with this agreement," he [Arab League chief Amr Moussa] told reporters after meeting Assad in Damascus.
Syria, which has 14,000 troops in Lebanon, pulled out or redeployed a few thousand troops last year. It was widely expected to pull out some more troops ahead of a general election in Lebanon, due to take place by May.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:14 PM | Comments (0) |
Shades of Gray
My friend Sallie is taking a photography class and it is challenging her:
Taking pictures in "Black and White" is a challenge. We don't think that way... everything is thought of in color. Contrast is the name of the game when you compose.I giggled when I read this. Like many others, I first took up photography as a hobby in high-school. Over the years, life took over and my once loved creative outlet went by the wayside.
Sometime last year, however, I was alone in the house without wife or kids. On a whim I picked up my HP 715 and took a walk around my backyard.
My experience was the complete opposite of my friend Sallie. I received my first (and only) photographic instruction over twenty years prior, everything I did was in black and white. I found that many of my photos were quite boring, until I rendered them in black and white.
So my challenge over the last few months has been to retrain my eye to color. It has been fun, as the challenge is both technical and creative. I am forced to apply all I learned in black and white (composition, shading, light) and then look for something striking in the color variations. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't.
It has really been a tremendous experience -- akin to falling in love again with a long ago girl-friend (I do that on a regular basis, too. It is easy to do because I married her.) A passion for creativity has reawakened within me, and this time I refuse to let it be crowded out by circumstance and obligatory busyness. I expect the passion will only increase next month when I move up to this.
P.S. Sallie, if you read this post, this is awesome in B&W, and so is this.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:20 PM | Comments (0) |
Hell Hath Frozen Over
First I say hillary Clinton is a bright spot in the Democratic party, and now I am about to agree with John Edwards:
Democrats who invoke God's name on the campaign trail will be seen as politicians pandering for votes, says failed vice presidential candidate John Edwards.He's right. It says something about a candidate when he starts giving sermons from the Book of James only after he realizes he is falling behind in a certain demographic."I don't believe the answer for us going forward is to invoke the Lord's name 55 times in a speech. First of all, I think it looks political. It looks like you're just moving around for politics' sake. I think people want to know who you are and what you're made of," Mr. Edwards said.
Voters are not looking for religious candidates. (Heck, we elected Nixon and Clinton, didn't we?) Instead they are looking for candidates who are authentic. The President is not pandering when he speaks of faith because it is authentic and has been a part of his language for the span of his Christian life. But when a person like Dean speaks of religion only when he is trying to pick up votes in the south, something does not sit right with voters.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) |
Current Reading
I got Bishop McKinney's newest book, "The New Slave Masters" late last week and it has had a profound impact on me. I am about halfway through, and this book is packed with practical ministry examples and application.
Bishop McKinney has been around long enough to have experienced the highs and the lowest lows that ministry has to offer. He pulls no punches in relating one episode after another in which Satan's influence and man's desire for sin have devestated lives and families past the point of utter destruction.
The New Slave Masters specifically applies to the African American community, but the entire church (and all humanity) could do worse than to heed its lessons. As God said to Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
Even though none of us are immune from sin's desire (as Paul said, "...I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin") our society thinks it can dismiss sin merely by refusing to call sin what it is, a direct and willful rejection of God and his grace for us. Bishop McKinney has done a masterful job at illustrating the catastrophic effects of sin on individuals and their community. But he goes further, by identifying the base lies Satan uses to convince us we are justified in our sin.
Bishop McKinney treats the reader to practical writing, for practical application. Books like these help the church make an eternal difference in people's lives. There is no higher praise than that.
Update: Here is a Q&A session with the Bishop regarding the book.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:55 PM | Comments (0) |
Conservative Hillary
Speaking with reporters by telephone from Baghdad, Clinton said there were "grounds for cautious optimism" about Iraq's direction after last month's successful national elections, which she called an "important milestone" because so many voted in the face of terrorist threats.I never thought I would say this but Senator Clinton right now is the brightest spot in a very dark Democrat party. If she continues in this vein, she'll be quite popular by 2008."I don't think we should be setting a deadline," she said. "That just gives a green light to the insurgents and the terrorists, that if they just wait us out they can basically have the country. It's not in our interests, given the sacrifices we've made."
Posted by bubba138 at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) |
February 18, 2005
Kickin' Butt and Takin' Names
Yep.In his new role as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dean has stressed that Democrats are stronger than Republicans on defense.It's not clear how this shows that "Democrats are stronger than Republicans on defense." After all, "swaggering around saying you're going to kick Saddam's butt" was precisely the policy of the last Democratic administration. The current Republican administration actually kicked his butt and even took down names. That strikes us as a pretty broad policy."Defense is a lot broader than swaggering around saying you're going to kick Saddam's butt," Dean said Thursday, drawing cheers from the crowd in this city that overwhelmingly voted Democratic last November.
P.S. A Hobbesian choice comes from Thomas Hobbes' belief that man must choose between living in a state of nature (a life which is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short") or suffering under an arbitrary and absolute government.
Posted by bubba138 at 02:31 PM | Comments (0) |
Keep Your Friends Close
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed his own brother-in-law to be chief of military intelligence:
Syrian sources say the appointment could suggest Mr Assad is consolidating his hold over the security services.These are unstable times for undemocratic Arab countries. The new Iran/Syria alliance and this move show that the powers that be in Syria are quite nervous about what the future holds.As head of military intelligence, Gen Shawkat will oversee Syria's domestic and foreign intelligence operations, including in Lebanon.
Update: Speaking of unstable, this applies:
Thousands of people took to the streets Friday in various parts of Lebanon as opposition leaders called for people around the world to support a peaceful "uprising" against Syrian armed forces in Lebanon and the pro-Syrian government.Omar Karami, a Syrian supporter, replaced Hariri as prime minister.
People burned pictures of Karami on Friday in his hometown of Tripoli, northern Lebanon.
Asked what the government was willing to give the opposition, he said, "Nothing. We are trying to have a national dialogue but they are the ones who are saying no.
Lebanese Tourism Minister Farid al-Khazen resigned Friday, saying on state television, "The current government is not capable of resolving the dangerous situations in the country."
Posted by bubba138 at 02:07 PM | Comments (0) |
WANTED: Osama bin Laden
This is sure to bring howls about President Bush's "cowboy swagger:"
The United States launched a campaign on Pakistani television and radio in the past week to advertise multi-million-dollar rewards for information leading to the arrest of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders.There is no word yet if the phrase "Dead or Alive" is used.A 30-second television commercial shows pictures of bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, who both have $25 million rewards on their heads, and 12 other terrorist suspects, including Mullah Mohammad Omar, the leader of Afghanistan's vanquished Taliban militia.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:40 PM | Comments (0) |
From the Department of "DUH"
Here's breaking news, religion is good for our youth:
Many other activities compete for their time, but among religiously active teens - those who attend services weekly and belong to a youth group - their faith appears to be making a significant difference in their behavior.Hmmm. Go figure.The National Study of Youth and Religion, described as the most comprehensive research ever done on faith and adolescence, revealed that such teens are more likely to:
Do better in school.
Feel better about themselves.
Shun alcohol, drugs and sex.
Care about the poor.
Make moral choices based on what is right rather than what would make them happy.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:34 PM | Comments (0) |
Who Is Holding the Black Man Back?
Could it be...SATAN?
Not all chains are made of metal. Some are made of drugs and gangs, of the mindless pursuit of happiness and the quest for instant gratification. For Bishop George McKinney, these are some of the things holding African-Americans captive today.After reading the article I ordered and Bishop McKinney's book right away. It seems to me the concepts he is applying specifically to the African-American community are also applicable in a broader scope. Satan does exist, and he is most definitely an equal-opportunity oppressor. He wants nothing more than to keep everyone enslaved to the flesh, regardless of race, color, and creed.They are, he says, the new slave masters.
After a lifetime of ministering in one of the toughest sections of San Diego, McKinney thinks he knows who is to blame.
The culprit, he says, is Satan.
"I firmly believe the reason our precious African-American families were enslaved centuries ago, and the reason they experience enslavement today, is that Satan wants to see us alone and weak," he writes in his new book, "The New Slavemasters."
Posted by bubba138 at 09:10 AM | Comments (0) |
Putin: Don't Worry, Be Happy
Russia's president, Vladimir Putin says there is no reason to worry about Iran getting its hands on nuclear technology:
"The spread of nuclear weapons on the planet does not aid security, it does not strengthen security. The latest steps from Iran confirm that Iran does not intend to produce nuclear weapons and we will continue to develop relations in all spheres, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Putin said at a meeting with Iranian National Security Council chief Hassan Rowhani.Well, I certainly feel reassured. Like Putin I "hope" Iran wil comply. I also "hope" someone will walk up to me on the street and give me a million dollars.Putin's statement indicated that the chance of agreement with Washington on Iran is minimal.
"We hope that Iran will strictly adhere to all international agreements, in relation to Russia and the international community," Putin said.
Yeah, that's going to happen.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) |
February 17, 2005
Jobless Claims Drop...Again
AP:
A total of 302,000 Americans filed applications for jobless benefits last week, down by 2,000 from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis. The level was the lowest since Oct. 28, 2000, in the closing months of the country's record 10-year long economic expansion.That pretty much puts the joke to this:
The decline in jobless claims caught analysts by surprise. They had been forecasting an increase of around 12,000, reflecting a predicted bounce up after the impressive declines of 9,000 and 12,000 in the previous two weeks.
Analysts said the decline in claims provided further evidence that the labor market is continuing to show improvements with fewer layoffs and more companies deciding to hire new workers.
Today House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, joined by Rep. James Oberstar (D- Minn.) and George Miller (D-Calif.), unveiled legislative proposals to promote prosperity and job growth as part of the House Democrats' New Partnership for America's Future. Below are Pelosi's remarks:To bad for Pelosi and the Democrats that "steps to expand prosperity, to provide all Americans with the opportunity to succeed," yada, yada, yada have already been placed into effect...and they are working."Today, Democrats are putting forward specific steps to expand prosperity, to provide all Americans with the opportunity to succeed, to live a secure and comfortable life including good jobs here at home, affordable health care, a growing economy with stable prices, investments in new technologies, and fiscal responsibility in government."
Posted by bubba138 at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) |
Aliens Cause Global Warming
So says Michael Chrichton:
I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.Seriously, the article is very well worth reading, and makes a salient and profound point. Read the whole thing.Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:49 AM | Comments (0) |
A Good Question for the AARP
Are privatized Social Security really the same as gambling, as the AARP claims?
In one ad, labeled "misleading" by the nonpartisan watchdog FactCheck.org, the AARP shows a wild trading pit with the headline, "Winners and Losers are stock market terms. Do you really want them to become retirement terms?"Another AARP ad features a man and woman considering the Bush plan and saying, "If we feel like gambling, we'll play the slots."
But the AARP is talking out of both sides of its mouth. It says that stock and bond investing is like playing a slot machine at the same time it promotes stock and bond investing by selling 38 mutual funds to its members and taking a cut from each sale.
AARP's funds include far riskier choices than advocates of Social Security reform would ever offer to American workers: for example, a Latin American stock fund, a junk-bond fund, and a fund that holds shares of companies based in such highly volatile markets as Indonesia and Russia.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:18 AM | Comments (0) |
February 16, 2005
Local Boy Does Good
Check out this blog by a local San Diego man who is doing good stuff in Indonesia.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:09 AM | Comments (0) |
Plame Affair: Why Journalist Must Comply
In the Plame case, the journalists involved are not protecting a source, they are protecting a criminal:
In any event, the Plame case is nothing like the prototype that might justify a privilege. In this case, the crime, if there was a crime, was the leak itself. The sources were not witnesses to scandal; they are the scandal. Those who exposed Wilson's wife in effect used the press to do their dirty work, not to cleanse it. Their goal, at least according to Wilson, was not to reveal truth, but to punish Wilson for his revelations.One wonders, if the Bush administration is so evil, why are they not going after the Sandy Berger scandal with the same vigor as they are the Plame affair?
Posted by bubba138 at 09:39 AM | Comments (0) |
Greenspan: Fix Social Security Now
Here is what he had to say:
In his prepared testimony, the Fed chairman said, "Beyond the near term, benefits promised to a burgeoning retirement-age population under mandatory entitlement programs, most notably Social Security and Medicare, threaten to strain the resources of the working-age population in the years ahead.I suppose overnight Greenspan has become a Republican hack."Real progress on these issues will unavoidably entail many difficult choices," he added. "But the demographics are inexorable, and call for action before the leading edge of baby boomer retirement becomes evident in 2008.
"This is especially the case because longer-term problems, if not addressed, could begin to affect longer-dated debt issues, the value of which is based partly on expectations of developments many years in the future," Greenspan added.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) |
February 15, 2005
BLOG
Yes, Blog.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:01 AM | Comments (0) |
D.C.'s Political Slush Fund
DC Council member Jack Evans is a busy man:
There are not enough hours in the day to attend every event I'm invited to but my staff and I made it through another week of making it to as many as we could. One of the best was last night's reception in the Wilson Building with over 70 members of the Department of Health's Advisory Board.But one meeting he is sure to make is this Thursday's annual Ward 2 "Constituent Services Fund" event. This event, which is mirrored by many -- if not all -- of Mr. Evans' co-council members, is billed as a charitable fundraiser with the purpose of providing cash for local community members in need.
However, it seems the only real oversight of this money is performed by the politicians who raise the money. The council members for the most part can spend it on what ever they wish, using their own judgement on which community members are in need -- and some the cash outlays are questionable at best:
D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has spent nearly $20,000 since 2000 for a season ticket to the Washington Wizards and bought candlestick holders at Neiman Marcus as a wedding gift for a former intern.In an age where campaign finance reform is one of the hottest topics, it sure sounds strange that D.C. politicians are pan-handling donors to pad accounts that have little built-in accountability.Harold Brazil (D-At Large) reimbursed himself more than $7,500 for lunches, dinners and unspecified expenses. And Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) provided some of their council staff with special, interest-free loans.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:40 AM | Comments (0) |
Schwarzennegger for Governor
I would like to speak about the difference the recall makes:This Governor puts taxpayers ahead of bureaucrats.
This Governor believes that it shouldn't be more lucrative to retire than to work.
This Governor thinks teachers who excel should be paid more than teachers who fail.
This Governor thinks people who work should live better than people who won't.
This Governor thinks workers compensation should go to injured workers, not "slip and fall" shysters.
This Governor thinks an official California Drivers License should be a privilege of citizenship.
This Governor thinks letting politicians draw their own district boundary lines is like giving the town drunk a bottle of scotch for safekeeping.
This Governor doesn't rearrange boxes, this Governor blows up the boxes.
And today, this party wants to tell this Governor, we think he's doin a heckuva job!
Two years ago, this party decided that we couldn't afford 3 more years of Gray Davis. This party couldn't afford to wait and so supported the recall. This party shouldn't wait now.
Mr Chairman, I move that TODAY, we endorse Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for re-election in 2006!
I'll second that motion.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) |
Compassionate Conservatism
If you have ever wondered what compassionate conservatism looks like, here it is:
After hearing graphic stories of suffering directly from persecuted young people who fled to the United States, President Bush intervened personally to sharply increase the number of refugees admitted to the country — undoing the severe limits placed on such admissions for security reasons after the Sept. 11 attacks.A 21-year-old Liberian woman, Veronica Braewell, broke down in tears as she told Bush about her experience at age 13 of being left for dead on a pile of bodies by militants, of having watched them slice open the bellies of pregnant women and kill unarmed schoolchildren.
As she sobbed, the president handed Braewell a handkerchief and embraced her, Braewell recalled in a tearful interview from her home in Allentown, Pa.
She told the president of her plans to become a nurses' assistant, and thanked him for her rescue.
"Thank the American people," she said the president responded. "Lots of people make this possible," he said, and specifically mentioned the work of organizations like Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, two religious groups that resettle refugees in the U.S.
Those organizations and others, such as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, have long urged the U.S. to maintain its leadership in rescuing refugees.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:44 AM | Comments (0) |
Hopes for Peace?
Can we truly hope for peace? Not in the Middle East, mind you, but here in the U.S. Is it possible we can put away partisanship and just be Americans? Perhaps:
The first thing I'd tell these marines is that when these politicians went abroad to represent the U.S., they didn't take their squabbles with them. There were Democrats and Republicans in this delegation, but you couldn't tell who was who by listening to their speeches.The first thing I'd tell these marines is that when these politicians went abroad to represent the U.S., they didn't take their squabbles with them. There were Democrats and Republicans in this delegation, but you couldn't tell who was who by listening to their speeches.
Instead, what you heard were pretty specific, productive suggestions on winning the war against Islamist extremism. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham lobbied for ways to use NATO troops to protect a larger U.N. presence in Iraq. Democratic Representative Jane Harman was pushing the Europeans to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Hillary Clinton suggested ways to strengthen the U.N., while also blasting its absurdities. Clinton affirmed that the U.S. preferred to work within the U.N., but she toughened her speech with ad-libs, warning, "Sometimes we have to act with few or no allies."
Posted by bubba138 at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) |
Tax By the Mile
You have got to be kidding me:
As more and more hybrids hit the road, cash-strapped states are warning of rough roads ahead.Lets get this straight. Many of the state gasoline tax raises in recent years have been sold to the public with the goal of creating an incentive for people to conserve fuel. So as a reward for responding correctly to that incentive the state is considering taking more out of our pockets.Officials in car-clogged California are so worried they may be considering a replacement for the gas tax altogether, replacing it with something called "tax by the mile."
Seeing tax dollars dwindling, neighboring Oregon has already started road testing the idea.
Further, I guarantee that if this "tax by the mile" system is instated, the other gasoline taxes (currently 18 cents per gallon just for the state) will still remain, so we will be double-taxed.
Who is pushing for this type of tax in California? None other than Joan Borucki, California's director if the Department of Motor Vehicles:
The appointment of Joan Borucki, a Democrat and longtime Caltrans official, has placed an advocate for a per-mile transportation tax within the top ranks of the Schwarzenegger administration.I can see that as cars get more fuel efficient, and even move toward alternate (non-petroleum) energy sources, the state will have to find a different way to fund highway maintenance. But to institute a tax-by-mile system at this time would cause a huge tax revolt. That is a battle the current governor does not want to fight.She included the notion in the California Performance Review, a top-to-bottom audit ordered by Schwarzenegger last year. Borucki was the leader on the transportation section and pushed the idea of an odometer-based fee at an August public meeting in Riverside.
Update: Da Boi was on this months ago.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:18 AM | Comments (0) |
Blame America
Once again, it's America's fault:
A group of Austrian and German victims of the Asian tsunami disaster are to file a lawsuit demanding that Thailand, French hotel chain Accor and US forecasters prove they reacted adequately to the disaster, their lawyers said.This is beyond the pale of ridiculous. First they say they "found that serious lapses were committed," then they say they are suing to find evidence that would prove negligence. If they have already found serious lapses, don't they already have their evidence?The suit, naming Accor and the US-run tsunami early warning system in the Pacific as well as Thai authorities, will be filed in a New York district court this week, the lawyers said in Vienna.
"We found that serious lapses were committed," said Herwig Hasslacher, one of the three lawyers for the group.
They said the suit was not, at present, designed to demand compensation but to uncover evidence that would prove negligence.
The NOAA is accused of having registered the earthquake but failed to alert Indian Ocean countries of the impending tsunamis as the Hawaii centre covered only the Pacific. The lawyers said that if the NOAA and Thai authorities, which had their own information, had passed on their alerts in time, it would have enabled people on shorelines to flee inland.
"We have evidence they did not warn us, even though they knew a quarter of an hour later about the strength and location of the quake, and although there is supposed to be a tsunami warning" from 6.5 on the Richter scale, Hasslacher said. The quake measured 9.0.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:46 AM | Comments (0) |
February 14, 2005
All You Need to Know
...about Social INSecurity, by Jeff Jacoby:
Social Security wasn't always a sucker's game. As with all Ponzi schemes, players who got in early made out like bandits. For many years, Social Security deductions were minuscule. Until 1949, the combined employer/employee tax rate was only 2 percent, and it was imposed on just the first $3,000 of income, for a maximum payroll tax of just $60 a year. The first Social Security recipient was Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vt., who retired in 1940 after having paid a grand total of $44 in payroll taxes. By the time she died in 1975, she had collected $20,933.52 in benefits -- a return on her "investment" of more than 47,000 percent.One-eighth and if the Democrats have their way that 12% is due for an increase.It wasn't really an investment, of course. It was a forced transfer of wealth from younger people to an older one. And as the number of Ida May Fullers grew, and the value of their benefits increased, the amount of wealth that had to be transferred kept climbing. By the time I entered the workforce in 1975, the Social Security withholding rate was 9.9 percent, applied to wages of up to $14,100. Maximum tax bite: $1,395 a year -- more than 23 times the $60 of a generation earlier.
And a generation later? Today Social Security skims off 12.4 percent of the first $90,000 earned -- one-eighth of every paycheck. There are no exemptions, no deductions. It kicks in from the very first dollar of income. It is the biggest tax the average American household faces -- 80 percent of us pay more in Social Security taxes than we do in income tax.
But it is not a crisis.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:05 PM | Comments (0) |
Holes in Homeland Security
I was once a frequent business traveller but in recent years my travelling has been largely restricted to pleasure (not a bad transition in the least). As such all my dealings with the TSA since 9/11 have been fairly efficient and without headache.
Neal Boortz, however, does a lot more hopping than I do, so he gets to see the best and the worst the TSA has to offer:
As I approached the screening machine I was wearing a colored t-shirt (t-shirt of color, if you will) with an unbuttoned long sleeve sports shirt. The lady shoving the luggage into the machine told me I had to remove my jacket.That does not exactly inspire one with confidence that that particular security person has the grey-matter to do her job."It isn't a jacket. It's my shirt."
"Well you have something on under it."
"That's my undershirt."
"Well, you're wearing it like a jacket, so you'll have to take it off."
"What if I just button it?"
"That would be OK".
Posted by bubba138 at 02:24 PM | Comments (0) |
Oil For Food Only the Beginning
David Frum posits the Oil-for-Food scandal is not the U.N.'s biggest problem (emphasis added):
It's time to wake up to reality: The U.N. scandals are not unfortunate accidents. They are not incidental blots on the reputation of an otherwise idealistic organization. The scandals are inherent in the very structure of the U.N. It could be said that the U.N. itself is the scandal.Such is the inherent nature of any global political system. As long as totalitarian governments hold influence over a body, that body will be infected with freedom suppressing ideology.Since the 1990s, the United Nations has aspired to larger and larger responsibilities. From Bosnia to Cambodia, from Iraq to the Congo, U.N. officials have administered vast aid programs - and sometimes even taken over the functions of governments.
But these officials don't answer to taxpayers or voters. They answer to the U.N. secretary-general - who, in turn, answers to dozens of different governments. Many of these governments are authoritarian, corrupt and unaccountable themselves.
And their dirty ways of doing business are almost inevitably absorbed by the world bodies in which they are given a decisive role.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) |
Not Dead Yet
...and I did not get abducted by aliens either. My youngest had a Cheer competition in Vegas late last week and my hotel did not have wireless internet (gasp!).
I'm just getting back into the swing of things, but here is something to entertain you: Baby Got Book
Posted by bubba138 at 08:36 AM | Comments (0) |
February 09, 2005
Strange Bedfellows
Evangelical environmentalists? Gabe calls them strange bedfellows, but there is little strange with those who were given care of this world taking God's charge seriously.
It is easier to pigeonhole evangelicals and dismiss all their arguments if you can demonize them as worshippers of an uncaring God who actively push a scorched-earth policy in order to usher in the new millennium (as if man can hurry God).
The fundemental difference between the "Green" environmentalists and evengelical environmentalists is their view of the nature of the relationship between man and earth. In the mind of many Greens, earth is the primary entity, and man is a mere byproduct at best and at worst a harmful parasite. The Bible, however holds a different view:
So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.So Biblically speaking, the earth and all that is on it was created to sustain man.God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals." And God said, "Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food." And so it was.
"A-ha!" you say, "The earth is just a thing to use and throw away. We were right about those Christians after all."
Not quite. Man is to rule over (subdue) the earth, not in order to use it all up but instead to make sure it sustains the life that God had created. God commanded man to "Multiply and fill the earth" (a commandment He also gave to the fish and birds). All this life multiplying must be sustained, so God charged man with creating an environment that sustains life, not one that seeks to destroy life.
Being an environmentalists and an evangelical Christian are in no way mutually exclusive. Divisions largely exist because a large number of environmental activists are anti-Christianity, and Christians tend to shy away from people like that.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) |
February 08, 2005
Winning the Shadow Campaign
The presidential, congressional and senate races were over many moons ago, but in the eyes of political junkies everywhere a shadow campaign continues. That campaign is not for a particular seat, but for the hearts and minds of America.
The campaign has been set up by the Democrats as "us vs. President G.W. Bush," and it is a campaign they are losing:
Fifty-seven percent of 1,010 adults surveyed from Feb. 4-6 approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, while 40 percent disapprove...It is reasonable to assume that the 40% that disapprove of Bush make up the lion's share of the 46% who have a favorable impression of the Democrat party, resulting in four out of five who are favorable towards Democrats rabid anti-Bush types. This demonstrates that the core of the Democratic party has veered into Howard Dean territory, and even moderate Democrats have a problem with that.It is Bush's highest job approval rating -- and lowest disapproval level -- since a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken in January 2004 showed Bush with a 59 percent rating...
Forty-six percent of the people polled have a favorable impression of the Democratic Party, the lowest level since at least 1992.
With the exit of both Donnie Fowler and Tim Roemer from the race for the DNC chair, Dean has a clear shot to lead the party. Many think Dean will reignite the party, but last election showed that ignition was not the party's problem. As John Kerry oft points out, he received the second highest vote total of any presidential candidate. This shows that Democrats were more motivated -- more ignited -- than ever before. This fact was brilliantly illustrated by the days upon days worth of tin-foil-hat demonstrations during the Republican convention. The Democrat flame burned brightly in 2004 -- and it scared the be-jeebers out of middle America. G.W. Bush recieved the highest vote total in history, precisely because moderates saw how important it was to squelch the Democrat flame.
Now the Democrats are cementing their lurch into looney land by making Howard Dean their standard bearer -- consigning America to continued and increasing Republican domination. That is bad for the Democrats. It is bad for America too.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:23 PM | Comments (0) |
Churchill
FIRE on disgraced professor Ward Churchill:
The obvious (and easily discovered) problems with Churchill's identity and scholarship raise a disturbing possibility (some would say a probability): Churchill's scholarship was far less important to the University of Colorado than his ideology...This imbalance brings to mind George Will's recent application of Cass Sunstein's "law of group polarization" to the ideological diversity debate. According to this principle..., "[w]hen like-minded people deliberate as an organized group, the general opinion shifts toward extreme versions of their common beliefs." As a practical matter, when opinions become increasingly extreme, scholarship, competence, and truth become less important than advancing the dominant ideology...
For those of you who continue to doubt this truth—for those who believe that such viewpoint discrimination is an essentially harmless application of departmental academic freedom—I present to you Mr. Ward Churchill, Exhibit A for the consequences of substituting ideology for competence.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:46 PM | Comments (0) |
Democrat Suicide
Last week Howard Dean, almost certainly the next Democratic Party chairman, said: "I hate Republicans and everything they stand for." Either Dean means what he says, in which case he is as unhinged as the rest of the party's Michael Moore caucus, or he does not, in which case he is a blowhard like, well, Moore. Yet for several weeks Dean has been one of the four most conspicuous Democrats on the national stage.Two of the others have been Ted Kennedy, the shrill essence of East Coast liberalism, and California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who comes from Marin County, a habitat for West Coast liberals who find the city across the Golden Gate Bridge too tepidly "progressive." The fourth, and most important, is Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who seems determined to earn the description Teddy Roosevelt applied to President John Tyler—"a politician of monumental littleness."
Posted by bubba138 at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) |
It's February
In Tennesee February means the flu. In the Southern California desert, it means flowers.
I was privileged to perform a wedding ceremony in the desert this last weekend. A wedding in the dunes is, of course, unique but the groom, Mark, went out of his way to plan every single detail and that made it special. Saturday was a beautiful day, undoubtedly one to remember.
Unfortunately good times and blessed events are oft interrupted by bad fortune. Sunday evening the groom broke his back and sternum in an off-road accident. He has no feeling from mid-chest down, but he is in good spirits. He's in the hospital and in surgery all day today. His family and I covet your prayers.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) |
"There is Hope"
The Palestinians and Israelis are continuing to walk along the road to peace:
"The calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era," said Abbas at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where Israeli and Palestinian flags flew side by side.What is most inspiring about this is that each side is speaking positive words of expectation, instead of using gaurded language full of mistrust. Such was never the case under Yassir Arafat.Sharon said: "We must all declare here today that violence will not prevail, violence will not be allowed to murder hope ... For the first time in a long time there is hope in our region for a better future for us and our grandchildren."
The deal is not done -- not by any measure. But there is hope, which is something neither Israelis nor Palestinians have had in a very long time.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:00 AM | Comments (0) |
Testy Calls
Sometimes, being a sports fan goes a little too far:
It was reported that the man told his friends: "If Wales win I'll cut my own balls off."Why would someone do something like this?After the 11-9 victory in the Six Nations clash, the man is reported to have gone outside and severed his testicles before bringing them back into the club to show fellow drinkers.
A local was reported as saying that the man was on medication and should not have been drinking."...should not have been drinking." Ya think?
Posted by bubba138 at 07:31 AM | Comments (0) |
February 07, 2005
Just a Croc
Watch where you dip you toes:
Swimmers evacuated a public swimming pool outside Darwin, Australia, when they discovered they were sharing it with a mighty fearsome swimmer – a crocodile.
About four people were swimming laps of the Olympic-length pool when a life guard was alerted that a one-yard-long saltwater crocodile had been spotted.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:12 PM | Comments (0) |
No Gay Agenda?
Posted by bubba138 at 11:06 AM | Comments (0) |
February 04, 2005
Out Early
I'm heading out to the desert this weekend to do a little riding as well as perform my first solo wedding ceremony. I left work a bit early so I can get some things taken care of and on the way home stopped at a local hiking park.
I drive by this area everyday on my way to and from work. I am not sure who is responsible (city, county, etc.) but in the last months a ton of work has been done to create parking. There are even horse pens for those who want to trailer their steeds into the park.
Today was gorgeous, too. It is the beginning of February and I broke a healthy sweat just standing in the sun taking photos. I love living here.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:24 PM | Comments (0) |
Then There Were Two
Rosenberg is out and he is endorsing Howard Dean for party chair. Fowler's work is really cut out for him now.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) |
No Gay Agenda
The left's reaction to the State of the Union has been predictable. This one, though, amused me a bit:
The Republican president's renewed call for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman surprised the Rev. Beth Rakestraw, a gay minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Community Church in Midland.She is "a gay minister" in a Christian church.What caught Rakestraw, she said, is that Bush said after the election that he wouldn't push for the amendment.
"I'm surprised that he flip-flopped, especially since he gave John Kerry such a hard time for that during the campaign," she said. "I'm very frightened by the trend in our government that right-wing evangelicals are pursuing their own agenda," she said. "They say there's a gay agenda? What about the right-wing agenda? There is no gay agenda."
-- but there is no gay agenda.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) |
Kinky For Governor?
Posted by bubba138 at 08:51 AM | Comments (0) |
Separated at Birth?
"I WILL NOT GIVE UP my favorite decoration. I like Captain Solo where he is..."
Posted by bubba138 at 08:19 AM | Comments (0) |
Stinkin' Drinkin'
YOU DID NOT WANT TO BELIEVE IT but it is really true. Drinking alcohol is bad for you:
Alcohol is as destructive to worldwide health as smoking and high blood pressure, doctors have claimed.Some would have you believe otherwise. Devious.Three international experts said alcohol consumption was linked to more than 60 different medical conditions including breast cancer and heart disease.
Overall, four per cent of the global burden of disease was attributable to alcohol, 4.1 per cent to tobacco and 4.4 per cent to high blood pressure, they wrote in the Lancet medical journal.
Update: Here is more proof alcohol is bad for you.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:14 AM | Comments (0) |
FBI Hacked
The FBI has been hacked:
The breach comes a day after the Justice Department's Inspector General criticized the FBI for its information technology management, specifically its spending $170 million on a Virtual Case File System that does not work.The FBI says there has been no breach into its internal security systems, or its Web site. However, the FBI does rely on e-mail tips from the public to its site for criminal and terrorism cases.
The Virtual Case File System was intended to allow the FBI to better manage criminal and terrorism cases. In a report Thursday, Inspector General Glenn Fine said the system will have to be scrapped or require a lot of additional work.
Despite FBI denials that national security investigations could be hampered, says Lambidakis, the inspector general says the 'deficiencies are significant," and concludes the FBI still doesn't know when a system will be deployed or how much more it will cost.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) |
Hoover Still on Top
One of the most annoying mantras of the 2004 campaign was the Democrat's insistance that George Bush had become "first President since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs on his watch." Well, so much for that:
U.S. employers added 146,000 workers in January, less than expected, a government report showed. The unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 5.2 percent as fewer people looked for work.This is, of course, no surprise to S&A readers as we have watched a strong 2003 economy get even stronger in 2004 despite the Democrat's protestations.The economy has now recouped all the jobs lost since the start of the 2001 recession, according to Labor Department data released in Washington...
The U.S. gained 119,000 jobs since Bush took office in January 2001 and is up 27,000 since employment peaked a month later. The U.S. now employs 132.57 million people in payroll jobs.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:55 AM | Comments (0) |
The Last (I Promise) on John Kerry
Be careful what you write. It may come back to haunt you:
Halfway through the piece is this sentence: "In his Senate career, Kerry has developed a reputation as a Democratic moderate with a bit of a maverick streak... Very media-savvy, Kerry is a frequent guest on Sunday morning talk shows and quoted daily by the mainstream Washington media."And in other Kerry related news, Ter-AY-za seems to have forgotten she is married. Since the election her name has mysteriously lost its hyphen. See it here, and here and most especially here.Man, I thought, scratching my head. Which fool wrote this ludicrously off-base analysis?
Then I looked at the byline:
"By Jim Geraghty."
What the heck was I thinking?
Update: Perhaps it is just as well. Apparently, if John Kerry wants to run again in 2008, he'll be doing it alone. (More here.)
Posted by bubba138 at 06:49 AM | Comments (0) |
February 03, 2005
Peace Continues to Break Out
ISRAEL HAS AGREED to release nine-hundred Palestinian prisoners in a show of pre-negotiation good faith.
What is more, Jordan and Egypt are expected to announce the return of their ambassadors to Israel at next week's summit in Egypt where Sharon and Abbas will meet to discuss peace.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:27 PM | Comments (0) |
Boo? More Like Boo-Hoo
THE DEMOCRATS MAY HAVE BOO-ED the President on his Social Security plan but as Neal Boortz explains, America was cheering:
Their favorite "scare tactic" program is in trouble. After Bush's speech last night polls showed that Americans are reacting more favorably to Bush's ideas. Before the speech 51% of Americans thought that Bush was moving America in the right direction on Social Security. After the speech that figure was 66%. That's a 15% increase with just this speech. (By the way, the figures for Bush's policies on Iraq went from 66% to 78%.) Before the speech the CNN/Gallup poll asked Americans if Bush was making a convincing case on Social Security. The figure before the speech -- 67%. After the speech -- 74%. This spells nothing but trouble for Democrats.The CNN article is here. The poll may not be valid though, as "Of the 485 people surveyed, 52 percent identified themselves as Republicans, 25 percent as Democrats and 22 percent as independents."
Even so, CBS did its own poll and came up with similar results:
Some 56% of viewers who watched the speech said it was a good idea to allow individuals to invest part of their Social Security funds on their own. When interviewed last week, 44% of these same watchers had said it seemed like a good idea.What people want to hear is that the legislators have some plan -- any plan -- for Social Security. To keep repeating the mantra, "there is no Social Security crisis" is suicide -- especially since it is exactly the opposite of the pre-2000 rhetoric coming from the same side of the aisle.
Posted by bubba138 at 02:15 PM | Comments (0) |
Democrats for Social Security Reform
Reforming Social Security is a bi-partisan issue. President Clinton complained it wasn't getting the attention it needed near seven years ago, "For too long politicians have called Social Security the third rail of American politics. That's Washington language for it's above serious debate. This year, we must prove them wrong. This conference--with its wide participation--is a good start."
Not only is reform bi-partisan, but the idea of private personal Social Security accounts was first put forth by Democrat Bob Kerry and Republican Alan Simpson:
Senators Bob Kerry (D.-Neb.) and Alan Simpson (R.-Wyo.) have introduced a comprehensive Social Security reform package that would allow workers to divert payroll taxes to their own retirement accounts, adjust the Consumer Price Index, cut Social Security cost of living increases, and implement other retirement system changes. According to Kerry, the plan would "help the United States avert a fiscal catastrophe and revolutionize our economy and the way we plan for retirement by placing a new, and overdue, emphasis on national savings."Notice that what Democrats are insisting is not a crisis today, Bob Kerry refered to as a "fiscal catastrophe."
Posted by bubba138 at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) |
Setting Up the Big Tent
WHO IS THE BIG TENT PARTY? Ask the first Hispanic immigrant to be elected to Senate:
Using his native language, [Senator Mel] Martinez addressed those who came to America to make a better life for themselves, telling them: "Gonzales is one of us" "uno de nosotros."Martinez said Gonzales represents "all of our hopes and dreams for our children" "todos nuestros sueños y esperanzas para nuestros hijos."
He said we "cannot allow petty politics to deny us this moment" that makes us all proud "No podemos permitir que la politiqueria nos quite este momento que nos enorgullece a todos."
Posted by bubba138 at 10:47 AM | Comments (0) |
February 02, 2005
Show Me Da Money?
Dirty pool in the race for DNC chair:
The Democratic National Committee and state party officials in Michigan are fighting over $8 million meant to help Sen. John Kerry's failed 2004 presidential bid in the state.The DNC has demanded an audit of the state party's books because its donors want to know where the money went. The request has been turned down, with Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer arguing that an audit is unnecessary.
"It's my belief that this is nothing more than a smear against Donnie Fowler, and the only reason this is being raised is because he's become a candidate for DNC chair," Brewer said. "If this was such an important issue, why did we not hear about it for over two and a half months, until Donnie becomes a serious candidate for DNC chair?"
Posted by bubba138 at 02:27 PM | Comments (0) |
Stupid but Funny
THIS MAKES ME LAUGH. I don't know why.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:49 PM | Comments (0) |
Conservative Chicken/Egg
Commenting on Social Security, James Taranto makes the argument that conservatives are more apt to marry younger than liberals, and thereby support reform to the failing system (item titled "The Adolescent Party"):
This points to a seldom-remarked difference between conservative and liberal Americans. The former (speaking in broad generalities here) are more likely to marry and have children at a relatively young age, whereas the latter tend to think of even the late 20s as an extension of adolescence.I think Taranto's equation may be backwards. A recent ABC News poll shows that Bush did much better than Kerry among married men and women, carrying clear majorities. It isn't so much that conservatives get married younger as it is that married people tend to be more conservative.
It is easy to be idealistic about what government can do with a family's taxes when you aren't one of those who actually have to provide for said family.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) |
A Real Bad Economy
In the Last election cycle the press kept mimicing the Democrats rhetoric about the "worst economy since the collapse of the Roman Empire." Germany, however, shows us what a bad economy really looks like:
Germany's jobless total rose above five million in January for the first time since the 1930s, a labor office source has said, highlighting the main threat to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's 2006 re-election bid.To be fair, the recent increase is due largely to a difference in how they are calculating the jobless number. Even so, that only counts for a small percentage of the total unemployment. Twelve percent unemployment is a remarkably harsh number. The last time it was this high was because of overly-stringent post WWI economic sanctions. No such outside factors can explain Germany's current crisis.The source said the rise put the unadjusted jobless rate at 12.1 percent.
On an adjusted basis, unemployment increased by 227,000 in January, the source said. Official figures are due to be issued on Wednesday.
According to official historical figures obtained by Reuters the unadjusted figure of 5.037 million would put the country's unemployment at the highest level since 1933, when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party came to power.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:49 AM | Comments (0) |
Torture Too?
Eason Jordan's comments at the World Economic forum were just a repeat of the same meme he had floated months before:
Meanwhile, at a meeting of news executives at the News Xchange conference in Portugal, Eason Jordan, vice president and chief news executive at CNN, accused the U.S. military of failing to live up to its promises to protect journalists from attack by its own men. "The reality is that at least 10 journalists have been killed by the U.S. military, and according to reports I believe to be true journalists have been arrested and tortured by US forces," Jordan said. Although the military has promised to investigate the incidents, he said, "the fact that no one has been reprimanded would indicate that no one is taking responsibility."So the U.S. is capturing, torturing and then killing journalist. And yet Jordan cannot (or will not) provide the details such as, who these journalists are or what the circumstances of their deaths are.
Jordan's consistant multi-year embrace of the "targeted journalists" theme reminds one of Mary Mapes bulldog fascination with the Bush/AWOL story. Like Mapes, it seems he wants so much for the story to be true that in his mind it becomes so.
Update: Cap'n Ed points to a Guardian article quoting the same thing. The fact that this is a charge that Jordan has made more than once puts the lie to CNN's assertion that he has been quoted out of context.
On a side note it is worthwhile to note the (unaccountable) blogosphere has identified multiple sources corroborating that Jordan made these remarks. Contrarily, the (accountable, fact-checking?) mainstrem press in the person of Eason Jordan made these accusations without corroboration, without identifying sources, and without presenting names of victims nor details of the circumstances.
That should pretty much answer this question.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) |
Eason Jordan's Common Thread
Targeting journalists seems to be a common thread in Eason Jordan's career. Way back in Spring 2002, he was working the same theme:
Eason Jordan, chief news executive and newsgathering president for the CNN News Group, talked to TBS Managing Editor Sarah Sullivan about covering Afghanistan, the Middle East, and other hot spots; whether US audiences are talking more of an interest in world news in the wake of September 11; and how CNN regionalizes coverage for audiences around the world...Jordan: We have a large team in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan, and we've bolstered the size of our Islamabad bureau in recent weeks. We probably have 30 to 40 people in those countries combined, and we'll be there for a long time to come. It's been enormously expensive, but again as with the Middle East, the biggest concern we have is just keeping our people alive. We've seen eight journalists killed in Afghanistan and then obviously the Danny Pearl situation was so tragic...
We're working two very, very big stories right now that have a couple of things in common. One is they're enormously costly, but more importantly or more worrying is that they're both exceptionally dangerous, because we've seen something in both places that I thank God happens very rarely, and that is that in both places journalists are not only being killed but they're being targeted. There are combatants in both of these conflicts who are trying to kill journalists, and that is unusual and a very nightmarish situation.
And back in 1999:
"That has made us unpopular with Serb hard- liners," Jordan says. "It's always difficult to put people in harm's way. But when CNN is singled out, targeted and subjected to propaganda attacks, we have had many sleepless nights." He says Sadler was threatened by armed men who held up two bullets and said, "These are for you."
Posted by bubba138 at 09:36 AM | Comments (0) |
Bill for General Secretary
Jesse Helms is afraid that Bill Clinton may become the next head of the United Nations. In a recent fundraising letter he states:
"I'm sure you might agree that putting a left-wing, undisciplined and ethically challenged former President of the United States into a position of such power would be a tragic mistake," Helms writes.Consider:
- The Darfur non-genocide.
- The oil-for-food scandal
- The fact the U.N. has taken credit for American efforts in the tsunami disaster.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) |
Just Who is Targeting Journalists?
On the flip side of Eason Jordan's accusations that the U.S. is deliberately targeting journalists is the under-reported reality that the insurgents have no qualms seeking out and killing reporters:
A chilling reminder that some groups of insurgents were determined to cow the media into submission was the warning posted on the al-Qal'a web site: "We are swearing allegiance to God that we will reach all the media and news agencies that are not at least neutral in reporting news. We swear to God that we will hunt all the workers in these news agencies one after another and we will slaughter them like sheep if they stand beside the Americans and not broadcast the truth about the number of soldiers killed in Iraq. Their fate will be the same as Al Arabiya, who used to call the Mujahideen as terrorists."That the insurgents and terrorists are after them is no mystery to journalists, either:
I hesitate to describe how our own staffers in Iraq are handling security; we know that the insurgents are savvy Internet users and could even be reading this column.One correspondent has warned me to be careful how we edit his stories because the first thing the terrorists do after kidnapping a reporter is Google his name to see what he's been writing.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:46 AM | Comments (0) |
Jordan Blogstorm Commences
Ok, I'm game: Jim Geraghty is right when he says the next blogstorm is going to be about Eason Jordan's remarks at the recent World Economic Forum:
During one of the discussions about the number of journalists killed in the Iraq War, Eason Jordan asserted that he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted. He repeated the assertion a few times, which seemed to win favor in parts of the audience (the anti-US crowd) and cause great strain on others.Unfortunately, the WEF itself only gives a surface level overview to the exchange:
Will Democracy Survive the Media?It sure would be nice to get a transcript of the event so we could make a better judgement of the proceedings.If the frank exchange of views between the media and politicians that characterized this session is anything to go by, the answer to the theme question was an emphatic "no". In a discussion that ranged from the disappearance of the county hall news bureau to the killing of journalists in Iraq, an informal consensus was reached that a healthy media makes for a robust democracy and one cannot survive without the other.
In any case, Eason's assertion that the U.S. is deliberately targeting journalists is not a new one. Remember this?
Baghdad: Media organisations are questioning the judgment of US soldiers after the killing of three journalists in Baghdad, and even suggest the Americans are deliberately targeting reporters.But the real question is, will the mainstrem media hold Eason accountable for his remarks? Or at best, will they actually devote resources into finding out whether the accusations have any merit? Apparently not:US-led military strikes in the Iraqi capital yesterday hit a hotel housing hundreds of journalists and an Arab television network, killing three journalists and injuring three others.
US military officials denied claims two Arabic-language television networks had been intentionally targeted.
In Belgium, the International Federation of Journalists says it appears the attacks may have deliberately targeted journalists.
But I searched the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post this morning, and came up with nothing on Jordan's blood slander.The real problem here is not that the accusation has been made, but that Jordan thought it was accepted wisdom. He spoke in such a way as that he assumed "everybody knows" the U.S. is targeting journalist. It was an urban legend that had taken hold in the Old Media, and Eason's clique of friends and colleagues never thought to question it -- which is odd because questioning such things is their job.That is remarkable. One of the most senior news execs in the world tells a crowd of dignitaries from around the globe that the U.S. military targeted a dozen journalists for death, and there is no MSM coverage of that?
Posted by bubba138 at 08:17 AM | Comments (0) |
Steps on the Road to Peace
It is amazing how fast the peace process has progressed since Arafat passed. Sharon and Abbas are scheduled to meet for the first time next week:
The talks would aim to build on a fragile, de facto cease-fire engineered by Abbas after his Jan. 9 election by launching a peace process based on a U.S.-backed "road map" to a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.We live in such exciting times. History is happening right before our eyes.Aides to Sharon and Abbas said they had accepted an invitation from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to a meeting on Feb. 8 in the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.
Palestinian officials said King Abdullah of Jordan was also expected. Egypt and Jordan signed peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994, the only Arab states to do so, and have played intermediary roles during the conflict.
"A four-way summit will be held ... to try to advance the peace process," an official close to Abbas told Reuters. An Egyptian official said it was too early to comment.
Abbas's rise to succeed Yasser Arafat, whom Israel and the United States shunned after branding him an obstacle to peace, has rekindled U.S. engagement in Middle East diplomacy.
New Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to meet Sharon and Abbas separately during a trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah the day before the summit.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:16 AM | Comments (0) |
Coulda Been a Contender
Al Sharpton is losing it has finally lost it:
Starting today, Mr. Sharpton is joining forces with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to urge a boycott of KFC, which is owned by Yum Brands of Louisville, Ky. Mr. Sharpton and PETA want the fast food chain to require its chicken suppliers to put in place new standards for the treatment of the 750 million chickens they process for KFC every year in the United States. The rap mogul Russell Simmons is also joining the Sharpton campaign.The Democrats actually considered this man a serious presidential contender."If we give our money to KFC, we're paying for a life of misery for some of God's most helpless creatures," says Mr. Sharpton in an eight-minute video that will be shown outside KFC's around the country.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:37 AM | Comments (0) |
Us vs. Them: A Contrast
Sergeant Javal Davis, 27, admitted to stomping on the fingers and toes of a group of seven bound and hooded inmates in November, 2003. In a separate case, also heard at the military base at Fort Hood, Specialist Roman Krol pleaded guilty to pouring water on naked Iraqi prisoners and throwing a football at them.This is their idea of torture.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:58 AM | Comments (0) |
February 01, 2005
And Then There Were Three
Martin Frost dropped out of the race for Democratic national chairman this afternoon. Three are left standing: Howard Dean, Donnie Fowler, and Simon Rosenberg. Dean is still the odds-on favorite and is gaining momentum. But like I said yesterday, a Dean chairmanship would be bad for the party:
A prominent financier who has been a stalwart of Democratic fund-raising the past half-century told me last week his patience has been exhausted. He has remained a loyal Democrat while lamenting his party's periodic lurches to the left, but says he will neither contribute nor solicit a dime for the party if Howard Dean is chairman of the Democratic National Committee.The Forward newspaper has quoted Jay Footlik, Sen. John Kerry's former liaison with the Jewish community, as saying "a lot of mainstream, middle-of-the-road, centrist Jewish Democrats would be very turned off and concerned and would be left wondering whether they have a home."
Posted by bubba138 at 04:47 PM | Comments (0) |
When Words Won't Do...
Posted by bubba138 at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) |
Time to Say Goodbye
The pope has been taken to a hospital with the flu. At his age the flu can be very fatal. Be in prayer for him and the whole of the Catholic church. They'll need God's wisdom in the coming weeks.
More on John Paul (and papal succession) here.
...and the next pope may turn out to be a German. You can bet on it.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:14 PM | Comments (0) |
The Iraqi Street Speaking
Boulder's Daily Camera is right:
It's one thing to criticize the war and the conduct of the occupation in Iraq. We've done our share of that. It's quite another to dismiss any form of good news from Iraq as a hoax or a mirage...This is partisan blindness. Whatever your view of the war and the occupation, those were not "so-called voters"; they were real Iraqis, braving physical danger as no American voter ever does, going to the polls in surprising numbers, dancing in the streets and kissing ballot boxes, to make a stand in favor of democracy.
What should change, and quickly, is the perception that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his terrorists are the true "voice of the street" or the inevitable future of Iraq. After ranting against the evil of democracy and vowing that the cities of Iraq would be "bathed in blood," Zarqawi failed miserably to deter millions of Iraqis from voting their interests and their conscience./blockquote>
Posted by bubba138 at 01:47 PM | Comments (0) |
Churchill Out
Remember Ward Churchill? The heat got too hot:
Ward Churchill resigned Monday from his post as chairman of the University of Colorado's Department of Ethnic Studies, but he plans to keep his job as a tenured professor.You can read his resignation letter here."Given the furor which has arisen over the past week concerning my 2001 essay, 'Some People Push Back,' I feel it inappropriate that I continue in my position as chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies," Churchill wrote in a Monday letter to Todd Gleeson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:43 PM | Comments (0) |
Iraqi Vote Haiku
The terrorists are doomed
They do not realize it
Voters dealt defeatFreedom breaking out
Oppressed dancing in the streets
The future is brightShow purple finger
Great symbol of defiance
Symbol of new hopePosted by bubba138 at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) |
Cannonball Comin' Through!
2. Will anyone write more elaborate prose than The Note connecting the SOTU with Groundhog Day? And will punchy White House speechwriters begin uttering the catch phrase "It's in the hole" after they read this?Don't write angry! Don't write angry!Posted by bubba138 at 07:42 AM | Comments (0) |