Daniel Flynn - author of: INTELLECTUAL MORONS, a great book.Just think: if Harvard President Larry Summers had compared 9/11 victims to Nazis and apologized for terrorists, academics would be equating criticism of him with censorship.
But since he wondered aloud about cognitive differences between the sexes, they want him fired.
Harvard's faculty of arts and sciences, the same crew that reiterates its ban on the Reserve Officer Training Corps every few years, issued a "no confidence" vote on Harvard President Larry Summers yesterday. William F. Buckley's quip that he'd rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in a Boston phonebook than by the faculty of Harvard has never rung more true.
DEDICATED TO EXPOSING DISINFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA AND TO PROMOTING UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS - WITH SHARP ANALYSIS AND BLUNT COMMENTARY. NO ADS. NO TIP-JAR. JUST THE TRUTH.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
WARD AND SUMMERS
No one said it better:
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
JAWA HITS ONE MILLION VISITORS!
Congrats!
Also congratulating JAWA are these other fine blogs which we should all read everyday!
Also congratulating JAWA are these other fine blogs which we should all read everyday!
» Fatwa issued against Armies of Liberation for The World doesn't stand still » Fatwa issued against Hyscience for Jawa Report Celebrates One Million Visitors » Fatwa issued against Interested-Participant for On The Ides Of March » Fatwa issued against Outside The Beltway for Beltway Traffic Jam » Fatwa issued against Slant Point for Jawa's Million Visitor March » Fatwa issued against Dummocrats.com for Jawa Report Celebrates One Million Visitors » Fatwa issued against Scared Monkeys for Congratulations Rusty » Fatwa issued against All Along the Blogtower for Congrats Rusty! (I QUESTION THE TIMING!) » Fatwa issued against MartiniPundit for All Hail the Jawa Report » Fatwa issued against The American Princess for oings On! » Fatwa issued against Cranky Neocon for The Jawa Report Hits One Million » Fatwa issued against Pirate's Cove for Couple Thangs » Fatwa issued against MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy for Random stuff » Fatwa issued against Simon World for Daily linklets March 16th
LET'S HELP KERRY KEEP HIS PLEDGE!
Forty-four days ago, JFKerry promised - on national TV - to sign a DOD Standard Form 180 and release his complete military records. HE HAS STILL NOT DONE SO.
Let's help him keep his promise: Here's LINK to a PDF of the SF 180; (it's on page 3).
Please go there, print it and mail it to:
OR FAX IT TO HIM IN WASHINGTON, DC: 202-224-8525The Honorable John F. Kerry
United States Senate
304 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2102OR: 90 Madison Place, Suite 205; Worcester, MA 01608
OR: One Bowdoin Square, 10th Floor; Boston, MA 02114
OR FAX IT TO HIM IN MASSACHUSETTS:
508-831-7381; 508-677-0275; 413-736-1049; 617-248-3870
Or go to KERRY'S WEB PAGE and email him the link.
UPDATE - 3/16: More HERE at POLIPUNDIT - as always!
CHAVEZ TAKES VENEZUELA DOWN THE ROAD TO SERFDOM
Chavez - favorite of Castro, Carter, Khatami and Chirac - has started to steal private property in Venezuela:
("Reuters") - Venezuelan on Tuesday defended a plan to seize land from four private farms, including a UK-owned ranch and an eco-tourism reserve, after critics warned the move was illegal and would undermine investor confidence. The government said this week it would confiscate parts of the four farms under left-winger President Hugo Chavez's agrarian reforms to redistribute rural land to the poor.
(VOA) - Venezuelan authorities have said they will redistribute more than 110,000 hectares of privately-held property to landless farmers.
Mugabe of Zimbabwe tried this - and transformed his country from a food exporting nation - the "bread-basket of Africa" - into a starving basketcase! These policies didn't work any better in China or Russia, or any where else they've been tried.
Venezuela tried to overthrow Chavez and have its own "Orange Revolution" a while ago - but then had a referrendum - which Chavez "won" and Carter certified; (Chavez stole'n lied, then Carter swore to it); in fact, though, Chavez no more won that election than Yanukovich won in Ukraine! Thanks Jimmy!
Only after tryrannical Leftists like Mugabe and Castro and Chavez and Kim and Assad and Khatami are thrown out of office will their people's lives improve!
BILL MAHER ADMITS BUSH WAS RIGHT!
Tonight on the Wolf Blitzer show on CNN at 5PM, Maher said that based on what's happening in the Middle East now Bush's Iraq War was correct, and that he was wrong. I saw him say it with my own shocked eyes. If Maher can admit it, then why can't Teddy Jo Kopechne and Barbara Boxer and the rest of the loony Left?
KILIMANJARO'S SHRINKING GLACIER AND GREENHOUSE GASES: A MOUNTAIN OF LIES
Senior officals from KYOTO PROTOCOL nations are gathering in London for a two day conference on so-called "man-made global warming" - global climate change that is SUPPOSEDLY the result of increased emissions of man-made "greehouse gases" due to industrialization and "excessive" use of "fossil" fuels.
Evidence exists that ENTIRELY DISPROVES THIS BUNK. Here it is...
EXHIBIT #1: Hysterical Left-wing Greenies' Make Outrageous Charges -
EXHIBIT #2: REAL Scientists Counter with TRUTH -"Reuters": A photo of Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in 11,000 years will be used as dramatic testimony for action against global warming as ministers from the world's biggest polluters meet today. Gathering in London on Tuesday for a two-day brainstorming session on the environment agenda of Britain's presidency of the Group of Eight rich nations, the environment and energy ministers from 20 countries will be handed a book containing the stark image of Africa's tallest mountain, among others.
"This is a wake-up call and an unequivocal message that a low-carbon global economy is necessary, achievable and affordable," said Steve Howard of the Climate Group charity which organised the book and an associated exhibition. "We are breaking climate change out of the environment box. This crisis affects all of us. This is a global challenge and we need real leadership to address these major problems -- and these ministers can give that leadership," he told Reuters.
The pictures include one of Kilimanjaro almost bare of its icecap because of global warming, and coastal defences in the Marshall Islands threatened with swamping from rising sea levels.
(NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC) -
FACTS IN SUMMARY:... reports of glacial recession on Kilimanjaro first emerged in 2002, the story was quickly picked up and trumpeted as another example of humans destroying nature. It's easy to see why: Ice fields in the tropics—Kilimanjaro lies about 220 miles (350 kilometers) south of the Equator—are particularly susceptible to climate change, and even the slightest temperature fluctuation can have devastating effects.
"There's a tendency for people to take this temperature increase and draw quick conclusions, which is a mistake," said Douglas R. Hardy, a climatologist at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, who monitored Kilimanjaro's glaciers from mountaintop weather stations since 2000. "The real explanations are much more complex. Global warming plays a part, but a variety of factors are really involved."
According to Hardy, forest reduction in the areas surrounding Kilimanjaro, and not global warming, might be the strongest human influence on glacial recession.
"Clearing for agriculture and forest fires—often caused by honey collectors trying to smoke bees out of their hives—have greatly reduced the surrounding forests," he says. The loss of foliage causes less moisture to be pumped into the atmosphere, leading to reduced cloud cover and precipitation and increased solar radiation and glacial evaporation.
Evidence of glacial recession on Kilimanjaro is often dated from 1912, but most scientists believe tropical glaciers began receding as early as the 1850s.
Stefan L. Hastenrath, a professor of atmospheric studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has found clues in local reports of a dramatic drop in East African lake levels after 1880. Lake evaporation indicates a decrease in precipitation and cloudiness around Kilimanjaro.
"Less cloud coverage lets more sunlight filter through and hit the glaciers," Hastenrath said. "That increase in sunlight then provides more energy for evaporation of the glacier."
Hastenrath found further evidence in sailing expedition reports from the same period. "Ships along the East African coast recorded very fast equatorial winds around 1880," he said. "Just like today, swift westerlies are always linked with drier seasons in East Africa, so it's very likely Kilimanjaro had a dry period around this time."
Along with a higher risk of evaporation, a drop in precipitation also makes for a dark glacial surface, made up of old, dirty snow. A darker glacial surface absorbs more solar radiation than fresh, white snow (like a blacktop playground baking in the sun).
Global warming began to take effect in East Africa by the early 20th century.
(1) The current recession of Mt. Kilimajaro's glacier began a CENTURY BEFORE fossil fuel use became global.(2) The current recession of Mt. Kilimanjaro's glacier is the result of LOCAL activities which can be addressed locally - and have NOTHING to do with use of fossil fuels in other parts of the world.(3) The current recession of Mt. Kilimanjaro's glacier is also effected by regional wind current patterns and local cloud cover - and NOT CLIMATIC CHANGES OR GLOBAL WARMING.(4) The "Greenies" ADMIT that Mt. Kilimanjaro was GLACIER FREE 11,000 YEARS ago; WELL... there were NO SUV's then, and NO man-made "greenhouse gases" to cause this; therefore, asserting that "greenhouse gases" are causing it now is HIGHLY SUSPECT.
THEREFORE: it is OBVIOUS that KYOTO is a COLOSSAL WASTE, a MASSIVE DIVERSION of valuable resources which could be better spent in ways that would more directly and quickly SAVE AND IMPROVE the lives or more people in the Third World who are currently suffering as a result of REAL ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS - like dirty water, and water borne diseases.
Instead of shackling our First World's industrial base (the world's money-making/wealth-generating machine) with WORTHLESS "GREEN" laws, we should be be building water treatment plants in the Third World and begin spraying large areas with DDT.
That is, if we REALLY want to help improve the lives of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people.
I have the feeling the GREENIES relentless and irrational attachment to KYOTO and against "fossil fuels" has more to do with making themselves feel good, than improving the lives of anyone.
UPDATE: Welcome SHAKING SPEARS readers - and if you're not one yet, you should be EVERYDAY!
UPDATE #2: Welcome BETSY'S PAGE readers! As long as you're here, why not check out a few other posts. BY THE WAY: if you're not reading Betsy everday - at least once - then you're missing the best news and commentary round up in the blogosphere.
UPDATE #3 - 3/16: More from Steve Verdon at OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY. GO THERE NOW.
Monday, March 14, 2005
The Left must be disappointed: TODAY'S ANTI-NEOJIHADIST, ANTI-BAATHIST PROTEST IN BEIRUT IS THE BIGGEST YET!
This news must REALLY PISS-OFF and DISAPPOINT the Left. Only last week, most of the talking heads on the Left were palpably RELIEVED that Hizballah had STAGED a big anti-American protest. Hell, the Leftists had promptly started wagging their "I told you the Bush Doctrine wouldn't work" fingers in our neo-con faces. IN FACT: the MSM Lefties were ALL OVER the Sunday Talk Shows yesterday saying that Hizballah had proven that they were also "politcal party" that had to be taken seriously!
YEAH RIGHT! Bush - who has just put Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein - the "political wing" of the terrorist group the IRA - on the persona non grata list, is certainly never EVER going to alllow ANYONE in his administration to have a tete-tete with Nasrallah or anyone else in Hizballah - that would be like negotiating with al Qaeda!
Today's reports will upset the Left because they PROVE that today's anti-Hizballah, anti-Syria, anti-neojihadist, anti-baathist protest - and PRO-AMERICAN RALLY - is the biggest one BIGGEST YET! ---
ZAMAN/(Turkey):
XINHUA/(China):Nearly two million people from different regions of Lebanon have gathered in the capital Beirut for protests organized by the opposition party. Members of the press located in the protest region have reported that the protestors are arriving in Beirut by car, ship, and even on foot in preparation for the largest meeting since the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on Feb. 14.
And I betchya they were all LEBANESE, TOO!Angry Lebanese demanded an international investigation into Hariri's killing and a complete and swift Syrian pullout of its troops and intelligence forces, after a nearly 30-year military presence in its tiny neighbor. Apart from the vast sea of opposition protesters in the square, steady flows of people could be seen pouring from all corners of the city, and all kinds of vehicles were bringing in large influx of people from across the country. Estimates of the number of protesters varied from 1 million to 300,000.
******* UPDATE: AP/ABC - 3/15:
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Mar 14, 2005 — Hundreds of thousands of anti-Syrian demonstrators flooded the capital Monday in the biggest protest ever in Lebanon, surpassing the turnout for an earlier pro-Damascus rally organized by the Islamic militant Hezbollah. In a show of national unity, Sunnis, Druse and Christians packed Martyrs' Square as brass bands played and balloons soared skyward. The rally, perhaps the biggest anti-government demonstration ever staged in the Arab world, was the opposition's bid to regain momentum after two serious blows: the reinstatement of the pro-Syrian prime minister and a huge rally last week by the Shiite group Hezbollah. Protesters some bused in from across Lebanon jammed Martyrs' Square and spilled into nearby streets. They chanted, sang and shouted in a mix of the Arabic accents of the country's regions, demanding Syrian troops depart and that their government be purged of Damascus' influence.
The turnout was broader than earlier opposition protests, with more Sunni Muslims in particular joining the Christians and Druse who have formed the bulk of past anti-Syrian rallies. Even some Shiites joined in.
IS 500,000 BARRELS PER DAY A LOT OF OIL?
BLOOMBERG:
MORE INFO ON ANWR - AND NEVERLAND RANCH - HERE.
Saudi Arabia called on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise production to meet an expected increase in demand later this year. OPEC, the producer of 40 percent of the world's oil, should boost its oil quota by 500,000 barrels a day, or 1.9 percent, to 27.5 million a day, said Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi, in a faxed statement today. Iran's oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, told reporters earlier in Isfahan, Iran, that no change in supply was needed.
Evidently, Saudi Arabia and OPEC think that 500,000 barrels P/D is a lot of oil. But "greenies" think that the estimated 1,000,000 barrels P/D that ANWR will produce is a pittance! (I wonder if 1,000,000 barrels P/D was spilled on a beach near Malibu if the "greenies" would think it was a pittance then!?!?) MY POINT? ONE MILLION BARRELS PER DAY IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT.
World demand is outstripping world supply - that's why oil prices are so high. To make oil cheaper, we need to increase supply by extracting more - and REFINING MORE. Right now USA refining capacity is too low; we haven't built any additional refining capacity in three decades.
Do you think the "greenies" will permit us to do that, either? NOT without a fight!
The "greenies" - the anti-ANWR oil crowd - are irrational: they think that plentiful oil is bad and "free" caribou good.
They're also generally disdainful of industrialization - as if it (along with capitalism) was somehow harmful to human life. I suggest that whenever you hear this irrational rant from a "greenie" that you point out to them that life spans, standard of living, and the health of humans in industrially developed nations is much MUCH better than for those humans who live in the "pristine" Amazon or "pristine" African bush - who are generally more sickly, poorer and live shorter lives than urban industrialized people.
What these poor, short-lived and often sick people need is MORE INDUSTRIALIZATION, not less. What the developed nations should be doing is building oil refineries all over the African coast-line! It would create jobs, grow their GDP, pay for water treatment plants (and for DDT to wipe out malaria - the single biggest disease in Africa -- one that DWARFS HIV), increase the standard of living, lead to better housing and healthcare. And we could ship ANWR-oil there to be refined, too!
MORE OIL IS THE ANSWER!
Those against more oil are part of the problem, not the solution!
MORE INFO ON ANWR - AND NEVERLAND RANCH - HERE.
UN TO REGISTER ARAB PALESTINIAN PROPERTY DAMAGE
...that was a result of the anti-terror barrier which Israel built on occupied land.
Do you think that the UN will ever assess and register the property and personal injury damage that came as a result of ARAB TERROR against Jews and Israelis!?
Yeah, right. Sure. Pronto.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday the United Nations is establishing a register of property damage caused by Israel's West Bank separation barrier, as hundreds of Palestinians protested the barrier outside the walled Palestinian government compound where he spoke.
This SO SO so so SO SO SO SO SO very VERY important that Kofi himself is addressing it on his visit to Abbas in Ramallah. YUP: it's too important to leave it to KOJO or BENON!
Do you think that the UN will ever assess and register the property and personal injury damage that came as a result of ARAB TERROR against Jews and Israelis!?
Yeah, right. Sure. Pronto.
CHECKMATE IN 2008?
Putin's second term is up in 2008. He's made noise about running again. If he did, he might win, because there isn't really a BIG-NAME, opposition leader to oppose him (if he seeks reelection) - or to oppose his machine if Putin seeks to put up a crony. Well, until now, that is... now Russia's chess hero - Garry Kasparov has said all but thrown his hat into the ring:
INDEPENDENT (UK):
Mr Kasparov is already chairman of the opposition body Committee 2008, a group of liberals fighting to halt Russia's slide to autocracy and to ensure that Mr Putin resigns when his second term in office ends in three years. [...] Mr Kasparov has become one of the most outspoken critics of the Putin regime on the international circuit, lambasting its decision to clamp down on the media and its stranglehold over the courts and parliament. [...] In comments published on the website of the Russian weekly journal Yezhednevny Zhurnal, he said: "In chess I have done all I could and even more. Now I intend to use my intellect and strategic thinking in Russian politics. "I will do all I can to oppose Putin's dictatorship. "It is very hard to play for a country with undemocratic authorities. I will be tackling this problem with those who hold Russia dear and care about it." Mr Kasparov, 41, has dominated international chess tournaments since becoming world champion at the age of 22.
Kasparov says Russia under President Vladimir Putin is moving in the wrong direction. At the group's launch last year he spoke of what he said was the growing threat to democracy. "We see a clear danger, a clear and present danger, for the current constitution, for our democratic rights and that is why we are bringing [together] all different people, citizens, on the basis of our citizenship, that believe in democracy as an institution," Kasparov said.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
OATHS AND FILIBUSTERS
The Senate's very first act was THE OATH ACT - passed May 5th 1789. That first oath, for members and civil servants, was very simple: "I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States."
This Oath was amended during the U.S. Civil War to include loyalty to the United States of America. The Oath now stands as follows:
This Oath was amended during the U.S. Civil War to include loyalty to the United States of America. The Oath now stands as follows:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
No Senator swears an oath to uphold Senate rules.
Repeat: NO SENATOR SWEARS TO UPHOLD SENATE RULES.
NOT ONLY does the US Constitution trump Senate rules, BUT EVERY U.S. Senator has a compulsory duty and PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY to see to it that the U.S. Constitution is upheld.
NOT ONLY does the US Constitution trump Senate rules, BUT EVERY U.S. Senator has a compulsory duty and PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY to see to it that the U.S. Constitution is upheld.
I assert that - IN THE CASE OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS - the Senate's filibuster rule - now set at 60 to end debate, (but not too long ago set at 67) - is UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND VIOLATES THE SENATE'S OATH OF OFFICE.
Here's why the Senate cloture rule - as it relates to judicial appointments - violates the US Constitution: The Constitution specifically states that the Senate shall confirm judges; CONFIRMATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN BY A SIMPLE MAJORITY: 50% + 1. WHY? Here's why:
The most famous filibuster of all time was the pro-segregation filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which went on for 74 days. In recent years, the number of filibusters has escalated dramatically due to the emergence of the so-called stealth filibuster or two track system of considering legislation.
Now for the first time in 214 years of American history an angry minority of Senators is seeking to extend the tradition of filibustering from legislation to judicial nominees who enjoy the support of a majority of the Senate. This unprecedented extension of the filibuster to judicial nominees threatens to raise the vote required for senatorial confirmation of judges from 51 to 60 votes.
THEREFORE, Frist MUST see to it that the Senate nullifies the Senate cloture rule as it relates to judical nominees; (he can do this with a simple majority vote). Frist violates his OATH OF OFFICE if he does NOT do this.
RENDITION AND THE LEFT
During the final moments of his appearance on THE OREILLY FACTOR (FOX NEWS, 3/11), Michael Scheuer [ (a) the former CIA honcho in charge of the CIA's anti-Bin Laden unit from the time of the Clinton Administration until he retired a few months ago - AND (b)a Bush critic who authored the anti-Bush book: IMPERIAL HUBRIS], said (paraphrasing):
that RENDITION was "the SINGLE MOST EFFECTIVE tool that the USA had in the GWOT," and that any claim - and specifically the LATIMES claim - that the policy had yielded no useful; information was "INSANE."
In a 3/11 NYTIMES OPED, Sheuer further opined:
... both Mr. Clinton and George W. Bush. In my mind [...]made the right decision - America is better protected because of renditions - [...] the rendition program has been a tremendous success. Dozens of senior Qaeda fighters are today behind bars, no longer able to plot or participate in attacks. Detainee operations also netted an untold number of computers and documents that increased our knowledge of Al Qaeda's makeup and plans. [...] All Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women of the agency who executed these residentially requested and approved operations, often at the risk of their lives.
The rendition controversy followed a well-established pattern by the Left-wing and the Old Media they dominate: They attack Bush for doing what previous Democrat presidents did WITHOUT CRITICISM (and sometimes did with their PRAISE!) and also ignore the fact that the action in question is effective and in our national security interest.
The Left does this over-and-over again:
(1) Clinton was cool for ordering "Operation Desert Fox" against Saddam's WMD - WITHOUT Congressional, NATO or UN approval, but Bush lied about the WMD and is a war criminal for liberating Iraq without UN approval.
(2) Clinton was a hero for liberating Kosovo and deposing Milosevic (again without UN approval) - even though Milosevic presented no threat to USA security, (especially as compared to Saddam), but Bush is evil because liberating Iraq was never what he REALLY wanted; he only wanted Iraq's oil. And Leftists also charge that Bush never argued that Saddam had to go because he was a tyrant; Leftists falsely charge that Bush's neo-con rationalization that we need to democratize the Middle East is post facto. (Which is why we called it OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, right?!?!?)
Well, the list of hypocritical, false charges the Left has made and still makes against Bush is endless. (You can add your own in "comments " if you want.)
ONE THING IS CLEAR: the Left is the major reactionary force in the world today - whether the issue is the GWOT, or trade and globalization, or Social Security. The sooner the Left is totally marginalized the sooner we make unlimited poltical progress on all fronts.
HOW WILL THIS HAPPEN?
Well, the Left will do it to themselves: As the MOVE ON types - and their DEANIAC cohorts - take over the Democrat Party, they will force it more and more to the extreme Left and the WHACKO margins of every issue. This will shrink Blue America and enlarge Red America.
NEED PROOF?! Well, the Democrats and their Left-wing 527's outspent the GOP and its 527's by more than 10-to-one, and still lost the presidency and Congress by significant margins.
It won't matter how much money they raise and spend; if the Democrats continue to move leftward they will - (as Zell Miller proclaimed in his book, A NATIONAL PARTY NO MORE) - disappear from the national political stage.
GOOD RIDDANCE.
**** UPDATE - 3/14: WELCOME JAWA REPORT READERS! Please check out a few other posts. And: if you're not a JAWA REPORT reader - you should be; JAWA is "GWOT and SGRENA Central."
Saturday, March 12, 2005
IRAN TURNS SADDAM'S "CHEAT & RETREAT" INTO "LIE & DEFY"
CBC/AP:
Iran is willing to co-operate to show the world it is not trying to make nuclear weapons, the country's president said Saturday as he faced increasing pressure from the United States and Europe over the Iranian nuclear program. The comments by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami came one day after the U.S. government softened its stance on Iran's nuclear program and agreed to support a European plan offering economic incentives to Tehran to give up any weapons ambitions. We are ready to co-operate with the world to give more certainty that Iran is not moving toward the creation of nuclear arms," Khatami said through an interpreter.
This is just another ploy. Iran is merely sending out Khatami - its "good cop" - to assuage the international community and give Putin some cover.
I am SURE that Bush - who wouldn't take crap from Arafat (even though it TOTALLY pissed off the EU, and who has now quarantined the Irish terrorist -- the Irish Arafat: Gerry Adams) - ain't falling for this Iranian crap.
We'll probably have to preemptively destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, and we'll probably do it ASAP: which means after the Lebanese elections.
Between now and then we'll focus on Lebanon, Syria, and Hizballah (and the Iranians in Lebanon). And we'll also get our ducks in a row for a punitive UNSC against Iran. Bolton will handle that - (very nicely, thank you) - and it will serve as a warm up for another tough UNSCR against North Korea later in the year.
When the anti-Iranian UNSCR comes up for a vote, Putin will be forced to either stand with us, or veto it and stand with Iran. I guess he will abstain. As will China.
Stay tuned.
IRAN UTTERLY DISMISSES EU AND USA OFFER AND SETS DEADLINE: MARCH 23
Iranian officials have entirely dismissed the latest USA/EU efforts:
"REUTERS":
"REUTERS":
"The problem is that the Europeans should give up their illogical stance," Sirus Naseri, a senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, told state television. "What we have said is that our fuel production will continue." But Washington and the EU say the only acceptable guarantee is for Iran to scrap its nuclear fuel production plans altogether and rely on the supply of reactor fuel from abroad. Hassan Rohani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, said a key Iran-EU meeting would be held in Paris on March 23. "It will be a very important session and we hope to reach an acceptable conclusion through legal and diplomatic means," the Jomhuri-ye Eslami newspaper quoted him as saying. "The continuation of the talks between Iran and Europe will depend on the March 23 meeting."
It seems to me that after talks are halted, we will then have to TRY to get a UNSCR against Iran (over Putin's veto). This will likely happen in the first two weeks of April. WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THAT?! There's more below on that, so scroll down, and STAY TUNED!
MIGHT VERMONT'S HIGH COURT BE DEAN'S DEMISE?
WCAX: MONTPELIER, Vt. :
Stay tuned!
More than a year after the collapse of his presidential campaign, the fight over public access to Howard Dean's gubernatorial records goes before the state's high court next week.The state is appealing a ruling from Superior Court Judge Alan Cook in February of last year saying that 86 boxes of records sealed by Dean when he left office in 2003 are presumed to be open. Cook ordered that Dean and the state had to identify each of the hundreds of thousands of documents in the boxes and say why each should be covered by executive privilege.
The only likely reason that Dean would want these papers sealed for TEN YEARS is because he knows there's stuff in'em he thinks would seriously damage him politically.
If the Vermont high court does what it should, then Dean will be damaged, and along with him the DNC! More HERE and HERE.
Stay tuned!
Friday, March 11, 2005
NEW INCENTIVE FOR IRAN IS A SUBTLE MULTILATERAL ULTIMATUM
By having the USA join in with the Europeans - and by sweetening the "incentive pot" - the Bush Administration is, IN EFFECT, giving Iran ONE LAST CHANCE.
And also, just importantly, this concerted effort means that the European leaders will each have an "out" with their electorates: they'll be able to say that there was NO RUSH TO THE UNSC - or to preemptive military action, if-and-when that becomes necessary.
In other words, now the ball is back in Iran's court, AND THE STAKES ARE HIGHER AND CLEARER: Cooperate now or the UNSC will order serious international sanctions.
I still firmly believe that Putin MUST BE BROUGHT INTO LINE in this matter. The Europeans and Bush must tell Putin to cancel - or at least SUSPEND - Russia's nuclear contracts with Iran, or Russia will be banished from the G8, or worse.
ONE OTHER POINT: This proves - ONCE AGAIN - that Bush is not a unilaterialist who prefers military force. Too bad the loony Left will NEVER acknowledge that!
UPDATE: IRAN QUICKLY SIGNALS INTRANSIGENCE ON NUKES
"Reuters" and CNN and FT already report that Iran is signaling that they will NOT do what the EU and the USA wants them to do - (or that they are attempting a variation on Saddam's and Kim's cheat-and-retreat tactics).
The ball is back in the EU's court.
I expect that AFTER Bolton is confirmed, that the matter will be brought up to the UNSC, and that the UNSC will authorize international sanctions - UNLESS Russia vetoes it! If Russia vetoes it, then I expect that the USA will preemptively destroy ALL of Iran's nuclear sites ASAP with a sustained cruise missile attack. The question is: "WHEN?"
In the coming weeks, Syria and Hizballah will attempt to distract the USA and the EU and the UNSC. And we might have to deal with Syria first - before we launch a military attack against Iran. And the Lebanon situation might not come to head until MAY- when Lebanon holds elections.
That might give Iran until June - but certainly something definitive must happen not later than the autumn.
If Putin cancels Russia's nuclear contracts with Iran, and abstains on the UNSC amendment, then we might give sanctions a chance to work - a year, maybe: A year of sanctions might help Iran's democracy movement, and might push Iran toward TRUE democracy. ALSO: while the sanctions against Iran are in effect we might turn outn attention to North Korea.
Stay tuned.
ANWR'S OIL AND MICHAEL JACKSON'S NEVERLAND
ANWR is 16 MILLION acres. That's big.
The footprint for the STATE OF THE ART, WORLD-CLASS proposed oil drilling facility in ANWR is 2,000 acres. That's sounds big, but it isn't as big as it sounds. That's 1/8000ths of ANWR'S total area!
PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE: The NEVERLAND RANCH - Michael Jackson's ranch in California is 2744 acres - that's about 40% BIGGER than the proposed oil facility. (And what allegedly goes on in Neverland is more disgusting than what goes on in any an oil facility anywhere!)
By the way: Canada - our #1 foreign source for oil - currently extracts oil from an area in Canada right near ANWR, and just like ANWR - with the approval of the Native Americans who live there. If they can do it safely, so can Americans! ALSO: if Norwegians and Brits can safely extract oil from the dangerous North Sea, then we Americans can certainly extract oil safely from good old terra-firma!
And to those who claim that the ONE MILLION BARRELS P/D that ANWR might produce is a paltry amount which not worth the risk I say: When Iraq's oil production went UP to one-million barrels it was an important and positive milestone for Iraq and the global oil markets. Now, Iraq produces 2 million barrels a day. If ANWR produces 50% of what Iraq produces, then I'd say we were doing ALL RIGHT! The U.S. Geological Survey, updated May 2000, estimated that the area might contain up to 16 billion barrels of oil — five years of U.S. imports. That's nothing to sneeze at!
THEREFORE: Opposition to drilling in ANWR is irrational. Which is probably why it fits right in with Leftist policies.
More HERE (facts from the DOI), and HERE (why Canadian Native Americans favor drilling for oil in Canada, but oppose it in the USA).
WELCOME VIKINGPUNDIT READERS! And if your not one yet, you should be - at least twice a day!
**** UPDATE 3/14 --- MORE HERE.
OLD MEDIA'S GLARING OMISSION ONCE AGAIN PROVES THEIR PARTISAN BIAS
A Big City mayor and a judge are indicted on FELONY charges of election fraud - connected to a "get out the vote effort" - and the OLD MEDIA (ALL the MSM that I checked on Google News) fails to report that they are - DRUM ROLL PLEASE........ DEMOCRATS.
If they were Republicans, that would've been the first thing in ALL the news reports!
I have the feeling that these two corrupt politicians aren't worried about being disenfranchised (after they're convicted): they KNOW that their party wants CONVICTED FELONS to vote!
NOW: when will prosecutors indict Democrats in Philly and Minnesota and Wisconsin and Washington for doing what these two Dems did in Orlando?!?!?!?!?
WELCOME BETSY'S PAGE READERS! And if you don't read it at least three times daily your missing one of the best news round-ups with commentary in the entire blogosphere!
BTW: maybe we should get a blogspheric pool going: guess how many days will go by before the MSM reports the fact that some Democrats have been indicted for voter fraud?
Thursday, March 10, 2005
SECRET CENTRIFUGES PROVE IRAN WANTS NUKES
BBC:
This should be the last straw, as far as BOTH Putin and Iran are concerned: it's time to issue both ultimatums:Pakistan has confirmed that the former head of its nuclear weapons programme, AQ Khan, gave centrifuges for enriching uranium to Iran. It is the first time Pakistani officials have publicised details of what nuclear materials the disgraced scientist passed on to Iran. Information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the BBC's Urdu service that "a few" centrifuges were involved.
To Putin we should say, "Cancel all nuclear contracts, or else suffer expulsion from G8, and international trade sanctions." If he refuses, well... then he would have made clear to all whose side he's really on.
To the mullah-tyrants in Iran we should say, "Dismantle all non-civilian nuclear sites, handover all dual use nuclear equipment and all centrifuges, and allow us to inspect anywhere/anytime (because you have now been caught LYING twice about your nuclear programs) or we will destroy all your nuclear sites - civilian and non-civilian, and destroy your navy and your air force with a sustained cruise missile attack that will make Operation Desert Fox - (which Clinton waged for 10 days against Saddam in 1998 - WITHOUT Congressional, NATO, or UNSC approval) - look like a picnic. We only give the mullah-tyrants as much time as it takes to stage all necessary assets to attack them.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
LEBANON'S FORMER PM: Hizballah rally a HOAX!
FROM JIHAD WATCH: An astounding story from WND (thanks to Teri) about this rally:
JERUSALEM – The giant Hezbollah rally that drew nearly half a million purported supporters of Syria's occupation of Lebanon actually was a staged hoax with non-Lebanese citizens, Syrian workers, students and municipal employees coerced into joining the protest, former Lebanese Prime Minister Michel Aoun told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview this morning. "Yesterday's huge protest calling for Syria to stay made it look to the world like a large segment of the Lebanese population actually wants to live under Syrian occupation," said Aoun, speaking to WND from Paris. "But the protest wasn't what it appeared to be. It was an elaborately staged affair."
JERUSALEM – The giant Hezbollah rally that drew nearly half a million purported supporters of Syria's occupation of Lebanon actually was a staged hoax with non-Lebanese citizens, Syrian workers, students and municipal employees coerced into joining the protest, former Lebanese Prime Minister Michel Aoun told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview this morning. "Yesterday's huge protest calling for Syria to stay made it look to the world like a large segment of the Lebanese population actually wants to live under Syrian occupation," said Aoun, speaking to WND from Paris. "But the protest wasn't what it appeared to be. It was an elaborately staged affair."
MORE - AS ALWAYS AT JIHAD WATCH - AND MORE BELOW ---- SCROLL DOWN...
UPDATE: I saw a report on CNN filed by Brent Sadler - their Beirut bureau chief - who edited-in clips from alJazeera which he said were interviews with some of the MANY Syrians who were BUSED IN FOR THE HIZBALLAH RALLY!
When CNN posts a written version of this on-line, I'll post a link to it. (BTW: do you think that CNN is playing footsy with Hizballah in order to protect their Beirut bureau - the way they ADMITTED they did with Saddam to protect their Baghdad bureau? Just asking...)
UPDATE #2: This just in from the AP -
The group [Hizballah] mobilized its supporters in the heavily Shiite regions of the Bekaa and the south, with loudspeakers urging followers to travel to Beirut for the protest. The leading Beirut daily An-Nahar, which has been critical of Syria, reported that convoys of Syrians were being brought across the border in buses to take part but that could not be confirmed.Opposition leaders, who have been courting Hezbollah's support in their effort to oust Syrian troops, accused Lebanese intelligence agents of exercising pressure on municipalities, public schools and institutions to drive the numbers up.
Stay tuned! Oh, before I sign off, there's this: some estimates (one used in the AP report cited above, as a matter of fact) now put the crowd at around ONLY 200,000 - NOT a very good figure considering how many Syrians and Palestinian Arabs were there!
FRANCE AND CHAVEZ: PERFECT TOGETHER
CARACAS: Venezuela is looking to accelerate talks with France's Total for a $5 billion heavy crude upgrading project, President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday. "We've given the green light..." said Chavez, following a meeting with Total President Thierry Desmarest in Paris. ... Total is a partner with Petroleos de Venezuela. ... Total invested $5 billion in Venezuela from 1998 through 2004, mainly in the Sincor project. Total also produces natural gas at the Yucal Placer field. The company plans to invest $150 million in Venezuela in 2005, mainly at Yucal Placer, but expects outlays to pick up in the coming years as new projects are approved. Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, hopes to nearly double crude oil production to 5 million b/d by 2009 with help from private companies.
The French did the same thing with another anti-American tyrant: Saddam. C'est la vie, I guess. After all, this is the entire M.O. and raison d'etre of France's foreign policy: exploit anti-American/anti-democratic regimes, and move in where the USA moves out.
BUSH DOCTRINE MEETS NORTHERN IRELAND!
The Bush Doctrine has now been officially extended to Northern Ireland.
BBC:
On Tuesday, the IRA said it had offered to shoot the people [IRA members] it says killed the 33-year-old [Belfast man Robert McCartney] after a row in a city centre bar on 30 January. His family has rejected the offer. Hugh Orde said he had "no doubt" the IRA meant they would kill the men. Hugh Orde said IRA was offering to kill suspects. "This is an organisation theoretically on ceasefire. This is an organisation that is still prepared to kill people now from its own community"... Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons the IRA statement was "extraordinary". "It was quite an extraordinary thing to say. It cannot be in any shape or form justified," Mr Blair said. Irish Premier Bertie Ahern said the IRA statement was "extraordinary and horrific".
The US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, said it was "time for the IRA to go out of business". Mr Reiss added: "It's time for Sinn Fein to be able to say explicitly, without ambiguity, without ambivalence, that criminality will not be tolerated."
CNN had the MONEY QUOTE: [Reiss to Sinn Fein],"You can't sign up for the rule of law a la carte."
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