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October 24, 2006

Newsweek admits Climate Change error. Newsweek has finally admitted that they were wrong about Global Climate Change—in 1975 when they were predicting Global Cooling. Their thirty-years-late mea culpa is evidently supposed to convince us to trust their judgment about Global Warming in the present day. Their admission of error is somewhat strained—they include, in the first sentence of their article, a non sequitur swipe at American involvement in Vietnam, and refer to their 1975 piece as "a small back-page article" as if they can't understand why everyone paid so much attention to "that little story."NewsweekIn April, 1975, in an issue mostly taken up with stories about the collapse of the American-backed government of South Vietnam, NEWSWEEK published a small back-page article about a very different kind of disaster. Citing "ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically," the magazine warned of an impending "drastic decline in food production." Political disruptions stemming from food shortages could affect "just about every nation on earth." Scientists urged governments to consider emergency action to head off the terrible threat of . . . well, if you had been following the climate-change debates at the time, you'd have known that the threat was: global cooling.Referring to a recent speech on the floor of the Senate by Republican Senator James Inhofe, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which cited their "little article," and which appears to have stung Newsweek, they attempt to paint a picture of Inhofe as a head-in-the-sand right-winger.In fact, as Inhofe pointed out, for more than 100 years journalistshave quoted scientists predicting the destruction of civilization by,in alternation, either runaway heat or a new Ice Age. The implicationhe draws is that if you're not worried about being trampled by astampede of woolly mammoths through downtown Chicago, you don't have tobelieve what the media is saying about global warming, either.Newsweek's assertion of Inhofe's implication is utterly false, as can easily be seen from the closing sentences of his speech. epw.senate.govThe American people know when their intelligence is being insulted.They know when they are being used and when they are being duped by thehysterical left.The American people deserve better -- much better -- from our fourthestate. We have a right to expect accuracy and objectivity on climatechange coverage. We have a right to expect balance in sourcing and fairanalysis from reporters who cover the issue. Above all, the media must roll back this mantra that there isscientific “consensus” of impending climatic doom as an excuse toignore recent science. After all, there was a so-called scientific“consensus” that there were nine planets in our solar system untilPluto was recently demoted.Breaking the cycles of media hysteria will not be easy since hysteriasells -- it’s very profitable. But I want to challenge the news mediato reverse course and report on the objective science of climatechange, to stop ignoring legitimate voices this scientific debate andto stop acting as a vehicle for unsubstantiated hype.There's not a woolly mammoth in sight: Inhofe's implication is, clearly, that the left-leaning media does not know what it's talking about, and should shut up until it does.Inhofe's speech, unlike Newsweeks "admission", is a succinct distillation of the current state of Global Warming hype tactics, read the whole thing. Posted by Sean in Global Warming | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

September 27, 2006

Inhofe criticizes Global Warming scare media. Senator James Inhofe slammed the mainstream media on the floor of the Senate Monday. He says—and he's right—that they've jumped whole heartedly onto the global warming alarmist bandwagon, and left objectivity deliberately behind.It is an inconvenient truth that so far, 2006 has been a year in whichmajor segments of the media have given up on any quest for journalisticbalance, fairness and objectivity when it comes to climate change. Theglobal warming alarmists and their friends in the media have attemptedto smear scientists who dare question the premise of man-madecatastrophic global warming, and as a result some scientists have seentheir reputations and research funding dry up. The media has so relentlessly promoted global warming fears that aBritish group called the Institute for Public Policy Research – andthis from a left leaning group – issued a report in 2006 accusing mediaoutlets of engaging in what they termed “climate porn” in order toattract the public’s attention. Bob Carter, a Paleoclimate geologist from James Cook University inAustralia has described how the media promotes climate fear: “Each such alarmist article is larded with words such as ‘if’, ‘might’,‘could’, ‘probably’, ‘perhaps’, ‘expected’, ‘projected’ or ‘modeled’ -and many involve such deep dreaming, or ignorance of scientific factsand principles, that they are akin to nonsense,” professor Carterconcluded in an op-ed in April of this year.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/09/do0907.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixworld.htmlAnotherexample of this relentless hype is the reporting on the seeminglyendless number of global warming impact studies which do not evenaddress whether global warming is going to happen. They merely projectthe impact of potential temperature increases. The media endlessly hypes studies that purportedly show that globalwarming could increase mosquito populations, malaria, West Nile Virus,heat waves and hurricanes, threaten the oceans, damage coral reefs,boost poison ivy growth, damage vineyards, and global food crops, toname just a few of the global warming linked calamities. Oddly,according to the media reports, warmer temperatures almost never seemto have any positive effects on plant or animal life or foodproduction. Fortunately, the media’s addiction to so-called ‘climateporn’ has failed to seduce many Americans. According to a July Pew Research Center Poll, the American public issplit about evenly between those who say global warming is due to humanactivity versus those who believe it’s from natural factors or nothappening at all. In addition, an August Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that mostAmericans do not attribute the cause of recent severe weather events toglobal warming, and the portion of Americans who believe global warmingis naturally occurring is on the rise. Yes -- it appears that alarmism has led to skepticism. The American people know when their intelligence is being insulted.They know when they are being used and when they are being duped by thehysterical left. The American people deserve better -- much better -- from our fourthestate. We have a right to expect accuracy and objectivity on climatechange coverage. We have a right to expect balance in sourcing and fairanalysis from reporters who cover the issue. Above all, the media must roll back this mantra that there isscientific “consensus” of impending climatic doom as an excuse toignore recent science. After all, there was a so-called scientific“consensus” that there were nine planets in our solar system untilPluto was recently demoted. Breaking the cycles of media hysteria will not be easy since hysteriasells -- it’s very profitable. But I want to challenge the news mediato reverse course and report on the objective science of climatechange, to stop ignoring legitimate voices this scientific debate andto stop acting as a vehicle for unsubstantiated hype.Senator Inhofe, with simple, direct style, destroys all of the most popular "arguments" that the climate change alarmists use to try to convince the public that their pet scare really exists. It's a great speech, read the whole thing. Posted by Sean in Global Warming | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 12, 2006

Into the Lion's Den. My friend—and blogger extrordinaire—Ed Morrissey took part in a panel discussion at Macalester College last night, the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Macalester is well known in Minnesota as a bastion of far left liberal ideology. The subject of the discussion was the Iraq war. Predictably, three of the four panelists were liberals opposed to the war. They ranged, in their leftism, from a relatively sensible, moderate, and charming former swiftboat veteran, Lou Ellingson, to the off the chart America-loathing of Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, University of St. Thomas Peace and Justice Studies professor (what the heck is a Peace and Justice Studies professor anyway?). The moderator, though not a part of the discussion proper, managed to make it known that he too was opposed to the war in Iraq, and to the Bush administration in general.The composition of the audience was also predictable. Easily four fifths of the people in attendance were opposed to the war. I have seldom seen more bumper-stickers calling for America to "Say No to War" (a less realistic solution there never was). The alpaca-wearing, asymmetrical haircut sporting, itty-bitty-skinny-glasses crowd were only outnumbered by the geriatric communists, and up-and-coming beret and black t-shirt wearing Che Guevara lovers.Into this arena our brave Mr. Morrissey walked of his own volition. In his own words:In a larger sense, this seems the perfect way to honor our loss on9/11. America is the home of honest and free political debate, and ifwe want to prevail against fascism secular or religious, we have toretain the courage to speak out even in potentially hostile climates.Ed, to be sure, had supporters there, too. Family and friends were there, as well as readers of his blog, Captain's Quarters. Even so, because of the nature of the panel and the audience, my brother-in-law and I decided to stick around until the crowd thinned in case Ed needed help. None was needed. The crowd was polite and orderly, as were the panelists.You may have noticed that I have not yet mentioned the arguments of the panelists. That is because, for the most part, they were boilerplate leftist arguments that you have heard before: confident, yet unfounded statements that the only reason for the war was to procure oil for the U.S. Well, except for the other reason, which was to further our imperial ambitions. Never mind that we haven't gotten any oil, and every single country which we have beaten in armed conflict is still free. It is startling to see in person, someone—several someones—espouse such outrageous insanity with a straight face. To hear people outline their conspiracies theories, accusing Halliburton-Rove-Cheney-Bush of planning the war in Iraq in a cold-blooded rush toward profit. To see the joy on their faces as they said things about their own country that would curdle your blood. It was surreal.Ed said some things that made sense, but they were completely ignored by the majority of the audience. He had prepared a very good defense of the war as an opening statement (you can read it here, and I encourage you to) but he was not able to deliver it in full because of a five minute time limit imposed by the panel rules. The time limit, though frustrating to all of the panelists, was probably a good idea overall, as it helped limit the tag-team tactics used by two of Ed's opponents. Unfortunately, it also eliminated the only real chance Ed had of saying something that was not in response to a biased question.I admire Ed for standing up for his beliefs in the face of an intellectually hostile audience. As always, he was a good spokesman for conservatism. By far the most gracious of the panelists, he put a human face on the right wing that even the left must agree was admirable. After it was over a very relieved Ed said to me, "Thanks for coming, I know it was a long way to drive." I laughed and answered, "Oh buddy, this was a lot harder on you than it was on me!"Oh, yeah: my grand niece, and Ed's "Little Admiral", got in on the action by taking him a question card of her own, like she saw everyone else doing. She wanted to know, "What is your favorite color?"Update: Ed, too, speaks of the Lion's den. Posted by Sean in Iraq, War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 24, 2006

Pluto demoted; no longer dog. Relax, Pluto is still a dog, but is no longer a planet.Washington PostAfter a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, theInternational Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary statusit has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is-- and isn't -- a planet fills a centuries-old black hole forscientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.Just what are the new rules? Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules fora planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, hassufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces sothat it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared theneighborhood around its orbit." Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's. Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of "dwarf planets,"similar to what long have been termed "minor planets." The definitionalso lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun --"small solar system bodies," a term that will apply to numerousasteroids, comets and other natural satellites.This whole planet/not-a-planet thing has been debated ever since I was a kid. I'm not sure why it really matters; Pluto is still exactly the same thing it was when it was discovered in 1930, and it's still just as interesting to NASA. Unless we're in a competition with some other solar system over who has the most planets I don't get the hoopla. Posted by Sean in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 23, 2006

Nader must pay: "deceitful and fraudulent" 2004 presidential running-mates, Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo, must pay legal expenses in Pennsylvania rising from a lawsuit that kept them off the ballot in that state.Associated PressAs a result of the lawsuit, the state Commonwealth Court foundwide-ranging improprieties among Nader and Camejo's petition signaturesand disqualified nearly two-thirds of the 51,000 signatures theysubmitted. The Commonwealth Court opinion described theNader-Camejo petitions as "the most deceitful and fraudulent exerciseever perpetrated upon this court." Signatures were filed for"Mickey Mouse" and "Fred Flintstone," and thousands of names werecreated at random, the lower court found. Five state Supreme Court justices said Nader and Camejo must paythe plaintiffs' transcription and stenography costs and handwritingexpert fees. "Given the magnitude of the fraud anddeception implicated in (their) signature-gathering efforts, theirclaim that the Commonwealth Court acted in an unjust andunconstitutional fashion by assessing transcription and stenographycosts does not pass the straight-face test," Justice Sandra SchultzNewman wrote for the majority.Obviously unsafe at any speed. Posted by Sean in Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 22, 2006

Western diplomat gets tough. Regarding Iran's likely rejection of UN "incentives" for ceasing uranium enrichment:Reuters"We are not treating (Tuesday) as a deadline because it isnot the Security Council deadline," one Western diplomat said."If Iran flatly refuses to suspend enrichment, then there will,fairly soon, be more talks in the Security Council."Ooooo, more talks.Fairly soon.Scary.Ahmadinejad must be quaking in his boots. Posted by Sean in War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

August 15, 2006

The AP has no shame. The Associated press went with this headline: "Rockets Hit Lebanon Despite Cease-Fire." Read the second paragraph to find out whose rockets they were. Posted by Sean in Media Bias | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 24, 2006

Nobel laureate would love to kill George Bush. Proving once and for all that the Nobel Peace Prize is nothing more than a leftist love-fest, and an oxymoronic waste of time, Betty Williams, a "laureate," told children in Brisbane Australia that she would love to kill George Bush."I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent," said Ms Williams, 64. "Right now, I would love to kill George Bush." Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.Williams echoed my thoughts when she said, "I don't know how I ever got a Nobel Peace Prize, because when I seechildren die the anger in me is just beyond belief." Inexplicably she added, "It's our duty ashuman beings, whatever age we are, to become the protectors of humanlife." How she reconciles the killing of President Bush and being a protector of human life—not to mention telling childred about her sick fantasy—is something best left to the twisted minds of Nobel laureates. Posted by Sean in Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

July 21, 2006

Jump to prevent global warming. I realize that this is so silly that it is probably best ignored, but it is a good example of what people will do when they don't have any understanding of the science involved in a complex issue like global warming.China DailyHans Peter Niesward, from the Department of Gravitationsphysik at the ISA in Munich, says we can stop global warming in one fell swoop - or, more accurately, in one big jump.The slightly disheveled professor states his case on WorldJumpDay.org, an Internet site created to recruit 600,000,000 people to jump simultaneously on July 20 at 11:39:13 GMT in an effort to shift Earth's position.Niesward claims that on this day "Earth occupies one of the most fragile positions in its orbits for the last 100 years." According to the site, the shift in orbit will "stop global warming, extend daytime hours and create a more homogeneous climate."There's something you should know about Hans Peter Niesward:Niesward's theory has at least one major flaw: Niesward doesn't really exist. He is a character created by Torsten Lauschmann, a German-born artist living in Scotland. Lauschmann - a live performer, filmmaker, DJ and photographer ¡ª may be best known for his work "Misshapen Pearl," described as a "phenomenological investigation of the streetlamp's function in our consumer society." Though it seems to have been started almost as a joke it spread all over the world. There are even anti-jumpers who are afraid that changing the earth's orbit is dangerous.The jump was yesterday. Did anyone notice? WorldJumpday.org is "calculating the results." Posted by Sean in Global Warming, Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 17, 2006

A denier accuses. According to Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, "This man Ahmadinejad is crazy. He is the No. 1 Holocaust denier in theworld yet, absurdly, says that there will be one—and he will do it." Yet The Jerusalem Post reports today that Ahmadinejad is accusing Israel of acting like his hero."The Zionists think that they are victims of Hitler,but they act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan," IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.At the risk of violating Godwins Law—but with the firm conviction that I am fulling his reasons for proposing the law in the first place—as regards Ahmadinejad, I have to say that seldom have I seen someone for whom a comparison to Hitler is as apropos; on the level of personal behavior if not on the level of direct political analogy.But, at the same time, we have to remember that the Iranians are playing this dangerous game with Israel while using layer upon layer of cats-paws. Hezbollah is a cats-paw of Iran and Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad in turn is a cats-paw for Ayatollah Khameinei. It's a shell game, cat and mouse, smoke and mirrors. We need to remember that just because Hezbollah is the direct actor in this play, it does not mean they are calling the shots; they are only a puppet. A puppet wearing shiny sequins and bells, to be sure, but only a puppet. We need to follow the strings back to Iran.And beyond? Posted by Sean in War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 14, 2006

Rove Secretly Runs The New York Times This is a hoot. Posted by Sean in Media Bias | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 10, 2006

The LA Times empty attack on Lance Armstrong. France has been living in the grip of "Lance envy" for a long time. When Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France too many times they changed the rules of the Tour to reduce his chances of winning it again. When he won it again, they changed the rules again. And again. Lance proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could win the tour at will—which twisted the collective French nose particularly hard, as Armstrong is an American.The LA Times showed us today just how badly it aspires to be French. In an empty hit piece on Lance Armstrong the Times has attacked the worlds best cyclist with an article that shoots only blanks. In this pathetic excuse for a "Times Investigation" they attempt—after describing his amazing rise to the top of the cycling world following a fight with cancer—to smear Armstrong with allegations of which he was completely cleared by Dutch investigators in May of this Year (Lance Armstrong cleared of doping charges-EIKIW).Now, that feat of athletic domination has been called into question byallegations that performance-enhancing drugs may have played a role.Such rumors have long shadowed Armstrong's career, but the latestassertions are more troublesome — for the first time, they have beenmade under oath.Called into question indeed. According to their own article "the case was settled before any action by the presiding three-judgepanel, with SCA Promotions agreeing in February to pay the contested$5-million fee, plus interest and attorney costs."In February.Five months ago. Despite this they go on for two full pages in the dead tree version, beginning on page one, and nine pages on the Internet.Shameful.Update: John Hinderaker quotes an interesting bit of Hugh Hewitt's post on the subject.PowerlineSo where's the story? There isn't one, unless the Times wanted torun an expose on SCA's business practices. I think Hugh's diagnosis isexactly right:Big MSM has really lost its way, concluding that anything"secret" is in fact wrongfully hidden from public view, and that itsfunction is to act as a conveyer belt to the front page for whatever aparty or person doesn't want revealed. Posted by Sean in Media Bias, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 07, 2006

A Liberal Vision for American Power Peter Beinart's new book, The Good Fight : Why Liberals---and Only Liberals---Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again, is excerpted in Real Clear Politics today. Beinart, a dedicated liberal whose writing truly strives for honesty, claims to trace an alternate history which he exhorts liberals to use as a narrative which will allow them to be proud of their liberalism. A narrative which will combat and neutralize the the story which he says conservatives use so successfully. A conservative story he relates thus:Ask any junior- level conservative activist about the cold war,and she can recite the catechism: how liberals lost their nerve inVietnam and America sank into self- doubt until Ronald Reagan restoredAmerica's confidence and overthrew the evil empire. Since September 11,conservatives have turned that storyline into a grand analogy: theMiddle East is Eastern Europe, George W. Bush is Ronald Reagan, TonyBlair is Margaret Thatcher, the appeasing French are the appeasingFrench.And running through this updated narrative is the same coreprinciple that animated conservative foreign policy throughout the coldwar: other countries are cynical and selfish, but the United States isinherently good. The more Americans believe in their own virtue, thestronger they will be.It's an interesting story, the first part is even true; the part about liberals losing their nerve in Vietnam. But it falls short after that. Beinart's grand analogy is way off base—except for the part about the French. Oh, he may be able to dig up a few individuals who believe in his liberal view of the conservative mindset, but to say that conservatives believe that the Middle East is like Eastern Europe, or that George bush is the modern era's great communicator, or that Tony Blair—a liberal who happens to see the value of fighting terrorism somewhere besides his home town—is anything like the staunchly conservative Margaret Thatcher, shows a profound misunderstanding of conservatives.Beinart believes that conservatives think "other countries are cynical and selfish, but the United States isinherently good." This is his most grevious mistake, and the foundation upon which his house of cards is built. Conservatives, you see, do not believe that the US is inherently good, they simply believe that it is not inherently evil. This is where they part ways with liberals.Beinart defines liberalism as "the belief that governmentshould intervene in society to solve problems that individuals cannotsolve alone. It is an interesting definition, and one that many conservatives would use to describe conservativism. The difference would be in the list of problems that individuals cannot solve alone. Liberals would list all sorts of social inequities, while conservatives would list things like national defense and road-building. It is hardly definitive, which is never a good thing to say about a definition.The narrative for Beinart's liberal vision for American power goes like this:Its roots lie in an antique landscape, at the dawn of America'sstruggle against a totalitarian foe. And it begins not with America'sneed to believe in its own virtue, but with its need to make itselfworthy of such belief. Around the world, the United States does that byaccepting international constraints on its power. Forconservatives--from John Foster Dulles to Dick Cheney--Americanexceptionalism means that we do not need such constraints. Our heart ispure. In the liberal vision, it is precisely our recognition that weare not angels that makes us exceptional. Because we recognize that wecan be corrupted by unlimited power, we accept the restraints thatempires refuse. That is why the Truman administration self-consciouslyshared power with America's democratic allies, although we comprisedone-half of the world's GDP and they were on their knees.Moral humility breeds international restraint. That restraintensures that weaker countries welcome our preeminence, and thus, thatour preeminence endures. It makes us a great nation, not a predatoryone. At home, because America realizes that it does not embodygoodness, it does not grow complacent. Rather than viewing Americandemocracy as a settled accomplishment to which others aspire, we seeourselves as engaged in our own democratic struggle, which parallelsthe one we support abroad. It was not the celebration of Americandemocracy that inspired the world in the 1950s and 1960s, but America'swrenching efforts--against McCarthyism and segregation--to give ourdemocracy new meaning. Then, as now, the threat to national greatnessstems not from self- doubt, but from self- satisfaction.There are serious flaws in Beinart's narrative; he dances around them, even naming them, without being able to see them. He claims that the US attains virtue "byaccepting international constraints on its power," but does not see that without that virtue preexisting, no restraint would be accepted.Despite having said "liberals pride themselves on their empiricism," he maintains that "restraintensures that weaker countries welcome our preeminence, and thus, thatour preeminence endures." In truth, empiricism shows just the opposite. Weaker countries often hate stronger countries—for no other reason than that they are stronger—and resent the help they are forced by circumstances to accept. Weaker countries will never "welcome" the preeminence of stronger countries, no matter how benevolent.Beinart's ideas are, however, not without merit. His assertion that modern liberals hide from being labeled as liberals in order to "cast off decades of disappointment and failure" is largely true, though he sees it largely as a political failure, rather than a practical failure of liberal ideas. His ideas about self restraint are worthy, also. He just has difficulty seeing where it already exists.His concluding paragraph is laudable, and if liberals could embrace it they would take a giant step away from living in their fantasy land, and toward living in the real world.RecognizingAmerican fallibility means recognizing that the United States cannotwield power while remaining pure. From Henry Wallace in the late 1940sto Michael Moore after September 11, some liberals have preferredinaction to the tragic reality that America must shed its moralinnocence to act meaningfully in the world. If the cold war liberaltradition parts company with the right in insisting that American powercannot be good unless we recognize that it can also be evil, it partscompany with the purist left in insisting that if we demand thatAmerican power be perfect, it cannot be good.The problem for level headed liberals is that the center of gravity in the Democratic party—the party of liberals and the left—is decidedly more leftist than liberal. Until that changes, liberals are stuck with a party which demands angelic perfection in its wielding of power—and therefore demands inaction.Based on the excerpt, Peter Beinart's book is probably worth a read. Posted by Sean in Political Philosophy | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Terrorist Plot Foiled The Daily News has an exclusive report on a terror plot foiled by the FBI.New York Daily NewsThe FBI has uncovered what officials consider aserious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes ofcausing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily Newshas learned.The terrorists sought to drown the Financial District as New Orleanswas by Hurricane Katrina, sources said. They also wanted to attacksubways and other tunnels.Officials are highlighting the difference between this plot, which they see as a serious threat, and the inept efforts of the Miami Seven. They also mention that the "loan wolf" terrorists had received pledges of financial support from "Jordanian associates of top terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before he was killed in Iraq."Update: Glenn Reynolds wonders about the pledged finances: "Doesn't that mean they're not exactly lone wolves?" Posted by Sean in War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Biden's Racial Slur Senator Joe Biden (D, Delaware) is proving once again that Democrats have not left their racist roots behind.PTISenator Biden during his recent trip to NewHampshire told an Indian American activist that "in Delaware, thelargest growth in population is Indian Americans, moving from India.You cannot go to a 7/11 (a chain store) or a Dunkin Donuts unless youhave a slight Indian accent.I'm not joking." Slamming Biden for making"ridiculous comments" about the community, the Indian AmericansRepublican Council (IARC) said "Joe Biden has a history of makinginsensitive and inappropriate remarks. "But even for him, this recent gaffe is clearly over the top. Butthis isn't the first time a Senate Democrat has insulted IndianAmericans," IARC Chairman Dr Vijay said. "In 2004, Senator John Kerry referred to Sikhs as terrorists andSenator Hillary Clinton jokingly referred to Mahatma Gandhi as a gasstation owner. A clear double-standard in the mainstream media willlikely ensure Senator Biden gets a pass over these comments that wouldget a Republican in deep trouble if he ever made a similar statement,"he said.Democrats like to pretend—to others as well as to themselves—that they are the party on the high road in the fight against racism. This despite having been the party of slavery, the party that the Republican anti-slavery party was founded to fight. Democrats have been on the wrong side of nearly every racism issue since.Lots more here. Posted by Sean in Racism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 28, 2006

Texas Redistricting Upheld by Supreme Court. The Texas redistricting plan, which was engineered by Tom Delay, and which was decried as unconstitutional by Democrats and those on the left who support them, was upheld today.ReutersIn the lead opinion for the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "Wereject the statewide challenge to Texas' redistricting as anunconstitutional political gerrymander and the challenge to theredistricting in the Dallas area as a violation of the Voting RightsAct."There was one district in West Texas that they found violated federal voting law. SCOTUSblog's analysis:The District that the Court found legally wanting is a hugeLatino-dominated district that the state created in an attempt tosalvage the political fortunes of a Latino member of Congress,Republican Henry Bonilla. He had been losing strength among Latinovoters, so the state legislature drew a new district by including alargely Anglo, Republican area in central Texas. That, a Court majorityfound, was the product of a "troubling blend of politics and race --and the resulting vote dilution of a group that was beginning toachieve [the Voting Rights Act's] goal of overcoming prior electorialdiscrimination." It "cannot be sustained," the Court concluded.Whether the state legislature can repair the problem found by theCourt in that one District without redrawing the plan statewide isuncertain at this point. The Court majority found no legal flaw in anyother part of the plan.The Opinion. Posted by Sean in Law | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 27, 2006

Walter Mondale embraces doctrine of preemption. Walter Mondale, former Vice President and one-time Democrat candidate for President, reversed himself by declaring support for a preemptive strike against North Korea. KARE11Mondale said on WCCO-AM Friday that the United States should tell NorthKorea "defuel that missile. It has three boosters. Dismantle it and putit back in the sheds. Because if you're getting ready to fire this,we'll take it out."Mondale, who's also a former U.S. ambassadorto Japan, calls the North Korean missile "one of the most dangerousdevelopments" in recent history. "Nuclear weapons can destroyhundreds of millions of people in one strike - destroy major cities -itis the danger of our time," Mondale said. "Here's this bizarre, hermitkingdom up there, with a paranoid leader getting ready to test amissile system that can hit us. We've got to stop it."[...]"Thisis such a legitimate thing for the United States to do," Mondale said."The nature of the threat is so serious that I think we should knock itout right there if they won't stop."I haven't given much thought to Mr. Mondale since he was soundly defeated, in a race to be Minnesota's second Senator, by Norm Coleman—after being put on the ballot in a quasi-legal manner, as a replacement for Paul Wellstone who had died in a plane crash.I must admit to being a little non-plussed at agreeing with him.Here is the Audio Posted by Sean in Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Deadly hide and seek. Israel National News says that Israel has found out the location of their kidnapped soldier.INNDiplomats living in Gaza have stated that they have located thewhereabouts of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped yesterdayduring the terror attack on Kerem Shalom. The prime minister has statedthat Israel will not agree to the release of Arab prisoners, and Israelhas threatened to strike at senior Hamas figures, including members ofthe PA government, if Shalit is not released.Additionally, Harretz is reporting on fears that another boy was kidnapped by Palestinians.The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday afternoon thatthere were growing fears that a teenager from the settlement of Itamarwho has been missing since Sunday has been kidnapped as claimed byPalestinian militants.Israelis claim to be uncertain about the credibility of the second kidnapping, but Palestinians are doing their best to convince them that they have the boy."The Palestinians claimed they would presentdocuments belonging to the kidnapped settler. Then we will be able tojudge whether the story is true," a senior Israel Defense Forcesofficer said earlier Tuesday. Israel, meanwhile, is not standing around waiting for the Palestinians to exhibit ethical behavior.Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned PalestinianPrime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that Israel will strike out at him ifharm comes to the Israel Defense Forces soldier kidnapped by militants,the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday.During aparticularly tense and hasty meeting held Monday night in Gaza, Abbastold Haniyeh that Israel would also strike out at his fellow Hamasmembers Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud a-Zahar and InteriorMinister Said Sayam if anything happens to Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Posted by Sean in War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 21, 2006

Violence begets violence? James Taranto has this brilliant insight regarding those who offer up the "violence begets violence" excuse for terrorist atrocities.This rhetoric about "cycles" appears to reflect a theory of moral equivalence, but in fact it is something else. After all, if the two sides were morally equivalent, one could apply this reasoning in reverse--excusing, for example, the alleged massacre at Haditha on the ground that it was "provoked" by a bombing that killed a U.S. serviceman--and hey, violence begets violence.But America's critics never make this argument, and its defenders seldom do. That is because it is understood that America knows better. If it is true that U.S. Marines murdered civilians in cold blood at Haditha, the other side's brutality does not excuse it. Only the enemy's evil acts are thought to be explained away by ours.Implicit in the "cycle" theory, then, is the premise that the enemy is innocent--not in the sense of having done nothing wrong, but in the sense of not knowing any better. The enemy lacks the knowledge of good and evil--or, to put it in theological terms, he is free of original sin.Blaming America for the violence done to it is like blaming a rape victim of having brought it upon herself. Posted by Sean in War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 08, 2006

Ding, dong, Zarqawi is dead! Iraqi prime minister reported this morning that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead! Unlike the many previous possible Zarqawi deaths, this one is said to be confirmed by matching scars and fingerprints. FoxPress reaction in the Middle East to the news that U.S. warplanes had killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was swift and restrained.Iraqi TV broke the story, quoting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as saying that Zarqawi had been killed. The news was immediately picked up at 6:50 GMT by the pan-Arab TV network al-Jazeera.Red banners with urgent tags immediately appeared on many Arab TV stations, as the region's major stations broke into regular programming to announce Zarqawi’s death.Islamic extremist web sites also were quick to carry the news – and in their case, lament it.A note posted on one web site – known as a clearinghouse for Al Qaeda in Iraq statements – lamented, "We hope this news is not true."Omar, at Iraq the Model, seems, um... happy about Zarqawi's death. He sums up his feeling in all caps: "CONGRATULATIONS TO IRAQ, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE WORLD ON THIS VICTORY." He also has some information on Hibhib, the town where Zarqawi met his end.Update: Captain Ed has a very thorough roundup.Update: Pajamas Media also has good roundup and a podcast featuring Omar from Iraq The Model.Update: Atrios can barely manage to be happy Zarqawi is dead. KOS manages to "cheer."Update: Here is why it is a good thing Zarqawi is dead. Posted by Sean in War on Terrorism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (2) Next »

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