Hitting the road later this morning, so it’s a reader tips day. Posting will be slow here until Tuesday, and my time online will be limited, so be careful with your comments. A reminder – he use of an ‘a href’ tag will almost certainly toss your comment into the filter, as will using symbols like &, multiple dashes, multiple url’s, etc.
If in doubt, look over your comment before you post, and ask yourself if it reminds you of spam! Keep it simple and short, and it will probably get through.
A few tips before I head out –
Yes, Virginia – there is Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. I read it in Hansard!
The Brookings Institute reports improvement continues in Iraq on a number of fronts. Read it, because you sure as hell won’t see information like this pass Peter Mansbridge’s lips.
Amir Taheri in the WSJ.
Something interesting is happening with regard to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Slowly the blame is shifting from the mullahs to the Bush administration as the debate is redirected to tackle the hypothetical question of U.S. military action rather than the Islamic Republic’s real misdeeds. “No War on Iran” placards are already appearing where “No Nukes for Iran” would make more sense.
Because Bush derangement syndrome knows no bounds.
Charles Krauthammer;
Last week, Bernard Lewis, America’s dean of Islamic studies who just turned 90 and remembers the 20th century well, confessed that for the first time he feels it is 1938 again.
See you later, and behave!
Maz, Thank-you. Things were stuck in a time warp on my end. Just seeing the refresh now.
Of course … I*m sooo ashamed.
It*s just criminal when one is missing one of the *essential basics*. Thanks, TG
Dear Tony,
In the last few weeks, hundreds of thousands of Internet users sent letters asking Congress to prevent big telephone and cable companies from blocking or slowing your access to Internet services offered by their competitors.
Consumers Union activists alone sent nearly 100,000 letters!
And yet, Congress has refused to include any provisions to save the Internet in the massive telecommunication bill–the COPE Act–it continues to push forward. This could be a disaster for the Internet as we know it.
*The companies hope, for instance, to charge Yahoo! so that its site loads faster than Google’s, or to make rival Net-phone firms like Vonage pay to use their broadband pipes. The first idea is akin to a gas station charging a Chevy driver more than a Honda driver. The latter is like AT&T putting static on your line when a Verizon customer calls. Neither is exactly competitive.* –The Peoria (Ill.) Journal Star (full article below)
We can’t let that happen. Tell Congress, any bill that passes must protect the open Internet!
http://tinyurl.com/mh3mq
The COPE Act passed out of committee and will go to the full House of Representative for a final vote next week with nothing in it to protect the Internet from the tactics of telecommunications giants. Meanwhile, a recently introduced Senate bill likewise fails to protect your right to unfettered Internet access.
But there is good news. An alternative bill that would keep the Internet open and free, the *Network Neutrality Act of 2006,* was recently introduced in the House. Lawmakers need to know that you expect them to keep the Internet, neutral, open and free.
Send a letter right now to tell Congress that you don’t want cable and telephone companies to put tollbooths and speed bumps on the Internet!
http://tinyurl.com/qu2ww
This will only take a few moments, and when you finish please forward this message to all your friends and acquaintances who use the Internet so that they can take action, too.
The Internet is too precious to turn over to the telephone and cable companies.
Sincerely,
Morgan Jindrich
HearUsNow.org
A project of Consumers Union //TG
I leave the TV on after the game, I’m surfing the web, and then I hear Alison Smith say “the so-called War on Terror.”
So-called War on Terror? What is she, some Islamic jihadist?
Regarding improvement in Iraq. Some slam dunk!
Into 4th year in Iraq and 5th year in Afganistan. Is it over yet?? No. Will it be over anytime soon? No. But hey! Cheer up! Things are getting better all the time. Right? Right?
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1764639.php
Canadian troops can’t take Taliban prisoners because the Taliban were defeated in 2002 by the Americans. G.W.Bush himself said so right on TV. Now that was reality.
Canada is a signatory of the International Human Rights Tribunal. Under this agreement if signatories hold or hand over prisoners who are tortured then they are responsible and can be charged. Both the Afgans and Americans torture prisoners. Neither one is a member of the IHRT but we are. That too is reality.
ATOMIC reality. In the 61 years since the Atom bomb was invented it has only been used by one country. Twice. Of all the countries and governments, some of them evil communist, only the Americas have used it. If Japan had owned a bomb the Americans wouldn’t have used it either. To think that a country like Iran would drop an Atom bomb on Israel is just naive. The unwritten rule is that you don’t attack unless you think you can win. How is it possible to win an Atomic war?? It isn’t. Assured mutual destruction is just not going to happen.
Tony Guitar, did anyone answer your question? LGF stands for Little Green Footballs, a Web site.
I’d like to collect all of the acronyms we use in the blogosphere and put together a Blog Dictionary. I’m still deciphering a whole bunch of them. IMO, we need something like this.
Steve D:
Was that you I heard barking at the moon last night?
“Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select Their Favorite Columnists”
http://www.rightwingnews.com/archives/week_2006_05_07.PHP#005694
SDA was a voter. Guess who won?
Mark
Ottawa
I am quite concerned about the deliberate, specific and relentless attacks against Harper by the MSM in Canada.
We have the CBC, CTV, Global, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail etc – providing Canadians with daily attacks. Their content is often hyperbole, the contents are suggestions and guesses raised to certainty, are outright speculation, misinterpretations, made-up realities…and all attack Harper.
Example: Jeffrey Simpson in today’s G&M: ‘Harper’s gang doesn’t let facts get in the way of votes”.
So- now, our elected representatives are ‘Harper’s Gang’? And they dismiss facts? We know that Simpson is a die-hard Liberal (he certainly didn’t criticize the Liberals for their hiding of facts).
Example: the uproar over Vellacourt’s accurate description of McLachlin as ‘activist’. The Toronto Star, the G&M all screamed – how dare we criticize our noble judges.
But, she IS activist; her speeches and actions show this. Our supreme court IS activist. But, the MSM do not permit dissent and criticism of Liberal actions.
Mike Duffy’s show, Don Newman’s show- each an hour long, are pure Liberal propaganda. So, we taxpayers are paying to be brainwashed. If that isn’t akin to communist China – then, what is?
I think blogs and bloggers have to work very hard in confronting this open MSM bias.
Steve D,
Once again you assume rationale leadership in countries like Iran. History is full of irrational acts by irrational leaders. I suggest you do some research before making such sweeping statements. You may trust countries like Iran with nuclear weapons but fortunately the rest of the world is not so naive.
Americans OK with having their phones bugged: Poll
Americans by nearly a 2-1 ratio call the surveillance of telephone records an acceptable way for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, expressing broad unconcern even if their own calling patterns are scrutinized.
nealenews
Afstan: Babbling Brooks replies at the Torch
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/05/one-simple-answer-in-sea-of.html
to an article by Sen. Colin Kenny asking about exit strategies and such.
http://server09.densan.ca/archivenews/060512/cit/060512bp.htm
I wonder what the NDP and Liberal exit strategies for Darfur would be.
Regarding Darfur, an excellent analysis in an Army.ca editorial. The conclusion:
http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,43205.0.html
‘…
The Ruxted Group agrees with an Army.ca member who said, recently, ”… the primary utility of armed forces is to give the government of the day options. To do that the armed forces must be capable of doing a certain range of tasks – decades, nearly four of them, of neglect and, occasionally, actual destruction of military capabilities have deprived the Government of Canada of many of its options. Delaying the rebuilding of our military capabilities, even to help others to deal with a real crime against humanity, would a grave strategic error.” It may be that Canada will, indeed must ‘sit this one out’ while it rebuilds the military so that when the inevitable next crises arise we can respond, efficiently and effectively.’
Mark
Ottawa
BuubaBill had one. Nix just about had one. Jackson had one. Why not Carter? Chimpy doesn’t rate?
Angry Left to Get Angrier
Are they shrieking with outrage at Daily Kos yet? Democrats Won’t Try To Impeach President.
Seeking to choke off a Republican rallying cry, the House’s top Democrat has told colleagues that the party will not seek to impeach President Bush even if it gains control of the House in November’s elections, her office said last night.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) told her caucus members during their weekly closed meeting Wednesday “that impeachment is off the table; she is not interested in pursuing it,” spokesman Brendan Daly said
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
Good idea, New Kid,
With a printed out sheet of two, three and four letter acronyms as a handy reference, one could quickly ease forward when cranial synaps fail to spark as they should.
LGF is no stranger, yet it didn*t click. Must do more jogs with the dog. Too lazy lately. TG
Latest at Nealnews:
Cindy Sheehan says that Harper is wildly unpoular!!
LMAO
What a complete Dope
He is only unpopular in the big empty she calls her mind.
Prime Minister Iggy, aka Mikhail Ignatieff, PET II, Order of the NEP, puts the law down for Alberta.
Clean up your act, or else it’s the Gulag for youse rednecks.
By order, Mikhail Iggy, Member of the Socialist Power Corp. Liberal Party of Toronto.
CALGARY (CP) – Federal Liberal leadership hopeful Michael Ignatieff says Alberta’s booming oilpatch should focus on becoming a world leader in clean energy. cnews
TonyGuitar et al,
The have a pretty good list at LGF (little green footballs) at least it’s a start.
Paul from Vancouver
I just don’t think they are irrational to the point of suicide. Think about what happens if Iran A-bombs Israel. The Israelis would A-bomb them twice. Then I would expect the Americans to at the very least disarm the Iranians completely before sending in the troops to “free” Iran.
You think Iran doesn’t know this?? You think Iranian leaders are tired of ruling and want instead to die? Just for once think about the reality of the situation and not just accept the propaganda.
Steve D,
That is exactly the problem. You just don’t think. They are blinded by their theology and their hatred. They have this irrational hate on for jews.
It is another one of those sad instances of you will be proven wrong. Unfortunately many more people will have to die for that to happen.
You and the Cindy Sheehans of the world. Read her writeup on her visit to Canada. Either she lies or she is just as blinded by her hate and ideology as you are.
enough
Enough
Cindy was way ahead of the curve on indicting the Bush administration. The people have caught up and two-thirds now agree with her. It is the ever shrinking group of Bushkovites that are seen as irrational and liars.
His administration has more incompetence and crooks than any other in American history.
Bush has divided America so that it is as close to another civil war as it has been since the last one. They are divided red states against blue states, rich against poor, mexicans and latinos against whites. The hate is fostered by the Republican Right. They put their ideology ahead of America. Talk about blind. Cindy was one of the first to stand up and speak the truth.
The Palestinians are Arabs. They have been living in camps for sixty years. The other Arabs in the Middle East take exception to the treatment of the Palestinians. This isn’t irrational but understandable. I think it is irrational to think Palestinians should accept their lot passively without rancor. As for people dying they are already dying by the hundreds every day in the Middle East without any end in sight.
So I do think, I think of all sides. I see Nationalism. I see lust for oil. I see lust for power. I see weaponry sold by the billions. I see many countries vying for influence and profit. I see a decades of misery and frustration. I see fear, anger and death. I see much manipulation.
Everyone wants to simplify everything, make it black and white, good and bad, the right against the wrong, Arab against Jew, but it is not so simple.
Steve d, We must speculate…
Iran has a new sub fleet and via Pakistan, long range pointy things and nukes.
*MadMud* issues a manifesto to Bush.
What does the logic of that say?
It says he has weapons in order and he would like to test them!
Does US military GPS have Iran*s subs in the cross hairs? Very likely, but you don*t know and neither do I.
Does the US have cross hairs drawn on enough of the underground Iranian nuke plant?
Can the US manage an effective pre-emtive strike? Is *MadMud* prone to calm if concessions are won as North Korea always seems to do? [I doubt it somehow.]
That*s just scratching the surface.
Very few could speak with any certainty, and I detect a lot of fear in your comments.
Well fear is reasonable, but don*t bother to worry at all. That just burns calories for nothing.
It*s more fun to plot the possible outcomes. TG
“Everyone wants to simplify everything, make it black and white, good and bad, the right against the wrong, Arab against Jew, but it is not so simple.”
Posted by: steve d. at May 13, 2006 01:05 AM
Steve d…beautifully said,too bad it is a completely hypocritical sentiment based on reading your tired rants.You demonstrate NO ability to analyze a situation without approaching it from a purely partisan bias.
You seem to judge all input with the same simplistic formula;
liberal=good…conservative=bad.
Talk about black and white,YOU are pretty much the most predictable poster on this site.
Case in point,tell me one redeeming character George W. has.Come on,you can do it,after all he managed to become leader of the free world,he must have AT LEAST one redeeming quality.Well…of course you can’t(or rather won’t)because you CAN’T see him as anything but an evil bad man.If that prejudice changed,your arguments on a variety of international events would fall like a house of cards.
So keep posting your myopic views if you must,but lay off the sanctimonious”I think of all sides”BS!
Have a good night!
TimR?
Backhoe: “few cut and paste an addy to see what is there” If you use Firefox, there are solutions. First you can double click the link to highlight it, then drag and drop it to the tab bar to open a new tab with the link. Pretty simple. Or if you have Grease Monkey installed, there is a script called Linkify that automatically converts web addresses it finds on a page to clickable links.
Posted by: TimR
Tip’s appreciated- thank you.
Canadian Observer
Some day I hope to be as fair and balanced as you. What’s that old expression,”the pot is calling the kettle black”? Yeah, I noticed there is a wide variance of opinion about almost nothing. Agreement is pretty much the norm.
Bush is a nice guy, affable, a loving husband and father. He can stay on message very well too. Harper learned to do that and it served him well in the last election. Bush is a good and tireless campaigner. You need a lot of energy if you are going to be leader of the free world.
He takes care of himself physically so that he can maintain his tireless efforts. He managed to keep his party solidly behind him for six years. This is hard to do, especially when you consider the problems he has had. He managed to keep the MSM on-side for almost six years as well. That is a true skill.
He somehow got passes on almost everything he did. No inquiry, no hard questions, incredible really. I will read his book. He really took charge of every possible weakness and covered it.
He expanded the authority of the president. Taking more power into the executive branch than perhaps any other president. He managed to do this after getting Congress to give him their authority! That is an awesome feat! Just think, the only branch with oversight on you gives away their oversight responsibilities. What other president has been able to do that?
He has done amazingly well at controlling the agenda. He has never even had to refuse to sign a piece of legislation. I think that is unprecedented.
Even if there was some part of a Bill he didn’t like he just added an addendum saying he wasn’t going to follow that part of the Bill. I think that is very clever and again, unprecedented.
When you think of the free reign he has managed to garner it is really something to behold.
He just may have redefined the office of the President. It has become much more powerful under his Presidency.
TonyGuitar
Yeah Iran is arming itself and so is North Korea, China,Venezuala and now Russia. Sounds like fun to me.
The U.S. is watching Iran closely. They have a very good idea of the positions of all Irans Atomic and military resources. So does Israel.
The American pattern is to demonize then strike. I don’t think they have finished the demonization process yet. A few more months perhaps.
There have been CIA inside Iran. They have sent in small military types from Iraq. So they are active in a quiet way.
Fearful? Naw just a little sad at the stupidity that passes for leadership.
China and Russia can’t fight the U.S. directly because of mutual assured destruction but they can fight through other countries such as Iran.
Just like the U.S. fought the Russians through the Afgans in the 80’s. Besides, on the practical side selling Armaments to Iran helps the Chinese pay for the oil they buy.
Your brain is just a-poppin* there. Putting these pieces on the table is the fun part.
They may not be the exact senario, but the picture is there for the well informed to adjust or correct. TG
No need to demonize. Rolling heads in the street pretty well assumes the demon label.
TG
Att: Moonbats, left liberal trolls: all paranoiacs; all demented.
You are accomplices of the the “Hidden Hand”. Pipes has you down pat. There are Joooos under your beds, too. …
Pipes includes links to all the relevant items in the linked version of the column at his Daniel Pipes site. It should be noted that Pipes is a serious scholar of demented conspiracy theories, among other things, having devoted his excellent books The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy and Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where it Comes From.
Posted by Scott at 07:29 AM | Permalink
powerlineblog
maz2
It is always a little sad when you have to drag someone kicking and screaming out of his Disneyland life. Hey, if you still need facade just hold on.
I don’t talk about theory or conspiracy but rather simple history.
You can find dozens of examples of American meddling.
You can google lots of information from various sources. In the Middle East you can find out about how Iran was a democracy until the CIA took it down and installed the Shah of Iran as a puppet.
You can read how Saddam Hussein was a good and true friend of America in the 1980’s. How America got Saddam to fight Iran. Sold lots of military hardware too. This was all done while Saddam was poisoning Kurds. So I kind of smile at the irony of the US now talking about how aweful Saddam was to do that. In fact, they aided and abetted.
In the Americas, there is lots to read about too. Allende in Chile, the Contras in central america.
There are many more but those could be a start if you were ready to leave your warm and comfortable ignorance for a taste of how the US really does business.
Just think of the adventure of finding out information that goes against your bias. Its hard to do for some and impossible for others. If you want to know where the Americans are going you might get hints from finding out where they have been.
Steve D.
At some point Bush will no longer be the President. Who will you blame for all the world’s woes then? Tony Blair? Stephen Harper? There are real threats to our security out there. We can’t simply ignore them and we can’t simply blame the US for everything (unless of course you are a Liberal). The UN is a completely toothless organization that has lost its moral authority. How do you recommend we deal with country’s like Iran? Sit them in the corner and give them a time out.
Paul from Vancouver
Bush has exposed America to the world. Many had never seen this side of the American Empire, this is especially true for Americans. They have now seen first hand how damaging their foreign policy can be.
In truth American foreign policy has always been an extension of America’s corporate policy. So in the end it really doesn’t make too much difference who the president is. The president responds to corporate influence. Corporate influence is everywhere. It is the 68,000 lobbyists. It is the campaign contributions. It is at private functions were concerns are discussed. It is through seconding executives to the White House(most cabinet appointees have come from big business and will go back after they have “served”) to lobby from within. It is to lobby through the media. It is to lobby through foreign governments. This small elite of about 1% of the population owns about half of all wealth. With great wealth comes great influence. That influence has kept governments corporate friendly or if not friendly then isolated or destabilized.
So Bush is not much different from any other President in reality. However, he is more openly bold and aggressive than most. He is also more incompetent than most. He is more Imperial than most. That is why his policies are easier to dislike.
How do we deal with Iran?
If I were President I would send the Secretary of State to talk to Iranian leaders. I would offer to end the trade embargo on Iran. I would offer ongoing dialogue and respect. In return I would ask them to hold off on developing nuclear capabilities until we see how well this new relationship works.
Once both sides get to know each other each becomes less suspicious, paranoid and is more open to suggestion and reason.
Historically, trade has opened up cultures and made them more open to outside ideas as well as goods. If it is change we want then it is more surely developed by dialogue than by the big freeze or worse, attack.
I must say, details aside, I like the tone of Dave d*s civilized manner of moving towards a settlement of extreme tensions. TG
…i say old chap – nuke them all!
(modern day version of “off with their heads”)
Shortlist of Iran related tensions
[distilled mostly from the May 6th/06 Economist]
[1] Shia vs. Suni vs. Kurd [May 14, 2006]
[2] Israel vs. Hizbullah and Hamas
[3] Iran, Syria support Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad
[4] Qatar and Saudi Arabia fund Hamas
[5] Iran, Syria and Turkey fear Kurd nationalism.
[6] Turkey profits from Iranian trade
[7] 74% of Turks polled say USA main peace threat.
[8] Nuke Power, Pakistan depending upon Iranian Nat gas
pipeline to perk up Pakistan*s dragging economy.
[9] UAE squabbles with Iran over three Gulf islands.
[10] Iran is a big investor in Dubai*s booming market.
[11] Many Gulf nations quietly support squeeze of Iran
[12] Saudi officials have grave doubts about Iran
[13] Iran stirring up troubles in Kuwait and Bahrain where
suni are in the minority.
[14] Iran active in Iraq and Lebanon.
[15] Senior military source: Iran to act against Arab
countries who side with the West.
[16] With Wahhabist Suni vs. Shia, Saudia Arabia has ties
& cover under Pakistan.
[17] Egypt*s Mubarak angered Arab Shia, implying, *They
are more loyal to Iran than to their own countries.*
[18] Egypt and Iran have had rocky relations since 1979.
[19] More tensions arise from Iran causing disruption,
annoying Gulf nations who seek stability and peace
[20] The Iran supporting Muslim Brotherhood is the main opposition in ME countries. Much resented by Governments.
[21] Jordan*s King Abdullah: *A US strike to Iran would
cause the whole region to explode. Debate and
diplomacy are the only solution* == TG
Maz2 post about 2/3rds back.. May11, 12:32pm
Mentions our reconnisance flights over Iran
border and a US buildup there. [FreeRepublic.com]
Drones operated by Hizbullah are searching out targets over Israel from Lebanon*s S. border. Hizbullah is Iran*s front line, so to speak.
http://www.MichaelTotten.com
2nd post, if I recall correctly. TG
TonyGuitar
Looks to me like the American policy of disconnecting from Iran hasn’t been positive for any American allies or America.
Whether we are speaking of countries or people we always do much better in the end if we keep communicating and working through our problems. This perhaps more important for countries because it affects so many millions of lives. The Europeans today said they will make Iran an offer they cannot refuse.
If the Euros do make an offer Iran can*t refuse, then it would seem Iran may have been rattling thier sabers in a similar way that North Korea does from time to time.
That would be a far more acceptable reason for all the recent posturing and flying of intel gathering drones. TG