Edwards: premature, but building big

Via Betsy, Edwards: 2004 run perhaps premature, and superficial, too

"When I ran in 2004, I spent most of my time thinking about being a good candidate,"

And his hair:

but he still has plans,

Edwards told a packed crowd spilling out of the 2,300-seat Wait Chapel. "These days I think about what I want to do as president of the United States."

He claims that

"Jurors are like any other human beings -- they're like voters," Edwards said. "They're always looking for someone to trust. They want to find comfort with someone who's being straight with them."

Like that time he sent someone to buy him a PS3 at Wal-Mart, after beating on Wal-Mart for years. Who knows, maybe Edwards's assistant bought the 10-year-old little girl a coat and a sandwich while he/she was at Wal-Mart.

"The Two Americas" guy must be trying to outdo Wal-Mart now that he's built himself a 28,200 sq ft home, bigger than our local Wal-Mart.

Or maybe he's planning on having the Two Americas over for a party: Dean Barnett says the manse has

an indoor recreation building that contains a basketball court, a squash court, two stages, a bedroom, kitchen, bathrooms, swimming pool, a four-story tower, and a room designated "John's Lounge."

Two stages: the better for practicing those campaign speeches? Who'll be at the other stage?

Hmm.

Casa de Fausta has one shed that houses the lawnmower and the sports and camping gear. And my "main house" has three johns, but no "John's Lounge". On the other hand, The Husband pays more attention to me than what he does his hair, a preferrable situation for all involved.

If Edwards expects people "to find comfort with someone who's being straight with them" - meaning himself - he must really believe that Everyone loves a good hypocrite.

Special thanks to the friend that sent the photo

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Note I seem to be having the same email problem I had a few days ago where I send one email and the recipient gets multiple copies. My apologies for the inconvenience.

"We suffer from backwardness"

Maria sent a most interesting video of an interview with Dhiyaa Al-Musawi on Abu Dhabi TV last month.

Among the things he said,
"We have destroyed many things, including the beauty of the general disposition"

Update: Baron Bodissey posts on it.

Hugo and Fidel are still an item

El Cubano Cafe asks, The Dictator on Mesa Redonda with Mini-Me today? and sends Fidel Castro reapareció en un video junto a Hugo Chávez

The Beeb has video. Socialism or death? Looks like it.

Here's the outtakes - that's Armando Manzanero singing in the background:

Victory lessons, and today's items

Victory Lessons from Ronald Reagan

greatest Republican of our time, we should revisit the crucial victory lessons from President Reagan. In all his campaigns for the California governorship and for the Presidency, Reagan demonstrated the timeless value of three essential political characteristics: clarity, cheerfulness and unity. If Republicans manage to emphasize and exemplify these traits they will win in 2008 and beyond and re-enforce their status as the nation's majority party.

1. CLARITY. Throughout his public career, Reagan associated himself with a handful of simple but profound ideas: government isn't the solution, it's the problem; the people deserve lower taxes and less regulation; Communism must be defeated, not accommodated. In his public pronouncements he never varied from these core principles and he never worried about repeating himself, confident in the knowledge that the truth always sounds fresh and appropriate.

Twilight zone at the border.

Sunday June 3, 2007, is ICD 7: International Capitalism Day 2007 I've been celebrating all along but on that day I'll celebrate even more (h/t Maria).

Pakistani Muslim couple tied up, stoned to death - on SUSPICION of committing adultery: the woman was 40, the man, 45. Atlas has more.

Hillary is resentful, but not at Bill. Me, I resent Hillary and all her nagging.

Bruce Kesler fisks NYT theater critic Patricia Cohen: Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism. Methinks Pat's looking for a spot on the op-ed page, like her predecessor. (h/t Larwyn)

John Kerry's on a roll (h/t Larwyn), which segues well with Interchangeable goofballs (h/t Maria).

CatHouse Chat asks Why don't we let them decide?

Speaking of the troops, As for the married troops, they could still get homemade lemon squares.

In praise of oil, via Maria

This is the sunset of the "Age of Aquarius." Was about time!

Don't sign me up for one of these, thanks: The lunchtime facelift

A popular fast face-lift is called Sculptra, a 30-minute procedure involving a series of injections (a mix of poly-L-lactic acid material mixed with water) used to stimulate the growth of collagen and provide a gradual increase in skin thickness.

You call it a facelift, I call it a callus.

Eteins La Lumiere

Well, it's starting to look like Charles Aznavour week here at Fausta's blog.

Fresh off the Pajamas Media feed:

"The Eiffel Tower's lights will be turned off for five minutes on Thursday as part of a campaign to save energy and draw attention to the plight of the planet."

Apparently

The campaign called "Five Minutes of Respite for the Planet" is being held as world experts meet in Paris to thrash out a report on global warming.

Which will give you plenty of time to listen to one of my favorite Aznavour songs, Éteins La Lumière, Let's turn off the lights (you can hear him sing the song in Spanish with a so-sexy French accent here), which translated means,

Let's turn off the lights!
In the darkness my hands which hold you
Want to feel your face, your eyelids, your lips and your neck.
Let's turn off the lights,
the night is ours.

As Gomez used to say, "TISH. That's French."

Update, Wednesday 31 January Lileks sheds a most unromantic light on the lights-out:

Let us all be inspired by the darkness. It seems to be part of a general French effort spearheaded by some toothless meth-freak

To see the meth-freak you'll have to go to his post.
----------------------------------------------
Later...
I was looking at this post and would like to ask any of you who have any idea of how to do blog things,
Currently I have my encoding setting at Universal (Unicode UTF-8). Unfortunately, after I switched to my own domain the Blogger platform doesn't seem to want to accept foreign punctuation marks.
Does anyone know what I should do to remedy this?

It takes more than a village...

... it takes a culture of death.
Updated
Last August I posted that children are the salvation of their parents.

Back then I mentioned a paradox of our times,

There's the acceptance in the Western World, in the name of multiculturalism and who knows what else, of societies that indulge into what for most of us is inherently revolting, aberrant degeneracy: the weaponization of children. Children suicide bombers, children witnessing public acts of unspeakable barbarity, children used as shields during gun battles, and the corpses of handicapped children (link in French) used as (warning: graphic images) death porn in a propaganda war.

Only a monster could conceivably do that; only people with a broken moral compass would support those like her.

Yesterday I was reading this post at Sigmund, Carl and Alfred. Among the things I found:

• The Palestinian Authority routinely indoctrinates children to ask for death
• The Hamas Website actively promotes suicide terror for children.

If you follow the links at SC&A's post you'll find dozens more.

Iranian blogger Kamangir (via Gateway Pundit) :

Fars has published pictures from "Hossain's toddlers conference [implicitly means toddlers who are ready to fight for Hossain till 'martyrdom']". Imam Hossain is the third Shia Imam, killed in Karbala, more than 1300 years ago these days. Since then, he has been the source of inspiration for Shias towards "martyrdom".

I asked a friend to translate what the headbands that the babies are wearing say - "Allah Akbar", the suicide bomber's cry.

(WARNING: Very disturbing photos) During the Ashoura,

Many children participate, and the tradition seems to be an important rite of passage for many Shia boys

This is institutionalized child abuse.

(Update [WARNING: more disturbing photos) Linda explains

The origins of Ashura: When the Omayyad Moslem army arrived at Karbala, Ali, the last blood relative of Mohammed found that his cowardly army had deserted him. He rode out with about 30 of his closest followers, and they were slaughtered. Muslims flaggelate and mutilate themselves on the each anniversary of his death to show remorse for deserting him before the battle.)

Now that the American women politicians are talking about the children, maybe it's time we start judging this behavior for what it is: depravity.

Update 2: A Mother's Pride (h/t Larwyn)
Update 3: AP reporter Sheherazade Faramarzi makes it sound like the 6-yr-olds are doing this out of their own volition: Some Shiite Children Are Into Bloody Rite

The 6-year-old boy screamed and shook his head to avoid the razor blade. But his father held him firmly as Hajj Khodor parted the boy's black hair and sliced his forehead three times with the blade.

Ali Madani's cries became more violent as blood gushed from the wound, covering his small, terrified face. His father and a few other men, waving daggers, broke into a religious chant, recalling how the 7th-century Shiite Muslim saint, Imam Hussein, was decapitated, his head placed on a lance.
...
``We're used to it,'' said Mahmoud Jaber, 43, who brought his five boys and two girls for the ritual. ``We've been doing this since we were kids. I started when I was 3. It doesn't hurt because the cry of pain goes away with the faith.''

Nicaraguan illegal aliens and other Latin American items

Nicaragua exports its poor... to Costa Rica:

Historically, Nicaraguans have always used their southern neighbour as a refuge during periods of violence, such as the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza or the war of the 1980s. But since the 1990s migration has been driven by the struggle for economic survival. After the fighting ended, demobilisation left thousands of soldiers and counter-revolutionaries on the loose, with no resources or future, in a country whose economy was unable to integrate them. At the time, the Nicaraguan government’s priority was to privatise and reduce public spending. Costa Rica, which has impressive economic growth and a remarkably well-developed welfare state for Central America, seemed an accessible El Dorado.

As I have said before, there is no such thing as "Hispanics". The article explains,

"Costa Ricans see Nicaraguans as a negative value," said Carlos Sandoval, a sociologist at San José university. He argued that Costa Ricans construct their identity around powerful ideas: the paleness of their skin, which is unusual in Central America (and is the result of the fact that there were only a few indigenous inhabitants when the conquistadores arrived); the stability of a democracy that has experienced little violence; and the success of an economy and a welfare state unique in the region. Costa Rica and its neighbours describe it as "the Switzerland of Central America". Its ecotourist-friendly beaches and jungles, its relaxed way of life attract prosperous foreign tourists in numbers its neighbours can only dream about.

From this perspective, Nicaragua, with its wars and chronic instability, seems an immature country condemned to poverty. In Costa Rica, the dark-skinned immigrants are often described as violent, ignorant and untrustworthy, as thieves and alcoholics. "No seas Nica" ("don't be an idiot") is a common insult. This latent xenophobia, and correspondingly strong anti-Costa Rican feelings in Nicaragua, rises to the surface each time the perennial conflict over navigation rights on the San Juan river turns nasty.

--------------------------------
The Economist has an article on Salvadoran gangs: El Salvador's crime wave. The government is trying to tame criminal gangs

President Saca did his share of finger-pointing, lambasting the US, in particular, for worsening the problem of gangs (knows as "maras") by deporting back to El Salvador thousands of Salvadoran nationals who had served time in US jails for crimes committed while in the US. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, there was a 26% rise in the number of Salvadorans deported from the US between January and September 2006. Among the deportees, almost one-quarter have criminal records. Since most have not committed any crimes in El Salvador, the authorities are unable to arrest them upon arrival at the international airport.

In Mexico, The new president has sent the army after the drug mobs. More importantly, he has started to reform the police

HE TOOK office as Mexico's president only on December 1st, but Felipe Calderon has lost no time in putting pressure on the country's powerful drug gangs. Last month he dispatched 7,000 troops and police to the central state of Michoacan. Forces of similar size have since been sent to Tijuana on the northern border, and to the Pacific resort of Acapulco. On January 19th, the government extradited four drug kingpins and a dozen lesser figures to the United States for trial. Notably, they included Osiel Cárdenas, the head of the so-called "Gulf Cartel", by far the most powerful drug gangster to be extradited so far.

This flurry of action responded to a "real anxiety in some parts of the country" that organised crime was "out of control", Mr Calderon told El Pais, a Spanish newspaper, this week. There were 2,100 drug-related murders last year, up from 1,300 in 2005. Some 600 killings took place in Michoacán alone in 2006. Many of the murders involved brutal cruelty: in a notorious case, five severed heads were dumped in a dance hall in Michoacán. Much of the violence stems from a turf war between the Gulf Cartel and its main rival, based in Sinaloa. Paradoxically, this was triggered by arrests made by the previous government of Vicente Fox.

Two things compound the problem. The first is the continuing demand for drugs across the border in the United States. The second is that during the seven decades of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, defeated by Mr Fox in 2000, the main objective of policing was political control rather than crime fighting.

What do all these items have in common? They all pertain to immigration.

Sparse notes, and today's other items

Betsy, who is a teacher, has an item on how few notes Obama used to take in college,

"Obviously somebody almost Clintonesque in being able to sum a whole lot of concepts and place them into a succinct written style."

and says, I have those same students. They're usually arrogant or slackers. Me, I'd be insulted if anyone compared my style to anything Clintonesque.
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In the Entirely predictable file: French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy says Negotiation was also key to resolving the Middle East's big crises, such as Iran's nuclear programme, the search for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the "volatile" situation in Lebanon, and of course, Iraq.
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Hezbollah House Plan
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Via Atlas Shrugs, Why Do They CAIR about Jack Bauer? 24 is an opportunity for American Muslims to fight the real enemy: Islamism.
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Craig attends China Bond premiere
I liked the movie.

Late afternoon blogging: romance

Today I received my new triple-CD Aznavour collection (all French) and I've been enjoying it all day:

I'm in heaven.

Here's a video to one of the most romantic songs ever:

Que c'est triste Venise
Au temps des amours mortes
Que c'est triste Venise
Quand on ne s'aime plus

On cherche encore des mots
Mais l'ennui les emporte
On voudrait bien pleurer
Mais on ne le peut plus

Que c'est triste Venise
Lorsque les barcarolles
Ne viennent souligner
Que des silences creux

Et que le coeur se serre
En voyant les gondoles
Abriter le bonheur
Des couples amoureux

Que c'est triste Venise
Au temps des amours mortes
Que c'est triste Venise
Quand on ne s'aime plus

Les musées, les églises
Ouvrent en vain leurs portes
Inutile beauté
Devant nos yeux déçus

Que c'est triste Venise
Le soir sur la lagune
Quand on cherche une main
Que l'on ne vous tend pas

Et que l'on ironise
Devant le clair de lune
Pour tenter d'oublier
Ce qu'on ne se dit pas

Adieu tout les pigeons
Qui nous en fait escortent
Adieu Pont des Soupir
Adieu rêves perdus

C'est trop triste Venise
Au temps des amours mortes
C'est trop triste Venise
Quand on ne s'aime plusTranslation here

The French are nuts

Do they really think that making Nicolas Sarkozy look like Mr. Bean is a good idea?

It gets worse: 4 Saturday Night Fever moves, and 8 (eight!) Michael Jackson-like moves. Michael Jackson - just the name any politician would want associated with their campaign.

Says The Guardian

Sarkozy's site www.discosarko.com is part of an effort to market the interior minister as hip and in-touch with the times and to collect contact details from potential supporters.

Hip and in touch with the times? What times are those? The times of almost three decades ago?

Mes amis, dudes, DISCO's DEAD.

Sarko's competition? She's out there visiting Hizbollah and travelling to China on the Chinese government's dime.

Argh!

Nidra has more on the whole sorry spectacle.

Gustavo Coronel proposes A "Homeopathic" Alternative

Curbing Chavez:
A "Homeopathic" Alternative

In alternative medicine or quackery, as you prefer to call it, there is a method that aims to cure through the use of an agent that would produce similar symptoms to those of the ailment that is to be cured. This homeopathic method could be used in our country to oust or, at least, to neutralize Chavez.

Go read how.

Surprise, surprise: Venezuela's Chavez slams Mexico for forging strong ties with Washington

The WSJ is asking, Could Weak Oil Cost Venezuela, Iran Clout?

Softening oil prices over the past few months have spurred hope in Washington that less revenue for oil-rich states could weaken the hand of governments the U.S. considers worrisome -- particularly those in Iran, Venezuela and Russia.

The three nations are potentially vulnerable: Oil-and-gas revenue accounts for between two-thirds and three-quarters of government income in both Venezuela and Iran, and only slightly less in Russia.

At least Russia's marketing things other than oil: Venezuela Plans to Follow Iran’s Suit, Buy Anti-Missile Systems from Russia

The government of Venezuela plans to buy anti-missile systems from Russia, local media reported quoting the country’s Defense Minister Raul Baduel. The cost of the deal to acquire Tor-M1 rockets is estimated at $290 million.

Tor M1 is the only system in the world, which is capable of detecting and tracking up to 48 targets and engaging two of them simultaneously.

Venezuela’s military authorities plan to use this system in combination with Chinese radars and 24 military aircraft that this South American country will buy from Russia. MosNews has reported last July that Moscow and Caracas reached an agreement for delivery of Russian Su-30MK2 fighter jets. Earlier Russia has supplied Venezuela with 100,000 of Kalashnikov rifles and even agreed to sell the license for their production.

I've been posting about the Venezuelan arms race for nearly two years now.

Anyway, Hugo says the boliburguesia won't fear for its assets:

President Hugo Chávez denied Sunday that his left-leaning government would seize private property -- such as second homes or expensive cars -- from the wealthy and called on Venezuelans not to fear his accelerated push toward socialism.

And they can buy sattellite TV.

Daniel Pipes vs Red Ken

When Ken Livingstone is not spending $70,000 of taxpayers' money in travel, and suing bloggers at taxpayers' expense, he gets into debates:

Gates of Vienna has a 7-part video, and posts,

Red Ken spoke first, and gave a very urbane speech about the need for multiculturalism and a coming together of different cultures to form a "world civilization". He referred repeatedly to the defects of the United States, and gave his opinion that the era of America as the premier global power is even now coming to an end.

Mr. Pipes expressed a strong disagreement with the mayor.

"The problem is not so much a clash of civilizations," he said, "but a clash between civilization and barbarism... The 'clash of civilizations' idea fails; it does not fit the facts; it is not a good way to understand the world." He went on to detail the dangers of the largest and most violent barbarism of all, radical Islam. He singled out Britain, and in particular London, as the world's principal haven for Islamic terrorists.

Watch all the videos.

Keffiyehs in today's items

Allyson Rowen Taylor explains how she talked Urban Outfitters out of carrying keffiyehs

While keffiyehs are a staple of Arab wardrobes, the trendy retailer was selling them explicitly for their symbolic significance, as emblems of peace. But this piece of checkered cloth tells a different story. They were"adopted by many of the Palestinians who supported Grand Mufti Amin al-Husayni during the Great Uprising," according to the Wikipedia entry on keffiyehs. Al-Husayni was one of Hitler’s most important supporters in the Arab world. "Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," and she was involved in "the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the Dawson's Field hijackings." And so on.

I'll be in NYC next Saturday and hope to get together with Allyson.
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MLK Jr's Niece Seeks Justice For the Unborn
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Via Maria,
Mark Steyn: Old U.S.S.R. made Old Europe look new

The civilized world faces profound challenges that threaten the global order. But most advanced democracies now run two-party systems in which both parties sell themselves to the electorate on the basis of unaffordable entitlements whose costs can be kicked down the road, even though the road is a short cul-de-sac and the kicked cans are already piled sky-high. That's the real energy crisis.

Betraying America

Faster chips, says Intel

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep
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Guess Who Made the Front Page of the Iran Daily Today?
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Via Larwyn,
What You See (in the Media) is Not What You Get (in the Libby Trial)

Where in the Game Are We?
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In the culture of pornography:
The Black Hole of Sundance

The official promotional copy of the Sundance festival lauds the film's cleverness and "visual poetry" of male "alienation."

Male alienation? And there's more:

Then there's that other sick Sundance sensation making headlines. Twelve-year-old Dakota Fanning, the star of "Charlotte's Web" and other family films, like "The Cat in the Hat," is starring in a five-minute rape scene in a film titled "Hounddog."

Where are the child advocates? Where's Hillary? Aren't they outraged by this?

Ruthless nation
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A little snow this morning,

How did the insurgents know who was on that Helicopter?

Pierre Legrand just emailed this,

Did we lose a helo in Iraq containing 2 Colonels, 1 Lt Colonel, 1 Major, 1 Captain, 2 Command Sgt Majors and more?
Pierre has the details, and the questions.

Chavez bans Jack Bauer

Jack Bauer banned in Venezuela, citizens take to the streets

RCTV also has the local syndication rights to "24."

Hugo Chavez is banning Jack Bauer.

Now he has gone too far.

Read on...

Chavez' government justifies the decree not to renew RCTV's licence on the grounds of public morality. The station will be used now for "public service"--perhaps re-runs of the ever-popular "Alo Presidente?" But make no mistake about it. Chavez has no delicate moral scruples. He is shutting down RCTV because it annoys him, and because he can. And if the people of Venezuela are deprived of their weekly Jack Bauer fix? They'll be better off not watching such a character, beside which the caricature that is Hugo Chavez cuts a very poor figure.

And that's only the beginning, folks.

Gustavo Coronel proposes A "Homeopathic" Alternative

The bubble, and the Carnival

Armando sent this just now, which goes well with item 6 7 of the Carnival


The Carnival's on!

The pledge

I took the pledge.

Have you?

Hugh Hewitt has more information (h/t Michelle).

Venezuela: Throw the diplomat from the train

Chavez Threat to Expel U.S. Envoy May Deter Investors

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's threat to expel U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield over comments about compensation in nationalizations may further discourage foreign investment in the oil-rich country, analysts said.

"The signal it sends is `Don't invest in Venezuela'," said Robert Bottome, a political and economic analyst for Caracas-based research group Veneconomia. "It's very hard to find a sane person willing to invest in Venezuela right now."

Others are welcome, though:

A delegation of Cuba's most influential Cabinet members flew to Venezuela this week to sign 16 deals worth more than $1 billion, highlighting the close relations between Caracas and Havana,

but that won't stop Venezuela's Lost Human Capital from fleeing:

As Chavez confiscates productive farms, sends red-shirted political rabble to take over apartments, shuts down TV stations, restricts government jobs and services to his friends, abandons the capital to crime, boosts Cuba's security presence, puts armed troops on every corner, launches neighborhood spying committees and forces Marxist indoctrination into even private schools, more Venezuelans find they can no longer endure it. They're leaving.

Venezuelan immigration to the U.S. has gone up more than 5,000% since 2000. Canada has seen a similar surge.

Maybe that's why Hugo's expropriating airports now.

In any case, Threatened with expulsion from Venezuela, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield says he will concentrate on trying to improve rocky relations, but acknowledged his bags are packed just in case.

While Venezuela RCV fights back, a supermodel showed some Hugo aversion. I guess Hugo will have to stick with Cindy


In lighter news, I just realized that Hugo gets manicures - see for yourself:

Buffed nails, trimmed cuticles, fake letters. What a guy.


Technorati tags Venezuela Latin America

Today's "24" post, part 2

Aside from the nonstop action, the convoluted plots and the manly men, there are other reasons why I am addicted love 24.

The first one is the timeframe paradox: While life-and-death national security situations supposedly are resolved within a 24-hr time frame, 24 is the first TV program where everything is not solved in one hour. Tetchy Dr. House cures the most obscure diseases even when he's delirious from a gunshot wound, the many incarnations of Law & Order solve the crime and get a veredict, and the many locations of CSI collect all the evidence and sometimes the bad guys confess (try that in real life!) while looking mahrvelous - all in less than an hour.

Another thing I like about 24 is the emphasis on the power of the individual. In 24, the larger the group, the greater the bumble. It's not just that the more terrorists involved in a plot, the worse it'll work out for them. The government, the largest organization of all, fails time and time again to prevent any of the attacks in spite of having fantastic technology and instant telecommunication links.

In 24, it is the commitment of one individual that makes a difference.

There is another aspect to 24's appeal: Yesterday's WSJ had an article on Jack Bauer's Dilemmas--and Ours: Watching "24" as a primer on moral philosophy

All these episodes help the show to maintain a realistic moral tone. An enemy that rejects everything we hold dear about our civil society will inevitably force us to make compromises between competing principles and loyalties. The most interesting complications that ensue as a season of "24" unfolds are the moral ones. And the show's great virtue is that it never pretends that these dilemmas are simple or false.

And these dilemmas continue to be relevant.


Technorati tags 24 Jack Bauer

Got moose?

Moose in the news:
It turns out that the Beeb is a great resource for moose news.

Dead moose:
Student felled by moose head sues

An American student is suing her university for negligence after a mounted moose head fell on her from a wall during a biology exam.
Amy Walters was peering through a microscope when the stuffed trophy fell, hitting the side of her head.

She says she has suffered from headaches ever since, and is suing for "loss of enjoyment of life" and "embarrassment and humiliation".

Because propelling herself into the limelight by suing won't increase the "embarrassment and humiliation", won't it?

Live moose:
Moose set loose report

Moose facts

More Moose, but of a different kind

Moose the dog, better known as Eddie in US sitcom Frasier, died aged 16 in Los Angeles last year.

Meanwhile, in the great outdoors,
A 65-year-old Californian woman has saved the life of her husband, 70, by fighting off an attacking mountain lion with a small log and his pen.

Which is why I don't go camping.

This just in: Cuban journalist tells her story

Marc Masferrer has an interview with Aini Martin Valero

US: What is the biggest obstacle that you and other journalists face on a daily basis?

AMV: The independent press faces two obstacles. One is the harassment and persecution from State Security, which threatens us and blocks us many times from going where the news is happening. They jail us, and many times retaliate against our families.

The second obstacle is the lack of resources to do our work. Most Cuban independent journalists cannot count on having a computer, still and video cameras or even a telephone line at their homes. I consider those tools as fundamental to doing quality journalism.

US: How have the changes since July 31 (when Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother Raúl) affected your job as a journalist?

AMV: After July 31, with the news of Fidel Castro's illness, the monitoring of me and my colleagues by State Security and the paramilitary bands got worse. Every Tuesday, we met at the house of another journalist to share ideas and review our work. Since that date, followers of the government have carried out acts of repudiation at the home of journalist Carlos Manuel Cespedes, and we have had to look for other alternatives.

Read every word.

Men who cook

As I've mentioned before, I normally spend twenty minutes or less making dinner. I'm the one making dinner most evenings here at casa de Fausta, but The Husband's in charge when pressure cookers are involved.

Back when I was in my teens I was sitting at my parents' kitchen doing homework when the unattended pressure cooker blew up and, even when I was physically unscathed by the explosion, I don't ever want to handle a pressure cooker.

The Husband's a lot braver than I. My mother's a lot braver than I. Anyone who uses a pressure cooker is a lot braver than I.

My mother is a really good cook - so good that she makes it look completely effortless. But even she has a limit: when we were little she decided to make homemade pasteles, and it was so much work she's purchased them from people who specialize ever since.

While my sister shares my simplified approach to cooking, our brother's a great cook. He loves to make really good meals, and he actually loves the process of cooking. On special occasions he spends hours slaving at the stove.

I remember one year I asked him how he makes his pork roast, which he was planning to make the next day. He was seasoning with olive oil, oregano and garlic a leg from what once must have been a gigantic pig, so it would marinade overnight. It was getting late at night and I was in the kitchen having a glass of milk before going to bed, so he said he'd explain the next morning, if I could be up by seven AM.

Seven AM is a little early, but I'm an early riser and since we were both on vacation I figured he'd be heading to the beach ahead of the crowds and the hot sun, and after a morning at the beach he'd be working on the roast later in the afternoon.

The next morning the two of us were in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast while everybody else was still sleeping, and the conversation went like,

(Brother) B: You have to start now so it'll be ready by 5PM.

(Fausta) F: But it's seven in the morning. So you mean it's going to take ten hours of working in the kitchen?

B: Yeah, that's about right. And it has to sit for half an hour after it's done.

F: I thought you were just going to give me the recipe, get the pork roasting in the oven, and then go out and have some fun.

B: This is fun.

I carefully tip-toed away from the kitchen, but my brother spent the whole day at it and did a wonderful job. He would feel right at home at ManCamp with Val and Steve. (I can't wait for Steve's next cookbook to come out.)

I'm thinking of this because I'm considering trying Darren's chili recipe. My quick chili recipe goes like this:
Heat in a medium flame 2 tbs olive oil in a cast-iron skillet
and add 1 lb ground chuck.
Once the beef is almost brown, add 1 pkg Bearitos Chili Seasoning, stir well.
Add 1 can (14.5 oz) Hunt's diced tomatoes
and 1 15 oz can of Westbrae chili beans. Stir.
Lower the flame to low, and simmer for at least 40 minutes.
Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.
I serve it over a wild rice/brown rice blend, but Darren's spaghetti looks good, too.

Darren, like Val and Steve and my brother, likes to cook.

So the question is, will the new recipe be worth it, or will it be too much work? After all, there is no Chipotle in the area.

Update: Cooking for engineers - I like!

Later... forget the chili - Scott made chicken, shrimp and sausage gumbo!

Technorati tags men and women, cooking, chili, food

Hillary's new fan club, and today's items

The Daily Gut is starting a Hillary fan club. Via Pajamas Media, Hillary Clamps Down. She's going to need all the fan clubs she can get; Gerard Baker sure isn't a fan: The vaulting ambition of America's Lady Macbeth

There are many reasons people think Mrs Clinton will not be elected president. She lacks warmth; she is too polarising a figure; the American people don’t want to relive the psychodrama of the eight years of the Clinton presidency.

But they all miss this essential counterpoint. As you consider her career this past 15 years or so in the public spotlight, it is impossible not to be struck, and even impressed, by the sheer ruthless, unapologetic, unshameable way in which she has pursued this ambition, and confirmed that there is literally nothing she will not do, say, think or feel to achieve it. Here, finally, is someone who has taken the black arts of the politician’s trade, the dissembling, the trimming, the pandering, all the way to their logical conclusion.

If Mr. Baker ever comes to Princeton I'll buy him a beer.

Which brings me to Francis Porretto's excellent essay, Broken Premises Part 3: Is It The Words Or The Tune That Matters?

Rare is the politician, on either side of the divide between the parties, who can be relied upon speak clearly and to the point, and always to call things by their right names. Porfessional pols and their staffs might not believe Sapir and Whorf's conjecture that words have the power to shape reality, but their confidence in the power of words to shape popular convictions appears boundless.

George Orwell's landmark essay "Politics and the English Language" is replete with piercing observations about the insidiousness of such rhetoric. Among its many powerful points is that we must know what a thing is to argue for or against it:

Stuart Chase and others have come near to claiming that all abstract words are meaningless, and have used this as a pretext for advocating a kind of political quietism. Since you don't know what Fascism is, how can you struggle against Fascism? One need not swallow such absurdities as this, but one ought to recognize that the present political chaos is connected with the decay of language, and that one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end. If you simplify your English, you are freed from the worst follies of orthodoxy. You cannot speak any of the necessary dialects, and when you make a stupid remark its stupidity will be obvious, even to yourself. Political language -- and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists -- is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

Orwell's essay should be required reading for every American who thinks himself qualified to vote, or to hold a political opinion. Much of the damage that has been done to freedom these past eighty years has passed into law under the cover of "terms of art," periphrases and circumlocutions of the sort it describes.

The West and Islam: "Hurray! We're capitulating" (via Real Clear Politics)

All the events of last spring are only a foretaste of something much bigger, something still unnamed. And when it ends, those who have managed to escape will ask themselves: Why didn't we see the handwriting on the wall when there was still time? If Muslim protests against a few harmless cartoons can cause the free world to capitulate in the face of violence, how will this free world react to something that is truly relevant? It is already difficult enough to see that Israel is not merely battling a few militants, but is facing a serious threat to its very existence from Iran. All too often it is ignored that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already taken the first step by calling for "a world without Zionism" -- a call that pro-Israel Europeans only managed to condemn with a mild, "unacceptable." How would they react if Iran were in a position to back up its threats with nuclear weapons?

Kenneth Stein's My Problem with Jimmy Carter's Book (Stein was a Fellow at the Carter Center; h/t Not Exactly Rocket Science) ties in well with Jimmy Carter: Too many Jews on Holocaust council. As Stephen Pollard said,

The problem is that Carter does not provide an alternative view but the view from an alternative universe, with facts which are non-facts, events which are ignored and clear justifications for suicide terrorism.

What a disgrace Jimmy is.

Dr. Krauthammer

There are three serious things we can do now: Tax gas. Drill in the Arctic. Go nuclear

Meanwhile in Cuba,
Weekend at Fidel's
As Taranto said yesterday,

No One Can See Him, That's How Fast He's Running
"No Sign of Fidel as Cubans Wait, Wonder"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 24
"Chavez Says Castro 'Almost Jogging' "--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 24

The Beeb found one guy blogging from Cuba. Make no mistake, that blogger has to toe the line.

If Cuban prisoner of conscience Prospero Gainza can sew his mouth shut as a defiant and symbolic gesture of protest, we can all show solidarity by fasting every Friday for our incarcerated brothers and sisters on the island.
---------------------------------------
Pastimes
I signed up for Twitter, where you can post updates on what you are doing during your day. Since I live a pedestrian and totally uninteresting life, I'm posting short quotes from poems I've read over the years.

Today's verse is the first line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Frost at Midnight, in keeping with this morning's cold weather.

Look at the pink box in the sidebar for each day's verse.

What's the matter with New Jersey?,

asks The Wall Street Journal (by subscription; emphasis added)

The idea of financing state services without an income tax is hardly radical. Nine states today - Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennesse, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming - manage well without them. With a few exceptions, the non-income tax states are America's most prosperous. Meanwhile, the high income states, which tend to be congregated in the North East, keep surrendering jobs, people, and voters to the South and West.

State lawmakers also seem to have learned from two of the most recent states to adopt an income tax: New Jersey and Connecticut. As recently as 1965 New Jersey had neither an income nor sales tax, but managed to balance the budget every year. Now it has both taxes - its income tax is the 5th highest in the nation -

And let's not even think of the highest property taxes and school taxes, too,

but the state is facing what Stateline.org calls a "staggering budget deficit." Allied Van Lines reports that the Garden State is one of the leading places for people to flee.

I first started this blog out of frustration with NJ taxes. While my frustration hasn't diminished, I've become so fed up of the subject that I'm posting about it because The Husband asked that I do.

The National Center for Policy Analysis has more on the "ferocious competition to attract jobs and businesses" among the states.

New Jersey is entirely out of the competition.

Update In the comments section, Francis Porretto recommends Robert Higgs's excellent book, Crisis and Leviathan

I read this book several years ago and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in fiscal policy, economics, or how their hard-earned money is spent by the politicians.

The Soviets vs the Catholic Church

Via Echuta,Moscow's Assault on the Vatican. The KGB made corrupting the Church a priority

Toward the mid 1970s, The Deputy started running out of steam. In 1974 Andropov conceded to us that, had we known then what we know today, we would never have gone after Pope Pius XII. What now made the difference was newly released information showing that Hitler, far from being friendly with Pius XII, had in fact been plotting against him.

Just a few days before Andropov's admission, the former supreme commander of the German SS (Schutzstaffel) squadron in Italy during World War II, General Friedrich Otto Wolff, had been released from jail and confessed that in 1943 Hitler had ordered him to abduct Pope Pius XII from the Vatican. That order had been so hush-hush that it never turned up after the war in any Nazi archive. Nor had it come out at any of the many debriefings of Gestapo and SS officers conducted by the victorious Allies. In his confession Wolff claimed that he had replied to Hitler that his order would take six weeks to carry out. Hitler, who blamed the pope for the overthrow of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, wanted it done immediately. Eventually Wolff persuaded Hitler that there would be a great negative response if the plan were implemented, and the Führer dropped it.

It was also during 1974 that Cardinal Mindszenty published his book Memoirs, which describes in agonizing detail how he was framed in Communist Hungary. On the evidence of fabricated documents, he was charged with "treason, misuse of foreign currency, and conspiracy," offenses "all punishable by death or life imprisonment." He also describes how his falsified "confession" then took on a life of its own. "It seemed to me that anyone should at once have recognized this document as a crude forgery, since it is the product of a bungling, uncultivated mind," the cardinal writes. "But when I subsequently went through foreign books, newspapers, and magazines that dealt with my case and commented on my 'confession,' I realized that the public must have concluded that the 'confession' had actually been composed by me, although in a semiconscious state and under the influence of brainwashing... [T]hat the police would have published a document they had themselves manufactured seemed altogether too brazen to be believed." Furthermore, Hanna Sulner, the Hungarian handwriting expert used to frame the cardinal, who had escaped to Vienna, confirmed that she had forged Mindszenty’s "confession.”"

A few years later, Pope John Paul II started the process of sanctifying Pius XII, and witnesses from all over the world have compellingly proved that Pius XII was an enemy, not a friend, of Hitler. Israel Zoller, the chief rabbi of Rome between 1943-44, when Hitler took over that city, devoted an entire chapter of his memoirs to praising the leadership of Pius XII. "The Holy Father sent by hand a letter to the bishops instructing them to lift the enclosure from convents and monasteries, so that they could become refuges for the Jews. I know of one convent where the Sisters slept in the basement, giving up their beds to Jewish refugees." On July 25, 1944, Zoller was received by Pope Pius XII. Notes taken by Vatican secretary of state Giovanni Battista Montini (who would become Pope Paul VI) show that Rabbi Zoller thanked the Holy Father for all he had done to save the Jewish community of Rome — and his thanks were transmitted over the radio. On February 13, 1945, Rabbi Zoller was baptized by Rome's auxiliary bishop Luigi Traglia in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. In gratitude to Pius XII, Zoller took the Christian name of Eugenio (the pope's name). A year later Zoller's wife and daughter were also baptized.

David G. Dalin, in The Myth of Hitler's Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews From the Nazis, published a few months ago, has compiled further overwhelming proof of Eugenio Pacelli's friendship for the Jews beginning long before he became pope. At the start of World War II, Pope Pius XII's first encyclical was so anti-Hitler that the Royal Air Force and the French air force dropped 88,000 copies of it over Germany.

A fascinating article

China cancels the Year of the Pig

You won't be seeing these:

Pigs Get the Ax In China TV Ads, In Nod to Muslims

SHANGHAI -- Next month, China will ring in the Year of the Pig. Nestlé SA planned to celebrate with TV ads featuring a smiling cartoon pig. "Happy new pig year," the ads said.

This week, China Central Television, the national state-run TV network, banned Nestle's ad -- and all images and spoken references to the animal in commercials, including those tied to the Lunar New Year, China's biggest holiday.

The intent: to avoid offending Muslims, who consider pigs unclean. "China is a multiethnic country," the network's ad department said in a notice sent to ad agencies late Tuesday.

Save Piglet!
And bring out la caja china.

Update: Eric says that Coca-Cola is pulling its pig ads too.

Update 2 IBlogA commenter Krishna 109 quotes Mark Steyn,

"When every act that a culture makes communicates weakness and loss of self-belief, eventually you'll be taken at your word. In the long term, these trivial concessions are more significant victories than blowing up infidels on the Tube or in Bali beach restaurants. An act of murder demands at least the pretence of moral seriousness, even from the dopiest appeasers. But small acts of cultural vandalism corrode the fabric of freedom all but unseen..."

Update 3 A friend emails asking,

does this mean that China will be losing sufficient food, material joy, home safety, prosperity, abundance, wealth, fertility and reasonable success in all affairs, which the pig symblolizes in Feng Shui?

I don't have the vaguest idea at all.

technorati tags China, Islam, Piglet, pigs

India in Latin America, and other Caribbean items

I have blogged in the past on China's presence in Latin America, but Andres Oppenheimer says India will be big player in Latin America

It's not surprising that 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries have set up embassies here, more than they have in Russia.

''India is in a growth trajectory,'' Nath told me, noting that India is likely to grow at 10 percent annually in coming years. ``And Latin America is very important to us.''

While India's trade with Latin America lags far behind China's, Indian officials are working overtime to catch up, as I learned after meeting R. Viswanathan, the Foreign Ministry's head of Latin American affairs.

Unlike most Indian career diplomats, who tend to be low-key bureaucrats, Viswanathan is a highly visible Latin America promoter. His business card reads, ''Passionate about Latin America,'' and he personally runs three blogs and one website, Business with Latin America [link added], dedicated to the region.

Oppenheimer notes that politically, India has an advantage over China:

America for its Buddhist history and spiritual movements that are increasingly popular in the region, and for its booming information technology and pharmaceutical companies, he said.

''While China reminds me of 16th century Spain, which was only interested in extracting Latin America's natural resources, India is never going to be an imperial country,'' agreed Abdul Nafei, head of the Latin American studies program at Jawhardal Nehru University.

My opinion: Get ready to hear more about India in Latin America. In addition to a 1.1 billion population, democracy and a booming economy, India will offer an alternative economic role model -- based on exporting services rather than manufacturing -- that some in the region will find more appealing than China's. Lagos, the former Chilean president, knew what he was talking about.

In other Caribbean items,
Former tinpot dictator Daniel Noriega of Panama will be released from prison later this year:

When Noriega steps out of his specially built, apartment-like cell at the Federal Correctional Institution in Southwest Miami-Dade, he probably won't be free. Noriega -- reportedly 68 or 72, depending on conflicting birth records -- is wanted in Panama and in France.

Noriega was sentenced to a 30-year term for protecting Colombian cocaine shipments through Panama in the 1980s.

At least he can still speak out: Former Chavez confidant becomes critic in Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez's political mentor -- who once persuaded the fiery leader to seek power through elections after he led a failed coup -- now says the regime has "all the characteristics of a dictatorial government."

Richard Rahn writes about the Collapsing Venezuela

Venezuela no longer has an independent central bank, and inflation is already up to 17 percent and rapidly rising. We know countries thrive with economic freedom but decline without it, and Venezuela is now down to 126 out of 130 nations in the 2006 Economic Freedom of the World the most rapid decline ever (in 1995 it was No. 75). And, finally, we know that when a state becomes totally corrupt an economic collapse always follows.

Here are some NEW DEAD CASTRO RUMORS, in case you thought I forgot.

Meanwhile in South America,
Evo replaced seven out of 16 ministers of his cabinet - a day after celebrating his first year in office.

In Spanish: Los muertos de Castro, a must-see video on The Cuba Archive:

An Excellent Economic State of the Union, and today's other items

An Excellent Economic State of the Union

More than 55 million Americans, or four out of every 10 workers, left their jobs in 2005. Since there were more than 57 million new hires that same year, this is good news. It also means that new hires exceeded employee separations by an average of 364,000 per month. Per month!

Eat your heart out, Lou Dobbs.

The fact is, jobs continue to boom. So do real incomes, productivity and profits. Economist Michael Darda points out that real wages over the first five years of the Bush expansion are actually growing more rapidly than over the first five years of the Papa Bush/Bill Clinton boom.

Meanwhile, unemployment today is only 4.5 percent. Federal, state and local tax collections are soaring through the roof. Budget deficits are plunging. Inflation-adjusted GDP is averaging just more than 3 percent. Family wealth stands at a record of slightly more than $54 trillion. Total employment is at a record 146 million.

Stock markets, as you might have noticed, also continue to rise. They have done so, almost without interruption, for four years, on the shoulders of a remarkable surge in business profits -- which itself is a function of the high-tech, knowledge-based product explosion.

These corporate profits, along with our record-setting stock markets, have enriched the more than 100 million investors who are participating in this prosperity. In fact, this America boom is spearheading a global economic surge. While the American free-market model is often derided as "cowboy capitalism," imitation remains the sincerest form of flattery. And it isn't just China, India and Russia who are acquiescing to the worldwide spread of American capitalism. It's also Eastern Europe and parts of South America. Heck, even the socialists in Old Europe -- like France and Germany -- are getting into the act by reducing individual and corporate tax rates to promote growth.

The Terrorist Defense Initiative

Simply put, the most important question for U.S. leaders is: What set of policies is most likely to prevent Islamist terrorists from arriving in Los Angeles, or any other American community, with the capacity to kill thousands of people?

Ultimately, the attitude of voters toward any national security initiative presented as part of the "war on terror" will be determined by how they answer their own version of this question: Does this policy increase or decrease the chances Islamist terrorists will kill me, my family or my neighbors?

Two different war strategies

Michael Fumento has Yet more on the attack on OP Hotel ("The Ramadi Inn"). Don't miss it. Again, it is the embed independent journalists and bloggers who are reporting the real news in Iraq.

Rocco's back from Iraq go read about it. (h/t Jeremayakovka)

Somehow, it's hard to imagine Hillary Clinton waxing about any gossamer meadow.
-----------------------------------------------
In a lighter mode,
I've met Charles, and that man in the photo is definitely not Charles. Jeff Jarvis's picture is blurry, and they found Glenn Reynold's high school graduation photo. I could have sent them a current picture of Glenn.
On the other hand, I hope that Forbes will use this picture if they ever confuse me with anyone else.
Update Forbes now has the right guy!

Underwear outerwear
The latest from Milan,
Via The Manolo, Leggings Are the New Must-Have. The last guys I've seen wearing leggings were the guys from ballet class.

A lot of women, and all men, don't look good in leggings. Not even gay men.

And let's not forget the Deadwood underwear of choice,

Trousers: don't leave home without them.

Tuesday night cat blogging

From Maria, who also loves cats,
Kitten on the keys

An appeal: In memory of Juan A. Diaz Domenech

This morning I received an email,

Fausta,
I have come upon your blog while searching the internet for information concerning a US soldier who was killed in action in Vietnam. My hope is that you, as a native of Santurce, will be able to give my request a new direction.

The 35th Infantry Regiment Association has a separate memorial page on our website, 35th Infantry Regiment Association dedicated to each soldier that was killed in action while we were deployed to Vietnam.

We remember and respect these soldiers who were like a brother to us and we have been trying to get a photo of each and every one of the 617 brothers that made the ultimate sacrifice. To date, we have over 500 pictures.

PFC Juan A. Diaz-Domenech, died on September 23rd, 1969. He was a resident of Santurce, Pr. His parents, Mr and Mrs. Tomas Diaz, resided at 829 Condital Final/ Cantera, Santurce at that time.

My search for a picture of Juan might be found in newspaper archives or in a high school yearbook as he was 20 years old when he was KIA. If you could give me some email addresses or even snail-mail addresses for the Santurce school system, Police, churches, funeral homes etc. then it might it be possible for them to scan and email me his picture.
...
Thank you sincerely,
Peter J. Birrow peter.birrow@mbcr.net

I emailed Mr. Birrow several links on schools, funeral homes, the metropolitan San Juan Police Department, and other similar links.

However, if any of my readers has more information on Juan A. Diaz Domenech, I'll be very grateful if you could contact Mr. Birrow. I'll also email other bloggers with this appeal.

The Mommy Party, hiding behind the children

The 2008 presidential campaign is barely starting (of course, for Hillary it never ended) and I've already had it up to here with the maternity pitch. I really don't care to hear whether Grandma Nancy or Nagging Hillary want to justify their ambition for power on children - in fact I find it despicable - for a number of reasons:

For starters, my reasons are personal:
I was childless for many years. All the while I held a variety of jobs and did not use fertility as an excuse or as a motivator for my professional performance because doing so is not professional. Indeed, I didn't bring up the matter at all, unlike many of my female coworkers, who brought up every detail of their private lives particularly but not exclusively when in the company of other women. After my son was born I chose to be a stay-at-home mom, which in this town is frowned upon by the very people (mostly women) who are staunch Hillary supporters. Now I'm in the absurd situation of hearing those same women bragging about how Nancy and Hillary are so great because of their children.

(BTW, to this day no man, no matter how liberal, has opined to me that it was wrong of me to be a stay-at-home mom. I'm sure the average guy can tell I'd verbally tear him up one side and down the other if he dared. I'm happy to say that a few men have expressed support of my decision, including two stay-at-home dads.)

Then there's the political reason,

Strategists say that talking about motherhood is reassuring to voters, some of whom are still uncomfortable with women in powerful jobs. It also helps create a narrative for their lives that connects them to mainstream and traditionalist voters.

"Raising children is certainly something both have in common with millions of Americans, and parents everywhere worry about their kids' future, so why not talk about it?" said Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter. "It's really no different than talking about a military record or experience in running a business - it gives voters a sense of who you are."

The difference, Ms Cutter, is that those politicians are using their children for political profit. While obviously you find no problem with that, some of us find it reprehensible. As Betsy puts it,

I prefer the candidates who draw a line of privacy between their families and their political aspirations. And now when we're at war, I'm more interested in how these candidates propose to keep us safe than I am with how they juggled motherhood and a political career.

And then there's Hillary. As I pointed out last month, this is a woman whose marriage of convenience is a subject entirely out of the "conversation", and whose ghost-written book proposes that the state (i.e., "village") is responsible for children. Not that this is new tactics for the Clintons: Thinkin'bout Stuff remembers the 1992 "town hall" residential debate, (emphasis added)

I remember thinking, at the time, what a great move this was to try to move away from a real debate to an emotional discourse which clearly favored Clinton over Bush (with Perot being more entertainment value, and likely spoiler, than serious candidate). Clearly, we were not looking for a leader, we were looking for a daddy who would take care of us. Essentially this highlights the difference between the theory of Socialism (as opposed to the stark reality) and Capitalism… with Socialism (again in theory), daddy government provides for the people; with Capitalism, the people are given the opportunity to provide for themselves. So if you can frame the debate so that the only way to win is to show how much you care for us and will take care of our needs, the Socialist candidate wins. Of course this whole Socialism thing falls apart unless you have good Capitalists to grab the money from to support the Socialist agenda.

Hillary is using the children to hide the naked viciousness that lies underneath the Botox and soft-focus "conversation". As Dr. Sanity explains

Hillary Clinton did not get where she is today by being a person of integrity, honesty and courage--she got there by riding on the coattails of her charismatic husband; and by shrewdly altering her opinions to accommodate the prevailing political winds. And, oh yes, by ruthlessly destroying whoever got in her way. And even her base is able to recognize this about her, although she is extremely careful never to dirty her own hands. Like the Hamas and Hezbollah gunmen who shield themselves with innocent women and children, Hillary and her spouse have always had a ready supply of useful fall-guys (recall Vince Foster's suicide or Sandy Berger's recent archival exploits, for example) to take responsibility for their misdeeds.

That is why candidates like Obama are so attractive: because this same voting base that once adored Hillary now find her too too obvious and coarse, and have swung over to the unknown, tabula rasa candidate on whom they are able to project their own fantasies without any intrusion by harsh reality.

Expect to see the lovely Hilary, whose grandiosity and ambition matches that of her philandering husband ounce for ounce, lash out unmercifully toward anyone who threatens her political ambitions; but definitely not at Islamic Jihadists--unless it happens to be politically expedient and popular to do so. As the campaign progresses, her views will move ever leftward to accommodate whomsoever she decides she needs to co-opt in order to achieve her ambitions.

Right now, it is smart for her to play both sides--to speak toughly, and carry a little stick, so to speak. (The "mommy" alternative, I suppose, to politically incorrect paternalism)

Not as an alternative - simply the other face of the same coin. Pateralism, schmaternalism, it all comes down to more government control.

Expect much more of this from the "Mommy party".

It's only the beginning, folks.

Update Don't miss seejanemom's post on Nonni Pelosi
Komrade Hillary jumps in

Awwwww, poor Hillary. Grabby husband that's sure to be a liability one way or the other, only $14 mil in the war chest, cameras pointing away from her. And she even forgot (?) to include a flag in the background of her "annoucement" video. No flag? What's up with that? Surely it's not any anti-American sentiment, is it?

From the blogroll, and today's other items

Pamela has a post, ATLAS EXPOSE: ISLAMIC CHARITY SHAM! MUSLIM ABUSE SHELTER TAX SHELTER? regarding the North American Islamic Shelter for the Abused.

The HILL Chronicles Exclusive: McCain will run for President in '08

Pajamas Media's running a straw poll, and the first results are in.

Shooting the messenger - reactions to "Undercover Mosque"

A truly beautiful and interesting blog, Blogging in Paris, posts about Gitta and Roza by the river

The weather in Spain is so cold (how cold is it?), Barcepundit's wondering if Al Gore's in Barcelona. John Ast posts press reactions to the recent gang activity by the Latin Kings.

From Maria
Black racism

Today's "24" post

SPOILERS AHEAD
You've been told

While you wait for tonight's episode,
Fantasy and Reality: 24 and the War on Terror

Me, I'm still mad at Jack for killing Curtis.
I liked Curtis.

Chloe better watch herself.

Baghdad's warlord

Sidney Morning Herald reporter Paul McGeough's TV program on Abu Deraa, Baghdad's Warlord is available on line.

Update
The transcript of Dispatches: Undercover Mosque (which I mentioned last week) is available on line.
Hat tip: Gates of Vienna, which has a post on what the Brits were watching last week.

Following up on Marie Claire's Mecca Stars, Ayaan Hirsi Ali

A friend who visits my blog and who has a subscription to Marie Claire dropped by on Saturday to bring me the latest issue, February 2007.

She had read my post on the Marie Claire's Mecca Stars article from the December issue. Of course my friend was outraged over the glamorizing of the hijab. She wrote to Marie Claire asking that they cancel her subscription but she's still receiving the mags (sounds familiar, doesn't it?).

The latest issue has two letters to the editor, one deploring the work conditions endured by the workers who build the shopping malls in Dubai, and another one talking about how empowered the veiled women really are. Nothing new there.

On the last page of the magazine there's an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, whose book Infidel has come out, where she says, (emphasis added)

Q: As a Somali-born member of the Dutch parliament, you spoke out about how Islam violated women's rights.
A: People were hearing immigrants say the same thing [about assimilation] over and over. I said, "Certain things about Muslim culture, the way we treat our women and practice our faith, make it difficult for us to assimilate into Dutch society." It caused a huge commotion, which I have not been able to recover from in Holland.

Q: In Infidel, you write about your grandmother overseeing your genital mutilation in Somalia when you were 5. Was this typical for little girls there?
A: There are 6,000 girls mutilated very day, according to the UN., 135 million girls have been mutilated. Those who practice it see it as cleansing. I try to explain in the book how my grandmother believed she was doing us a big favor.

Q: In the Netherlands, as a refugee from a forced marriage, you gradually discarded Muslim attire and, at 22, bought your first pair of jeans. How did that feel?
A: Like jumping to the top of Mount Everest. On one hand, I thought I was sinning and would end up tortured in hell - if I put on jeans, or uncovered my hair or any part of my skin, I might drive strange men into a frenzy. On the other hand, I'd be able to ride a bicycle.

Q: What do you say to Muslim women who fight for the right to wear the head scarf?
A: I say that's fine - unless you impose your personal choice on others. If you wear the veil, the message you convey is that you're superior to women who do not, because you're saying they are whores. You're also saying men are incapable of sexual self-restraint, and that if they see women who are partly covered or not veiled, they will react like my grandmother's he-goat.

I haven't found the interview on the Marie Claire website, but if/when I do, I'll post the link.

Christopher Hitchens wrote about Ms Ali last May, before she was forced to leave the Netherlands.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book, Infidel, is available from Amazon:


Update:
Atlas Shrugs posts on it today.
CUANAS blog posted on the Mecca Stars article last November: Fascist fashion and Hitler's home
Peaktalk links.

Related prior posts
The Veil Controversy
The Veil

Update, 24 January: Welcome, Andrew Sullivan readers.