The Grenade Bot Rules!

V & S has this story about a cool new weapon:

…the Army has just finished testing out a unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV, that obliterates its foes with electrically-fired grenades.
The robot is the same modified Talon UGV that’s now on its way to Iraq, to watch the back of Stryker armored vehicles on patrol. But instead of carrying a M249 machine gun, like the Iraq-bound robo-grunt, this Talon has been armed by Metal Storm Limited – the Australian firm famous for its million-round-a-minute gun.

American and Aussie engineering are leading the world.

The Euros Bad Economy

The Donkeys love to talk down the US economy and the Bush tax cuts that revitalized it. This is what a truly bad economic situation looks like:

The eurozone business climate plunged in March for the second month following grim data from Germany, France and Italy.

The monthly index released by the European Commission yesterday turned negative for the first time in a year as higher oil prices and the strong euro took their toll. There was sharp fall in order books, especially for exports.

The European Central Bank has already cut its growth forecast for 2005 to 1.6pc from 2.3pc but is unlikely to come to the rescue soon with lower interest rates.

Ominously, the eurozone slowdown comes despite bulging fiscal deficits and a stubbornly high inflation rate of 2.1pc, causing ECB officials to fret over a possible return to 1970s 'stagflation' - a combination of slow economic growth and rising prices.

They also predict a growth rate of 1.5%, half that of the US. This is a clear example that socialist policies in conjunction with low productivity and a 35-hour workweek add up to dismal economies.

It seems the one bright spot would be Britain.

Terri Schiavo

Terri Schiavo died today after being starved to death in Florida. I've posted very little about this case because others were saying things better than I. I pray for her soul and that perhaps her parents suffering may one day be assuaged.

That said, I have some thoughts this evening:

• This was a hot and heated debate that brought out the worst in both sides. I hope in the coming weeks and months, people will look back and see what was said and done during the past month. As an outside viewer, I was appalled that the government of the US met in a midnight session and enacted a law that was not directed at the greater good of the country. On the other side of the issue were the Dems and Libs who should be ashamed of dredging up the death of Tom DeLay's mother and other assorted unseemly things.
• Second, the Democrats are in the position (again) that they are crowing about a 'win' for starving a young woman. How come a Liberal win always leaves me with the feeling that I need a two-hour hot shower. These people are disgusting.
• Michael Schiavo is such a dirtbag that, according to news accounts, he would not allow the Schindler family in when death seemed imminent. They were not there when their daughter passed.
• Schiavo is a scumbag, but he was her husband regardless of what occurred after she became disabled. If she said that she didn't want to be saved and didn't have a living will, his word was her word.
• The news media showed that they have yet to reach the bottom.
• The various courts as a whole and the judges in particular had some tough decisions to make and erred on the side of the law and not emotion. They've taken a beating on this wrongly in my view.

The plain truth is that this whole thing stinks. No one looks good and everyone looks bad.

Rest in peace Ms. Schindler-Schiavo.

Snippets

Lack of posting has been caused by excessive work. New posts below.

Dave Justus on national ID cards.

Kofi Annan sells his own son out and now the little weasel is whining like a little girl.

Roger L. Simon is on a roll. Just keep scrolling.

Discrimination is discrimination.

Writing on the wall, Iraqi style. Excellent post, Omar!

Cap'n Ed has thoughts on the doings in Lebanon.

NCAA Tourney

POV has a great synopsis of the media's infatuation with the ACC. We always hear how even though the other conferences beat the ACC teams collective asses, they are the best conference regardless.

BTW, Villanova was robbed and should have beaten UNC, which would've resulted in zero ACC teams in the Final Four.

The Real Iraq Election Results

Remember how in the weeks after the Iraqi elections and the Fallujah incursion the MSM was all over the Bush administration about their claim that the election was a fat middle finger to the insurgency? Well, it turns out that Bush may have been right again:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgent attacks in Iraq have fallen dramatically since the Jan. 30 elections, and the number of U.S. deaths reported this month dropped to the lowest in a year.

But the news isn't all good. Militants are focusing their attacks on Iraqi government and security officials as the new leaders of Iraq assume a greater role in their fragile nation.

Both U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that attacks overall have fallen since the Jan. 30 elections, although it is unclear if the trend is just a temporary lull as militants change tactics, or a sign that the insurgency is weakening.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, which has been tracking the insurgency, said attacks against U.S. forces have dropped by at least 25 percent since last fall, when U.S. officials launched a major offensive against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. Attacks then ranged from 80 to 90 a day, O'Hanlon said.

Never, ever, doubt the will of American forces. The successful take down of Fallujah and the subsequent good things that are occurring there in conjunction with the election outcome speaks volumes about the war effort and the likely outcome.

Israel Boos France

Hell hath no fury like a nation scorned and their fans:

Israel supporters have booed and whistled during the French national anthem before the crucial World Cup qualifying match in Tel Aviv. Fans expressed their anger at what they saw as anti-Israel comments made by France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez at the squad's training camp last week. Barthez (pictured) had said he feared for his safety and did not want to play in a country where the match had to be secured by armed guards. He also walked out of a news conference when an Israeli reporter tried to ask him a question. "As a person and as a father, I don't like the idea (of going to Israel), I don't like it at all," Barthez was quoted as saying on the Israeli sports website ONE. ONE later reported that Barthez had said his comments had been misunderstood and that would love to visit Israel again.

Just a word of advice mon amis, my brethren in Philly have been ten times as worse as the Israeli's; just ask Michael Irvin.

Note: Typos corrected and caused by extreme tiredness.

Postscript to the Texas City Fire

Someone posted an interesting comment about the refinery fire in Texas last week:

What's truely amazing to me is the revelation today that there was a flash fire at the same unit the previous day. I work for one of the (oil) majors, and when a flash fire happens during a turnaround, all work stops until we find out why it happened and take steps to insure it doesn't happen again. To be back at work the next day would be very, very fast. Too fast in most cases to properly review, decide on corrective action, and communicate it to the men doing the work. With the limited info available today, it's a presumptuous to conclude that BP failed to properly investigate and rectify the previous incident. But it sure sounds damning.

I whole-heartedly agree. I think that with refineries running at greater than capacity due to the shortage of gasoline, they may have cut corners. It does happen and then they end up spending millions more in litigation, repairing the damage and lost production when they could have just as easily fixed the discrepancy. This is typical of quite a few industries unfortunately.

I do not know if the person who posted the comment works for a BP competitor.

Snippets

I hope all who celebrate had a good Easter. new posts below.

The worlds ultimate contrarian, Christopher Hitchens, has a take on the Schiavo case that I imagine will piss some of my readers off.

The excellent blog--Gay Patriot--has been silenced. The hypocrisy of liberals such as Michelangelo Signorile and the deplorable Michael Rogers who "out" closeted homosexuals for sport is a strong indication of where the Left is going in America.

Lorraine is back and has made some nice changes to her site.

Chrenkoff has his next installment of Good News From Iraq. Also at Winds of Change and Opinion Journal.

Sgt. Mom has a nice post over at Stryker HQ.

Lebanon and freedom

A great article in the Lebanon Daily Star today:

More grievous, the country's history and its vivid accomplishments were overlooked or maligned. Lebanon was held accountable for the collective violence to which it was being subjected, though the evidence showed it was no more than a proxy battlefield for other peoples' wars. There is a painful irony here: that the once vibrant republic, after decades of political subservience to one of the most autocratic and ruthless regimes in the region, should continue to be declared unfit to govern itself or to enjoy the most basic civil virtues. The only Arab country which could boast of periodic and relatively free elections has had to suffer the indignity of putting up with inept leaders not of its own choosing.

There was a time when those of us who harbor deep-seated resistance to violence and other belligerent strategies of change took heart from other troubled spots in the world. We marveled at how, often in the least likely of places, whether in Eastern Europe or China, the springtime of nations ushered in signs of change. Collective icons of defiance, voices of resistance, wrath and determination, shook the conscience of the world, reawakening it to lingering injustices.

Emphasis mine. Lebanon has been subjected to invasion and oppressive rule by nations such as Syria for decades and it seems to me they're quite sick of it. As the pictures we've seen out of Lebanon are any indication, the Maronites, Phalangists and Muslims are ready to get back to being a nation without Bashar's thugs riling things up.

Try To Get Your Head Around This

Our old buddy, Trudy Rubin is at it again. She twists herself into a pretzel trying to explain how democracy in the Arab world is bad for women:

As the democracy debate intensifies in the Middle East, many Arab women are asking this question: Will democratic elections mean that our freedom will be curtailed?

If this concern seems strange, consider the story of Salama al-Khafaji, a courageous dental surgeon who risked her life to run in Iraqi elections. Her 17-year-old son was shot dead in 2003 during an attempt by insurgents to kill her, but she continued her work as a member of Iraq's first interim governing council. A motorcyclist toting a machine gun nearly assassinated her during the election run-up in January.

Khafaji is a symbol of Iraqi bravery, but she also is a symbol of Shiite piety, who wears an enveloping black abaya that resembles a Catholic nun's habit, circa 1950. She ran on the victorious Shiite list endorsed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

And she wants to replace civil laws on "family status" that affect women - laws on marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance - with Islamic laws that would roll back many rights of women.

Welcome to the new Iraq, where free and fair elections may have a negative impact on women. U.S. pressure ensured that every third seat in the Iraqi assembly was set aside for a woman. But the bulk of female candidates were selected by Shiite religious parties that believe women should be subject to religious law.

I can now say I've seen it all with regards to opposing the invasion of Iraq. I get her point that society was more secular during Saddam's reign and women were not forced to wear abaya's, however they were subject to the Baath party sponsored rape and murder that apparently were commonplace.

Does Trudy Rubin truly think that Iraq was better as an authoritarian regime led by Saddam and his evil offspring? She does not even mention the way life was under those animals.

Snippets

Lots of new posts below.

John Cole is fighting the good fight. I'm with you John, but at this point it's like arguing abortion. The only thing to come out of this is sadness and pain, unfortunately. Brian lives! He's got an opinion.

Mickey Kaus on...well, lots of stuff.

Go now and read The Few over at Mudville. It's worth your time.

You would have to arrest me too:
GRANITE CITY - A Sothern Illinois woman was arrested last week (March 17) after trying to intervene on behalf of her 14-year old daughter's effort to have an abortion. The girl was allegedly taken to an abortion clinic by the mother of the man allegedly to have impregnated the 14-year old.

Sucks for you, coward!

My Lord, the election system in the US is going to be FUBAR real quick.

The Death of Alternative Rock

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Blast Kills 15 in Texas

Refinery work is among the more dangerous of occupations. There have been several catastrophic explosion at these facilities in recent years. This explosion in Texas City, TX is one of the deadliest.

My company does accident investigations of worker incidents and to tell you the truth, it's sometimes a tough business. Industrial accidents are not pretty things to see, and add a death to it and it's a brutal state of affairs.

As an environmental health and safety consultant, I can get a facility to the point where no accidents can happen if the rules are followed. As anyone who has worked in the manufacturing or construction industry knows, following the rules is not always the case. I've learned the hard way that you just can't factor out the human element, which it seems 80% of the time is the cause of workplace injuries. I have colleagues who work for Jacobs and numerous other folks who work at refineries in my area.

My prayers go out to the families of the employees who were injured or killed.

Thoughts on The FCC and FEC

Scott at POV has several interesting posts today. First, guest blogging is his girlfriend with a take about the FCC:

The Government and the FCC are quickly taking away our first amendment right by imposing outrageous penalties on broadcast content that they deem indecent. This website (see sidebar link: Save Radio Now) offers a full outline of the ridiculous laws and fine structures as well as ways that we can continue to have the right to choose for ourselves the kind of content we wish to expose ourselves to. It is my opinion that the content on the blogospere is the next to be regulated therefore we can protect this great editorial community by stopping the FCC NOW.

Amen. There's also this post considering the FEC:

The FEC's issue with "public communication" via the internet is that if said communication is paid for then the communication may violate political financial contribution guidelines that have been previously devised. Furthermore, the FEC is concerned that said "public communications" written or read using corporate computing resources may constitute further violations of the FEC's rules governing corporate donations.

Polipundit is all over this story too.

$80-Million and None For Me

Damn Charles, I've linked to you hundreds of times and never got a damn cent. As a fellow member of the Vast Right Wing and Zionist Conspiracies, I believe I am entitled to a portion of that money.

Bonds, Steroids and Records

Barry Bonds near meltdown the other day showed just how obnoxious he is. This is a guy who has been brutal to the press (and they in turn to him) and fans. The possibility that he might retire actually came as good news to me for several reasons; first he's in the National League as are my Phillies and more importantly, he's about to surpass Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron for the lead on the all-time homerun list. That to me is plain wrong.

I don't buy the line that you still have to hit the ball, hence steroids don't really help average. This is BS on so many levels. How many of Bonds' homers were by three or four feet? How many balls were powered into the gap?

A person who breaks a long-standing record should be as clean as the player who set it. Think Emmitt Smith breaking Walter Payton's record.

The WSJ has a nice piece today about Bonds and Selig.

Another Memogate?

Although not a Schiavo post (BTW James Taranto has great comments today, but I'm out of the fray...I promise), the story about a potential memo intrigues me. Powerline is all over it as is Captain Ed. This bears serious watching.

US and Iraqi Forces Pound Terrorists

A joint US/Iraqi force attacked a terrorist training camp in central Iraq today:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a suspected guerrilla training camp and killed 85 fighters, the single biggest one-day death toll for militants in months and the latest in a series of blows to the insurgency, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. military announced late Tuesday that its air and ground forces backed Iraqi commandos during a noontime raid on the suspected training camp near Lake Tharthar in central Iraq (news - web sites). Seven commandos died in fighting, the U.S. military said. It did not give a death toll for the militants.
Iraqi officials said Wednesday 85 insurgents died in the clash — the largest number killed in a single battle since the U.S. Marine-led November attack on the former militant stronghold of Fallujah left more than 1,000 dead. On Sunday, U.S. forces killed 26 attackers after an ambush south of Baghdad.

Things seem to be progressing nicely with training the Iraqi forces.

In other news, the Sunni's see the light:

BAGHDAD – Two years after war dramatically changed Iraq's political landscape, the former ruling minority Sunnis are developing plans to participate in a government formed by elections they boycotted.

In a significant shift, several Sunni groups that hitherto shunned the political process met last weekend to create a unified front and set of demands that they will present to the Shiite and Kurdish leaders now hammering out a new government.

The meeting was a reversal for Sunni leaders who have supported insurgents and urged US troops to leave Iraq immediately.

Update: Kos clone--Armando--always manages to see the cup as half empty:

The not so good news? Two years later, such operations are still necessary - indicative of the fact that our troops will not be able to come home anytime soon. It is hard to imagine the Iraqis being able to mount this type of operation any time soon.

I guess Armando finds reading just as hard as writing. Can't you just see this little moron seething that it wasn't 85 dead Americans?

CNN Will Never Get It

The brains over at CNN are trying to come up with ways to beat Fox News:

Like a football coach with a stopwatch, Mr. Klein has been seeking to overhaul how Mr. Brown takes the ball from Mr. King as part of a broader effort to increase the amount of time viewers spend watching the network's prime-time lineup. Specifically, in a ratings game that he says can be won in inches, Mr. Klein has told his staff that that he wants to increase the average amount of time viewers spend watching CNN's prime-time lineup by an average of 30 seconds a month for the next 12 months - for what would be a total gain of six minutes.

Blah, Blah, Blah. It's quite simple Mr. Klein; the American viewing public just seems to find Aaron Brown extremely boring. The same goes for Anderson Cooper and near everyone else at CNN. They are the AOL of the cable news world; they developed the concept but grew stagnant and didn't see the changes coming. Here's more:

In an effort to narrow the gap with Fox at night, Mr. Klein has ruled out one obvious option: he will not, he says, turn CNN's prime-time lineup into a liberal counterpunch to Fox's opinion-driven programming, which draws a heavily conservative audience. "It's much better to be right down the middle," Mr. Klein said in an interview. "Moderates are our sweet spot."

OK. That Aaron Brown is "right down the middle", right? CNN has never shaken the liberal mindset instilled in its infancy by Ted Turner, until it does it will continue to flounder.

My favorite idea is this:

In a segment last Wednesday on the program "Paula Zahn Now," for example, Rick Sanchez, a former local news anchor who worked for Mr. Cheatwood in Miami and who joined CNN last year, strapped on a device known as a shock belt - worn around the waist, it can deliver 50,000 volts of electricity to a person's body - and then gave a simple command: "Do it."
Moments later, Mr. Sanchez moaned audibly, crumpled to the floor, and, still panting after being helped to his feet, reported: "It hurts. It's painful. But no one's dead."

They might have hit on something here; if they put that shock belt on each of their anchors and the public could shock them everytime they said something stupid, I'd watch. Let's start with Larry King.

Blogging Politics

In what should be the only time I ever link to an article in the World Peace Herald (as well known as Talon News), they carry a UPI story about bloggers that's pretty good:

"We've been looking at blogs for about a year," Glance said. "There was some hope that the blogosphere would help bridge the different opinions in America, but what we are seeing is in an election year, it was divisive online and there was a strong tendency for separation of differences."

Conservative blogs apparently were the most influential sites, generating huge flows of traffic to right-leaning news organizations, such as the National Review magazine and Fox News television. The bloggers' links also pushed up the readership numbers for publications such as The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal's online Opinion Journal and The Washington Times, Glance said.

Other experts said the trend is likely to continue, and it is starting to shape the way businesses are perceived, too, not just politicians.

Scott Anthony has particularly prescient quote:

"A small number of people used to determine what was, or was not, newsworthy. Now, it is an online collective that says this is interesting, or not interesting, news."

Newspapers should embrace the blogosphere (and some do) as they send more readers to their sites then they could ever get through advertising.

My Last Schiavo Post (Part II)

Some people are with me that the government overstepped its bounds and disagree with the conservative blogosphere. Sadly, they seem to be taking some heat. I've not heard much, but then I tend to not get many comments as it is. I will stand with anyone who sticks by his or her beliefs.

This is not the Republican party that I know, one of limited government and states rights.

Ann Althouse has brilliant insight as usual.

US Naval Forces Converging

The USS Truman, Carl Vinson and Roosevelt strike groups are steaming toward the Persian Gulf in a large show of force. This is significant firepower with upwards of eighty planes per ship.

Remember, a strike group consists of more than just a carrier. I imagine there's an ARG or two in the area also.

Good news for democracy loving folks, not so good news for the Syrians and Iranians.

My Last Post on the Schiavo Case

As I've said already; I have serious problems with the federal government getting involved in the Terri Schiavo issue. I'm torn by the fact that if they did not, this woman would be allowed to die in a cruel way that even Ted Bundy wasn't subjected to.

That said, this is an issue for her family, not me or you. I know this is not the popular side to be on in the Conservative world, but as a Christian, I believe that if you can no longer function without outside help, you're being called home.

Does that mean that I think that no medical procedures should be employed? Of course not. I have to believe that the world Terri Schiavo is living in is not the life she may want if she's cognizant.

Put aside the fact the politics of this situation (which should not even be remotely involved) and think about what the world is to Terri Schiavo. Allegedly she told her husband that she didn't want to live this way, as I myself have told my wife. Think past the ideology of it and what you would want if you could possibly imagine being in these circumstances.

I remember cursing the government for getting involved in the Elian Gonzales fiasco as well as the Kevorkian situation. This case will not lead to euthanasia of humans.

I may regret this post a week or a year from now, but this is my feeling today.

Lileks has thoughts.

Semper Fi, Bravo Zulu, Etc.

This is a post I meant to make yesterday but struggled with how to say it. I guess the best way is to just say it as I feel it:

The Sailors, Soldiers, Marines and Airmen have not only lived up the proud tradition of their military forebears but have exceeded them in awesome fashion. I know that may be a very bold statement considering what was accomplished in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Gulf War I, but this is how I feel.

These men and women answered the call, despite a media onslaught that was beyond any precedent yet set and not only accomplished their mission in record speed but have essentially devastated militant Islamofascists who wish to attack us again at home.

To the reservists who were called and asked to leave good paying civilian jobs, I salute you. To the families of the men and women who were deployed, I say Bravo Zulu! To the men and women who were looking for money for college, suffered through bootcamp, made ends meet with only a pittance and barely adjusted to military life prior to shipping out I say: Thank you, one vet to another.

I have been on a deployment for half a year away from my beautiful wife. When I left, we had just visited Navy Relief for food (lots of mac and cheese and Dinty Moore beef stew as I recall). It was tough on me and her. A majority of the wives went home to whatever state they came from but not mine, she stayed in a town we knew little of but eventually grew to love. I was on deployment during the onset of Somalia operations and assisted the Pakistani's who were sent to that hellhole.

I want to say some special words to those families who've given the ultimate to their country, those who've lost loved ones in the War on Terror and those that are servicemen and been wounded: your sacrifice has not been for nothing. Your service is appreciated by those of us who've been there and done that. Did I ever sleep in a tent in the middle of the desert? No. But I know those who have and I know the daily challenges you've faced.

To the rest of the non-veteran world, this may sound like a corny post. Screw those who don't feel the admiration I do for these men and women. Those who talk of supporting the troops then turn their heads away when passing you in the airport can kiss my ass. You have inspired me and increased my already intense respect on a daily basis.

Again: Thank you.

PS: I noticed that a member of the Army stationed in Fort Bragg visited my site this evening. I say to any serviceperson who's feeling far from home; feel free to contact me via e-mail @ sswenviron@comcast.net if you wish to discuss NCAA basketball, the latest music or anything in between, I'll always make time since I remember being in your boots.

Snippets

Tigerhawk has an outstanding takedown of a New York Review of Books Rathergate story.

Check out these pictures taken by a crewmember of the sunbmarine USS Honolulu.

You know Liberalism's run wild when even the Mayor of Frisco has to act to stop it.

Bush takes the gloves off with regard to the SS debate.

(Via Captain Ed) To paraphrase Orwell: All EU members are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Mickey Kaus on Kerry and Form 180.

Playgirl fires their editor because she's a Republican.

The.Best.NCAA.Post.Period!

ASV has a great post on the Big East and Duke hatred:

Anyhow, back to the 84-85 seaosn. Our real rivals at that time were the Georgetown Hoyas. In 1985 three of the four Final Four teams were Big East teams; St. John's, Villanova and Georgetown. I think I hated Georgetown more than any other team. Oh, I hated Syracuse. I loathed Ron Seikaly. I don't remember why, I just remember yelling nasty things at him from the safety of the behind-the-net seats at MSG. But Georgetown was the be-all and end-all of sports loathing. At that moment in time, I despised them more than the Rangers, Mets and Red Sox combined. So of course, that's who SJU ended up playing in the semi-finals. We watched the game at a fellow student's house. There must have been 100 of us, at least. Drunk, loud, obnoxious and ready to lord it over Georgetown fans when we won. I think we even had the idea to drive down to the Georgetown campus after the game and randomly moon people.

I guess now that UCONN is out, you have to go with my Villanova Wildcats.

Mo Dowd is “the most influential columnist of our time”

Michael Kinsley bows to the altar of MoDo:

Dowd wisely ignored me and proceeded to reinvent the political column as a comedy of manners and a running commentary on the psychopathologies of power. It is the first real innovation in this tired literary form since Walter Lippmann. Eighty years ago, Lippmann developed the self-important style in which lunch with a VIP produces a judicious expression of concern by the columnist the next day about developments in danger of being overlooked. Most of today's columns are still variations and corruptions of this formula. But Dowd is different, and she is the most influential columnist of our time.

Dowd at least was smart enough to ignore you, Mike. For an example of MoDo's brilliance, read this.

Well, I'm floored by the deep, deep thoughts MoDo expresses. I mean, when I read a Krauthammer column, I think he's smart, and a doctor, but he doesn't quite capture the nuance of MoDo and he doesn't even use nicknames so how influential can he possibly be.

Snippets

Lots of new posts below.

The French wine industry gets rocked.

Smash has the latest from the San Diego anti-war protests and Protest Warrior's response. The picture of the lady with the purple-stained middle finger is especially despicable.

Tigerhawk has some thoughts on the Iraq-Jordan situation.

I commented on my thoughts concerning Terri Schiavo a few posts ago, Cassandra has some thoughts.

Real or parody?

Cannablogging?

Bolton and the UN

Mark Steyn has a great piece in the Sun-Times on the appointment of John Bolton as the new Ambassador to the UN:

But he does do schtick. I happen to agree with all the above statements, but I can see why the international community might be minded to throw its hands up and shriek, "Quel horreur!" It's not just the rest of the world. Most of the American media are equally stunned. The New York Times wondered what Bush's next appointment would be:

"Donald Rumsfeld to negotiate a new set of Geneva conventions? Martha Stewart to run the Securities and Exchange Commission?"

OK, I get the hang of this game. Sending Bolton to be U.N. ambassador is like . . . putting Sudan and Zimbabwe on the Human Rights Commission. Or letting Saddam's Iraq chair the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. Or sending a bunch of child-sex fiends to man U.N. operations in the Congo. And the Central African Republic. And Sierra Leone, and Burundi, Liberia, Haiti, Kosovo, and pretty much everywhere else.

All of which happened without the U.N. fetishists running around shrieking hysterically. Why should America be the only country not to enjoy an uproarious joke at the U.N.'s expense?

The UN is supported largely by American dollars and has done nothing but berate anything we do. We give the majority of the money so we should have a majority say.

Let's do a little analogy; say you invest $100,000 into a corporation and two other partners invest $50K each. Should they have an equal say in the operation of that corporation?

Uh, sorry about the corporate analogy, capitalism is bad in the eyes of Liberals. OK, how about this; you put up $100 bucks for an ounce of weed and two friends put up $50 each. Should the bud be split up evenly or will you get half and the other two stoners get 1/4?

If you answered affirmative to the latter, then you understand how the Bush administration feels with regard to the UN. If you answered yes to the former then you're getting cheated out of some fine sinsemilla and probably shouldn't get involved in the debate.

Trudy Rubin Blows A Gasket

Trudy Rubin is the Mideast correspondent for the Inquirer and has reported from the region for years. Through her writing, you get the feeling that she considers herself the female Tom Friedman, living in the latest war-torn region and getting to know the power players. Anyone who has read the Friedman classic; From Beirut to Jerusalem, a book that I am currently re-reading, can see the the influence he has had in Rubin's writing. She is a good writer and generally is an honest essayist although too solipsistic for my taste.

That said, she is an avowed Liberal who has that uncurable liberal disease, the disease I don't think has been named but is quite visible in newspapers across the country. Here's an example of the main symptom:

When proven wrong, lash out like a child:

I'm glad President Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz to become president of the World Bank.

After all, Bush might have named him national security adviser to replace Condi Rice. At least at the World Bank his poor judgment won't lead to thousands of needless military and civilian deaths.

Do you see how Ms. Rubin is so full of bile that she couldn't wait until the third paragraph to slam Wolfowitz for being the architect of the disastrous Iraq policy? Regardless of the fact that the policy seems to be working, in Ms. Rubin's worldview it's a quagmire. Deep down in a part of her that she doesn't let the world see, I think Trudy knows that a paradigm shift is occurring and she can't bring herself to give Bush or the Neocon cabal credit.

In fact, the World Bank would have been a better home for Wolfowitz than the Pentagon, where he is deputy defense secretary. Of all the neoconservatives who pushed for toppling Saddam Hussein, he was the only apparent idealist, the one who seriously believed from the start that Iraq might become a model for change in the Mideast. In person, he exudes charm and intelligence and concern for global humanitarian needs.

But idealism can be dangerous when it morphs into utopian zeal. When it came to Iraq, Wolfowitz refused to countenance any challenge to his superior vision, rejecting any information that contradicted his belief that the going in postwar Iraq would be easy. That willful blindness made possible the insurgency that still threatens Iraq's future and keeps 150,000 U.S. troops in harm's way.

You can see how Rubin still can't admit that the events in Iraq are the a model for change in the Mideast. You can almost hear her mumbling to herself: "it's because Arafat died" or "Hariri's death is leading to the Lebanese protests" anything but believing that Wolfowitz and Bush were even remotely right.

With all the celebrations over Iraq's elections, many people forget how badly Wolfowitz handled the planning for the postwar.

Indeed. We know how well the post-war for Germany was planned before we engaged Hitler's forces in north Africa or the Japanese in the pacific. Rubin is using the old MSM standby of accusing the administration of "not planning for the peace". This is utter garbage and Rubin knows it. Any war planning goes out the window once shots are fired, and because Bush exhausted all options before the invasion including; presenting evidence to the UN, allowing inspectors to investigate and all the other hoops Bush jumped through, the foundation of the insurgency was allowed to assemble and strategize. This extra time allowed the forces of al-Qaeda, now led by al-Zarqawi to set-up a terrorist network throughout the Sunni-led portions of the nation.

Such gross miscalculations meant the United States was unprepared for Iraq's postwar chaos, which is why the insurgency and criminal mafias could flourish. Wolfowitz also told Congress that Iraqi oil money would quickly enable Iraq to pay for reconstruction, although it was widely known that Iraq's degraded fields needed years and billions in investment for restoration. You and I are now footing the bill.

Iraqi reconstruction - for which Wolfowitz also bears responsibility - has a dismal track record. Huge sums have been wasted on large projects while Iraqi unemployment remains substantial. Early American plans to privatize Iraqi industry, and possibly oil, quickly foundered on legal realities, along with Iraq's dismal economic and security conditions. Mercifully so, since too-swift privatization might have created another Russia, where natural resources were sold for a song to a handful of sharpsters.

Hadn't the Pentagon ever reviewed the sad story of Russian privatization, where U.S. pressure for fast action created a fierce public backlash against free markets and renewed Russian yearning for a strongman?

The use of Iraqi oil money to assist with reconstruction is at this point an open question. Did Rubin really believe that the administration did not know about the state of Iraq's infrastructure? Of course it was known that there would be years of work to get oil production up to pre-war levels. When the oil fields are running at capacity and Iraqi oil is flowing freely, we will get reduced prices that will in turn pay some of the money back. I think that Rubin is just as naive as she accuses Wolfowitz of being by believing that we would invade, win and turn on the spigots.

As for unemployment and privatization, isn't two years a bit of a rush to conced defeat? As Arthur Chrenkoff has pointed out on numerous occassions things are getting better and as the infrastructure is repaired and expanded, more work will be available. I think that entire paragraph is a veiled smack at the free market capitalism that the very Socialist Rubin abhors.

Of course, Rubin couldn't get through an entire piece without the thinly veiled whack at the evil Halliburton.

The Russian analogy is not apt in this situation as they "elected" a leader who was a part of the Soviet machine and was once the leader of the KGB. You did not accede to the head of any Soviet agency without the payoffs and rewards that were handed out or received. Vladimir Putin allowed the Russian economy to slide into the abyss it now resides because he knew full well that the Russian people would fall back to the "strongman" mindset that they've lived under for centuries. The comparison between the two is ludicrous at best.

So, you ask, why reward such bad performance with the top spot at the World Bank?

No Trudy, you ask. Please don't speak for me or the other 51% who voted to keep Bush in power. Believe or not, some of us actually believe that Wolfowitz did a good jobs, as did Perle.

Reason one: At least Wolfowitz appears to care about development issues. The President just picked as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations a man who openly despises the world body - John Bolton. The World Bank choice could have been far worse.

Reason two: Wolfowitz might just follow in the steps of Robert McNamara, who left the Pentagon at the height of the Vietnam War to become president of the World Bank. McNamara fought a determined battle against global poverty. Of course, he had reflected on the mistakes he made in Vietnam; so far, Wolfowitz hasn't admitted to any mistakes.

McNamara was reconstructed in the eye of the American left because he said all the right things after the war that the anti-war types wanted to hear. If Wolfowitz came out for abortion rights, gay marriage and raising taxes, he would be the darling of the Manhattan party circuit. Well, he may have to say that the evil Bushitler was a stupid chimp who couldn't tie his own shoes without Laura's help. Then he would be feted as a genius.

Reason three: In running the World Bank, Wolfowitz, the utopian visionary, may finally be forced to face facts. "Unilateral bullying," says Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development, "won't work." The World Bank can certainly do with more accountability, and there is room at the bank for "a kind of vision," says Birdsall. That includes presidential pressure on lenders for democratic reforms - Wolfowitz's passion.

The Center for Global Development information can be found here. The seem to be a think tank that writes a lot of papers, berates industrialized nations for not "giving enough" and is the type of organization that Liberals love. The successes they've had remain to be seen.

But a World Bank president can't just cram D.C.-made formulas down countries' throats or he will generate lender backlash and development failure. Wolfowitz now says he wants to listen. Let's hope he's finally seen the light.

I think he has seen the light Ms. Rubin, it's just a different wattage and color than the light you wish for.

Update: Chrenkoff has more thoughts.

Rev Al Involved In Pay to Play?

During the Philly mayoral election of 2003, the esteemed Philly Mayor, the Honorable John Street--he of the infamous "Brothers" comment--found an FBI bug in his office. The indictments connected with that case are now being revealed and an interesting name has appeared: Al Sharpton:

March 19, 2005 -- A federal wiretapping investigation of political corruption in Philadelphia has turned up some surprising names with New York connections — those of the Rev. Al Sharpton and Comptroller William Thompson.

The two prominent Big Apple figures were linked to a bizarre scheme by La-Van Hawkins, a Detroit fast-food king, to create a fried-chicken empire financed by millions of dollars from New York City's pension fund.

To get a shot at the money, Hawkins — since charged by the feds in a related matter — helped raise thousands of dollars for Sharpton's 2004 presidential campaign so that Sharpton would arrange a meeting between him and Thompson, federal prosecutors said.

I'm absolutely shocked that the good Rev. would be involved with such low lifes as Corey Kemp and the late Ron White. I mean, a former presidential candidate on the Democrat side would actually take money to assist a businessman. I'm flabbergasted.

The Terri Schiavo Case

I have not commented at all about the Terri Schindler Schiavo case because others (scroll and scroll) have already covered it in great detail. However, I must say that I'm not very comfortable with the federal government getting involved as it will make our esteemed leaders more prone to intrusive policies in the future. Regardless of what you may think of Terri's husband, he is her husband and as such has rights under the law. I totally disagree with this take by actress Patricia Heaton:

"Feminists have always challenged the idea that married women have no rights of their own," said Heaton. "A husband should not be granted absolute control over his wife's fate, especially a disaffected husband with dubious motives."

According to Michael Schiavo, she indicated that she wouldn't want to live the way she is. Without Terri's true wishes known, we are forced to defer to her husband.

Dave Justus has more here and shares a personal experience here.

Where's The Money, Mary?

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the government agency supported by tax dollars yet treated as the sole entity of Mary Frances Berry, was cooking the books it seems:

The meeting came a day after commission Staff Director Kenneth L. Marcus told a congressional subcommittee that the agency had failed to pay $75,000 in rent last year and that employees who won an equal opportunity complaint against the agency had not received the $188,000 partial payment owed them.

Marcus had more bad news yesterday, saying that the commission was more than likely underfunding its employee benefits package, and that budget shortfalls would force the board to consider a significant number of layoffs as it undertakes reforms recommended by the Government Accountability Office.

Commissioners said they had been kept in the dark on financial problems by former staff director Les Jin and the panel's former chairwoman, Mary Frances Berry. Two commissioners, Chairman Gerald A. Reynolds and Peter N. Kirsanow, asked Marcus whether he had uncovered any evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing. Marcus said he had not.

Of course they found no evidence of wrongdoing, the money was just misplaced in a desk drawer or something. No wonder Ms. Berry was doing anything possible to remain the leader of that upstanding commission.

Two Years In

Two years after the start of the Iraq war and alot of things have changed. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are still anti-war protesters (and protesters against the protesters), although dramatically less than the run-up to the war. Brian has a great post on Iraqi civilian deaths and fudging of numbers.

The Inquirer was just itching to run an editorial about the "quagmire" that is Iraq and the lack of infrastructure, etc. Fortunately, things aren't going that bad for most Iraqi's so the Inky was forced to run this:

The hope is that the war does not cause greater disorder and danger for the world.

Many people have tried already to claim they can see the final fruits of that invasion. Don't believe them.

Don't believe the Bush-haters, who think the national treasure spent in lives and dollars is for naught. These critics argue that U.S. involvement in Iraq is as doomed as America's involvement was in the Vietnam war. That comparison is off-base.

The January election, imperfect though it was (what election isn't?), represented an inspiring milestone in the history of a country that endured Hussein's vicious regime.

Turn aside, too, from the hawks roosting inside and outside of President Bush's administration who so dearly want to crow that the voting means Iraq is now a democracy.

Too many insurgent attacks continue killing soldiers and civilians, an elected government and bureaucracy are still taking shape, too many divisions remain within the population.

The best way to note this second anniversary simply may be to present some numbers about Iraq that have accumulated since March 19, 2003 - the good and the bad.

Check out the statistics they present, then read what's really happening.

Amina Wadud

I've discussed Amina Wadud before, she is the professor from Virginia Commonwealth University that has angered many Muslim men. She's still at it:

NEW YORK - (KRT) - Defying centuries of Muslim tradition and sparking a firestorm of controversy, a prominent female Islamic scholar led a mixed-gender congregation in prayers here Friday to assert the theological validity of female-led prayer and to challenge the widespread belief that only men may be imams.
Amina Wadud, an African-American professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of "Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective," also delivered the Friday sermon in a service conducted solely by women.
"I don't want to change Muslim mosques. I want to encourage the hearts of Muslims, both in their public, private and ritual affairs, to believe they are one and equal," said Wadud before the service. A small, extremely soft-spoken woman, she wore a purple paisley robe and veil and carried turquoise prayer beads.

...After three mosques refused to host the event, a downtown art gallery stepped in, but abruptly withdrew after reportedly receiving a bomb threat. The gallery manager refused to comment.

Only a handful of protesters showed up outside the event and they conducted a counter prayer service on the sidewalk, led by a young American man who would only give his name as Nussruh. "These people do not represent Islam," said the clearly furious Nussruh. "If this was an Islamic state, this woman would be hanged, she would be killed, she would be diced into pieces."

I wish her luck, but fear that she may face some very harsh times as did the last woman to speakup concerning Islam.

Blurbs

Via Cassandra, information on the UN latest attempt to usurp the world.

Barbara Boxer, the new darling of the fickle ultra-Left, hates the Constitution evidently.

A must read over at Rantingprofs, take a look around his site while you're there.

A Yalie gets bitch slapped, literally.

A great post by Instapundit that I missed yesterday.

Anti-Semitism Watch

If I was to ask what the bet selling book in an aspiring European Union country was what would you guess? Deep Thoughts by Zapatero? No, besides that book would only have two pages. It would be the old Europe favorite: Mein Kampf:

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Is it just curiosity -- or a sign of growing anti-Semitism and anti-American sentiment in Turkey?

Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" has suddenly become a best seller in Turkey, following the release of two cheap paperback versions.

I guess the Turks are doing their collective best to fit in with the EU member nations, Britain and Ireland excluded.

In other news concerning the dreadful "Zionist Conspiracy", the Watcher has some great Indymedia reading:

Have you observed how the Palestinians live? Scrambling in their rubble, constantly avoiding bombs and excuses to murder them on a whim. This is the future of America run by the Zionist monsters who control the White House, and most other aspects of your life, as well.

The real issue to protest is that the entire U.S. Congress is guilty of treason for destroying the Bill of Rights to our own Constitution by participating in this charade that there is some terror threat that justifies these police state measures.

The real issue to protest is that al-Qaeda was created by the CIA and the Mossad in a proxy war in Afghanistan and then later at a CIA training camp in the Philippines, and that 9/11 was planned, executed, and then covered up by levels of American society that are actually more powerful than the president, who is only a bobble-head doll fed lies, stimulants and quite possibly little boys (or at least big boys) as a reward for his mindless obedience to his masters with the big money.

I'm a proud member of the Zionist Conspiracy, except I'm not rich, Jewish or privy to the power that allows me to kill without consequence. Damn, I must have missed that memo from Charles.

Congress and Baseball

I listened to the Baseball steroid hearings before Congress today and I must say; if what I heard beginning at 4:00 EST on WFAN was any indication of the earlier session, I missed nothing.

These congressional hearings tend to be an excuse for various representatives to sound powerful yat yield no results. Mark McGwire sounded like an idiot and Schilling is nothing but a limelight grabbing moron.

The steroid problem is an issue that must be dealt with by Baseball, not by Congress. Bud Selig is the most spineless Commissioner we've yet seen in a sport that has had many. The so-called "Steroid Policy" will do nothing but make the tiny portion of the public that may be paying attention chuckle.

Jeff Goldstein has an hilarious take as usual:

A note to House Panel members: Jose Canseco is an expert on hitting the belt-high fastball, sticking himself with a needle, and banging Oakland A’s groupies five at a time in a bygone era of Erasure music and mullets. Beyond that, he’s a self-serving egomaniac and a dullard trying desperately—and unsuccessfully—to sound intelligent.

In short, the hearings today did nothing but waste our tax dollars.

Renewable Resources and ANWR

The affable but misguided Katinula is in error on the Republican plan for drilling in ANWR:

Proponents of drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge achieved a huge victory today. What I'm struck by is that proponents don't seem to realize the irony in their position. They say we need to drill in ANWR because we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil supplies. By all accounts, we won't be recieving (sic) any of the oil produced from drilling in ANWR for upwards of 10 years. This is regardless of the fact that we do not possess the technology to obtain the oil in ANWR at a rate that will have any affect on our domestic oil consumption. Sure, there are a gazillion barrels of oil in ANWR, we just can't get at them. But the real irony is that proponents are willing to put a band-aid on the foreign oil dependance (sic) problem, rather than to tackle the real issue of energy conservation. The only way to reduce our dependance on foreign oil supplies is to begin conserving energy, to support measures that utilize renewable energy sources and for God's sake stop driving around in gigantic monsters of automobilies (sic) that get 10 miles per gallon!

The Corporate Average fuel Economy (CAFE) guidelines were passed in the early 1970's as a way to increase fuel economy and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Several other amendments have been added.

If it would take ten years to get the oil to the refineries, why didn't we start ten years ago. Let's think, who was the President ten years ago? Until 1995 the Democrats had the House, Senate and Executive branch and did nothing. What if they had? Why did they not pass these standards?

I'm all for renewable and clean energy such as solar, wind, hydro or nuclear, however, the environmental lobby in the US is 100% against nuclear and the Democrats (at least the ones who live in Mass.) are against wind power. Even if the support for these sources was widespread, the implementation would take a decade. Besides, even the most optimistic Greens know that we are at least ten-years out from hydrogen or electric vehicles and the costs associated with instituting the infrastructure will restrict their use. We will still need gasoline in a decade, regardless of the strides we start attempting today.

As for the SUV issue, I'm firmly in the camp that believes that if you can afford the gas, insurance and price of any vehicle, no one has the right to dictate if you can drive it or not.
I believe you've driven in a full-size. gas-guzzling truck when you just as easily could have taken your smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle.

As a postscript, Katinula translates in the Blogger spellcheck to "stimuli".

Mayor Street Gets It Wrong...Again

The city of Philly has seen a spate of violence in the last few weeks that is borderline Fallujah-like:

As lawmakers continued to search for ways to quell a spate of murders that has pushed the number of homicides to 78 this year, Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson sought yesterday to rally his troops.
"We've had 44 shootings in eight days, but we are not in a panic situation," Johnson told 69 police officers at an award ceremony at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on Spring Garden Street.
Johnson dismissed rumors that the city would be seeking help from the state police, saying that while he had great respect for the troopers, "we don't need outside forces to patrol our streets."

Um...Commish, you do need outside forces, perhaps the Iraqi's currently being trained can be of some assistance. But how does Mayor Street deal with this pressing issue? By cracking down on law-abiding citizens:

His comments came a day after Mayor Street announced that he had sent a letter to Gov. Rendell, seeking to enlist the governor's help in giving Philadelphia the ability to pass laws to limit the sale of guns. The mayor also told reporters that he was considering instituting a moratorium on gun permits.
Deborah Bolling, the mayor's spokeswoman, said no meeting with the governor had been set.
As of yesterday, the number of homicides had again climbed. There have been 78 homicides this year, compared with 67 this time last year. Sixty-three of this year's slayings were committed with handguns, according to police.

Mr. Mayor, I am not privy to the statistics, however I'd bet $1,000 of my hard-earned dollars against $1,000 of your ill-gotten gains that not one of those crimes was committed with a legally owned weapon used by it's registered owner.

Across the Blogosphere

The Commisar dwells on: Suppose you had fallen asleep in the late 1990's and awakened to read today's headlines from the Middle East.

The always laughable Minipundit quips:
Bernard Kerik, Bush's first choice to defend our country, has been paid $75,000 for writing 11 sentences. If that applied to this blog...
Don't even consider it, dude.
You are guilty of practicing that most Stalinist of practices: revisionist history:
I have to say that there is little that Little Green Footballs has done that quite compares with its demonization of Rachel Corrie. For those of you who haven't heard, Rachel Corrie was a pro-Palestinian activist who, while protesting Israel's policies (and its existance)(sic), placed herself in front of an IDF bulldozer before it did what she believed to be a home demolition, but which the IDF insists was an effort to dismantle underground terrorist facilities. The bulldozer promptly hit her (though it is disputed whether or not it ran over her or just into her). Supporters of Corrie claim that her death was intentional, while the IDF claims that the bulldozer driver couldn't have possibly seen her. I don't know who is right, and I won't try to discuss that here. I won't try to defend Corrie's political views either; they were indefensible tripe, terrorist apologism infused with a vile dose of anti-Semitism. But she had never conducted a terrorist attack, has never assisted a terrorist organization, and never so much as harmed an Israeli citizen or IDF soldier. She certainly did not deserve to die, as LGF and co. seem to believe.
But she did assist those that were plotting terrorist attacks through Gaza and that is plain wrong. If you inject yourself into a battle on one side or the other, there are consequences. The death of Rachel Corrie was not the fault of the Israeli's and was the fault of Rachel Corrie. You have attacked LGF's commenters, not the content of what Charles' writes. Sounds like the Inquirer.

RWRM Moves

Chris Greenfeather has moved to Modblog. You can see his new site here. He also has his Wednesday salute up; today we remember:

Staff Sgt. Steven H. Bridges
33 years old from Tracy, California
Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,
2nd Infantry Division
December 8, 2003

You can read more about this fallen soldier here. My prayers go out to his wife Debbie, daughter Sarrah and his step-children. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Improving Mass Transit

The ubiquitous P. J. O' Rourke (link requires registration) has some thoughts on making that train ride to work a bit more exciting:

In fact, we might be able to make certain advantageous cuts in transportation spending. A few reductions in Amtrak's already minimal maintenance budget would turn the evening Metroliner into a reeling, lurching journey through the pitch dark equal to anything Space Mountain has to offer. And here is a perfect opportunity for public/private partnership. The Disney Co. is looking for new profit centers. The New York subway can become a hair-raising thrill ride by means of a simple return to NYPD 1970s policing practices.
Not all of the new mass transit has to be frenetic. Bringing groceries home on the tilt-o-whirl presents difficulties. We can take a cue from the lucrative cruise ship industry--every commute a mini-luxury vacation. Perhaps this wouldn't be suitable in areas without navigable water. But don't be too sure. Many "riverboat casinos" are completely stationary, and a lot of commuters don't want to go to work anyway. Slot machines could be put on all forms of mass transit. Put slot machines on city buses and people will abandon their cars, or abandon their car payments, which comes to the same thing.

P.J. has been seen in print all over the place recently, which is not good news if you're eagerly awaiting his next book.

Student's Protest Being Called Racist

Students at Paul VI High School, roughly ten miles from where I sit, walked out of class in protest because of a speech by Regina Thomas, the NJ Sec. of State:

Tensions have been building up at Paul VI High School since Thomas' speech on racial justice last week.
Many students and faculty members walked out of the speech offended. They said that she lambasted one student for not knowing his black history and that she insinuated that the students were racist.

Of course nothing will happen to this woman because of several reasons; first she is a minority and second she is a Democrat. Neither are held accountable as public figures in this state.

ANWR Vote

The Senate is about to vote on allowing drilling in the Alaska National Widlife Refuge in northern Alaska:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush.

For the first time in his career, John Kerry actually makes some sense:

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., argued that more oil would be saved if Congress enacted an energy policy focusing on conservation, more efficient cars and trucks and increased reliance on renewable fuels and expanded oil development in the deep-water Gulf where there are significant reserves.

Indeed. And while we're at it Senator, let's put windmills on Martha Vineyard near your mansion. But of course, Kerry being Kerry, he couldn't keep that good groove going:

"The fact is (drilling in ANWR) is going to be destructive," said Kerry.

Okay, Senator. Just so we have this clear, you would advocate drilling in the Gulf of Mexico--a vital waterway where ocean life is teeming--yet don't support drilling in a frozen wasteland? I guess I'm just not nuanced enough to follow that disjointed logic.

Generation Kill

Paul Beston, writing in the American Spectator, gives a favorable review to what sounds like a good book; Generation Kill:

GENERATION KILL MANAGES TO BUILD considerable suspense throughout, owing to Wright's skill with narrative and the special role of First Recon as shock troops for the invasion. Unlike most other Marine units that were storming Iraq by highway, theirs was taking a hellish alternate route through some of the deadliest parts of the country, seeking out ambushes and drawing enemy fire so that the larger forces could go in with less opposition. Not only is their mission more dangerous, most of them know nothing about it. Throughout the book, battle plans and orders are shrouded in mystery and subject to change. No matter what they encounter along the way -- gun-blasted children, bodies on the side of the road, elderly Iraqis eager to be taken into custody, civilians whom they shoot accidentally -- the Marines maintain their composure through generous helpings of black humor, camaraderie, and professionalism. Even when some commanders make foolish decisions or lose the respect of their units, the Marines seem to take it all in stride. One commander who does have his men's respect sums up his view of the military: "The incompetent leading the unwilling to do the unnecessary."The book's characters make clear that the Marine Corps is a much more complicated mix of human beings than is commonly believed. From the unflappable Sergeant Brad Colbert, who is known as the Iceman, to the cocky young Corporals Trombley and Person ("When I become a pop star," Person says, "I'm going to make pro-war songs"), to a Marx-quoting Communist, a radical Indian who fulminates about the sins of the White Man, a chronically discontented camp medic, and many memorable others, First Recon is truly a platoon that looks like America.

I will be buying this book this weekend and will give you a review when I finish. The book came out last June and was just released in paperback.

Note: Check out this review on B & N by a guy who claims to be a Marine:

A reviewer, A Supporting SFTT OIF participant, October 19, 2004,
A Revelation!!
What a revelation!! Young combat Marines being emotional and speaking their minds to a willing Walter Mitty. Just kidding about the revelation thing. I was in the 1st Marine Division during this time period and believe me all these men are interchangeable with every other Marine...at least in thought processes if not qualifications. The only exception was that the other Marines were well led. Too bad the author got stuck with the moronic leadership of that company and in that battalion at that time. Although his agenda was clear, and would have been for any other unit he embedded with, the book leads one to believe that malcontents stumbled their way to victory. Obviously not the case. This leads me to believe his goal was to appeal to the 'wanna-be' commando types like some of the reviewers below who believe everything written to be fact. Add this book to your soldier of fortune hero collection.
Also recommended: A better, more balanced and realistic view of war in Southwest Asia can be found in 'Storm on the Horizon.'

The Search for the Hottest Protesters

Two things that have become clear since the Lebanese began calling for Syria to withdrawal; the Lebanese are serious about wanting democracy and Lebanese women are smokin' hot. Venezuelan protesters are a close second. Venezuela failed to gain first because they failed to oust their Communist leader.

Is Syria Pulling Out?

Some signs are indicating that Bashar Assad is a bit smarter than Saddam and may well be pulling up his tents and going home. I believe that although showing weakness in the Arab world tends to lead to a rulers downfall, I tend to think that Assad's Baath Party and the Alawite clan are firmly entrenched and will spin this as a victory somehow at home.

He will survive leaving Lebanon, at least in the short-term, as the terror that is still felt in places like Hama will keep the radical Islamic resistance down. beating militant Muslims is alot different than restraining a populace that sees freedom and democracy breaking out all over the region, however.

Hitchens On Missing Weapons

Hitch examines the coverage of the missing WMD and other events in Iraq:

It was eye-rubbing to read of the scale of this potential new nightmare. There in cold print was the Al Hatteen "munitions production plant that international inspectors called a complete potential nuclear weapons laboratory." And what of the Al Adwan facility, which "produced equipment used for uranium enrichment, necessary to make some kinds of nuclear weapons"? The overall pattern of the plundered sites was summarized thus, by reporters James Glanz and William J. Broad:
The kinds of machinery at the various sites included equipment that could be used to make missile parts, chemical weapons or centrifuges essential for enriching uranium for atom bombs.

My first question is this: How can it be that, on every page of every other edition for months now, the New York Times has been stating categorically that Iraq harbored no weapons of mass destruction? And there can hardly be a comedy-club third-rater or MoveOn.org activist in the entire country who hasn't stated with sarcastic certainty that the whole WMD fuss was a way of lying the American people into war. So now what? Maybe we should have taken Saddam's propaganda seriously, when his newspaper proudly described Iraq's physicists as "our nuclear mujahideen."

Need I say read the whole thing?

New Blogroll Additions

I've added two new blogs to my blogroll. They are the Cassandra Page and V & S Politics. They are well worth your time so click over and give them a read. I've also added a link that I use pretty much daily, the EPA News page and the Homeland Security website.

Short Takes

Lots of new posts below.

Bush refuses to meet with IRA chief.

Arthur Chrenkoff has the lengthiest Good News From Iraq to date. Just so that they keep publishing him in the WSJ, click this link too.

Nice cartoon, boys.

Katinula is back and posting. Don't miss this March Madness related post about her alma mater Fairleigh Dickinson Community College (just joking K.) and their David and Goliath game this week.

Smash asks: Can you feel the world shrinking beneath your feet?

Reminiscing about flip flops, thongs and slaps.

The True Cost Of Kyoto

The main reason the US chose not to sign the Kyoto Protocols was the enormous costs that would be associated with implementing it. Canada is now learning just what those costs will be:

OTTAWA -- The full cost to Ottawa of meeting Canada's targets for fighting global warming under the controversial Kyoto accord could exceed $10-billion, senior federal cabinet ministers have been warned.

That's twice what the federal government has budgeted so far for Kyoto.
The estimates -- one of a number of attempts to quantify the ultimate cost of Kyoto -- rose out of recent consultations between bureaucrats in Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada.

...Ottawa is also being advised it should raise its estimate of the emissions cuts necessary to meet Canada's Kyoto targets to between 270 and 300 megatonnes from earlier forecasts of 240 megatonnes.

That reflects the fact that Canada's economy has expanded faster than expected, emitting more greenhouse gases as a result.

This means more emissions for Canada to cut because Kyoto stipulates Ottawa must ensure greenhouse-gas output between 2008 and 2012 is 6 per cent below 1990 levels.

Think about that, Canada's economy is expanding and they will be forced to implement stricter measures because of it. That to me sound like it will definitely inhibit economic growth.

The Sickness That is France

The trial of 66 French pedophiles opens today:

Franck Vergondy, a 36-year-old welfare recipient, was the very picture of banality as he stood answering questions in court last week, accused of orchestrating the largest child-sex ring ever prosecuted in France. It is being called the biggest criminal proceeding in the country's history, a case with 66 defendants, 45 victims, 60 lawyers and 225 witnesses - a trial so enormous a special courtroom had to be constructed to accommodate it.

It took three days to read the 430-page description of the charges: a litany of horrors portraying a group of parents and friends who passed around their children for sexual pleasure; who sold prepubescent bodies for cigarettes and booze; who sipped coffee in Vergondy's government-financed apartment while their toddlers screamed "it hurts" in the next room.
Twenty-seven of the accused are women. The victims, girls and boys, ranged in age from six months to 16 years. Some of the defendants have confessed, lawyers said.

...No social worker has lost a job over the affair, lawyers said, and there has been no separate government investigation beyond the criminal trial, where some social workers will be called as witnesses. The French news media are covering the Angers pedophile case more as a criminal drama than as a failure by the government to protect its weakest citizens.
Child advocates are calling on the government to expand the investigative authority of social workers and to improve coordination with law enforcement. But they are doing so in decidedly measured tones.

"To attack the social services and find somebody responsible is not a helpful debate," said Guenaelle Madec of La Voix de l'Enfant (Voice of the Child), a national advocacy organization that works closely with the government.

"The abuse took place within the family circle, which makes it very difficult for others to see what's happening," Madec said. "These people also were unemployed, so they had almost no contact with other people outside their families. Also, it took place in a small city;... in France, outside of Paris, it's a different way of thinking, where you keep secrets in the family."

The housing development was middle-class - "You could live there, I could live there," Deputy Mayor Michelle Moreau said - but the Vergondys and their friends were not. Neighbors said the children were ill-clothed and unkempt and the apartment was messy. Most of the defendants were living off France's generous welfare state, and some are barely literate.

A US born lawyer describes the feeling in France as "fatalism". Do crimes like this happen in the US? Yes they do, but Americans tend to be extremely outraged when they do. We've all heard what happens to child molesters in prison. The French by contrast are not even a little shocked by this account.

A Case of Bad Timing

In the recent history of bad timing, perhaps the most memorable is Al Gore giving a speech on global warming in NYC on one of coldest days that city had seen in a decade. A close second would be this Steve Chapman piece from March 10:

Half a million demonstrators turned out in Beirut on Tuesday, waving flags and chanting slogans in a show of popular sentiment. But no, this was not the latest call by the Lebanese opposition for Syria to leave--this was a call for Syria to stay. And the rally was roughly seven times bigger than the latest anti-Syria protest.Maybe bringing democracy to the Arab world is going to be more complicated than we thought.Supporters of the war in Iraq have been crowing about the budding transformation of the Middle East, with democracy springing up everywhere thanks to President Bush's crusade in Iraq. Bush joined in the chorus this week, claiming that "a critical mass of events is taking that region in a hopeful new direction."

You should have checked the calendar Stevie boy, because somewhere between 800,000 and 1.5-million Lebanese who support democracy took to the streets of Beirut today:

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators chanted "Freedom, sovereignty, independence" and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in Beirut on Monday, the biggest protest yet in the opposition's duel of street rallies with supporters of the Damascus-backed government.

Crowds of men, women and children flooded Martyrs Square, spilling over into nearby streets, while more from across the country packed the roads into Beirut — responding to an opposition call to demonstrate for the removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. (Related: Syrian intel office evacuated)

And they didn't even have to truck them in from out of the country. Pictures here and here. You can read the most in depth coverage here.

The NY Times = Enron

I'm watching 60 Minutes--mainly because it was on after the NCAA Selection Show--and they are interviewing Kenneth Lay of Enron. I've pretty much stayed out of the fray with regard to Enron because I'm not an economist and I believe people way more knowledgeable than me have already explained it.

What struck me was the interview of one of the experts, Kurt Eichenwald, a reporter for the NY Times. He had this to say, and I paraphrase "Ken Lay was responsible because he was at the top, the CEO". I tend to agree with that as a veteran. In the military, the CO is the one who takes the fall.

Now I'm not taking Lay's side for it seems that he and the experts he employed (including NY Times columnist Paul Krugman) scammed the market. However, going by Mr. Eichenwald's point of view, shouldn't Pinch Schulzberger, the CEO of the Times also be out of work because of the Jayson Blair affair? The Times sells its credibility as a product and that product was found to be at least as poor quality as the Edsel or anything that Enron did.

Right now 60 Minutes has a segment on Holland and the execution of Theo van Gogh including an interview with MP Hirsi Ali.

March Madness

Looking at the brackets, it seems the toughest region is the Syracuse bracket. UNC, UCONN, Florida, Villanova and Wisconsin. The survivor of that region will be tough to beat in the semis or finals.

The easiest region looks to be the Chicago regional. Illinois has a straight shot to the Elite Eight and the only tough competition would be OSU.

Picks will be forthcoming. Here's a printable bracket.

The Inquirer Slams LGF

Update (11:37 EST): Welcome LGF readers. Take some time to look around the site.

This is from todays Inquirer. This is from Charles' comments section (see comments #15 and 18 for example). Note that they do not mention that these are not the authors words, nor do they indicate that the comments are pretty much unregulated and not a part of the main site content:

The Baghdad shooting in which Giuliana Sgrena, a writer for Italy's Il Manifesto, was wounded and Nicola Calipari, an Italian military intelligence officer, was killed by U.S. personnel has prompted a great diversity of reaction and comment. From one corner of the blogosphere, here are excerpts, rough edges and all, from a string of exchanges at http://littlegreenfootballs.com.

In Iraq, the United States makes the rules and the Italian ally also must respect them.
Case closed.

Am I alone in not giving a... about someone who died while rushing an American checkpoint on the most dangerous road in Iraq?

I smell a bad acting job by the commie, one that led to someones death.

Clearly the Italians didn't want the US to know that they were negotiating with and ultimately paying millions of dollars to al Qaeda types, so they kept the whole thing a big secret. This caused them to behave in a very suspicious manner, as they zoomed down the road, and it all led directly to the incident. What else is there to this, other than post-incident fabricating?

new commandment: Thou shalt not play James Bond with the US Marines

If the guy was a soldier, doesn't the stupidity factor just explode exponentially, with the sympathy factor declining proportionately?! He should have known better than to rush a checkpoint! Then factor in how the left is using this incident in their propaganda campaign and I'm on the verge of saying "Too bad they didn't get Sgrena as well."

Yeah, it bothers me when the facts don't add up, the "victim" is anti-American, anti-war, and has an axe to grind, and the Italians pay between $10-14 million to terrorist, that will be used to build lots of IEDs and finance, not to mention encourage, more kidnappings.

Yeah, I guess I have a problem with a commie hag who uses the death of an Italian secret service agent who tried to save her worthless hide as the means by which to attack the US military. You got me.

I'm sorry the Italian Secret Service Agent was killed, but I'm glad none of our soldiers were hurt or wounded due to "miscommunication". As for the delirious loudmouth journalist, I hope she gets hit by a small piece of communist space debris from a defunkt U.S.S.R. satellite.

The following appears at the top of every comment page:

Comments are open and unmoderated, although obscene or abusive remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Little Green Footballs.

I've been reading this rag for a long time, mostly because it's the only game in town. I've never seen the comments section of a blog cut and pasted. Will the Inquirer do the same with Koz' site? This to me is an MSM slap at the right-wing blogosphere.

You can contact the editorial board here or send a letter to the editor here.

Update: I don't recall ever seeing a bloggers comments used in this way. I searched the Inquirer and it only goes back one week. A search of Google turned up more. Here is last weeks Verbatim section and here is one from February. None are from blogs that I can see. The Inquirer does run a section entitled Blog Cabin once a week, but they quote the writer, not the commenters.

Update: The Inquirer message board has a 24-hour waiting period for new users. Cowards.