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Saturday, October 26, 2002
posted by gbarto at 3:13 PM:
Greg's also commenting on the death of Senator Wellstone.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:09 PM:
On the hostage crisis and the wonders of modern times: For 9/11, we had cell phone calls from loved ones, both from the WTC and from the airplanes. The Washington Post has messages keyed back and forth between husband and wife on their Nokias.She's in serious condition. Prayers for her too.
What a mess.
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posted by gbarto at 3:00 PM:
FNC is saying Mondale is a possible successor to Wellstone. I don't know; Wellstone was something of a throwback, true, but still...* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:58 PM:
90 Hostages KilledRussian special forces storm Moscow theater, freeing more than 700 held captive; Putin visits survivors in hospital
Wow! And that is, alas, really and truly a successful operation. It could have been 700. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
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posted by gbarto at 2:02 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Moscow: The Bloody End to the Hostage Situation."
Le Figaro, on the same story, notes "A Shadow of Al-Qaeda behind the Moscow commandos." Le Figaro points out similarities to Al-Qaeda ops all the way down to sending promotional videotapes to Al-Jazeera and concludes the group must have at least some connection to Middle-East terrorism and probably Al-Qaeda.
Libé, meanwhile, tells us about "The end of the theater siege in Moscow: An uncertain final accounting." They also note that in the conflict, "Chechen civilians [live] under terror" with Russia racking up plenty of war crimes in the region.
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posted by gbarto at 1:47 AM:
The two big stories for today, as far as we're concerned, are these:Sen. Wellstone Dead in Plane Crash
Wife, daughter also among eight killed in aircraft
I was never a big fan of Wellstone's (though I did appreciate his mental health parity bill, put together with Pete Domenici) but still it's a damn shame to see this happen. Electoral politics, the way of the Senate, etc., will have to be sorted out down the road - and soon with an election in about 10 days. But tonight, the TurkeyBlog would like simply to offer condolences for a senator with whom he rarely agreed but who pursued his work with conviction and a degree of honor not prevalent among his peers. Lest this be taken as unwarranted praise for the departed, rest assured that had Sen. Kennedy been on the plane too (as was briefly feared) similar compliments would not have been paid.
Today's other big story - the one across the top of Fox News tonight is:
Moscow Siege Ceases
Dozens of bodies were removed from the theater; Chechen rebel leader has been killed and situation under control by Russian security forces
Not sure I agress with the headline. More like it was ended. The rebels were executing captives, handy since it made just about any Russian action acceptable and as near as I can tell the Russians did the right thing. What is striking is at once the mindlessness and the sheer stupidity of the thing. Chechnya has - or had - a chance of proving itself not worth the trouble of occupying. But it had no chance of actually taking on Russia. In bringing the war to Moscow and killing innocents, rebels undermined their moral claims and gave Russia its best justification and encouragement yet for crushing the independence movement. The people of Chechnya deserve better representation.
One final story for the day:
Richard Harris Dead at 72
Irish actor had been receiving treatment for Hodgkin's Disease
Others can make their jokes; I liked MacArthur Park. On the same album, A Tramp Shining, was a little ditty called The Paper Chase which delighted me without end in my youth (listening to my parents' LP - I'm not from the generation that heard Richard Harris on the radio). And who can forget the outrageous stories told on the Tonight Show and elsewhere. A great entertainer, he will be missed.
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posted by gbarto at 1:22 AM:
Moved to blogger:'We'll Kill You at Dawn'
Gunmen vow to slay Moscow hostages if Russia doesn't pull out of Chechnya
First one girl dead, now this threat. Let's hope for their sake that Vlady is less cagey with this than he is with Irak
Meantime, here are our fine friends on that Irak question:
Russia, France Mount Offensive
Proposals circulated at U.N. to water down U.S./British Iraq resolution
Blogger's down and we're too lazy to do to much updating by hand. But there are your two big thoughts for the morning/afternoon depending on where you are.
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Friday, October 25, 2002
posted by gbarto at 3:03 AM:
Instapundit notes that the Russian hostage situation isn't getting the attention it deserves in the US press, and indeed it's not what caught my eye looking at the Merc and Chronicle (World Series coverage) or the Washington Post (sniper story). But as shown below, our friends in France are putting it front and center. One of the reasons why the net's great - those who care can find out. Still, it would be nice if Americans who heard so much about Putin a few days ago when he was mucking up our UN/Iraq process got a chance to see what he does when his primary concern is addressing terrorism, not seeking Iraqi dollars.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:56 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Moscow: Liberation of Foreigners in Suspense" about the ongoing hostage situation with rebel Chechens.
Le Figaro is also covering "The Chechen War at the heart of Moscow." Their lead is the killing of a young woman by the rebels. They claim she had penetrated the building, potentially as a spy. The Russians say she'd been there from the start but may have tried to flee.
Libé's lead on the same subject is "Putin trapped by the Chechen tragedy." They note that Moscow has rejected the hostage taker's demand for Russia to pull out of Chechnya.
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posted by gbarto at 2:26 AM:
Moscow Hostage Deal Falls ApartChechen rebels agree to release 75 foreign hostages, then renege
Which means poor Vladimir's attention is diverted from monkeying with Iraq.
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Thursday, October 24, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:52 AM:
Crackdown on TurncoatsBill aims to revoke citizenship for betraying United States
Fair enough. But citizens charged and citizens convicted are not the same thing. If - with full due process and all rights of the accused enforced - a jury determines that someone has committed an offense meriting this, and if - with full due process and all rights of the accused enforced - the appeals process doesn't overturn, then citizenship may be revoked. Allowing revocation at any time prior to the completion of theses two steps, however, is wrong because it would give the acting regime - not our laws and institutions - power that cannot be left to mere political actors.
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posted by gbarto at 11:45 AM:
So we have the sniper:Rifle, Scope, Tripod Found in Car
John Allen Muhammad, 41, and stepson John Lee Malvo, 17, were asleep in vehicle at Maryland rest stop when arrested
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posted by gbarto at 3:30 AM:
Cicero has some thoughts on the labeling of LGF as potentially a hate speech site by MSNBC. My own thoughts: Phooey. LGF specializes in original source texts that merely show what is being read, thought and said in the Middle East along with observations on the authors that if anything are too easy on the sort of people who accuse Jews of drinking Palestinian blood and worse. If the Islamacists want to shut LGF down, all they have to do is stop writing such transparently awful things that even the most addled multiculturalist can see the vulgar notions inherent in them.Indicting LGF is merely an indictment of people who want to remain in their cozy mindless multi-culti mushthink and are threatened by what the data reveal.
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posted by gbarto at 3:20 AM:
A Dog's Life has an interesting note on how hearing into the death penalty are going in Illinois. Not well for death penalty opponents.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:14 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde: "Spectacular taking of hostages in Moscow." Note the pun - spectacle is French for show.
Le Figaro runs the same story up top under the headline "Moscow: Hundreds of Hostages Held by Chechen Commando."
And for once, it's unanimous. Libé is fronting "Moscow: The Ultimatum of the Chechen Commando." The Commando (mustn't say "terrorist," must stick to Reuters style guide) has given the Russians seven days to start pulling out of Chechnya. It's serious enough the Putin has dropped his trip to Europe.
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posted by gbarto at 3:05 AM:
Uh oh.Moscow Theater Under Siege
Armed men and women claiming to be Chechens take up to 700 hostage
So... who here thinks Bush is laying awake tonight wondering how to help Putin with his domestic terrorism problem? Who thinks he went to bed with a nasty thought about the guy putting a knife in the back of his war on terror?
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Wednesday, October 23, 2002
posted by gbarto at 9:37 AM:
Letter: Police 'Ignored' CallsAngry missive believed to be from sniper seeks $10M, threatens more killing. (my italics)
Do you suppose the letters could be from someone just trying to make a fast buck? Someone who knows the sniper but isn't actually part of the plot?
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posted by gbarto at 9:33 AM:
Police to Sniper: Let's Keep TalkingSecond note reportedly found repeating demands for money; Chief Moose offers to set up private line of communication
So the guy wants $10 million or he's going to keep killing people. Jeez. Even USA wouldn't run this movie of the week for fear it would seem too hokey. But here we are. Glad I'm not in D.C.
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posted by gbarto at 2:26 AM:
Russia Nixes U.S. Iraq ResolutionNew draft tried to satisfy Moscow, Paris
Perhaps it's time to launch a new human rights campaign for Chechnya. Especially since France, holier than thou about human rights, has turned a blind eye in an effort to make nice to Putin since this summer.
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posted by gbarto at 2:21 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Internal Security: The Debate," about the bill before the French parliament that would make France "more repressive" or more secure, depending on whether or not you believe in Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Libé's lead story is the same with the note that the left is up in arms over a bill that would "criminalize whole sections of society."
Le Figaro tells us "Chirac wants to make Great Britain pay," a greater share of the costs involved in enlarging the EU, that is.
Le Figaro's AFP Bulletin notes an explosion in the night at a school just outside Strassbourg the day before Interior Minister Sarkozy's visit to the area - a visit being made in response to violence in the area.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:39 PM:
Tit for TatSaudi Arabia fingerprinting Americans in possible response to U.S. move
Whatever. I'm not sure it's that big a deal, but if anyone thinks it is, our best response would be to order all US citizens home. After we shut down the oil wells we're operating, etc. and padlock 'em up real nice.
The distinction between Saudis and American citizens is quite simple: Thousands of Americans were murdered by Saudis in the US while American troops were murdered by Saudis in Saudi Arabia. How many thousands of Saudis have Americans killed in their own country? How many Saudi soldiers have been massacred on US territory?
If Saudi Arabia, home of the Wahabi movement, thinks it has moral equivalency with the US they've been in the sun too long.
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posted by gbarto at 12:34 PM:
Again:Maryland Bus Driver Dies From Gunshot Wounds
Conrad Johnson, 35, married father of two, shot this morning near sites of six earlier attacks; police treating it as work of Beltway Sniper
* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:08 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde leads with "Israel: Bloody Bus Bombing," about the latest attack on Israeli civilians. Worth mentioning: the photo topping the web site carries the caption, "It's the first bombing in Israeli territory since October 10th." No, folks, that's not a month after 9/11 hit the US. That's less than two weeks ago - but the passing of nearly two weeks without a bombing marked a period of calm in the Mid-East.
Le Figaro says "The French are ready to sacrifice to save their health system." A good thing, too, since 57% think there are cutbacks in the quality of care coming.
Libé says "Bush resolved to awaiting UN green light" on Iraq. What that means is being debated on op-ed pages everywhere but I understand they haven't started sleeping fitfully in Iraq just yet.
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posted by gbarto at 2:55 AM:
Homicide Blast Kills 16 in IsraelIslamic Jihad claims responsibility after car explodes next to bus
The U.N. has issued a statement blasting Israel's aggressive use of civilian casualties to make the Palestinians look violent.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:53 AM:
Daaays old, day ay ay ay's old, Belafonte's over and this story is cold...Singer Angers Black Republicans
Belafonte accused Powell, Rice of not representing African-Americans
There was a snazzy editorial in today's Merc, and maybe the editorial writers still have a little time to weigh in, but the news value of a singer criticizing Bush policy is about as much as the news value of a singer standing by Clinton all the way. Of course Black Republicans are unhappy - the slur against Powell is a slur against them. The real question is why African-Americans from a certain political stripe are so quick to denigrate the achievements of one of their fellows, even as they wonder in the next breath why they don't get more respect. I salute Harry Belafonte for writing memorable songs and Colin Powell for his efforts in government. May the two of them stick to their areas of expertise.
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posted by gbarto at 2:39 AM:
Woo hoo! Blogging made Doonesbury (you'll want the Oct. 21 cartoon).* * *
Monday, October 21, 2002
posted by gbarto at 9:34 AM:
North Korea: Let's Make a DealCommunist country willing to negotiate nukes if U.S. withdraws 'hostile policy'
That "hostile policy" would be expecting North Korea to meet its treaty obligations and not develop nukes if it is to get US aid and favor they're supposed to give under the treaty.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:32 AM:
Have they got him?Police Receive 'Message,' Preparing Response
White van stopped near Richmond, Va; one man taken into custody
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:53 AM:
Thanks to Cicero for the plug for the Hugo pages and Les Pages Lamartine. The TurkeyBlogster hopes to look at some Trollope soon. As for the critique of Hugo, I'll give a famous anecdote:André Gide was once asked who France's greatest poet of the 19th century was. His response, "Victor Hugo, alas."Hugo is the very face of excess, from talent to virtuosity to ego. The quantity of writing he produced is such that only a less than astute grad student like me would make the mistake of specializing in him (why couldn't I have picked someone who wrote four important works and packed up his writing materials?). Yet who makes Lamartine or Baudelaire into movies? Who's turning Balzac into cartoons? In the mass of writing that Hugo produced, enough of it struck a cord that all the world knows who Esmerelda and Quasimodo are - they got the action figures at McDonald's - and every middle class American with the slightest inclination for the arts has gone to see Les Miz, if only because they'd already seen Cats and Phantom of the Opera (based on another French novel) three times.
As for Lamartine, wallowing in Lamartine beats appreciating the perfection of Hugo's verse. But Hugo's verse is indeed perfect, the product of a man who thought in Alexandrine (imagine an English poet who could speak in iambic pentameter and make it rhyme without thinking about it) and students of French ought to take a look to know just how far the French language can be taken.
As far as poem's go, I'd recommend Hugo's "Fable or history" and Lamartine's "Invocation." (The first is in both English and French on my web page; I only have my translation of the second though I fear the French is far better.)
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posted by gbarto at 2:13 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde's lead is "Ireland: a new step toward enlargement," all about the fact Ireland has accepted the Treaty of Nice, paving the way for the EU to expand. But the same EU is having troubles managing the 15 members it has.
Le Figaro, on the same subject, fronts "After the 'Yes' of Ireland, challenges face a Europe of 25."
Le Figaro has an interesting story in third position: "French Islam: The moment of truth." That's right: French Islam. The government - though officially never interfering in religion - has a council on Islam designed to give the religion special protections and special support for building Muslim communities, provided those communities find an Islam respecting an individual's right to worship, of course, but also tolerant of Western modernism and prepared to coexist with the rest of French society. The question: How do you create a council and institutions that hew closely enough to the way actual French Muslims think to win their respect yet assure that those institutions don't get coopted by extremists. Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy is on the case and out to get a rep as the guy who established a safe, France-friendly Islam. Will he pull it off? Only time will tell but things are tense in current discussions.
Libé's lead asks: "Politics: Six months for nothing?" inasmuch as six months after the new government got underway people don't feel it's solved many problems.
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posted by gbarto at 1:54 AM:
Ireland Paves Way for EU ExpansionResults of second vote show support for adding former communist countries
And here those countries held such promise for breaking free from communism. But, alas, Ireland has opened wide the jaws of Euroland to swallow them up.
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posted by gbarto at 1:52 AM:
Bin Laden Paid for Bali BombingLinked to attack by senior lieutenant
But... but... But Margo Kingston was telling me these were just ordinary folks sick of having their island messed up by thoughtless Westerners. You mean this was really part of a larger drive by extremist Muslims to kill non-Muslims?
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Sunday, October 20, 2002
posted by gbarto at 1:33 PM:
About the bombing in the Philippines (get the link in the item below) I decided to throw in this paragraph:Witnesses said Sunday's bomb was concealed in either a box or a tin can and placed on a bicycle. The vehicle was parked near a gate to Fort Pilar — a century-old shrine and church, which also has a park with several stalls selling food and religious items, such as candles.How quaint! A bicycle bombing. GreenPeace thanks them, no doubt, for not burning fossil fuels on their way to murder their fellow man.
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posted by gbarto at 1:30 PM:
One Dead in Philippines BlastBomb explodes near church
And so another blow is struck against the Great Satan for its capitalist excesses and its unyielding support of Zionism. Surrender now, America, or we'll kill more Philippino's! And Australians! And...
Oh hell, the apologists for this crap are just loony, aren't they?
We have, again, a look at what fundamentalism Islam is - as medieval as Crusade era Christianity but with some nastier toys. May it grow up or wither away, for the era of spiritual conquest by the sword is so, like, 10th century.
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posted by gbarto at 1:26 PM:
Powell: N. Koreans 'Nullified' DealU.S. considers nuclear pact dead
And South Korea is worried about losing trade with the North if the US pushes an economic isolation plan. In case you missed it, that's the country that was damn near overrun by North Korea about 50 years ago that is now saying, "Don't get all worked up just because they have nukes; we have financial interests there." Maybe Lenin was right. Fortunately, the real capitalist leader of the world knows better. Even if it is so naive as to think that signing a treaty means you'll abide by its terms.
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posted by gbarto at 2:35 AM:
So that's how they do it! Here's Natalie Solent on how the EU keeps people on board.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:30 AM:
How could we not pass along a shot at Gray Davis? Here's A Dog's Life. Meanwhile, the Mercury News today headlined yet another case of "was it quid pro quo or does it just look really really bad?" from the Davis administration. The headline: "Bill signing benefited Davis donor." Four hospitals owned by the same guy gave $200 grand in donations a few days before Davis passed a bill assuring continued state funding for a couple rare procedures they specialize in. It's not as tasty as the environmental guv letting a donor quintuple the dioxins they release into San Francisco Bay (that's not an outrageous scenario, just an earlier revelation), but it's still food for thought.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:18 AM:
The incredible Mark Steyn has said a few things about the Bali bombing that needed to be said. Have a read. (Via Cicero)* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:04 AM:
French news round-up:Says Le Monde: "Referendum in Ireland: a favorable prognostication" for Irish approval of the Treaty of Nice, which would allow for the expansion of the EU beyond the current 15 members. This comes even as EU bigwig Romano Prodi has been going about making ugly noises about the Union's stability pact.
Meanwhile, Le Monde's lead editorial is "Iraq and North Korea." At issue, why Iraq's WMD's require US military action but North Korea's have merely led to more diplomacy. Given what we've seen elsewhere, one would expect a stinging rebuke of the Bush team. But aside from a few small jibes, the editorial focuses on why the US course is the best one for dealing with Pyongyang.
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posted by gbarto at 1:54 AM:
We'll note for the record that it's not just Indonesia but also the Philippines with an extremist leader in custody:Abu Sayyaf Leader in Custody
Philippines captures leader of extremist group, kills five guerillas
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