John Derbyshire

John Derbyshire writes a collumn at National Review Online and today's collumn is great.

There are two sections I want to share and encourage you to read the rest.

No-go areas We've been hearing a lot about no-go areas in Iraq. Well, just to put the matter into perspective, here is some data on no-go areas in France. (I'm obliged to Jerry Pournelle for pointing me to this.)

In Le Figaro daily dated Feb 1, 2002, Lucienne Bui Trong, a criminologist working for the French government's Renseignements Generaux (General Intelligence — a mix of FBI and secret service), complains that the survey system she had created for accurately denumbering the Muslim no-go zones was dismantled by the government. She wrote: 'From 106 hot points in 1991, we went to 818 sensitive areas in 1999. That's for the whole country. These data were not politically correct.' Since she comes from a Vietnamese background, Ms. Bui Trong cannot be suspected of racism, of course, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to start this survey in the first place.

The term she uses, 'sensitive area,' is the PC euphemism for these places where anything representing a Western institution (post office truck, firemen, even mail order delivery firms, and of course cops) is routinely ambushed with Molotov cocktails, and where war weapons imported from the Muslim part of Yugoslavia are routinely found. The number 818 is from 2002. I'd go out on a limb and venture that it hasn't decreased in two years.

Kerry vs. the Norks How does John Kerry plan to handle the very knotty problem of North Korea? By reinstating "direct U.S.-North Korea talks." This contrasts with the dogged insistence of the Bush administration that China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea also be at the table, since these are the nations most affected (and, in the case of Japan, most scared) by Kim Jong Il's misbehavior. Kerry, in other words, would prefer to go unilateral. And this, in spite of the obvious and persistent lack of good faith on the part of the Norks, and in spite also of their unbroken track record of cheating or reneging on every agreement they enter into, sometimes before the ink is dry.

Wednesday Roundup

I want to start writing about the propositions on the California ballot this November and hope to do so starting next week. It will help me understand the issues and hopefully amuse and or inform you on what is happening in the land of fruits and nuts.

First thing on the roundup is something I've NEVER written about and could cause the Sports writer and the boss to have a heart attack. BASEBALL.

The Montreal Expos are now owned by the MLB owners and they are moving. It looks like Washington DC is going to get a baseball team of their own for the first time since the Nixon Administration. Of course the citizens of Washington DC (and the rest of us since DC receives a good chunk of their budget from the US Government) will have to build a new stadium for the team but hey, what's a few 10's of millions (or is that 100's of millions). Baseball is coming back to the Capital.

The next two stories are write ups on the flight of SpaceShipOne. It made its first of two flights to claim the X-prize. It will have to make a second flight to an altitude of at least 60 miles in the next two weeks to win the prize. I remember back in the late 1970s when the Space Shuttle was said to make going into space routine. The Shuttle was sold to us (the public) that it would be able to go into space, land and with in two weeks go again. Its never quite worked like that. Now we have a machine that hopefully will be able to do just that.

Of course the difficulty of orbital flight is much greater then sub-orbital. If anyone can figure out how to get a ship from the ground into orbit and back and do it again in two weeks, then manned space exploration suddenly becomes more feasible.

Congrats to the SpaceShipOne team and good luck on the next flight. May it be even more routine then the last one.

Tuesday Roundup

I was taking care of my continuing education requirements for my CPA license yesterday so wasn't able to post anything.

Just a few things of interest today, Tuesday.

The main "problem" I have with space exploration is the time it takes to find out anything. This probe to Pluto sounds interesting but if they launch it in 2006, it won't be in the news again until 2016. Oh well guess it will help me to learn patience. From Space.com

When the National Research Council recommended Solar System exploration goals for 2000-2010, the number one priority was sending a probe to explore Pluto and an area just beyond it known as the Kuiper Belt.
NASA plans to make that goal a reality.

Common Sense in a courtroom. A Florida Judge ruled that Ford does not have to sell cars to a police agency that is suing them for defective cars. Why a police agency would want to buy something from the company they are suing for defective products is a mystery to me. I'm glad that Ford can decide who they are going to do business with.

Dan Rather may not have to resign or apologize for airing a story trying to influence an election with forged documents (instead of saying CBS was duped), however, if his ratings keep going down, CBS will allow him to retire right away to stop the bleeding. After all, the news divisions are profit centers (or were for CBS) and if the views leave, so will the advertisers.

Finally, Kerry seems to know a lot about what George W. Bush will do next year if he is re-elected as well as a few items to insure he will be re-elected. So far Kerry says Bush has a secret plan to:
1. Bring back the Draft
2. Expand the war
3. Suppress Blacks from voting (in the November election)
4. Voter fraud in Florida to insure Bush wins the State (in the November election)

If Kerry had any evidence, wouldn't it be a good idea to show the rest of us so we could see how evil Bush is? But if Kerry is just making all this up, maybe he needs his medication changed so he can live in the real world and not the dream world he is currently residing in.

Congress did something smart

Yes you read that correctly. The Congress did something wise, it only took an election coming up to give them the correct motivation to do it. If they didn't the voters would most likely take revenge on those up for re-election by not returning them to office.

What did Congress do? Well they voted to extend the Bush tax cuts that were set to expire at the end of this year.

The legislation would extend the $1,000-per-child tax credit, rather than letting it slip back to $700 next year. It would extend tax breaks for married couples that otherwise would also have to be trimmed in 2005. And it would prevent the 10 percent income-tax bracket from being applied to smaller amounts of earned income, as was the case in the past.

Congress also modified the AMT so not as many people will be swept into it, but that will only last a year.

The tax bill also contains a number of business tax cuts, some which I think could have expired, but oh well.

John Kerry did vote for the tax bill (the article didn't say how Edwards voted) which is not surprising. If Kerry had voted against this, the Republicans would attack him very severely over this.

A number of Democrats were not happy about voting for the tax cuts for various reasons, but in the end they didn't have much choice but to vote for it as two Democrats said:

"Who would contest these types of things?" asked Rep. Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Ultimately, few would vote against an election-year bill to avert tax increases on middle-class families.

"This is political," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said. "My advice to my colleagues is, when they are dealing politically on the floor, you deal with it any way you need to deal with it."

Hat tip Hugh Hewitt

UPDATE: Jim Geraghty at National Review Online brought up an interesting point that I didn't catch (that is not really much of a surprise I know). "The Post neglected to mention that Kerry did not return to Capitol Hill to vote on these tax cuts. So he "backed it," in the sense that he "issued a press release about it.""

So Kerry issued a press release to show his support but didn't bother to come back and vote. I expect the Republicans to make that fact known that Kerry couldn't be bothered to come back to vote for the tax cuts.

Bush has the luck of the Irish?

Wesley Pruden at the Washington Times has a semi-humorous article on how Bush (being English) has the luck of the Irish by running against Kerry. Its not a bad article to start the day with.

Media Trust at New Low

No. Really? Go figure.

Thanks, Dan: Gallup Finds Trust in Media at New Low. Less than half of the polled trust the media:

The poll, taken Sept. 13-15 while the CBS report on President Bush's National Guard service was being questioned but before the network issued an apology, found that just 44% of Americans express confidence in the media's ability to report news stories accurately and fairly.

Best thing since sliced bread - non political post

One thing I find annoying about newspaper sites is they want the visitor to register and give them lots of information. That is their right but I don't like the spam that is generated from registering. Yes, I do check DO NOT CONTACT ME and the spam isn't from the paper. However the same mis-spelling of my name I gave to the paper is the name being addressed by the spammer.

I just found out about this site that will help avoid the problem in the future. They have lots of imaginary logins and its free and they don't collect information on the users. :-)

http://www.bugmenot.com/ is the place. Go there, enter in the URL for the paper you want to visit and it will give you a login and password. Sorry, it only works for free papers, not for paid subscription sites.

Monday interest items

Yossi Klein Halevi & Michael B. Oren write in the Jewish World Review an interesting article on how Sharon, through his skills as a leader and politician beat the Palestinians and the lessons that should be learned and applied by the US and the rest of the world in the war on terror. Boy is that a mouthful of a sentence.

Sharon had to unite a divided country and fight the terrorist like one fights a war. Trying to minimize non-combatant casualties but not abandoning the operation because there are some. The other thing he did is ignore France and Germany who would not support his actions regardless and he stayed focused on the security part and let others in his government take care of the economy and relations with other States (except for the US). Its a good article to read.


MSNBC has this headline "'Distraught' Saddam begging for mercy, Iraqi PM says". To which all I can say is aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww poor little baby. Saw this over at Lucianne.com and one of the commentators said in his nice air conditioned cell, play videos of all the people he had murdered, especially those who were begging for mercy. Then remind him why the Iraqi government has shown Saddam much more mercy then he showed others.


Finally, this should be filed under "What where they thinking".

ABIDJAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Twelve French soldiers have been arrested for stealing some $120,000 from a bank they were supposed to be guarding in a rebel-held town in Ivory Coast, the French army said on Monday.

Are French soldiers so poorly paid that they think its worth jail time to steal $10,000 each? ($120,000 divided by 12 soldiers). How did they expect to get the local currency out of the country and convert it into euros? I'm glad the French military is taking this seriously, and for the soldiers involved, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING????

Hmmmmmmmm. . .

A possible source of the disputed CBS memos regarding President Bush's National Guard service has been located:

"Burkett [the possible source] wrote a long indictment against Bush for a Web site in 2003 in which he said he personally was ordered to 'alter personnel records of George W. Bush.' In that article, Burkett said that when he refused he was sent to Panama as punishment, where he contracted a disabling disease.

But when asked about that charge by the Houston Chronicle in February, Burkett said, 'That statement was not accurate, that is overstated.'"

Makes you wonder what else the man might have 'overstated'.

Making Girls Cry is Not a Campaign Strategy

Memo to Dems: Don't upset babies. . .kiss them.

Leno on the Left?

Leno does an interview in LA Weekly and we find his political leanings--centrist left. It is a fascinating interview for a few reasons.

First, the interviewer, Nikki Finke, is clearly trying to convince Leno that he needs to be more proactive in proclaiming his political viewpoints on The Tonight Show and at "corporate gigs". She even goes so far as to intimate that Leno witholds punches because he is seeking to draw audiences. She asks:

[NF:] Do you think if you were perceived as bashing Bush, you would get as many corporate gigs as you do?

Is is also interesting that Leno has to defend himself that he is an equal opportunity comedian: that both the Dems and GOP get relatively equal treatment. Another line of questioning:

[NF:] But you’ve picked up on the Republicans bashing Teresa.

[JL:] I did one tonight that she went to Wendy’s and tried to order the pheasant. Is that a bashing joke? Or is that a rich person’s joke?
...
[NF:] The billion dollars that Teresa Heinz Kerry has from the tragedy of her husband dying is considered okay, but Laura Bush is untouchable?
...
[NF:] Have you ever told a joke about Laura Bush? I don’t remember one.
...
[NF:] But that’s denigrating Bush. That’s not denigrating her.

Further on in the interview, Leno seems to have a bead on the French:

[NF:] You went totally hog-wild with the French jokes.

[JL:] Well, there’s nothing funnier to me than the French. The French Resistance is probably the biggest mythical joke that ever existed. There were four guys in the French Resistance. They couldn’t hand over the Jewish people fast enough. Oh, please, don’t tell me about the French. The French have all sorts of secret deals with Saddam and everybody else for two cents a liter. It’s an easy target.

Leno also seems to think that Republicans are easier to get along with, as far as being made fun of:

[NF:] The current crew in the White House doesn’t seem to laugh much at themselves.

[JL:] The interesting thing is, I have found that the Republicans respond much more to jokes about themselves than the Democrats do. Democrats take it very, very seriously. You know, when Al Gore was here in 2000, we said we want to do this bit, and then it was, “Can we run it past our people?” “Can we make these changes?” Then the day of the show, “We’re going to pass.” Bush shows up. We had a bit where we’re playing Jeopardy, and he’s going to look kind of stupid. But then, in the end, the joke’s on me. “Yeah, fine, whatever you want.” It couldn’t have been easier.

On Americans:

[NF:] But surely “Jaywalking” [Leno’s man-in-the-street segment] shows you what morons Americans are.

[JL:] You get the government you deserve.

Another hidden gem is his account of a spat and subsequent interview with Michael Moore. The whole interview is worth the read. Certainly, Leno won't be voting GOP this November, but it also seems that Leno understands what his responsibilities are concerning The Tonight Show (entertainment for all sorts of political viewpoints) and even some fair assessments of those he opposses politically. He definately isn't blindly toeing the party line, as it were.

Iraq

If you want to know more about memogate or rathergate, please see Tuesday's entry and visit the blogs listed, they all have a fair amount of commentary.

How is the reconstruction going in Iraq? Well here it or rather read it first hand from Rick Sackett who has spent a year in Iraq working for an NGO (meaning he and his wife were civilians and not making the big bucks more then likely) doing many of the things we don't hear about on the media. Hat tip Winds of Change.

I appreciate his last paragraph of his column and have reprinted it in full. No things are not perfect in Iraq but they do seem to be better then most in the media want to believe.

So what is the truth? Am I telling you the truth when I say the vast majority of Iraqi people are thankful to the United States? Recently I met with a reporter at Applebee’s restaurant. As we started the interview I decided rather than tell her what I was doing, that I would just show her, and so I stood up as I had done many other times in the last month and asked for the diner’s attention. When the people heard that I had been in Iraq the restaurant grew quiet, but forty-five seconds later broke into applause at the brief message I had brought them. As you can imagine the ensuing interview was quite animated and for the next hour diners dropped by with words of appreciation for what I had said. In the course of our conversation something happened that should give us all hope and a little more insight into what is the truth about the situation in Iraq. I told the reporter, “The most interesting thing that I have found is that everywhere I go and speak, people come up and tell me that their cousin in Iraq (or whoever they might know in Iraq) is telling them the very same thing that I am saying.” Two minutes later a woman came over to our table and said, “You know my cousin in Iraq…” The interview appeared on the front page of the paper the next day. Take heart America. The truth will set you free.

Tuesday Update

Well not much going on today.

Yes, there is more terrorist activity in Iraq, Smash has a good summary and commentary on that.

Memogate or Rathergate is still raging on. I'm actually bored by the whole thing. If you believe CBS has a liberal bias, you think they have dug their own grave for political reasons. If you believe CBS is objective or always honorable, then you think the whole thing is part of the VRWC. If you've been on a TV and newspaper free life for the last week and don't have a clue, then its likely you are not reading this blog.

If you find the CBS mess interesting (personally, I think CBS screwed up big time and is being stupid or foolish in not admitting it was lied too and revealing the sources who gave them bogus documents), here are some blogs that are talking about it.
Instapundit
Belmontclub
The Volokh Conspiracy

9-11 Tribute

I didn't write anything on 9-11 because what could I say? Rob did a much better job and there were/are many others in the blog sphere who did make moving tributes to the events on that day.

Cox and Forkum made the graphic (yes it is a political cartoon, but that word does not seem appropriate) Rob listed below which says it all. They also have a list of sites with 9-11 memorials. Look at the bottom of the 10 September 2004 entry.

One entry I found at Cox and Forkum is Black Day 911. Its a slide show with pictures of New York and Washington DC on 9-11. Well worth visiting and viewing. No its not easy to watch and relive, but I do think it is important we do not forget why we are at war - we were attacked and to prevent from being attacked again we must fight and destroy those who started this war.

Update on Iraq

Arthur Cherkoff at OpinionJournal.com has another of his twice monthly round up of good news from Iraq. Long to read but worth it. There is more good news from Iraq then one would imagine reading or watching the US media.

Zell answers his critics

Zell Miller has endured a lot of grief since his speech at the Republican Convention. He has written a reply at OpinionJournal.com.

My critics in the national media are working overtime trying to paint me as an angry nut who got the facts all wrong in my speech to the Republican National Convention. Since there's not enough time to challenge all of these critics to a duel, let me set the record straight here and now.

Its worth reading, even if you think his speech was wrong, just to hear his side of those who are attacking him (well personally I think slander is a more appropriate word).

New stem cell cures in the near term????

No, this isn't about embryonic ones (ES cells) but rather adult stem cells (AS cells) from the patient themselves.

Michael Fumento at TCS has an article on the current HUMAN trials using AS cells and the success rate they are having in repairing hearts, growing new blood vessels and the like. For folks like President Clinton who undergo by-pass surgery, this new research could mean no more need for the by-pass operation.

This could be very exciting news and a big surprise to the country since the media seems to think AS Cell research is not news worthy.

Kerry's new career

Regardless of who wins the election in November, Kerry will have to look for a new job sometime. If he wins, he has at most 8 years before he needs to do something new. If he loses, it might be sooner because he may not want to remain or convince the voters next time to re-elect him to the Senate.

What to do.

He could afford to wind surf and snow board all year given his wife's income, but the Boston Globe has another option for Kerry. Become a stand up comic. Jeff Jacoby gives a good list of Kerry's knee slappers, not only from this year but as far back as 1988.

With a little polish in his delivery, we could be seeing Kerry on HBO or in Vegas as THE stand up comic routine to see.

Remembering 9/11

Three years ago today the radio woke me with grief.

Three years ago today I dressed for a day at work that will not leave my memory anytime soon.

Three years ago today nearly 3,000 men, women and children were mercilessly slaughtered. They were fellow countrymen, neighbor citizens of other countries, parents, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, lovers. Countless relationships terminated simply because they were useful fodder unfortunately present in an American symbol.

They did not all possess great talent, goodness or wealth. Some did, but none deserved to be taken early. They each should have lived long enough to reckon their lives by their own will; not by the will of others.

In memoriam.

Cox and Forkum

There is a digital archive of 9/11 material being organized by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

Little Green Footballs has a slide show of the day and aftermath.

A wikipedia entry exists; although it is marred by a left leaning bias, it is useful to get an overview of such a perspective (e.g., there is quite a bit of space devoted to conspiracy theories)

Memos National Guard Memos Forged?

There are questions being raised over the authencity of the memos that state that President Bush lost his pilot status for performance standards.

Independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software. Lines, a document expert and fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, pointed to a superscript — a smaller, raised "th" in "111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron" — as evidence indicating forgery.

...

"I'm virtually certain these were computer generated," Lines said after reviewing copies of the documents at her office in Paradise Valley, Ariz. She produced a nearly identical document using her computer's Microsoft Word software.

I've seen images of the document in question and there is no doubt in my mind that there is a superscript. The argument for a forgery is intriguing and reasonable. We will see where this goes, interestingly, the White House has been very quiet. Have they learned something from the Kerry campaign and decided to not even discuss the issue, lest they draw attentiont to it?

UPDATE: Allah has a run down of the forgery issues (including a matching Microsoft Word recreation) and the media reaction, including some conspiracy theories. By the way, does anybody really care?

Bad news for CBS

Well its Friday, Florida is looking at the possibility of a third hurricane hitting them this weekend, Southern California feels like Taiwan or Singapore (warm and humid, we live in a semi-arid place) and CBS may have a problem.

It appears that the documents presented by CBS on its 60 minutes program to show Bush failed his duty in the Air National Guard are forged.

There are lots of Blogs and newspapers that are reporting on the issue. Go to Lucianne for a good set of links to the story. I could list them here but they have already done the work. Check out their links for today. Specifically check out PowerLine blog as they have provided much of the leg work to check out the memos authenticity.

Have a good weekend.

The smear campaign is in full swing

When someone says something one doesn't like, there are several ways to deal with it. In politics, it appears that smearing the opposition is the preferred option these days.

Joshua Sharf talks about Jimmy Carter and his attack on Zell Miller. Carter has attacked Miller for the speech Miller gave at the Republican convention. Carter didn't attack the contents of the speech, he attacked Miller personally. Sharf has some good comments to Carter's letter attacking Miller.

Kitty Kelley is set to release a new book about the Bush family. In the book she will allege that George Bush did use illegal drugs until the late 1980s or early 1990s. Her source is Sharon Bush, former sister-in-law to George W. Bush. Sharon is now estranged from the family. Sharon was married to George's brother Neil, but apparently the divorce was messy (as they usually are). One problem. Sharon is denying she said George W. Bush used illegal drugs. Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post has a good write up on the story. Of course the book will sell well, but the source for the allegations is saying Kelley did not get the information from her.

The Democrats are claiming Bush did not meet the requirements to the Guard and he was AWOL or a deserter. Byron York goes through the Bush's record during his Air National Guard days and shows how Bush did meet his obligation for each of the six years. Even the year he was in Alabama.

And finally, Oliver North wrote an open letter to John Kerry. North and Kerry have a history as it was Kerry who was grilling North over Iran-Contra which ended North's military career and started his current career as a commentator and writer and sometime politician.

Something does not compute

A new story about President Bush getting into the Air National Guard is getting ready to come out on 60 Minutes.

This bomb is an already-taped Dan Rather interview with former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes in which Barnes will hint, and deceptive CBS editing will strongly imply, that during the Vietnam War the Bush family pressured him to use politics to get a young George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard.

There is one problem with this story, well there is more then likely one but one that stands out in my mind. Back in 1968, Texas was a Democratic state not a Republican one. Bush senior did not have a very successful political career in Texas (failed to get elected Senator, although he did get into the House for one or more terms). The Bush family was not powerful in the 1960s like they are today or even were in the 1980's. A Democrat would have no reason to give preferential treatment to a Republican because the Republican party was not a factor in Texas politics until the Regan era.

Finally, Kerry keeps demanding Bush and Cheney stop trashing his service record in Vietnam. Can someone, ANYONE, please show me where Bush did trash Kerry's service in Vietnam? Bush has praised Kerry for his service and has not made any comment about his medals or how they were earned. Bush has criticized Kerry for his work in the Senate and for his anti war protests. Or because Bush was not an anti-war protestor nor a Senator he is not allowed to criticize Kerry's actions here either?

Now before anyone says (all three of you who read this blog, I thank you) what about the Swiftboat Vets, well they are independent of Bush just like MoveOn.org is independent from Kerry. And before someone mentions the attorney who worked for both the Swiftboat and the Bush campaign, that is NOT illegal. Also, the Democratic 527's have a number of people who either work on Kerry's campaign or at the DNC.

Bush is not questioning Kerry's service in Vietnam, he is questioning Kerry's actions in the Senate and where he wants to take the country. Just as Kerry has questioned Bush's policies and where he wants to take the country. That is called an election campaign.

Tuesday Roundup

I hope you all had a great Labor day weekend. Those in Florida and parts of the Gulf Coast, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Of course while Florida was looking for relief from Francis, in Southern California, it suddenly decided to become summer with high temperatures.

Lots of stories in the news, none on Russia since Rob already has a good write up of what happened and the likely response of Russia to those who hurt kids or those who supported or gave aid and comfort to those who hurt kids. Look for more blood to be shed.

George Will has a birthday column for ESPN, which is 25 today. I'm not a sports person (my wife watches football, I don't), but it is interesting on how sports salaries have increased over the last 25 years, and on the challenges ESPN can have on some marriages.

Two stories on Islam. The first is a short story, from ABC News, about those who convert from Islam to Christianity are often in fear for their lives. The folks who were interviewed for the story do not live in the Middle East or even Europe, but in VIRGINIA. Even in the US, those whose were Muslim and choose a different path are in danger, from "the religion of peace". The second story from the New York Times is about the Cult of Death that a minority of Islam holds and the carnage the rest of the world has to pay (in blood and treasure) because of the group. We (the rest of the world) need to confront this sub-sect of Islam and put an end to it. All Muslims who are not a member of this "Cult of Death" need to join the effort because they suffer as much if not more then non Muslims for the deeds of this group.

FrontPageMag.com has a good rebuttal to Timothy Noah's Whopper about Arnold speech at the RNC. It does put things into context, which is often missing in the media stories today.

Two stories on Bush today. Mark Steyn about how many in the media are projecting their views into the news and how it is likely to give them a nasty surprise in November (if Bush wins). At OpinionJournal.com, they are saying the election will not be close but "Bush will bury Kerry". As a Bush supporter, I can only hope so.

Finally, there are three stories about Kerry today. I don't hunt for pro-Bush or anti-Kerry stories, but the stories I have to share are not good news for Kerry.

Kerry is denying he is shaking up his campaign staff (always a bad sign this close to an election), but it does look that way. Also Kerry has shifted his focus from his experience in Vietnam and being a war hero to domestic items. He has been hurt by other veterans attacking him and his best bet is now domestic. Of course the August job report showing 144,000 jobs being added is not the news he was looking for. Kerry is also launching attacks about the Iraq war, calling it the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time. But just a few weeks ago he was saying he would have done the same thing as Bush (attack Iraq) but do it better. The final story is from The American Thinker and is about "John F. Kerry attended a meeting of his Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) group in Kansas City in November 1971, where they considered a proposal to murder top governmental leaders". If this story develops legs, it will do more harm to Kerry.

Russian 9/11

340 dead. 155 of them children. Don't think for a second that this is not capable of steeling Russian resolve against the Chechnyans.

"Fathers will bury their children, and after 40 days (the Orthodox Christian mourning period) ... they will take up weapons and seek revenge," said Alan Kargiyev, a 20-year-old university student in the regional capital Vladikavkaz.

Scenes such as this leave you indifferent to the news that all the terrorists have been killed:

Alla Gadieyeva, a 24-year-old hostage who was seized with her son and mother — all three were among the survivors — said the captors laughed when she asked them for water for her mother.

"When children began to faint, they laughed," Gadieyeva said. "They were totally indifferent."

250

250 dead.

531 wounded.

Damn the terrorists who target children. Oh, I forgot, they're calling them "militants".

The Arab presence among the attackers would support Putin's contention that al-Qaida terrorists were deeply involved in the Chechen conflict, where Muslim fighters have been battling Russian forces in a brutal war of independence on and off for more than a decade. ITAR-Tass said Basayev received funding for the attack from alleged al-Qaida operative Abu Omar as-Saif.

Final thoughts on the Convention

Yeah, I didn't comment too much (if at all) on the Democratic convention. To tell the truth, I didn't watch any of it.

I only watched Zell Miller and part of Cheney's speech on Wed. night and only Bush's speech on Thursday night.

I liked Bush's speech and like the fact he is able to laugh at himself. Anyone who wants to run for President has to have a thick skin because of all the cruel things that will be said about them.

My favorite line of the President's speech is

"People sometimes have to correct my English — I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it. Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called 'walking.' Now and then I come across as a little too blunt — and for that we can all thank the white-haired lady sitting right up there."

Its my favorite because Bush used humor to counter what critics (and friends) say about him.

I'm also grateful to the police and everyone else who made sure BOTH conventions came off without the bad guys (that's terrorists not protestors) being able to disrupt or kill people attending the conventions. I'm also grateful for that matter for the security folks who kept the Olympics safe and enjoyable, even if there were a lot of empty seats.

Thank you to the folks who made the conventions safe. Hopefully the folks who were securing the Republican convention will get this weekend off to enjoy time with their families or however else they enjoy spending time off.

This is not how to win for your cause

Well the stand off in Russia is over. Over 100 KIDS appear to have been killed when the Russian army stormed the school. Apparently some kids tried to escape, the terrorists started to shoot at the kids and the soldiers then had to attack to protect the rest of the kids. It sounds like a very messy rescue mission that the government wasn't ready for nor wanted to have happen (at least at this time). But then again, what would the government in any other country do (including here in the US), if bad guys started to shoot kids who tried to escape from their captors.

I can't say the Chechnya rebels did their cause any good by their attack on the school. Deliberately targeting kids might bring pressure on the government to cave to the terrorists demands (one mother I heard heard on the news yesterday said "what ever their (the terrorists) demands are, the government must meet, no price is too high"), but once the killing of kids starts all bets are off. Now it will be debated that the troops should not have stormed the school, but then again, the terrorists should not have been shooting at kids who did manage to escape. They should have tried to make sure there would be no additional escapes. Now there will be weeping in Russia and then the demands for revenge. And it won't just be for revenge against the terrorists. Anyone connected to them by blood, marriage or any other way will now be targeted. The Russian government will now have free reign to do what they want in Chechnya and there won't be any protest from the citizens of Russia. The terrorists have targeted kids, the reprisals will most likely be without mercy.

Zell Miller

Ouch.

The Democratic Convention had Ronald Reagan Jr speak. He is not a politician but has a familiar name.

The Republican Convention had Zell Miller speak. He is a life long Democrats, was Governor and later Senator. He introduced Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic Convention and said George Bush (Sr) should be retired. Last night, Miller said he was still a Democrats, but the Democrat Party was not interested in protecting his family and that family is more important then party.

If Sam Nunn or even Lieberman were the Democratic Nominee, Miller would be out stumping for the Democrats and his sharp tongue would be lashing the Republicans. Read his speech, this is an angry man. He is angry because the party he is a member of and has supported all his life has left him and will not take the war on terrorism seriously.

The NY Times has a transcript of Miller's speech. He is not a Republican, but he is a nationalist and is angry the Democrats do not seem to remember they are Americans first and Democrats second.

Two Tiered Justice

One for the rich. One for the rest of us. Kobe rape case dismissed. Apparently, money can buy you freedom.

New York on Protestors: "Whiners, wusses & wimps"

The editors at the New York Daily News tear into the protestors in NYC:

Some protesters these people are. Civil disobedience customarily involves a willingness to suffer some measure of discomfort. Ask Gandhi. But this is the bunch that demanded the city provide them with designer bottled water. Cute, aren't they?

The editors also give the NYPD high marks:

Real police-state abuses, mind you, have been not much in evidence this week. No skulls were cracked Monday night when a detective was pulled from his scooter and pounded unconscious outside Madison Square Garden. The men and women of the NYPD showed similar restraint and professionalism yesterday as self-professed anarchists marched and bellowed around and about the town to celebrate their designated Day of Civil Disobedience.

New York was a good choice for the RNC.

More on the 527's

Over at Vodkapundit, there is a more detail write up on the 527's and the Kerry Campaign. Also included in the comment sections are additional verifications such a FEC filings of people who worked or work on both.

Again, working on a 527 and a campaign is NOT illegal. But if the mainstream media is going to say its bad that people who work on the Swift Boat 527 also have any connection with the Bush campaign, then they SHOULD also document the connections between the 527's and the Kerry campaign and/or Democratic party.

(hat tip Instapundit)

Protesters Disrupt Meeting

Protesters interrupt a Republican youth meeting, resulting in at least one 20 year old delegate injured. Did they do this to convert Republicans? Obviously not, so one could speculate that their motives were intimidation and publicity.

Where does the border between a difference of opinion and suppression of speech start? The actions of the 'protesters' border on repression--a charge that the more liberal members of our society level with regularity at the very people they are attempting to intimidate.

Convention and/or political round up

I can't say I read Dick Morris very often. Usually he is silly, boring or just plain wrong. However, once in a while he hits a home run. Today is a day. His write up of Laura Bush's speech is right on.

The protestors in New York are unhappy with FOX news and especially unhappy that the ratings of FOX during the convention are very high. Especially compared to CNN or MSNBC.

The New York Times is also unhappy that the Republicans would dare to hold their convention in its city and by the NYT actions are making it well known the "paper of record" isn't interested in being the paper of record but rather being a partisan paper as they are in the UK. Well if they want to be a Democratic paper, I think that is fine because if any company wants to drive away a large number of its customers (read moderate and conservatives), they will only be hurting themselves because the advertisers won't purchase as many adds.

And finally, if one repeats a lie often enough, does it make it true? Well that is what the media seems to be trying to do about the Swift Boat adds. The Washington Post has an opinion by Benjamin L. Ginsberg on the double standard about the Swift Boats and the scrutiny it and its donors are receiving verses the liberal 527's. Now Ginsberg is not a disinterested party in the matter, he was a lawyer for both the Swift Boats and for the Bush/Cheney campaign.

Ginsberg also points out that what he was doing is NOT illegal nor is it illegal for the folks working on the liberal 527's and the Kerry campaign. However only the Swift Boat 527 is given the scrutiny.

I do believe the media should treat all 527's the same, either condemn them all or praise them all and investigate all possible conflit of interests or ignore them. But to only scrutinize one 527 and ignore the rest is a double standard.

New bombing in Israel

For the first time in six months, the bad guys won. Tuesday two suicide bombers got through and bombed two buses in Israel. Those fun loving folks at Hamas claimed responsibility. The area where the bombs went off is along a stretch of the boundary between Israel and the West Bank where the security wall has not been completed.

Tell me again why the wall is such a bad idea? It keeps the bad guys and those who support them (the Palestinian populace) away from the Israelis. The Palestinians should be thanking Allah every night the Israelis don't act like those bunch of savages in Hamas, putting bombs on buses or dropping bombs indiscriminately with the idea of killing as many people as possible. Eventually, when the Palestinian people decide they want peace and live more then the promise (so far an empty one) of the destruction of Israel, then peace will win. Until then only more death and defeat will be the Palestinian have to look forward too.