Big Brother's Traffic Cam

Cameras, they're everywhere. In an interesting development, it appears that the l'amour of an unfaithful wife was caught driving the cuckold's car through a red light:

One marriage appeared to have ended when a man showed up to dispute a ticket that was mailed to his home, said Mark Escalante, a Hawthorne motorcycle officer who reviews red light violations. The driver turned out to be somebody with whom the man's wife was having an affair, Escalante said.

Interesting statistic: 1,414 tickets in a month, with 200 more on the way. That comes out to $143,646 gross revenue to RedFlex, the contractor that runs the camera, and $80,000 to $96,000 for the city of Hawthorne.

For the record, I don't mind traffic cameras too much, so long as the cameras are used to deter traffic violations, not to catch people in a poorly designed intersection.

A weeks worth of entries in one day

Well, not really, but I will be out of town on holiday the rest of this week so Rob will no doubt hold the fort with our daily postings.

Today Iraqi sovereignty returned. Two days ahead of schedule. Now if the terrorists attack on the 30th like many expect or expected, then they will be attacking the Republic of Iraq, not the US occupation of Iraq. So much for the story we went to war for Iraqi oil, we (the US) doesn't have any say and even the military is now there only at the request of the Iraqi Government. If they order us to leave, we will leave. We have been in Germany since 1945 and a guest of Germany since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in (I think) 1949. They still don't want us to leave. And for the same reason Congress doesn't want the military to close any bases in a members district, a base provides a lot of economic activity for the community it is located in.

Brendan I. Koerner at Wired Magazine has an interesting story about tar sands and how the sands in Alberta (in Canada for those who are geographically challenged) hold up to 1.3 trillion barrels of oil. Yes you read that right, one trillion three hundred billion. That is more oil then in the entire Persian Gulf. The problem is extracting it. At this time only about 300 billion barrels are recoverable and being tar sands its heavy oil and expensive to get out. It costs about $10.00 a barrel to get a barrel of tar sand while it only costs about $2.50 to get a barrel of Saudi crude. Factor in shipping and security brings the costs closer but Saudi crude is still cheaper. As long as oil is north of $15.00 a barrel, Canada could become a major producer of crude.

Finally, Larry Eastland over a OpinionJournal.com has an interesting article with lots of statistics about abortion and how it cost the Democrats the 2000 election and will continue to hurt the Democrats for years to come. Not because the nation is overwhelmingly against abortion, but because those who are most likely to have abortions (liberals) have fewer offspring to become the next generation of voters. While I think he is making too much of this now, it is interesting.

CPT Patti is still worth reading and has great links to news stories. There are some great stories about the 1st Armored Division in the news now. Take a look.

Have a good and SAFE 4th of July and will see you back next week.

The Brownshirts are Here

And aparently, they belong to Kerry and MoveOn.org. Richard Streeter watches Fahrenheit 9/11, comes out of the theater and is assulted after making a comment about Kerry and Bush.

[MoveOn.org] was handing out leaflets on the importance of the film. Streeter voiced his view on the movie, "I made the comment, apples and oranges -- Kerry, Bush -- one's no better than the other. You really ain't got much of a choice. This guy comes up to me and says, 'Oh yeah?' " Streeter was then spat on by the same man.

He attempted to call police to report the incident when he was told not to, "A guy standing next to him said why don't you drop it. I said, 'No, I'm calling the police. I'm exercising my right as a citizen, I've been assaulted.' "

But the horror kept on growing for Streeter as he walked to his car on the phone with police, "This guy turns, and totally by surprise takes his hand and bam! It was a big guy. Shoved me onto the ground, I hit my head." A police report has been filed.

Now there's a way to get votes, intimidate some people.

The al Qaeda decade: 1990-1999

The Washington Times notes that:

[9/11 c]ommission members, including a Democrat and two Republicans, quickly came to the administration's defense by saying there had been such [al Qaeda to Iraqi] contacts.

And continues to also note that the previous administration also cited an Iraqi terrorist connection [emphasis mine]:

In fact, during President Clinton's eight years in office, there were at least two official pronouncements of an alarming alliance between Baghdad and al Qaeda. One came from William S. Cohen, Mr. Clinton's defense secretary. He cited an al Qaeda-Baghdad link to justify the bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan.

...

[A November 4, 1998 Justice Deparment] indictment said: "Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group Hezbollah for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq."

Shortly after the embassy bombings, Mr. Clinton ordered air strikes on al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and on the Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan.

To justify the Sudanese plant as a target, Clinton aides said it was involved in the production of deadly VX nerve gas.

In other words, if the article is to be believed, President Clinton's administration in 1998 stated that Saddam was a hot bed of terrorist activity and developed weapons of mass destruction. These are the EXACT same charges current President Bush leveled against Iraq in 2002. Question: What's different about what was said in 1998 versus what was said in 2002? Answer: The political affiliation of the man sitting in the Oval Office.

Just a reminder to everybody to not listen to the media and/or the hype of those with a political agenda. The fact remains: Saddam supported terrorism and WMDs as tools in his arsenel of power.

News today

I was looking for things to write about or at least news stories to link too, but didn't find much. However, going over to CPT Patti and found there were a LOT of interesting stories and of course Tim has good comments to go along with them.

Take a few minutes and go read what he posted.

Someone is getting desperate

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents set off car bombs and seized police stations Thursday in a six-city offensive aimed at creating chaos ahead of next week's handover of power to a new Iraqi government. U.S. and Iraqi forces took back control in heavy fighting that killed more than 100 people and wounded about 320.

Don't get me wrong, this is a major attack and a set back for those who want peace. However, I am also wondering if this is also a last gasp from the bad guys who know they are on their way out. Like the Tet (sp) offensive, which the media reported as a US and South Vietnamese defeat, that basically destroyed the Viet-Cong as a military and political force, could this be the last attempt of the bad guys to inflict damage and their hope to win the propaganda war while going down to military defeat? I do hope so.

The hand over to Iraq on June 30 will not end the violence but will change the nature of the situation. Now the bad guys will be targeting the Iaqi government and not the occupiers. If the government has support (and I think it will and does), the bad guys will find themselves getting very lonely.

Their Kingdom of Allah

Who are we dealing with? The politically correct call them radical Islamists, some call them Islamofacists, the people call them terrorists, the press calls them militants, but what they are are terms for the enemy. Let us not forget that.

Whatever you call them, they have threatened a stable and (reasonably) democratic government in Iraq by threatening the Iraqi premier today.

Throughout their rantings and recent actions, they have shown themselves to be people who do not value human life, treating innocents as disposable tools in their drive for domination: Daniel Pearl, Nicholas Berg, Paul Johnson, Kim Sun-il. They violently ripped these four lives apart and discarded their bodies without so much of a care or thought as one puts into tossing away a disposable lighter.

They have shown themselves to be people who do not value anything but power for themselves, trying to overthrow governments so that they will be in control. For them, they know nothing else but force to get their way and death to those who would disagree.

Them:

'We will carry on our jihad against the Western infidel and the Arab apostate until Islamic rule is back on Earth,' the voice said.

They want to rule you and I with a movement with vast commonalities with the early Crusades, but this time it's in reverse.

And this we must defend against.

The Liberals' Creed

By Robert Alt

This is very interesting to read. Print it out and put it on your refrigerator to remind yourself when you hear the comments, its all about their Creed.

Hat tip CPT Patti on June 22

Study: "A Measure of Media Bias"

Drudge links because the report cites Drudge as being more center than the other media outlets. But, there are significant conclusions drawn by the authors, Tim Groseclose of UCLA and Stanford (Go Bruins!) and Jeff Milyo of the University of Chicago:

Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News' Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress. Moreover, by one of our measures all but three of these media outlets (Special Report, the Drudge Report, and ABC's World News Tonight) were closer to the average Democrat in Congress than to the median member of the House of Representatives. One of our measures found that the Drudge Report is the most centrist of all media outlets in our sample. Our other measure found that Fox News' Special Report is the most centrist. These findings refer strictly to the news stories of the outlets.

Wow. These guys went out and performed a study that seems to count the citations within articles made by conservative or liberal think tanks from January 1993 to December 2002 (10 years). Their methodology appears to be pretty sound to me, down to ensuring that the research assistants were from across the liberal and conservative spectrum.

Other key grafs:

One of the most curious and surprising statistics in all of American politics is that an overwhelming number of journalists are liberal. For instance, Elaine Povich (1996) reports that only seven percent of all Washington correspondents voted for George Bush in 1992, compared to 37 percent of the American public.
...
These statistics suggest that journalists, as a group, are more liberal than almost any congressional district in the country. For instance, in the Ninth California district, which includes Berkeley, twelve percent voted for Bush, nearly double the rate of journalists.

Get that? BERKELEY'S congressional district is more conservative than the media. Did that sink in? (It hasn't quite registered with me yet) Say it again with me:

BERKELEY's congressional district is more conservative than the media.

They conclude by calling Franken. . .frankly. . .a liar:

The mainstream media does not have a liberal bias. . . . ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and the rest -- at least try to be fair."

--Al Franken. (2003, xx) Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.

The main conclusion of our paper is that our results simply reject such claims.

Initiative fight for California this fall

There are two constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot in California this fall, either will change the way the primaries are run and how our elected leaders are chosen.

The voter initiative would be an open primary system. All the people running for an office (say a State Assembly election) would be on the ballot and everyone in the district would vote for who they wanted regardless of party. If one person won over 50% of the entire vote in the district, they would automatically win the seat. If no one won a majority of the votes cast, then the top two vote getters would have a run off in the general election. Basically, the general election in a San Francisco Assembly district would not be between the winner of the Republican, Democractic and other parties, but most likely would be between two Democratic members or between a Democratic and Green party member. The political party would be irrelevant. Supporters say this would help moderates win the center instead of hard right and left wing people who win the primary and then do not offer a moderate choice to the general public. The problem with this system is what happened in France. In France the top two winners of the primary for President was Chirac (who won the general election) and a right-wing fascist (in the US, he would have been a KKK member or worse). So even the Socialists whose candidate came in third had to chose between two "right wing" candidates and basically didn't have a choice.

Because the current members of the Assembly don't like the voters initiative, they passed a competing bill that supports the idea of open primaries but keeps the current system of a general election by party in place and puts that in to the California Constitution so future changes to the system will be difficult. The Contra Costa Times has a good article on this.

My own view is not that parties are too strong but that they are too weak. The single district system we have here means too many people are disenfranchised because their political views are not in sync with the majority of the district they live in. We should move to a proportional system so every vote will count and the Parties will have to strive to get the most number of votes in the State, and not worry about drawing safe districts for their members. Its also easier to "throw the bums out" because if party A did a bad job, just vote for party B. (we did this with the recall election remember). And suddenly third parties become viable in California.

Is 2004 a repeat of 1996??

Economically speaking that is.

If the economy is doing as well today as it was in 1996, can Kerry's claim the economy is in the dumps be called a lie? Can we ridicule him for saying something so foolish? Well the Mobile Register seems to think so and it recommends Kerry picks a different topic to talk about so he won't appear to be a fool during the rest of his job interview (called an election).

The unemployment rate now is the same as it was when President Bill Clinton was comfortably re-elected in 1996. The core inflation rate remains low. Gasoline prices have begun to decline again.

In May, industrial production achieved its healthiest performance in nearly six years. And, as The Associated Press reported, "a nationwide survey of business activity showed widespread strength, fresh signs the economy possesses good momentum."

Also, reported the AP, "In a second report, the Fed said economic activity continued to expand across the nation in April and May, with manufacturing, retailing, residential real-estate markets and bank lending activity faring well."

Russian Allies?

Perhaps so. Even in the midst of the geopolitical tug of war between the U.S. and Europe, it appears that Russia supplied intel to the US:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday his government warned Washington that Saddam Hussein's regime was preparing attacks in the United States and its interests abroad - an assertion that appears to bolster President Bush's contention that Iraq was a threat.

Al-Quada or not, Saddam was a threat to the U.S. Period. Remember, Saddam also was behind a plot to assassinate President Bush (the Elder).

UPDATE: Citizen Smash has posted some intel from an active duty officer that takes on two fallacies:

Fallacy #1: Al Qaeda is a large, well-organized Islamic terror group with long arms and deep pockets.

Truth: Al Qaeda is a nebulous network of loosely associated terrorist cells and "free agents." Its main function is to provide training, funding, and operational support to anti-western Islamic terrorists around the globe.

...

Fallacy #2: There was no relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.

...

Truth: Saddam did, in fact, establish a terrorist training camp near Salman Pak, Iraq. . .It has since been confirmed by US military forces on the ground that the facility did exist, and was used for various guerilla, paramilitary, and terrorist training.

And yes, there was an airplane at the camp. Contrary to most reports, it wasn’t a Boeing 707, but a Russian built Tupolev 154. Its presence at Salman Pak was confirmed by a team of UN inspectors in January, 1995. . ."We were told it was for counterterrorist training. We automatically knocked off the word 'counter.'" -- former U.N. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer.

Good reading.

La Raza's Take on the Jew

Apparently, the Jew had it coming to them. The author of an opinion piece on La Raza's website starts off:

Mrs. Sarah Blumenthal almost chocked [sic] on her matzo ball . . .

And then summarizes:

Jews have been antagonizing Christians, Muslims and other peoples for quite some time now and bad feelings towards the group have been increasing to dangerous levels worldwide. In Los Angeles county in California , Jews recently forced the county board of supervisors, through blackmail, to remove a small Christian cross from their official seal, a move that will cost millions of dollars to the already bankrupt county. Now even little kids are expressing bad feelings towards the Jews.

Clearly, their anti-semetic bias comes to the fore, and don't miss a link to an article, "Jews Attack Mexican Heritage in Los Angeles County" that reports on the recent ACLU desire to remove the cross from the Los Angeles County seal. This screed starts out:

Those nefarious Jews are at it again!

When (and WHY?) did La Raza become anti-semetic? Is it just a trait of the radical left? A requirement before they let you into the rallys?

(cap tip to Winds of Change)

One person can make a difference

Ashley Bach at the Seattle Times has a great story on how one person can make a difference.

The call from Nadine Gulit's grandson came in January of last year. From his Army base in upstate New York, Scott Sheaffer looked at the images of anti-war protesters on the news and asked, "Where are you guys?"

Days later, Gulit, her daughter and a couple other people took up the call. They met at a rally near Tacoma and began gathering e-mail addresses.

Over several months, the mailing list grew to a few thousand people and Operation Support Our Troops was born.

If we only listen to the major media (network TV and NY Times/LA Times), we would not know the good things happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we and the soldiers only listened to the major media, one would not know that the majority of the people in the US support the troops and the war. This is an important reason to look at the local papers and local TV news and reading blogs (blatant plug) to get the entire story.

Israel in the news

Two stories about Israel in the news today offer an interesting view on the terror situation there.

Charles Krauthammer at the Washington Post has a column "Israel's Intifada Victory". He goes on to say Israel won by ignoring the conventional wisdom presented by Europe and much of the US "experts" and by not losing.

Krauthammer says terror attacks are down substantially due to Israel's targeting the terrorists leadership (and those that remain are too busy hiding to plan new attacks) and building the West Bank wall which is keeping the suicide bombers out. I agree but also want to add that with the removal of Saddam, Iraq is no longer sending $25,000 to each family of a suicide bomber. No money and fewer people are volunteering to be one. The combination of targeting the leaders, building a wall of separation and drying up the money are the actions that are bringing about the Israeli victory. The other component that is even more important then the other three listed is the will of the Israeli people. They did not buckle or demand peace at any price and have supported their government in its operation against the Intifada. Without their support, Israel could not have targeted the leaders or built the wall. But with the people's support, Israel was able to fight and finish the job. This does not mean peace will break out and everyone will play nice now, but the Palestinian Authority has lost the Intifada by not being able to bring the Israeli people to the point they sue for peace at any price.

The second article is from the ASSOCIATED PRESS on the technology Israel plans on using to patrol the Israel/Gaza border with remote control. This will free up soldiers for more effective work and reduce casualties. If this works, I believe other countries will imitate it because while the initial expense will be high, the long term costs will be lower because one will not need as many people on payroll and machines cannot be bribed as people can.

Democrat follies

Two articles today that shows the DNC needs to have SOMEONE in charge of common sense and look at a calendar once in a while.

Eric Fettman at The New York Post who writes:

The opening night of next month's Democratic convention in Boston is set to feature an emotional party tribute to hometown hero Ted Kennedy, who has served in office longer than every other senator but one.

Guess no one at the Democratic National Committee took a close look at the calendar: That July 26 salute to Teddy just happens to coincide with . . . the 35th anniversary of Chappaquiddick.

Now while the Democrats might think the Republicans would bring up Chappaquiddick anyway, honoring Teddy on the 35th anniversary of the accident is just in poor taste and asking for the country to remember the character of Kerry's mentor, when Kerry is running on a platform of "character counts".

The Florida Times is asking the Democrats to explain their opposition on the war in Iraq while in the same breath supporting the war in Yugoslavia.

You'd think someone at the DNC would at least be aware of these issues (before they are raised in the press) and be ready to counter them, but they don't. This is not helping their man or their platform in the election.

Allah Is In The House, For Now

Allah is back, for a bit at least. It appears that he and quite a few others are noticing Andrew Sullivan's recent waving on the Bush candidacy--especially concerning Sullivan's interview in the Advocate, a magazine aimed at the gay community. A controversy is arising in that Sullivann pretty much says that he's a Kerry man in the interview, but still maintains that he's still deciding on his very popular blog. The bone of contention is that Sullivan is waiting ona formal announcement on the blog in order to acheive maximum effect for the upcoming election. Allah summarizes the arguments and then provides the following quote from Rodger L. Simon, worth repeating here:

I'm backing Bush consistently for just one reason... even though I am WAY to the left of Andrew on many issues, maybe even including Gay Rights... which has never been even remotely refuted for me -- If John Kerry is elected in November, it will be interpreted by the world as such a great repudiation of the WoT it will make the electoral defeat in Spain seem like a student council election in Iowa. If Andrew Sullivan and others are prepared for the results of that, so be it. I'm not.

It appears that the "deal breaker" issue, the Federal Marriage Admendment (FMA), was too much for Sullivan. I suppose, then in the end, the War on Terror is NOT the top priority now, rather, the top priority is winning the cultural war being waged over homosexuality. It would also appear that, according to Sullivan, the war isn't against Islamofacistism, but against conservative Christiandom.

Wrong.

Graduation Time

Graduation time is here again. Normally this season comes and goes and it doesn't effect me at all. I'm not in school anymore and neither are my friends and co-workers.

Well so far this season I've attended two and have another one tonight (Thursday 6/17/04). The first was for a friend who graduated from Talbot with a Masters degree. The second was last night, my nephew graduated from High School. It was interesting to see the kids walk down the track. Some kids were excited and I could see it on their face and how they walked. Some were bored and it showed, especially in how they walked. And others had a face and walk that denoted fear. I think the fear was the fear of tripping or falling and making the event something no one would forget, no matter how much the person wanted too. Tonight my niece is graduating from Junior High. It will be interesting to see the expressions these younger kids have and how they walk.

I know MJ, Mr. Senator, and he's no MJ.

Yes, not much posting about the Lakers. . .having embarassed themselves with a terrible, terrible performance in the Finals. Well, that being said, time to start spreading the blame, eh? Bill Simmons thinks that Kobe just isn't great enough.

"With that said, MJ had to be delighted that Kobe struggled so much against the Pistons. Young MJ would have been too physical off the dribble for Prince. Older Wiser MJ would have brought Prince down low, posted him up and introduced him to the fallaway and the drop-step. Either version of MJ would have attacked the basket if the jumpers weren't falling. And if his team was having so much trouble rebounding, do you think MJ would have gone down low and grabbed a few boards? Me, too.

Put it this way: Either Kobe's bum shoulder was more banged up than anyone realized, or his stock dropped BIG TIME in this series. No way MJ goes that quietly in his prime. No way MJ launches that many ghastly shots. No way MJ wastes a 36-20 effort from Shaq. No way MJ stands around as the Pistons keep grabbing offensive rebounds. It just wouldn't happen. I think we can put a moratorium on the 'Kobe vs. MJ' stuff for awhile.

Which started to get me to thinking. Maybe Kobe may not be at the level of MJ. Maybe Kobe is as good at T-Mac, but no better. Jordan was a great player and great players not only score a lot and make spetacular dunks, but they make all the others on their team better. Kobe didn't do or wasn't able to do that throughout the Finals.

Cry Foul!

Well, not exactly a shining moment for ex-youth pastors down in Arlington Texas.

A man sitting behind Nick O'Brien at a Texas Rangers baseball game Sunday knocked the boy against the seats as he dived to get a foul ball. Fans started chanting "Give him the ball!" but the man wouldn't give it up.

...

Video shows Nick was standing up as the man dived across the boy's seat to grab the ball at Nick's feet. The man's leg strikes the boy, and the boy is jostled a second time as the man stands up with the ball and appears to exchange words with the mother.


Nick wasn't hurt, but fan outrage mushroomed, and even Rangers announcer Tom Grieve voiced his disapproval on TV, calling the man "the biggest jerk in this park." The man and a woman with him left before the game was over.

...

The man who took the foul ball has not responded publicly to the criticism, but The Dallas Morning News identified him as Matt Starr, a married, 28-year-old landscaper and former youth minister. Starr did not immediately return a telephone message left by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Boy, THANKS a lot, Matt. You've just capsized a boatload of credibility from youth pastors everywhere (then again, it doesn't specify if Mr. Starr was in an official capacity or just a former Sunday School teacher). I checked the website of the church cited in the article, no mention of Mr. Starr there.

Thankfully, the Rangers did the 4-year old up right.

When Will the Hurting Stop??

He just keeps singing, the phenomena just won't die. Say it with me:

William Hung is now on world tour.

Key statistic: 380,000 people bought his first album.

Interesting Poll

This is copied from The Volokh Conspiracy, its the last entry for Monday June 14 and I do not know how to have a link go to a certain part of a web page.

Interesting recent poll:From Pollingreport.com:

ABC News PrimeTime Poll. Feb. 6-10, 2004. N=1,011 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3. Fieldwork by ICR.

"I'm going to ask about a few stories in the Bible. [See below.] Do you think that's literally true, meaning it happened that way word-for-word; or do you think it's meant as a lesson, but not to be taken literally?"

Literally True Not Literally True No Opinion

"The story of Noah and the ark in which it rained for 40 days and nights, the entire world was flooded, and only Noah, his family and the animals on their ark survived."
60% Literally True
33% Not Literally True
07% No Opinion

"The creation story in which the world was created in six days."
61% Literally True
30% Not Literally True
08% No Opinion

"The story about Moses parting the Red Sea so the Jews could escape from Egypt."
64% Literally True
28% Not Literally True
08% No Opinion

"On another subject, do you think all Jews today bear responsibility for the death of Jesus, or not?"
08% Yes
80% No
12% No Opinion

Its interesting how the majority of the US still sees the Bible as true at least in surveys, now all we need is for folks to live like they say they believe.

Here is how the media would cover D-Day today

John Carlson at the King County Journal

Every day I receive letters from soldiers in Iraq reporting many, many positive things that people don't hear about because the national news media only seems to spotlight what's going wrong. Contrast that with the commemoration last week of the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy to drive fascism from Europe. I wonder how the media would cover D-Day if it happened today instead of six decades ago. Probably something like this....

Carlson goes on to give an interesting take on what certain public figures would say if the D-Day invasion took place today. The medias focus on what went wrong instead of looking at what went right is the biggest difference between the media during WW2 and today. I wonder what would have to happen for the US media to act like they are Americans first and reporters second instead of reporters first and Americans second? A terrorist attack on the NY Times building? The terrorist capturing a number of reporters and executing them on film? I hope not but am curious what if anything would tip the scales.

Back from Afghanistan

Yesterday, Sunday, I saw a friend who had been in Afghanistan for three months as part of the US military operations there. It was good to see him and have a chance to talk about his experience there. It was similar to a number of the mil-blogs about operations there. Things are not perfect, but are generally much better then the doom and gloom one hears on the TV and in the newspaper.

Welcome back sir, and thank you for the work you did over there.

Andrew

They Buried My President Today

Reagan was President during the formative years of my life: junior high, high school and college. I remember the bullet (I was in Jr. High English class), I remember the thumbs up afterward, I remember the cry ("Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall"), I remember the gaffes ("the bombs start dropping in five minutes"), I remember the scandals (Iran-Contra).

For the years to come, for better for for worse, he will be the standard by which I measure future would be presidents, not because he was a flawless human (he wasn't) but because he was at the helm when I came of an age where I could understand such things. So far, he stands as the best of the men who held that office during my memory (Ford, Carter, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr.).

Farewell, President Reagan.

Poll the Polls

Kaus takes on the LATs recent poll that shows Kerry ahead of Bush by six points. Interesting takes, VERY interesting, for example, Kaus asks:

Can Bush really be losing nationally by 6 points and still be winning Missouri by 11 points? Seems unlikely. One possible explanation: The Times apparently used a different telephoning outfit to conduct the state-by-state polls than it used for the national poll. Might not something in the different survey techniques of the two firms have skewed the results in two directions? "I don't know. I can't answer that. That's a legitimate question," said [Susan Pinkus, LATs polling director]. If there is a difference in the results of the two survey techniques--even using the exact same questions--then which technique is more accurate? Maybe the Times' technique really does skew results to the left, no? (That would explain a lot!) Or its subcontractor's technique might skew results to the right.

Kaus also cites the LATs earlier polling mischief during the Gray Davis recall fiasco. And while you're at Slate, you might as well check out the most "Unlikely Hero" on 9/11: an accountant who put on his old Marine BDUs, drove to the WTC rubble in his Porsche from Conneticut and helped save two of the last three survivors found.

No Means No

And don't keep asking:

Kerry has asked McCain as recently as late last month to consider becoming his running mate, but the Arizona senator said he's not interested.

It is notable, however, how Kerry would want a conservative as a running mate. That is NOT a bad idea, from my perspective. It wouldn't win my vote, but it certainly could indicate better working relationships between Dems and Republicans. . .then again, cynic as I am, I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Identity Risk

Well, my alma mater is not only good at trying to suck me dry of my money, but they're also good at allowing others to do the same. UCLA loses two laptops: one with blood donor information including social security numbers and one with undisclosed personal information from the financial office. <sarcasm>Good thing it's password protected.</sarcasm>

The question today is:

WHAT IS MY PERSONAL INFORMATION DOING ON SOMEBODY'S LAPTOP?

Iraqi Progress

I'd post excerpts, but it would be too volumnous. Suffice to say that LTC Tim over at CPT Patti gathers, excerpts and summarizes a lot of news on the Iraqi handover progress. Things from ATC handoff from the Aussies, to Baghdad talk radio, to police/coalition interactions during firefights (the coalition is making the police take on a greater load). Check it out.

And because it bears repeating, check out an excerpt from the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, signed by former President Clinton into law:

It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime.

To the defeatists who want America out of Iraq: Did we just take a memory break? Your good ol' boy, Clinton, got over on Saddam as much as Dub. The only difference? One administration acted. One didn't.

Good stuff, Tim!

Saddam's HMO

Just a brief reminder that in Saddam's Iraq, deserters had their ears taken off. At least now there are steps to right those wrongs. In the free world, I think deserters are just sentenced to prison.

Smash Goes Undercover

To find out who the lefties are. . .it appears that some of them teach high school. Our intrepid Smash discovers a speaker at a communist rally is a history teacher that supports the military opposition of the current Iraqi government.

[Smash:] "So, do you try to get your students involved in activism?"

[Revolutionary Teacher:] "Oh, definitely! I teach the required World History course, but I also teach an elective course on Revolutionary History. Those students are really receptive to new ideas. We cover the Russian Revolution, Chinese Revolution, French Revolution, Mexican Revolution…"

[S:] "What about the American Revolution?"

"Oh, they cover that in US History," she replied, dismissively. "Hey, you should read this article in the Socialist Worker on this so-called turnover of sovereignty in Iraq." She opened the newspaper, pointing to an article titled "What the US has in store for Iraq."

Boy, I really want to send my kids to a public school, I really do. But if they're going to be spending six hours being indoctrinated by teachers such as her, I'm wouldn't be terribly happy.

Things like this make it so tempting to put the kids into private education, but no, that's not the right answer. Sooner or later, the kids are going to have to deal with yahoos like this teacher in life, and it really is incumbant on the parents to prepare them for it.

Kooooooobeeeeee!

Was that a clutch three or what? 0.4 is a distant memory now. Say what you will, but the Playoffs are heart attack grade. Ugh. Not sure if my stomach can take much more than this. Round three is tomorrow in Detroit and the Lakers must win the next one in Detroit and take two of three there or they won't be world champions. Detroit is proving to be much tougher than initially anticipated.

Rall Sends Ronnie to Hell

So Rall gets off yesterday. Today, he defends his:

. . .'crispy brown' comment and said it was made 'to get people to understand that the right is attempting to canonize this guy, and it is ridiculous. If there is a hell, this guy is in it.'

Beautiful. Just beautiful. I should hope that not everybody wants to speak ill of the dead, but then again, there is Morrissey jonseying for some attention, Hitchens taking a few more pot shots, Palast working the Gipper over and the feminist left and gay factions likely popping campaign this week. Compassion, indeed.

Rall is the same guy who described Pat Tillman as a:

cog in a low-rent occupation army that shot more innocent civilians than terrorists to prop up puppet rulers and exploit gas and oil resources.

Nice. When I'm dead, if he's still around I'd like Rall to do my eulogy as well. Maybe he can say equally nice things about me. Maybe something along the lines of:

"Here lies a Carpetblogger who, turning from the truth towards the religious right extremists during college, probably means that he's working up a good tan down there in Hell, where he belongs. It's too bad he was duped by the military-industrial-religious-right-NRA complex into voting for Republicans and writing politically conservative blog entries that really meant nothing to anybody. In the end he was just a useful cog for the Halliburton-Raytheon-Mobil junta. Bush KNEW!

You see? I can be a leftie too!

LA Country Supervisors who do they fear?

Troy Anderson at the LA Daily News

The Los Angeles County Supervisors decided to uphold their previous decision to remove the cross from the LA County seal despite strong public opposition.

It seems the Supervisors fear the ACLU more then the voters. It will be interesting to see if the voters either decide to restore the original seal by referendum or replace the three Supervisors who bowed to the ACLU or both.

There are reasons politicians do not like voter initiatives. The people can go around them when they make a foolish mistake.

And if Supervisors feel they must remove the cross from the Seal, why will they not remove the pagan Roman goddess at the same time? If they don't do that, it will show the Supervisors only act in fear the ACLU and are did not believe the original seal violated the law.

South Korean Defense - a response

I could have put my reply in the comments section, but since very few comments are left, and those who visit may not click on it, thought I would make a new post to state my reply.

I agree with Rob and the Fox News poll that we should pull a third of our troops from South Korea. However, I disagree with Rob that our presence is only a symbolic gesture.

We have a large number of troops in Korea and on the front line for the same reason we have a large number of troops in Germany on the front lines. Europe and South Korea know that defense treaties are not worth the paper they are written on. Nations may promise to come to the aid of other nations, but as the UK and France proved in the 1930s and US proved in the 1970s, if its not in the interest of the nation providing the men and material to come to the defense of the attacked country, then they won't come or won't try to come until its too late.

We have troops in South Korea and in Germany so if North Korea or the old Soviet Union attacked, the US would suffer hundreds if not thousands of casualties and would be forced to fight with all our might to defend these places.

Now we are looking to move our troops out of Germany because there isn't a Soviet Union any more and our troops would be more useful either in Poland or back in the US (more deployable).

In South Korea, by moving the US troops off the front line and cutting down their number, the hope is they will not be a pawn in the US - North Korea nuclear standoff. The NK won't be able to say "give us oil or food or we will kill your troops". They may lose the war, but the loss of lots of US troops when some supplies would keep them alive is not a way for politicians to stay in office.

Reducing the number of troops but prepositioning more equipment and moving it farther south, out of the range of the NK guns, will remove the blackmail from the NK cards and by leaving the troops in country the US is still providing the trip wire to come to the defense of South Korea.

While North Korea may think (wishfully) it could win a war against South Korea, they know they cannot win against the South and the US. That is why we need to keep a significant number of troops there. Their presence increases the peace and their withdrawal would increase the chance of war.

As to the protests, a minority can make the news and give the impression they represent the majority. Moving the US military out of Seoul and reducing their number will reduce the friction between the US and citizens of South Korea. The rest is just politics as usual.

South Korean Defense

A recent poll taken by visitors to the Fox News website asks the question if it is a good idea if America should remove a third of its existing troops from South Korea. 83% said yes it's good because "we need those troops elsewhere" and 9% said that it's bad because it "endangers South Koreans".

Well, it's a good idea, but not because we need the troops. South Korea is more than capable of building its own defense, and it has since the 50s. The American presence is nothing more than a symbolic gesture, a symbol that has grown heavy on some segments of the Korean population, as evidenced by their continued protests for the American departure. I say it's time that we let Korea pay for Korea's defense.

History can be inconvenient can't it

Dinesh D'Souza at the New York Post

WRITING on Ronald Reagan's achievements in Newsweek, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. notes, "Reagan's admirers contend that his costly re-armament program caused the Soviet collapse. Maybe so; but surely the thing that did in the Russians was that time had proved communism an economic, political and moral disaster."

Funny: Here's Schlesinger in 1982, observing that "Those in the United States who think the Soviet Union is on the verge of economic and social collapse" are "wishful thinkers who are only kidding themselves."

Many historians and pundits have refused to credit Ronald Reagan's policies for helping to bring about the Cold War victory, blaming communism's chronic economic problems. Yet, like Scheslinger, they failed to describe it as inevitable while Reagan was actually in office.

I guess those who didn't like Reagan while he was in office, don't want to have to eat crow and admit his accomplishments. That doesn't mean Reagan was perfect or that they even agreed with his positions, but they should have the honesty to give credit where credit is due. Anything else is mean spirited and shows them to be sore losers. It makes them appear to be spoiled children who are not to be taken seriously, which I am sure is not how they want to come across to the country.

Has this ever worked???

From BBC News

"Zimbabwe to nationalise all land"

In the course of human history, has there EVER been a case or time when the government nationalizes all the land and leases it out to people it has vetted that has not lead to starvation, oppression and dictatorship?

The Government of Zimbabwe says it will give the land to folks with long term leases (99 years or 25 years depending on the type of land), but how much faith can anyone put into the governments statements when it has seized land from productive farmers and gave it to cronies and the bread basket of Southern Africa now needs food aid (not import food but humanitarian food) for half of its citizens.

Soon, we (the West) will be told we have to give even more aid to Zimbabwe due to their food shortages and if we don't many will starve. When that happens, can we say we will give the aid if and only if the government officials responsible for the disaster stand trial for crimes against humanity? The government of Zimbabwe is embarking on a course of action that will condemn many of its citizens to hunger and starvation.

Spin the economic news

Caroline Baum at Bloomberg.com

Baum has looked at the economic jobs report that came out last week and the spin certain think tanks are putting on the numbers. While economic data is always subject to interpretation, it is a good idea to keep in mind what view point the interpreter of the data as they could either say everything is going great or even with these numbers everything is going poorly.

The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle.

Tributes to Reagan

There are literally hundreds of tributes being written and posted about former President Reagan.

There are three that I think sum them all up very well.

1. Alec Russell and Andrew Sparrow at the UK Telegraph

Lady Thatcher will give the eulogy at Reagan's funeral on Friday. It is the first time a non US Citizen will give the eulogy at a Presidents funeral.

2. Peter Robinson at the New York Post

As President Reagan knew he would be fighting Alzheimer's disease, he didn't fall into self pity but fought the disease with dignity.

3. Daniel J. Flynn at NRO

Finally, a political piece about how some on the Left are waiting to dance on Reagan's grave and how they still hate the man who set the end of the Cold War into motion, the end of many of the guerrilla wars in Central America and the revitalization of America.

All three are very good to read today.

"He changed the map of the world"

Farewell, Mr. President. Quoth Rudolph Giuliani:

[He was] the most dominating president of the 20th Century. He changed the map of the world. He defeated communism. He destroyed the Soviet Union. He tore down the Berlin Wall and he fought for the rights of the individual.

Letter from Falluja

Over at The Green Side, Maj. Dave is giving us a rundown of the situation:

As far as Falluja goes, we have not been allowed to get back in there with any real numbers yet. Initially, it was confounding. However, a very interesting dynamic has developed. Since we have stayed out of Falluja and focused elsewhere, the mujahadeen have had their run of the town. As they have had no one to fight, they have turned their criminal instincts on the citizens. The clerics who once were whipping these idiots into a suicidal frenzy are now having to issue Fatwas (holy decrees) admonishing the muj for extortion, rape, murder and kidnapping. It is unfortunate for the "innocent people" of Falluja but the mujahadeen have betrayed themselves as the thugs that they are by brutalizing the civilians. There are, in fact, reports of rape, etc from inside the town.

Jihad indeed.

(hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)

Gunner Palace

Well, the wonders of technology works its magic as that film made by an independent filmmaker about Iraq now has a web presence. Check out GUNNER PALACE and see some clips of the film. It's a hard look at what is going on in Iraq and a very personal look at one unit who is there.

Will the LA County Supervisors grow a backbone???

Troy Anderson at LA Daily News

Well, if one is waiting for the Supervisors to do the right thing, then no we will never see them grow a backbone because standing up for the County is difficult.

On the other hand, if they enjoy the perks of being a Supervisor, they may have no choice but to grow a backbone if they want to keep jobs.

The people the Supervisors work for (the citizens of Los Angeles) seem to think if one doesn't stand up to bullies (and that is what the ALCU is in this case) there is no end to what the bully will demand.

As for the legal costs, well four public interest law firms have said they will fight for the County for free. Its a principle thing.

The family of the artist who created the LA County Seal may not allow the County to modify the design so the County would have to design an entire new seal.

While the ACLU is saying the law is on their side, they were expecting a quick victory (like the City of Redlands who did change their seal after the ACLU said change it or they would sue) and not expecting the citizens to hear about it and say no.

ACLU: Saving America from Christianity

Good grief, now they want a cross off of the seal of LA County. Good gravy, don't they care that maybe, JUST MAYBE, some residents of LA County are religious? Perhaps maybe, JUST MAYBE, the seal bears a mark that symbolizes one part of the confluence of industry, culture, faith (whatever it may be) and commerce? Or perhaps the seal contains a reference to the reality that the "region has been shaped by Catholic missionaries"?

The real irony is that the main figure in the seal is the Roman goddess, Pomona.

The Carpetbloggers Celebrate 1 Year!

We've been alive in one form or another for a year now.

Cool!

This blog has been my way to stay informed about current events and to sharpen up the ol' writing skills a little(although, at times, entries turns out to be an abbreviated link dump)--much less expect somebody to actually read my tripe. I know you're out there. . .the link counter tells me so; thanks for not hauling off and dressing us down in public.

I've been informed not by the media, but by the vast numbers of really good folks out there who write, thoughtfully (and sometimes not so thoughtfully) on a variety of topics. To those people (who probably will never read this) I owe thanks for the contribution of their time to my continued learning. Some of these good people are found over on the right in the links.

It's been a year of ups and downs, there are times when blogging is too much fun and there are times when it's just sheer Drudge-ry (ba-dum-bump) to get out something that is thoughtful. At those times I usually just yell at Andrew or r g to write something and, God bless them, they do.

Here's to hoping that we make it another year.

Tim Makes a Request

Tim requests prayer for a friend of his. You see, this friend has made a movie about Iraq:

Of his film he says it shows soldiers as who they are. Human beings. See, Mike seems to trust us to be able to handle the fact that human beings are imperfect. So his film isn't one that portrays the US Soldier a la John Wayne. But, more importantly in my mind, it shows soldiers being imperfectly GOOD as well as being imperfectly bad...something that CNN can't seem to do.

So far no one will buy Mike's film for showing on TV or other outlet.

I'm in. Let's see what this film has to say for good or for bad. I wonder if it could be released on the Internet, but that would be contingent on this friend's investment in making the movie being recouped in doing so. Hey, I'd pay a buck (or two or three) to see it.

Left Leanings in the Newsroom

The potential for bias in the news that you and I might consume is reported by the Christian Science Monitor:

According to a new survey, only 12 percent of local reporters, editors, and media executives are self-described conservatives, while twice as many call themselves liberal. At national news organizations, the gap is even wider - 7 percent conservative vs. 34 percent liberal.

Fun quote from the opinion editor at the San Jose Merc:

"We should acknowledge that maybe the biggest problem is that most of us think too much alike and come from the same backgrounds. . .Find the pro-lifers in a newsroom. That's harder than finding Waldo."

And on the topic of God:

. . .while about 60 percent of Americans say morality and a belief in God are inexorably linked, only 6 percent of national journalists and executives surveyed believe that.

And on the confidence that John and Jane Q. Public have in the media:

Gallup also found TV news and daily papers near the bottom - on par with Congress and labor unions - in its ranking of public confidence in US institutions.

Folks, media bias isn't a story, it's a fact.

The Moore you know, the less you blame Disney

Collin Levey at The Seattle Times

Yes, I copied the headline word for word. But it is appropriate.

I'm happy Moore finally got a distributor for his film Fahrenheit 9/11, I hope it bombs at the box office BADLY. After all, the market will speak and decide if Moore should have been heard from and it will help determine if he will be heard from again.

I'm also glad Disney decided to NOT distribute the film, they distribute enough trash and would rather not have another reason to avoid Disneyland.

(Full disclosure, I do not own any Disney stock, but do like the parks).

As Levey said,

With apologies for the remedial history, the First Amendment was intended to protect the right of individuals to speak freely without federal interference, not to guarantee major corporate sponsorship for those vehicles

Character Counts

Hook said it, I believe it. Now you go check it:

True to his word, he called Mike every month or so
to see how he was doing.

Ask yourself if Brand B would have done the same.

The more things change . . . . . . . . . .

Mark R. Levin at NRO

Ok, when reading the following, please give the year and place the New York Times is talking about:

1st Article:

attitude toward the American occupation forces has swung from apathy and surface friendliness to active dislike. According to a military government official, this is finding expression in the organization of numerous local anti-American organizations throughout the zone and in a rapid increase in the number of attacks on American soldiers. There were more such attacks in the first week of October than in the preceding five months of the occupation, this source declared.

2nd Article:

Grave concern was expressed today by informed officials that the United States might soon lose the fruits of victory . . . through the failure to prepare adequately for carrying out its long-term commitments. . .

3rd Article:

An exhaustive compilation of opinions of . . . in all walks of life on their reaction to the United States occupation of their country was released this afternoon from the confidential status under which it was submitted to officials of the United States Forces. . .
Bitter resentment and deep disappointment was voiced over the Americans' first six months of occupation, though there was some praise for the improvements in transportation, health conditions, book publishing and entertainment.

If you think these statements are regarding Iraq, think again.

If you think these statements are about the Balkans or Somalia, think again.

No, these words were not written about or during the Vietnam or Korea Wars.

Article 1 was written on October 31, 1945
Article 2 was written on November 18, 1945
Article 3 was written on December 3, 1945

The place with all the problems is Germany.

Now, this doesn't mean the US should not be working as hard as it can to help the Iraqis become self-sustaining. Nor does it excuse the mistakes the US has made and will make. However, it goes to show that even in our successful nation building exercises, there were problems and mistakes made, but by staying the course Germany was able to recover from the ashes of World War 2 as a democracy. 60 years from today, I hope and think we will be able to look back at Iraq and say the same thing today.