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Tuesday, May 07, 2002
M***** F*****s
A new suicide bomber struck in a pool hall in a small city outside of Tel Aviv. At least 15 dead, 55 injured. I'm so pissed off at the moment. It is unconfirmed, but Hamas is apparently claiming this one. And this from the Palestinian Authority:
In a strong statement with a rare choice of words, Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority called suicide bombings "terrorist crimes." It said it would "take firm and strict measures against those who are involved in this operation and will not be light-handed in punishing those who have caused great harm to our cause."
1. Was the statement made in Arabic, or was it the typical English/media only statement.
2. Any chance they will say what the "firm and strict measures" will be.
Clueless EU Patten
An op-ed piece by the European commissioner for external relations, Chris Patten (link via Charles Johnson).
It's about what I expect from clueless Euros these days. Why does the US feel European anti-semitism is on the rise? He focuses on blaming LePen's success (which most in the US took to be a French reaction to the unease of the growing, unassimilated, Muslim immigration, and crime increases), the criticism of Israel, and the attacks on Synagogues. Taking the last, first he tries to find US equivalence:
When a couple of years back there was an outbreak of arson attacks against African American churches in the United States, should we have leaped to the conclusion that the Ku Klux Klan was heading for the White House?
Burning synagogues, burning African-American churches, same thing. Missing the entire point. It wasn't so much the act, as the response: "It was wrong, but..." That makes Americans sneer at the rationalizations. When churches were torched in the US, there was no attempt to rationalize or understand the point of view of the bastards. There was flat out condemnation, and a commitment to stop further acts. When the synagogues and Jewish cemeteries were vandalized and fire-bombed, the response was "Horrible, but you must understand the frustration felt by North African Muslim immigrants toward Israeli action against Palestinians. To which a sane response might be to ask, "What the f**k does that have to do with attacking Jewish symbols in France by North African immigrants?" Nothing, unless you are saying Israeli actions will result in understandable violence towards unconnected Jews living and from another country.
He pretty much steers clear of actual attacks on Jews in Europe, that received a similar response to burning synagogues. A "it's wrong, but..."
The criticism of Israel. When the EU is threatening boycotts, talking about demanding compensation from Israel for property damage caused by their incursion into the West Bank, when there absolute condemnation of Israel for a massacre in Jenin before the proof came out, when the Continent ignores the growing evidence of Palestinian Authority support and encouragement of suicide bombers, will blame Israel for all sorts of human rights violations and war crimes then falls silent on Palestinians storm a church and hold hostages in there to save their own ass, pretends not to see the bomb making facilities by terrorists amongst civilians in UN administered refugee camps, says nothing when a Palestinian mob lynches "collaborators" who are dragged from their cells, when the EU does not add the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hezballah to the list of terror groups whose assets will be frozen, when the International Red Cross in Geneva will not give the Magen David Adom full membership on the pretext of because it uses the Star of David as its symbol (in a Jewish state?). Well, let's just say it isn't just criticism of Sharon's policies (and I've left other things out to keep my blood pressure down).
This, near the end is the kicker:
There will be no settlement in the Middle East without the creation of a viable Palestinian state and an Israel that can live secure within recognized borders. Israel must have the assurance that it will not be overwhelmed by returning refugees. The terrible suicide bombings must end; they are wicked acts, and it is a disgrace that they have not been more strongly condemned by Arab leaders. But a Palestinian state will require a return to the 1967 borders, or something very close to them, and it cannot be holed by settlements like a Swiss cheese. Without such an outcome the madness will continue, children will be murdered, blood will flow. And the blame will not be all on one side.
Chris, Chris, Chris. Do we really need to remind you of the deal offered Arafat almost 20 months ago, offering this? As I recall, Arafat turned it down and started this violence again. I'd say the blame is very one-sided.
Idiot
Berkeley Punchline
In this article about whether GWBush should bother with California in the next presidential campaign (getting way too far ahead of things for my taste), is an interesting complaint from Cal-Berkeley. Seems the school that has become the punchline for any right of center criticism of higher education is upset by the fact that it can't get good commencement speakers.
...an article in UC-Berkeley's Daily Cal lamenting how big-name commencement speakers were avoiding the university because of its perceived "anti-American" reputation. Among those reportedly declining an invite: Vice President Cheney (although the vice president's office says Berkeley is still one of 13 schools under consideration). [link added]
The article points out that the last two commencement speakers Madeline Albright and Janet Reno were both heavily protested. It seems a fair point. One can only imagine the protests if it was someone from the Bush Administration. In that respect, the school reaps what it sowed. The students have every right to protest and complain if they disagree with the politics or the person speaking, but then don't expect as many people to bother. This year, the speaker will be Jonny Moseley, a two-time olympic skier with a gold in the moguls from 1998. Naturally, even this got criticized:
Some UC Berkeley students are disappointed by the committee's decision.
Graffiti chalked across the front of Dwinelle Hall and Alumni House, where tickets to the convocation were handed out, read "Moseley Who?" and "What? Moseley at Commencement?" And signs posted along Sproul Plaza called for students to "voice (their) opinion" on the decision to campus leaders.
Don't tell me those were fake too
In more entertainment news, the June Issue of Pnethouse was blocked by a judge from further distribution with regards to the alleged topless photographs of Anna Kournikova. While not a shock that they were with Anna's head on a different body, the body is kind of a surprise.
The daughter-in-law of fashion designer Luciano Benetton sued Penthouse magazine Monday, saying topless pictures supposedly of tennis player Anna Kournikova actually were photographs of her.
...
Soltesz-Benetton was shocked to learn that a photographer had taken a dozen topless photographs without her knowledge when she was in Florida seven years ago, according to her attorney.
"She's not happy being topless in Penthouse," said lawyer Judd Burstein.
I love that dozens of topless pictures were taken without her knowledge.Hey, this issue is going to be a collector's item. I should try and get a copy. Yeah, the wife will believe that.
UPDATE: The wife said no.
Network TV Sucks
But you knew that already. It seems, however, that the networks themselves are just catching on. It's true, though, this season has been one of the worst. They can blame it on 9/11 delaying the season, a shift in viewer tastes, whatever. The plain fact is most of the new shows this year, absolutely sucked. Of course they have two definitions of success.
The first is for shows that are hits out of the gate. That really doesn't happen anymore. With all the choices on tv, the Internet, and other things to do, there is not going to be a runaway hits anymore. The "hit" shows that are not brief runs like "Survivor" or "The Bachelor" are not going to get that many initial viewers. I don't think that many people are willing to say, "Well NBC is premering a new show tonight, I must sit down and watch it to find out if it is as good/bad as the ads make it appear." No, I'm not going to do that. I might watch a new show if the premise interests me or something (or someone) catches my eye (Jolene Blalock [T'Pol] on Enterprise).
The other type of success are those that slowly build their audience. Word of mouth and some critical respect are the way they succeed. This, essentially is the cable model - Six Feet Under, Sopranos, the Shield, and Farscape. The "successes" this year include "The Guardian" (yawn), "Scrubs" (never seen it, but the wife will be watching to see Brendan Fraser tonight), "Alias" (sorry, I just don't like it), and "The Bernie Mac Show" (I like it, but I don't plan around it).
As usual, the networks don't want to admit a lot of the new shows sucked ("Bob Patterson," "Emeril," "Inside Schwarz," and "Citizen Baines"), or were never intended to succeed ("The Tick" was awesome, but it had been shot over a year ago, and Fox just decided to show them to try and get something for it- hopefully they will release all 10 episodes on DVD someday soon).
All of this makes old network executive nostalgic for the old days, like Grant Tinker:
"It was such a breeze to do what we did with three networks getting 90 percent of the audience every night. It was ... no-lose," he said.
So what if it sucked for the rest of us. Give me more choices.
Then what would you call him?
Maybe I'm looking at the little things in the assassination of Fortuyn, but in this article, I noticed this comment about the alleged killer in custody.
The suspected killer, a 32-year-old "white Dutchman'' from Harderwijk, in the Netherlands' staunchly religious "Bible belt,'' had environmentalist material and ammunition at his home, public prosecutors said. But he has made no statement and the motive for the killing remained unclear, they added.
Some newspapers said he was known to intelligence services as an "extreme leftist,'' but [chief public prosecutor Theo] Hofstee said: "We do not use that term.''
I would love to know what term they do use.
Bigger budget doesn't bring better scores
Yet another study showing that. This one covering Pennsylvania. The initial loophole for those who don't want to hear such thing, is that the data is now stale.
The report released today covers 1997, 1998 and 1999. Some school officials have criticized the data as outdated, but S&P officials maintain they are using the most complete and recent data available from the state.
In October, S&P posted the first collection of data on its Web site; by the end of this month, the data should be complete through 2000.
The full report is expected to be posted on the S&P Web site today
I'm sure there will be other reasons for an attack on it by groups not wanting to hear this. The report can be found here.
We get the Representatives we elect
Well, it's official. Convicted Rep. Jim Traficant filed for re-election. It won't be as easy since the lines have been redrawn for the new 17th Dist. He'll be battling another incumbent Democrat, Tom Sawyer. The redrawn district is about 58% of Traficant's former constituency, 42% for Sawyer.
This isn't a Condit thing where the people were disgusted with Condit's behavior, Traficant is like a folk hero in the Youngstown area. Before going to Congress, Traficant was the Sheriff of Mahoning County, in the late-70s. Youngstown was being decimated by the recession and all the steel mill closings. Knowing he was planning a run for Congress, he pulled a great populist trick. He got thrown in jail around Christmas time for contempt, for not fulfilling his duties. He refused to serve eviction notices on families, complete with a press conference to announce it. The families still got the eviction notices, but Traficant got the people.
I spent 2 years in Youngstown. Youngstown is one of the most corrupt places, but it so brazenly appparent that no one is fazed by it. People expect corruption, and it's reflected in their attitude about Traficant: He's a crook, but so is everyone else in Congress, so what's the difference?
UPDATE: Traficant (running as an Independent) won't be facing Tom Sawyer (damn, it was fun to say that). Sawyer lost his primary to Timothy Ryan, age 28. I have no information on Ryan yet. I fear, however, he could be toast against Traficant.
Monday, May 06, 2002
And I thought it was only one
The US withdrawing its support for the ICC is generating some hysterical(ly funny) responses from our ever alarmed friends in Europe:
The US will today threaten to undermine the entire system of international treaties when it withdraws from plans for a court that will act as the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.
The decision is likely to provoke anger from the international community, and provide further evidence for what many see as the Bush administration's increasing unilateralism.
To back out of the plans, the administration will assert it is no longer bound by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a 1969 pact detailing the obligations of nations to obey other international treaties.
Under the convention, a country that has signed a treaty cannot act to defeat the purpose of that treaty, even if does not intend to ratify it.
Wow, we're undermining world stability. Yay! And here I thought we were withdrawing from a bad idea, before they could claim any authority over US citizens.
Here's all you need to know about this article. At the bottom is a list of "useful links" including the US State Dept., the White House, the Washington Post, the Nation (under useful?), and Bush Watch.
The last, features the useful stuff like Bush Lies and a list of "Bush Scandals" which have great originality by attaching "-gate" to the end of them all. I hesitate to say typical liberal left attack site, because there's also a fair amount of it devoted to the targeting of Michael Moore and Ralph Nader. This makes me think it is operated by someone who is a big Democrat supporter. This is the copyright info at the bottom.
Bush Watch is a daily political internet magazine based in Austin, Texas, a non-advocacy site paid for and edited by Politex, a non-affiliated U.S. citizen. "Bush Watch" and "Politex," © 1998-2002 by Jerry Politex. Contents © 1998-2002 by Politex or original source of publication or writer.
I'll have to look into this sometime.
UPDATE: Apparently "Politex" is a psuedonym and Jerry has been at this since before Bush ran for the presidency. Of course, he has no credibility with wild conspiracy theory allegations like this:
If you believe the media, John P. O'Neill was simply another innocent victim killed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. But you don't need much imagination to suspect something deeper was at work.
Clearly, O'Neill was a man Osama bin Laden wanted dead. O'Neill had been a Deputy Director of the FBI, and Osama bin Laden's main pursuer in the US government. O'Neill had investigated the bombings of the World Trade Center in 1993, a US base in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam in 1998, and the USS Cole last year.
But once the first plane hit the North Tower, Osama bin Laden wouldn't be the only man to profit from O'Neill's death. At the moment of impact, O'Neill became the man who knew too much.
Just two weeks, TWO WEEKS, prior to the attack, O'Neill had left his job with the FBI. O'Neill had quit because he believed that the Bush administration had stymied the intelligence agency's investigations on terrorism. O'Neill charged that it had done so even as it bargained with the Taliban on handing over of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid. In the ultimate irony, O'Neill had gone public with these charges at the same time that he was leaving the FBI to become the head of security at the World Trade Center.
...
How convenient for the Bush administration that Mr. O'Neill would not only die in the attack, but also that he would make such a call. Not only was the Bush administration's most dangerous critic forever silenced, but he also provided the administration the perfect story to explain his death.
Not that there is a conspiracy, but it sure seems that way. Well with BS like that, no wonder this guy's site is linked by the Guardian.
They're all forgeries
I hope almost all bloggers will provide this link to the various documents siezed by the IDF from Arafat's compound. Link, coutesy of Charles Johnson, via Ben Sheriff.
Shockingly enough, the Palestinians have declared them to be lies and forgeries.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is responsible for me being married. No really. In the December 1995, a wonderful pop-culture-compilation-cover CD was released called Saturday Morning Cartoon’s Greatest Hits. It featured Matthew Sweet covering the Scooby-Doo theme, Sponge on Speed Racer, and the Ramones doing the Spider-Man theme from the 1967 cartoon. I caught the video on MTV (or was it VH1) spliced with an animated version of the Ramones and the Spider-Man cartoon. I knew I had to get this album.
Spider-Man, Spider-Man,
Does whatever a spider can.
Spins a web any size,
Catches thieves just like flies,
Look out!
Here comes the Spider-Man.
I met my eventual wife in law school. It was a Thursday, I was talking with a friend, who I was thinking of asking to a law school dance/party (law school was just like high school at times) that was next Saturday. She was about to go out to the mall with a friend. Well her friend showed up, I was introduced, and we talked a little longer. The friend mentioned she was going to stop at the CD store to look for an album, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Just that it had the Ramones doing Spider-Man.
My jaw dropped. “You mean the Saturday Morning Cartoon CD? You know it?”
“Is that what it’s called?”
I asked her to pick up a copy for me, she agreed and I gave her the cash.
Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He’s got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead.
Hey, there!
There goes the Spider-Man.
That night, at a the “Bar Review” bar of the week, I was talking with a friend and we got on the subject of the dance. He already had a date.
“Yeah, I figure I’ll ask [name redacted] as a friend, and just not worry about the thing.”
“Interesting.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, [name redacted] was going to do the same thing.”
“You mean, [name redacted], my roommate?”
“Yeah”
“S**t.”
In the chill of night,
At the scene of a crime,
Like a streak of light,
He arrives just in time.
Now I was in a bind. Since my roommate was also going to ask her, and I now knew beforehand, I didn’t feel like I could ask her. I was trying to figure out who the hell I could ask to this stupid thing, that I didn’t want to go to, but had no good excuse not to go to. Well, the girl I was no longer going to ask, gave me the CD in a class the next morning. Over the weekend, listening to the CD I thought, maybe I could ask her friend. It would be a bit strange, but what the hell, I was desperate. The problem was, how? I never saw her out on “Bar Review.” I never really noticed her period. As luck would have it, I ran into her on Monday. Thanked her for the CD, and then just sprung asking her to go with me to the dance on Saturday. She was surprised and taken aback, but actually said yes. She later claimed she was just too surprised to think about it.
Spider-Man, Spider-Man,
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Wealth and fame,
He’s ignored,
Action is his reward.
Look out, here comes the Spider-Man.
That was how my wife and I met and started dating.
This brings me to the Spider-Man movie.
In the chill of night,
At the scene of a crime,
Like a streak of light,
He arrives just in time.
Visually stunning. An absolute joy to watch. Willem Dafoe was excellent as the Green Goblin. In fact, the whole cast captured the look and feel of the characters. I can’t imagine it better. It’s just, there was no chemistry with Kirsten Dunst and Toby Maguire. You can show Maguire standing there with that wide-eyed, dumb, innocent, earnest look on his face 75 more times and it wouldn’t have changed it (my biggest annoyance with this flick and Fellowship of the Rings — the Elijah Wood effect. Too many damn close-ups of the lead character with that same wide-eyed look).
Spider-Man, Spider-Man,
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Wealth and fame,
He’s ignored,
Action is his reward.
Look out, here comes the Spider-Man.
I enjoyed the movie. I’m sure I’ll buy the DVD. I never see a movie a second time in the theater, so that isn’t a barometer. I will look forward to the sequel, and wonder whether the next villain will be The Scorpion, Mysterio, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, the Lizard or Electro. I just can’t shake the damn ambivalence I have overall. As far as my list of favorite super-hero movies, it’s at #3a on the charts. Behind Batman Returns and Batman, and just ahead of X-Men.
To him, life is a great big bang up.
Whenever there’s a hang up,
You’ll find the Spider-Man.
Human Rights Watch for/against US Unilateralism
Guess it depends on the time of day. This is from HRW's press release on the US getting back on the UN Human Right's Commission:
Weschler said the reinstatement of the United States would not have an effect on the current crisis unless Washington decides to fight actively to restore the commission's core functions of investigating and publicizing human rights abuse. Had the United States been a member of the commission during its just-concluded annual session in Geneva, Weschler said, no single vote would have had a different outcome.
"The United States has to help get the commission back into the business of naming and shaming," said Weschler. "Otherwise, whether the United States is a member or not, the commission is going to sink into irrelevance."
My feelings on the UNHRC are that it is irrelevant and should be forgotten. Still, HRW is calling for the US to essentially sieze control of th UNHRC and not act as an equal partner with the other members. Interesting.
Now, here is the press release on the US saying F**k off to the International Criminal Court:
"U.S. disengagement from the court will squander U.S. influence on some critical issues that this fledgling court is facing," said Roth. "We see here a triumph of ideology over any rational assessment of how to combat the worst human rights crimes."
...
In June 2001, the E.U. issued a Common Position expressing full support for the early establishment of the International Criminal Court, and encouraging the Bush administration to cooperate with the court. Other than the United States, 138 governments have signed the treaty and 66 have ratified it.
"The timing of this decision couldn't be worse for Washington," said Roth. "It puts the Bush Administration in the awkward position of seeking law-enforcement cooperation in tracking down terrorist suspects while opposing an historic new law-enforcement institution for comparably serious crimes."
Here, however, the US should act on an equal level with the other ratifiers which include:
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jordan, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Venezuela
Yeah, I feel better. The ICC is an idea that sounds so much better in an abstract Star Trek type world then in reality. If I was 12 years-old again, and still believed in the UN helping the world, I might think this is a good idea.
I suppose if I'm going to blame anyone, I'll blame Clinton. Not necessarily for signing it, but for what must have been a cold cynical gesture that was intended to screw the administration that would follow. By that I mean this tidbit from Reuters:
The administration of former President Bill Clinton signed the treaty setting up the court in 2000 so the United States could take part in talks on arrangements for the new body.
But both Clinton and the Bush administration said they did not intend to ask the Senate the ratify the treaty, on the grounds it could be used for politically motivated prosecutions of U.S. officials or military personnel.
Well, last I checked, the US is not bound by any treaty unless submitted to and ratified by the US Senate. The fact that it was never going to be submitted to the Senate, even by the Clinton administration, suggests this was just a piece of tofu tossed to the peace and love left.
The chief of the treaty section at the United Nations, Palitha Kohona, said the section could find no precedent for a country withdrawing from treaty obligations in this way.
What way would they prefer? As I recall, and I have some errands to run so I can't check for the link, from my American History, President Woodrow Wilson signed a treaty, and was extremely involved in setting up the League of Nations. We still didn't join, because the Senate did not ratify the treaty.
For Leaders Who Care
That is the tag line for the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Of course they too have their own code of ethics.
Preamble
...
Healthcare executives have an obligation to act in ways that will merit the trust, confidence and respect of healthcare professionals and the general public. Therefore, healthcare executives should lead lives that embody an exemplary system of values and ethics.
I. The Healthcare Executive’s Responsibilities to the Profession of Healthcare Management
The healthcare executive shall:
...
E. Avoid the exploitation of professional relationships for personal gain;
F. Use this Code to further the interests of the profession and not for selfish reasons; ...
I. Refrain from participating in any activity that demeans the credibility and dignity of the healthcare management profession.
Glad that's cleared up. Given the importance when it comes to purchasing power of these executives for HMOs and hospitals, I would have expected a few more corporate partners.
Massacre? No, it was all about war crimes
With nothing left to claim as far as a massacre at Jenin, the apologists are now claiming the UN's Jenin investigation was going to be for generalized 'war crimes.' This fine commentary by Hussein Ibish, the communications director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, explains:
In a deal that shocks the conscience, the United States reportedly agreed to shield Israel from action by the U.N. Security Council to enforce its resolution to send a fact-finding team to discover the truth about what happened in the devastated Jenin camp. This was in exchange for lifting the siege on Arafat's compound in Ramallah. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have just issued reports accusing Israeli forces of committing serious war crimes in Jenin. These partial and preliminary findings may be the last serious attempts to discover the facts.
This is quite funny to break down. Okay, I also feel like punching the wall, but go with the laughter. The US once again protects Israel from the UN, after Israel refused to allow itself to be played by the UN. Nevermind that the Jenin investigations was not to investigate undefined war crimes, but specifically, the Palestinian claims of a massacre of hundreds. Of course since that wasn't the truth, it's time to change reality. As for the "serious war crimes" alleged by AI and HRW, well the minute they start issuing reports on Palestinian prisoner treatment and the Palestinian terrorist activity in Jenin, as overseen by the UN, we'll talk.
Guess Who Is Stalling the Negotiations
I have been reading reports of resolution on the Church of the Nativity hostage situation since Saturday. Now, I learn what, I mean who has been holding it up.
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- After almost five weeks, a standoff at the Church of the Nativity appeared to be headed for a settlement Monday.
Sources familiar with the talks, however, said the sticking point remained Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's adamant opposition to exiling more than six "senior terrorists" to a European country.
Israel has asked that 13 be exiled to Europe, most likely to Italy.
AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
Why? Why? Why? Why does Israel and the West always let him do this. You know he's not going to mean it. You know Arafat, everytime, will say there is a deal, but...
But it isn't a but, it's a total change of the terms.
Meanwhile, the last paragraph of the article has an interesting discovery by the IDF in a Gaza area sweep.
One of the houses where weapons were found belonged to Salah Ta'amri, the IDF said. The soldiers did not know that the house belonged to Ta'amri, a Palestinian parliament member and one of the negotiators in the Bethlehem standoff. Israel Radio reported that weapons, mortars, and Israeli military uniforms were found in the house. [emphasis added]
Ramallah could be reduced to rubble, and some things just won't change.
More Ethics at Work
Codes of Ethics are amusing things. Every organization has one, because it just seems like they should. An example is the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Who or what is the AAAA, why they are the national trade organization representing the advertising agency business. The organization is management oriented and has its own PAC. Membership consists of 545 advertising agencies, and they care. One of the issues they care about is direct to consumer (DTC) advertising for prescription drugs and possible restrictions on them. Or, as the article terms it, the "Next Threat." The article even has talking points in support of DTC advertising.
Hey, they have every right to lobby for their position, and DTC is a big money-maker for them. I just find it amusing to compare the lobbying aspect to their high minded code of ethics. Check back periodically. I've got a ton of links to various organizations that have these great codes of conduct.
Israeli Anniversary in NYC
Well, the NYTimes finally got around to some online reporting of the march. Really a very confused piece. The article was trying to point out the conflict of views between the marchers (around 100,000) and supporters watching (700,000-800,000) versus the protesters (600 or so). Do you see the problem? Even though the article gave equal time to supporters of Israel and protesters, the numbers undermined it. It's not a split viewpoint no matter how many times you point out a handful of demonstrators had signs saying "Jews Against the Israeli Occupation and the Palestinian Bombing."
The title of the article was strange. In Manhattan, a Raucous but Peaceful Salute to the Founding of Israel. Seems they were disappointed a riot didn't break out, or that the small group of protesters weren't attacked. Now that would have been a story.
I know a lot of people seem to think that the NYTimes is Anti-Israel or Pro-Palestine with their coverage. I don't. Economically that would be suicide. I do think the NYTimes is trying so hard to be "even-handed" and un-biased that it has created an unfortunate reporting of moral equivalence where a suicide bomber is no different than Israeli forces taking out terrorists hiding amongst civilians. They've bought into the "cycle of violence" b.s., that everything must be tit for tat. It isn't but that is the way they are reporting it. This is the result of poor reporting and even worse editing.
UPDATE: The Idler does a piece, demonstrating NYTimes bias ( link via Instapundit) on this subject. I love the Web. So much for the evenhanded, balance idea. Well not every thought will be a good one.
Sunday, May 05, 2002
Uh, no.
Apparently John J. Miller over at The Corner does not follow the horses closely, nor does he read this blog. Otherwise he would not say:
There's something appropriate, this year, about a horse called War Emblem winning the Kentucky Derby, and second place going to Proud Citizen.
For the record, War Emblem is owned by a Saudi Prince. Seems a little less appropriate now.
Newspapers on the wane
Well, finally a true voice of knowledge discusses the troubles of the newspaper.
Good Days
Today it was sunny and warm with a light breeze in the Cleveland area. About 70 degrees or so. An absolutely perfect day, and oh, so rare around here. So, naturally, I went to a matinee showing of Spider-Man. Well, I did other things. Mowed the lawn today. The wife and I went for a long walk. The doctor has told her to get more exercise, for herself and the fetus still growing inside her. The baby is due July 5, so we have two months left. Grilled salmon fillets for dinner. It was her turn on the computer today, after I had monopolized it all of yesterday. She is trying to put a slide-show together on her Web site of the wedding and baby shower.
Saturday, May 04, 2002
The truth in Norway
Bjorn Staerk reminds us all why we should not be looking to the UN to resolve the issues.
The UN serves a purpose as a meeting place for the worlds nations, and possibly as a tool to administrate aid. Its value as a political and moral guide, however, is null, and it is an insult to free and freedom-seeking people everywhere to claim otherwise.
My feeling is the best to hope from the UN is that it becomes something of a free trade area.
Racing to the Win
Cleveland finally wins another game. No word yet on whether they took the suicide watch off Eric Olsen.
Yeah, I'm a sore loser. So what!
War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby. S**t. Hopefully, it's the last positive for a Saudi Prince for a while.
Neil Young time
May 4, 1970. Oh, just go over to Tres Producers.
Free the Jericho Two!
I can't say I'm totally shocked by this:
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - The Palestinian Cabinet on Friday discussed the fate of two senior officials imprisoned as part of a U.S.-brokered deal that led to Yasser Arafat's release from Israeli confinement this week, and Palestinian officials said they expected the two to be freed soon.
Palestinian officials said that under the U.S. deal, the fate of Ahmed Saadat and Fuad Shobaki was left in the hands of the Palestinian legal system.
Israeli officials disputed the claim, saying they were assured by the United States that Saadat and Shobaki would remain locked up as a condition for freeing Arafat.
I was still amazed when Arafat actually gave in and they were actually turned over to the US-UK. This strikes me as what I expected. He is taking a PR hit from his own people, and now is trying to get out of it. I'm sure he'll claim the damn Jews and Americans double crossed him.
Sieze all the pride you want just not by killing for it.
This is my first attempt at a "Fisking" so bear with me.
Title of the Article:
Adrian Hamilton: The Palestinians must seize back their pride
This was not a war crime. It was deliberate desecration, signalling that you don't regard your enemy as human
This looks like a fun article to work with. It seems the Israelis don't see their enemies as human. No. They just don't see them as too concerned with living.
One can imagine Ariel Sharon's look as he watches on television the pictures of Yasser Arafat prancing around proclaiming his new freedom. It would be one of pure contempt.
Well, yeah. I would say that feeling is echoed by many of us, as the English so quaintly put it, "across the pond."
For the past year the central focus of his policy has been to isolate, humiliate and marginalise his old enemy. Now, under American pressure, he has to watch him strengthened by his weeks under siege. If I were a betting man I wouldn't give much odds on the Palestinian leader living much longer, never mind being allowed back if he ever goes abroad.
Good, good. Let's make sure we are clear that this is a private personal vendetta by Sharon against Arafat. It has nothing to do with suicide bombers, and overall Israeli security. I am having a hard time understanding how Arafat was strengthened from being confined for several weeks to a few rooms in the basement. During that time, the IDF found many interesting things in Arafat's offices. Look Adrian, Arafat is a cockroach. Everyone keeps writing him off, but he hang's around.
Short of that, what we will see is a return to the old game of escalating tit for tat as Sharon awaits further acts of bombing so that he can move against Arafat again, while Arafat waits for the counter-measures so he can claim the role of heroic victim. Hamas has already declared its determination to commit new attacks. Ariel Sharon has made clear the primary interests of Israeli security can be achieved only by the total neutering of the Palestinians. The dance of death goes on.
Of course no article on the Middle East can be complete without the moral equivalence and "Cycle of Violence" idea. Of course Adrian varies it by calling it "escalating tit for tat." Sharon eagerly awaits the next suicide bomber or terrorists to kill Israeli civilians in cafes or children sleeping in their bed, so he can "neuter" the Palestinians by arresting the terrorists. Oh, the shame of it all.
Arafat's release is only one side of the coin. On every other front Sharon has has got his way. Blair, and President Bush, huffed and puffed about immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territory. And what have they got? Israeli tanks rolling into Tulkarm yesterday, another assassination (or "targeted killing" as the Israelis term it) and dozens more arrests. Operation Defensive Shield goes on with no sign of an early end and the UN's attempts to investigate allegations of massacre at Jenin have been finally disbanded.
Which is better Adrian, assasinating a man who has plotted and killed civilians or just calling in a fire-bombing. As for the arrests, well, you're right. Those damn Israelis really need to follow the model shown by the Palestinians. They know all about fairness and justice.
Of all the developments of the past few weeks it is the collapse of the Jenin committee of investigation that is the saddest. Not that it would necessarily have found that there had been a massacre. In the sense that there was a "massacre" in the terms of Srebrenica or Rwanda, it remains hard to conceive.
Yes, the tradgedy of no Jenin inquiry. How can the Israelis be blamed now. I mean we know how fair the UN is to Israel. Note how the last two sentences go though. Seemingly conceding that there would have been little proof of a massacre, he then switches it to suggest that there was a massacre. It's just that the massacre wouldn't have been on the genocidal levels.
But that does not mean, as the Israeli ambassador suggested yesterday, that the Palestinian feeling that there was one is just a piece of propaganda. If you believe them, the ambassador joked on the Today programme, "the Israelis would be responsible for every traffic accident in the West Bank". Ho, ho, ho. He clearly feels the Palestinians are comic people.
No, no Adrian, it really is you who know how to make us laugh. Palestinians feeding false stories? Say it isn't so!
Well no, they're not in fact. The rumours of a massacre started when the emails and the mobile phones started buzzing in the hours after the Israeli invasion. Shooting started; civilians were shot at; houses were broken into. Then access was prevented and even the ambulances couldn't go in. All sorts of rumours started to circulate.
I don't know too many people laughing at a people being raised to blow themselves up. I especially don't laugh about this. Lets see, hiding bombs and terrorists in ambulences, hiding amongst civilians, using the camp under UN administrative control as a bomb making factory, booby trapping houses and roads... Did I miss anything?
In the bitter aftermath of that military assault, there are – as the Human Rights Watch reported yesterday – very real concerns that the Geneva conventions were broken. Civilians, it is said, were used as shields; houses were pounded without warning to the occupants; unarmed civilians were shot crossing the streets; grenades were thrown into rooms full of women and children; ambulances were stopped coming to the aid of the wounded.
Of course, and HRW has been so evenhanded. I forget where was this account of what happened in the report?
OK, time for the finale
Ultimately it is up to Israel itself – and it has a strong civil rights movement within – to investigate these charges and to determine whether the boundaries of reasonable military force were breached. The American did it after My Lai; we British are still at it in the inquiry into Bloody Sunday. There is a greater role for outside intervention, and particularly the Red Cross, in an aspect which has hardly received any attention so far but will emerge in the weeks to come: the treatment of the Palestinians seized as suspected terrorists.
The Red Cross? The same Red Cross that refuses to give The Israeli Magen David Adom full membership? The same Red Cross headed by Cornelio Sommaruga (and also on the aborted Jenin Committee) who once said, " if we're going to have the Shield of David, why would we not have to accept the swastika?" Glad to see Adrian has a real understanding of things. As for how Palestinian "suspected" terrorists are treated by Israel, probably the same way the US treats the prisoners being held in Cuba. But please get back to us, if the Israelis start showing the same treatment Palestinians do to those they hold in prison.
Hopkins Update
The latest news on the shutdown yesterday. In these cases they often say they find "amounts of materials used in explosives." WHat does that mean? Household items that could be used to make an explosive? Fertilizers? Plastique? What?
Must be a consumer
Oh, boy. I need to get this.
Stan Lee
Do you know an older hard-core comic book geek? If you do, here's how to send that person through the roof. Just say something like, "Isn't it great that Stan Lee is getting all this attention for his work?" Then stand back.
The truth is, many fans have a very difficult time with the subject of Stan Lee. Stan Lee helped almost single-handily bring about what is called the "Silver Age" of comic books. His impact cannot really be understated. The problem is (1) Stan Lee knows this; and (2) he has shamelessly plugged himself while minimizing the efforts of others. In the 70s, Marvel Comics first released several collections of the origins of super-heroes and villains like Bring on the Bad Guys and Son of Origins. Stan Lee did the introductions to each origin and took virtually all of the credit for creating them. He mentioned the artists almost as an afterthought, like they were there merely to give form to his vision. The best they seemed to do is suggest a certain color. This included artists like Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four, Thor, the Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, and more), Steve Ditko (Spider-Man) and others. This of course offended the artists, and they let fans know at comic conventions. Eventually, this created a backlash where Stan Lee was considered, a virtual enemy of "good comic" writers and artists.
The other problem, Lee is a "company man." He became an editor at Marvel, then Editor-in-Chief, and even Publisher. He became the public face for Marvel, in which he excelled. The comic fans and later comic creators/writers/artists revere the creative people and tolerate the business side of it. Much like in most of the entertainment world. This hurt Stan Lee with the "serious" (pretentious) comic crowd. Kirby especially was revered, and had a very nasty, protracted battle with Marvel when he left them.
Roy Thomas a long time comic book writer and artist has written extensively on comic book history of the 60s and 70s.
In recent years, Stan Lee has become respectable again. Part of it was the shakeout in the comics industry, and Marvel Comics' bankruptcy problems. The other factor has been Kevin Smith, the director of Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy, etc. Kevin Smith is a comic book geek ( with his own store), and is a friend of Stan Lee, giving him a role in the otherwise lousy Mall Rats (and I like Kevin Smith movies, but it still sucked). His success and professed love of comics, has made him something of an idol to many comic geeks. His friendship with Stan Lee has allowed Lee to regain popularity with the hard-core fans.
Yeah, I'm still recovering from my comics addiction.
And the strength of their negotiating position is?
Apparently they are still "talking" about how to resolve the stand-off at the Church of the Nativity. I just keep wondering what the Palestinian side has to offer? They broke into a church to hide from the IDF; they took hostages- who if they kill would essentially be the end of any sympathy for their situation (maybe); they are the ones cut off from food and water; and there is no calvary coming to their rescue.
Meanwhile, the IDF is getting pizza delivery service.
I mean, the article repeats the same sticking point, Israel says the terrorists in the group either surrender or be exiled (paging Air Sudan) while the Palestinians feel appropriate punishment is a heroes welcome in Gaza. Actually, while the stand-off has to be frustrating, tense, and dangerous, the Israelis seem to slowly picking off the terrorists- mainly because they seem to get bored in the church and try to take pot shots at the IDF, which results in return fire killing them.
The article buries this nugget:
A few yards from the church, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was moderately wounded by an explosion near Manger Square, hospital officials said. A sign outside the building described it as a medical clinic, but Israeli troops who later searched the building said it was an explosives laboratory.
The army showed reporters at the scene bags of gunpowder and paraphernalia indicating support for the militant Hamas group, and a collapsed wall in the building and broken glass indicated an internal explosion.
This lab was less than 100 yards from the Church compound. Disgusting.
Friday, May 03, 2002
European Meterological Ethics
Matt Welch talks of Newspaper ethics and ombudsmen, well my wife came across this at work which may be even funnier. The introduction:
As the number of meteorological businesses outside the state sector continues to grow there is an increasing need for national codes of professional conduct in meteorology. These businesses frequently operate across national boundaries. At the same time, Europe-wide institutions grow. Inappropriate meteorological advice can lead to damage to the environment and large economic losses. Consequently, there is a need for national codes to be harmonized and mutually recognized perhaps leading to a single European code.
"Inappropriate meteorological advice"? Is that, like, predicting a sunny day when you know it's going to rain? Negligence? Do we finally get to hold the weatherman, sorry, weatherperson responsible for screwing up? It gets better. The issue of what is a meteorologist:
5. Within the group of people who have had training or education in meteorology and who are applying the knowledge and skills they have acquired, some will be applying their knowledge to meteorology at post-doctoral level, some at university graduate level and some after only a school education and some specific training. Perhaps we should ask ourselves the following:
5.1 Do all levels of people working in meteorology enjoy the title of meteorologist ?
5.2 Similarly, should people at all such levels be subject to the code ? In the medical profession, for example, the Hippocratic oath distinguishes very clearly between qualified medical practitioners and other working in the medical field. In the United States of America, there is a clear distinction between qualified lawyers and other members of the legal profession who are known as "paralegals" - persons trained in subsidiary legal matters. A decision on the comprehensiveness of the term meteorologist and of the kinds of people to be covered by the code will determine many aspects of the code.
Apparently England and France already have codes of conduct for meteorologists. Well, at least they have a couple outlines to follow.
UPDATE: for those of you following the links from Matt Welch, here is another code of conduct to amuse.
The hell with privacy
I can't believe even a federal magistrate would issue this kind of ruling
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal magistrate has ordered SonicBlue Inc. to modify its digital video recorders to track what television viewers watch and share the information with the movie studios and TV networks that are suing the company for alleged copyright violations.
Central District Court Magistrate Charles Eick ruled on Thursday in Los Angeles as part of the lawsuit against SonicBlue by a group of companies that includes film studios Paramount, Universal, The Walt Disney Co. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., as well as TV networks CBC, ABC and NBC, a SonicBlue spokeswoman said.
The media companies suing Santa Clara, California-based SonicBlue argued that they need the information -- including details on what commercials viewers skip and what files they transfer across the Internet -- to press their case against the company for allegedly aiding copyright violations.
Yeah, that might have an effect on the market for ReplayTV. Apparently big media wants to invade more than your computer. I can sort of see how the sending a copy to someone else makes them nervous, since it seems like an easy step to converting to a file to another format allowing it to be played on the computer, file-swapped and pirated (still doesn't justify ordering a company to install spyware). The commercial skipping feature though, really just a feature allowing the viewer to skip in 30 second segments - yes I know it would be used mainly on commercials. So what. People can skip through commercials when they time shift a VCR recording. If a VCR came out with a similar feature, it seems big media would be hard pressed to block it.
But How Will the Strippers Handle It
Actually, I guess it was only a matter of time.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The American Council of the Blind sued the federal government Friday seeking changes in the design of the nation's paper currency.
The lawsuit contends individuals who can't identify currency denominations are precluded from participating in a variety of transactions integral to daily life, such as the ability to freely make purchases.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, seeks changes including the use of Braille markings and varying the length and height of bills by denomination.
I guess it would do no good to point out that any Braille or raised imprints on a bill would be worn down rather quickly. Varying the sizes can easily be toyed with using a pair of scissors. I got it, different smells for different bills.
$1 - apple (George Washington reference)
$5 - cedar (Lincoln, log cabin, wood)
$10 - cordite, gun powder (Hamilton and a duel)
$20 - whiskey (Andrew Jackson)
Pinto Update
Reader George Shaner (I have a reader!) offered a possible explanation why anyone would spend $640 for an engine for a Pinto:
As for why anyone would want to sink that much money into a Pinto, it should be observed that there are people who compete with that make in SCCA-sanctioned amateur sports car racing. Put in some safety equipment, a fire-resistant fuel cell, and you're ready to go.
...
Out here on the East Coast, the so-called Mid-Atlantic region of the Sports Car Club of America has a local competition for a group of about three dozen people who race Pintos. There are also people who race first-generation Mazda RX-7s. At one point, back in the late '80s, the Wall Street Journal did an article on people who pioneered
the conversion of compact cars into racers, seeing as the supply of classic small British sports cars dried up and the Pinto had a good drive train. In fact, the racing of modified compact cars is now something of a staple in club racing.
I admit, my knowledge of Pintos is very, very limited. I recall from a business course in management decision making a discussion of the Pinto example. Ford set an edict to build a car for under $2000 and under 2000 pounds. The addition of a rubber bladder in the gas tank would have added $5 to the cost, and would have sent it over the $2000 mark. Well, I also recall the "Pinto scene" in Top Secret!
Airline Security Update
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was shut down from 10:30am to 1pm, after a screening machine detected explosives in a carry-on bag. So why was it shut down so long?
Airport Commissioner Fred Szabo said screeners were unable to find the bag and he could not rule out the possibility that the bag and the person carrying it got on a departing flight before the concourses were closed.
He said there was no way of knowing whether there was an explosive in the bag or whether it was a false alarm. The machines frequently return false readings, he said.
"We don't have any indication that there was actually an explosive device, but we don't know for sure," he said.
Szabo said the carry-on bag set off an alarm at concourse C, but the alarm was undetected initially by a screener. By the time a second security person noticed that the alarm had gone off, the luggage and the passenger carrying it were out of sight, he said.
"I don't know if it was a minute or 10 minutes," he said.
Brilliant. Probably a false alarm, but still.
Tony Molinaro, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said screening at the checkpoint wasn't done properly.
Gee, ya think?
UPDATE: Welcome those of you clicking over from Instapundit. I posted a link to a more recent story today.
Whaddaya mean they're terrorists?
I mentioned earlier that the EU didn't appear inclined to list the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as a terror organization, and freeze their accounts. Well it turned out to be true.
The list omitted the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Damascus-based Marxist organization whose members are actively engaged in the armed uprising against Israeli occupation. Diplomats said the EU had considered including the PFLP, but there was no consensus.
Yeah, I guess shooting women and children in cold blood wouldn't be considered a terrorist action. Nor would trying to blow up a building with people in it. No wait.
Any ways, here is the official release from the EU.
As expected PFLP is not on it, nor is Hezballah.
Here are some of the ones, they just got around to adding from the list of 23 entities.
7. Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem (terrorist wing of Hamas)
12. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MEK or MKO) [minus the "National Council of Resistance
of Iran" (NCRI)] (a.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA, the militant wing of the
MEK), the People´s Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistence (NCR), Muslim
Iranian Student´s Society)
14. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Gonna need a drink tonight
True News Sources
I really don't watch a lot of news on TV. In part, because the tv is reserved for more important things like sports and watching DVDs. The other reason, is I get a little embarrassed yelling at the idiots on tv after a while. My only tv news source is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Here's why. Last night they were covering the French protesting themselves for voting for LePen in the preliminary election. The camera showed an artist protest, where they had placed stuffed pants and jeans, legs up in the air, on steps to represent the French burying their heads in the sand.
Stewart: "The French. Even when they're right, they're pretentious."
Children's animation and art
Lileks does a typically fine piece on how much better art in children's books has gotten as compared to the 70s. I can't opine as to the former, but I can comment on the latter. Dead on. 70s animation and artwork in children's books sucked. The greatest example is my generation's favorite pop culture item: Schoolhouse Rock! I love Schoolhouse Rock!, I will have the new DVD the day it comes out in August. Even if I didn't want it, my wife would. Everyone my age knows at least one song by heart, "Conjunction, Junction..." "I'm just a bill..." "Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here." and so on.
Nostalgia aside, the animation was abysmal. It was part of the style but it was so cheap looking even then. I'm not saying I want them to get a makeover. Such a thing would offend my sensibilities, that I would sooner have a vodka martini over a proper one.
Intelligence in the Telegraph?
Could it be that there are signs of intelligence regarding Israel, Arafat, and the Arab world in the UK that doesn't come from Mark Steyn? What to make of this story: The Muslims' great mistake is to see the West as the enemy, By David Pryce-Jones
Islam was once a great civilisation. With one or two possible exceptions, Muslim countries today are in the hands of an absolute ruler and his secret police. They enjoy no real scientific or medical research, no high art, no invention worthy of the name.
Muslims are instead at war with neighbours of every religion, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish or African animists. Internal wars of one kind or another have also devastated such Muslim countries as Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq.
The column discusses Bernard Lewis' book, What Went Wrong?, which is now hitting the UK market. It seems, though, that the columnist has stuck some of his own thoughts into this column
Europe is flummoxed. Continental politicians (and some in the Labour Party) have made clear that they will not support a wide war against Islamist terror. Hubert Vedrine, French foreign minister, and Christopher Patten, an EU commissioner, are among the many who accuse America of being "simplistic" and "unilateralist", codewords advising it to appease its Muslim enemies. Brussels and other European capitals have long sought to undermine America. Rather than do so overtly, the politicians prefer the soft option of countering American policy everywhere in the Middle East, particularly by sponsoring Yasser Arafat. The EU gives him uncritical moral and financial support.
Such a policy depends on believing the worst of Israel. The destruction by Israel, during its recent operation, of EU projects costing about $20 million, has prompted furious demands in Brussels for compensation and embargoes. Received opinion there has it that the fighting at Jenin constituted an Israeli war crime, and France and Belgium voted for a resolution to that effect.
Captured documents reveal Arafat's direct connection to smuggling arms and the authorisation of suicide bombing. The European taxpayer thus becomes the unwitting accomplice of the man who has brought violence down on his own people. The Vedrines and Pattens and such spokesmen are in the inexplicable position of lining Europe up with Saudi Arabia, Hamas and the Islamists against the rest of the West. This is an intellectual, and a moral, failure.
Maybe there is hope for Europe.
UPDATE: Whoops, Looks like Little Green Footballs. Saw the same thing and posted it more than 12 hours before me. Even has a similar opening thought. While I'm on the LGF, a special thanks the Charles Johnson for kindly adding me to the honored list of anti-idiotarians links.
And so, it begins...again
I haven't seen anything in US papers, but it seems the US-UK prison monitors in Jericho have already been "warned" to beware.
CONCERN about the safety of British and American prison monitors in Jericho grew last night as Palestinian militants gave warning that the detention of six key prisoners under foreign supervision "will not pass unpunished".
Hours after the international wardens helped to transfer the inmates from Yasser Arafat's besieged Ramallah headquarters to a jail in Jericho, a home-made grenade exploded outside the British Council offices in the Gaza Strip.
The blast did not hurt anybody. But it was a warning, if any were needed, of the dangers facing British and American wardens, particularly if they are seen as Israeli stooges.
Hardly a surprise really, but they aren't wasting time trying to intimidate. I wonder how long until the demonstrations begin outside the prison. Actually that could be great, depending on the building's structure. The Palestinians start trying to storm the place. US-Britain monitors fearing for everyone's safety has Israeli helicopters whisk them and the prisoners off for their own safety, and all of the sudden these murderers are in Israeli hands for interrogation.
Andrew Coyle, a former governor of Brixton prison who was part of the advance party to set up the monitoring system, said: "It would be foolish to say there is no risk. We believe there is an acceptable level of risk.
"If we conclude that there is an unacceptable level of risk, we will inform the British consul-general immediately," added Mr Coyle, implying that the foreigners would withdraw at the first sign of trouble.
Jericho was chosen because of its isolation and the relative quiet in the town. The prison is on the edge of town, a five-minute drive from an Israeli checkpoint and within sight of Israeli posts on hilltops nearby.
Wait and see sports fans.
Sleep in a little
Good lord, Damian Penny started blogging today at 6 am. That's even earlier than the omnipresent InstaPundit begins. Still he has a link to a story on Palestinians who seemed to like Arafat better when he was trapped in his office. I agree with them, but not for the same reasons.
To Palestinians Mr Arafat is guilty of taking part in a deal under which six men who are seen as heroes and freedom-fighters are imprisoned in a Palestinian jail under the eyes of British and American monitors.
Actually the article actually took a tone near the end of suggesting that Arafat might not be a true leader. Not a shock to most readers, but coming from a British paper, virtually scandalous
The message is clear: Mr Arafat was a hero under siege. He began to lose this status as soon as the tanks withdrew from his compound.
Television interviews by candle light are Mr Arafat's forte. But slogans will not rebuild the damage to Palestinian homes, offices and infrastructure - estimated at £240 million over the past month - and there are ever louder demands for a change in leadership style.
Palestinians still talk of an intifada, or uprising, but it has dawned on them that times have changed.
Thursday, May 02, 2002
A Hero Born
Any site that sets its links up using old comic book super-hero groups has to have a hero. Courtesy of the incredible time waster that is Heromachine, I give you: 
No Whiners
Eric Olsen over at Tres Producers flatters me then bitch slaps me.
Okay, so I’ve got used to the Indians not sucking. I’m spoiled, so shoot me. I’m still willing to use voodoo because winning has become my right. Certainly a Yankees fan can understand that. [emphasis added]
Like I don't get that a lot. No, I wasn't going after Eric, it was a confluence (just don't get to use that word often enough) of circumstances. Eric's post, listening to some rather apocalyptic local sports talk on the way into work this morning, some rather doom and gloom co-workers, and a wave of nostalgia when I read the Neyer column about the Phillies history. The Phils by the way only finished above .500 three times since 1984 (1986, 1993 and 2001) and are currently 9-19.
Yes, I get wanting to win all the time. Believe me, I have very mixed feelings about the Yankees and the present state of baseball. I'll get a post out on that someday.
Futility
I was born and bred as a NYYankees fan, though I'm not from NY (raised in Lebanon, PA- about 90 miles east of Philadelphia). My grandfather to my father to me, and someday to my daughter is how it goes. My first memory of a baseball game was when I was about 7 (1976 or so). My grandfather took me to a game at Yankee Stadium against the Texas Rangers. I remember coming out of the gloom of the inside of the stadium to the early-evening summer sky and the field. We had seats near the dugout on the third base side, and I saw Graig Nettles of the Yankees and Buddy Bell of the Rangers up close.
Even with that love of the Yankees, I hold strong affection for the Phillies of the late-70s, early-80s. The team that had those god-awful baby-blue road uniforms (as did other teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, KC Royals, Minnesota Twins, and one or two others), but were still better than the Pirate's Canary Yellow and Baltimore Orange (if you ever catch Game 7 of the 1979 World Series on ESPN Classic you'll know what I mean). They were the local team. I followed them intensely in 1980, the same year they ended up winning their only World Series. Watching them on TV, listening to Harry Kalas (the man could make dusting off home plate sound exciting) and Richie Ashburn call the game on local affiliate WLBR-1270 on a transistor radio under the bed after my bed time (how quaint). I thrilled to the team. Managed by Dallas Green, I still can recall the team. P - Steve "Lefty" Carlton, C - Bob Boone, 1B - Pete "Charley Hustle" Rose, 2B - Manny Trillo, 3B - Mike Schmidt, SS - Larry Bowa, LF - Bake McBride, CF - Garry Maddox, RF - Greg "The Bull" Luzinski, and coming out of the bullpen to save the game, slapping his glove on his thigh the entire time, Tug McGraw. For the numbers on all of these players go to Baseball-Reference. These guys were my heroes. And yes, time and reality has altered my view of them (Pete Rose the gambling, shameless self-aggrandizement, claiming to be a victim for his own misdeeds; Steve Carlton, hiding somewhere near VodkaPundit in his bunker in Colorado from the seven Zionist bankers in Switzerland who rule the world), but I still look fondly on the team.
Why am I waxing nostalgic? This column by Rob Neyer about the history of the Phillies. The Phillies have been one of the worst franchises in the history of baseball. Arguably in all of sports.
I moved to Cleveland in 1994 to start law school. This was the start of Cleveland's great run of winning seasons. As long as I've lived in Ohio, Cleveland has had a winning record. The team has been struggling for the last few years to keep winning, by plugging in veterans and trading young players. This year it is coming to an end, the ownership has recognized this, and is trying to rebuild while keeping a decent team on the field, but the fans are losing it. The team got off to an improbable 11-1 start, then went 2-13, including a humiliating 21-2 loss. Admittedly, this will be hard for any fan to take. The team will probably finish around .500, +/- 5 games before the season ends. Still, read the Neyer article and remember how much worse it could be.
Why do they hate us?
That's the gist of this article ( via Instapundit) about growing anti-European attitudes in the US. The piece is fascinating in its ignorance. It is supposed to be a warning to the EU leaders that the US is not looking kindly on the overall openness of anti-semitism in Euroope, but it sounds whiny and defensive. As if the accusations weren't fair.
Really? Read the piece. The article places the characterizations as almost solely based on support of Palestine over Israel. Well, that and Le Pen in France.
These issues were always going to strike a chord in the US, with a resonance which might seem disproportionate or frankly unfair in Europe. But the roots run deep. Europe’s sympathy for the Palestinians is often described as colonial; Europe is seen (rightly) as being a bigger customer of Arab oil than the US, and as Bush spelt out, religious intolerance is seen as particularly un-American.
There is no reference to attacks on Jews in Europe. There two references to burning synagogues (one in a quote from George Bush, which the article characterizes as forced from him). Attitudes like that in an article about the feelings in the US about Europe, is part of the problem. The article, in fact seems to want to blame Le Pen for it all. The concluding paragraph:
The problem today will not be between Bush and Aznar, who share right-of-centre politics, a commitment to fighting terrorism and a deep interest in Latin America. But European leaders need to know the new mood is there. They are right to concentrate on the trade row, but if they fail to win any ground, particularly from Congress, they may have Le Pen to blame.
Amazing level of cluelessness. I mean, wow. They just don't see it. They don't see how continually blaming Israel for violence in the Middle East; claiming a massacre based on Palestinian propaganda; allowing their citizens to be attacked because they're Jewish; seeing property attacked but minimized because its only a synagogue or Jewish cemetary; and not even putting Islamic terrorist groups on the terror list while at the same time threatening Israeli boycotts. No, I guess anti-semitism is too simple an explanation.
Some of my best friends are Vegans.
No, Really. We just have an agreement. They don't try to convert me or complain about my meat consumption, and I don't go into excruciating detail about marinating and grilling a steak. Still this article on how even farming kills animals (via the Corner) is kind of interesting.
"This is something we've been aware of for a long time," admits Jack Norris, president of Vegan Outreach in Davis, Calif., an organization that is dedicated to spreading the gospel of vegetarianism. (Norris is a vegan, by the way, which is even more restrictive then vegetarianism in that it rejects all animal products, including milk and other dairy products.)
It's obvious that some animals die when their land is taken away for farming, Norris says, "but you take it away only once." It doesn't lead to the continuous slaughter of animals for human consumption, he contends, because once the land is turned into a farm, there aren't that many animals around to kill.
See, I guess this is the way a vegetarian or even a vegan could rationalize it. I've always wondered about this. PETA and such want us to all stop eating meat, and I guess they want all farmers to only grow food. Well, to do that, they would have to get rid of all the chickens, pigs, cows, etc. The land would be needed to grow the crops. (Yes, I realize only vegans swear off eggs and milk, but I'm taking it to the logical extreme). This means we would have to engage in a massive farm animal massacre first. Of course we only have to kill them all once, so I guess it would be acceptable.
I'm in!
Oh, the ego gratification! I got linked by Instapundit. What a rush. How ridiculous. Now I have to get a counter on the site. I held off because I rely on the wife to clean up my errors (I don't even want to discuss what happened when I tried to set up the links without her supervision), and she's been a little busy. Maybe tonight, after it's too late.
Steyn-bastic
Mark Steyn's newest column, is a beaut. There are so many great points and comments about the hypocrisy of the Europeans view of "ugly Americans" versus the reality, along with their own recent behavior.
The rise of the anti-immigrant parties in France, Belgium, et al. is supposedly due to crime. It’s true there seems to be a lot of it over there. You’re six times more likely to be mugged in London than in New York. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has a worse crime rate than Harlem. In the Los Angeles Times, Sebastian Rotella was perplexed: ‘As crime has dropped in the United States in recent years, it has worsened in much of Europe, despite generous welfare states designed to prevent US-style inequality and social conflict.’
‘Despite’? Try ‘because of’. In December in this space, I lent my support to Mickey Kaus, the thinking conservative’s thinking liberal, who advanced the theory that welfare causes terrorism. Among the examples I cited was Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called ‘20th hijacker’, who became an Islamofascist nutter while living on welfare in London. What else is there to do all day? Go down the pub? Lie on the floor listening to Capital FM? If you’re putting in a ten-hour grease-monkey shift at Fat Dave’s Auto Body, you’re too wiped out to wipe America out. But in the fetid public housing of London, Paris, Frankfurt and Rotterdam the government will pay you to sit around the flat all day plotting world domination.
Plus a nice blast to the US-left/pro-Europe social model
It’s gradually beginning to dawn on US Europhiles that the Continent has done everything the American Left has wanted for years and it doesn’t seem to be working out. Thanks to Erfurt and Nanterre, you’re currently outpacing the Yanks at high-scoring gun massacres. At the last attempted US massacre, at the Appalachian School of Law in West Virginia, there was a gun-totin’ student on hand to pin down the would-be mass murderer until the cops arrived. But in Europe — ‘a gun-control utopia’, as the Los Angeles Times sees it — there’s no one to stop the corpses piling up.
I think he's giving the "US Europhiles" too much credit.
Kentucky Derby Notes
Once again a friendly reminder to make sure you are ready to go with the mint juleps. Now for a little closer look at the Kentucky Derby. There are 20 entrants this year, and usually a few will scratch before the event.
The information available on the horses is amazing at the Derby site, but there are other aspects to this. Like the owners. Here's some info on some of the more interesting owners. All from the KYDerby site. Except for the latest odds in parenthesis next to the horse's name.
War Emblem (20-1)
Owners: The Thoroughbred Corp.
Prince Ahmed Salman, whose horses race under The Thoroughbred Corp. name, is a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. He has an extensive international publishing business that includes numerous newspapers and magazines. The Thoroughbred Corp. is based out of Bradbury Estates, Calif., where it owns an 18-acre facility used for layups and breaking yearlings. The Thoroughbred Corp. team consists of racing manager Richard Mulhall, bloodstock adviser Rick Trontz and a vast cadre of trainers. The outfit also bred champion Point Given and Breeders' Cup Distaff (GI) heroine Spain.
Request for Parole (20-1)
Owners: Jeri & Sam Knighton
Jeri and Sam Knighton are residents of the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Elmhurst and are friends of former prominent Thoroughbred owners and breeders Robert B. "Country" Roberts and Bea Roberts of Louisville, Kentucky; Sam Knighton makes his living in the construction business. The Knightons privately acquired Request For Parole from the Robertses after the colt made his first two starts last summer. In his first start for his new owners, Request For Parole captured the Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes last August. The Knighton's also own the useful stakes-placed three-year-old Thunder On Land.
Essence of Dubai (15-1)
Owners: Godolphin Racing Inc.
Godolphin, Inc. is the Dubai arm of brothers Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum's and Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's racing empire. It was the idea of Sheikh Mohammed to take some of his best horses away from England to the desert of Dubai in order to make a racing nation there and to gain acceptance by bringing them back to Europe and the U.S. Some of the best horses campaigned by the racing operation include Swain, Daylami, Dubai Millennium, Fantastic Light, Halling, Lammtarra and Balanchine.
Buddha (5-1)
Owners: Gary & Mary West
Gary and Mary West, residents of Omaha, Nebraska, own West Telemarketing (and its family of companies), one of the country's largest telemarketing firms. Mary West was the founder of Nebraska-based Mardex Corporation in 1973, one of the country's first telemarketing companies. They purchased their first horses in 1980 and have campaigned the stakes winners Dollar Bill, Rockamundo, Mongoose, Entrepreneur and Baptize. The West's have horses in training with H. James Bond on the New York circuit and with Dallas Stewart on the Kentucky and Louisiana circuits.
Harlan's Holiday (9-2)
Owners: Starlight Stables
Starlight Stables is the Thoroughbred racing outfit of Atlanta residents Jack and Laurie Wolf, newcomers to the horse industry. Jack Wolf purchased his best runner to date, Harlan's Holiday, for $97,000 at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton, Kentucky July Yearling Sale from the consignment of Rockwell farm, agent.
Blue Burner (30-1)
Owners: Kinsman Stable
Kinsman Stable is the Thoroughbred racing entity of George M. Steinbrenner III, the managing general partner of major league baseball's New York Yankees. Steinbrenner was raised around horses, and when he was a child rode in pony races at the county fair. Kinsman is named for the Cleveland, Ohio, street where Steinbrenner's German ancestors settled in 1840. Kinsman Stable typically has 15-20 horses in training annually and has bred and/or raced more than 35 stakes winners, including Dream Supreme, Crystal Symphony, Acceptable, Concerto, Diligence and Spinning Round.
Now, remember. A smart bettor does not care about the owner. The rest of us can choose who to root against.
Wednesday, May 01, 2002
Opinions, Jenin, and Bethlehem
Well, it was a busy day in the West Bank. After hemming and hawing, Arafat finally turned over all six of the men wanted by Israel to a joint US-British security force in Jericho. This allowed Arafat to be released from what has to be an amazingly rancid set of rooms at his stronghold in Ramallah:
Arafat's offices, where he was surrounded by close aides and foreign peace activists, showed evidence of the weeks of siege. Plumbing leaked and garbage was piled up inside. Hee-hee.
So naturally he was pissed:
Arafat however, was in an angry mood.
"It is not important what happened to me here. What is important is what is happening in the Church of the Nativity. This is a crime," Arafat, trembling with fury, told reporters in his offices in his first remarks after the siege was lifted.
Afterwards it was revealed that the trembling was really due to missing the entire run of the Bachelor. This was revealed by the security chief who also stated:
"This is the beginning of a new road. We hope to reach peace for the Palestinian people," said Mohammed Dahlan, a Palestinian security chief, inside the compound.
...
"Arafat was in real danger -- the excuse was that they wanted those who were detained. But I think this is the beginning of a great Palestinian success to end the siege of all Palestinian people and start the peace process," Dahlan said.
Please note that Israel is not mentioned at all in this. Not in peace for the people or in peace process. This is reasonable since, the P.A. peace process has been under way for the last 19 months or so. If only all those damn Jews would die, things would be so much easier.
As for the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem well, come on they were getting bored. A little arson inside the church (started by the IDF from the outside claim the terrorist/hostage takers) and a little gun battle is to be expected when you're cooped up in a church this long.
Now for a little more on Jenin. An article from Radio Netherlands gives some hope to at least some Euros getting it: "No Massacre in Jenin"
The article concedes as early as the third paragraph, the article concedes the headline, but
International human rights groups that have visited Jenin found no signs of a massacre but said Israeli forces might have committed war crimes such as the indiscriminate bulldozing of civilian homes and failing to treat the wounded.
Uh, huh. And the proof is based on: NOTHING. There is nothing in the article explaining the basis of the latter claims of "war crimes." Never mind that even the Palestinian terrorists have bragged that they were using civilians as decoys and shields and that they were booby-trapping the buildings and making bombs and hiding amongst civilians, which last I checked kind of cedes any moral ground and vitiates any claims of victim of war crimes.
Terror in Spain
Two car bombs exploded in Madrid near a major soccer stadium where there is to be a game tonight. A Basque separatist group, ETA, is apparently claiming responsibility. At least 17 injured.
Would it be snide, petty, wrong, and mean to hope that the Spanish government try to understand the root causes of such actions, and not do anything to perpetuate the cycle of violence?
But not...
A small 4 paragraph story on page A6 of today's Wall St. Journal reports that the EU will add the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party to the terror list to freeze its assets. The second paragraph, however, has the kicker:
But the EU probably won't put similar terrorist labels on Iranian-backed Hezbollah and another Mideast militant group, brushing aside Israeli requests and underlining policy differences with Washington.
This article on WSJ.com (subscription req'd) from yesterday reveals the other "Mideast militant group" (read: terrorist organization):
Other organizations under consideration for inclusion on the E.U. list are believed to include the Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Basque group Aska Tasuna. E.U. diplomats declined to say Tuesday if they had been included.
Good to know the EU is still committed to fighting terror (in their own backyard).
UNHRC or CHURN
Zimbabwe has been elected to the UNHRC. Explain to me again, why the US wanted back on this. Some of the other member nations on this high-minded, moral commission: Cuba, Nigeria, China, Syria, Sudan, Congo, and of course Saudi America
Ms. Weschler [the UN representative for Human Rights Watch] said countries with poor human rights records have banded together to shield themselves from international criticism. She said democracies need to be vigilant if they are to save the commission from some members.
"It would truly be a tremendous shame to just turn your back and start laughing," she said.
"Countries which have at least a stated commitment to human rights have a responsibility to save the commission. Hopefully, they will wake up and start being as effective, as proactive and as organized as the other side has been for quite a few years now."
Wrong lady. Turning our backs and laughing at this is exactly what we should do. Staying and supporting that commission gives these freedom repressing regimes legitimacy they should never have. I mean you know the situation is bad when even a member of Human Rights Watch is questioning the legitimacy of the UNHRC. How pray tell, with the democratic countries in the clear minority of a 53 member panel can they be effective. Or by effective, does she mean like the rest of the UN?
I'm not ready to say the US should pull out of the UN, there are still some good reasons from an economic and trade angle, but the UNHRC can go take a flying leap.
OOOOHHHH So scary.
Dumb s**ts. Does anyone actually remember the last time a European scientist actually produced something useful? The good news, is American Scientists are opposing it. Given the tech advances that come out of Israel (Instant Messaging is based on an Israeli firm that created the first IM, ICQ) and emergency medical services (the sad upshot of coping with terrorists on a daily basis). I think it would hurt Europe more.
What the F**k about Europe?
Everyone seems to be trying to figure out why the hell Europeans are so virulently anti-Israel (and anti-US). It seems most of the attention is focused on France, which to some extent may be unfair to the rest of Europe. Is it traditional anti-semitism ( historic), the influx of muslim immigrants (political), Israel moving away from socialism (really?) to a more free market economy, or is it an outgrowth of anti-Americanism which views Israel as a smaller version? Well now Jonah Goldberg joins in the fun with his basic premise:
But, it seems to me, the main reason Europeans hate Israel is that they hate America; and the main reason they hate America is that they really hate themselves.
He is taking it another step. He has concluded the anti-Americanism is a form of self-hatred.
From a historical perspective, European anti-Americanism is pretty hilarious. There is, after all, no criticism a haughty "European" could level at the United States which could not be returned tenfold at the authors of the Inquisition, the Hundred Years' War, the Holocaust, and the Council of Trent (why the Council of Trent? I don't know, it just seems to belong). Mass murder? Hah! Racism? Hah-hah! Religious intolerance? Bah-hah-hah! Class conflict? Bahhh-hahh-hahaha! Imperialism? Okay, dude. Snort, chortle — seriously — chortle, guffaw… Stop it, you're killing me.
And, of course, this leaves out the irony that, to the extent the United States is guilty of any or all of these crimes, that guilt is directly attributable to our own European roots. The more the United States created its own culture — largely built on the Protestant principles of religious dissidents from England and devotees of the Scottish Enlightenment — the less guilty we were of such sins, by and large. This is not to say that America has a perfectly clean rap sheet — no great nation does. But considering the extent of European guilt on these scores, Europe's arrogance in lecturing us is mind-blowing.
Indeed, Europe's problems with Israel and America can be boiled down to these two attributes: guilt and arrogance.
It's a long piece and I disagree with some of his historical interpretations, but it is worth reading to consider. I think it is more of a confluence of issues (in part depending on the Eurotrash).
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