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Saturday, January 04, 2003
posted by gbarto at 1:05 AM:
Sullivan has a delightful takedown of Krugman.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:03 AM:
Bjørn Stærk has a truly frightening thought: Norway's Minister of Culture matters. Specifically, she's shutting down one of Norway's most popular channels and handing over the broadcast license to a group more amenable to her idea of what tv should be about.Imagine if our NEH or NEA people got their hands on that kind of power. The problem? The channel hasn't done enough educational or public service broadcasting, preferring to air programs people watched. Thank God that here in America it's enough to have PBS to not watch while the networks, the cable channels and so on give us a steady diet of what consumers actually want.
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posted by gbarto at 12:39 AM:
Bush Begins Rallying Soldiers for War in IraqAt Fort Hood in Texas, the president forewarns a U.S. attack based on the Jan. 27 U.N. inspectors report.
So sayeth the Post. It must be so.
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posted by gbarto at 12:36 AM:
French news round-up (What French newspapers think is news):Le Monde leads with "Venezuela: Two Dead and Some Injured." Those deaths and injuries took place as supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez exchanged fire after an anti-Chavez protest that drew hundreds of thousands.
Le Figaro tells us that "The Council of Ministers entertains the 'Bachelot Plan,'" a plan to address technological and natural risks in life.
Libé says "Chirac and Raffarin are at war with little droplets," namely the oil droplets nearing the coast.
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Friday, January 03, 2003
posted by gbarto at 12:06 AM:
We'll send you to Common Sense and Wonder to get Hitchens' latest, an excellent meditation on evil.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:05 AM:
Here comes your French news round-up:Le Monde: "France faces Ivory Coast trap." Namely that they're taking sides but don't want to be seen as doing so to the extent that they become targets and the Ivory Coast's government and army have fallen short in terms of being nothing more than a worthy government plagued by ridiculous rebellions. Libé leads on the same subject.
Le Figaro: "Black tide: the Girondin coast expects the worst." The return of the oil spill to the news as French territory is at stake.
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Thursday, January 02, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:59 PM:
Suspect Held in U.S.-Pakistan ClashU.S.: Border guard who wounded American soldier in Pakistani custody
Good. But Pakistan must act to clamp down on the anti-American sympathies within its military's ranks; while individual Pakistanis may have their own opinions, soldiers are to be expected to act in accordance with their country's policies.
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posted by gbarto at 11:57 PM:
Parents of Cloned Baby Question DNAMother, father of 'Eve' may not allow her to be tested, Clonaid head says
I just can't imagine why they don't want to prove this definitively.
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posted by gbarto at 12:33 AM:
Tomorrow, the TurkeyBlog is back on the big bird across the US. Hope to talk to you from Michigan soon.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:28 AM:
Sounds like Nonsensical Ramblings did as well as I did with blogger the other day.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:26 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde: "Lula invested with the hope of the Brazilians." The first president of Brazil of working class origins took office Wednesday.
Libé is on the same page as Le Monde, with their headline being, "Ole, Ola, Lula!" which I think needs no translation.
Le Figaro: "2003, Europe lands on Mars." Says Le Figaro, 2003 should be a big year for the European Space Agency, with plans to launch devices that will land on Mars and on a comment. For the moment, they're humbly displaying what the American Pathfinder came up with as an example of what to expect.
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posted by gbarto at 12:14 AM:
Frist Aids Wreck VictimsNew Senate majority leader helps the injured at south Florida crash scene
The key difference between the old Majority Leader and the new: the latter cleans up disasters instead of making them.
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posted by gbarto at 12:12 AM:
N. Korea Calls for 'Powerful Nation'Pyongyang wants South Koreans to help resist possible U.S. invasion
Is South Korea really stupid enough to throw in its lot with the country that tried to convert it to communism at the point of the sword only a few generations ago?
With the new leader, who knows?
I hope the Kitty Hawk remains off the coast of Japan.
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Wednesday, January 01, 2003
posted by gbarto at 3:21 AM:
A U.S.-Pakistani firefight and two fireworks stands up in flames - one in Mexico City and one in the Philippines: Indeed, the old year went out with a bang. Let's hope the new one brings better, brighter, happier times.Happy New Years
from the TurkeyBlog
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posted by gbarto at 3:18 AM:
Pakistani, U.S. Troops Exchanged GunfireSkirmish on Afghan border ended with U.S. airstrike against its ally in war on terror. – Marc Kaufman
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec. 31 -- U.S. military authorities announced today that a brief shootout erupted between U.S. and Pakistani troops along the Afghan border Sunday, prompting the U.S. forces to call in an F-16 warplane that dropped a 500-pound bomb on the Pakistanis to end the clashThe conflict prompted this stunning insight:
[T]he shooting raised again the question of whether some Pakistani soldiers and tribal leaders still sympathize with their Taliban neighbors, whom they long supported until the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
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posted by gbarto at 3:11 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde: "Chirac: Wishes for Peace and Action." The president's annual address evoked a desire for peace, while hinting at the possibility of war in Iraq, and insisting that France had an important role in any case. The address also called for more movement on "too long stalled" reforms.
Libé has its own take: "The Tired Wishes of Jacques Chirac" (actually, à plat, or flat fallen).
Le Figaro hasn't changed a whit from when I updated yesterday afternoon (way back on Monday in blog-time).
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posted by gbarto at 3:00 AM:
Which is the bigger idiocy? Which is the scarier scenario?
Death Toll From Mexico Fireworks Explosion Grows to 28
MEXICO CITY — Illegal fireworks stands ignited in the port city of Veracruz on Tuesday as revelers thronged a marketplace to buy New Year's supplies. The blaze quickly engulfed an entire city block and killed at least 28 people.
Attack in Philippines Kills At Least 10
Police searching for man who lobbed grenade into New Year's Eve crowd
COTABATO, Philippines — A grenade attack on New Year's Eve celebrations in the southern Philippines killed at least 10 people — including a 14-year-old boy — and wounded 32 others, an army official said Wednesday.That's the fifth bombing in the area since Christmas. So there's your start to the new year: Fireworks, literally, and death on two continents. Hopefully we'll do better once the revelry ceases.
A man tossed the grenade at a crowded fireworks stall in the city of Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat province on southern Mindanao island, army Capt. Onting Alon said. Most of the casualties were holiday revelers....
No one has claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, for a series of bomb attacks and an ambush that have killed 30 people and injured dozens in the southern Philippines in the last two weeks.
The rebels, who have been fighting for three decades for Muslim self-rule in the region, have denied the charge.
However, the Philippines is really scary, inasmuch as this wasn't just human stupidity (referred to by Scott Adams of Dilbert fame as the one thing upon which you can count) but human stupidity and malevolence all rolled up together: a dry powder keg and a crowd of people - simple idiocy - and most likely a bomb-throwing zealot - idiocy and malice together.
Our one hope: while people will no doubt persist in their stupidity, perhaps the malice will in time abate. This would seem most likely to come as Islam - mainstream Islam - realizes that for all its growth, it is and will continue to be a dying religion unless it finds renewed purpose not in destruction but in creation. In economics, they refer to creative destruction - clearing out the old to make way for the new - but this is the opposite - clearing out the new to make way for the old. Muslim fanatics may think this a wonderful thing, but they best think twice. Their leader, Bin Laden, would surely be dead (if he's not) were it not for decadent, modern science's determination to extend life, his messages would not be heard without decadent, modern civilizations advances beyond the years when Islam carried the day in Spain and further, every one of their number that the United States and Europe have managed to lay hands upon would have been summarily shot were it not for decadent, modern ideas about the value of human life and the need for processes to make sure that justice is done.
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posted by gbarto at 2:37 AM:
Testing blogger... will it update? It didn't last night... Here comes the test...* * *
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:37 AM:
Incidentally, yes, the phone seems to have been fixed. We shall see. Until tomorrow, with any luck. The TurkeyBlog* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:36 AM:
Is the press racist? How else can one explain their lack of outrage over Zimbabwe's situation? wonders Jerry Scharf at Common Sense and Wonder.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:32 AM:
Christopher Johnson of MCJ points out how Islam has lost touch with reality, more worried about American cartoonists than the sins perpetrated in the name of the Koran. (via Cicero, who, incidentally, goes overboard in his response)* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:28 AM:
Theft of 500,000 Defense Employee Records Could Be One of the Largest ID Theft Cases EverThey were stolen from a subcontractor, Tri-West, not the actual Defense Department. Which still doesn't look very good.
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posted by gbarto at 2:23 AM:
Booted U.N. Inspectors Leave N. KoreaAllows the communist nation's nuclear program to be increasingly isolated from international scrutiny
It's harrowing times like these that we should all be grateful the UN, as representative of the international community, exists to secure to the family of nations a lasting peace and unwavering justice and, oh hell! Why don't they just rename it the League of Nations and be done with it! The UN is mask behind which the US acts when it is of any use at all and an empty mask otherwise.
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Monday, December 30, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:38 PM:
Time is just about up and so the TurkeyBlog is off. Not sure whether the turkeysister will be back since we covered a little French news today. Back in a bit and if you don't hear from me soon you should be hearing from the TurkeySister.We'll close with three cheers for Verizon, which isn't sure when phone service will be back since they're still trying to get people reconnected from a storm on the 20th!
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posted by gbarto at 2:36 PM:
Jackson Diehl has a nice op-ed in the Post suggesting how the Bush foreign policy came to be "imperialist." It suggests history forced it to as challenges too long ignored by predecessors (and him, during his first year) came to a head.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:31 PM:
U.S. Played a Key Role In Iraq Military BuildupRumsfeld visited Baghdad in 1983 as Hussein used chemical weapons.
We are all astonished by this news. After all, it's only been floating around since, oh, the early '90s and the first war in the Persian Gulf. As we all know, in the '80s the US saw fit to support Iran and Iraq both in their war with one another, in the hope the two most powerful tyrannies in the region would tear each other down to size, making the region a little less volatile. Wise? Maybe not. But it was the policy and as we all know, the end of that war in '88 paved the way for the attack on Kuwait in '90.
Is there an element of hypocrisy here? Perhaps. But that's too damn bad. Something has to be done now, regardless. Maybe if the Frances and Russias of the world object to us trying to create a better, more stable world order, they'd be more amenable to us humbly cleaning up our past mistakes.
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posted by gbarto at 2:21 PM:
Le Figaro leads with a year-end summary here. They've picked 200 dates of consequence in the year (the bottom 165 days must be really feeling bad!).Libé leads with "'The State let itself be abused by the insurers' of surgeons." This is in regards to surgeons, following obstetricians, who are threatening a walk-out if the government doesn't do something about their insurance costs.
Also, this Libé story reports that the baggage handler picked up for having automatic weapons in his car also had the ingredients for building a small bomb.
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posted by gbarto at 2:14 PM:
Le Monde calls North Korea a "State/Totalitarian Sect" in their headline. That lead article details the back and forth with the US of late.By the headline, it seems some in the world are catching on. The newspaper has a secondary article entitled, "A mix of Stalinism, nationalism and 'oriental despotism.'" That article, however, indicates the North Korean regime may be on its last legs as a rift appears between the people and a vast state apparatus that can no longer support them and thus is no longer of value to them.
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posted by gbarto at 2:04 PM:
Cicero has an interesting philosophy here summarized.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:00 PM:
Settling Things QuietlyArab leaders mull exile for Saddam
But this doesn't make it sound like a promising possibility:
Salman, who defected after the 1991 Gulf War, said Saddam in 1982 called his top aides to a meeting to discuss a demand from the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that Saddam step down in exchange for peace. Salman said that when Minister of Health Riyadh Hussein ventured that Saddam should accept the offer "for tactical reasons to test Khomeini's seriousness," the minister was taken to an adjacent room and shot.On the other hand:
"Saddam is keeping the last bullet in his gun for himself," Salman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his European exile.
Jordanian analyst Nedal Mansour said Saddam could choose exile over losing everything if a way is found for him to leave with his family, members of his inner circle and a significant portion of the fortune he has amassed over his decades of dictatorship.Regardless, Saddam's departure would not be the end of the road, just the creation of conditions where we could more easily and effectively disarm Iraq. Those who have snidely dismissed our particular vexation at Saddam have always noted that someone worse could follow. That being the case, whoever follows must not have the army or weapons at his disposal for repeating the sins of Saddam.
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posted by gbarto at 1:54 PM:
White House: N. Korea Isolating ItselfPowell says impasse not yet a crisis
Maybe not, but it's getting there. When a member of the axis of evil is making nukes, it can't be a good sign.
The U.S. needs to move in getting others on board in declaring North Korea beyond the pale. It could start by asking the new South Korean government, so much in favor of openness, whether it's on board with us or whether it is confident enough about positive dialogue that we can pull our troops from the DMZ for use elsewhere. That, if nothing else, might concentrate the imagination of all the people so ready to remonstrate the U.S. for thinking we should have a voice just because we've made committments.
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posted by gbarto at 1:49 PM:
The TurkeyBlog is still off-line at home but getting an internet fix at the local library, so we'll have a few updates for you.* * *
Sunday, December 29, 2002
posted by turkeysister at 5:26 PM:
The turkey's having technical difficulties with the phone line, so turkeysister is back to give you the French headlines. Commentaries will ensue when the turkey regains his internet connection. LeMonde's headline: "Historic Victory of the Opposition in Kenya." LeFigaro's headline says "North Korea: Washington accused of 'blackmail'." La Liberation: "'Eve', born of Rael's thigh" about cloning in the Raelian sect.* * *
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