Armies of Liberation

Aghast, the world watched the horrific events of September 11th, 2001, unaware that it was a foreshadowing of a barbaric phenomenon that would spread to Istanbul, to Bali, to Riyadh, to Islamabad, to Baghdad, to Moscow, to Madrid, and to Beer Sheva, that civilians world over would be threatened with random death, beheading and kidnap within a few years. The atrocities have become commonplace in 2004.

Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York at the time of the attacks, led New Yorkers through their finest hour, unbowed, compassionate and determined to stand together. He is often called ‘Americas Mayor.’ During his recent speech at the Republican National Convention held in New York City, Giuliani recalled the day. He spoke of the moment American ’stood face to face with those people and forces who hijacked not just airplanes but a religion and turned it into a creed of terrorism dedicated to eradicating us and our way of life.’ (Read on …)

Doug’s reaction to the French response to terrorists demands that the headscarf ban be overturned:

Oh, you lily-livered appeasemonkey – you did not just say that.

Too bad the tactic has been legitimized by its success in achieving political goals with certain democracies, encouraging further use of the tactics.

The Commissar Notes the following “France’s attitude in the Iraq conflict should give it powerful leverage in Baghdad.” in the Tribune de Geneve. He says:

French comrades make reasonable case, da? Should not all enemies of le cowboy americain stand together?

The enemy of your enemy is still your enemy Jacque.

Before Voted Against Them.

Then, reaching back eight years to one of the more significant efforts to toughen sanctions on the communist island, Kerry volunteered: “And I voted for the Helms-Burton legislation to be tough on companies that deal with him.” There is only one problem: Kerry voted against it. Asked Friday to explain the discrepancy, Kerry aides said the senator cast one of the 22 nays that day in 1996 because he disagreed with some of the final technical aspects. But, said spokesman David Wade, Kerry supported the legislation in its purer form — and voted for it months earlier.

Even Frank Sinatra. Put down the bat Frank! Its only the rat pack after a shower.

From Memri:

Rami Khouri, the editor of the Lebanese Daily Star, published a column titled ‘Time to Implement Presidential Term Limits in the Middle East,’ criticizing, using irony, Arab leaders for ruling for an entire generation. The following are excerpts from the article:(1)

“This is not a facetious or sarcastic proposal, but a considered one. It is dictated in particular by the reality in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, whose three current leaders – Libya’s Moammar Qaddafi, Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine ben Ali, and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak – have been in power for a total of 65 years … and still counting.

“Mubarak in Egypt assumed office in October 1981, has been ‘elected’ to four consecutive six-year terms, and his ruling National Democratic Party has routinely won over 75 percent of seats in Parliament. Ben Ali in Tunisia took over the presidency in a bloodless coup in November 1987, has been ‘elected’ for three consecutive five-year terms (the last time, in October 1999, with 99 percent of the vote), and two years ago held a referendum that changed the constitution to allow him to run for more than three terms. His Democratic Constitutional Assembly Party won 92 percent of the votes in the May 2000 municipal elections. Qaddafi in Libya, who took power in a military coup in 1969, largely defies historical analysis, because every few years he changes his own title and position, the country’s governance system and ideological orientation, and his relations with neighbors and other states in the region. The current power elite has ruled with him for 25 years – a full generation. (Read on …)

We arent bothered by the UN deadline at all. It never crossed our mind. said Sudans Agriculture Minister Majzoub Al-Khalifa.Sad, very sad. Its not a condemnation of multilateralism, because there is no unified international political will to take any action for the 2500 Sudanese who die daily. The UN 30 day deadline was more reflective of the international communitys desire to support Khartoum than to support its victims.

Tony Sodaro home from Iraq after quite a stint with the CPA. His last picture from Iraq. Stop by and give him a good old VRWC ew-rah! Then check out the photo archives at the bottom of the page.

Rusty has a post on the Wall Street Jounal’s piece on the interviews with bloggers who are covering the Republican National Convention, with pictures of Kevin from Wizbang and others. Go there and read it.

Our much vaunted allies are not sweating the small stuff,
The Rott reports:

The rocketing price of copper has pushed the production cost above the face value of the alloy coins. The alloys are a mix of 75 per cent copper and 25 percent nickel, a metal known to cause skin allergies. One study found that the two-toned coins release up to 320 times the maximum nickel allowed under Brussels’s own regulations.

A little covered story is that the enviro loons at the EU minted a coin that’s poisonous, but only if explosed to moisture from people’s palms. The particular blend of alloys they used emits massive amounts of nickel ions when the surface is moistened, handily turning the coin into a battery.

Ah but not to worry, the French don’t sweat much and they certainly are not in a habit of pulling out money.

UPdate: The above is based on this article in the Telegraph. The esteemed Tim Worstll points out: “1, 2 and 5 cent coins are in fact steel with a copper coating. The price of copper has about as much effect on the production costs as the price of oil does.” Tim says the telegraph does have some things right: “The two tone coins are the 1 and 2 euro, and yes, there really is concern about the nickel contents. Not actually the nickel itself, but the two tone part means that an electrolytic circuit is set up when touched by sweaty hands.”

Well that’s the buzz.
Thanks Gordon for the “heads up.”

Max Cleland is “quite mobile” but Bob Dole scores on points.

Dole told Kerry “I’m not trying to stir anything up, but I don’t believe every one of these people who have talked about what happened are Republican liars.

UPdate: Oh come on, did they really have to make him rollup his sleeve to show the stump? What is this, a Jerry Lewis marathon?

Seems old Chris Mathews couldn’t get anybody from the RNC to come on his show today to discuss Max’s stunt in Texas today. Wonder why? Well no loss really, Mathews just shouts over anybody he disagrees with.

from MEMRI

Journalist and former Kuwaiti communications minister Dr. Sa’ad bin Tefla was interviewed on Jordanian television about the culture of violence in Arab countries. Dr. bin Tefla rejected the notion that this can be blamed on Israel or the U.S., and instead blamed cultural roots, frustration, religious extremism, and intra-Arab violence. The following are excerpts from the interview:(1)

“… Slaughter, destructive abuse, anarchy, and bloodshed in no way resemble Jihad according to Shari’a and resistance. These are anarchy and terrorism [and not Jihad], and they are indications of frustration and of a culture of collective suicide reminiscent of whales.

“I maintain that unfortunately many in television, radio, and the press act according to the story of the one who murders and than attends the funeral of the victim. It is they who have pushed these young people into frustration and caused them to die for nothing and kill others with them, and to divide the world into black and white. I maintain that we are all responsible for this culture, and that Zionism and imperialism have nothing to do with it…” (Read on …)

The attack on Bangladeshi citizens, the attack on the Russian airliners, and the numerous attacks on civilians around the world daily demonstrates the radical Islamists are truly attacking all of humanity and our RIGHT to self-determination. Tieing their goals to short term politcal gains, the nature of their enemy is often masked. Portraying it as the Saudi Royal Family, the Banglashi opposition party and “American imperialism,” it is an attack on every child in the world. The jihadiis, far from fracturing societies, are generating a sense of international brotherhood among civilians, a transnationalism that is forged of a common enemy, and a global identity among earthspeople. We are all New Yorkers. We are all Bangladeshi.

To clarify: There has not been an official or legal finding of fact in the Bangladeshi rally bombing, only a claim of responsibility for the atack sent to and published in a Bangladeshi newspaper by an unknown group threatening to continue their efforts to assasinate the oppostion leader.

“Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” –Thomas Jefferson

“To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” –James Madison

“There is nothing absurd or impracticable in the idea of a league or alliance between independent nations for certain defined purposes precisely stated in a treaty regulating all the details of time, place, circumstance, and quantity; leaving nothing to future discretion; and depending for its execution on the good faith of the parties.” –Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 15

from the Federalist

The Italian government said Tuesday it would maintain its 3,000 troops in Iraq despite an ultimatum from a radical Muslim group holding an Italian journalist and demanding that Rome withdraw its forces within 48 hours. Read the rest at Rusty’s.If only the rest of Europe had this courage…Now let’s find the guy, quickly.

Its past midnight in Lebanon, and there it is: MY ARTICLE in the popular Daily Star. The Star has a relatively progressive opinion section and takes on issues that often taboo in the rest of the ME.

I had sent The Daily Star at least 20 previous submissions in the past year and I dont know what hooked them on this one, except that it was written specifically for a Middle Eastern audience and is very informative. It’s much less of a rant than my last article in the Arab News. If I had to guess, I would say the issues of censorship and politcal strong-arming have ressonance in Lebanon.

Allowing Michael Moore and his mistruths free reign, the Democrats have tried to censor the Swift Boat Veterans. Democrats have attempted to interfere with the publication of the Swift Vets book Unfit for Command and intimidate bookstores that carry it. The Kerry campaign has sent letters to television stations urging them not to run the ad. Kerrys campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Bush campaign of collaboration with the Swift Vets. Kerry is demanding that President Bush, who has long opposed all the 527 political intervention, condemn this one ad in particular.

I did send the article to at least 40 newspapers in the US (all in swing states) and nuthin. I find it consistantly much easier to publish a pro-Bush article in the Middle East than here in the US.

Related : Michelle prints a rather scathing letter from an unaligned Vietnam veteran disecting Kerry’s Book: A lot has been made of John Kerry volunteering for combat. On page 104 of his book, it reads; “John Kerry would be training in San Diego for what he thought would be purely coastal patrolling of Operation Market Time, whose objective was to establish a barrier along the coast of Vietnam to interdict the infiltration of insurgent supplies by sea.”

Article here.

TV Host Chris Mathews will be talking to himself and other Democrats at the Rebublican National Convention (he normally shouts over the Republicans anyway), the Daily News reports.

The Hardball host has apparently been blackballed for his vigorously partisan views, as recently evidenced by his deplorable treatment of Michelle Malkin.

As a result, GOP officials are quietly advising Republicans not to go on his show. ” ‘Hardball’ may seem more like badminton during the Republican National Convention,” the magazine quoted one GOP insider as saying.

“Hardball” executive producer Tammy Haddad didn’t know her show was being blackballed, she said. “We beat everybody up,” she told the magazine.

I wonder if Tammy thinks “beating people up” constitutes good journalism? But I’m sure they are not too worried. Chris normally does most of the talking (or yelling) on the show, and not surprisingly, only his viewpoint gets an airing.

Update: A whole new Chris tonight, the Hulk subdued: he must have read the book, and noted for the first time some of the specific alligations and Kerry’s post war behavior. He also refered to the interview with Michelle. The Money Quote: “I watched the interview 12 times.” hmmmm…..

Care for a little Whine and Jeeze?

Abu Masab al-Zarqawi’s website is back up and running, fatwas and all, Rusty reports. Their American hosting company apparently has fixed that little problem of the American flag that they had yesterday. Using modern marvels to promote an ancient form of fascism, like Hitler used modern fim making to spread his propaganda, Zarqawi and his ilk want to impose a Taliban like state with the blood and fear of Americans, Muslims and humanity. That their host is in the US and probably claiming free speech rights is disheartening. that the ACLU and others would probably defend them, more so. That the Patriot Act is still opposed by anyone, absurd.

On a similiar note, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has a post about US companies that invest funds in terrorist sponsoring states. She links to Divestterror, a group that urges Americans to demand “our public and private pensions plans, college endowments, individual retirement account managers, 401(k) plans, and other investment vehicles exploit the leverage represented by investments in publicly traded companies that operate in terrorist-sponsoring states.” It is a movement similiar to the divestment of South African companies during the apartheid years.

Anybody here
Seen my old friend Gordon?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I’ve seen a lot of things but it seems the Commisar in the Gualg.
I just turned around,
And Rustys gone.

sniff…

Update: Now Baldilocks mysteriously vanished. I’m starting to get suspicious here.

Update YIPPPEEEEE! The Commissar is Back

Rusty did a great job manning the Dictat and
Now we can all start singing a new song:

Aint nothin like the real thing, baby
Nothin like the real thing

This is the first US Presidential election since the enactment of the Campaign Finance Reform Act. And the mud and money are flying more furiously than ever in the US.

The Campaign Finance Reform Act was intended to diminish the influence of rich citizens and lobby groups by limiting individual campaign contributions to $2000. To encouraging free expression of political opinions, individuals and groups are able to run political advertising that does not endorse a specific candidate. The groups may not coordinate with a candidate’s campaign. These ‘independent’ groups are usually called 527s in reference to the IRS code under which they operate.

Unable to endorse a candidate, the 527s instead attack the opposition with a fury more vigorous than a candidate would associate himself with directly. A record level of political advertising is expected this electoral season. Sixty-three million dollars of these ‘independent’ television ads have already run opposing President Bush, and a mere two and a half million against Senator Kerry, all under the guise of independent expression.

The ads have a tendency to stretch the truth. Move-On, one of these 527 groups, ran an ad attacking the Bush administration for cutting education funding and veterans benefits. Based on President Bushs latest budget, both education spending and the Veterans Affairs budget would increase by more than 35 percent.

The latest dust up has come from a small group, The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and a minor $200,000 ad buy. The group purports itself as formed: to counter the false ‘war crimes’ charges John Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to accurately portray Kerrys brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant.

Mr. Kerry has defined his persona for the American electorate, and his Presidential bid, on his four months in Vietnam. He rarely mentions that he returned from war to throw his metals, or ribbons (no one is sure), over the fence of the White house in protest. He has skimmed over his twenty years in the US Senate to highlight his service in Vietnam. Candidate Kerry accepted his partys nomination with a salute and the words: My name is John Kerry and Im reporting for duty.

The charges by Mr. Kerrys former comrades undercut the premise of his candidacy- that he is more qualified to be president because of his military record. Polling shows the ad by the Swift Boat Veterans has affected American public opinion. The Democrats are in a tizzy and crying foul.

Kerrys surrogates have repeatedly challenged President Bushs service in the Texas National Guard during the Vietnam War. Neither President Bush nor Vice-President Chaney saw active duty during the Vietnam War. President Bush has been called a Chicken Hawk by Senator Latenburg (D-NJ) and Vice President Cheney a coward by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Yet any public scrutiny of Kerrys war record is akin to questioning his heroism according to the Kerry camp.

Allowing Michael Moore and his mistruths free reign, the Democrats have sought to curtail the free speech of the veterans in the Swift Boat Group. They have attempted to interfere with the publication of the Swifties book Unfit for Command and intimidate bookstores that carry it. They have sent letters to television stations urging them not to run the ad. They have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Bush campaign of collaboration with the Swift Vets.

The Democrats point to Bob Perry, a Republican supporter (from Texas!) and his $200,000 contribution to the Swift Vets. They ignore George Soros, who has given 12 million dollars to anti-Bush 527s, and his business partner Peter Lewis who contributed 14 million. The Democrats, typically the party of the little guy, appear unconcerned that the team of Soros and Lewis with their twenty six million dollars is subverting the democratic process, in spite Soros nearly Socialist agenda for the US.

Missing in the Democrats fury and the anti-Bush media coverage in the US is the fact that Mr. Kerry has not released his military records, as Mr. Bush has, or directly addressed the allegations of these men. (Read on …)

Wow, I got a link from Michelle Malkin from a comment i left at Rusty’s My Pet Jawa, the first place I check in when I log on daily.

Rusty, my blogdaddy, had a world exclusive on Zarqawis website being hacked.
My comment: “Ew-Rah!”

And yes, I do think that these sites should be attacked whenever encountered.

I have a great respect for Michelle’s literary skills and for banging out the great columns week after week. I’m trying to develop that skill and its not easy to be readable, interesting, informative, and persuasive. Also she’s very good on air and says the things that need to be said.

So thanks Rusty, thanks Michelle: the war of ideas continues. The battalions are forming up nicely.

for the Dems’s to be crying over Bob Perry’s 200,000 contribution to the swifties, when as mASS BACKWARDS reports near socialist George Soros has spent 12 million on anti Bush 527’s, and Soros’s business partner Peter Lewis 14 million.

Back in March I said: The hippie generation is well entrenched in the ruling class and theyre not going down without a fight. Its the hippies verses the rednecks and nerds. Strength and intellect verses utopian ideology.

I realized today that the hippie generation hasn’t progressed in their political analysis past the paradigm popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s of the “military/industrial complex.” Thus they see the motivation for US actions inIraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Sudan as “It’s all about the Oil.” And they endlessly discuss “Big Corporations” without noticing that most of the GDP comes from small and midsize businesses.

These people are products of the ’60’s when everything was the fault of “the man.” Now they’re all grown up, in positions of power, and still blame mythical government forces for everything wrong in their lives. Extending this simplistic view to international politics, it all must be America’s fault. And the remedy is sensitivity, unless you disagree. Thousands of these throwbacks will appear next week in New York. And each and every one will feel “cool” for participating.

The new Swifties ad will make some of them like Kerry BETTER when they see his long hair and defiance of authority. The rest of America will see Kerry’s actions as harming the POWs still in ‘Nam and there will be no denying it. This time it is on tape. In his own words. There’s no facts or memories involved. America will have to define itself. Is it the Age of Aquarius? Or the New Normal?

Related: How to confuse the hippies from the Leather Penguin.

Slowly recovering from the extremely devasting recent floods, Bangladesh faces another challenge says Rezwan of Third World View:

“The Islami fanatics of Bangladesh show their true colors again. They have been using the religion Islam to provoke the sentiments of the peace loving Bengalis, the majority of whom is good practicing Muslims. Recently a Bengali daily newspaper “The Prothom Alo” has published a series of reports about some Madrasas in remote corners of the country which has been giving training to extremists. The fundamentalists’ response was to burn copies of the Prothom Alo and ransacking its billboards in the capital for publishing the stories….Why the rage against Prothom Alo? Because, the investigative reports have clearly depicted the madrasas’ source of funds (mostly from Saudi Arabia & other Arab countries) and their missions – to clinch power of this country. These extremists have the same ideology of Al-Qaeda & Talibans….BNP do not realise now that their enemy is not the other oppositions, but their coalition partner, the Islamists. ”

Read the rest. There’s also a handy link to relief efforts for the flood victims.

Also today in Bangladesh AP reports: : “A series of bombs exploded as a top Bangladeshi opposition leader was speaking at a rally from atop a truck Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds, witnesses and news reports said….Bangladesh, an impoverished nation of 140 million people, has a history of political unrest. It has witnessed two presidents assassinated in military coups and 19 failed coup attempts since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.”

INSIGHTS on the yesterday’s attack from Rezwan who confirms that

the “13 grenades thrown on a crowded Awami League rally in Gulistan yesterday was an assassination attempt on Sheikh Hasina, leader of opposition and former prime minister of Bangladesh. The attack succeeded in killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 300 people….Attacks on the Awami League leadership at different public rallies across the country have increased recently as the party continues to have a firm stand against religious radicals…. If these quarters are not stopped, it will not be long when such attacks would be carried out in BNP rallies too. It is clear now that there are some quarters who wants to annihilate all those who are a threat in their efforts to make this country a Taliban-like state….The Awami League is again misdirecting the anger towards the government (because of power hunger) and again resorting to general strikes (Hartals). The BNP supporters are even thinking that it was AL’s internal clash (They have wildest of dreams without logic). But the blame game would certainly cheer up the perpetrators as they are being untouched and they are heading for their goal.”

Rewan highlights an important element of the representitive political model in majority Muslim countries. Radical Islamists are encouraged to join the political process and often form coalitions with other parties, increasing their popular strength. The goals of these Islamists though are fundamentally opposed to consensus government and self-representation. In the short term, opposition parties are targeted by the zeal of the Islamists, to the approval of their power hungry politicial partners. In the long term, neither the coaltion party nor the nation itself is safe when this fascist ideology is impowered to pursue their goal of a Taliban style state imposed and maintained by force.

Colin Powell weighs in: Washington, DC August 22, 2004:

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific attacks on the Awami League that took place in Dhaka on August 21. The perpetrators of this heinous act clearly intend to undermine democracy in Bangladesh. They must not succeed. The United States expresses its condolences to the victims of these criminal attacks and their families. We reiterate our steadfast support for Bangladesh’s democracy and call for those responsible to be brought to justice. The United States urges all parties to act with restraint and to work together to reduce tensions and respect life.

Najah Ali lost his boxing bout: I was really hoping for a knockout in the fourth round. The Iraqi soccer team has won their game today and moves onto the next level. Ali Mohamed has the wrap-up:

The Iraqi soccer team is one victory away from an improbable trip to the podium.Emad Mohammed’s 12-yard bicycle kick in the 64th minute gave Iraq a 1-0 victory over Australia in the quarterfinals Saturday, putting the invaded, war-torn country in position to compete for only its second Olympic medal in the nation’s history.Iraq will play either Paraguay or South Korea in the semifinals in Thessaloniki on Tuesday. Even a loss in the semis would put the Iraqis in the bronze medal game, where they could become the first athletes from their country to win a medal since Abdul Wahid Aziz’s weightlifting bronze in Rome in 1960.

I had been rooting wholeheartedly for the team when this article, “Iraqi Footballers Fury at Bush,” appeared in the BBC, the NY Daily News, and newspapers around the world yesterday:

Mr Manajid, from Falluja – a hotbed of armed opposition to the US-led occupation in Iraq – said if he was not playing football “for sure” he would be fighting as part of the resistance….Coach Adnan Hamad said he was concerned with what the Bush administration was doing in Iraq. “My problems are not with the American people. They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything,” he said. “The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the stadium and there are shootings on the road?”

Asher pointed out the characterization of these views as representitive of the whole team are unsubstantiated and wonders “But did any of the other footballers express different sentiments?” and he quotes Omar of Iraq the Model: “all the reporter could come up with were comments from 2 players and the coach out of 22 players and several trainers, medical staff…etc So if those were the ‘best’ comments he could get, I’m interested to know what were the comments of the others …”

When you add in this photo, they may have a point: maybe that’s not the consensus of the team. (Read on …)

email from activist chat:

On Sunday, August 15, a 16-year-old girl in the town of Neka, northern Iran, was executed. Atefeh Sahaleh was hanged in public on Simetry Street off Rah Ahan Street at the city center.

In her summary trial, the teenage victim did not have any lawyer and
efforts by her family to recruit a lawyer was to no avail. Atefeh
personally defended herself. She told the religious judge, Haji Rezaii,
that he should punish the main perpetrators of moral corruption not the
victims.

The criminal judge personally pursued Atefehs death sentence, beyond all normal procedures and finally gained the approval of the Supreme Court. After her execution Rezai said her punishment was not execution but he had her executed for her ’sharp tongue’.

Related:
from The Iranian A photo essay of Iranian Woman. I was quite surprised at all the hair showing, the jeans, and chic looking duds mixed in with the women in black. Its quite a differant picture than I was expecting, if you’ll pardon the pun. A quote from the photographer:

Once I made pictures on the Tehran bazaar, suddenly an unknown man appeared beside and while we were walking he whispered quickley in my ear: ‘Try to make pictures of the young people, try to show their sadness in the deepth of their heart, try to show it on your pictures!” Then he quickley turned left and disappeared.

(Apologies to any cavemen) even if you didn’t happen to catch Chris Mathews foaming and ranting at his guests views of the Swifties story last night including Larry Thurgow and Michelle Malkin. (Mathews was crazed, crazed I say, even before Michelle come on, so much so that I nuged awake my husband just to watch Mathews implode on air.) I was so disturbed that I sent this email to MSNBC immediately after the show:

Your channel should just put up a banner that says “Vote for Kerry” and let everybody go home. You shouldn’t call your hosts journalists but opinionists, as they are one-sided, present a half story, and treat those with opposing opinions contemptuously. Incidentally, how can Chris Matthew’s rant and foam about a book he’s never read?

I also sent the swifties a donation. It was that over the top. But enough about me. Go read Michelle. She did a great job under extremely hostile circumstance. (I was wondering if Mathews was going to pop her. He was that angry- yelling, spitting, interupting.)

Well, guess what? This foaming jerk Matthews, who called me irresponsible and kicked me off the show admitted that a) he himself had not read the damned book, b) he was not interested in asking Kerry about the specific doubts raised by vets about his wounds, and c) he had not and would not question Kerry about these specific allegations.

“Are you saying he shot himself on purpose?” Matthews hammered. I repeated myself again clearly that I was referring to the allegations about self-inflicted wounds in the book. When I tried to explain that the vets who were with Kerry had cast a lot of doubt on whether enemy fire occurred during the first two incidents, Matthews cut me off again. “Why did you say that?” he badgered. Because, I said, I was talking about what was in the book, which he had admitted he hadn’t read.

“Don’t you wonder?” I asked. “No, I don’t,” he bellowed. “It’s never occurred to me.” With that, I was kicked off the second segment.

Updates: Right on Red posts: The thing to remember about Matthews is that he joined the Peace Corps rather than go to Vietnam. He is consumed with liberal guilt over this, and John Kerry is the Redeemer for his generation – the soldier who was brave enough to go to war, and righteous enough to protest the war when he got back. This is why Matthews takes it so personally to hear Kerry’s war record questioned.

From Balloon Juice: Chris Matthews is now officially off the deep end. …It was stunning.

The Mathews “blog” is availble here, with an email comments link.

LaShawn Barber reports: John Kerrys band of legal thugs is asking Regnery Publishing to withdraw the book that exposes him as a liar. What a gaggle of idiots. (I try not to call people idiots, but it’s Friday and I feel like doing it.)

UPDATE: Mathews curiously “on vacation” tonight. My guesses:
1) he is meeeting with his shrink, working on “rage” issues-a one day intense session;
2) he is crashing hard- a two day sleep;
3) he is reading “Unfit for Command,” a three day marathon with cliff notes.

UPDATE II: MSNBC now airing ad acknowleging book says wound was from ricochet from Kerry’s own grenede but self-inflicted is not a perjorative term in the military.

The Sudan Tribune excerpts:

The present analysis offers an estimated total of 180,000 deaths in Darfur over the past 18 months. This includes a figure of 80,000 violent deaths…The US Agency for International Development’s “Projected Mortality Rates in Darfur, 2004-2005″ suggests that over 2,500 people are now dying daily—mainly invisibly. (Read on …)

What IS that Alston thing all about?

Except that Kerry appears to have simply appropriated the combat record of Lt. Ted Peck, for it was under Peck and not Kerry that Alston received his wounds. As Peck, himself, maintains (and is borne out by virtually all of the relevant combat records):

On the Kerry website, the report of the combat on that day on the 94 boat is posted as occurring during Kerry’s time as skipper of the boat. Peck said Kerry replaced him after the Jan. 29, 1969, event.

Theres more as usual when dealing with Kerry.

Swifties keeping up with the news cycle: “I submitted no paperwork for a medal nor did I file an after action report describing the incident. To my knowledge, John Kerry was the only officer who filed a report describing his version of the incidents that occurred on the river that day. “

Memri: The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa recently reported that Iran has delivered missiles to Hizbullah in Lebanon via Syria, and that Iran and Syria are cooperating closely in missile development and deployment. The following are excerpts of the article:(1)

“Two cargo aircraft landed on the morning of Wednesday, August 4, 2004, at one of the Syrian military airfields in north Damascus. There to greet the planes were Iranian Ambassador to Syria Riza Baqiri and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mas’ud Idris.”

Al-Siyassa also reported that “several Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers had arrived the previous day from their headquarters at a Hizbullah military camp near the town of Qasrbana in al-Buqa’ in order to unload a significant number of surface-to-surface missiles.” (Read on …)

Apparently Tommy Franks was not too impressed with Richard Clark:

I left his office hoping that my emphasis on practical solutions to real problems would spur him to home in on some real targeting opportunities. But I suspected that Dick was better at identifying a problem than at finding a workable solution.

The Redhunter has a few more goodies.

Update on Tommy Franks from that ever vigilent Redhunter: ‘Dick Cheney never asked more than one of two questions at each briefing, but they consistently cut to the core of the issue at hand.’

Carter heckeled in Venezuela

Related: Expectations are that oil prices may rise again now that Chavez has withstood the recall, as many investors may pull back fearing Chavezs socialist leaning government will nationalize the oil industry. Venezuela is one of the USs largest oil suppliers.

Update: Many in the opposition are baffled by the inverse relationship between the projected numbers and those reported by the Chávez regime. One possible clue to this remarkable phenomenon lies with the companies hired to supply the voting machines and the software. Smartmatic Corp., a Florida company that has never before supplied election machinery, is owned by two Venezuelans. (Read on …)

Professor Chaos has the news of Nancy and her paddle.

Good on her. I wish she would speak out for Bush though.

UPDATE: Professor Chaos notes this statement: “She’s in full and complete support of President Bush’s candidacy,” Reagan spokeswoman Joanne Drake said Tuesday.

At a post worth reading in full, which includes the following:

You can’t say if Islam is good or evil without knowing what Islam is. And unfortunately, unlike a political method used by a small number of people, it is very difficult to know what a 1400 year old religion with 1.3 billion believers really “is”.

You certainly won’t find the answer in a few quotes from the Koran, or in the statements of a few Muslims.

Bjorn says:

Something has gone rotten. We can’t blame it on the “left”, the “relativists”, the “PC crowd” or the “multiculturalists”, (and don’t anybody dare blame it on the Muslims). It’s gone rotten here, among people who on 9/11 woke up to the danger of Islamism. The ban Islam meme and all its relatives (Islam is Islamism, Islam is war) must be confronted here, now, before it spreads.

My sympatico John, who has lived and worked in the ME, weighs in:

…. neither America nor the West hates Islam. But there are Americans and Westerners who actually do hate Islam, in all of its manifestations.

Some, like the Norwegian Bjorn Staerk whos cited above, and American Gary Farber, of Winds of Change are challenging the bigots and haters. Their postings are well worth reading.

These two should also serve as examples for Muslims, though. ..

I am gratified to see these bold positions taken. Clearly the vast majority of Muslims do not view their religion as a call to war but rather as a personal connection to God. To condemn all Muslims for the actions of the zealots is similiar to condemning all the US for the lynching of American blacks in the 19th and 20th conturies.

And clearly there is an urgent threat from al-Qaeda, Whabbi extremists and their spokesmen who prey on an often illiterate and impoverished population with their version of Islam. This ideology, their brutal tactics, and global organization are in opposition to the very existance of liberal values and the democratic model.

In the war of ideas, it is clearly counter-productive to paint the all Muslims with a broad brush. As we know, the majority of Muslims do not reside in the Middle East, are peaceful people going about their lives, and are not engaged in a jihad against the US or anybody else.

As John notes, Muslims themselves bear the duty to speak out and act out against their co-religionalists. But the issue in the above posts is our duty, and our struggle against our biases, our fear, and our anger.

To be clear this is an introspective post, as I am sure somewhere on this website some degrogatory remarks (the religion of peas) can be found, especially around the time of the immoliation of the contractors in Fallujah or the beheading of Nick Berg.

Update: a great series that I have been hording for months is Habibee’s Women in Veils, a photo essay on Muslim women from around the world. This series shows the diversity, depth and lifestyles of various women by country. It demonstrates the wide range of interpretations of the veil. It also shows that even in far away lands and unusual garb, women share many interests world over: chatting, food, kids, work.

UPDATE: Bjorn has a follow up post, agin worth the whole read:

The overall tone of the reply is one I’ve encountered a lot lately: “So there are a few extremists. What’s the big deal? Anyway – let’s get back to discussing how evil Islam is.” And that is the real problem here, this willingness to make apologies for extremists, this refusal to focus for long on anything but the threat of Islam. I fear that many have focused so hard on the evil of Islam that they’ve forgotten any other considerations, such as the values of the society they’re supposedly protecting.

No, not in the West Wing….in Apocalypse Now

On more than one occasion, I, like Martin Sheen in “Apocalypse Now,” took my patrol boat into Cambodia….It was only after the sergeant attempted to murder me by dropping a hand grenade in the latrine I was using, was I able to react. I struck the sergeant in the face with a shovel.

Read it all and watch out for the cranky neocon.

From MEMRI

In an editorial in the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, Dr. Burhum Ahmad Salih, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and former prime minister of the regional Kurdish government in Suleimaniya, declares that the fight against terrorism is a collective responsibility from which none is exempt. The following are excerpts from the column:

“When you follow the terrorist operations in Iraq from the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003 until today, you see clearly that they are heading toward a slippery slope that has no justification, even according to the perverse logic of the perpetrators. After they have raised the banner of ‘resisting the Occupier’ and targeting the ‘invading forces’ in order to ‘liberate the country,’ they eventually came to attack mosques and churches and markets, and to kill ordinary citizens mercilessly and shamelessly.

“In Ba’quba the terrorists targeted Iraqi citizens who stood in line to enlist in the police force and killed dozens of them and of the police. In the attack last Sunday [August 1] the target was worshippers in churches in Baghdad and Mosul, in coordinated attacks which had a clear purpose; namely, to stir up religious conflicts among members of the one Iraqi family. After having failed in their attempts to stir up civil war among Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen, as well as sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shi’ites, they resorted to targeting unsuspecting Christian citizens, who have coexisted peacefully with their fellow Iraqis for hundreds of years. All of these are easy targets, because it is impossible anywhere in the world – and especially in countries like Iraq, which are founded on the culture of respect for human rights and law – it is impossible in all of these countries to protect every single mosque and church and every shop, university, hospital, market, and institution. It is also impossible to discover the intentions of suicide terrorists before they arrive at the act of suicide unless they declare them publicly. (Read on …)

Please note that Texas is the only state with a legal right to secede from the Union (please refer to the Texas-American Annexation Treaty of 1848). We Texans love y’all, but we’ll have to take action if Kerry wins president over Bush. We’ll miss you, too

There is a twelve point plan at Dagney’s.

And Bruce is Mother Teresea, Who are you?

The Bush campaign’s most lucrative industry is Retired [$17,855,519]
The Kerry campaign’s top industry is Lawyers/Law Firms [$13,462,288]
I guess George has more pinchable cheeks. ( more)

My post showed up in less than 12 hours. It showed up right away. On blogger is would take hours sometimes. I used to have to go into my archives to get the permalink to make trackbacks or wait 12 hours. Oh I’m having fun now.

I just edited without exiting. I like Word Press.

Wow. This is great. I won the blogging package at the Hook-a-Thon. (It was way too cheep so I sent some extra money to Hook.) Lisa at Blogs About Hosting has been so nice and all I had to do was give her my Blogger password and she did all the rest. I was so relieved. It was a perfect transaction for a non-techie like me. Quite inexpensive too. I was quite suprised shocked at how reasonable it is. (For those of you who didn’t key in on Hooks problem- his host dropped him without warning- and Lisa rescued him. ) Word Press is as easy as Blogger. More options and automatic trackbacks too. And you don’t have to wait hours for a post to show up. If I had known how easy it was, I would have done it much sooner.

The following are translations of comments posted in Arabic at the BBC website regarding Sadr.

From BBCArabic.com: I call on the whole world to come to Najaf to bear witness. The BBC should not call these people the Mehdi Army. They are unworthy of this holy name. They kill children because they shake hands with the American “infidels”. How can they claim to be religious?
Benna, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: People here should know that all Najafis totally reject Moqtada Sadr. His militia’s alleged defence of the city is just a cover-up for its members’ reckless acts. They are desecrating the city’s Holy Shrines and treat the local population exactly like Saddam’s henchmen use to.
Jasim Al Zubaydi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am a resident of Najaf. I saw outsider gunmen – some of them foreign – sneaking into the city. Their intention is to threaten its peace and security under the cover of the Mehdi Army. Iraq has become a battlefield for settling scores. Some claim Islam, and they couldn’t be farther from it. There is also involvement by intelligence of neighbouring countries, and farther field.
Najaf Resident, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am from Najaf and I did see a number of Iranians fighting there. A friend of mine saw lots of Iranian weapons in the hands of Al Sadr followers.
Haidar Mohammed, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Large scale arrests of Al Mahdi Army took place in the city of Al Samawa. This was to prevent an outbreak of violence in this city, 80 km from Al Najaf, after militiamen from Mahdi Army attacked an Iraqi patrol and burned two police cars, wounding several policemen. Early this morning, we heard explosions in the Japanese base near Samawa, probably by mortar shells.
Ahmed Al Samawi, Samawa, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am a resident of the city of Najaf. Iraqis are deliberately killed by the hands of other Iraqis in a conflict that marginalises the ordinary people. Presuming they were outlaws, are there thousands of outlaws out there? I don’t think Iran is involved in all this, knowing that the Sadr movement was always at odds with the Iranian government. Iyad Allawi started a sedition that will not stop even if Moqtada Al Sadr and all his followers are killed in Najaf because the Sadr Movement is counted by the millions.
Abrar Al Moussawi, Al Najaf City, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I ask America and Europe and all those who advocate democracy, freedom and free speech, how can a country allow itself to invade another country, kill its people and loot its wealth. If they really wanted to uproot the Baathists or the Sadr Movement, they have at their disposal professional killers who can assassinate those without harming the innocents. Their policy is therefore: eradicate everyone.
Ali Al Ghawri, Al Najaf, Iraq

Is this the election campaign? It is scary to think that Sadr could become the leader of the country. He exploits the situation in Iraq to increase his power while thousands of his impoverished followers die needlessly.
Abdul Sadek, Baghdad

From BBCArabic.com: I am writing to you from Najaf. Moqtada Sadr is trying to take full control of the city, as a stepping stone to expand his influence all over the Shia Islamic world. The ‘Sadr Movement’ men are armed gangs who have turned religious schools into training camps and arms storages. They have also instated tribunals ordering torture against civilians despite the fact that Moqtada doesn’t have the authority to issue religious decrees according to Jaafari jurisprudence.
Ali Abdul Majid, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: What does Moqtada want? If it is power, he has the right to, but not through fighting. He can establish a party and run for local elections. We refuse to see him forced upon us by his armed gangs.
Zayd, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: The real patriots are the ones who fight American occupation. I don’t agree with those who call Moqtada Sadr a terrorist.
Nawfal Kamal Abbas, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: The people of Najaf didn’t resent Moqtada Sadr at first, but they soon realised he was following instructions coming from countries that probably didn’t want to end up like Iraq. Moqtada started his latest move as soon as he came back from Iran. He proved to be inexperienced and lacking political shrewdness. I hope he will elude the traps that have been set for him .
Iraqi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: What exactly is the ‘Sadr Movement’? Some would link it with the late Mohamad Sadek Al Sadr, while others identify it with his son Moqtada. None of this is true. This concept was instituted by the reformist Sheikh Mohammad Baker Al Sadr who served the nation and worked hard for its welfare. It was later highjacked by Moqtada and his followers.
Abu Mohammad Ali Al-Najafi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Can the ones who killed many Iraqis and forced an embargo upon us for more than ten years be considered liberators? How can they claim they are here to help us after they killed our loved ones? Resistance and martyrdom are thus a duty.
Ahmed Al Iraqi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Every household in Iraq has lost one of its members to Saddam’s dictatorship. Some were executed, other incarcerated or fled the country. Now Moqtada is finishing the job..
Ali Al Deek, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I hold Moqtada and his men responsible for the destruction of the city of Najaf. They have nothing but contempt for this city and its people. Some of them are baathists or former members of Saddam’s intelligence and security apparatuses.
Mohammad Al Najafi, Najaf, Iraq

National conference meets to choose assembly “Under tight security and a curfew in parts of Baghdad, 1,300 political and religious leaders gathered for a three-day conference in the fortified Green Zone compound to choose the 100-member assembly. The assembly, or national council, will oversee the interim government until elections are held in January.

“Your presence here today is the biggest challenge to the forces of darkness that want to tear this country apart. This is not the end of the road, it is the first step on the way to democracy,” Allawi said in opening remarks.”

and Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iraq wins 2-0 and moves to quarter finals.

Welcome Dave at Cabarfeidh, an ally with 23 years in the Queen’s Own Highlanders. I like him just because he’s Scottish but he’s got a sense of humor too.

our friend Doug started his own blog. Go check out Loose Coins and keep an eye out in the future. Doug is a great writer and has a wicked wit. Big things are afoot.

Asher has some fascinating analysis of how society relates to transgendered individuals (and visa versa) in Iran
andin the US. Its food for thought on these and wider issues.

Over 700 New Jersey residents were murdered on September 11th in the World Trade Center by Wahabbi zealots. The state was seared by a pain only New Yorkers can understand. Soon after, New Jersey was attacked by anthrax- one of the few states where anthrax was not a scare but a reality. Besieged and wounded, New Jersey was assaulted again a few months later by her governor, when Jim McGreevey hired his alleged lover Golan Cipel as homeland security chief. Mr. Cipel, a foreign national, was uniquely unqualified for the position.

Many have called Governors McGreeveys resignation speech courageous as he transformed himself into a member of an oppressed minority before our eyes. Unfortunately, McGreevey did not have sufficient courage to admit to his constituents that Mr. Cipel had spent months receiving a salary exceeding $100,000 compliments of Garden State taxpayers.

Perhaps McGreeveys greatest affront to the good people of New Jersey, exceeding his prior abuses of power, is his expectation that the state will open wide while an appointed governor is rammed down our throats, his expectation that the New Jersey electorate will relinquish to him our fundamental right to choose our elected officials.

McGreevey says he will remain in office until November 15th, 2004, effectively disenfranchising all the voters in the state. With a resignation before September 2nd, New Jersey voters would choose McGreeveys successor in November. With a resignation after September 2nd, State Senate President Richard Codey will step in to finish McGreevey’s term, which lasts until 2006.

As a result of this sleight of hand- resignation speech now, resignation in three months- another outrageous Democratic stunt has been achieved on the level of the Toricelli maneuver. Florida may just have lost the crown for the largest number of disenfranchised voters if the Trenton political machine can steal this election by not holding one.

In his 2004 State of the State address, Governor McGreevey said ‘We are here to create a government that stands up for those whose spirit and energy drive this state forward, but whose voices are too rarely heard.’ The Democratic Party now appears eager to silence those same voices and the voice of all New Jersey this November. Do they think we are too stupid to notice or too lazy to care?

From an administration plagued by improprieties and corruption-most recently involving hookers, videotape and a grand jury witness- we get the feeble excuse of ‘facilitating a responsible transition’ as the reason for the resignation delay. Before McGreevey holds himself out as an authority on responsibility, he would do well to apologize for his egregious breech of his fiduciary responsibility- a duty that involves the placement of his constituents physical safety ahead of his personal pleasures. He would do well to accept that although New Jersey is a heavily blue state, it nonetheless is part of the United States, a nation founded on the principal of self-representation.

In his ‘courageous’ resignation speech, McGreevey failed to mention that he is the subject of a federal corruption probe. He recognized that he is blessed to live in a nation with “the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world.” The wellspring of those liberties is our representative government. In denying the New Jersey electorate the right to vote, Governor McGreevy is thwarting democracy itself.

Governor McGreevey may or may not owe his constituents an apology, but he does owe us the opportunity to vote for his successor. Corruption and lies, endangering his constituents, paying his supposed boyfriend with public funds, and stalling an election- this is Jim McGreeveys legacy. New Jersey deserves better. And we deserve it now.

Jane Novak is a New Jersey resident.

Works Cited:

McGreevey James. 2004 State of the State Speech.
http://www.state.nj.us/sos2004/speech.html

McGreevey James. Resignation Speech.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_081204_mcgreevey.html

email address: New Jersey Republicans: info@njgop.org

New Jersey Democratic Party Contact page

Phone Democratic Party: (609) 392-DEMS (3367)

McGreevey
The State House
P. O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-6000
email contact page

Bill breaks the big taboo by considering the question.

Big Dick did not punch out the guy from Kellog, Brown and Root (August 13th, 2004- a date to rmemeber.)

Allah’s got THE Olympic photo and its not even shopped.(Large version)

Val’s Blog Cuba is especially good this year.

New Jersey Governor James McGreevys announcement that he is gay, a philanderer and resigning came as a shockwave that rippled across the state. Unable to fulfill his constitutional duties because he could be ‘vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure,’ Governor McGreevy is stepping down effective November 15th.

McGreevy, a twice married father of two, said at a news conference: ‘Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony. It was wrong, it was foolish, it was inexcusable.’ Governor McGreevey extended his thanks to the people of New Jersey for the ‘privilege to govern.’ He directed his apology to his wife, asking for her ‘forgiveness and grace,’ as well he should.

It is not necessary that McGreevey apologize to his constituents for being gay or for being in the closet. An apology to New Jersey residents may be in order for poor judgment, indiscretion, and lack of restraint, regrettable qualities in any elected official, especially those holding the highest positions of trust. More troubling though, McGreeveys parting maneuver will force the appointment-not election- of his replacement. It will result in a statewide electoral disenfranchisement for more than two years, instead of two months.

McGreevy stated the reason for the three month delay between his announcement and the November 15 resignation date is to ‘facilitate a responsible transition.’
As a consequence of this date, Garden State voters will not have the opportunity to elect a new governor in the upcoming November election. If McGreevey resigns before September 15th, a special gubernatorial election will be held November 2nd. With the later resignation date, State Senate President Richard Codey will step in to finish McGreeveys term, which lasts until 2006.

New Jersey voters cannot help but be skeptical of the governor’s motives. Most recall the Trenton political machine’s ‘Toricelli maneuver’- replacing scandal plagued Senatorial candidate Robert Toricelli with Frank Lautenburg 32 days before he was to face Republican Doug Forrester. Many find it quite possible that the party is now attempting to retain Democratic control of the governorship for as long as possible, undermining the fundamental rights of the citizenry.

In his 2004 State of the State address, Governor McGreevy said ‘We are here to create a government that stands up for those whose spirit and energy drive this state forward, but whose voices are too rarely heard.’ The Democratic Party now appears eager to silence those same voices and the voice of all New Jersey this November.

In McGreevy’s two and a half years as governor, he has been surrounded by scandal. McGreevys top fund raiser Charles Kushner was recently charged with impeding a federal campaign-finance investigation by hiring prostitutes to videotape sexual activities with a grand jury witness. Commerce Secretary William Watley resigned in July in the face of allegations he funneled state money to his businesses and family. McGreeveys nominees for police superintendent and anti-terrorism coordinator were both forced to step aside. The legacy of McGreevey’s term may be impacting his resignation timetable more than transition concerns.

McGreevy and the Democratic apparatus have a duty to enable voters to elect a new governor at the earliest possible date. The goal of a ‘responsible transition’ does not supercede the fundamental right of the voters to vote for the highest position in the state.

McGreevy, in his resignation speech, acknowledged he was blessed to live in a nation with ‘the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world.’ The wellspring of those liberties is our representative government. In denying the New Jersey electorate the right to vote promptly, Governor McGreevy is denying democracy in New Jersey. Governor McGreevey may or may not owe his constituents an apology, but he does owe us the opportunity to vote for his successor.

Works Cited:

McGreevey James. 2004 State of the State Speech.
http://www.state.nj.us/sos2004/speech.html

McGreevey James. Resignation Speech.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_081204_mcgreevey.

Everybody wants Dick. Check post 8/11: Who Wants Dick?

George Bush agrees with me.

An Editorial in the Daily Star:

The Arab silence on this issue probably is not specific to Darfur or Sudan, but rather reflects a wider malaise that has long plagued our region: Arab governments tend to stay out of each other’s way when any one of them is accused of wrongdoing, and most Arab citizens have been numbed into helplessness in the face of public atrocities or criminal activity in their societies.

The modern history of the Arab world over the past 50 years has been defined by two broad trajectories that are intimately related: the concentration of economic and military power in the hands of small numbers of people who form the governing power elites, and that governing elite’s steady provision of basic services and job opportunities to the citizenry.

Read itall.

Muslims for Bush

BloombergIran helping Zarqawi dispite the fact that al-Qaeda finds Shia to be infidels? Why that would be as unlikely as…as…Saddam helping al-Qaeda.

Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the al-Quds corps in the revolutionary guard, confessed in a seminar to helping Zarqawi carry out suicide attacks to serve the interests of the Islamic Republic, the London-based Saudi newspaper reported, citing an Iranian official who was at the meeting.

Zarqawi and as many as 20 members of his Ansar al-Islam group can enter Iran whenever they want through certain border points that stretch between Halabja in northern Iraq to Ilam in the south, Suleimani said, according to the paper. Zarqawi went to Iran a few months ago where he spent some time in an Iranian revolutionary guard training camp in the area of Mehran near the border with Iraq and later returned to Baqubah, north of Baghdad, the paper said.

Release from US State Dept: Human trafficking takes on many forms in the 21st century with people becoming trapped into lives of servitude and misery through varied avenues and methods.

Foreigners who enter the United States legally or illegally may have to pay their “smugglers” or middle-men exorbitant fees. Some people arrive believing they’ll have a legitimate job as a housekeeper or nanny and end up as domestic slaves unable to leave their traffickers homes. Others are completely tricked and end up in forced, commercial, sexual exploitation. Some men believe they ll earn money working on a farm, but find themselves working to pay off the inflated “debt” from “travel costs” — working months and years on end while the traffickers pocket their earnings.

* We estimate that of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across country
borders every year, almost 70% are forced into the commercial sex industry.
Half of all victims are children. Many are forced to work in brothels,
illegitimate massage parlors, as “escorts,” or in pornography. When people
support such industries they are fueling the demand for commercial sexual
services that fuel the demand for trafficking victims.

REPORT SUSPECTED HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES

* If you believe someone you know may be a trafficking victim, contact the
Department of Health and Human Services’ Human Trafficking Hotline at (888)
373-7888.

The regulations for new federal funds to reimburse hospitals providing care to illegal immigrants is creating quite a stir by requiring certification that the monies were actually spent on illegal immigrants.

NYTThe federal government is offering $1 billion to hospitals that provide emergency care to undocumented immigrants. But to get the money, hospitals would have to ask patients about their immigration status, a prospect that alarms hospitals and advocates for immigrants.

Note: the entire article calls the prospective patients “undocumented” as if the failure and responsibilty for their status rests entirely with the agency that has not issued proper documentation.

The New York Times Editorial Quote of the Week: Al Jazeera’s professional, provocative and partisan news coverage has no exact parallel in the United States, in part because the journalistic context in which it operates fortunately has no parallel here.

Professional- if we overlook being a mouthpiece for terrorists, inciting violence, and propigating half-truths and falsehoods that is.

from one article as possible: NJ GOP. And they have a great slogan: Putting the Party back in The Grand Old Party.
I just have to find out how I get in that Republican Babe of the Week contest.

Comrade Rusty, having taken over the politburo while the Commissar is in the Gulag, attempts to ply the proletariat with social programs like free stamps. They are rather colorful though. I guess taking a few wouldn’t hurt…

Why do we call him “ketchup Kerry?”

He cuts-n-runs so fast,

No one else can ketchup.

NAIROBI, Aug 6 (IPS)-

While the flurry of diplomatic activity around developments in the western Sudanese region of Darfur continues, heavy rains are complicating efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there.

“The poor roads coupled with heavy rains there have made it difficult for aid workers to reach the IDPs (internally displaced persons),” Ben Parker, a United Nations spokesman on Sudan, told IPS.

As a result, he added, the UN World Food Programme had resorted to air drops over inaccessible areas. The challenge of getting clean water supplies to displaced persons remained however, along with the risk of cholera and diarrhoea outbreaks amongst those without supplies.

Parker, who is based at the UN complex in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and who visited Darfur last month, says aid operations are also being undermined by the shortage of relief supplies.

Although the UN has appealed for 349 million dollars for humanitarian efforts in Darfur, only 161 million dollars have been pledged.

Parker further noted that killings and incidents of rape by the janjaweed Arab militias in Darfur continue to be recorded in the face of Sudanese pledges to comply with a UN resolution demanding that government crack down on these paramilitary forces. (The term “janjaweed” means “men on horseback”.)

“We have new accounts of women being raped and others being beaten while collecting firewood. We hope though that the acts of torture will stop following imposition of the resolution…(and) we hope this will be taken seriously by the government,” he said.

We hope, we hope…

POLITICS: Iraq Avoids U.N. Dues by Crying Poverty
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS – Iraq’s U.S.-installed interim government, which is planning to spend some two billion dollars on its military this year, has declared it is too poor to pay 14.6 million dollars it owes the United Nations. Link

Or so says Egyptian Government Papers: The American Intervention in Darfur is a Plot to Control the Sudanese Oil

The Egyptian government weekly magazine Al-Ahram Al-Arabi published an investigative report by Dr. Amani Al-Tawil titled: “The Key to the American Voting Booths is in Darfur: The Plot which is Called ‘Oil.’”(1)

“The fast locomotive of the Western intervention, led by the U.S., is about to pull into the Darfur station in Sudan … where there is no separation between political and humanitarian issues. While the experts in Washington, London, and Khartoum are toying with the fate of more than a million Sudanese, displaced and scattered in the desert, the new amateur Sudanese politicians, the sons of Darfur, who visited the capitals of the world, have been intoxicated by the political and media glory and have lost their ability to present a coherent political agenda.

This is just too depressing for words: who has been toying with their lives? The US or the Sudanese government killing, looting, raping and starving. No, its got to be the evil USA.

“The question is why did Colin Powell, the American Secretary of State, grab the ball from the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s court in this race to Darfur and [why he] mobilized behind him the European Union in an attempt to score the ‘goal’ of imposing international sanctions on Sudan? Why didn’t Washington give the agreement that was signed last April between the government of Khartoum and the U.N. a chance [that may have saved] more than a million Sudanese from the threats of death, hunger, drowning in the vast desert [sands] of Darfur or dying in the refugee camps in Chad?

Possibly because no progress was being made, no reforms taken and millions remain near death with no advocate from within the region.

“The answers are not far from the American voting booths, and as usual they are not far from the oil barrel. Bush is awaiting his fate in November, and the U.S. is planning to make Darfur an easy path towards its major plan to transport the [Persian] Gulf oil and the African oil to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, so that Washington can meet its needs in the next decade…

And Joe sixpack is gonna get that and vote for Bush? Somehow the concern and aid to Darfur is a plus for Bush because we Middle Americans demand an oil pipeline and will vote for whoever produces one for us.

“In the American election game the Democrats are trying to strip away from the American president the remaining ‘fig leaf’ that is covering [his policies] in the Middle East, and to expose him in front of the American electorate. The signing of a peace treaty in Southern Sudan [is meant to help Bush] after [his] drowning in the Iraqi swamps and failing with his Palestinian Road Map.

Couldn’t just be good old humanitarian interest, that the impending genocide is a bit much to stand around and watch? No its a plot.

Egypt insisted during the talks between President Husni Mubarak and the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, that Darfur’s problem should not be internationalized to a point that requires direct military intervention, as threatened by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair who said that he was ready to send 5000 troops to Darfur immediately.

Of course not, failed diplomacy requires…more failed diplomacy. Lets not set a precident where lethal regimes are deemed less legitimate, less sovereign than nurturing ones.

“In its political position, Cairo maintains that the direct intervention in Iraq did not lead to true security and stability. To the contrary, [it] opened the door wide for the outbreak of a civil war. Also, Iraq turned into an arena of clashes between the remnants of Al-Qa’ida’s army and numerous other cells and the American military machine. Furthermore, Cairo maintains that the situation in Sudan is delicate and threatens the stability of its neighbors in the region and puts Cairo and Tripoli in danger not only from the Sudanese gangs, but also from Al-Qa’ida cells that exist there…

Oh well if the neighbors are worried about instability, if the staus quo is best for all concerned (except the starving million) then byu all means, lets just leave it alone

.”The goals of the American oil companies are two-fold: First, removing the South-East Asian oil cartels from Sudan, since the Sudanese oil production will reach half a million barrels per day at the beginning of next year. This, following the signing last week of an agreement between the Sudanese Office of Energy and Mines and Petrodar, the company which heads another oil cartel that includes 15 companies, most of them Chinese, Malaysian and European.

But the fact that these Security Council members oppose any action could have nothing to do with their oil contracts, best to blame it on the US and the American dream of an oil pipeline through Africa.

“Second, the American oil companies plan, after stability in Iraq is obtained, to extend the oil pipeline from the Arabian Gulf through the Saudi port of Yanbu’ to the port city of ‘Arous in Sudan, and [from there] through Darfur to Chad where it [will link to] the existing pipeline that begins in Daba oil fields in Chad and goes to the Atlantic Ocean, therefore securing an oil flow for American needs.

They got us now.

“The needs of the American industrial sector are not limited to [securing] a safe passage for the oil through Africa, but aims also at limiting the French presence in Africa. This, following America’s success in removing France from the area of Al-Buheirat Al-’Uzma [the Great Lakes], it is now hoping to eliminate the French presence in Chad and Sudan, since France did not act as politically expected of her in the Darfur problem…”

Well if thats the reason, I say go for it.

A second editorial in the Egyptian government English-language magazine Al-Ahram Weekly:

“No observer could possibly deny that conditions in Darfur in western Sudan are sharply deteriorating. The war-stricken region is undeniably experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe, facilitated by the absence of an effective central government.

There’s no effective government but the world must respect its soveignty?”

Even more alarming, however, is the increasing discourse claiming that the Sudanese government is undertaking operations of ethnic cleansing against the inhabitants of Darfur, and especially against non-Arab tribes. Such claims are made despite the fact that there is no international investigative committee or an official United Nations report [claiming that such ethnic cleansing exists]…

This makes me so angry I could spit. The are an abundent number of reports from the UN itself going back months detailing both the crisis, the targeting of the Black population, and the involvement of Khartoum.”

The decision of the United States Congress to impose sanctions will negatively impact the Sudanese people and can, therefore, only be seen as an act of collective punishment. The suspicion in the Arab world is that the U.S.’ eagerness to intervene in Darfur is an American conspiracy to gain control of Sudanese oil.”

If we weren’t talking about women and kids, I would say screw you, let the blood be on your hands. But in Egypt, would they notice?

“Yesterday, Zahdan was very tense, the regime had announced on radio and TV that they would be executing 5 young Baluchis, on Thursday, at 5pm at the intersection of Amirolmomenin and Imam Khomeini streets. But the awakened Baluchis who have taken every opportunity to fight the regime, could not remain calm anymore after the first youth, a 25 year old, was publicly hung, and they exploded and started to attack the reimge by throwing stones, turning Zahedan into a street scene of Palestinians fighting the Israeli occupiers.

As the anti riot police stepped in, the city became quite chaotic. As I write this, 2 hours have passed since the hanging of the first youth, and the regime who was scheduled to hang 4 more, has settled for just one hanging, because of the severity of the situation. Clashs between the youth and the regime’s forces continue from Imam Khomeini street to Sa’adi street and also Shariati, Beheshti, Kamarbandi, and Mir Hosseyni streets as well. It is quite possible that tonight Zahedan will have a tense time, because the youth who are completely fedup with these executions and
recent harrassments have sworn vengence, and promised to steal away sleep from the butchors. During these clashes approximately 20 young and teenage Baluchis have been arrested, and several of the regime’s forces have been injured from the stone throwing by the youth.”Blog Iran

Commissar sentenced to two weeks in re-education camp: The lies include Comrades, other evidence has been found that Comrade Commissar has been subverted by decadent capitalist influences. Our recent secret raid of his personal belongings reveals tendencies towards bourgoise tastes and Trotskyite notions.

The plan was revealed and the Commissar is exiled to the Gulag.

SECRET LOCATION OF GULAG DISCOVERED! The commissar is enduring brutal re-education:A good ideology is more important than human life. Millions of Russian, Ukrainians, Chinese and Cambodians are not quite as important as the dream of the Worker’s Paradise.

Freeing brutalized people from their oppressive leaders is important, but not if it is accomplished through U. S. Foreign policy.But other than that, all life is precious.

America Is Always Wrong
This point is so simple it shouldn’t even warrant writing about. Socially, spiritually and physically, America is the disease. It is completely irrelevant that people from all over the world are trying to get here. Nor does it matter that at no other time in history have people lived so long and with so much. Just remember that America suppresses women worse than Fundamentalist Islam (Islam means peace) and commits genocide worse than Hutus or Serbs (see Terminology: genocide).

Assult this site and free the Commissar! Thanks to a cranky neo-con for the detective work.

The neo-libs have been screaming that we’re fighting the wrong war, that the place to concentrate forces is Afghanistan. So why is Kerry talking about bringing our troops home, and not redeploying 50,000 to Afghanistan?

Could it be because a saturation of forces there would not actually be more effective? Or because he doesn’t believe in the use of military force to battle terrorism?

Yes, a sensitive war on terror will be well recieved by our European enemies, the autocrats in the Middle East, and the Wahabbi Zealots. They will love us again, and respect us again, as the US and liberty goes down in flames.

Tom takes a walk through history:

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: There is no evidence that military service, let alone combat experience, affects one’s performance as president.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have never served in the military.

Let’s take a little walk through history and see what we find.

Barbary Coast Pirates 1801 – 1805 (1) Thomas Jefferson was president. No military experience. We were right to go to war against the north African pirates, although we did not achieve our goal of ending payments of tribute to them. It did at least weaken them, and it showed American resolve in a situation that required action. I’m going to give Jefferson an A for resolve, but only a C for his conduct of the war. A “B” grade overall.

Read the rest and see who gets a passing grade.

Its Legal

Racism: illegal; foodism: legal.

Thanks to John for the link.

Courtsey mASS BACKWARDS

Crossroads Arabia has an interesting post on the priorities of advertising in Saudi Arabia.

ABOUT five years ago an advertising agency produced a commercial for Liza cooking oil that depicted singing animated chickens getting ready for the frying pan to be cooked in oil.

Much to the dismay of the producers the commercial was rejected by Saudi television. The chickens singing voices were female and chickens were not permitted to represent females.

John makes the point that the first requirement is not encouraging the sale of the product but rather not to undermine the social values. As a mother with young children, I oppose crass pandering to the bottom line without regard for social consequences. Beyond entertainment, TV has become a social institution that defines society and its outer limits of acceptable behavior, values and norms. It is a capital generating venture that shapes precepts and priorities. I for one am glad the FCC is finally taking its duties seriously here in the US.

One of the Jordanian hostages said he had been released with three other Jordanian truck drivers after a group of Iraqis stormed a house in the city of Fallujah late on Tuesday and freed them without firing a shot.

“When the brave people of Fallujah knew that we were held hostage they raided the house and rescued us last night. We are all safe,” one of the hostages, Ahmad Hassan Abu Jafaar, said by telephone. “We’re expecting to go back to Jordan today.”
AN

Carbib Pundit has a new domain name: http://carib.us.

Or “Stop the presses”, to those who haven’t already succumbed to
leftist aggression. A guest post by my bud Doug. I’m in italics.
Dem lawmakers say Fox News is unbalanced

“Two-thirds of Fox viewers, for example, wrongly believed that a link
between Iraq and al-Qaida had been found, while only 16 percent of PBS/NPR viewers and listeners and 40 percent of print-media readers shared the same misperception.”

“Wrongly”? “Misperception”? I’m not entirely sure these words mean what you think they mean… we do not yet have a Ministry of Truth to refashion the language.

I thought we were vindicated on that one. Didn’t the 9/11 report document repeated ties and communications between al-Qaeda and Saddam? What they did not find was evidence of Saddam’s involvement in 9/11. So it should be: Fox news viewers are better informed and ahead of the mainstream.

“In addition, 33 percent of Fox viewers believed that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, in contrast with 11 percent of PBS/NPR viewers and 19 percent of ABC News viewers.”

In what alternate reality have illegal missiles, programs, weapons, and even chemical agents (complete with delivery mechanisms) NOT been found?

Seems NPR and ABC are doing a very poor job of educating their viewers.

But you know what, that crap can be shoved off to the side – THIS is what I’m writing about – THIS is what we need to have bloggers shouting about from the rooftops;

“A spokesman for Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said there were legislative avenues that the group could pursue as a secondary measure but declined to speculate on what those might be.”

I’ll be damned. They actually got up the brass to admit to us that they’re willing to outlaw opposing points of view – I never thought I’d see the day they’d come right out and say it. They’re threatening to assert federal muscle to reimpose the liberal monopoly on mainstream media.

OK, that’s bad. The onslaught of attacks on the conservative agenda has been constant: a slew of books, F9/11, these idiot entertainers, the self-promoting biased media, move on .org and George
Soros advancing his socialist agenda for the US. Fox has been the only news
organization to counter the propaganda of the left with facts. And the left hates it. I recently saw a full page ad in the New York Times: The Soviet Union had the Politburo, America has Fox News.

To threaten legislative action to muzzle the dissent of the minority is beyond the
pale. The foundation of democracy rests on the presumption of an informed electorate,
and thus a free press. In the marketplace of ideas, the right can hold its own. The
threat of legislative action demonstrates a) the weakness of the ideology of the left b)its disregard for the principals of democracy and the American tradition itself c) the underhanded nature of the left and its belief that the ends justify the means. In addition the challenge of the terrorists who want to kill us to change our ideology, an additional enemy of American “liberal” traditions and American democracy is the left itself. The convergence of these forces, and the similarity of their ultimate goal of a fundamental change in the US body politic, weakens the US from within and demands ever more vigilance and determination from those defending the US from forces both internal and external for future generations.

Update: Rusty has more on the supposed bias of Fox.

Update: Laughing Wolf says:Why is it that almost every major effort to suppress free speech and the open exchange of opposing viewpoints on a governmental level is coming from the so-called liberals with DNC backing?

I have been following the writing of Professor Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin, aka Dr. Meglommatis who is a historian and Orientalist living in Egypt. I have posted some thoughts and excerpts here at AOL.

Dr. M puts forth an assertion that is quite easy for me to accept: It’s all France’s fault: “France was the main reason of this repellent situation, because France propagated the falsehood of Arab nationalism, misled Arabic-speaking elites that enrolled in its universities, and ultimately offered a blank check to all sorts of inept and besotted, tyrannical, pan-Arabist murderers, who easily ruled for decades. And yet France is not sorry!”

And
“Criminal France hides and censors Iraqi minorities in order to preserve its false myth of an Arabic Iraq inimical to the USA. These minorities wish the arrival of Western Crusaders in present day Iraq: 1)the Mandaeans. A religious minority that consists in the only survival of the Gnosticisms of the Late Antiquity. They exclusively live in Iraq, and speak Syriac, the latest form of Aramaic…” (exhaustive list of minorities continues)

The theory seems to be that since Napoleon, the French have propagated a false paradigm of history, pan-Arabism, that has enabled the suppression of pluralism and democracy in the Middle East, empowered tyrants, and perpetuated France’s position as a world power.

In my recent e-class in world history, I was left quite confused with what happened to all the various middle eastern cultures and societies after the advent of Islam. According to my history book, they all became Arabs and Muslims and that was that. Prof. M states that the spread of the Arabic language and Islam did not mean a cultural assimilation but rather the beginning of the suppression of minority identities in cultures that remain vibrant to today.

The insistence in European universities of the Pan-Arab identity that continues apparently through today and in the US sets up a situation where “Arabs” are thought to be a monolithic group, uniformly opposed to the US. In reality, a vast number of minorities comprise this group. The blame for the Arabs hostility to the US rests, in this abbreviated version of history, with the US itself. Somehow in the popular culture, the positions of France and the US have been transposed with the US as imperialist colonial power and France as friend of the Arabs, when the reverse is true. The left has sucked up this paradigm and spit out a self-loathing in response.

In this model, the advent of a pluralistic Iraq- recognizing, valuing and empowering its numerous minority groups- would not only undermine the Salafist ideology of bin Laden and his ilk, but would also seriously threaten France’s position as a great power- a position that depends on the continuing repression of minority rights and the continuing reign of tyrants and dictators.

I never though I’d be on the other side of the cultural divide, opposing the rockers.
Who do we have? Ricky Martin?

NEW YORK (Aug. 4) – In an unprecedented series of concerts in nine swing states, more than 20 musical acts – including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks – will perform fund-raising concerts one month before the Nov. 2 election in an effort to unseat President Bush.

The shows, which will begin Oct. 1 in Pennsylvania, will take an unusual approach: as many as six concerts on a single day in cities across the states expected to decide the November presidential race. Other stops on the tour are North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the key state in 2000, Florida.

“We’re trying to put forward a group of progressive ideals and change the administration in the White House,” Springsteen told The Associated Press in the most overtly political statements of his 30-year career. “That’s the success or failure, very clear cut and very simple.”

The shows will be presented by MoveOn Pac, the electoral arm of the liberal interest group MoveOn.org, with an official announcement expected Wednesday.There will be 34 shows in 28 cities.

Other artists participating in the shows include hip-hoppers Jurassic 5, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Babyface, Bright Eyes and the Dave Matthews Band. Most have a history of social activism, from Browne’s anti-nuclear concerts to Mellencamp’s Farm Aid shows. Pearl Jam front man Vedder was a Ralph Nader backer in 2000. AOL News

Crazy Janie signing out.

Kevin weighs in: Hear that sound, Bruce? It’s your CDs being crunched under the rear wheels of my American-made, gas-guzzling SUV and scattered next to Ms. Maines’ remains. “Born In The USA,” my ass!

MSNBC ad shown with pics of soldiers, the voice over: (Watch MSNBC) “When our sons and daughters find themselves in harms way,”

like they took a wrong turn instead of volunteering to defend our nation from its enemies.

I would prefer “when our couragous sons and daughters fight the battle for liberty.”

The site Stop Censoring Us posts thefollowing list that relates to internet usage in Iran. By these standards Michael Moore would be in jail, and so would many of us.

Publishing any material that denies or is against Islam
Disrespect towards Islamic religion or its respected legendaries
Publishing materials that are against country’s constitution or anything that threatens national unity and independence
Disrespecting supreme leader or any of the established high-ranking clerics
Humiliation of respected religious facts and established orders, treasures of Islamic revolution and bases of political ideologies of founder of the Islamic revolution (late ayatollah Khomeini)
Disrupting national unity
To make negative allegation and to cause doubts and disappointment among people on eligibility and effectiveness of the government
Advertising and distributing ideas of forbidden social and political groups
Publishing classified documents
Publishing content against moral beliefs of the society (such as pornography)
Encouraging the use of drugs
Publishing content that comprise baseless attack to government individuals or any other fellow countrymen
Revealing private relations of people and dishonoring their personal information
Distributing passwords or secrete codes of databases, software packages, e-mail accounts or introducing ways or cracking them
Illegal commercial and financial activities via internet including faking, gamble, etc.
Trading items via Internet that are illegal by law
Any activity towards hacking private networks in order to shutdown or decrease their level of service
Spying over the web and trying to illegally trace information passing through
Making any radio and/or TV station without authorization and control of Islamic Republic Broadcasting (IRIB)

IFEX: Reporters Without Borders has urged the
Syrian government to release five detained cyber-dissidents, three of whom
were sentenced last week to jail terms of up to four years for e-mailing
information to an online newspaper in the United Arab Emirates.

On 25 July 2004, the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) in Damascus
sentenced Haytham Quteish to four years in jail. His brother, Mohammed
Quteish, was sentenced to three years, and journalist Yahia Al-Aws was
handed a two-year jail term, reports RSF. According to Amnesty
International, the individuals were convicted on charges including
“disseminating false news abroad.”

In June 2004, the SSSC sentenced Abdel Rahman Shagouri to two-and-a-half
years in prison for “publishing lies [that] harm the image and national
security” of Syria, says RSF. Shaguri had been caught e-mailing information
from the banned website www.thisissyria.net. Detained since February, he has
reportedly been tortured.

Meanwhile, Massud Hamid, a Kurdish journalism student, faces imprisonment on
charges of “belonging to an illegal organisation,” says RSF. Hamid was arrested in July 2003 for posting photos of a peaceful Kurdish demonstration in Damascus on the website www.amude.com. The Kurdish-language website is routinely blocked by Syria’s Internet service providers, all of whom are state-controlled. Hamid is being detained at Adra prison.

Mexico- our neighbor, just because it is close doesn’t mean its not corrupt. IFEX:The Organization of American States’ Special Rapporteur on Free Expression,
Eduardo Bertoni, has requested a report from the Mexican government
concerning the murder of journalist Roberto Mora García, citing
inconsistencies in the official investigation into the case.

Mora García, the editor of the daily
newspaper “El Mañana” in the northern city of Nuevo Laredo, was stabbed to
death on 19 March 2004. Mora García had written several articles about the
Gulf Cartel, a regional drug trafficking network, and accused police and
government workers of being involved.

The coalition (Comisión en Memoría de Roberto Mora García) conducted its own
inquiry into the murder and found that two suspects detained in the
investigation had been tortured while under interrogation. One of them was
later murdered in prison. The commission also revealed that a weapon found
at the home of one of the suspects was different from the one described in
the autopsy.

The International Freedom Exchange reports press freedom-an essential compnent of reform and democracy- has increased since the fall of Aristide. No surprise there.

Journalists, it seems, are able to breathe again. Press freedom has returned to the country and a “new wind of freedom” is blowing for radio stations in the capital, Port-au-Prince, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

In a report released on the heels of a fact-finding mission to Haiti from 7 to 11 June, RSF says Haiti’s new leaders have shown a willingness to solve the cases of murdered journalists…The leaders acknowledged the importance of solving the
cases and had given orders for them to be dealt with urgently.

While sounding a note of optimism about press freedom in Haiti, RSF says the country is in a fragile state. With rebel forces controlling half the country, including rural areas, journalists outside the capital work under riskier situations. Supporters of Aristide also pose a threat to journalists and if the government fails to disarm them before next year’s elections, the media may become the
target of new violence, warns RSF.

Read RSF’s report here: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10889

Less reconstruction, already democratic, it would be a snap. We already get blamed for everything they do.

Sharone recently approved 600 next settlements in the West Bank. This is not a defensive measure. It is not in keeping with the Road Map. There’s no reason for new housing unless he is planning on keeping large portions of the West Bank. Even if this is an accommodation to the Lakud members to insure support of the Gaza pull-out, it demonstrates a hollow commitment to the two state solution.

Just as some Palestinians want all the land, so do some in Israel. Both extremist sides in their respective countries are setting policy while other elements are able to enact contradictory policies. One step forward and one step back.

Overt and strong criticism of Israel or withdrawal of aid would compromise the security (?) of our good allies. Thus America must invade in order to effect any changes in Israeli policy while retaining a strong and defensible position against her many many enemies.Thus for the sake of the Israelis, Americans, Palestinians and world peace, send in the Marines.

In our new American colony, an American administration would grant a definition of civilian-ness to a larger segment of the occupied population. Apparently, the Israelis consider nearly all of the Palestinians as non-civilians and have taken actions beyond what is necessary for security to demoralize the population. An American administration of the refugee camps would be less torturous on the children, and attention would be paid to the necessity of the civilian portion (however large it is determined to be) of the occupied population to have access to medical and educational institutions.

An American invasion of Israel would have many positive benefits: it would demonstrate our commitment to a resolution of this long ranging conflict, it would ensure our great allies the Israelis long term security, and it would provide some relief and hope for the Palestinians.

For the mathematically impaired, like me, Rusty’s got graphs outlining the Bush ‘Jobless Recovery’ vs. Clinton ‘Miracle Economy’.Quite an eye-opener. Check it out. Impress your friends.

The Commissar bloggin live from Citigroup center: I keep looking on TV for a guy in a red cape. Maybe he’s busy with Laura, George and Michael.

Asher is keepin an eye on Sistani in the Morning Report.

Fausta reports Mrs. Kerry doesn’t recognize chili.

Professor M argues that for true pluralism and stablity to exist in Iraq, each group must be accepted, respected and understood in its true form. This implies that perhaps the strength of American social cohesion is not the “melting pot” but the acceptence of differences. And the strength of Iraq is its acceptence of each social group with all its history, culture and identity.Professor Megalommatis Egyptian Orientalist, writes:

…Turkey, rejecting the Caliphate and the false version of Islam France wishes so passionately that other countries of colonial past are permanently engulfed in, ensuring therefore permanent dependence, underdevelopment, analphabetism, ignorance, and the ensuing poverty and misery. It would be very wrong to interpret the colossal work of Mustafa Kemal Pasha Ataturk as an imitation of French policies and as an application of French prescriptions. One could however admit that this great work – undertaken mostly in the 20s and the 30s – looks like that! In this regard one should consider how similar France and America look and how different they truly are, and have always been.…

One cannot find the country where the French colonial model was applied, from Morocco to Egypt and from Syria to Madagascar, from Greece to Vietnam and from Lebanon to Abyssinia, in which the past of the country itself is better studied locally than abroad (in Turkey it is!), and in which the past of other peoples and civilizations be studied in large scale (Turkey is different in this as well).

Iraq can be the second country to be disentangled from the colonial curse of France in a clear-cut and total way. All the options are open, and all people, who are conscious of the change needed, must contribute in taking French colonial involvement out of Iraq once forever.

If we fall into the trap of colonialism, the forged historiography fabricated by the French bogus academic school of the Annales, and the proportional re-presentation of each community according to terms of population, then everything will be lost and the best dreams of the Iraqis and all the world will soon turn into the nightmare of the apparent, unholy, alliance between Ossama bin Laden and the French political and ‘academic’ establishment.

From Rant me a River, an opposing view: Francis Fukuyama repeatedly argues (and persuades) in his books that the concepts of cultural diversity and moral relativism have weakened the bonds of community that unite us, and have forced us into smaller and less cohesive groups, whose ties are weaker, not stronger. In Western societies, the focus on the individual as the arbiter of his or her “unique” (rather than shared) values is “atomizing” us, rather than providing the “social capital” (i.e., shared values) we need to build and maintain strong, cohesive liberal democratic societies capable of withstanding attacks from the outside, such as the attack we face today from fundamental Islamism.

Quoting Fukyama:“Relativism—the doctrine that maintains that all values are merely relative and which attacks all ‘privileged perspectives’—must ultimately end up undermining democratic and tolerant values as well.”

From Iranian Truth:…not only had the number of police and soldiers on the street increased, but that it had been marked with the arrival of a new type of enforcement, what Iranians call the Ranger. Rangers in Iran are characterized by camefelouge clothing, fairly tall and bulky, carrying a baton on their sides. The street rumor is that most of the Rangers are Arabs, possibly Lebanese or Syrian (it was also rumored back in the day that Rafsanjani’s hoods were Iraqis; much of when Iranians don’t want to think that they themselves could commit brutalities they usually think its an Arab). Rangers began appearing about a month ago, right around when social crackdowns were also started. From what I can tell, the Ranger units seem to be more as backup. There has been considerable trouble in Tehran with policing efforts, particularly traffic cops, and most of the Rangers seem to be located in areas riddled with traffic problems and regular police forces.

In a sick reminder of the al-Shura massacre, five churches were bombed in Iraq today.

The unprecedented attacks against Iraq’s 750,000-member Christian minority seemed to confirm community members’ fears they might be targeted as suspected collaborators with American forces amid a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism….Iraqi police discovered a sixth bomb, consisting of 15 mortar rounds, outside a Baghdad church, and authorities disarmed it, the U.S. military said in a statement. The attacks did not appear to be suicide bombings, U.S. military and Iraqi officials said.

“This (attack) isn’t against Muslims or Christians, this is against Iraq,” Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi told The Associated Press. Muslim clerics condemned the violence and offered condolences to the Christian community. “This is a cowardly act and targets all Iraqis,” Abdul Hadi al-Daraji, spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, told Al-Jazeera television. Mohammed Fadil al-Samara’i, an official with the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, blamed terrorist groups and others “who profit from creating civil disturbances in Iraq.”

The attacks on the churches signaled a vast change in tactics for insurgents, who have focused many previous attacks on U.S. forces, Iraqi officials and police in a drive to push coalition forces from the country, weaken the interim government and hamper reconstruction efforts… Islamic radicals have warned Christians running liquor stores to shut down their businesses and have turned their sights on fashion stores and beauty salons. But the church attacks Sunday went far beyond those threats.

The more Zarqawi tries to turn the Iraqis against each other, the more they turn against him.