Laurence sez:
"I like Trackback... it's great for seeing who points to your material and comments on it on their own site. Technorati is pretty good abut sweeping through blogs upon pinging, but not everybody pings and the Trackbacks are real-time upon publishing."
I might as try a two-fer:
Frank of IMAO wants to test his Trackback, so here's my test ping too.
BTW-Movable Type is way cool...thanks to Michele for converting me at TCP.
According to Time Magazine people are stealing music and movies!
"sales of MP3 players 56% over 2001. And while consumers bought about 680 million albums last year, they purchased 1.7 billion blank CDs — up 40% from the year before. "
Yeah, duh? This is news?
Even Josh Quitner cops to downloading. Pretty funny when you consider his employer owns a goodly sized chunk of the entertainment media being downloaded.
Then there is this inteview with Jobs:
TIME: "Rip.Mix.Burn" has been Apple's mantra as of late. Why go legit now?
Jobs: "Rip.Mix.Burn" was never not legit. When some folks thought "Rip.Mix.Burn" was an anthem to steal music, it was just because they didn't know what they were talking about. They obviously didn't have any kids living at home. This was the 50 year-old-crowd that thought that.
Um...let me think...who would be more likely to pay for a mpg download... a 20 yr old college student living in dorm surfing via an edu network or a 50 yr old with a good income?
You have to hand it to Jobs...he is the EveryReady bunny of the computer biz.
Cuba has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, angering U.S. officials who likened the move to choosing a gangster to protect a bank.
Cuba was selected for a new three-year term Tuesday after the U.N. Economic and Social Council chose 24 countries to serve on the commission.
The Council is the parent body of the Human Rights Commission, which sits in Geneva.
The vote follows a recent Cuban government crackdown on dissent that has been criticized around the world.
Cuba recently prosecuted nearly 80 pro-democracy dissidents, sentencing them to lengthy prison terms for treason and subversion. Authorities also executed three men earlier this month convicted of hijacking a ferry with the intent of reaching the United States.
Amnesty International Page on Cuba's Human Right Abuses
Of course it's all our fault.
Whomever wrote the MT import instructions must be on drugs...or the NyQuil is getting to me...Oooooo what are those little black things scurrying around the floor?
:::banging head on desk::::
Nevermind.
I'll get this straightened out ASAP. as I figure out what caused the dual import. Anyhoo it's great to be back online and annoying strangers without the threat of arrest or bodily harm.
I think we have a css problem.
Well it's butt ugly but it's up...not too bad considering I'm chugging NyQuil.
Now to import my greymatter archives. THAT should be tons of fun.
In limbo I am...Netsol is having database "issues". Guess I'll update this page until they turn off the lights and I have the new site ready.
Well...isn't this diabolical?
Foolsblog shall be consumed by the fires of a failed host. Click here to find out WTF is going on with Ken Layne.
Foolsblog is moving to HostingMatters the site may be up & down for a day or two
Russell Warlow provides a sneak preview of the Weasels next move:
"At this point, I can't honestly register any surprise, which says a lot about how some Americans - certainly not an insignificant minority - view the N3 nations right about now. These countries are currently in a Madonna phase: they've behaved so bloody crappily so manifestly for so many months that some mere intelligence communiques from the Germans giving Saddam vital stats on US forces, messages between Coalition leaders and the KFC secret recipe isn't enough to shock the public any more and keep them interested. It seems to me that before long, Schroeder, Chirac and Putin would have to put out a racy, explicit coffee-table book entitled Treachery, with lots of graphic, kinky photos showing them dressed up in S&M leathers handing Top Secret documents to Iraqi officials. The American public gets angry again, and all the worthless, turtle-necked, pseudointellectual shitbags residing in France and American campuses can point out how wonderfully it encapsulates Foucault's daring post-structuralist expositions on discourse, power and dominance. It's win-win!"
Read the rest.
Lileks does it again: "France is like someone who’s been given a glimpse of the future, sees himself committing suicide, and resolves to spend his remaining days making it look like murder. "
Chirac is in trouble when the Socialists openly diss him:
US seizure of Baghdad provokes political crisis in France
American military successes in Iraq have provoked severe factional conflict within the French ruling elite. The government, mostly backed by the official left parties, faces violent feuding within its own right-wing UMP (Union for a Popular Majority). The foreign policy of President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is itself in disarray, seeking simultaneously to appease the US and build up an independent European position.
After it was clear that Iraqi resistance in Baghdad was failing, President Chirac lost no time in praising the slaughter and the occupation of Iraq. Chirac announced on April 10 that he “rejoiced” at the fall of Baghdad to US troops. He subsequently added that a “democracy” could never fail to rejoice at the fall of a dictatorship. In his speech to the United Nations on April 7, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin stated: “The American and British military presence in the region enforces our collective will.”
French ruling circles have not completely abandoned hope that they will be able to profit from the occupation of Iraq and whatever reconstruction takes place there.
I hesitated to write this...that many might rightfully say, well aren't you part of the problem? However Michele, as usual, is fearless. Her posting on NOW using this henious murder to drive their agenda is not to be missed.
The item that Laci Peterson's murder case is tied to Roe V Wade started here:
The head of the National Organization for Women's Morris County chapter is opposing a double-murder charge in the Laci Peterson case, saying it could provide ammunition to the pro-life lobby.
"If this is murder, well, then any time a late-term fetus is aborted, they could call it murder," Morris County NOW President Mavra Stark said on Saturday.
Michele comments: "It was not Laci Peterson's choice to die. It was not her choice to have her baby die. There's a big difference between laying on operating table willingly and having your late-term baby taken from you - something I cannot comprehend anyhow - and having that child's life forcefully snuffed out.
Whether the killing of Connor Peterson is or is not murder is not the real issue here.
As far as I'm concerned, Mavra Stark and all of her NOW compatriots should learn how to keep their mouths shut once in a while. It was not necessary for them to weigh in on this story at all. Why take someone's tragedy and turn it into a political debate, if not for the publicity?"
Nothing more to add to that...go read the rest.
However the above story was not the subject of my original thoughts on the Peterson story. The phenomena of a news cult has been building in our popular culture for some time. The massive out pouring of grief for Princess Diana was a culmination of her cult of fame and sudden death, not because we knew her.
There is something deeply disturbing about how we as a society have come to revere victims of violent crime...feed upon it...turn it into a mass event that is about really about us...how we feel. The instant shrines on the lawn or murder site...the mounds of flowers, candles and teddy bears...strangers from across California bringing their young children to weep and pray on the Peterson lawn.
There is something un-natural in that we respond to the invasive, exploitive news coverage of a family's worst nightmare by weeping on their lawns...not by turning the channel or looking away. Maybe it is akin to the urge to look at the road accident as you drive by...maybe it is not new after all.
Is selling a political agenda any worse than selling shampoo, beer and rotisseries in between video of distraught parents dodging cameras, tarps covering remains or shrines of teddy bears?
Yes, it is. NOW injected themselves into this story in order to coldly use a murdered fetus to solidify a legal position. NOW seeks to deny the family justice for a life taken because it was taken in utero? An appalling position for an organization that claims to defend women's rights. Sharon Rocha has the right to a trial for her murdered daughter and grandson.
NOW crossed a line, offending many supporters and providing comfort to the enemies of abortion rights.
Emperor Chirac's naked ambition is revealed:
Chirac Again Warns East Europeans to Toe EU Line
ATHENS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac, who outraged east Europeans in February by slamming their support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq, warned the new EU members on Wednesday to do more to find common European stands.
Speaking as 15 EU member states and 10 mostly ex-communist new members signed a treaty sealing the expansion of the bloc, Chirac said the new Europe must clarify its political ambitions to avoid the splits that emerged over the war.
In his stunning tirade in February, Europe's leading opponent of the war denounced east European countries as "not very well behaved and reckless" for siding with Washington and declared they had "missed a great opportunity to shut up."
His more diplomatic approach at the signing ceremony at Athens' ancient Agora or marketplace, the birthplace of democracy, clearly aimed at the east Europeans with its call for the expanding Europe to maintain unity in its growing diversity.
"This new Europe will not be able to fulfil our citizens' expectations if, as we are seeing in the current crisis, its political ambitions are not clarified and its running is not extensively rethought," he said.
"The European Union is about more than just a large market, common policies, a single currency and free movement," he said pointedly. "It is more importantly about a collective ambition, shared disciplines, firm solidarity and naturally looking to the European family."
I am sure young Ali Ismaeel Abbas's picture haunted everyone who saw it. Ali has been flown to Kuwait and is under going treatment. His burns are not a extensive as first thought, his prognosis is good.
Ministry of Health spokesman in Kuwait, Dr Ahmad Al Shatti, said: "Don't worry. He's in safe hands now.
"He's been smiling. I think he's in good shape. With love and tender care, his morale will be boosted."
Iraqi orphan 'doing okay' after burns surgery
Having failed at the UN, it appears France is now openly aligning with the Arabic world in an effort to contain US influence in the region and challenge US interests worldwide. The key question is what will the French Poodles do after they catch the car? A dangerous game they are playing with a tottering economy and no military resources. A mis-step or a counter-move by the US could prove very costly internally.
Prince Saud holds talks with French Foreign Minister
The Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, today held talks with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
In a press statement, Prince Saud, on behalf of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, welcomed the French Minister, and expressed his satisfaction with the talks held between the two sides to discuss current developments in the region, notably the situation in Iraq.
The two sides emphasized the importance of the return of security, stability and self-governance to Iraq, and the provision of humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people.
They also reviewed the importance of continued consultation and cooperation between European and Arab countries on the issues of Iraq and the Middle East peace process.
Prince Saud expressed his hope that the Quartet Committee would proceed as soon as possible to present the Middle East ‘road map’ for peace, taking into consideration the Arab peace initiative that was introduced at the Beirut Summit meeting.
The French Foreign Minister commented on the situation in Iraq, saying that the fulfilment of humanitarian needs should be given priority. He stressed the urgent necessity that U.S.-led forces in Iraq resolve problems arising from the lack of security in the country.
The Minister said that France supports a strong role for the UN in the process of political and economic reconstruction of Iraq, in cooperation with the international community. He said that France is cooperating with its European partners to seek a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Interesting developments that appear to explain in part Chirac's Iraq stance. Chirac has voters to which he must pander.
French Islam Wins Officially Recognized Voice
ÉVRY, France, April 13 — For Karima Debza, an Algerian-born mother of three and a volunteer in the local mosque, casting her vote today is a symbolic step toward promoting the rights of Muslim women in the workplace.
For Djiba Aboubacar, a Senegalese-born accountant, the election is a flawed but long overdue process that will eventually give voice to France's diverse and divided Muslim community.
"It is part of an ambitious national project to create what Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called "an official Islam of France." Mr. Sarkozy, who has spent much time visiting mosques and Islamic centers to win support for the council
"This is the first time that Muslims are voting as Muslims, that I don't feel like a foreigner in France," said Muhammad Aziz Aziz, the Moroccan-born liaison official between town authorities and the grand mosque of this city, which he described as the biggest mosque in Western Europe. "This is the first time that Islam is considered a building block in France's democracy."
Update:France threatens to deport radical Muslims
PARIS (Reuters) - France has threatened to deport any Muslim leaders preaching extremist views, after fundamentalist Muslims won a strong voice in a new council to represent Islam in France.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday the council, which will represent the country's five million Muslims, would not be allowed to become a breeding ground for radical Islam.
"Islamic law will not apply anywhere because it is not the law of the French republic. Any Imams whose views run contrary to the values of the republic will be deported," Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio.
Meanwhile...
U.S. Suggests St. Petersburg Group Waive Iraq Debt
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee said
"I hope for example they'll think about the very large debts that come from money that was lent to the dictator (Saddam Hussein) to buy weapons and to build palaces and to build instruments of repression," he said.
"I think they ought to consider whether it might not be appropriate to forgive some or all of that debt so that the new Iraqi government isn't burdened with it. There's a great deal they can do. This is a time to think about the future."
Iraq owes Russia and France about $8 billion each, mostly for sales and contracts concluded in the 1980s, when Iraq was at war with neighboring Iran and had friendly relations with most other countries. Russia, then as the Soviet Union, was the major supplier of arms to the Iraqi military."
Wolfowitz also sent a clear message to Chirac that France will pay a price for their obstructionism in NATO.
"The United States should also examine whether France, by opting out of NATO's military structure, is getting benefits without making a commensurate contribution, he added.
The United States could reconsider its support for a European initiative based on a 60,000-strong reaction force with access to NATO assets for crisis management, he said."
While the world media sob-sisters were wringing their hands over Iraqi's stealing sinks, fridges and TV sets...the real looters TotalElf (France) and LUKoil (Russia) meet in St. Petersberg to decide how to bleed even more from the poverty ridden Iraqi people.
Antiwar Trio Says Iraq's Future Is What Counts
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, April 11 -- The leaders of Russia, France and Germany today attempted to patch up deep differences with the United States and Britain over Iraq, saying after a meeting here that what mattered now was addressing the humanitarian crisis and the apparent anarchy besetting the country.
Their concern is touching...considering Iraq owes Russia and France about $8 billion each mainly for war materials.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 11, 2003
Mr. Cole (R-OK) submitted the following resolution:
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that France, Germany, and Russia can initially best contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq by the forgiveness of outstanding debt between both Iraq and France, Iraq and Germany, and Iraq and Russia.
Will update when HR# is assigned or more information becomes available.
A slightly more hopeful view of the Arab world's reaction from the International Herald Tribune:
"WASHINGTON It was an edifice conjured up in the mind and now collapsed." That was the opening line of a song by Um Kalthoum, the diva of Arab music. She sang the song after the defeat of Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt in 1967. The image makes as much sense in the Arab world today as it did 36 years ago."
The article ends with:
"People hope that this era of unbridled violence is coming to a close. The lesson of war has not been missed by ordinary Arabs. A cell phone and e-mail message traveling around the Arab world says the following: "Young Assad of Syria sent Bush a message telling him that if he wants him to go, he doesn't have to go through that much trouble. He can just send a text message on his cell phone."
The Axis of Weasels are very busy shoring up their power base:
Brussels to investigate US contracts in Iraq:"The European Commission is examining contracts awarded by the US for reconstruction work in Iraq to find out whether they breach World Trade Organisation rules and discriminate unfairly against European companies."
"The EU insists that the US abide by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, which states that, in principle, contracts awarded by national governments or their agencies must be open to businesses from abroad."
Russian Power Increasingly Global"When the U.S.-British war machine rolled into Iraq, the company, which makes 10 percent of the turbines used in power stations around the world, evacuated its Russian employees and prepaid wages to its Iraqi staff to hold down the fort. News from the site is that the office has escaped the turmoil unscathed -- "so far," said director of international sales Leonid Matveyev.
Few Russian firms stand to lose more from the war than Siloviye Mashiny.
Money to cover $350 million worth of contracts the company signed with the Iraqi government is sitting in a United Nations escrow account, along with the rest of the $40 billion pegged for oil-for-food payments, Matveyev said.
It is not yet clear whether the contracts will be honored or the money will be instead used to finance humanitarian aid. "We hope that the new [Iraqi] administration will remember these deals," he said. "
Russia, France, Germany Hold Iraq TalksST.PETERSBURG, Russia - Speaking between meetings Friday with Russia's two main allies in the opposition to the Iraq war, President Vladimir Putin said the United Nations should now have the main role in settling the conflict.
Iraq: Chirac under fire at home"Jacques Chirac is facing mounting criticism from his own party that his decision to oppose the Iraqi war has left France isolated and weak.
As the French president prepared to meet President Putin of Russia and chancellor Schroeder of Germany tomorrow, he came under fire for his three weeks of silence since the invasion.
The French leader is lobbying Tony Blair and George Bush for the UN to have the major role in the reconstruction of Iraq and spoke to the prime minister on Wednesday to present his case."
Berlin backs defence plans outside the EU" Berlin and Paris also propose stronger integration between the armies of the four countries - Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Controversial statements made by leading EU figures recently over the idea of a group of European countries forming a defence alliance, are begining to take shape - ahead of a mini defence summit on 29 April.
Germany says it supports the idea of developing a defence Union outside the EU, German newspaper Die Welt writes on Thursday.
According to the newspaper, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder hopes for closer co-operation on defence between four EU countries - Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France."
A heady distillate of the blogosphere....the Carnival of the Vanities rolls on...setting up the sideshow arcade at Solonor's Ink Well. Step right up! See Little Saddam dance and sway! See The Amazing 1000-yr old Woman...The Pointy-haired Weapons Inspector...The Weird! The Crazy!
The Left! The Right!
See it all!
Saddam Hussein's hated regime was ended today as hundreds of jubilant Iraqis hauled down a statue of their former dictator.
The Iraqis, with some help from US Marines, wrecked the bronze and marble statue of Saddam in the centre of Baghdad.
Crowds swarmed onto the icon of the fallen leader as Coalition troops rumbled into the centre of the Iraqi capital.
A US armoured military vehicle helped the people pull down the statue after a man had clambered up the pedestal to put a rope around its neck.
Some in the crowd threw rocks, stones and shoes - an insult in the Arab world.
But they paused as another man set about the image of Saddam with a sledgehammer.
Other members of the crowd stepped in for their turn with the hammer as one of the last remaining icons of Saddam's power was wrecked.
Sky's David Chater said: "They are celebrating their freedom with the lynching of Saddam Hussein.
"There is so much fury, so much resentment - so many years when they have not been able to say what they wanted.
"Everyone wants a go with the the sledgehammer."
The huge bronze statue was soon badly damaged with a large hole evident in the marble plinth.
The statue itself was put up less than a year ago - on April 28 last year - to mark Saddam's 65th birthday.
August 28, 1944
"The Americans know that M Chirac double-crossed them over Resolution 1441; they know every detail of how and why he did it; they know what it has cost them in money and in lives. They will shake hands at photo opportunities; they will play the Marseillaise; they will drink toasts in mediocre champagne at diplomatic dinners; but they will be slow to forgive and they will never forget."
-William Rees-Mogg via Andrew Sullivan
Let's investigate Chirac's oil policy and how it affects oil bearing countries... shall we?
France's motivation in the Congo is quite clear:
The Congo is the fourth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. The upstream oil industry is the mainstay of the Congolese economy supplying two-thirds of government revenue. Oil accounts for a large portion of Congo's GDP and the majority of the country’s exports. Current proven reserves are estimated to be 1,291 million tonnes of crude and large reserves of associated natural gas exist. Congo is one of the West African countries where Energy Africa is active.
Elf Congo holds interest ranging from 35% to 65% in onshore and offshore exploration and production licenses in association with various international oil companies. Elf has a terminal at Djeno, south of Pointe Noire and some production on offshore platforms. The company's largest offshore production facility, the Nkossa oil field, is located in the Gulf of Guinea, 60 km off the Congolese coast.
HOWARD W. FRENCH, "Competition Heats Up for West Africa's Oil Wealth," New York Times, March 7, 1998
"Ms. Albright's recent African oil diplomacy has been matched by the foreign policies of France and Britain. French President Jacques Chirac, for example, called his counterpart in the Congo Republic, Denis Sassou Nguesso, to congratulate him less than 48 hours after his victory in a devastating four-month civil war. The call was made despite the fact that Sassou had just overthrown a democratically elected president, Pascal Lissouba, and heavily damaged the capital, Brazzaville, with artillery barrages and bombing runs by MIG jets, in the process.
Elf derives about 60 percent of its global oil production from the Gulf of Guinea, and just prior to the war in Congo, had inaugurated the world's largest deep-water offshore rig. "
Asia as well:
French Oil Giant Accused of Myanmar Abuses
"The French oil company TotalFinaElf and its predecessors are once again under fire for allegedly unethical behavior in other lands, including human-rights abuses in Myanmar. "
"TotalFina, the enterprise that took over state-owned Elf Aquitaine in 1999 to become TotalFinaElf, faces charges over operations in Myanmar. It stands accused of ordering the kidnapping of local workers to force them to build a gas pipeline."
Then we have Chirac's new best friend Putin:
Pravda: TotalFinaElf May Invest in Siberian Oil Field
TotalFinaElf, Europe's largest investor in world oil production, is to take part in the development of the Vankor oil and gas field in the Turukhansk district of the Krasnoyarsk Region. This announcement was made yesterday by Krasnoyarsk Region Governor Alexander Khloponin after holding the first stage of talks with the head of the French Company's Russian office, Francois Rafin. Khloponin called the talks 'very constructive.'
France:
TotalFinaElf is embroiled in a corruption scandal that could reach into France's highest political offices.
Then there is story linked to Iraq via the UK:
"A British national has been arrested in London and faces extradition to France on charges connected with a huge corruption trial surrounding French oil giant Elf, Scotland Yard said."
"Auchi does not dispute that he received the money from Elf to obtain Ertoil, a Spanish refinery from its Kuwaiti owners in 1990, the newspaper said. The Iraqi-born billionaire has said the innocent deal was an agreement to buy the refinery with his own funds, "warehouse" it and eventually resell it to Total, The Guardian said."
Is there a country, con man, despot or dictator with an oil reserve that France is not supporting or cosying up to? This exercise brings to mind Little Red Riding Hood...beware of Gran Mere with big white teeth Virginia.
Annan Says U.N. Role in Iraq Will Add Legitimacy
Oh really? Perhaps the UN and Kofi Annan should stick with rounding up the usual suspects and lunching with despots.
UN preliminary investigation into killings in northeastern Congo indicates 966 killed
• At least 966 people were killed in attacks on more than a dozen villages in northeastern Congo last week, U.N. officials said Sunday after a preliminary investigation.
• On Jan. 15, U.N. investigators confirmed that rebels of the Congolese Liberation Movement and the allied Congolese Rally for Democracy-National had carried out cannibalism, rape, torture and killing in the province late last year.
• And on March 1, Lubanga accused another rebel group, the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation Movement, of killing at least 400 civilians when it pushed UPC forces out of Bogoro, 25 miles southwest of Bunia on Feb. 24-25.
• The war broke out in August 1998 when Rwanda and Uganda sent troops to back rebels seeking to oust then-President Laurent Kabila. They accused him of backing insurgents threatening regional security.
Just exactly what is Scty General Annan and the UN waiting for? Another million dead? The UN isn't competent enough to operate a falafel cart in downtown Baghdad.
Anyone interested in France's motives in opposing the US action in Iraq should read this EU news site daily.
A few highlights from today's main news page:
• UK doing well outside Eurozone, Brown will say:
The war in Iraq and the sluggish Eurozone economy are set to be used to strengthen arguments against the UK adopting the single European currency.
• EU tax fiercely resisted in Convention
How is the EU going to fund itself in the future -by direct income tax? The Convention was on Friday the scene to some fierce resistance to the idea of a European Tax. The idea is now being kicked around in a separate working group on the matter which is discussing just how the Union is expected to finance itself in the coming years.
• Dehaene admits distrust between big and small states
JEAN-LUC DEHAENE - the Convention vice-president said the current splits big/small state splits is something he has never seen before Vice-president of the Convention, Jean-Luc Dehaene, has admitted that there is "distrust" between the large and small states of the European Union. His comments come after the publication of a paper on equality in the Union which has been supported by 21 countries
• Prodi against EU council president
Commission president Romano Prodi speaks out against the idea of an EU council president. His comments go against the wishes of large member states such as the UK, Spain and France.
A few articles jumped out from the morning Chronicle:
• Police fire rubber bullets at anti-war protest at port in Oakland:
Police open fired Monday morning with rubber bullets at an anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland, injuring several longshoremen standing nearby.
Police were trying to clear protesters from an entrance to the docks when they opened fire and the longshoremen apparently were caught in the crossfire
• Chilling Accusations Of A Jewish-Inspired War
Anti-Israel feelings, particularly heightened by the war of Iraqi liberation, are now triggering a new surge of anti-Semitism. For the first time, negative attitudes toward Israel and concern that American Jews have too much influence over U.S. Middle East policy are helping foster these beliefs. Slightly more than half of Americans (51 percent) said the United States has been tilting too much toward Israel, while three-quarters of the most anti-Semitic Americans said they felt this way. And who are the most anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli people in the United States? Surprisingly, it's the very minority groups that Jews have helped the most throughout the past few generations: blacks and Hispanics.
According to the survey by the ADL, 17 percent of all Americans hold strong anti-Semitic feelings. However, such sentiment is twice as strong among certain ethnic groups: The survey found that about one-third of Hispanics and one-third of African Americans are strongly critical of Jews. "
• There could be an unexpected beneficiary of the war in Iraq: the environment.
More specifically, the late, great Mesopotamian marshes -- a decade ago, the largest wetland by far in the Middle East, and a site considered by many religious scholars as the inspiration for the Garden of Eden in the Bible and Koran.
Located at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers near Basra, this vast watery substrate sprawled over 20,000 square kilometers, providing sustenance and shelter for a wide array of wildlife. They were also home to 200,000 "ma'dan," or marsh Arabs, a group of hunters and fishermen who trace their habitation of the region back five millennia.
The marsh Arabs lived in singular harmony with their watery environment, building elegant boats and elaborate houses out of reeds.
But Hussein considered the swamps a haven for Shiite opponents of his regime. So in the mid-1990s, he drained the marshes, broadcast pesticides to kill the fish and wildlife, and attacked the villages of the ma'dan. Today, the once verdant network of reed beds and waterways is mostly a sere and lifeless plain.
• A lot of cooks in the MRE kitchen:
There is a seriousness of purpose here in the Department of Defense test kitchen these days.
In a sprawling, 1960s-style building set alongside a lake in this Boston suburb, two men in lab coats and hair nets bend over a stainless steel table covered in pale orange food bars each the size of a pack of cards.
They're figuring out how to cram 2,100 calories into each bar, at the same time making sure the slightly sweet, grain-based rations will survive a drop from an airplane. The bars will be distributed as humanitarian aid, and might keep fleeing war refugees alive.
Would Uday be Roger or Jack?...my money goes on Roger for pure evil.
Saddam's son 'speaks English with Yorkshire accent'
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's son Uday speaks English with a Yorkshire accent, and was a happy young student, his British former teacher told Newsweek magazine.
Read the rest here if you can stomach Uday Hussein portrayed as just another rosy-cheeked school boy. Cruelty for which Uday is allegedly known usually manifests itself in childhood. One wonders what his mates would have to say about the young Uday.
via Tim Blair
One can imagine the Variety headline: Hollywood Hacked!
The Actors Against War website was hacked and their home page replaced.
Click here for a larger image
via Andrea Harris
UPDATE: AAW is no longer serving a page...but Lee at Right Thinking grabbed a screen shot.
No sign of Americans in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AFP) - There was no sign of a US military presence in Baghdad despite American officials' claim that coalition troops were in town to stay, AFP correspondents reported.
46 minutes later Agence France-Presse (AFP) files this report:
US troops take to Baghdad streets; 1,000 Iraqis reported killed
Okay. Let's listen in on the conversation between AFP and their correspondent in Bagdad.
The setting: Al-Rashid Hotel rooftop bar...the AFP satellite phone rings:
AFP Correspondent Pierre Dumont answers: "Hello, Jacques, Dumont here. What? Non. The situation is normal here, we are enjoying an aperitif while observing the skyline and as per my earlier report, see no evidence of the much touted American 'invasion'."
AFP Baghdad Desk: "Are you sure Pierre? MSNBC and FOX are broadcasting from their embeds and it looks like Baghdad to me...also appears things are not going well for the regime."
Dumont: "Phah! Liars!, Propagandists! Saddam's Minister of Information himself, with whom I had lunch just yesterday, assures me it is not so. I can see with my own eyes that Baghdad is as peaceful as the French countryside."
CAH-BOOM!!!! BAM!! RAT-TAT-TAT! CRASH!
AFP Desk: "Pierre are you there? What is happening? Pierre? Hello?! Mon Dieu!"
Dead air for many minutes
Dumont: "Hello, Jacques, it is Dumont again. It appears I may be mistaken about the Americans, it seems a Marine Colonel would like to buy me a drink and discuss my last report."
A hat tip to E.Nough via The Command Post
Okay...I had a pent-up rant ready to unleash...but Kim pretty much covered the list...go there.
BTW- If Senator John Kerry really wants to be of service he could design a ketchup bottle that doesn't sploot tomato snot when you set it down.
Russell Wardlow asks "After all, how many times have we all heard "cheese-eating surrender monkeys?" Too many times, would go the common judgement. Well, apparently "too many times" is just enough to bring the phrase into formal English lexicology..."
This headline is so freaking stupid I wonder if the AP is using monkeys as desk editors?
POW Reportedly Fought Captors With Gun
Imagine that... a soldier with weapons!
They didn't expect the little girlie to defend herself and her comrades-at-arms? Can you spell m-i-s-o-g-y-n-y?
BTW-A gun is artillery asshat. Jebus...these are the people we rely upon to report on a war?
Pontifex has a bone to pick with the media coverage of PFC Jessica Lynch as well.
(Meryl Yourish via the Command Post)
The memorial at Etaples, near Boulogne on the Channel coast, was daubed in red paint with slogans including "Rosbeefs [British] go home", "Saddam will win and he will make you bleed" and "Dig up your rubbish, it is contaminating our soil".
Some 11,000 British servicemen and women are buried at the cemetery, most of whom died defending France in the first world war.
This story has been well covered online and in the media yet the photo is still shocking and our outrage is not spent.
Den Beste adds:
When in England at a fairly large conference,Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying that, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return." It became very quiet in the room."
Then delivers a coup de grace:
Tens of thousands of Aussies and Canucks and Yanks sleep forever in the cold soil of France. But there are no French military cemeteries in Australia or Canada or the US.
For this crime, for speaking the truth about French weakness and decline so eloquently by not making a sound, not even our military dead can be tolerated; the French must lash out and punish even those who gave everything they had for France.
Our war dead have been targeted because they can no longer fight back.
The culture of hatred sweeping France is now clearly evident to even the most ardent Francophile. One wonders if San Francisco's chic elitists finally understand with whom they have been sleeping. Most likely not.
The new third rail of American politics should be any endorsement or assistance to France.
The legendary Brigade of Gurkhas arrived in Iraq. The Gurkhas have won 26 Victoria Crosses (Brit Medal of Honor) ...the most decorated of any British unit to date. Serious butt kicking is about to ensue in Basra and areas where Iraqi irregulars are dug in.
via Chuck at The Command Post
Russian Culture Minister Hands List of Iraqi Monuments to US Ambassador.
Excuse me....maybe the Russians should begin with a list of the weapons/munitions they provided Iraq.
Old media is worried...blogs are encroaching on their domain and getting it right more often than not...especially exposing traditional media's errors and bias.
Stefan Sharkansky draws the ire of the rabidly anti-Semitic Guardian. To which LGF exclaims ""Guardian Lies Through Its Teeth" and Meryl Yourish says the truth is out there.
A war of terror against civilians is ongoing.
A child's pacifier lies on the ground in a pedestrian mall in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya where an Islamic terrorist blew himself up, Sunday, March 30, 2003. The blast killed the suicide bomber and wounded 58 bystanders.
This has to be the funniest news clip of the day that is not an April Fools joke.
"The Dixie Chicks controversy continues with the trio getting some support from former Vice President Al Gore. Gore spoke to a college audience last week on the subject of fewer companies owning more media outlets, and what he sees as the increasing lack of tolerance for opposing views."
Perhaps the mid-term elections were not proof enough and the former Vice President needs a clue: The American people are mad as hell and we're not taking it anymore.
We consumers made these people rich and famous...not politicans or media barons. It's our money to spend as we choose, asshat.
UPDATE: Rachel Lucas disses Al Gore as only she can.
James Lileks pens a bittersweet Bleat today that touched a chord.
"Books are different - I see a stack of 50s or 60s children books and I get this twinge of regret. Each book is a remainder of a unremarkable moment now made precious by the passage of time."
I recently began to collect the books of my childhood. I clearly recall the day I chose which to store in Gran's attic and which to take to the Goodwill. At age twenty-three they were excess baggage as I headed overseas on my first adult adventure.
Did any make their way to the Twin Cities for James to ponder? (Mine will have the occasional tiny, ornate pencil drawing in the margins)
I recently found several "Harvard Classics" first editions that I once loved. Æsop’s Fables* remain apt lessons in human nature and as pertinent today as they were in Sixth century Greece:
The war on terror is not a new concept:
"The Swallow and the Other Birds"It happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field where a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up their food. “Beware of that man,” quoth the Swallow. “Why, what is he doing?” said the others. “That is hemp seed he is sowing; be careful to pick up every one of the seeds, or else you will repent it.” The birds paid no heed to the Swallow’s words, and by and by the hemp grew up and was made into cord, and of the cords nets were made, and many a bird that had despised the Swallow’s advice was caught in nets made out of that very hemp. “What did I tell you?” said the Swallow.
Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.
The anti-war protestors bleat and bray, but it is not a new story they tell either:
The Wolf and the KidA Kid was perched up on the top of a house, and looking down saw a Wolf passing under him. Immediately he began to revile and attack his enemy. “Murderer and thief,” he cried, “what do you here near honest folks’ houses? How dare you make an appearance where your vile deeds are known?”
“Curse away, my young friend,” said the Wolf.
“It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.”
The last is for our dear friends, the French and Germans:
The Two Fellows and the BearTwo Fellows were travelling together through a wood, when a Bear rushed out upon them. One of the travellers happened to be in front, and he seized hold of the branch of a tree, and hid himself among the leaves. The other, seeing no help for it, threw himself flat down upon the ground, with his face in the dust. The Bear, coming up to him, put his muzzle close to his ear, and sniffed and sniffed. But at last with a growl he shook his head and slouched off, for bears will not touch dead meat. Then the fellow in the tree came down to his comrade, and, laughing, said “What was it that Master Bruin whispered to you?”
“He told me,” said the other,
“Never trust a friend who deserts you at a pinch.”
*retold by Joseph Jacobs, 1894 edition
Interesting Poll on the propaganda war from Sky News. Given the months of anti-war protests and negative spin from world media one would have expected Iraq to be winning by a large margin.
Who is winning the propaganda war?
Coalition: 48.48%
Iraq:51.51%
Bitter-sweet April Foolers spin surreal tales of Iraq war The unsuspecting could have been tricked into thinking the US-led war in Iraq had taken a sudden surreal twist, as newspapers around the world spun bitter-sweet April Fool's reports about the conflict.
Yeah and they think Jacques Tati and Jerry Lewis are funny too.
However this story is not an April Fools joke: In talks with Powell, EU will insist on "central" role for U.N. in postwar Iraq. European Union officials plan to tell U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell when they meet Thursday that the United Nations must play the central role in rebuilding postwar Iraq.
EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said Tuesday that senior diplomats from the 15-nation union would stress that it was their "primary concern to have the U.N. center stage."
Should George Bush allow the EU via the UN to profit from their cowardice, approval and support of Americans (voters) will evaporate faster than a suitcase of cash at the UN.
