From Emmanuel Goldstein:

The Airstrip One Web Log: British foreign policy as if the national interest really mattered

From the Guardian "New US paper aims at Afghan war truth":

A newspaper aimed at providing news of the war in Afghanistan is to be launched this month. Its editors argue that the mainstream media in the US are not providing a full picture of the war and its effects.

So far, so good.

War Times, produced in San Francisco, will make its first bi-weekly appearance on April 12.

San Francisco. Looks worrying.

It will be published in English and Spanish and will be distributed throughout the US.

Distributed, not sold. Worrying sign number 2.

The venture is supported by a number of academics, including Noam Chomsky, labour organisations and anti-war groups.

Oh brother. A free-sheet from Frisco backed by the freak brigade, that's really going to have Foreign Affairs and National Interest quaking in their boots.

When will the antiwar movement stop preaching to itself and start trying to engage with the general population? Even promising ventures like this suddenly start looking stale when you see that it becomes a vehicle for general leftist drivel.

I'm so sad. My home town has become a "worrying sign".

As I said, this is why Israel should withdraw?

CNN.com - Terror attacks kill at least 14 - March 31, 2002

HAIFA, Israel (CNN) -- A suicide bomber set off a massive explosion Sunday at a restaurant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, killing at least 14 people, police and ambulance sources said. Several hours later, at least four people were wounded in a suicide bombing in the Jewish West Bank settlement of Efrat, settlers said.

I remain confused by those who say that you should respond to violence by doing...nothing. Certainly they may quote Gandhi, who (at least in the movies) said that there were many things he was willing to die for, but nothing he was willing to kill for. Which always struck me as self-righteous rather than realistic. Afterall, Gandhi was protesting against a fundamentally moral empire. His non-violence resistance movement might have met a wholely different end if, say, Hitler had been the opposition.

Police know that a suicidal subject is always dangerous, because by definition, someone who is suicidal is homicidal, and you don't stop a homicidal maniac by talking nice to him.

Sometimes it's just embarassing....

U.S. Joins UN's Israel Withdrawal Vote (washingtonpost.com)

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States joined other U.N. Security Council members Saturday in adopting a resolution that calls on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat's headquarters is under siege.

...and insisted that Israel do nothing while more and more citizens are killed by insane suicide bombers.

Well, that last was my addition, but it's what the resolution implies. Rather embarassed that the US voted with such nonsense.

Christiane Amanpour gets a sample of honesty:

From a telephone interview with Arafat....

Arafat: Palestinians are 'facing this challenge'

AMANPOUR: Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken to you, I understand. He has also spoken publicly. He called on you to rein in the violence. What do you make of that statement, and can you and will you rein in that violence?

ARAFAT: Are you asking me while I am under complete siege? You are a wonderful journalist. You have to respect your profession.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Arafat, I'm simply asking you a question. Are you able to rein in the violence?

ARAFAT: You have to be accurate when you are speaking with General Yasser Arafat. Be quiet! You are covering, with such questions, the terrorist activities of the Israeli occupation and the Israeli crimes. Be fair. Why do you make these certain mistakes?

Thank you. Bye, bye.

Please note he not only refused to answer the question, he went on the offensive after first trying to distract with a bit of praise. I heard this on TV and he said "Be quiet!" so loud I first assumed he was talking to someone in the room with him. The rest of his "remarks" made it clear he was talking with Amanpour, who is generally sympathetic to Palestinians, terrorists or not.

As the Wall Street Journal is fond of pointing out, Yasser Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

Excellent reading from a Democrat pundit no less:

WorldNetDaily: Make love, not war - Ellen Ratner, Liberal & Proud

The other morning I had no sooner finished my radio show than the phone rang. The voice at the other end was a senior Democrat with the Democratic National Committee. "Ellen, did I hear you compliment Marc Racicot on air this morning?" Racicot is the head of the Republican National Committee.

"Yes," I replied, unsure of where the conversation was going. In fact, I have met Mr. Racicot several times, and have always found him a charming, decent guy. I said as much to my friend from the DNC.

"Well, don't be so nice," I was told.

I was shocked. Shocked that a senior member of the Democratic Party would actually waste their time in placing such a call. Shocked that matters had become so ridiculously personal. I mean at the end of the day, it's only politics. People are people. Just as there are decent Republicans there are stinko Democrats.

Then a light bulb went on.

I have been thinking for some time about the reasons why, since 9-11, the Democratic Party, my party, has seemed to be flailing about, a loyal opposition with few principles that inspire much loyalty.

And on and on....

And now a word from the, er, Less Than Rational:

Stop the War! March on Washington DC April 20th

March on Washington, D.C. April 20th, 2002

The "War on Terrorism" Breeds More Terror

The White House promises a war without end*. Under the pretext of strengthening security, our democratic rights are being further eroded, hundreds of people have been "disappeared" into jails and prisons, and corporate interests are shamelessly trying to use this crisis to their advantage. It is clear: unless we, the people of this country, rise up and come together now, the future for us and for people around the world is very bleak. But united, as we have done in the past, WE CAN MAKE CHANGE! There is an alternative!

Join us on April 20th to demand:

• A U.S. foreign policy based upon social and economic justice, not military and corporate oppression.


• An end to racial profiling and military recruitment targeting youth of color and working class youth.


• Government funding for programs to benefit the economic victims of the 9-11 attacks and the recession.


• An end to the degrading and secret imprisonment of immigrants.


• Increased funding for non-military-based financial aid for education.


• Full disclosure of military contracts with universities.

Gads, there are times when it makes your head ache.

"Social and economic justice" means take from producers and give to non-producers.

Racial profiling is, by and large, a myth. As for targetted military recruitment...I didn't know my son fell into either of those categories, but the Navy is hot and heavy after him.

Anything that calls for "government funding" of anything means "raise taxes." And you know who pays all taxes? (Hint: Corporations don't pay taxes. They collect money that they use to pay taxes. Where does that money come from?)

"Degrading and secret imprisonment"...if it's so secret, how do they know about it?

"Increased funding ... financial aid for education" ... I didn't have a problem getting my student loans. What funding are they talking about? Oh, free money, of course, the kind Professional Students don't have to pay back.

And the last is just plain nauseating. Ask yourself: "Where did the Internet come from?" That's right, military funding to universities. (ARPA to fund ARPANet to link university research centers and government centers into a decentralized network that was "survivable" in the event of a nuclear war.) How awful!

Anyway, read it if you're interested. Be sure to tune up your BSF (bullshit filter) before proceeding, though.

Some rather blunt writings on the Middle East:

Victor Davis Hanson on Middle East & Postmodernity on National Review Online

Facts mean nothing. The dispute is purportedly over the principle of occupation -- but next-door Syria holds far more Lebanese land than Israel does the West Bank. The dispute is supposedly over ethnic intolerance and gratuitous humiliation -- but Kuwait, quite unlike Israel, ethnically cleansed their entire country of Palestinians after the Gulf War. The dispute is said to be about treating the "other" fairly -- but Syria and Iraq summarily expelled over 7,000 Jews after the 1967 war, stole their property, and bragged that they had rid their country of them. The upcoming Arab Summit could spend weeks just investigating the Arab murder and persecution of its own people and Jews.

I love it when someone eloquently illustrates hypocrisy....

Glenn Harlan Reynolds (Tech Central Station weighs in on the CBDTPA:

TCS: Tech - Democrats vs. New Media

But McAuliffe's strategy is doomed to fail. It's doomed to fail because it is aimed at treating the symptoms, rather than addressing the reason Democrats are so unpopular with producers and users of small media in the first place. And nothing illustrates the problem more than what happened the same day that McAuliffe got his $7 million check from an entertainment mogul: Democratic Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, himself a recipient of nearly $300,000 in entertainment-industry money during the last election cycle, introduced legislation that seems guaranteed to ensure that the small-media world will hate the Democrats, whose support for copy protection -- and receipt of campaign contributions from the entertainment industry -- far outweighs that of Republicans. ...

For someone who's worried about what Web message boards are saying about Democrats, this seems like an awfully dumb move. (It's already filled up one Web message board -- a Senate site taking comments on the legislation -- with negative comments). There's nothing more likely to inflame the Web than a copy-protection bill that is a complete sellout to corporate interests, and that's what this one is.

Then there's the loss of moral legitimacy: It's hard to pose as friends of the little guy against Big Business when you're taking money from Big Business while taking long-established rights away from the little guy. (Scott Harshbarger of Common Cause calls this move "a shocking fire sale.")

Kind of says it all.

Why we'll miss Billy Wilder....

Billy Wilder, Master of Caustic Films, Dies at 95

In Love With Words Mr. Wilder was a director who protected his scripts. The look of a movie was less important to him than its language. "I don't like the audience to be aware of camera tricks," he told one interviewer. "Why shoot a scene from a bird's-eye view, or a bug's? It's all done to astonish the bourgeois, to amaze the middle-class critic."

If only more movie makers would remember, "It's the story, stupid!" Maybe Titanic would have at least been good....

But newspapers can't even get an obit right these days:

"Ace in the Hole" (1951, and also known as "The Big Carnival"), which followed "Sunset Boulevard," was Mr. Wilder's most savage satire about the greed of American free enterprise. The antihero (Kirk Douglas) is a reporter who uses a man trapped in a cave to create headlines, in the process causing the man's death. "Americans expected a cocktail and felt I was giving them a shot of vinegar instead," Mr. Wilder said. A brilliant film, it was a box-office failure, and Mr. Wilder was careful never to be so downbeat again.

Now, I haven't seen the film, so maybe it is some sort of indictment of free enterprise, but the description given here shows it's more an indictment of the media, its rush to sensationalize for the sake of a headline, to get the scoop, and hang the consequences. Sort of like how NPR declared they would reveal US military actions and locations in Afghanistan, even if it put US troops in danger.

Our Government in Action:

Wired: Anti-Copy Bill Slams Codes

But the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) would also wreak havoc on programmers and software companies -- both those distributing code for free and those selling it.

No more than two years and seven months after the bill becomes law, the only code programmers and software firms will be able to distribute must have embedded copy-protection schemes approved by the federal government.

To put this in perspective: The CBDTPA would, if enacted in its current form, have the electrifying effect on computer professionals that the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore did to some Democratic Party members.

Legal experts said on Friday that the CBDTPA regulates nearly any program, in source or object code, that runs on a PC or anything else with a microprocessor.

That's not just Windows media players and their brethren, as you might expect. The CBDTPA's sweeping definition of "any hardware or software" includes word processors, spreadsheets, operating systems, compilers, programming languages -- all the way down to humble Unix utilities like "cp" and "cat."

"The definition will cover just about anything that runs on your computer -- except maybe the clock," said Tom Bell, a professor at Chapman University School of Law who teaches intellectual property law.

Then Bell paused for a moment and reconsidered. "There's a risk you could say it covers things like even a digital clock program on your computer," he said.

This is all laughable because the very people they seek to control are perfectly capable of cracking any protection scheme they come up with. The injured parties are the rest of us, who will find our newer hardware incompatible with existing systems. Worse, existing systems won't play upcoming content. Ah, for the good of all consumers indeed....

The song is slightly different, but I recognize the tune:

ABCNEWS.com : Report: Taliban Plans Suicide Bombings

He [a senior Taliban official] told the paper that he had visited Kandahar and Helmand provinces, where he conferred with Taliban leaders, including his brother, Abdul Haq, who was a minister in the regime before it was driven from power.

"We have some 300 suicide bombers ready to attack the American installations in Afghanistan," he said, adding that he believes that Pashtun tribes will rally to their support rather than accept a government that was imposed by foreigners.

"We are waiting for the snow to melt," said another Taliban member, who is in a refugee camp near the border. "Most of our fighters are still there and can be activated at short notice."

Waiting for the snow to melt? I thought our troops were the ones who would be overwhelmed by the "harsh Afghanistan winter"?

This entire notion of the "suicide bomber" bears some future investigation.

Again, from all I've read if we are to believe Arafat then, by his own words, he is less than irrelevant. He can't stop Hamas and their ilk from continuing their suicide attacks. He claims he's not responsible and has no control. He is, in short, not a leader of any sort, so sad, too bad, bye-bye.

You know, another country used suicide attacks near the end of a long, bloody war. Japan. The final acts of a desperate group of people. And you remember how that turned out.

CNN.com - Fighting 'room-to-room' at Arafat headquarters - March 29, 2002

"(Arafat's) life is in danger and he is facing, with his freedom fighters, this Israeli aggression which should be stopped immediately," [Arafat spokesman] Abu Rudeineh said. Arafat continued to make phone calls to Arab leaders, he said, and had spoken to U.S. Middle East Envoy Anthony Zinni who was in Jericho to meet with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.

What should be added: "...should be stopped immediately because they are kicking our asses!"

What's remarkable is how Arafat is perceived as having any authority or power. If we accept him at face value (ha!) and believe what he says (haha!), then why talk with him at all. His spokesman says "we have nothing to do" with any suicide attacks, and if so, he plainly can't stop them. So to heck with him. He is irrelevant and immaterial, a pitiful and whining excuse of a figurehead.

Or are the Israelis right when they [Sharon] says, "Arafat has established a coalition of terrorism against Israel. He is an enemy...."

Arafat held a news conference in Ramallah on Thursday, saying Palestinians were ready to implement a U.S. cease-fire plan "without any conditions."

But Israeli officials were skeptical. "We're quite fed up with those declarations that Arafat makes every time he feels the pressure is mounting on him," said Gissin. "He has to take real action. Declarations won't do. They won't get him off the hook."

Surprise response?

FoxNews.com: Arab World Reacts Harshly

"Hours after the Arab peace initiative was issued from the Beirut summit, Israel replied with a barbaric war and a flagrant and brutal aggression," said a statement issued by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, chair of the Arab summit that ended Thursday.

This from the man whose nation would not let Arafat address the very conference where this "peace initiative" was drafted. Was this their way of saying he is irrelevant?

Even better:

Ahmed Maher, the Egyptian foreign minister, said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's action is "foolish, illegal and a message of war and aggression to the Arabs as a response to their message of peace."

This from a nation that didn't even attend, and therefore sign/endorse, this "message of peace."

And the hits just keep on coming:

In Iraq, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, President Saddam Hussein's deputy and Iraq's top representative at the Beirut gathering, said the latest Israeli incursions inside Ramallah were "a Zionist reaction to the Arab unity in the summit."

This from the country that demonstrated its sense of "Arab unity" by waging a long, bloody war against a neighboring Arab country, invaded another (from which it had to be forcibly ejected), and slaughters its own citizens. Peacelovers, these.

And our friends the French:

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri telephoned French President Jacques Chirac who told him that "the French leadership condemns this attack" and was ready to help, according to Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath, who met with Hariri Friday.

Just makes one want to shake their head in wonder.

Cool indeed:

FoxNews.com: White House Responds Cooly to Arafat Offer

WASHINGTON — A carefully worded, almost skeptical reaction came from the White House Thursday to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's announcement that he will immediately begin implementing a cease-fire and start neutralizing Palestinian terrorists.

National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack told Fox News: "We've heard what Chairman Arafat has said. We are examining what he said. We are looking at his words."

Not that his words have meant a thing of late. Arafat always starts talking like this when the Israelis come a-knockin'.

Demonstrating a certain insanity....

FOXNews.com: Israel Invades Arafat's Compound

A defiant Arafat huddled with his closest advisers in a ground-floor room of the three-story building. With a submachine gun placed next to him on a table, he spoke by phone to world leaders and demanded immediate international intervention. "They want me under arrest or in exile or dead, but I am telling them, I prefer to be martyred," Arafat said in a telephone interview with Al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite television channel. "May God make us martyrs."

How do you talk to someone who prays to be made a martyr? If he was Christian they'd call him insane.

Hmm, fit and apt description?

Sgt. Stryker reports on the planned "anti-war" rally in Washington DC, April 20th. Oh my!

And the next phase begins in earnest....

Israeli Forces Surround Arafat HQ

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 29 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Arafat “an enemy” and announced Israel would mobilize military reserves to take “widespread action” to deal with an increase in Palestinian terror attacks. Shortly before his announcement, Israel sent troops into Arafat’s West Bank compound and called up army reserves for an extended military operation in the Palestinian areas — in response to a string of terror attacks that killed 27 Israelis in two days.

Israel is calling up 20,000 reservists. Sharon says that Arafat is an enemy and is to be isolated...for now.

If you would like to read the text of the proposal: The Arab League peace proposal.

The latest....

osama's bin bloggin

No complaints here

CNN reports that aggressor-in-chief Bush calls on Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to "do everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing" after a Hamas freedom fighter kills 15 infidels and destroys an Israeli hotel. Now, I personally never cared much for Arafat - I think the wimpering little weasel is pretty much a has-been. But every time he keeps a promise to arrest some agents from Hamas, Hezbollah and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, it seems to me that the number of suicide bombings tends to increase, so who am I to complain?

As promised, further info on Japanese rape laws:

Sexual Harassment and Domestic Violence in Japan - Yukiko Tsunoda

Unlike the U.S. or western countries, Japan has maintained an old-fashioned rape law under which a victim is still required to show evidence of having resisted. Also, a victim's tacit consent or the rapist's misunderstanding of consent is still accepted as an effective defense by the legal system.

This is not the original article I read, which was attached to a Time.com article on the original reporting of the Okinawa rape case (and is no longer available at their web site without paying a fee). However, it provides the same information, and a whole lot more. The author is a Japanese attorney. The article itself is date 1997, so it is possible that some things have changed.

Isn't this what people are condemning the Catholic church for?

University of Minnesota Press book challenges anxiety about pedophilia

Sex between adults and children has been a societal taboo so strong that it's considered one of our few unquestioned moral principles. But arguments have emerged in academic journals, books and online that at least some such sex should be acceptable, especially when children consent to it.

So, it's okay if university studies say so? But if you're a priest, you bastard!?!

This gets lots of press coverage:

Documents Show Energy Official Met Only With Industry Leaders

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- As he helped the Bush administration write its national energy report last year, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham heard from more than 100 energy industry executives, trade association leaders and lobbyists, according to documents released by the Energy Department.

But this doesn't:

Energy sought greens' advice -- The Washington Times

The Bush administration sought the advice of environmental groups in drafting its energy plan, but several declined to participate or suggested that Bush officials check their Web sites for information, just-released documents show.

A month and a half before President Bush's energy plan was announced, the Energy Department contacted Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, the World Resources Institute, Resources for the Future and four other groups to discuss conservation and energy efficiency.

However, an unstated number of other environmental groups rebuffed administration overtures.

"Not all organizations were responsive. Several did not return phone calls and messages," including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Energy Department said in an August 2001 letter to the General Accounting Office, which was released Monday night.

Makes for an interesting contrast. Thanks to OpinionJournal.com's Best of the Web for pointing this out.

Ah well, it was a lovely dream....

‘Star Wars’ to bow on low-tech film

March 28 -- No one in the movie business has pushed harder for digital technology than George Lucas and his Lucasfilm Ltd. His coming “Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones” is the highest-profile film ever created with digital cameras, and it incorporates cutting-edge computer-generated imagery in every shot.

BUT WHEN THE FILM rolls out to theaters on May 16, all that digital wizardry will be transferred to low-tech rolls of celluloid that run through old-fashioned film projectors. Indeed, after years of hype surrounding the high-tech future of motion pictures, there still are only 27 U.S. theaters where moviegoers can see a film that’s projected digitally, though industry officials say there may be more digital screens in operation by May.

Lucas had originally planned on releasing Episode 2 to digital theatres first, film second. Obviously plans have changed. The film industry keeps getting held back by the same, er, people who cry desperately for Hollins's horribly misnamed Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, (formerly the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act). No one wants to risk anything toward anything new.

Ah well....

The voice of the enemy:

CNN.com - Hamas spokesman: Palestinians to continue fight - March 27, 2002

HAMDAN: I am not talking about eliminating Israel. I am talking about fighting for freedom against Israel's occupation of our lands. Israel is always, always trying to talk about (Palestinians wanting) to eliminate Israel. But as Palestinians, we are talking about the occupation.

The Palestinians will continue their struggle against Israel until they reach their goals. The main goal for the Palestinians now is to repatriate their lands and have their own state.

This is a little disingenuous, since the PLO and its attendant tentacles considers all of Israel "occupied territory."

U.S. airman sentenced in Japan rape

NAHA, Japan, March 28 -- A Japanese district court found a U.S. airman guilty Thursday of raping a local woman on the southern island of Okinawa last summer, sentencing him to 32 months in jail and concluding a case that deepened resentment toward American troops stationed in Okinawa.

This conviction is a rare event in Japan, period, US soldier or not. When this case first came out in the press, a related article pointed out how difficult it was to prosecute the crime of rape in Japan. Why? Because Japanese law requires that the victim physically resist. Thus, if the rapist holds a knife to his victim's throat, and she submits rather than be cut from ear to ear, it's not rape. And, tada, Japan states they have a low occurence of rape.

Interesting notion. If I can find the link again, I'll add it for your consideration.

From MIT Technology Review, by Simson Garfinkel:

Identity Card Delusions

But despite their high-tech appeal, smart cards have a checkered track record when it comes to protecting the information they store. In Europe, where smart cards are widespread, hacking them to get free telephone calls or free satellite television is a cottage industry. If some U.S. businesses have access to the “secure” area of smart cards, I find it hard to believe that the relevant know-how and codes won’t, over time, migrate to criminal elements. Already, there are many cases of crooked clerks giving credit cards a second swipe at department stores and making their own copies of their customers’ credit card numbers. If some crook steals your fingerprint, you’re going to be vulnerable to a lot more than simple credit card fraud.

States are asking for the establishment of a national standard for driver's licenses, as well as funding to link all state DMV databases. Why? To formalize what has become, in their beady little minds, the nation's de facto ID card.

Argh! This is being proposed in a day and age when there is no such thing as a standard law enforcement database! Most police agencies within a single state aren't integrated, yet we're going to create a national ID card, joining together 50 different DMV systems? Madness.

Garkinkel comes down well and truly on the side against such a card, and bravo for him. His reasons are even technical in nature, rather than ethical. Good read!

James Lileks eats Nick Kristof alive:

(LILEKS) James : the Screed

People in my camp are often accused of being slope-shouldered keyboard monkeys channeling the spirits of Mars from our warm comfy rooms, urging war! war! war! against Iraq with no thought towards the consequences. The worst consequence, oddly enough, seems to be the defeat of Iraq. Why, this might destabilize the entire region. True. It’s also true that the defeat of Berlin ushered in a brief period of destabilization in southern France. What’s not certain is why stability is our friend - particularly when we are talking about a state, or states, that regard Americans as slick fat curs sucking the hind tit of Satan’s shitzu.

This is apparently in response to a Kristof op-ed in the New York Times that we sue Saddam Hussein.

These are the sorts of things that come from a competitive market and free enterprise.

Our Products/A380 Family

Formal production go-ahead for the A380 was given by the Airbus shareholders in December 2000. The aircraft will make its first flight in 2004, followed by the entry into commercial service in 2006.

The A380 will seat 555 passengers in a typical three-class interior layout.

And....

Boeing: Sonic Cruiser

After extensive conversations with our customers, we are focusing our new product development efforts on a dramatic new airplane that will allow travelers to go where they want to go, when they want to go - directly to their destinations. This exciting new airplane will allow faster, higher, farther flight than any current airplane. It also will be quieter on takeoff and landing. The new design complements our existing product line, which remains in high demand.

Before someone chimes in that these advances only apply to the rich, please do a reality check. Prior to Boeing's introduction of the 747, air travel was pretty much the purvue of the reach. Hence the term "jet set." After the 747, and contrary to almost all predictions of the time, the cost of flying plummeted. The 747 made long-distance air travel economical, and the effect was to lower rates for all flights.

Now we have two major competitors taking two different approaches to the future of air travel. Boeing is apparently satisfied with the performance of their 747 series, so they are attempting to break new group. Airbus is building what can only be described as a Goliath of the air, yet they are seeking to ensure it will operate out of existing airports and airport facilities.

Well bravo. Future air travel looks to be exciting, and promises improvements across the board to all of the travelling public.

Wow, from an editorial by Michael Kelly, commenting/reviewing four new books on the very former President Clinton:

Common Clinton Knowledge (washingtonpost.com)

But there is a common theme, which has to do with the quality that, in the end, made Clinton a most unusual president. It is not, Klein's valiant efforts notwithstanding, a positive quality. What comes across as the most important source of Clinton's uniqueness as president is the nearly unbelievable degree of his essential unfitness to be president -- his profound immaturity, his pathological selfishness, his cynicism, above all his relentless corruption.

Why is all of this coming out now? Why did everyone wait until after the crook was out of office?

And I got this via email:

OBITUARY (The Times, 1/1/2002)

Today we mourn the passing of an old friend, by the name of Common Sense. Common Sense lived a long life but died from heart failure early in the new millennium. No one really knows how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories and offices, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, the early bird gets the worm, and life isn't always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and it's okay to come in second (or even last, as long as your best efforts were given).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including body piercing, whole language and "new math." But his health declined when he became infected with the "if-it-only-helps-one-person-it's-worth-it" virus. In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing regulations.


He watched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seeking lawyers. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero tolerance policies, reports of six year old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student. It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but cannot inform the parent when the female student is pregnant or wants an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports. Finally, a woman who was stupid enough not to realize that coffee is hot, and was awarded a huge payout for her stupidity, caused Common Sense to finally throw in the towel.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights and lma Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

--Anonymous

And now, further lessons of the Middle East:

Myths of the Middle East by Joseph Farah

If you believe what you read in most news sources, Palestinians want a homeland and Muslims want control over sites they consider holy. Simple, right?

Well, as an Arab-American journalist who has spent some time in the Middle East dodging more than my share of rocks and mortar shells, I've got to tell you that these are just phony excuses for the rioting, trouble-making and land-grabbing.

Isn't it interesting that prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, there was no serious movement for a Palestinian homeland?

"Well, Farah," you might say, "that was before the Israelis seized the West Bank and Old Jerusalem."

That's true. In the Six-Day War, Israel captured Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. But they didn't capture these territories from Yasser Arafat. They captured them from Jordan's King Hussein. I can't help but wonder why all these Palestinians suddenly discovered their national identity after Israel won the war.

The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a Goliathian people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying power.

Pete du Pont weighs in on a story I linked to earlier, about environmentalists lying and forging data to advance their agenda.

OpinionJournal - Outside the Box

So why the lying? It seems deceit is the only way the greens can advance their Luddite agenda. They are ideologically inspired to try to limit, slow and if possible stop economic growth, for they believe that prosperity is harmful to the environment. But our nation's and the world's environments are getting better all the time, in fact so much better so much faster that it is hard to wave the green shirt based on honest data. Subterfuge and misrepresentation are thus left to energize the greens' antiprosperity cause.

Folks with a leftward lean cried and screamed when Enron filed for bankruptcy, about the 3,000 or so people affected (despite the fact that Enron isn't going out of business; they're reorganizing). Yet these same didn't flinch when false data about a spotted owl destroyed the logging industry in Northern California and threw tens of thousands out of work. The hypocrisy is amazing.

Arab solidarity:

CNN.com - Saudi prince offers Israel land-for-peace deal - March 27, 2002

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah called Wednesday for the Arab world to establish "normal relations" and security for Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories, allowing the "return of refugees" and the recognition of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
A short time after Abdullah's speech, however, the summit was thrown into confusion when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was not allowed to address the summit live via satellite.

Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Arafat had been scheduled to speak after Abdullah to offer his support for the Saudi initiative.

But Arafat's broadcast was blocked and the host of the summit, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, adjourned the session.

Arafat was supposed to speak immediately after Abdullah. However, other representatives spoke instead, and then the session was adjourned with Arafat's speech (delivered via satellite TV).

Some interesting blog comments re: the difference between a supposed "quest for immortality" and the real pursuits of modern bioscience:

CharlesMurtaugh.blogspot.com

In fact, my suspicion is that none of the gains in human lifespan over the past two centuries have even the slightest recognizable relationship to a quest for immortality. Instead, each incremental gain was won against the absurd tragedies that beset our forebears: cholera, smallpox, polio, malnutrition. I can't speak for all biomedical researchers, but I know that in moments of immodesty, I can see myself in a line of descent that includes Jenner, Pasteur and Salk: scientists who knew how to recognize suffering when they saw it, and how to distinguish it from something "natural" and good.

Interesting exchange on Slate....

Iraq and Al-Qaida By Warren Bass and Jeffrey Goldberg

Kanan Makiya, the great Iraqi writer and dissident, argues that the Baghdad regime is similar in ideology and practice to the European fascist dictatorships of the 1930s. This makes it fundamentally different from every other ridiculous Third World dictatorship currently holding a seat in the U.N. General Assembly. Saddam's Iraq is the quintessence of a security state, built on paranoia and homicide and Big Brother surveillance; its charismatic and megalomaniacal Great Leader thinks of himself as father of his people; his regime engages in racialist thought; it commits genocide; it seeks Lebensraum; and on and on and on. ...

So, what is conservative, or neoconservative, about Paul Wolfowitz or Richard Perle (or Dick Cheney) standing in the front line against fascism? I didn't realize that the fight against fascism is solely the province of the neoconservative movement. Isn't the real story here not the muscular unilateralism of the neocons, but the moral abdication of the moderate left, which is missing a chance to defeat a genocidal fascist?

Hmmm...? Goldberg is author of....

The New Yorker: Fact

THE GREAT TERROR
by JEFFREY GOLDBERG
In northern Iraq, there is new evidence of Saddam Hussein's genocidal war on the Kurds—and of his possible ties to Al Qaeda.

Some absolutely disturbing reading.

I guess blogging has caught on world wide. Look who has a blog!

osama's bin bloggin

Allah strikes the infidels!

Praise be to Allah, who has ambushed the infidel in the high mountains of Afghanistan, unleashing his power in an earthquake that, reliable reports say, have killed thousands of American, British and other foriegn invaders. Allah shook the mountains of Afghanistan to rid them of the invaders just as surely as housewives in Jalalabad swing the household rugs to rid them of dust and bugs. America and its lackeys can not defeat either the power of Allah or the forces of Jihad. Sadly, Allah's earthquake causes some collateral damage as thousands helpless Afghanis are also killed in the quake.

Oh, if only I had written this....

(LILEKS) James : the Screed

If you ask me, Michael Moore is a gasbag who, if stuck with a pin, would fly around the room until he ended up on the floor as three pounds of wrinkled hot-dog skin and a sweat-stained ballcap. And if he is a balloon, that would mean that his penis is twisted in a tight little knot.

Constitution be damned, full reform ahead!

Bush signs campaign finance bill

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- President Bush Wednesday signed into law a bill reducing the influence of money in U.S. politics, calling the legislation flawed but saying that on balance it improved the campaign finance system.

Opponents promise immediate court challenges. I should certainly hope so!

Oh, Hollywood Babylon....

Julia Roberts’ Oscar blunder

March 27 -- Some Hollywood insiders think the Pretty Woman’s Oscar speech was pretty disrespectful. Julia Roberts, who presented the award for best actor, had openly campaigned for Denzel Washington to win the award. She made no secret of being overjoyed when Washington won.

During her little speech she also tried to make a joke, saying she was glad Tom Conti wasn't there. Her joke was actually directed at Bill Conti, who in past years has conducted the orchestra during the Oscarcast, and thus starts the music that's supposed to urge the long-winded recipients off-stage.

Interesting but potentially depressing article on suicide terrorism:

Few answers for suicide terrorism

March 26 -- Continental Flight 11 blew up on a clear May night over Iowa, its tail shattered. Pilot Fred Gray wrestled the Boeing 707 back to a relatively level pitch and probably could have landed it had its tail not disintegrated.

Puts me in mind of....

The Atlantic | November 2001 | The Crash of EgyptAir 990 | Langewiesche

Two years afterward the U.S. and Egyptian governments are still quarreling over the cause—a clash that grows out of cultural division, not factual uncertainty. A look at the flight data from a pilot's perspective, with the help of simulations of the accident, points to what the Egyptians already know: the crash was caused not by any mechanical failure but by a pilot's intentional act.

Of course, the NTSB just released their final report concerning Flight 990, and did indeed say the co-pilot deliberately crashed the aircraft. They did not identify a motive.

Which leads to an interesting question: How do you stop a suicide aircraft when it's the pilot who is the suicidal one?

Answer: You can't.

Report saying blacks speed more held up -- The Washington Times

The Justice Department has blocked the release of a study of suspected racial profiling after the survey concluded that black drivers speed more often than others.

The department had asked New Jersey officials to determine whether black speeders were being stopped more often as part of a racial-profiling investigation but has put the scheduled January release on hold, questioning how researchers reached their conclusions. ...

Federal officials wanted to know whether black and Hispanic drivers were being stopped for speeding at a higher rate than white motorists and whether appreciable differences between the groups could be attributed to a difference in driving behavior.

The unpublished study, according to sources familiar with its content, found that black motorists exceeded the speed limit more often than either whites or Hispanics. ....

In December 1999, state officials [New Jersey] entered into an agreement with the Justice Department to remedy the problem.

The Pacific Institute study, which used radar guns and high-speed photography to help identify the race of drivers and targeted only those who exceeded the speed limit by more than 15 miles per hour, was part of the state's response to the Justice Department agreement.

More than 38,500 drivers were evaluated, the sources said. Among the drivers specifically identified by race, the cameras more often caught black motorists speeding.

I love government surveys. This is the second suppressed report, though I agree that questions regarding methodology must be answered. Of course, the methodology of all surveys should be questioned; see below (or archives) regarding the spotted owl.

I no longer have the link to the other survey I'm thinking of. It had to do with distracted driving, specifically the use of cell phones while driving. Since it didn't demonstrate that using the phone while driving caused horrific numbers of accidents, the report wasn't issued, in fact was dismissed by the government agency that requested it. What did it show? That lookie-loos (rubberneckers) cause accidents 5x more than people using cell phones. That women putting on their make-up while driving were some 4x more likely to get in an accident than someone using a cell phone. That eating while driving was more often a factor. That changing the radio station was more likely to be a factor in an accident. Finally, 5th down the list, were cells phones. And since that didn't support the goal, the survey was dismissed. Ah, our government impartiality (this was during the Clinton years) in action....

Free speech on campus:

The Daily Texan - Israeli-Palestinian tensions run high at student meeting

Two students were asked to leave a Palestinian Solidarity Committee meeting last week after a speaker said she would not continue until they left.

The co-president of the UT student group Texans for Israel, Liat Avivi, and one of her friends, Yoni Pielet, a civil engineering freshman, left the meeting after Munah Hamzeh, a Palestinian journalist, said she would not speak to the audience with members of Texans for Israel present.
PSC co-chairman Saeed Moody said the meeting was intended to be restricted to Palestinian supporters, although it was not a members-only meeting.

"It was not advertised as a members-only meeting, it was only advertised on the listserv," Moody said. "This was for pro-Palestine members who want to actively promote our views."

At least the campus newspaper published the account. However, in light of comments about how Bush didn't want US delegates listening to Castro's rants (see link below for Castro's speech), here's a college group that actively kicks people out so they don't hear what's being said. And can't object, heaven forfend!

Freedom from around the world....

Saudi Newspaper Said to Be Censored (washingtonpost.com)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia –– The government is censoring a leading Arabic-language newspaper after it published a column saying the Information Ministry controls the press in Saudi Arabia, the paper's regional director and author of the column said Saturday.

In another statement Saturday questioning press freedom in this desert kingdom, a writer criticized the Saudi media for not reporting the firing this past week of an editor whose paper printed a poem accusing Islamic judges of being corrupt and following the orders of "tyrants."
The Interior Ministry ordered the dismissal of Mohammed Mokhtar al-Fala, editor-in-chief of the daily Al-Madina, earlier in the week. The poet, Abdul Mohsen Musalam, was jailed.

Please bear in mind, most of the September 11th hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and were most emphatically not impoverished.

Harry Sees Episode 2!

All right, it's only a movie, but it's also a cultural phenomena. If you don't mind a few spoilers, check out the advance review by Harry Knowles. As for me, I guess I'll be seeing Minority Report the day after it comes out....

Good grief!

Libya's Gaddafi Wants Israel Dissolved for Peace

DUBAI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said Israel should be replaced by a democracy called "Isratine" where unarmed Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace.

As if he knows diddly about peace. Though he was rather quiet after we dropped a few 2,000 pounds bombs on his house....

Rush Limbaugh discusses it, and Cintra Wilson (at least in part) writes it:

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Oscars 2002: Somebody make it stop!

I used to call it the "Noble Cripple and Spade Year" -- it comes around every five years or so. When the Oscar Winner's alumni circle starts to look like the meeting table in "Judgment at Nuremberg," the Academy devotes a year to not looking like racist, Aryan-celebrity-eugenics-worshipping, cracker peckerwoods, and either gives an Oscar for the best dribbling retard performance, or jerks us off with a big, obvious, Slather the African-Americans With Trophies orgy to make up for the previous insulting, five-to-seven-year stretch when barely anybody of color was recognized at all, for anything.

The article is a hoot, if a little harsh on Halle. Most definitely a no-holds-barred view of the Oscarcast, though, as well as Hollywood celebrity in general.

Fidel Castro: A Better World Is Possible

Not everyone here will share my thoughts. Still, I will respectfully say what I think.

The existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and exploitation like no other in history. Thus, the peoples believe less and less in statements and promises.

This from the man whose country has banned the sale of computers. Oh, the entire speech is juicy and would require more time than I have right now to deconstruct. Maybe some time soon. For now, in the interests of equal time, jump on over and read all. Really, it's amusing.

Washington, Berry win top Oscars; 'A Beautiful Mind' takes best picture

[MS-NBC]:March 24 — Hollywood witnessed rare Oscar history Sunday night as two black actors, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, won top acting honors at the 74th Annual Academy Awards. Berry is the first black woman to win a best-actress Oscar. She and Washington became only the second and third blacks to win Academy Awards for leading roles. They follow Sidney Poitier, who received the best-actor Oscar in 1963, and who received a career-achievement award Sunday. The award for best picture went to “A Beautiful Mind,” which also scored director honors for Ron Howard.

Well, at last! First, Denzel has deserved Oscars forever, and I'll never understand how he got only the supporting Oscar in Glory. Ah, the vagaries of acting guilds.

But an especial bravo for Halle Berry! I was amazed that a film producer would offer/pay her half a mil just to go topless (Swordfish), so it's nothing short of GREAT to see her take home the top prize. Her acceptance speech was tremendously moving (though she just hinted at rambling by the end; who cares, she was rocked). Bravo, bravo, bravo!

A model of freedom in the Carribean:

Cuba Bans PC Sales to Public

According to Article 19, Chapter II, Section 3 of the ministry's Resolution No. 383/2001: "The sale of computers, offset printer equipment, mimeographs, photocopiers, and any other mass printing medium, as well as their parts, pieces and accessories, is prohibited to associations, foundations, civic and nonprofit societies, and natural born citizens. In cases where the acquisition of this equipment or parts, pieces and accessories is indispensable, the authorization of the Ministry of Internal Commerce must be solicited."

When asked why computer sales were banned in Cuba, a Washington DC-based Cuban spokesman, Luis Fernandez, said: "If we didn't have an embargo, there could be computers for everybody." What a great, evasive answer.

Information leads to knowledge, and that generates power. Computers and the Internet were a quiet, often overlooked power in the downfall of Communism throughout eastern Europe. Obvious Castro does not want to see a repeat. Castro, of course, is the very definition of fascist, his government a superb example of fascism, a government built around a dictator who is also a strong paternal figure.

For an article on fascism, see Fascism, a part of which reads:

Fascist ideology...emphased the subordination of the individual to a "totalitarian" state that was to control all aspects of national life.

Sounds a lot like Castro's Cuba. Or China, or North Korea, or...hell, all those members of the Axis of Evil.

Soft-Money Record: Democrats Take in $12 Million (2 Gifts)

WASHINGTON, March 21 — A day after the Senate voted to abolish the enormous campaign contributions known as soft money, Democratic Party officials said today that they recently received a $7 million check, the largest known donation in the history of American politics

Thank goodness for the honesty of Democrats. This was urgent legislation...but didn't need to take effect until after this year's November elections. This was vital to the public interest, to keep us all honest...but thanks for the big checks!

The Democrats also recently received a $5 million check from another Hollywood executive, Steve Bing, party officials said today.

Ah, let the money flow! Another interesting exerpt:

Mr. Saban [the donor] said today that he was moved to write the $7 million check after Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, described the enormous gulf separating the Democrats from Republicans in almost every financial category. Mr. McAuliffe said the Republicans' small-donor list is 40 times larger than the Democrats'; the average age of Republican small donors is 48 while the Democrats' average age is 68.

Mr. McAuliffe argued that the Democrats suffer from outdated computers and underfinanced mail and telephone solicitation programs. His presentation to wealthy donors also included a six-minute videotape showing the numerous technical advantages that the Republicans have built over the Democrats in the past two decades. Mr. McAuliffe called it his "scare video."

"When you look at Terry's presentation, you kind of go — 'How can it be that we have two main parties in this country, and one is functioning in the 21st century and the other is functioning in the stone age?'" Mr. Saban said.

I thought the Democrats were the party of youth, yet here the average donor age is 68, 20 years older than the average Republican donor. I thought the Democrats were young, energetic, and embraced technology, yet here again the Republicans are ahead. Last...well, that McAuliffe, head of the Democrat National Committee calls it a "scare video" says it all.

Ah, they must embrace that great Doc Holiday quote from Tombstone: "It appears that my hypocrisy knows no bounds!"

FoxNews: White Professors Say Black Universities Discriminate in Advancement

Fascinating. A case could be made that these lawsuits result from the convergence of several factors. Among them would be affirmative action, and what is oft referred to as our "hyperlitiguous" society (ie, we sue for everything). How so?

Affirmative action, at its core, was about racial discrimination. It was dressed up in pretty language about "balancing inequities" and "correcting social wrongs," but wade through all that and you find the very thing it was meant to correct, racism. Affirmative action sought to codify and allow picking one candidate over another simply on the basis of race. Isn't that the very definition of racial discrimination? Affirmative action merely said that some racial dicrimination was all right. "Some" was defined as the politically correct notion of the moment, which in general means "persons of color."

Now combine that notion with the belief that someone else is always to blame for the stumbles and falls we suffer throughout life. Classic examples abound. A lady puts a cup of hot coffee between her legs, drives away, spills it, and it's MacDonald's fault for selling her the coffee. A motorcyclist gets on his cycle, rides away, hangs a left, and dumps it because he didn't restract his sidestand, so it must be Kawasaki's fault, damn their hides! And today's mystery lawsuit? Lady gets chewed to death ("mauled" is too gentle a word in this case), the owners are found guilty of manslaughter and second degree murder, and the apartment building owner gets slapped with a civil lawsuit by the victim's life mate.

Huh?

Voila, reverse discrimination lawsuits abound. At least they have some merit. Read the article for some especially egregious examples. My personal favorite was the personnel manager who was seeking a new professor. 100 applications were received, none of them from blacks. She was ordered to try again. The one (1) black who applied got the job. Apparently his credentials weren't stellar (which would be a legit explanation for hiring him) because the college settled out of court.

Racism isn't right, isn't defensible, and shouldn't be tolerated, no matter who practises it. That's what all these lawsuits, at least it part, are about.

Anti-Copy Bill Hits D.C.

The Democratic senator [Fritz Hollings] from South Carolina finally has introduced his copy protection legislation, ending over six months of anticipation and sharpening what has become a heated debate between Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

Fer crying outloud, what a mess! Hollywood, an industry that absolutely can not think outside the box! More on another day....

Funniest major corporation story of the day:

AOL mail: OK for others, not itself

IN A humbling reversal, AOL Time Warner Inc. is retreating from a top-level directive that required the divisions of the old Time Warner to convert to an e-mail system based on AOL software and run by America Online’s giant public server computers in Virginia.

AOL, the only company that can successfully make MS look great! For years, AOL users have put up with the horrors of that system's email, including lost email and dropped attachments. Now, tada, the corp offices get to suffer the same fate, only now they'll be escaping. According to the article, other Time Inc. divisions will be able to pick the email system of their choice, and kiss off the entire AOL system. Love ya, see ya!

All you other AOL users...tough!

Mauling trial jurors explain verdicts

“From our point of view, her testimony was not believable,” said Don Newton, 64, foreman of the seven-man, five-woman panel that convicted Knoller and her husband Thursday in the death of Diane Whipple, 33.

And amen! I'll admit right off that I don't like dogs all that much. They're tolerable when they belong to someone else, but I am definitely not a dog person. (Though they seem to like me, especially the huge ones, like Rotts. Strange. Sorta like a cat rubbing up against the one person in the room that absolutely despises cats.)

Apparently their case was not helped by letters written to the dogs' owner...who is in state prison, and whose mail is subject to review before delivery, and thus were entered as evidence in the trial.

Two weeks before the attack, Noel wrote about an incident in which the dogs frightened Whipple as she entered the building’s elevator. In the letter, Noel referred to Whipple as a “timorous little mousy blond.”

After the attack, he wrote another letter bemoaning the death of Bane and vowing to fight for the life of Hera. “Neighbors be damned,” he wrote. “If they don’t like living in the building with her, they can move.”

Now there is a compassionate soul. His dogs kill a woman and it's here fault, "Let my dogs live!" Is there any greater example of how out of whack things are in the world today?

In reference of the secular nature of Saudi Arabia, there's CNN.com - Saudi police face deaths criticism - March 14, 2002

The al-Eqtisadiah daily said firemen scuffled with members of the religious police, also known as "mutaween," after they tried to keep the girls inside the burning building because they did not wear head scarves and abayas (black robes) as required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam.

The English-language Saudi Gazette, in a front-page report on Thursday, quoted witnesses as saying that members of the police, known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, had stopped men who tried to help the girls warning "it is a sinful to approach them."

One civil defence officer told al-Eqtisadiah he saw three members of the religious police "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya."

"We told them that the situation was very critical and did not allow for such behaviour. But they shouted at us and refused to move away from the gates," the newspaper quoted the officer as saying.

At least fifteen students were killed in the fire.

You may recall another country that maintained a "Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice." That was Afghanistan....

While cruising OpinionJournal.com's Best of Web, I read this hilarious bit of hypocrisy from ArabNews: Muslim killings in Palestine and India

India is a secular republic in which anyone with any religion has a share in government and can reach the highest echelons of the state. India has already had two Muslim presidents while many Muslims have served in Cabinet positions. Israel, however, is a Jewish state in which non-Jews, even those that become citizens of the state, do not enjoy equal status. By assuming an exclusive Jewish persona, Israel cannot but encourage others to also emphasize their religious identity.

What makes it so "humorous," of course, is that in Saudi Arabia you can't even enter the country if you're Jewish. If you're anything other than Muslim, you are restricted to where, when, how, etc., of where you go. Saudia Arabia is, in fact, an amazing insular and secular state, one of the most restricted in the world.

Annette (the ooma, the object of my affection) tells of the story of a fellow worker of hers, who is Palestinian born and raised, though also raised Catholic. He was sent to Saudi Arabia on a survey job. His visa was clearly marked who he was, his religion, and he was given a list of restrictions, which essentially said he was not allowed to go to the nearby town, period. One evening he was late returning from worksite to campsite and he strayed in the dark. Soldiers stopped him and for the next hour interrogated him mightily. Fast talking, with the added benefit of actually speaking the language, kept him alive.

And these are the people who talk about Jewish seculartism.... ROFL!

But the editorial grows even funnier. The writer is apparently distraught at comments made in an op ed piece if the New York Times (well, aren't we all?). The gist seems to be that the NY Times bit wonders why it's only the Islam countries that complain about Israeli tactics in the Middle East. China and Mexico, as given examples, don't seem to complain. The author in the Arab News piece then both replies and gives up the game. He writes: "Finally, Friedman [author if NY Times piece] wonders why the Chinese or the Mexicans who might disagree with this or that aspect of American policy do not react against the US as Muslims do?"

This is a disingenuous comparison. We will not know exactly how the Chinese or the Mexicans might react until we create similar situations affecting them. For example, imagine the US supporting the creation of a hostile and expansionist Christian state on Chinese territory somewhere between Shanghai and Beijing. Or imagine the US sponsoring an aggressive Buddhist mini-state on Mexican territory near Acapulco. Only then might we know how the Chinese and Mexicans would react in a comparable situation.

Yet earlier in the editorial, the Arab author noted that a final difference between violence in India and that in Israel is: "There is one more difference. Gujarat is not an occupied territory."

So, at first we are discussing an "occupied territory." (Itself a debateable point; after all, the areas under dispute were taken after Arab nations after being used by them as avenues of attack against Israel. In fact, this "occupied territories" weren't Palestinian, but were portions of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.) But by the end of the editorial, we are in fact (well, author's "fact") discussing a "hostile and expansionist...state." That all Israeli "expansions" have come as a result of Arab attacks is now conviniently forgotten and set aside. It is the classic truth behind the conflict. The goal is not the liberation of "occupied territories," it is the recovery of occupied land. That is, all of Israel.

Saw this over on InstaPundit.com:

PEDOPHILIA DOUBLE STANDARD? Over at The Corner they've been sounding the theme that what's really wrong with the Catholic Church is that there are a lot of gay priests who aren't pedophiles, but who are just having opportunistic sex with teenage boys.

The piece over at The Corner is here. That, in turn, speaks of an op-ed by Bill Bennett published by the Wall Street Journal, which is asking all the indelicate questions.

As the world turns....

Passed without, for now, comment:

When Parents Kill - Why fathers do it. Why mothers do it. By Dahlia Lithwick.

An unfathomable crime -- parents who slay their kids. (This is the SF Chronicle piece referenced in the first article.)

Yahoo! News - Yates Sentenced to Life in Prison Yates Sentenced to Life in Prison
Fri Mar 15, 2:49 PM ET
HOUSTON - After less than an hour of deliberations, a jury spared Andrea Yates from death row Friday and sentenced her instead to life in prison for drowning her children in the bathtub.

So, some day she'll "wake up" and realize what happened, what she did, and have to live with that. Ah, compassion. Meanwhile, please note that her "life" sentence means she eligible for parole in 40 years. As said, there is seldom any such thing in this country as "life without the possibility of parole." (And, yes, I am aware of a large number of absolute travesties of justice. I'm speaking in the context of capital cases, wherein the LWOP is presented as the proper sentence, rather than death.)

I still wonder where the huge press coverage is for Mr. Garcia?

Owl data knowingly faulty -- The Washington Times The Washington Times reports that the US must pay a lumber company $9.5 million in damages after denying logging rights to an area of California that an environmental study falsely claimed was habitat to the, tada, dreaded and famed spotted owl.

A quote from one scientist who contributed to the false/faulty(/lying?) report: "I came away with the strong impression that it was, in fact, within my gestalt notion of what suitable nesting habitat is after having walked through dozens of places like this throughout the Sierra Nevada and in other parts of the owl's distribution throughout the West."

His "gestalt notion"? Ah, the wonders of science. He is later quoted in the article as saying that he was sure there were a paid of them there owls somewhere in them there woods; they just hadn't found 'em yet.

Last year I took a prolonged motorcycle ride through northern California, coming from up Lake Tahoe, to Quincy, over to Susanville, etc. Our family used to do a lot of camping in the Quincy area, which always had an active lumber industry. In the mid-1980's, Quincy was a bit of a boom town. Today it's a shell of its former self, all grown out and empty. Riding through town on a Saturday evening was distinctly similar to wandering through a graveyard. Now a newspaper digs up the dirt that much of the movement to stop the logging industry was based on "gestalt notions." This is why so much of environmentalism is called "junk science;" it's an earned title.

Well, at least Susanville was doing all right. They've got that state prison, you know.

Well, why not? After all, Hilary did it:

Tipper Gore Considers Tennessee Senate Seat Bid Tipper Gore, who has never held public office, was approached by Democratic leaders earlier this week and urged to run, the sources said. She has not set a timetable for making a decision.

Well bravo and all that. I hope Al's ego can take it, though. From what I've seen and read, the Clintons don't see much of each other lately.

Once upon a long while ago, I read Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land," wherein Jubal Harshaw comments that Mike, the Man From Mars, would never understand imprisoning someone, especially for the rest of their life. "Better to kill them," I believe is part of the quote.

From that little nub I started to think about the death penalty in moral terms. I believe in and support the death penalty, capital punishment. I feel it is the only rational and moral response to some criminal acts. I disdain discussing capital punishment on other terms, such as money and the like. I don't care how much it costs, because that shouldn't be an issue. Punishment, retribution, vengeance, and even mercy are not central issues, as they are factors in the entire concept of "justice," and thus are part of any sentence. Well, all right, they should be.

"Better a hundred guilty men live and go free than one innocent man die," comes the cry against capital punishment, the death penalty. The people who utter those words...do they ever really consider the costs on both sides of the equation? Arthur Shawcross kidnapped a boy and a girl, both around 12-13 years of age. After raping them, he killed them. He was caught, tried, and convicted, but New York State didn't have the death penalty then. His sentence was 25 to life. He got out after ten years. He's back in prison now, but only after being convicted in the kidnap, sexual assault, and murder of at least 11 prostitutes in the upper NY state area. I say "at least" because that's how many bodies they found; there are still missing victims that we may never know about. Apparently letting this one guilty man go meant eleven others got to die.

(This illustrates another fallacy, that of "life without the possibility of parole," which is often a myth in this country. Charles Manson regularly comes up for parole hearings after having his death sentence overturned. But that's another debate.)

In any event, focusing on Andrea Yates, I have to ask why she wants to live? She killed her own children. Of course she's a wacko, that's a given. Why let her live a continued, tortured existence with the memory of what she did? To me, that is cruel and unusual punishment.

This was all brought to mind by wacko statements made in a New York Times article. A social worker who was a jury consultant for the defense calls the verdict "ludicrous." She didn't even understand why Yates was on trial. "I think people do not understand mental illness." Oh, but I think we do. The question is why allow a psychotic to move among us, or even a prison population, especially one who has demonstrated the ability to kill "loved ones" five times over.

Meanwhile, there's the case of Adair Javier Garcia in Los Angeles, who killed five of his six children this past Februrary, while also attempting to kill himself. The district attorney's press release is longer than the original three paragraph piece in the LA Times. There was a follow-up about the delayed arraignment, but the longer piece was given over to the theft of money being donated to the man's surviving daughter (and aren't those thieves little bastards).

Garcia was described as depressed for the week leading up to the murders, made so by his estranged wife leaving him and the children. So obviously his wife shares in the blame for the murders, just as Yates's husband does? We'll probably never know, because Garcia's story doesn't get anywhere near the press play as Yates. A search of the LA Times website--using Garcia's name--turned up only the above three references. I'm afraid to count the number of hits if I did a search on "Andrea Yates".

Priceless quote:

"I shouldn't have done it," Andrea Yates says, adding that the drowning of her five children was "a bad choice."

You don't say?!?!?

All right, here let's try again! Third time is the charm, right? It appears that Blogger doesn't like Mozilla, since halfway through an edit I lost the menu bar and thus the post/post & publish buttons. Clicked the publish button a little further down, software acted like it did something, came back in via MSIE v5.01 and, voila, all I had written was gone. Lovely.

What I've been trying to write here is that I'm fascinated by the entire blog process as a movement. Most blogs have links to other web sites, all containing a huge variety of divergent points of view, and it is that very aspect that I enjoy. I despise censorship as a matter of principle. On the other hand, free speech does not guarantee an audience. Thus, you blog and people either read you or they don't. By a series of hits and misses, a community begins and off to the races we all go. Fascinating.

The New York Times (link requires registration) reports on the great confusion of the United Nations with U.N. Chief Tells Israel It Must End 'Illegal Occupation'. The article does correctly refer to these "occupied territories" as conquered by Israel in 1967. What is always forgotten is that there never has been a country called Palestine, that it was a territory designated with that name. Further, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, etc., were taken from invading countries because those countries consistently used these areas as paths of invasion into Israel! They were taken in self-defense to hold back future invasions (as in the 1973 war, six years after they were occupied). This noise about their being "occupied" is nonsene. They are conquered, taken during time of war, have a nice day. Unless, of course, you follow Arafat's Fatah movement's definition of occupied territories as all the land that the Jews have held since 1948, i.e. all of Israel. Far too honest for most of the press, I fear.

Did you hear the news? She's guilty! I know that's shocking to many, but was there ever any doubt that she did the deed? She confessed! Even her defense attorney(s) say she did it. That was never an issue.

Now, on with the penalty phase. Death would be nice. Yes, I support the death penalty because it so many crimes it's the only rational response. Yes, she's insane; all the more reason. I don't understand how it's "humane" to lock her up for the rest of her life.

There's also the matter of safety, even of the inmates she'll be locked up with. She killed her own children. How much hesitation will she demonstrate toward a stranger?

In national news, CNN reports on Bush's plans for the use of nuclear weapons. I know this may be shocking to many, but everyone plans for everything. I am sure that in some deep, dark pocket of the Pentagon you will find plans for the US invasion of England for the purpose of liberating Ireland. And I'm sure that somewhere within the British Ministry of Defense you'll find plans on retaking the Thirteen Colonies. Happens all the time.

No, what I find appalling is that this was a classified report that was shown to Congress. Now, voila, it's in the news. Can those magnificent loons we elect ever keep their yaps shut? I think not!

Catching up on old business....
Gotta laugh:

"I don't think that I can summarize those," Allchin said. "I'm not an attorney."

That's Jim Allchin, Microsoft vice president and the man in charge of their Windows section, admitting that Microsoft broke laws. He just wouldn't specify which laws, which is fair since it's not his job to point out to anyone what MS did or might have done. Still, it's amusing, almost as amusing as....

"I couldn't do what you've got here [remove Internet Explorer from the Windows operating system]," said Allchin, suffering from a severe cold. "Forget about any business thing. Technically I just couldn't do it."

And in the next sentence of the story, Allchin admits that the company "has done no studies to see if it could be done." He also conveniently forgets that the DOJ demonstrated that IE can successfully be removed from Windows.

Good grief!

A 5ft 1in firewoman who is too short to carry out some of her duties yesterday claimed sex discrimination after she was taken off active duty.

The story recounts how she can't handle much of the fire equipment, and that the East Sussex Fire Authority "failed to accomodate her height when designing equipment in the operation of fire appliances." Some of the "equipment" includes the emergency keys in lifts (elevators, that is), which meant she was unable to respond to any emergencies involving lifts.

Sorry, but the physical inability to do somethings does not constitute discrimination, period. And if you can't work the key and can't handle a standard emergency, you can't do the job.

Brock Meeks summarizes the day's events re Microsoft versus the US DOJ at MS Justice Settlement.

Ah, newness. Obviously there's a learning curve involved here. Homework is called for before...disclosure.