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Saturday, July 06, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:47 PM:
Three Shot, Killed in Taxi in GazaPalestinian woman, 2-year-old among dead; Israel denies role
These are the lead headlines, and we hope Israel was in fact not involved. But the story actually centers on questions about the make-up of Arafat's security forces and dissent amongst the Palestinian security forces over who should hold leadership posts.
Most telling, they oppose having someone preside at an administrative level who's not drawn from the forces. The attitude is dangerous, as it is conducive to having all levels of the force more concerned with protecting the force's hide than the Palestinian people or the peace they're supposed to preserve - the precise reason why our Defense Department and military branches have civilian leadership at the top.
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posted by gbarto at 12:41 PM:
Serena Beats Venus at WimbledonYounger Williams takes title from reigning champ big sister
Congrats to both sisters and their father-coach on being part of such a phenomenal tennis family.
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posted by gbarto at 12:38 PM:
Texans Flee Floods4,000 residents evacuated; hundreds more leave as heavy rain threatens to worsen record flooding that has sent houses floating from foundations
The TurkeyBlog sends its sympathies. It would like for the record to note that unlike the forest fires, it has no immediate plans to lay part of the blame at the Clinton-Gore administration.
Though there is this angle:
Barren hillsides damaged by fire now face flooding risk
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posted by gbarto at 2:51 AM:
Finally saw Star Wars, Episode II. I'm with Lileks - it was way cooler than the reviews would lead you to believe. The acting may have been a bit wooden, but the special effects were fantastic and things moved fast enough - even though the movie ran longer than most these days - that the shakiness of the plot, or lack thereof, never got a chance to register. Here's Lilek's write-up, incidentally. Scroll down to June 7.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:42 AM:
Dr. Weevil writes here on questions of anonymity. The TurkeyBlog agrees: Dr. Weevil doesn't flash credentials or pull rank; his opinions stand or fall on their own merits, they are all available for inspection, and - in my experience - he's usually a very genial correspondent. So lay off of him! As for the TurkeyBlog, though the site carries a name, my domain and the poem in the upper corner give me a away - I lack the modesty to publish without taking credit or blame. Nonetheless, this isn't linked on the same page as my resume, and that's not an accident. Academia is filled with people whose belief in free expression is limited to ideas that offend parents; offending professors and deans shows bad judgment, rather than lively expression, in their view. Whichever way a blogger goes, the main thing is that he/she better have an intellectually honest understanding of their choice and be prepared to accept the flak either way.How's that for equivocation?
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posted by gbarto at 2:32 AM:
The end of Dingell? So says this blog's commentary. I found the link at A Dog's Life.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:25 AM:
Le Monde: Prevention and Medication the Key to Treating AIDS, the international AIDS conference at Barcelona believes. Biggest concern, no surprise, is Africa.Somber Independance Anniversary - for Algeria, where 30 where killed when a bomb went off in the Laarba market.
Le Figaro print headlines: Political Amnesty: the Debate - is it a way to make a clean break as French poltics progresses? or convenient cover for Chirac and Juppé; On Lance Armstrong's trail on the Tour de France; Sirven may be freed July 15 - the former director of general affairs for Elf-Aquitaine has been under arrest in the Philippines since Feb. 2001.
Libération leads with Drugs on the Tour de France; secondary lead says Lance Armstrong's the man to beat, but he's More than Favored - his most important rivals are out, injured or sorting out other problems.
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Friday, July 05, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:46 AM:
Pilots Report Possible ThreatsFlyers warned that that terrorists might watch their movements
It's gotten so bad, some pilots have been driven to drink.
Er, that was a different story.
Rather, pilots' hotel rooms being broken into and other suspicious incidents indicate the possibility of an organized movement to steal their i.d.'s, etc., perhaps in order to take over their planes at a later date. Not good.
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posted by gbarto at 11:43 AM:
Iraq Still Closed to Arms ProbersTalks with U.N. unsuccessful
But don't you worry, because in the court of world opinion if one Iraqi child goes hungry the U.S. will get the blame for being close-minded about whether Saddam should have nerve gas. And don't even bother bringing up the Kurds he already gassed: we know nobody would use these things so the U.S. should stop whining and pull the levers to lift the sanctions.
Iraq, like the Palestinians, suffers from monumentally bad leadership. If the people won't rise up to replace it, the world should salute any outside intervention to effect regime change.
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posted by gbarto at 11:40 AM:
Dow Gains Over 300, Nasdaq Up 68Encouraged by terror-free July Fourth, investors return to stock market to buy bargain-priced shares
If this keeps up, I'll only be down 15-20%! Okay, the economy's going to have to grow a bit more before we get back to the highs of a year or three ago, but progress is progress and we'll take it.
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posted by gbarto at 11:34 AM:
Den Beste dissects the International Criminal Court, concluding with the strongest reason not to trust it: those who hate the U.S. are trumpeting it the loudest.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:42 AM:
Saw some fireworks at San Jose this eve - I think. The show didn't seem to be going on in Milpitas, where my fiancee and I had planned to watch, so we headed toward some in the distance and when we found a decent view we stopped in a parking lot and took in the show. Might have been Campbell for all I know, but the TurkeyBlog had a nice fourth in any case. Hope you did too.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:39 AM:
Four killed as Cesna plows into parkNot terrorism but still scary as hell.
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posted by gbarto at 12:33 AM:
Le Monde is reporting on Bad Blood: The Indignation of the Victims as yet another court considering yet another angle of the French government's decision not to test the nation's blood supply for AIDS until a French company had a product on the market says, in effect, tant pis. Meaning that even now, Edmond Hervé's failure to be reelected to the Assembly is probably the gravest price anyone has paid.Le Figaro also leads with the blood scandal, as does Libération in this story.
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posted by gbarto at 12:25 AM:
Incidentally, in a remarkable show of restraint, CAIR has not yet issued any statements calling on racist America not to go berserk over an Arab shooting up an airport at the desk of an Israeli airline. Of course they haven't issued any condemnations either, as near as I can tell from their website.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:21 AM:
Update from this A.M.:Shooting at LAX Airport
Three dead, including gunman, after man opens fire at El Al ticket counter
It was an Egyptian national; he was killed by an El Al guard. Also killed, an airport worker and a man dropping off friends at the airport.
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posted by gbarto at 12:18 AM:
July 4WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed...
Read it all here.
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Thursday, July 04, 2002
posted by gbarto at 1:11 PM:
Den Beste must be seen today - the fourth. Few words but more commentary than one wants to imagine. I doubt it will be up tomorrow so hurry over before midnight.Update: the page is on permanent display here.
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posted by gbarto at 1:05 PM:
Mac has some wise thoughts on the fourth - even if they're other people's. Among them, Lincoln and Reagan.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:55 PM:
Headlines2 Die in L.A. Airport Shooting
Gunfire erupted at El Al ticket counter; gunman reported dead.
- No word on whether this was terrorism, who was involved, etc.
Explosion in Gaza Kills Two
Body parts scattered around burned white Mercedes
Williams vs. Williams — Again
Grand Slam final will feature Venus and Serena against each other
Pilots' Licenses Revoked
Men accused of trying to fly drunk
Jury Acquits Liddy of Defamation
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posted by gbarto at 12:19 PM:
Delightful dialog between the incomparable Holman Jenkins and Nell Minnow about what's up with business fraud.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:03 PM:
This Slate piece by Dahlia Lithwick is an important read for the fourth, looking at the Supreme Court's latest rulings on drug testing. The bottom line is that the federal government wasn't created so that little Timmy wouldn't use drugs; it was created to protect our borders and protect our rights. The latest rulings are bad news, carrying as they do the implication that any infringement a citizen can get used to is okay if it seems like it's for a really, really (you won't believe how heartfelt our feeling on this is) really important issue. The scarier thought - if the war on drugs can lead to such idiocies, what might the war on terror provoke before we're done? Of course there is one stop-gap: high schoolers don't by and large vote which is why state and federal legislators are so fond of making them the object of this nonsense. Leaving the question: will they inculcate a generation with the notion that when the government says "drop your shorts and piddle" and where would that lead the generation with respect to federal authorities when they're grown up? Submission? Or rebellion? Methinks some folks need to sit down and reread the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence - and the Federalist papers where we were assured a federal republic wouldn't lead to this sort of thing. Let's start with the Court and work our way downward.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:01 AM:
Lots of great stuff at Common Sense and Wonder including the warning that fire is a hazard to mankind. Go take a look.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:59 AM:
Been on vacation myself so I'm just discovering this letter on Ken Layne's blog; take a look if you haven't already. And as Ken says, the problem is this just doesn't pay well. But you can change that! Just click the tip jar to the left...* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:54 AM:
Joanne also picked up on the Washington state NEA story and has more thorough coverage and some useful thoughts.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:53 AM:
Yay us! According to Joanne Jacobs, Peggy Noonan, once wordsmith for the Great Communicator, has listed blogs as among the things that are right with America.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:51 AM:
Smog tests will get much more costly for Bay Area drivers.But don't you worry, Bay Area drivers. Your extra $20-$40 will buy back Gray Davis support from the environmental lobby, and what's more important? Your wallet or the governor's reelection chances? We knew you'd understand.
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posted by gbarto at 12:45 AM:
Ballooning Tycoon Finally LandsFossett completes record breaking around-the-world solo journey
The wondrous things money makes possible. Though if I had a couple billion I think I'd come up with better ways to spend it. But I'm probably not going to turn up with a billion dollars anytime soon either; guess the kind of drive that gets you there can have some pretty strange means of expressing itself.
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posted by gbarto at 12:42 AM:
Official: Texas Bus Driver Had Drugs in System at Time of Fatal CrashOn the way to a church camp. I'd hate to meet St. Peter under those circumstances.
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posted by gbarto at 12:40 AM:
Saddam's Stepson ArrestedHeld in Miami on an immigration violation after seeking flight training
In fact, he already knows how to fly and was merely seeking recertification. However, his visa listed him as a tourist, and tourists can't take flight training, especially when they're of Arab descent, their families include Arab dictators, and the INS and friends are already laughingstocks for not keeping an eye on things. That said, the guy may be getting a rough break: he's being deported to New Zealand, where he lives, and not Iraq, and inquiries into whether he's on speaking terms with Saddam have not proved fruitful. Perhaps he's just another guy from the Middle East getting a rough break because jackasses he wants nothing to do with have highjacked his native culture and perverted it to serve their own delusions.
The big question is this: Were he to return to Iraq, would he be welcomed back into the family? Or killed like some of his brothers-in-law not so long ago? Since we can't really know the answer without risking the life of a potential instrument, I suppose it's best to send him back to New Zealand. And keep him away from airplanes until we have a better idea what's up with him.
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posted by gbarto at 12:31 AM:
Asks Le Monde, "Raffarin: conservative or direct?" The question posed after the PM's opening presentation to the Assembly which the left judged too conservative and the right judged simple, direct and clear-headed.Le Monde also tells us that Israel is easing the pressure - on Palestine, by letting 5000 Palestinians return to work and ending the curfew in Trans-Jordan.
Le Monde asked if Raffarin was conservative or direct. Let's see if Le Figaro's headline can help us figure out where they stand on the question: "Raffarin invents audacious prudence". Of course the headine could be ironical; with Le Figaro, whose closest American analog is the Wall Street Journal, it isn't really.
Libération offers a headline for Raffarin that I'd have to translate as the "Quadrapartite nature of the Prime Minister" - a bad translation, but one which underlines the less enthused, more "here are the facts, do with them what you will" approach that the left/center-left daily has taken with respect to much of what has been happening in Chirac-land.
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Wednesday, July 03, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:25 PM:
Howard Kurtz: Media NotesWhich Al Gore Is Real?
His vow to "let it rip" gives ammo to critics who say he's a chameleon.
I understand Mr. Gore read this one attentively, hoping it would maybe give the answer. Alas, no such luck, and so the former VP must stumble on in search of his identity. Hint to Al: to the extent we choose our own destinies, you might want to steer clear of "Power to the People Al".
Update: Read this Richard Cohen column in Mercury News today; it was referenced in Kurtz' piece but if you're interested, here's a second chance to take a look.
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posted by gbarto at 12:22 PM:
Sounds like it's the Swiss who were at fault in that air crash:Warning System Off in Air CrashWill the International Criminal Court be looking into this?
One of two Swiss traffic controllers not at post when collision took place
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posted by gbarto at 12:20 PM:
Database Tracks Foreign StudentsINS announces first success in streamlining info into one system
I'm not sure what's more worrisome: INS failures or INS successes. I'm deeply ambivalent about the databases, not because I'm convinced they're inherently problematic or that there's anything wrong with knowing who's coming into the country, but because the INS has a habit of harrassing those who are easiest to find, not those who pose a real threat, to show they're doing something. Let's just hope the new system - unlike the old one - is really used to find the next Mohammad Atta, not an ordinary student with a misplaced comma in the paperwork and a resigned willingness to follow INS instructions given in the name of bureaucracy rather than security.
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posted by gbarto at 12:15 PM:
Go Fourth With CautionBush wants Americans to celebrate Independence Day, but to be wary; jets to patrol skies over major cities
Of course we should exercise all due caution, but we should also be careful not to go overboard. While I shy from making predictions, it's my guess that in the wake of the fourth it will be traffic fatalities, not terrorism, that has claimed the most American lives for the holiday.
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posted by gbarto at 1:31 AM:
NEA Slapped With FineTeachers union must pay $800,000 for misappropriating member dues
WASHINGTON — The National Education Association is crying foul play after a Washington state judge slapped the country's largest teachers union with an $800,000 fine for failing to show up for court on charges that it was illegally spending members' dues on politics.Good news for teachers, but bad news for the NEA, worse news for the Dems. In Michigan - whose MEA organization gave birth to the NEA - members in certain districts have gotten hit with random extra assessments when the statewide Democratic candidates were faltering for years now. They said that with CFR booting the parties out of the electoral process, third party groups would take up the slack and the NEA was a biggie on that list for the Democrats. Wonder what happens if their members actually demand a say.
Also curious that the NEA, if it's so sure it's representing members with its politicking, didn't show up in court to stand up for their right to be heard, never mind its own right to spend money. Methinks Beck may finally be on the verge of being enforced (even though in this case it's a Washington state law being enforeced).
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posted by gbarto at 1:23 AM:
Less Than a Minute to ReactRussian and Swiss officials blame each other for crash that killed 71
Why don't they just blame America? That's what their fellow Europeans would do.
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posted by gbarto at 1:20 AM:
God, here I am late posting two days in a row, even as Natalie Solent plans to take over the world - or at least the blogosphere.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:19 AM:
Le Monde says Yassir Arafat is reforming, Human error caused the midair collision yesterday and JM2 got an 18M Euro golden parachute for leaving Vivendi (the last headline translated a little liberally).Le Figaro on-dead-tree (apologies to Jonah Goldberg) tells us that Vivendi collapses on the Bourse (the Parisian stock exchange), that Messier (Vivendi's former CEO) is a disappearing star and that the Air Collision in Germany took 71 lives.
Libération says of Vivendi's former CEO: Messier, Firing under Suspicion (the French, démission au soupçon rhymes, probably deliberately). Libé also tells us The Greens hit bottom, with respect to the repercussions of their electoral embarrassment in the legislative elections.
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posted by gbarto at 1:07 AM:
Congratulations to A Dog's Life whose writer just got his 26th patent.* * *
Monday, July 01, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:34 PM:
Worthy thoughts on the death penalty and its application at A Dog's Life.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:29 PM:
Report: Pilots Drunk on the JobTwo America West flyers arrested in cockpit just before pushing off
Ouch. That never looks good on your records. And I'm sure America West won't appreciate the probable onslaught of jokes about flying high - even before take-off.
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posted by gbarto at 11:27 PM:
Dog Vs. Katherine HarrisBorder collie mix runs against secretary of state in Florida
Not too sure about this, but then again he is neutered which means there's one less thing to worry about than with most politicians.
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posted by gbarto at 11:24 PM:
Mich. Mom Gets Murder ChargeWoman left kids to die in sweltering car while having hair done
Wow! We get a few of these every year, and one feels bad for the family. But still... shouldn't people have figured out how this works by now?
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posted by gbarto at 11:22 PM:
44 Kids Feared Dead in Germany CrashA Russian-made airliner carrying scores of passengers and a DHL cargo plane collide; all aboard both aircraft believed killed
Few details yet this ugly mess which apparently sent flaming parts as far as 20 miles.
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posted by gbarto at 11:19 PM:
Le Monde:U.S. Opposes International Criminal Court - and wisely, since some of this would pertain to war actions, a problematic proposition since the U.S. and England are the only Western nations to seriously undertake combat these days and the other Western nations are therefore detached from the consequences of faulty or rhetorically overblown application of the law.
For example, we learn below that An American bomb killed in error - specifically an Afghan citizen. France, Belgium and others can feel perfectly safe in declaring this a hideous war-crime on par with massacre because their own troops never get close enough to the front lines in real battles to know the danger of having physical danger transformed into legal jeopardy.
Le Figaro: Messier: I'm leaving so that Vivendi Universal can remain. So he pushed it too far and now JM2 is gone. Being a pompous America-obsessed CEO is barely forgivable, but turning in a lousy balance sheet is inexcusable.
Libération calls Messier's departure The Longest Dismissal.
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Sunday, June 30, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:48 PM:
FoxNews Israel headlines:Israel Kills Top Hamas Suspect
- Powell on Fox News Sunday
- U.S. to Palestinians: Arafat Must Go
Sounds like things are getting interesting over there again. But is it progress? Or just movement? We'll see.
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posted by gbarto at 11:45 PM:
Bravo to the Brits: stipends for ex-cons. They're just full of ideas over there. Den Beste has the story.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:44 PM:
Den Beste follows up on the reaction to Bush's speech that wrote Arafat out of the picture.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:39 PM:
If she cursed the DMV photographer for his shoddy workmanship, would it be a veiled insult? See Tim Blair for the story.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:35 PM:
Good news about Jordan and seemingly great news about the Palestinian Authority/EU at Instantman.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:32 PM:
LGF on our friends, the Egyptians.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:31 PM:
LGF has commentary and lots of comments on the apparent Al-Qaeda - Hezbollah alliance.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:19 PM:
A few days old but yikes. Bjørn Stærk says there's trouble afoot in the Sudetenland (approximately where Hitler started his push for elbow room for the Germans).* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:09 PM:
Awesome: I found this test at Dr. Weevil's, and when I did it, I turned out to be my favorite composer! | If I were a Dead Russian Composer, I would be Dmitri Shostakovich! I am a shy, nervous, unassuming, fidgety, and stuttery little person who began composing the same year I started music lessons of any sort. I wrote the first of my fifteen symphonies at age 18, and my second opera, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District," when I was only 26. Unfortunately, Stalin hated the opera, and put me on the Enemy Of The People List for life. I nevertheless kept composing the works I wanted to write in private; some of my vocal cycles and 15 string quartets mock the Soviet System in notes. And I somehow was NOT killed in the process! And Harry Potter(c) stole my glasses and broke them! Who would you be? Dead Russian Composer Personality Test |
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posted by gbarto at 11:02 PM:
Natalie Solent has a round-up of some of her moppets - the little children like the Palestinian boy a few posts down whose parents can seem to resist envisioning their futures - as human bombs.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:59 PM:
Le Monde hailsKing Brazil
for winning the World Cup, defeating Germany 2-0.Ratcheting up of tensions in the Yellow Sea - as South Korea reinforces its navy presence in the area after recent battles at sea suggesting the possibility of war on the peninsula.
Le Figaro print headlines: Soccer: time for reform (unrelated, we're sure, to France's dismal showing this season); Korea: Naval Battle in the Yellow Sea; the Disappearance of François Périer (famous French actor)
Libération leads with Brazil's Victory.
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posted by gbarto at 12:42 PM:
The new face of Palestine:
I know this is old, but according to this article, the grandfather of this poor child says this was just a joke. Funny, most parents think it would be cute to dress up their baby as a puppy or a fireman (incidentally the real martyr from 9/11). Guess the Palestinians have a different way of looking at things.
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posted by gbarto at 12:37 PM:
Another Palestinian move toward peace:Bomb Explodes Under Israeli Train
JERUSALEM — A bomb exploded under a moving passenger train in central Israel on Sunday, damaging one car but causing no serious injuries, police said. A Palestinian near the blast was held for questioning, but authorities said they were not certain the explosion was the work of militants.
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posted by gbarto at 12:35 PM:
The federal government is considering a bold new initiative to limit forest fires: banning federal employees for federal forests.Fed Admits Starting Wildfire
Part-time firefighter Leonard Gregg, 29, says he set Arizona blaze because he wanted to make money and because he was angry about his parents' drinking problem
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posted by gbarto at 1:15 AM:
Voucher debates help liberals? Joanne Jacobs doesn't think so.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:13 AM:
Shoot! I missed it. The hundredth anniversary of Richard Rodgers, chronicled at A Dog's Life.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:09 AM:
A little good news on the fire front.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:06 AM:
And Now the Good News About the Stock SituationJames Glassman offers some hopes; nice piece and I'd like to be convinced.
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posted by gbarto at 1:02 AM:
Hezbollah, Al Qaeda Seen As Teaming Up on TerrorThe budding ad hoc cooperation may help a hobbled al Qaeda strike again.
Remind me, again, doesn't Syria fund Hezbollah? Time to send Assad the younger a postcard from Afghanistan?
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posted by gbarto at 12:58 AM:
Got milk?Milk Beyond Your Wildest DreamsBut of course we need to keep subsidizing the dairy industry because we need to maintain our food supply...
Government tries to decide fate of its $1 billion powdered stockpile
Or to paraphrase, only a two and a half years to the Iowa caucuses.
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posted by gbarto at 12:55 AM:
Le Monde:M. Raffarin turns to Civil Society. The new P.M. has given several posts to people outside government, an unusual move in technocratic France which Le Monde says shows his desire for an "open" government free of traditional influences.
Sunni group accused of bombings - in Pakistan, as well as the murder of Daniel Pearl.
Libération: Israel destroys Palestinian Police Headquarters in Hebron
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