Reuters:
Three weeks of imaging data by the agency’s satellites from early 2001 showed more than 10 individual giant waves around the globe of more than 25 metres in height. Previously, scientists believed that such large waves occurred only once every 10,000 years.
Former New York Times Executive Editor, Howell Raines, February 20, 2003:
“Our greatest accomplishment as a profession is the development since World War II of a news reporting craft that is truly non-partisan, and non-ideological, and that strives to be independent of undue commercial or governmental influence….But we don’t wear the political collar of our owners or the government or any political party. It is that legacy we must protect with our diligent stewardship. To do so means we must be aware of the energetic effort that is now underway to convince our readers that we are ideologues. It is an exercise of, in disinformation, of alarming proportions, this attempt to convince the audience of the world’s most ideology-free newspapers that they’re being subjected to agenda-driven news reflecting a liberal bias.”
New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent, July 25, 2004:
Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper?
Of course it is.
Ed Driscoll asks, “What does that do to the folks who claim that because Fox sometimes tilts to the right (don’t tell Geraldo and Greta, though) that they shouldn’t be using “fair and balanced”? Read the rest of his post.
I agree with the critics, though. Until there are about a dozen more networks and media outlets like Fox, media fairness and balance is still just a idealistic fantasy. But the success of Fox vs the declining share values and circulation figures for organizations like the Times, does bring some hope that the marketplace may eventually force change where basic journalistic integrity has failed.
via Instapundit
Bill Graham has been out combing the world to repatriate stranded Canadian terrorists citizens. National Post –
A Foreign Affairs official and an immigration officer visited the MEK’s massive complex on May 31 and June 1. Thirteen of the detainees said they were Canadian citizens, while 24 said they were permanent residents and 44 said they had relatives in Canada.
Some of the landed immigrants may no longer be eligible to return to Canada since they have been out of the country for so long. Those with status in Canada are free to return, an official said.
“They have been told that they are totally at liberty to come back to Canada if it is their wish,” said Reynald Doiron, a Foreign Affairs spokesman.
The MEK is designated a terrorist organization by both the US and Britain, though the Liberals haven’t been as judgemental. (Marxism x Islamism, how can you lose?)
The Iranians are none too happy.
Tehran Times – Canada on the Wrong Track
Recent reports indicate that two Canadian officials met with members of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq from May 31 to June 1.
The Canadian daily the National Post recently confirmed the news in an official report.
Over the past year, the Canadian government, which enjoyed an appropriate relationship with Iran during the years after the Islamic Revolution due to its reasonable and balanced policies, was influenced by the media propaganda about the death of Zahra Kazemi. Canada immediately abandoned its logical and realistic approach in favor of impulsive reactions.
It seems that Canada’s diplomacy toward Iran is currently moving swiftly downhill and has also influenced the country’s internal affairs and has caused certain changes in the cabinet. This has led the Canadian government to choose the wrong course of action, namely playing with dead pieces like the MKO. Due to the two countries’ good relationship in the past, the Canadian government should take the following issues into consideration:
Perhaps now that Iran is crying foul, they’ll review the MEK status…
Please make your way to one of the officially designated Free Speech Zones. Security will be searching bags. Alcoholic bevarages, weapons and wirecutters expressly forbidden.
Courtesy: Democratic National Convention
hat tip = Drudgereport
Well, this explains that tingly feeling.
Sometimes, one has to stand back in awe at the eloquence that defines statesmanship.
Yes, I think there should be less violence and less sex. And when I talked about the heart and soul, I’m talking about the artistic expression. I’m talking about sort of the, I mean, I believe in the arts. I think that there’s a great expression in it, and there’s always this struggle. You know, does life imitate art or art imitate life? Which comes first? It’s a little of both.
I do think we have a responsibility, as leaders, to stand up. I think there were people at that, at that concert we had in New York who stepped over the line. I’ve said that. They don’t speak for me. They speak for themselves. I will stand up and struggle, as others have, to try to get that right balance between violence, and sex, and things.
Crossposted at Shotgun
Hey lady, what are you complaining about? You bought the kid the Horny Garfield Humping Inanimate Object Toy [tm].
(Added to today’s traffic jam)
12 years, four Sea King crashes and 10 deaths after Chretien cancelled the Mulroney government contract for 50 EH-101 military helicopters,
… the Martin government has announced they have approved the purchase of 27 twin engined S-92’s. By all accounts, this is a magnificent piece of aviation engineering.
 |
For an air taxi. |
Response has been enthusiastic. David Rudd, Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies – “glad to get anything.”
Further to this, David Warren at the Ottawa Citizen:
With the sort of arrogance made visible even to Canadians in the recent “trial” of suspects in the murder of Zahra Kazemi, the regime’s officials from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei down have been making bellicose declarations against America, Israel, and the West generally.
“Today we have in our possession long-range smart missiles which can reach many of the interests and vital resources of the Americans and of the Zionist regime in our region,” writes Yadollah Javani, political head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the daily Kayhan, which has become the Iranian “Pravda”.
General Javani was echoing remarks made by Ayatollah Khamenei in Hamadan a week earlier, in more Koranic language. “The entire Islamic Middle East is now a volatile and tangled trap, and will be set off by the smallest bit of silliness,” Javani declares. “Indeed, the White House’s 80 years of exclusive rule are likely to become 80 seconds of Hell.”
Translations on the excellent MEMRI website (see Internet) flesh out such threats. Recent announcements include: the recruitment and training of thousands of Iranian volunteers for suicide attacks against U.S. and other targets in Iraq; the resumption of work on Iran’s long-range Shihab 4 and 5 missiles, capable of reaching targets in Europe and the U.S.; and references to a “master plan” to eliminate “Anglo-Saxon civilization” with missiles and martyrdom, mentioning “29 sensitive targets”.
These threats are not uttered from a cave in the Hindu Kush. They are official Iranian state announcements. The ability of the Western media to ignore them is astounding.
Just a question… how much airtime over the past 6 months do you suppose has been devoted in the national news airwaves to the current NHL player-owner stalemate by CTV and CBC? To Todd Bertuzzi? How many man hours spent bringing us stories about former figureskaters turned boxers? To stupid pet tricks and the threats of sun exposure and uncooked meat?
What are we going to say about the seriousness of our press, when the day comes that a major metropolitan area is laid waste, and we know more about obese film makers than we do the formally sworn enemies of our civilization?
Hat tip – Occam’s Toothbrush
Republican commissioner John Lehman on the circus that overtook the 9/11 commission hearings when Richard Clarke was testifying;
“I think we were mugged by Viacom,” Lehman told NRO in a phone interview on Thursday afternoon. “Because they changed the release date of the book and geared up 60 Minutes to launch his book to time them with his testimony and they edited his book to take out all of the criticisms of Clinton from his [original private] testimony. Because they wanted to make it a jihad against Bush.”
Lehman says that Clarke’s original testimony included “a searing indictment of some Clinton officials and Clinton policies.” That was the Clarke, evenhanded in his criticisms of both the Bush and Clinton administrations, who Lehman and other Republican commissioners expected to show up at the public hearings. It was a surprise “that he would come out against Bush that way.” Republicans were taken aback: “It caught us flat-footed, but not the Democrats.”
Clarke’s performance poisoned the public hearings, leading to weeks of a partisan slugfest. Lehman says Republican commissioners felt they had to fight back, adding to the partisan atmosphere. “What triggered it was Dick Clarke,” says Lehman. “We couldn’t sit back and let him get away with what he wanted to get away with.” He adds, “We were hijacked by a combination of Viacom and the Kerry campaign in the handling of Clarke’s testimony.”
Gwynne Dyer explains the root causes of poverty and female illiteracy in the Arab world;
“… President George W. Bush … West … Western nations … the West … France … U.S. troops … Britain … the CIA … It was Britain that carved … joint Anglo-U.S. project. The British Foreign Office … conspired with France and Israel … West … Washington … U.S. foreign aid … Britain …the West’s purposes. The United States and France … The West … the West … the West…”
(I told you so.)
There’s no mention of literacy rates in Israel.
Odd, that.
hat tip- Pol:Spy
When the competent David Pratt was removed from his brief tenure as Defense Minister when he lost his seat, the pickings for a worthy replacement were slim. Really slim.
Jaeger on the UN-idolizing, Foreign Affairs embarrassment, Bill Graham;
So rather than restoring the Canadian Forces to something resembling a fighting force capable of defending the nation’s interests we will see the Liberal transformation accelerate. Soon we’ll have an army completely disarmed, staffed exclusively with women and homosexuals engaging in social outreach programs in third world countries, if they go abroad at all. I can’t think of a worse time to be a Canadian soldier.
Watch for the Canadian Armed Forces float entry in next year’s Toronto Gay Pride parade.
What looks to be an amateur car bomb has detonated near Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. Fortunately, the only fatality was the driver. Via James Joyner, who observes:
But, had this been a sophisticated terrorist operation, a lot of the people in those 2881 rooms and the adjacent shopping mall could have been killed. If we can’t stop amateur suicidal nuts–and we can’t–then we can’t stop committed professionals.
The day is coming.
I’m starting a new category.
More Money Than Brains
Thinking back to the Iran-Iraq war and the Worlds Worst Kept Policy Secret that the various cold war era backers were working hard to ensure a lose-lose stalemate…
Something suggests that one should probably not assume the next Iran-Iraq war would be fought on that premise.
hat tip – Drudge
All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go,
I’m standing here outside your door,
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.
(Not that you could with that much narcotic in your system)
But the dawn is breakin’,
It’s early morn,
Deportation order’s waitin’
Tube’s outa my arm,
Already, I’m so lonesome I could die.
Kiss me and smile for me,
Take this little pill for me,
Pass out so you’ll never, ever know.
‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane,
Don’t know when I’ll be back again,
Oh, babe, I hate to go
She’s been missing for over two weeks now, and still no sign of Tamra Keepness. The official ground search has wrapped up, though volunteers continue to look.
Today, police assisted social services in removing the other 5 children from the home.