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Archive for June, 2007

Kissing up to the enemy

Posted by Richard on June 28, 2007

Yesterday, President Bush spoke at the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., a Saudi-funded mosque that preaches the most extreme Wahhabi theology/ideology, virulent Jew-hatred, and total rejection of virtually all aspects of Western culture and civilization. That's bad enough. While there, he announced that he's going to appoint a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference whose mission would be to "listen and learn." That's even worse.

As Steve Emerson pointed out, what this envoy will learn is that the OIC is run by anti-American, terror-embracing, Jew-hating radicals who argue that the 9/11 attacks were an understandable response to "the aggressions and discriminations committed by the West." The OIC embraces and supports Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and Hezbollah, to name a few, as "freedom fighters." 

Charles Johnson was annoyed at all the journalists covering the story (emphasis added):

In all the mainstream media articles about President Bush’s announcement that he’s appointing an envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, not a single one actually looks at the history and statements of this hate-filled Islamic group, whose charter explicitly states that it was formed to help implement the destruction of Israel.

Case in point: this is how the Washington Post describes the OIC: Bush Plans Envoy To Islamic Nations.

The creation of the post will mark the first time a U.S. president has designated an envoy to the 38-year-old organization, which promotes Islamic solidarity and cooperation.

I guess it would just be too difficult for these journalists to actually do some research and find out what the OIC really promotes. They’ve even covered it themselves in the past, but now seem to have forgotten about Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed’s statement that “Jews rule the world by proxy” and Muslims must unite to find a way to wipe them out: Speech by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia to the Tenth Islamic Summit Conference.

Or they could just search LGF, for years of stories about the hate speech and support for murder and jihad for which the Organization of the Islamic Conference is infamous: LGF search: “Islamic Conference”.

First, the Bush administration sucked up to Abbas and pressured Israel to arm and fund an organization dedicated to its destruction (not that Olmert needed much pressuring; dhimmitude seems to come naturally to him). Now this.

It seems that the anti-American, anti-Israel leftists who dominate the career ranks at the State Department have completely carried the day. I'm very disappointed. This is idiotarian pandering to people who've loudly and repeatedly said they're our enemy. When will we take their word for it and act accordingly?

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A tough smoking ban

Posted by Richard on June 27, 2007

If you want to know how things are going in the battle for Baquba and Diyala province, you need to read Michael Yon's dispatches from the front lines. Yon is no Pollyanna. He's frank about American blunders in this war, he spoke of civil war as early as 2005, and he thinks we face a difficult task in trying to turn things around. But he thinks now we're doing some things right, and al Qaeda is doing many things wrong. The massive operation to clean al Qaeda out of Diyala is a case in point.

Start with Be Not Afraid, written before Operation Arrowhead Ripper began. It provides important background information, including Yon's encounters with and assessment of Gen. Petraeus, and an excellent description of the political situation in Iraq. Then read the three dispatches (so far) about the operation: 

Operation Arrowhead Ripper: Day One

Arrowhead Ripper: Surrender or Die

Drilling for Justice  

That last one, filed on the 25th, includes some harsh criticism of the local government and police in Baquba and Diyala. But it also includes some fascinating information about why more and more Iraqis are turning against al Qaeda and cooperating with the Americans and with rival Iraqi sects and factions (emphasis added):

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had tarnished its name here by publicly attacking and murdering children, videotaping beheadings, all while imposing harsh punishments on Iraqi civilians found guilty of violating morality laws prohibiting activities like smoking. The AQI installed Sharia court had sanctioned the amputation of the two "smoking fingers" for those who violated anti-smoking laws. …

On the evening of the 24th I spoke with a local Iraqi official, Colonel Faik, who said the Muftis would order the severance of the two fingers used to hold a cigarette for any Iraqis caught smoking. Other reports, from here in Diyala and also in Anbar, allege that smokers are murdered by AQI. Most Iraqis smoke and this particular prohibition appeared to have earned the ire of many locals. After an American unit cleared an apartment complex on the 23rd, LTC Smiley, the battalion commander, reported that residents didn't ask for food and water, but cigarettes. In other parts of Baqubah, people have been celebrating the routing of AQI by lighting up and smoking cigarettes.

Other AQI edicts included beatings for men who refused to grow beards, and corporal punishments for obscene sexual suggestiveness, defined by such "loose" behavior as carrying tomatoes and cucumbers in the same bag. These fatwas were not eagerly embraced by most Iraqi

And I thought the anti-smoking nazis here were getting out of hand!

Michael Yon has been called the Ernie Pyle of this war. His dispatches are always gritty, riveting, thoughtful, and informative, and they're frequently illustrated with wonderful photographs. Michael Yon : Online Magazine is an example of independent journalism at its finest — his work is supported entirely by contributions and sales of books and photos. Drop by there from time to time, and if you think what he's doing is worthwhile, drop him an "attaboy" or kick in a few bucks to support his efforts — it'll be greatly appreciated.

 

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Pearson loses pants suit

Posted by Richard on June 26, 2007

Well, it's nice to know that the legal system isn't totally dysfunctional. Judge Roy Pearson, who sued his dry cleaner for more than $60 million, lost his case. And it only took D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ten days of agonizing deliberation to finally rule in favor of the defendants, Custom Cleaners and its owners, the Chung family.

Marc Fisher at WaPo called Judge Bartnoff's 23-page decision "extremely cautious and detailed" and noted that:

… the judge found that there is "nothing in the law" to support the foundation of Pearson's case, the notion that a sign saying "Satisfaction Guaranteed" is an absolute, unconditional guarantee that the merchant will do anything and everything a customer demands to create satisfaction. To the contrary, Bartnoff said, the law is clear that any claim of an unfair trade practice is limited to what a reasonable person would expect.

Gee, and just when I was beginning to despair that the "reasonable person" rule had become totally passé. 

But it's too soon to celebrate the return of sanity to our courts — if you doubt me, just spend a few minutes reading some of the recent posts at Overlawyered.

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Film botched by Fox

Posted by Richard on June 26, 2007

I had high hopes for Muslims Against Jihad, Martyn Burke's second documentary about moderate Muslims standing up against the radical Islamists. I was rather disappointed, and I blame Fox News. The film's continuity and impact were undermined by the many breaks and awkward edits, E.D. Hill's annoyingly hyperbolic commentary, and her relentless focus on PBS instead of the film during the interview segments with Burke and Frank Gaffney. Overall, it seemed more like Fox Against PBS than Muslims Against Jihad.

The film had some good segments, and even the interview had a few interesting moments. Chief among the latter was Burke recounting the meeting with a PBS vice president who wanted him to fire Gaffney for being a conservative and who asked Burke incredulously, "Don't you check into the politics of the people you work with?" Burke said he replied, "No. No, I do not. I check into their journalistic integrity." 

I suppose I'm not really surprised, but it's an outrage that a high-ranking executive at the taxpayer-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting believes that of course producers should "check into the politics of people."

As for Burke's work, I'd like to see Muslims Against Jihad uncut and uninterrupted. And I still have high hopes for the first of the two documentaries, Islam vs. Islamists, which may finally be shown by individual PBS stations (probably at 3 AM). It got a glowing review from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Roger L. Simon, who knows a little something about good film-making. Simon especially liked that the film is not didactic or propagandistic, but "riveting and creatively made."

Time to start bugging the local PBS affiliates to show Islam vs. Islamists. I suppose I have to send them a check to get their attention, huh?

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Brigitte Gabriel in Colorado

Posted by Richard on June 23, 2007

Brigitte Gabriel, founder of American Congress for Truth and author of Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America, is in Loveland, Colorado this weekend. Gabriel will be speaking at the Resurrection Fellowship Church in Loveland this evening (Saturday) at 6:00 PM and Sunday at 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM.

Gabriel grew up in Lebanon in a Maronite Christian community. During Lebanon's civil war, she spent seven years of her childhood in a bomb shelter and saw most of her friends killed by the Islamofascists. She speaks with passion and conviction about the Islamofascist war against Christians, Jews, secularists, and other infidels, and the threat it poses to freedom, democracy, and Western Civilization. If you're in the Loveland area, don't miss this opportunity to see her. 

The services are open to the public, and no tickets are required. There will be a book signing after each service. The address is:

Resurrection Fellowship
6502 Crossroads Boulevard
Loveland, CO 80538
970-667-5479 

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Must-see TV: Muslims Against Jihad

Posted by Richard on June 23, 2007

Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center is a documentary about moderate Muslims and the intimidation and threats they're subjected to by the radical Islamists. It was made by Canadian documentary filmmaker Martyn Burke, with a $700,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, for the 11-part PBS series America at the Crossroads. But PBS removed the film from the series because it was "alarmist" and not fair to the radical Islamists. 

Read this interview with Burke, who's certainly not a raving neo-con, for the remarkable story. The film's critics at PBS and its D.C. affiliate, WETA, argued that the moderate Muslims in the film weren't "true" Muslims because they believed in democracy and were "Westernized" — the anti-democratic, sharia-promoting Islamists were the truer representatives of Islam and weren't treated fairly in the film! They also demanded that Burke fire co-producers Frank Gaffney and Alex Alexiev because they're conservatives.

Alyssa Lappen posted some interesting details at American Thinker last month about the folks at WETA (which produced the Crossroads series) who nixed Burke's work. One of the five-member committee that killed the documentary is associated with the Nation of Islam. Another is Crossroads producer Leo Eaton, whose father, Charles Eaton, a.k.a. Hassan Abdul Hakeem, is a Muslim convert with numerous ties to radical clerics. 

You can't see the original Islam vs. Islamists yet, although PBS has relented just a bit and will allow the Oregon PBS to show it and make it available to other PBS stations. But tonight Sunday night, the Fox News Channel is airing Burke's companion/spinoff documentary, Muslims Against Jihad. Tune in, Tivo, or fire up the DVR or VCR. It's on at 9 PM Eastern (that's 7 Mountain) and again Sunday morning at 3 AM Eastern.

UPDATE: Fox News rescheduled Muslims Against Jihad for Sunday night at 9 PM so they could give Geraldo and a gaggle of shyster "criminal justice consultants" an extra hour to blather about the breaking news in this week's Crime of the Century. Sheesh.

UPDATE 2: I was disappointed, and I know who to blame: Film botched by Fox

 

Muslims Against Jihad

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Cooking for engineers

Posted by Richard on June 20, 2007

This past weekend, I bought some fresh Copper River salmon and was searching for an interesting recipe. I ran across this one. I didn't use it (decided just to bake it with a little dill, pepper, and butter on top; delicious), but I've bookmarked the Cooking for Engineers site.

If you're an engineer, or think like an engineer (all analytical and such), and you like to cook, this is the site for you. The recipes I've looked at sound good and are very clearly presented, with lots of pictures. There are also lots of articles with thorough descriptions of various cooking techniques, kitchen equipment, ingredients, etc. Check it out.

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CatCam

Posted by Richard on June 20, 2007

Cats live longer, healthier lives if kept indoors, and you really shouldn't let your cat roam free. But if you're one of the many cat owners who does, do you ever wonder where your cat goes and what he does on a typical day? Jürgen Perthold did, and being an engineer type with a tendency to pursue "crazy" ideas, he did something about it. He invented the CatCam™.

Perthold's cat, Mr. Lee, wears the CatCam around his neck on his outings. A controller added by Perthold periodically snaps a picture. When Mr. Lee returns home, Perthold downloads the pictures. Check them out, they're pretty amazing.

If you want to try this with your cat, Perthold is offering kits and considering making complete CatCams. 

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Happy birthday, Sir Paul!

Posted by Richard on June 18, 2007

"When I'm 64" is going to have to be retired from the playlist. Or may a lyric rewrite is in order: "When I was 64"? James Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, England, 65 years ago today. He looks and sounds pretty good for an old geezer, and with the new album high on the charts, is apparently nowhere near retirement.

McCartney still has lots of great melodies in him. "Memory Almost Full" is getting rave reviews, and what I've heard of it sounds terrific. Talk about great melodies — here's the single "Ever Present Past" for your listening pleasure:

And here's the obligatory "Birthday" for Sir Paul's birthday:

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Democrats declare another failure

Posted by Richard on June 16, 2007

The other day, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi declared the Iraq "surge" a failure even before the troop buildup was complete. Harvey at IMAO came up with the perfect response — a classic IMAO parody entitled "America's Corn Crop a 'Failure', Top Democrats Tell Bush":

WASHINGTON (AP) – Top US congressional Democrats bluntly told President George W. Bush Wednesday that American farmers' spring planting "surge" policy was a failure.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over this year's corn crop by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

"As many had forseen [sic], the springtime planting of seed corn has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.

"The increase in seeds in the ground has yet to produce a single edible ear of corn so far this year.

"Far from fulfilling its promise of putting steaming, buttery ears on every table, this crazy planting scheme has done nothing so far but cost this country's farmers most of last year's profits, as well as causing them to spend all their time coddling these high-maintenance vegetables.

"Clearing the land, plowing, weeding, fertilizing, irrigating, spreading pesticides and herbicides – not to mention the over 1000 farmers that have lost their lives in unnecessary tractor deaths so far this year – when will the madness end?

"And what do we have to show for it? It's already mid-June and not a single plant has borne fruit. In fact, if these trends continue, it's safe to predict a nation-wide corn famine that will bring this country to its knees."

Read the whole thing, including comments. I especially liked "The field was happier before it was plowed!" 

On a more serious note: Reid and Pelosi aren't the only Democrats who have something to say about the situation in Iraq. Sen. Joe Lieberman actually went to Iraq to assess the situation in Iraq, and I strongly encourage you to read his analysis.

 

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When squirrels attack

Posted by Richard on June 15, 2007

Here in Denver, the phrase "squirrel problem" has lately referred to dead ones, killed by bubonic plague. At least a couple of dozen dead squirrels that tested positive for plague have been found in city parks, along with at least one cat and a monkey at the Denver Zoo.

The latter two made some of us higher primates a bit nervous, suggesting that the virulent disease was getting closer to our place in the food chain. But I don't think too many people feel threatened by squirrels. It's not as if they're rabid and likely to attack us. Like they do in Germany

An aggressive squirrel went on the rampage in southern Germany on Tuesday, injuring three people. But a 72-year-old pensioner finally put a stop to the mayhem, killing the creature stone dead with his crutch. Now the dead animal is being examined for rabies.

It was not the first incident of squirrel invasions in Germany. Just last year a family of raucous squirrels stormed (more…) an elderly couple's home in Germany, triggering an elaborate 90-minute fire brigade operation. But, although the squirrels didn't go without a fight, no one was injured in that incident.

Craig Ferguson did a great riff about the German attack squirrel last night (the video may be available later on this page under "Show and Tell"). He opined that this is something really frightening — squirrels that are not just psychotic, but also German. It won't be long, Ferguson warned, before they gather together and start marching, marching across Europe. French squirrels, he said, have already surrendered.

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Pelosi celebrates Flag Day

Posted by Richard on June 14, 2007

The buildup of 30,000 additional combat troops in Iraq known as the "surge" will be complete tomorrow, and the military said last week that "it could take up to two months for the newly arrived reinforcements to be fully effective." There are certainly signs of improvement, but it would be premature to declare the surge a success.

For the Democrats, however, it's never too early to declare it a failure, and that's just what Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi did yesterday. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that this is how Nancy Pelosi celebrated Flag Day today: 

Pelosi waves white flag

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Happy birthday, Army!

Posted by Richard on June 14, 2007

Today is the 232nd birthday of the United States Army:

 U.S. Army 232nd birthday coin

Since its birth on 14 June 1775—over a year before the Declaration of Independence—the United States Army has played a vital role in the growth and development of our Nation. Soldiers have fought more than 10 wars, from the American Revolution through the Cold War, the Gulf War, to the current War on Terrorism. This 232nd Birthday is a recognition of The Army's history, traditions, and service to the Nation, a Call To Duty, 232 Years of Service to Our Nation.

Today is also Flag Day. I hope you remembered to fly your flag today.

 American flag waving

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Principled government

Posted by Richard on June 13, 2007

The cynics declare "principled government" an oxymoron, like "military intelligence" and "congressional ethics." It sure looks that way, doesn't it? But we don't abandon the quest for perfection just because it's rarely or never achieved. We resign ourselves to the fact that the code we write will contain bugs, the documents we edit will have typos, and some of the products we manufacture will be defective. We work to eliminate all the flaws, but accept the fact that there will always be some.

So, let's not give up on the idea of principled government — let's just acknowledge that our institutions, like ourselves, are imperfect, and the best we can hope for is to move toward a more principled government. And perhaps cheerily conclude that finding and fixing bugs is easy when they're plentiful!

So, now that you have the proper perspective, go visit the new Carnival of Principled Government! This is the seventh, and Dana may have been a day late, but she has nothing to apologize for — she's put together another fine carnival. 

 

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“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Posted by Richard on June 12, 2007

Twenty years ago today, the Great Communicator stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and delivered one of the most important speeches of the 20th century. Here's a film clip from YouTube and an excerpt from the speech transcript at the Reagan Foundation:

Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America. I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East. To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]

Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe. From the Baltic, south, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers. Farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall. But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same–still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state. Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world. Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.

In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the Wirtschaftswunder. Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty–that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. The German leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. From 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind–too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

PowerLine has speechwriter Peter Robinson's wonderful story of Ingeborg Elz, who gave him the idea for the defining moment of the speech, and of the struggle over the speech. Check it out.

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