As 2003 winds down Alex of Irrational Noise fires up a birthday celebration for this week's Carnival of the Vanities.
If this post is any indication, we are in for some first-class monkey bidness.
Happy Birthday Alex!
This story and overall recruitment figures seem to give lie to the media claim that people are not joining or extending....of course Stop/Loss may affect retention in guard units...but in the past it hasn't resulted in a significant loss.
Father, daughter to serve in same unit in IraqPOINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (AP) -- If West Virginia National Guard Sgt. Shari Wright gets homesick while serving in Iraq, she won't have to look far for support.
Her father, Sgt. James Gheen, also serves in her unit, which will be deployed in January.
"I think it will bring us closer together," said Wright. "Whenever we get lonely or miss home, we can talk to each other."
Gheen, 40, and Wright, 23, both of Middleport, Ohio, are members of the 3664th West Virginia Army National Guard maintenance unit and are undergoing training at Fort Dix, N.J. In Iraq, Gheen will help repair vehicles while Wright will serve as an administrative clerk.
Gheen spent 10 years in the Army before joining the National Guard eight years ago. Wright, a student at Marshall University, joined the guard in 2001.
"It was just something that she said she wanted to do," Gheen said about his daughter's enlistment. "I didn't want her to think that she had to join because of me or anything. She said she wanted to do it and serve her country."
Anyone care to guess how long before one of the Naive Nine point the finger at Clark for policy failures in Serbia?
Ultranationalists win in Serbia's parliament
Belgrade -- Serbia's road to economic and political reform looked that much longer Sunday night, as ultranationalists appeared to have won the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections.
Early results showed that the party of Vojislav Seselj, who is currently on trial for war crimes at the international criminal tribunal in The Hague, had won the largest number of seats in the 250-member assembly.
A sample of more than 54 percent of votes cast, taken by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, an independent polling organization, showed that Seselj's Radical Party had won 82 seats. The Serbian Democratic Party, led by the former Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, was some way behind with 53 seats.
Four parties placed candidates indicted by The Hague on their electoral lists, and two appear to have been elected, Seselj and former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Because they are in custody in The Hague, however, they will be unable to take office.
BTW-how long have our troops been in Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo? 5yrs? 8? Can you say Balkan quagmire? I knew you could.
First case of mad cow in U.S.!
My bad, couldn't resist. Justin at My Word has an appropriate quote from the NYT:
"There was a time when Mrs. Clinton did her best to fade into the woodwork and be seen as just another lawmaker on Capitol Hill."
Merry Christmas everyone! Blogging will be light-to-nonexistent as the Feste manse prepares for merriment and kinfolk...blogging and general snarkiness will resume Friday.
Huzzah! I dutifully clicked the blogroll for the meager daily offering and surprise! Lileks is back...the blogosphere is at rights again.
It occurs to me that's sort of a pathetic comment on my life...no matter... a week of James is indeed a Christmas treat.
Saturday a power outage struck San Francisco at the height of the last Holiday shopping weekend. The response was varied as major retailers shuttered and the traffic snarled...the power failure brought out the creative spirit in many.
--At the Saturday performance of the San Francisco Ballet 's "The Nutcracker" , cast members had resorted to pulling a Christmas tree out of the lobby and onto the stage when electricity failed in a crucial hoisting system that raises the centerpiece conifer on stage. And what little makeup the performers put on in the dark dressing rooms was applied with the aid of flashlights."We had the orchestra play Christmas carols," said general manager Lesley Koenig. "The audience loved that. We kept the magic of Christmas."
--At St. Patrick's Catholic church on Mission Street, worshipers gathered in the dark Sunday for the 10:30 a.m. Latin Mass. The only light came from candles and from the sun shining through the mosaic windows of etched images of saints.
Some families will fondly recall the festival of lights spent together in the soft light of their ancestors...this of all the small stories... is the sweetest.
Jeff Fox, a spokesman for St. Francis Memorial Hospital, was hosting a Hanukkah dinner party at his Inner Sunset home when the lights went out Saturday evening. He and his wife finished preparing the pot roast and latkes by candlelight, using their gas stove."The kids opened presents by candlelight," he said. Then his 5-year-old daughter, Dara, and her best friend Isabel, 6, put on the matching pajamas they had been given and climbed into bed.
Entertainment and dining were hardest hit.
--Unfortunately for the ticket holders to the 2 p.m. performance of "Cats," the musical did depend on power.Among that group was 7-year-old Garret Cummins, whose family had driven from Reno to celebrate his big sister Allina's 10th birthday.
"We came here for nothing!" Garett said.
His parents were undeterred -- they headed the family off to the power-full Exploratorium.
--As was Liz Linale, store manager at Cole Fox Hardware on Fourth Street, "We're troopers," she said. "We'll be here when the big earthquake happens, too."
People in the main took it in stride, neighborhood shops and eateries remained open with candles and good cheer.
Of course with the good comes the bad, the stoned,
Shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday, three to five masked men with handguns broke into a medical marijuana clinic in the 400 block of Haight Street, pistol-whipped a person inside and made off with marijuana and money, Fagan said.Fagan said he wouldn't be surprised if the group of thugs had taken advantage of the power failure to rob the clinic, called Alternative Herbal Health Services.
and the ugly.
Mayor-elect Gavin Newson had the usual Leftie spin,
"Saturday night and Sunday before Christmas," he said. "Just think of a store like Old Navy, the loss in tax revenue to the city."
Ah yes, not the humanity, but the taxes, think of the lost tax revenue.
Statement By U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge"December 21 - Today, The United States Government raised the national threat level from an Elevated to High risk of terrorist attack - or from Code Yellow to
Code Orange. We know from experience that the increased security that is implemented when we raise the threat level, along with increased vigilance, can help disrupt or deter terrorist attacks.
The U.S. Intelligence Community has received a substantial increase in the volume of threat related intelligence reports. These credible sources suggest the possibility of attacks against the homeland around the holiday season and beyond."
Let's keep sharp people, millions of ears and eyeballs are an invaluable intel asset.
Unless you're living in a cave with UBL, you've no doubt read of the Beebs rediculous edict concerning Saddam...but are other news sources any less anti-war or anti-American? I think not.
Iraqi Insurgents Blow Up Oil Pipeline (AP) - Iraqi insurgents blew up an oil pipeline and fired on gasoline storage tanks, as U.S. troops searched for rebels and weapons Sunday in strongholds of captured dictator Saddam Hussein. American soldiers raided homes shortly after midnight in Fallujah, a flashpoint in the so-called Sunni Triangle where resistance to the U.S.-led occupation has been fiercest. Iraqi journalists reported similar raids in other areas where support for Saddam has been strong, including Samarra, 75 miles north of Baghdad, and Rawah, near the western border with Syria. More...
Insurgents.
According to any number of dictionaries the word is defined as:
in·sur·gent ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-sűrjnt) adj : in opposition to a civil authority or government [syn: seditious, subversive] n 1: a person who takes part in a rebellion in the hope of improving conditions [syn: insurrectionist, mutineer, rebel] 2: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment [syn: guerrilla, guerilla, irregular]
These are not acts of people seeking to improve conditions in Iraqi, they are terrorists who seek to destroy a nascent Iraqi democracy and kill as many Americans/Westerners as possible...which makes this item in The Scotsman very troubling.
BBC to replace Saddam's broadcast propaganda machineTHE BBC has been awarded the first contract to help get Iraq’s television and radio stations back on air.
It will set up a media headquarters in Basra to train Iraq’s new generation of journalists.
Last week’s award by the UK’s Department of International Trade & Development is part of the plans by the CPA, the US-led administration in Iraq, to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, seen as a crucial part of the reconstruction effort.
WTF is the CPA thinking?
Blackfive points to Darren Kaplan's explanation of the Padilla vs. Rumsfield decision. Kaplan lays it out in simple terms for those of us who struggle with legalese.
Here's why the Second Circuit Decision on Padilla is Wrong This is my take on Padilla v. Rumsfeld. I’m going to write for the general public on this, which means I’m going to take it slow and use as little legal jargon as possible. That necessarily means that I’m going to oversimplify and ignore some lesser points, so apologies to all you Constitutional scholars out there.In a nutshell, here’s why the Second Circuit majority decision in Padilla v. Rumsfeld is wrong. First, let’s be clear, the decision in Padilla was not based on Padilla's constitutional rights per se, in fact, his rights ended up being irrelevant to the decision the Second Circuit rendered. Rather, the constitutional issue at the heart of Padilla is the separation of powers between the different branches of the federal government. Briefly summarized, the following separate branch powers are relevant to Padilla:
1) The President is Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States;
2) Congress has the power to make law and declare war;
3) The federal courts have the power to determine the constitutionality of law and Congressional acts and Presidential actions and regulations.
All branches of government have other powers, but for our purposes, the above list will suffice.
The President's role as Commander in Chief should be the role most protected from court scrutiny. The Constitution is silent as to how war is to be conducted by the President and that leaves little room for the federal courts to interfere in the prosecution of war given that the court’s only role is to determine the constitutionality of Presidential action. Likewise, while Congress has the authority to declare war, the Constitution does not give Congress any voice in how the war is conducted (though in practice, the Congress’s control of funding is a powerful mechanism for overseeing the conduct of war). Note also that it has come to be accepted that a formal declaration of war by Congress is unnecessary and that more informal Congressional authority will suffice for the President to properly engage in armed conflict. More importantly, as Commander in Chief, the President is assumed to have some inherent power to defend the Nation in the face of actual or threatened attack even in the absence of any Congressional action.
Eugene Volokh renders an opinion about the Ninth Circuit's ruling on the Guantanamo detainess in his usual cogent manner.
Judge Reinhardt on detentions: Some lines from Judge Reinhardt's Ninth Circuit opinion about the Guantanamo detainees are telling: Gherebi has not been subjected to a military trial. Nor has the government employed the other time-tested alternatives for dealing with the circumstances of war: it has neither treated Gherebi as a prisoner of war (and has in fact declared that he is not entitled to the rights of the Geneva Conventions [citation omitted]), nor has it sought to prosecute him under special procedures designed to safeguard national security. See U.S. v. Bin Laden, 2001 WL 66393 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2001) (limiting access to confidential information). Instead, the government is following an unprecedented alternative: under the government’s theory, it is free to imprison Gherebi indefinitely along with hundreds of other citizens of foreign countries, friendly nations among them, and to do with Gherebi and these detainees as it will, when it pleases, without any compliance with any rule of law of any kind, without permitting him to consult counsel, and without acknowledging any judicial forum in which its actions may be challenged.What Judge Reinhardt is describing and condemning in the last sentence is the standard way that enemy detainees are treated. When the U.S. took German and Japanese soldiers prisoner during World War II, it imprisoned them without a fixed term (it did release them after the end of hostilities, but no-one knew how long this would be). It imprisoned them regardless of their formal citizenship. It did not give them access to civilian courts, or allow challenges in any civilian judicial forum (the judicial forum that Reinhardt seems to be calling for). Imagine what it would have been like if the government had to defend hundreds of thousands of habeas cases brought by enemy soldiers. Giving such rights to enemy soldiers would simply give them an extra weapon they could have used to fight us. That's no way to effectively wage war.
My WWII generation mother and I often had discussions about the Japanese detainees, being a 60's child I thought it wrong on every level and had peers who were born in the camps. Mother's conviction could not be shaken " You don't understand, you haven't witnessed an attack on America, you were not in California in 1941, we were at war with Japan, fighting for our lives, for your future. "
So we are once more. While I couldn't support the wholesale detainment of a group of Americans based solely on their ethnicity, and still do not agree, in a post-9/11 world, I do better understand her point of view.
One doesn't have to be a lawyer or a legal scholar to understand that these decisions are ideologically based and underscores the Left's determination to keep Bush's nominees off the appellate bench.
Ted Belman comments on Sharon's speech.
P.M. Sharon delivers a great speech at Herzelia.
"I congratulate the organizers of this conference for the important and interesting gathering which you have held here. During the past three days, you have been discussing Israel's situation. I, as Prime Minister, am responsible for the planning and implementation of the measures which will shape Israel's character during the next few years.
We are all entrusted with the duty of shaping the face of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel - a state where there is an equal distribution of the burden, as well as the acceptance of rights and shouldering of duties by all sectors, through different forms of national service. No one to get a free ride anymore on national service. About time. A state where there is a good and efficient education system which educates a young generation imbued with values and national pride, which is capable of confronting the challenges of the modern world. Post zionism is over. A country whose economy is adapted to the advanced global market of the 21st century, where the product per capita crosses the $20,000 line and is equal to that of most developed European countries. An immigrant-absorbing state which constitutes a national and spiritual centre for all Jews of the world and is a source of attraction for thousands of immigrants each year. Aliyah is the central goal of the State of Israel.
This is the country we wish to shape. This is the country where our children will want to live."
You will want to read it all.
Banagor is on a roll...taking swipes with a very sharp broadsword he defines the hippie herd for those interested in identifying the trophy hippies lashed to his Hummer fenders.
Since it's Friday and Banagor may be out tracking and not realize I've shamelessly stolen his meme, I'll offer an embellishment.
Sitting high above the Berkeley horde I must occasionally enter their grazing territory to replenish the pantry. A key means of recognising a few of the hippie archetypes is by their cars. You will notice that hippies almost entirely eschew American-made cars, an interesting contradiction for those in solidarity with labor. Rice Burners seem to rank very low as well...too Asian.
Sixties Hippies:
The successful Sixties hippie drives whatever prestige car his Capitalist peers favor, MB's, Beemers, Audi's, Lexus and garages a Harley for the bad boy cache. The failed Sixties hippie drives a beat VW Rabbit.
Hippie leaders:Professor, Activist, Greens, Student (with Activist tendencies), Net (online only):
This group tends to drive top-of-the-line Saab turbos, Volvos, and VW's, although the net hippie covets the Sixties hippie's MB and will, if left to his own devices, drive a downmarket, underpowered MB. The professorial or activist hippie will drive a Detroit shoebox but only on the taxpayer's dime.
Green, Net and Commune Hippies:
This is the easiest prey to spot... with their Prius, Volvo wagons and VW vans...they radiate smuggness, smarmy bumper stickers and green vanity plates with peace and whale themes. Art cars also appear in the artisan green herd....and true Greenies bicycle...the carcass chained prominently outside the local poser's cafe.
Hardened Anarcho, Activist, Student:
Takes public transport, thumb or drive any beater they can barrow, steal or buy for $50...1970's rust-bucket beemers and VW's seem to be most desirable. Hard core cyclists inhabit this group as well...relishing the chaos created by Critical Mass in the City. This group also favors Japanese motorcycles and aggressively lane splits on the Bay Bridge...making trophy hunting too easy to be satisfying.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani offered an interesting anology to the war on terrorism on Imus this morning (I am paraphrasing from pre-coffee memory). Giuliani said that it was like the battle against organized crime, the government couldn't take on all the crime families at once, they were too well financed and entrenched, they brought them down a family or organization at a time until they had all the capos, and finally the di Capo di tutti, that it was an ongoing struggle that would require constant vigilance.
This why it is so important that we keep the team we have in place until the key terrorist organizations are eliminated and sponsoring regimes deposed or decapitated. We must make sheltering, arming and/or funding terrorists too punitive to contemplate. That millions of Arabs will be free to create their own government and a better future is a benefit for the civilized world. This is an underlying truth that the Dems and Euroweasels are beginning to realize and will not be successful in thwarting. A free Iraq is the genie that escaped the bottle of Arabic despotism and tyranny... just as Poland's rebellion was the bellweather event that signalled the fall of the Soviet empire...there's no going back.
My choices in this week's New Weblog Showcase understand that we are on the brink of success with Iraq...we must not elect a president who would retreat from the battle of civilizations just as we've begun to turn the tide.
Um...so that's what it is about Dean...read the whole piece... the illustrative photos are a hoot... Patrick Spero is high on my short list of this weeks best.
Angry Howie and "the point"My parents always taught me pointing was rude. I agree with them. I don't point at people and I know I don't like it when people point at me.
Since then, I have read politicians are trained not to point when speaking publicly because it gives them an air of arrogance and anger.
Well I have to admit it. I cannot stand Howard Dean. I disagree with him on virtually all of his current policy positions, but that is the case with many other politicians who I enjoy listening to. So what is it about Dean?
It's well-know Dean has tapped into the Angry Left and he himself seems to be fuelled by a hatred of all-things Republican. That might be it, but I don't think so because I am friends with many Bush-haters.
Looking through some pictures of Dean I think I realized what it is about him. It is his tendency to point.
Dan K. O'Leary gets it...in spades.
Bush, Saddam, and Howard Dean"With Saddam apprehended, we still need to deal with the threats at home. Namely, Howard Dean. As Joe Lieberman said, "If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today, not in prison, and the world would be a more dangerous place." We must be vigilant the next 11 months if we are going to ensure that men like Saddam and his networks of violence and terror are to be taken down. Our national security is too valuable to be in the hands of a pacifistic liberal like Howard Dean. ".
Then there's this from Justin at My Word:
The Politics of the Lord of the Rings (scroll down to Wednesday, December 17, 2003)"The Lord of the Ring, Return of the King was released in theaters today. It is a wonderful day. I've been a fan of the books for years. Yet deep down inside I feel guilty going to a movie with a person so misguided like Viggo Mortensen. He has been an outspoken anti-american activist. He compared the US to Saruman in an interview with Charlie Rose. Comments like that to me stab to the heart. I love this country, and it saddens me that I, who am now studying theatre and acting, have to hear people of my own trade make such outrageous unfounded and hateful comments. It has become the fad in hollywood to use your status to push the lemmingesk degrading of America..."
Well. LOTR and a lemming meme?!...Bingo! My choice for this week's best is My Word...all three are fine additions to the Foolish blogroll.
CBS Poll: Dean Pulls Away In Demming Race.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean has pulled away from the field in the Demming Presidential nomination race: his support among Demming primary voters nationwide has risen in the past month, and held steady after the news of Saddam Hussein's capture. But the race remains open: more than half of Demming voters still have no opinion of Dean, most have not made up their minds for sure, and large numbers remain undecided.
In order to better understand this phenomenon, a little background:
The North American Demming’s range is, but not limited to, the politically obtuse, union halls, the Black Caucus, Northern Cailfornia, elite Northeastern salons, the media, universities and the lush green tundra of monied Hollywood – where it is found to thrive.
Demmings are notorious for the extreme fluctuations in theirs numbers. In presidential election years they seem to be everywhere, but during mid-term election years they are only conspicuous by their absence.
Demming populations typically exhibit pronounced cyclical variations over periods of 4 years, with numbers in peak years dozens of times higher than during mid-term election years. The heights of these peaks also vary, with the North American Demming tendency to run off the nearest policy cliff during a national crisis.
During these special Demming years, populations are so dense that journalists on the fells of Liberal Land can hardly move without sending the creatures scurrying off in every direction. Some Demmings also become so fearless that they will boldly stand their ground when faced with irrefutable facts.
Demming years have waxed and waned since the Great Depression. Some believe that Demmings fall from the sky like rain, while others even suggest that they are searching for their former home, Camelot. Priests even registered election victories of Demmings in church diaries, as they were also thought to be an precursor to war.
Demming populations can increase dramatically during primaries when zealous presidential nominees are at their peak; but conservative voter registration and donations will then increase, and defeat more Demmings, soon causing a downturn in their numbers. With opposition in short supply, the conservatives will subsequently themselves become complacent, until a Demming Leader, such as Howard Dean, stirs the Demming horde, and the whole cycle begins again.
Friedman gets big bucks to write this shuck and jive?
I too believe the French president, Jacques Chirac, knows something in his heart: that France was illegally suppying Saddam with weapons and expertise. Did Friedman really expect the French to eschew profit for principals? Of course not, today's column leaves this reader bemused by it's clumsy, ass-covering transparency. The qualifying "failure" meme is predictable. Saddam's capture leaves the media and liberal Illuminati no choice but to climb down from their open worship of the Sun King Redux.
Air Force Celebrates the Centennial of Flight
"Launched by the Wright brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk, civilian and military aviation took off on a nearly century-old flight that has been evolving and has yet to reach a final destination. Along the way, advances have been many — going from open cockpits to canopies, gasoline engines to jet propulsion, bi-wings to single wings, cloth and metal construction to composite materials, just to name a few. As we celebrate the advances of the past and look to the future, we’ll forever keep in mind Orville and Wilbur Wright and their historic flight: Dec. 17, 1903."
100 Years of AirPower
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There are many positive stories from Iraq that are never told, today's is from the Air Force Link.
12/16/2003 - OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) -- A KC-10 Extender crew at a forward-deployed location carried a special message of hope and peace on their flight over Iraq on Dec. 9.
As part of the project “Hands on America,” the crew displayed from their boom window an 86-by-76-inch American Flag hand-crafted by Iowa school students. In doing so, the crew became part of a larger effort to honor the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, and their families, and the continuing war on terror.
The left may see the war on terror as a pathway to power...but millions more see it as OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM...ours.
Fed up with the anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-America bullshit and the so-called Internationalists and moralists lecturing us from a safe distance? Had it up to HERE with the media meme and Dean's hateful campaign?
Joe Cartoon will make it all better...a bottle of Cab wouldn't hurt either.
I'm checking out of the agit prop business to enjoy the shank of the evening and the "Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" DVD that arrived this afternoon...God Bless Cakebread and UPS.
Countin' down to ROTK....this related gem snagged from LGF:
Gimli raises axe for Western civilization
Perhaps the most passionate observations came from John Rhys-Davies, who plays the dwarf Gimli and voices Treebeard the Ent. Focusing on the necessity of defending civilization in times of crisis, Rhys-Davies took the media to task for failing to appreciate the preciousness of Western civilization, and warned of the potential consequences of rising Muslim extremism and the increasingly Islamic face of Europe.
“I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged,” said Rhys-Davies, “and if they do not rise to meet that challenge, they will lose their civilization. That does have a real resonance with me.”
Pointing a finger at the media, Rhys-Davies went on, “What is unconscionable is that too many of your fellow journalists do not understand how precarious Western civilization is, and what a jewel it is… The abolition of slavery comes from Western democracy. True democracy comes from our Greco-Judeo-Christian Western experience. If we lose these things, then this is a catastrophe for the world.”
Rhys-Davies revealed that as far back as 1955 his father had predicted that “the next World War will be between Islam and the West.” The actor recalled his response: “I said to him, ’Dad, you’re nuts! The Crusades have been over for hundreds of years!’ And he said, ’Well, I know, but militant Islam is on the rise again. And you will see it in your lifetime.’ He’s been dead some years now. But there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him and think, ’God, I wish you were here, just so I could tell you that you were right.’”
Looking at the lone female journalist at the table, Rhys-Davies said pointedly, “You should not be in this room [according to Muslim custom]. Because your husband or your father or your husband is not here to guide you. You could only be here in this room with these strange men for immoral purposes.”
Rhys-Davies went on to contemplate the significance of demographic shifts among Western Europeans and Muslims in Europe. “There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about, that we daren’t bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing as well… By 2020, fifty percent of the children in Holland under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent…
“And don’t forget, coupled with this there is this collapse of numbers. Western Europeans are not having any babies. The population of Germany at the end of the century is going to be 56% of what it is now. The populations of France, 52% of what it is now. The population of Italy is going to be down 7 million people.
“There is a change happening in the very complexion of Western civilization in Europe that we should think about at least and argue about. If it just means the replacement of one genetic stock with another genetic stock, that doesn’t matter too much. But if it involves the replacement of Western civilization with a different civilization with different cultural values, then it is something we really ought to discuss — because, [hang it all], I am for dead-white-male culture!”
His fellow filmmakers might not all agree, but Tolkien would have applauded.
...of Europe.
France – the European jokerEUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - While the sudden collapse of the Constitution talks in Brussels on Saturday (13 December) was very unexpected for most participants; French president Jacques Chirac was perhaps not so surprised.
Most diplomats pointed to France as the crucial reason for the breakdown of the talks.
At breakfast on Friday, Mr Chirac had already hinted that there would be no agreement and that the summit would end mid Saturday, reports Der Standard.
Now, being able to blame the breakdown on Spain and Poland may suit the French president as it gives him more room to shape the future of Europe.
Shape the future of Europe? France as a model? Yikes.
Concern about defence co-operation outside EUEUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission expressed on Monday (15 December) concern that defence co-operation among a few member states could be organised outside the institutional framework.
After much discussion over the last month, the EU 25 reached a deal allowing some member states to integrate more on defence issues – so-called structured co-operation – provided they met certain criteria.
This agreement was supposed to be anchored into the new Constitution, but, as talks on the whole text failed over the weekend, Brussels is worried that member states will take it upon themselves to operate outside EU structures as the Nice Treaty does not allow them to move ahead in defence.
"We want to avoid that this sort of co-operation takes place outside the institutional framework", said the Commission spokesperson on Monday.
After the weekend’s failed talks, the idea of a core group of member states integrating at a faster pace than the rest was once again suggested.
These "pioneer" states, as French President Jacques Chirac calls them, could move ahead on a number of issues such as defence, justice and home affairs and economic issues, suggested the French President.
Not bloodly likely...
Defence plans unlikely outside EU The question is whether France and Germany, the two most strongly pushing for a core Europe, could persuade others to follow them in the most controversial of issues: defence.For Daniel Keohane, of the Centre for European Reform in London, the question is not very realistic.
Germany and France would need the UK on board in order to develop a credible structure but they would have a hard time convincing the British to follow them, he told the EUobserver.
Also, he questioned whether countries would get involved in defence structures that do not have any legal basis.
All this might be worrying if not for Schröder and Chirac's less than stellar governance of their respective countries.
Wonder how long before Le Bat du Clue hits the American Left?
The anti-war, tin-foil hat brigade never cease to beat the conspiracy drum. This bit of asshattery from a SF Chronicle reader:
It's all in the timingEditor -- Thanks to the capture of Saddam Hussein, stories about Halliburton's profiteering are off the front pages.
The timing of such an event could not have been better if it had been planned -- unless, of course, it had.
SCOTT KRAVITZ
San Francisco
However the good news from Iraq continues to find its way onto the web and eventually into the media via bloggers and Iraqi eyewitnesses.
Cox & Forkum nails it today...follow Allen's links and read Omar's entire blog...it's well worth the time.
Well.
That was the shortest victory lap in history. I'm beginning to wish they had Saddam's head on a pike...not only would it have been much more satisfying, he wouldn't become an anti-war cause celeb. The left should be deeply ashamed of the cant and folly of their response to Saddam's capture.
Check out Smash's DNC recon.
...still stinks.
A new voice Anti Anti War, currently #2 in this week's New Weblog Showcase 'splains why The Iraq war will be a success and bitchslaps a loathesome blogger exploiting a soldier's death and sitting at #1.
Link anti anti war now!
US soldier from 1-22 Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division flashes the V-sign for victory at the 4ID headquarters, in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been captured alive and in good health by coalition forces after a manhunt of more than eight months.
The Command Post has ongoing coverage.
John Little at Eye On The Left Photoshops a keeper and tracks Leftie spew spin.
Dean Esmay offers somber reflection...not.
Citizen Smash has an excellent list of blog coverage and this very interesting story:
IN A RELATED STORY, The Telegraph is reporting that September 11 ringleader Mohammed Atta may have received training in Baghdad from notorious terrorist Abu Nidal, with the knowledge of the Iraqi government.Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist.
Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad.
In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy".
Smash opines: "Howard Dean probably has one heck of a headache this morning."
Fucking A.
Apparently the DNC fax machine has Al-Jazeera on speed dial...or visa-versa.
UPDATE: AlJazeera spins: Arabs express mixed emotions over detentionArabs have greeted the US detention of Saddam Hussein with mixed emotions, welcoming the arrest of a dictator yet regretting that a symbol of defiance against Washington was behind bars.
Some fear Saddam's capture will boost President George Bush, who many Arabs believe has waged a campaign against them and other Muslims after the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Heh.
...a lot like Christmas.
As a dog owner you didn't think I'd miss this one...did you?
[Note: lefties, peaceniks and greenies can click here.]
Fight Over Iraqi Contracts Clouds EU Summit
However, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, a staunch U.S. ally which stands to benefit from Iraqi contracts, defended President Bush's decision."It's for the Americans to decide how they spend their money. This is American money," Blair told reporters.
Let me express my concern that we might offend our European friends as succinctly as possible:
There must be great joy in Liberalville-by-the-Bay today.
Fleet Week sans Blue Angels?Navy leaves S.F. off 2004 schedule
The Navy Blue Angels precision flying team announced its schedule for 2004 Thursday -- and San Francisco's huge Fleet Week celebration is not on it.
The daring flights of the six F/A-18 Hornet jets have been the centerpiece of the city's Fleet Week event for more than 20 years, and without the Blue Angels, the whole event could be in difficulty.
[A cheer rises from Bezerkley]
Fleet Week and the Blue Angels have drawn wall-to-wall crowds to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and brought in millions of dollars in extra revenue to merchants who had been suffering in the last two years from a big drop in tourism. "We will do everything in our power, including dealing with the city's leadership, to see that the event is not canceled," said Al Baccari, executive director of the Fisherman's Wharf Association.
Even without the Angels, he said, he wanted the Fleet Week events, which include a parade of ships and visits from Navy and Coast Guard crews, to go on as scheduled. "It's part of our history," Baccari said, "Part of the city's past as a Navy town."
While Fleet Week and the Angels have been a popular success, the blue warplanes flying over the city every fall have produced hundreds of complaints from citizens concerned about the noise and safety issues.
While no Blue Angels planes have crashed in the Bay Area, there have been some fatal accidents in other parts of the country.
Many opponents have been vocal in denouncing the acrobatics, the whoosh of the planes and what appears to be dangerous flying.
"It's disgusting, unbearable, amazing noise," Evelyn Vedro said in 2000. "It scares you to death."
Vedro, who lives near the flight path, was not available for comment on the possible demise of the stunt flights next year.
Fleet Week in San Francisco dates back to the entrance of the Navy's Great White Fleet into the bay in 1908, an event seen by thousands of people. The Pacific Fleet made regular ceremonial calls in the bay every year until World War II.
Fleet Week was revived in 1981 by then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who went up for a ride with the Blue Angels and was reportedly badly frightened by the experience. However, she remained a firm defender of the event and it has become an enormous popular and commercial success.
The Navy joins Chris Columbus on the official unwelcome list, Christ and Cirque du Soleil soon to follow.
Deep in the grip of Liberal social engineers, PC censors and America haters, San Francisco seems determined to remake itself into a second rate city.
Schroeder hits out at US over Iraq rebuildingBERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder criticised the United States for barring countries that opposed the Iraq war from bidding for reconstruction contracts there.
"This is a task for all, and I emphasise all, that want or can be involved," he told reporters in Berlin after talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan."It does not make sense at all to discuss who should be involved and who should potentially not be involved in any recontruction effort," Schroeder said.
The Weasels whine and complain but they continue to cosy up to terrorists and oppressive regimes. It's pretty clear where their loyalties and sentiments lie.
Deal reached on closer ties with SyriaThe deal includes a clause on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and rules which will facilitate trade ties (Photo: EU Commission)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A deal has been reached with Syria which looks set to further distance the EU's foreign policy towards "rogue states" from that of the United States.The European Commission today announced that it has struck a deal with Syria on developing political and trade ties, extending Brussels' policy of constructive engagement with countries dubbed "rogue states" by the US government.
"We managed yesterday, in Damascus, to reach an understanding with the Syrian side on all remaining issues in the negotiations for a Euro-Mediterranean association agreement", said a spokesperson for the European Commission.
Poland is looking better everyday as our European base of operations.
Poland is threatening to torpedo a deal on the EU’s first constitution if it does not get its way on the voting system.
Poles raise stakes before EU summitPoland on Wednesday sharply raised the stakes for Thursday's EU summit in Brussels, claiming its fight against a new voting system was a battle for the "European ideal" designed to protect the rights of small member states.
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Polish foreign minister, attacked Germany and France over their insistence that they would not sign the EU's constitutional treaty unless it contained the proposed voting reforms, which observers say would benefit larger states, and warned that his government had little room for manoeuvre in the debate over power-sharing.
Grab your collection nets and head over to Signal Plus Noise for a stunning array of the 'Sphere's creepy crawlers as the Carnival of the Vanities Insect Menagerie unfolds it many delights.
UPDATE: Greens lost...but by slim margin given that SF is a yellow dog stronghold. Banagor has a few choice comments on the election.
A critical mayoral election is taking place in SF today. In a big "L" Liberal electorate a Green interloper theatens limosine liberals.
As the gubernatorial recall result map shows, the SF Bay Area, and Northern coast are solidly in the red "No" column.
However there is serious disagreement over social issues between the pragmatic, old guard Pols and the younger Green action oriented Libs. Many counties could easily go Green in 2004 if a green candidate challenges Dean, throwing California into play.
Should Green Party mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez win today the Greens would be poised to become a serious political entity in California.
Green radical in San Francisco showdownThe Green party will discover tonight whether it has scored an extraordinary political coup by deposing the Democrats in the race to become San Francisco's mayor.
With recent polls suggesting that the Greens' candidate, Matt Gonzalez, is neck and neck with his rival, Gavin Newson, the city could soon be led by a man who entered the contest late, and whose supporters include Michael Moore, Isabel Allende and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.
Mr Gonzalez's campaign and his rivalry with Mr Newson have created one of America's most intriguing political races for years.
Mr Gonzalez has been called "the Socialist Stud" and has been jailed for contempt of court. Mr Newson, a rich businessman, has been called "Dapper Dan" and has the support of the Democratic party hierarchy. He is the anointed heir of the retiring mayor, Willie Brown, an old- style political fixer who is bowing out only because he cannot run for another term.
Mr Newson, 36, is a judge's son and has the support of the city's establishment which has helped him amass a $3.8m (Ł2.2m) war chest.
He has enough endorsements to paper the walls of city hall, and senior Democrats see him as a future political star on the national stage.
Mr Gonzalez, 38, is a radical lawyer and former Democrat. He entered the race only in August, and few gave him much chance of success.
California is also in an "anti-politician" mood, as evidenced by its election of an actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as governor in October.
Mr Gonzalez, with his scruffy looks and combative style - as a public defender he was briefly jailed for contempt of court - is seen very much as the anti-establishment candidate able to tackle what many perceive as city hall cronyism.
Other issues are also at play. Mr Newson has spearheaded moves on the city's homeless which have angered some radicals in the city. He introduced measures banning aggressive begging and begging near cash machines.
Mr Gonzalez opposed the moves, accusing Mr Newson of criminalising the homeless. His supporters see him as the standard-bearer for the city's old radical values. As a bass-player, who has won the backing of the actors Martin Sheen and Danny Glover, he also stands for the part of the city that likes to party.
Another high profile defeat could be very bad news for Dems Pelosi, Boxer and Burton. LA county is also sliding away from the Dems grasp as the Latino constituency comes of age and flexes their political muscle. As the recent recall election demonstrated, they are not a voting block nor can they be taken for granted.
An interesting day for Democrats as Gore endorses John Dean. Has Hillary overplayed her hand? Why is Gore wresting control of the party and agenda from the Clintons at this point in time? What's in it for Gore? Secretary of State in a Dean Admin? Is this simply an opportune time for Dean to sideline Hillary? Perhaps Dean's driving this train, not Gore. Gore's secretive coalition with Dean and assertion of political power might indicate that Green delegates in key primary states are in play and Gore would be a natural ally for Dean with this constituency. Clinton and McAuliff's strategy misfired against a voter revolt in the California Recall election and Pelosi failed to hold the party line against Bush's agenda in Congress. The Greens could abandon the Dem ship if the party leaders do nothing but rearrange the usual suspects deck chairs as the 2004 iceberg looms.
In a predictable and hackneyed political season this is the most intriguing move to date.
Drudge's latest dish is just too delicious if true.
Barbra Streisand may soon be stripped of her Grammy nomination for MOVIE ALBUM -- as award officials re-examine if the set actually qualifies for this year's awards, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned!...A SONY rep reached late Sunday did acknowledge the CD was released a full two weeks after the qualifying date, but defended the Streisand nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal, adding "we're not the only ones out there nominated" who hit the stores after September 30.
Babs=0 Fairness=3
Okay...I went above and beyond the call of blogduty and watched the Hillary Clinton interviews . Stephanopoulos is such a smarmy little pisher...he can't tank "This Week" soon enough.
Seinfeld fans may recall the episode where Mary Hart's voice sent Kramer into seizures. Hillary's voice has a similar effect on me....to make matters worse she actually cackles.
One expects puff ball questions anytime a prominent Dem is interviewed by network news, but Russert's lack of follow up to her criticisms of troop strength, readiness and a lack of equipment was embarrassing. SecDef Les Aspin's two theater theory got us in this situation. Asshats.
The entire effort was predictable in it's lack of news worthiness and content. Hillary's voice and body language change when she's lying/spinning, we've seen it too often. Her perfomance when asked about the 2004 nomination is classic Clinton.
When Hillary sought a seat on the Armed Services Committe I thought to myself "uh-oh" ...bad news for our military as it provides access to information and to our service people that will be used against them.
Mrs. Clinton told troops she visited overseas "there are many questions at home about the administration's policies" but that "Americans are wholeheartedly proud of what you are doing."Mrs. Clinton said she did not undercut morale by criticizing the commander in chief to U.S. soldiers in Iraq. "It is fully appropriate, in talking with our soldiers, to have that kind of conversation with them," Mrs. Clinton said.
Clueless, just totally clueless. What could one expect from a woman who thought the officers assigned as White House Social Aides were there to serve hors d'oeuvres at a state function.
The thing that really angers me is the repetition of the Big Lie that there is no plan in Iraq.
AWK! NO PLAN AWK! NO PLAN AWK!!!
The Dems repeat it often enough and it becomes a fact in the public mind. The media are happy to let it stand as they have a great deal invested in our failure in Iraq. The Dems want it both ways, the plan isn't working/ there is no plan. Which is it?
How pray tell did we accomplish this witout a plan? The supply logistics alone require months of advance work. Hillary wants us to believe that Bremer or CENTCOM thinks "Oh we forgot about that...or we didn't realize we would need that " and the supply fairy delivers 22 million vaccination doses to Iraq.
However, the Dems count on ignorance of the military and partisan hatred to implement their plan...it remains to be seen as to just how stupid the American people are.
CINCPAC has a comprehensive and compelling Pearl Harbor site.
62 years ago, on an ordinary American Sunday, smoke rose as the fires of hatred took American lives. My Dad was stationed at Schofield and was on weekend leave or I wouldn't be here to annoy anti-war pussies. Ironically, he never fought in the Pacific, he was redeployed to the European theater with the 3rd Army and witnessed the beginning of the war in one theater and the end in another.
As the Greatest Generation fades into family albums and memories, it's easy to forget the debt owed to our fathers and grandfathers. 9/11 reminded us that the books on tyranny are never closed.
EDIT NOTE: FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech to Congress has been moved to extended entry.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S PEARL HARBOR SPEECH
To the Congress of the United States:
Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
This morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, Dec. 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.
A post from Matt at Blackfive that will make your heart swell with pride.
Email from Participant at President Bush's Thanksgiving
Below is an email (via military reader "In Media Res") from a Captain in the 501st (a unit that I know well) that was at President Bush's Thanksgiving Dinner. With all the talk of fake turkey and photo ops, maybe you should hear about the President's visit from someone that was actually there:
Sgt Hook is being deployed:
No, I am NOT lost in the blogosphere though blogging has been scant these past few weeks. As many of my regular readers know (the both of you), I will be deploying with my unit to Afghanistan in early 2004 for combat operations in support of the global war on terrorism.
God Speed, Hook.
Juliette of Baldilocks slices and dices TurkeyGate.
Hard on the heels of the show turkey scandal is Jelly DonutGate; the Bush Administration's abject failure to regulate food advertisements and ban Jelly Donuts.
Switzerland to remove offending Christian symbol from flag! CBS declines to run "Christmas Special " ...the material deemed too offensive, will run on Showtime in March.
No, not really, but this story is a mind boggling example of political correctness run amok. Following the 9/11 fund debaucle, the Red Cross seems determined to destroy it's reputation and public support.
Seems our fellow North Americans are succuming to the PC removal of the word Christmas from the holiday well:
Canada's Christmas tree controversy
In Canada, as in many other parts of the Christian world at this time of year, it is hard to escape the sights and sounds of Christmas.
In these commercial times it seems that no self-respecting shop or home is without its gaudy decorations and fairy lights.
Certainly the one thing nobody overlooks is the all important Christmas tree - except in Toronto. City officials there have decreed that the 15-metre pine recently erected in the city centre is not a Christmas tree - but a holiday tree.
"That object is identified as a Christmas tree - it's not a Hannukah bush, it's not a winter tree, it's not a festival tree - it's a Christmas tree" -Professor Barry Levy.
Babs=0 Fairness=2
Barbra Streisand’s Lawsuit to Silence Coastal Website to be DismissedFree Speech Protections Upheld for Landmark Aerial Database
Los Angeles - 12/3/2003 - In a decision that reaffirms the public’s First Amendment right to participate in matters of public significance, a Los Angeles Superior Court issued a 46 page opinion today holding that Barbra Streisand, the well-known entertainer and Hollywood celebrity, abused the judicial process by filing a lawsuit against aerial archivist Ken Adelman, his Internet Service Provider Layer42.NET, and Pictopia.COM. The court also firmly rejected Streisand’s request for an injunction to force the removal of a panoramic photographic frame that happens to include her sprawling blufftop estate from Adelman’s website.
Seems the EU is not quite Utopia and comity is fast disappearing amidst the elbowing for control:
Fischer warns of constitution power struggle Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, has warned Poland and Spain that they risk splitting the European Union unless they back down in the power struggle over the new EU constitution.Mr Fischer warned that the constitution, due to be finalised next week, would be a failure unless member states agreed a new voting system, giving big countries such as Germany more power.
Mr Fischer believes the "double majority" voting system, opposed by smaller countries such as Spain and Poland, is vital to stop the EU decision-making process from seizing up.
Double majority? A few member states with twice the power? This is the sophisticated Republic/Commonwealth model we should immulate?
Referendum demands from Helsinki to Athens"Let the people decide on the EU Constitution in fair referenda" will be the message of the European Referendum Campaign (ERC). The message will be spread by activists from Helsinki to Athens, and Lisbon to Bucharest.
The ERC is supported by 250 organisations from 28 European countries - representing more than 4.5 million members. The organisation is demanding that the EU Constitution be decided by referenda in all the countries concerned.
Whoa! Vox Populi? Democracy theatens to break out in Europe. Maybe not.
States that reject treaty may have to leave EU, says Prodi Denis Staunton in BrusselsThe president of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, has said any country which rejected Europe's new constitutional treaty might have to leave the European Union. In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Prodi says that one member-state cannot be allowed to sink the treaty.
"Taxation is a national matter in all the fields that are under national discipline but in the fields that are under European discipline, you must have a European-level decision. In this case, it's not between citizens and member-states but between citizens and the proper authority. That is, in this case, the European Union," said Mr Prodi.
The PROPER AUTHORITY. ...the one with double voting weight for a few member states.
Monti hits at 'selfish' Paris and BerlinMario Monti, one of the European Commission's most senior members, said yesterday a selfish Franco-German alliance had "killed" the EU's stability pact.
Mr Monti told Financial Times Deutschland the Franco-German axis could not always be trusted to act in the general European interest.
The EU competition commissioner said France and Germany appeared to think they were too powerful to be bound by the eurozone's fiscal rules.
His comments will fuel the debate about the future division of power between the EU's big and small countries, which will reach a peak at next week's Brussels summit, when leaders try to agree a new constitution
The decision was widely condemned for sending the signal that larger member states can do what they want when it suits them.
Selfish?! Surely a mistake has been made! France is the epitome of sophistication and civilization...is it not? This wouldn't quite as enjoyable if not for the overblown rhetoric and nose rubbing we've received from our "betters" in Europe.
Speaking of awards, it’s time to open the nominations process for (LGF'S) 2003 Robert Fisk Award for Idiotarian of the Year(Fiskie for short). Please post your nominations in the comments for this thread at LGF.Note that the Idiotarian of the Year Award is devoted to “honoring” the useful idiots of the world; the creatures who are so naive, willfully blind, or astoundingly Ivory Tower brilliant that they aid the causes of dictators, terrorists, communists, and/or the evil Presbyterian Conspiracy. Please don’t nominate outright murderers like Yasser Arafat or Osama bin Laden; these types of animals are not idiotarians so much as monsters, the type of monsters the idiotarians end up supporting and defending.
So many idiots, so little bandwidth.
The Sharks vs the Fish... more from the religion of peace.
It's not exactly war at sea, but the competing symbols that have cropped up on Cairo streets are a tiny reminder of the tensions between Egypt's Copts and majority Muslims. Some Christians are annoyed at the Muslim response.''All I wanted to say is that I am a Christian, kind of expressing my Coptic identity,'' said 25-year-old Miriam Greiss, who has a fish sticker on her car. ''I think choosing a shark doesn't make sense, as if someone is saying, 'I am a violent, bloody creature, look at me.'''
Emad, a Muslim, laughed when asked about the competing symbols but was unapologetic about the two shark stickers on his car.
''The Christians had the fish so we responded with the shark. If they want to portray themselves as weak fishes, OK. We are the strongest,'' said Emad, who would give only his first name.
Copts often wear gold cross pendants or have tiny crosses tattooed on the inside of their wrists, but the stickers seem a more public step. Karl Innemee, a specialist in Coptic studies at the American University in Cairo, said the arrival of the fish could reflect a new desire by Egyptian Christians ''to express themselves openly.''
Still, the Coptic businessman who began importing the fish stickers two years ago refused to give his name when contacted by The Associated Press at the Maria Group — the company name on the stickers. He said discussing religion could be asking for trouble.
The fish stickers are sold in churches or Christian bookstores for about 8 cents. The Maria Group owner said sales of the fish, which come plain or with the word ''Jesus'' inside, have picked up in recent months — soon after the shark stickers first appeared in August.Muslims apparently copied or adopted the symbol of an Egyptian sporting goods company to create their shark symbol. The stickers are sold in Islamic bookshops and also come plain or fancy — some with the Arabic phrase ''No god but Allah'' printed in the shark's body.
While the fish stickers came from America, the symbol has roots in Egypt. In their earliest days, Copts used the fish — perhaps the emblem is from the biblical story of the loaves and fishes — as a way to identify themselves to each other without letting their Roman rulers know.
Medhat Mahrous, a Coptic scholar, noted that the Coptic church still uses the fish symbol today on altar curtains and religious objects.
The fish vs. sharks on Cairo streets are reminiscent of how proponents of the theory of evolution responded to fish stickers in the United States with depictions of fish with tiny legs, sometimes with the word ''evolve'' or the name ''Darwin'' printed inside the fish.
Hat tip to Aaron's Rantblog...check out his wicked funny Dean photos.
Time to nominate and vote for your favorite blog at Whizbang's Explosively Unique...2003 Weblog Awards
Welcome to the 2003 Weblog Awards.Voting for the awards will be open to all, but you will only be able to vote once in each category. The final decisions as to the participants in each category will be mine, but I will try to take all nominations into account. There are enough categories that most sites that really want to participate will be able to find one they fit in.
Why am I doing this? I think most awards tend to favor established sites. I'm trying to create enough of a stratification system that blogs will compete on an equal footing with their peers. Who better to judge the merits of blogs than blog readers?
The Politburo Diktat has developed unique, click-able map of
The Commonwealth of Blogosphere.
This humble blog being only a few hovels and a goat shed isn't listed, but we have high hopes that one day we will indeed make the map.
Is is just me or does the Cingular ad featuring their new call forwarding feature strike you as dumb? The ad shows a guy frantically searching for a ringing cell phone...the voice over says if he had their new device he could forward the call to his land line.
Wait just a fargin' minute...if he put the phone in the required cradle then it wouldn't be lost and he wouldn't need the dang thing...would he? Wouldn't it be more efficient to make a habit of putting your cell phone in the same spot...maybe next to your keys and wallet (duh!)...when you come home or in it's charger cradle? This strikes me as another unnecessary gadget aimed at the terminally clueless.
Got one that makes you crazy?
The Chief to be on Fox News Tonight!!!
Chief Wiggles will be on Fox Special Report with Brit Hume tonight @ 7:00 pm eastern time!
Catch it on late night repeat if you missed it earlier and don't forget send a donation.
Ramar and Mike, of Begging To Differ, suggest fastening your seat belt as Carnival of the Vanities takes flight.
Catching up on my blog reading backlog...what a joy to have two weeks of Lileks to peruse...sweet Gnat...cultural icons embraced and debunked...musings of the frozen North and of course James with a full head of steam. Lileks says exactly what has been on my mind since the Blogosphere began fawning over Salam Pax.
One day soon the Brit media whores stroking Salam for a quid will tire and London's Trotskyite ratbags will embrace the next cause celebe. The weight of history and political realities will overtake your fleeting fame, where you gonna go then, habibi?
UPDATE: James climbs down a bit from his tone, I wish he hadn't, it was perfect.
Immigrant driver license repeal passes
Rewrite of measure planned -- governor says he'll work for a 'sensible solution'
Sacramento -- A bill repealing a law that would have allowed illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses starting Jan. 1 cleared its last legislative hurdle Monday, giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger his first victory in the Democrat- controlled Legislature.
The governor pledged to work with the author of the overturned bill and other lawmakers to come up with a "sensible solution'' to the safety issues posed by undocumented immigrants driving on California roads and highways.
Democrats reluctantly agreed to repeal SB60, a law that would have allowed 2 million undocumented workers to obtain driver's licenses, after opponents gathered enough signatures to put a repeal of the measure on the March ballot.
The Assembly voted 64-9 to repeal the bill. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the measure as soon as it reaches his desk.
After losing the recall, hearing from their constituencies and facing a March ballot initiative, the Dems did what Pols do when faced with defeat, they retreated to live another day.
Of course not everyone gets it.
"Terrorists don't just come across borders," said Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes, D-Fresno.
Myron Payes, of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said the law should have been implemented, not washed away.
Payes said background checks just for illegal immigrants would not be fair.
"Let's do it for everyone," he said. "It's not only the immigrant population that has people who are criminals."
WTF? Ms Reyes could recite a dozen legitimate responses, yet she chooses to insult our intelligence. Since 9/11, the open borders are our greatest security threat and the most obvious access points now that transportation hubs/entry ports are under close scrutiny and electronic surveillance.
Californians, residents from other states and legal immigrants MUST provide a valid SS# and a thumbprint in order to obtain a CADL. That is, in my opinion, an invasion of privacy, an abuse of the SS ID system and in effect a background check. The license itself is issued when the applicant proves he/she has the skill to operate a vehicle safely, knowledge of the rules of the road, the means to license and insure the auto and a willingness to obey traffic laws. Other than felons or criminals who are expressedly forbidden to hold a driver's license by a court, any resident may apply and receive a CADL by meeting the qualifications.
Wasn't the point of legalizing alien drivers to insure that all drivers qualified by passing the tests, purchased registration and insurance, not dole out special rights above the rest of the citizenry or further intrude on our rights.
This sort of nonsense is exactly what pisses off reasonable people who are in favor of illegals obtaining a work permit and setting up a system to identify and regulate the cross-border flow of workers and employers, so we don't have repeat of the Bracero debaucle or stresses our public service funding to the breaking point and denies services to Californians, many whom have paid into the system with a life time of hard work.
Lately we've heard a lot of self serving chin-wagging about the Founding Fathers intent and America's role in the world.
"A knowledge of history is, above all, a means of responsibility – of responsibility to the past and of responsibility to the future . . . of responsibility to those who came before us and struggled and sacrificed to pass on to us our precious inheritance of freedom . . . and of responsibility to those who will come after us and to whom we must pass on that inheritance with what new strength and substance it is within our power to add." – John F. Kennedy
"The two sides of the Great Seal were carefully designed to symbolize the United States – to the world and to the future. It is America's vision statement, created between 1776 and 1782.The full significance of the Great Seal has been overlooked by educators and historians. Most Americans know very little about their national emblem – and what they do know is often incorrect.
When given the attention it deserves, the Great Seal connects us with the people who gave us our freedom. It communicates their vision of America, and realigns us with the original spirit that gave birth to the United States." -John D. MacArthur
Here's an interesting story from Singapore published in The Straits Times, Asia's largest English language newspaper. Is this story a cautionary tale for 2004 or simply sour grapes?
Shevardnadze blames Soros for his downfall
MOSCOW -- Deposed Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze accused US billionaire and philanthropist George Soros of orchestrating a campaign that led to his downfall, in an interview broadcast on Russian television on Sunday.
Mr Shevarnadze, who is still feted in the West as the man who helped end the Cold War, told reporters about his dramatic resignation: 'It was not an easy decision, but it was the only solution.'
'America is a large country. It has thousands of organisations, one of them is Soros' -- you know him, Russia has shoved him out...,' Mr Shevardnadze told state-run Russian television.
Mr Soros shut down most of his operations in Russia last month amid a complicated property dispute with Moscow authorities.
'And so he formulated this whole idea -- to hold elections (in Georgia), and make sure that new people come to power,' the ousted leader added.
'This was Soros' plan. Everything was drawn up in advance: how much money to spend, what non-governmental organisations to trust and with which ones to cooperate -- these are American organisations, but I cannot remember their names,' said Mr Shevardnadze.
You may interested in this column, The 'capitalist threat' and the Soros mission as well.
Dick Morris' column is a must read to understand how Soros may be gaining control of the Democrats through their pocketbook:
November 25, 2003 -- THE Democratic Party is being replaced by a new group called "Americans Coming Together," which has been launched with two $10 million donations from financier George Soros and Peter B. Lewis, chairman of the Progressive Corporation. The new organization wants to raise $94 million to finance a massive campaign against Bush - all with soft money. The Democratic Party, which is only allowed to raise hard money (donations limited to $2,000 per person) by the McCain-Feingold law is unable to amass the resources necessary for a national campaign, so it is ceding the main role to Americans Coming Together.
SF Bay Area has a large Afghani immigrant population and good news from Afghanistan occasionally trickles into the media:
"Afghanistan was once a major produce supplier in the Near East, exporting more than $500 million annually in products such as raisins, melons, pistachios, pomegranates, almonds and citrus fruit. And more than four-fifths of the Afghan population earns its living, directly or indirectly, through farming."
UC Davis agricultural team will go back to fruits' roots
Officials to visit Afghanistan to repatriate plants
As you enjoy a handful of seedless grapes or bite into a sweet apricot, you may owe thanks to the horticultural abundance of Afghanistan.
Scores of popular plants grown throughout the state, such as grapes, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, apricots, peaches and pomegranates, are descendants of plants native to Afghanistan and its surrounding regions. These wild cousins were imported to breed into commercial crops traits such as seedlessness, sweetness, firmness or resistance to heat, insects or disease.
Now, California is returning the favor, as UC Davis officials prepare to send back to the war-ravaged country the fruit and nut plants gathered by a daring San Francisco-born horticulturalist in Afghanistan's mountains and plains over five decades.
This winter, cuttings of about 50 varieties of Afghan plants grown in Davis and Winters will be repatriated, according to Patrick Brown, director of international programs for UC Davis' agricultural college. It is a small but important symbolic step in the rebuilding of Afghanistan's horticultural system, once a jewel of the Near East.
When agricultural experts from Afghanistan visited UC Davis last month, they were moved by the sight of the thriving native Afghanistan trees and vines.
"They said, 'Wow, it's just amazing that you guys would save for us what we can't save ourselves,' " Brown recalled. "They were really taken aback. And they were thrilled to taste grapes of an Afghan variety grown at UC Davis."
One member of the Afghan delegation that recently visited Davis, Amanullah Lutfi, 59, fondly remembers the agricultural abundance where he was raised in the mountains of Afghanistan. "We grew grapes, apples, pears, peaches, almonds, cherries -- all types of fruits," he said.
He also remembers the wild varieties of fruits and nuts he found exploring the mountains as a boy.
Afghanistan was once a major produce supplier in the Near East, exporting more than $500 million annually in products such as raisins, melons, pistachios, pomegranates, almonds and citrus fruit. And more than four-fifths of the Afghan population earns its living, directly or indirectly, through farming.
But Lutfi, who worked for more than 20 years in Afghanistan's agricultural ministry and now works in Kabul for Permanente Corp., a Los Angeles agricultural firm, said his hometown now resembles a desert. "The wars destroyed everything," he said.
Orchards and vineyards not leveled by bombs were cut down for firewood by local residents desperate for fuel during the cold winters. Then the Taliban hacked down grapevines and trees to eliminate hiding places for enemy soldiers or to cripple local economies, Lutfi said. The wild trees near his hometown are also mostly gone, cut down for firewood.
