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Saturday, March 01, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:56 AM:
U.N. Confirms Iraq Is Destroying WeaponsFacing orders from arms inspectors, Iraq begins destruction of Al Samoud 2 missiles
I suppose...
European governments reluctant to wage war were encouraged by Iraq's recent change of heart. The turnaround has led them to believe that weapons inspections have weakened Saddam Hussein's military capabilities.I think de Villepin is fooling himself, however. For 12 years, the inspections have done so little to weaken Iraq militarily that the inspectors were even summarily booted out a few years ago. It is not the inspections that are weakening Saddam, but that his concern that 200,000 troops surround him, ready to destroy his regime at the first order, is weakening his resolve. The only "victory" for Saddam will come if he weakens himself enough that we can't realistically argue that something needs to be done about him. Unfortunately, of course, this would count as a victory for him, so long as he survived, for he would surely start rebuilding his arsenal and playing his games once the US threat seemed to have abated. The choice now is this: Is Iraq to continue as something of a pariah nation, its government purloining every form of currency that enters Iraq for military buildup while the people starve, so that France and Russia can keep their contracts? Or are the Iraqi people to be liberated from a tyrant and the international community from the need to fuss with this regime every ten or twelve years?
"It is an important step in the process of the peaceful disarmament of Iraq," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said. "It confirms that inspectors are getting results."
As for those who argue that the US has merely stirred this up, we would remind that he was writing pretty hefty checks for the families of those who slaughtered Jews in Israel pretty recently. And here we draw one distinction between the US and the Franco-German axis: whatever anti-Semitism has existed here, the slaughter of Jews has not at any time been the official policy of any of our governments. Perhaps Paris and Berlin think of such things as the sort of goofy thing old gramps used to do, hence their tolerance for the abuse of an Israel that had to be created because it was safer for the Jews to live among the Arabs than the French and Germans. Or perhaps, having gone 200 years with one Constitution and 140 years since the Civil War, the United States (and England) represent the only truly mature Western societies of sufficient historical memory to know what's at stake. We'd note that the German and French governments are not old enough to remember World War II, for example: both those countries had to get new governments after World War II because the existing ones had known such awful moral failure.
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posted by gbarto at 1:53 AM:
Natalie Solent has returned from her blogging hiatus. Welcome back to the fray.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:45 AM:
A Dog's Life has a charming story about elected officials who thought they knew better than the general public. Their anti-war resolution has been repealed as not representing the views of the citizenry.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:43 AM:
Cicero on the Santillans, the family of the poor girl whose transplant operation was botched. He is spot on in his comments.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:37 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde: Iraq in background of Arab summit. The leaders assert they will neither aid nor support any attack or attempt to deal with Saddam.
News from the Czech Republic: Vaclav Klaus succeeds Vaclav Havel. He is a liberal former prime minister (remember that liberal is different in Europe than in the US).
Le Figaro: France renews ties with Algeria. Chirac will spend three days there; it's the first visit by a French president since Algerian independance in 1962. The Algerian president visited France in 2000. I imagine security arrangements will be pretty tight for the visit.
Libé: A yes "in principle" to missile destruction / The US speaks of "trickery" and maintains its war-leaning line. / Russia threatens to use its Security Council veto. That sort of explains itself. But check out this interview with a Moroccan sociologist - "Saddam the hero is no longer the reality.":
Dans nombre de débats, personne ne soulève le problème Saddam, mais tout le monde parle du nouvel ordre international, de l'hégémonie américaine, du face-à-face Europe-Amérique. Comme si le monde arabe se retrouvait maintenant derrière le duo franco-allemand, et que le héros arabe, c'était plutôt Chirac... / In many debates, no one brings up the problem with Saddam, but everyone is talking about the new international order, about American hegemony and the Europe-America face off. As if the Arab world now had found itself behind the Franco-German duo and the Arab hero was Chirac...Très intéressant, hein?
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posted by gbarto at 1:16 AM:
Blix Wants More From IraqIn report to U.N., top arms inspector says Saddam Hussein has missed opportunities to address questions about disarmament
But... but... but I thought Saddam was everybody's friend now. And what a change from the CBS interview. Rather had a nice piece in today's WSJ, incidentally, with a fair number of interesting observations, the most pertinent of which is that the survival of Iraq and the survival of Saddam are not the same thing.
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Friday, February 28, 2003
posted by gbarto at 10:05 AM:
Powell on the letter:"With respect to the missiles, it doesn't change our view of the situation in the slightest," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said in Washington. "Those missiles were prohibited in the first place. They should have been destroyed long ago. They were told to destroy them some days ago, and they've been stringing it out till the very last minute." [quoted in WaPo]
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posted by gbarto at 9:59 AM:
Lots happening in the news. Here are the big headlines - in my order:Iraq to Start Destroying Missiles
Not a major surprise. And not at all surprising that they'll start at the very last minute. I may be wrong and it may be that Iraq will start destroying the missiles in all earnestness and cooperating nicely with every last UN mandate in an effort to neutralize US plans. But I foresee a lot of technical concerns, administrative delays, et cetera. And I foresee these becoming extremely common if it looks like the US actually has been neutralized on the issue.
Notes Den Beste:
But before [destroying them,] they want a technical mission to come and talk it over.France: Iraq's Pledge Shows Inspections Work
Which is to say that they expect to need the things soon, and don't really want to give them up, but also don't actually want to be on record refusing to destroy them in the days prior to an important vote in the UNSC.
More likely, Iraq's pledge shows US pressure works. Iraqi cooperation - or faux cooperation - will be directly tied to American bellicosity, something the Chirac's of the world must remember before they get too haughty with us. We could let them get their UN forces in there and then leave. I don't think, for all the warm words about Saddam's cooperation, that anybody from the anti- coalition wants to find themselves reliant solely upon his goodwill.
Russia May Veto Iraq Resolution
Foreign Minister Ivanov warns move would be in 'interests of international stability'; Pakistan swings toward U.S. position
So that France doesn't have to. So says Instapundit.
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Thursday, February 27, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:41 PM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde: Baghdad Agreement on Prohibited Missiles. It does mention that Iraq agreed "in principle."
Also, According to Lionel Jospin, "France must use its veto". But what's the value of this statement from number 3 in last year's presidential elections who left politics? Are the Socialists trying to force Chirac to either hang himself as anti-American or embarrass himself as less anti-war than the Socialists? And what will be the impact on French policy, if any? Frankly, if I were Chirac I'd respond to all queries with, "Lionel who?" And that's coming from someone who's rooting against Chirac in these matters.
Le Figaro: The UN Awaits a New Resolution, this one including the idea of recourse to force.
Libé: God a candidate for Europe. The somewhat snide headline refers to the fact the folks drafting the European Constitution are leaning towards a religious statement in the text.
And: How do you say "groggy" in French? Let's check this unfortunate Libé headline/summary:
Matra ville morte / Matra, a dead city
A Romorantin, la fermeture de l'usine laisse les familles groggy. / In Romorantin, the closing of the factory leaves families groggy. [my italics]
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posted by gbarto at 10:07 PM:
French Pols Concerned About U.S. TiesI think we've mentioned this in the French news once or twice. But it's good to have a reminder that France isn't completely uniform in its opinion.
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posted by gbarto at 9:51 PM:
Mr. Rogers, TV's Gentle GiantChildren's television icon succumbs to stomach cancer.
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posted by gbarto at 9:49 PM:
Iraq Agrees 'In Principle' To Destroy Its MissilesU.S. is skeptical of caveats in Hussein's offer to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors' order.
Maybe the US should agree "in principle" to hold off on attacking.
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posted by gbarto at 1:55 AM:
Here's Instapundit on what happens to support for the war if people see both Bush and the anti-War protesters: it goes up.Wonder what happens if the anti-war people carry through on planned boycotts, civil disobedience to tie up traffic, etc. I'm guessing that sacking the economy and making it harder for struggling people to get to work on time wouldn't be seen as being nearly as noble as segments of the anti-war crowd believe themselves to be.
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posted by gbarto at 1:22 AM:
Interesting Hoagland column on what's up with Chirac. Says he, Chirac is not so much anti-American as frustrated at his own impotence and France's in the direction of world affairs today.I think some of this makes sense. It is not incomprehensible to me that Chirac does not hate the US but is driven nuts by it and the role it has in the world versus that of his beloved home, France.
I say this because I myself am torn. I know good people over there, people who have welcomed me into their homes as part of the family. I've gone to their birthday parties, gone to the movies with them, eaten dinner with them every night for months on end! And yet, knowing their politics, I've no doubt that their only beef with Chirac's policy is that it's being administered by Chirac instead of a Socialist. But when France stands against the interests of my beloved home country, there is no question of where I stand. I can see Chirac feeling the same way. But I hope fervently hope he loses this round. But that when it's all done, France will see the error of its ways and we will be gracious enough to accept that. After Bush has administered a proper noogie to Chirac, of course.
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posted by gbarto at 1:09 AM:
An excellent Washington Post editorial on why Iraq must be dealt with. Excerpt:The right question, though, is not "Is war risky?" but "Is inaction less so?" No one can provide more than a judgment in reply. But the world is already a dangerous place. Anthrax has been wielded in Florida, New York and Washington. Terrorists have struck repeatedly and with increasing strength over the past decade. Are the United States and its allies ultimately safer if they back down again and leave Saddam Hussein secure? Or does safety lie in making clear that his kind of outlaw behavior will not be tolerated and in helping Iraq become a peaceable nation that offers no haven to terrorists? We would say the latter, while acknowledging the magnitude of the challenge, both during and especially after any war that may have to be fought.
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posted by gbarto at 12:55 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde: Iraq: the fall of Saddam as a model, details Bush's speech to the American Enterprise Institute, in which he said a new regime in Iraq might inspire some new thinking throughout the Middle East.
Le Figaro: Iraq: France's options, says that Chirac hasn't ruled out the use of a veto in the UNSC to get Bush's attention. Also, the International lead is Blix doubts Iraq's will to cooperate, which says he sees no progress with Iraq on fundamental issues of disarmament.
Libé: Saddam denies everything and gives comfort to warmongers.
Interestingly, the Blair vote also makes news. Below, we note that the House of Commons backed Blair - by a pretty good margin, too. But France's newspapers focus on the discontent within the left wing of Labour; their headlines give the impression Blair lost the vote. Le Monde: Tony Blair must face a revolt from his parliamentarians. Le Figaro: Labor revolt against Blair. Libé: Great Britain: Blair mauled. True, the anti- vote among Labourites was pretty high for a usually disciplined party. But to look at these headlines, you'd never guess the opposing party and his own party both supported him by clear majorities nonetheless.
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posted by gbarto at 12:35 AM:
Yay!House of Commons Backs Blair on Iraq
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posted by gbarto at 12:34 AM:
Bush's Goal: A Liberated IraqPresident cites U.S. role in reconstruction of Japan and Germany after WWII; officials say military will protect crucial infrastructure in battle, post-Hussein Iraq will get billions in aid
Which is to say that the European blather about Empire is... blather. To twist an old joke:
If it weren't for America's aversion to Empire, they'd be speaking English in Paris today.
(Not that a fair amount of them aren't, but that's a story for another day.)
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posted by gbarto at 12:29 AM:
Memos Warned of Shuttle DisasterNASA engineers concerned day before
Tonight I was reading Richard Fenyman's
What Do You Care What Other People Think, the second half of which is devoted to his role in and his take on the Challenger investigation. My own conclusion: the sad truth is that we're in completely uncharted territory here. There are worries about just about every flight, nagging questions, etc. And the bottom line is, it's damn hard to know whether you're being cavalier in proceeding in spite of a risk or simply realistic - some risks (and some pretty scary ones, at that) are going to persist so long as things like space shuttles are novelties because we just don't know enough. For example, the ring that blew in the Challenger disaster had had problems in numerous flights. The problem on that fateful day was just enough different to be catastrophic, and in retrospect the danger should have been obvious. But if the flight had somehow worked, the engineers most worried by the problem would have breathed a sigh of relief, and probably nothing would have been done until... the problem caught up with them.
A simple reality check should make clear that human nature sets us up for this:
How many people a year ignore the low fuel light and run out of gas?
How many do so twice in one year?
For another perspective, one need remember that the news of late has been dominated by a band called Great White. How many people called the cops or fire marshals about the dangers their shows presented? How many of the club owners who now say Great White used fireworks without their permission had worked to get the word out and warn people before the Rhode Island disaster?
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Wednesday, February 26, 2003
posted by gbarto at 2:10 AM:
Here's Den Beste on the second resolution and his hopes for it.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:55 AM:
A Dog's Life on Iraqi casualties if war comes.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:51 AM:
Here's Cicero on moral equivalence at the BBC. They gave Mugabe an interview.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:22 AM:
Hurray for the Washington Post! From the final graf from their lead editorial, The Second Resolution:The most damaging contradiction in [the French, German, Russian] position is this: They would insist that the United States act through multilateral institutions such as the Security Council; but they themselves will not support those institutions if the outcome is a sanctioned exercise of U.S. power. That's because their priority is not disarming rogue states, or strengthening world government, or even preventing war per se. It is, rather, to neutralize what the French call the American "hyperpower." When its security is threatened, there is no reason for the United States to accept such paralysis -- especially when it has the unambiguous terms of U.N. resolutions on its side.Also a great column by Robert Samuelson, warning Europe that it doesn't want the withdrawn America it's advocating; Anne Applebaum, on how much Poland would like us to relocate our bases from Germany and Michael Kelly, wondering if it's really better to be tyrannized than have America as your liberator.
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posted by gbarto at 1:13 AM:
President to Accept Only 'Full Disarmament' by IraqBush willing to start war even without passage of a second U.N. resolution.
Woe to the UN and the international community if the US withdraws from world affairs just because the world bashes it. The French in particular have long counted on the US to make the world safe for French posturing. But other nations are guilty of it too, denouncing American imperialism but trusting that we'll keep the sea lanes open.
And a nasty question: How would the French be handling all this if on Semptember 11, 2001, the hijackers had chosen an Air France jet headed for Paris in place of one of the American Airlines planes? If it had been a British Airways flight, would Blair have stronger backing at home?
The TurkeyBlog would note that with his checks to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, we already have clearcut evidence that Saddam is sponsoring terrorism against one of our allies. That alone makes him vulnerable to US anti-terrorist doctrines, whether the whole UN charade about WMDs is operative or not.
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posted by gbarto at 1:05 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde: Saddam Hussein, exclusively on CBS. Emphases: He says he has no prohibited missiles, no intentions of stepping down and no ties to Al-Qaeda.
Le Figaro says Raffarin refuses rigor, preferring deficits to hard choices on taxes and spending. While Le Monde can't find a headline - nor even an opening paragraph - to acknowlege this, Le Figaro's international lead is Baghdad still refuses to destroy its missiles. Also, they note - and cut to the chase in so doing, that North Korea fires a missile, Washington offers its hand, about the resumption of food aid to North Korea.
Libé: Pacifism unites the Assembly: Left and right behind Chirac. Only a small minority of the UMP on guard against a rupture with Washington.
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Tuesday, February 25, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:42 AM:
Iraq Now More Cooperative, Blix SaysI'd be pretty cooperative too if I were looking down the barrel of a gun. The question is, what will Saddam do if the pressure is off? And is he actually disarming? Or just being nicer in his recalcitrance? Hint: The inside headline is, "Blix Says Iraq Signals New Cooperation." If there were actual cooperation, I don't think it would be signaled. It would just be, as Eastern mystics might say.
Iraq has sent U.N. inspectors half a dozen letters in the past few days and "there are some elements which are positive which need to be explored further," Blix told reporters before meeting his advisory College of Commissioners to discuss his upcoming report to the Security Council due by Saturday.These letters include the claim to have "found" missiles with a liquid in them at a site known to have been used in exploring the possibilities of bio-warfare. No word on whether they've a) turned over the stuff or b) agreed to destroy it. Perhaps they'll "signal" their intentions later.
I've read - don't remember where but I linked it at the time - that Blix is sincere in his efforts and truly hopes to bring peace from this mess. Watching him, I'm inclined to believe it. He is not cynical like the French, Germans and Russians, trying to play this to advantage. But he suffers the subdued but malignant arrogance that all too often afflicts the well-intentioned: he thinks that where the international community has twelve years failed, he - with his convictions and magnaminous patience - can succeed. The question is: Is the sincere hope for a peaceful resolution enough to justify leaving our troops, Israel, and indeed the whole Mid-East at risk for what a guy with Saddam's track record might do?
The TurkeyBlog thinks not.
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posted by gbarto at 11:29 AM:
Four Killed at Alabama Temp AgencyFight broke out over CD player; gunman holed up in police standoff
Witnesses describe the suspect as "very unstable." Really?
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posted by gbarto at 11:26 AM:
Preparing the Game PlanBush team mapping out how it'll win nine Security Council votes for new Iraq resolution
But no word on how debate prep is going:
Hussein Challenges Bush to Debate
Hmmmmm. It seems to me at this point that the French and Germans would tell us what a wonderful case Hussein made against the arrogant Bush, Blair would tell us what a wonderful case Bush made against the arrogant Saddam and we'd be right back where we started. Which, I suppose, is better than what comes next from Hussein's point of view.
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posted by gbarto at 1:30 AM:
Her birth certificate said "Ida Katherine" but everyone called her babe. I called her "grandma." Though a homemaker and stay-at-home mom most of her life, she led an active life of the mind, constantly reading the newspapers (and filling in the crosswords after) and listening to newsradio. And commenting on what she'd heard or read. Probably, she bears some responsibility for me growing up to be the kind of person who would one day start up the TurkeyBlog. For good or for ill. Last night, she succombed in a struggle against a variant of Parkinson's disease. Requiescat in pacem.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:18 AM:
Steve Den Beste is not happy with the way things are going with the UN, or that they're going there at all. Says he, we can't do this diplomatically because our opponents in the diplomatic wars aren't above fudging, maneuvering and outright lying and we are. I'd love to disagree but my nightly check of French headlines didn't have a single story up top about the Al-Samoud 2 missiles and whether they'd be destroyed, which is to say that while we worry about winning Europe's favor, the powers to be aren't even driving home for their citizenry what is at stake. Chirac says the inspections need more time. But the inspections have already turned up illegal missiles and there's no plan to get rid of them, only threats from the UN that will remain empty so long as France is more concerned about measuring Chirac's cojones versus Bush's than what its games are doing to the UN's prestige and even its raison d'être. We in the US are reading this. In France? It's all rally 'round the anti-American flag.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:00 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde: top headline: North Korea missile launch unnerves Seoul.
Le Figaro: top headline: Bush starts the countdown [on Iraq]. I think that's pretty self-explanatory. No headlines about Saddam's "no" on CBS.
Libé: Intermittents take over the scene. "Intermittents" refers to those folks in film who between films are unemployed. For Julia Roberts, this isn't a problem. For an actor who gets three lines in two or three films a year, it is. Or will be. Up till now, such actors - not to mention musicians, cinematographers (?), etc. - have gotten unemployment. Now they may not. So they're holding protests and going on strike to let the world know about their plight.
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posted by gbarto at 12:31 AM:
Philadelphia Cops: Snowball Fight Led to Shooting of 10-Year-Old GirlAnd no, it's not some jackass teen who did this. It's the 32 year-old father of a girl hit with a snowball. The girl shot had been inside during the initial fight.
The idiot father fired five shots into a crowd of kids still playing outside hours after the incident. If this is what was offered as a role model, the father's poor kid has even less of a chance of growing up to have a normal life than the girl he shot.
Jeebus! The things that get into some people.
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Monday, February 24, 2003
posted by gbarto at 4:57 PM:
Here's some French news on Iraq's no:Figaro:
Saddam Hussein embarrassé par l'ultimatum des inspecteurs / Saddam Hussein embarrassed by inspectors' ultimatum
Rich bit: One Iraqi functionary said, "Not all the Al-Samoud 2s have been tested, so no one can say that they're all in contravention of Iraq's agreements."
And here's Libé:
Détruire ses missiles, crève-coeur de Bagdad / Destroying those missiles heartbreaking for Baghdad.
L'Irak traîne les pieds pour désarmer, convaincu que cela n'arrêtera pas la guerre. / Iraq drags its feet on disarming, convinced it won't stop war.
This story was written before Saddam's no. Convinced war is coming, Iraq wants the missiles to use. And if they make Blix and company look like idiots, it'll probably come to that.
Nothing in Le Monde about Iraqi refusal, not even a major headline about the question being up in the air. More in tonight's French news.
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posted by gbarto at 4:30 PM:
Report: N. Korea Launches MissileWeapon crashes into sea on eve of inauguration of S. Korea's president
Sounds like they were just showing they could still fire them, but worrisome nonetheless.
However, my sources have a more reassuring explanation: Kim Jong-Il is hoping the French will start signing multi-billion dollar contracts with him too if he's enough of a bother to the US.
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posted by gbarto at 4:22 PM:
Iraqi Drones May Target U.S. CitiesWhich suggests that we'd better be doing something about the regime.
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posted by gbarto at 4:20 PM:
Two Iraq Proposals on TableU.S., Britain, Spain submit resolution that refers to 'serious consequences'; France, Russia, Germany circulate memo calling for more time for inspections
AOL's top story, incidentally, is that Iraq has already had its last chance according to the US and UK.
Also, there's this - Hussein Indicates He Won't Destroy Missiles - which puts him in direct opposition to the UN and not just the US. If France and Germany continue playing defense, that will make clear that they are only interested in stopping action against Iraq, not disarming Iraq, since we have here a clear case where giving the inspections more time won't accomplish anything other than giving a more detailed catalog of the ways in which Hussein thumbs his nose at the world. And France and Germany will be right there with him if they don't alter their positions.
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posted by gbarto at 10:00 AM:
Snow, Ice, Floods Plague NationFoot of snow dumped on southern Mo., 10-20 inches on northern Okla.
Snow, ice, floods and plague all in the same headline: And right now, in a little room in Tennessee, Al Gore is thinking The ecosystem is calling me! The ecosystem is calling me! It wants me to run again...
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posted by gbarto at 9:58 AM:
Powerful Quake Rocks ChinaAt least 257 dead, more than 1,000 injured in far western Xinjiang
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posted by gbarto at 9:58 AM:
U.N. Denies Iraq's Request to Reconsider Missile Destruction OrderTotally unlike them. They're usually much more understanding at the UN.
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posted by gbarto at 9:56 AM:
France, Germany to Push for Tougher InspectionsDidn't they have 12 years to try that one? But, like all their battles, French citations in this matter all end with "après guerre" (It is joked that the most popular medal in France was given for "résistance - après guerre" or "resistance - after the war").
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posted by gbarto at 9:54 AM:
'Short, Sweet' Second ResolutionBritain to introduce draft document today declaring Baghdad in violation of earlier resolutions; France, Germany may submit counter-proposal
The French one will read, "Non! Absolument pas! Jamais!" (No! Absolutely not! Never!)
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posted by gbarto at 9:51 AM:
Interesting piece in Slate suggests that the Dems have it all wrong if they think there are no voices for their side in talk radio. It's just that the people on their side are the likes of Howard Stern.But no, it's not a swat at Dems lacking morals. It's a reminder that radio is radio and when you're stuck in traffic on Monday morning, you don't want to listen to two sensitive guys talking about how health care policies make them feel.
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posted by gbarto at 1:01 AM:
A Dog's Life points out that in freedom loving France papers get fined for making fun of Chirac; in Russia, it's worse. So how come the anti-war folk keep telling us that it's the US that's so oppressive?* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:56 AM:
Marcus Tullius Cicero is screaming "O tempora, o mores!" at the UN for its repugnant moral equivalency. And rightly so.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:52 AM:
Marcus says Steve Den Beste is "just another libertarian." Just another libertarian? Oh well, Marcus is the "conservative observer" so would be concerned about such things. As for the TurkeyBlog, its sympathies lie with Den Beste. And yet you shan't here read of Marcus that he's "just another conservative."* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:48 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: Israel: New Likud Coalition. The Likud holds 40 of the 120 seats in the Knesset and just handed out 5 ministries to get a centrist party into the coalition. Le Monde also notes that The Palestinian Authority is proposing 'demilitarization' for the intifada.
Libé: Washington Intensifies Its Diplomatic Offensive. To get other countries on the Security Council behind us on the Iraq question, of course.
Le Figaro: Villepin: France is opposed to any new resolution. It's good to see France being flexible and open-minded about this. Setting the kind of example they'd like set for Washington... As if.
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posted by gbarto at 12:35 AM:
AOL headlines report Powell is indicating March 7 as the big day when things will start get interesting with Iraq.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:34 AM:
A few days old, but here's Joanne Jacobs noting the latest efforts of California's Gray Eminence to balance fundraising and governing.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:27 AM:
Tragedy or idiocy? We refer, you decide:A deadly race on quiet streets
Two cars full of teens drag racing collided, one dead.
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posted by gbarto at 12:25 AM:
From the Merc:Staff photojournalist Lubens launches Weblog
For the vast majority of sailors, the routine of sea life in the Persian Gulf would be little disrupted by war. They spend their days tending to aircraft or ship engines that run at high tempo with or without combat. Mercury News photographer Pauline Lubens is recording their lives, and the lives of the people she meets while in the Middle East, on film and on her Weblog.
Of course, the Merc has already spawned one top-notch blogger (after she left), Joanne Jacobs.
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Sunday, February 23, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:09 PM:
Autopsy for Botched-Transplant TeenLawyer for the 17-year-old's family says the move is appropriate
Incidentally, the latest is that Duke may have taken her off life-support before the family gave approval. Not that it would likely have made much difference, but still it seems that Duke missed few opportunities to rush procedures, make mistakes and do their best to make this the biggest mess possible. Even as university spokespeople and doctors have seemingly done their best to withhold or downplay information that looked bad for them - only to have it come out later. But that's okay. The Hippocratic oath is just a formality these days. At least that's how it looks. Let's hope for a halfway decent medical story to come soon or we'll all be going to herbalists.
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posted by gbarto at 11:01 PM:
Norah's Big SurpriseNewcomer sweeps Grammys, wins best album over Springsteen
But poor Avril got shut out. Still, Jones' recognition is well deserved and Don't Know Why is unquestionably a fantastic song.
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posted by gbarto at 10:58 PM:
Iraq 'Serious About Solving This'Saddam makes no decision on U.N. order to destroy banned missiles
It seems to me that somebody who seriously wanted to solve this would recognize the UN as the only thing standing between George W. Bush and invasion and would do his damnedest to not give Bush any more reasons to taunt the UN about its impotence. But I suspect Saddam would rather let the UN play the fool unless or until he has to toss it a bone.
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posted by gbarto at 2:30 AM:
A nice essay on what it means to be conservative today because you're liberal in the classical sense by that ablogalyptic plague (it's a compliment, really), Steve Den Beste. My favorite paragraph:Part of why I'm uncomfortable being labeled "conservative" is that those who categorize me in that way then group me with many other "conservatives" with whom I deeply and fundamentally disagree, and try to pretend that I must agree with them and defend them and partake of their attitudes. For instance, it's hard to see how I could disagree more strongly with anyone than I do with the so-called "Christian Right", as epitomized by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. With their belief that we should establish the US as a Christian theocracy, and their desire to use the legal system to enforce orthodox behavior and punish sinful lifestyles, not to mention their wish to use the school system as an extension of the church to indoctrinate all children, I oppose their programs as strongly as I possibly can. I have been opposed to Falwell as long as I've known about his political agenda.As I Christian and a (libertarian) conservative, I'm twice as appalled as Den Beste - I get tied to these jokers twice. Which is why I smiled a great big smile when National Review Online wrote them out of the conservative mainstream after their post-9/11 blather.
But the place to get first thoughts on this is Virginia Postrel's The Future and Its Enemies, which opens with a discussion on the similarities between Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader to show how goofy the supposed conservative-liberal split is and why we need better categories - or perhaps, no categories at all.
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posted by gbarto at 2:11 AM:
Hmmm... A Dog's Life tried to reconfigure his system and lost his US Robotics modem. Because the lovely thing HP pops in went bing in my Win2K installation, I myself upgraded to a new modem a few months ago, a good dependable modem from... US Robotics.The great thing about computers is that you never have to worry about whether minor system upgrades, et cetera, will cause any problems. They will.
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posted by gbarto at 1:56 AM:
Here's your French news headlines:Le Monde: Bush remains very firm on Iraq.
Also, this charming editorial on how Le Monde gave up on its back-page celebrity interviews about the war feature. Seems some readers weren't inspired to renounce their pro-war sentiment just because soccer players and movie stars were affronted by the idea of war and were sick of getting a daily lecture from people who made their living being other people or getting bopped on the bean with a ball.
The second half of the editorial looked at another question: are penalties too severe for seemingly doing injury to the flag or the national anthem? It's noted that Germany's are worse, while the US and UK - other than our periodic flag-burning silliness - view such things as ugly but permissible in a free society. And there's a proposal for changing La Marseillaise (original in parentheses):
Allons enfants de la patrie (Allons enfants de la patrie)
Let's go, children of the fatherland (Let's go, children of the fatherland)
Le jour de gloire est arrivé (Le jour de gloire est arrivé)
The day of glory has arrived (The day of glory has arrived)
Contre toutes les barbaries (Contre nous de la tyrannie)
Against all barbarism (Against us, tyrrany's)
La devise audacieuse est gravée: (L'étandard sanglant est levé)
This audacious motto is inscribed (Bloody banner is raised)
Liberté, égalité, fraternité. (L'étandard sanglant est levé)
Liberty, equality, fraternity. (The bloody banner is raised.)
Now, for the education of those who haven't run across it, here's the rest of that first verse - original lyrics:
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes (Do you hear in the countryside)
Mugir les feroces soldats? (The growl of ferocious soldiers?)
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras (They come right into our arms)
Egorger nos fils, nos compagnes. (To slit the throats of our sons and companions.)
Aux armes, citoyens! Formez vos bataillons! (To arms, citizens! Form your batallions!)
Marchons! Marchons! (March! March!)
Qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons! (So an impure blood will flow through our furrows!)
That last line means they want enemy blood flowing wheresoever the enemy might be found in the land.
The French had, it would seem, a little more heart back then.
As with most Saturdays nights, no updates for Libé or Le Figaro.
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posted by gbarto at 1:23 AM:
Gunmen Kill 9 at Mosque in PakistanAttackers on motorcycles open fire on worshippers during evening prayers
It seems most likely to be Sunni extremists targeting Shi'ites. All in a day's work for the religion of peace.
But a reminder for those who think if we'd be more understanding, they'd like us. Even fellow Muslims may be infidels in the eyes of some.
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posted by gbarto at 1:20 AM:
Three Americans Held in ColombiaFARC rebels admit to kidnapping
That is, of course, a leftist rebel faction.
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posted by gbarto at 1:19 AM:
Transplant Teen DiesBotched-surgery victim Jesica Santillan, 17, taken off life support
Damn.
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