Alaa;

As for the elections, they are doing their best to intimidate and threaten people. What can be more abominable than this; openly intimidating people from participating in the first truly free elections in the history of not only Iraq but also probably the entire region. And what lame excuses they give! The security situation? But it is you gentlemen who are responsible for the havoc. And; what guarantee can there be if the elections are postponed that the situation will not get worse? In fact, we all know that you will do your damn best to aggravate it further in the vane hope that you might achieve your vile objectives. Fair elections cannot be held under occupation! : As if we ever saw any fair elections when there was no “occupation” for almost a whole century when your minority clan was lording over the people. Besides, Palestinian elections were recently held under Israeli occupation, and we did not see anybody objecting. You are not telling us that the Israeli occupation is better than the presence of the MNF who have liberated the country from your tyranny. Oh, and they want a precise timetable for the MNF to leave. That, we assure you does not stem from any patriotic sentiment. You can be certain that within few hours from the departure of the last American soldier, the old Saddam military and security apparatus will reemerge from their holes, reinforced this time with the vampires of the Bin Laden clan and their likes. The pogrom that would ensue then would be a horror unparalleled in the entire history of genocide and mass murder. In fact, it would be merciful, if our American friends “nuke” the whole place before leaving (to use the cute expression I have read somewhere). That would eliminate the scum while giving the rest of the population a quick death, which is better than the horrible torture that could await them; a kind of mercy killing, you might say: Euthanasia.
Well, I am sorry, but these are horrible thoughts for the New Year. Nevertheless, do not go thinking that we have weakened. This time America is right, and the Iraqi people will never allow the clock to be turned back. No matter what sacrifices are required: We Shall Overcome.
Love to all our friends in America and elsewhere: You shall be proud of the Iraqi people, your grateful friends.

Sadly, it’s hard to tell whether he’s speaking of the terrorists who are targeting the innocent, and slaughtering Iraqi security forces – or to the political left and their co-conspirators in the western media.

Via Instapundit;

Four CBS News employees, including three executives, have been ousted for their role in preparing and reporting a disputed story about President Bush’s National Guard service.
The action was prompted by the report of an independent panel that concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the piece. The panel also said CBS News had compounded that failure with “rigid and blind” defense of the 60 Minutes Wednesday report.
Asked to resign were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was terminated.
[…]
“the Panel cannot conclude that a political agenda at 60 Minutes Wednesday drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content.” [*cough* – ed]

The full panel report (pdf).
Harking back to something I mentioned in September;“About a week ago, I began to wonder why one person mentioned in the discredited Rathergate memos had not commented on the controversy. My suspicion is that he may have been seeking legal advice – as far as I can tell, it looks as though he’d have one hell of a libel suit against CBS”; this observation from Ratherbiased about the delay in the release of the report;

It’s now been 110 days since CBS News President Andrew Heyward promised the report would come “in weeks, not months.” Is Walter Staudt, the former commanding officer of George W. Bush’s Texas Air National Guard unit, indirectly responsible for why we haven’t heard anything from the Memogate commission?
That may very well prove to be the case considering that Staudt may have good grounds for a libel suit against CBS for claiming, without even asking him, that he had pressured subordinates to “sugarcoat” the record of Lt. Bush. One thing is almost for sure, if the report is released in a heavily edited form, the odds are pretty high CBS is worried about getting sued.

Stay tuned, as various bloggers are now combing and factchecking the report.
update

Rather informed the Panel that he still believes the content of the documents is true because ‘the facts are right on the money,’ and that no one had provided persuasive evidence that the documents were not authentic.

Powerline has some damning quotes and analysis.

Smith sent an email to Mapes proposing that they set up a book deal for Burkett so that he could be paid in exchange for turning over the documents:

Today I am going to send the following hypothetical scenario to a reliable, trustable editor friend of mine…
What if there was a person who might have some information that could possibly change the momentum of an election but we needed to get an ASAP book deal to help get us the information? What kinds of turnaround payment schedules are possible, keeping in mind that the book probably could not make it out until after the election.

Mapes replied: “that looks good, hypothetically speaking, of course.”

Egads.

Via Uncle Meat (who doesn’t do nearly enough blogging) this bit of raw meat for the conspiracy theorists. I’m not offering any comment on it, just tossing it out as food for thought, or to tussle over.

“There has been a rumor floating in the Washington ether for some time now that George Bush has figured out what Sword of Damocles is suspended over Osama bin Laden’s head. It’s whispered among Capitol Hill staffers on the intel and armed services committees; White House NSC (National Security Council) members clam up tight if you begin to hint at it; and State Department neo-cons love to give their liberal counterparts cardiac arrhythmia by elliptically conversing about it in their presence.”

Cardiac arrhythmia? Well, that and then some.

Today, there is a 12 hour long Saskatchewan pledge drive on Rawlco Radio for tsunami relief. The number to call is 866-363-4483.. At time of writing, they’ve already raised over $40,000, which will be matched by federal government tax dollars.
(update- final total for the 12 hours sets a “radio-thon” record for the province – $401,161 $442,000 for the Canadian Red Cross)
That is not the only way to support the afflicted countries – as I argued on the Murray Wood Show a couple of days ago, the criticism of tourists who continue to arrive in the area is misplaced. While relief is necessary to help people immediately affected by the crisis, it’s not going to solve their greater problem – long term employment, the devastating hit to the overall economy. The media isn’t helping either – the inbred urge to sensationalize paints a picture that may be worse than it is.
This item by way of Instapundit, from a diving/cruise company in the region;

Much to our dismay there are many unsubstantiated news stories about “total destruction” of Phuket’s coral reefs. Even our own effort to bring a CBS team to the Similans for a first hand look turned into a nightmare when they broke their promise and turned it into yet another “spectacular disaster” story. Our crew and passengers were quoted out of context and our underwater video footage used incorrectly. Never again!

The page goes on to list areas only slightly or unaffected by tsunami damage.

Those who call this callous fail to see that last thing Phuket needs right now is an economic meltdown caused by tourists staying away as a result of inaccurate news coverage. Thousands of ordinary Thais are employed in the resorts that are now damaged and closed. Mass cancellations would destroy what is left of the island’s fragile economy. If you are booked for a Thailand holiday, please do not cancel.

If you’re one of those individuals who planned to donate in the four figures, it may be more constructive to book a holiday.
Meanwhile, the UN does what it does best – add new levels of beaurocracy, fly to meetings in 5 star hotels and maneuver for power. Canada’s DART team is scheduled to leave CFB Trenton today (courtesy of rented Russian transport planes).
The US and Australians continue to do the heavy lifting. The Canadian media tallies up contributions from the various western countries now trying to outdo each other, while scrupulously avoiding mention of the costs to the respective militaries of those two countries, and the troops and equipment that have been arriving since the early hours of the disaster. Television coverage a couple of nights ago showed glimpses of soldiers in fatigues handing out supplies to surviviors over reports of “international giving”. That there was US military insignia on them went unmentioned.
As worthy as the fund raising drives of the Red Cross and other NGO’s are here, I’m starting to think that the best place to send donations may be to the United States Department of Defense.

If Raskolnikov isn’t on your blogroll, he should be. This takedown of Colleen Simard, of the Winnipeg Free Press, (who urges every Winnipeger to get “an aboriginal friend” for 2005, then trots through the steps with helpful instructions);

So please Ms Simard, don’t go around telling non- indians to approach the indian they see at a WAG show just like they would anyone else, or to join a support group or club to meet indians. Unless that club or support group is centred on something indian, or it allows indians to rage about racism or history, the odds are there won’t be any indians around. As for indians in an art gallery? See my post here to get a glimpse into an indian mindset I have encountered all too often.
On a personal level, I would encourage all non- indians to search high and low for indians. From what I have heard and what I can see with my own two eyes, most of the indians that are easy to find and accessible are the ones on Main Street. These are the ones non-indians use as a template, Ms Simard, whether you like it or not. And if that insults you, you may want to change your own template, the one where every culturally clueless white person needs an indian friend, as well as guidance from someone like yourself on how to get close to that strange exotic indian.
As for my fellow indians, try opening your mind to other cultures. You have spent the last 50 years or so forcing our culture down the throat of everyone else, maybe it’s time you started swallowing.

And he’s just warming up…
crossposted to the Shotgun

The New York Times is reporting that supporters of Kofi Annan held a private meeting recently with Sec.General in an attempt to “to save Kofi and rescue the U.N.” (registration required)

At the gathering, Secretary General Kofi Annan listened quietly to three and a half hours of bluntly worded counsel from a group united in its personal regard for him and support for the United Nations. The group’s concern was that lapses in his leadership during the past two years had eclipsed the accomplishments of his first four-year term in office and were threatening to undermine the two years remaining in his final term.
[…]
Their larger argument, according to participants, addressed two broad needs. First, they said, Mr. Annan had to repair relations with Washington, where the Bush administration and many in Congress thought he and the United Nations had worked against President Bush’s re-election. Second, he had to restore his relationship with his own bureaucracy, where many workers said privately that his office protected high- level officials accused of misconduct.
[…]
The apartment gathering on Dec. 5 came at the end of a year that Mr. Annan has described as the organization’s “annus horribilis.” The United Nations faced charges of corruption in the oil-for-food program in Iraq, evidence that blue- helmeted peacekeepers in Congo had run prostitution rings and raped women and teenage girls, and formal motions of no confidence in the organization’s senior management from staff unions.
Just days before the gathering, Senator Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican who is chairman of a subcommittee investigating the oil-for-food program, had brought criticism of the United Nations to a boil by calling for Mr. Annan’s resignation.
[…]
The meeting was held in the apartment of Richard C. Holbrooke, a United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Clinton.
Others in attendance were John G. Ruggie, assistant secretary general for strategic planning from 1997 to 2001 and now a professor of international relations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; Leslie H. Gelb, a former president of the Council on Foreign Relations; Timothy E. Wirth, the president of the United Nations Foundation, based in Washington; Kathy Bushkin, the foundation’s executive vice president; Nader Mousavizadeh, a former special assistant to Mr. Annan who left in 2003 to work at Goldman Sachs; and Robert C. Orr, the assistant secretary general for strategic planning. Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2003, was invited but could not attend.
“The intention was to keep it confidential,” Mr. Holbrooke said. “No one wanted to give the impression of a group of outsiders, all of them Americans, dictating what to do to a secretary general.”

The meeting occured nearly a month ago. That details this extensive have been released suggests the organizers aren’t convinced that Annan is taking them seriously.

In a telephone interview on Sunday, Mr. Annan said he felt the session had been “supportive and helpful,” but said it was just one of many such meetings he had been holding. “I’ve been talking to lots of people here and abroad and within my own organization planning ahead for the next two years,” he said. “It was part of that process. We did discuss how to improve relations with Washington.”

Then again, I’m not sure some in the group takes them seriously, either. This quote near the end of the article is revealing;

The speakers also faulted the United Nations for the state of its public communications. “Throughout the building there is fairly low morale, which stems from the lackluster way in which the institution and the secretary general’s office have responded to the oil-for-food charges,” Mr. Ruggie said.
He continued, “The attackers of the U.N. for too long have had a free ride in exaggerating the magnitude of the problem [emphasis mine – ed], sometimes deliberately distorting the facts, escalating their accusations and demands for his resignation, and frankly the response on the part of the U.N. has been inept.”

Amazon has set up a donation page for tsunami relief. Only a few hours old, the total at time of writing is $819,485.00. Even at this late hour, donations are pouring in at the rate of about $1,250 a minute.

Aftershocks continue near the original earthquake zone, and they’re large.
Even in the crush of need, there’s enough surviving political will remaining to reject Israeli help and “if you can’t find blame, go for shame” criticism of the US. … It’s too bad the Americans didn’t respond by announcing diversion of their UN funding to the rescue and rebuilding efforts.
In other news, The NYT is acknowledging the ability of blogs to stay ahead of the information curve.
Tsunami Help is an example of just that.
Command Post has a lengthy roundup of organizations providing information and soliciting donations.

Several sites are following the reports coming in on the massive earthquakes and resultant tidal surges in the Asian Pacific.
Instapundit has picked up blogsites covering it, the Command Post has frequent updates. Drudge has devoted almost his entire page to news links.

(More reader supplied photos at the BBC.)
Update With some estimates placing the death toll at over 11,000 already, there is no word at all from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and low-lying Bangladesh.

(Red indicates within the past day – yellow, in the past two weeks)
Click here for the updated seismic map at IRIS.

“Project Rob Lowe”
Related news: Rats, ship.

Arthur Chrenkoff, in today’s Opinion Journal

The latest poll of 5,000 people in and around Baghdad suggests that an overwhelming majority are prepared to make a clean break with the past and pursue democracy–now. Some of the specific results:
What will you base your vote on?

Political agenda – 65%
Factional origin – 14%
Party Affiliation – 4%
National Background – 12%
Other reasons – 5%

Do you support dialog with the deposed Baathists?

Yes – 15%
No – 84%
Do not know – 1%

Do you support postponing the election?

Yes – 18%
No – 80%
Do not know – 2%

Do you think the elections will take place as scheduled?

Yes – 83%
No – 13%
Do not know – 4%

The long and detailed report is more than encouraging – it is a staggering indictment of a politically motivated mainstream media, intent on burying every sign of progress with “rising death tolls” (as if fatality statistics have the ability to drop) and “car bomb o’the day” coverage. There can be little remaining doubt that there is a determination to adhere to a “we told you so” agenda until the bitter end, even if it means taking an active hand in prophesy self-fulfillment.
I don’t know which makes me angrier, as a Canadian – the prospect of seeing the day in which a free and democratic Iraq looks to my country and asks “Where were you when we needed you most?”, or the sobering fact that there are substancial numbers of my fellow citizens who are not-so-secretly hoping they fail.

Mark Helprin in the WSJ;

The short unhappy life of whatever passed for unipolarity is emphatically over not merely because the strategy of the moment has allowed a small force of primitive insurgents in Iraq to occupy a large proportion of American military energy, but because China is now powerful and influential enough, at least as a “fleet-in- being,” to make American world dominance inconceivable. And in the longer term, China is bent upon and will achieve gross military and economic parity with the United States.

Just so you can say you saw it coming.

Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government has the authority to redefine marriage. Then they stated that churches have a right to refuse to perform them, and provinces may refuse to recognize them. [ update: full text here– ed]
Well, that settles everything!
A couple of questions for which I don’t know the answer – perhaps one of my readers does. In a tough child custody battle, would a remarried gay couple assume a prefered position in the eyes of the courts (vs a co-habitating gay parent) over the single parent ex-spouse? ie: the husband leaves, remarries his boyfriend, and then petitions for custody of the children based on having a “two parent” household and better financial status? Is the court allowed to weigh concerns of parents that may have religious or moral objections about their children being exposed to a gay lifestyle?
With the legal definition of marriage expanded, how does this affect the legal obligations that are applied to long time common law relationships? If same sex marriage becomes law, do existing long term gay couples instantly recieve common law status for purposes of property division, support, etc. in the same way that long term heterosexual relationships have? (I know it varies from province to province.)
The debate over same sex marriage isn’t venturing into these areas nearly often enough. Virtually all the focus is on the issue of “commitment” and sexual orientation, or, to be blunt – who gets to boink whom under the umbrella of state sanction. If that were the fundamental purpose of marriage, we wouldn’t need marriage at all.

Some of them have been found on Ebay, so we know there weren’t forgotten in a warehouse somewhere. CNN:

CBC television reported that one thousand uniforms and security badges were missing from federal airport screeners in 89 airports across the country during the first nine months of 2004.
Federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre ordered a probe by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and will receive a report on Monday. Lapierre said Jacques Duchesneau, president of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, will make public the results of the investigation.
The minister alerted Canada’s airport screeners to double-check airport employee identification in all 89 airports and said Canadians have nothing to worry about at this moment. After the attacks on September 11, Ottawa invested billions of dollars to improve airport security, although Americans often view Canada’s airport security as lax.

So does the Auditor General, though I don’t know why Canadian media is so utterly disinterested in her most recent report. I covered major portions of the findings here about 2 weeks ago.

Security clearances for airport workers

… the RCMP provides only information on whether a person has been charged or convicted of a criminal offence – information that does not identify for Transport Canada whether a person has associations with organized crime or is a refugee claimant. Based on the information it receives, Transport Canada determines whether a security clearance should be issued.

…based on our analysis about 5.5�percent of clearance holders hired between January 2001 and May 2003 had criminal records. While this is still lower than the Canadian average, the upward trend over the last two years is of concern.

Transport Canada officials told us that the clearance program focussed on a relatively narrow concept of “unlawful interference with civil aviation,” which concentrated on the risks of hijacking and sabotage. This concept has been derived from international conventions. The risks of drug smuggling and other criminal activity were not necessarily regarded as grounds for denial of a clearance.

We reviewed the investigation files at the five airports we visited. Police and Customs had identified 247 individuals with clearances to restricted areas who were involved in criminal conspiracies … The RCMP’s assessment of clearance holders indicates a greater problem than is indicated in the criminal conspiracy investigation files at airports. At the two airports where police and Customs had no active investigations, clearance holders included individuals who may have significant criminal associations.

In addition to identifying individuals with criminal associations, the RCMP identified 16 businesses operating at airports that were linked to criminal activity such as providing travel arrangements for organized crime, facilitating identity fraud, and selling stolen passes.

During our audit, various officials told us that there were legal barriers to wider sharing of criminal intelligence information. For example, some mentioned that individuals had a Charter right to freedom of association that precluded denial of a security clearance.

Nice thought – a thousand security screener uniforms in the hands of the Hells Angels or associates of “refugee claimants”.

Faced with an open challenge from George Bush to sign on to the missile defense shield, Paul “Weeble Wobbles But He Won’t Fall Down” Martin is on the defensive from opposition pounding and concern for maintaining solidarity in the red wing of his minority government. He’s standing firm in his decision to continue to consider.
Last night, at a Liberal fund raiser, Martin countered critics by announcing that Canada does not need the help of the USA to defend herself, thankyou very much , and that we are capable of providing security for our part of North America. The only explanation I have for this outburst of absurdity is medical. I hope someone is talking to him about seeing a doctor – head first.
While Monty Paul’s Flying Circus loses their collective minds over a program that is going ahead with or without our approval – we can only pray that someone in Ottawa is paying attention to the potential of tax reform in the US to go nuclear.
In case you haven’t heard – the world’s largest economy is considering elimination of income, payroll, corporate and estate taxes, and replacing them with an across the board federal sales tax of 23%. The estimated 600 billion currently spent to collect and manage these taxes would be virtually eliminated, along with the need for the IRS. The underground and criminal economy that historically evades income tax would be brought into the revenue stream.
The saving to business by the elimination of corporate taxes should result in a drop in wholesale pricing, making US manufactured goods more competitive. The implications for Canadian manufacturing alone are profound. Without corporate taxation, there would be tremendous incentive for business to remain in, or relocate to, the US.
With the beckoning glow of an income tax free America, there wouldn’t be time to worry about an outright exodus of highly skilled Canadian professionals – we’ll need a national strategy to keep our truck drivers.
A couple of western provinces won’t be far behind.

Republican governer Mike Johanns, of Nebraska, has been named the new US Secretary of Agriculture. (homepage). Johanns grew up on a dairy farm before studying law, and changed party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 1988.
This item from March 2004 is encouraging:

Gov. Mike Johanns also said partial reopening of the market for U.S. cattle in Mexico is good news for Nebraska cattle producers.
He said Mexico is not only this country’s second-largest customer for U.S. beef, but also Nebraska’s second- largest beef customer.
The USDA announced on Wednesday that the United States and Mexico agreed on a partial resumption of trade. The agreement opens the border for boneless beef from animals less than 30 months of age.
According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the agreement covers 75 to 80 percent of the total beef products that the United States had been shipping to Mexico.
“This is a glimmer of hope that we are starting to work our way through this in terms of the international marketplace,” Johanns said.
He said he has also urged Veneman to reopen the borders with Canada to allow U.S. processors access to live Canadian cattle.
“The news about Mexico is good news, but it doesn’t get us to where we want to be. But it is a step in the right direction,” he said.
Johanns said the goal is to open up the markets and get beef moving again to this country’s foreign customers.
“So far, it has been a situation where it wasn’t anywhere near as devastating as Canada,” he said. “I don’t think it will be in the United States because 90 percent of our beef is consumed here. We have weathered this much better than Canada did. They were just annihilated.”

A strong signal that there is cause for optimism.

With four years as a Canadian resident behind her, Norma Jacobson has some advice fo Americans considering a move to the Great White North – don’t.

Although I enjoy my work and have made good friends here, I’ve found life as an American expatriate in Canada difficult, frustrating and even painful in ways that have surprised me. As attractive as living here may be in theory, the reality’s something else. For me, it’s been one of almost daily confrontation with a powerful anti-Americanism that pervades many aspects of life. When I’ve mentioned this phenomenon to Canadian friends, they’ve furrowed their brows sympathetically and said, “Yes, Canadian anti-Americanism can be very subtle.” My response is, there’s nothing subtle about it.
The anti-Americanism I experience generally takes this form: Canadians bring up “the States” or “Americans” to make comparisons or evaluations that mix a kind of smug contempt with a wariness that alternates between the paranoid and the absurd.
Thus, Canadian media discussion of President Bush’s upcoming official visit on Tuesday focuses on the snub implied by his not having visited earlier. It’s reported that when he does come, he will not speak to a Parliament that’s so hostile it can’t be trusted to receive him politely. Coverage of a Canadian athlete caught doping devolves into complaints about how Americans always get away with cheating. The “Blame Canada” song from the “South Park” movie is taken as documentary evidence of Americans’ real attitudes toward this country. The ongoing U.S. ban on importing Canadian cattle (after a case of mad cow disease was traced to Alberta) is interpreted as a form of political persecution. A six o’clock news show introduces a group of parents and children who are convinced that the reason Canadian textbooks give short shrift to America’s failed attempts to invade the Canadian territories in the War of 1812 is to avoid antagonizing the Americans — who are just waiting for an excuse to give it another try.
[…]
Part of what’s irksome about Canadian anti-Americanism and the obsession with the United States is that it seems so corrosive to Canada. Any country that defines itself through a negative (“Canada: We’re not the United States”) is doomed to an endless and repetitive cycle of hand-wringing and angst. For example, Canadians often point to their system of universal health care as the best example of what it means to be Canadian (because the United States doesn’t provide it), but this means that any effort to adjust or reform that system (which is not perfect) precipitates a national identity crisis: To wit, instituting co-payments or private MRI clinics will make Canada too much like the United States.

She has seen us as we are. Read it all.
hat tip – Cosh.

First it was the great works of art…. time to start hoarding the Kim Jong-Il trading cards…?

No word on this from the mainstream media, as far as I can tell, but it’s burning up the internet.
Via LGF and Flea at the Shotgun
Video downloads available here. Read the Shotgun post first, though, so you are duly warned about the graphic nature of the film.
Freewillblog has a new, downsized version. Still around 15 megs, so dialup users like me are out of luck. His site is getting hit pretty hard though, so be patient if you can’t get through.