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Monday, March 29, 2004
There's a beautiful post at Citizen Smash about democracy in action. Go, read, and get excited about living in a democracy. Sunday, March 28, 2004
Rantisi threatens the US, says Hamas won't stop attacks, and is running scared for his life. He won't get into a car, sit next to a window, or do much else for fear of assassination. Heh heh heh. Saturday, March 27, 2004
It was a perfect day in So Cal today. I was down in Santa Monica to meet friends on the 3rd St. Promenade, dodging tourists and enjoying the weather. We dodged a little kid who was stepping on every crack he could find, chanting "Vee-Hickle Vee-Hickle Vee-Hickle Vee-Hickle...", we dodged pretty girls and window shoppers and a couple who were arguing over whether LaRouche was in prison or in exile. So, finally, home. And this for dinner: Take a pound or two of (lean) lamb and marinate it for an hour to an hour-and-a-half in a cup of red wine (Firestone Cabernet was handy at the moment), some rosemary, a tablespoon of ultra-virgin churchgoing olive oil, five crushed cloves of garlic, a pinch of marjoram and a sprinkling of fresh ground pepper. Add a pinch of oregano if that's your thing, but I left it out this time. Fire up your grill, and wait until it's nukular hot. Turn it down to just simply slow-cookin'-hot. Place the lamb on the grill and close the lid. Turn it over once; you'll know it by looking at the side of the lamb. Once it looks 'cooked' about a third to halfway up, it's ready to be turned. I like mine medium-well, so you'll have to grill to your taste accordingly. While that's cooking, grab some rappini (one pound raw is fine) and, after a wash in cold water, chop it up and toss in a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, some salt, and a tablespoon of that wine. Place some oil in a pan, heat, and add the rappini etc. Turn the flame to low, and cover. Stir it up a couple of times, and keep an eye on it. Once it's reduced to about half of its raw volume, it should be done. Serve with a slice of good feta cheese and a couple of radishes on the side. Of course, a glass of red wine is necessary - isn't it always? Now this is the kind of propaganda I love to hear. . . After weeks of studying film and meeting with coaches, [Chicago Bears QB] Rex Grossman finally got an opportunity to put his knowledge on display. Friday, March 26, 2004
Boy, am I beat. Friday night at home is the most perfect thing I can imagine right now, and luckily it's Friday night and I'm at home. With a cup of freakingly hot tea next to me. Freakingly strong freakingly hot tea. Yer. Anyway, the Curmudge sent this: There is frustration in Glick's article. I wonder how much of what she says is felt by the rest of the country. I do not think Sharon will kill Arafat just yet, but he will kill the rest of them. The sudden rush of Mubarak and Abdullah to D.C. seems to me a desparate attempt to get W to stop Sharon from pulling out of Gaza. It probably won't work, but shows the increasing mess these regimes are in. Once Israel leaves Gaza to Hamas, either Arafat fights or Hamas will take the West Bank as well. Many Pals will try to run to Egypt and Jordan, and these will kill them. Sharon is about to start the ruin of these regimes unless they themselves put a stop to UBL and Arafat. If they can.Glick does sound frustrated: As an Israeli watching the proceedings, I was struck by all of this. I was impressed by what appeared to be an honest reckoning by top US policy makers with what they did and did not accomplish. I was struck by the commissioners' questions. They were intelligent if sometimes belligerent. They were well thought out and stemmed from a clear recognition that the US is at war and must win.She continues later: Before Sept. 11, the Taliban told the Americans and their interlocutors that they had no control over bin Laden and that anyway, he was not a threat to the US. Sanctions on the Taliban, although leveled, were ineffective because the Pakistanis continued to arm them and supply them with oil, the United Arab Emirates allowed them to bank and travel abroad and the Saudis continued to finance them. On Sept. 12, 2001, American tolerance for this state of affairs was over.Will it take a successful mega-attack for Israel to get to "Sept 12"? Any questions about Clarke are answered here. A partisan liar who, along with Clinton, gave us Springtime for Usama. The 1990s were al Qaeda's springtime: Blissfully unmolested in Afghanistan, it trained, indoctrinated, armed and, most fatally, planned. For the United States, this was a catastrophic lapse, and in a March 2002 interview on PBS's "Frontline," Clarke admitted as much: "I believe that, had we destroyed the terrorist camps in Afghanistan earlier, that the conveyor belt that was producing terrorists, sending them out around the world would have been destroyed." Instead, "now we have to hunt [them] down country by country." Memo FROM: Tempo Subcommittee on Orchestra Salaries; Howard Reich, chairman** -------------------- RE: Pay scales **From the Chicago Tribune (no link) -ed VDH writes what I would like to say. If W doesn't use this stuff in speeches, he is a fool. What is our enemies' ultimate agenda? Judge them by what they say and then do: Any who champion women are targeted. Those who are Jews should die. Expressing tolerance for other religions is a capital crime. Secular law and government are a betrayal. Apostasy from Islam justifies murder. Hypocrisy does not matter — whether that means using a hated Western computer or flocking to a despised Western capital. This craziness is actually an agenda of sorts, proclaiming to the wretched, "Purge yourself of the modern West (sort of) and fool yourself into thinking that you will have power, honor, and wealth as never before." Thursday, March 25, 2004
I haven't written much about the Clarke business, but I have been reading about it at Powerline and at Whatshisnames... I'm cynical about unemployed bureaucrats ranting about their former employers. Especially ones who contradict themselves so wildly. If you hate Bush, go ahead and believe Clarke hook, line, and sinker: it'll make you feel better. If you love Bush, stick pins into your little Clarke voodoo doll. If you're in the middle somewhere, well... here's how I look at it: I don't believe a flippin' word the guy says. He sounds like a partisan hack, angry at his demotion at the hands of someone he regards as his intellectual inferior. Either he's lying now, or lied in previous briefings. And why are people cynical about Bush ("he lied about WMD!"*) now so eager to take Clarke at his word? Nevermind, I know why: because it makes Bush look bad, and anything to get that guy out of the WH is acceptable. Right? Wrong! Hey, Bush-haters.. don't fall in love with this guy Clarke. He'll break your heart just like any other politician will. *In which case so did Clinton, Gore, Albright, etc etc etc as humorously detailed in this video. Via Moxie. And, don't forget, the Kurds don't think anyone lied about WMD. As a matter of fact, I dare you to go to the Kurds and tell them that Bush lied about the existence of WMD. Go on, I dare you. See what they say to that. Hey, maybe I should watch Buffy more often. Not that I watch it at all, actually. Anyway, cool quote. Whatever the situation, there's usually an appropriate Buffy quote. For example, Hamas' post-Yassin blithering: Vampire: I'll kill you for that.(Via Ghost of a Flea who also has the cool SMG pic, via The Corner. Quote is from the season III episode Helpless.) We'd be served even more if they knew that the bumber sticker text was from Walt Kelly's Pogo. I'd like to mention to our readers that the Curmudge, once upon a time, was responsible for such civic/social programs as mosquito abatement and rat control that helped curb the spread of disease in the poorer neighborhoods of a certain huge midwestern city; for regulating illegal sales of prescription drugs; for water quality control; and for lead removal programs, as in lead-paint removal. And none of it was easy and some of it was dangerous. I'm sure there's more in the Curmudge's resume. But this is enough cred, I think, to demonstrate that when he talks about civic and social reform, he knows of what he speaks. And I get to brag a little. VDH hits the mark when he says that liberalism is no longer the mill, shop or farm. It is now the province of the comfortable elites, the two-house folks who play farmer on the weekends. Those who grow things, not for others, but to boast about to their like friends. It is these liberals who know nothing about the real battles fought by social reformers, but know only that which is trendily fatuous. People who have never read Bernard Lewis and yet think they know the mid-east. People who know people who know people to get things done when they need to. People who lament the destruction of environment while driving massive gas eating machines. People who watch their stock portfolios while chanting slogans about the corporate evil doers. We would all be served if they would just put bumper stickers on their machines that say: We have met the enemy and they is us. Jim Hoagland writes With the possible exception of Charles de Gaulle, no friendly foreign leader has complicated modern American diplomacy and strategy more consistently or gravely than Ariel Sharon. He pursues Israel's interests with a warrior's tenacity and directness that take away the breath, and the options, of everyone else.Jim misses the mark on this one. What Sharon is doing is filling the vacuum created by W's weak WOT. Once Sharon perceived that the Bushies would not deal with the Sauds, Iran, and Syria with a strong hand, he decided to send messages that Arabs can understand. It is a medieval world in the mid east and the threat of turning it to ashes is not missed by the tyrants. It would seem that only Sharon has taken Warrior Politics seriously. Should W lose, Sharon or Natanyahu will see appeasers in the WH and act accordingly. As has been made note on this blog, once the Romans got through with Judea the world did not protest for 300yrs. That is warrior politics. The question isn't whether there is life left on Mars, but whether there is left life on Mars....  I guess now we know. . . (I have no idea where this came from.. someone emailed it my way a few days ago) Moxie has a great post on the Clifford D. May article I blogged yesterday - the one about which I said May had a wonderful gift for understatement. Read what Moxie has to say about it. For the record, I agree completely. The UN loudly condemns Israel for killing a terrorist but is silent about Al Aqsa's cynical use of an 11 and a 14 (or 16) year old boy as suicide bombers. Their silence speaks volumes, doesn't it? The way things work in a democracy is enough to make a sane man go bonkers. The temporary indictment of Presidents by opportunistic bureaucrats who did not get the job they wanted is not new. Take, for example, Pearl Harbor. There was no shortage of political motivation amongst those who wanted Franklin Roosevelt tarred and feathered for not knowing about and so preventing the Japanese attack. There was a Board of Inquiry for Admiral Husband Kimmel for his perceived failures. Guilty as charged. FDR went on his way to conduct the war. But, that was then and this is now. Then was when journalists asked to be censored so that they would not disclose valuable information to the enemy and thus endanger their fellow citizen soldiers. This is now. And now is when journalists run with any Bush whacker who writes a book out of imagination and slights. Now is when critical thought is relegated to some far away place where hobbits roam. Now is when the DaVinci Code is considered real theological research. As Jonathon Swift said, "It is useless to try to reason a man out of what he never reasoned into". The Curmudgeon is going to make a Samovar of tea and find a good book. Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Speaking of Lebanon, what I hear from friends with family in Beirut is that the place is doing quite well. Business is up, you don't see Syrian soldiers on every corner anymore (and haven't in a while), and the money is flowing. Restaurants are filled, and the tourist business is a growth industry as expatriate Lebanese, Lebanese-Armenians, and various Europeans (among others) visit friends and family. They eat lots, they shop lots, and they enjoy themselves lots. This may be a good reason why Syria told the Hezbollunatics to relax; no one wants the heady capitalism in Beirut to undergo any disruption. And, as the Yassin assassination demonstrates, Sharon ain't foolin' when he threatens to "...[ruin the] tourist season" should Nasrallah start anything at the border. Why we're better than Hamas, or the P.A., etc... Because when I was 8 years old, or 12, or 16, the local Alderman or Precinct Captain or Boy Scout Troop leader didn't wrap me with explosives, 10-penny nails dipped in bugspray, ball bearings, wingnuts, and lead paint chips and send me, ready-to-detonate, into Wisconsin to teach those Cheeseheads a lesson. Hollywood may be filled with a bunch of dumbshit actors, but thankfully Hollywood also has Larry Miller. QUICK, what's the first thing you think of when it comes to Spain? What a difference a day makes. Debka is reporting that the Syrians are telling the Palestinians in Lebanon not to fire on Israel. No rockets aimed at kids. Why the change of heart? Can the kill of the head of Hamas and the real possibility of an Israeli move to remove the Lebanon problem (and maybe the Syrian one) have something to do with it? Lebanon is an occupied country, mauled by a civil war and picked clean by Syria. The phone at the UN is off the hook. Terror and its Victories: In the Jerusalem Post, a perceptive Calev Ben David reflects on the Spanish elections: Surely that was a victory for terror, because so many pundits pontificated that democracies must never let terror attacks determine the course of the electoral process. Fox just aired an audiotape of Clarke from Aug 2002 in which he praises the Bush admin for its actions on al Q, and says it alotted five times as much $ as Clinton and generally slams Clinton admin. Clarke is to testify in minutes and if a staffer does not get this info to the donks, lots of fur will fly. Fox has the exclusive tape... wonder how that happened. Arafat now says he is against killing Israeli civilians... Israel keeping the pressure up as IDF continues to move. I still predict Arafat will scramble to get a truce and there will be no al-aqsa [terror group] actions. FYI. Robert Alt: In response to the increased violence in Iraq and the recent terrorist attack in Spain, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Le Monde that the Iraq war "has not made the world safer." After all, reasoned Villepin, "[t]errorism didn't exist in Iraq before." This sentiment was echoed by European Commission President Romano Prodi, who argued that the Iraq war has hindered European efforts to crush terror networks. Clifford May has a remarkable gift for understatement: The Bush administration is now being harshly criticized for (1) its policies of preemption and unilateralism and for (2) not unilaterally preempting the Taliban and al Qaeda immediately after coming into office in January 2001. Tuesday, March 23, 2004
In his book "Terror and Liberalism", Paul Berman says this when describing the anti-war Socialists of France in the late thirties: But, among the anti-war Socialists, a number of people, having voted with Petain [to accept the invasion and to form a new French government,which would accept Hitler's leadership and serve as his loyal ally] ...accepted positions in his new government, at Vichy. Some of those Socialists went a little further, too, and began to see virtue in Petain's program for a new France and a new Europe -- a program for strength and virility, a Europe ruled by a single party state instead of the corrupt cliques of bourgeois democracy, a Europe cleansed of the impurities of Judaism and of the Jew themselves, a Europe of the anti-liberal imagination.Long ago, you say? Not so long ago. Thoughts on Anti-Semitism in Toronto: The lively commenters at LGF are understandably distressed at reports of anti-semitic incidents in Toronto. (BTW, most of the incidents are taking place in York region, which is north of Toronto, not in Toronto proper.) Me, I'm somewhat more sanguine; I've never supported hate-crime legislation, and at least anti-semitic or racist graffiti gets cleaned up promptly. Here in downtown Toronto we have tons of non-racist, non-antisemitic graffiti uglifying our neighbourhoods, but unfortunately neither our municipal nor provincial governments give a damn. Here is an article about the Toronto incidents. Police were called to the Lubavitch Centre synagogue this morning to find it had been pelted with eggs.All of which sounds very bad, until you read what some other communities in this city have to deal with. Also in the LGF thread I noted above, a commenter is being treated harshly for pointing out that we don't really know who is responsible. I think that commenter has a point, especially as more hate-crimes are being exposed as hoaxes. I like to keep in mind the synagogue firebombing in Saskatchewan back in 2002: But as the investigation into the attack enters its second month, the police have not ruled out as a possible motive the ongoing tensions among local Jews and a bitter rivalry between Agudas Israel and a breakaway congregation. In a community of only 200 Jews, there are currently four lawsuits under way involving at least two dozen of them. What is the overall outcome of the Yassin kill? From the Curmudgeon's analysis of the situation it may turn out that Sharon has pushed the PA to the edge. Arafat would not use his superior force to disarm the groups and thereby comply with the now dead "Peace Plan", and left his competitors for power and money in place. Now, the possibility of a Hamas controlled Gaza seems likely. With this comes the possibility of civil war. Arafat has brought about the one thing he did not want, an aggressive Israeli response. One that would target the upper echelons living in comfort who send kids to detonate in buses. The Curmudge thinks that the Euro whine about Yassin has more to do with Arafat, and their impotence at being able to protect him. It is more than likely that the next al Aqsa killing binge will lead to his demise, and he knows it. He can, of course, put on a woman's dress, as he did in Lebanon, and make a run for the French border. I too think that Yassin kill is another Oran. If Debka is to be believed, Hamas is badly shaken and Arafat fears for his life. The Yassin kill was totally unexpected and it undercuts Arafat's assumption that his side was more willing to die than the Jews were willing to kill. Also, the Debka report that Arab leaders would not take his calls should signal him that the clock is ticking. I think he will run again, just as he did in Lebanon. It is also noted that Putin said nada about Yassin. That should signal Europe that the Bear is still around the corner. Putin will go to work on the Chechens in the same way and his assassination of a Chechen in Qatar may be connected to Sharon's move. Monday, March 22, 2004
For anyone who cares, here's some football talk: The Chicago Bears start mini-camp this week. (ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!) John Tait (Chiefs) is a Bear now, and the O-line really needed some serious help. He's it. Mike Gandy can go back to being a guard where he is a better fit, and with any luck Rex Tucker can play this year. I can only hope the line is solid with a Pro-Bowl center (Kreutz) and Tait at RT, provided a good LT is acquired. Some help on the D-line is essential as well, so we'll see how free-agency plays out and how GM Jerry Angelo does with his draft selections. Coach Lovie Smith's first year at St. Louis as DC saw the Rams go from a basement-dwelling defense to #3 in the league and Super Bowl winners. I do not think the Bears will win the SB this year, but I am hoping the boys can beat the Vikings for the division. The entire NFC North is going to be nuts, with the Vikes and Lions already having fantasic off-seasons of their own. For all of you black&blue; division fans, if you thought last season was wacky, wait until this one starts. Ex-bear Marcus Robinson will start opposite Randy Moss for the Purple&Gold; in Minnetoocold, and the Lions promise not to be the doormats of the division anymore. Green Bay is always Green Bay, a team built around the most amazing QB in the league other than Mike Vick. And they still wear yellow pants, so enough said about them. In other news, Warren Sapp is now a Raider, John Lynch is now a Bronco, Amos Zereoue may become a Lion, the Bengals got a new logo, and I have no idea whatsoever how draft day will play out. Take a gang with a strong central leader, centralized control based on a cult of personality, and decapitate it and what happens? Yassin was the founder, leader, spiritual authority and strategic planner both politically and militarily for Hamas, and was known as the "sheikh of two intifadas" to all the activists from the lowest ranks to the highest.Known as the "sheikh of two intifadas", huh? So much for being a moderate. Ok, as I was saying: so, a collective leadership will have to be formed, huh? I hope they argue incessantly and find it impossible to make a decision. If HaAretz's opinion is close to reality, then Hamas is truly screwed. Funny thing about anti-democratic movements, is that when you take away the head, the body dies, sometimes in a squabbling messy end. With any luck, once the leadership of this religious-fanatic movement is completely removed, the end of Hamas once and for all isn't far in the future. IFF (If and only if) they're as unable to find a new, strong leader as we can hope. By the way, once the Romans killed the ancient Jewish Zealot leadership (very horribly, I might add), the Zealot movement ended in a hurry and assassinations of Romans and Hellenized/Romanized Jews dropped off precipitously. So if anyone should know about how to end terrorist groups, it is the folks in J-lem assuming they know their own history. And HaAretz complains that there now won't be a counterweight to Rantisi, a non-moderate extremist. The writers of that article are awfully generous, as they assume that Yassin was a conterweight and not a co-weight. Why am I bashing left-heads again? Because I still consider myself a liberal; whatever you can call it, a classic liberal or a Midwestern liberal or a thinking liberal... and I am disgusted and embarrassed. Again. The left does not represent me. The people marching around for "peace" this last weekend do not represent me. I do not, and will not, associate with people who associate with and support tyrants and fanatics who would lock women in their home, stone homosexuals to death, and slaughter or enslave Jews, Sufis, Hindus, and Jesuits. Those knobs out there were not marching for peace, they were marching for hate. Hate is not a liberal ideal, sorry kids. Go back to the library and get ready for your Phil 201 exam, willya? I disagree with Nancy Pelosi, but this does not make me a conservative. I reject the "with us or against us" attitude I hear from local Democrats. Screw you, guys.. what ever happened to welcoming dissenting opinions? Am I for gun control? Yes.. I think everyone should learn how to control a gun. Maybe its the numbers on the arm of a cousin of mine, tattooed in a particular Germanic script, that remind me, occasionally, that the right to defend oneself against tyranny is a liberal notion. Does this make me a conservative? Whatterya, nuts? The idea that freedom is valuable enough to be defended, and that everyone (!!!) is entitled to live out the liberal idea of living in liberty isn't only a conservative notion, now, izzit? Ya know, its the whole idea that everyone should have "..1 : the quality or state of being free: a : the power to do as one pleases b : freedom from physical restraint c : freedom from arbitrary or despotic control d : the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges e : the power of choice.." that kinda thrills me in that liberal-arts-education sort of way. That means I don't support people who support people who are anti-liberty. See, it ain't liberal. Some great Q&A; with VDH at his site: "Response to Readership" In it, a reader mentions Mark Helprin's criticism on the war. Here's a link to one of Helprin's pieces, "War in the Absence of Strategic Clarity" that is especially pertinent after yesterday's attack on Yassin. The subtitle, "More than merely winning the war in Iraq, we needed to stun the Arab World." is appropriate as the death of Yassin has really stunned parts of the Arab world. Helprin's essay is also an excellent, informed, and serious criticism of the Administration's approach to the war on al-Q. Hey Curmudge & Mich, if we were looking for the modern Oran, I think it was yesterday's attack and the next one, if there is a next one, on Rantisi or (dare I dream?) Nasrallah. During a conversation with a friend, this suddenly fell on my head with the weight of my old 3rd-year calculus text: over 18 or so years of working in I.T. (or MIS, as it was called when I started), I easily remember the two worst and two best managers. The two worst were both ultra-liberal, socialist-leaning left-heads from wealthy suburbs who were overly-controlling micro-managers and would hold lengthy meetings to inform us lowly programmers How To Do Our Jobs And Do So To Proper Expectation. And in both cases, they heavily blurred the line between work and non-work issues. In one case I was advised that if I was to "go anywhere in the company" I'd better cough up $100 for a daughter's Bat-Mitzvah. I wasn't alone, the manager told this to everyone on staff. It was also strongly suggested that I sell my house and move closer to work so as to be able to get to the office in under 20 minutes should the need arise on weekends and at night. In the other case, I was called in the middle of the night with "great logic ideas" for program solutions that "had better be implemented by 5pm or there'd be hell to pay". When the programming ideas failed miserably (our code was checked by the manager to ensure we did it the manager's way), the fault was laid on the programmers and not on the fact that the code had the wrong combination of and and or logic structures to work properly. Genius, huh? The two best were both ex-military; one Navy, the other Army. The Navy guy simply told me "go be brilliant - if you come to any obstacles, let me know as it's my job to remove them for you". The Army guy said pretty much the same thing - he hired me because he felt I knew what I was doing, and if I didn't I was expected either to figure it out or RTFB*. Either way, it was essentially "go be brilliant". In the former's case, when I bought Chicago pizza for the programmers subordinate to me on a Friday night I was reimbursed without my having to ask (and I had no intention of asking; I didn't care about reimbursement). He insisted he pay. After all, I brought in pizza from Chicago, and we were in San Bernadino, CA at the time. The other manager, at the end of my contract, sent an expensive bottle of whisky. From Scotland. So. In retrospect.. go friggin' figure. Worst manager #1 told me on the first day of the job: "Fuck with me and I will castrate you". Best manager #1 was the "go be brilliant" guy. The so-called liberals were nothing of the sort, and the military guys/girls were dynamic in a way to belie the stereotype of military guys/girls. And this just occurred to me: ya know which managers John "I never fall" Kerry reminds me of? Take a wild guess. . . *Read The Whew. Hindrocket at Powerline presents a different view of Richard Clarke than we might hear on NPR (and Powerline's Big Trunk's has a post on the Yassin assassination. Despite the tenor of newspaper reports to the contrary, it's difficult to discern how the operation has spawned any change in the goals of Hamas and its followers. As a result of the operation Hamas now vows "to wage war, war, war on the sons of Zion." Before the attack did they only vow to wage "war, war" on the sons of Zion?That old moderate Yassin.. why, it was only in a 1998 interview... ...with [Margot] Dudkevitch [of the JPost], Yassin helpfully explained how peace could be achieved: "Peace, he said, could only be achieved once all land is returned to the Palestinian people and an independent state called Palestine is established with Jerusalem as its capital."Thanks, Powerline. You guys are good, I don't care what that guy on talk radio says about you or your baseball team. Turning to local issues, fellow Bear Flagger Infinite Monkeys has been following the Claremont Hoax story. While you're there, read the rest of his posts. Interesting stuff. . . By. The. Way. Part 2: Killing Yassin is "against International Law" according to various outraged voices. But blowing busloads full of people to smithereens warrants no outraged voices? No claims of violations of international law? Are we to infer that bombing a bus isn't againt international law but killing the killers is? Charles of California says it well: Does anyone believe these people are really mourning the death of this filthy monster? No; I think the real reason for these statements is pure and simple fear. The comments from Euro leaders isn't surprising. Spanish PM-elect "Little Shoes" Zapatero is buddies with Arafat, and is a Lenin-style socialist. Little Shoes also visited the gunmen at the Church of Nativity and held hands, felt their pain, etc etc etc. By the way, the comment about Spain's new "complex and nuanced" process to fight terror is code for "You're too stupid to understand our complex, educated, elite and studied methods. Trust us to do the best for your benefit and don't worry your little heads about it. We're intellectuals and you're not". What it really means is "We don't know what the hell we're doing, but we think we can finesse these bumpkins from Arabia just fine". Hey, finesse worked on the bumpkins form Italy and Austria, dinnit? I am reminded of when Begin hit the Iraq reactor. Everyone complained, but some sent Begin a note (and a satellite photo) of congratulations. Bush won't be happy about Sharon's decision, if in fact it is true the WH didn't know. That could be a lie; we'll see over the next few days. I hope Israel keeps it up; the terrorists tried for a mega-attack before Yassin was killed, so it was a part of their plan all along. Yassin's death will not make more terror "more likely". Yassin wasn't dead before his death when more terror was very likely, and a mega attack was planned but failed in its execution at the chemical plant a couple of days ago. His being alive before his death increased the probability of terror and his being dead now after his death does not increase the probablity even more, it only increases the noise level. The news outlets are currently in a state of total confusion trying to be fair and balanced, as if that is morally possible. The Pals do not know which way to jump and their reps appear scared. They are saying that Arafat fears he is next. The Isr FM was just interviewd at the WH and he said DC knew nada about the killing. Hamas is threating reprisal in hours. So far Hezb is firing along the border. I am wondering if the Spanish appeasement triggered the Sharon response. This is a man with a Munich memory. My alarm went off this morning to the sounds of the news and the report that Yassin had been killed. Not a bad way to start the day, I might add. Straw and various Euros all say one thing to the media, but some of them probably congratulate Sharon in private phone calls. I can imagine some Palestinians will make the latter phone call, as folks like Dahlan view Hamas as a rival and not an ally. But in the political world of the middle east, we're told time and time again that what is said in public and what is said in private are sometimes quite opposite, and I expect few tears to be shed for the leader of Hamas. However, just to prove that not all dummies live in Europe and the U.S., some genius at a think tank in Israel says that the assassination will only make for more terror and that Yassin was a moderate anyway, so he should not have been killed. Yassin, a moderate? Since when is "remove all of the Jews from Palestine [Israel]" a moderate statement? And even in the world where public and private statements can be contradictory at best, this guy's private statements are reported to be not much better than his public exhortations of genocide. This guy Paz says that Rantisi, Yassin's probable successor, will be worse. Maybe, but Rantisi could not make a move without Yassin's knowledge and blessing. Peas in a pod, Paz, peas in a pod. So Rantisi will take over, and will try for a mega attack of his own, and will meet with an Israeli missile sometime on his way to Starbucks for a latte and a croissant. In the meanwhile, lets hope that our democracies keep taking the war to the terror leaders; the more expensive it is for the guys in charge, the less able they are to keep pressing their war. Since the beginning of this war the Curmudgeon and Tonecluster have often spoken of Europe in the 1930's. Anyone with an awareness of history (there are not many in the elites of this country) can see the parallels. Now that the Israeli gov't has killed a man whose main mission was to kill them, Europeans like Jack Straw impugn them by saying the assassination was illegal. By whose standard? By the standard of Europe who dithered while fascists took large bites out their hides? Only when the bites approached their necks did they do anything, and then it was almost too late. If not for America, its blood and its treasure, Europe would have rolled over and died. Of course, they now hate us for remembering what they forgot. Witness Spain. Now, the analysts and pundits will chant that killing Yassin will really make the Islamic Fascists mad, and they will start terror attacks outside the immediate area. As if those who wish to reestablish the 7th Century Caliphate need excuses. The killing of Yassin may be the real beginning of the war on terror as it demonstrates that democratic societies have the will to act. Perhaps Mr. Straw will have the opportunity to call the killing of bin Laden an illegal act. Let's hope so. Sunday, March 21, 2004
Proverbs 24:17 says "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth;". I am not strong enough to do that. Yassin is dead, and I am happy. (via LGF.) Poliblogger Bash II took place in Toronto last night. Several fascinating bloggers descended on the cafe at the Drake Hotel for lively discussion, and in several cases, Steamwhistle. The guest of honour was Damian Penny, who graced Toronto with his presence. A big thank you to David at Ranting and Roaring, who organized the bash. Attendees included Ghost of a Flea, Relapsed Catholic, Being American in TO, Angua's First Blog, Canadian Headhunter, Spin Killer, Rick McGinnis, Wickens.ca and Accordion Guy . The latter's rendition of Born to be Wild on accordion and vocals was a treat for those of us who stayed to the very end. Special mention to the Drake's Roast Apple Croustade with Maple Sage Ice Cream. Andrew Sullivan's excellent post on 3/11 in Madrid and what it means for Europe is a must-read. There is a fascinating and perverse historical analogy here. What we may be witnessing is the 1930s in a strange reversal. In the 1930s, the Euro-fascists - like today's Islamo-fascists - were also a movement of connected cells and organizations across various countries who used terror and street violence and murderous intimidation to weaken democracies into surrender. Eerily enough, Spain was a fore-runner there of dangerous trends to come. Italy was next. And in order to succeed, the movement needed a wedge between the United States and democratic Europe. In an odd reversal, America in the 1930s was isolationist, unwilling to intervene as gathering threats grew in Europe, threats that built on the use of violence, anti-Semitism and thuggery to intimidate weak governments and terrified populations. Today, in a surreal inversion, however, it's Europe that is isolationist, believing that somehow the cauldron of the Middle East will not boil over into the Europeans' backyard, if only they can take cover, look the other way, and salve their worries with insistent criticisms of the crude Americans. In Britain, this position is taken not only by the hard left but increasingly by world-weary Tories, like Max Hastings or Simon Jenkins, latter-day Halifaxes who, when they are not busy running from danger, are busy denying it even exists. But of course, one thing is as true today as it was in the 1930s: it is Europe that is most at risk. It is Europe that is closest to the explosive Middle East that is growing demographically as rapidly as Europe is declining. It is Europe that has a Muslim population most receptive to the toxins of anti-Semitism and medieval theocracy that sustain the new fascists. It is Europe that is most vulnerable to terror because it is geographically far more accessible across borders and national frontiers. And yet it is Europe that is most set on pretending it isn't at risk. Friday, March 19, 2004
The Curmudgeon has a question: How come nobody appeases us? That's us as in US. Afterall, we are a "hyperpower" - big, bad and warlike. We go after folks who run our planes into our buildings killing our people. We chase theocratic %$#^& out of Afghanistan before they can chop off any more hands and feet, and still nobody will appease us. In fact, they get fools like Monsieur LePutz, the FM of France to announced today that we have made the world a more dangerous place. How's that for lack of respect? A guy from appeasement central won't even appease us. He fears his shadow more than us. He knows in his heart that we won't do anything worse than not eat ???? Fries and maybe not visit. We certainly won't drop bombs on his vineyards or poison the snails in the park. At least not yet. It is really a puzzlement. Can anybody explain this lack of appeasement? Clifford D. May on Spain and Terror: Spanish voters already have sent a message to the terrorists who slaughtered more than 200 of their countrymen. Those terrorists intended to have an impact on Spain's elections _ without airing a commercial or publishing an op-ed. They succeeded. Those terrorists also intended to widen the gulf between the United States and Europe _ to divide, the better to conquer. For now, at least, they have accomplished that goal as well. Thursday, March 18, 2004
Fuming: In an ABC News article entitled 'Hard Time': Best Places to Go to Prison, I find this: [Federal Prison Camp] Otisville was designed primarily with the Orthodox Jewish community in mind, although it is not officially designated as a Jewish facility. It was built in response to the fact that Orthodox Jews often tried to get out of doing time by making the legal argument that the Bureau of Prisons violated their First Amendment rights because it could not accommodate their religious lifestyle.And no, the fact that it has a mere 119 inmates doesn't make me feel any better. One would be too many. (link via Chakira) Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Headline: Spanish PM meets bin Laden at his mountain lair. Flies home and declares "Peace in our Time". Spanish now second language as Arabic takes 1st place. Al Hambra new home of bin Laden family. Hope I'm wrong. [ed note: This was a joke. This was only a joke. If this had been a real headline, you'd have read it at Instapundit first] Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Dammit, I'm cranky. On top of everything else. Chuck Niles passed away yesterday. Those of you in SoCal who listen to KKJZ, (or who used to listen to KKGO) know who I am talking about. Horace Silver wrote a song about him, that's how cool he was. The nutty logic that says Spain provoked Islamist terrorism. This is Christopher Hitchens at his best. An excerpt, which does not do the piece complete justice.. The Basque country, with its historic capital in Guernica, had been one of the main battlegrounds against Hitler and Mussolini in their first joint aggression in Spain, and many European families adopted Basque orphans and raised money for the resistance. It is tedious to relate the story of ETA's degeneration into a gangster organization that itself proclaims a fascist ideology of Basque racial uniqueness, and anyway one doesn't need to bother, since nobody any longer argues that there is a "root cause" of ETA's atrocities. In the face of this kind of subhuman nihilism, people know without having to be told that the only response is a quiet, steady hatred and contempt, and a cold determination to outlast the perpetrators while remorselessly tracking them down.GO read. Yes, I know: France banned headscarves, France fights jihadis in Algeria and Morocco and Tunisia. Go ahead, oh Spanish voters, blame the victim. I know, France deserves it when they get threatened and if they get bombed. Yeah yeah yeah. Right. I hear ya. If only Chirac wasn't so... mean to other cultures, maybe this wouldn't happen, huh? Bah. The voters of Spain blamed Bush and Aznar for the terror attack in Madrid. They feel ('cuz you know that ain't thinkin') that the cause of the bombing was Aznar's support of Bush's war in Iraq. And now, today, France is threatened by an Islamist group. So, oh Spanish voter, how do you explain that? If a bomb goes off in Paris, or Nice, or Lyons, will you reason that it was because of Paris' support of Bush's war in Iraq? Remember, oh Iberians, that France fought the U.S. tooth-and-nail in the UN, in the world media, and on all diplomatic fronts in order to keep America and allies from going to war. Chirac was, essentially, Saddam's best buddy. There was no support from Paris for Washington, got it? None. Nada. Zippo. Blank. Zero. Nil. None. So you can't blame this threat on Chirac's support for Bush, now can you ya morons? So, oh brilliant ones south of the Pyranees, what did France do to get this kind of a threat? Can you think of a reason at all? Just one? If a bomb does go off in France, will you march again with signs that say "Paz" and this time declare it all Bush's fault? Whats the matter, didn't the big collective hug you just gave the jihadis work in mollifying their rage and anger? Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Clearly the lessons of last century are lost on you. Andrew Sullivan on Moral Nihilism. Sullivan fisks the crap out of an article from The Guardian. The Guardian may pretend to be unaware, but the "real world" of Islamist mass-murderers in Madrid is not just reflected in the real world of Israel--but of Iraq and Morocco and Turkey, where scores of innocents, many of them Muslims, have also been targeted in Islamo-fascism's campaign of indiscriminate holy murder. Or the "real world" in New York City, where thousands were immolated by these theocratic extremists, despite the fact that, in recent years, the United States has expended vast sums of money and blood to save Muslim lives in Kuwait and Bosnia and Kosovo and Somalia and, now, Iraq. The Curmudgeon has previously referenced Sayed Qutb, the Islamist theoretician who is the most significant mentor of UBL. Qutb wrote "In the shadow of the Koran" and his commentaries on the Koran are inspirational and directive to the Islamists. Consider these: In one of his strictures against the Jews he wrote: "The Koran points to another contemptible characteristic of Jews: their craven desire to live, no matter at what price and regardless of quality, honor and dignity."In his commentary of Surah 5,he says: "The Muslim world has often faced problems as a result of Jewish conspiracies ever since the days of Islam."And: "History has recorded the wicked opposition of the Jews to Islam right from its first day in Medina. Their scheming against Islam has continued since then to the present moment,and they continue to be its leaders,nursing their wicked grudges and always resorting to treacherous schemes to undermine Islam."Qutb and his disciples (UBL) totally disregard this passage in the Koran: "But forgive them,and overlook/ [their misdeeds]; for Allah Loveth those who are kind."The surah observes that, in spite of their terrible deed, some of the Jews are good and pious people. The Curmudgeon has picked his way through "Terror and Liberalism" by Paul Berman to bring the above to your attention. In Qutb's writings are the foundation of today's Jihadis. Unfortunately, none of the main media outlets has done the needed reading to explain the impact of Qutb. The Curmudgeon became aware of his existence by coming across a review of the foreign press in which one astute journalist noted that a book by Qutb sat on a shelf behind UBL in one of his videos directed to the world. Qutb attributed all the sins of the Jews to their time of slavery under the Pharoahs in Egypt, with oppression having corrupted the Jews with permanent effects on all Jews at all times. They developed the slavish trait of being submissive when defeated, but vicious when victorious. The slavish trait becoming characteristic of the Jews. This is the kind of reasoning, if one is gracious, that has infected the enemy that the civilized world faces. Anybody who believes that this can be appeased, whether public or private person, is stone cold out of their minds. Monday, March 15, 2004
To borrow a wisecrack from Bill Maher while giving some perspective on the subject, Gibson's move isn't anti-semitism; this (via LGF) is anti-semitism. Those people are nuts. $12,169,557.61: Hope the ADL's donors are happy; that's the amount the ADL just paid out to a couple they accused of anti-semitism... according to the latter article, it is "the largest defamation verdict in the history of Colorado". (Both links via How Appealing via Protocols.) Israeli poet Natan Yonatan was laid to rest yesterday. He passed away on Friday at the age of 81. I tried to find one of his poems on-line, and came across this Hebrew page, dedicated to his son Li'or, who fell in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Many of Mr. Yonatan's poems were set to music and became popular Israeli songs. This page at Arutz Sheva has a link to one such song (top row, centre). Another of his poems is Dugit Nosa'at, which was a favourite lullaby of mine when I was little. It describes a little boat with two sails, whose sailors have all fallen asleep. The song asks, if her sailors do not awaken, how will the little boat get to shore? When the letters of Yehuda Amichai ended up at Yale in 2001, Natan Yonatan asked: "What people in the world can give up cultural assets like this?" They had names, and lives, and families: Gil Abutbul, Ophir Damari, Mazal Marciano, Danny Asulin, Morris Tubul, Moshe Hendler, Avi Avraham, Zion Dahan, Avi Suissa, Avraham Pinchas Zilberman, victims from Sunday's attack in Ashdod. 3:11 and the Spanish Elections: In the middle of a lengthy but worthy post, just past a jaw-dropping graphic, Capitalist Lion hits the nail on the head: ...it seems the majority of Spaniards feel they can hide from terror rather than confront it. They don't realize that this isn't about their support in Iraq, just as 9/11 wasn't about a US presence in Saudi Arabia. They'll learn that lesson, eventually, I just hope it won't be as costly as ours was. |
