New template, hopefully improving

Due to problems with the old template, I'm experimenting with the new format.

I thank you for your patience!

More to come. . .

Update I'm pretty satisfied with the overall look. Now I'm waiting to hear from the Pajamas Media ad code, and hopefully it'll be all done!

Feedback is appreciated.

Update 2 The finished product looks nice!
(sigh of relief)

Update 3 How about a darker font?

Latin America: Successful liberal solutions

Latin America: Successful liberal solutions would be the literal translation of the book Políticas Liberales Exitosas. Soluciones pensando en la gente but a more accurate title would be Successful free market policies: solutions with people in mind, which deals with the opening of free markets in developing economies. The book was published in Spanish by Red Liberal de América Latina, the Fundación Friedrich Naumann and the Fundación Atlas 1853, with a vision on improving Latin America through public policies that lead to growth and prosperity, as Carmelo Jordá Jordá of Hispalibertas accurately states. You can download Políticas Liberales Exitosas for free (pdf file) at the Red Liberal de América Latina site.

I am greatly encouraged by the number of books being published in Latin America on the subject of free markets. It is certainly an encouraging trend: Colombia has signed a free trade pact with the USA this week.

By contrast, in Venezuela, the Christian Science Monitor has an article on Venezuela's unrealized revolution

"[Chávez] is transferring responsibility for Venezuela's problems to Bush," says Luis Petrosini, an economics professor at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, who has voted for Chávez twice.

In November, cardiologist Juan Carlos De Gouveia resigned from Miguel Perez Carreño hospital, one of Venezuela's largest public hospitals. Dr. De Gouveia was raised in a poor Caracas neighborhood and spent decades serving poor Venezuelans. In his resignation letter, he described interminable battles with hospital administrators to obtain basic supplies such as sterilization equipment.

At another Caracas hospital four patients died in one night last August after its oxygen supplies ran out. This month the Venezuelan Medical Society suspended all elective procedures there, saying conditions had still not improved.

Meanwhile, the government here announced recently that it will help over 50 African countries combat malaria, even though the number of malaria cases in Venezuela in 2004 was the second highest since 1937 and twice that of when Chávez took office.
. . .
Venezuela also faces a public housing shortage. According to figures from the Venezuela Chamber of Housing, less than 30,000 homes were built in 2005 out of the 120,000 promised by Chávez.

Many of Venezuela's roads are also deteriorating. Last month the highway connecting the capital Caracas with its international airport and second largest port was closed indefinitely due to a collapsing bridge. The closure of this major artery impacts 35 percent of the country's commerce according to Veneconomia, a leading business research publication.

Venezuela News and Views keeps track of Chavismo tricky numbers: unemployment, now you see it, now you don't!:

from December 2005 to January 2006 unemployment has grown by a stupendous 4%

With all these problems, Hugo's spending money like a drunken sailor: Venezuela and Iran agreed on Wednesday to set up a joint fund of 200 million U.S. dollars for social projects, businesses and trade, where each country will contribute at least 15.5 million dollars in their first deposit within 15 days and build up the fund gradually afterward. In their spare time, Iran and Venezuela Plan War on Israel, according to that article.

While the infrastructure crumbles and Hugo makes deals with Iran, there's plenty of money for sponsoring a samba school at the Rio carnival.

As Alvaro Vargas Llosa was saying last week, the Left should cringe at the mention of Hugo Chavez.

(technorati tags Venezuela, Iran, Hugo Chavez)

Today's articles

Don't miss Michael Fumento's article When "science" plays politics

Yet published studies at least are subject to debunking. Try reading between lines that don't exist because journals refuse to publish them.

Such was the case this month when Science killed a paper at the very last minute by respected British scientist Peter Lawrence. It criticized "the cult of political correctness" that insists men and women are born thinking alike. Editor-in-chief Donald Kennedy explained it didn't "lead to a clear strategy about how to deal with the gender issue" — as if Science hasn't published countless papers on global warming with no strategy on how to deal with it.

In fact, of the hundreds of global-warming articles in Science and its British counterpart, Nature, just try finding one that doesn't take the doomsayer party line.

I higfhly recommend Fumento's books; these are his most recent:

He also wrote Science Under Siege: Balancing Technology and the Environment, and The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS

At the blogs:
Philomathean has a nice post on Darren McGavin.
Jay posts that ACLU: Refusal To Be Investigated Is Evidence Of Guilt

Articles from Maria
On the Halimi murder: The grisly murder of Ilan Halimi should concern the entire Jewish world; not only the entire Jewish world, but the entire world.

Ralph Peters is reporting from Iraq. Today's article is titled Faith, blood, and bombs

Our effort to help Iraqis build a rule-of-law democracy may yet fail. But it remains a better bet that Iraq will become the most equitably governed major Arab state and that a democracy, however imperfect, will stand where a monstrous regime fell.

Read the rest.

Russian Style: Dying Young -- by design

Pinpointing Chest Pain

Steyn on the Halimi murder

A friend who prefers to remain anonymous sent this article by Mark Steyn, Needing to wake up, West just closes its eyes (emphasis mine)

. . .simply as a matter of fact, every year more and more of the world lives under Islamic law: Pakistan adopted Islamic law in 1977, Iran in 1979, Sudan in 1984. Four decades ago, Nigeria lived under English common law; now, half of it's in the grip of sharia, and the other half's feeling the squeeze, as the death toll from the cartoon jihad indicates. But just as telling is how swiftly the developed world has internalized an essentially Islamic perspective. In their pitiful coverage of the low-level intifada that's been going on in France for five years, the European press has been barely any less loopy than the Middle Eastern media.

What, in the end, are all these supposedly unconnected matters from Danish cartoons to the murder of a Dutch filmmaker to gender-segregated swimming sessions in French municipal pools about? Answer: sovereignty. Islam claims universal jurisdiction and always has. The only difference is that they're now acting upon it. The signature act of the new age was the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran: Even hostile states generally respect the convention that diplomatic missions are the sovereign territory of their respective countries. Tehran then advanced to claiming jurisdiction over the citizens of sovereign states and killing them -- as it did to Salman Rushdie's translators and publishers. Now in the cartoon jihad and other episodes, the restraints of Islamic law are being extended piecemeal to the advanced world, by intimidation and violence but also by the usual cooing promotion of a spurious multicultural "respect" by Bill Clinton, the United Church of Canada, European foreign ministers, etc.

The I'd-like-to-teach-the-world-to-sing-in-perfect-harmonee crowd have always spoken favorably of one-worldism. From the op-ed pages of Jutland newspapers to les banlieues of Paris, the Pan-Islamists are getting on with it.

WARNING: PHOTOS OF GRAPHIC VIOLENCE And getting away with this.(via SC&A)

And now for an apparent non-sequitur:
Via ¡No Pasarán!, this Le Monde article explains how Jews have been disguising themselves to not be recognized as such, out of fear, for good reason (both articles in French).
Across the pond, Yale U has its first Taliban undergrad. A little more than the usual cooing promotion of a spurious multicultural "respect", if you ask me.

Update
Join Amcha's memorial protest for Ilan Halimi this coming Sunday, March 5th, noon, at the French Consulate,
Fifth Avenue & 74th Street, Manhattan, led by Rabbi Avi Weiss.

Update, March 1
Via Mystical Paths, a Video Memorial.

(technorati tags Ilan Halimi)

Today's articles, the Carnivals, and Tevye does Tokio

I'm recovering from what I thought was a very bad cold but turned out to be bronchitis, and now I seem to be able to read my email but can't answer it -- your patience is appreciated.

Centripetal Force: The case for staying in Iraq (also available here).

From Art, a NYT editorial, A Judicial Green Light for Torture about a very troubling story of a Syrian-born Canadian, Maher Arar, who was jailed for several months and then sent to Syria where he was tortured. In addition to the civil rights abuse, the story raises many questions, including why Syria, which under no definition of the word would qualify as an ally on the war on terror.

From Mary, US will fund Hamas Authority after all. Israel warns humanitarian aid will reach terrorists

After adamantly vowing to deny American funding to the Hamas terrorist organization, Washington at the weekend backtracked by saying it will not halt aid to the Palestinian Authority, but will merely attempt to redirect it to humanitarian works.

The EU's doing practically the same thing:

Europe has stepped in to save the Palestinian Authority from imminent financial collapse with an offer of 120m euros ($140m; £83m) emergency aid.
The European Commission says the money is for "basic needs" and will keep the authority running for about two months.

Maria's articles
Cricket World Cup 2007 Prepares For Muslim Terror Threat - But Anti-U.S. Bias Weakens Security Effort

Dr. Krauthammer writes about the Dubai ports issue in Harbour exit, while Matt Towery looks for Good conservatives. Maria also sent The facts about the ports deal

New York pans skyscraper escape pods because the bureaucrats thought "the project was unworthy of the necessary building permits."

The carnivals
Northern New Jersey Real Estate Bubble hosts the Carnival of New Jersey Bloggers #41


CARNIVAL OF THE CLUELESS #33: THE KISS AND MAKE-UP EDITION

Carnival of the Insanities


And there's an upcoming Carnival of Bauer, too.

On a lighter vein, Tevye does Tokio. Enjoy!

(technorati tags Iraq, Syria, Terrorism, Dubai, Hamas)

The Vatican: "Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It's our duty to protect ourselves,"

A Reuters article titled Vatican to Muslims: practice what you preach states,

Pope Benedict signaled his concern on Monday when he told the new Moroccan ambassador to the Vatican that peace can only be assured by "respect for the religious convictions and practices of others, in a reciprocal way in all societies".

As The Sheep's Crib put it,

I wish our leaders spoke with the same semblance of authority that we see from Benedict XVI

Christian Churches in Iraq are being Subjected to Synchronized Terrorism (link via SC&A)

In a synchronized act of terrorism on January 29, 2006, seven churches were attacked - six by car bombs and a seventh, St. Joseph, in the banking district of Baghdad, by explosives which caused no damage. Five of the churches are located at various parts of Baghdad and the other two in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. There were a number of casualties among Christians and passer-by Muslims.

The Reuters article also explains,

As often happens at the Vatican, lower-level officials have been more outspoken than the Pope and his main aides.

"Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It's our duty to protect ourselves," Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Vatican's supreme court, thundered in the daily La Stampa. Jesus told his followers to "turn the other cheek" when struck.

"The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century, mostly for oil, and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights," he said.

Bishop Rino Fisichella, head of one of the Roman universities that train young priests from around the world, told Corriere della Sera the Vatican should speak out more.

"Let's drop this diplomatic silence," said the rector of the Pontifical Lateran University. "We should put pressure on international organizations to make the societies and states in majority Muslim countries face up to their responsibilities."

It’s not only the Roman Catholics standing up: (via Dhimmi Watch, emphasis mine) the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, The Most Revd Peter Akinola has issued the following statement:

a. From all indications, it is very clear now that the sacrifices of the Christians in this country for peaceful co-existence with people of other faiths has been sadly misunderstood to be weakness
b. We have for a long time now watched helplessly the killing, maiming and destruction of Christians and their property by Muslim fanatics and fundamentalists at the slightest or no provocation at all. We are not unaware of the fact that these religious extremists have the full backup and support of some influential Muslims who are yet to appreciate the value of peaceful co-existence.
c. That an incident in far away Denmark which does not claim to be representing Christianity could elicit such an unfortunate reaction here in Nigeria, leading to the destruction of Christian Churches, is not only embarrassing, but also disturbing and unfortunate.
d. It is no longer a hidden fact that a long standing agenda to make this Nigeria an Islamic nation is being surreptitiously pursued. The willingness of Muslim Youth to descend with violence on the innocent Christians from time to time is from all intents and purposes a design to actualize their dream.

2.
a. It is sad to note that all acts of hostility meted against Christians by Muslims in the past have remained unaddressed with nobody paying compensations or the culprits brought to justice.
b. We do appreciate the fact that at this stage of our national development, peace is absolutely necessary for realizing our dreams and aspirations. It is in view of this that Christians in Nigeria agreed to participate in the forthcoming National Census as sacrifice for the peace and progress of this nation, in spite of our protest over the non-inclusion of Religion and Ethnicity as necessary demographic data.
c. May we at this stage remind our Muslim brothers that they do not have the monopoly of violence in this nation. Nigeria belongs to all of us – Christians, Muslims and members of other faiths. No amount of intimidation can Change this time-honoured arrangement in this nation. C.A.N. may no longer be able to contain our restive youths should this ugly trend continue.

I concur with Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, and applaud Reverend Akinola. Unlike the Church of England, whose Synod has decided to to disinvest from companies whose products are used by the Israeli government in the territories, some Catholics will stand for their values and inalianable rights.

Gateway Pundit posts on Christians Strike Back in Southern Nigeria

(technorati tags Catholic Church, Pope Benedict, Terrorism)

More on the Halimi murder

Via Solomonia, Nidra Poller's WSJ article The Murder of Ilan Halimi,

...In initial statements to the press, Public Prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin and various police officials stuck to their hypothesis that money was the motive for the crime, not anti-Semitism. They noted that Ilan Halimi had been tortured as if the gang were following "a known scenario." Photos of Ilan, naked, with a sack on his head and a gun pointed at his temple were emailed to family members suggesting, according to the police, "scenes of torture at Abu Ghraib." As it turns out, the beheading of Daniel Pearl or Iraqi snuff films are the better comparison. An anonymous police detective quoted in Monday's edition of Libération said: "It's simply that, for those criminals, Jew equals money."

Later that same day, investigating magistrate Corinne Goetzmann detained seven of the suspects on charges of kidnapping, sequestration, torture, acts of barbarism and premeditated murder in an organized gang. They will also be charged with targeting the victim on the basis of his religion, French for hate crime, which carries a stiffer penalty. Justice Minister Pascal Clément explained that the charge of anti-Semitism was based on the fact that one of the suspects had declared to the judge that they picked a Jew because Jews are supposed to be rich. But, according to reports in the French press, some of the suspects in police custody said that they tortured Ilan with particular cruelty simply because he was Jewish.

No longer able to deny or play down the racial motive, the investigation is entering a new phase. One of the most troubling aspects of this affair is the probable involvement of relatives and neighbors, beyond the immediate circle of the gang, who were told about the Jewish hostage and dropped in to participate in the torture.

Ilan's uncle Rafi Halimi told reporters that the gang phoned the family on several occasions and made them listen to the recitation of verses from the Quran, while Ilan's tortured screams could be heard in the background. The family has publicly criticized the police for deliberately ignoring the explicit anti-Semitic motives, which were repeatedly expressed and should have dictated an entirely different approach to the case from the start. Police searches have now revealed the presence of Islamist literature in the home of at least one of the gang members.

The torture lasted for three weeks.

Three weeks.

Contrary to protestations that this was the first time in sixty years that a Jewish person had been killed for being Jewish,

The murder of Ilan Halimi invites comparison with the November 2003 killing of a Jewish disc jockey, Sébastien Selam. His Muslim neighbor, Adel, slit his throat, nearly decapitating him, and gouged out his eyes with a carving fork in his building's underground parking garage. Adel came upstairs with bloodied hands and told his mother, "I killed my Jew, I will go to paradise." In the two years before his murder, the Selam family was repeatedly harassed for being Jewish. The Selam case has not been opened by the magistrate. The murderer, who admits his guilt, was placed in a psychiatric hospital, and may be released soon.

Chirac, We Reap What You've Sown.
Gateway Pundit has more.

Prior posts Feb. 23, Feb. 22

(technorati tags Ilan Halimi, France, Nicholas Sarkozy, anti-Semitism)

Halimi murder suspect detained

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Effective July 11, 2006, Fausta's blog moved to http://faustasblog.com. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.
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Leader of gang behind brutal killing of French Jew arrested in Ivory Coast, handed over to French investigators

Youssouf Fofana, who is suspected of leading the gang that abducted, tortured and murdered French Jew Ilan Halimi, was detained Thursday morning in the Ivory Coast.

French authorities initially denied but later admitted anti-Semitism played a role in the shocking murder.

Gangleader in French anti-semitic murder arrested in Ivory Coast. The Ivorian president stated Fofana will be extradited to France (link in French. You can also watch a video Arrestation de Fofana).

As I posted in an update to yesterday's post, France2, BBC, Reuters fail to see antisemitic murder for what it is, government-owned France2 news last night finally declared the murder an anti-Semitic crime. CNN, however, uses scare quotes: Arrest in French 'anti-Semitic' death, along with the Beeb: French 'anti-Jew gang chief' held. The NYT couches the terms partially French Officials Now Say Killing of Jew Was in Part a Hate Crime. French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy is certain: Sarkozy says religion made slain Jew a target.

As reported by M&C News, French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin were expected to attend a memorial service for Halimi later today in Paris' main synagogue in a sign of support for the shocked French Jewish community, the largest in Western Europe.

As Hitchens says, "only a moral cretin thinks that anti-Semitism is a threat only to Jews".

Philomathean has further comment. Gateway Pundit also has a post.

Update
Reuters stays on the kidnapped-for-ransom slant, avoiding the anti-Semitic issue:

Policemen prevent people from approaching a Paris synagogue as the room is already overcrowded, February 23, 2006. French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin attended a ceremony in memory of Jewish man Ilan Halimi, 23. Halimi was found tortured and burnt south of Paris after being held for three weeks by a gang demanding a large ransom. He died of his injuries shortly afterwards.

(technorati tags Ilan Halimi, France, Nicholas Sarkozy, anti-Semitism)

Support Denmark:

Rally with Hitchens at the Embassy of Denmark, 3200 Whitehaven Street (off Massachusetts Avenue) between noon and 1 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 24
Stand up for Denmark! Why are we not defending our ally?

Border security, crazy first ladies, and today's articles

Gringo Unleashed translates an article in which Manuel Gutiérrez Fierro equates Bush = Hitler, U.S. = Israel, Mexicans = Palestinians. Gutiérrez doesn't stop at being ridiculous, he rolls right along into hysteria.

Lost Budgie and Dumb Ox post about how Hospital Staff Executed Patients To Facilitate Hurricane Katrina Staff Evacuation. Shameful, and I hope all those involved are prosecuted.

One article from Art
U.S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review

Maria's articles
I still have a heavy cold, but Maria recommended Zicam and I'm felling well enough to make a round-up of the articles she sent. I highly recommend Zicam.

On dhimmitude
Needed: Mature, Moderate Muslims: The cartoon rage is infantile
Oslo under the rule of Sharia

Crazy first ladies
Maria's favorite columnist, Bert Preluski, writes about Voices from the left

However, if there's anything worse than having to listen to these shnooks screaming to the choir, it's having to listen to the ladies on the left. I refer to the sisterhood that includes the likes of Susan Estrich, Teresa Heinz-Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Gloria Allred, Barbara Boxer, Cindy Sheehan and, of course, Hillary Clinton. Each and every one of them has a voice that sounds like fingernails raking a blackboard.

I don't want to suggest that their voices are all alike, aside from the fact that each has the power to make your ears bleed. Some, after all, are whinier than others, some are harsher, while a few are so nasal you'd think that Estrich, for instance, must have adenoids the size of grapefruits.

Last Sunday the NYT had an article about the character Jean Smart plays in 24, The First Lady Is Seriously Off Her Rocker, where

Howard Gordon, one of three executive producers of "24," freely admits that the original model for Ms. Smart's character was Martha Mitchell, the volatile wife of Richard M. Nixon's attorney general, John N. Mitchell, known for her late-night calls to reporters outlining outrageous theories about conspiracy in the Nixon White House, a number of which turned out to be true. The Nixon administration response — just as in the fictional Logan administration — was to label Martha Mitchell as "unstable."

My memories of Martha Mitchell aren't all that recent (and yes, if memory serves me, she was an unstable woman), but Mr. Gordon could also seek inspiration in the persent from watching Hillary's tirades, or Nancy Pelosi's rantings.

On the Dubai port controversy
Look at the airports. Why would terrorists bother with seaports?
So, 3 Muslims walk into a port ...
White House: Tone deaf or brain dead?
NRO Symposium: Port Insecurity? On the Dubai port deal
The Bush Isle of Thanatos
They are all profilers now

Other articles
California postpones execution indefinitely
BAD IDEAS FOR STOPPING IRAN

Wrong Answer
Deny this!
U.S.-German Flare-Up Over Vast Nazi Camp Archives

Tempers are flaring over a United States demand to open to scholars and researchers a huge repository of information about the Holocaust contained in the files of the International Tracing Service at Bad Arolsen, Germany.

Based in part on documents gathered by Allied forces as they liberated Nazi concentration camps, the stock of files held by the organization stretches for about 15.5 miles, and holds information on 17.5 million people. It amounts to one of the largest closed archives anywhere.

BOSNIAN 'RAT' IS FINALLY TRAPPED
The most likely victim of a hate crime in the U.S. is a poor, young, white, single urban dweller

Don't holler out 'Remember Chappaquiddick!' while Ted Kennedy is present.

France2, BBC, Reuters fail to see antisemitic murder for what it is

On February 11, 23 yr-old Ilan Halimi was found

naked, handcuffed, and bleeding profusely. He was incapable of speaking. His entire body - or "80% of it," according to police - had been butchered. He died of his wounds on the way to the hospital, just a few minutes after he was discovered.

He had been kidnapped three weeks earlier (emphasis mine)

The French attorney general believes Halimi was targeted "because he was Jewish and thus, as a Jew, presumed to be rich." One teenage gang member admitted having put out a cigarette on Halimi's face "because he didn't like Jews."

It seems, however, that the Barbarians' anti-Semitism went much further. Mr. Fofana and other core gang members may have been close to a local mosque. According to one witness, verses from the Koran were recited while Halimi was tortured.

Halimi's mother

accuses the police of missteps that led to her son's death. She revealed to Haaretz yesterday that the police told the family to ignore the gang's attempts to contact them for five critical days, after which Ilan was found near death outside the city. She also accuses the police of ignoring the anti-Semitic motivation in the case in order not to alienate Muslims.

Replying to Mrs. Halimi's words, the police have stated (link in French) that this is a "difficile, fastidieuse et délicate", a "difficult, exhaustive, and delicate" investigation. The Times (UK) reports that Jews claim police hid killers' motive to appease ghetto.

Last night's France2 newscast started with the question, "Was Ilan Halimi killed because he was Jewish? We don't know yet," while the the banner called it "La hypothese antisemite" -- the anti-Semitic hypothesis. Reuters does one better and refers to "the gang led by an Ivory Coast immigrant with a Muslim name". The Beeb skirts the issue with their video 'Racist motive' to French kidnap (go to right sidebar, under video), which doesn't mention the word Muslim.

Instead, France2 and the Beeb are looking for barbarians. The barbarians in question (link in French) is one of many gangs that terrorize the banlieus (i.e., housing projects). Gang leader Yussef Fofana,a Muslim, has left France and apparently gone to Ivory Coast

Fifteen people, aged 17 to 32, were arrested last week in connection with the death. Five have since been released

French investigators headed to Côte d'Ivoire on Tuesday.

While the Paris Public Prosecutor said that "no element of the current investigation could link this murder to an anti-Semitic declaration or action", Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy has stated this was clearly a hate crime motivated by anti-Semitism (both links in French). Sarkozy also revealed that Salafist and pro-Palestinian documents were found during house searches.

Additionally, The investigating magistrate, Corinne Goetzmann is now conducting her enquiry on the basis that the evidence so far points to "premeditated kidnap, incarceration, criminal conspiracy, and murder, on the basis of the victim's membership of a particular religious group".

This is not the first anti-Semitic kidnapping in the recent past:

"We know that a few months ago a 16-year-old Jewish girl was kidnapped," the family says, "but her parents decided not to go to the police and paid 100,000 euros in ransom."

This tf1.fr article (in French) also states that Halimi's sister Ruth had told

police officers "that there were at least three other attempted kidnappings of young Jews, but they persisted in stating that the motives were purely criminal, because they fear to revive confrontations with the Moslems".

The Times (UK) also states that seven of the suspects arrested

are alleged to be part of a loose gang of young estate-dwellers who had already made six unsuccessful kidnap attempts against residents of Paris. Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, told Parliament yesterday that four out of the six [prospective victims] were Jewish.

The France2 video (available only until 2PM EST today) interview doesn't show Mrs. Halimi's face -- raising in my mind the question, is there fear of retribution over her statements?

Ilan Halimi was buried last Friday at the cemetery of Pantin, near Paris

My prayers are with his family.

At the blogs:
Brussels Journal
Atlas Shrugs
No Pasaran
An Unsealed Room
Adloyada
Little Green Footballs

Update, 6:45PM This evening's France2 newscast finally declared the murder an anti-Semitic crime.

(technorati tags Ilan Halimi, France, Nicholas Sarkozy, anti-Semitism)

Human rights lose at the U.N. again

I'm sick with a heavy cold today and blogging will be light, but don't miss today's WSJ editorial, Sins of Commission: Human rights lose at the U.N. again U.N.'s Human Rights Commission's report on Guantanamo (which the report's authors didn't even bother visiting)

Instead of a Commission composed of 53 member states, the Council would consist of 45. Now there's a bold step. The U.N. also appears ready to drop the two-thirds majority requirement in favor of a simple majority, lowering the bar to membership. And a modest proposal to exclude countries under legally binding "Chapter VII" U.N. sanctions (as Iraq was before its liberation) has been excluded, presumably because it's too tough on the world's worst regimes.

Instead, the U.N. proposes distributing seats according to what it calls "equitable geographic distribution": 12 seats to Africa; 13 to Asia (including the Middle East); eight to Latin America; five to East Europe and seven to the so-called West European and Others Group, which includes the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel.

Thus the two groups that contain the greatest proportion of liberal democracies are allotted the smallest number of seats. By contrast, in 2005 only nine countries in the whole of Africa were rated "free," according to Freedom House. In Asia and the Middle East, only about a dozen of 54 countries are free, and that's if you're counting Tuvalu, Palau, Nauru and Kiribati.

Put simply, this structure not only fails to exclude abusive regimes from membership in the Council, it actually guarantees them their seats. And it is rigged against the very countries whose opinions about human rights might be other than blatantly hypocritical.

As I've said before the UN is beyond reform.

For additional reading on another subject vital to our times, Pajamas Media has the WMD files. Read every word, because the MSM won't be publishing this anytime soon.

(tecnhorati tags United Nations, WMDs, Iraq)

Iran and Venezuela: Something old, something new?

First, the new:
Straight from AlJazeera, Economic war on the U.S.? Iran, Venezuela join forces

Iran and Venezuela joined forces to undermine the U.S. dollar

Last year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that his country's plans to move its foreign-exchange holdings out of the dollar into the euro, calling for the creation of a South American central bank designed to hold in euros all the foreign-exchange holdings of the participating countries.

On the other hand, Iran started since 2003 demanding oil payment in euros, not dollars, although the oil itself was still priced in dollars. The Islamic Republic has already announced plans of opening the Iranian Oil Bourse in March, challenging by that the NYMEX (the New York Mercantile Exchange) and IPE (London's International Petroleum Exchange).

And now the old: As I have pointed out before, The Islamic regime [of Iran] assists Venezuela with its nuclear program (via Atlas Shrugs, who posts this morning on Iran's Nukes Get Religious Clearance). Chávez claims he's developing alternative energy sources to ready his country for the post-petroleum era (article in Spanish).

On further Hugo news, this should come as no surprise to long-time readers of this blog: Chavez may end presidential term limits. Small wonder that he's become UNESCO's bizarre hero (link via Maria).

Continuing his usual diplomatic approach, Hugo Chavez last weekend accused former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar of forming part of a supposed plan directed by the United States in order to destabilize Venezuela, and referring to US Secreatry of State Condoleezza Rice as "girl", warned her "don't mess with me". His speech was peppered with derogatory racist and sexist terms, which I won't repeat here.

Don't miss the latest on Hugo's arms race.

The Economist, while trying to put a favorable light on Hugo, admits that (emphasis added)

Meanwhile, Venezuela's public infrastructure, such as roads and hospitals, is crumbling. A deficit of 1.5m housing units is widening. Only a quarter of the 110,000 new houses needed each year are being built, because of the public sector's incompetence and its unwillingness to involve the private sector.

Mr Chávez argues that capitalism is the source of all evil: poverty, inequality and corruption are all laid at the door of “savage neoliberalism”. But his seemingly rich and strong state is a hollow shell, says Mr Barrios. In Mr Chávez's Venezuela, institutions count for little, and all important decisions are taken by one man.

With the help of some Cuban and Iranian friends.

Prior posts on the Iranian connections to Latin America here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Update: Don't miss Alexandra's post on A Recurrent Nightmare To Civilization

Update 2: Paxety has a post on the weekend meeting between Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the Speaker of the Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) and Fidel. Update, Tuesday Feb 21 More commentary.

(technorati tags Venezuela, Iran, Cubazuela)

Marines rescue 50 in the Phillipines, the Cartoon Jihad, and today's articles.

Great news this morning:
U.S. marines recovered about 50 people from under the rubble at the school in Guinsaugon village. The US marines and Taiwanese teams are using life-detecting sonar equipment in the search.

The search for survivors from the landslide that swamped the farming village of Guinsaugon - killing up to 1,350 people - had focused on the school because of unconfirmed reports that some of the 250 to 300 children and teachers may have sent cell phone text messages to relatives soon after the disaster Friday.
. . .
"We know there's something down there," U.S. marine Lt. Richard Neikirk said as he pointed to a spot under a big boulder, where seismic sensors detected sounds.

"The farther down we went, the signals grew stronger."
. . .
There was no visible sign of the school. Rescue workers were digging at two places - one that was believed to be the original site of the school, close to the mountain that collapsed Friday, the other 200 metres down the hill, where the landslide could have carried it.

Last week the US had sent the USS Essex and the USS Harper's Ferry to assist in rescue and relief efforts after the mudslides in the Philippines.

As Phil said,

If this story doesn't illustrate the U.S. military's dedication to humanitarian efforts wherever they are needed in the world, I don't know what does.

In Iraq,
a story from that arm of the vast-right-wing-conspiracy, UPI: Iraq forces are making major progress that should provide a new degree of legitimacy and popularity to the Iraqi government and allow the Coalition to reduce its forces

Cartoon jihad:
Cartoon Protests Leave 15 Dead in Nigeria,
reads the AP headline. What's missing is the word Christians (emphasis mine):

Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people in the deadliest confrontation yet in the whirlwind of Muslim anger over the drawings.
. . .
Thousands of rioters burned 15 churches in Maiduguri in a three-hour rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said. Iwendi said security forces arrested dozens of people in the city about 1,000 miles northeast of the capital, Lagos.

There were more than 15 dead: The Reuters story says Death toll in northern Nigeria riots rises to 28, with 207 wounded. The attacks coincide with terrorist attacks on an oil pipeline in Southern Nigeria.

Meanwhile, (via TigerHawk, Agence France Press says Muslims ransack two churches in Pakistan over desecration of Koran. The headline forgot to mention the churches were burned, not simply "ransacked".

Michelle Malkin has a map tracking the Cartoon Jihad. Riehl World View is Challenging the MSM.

Maria sent this article, 'The day is coming when British Muslims form a state within a state'

Fine with me,
Bin Laden: I’ll Never Be Captured Alive. Wasn't he just offering a truce?

Maria's other article
It's time to evict the U.N.. I say, move it to Strasbourg.

(technorati tags Philippines, muslim cartoon, Denmark, jyllands-posten mohammed, muhammad cartoon, Iran, Islam, United Nations)

Back in the olden days Oscar nominees were photographed to look glamorous

Nowadays Oscar nominees are photographed to look like characters critters out of the Sci-Fi Channel:

George Clooney on the cover of today's NYT Sunday Mag. Check out the slide show, if you think I exaggerate.

And while on the subject of movies, ShrinkWrapped writes about How Ideological Bias Destroys Reality Testing: Yet Another NY Times Example

(technorati tags Movies, Gary Cooper, George Clooney)

Books you should read, my choice, and today's carnivals
Today I'm starting a weekly feature: Books you should read, featuring one book you should read. As a rule, these will be books that are pertinent to the war or to current events.

My first selection was recommended to me by Sigmund, Carl and Alfred:
Islam expanded through war and opression, and that is its legacy. The editor review featured by Amazon says,

This unique, extensive compilation includes Muslim theological and juridical texts, eyewitness historical accounts by both Muslim and non-Muslim chroniclers, and essays by preeminent scholars analyzing jihad war and the ruling conditions imposed upon the non-Muslim peoples conquered by jihad campaigns. The Legacy of Jihad reveals how, for well over a millennium, across three continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe—non-Muslims who were vanquished by jihad wars, became forced tributaries (called dhimmi in Arabic), in lieu of being slain. Under the dhimmi religious caste system, non-Muslims were subjected to legal and financial oppression, as well as social isolation. Extensive primary and secondary source materials, many translated here for the first time into English, are presented, making clear that jihad conquests were brutal, imperialist advances, which spurred waves of Muslims to expropriate a vast expanse of lands and subdue millions of indigenous peoples. Finally, the book examines how jihad war, as a permanent and uniquely Islamic institution, ultimately regulates the relations of Muslims with non-Muslims to this day. Scholars, educators, and interested lay readers will find this collection an invaluable resource.

The descriptions of Islam's history in Dr. Bostom's book are hard reading, but essential to a knowledge of the history of Islam. Meticulously documented enough to qualify as an academic book, it is absorbing and fascinating to the average reader. I can't stress enough that it's a must-read.

My choice:
Faced with this,

I choose this:













Carnival time

Carnival #40 is hosted by The Opinion Mill, in the Twilight Zone!

(technorati tags books)

US Navy Ship Diverted for Philippine Rescue, Cartoon jihad, and today's articles
Breaking News: US Navy Ship Diverted for Philippine Rescue

The US military is diverting a naval vessel taking part in war games in the Philippines to help the victims of a landslide that buried an entire village, the US embassy said.

House to Hold Inquiry on NSA Surveillance

More on the Cartoon Jihad
Because nothing spells "religion of peace" like this: Pakistani Muslim cleric said Friday that he and supporters were offering rewards of more than $1 million for killing Danish cartoonists who drew caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

And I ask, where does your average cleric get $1,000,000 from?

Maulana Yousef Qureshi, a cleric in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said during Friday prayers that he personally had offered to pay a bounty of 500,000 rupees ($8,400), while a jewelers association was putting up $1 million, and others were offering $17,000 plus a car.

Sounds like "Let's Make A Deal", only with an I.O.U. However, the promise of money and a car sounds like the cleric and his cohorts prefer hit men over suicide bombers.

The New Republic asks, If American Muslims are generally moderate, why are their leaders so radical?

Victor Davis Hanson believes that

In response, either the West will continue to stand up now to these reoccurring post-Sept. 11, 2001, threats, or it will see the bullies' demands only increase as its own resistance weakens. Like the appeasement of the 1930s, opting for the easier choice will only guarantee a more costly one later on.

Lee Harris says, support Denmark, Buy one of the marvelous symphonies of the Danish composer, Carl Nielsen (1865-1931).

Maria's articles
Probe finds terrorists in U.S. 'training for war': Neighbors of Muslim encampment fear retaliation if they report to police While this article discusses a Jamaat ul-Fuqra encampment in the Catskill Mountains near Hancock, N.Y., called "Islamberg", Gates of Vienna has a series of posts on Jamaat ul-Fuqra's activities in Virginia, South Carolina, and California.

West Bank withdrawal 'within days': Acting PM orders Israeli forces to remove Jewish enclave near Hebron. Humanitarians for Hamas explains how UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and other agencies subsidize Hamas. Russia to sell Palestinians arms if Israel agrees

Maria also sent a few articles from The Independent:
Rome's crumbling ruins are a threat to tourists, says study When The Husband and I were in Rome years ago the threat to tourists were the hundreds of little kids mugging you for your money. Dozens of kids would come and agressively attack you and get their hands in your clothes and belongings. The police did nothing.

Russia's first gay parade vetoed by 'outraged' city

Dead swans litter German island as bird flu spreads

Let's see what's getting coverage:
Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction,
or three year old Abu Ghraib photos, released through the intercession of the ACLU?

Which photos are being shown on TV: Michael Totten's, or Abu Ghraib?

What has CNN shown, the Mohammed cartoons, or more Abu Ghraib?

Then there's the UN, that paragon of morality, outraged over Guantanamo and calling for tolerance and dialogue

In light of the recent offensive publication of representations of the Prophet Muhammad

Notice that last sentence: It's the opening sentence in the UN press release. Those thirteen words establish two things right off the bat:
1. the publication of the "representations" (in fact, the Jyllands-Postencartoons, of which three didn't show any image of Muhammad at all, and three other images added by a delegation of Danish imams who fabricated anti-Muslim artwork) is offensive.
2. it's not Muhammad, it's the Prophet Muhammad.
I don't recall the UN protesting any offense over any representation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

If I were a cynic I would point to the timeliness of the UN's Human Rights Commision's current outrage: Mohammed cartoons derail talks on rights body (emphasis mine)

Talks to establish a new United Nations human rights body in Geneva have been thrown into disarray by Muslim calls for new clauses against blasphemy.
. . .
Heuzé said the aim had originally been to get the final resolution on the new body – which is set to replace the discredited Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission – adopted on Wednesday so it could begin to function this summer.

The proposed Human Rights Council is based on a model drawn up by Swiss human rights expert, Walter Kälin.
. . .
World leaders agreed at a UN summit in September to create a new body to replace the 53-member Commission on Human Rights, known for giving seats to countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe and blocking criticism of rights abusers.

Dr. Sanity asks, Is yet another legend of the left going to get a well-deserved debunking?

I doubt it. It'd take a lot more than that: You must read ShrinkWrapped's post, where he explains,

In the time before open hostilities break out it is common for adversaries to probe each other's defenses. The current war with the Iran/Syria/Saudi/Islamic fascist axis is underway, not only in Iraq and other places, but in the pages of our MSM. The more convinced the Iranians become that the West will back away from the coming confrontation, the more emboldened they will become, again increasing the likelihood that they will set off the nuclear weapon which will make a shooting war inevitable.

While you're at it, if you think the attack on the free press pertains only Middle Eastern matters or ruthless dictatorships, think again.

Update For sure, this won't be getting any coverage, either.

(technorati tags muslim cartoon, Denmark, jyllands-posten mohammed, muhammad cartoon, Iran, Islam, United Nations, Abu Ghraib, Iraq)

The crescent of death memorial to flight 93, and today's articles

Error Theory blog has a Flight 93 Memorial ACTION ALERT: Stop the terrorist-memorial mosque!:

The Flight 93 Memorial Project just announced a pair of public meetings this Saturday at the Somerset County Courthouse where it promises “a major, exciting announcement,” with architect Paul Murdoch in attendance.

The Project’s last public meeting was the unveiling back in September of Paul Murdoch’s winning Crescent of Embrace design, with its half-mile wide Mecca-oriented crescent. It is very likely that Saturday’s meeting is to announce that Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has given final approval to Murdoch’s design, based on the insignificant design changes announced in late November. The design is now called simply The Flight 93 Memorial instead of The Crescent of Embrace, but the half-mile wide Mecca-oriented crescent is still there, as are all of the other Islamic and jihadist design elements of the original Crescent design.

The public is invited to the meeting, and if you're in the Somerset county area, I urge you to attend: The meetings of the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force and the Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission will be held on Saturday February 18, 2006. The Task Force meeting will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the Federal Advisory Commission meeting will be held from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Both meetings are open to the public, and will be held at the Somerset County Courthouse, Courtroom #1, 111 East Union Street, Somerset Pennsylvania.

Prior posts Dec 1, 2005, September 12, 2005

(technorati tags Flight 93 Memorial, crescent of embrace, Flight 93, September 11, 9/11)

At the blogs:
Much Ado about Mohammed. How much? 1,357 comments and counting . . .

Maria's article today: Garu Sinise
I love Gary Sinise. So does Maria, who sent this article: Actor Gary Sinise: Positive Support for Iraq. And of course, GS is the co-founder of the Lt. Dan Band. Or as Forrest would pronounce it, "Lt. Dang".

(technorati tag Gary Sinise)

Why Denmark? The cartoon jihad's timing, and the EU's "community of victims"

David Frum, in his article Conned by Hamas asks (emphasis mine),

It's certainly handy for Hamas that a wave of violent protests against four-month-old Danish cartoons should have materialized at exactly the same moment that they won the Palestinian elections, isn't it?

Some cynics might even wonder if the supposedly "spontaneous" protests that have erupted in police states like Syria and Iran in the week since Hamas's victory might not be quite so spontaneous as they look--that maybe indeed those police states helped incite the riots.

Iran, for example, may soon find itself called before the UN Security Council to answer for its clandestine nuclear program. Last year, Denmark was elected a rotating member of the UN Security Council for 2005-2006. In June, Denmark assumes the Council's presidency. Iranian endorsement of attacks on Danish interests sends a powerful message to the Danish government: Be careful. Punish us, and we can punish you.

(Via Stephen Pollard), Nonie Darwish explains,

Indeed, with Denmark set to assume the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, the flames of the cartoon controversy have been fanned by Iran and Syria. This is critical since the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to refer Iran to the Security Council and demand sanctions. At the same time, Syria is under scrutiny for its actions in Lebanon. Both Iran and Syria cynically want to embarrass the Danes to achieve their dangerous goals.

Irwin and M. both sent this article by Victor Davis Hanson, who asks, What Will Europe Really Do?,

Finally, the Europeans who despised the unilateral and preemptory George Bush will start to grate at his new multilateral side even more. Be careful what you wish for, especially when an American leader may now not necessarily be such an easy target of caricature—or may not always do the dirty work of fighting jihadists from Pakistan to the Sunni Triangle.

Instead, by letting the Europeans take the lead with the Iranian negotiations, and keeping nearly silent about the cartoon hysteria, the United States essentially has told the Europeans, “Here is the sort of restrained sober and judicious global diplomacy that you so welcome.”

Because of slated troop withdrawals from European bases, and a new American weariness with the old anti-Americanism, some Europeans are beginning to recoil at the idea that they might well be on their own—and in a war against fanatical enemies that they have appeased and without rational friends that they have estranged.

Read it all, and bear in mind that the cartoon jihad rages on. EU Referendum posts on a community of victims

Thus, while many commentators have quite rightly been drawing attention to the "clash of cultures" between Islam and the West, there is another less obvious clash, which lies at the heart of Western society – or, at least, in the minds of the political élites. That is the "clash of definitions" between the victim and the aggressor. And, since the "cult of the victim" figures so highly in the mindset of the élites, once a preferred victim group has been so defined, it cannot be then reclassified as an aggressor without tremendous intellectual upheaval and massive heart-searching.

So it is that the élites are caught in a trap of their own making. As long as Islamic fundamentalists remain ensconced in (or associated with) the EU's favoured "community of victims", Frattini and his fellow-travellers can never denounce them. That, of course, also means that they can never get to grips with the problem.

As David Frum said, "It is a great mistake to assume that because people act in an intemperate or extreme way that they must be irrational or delusional". The cartoon jihad is serving its purpose. I would not be at all surprised if there are copycat demonstrations in Latin America.

Shrinkwrapped takes Another Look at the Cartoon Wars and the size of the protesting crowds.

Update While reporting that the
Pakistan cartoon violence spreads, and asking How can the row be resolved?, the Beeb excercises editorial judgement by placing three-year-old photos as its top story: New Abu Ghraib images broadcast.

Because nothing beats adding further oil on the fire.

Update The Beeb isn't reporting about it, but Barcepundit has a post on yet another thing the media won't be highlighting: the abject failure of the Iranian revolution's celebrations. Barcepundit's post is in Spanish but he links to English articles.

Update 3 The "new" Abu Ghraib photos were obtained under freedom of information laws by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

(technorati tags muslim cartoon, Denmark, jyllands-posten mohammed, muhammad cartoon, Iran)

Olympics vs dog show, Iran & Latin America, plus today's articles
Last night I sat down to watch the Olympics. Rather than sports, there was a photo-op of some metrosexual teen claiming that "the republicans won't like him" and that he was going to rock the ice-skating establishment. After several minutes of yammering like a Hollywoodwannabe, they showed him on the ice: he was going to skate to Saint-Saens's Dying Swan while wearing a red glove on his right hand (obviously signifying the swan's head, yet reminiscent of the gloved one). Enough. The dog show was on, and it was time for the hound group. They had a darling bloodhound and a fine basset but those didn't make the finals.

Here's the night's winner: Rufus the colored bull terrier from New Jersey

Not a basset, but nice anyway.

More on the Iran-Latin America ties
Academic Elephant sent Latin America's leftist regimes get cozy with Iran: Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia want stronger ties with Iran, but all face internal hurdles
Just because you ignore it, it won't go away.

Maria's articles
Another former confidant of Saddam makes claim, also links Iraq to al-Qaida

'3rd intifada on its way': Terror leaders detail for WND 'massive new war' against Israel

Like I predicted the other day, it's Cheney-time at the late night shows. This article highlights the absurdness of it all: Columnist says hunting incident was signal to Libby not to testify. Tony Blankley puts the thing in perspective.

Maria also sent a Burt Prelutsky article where he proposes getting rid of the Senate. I certainly not agree for several reasons, including the need for having a ready source of blogging material. Joseph Farrah's being too kind to Algore.

(technorati tags Olympics, Rufus, Saddam, Hamas, Cheney)

Venezuela Would Welcome Hamas Leaders "with pleasure"
Hugo's been networking, not only with Iran, but also with Hamas:

Venezuela's vice president said Monday his country would welcome leaders from Hamas "with pleasure" if they visit the country as part of a South American tour following their victory in Palestinian elections.

Asked if the Venezuelan government would receive the Islamic militant group, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told reporters: "Of course we will. What is the problem?"

According to another article, The president of the Majlis, the Iranian parliament, is meeting with Hugo today (emphasis mine)

After the visit to Venezuela, Iran's main ally in Latin America and within Opec, the Iranian delegation is set to travel to Cuba, Brazil and Uruguay.

On a related subject, a WSJ article on another one of those referred to as a-charismatic-leader-helping-the-poor-offering-free-health-care-education-adult-literacy-and-job-training-initiatives-that-help-millions-of-[insert country name here]: 10 Months in the Bahamas: How Castro stretches his tyranny to other shores

The real problem is that the Bahamas fears Castro and the retaliation he might unleash--especially a mass refugee exodus--if the escapees are allowed to reach liberty in America. So its compromise with the dictator has been to keep the doctors separated from their families, living in what we are told is an unsanitary prison with lice-infested pigeons, abusive guards and boys up to 14 years of age in the women's barracks.

Prior posts on the Iranian connections to Latin America here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

(technorati tags Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Castro, Cubazuela)

Congratulations to ¡Gringo Unleashed!, accessorize, accesorize, and today's articles
Congratulations to ¡Gingo Unleashed! on his new job as website editor/resident full-time blogger for the Alliance for School Choice. I'm adding the Alliance to the blogroll in the Websites category. Another school choice blogger, Andrew Colson, is working at the Cato Institute as director of the Center for Educational Freedom.

Speaking of Cato, don't miss their report on Katrina relief, titled Government Disaster Efforts Ill-conceived. Months ago they were discussing what the press and Congress are just now starting to realize.

Another blog we like, Camp Katrina, has a new section dedicated to how the US military are Helping Women. Camp Katrina's a daily must-visit.

Accessorize, accesorize!
Yesterday Neo-neocon was discussing what Your mother (or grandmother, or great-grandmother) should know: gloves and the flu. Neo's point was on contagion, but I focused on the fashion aspects.

My mother was the youngest of ten children, and her older sisters were in their twenties when my mother was born. Like their mother, the older sisters always wore hats and matching gloves when going out. Of course they had lovely complexions and hands. The accessorizing possibilites are endless. And there are other possibilities, too: Neo's commenter ElMondoHummus added

I can't comment from the ladies end of the fashion scale, but if gloves came back as an acceptable accessory for men, that would reopen a whole world of old-school provocations. Who hasn't wanted to challenge someone to a duel by slapping them with a glove? :)

Or pull the Bugs Bunny stunt of filling the glove with bricks, horseshoes, gravel, etc. BLAP

Maybe I'll start wearing gloves in warm weather.

Maria's articles
Congress's Secret Saddam Tapes: The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is studying 12 hours of audio recordings between Saddam Hussein and his top advisers that may provide clues to the whereabouts of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. We'll see if the papers (other than the Sun) write on this.

The death of handwriting: Could it really all be over for handwriting?

Personally, I don't know when I last had a milkman, still less when I last left him a billet doux. A more persuasive argument for the maintenance of handwriting is surely that, as students learn this skill, they are building other developmental skills such as sequential memory and fine motor ability. These fundamental skills assist students in other essential academic areas such as maths. There is also a strong aesthetic argument: we shouldn't neglect the sheer beauty of which handwriting is capable. As Professor Rosemary Sassoon, author of Handwriting: The Way to Teach It, says: "Handwriting is an imprint of the self on the page."

The national curriculum, in any event, now stresses handwriting skills. The four criteria of the Sats level two handwriting test are legibility, consistent size and spacing of letters, flow and movement, and a confident personal style. But there is a problem. Anecdotal evidence suggests that young children have fewer opportunities for developing pre-writing skills, such as balance, hand-eye coordination and muscle control, which can themselves be critical in developing good handwriting ability as the child grows.

The yearly checkup is reassuring -- but unnecessary. To make it matter, doctors and patients must talk.

(technorati tags School, Katrina, fashion, Saddam Hussein)

The cartoon jihad, Iran's nuclear plans, and a note on Latin America
Amir Taheri writes on Salafism and how it's hijacking Islam

Ponder that while reading this: ARAB BIZ MAY RUN NYC PORT

The city's ports, considered a major target of terrorists, are about to be taken over by a firm based in the United Arab Emirates, a country with financial links to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Dubai Ports World is set to complete a $6.8 billion deal to purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a London company that already runs commercial port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami

A bad, bad idea.

Beneath the Rage in the Mideast lies the ages-old diversion: an emotion-charged conflict with a foreign adversary:

It is difficult to draw an absolute link between the ferry disaster and the violence that exploded across much of the Muslim world last week in response to Danish cartoons that had lampooned the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims feel it was blasphemous to draw the Prophet at all, let alone in a mocking manner.

But in the coincidence of the two events, there is a clue to a dynamic that has played out in this region for many years: Leaders often call attention to external enemies — most often the Israelis — as a device to allow their own subjects to blow off steam. The anger itself is almost always home grown.

The WSJ agrees:

Put simply, what we have witnessed isn't the proverbial rage of the Arab street. It's an orchestrated effort by illiberal regimes, colluding with fundamentalist clerics, to conjure the illusion of Muslim rage for their own political purposes. The Iranian mullahs seek to discredit Denmark as it assumes the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council, where Iran's nuclear program is being discussed. The secular Allawite regime in Syria wants to shore up its ties with the Sunni religious establishment, especially now that Bashar Assad's former vice president has declared a government in exile. The Saudis want to put behind them the latest stampede at the annual Hajj, where some 350 pilgrims were killed.

And in Europe, clerics and self-styled "community leaders" with close links to the Saudi government or the Brotherhood want to assert their dominance over populations that have yet to find their social or economic place in the mainstream of European life, as November's riots in France showed. The fact that European governments seem easily cowed by threats of violence has only made the problem worse.

In all the uproar, we find it telling that the two places where Muslim communities have shown restraint and moderation is in the United States and Iraq. American Muslims are overwhelmingly middle class, upwardly mobile and not very susceptible to the atavistic urgings of distant dictatorships. In Iraq, an unsilent majority has repeatedly made its views plain about the religious fanatics who demand to speak in their name. Just imagine the kind of anti-Western protests that would be taking place there now if Saddam were still in power.
There's a lesson in this for those who would have us believe that what this cartoon conflagration represents is a conflict of civilizations. There is a conflict all right, not between civilizations, but within one, and it pits those who would make Islam barbaric and those who would keep it civilized. In that struggle, the heirs of Socrates and the heirs of al-Farabi must make common cause.

Meanwhile, Iran crosses 'red line' in nuclear stand-off: IAEA inspectors to remove seals at Iranian nuclear sites, but Iran will not hold nuclear talks with Russia as scheduled and resumes uranium enrichment, yet the NYT says Iran Still Backs Nuclear Pact. In another article, the NYT reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad words,

"I ask our dear people to prepare themselves for a great struggle," he added, evoking the possibility of international penalties. "Fasten your seat belts and pull up your sleeves."
. . .
In his speech at the rally, Mr. Ahmadinejad repeated his much-publicized claims that the Holocaust was a myth, and he made reference to the wave of demonstrations in the Arab world over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in some Western newspapers.

At the same demonstration, Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the Palestinians and "other nations" will eventually remove Israel from the region. New Sisyphus, commenting on those words, says,

Ladies and Gentlemen, it pains me to say this, but it can no longer be in doubt: we are going to war again, probably soon, and in the not too distant future the weekend we're having right now will be looked back upon as the "good old days."

The WSJ suggests answering Iran's threats by bringing Israel into NATO. Regime Change in Iran has more.

Last Wednesday I posted on Iran's increased connections with Cuba and Venezuela. While this is an extremely serious matter, particularly if Hugo and Fidel's scheduled Bolivarian Revolution takes place, Elephants in Academia posts that the Bolivarian Revolution's not coming along quite as planned: There's a new level of anti-Castro fervor in Cuba, plus

If he [Human Rights Commission President Elizardo Sanchez] is [correct], the situation in Cuba forms an interesting counterpart to other developments in Latin America, notably the plumeting poll numbers of Socialist Ollanta Humala in Peru, the disintigrating relations between Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, and the increasing unrest in Venezuela itself. Maybe Mr. Chavez' and Mr. Castro's dream of a "Bolivarian Revolution" that would result in a single, Socialist Latin American state is being revealed as just that: a dream, and a pipe one at that.

Robert Mayer has some additional thoughts on the situation in Cuba.

Via Babalu, a must read: Ayatollah Fidel and Iran's Cuban vacation, which not only talks about nuclear weapons, but also how Cuba gives Iran dual-use biotechnology in exchange for oil and an annual $25 million trade credit.

With his characteristic tact, Hugo rejects 'attack' by Blair

He was responding to comments by Mr Blair, urging Venezuela to abide by the rules of the international community.

At other blogs, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred discuss The Tinfoil Hat Brigade and Still Blaming the Victim, and ShrinkWrapped Liberal Dis-Armament

Courage in Paris: Islamic Protestors in Paris Come Face to Face with an Unexpected Counter-Protest
Watch the video:


Update In England, Scott explains how the Cartoons of Peace Inspire Another Muslim Metamorphosis
Alexandra ponders The Crimson Tide.

(technorati tags muslim cartoon, Denmark, jyllands-posten mohammed, muhammad cartoon, Iran, Cuba, Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Venezuela)