Watching PBS Channel 13 in NYC at the moment, and they're running a piece on Darfur. Fareed Zakaria is involved in this particular program. This is more than any single news network, NYT, or any major media outlet has done in years. Actual reporting including video.
Zakaria notes that the situation has only gotten worse over the past several months. The AU wants to get out since the violence is actually worsening. They've got 7,000 peacekeepers in the region, which is about the size of Texas. There's widespread misery, violence, and the janjaweed are continuing their attacks. The US is supporting the AU efforts, and the Darfurians don't particularly care for the UN (go figure).
The AU simply doesn't have the means to deal with this problem on its own and relies on a few donor countries, including the US.
Technorati: dafur, darfur, genocide, african union, annan
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Some Good News Out of Louisiana
The Louisiana legislature has finally agreed on a levee consolidation amendment to the Louisiana Constitution. That's a significant step that will go a long way to eliminating the graft and corruption that has long plagued the state's flood control operations. It's not the solution I would have hoped for - a single board that consolidates all the individual boards into a single entity, but it's better than the current situation:
However, a move to cut down the patronage jobs in New Orleans was blocked. It never even made it out of committee. Gov. Blanco had backed that bill, which is not only a subtle dig at the New Orleans governance, but would have gone a long way to restoring a bit of respect in dealing with Washington.
And there's now yet another candidate who's going to run against Whiplash Nagin.
UPDATE:
Handy dandy scorecard of what Louisiana did during their special session. The Times-Picayune has more on the upcoming local elections.
UPDATE:
Posted to Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks, Basil's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Don Surber, [and will be updated throughout the weekend]
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; kanye west; impeach bush; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.
The state's many levee boards were quaint institutions dating to the 19th century, intended to allow local control of southern Louisiana's vital systems of flood protection. But over the decades they became known for growth in other areas: self-administered salary increases, sweetheart contracts, expensive lunches, mini police forces, even an airport.That last part is especially instructive. This isn't about flood protection. It's about protecting political power. So the compromise bill compromises flood protection for the sake of getting a deal done. There will now be one board for each side of the Mississippi. Count on the two boards to fight each other over resources and blocking plans to armor the levees claiming that they will flood the other side.
Hurricane Katrina spurred a citizen reform movement in New Orleans and a push for change by a legislator from adjacent St. Bernard Parish whose house was ruined in the floods. All week citizens filled the Capitol here, and the legislator, Senator Walter J. Boasso, now living in a trailer, beat back efforts to preserve the status quo.
Mr. Boasso's work produced a compromise that will soon be signed by Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco: the many local levee boards in New Orleans and surrounding parishes are to be consolidated in two authorities, one for each side of the Mississippi River, instead of the single one Mr. Boasso sought. If voters approve the change in a September referendum, it will go into effect next January.
Mr. Boasso's crusade unearthed two perennial subtexts in the Louisiana Legislature: hostility to New Orleans — rural and suburban lawmakers objected to being put into a government entity that included the city — and fierce protectiveness of small political fiefs, in this instance the levee boards.
However, a move to cut down the patronage jobs in New Orleans was blocked. It never even made it out of committee. Gov. Blanco had backed that bill, which is not only a subtle dig at the New Orleans governance, but would have gone a long way to restoring a bit of respect in dealing with Washington.
And there's now yet another candidate who's going to run against Whiplash Nagin.
An influential black pastor and frequent critic of Mayor C. Ray Nagin declared his candidacy for mayor Friday, saying Hurricane Katrina exposed the weaknesses of the current administration.Where the New York Times sees race as a key issue, I see individuals who may or may not be qualified to hold the office. Whiplash Nagin is clearly incapable of managing the crisis still facing New Orleans. The other candidates may or may not be capable, but the fact that there are so many candidates shows just how dissatisified people are with Nagin's handling of Katrina.
The pastor, the Rev. Tom Watson III, said in his announcement, "We have put up with the political foolishness for a long time, and the impact from poor leadership was not shown until the storm showed it."
Mr. Watson, 50, is the first black challenger to Mr. Nagin, who is also black. Nine others, all white, have said they plan to run in the April 22 election.
UPDATE:
Handy dandy scorecard of what Louisiana did during their special session. The Times-Picayune has more on the upcoming local elections.
UPDATE:
Posted to Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks, Basil's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Don Surber, [and will be updated throughout the weekend]
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; kanye west; impeach bush; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.
Able Danger Hearings Week One Roundup
So ends the first week of the hearings. The big media hasn't really addressed the hearings in any meaningful way, as a news.google.com search would indicate. The New York Times is more concerned about the whistleblower status/protections than the actual underlying information brought out in the Able Danger hearings themselves. Given that the paper thrives on leakers to obtain scoops, this isn't all that surprising.
If you want to get the skinny on the hearings, you've got to turn to the smaller media outlets or the bloggers.
Curt at Flopping Aces points out some juicy tidbits about Able Danger first noted by AJ Strata. Most of the tidbits relate to Stephen Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
AJ thinks Cambone also called Able Danger a success:
Vi had liveblogged the hearings, which can be found here.* [updated to include link]
For the latest blogging on Able Danger, see: Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
If you want to get the skinny on the hearings, you've got to turn to the smaller media outlets or the bloggers.
Curt at Flopping Aces points out some juicy tidbits about Able Danger first noted by AJ Strata. Most of the tidbits relate to Stephen Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
AJ thinks Cambone also called Able Danger a success:
Cambone calls Able Danger a success because it was used in ‘the campaign’ or military planning exercise. I once worked on those planning systems collectively called GCCS. So what this comment tells me is Able Danger did its prime mission - it identified Al Qaeda members and cells so they could be taken out. What Cambone is saying is Able Danger played a role in our rolling up of Al Qaeda world wide, in Afghanistan, in places like Yemen. It means its impact was quite positive in the end. That could explain why so many have tolerated those crude acts in 2000. Able Danger might just of allowed us to quickly find and neutralize many, many Al Qaeda members after 9-11, and may have led us to folks like Shaikh Mohamed Khalid. Inside the intel community, Able Danger’s success could be legend for all we know. All speculation, but Cambone was pretty clear about the respect of this program and where it products were used.
Vi had liveblogged the hearings, which can be found here.* [updated to include link]
For the latest blogging on Able Danger, see: Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
Riots Continue as Does Assault on Free Speech
Now former President Bill Clinton wades into the mess and may have* urged the prosecution of those who are publishing the cartoons in the EU.
There is more than a bit of confusion over what Clinton actually said as the reports and video don't seem to corroborate each other. We aren't getting a complete story here. The Jawa Report also slams Clinton, if that's indeed what he had said. The video of the appearance doesn't appear to include the section dealing with prosecuting those who ran the cartoons. Professor Bainbridge and Mark in Mexico both wonder what was really said. Mark actually investigated the matter further and finds that the Pakistani Times didn't do a good job translating.
Now, there's something to be said for where Clinton spoke and made this declaration. He did so in Pakistan. The rioting in Pakistan has been pretty bad over the last week and those comments were designed as much to try and shut down the rioting as it was a "legitimate criticism." Is it conceivable that the Pakistan Times translated Clinton's comments on purpose to quell the rioting domestically? Just a thought.
Astute Blogger has no qualms about how he feels about Clinton's statements.
Meanwhile, demonstrations come to New York to protest the cartoons. No violence, but lots of posters that suggest violence could come if the protestors aren't heeded.
And violence in Libya ostensibly from the cartoons has resulted in more deaths and the Italian consulate in Benghazi was torched.
UPDATE:
Vandals have taken to the streets in tiny Gallup, New Mexico, where they attacked the offices of a local paper that published the cartoons.
UPDATE:
Photos from the Libyian riots.
UPDATE:
Via LGF, two new stories - one of the Harvard Salient publishing the cartoons, only to be met with demonstrations on the college campus. The other is yet another example of the New York Times' appeasing ways.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Former US president Bill Clinton on Friday condemned the publication of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) caricatures by European newspapers and urged countries concerned to convict the publishers.That's right folks. Our former President and someone whose oath of office included protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States may have made this statement, which would be antithetical to the US view of free speech.
There is more than a bit of confusion over what Clinton actually said as the reports and video don't seem to corroborate each other. We aren't getting a complete story here. The Jawa Report also slams Clinton, if that's indeed what he had said. The video of the appearance doesn't appear to include the section dealing with prosecuting those who ran the cartoons. Professor Bainbridge and Mark in Mexico both wonder what was really said. Mark actually investigated the matter further and finds that the Pakistani Times didn't do a good job translating.
Now, there's something to be said for where Clinton spoke and made this declaration. He did so in Pakistan. The rioting in Pakistan has been pretty bad over the last week and those comments were designed as much to try and shut down the rioting as it was a "legitimate criticism." Is it conceivable that the Pakistan Times translated Clinton's comments on purpose to quell the rioting domestically? Just a thought.
Astute Blogger has no qualms about how he feels about Clinton's statements.
Meanwhile, demonstrations come to New York to protest the cartoons. No violence, but lots of posters that suggest violence could come if the protestors aren't heeded.
And violence in Libya ostensibly from the cartoons has resulted in more deaths and the Italian consulate in Benghazi was torched.
Libyans protesting the Prophet Muhammad cartoons set fire to the Italian consulate in Benghazi today and clashed with police in turmoil that left at least nine people dead, an Italian diplomat said.
Libyan state television showed a part of the consulate building on fire, and firefighters trying to extinguish it and showed ambulances taking casualties away,
Italian consular official Antonio Simoes-Concalves said nine protesters had been killed and several more wounded as armed police clashed with a crowd of more than 1,000 demonstrators.
Libyan officials said there were 11 dead or wounded.
Security officials said the demonstrators hurled stones and bottles at the consulate, entered the grounds and set fire to the building and a consular car.
UPDATE:
Vandals have taken to the streets in tiny Gallup, New Mexico, where they attacked the offices of a local paper that published the cartoons.
At about 10 p.m., an unknown individual threw a pair of fist-sized rocks at the doors, which caused the glass to shatter but not break. The rocks were covered in black marker with the phrases “public apology or else?” “think twice” and “repent, condemn or else?”There's no evidence of who actually conducted the attacks, or whether they're simply copycats. However, it further indicates that there are people trying to chill free speech rights here in the US and they aren't afraid of using violence to achieve that goal.
The vandalism occurred the same day of the newspaper’s publication of two cartoons that portray the prophet Mohammed. The cartoons’ initial publication in a midsize Danish newspaper fueled protests that have spread worldwide. The cartoons have since been published in at least a dozen newspapers.
UPDATE:
Photos from the Libyian riots.
UPDATE:
Via LGF, two new stories - one of the Harvard Salient publishing the cartoons, only to be met with demonstrations on the college campus. The other is yet another example of the New York Times' appeasing ways.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
New Jersey Budget Blues
We're now learning that the School Construction Fund needs $12.8 billion to make sure that all the projects started are completed. And that's the most optimistic scenario:
And on top of all those problems, Gov. Corzine is considering calling for a gross receipts tax on top of the state sales and use tax. Corzine would claim that this tax wouldn't affect customers, but anyone with half a brain would know that the costs of the tax would be passed on by businesses to the ultimate user (the buyer). It's yet another sign that Corzine isn't serious about fixing the structural budgetary problems with the state, because all of his proposals are grounded firmly in the proposition of taxing the state out of fiscal trouble.
It wont work.
The state's budget problems include debt that needs to be retired, not refinanced. Specific funds that need to be properly funded with specific revenue sources and not raided in order to balance the general budget. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not going to fix things. It only pushes the problem ahead, and compounds the problem with higher costs down the road.
The report estimated that the Education Department would need at least an additional $12.8 billion to complete 313 construction projects in New Jersey's poorest urban districts.The School Construction Fund is nearly tapped out and the administration of the fund has not done a good job. Not to mention that the Courts are determining what money must be spent, not the Legislature.
But that figure supposes work would begin this year. In five years, the estimate increases to $18.2 billion. In 10 years, it balloons to $29.2 billion. These costs are on top of the $6 billion the state Legislature appropriated in 2000 for school construction.
The 313 projects listed in the report do not represent any of the projects districts requested in their 2005 long-range facilities plans. Instead, they are projects left from the 2000 plans.
The Education Department released the annual report, the first of its kind, to the Legislature in part as a reaction to a state Supreme Court order issued in December 2005. The order was the 14th decision handed down in the Abbott v. Burke case requiring New Jersey to provide a "thorough and efficient" education for all children. An earlier decision by the court mandated that facility upgrades are part of the requirement.
The SCC was created in 2002 by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey to speed construction and repair of schools in the 31 Abbott districts, named for the Supreme Court cases.As you drive around the state, you'll find school construction projects that have simply ground to a halt because the money simply isn't there to complete school renovations.
The state agency has managed nearly 600 school projects. When the SCC had spent nearly its entire appropriation by mid-2005, it suspended all work, aside from 59 projects slated for Abbott districts. Those projects are not included in Thursday's estimates.
Although state lawmakers may be leery of spending more money, the state Supreme Court is unlikely to give them any alternative.
And on top of all those problems, Gov. Corzine is considering calling for a gross receipts tax on top of the state sales and use tax. Corzine would claim that this tax wouldn't affect customers, but anyone with half a brain would know that the costs of the tax would be passed on by businesses to the ultimate user (the buyer). It's yet another sign that Corzine isn't serious about fixing the structural budgetary problems with the state, because all of his proposals are grounded firmly in the proposition of taxing the state out of fiscal trouble.
It wont work.
The state's budget problems include debt that needs to be retired, not refinanced. Specific funds that need to be properly funded with specific revenue sources and not raided in order to balance the general budget. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not going to fix things. It only pushes the problem ahead, and compounds the problem with higher costs down the road.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Cartoon Jihad Continues
A Pakistani cleric announced Friday a $1 million bounty for killing a cartoonist who drew Prophet Muhammad, as thousands joined street protests and Denmark temporarily closed its embassy and advised its citizens to leave the country.This ongoing war isn't going to end anytime soon. Too many Islamists have too much at stake to let this issue simply melt away. Besides, they've already gotten results - countries backing down, consideration of blasphemy laws, curbing free speech, and intimidating countries, individuals, and media elites.
Michelle Malkin has much more.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Misplaced Priorities
The New York Times manages to cover the growing problem of a major drought in Kenya, which is killing dozens of people since December. This was the number three story in the International section on the New York Times website as of 2:20PM EST.
Where's the story about the Darfur genocide, a manmade horrorshow where hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and millions were displaced? People are still dying and being harassed on a daily basis, but that doesn't get New York Times treatment. And the Sudanese are going to need food relief as well.
At the height of the violence, the NYT was virtually silent, with only an occasional piece. Indeed, Nicholas Kristof ran several vivid and graphic photos on the op-ed page - that conveyed more news than the paper itself ever ran on the story.
The NYT continues to do a grave disserve to its readers by failing to cover Darfur and instead adopts the Hollywood attention grabbing famine relief angle.
It takes local papers to tell the sad tale of the Sudanese genocide.
Go figure.
Where's the story about the Darfur genocide, a manmade horrorshow where hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and millions were displaced? People are still dying and being harassed on a daily basis, but that doesn't get New York Times treatment. And the Sudanese are going to need food relief as well.
At the height of the violence, the NYT was virtually silent, with only an occasional piece. Indeed, Nicholas Kristof ran several vivid and graphic photos on the op-ed page - that conveyed more news than the paper itself ever ran on the story.
The NYT continues to do a grave disserve to its readers by failing to cover Darfur and instead adopts the Hollywood attention grabbing famine relief angle.
It takes local papers to tell the sad tale of the Sudanese genocide.
Go figure.
Questioning the Port Administration Plan
Welcome Michelle Malkin readers who've jumped over from my earlier posting. Ed Morrisey breaks out some details that might have been skimmed or overlooked by the "rigorous review process" of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) when determining the appropriateness state-owned Dubai Ports World's proposed investment/ownership of several US ports. And given the Committee's track record of rubber stamping approval, one is left with the impression that foreign investment superseded any concern over national security.
Here's a few more questions that probably should be addressed (in no particular order) by the administration, but have provided my own answers:
1) Should there be some kind of terrorist attack at one of these ports, including mass casaulty attack, will affected individuals be able to sue the company and seize assets to recover losses? As we'd seen in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, individuals could sue the Port Authority of NY for failures at the WTC and Newark Airport where one of the flights originated. Similarly, the operators of Logan Airport were also sued for failures due to the origination of flights from that airport. And those were acts of negligence.
What if the company was somehow complicit in the terrorist attack - what's the recourse? Why should we take that risk in the first place?
2) Why is the Department of Treasury the final word on this issue, when there are national security and homeland security matters? Was DHS, the DoD, or other federal agencies consulted?
3) Was the New York Police Department, New Jersey State Police, or Port Authority Police Departments consulted when this decision was reached on transferring the New York/New Jersey ports? Considering that the Port Authority is demanding information to be able to conduct its own independent investigation, the answer is no.
4) Was foreign investment in the US put ahead of US national security? Yes, it was.
And this is an issue that completely cuts across traditional left/right blogosphere and pundit reactions, not to mention politicians speaking out about the deal. Most of the reaction is against this deal going through. Daily Kos is aghast (though that's their usual state of being on all things related to the Bush Administration), but notes the following:
The Democratic Daily blog is also indignant over the proposed deal.
UPDATE:
The Bergen Record has a story in today's paper about how the Dubai World Ports deal would affect New Jersey, and specifically deals with how the Port Authority Chairman came to know of the deal.
Technorati: port security, port authority, dubai, national security, foreign investment.
Here's a few more questions that probably should be addressed (in no particular order) by the administration, but have provided my own answers:
1) Should there be some kind of terrorist attack at one of these ports, including mass casaulty attack, will affected individuals be able to sue the company and seize assets to recover losses? As we'd seen in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, individuals could sue the Port Authority of NY for failures at the WTC and Newark Airport where one of the flights originated. Similarly, the operators of Logan Airport were also sued for failures due to the origination of flights from that airport. And those were acts of negligence.
What if the company was somehow complicit in the terrorist attack - what's the recourse? Why should we take that risk in the first place?
2) Why is the Department of Treasury the final word on this issue, when there are national security and homeland security matters? Was DHS, the DoD, or other federal agencies consulted?
3) Was the New York Police Department, New Jersey State Police, or Port Authority Police Departments consulted when this decision was reached on transferring the New York/New Jersey ports? Considering that the Port Authority is demanding information to be able to conduct its own independent investigation, the answer is no.
4) Was foreign investment in the US put ahead of US national security? Yes, it was.
And this is an issue that completely cuts across traditional left/right blogosphere and pundit reactions, not to mention politicians speaking out about the deal. Most of the reaction is against this deal going through. Daily Kos is aghast (though that's their usual state of being on all things related to the Bush Administration), but notes the following:
No matter how good our relations are with that country, how can we ever justify letting another government control the security of our citizens?The answer is an emphatic no. The New York Times editorial page opposes the deal as well.
The Democratic Daily blog is also indignant over the proposed deal.
UPDATE:
The Bergen Record has a story in today's paper about how the Dubai World Ports deal would affect New Jersey, and specifically deals with how the Port Authority Chairman came to know of the deal.
Technorati: port security, port authority, dubai, national security, foreign investment.
This Isn't The First Amendment You're Looking For
This is the First Amendment of the United States Constitution:
This is yet another example of how a once-important human rights group has totally dumped its original ideals in favor of a pure Left agenda. After all, this new position essentially advocates the imprisonment of folks like Mandela and Tutu because they spoke out against their government.
Oh, and the new position would effectively support Israel's continued efforts to capture terrorists and the mullahs who incite violence towards Israel (though I doubt that AI would ever concede that point since Israel's survival and AI's battle against Israel is a major selling point in contributions).
This new position dilutes AI's longstanding principle to defend individuals against government abuse. It makes no sense and would appear that AI has essentially caved to the Islamist point of view.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.This is Amnesty International's take on free speech:
Amnesty International offered its take on freedom of speech and of the press in a statement earlier this month, saying, "the right to freedom of expression is not absolute - neither for the creators of material nor their critics. It carries responsibilities and it may, therefore, be subject to restrictions in the name of safeguarding the rights of others. In particular, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence cannot be considered legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. Under international standards, such 'hate speech' should be prohibited by law."Amnesty International apparently has no problem abridging the free speech rights enjoyed by all Americans, and essentially adopting a "free speech only when it's convenient and doesn't bother anyone" standard.
This is yet another example of how a once-important human rights group has totally dumped its original ideals in favor of a pure Left agenda. After all, this new position essentially advocates the imprisonment of folks like Mandela and Tutu because they spoke out against their government.
Oh, and the new position would effectively support Israel's continued efforts to capture terrorists and the mullahs who incite violence towards Israel (though I doubt that AI would ever concede that point since Israel's survival and AI's battle against Israel is a major selling point in contributions).
This new position dilutes AI's longstanding principle to defend individuals against government abuse. It makes no sense and would appear that AI has essentially caved to the Islamist point of view.
End of the Innocence?
Is this the end of the age of innocence for Apple users?
UPDATE:
Paul at Wizbang cautions that the article is quite poorly worded and uses the various malicious code variants interchangeably. So, while there may be problems down the road, the tech writers who supposedly know this stuff inside and out, are having problems of their own.
A malicious computer worm has been found that targets Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system, believed to be the first such virus aimed specifically at the Mac platform.Apple products have generally avoided being targeted by malicious code, virii, trojan horses, which is the bane of many PC users.
The worm is called OSX/Leap-A, according to a posting on the Web site of antivirus software company Sophos, which said the worm is spread via instant messaging programs.
The worm attempts to spread via Apple's iChat instant messaging program, which is compatible with America Online's popular AIM instant messaging program, according to the Sophos Web site.
UPDATE:
Paul at Wizbang cautions that the article is quite poorly worded and uses the various malicious code variants interchangeably. So, while there may be problems down the road, the tech writers who supposedly know this stuff inside and out, are having problems of their own.
Look in the Mirror
Secretary General Kofi Annan loves to hear himself talk. He'd much rather complain about the US military detention facility at GitMo than take any substantive action on the UN peacekeeping forces who habitually abuse women under their care and routinely fail to maintain law and order in the areas that they supposedly are trying to control.
The US is coming under attack because of yet another skewed report claiming that the US is abusing detainees at GitMo. Of course, the detainees are all peace-loving folks who were unjustly captured. Or not.
No, most of those at the facility are there because they were captured on the battlefield - trying to kill US and coalition forces. And many are trained by al Qaeda to lie about their intentions, about their treatment, and all to undermine the US ability to wage war, maintain national security, and beat the US through thousands of little paper cuts.
Annan wants the US to shut the facility, though there's no word on what Annan would do with those detainees. If they're returned to their former countries, you can count on them trying to get back in the war and inflict casualties on US and coalition forces (not to mention the local civilian populations among whom they routinely hide). Annan still not only stuck on stupid, but he's still stuck on a 9/10 mentality where military action to defend national interests is verboten, but that all responses to terrorism must be handled as a law enforcement matter, not a national security matter. And that's even with all the repeated and numerous ties between these terrorist groups and state-sponsors (Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia).
Annan would much rather tackle this issue than deal with the far more serious issues of Iran or Sudan, both of which are totalitarian regimes that are not only repressive, but have either genocidal intentions presently (Sudan) or wish to inflict genocide on their enemies (Iran).
UPDATE:
The NY Sun reports that Annan is trying to distance himself from at least some portion of the report by the Human Rights Commission though he's supporting the general proposition. What a weasel.
The US is coming under attack because of yet another skewed report claiming that the US is abusing detainees at GitMo. Of course, the detainees are all peace-loving folks who were unjustly captured. Or not.
No, most of those at the facility are there because they were captured on the battlefield - trying to kill US and coalition forces. And many are trained by al Qaeda to lie about their intentions, about their treatment, and all to undermine the US ability to wage war, maintain national security, and beat the US through thousands of little paper cuts.
Annan wants the US to shut the facility, though there's no word on what Annan would do with those detainees. If they're returned to their former countries, you can count on them trying to get back in the war and inflict casualties on US and coalition forces (not to mention the local civilian populations among whom they routinely hide). Annan still not only stuck on stupid, but he's still stuck on a 9/10 mentality where military action to defend national interests is verboten, but that all responses to terrorism must be handled as a law enforcement matter, not a national security matter. And that's even with all the repeated and numerous ties between these terrorist groups and state-sponsors (Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia).
Annan would much rather tackle this issue than deal with the far more serious issues of Iran or Sudan, both of which are totalitarian regimes that are not only repressive, but have either genocidal intentions presently (Sudan) or wish to inflict genocide on their enemies (Iran).
UPDATE:
The NY Sun reports that Annan is trying to distance himself from at least some portion of the report by the Human Rights Commission though he's supporting the general proposition. What a weasel.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
The Prisoner Abuse Photos Big Media Doesn't Want You To See
No, I'm not talking about the Abu Ghraib photos.
I am talking about the widespread abuse, torture, and murder of people at the hands of the Islamic terrorist groups including al Qaeda in Iraq. Dr. Rusty Shackleford correctly observes:
No, all we get is silence. While the terrorists continue padding the butcher's bill.
Some of the prisoners are still being held, and it is feared that they may be tortured and killed before long - and before they could be rescued by coalition forces.
It is unconscionable that these images do not get a fraction of the media attention that the Abu Ghraib photos get. These are newsworthy - and serve to remind the reader just who we're fighting, what we're fighting for, and why we must fight this fight.
Others trying to make sure that these images get wider exposure: LGF (hat tip), Outside the Beltway, Six Meat Buffet, Junk Yard Blog, and Hyscience.
I am talking about the widespread abuse, torture, and murder of people at the hands of the Islamic terrorist groups including al Qaeda in Iraq. Dr. Rusty Shackleford correctly observes:
There is real abuse still happening in Iraq, though. The mainstream media does not want you to know about this abuse. They have refused to report on it. Even though the images are available to them, they refuse to show them.Where is the outrage from the Left? Where's Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch? Where is the demand for UN investigations? Where is the demand for the terrorists to cease and desist killing civilian contractors who are trying to rebuild and restore Iraq's infrastructure?
These images are quite damning. They clearly show that prisoners in Iraq continue to be abused. More than abused, these images show prisoners in Iraq being murdered by the troops involved. Yet, nothing from the mainstream media.
No, all we get is silence. While the terrorists continue padding the butcher's bill.
Some of the prisoners are still being held, and it is feared that they may be tortured and killed before long - and before they could be rescued by coalition forces.
It is unconscionable that these images do not get a fraction of the media attention that the Abu Ghraib photos get. These are newsworthy - and serve to remind the reader just who we're fighting, what we're fighting for, and why we must fight this fight.
Others trying to make sure that these images get wider exposure: LGF (hat tip), Outside the Beltway, Six Meat Buffet, Junk Yard Blog, and Hyscience.
Border Security Includes Port Security
If someone told you more than four years after 9/11 that the US would be on the verge of turning over port security to a foreign national company from the Middle East, you would probably shake your head in dismay (and followed quickly by anger, fear, and the shroud of the Dark Side falls).
Does someone think that this is really such a good idea? Apparently the Bush Administration thinks so.
I don't get it.
Port security is of the utmost concern and we've repeatedly been told of security issues and problems securing the ports against terrorists. So, instead of finding a US company to provide this security, the US government was going to turn over security at eight major ports to a company based in Dubai. That means that foreign nations will have access to our national security and border control policies and procedures. It may needlessly put Americans at risk because of lax security in the Middle East. Terrorists could penetrate the company involved and assist compatriots in the US without being detected.
It's benefits to US national security? Not so much.
And while the Bush Administration is defending this deal, there's bipartisan support for Congressional review:
UPDATE 2/17/2006:
Welcome Michelle Malkin readers. Take the time to check out my site, and be advisedthat I'm working on a followup to this postinga new posting is up.
Does someone think that this is really such a good idea? Apparently the Bush Administration thinks so.
I don't get it.
Port security is of the utmost concern and we've repeatedly been told of security issues and problems securing the ports against terrorists. So, instead of finding a US company to provide this security, the US government was going to turn over security at eight major ports to a company based in Dubai. That means that foreign nations will have access to our national security and border control policies and procedures. It may needlessly put Americans at risk because of lax security in the Middle East. Terrorists could penetrate the company involved and assist compatriots in the US without being detected.
The U.S. government should urgently review the security implications of a $6.8 billion deal granting a Dubai-based company management over key ports including New York, U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday, citing terrorism concerns.Of course those shareholders would support such a move - it's a huge plus to the company.
Analysts and port sources doubted the takeover of British company P&O by Dubai Ports World would have any impact on security. They cited multiple layers of screening and protection involved in global shipping, particularly among such major operators.
P&O shareholders voted on Monday in favor of the multibillion-dollar bid, giving the United Arab Emirates-backed firm control over the management of P&O's global operations, including in the major U.S. ports of New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami.
It's benefits to US national security? Not so much.
And while the Bush Administration is defending this deal, there's bipartisan support for Congressional review:
Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., urged congressional hearings on the deal.You've got to wonder just how much review was done, when the Port Authority wasn't even involved in the process of screening participants who might take over operations at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
"At a time when America is leading the world in the war on terrorism and spending billions of dollars to secure our homeland, we cannot cede control of strategic assets to foreign nations with spotty records on terrorism," Fossella said.
Critics also have cited the UAE's history as an operational and financial base for the hijackers who carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Outsourcing the operations of our largest ports to a country with a dubious record on terrorism is a homeland security and commerce accident waiting to happen," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "The administration needs to take another look at this deal."
Separately, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Thursday it will conduct its own review of the deal and urged the government to defend its decision.
In a letter to the Treasury Department, Port Authority chairman Anthony Coscia said the independent review by his agency was necessary "to protect its interests."
The lawmakers pressing the White House to reconsider included Sens. Schumer, Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Reps. Foley, Fossella and Chris Shays, R-Conn.
UPDATE 2/17/2006:
Welcome Michelle Malkin readers. Take the time to check out my site, and be advised
Able Danger Roundup
Top intelligence officers are bashing each other. Are the hearings sanitized for our [lack of] protection? MacRanger thinks so. He's also critical of Rep. Weldon, who is an imperfect messenger for disclosing the Able Danger program as he's too emotional. But you should read Shaffer's testimony.
AJ Strata was liveblogging and has the skinny on Stephen Cambone's testimony. Vi at QT Monster has more.
In a related piece of information, the federal government must release information related to the NSA eavesdropping program. The information release is a result of a lawsuit by EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
For the latest blogging on Able Danger, see: Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
AJ Strata was liveblogging and has the skinny on Stephen Cambone's testimony. Vi at QT Monster has more.
In a related piece of information, the federal government must release information related to the NSA eavesdropping program. The information release is a result of a lawsuit by EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
A federal judge Thursday ordered the Justice Department to respond within 20 days to requests by a civil liberties group for documents about President Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program.The media is still mischaracterizing the program, which involves transnational communications, not wholly domestic communications.
The ruling was a victory for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which sued the department under the Freedom of Information Act in seeking the release of the documents.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that the department must finish processing the group’s requests and produce or identify all records within 20 days.
“Given the great public and media attention that the government’s warrantless surveillance program has garnered and the recent hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the public interest is particularly well served by the timely release of the requested documents,” he said.
For the latest blogging on Able Danger, see: Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
Putting Money Where Our Mouth Is
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress yesterday to fund a sweeping initiative to promote democracy inside Iran that would expand satellite broadcasts to enable Washington to ''engage" directly with the Iranian people. The initiative also would lift US restrictions to allow US funding for Iranian trade unions, political dissidents, and nongovernmental organizations.This is a good start and should give incentives for the Iranian people themselves to take matters into their own hands to toss Ahmadinejad and the mad mullahs into the trashbin of history.
The new request, which was made yesterday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Bush's foreign affairs budget, would increase spending on democracy programs for Iran this year from $10 million to $85 million.
Rice announced the initiative as Washington steps up pressure on the hard-line regime in Tehran over its nuclear program, which Washington suspects is geared toward producing a nuclear weapon.
Goodbye MASH
The U.S. Army on Thursday donated to Pakistan its last “MASH” field hospital made famous by a television show about fictional doctors and nurses who found laughs as they treated casualties of the Korean War.Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals were made famous by the movie and television show featuring a bunch of oddball surgeons who worked under difficult circumstances to save the lives of incoming patients. Not much has changed - army surgeons still perform heroic work under difficult circumstances, but the military has been updating its medical care provision so that emergency care can be provided even closer to the front lines.
For the past few months, U.S. medics have used the 84-bed medical facility to care for victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed about 80,000 people in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir.
The Army is phasing out MASH for more flexible combat support hospitals that can be moved closer to the front line of a battle.
Covering the Riots Without Covering the Cartoons
Welcome to a world where you can provide comprehensive coverage of the riots spawned ostensibly by the publication of 12 cartoons in a small Danish paper, but without ever showing your readers the very cartoons themselves.
The Washington Post has accomplished that fact. They've published an extensive roundup of the events and circumstances of the riots. Yet, they've purposefully excluded publication of the very cartoons that caused the rioting in the first place.
And they lead the entire piece with a most intriguing insight - many Muslims simply didn't find the cartoons to be outrageous, blasphemous, or even worth their time to respond to the Beirut paper that ran one of the cartoons (the one with Mohammad with a turban shaped like a bomb):
Curious. And despite the long article, they still get some basic facts and issues wrong. Sundries Shack has the details:
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
The Washington Post has accomplished that fact. They've published an extensive roundup of the events and circumstances of the riots. Yet, they've purposefully excluded publication of the very cartoons that caused the rioting in the first place.
And they lead the entire piece with a most intriguing insight - many Muslims simply didn't find the cartoons to be outrageous, blasphemous, or even worth their time to respond to the Beirut paper that ran one of the cartoons (the one with Mohammad with a turban shaped like a bomb):
It was Oct. 13 when Teguh Santosa, a 30-year-old editor with wire-rim glasses, slicked-back black hair and a stubbly beard, decided to make a point in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country. His idea was a small gesture in a broader confrontation, illustrating the power of images in shaping sentiments. He scanned a dozen cartoons published in September by a Danish newspaper that lampooned the prophet Muhammad and chose to publish the one on his news Web site that has proven the most inflammatory: the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse.They weren't reacting because it wasn't a crisis. It wasn't worth the effort. It wasn't deemed worthy of rioting, torching, and killing. Until the militant mullahs and imams, not to mention a couple of rogue nations and their sympathizers around the world decided that they were going to make this an issue. One with deadly consequences.
"I wanted them to know why it was insulting," said the thickset Santosa, a Muslim who runs the widely read Rakyat Merdeka Online.
To his surprise, there was almost no reaction. A few e-mailed comments to the Web site, he said. That was all. So he republished the caricature more than a week later, on Oct. 22. Again, nothing.
"We were confused," he recalled, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "Why aren't people reacting to this story?"
Curious. And despite the long article, they still get some basic facts and issues wrong. Sundries Shack has the details:
The reporters allege that one of the photos in Akkari’s portfolio “…depicted Muhammad as a pig …”. That photo was actually of a French man who was an entry in a pig-calling contest. It had nothing to do with Islam whatsoever. This information has been available for well over a week.That's just one bit - there's much more over at Sundries Shack. The Washington Post tried to spin the article to make it appear that the Muslims are the real victims in all this, yet they're closely bound to the riots in every conceivable way - from inciting others to violence, to spreading false stories, to failing to stop others from committing ostensible acts of war (firebombing and torching foreign embassies).
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Anger Grows at Brandeis University
Brandeis University's refusal to address concerns about possible ties between a prominent Palestinian Arab scholar, Khalil Shikaki, and the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad is prompting outrage in the Jewish community and among some Brandeis alumni.Is this someone who we want teaching in college, let alone anywhere else?
Calls are mounting for an investigation into Mr. Shikaki's documented associations with known terrorists. Mr. Shikaki was named last year as a scholar at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. One of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's more notorious acts was an April 1995 bombing in Israel that killed a Brandeis student, Alisa Flatow.
As The New York Sun reported last month, government wiretaps of conversations between Mr. Shikaki and the current leader of PIJ, Ramadan Abdul lah Shallah, and between other alleged terrorists, show that Mr. Shikaki distributed money in the West Bank for associates of a Florida professor accused of operating the American wing of PIJ, Sami Al-Arian, who raised the funds in America.
This follows episodes at other colleges around the country where terrorist sympathizers, or even former terrorists themselves, have managed to become tenured professors in a wide range of disciplines.
Students for Academic Freedom and Campus Watch both track these incidents.
Valley of Kings: A Cautionary Tale
Many people are aware of Egypt's Valley of the Kings. That's the location where the ancient Egyptians buried their leaders after the pyramids became too obvious a target for graverobbers.
This confined geographical area had 62 known tombs, the most recently discovered being that of Tutankhamun, which was discovered in 1922. That tomb unveiled the spectacular sarcophogai, gold items, and a plethora of details about the life and times of ancient Egyptians.
Egyptologists believed that there were no more tombs to be uncovered. And for 84 years, they would be right. On February 6, 2006, a new tomb was discovered, much to the surprise of Egyptologists, archeologists, and casual observers.
This is a valley that has been picked over by scientists for decades, and no one managed to find a new tomb in 84 years.
So why am I writing about the Valley of the Kings? Simple. Because learned individuals thought that there wasn't anything left to find and that everywhere had been searched. And they were proven wrong.
Where else in the world has the claim been made that a search has been ongoing for a long period of time and no items of worth had been found.
Iraq.
And those pesky WMD.
Anyone want to compare the size of Iraq to the Valley of the Kings? Anyone? Bueller? Didn't think so. Scientists picked over the Valley for 83 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, and didn't find anything new - it was only in the 84th year that scientists made the new discovery. Meanwhile, the search for WMD has been called off after three years, despite the fact that all signs pointed to the fact that Iraq was looking to obtain WMD, maintained the technical and intellectual know-how to restart the WMD programs, and spent years playing and refining the cheat and retreat strategy to buy more time.
While it is certainly possible that Iraq destroyed all its WMD stockpiles, to make claims of certainty about that are ill-founded.
This confined geographical area had 62 known tombs, the most recently discovered being that of Tutankhamun, which was discovered in 1922. That tomb unveiled the spectacular sarcophogai, gold items, and a plethora of details about the life and times of ancient Egyptians.
Egyptologists believed that there were no more tombs to be uncovered. And for 84 years, they would be right. On February 6, 2006, a new tomb was discovered, much to the surprise of Egyptologists, archeologists, and casual observers.
This is a valley that has been picked over by scientists for decades, and no one managed to find a new tomb in 84 years.
So why am I writing about the Valley of the Kings? Simple. Because learned individuals thought that there wasn't anything left to find and that everywhere had been searched. And they were proven wrong.
Where else in the world has the claim been made that a search has been ongoing for a long period of time and no items of worth had been found.
Iraq.
And those pesky WMD.
Anyone want to compare the size of Iraq to the Valley of the Kings? Anyone? Bueller? Didn't think so. Scientists picked over the Valley for 83 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, and didn't find anything new - it was only in the 84th year that scientists made the new discovery. Meanwhile, the search for WMD has been called off after three years, despite the fact that all signs pointed to the fact that Iraq was looking to obtain WMD, maintained the technical and intellectual know-how to restart the WMD programs, and spent years playing and refining the cheat and retreat strategy to buy more time.
While it is certainly possible that Iraq destroyed all its WMD stockpiles, to make claims of certainty about that are ill-founded.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Three to Watch: Tracking Congressional Hearings
You'd need a scorecard to keep track of the multitude of Congressional hearings these days. They're checking out a whole boatload of issues. All are highly politicized, but may be revealing nonetheless. The three key hearings are as follows:
China and Internet censorship:US companies testifying about their actions in China's censorship of the Internet.
Able Danger: This is perhaps the most far reaching and important of the hearings. The Able Danger program cuts to the heart of the intelligence community and whether the US could have connected the disparate dots. For the latest, check out any of the following bloggers:
Hurricane Katrina disaster response: Finally, the Senate Homeland Security Committee has been grilling DHS Secretary Chertoff over the response to Hurricane Katrina. It hasn't been pretty. There's been a bunch of CYA, although Chertoff has admitted that there were problems at the federal level. That's probably the sound bite that most media outlets will latch onto, despite the fact that there were numerous failures at the state and local level that made the disaster response all the more difficult. To read the House report on Katrina response, click here.
Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush, china, censorship, dictatorship, repression, google, microsoft, yahoo, dont be evil, flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; kanye west; impeach bush; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.
China and Internet censorship:US companies testifying about their actions in China's censorship of the Internet.
U.S. lawmakers lashed out at Google Inc. and other prominent Internet companies on Wednesday, with one Democrat questioning "how your corporate leadership sleeps at night" because of the companies' alleged complicity in human rights abuses by the Chinese government.There's real issues of concern and Rebecca MacKinnon has much more analysis and background. Just keep scrolling.
As representatives from Google, Yahoo Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. looked on, lawmakers from both political parties delivered withering attacks and called for oversight on dealings with China.
"Your abhorrent activities in China are a disgrace. I simply do not understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night," said Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on a House International Relations subcommittee on human rights. Lantos' California district includes the high-tech empire of Silicon Valley.
Able Danger: This is perhaps the most far reaching and important of the hearings. The Able Danger program cuts to the heart of the intelligence community and whether the US could have connected the disparate dots. For the latest, check out any of the following bloggers:
Hurricane Katrina disaster response: Finally, the Senate Homeland Security Committee has been grilling DHS Secretary Chertoff over the response to Hurricane Katrina. It hasn't been pretty. There's been a bunch of CYA, although Chertoff has admitted that there were problems at the federal level. That's probably the sound bite that most media outlets will latch onto, despite the fact that there were numerous failures at the state and local level that made the disaster response all the more difficult. To read the House report on Katrina response, click here.
Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush, china, censorship, dictatorship, repression, google, microsoft, yahoo, dont be evil, flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; kanye west; impeach bush; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.
A Question of Democracy
Hamas has no problem trying to demand that the US provide money to them because the Palestinians held elections and Hamas feels that they deserve the money.
Well, the House of Representatives took a vote today to determine to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority because Hamas is now large and in charge. The vote was 418-1. It was bipartisan and shows that there are some subjects that both sides of the aisle can agree upon.
Well, the House of Representatives took a vote today to determine to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority because Hamas is now large and in charge. The vote was 418-1. It was bipartisan and shows that there are some subjects that both sides of the aisle can agree upon.
The House measure approved Wednesday states that “no United States assistance should be provided directly to the Palestinian Authority if any representative political party holding a majority of parliamentary seats within the Palestinian Authority maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel.”
House Majority Leader John Boehner, speaking before the vote, said the measure would send a message to Hamas that Washington means business as it presses the Islamist group to break with its past views on Israel’s right to exist.
“The United States is encouraged by the open, free, and fair elections held by the Palestinian people, and we will continue to support their democratic reform efforts,” Boehner said in a statement earlier Wednesday.
“At the same time, the new government must be aware of both its domestic responsibilities and international obligations,” he said.
“The responsibility of self-government has real consequences for both Hamas and the future of the Palestinian people. Until Hamas changes course — dismantles its terrorist organization, and agrees to work towards a peaceful settlement with Israel — no taxpayer money should be provided to support the Palestinian government.
”Our message is clear,“ the Republican leader added. ”The United States does not and will not support terrorist organizations."
What Part of "Never" Does The World Not Understand?
Hamas has been explicitly clear that they will never accept the state of Israel, and that they continue to urge for Israel's destruction at the earliest possible juncture.
Explain This
Some media outlets are rushing to post new Abu Ghraib abuse scandal photos that have yet to see the light of day til now. Apparently this is acceptable, but showing these 12 cartoons isn't.
Both are newsworthy, but only one is deemed fit to print, the other isn't. In fact, one could claim that the Abu Ghraib photos aren't newsworthy since this is an old story. The new photos aren't adding any value to the old story and it could be claimed that they only serve to cause further problems for coalition efforts in Iraq and the world at large. Meanwhile, the cartoons are still being used as an excuse for continuing mass violence throughout parts of the world including Iran, Pakistan, and Syria.
UPDATE:
Lots of people are taking the media to task for deciding to front page these newest Abu Ghraib photos while stuffing the cartoons that sparked the riots throughout the world. These include Stop the ACLU, Sister Toldjah, Ace of Spades, Tim Blair, In the Bullpen, Democracy Project, Cake or Death, and The Jawa Report. Michelle Malkin is asking the same question:
Why the Abu Ghraib photos, but not the Mohammed Cartoons?
Curious. Very curious.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Both are newsworthy, but only one is deemed fit to print, the other isn't. In fact, one could claim that the Abu Ghraib photos aren't newsworthy since this is an old story. The new photos aren't adding any value to the old story and it could be claimed that they only serve to cause further problems for coalition efforts in Iraq and the world at large. Meanwhile, the cartoons are still being used as an excuse for continuing mass violence throughout parts of the world including Iran, Pakistan, and Syria.
UPDATE:
Lots of people are taking the media to task for deciding to front page these newest Abu Ghraib photos while stuffing the cartoons that sparked the riots throughout the world. These include Stop the ACLU, Sister Toldjah, Ace of Spades, Tim Blair, In the Bullpen, Democracy Project, Cake or Death, and The Jawa Report. Michelle Malkin is asking the same question:
Why the Abu Ghraib photos, but not the Mohammed Cartoons?
Curious. Very curious.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Able Danger Hearings Continue
Eliot Spitzer, the Attorney General of New York, needs to explain himself. He's purposefully interjecting himself into the hearings by trying to deflect attention from one of his deputies, Deitrich Snell, who was one of the 9/11 Commission investigators.
Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
The House Armed Services Committee had requested testimony of Deputy Attorney General Dietrich Snell — a former top investigator with the 9/11 commission — at a hearing today on "Able Danger," the secret Pentagon cyber intelligence program that allegedly turned up the name of Mohammed Atta, the mastermind of the atrocity.I'm sorry but there's no amount of workload that can't be adjusted to answer these questions of national security and urgency of trying to determine how and why the 9/11 Commission failed to address Able Danger, data mining programs, and related issues in its final report. This is called building political cover for decisions made. There are no pressing issues at the AG's office that are more important than getting to the bottom of the intel failures pre-9/11. After all, the Twin Towers were in NYC - it's New York residents who were affected most by the terrorist attacks, and the AG's office has the nerve to claim that Snell has too much work to be able to attend?
Republicans led by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) had planned to angrily confront Snell, who interviewed members of the Able Danger team during the commission investigation. The commission's report later dismissed the significance of Able Danger and its findings.
Snell, the No. 3 man in the Attorney General's Office in charge of public advocacy, refused to appear before the panel, citing a heavy workload in New York and the fact that he has already answered questions on Able Danger to committee staff and in media interviews.
Darren Dopp, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, confirmed that Spitzer got personally involved in the discussions — and, after conversations with committee counsel William Ostendorff, backed Snell's decision to stay away.
"Eliot called the staff director to explain that Dieter was needed in New York ," Dopp said. He added Spitzer was told there are no plans to force Snell to testify.
Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Missing the Real Story
For all the breathless reporting and hoopla by the big media about Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of hunting partner Harry Whittington, they've missed the real story. Bigtime.
Not the heart attack suffered today by Whittington, or the failure to provide news to the White House reporters as quickly as those reporters wanted it.
No. The real story is this:
It's inexcusable that the various law enforcement agencies and Secret Service were unable to communicate directly with their radios and had to rely on a phone instead. How much time was delayed - and more to the point - had the situation been life threatening, the delay could have been deadly.
Not the heart attack suffered today by Whittington, or the failure to provide news to the White House reporters as quickly as those reporters wanted it.
No. The real story is this:
Due to a lack of communication the personnel manning the front gate upon Kenedy County officer's arrival did not have any information and were unaware of the incident. Shreiff Salinas was informed shortly after the incident by Secret Service Agents by phone due to incompatibility of radio equipment.In more than four years after 9/11, making sure that emergency responders are able to communicate with each other under all kinds of situations still isn't the priority. The problems haven't been resolved, and it's still putting people at risk.
It's inexcusable that the various law enforcement agencies and Secret Service were unable to communicate directly with their radios and had to rely on a phone instead. How much time was delayed - and more to the point - had the situation been life threatening, the delay could have been deadly.
Dafur in the News
In comments to reporters last week, Annan had indicated that he planned to press Bush to commit the United States to playing a larger role in Darfur, saying that broader military intervention that included at least logistical support from modern armies is needed to bring peace to the region. An estimated 180,000 people have been killed and 2 million have been driven from their homes in the past three years.No word on whether Annan mentioned the dreaded "G" word. Genocide. And Annan thinks that his most recent comments will somehow absolve him and the UN of their failure to respond for the months and years that the violence in Dafur occurred? Not a chance.
"It is not going to be easy for the big and powerful countries with armies to delegate to Third World countries," Annan said. "They will have to play a part if we are going to stop the carnage that we see in Darfur."
He's now hoping that the US and other countries might take action above and beyond what the US had already done.
President Bush and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed on the need for a bigger, more mobile peacekeeping force in Sudan's troubled Darfur region during a White House meeting yesterday, but Annan made no specific requests for U.S. military help.How about a commitment from the other 190+ countries to step into the breach and take up peacekeeping and live up to the ideals of the UN and the Genocide Convention. Of course, that's not a realistic evaluation of the UN since there's only one country that has any capability to act anywhere in the world and project power; the United States. Other countries end up having to rely on the US to assist in logistical support.
Speaking to reporters after the Oval Office session, Annan said it is premature to ask for more than a general commitment from the United States until the United Nations determines what it needs for the planned peacekeeping force in Darfur.
The problem is that the US has the moral imperative to act with or without the UN - we've already made declarations that genocide was ongoing. Sitting idly by isn't, and shouldn't be, an option. Neither is the possibility that the lawlessness in Sudan can translate into another haven for terrorist groups like al Qaeda (which found Sudan to be quite hospitable in the past).
Yet, we see no sense of urgency among those at the UN to act. No need to stop the killing. They'll get to it when they get to it, preferably after a couple of anti-US or anti-Israel declarations. Oh, and there's the tiny problem that some countries don't want the violence to stop - because it might mean upsetting their cozy relationships with the Sudanese government in Khartoum (China, we know you're there!).
Amygdalagf and Decision '08 have more.
One Year In Lebanese History
A year ago, the outspoken anti-Syrian Lebanese politican Rafik Harari was assassinated in Beirut. That singular event sparked a sea-change in Lebanese politics and forced Syria to withdraw its uniformed troops (one suspects they've still got their spies and agent-provocateurs around). Instead of trashing buildings and blowing stuff up, the Cedar Revolution came to be noted by the Protest Babes - and peaceful demonstrations.
It's a stark contrast to the ugliness we're continuing to see elsewhere in the Islamic world over the cartoon jihad.
The Lebanese have come a long way in the past year, but they still have a long way to go. Here's hoping that they succeed in tossing off the last bonds of Syrian tyranny.
UPDATE:
The protest babes in retrospect. Here's some current photos of the ongoing demonstrations in Beirut, including protest babes.
It's a stark contrast to the ugliness we're continuing to see elsewhere in the Islamic world over the cartoon jihad.
The Lebanese have come a long way in the past year, but they still have a long way to go. Here's hoping that they succeed in tossing off the last bonds of Syrian tyranny.
UPDATE:
The protest babes in retrospect. Here's some current photos of the ongoing demonstrations in Beirut, including protest babes.
Respect This!
Hamas is busy complaining about how the US must respect the Palestinian elections by turning over monies to the Palestinian Authority despite the fact that the terrorist group is barred from those monies under US law. They want the money. They need the money.
But the US withholding the money is all about respecting the elections. Ours.
This is the end result of elections. The Palestinians have to live with the fallout. The Palestinians elected a terrorist group that is hellbent on destroying Israel and is on the US State Department list of terrorist groups.
Hamas doesn't quite get it. (Hat Tip: Brian J. Markowitz)
The US has its own democratic government, which has made its own intentions clear - it will not deal with terrorist groups, and specifically named Hamas as a terrorist group. As such, the US is prohibited from providing any kind of financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until such time that the US Congress and President agree to change federal law and undesignate Hamas as a terrorist group.
I don't see that happening anytime soon, not when Hamas continues to agitate against the West, the US, and Israel.
Meanwhile, the US and Israel are looking at all options for dealing with the terrorist group as it takes control over the Palestinian Authority. And they should, especially as Hamas says that they're considering renouncing the Oslo Accords signed in 1993.
Once again, we're witnessing the Palestinians and their backers at their very best - never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. That streak is unbroken since 1947. Israpundit has more.
Meryl Yourish has an update on the Hamas moderation watch. It isn't pretty. In fact, Hamas hasn't changed one bit since winning the election - it's actually become even more strident, though hasn't successfully carried out any terrorist attacks against Israel. They're too busy consolidating their power and trying to stay a couple of steps ahead of Fatah.
Every time there is a possibility for an agreement or accomodation, the Palestinian leadership chooses violence. Without fail.
They're ready to choose violence again, and elected a terrorist group to lead them. Not that it is much different than electing the PLO and Arafat, but Hamas is explicit and open about its intentions to eradicate Israel.
But the US withholding the money is all about respecting the elections. Ours.
This is the end result of elections. The Palestinians have to live with the fallout. The Palestinians elected a terrorist group that is hellbent on destroying Israel and is on the US State Department list of terrorist groups.
Hamas doesn't quite get it. (Hat Tip: Brian J. Markowitz)
"The United States, which claims herself to be the mother of democracy, must respect the election results and the will of the Palestinian people," Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said, condemning U.S. and Israeli interference.The Palestinians, and Hamas in particular, don't quite realize that the elections were only in the Palestinian territories, not in the US.
Hamas defeated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement in the January 25 election on a pledge to end corruption and continue armed struggle for statehood. It is pledged officially to the destruction of Israel which it says is built on occupied Arab land.
The US has its own democratic government, which has made its own intentions clear - it will not deal with terrorist groups, and specifically named Hamas as a terrorist group. As such, the US is prohibited from providing any kind of financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority until such time that the US Congress and President agree to change federal law and undesignate Hamas as a terrorist group.
I don't see that happening anytime soon, not when Hamas continues to agitate against the West, the US, and Israel.
Meanwhile, the US and Israel are looking at all options for dealing with the terrorist group as it takes control over the Palestinian Authority. And they should, especially as Hamas says that they're considering renouncing the Oslo Accords signed in 1993.
Once again, we're witnessing the Palestinians and their backers at their very best - never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. That streak is unbroken since 1947. Israpundit has more.
Meryl Yourish has an update on the Hamas moderation watch. It isn't pretty. In fact, Hamas hasn't changed one bit since winning the election - it's actually become even more strident, though hasn't successfully carried out any terrorist attacks against Israel. They're too busy consolidating their power and trying to stay a couple of steps ahead of Fatah.
Every time there is a possibility for an agreement or accomodation, the Palestinian leadership chooses violence. Without fail.
They're ready to choose violence again, and elected a terrorist group to lead them. Not that it is much different than electing the PLO and Arafat, but Hamas is explicit and open about its intentions to eradicate Israel.
Cyber Clues Missed
An active-duty military intelligence analyst has told congressional investigators that 9/11 pilot Mohamed Atta surfaced 13 times in a controversial Pentagon computer program before he executed the attacks, The Post has learned.This information was picked up via the Able Danger program.
Congressional sources said last night that an officer in the Pentagon's secretive Land Information Warfare Center told the staff of Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) about the computer hits.
The revelation is significant because the 9/11 commission has asserted that Atta was not on the intelligence community's radar screen before the attacks.
For the latest information on the Congressional hearings on Able Danger and related programs, check the following drop down box*.
UPDATE:
AJ Strata has much more, including a roundup of Rep. Weldon's latest press conference before the hearings kicked off.
It's also curious at the lack of media attention over these particular hearings. Actually, not that curious since the media has generally glazed over and fallen asleep at the switch when the subject of Able Danger comes up. Ditto for the Gorelick Wall, the ability to connect dots actually includes the means and capability to obtain the dots in the first place, and delving into the 9/11 Commission's handling of its primary duty - to get to the bottom of real or perceived intel failures in its entirety.
*included inline in this post, in addition to the sidebar
UPDATE:
Vi is liveblogging the hearings.
Technorati: war on terror, spying, patriot act, NSA, CIA,
Iraq, politics, Able Danger, Curt Weldon, Bush
Kerry, High School Graduation Rates, And Failing Our Future
Two weeks ago, Sen. John Kerry claimed that only 47% of students graduate high school. Could he have been right? According to the New York Times, Kerry may have been on to something:
Yet, any way you look at it, the education system in this country is deficient and where you're quibbling over a couple of percentage points when only about 50% of students are graduating high school within four years, you've got serious problems. No Child Left Behind and all the other big government programs sound great and throw lots of money at the public education system, but is that money actually doing any good?
New York City habitually bitches about how much money the State gives to the City as compared with the rest of the State. Even with the infusion of billions of dollars more to equalize the funding (and the City demanding ever more money - including money for an addition to one of my alma maters), the City is still failing its children. NYC spends more than $12,000 per student (FY 2004).
Whose fault is that? It's parents who don't take an active role in their children's education. It's teachers and unions who are more concerned about their fiscal wellbeing than making sure that the kids learn and have the skills necessary to succeed. It's the education bureaucracy that sucks money out of budgets like there's no tomorrow, and has little to show for it. And it's politicians who are more inclined to offer soundbites than offer real changes.
Now, Mayor Bloomberg can and should be congratulated for making fundamental changes in the Board of Education - giving the Mayor direct control over the Board for the first time, but the fundamental problems remain. Students are performing poorly and we must demand better.
These students must be able to be competitive with those from around the world, and if they do not have the skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace, the City, State, and country are in for a whole lot of trouble.
UPDATE:
The NY Sun has a more comprehensive roundup of the graduation rates and how they were calculated.
Among boys, the numbers were even worse, Mr. Mills said, calling them "particularly disturbing." Statewide, 59.4 percent of boys graduated on time in 2005, compared with 69.2 percent of girls. In New York City, the gap was more pronounced, with 37.3 percent of boys and 49.8 percent of girls graduating on time last year.If you cherry pick your statistics, you might find that some figures might support Kerry's contention. The problem is how these figures were all derived.
"It is a pattern that will carry through into college; it will carry through into the professions," Mr. Mills said. "It has profound negative effects for our future."
The state's numbers, released at a news conference yesterday, also included a more dismal view of New York City's high school graduation rate than the one that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released last week as part of a package of statistics on government performance. According to the city's numbers, 53.2 percent of students who were scheduled to graduate last year did so, down from 54.3 percent the year before.
Yet, any way you look at it, the education system in this country is deficient and where you're quibbling over a couple of percentage points when only about 50% of students are graduating high school within four years, you've got serious problems. No Child Left Behind and all the other big government programs sound great and throw lots of money at the public education system, but is that money actually doing any good?
New York City habitually bitches about how much money the State gives to the City as compared with the rest of the State. Even with the infusion of billions of dollars more to equalize the funding (and the City demanding ever more money - including money for an addition to one of my alma maters), the City is still failing its children. NYC spends more than $12,000 per student (FY 2004).
Whose fault is that? It's parents who don't take an active role in their children's education. It's teachers and unions who are more concerned about their fiscal wellbeing than making sure that the kids learn and have the skills necessary to succeed. It's the education bureaucracy that sucks money out of budgets like there's no tomorrow, and has little to show for it. And it's politicians who are more inclined to offer soundbites than offer real changes.
Now, Mayor Bloomberg can and should be congratulated for making fundamental changes in the Board of Education - giving the Mayor direct control over the Board for the first time, but the fundamental problems remain. Students are performing poorly and we must demand better.
These students must be able to be competitive with those from around the world, and if they do not have the skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace, the City, State, and country are in for a whole lot of trouble.
UPDATE:
The NY Sun has a more comprehensive roundup of the graduation rates and how they were calculated.
Is It Really About the Cartoons?
As Jay Tea at Wizbang notes, it really isn't about the cartoons, or any other real or perceived slight against the Islamic world. Any excuse will do. After all, American businesses like MacDonalds have nothing to do with publishing cartoons, yet they were attacked by rioters in Lahore Pakistan.
After all, if this really was about the Danish cartoons, the Islamic community would have protested in September 2005 when the cartoons first came out, not months later after the Danish imams took the 12 cartoons published and a couple of additional cartoons that they added to the mix on a global tour to literally whip up trouble.
Meanwhile, Victor Davis Hanson wonders if Europe will get it. One can only hope, but hope is no way to run foreign policy, let alone national security. We're going to need to see more active measures taken - whether behind closed doors or in public statements demanding those nations behind the rioting - Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to cease and desist unless they want to face the repercussions.
And the Jyllands Posten (Jutland Post) has a new story out, courtesy of Ed Morrisey, regarding the genesis of the riots. And the cartoons were only a pretext:
UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has photos of the Pakistani riots, and also notes that the Iranians are firebombing embassies again - this time tossing firebombs at the British embassy and firecrackers at the Germany embassy in Tehran.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Security forces fired into the air as they struggled to contain the unrest in the eastern city of Lahore, where protesters burned down four buildings housing a hotel, two banks, a KFC restaurant and the office of a Norwegian cell phone company, Telenor.The Islamists found yet another convenient excuse to whip their followers into a frenzy - with the usual assortment of rioting, torchings, and bloodshed.
U.S. and British embassy staffers were confined to their compounds until police dispersed the protesters, some of whom chanted, ''Death to America!''
Witnesses said rioters also damaged more than 200 cars, dozens of shops and a large portrait of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Vandals broke the windows of a Holiday Inn, Pizza Hut and McDonald's.
Two movie theaters were torched, and clouds of tear gas and black smoke from burning vehicles drifted through streets in the city center.
After all, if this really was about the Danish cartoons, the Islamic community would have protested in September 2005 when the cartoons first came out, not months later after the Danish imams took the 12 cartoons published and a couple of additional cartoons that they added to the mix on a global tour to literally whip up trouble.
The protest was organized by a little-known religious group supported by local trade associations and one of the main Islamic schools in the city. Intelligence officials, however, suspected that members of outlawed Islamic radical groups may have incited the violence.None of this is surprising. After all, this is a global riot spread from mosque to mosque - and it would seem that the more militant mosques are busy trying to outdo their neighbors for bragging rights.
Meanwhile, Victor Davis Hanson wonders if Europe will get it. One can only hope, but hope is no way to run foreign policy, let alone national security. We're going to need to see more active measures taken - whether behind closed doors or in public statements demanding those nations behind the rioting - Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to cease and desist unless they want to face the repercussions.
And the Jyllands Posten (Jutland Post) has a new story out, courtesy of Ed Morrisey, regarding the genesis of the riots. And the cartoons were only a pretext:
The true reasons for the manufactured outrage turn out to have more connection to other Danish actions than just the cartoons. The proper context shows that the Muslims in Denmark and elsewhere have much more of an agenda than simply protecting the Prophet from satire and their religious sensibilities from criticism.
UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has photos of the Pakistani riots, and also notes that the Iranians are firebombing embassies again - this time tossing firebombs at the British embassy and firecrackers at the Germany embassy in Tehran.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Monday, February 13, 2006
Riots, Free Speech, and Cartoons
The elusive moderate Muslim is speaking out in Denmark.
The US media is listening to the militant Islamists, and have decided that cowardice is the better part of business sense and have tossed the concept of freedom of speech and freedom of expression into the wind. They're largely refusing to run the cartoons that have sparked worldwide rioting, even as they've run other images that could spark outrage. The difference is that the groups outraged over those other images aren't prone to torch buildings whereas the militant Islamists have already shown their propensity to torch stuff and cause mayhem.
These media outlets have folded in the face of an external threat. While many of these outlets routinely claim that the Administration is trying to clamp down on free speech and censoring what they're saying, these same outlets have gone ahead and censored themselves out of fear.
These media outlets do not want to upset their contacts within the Arab world, even though these same cartoons caused no massive outrage when first published last September. It took a concerted effort by Danish imams, in conjunction with Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia to spread the message - aided and abetted with bogus cartoons that were never even published in the Jutland Post.
Thankfully, some media outlets are publishing the cartoons, but they're the exception, not the rule. At a time when the media has no problem running Abu Ghraib photos ad nauseum for months on end, which can and did inflame the Islamists and the Arab World - not to mention most anyone who saw that the individuals involved in the brutality and abuse should be punished to the fullest extent, they're purposefully limiting the exposure of these cartoons.
Michelle Malkin posts some photos of Palestinian kids protesting in Hebron. While John at The Officer's Club wonders why these kids aren't in school, I'd argue that this is all part of the typical indoctrination at the Palestinian schools. This is what they're taught on a regular basis - nothing but hatred and intolerance. JunkYard Blog calls this Palestinian child abuse. I agree - after all, this is a 'scoiety' that for all intents and purposes sees its children as disposable weapons to be detonated at a time and place of their terrorist leaders' choosing.
Sisu has more thoughts. Canadian Muslim groups are pushing for hate crime charges against a Canadian publisher who published the cartoons. So much for free speech.
Meanwhile, will be see riots in America because yet another anti-America movie is opening, this time in Turkey? I don't think so. We simply value free speech and freedom of expression. Nope.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Dozens of Danish Muslims are joining the network of moderate Muslims, the Demokratiske Muslimer (Democratic Muslims). About 700 Muslims have already become DM members and 2,500 Danes have expressed their will to support the network. The initiative has caused anger among the Danish imams and their leader, Ahmad Abu Laban, who have referred to the moderates as “rats.” The imams feel that they are beginning to lose their control over part of the Muslim population.But is anyone within the militant Islamic community listening? There are two key audiences here - the moderate Muslims who need to know that they're going to have support against the extremists, and those in the West who think that this isn't a fundamental aspect of the global war on terror and the jihadist clash with Western thought.
Moderates such as Kamran Tahmasebi say they have had enough of fanatic Islamism and its intimidation of the Muslim immigrants in Denmark. “It is an irony that I am today living in a European democratic state and have to fight the same religious fanatics that I fled from in Iran many years ago,” Mr Tahmasebi says. He came to Denmark as a refugee in 1989. Today he works as a social consultant and is very grateful for the life Denmark has made it possible for him to have. He says he no longer wants to keep a low profile to avoid attracting the attention of the imams. The cartoon affair was an incentive for him to stand up and warn against the Islamist imams in Denmark, whom he says are damaging the integration process with their misleading criticism of Danish values and norms.
The US media is listening to the militant Islamists, and have decided that cowardice is the better part of business sense and have tossed the concept of freedom of speech and freedom of expression into the wind. They're largely refusing to run the cartoons that have sparked worldwide rioting, even as they've run other images that could spark outrage. The difference is that the groups outraged over those other images aren't prone to torch buildings whereas the militant Islamists have already shown their propensity to torch stuff and cause mayhem.
These media outlets have folded in the face of an external threat. While many of these outlets routinely claim that the Administration is trying to clamp down on free speech and censoring what they're saying, these same outlets have gone ahead and censored themselves out of fear.
These media outlets do not want to upset their contacts within the Arab world, even though these same cartoons caused no massive outrage when first published last September. It took a concerted effort by Danish imams, in conjunction with Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia to spread the message - aided and abetted with bogus cartoons that were never even published in the Jutland Post.
Thankfully, some media outlets are publishing the cartoons, but they're the exception, not the rule. At a time when the media has no problem running Abu Ghraib photos ad nauseum for months on end, which can and did inflame the Islamists and the Arab World - not to mention most anyone who saw that the individuals involved in the brutality and abuse should be punished to the fullest extent, they're purposefully limiting the exposure of these cartoons.
Michelle Malkin posts some photos of Palestinian kids protesting in Hebron. While John at The Officer's Club wonders why these kids aren't in school, I'd argue that this is all part of the typical indoctrination at the Palestinian schools. This is what they're taught on a regular basis - nothing but hatred and intolerance. JunkYard Blog calls this Palestinian child abuse. I agree - after all, this is a 'scoiety' that for all intents and purposes sees its children as disposable weapons to be detonated at a time and place of their terrorist leaders' choosing.
Sisu has more thoughts. Canadian Muslim groups are pushing for hate crime charges against a Canadian publisher who published the cartoons. So much for free speech.
Meanwhile, will be see riots in America because yet another anti-America movie is opening, this time in Turkey? I don't think so. We simply value free speech and freedom of expression. Nope.
Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"
Shooting Off
While the humor keeps flying about Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting partner - no Brokeback Mountain for those two - there are real serious questions that need to be addressed.
Why the delay?
It's a simple question that hasn't been answered to any satisfaction.
Technorati: Cheney, Dick Cheney, hunting accident.
Why the delay?
It's a simple question that hasn't been answered to any satisfaction.
Technorati: Cheney, Dick Cheney, hunting accident.
Study Finds Money Doesn't Buy Happiness
Can someone help me with testing that proposition?
Seriously.
I want to test the proposition that money doesn't buy happiness.
I figure that a couple hundred thousand dollars would do the trick.
I'm pretty happy with my life right now, but there are few things that could be improved with an improved balance sheet. No student loans, the ability to buy a house - typical American dream kind of stuff.
And I'm sure that most people would agree that a better financial situation would make life easier - and even happier.
I know I'd have more time to do travelling and photography, not to mention more blogging. Oh, and I'd have more time to skewer studies such as this one.
Seriously.
I want to test the proposition that money doesn't buy happiness.
I figure that a couple hundred thousand dollars would do the trick.
I'm pretty happy with my life right now, but there are few things that could be improved with an improved balance sheet. No student loans, the ability to buy a house - typical American dream kind of stuff.
And I'm sure that most people would agree that a better financial situation would make life easier - and even happier.
I know I'd have more time to do travelling and photography, not to mention more blogging. Oh, and I'd have more time to skewer studies such as this one.
FEMA's Follies Exposed
The hits never stop coming with FEMA. The latest report recaps much of what I've blogged over the past several months. In particular, you've got FEMA spending thousands of dollars per mobile home but which can't be used because FEMA's own rules ban them in flood plains.
Then you've got widespread accounting problems and fraud in the disbursement of monies to Katrina victims:
The GAO report can be found here.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; kanye west; impeach bush; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.
Then you've got widespread accounting problems and fraud in the disbursement of monies to Katrina victims:
The two audits found that up to 900,000 of the 2.5 million applicants who received aid under FEMA’s emergency cash assistance program — which included the $2,000 debit cards given to evacuees — were based on duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers, or false addresses and names.The Washington Post notes that some of the money was spent on hotel rooms in New York City costing $438 per night.
Separately, the Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors have filed fraud, theft and other charges against 212 people accused of scams related to Gulf Coast hurricanes. Sixty eight arrests were made, and 40 people have pleaded guilty so far, the latest report by the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force said. Many defendants were accused of trying to obtain emergency aid, typically a $2,000 debit card, issued to hurricane victims by FEMA and the American Red Cross.
Thousands of additional dollars appear to have been squandered on hotel rooms for evacuees that were paid at retail rather than the contractor's lower estimated cost. They included $438 rooms in New York City and beachfront condominiums in Panama City, Fla., at $375 a night, according to the audits.Hasn't FEMA ever heard of Expedia.com or any of the other travel websites? Even the extended stay hotels and motels don't cost nearly that much. Those are gold-plated prices even by New York City standards.
The GAO report can be found here.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; kanye west; impeach bush; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour.
Getting Around the Chinese Firewall
Pamela at Atlas Shrugs details a technological workaround that allows people in China to avoid dealing with the Google censorship limitations altogether. The application is called Freegate, and it has run into problems with some of the network security companies who have treated the code as malicious software. Symantec has decided to relabel Freegate:
Technorati: china, censorship, dictatorship, repression, google, microsoft, yahoo, dont be evil.
Symantec is to stop classifying a software utility that enables Chinese surfers to view blocked websites as a Trojan horse.This means that Freegate users will no longer be constrained by Symantec's anti-virus programs. Score one for the good guys. Here's more on the background of the push to get the network security companies to change their treatment of the code.
The reassessment follows stories earlier this week questioning the designation of the widely-used Freegate program as malicious code. Freegate has 200,000 users, Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT), its developer, estimates. The software lets users view sites banned by the Chinese government by taking advantage of a range of proxy servers assigned to changeable internet addresses. Symantec mislabelled this behaviour as that of malicious code and wrongly-labelled Freegate as malign.
Technorati: china, censorship, dictatorship, repression, google, microsoft, yahoo, dont be evil.
The NJ Budget Guessing Game
No one knows how bad the budget deficit is? How is this even possible? And even if the estimates range from "rosy" $3.5 billion to $6 billion, here's the simple way to deal with the mess - base your current budget on the worst case scenario, not hope for a rosier outlook.
If New Jersey is ever going to find a way out of its terminal tax and spend malaise, dealing with the situation head-on is the only way.
The budget process is a total mess, but if the budget really is only as bad as $3.5 billion, then the cuts made will actually have a positive ripple effect and further improve the state's fiscal situation going forward. New Jersey cannot base its budget on hope and prayer that tax revenues will come in above estimates.
And enough with the fiscal gimmicks. New Jersey has suffered for all their usage. John Cichowski, the Bergen Record's Road Warrior, notes that the refinancing does nothing to solve the long term structural problems associated with the Transportation Trust Fund, and that same rationale can be applied to all the other funds that were raided year after year to balance the budget. I made a similar argument here. Dynamo Buzz also made a similar argument.
For starters, Trenton must implement fundamental change - if a fund was designed for a specific purpose - like the transportation fund or the pension fund, they cannot be raided under any circumstances in order to balance the budget in any other areas. Not only does this force the legislature to make difficult choices about budget prioirties, but it maintains the solvency of the various funds.
Treating deficits as political footballs that can be tossed forward enough time so that it becomes someone else's problems is no way to do business. You only reduce the economic viability of the state going forward. It may be painful to deal with a huge budget deficit now, but it is far less painful to deal with it now than when the state is in recession and all the one-shots and gimmicks have been used up (including selling off state assets like the GSP and Turnpike).
If New Jersey is ever going to find a way out of its terminal tax and spend malaise, dealing with the situation head-on is the only way.
The budget process is a total mess, but if the budget really is only as bad as $3.5 billion, then the cuts made will actually have a positive ripple effect and further improve the state's fiscal situation going forward. New Jersey cannot base its budget on hope and prayer that tax revenues will come in above estimates.
And enough with the fiscal gimmicks. New Jersey has suffered for all their usage. John Cichowski, the Bergen Record's Road Warrior, notes that the refinancing does nothing to solve the long term structural problems associated with the Transportation Trust Fund, and that same rationale can be applied to all the other funds that were raided year after year to balance the budget. I made a similar argument here. Dynamo Buzz also made a similar argument.
For starters, Trenton must implement fundamental change - if a fund was designed for a specific purpose - like the transportation fund or the pension fund, they cannot be raided under any circumstances in order to balance the budget in any other areas. Not only does this force the legislature to make difficult choices about budget prioirties, but it maintains the solvency of the various funds.
Treating deficits as political footballs that can be tossed forward enough time so that it becomes someone else's problems is no way to do business. You only reduce the economic viability of the state going forward. It may be painful to deal with a huge budget deficit now, but it is far less painful to deal with it now than when the state is in recession and all the one-shots and gimmicks have been used up (including selling off state assets like the GSP and Turnpike).
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