Offense Level Lowered

Be certain you've swallowed your coffee before reading this link explaining why the Muslim Offense level has been lowered from Orange to Yellow.

It seems the Saudi's have re-run the Danish non-apology and said that now that the Danes have really apologized, we can all go back to work.

THE Danish government is currently on the mission to mend the damage created by the publication of 12 blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in a Danish newspaper.
The printing of the cartoons and the initial lack of response by the Danish government when Muslim leaders stated their concern sparked anger and outrage among Muslims around the world, resulting in 23 deaths in violent protest and the burning of embassies.

The Danish newspaper that published the cartoons offered its apology twice to the Muslim world. The latest one was published last Sunday as an advertisement in Arabic newspapers.

Read the whole thing - the world is a funny, funny place.

Enemies

This was funny for about a second but now I'm ticked. Who the he** do these people (United for Peace and Justice) think they are?

The Administration is Criminal and if they will not step down, we must storm in, show them how many of us do not accept a criminal government. How can we stand by and watch them kill our brothers, sisters, journalists and friends for their dollars?

These groups are on the steering committe, just to keep in mind. I don't think lefties are unpatriotic, I think these people are! And what's more they are the enemy if they think they have a right to set aside my vote and topple this government!

* CODEPINK
* The Communist Party (no surprise there!)
* National Hip Hop Political Caucus
* Iraq Veterans Against The War
* September 11th Families For Peaceful Tomorrows
* Teen Peace Project
* Not In Our Name
* Military Families Speak Out
* US Campaign To End The Israeli Occupation
* National Network On Cuba (again, no surprise)
* DC Anti-War Network

Losers.

Prisons

The Enviromental Republican titles today's post "Laws that do the opposite" in regards to health care laws to force Walmart to provide levels of insurance.
His title brings to mind this NYTimes story about a prison in Afghanistan, Bagram, that 1) was never meant to be a prison, but more of a short term holding facility and 2) has, shall we say, less comfortable conditions than Guantanamo because 1) it was never meant to be a prison and 2) well, it's not in US territory.
Because of things like UN calls to shut Guantanamo down and UN reports on "torture" in Guantanamo, now, the administration has decided not to send more detainees to Guantanamo. Since no one has any better ideas.......they stay at the holding center!

Other military and administration officials said the growing detainee population at Bagram, which rose from about 100 prisoners at the start of 2004 to as many as 600 at times last year, according to military figures, was in part a result of a Bush administration decision to shut off the flow of detainees into Guantánamo after the Supreme Court ruled that those prisoners had some basic due-process rights.

I'm certain that's not what the UN intended......unintended consequences guys, or, "laws that do the opposite".

Steyn

Chavez

Interesting. Reason why the left should worry about Chavez. Reason number 4.

CHAVEZ WANTS TO BECOME A WORLD BANK. Few causes have impassioned the left more in the last few decades than the foreign debt of underdeveloped nations, which is attributed to a conspiracy on the part of big banks and their government backers. Chávez is fast becoming a creditor to many Latin American nations by buying their sovereign bonds (which are issued only after he offers to buy them.). He has become an IMF and a World Bank onto himself. Argentina and Ecuador combined owe him a bit less than $2 billion so far.

Read the whole thing. I was at a party once of the basic Boulder County liberals and there was a woman there from Venezuela. Just for fun, someone brought up Mr. Chavez to get her take on him and his persecution from the US. She thinks he's a loon too! It was one of those priceless moments.

Iraq News

Iraq the Model has news today. The permalink isn't working, so I am taking the liberty of copying the whole post from Omar.

Curfew extended in Baghdad and thre other provinces.
The defense minister in a press conference currently on Iraqi TV gave statistics to correct what he described as "exaggerated media reports" about civilian casualties and attacks on mosques since the attack on the Samarra shrine:


Mosques attacked/shot at without damage: 21 not 51
Moderately damaged: 6 not 23
Mosques destroyed totally: 1 not 3
Mosques occupied by militias: 1 not 2 (evacuated later).
Civilians killed: 119 not 183

It was also announced that day-time curfew in Baghdad and three other provinces (Salahiddin, Diyala and Babil) will continue for another two days.

More from the press conference:

In the same press conference, the interior minister said "we are not going to show tolerance towards those who cause violence anymore, those who felt like doing something have done what they done but we will accept no more of this" obviously referring to those who let their anger push them to violence.

The defense minister added that they are working in the government on activating the counter-terrorism laws which includes "arresting anyone who's found guilty of provoking violence".
And added "We have put the armored units of the Iraqi army on high alert and these units (one division+) will be deployed to the streets one we see a real need for that".

Posted by Omar @ 15:43

Life in Saudi Arabia

for a woman is hard to imagine.
After a women get's questioned for being in a cassette shop and then questions the problem, the Religious policman clues her in:

She's being a bit faux-naive, to make her point. It's quite simple, it's all about aisle width. The "cassette shops" (although we do actually have CD's as well!) in the shopping mall have nice wide aisles, like the ones in the supermarket picture above. Men and women can pass without coming too close to each other. But the little "Mom and Pop" cassette shops, the ones with a sub-continent manager/cashier, and an absentee Saudi owner, are much more cramped. With aisles of one metre or less, you have to squeeze past other shoppers. So it's a no-no for women, even Western women, they usually have signs saying "Men only", and I'm surprised our reporter claims not to be aware of the issue.

Danish Embassy in DC

Join Christopher Hitchens at the Danish Embassy in DC today for a show of solidarity in regards to freedom of the press.

UPDATE: Here is a photojournal of the gathering. Enjoy! (ht Powerline)

Friday

Whatever happened to cat blogging?

Powerline has words from on the ground near the Golden Mosque. I know today is a telling day, but I'll go out on a limb and predict no civil war in Iraq over this. They want democracy too badly. They've fought very hard for it and I don't think they'll be willing to let it go to hell.
On a side note we've been blamed for this (along with Israel). We should probably admit this would never have happened without our involvement in Iraq. True. Now lets move on. Iraqis' thought it all was worth it before the mosque was bombed - too late to turn back now. (not at all sure how it's Israel's fault)
Iraq the Model has a local scene too.

Captain Ed has the scoop on the Phillipines.

The Officer's Club reminds us to be thankful for a lot of behind the scenes people in history. And
also has fun with lessons learned by watching TV/Movies. Women need not bother, we usually get killed. If not, then tortured and rescued later. lol

Ragged Thots has not been convinced to "trust" the administration on the ports deal. While I've turned, he's got good points. Some reflecting what I said yesterday. (I like it when people agree with me!)

And finally an interesting perspective on Europe, Christianity, and culture from the Brusselsjournal.

Civil War in Iraq

Is kind of supported by Ali of Iraq.

I'm not being pessimistic here nor have I gave up, on the contrary I'm still optimistic and I don't see a limited civil war as that bad, as what would it mean? Destruction and killing on the identity? Sorry to say that that's already happening but none of the real killers is showing his face. So let them do it and say it frankly and that, I believe, will relieve a lot of the tension. I always thought that a civil war was needed to clear this tension and I had this thought more than 15 years ago when I stopped being a Sunni and that gave me access to what both sides really think of each other and it was scary...

Scary. This guy, Ali, is the other Iraq the Model brother who went out on his own. One of the reasons he thinks civil war would be ok is because we're there to keep things from getting out of control. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Unbelievable.

.... while if they don't (listen to Sistani) then they may take Iraq into a civil war which is not that unlikely now to happen given the strong Iranian interference and support for those radical components among She'at. But is that really that disastrous? Maybe, but I tend to think it won't be for many reasons. 1st such civil war will never be a full scale one with the American troops still in Iraq, so all that can happen is merely increasing the assassinations carried out by both radical Sunnis and She'at towards each other which may serve to expose those parties further more to everyone.

Ok - he's got a point. Expose the terrorists so they are easier to deal with. But he wants all of this out there to soothe old religious tensions. Get a shrink!

Ports again,and again

This is the link to today's press briefing by Scott McClellen.

So I have to say, thank you Mr. President. Seriously, I want to trust you, so having you admit that this whole thing could have been communicated better is a great first step.

There are a ton of good points on both sides. Since you are running things, I'll go with your plan even though I suspect this hasn't been looked at as closely as you claim it has. CFIUS basically ok's everything, and you didn't know about this until just a day or two ago, but I digress.

One question though:
Scott said this:

MR. McCLELLAN: The President doesn't view it as a political issue. The President views it as the right principle and the right policy. We should not be holding a country from the Middle East or a company from the Middle East to a different standard from a company from Great Britain. And the President believes very strongly that all these issues were addressed during the review process. That's why he checked with his Cabinet Secretaries -- all the national security issues. We shouldn't -- so it's a matter of principle. It's a principled position that the President is taking.

Nice, right?
Well, then why did he also say this:

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it's not just that. I mean, there's proprietary information, as well. And I think that what we're working to do is make sure that we can provide as much information as possible about this transaction. Because, as I pointed out, one thing that is key is that this company agreed to additional security measures that they would take beyond what some others do in transactions like this. And I pointed out what those are.

Why are they saying this company from Dubai has to agree to "additional" security measures, if the whole principle of the thing is that we're all equal to the same standard?

Karl Rove today equated the UAE with Pakistan (allywise) but I'm not sure we'd all be comfortable with Pakistanis running our ports. Or Saudi Arabia. Yet both are good allies. Certainly on paper anyway. What would stop them from owning something so important as our ports? Money? Ability? In any business you have to look long term. This one deal may be ok for today, but try to look long term and see what you think. yeah, yeah, China manages ports too, but I'm not so comfortable with that either. Especially since they seem to be infiltrating this country already.

Nevermind, I said I'd trust you Mr. President, now to let the lingering doubts fade. I have no expertise, just guts. (not as in strength and fortitude but as in 'gut reaction'.) I understand there will be a briefing tomorrow. Answer the question above and I'll be quiet even though, many, many people I respect still aren't going for it.

UPDATE for "Those Ports", go here. For "Ports again", go here.

Bonfire of the Goons

Varifrank has been threatened due to his picking on people who are rioting over cartoons. That bites. However, he mentions my name so often that I'm kind of thinking he's going to make me famous! (As I tell people on the phone who ask my name, it's "Terri Goon, yes, really". )

I’m appalled at the goons and what they do, but I’m even more appalled at the rest of us and what we do in response to these goons almost as regular as clockwork.

Let's get this straight, These protests are not about "blasphemous cartoons", its not even about Islam. It’s about the goons. It’s about the mob, and the mentality of the mob. But more importantly it’s about how we give in to the mob. It’s as if we want them to like us and every time we try to make them like us by being nice in response to their intimidation, we strengthen them.

Ports again

Here's the thing, yes, the UAE is an ally and helped freeze funds to Al qaeda and yes the UAE has helped in Iraq during both wars. They are the good guys, and yes there is nothing more irritating than a blogstorm, but sheesh...... there is a smell test to things and this one doesn't pass. We would not allow Mexico, our ally and friend, to be in charge of the Texas border. Profiling? Yeah maybe. So?
From Fox News:

Nonetheless, the FBI has also concluded that the UAE's banking system filtered much of the money used for the operational planning before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and many of the hijackers traveled to the United States through the UAE.

Saying that he hopes Bush will overrule the committee and disapprove the deal, Foley pointed out that the UAE on Wednesday moved to improve bilateral trade ties to Iran.

"When the international community is attempting to bring Iran's nuclear abilities to a halt, the United Arab Emirates are talking about expanded trade opportunities with Iran," he said, wondering aloud whose side the UAE would land on if tensions escalated between the United States and Iran.

"This is, after all, a country that still sees the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and still fails to recognize Israel as a sovereign state," Foley said.

"For a country that recognized the Taliban, as one of only three, the last thing you want is a country like this to have control of ... our ports," added Shays.

DPW would not be responsible for cargo screening, which is performed by the Department of Homeland Security, but the port operator is responsible for securing cargo coming in and out of the port, the port facility itself and the hiring of security personnel.

The War on Terror isn't going to be over anytime soon. This is a long term thing. So while the closer Muslim friends we have in it, the better we are, there are certain fundamentals we ought to agree on. i.e. Israel exists!

Bush quote:
"It sends a terrible signal to friends around the world that it's OK for a company from one country to manage the port, but not a country that plays by the rules and has got a good track record from another part of the world,"

Point taken, but let's try this again.
"It sends a terrible signal to friends around the world that it's OK for a company from one country to manage the port, but not a country that plays by the rules and has got a good track record from another part of the world. However, since this country isn't actually a democracy and doesn't technically recognize one of our greatest allies, we're going to spend a little more time vetting the business there that wants to take over our ports." How hard is that?
The UAE is the good guys but the American people have been screaming for better port coverage since 911. Maybe foreign companies are the only options? What do I know....and therein is the problem. Mr. President, you've told us nothing. Just "trust me, your security is all I think about". I'm sorry Mr. President but I suspect we could have had a little more setup before the punchline this round.
1) Tell us that despite the world's animosity towards us, a foreign country is our only option
2) Tell us that no real information is shared with this business in regards to who what where how
3) Tell us who will be in charge of keeping an eye out. (and somehow make us believe that the cronyism used in the FEMA appointment isn't part of the oversight here)
4) Give us credit for not being a bunch of bigots, but instead caring about this subject.
5) Go ahead and get mad, but get mad at yourself for not giving us a better setup to this.

I really want to trust you. I think you are the good guy. I know you have tons more information than I have. On the opposite side, I don't trust the MSM and if they are having a cow about this, then there's a good chance this is a nonstarter.
But while I will choose to trust you on national security, and military matters, this is a business deal. It didn't pass the smell test with the American people. The questions aren't going to go away.

Those Ports

The story is all over the place and actually broke in the midst of Cheneygate. The Environmental Republican sums it up well.

All I can say is what the f**k is the president thinking?

Thank goodness the Democrats have finally found a real issue they can stomp up and down about. Something that matters. Hillary, herself has vowed to stop this.

Hillary Clinton is to introduce legislation in the US which would block the take-over of P&O by Dubai Ports World.

It sounds like it may be Republican Governors who will have the quickest say in the issue though as they "indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DP World takeover."
Either way - no way is this going to happen. It just can't. Now, who gets the credit? Republican or Democrat? Go ahead and fight this one out, either way, we, the people, win. And wouldn't it be nice to have a serious Democratic party?

US on the Verge of Energy Breakthrough

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil.
Less than half the crude oil used by refineries is produced in the United States, while 60 percent comes from foreign nations, Bush said during the first stop on a two-day trip to talk about energy.
Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he said.
"It creates a national security issue and we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us," Bush said.

He said, tongue in cheek.

What better threat to Iran than to force them to look at their futures without the sale of oil? I suspect these breakthroughs are the same ones that have been going on since the 70's. Energy sources that, in the end, are more expensive than just continuing to use oil. However, oil sources cost 'hidden' dollars. re Military dollars in a big way.
Imagine though that you are in charge of Iran or Saudi Arabia and the US President says that soon, very soon, we'll be energy independant. (insert evil laugh here) Brilliant.

Because it's hilarious

Uncorrelated has linked to a Drudge story about the whining press corp.
They think it's the White House that makes them look like whiners!

Cartoons

Mark Steyn has a view.
Tim Blair said to read this well written column by Julie Burchill:

For fear of appearing racist, many Britons suspend their normal judgments when dealing with the behavior of ethnic minorities. Not only is this totally racist in itself - pre-supposing as it does that ethnics are like children, who know not what they do and must have special dispensation to behave badly - but it also ignores the fact that the other ethnic minorities, be they Jews, Chinese or Hindus, have somehow managed to both keep their culture and fit into their chosen adopted country, without feeling the need to parade around the streets like big overgrown babies, stamping their feet and ordering fatwas when things displease them.

He also notes that the Rocky Mountain News printed the cartoons and gotten kudos from readers.

Iran now is calling for an end to the protests while 9 out of 10 Iranian Imans authorize using nuclear weapons.

I think I'll go back to bed.

Venezuela

Big surprise!!

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he may seek to lift a constitutional limit on successive presidential terms.

Isn't this in the little book of "How to tell if you are run by a dictator"? A) Does he/she intend to stay on indefinitely?

The MSM

I am a simple, simple person and even I can recognize when something needs a legitimate edit. Let's see - Israel sends custom money and taxes to the Palestinians who can't seem to run themselves to collect their own. The Palestinians decide to elect for their government a (let's be pc) a 'group' of people who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist and who send bombers in on a regular basis. Israels, says, ok, no more money. Would you call this act as spiteful and mean, or just basic normal of course this would be what Israel would do behavior? The BBC describes it thusly:

On Sunday, Israel approved a series of punitive measures against the PA.

Why on earth should Israel finance the people that want them wiped out?

UPDATE: Apparently President Carter disgrees. (um - who cares?)

Riots, Arabs, Iran, Iraq.....

Muslims, while rioting may look like one big single celled organism, but there is a difference. Which is why someone in the government didn't really go through the entire thought process before oking a UAE company management of a few key ports. The UAE are the good guys. Allies, and friends. They aren't rioting over cartoons there and they know how to run ports.
(Personally I think it was a bad idea, and I've let my opinion be known to my reps but it's not the same thing as handing over the ports to Ahmadinejad.)

This post by the Officersclub regarding the riots going on in Syria also points out a difference and a problem they have there in Syria. Muslim extremists aren't a problem only for the west.

Yeah, letting that free expression genie out of the bottle sucks, doesn’t it. The problem Syria is facing is that its Alawite government is in the minority. Alawites are seen as an offshoot of Shia Islam and are viewed by Syria’s majority Sunni population the same way evangelical Christians view the Mormon faith in America. So when the Assad regime encourages Islamist riots, its Sunni population is going to obviously be very skeptical, but- hey, they get to burn stuff, so giddy up!

(sidenote: Apparently we have a small protest going on in Gallup, New Mexico after the paper there printed the cartoons. People are tough in Gallup. I will bet you this doesn't turn into cartoon riots!)
(side, side note: have you seen the pictures going around that seem to be pictures of the NY protests? I thought they looked staged so I went looking and it looks to me like the bloghype, is just that, bloghype. Here's the actual story. Reasonable, subdued, one block.)
Moving on:
Iran is calling on Britain to pull it's troops out of Iraq. Frankly, these Iraqi's (Iraq the Model) think that's outrageous.

This is totally unacceptable and it is a deliberate interference with the internal affairs of Iraq.
Whether or not Iraq is sovereign, independent, weak or whatever, Basra is an Iraqi city and under no circumstances should Iran feel it has the right to interfere with Iraq's affairs.

And speaking of Iran, some seem to think that Iran has a way save face concerning nukes. I'm not holding my breath. Remember all the fun with Iraqi inspections etc? Both the first and second time. On again, off again. Oh, this will work. Nope.


All of that said, this is hilarious!! A cartoon linked to through Jim Treacher. If a large group of people act like idiots they are going to lumped into one conveniently labeled group and picked on.

Al qaeda

Al qaeda has a mission statement. And benefits. In all honesty I've wondered about that stuff. You have a family to support and you want to join up with Al qaeda, how do you support them.
Well, conveniently, now we know. There are salaries and vacation time and health benefits. The irony here is laugh out loud funny. The "West" is so ingrained in the world that Osama doesn't even realize it! (thank you Austin Bay for the rundown.)

Friday Morning

Went tromping through the snow this morning instead of being insightful. Here are some links for your perusal however.

Instapundit on left vs right inclusiveness.

Captain Ed on the UAE winning contracts for port management. (What on earth did they do to win these? There must be plenty of American companies willing to run ports.)

The California Conservative on the UN report concerning Guantanamo.
"Although the authors of the U.N. report declined to visit the military facility to gather information, they did base some of their conclusions on interviews with former detainees and attorneys."

The Environmental Republican celebrates his third blogversary. As a gift, Jeff Goldstein waxes hilarious. (fyi, Scott - I like the name. I actually googled (spit) Environment and Republican and found your blog vs following links to get there.)

And finally, Misunderestimated Germans ask the question, "Are we contributing sufficiently to the war on terror." They asked this a few days ago but no one, including myself has responded yet. Let them know what you think and I'll work on that one too.

John Bolton

Caplis and Silverman of KHOW radio has Ambassador John Bolton on today for a short interview. (These guys are on talk radio in Colorado. A Democrat and a Republican who are lawyers and friends.) This should be the link to the show.

Do you remember the firestorm about Mr. Bolton? Mr Voinovich's tears?
Listen to this interview. (it's short)

The man, John Bolton, sounds perfectly sane and very diplomatic to me. He gives credit to the IAEA's referral of Iran to the Security Council and the permanent members' acceptance of that referral. He gives credit for the the French Foreign minister's very direct words today accusing Iran of working to create a nuclear weapon. He talks about the ingrained culture at the UN of antiIsrael and antiAmericanism that needs to change. And he talks about the UN report on Guantanamo that came out today. (previewed earlier)

I liked him last August when he was first mentioned for the post and we heard that he was an actual critic of the UN rather than a UNophile, and after this nice little interview with a local radio station, I like him even more.

Venezuela

I've already defined Hugo Chavez as a loon and I'm sticking to it. However in regards to what I was saying the other day about Latin American countries not working to fix themselves, it looks like he's kind of got a plan:

Venezuela has been making tons of money that Chavez is investing/spending on long range projects like pipelines to neighboring countries and refineries nearer to him than the US so that he no longer will need to depend on our waning good will. Good Plan Hugo. He's also squandering it on helping the poor in the US while making trades with Cuba to import doctors for health care in shanty towns.

Local media say Cuba receives around 100,000 barrels of cheap Venezuelan oil a day and in return is loaning some 20,000 Cuban medics who provide free health care to Venezuela's shanty towns.

Other handouts from Venezuela's oil riches include a brand new hospital in Uruguay and the country made offers of millions of dollars of aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the US, as well as cheap heating oil for poor families in Boston and New York.

I suspect to make our government look bad...(?) Who knows. Maybe he could take some of that money and send a few shanty town kids to schools so that they could become doctors.
Like I said, he's a loon, but at least he's halfway thinking long range.

(filed under credit where credit is due)

New Abu Ghraib Photos

Yes right here! Don't look if you don't want to see people in cribs...yes cribs. It's horrible. These may be upsetting for some of you dear readers because they show what Abu Ghraib is like NOW, yes, NOW. Not some years past when run by people who are now in jail or demoted and certainly humiliated.
Please someone, send in the media! This news MUST be spread ASAP!

Good News

On A14 of the Washington Post brought to the forefront by Captain Ed. The article talks about

The last time the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment served in Iraq, in 2003-04, its performance was judged mediocre, with a series of abuse cases growing out of its tour of duty in Anbar province.
But its second tour in Iraq has been very different, according to specialists in the difficult art of conducting a counterinsurgency campaign -- fighting a guerrilla war but also trying to win over the population and elements of the enemy. Such campaigns are distinct from the kind of war most U.S. commanders have spent decades preparing to fight.

Things went better the 2nd time.

Also, polls indicate that Iraqis think all the hardship they've put up with since the war has been worth it.

Steyn

On demographics.

In 2005, some 137 million babies were born around the globe. That 137 million is the maximum number of 20-year-olds who'll be around in 2025. There are no more, no other sources; that's it, barring the introduction of mass accelerated cloning (which is by no means an impossibility). Who that 137 million are will determine the character of our world.

The shape's already becoming clear. Take those Danish cartoons. Every internet blogger wants to take a stand on principle alongside plucky little Denmark. But there's only five million of them. Whereas there are 20 million Muslims in Europe - officially. That's the equivalent of the Danes plus the Irish plus the Belgians plus the Estonians.

You do the mathematics. If you want the reality of Europe in a nutshell, walk into a supermarket belonging to the French chain Carrefour. You'll be greeted by a notice in Arabic: "Dear Clients, We express solidarity with the Islamic and Egyptian community. Carrefour doesn't carry Danish products." It's strictly business: they have three Danish customers and a gazillion Muslim ones. Retail sales-wise, they know which way their bread's buttered and it isn't with Lurpak.

I understand his worry - but his math is off. He doesn't take into account that most of those millions of emmigrated Muslims are not Islamofascists. There is a difference.
And while the Imans have gotten their masses riled up in Pakistan and Egypt and Iran, the riots aren't happening (knock on wood) here or in Europe or in Australia. So immigration to the west is, in effect, a way to spread moderate Islam around the world - And have those children around to pay for our retirements.
I think stabilizing populations is not a horrible thing. This planet is limited. I love people, but don't we have enough? Judeo/Christianity has a lot going for it. Capitalism has a lot going for it. Freedom, well - it too has a lot going for it. I suspect those things can spread to most babies in the long run.
It's the short run that's scary.

UPDATE: Read this. Riots are dying out elsewhere but gaining momentum in Pakistan. While demographics has contributed to this - repressive regimes are the real problem. If you don't feel free to run amuk, you really, really, really want to. Any excuse will do, including being asked to run amuk by your friendly Al qaeda rep.

UPDATE II: Steyn writes for the Western Standard who will be printing the Danish Cartoons. Subscribe, or write a letter if you are so inclined.

China's One Child Policy

And it's interesting consequences. 1) Chinese women taking fertility meds so they have a better chance of having more than one child during their one pregnancy. And 2) My friends Lori and Kevin will be returning tomorrow from China with daughter number 2!!!

Congratulations! She sounds like a gem. I can't wait to meet her. And Malia - what a great kid you are. You're going to be the best big sister ever!

Immigration

Latin American countries to protest a pending immigration bill. They want to - well...

"At a meeting in Colombia they said they were concerned about the bill, being debated in the US Senate, and wanted jointly to promote Hispanic migration."

Why??
Why don't they want to make their own countries places where people want to and can afford to live? Why on earth is promoting Hispanic migration to the US on their agendas at all?

First rule of investigations is to follow the money......
money sent from the US to Latin American countries is easy money if you think that simply about it, but what about the longterm consquences in regards to resources? They are sending bright minds to this country to do crap work and send home tons of money. Why not try keeping those minds at home to build up their own country and build up their own unique sources of income without relying on us? What paradigm says that the US is the only country that can be rich so we won't even bother trying?
"Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco said it was essential for Americans to understand how much Hispanic workers contributed to the economy.
I think we basically know, which is why immigration legislation is so hard to get passed.
We have laws in place. We ask only that they be followed. For those people wanting to come here illegally, maybe you could think about contributing to your own economy instead of worrying about ours.
We are a people who are willing to pay for "salad in a bag" and yet the standard, 'we need illegal immigrants' argument is that without them, lettuce would go up in price. Please.

ps - please note that I am talking about Latin American Leaders here "promoting" migration vs fixing their own houses. That's where my beef is lying. Not with Joe Schmoe, or rather Juan Gomez who is looking to better himself/family.

WMD

Uncorreclated has consolidated a lot of the articles going around lately concerning WMD. There is growing evidence that it really WAS in Iraq but got moved.

There have been rumors for years, but lately the increasingly stable situation in Iraq has caused the fear of many to subside and come forward to give substance to the claims that the WMD were evacuated to Syria.

Prescription Drugs

Can they do this? Legislate to make businesses carry certain products?

The Environmental Republican has the story about Massachusetts requiring Walmart to carry the morning after pill. Apparently each pharmacy is required to carry all "commonly prescribed medicines." You'd think there would at least be a codicil/adendum or whatever saying that there were exceptions to "commonly socially disputed medicines". Or some way to call yourself a "limited pharmacy" if you chose not to carry the whole list of things required.

Personally I'd never make it in big business. I have a very large 'cut of my nose to spite my face' gene. If I were Walmart, I would simply close the stores in MA. (yes, I know, job losses, profit losses, stock holders etc. Like I said, I'd never make it.)

Two Americas (at least)

One America, is inside the beltway and everything, everything revolves around it. Another is not. Steyn lives outside.

Quickies

Investor's Business Daily has more on Gore.

Logic Times has the numbers when it comes to terrorists.

The Officer's Club has an awesome letter from Tal Afar, Iraq.

The UN

Perfect. Another important piece of paper from the UN.

Treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay constitutes torture in some cases and violates international law, a leaked UN draft report says.

.....The report suggests some of the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay meets the definition of torture under the UN Convention Against Torture.

This includes the force-feeding of hunger strikers through nasal tubes and the simultaneous use of several interrogation techniques such as prolonged solitary confinement and exposure to extreme temperatures, noise and light.

Here is the definition of torture under the convention:

For the purposes of this Convention, torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

So lets re-cap
one, we have a UN slapdown based only on what ex prisoners have told 'UN investigators'. Yes, I'm using scarequotes around the term, the authors of this report never actually made it to Guantanamo. Reason? Because there weren't going to be allowed to interview inmates. Nevermind that there are other people there that might have had some information.
And
two the slapdown from these sources is equating solitary confinement, exposure to light and temperature extremes as severe pain and suffering. I know I'm a wuss and would talk if you looked at me funny, but that doesn't make a funny look "torture". I suspect that the number of people watching 24, or even the actual news these days will file this report next to all the other very important UN reports.

Iran

The very last thing any of us wants is to have to deal with Iran in the near future. This "leak" concerning strategic plans for Iran, will no doubt NOT generate any internal investigations the sieve of information. It may be in our best interests to let the Democrats keep screaming about what a Nazi monster George Bush is. The more its said, the more believable it becomes.

The Fall of Gore

Dissing the US of A while actually standing on foreign soil is just not ok in my book. Al Gore has gone the way of Jimmy Carter and the Dixie Chicks here.
Here he is in Saudi Arabia:

Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

We have yet to hear how he would have done things, but thank God we'll never know. You don't dis your family in any serious way to outsiders and you don't dis your country in any serious way to outsiders. Little rules from the Terri Goon book of etiquette.

UPDATE: Tigerhawk agrees. While his words were idiotic, the worst of it is WHERE he said them and NOT that he said them!

The Cartoons

It looks like western media is starting to take my advice.

In the meantime, either quit printing this stuff (which by the way, I believe the press is free to print even though I may squirm in my seat every time I see some distasteful antireligious display) or get every single western media to print it and bombard everyone with it day after day after day until it's old news. Everyone likes new news, even rioters.

The Weekly Standard and The Western Standard are printing the cartoons. In the meantime, let's give these guys credit.

Mongolia

I didn't know they were part of the coalition. Normally you hear about the Fijiians, but apparently Mongolia has a contingent. They are working on relations with the US. Interestingly, the Folk Life center in Elko Nevada just sent a group of ranchers to Mongolia last August for a cultural exchange sort of thing. I saw their home movies at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering and it looked/sounded as though they had a great time interacting with ranchers such as themselves half a world away. The music was amazing and of course everyone enjoyed the horses. Go Mongolia! or Buy Cashmere!

Steyn

More on the cartoons. funny, funny, funny.

From Europe's biggest-selling newspaper, the Sun: ''Furious Muslims have blasted adult shop [i.e., sex shop] Ann Summers for selling a blowup male doll called Mustafa Shag."


Not literally "blasted" in the Danish Embassy sense, or at least not yet. Quite how Britain's Muslim Association found out about Mustafa Shag in order to be offended by him is not clear. It may be that there was some confusion: given that "blowup males" are one of Islam's leading exports, perhaps some believers went along expecting to find Ahmed and Walid modeling the new line of Semtex belts. Instead, they were confronted by just another filthy infidel sex gag. The Muslim Association's complaint, needless to say, is that the sex toy "insults the Prophet Muhammad -- who also has the title al-Mustapha.''

Russia and Hamas

Speaking of appeasers. They have invited Hamas to dinner. Do you suppose they are working the Chechen angle here?

An inside look

This Times on Line story is about the London Mosque run by Abu Hamza who has been convicting of inciting his followers to kill nonMoslims. It's really a fascinating story and one to remind us all that not speaking up in order to not offend is a real problem.

The authorities were wary of offending Muslim sensibilities, even in the case of Hamza. When police did finally raid the Finsbury Park mosque they treated the hotbed of terrorism with utmost respect.

“Every precaution was taken to avoid hurting Muslim sensibilities,” Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, wrote in his autobiography. “All police officers who were to enter the mosque wore overshoes and headgear, and the raiding party included Muslim officers to handle copies of the Koran.”

Hamza had shown no such courtesy in his public rants. Instead he had described Britain as a “toilet” and urged his followers to turn it into an Islamic state. He had urged them to “bleed the enemies of Allah” and to “stab them here and there”.

Interestingly, one of the things that I needed to defend a lot after 911 and my support for the war was the constant argument you hear on the streets about how no one likes us in the world because of whatever, arrogance, power, stupidity, whatever. At some point you say, screw it, we are who we are and we need to do what needs to done in our own best interests whether it's going to ruin your opinion of us or not. Frankly in many places the world's opinion of us was ruined long before President Bush took office. He couldn't have fixed it if he tried.

Marriage

I've always liked Uncorrelated but on this subject, he's just wrong.
He calls this quote, the best on marriage:

Psychologist David Schnarch, author of "Passionate Couples: Love, Sex and Intimacy in Emotionally Committed Relationships" said "People still have preconceived notions and distortions about how love and marriage operate," and anything contrary to those preconceived notions "is hard to get across." A popular notion, for instance, is that people should marry their soul mate -- someone who is "so compatible, so similar that there's no cause for friction," he says. But too much similarity is a recipe for boredom. "Marriage is a people-growing machine," says Mr. Schnarch, who directs the Marriage and Family Health Center in Evergreen, Colo., with his wife, Ruth Morehouse. A real soul-mate marriage is one in which two people forge a relationship "as broad as their differences, rather than one as narrow as their similarities," he says.

and somehow concludes that gay marriage isn't what marriage is about.
Marriage may not be about romantic love, but certainly it usually starts out that way. Marriage itself is the commitment of two people to each other. Gay people also want that outside sign of commitment to another along with all the perks it entails within the laws of the state. ie insurance and hospital visits and respectability to the "couple".

If gay couples were allowed to publicly state that "this is a serious commitment" vs "we're shacking up", you could easily see the differences in couples, just like in straight land.

ps I know all of this because as a straight commitmentphobe I still believe marriage is a fantastic institution that deserves full honor and respect. If gay people are not allowed into the club then they don't get to play with these same rules of "real couple" vs "just a couple" and somehow that just doesn't seem right. We are who we are, and I sincerely doubt that you could will yourself to be sexually attracted to the opposite sex just for the heck of it.

UPDATE: In response to Mick.
I completely agree with what you on the fact that marriage is different (and more) than romantic love. I think you may be missing some friendships with homosexual people who have made their relationships into lasting "marriages" that, in my opinion deserve the respect of a real marriage. These are relationships that have survived for 20 years or more. Not the flitting bar scene. There is a huge difference. I feel that if gays were allowed to marry that help distinguish between the two just like in the heterosexual community. I lived with someone for 8 years but it doesn't count, nor should it. We never married and never intended to marry. Marriage is bigger than living together and gay people can appreciate that as well as straight people.
I appreciate the sane discourse on this though and I look forward to your series. Frankly, at the beginning of the debate I was against gay marriage on Christian ground. But have changed my mind over the last couple of years.

Iran

Matt Drudge has this frightening interview with President Ahmadinejad. Let's review a few key quotes.

1) First, the threat:

"Do the removal of Israel before it is too late and save yourself from the fury of regional nations," the ultra-conservative president said.

Does he not realize that we ARE taking care of this problem by not allowing him to have nuclear weapons?
He wants us to remove Israel, we say no, it has a right to exist.
He says do it before it's removed for you and we say, how are you going to do that?
He says, I'm getting out of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and we say, ok, fine, but
KABOOM. Does he not see this at all? Has he no thought at all for his people? How is this helping them?? It's a pride thing I'm sure, but sheesh. We weren't 'dissing' Iran until they started operating outside their previously agreed upon treaties. You can only put this guy into the loony crowd with Chavez and go on. Sadly he's got the potential for some serious firepower.

2) Let's go to cartoons

"How comes that insulting the prophet of Muslims worldwide is justified within the framework of press freedom, but investigating about the fairy tale Holocaust is not?" Ahmadinejad said.

Would someone please explain to him that investigating the Holocaust is completely justified within the framework of press freedom and there are plenty of books/articles about it. Including his own quotes! Where has anyone said it's not justified? (We just don't buy it)
This cartoon thing is amazing and not about cartoons. It's about ME leaders (and I suspect, backroom Al qaeda) figuring out how to keep the "we hate the west" meme going strong. The Religious Policeman has it down pat.
The ME is often run badly. But do the people blame those in charge, no, it's the fault of the Jew, or the West. With elections going on and freedom inching around, and the Haj mess they needed an outlet, and this is what was wrought.
It's not difficult to stir up a mob as every high school class in America knows based on the Nazi experiment we often run. If you have less to lose in a riot, it's even less difficult for you to resist a good mobbing. Keep spreading the American dream and you'll end up with fewer riots like this. In the meantime, either quit printing this stuff (which by the way, I believe the press is free to print even though I may squirm in my seat every time I see some distasteful antireligious display) or get every single western media to print it and bombard everyone with it day after day after day until it's old news. Everyone likes new news, even rioters.

3) Palestinian Elections

The president said that the results of the parliamentary elections in Palestine and the victory of the Hamas group "clearly showed what the people really want." .....
"You (the West) want democracy but do not respect the outcome," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the election results in Iraq and Palestine. .....
"It seems that you (the West) only want that form of democracy whose results just repeat your standpoints and only follow your policies," he said.

Would someone ask this guy a simple question? se!! What does he mean?
We respect the outcome of the Palestinian election, completely. We see it for what it is. Palestinians want Hamas in charge. That's fine. We just don't really feel the need to pay for this! That's it. Follow the money.

4) And finally

"The era of military force is over, today is the era of nations, logic and worshippers of God," the president said.

Um, no.

This Blog

Check it out from the comments yesterday:
Terri,You've got to write more commentary instead of just linking.

Well far be it from me to deny a nonfamily, nonpersonalfriend fan the enjoyment of my commentary. Or in the famous words of someone "You like me....you really like me!"

Anyhow, it will be a year on April 1 (my birthday, hint, hint) since I've started this blog. The sole purpose of which was to consolidate links for my big sister. She was fascinated with the sphere but had no time for searching and clicking. So I put it all in one place for her. Now she has her own list of favorites so to quote another famous quote, "Mission Accomplished".

I'll give it a shot. The reasons I don't comment much is a) I don't fact check, so this way I don't have to stand behind anything and b) I know my opinions, I like spending my time surfing others.

However, creating this blog has helped me to be able to articulate my opinions in conversation a lot more frequently, and I've already considered writing more as my anniversary date nears so Scott, thanks for the little push. I'll give it a shot, I know I like reading your blog when it's you writing and not just linking.

The internet again......

Yahoo helps silence dissidence in China.

THE American internet company Yahoo! provided evidence to Chinese police that enabled them to imprison one of its users, according to allegations that came to light yesterday.
The disclosure marked the second time in months that the company had been accused of helping China to put someone in jail. Li Zhi, a civil servant, was imprisoned on charges of trying to subvert state power after he criticised corruption and tried to join the dissident China Democracy Party. ...

To my dear readers......remember AskJeeves? He's still out there.

The internet

I have to say that I like reading stories about today's "youths". The NYTimes writes about the internet explosion in Iraq, particularly in the cafes. I know, I know, there's no "news" here, but I'm easing back in!

Nearby, partially hidden by wood-paneled booths, were a dozen other young men staring intently at their screens, most chatting simultaneously on three or four different e-mail accounts. All of them were paying 1,500 dinars an hour — about a dollar — to escape the gray confines of Baghdad's blasted walls for a while. Two heavyset men sat on a black faux-leather couch by the door, keeping a watchful eye on the street.

Three years ago, the Internet was virtually unknown in Iraq. Today, Baghdad has dozens of Internet cafes like ShreifiNet, which consists of three sparely decorated rooms with a total of 34 computers and a satellite dish on the roof. Most of the cafes also transmit wireless services to home Internet users in the surrounding area for a monthly fee; in parts of central Baghdad there are about 20 overlapping wireless networks.

The Internet

I have to say that I like reading stories about today's "youths". The NYTimes writes about the internet explosion in Iraq, particularly in the cafes. I know, I know, there's no "news" here, but I'm easing back in!

Nearby, partially hidden by wood-paneled booths, were a dozen other young men staring intently at their screens, most chatting simultaneously on three or four different e-mail accounts. All of them were paying 1,500 dinars an hour — about a dollar — to escape the gray confines of Baghdad's blasted walls for a while. Two heavyset men sat on a black faux-leather couch by the door, keeping a watchful eye on the street.

Three years ago, the Internet was virtually unknown in Iraq. Today, Baghdad has dozens of Internet cafes like ShreifiNet, which consists of three sparely decorated rooms with a total of 34 computers and a satellite dish on the roof. Most of the cafes also transmit wireless services to home Internet users in the surrounding area for a monthly fee; in parts of central Baghdad there are about 20 overlapping wireless networks.

Tuesday - Thursday

Still suffering from vacation let down, I leave you once again.
I'm off to California to meet and work and swim(?)
Work calls me there and so I go-ignoring all that’s new
Of boycotts, riots, spies and votes that from the net still spew.
Though addicted to the internet, the blogs and all that’s fresh
I must admit that being gone, I have not missed the press
I pretend that all is fine and well and forward ho we go
To peace and love and brotherhood ha, ha, I had you snowed!

Back on Friday - perhaps with the poetry far behind me!!

Consider this an open string (?) for you to share the news with me while I'm gone. Add links to some comments etc.

The Cartoons

Still in a hurry but Tigerhawk has a great post that also links to Jeff Goldstein. Read them both.

Along with Vodkapundit and Tim Blair, and Officer's Club who's take is:

This episode outlines what happens when you “ain’t gonna study war no more.” Who is “humiliated” here? -The Arab street, or the Dutch, who just got bitch-slapped on national TV? Their embassies were burned- an act of war- over cartoons! That should be intolerable on the world stage. A line should be drawn here, and Syria should pay. If the Dutch government hadn’t strayed far off the trail of NATO protectionism, maybe it could do what Jimmy Carter failed to do in 1979- militarily respond to an act of war.

The Arab street, the myth of which was stabbed to death after OIF I, and then buried decisively after we took Fallujah, needs to take a few notes here. First off is that if you want to be respected on the world stage, you have to act like grown-ups. If the international media would stop coddling these people, maybe progress could be made. Instead, the Noble Savage meme is rolled out, and it becomes ok to riot, burn stuff, kidnap foreigners who look European, and call for further incitement of violence. This seems like a never-ending cycle until another country is invaded, or the region needs the US’s help again.

UPDATE: from Iraq the Model

Steyn

On sensititivy.

Back in the saddle again......

The news is important, I know it
And being without it is rare
but I just spent some 4 days
with no political ways
And lived to tell, what a treat, if I dare.

Now back to the real world.....

is there "new" spy story out?

Off on a mini vacation.

See you at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
in beautiful downtown Elko, Nevada! Back on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Buy Danish

Michelle Malkin continues to carry the story. I say, let's buy from the French again too after this!

A French newspaper has reproduced a set of Danish caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have caused outrage in the Muslim world.

Be sure to read the link to the Religious policeman at the bottom of yesterday's post too.

UPDATE: oops, - maybe we won't need to buy French again. I'll go out on a limb here....buy American, Danish, Australian, English, Japanese, .........oh hell - buy what you need!

Egypt and Hamas

Wow! Captain Ed has the scoop on Egypt basically telling the Palestinian Authority to keep the current govt in place until Hamas renounces violence!
I'm going to copy/paste his conclusion because his website is acting weird today - not because I'm a word thief.

This will serve as a blow to Hamas' hopes of replacing Western aid with money from Arab nations. It won't have any impact on Iran, but Egypt's demand for Palestinians to stick to their agreements will set the tone for the rest of the Arab League. No one pretends that the Palestinians have much popularity with Arab nations any more, although they still like to exploit the "Palestinian question" as a rationale for their own oppressive regimes.

Without significant assistance from Arab nations, Hamas has to be completely reliant on Iran for its funding -- and that might well disappear once economic sanctions are in place. The Quartet can put a stranglehold on that funding by freezing Iranian assets and international transfers, making the Iranians a highly unstable partner. They will go bankrupt very quickly if that happens, and it looks like it could happen at any time.

Where does that leave Hamas? They will control the government, which Fatah shrewdly refuses to join, at the very moment it stops functioning. They will fail to meet payrolls, meaning the services for which they supposedly got elected will disappear. The army they want to raise won't march on promises for long. They will find themselves in charge while their world collapses around them, and their electorate will learn a lesson about electing unrepentant terrorists as a government. Hopefully, this lesson will not be undercut by Western nations stumbling over themselves yet again to save the Palestinians from their own stupid choices.