BBC reports The latest bombings and bloodshed in Baghdad have meant that violence in Iraq has once again been dominating the bulletins on Arab satellite television stations. The fact that Iraqi civilians are the main victims of the attacks is increasingly being stressed in reports, interviews and comments. This has raised questions in some parts of the Arab media about the legitimacy of the groups carrying out the attacks, although the blame for the upsurge in violence is still mainly being placed on the Americans. The coverage of the violence in Iraq by Arab satellite television stations has undergone a perceptible change in recent months. Al Jazeera - often accused by the Americans of stirring anti-US feeling - has adopted less of an "Us and Them" approach. The militants are no longer referred to as the "resistance" but as gunmen or suicide bombers. Eyewitnesses are shown denouncing them as "terrorists" - condemnations that are echoed by a parade of Iraqi officials and religious authorities. One recent attack drew this comment from the al-Jazeera reporter: "Most of the time it's civilians who pay the price for the violence that has cost thousands of their lives". Al-Jazeera's main rival, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya, has also shown little sympathy for the bombers - a recent report, instead, painted a favourable picture of British soldiers patrolling Basra.
TheAnchoress: blogged This, I think, indicates a positive, rather than a negative trend, although, somehow, I don’ t believe the NY Times would agree.
Cori Dauber blogged Don't see it yourself? You must not be watching the right networks.
Betsy blogged Here's a small sign that things may be shifting in the Arab world regarding Iraq.
Marc @USSNeverdock blogged It is truly a sheer joy to wake up these days. Everyday it seems there is more and more bad news for the left and good news for the right.
I am surprised it took this long for the Arab media to realize what a small number of Arabs were doing to other Arabs.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Iraq violence shifting Arab media
McCain v Hillary
Zogby International reported McCain Would Trounce Hillary in ’08 Match-up, 54%-35%
The survey finds that both senators far outdistance their nearest competition for their parties’ nominations—but in a head-to-head match-up, the Arizona Republican bests the New York Democrat by 19 points, leading her 54% to 35%. McCain would also defeat Massachusetts Senator—and former Democratic presidential candidate—John Kerry by a full 20 points, 55% to 35%. McCain has majority support in every single geographic region of the country. But more telling may be the fact that, even in the states carried by Kerry in 2004, McCain comes out comfortably on top—leading Clinton by 49 to 38% and Kerry by 50% to 40%. Among the states carried by President Bush, the margin is even wider, giving McCain a 58% to 33% lead over Clinton and 59% to 32% lead over Kerry. McCain leads with most demographics, though Clinton would best him narrowly among Hispanic voters (45% to 38%) and would win African Americans by 80% to 19%. But that 19% would be the highest vote tally for a Republican with African Americans in decades. McCain leads Clinton with every age group except voters under 30, where the two are in a dead heat.
James Joyner blogged While I'm surprised by the margin of McCain's lead, its existence is to be expected. Hillary Clinton is one of the most polarizing figures in recent American history whereas McCain is a "maverick" and a war hero and the darling of the press corps. The media love McCain because he grants them lots of access and is willing to go against his fellow Republicans time and again. That makes him a "straight shooter" and a "maverick." That's fine when it's McCain against other Republicans. I guarantee that, if there's a McCain-Clinton matchup in the 2008 general election, the press will discover that McCain is actually a right wing extremist religious zealot who hates women, the poor, and minorities.
Alexander K. McClure blogged Just after I posted this, I realized that the cynics among you will ask who the Republican candidate is. I know, but for this poll, it’s John McCain.
This is an interesting, but meaningless, poll. Hillary is practically guaranteed the Democratic nomination, yet McCain does not have a snowball's chance in hell of getting the Republican nomination.
Bush's Calling
Wilfred M. McClay wrote in Commentary Magazine Among all the things that liberals loathe about George W. Bush, his religious fervor would seem to be at or near the top of the list. Some consider him a mere pretender, or a hypocrite, lashing out at his post-9/11 persona as a world-transforming warrior with bumper-sticker barbs like “Who would Jesus bomb?” For the most part, though, liberal animus toward Bush’s faith comes from the opposite direction. It is his religious sincerity that infuriates and frightens, especially when contrasted with the easy and empty Bible-toting of, say, a Bill Clinton. One does not have to dig very deep to explain this hostility. There are the familiar issues of the culture war—the “values” divide between red states and blue. There is also Bush’s personal manner, seemingly perfectly calculated to grate on the sensibilities of worldly, secularist elites. But something more profound may be at work as well. What liberals find objectionable about Bush as a born-again Christian is the kind of politician he has become by means of and on account of his faith. But what may be most discomfiting of all is the degree to which, in this regard, he has successfully laid claim to so many elements of the liberals’ own discarded past, and thereby begun to reverse the polarities of American politics.
This is a very interesting piece on Bush's faith and how it drives the opposition to distraction.
Friday, June 24
This Day In History
- 1314 The forces of Scotland's King Robert I defeated the English in the Battle of Bannockburn.
- 1497 The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot, on a voyage for England, spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.
- 1509 Henry VIII was crowned king of England.
- 1647 Margaret Brent, a niece of Lord Baltimore, was ejected from the Maryland Assembly after demanding a place and vote in the body.
- 1793 The first republican constitution in France was adopted.
- 1908 Former President Grover Cleveland died in Princeton, N.J., at age 71.
- 1916 The most lucrative movie contract to the time was signed by actress, Mary Pickford. She inked the first seven-figure Hollywood deal. Pickford would get $250,000 per film with a guaranteed minimum of $10,000 a week against half of the profits, including bonuses and the right of approval of all creative aspects of her films. Not a bad deal for the former vaudeville and stage actress, who once appeared on Broadway with Cecil B. DeMille in "The Warrens of Virginia" for a measly $25 a week.
- 1922 The American Professional Football Association took on a new name. They decided to name themselves the National Football League.
- 1940 France signed an armistice with Italy during World War II.
- 1940 TV cameras were used for the first time in a political convention as the Republicans convened in Philadelphia, PA.
- 1948 Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the United States to organize the massive Berlin airlift.
- 1968 ''Resurrection City,'' a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People's March on Washington D.C., was closed down by authorities.
- 1975 An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 113 people.
- 1987 Actor Jackie Gleason died at age 71.
- 1895 Jack (William Harrison) Dempsey (boxer: ‘The Manassa Mauler’: world heavyweight boxing champion [1919-1926]; NY restaurateur; died May 31, 1983)
- 1919 Al Molinaro (actor: Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi)
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Lightening, Thunder then Rain..
Iraq the Model blogged Okay, I think that "Lightening" updates have become a regular item on this blog, so here's today's-rather short-briefing of what's been happening as to this operation and other activities of security forces in Iraq in the last 24 hours. Since the Operation Lightening started 1215 were arrested and 49 weapons caches were found, 303 searches and inspections and 67 raids were performed. Also the number of checkpoints placed reached a total of 1519 and 4340 patrols roamed the streets of Baghdad; an Iraqi government official said yesterday.
And strangely I don't recall the MSM reporting it.As to the operations of yesterday; government officials said that 91 terrorists and suspects were arrested throughout the country. Among yesterday's arrests, 4 wanted terrorists were captured in Tikrit and other 18 suspects in the north western sector; one of who confessed that he smuggled weapons to the terrorists. Two IEDs makers were arrested also as well as 7 men suspected of being responsible for assassinating a member of Baghdad's city council. In Mosul, two significant arrests were made when the security forces captured 2 of Abu Talha's senior aides namely Abu Sarhan and Abu Nabhan who surrendered without any resistance.
Good newsIt's worth mentioning that these two terrorists were nominated to succeed Abu Talha in leading the Qaeda branch in Mosul and they were also leaders for their own terror cells that carried out many attacks that killed many Iraqi civilians, clerics and officials. In Baghdad, 28 suspects were captured by Iraqi soldiers with support from American troops. In Baquba, 2 terrorists attempting to perform an attack with a vehicle loaded with explosives were arrested at an Iraqi army checkpoint south of the city. In Adhamiya, A'amil, Saydiya and Yarmouk neighborhoods in Baghdad, 20 terrorists and suspects were arrested during raids carried out by special forces teams of the interior ministry. In Al-Risala district south of Baghdad, a tip came from an Iraqi civilian lead to the arrest of 8 suspects who fled a spot from which the interior ministry complex was attacked. This arrest was done by task force Baghdad.
With Operation Lightening apparently entering its last chapters, Iraqi interior minister announced that this operation will be followed by a couple of other massive operations with the names "Thunder" and "Rain". As contrary to the mainly general Lightening, Thunder will aim at selected targets to eliminate terror elements that might have escaped the Lightening and the Thunder is supposed to depend mainly on tips from citizens and intelligence information. While the Rain is going to be-according to the minister's words-more like an intensified search operations from house to house to collect unauthorized weapons and eliminate any remaining security threats. I have noticed that the governemnet followed a logical sequence in choosing the names of the security operations; I mean names were obviously based on the fact that we normally see the lightening first, hear the thunder shortly after that and finally rain would start falling...Makes sense, no? Anyway, the minister expressed the minstry's ambition to see a great improvement in the security situation here after these operations are finished.
Personal property seizures
CNN reported The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private economic development. It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights. The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.
That is the way it should be.As a result, cities have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes to generate tax revenue. Local officials, not federal judges, know best in deciding whether a development project will benefit the community, justices said.
And if you can bribe a local official, you can get him to steal property you want to use."The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including -- but by no means limited to -- new jobs and increased tax revenue," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. He was joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a key swing vote on many cases before the court, issued a stinging dissent. She argued that cities should not have unlimited authority to uproot families, even if they are provided compensation, simply to accommodate wealthy developers.
DJ Drummond blogged Court Appointments Matter - because the United States Supreme Court has just decided that your city council can throw you off your own land, in order to accomodate luxury hotels and exclusive clubs. Do not ever, ever, vote for a liberal Democrat or fake Republican again. Your home may depend on it.
Glenn Reynolds blogged OUR STATIST SUPREME COURT STRIKES AGAIN: They've had quite a run lately.
This is outrageous. Read syllabus, Justice Stevens's opinion, Justice Kennedy's concurring opinion, Justice O'Connor's dissenting opinion, Justice Thomas's dissenting opinion.
O'Connor, Not Rehnquist?
William Kristol wrote in Weekly Standard But it is speculation.
And his aides will have an argument to make to conservatives (like me) who would be unhappy with a Gonzales pick: Bush would not, after all, be replacing a conservative stalwart like Rehnquist with Gonzales. Gonzales would be taking O'Connor's seat, and Gonzales is likely to be as conservative as, or even more conservative than, O'Connor. Indeed, Karl Rove will continue, Gonzales is as conservative a nominee to replace O'Connor as one could find who could overcome a threatened Democratic filibuster. Bush aides will also assure us privately that when Rehnquist does step down, Bush will nominate a strong conservative as his replacement. They might not tell us that nominee would be as an associate justice, for Bush would plan to then promote Gonzales to chief justice--thus creating a "Gonzales Court," a truly distinctive Bush legacy. A Gonzales nomination would, in my view, virtually forfeit any chance in the near term for a fundamental reversal in the downward drift of American constitutional jurisprudence. But I now think it is more likely than not to happen.
Dr. Steven Taylor blogged He has O’Connor retiring before Rehnquist, Bush appointing Gonzalez and then, eventually elevating Gonzalez to the CJ position and appointing a conservative to replace Rehnquist. As parlor games go, all fun and all, I suppose, but given the great difficulty that exists in making such predictions, I have some doubts, shall we say. For one thing, I am not as convinced as Kristol is that Gonzales can be confirmed. If he were to go up, it would be Abu Ghraib revisited, not to mention with the current political climate on Gitmo, that, too, would be a huge issue. Somehow I don’t see it happening as Kristol predicts. On a side note: this is not the first place I have read that Rehnquist might not retire as predicted. I certainly hope that that is not the case, given that the man’s health precluded him from even being present much of this sesson of the Court. He’s been there over thirty years and this year is the best year for a retirement, in terms of the electoral cycle. Surely, surely he will step down. We shall see, of course.
John Hawkins blogged If O'Connor were to resign, that would obviously be great news because it would give Bush the opportunity to appoint at least two conservative justices to the SCOTUS. However, whether Bush likes him or not, it would be a huge mistake to nominate someone like Alberto Gonzales who's so moderate that a Gonzales for O'Connor swap would be considered by the base to be a wash.
James Joyner blogged As I argued Sunday, Gonzales would be rather thin gruel indeed for Republicans as a Rehnquist replacement but would be about right in case of an O'Connor or other more moderate justice leaving. Interesting speculation, at any rate.
Hugh Hewitt blogged Bill Kristol writes that he hears it will be O'Connor stepping down next week, not the Chief, and that the Attorney General will be her replacement.
Nathan Hallford, blogged Kristol goes on to explain the argument for such scenario is that Gonzales would be no-less conservative than O'Connor; the battle over confirmation wouldn't be too ugly and when the time came for Rehnquist to step down, a stalwart conservative could be nominated.
John Podhoretz blogged Over at the Daily Standard, Bill Kristol offers some front-page SCOTUS news if he's got it right: O'Connor's retiring, not Rhenquist, which will make it easier for the prez to name Al Gonzales (a moderate for a moderate).
John Cole blogged Well, I have to admit. That is not who I thought would retire
I have always assumed he would submit Gonzales for O'Conner, so if she retires first this makes sense. It does not make sense to advance him to CJ when Rhenquist does retire.
Gitmo
Newhouse News Service has a very humorous piece on Here's What You Need to Know About Gitmo
Here is a sample
Q: What is Gitmo?
A: Contrary to what some suggest, it does not stand for "Git mo' Peking chicken for Muhammad, he wants a second portion." It stands for "Guantanamo," a facility the United States built to see if the left would ever care about human rights abuses in Cuba. The experiment has apparently been successful.
TheAnchoress blogged Can I say I wish I could write 1 thousandofatenth as well as James Lileks on a bad day? The day he wrote this, he clearly was having a very, very GOOD day. I love Lileks when he writes sweet about his family. But I utterly ADORE him when he bites!
Tony Miller commented Whee!!! I wonder if anyone but me has realized that more people have died in Ted Kennedy’s car than have died in Guantanamo Bay
Glenn Reynolds blogged Hysteria and political point-scoring have turned this into a joke. That happens when you overplay your hand.
This is hillarious
Malaysia works to sell Islam on trade benefits
International Herald Tribune reported When he was still Malaysia's prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad was fond of saying that terrorism could not be defeated by invasion, but only by defeating the economic injustices that inspire it. But his message was often lost in his famously abrasive rhetoric. So his address to a summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference before retiring in late 2003, for example, is likely to be remembered more for his invective against Jews than for his call that Muslim nations cast off fundamentalism to achieve economic progress.
Daniel Drezner blogged Two years ago, then-Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammed gave a controversial talk at the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The gist of it was, "We muslims must embrace modernization -- so we can crush the Jews." Two years later, current Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is preaching the first, less offensive part of that message.
Orrin Judd blogged Nothing would transform their politics like economic development.
Economic Development might well transform their politics, but it might just make them more powerful and more able to push their agenda.
Thursday, June 23
This Day In History
- 1868 Christopher L. Sholes of Wisconsin patented his type-writer. A Mr. Remington later turned it into a more practical typewriter. Christopher’s version was a little cumbersome. It was about as big as a desk. And it didn’t have any correcting ribbon. The writer didn’t need any since the huge type-writer hid the paper inside itself so one couldn’t see any typos until after the fact ... a lot like when you forget to use the spell-checker on your computer.
- 1892 The Democratic convention in Chicago nominated former President Grover Cleveland on the first ballot.
- 1917 The ‘Sultan of Swat’ did just that on this day ... he swatted an umpire! Babe Ruth punched an umpire with his fist after he was given the “Yer outta here, Bub!” in a baseball game between Boston and Washington. Ruth, pitching at the time, threw four pitches, all called balls by the home plate umpire. Ruth stomped off the pitcher’s mound to the plate and tongue-lashed Brick Owens with a volley of unmentionable cuss words. Ruth was ejected and fined $100. Here’s the rub. Ernie Shore came into the game and pitched what would have been the fourth perfect game in major-league baseball history as the Red Sox defeated Washington 4-0. In truth it was the only perfect game ever thrown by a relief pitcher. However, Shore came into the game with Ruth’s walk on first so the entire game was not perfect. The base runner was cut down stealing second. “How about that!”
- 1931 Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.
- 1956 Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.
- 1969 Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States.
- 1972 President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation.
- 1985 All 329 people aboard an Air-India Boeing 747 were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland, apparently because of a bomb.
- 1992 John Gotti, convicted of racketeering charges, was sentenced in New York to life in prison.
- 1993 Lorena Bobbitt of Prince William County, Va., sexually mutilated her husband, John, after he allegedly raped her.
- 1995 Dr. Jonas Salk, the medical pioneer who developed the first vaccine against polio, died at age 80.
- 1997 Civil rights activist Betty Shabazz, 61, the widow of Malcolm X, died in New York of burns suffered in a fire set by her 12-year old grandson.
- 2003 Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
- 1894 Dr. Alfred Kinsey (sexual behavior researcher: The Kinsey Report, The Sexual Behavior in the Human Male; died Aug 25, 1956)
- 1894 Edward Patrick David (England’s Duke of Windsor/Edward VIII: only British monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne; died May 28, 1972)
- 1910 Edward P. Morgan (radio/TV reporter: ABC: Edward P. Morgan and the News; commentator: Ford Foundation-funded Public Broadcasting Laboratory: “Let’s face it, we in this trade use this power more frequently to fix a traffic ticket or get a ticket to a ballgame than to keep the doors of an open society open and swinging ... The freest and most profitable press in the world, every major facet of it, not only ducks but pulls its punches to save a supermarket of commercialism or shield an ugly prejudice and is putting the life of the republic in jeopardy thereby.”; died Jan 27, 1993)
- 1929 June Carter Cash (Grammy Award-winning country singer [w/husband, Johnny Cash]: Jackson, If I were a Carpenter; songwriter: Ring of Fire; died May 15, 2003)
- 1948 Clarence Thomas (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Queens Muslim Group
NYT reports The young Muslim men, with beards and bullhorns, work the streets of Jackson Heights on the weekends. They surface at parades and protests around the city, loudly declaring America the enemy and advocating for an Islamic state. Several weeks ago, they publicly tore up an American flag as payback for the reported desecration of the Koran at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Their own videos of violence against Muslims, one with the title "Muslim Massacres," have recently appeared on Queens Public Television. In the annals of New York City's political outspokenness and fringe-group culture, the Islamic Thinkers Society may seem unremarkable at first glance. But after 9/11, in the city most damaged and unsettled by the terrorist attacks, the emergence of this young, however limited, Muslim-American voice is strikingly bold. In its fliers and on its Web site, the group describes itself as an "intellectual and political nonviolent organization," but it bears a strong resemblance to Islamist movements in England that try to unite Muslims by inciting anger. "Wake up and realize that the line has been drawn between the camp of Emaan and the camp of Kufr and there is no middle ground as of right now," reads a glossy publication by the group that is titled "Islamic Revival." In Arabic, Emaan can be translated to mean "faith" and Kufr, "disbelief."
Charles Johnson blogged Suddenly this morning, two stories appear in mainstream media about the Islamic Thinkers Society, covered two weeks ago at LGF; the first is in the New York Times, where the headline stresses the group’s claim that they are “non-violent:” Queens Muslim Group Says It Opposes Violence, and America. The second piece is in the New York Observer, telling the story of a woman who was denigrated and assaulted by this “non-violent” group of Muslim activists: Local Insurgents: ‘Islamic Thinkers’ Menace Gay NY.
Michelle Malkin blogged Lo and behold, the NYTimes profiles the Islamist flag-desecration brigade in Queens exposed a few weeks back by the intrepid Robert Spencer.
Cori Dauber blogged Play Nice - The Times covers an Islamic group in New York that, while claiming to be nonviolent, even the Times clearly finds disturbing. Yet the Times still insists on prettying things up.In Arabic, Emaan can be translated to mean "faith" and Kufr, "disbelief."
Yeah, it can be translated that way, but given the ugliness of the rest of their rhetoric, isn't it a bit more plausible that in context they mean it as "infidel?"
I am certain there are some reasonable, peaceful Muslims, but they need to start speaking up loudly, and helping us to distinguish between them and the jihadists.
Wednesday, June 22
This Day In History
- 1611 English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in present-day Hudson Bay by mutineers.
- 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for the second time.
- 1868 Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union.
- 1870 Congress created the Department of Justice.
- 1874 Dr. Andrew Taylor Still began the first known practice of osteopathy.
- 1911 Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
- 1938 Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling of Germany in the first round of their rematch in New York City's Yankee Stadium.
- 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II.
- 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill of Rights, authorizing a broad package of benefits for World War II veterans.
- 1945 The World War II battle for Okinawa ended; 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed in the 81-day campaign.
- 1969 Singer-actress Judy Garland died at age 47.
- 1970 President Richard Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18.
- 1977 Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up.
- 1981 Mark David Chapman pleaded guilty to killing rock star John Lennon.
- 1987 Actor-dancer Fred Astaire died at age 88.
- 1989 The government of Angola and the anti-Communist rebels of the UNITA movement agreed to a formal truce in their 14-year-old civil war.
- 1992 The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that hate-crime laws that ban cross-burning and similar expressions of racial bias violate free-speech rights.
- 1906 Billy (Samuel) Wilder (Academy Award-winning director: The Apartment [1960], The Lost Weekend [1945]; Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like it Hot, Sabrina, Irma La Douce, The Front Page, Buddy, Buddy; died Mar 27, 2002)
- 1907 Anne Morrow Lindbergh (aviator, author: Gift from the Sea; married to Charles; mother of kidnapped Charles Jr.; died Feb 7, 2001)
- 1909 Michael Todd (Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen) (producer: Oklahoma!, Around the World in 80 Days; developed [w/American Optical Company] Todd-AO system using 65mm cine cameras at 30 fps and wide angle photgraphy [approx 150 degrees]; husband of Elizabeth Taylor; killed in plane crash [1958]; died Mar 22, 1958)
- 1922 Bill Blass (fashion designer)
- 1933 Diane Feinstein (Goldman) (politician: U.S. Senator from California)
- 1936 Kris Kristofferson (songwriter)
- 1941 Ed Bradley (news correspondent: 60 Minutes; host: Street Stories)
- 1954 Freddie Prinze (Preutzel) (comedian, actor: Chico and the Man; died Jan 29, 1977)
- 1964 Amy Brenneman (actress: Judging Amy)
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Kyoto
The Anchoress blogged about several "reality based" pieces on Kyoto:
- Britain Considers Energy Rationing to Meet Kyoto Obligations
British residents could face a form of energy rationing within the next decade under proposals currently being studied to reduce the U.K.'s carbon dioxide emissions to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. Under the proposals, known as Domestic Tradable Quotas (DTQs), every individual would be issued a "carbon card," from which points would be deducted every time the cardholder purchased fossil fuel, for example, by filling up a car or taking a flight. Over time, the number of points allotted to each card would decline. High-energy users would be able to purchase points from low-energy users, with the end result being a trading market in carbon similar to the one already in place in the U.K. for industrial users. - Gassy Senators
If the U.S. had ratified the Kyoto treaty, it would have had to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2012. Bipartisan opposition sank the treaty, and it wasn't even mentioned in the Democrats' 2004 platform — although its demise is always attributed in the press to the work of President Bush alone. With Kyoto itself off the table, senators have been busy trying to forge a Kyoto-lite. John McCain is promoting a bill that mandates emissions be cut to 2000 levels by 2010. Democrat Sen. Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico) has proposed a competing bill that wouldn't reduce the absolute level of carbon-dioxide emissions, but their rate of increase. The game is to get any restriction, no matter how piddling, on carbon-dioxide emissions. As environmental analyst Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute argues, the debate then will forevermore be not whether emissions should be capped, but by how much. Thus, the U.S. will enter a new era of restrictions on its energy consumption. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of coal, oil and natural gas, which account for 85 percent of all energy consumed by Americans. The point of all this is to — insert senatorial furrowed brow here — address the "crisis" of global warming. Global warming is real, and it is probably at least partly man-made. The temperature has risen 0.6 degrees Celsius throughout the past century. Somehow, we still manage to inhabit this planet Earth. It is unclear what catastrophe would occur if, under one of the estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the temperature increased another 1.4 degrees Celsius throughout the next 100 years. - See what it has done to New Zealand
NZ is likely to overshoot greenhouse gas emission Kyoto targets by 30 million tons, reversal of which will cost taxpayers $1 billion or more, going from $500 million in the black to $500 million in the red - See what it has done to Ireland
The growth of the Irish economy in the 1990’s was disproportionately high compared to other countries. This has resulted in Ireland already exceeding its limit. Looking forward, the best estimates put Ireland producing green house gases at a level 35% above its 1990 base in 2008-2012 without emission reduction measures. It would be difficult for Ireland to meet its commitments under the 1997 Protocol without profoundly undermining the country’s ability to compete.
The thing that is wrong with Kyoto is that it exempts countries like China and India, who are rapidly industrializing, and this is what has kept oil prices so high, even with increases in production. It is absoutely foolish for the West to criple its own economies trying to fix the problem, with these two countries generating more new polution that the West can cut back. All countries should be required to cut back emissions if any country is.
Chinese Blogger Slams Microsoft
Wired News reported Twenty-eight floors above the traffic-choked streets of China's most wired city, blogger and tech entrepreneur Isaac Mao sums up his opinion of Microsoft and its treatment of the Chinese bloggers with one word. "Evil," says Mao. "Internet users know what's evil and what's not evil, and MSN Spaces is an evil thing to Chinese bloggers." Mao, 33, knows something about the topic. In 2002, he was one of China's first bloggers, and since then his ideas on harnessing blogs, peer-to-peer and grass-roots technologies to empower the Chinese people have made him a respected voice in the global blogosphere. Today, Mao is a partner in a venture capital firm that funds Chinese internet startups, including a blog-hosting service occupying part of the market Microsoft hopes to move in on with MSN Spaces. The Chinese version of MSN Spaces is linked to the new MSN China portal, launched last month in partnership with Shanghai Alliance Investment, a company funded by the city government here. Last week that partnership plunged Microsoft into the long-standing controversy surrounding the Chinese government's internet censorship policies, after Asian blogs and news reports revealed that MSN Spaces blocks Chinese bloggers from putting politically sensitive language in the names of their blogs, or in the titles of individual blog entries. The words and phrases blocked by Microsoft include "Taiwan independence," "Dalai Lama," "human rights," "freedom" and "democracy." In a statement, lead MSN product manager Brooke Richardson said, "MSN abides by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates. The content posted on member spaces is the responsibility of individuals who are required to abide by MSN's code of conduct."
Richard TPD blogged There are more than 80 million bloggers in China, and according to Isaac Mao they don't all feel happy about what Microsoft is doing. And obviously many in China care a lot about politics and do want to discuss democracy -- in fact, a lot of them comment to this site and do just that. So I'm not letting Microsoft off the hook yet, and I'm not giving in to the argument that only Westerners care about things like this. As several other have noted here, it's not like people in China have a place to go to complain if they don't like their government's attitude toward democracy and freedom. Let me correct myself; there is a place they can go. It's called jail.
Dean Esmay blogged I hope the foofaraw about the whole thing just makes things worse for the government there.
Rebecca MacKinnon blogged Isaac Mao slams Microsoft - And boy does he slam them hard. Hats off to Microsoft's Robert Scoble, by the way, for admitting he was wrong over the weekend. A lesser man would not have had the guts.
Hopefully the bloggers there can come up with other words which people will know mean those things, but which will get past Microsoft's software censorship
Treatment at Israeli Hospital
TBO reported A badly burned Palestinian woman was alternately defiant and tearful Monday after Israeli soldiers caught her trying to enter Israel with 22 pounds of explosives hidden on her body. The woman, who suffered serious burns on her hands, feet and neck in a kitchen explosion five months ago, had been granted permission to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment when she raised the suspicion of soldiers at the Erez checkpoint.
Jan Haugland blogged This is not just a failure to 'rein in' the terrorists. The Al Aqsa thugs have always been under the control of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah itself, and I have seen no reason to doubt that has changed. Even worse is the cult of death that ferments the Palestinian territories, fueled by clerics and politicians, which shows no sign of ending. This massive death propaganda is obviously instrumental in convincing young people that 'martyrdom' is the highest calling.
Captain Ed blogged No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Palestinian Edition - The title of this post is a proverb that keeps proving its wisdom over and over again, in large things and small, but in this particular case it has taken on a despicable hue. The Israelis agreed to admit a Palestinian woman to its country in order to treat her for severe burns after a kitchen explosion left her scarred and in great pain. What did they get for their compassion and generosity? A suicide bomber -- but fortunately, an incompetent one. In its twisted way, it provides a perfect microcosm of the entire Palestinian conflict. No matter what happens, no matter how much the Israelis and the West work to get the Palestinians what they need to heal and live peacefully, the Palestinians only appear interested in killing everyone involved, including themselves. They have sold themselves on death instead of life, and reason and compassion hold no attraction for them.
James Joyner blogged As Jonah Goldberg observes, "I guess there's no word for chutzpah in Arabic."
http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_06_19_corner-archive.asp#066694 blogged I guess there's no word for chutzpah in Arabic. I guess I missed the clause in the Koran condoning this sort of thing.
This is really sad. Israel offers to treat a disfigured woman in their hospital, and she want to repay their gesture by killing as many as she can. And she thinks this is what Allah wants?
Tuesday, June 21
This Day In History
- 1788 The U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.
- 1834 Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.
- 1932 After heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling lost a title fight by decision to Jack Sharkey, Schmeling's manager, Joe Jacobs, exclaimed: ''We was robbed!''
- 1940 Richard M. Nixon married Thelma Catherine ‘Pat’ Ryan this day.
- 1963 Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen to succeed the late Pope John XXIII as head of the Roman Catholic Church. The new pope took the name Paul VI.
- 1973 The Supreme Court ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.
- 1977 Menachem Begin became Israel's sixth prime minister.
- 1982 A jury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr. innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Reagan and three others.
- 1985 Scientists announced that skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were those of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.
- 1989 The Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment.
- 1997 The Women's National Basketball Association made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 67-57.
- 2001 A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., indicted 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.
- 2001 Actor Carroll O'Connor died at age 76.
- 2001 Blues musician John Lee Hooker died at age 80.
- 1731 Martha Washington (Dandridge Custis) (first First Lady of the U.S., wife of 1st U.S. President George Washington; made a mean cherry pie, we hear; died May 22, 1802)
- 1947 Meredith Baxter Birney (actress: Family Ties)
- 1947 Michael Gross (actor: Family Ties)
- 1982 Prince William (William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor) (Prince William of Wales: first future king of England born in a hospital, first to wear disposable diapers, first to attend nursery school; son of England’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana)
Monday, June 20, 2005
Productive Blogger
Keith Robinson blogged Be a more productive blogger was quite a hit with y’all and it caused some very good discussion as well. I’m very glad to have give many of you ideas and I’m glad to say y’all gave me some good ideas in return. Because of that post I started a new site, Successful Blog where I’ll focus on all sorts of issues related to blogging, and I’ve decided to write this follow up. I figured I had to know of more than 13 tips to becoming a more productive blogger, and sure enough, I have quite a bit more. As a bonus, this time I’m also going to throw in a few ways you can use your blog to be more productive in other parts of your life. Here are a few more quick tips
Hat tip to Micro Persuasion
These are good tips
Adult stem cells
Boston Globe reports Although embryonic stem cells dominate public discussion, a number of companies are building treatments, and businesses, around adult stem cells. As Congress spent hours passionately debating the merits and ethics of embryonic stem cell research, nearly 50 Osiris Therapeutics Inc. employees here continued their quiet work on less controversial adult stem cells. Thanks to Food and Drug Administration fast-track designation, Osiris expects to have an adult stem cell-based therapy on the market by late 2007 to combat potentially fatal tissue rejection among leukemia patients undergoing bone marrow transplants. That's one of three adult stem cell-based therapies Osiris currently has in human trials, to the delight of investors who muscled their way into the company's latest funding round to raise $50 million, more than double the expected amount. Another human clinical trial squirts adult stem cells into damaged knees after surgery to regrow meniscus, restoring the tissue that acts as a shock absorber and preventing onset of arthritis. The third experimental therapy being tested in humans -- including patients here at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine -- uses adult stem cells to help replace tissue damaged by heart attacks. Meanwhile, a University of Pittsburgh researcher is tapping adult stem cells in an FDA-approved, university-financed safety trial to rally these cellular repairmen to help fix failing hearts. ''When you inject these cells in, they act like a homing beacon to the heart," said Dr. Amit Patel, director of the university medical center's cardiac cell therapy center. ''The heart's just sending out an SOS signal saying 'Here! Come help me,' " Patel said. The adult stem cells then enlist other cells that deliver building blocks needed to partially restore heart function. Because the patients in the trial are awaiting heart transplants, Patel and others will be able to study their original heart after transplant to determine the impact of stem cell therapy.
TheAnchoress blogged Interesting article in the Boston Globe, in which we finally get to read about the effectiveness and promise in Adult Stem Cell research, information which has been all but suffocated in the shrill (and often intellectually dishonest) debate on Embryonic Stem Cell research. Fascinating stuff. Read the whole thing.
K. J. Lopez blogged The relative silence may be breaking (?); in the Boston Globe today: "Although embryonic stem cells dominate public discussion, a number of companies are building treatments, and businesses, around adult stem cells"
I am very happy to see that companies are pursuing, and getting results, from Adult Stem Cells.
Social Security Plan
Social Security Choice blogged From CQ.com ($):House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas is nearly ready to unveil his long-awaited Social Security plan and is urging Republican leaders to prepare for floor action in July. Thomas wants to package his Social Security changes with a pension law overhaul being fashioned in an Education and the Workforce subcommittee this week.Another key component of the mega-bill Thomas has in mind would be the tax break at the top of the wish list of many investors: erasing the 2008 expiration date on the 15 percent top income tax rate on capital gains. The chief tax writer wants to move his retirement package as soon as possible. A senior House Republican said Thomas, R-Calif., could unveil his plan as early as this week. “I suggest no one take a vacation next week,” Thomas told reporters on June 17.
This is going to be a MONSTER BILL. If I were a betting man, I suspect Thomas will provide support for DeMint’s Social Security proposal somewhere in his bill. Stay tuned…
We discussed earlier What A Social Security Deal Could Look Like, and we also discussed that Social Security plan backed in new poll and Social Security Reform is going to happen. As Andrew Roth said, the DeMint social security bill. I personally would rather see the DeMitt plan voted on by itself; lumping it in with removing the 2008 expiration date on capital gains and pension law reform may make it impossible to get through the Senate, and having too many things in one bill may make it harder to use against the Dems in 2006, but at least we are seeing some action.
Who's Imploding
Michelle Malkin blogged I received a mass e-mail from Anne Lewis of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Friday. It was titled: "Right-Wing Implosion." And these folks think they are members of the "reality-based community?"
Who's imploding?
You. Tell. Me.
The Dems just can't get over the fact that their 40 year domination of congress is over, and they are no longer in control. They act like they think they still are in power. They even think they have a Virtual Majority. They hold fake committee meetings hoping to fool people on CSPAN. Their second highest leader in the Senate makes rediculous comparisons that hurt the country, and their Party Chairman doesn't even understand the difference between liberalism and socialism.
