Sunday, April 30, 2006
On Colbert at Correspondents' Dinner
Not funny.
If he was trying to send a "serious" message to the President and assembled movers and shakers, it was the wrong time and place, and as such the message fell flat.
A bad performance either way.
UPDATE: I goofed, and didn't say how I knew about the performance. I saw the Colbert vid at Hot Air, pointed to by the irreplaceable Michelle Malkin.
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If he was trying to send a "serious" message to the President and assembled movers and shakers, it was the wrong time and place, and as such the message fell flat.
A bad performance either way.
UPDATE: I goofed, and didn't say how I knew about the performance. I saw the Colbert vid at Hot Air, pointed to by the irreplaceable Michelle Malkin.
Friday, April 28, 2006
UN: Not Worth a Damn
Ahmadinijad of Iran says Iran "won't give a damn" about any UNSC resolutions concerning Iran's nuclear program.
Just goes to show that even crazy people make sense once in a while. The UN, conceived after the greatest war ever fought on the planet, was designed and intended to prevent the kind of international recklessness that Iran now exhibits. Unfortunately, its functioning relies on the goodwill and responsibility of its constituent states, and only a very few of those states demonstrate any goodwill and responsibility at all. As a result, except for some of its humanitarian efforts, the UN has become the world's most expensive debate club. It certainly has failed in its mission to prevent the rise of such regimes as Hitler's, Mussolini's and Tojo's. Its fecklessness is recognized by all but the most dreamy-eyed internationalists.
That said, I don't advocate that the US pull out of the UN, although as the UN's largest financial supporter we should use what power we have to encourage it to live up to its ideals. There is some value to having a place where everyone can go to discuss the issues of the day, and a coffee house doesn't quite fill the bill.
I do think, however, that it might be time to think about moving the UN's headquarters. Perhaps if it were moved to someplace like, say, Kabul, a sense of reality might somehow germinate among its members. Not only that, but it would be a huge source of pride to the new democracy in Afghanistan, not to mention the money it would bring in. After all, the UN couldn't very well ask Afghanistan to pay for the party. Such a move would also tend to separate those UNers who are there only for the perks of being in New York on someone else's dime from those who believe in the UN's stated mission and will endure some personal sacrifice to help it succeed.
Having the UN headquartered in Kabul would also be a great benefit to the United States, not the least by freeing up some of the most desirable real estate in Manhattan, and ridding the country of a nest of espionage agents for other nations.
Unfortunately, all the above is a pipe dream. The UN will never reform, and it will never leave New York unless the United States evicts it. Reform is impossible because most of the nondemocratic member states like it just the way it is, and moving is impossible because those same states like having a base in the US to support their spies.
Sad, really.
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Just goes to show that even crazy people make sense once in a while. The UN, conceived after the greatest war ever fought on the planet, was designed and intended to prevent the kind of international recklessness that Iran now exhibits. Unfortunately, its functioning relies on the goodwill and responsibility of its constituent states, and only a very few of those states demonstrate any goodwill and responsibility at all. As a result, except for some of its humanitarian efforts, the UN has become the world's most expensive debate club. It certainly has failed in its mission to prevent the rise of such regimes as Hitler's, Mussolini's and Tojo's. Its fecklessness is recognized by all but the most dreamy-eyed internationalists.
That said, I don't advocate that the US pull out of the UN, although as the UN's largest financial supporter we should use what power we have to encourage it to live up to its ideals. There is some value to having a place where everyone can go to discuss the issues of the day, and a coffee house doesn't quite fill the bill.
I do think, however, that it might be time to think about moving the UN's headquarters. Perhaps if it were moved to someplace like, say, Kabul, a sense of reality might somehow germinate among its members. Not only that, but it would be a huge source of pride to the new democracy in Afghanistan, not to mention the money it would bring in. After all, the UN couldn't very well ask Afghanistan to pay for the party. Such a move would also tend to separate those UNers who are there only for the perks of being in New York on someone else's dime from those who believe in the UN's stated mission and will endure some personal sacrifice to help it succeed.
Having the UN headquartered in Kabul would also be a great benefit to the United States, not the least by freeing up some of the most desirable real estate in Manhattan, and ridding the country of a nest of espionage agents for other nations.
Unfortunately, all the above is a pipe dream. The UN will never reform, and it will never leave New York unless the United States evicts it. Reform is impossible because most of the nondemocratic member states like it just the way it is, and moving is impossible because those same states like having a base in the US to support their spies.
Sad, really.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Nuking Israel
It has occurred to me that if Iran actually does "wipe Israel off the map" using the nuclear weapons it keeps protesting that it isn't developing, it will simultaneously solve the "Palestinian problem." Last time I looked, nukes don't discriminate as to whom they vaporize according to the religious profession of the "bombee". Since Israel and the Palestinian territories are in such close proximity, it's likely that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will die right alongside the Israelis if Iran nukes Israel. Not to mention Egyptians, Jordanians and Lebanese.
So why are Palestinian leaders urging Iran to develop nukes? Seems to me some of these guys haven't thought things all the way through.
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So why are Palestinian leaders urging Iran to develop nukes? Seems to me some of these guys haven't thought things all the way through.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Yet Another Murdercide Bombing in Israel
According to Fox News, a Palestinian murdercide bomber blew himself and 9 Israelis up outside a sandwich shop in Tel Aviv, injuring at least another 60 people.
Hamas, the recently elected ruling party in the Palestinian territories, had this to say, according to Fox:
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Hamas, the recently elected ruling party in the Palestinian territories, had this to say, according to Fox:
The leaders of Hamas, which has largely observed a cease-fire since February 2005, called the attack a legitimate response to Israeli "aggression."
and...
"We think that this operation ... is a direct result of the policy of the occupation and the brutal aggression and siege committed against our people," said Khaled Abu Helal, spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.Earlier, Moussa abu Marzouk, a Hamas leader abroad, told Al-Jazeera television that "the Israeli side must feel what the Palestinian feels, and the Palestinian defends himself as much as he can."
Y'know, I suspect that if the Palestinian and Israeli positions were reversed, the Israelis would have been annihilated decades ago. I also suspect that if Iran, which seems to want to provoke a world war, achieves its ends, the Palestinians will be among the first to feel the brunt, and along with the masses in Iran will suffer the most serious consequences.
Moussaoui
I've given it a lot of thought, and I don't think Zacharias Moussaoui should be executed.
I think he should be sentenced to life imprisonment...
Without possibility of parole...
In solitary confinement...
At hard labor...
#
#
Shoveling pig s**t 14 hours every day, no weekends or holidays.
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I think he should be sentenced to life imprisonment...
Without possibility of parole...
In solitary confinement...
At hard labor...
#
#
Shoveling pig s**t 14 hours every day, no weekends or holidays.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Iran's Plan: Analysis by One Who Understands
This essay by Amir Tehari is a must-read for anyone who is concerned about Iran. Actually, it's even more of a must-read for those who are not concerned about Iran, but they won't read it, because they aren't concerned.
Excerpt:
Credit: Roger L. Simon for the pointer.
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Excerpt:
The Iranian plan is simple: playing the diplomatic game for another two years until Bush becomes a "lame-duck", unable to take military action against the mullahs, while continuing to develop nuclear weapons.
Credit: Roger L. Simon for the pointer.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
The Horrors of Gitmo
I can almost guarantee you won't be reading this story in the US lamestream media.
Maybe the article gives a clue about why some people are being retained at Guantanamo: After being well fed, receiving good medical care and a decent education for a year or so they go home and talk about what nice people Americans are.
Credit: Little Green Footballs.
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Maybe the article gives a clue about why some people are being retained at Guantanamo: After being well fed, receiving good medical care and a decent education for a year or so they go home and talk about what nice people Americans are.
Credit: Little Green Footballs.
Perky Katie
I didn't watch Katie Couric in the morning, I most likely won't watch her in the evening. I don't care which of the lamestream media networks she works for. The big to-do about her is, as far as I'm concerned, about as important as who the next personnel assistant at the local AT&T office is going to be. I think it's a big deal in the media because the media like to glorify themselves, but I'm pretty sure most people are like me and put it pretty far down on their "important things" list.
I don't watch TV news because I want to see a particular personality. I watch it in order to find out what's going on in the world and, more particularly, how it's going to affect me and my family. To the extent I like a particular news personality, it's mostly because I think he or she asks good questions and is good at getting the answers.
I'm not saying that any idiot can read the news on TV, but to me the news presenters are pretty much fungible. What's important to me is whether the news they're reading gives me the whole story in an unbiased way, or that the biases in the organization are clearly stated, if not reveled in. Most of the lamestream media fall flat on both counts. That's why the vast majority of my TV news comes from Fox News Channel.
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I don't watch TV news because I want to see a particular personality. I watch it in order to find out what's going on in the world and, more particularly, how it's going to affect me and my family. To the extent I like a particular news personality, it's mostly because I think he or she asks good questions and is good at getting the answers.
I'm not saying that any idiot can read the news on TV, but to me the news presenters are pretty much fungible. What's important to me is whether the news they're reading gives me the whole story in an unbiased way, or that the biases in the organization are clearly stated, if not reveled in. Most of the lamestream media fall flat on both counts. That's why the vast majority of my TV news comes from Fox News Channel.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Why Home Schooling Is On The Rise - II
Now schools in Oceanside, CA are banning all red white and blue clothing, flags, and other symbols of patriotism.
I'm not at all sure that rewarding bad behavior by restricting general freedom of expression is the message we want to send to the troublemakers in our schools. Better to discipline the troublemakers, whether they speak English, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Chinese or Eskimo, and whatever their color and appearance.
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I'm not at all sure that rewarding bad behavior by restricting general freedom of expression is the message we want to send to the troublemakers in our schools. Better to discipline the troublemakers, whether they speak English, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Chinese or Eskimo, and whatever their color and appearance.
Why Home Schooling Is On The Rise
This is the first post in a series on actions committed by school administrators that give parents reasons to seriously consider home schooling.
Denver TV station CBS4 reports that students at Shaw Heights Middle School in Westminster, CO, are no longer permitted to wear anything patriotic. The ban includes camouflage pants. Principal Myla Shepherd instituted the modified dress code when in the wake of recent debate and demonstrations over the illegal immigration issue, more than 20 students (out of approximately 400) came to school wearing camouflage pants apparently to show their patriotism and American pride. Shepard said that name calling was observed, and that tensions were immediately diffused by the new dress code rules.
Shepherd cited safety concerns as a valid reason for limiting the students' freedom of expression.
Credit Michelle Malkin for the pointer, via Freedom Folks blog.
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Denver TV station CBS4 reports that students at Shaw Heights Middle School in Westminster, CO, are no longer permitted to wear anything patriotic. The ban includes camouflage pants. Principal Myla Shepherd instituted the modified dress code when in the wake of recent debate and demonstrations over the illegal immigration issue, more than 20 students (out of approximately 400) came to school wearing camouflage pants apparently to show their patriotism and American pride. Shepard said that name calling was observed, and that tensions were immediately diffused by the new dress code rules.
Shepherd cited safety concerns as a valid reason for limiting the students' freedom of expression.
Credit Michelle Malkin for the pointer, via Freedom Folks blog.
Iran Commentary
Steve Schippert reviews the recent testing of weapons systems by Iran and calls it "an Iranian defense industries trade show." He goes on to note that the apparent nurturing of Iran by Russia and China is troubling, but the important question is whether the West will find the cojones to do something about Iran's rush to acquire nuclear weapons before they achieve that goal. He's not optimistic:
Schippert closes with this thought: "There are no palatable choices in dealing with Iran and the terrorism they cultivate. Doing nothing is the worst among them."
The clock is ticking....
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The options are limited in dealing with a belligerent regime racing towards nuclear development, though military strikes appear more and more likely as time is squandered in inactive international debate over what not to do to the regime. Iran continues to posture that military strikes are not in US interests. While there would certainly be consequences, the world’s premiere state sponsor of terrorism rising to a nuclear power serves US interests even less. Indeed, Iran has suggested that terrorist strikes worldwide would result from any attack, coordinated primarily by its foreign policy arm, Hezbollah.It's pretty clear to me that mad mullahs with nukes are much more of a threat than mad mullahs without them. Iran's sponsorship of terrorism is difficult enough to countenance, but if the West cannot find the gumption to confront Iran on the issue when they don't have nukes, what will happen when they do? Does anyone who cares (i.e., excluding the Michael Moores, Cindy Sheehans, Jimmy Carters and Ramsey Clarks of the world) really think that Iran, once it acquires nukes, will abandon its sponsorship of terrorists?
Schippert closes with this thought: "There are no palatable choices in dealing with Iran and the terrorism they cultivate. Doing nothing is the worst among them."
The clock is ticking....
Monday, April 03, 2006
Observation
It pains me to say it, but just as the election of Hamas says something about the Palestinians, the election of Cynthia McKinney says something about the residents of Georgia's 4th Congressional District.
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Sunday, April 02, 2006
Political Rock
Several bloggers have pointed to this video over the last couple of days. I daresay the song won't get much airtime on anybody's radio station. Give it a listen--it's at least as good as some of the stuff you hear several times a day on most any FM rock station.
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