Judicious Asininity

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Thu Jul 31, 2003

New Logo

Flash in the Pan

I'm trying my hand at creating a flash logo and the first result can be seen above. This particular attempt is saved as a .gif file and set to repeat 2 times. Not too bad for a first try. Nothing fancy but a little something extra to spice things up. Hopefully the load time is not affected too much. That's it for now but will reconsider it all tomorrow. Enjoy, or not, while you can. It may not be here long.

Lie, Lie, and Lie Some More

Keep On Until it is Believed

A. B. Osbourne warns that the Left is pushing lies down the throats of Americans and specifically speaks of the 'controversial' study published in the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin titled “Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition”. Yeah, that one. In this article he asks this:
"Quick – what’s the relationship between Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, Hitler, Stalin and Castro? Bzzzzzt! Time’s up! They’re all conservatives!"
Anyhow, the lie until it's believed tactic espoused by the enlightened few bears some more scrutiny. Mr. Osbourne leaves us with this dire warning:

The Left has set and baited a devious trap. If it can pull off this switch and fob its most brutally vicious totalitarian tyrants off onto its freedom and liberty loving adversaries, then perhaps it can do the same with its bloodstained record of catastrophic failure. With its bloody and devastating past behind it, the Left will be in a position to enslave all mankind with its honey coated poisonous lies. And when they are led to the slaughter by their masters’ chant “each according to his abilities, each according to his needs”, who will be around to warn the people that it is not they who will decide either?

Now I may be wrong, but I get the distinct feeling that the Left's Spin game is on its last legs. This feeling began with Florida Chad War when it became apparent to a majority exactly who was trying to steal what and to what extremes some folks would go to accomplish their victory. Rather than engage in any name naming let's just allow you to decide who was who in that debacle. Now what was my point??? Oh yeah, the death of the Spin Machine. Since that Florida Fiasco the spin has begun to fall on deaf ears. It is seen as what it is, bullshit, by many who failed to understand the game before. The present tactics exhibited by some politicians are of the same type yet the majority isn't buying. How do I know this? I took a poll. No, its just a feeling and it may be wrong. Yet, you don't see thousands marching in the streets demanding the liar President's empeachment. You don't hear the multitudes demanding that we leave Iraq. There are no mass rallies in support of the U.N. and internationalism. In short, the Spin Game has lost its sheen. It is old, tired, and worn out. Americans have figured out that if it sounds like bullshit, looks like bullshit, and smells like bullshit, then it is bullshit. This is not to say that everyone has this attitude. There will always be some who believe anything they hear, particularly if those people fail to search for the truth in the wilderness of the media. Then there are those who practice the Spin for whatever demented strategy their hallucinations dictate. They will most likely never change but we can hope a few will come to their senses. But the good news remains. Americans have wised up and refuse to believe it simply because they hear it repeated over and over. They are using the resourses of the modern age to decide for themselves where the truth resides. These resourses such as cable news and the internet have put a hurting on the SpinMeisters. But that's another story. Until then, just remember:
If it smells like.........you know.
Now tell me, who is who here? Or whom, or whatever. You decide.
Oh yeah, and go read the rest of the story.

Bring back DDT

Rachel Carson was wrong and millions have died as a result of environmental genocide

Of course, most of those millions were poor people in Africa and Asia, so they don't really matter do they? Lisa Makson's article on DDT and Malaria is a must-read in Frontpage Magazine. Is genocide too strong a word?

Dr. Alexander King, head of the Malthusian Club of Rome, which is active in more than 40 countries on five continents, voiced a similar opinion in a 1990 book, The Discipline of Curiosity (Elsevier Science Publishers, p. 43). He had helped introduce DDT for use in World War Il, he wrote, and was impressed by "the enormous number of lives it saved. My own doubts came when DDT was introduced for civilian use. In Guyana, within two years, it had almost eliminated malaria, but at the same time the birth rate had doubled. So my chief quarrel with DDT in hindsight is that it greatly added to the population problem."

(Source: http://mitosyfraudes.8k.com/INGLES/Killer.html)
According to Makson, similar sentiments have been expressed by leading environmentalists:

Another anti-DDT Malthusian is Sierra Club director Michael McCloskey, who said that the "Sierra Club wants a ban on pesticides, even in countries where DDT has kept malaria under control...[because by] using DDT, we reduce mortality rates in underdeveloped countries without the consideration of how to support the increase in populations."

Stalin killed millions by withholding food. The Greenies are doing it by withholding DDT. By the way, if your environmental friends go on about how DDT weakens the shells of raptor eggs, ask them for the peer-reviewed scientific journal articles that prove their claims. Quoting Rachel Carson doesn't make the grade.

Arab and Muslim groups file suit against the Patriot Act

So which side are they on in the War on Terror?

According to a report in the Boston Globe,

The lawsuit filed in US District Court in Detroit challenges a provision of the counterterrorism law that increased the FBI's access to records and personal belongings, with the permission of a secret federal court in Washington.

It's a funny thing but most acts of Islamic terrorism have been committed by Arabs and Muslims. In order to prevent further catastrophes on the scale of 9/11, the FBI needs the ability to keep tabs on those most likely to commit acts of Islamic terrorism. The rest of America is getting sick and tired of the moronic PC presumption that they are equally likely to commit acts of Islamic terrorism every time they travel. We'd actually appreciate a bit of help from the Arab and Muslim communities in America. Their constant opposition to the War on Terror is wearing a bit thin.

These comments don't apply to the Iraqi community in America except for Saddam's spies and stooges.

Economics 101

GDP and other Dismal Facts

Stock futures indicate a strong open for the markets. This is due to some better than expected economic news:

Thanks to a surge in defense spending, the advance reading on second-quarter gross domestic product showed a 2.4 percent increase, much better than the 1.5 percent increase that had been expected by economists and well ahead of the first quarter's 1.4 percent growth rate.

More good news came in the shape of weekly initial claims, which fell 3,000 to 388,000 in the latest week, remaining below the key 400,000 level that many economists believe to be the threshold between an improving and deteriorating labor market.

In other economic news, employment cost index rose by an as-expected 0.9 percent in the second-quarter.

Still ahead is the Chicago Purchasing Managers index, which will give investors an idea of how the regional manufacturing sector performed in July ahead of Friday's influential national manufacturing report.

Treasurys took a hit on the heels of the upbeat economic reports, swiftly reversing gains posted out of the gate. Earlier in the week, a steep Treasury sell-off sent bellwether yields to one-year highs.

The bond market has come under massive selling pressure since the end of June as a series of events -- including improving economic news and a smaller-than-expected Fed rate cut at the last FOMC meeting -- have combined to spook bond investors.

Not too bad. Kindly note that 2.4% GDP growth is a longggggggggggg way from recession. Still, this growth rate combined with productivity gains will not be creating many new jobs. On the bright side, it appears that the economy is picking up steam and should strenghten further in the second half. Given the lagging nature of unemployment to economic growth it is still too early to expect any significant job growth. Hopefully the strenghtening economy will soon overcome that lag effect and the unemployment rate will begin to fall soon. In the meantime, despite the negative spin by many in the media and politics, the economy continues to move along at a pace that is far from disaster. Any improvement from this point on will certainly reinforce consumer confidence, restore business investing, and result in a strenghtening stock market which will make a lot of people feel better.

Chameleon Blog

Changes Before Your Very Eyes

The design work continues so changes may appear at any time depending on my mood. There are still a few things that need fixing that I am aware of but in the event that anyone reading this blog notices a problem please use the comments to let me know.

Also, if you have blogrolled JA and are not listed in the reciprocal link section on the top right, let me know.

In the meantime, please continue to visit, tell your friends to stop by, and let Pat and myself know what YOU THINK by using the comments. Thanks for the visit.

Wishful Thinking

Latest Memo from James Carville & Co

According to this, James Carville, aka Satan's Imp, has issued a strategy memo purporting to show "a faltering Bush presidency" but in the end it simply indicates "wishful thinking" on the part of Democrats.

The memo, produced through Carville's Democracy Corps, and co-authored by Stan Greenberg and Bob Shrum, claims that President Bush has suffered "major political damage" on "multiple fronts." According to the memo, "dramatic changes" are now taking place in the "electoral landscape." The Democracy Corps memo says that President Bush is "taking so much water" because he is "losing ground" on three fronts: the economy, the war/foreign policy, and on trust. The memo goes on to state that the scope of the losses "should produce a Democratic Party much more confident of its ability to challenge and win on its ideas."

In addressing the ongoing situation in Iraq, the Carville memo states that Democrats should "frame all the post-war problems" through the "central failing of the Bush administration," which the memo claims is the president's lack of a plan for post-war Iraq.

"Whether it is placing American troops at risk or undermining America's ability to invest resources at home, the lack of planning has far-reaching ramifications that are hurting the country," the memo states.

The memo claims that the "bigger problems" for the Bush administration are the "lessons that people are taking out of the war" and its aftermath. "Rather than confirming the virtues of a unilateralist American posture, the public has become more internationalist," Carville claims in the memo.

However, despite the predictions from Carville of a Bush meltdown, the numbers in his own survey don't support his conclusions. Respondents to the poll on which the memo is based had a slightly "warmer" feeling for Republicans than Democrats. In addition, when asked about preferences in the 2004 congressional elections, respondents said they would vote for the Republican candidate over the Democrat by 45-43. This thin margin may not seem significant to some, but when the Party in power has a public opinion edge, despite the criticism that the governing party receives, this does not bode well for the Democrats. It also shows what was proven in 2002 -- President Bush has coattails.

Carville and company can spin it, twist it, turn it, rotate, radiate, and energize, but in the end, facts will prevail. Go take a look at the rest.

Wed Jul 30, 2003

Is the WMD dam about to burst?

Maybe we'll find out more after David Kay and Keith Dayton testify at closed-door hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee

MSNBC reports that these hearings will take place Thursday. The Democrats who've been trying to make the "missing" WMD into a weapon to bash Bush had better pay attention.

''They are going to be very optimistic about some of the stuff that they have come across, but certainly no smoking gun,'' one U.S. official said.
They will detail ''promising leads'' and brief lawmakers that there was ''certainly evidence of a program'' to develop biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

I think you'll see the administration shift the attention from WMD to WMD programs. Any sensible person will understand that having the capability to manufacture WMD is just as dangerous as possessing the actual weapons. While nuclear weapons take time and raw materials to develop, chemical and biological weapons can be produced very rapidly once the manufacturing facilities are in place. As I've noted before, Saddam would have been very concerned about Iran's nuclear program and Israel's nuclear deterrent. I cannot imagine he would have felt safe with two regional enemies armed with nuclear weapons. He had to have been desperate to get hold of nuclear weapons.

Belgian Grand Prix

Makes a U-Turn

Belgians seem to think cold green is preferable to enviro greens:

Parliament voted to ease a ban on tobacco advertising in an attempt to get the Belgian Grand Prix back on the Formula One calendar next year.

The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill 103-32, with two abstentions, a day after it passed the Senate. It becomes law after it is signed by King Albert II, a formality.

The race was dropped from the 2004 schedule by the sport's world governing body after the Belgian government said it would introduce the advertising ban in August, three years before a European Union ban takes effect.

But the biggest advocates of the ban, the Greens, were dropped from the governing coalition after faring poorly in last month's elections, clearing the way for a new vote.

The race has been an economic boon for the French-speaking eastern region around Spa-Francorchamps track for more than five decades.

Damn the Greens and the EU. We want our race and the moola that comes with it.
I wonder what is going to happen in 3 years when the EU ban goes into effect?

Iraqi Refugees

Leaving in Droves

Iraqi refugees are making plans to relocate:

Tears flowed and long-parted relatives embraced yesterday as more than 200 Iraqis set foot in their homeland again after 13 years of exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia. “I feel like my soul has returned to my body,” said Ali Salman, his eyes swimming with tears at the Umm Qasr border crossing in southern Iraq. “I can’t believe I am actually home and that I will see my family again. I just can’t believe it.”

Like most of the 240 men, women and children who were repatriated by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Salman is a Shiite Muslim who fled to Saudi Arabia after a failed 1991 uprising against Iraq’s now deposed leader Saddam Hussein. Other returnees were former Iraqi soldiers who defected during the 1991 Gulf War.

The fearful refugees sought asylum in Saudi Arabia where they lived at the frontier Rafha camp. But the idea of returning home remained a remote dream until US-led forces ousted Saddam in April. The 240 returnees were among a group of 5,200 Iraqis in Rafha who had asked the authorities and the UNHCR to repatriate them. “Today marks the beginning of the end for the Rafha refugee camp,” said UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Kamel Morjane. “We hope to repatriate everyone as soon as possible.

Going back to the hellhole quagmire that their beloved country has become. All thanks to the U.S. and its meddling with Saddam's affairs. It's a helluva mess.

Speaking of Global Warming

There's This Bit of News

It doesn't have to make sense, it's just politics:

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), who will introduce an anti-global warming amendment to the Senate energy bill Wednesday, are facing a stream of criticism for capitalizing on the issue for political gain.

The McCain-Lieberman amendment, which is similar to a bill the two championed earlier this year, has the support of environmentalists and is opposed by American businesses. Looking beyond the debate, however, some observers say the senators have ulterior motives.

"This is really part of Lieberman's presidential campaign, and McCain is chief promoter, as far as I can tell," said Myron Ebell, director of global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

"The real mystery behind this is not that Sen. Lieberman wants to use this bill to promote his candidacy with the environmental groups," Ebell added, "but why is Sen. McCain so intent upon helping him?"

Pandering or Preservation?

Is it time to deal with the Saudis?

They are major sponsors of terrorism and Islamic extremism

The classification of the section of the September 11th Report that deals with Saudi involvement is putting some heat on the Bush administration. Despite the claims that Saudi Arabia is on our side in the War on Terror, many people remain deeply suspicious.

LGF has a link to an analysis of a captured document that list 20 extremely wealthy Saudi sponsors of Al Qaeda. The document was found in a raid on the offices of the Benevolence International Foundation in Sarajevo on March 2002. It tells us Al Qaeda is dispersed across the bloody borders of Islam and that Islamic charities are often fronts for terrorist activities. If the Saudis were really on our side, all those rich Saudis would be in US custody and their assets would be frozen. Their $85 billion would make a nice 9/11 compensation fund.

The Golden chain includes the Bin Laden brothers. Very soon after 9/11, members of the Bin Ladin family living in the US were flown back to Saudi Arabia on a chartered plane with FBI assistence. Byron York recounts the story in NRO. How come they got a free pass out of reach of US investigators?

Then we have the evidence of Saudi complicity in terrorism that is documented in Dore Gold's book "Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism". Gold was the Israeli ambassador to the UN.

Saudi Arabia is the primary financial backer of Hamas, one of the major obstacles to peace in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia exports the extremist Wahhabi brand of Islam across the world by funding mosques and Islamic charities.

In the War on Terror, Saudi Arabia would seem to rank ahead of Iraq as a target, yet it has escaped serious attention. The biggest problem in dealing with Saudi Arablia is its ability to drop an economic bomb on the West using the oil weapon. Seen in this light, the invasion of Iraq makes strategic sense. Once the Iraqi oil industry is pumping at full capacity, Saudi Arabia's oil weapon loses much of its power. But the Iraqi anti oil weapon is not yet ready, so the Saudis will continue to get the kid-glove weapon for a while. I can't think of any other reason why the Bush administration would go easy on Saudi Arabia.

Who's Side are You on?

That is the Question

Tony Blankley discusses a quote attributed to Joe Lieberman:

"[B]y their words, some in my party are sending out a message that they don't know a just war when they see it, and more broadly, they're not prepared to use our military strength to protect our security and the cause of freedom."

This statement basically asks:

Who's side are you on? It is the question that many Republicans have been afraid to ask. It is the same question that Ann Coulter has notoriously asked and answered in her current best-selling book, "Treason." Sen. Lieberman has carefully avoided the pungency of the "T" word. But what would one call political leaders who were not prepared to use our military to protect our security and our freedom?

The ultimate conclusion regarding the questionable positions taken by some Democrats who seem to be hoping, wishing, and praying for a dismal failure in post-war Iraq is summed up quite well by Mr. Blankley with this:

Undercutting a life-and-death presidential policy without even considering the consequences is like tearing down a dam without first draining the water it contains. Only a flood of death can follow: American death; here, at home.

Go read it all, its worth the trip.

Tue Jul 29, 2003

Nascar Cuts Off Jesse

Blackmail Becomes Distasteful

It seems that NASCAR may have come to its senses:

NASCAR has reportedly cut off all funding for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, USA Today reported. According to the newspaper, "A person familiar with NASCAR's internal decisions confirmed that the racing organization has not paid Jackson's group any money in 2003 and doesn't plan to."

The newspaper reported that NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) has given a total of $250,000 to the Rainbow/PUSH sports division, generating criticism from conservative groups and racing fans, which see the money as appeasement.

Looks like the good ole' boys southern redneck crackers finally figured it out. Better late than never I suppose but Nascar should have never played that extortion game.

Playing Around

Trying a New Look

I'm presently working on a new look for the blog. This is due to Pat's criticism and my own thoughts on the matter. Let me know what you think about the new look that is before your very eyes at this moment. I know there are a few things to work out, like the bkgd on the headings, so be more general for the time being. Things like readability, eye strain, upset stomach, and the like would be good to note. I'm taking a break for a while and will leave it as is for now. Check it out and Speak up..........................................please.

Global Warming is not an established scientific fact

Even though the Washington Post editorial writers seem to think so

This Washington Post Editorial starts by assuming Global Warming is a fact:

HERE'S A RIDDLE for our times: When is a scientific fact not a scientific fact? Answer: When the fact in question concerns climate change. Over the past decade, an enormous number of scientists, ranging from those who study wildlife migration to those who measure polar ice caps, have found evidence that Earth's climate is changing. Few now doubt either that Earth's temperature is rising or that greenhouse gases, produced when human beings burn fossil fuel, are at least partly responsible.

At this stage of the game, it is not possible to distinguish recent temperature changes from natural variation. A lot of responsible scientists have published peer-reviewed papers that cast doubt on that "fact". We now know that the 20th century was not unusually warm. The Medieval Warm period was warmer yet nobody is claiming that that bout of global warming was caused by human beings burning fossil fuel. According to Shaviv and Veizer, the biggest driver of climate change over the past 500 million years has been the galactic cosmic ray flux. As the earth moves through the spiral arms of the Milky Way the cosmic ray flux varies, influencing cloud formation. For more on cloud cover and its effect on climate see SUNSHINE, CLOUDS AND COSMIC RAYS by E. Palle Bago and C.J. Butler. They conclude

Until the cloud behaviour on temporal and geographical scales is understood, via long and reliable datasets, global circulation models and predictions will be seriously handicapped.

Yet the President is being pressured to make policy based on inductive computer models that are seriously handicapped and economic scenarios that are unrealistic. As Taylor points out, the IPCC scenarios expect

poorer nations as a whole to catch wealthier nations in economic output this century [which] would require that average incomes on the entire continent of Asia increase over the next 100 years by a factor of 70 to 1 ...

That isn't going to happen.

The Patriot Act has one surprising defender

And he's a Democrat running for President

According to Fox News

At least one senator, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards of North Carolina, has defended the Patriot Act rules.

"We simply cannot prevail in the battle against terrorism if the right hand of our government has no idea what the left hand is doing," Ashcroft quoted Edwards as saying.

Abortion

Blind Support on Single Issue

Here's a fine example of single-issue minds at work:

While some Californians point to the state's $38 billion budget deficit as the biggest reason for attempting to boot Democratic Gov. Gray Davis out of office, one of the nation's most prominent abortion rights advocates argues that the abortion issue is more important and the biggest reason why Davis should be retained.

NARAL Pro-Choice America is opposed to the recall effort, praising Davis for his support of abortion rights and warning that "anti-choice activists have bought this election."

Blind support of Davis because he supports abortion? I suppose NARAL would support any candidate who agrees with their position including the devil himself and regardless of any other views. Something is wrong here. Abortion may be an important issue but it surely is not the most important consideration when casting a vote for our leaders. To be fair to NARAL, they are not the only group to follow this blind reasoning since the Pro-life bunch is the same way. In a recent poll, or better put, my own W.A.G., there are 20% who are rabidly pro-choice and 20% who are rabidly pro-life. This leaves the sensible middle of 60% to balance things out. Assuming that the sensible60 split nearly 50/50 on any vote the radical40 are left to decide who wins any given election. This doesn't exactly instill confidence that the ultimate outcome of an election will be the best choice. If this candidate is beholden to the radical fringe for their political survival then their agenda must be one that takes the radical and intolerant position of their supporters. This means that's 80% of the population is having their opinion on the particular issue in question ignored. To say that this is unacceptable and hazardous to the country's health is and understatement. This type of blind loyalty to one single issue and the subsequent support for candidates based solely on their position on that issue will provide us with leaders who will never be the best choice. This type of thinking will allow the radical few to override the will of the majority and force their views down the throat of us all. Is there any way to take such issues off the table and force voters to consider a candidates overall qualifications? Or maybe this is an example of some type of divide and conquer strategy. Eh? In any event, this single-minded, one-issue, selfish, and blind method of selecting leaders is bound to be unhealthy for the country. So that leaves only one question. What can be done about it?

U.S. Reps Take on the Courts

Fighting Judicial Activism

The House of Representatives has decided to fight back against the activist courts:

"When the legislative branch, that is the Congress, believes the judicial branch to be in error, the Congress may refuse to fund actions to enforce the court's judgment by the executive branch agency that would execute those judgments," said Rep. John Hostettler, Indiana Republican, who sponsored the amendments.

It's the newest strategy for House Republicans, who have shown an increasing willingness to try to reel in what they see as judicial activism run amok.

"We aim to provide some checks and balances to the judiciary, who we feel are abusing their positions," he said. "We think if we expose judicial abuses to some sunshine, that will result in fewer abuses."

The first Hostettler amendment, which passed 307-119, prohibits enforcement of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling last summer on the Pledge. The second amendment, adopted 260-161, prohibits enforcement of the 11th Circuit's fall ruling that the Alabama Supreme Court's chief justice may not post the Ten Commandments at the state courthouse.

Self-preservation provides a great incentive to politicians. In this case, that's good.

Mon Jul 28, 2003

NYC Gay Only High School

No Straights Allowed

Various special interest groups just keep pushing for special treatment while still professing to believe in equal rights for all. Here's another example:

The city is opening a full-fledged high school for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students - the first of its kind in the nation, The Post has learned.
Operating for two decades as a small alternative program with just two classrooms, the new Harvey Milk HS officially opens as a stand-alone public school with 100 students in September.

The school, located at 2 Astor Place, is undergoing a $3.2 million in city-funded renovations approved by the old Board of Education in June of last year. It will eventually take in 170 students by September 2004, more than tripling last year's enrollment.

Not everyone is happy about this, naturally.........

State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long blasted the school as "social engineering" that wastes tax dollars.

"Is there a different way to teach homosexuals? Is there gay math? This is wrong. This makes absolutely no sense," Long said. "There's no reason these children should be treated separately."

Long said there are city and state discrimination laws on the books and that authorities should enforce them to stop gay-bashing.

"What next? Maybe we should have schools for chubby kids who get picked on. Maybe all kids who wear glasses should have special schools. It's ridiculous," he said.

And what about a special school for straight white males?? Hmmmmm.........
Naw, that would never do because it would discriminate against women, gays, blacks, hispanics, native Americans, and every other 'special' group in the world. Contradictory??
And Mr. Long.....you forgot something about those anti-discrimination laws. They should be enforced across the board for a change.

Uh Oh

Is This One For Real?

Both the Dow and Nasdaq have been in a nice uptrend since March. Here's a purty pitcher of the Nas:

Chart from StockCharts.com

Given the effect that the stock markets have on the overall economy and the predictive value of future economic growth that the markets possess, this picture must be causing serious anxiety in certain quarters.

The NYT continues its war on the War on Terror

It wants the Bill of Rights to apply to Moussaoui

The New York Times wants the Government to give Zacarias Moussaoui the right to question Ramzi bin al-Shibh in his defense. It seems to think the Bill of Rights applies to an admitted member of a terrorist group that is at war with the United States.

During WW2 eight Nazi saboteurs were apprehended and tried by a military tribunal. Six of them were executed and two given long prison terms. The case was considered by the Supreme Court. In its ruling it wrote

The spy . . . or an enemy combatant who without uniform comes secretly through the lines for the purpose of waging war by destruction of life or property, are familiar examples of belligerents who are generally deemed not to be entitled to the status of prisoners of war, but to be offenders against the law of war subject to trial and punishment by military tribunals.

Al Qaeda has already killed more people and caused more property damage on US soil than the Nazis managed. The government should follow the precedent set during WW2 and treat all members of Al Qaeda the same way as those hapless Nazis.

Intelligence Failures

Not the Kind You Think

In case anyone out there thinks intelligence failures were the primary factors that made 9/11 possible you may want to consider this article by Onkar Ghate in Front Page Magazine:

Despite emphatic pronouncements from Islamic leaders about a "jihad" against America, our political leaders failed to grasp the ideology that seeks our destruction. This left them unable to target that enemy's armed combatants--in Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia--and the governments that assist them. Is it any wonder then that, although our intelligence agencies prevented many planned attacks, they could not prevent them all?

Whatever incompetence on the intelligence agencies' part, what made September 11 possible was a failure, not by our intelligence agencies--but by the accommodating, range-of-the-moment, unprincipled foreign policy that has shaped our government's decisions for decades.

Go read the rest. This makes an important point and even criticizes Bush for not being aggressive enough. Regardless of that, the main point is that the lack of action on the part of our leaders, even after numerous terrorist attacks on U.S. interests, emboldened our enemies to the point that they had no real fear of retribution from the U.S. This lead them to believe that the U.S. didn't have the resolve to strike back. This perception that we didn't have the will to defend ourselves was the primary factor that lead to 9/11. Maybe that mistaken perception is being cleared up now. If not, no amount of intelligence or homeland security will ever be enough.

Sun Jul 27, 2003

We're going to need global warming to stop the next ice age

But the Greenies can't blame human activity for ice ages, so they'll still be screaming Kyoto as the ice sheets come down from the north

Hat tip to Jim Miller for pointing out this NY Times piece on long term climate history as revealed by the latest ice cores from Greenland.

The longer term climate has been 800,000 years of ice age, where much of North America was covered by mile deep ice sheets, followed by interglacial warm periods of around 200,000 years. On that scale, the next ice age is due real soon (like +/- 50,000 years) now.

Let's hope the NY Times news staff who breathlessly told us the North Pole was melting read their own science pages.

You Stink

Smell Can Get You Busted

It seems that the French have come up with a new way to fight crime and nab criminals:

Scientists working for French police have perfected a technique for "bottling" smells at the scene of a crime to identify suspects by the odour they have left behind.

After conducting a two-year-long programme of tests on a method of detection known as "odourology", they have concluded that smell can be as effective as using fingerprints or DNA samples to link a criminal with a crime.

The French national police force's Scientific and Technical Unit, based in Lyon, established that trained sniffer dogs could be presented with a crime's "smell signature", then successfully match it to the correct suspect in the olfactory equivalent of an identity parade.

A jubilant police official hailed the new study as a breakthrough in crime-fighting. "We now know beyond doubt that wherever a criminal goes they leave behind molecules of odour which are unique to them, and which a trained dog can recognise," he said.

What I want to know is how do they get the dogs qualified to give the necessary expert testimony. And how does the defense rebut such testimony? Would one dog breed be seen as a better expert? I just don't know about all this.

The good news from Iraq is not getting out

The mainstream media is only interested in doom and gloom

I was running this morning and we were chatting about the situation in Iraq. My friend John thought that things were so bad in Iraq we should just get out and let them stew. I told him things were going rather better than the media reports suggest. I'll eMail him these links to show that progress is being made.

Via Instapundit.

An Intelligence Officer takes on Amnesty.
Christopher Hitchens reports in from Mosul.

Andrew Sullivan has picked up on the issue, too.

Extracts from an under reported speech by Paul Wolfowitz. The full text is here.
And more.

Common Sense and WonderAlso points an upbeat report by an Iraqi journalist. Unfortunately, this WSJ piece that is only available to subscribers but you can read extracts.

Surely all those great mainstream reporters could track down these stories. Perhaps they are too afraid that they will show the US military in a good light and the average Iraqi happy that US soldiers got rid of Saddam's evil regime.

Read more »

NAACP Immunity

When Will ALL be Held Accountable?

Pat Buchanan, yeah him, has some questions for the Republican Party related to these words spoken at the NAACP convention:

At its Miami convention, Chairman Julian Bond said of the Republicans that they appeal to "the dark underside of American culture, to that minority of Americans who reject democracy and equality." They "practice racial division."

"Their idea of equal rights," Bond sneered, "is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side." And when 2004 comes around, "the no-show National Guardsman and his draft-dodging vice president will lose by 3 million votes."

Mr. Buchanan asks:

Why do the Republicans take it? Why do they not retaliate and punish organizations and individuals who insult their president and mock their party as racist, evil, retrograde and sick? Why do they seem to have so little self-respect as to tolerate this? What are they afraid of?

These are good questions that need good answers. Yet, to me, there is a much more important question. How much longer will the double standard that protects blacks from such attacks on others be allowed to stand?

Sat Jul 26, 2003

New NFL Rule

Black Receivers Must Be Considered First

Scrappleface has the latest word from the NFL:

A day after the National Football League fined the Detroit Lions $200,000 for failing to interview black coaches when it hired Steve Mariucci, the league has ordered all quarterbacks to consider blacks as primary receivers on pass plays.

"In order to compensate for the historical oppression of African-Americans, the quarterback's first look will now be at a black receiver," said NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. "If he's not open, only then may the quarterback throw to a white receiver. But even if the black receiver is double-covered, the QB should try to throw to him. It would be better to be intercepted than to violate the NFL's diversity policy and be fined $200,000."

The league will use referees to monitor compliance. Instant replay rules will also apply, and the coach of an opposing team may request a replay if it appears that his opponent's quarterback did not consider a black receiver first.

The fine against the Lions comes despite the fact that they asked five black coaches for interviews, and were turned down by all because the hiring of Mariucci seemed a foregone conclusion.

A spokesman for the NFL Players Union said, "Well, at least it's easier to find a black receiver than a black coach."

That should be easy enough to accomplish considering that the vast majority of receivers are black. In fact, it would be very difficult for a quarterback to even find a white player anywhere on the field. Not those are some stats that may warrant a closer look. Wanta play?

Saddam to Be Taken Soon

Recent Tips May Seal His Fate

Lucianne says it bets that Saddam will go down next week. My own feeling is that we are very close and he will fall soon. The recent capture of bodyguards seems to be providing more tips and clues. It is just a matter of time.

As the U.S. military showed off the touched-up bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein yesterday, top ground commanders said their deaths had produced a flood of tips on the ace of spades - Saddam Hussein.
"We continue to tighten the noose" on Saddam, said Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, head of the Army's 4th Infantry Division. "And I believe that we continue to gain more and more information about where he might be."

Odierno said a tipster Thursday night in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit gave up information that led to a raid early yesterday and the arrest of 13 people, including several believed to be members of Saddam's security detail.

The sooner the better. Of course that depends on who you are rooting for.

Fri Jul 25, 2003

Liberty Package

Want U.S. Help? Try This

Scrappleface has a story about a new tactic in foreign aid:

The White House announced today that the U.S. will no longer hand out money or send troops to nations like Liberia, which are torn by internal turmoil. From now on, to get the financial and military support a nation must implement a "Liberty Package" which the U.S. will provide at no extra charge.

The Liberty Package is a "franchise concept" which promises to turn any nation into a capitalist republic. The kit includes a thick manual in a three-ring binder, plus copies of Democracy In America, The Federalist Papers, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and earlier documents like the the Magna Carta and the Bible.

"We're tired of throwing money down a rat hole," said an unnamed spokesman for the State Department, which developed the Liberty Package. "We give millions of dollars to countries which continue to use failed forms of governance, with inadequate checks and balances. From now on, you follow the franchise blueprint, or you can look elsewhere for money, weapons and troops."

The spokesman said nations which decline voluntary implementation of the Liberty Package may later be subject to mandatory implementation, in which case money, weapons and troops will flow in quite suddenly.

Sounds like a winner.

Who Thinks Saddam was Involved in 9/11?

Chris has some Interesting Answers

Chris at Signifying Nothing has done an interesting study related to the question of whether or not Saddam was involved in the 9/11 attacks. Here's one very interesting conclusion reached by that study:

More generally, the results suggest that trying to argue Saddam wasn’t linked to terrorism may be a losing strategy among their own base for Democratic presidential candidates that opposed the war or are having second thoughts now. Strongly Democratic voters without a college education are more likely than not to believe that Saddam was involved in 9/11, and it will be difficult to reeducate them on this point. These findings suggest that however candidates like Bob Graham and Howard Dean try to spin things, many Democratic voters think Saddam Hussein was a legitimate target in the war on terror, and they will cross these voters at their own peril.

Go read the rest of the results.

New RNC Chairman Speaks

Telling it Like it Is

Republican National Committee Chairman Elect Ed Gillespie gave his acceptance speech recently and had a few things to say to the Democratic party in the process:

We're developing ideas. We're implementing solutions. And in the best American political tradition, we would welcome being challenged in the contest of ideas by a loyal opposition with an alternative agenda of its own. Unfortunately, that seems almost too much to ask these days.

The Democratic party of John F. Kennedy, who extolled Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," tell us not what they would do for their country. The once-proud party of Franklin Roosevelt, who famously told us "we have nothing to fear but fear itself," now seems to have nothing to offer but fear itself.

In place of solutions they serve up raw emotion, and that emotion is anger.

They're angry that they aren't the majority party in the House or Senate. They're angry that they don't control a majority of the governorships. And they're angry most of all that they don't control the White House.

As a result, they offer Americans a steady diet of protest and pessimism. They're still protesting the 2000 election. Some of their loudest voices protested removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. They protested a jobs and growth package. They protest qualified judicial nominees.

And the Democrat National Committee has even begun e-mailing party activists urging them to protest the President of the United States when he comes to their town-including helpful suggestions for catchy signs they can hold over their heads.

This is what they consider political discourse.

If you get the impression the other party has come to the conclusion that what's worst for the American people is what's best for them, it's only because that's their explicit strategy. One top Democratic strategist told the Washington Post, "There's a large part of the Democratic Party that wants to wait for the unemployment rate to deliver them the next election... It's easier for them to do that than to go out there and put together support around some program."

I think Mr. Gillespie has them down pat. The very real impression that the Democrats are sending to me is one where they would rather drive the country into the depths of a depression and allow our enemies to overrun us rather than work with Bush. They have stood in the way of every single economic stimulus plan the Republicans proposed. They have bordered on the traitorous with their condemnation of our country's war on terrorism. They continue to criticize without offering any alternatives. In short, they act like snivelling brats while screaming 'liar, liar, pants on fire' and other idiocy instead of proposing their own ideas. Maybe they simply don't have any workable ideas to propose that Americans would accept. This would explain their kindergarten tactics of late. In any event, they are sealing their own fate with middle Americans and will hand the '04 election to Bush because citizens see them for what they have become.........a party with no workable solutions that is forced to rely on childish and divisive tactics in a vain attempt to confuse voters. Fortunately, the majority isn't buying their story.

The NFL goes PC - too bad

NFL teams want to win so they'll pick the best available personnel regardless of race

Fox news reports that the

Detroit Lions president Matt Millen was fined $200,000 by the National Football League on Friday for not interviewing any minority candidates before hiring coach Steve Mariucci.

Millen knew who he thought would be the best for his team and hired him. If a minority coach was on the market with better credentials than Mariucci, then he or she would have likely been hired instead. This PC nonsense is asinine.

Dean's 16 questions

Think of them as 16 bad bets

You can read the questions on Howard Dean's website.

The thrust of each question is to discredit the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq. I was going to Fisk them but what's the point? They are rhetorical questions serving his anti-war stance.

Dean is betting that the US won't uncover WMD. He is betting that Saddam did not have a nuclear weapons program. He is betting that the British were wrong on Saddam trying to buy uranium in Africa. He is betting that the Baathists and Jihadists will continue to kill an American soldier every day or so. He is betting that the chaos in post-war Iraq will continue. He is betting that the administration will not find conclusive links between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

When you put so many bets on the table, you're sure to lose some of them.

Even Clinton Got it Right

Krauthammer Nails It

Charles Krauthammer has a great article in the Houston Chronicle where he claims that even Clinton got it right about the uranium hysteria going through the Democratic ranks. Here some of the accomplishments that he sees occuring after 9/11:

Then there are the strategic realities. Consider what has happened in the Near East since Sept. 11, 2001:

(1) In Afghanistan, the Taliban have been overthrown and a decent government installed.

(2) In Iraq, the Saddam regime has been overthrown, the dynasty destroyed, and the possibility for a civilized form of governance exists for the first time in 30 years.

(3) In Iran, with dictatorships toppled to the east (Afghanistan) and the west (Iraq), popular resistance to the dictatorship of the mullahs has intensified.

(4) In Pakistan, once the sponsor and chief supporter of the Taliban, the government radically reversed course and became a leading American ally in the war on terror.

(5) In Saudi Arabia, where the presence of U.S. troops near the holy cities of Mecca and Medina deeply inflamed relations with many Muslims, the American military is leaving -- not in retreat or with apology, but because it is no longer needed to protect Saudi Arabia from Saddam.

(6) Yemen, totally unhelpful to the United States after the attack on the USS Cole, has started cooperating in the war on terror.

(7) In the small stable Persian Gulf states, new alliances with the United States have been established.

(8) Kuwait's future is secure, the threat from Saddam having been eliminated.

(9) Jordan is secure, no longer having Iraq's tank armies and radical nationalist influence at its back.

(10) Syria has gone quiet, closing terrorist offices in Damascus and downplaying its traditional anti-Americanism.

(11) Lebanon's southern frontier is quiet for the first time in years, as Hezbollah, reading the new strategic situation, has stopped cross-border attacks into Israel.

(12) Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been restarted, a truce declared, and a fledgling Palestinian leadership established that might actually be prepared to make a real peace with Israel.

Go read the rest. As usual, Charles nails it.

9/11 Joint Congressional Inquiry

Abridged Findings

Here are some of the findings related to the 9/11 Congressional investigation:

1. Finding: While the Intelligence Community had amassed a great deal of valuable
intelligence regarding Usama Bin Ladin and his terrorist activities, none of it identified the
time, place, and specific nature of the attacks that were planned for September 11, 2001.
Nonetheless, the Community did have information that was clearly relevant to the
September 11 attacks, particularly when considered for its collective significance.
2. Finding: During the spring and summer of 2001, the Intelligence Community experienced
a significant increase in information indicating that Bin Ladin and al-Qa’ida intended to
strike against U.S. interests in the very near future.
3. Finding: Beginning in 1998 and continuing into the summer of 2001, the Intelligence
Community received a modest, but relatively steady, stream of intelligence reporting that
indicated the possibility of terrorist attacks within the United States. Nonetheless, testimony
and interviews confirm that it was the general view of the Intelligence Community, in the
spring and summer of 2001, that the threatened Bin Ladin attacks would most likely occur
against U.S. interests overseas, despite indications of plans and intentions to attack in the
domestic United States.
4. Finding: From at least 1994, and continuing into the summer of 2001, the Intelligence
Community received information indicating that terrorists were contemplating, among
other means of attack, the use of aircraft as weapons. This information did not stimulate
any specific Intelligence Community assessment of, or collective U.S. Government reaction
to, this form of threat.
5. Finding: Although relevant information that is significant in retrospect regarding the
attacks was available to the Intelligence Community prior to September 11, 2001, the
Community too often failed to focus on that information and consider and appreciate its
collective significance in terms of a probable terrorist attack. Neither did the Intelligence
Community demonstrate sufficient initiative in coming to grips with the new transnational
threats. Some significant pieces of information in the vast stream of data being collected
were overlooked, some were not recognized as potentially significant at the time and
therefore not disseminated, and some required additional action on the part of foreign
governments before a direct connection to the hijackers could have been established. For all
those reasons, the Intelligence Community failed to fully capitalize on available, and
potentially important, information. The sub-findings below identify each category of this
information.

Here is the entire report and here is the rest of the abridged version.

Thu Jul 24, 2003

The Democrats new Iraq policy

At least the logical extension of their current position

Arnold Beichman at NRO nails it.

Forget Lance Armstrong, Pam Reed is my athlete of the year!

She just won her second Badwater Ultramarathon title

Pam Reed (42) repeated last year's feat in winning the Badwater Ultramarathon. She ran 135 miles from the bottom of Death Valley (280' below sea level) to half-way up Mt Whitney (~7000') in 28:26:52. She beat 2nd place finisher Dean Karnazes (40) by 25 minutes.

See:

http://www.badwaterultra.com/2003webcast/2003reports/Pamfinish.html

to read about this incredible performance. What did she win? According to the race website:

AWARDS: All racers who begin the event will receive a Badwater Ultramarathon race t-shirt, hat, and Race Magazine. All racers who officially complete the event within 60 hours will receive a commemorative certificate, a finisher’s medal, and a finisher's t-shirt. All racers who officially complete the course within 48 hours will also receive a commemorative Badwater Ultramarathon buckle (Buckles, t-shirts, and certificates are sent in the mail after the race).

Oh yeah, the entry fee is $50.00.

Piracy On the Rise

Possible Terrorism Targets?

According to a recent report, acts of piracy on the high seas are on the rise. Though it may seem strange in this modern age, the old crime of piracy still haunts vessels on the oceans of the world. Certain trouble spots, particularly Africa and Indonesia, have long been known as dangerous waters among maritime interests.

Violent acts of piracy on the high seas have hit an all-time high with Indonesian waters ranked the most dangerous in the world, an ocean crime watchdog said on Thursday.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said the number of reported ship attacks soared 37 percent to 234 in the first six months of 2003, compared with 171 in the corresponding 2002 period.

Deputy director of the IMB, Capt. Jayant Abhyankar, said that while the volume of attacks were too small to have an impact on world trade, some trading routes were being avoided.

"There has been evidence of that, where ships voyaging from Australia have by-passed Indonesia completely...and again off Somalia where coastal waters are highly dangerous," he told Reuters.

Maritime security experts have repeatedly voiced concerns that Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda could capitalize on the lawlessness and target strategic choke points such as the Malacca Straits by placing a bomb on a supertanker.

Attacks on ships are very real and the possibility of terrorists comandeering a large vessel raise serious concerns. This report sheds some light on the current piracy problem. Realistically speaking, there is no way for government to safeguard all shipping. This leaves the vessel crews as the primary defenders of their vessels. Hopefully shipping companies have already taken measures to train crew members to repel boarders and defend their ship. If not, some major headlines could be in the making. Otherwise, the tactic of taking the fight to the terrorists and pirates before they strike remains the best choice.

Wed Jul 23, 2003

Clinton talks sense on Nigergate

Maybe it'll help the Democrat candidates come to their senses

Via Andrew Sullivan. This Clinton interview might prompt the Democrats and media to back off. Of course, killing Saddam's evil spawn will also help them come to their senses.

I'm not a big fan of Clinton but I think he was a moderately successful modern president. Not the best but not the worst. For example, he held the line on spending better than GWB has done so far. He was good on free trade but wishy-washy on defense and terrorism. A mixed bag, but that's usually the case. If it was a choice of Clinton and most of the current Democrat candidates, I'd pick Clinton (provided he had to wear a chastity belt and Hillary held the key).

I have trouble understanding the visceral hatred that the Democrats and the left has for GWB. They cannot bring themseves to give him credit for anything. They scrabble to tarnish each and every accomplishment. So it was encouraging to see Bill Clinton take a stand.

Of course, Clinton is a political animal and he understands that the Democrats were in a lemming-like rush to political suicide. Even so, what he said was right.

Does the Patriot Act go too far?

The cacophony from the ACLU, the Left, the Right would make you think so

The wonderfully astute Heather MacDonald shreds the objections of the nay-sayers. It is a must-read (as is her essay on why the FBI failed to catch the 9/11 hijackers.) Here are a couple of morsels from her essay

The advocates’ rhetoric is both false and dangerous. Lost in the blizzard of propaganda is any consciousness that 9/11 was an act of war against the U.S. by foreign enemies concealed within the nation’s borders.

These charges are nonsense. Critics of section 215 deliberately ignore the fact that any request for items under the section requires judicial approval. An FBI agent cannot simply walk into a flight school or library and demand records. The bureau must first convince the court that oversees ant

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