Is Law and Order predicting economic trends?

Lileks:

I wonder if this disaster might be the Iranian Chernobyl. (Or the 21st century equivalent of the Lisbon earthquake, if you remember your Voltaire.) Just as that catastrophe laid bare the lies and the failures of the Soviet system, so might a horrible earthquake call into question the Mullahs’ claim to rule at the behest of the Almighty. It’s hard to insist that Allah wants Israel destroyed but never gets around to leveling Tel Aviv with natural disasters.

Do I think that all Iranians believes the Mullah’s claims? No. Neither do I think that the contributions of America will change public attitudes - because I don’t think they’ll come as a surprise to most, and certainly not to the classes who can change the nature of the government. But the adminstration's aid effort is a surprise to certain domestic elements. I heard a network news feed on the radio say that the US was sending aid despite having branded Iran as a member of the Axis of Evil. Oy. Did the author of that dispatch believe that the administration regarded the Iranian people as a seething mass indistinguishable from the calculated madness of the ruling clerics?

If US aid to Iran comes as a surprise to anyone, then they don’t understand the US.

Read the whole thing.

This is funny:

Being an American trapped in a Canadian's body means always having to say, "You're stupid."

When my hometown of Toronto awakened to the news that Saddam Hussein was in custody, we reflexively switched on CNN in my house. Why? Because Fox News still isn't available up here (although, in the spirit of "multiculturalism," Al-Jazeera's broadcast application proceeds apace).

At our only other option, the state-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corp., commentators repeatedly hoped Saddam Hussein would receive "a fair trial" through "an international tribunal" that "reflected Canadian values" – presumably the same "Canadian values" former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien invoked when refusing to send our troops (such as they are) to Iraq in the first place.

Such smug, pseudo-sophisticated "insights" would be only slightly less offensive if they weren't being paid for by my tax dollars.

Here's her blog if you're interested.

Wall Street is kicking ass lately:

A late rally sent stocks sharply higher -- with the Dow ending at a 21-month high and the Nasdaq Composite closing above the 2000 mark for the first time in almost two years -- as the traditional Santa Claus rally continued into the last trading week of the year.

According to early tallies, the Dow gained about 125 points to 10,450; the Nasdaq added 33 points to 2006; and the S&P 500 rose more than 13 points to 1109.

And the "Mad Cow Scare" doesn't seem to be effecting the fast food places:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp., Burger King and Wendy's International Inc. said on Monday hamburger sales have held steady since the first case of mad cow disease in the United States surfaced last Tuesday.

The continuity of sales at the three largest U.S. hamburger chains suggests American consumers' willingness to shrug off the mad cow incident as an isolated case they believe will have little bearing on food safety.

Shares of McDonald's and Wendy's continued their recent recovery Monday, rising more than 1 percent on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trade. Burger King is privately held.

I'll take mine rare.

This is pretty cool. NASA is great agency that needs to rethink its approch in the coming five years:

Almost 390 million kilometres away, a NASA space probe, Stardust, will dive inside a cloud of dust and gas spewing from the comet Wild 2.

Travelling at 21,000 kmh, it will use a tennis racquet-shaped collector to scoop up more than 1000 dust particles from the cloud (or coma), possibly providing clues to the birth of life on Earth.

Over at the Wes Clark blog, which gets about as much traffic as this site, the Clark campaign is apparently a resounding success with the functionally illiterate:

this is so stupid. dean often implies he will take his ball to a third party. why is he making statemant like this? we keep hearing he running away with the nomination.he must have some internal poll's that are not favorable.
it's about time that dean and his camp realize that it's ABB not dean is the king, clark number will start raising. dean is receiving so much media coverage all his warts are showing. just when the public is starting to pay attention.
the deanic want bush gone.
more than want dean to be president.they will leave in droves if he tries to split the party.
it's funny how dean is so much like bush,''either your with me or i take my people and leave the party'' is this blackmail?


Posted by: joanne h at December 29, 2003 01:52 PM | Link

Hey Joanne, that button that says "shift" on it is the one that lets you type the uppercase, er, big letters.

Bush hate at Slate:

I would vote for Osama if he were running against Bush. I would vote for a monkey instead of Bush. A monkey would probably have more intelligence

Profile:
Subject: Osama for President?
From: JATE34
Date: Dec 29 2003 1:47PM

And at Dean's blog:

Recently, in The Washington Post, Al From, who heads the DLC, credited Howard Dean with running a successful campaign, but questioned whether Dean can effectively lead the party as its nominee. “We need to lay out a reason to replace Bush.” From said. Al From should take a break from his efforts to create the Republican-lite a.k.a. Loser Party and LISTEN TO HOWARD DEAN, for he has been laying out reasons to replace Bush for months, now. The following are just a few reasons why most Democrats and many Independents think another four years of a Bush administration will be a global tragedy in the making.

Reason Number One: The greatest disaster to ever happen in our country, September 11, 2001, could have been prevented by George W. Bush.

Reason Number Two: Bush LIED about his reasons for invading Iraq.

Reason Number Three: Under Bush, at the expense of necessary programs such as Social Security and Medicare, the giant corporations who contributed so lavishly to his campaign, are being rewarded.

Reason Number Four: Bush has transfigured a healthy budget surplus created by Democrats into an endless sea of red ink - in the form of massive federal deficits of over $500 billion.

Posted by I Want My Country Back! at December 29, 2003 05:33 PM

he world is full of sick people:

woman who had convinced her husband she was pregnant -- and was even thrown a baby shower -- killed a pregnant acquaintance and cut the fetus from her womb, authorities said Monday.

Prosecutor Linda Evans said she planned to file two murder charges against Effie Goodson, 37, in the slaying of Carolyn Simpson, 21, (pictured, left and below, right, respectively) who was six months pregnant, and the fetus.

A hunter found Simpson's body in a field near Lamar, about 100 miles from Oklahoma City, on Friday. She had been shot in the head, authorities said.

I sure hope there's a hell.

Go here.

The Eagles are the #1 seed and people are responding:

McNabb Mea Culpa: It is time for those of us who believed Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb is overrated to eat a little crow. After walloping the Washington Redskins, the Eagles are the No. 1 seed in the NFC - and McNabb is much of the reason why.

Anything less than the Superbowl (TM) will be a losing season in most Philadelphians eyes.

Back to Howie Dean's blog:

This campaign is not only our hope, it's our future.

We MUST do this. I cannot imagine my 4 year old granddaughter living in a world where the only value is money, where our country means nothing but intimidation and fear to everyone outside it.

Taking to heart the message of peace and hope our Gov gave us yesterday should be our task.

No matter what other campaigns think of us-- or more correctly, what other people who call themselves supporters of other candidates-- we know we are the voice of hope for the future. We stand for the dignity of workers, for healthcare for all Americans, for peace in the world, and justice at home, for a clean environment, and
honesty in government.

We must preserve the dignity of our effort, avoiding name-calling and mean-spiritedness, no matter what others say about us.

If we are to be an example, we must follow rules analogous to those set out in the NY Times by Paul Krugman for journalists covering campaigns.

You know what has to be done, you know how little time there is to do it.

Peace on your houses and your hearts.

NOW GET OUT THERE AND JUST DO IT !

Posted by murphy at December 26, 2003 02:01 AM

Paul Krugman as a pillar of virtue. Shudder. Here's Krugger's latest concerning the next election and how reporters should act and cover it:

• Beware of personal anecdotes. Anecdotes that supposedly reveal a candidate's character are a staple of political reporting, but they should carry warning labels.

For one thing, there are lots of anecdotes, and it's much too easy to report only those that reinforce the reporter's prejudices. The approved story line about Mr. Bush is that he's a bluff, honest, plain-spoken guy, and anecdotes that fit that story get reported. But if the conventional wisdom were instead that he's a phony, a silver-spoon baby who pretends to be a cowboy, journalists would have plenty of material to work with.

If a reporter must use anecdotes, they'd better be true. After the Dean endorsement, innumerable reporters cracked jokes about Al Gore's inventing the Internet. Guys, he never said that: it's a malicious distortion of a true statement, and no self-respecting journalist would repeat it.

• Look at the candidates' records. A close look at Mr. Bush's record as governor would have revealed that, the approved story line notwithstanding, he was no moderate. A close look at Mr. Dean's record in Vermont reveals that, the emerging story line notwithstanding, he is no radical: he was a fiscally conservative leader whose biggest policy achievement — nearly universal health insurance for children — was the result of incremental steps.

Krugman has made his editorial career by printing falsehoods and misconceptions, He is the one telling journalists what and how to report, please. As to the fact that Bush is a far right whacko and Dean is a moderate, maybe in your book "Enron Paul", Dean will break yours and everyone elses heart wen he plays down anything he did in Vermont.

Tony Auth has such a hatred of Bush that he seems cunsumed by it.

Musharraf seems to have been a bit lucky over the last few weeks:

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Suicide attackers detonated two massive bombs as President Pervez Musharraf's convoy passed on a congested road Thursday, killing 14 people and getting close enough to crack the windshield on his limousine in the second attempt on his life in 11 days.

Musharraf, 60, was unhurt, but the attack — just a few hundred yards from the site of the previous bombing — raised troubling questions about the Pakistani leader's ability to hold on to power and keep an Islamic radical movement at bay. It came a day after Musharraf made a deal with hard-line Islamic political parties to step down as army chief by the end of next year.

Musharraf is in a bad situation. A situation of his own making, but a bad situation none the less. He is fighting the islamofascist fight against his own leadership, in a country that is a breeding ground for islamic fundamentalism. It's important to us to ensure this guy keeps power, and their nukes in control, and is not overthrown by a zealot. Should a fundamentalist take power, India may have no other options then gear up for nuclear war.

I am shocked I tell you, just shocked!

Ruling on race in admissions gets wider use

"It's a very strong endorsement of the diversity argument, and that matters," Selmi said. "Even though the justices probably didn't intend for the Michigan ruling to have a broad application beyond education, that doesn't mean it will have no application beyond education."

The decision could be appealed to the full Seventh Circuit or to the Supreme Court.

Curt Levy, director of legal and public affairs for the Center for Individual Rights, which initiated the challenge to Michigan's policies, said the Seventh Circuit ruling should be expected when the high court issues what he called a "fuzzy" opinion such as Grutter.

The language in the opinion might have seemed to be solely about education, Levy said, but its strong endorsement of a nebulous concept such as the value of diversity made it amorphous.

"I think it's fair to say that, under legal precedent, diversity is not a compelling interest in employment," he said. "I think it's really a stretch to say it applies in this case. But the Michigan ruling was unclear enough to let lower courts do what they want to do."

Levy said that his organization was keeping track of how lower courts applied the Grutter ruling but that he was not encouraged by what might come of it.

"The law is in one place," he said, "and political correctness and what people do is in another."

Scalia voiced similar concerns in his November dissent from the court's decision not to hear Concrete Works of Colorado v. City and County of Denver.

Following the Michigan decision, he said, the court's denial of the case suggests the justices have replaced earlier rulings on affirmative action in contracting with the Grutter ruling.

I can't believe nobody saw this coming.

America ia gearing up. I still find people who are happily uninformed or apathetic about what is going on. Perhaps they feel that Sept. 11 was an anomaly and couldn't happen again. Perhaps these issues are too upsetting to contemplate. Whatever the reason, rest assured that there are good men and women working day and night to try to stop the next al-Qaeda attack:

WASHINGTON - Disaster teams are ready to respond to any terrorist strike by al-Qaeda, and special equipment is monitoring the air for biological agents in 30 cities, the Bush administration said yesterday.

Four days after the nation raised its terror alert to orange, or high, "credible reporting suggests al-Qaeda continues to desire to attack American interests," said Brian Roehrkasse of the Homeland Security Department. "People have their antennas up," he said.

President Bush spent Christmas at Camp David, Md., where he received updates from senior advisers and military aides, White House spokesman Jim Morrell said.

The raised threat level triggered activation of the disaster teams, composed of government experts from different agencies.

The DHS is a new and growing department. They definitely have there share of "this is how we've always done it" types who are living in a Sept 10 world. That world is gone and not all of us know it.

Krauthammer:

Unlike Howard Dean, Kerry is not a foreign policy ignoramus. Does he really believe that the Libyan surrender is a triumph of multilateralism? Does he really think that Libya's capitulation -- coinciding precisely with a preemptive war that destroyed Saddam Hussein -- is a contradiction of the "rigid doctrine of military preemption"?

What kind of naif thinks that this is a triumph for "diplomacy," as if, say, Bill Clinton had sent Warren Christopher to Tripoli, and he chatted Gaddafi into surrendering his WMDs?

The Democrats seem congenitally incapable of understanding that force has not just the effect of disarming the immediate enemy but a deterrent effect on others similarly situated. Iraq was not attacked randomly. It was attacked as part of a clearly enunciated policy -- now known as the Bush Doctrine -- of targeting, by preemptive war if necessary, hostile regimes engaged in terror and/or refusing to come clean on WMDs.

Mullah Omar did not get the message and is now hiding in a cave somewhere. Saddam Hussein did not get the message and ended up in a hole. Gaddafi got the message.

Precisley. The Arab world understands two things, force and power. Thy are not the same. Israel has survived to this day because of it's use of force. America is using it's power to get dictators to capitulate on WMD's.

I also found this at Deans blogsite:

This is my Christmas letter to President Bush....

Dear Mr. Bush,
With this being Christmas eve, and myself a Christian I have a problem with wishing you a Merry Christmas. I know this is of my personal failing, but I have thought about this long and hard.
You see Mr. Bush, to me you do NOT represent what a true Christian is....instead you represent the same kind of perverted, warped thinking that many tyrants in human history possesed....you claim to have been "born again"- a phrase and term I will never fully comprehend. You issue orders to murder fellow human beings, yes fellow human beings all in the name of what and for what?

What makes us and in particular you better than anyone else on this planet? What gives you the right to say a people or country is better off with democracy as opposed to their own form of Government, for as bad as it may be?

Mr Bush I will not wish you a Merry Christmas as you have divided my country as you promised you would not. Today, neighbors that we were once friends with we no longer see...we do not go to their house anymore, they dont come here.....our political differances were always something we just laughed at before you came into office......

Mr. Bush you are NOT a Christian...if my parents and Grandparents were alive today...and trust me they were all a far better example of
humanitarians than you and your followers are....my family survived WW2-bombing, starvation,rationing,death and destruction and they would easily pair you up with the likes of Adolph Hitler himself.

Mr Bush I close with me dedicating the next 11 months to ridding you by our political process from the White House.....I will go door to door,table,flyer,drive,stand in the sleet with a Dean sign,talk to people,host MeetUps,write letters..anything just so you do not regain the Presidency.

Mr Bush you should sometime read about the teachings of Christ.....you will soon find that you are nothing like him....so please stop using HIS name in your speeches, please. And for those fellow countrymen of mine that are drunk with support for you all in Gods name I hope that they wake up and realize just what kind of human being you really are.......

Lastly please refrain from killing my fellow man all for my protection and my families protection.."I" will decide if my family and my person needs defending thank you very much. In the name of God I hope a distorted, twisted, idealogue like you NEVER holds political office again.......someday you will recieve your judgement in a higher court than on this planet....tonight, when you are asleep,comfy in your warm bed and full tummy, please dont be awakened by the thousands of innocent people you have murdered..the families,children, and other innocents. You are a despicable human being.

Posted by Mike in Raleigh, NC at December 24, 2003 01:48 PM

That's the type of person who is supporting Dean. Sounds closer to Indymedia than mainstream democratic discourse. That is the Democratic party today. By the way, get spellcheck Dude. Now the bloggers are trying to come up with a religion scam to help the candidate:

I hope that Dean and staff are working on countering the 'lack of religion' image:

http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archives/2003/12/index.html#002181

I've seen a few columns reviewing the fact that everyone who has been elected president during the last two or three decades has talked the 'religion talk' (cynically or not).

I hope that Dean is preparing to emphasize his religiosity to the extent his personal history can support it. I know that he rarely attends church and that he (appropriately) believes that religion has no place in policy-making. This doesn't mean that he shouldn't make the most of what he's got:

---- Hypothetical Press Conference -----

Reporter: Governor, President Bush often speaks of the role of faith in his life and work. Are you religious man?

Dean: I've been a devout Christian, Congregationalist denomination, all my life [or 'for the past x years']. I pray every day, and though I look to my faith for guidance and comfort, I believe that we must govern impartially, respecting the rights of Americans of all faiths.

Reporter: You claim to be a religious man, but you don't attend church. How can you say that you're a devout Christian?

Dean: Christians have a direct, personal relationship with God. Our prayers don't require intermediaries. Now, for a lot of people, church is a wonderful place to focus their hearts and minds on God, and to enjoy fellowship and gain wisdom. I understand that. But church attendance isn't what makes a person a Christian. My relationship with God and my religious practices have been an intensely personal part of my life. My prayers and readings of the Bible have usually satisfied my spiritually needs. Does that answer your question?

Reporter: Governor, would you share with us a favorite verse from the Bible?

Dean: Sure. In [book chapter:verse], Jesus says: xxxx. That's a reminder to me of why I'm in politics. We have a moral duty to care for those less fortunate... [blah blah blah]

---- END Hypothetical Press Conference -----

Are you all following me? I'm as irreligious as a person can be, but I don't want Dean to lose votes just because middle America doesn't see him as a God-fearing man. Dean says he's a Congregationalist. Great. Don't hide it. America votes for religious men.

Dean staff: are you listening?

To the regulars here: Does anyone know where I should write to be sure that the staff receives my idea?

Posted by BW in Berkeley at December 24, 2003 01:51 PM

The Dean Blog, where bad ideas are furthered, and good ideas die.

Over at Howie Deans blog, I found this post:

Know any lesbian or bi women who support Dean?

Dykes for Dean has set a Dec. 31 goal of having every state represented by members.

We currently have 41 states & D.C. represented.

That leaves us needing to outreach to only 9 states:
Alaska
Idaho
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
North Dakota
South Dakota
Wyoming

Please, if you have any friends in any of the above states who might want to join us, invite them! The URL is http://www.dykesfordean.org

Also, if you know women in ANY states who might be interested to "Join & Be Counted", please pass this info on.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by Jan / Dykes for Dean at December 24, 2003 12:46 PM

You would think they'd like Bush.

A British Maj. General takes a nice shot at reporters:

He took a jab at the press. Western reporters, he implied, had come to an early conclusion that the allied undertaking in Iraq would not succeed, and had failed to adjust. He compared this with criticism that greeted allied forces in the first stages of the spring invasion, when resistance stalled the drive to Baghdad.

The plan provided for 125 days to take Baghdad, and it was accomplished in 23 days, he noted. But, he told reporters, "you had us dead and buried in seven days."

So true. As to the reports that services are worse than under the rule of Saddam:

He said civic leaders had approached him claiming that "before the war, everybody in Basra had running water," and that many had lost it as a result of allied bombing. But he said he had produced Water Department charts showing that a third of the city never had pipes to carry water in the first place, typical in areas not favored by Mr. Hussein. Pipes were being installed, he said.

Imagine that.

Tim Blair has a roundup of the years best quotes. Among my favorites are:

• "I hope you die you c---. I notice you daily blather of bile and shite gob right wing evil crap has disappeared. I hope it is because you are terminally ill with a painful debilitating disease which will kill you slowly and spread to all those dear to you." -- a contented reader

• "WHO the F-CK is that man? He's a f-cking traitor. Get his ass off the stage. Oh, F-CK him. Who IS that fat f-ck anyway?" -- Joan Collins critiques Michael Moore's Academy Award speech

• "Dickhead. Next question?" -- The Mirror’s Sue Carroll, asked for her opinion on fellow Mirror columnist John Pilger

• "When a rock-tossing amateur athlete can spend less than 15 minutes on the web confirming a writer's humiliating legacy of bias, after reading one of his stories for the first time, then ya gotta know the jig is up." -- Olympic curler George Karrys

• "He can roll up his sleeves all he wants at public events, but as long as we see that heart tattoo with Neville Chamberlain's name on his right forearms, he's never going anywhere." -- Dennis Miller on Howard Dean

• "Might I offer a couple of small suggestions to those British citizens who would prefer not to stand trial in military tribunals where the punishment for some crimes can be execution? Don’t join terrorist organisations that fly planes at skyscrapers, and don’t dedicate your life to mass murder." -- Stephen Pollard

• "They are all very gifted storytellers, or full of crap. Depends on how you look at it." -- my sister, on the Irish

• "You'd need some DNA. There’s a good way to do it. Take a machete, and whack off his head, and you'll get a bucketful of DNA, so you can see it and test it." -- CIA veteran Cofer Black explains how Osama bin Laden might be identified

• "In Iraq, we can just kill the bastards." -- Ralph Peters explains the benefits of fighting terrorism abroad, rather than at home

• "I've known Wes for a long time ... Wes won't get my vote.” -- a ringing unendorsement for the Clark campaign from Retired General H. Hugh Shelton

• "Schwarzenegger, who, like Hitler, is a native of Austria ..." -- CNN

• "CNN? Oh, that's that network with Larry King, who, like the Son of Sam, is a native of Brooklyn. Used to be owned by Ted Turner, who, like the Cincinnati Strangler, is a native of Cincinnati. Now part of Time Warner, founded by the Warner Brothers, the oldest of whom, Harry Warner, like many Auschwitz guards, was a native of Poland." -- Mark Steyn

• "The key, I believe, to Iran is pressure through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is supplying much of the equipment that Iran, I believe, most likely is using to set itself along the path of developing nuclear weapons. We need to use that leverage with the Soviet Union and it may require us to buying the equipment the Soviet Union was ultimately going to sell to Iran." -- cold warrior Howard Dean

• "I'd better call my lawyer." -- George W. Bush, following suggestions that banning Germany, France, Russia and Canada from bidding for Iraqi contracts might violate international law

• "Until the outbreak of the war against Iraq, the strongman sent millions of dollars to Palestinians killed in the conflict with Israel." -- the ABC’s Jane Hutcheon is referring to suicide bombers

• "President Bush sends his regards." -- US soldiers answer Saddam Hussein’s request: "I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."

• "Saddam is in our jail." -- a US soldier answers chants of "Saddam is our hearts!" and "Saddam is in our blood!"

• "I will do whatever the Americans want, because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid." -- Col. Gaddafi, in phone call to Silvio Berlusconi

Excellent work

Hitchens on the domino effect occurring because of the Bush Doctrine:

When Pan Am 103 went down over Lockerbie in 1988, it took my friend Berndt Carlsson, a Swedish diplomat and former chairman of the Socialist International who had become the United Nations' special rapporteur for Namibia. So active had he been in working to free Namibia from South African apartheid and occupation that some people speculated on a South African role in the atrocity. As so often is the case, this speculation was useless because it was so rational. Those who put bombs on civilian aircraft usually don't much care who is on board; their point is made by the pile of random corpses in the wreckage. (It's amazing to me that one still has to argue this point with those searching for nobler motives: The explosive is just as likely to be on Noam Chomsky's or Michael Moore's flight, and one day they may awaken to this self-evident fact.)

Just as I think that Osama Bin Laden made the greatest conceivable error by demolishing the World Trade Center and thereby retarding the cause of jihad to an incalculable extent, so I think that his followers have repeated the mistake in Indonesia, Turkey, and perhaps above all in Saudi Arabia. Three years ago, sympathizers of al-Qaida controlled the government of Afghanistan, heavily influenced the ruling circle in Saudi Arabia, and were in a good position to take over the Pakistani state from within. They were also being sought out for meetings by the regime in Baghdad. Now they have lost Afghanistan, are being hunted in Saudi Arabia, are being killed in the rat holes of Iraq, and stand little if any chance of seizing power in Islamabad. Their charismatic leader is almost certainly dead or at least incapacitated: Even the pretense that "communiqués" are coming from him has practically dried up. It may sound like a callous thing to say, but Bin Laden did us all a favor by showing his fangs in that way and then neglecting to have a Plan B.

And this closing line:

Not to end on too festive or seasonal a note, but the disarming of three rogue regimes in under one year isn't bad. If Howard Dean really believes that we are no safer than we were on Sept. 11 (and I presume he can't literally mean that the removal of the Taliban made no difference), then it's time he said what he would have done differently.

NABLUS, West Bank, Dec 23, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Palestinian children are collecting cards showing gunmen and soldiers the way American kids trade baseball cards, and some educators are concerned that the uprising hobby is helping to breed a new generation of militants.

Do you think. I'll trade you two Abbas' for one Arafat, straight-up.

An anti-war reporter comes clean about correspondence received:

On this eve of the Christian celebration of a baby, I celebrate you. In June, I wrote a column that said our soldiers must be dying for oil, since we found no weapons of mass destruction. I wrote, "Nearly another 50 soldiers have died in nebulous situations that range from justifiable self-defense to dubious overreactions more reminiscent of the shootings of American students and rioters by National Guardsmen in the 1960s."

That column sparked a letter from the father of a 20-year-old soldier who died a month after President Bush declared major combat operations to be over. The father wrote: "The use of the word `nebulous' is insulting to all who do their duty every day and especially to those who lose their lives. My son died doing what he volunteered for, doing something he loved and was exceptional at.

"You insult his intelligence by intimating that he was some sort of dupe in this grand power play for the world's oil. If you have a point, then make it, but do not invoke the memory of my son to justify your political point of view. . . . My son willingly followed the orders of his commander in chief to accomplish a mission.

"During his time in Iraq, he grew to like and respect the people there. On missions (prior to his death) he earned the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. All this from a 20-year-old Airborne infantryman. Do not dare to insult his memory by equating him with a barrel of oil."

That is how most former military folks feel. I volunteered, I was not drafted. I joined knowing full well that an incident such as the USS Cole bombing could happen. I served knowing that I could be placed in dangerous situations.

But, alas. he can't hide his liberalism:

If it is of any solace to you, despite my opposition to the war, I salute the fact that you are ready to give your lives for an ideal. Be careful as you patrol the streets. Defend yourselves if you must.

When you can, take a hard look at the Iraqi man, woman, or child your gun is pointed at. You are in Iraq under the orders of the commander in chief. I cannot do anything about that. What I can wish for is that even as many Christians prepare to sing "Peace on earth, goodwill to men," that you find a way, one soldier at a time, to bring it to Iraq. I pray that babies stop killing babies.

More babies have been saved due to us being there than from us being there. The American servicemen (and woman) is allowing the children of Iraq to have a future worth looking forward to.

Though Christ is aware that His birthday is one of Earth's biggest holidays, He said it hasn't been important to Him lately.

"I remember when I turned 1,000, I was really excited," said Christ. "A bunch of the apostles threw a big surprise party for me at the Sea of Galilee, and it was such a great time—I don't even want to tell you how much water we turned into wine that night. But once I turned 1,000, each birthday sort of became less and less of a big deal. It's like, once you're a thousandsomething, you don't even get so excited about birthdays anymore. The past few hundred birthdays, I've generally celebrated by just going out to dinner with a good friend or something mellow like that."

"I am so over the hill," He said. "God, in another 497 years, I'm going to be 2,500. I can't believe it."

Despite Christ's pleading with friends not to "make a whole big production" out of His birthday, some suspect He is secretly hoping for a surprise party.

"Every time I bring up the subject, He says, 'Don't do anything special for Me, don't get me any presents, all I want is peace on Earth, I'm not some kid in his 840s anymore'—blah, blah, blah," St. Matthew said. "That's vintage Jesus for you. Well, I have news for Him: Nobody is going to 'just forget.'"

This and other great stuff at The Onion.

If I don't get the chance later this week, Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to everyone who reads this drivel I attempt to write most days. If I entertain you, great. If I irritate you, well I don't care, I irritate my beautiful wife too. If I make you read the links and think...that's the friggin point. Give your mom, dad, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, sister, brother, significant other, friend, and/or mistress a big ole kiss and enjoy the holidays. Contact me at sswenviron@comcast.net

What kind of wuss do you have to be to get beat up by this guy:

White Stripes lead singer Jack White was charged Monday with aggravated assault after a fight with the lead singer of another band.

White went to a police precinct early Sunday morning and gave a statement saying he struck Von Bondies lead singer Jason Stollsteimer in self-defense.

The Dec. 13 fight between White and Stollsteimer began shortly before midnight at the Majestic Theatre Center, where both men were in the audience for another concert.

Stollsteimer, 25, told police that White had punched him seven times in the face. Police said Stollsteimer's right eye was bruised and swollen and he was bleeding from his nose. He was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was treated and released.

That's like getting your ass beat by Michael Jackson. I think I'd just lick my wounds, stuff some tissues up my nose, and not tell anyone.

I can't believe I even have to say this, but how bad was Saddam as a ruler:

Golzareh-Shohadah is lined with marble plaques and tin stands, each containing a small shrine to the dead soldier, giving each a human face and story. Every Friday, mothers come with rose water and small brooms to sweep the headstones before they sit down and cry for their lost sons. "I start with my oldest son," says Zainab M. "My other two are buried on the next block. I lost them all within three days of one another." For Zainab, news of Hussein's capture doesn't mean much. "It won't bring my sons back. The closure must come for the other families, those who never got the bodies back." She motions a few plots away. "That family lost eight sons; only six of them were found. Most without heads, Saddam is to blame. He must answer for our dead."

There is no equivalence with the war we fought and the war Saddam fought with Iran. He sent greater hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths for nothing:

In 1983 Iran launched three major, but unsuccessful, human wave offensives, with huge losses, along the frontier. On February 6, Tehran, using 200,000 "last reserve" Pasdaran troops, attacked along a 40-kilometer stretch near Al Amarah, about 200 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. Backed by air, armor, and artillery support, Iran's six-division thrust was strong enough to break through. In response, Baghdad used massive air attacks, with more than 200 sorties, many flown by attack helicopters. More than 6,000 Iranians were killed that day, while achieving only minute gains. In April 1983, the Mandali-Baghdad northcentral sector witnessed fierce fighting, as repeated Iranian attacks were stopped by Iraqi mechanized and infantry divisions. Casualties were very high, and by the end of 1983, an estimated 120,000 Iranians and 60,000 Iraqis had been killed. Despite these losses, in 1983 Iran held a distinct advantage in the attempt to wage and eventually to win the war of attrition.

Casualty figures are highly uncertain, though estimates suggest more than one and a half million war and war-related casualties -- perhaps as many as a million people died, many more were wounded, and millions were made refugees. Iraq's victory was not without cost. The Iraqis suffered an estimated 375,000 casualties, the equivalent of 5.6 million for a population the size of the United States. Another 60,000 were taken prisoner by the Iranians. Iran's losses may have included more than 1 million people killed or maimed. The war claimed at least 300,000 Iranian lives and injured more than 500,000, out of a total population which by the war's end was nearly 60 million. Without diminishing the horror of either war, Iranian losses in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war appear modest compared with those of the European contestants in the four years of World War I, shedding some light on the limits of the Iranian tolerance for martyrdom. During the Great War, German losses were over 1,700,000 killed and over 4,200,000 wounded [out of a total population of over 65 million]. Germany's losses, relative to total national population, were at least five times higher than Iran. France suffered over 1,300,000 deaths and over 4,200,000 wounded. The percentages of pre-war population killed or wounded were 9% of Germany, 11% of France, and 8% of Great Britain.

At the end, virtually none of the issues which are usually blamed for the war had been resolved. When it was over, the conditions which existed at the beginning of the war remained virtually unchanged. Although Iraq won the war militarily, and possessed a significant military advantage over Iran in 1989, the 1991 Persian Gulf War reduced Iraq's capabilities to a point where a rough parity existed between Iran and Iraq-conditions similar to those found in 1980. The UN-arranged cease-fire merely put an end to the fighting, leaving two isolated states to pursue an arms race with each other, and with the other countries in the region. The Iraqi military machine -- numbering more than a million men with an extensive arsenal of CW, extended range Scud missiles, a large air force and one of the world's larger armies -- emerged as the premier armed force in the Persian Gulf region. In the Middle East, only the Israel Defense Force had superior capability.

A few things to make you think about Dean and his ability to be President:

Q: How did you get the bug to do this and enter politics?

A: Jimmy Carter. I was a big fan of Jimmy Carter’s and I worked in his 1980 re-election campaign and got to know a lot of people in politics in Vermont. Politics in Vermont until you get to the most senior levels is a part-time profession, so I was county chairman for a while I was practicing medicine ... I was in the legislature.

If I was running for high office, Jimmy Carter wouldn't come up in any sentence that didn't start with "I'd do everything different..."

What would PETA say?

JEDDAH, 22 December 2003 — Pilgrims at this year’s Haj will slaughter as many as 700,000 heads of sheep and several thousand heads of camels and cows, with much of the sacrificial meat then distributed among the poor.

The animals will be sacrificed under a special project initiated by the Kingdom two decades ago. Known as Saudi Arabia’s Sacrificial Meat Utilization Project, it is designed to make use of the meat by distributing it to the poor and needy in the Kingdom and abroad.

Around two million Muslims from all over the world, half of them from Saudi Arabia, are expected to perform the annual pilgrimage this time.

MMM, Camel.

The nation is at Orange and we're vigilant:


WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday urged people to "just go about your business" despite the decision to raise the national terror-attack warning to its second-highest level.

"I think it's very, very important to send a message to the terrorists of goodwill and resolve," said Tom Ridge, making the rounds of nationally broadcast morning news shows. He said the Bush administration wants people to "be vigilant and have a good communications plan under way."

After briefing President Bush on Monday, Ridge reiterated to reporters that the intelligence community considered the new threat "the most significant threat" to the country since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"We've never quite seen it at this level before," Ridge said.

We will be attacked again, sooner, rather than later I fear. The next five years are going to be a trying time that we must endure. We've been lucky since Sept. 11, but our luck will end and we will have to deal with terrorism on a smaller, yet much more personal level.

I heard this as it was happening:

It was a football sideline interview -- complete with a pass.

ESPN cut short an interview with Joe Namath during Saturday's Jets-Patriots game -- after some curious answers from the Hall of Fame quarterback.

When reporter Suzy Kolber asked Namath what the Jets' struggles this season mean to him personally, he leaned in and said: "I want to kiss you."

Kolber's reply: "Thanks, Joe. A huge compliment."

Namath later repeated: "I want to kiss you." Kolber sent it back to the announcers in the booth.

The network said Namath also "made some relevant football points" -- but adds it wouldn't have done the interview if it had known what Namath was going to say.

The Jets aren't commenting on the exchange.

Joe sounded as though two or 10vmartinis had been imbibed prior to the game. Suzy handled it as a pro and Mike Patrick went on with the game.

Lileks is back, and with a bonus cute picture of dancer Gnat.

It couldn't have been the Bush Doctrine that forced Moammar to come clean, it just couldn't have been. The Dems are fighting like little girls against the thought that it could work:

The White House portrayed Libya's promise to abandon its plans for weapons of mass destruction as affirmation of President Bush's hard-line strategy on arms proliferation and suggested the Iraq war helped convince Moammar Gadhafi that he should act.

Some experts on arms control, however, pointed to what is known about how and when the agreement came about and said Libya's turnaround offered proof the United States should shift tactics in dealing with North Korea, Syria and other nations. A greater commitment is needed, they said, to the kind of patient but firm diplomacy that worked with Libya.

"The President is trying hard to portray this as a victory for his strategy," said Joseph Cirincione, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's nonproliferation project. "But when you look at this, it's almost the opposite of the Bush doctrine."

Imagine that. A liberal not understanding that force can bring about peaceful resolutions of tense issues. Inconceivable.

The Inquirer Letters Page never leaves me wanting for material. Here's this:

Neutrality needed

Recently, letters and columns have been published advocating support for both the Israelis and the Palestinians. The writers fail to see that the only way for peace to be achieved is for the United States to disengage completely from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our government should end any diplomatic, financial, commercial, or military support for either side.

Doing so would weaken the infrastructures of both groups to such an extent that they would be forced to either come to terms or watch as their dreams of statehood crumbled under economic and military collapse. In this case, neutrality is the best policy.

Michael P. Gallen

Philadelphia

No Mike, if we stopped supporting Israel, their economy would collapse and they'd have no one to trade with. On the Palestinian side, the dictators of the mid-east would throw so much money and arms at Arafat that Israel would cease to exist within ten years. I'll tell you Mike, can I call you Mike, oh never mind, I'll just refer to you as Moron. Listen Moron, Israel is the only democracy in the mid-east, at least until Iraq holds elections. Are you saying that democracy is bad or that Israel is bad? I'd guess the latter. Now this:

Strong argument

Re: "War's progress may doom Dems," Commentary Page, Dec. 17:

Robert Stewart misses the whole point. He argues in a circular fashion that we were justified in invading a sovereign nation not at war with us because the postwar occupation is going better than expected. He sees Saddam Hussein's capture as confirmation that our cause was just. The Democratic candidates who supported the war but not the postwar planning may indeed have little more to say, but the candidates who opposed the war from the beginning do not have to change a word of their argument.

The invasion of Iraq was based on deception, and nothing that happens now can change that.

Gloria C. Endres

Philadelphia
sisglo@aol.com

Ah Gloria, we were at war with Iraq. At the cessation of hostilities in the original Gulf War, a cease fire was signed, holding Iraq accountable for certain actions, which they didn't comply with. As for the candidates who didn't support the war, watch how fast Howard Dean rushes to the center if he gets the nomination. The anti-war liberals are but a small fraction of the electorate and he'll drop you like an unshaven, feminist chick that he woke up with after a drunken bender.

And on that happy note, we'll leave the rest for another day.

The annual (at least when a Republican is the President) former middle-class, now out of work at Christmas story. If I lost my job tomorrow morning, by the afternoon I'd be working at Home Depot or Target. I feel bad he lost his job, but suck it up and get something to keep paying the mortgage, it'll get better. The Inquirer is good for this every year.

The VNS polls from the 2002 mid-terms are finally released and they indicate what was evident to everyone but the Democrats, America since Sept. 11 is edging to the right:

The Voter News Service, a media consortium that interviewed thousands of voters as they left the polls, didn't deliver its results on Election Night last year because of computer errors and other glitches. After some scrubbing for suspect numbers in individual states, the surveys paint a picture of a country that is not nearly as divided on a political knife-edge as conventional wisdom has it. In the 2000 presidential and House races, America may have been split exactly down the middle. But in 2002, Republicans opened up a gap. The GOP won the national vote for House seats by 51% to 46% and voters who identified themselves as "conservative" increased to 34% from 30%.

Even more importantly, the number of self-identified "liberals" shrank in 2002 despite all the frantic efforts of Michael Moore and Al Franken to whip up the troops. GOP pollster David Winston notes that, in 2002, the number of self-identified liberals dipped to the lowest level in the past four elections -- 17%. "Moderates" continued to dominate the electorate, representing 49% of all votes cast.

If the 2002 exit poll numbers were duplicated in next year's presidential electorate, the sledding would be rough for a liberal candidate. He or she would have to carry the Democratic base plus pick up "moderate" voters by a 2 to 1 margin. That's why if Howard Dean becomes the Democratic nominee, you can expect he will madly dash to the center, spewing rhetoric about balanced budgets and the need to leave social issues out of the campaign. But Democratic consultants wonder if a man who has called for repealing all the Bush tax cuts and signed a bill legalizing civil unions for gays in Vermont can pull off that trick.

Howard Dean has got so much press and said so many things on the record, Bush and Rove are sure to cram every word down his throat during the general election.

Dana Milbank typed this out with clenched teeth and probably broke his keyboard afterward:

It has been a week of sweet vindication for those who promulgated what they call the Bush Doctrine.

Beginning with the capture of Saddam Hussein a week ago and ending Friday with an agreement by Libya's Moammar Gaddafi to surrender his unconventional weapons, one after another international problem has eased.

On Tuesday, the leaders of France and Germany set aside their long-standing opposition to the war in Iraq and agreed to forgive an unspecified amount of that country's debt. On Thursday, Iran signed an agreement allowing surprise inspections of its nuclear facilities after European governments applied intense pressure on the U.S. foe. On Friday, Libya agreed to disarm under the watch of international inspectors, just as administration officials were learning that Syria had seized $23.5 million believed to be for al Qaeda.

To foreign policy hard-liners inside and outside the administration, the gestures by Libya, Iran and Syria, and the softening by France and Germany, all have the same cause: a show of American might.

Those who developed the Bush Doctrine -- a policy of taking preemptive, unprovoked action against emerging threats -- predicted that an impressive U.S. victory in Iraq would intimidate allies and foes alike, making them yield to U.S. interests in other areas. Though that notion floundered with the occupation in Iraq, the capture of Hussein may have served as the decisive blow needed to make others respect U.S. wishes, they say.

The Bush Doctrine is working. Watching Saddam being poked and prodded, and seeing where he was hiding, probably put the fear of Allah in them. It's simple, toe the line and get terrorist elements out of your country, or the possibility of the US ousting you. Sounds pretty easy. Not to John Kerry, however:

Bush's domestic adversaries have had some trouble responding to the administration's diplomatic successes. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a presidential aspirant, portrayed the success with Libya as an exception to the Bush Doctrine. "Ironically, this significant advance represents a complete U-turn in the Bush administration's overall foreign policy," he said in a statement Saturday. "An administration that scorns multilateralism and boasts about a rigid doctrine of military preemption has almost in spite of itself demonstrated the enormous potential for improving our national security through diplomacy."

As the article goes on to say, John, unilateralism is the reason this works, the US can, and will go it alone if need be. No wonder this guy is trailing everyone but Kucinich and Mosely-Braun in the polls. He sounds so damned mealy-mouthed and whiny when he says anything, that no one takes him seriously.

If I had to listen to Al Gore my entire life, I'd be a pothead too:

The son of former vice president and 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore has been charged with marijuana possession.

Albert A. Gore III, 21, was arrested Friday night after he was stopped for driving a vehicle without its headlights on.

Number one rule, Dude. If your going to blow a spliff, turn the headlights on when you drive. It's a sure tip-off to the cops.

Finally, a leader with the huevos to say the truth:

US President George W. Bush told an Israeli journalist that "we must get rid of" Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot daily has reported.

Bush's comments came in a brief exchange with the paper's correspondent during a Christmas drinks party in Washington, several hours after a keynote speech by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday in which he outlined plans for unilateral disengagement from peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The US government has boycotted Arafat with Bush accusing the veteran leader of failing the Palestinian people. Israel has also shunned the 74-year-old, branding him an absolute obstacle to peace and confining him to his West Bank headquarters for more than two years.

Arafat is a terrorist who has had a hand in numerous murders. He further is a dictator. Dictators should be arrested in tried for those murders ordered. Sounds simple.

Like the BBC, are PBS and NPR about to get some heat? I hope so.

I thought Howard Dean was the radical who was going to revolutionize the Democratic Party. Turns out He's not even man enough to stand up to Slick Willy:

CLINTON, Iowa, Dec. 19 — Howard Dean and his aides scrambled on Friday to show off their ties to the Clinton administration. They were trying to undo any damage done on Thursday, when Dr. Dean, in a speech on domestic policy, offended party moderates who thought they saw an implicit slap at the Democratic Party's most recent occupant of the White House.

Campaign aides circulated a two-page memorandum that outlined the history of the relationship between Bill Clinton and Dr. Dean, including quotations from each laying garlands of good will upon the other.

Clintonites-turned-Deaniacs called reporters to explain what their new standard-bearer had meant.

The candidate himself, after calling the former president to clear up things, made sure to mention him at a town hall meeting in Burlington, saying, "We're going to take back the country of Harry Truman, the country of Franklin Roosevelt, the country of Bill Clinton."

What a friggin' wuss.

Socialist Germany realizes that a welfare state may not work:

German lawmakers yesterday approved a program to boost Europe's biggest economy by pruning cherished welfare-state programs and cutting taxes, reforms championed by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Schroeder appeared relieved after the series of votes in both houses of parliament, which capped nine months of intense debate about Germany's future since he unveiled his plans in March with the country limping through its third year of economic stagnation.

"One of the most important and biggest reform projects in the history of the country has been carried through," said Schroeder, who had pinned his political future to passing the package by Christmas.

Cutting spending and cutting taxes, what a novel idea.

The deal moves $11 billion in income tax cuts forward by a year to Jan. 1, adding to $7.6 billion previously slated for 2004. To help offset lost revenue, lawmakers cut a popular subsidy for first-time homeowners and pushed up tobacco taxes.

Yet economists cautioned that the tax cuts would have a limited impact on growth with a jobless rate stuck around 10 percent.

A 10% jobless rate? That's almost Jimmy Carteresque.

The design for the WTC site is nice. I like the fact that it'll be 1,776 feet, the worlds tallest.

Meryl Yourish smacks the AP for biased reporting on deaths in the three year Intifada:

Emphasis, of course, is mine. Rachel effing Corrie is included on the palestinian side. European journalists are included as "palestinian deaths." Excuse me, but when did Britain and Italy become part of the palestinian state? What kind of bullshit is this, to take deaths in a battle zone and attribute them to the Israeli side, while quantifying dozens of Israeli deaths by saying that the victims also were U.S. citizens with dual citizenship? They had emigrated. They were Israelis.

Also included in the death rates for palestinians: "Suspected collaborators: 60." As if the Israelis are responsible for the murder (without trial) of sixty supposed collaborators. No, the pals are the ones who executed this mother of seven. Yet she is included in the statistics, which are then inflated and Israel is blamed for deaths which were not her responsibility.

Hat tip the indispensible LGF.

Austin Bay on the "cascading effect":

The short and long term significance of these "cascading effects" depend on many things, including American diplomatic skill and the emerging effectiveness of Iraq’s Governing Council, but here’s a list of interesting "could-bes":

Immediate security effects in Iraq: Saddam’s capture provided immediate operational intelligence, with the names of financiers, bomb-makers, and resistance leaders among his papers. His documents fingered another dozen terror cells in Baghdad.

Damage to fascist morale: Though Baath and Al Qaeda terror attacks continue, Saddam’s arrest saps the morale of even the most hard-core thugs. Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers said it well: "When you take this leader ...and find him in a hole in the ground, that is a powerful signal that you maybe on the wrong team and maybe should be thinking about some other line of work."

Strategic intelligence: Pumping Saddam for details on his Weapons of Mass Destruction programs will take time, but the long-term pay-off will be an improved US and UN capability to counter the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons. Likewise, the evidence that Saddam facilitated both secular and religious terrorists is mounting, Our ability to counter terror networks will improve.

It appears as though it's starting to work outside Iraq:

Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, ostracized for decades by Western nations for his role in supporting terrorism, agreed yesterday to dismantle the country's weapons of mass destruction as part of a deal with Britain and the United States that would bring Libya slowly back into the international community.

I guess Khadafy didn't like the idea of being pulled out of a hole.

Glenn Reynolds has more.

Sgt. Stryker reminisces about the military and Saddam:

I won't bore you with all stuff that happened during the 90's, since most of you have at least a passing knowledge of the "Peace Dividend", the drawdown, the restructurings, the RIFs, doing more with less, the humanitarian missions, the relief missions and the peacekeeping operations. While all this was going on, 90-day rotations to Saudi became the norm. The light of liberty to the world debased itself before a King. Every so often, we'd play whack-a-mole with Saddam when he'd decided the world had forgotten about him. We'd lob a few Tomahawks his way and we'd forget about him until he poked his head up again or the President faced a political crisis at home. I often wondered what went through Saddam's mind when he watched CNN and saw that President was in trouble. "Oh *@#!, here it comes. Batten the hatches, boys, we've got incoming!"

I distinctly remember one occasion a few months after I joined the Air Force when a few buddies and I were eating at the chow hall and talking about the Gulf War. I'd said something to the effect that we'd stopped to soon, we left the guy in power and now we're going to pay for it until he dies, just like Castro in Cuba. Some TSgt at another table turned around and gave us the party line about why we couldn't take out Saddam. Our allies wouldn't go for it, the American people wouldn't want to see a bunch of people dying in Baghdad, it would be too hard and we had no idea if the guy who took over after Saddam would be worse. Like I said, that was the Party Line and you never found a shortage of people in the military to tow it, but that's just the way things are in the military. "We're at war with Oceania. We've always been at war with Oceania." That sort of thing. Well, I'm still here, that Tsgt's gone and I guess I ended up being right after all. I guess if you wait long enough, that eventually happens.

He want to bootcamp at the same time I did. We should've finished it in '91.

Hitchens on Saddams capture and the repercussions:

Throwing off all secular disguise, they have adopted the rhetoric and method of jihad and this will be their selling point for some time.

However, they have lost their rallying point. And a number of Iraqis who have been hesitant and fearful until now can be expected to straighten up and look people in the eye.

In Baghdad and Basra in the summer, I met several people who could not be convinced Saddam wasn't coming back. It was the same in Ceausescu's Romania, where it took a while before citizens would believe the local Dracula was really dead. A diet of fear is bad for the system and has pernicious long-term effects.

An Iraqi religious leader allowed to see Saddam after his capture found the tyrant defiant and unrepentant. Those cheering his fall were "mobs" and those who were found in mass graves were "thieves".

I can't wait to see him repeat this in the dock. Meanwhile, the whole enterprise of re-making Iraq is greatly clarified by the certain knowledge that there's no going back.

I can't wait to see Saddam, on trial, in front of his victims and the world.

Let's revisit the letter writers of the Philly metro area:

One of the time-honored principles governing human behavior that I learned as a child was that "the end never justifies the means."

As I have watched and listened to the propaganda hype over the capture of Saddam Hussein, my thoughts have been that this sacred principle is now being totally disemboweled.

I suspect that the image of the disheveled, filthy Hussein is being successfully employed to dupe the public into forgetting the death, disruption, lies, deception and billions of dollars that have allowed the Bush administration to arrive at this point.

My expectation is that this public relations spin will have its desired effect overall. But I for one will have none of it as justification for the geopolitical philosophy of a few ideologues in Washington.

I think in quite a few cases Joe, the end does justify the means. I guess you were taught all the other important lessons like; "don't piss into the wind" or "where clean underwear in case you're in an accident". Will you feel the same way when we get Osama? Would you prefer we return Saddam to all of his 57 palaces? Joe is a great example of the unraveling left. They can't support the capture of a murderous despot. You're pathetic Joe.

The token right gets a play today:

Yearly, at the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, some citizens or officials from Japan criticize the United States. Several are now protesting the Smithsonian Institution's display of the plane, the Enola Gay, that dropped that bomb, because no mention is made of the 140,000 Japanese civilians who were killed by that bomb and the thousands of others who were maimed.

The Smithsonian should mention this. It is part of fact, part of history, part of the truth. Dropping the bomb was an atrocity during a war that saw many, many atrocities.

The rationale for using the first atomic weapon was that it would hasten the end of the war and save the lives of countless U.S. troops who most likely would have had to invade Japan. Though seldom mentioned, it saved the lives of thousands of Asians whose countries were occupied by the Japanese.

In contrast to Germany, Japan has never admitted its own atrocities or made reparations. After the protesters leave the Smithsonian, perhaps, in the interest of full disclosure, they can protest in Japan against their government's policy.
S. Reid Warren III

Amen Mr. Warren.

Women are waiting longer to have kids then ever before:

The average age at which American women are having their first child has climbed to an all-time high of 25.1, the government said yesterday.

The rise reflects a drop in teen births and an increase in the number of women who are putting off motherhood until their 30s and 40s.

The age of first-time American mothers has risen steadily during the last three decades, from an average of 21.4 in 1970. The latest figure, for 2002, was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Women contemplating motherhood "are more likely to wait," CDC statistician Joyce Martin said. "It's good overall for infant health, because birth outcomes for teen moms are problematic."

The teen birthrate fell 30 percent in the last decade to a historic low of 43 births per 1,000 females in 2002. The CDC also said births among women ages 20 to 24 had dropped to 104 per 1,000 women, from a high of 109.7 in 2000.

The government attributed the drop in the teen birthrate to health campaigns by public and private agencies that discourage teen pregnancies and promote abstinence.

Maybe it has to do with parents teaching kids not to have sex, or more likely not to have sex without protection.

For the first time in months, the Inquirer has nothing about Iraq on the front page.

How bad of a campaign are you running when you are behind Sharpton? Ask Kerry and Edwards.

Tim Blair is blogging up a storm. Just click and start scrolling.

How big was getting Saddam? It starting to add up:

BAGHDAD, Dec. 16 -- A document discovered during the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has enabled U.S. military authorities to assemble detailed knowledge of a key network behind as many as 14 clandestine insurgent cells, a senior U.S. military officer said Tuesday.

"I think this network that sits over the cells was clearly responsible for financing of the cells, and we think we're into that network," said Army Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division.

Acting quickly after realizing the significance of the document, which Dempsey likened to minutes of a meeting, troops of the 1st Armored Division conducted raids Sunday and Monday that netted three former Iraqi generals suspected of financing and guiding insurgent operations in the Baghdad area.

Dempsey declined to name the three officers who were detained. He said none was on the Pentagon's list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis but said their family names were familiar to U.S. authorities, suggesting that relatives of the men had come under suspicion.

Let's see how fanatical they are without funding.

Nine straight:

So here we are at 2269 Dan Marino Blvd., at the midpoint between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where the windchill is about, oh, say, 73, and where thousands of Eagles fans have parachuted in, bringing their passion and their own unique brand of antifreeze with them. In flasks.

Christmas has indeed come early for local bail bondsmen.

The Eagles haven't lost in two months and have that runaway-locomotive look about them. The Dolphins, who score 40 one week and get shut out the next, are in a desperate way, the playoffs slipping from their frantic grasp.

It is a game freighted with significance and consequence for both teams, the Eagles needing to keep pace in the home-field-forever race.

Though we don't know it at the time, they are about to luck up in a reprise of Gunfight at the OK Corral. They will play a wildly entertaining, back-and-forth, fire-in-the-hole game.

The Eagles will win, and it is huge, and now there is no reason to think that they will lose again. Not only have they generated momentum. They are getting better each game.

Bill Lyon rules.

The Enola Gay carried a weapon so devastating that it wiped out thousands of Japanese. It also saved thousands of American Marines. How is this plane, that's now on display treated?

Monday's opening of the National Air and Space Museum's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center was marred by a protester who damaged one of the museum's historic aircraft.
The B-29 Enola Gay's fragile aluminum-alloy skin was damaged when a glass bottle filled with red paint was thrown at the aircraft from a walkway above it. The bottle hit the plane's left side, denting an area just below the third row of windows and then shattered on the floor.
``There was a pop, then a splat, then I turned around and saw that there was some damage to the airframe,'' said an employee at the museum, located at Dulles International Airport.
Museum security detained Thomas K. Siemer, 73, of Columbus, Ohio, around 11:15 a.m. until police from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority arrested him and charged him with felony damage to property and loitering.
Siemer was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center after his arrest. Bond information was not available Monday afternoon.
He was part of a contingent of 40 to 50 protesters who objected to the Smithsonian's refusal to include information in the plane's exhibit about the 103,000 deaths it caused when it dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, said museum spokesman Peter Golkin.

The Japanese attacked us you moron. We were finishing a battle they started and they weren't giving up on lightly.

Reuters, the "News Organization" wins an award that should be named for them:

With over 200 news bureaus worldwide, Reuters stakes its claim as "the largest international multi-media news agency." Though Reuters' own editorial policy claims the agency's reporters "do not offer subjective opinion," and intend merely "to enable readers and viewers to form their own judgement," in fact Reuters' coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is flagrantly biased against Israel. Some examples from 2003:

* In January, Reuters blamed Israel for "killing" Palestinian suicide bombers:

Iraq has paid millions of dollars to families of Palestinians, including those of suicide bombers, killed by Israeli forces since the start of the uprising in September 2000.

* As Israel prepared to build a wall to protect worshippers at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, Reuters published this headline:

"Israel to Split Christ's Birthplace with Barrier"

To emphasize its (completely external) point, Reuters repeated the word "Christ" or "Christian" in each of the article's first four sentences.

Read the whole thing. Reuters is so anti-Israel and anti-American that it's a friggin disgrace that anyone would use what the publish.

And to punctuate that point, MSNBC publishes this drivel.

The Inquirer has blogger response to the capture of Saddam:

Right-leaning bloggers could barely contain themselves.

"Holy Fashizzle!" wrote Matt Welch, associate editor of Reason magazine, coining a word for fascist that Snoop Dogg might have used on Doggy Fizzle Televizzle. On mattwelch.com, he wrote: "Still would rather have the monster who blew up our buildings, but any day a murderous dictator is captured is a very good day."

Mark Steyn at marksteyn.com marveled, "A captured Saddam with a tongue depressor in his mouth. His tongue can't be half as depressed as the French, John Kerry, Howard Dean, The Guardian et al."

I highly doubt that the reporter read Mark Steyns column as the connection between Mark Steyn who is published everywhere and Steyn the blogger wasn't made.

And now from the left:

Self-described soccer dad Tbogg (tbogg.blogspot.com) argued that just because we got the bad guy "doesn't mean that the unprovoked invasion was the right thing to do, nor is the occupation." Iraq won't be happy once U.S. corporations "finish acquiring all the Iraqi assets" and "have their own little colonial empire to bleed dry," he warned.

TBogg is an idiot by the way. You can click the link but I've saved you the trouble by reading his drivel.

For that Jew on your Hanukkah/Christmas list who has everything:

Tell the world, "I'm all about the PEACE motherf***rs!!"

A great unisex cut...JEWCY logo on the front and SHALOM on the back....you'll be chillin' like Dylan in this limited edition Tee.

100% combed cotton with a softer, smoother feel and an old-skool 80's tailored cut. Buy a size larger than usual if you want it loose.

As our Bubbe says, "Wear it in good health!"

And it doesn't cost alot of gelt.

I don't have time to comment on this, but here's a speech by Michael Crichton on the environment.

My Birds have a big one tonight. Shut down Ricky Williams and a pick or two and they'll win it.

Bush says what we all feel at his press conference today:

QUESTION: You say this is not personal, but you've also pointed out this was a man who tried to murder your father. What is your greeting today?
BUSH: "Good riddance. The world is better off without you, Mr. Saddam Hussein. And I find it very interesting that when the heat got on you dug yourself a hole and you crawled in it. And our brave troops, combined with good intelligence, found you. And you'll be brought to justice, something you did not afford the people you brutalized in your own country."

Emphasis mine.

Strom Thurmond was getting busy in his younger years:

The late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family on Monday said it acknowledges a California woman's claim that she is his illegitimate mixed-race daughter. Her lawyer said the statement brought her "a sigh of relief."

"As J. Strom Thurmond has passed away and cannot speak for himself, the Thurmond family acknowledges Ms. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' claim to her heritage. We hope this acknowledgment will bring closure for Ms. Williams," the family's lawyer, J. Mark Taylor, said in a brief statement.

I hate the word illegitimate when describing a child. I guess the Strom is racist rhetoric wasn't exactly true.

A true "Fisking" in the Telegraph.

I guess Khatami doesn't want to live in a spider hole. Iran is "Doing it's Best":

This sounds like a soldier who is at the low end of the morale measurement:

When the soldiers first found Saddam, he raised his hands above his head, military officials said.


"I am Saddam Hussein," he said, according to the officials. "I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."


The U.S. soldiers reportedly responded: "President Bush sends his regards."

Sounds to me as though he hates the President.

Andrew Sullivan has amassed the written words of a Left that is in full melt-down mode. My personal favorites are this:

"I can't believe this. I'm crying here. I feel that we now don't have a chance in this election." - poster Carrie B. on Howard Dean's campaign blog.

And this:

does how does this help someone facing a bleak Christmas because they lost their job? How does this help someone with an illness who just lost their insurance coverage? How does this help someone who's underemployed, working several jobs and struggling to pay the mortgage?
It just don't make me any money.

I can't wait until we get Osama, they will become 100% unhinged.

How many people did Saddam kill and bulldoxe into mass graves like so much refuse? Go here and see for yourself.

Peggy Noonan, for no other reason than she is the best writer I've read.

One last link:

In Yemen, Mohammed Abdel Qader Mohammadi, 50, said he was surprised Saddam didn't fight his capture. "I expected him to resist or commit suicide before falling into American hands. He disappointed a lot of us, he's a coward."

Of course he's a coward. Typical Mid-East dictator, send their people to die, but afraid to die themselves.

"It's a major event that should strongly contribute to democracy and stability in Iraq and allow the Iraqis to master their destiny," French President Jacques Chirac said in a statement.

Nice sentiment, you're still not getting contracts weasel.

And lastly, words from a man in my former hometowns:

In San Diego, Alan Zangana, a 48-year-old Kurd who fled Iraq in 1981, said the phone at his Chula Vista home started ringing early Sunday with people sharing the reports that Saddam had been captured.

"I have been waiting for this for the last 35 years," said Zangana, director of Kurdish Human Rights Watch in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon.

Saddam instituted a policy of genocide against the Kurds and Zangana said oppression in his oil-rich hometown of Kirkuk was severe.

"Nobody is going to be happy today like the Kurds," Zangana said. "He killed a lot of us."

I actually lived in Chula Vista and El Cajon. They have a large Iraqi population in the area. That last line kinda says it all.

To read more about Saddams capture, go here, here, and here.

The Palestinians aren't happy:

Disbelief and gloom seized many Palestinians Sunday at news of Saddam Hussein's capture as Israel fired off a telegram of congratulations to Washington.

The former Iraqi ruler was a hero to many Palestinians for his stand against Israel and its U.S. ally, as well as for helping families of Palestinians dead in an uprising.

For Israel, he was a menace over the horizon who long bankrolled the enemy.

"It's a black day in history," said Sadiq Husam, 33, a taxi driver in Ramallah, West Bank seat of the Palestinian Authority.

"I am saying so not because Saddam is an Arab, but because he is the only man who said no to American injustice in the Middle East," he said.

There was no immediate reaction from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat or his government.

But Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz hailed Saddam's capture in a telegram to Washington as proof of patience and determination in a war "against the rulers of darkness."

Saddam paid over $35 million to the kin of Palestinian suicide bombers, militants and bystanders who died in an uprising that began in 2000.

My hearts pumping piss for them. No more money to bankroll murder.

(Hat tip: Stephen Green, who's blogging on a Sunday)

More reaction:

Clinton:

"I am glad he was captured alive so he can be brought before the bar of justice for decades of tyranny and murder. I hope his capture will speed Iraq's transformation to a secure and self-governing nation."

McCain:

"It's a fantastic day. It's a great tribute to the military and the intelligence and the young men and women who are over there. ... This has a tremendous psychological effect. ... And I hope, once the trial begins and the exposition of the extent of this despot's crimes are known to our European friends and people around the world, it will further justify our actions in Iraq."

Of course Jay Rockefeller is pissing on the parade because another Dem issue is off the table:

"Given the location and circumstances of his capture, it makes it clear that Saddam was not managing the insurgency, and that he had very little control or influence. That is significant and disturbing because it means the insurgents are not fighting for Saddam, they're fighting against the United States."

Dean handles it as any good American should:

"I think the first order of business is to say this is a great day - I congratulate the Iraqi people - and to say that this is a great day for both the American military and the American people and for the Iraqi people."

Update: Here's the rest of the Dean quote:

"This development provides an enormous opportunity to set a new course and take the American label off the war. We must do everything possible to bring the UN, NATO, and other members of the international community back into this effort.

"Now that the dictator is captured, we must also accelerate the transition from occupation to full Iraqi sovereignty."

He couldn't resist adding the UN/NATO/International community BS.

And of course the craziest candidate, Kucinich:

"The United States must reach out to the world community with a new plan to stabilize Iraq, bring U.N. peacekeepers in, and bring U.S. troops home."

OK Dennis. Take your medicine and take a nap.

The Defense Dept website has more details:

With three words – “We got him” – Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III announced at a press briefing in Baghdad today that U.S. forces had captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit.

Saddam was taken into custody at a small mud-walled compound outside the village of Adwar at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 13.

About 600 members of the 1st Brigade, 4 th Infantry Division, along with special operations forces, launched Operation Red Dawn after receiving intelligence that Saddam was in the area, said Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in the country.

Bremer, the coalition administrator, said it was a “great day” in Iraq's history. “For decades, hundreds of thousands of you suffered at the hands of this cruel man,” he said. “For decades, Saddam Hussein divided citizens against each other. For decades, he threatened and attacked your neighbors. Those days are over forever.”

The ambassador called on Iraqis to look to the future. He urged those who supported Saddam to reexamine their views and cooperate to build a new Iraq. “Your future has never been more full of hope,” he said.

Sanchez described the operation that captured Saddam. The general said it was a cordon-and-search operation, and coalition forces sustained no casualties. In fact, he said, coalition forces never fired a shot.

“For the last several months, a combination of human intelligence tips, exceptional intelligence analytical efforts and detainee interrogations narrowed down the activities of Saddam Hussein,” Sanchez said.

Let's look at how two candidates view Saddam's capture, first Joe Lieberman:

"Praise the Lord. ... This is a day of glory for the American military, American intelligence, and it's a day of triumph and joy for anybody in the world who cares about freedom and human rights and peace." — Sen. Joe Lieberman

That's it. Nothing political, just praise for the intel community and the military. Now John F. Kerry:

"Capturing Saddam Hussein and ensuring that this brutal dictator will never return to power is an important step toward stabilizing Iraq for the Iraqis. Let's also be clear: Our problems in Iraq have not been caused by one man and this is a moment when the administration can and must launch a major effort to gain international support and win the peace." — Sen. John Kerry

The "It's a good thing but..." approach. International support, win the peace, blah, blah, blah. This man wants to be president? No wonder his campaign is crashing.

Maybe Saddam can shed a little light on this:

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.

Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.

In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".

The second part of the memo, which is headed "Niger Shipment", contains a report about an unspecified shipment - believed to be uranium - that it says has been transported to Iraq via Libya and Syria.

Niger shipment? Wasn't that debunked? Maybe not.

WE GOT THE SON OF A BITCH:

U.S. forces have captured Saddam Hussein in a late night raid near his hometown of Tikrit, according to the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

"Ladies and gentleman, we got him," L. Paul Bremer announced Sunday. The announcement was greeted with cheers from the audience.

Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez showed video of Saddam, who had graying hair and a long beard, undergoing a medical examination after his capture.

Several Iraqi journalists stood up and shouted "Death to Saddam" after the video was shown.

Sanchez said the former leader was not injured and has been "talkative and cooperative," after 4th Infantry Division and special operations forces nabbed him at a "rural farmhouse."

One down, one to go. I guess this takes another Democrat argument off the table.

Tim Blair, on the other side of the world, has alot more

Scott Ott has this:

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today said that some items and services are exempt from the Iraq reconstruction bid ban imposed by the United States on countries which did not support the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

"In the interest of strengthening our friendships, France, Germany and Russia will be permitted to bid on some things," said Mr. Rumsfeld. "For example, we have a pressing need for more of those terrific human shields. There were a lot of them around before the war, but we can't find them now. While we're figuring out where Saddam hid them, we would welcome some French, German or Russian human shields."

Mr. Rumsfeld said that Halliburton and Bechtel did not wish to bid on the human shield contract, "so that gives our old European allies a clean shot at it."

The Bush administration has a problem. It doesn't understand that you treat other nation's, who were once our allies, with kid gloves so you don't hurt their feelings. Bush is so uncultured:

But the Bush administration, drunk on truth serum, has done the exact opposite. It has declared in public that countries that did not help overthrow Saddam do not get to benefit from the aftermath. But then in private White House officials seem to be offering every assurance to the offended nations. Moreover the U.S. is still allowing the offending nations to bid on the subcontracts, where there is much money to be made.

This is a policy based on candor, and therefore it is a mess.

If the U.S. is going to right its foreign policy, it is going to have to rein in President Bush's tendency to be straightforward. It is going to have to acknowledge that honesty is a good thing when it comes to international affairs — in theory.

The administration's fundamental problem is that it is not very good at dealing with people it can't stand. The men and women in this White House are exceptionally forthright. When they come across someone they regard as insufferable, their instinct is to be blunt. They seek to be honest rather than insincere, to not sugar things up but to let these people know how they really feel.

Sometimes you've got to be slippery to accomplish real good. The Bush administration is thus facing an insincerity crisis. It has become addicted to candor and forthrightness. It needs an immediate back-stabbing infusion.

Perhaps Al Gore could be brought in to offer advice.

This picture of Chirac and Shroeder says everything about the week they've had.

Mugger slams Kerry (and Alterman):

Maybe that’s why he now resembles an aging politician trapped in a haunted house where all the doors are locked. Kerry’s interview with Democrat-friendly Rolling Stone, posted on the irrelevant pop culture magazine’s website last week, was another example of his attempt to act like a regular guy. He says "gonna" a lot. Asked by puffball inquisitor Will Dana if Howard Dean’s success surprised him, Kerry unloaded, saying, "I mean, when I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say ‘I’m against everything’? Sure. Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don’t think anybody did."

Kerry’s use of what major newspapers still refer to as a "barnyard epithet," is not unprecedented. Back in ’99, Tucker Carlson’s profile of GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush in the debut issue of Talk included the Texas governor lapsing into profanity, much to his staff’s horror. Arguably, there’s a difference. Bush, even at that early point in the campaign, was the prohibitive favorite, with his enormous wad of cash and endorsements, not to mention the perception that he was a simpleton with a sailor’s mouth.

Also, Bush wasn’t talking about a sitting president, which doesn’t bother me, but did cause Stephen Hess, a scholar at the liberal Brookings Institution, a case of heartburn. Hess told the New York Post’s Deborah Orin "[i]t’s so unnecessary… I think John Kerry is going to regret saying this." Kerry, in contrast to Bush, is supposed to be Mr. Breeding, even as he increasingly shoots pheasants, rides motorcycles and talks about "average Americans," as if he’s encountered one of those animals in the past 25 years.

Coming next: Kerry boasts about his wife’s "gorgeous tits" in Playboy.

Read the Alterman also.

Krauthammer knocks it out of the park:

Al Gore's dramatic endorsement of Howard Dean catapults Dean to the status of prohibitive favorite because, according to conventional wisdom, it connects the outsider campaign to the ultimate insider. The insurgency gains access to the centers of party power -- the unions, ethnic constituencies and big donors close to Gore.

This is all very true. But the special power of this endorsement is less structural than symbolic. The story of this campaign is the energy and anger of the Democratic base. It is the reason an unknown and undistinguished former governor of Vermont is now the front-runner. He captured and then bottled the anger.

The anger appears odd, given that George W. Bush is fairly mild-mannered. He is no Richard Nixon. Democrats did not hate him in 2000. Yet many hate him now because of 2000, because they believe his entire presidency to be illegitimate.

Indeed.

The Religion of Peace watch continues:

A judge has ruled that a Pakistani man found guilty of attacking his 17-year-old fiancee with acid be blinded with acid himself as punishment.

The judge ordered that a doctor perform the punishment publicly at a local sports stadium.

Mohammed Sajid, 19, poured acid on the face of his fiancee Rabia Bibi with the help of his two brothers and two friends, on June 24 in Bahawalpur, a city in the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab.

The woman lost both eyes and her face was burned in the attack that police said followed a minor dispute between the couple.

Judge Afzal Sharif ruled at a court in Bahawalpur that Sajid and his brothers were guilty of the attack and be jailed for seven years, and that Sajid be blinded by putting acid in his eyes, said Rana Riaz, a local police official.

"This is an Islamic way of doing justice," the judge wrote in his verdict.

The two friends accused of helping Sajid in the attack were freed.

What is more insane, the fact that the guy had friends hold a girl and poured acid on her, his punishment was to have the same done to him, or the friends walked free?

In further news that'll block out the shrill din of the nine morons:

Revising its year-end economic forecast sharply upward, The Conference Board today projected that real GDP growth will hit 5.7% next year, making 2004 the best year economically in the last 20 years.
The forecast, by Conference Board Chief Economist Gail Fosler, expects worker productivity, which set a 20-year record in the third quarter, to rise at a healthy 3.6% next year. That would follow a gain of 4.3% this year.

The economic forecast is prepared for more than 2,500 corporate members of The Conference Board's global business network, based in 66 nations.

KEY BAROMETERS FLASHING GROWTH

"Growing business spending and continued strength in consumer spending are generating growth throughout the U.S. economy," says Fosler. "This burgeoning strength is reflected in The Conference Board's widely-watched Leading Economic Indicators, the Consumer Confidence Index and the Help-Wanted Advertising Index. While the labor market, a critical factor in sustaining growth, is growing slowly, a pick-up in hiring may already have begun."

Real consumer spending, which continues to fuel growth, will increase at a 4.7% pace next year, up from about 3.2% this year. Another gain of 4.3% is projected for 2005.

While the U.S. economy is expected to generate more than one million new jobs next year, the unemployment rate will edge down only slightly, averaging 5.6% in 2004.

The Conference Board forecast notes that as the U.S. economy bounces back, so is Europe, although growth will be subdued compared to most other major parts of the world. "For all the concern about a weak dollar," says Fosler, "the dollar will be worth more than the euro by the end of the year."

Continuing the good news, the Dow is above 10K again:

The Dow industrials closed above 10,000 for the first time in nearly 19 months on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve indicated it would keep interest rates low for some time.
Positive reports on retail sales and upbeat forecasts from a few semiconductor companies also fueled investor optimism that the U.S. economy is steadily improving.


"It helped to soothe some nerves on the part of equity investors," said Keith Keenan, vice president of institutional trading at Wall Street Access, referring to the Fed's comments. "The consensus is that rates are not going up. The equity market wouldn't be sitting with Dow over 10,000 if people actually thought rates were going higher."

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - News) ended up 86.30 points, or 0.87 percent, at 10,008.16, its highest close since May 24, 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (CBOE:^SPX - News) rose 12.16 points, or 1.15 percent, to 1,071.21, its highest finish since May 28, 2002. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index (NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) climbed 37.67 points, or 1.98 percent, to 1,942.32, based on the latest data.

I don't know about you, but my 401K has gained back any losses and is moving up.

Tony Auth is so crazy, like the rest of the Dems, that he is almost in Ted Rall land. Look at this cartoon. Hey Tony, W is not offering contracts to everyone. He's allowing countries, who chose to liberate a nation that has seen more death than any should, the opportunity to help rebuild that country. By the way, nice play on "Blacks not apply".

Here's another example of Tony's artistic and editorial genius. Let's put the enemy combatants on the moon. They are associate of the people who flew three planes into buildings and killed thousands. Ah, fuck it. It's not worth my time and I've got a friggin' headache.

James Taranto posts this little nugget about Gen. Wes Clarke:

Matthews: General, do you think Osama bin Laden, if we catch him, when we catch him, should be tried here at the U.S. or in The Hague, the international court?

Clark: I would like to see him tried in The Hague, and I tell you why. I think it's very important for U.S. legitimacy and for building other support in the war on terror for trying them in The Hague, under international law with an international group of justices, bringing witnesses from other nations. Remember, 80 other nations lost citizens in that strike on the World Trade Center. It was a crime against humanity, and he needs to be tried in international court.

Matthews: Well, 3,000 Americans were killed here. Do you believe he should be held exempt from capital punishment, because if you send him to Hague he will be. They don't have capital punishment at The Hague.

Clark: I think that's a separate issue. I think that's a separate issues.

Matthews: No, it's a key issue, because the sentencing limitation, they do not execute people at the Hague.

Clark: I think that you can adequately punish Osama bin Laden, and you've got to look beyond simple retribution against an individual. You have to look at what's in the long-term security interest in the security in America and you have to look at how we handle the war on terror from here on out.

Matthews: But doesn't life in Holland beat life in a cave?

Clark: Not in a Dutch prison. Chris, they're under water, they're damp, they're cold, they're really miserable.

Who would choose any of the nine idiots to replace Bush? I think the campaigns will look close for awhile, but Bush will whack the shit out of Dean (or whoever) when election day comes. I know this is the silly season; prior to the first vote being cast, but jeez, these guys are so far over the edge of the abyss, there's no way to come back to the center.

Ha.


They hate us because of our cultural imperialism. Whether it is “Baywatch,” or gorditas, or indoor plumbing, America continues its shameful legacy of exporting our violent global corporate McCulture. And believe me, nothing offends the Afghanistanic people like religious xenophobia, sexism and homophobia.

They hate us because of our support of Israel. How many disco and pizza parlor bombings will it take before America wakes up and realizes that we are supporting the wrong people? Let’s face it. Israel has a long record of oppression, much like those Jewish guys at the Hillel House and A.E.Pi who are always busting the grade curve in Western Civ. I mean, come on, man. Maybe some of the rest of us want to get into law school, too.

They hate us because of our racism. So you still think Americans are tolerant? Tell that to my Egyptian-Syrian neighbor Abdullah. Since the tragedy on September 11, he has suffered dozens of hurtful stares and insensitive comments. He has been so upset over this he has almost abandoned his dream of owning his own crop-dusting business.

Sorry about the hateful stares, Dude. And those Jewish guys busting the grade curve in Western Civ. Damn, now that's a reason to support Hamas and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

More Tim Blair.

Hilarious:

Once upon a time, four friends shared the forest. When an evil dictator threatened the peace and security of them all, one of the friends concluded that the bad man had to be driven out of the forest.

"Who will help me disarm and depose this dictator?" asked the American Eagle.

"Not I!" said the French Cock.

"Not I!" said German Boar.

"Not I!" said Russian Bear.

So the Eagle moved its soldiers to the dictator's doorstep on her own.

All the animals gathered in a clearing to try to talk the dictator into doing the right thing before it was too late.

"We've given the dictator 12 years of warnings, and he has done nothing but lie to us, and evade his promises. We all have solid reasons to believe he has poison weapons, and will use them against us one day if he's not stopped," the Eagle said. "Who will help me hold him to account?"

The animals thought for a minute, and, agreeing with Little Bunny Foo-Foo, the secretary-general of the forest, they decided to give the evil dictator "just one more chance." They responded to the Eagle thus:

"Not I!" said the Cock.

"Not I!" said the Boar.

"Not I!" said the Bear.

So the Eagle mustered the English bulldog and other helpers, waged war on the evil dictator and threw him out.

After the war, the Eagle and her friends then faced a difficult and dangerous job cleaning up the mess the dictator had made.

"Who will help me put this poor country back together again?" the Eagle said.

"Not I!" said the Cock.

"Not I!" said the Boar.

"Not I!" said the Bear.

So the Eagle and her friends undertook to rebuild the poor country and help its people on their own. It cost them substantially in the lives of their children and the gold in their treasuries. The Eagle opened her money pouch and began looking to hire plumbers, carpenters and the like to assist the people of this unfortunate nation.

"Who will accept my gold to aid in rebuilding this nation?" said the Eagle.

"I will!" said the Cock.

"I will!" said the Boar.

"I will!" said the Bear.

"Fuggedaboutit!" said the Eagle. "What kind of chump do you think I am?

"When I asked you to risk your blood and treasure to fight the evil dictator who threatened us all, you would not," the Eagle said. "When I asked you to send your own children and gold to help the dictator's nation recover from his misrule, you would not.

"When I most needed you, you weren't there for me. Go whine somewhere else."

And so, the French Cock, the German Boar and the Russian Bear were left to ponder a most excellent lesson on the principle of risk and reward. And they learned that day that their friend the American Eagle, when her forest allies act like Chickens and Ostriches, is not afraid to be a hard Ass.

I pasted the entire article so you wouldn't have to go through the irritating sign-up process. Rod Dreher smacks 'em in the teeth.

This is not getting even remotely enough coverage on the networks:

Five thousand to 10,000 Iraqis tried to send terrorists a cease-and-desist message yesterday from downtown Baghdad in the biggest demonstration against violence to date.
The protesters snarled traffic by filling Fateh Square near the National Theater and Fardos Square in front of the Palestine Hotel. Chanting "No, no terrorism" and "Yes, yes Islam," they carried photographs of religious leaders and unfurled banners that read "The Iraqis Should Not Forget Palestine."

Coalition officials have said that despite pockets of resistance, most Iraqis support the presence of American troops and oppose the resistance. By strengthening Iraqi security forces and announcing a plan to turn over sovereignty to Iraqis by next summer, the United States hopes to stem some of the anger and frustration many Iraqis have voiced.

5-10,000. By A.N.S.W.E.R or Million Man (or Mom) March counting , that's like 500,000 people. Tim Blair has a good take.

Stephen Green links to a great read about a book concerning Rwanda:

To the major powers of the outside world, Rwanda was of little interest. It has no oil, no strategic importance. Its only major exports are tea and coffee. As one analyst said, “There’s nothing here except humans, so it’s not worth the risk.”

“The risk of what?” Dallaire demands. “Professional soldiers coming in and helping? Diplomats? Aid organizations? So what is worth it?”

Many more people died in Rwanda than in the turmoil in the former Yugoslavia. In Rwanda, “I couldn’t keep 400 troops on the ground. Tens and tens of thousands of troops, billions of dollars” were committed to Yugoslavia, “but nothing in Rwanda.”

The question, Dallaire says, is “Why is there that difference?” Is it because Yugoslavia was an ally of today’s most powerful nations in World War II? Because people in western countries have family there? Because Yugoslavians are European? Because they’re white? Or “because Africans in Africa who kill themselves are considered the norm?

“We taught them the barbarism,” Dallaire says, so “why is it they don’t count? Are all humans human, or are some more human than others? Do some count more than others?”

Clearly, the major powers currently have little stomach for putting their soldiers in harm’s way when there is no clear evidence of a threat to their own well-being.

Great questions. Why did we not assist in stopping this genocide?

The Weekly Standard picks apart John Lennon:

Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can / No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man / Imagine all the people, sharing all the world. . . . Let's begin implementing the third stanza's message by splitting up the royalties to this copyrighted song. Mrs. Lennon, I imagine, will be only too happy to share with the rest of us the proceeds from the semiannual checks she receives for its licensing. In fact, why don't we all participate in every revenue stream created by John's invaluable catalogue? No, even that's not good enough. John wants us all to own everything, so we're each entitled to an equal share of not only his catalogue but also every album, tape, and CD ever made--by every artist. True, in such an egalitarian world, there soon won't be any record stores from which to take home recorded merchandise, since the owners will have nothing left to sell and are anyway no longer the owners (we all are). Nor will there be anything to play or record the music on (assuming any artist still wants to record), since there'd be no one to build the equipment. Why should anyone volunteer to work in a factory making hard goods when everyone else is living in the poshest houses and eating at the finest restaurants for free? Of course, housing and food are going to be problems, too, unless someone volunteers to mine the quarries, hammer nails, plant corn, and catch salmon for the rest of
us. In John's imagined world, su casa es mi casa. So is su radicchio.


Hilarious.

(Via Australia's finest, not Victoria Bitter)

Now I've seen alot of "toy guns" as the AP says this one is. Hell, when I was in the Navy I had the opportunity to shoot quite a few. This is not a toy gun. Look at the strap and the muzzle. I don't shoot anymore, but I'm reasonably sure that is not a toy.

Opinion Journal, the best op-ed writing on the web, has a devastating article concerning the UN and anti-semitism:

Last week, the U.N. once again proved itself incapable of rising to the moral challenges embraced in its founding Charter: "tolerance," "the dignity and worth of the human person" and "equal rights." A draft resolution on anti-Semitism--which would have been a first in the U.N.'s 58-year history--was withdrawn in the face of Arab and Muslim opposition.

Daily incidents of anti-Semitic violence around the globe are reported in the media. Yet while leaders of the Free World condemn synagogue bombings in Turkey, firebombings of Jewish schools in France, and the hate speech of Malaysia's president who now heads the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the U.N. moves in the opposite direction, encouraging the proliferation of this centuries-old hatred.

In marked contrast, other forms of intolerance continue to consume the U.N.'s attention and resources. A special rapporteur mandated by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights reports regularly to the U.N. on "discrimination against Muslims and Arab peoples in various parts of the world" including any "physical assaults and attacks against their places of worship, cultural centers, businesses and properties." An entire 2003 Commission resolution "combating defamation of religions," mentions only prejudice against Muslims, Arabs and Islam.

Read the whole thing, as they say.

Al Gore is about to endorse Dean. This is significant as Gore did win the popular vote. However, Gore is not the leader of the party and his endorsement is not a guarantee of anything.

The US has Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Britain, Australia, and several other countries in our "Coalition of the Willing". France has...well, France:

Finally, we come to the Ivory Coast, where a rebellion broke out in September 2002 against the dictatorial government of Laurent Gbagbo. The subsequent fighting killed thousands and split the country in two, with Muslim rebels holding the north. To prevent even worse violence and to protect French expatriates, France sent troops and then negotiated a power-sharing agreement between the government and rebels. Only five months after its troops arrived did France seek and get U.N. ratification — exactly the strategy the U.S. has pursued in Iraq.

Now 4,000 French and 1,200 West African soldiers are enforcing the cease-fire agreement. In other words, the force is 80% French. Roughly the same percentage of foreign troops in Iraq are American, which must mean that the Ivory Coast intervention is just as "unilateral" as the one in Iraq. But so what? The French are performing a valuable service, just as the Americans are in Iraq. They should be thanked for stepping forward, not criticized for not getting more nations to sign up.

Unilateralism is so simplisme.

(Thanks Glenn)

Hillary is at it again:

The former first lady says she has become convinced the Republican administration wants "to undo the New Deal," the Roosevelt-era policies that ushered in Social Security and a host of other governmental assistance programs.

She said that Bush, who campaigned as a "compassionate conservative" in 2000, had taken a "hard-right turn to pursue an extremist agenda" after moving into the White House.

"I don't know where it came from, but the fact is that this President Bush has not only been radical and extreme in terms of Democratic presidents but in terms of Republican presidents, including his own father," she says.

She believes Bush is beatable next year because his administration is "making America less free, fair, strong, smart than it deserves to be in a dangerous world."

"We have to change direction before irreparable harm is done," she adds.

"This administration is in danger of being the first in American history to leave our nation worse off than when they found it."

Perhaps she didn't remember the Medicare overhaul in the last month. What about the education bill signed with Ted Kennedy. What freedoms do we no longer have that were present during Slick Willy's administration? How are we less strong? The Clinton administration showed our weakness as none had before. Fair? Do you think she means taking the Israeli side in their battles against Arafat? Smart? If we go by the loss of sanity of liberals and Democrats, she may just have a point. As for leaving the nation worse off than any other, well the September 11 attacks were a direct result of us doing nothing in response to the attacks on the USS Cole and the african embassy attacks as well as pulling out of Somalia when things got tough. I'd argue that the security of the nation was left drastically worse by Clinton and Albright.

Krugman is, as usual bitterly slamming Bush. This is the only comment I have on the article however, since I'm just bored reading this hack:

In the early months of the Bush administration, one often heard that "the grown-ups are back in charge." But if being a grown-up means planning for the future — in fact, if it means anything beyond marital fidelity — then this is the least grown-up administration in American history. It governs like there's no tomorrow.

Does Krugman really think that the President of the US should treat the Oval Office as his own personal love den? It's not the fact that Clinton cheated on Hillary, hell most people find that pretty damn understandable. The fact that rankled everyone was that he did it in his office in the White House, which happens to be paid for by taxpayers and deserves more respect than that. Democrats will never understand this.

Lee Malvo worships Osama and wishes for Jihad. His lawyers are pushing this as proof of insanity.

This is pretty cool. A coworker e-mailed these pictures of a rock in Iowa.

The uproar about rescinding the steel tariffs is a bit misguided:

Reporting for duty yesterday at International Steel Group Inc. in Coatesville, Dave McLimans, a 16-year plant worker and union activist, was unequivocal about President Bush's decision to lift tariffs on foreign steel.

"It's a damned disgrace," McLimans, 57, said. "The tariffs have helped us a lot."

Like steelworkers around the country, those at the Coatesville plant - which employs about 550 union workers - said they feared losing income and jobs as a result of Bush's lifting the 20-month-old tariffs ahead of schedule.

The President's move was widely viewed as calculated to avoid a trade war with steel-producing nations and to win support from regions thick with automakers, appliance builders, and other steel-using industries.

No Dave, the disgrace is that we can't produce steel in this country at a competitive price with other nations. The unions are the primary cause of this. If you and your fellow union members really gave a damn, you'd reduce demands from the companies that employ you and seek to streamline operations. We are a capitalist country with free markets and free trade, If something can be aquired cheaper from a foreign source, it will be. If steel is more expensive to procure because of the tariffs, the costs associated with making products with that steel become more expensive. That means lower sales of those products and less employment for workers in those industries. More jobs will be saved by dropping the tariffs than keeping them in place and a trade war with the EU is not in the interest of anyone.

The move was forced upon us by international trade pacts that we signed onto. How can the President be a bad guy for not ratifying Kyoto and also be be wrong for abiding by a treaty that we have signed:

The White House made the announcement in the face of a Dec. 15 deadline by the World Trade Organization. The WTO had ruled that Bush's tariffs violated international trade law. The President faced the specter of $2.2 billion in retaliatory tariffs from the European Union on popular U.S. export goods ranging from oranges from Florida to Harley-Davidson motorcycles built in York, Pa., and in other cities.

We wouldn't want to be called unilateral and go against the progressive EU folks now would we?

More proof that the Grammy Awards are useless:

Bill and Hilary have been nominated in separate categories but Beyonce and 50 Cent have nothing to worry about. Bill is up for Best Spoken Word Album for Children and Hilary earned her nod in the category of Best Spoken Word Album.

While Hilary is up for her award on her lonesome Bill is sharing his nomination with the former leader of the Soviet Union and a legendary actress. His title 'Peter and the Wolf' was recorded with Mikael Gorbachev and Sophia Loren. They are competing with Monty Pyhton's Eric Idle 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', Jim Dale for 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', Carl Reiner 'Tell Me A Scary Story' and Jim Broadbent 'Winnie The Pooh'.

Hilary's 'Living History' goes head to head with Bill Maher 'When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden', Al Franken 'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them', Don Cheadle 'Fear Itself' and Nikki Giovanni 'The Nikki Giovani Poetry Collection'.

Bill isn't the first ex-President to be nominated for a Grammy. Jimmy Carter was nominated in 2001 and 1997 for his talking books.

The Grammy Awards will be announced on February 8, 2004 in Los Angeles.

Just a little liberal slant there. Well at least they nominated Warren Zevon who released the best song of the year prior to his passing. By the way, it's Hillary, not Hilary.

There are several errors in this Inquirer editorial:

As the Bush administration tries once again surreptitiously to gut the Clean Air Act, it cannot fool Americans on these two points:

1. If you have to warn people about a food, something's wrong with it.

2. A poison is still a poison, even if you change the label.

Forty-five states have strict warnings about how much fish people should eat from fresh and coastal waters. Why? Because the fish contain dangerous levels of mercury.

Mercury can cause brain damage, particularly in babies and children under 6. One in 12 women has absorbed enough mercury to pose a threat to a developing fetus.

Mercury also is linked to palsies, seizures, learning problems and structural abnormalities. In adults, it can bring on cardiovascular problems.

If they say that if food needs a warning, there's something wrong with it. What about a good steak? Red meat is bad for you. Milk? high in cholesterol. Bread? carbohydrates cause retained fat, which in turn causes obesity which...well you get the point.

As to the second point about a poison is a poison, let's take a second to look at what is poisonous. As the theory put forth by 16th century chemist Paracelsus tells us, everything is toxic. The dose is what dictates the effect on the human body. As an example; say you have a headache and take one aspirin. Your headaches goes away. Let's say you took twenty aspirin, you would have detrimental effects that may include death. It's called the Dose-Response Relationship. Hence, everything is a potential poison or is toxic.

Granted, we have to reduce the level of mercury in emissions from power plants and other sources, however, the reductions that occurred after passage of the 1990 amendments have been significant (signed into law by G. H. W. Bush for the record).

So, just before the court's deadline this month, the Bush administration came up with a market-based, cap-and-trade scheme favored by industry, particularly by several large Bush campaign contributors. Not coincidentally, the idea mirrors Bush's Clear Skies proposal, which is stalled in Congress.

This proposal would relabel mercury as a run-of-the-mill pollutant, instead of the hazard it is. It reduces mercury by only 30 percent and takes until 2018 to get rid of it.

All without assuring public safety. The draft of the rule admits: "The overall cap level may not eliminate the risk of unacceptable adverse health effects of mercury emissions."

That's especially true where mercury is concentrated - places such as Pennsylvania, which ranks third nationally in mercury pollution from power-plant emissions.

Americans should demand that their government treat mercury as the health threat it is. As with arsenic, they don't want mercury in their water. The Bush administration should protect public health, not private industry.

Mercury is a run-of-the-mill pollutant. Does it present a hazard? Yes. Is that hazard greater than barium, chromium, or benzene? It depends on how the exposure occurs. Does that make it any more or less hazardous? We are not talking about dioxin.

The arsenic in the water argument has been debunked, President Bush passed the stricter regulatory levels after studying the issue. Just as an aside, the arsenic in the drinking water was not put there by industry, it was naturally occurring arsenic.

Another idiotic Auth cartoon is here. That's if they are allowed to be born Tony.

Krauthammer pummels Dean:

Moreover, Dean is very smart. Until now, Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) had generally struck people with previously compromised intellectual immune systems. Hence its prevalence in Hollywood. Barbra Streisand, for example, wrote her famous September 2002 memo to Dick Gephardt warning that the president was dragging us toward war to satisfy, among the usual corporate malefactors who "clearly have much to gain if we go to war against Iraq," the logging industry -- timber being a major industry in a country that is two-thirds desert.

It is true that BDS has struck some pretty smart guys -- Bill Moyers ranting about a "right-wing wrecking crew" engaged in "a deliberate, intentional destruction of the United States way of governing" and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, whose recent book attacks the president so virulently that Krugman's British publisher saw fit to adorn the cover with images of Vice President Cheney in a Hitler-like mustache and Bush stitched up like Frankenstein. Nonetheless, some observers took that to be satire; others wrote off Moyers and Krugman as simple aberrations, the victims of too many years of neurologically hazardous punditry.

The Bush hate watch continues.

The economic good news is killing the Dems. Beautiful.

Amish Tech Support has a little something we'd all like to say to the press:

An open letter to the World Press:

Dear World Press,

Nearly every piece of food in television and print advertisements is a fake, constructed or altered with various chemical or alternate organic componds, pigments, or textures. Every one of you has, at one time or another, ran an advertisement with such "fake food" and accepted your ludicrously expensive fees for said advertisements.

To make any issue with the "display" turkey that Bush was photographed with in Bagdhad is just downnright loathesome, despicable, and hypocritical.

At this point, I'd normally tell you to eat my shit, but instead I am generously inviting you to eat an incredibly lifelike painted plastic fascimile of my shit.

Signed,
Laurence Simon
Houston, TX

Booyah.

Ha.

The economy is rolling and Bush is responsible. Literally according to The Onion:

Since it began in May, the Bush 2004 re-election campaign has been responsible for creating thousands of new jobs, officials announced Monday.

"The Bush-Cheney campaign is giving a much-needed boost to the troubled economy," said Ken Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager. "Every penny we receive is immediately pumped back into the economy, and we've already created thousands of jobs for out-of-work speechwriters, graphic designers, and door-to-door canvassers."

Though Bush has yet to formally announce his candidacy, his campaign war chest surpassed the $100 million mark on Nov. 13. With 11 months remaining before the election, the Bush campaign is well on its way to its goal of raising a record-breaking $170 million.

Still the best satire on the web, but this guy is giving them a run for their money:

American military morale hit an all-time low this week in the wake of revelations that President George Bush didn't serve a display turkey to hungry troops during his surprise visit to Baghdad last week. Political experts have already dubbed the episode 'turkeygate', and predict that the effect of this latest Bush administration scandal will be even more devastating than the outing of Valerie Plame.

"When I went home after dinner that night, I wrote a letter to my wife about how proud I was to fight for liberty," said an unnamed Army staff sergeant, "but when I learned that not a single soldier ate the display turkey, even though the president was photographed holding it, my faith in democracy was shattered."

Another soldier added, "We suddenly realized that we're risking our lives to defend a lie. He mocked us with the pretty bird, then served us the common steamtable turkey. What good is freedom, if you can't trust your leaders?"

The stupidity of the WaPo article is amazing. Who the hell cares if that turkey was a prop or not? The hatred of the left is increasing to the point that Dean will get the nomination. One can only hope.

Novak takes up for Reagan and the James Brolin acted bio. Reports say that former President Reagan is not faring well:

Former President Ronald Reagan, is now confined to a bed, rarely awake and unable to walk or talk, People magazine said in a report issued on Thursday.
In an essay accompanying the article about the former president's condition, daughter Patti Davis said people may still think Reagan, 92, is somewhat mobile and active, despite his well-publicized illness, because his family has guarded his privacy so zealously.

"But it would be a disservice to every family who has an Alzheimer's victim in their embrace to say any of that is true, and I don't believe my father would want us to lie," she wrote.

I wish Reagan was around to comment on events of the last 13 years. I know he would have handled it with much more class than Carter or Clinton.

This is an interesting article about the Sudan and their tyrannical policies. It's a bit long but a great read:

Imagine living in a place where if someone wants your property, instead of renting or buying it, they decide it is cheaper to kill you, and then proceed to make a law that entitles them to do this unabated, and guess what, you can't turn to the government for justice because these guys are the police and the army!!! So all you can do is run for your life. With your children and family, you run.

In the Sudan, the government has a written policy to clear the land within a 50 Kilometer radius of any oil rigs of all human life. So if you happened to live on a piece of land and oil was discovered there, no one asks you how much you would be willing to take for it. No, you don't sign a lease agreement with anyone giving them permission to set up shop on your property for a certain length of time. The government militias come in tankers and bomber planes and get rid of you, so you teach your kids how to recognize the sound of a bomber from the sound of a relief food airplane, so that they run for cover when they hear the former, and run for food when they hear the latter -- either way, running for their lives.

Saddam got duped by North Korea. Hitchens lays it out:

You may remember the secret and disguised shipload of North Korean Scuds, intercepted on its way to Yemen by the Spanish navy just before war began last March. Now downloaded hard drives from Iraqi government computers, plus interviews with Iraq officials and scientists, have established that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy Rodong missiles from Pyongyang and was hoping to purchase the rights to the North Korean production line. The significance of this is obvious enough: The Rodong missile has a range much greater than that prohibited to Iraq by the U.N. resolutions. It also makes sense: North Korea is bankrupt and starving and exports only weapons and drugs while Saddam's Iraq had plenty of spare off-the-record cash in American dollars. The intended transshipment point and the site of the negotiations, Syria in both instances, also indicates that Syria has long been at least a passive profiteer from the sanctions imposed on its neighbor.

Even more interesting is the fashion in which the deal broke down. Having paid some $10 million dollars to North Korea, the Iraqi side found that foot-dragging was going on—this is the discussion revealed on one of the hard drives—and sought a meeting about where the money might be refunded. North Korea's explanation for its slipped deadline was that things were getting a little ticklish. In the month before the coalition intervened in Iraq, Saddam's envoys came back empty-handed from a meeting in Damascus. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (just for once I can use this expression without toppling into cliché) to deduce that the presence of a large force all along Iraq's borders might have had something to do with North Korea's cold feet.

And he takes the embarrasing anti-war folks to the woodshed:

There were predictions made by the peaceniks, too, that haven't come literally true, or true at all. There has been no refugee exodus, for example, of the kind they promised. No humanitarian meltdown, either. No mass civilian casualties. All of these things would of course come to pass, and right away, if the Iraqi "resistance" succeeded in sabotaging the coalition presence. But I refuse to believe that any antiwar person is so keen on vindication as to wish for anything like that.

Indeed.

Kerry is toast:

Former Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean, who enjoyed a 40% - 17% lead in October polling of New Hampshire Democratic primary likely voters over Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, has stretched that lead in December polling to 42% - 12%. Retired general Wesley Clark is third at 9%, followed by Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman with 7%.

Polling in Zogby’s “Road to Boston” series was conducted December 1 – 3, and involved 503 likely Democratic and Independent voters in New Hampshire’s January 27th Democratic primary election. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points, and margins are higher in sub-groups.

North Carolina Senator John Edwards earned 4%, followed by Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt at 3% and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich with 2%. Former Illinois Senator Carol Mosley Braun and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton did not receive any votes in the poll.

That's a good old fashioned ass-kicking if you ask me. Kerry is the worst candidate since Mondale with half Walter's personality.

I'll comment on this as more news becomes available, but it sure seems like there's alot to this story:

BALTIMORE - A federal prosecutor was found shot and stabbed to death in a Pennsylvania creek Thursday after failing to show up at the trial of a rapper and another man accused of dealing heroin.


Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna, 38, was discovered face-down in the water behind the parking lot of a well-drilling company in Lancaster County, Pa., about 70 miles from Baltimore, Brecknock Township police said. A car was near the body, police said.

I had trouble getting my dog to quit pissing in the house. This dog is smart enough to find a nice comfortable spot to sleep:

Members of the Leroy family in Washington thought they were the target of a prankster when they kept finding a stray dog inside their parked car.

Intent on catching the culprit, they set up a video camera to record the vehicle.

However, they were surprised at what they caught on film.

The video captured the dog as she opened the car door on her own and climbed inside.

The family is now circulating posters of the dog and has contacted the local Humane Society.

So far, no one has claimed the canine.

Even Gentiles can join the International Jewish Conspiracy. Check out the Whitefish ad also.

Internet Haganah has the leaked EU anti-Semitism report:

The fact that a rise in anti-Semitic activities is clearly observable in most of the EU Member States since the beginning of the so-called "al-Aqsa Intifada", which increased in frequency and the intensity of their violence parallel to the escalation in the Middle East conflict in April/May 2002, points to a connection between events in the Middle East with criticism of Israel's politics on the one hand and mobilisation of anti-Semitism on the other.

According to an Anti-Defamation League survey, almost two-thirds of Europeans (62%) believe "that the recent outbreak of violence against Jews in Europe is a result of anti-Israel sentiment and not traditional anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish feelings."

The international dimension of the problem was clearly evident as Shimon Peres, Israel's Foreign Minister, told EU colleagues in Valencia in April 2002 that he saw a link between the growing anti-Semitism in Europe and the Union's tilt towards the Palestinians. He added: "The issue is very sensitive in Israel (...). We ask for memory." The Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqu rejected this criticism: "Please don't confuse anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of policies of the current Israeli government." Peres' critical remark and the reply given by the European Foreign Ministers indicates that the core issue in this public conflict was the political question as to when does anti-Israeli criticism assume anti-Semitic characteristics and whether reproaches of anti-Semitism are being used as part of an attempt to silence criticism of Israeli policies.

All NFP Reports point to this problem, one that was also discussed publicly in all countries and was an essential point of dispute in discussions; namely how to draw a clear distinction between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israeli government's policies towards the Palestinians – even if it is extremely sharp.

Anti-Israeli is equivalent to anti-Semitism. It's just a buzzword that EUnuchs use to escape being called anti-Semites.

2) Reception of another European source has also influenced their conception of the world, namely the infamous anti-Semitic fake the "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion", which describes how a group of Jews apparently hold the thread of world politics in their hands. With help of this conspiracy theory explanations are found for why the politics of the United States and most of the European countries display a pro-Israeli bias in the Middle East conflict.

A current example of this conspiratorial thought is offered by the attacks of 11 September 2001, which in some Arab newspapers (e.g. in Jordan, Egypt and Syria, but also in the London and Saudi-Arabian editions of Al-Hayat) is presented as an action initiated by the Israeli secret service or even the Israeli Government itself, who were seeking to prevent the establishment of closer ties between the US and the Arab world so as to gain a free hand for their aggressive plans against the Palestinians. This rumour has also spread through Europe, where it found great resonance above all in Greece.

3) Following 11 September 2001, some hold that Islamist terrorism is a natural consequence of the unresolved Middle East conflict, for which Israel alone is held responsible. They ascribe to Jews a major influence over America's allegedly biased pro-Israel policies. This is where anti-American and anti-Semitic attitudes converge and conspiracy theories over "Jewish world domination" flare up again.

4) The supposed close ties between the US and Israel give rise to a further motive for an anti-Semitic attitude, one that is also to be found amongst the far left. Due to its occupation policy, sections of the peace movement, opponents of globalisation as well as some Third World countries – as the World Conference on Racism in Durban 2001 had shown – view Israel as aggressive, imperialistic and colonialist. Taken on its own terms this is naturally not to be viewed as anti-Semitic; and yet there are exaggerated formulations which witness a turn from criticism into anti-Semitism, for example when Israel and the Jews are reproached for replicating the most horrific crimes of the National Socialists – apartheid, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, genocide.

It's amazing how Greece keeps turning up when we discuss this. Read all of it and decide for yourself why the EUnuchs wanted it suppressed.

(Hat tip: LGF)

Update: I haven't seen this anywhere else:

Sebastian Sellam, 23, was a popular disc jockey at a hot Parisian night club called Queen. At about 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday November 19, the young man known as DJ Lam C (a reverse play on his surname) left the apartment he shared with his parents in a modest building in of Paris’ 10th arrondissement near la Place Colonel Fabien, heading to work as usual. In the underground parking lot, a Muslim neighbor slit Sellam’s throat twice, according to the Rosenpress interview. His face was completely mutilated with a fork. Even his eyes were gouged out.

Following the crime, Rosenpress correspondent Alain Azria reported, Sellam’s mother said the Muslim perpetrator mounted the stairs, his hands still bloody, and announced his crime. “I have killed my Jew. I will go to heaven,” he reportedly said. The alleged murderer’s family was well known for rabid anti-Semitism, Mrs. Sellam reportedly told Rosenpress, a point confirmed by the victim’s brother. Within the previous year, Sellam’s mother reportedly said, the family found a dead rooster outside their apartment door with its throat slit, and their Mezuzah was ripped from their door post. Leaving dead roosters is reportedly a traditional warning of impending murder.

Europe had best wake up to what it's future may be. I guess you could point to the Mafia or even today, asian or Jamaican gangs as an American parallel. They are killing strickly out of greed not the taught hatred that fuels the Muslim will to kill Jews.

Another Bush story:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Since last spring, the Bush administration has been conducting a confidential effort to establish a dramatic new goal for the nation's civil space program, perhaps rivaling President John F. Kennedy's call to place a U.S. astronaut on the moon before the end of the 1960s, sources told United Press International.

Only a few administration insiders have been involved, with Vice President Dick Cheney heading the effort, said sources, who requested anonymity.

Though some details have leaked out -- most notably reports Wednesday and Thursday that President George W. Bush will call for returning Americans to the moon -- sources insist no final decisions have been made. Instead, the president is reviewing a list of alternative goals -- some of them more practical than dramatic -- that must conform to a pair of overriding directives: Any option must be achievable within a reasonable period of time, and it must not require any major new federal spending.

Bush's decision and announcement, sources told UPI, could come as early as Dec. 17, when the president is scheduled to speak at Kitty Hawk, N.C., at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight. The matter also could be deferred until January 2004 and included in his State of the Union address to Congress.

Let's go back to the moon for no other reason than to get the space program going again. Set a timetable for a manned voyage to Mars. It can't hurt to try.

As I've said before, the steel tariffs were a horrible idea that Bush finally realized:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) scrapped steel import tariffs to avert a global trade war.


"These safeguard measures have now achieved their purpose and, as a result of changed economic circumstances, it is time to lift them," Bush said in a statement.


The decision, read to reporters by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, provoked a political backlash from steel unions and Democratic rivals in the race for the presidential election in November 2004.


But the US leader had little choice after the World Trade Organization (news - web sites) ruled the tariffs were illegal last month and major trading partners vowed massive retaliation.

A trade war with the EU is not what we need at this point. Tariffs are anti-conservative and serve no good purpose.

I've commented on Pat Tillman before, here's as much of an update as possible on one of the greatest men (not player, but man) to play in the NFL:

Pat Tillman was the starting strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals when the 9/11 attacks occurred. He played out the 2001 season and then with his brother Kevin, a former minor league baseball player, enlisted in the Army Rangers. In doing so, Tillman walked away from a three-year, $3.6 million dollar contract with the Cardinals for an $18,000 salary and plentiful opportunities to get his head shot off. That hasn't happened yet, and God willing it won't. But the pay cut kicked in right away.

Some Internet surfing revealed that the Tillman brothers are currently deployed somewhere in the Middle East with the elite 75th Ranger Regiment. On the weekend before Thanksgiving, the brothers spoke briefly with their parents, who do not know where they are or what mission they are pursuing. They do know that their sons were in Iraq in the spring during the height of the fighting, and that this summer they were briefly stateside at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington.

Outside of an ESPY award earlier this year and the occasional column, Tillman's story has gotten little press, but it's not all the media's fault. For one thing, as Tillman's parents well know, there is precious little information. For another, the Tillmans have not granted a single interview since their enlistment. Apparently determined that their endeavor not be construed as self-aggrandizing or insincere, they have simply done what they said they would do -- leave behind the fantasy world of sports to serve their country.

It's a damn shame this story hasn't gotten more attention. Tillman doesn't care, I'm sure, him and his brother are serving for the same reason I, and most others served, to protect democracy and America.

Let's visit, once again, the letters page of the Inquirer:

No path to security

Re: "Bush offers the only real path for security," letter, Nov. 24:

Paul Mellon excoriates critics of President Bush's unilateral war on Iraq but conveniently ignores that 9/11 happened under Bush's presidency and that thoughtful and informed U.S. citizens feel far less secure today than when Bush declared his unilateral "war on terror."

The fact that the war is not overtly fought in our country should not distort the truth that the United States faces a rising tide of resentment around the world that poses a growing threat to our national security far more serious than a gaggle of mad bombers.

Osama bin Laden is apparently still at large and the escalation of al-Qaeda-type attacks around the globe suggests that Bush has stirred rather than destroyed the hornets' nest.

Elmer S. Miller

Philadelphia

Well Elmer, any "thoughtful and informed" citizen should've felt insecure after 19 terrorists attacked and killed 2,000 Americans. Are we safer than we were prior to attacking Iraq? Probably not. This is a war that will be fought for years or decades. Feeling secure, as we did for the years prior to 9/11 is a feeling that is gone. get used to it loser. As for the idiotic idea that we are resented, well dude, I've one thing to say, when France and Germany are hit by terrorist incidents, that goodwill will return as they beg us to help them. The goodwill or approval of the world is not a high priority. The security of this nation is. As for Osama being on the loose, Elmer (note to self, call Mom and thank her for not naming me Elmer), you and I don't really know if He's alive or not.

Every once in a while there appears the letters that restore hope in this bastion of donkey banality:

The dream of peace

Re: " A Palestinian Eid," Commentary Page, Nov. 25:

I really sympathized with writer Mike Odetalla until I remembered the Israelis whose celebration of Passover was interrupted when they were slaughtered by a Palestinian suicide bomber, or the bride-to-be who was blown up in a cafe the night before her wedding, or the mother who tried to shelter her baby - to no avail - from the Palestinian infiltrator who murdered them both, or the busload of worshipers returning from the Western Wall who were exploded in the streets of Jerusalem.

As distressing as Israel's defensive curfews, house demolitions and "disruption of culture and tradition" may be, they pale by comparison to the slaughter of innocent women, children and babies perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.

God willing, Odetalla's relatives will celebrate the next Eid in freedom and peace - as he does in Michigan. But that will be up to the Palestinian leadership, in its willingness to support Odetalla's dream for peace and not the nightmares of those bent on the destruction of Israel and its people.

Beryl Dean
Haverford

Amen Brother. However, our cavalcade of morons continues with this:

Fight the real enemy

Re: "Bush offers the only real path for security," letter, Nov. 24:

Paul Mellon is right when he says that it's better "to have a leader committed to taking the fight to our enemies." Too bad George Bush can't make that commitment. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't declare war on Korea.

The candidate I vote for in 2004 will be out to fight terrorists, not Iraqis.

Jonathan Miller

Narberth

But Truman did. Read something other than the Inquirer, and you'll see that the al-Qaeda/Iraq connection is becoming more evident on a daily basis. By the way, what candidate will prosecute this war more thoroughly than Bush?

I have talked about the ease with which Rahm Emanuel made his money. Mugger skewers him, as well as Gen. Clark and some others. If Russ put some friggin' links in, He'd be a blogger.

Dick Morris nails it every six-months or so:

Democrats are determined to make the political cost of this war more onerous and burdensome on the Republican president. By harping on the need for more manpower, they build the pressure with each combat death. If the Democrats can sell the proposition that more troops are needed, they can force Bush to move toward conscription to fill the ranks.

Fortunately, Hillary's visit was drowned out by Bush's voyage to Baghdad. The liberal media tried to couple the two visits. The New York Times' headline was "Hail to the Chief; Hail to the Senator." But the visits are hardly comparable. Bush's was designed to raise morale, Hillary's to raise objections.

Bush sought to assure the troops of the united support of the people. Hillary wanted them to know that many people objected to what they are trying to do.

Bush's message was that we will persevere in the face of terrorism. Hillary's was that this war was due to one man's "obsession."

Sen. Clinton will do anything she can to attract attention and, where possible, divert it from the Democrats who are really running for president. But this trip, at this time, in this manner, in that place was wrong politically and morally.

Hillary had made it a priority during her stay in the Whitehouse to belittle the military, and believe me, I was in at the the time, they know it. Look at the pictures and read the stories, they hate her.
The press is all over the Bush visiting PR story, but the public knows that Bush was doing what was right and it was required.

Check out this article:

A baby born in Bethlehem is drawing crowds by the thousands. Palestinians in the West Bank town revered by Christians as Jesus' birthplace have been thronging to the adjacent Aida refugee camp for a glimpse of the 11-day-old infant many are calling a "miracle baby."


The boy has gained attention for being born with a large birthmark across his cheek that roughly forms in Arabic letters the name of his uncle, Ala, a Hamas militant killed by Israeli troops after he was alleged to have planned a suicide bombing.


The family, devout Muslims, called it a divine message of support for the Palestinians against Israel, though some local Christians preparing for subdued Christmas observances have quietly dismissed it as lacking any religious significance.

The Israeli army declined comment but one security source said: "It sounds very freaky." The family denied any hoax.

Typical Reuters article including using the word "alleged" when describing the uncle was a suicide bomber. But look at the picture they chose for the article. I know it's the link for the Mid-east slideshow, however, it is positioned as though it's part of the article.

More blogging tomorrow. Go here, here, and here. They all do it better than I could ever dream of.

An interesting read concerning the EU and the scam being pilled by France and Germany:

"Tottering Along Nicely" is one of those popular Brit TV shows in which the Brits poke fun at their own foibles, and it's pretty funny. But watching BBC you'll never learn that the EU reached its apogee last week, and the only direction it will go from here is down. The EUnuchs thundered and blundered on both economics and defense in ways that will eventually sink their attempted alliance. One of the principles the EU is founded upon is that the quasi-socialist governments of its biggest members needed to be protected from the profligacy of the others. In the mid-1990s, Germany insisted on and obtained agreement that if any EU member had a national debt in excess of 3% of its gross domestic product, it is susceptible to fines and other sanctions by the EU. This was aimed at Italy, which -- like France and most of the rest -- was debt-ridden and thought to be unable to recover without drastic reforms.

That's the advertised product. But that's not what the EUnuchs deliver of course. None of the EU nations have been willing to face the problems caused by their semi-socialist policies that preclude significant economic growth. Sclerotic economies are the norm in Europe, aging populations brutalized by taxes and not even able to reproduce to create a new generation to pay for the old. The EU's own books -- reflecting the bureaucracy's spending habits -- don't balance enough for outside auditors to even say they're accurate. France -- recently most famous for letting ten thousand of its citoyens die in a heat wave because everyone responsible for dealing with the problem was on vacation -- has reached a level of decadence unseen since Madame Guillotine first came to prominence in 1789. Staggering wages, frequent strikes, statutorily-created long vacations and breathtaking taxation have resulted in French debt in excess of 3% of its Gross Domestic Product for the third year in a row.

Germany, also in the Red in more ways than one, also exceeds the 3% threshold. All that made both countries susceptible of fines for breaking the rules designed to protect the Euro. But there they go again. Last week the two founding members of the Axis of Weasels railroaded an agreement that broke the Euro deal, and that Humpty Dumpty won't ever be put together again. Now, the rest of the EU members -- many of which are not EUnuchs, such as Spain -- are left holding the bag for their supposed economic partners. It is only a matter of time before this problem unravels the whole EU deal.

If you don't like the rules, change them to suit you. I can't believe anyone would join into an economic alliance with France or Germany. Our economy, however, continues to roll:

Stocks jumped to close at 18-month highs on Monday, led by industrial stalwarts International Paper Co. and Alcoa Inc., as investors welcomed a report showing U.S. factories barreled ahead in November at their fastest clip since 1983.

The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 recorded their highest closes since the end of May 2002, while the Nasdaq finished at its highest mark since January 2002.

"Businesses are increasingly convinced this recovery can be sustained, and it won't just be a flash in the pan," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp.

The outlook for the economy was given a boost early in the session as the Institute for Supply Management said its barometer of manufacturing activity surged to 62.8 in November from 57.0 in October, far exceeding economists' forecasts and putting to rest doubts that a manufacturing recovery will be sustained.

A separate report earlier in the day showed that U.S. construction spending jumped an unexpected 0.9 percent in October, setting a record for a fourth straight month.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) closed up 116.59 points, or 1.19 percent, at 9,899.05, its highest close since May 31, 2002. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) ended up 11.92 points, or 1.13 percent, at 1,070.12, which marked its highest point at any time since June 3, 2002, and its highest close since May 28, 2002.

The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) finished up 29.56 points, or 1.51 percent, at 1,989.82, its highest close since Jan. 15, 2002.

How come every bit of good news about the economy is the first since "the Reagan administration"? I guess once Reagan got in office, there was no where else to go but up after four years of Carter.

The rallying cry of the Democratic hopeless...er, hopeful is that we should defer to the UN in Iraq. The UN cut and ran at the first sign of trouble. Now they can't even keep their own building safe:

A U.N. security guard was found dead inside U.N. headquarters at midday on Monday with a gunshot wound to the head, the head of U.N. security said.

Michael Holton's body was found in a third floor lounge shortly before noon. He was discovered by two officers who were sent to check on Holton after he did not return to his duty station following a break, said Michael McCann, the U.N. security chief.

McCann told a news conference the incident was the first of its kind inside the United Nations buildings.

Holton, 41, was found in a lounge area where U.N. employees often take their breaks. He was seated in one of the chairs and his gun was on the chair next to his leg, McCann said.

McCann said that Holton was a 16-year veteran of the U.N. security department, was married and had two children. McCann gave no further details on the family. Holton was a U.S. citizen.

My prayers go out to his wife and kids.

Poetic justice for Jesse Jackson:

With roughly 100,000 Chicagoans between 16 and 24 out of work or not in school, Rainbow Push was hoping to call to action disenfranchised young people, but a group of people disenchanted with Jesse Jackson led a spirited protest that sometimes drowned out the message of more jobs.

Hundreds converged upon a frigid Federal Plaza today to hear politicians and political candidates talk passionately about creating more jobs.

"Since this is a union working town the unions need to provide job training and set up a trade school in the city of Chicago," said Sen. James Meeks, 15th District.

However some of the speakers were quickly drowned out by boos, bullhorns, and verbal jabs from a group called VOTE, ex-offenders, community activists, church leaders, and Muslims, tired of what they call the rhetoric in the African-American community.

What does the good Rev. have to say in his defense? He equates himself with the the son of God:

"They lashed out at Dr. King, they lashed out at Nelson Mandela, they lashed out at Jesus, so all of those who fight for change become the object of frustration," said Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow-Push Coalition.

Why didn't the Rev. equate himself with Mohammed? He be hiding like Salman Rushdie if he did.

The Inquirer has a newsflash, anti-semitism is on the rise in Europe:

Theodorakis, a 76-year-old leftist who became a national hero after he was imprisoned by the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967-74, argued that he merely had been venting over what he considers the immoral policies of the current Israeli government. Plenty of Greeks - and plenty of other Europeans - agree with him. Sixty-one percent of Greek respondents to a recent poll cited Israel as a threat to world peace, joining a similar percentage of other European Union citizens.

In December 2001, the French ambassador to the United Kingdom called Israel "that sh--y little country." Last year, the Dutch wife of the president of the European Central Bank said Israel's conduct was worse than the Nazis, having previously blamed the plight of Palestinians on "the rich American Jewish lobby." In Greece last April, major newspapers ran a false story alleging that the Israeli military was selling organs ripped from dead Palestinians.

"Because it is not politically correct to say you hate Jews, you say you hate Israel," Israeli government adviser Raanan Gissin said recently.

The line between opposition to Israel's controversial tactics and anti-Semitism is difficult to pinpoint, and some in Israel have cautioned against bringing the charge of anti-Semitism too casually. Most people in Europe reject the notion that opposition to Israel is a cover for anti-Semitism.

But more than political rhetoric is at issue: Hate crimes against Jews in Europe are on the rise. Tel Aviv University's latest annual survey of anti-Semitism reported that the recorded number of violent attacks on Jews worldwide increased from 228 in 2001 to 311 in 2002, with most of them happening in Western Europe.

This is not just happening in Europe. American papers are just as guilty but are more subtle. Then there's this:

Arabs or Muslims have been responsible for most, though not all, of the attacks, according to news reports. That, in itself, is a sensitive issue in Europe, where governments are grappling with an influx of Arab immigrants whose numbers dwarf the Jewish populations that remain 60 years after the Holocaust.

London's Financial Times reported last week that the European Union's racism watchdog shelved a 112-page draft report on anti-Semitism that had concluded that radical Islamists and Arab Muslims were largely responsible for a rise in incidents during the period studied. The agency wasn't comfortable with that conclusion, dissident officials told the Times.

"Many observers have finally dared to discuss what has long been a dirty little secret - namely, that the threat of violence [from] millions of impoverished, ill-treated... and often unemployed Muslim men in Western Europe has, at the very least, induced governments to temper their reactions to anti-Semitism," U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D., Del.) said this month at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on European anti-Semitism.

The Muslims are ill-treated Senator Biden? I doubt it. They just hate Jews. Why European countries can allow such large influxes of Muslim immigrants is astounding. The Muslim culture will never assimilate to the existing culture and therefore will change that culture. But it's not just the countries with large Muslim populations:

Greece is an interesting case study of the nexus between rabid opposition to Israel and old-fashioned European anti-Semitism. Its socialist leaders have a long history of close ties to Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, and the Greek public is deeply mistrustful of the United States, in part because of U.S. support for the repressive junta that was deposed in 1974. A full 90 percent of Greeks opposed the war in Iraq, polls showed.

Greece is also an extremely homogenous country that only recently began allowing significant numbers of immigrants. About 97 percent of the native-born population is baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church, whose clerics have sometimes been accused of preaching anti-Semitism. There is little mention of the Holocaust or the fate of Greek Jews in the country's school textbooks, according to an analysis by a professor at the University of Athens.

More than 90 percent of Greek Jews - about 70,000 - were deported to death camps by the Nazis during World War II.


More than 90 percent of Greek Jews - about 70,000 - were deported to death camps by the Nazis during World War II.

And this:

In October, an internationally known Greek artist, Alexandros Psychoulis, began displaying a work featuring a Palestinian woman blowing herself up in a crowded Israeli supermarket.

In an interview, he professed to be mystified as to why Jewish activists had expressed revulsion over the piece.

"They've actually built this atmosphere without any real basis," he said.

Last month, though, Psychoulis had a decidedly harsher take in remarks to Ta Nea, Greece's largest daily newspaper.

"I personally feel that the experiment of Israel has failed," he was quoted as saying, "and I understand the desperation of a girl who carries out a suicide bombing having nothing to lose."

The "experiment" of awarding the Greeks the Olympics has also failed you idiot.

Update: The Guardian looks at anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.

(Via Glenn Reynolds)