No excuses for terror

At Harry's place, a must-watch: No excuses for terror
(h/t LGF)

Update: Via Stephen Pollard, Oliver Kamm's article.

Saturday posting: Sexy??

When thinking of sexy men, one thinks of
Alonzo Mourning,
or Bryn Terfel,
or Keifer Sutherland as Jack Bauer,
or Hugh Jackman,
or Chow Yun Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
or Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice,
or Timothy Olyphant in Deadwood,
or Edward Norton in The Illusionist,
or Clive Owen in . . . anything.


Not Oprah! (via Larwyn):

Among her top 16 of allegedly "sexiest" men alive are far-left moonbat-in-chief blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Eeeuuuuwwww. What is sexy about him? Conspiracy theorists are sexy? Who knew? He's number 7.

Yikes!

Update From last year, Oprah Stuns Audience With Free Man Giveaway.
Update, Sunday October 1 I nearly forgot the Swiss!

(technorati tags Oprah, Clive Owen, Alonzo Mourning, Keifer Sutherland, Chow Yun Fat, Timothy Olyphant, Edward Norton, Bryn Terfel, Colin Firth, Hugh Jackman)

The article that may cost a man his life, and that of his family

As I posted yesterday, Robert Redeker, a French 52-yr old philosophy professor, wrote an op-ed article in Le Figaro stating that Islam is violent, and denounced the violence in the Koran.

After receiving several death threats in the mail, Prof. Redeker and his family have had to go into hiding. The police are taking the threats very seriously and are keeping watch of his now vacant home.

I couldn't find the article in the Le Figaro internet version, but it is available at Judeoscope.

UPDATE, Saturday September 30 I had quickly translated the first paragraph from the Judeoscope post and have just received an email from them:

Hello,

Along with Robert Redeker's text you translated Judeoscope's commentary. For the record, our commentary was poorly translated to the point that it contradicts the original’s meaning and intent. Please correct your translation or delete it.

Thank you,

David Ouellette

Judeoscope

I immediately replied to Mr. Ouellette,

Please send me your translation and I'll gladly post it right away, with an apology.
I most certainly apologize.

I'm now waiting for his reply.

Update 2, September 30, 2006 Here is Judeoscope's correction:

Thanks for replying.

What needs to be changed is the second sentence, which should not be attached to the first. This means Judeoscope doesn't share Mr. Redeker's viewpoint. If indeed Islamism cannot be separated from Islam, denigrating Islam in its integrity is just as unacceptable - if only out of respect for our many Muslim friends striving to reconcile Islam with modernity.

My most sincere apologies for the error. Please note I welcome any corrections to any of my translations.

This is my translation of the Redeker article. PLEASE CREDIT FAUSTA'S BLOG WHEN YOU USE THIS IN YOUR POST.

Face aux intimidations islamistes, que doit faire le monde libre?
In the face of Islamist intimidations, what is the free world to do?

Robert Redeker
Le Figaro
Robert Redeker (Professor of philosophy at the school Pierre-Paul-Riquet in Saint-Orens in Gammeville. Author of the upcoming Dépression et philosophie (éditions Pleins Feux).

The reactions generated by Pope Benedict XVI's analysis on Islam and violence aim to continue Islam's attempt to suppress what is most valuable in the West and which Muslim countries don't have: freedoms of thought and expression. Islam tries to impose its rules on Europe : restricting public swimming pools at certain hours for women only, prohibiting to caricature this religion, requiring the compliance of strict dietary rules for Muslim children in school lunchrooms, fighting for wearing the veil at school, and issuing charges of islamophobia against those who are not like-minded.

How to explain the prohibition of the string bikini at the Paris-Beaches [translator's note: for a few weeks in the summer the banks of the Seine are converted into a public "beach" in Paris, complete with sand] this summer? It was a strange argument: because of the risk of "disorders against law and order". Did that mean that bands of frustrated young people were likely to become violent from the display of beauty? Or did one fear islamist demonstrations, via virtue brigades, within the Paris-Beaches?

However, allowing the wearing of the veil on the streets is, because of the support to the oppression of women that the veil signifies, more likely "to disturb the law and order" than the string bikini. One is not out of line in thinking that this gesture represents an Islamization of the French spirit, a submission more or less conscious to the tenets of Islam. Or, at the very least, that it results from an insidious Moslem pressure on the spirit. Islamization of the spirit: even those which protested against the inauguration of a Jean-Paul-II Square in Paris do not oppose building mosques. Islam tries to force Europe to yield to its vision of man.

As formerly with Communism, the West is under ideological monitoring. Islam arises, like the image of late Communism, as an alternative to the Western world. Following the example of the Communism of old, Islam, by aiming to conquer the spirit, strikes a sensitive cord. It boasts a legitimacy which disturbs the Western conscience, always sensitive to others: to be the voice of the poor of planet. Yesterday the voice of the poor claimed to come from Moscow, today it would come from Mecca! Today again, the intellectuals incarnate this eye of the Koran, as they incarnated the eye of Moscow yesterday. They excommunicate for islamophobia, as they did yesterday for anticommunism.

In opening to others, specific to the West, a secularization of Christianity appears, which can be summarized as: the other must have a right to be. The Westener, heir to Christianity, is the one who loves to discover. By doing so it takes the risk of appearing weak. Like Communism, Islam regards as soft the generosity, broadmindedness, and tolerance; and women’s freedom, liberty of mores, and democratic values are considered marks of decline.

These are weaknesses that it wants to exploit with the help of "useful idiots" with good consciences filled with finer feelings, in order to impose the Koranic order on the Western world itself.

The Koran is a book imbued with violence. Maxime Rodinson states, in the Encyclopédia Universalis, some truths regarded as taboo in France. On the one hand, "Muhammed revealed in Medina unsuspected qualities as political leader and military chief (...) He resorted to the private war, current institution in Arabia (...) Muhammed sent quick small groups of his partisans to attack the caravans, thus punishing his unbeliever compatriots and at the same time acquiring spoils from the rich."

In addition, "Muhammed successfully eliminated from Medina, through massacre, the last Jewish tribe which remained there, the Qurayza, which he accused of suspect behavior". Lastly, "after the death of Khadidja, he married a widow, Sawda, and also young Aisha, who was hardly ten years old. His erotic inclinations, contained for long time, were to make him contract ten simultaneous marriages".

Violence instigator, ruthless war chief, plunderer, massacrer of Jews, polygamist: such is the image of Muhammed in the Koran.

True, the Catholic Church is not free from reproach. Its history is strewn with black pages, of which it has repented. The Inquisition, witch hunting, the execution of the philosophers Bruno and Vanini, the poor-minded epicureans who in the middle of the eighteenth century were tired for impiety, do not plead in its favor. But what differentiates Christianity from Islam appears: it is always possible to turn to evangelic values, the soft person of Jesus against the drifts of the Church.

None the faults of the Church are rooted in the Gospel. Jesus is non-violent. The return to Jesus is a recourse against the excesses of the institution connected with the church. The recourse to Muhammed, on the contrary, reinforces hatred and violence. Jesus is a Master of love, Muhammed a Master of hatred.

The stoning of Satan, annually in Mecca, is not a mere superstitious phenomenon. It doesn't only show a hysterical crowd flirting with cruelty. Its rage is anthropological. Here is indeed a rite, to which each Moslem is invited to subject, registering violence like a duty crowned in the heart of belief.

This stoning, where annually some of the faithful - at times hundreds - die from being trampled on, is a ritual which breeds ancient violence.

Instead of eliminating this ancient violence, by imitating Judaism and Christianity, by neutralizing it (the Judaism starts with the rejection of human sacrifice, i.e. by which it enters into civilization, Christianity transforms the sacrifice into Eucharist), Islam builds a nest for it, where it will grow from the heat. While the Judaism and Christianity are religions whose rites delegitimize violence, Islam is a religion which whose very own sacred texts, as banal as some of its rites may be, exalts violence and hatred.

Hatred and violence live the book in which any Moslem is educated, the Koran. As in the times of the Cold War, violence and intimidation are the means used by an ideology with hegemonic vocation, Islam, to throw its lead cover on the world. Benedict XVI suffers from this cruel experiment. In these our times it is necessary to call the West "the free world" compared to the Moslem world, and in these times the enemies of this "free world", dedicated civil servants of the Koran, swarm in its centre.

Please vote for this article at Real Clear Politics.

(NOTE I corrected several typing errors and made one sentence more clear.)

Update Via LGF, Brussels Journal reports that

Pierre Rousselin, the editor in chief of Le Figaro, apologized on Al-jazeera for the publication of the article. A number of Islamic countries, including Egypt, banned Le Figaro following the publication of Redeker's piece. Mr Rousselin said the publication of the op-ed was a mistake. He said the article did not express the paper's opinion. The article is no longer available on the Figaro website.

Mr Redeker has written a letter to his friend, the philosopher André Glucksmann, describing his ordeal [French text here]:

"I am now in a catastrophic personal situation. Several death threats have been sent to me, and I have been sentenced to death by organizations of the al-Qaeda movement. [...] On the websites condemning me to death there is a map showing how to get to my house to kill me, they have my photo, the places where I work, the telephone numbers, and the death fatwa. [...] There is no safe place for me, I have to beg, two evenings here, two evenings there. [...] I am under the constant protection of the police. I must cancel all scheduled conferences. And the authorities urge me to keep moving. [...] All costs are at my own expense, including those of rents a month or two ahead, the costs of moving twice, legal expenses, etc.

It's quite sad. I exercised my constitutional rights, and I am punished for it, even in the territory of the Republic. This affair is also an attack against national sovereignty - foreign rules, decided by criminally minded fanatics, punish me for having exercised a constitutional right, and I am subjected, even in France, to great injury."

Update 3 Le Figaro now has redacted a letter defending freedom of expression (h/t Hot Air), but the original Redeker article is no longer available at their site.

(technorati tags Islam, France, Le Figaro)

Luxury pet peeves

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred writes on More On Pets And Pet Owners, Ids And Assault Therapy:

There are some pet owners that have sanity in the rear view mirror.
. . .
Pets do not send Christmas or Birthday cards, of the regular or email variety. Pets do not know it's your birthday, and further, they don't care. If they did really know, they would surprise you by not crapping in the house for a day, not chew on anything of value or they would let you sleep longer, not bark or jump on the furniture - just for that one day.

Behold, the Pawtisserie:

Yes, folks, there is a gourmet dog biscuit and designer dog bed store in Palmer Square. Designer dog beds.

I have invited The Sanity Squad for lunch and field trip. I hope they take me up on it.

This town can sure use four shrinks.

(technorati tags pets, Dogs, Dog Toys, Dog Beds. Technorati has 2,593 posts tagged Dog Beds)

Don't say Islam is violent, part 1,359

Fresh from this evening's France2 newscast (available until 2PM tomorrow; see Tribune sur l'islam: menaces contre un professeur de philosophie), Robert Redeker, a 52-yr old philosophy professor wrote an op-ed article in Le Figaro stating that Islam is violent, and denounced the violence in the Koran.

After receiving several death threats in the mail, Prof. Redeker and his family have had to go into hiding. The police are taking the threats very seriously. Expatica has more details.

In reaction, Tunisia bans sale of French daily Le Figaro over Koran comment

The Tunisian government on Wednesday banned the sale of French newspaper Le Figaro in reaction to a column in the paper alleging that the Muslim holy book the Koran instigates violence, an Tunisian official reported. The author of the Tuesday commentary further opined that Muslim reaction to a recent speech by Pope Benedict XVI indicated that Muslims wanted to curtail freedom of speech in the West.

Some things are beyond irony.

(technorati tags Islam, France, Le Figaro)

Pajamas snapshots

or, what I did last Tuesday:

Michael Totten, Judith Weiss and I got together early before the event. Here are Michael and Judith as we headed to the Washington Monument for some sightseeing:

We went back to the JW Marriott and met Neo-Neocon and Baron Bodissey, after which it was time for coctails at the National Press Club next door.
Josue Sierra, Val Prieto, and Judith:

Pamela, Joshua Silverberg, and Nidra Poller:

Adam Bellow being his handsome and charming self:

Roger L. Simon introduces the panel:

Gerard Vanderleun and Richard Miniter:

Glenn Reynolds, panel moderator:

Val, TigerHawk (who I first met that evening even when he lives less than a mile away from me), and Roger

Then it was time for dinner:

I'm a big fan of Claudia Rosett and it was an honor to sit across from her:

A great evening, great company, and great fun!

As Bill puts it,

Nice folks. Surprisingly not abnormal for a group of bloggers.

Don't miss the round-up at Pajamas Media

Update, Friday, September 29 Gates of Vienna has more pictures.

(technorati tags Pajamas Media,

Now the question is, how to get him back home

A new variety of parental nightmare:
14-year-old student flees to Cuba

Alfredo Diaz, a 10th-grader at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High, cleared an American Airlines security check and boarded a Miami-to-Nassau flight on Thursday, even though the carrier requires escorts for anyone under 15.

In case you think the kid looked old for his age - like my own son who's taller than I - you're wrong. Instead of checking dates of birth in the passports when clearly he is a minor, airport security must have been checking the shampoo bottles:

"I can't believe my son was able to go through all that security and no one stopped him or asked him about being so young and traveling alone," said the father, who is also named Alfredo Diaz. "My son is just under five feet tall and he's a young-looking 14."

Here's the problem:

Diaz, who owns a construction business and lives with his girlfriend and her two sons, ages 12 and 13, wants his son back, but he has hit a legal wall.

Miami-Dade police have told him they can do nothing for now because he has no written proof of custody.
. . .
A spokesman for the Interests Section said it can help minor U.S. citizens. There might be little it can do since Alfredo is Cuban-born, he willingly traveled to the island with his Cuban passport and he is with his birth mother.

We'll see just how well Fidel's doing. IF Fidel's not in a freezer somewhere and in full mental faculties, the upcoming PR and propaganda campaign will be enormous.

Update A friend wrote to say, "The only chance that kid has of getting out of Cuba is to become a medic and hope they'll send him to Venezuela!"

(technorati tags Cuba)

Larwin's links,. treats for troops, and today's articles from Maria

Today I inagurate a new feature: Larwyn's links
Vicente Fox Starts a Crime Rate War with the US... Loses
The President and the Presidency
Blaming the Disease on the Cure
Did We Create Or Expose More Islamo-Fascism? Or, Did We Expose More CIA Abuse?
Australia, the Beacon of Sanity

Today's articles from Maria
Treats for troops:

The Foster-A-Soldier Program automatically matches you with a registered soldier by branch of service, home state, gender, or birthday – or you can choose to sponsor a group of soldiers. Then all you have to do is go shopping in the Treats for Troops Gift Shops, and your care package will be on its way.

In China, Children of the Rich Learn Class, Minus the Struggle

It's always about Bill
While Bill Kristol finds three reasons Why Clinton "Lost His Temper": The former president knew what he was doing, others see narcisism: A stained dress, a TV mini-series and a glimpse of narcissistic rage Clinton, Shame and Narcissism: Destroying the Eyes of the World
I watched Bill shake his finger at, and poke Chris Wallace's thigh, and heard Bill repeat his protestations of "I tried". As my friend used to say, "trying is not doing". Listen to Yoda, Bill.

Secrets of South Park, via Irwin.

'Green flag of Allah will fly over Vatican'
Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi Explains His Fatwa Sanctioning the Killing of Israelis Visiting Egypt

Yet another cosmic question: Are crunches the wrong move?

In case you didn't guess, Bill Gates & Warren Buffet are still seriously rich. While The Husband's old car fetched a really paltry sum when he finally exchanged it for a new car, someone paid $73,200 for Warren's 2001 Town Car on ebay. Maybe The Husband should have auctioned the old jalopy on line.

At the blogs
Again, appeasement never works.

My four favorite shrinks are now blogging together at The Sanity Squad

Today I'm in Washington DC for the Pajamas Media panel. Will post about it after I return.

Chavez's inferno

In today's WSJ (subscription only) Alvaro Vargas Llosa again beats Hugo with a big stick.

I say again because Alvaro has been known to beat up the likes of Hugo time and time again.

In today's article, Chavez's Inferno (also available here), Alvaro compares:

• "Dante's first circle is for those who lack faith. In Chavez's inferno, the first circle is made up of those who lack food.
• "Dante's second circle is for those unable to contol lust. Chavez's second circle is for those unable to control homicidal instincs.
• "Dante's third circle is for gluttons who leave us with no food. Chavez's third is reserved for corrupt authorities who leave Venezuelans with no wealth.
• "Dante's fourth circle is for misers. In Chavez's Inferno, the fourth circle is made up of bureaucrats who claim to provide social services but use funds to pay people to attend rallies or bust up opposition gatherings.
• "Dante's fifth circle is for those who succumb to wrath. Chavez's fifth is for political persecution.
• "Dante's sixth circle is for heretics. Chavez's sixth circle is for heretics. Chavez's sixth circle is for heretic journalists who try to tell the truth.
• "Dante's seventh circle is for the violent. Chavez's seventh circle is another name for imperialism.
  . . . Chavez buys influence through oil. It is a form of blackmail. At OPEC , Chavez fights for increasing prices, making life hard for poor countries that import oil, and then offers those very nations oil subsidies they have no choice but to accept.
• "Dante's eight circle is for those who commit fraud. Chavez's eigth circle is fraudulent anti-Americanism.
• "Dante's final circle is for traitors. Chavez's ninth is for traitors, too - and the place is getting crowded. Army officers betray Chavez every day.
• "At the end of Dante's inferno is the center of the earth, where Satan is held captive in the frozen lake of Cocytus. In Venezuela's Inferno, Satan is frozen in oil-rich Lake Maracaibo, a metaphor for astronomical wealth squandered by tyrannical populism. The journey through hell is now complete".

The blackmail is sometimes subtle, but often wide open: After Chile asked Venezuela to withdraw its ambassador, the headline at the official Venezuelan news agency propaganda organ reads Chile owes Venezuela one for security council seat. I haven't checked the handbook, but I'm willing to bet that "Owes Venezuela one" is not in the phrasebook of UN-approved diplomatese.

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred (who's also been known to beat on Chavez with a big stick) noticed that

More than one pundit has made clear that in regimes led by tyrants and tin pot dictators, citizens have overwhelming feelings of humiliation and failure. Through no fault of their own, economies fail, education levels are sub par and the awareness that they cannot even control their own destinies. In desperation, they look for someone- anyone- to blame. Of course, they cannot blame their leaders- to do so is to risk loss of liberty and property, so they willingly look to blame others, anyone, anywhere. As is often the case, they look to their 'rich and free' cousins- America and the free world. As in all families, the meanest and most vicious 'conspiracies' are all in the family.

Conspiracies, indeed. No sooner Hugo got back to his Sunday TV marathon broadcast that he was saying that president George Bush may be seeking to kill him for calling him "the devil" at the United Nations. SC&A continues

In addition, blaming the 'enemies of the state' serves yet another purpose. In what is a kind of perverse 'win-win' situation, frustrated and oppressed people get to vent at America and the free nations and venting at the 'right' target kind of also allows people to be perceived in a favorable light by the regime security services, bureaucrats and leaders, as long as they vent at the 'right' target.

And the venting continues. After causing a scene at the airport, the Venezuelan foreign minister, named Maduro (which means mature, which he isn't) was held for ninety minutes. Of course the Beeb played right along and shows an equally immature headline Venezuela rejects US apologies

To which I ask, so what if they don't accept the apology? Is Hugo about to cut off oil deliveries to the USA? The fact is, he cannot afford to.

As The Devil's Excrement's cartoon points out,
Hugo needs American dollars in order to stay in power.

Today we read that Oil prices fell to a six-month low under $60 a barrel.

This worshipful article in Der Speigel bought the entire charismatic-leader-helping-the-poor-offering-free-health-care-education-adult-literacy-and-job-training-initiatives-that-help-millions-of-Venezuelans^tm propaganda, but managed to notice that,

In the lates 1960s Venezuela was still the world's biggest oil exporter and was one of the founding members of OPEC. President Carlos Andres Perez nationalized the oil industry in 1976, and for a moment it looked as though the standard of living of all Venezuelans was about to improved drastically. . . .The rude oil awakening came in the mid-1980s, when the oil price plunged by two-thirds and Venezuela slid into state bankruptcy. The political parties were discredited and price hikes for basic food drove Venezuelans into the streets, where bloody battles threatened to tear the nation apart.

Hugo's monetary position has become more precarious, folks.

If one is to believe Al-Jazeera, Iran and Venezuela have officially joined forces to undermine the U.S. dollar (related post here).

It'll be interesting to watch what Ahmadinejad and Chavez will be doing as the oil prices continue to go down. At least now, for the moment, the blinders are off.

Update THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DARLING OF THE LEFT

(technorati tags Hugo Chavez, United Nations, UN, Iran, oil, Dante, Inferno, Alvaro Vargas Llosa)

The doc has the carnival

Saturday blogging: Produce in the news

Neo-neocon's apple just had a makeover. Go take a look. Both Neo & apple look lovely.

It's mushroom season and Make it with mushrooms has recipes.

Fresh Spinach May Return to Stores Soon, so you might be able to enjoy a spinach and mushroom salad. If the idea of salad doesn't sound hearty to you, add crumbled blue cheese, hard boiled eggs, and freshly-fried bacon. That should be enough cholesterol to keep you for a few hours. For dressing, extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (the oil has no cholesterol, sorry).

While NBC has no compunction in showing Madonna's latest oeuvre (with maybe a question of how much to show, not a question as to whether to show), the network insists that objectionable content be edited from an upcoming children's TV series. What, you may ask, could have been so offensive? What could possibly cause the network to be so emphatic in its insistence? This:

they rejected it because, at the end, Bob the Tomato said, 'Remember kids, God made you special and he loves you very much.'

Here are the details. Brent Bozell has more.

If you don't know what the Veggie Tales are about, I highly recommend the DVDs for young kids (age 8 and under). I particularly enjoyed (in order of preference)

(Yes, they're for little kids. However, little kids love to play their videos over and over and it's better to get a video you like than to have Barney or the preachy Berenstein Bears on a continous loop.)

(technorati tags Veggie Tales, spinach, mushrooms)

French news we haven't been hearing about

The nameless "youths" are at it again. (Yes, the nameless "youths" that rioted last year, and that celebrated New Year by mugging an entire train.)

Armed Youths Attack Police in Paris Suburb

A band of up to 30 youths armed with makeshift weapons and some wearing masks attacked two riot police patrolling a housing project outside Paris in an apparent ambush that seriously injured one of the officers, police officials said Wednesday.

The serious injuries include a double fracture of the skull.

No arrests have been made.

The attack on the French policemen took place in one of the areas where the "youths" were rioting for months last year.

That particular banlieu (France's elegant term for public housing projects) had been considered out of bounds for police for several years prior to that. It's only recently that the police have started to patrol the area again, and that's only because French Interior Minister Sarkozy's trying to take a hard line, much to Chirac's dismay.

Mind you, the police are patrolling. The police do not carry firearms. They carry billy-clubs. If the French were actually getting tough, they would have the gendarmerie, who can carry firearms, do the patrolling.

As it is, the big outrage in the evening news (which you can watch at France2), is not over how thugs have taken over entire sectors of the country, but over Sarkozy's statements the other day. Sarko had the gall to point out

"Since the start of the start of the year, the number of people imprisoned in the department (of Seine-Saint-Denis) has fallen 15.5%, even as delinquents grow more and more violent."

and blamed soft sentencing for a sharp rise in violent crime.

The irate head of the country's highest court of appeal said that the crimes are committed by minors and "we don't solve anything by sending children to prison", and now is asking that Chirac serve them Sarko's head on a platter because Sarko's statements are too "provocative". Equally "provocative" would be having armed police show up at the banlieus.

Eternity Road posts on the security paradox, something the French can't appreciate.

In other French news, Nidra Poller has been watching the Al Dura trial

three Frenchmen go on trial in Paris for questioning the veracity of the 2000 videotape of the putative murder of Palestinian child Mohammed Al-Dura by Israeli soldiers. This tape - promulgated by the French state-run channel France 2 - is often credited with helping instigate the so-called "Al-Aqsa Intifada". Now, six years later, in the shadow of revelations about media manipulation and "fauxtography" by Reuters and others, these trials take on extraordinary unexpected resonance.

Here are the reports: part 1, part 2, and part part 3, and Poller concludes,

no honest observer could fail to recognize that France 2 did not verify, has no proof, should have opened the question to public debate and made the outtakes freely available years ago. If there is any acrimony, it is on the side of France 2.

France2 has not reported at all on the trial in its evening broadcasts, and Charles Enderlin continues to be their star correspondent in Israel.

I hope I have a chance to meet Ms Poller in DC next Tuesday.

As for the youths, expect more of the same.

(technorati tags France, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac, Seine-Saint-Denis)

Content Lileks

While I'm usually not interested in the Gnat, it's time to take a break from tiresome matters concerning corrupt Frenchmen, tinpot dictators with lunatic little friends, scuzzy opportunists, and shoe blogging to appreciate the good things in life:

Aside from a brief summation of the night: since Bunco nights are Chuck E. Cheese's nights, we went off in the chilly rain to the great Rat Arcade. "Do you know what the E stands for?" Gnat asked as we approached. I said I did not. At the time I was thinking how consarned adorable she looked, skipping with happiness, holding my hand, a good little kid who has no idea what's running through my mind at the moment, how happy I am just to walk across a wet suburban parking lot with her. It's a terrifyingly large emotion. "It stands for Excitement," she explained.

Terrifyingly large emotions we are grateful for.

Hugo, the rattling tin pot

First for a bit of fun:
Letterman last night: "Hugo Chavez has been making so many outrageous statements that he's been invited to join the cast of The View".

After plugging Chomsky's book at the UN, Hugo told a news conference that one of his greatest regrets was not getting to meet Mr. Chomsky before he died. Noam begs to differ (or, as Taranto said, "He must've been thinking of Fidel Castro."). Hugo, who yesterday reportedly recited the words of Mark Twain, obviously isn't familiar with two of Twain's most famous quotes, the first of which Chomsky's probably told him about by now,

The report of my death was an exaggeration.

and the other, which is timely,

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

But it all plays in, in Hugo's mind at least, as being as witty and erudite as Fidel. Which brings about another Twain quote,

Our opinions do not really blossom into fruition until we have expressed them to someone else.

Speaking of Chomksy, you don't have to buy his books to get a feel for his prose, but some fools fell for it.

Scrappleface: GOP Funds Ahmadinejad-Chavez Speaking Tour

And let's give blogroll regular Elephants in Academia posting at Red State a big hand for making it to the Best of the Web yesterday!

And now for the serious stuff
Sigmund Carl and Alfred takes a look at the ugly truth behind What's Yours Is Mine And Other Truths Hugo And Mahmoud Don't Want You To Think About

One of the ways our adversaries maintain their grip on their citizens is to deny them absolute property rights and the absolute ownership over anything. What you own, or what you think you own, is in reality a mirage. In fact, in every tyrannical or oppressive regimes, owning property of any kind is allowed only by the grace of the leader. Deny the the leader or the leader's regime, and you may end up with what you thought was yours, taken away. The threat of having what is yours taken away, is an ever present and powerful threat to human dignity. The implied threat of living under a form of government that can seize your property at anytime, is a kind of terror visited upon a cowed citizenry, by a kind of evil.

In the comments section of that post I added a short list of articles regarding land confiscations in Venezuela, which have been going on for several years.

Mary Anastasia O'Grady's article in this morning's WSJ, In Chávez's Crosshairs, explains another very serious issue:

Let's not forget what happened when Venezuelans tried to remove Mr. Chávez in a 2004 recall referendum. The European Union refused to act as an observer, citing lack of transparency. But that didn't stop Jimmy Carter or the Organization of American States, both of which went along to "observe" a vote cloaked in state secrets. When OAS mission director Fernando Jaramillo cried foul at the many government pre-referendum pranks and Mr. Chávez complained about him, OAS chief César Gaviria yanked Mr. Jaramillo from the country just ahead of the vote.

Exit polls showed that the Venezuelan president was badly beaten in the contest but the chavista-stacked electoral council declared him the winner. Mr. Chávez refused to allow independent auditing of voting machine software or a count of paper ballots against machine tallies. Mr. Carter together with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Roger Noriega and the OAS, rushed to endorse the vote despite the lack of transparency and many testimonies to state-sponsored intimidation and dirty tricks. In the heat of the battle, the National Endowment for Democracy cruelly threatened the country's most important independent electoral watchdog that if it didn't accept Mr. Chávez's victory, NED would pull its support.

Mr. Chávez now boasts that he was democratically elected and foments hatred against his neighbors, including the U.S. Wednesday's Castro-esque message claimed that the "non-aligned" movement intent on going nuclear has only pure motives, while the U.S. president is the devil.

Still Hugo knows that rhetorical bullying from the U.N. pulpit can take him only so far. Both Mexico and Peru rejected Chávez proxies this year in presidential elections. While he might still get a foothold in Nicaragua if Daniel Ortega wins there in November, what he really wants to do is knock Brazil down a few notches. And there is no better way to do that than to hit its energy supply. This explains the blitz the chavistas are now putting on in Bolivia to make that country a (hydro) carbon copy of Venezuela.

Gustavo Coronel ponders a Venezuelan seat in the UN Security Council,

President Chávez, the man who accuses the U.S. government of such an enormous crime, also said recently: "We are not recognizing the new president of Mexico. We believe that many irregularities went on during that election." How can the president of a country say such a thing about the democratic electoral process in another country without creating a major diplomatic crisis? The member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) that already know about these statements by Chávez should think twice before giving him their votes for the seat at the UNSC. If they do, in spite of knowing that the man is not mentally sane and that he harbors dangerous ambitions of world supremacy, they will be accomplices of a crime. I could understand the tiny Caribbean countries, in desperate need of money and oil, kneeling before the madman. But Brazil? Argentina? Chile? On what possible grounds can these countries, which should be true hemispheric leaders, support the ambitions of a mentally insane person to play such an important role in world affairs? They certainly should have considered the potential consequences of their votes. Lula still has a good regional reputation and President Bachelet has or was supposed to have a strong and decisive intellect. About Kirchner no one had much expectations. But they should all be aware that a seat for Hugo Chávez (not Venezuela) at the UNSC would mean an intensification of political instability in the hemisphere. Their prestige as serious, responsible leaders will be put in great doubt.

Last, but not least, while Hugo's in Harlem trying to give away oil to people who would be middle class in Venezuela, VCrisis takes a look at a street in Caracas.

But wait!
While we were looking at Hugo, look who was waiving the coca leaf at the General Assembly:

You can listen to his speech here
(as Jorge Valin said, the UN must have used cell phones to tape the speeches). Expect the usual Marxist tripe, while he keeps saying he'll respect private property.

Update Congress' cheap-oil Democrats
Chavez clearly listened to Dems and Air America

Update 2: Claudia Rosett on The Carter-Chavez Connection

Recall that just a few years ago, Chavez was on the ropes in Venezuela. Elected president in 1998, he embarked on a despotic course that sparked enormous opposition. Ousted briefly in 2002 by a military coup, his return to power was met with nationwide strikes and protest. Jimmy Carter, with his Carter Center, got involved; and in August, 2004, Venezuela held a referendum on whether Chavez should remain in power. Amid serious signs of vote fraud, Chavez announced victory. Dismissing huge evidence of a stolen election, including such stuff as bizarre statistical discrepances, a failure of secure auditing procedures at the central tallying center, and more votes cast in some districts than there were voters, Carter went to bat for Chavez, certifying him as the victor.

At this rate, Hugo's going to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Update No Nobel yet, but Plate of Hate, complete with special offer (h/t Pajamas Media)

(technorati tags Hugo Chavez, United Nations, UN, Noam Chomsky)

The unknown story of the crowd of 30,000

Thirty thousand people protest against Ahmadinejad.
Speakers at the rally included Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, NY Governor Pataki, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Malcolm Hoenlein, and Professor Alan Dershowitz. Among the attendees were Republican candidate for Governor John Faso, Republican candidate for Attorney General Jeanine Pirro, State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and more than half a dozen City Council members.

WHO covered the story?

The NY Sun: Thousands of Israel Supporters Rally for Release of Kidnapped Soldiers

JTA

Pamela has a video:


Update Mary took pictures.

Any questions?

Rage, Epictetus and Benedict

Tomorrow has been declared a "day of rage", which begs the question, After Friday's 'Day of Rage,' then what?

Mohammed at Iraq The Model has a must-read post (emphasis added): When will we be ready to accept criticism? and asks

So why don't we admit that the "other" is better than us at responding rationally when criticized? Why don't we learn from others?
When we closed our ears to anything that doesn't match our beliefs and refused all criticism wasn't that enough reason for the deterioration of our civilization?

You must read every word, as cutting-and-pasting would not do the post justice.

The Anchoress, a much more insightful and spiritual woman than I, points out in another post that

I would say what we need now is an understanding by all of God's religions that God is big enough to take an insult and can deal with insults quite justly without our bloody intercessions.

And what is all the Pope-speech-flap about?

The Pope, in his Address at University of Regensburg, "Three Stages in the Program of De-Hellenization" (yes, that's the much-maligned and very little read address that has been making the headlines this week. GO READ IT), actually said,

Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature.

I repeat:
NOT TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH REASON IS CONTRARY TO GOD'S NATURE
Pope Benedict's been getting a lot of flack for reminding us. Mind you, this is not a new concept. The concept's been knocking around for thousands of years.

Epictetus (c.55 - c.135 C.E.), a Roman slave who later had his own school of philosophy and was not a Christian, believed that

Someone who seeks to make progress as a Stoic (a prokoptôn) understands that their power of rationality is a fragment of God

These are Epictetus's very words (emphasis added):

Are these the only works of Providence in us? What words suffice to praise or send them forth? Had we but understanding, should we ever cease hymning and blessing the Divine Power, both openly and in secret, and telling of his gracious gifts? Whether digging or plowing or eating, should we not sing the hymn to God -
Great is God, for that He hath given us such instruments to till the ground withal:
Great is God, for that He hath given us hands, and the power of swallowing and digesting;
of unconsciously growing and breathing while we sleep!
Thus should we ever have sung: yea and this, the grandest and divinest hymn of all: -
Great is God, for that He hath given us a mind to apprehend these things, and duly to use them!
What then! seeing that most of you are blinded, should there not be some one to fill this place, and sing the hymn to God on behalf of all men? What else can I that am old and lame do but sing to God? Were I a nightingale, I should do after the manner of a nightingale. Were I a swan, I should do after the manner of a swan. But now, since I am a reasonable being, I must sing to God: that is my work: I do it, nor will I desert this my post, as long as it is granted me to hold it; and upon you too I call to join in this self-same hymn.

Bear that in mind when you read about the upcoming "day(s) of rage".

Update Cobb's take on the subject, via Kesher Talk
Update 2 Popes, Despots, Americans And Jews, Cap'n goes Int'l, Hugo goes home, Press goes missing touch on the subject.
Kobayashi Maru explains how reason itself is at war with the forces of chaos.

(technorati tags Pope Benedict, Islam, Religion, Christianity, Philosophy, Catholic Church)

Hewitt's indispensable bookshelf

The Indispensable Bookshelf: The Books You Absolutely, Positively, Must Read

These are the books he recommends:

UNLoonie tunes, and today's articles from Maria

UNLoonie tunes
Ahmadinejad's public call for the end of the world

A friend who used to travel frequently to Venezuela (until my friend's employer pulled its business out of the country) wrote to say that Hugo's loony tunes speech yesterday was exactly like a cadena, only that the cadenas last for hours. Hugo routinely refers to Pres. Bush as Mr. Evil, to Dr. Rice as "the black girl", and on and on.
(A cadena is a TV broadcast of Hugo's ranting, only that all the TV stations and licensed radio stations carry them at the same time.
My friend also says that there are a number of unlicensed AM radio stations popping up across the land.)

At the blogs

"You'll Never Know What We Did"

Reuters' Global Megaphone Slurs America

From Maria
Earmarks Reform -- How New Jersey Voted

Sorry, an Aish.com movie

'Sexy substitute' gets no jail time, and a how-to from Toronto: 'How-to-be promiscuous' plan considered by schools

Kill Bush, Blair in new video game

Music Player From Microsoft Offers Wireless Song-Sharing

Hugo's stand-up at the UN: "The devil is in the house", plugs Chomsky

If it weren't at the UN, it would belong at Comedy Central: Live blogging Chavez's speech, at Sticky Notes, has a few of the doozies. Musing Minds provides transcript.

AP notices that this is part of Hugo's canvassing for a seat in the UN Security Council, or, as Pajamas Media calls it, one of the great moments in diplomacy.

Hugo Chavez had a spectacular moonbat meltdown at the U.N. today: The Political Pit Bull has the video, and says,

Chavez uses the word "inshallah"--arabic for "god willing"--when predicting that "U.S. imperialism" will end soon, which makes you wonder whether his terror-sponsoring buddy Ahmadinejad let him in on a little secret.

Hot Air will have more video later. Notice how he's plugging Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (go ahead, knock yourself out searching for it, but I'm not linking to it). A Hugo-Noam love match, for sure. The audience loved it. Update: BBC video.
The UN General Assembly video page (scroll down) has complete videos of all the speeches.

The Husband comments, "sounds like the kind of thing one hears from Nancy Pelosi, except for the references to God".

And please, let's move the UN out of the USA.

Mr Chavez went on to criticise the UN system which was "worthless".

Worthless implies good-for-nothing; I'd say it's noxious, as in morally harmful; corrupting; pernicious.

Enough of this kind of UN crap.

More at Michelle Malkin, Ace, MKH, Independent Conservative, Right Truth, Musing Minds, The Anchoress, Wizbang!, Texas Rainmaker, Webloggin,
Update: Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred, Elephants in Academia, Red State, ShrinkWrapped.

IN SPANISH
Via Jorge Valin, Chavez's "democracy", and Chávez llama 'diablo' a Bush en la ONU

Update Great minds think alike: Roger:

"Live in New York... it's Hugo Chavez!"

Let's hope Hugo's not going to be SNL's next guest host.
A psychiatrist for Chavez: ¡Más rápidamente, por favor!

UPDATE Via Elephants in Academia, a must-read Debka file: Iran's Terror-cum-Intelligence Networks Thrown across Three Continents

Iran’s Islamic rulers believe they are in real danger of an American air attack on their nuclear installations some time in November or December this year. They are therefore pushing hard for new allies in Latin America, Africa and Arabia and points of vantage for hitting back at the United States and its centers of influence on three continents as an effective deterrent to an American attack.

(technorati tags Hugo Chavez, United Nations, UN, Noam Chomsky)

What Oprah didn't ask McGreevey

I wasn't going to watch McGreevey's Comeback Mountain Tour inagural in the Oprah show, but decided to after pondering Mr. Snitch's comment

Funny thing, I was thinking just the other day that McGreevey was positioning himself to take over Menendez' Senate run, as the lesser of two weevils.

Having watched, I think Mr. Snitch is right.

The shameful spectacle at the confessional self-help and possitive affirmation^tm venue was as tawdry and ofensive as I expected, only more so: Oprah asked that he read aloud from his book a purple-prose description of a seduction scene that took place in the home (and on the bed) he shared with his wife, who happened to be in the hospital recovering from a complicated pregnancy that required hospitalization and culminated in a caesarean section which delivered a premature baby. A good interviewer would have asked,

"So what you're saying is that you had the best sex of your life by committing adultery on your conjugal bed while your wife had just given birth prematurely to your daughter?"

Rather than call him on his immorality, Oprah, moved by the honesty of it all, listened with tears in her eyes. You could almost hear Tchaikovsky's Theme from Romeo and Juliet in the background.

Worse yet, McGreevey went to talk about getting in touch with "his God" (I'm being kind here and assuming he's talking of God, not any old god) and his "inner child". Ironically, he also said,

"If you want the world to play by good rules, healthy rules like commitment or respect, then you can't have a different set of rules for different groups of people."

McGreevey's new partner seems like a nice enough guy, so let's hope Mark O'Donnell doesn't end up in the reject heap that's littering the road to Jim's personal growth and political career. McGreevey will warp any principle and any concept to conform to "his own truth". And to his political future.

Here's what Oprah didn't ask about:

1. Why did you name Golan Cipel state homeland security adviser when the mailbox where the anthrax letters were mailed from five years ago was less than a mile away from the governor's mansion? Couldn't you think of your responsibilities as governor of NJ, the second-hardest hit state in 9/11?

2. Explain Cipel's connection with Charles Kushner (Kushner, a top New Jersey developer who has since been charged by federal authorities with obstructing an investigation into his business dealings last month was released from prison where he was sent for 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign donations, not to mention hiring a hooker to seduce his brother-in-law, hired Cipel at a $30,000 annual salary), a job you recommended him for.

3. Cipel wasn't the only the only man you hired for non-existent jobs at the taxpayers' expense: How do you explain Roger Chugh's job as "First Assistant Secretary of State" when there was no such job title according to the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services?

4. Was the timing of the "I am a gay American" scheduled to distract from the many investigations and arrests the FBI had made in the summer of 2004 of persons involved in your administration?

5. Didn't you cheat the NJ electorate of the right to choose a governor by postponing your actual resignation date (nearly 2 months after the "I am a gay American" press conference) to the very deadline?

I'm sure NJ bloggers have many other questions for McGreevey. Some might even turn up at the scheduled book signings (there's one coming up at the PU bookstore this Saturday, which I won't attend, thank you).

At Oprah's however, it's all happy endings and endless personal growth.

Update
The NY Observer

By the time former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey took the podium to make his spectacular resignation speech a little over two years ago - the one where he declared to a room of at least publicly stunned reporters, aides and family members that he was a "gay American" - he'd already made a mess of New Jersey's government.

And the way the story goes from there, he moved on to clean up his personal life. Others fixed New Jersey.

The state budget was hopelessly out of balance. His political and ideological allies, frustrated by three years of vacillation on environmental issues, ethics legislation and spending priorities, had turned on him.

And most seriously, his administration was starting to give off the distinct whiff of ethical rot.

The governor had only shortly before been caught on tape uttering the word "Machiavelli" to a constituent. (He professes philosophical leanings toward Kant and the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in his new book, but in this context Machiavelli was considered - at least by federal prosecutors - to be a code word in an illicit fund-raising scheme.)

And, most spectacularly, at least until the famous "Gay American" speech, Mr. McGreevey"s chief fund-raiser and financial patron, real-estate magnate Charles Kushner, had just been charged with interfering in a federal investigation into campaign-finance violations.

You could well ask whether the public is ready to relive these political failures as though they had all been a journey of personal development for Mr. McGreevey. ReganBooks seemed ready to take the chance when they shipped the former governor's tell-all, The Confession, to bookstores on Sept. 19.

It's worked before: Mr. McGreevey's resignation announcement changed the subject entirely. It was all unprecedented and, at least in a rubbernecking kind of way, impossible to ignore.

Is there no end to this crap?

(technorati tags Jim McGreevey, New Jersey, Oprah, Politics)

Venezuela and drugs, and today's articles from Maria

Venezuela and drugs
In addition to the 2.2 tons that Puerto Rican authorities seized on September 12, the 3.5 tons and the 5.5 tons seized in April, and the 18 tons seized last March, yesterday 2.25 tons were seized in the Dominican Republic.

Interestingly, the article says,

Dominican, Venezuelan and United States anti-narcotics authorities worked together yesterday in the confiscation of more than 2,250 kilos (4,960 pounds) of drugs, the Dominican Republic's largest bust in history.

Most of the drug is cocaine, but the remainder of the cache has yet to be verified by the Justice Ministry’s labs and arrived in the freighter Sierra Express, which left Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, with stops in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. Its final destination would have been Belgium.

VCrisis posts about Venezuela lying about its narcotics operations:

Therefore we must conclude a) that the FBI, DEA and Puerto Rico's coastguard services permitted the Sierra Express -loaded with drugs- to continue en route to the Dominican Republic loaded; or b) that a ship with the same name loaded an almost equal amount of cocaine in the same port of origin in Venezuela that was ultimately apprehended In Santo Domingo thanks to the excellent job done in collaboration with Venezuelan intelligence.

Update Don't miss the Venezuela Blog Round-Up at Publius Pundit.

At the blogs
First Female Space Tourist: Thanks to Western Democracy and Capitalism

(COFFEE ALERT: Put down your coffee before you click on this link) I certainly wasn't expecting this post at Kesher Talk.

From the freepers: Al-Qaida warning: Muslims leave U.S.

Today's articles from Maria
Iranian Leader Urges More Papal Protests

Cradle of Hate

Head-in-the-Sand Liberals: Western civilization really is at risk from Muslim extremists

The Fight Over a Suitcase and the Memories It Carries

Let the Dems bury themselves

Presumed innocent

Scammers pretend to be fraud investigation agents for Visa and MasterCard in order to obtain credit card security codes

'Peaceful pill' would give patients permanent rest

Soros Slams Terror 'War,' Compares White House to Nazis

More than enough stupid to go around

A deadly kindness

Microscopic art

The Merchant of Modernism

In the Land of Beautiful People, an Artist Without a Face

(technorati tags Venezuela, Dominican Republic, politics)

Should tall women wear platform shoes, and other cosmic questions

Woman doesn't live by thinking all the time about tiresome matters concerning corrupt Frenchmen, tinpot dictators with lunatic little friends, and scuzzy opportunists; woman needs to think about shoes, too.

So I was visiting The Manolo, who was posting about a beautiful pair of $600 shoes (!),

The woman who would wear these to the office would not only stand out for her fashion sense, but would also tower regally above the petty distractions and inconveniences of her work day, which is exactly the point the Miss Meghan was making about the pleasures of the platform

and I commented

Alas, the Fausta, at 5'10" might tower above it all so much that she might bump into the doorjambs!

(Trust me, it happened in the 1970s)

The response from other Manolo readers was favorable (not to the bumping into the doorjambs, but to the concept of tall women in platforms):

Fausta, don't be afraid of platforms! I'm just as tall as you are, and I bought a fab pair of four-inch-heel, ankle-strap Stuart Weitzman platforms yesterday (alas not available at online stores). Trying them on, I felt like a goddess. In fact, it's we tall women who can make platforms work, because our towering frames are in proportion with the thick soles. Short women in platforms tend to look as though they're wearing elevator shoes.

Since spending $600 on a pair of shoes is ENTIRELY OUT OF THE QUESTION, I think I'll try these instead:

What do you think, dear readers? Do tall women look good in platform shoes?

I must clarify that The Husband is much taller than I so that's not an issue.

Which brings me to the next cosmic question: Are men more intelligent than women? Or is it a matter of being taller? If so, do platform shoes enter in the picture?

This blog will now resume its usual fare.

Update
The Anchoress writes,

As I would have commented on your blog, had I been able to get the damn thing to work (blogger must be having trouble...)

I am almost 5'2"

Even with those platforms, I am still short.

I hate you. Very much.

:-)

Those are nice shoes you cited, though. I'd get them!

Merri also wrote,

I couldn't get your comments to work (whahh!!!!), but this is what I typed:

As a 5'0" woman, I love shoes that give me a little height so I can reach the shelves (ha!). But honestly, I think if the woman loves the shoes, the shoes usually love the woman. ;-)

For me it is all about style - what I like and whether it goes with the clothes I own. Heels or platforms can also change the shape of your leg, so for me, I like that benefit as well.

I suppose for a taller woman, there may be other considerations. My mom was 4" taller than my dad (she was 5'11") and I never saw her in anything other than flats. When I asked her, while I'm certain it really had something to do with being considerate of my dad, she jokingly said it would be too much of a distraction for Dad if she was another 3-4" taller. After a moment, I got what she was saying. Heh.

PS, I bought the Aerosoles.

(technorati tags shoes, fashion, Accessories, The Manolo, tall people)

The other side of the Comeback Mountain

Divorce is one of the most painful and traumatic experiences anyone can endure. Heartbreak, disappointment, betrayal, anger and humiliation are part and parcel of a failed marriage.

Now imagine what it'd be like if your soon-to-be-former spouse dragged out into the open the most intimate details of your marriage in a book, and tomorrow, in the national and world-wide confessional self-help and possitive affirmation^tm forum at the Church of Oprah, so that (as Tom Moran put it) "he can make money and work through another stage of his personal growth". Not that he's slumming it, mind you, since he's living in a $1.4 million home in Plainfield.

I'm talking about Jim McGreevey, of course, who rather than hang out in nice gay bars used to look for sex in truck stops, who was making out with his alleged lover in the home he shared with his wife while she was in the hospital recovering from a Caesarean section, allegedly pouncing on the "other man" on his marital bed (bragging that "we made love like I'd always dreamed: a boastful, passionate, whispering, masculine kind of love", but couldn't the boastful whispering wait until she was out of the hospital?), who, a few weeks after 9/11/2001 gave his unqualified and unsuitable-for-the-job lover the job of state homeland security adviser when the mailbox where the anthrax letters were mailed from five years ago today was less than a mile away from the governor's mansion.

Two years ago I predicted that McGreevey would be doing a comeback tour -- clearly advised by focus groups and consultants -- to reposition himself politically in a new wash-and-wear persona as a gay activist. Right on schedule, here it is: The Comeback Mountain Tour.

We are looking at The Great Gay American red herring, for sure.

By all accounts Dina Matos McGreevey was a loyal and faithful wife even when she was, at least according to her soon-to-be-ex, in a marriage without intimacy. After the absurd and embarassing scene at the "I am a gay American" press conference two years ago, and the present strain of the unfinalized divorce (she declined to join her not-yet-ex at Oprah's), she's going to have more than enough to deal with when their daughter's grown up and reading that book.

I only hope Ms Matos and her daughter are able to leave the country on an extended holiday as guests of someone (Oprah, do you know anyone?) who has more decency than the consumate politician she married. That way she'll be spared the shameful spectacle and media circus.

No one deserves the humiliation he's putting her through.

(Please vote for this article at Real Clear Politics)

Update A friend emailed the link to New York mag's article by the former governor. Not a word about Machiavelli.

Follow-up post What Oprah didn't ask McGreevey

(technorati tags Jim McGreevey, New Jersey, Oprah, Politics)

How to talk to the imams, how to handle a woman, and today's articles from Maria

How to talk to the imams
I'm really liking the Aussies. Via Red State, Muslims read riot act

The Howard Government's multicultural spokesman, Andrew Robb, yesterday told an audience of 100 imams who address Australia's mosques that these were tough times requiring great personal resolve.
Mr Robb also called on them to shun a victim mentality that branded any criticism as discrimination.

"We live in a world of terrorism where evil acts are being regularly perpetrated in the name of your faith," Mr Robb said at the Sydney conference.

"And because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem.

"You can't wish it away, or ignore it, just because it has been caused by others.

"Instead, speak up and condemn terrorism, defend your role in the way of life that we all share here in Australia."

Compare that with Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, who just this morning was justifying the latest Muslim (and internationally photographed and filmed) outrage over the Pope's words, explaining how Muslims are upset over the insult to "the Prophet".
The Prophet, you say, Rowan? Like Elijah, Isaiah, John the Baptist? Or shouldn't you be saying, "their prophet?

Via Real Clear Politics, Why the Pope was right

Via Dan, Just outside Westminster Cathedral

At the blogs
Locking Up Lynn Stewart. Beth has more.

Today's articles from Maria
Pessimistic Germans Losing Faith in Democracy, Study Shows

Harry's a hit at Guantanamo

Mark Steyn: Coverage of 9/11 anniversary was too wimpy

The Liberals' War: Why is the left afraid to face up to the threat of radical Islam?

Negroponte Says Legal Uncertainty Has Curbed CIA Interrogations

Exactly as expected? U.S., U.N. Bashed at Cuban Summit

My Lebanon War Story: One soldier's battle for life

4 Returned Klimt Works Heading to Auction
French Royalty as Seen by Hollywood Royalty

Three recipes: Rosh Hashana Delicacies

How to handle a woman
One for The Anchoress,