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Saturday, August 20, 2005
Iran Supplying More Equipment to the "Minutemen"Michael Moore's buddies are getting equipped by Teheran: British soldiers in Iraq are being killed by advanced "infra-red" bombs supplied by Iran that defeat jamming equipment, according to military intelligence officials.
The "passive infra-red" devices, whose use in Iraq is revealed for the first time by The Sunday Telegraph, are detonated when the beam is broken, as when an intruder triggers a burglar alarm. They were used by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group against Israel in Lebanon from 1995.
Life Is Like a Box of DocumentsYou never know what you're going to get. In my case, I got Box 03, Appointee Clearances. Roberts was apparently in charge of reviewing appointments to various boards and commissions from a legal standpoint. The memoranda in the box concern various questions. Could a sitting judge be appointed to the Panama Canal Alternative Study Commission? Roberts determined a judge could indeed be appointed. Some famous names pop up: John Negroponte was appointed to the National Commission on Space. The Wikipedia entry indicates bitterness among the left towards Negroponte for his involvement with the Contras, but it also notes that his appointments as US ambassador to Iraq in 2004 and as the Director of National Intelligence in 2005 were overwhelmingly approved by the Senate. Howard Baker. Henry Kissinger. Clare Booth Luce. William French Smith. A moderately interesting item appears on page 18-20. Roberts is asked whether a state employee may be appointed to the Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations. Roberts replies that yes, he legally can, and arguably some government employee (whether state or federal) must be appointed to the committee. Roberts checked and discovered that historically the committee had been private sector only and the USTR (US Trade Representative?) preferred that it remain that way. He accordingly reports that the appointment can be made and arguably must be made, but notes the policy issue with the USTR, and also that some states may have laws that bar their employees from being appointed to such boards. Overall, I can't imagine anything in these papers being used against Judge Roberts. Note: This is a Hugh Hewitt project being organized by Generalissimo Duane aka Radioblogger.
Blast from the Past--Updated Ten trivia points to the first one who can remember this young lady's name. Updated: I should have linked earlier to this hilarious video our buddy Chris at Lucky Dawg News did featuring Ileana as Mini-Me. Chris does a great job with these and this is one of his all-time best.
This Will Undoubtedly Sink RobertsDana Milbank uncovers some controversial opinions by the Supreme Court nominee: Last week, researchers found several memos from the summer and fall of 1984 in which future Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, working as a Reagan White House lawyer, argued against sending presidential thank-you notes to Michael Jackson for his charitable works. But it turns out this was just the beginning of what appears to be the young lawyer's concerns about the star. Three new memos uncovered by Post reporters show Roberts described Jackson as "androgynous," "mono-gloved" and a balladeer of illegitimacy.
On April 30, 1984, Roberts wrote to oppose a presidential award that was to have been given to Jackson for his efforts against drunk driving. Roberts particularly objected to award wording that described Jackson as an "outstanding example" for American youth.This is yet another example of Dana Milbanks seeming to get it--the article is tongue-in-cheek, and the ending is pretty funny.
Friday, August 19, 2005
I Don't Know How TTLB Does ThisBut it's really cool to be #2 to Power Line on the Krugman Hit Parade: (Click on Pix to make them larger)  I was hot on Air America last week as my clip proved that the NY Times had fumbled the transcription of what Al Franken actually said. Then for awhile I was off the planet on that topic as others pushed it hard. But somehow I'm back in the top 5 again:  Like I say, I don't understand it entirely, but it's fascinating and a bit flattering to see myself ranked so highly on the topics I hit. Greg Ransom has some other numbers on Krugman.
Paglia's PassionPam Meister has an excellent post on some of Camille's current thoughts. I remember a long time ago in internet time, that Camille Paglia was the reason to surf on over to Salon dot com. She always had a biting wit and during the impeachment she was the equivalent at Salon of Greg Gutfeld at HuffPo--the person who was sticking his/her tongue out at all the PC naifs around them. Although a liberal in a lot of ways she certainly struck me as a sensible liberal--a Roger L. Simon liberal, or a Michael J. Totten liberal.
Speaking of Empty and FoolishThere's Chuck Hagel's head:  (Believe it or not, this is the front page photo for Chuckles Bagel.) It's almost like you can hear him saying "On the one hand you got the mullahs, and on the other hand you got the Bush Administration... I think I hear a little genie saying go with the mullahs!" Republican Party foreign policy expert Sen. Chuck Hagel is calling for the United States to open talks with Iran's new president and has dismissed President George W. Bush's talk of a military option against Tehran as an empty and foolish threat.Moron Hagel here. Whatever the case, Hagel’s gutsy straying from the reservation is winning him a bunch of plaudits from the left wing blogs. While I’m sure that must be gratifying, perhaps the Oval Office seeking Senator miscalculates – I personally don’t think the left wing blogs will have all that much influence on the Republican primary race.They could help him out in New Hampster, which allows independents to vote in either primary.
More Bottom of the Barrel Military RecruitsAt least, according to Bill Maher: As you're reading this, National Honor Society member Caity Swanson, 18, of Audubon, N.J., is likely cranking out one . . . more . . . pushup . . . under the stern eye of an Army drill sergeant at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. Princeton University senior Ross Williams, 21, is finalizing his plans to check out of the Ivy League and into the Marine Corps. And Congressional Award winner Asher Strassner, 18, just shipped out from his home in Houston to Navy boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill.No doubt they're just children being duped, right, Cindy?
Paul Krugman: Liar, or Just Sloppy?--Updated!(Welcome Donald Luskin and Chief Brief readers!) Krugman repeats the idiotic canard about Miami County, Ohio in the last election: Miami County reported that voter turnout was an improbable 98.55 percent of registered voters. And so on.I dealt with this before, but it looks like the myth of the 98.55 percent figure is now established for history. Here's an article claiming fraud in Miami County at a website called "Free Press", whose motto is "Speaking truth to power"; I think it's safe to assume that they are not part of the vast right-wing conspiracy. The Free Press article shows the percentage turnout at various precincts around Miami County. One precinct, CONCORD SOUTH WEST, is shown as having a 98.55 percent turnout; the others range from 50% to 94%. CONCORD SOUTH WEST had a grand total of 679 voters; the entire county had over 52,000. It is pretty obvious that the county as a whole did not have anywhere near a 98.55% turnout. So is Krugman lying or just sloppy? You know how it goes; when one makes an error against one's own interest in an argument, it's just sloppiness. When one makes an error in one's own favor there's quite a bit higher chance it's intentional. That one precinct certainly did have extraordinary turnout. But at the same time, that precinct delivered a net margin of 363 votes for Bush. It's completely de minimus in the overall context of his margin of over 118,000 votes. So not only is Krugman probably lying when he claims a 98.55 percent turnout for the county, but he's misleading his readers into thinking that this might be significant in the overall picture. Moron, errr, more on Krugman at the Chief Brief, and Poor and Stupid. Right Wing News takes on Krugman's claim that the media recount of the 2000 election gave Florida to Gore. Update: DCPI points out that in the next to last paragraph of the Free Press article, the turnout for Miami County is given as 72.23%. Jeff Goldstein has some more outrageous revisionism by Krugman. :)
Liberality for All?This sounds like a comic book series worth reading: The eight-part full-color series, entitled "Liberality for All," is set in the year 2021. Two decades to the minute after the terrorist attacks on New York City, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Nations -- Osama bin Laden -- is scheduled to issue a public apology for that "misunderstanding." The apology is set to take place from the Unity Tower, built on the site where the World Trade Center once stood.
However, bin Laden's "apology" consists of a tactical nuclear device supplied by Iraqi dictator Uday Hussein, who in the comic book fiction is alive and well because the U.S. did not invade Iraq or kill Hussein and his brother Qusay.
Only an underground group of bio-mechanically enhanced conservatives led by Hannity, Liddy and North can prevent nuclear terror and free the world from left-wing domination so "Liberality for All" can once again become "Liberty for All."However, the article describes it as "the first comic directly marketed to conservative readers", which is wrong. Our old friends from Kerry Haters may recall the hilarious comic Major Flip-Flop, which I described at the time as the "Funniest Comic Book Ever". This sounds like it will be a little darker: The U.S. government under President Chelsea Clinton and Vice President Michael Moore has surrendered its authority to the United Nations, which censors all speech not approved by U.N. Secretary-General Jacques Chirac.There are a couple preview pages here.
What Happened to Dana Milbank?He used to be one of the administration's fiercest critics, but now he seems to have recognized the idiocy of the anti-Bush crowd. He wrote a hilarious article on John Conyers' Downing Street Memo "hearings", and pooh-poohed Crawfordapalooza. Get this description of the "Newshounds on the Paper Chase", searching for the document that would scuttle John Roberts' Supreme Court nomination: By 3 p.m., the collection of documents worth copying had reached only 48, and that included pages about the restoration of the Reagan boyhood home, briefings about the San Antonio transit authority, and a debate about whether there should be an application fee for White House press passes.
Reporters, wearing the bemused faces of people who had been the victims of a practical joke, were concluding that the best files had been released in earlier document dumps. The most damning document yesterday, in fact, may have been one from young Roberts saying proposals from future Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter "are the epitome of the 'throw money at the problem' approach."
"I haven't found anything," NPR's Totenberg reported.
"We're going to lead with the Marine Mammal Commission," said Jeanne Cummings of the Wall Street Journal.
NBC's Williams shook his head. "I can't get enough about soybean imports," he said darkly and walked toward the door.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
The Latest Effect of Global WarmingBumps on fishes: Mrs Clinton, who must first win her re-election to the US senate next year if she is to enter the 2008 White House race, said at the press conference that she had spoken to scientists as well as native Alaskans during the trip.
She said that, flying over the Yukon, she saw forests devastated by spruce bark beetles, believed to be increasing at an unprecedented rate because of warmer weather. She also talked of what a 93-year-old woman at a fish camp at Whitehorse told her. The woman said she had been fishing there all her life but now fish have strange bumps on them.
Nick Coleman Out at Air America?Here's an interesting post on Nick Coleman's resignation from Air America's Minneapolis affiliate. Coleman is probably best known as the Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist who got spanked by Power Line last year.
ShAir America?Part II of the Malkin/Maloney expose on Air Enron is up at the Radio Equalizer. Turns out that the people behind it are trying to pull yet another shell game to further shield the operations from past debts. Kind of ironic that the original name of the ownership entity was AnShell Media, no? Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin
Kristen Breitweiser Will No Doubt Object...Mr Right has the story of how the steel from the World Trade Center is being used in the creation of the USS New York, a new ship for the Navy.
Crawfordapalooza Loses Its HeadlinerLet's hope that Cindy Sheehan's mother gets well. In about 2 weeks.
Oh Give Me a Home....All I could think of while reading this story was the second picture at Lorie Byrd's.
Bolton Already Proving An EmbarrassmentLike the little boy who noticed that the Emperor had no clothes: America's newly installed ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, labeled "inappropriate and unacceptable" the United Nations Development Program financing of materials bearing the slogan "Today Gaza, Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem."
Mr. Bolton said yesterday that the UNDP had failed to explain why it funneled money to the Palestinian Authority to back the production of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the provocative slogan as well as UNDP logos.
Mark Steyn Covers Crawfordapalooza Here's his take: Sadly, the media don’t seem to enjoy the annual joke. So, with no showbiz types to hand in the Greater Waco area, someone had the bright idea of importing a little entertainment. These days, come August and the cry goes up, ‘Hey, let’s do the show in George W. Bush’s barn.’ When it comes to political theatre, Crawford now finds itself playing host to the nation’s most critically acclaimed summer stock.
Last year it was former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, who took up residence outside the Bush ranch and demanded the President come out and denounce the Swift Boat veterans. Cleland, also a Vietnam vet and a triple amputee, was outraged that anyone would impugn Senator Kerry’s war record and was impugning Bush for not impugning the Swift vets for impugning Kerry. Anyway, the President never did come out to meet Cleland. He may still be there for all I know.
This year’s performer in residence is Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year. Mrs Sheehan is now very anti-war and has pledged to stay camped out in Crawford all August until the President has the guts to come out and see her for a face-to-face meeting. So far he’s sent his national security adviser and deputy chief of staff out to see her, but that’s like Clinton sending Janet Reno and Sidney Blumenthal to Carly Simon’s party. These no-name stand-ins were trying to ‘bullsh*t us into submission,’ complained Mrs Sheehan.Hat Tip: Ankle-Biting PunditsAn aside here. Some of the newspapers on-line are getting more agressive about requiring registration, including the London Spectator, where this article was originally published. You can try BugMenot, but chances are in a day or so they've deleted those accounts. This strikes me as incredibly stupid and short-sighted. If you find that it's annoying to get an article at the Spec, or the NY Post, surf on over to the Free Republic, where they quite commonly post the entire text of popular articles and columns. You're going to see more of us linking over there and not to the websites of the newspapers if this trend continues.
Air America Loan Probed by Boys & Girls Clubs of AmericaLooks like the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club could lose its affiliation with the national group. Directors of the Atlanta-based Boys and Girls Clubs of America will vote next month on whether to strip a New York club of its membership following disclosures that the club improperly loaned $875,000 to Air America, the liberal radio network.
The staff of Boys and Girls Clubs is recommending the board drop the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club of the Bronx from the organization's ranks. The board will meet Sept. 20 in Washington.The Gloria Wise club never provided the national Boys and Girls Clubs of America with the financial audit it was required to file for 2004, which would have revealed the loan, McElroy said.
Able Danger Reheating UpOkay, I kinda left off updates on this story after reading Podhoretz's piece over at The Corner indicating that maybe we all owed the 9-11 Commission an apology. But Captain Ed has been continuing to work the story. Today he has an update that more sources might be forthcoming: It sounds like at least two more shoes may drop on Able Danger and the information it provided military intelligence. If the other sources involved in the actual data collection and analysis come forward, expect this to blow up even larger at the expense of the 9/11 Commission who ignored it.Captain Ed links to this piece by Deborah Orin in the NY Post. A veteran Army intelligence officer said yesterday the elite military intelligence unit known as Able Danger might have been able to prevent the 9/11 attacks — if it had been allowed to alert the FBI that Mohamed Atta was living in the country.
"My first reaction was, 'We had him.' It was a sinking feeling in my stomach," Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer told The Post in an interview yesterday, describing how he felt after learning that Atta was one of the hijackers.
Wishing Won't Make it So IIThe media are indulging themselves in some fantasies about Democratic victory in 2008. First up is the Seattle PI, which runs a column on the potency of the working poor: The nation's security guards, child care workers and cashiers could affect the next presidential election because they belong to the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force -- the service sector -- and offer a tantalizing link to working-class voters who proved crucial in recent contests.
"The Bush base is, in fact, the white working class, overwhelmingly Republican. By economic terms it shouldn't be. It should be Democratic. It used to be," said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor history professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara.This is something that gets repeated over and over again without being questioned, but in fact, it's just something that Democrats like to claim without providing any evidence. Who did better, the working poor in the US, or the working poor in the USSR? Who does better today, the working poor here, or the working poor in France? Which party would like to move our country towards French economic policy? Appearing in the same paper is an op-ed by Linda Valdez, an editorial writer at the Arizona Republic. The title says it all: Jesus would vote Democratic. Retired Lutheran minister Daniel Bruch of Live Liberal gets right to the point: "I don't know if Jesus was the first liberal, but he was an important one."
Jesus taught love, tolerance, forgiveness, charity and humility. Don't take my word for it. Read the New Testament. It's not that long. And it's not about fire-and-brimstone fundamentalism, judging one another or dominating the Earth. It outlines a philosophy based on a really radical idea: Love your creator, love yourself, love your neighbor as yourself.You know, maybe if liberals weren't so hostile to Christianity, religious people might actually be tempted to vote for them. And despite Valdez's obvious fervent wishes, Jesus did not have a position on the minimum wage or government-subsidized health care.
Philly Inquirer: Why Is Air America Story Important?Michelle Malkin posts the questions she was asked by the Inquirer for a story they have today on blogswarms: Its clear blogs can create enough momentum to propel a story into the mainstream -- as Atrios did with Trent Lott, as Powerline and others did with Dan Rather, for example. But those were big national stories. Is Al Franken worth going after, and if so, why?Let me just point out here that the mainstream media had no hesitation about running with the Jeff Gannon story, which was incredibly insignificant compared to Air America. Nobody from the MSM was asking John Aravosis why he went after the representative of a tiny news organization.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Why I Don't Curse HereDean Barnett has a post on his blog about the subject of battling first impressions that I thought was terrific. Like most politicians, [Richard] Thornburg was an affable and charming individual; we all liked him very much. He also offered a pearl of wisdom for the aspiring politicians amongst us – be aware of your inherent weak points and shore them up. For instance, if you never served in the military go out of your way to show an interest in veteran affairs and be solid on defense. Or if you grew up rich, go out of your way to show a “common touch.”He goes on to talk about a recent column he wrote on the lefty bloggers and Paul Hackett, and particularly the guys over at Swing State Project, which I have covered before. What I’m not impressed with is how Brigham can’t tell the difference between a mistake and a “f*cking lie.” I know his response was just a manifestation of the angry young blogger shtick, but it’s tired. All the obscenities, all the rage – what do Brigham and his ilk think they accomplish? Do they not see how pathetic such antics make them look?Exactly. Cursing in print is lazy and immature. It's almost as bad as the folks who need to CAPITALIZE words to show how SERIOUS they are. The word "f*cking" used as an adjective, does not tell us anything more than the noun "lie" does alone. It's meaningless puffery, like the word "very". What's the difference between "I'm angry" and "I'm very angry"? Nada. And as Dean points out, it characterizes you to the reader. It says that you're immature and overly emotional. Considering that's the very image that Democrat bloggers need to overcome, it certainly seems counterproductive. And if you think about, it's illogical. Is there anybody out there who won't read (or worse, link to) a blog if it contains swearing? Certainly. Is there anybody out there who won't read, or link to a blog if it doesn't contain swearing? Hat Tip: Instapundit
Desperately Unseating Susan From Chris at Lucky Dawg
Air Deadbeat? The Air America Saga ContinuesMichelle Malkin and Brian Maloney collaborate on an investigative piece on Air Enron's nonpayment of another debt. This relates to the infamous story of how Air Idiot went off the air two weeks after launching, in LA and Chicago, when they bounced a check. At the time, they claimed that they had bought time from two radio stations and then decided they didn't need it, so the station owner sold it the airtime to someone else, and so AA stopped payment on their check. They also took advantage of the opportunity to indulge themselves in a little casual racism against the owner of the radio stations, a Mr Liu. This Liu-ser was ripping off our boss Evan Cohen big time (he can’t do that, that’s our job). Evan found out about it and he stopped payment on a check to keep Liu-cifer from ripping him off even more. You can touch Evan for the occasional meal or drinks but a million bucks is crossing the line. And if we ever get low on cash, we can always call Barbra Streisand. Or any of the Baldwins. Except Stephen.
So we got screwed, Liu’d, and tattooed. How Liu can you get? In Liu of payment. Liu’d and lascivious behavior. These write themselves. What we’re getting at is that we hate him.Of course, nowadays, even Al Franken admits that "our boss Evan Cohen" was a crook. But based on this excellent piece of investigative journalism, it appears that it's like Roger Daltrey once sang: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!" Buckley F. Williams' take on the story is here.
Meet Casey Sheehan, Hero I have decided not to talk about That Woman at all here today. However, that doesn't mean that we can't honor Casey, who is a hero in my eyes. From Honor the Fallen, we find this about Casey's background: "He didn't have to go," said Sheehan's 23-year-old sister, Carly. "He would do anything for anybody. He'd give you the shirt off his back. He was just a loving and caring person."
Carly Sheehan said her brother was active in his Catholic church, spending 10 years as an altar server and serving in the youth ministry.
"That's all he wanted to do was serve God and his country his whole life," Carly Sheehan said. "He was a boy scout from age 6 or 7 and an Eagle Scout. It was kind of a natural progression to go into the military from that. He said he was enjoying the military because it was just like the boy scouts but they got guns."I've always been impressed with people with the drive to get their Eagle Scout award; I didn't even come close (my merit badge total was three). More on Casey: Casey Sheehan had re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old, after serving his first hitch successfully. Casey Sheehan was in fact a hero who received a Bronze Star. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq. When a convoy of soldiers from Casey’s unit was attacked in Sadr City by insurgents, Casey volunteered to join a rapid rescue force to get them out. His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt.
Old Friends in New DigsMy Take On Things has a slightly different address. And Decision '08 has gone out and bought a domain name. Will Kitty and I be the last folks on Blogger?
Let's Talk About The Heroes in the WarVillainous Company has a terrific post on some of the folks we've covered here. Hat Tip: Conservative Grapevine.
Dead Men Don't Wear PlaidWuzzadem has a hilarious (and well-designed) spoof of film noir featuring Teddy Kennedy and Jamie Gorelick. Not to be missed! Hat Tip: Mr Right
Nixon and the JewsOne of the more shocking parts of the Nixon White House tapes were his derogatory remarks about Jews. Jason Maoz puts it into context: Addressing the question of Nixon`s anti-Semitism, the late Israeli president Chaim Herzog wrote: "[D]id his personal attitudes have any effect on his dealing with Israel and with Jews? None. He supplied arms and unflinching support when our very existence would have been in danger without them. Let his comments be set against his actions. And I`ll choose actions over words any day of the week."I also found this interesting: But if talk alone is the true measure of a man, Harry Truman – who habitually made derogatory remarks about Jews and whose home in Independence, Missouri, was off-limits to them – would have to be considered an anti-Semite of the first order. It`s a safe bet that those who complain the loudest about Nixon`s anti-Semitic statements say nary a word about Truman`s Jewish problem.Here's a WaPo story about a 1947 diary of Truman. The headline plays down the diaries as "Harry Truman's Forgotten Diary--1947 Writings Offer Fresh Insight on the President", but nobody could accuse the writers of burying the lede: "The Jews, I find are very, very selfish," President Harry S. Truman wrote in a 1947 diary that was recently discovered on the shelves of the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., and released by the National Archives yesterdayThere's the obligatory: "Truman was often critical, sometimes hypercritical, of Jews in his diary entries and in his correspondences, but this doesn't make him an anti-Semite," says John Lewis Gaddis, a professor of history at Yale University and a prominent Cold War scholar. "Anyone who played the role he did in creating the state of Israel can hardly be regarded in that way."Well, yeah, except that anyone who barred Jews from his home has to be a little suspect.
Maybe President Bush Should Do This?The County of Santa Cruz (CA) has called on the President to submit the Kyoto Treaty to the Senate for approval. My first thought was, "What part of 95-0 don't you understand?". But then I realized that this might be a good opportunity. Suppose President Bush does submit the treaty to the Senate. We know it would be voted down quite handily, with many or most Democrats voting against (including, I suspect, Hillary). What happens then? Bloodletting on the left, in my humble opinion. The idiot blogs would be irate, since their constant demand is for ideological purity. We might even seen the Kos Kidz start agitating for new candidates to run against the Democrats who dared to vote against saving the planet.
Al Franken, Private DetectiveMichelle Malkin's got the latest on the Air America scandal.
Is There Anybody?Who combines pictures and words as perfectly in her posts as Kitty? 
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
I Was All Set to Agree....I saw a post somewhere earlier today about "pushback on Kelo". Somebody raised an interesting argument. Since we Republicans (especially neocons) believe that the government doesn't do much right, we should actually support Kelo since it takes the property and hands it over to a private entity to develop, rather than the city doing the development itself. But then... I read this post by Daffyd over at CQ. Prepare to be completely and utterly outraged. The original article is here. Some of the details seem a little suspicious, like this: An NLDC estimate assessed Dery for $6,100 per month since the takeover, a debt of more than $300K. One of his neighbors, case namesake Susette Kelo, who owns a single-family house with her husband, learned she would owe in the ballpark of 57 grand. "I'd leave here broke," says Kelo. "I wouldn't have a home or any money to get one. I could probably get a large-size refrigerator box and live under the bridge."Pretty obvious question. How much was the property worth if the NDLC thought they could rent it out for $6,100 per month? That would be a rather high rent in Manhattan; I can't imagine that it's a single-family residence. I don't know what other markets are like, but as a general rule, you cannot get in rent what you'd pay on a 30-year mortgage payment. Which means that it's unlikely, despite the tone of the story that they're going to lose more that about 1/6th of the value of their house. That could be a problem for some folks who may not have much equity, but for the folks who've been living in a house that's been paid off years ago it shouldn't represent a terrific hardship.
CrawfordapaloozaSheesh, looks like I was right (not like that's ever happened before). Brian Maloney at the Radio Equalizer has a copy of Randi Rhodes' email, which includes this: Steve Earle is very popular in Crawford! I want to go and do my show live next Friday from Camp Casey. It's a hard remote but I can try to figure it out with G. I'm thinking about the details now...
D, Do you think Steve Earle would perform next Friday night or Saturday?Steve Earle is that rarity, a Country & Western singer/guitarist who's not patriotic. He's also a high school dropout, junkie, with six ex-wives. He did cut two tunes that I really enjoy, Copperhead Road and I Ain't Ever Satisfied, but he's a total goofball lefty on his politics. He'll fit in just fine at Crawfordapalooza. John Ruberry has Moron Steve Earle. Meanwhile, Instapundit links to this hilarious photo at Confederate Yankee's, which amply demostrates that despite having the attention of the nation, things are pretty doggone boring at Camp Casey. At least, when somebody's not driving over the crosses. He also links to this musing by Chris Nolan that perhaps things are getting a little crowded. But she should remain alone in her protest. He loneliness makes her plight and her determined decision to camp in Crawford even more eloquent. Alone, Cindy Sheehan appears to be what she truly is: inconsolable. So when I read that Fenton Communication, the folks who help MoveOn, was in on the game, I got nervous. When I heard that a wealthy LA mother of my acquaintance was heading to Crawford -- her kids are in camp, I guess she wants to go, too -- I started to twitch.Our buddy Chris sent us the links to some videos of the carnival atmosphere at Camp Casey. Crawford Peace HouseIn case you were thinking of showing up, check out the line of cars in this clip: Looks right out of Field of Dreams. Plenty of moonbats in this clip. Crawfordapalooza.
Oh For Pete's Sake!I didn't join in the Terri Schiavo hoopla because I hadn't followed the story before the situation became dire and didn't want to take the time required to get up to speed on the story. Plus I did feel that in general, the decision as to whether to pull the plug should be left to the husband. However, this is disgusting: First Pinellas County probate court judge George W. Greer was lauded by his fellow attorneys in the Clearwater and West Pasco Bar Associations, called judge of the year for ordering the death of disabled Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
Then Greer and federal judge James Whittemore who had refused to sign a stay of Greer’s death sentence in the right-to-life case to allow a new review of the case as decreed by Congress and the President were named Jurists of the Year by the Florida of the American Board of Trial Advocates.And in what some claim is the most arrogant act of all, on Aug. 5, the Florida State Guardianship Association named Michael Schiavo “Guardian of the Year” for killing his wife and saying that she would have wanted it.
Moron Cindy SheehanJeff Goldstein has an interesting post on this. The letter from the Marine to Margaret Carlson is great, but I'm more interested in this part: The left’s attempt to turn Sheehan into a martyr should not—NOT—be met with anything less than a barrage of accurate counterfactuals, including the constant publication and dissemination of her writings, speeches, etc., as well as a dispassionate and straightforward analysis of her attendants, handlers, and the rhetorical strategies they have adopted to push her narrative.He's responding to this post: The vehemence of the criticism aimed at Sheehan (who, as you can see is no political shrinking violent) is bound to have a backlash in some quarters. Why? Because this kind of massive effort in going after someone who takes on the administration has happened many times before. Rightfully or wrongfully, the image that's coming across is that if you cross the administration, whether you deserve it or not, you could get nailed to the cross. And that's the danger:The interesting thing about this is that it's really somewhat hard to find any "vehemence" in the criticism of Cindy Sheehan. Let's take a look at Mrs Malkin's recent posts on this subject, since she's getting criticism for this. Here's the post where she notes the pending divorce of Cindy & Pat Sheehan. Is this vehemence? Assuming this report pans out, it will be interesting to see if Cindy Sheehan continues to insist that she and her husband "are on the same side of the fence" with respect to her anti-war activism.Indeed, the vehemence of the criticism of anybody who dares criticize Cindy is quite obvious. Best response to DC Media Girl.
Wishing Won't Make It HappenBut that doesn't stop the editors of the SF Chronicle: But the scrappy protest of the Vacaville mother could be the catalytic event that might help build a significant movement against the war.
Opinion polls show widespread opposition to the war, and to Bush's conduct in promoting it. Peculiarly, this unhappiness has yet to translate into anything that could be called an anti-war "movement."Hmmm, maybe because aligning yourself with the movement means aligning yourself with these folks?  Rich Lowry has similar thoughts. In the end, it isn't that Bush is lucky in his opponents so much that his opposition is poisoned by its own noxious passions. It's not an accident that the antiwar movement throws up leaders like Michael Moore, the dishonest filmmaker, and Cindy Sheehan. They reflect its own inability to distinguish between legitimate criticisms of the war and unhinged but emotionally self-satisfying attacks that will turn off most Americans.
Spurious Spurlock?Good article on Fox News about the obvious flaws in his new book. Spurlock writes in his book that McDonalds uses beef that has been fed the ground-up remains of other cows. But the FDA has banned this practice of feeding ruminant remnants to other ruminants since 1997. Spurlock essentially accuses McDonalds of breaking federal law for the past eight years, and provides no sources for his accusation.
In one particularly egregious passage, Spurlock tells his readers that the FDA has linked the artificial sweetener aspartame to side effects such as headaches, dizziness, nausea and hallucinations. But Spurlock's own source for that passage -- a 1999 issue of the FDA Consumer -- lists these effects only to specifically refute them. The newsletter attributes the claims to "[w]ebsites with screaming headlines," and finds them wholly without merit.
Spurlock writes that "a friend" told him McDonalds no longer calls its shakes "milkshakes" because they're all chemicals, and no milk. This is an urban legend. The primary ingredient in a McDonalds shake is "whole milk."Let me guess; Spurlock will respond that he didn't say it was true, just that a friend told him this. BTW, the writer of the column has a Spurlock Watch blog that's worth reading.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Saint Cindy Must Remain UncriticizedSome folks are on the warpath because Michelle Malkin dared to mention Cindy Sheehan's divorce. John Cole (who's capable of better) goes ballistic, as does DC Media Girl (who's probably not). From the latter blog: Open war on the self-hating racist bitch Michelle Malkin.This self-hating accusation is one that was thrown around here last week. Apparently it goes something like this: Michelle's of Asian descent (Philippines) and she wrote a book where she defended the internment of other Asians (Japanese) during World War II. Of course, anybody who knew the history of World War II would not be surprised that people from the Philippines might not have the highest regard for the Japanese. It's like wondering why the French don't trust the Germans--after all they're all Europeans, aren't they? Looking forward to reading John and DCMG's upcoming blasts against USA Today, AP, AFP, ABC News and others who've reported the story. It's interesting that anybody who criticizes Saint Cindy, or Mother Sheehan, as some have dubbed her, gets shouted down. Over at the HuffPo, apparently the only person allowed to criticize her is Greg Gutfeld. Just try leaving a mildly critical comment on any of the posts concerning her. It will never reach the site. Look at the comments following her own posts; it's all "We love you, Cindy, keep up the good fight!" (Actually it looks like their screeners gave up at some point; they are now allowing critical comments on her posts.)
Some Other Grieving Moms and DadsThat won't be getting the star treatment from the media. Hat Tip: Tinkerty Tonk
The Good Humor ManMr Right fantasizes about what would have happened if the 9-11 Commission had been honest: JAMIE GORELICK: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question for Ms. Gorelick. Ms. Gorelick, did you ever erect a so-called "wall" between the Department of Justice and the Intelligence community, as has been alleged by some?
JAMIE GORELICK: (Runs across the room quickly to sit at the witness table.) I am sorry, Ms. Gorelick, I have no recollection of that. I am not very good with masonry, so I would have to say, in all likelihood, that the answer would probably be no. (Runs back to the Commissioner's table.) Thank you, Ms. Gorelick.
I'm Actually A LiberalHey, it's true that I support conservative positions, but I'm actually a liberal. The same way this guy is a conservative. The Cunning Realist bills himself as "A lifelong conservative with a strong independent streak..." He does have some outgoing links to a few conservative blogs and publications. However, looking through his posts, it is certainly difficult to find anyplace where he supports conservative positions. He opposes Social Security personal accounts, opposes the war in Iraq, voted for John Kerry (although he claims to have voted Republican in the prior several elections, including 2000), opposes the recess appointment of John Bolton.... He's not in the TTLB ecosystem, but he is in Blogshares, and his profile makes it clear that those who link to him (who have a choice about it, as compared to those he links to) are about as conservative as Howard Dean: # Eric Umansky (B$25,000.00) # Blogging of the President (B$5,393.38) # Whiskey Bar (B$2,460.86) # Not Quite a Reputable Journal of Opinion (B$1,835.47) # Nemesis Becoming @ LiveJournal (B$1,252.63) # Timetheos (B$1,100.00) # 1115.org :: uncommon common sense (B$866.86) # Bubblegum (B$852.41) # The Anonymous Liberal (B$841.26) # Hosenpants - David Patton (B$808.68) # Fouroboros (B$671.47) # The Department of Louise (B$661.61) # Huffington Blog (B$651.66) # DJWriter (B$599.54) # Swirling Planet Times (B$550.00) # fractured nation (B$550.00) # the dust congress (B$515.90) # Cloudland Blue (B$498.29) # The Duck of Minerva (B$457.50) Now, I'm moderately plugged into the conservative blogs and know comparatively little about the liberal blogs. The ONLY two blogs I recognized on that list are Whiskey Bar and Huffington Blog (aka Huffington Post), which, of course, are not conservative. But surfing to those other blogs, I found not one that anybody would consider conservative. (Of course, in the next few days he'll show a link from one conservative blog). So I'm calling BS on this one. He may at one point have been a conservative; he certainly indicates more than a passing familiarity with the writings of Bill Buckley. But I'd like to read a post over there that bears some resemblance to conservative thought; after spending an hour or so surfing around I couldn't find anything. It's not like he's Pat Buchanan where he's opposed to the war but finds common cause with President Bush on other issues.
NY Times Issues Correction, No ExplanationPatterico's all over it. This is a good example of the lottery nature at times of getting linked. I saw Michelle Malkin's post about Al Franken's comments on Monday's show. She linked to an MP3 of the entire show. I quickly scanned through the show and found the point where Franken discussed the Air Enron scandal, and did a quick audioblogger post by playing that part through my speakers and into the phone. Then, because the NY Times was too incompetent to transcribe it correctly, or because they altered a few words to make the story a little less embarrassing to Air America, I got linked about four more times on that post alone by Mrs M, and by other blogs, such as Patterico. I even got linked on the NY Times Public Editor's comments page. Patterico's right; the New York Times can't get away with a simple correction on this one. A bad job of transcribing is understandable; but the Times' reporter claimed he got a transcript from the Department of Investigation. Michelle Malkin checked that aspect and was informed that they had not transcribed the show. So where did the bogus quotes come from?
Iran Blogging--UpdatedOkay, I'm going to take a little time to do some more serious blogging. Paul has criticized me for chasing hits with the Air America coverage, and while it's a subject that interests me ergo I blog it, there is some validity to the criticism. The Iran situation is obviously heating up. Iran has named a hard-liner to head up its nuclear policy: A veteran deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards -- the ideological army set up after the 1979 revolution to defend the clerical regime -- [Ali] Larijani also served as deputy minister of the Guards when such a ministry existed.
He has also served as a minister of culture and Islamic guidance, and in 1994 was appointed by Khamenei as head of the state television and radio network -- another bastion of the religious right.
There, Larijani Islamised programming and oversaw production of a series called Hoviat ("Identity"), which harshly criticised moderate and secular intellectuals.That Larijani comes from the Revolutionary Guards is hardly surprising; according to this website, 18 of the 21 members of Iran's cabinet are from that organization. Update: Paul at Moonbats says we have to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to resolve the Iran situation. A solution to that puzzle would certainly help; I'm just not sure there is one.
So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star? More on Cindy Sheehan: Red Hot Cuppa Politics covers the Life & Times of Mother Sheehan. Interesting point: "..I said to my son not to go. I said, you know it’s wrong, you know you’re going over there. You know your unit might have to kill innocent people, you know you might die..."The parallels with John Kerry are getting a little more obvious. Also, check out this cartoon at Cox & Forkum, which might be subtitled, "I'm ready for my closeup now, Mr. Moore." Right Wing Sparkle says enough is enough. Iraq the Model talks about other mothers: Ma'am, we asked for your nation's help and we asked you to stand with us in our war and your nation's act was (and still is) an act of ultimate courage and unmatched sense of humanity. Our request is justified, death was our daily bread and a million Iraqi mothers were expecting death to knock on their doors at any second to claim someone from their families. Your face doesn't look strange to me at all; I see it everyday on endless numbers of Iraqi women who were struck by losses like yours.Hat Tip: My Take on Things and Lucky Dawg News. Cindy gets a new supporter!
Mad How: Bring Back the Rape RoomsThe gift that keeps on giving: Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation" yesterday, the fiery former Vermont governor said, "It looks like today, and this could change, as of today it looks like women will be worse off in Iraq than they were when Saddam Hussein was president of Iraq."Perhaps Howie should talk to this woman: One of the attendees, an Iraqi woman who moved recently to the United States, drove with her husband from Washington, D.C., to thank Sheehan for her sacrifice. But the woman, May Hasan Lamotte, 37, did not agree with Sheehan's call to pull the troops out of Iraq.
"I came after reading about Miss Cindy. They think their children are dead for nothing, and I am one who got freedom," Lamotte said. "I am grateful for her son and American soldiers. Everybody thinks (Casey) died for nothing. He gave his life as many other brave soldiers have to give me and my country freedom," she said. Hat Tip: Captain EdIn another segment of the interview with Dean, he encouraged the mullahs of Iran: The president ... doesn't have the capability to do anything in Iran, nor the international support ... because (of) extraordinary blunders so far in defending the country, he said.
The Million Democrat MarchFarrakhan again: Ten years ago, the Million Man March gathered mostly African-American men in a national rally focused on their particular challenges.
But the Nation of Islam is planning to celebrate the march's 10th anniversary with a gathering Oct. 15 in Washington, D.C., open to all races, backgrounds, and religions. The Millions More Movement will emphasize issues like health care, the Iraq war and economic justice.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
But, But... Germany's On Their Side!Somebody forgot to tell the radicals in Iran that Schroeder supports them: "Death to England, death to Germany, death to France, death to the United States, death to Israel," the members of the Islamic militia of universities in Tehran and the provinces sang.
Other OutletsSome of you may not be aware that I also post over at Lifelike Pundits. I typically focus on one of the NY Times' op-ed columns for the day. I also post at Silver Age Comics some historical stuff about comic books from 1955-1970, with a special emphasis on Batman.
There is No JusticeThis should not be an Insignificant Microbe in the TTLB. I like this post on a beauty queen enlisting in the army. The blog is attractive, well-written, diverse and has been regularly updated with intelligent posts since October. Is it becoming that hard to get noticed? I checked over at Technorati, and he has trackbacked a few times to the bigger mil-blogs. BTW, just a mention here on my personal policy on trackbacks. I read all the posts that trackback to me, and I generally update my posts to link back to the folks tracking back provided: 1. The post actually does link to my post. 2. There is something of you in the post, or you move the story forward. There's no sense in me linking to a post that just says "Brainster has a great post on Air America". This does not mean you have to discuss my post at any length; you could have a long post on the finances at Air America, and add: "Brainster listens to Franken; Worse than root canal", trackback to me and I'll pull your post out to the front page. 3. Your post is not abusive to me personally or anybody I support. Play the ball, not the man, abuse my arguments, not me. I especially try to support smaller blogs on the conservative side of the aisle, like Scott's Conservative News & Commentary.
Kudos to Michael BaroneStanding up to the media over the Swiftees. Hat Tip: Molten Thought
Steyn on Able Danger--Updated!(Be sure to read the update; John Podhoretz is flashing the caution sign) Atta couldn't have entered the US in 1999? But, hey, let's not have a philosophical discussion, let's keep it practical: There was "no way" that Atta could have been in the United States except when the official INS record says he was? No INS paper trail, "no way" he could have got in?
Here's one way just for a start. Forget the southern border, insofar as there is such a thing. Fact: On America's northern border, no record is kept of individual visitors to the United States. All that happens is that a photo scanner snaps your rear license plate. The scanner is said to be state-of-the-art, which is to say, as one Customs & Border official told me, it's "officially" 75 percent accurate. On the one occasion my own license plate was queried, it turned out the scanner had misread it. So, just for a start, without any particular difficulty, a friend of Mohammed Atta could have rented a car for him in Montreal and driven him down to New York -- and there would be never be any record to connect him to the vehicle anywhere in the United States or Canada.More from Jack Kelly. The only dispute over Atta's whereabouts is whether he was in Prague on April 9, 2001, to meet with Samir al Ani, an Iraqi intelligence officer. Czech intelligence insists he was. Able Danger, apparently, had information supporting the Czechs.
The CIA, and the 9/11 commission, say Atta wasn't in Prague April 9, 2001, because his cell phone was used in Florida that day. But there is no evidence of who used the phone. Atta could have lent it to a confederate. (It wouldn't have worked in Europe anyway.)
But acknowledging that possibility would leave open the likelihood that Saddam's regime was involved in, or at least had foreknowledge of, the 9/11 attacks. And that would have been as uncomfortable for Democrats as the revelation that 9/11 could have been prevented if it hadn't been for the Clinton administration's wall of separation.Update: Via Michelle Malkin, John Podhoretz says Yellow Light: I submit there is good reason to believe the Navy officer may have been extrapolating because he was so upset to discover that the "data mining" operation he found out about wasn't being properly shared with domestic law-enforcement agencies. And without more proof than a four-year-old memory that may have been faulty, the Commission was right to be skeptical about the value of this testimony.
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