Saturday evening Etta

Wonderful good news!

Captain Ed's First Mate is doing fantastic, and so is her donor.

Tomorrow: Second Annual Rally against Islamo-Fascism

Rally Against Islamo-Fascism Day (R.A.I.D.)

The UNITED AMERICAN COMMITTEE will be holding its
Second Annual Rally against Islamo-Fascism
March 31st, 2007 at GROUND ZERO
corner Liberty & Trinity Place (Church St)
From 12 Noon to 2 PM

This National Rally will be held simultaneously in Los Angeles, Boston, Columbia, Missouri as well as Orlando, Florida.

The United American Committee is an organization committed to Public Awareness and Education in the battle against Radical Islamic-Jihad. The
PC-"police" in co-operation with organizations like CAIR are continuing to control the information-highway; withholding the truth about Jihad through intimidation. We must stop the deception!
The World-Wide Jihad against our Western Culture and the control of our American Press by such apologists as CAIR is real. The intimidation is real. And the American Public must Wake-Up to this threat; a threat to our schools, our culture and our public safety; slowly eroding our laws and our safety from within through lack of Public Awareness.

Please join us at Ground Zero on March 31st, 2007.

Representatives from such organizations as NYICE, NYPAICE, CSDL(Coalition for a Secure Drivers License) GET OUT THE FACTS (which had success recently picketing and challenging the lies and distortions in the Off-Broadway play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie"), NJCIC, as well as a representative from The David Horowitz Freedom Foundation and surviving family members of the 9-11 Holocaust at Ground Zero will join us and many others TBA as we challenge CAIR: " They claim they are in support of America and against terrorism. Well, CAIR is more than welcome to stand with us and condemn bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorists by name at this rally."

This will be a joint effort of organizations with a common goal of educating others to the dangers posed by Radical Islam. "This is an opportunity for people of all walks of life to come together, setting aside political or religious differences." remarks United American Committee Chairman Jesse Petrilla, who also noted that Muslims are especially encouraged to join in the rallies.
Also, meet the blogosphere: live! Those who help in this fight to tell the truth about Radical Islam, such as KesherTalk, WhatAreTheySaying, UrbanInfidel and ThePeoplesCube, amongst many others.
All will speak to these on-going dangers; what we must do to protect ourselves today and to save our tomorrows for our children and our children's children through Public Awareness and Legislation.

Contact : Pamela Hall
NewYork@UnitedAmericanCommittee.org

WWTD?

What would Thatcher do?

Can anyone imagine Mrs T wringing her hands in this way over Iran's seizure of our Marines?

Emboldened by the Iranian hostage crisis, now the Argentinians are growing a pair: B Aires hardens Falklands stance

Argentina has toughened its stance over the disputed Falklands Islands, days ahead of the 25th anniversary of its invasion of what it calls the Malvinas.

I'm not the only one asking.

Update, Sunday 1 April Poke them with a fork, because they're done ... done for, that is. Steyn writes about the smiling eunuch
Tomorrow April 2 at noon, my guest will be Monica Showalter of Investor's Business Daily

We will discuss the Falklands, and Latin America.

Everything old is new again in today's items

Democrats Vote to Leave Iraq- 34 Years After the US Left Vietnam... To the Day (Video)

Jules has Good news and bad news.

Iran Humiliates Hostages again.
Special thanks to Larwyn.

Via Maria, The influence of George Soros.

I believe it was George Burns who said, "you live long enough, you get to hear every joke at least twice", and the same thing happens with junk science: Back in the early 1990s before my son was born there was a rumor that a pregnant mothers' consumption of beef meant a reduced sperm counts in their sons. Like George Burns's jokes, we're hearing this one again (h/t Augusto). As Peter Allen sang, Everything Old Is New Again
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And for something new, the latest JibJab, What We Call the News

Blatherin' Rosie

Via Mara, LGF has the video

Rosie: "For the first time in history steel was melted by fire." Wrong Rosie: steel is melted by fire each and every day around the world. What's melting are the few neurons left in what you call a brain inside your head.

Gerard has an excellent post,

Be sure to tell yourself that whatever has happened to you, it is not your fault. Be a post-post-modern American. Be an eternal victim. You've got it coming.

When the going gets tough, blame your genes and demand that all share your pain, send you a check, and pay extra for medical research to cure what ails you. For free. It's you're right written right there in the invisible ink between the lines of the Constitution.

When the going gets really tough, blame George Bush, the center of all the evil that is America. Besides, the people that really want to kill you are far too numerous and far too dedicated to your death to contemplate. It is much lighter on the breaking brain to believe that George Bush wants to kill your right to dissent even if it is much harder to see. Your real enemies are far too frightening to contemplate. Your secret hope is that they'll burn you in an instant in some thermonuclear fire so you don't have to be around to put everything back together.

Don't think for a minute that you are unraveling what is left of your social fabric. Who needs clothes in the dark? You are only taking advantage of your First Amendment rights. What was the Second one? Oh, that's the bad one. Then there's 5. And the others? Who remembers? Who can count that high these days?

The excerpt from Gerard's post doesn't do it justice, so make sure to read it all (thank you Larwyn).

And don't even look at the UN:
I mean, watch this:


(h/t Atlas)
The United States remains the UN's largest contributor.

We pay 22% of its regular budget, and about 27% of its peacekeeping costs. On top of that, we give generously to support the work of UN agencies providing humanitarian relief, electoral assistance, food aid, and more.

When are we going to wake up?

Amazing Grace, Beowulf and Janis

I was going to blog about the troop withdrawl bill and the Democrat's proposal for the largest tax hike in American history. I find both subjects profoundly depressing: One will get us killed, the other one will get us broke. And the Dems will pass both with, as they say in Spanish, bombo y platillo, which literally translated is drums and cymbals, or in Monty Python's words, "with much rejoicing".

That will be the soundtrack of their grab for power, the echoes of which the Caliphate Islam will no doubt replay for propagandistic purposes. The same Caliphate Islam that denies its followers the pleasures of music.

I had outlined the post but before I finished it I was thinking of going to a lecture at the University discussing Presidential legacies and possibly using something from that lecture. However, even when the person giving the lecture is not a Bush hater, I know that the audience will be filled with people who actively despise the President.

They live in hate.

Their hate feeds their complacency which feeds their hate.

A couple of months ago I was at a lecture where being surrounded by such a crowd had a toxic effect on me.

This afternoon I decided I'd pass, both on the lecture and on the post (I would have been at the lecture right now). I'm saving my energy for Saturday.

So after going through my email I was visiting other blogs, and found that Hot Air has a video promoting Amazing Grace. I had posted about my experience with the hymn, but never got around posting about the movie. The movie is beautiful. My only misgiving is that only the first stanza of the hymn is played in the movie, when the others are more meaningful:

T'was Grace that taught
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
then when we've first begun.

Certainly a song for our times.

It's been a day for songs.

Today's class on Beowulf started with Janis Joplin: The professor started the lecture by playing a CD of Janis Joplin's Ball and Chain

Back when Janice was singing the blues I wasn't even in college yet, and I've been blessed with a happy life so I've never felt the kind of pain that compelled her to tear out her heart while saying,

Hon', tell me why love is like
Just like a ball
Just like a ball
Baaaaaaalllll
Oh daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy
And a chain.

But the lecture was interesting, in that the destructive force of Grendel is awakened by the song of the world.

Is the destructive force of our time awakened by the songs of our world? The songs of Grace, the songs of joy, the songs of love, the songs of heartbreak, all the songs we are free to create, and sing, and buy, and play - the songs that the evil in men's hearts will try to stifle?

One can't help but wonder.

Look who's green with ethanol envy:

Castro hits out at US biofuel use

Cuban President Fidel Castro has strongly criticised the use of biofuels by the US, in his first article since undergoing surgery last year.

He said George W Bush's support for the use of food crops in fuel production would cause 3bn deaths from hunger.

The article in the Granma newspaper did not mention Mr Castro's health.

As the AP's Anita Snow puts it,

The article is written in the same kind of apocalyptic style Castro typically adopts when discussing the impact of U.S. international policies on developing nations.

(Anita also added, "and there was no reason to doubt he was the author." Val might disagree. But I digress.)

'Fidel' now tells us ethanol is sinister. Will the Left be repeating his line? You betcha.

For starters, Fidel is factually wrong:

As more and more corn grain is diverted to make ethanol, there have been public concerns about food shortages. However, ethanol made from cellulosic materials instead of corn grain, renders the food vs. fuel debate moot, according to research by a Michigan State University ethanol expert.

The findings, which are being presented by Bruce Dale today at the ACS meeting in Chicago show that,

"The evidence indicates that large-scale biofuel production will increase, not decrease, world food supplies by making animal feed production much more efficient," Dale said.

But never mind that.

The real reason Fidel thinks ethanol is sinister is because it is a threat to his Communist Revolucion, be it in Cuba, in Venezuela, or elsewhere. As a Cuban minister recently said, "in order for the revolution to survive, it needs the poor".

An ethanol boom in Latin America will create great wealth and prosperity, and is already attracting investment and trade in Central and South America and the Caribbean. As I mentioned in a recent post,

• Sugarcane is grown in many countries throughout the region
• Countries that do not produce sugarcane but have ethanol processing facilities are benefiting from being exempt of the onerous ethanol tariffs.
• "An ethanol boom in Latin America would also attract investment to rural areas and create lots of jobs.That might help to reduce the steady northward stream of illegal immigrants. It would certainly burnish America's image, and stem support for anti-American tub-thumpers such as Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. He has won friends throughout the region by selling oil cheaply. By sharing technology and promoting investment in ethanol, America would also be reducing Latin America's fuel bill. If it bought lots of ethanol from its neighbours, it would be providing them with a lucrative export of their own."

And that wealth won't be limited to Latin America: Just this week the World Bank is helping Brazil export ethanol technology to African countries such as Ghana, Angola (where Fidel tried to export his revolution by sending troops), and Mozambique.

On a more personal note, I'm sure Fidel must be particularly incensed that sugarcane is bringing wealth to the region, after he ruined the Cuban sugar industry.

As Fidel himself said,

The sinister idea of converting food into combustibles was definitively established as the economic line of foreign policy of the United States

And let's do it right, by abolishing all farm subsidies and tariffs.

Previous post on here.
----------------------------------------------
In a somewhat related topic, Alvaro Vargas Llosa explains
Why Perfect Totalitarianism Is Impossible:

The lesson of our time, a decade and a half after the fall of communism in Europe, is that the slow, almost geological, accumulation of little bits of heroism throughout society can bring down a totalitarian giant over time. These acts of heroism, both inside and outside the structure of power, constitute the best hope for countries in which governments continue to enslave millions of people today.

But even if these acts of silent heroism are not enough to cause all despots to come tumbling down, they are at least enough to keep the human spirit alive. That is a comforting thought.

Via Dr. Sanity, who today explores the economic interaction of humans.

Pork in today's items

List that pork, Dana. As Betsy said,

Not only does this bill send the message to our enemies in Iraq that all they have to do is wait us out until the congressional deadline and then they can move in to wreak their terror on Iraq. But concerns about what would happen in Iraq or the rest of the Middle East after this pullout was secondary to posturing before the public and squeezing out more taxpayer money for their pet projects.

---------------------------------------------------
Today California will become the first state to decide whether or not it will continue to do business with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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Calories, not Chemicals, Make us Fat. Michael knows: he wrote a book about it:

Michael also has a post about the best Combat Video of 2006.
---------------------------------------------------
Cliff May writes about A Dangerous Woman: Why Islamists want to kill Ayaan Hirsi Ali
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In a lighter mode,
You know what I'll be reading when it comes out:
UK Final "Harry Potter" book cover revealed. The American cover looks different,

Send the Elephant to Baghdad!

It's been a busy day here at Fausta's blog, but I have a request for my readers,

RedState has been invited by the Pentagon to go to Iraq, and they are raising funds to send Jeff and Academic Elephant. Long-term readers of Fausta's blog know that Elephants in Academia has been a most valuable source of information and insightful commentary on Venezuela. I regard her as one of my friends I haven't met yet.

Go support their trip, and if you're a blogger, ask your readers, too.

Bloggers' call with Sen. John McCain

I just had the pleasure of participating in a blogger's call sponsored by Patrick Hynes of American spectator with Sen. John McCain, who's also been in the media this morning explaining to the American public the consequences of the Democrat's horrible bill by which they are bribing their own members through pork to limit funding for the troops in Iraq and setting time limits for troop withdrawals.

Sen McCain suggested that Pres. Bush read the list of pork to the American people.

He also stated, "Yes, we lost in Viet Nam, but they didn't follow us home. Is there anybody who doesn't believe that this [war] is not part of the gigantic struggle between ourselves and radical Islamic extremism? That's the huge difference."

As to the 15 British troops held hostage by the Iranians, the Senator didn't mince words,

"This kidnapping has upped the ante. It should serve as a cautionary tale, particularly with Israel. It should send a wake-up call to our friends in Europe, the UN... this is a radical group of very dangerous people. Weakness in Iraq reflects all around the world, particularly in the Middle East.

The US should do an examination of all options, and also make clear that we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel."

More at The Corner

Update: Others blogging on the call:
Granite Grok
David All Group
Ooutside the beltway
Eye on 08
Matt Lewis from Townhall Blog
NY Sun Politics, who asked,

McCain-Feingold having had its five-year anniversary yesterday, and with so much campaign activity on YouTube and elsewhere on the Web these days, do we need new regulations to ensure transparency?

The senator's answer fell short of unequivocal, but he essentially said he'd be quite skeptical of the need for any new Internet-related campaign-finance controls.

"I'd be very reluctant," Mr. McCain said. "I think, clearly, it's added a whole new dimension to informing the American people. … This is what we want to happen."

"Young Americans are really profiting by this," Mr. McCain added, as the Internet is aiding their getting more involved in politics. "I think it's a marvelous change."

He reiterated, the short answer to my question: "No."

While this is certainly the answer conservative bloggers — including this one — would want to hear, the issue will bear close observation

American Spectator

Update 2 Sen. McCain has an on-line petition
(h/t Cassandra

The "youths" are still rioting, but now at one of the main train stations

This morning's top story in the France2 8AM newscast was the rioting in the Gare du Nord, one of the largest train and subway terminals in Paris. The Gare du Nord is also a terminus for the Eurostar trains.
In French:


Clashes erupt at Paris' Gare du Nord

Riot police firing tear gas and brandishing batons clashed Tuesday with bands of youths who shattered windows and looted shops at a major Paris train station, and officials said seven people were arrested.

Officers and police dogs charged at groups of marauding youths, some of them wearing hoods, who mingled with commuters and travelers at the Gare du Nord — one of Paris' most important transport hubs.

Clashes erupt at Paris train station

Officials from Paris' RATP public transport authority said the violence started after a man without a Metro ticket punched two inspectors during a routine ticket check. Youths also attacked the inspectors and later turned on police patrolling the station, officials said.

"The inspectors were hit with projectiles, as were the officers who came to assist them," said Luc Poignant, an official for the Force Ouvriere police union.

But youths at the station said Tuesday's clashes started when police manhandled a young person of North African origin. Some claimed that the youth's arm was broken in the confrontation.

Surely, "some" could actually show on the spot to the reporting media that it had been?

Reuters has a slide show of the rioting at the train station.

The BBC, however, shows that Violence spilled out of the station and on to nearby streets

The youths who gathered in the Gare du Nord on Tuesday shouted insults about Mr Sarkozy.

They also chanted slogans of "police are everywhere, justice is nowhere" and "down with the state, police and bosses".

Police took several hours to clear rioters from the station's main hall.

The violence was sparked when a 33-year-old man without a ticket jumped over a barrier.

Transport officials said the man punched two ticket inspectors who asked for his ticket as part of a routine inspection. He was eventually arrested by police.

But a growing crowd felt that the police had used excessive force to arrest the man, and their protest turned violent.

The riots spilled out into nearby streets, where rubbish bins and street signs were set on fire.

It took the police eight hours to control the area.

In the fashion we've grown accustomed to expect from the Left, the Socialists say the hostility between police and young people is a direct result of the hardline policies of Mr Sarkozy, the Interior Minister.

Never mind that on the day before the rioting, March 26, Sarko had resigned his post as Interior Minister in order to concentrate in campaigning for the presidency.

Upon hearing that he was being blamed, Sarkozy replied (link in French),

"We are the only country where it's considered that it's not normal to stop somebody because he doesn't pay for his ticket".

Via Atlas, The Astute Blogger posts on the Sarkozy intifada. Indeed, France2's 1PM news/talk show (link in French) speculated on how this riot might affect the election.

Others blogging on this:
Feisty
LGF reminds us of the law banning citizen journalists from reporting violence
Nidra Poller

Update: L'Ombre de l'Olivier (emphasis added):

In other words the "youths" felt that their fare dodging mate should not have been arrested. This is not noticeably different from the spark for the previous riots when the two kids got electrocuted under disputed circumstances. However that is not what I found most interesting. What is interesting is the identity of the various witnesses quoted by AP.

Firstly there is "Commuter Cyril Zidou, a 24-year-old electrician", then there is "Another commuter, Guy Elkoun" and thirdly there is "Shopkeeper Mohamed Mamouni". All three of these names are distinctly non-French, i.e. it seems highly likely that all three are of immigrant background. At least two, and probably all three, of them are apparently gainfully employed and therefore not the stereotypical unemployed immigrant that some sections of the media and the blogosphere would have you believe is the entire population of the Parisian suburbs. These people are in fact the ones most affected by the lawless "youths" and they are the ones that the rest of France needs to ensure stays loyal to France for the state to continue to rule the entire nation.

As Roger says, the article makes it clear that the "youths" have never really stopped rioting, the news media stopped covering it when the worst rioting stopped but nothing much else has changed. This means that the divide between the unemployed (and frequently unemployable) youths and the rest remains. And this in turn means that even though the riot isn't directly related to the elections if unrest continues it is likely to have an effect on the polls. What effect is unclear.

Sarko can probably do a slopey shoulders trich to weasel his way out of responsibility for the continuing problems but he may be better advised to not do so. Part of his appeal is that he is willing to act and take responsibility for his acts so in this case he may want to take responsibility for failure to act completely as interior minister and then promsie to do better as president. While he has not yet done that, so far he seems to be the only candidate willing to stand up and say something .

Read it all.

More
Eurosoc
No Pasaran
You Tube, in French,

A blog for all
Tel-Chai Nation
Andrew Bolt
Jihad Watch

Welcome, Instapundit and Red State readers. I invite you to listen to my podcasts, and please visit often.

UPDATE, Thursday, 29 March IBD editorial:

But rioters sought to shift the debate, saying it was all about Sarko, not their unwillingness to obey the law, get a job or assimilate into French society.

It's unlikely the political shading of the act will be lost on French voters. The rioting amounted to a low-level intimidation effort, different only in degree, not kind, from the psychology of the al-Qaida terror attacks that hit Spain before its last election in 2004.

It worked in Spain. Voters there caved, giving the terrorists the weak leaders they wanted. Clearly Sarko, with his tough law-and-order stance, is someone the rioters would like to take down.

But there are signs political coercion in France might not work. Sarkozy remains a strong front-runner in the French race because voters seem to like his willingness to stand up for Western civilization, and he's made no conciliatory statements to rioters so far.

If that holds, French voters may react as Americans did when Osama bin Laden threatened new terror attacks on any U.S. state that voted for George Bush — voting as hard against the threats as they can. Sarkozy is no U.S.-style conservative, but he thinks some things are worth defending. Let's hope the French do, too.

More links,
Growth Matters
The Wide Awake Cafe
Obi's Sister

A Jacksonian posts on Syrian WMD capability

Syrian WMD Sites - The Basic List:

First, and most importantly, is that the phosphate deposits in Syria are a multi-part threat. Phosphates, of course, are used in agriculture for fertilizer and in the steel and glass-making businesses, along with standard chemical industry. Phosphate is one of the basic building blocks of life and a necessary element for life to continue. As such it also serves as the dual basis for the chemical and biological weapons development going on in Syria. The prime mover in this is that Syria has not signed on to the Chemical Weapon's Convention and feels free to develop such weapons. On the biological weapons side, things are a bit more nebulous: even though a treaty signatory, Syria has been putting together a multi-use pharmaceutical industry which would also serve as the basis for a bioweapons industry.
...
On the chemical weapons side, however, there is no doubt of Syrian manufacture of same, especially VX nerve gas and Sarin. These are both dependent upon the phosphate industry and the steep ramping up of that industry does not bode well for those trying to limit Syrian manufacture of chemical weapons.

This is a must-read.

If you can't believe this will affect you because it's clear across the world, bear in mind that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said during a visit to Damascus in August that he and Syria

will "build a new world" free of US domination, vowing eventually to "dig the grave of US imperialism."

and that Iran Air launches weekly flights to Venezuela through Syria.

More on Syria and WMDs from A Jacksonian,
Syrian WMD facilities: Palymra and Homs
Fun with GIS and INTEL Analysis
Your own All Source Exploitation organization

Children kidnapped are now released

32 kids are taken hostage by the owner of a day-care center in downtown Manila.

I turned on the TV as I started making breakfast, and they were showing a man holding a grenade in his hand, inside the bus where the kids were being held. As it turned out, it was the governor, and he had taken one of the grenades that the kidnapper had removed the pins. The governor then managed to talk the kidnapper into replacing the pins in both grenades, and turning himself into the authorities who were waiting just outside the bus.

What struck me was, all the adults waiting for the kids stayed right there, no matter that the grenades could have exploded.

I thank God that these children were saved.

Porch blogging

It's 80F, and the porch is the place to be:

The new earphones/microphone just arrived, too.

Life is good.
---------------------------------------------------------
Later,
I haven't watched a lot of Rome, but I love Pullo.
Hugh Hewitt had this,

Let's hear it for the big guy!

Israel in the foreign media: JP's Gil Hoffman at Princeton University

UPDATE: I completed the post and the lecture is now posted in full
Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent and analyst for the Jerusalem Post, was on campus yesterday afternoon and the subject of his lecture was Israel in the eyes of the foreign media.

The lecture, which coincided with Hans Blix's, was not promoted heavily and I wasn't the only person in the audience to learn about it at the last minute. Unlike the al-Jazeera lecture of April 13, 2005, this one was sparsely attended, with an audience of only 40 or so. He's a most interesting guy, and I decided to post nearly all my notes on the lecture.

Hoffman's main contact at his job is giving interviews with foreign media, such as CNN, BBC. Of them, mostly al-Jazeera is tremendously interested in what's going on in the country. When the Prime Minister gave a 45-minute long press conference regarding rape accusations, the local TV stations stopped after the first 20 minutes, but al-Jazeera carried the whole press conference. Having the al-Jazeera coverage not only in the conflict but in cultural and social events in the country shows the Arab world that Israel has more to offer than the conflict.

During the Barak years there was no foreign media spokesman, and the only on who spoke English detested Barak.

The Israeli military studied what happened in Jenin - where the fighting was reported as a massacre against the Palestinians, something that couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, the troops had gone house-to-house to minimize casualties while trying to find terrorists. As there was no foreign media to do the reporting, the Palestinians got out a blood libel. From then on, the Israeli mililitary have made very effort possible to make sure the media go everywhere they go. No doubt this has improved how Israel comes across in the foreign media.

In contrast, last Summer there was a lot of media based in Jerusalem - and the media understood that it was Israel's international border that was being defended.

Israel faces four major threats:

Iran
Syria/Lebanon
Palestinians
Internal rifts inside Isr society that threaten to tear from within: Divides between rich poor, Askenazi/Spahardic, Right/Left, all thses issues divide israelis.

The most scary? Iran.
Nuclear weapons: having them at all because if Iran has them the entire country of Israel would be the way Northern Israel was last country within range last Summer: The whole country would have to go down south or underground. Who would want to live in such a country? Iran is also developing longer range missiles to reach Europe; the US has established an antimissile base in Poland. Additionally, Iran supports Chavez; Iran then talks about the Jewish state from Israel and in Florida.

However, Hoffman genuinely thinks things will be alright, as the issue's being handled discreetly at the highest levels. Olmert has been helping the country by networking with foreign powers ever since he was mayor of Jerusalem, and continues to this day, travelling to Russia China, Egypt London, US, and France, returning more optimistic after each visit.

A second reason for optimism: what is going on in American politcs. A lame duck President has to worry only about his place in history; if he saves the wold from nuclear destruction that will certainly earn him a place. The Democrat oposition now they alreay have the blue states and a way to gain red states is to prove they are tough. There's a stream of Dem candidates visiting Israel, plus they want the Republicans to deal with Iran before they go the White House.
Additionally, the previous UN Secretary General never understood the fundamentalism threat. Now Ban Ki-moon's trying to prevent North Korea from developing atomic weapons, but Iran is also a top priority.
Politics inside Iran: Ahmadinejad is losing the support of his people and there's anger against him. As mayor, he improved the conditions of Tehran but has now brought the world against Iran. The Iranians need outside assistance to feed their people. Israel is hopeful that sanctions will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

What matters most is the politics in Israel. Used to be that generals were in charge, now Olmert is in charge but Israelis trust generals more. Hoffman said that in 62 days, Peretz (Minister of Defense) will be replaced, and the 2 leading candidates are miliary men. Israel needs a ough guy as Min of Def, as Nassralla head of Hizbollah, said last Summer that he wanted to test the weak leadership.

Ofense and defense
Defense: Israel has the Arrow Missile Defense System, which was tested again yesterday.
Ofense: Israel won't be acting alone but with the countries that Olmert visited this last year acting together. When an Israeli general said last year, "Sometimes the last resort is the only resort", it was the first time anyone had hinted at military option. In Iran they are scared of Israel, and the enemies are still scared of the Jewish state.

I'll continue on this post later today. Continuing:
The threat from Syria and Lebanon:
Hoffman went to the north during the bombing last Summer. Dodging missiles and living in shelters was terrible for Israel to endure. However, the media didn’t get to see any of the damage because Iraelis don't dwell in their victimhood. After suicide bombings they clean up immediately, and everything had been rebuilt immediately after the bombings from Lebanon. Israelis have resilience and morbid sense of humor.
They have to prepare for another war next Summer: those 4000 missiles that Hezbollah shot at Israel last year have already been replenished by Assad/Syria. Everybody in the military's been recalled for retraining. There will be pressure on Olmert to quit after results of investigation on what went wrong comes out.

Assad has three pictures in his office: his father's, Ahmadinejad's, and Nassarallah's.

The other threat are the Palestinians:
In the 14 months since they elected Hamas, Irsael had elected the government most willing to make accommodations that could have ended the conflict. Israel gave them two conditions: disarmament, and accepting the existence of Israel. Not a country in the world was supporting the Hamas government until last week, when Norway broke the boycott to spite Europe. At that time a suicide bomber was caught and a sniper attacked; Hamas claimed credit for that sniper, signaling that it’s not very smart to join Norway.

The Q&A Session:
My question was, what is being done with reporters like Charles Enderlin, who uses stringers that make up reports out of whole cloth?
Israel has a problem with foreign reporters having to rely on stringers. While Israelis speak freely in a divided kind of way, on the Palestenian street people won't say anything out of fear from their lives. An organization in Israel has offered Arabic speakers to translate in the Palestinian areas.

2. How about the BBC's fairness?
BBC sometimes is not very fair to Israel.
Al-Jazeera has never interviewed him three-against-one, the Israeli against the Arab, the Palestinian and the Lebanese.
When they interviewed him in London, the first question was "is this a land-grab?", after the withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel is not given the benefit of the doubt. He tells them that the people of Israel want peace.

3. How important is the issue of recognition?
For Israel, it's very important that its enemies allow it to exist. "Don't kill us."

4. What is the difference between al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, and the new all-Arabic BBC?
By allowing Israel's Arab-language spokespeople on Arab media, it is good for Israel because they see more Israelis as people and not enemies. As far as actual news, foreigneers and rich Arabs tend to watch al-Jazeera, but al-Arabiya's on TV screens throughtot arab world.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Update, Wednesday March 28
On a related subject, BBC pays £200,000 to 'cover up report on anti-Israel bias'

The BBC has been accused of "shameful hypocrisy" over its decision to spend £200,000 blocking a freedom of information request about its reporting in the Middle East.
...
The corporation is fighting a landmark High Court action, which starts next week, in a bid to prevent the public finding out what is in the review, which is believed to be critical of the BBC's coverage in the region.

BBC bosses have faced repeated claims that is coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict has been skewed by a pro-Palestianian bias.

The corporation famously came under fire after middle-east correspondent Barbara Plett revealed that she had cried at the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004.

The BBC's decision to carry on pursuing the case, despite the fact than the Information Tribunal said it should make the report public, has sparked fury as it flies in the face of claims by BBC chiefs that it is trying to make the corporation more open and transparent.

Politicians have branded the BBC's decision to carry on spending money, hiring the one of the country's top public law barrister in the process, as "absolutely indefensible".

They claim its publication is clearly in the public interest.

The BBC's determination to bury the report has led to speculation that the report was damning in its assessment of the BBC's coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict that the BBC wants to keep it under wraps at all costs.

h/t The Anchoress

Early Sunday evening in the 'burbs,

... a mom is lying in bed sick with a cold, napping. The TV set is on.

Her son tip-toes into the bedroom to pick up The Economist, which was on top of the dresser next to the bed.

The mom wakes up with a start, "Oh! I was just having a nightmare... Uma Thurman was in a kung-fu movie with David Carradine. It was awful."

To which he replies, "Yeah, Mom, they're playing Kill Bill on TBS right now. Look."

Fade to screechy horror movie music...

Thoughts on freedom, and today's items

ShrinkWrapped shares his Thoughts on Freedom,

A powerful argument can be made that democracy and freedom are not inevitable outcomes of human striving and in fact, are very likely to be completely in opposition to the most basic aspects of human nature. That our experiment in freedom has lasted for over 200 years is a testament to the remarkable foresight of the men who founded this nation.

And that's just the start (h/t Larwyn).

Powerline comments on the "living Constitution" the Dems love so:

I don't think that we need to look for clues to Obama's views in a 1989 Harvard Law Review article. The views of Democrats and their judicial nominees toward the Constitution have followed lines laid down in the Progressive Era by Woodrow Wilson and others. As Ryan Sager suggests in his comment on Shapiro's article, liberals already treat the Constitution as a plaything subject to the doctrine of "the living Constitution." It is a view that derives from belief in "progress" and a hostility to the Founders' belief in natural rights and limited government. In the view of the Progressives, limited government was the enemy of progress.

The assault on the Constitution in the name of progress can be seen most clearly in the academic work of Woodrow Wilson. Paul Mirengoff summarized Wilson's views in a Standard column -- "From Wilson to Hegel to Breyer" -- to which I contributed the research assistance (as Obama did for Tribe's 1989 law review article) and Paul the brainpower. Wilson drew on modern science to express his view that the Constitution was obsolete, perhaps most memorably in his 1913 book The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People." Wilson frankly detests and rejects the principles of the Founding, which he describes as "Newtonian," in favor of Darwin and the idea of Progress: The makers of our Federal Constitution read Montesquieu with true scientific enthusiasm. They were scientists in their way,—the best way of their age,—those fathers of the nation. Jefferson wrote of "the laws of Nature,"—and then by way of afterthought,—"and of Nature’s God." And they constructed a government as they would have constructed an orrery,—to display the laws of nature. Politics in their thought was a variety of mechanics. The Constitution was founded on the law of gravitation. The government was to exist and move by virtue of the efficacy of "checks and balances."

The trouble with the theory is that government is not a machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but under the theory of organic life. It is accountable to Darwin, not to Newton. It is modified by its environment, necessitated by its tasks, shaped to its functions by the sheer pressure of life. No living thing can have its organs offset against each other, as checks, and live.

Links and more at Powerline.
-----------------------------------------------
Michael Fumento, who was my Blog Talk Radio guest last week, has a new article at Tech Central Station, An Idle Computer Is the Lord's Workshop
-----------------------------------------------
IN SPANISH: Gustavo Coronel's De Presidente Electo a Dictador, round por round. If you understand written Spanish, this is a must-read.
-----------------------------------------------
From Maria, First, the dogs and cats die ...

While officials attempt to identify all aspects of the contamination, the company deals with the recall and liability, veterinarians deal with sick and dying animals, pet owners deal with concern about their animals, and lawyers race to handle the current and future lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada, there are other serious issues that must be confronted and questions that must be answered. Quickly.

Was this grain contaminated because the end product was pet food? Was it done intentionally, by whom and why?

If the ''end use'' made no difference, does that mean other imported grains, including those for human consumption, might also be contaminated?

In fact, how would we know?

-----------------------------------------------Via Linda, I saw boys murdered

Off to a lecture, but in the meantime,

I was down with a cold yesterday but today I'm well enough that I want to listen to the chief political correspondent for The Jerusalem Post speak on "Israel in the Eyes of Foreign Media". I might post on it later tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how my cold treats me.

As I said this morning, Hans Blix's going to discuss disarmament across the street from that lecture. Too bad he couldn't give the talk in Pyongyang or Tehran.

In the meantime, a little diversion,
Al Pacino leads his lady to tango heaven:

And I want that dress.

Today on Blog Talk Radio: the upcoming rally on Saturday

Update There's a slight delay at Blog Talk Radio archiving their files. I appreciate your patience.
THE PODCAST IS UP! Go listen!

My Blog Talk Radio guests today at noon will be Pamela Hall, Mary Jones and Desiree Bernstein. We'll be talking about the upcoming
Rally Against Islamo-Fascism Day (R.A.I.D.)

The UNITED AMERICAN COMMITTEE will be holding its
Second Annual Rally against Islamo-Fascism
March 31st, 2007 at GROUND ZERO
corner Liberty & Trinity Place (Church St)
From 12 Noon to 2 PM

This National Rally will be held simultaneously in Los Angeles, Boston, Columbia, Missouri as well as Orlando, Florida.

The United American Committee is an organization committed to Public Awareness and Education in the battle against Radical Islamic-Jihad. The
PC-"police" in co-operation with organizations like CAIR are continuing to control the information-highway; withholding the truth about Jihad through intimidation. We must stop the deception!
The World-Wide Jihad against our Western Culture and the control of our American Press by such apologists as CAIR is real. The intimidation is real. And the American Public must Wake-Up to this threat; a threat to our schools, our culture and our public safety; slowly eroding our laws and our safety from within through lack of Public Awareness.

Please join us at Ground Zero on March 31st, 2007.

Representatives from such organizations as NYICE, NYPAICE, CSDL(Coalition for a Secure Drivers License) GET OUT THE FACTS (which had success recently picketing and challenging the lies and distortions in the Off-Broadway play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie"), NJCIC, as well as a representative from The David Horowitz Freedom Foundation and surviving family members of the 9-11 Holocaust at Ground Zero will join us and many others TBA as we challenge CAIR: " They claim they are in support of America and against terrorism. Well, CAIR is more than welcome to stand with us and condemn bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorists by name at this rally."

This will be a joint effort of organizations with a common goal of educating others to the dangers posed by Radical Islam. "This is an opportunity for people of all walks of life to come together, setting aside political or religious differences." remarks United American Committee Chairman Jesse Petrilla, who also noted that Muslims are especially encouraged to join in the rallies.
Also, meet the blogosphere: live! Those who help in this fight to tell the truth about Radical Islam, such as KesherTalk, WhatAreTheySaying, UrbanInfidel and ThePeoplesCube, amongst many others.
All will speak to these on-going dangers; what we must do to protect ourselves today and to save our tomorrows for our children and our children's children through Public Awareness and Legislation.

Contact : Pamela Hall
NewYork@UnitedAmericanCommittee.org
Cross-posted at MNM

Venezuela: Oil bonds for sale, while collectivization rears its ugly head

At the Beeb today, Oil bonds for sale in Venezuela

Investors in Venezuela are being encouraged to buy bonds in state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Bonds totalling $5bn (£2.5bn) are being issued to pay off debts and finance a huge expansion over the next few years.

Venezuela has one of the world's largest reserves of crude oil, but getting to that oil is costly and hence the need for extra funds.

Extra funds... while oil revenues last year were at an all-time high. The $5 billion is only a fraction of the amount Hugo committed towards weapons purchases in 2006, as regular readers of my blog know.

Let me state it succintly: invest in the bonds and waste your money.

The beginning of the latest edition of an oil-for-food scam: Bribery ring allegedly involved in Venezuela-Iran agreements

Local press reports claimed that the bribery ring operates in connection with the Venezuelan-Iranian Plan, which started to be implemented in mid-2005. This plan provides for construction of facilities to install corn and milk processing plants, plastic injection facilities, and plants manufacturing car spare parts and modules for cooling chambers, with Iranian advice.

Based on the report, strategic partnership agreements were initialed with some construction firms that were asked for payment of 20-26 percent commission to be awarded the contracts.

Chavez lays out collective property plan

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his administration plans to create "collective property" as part of sweeping reforms toward socialism, and that officials would move to seize control of large ranches and redistribute lands deemed "idle."

The Venezuelan leader, speaking on his television and radio program "Hello President," said the government was "advancing quickly" with a concept of "social, or collective, property" to be included in forthcoming constitutional reforms.

"It's property that belongs to everyone and it's going to benefit everyone," said Chavez, who vowed to undermine capitalism's continued influence in Venezuela.

Via Larwyn, Chavez takes another step down road to ruin:

One of the lessons of the 20th century is that collectivization is a massive failure that leads to less productivity and more waste. It is ironic that in a matter of days after China takes steps to guarantee private property right in their booming economy, Chavez goes in the opposite direction with his failing economy. If he had no oil, he would be as bad off as Mugabe

Prarie Pundit is too kind: Collectivization brings about famine.

Go tell it to the Iranians, Hans; and today's other items

Former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix will present a lecture titled "Is It Time for a Revival of Disarmament?" at PU this afternoon. If Hans had guts, he'd be speaking at Tehran University: Iran announces suspension of co-operation with UN nuclear watchdog

But then, the Q&A session would involve Name, Rank and Serial Number.

In other Iranian news, US Troops Would Have Fought Iranian Captors
------------------------------------------------------
Via Blue Star Chronicles, Arab Sources: Shalit Will Die If a Rescue is Attempted

The UN will send a strongly-worded letter, of course.
------------------------------------------------------
Read Cinnamon Stillwell's From Kandahar to Congress: Interview with Retired U.S. Army LTC. Allen B. West

Q: What do you see as the single most important issue facing America in the 21st Century?

Sun Tzu once stated, "Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated." America must regain a sense of herself. If we do not embrace our core beliefs, defend them and educate our generations about them, then this great experiment of government of the people, by the people and for the people will perish from this earth.

------------------------------------------------------
SoCal Pundit notices how the media's Slapping Make-Up On The Pig That Is Organized Labor
------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Phillips writes about The enslavement of history (emphasis added)

...The whole point of this anniversary was that Britain took a historic lead in challenging and stopping it.

This initiative, which sprang from Christian principles about the equality and dignity of every human being, gave the lead for other similar movements against slavery around the western world.

Furthermore, it did not merely abolish the British slave trade, but provided the template for a host of other social reform movements during the 19th century, from the democratic franchise to votes for women and the abolition of child labour, along with the great campaigns against poverty, drinking and prostitution.

The anti-slavery movement was thus nothing less than the motor of social justice and decency with which Britain came to be identified. It forged a sense of collective conscience, encapsulating the belief that society could be changed for the better and evil deeds resisted — the belief which lies at the very heart of progressive politics and a civilised society.

Of course the Beeb had some guy asking for the payment of reparation$$$. I'm sure he expects to be one of the beneficiaries.

Iran, and today's items

Round-up and commentary: HIGH STAKES HOLD 'EM IN THE PERSIAN GULF: IRAN TAKES CAPTURED BRITISH MILITARY TO TEHRAN
PJM Barcelona, LA, Seattle, Tel Aviv

Gateway Pundit has two posts, Blonde English-Speaking Terrorists Operating in Iraq, while Al Sadr Loyalists Call For Release of Arrested US Soldier Killers

Meanwhile, is Murtha staring at a disaster?

Special thanks to Larwyn for the links
-----------------------------------------
EU Referendum has a series of posts on the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the EU, starting with Definitely not "us"

How do these people have the nerve to present themselves as speaking for us, any of us? How can this woman, a leader of a different country, possibly speak for me?

Go to EU Referendum and scroll down.
-----------------------------------------
Reality of Venezuela's 21st Century Socialism hits the blogosphere, if not the MSM.
-----------------------------------------
Gerard is being sublime, again.
-----------------------------------------
Bear time!
No, not Grylls, the other bear!
Maria sent the video of Knut the Bear with his dad, Mr. Dorflein:

-----------------------------------------
Dr Sanity has The Carnival

Siggy ties in the Carnival, the Iranians, and the French.

Please squeeze the Charmin!

Back in 1965 Green Acres hit the airwaves,

Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out,
so far and wide
Keep Manhattan,
just give me that countryside.

In Green Acres, Eddie Albert had a midlife crisis and moved to the country. Eva Gabor, his wife, came along. If I remember right, they had a pet pig. Update Obi's Sister reminds me the pig's name was Arnold.

At the same time as Green Acres, Mr. Whipple made his debut. He brought in a new age of sanitary comfort.

Several years later I worked with a girl who lived the truly organic lifestyle at a commune in the countryside that inhabited a farmhouse with no running water or electricity. She was a very pleasant girl with BO.

Well, now you don't have to leave Manhattan to take up Stone Age living and ditching the Charmin (no Arnold, though):

Via Ith, The Year Without Toilet Paper

Welcome to Walden Pond, Fifth Avenue style. Isabella's parents, Colin Beavan, 43, a writer of historical nonfiction, and Michelle Conlin, 39, a senior writer at Business Week, are four months into a yearlong lifestyle experiment they call No Impact. Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping for anything except said food; producing no trash (except compost, see above); using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation.

Using no paper really means no paper:

Nothing is a substitute for toilet paper, by the way; think of bowls of water and lots of air drying.

After reading the article, I felt sorry for their neighbors, since any kind of "sour odor" in Manhattan living means one thing: roaches. That's if you're lucky - most likely it also means mice and rats.

And if The Husband's middle-age crisis had propelled him to no paper living, he soon would have become The Ex-husband: "For better or for worse" specifically excludes air-drying.

Update
As for commuting to work on a Razr scooter, either Mrs Conlin's short, or I hope they're making them in adult sizes.

Update, Wed. 28 March: The Daily Ablution washes away the unsanitary pretense.

Indiscriminate evil

One of Gagdad Bob's commenters provided the link to the must-watch lecture of the week: Evan Sayet speaking at the Heritage Foundation on the importance of holding critical rational judgement, and the evil of the cult of indiscriminateness:


I'll have to re-read


More videos at PoliticsYV.com

Moralized politics

In this morning's podcast with Layla, we touched on how moral matters are being politicized and political matters are moralized.

As you can hear in the podcast, I find this a very disturbing trend. During the podcast I didn't have the opportunity to discuss this at length but was going to do a post explaining why this is a disturbing trend.

Then this afternoon Larwyn sent this article by Tim Thorstenson, Why Did Global Warming Become a Moral Matter?

Now enter the moral angle. If global warming is now a moral matter, it would seem to suggest an associated implication that these inconvenient viewpoints are immoral. Apparently it is now the duty of "good" people to reject these opinions on this "moral" basis and without regard to whether they are factually true or false.

The most bizarre aspect of this strategy is that it is exactly what the liberals have always (unfairly) accused us conservatives of doing. Here, morality is not being used as a lens through which to view the facts, but rather as a hammer that can smash the inconvenient ones. Regardless of the evidence to the contrary, I must not believe it possible for Bob to have shot George because such a fact is not compatible with the accepted moral viewpoint! If I dare to believe otherwise, then I am "immoral".

The message of these pseudo-moralists is that "good" people must start by accepting the pre-ordained orthodox conclusion and then work backwards through the claimed facts, making not an intellectual assessment of whether they are indeed true, but rather a "moral" assessment of whether or not they agree with the conclusion. Things claimed as facts which are "good" (in this moral sense) should be embraced and those which are "bad" (in this same moral sense) should be discarded, not because they are factually false, but because they are "immoral".

In all honesty, this should scare the heck out of everyone. This is an atmosphere in which scientific inquiry is steered not by factual truth, but by a pre-ordained "moral" position. What is at work here is exactly what the liberals have always claimed to condemn. How is this any different from the decree of a radical theocratic dictator who will allow only those scientific conclusions which are approved by his church?

The liberals always claimed that such behavior - allowing moral considerations to trump factual ones - was the ultimate evil. But apparently, even this "ultimate evil" becomes "acceptable strategy" if the cause is justified. This is "liberal moral relativism" taken to a whole new level.

Read it all.

Hugh Hewitt's book hits the best seller's list, Hugh talks to bloggers

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of participating in a blogger's call to Hugh Hewitt, whose new book, A Mormon In the White House, will debut at No. 25 on the New York Times best-seller list on April 1.

Much has been made of Mr. Romney's religion, which is suprising, considering that Harry Reid's also a Mormon. Oh, wait, is Harry a Republican?

My Man Mitt took notes. Captain Ed comments on McCain, Giuliani and Romney.

I'm totally undecided on any candidates who have announced, or haven't announced yet, so it was particularly interesting to take part in the call.

Upcoming events: Blog Talk Radio and a rally

Today at 11AM I'll be Layla's guest at her Blog Talk Radio program, Blow Out
Here's the link to Layla's Blog Talk Radio host page.
Update: You can listen to the archived podcast here:


My Blog Talk Radio guests next Monday, March 26 at noon will be Pamela Hall, Mary Jones and Desiree Bernstein. We'll be talking about the upcoming Rally Against Islamo-Fascism Day (R.A.I.D.)

The UNITED AMERICAN COMMITTEE will be holding its
Second Annual Rally against Islamo-Fascism
March 31st, 2007 at GROUND ZERO
corner Liberty & Trinity Place (Church St)
From 12 Noon to 2 PM

This National Rally will be held simultaneously in Los Angeles, Boston, Columbia, Missouri as well as Orlando, Florida.

The United American Committee is an organization committed to Public Awareness and Education in the battle against Radical Islamic-Jihad. The
PC-"police" in co-operation with organizations like CAIR are continuing to control the information-highway; withholding the truth about Jihad through intimidation. We must stop the deception!
The World-Wide Jihad against our Western Culture and the control of our American Press by such apologists as CAIR is real. The intimidation is real. And the American Public must Wake-Up to this threat; a threat to our schools, our culture and our public safety; slowly eroding our laws and our safety from within through lack of Public Awareness.

Please join us at Ground Zero on March 31st, 2007.

Representatives from such organizations as NYICE, NYPAICE, CSDL(Coalition for a Secure Drivers License) GET OUT THE FACTS (which had success recently picketing and challenging the lies and distortions in the Off-Broadway play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie"), NJCIC, as well as a representative from The David Horowitz Freedom Foundation and surviving family members of the 9-11 Holocaust at Ground Zero will join us and many others TBA as we challenge CAIR: " They claim they are in support of America and against terrorism. Well, CAIR is more than welcome to stand with us and condemn bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorists by name at this rally."

This will be a joint effort of organizations with a common goal of educating others to the dangers posed by Radical Islam. "This is an opportunity for people of all walks of life to come together, setting aside political or religious differences." remarks United American Committee Chairman Jesse Petrilla, who also noted that Muslims are especially encouraged to join in the rallies.
Also, meet the blogosphere: live! Those who help in this fight to tell the truth about Radical Islam, such as KesherTalk, WhatAreTheySaying, UrbanInfidel and ThePeoplesCube, amongst many others.
All will speak to these on-going dangers; what we must do to protect ourselves today and to save our tomorrows for our children and our children's children through Public Awareness and Legislation.

Contact : Pamela Hall
NewYork@UnitedAmericanCommittee.org
I'll be at the rally.

The case of the cricket coach, and today's items

The cricket coach was strangled.
-------------------------------------------
Liberals Relent on Iraq War Funding because of course they support the troops...
-------------------------------------------
Jay sent a video of the Cuban Ladies In White (wmv file)

Friday fast for all political prisoners and the Ladies In White.
-------------------------------------------
Read Stefania Lapenna's article on The Human Cost of Iran's Islamist Rule
-------------------------------------------
Rob Bluey sent a video on Showdown Over U.S. Attorneys:

-------------------------------------------
Two from Maria:
Dr Sowell writes about Our greedy government
Al's warming lies and the real "inconvenient truth"

If you establish that the Earth is warming, it doesn't necessarily follow that we have a moral duty to reduce emissions. What should follow is an informed debate about the costs and benefits of various policies to address that warming - reducing emissions is just one possible answer. Another debate should focus on those policies' economic costs.

Al Gore doesn't want to have those debates, because the majority of evidence suggests that emissions reduction will be very costly and will have little effect. Kyoto, fully enacted by all its parties, would for all its cost reduce global warming by a mere 0.07 degrees Celsius by 2050 - a barely detectable amount.

-------------------------------------------
In a lighter mode,
The reason I coudln't wait to buy a house was because I had neighbors like Darren's.

The Charlie-Hebdo verdict

I was on a blogger's call with Hugh Hewitt re: Mitt Romney, but before I post on that, I have a follow-up on an old story, the Charlie-Hedbo cartoon trial (click on links for background information).

As I posted in February, the prosecutor did not press charges against the paper, and the judges' veredict was due this week.

The verdict's in: French Paper Cleared in Muhammad Drawings Case

The court ruled that Charlie-Hebdo showed no intention of insulting the Muslim community with the caricatures, several of which appeared first in a Danish paper and sparked angry protests across the Muslim world and in Europe.

BUT,

The court acknowledged that the bomb-like turban could be taken as a general affront to Muslims. But it said that, given the context of the drawings' publication, the paper showed no ''deliberate intention of directly and gratuitously offending the Muslim community.''

Reporters Without Borders hailed the acquittal as positive for French society.

Nidra Poller calls it "a terrible victory", and I'm inclined to agree with her. As Mora mentioned in a conversation we had this afternoon, Honore Daumier practically invented the art of political cartooning. France has had a tradition of freedom of speech that fundamentally created that art.

Until now.

That the judges had to justify the publication of a cartoon, clearly a freedom of speech issue, by instead expaining it as being newsworthy,

Jean-Claude Magendie, the presiding judge, ruled that two of the three cartoons in questions didn't target all Muslims, just violent ones. The third, showing the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in place of a turban, could offend all Muslims, he said, though it was covered by freedom of speech laws because riots in some countries about the cartoons made its publication newsworthy.

tells me that freedom of speech, one of the basic freedoms, has become devalued currency in today's France.

Update, Friday March 23
Phillipe Val, editor of Charlie-Hebdo writes in the WSJ, telling the whole story,

In February of last year, the director of the daily France Soir, Jacques Lefranc, decided to publish the cartoons in France. He was immediately fired. It was in protest against Mr. Lefranc's firing that I in turn decided to publish the cartoons in Charlie Hebdo. Our front-page headline was "Mohammed Overwhelmed by Extremists," and had a drawing by Cabu of the prophet, covering his eyes with his hands and crying, "It's hard to be loved by idiots." I invited my colleagues from the daily and weekly press to republish the Danish cartoons, too. Most of them published some of them; only L'Express did in full.

Before publication, I was pressured not to go ahead and summoned to the Hôtel Matignon to see the prime minister's chief of staff; I refused to go. The next day, summary proceedings were initiated by the Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France to stop this issue of Charlie Hebdo from hitting newsstands. The government encouraged them, but their suit was dismissed.

After the cartoons appeared, the Muslim groups attacked me by filing suit against me on racism charges. President Jacques Chirac, who campaigned for this just-completed trial, offered them the services of his own personal lawyer, Francis Szpiner.

Read it all.

Michelle's interview of Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I was just watching Michelle Malkin's interview of Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, which you can listen to at Hot Air,
Gartenstein-Ross: My Year Inside Radical Islam, part 1
part 2
and I was struck by a number of things:

The first one was how similar his experience was to that of people who have joined cults. I know someone who was ensnared by a cult and their description of how they put aside their prior ethics and gladly embraced what once would have been repugnant matches very closely Gartenstein-Ross's. Gartenstein-Ross says that "my moral conception of the universe, over time, was turned upside-down", which is the almost exact term that other person used to describe their mindset.

Another thing is that this is clearly a well-educated, lucid person who had lived a life of privilege right in the middle of our country even as he was involved in a radical Islam organization, and was exposed all his life to what we regard as the ideas of the Enlightment. One can only imagine how easily someone who has only known a madrassa would embrace radical barbarism.

As an apostate he would be sentenced to death in any of the 8 nations where leaving Islam is a capital offense.

Mind you, Gartenstein-Ross, when involved in a radical Islam organization was involved with the kind of people who defend this:

• The general said it was the first time he had seen a report of insurgents using children in suicide bombings. But he said Al-Qaeda in Iraq is changing tactics in response to the tighter controls around the city.
• Sudan women to be stoned for adultery: Amnesty

  KHARTOUM: Two Sudanese women have been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery after a trial in which they had no lawyer and which used Arabic, not their first language, the rights group Amnesty International said.

• French Morrocan Tears Out Wife's Eyes After She Refuses Sex Update, Friday 23 March William sent these two links News Australia's article on the case, and Dissect the left.
• Update and this: a four-year-old girl sings about the glories of her mother, the suicide bomber.

Then there are those who blind themselves in the name of multiculturalism: Via Town Commons, A German Judge Cites Koran in Divorce Case

In January, though, a letter arrived from the judge adjudicating the case. The judge rejected the application for a speedy divorce by referring to a passage in the Koran that some have controversially interpreted to mean that a husband can beat his wife. It's a supposed right which is the subject of intense debate among Muslim scholars and clerics alike."The exercise of the right to castigate does not fulfill the hardship criteria as defined by Paragraph 1565 (of German federal law)," the daily Frankfurter Rundschau quoted the judge's letter as saying. It must be taken into account, the judge argued, that both man and wife have Moroccan backgrounds.

"The husband can beat his wife"

"The right to castigate means for me: the husband can beat his wife," Becker-Rojczyk said, interpreting the judge's verdict.

In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Becker-Rojczyk said the judge indicated to her that it makes no sense to insist on an accelerated divorce. The judge's advice? Wait for the year-long waiting period to elapse.

Gartenstein-Ross also tells of what happened when he pointed out that infibulation predates Islam. One sign of hope: the book has been well received in the American Muslim community.

Go listen to the interview.

Update
On the topic of political cults, Jeremayakovka emailed these links,
Inside Out
A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political Cult
Janja Lalich, Ph.D. website on Cult Information and Recovery Resources
and his own experience, PART IV. A FORMER FOLLOWER OF NEWMAN AND FULANI SPEAKS OUT
Read every word. I do not exaggerate when I say this (i.e., radical Islam) is a cult of death.