Let's just say I'm not convinced that the UN has no intention of trying to pry control over the Internet's core functions from the US.
The United Nations is made up over over 190 countries. Of the over 190 countries, there are quite a few that impose significant restrictions on the use and transmission of information. China, Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia all restrict access to some websites. China and Egypt have arrested bloggers who have spoken out against the government.
The threat to the Internet isn't from the United States, but from all those totalitarian regimes that know that the free flow of information can undermine their power and authority.
But to mention that would be an affront to all those nations that think freedom of speech refers solely to those in power - and all else in the country have no such right.
In fact, if you simply keep totalitarian governments out of the process, everyone would have access.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Nasty Race Just Got Bitter
Just when you thought the race for New Jersey's Governor couldn't get worse, it does. On the heels of a new poll that claims that Forrester is only 2 points behind Corzine (a statistical dead heat), someone leaked a bogus report that Forrester had an affair with a beauty queen in an attempt to undermine the family values campaign that Forrester has been waging.
Corzine denies that he had anything to do with that story, but even the beauty queen thinks that it was someone from within the Corzine campaign that was involved in making the allegations.
For starters, I'm not quite sure how accurate that poll is considering that many of the other polls from the last week have been giving Corzine a considerable lead. This may be an outlier, but then again, it might be a real reaction to the Forrester ad that highlights Joanne Corzine's comments from the New York Times that bashes her ex-husband Jon for not being right for New Jersey. The FDU poll shows a statistical dead heat, but the WNBC/Marist poll shows at least a 4 point spread, which is narrower than it has been.
From the Bergen Record:
And this is troubling as well:
Actually, while the origin of the story may ultimately not be important for the governor's race, it should be important if you want to get your news and information from various blogs.
Enlighten NJ has more.
UPDATE:
You know things are getting bitter in New Jersey when Drudge makes the race the top billing on his site. This time, we're talking about accusations that Corzine had another affair, one that ended with an abortion. Corzine denies the claims, but this stuff is completely out of control. It's beyond the pale, and it makes me wonder if anyone interested in getting into politics would do so knowing that this is the kind of stuff you're facing.
And there's no reason to believe that any of this stuff being accused is true. With only a few days til the election, a rumor of this kind might be enough to sink a campaign that can't get its message out.
Once again, the New Jersey voters are getting screwed.
Corzine denies that he had anything to do with that story, but even the beauty queen thinks that it was someone from within the Corzine campaign that was involved in making the allegations.
For starters, I'm not quite sure how accurate that poll is considering that many of the other polls from the last week have been giving Corzine a considerable lead. This may be an outlier, but then again, it might be a real reaction to the Forrester ad that highlights Joanne Corzine's comments from the New York Times that bashes her ex-husband Jon for not being right for New Jersey. The FDU poll shows a statistical dead heat, but the WNBC/Marist poll shows at least a 4 point spread, which is narrower than it has been.
From the Bergen Record:
Republican Doug Forrester and Democrat Jon Corzine offered staunch denials in front of a media swarm dominated by television crews. They blamed political henchmen for the escalating personal attacks, which earlier had been an aggressive behind-the-scenes whisper campaign by both parties.Instead, both candidates are trying to blow off the electorate with their shennanigans. I would hope that most New Jersey voters are interested in stopping the corruption and lessening the tax burden, but those issues apparently haven't resonated with anyone. Why? Could it be the messengers and not the message?
Some political analysts wondered openly if voters would be turned off by the sleaze, which caps a barrage of hostile, negative television ads.
"This is one of the most sophisticated, highly educated, most populated states in the U.S., where we have major issues of concern, everything from property taxes and health care to terrorism, and four days before the election we're talking about extramarital affairs," lamented Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. "I really don't think it's a service to the voters to have a discussion about an angry ex-wife and somebody's extramarital affairs."
Both candidates have failed to ignite significant voter interest with their promises of property tax cuts and bigger rebate checks.
Together they have spent nearly $70 million and nearly all of it on television ads that in the final days of the campaign became increasingly negative.
Forrester defended his decision to use damning quotes from Joanne Corzine while repeatedly insisting that he himself never had an extramarital affair. Forrester said the rumor, which was reported in a New York tabloid's gossip column, was peddled by Corzine's staff.
"It's one thing for Jon Corzine to try to blow up his family, but I'm not going to let him blow up mine," Forrester said at a morning news conference.
And this is troubling as well:
The questions came after the rumor was printed by a New York Daily News gossip columnist, who cited as his only source an anonymous e-mail. Forrester was nevertheless repeatedly pressed to deny the charge, which he did.So we've got some anonymous blogger making the allegations, and it was picked up by the Daily News columnist? Or, was it the other way around? Or, did both the blogger and the columnist get the information independently?
"The answer is that they're false allegations," he said. "It is wrong. It is despicable. It is an example of the kind of campaign that Jon Corzine has been running from the beginning."
At one point during the press conference, Forrester campaign director Sherry Sylvester interrupted to reprimand a reporter for citing information attributed to anonymous sources in a blog on the Web site PoliticsNJ.com, which is written under the pseudonym "Wally Edge," the name of a former New Jersey governor and senator.
Actually, while the origin of the story may ultimately not be important for the governor's race, it should be important if you want to get your news and information from various blogs.
Enlighten NJ has more.
UPDATE:
You know things are getting bitter in New Jersey when Drudge makes the race the top billing on his site. This time, we're talking about accusations that Corzine had another affair, one that ended with an abortion. Corzine denies the claims, but this stuff is completely out of control. It's beyond the pale, and it makes me wonder if anyone interested in getting into politics would do so knowing that this is the kind of stuff you're facing.
And there's no reason to believe that any of this stuff being accused is true. With only a few days til the election, a rumor of this kind might be enough to sink a campaign that can't get its message out.
Once again, the New Jersey voters are getting screwed.
French Riots Continue, But Anti-Bush Riots Take Top Billing
The riots in France continue for yet another night (that's nine if you're keeping track). The French government can't quite figure out what to do to stop the riots from spreading. They're still too worried about offending the sensibilities of the rioters to actually stop the rioters from continuing their rampage through the French countryside.
Here's a clue. Break out all the riot police you have and use them. In force. In all those neighborhoods that you never wanted to enter because you thought that it would be insensitive. And once you send the police in, keep a constant presence there because one of the reasons the riots were able to gain strength was because there wasn't any police to nip the torching of cars in the bud.
So, you would think that the French rioting would be the top story? Nope. It's the usual anti-American rioting that accompanies any major economic summit. This gets top story billing, precisely because it can be tied to President Bush's presence, but the French riots, which are going on nine straight nights, are still not quite getting the kind of coverage that they should. And the kicker is that the security set up for the Summit of the Americas knew that this kind of thing would happen, and have acted accordingly:
Now, the New York Times finally realizes that the riots are ongoing - both in France and in Argentina. And the French riots finally make it above the fold!. However, it's still below the anti-Bush riots in Argentina. Go figure.
Powerline also notes that the usual suspects are involved in the Argentine rioting. And they have pictures. So does Michelle Malkin.
Others blogging the anti-America riots in Argentina: Publius Pundit who notes that it's professional protestors who had flown in to do the protesting and rioting in Argentina, and that this is their 'job'. It has nothing to do with protesting the issues or actually seeking to improve the lives of the poor. Gateway Pundit has more.
Big Lizards is covering the riots and wonders about the shifting nature of the riots. He notes:
UPDATE (links added as necessary):
Linked to open posts at: Basil's Blog, bRight and Early, Cao's blog, Jo's Cafe, Mudville Gazette, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Stop the ACLU, The Political Teen, TMH Bacon Bits, and Wizbang.
UPDATE:
Weapons of Mass Destruction is also following the situation in France and wonders if things are getting worse. They are. And stopping the riots might be the easy part. Definitely not good news.
UPDATE:
The New York Post editorial page has some further thoughts on the rioting, including the economic problems that are a part of the problem, but not the proximate cause of the situation. High unemployment (10%) may be one reason for the rioting, but the failure to assimilate is the bigger problem. It is a combination of native-born French refusing to accept any immigrant as a Frenchman, as well as the Muslim population coming to France that doesn't want to assimilate. Taken together, it's a situation ripe for a crisis - one that has finally arrived in spades.
UPDATE:
The Weekly Standard quotes police union officials saying that the government needs to call out the troops because the police are ill eqipped to handle the rioting. The article also notes how the violence is spreading and that this situation isn't some freak and random occurrence. We should have seen it coming.
UPDATE:
Linked to Two Babes and a Brain.
UPDATE:
Austin Bay busts out a history and geography lesson.
Here's a clue. Break out all the riot police you have and use them. In force. In all those neighborhoods that you never wanted to enter because you thought that it would be insensitive. And once you send the police in, keep a constant presence there because one of the reasons the riots were able to gain strength was because there wasn't any police to nip the torching of cars in the bud.
So, you would think that the French rioting would be the top story? Nope. It's the usual anti-American rioting that accompanies any major economic summit. This gets top story billing, precisely because it can be tied to President Bush's presence, but the French riots, which are going on nine straight nights, are still not quite getting the kind of coverage that they should. And the kicker is that the security set up for the Summit of the Americas knew that this kind of thing would happen, and have acted accordingly:
Protesters set a bank on fire and threw objects at police in the streets of the Argentine city hosting the Summit of the Americas. Small bands of demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, set bonfires in the streets and burned American flags. Police responded with tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who did not breach the security cordon set up around the summit venue.Those small bands of rioters in Argentina are the usual anarchists who go around from economic summit to economic summit trying to disrupt the proceedings. Some are Che Guevera supporters (hey, he committed mass murder, but who cares? he's a great t-shirt image!), but many are communists and socialists who have not a single clue about economics, nor do they care.
Now, the New York Times finally realizes that the riots are ongoing - both in France and in Argentina. And the French riots finally make it above the fold!. However, it's still below the anti-Bush riots in Argentina. Go figure.
Powerline also notes that the usual suspects are involved in the Argentine rioting. And they have pictures. So does Michelle Malkin.
Others blogging the anti-America riots in Argentina: Publius Pundit who notes that it's professional protestors who had flown in to do the protesting and rioting in Argentina, and that this is their 'job'. It has nothing to do with protesting the issues or actually seeking to improve the lives of the poor. Gateway Pundit has more.
Big Lizards is covering the riots and wonders about the shifting nature of the riots. He notes:
We assume a riot either is or is not an uprising; Dualism. But in fact, it changes constantly, because it is a dynamic hydra that has not one head or a dozen heads but thousands and thousands. The rioters do not seem to have been militant Islamists at the beginning; the violence arose spontaneously from grief, anger, Gallic gall, and seething resentment. But as I noted in a previous post, events are simply events with no inherent significance; it is we hairless apes who invest observation with consequence; we spin a thread, then another, then we weave the threads together into the big tapestry of meaning.Also wondering about the dual nature of the rioting is the International Herald Tribune.
I don't mean to get all hippie-dippy on you. A Molotov Cocktail is thrown into a building; that is a fact, it is measurable: we know what gasoline is, we know what a bottle looks like, we can tell when something is on fire. But is it jihad? An angry assault upon the cops because the thrower's brother was arrested? Or maybe insurance fraud? Even if it started out as the latter, how difficult would it be for others, victims or the rioters themselves, to inspire an act of simple arson with the organized and exciting rationalization of Holy War -- even ex post facto?
There's your real danger: that what begins as a race riot can metamorphose, inside its coccoon of post-hoc justification and organization, into jihad. The search for meaning is universal; but French Socialism-Lite has stripped France of such meaning. France isn't France anymore; it's a cog in theUnited States of Europe European Economic CommunityEuropean Union. The entire continent is sans frontières, and humans need frontiers -- boundaries, walls, fences, divisions between this nation and the other.
UPDATE (links added as necessary):
Linked to open posts at: Basil's Blog, bRight and Early, Cao's blog, Jo's Cafe, Mudville Gazette, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Stop the ACLU, The Political Teen, TMH Bacon Bits, and Wizbang.
UPDATE:
Weapons of Mass Destruction is also following the situation in France and wonders if things are getting worse. They are. And stopping the riots might be the easy part. Definitely not good news.
UPDATE:
The New York Post editorial page has some further thoughts on the rioting, including the economic problems that are a part of the problem, but not the proximate cause of the situation. High unemployment (10%) may be one reason for the rioting, but the failure to assimilate is the bigger problem. It is a combination of native-born French refusing to accept any immigrant as a Frenchman, as well as the Muslim population coming to France that doesn't want to assimilate. Taken together, it's a situation ripe for a crisis - one that has finally arrived in spades.
UPDATE:
The Weekly Standard quotes police union officials saying that the government needs to call out the troops because the police are ill eqipped to handle the rioting. The article also notes how the violence is spreading and that this situation isn't some freak and random occurrence. We should have seen it coming.
UPDATE:
Linked to Two Babes and a Brain.
UPDATE:
Austin Bay busts out a history and geography lesson.
Friday, November 04, 2005
A Moment of Clarity for Pakistan
Instead of spending billions of dollars on a planned purchase of 77 US F-16 fighters, Pakistani President Musharaf has decided to suspend the purchase because of the continuing fallout from the quake that has killed more than 70,000 people in Pakistan alone.
That's a very positive sign. Pakistan is struggling with the situation, and the last thing they needed was more military purchases that wouldn't do a damn thing to improve the situation in the hardest hit areas. That money, instead, will go to aid in the recovery effort especially since the tensions between Pakistan and India have relaxed as a result of the quake and the widespread damage to the region.
That's a very positive sign. Pakistan is struggling with the situation, and the last thing they needed was more military purchases that wouldn't do a damn thing to improve the situation in the hardest hit areas. That money, instead, will go to aid in the recovery effort especially since the tensions between Pakistan and India have relaxed as a result of the quake and the widespread damage to the region.
The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 63
We're starting to see some progress as construction began yesterday on the new PATH system at Ground Zero:
I think the lawsuit will fail because there is only a limited way in which the tracks can be aligned within the bathtub and the existing tunnels to New Jersey and all of them happen to cross through the footprints. The new transit center is going to be bigger than the prior PATH station to take into account future growth, and that's going to be a plausible defense that might be sufficient to overcome the emotional argument that is really behind the families concerns.
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.
Starting at 7 a.m., they built a trough 18 inches high and 6 feet 3 inches wide out of thick wood planks. Cagelike frames of steel reinforcing bars, or rebar, will be set into the trough beginning today. Then concrete will be poured over the rebar.Of course, this news is tempered by the fact that there is a lawsuit still pending against the Port Authority over the placement and need for the expanded transit facilities that happen to cross through the footprints of the former Twin Towers. The lawsuit alleges that the Port Authority violated a federal law requiring that historic sites not be used for transportation projects unless there are no feasible or prudent alternatives.
That will form the footing of a seven-foot-high concrete retaining wall. The wall will hold about four feet of fill, on top of which ballast will be laid for a temporary PATH track, No. 6, alongside the future Platform D, the fourth and westernmost platform.
Currently, there are five tracks among three platforms, two of which occupy a corner of the south tower footprint, as they did in the original station. Platform D would take up more space in the south footprint and a tiny bit of the north footprint.
Once Platform D and Track No. 6 are usable, in early 2007, other tracks can be taken out of service temporarily to allow construction of the permanent terminal while commuters are traveling through the tubes to and from New Jersey.
I think the lawsuit will fail because there is only a limited way in which the tracks can be aligned within the bathtub and the existing tunnels to New Jersey and all of them happen to cross through the footprints. The new transit center is going to be bigger than the prior PATH station to take into account future growth, and that's going to be a plausible defense that might be sufficient to overcome the emotional argument that is really behind the families concerns.
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.
Is the TSA Nuts?!
The TSA is considering letting air travelers carry small knives and scissors onboard planes for the first time since 9/11. Why?
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So again, I ask "Why?!"
What is the TSA thinking? Do they think that people will save that much time by not being screened for knives and scissors and that the risk of a terrorist using this change is so low that the benefits outweigh the costs?
To me, this is a no-brainer. People will accept a few minutes extra in line checking their bags for illegal weapons, scissors, and small knives for the peace of mind knowing that a terrorist couldn't bring a box cutter on board.
After all, that's how the 19 hijackers took over those four planes on 9/11 - they used boxcutters to overpower the crew and passengers, and killed more than 3000 people in the process. They caused tens of billions of dollars in property damage, and we're still feeling the after effects in New York City.
This policy simply should not be changed to facilitate air travel for the holidays because the terrorists can and will take advantage of the situation.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So again, I ask "Why?!"
What is the TSA thinking? Do they think that people will save that much time by not being screened for knives and scissors and that the risk of a terrorist using this change is so low that the benefits outweigh the costs?
To me, this is a no-brainer. People will accept a few minutes extra in line checking their bags for illegal weapons, scissors, and small knives for the peace of mind knowing that a terrorist couldn't bring a box cutter on board.
After all, that's how the 19 hijackers took over those four planes on 9/11 - they used boxcutters to overpower the crew and passengers, and killed more than 3000 people in the process. They caused tens of billions of dollars in property damage, and we're still feeling the after effects in New York City.
This policy simply should not be changed to facilitate air travel for the holidays because the terrorists can and will take advantage of the situation.
About Those Campaign Ads
I don't know about you, but the ads this season aren't particularly good. Heck, the candidates for some of the local races aren't that good - Freddy Ferrer, I'm talking about you.
But the cake for nutbar commericals has to go to Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester who are tossing so much money into advertising that it makes the head spin at how cringe-worthy they've made their ads.
Corzine brought out little Timmy in the wheelchair to decry Forrester's supposed opposition to stem cell research. Fact is, Forrester opposes embryionic stem cell research, but doesn't have a problem with other stem cell research (and that has already garnered results in treatments, which can't be said of the embryionic stem cell research).
Forrester turned around and broke out his wife to counter those claims, and then got the bonus of Corzine's ex wife Joanne going to the Star Ledger and New York Times to complain about Corzine and did so not only as his ex-wife, but as someone who worked on Corzine's campaigns. She complained about the choices Corzine made, and how he essentially gave up his morals and ethics by getting into politics (he wouldn't be the first to do that).
Forrester is now running a short and sweet ad that features the killer quotes from Joanne Corzine's interview. Corzine has tried to respond but hasn't exactly been a model of clarity. Forrester for his part had said that he wouldn't bring family matters into the race for governor, but ran this article because his media mavens said it was his last best chance to win the election.
This is what is has come to.
This election comes down to two simple issues for me: taxes and corruption.
I don't trust either guy on taxes - for the simple fact that neither is willing to address the core reasons for the spiraling taxes: state spending that is out of control. I also know that the Transportation Trust Fund needs to be fixed, and the only way that is going to happen is through raising some tax (gas tax) or diverting revenue from other programs to go to replenish the fund. Neither candidate's plans for property tax relief are realistic or workable unless spending is controlled.
And if they do find a way to control property taxes, expect the corporation business tax to rise again to deal with the shortfall and fees on most everything else to rise. That's what happened the last time that anyone tried to deal with property taxes in New Jersey.
As for the issue of corruption, I give Forrester a slight nod, if only because he's an outsider in Trenton. Corzine is too closely aligned to the machine politics and corrupt officials that run rampant in Trenton. Forrester may have the edge there since he's not an insider, but I don't think he's immune from being sucked into that den of thieves.
We shall see. Corzine is up in the polls less than a week out, and I don't think Forrester can make up the difference.
UPDATE:
Also blogging the NJ race: Mister Snitch, the NJ Blog, and Enlighten NJ.
But the cake for nutbar commericals has to go to Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester who are tossing so much money into advertising that it makes the head spin at how cringe-worthy they've made their ads.
Corzine brought out little Timmy in the wheelchair to decry Forrester's supposed opposition to stem cell research. Fact is, Forrester opposes embryionic stem cell research, but doesn't have a problem with other stem cell research (and that has already garnered results in treatments, which can't be said of the embryionic stem cell research).
Forrester turned around and broke out his wife to counter those claims, and then got the bonus of Corzine's ex wife Joanne going to the Star Ledger and New York Times to complain about Corzine and did so not only as his ex-wife, but as someone who worked on Corzine's campaigns. She complained about the choices Corzine made, and how he essentially gave up his morals and ethics by getting into politics (he wouldn't be the first to do that).
Forrester is now running a short and sweet ad that features the killer quotes from Joanne Corzine's interview. Corzine has tried to respond but hasn't exactly been a model of clarity. Forrester for his part had said that he wouldn't bring family matters into the race for governor, but ran this article because his media mavens said it was his last best chance to win the election.
This is what is has come to.
This election comes down to two simple issues for me: taxes and corruption.
I don't trust either guy on taxes - for the simple fact that neither is willing to address the core reasons for the spiraling taxes: state spending that is out of control. I also know that the Transportation Trust Fund needs to be fixed, and the only way that is going to happen is through raising some tax (gas tax) or diverting revenue from other programs to go to replenish the fund. Neither candidate's plans for property tax relief are realistic or workable unless spending is controlled.
And if they do find a way to control property taxes, expect the corporation business tax to rise again to deal with the shortfall and fees on most everything else to rise. That's what happened the last time that anyone tried to deal with property taxes in New Jersey.
As for the issue of corruption, I give Forrester a slight nod, if only because he's an outsider in Trenton. Corzine is too closely aligned to the machine politics and corrupt officials that run rampant in Trenton. Forrester may have the edge there since he's not an insider, but I don't think he's immune from being sucked into that den of thieves.
We shall see. Corzine is up in the polls less than a week out, and I don't think Forrester can make up the difference.
UPDATE:
Also blogging the NJ race: Mister Snitch, the NJ Blog, and Enlighten NJ.
And on the Ninth Day, The Times Discovers The Riots
The story still isn't above the fold, but it has reached the front page of the Times online. The rioting is getting worse, and it spreading beyond those original communities:
But, you want to know what is missing from the story? Any mention of the identities of the rioters. These are largely Muslim teens and young men conducting these attacks. That doesn't rate a mention at all.
Also, overheard on the radio this morning (WABC 770AM), apparently riots have been an annual occurrence for the past decade, but the French authorities have seen them peter out after a day or two. This year has been different. I'd say.
UPDATE:
The rioting is taking on a momentum all its own. And it would seem that the French authorities are ill-prepared to stop it. The police are reluctant to go into these largely Muslim areas and put down the rioting, arson, and violence. There are reports of the goons taking potshots at police and firefighters trying to put out the fires (and can we get confirmation of this from multiple sources, or are we seeing Katrina-style coverage in Paris as well as rumors are spread and disseminated by the media, picked up by the blogs, who are then blamed for spreading the rumors?)
Captain Ed, notes that the NYT editorial board gets around to mentioning the Muslim identities of the rioters, but only to slam the French government for not being more sensitive to their needs.
That's utter BS. There is no place in civil society for rioting, no matter how supposedly deprived of economic opportunities you claim to be. The French economy has been in the toilet for more than a decade, but that's the fault of the government's socialist policies that stifle economic growth. Trying to reduce assimilation is another problem with French policies, and the repercussions are being felt as well.
UPDATE:
Drudge is reporting that the rioting in and around Paris wasn't some spontaneous act. That figures. And sounds really familiar. The same thing happened in 2000. In Israel. The Palestinian terrorists launched Intifada 2, supposedly because Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jersualem. Rioting and violence broke out shortly thereafter, but we have known from early on that the Palestinian violence was organized by the terrorist groups in advance of the Sharon visit, and were condoned by Arafat and his cronies.
We're witnessing a Parisian Intifada folks. And the media isn't willing or able to make that fact known. Curious.
UPDATE:
The Paris riots have now gone on longer than the 1965 Watts Riots -
UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has running updates on the rioting and the blogosphere reaction.
UPDATE:
The Jawa Report sees the French government as powerless to stop the violence. I surely hope not. If Paris goes, so goes the rest of France, and Europe is ill prepared to stop this kind of violence. Dr. Reo Symes notes that Theodore Dalrymple had warned of this kind of violence erupting back in 2002. Ace notes that Paris has become the Beirut on the Seine.
Also blogging the riots: True Blue Liberal. And Generation Why? has a linkfest on the continuing violence and finds John Kerry's reaction to be quite curious.
UPDATE:
Instapundit has a lengthy update on the rioting, including what might happen next.
UPDATE:
No Parasan reports that a handicapped woman was severely burned when the rioting goons tossed a molotov cocktail into a bus. Socialists understand the deep seated causes that underly the youths' despair. No Pasaran also notes last night's toll was 400 cars and 27 buses torched. Yeah, just another day in the neighborhood, I guess. If that neighborhood was Beirut during the civil war.
UPDATE:
Lisa of the Bohemian Conservative wonders whether Brigitte Bardot was right when Bardot complained about the rising influence in France and the problems that it would cause.
UPDATE:
Point Five writes about the new holiday that sprung up in Paris and its surburbs. Charukar.
Technorati: riot, paris riots, paris, france, muslim immigrant.
Gunshots were fired at police officers and firefighters in three separate incidents Wednesday night, said Prefect Jean-François Cordet, the government's top official in Seine-St.-Denis, a department north of Paris that includes a belt of working-class neighborhoods with a large immigrant population from North Africa and the sub-Saharan region.Why did it take eight nights of rioting to get the Times interested? Was there something more important going on in Europe that deserved coverage ahead of the rioting? It seems that the Times was reluctant to push this story.
In the clashes on Wednesday night, a police station was ransacked, a garage was set on fire and a shopping center and two schools were vandalized, Mr. Cordet said. Riot police forces have used tear gas and rubber bullets to repel the attacks.
Traffic was halted Thursday morning on a commuter line linking Paris to Charles de Gaulle airport after stone-throwing rioters attacked two trains. One passenger was slightly injured by broken glass, according to local news reports. The violence picked up again as night fell with burning cars reported in the suburb of Stains.
But, you want to know what is missing from the story? Any mention of the identities of the rioters. These are largely Muslim teens and young men conducting these attacks. That doesn't rate a mention at all.
Also, overheard on the radio this morning (WABC 770AM), apparently riots have been an annual occurrence for the past decade, but the French authorities have seen them peter out after a day or two. This year has been different. I'd say.
UPDATE:
The rioting is taking on a momentum all its own. And it would seem that the French authorities are ill-prepared to stop it. The police are reluctant to go into these largely Muslim areas and put down the rioting, arson, and violence. There are reports of the goons taking potshots at police and firefighters trying to put out the fires (and can we get confirmation of this from multiple sources, or are we seeing Katrina-style coverage in Paris as well as rumors are spread and disseminated by the media, picked up by the blogs, who are then blamed for spreading the rumors?)
Captain Ed, notes that the NYT editorial board gets around to mentioning the Muslim identities of the rioters, but only to slam the French government for not being more sensitive to their needs.
That's utter BS. There is no place in civil society for rioting, no matter how supposedly deprived of economic opportunities you claim to be. The French economy has been in the toilet for more than a decade, but that's the fault of the government's socialist policies that stifle economic growth. Trying to reduce assimilation is another problem with French policies, and the repercussions are being felt as well.
The suburbs of Paris have a long history of violent uprisings by enraged residents. But the nightly clashes in the grimy northeastern environs over the past week have been grimly contemporary.So, these riots are to be excused because they happen regularly? How about explaining why the police aren't doing more to stop the violence? That's worth a story or 20. These riots aren't because of two kids getting electrocuted while trespassing at an electrical substation. That may be a pretext for some, but it doesn't explain why we're seeing rioting and not mass civil demonstrations. What is it about these particular Muslim communities that jump right into rioting to destroy property within these economically depressed communities? Also unanswered by the Times. Curious.
UPDATE:
Drudge is reporting that the rioting in and around Paris wasn't some spontaneous act. That figures. And sounds really familiar. The same thing happened in 2000. In Israel. The Palestinian terrorists launched Intifada 2, supposedly because Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jersualem. Rioting and violence broke out shortly thereafter, but we have known from early on that the Palestinian violence was organized by the terrorist groups in advance of the Sharon visit, and were condoned by Arafat and his cronies.
We're witnessing a Parisian Intifada folks. And the media isn't willing or able to make that fact known. Curious.
"What we saw in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis overnight was not spontaneous, it was perfectly organized. We are looking into by whom and how," Sarkozy told French news channel i-tele.So far, the goons are running rampant and the authorities haven't been able to get ahead of the curve. Not good at all.
The interior minister also said the government would not allow "troublemakers, a bunch of hoodlums, think they can do whatever they want" in the country.
UPDATE:
The Paris riots have now gone on longer than the 1965 Watts Riots -
On August 11, 1965, a routine traffic stop in South Central Los Angeles provided the spark that lit the fire of those seething feelings. The riots lasted for six days, leaving 34 dead, over a thousand people injured, nearly 4,000 arested, and hundreds of buildings destroyed.It's gone on longer than the Newark and Detroit riots of 1967. So far, we're thankful that there aren't any deaths attributed directly to the rioting, but there's no sense that the rioting is going to stop any time soon. The French aren't getting a handle on the situation and if anything, the rioting is spreading more and more each night.
UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has running updates on the rioting and the blogosphere reaction.
UPDATE:
The Jawa Report sees the French government as powerless to stop the violence. I surely hope not. If Paris goes, so goes the rest of France, and Europe is ill prepared to stop this kind of violence. Dr. Reo Symes notes that Theodore Dalrymple had warned of this kind of violence erupting back in 2002. Ace notes that Paris has become the Beirut on the Seine.
Also blogging the riots: True Blue Liberal. And Generation Why? has a linkfest on the continuing violence and finds John Kerry's reaction to be quite curious.
UPDATE:
Instapundit has a lengthy update on the rioting, including what might happen next.
UPDATE:
No Parasan reports that a handicapped woman was severely burned when the rioting goons tossed a molotov cocktail into a bus. Socialists understand the deep seated causes that underly the youths' despair. No Pasaran also notes last night's toll was 400 cars and 27 buses torched. Yeah, just another day in the neighborhood, I guess. If that neighborhood was Beirut during the civil war.
UPDATE:
Lisa of the Bohemian Conservative wonders whether Brigitte Bardot was right when Bardot complained about the rising influence in France and the problems that it would cause.
It seems this is the third time sister-girl has been convicted in French court for "inciting racial hatred." In the past, she complained about the proliferation of mosques in France "while our church-bells fall silent for want of priests."
Excuse me, but, isn't open and frank (heh) dialogue about sensitive and relevant topics supposed to be the hallmark of a progressive society? Uh huh, yeah.
UPDATE:
Point Five writes about the new holiday that sprung up in Paris and its surburbs. Charukar.
Technorati: riot, paris riots, paris, france, muslim immigrant.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
On the Eighth Day, They Rioted Some More
Paris is still burning with eight straight days of rioting. And the New York Times is still AWOL.
UPDATE:
No Pasaran has much more on the rioting.
UPDATE:
The rioting appears to be intensifying. And still the New York Times acts as though the rioting isn't going on. A few other people have observed that the rioting will only be picked up by the Times when a few of the rioters are killed, in which case the situation will be thrown on to the front cover as an example of what happens when an intolerant government does not act in the best interests of all the people.
In other words, the Times will cover this story only when they can spin it to the disadvantage of the current Administration. Meanwhile, they're running a front page story online about George Carlin still being relevant at age 68. Hey, I'm a huge Carlin fan - even saw him in Vegas and sat in the front row, but does the Times really think that a retrospective on a comedian is more important than a European capital aflame due to incessant rioting for days at a time?
Roger L. Simon has some first hand reporting from Paris and the tales aren't good at all. The French government is bracing for even more bad news with rioting spreading beyond where it already has occurred. They're reinforcing security at transportation centers around the city, and not just with the regular cops, but with heavy weapons units.
Others covering this story: La Shawn Barber, Justify This, Rob Port of Say Anything, Blogs of War, Don Surber, Meryl Yourish, and Below the Beltway. And as bad as we think things are, it might be even worse.
Ace of Spades notes that the rioting has spread to 20 towns. And Captain Ed notes that even the Nazis didn't actually burn Paris to the ground as they retreated back to Germany during World War II, though they did actually consider it:
Point Five sees the humor in the French riots as only he can. Ipso Facto has his own comic take.
UPDATE:
The Jawa Report is also on the case.
UPDATE:
So is Cox and Forkum. A bad moon rising. Indeed.
Technorati: riot, paris riots, paris, france, muslim immigrant.
UPDATE:
No Pasaran has much more on the rioting.
UPDATE:
The rioting appears to be intensifying. And still the New York Times acts as though the rioting isn't going on. A few other people have observed that the rioting will only be picked up by the Times when a few of the rioters are killed, in which case the situation will be thrown on to the front cover as an example of what happens when an intolerant government does not act in the best interests of all the people.
In other words, the Times will cover this story only when they can spin it to the disadvantage of the current Administration. Meanwhile, they're running a front page story online about George Carlin still being relevant at age 68. Hey, I'm a huge Carlin fan - even saw him in Vegas and sat in the front row, but does the Times really think that a retrospective on a comedian is more important than a European capital aflame due to incessant rioting for days at a time?
Roger L. Simon has some first hand reporting from Paris and the tales aren't good at all. The French government is bracing for even more bad news with rioting spreading beyond where it already has occurred. They're reinforcing security at transportation centers around the city, and not just with the regular cops, but with heavy weapons units.
Others covering this story: La Shawn Barber, Justify This, Rob Port of Say Anything, Blogs of War, Don Surber, Meryl Yourish, and Below the Beltway. And as bad as we think things are, it might be even worse.
Ace of Spades notes that the rioting has spread to 20 towns. And Captain Ed notes that even the Nazis didn't actually burn Paris to the ground as they retreated back to Germany during World War II, though they did actually consider it:
What von Choltitz preserved, Paris' own Muslim population appears intent on destroying now. For a full week, night has brought riots and destruction to the City of Light, while the French government seems paralyzed and unsure about how to stop it. It started when French police investigated a robbery in an area known to law enforcement as a "no-go" area, one in which even police dare not intrude on Islamist territoryThe French may have made their own bed, but we're going to be dealing with the repercussions of this mess for a long time to come. The French must get their house in order and stop this rioting, or the problems down the road throughout Europe are going to be far worse than most people can imagine.
Point Five sees the humor in the French riots as only he can. Ipso Facto has his own comic take.
UPDATE:
The Jawa Report is also on the case.
UPDATE:
So is Cox and Forkum. A bad moon rising. Indeed.
Technorati: riot, paris riots, paris, france, muslim immigrant.
Still Want Your MTA Discounts?
Subway-station maintenance workers have been diverted to cleaning jobs even as stations deteriorate, officials of the main transit workers union charged yesterday.It's not often that I'll find myself in agreement with TWU Local 100, but in this instance, they're right - deferring maintenance is a dangerous folly. Deferred maintenance may seem like a cost-cutting measure, but the costs multiply exponentially as problems that are overlooked grow worse. What could be prevented by routine maintenance and things like painting, grow into major rehabilitation projects because of water damage, rotting, and deterioration of infrastructure.
"They should take them and start them working on stations like this," Transport Workers Union official Ed Watt said at the Dyckman Street stop on the No. 1 train.
The above-ground station in upper Manhattan has a rotting roof, a crumbling platform and lots of peeling paint.
But members of TWU Local 100 say 177 workers assigned to maintain stations have been reassigned to cleaning jobs.
Keep that in mind as you have your half fare for a week at the end of the year.
Understatement of the Day
Behind Scenes, Sense of a Looming Ferrer Defeat GrowsUmmm... what exactly gave that away? The 30 point margin of victory predicted in every single poll that has been taken since the campaign started? This isn't a news story, but a dirge.
By DIANE CARDWELL and PATRICK D. HEALY
Leading Democratic supporters of Fernando Ferrer have become increasingly resigned to the prospect of another win for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Levee Failures Due to Incompetence and Corruption?
And this is a surprise to anyone who has been following the New Orleans Katrina aftermath? Everywhere you turn, you realize just how poorly run Louisiana has been for decades, and that New Orleans safety - and that of its residents - was always a distant concern for everyone involved in the process. According to the New York Times:
Solomon's House has been the go-to source on tracking the levee problems. Among the links he provides, is one to the Army Corps of Engineers Hurricane Protection Projects in the New Orleans. That should prove to be an interesting site to see just where and how the levees failed, and what the Corps is going to do about it.
Oh, and New Orleans forefathers knew best how to stay dry in the unpredictable Mississippi River delta - they stuck to the high ground.
Meanwhile, no one is quite sure where and how all that Congressional appropriation aid has been spent on hurricane relief. That's comforting. Also comforting is the fact that all the Louisiana politicians are on the same page about keeping the Saints in New Orleans. They've arranged meetings with NFL officials and have gotten assurances, but wouldn't it be nice if the Louisiana officials were on the same page regarding actual rebuilding - the kind that gets Louisiana residents back into their homes, rebuilds the levee system properly, and does everything else that is needed to rebuild the infrastructure. Fat chance of that happening as long as Whiplash Nagin and Gov. Blanco are in charge.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
"These levees should have been expected to perform adequately at these levels if they had been designed and constructed properly," said the expert, Raymond Seed, a professor of civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.There are concerns that inadequate materials were used in the levees. And the concern now is that the repairs that were made thus far to the levees are inadequate to protect against another Category 3 storm, and that there is still significant damage to the system that needs to be mitigated.
"Not just human error was involved," Professor Seed said. "There may have been malfeasance."
Professor Seed, whose team was financed by the National Science Foundation, did not offer hard evidence to back up his accusation. But he said after the hearing that the team had been contacted by levee workers, contractors and, in some cases, widows of contractors who told stories of protective sheet pile being driven less deeply than plans called for and corners cut in choosing soils for construction, among other problems.
Solomon's House has been the go-to source on tracking the levee problems. Among the links he provides, is one to the Army Corps of Engineers Hurricane Protection Projects in the New Orleans. That should prove to be an interesting site to see just where and how the levees failed, and what the Corps is going to do about it.
Oh, and New Orleans forefathers knew best how to stay dry in the unpredictable Mississippi River delta - they stuck to the high ground.
Meanwhile, no one is quite sure where and how all that Congressional appropriation aid has been spent on hurricane relief. That's comforting. Also comforting is the fact that all the Louisiana politicians are on the same page about keeping the Saints in New Orleans. They've arranged meetings with NFL officials and have gotten assurances, but wouldn't it be nice if the Louisiana officials were on the same page regarding actual rebuilding - the kind that gets Louisiana residents back into their homes, rebuilds the levee system properly, and does everything else that is needed to rebuild the infrastructure. Fat chance of that happening as long as Whiplash Nagin and Gov. Blanco are in charge.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
Day Seven of Rioting, and the Times Is AWOL
After seven days of riots in Paris and its surrounding towns, the New York Times is still AWOL on the reporting. They have a story of Chirac calling for calm, but it's so far below the fold on the International page of the website that one would almost miss the news altogether.
We're talking about major riots for seven consecutive days affecting a major European city. Hundreds of cars have been torched and there's no sign that the French can stop the violence, which has actually been ongoing since the beginning of the year (20-40 cars torched a night, thousands of stonings of police cars, etc.).
This, my friends, is the 'paper of record'?! For shame.
For comparison, CNN has the story above the fold and the third story on the right side of the page at 9:10AM EST. The rioting is above the fold at MSNBC, and is the featured story on FoxNews. The Washington Post has the story just below the fold on its website. Good luck trying to find the story at the LA Times website or at the Boston.com (Boston Globe) website.
We're talking about major riots for seven consecutive days affecting a major European city. Hundreds of cars have been torched and there's no sign that the French can stop the violence, which has actually been ongoing since the beginning of the year (20-40 cars torched a night, thousands of stonings of police cars, etc.).
This, my friends, is the 'paper of record'?! For shame.
For comparison, CNN has the story above the fold and the third story on the right side of the page at 9:10AM EST. The rioting is above the fold at MSNBC, and is the featured story on FoxNews. The Washington Post has the story just below the fold on its website. Good luck trying to find the story at the LA Times website or at the Boston.com (Boston Globe) website.
A Stone's Throw Away
Oliver Stone has begun shooting the 9/11 film tentatively entitled September in New York City. He had been shooting scenes in Glen Rock, New Jersey. Now, he's working in the West Village, a mere stone's throw away from my office.
The Wife Problem
This isn't much of a surprise, but hell hath no fury as much as a woman scorned. In this case, we're talking about the ex-wife of Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) who is running for Governor of New Jersey.
She's gone on the record as saying that Corzine is in cahoots with the Democratic machine in New Jersey, which is as corrupt as it gets. And she had warned Jon when he first ran for the Senate seat not to get involved with them because of their lack of values, but Corzine did so anyway.
Joanne Corzine had been married to Jon for 33 years before breaking up two years ago over Jon's affair with Carla Katz, who happens to be a union bigwig that received a huge loan that was forgiven by Corzine (a couple hundred thousand dollars). And the union happened to come out in support for Corzine. Go figure.
Now, here's my problem with all this. What exactly does this change in terms of the election dynamic. Not much. Forrester has been slamming Corzine for his buddy-buddy relation with the corrupt Democratic party machine (Norcross) pretty much from the get-go. Forrester has been using his wife in a number of commercials because it separates his family values campaign from Corzine and the prior NJ administration of Jim McGreevey.
Will this last minute revelation change anything? I don't think so, but it does inject a little more spice to the last week considering that the NYC Mayoral campaign is a done deal.
UPDATE:
Enlighten NJ also notes the Corzine family values routine, and says that New Jersey voters have been warned. Yes, they've been warned for years about rampant corruption, and have done precisely nothing to remove the corrupt officials from their jobs.
U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine's ex-wife said yesterday he "compromised his ideals" to get elected by cutting deals with political bosses, and that his pursuit of power "destroyed" their family.
Joanne Corzine said she was reluctantly breaking her silence because her ex-husband is giving an inaccurate portrayal of himself in his campaign for governor.
She's gone on the record as saying that Corzine is in cahoots with the Democratic machine in New Jersey, which is as corrupt as it gets. And she had warned Jon when he first ran for the Senate seat not to get involved with them because of their lack of values, but Corzine did so anyway.
Joanne Corzine had been married to Jon for 33 years before breaking up two years ago over Jon's affair with Carla Katz, who happens to be a union bigwig that received a huge loan that was forgiven by Corzine (a couple hundred thousand dollars). And the union happened to come out in support for Corzine. Go figure.
Now, here's my problem with all this. What exactly does this change in terms of the election dynamic. Not much. Forrester has been slamming Corzine for his buddy-buddy relation with the corrupt Democratic party machine (Norcross) pretty much from the get-go. Forrester has been using his wife in a number of commercials because it separates his family values campaign from Corzine and the prior NJ administration of Jim McGreevey.
Will this last minute revelation change anything? I don't think so, but it does inject a little more spice to the last week considering that the NYC Mayoral campaign is a done deal.
UPDATE:
Enlighten NJ also notes the Corzine family values routine, and says that New Jersey voters have been warned. Yes, they've been warned for years about rampant corruption, and have done precisely nothing to remove the corrupt officials from their jobs.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
And on the Seventh Day, They Rioted Some More
As Breitbart's AP reports:
So, we're supposed to believe that some neighborhoods are lost permanently? I don't think so. Someone has to impose law and order there, or the problems will only spread. Mark my words.
Eric, a 22-year-old in Clichy-sous-Bois who was born in France to Moroccan parents, said police target those with dark skin. He said he has been unable to find full-time work for two years and that the riots were a demonstration of suburban solidarity.Let's get this straight. People who are rioting are destroying their own neighborhoods because they're demonstrating surburban solidarity. They're only making their own situation worse, but I really doubt that the hooligans who are busy torching cars and committing acts of violence really care.
"People are joining together to say we've had enough," he said. He refused to give his surname because talking to reporters was poorly regarded in his neighborhood.
"We live in ghettos," he added. "Everyone lives in fear."
Many immigrant families are trapped in housing projects that were built to accommodate foreign laborers welcomed by post-World War II France but have since succumbed to despair, chronic unemployment and lawlessness. In some neighborhoods, drug dealers and racketeers hold sway and experts say Islamic radicals seek to recruit disenchanted youths by telling them that France has abandoned them.
"French society is in a bad state ... increasingly unequal, increasingly segregated, and increasingly divided along ethnic and racial lines," said sociologist Manuel Boucher. Some youths turn to Islam to claim an identity that is not French, "to seize on something which gives them back their individual and collective dignity."Are the Democrats in Congress paying attention - all the decades of social welfare programs that were supposed to help in France didn't work, and they're even more socialist than the Democrats in this country are. The French have instituted far more draconian work rules to try and improve matters, but have only succeeded in making things worse.
French governments have injected funds and job-creation schemes for years but failed to cure ills in suburbs where car-burnings and other crimes are daily facts of life.
"No matter what the politicians say, some neighborhoods are all but lost," said Patrice Ribeiro, national secretary of the Synergie police officers' union. "Police patrols pass through but without stopping and with their windows rolled up."
So, we're supposed to believe that some neighborhoods are lost permanently? I don't think so. Someone has to impose law and order there, or the problems will only spread. Mark my words.
Someone Get A Plumber: Leak Alert
How does the Washington Post know about supposedly covert double secret CIA prisons that are operating offshore. They're even nice enough to provide satellite imagery of a facility in Afghanistan that they claim is one such facility.
Wasn't it just a short while back that someone revealed the secret CIA air force that transported terrorists and other persons of interest around the globe. They even revealed the front companies that the CIA was supposedly using?
Those are all leaks of national security, and possible violations of any number of federal laws. Criminal prosecutions should attach to one and all. Yet, the media is tolerating the leaks and not asking tough questions of where and how they came by this information.
Curious.
Instapundit notices as well.
Wasn't it just a short while back that someone revealed the secret CIA air force that transported terrorists and other persons of interest around the globe. They even revealed the front companies that the CIA was supposedly using?
Those are all leaks of national security, and possible violations of any number of federal laws. Criminal prosecutions should attach to one and all. Yet, the media is tolerating the leaks and not asking tough questions of where and how they came by this information.
Curious.
Instapundit notices as well.
Further Evidence The Democrats Are Losing War of Words
When you see the Democrats use Rule 21 to convene a 'secret session' to discuss pre-Iraq war intelligence, and watch Democratic leaders scurry about claiming righteous indignation over the way intel was handled, you know one thing.
Sam Alito's nomination is going to sail through the process without any filibusters and will be confirmed along the same margin that John Roberts was confirmed.
Why do I say this? Simple. Just look at what the Democrats had to do in order to change the topic of discussion in Washington yesterday. Less than 24 hours earlier, Alito was nominated and got rousing support from the GOP and even begrudging respect from some Democrats. So, Senate Democrats needed to do something to change the topic of discussion to something that they thought might score a few political points and take the focus away from the Administration's strong choice. And that worked for all of one 24-hour news cycle, if that.
However, pulling parlimentary parlour tricks doesn't solve the Democrats problems. It exposes them for everyone to see.
UPDATE:
Ace busts out the Animal House quotes. And it's totally fitting for what the Democrats have accomplished. John Cole of Balloon Juice thinks that this is a preview of the filibuster fight over Alito. I'm not quite sure I see it that way. In fact, I think the bait and switch topic change, coupled with the various statements coming from the Gang of 14, suggests that Alito will be confirmed in the same manner and decorum as was Roberts.
Sam Alito's nomination is going to sail through the process without any filibusters and will be confirmed along the same margin that John Roberts was confirmed.
Why do I say this? Simple. Just look at what the Democrats had to do in order to change the topic of discussion in Washington yesterday. Less than 24 hours earlier, Alito was nominated and got rousing support from the GOP and even begrudging respect from some Democrats. So, Senate Democrats needed to do something to change the topic of discussion to something that they thought might score a few political points and take the focus away from the Administration's strong choice. And that worked for all of one 24-hour news cycle, if that.
However, pulling parlimentary parlour tricks doesn't solve the Democrats problems. It exposes them for everyone to see.
UPDATE:
Ace busts out the Animal House quotes. And it's totally fitting for what the Democrats have accomplished. John Cole of Balloon Juice thinks that this is a preview of the filibuster fight over Alito. I'm not quite sure I see it that way. In fact, I think the bait and switch topic change, coupled with the various statements coming from the Gang of 14, suggests that Alito will be confirmed in the same manner and decorum as was Roberts.
French Rioting Spreads
After six days of rioting in the Parisian surburbs, the violence is spreading outwards. It's not pretty, and the French government had better take strong action to stop it. I fear that they not only don't have the stomach to do what must be done, but that they're cowed by a largely young Muslim population that refuses to integrate with the rest of society, and whose leaders call for jihad and violence against non-Muslims.
The hooligans and people involved in spreading the violence are Muslim immigrants from Africa. The latest violence is being conducted under the pretext of two teenagers being electrocuted at a power substation, but the violence has been ongoing as I indicated above.
Tim Blair is keeping a scorecard. Meanwhile, the New York Times online is disinclined to cover this huge story. You'd think rioting on the scale we're seeing would be front page news of the 'paper of record,' but you'd be wrong. This is Day Six of widespread violence and the story merits only a below the fold mention in the International section. I guess rioting by Muslim youths that would roll Watts, South Central, Detroit, and Newark into one doesn't garner the attention that political parlour tricks in the Senate does. In the grand scheme of things, I fear the rioting will have the most significant consequences, not only for France, but all of Europe and the world at large.
UPDATE:
Too Late. Rioting has been underway in Denmark for the past several days. Don't say that you haven't been warned. Actually, you can say that you weren't warned because the mainstream media has been oblivious to this situation and refuses to call out those who are perpetrating the violence - Muslim teens and young men. Via: Viking Observer.
UPDATE:
Jay Tea at Wizbang notices how you have to dig through the media to find any mention of the Paris (and now Denmark) rioting, which has been going on for days. Curious that the media is silent on the matter.
UPDATE:
Cross posted at: Don Surber, Stop the ACLU, Basil's Blog, and GM's Corner. And The Political Teen.
"The law must be applied firmly and in a spirit of dialogue and respect," Chirac told a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. "The absence of dialogue and an escalation of a lack of respect will lead to a dangerous situation."And, as I noted last night, this violence had been simmering in the Parisian surburbs since the beginning of the year if the Interior Minister Sarkozy is to be believed. 9000 police cars stoned, and 20-40 cars torched nightly. I don't think the French government has a clue as to what is really going on, and the media isn't exactly spelling it out either.
"Zones without law cannot exist in the republic," Chirac said. His remarks were passed on to reporters by government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope.
The spokesman said Chirac acknowledged the "profound frustrations" of troubled neighborhoods but said violence was not the answer and that efforts must be stepped up to combat it, The Associated Press reported.
The unrest, triggered last week by the deaths of two teenagers, spread Tuesday night to at least nine towns in the suburbs north and northeast of Paris as police clashed with angry youths and dozens of vehicles were set on fire.
One of the worst-hit suburbs was Aulnay-sous-Bois, where 15 cars were torched and police in riot gear fired tear gas and rubber bullets at gangs of angry youths who threw stones at a firehouse and lobbed Molotov cocktails at a town hall annex, AP reported.
The hooligans and people involved in spreading the violence are Muslim immigrants from Africa. The latest violence is being conducted under the pretext of two teenagers being electrocuted at a power substation, but the violence has been ongoing as I indicated above.
Tim Blair is keeping a scorecard. Meanwhile, the New York Times online is disinclined to cover this huge story. You'd think rioting on the scale we're seeing would be front page news of the 'paper of record,' but you'd be wrong. This is Day Six of widespread violence and the story merits only a below the fold mention in the International section. I guess rioting by Muslim youths that would roll Watts, South Central, Detroit, and Newark into one doesn't garner the attention that political parlour tricks in the Senate does. In the grand scheme of things, I fear the rioting will have the most significant consequences, not only for France, but all of Europe and the world at large.
UPDATE:
Too Late. Rioting has been underway in Denmark for the past several days. Don't say that you haven't been warned. Actually, you can say that you weren't warned because the mainstream media has been oblivious to this situation and refuses to call out those who are perpetrating the violence - Muslim teens and young men. Via: Viking Observer.
UPDATE:
Jay Tea at Wizbang notices how you have to dig through the media to find any mention of the Paris (and now Denmark) rioting, which has been going on for days. Curious that the media is silent on the matter.
UPDATE:
Cross posted at: Don Surber, Stop the ACLU, Basil's Blog, and GM's Corner. And The Political Teen.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Sacre Bleu! Muslim Teens Riot In Paris For Sixth Day
Unrest spread across troubled suburbs around Paris in a sixth night of violence Tuesday as police clashed with angry youths and scores of vehicles were torched in at least nine towns, local officials said.Hooliganism has been a common occurrence in the Muslim neighborhoods, and the French police have been reluctant to crack down on the grafitti and so far 13 have been arrested on this day alone. Small Dead Animals notes that the rioting is being portrayed as a class struggle that happens to be occurring in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood.
Police in riot gear fired rubber bullets at advancing gangs of youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois - one of the worst-hit suburbs - where 15 cars were burned, said the prefecture that runs the Seine-Saint-Denis region. Youths lobbed Molotov cocktails at an annex to the town hall and threw stones at the firehouse. It was not immediately clear whether there were injuries from the clashes.
Four people were arrested for throwing stones at police in nearby Bondy where 14 cars were burned, the prefecture said. A fire engulfed a carpet store, but it was not immediately clear whether the blaze was linked to the suburban unrest.
Officials gave an initial count of 69 vehicles torched in nine suburbs across the Seine-Saint-Denis region that arcs Paris on the north and northeast.
The rioting started six days ago as a 15 and 17 year-old were electrocuted hiding out in an electrical substation. It's disputed as to whether police were chasing them or not. The police contend that they were not chasing these kids.
LGF links to photos of the rioting. And the International Herald Tribune claims that rioting, arson, and vandalism in Paris is a routine occurence. In fact, the torching of cars is so routine, that on an average night between 20 and 40 cars are torched. According to the French Interior Minister:
Sarkozy says that violence in French suburbs is a daily fact of life.I find those figures to be astounding and would like to get some independent confirmation on that - it seems rather high - like taking Watts, South Central LA, and Detroit on their worst days and combining them into a year long riot. That surely shouldn't go unnoticed by the world press, but apparently it's only been in the last six days that the media has become interested. Curious.
Since the start of the year, 9,000 police cars have been stoned and, each night, 20 to 40 cars are torched, Sarkozy said in an interview last week with the newspaper Le Monde.
DeLay Delays the Reckoning
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) has gotten the judge to recuse himself from the trial into whether DeLay broke financing laws and violated Texas campaign finance laws.
UPDATE:
Others taking note/cross posting of the DeLay judge swap: Don Surber, Stop the ACLU, NIF, Conservative Outpost, Blogging of the President, and THM Bacon Bits.
In a courtroom victory for Rep. Tom Delay, the judge in the campaign-finance case against the former House Republican leader was removed Tuesday because of his donations to Democratic candidates and causes.The next step will be addressing the substantive claims in the indictment of DeLay proffered by District Attorney Ronnie Earle. By no means does this mean that he's out of the woods, but DeLay now has a better shot at an impartial hearing.
A semi-retired judge who was called in to hear the dispute, C.W. Bud Duncan, ruled in Delay's favor without comment. Duncan ordered the appointment of a new judge to preside over the case.
The ruling came after a hearing in which Delay's attorneys argued that state District Judge Bob Perkins' political donations created the appearance of bias. Perkins, a Democrat, has contributed to candidates such as John Kerry and the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org.
"The public perception of Judge Perkins' activities shows him to be on opposite sides of the political fence than Tom DeLay," defense attorney Dick DeGuerin argued.
UPDATE:
Others taking note/cross posting of the DeLay judge swap: Don Surber, Stop the ACLU, NIF, Conservative Outpost, Blogging of the President, and THM Bacon Bits.
The Syrian Kabuki Dance
The United Nations has finally acted on Syria. A Security Council resolution was passed that demands that Syria comply.
Monsters and Critics analyzes the Syrian response to the UN Security Council decision:
Monsters and Critics analyzes the Syrian response to the UN Security Council decision:
In a ministerial-level meeting the panel called for Syria to cooperate fully and unconditionally with the commission in its continuing investigation, insisted it not interfere in Lebanese affairs and decided all individuals suspected by the commission or the government of Lebanon of involvement in the slaying be subject to travel restrictions and freezing of assets.Let's see just how tough the UN is, and whether they'll actually hold Syria's feet to the fire. After all, this is the UN we're talking about.
It also endorsed the commission`s conclusion that Syrian authorities must clarify a number of questions which remained unresolved and detain Syrian officials or individuals the commission considers suspects.
The commission is to report back Dec. 15, or earlier, on the investigation`s progress and Syria`s cooperation.
Speaking after the vote, the sponsors of the resolution -- Britain, France and the United States -- emphasized the importance of bringing to justice those responsible for what was called a 'heinous act.'
It was for Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara to respond.
He said the resolution repeated nearly verbatim accusations leveled in the commission`s report, delivered earlier in October. But al-Shara said the measure neglected to carry a presumption of innocence and it hampered the search for the true perpetrator.
Is It Friday Yet?
The Senate Democrats pull out Rule 21 out of their bag of tricks to try and get the attention focused back on the War in Iraq and Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame, and the Libby indictment.
Good for them. They've managed to turn themselves into a sideshow.
They have to resort to tricks and procedural actions instead of principled debate because they've lost on the principles and many of their own members had been for the war, before they were against it. Or was it that they were against the war before they were for it. One can never quite tell.
It all depends on the facts on the ground - and those facts are mostly positive despite the repeated noise from the media about the casualties that we've sustained since starting combat in 2003.
And Patrick Fitzgerald has already stated that the Libby indictment has nothing to do with the war, or even the outing of Plame, but rather what Libby said and did during and after he was called to the Grand Jury to testify. His inconsistencies became his downfall, not because he actually leaked any classified information. As Byron York notes:
And would it be wrong for me to point out that the Senate Democrats are pandering to the Far Left wing of the Democratic party. You know, the moonbats, leftists, and communists. Actually, I will point that out since the major media outlets wont.
This is one of the few ways that the Senate Democrats can rally the base these days. They know they don't have the votes on Alito to filibuster and they can't stop the process, they can't get the indictments they want on Plame, and they don't have an actual platform on which to run in 2006. So they're rehashing the anger at Bush '04, and it simply wont work.
Michelle Malkin has more.
UPDATE:
So does Ankle Biting Pundits and Polipundit.
UPDATE:
Powerline wonders just what this stunt has accomplished for Democrats. I concur. I don't think it's done much of anything. Meanwhile, Dave at Garfield Ridge wonders when we'll start hearing leaked information from the closed sessions.
UPDATE:
AJ Strata calls this Civil War in the Senate. I think that's a bit overblown. I think it's parlimentary parlour trickery, and not much else. Macsmind calls this a hissy fit by the left. It's hard to disagree with that.
UPDATE 11/2:
Continuing the hissy fit trend, Confederate Yankee triple dog dares the Democrats to go as far as they think they can. He figures that most Americans will recoil as the Democrats expose themselves to be nothing more than obstructionists. I'm not quite sure that most Americans are even paying attention to what the Democrats are doing these days. This is a red-meat issue. Partisan political creatures are lapping this stuff up but mom and pop in Podunk, Iowa aren't engaged in these issues. They see that the Democrats have tried to shift the debate from the Alito nomination to pre-war intel, which has already been rehashed over and over in their eyes. They wonder why the Democrats have switched away from Alito, and they can only wonder whether the Democrats have already caved in because they're not attacking Alito, but going to other, potentially more fertile political ground.
Good for them. They've managed to turn themselves into a sideshow.
They have to resort to tricks and procedural actions instead of principled debate because they've lost on the principles and many of their own members had been for the war, before they were against it. Or was it that they were against the war before they were for it. One can never quite tell.
It all depends on the facts on the ground - and those facts are mostly positive despite the repeated noise from the media about the casualties that we've sustained since starting combat in 2003.
And Patrick Fitzgerald has already stated that the Libby indictment has nothing to do with the war, or even the outing of Plame, but rather what Libby said and did during and after he was called to the Grand Jury to testify. His inconsistencies became his downfall, not because he actually leaked any classified information. As Byron York notes:
Perhaps the best explanation for the Democrats' decision to virtually shut down the Senate today can be found in one passage from CIA leak prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's news conference last Friday:That, in a nutshell is why the Senate Democrats are behaving badly.
This indictment is not about the war. This indictment's not about the propriety of the war. And people who believe fervently in the war effort, people who oppose it, people who have mixed feelings about it should not look to this indictment for any resolution of how they feel or any vindication of how they feel....The indictment will not seek to prove that the war was justified or unjustified. This is stripped of that debate, and this is focused on a narrow transaction. And I think anyone who's concerned about the war and has feelings for or against shouldn't look to this criminal process for any answers or resolution of that.
Fitzgerald's statement, and his decision to confine the indictment of Lewis Libby to charges of lying and obstruction, threatened to dash the Democrats' hope of using the CIA leak case as an opportunity to re-debate the reasons for going to war in Iraq. So the party, or at least its leaders in the Senate, has decided to use another route, the shutdown of the Senate, as a way to achieve that goal.
And would it be wrong for me to point out that the Senate Democrats are pandering to the Far Left wing of the Democratic party. You know, the moonbats, leftists, and communists. Actually, I will point that out since the major media outlets wont.
This is one of the few ways that the Senate Democrats can rally the base these days. They know they don't have the votes on Alito to filibuster and they can't stop the process, they can't get the indictments they want on Plame, and they don't have an actual platform on which to run in 2006. So they're rehashing the anger at Bush '04, and it simply wont work.
Michelle Malkin has more.
UPDATE:
So does Ankle Biting Pundits and Polipundit.
UPDATE:
Powerline wonders just what this stunt has accomplished for Democrats. I concur. I don't think it's done much of anything. Meanwhile, Dave at Garfield Ridge wonders when we'll start hearing leaked information from the closed sessions.
UPDATE:
AJ Strata calls this Civil War in the Senate. I think that's a bit overblown. I think it's parlimentary parlour trickery, and not much else. Macsmind calls this a hissy fit by the left. It's hard to disagree with that.
UPDATE 11/2:
Continuing the hissy fit trend, Confederate Yankee triple dog dares the Democrats to go as far as they think they can. He figures that most Americans will recoil as the Democrats expose themselves to be nothing more than obstructionists. I'm not quite sure that most Americans are even paying attention to what the Democrats are doing these days. This is a red-meat issue. Partisan political creatures are lapping this stuff up but mom and pop in Podunk, Iowa aren't engaged in these issues. They see that the Democrats have tried to shift the debate from the Alito nomination to pre-war intel, which has already been rehashed over and over in their eyes. They wonder why the Democrats have switched away from Alito, and they can only wonder whether the Democrats have already caved in because they're not attacking Alito, but going to other, potentially more fertile political ground.
Red Cross to Accept Magen David
Hat Tip: Legalbgl
The International Red Cross has agreed to accept Magen David Adom as a member after a long-standing policy of shunting Israel's ambulance and rescue service, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.For a supposed neutral organization, it was quite a partisan step to prohibit the Israeli organization. One could even say that it was anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. And you'd be right. The organization has finally come around to recognizing all the hard work and dedication that Magen David Adom puts into helping those in times of need. It's too bad that it wasn't done much sooner.
Shalom met with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey Monday morning and later said a conference in Geneva would be asked to ratify the admission of Israel's Magen David Adom ("Red Star of David") into the International Red Cross. The new standing will allow Magen David to receive financial assistance from the international organization.
The Red Cross explained its long-standing refusal in that it could not recognize the Star of David, part of Magen David's logo. The international rescue body adopted the red cross, an inversion of Switzerland's flag, as its official symbol in the 19th century at the Geneva Convention. It prohibited using other symbols after its 1929 acceptance of the red crescent used by Arab Red Crescent ambulance services.
Then... and Now
Macsmind has uncovered some curious comments by one Joseph Wilson, who happened to be the Ambassador sent to Niger to check on whether Iraq has sought to procure nuclear materials (specifically yellowcake - a form of uranium that can be converted into weapons' grade material). Wilson said the following way back in April 3, 2002, before the Kristof article:
Take the Alito nomination. Sam Alito was confirmed to the Third Circuit in 1990 by the Senate, some of whose members are still around and yapping away. They include Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.):
Here's what they're saying now. The Star Ledger notes that Sen. Lautenberg and Sen. Kennedy doesn't have the welcome mat out this time:
Then, there's Ted Kennedy:
And sadly for Democrats, they will lose this battle too, if they even engage in it because most Americans don't follow the far Left agenda and they'll see a well-qualified and well-respected jurist being smeared for no good reason. In fact, we're already seeing the DNC become unhinged.
"Boston, Mass.: Mr. WilsonSo, we're now engaging in fighting this particular war on the margins by Wilson's own accounting. Of course, he's talking a much different tune these days. But then again, so are a bunch of other people.
Thank you for taking our questions. What happens if we do not find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
Joseph C. Wilson: Whether we find them or not is now immaterial. The liberation is now the rationale. If we don't find them, discussion about them will cease and we will focus on the other reasons the administration has articulated. If we do find them, world public opinion will only change on the margins."
Take the Alito nomination. Sam Alito was confirmed to the Third Circuit in 1990 by the Senate, some of whose members are still around and yapping away. They include Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.):
SEN. TED KENNEDY (D-MA): "You Have Obviously Had A Very Distinguished Record, And I Certainly Commend You For Long Service In The Public Interest. I Think It Is A Very Commendable Career And I Am Sure You Will Have A Successful One As A Judge." (Sen. Ted Kennedy, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 4/5/90)
SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D-NJ): "I Believe Mr. Alito Has The Experience And The Skills To Be The Kind Of Judge The Public Deserves – One Who Is Impartial, Thoughtful, And Fair. I Urge The Senate To Confirm His Nomination." (Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Congressional Record, 4/27/90, p. S5281)
Here's what they're saying now. The Star Ledger notes that Sen. Lautenberg and Sen. Kennedy doesn't have the welcome mat out this time:
"Fifteen years ago, I supported Samuel Alito to be a judge based on his record as the United States attorney for New Jersey," Lautenberg said. "But his tenure on the appeals court has been marked by troubling decisions."I would hope that his record is closely scrutinized. However, I think that this is simply posturing because Alito's record on the bench is pretty impressive. There's over 300 cases to review, and he's rarely been overturned. That's the hallmark of someone who follows the law closely and doesn't impose his views on the law. You know - it's about following precedent and the law. I'd also like to see Lautenberg name a single case that he finds troubling. No doubt that he'll probably point to Planned Parenthood v. Casey, but I also figure that Lautenberg will screw up the analysis on the case and get a lesson much as Roberts' did in the earlier confirmation hearings.
"Judge Alito has demonstrated a hostility to fundamental civil rights, and his record on the bench must be closely scrutinized by the Senate," he said.
Then, there's Ted Kennedy:
Kennedy, too, has changed his tune: "Rather than selecting a nominee for the good of the nation and the court, President Bush has picked a nominee whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing."Anyone who isn't in the far left of the Democratic party is considered the far right. There's nothing in Alito's record revealed thus far that would indicate anything other than a consistent administration of the law. Again, we're seeing the blovations of the Democratic Party who knows that they have to pick this fight because their own base of rabid lefties would throw a hissy fit if they don't fight over a nomination - any nomination at this point.
"The far right has now forced the president to choose a nominee that they think has views as extreme as their own," Kennedy added.
And sadly for Democrats, they will lose this battle too, if they even engage in it because most Americans don't follow the far Left agenda and they'll see a well-qualified and well-respected jurist being smeared for no good reason. In fact, we're already seeing the DNC become unhinged.
The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 62
Mayor Bloomberg needs to cease and desist in his sniping at Larry Silverstein. His sudden interest in Lower Manhattan isn't only worrisome, but is threatening whatever construction that may occur in the future of Ground Zero.
UPDATE:
Cross posted to Don Surber.
UPDATE 11/2:
Multiple politicians are coming to Silverstein's defense. Both Sen. Schumer and Sen. Clinton have voiced their support for Silverstein's plans to rebuild 10 million square feet of office space at Ground Zero.
UPDATE 11/2:
The NY Post editorial board wonders why Bloomberg finally gets around to talking about Ground Zero with less than 2 weeks to the election, and does so in a way that would bring to a standstill whatever work has gone towards rebuilding thus far. Explanations are needed, but I have some ideas. The Ground Zero office space would impede the building of the Atlantic Yards project that would bring the NBA Nets to Brooklyn, along with thousands of units of housing and office space. Forest City Ratner is behind that project, and they don't much appreciate competition for their existing and planned office projects. That's one angle.
Another angle is that Bloomberg figures that since Ferrer has talked the talk about the housing crunch, and that's why he's injecting the building of housing at Ground Zero as an issue. Expect this issue to be dropped hours after Bloomberg wins the election by 30%.
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.
Mayor Bloomberg is putting muscle behind his recent explosive remark that he'd like to boot developer Larry Silverstein from Ground Zero.Sorry, but the Liberty Bonds were designed to rebuild Ground Zero first and foremost. If there is any need greater than the rebuilding of Ground Zero, I'd like to hear it from the Mayor or anyone else. Bloomberg is yanking Silverstein's chain around for no reason other than because he can.
Bloomberg has balked over the $3.5 billion in low-interest Liberty Bonds that Silverstein says he needs from the city and state to redevelop the World Trade Center site, sources tell The Post — potentially threatening his ability to finance construction of all five planned office towers.
Bloomberg has not said no to giving any bonds to Silverstein, but wants "flexibility" to use some of them for unspecified projects beyond Ground Zero, according to downtown players familiar with the machinations.
That's trouble because, one rebuilding official said, "Silverstein is making clear he needs inducement for the entire project — all $3.5 billion in bonds — to show the people financing him that there's a viable financial plan."
But about two weeks ago, with the two sides closing in on a deal, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff stunned state officials by telling them the city might want to use some of the bonds elsewhere.If he's trying to negotiate in the best interest of the city, then he should let Silverstein get on with the rebuilding instead of inserting new conditions and threats.
"It came out of nowhere," a real-estate executive familiar with the situation said.
A different source said: "This is Bloomberg's power play to put the squeeze on Silverstein over towers 3 and 4" — office buildings with stores planned on Church Street just south of the new PATH terminal.
Last month, Port Authority and state officials said they want to kick-start retail development on their lower floors, even though Silverstein opposes having big shopping atriums under his towers.
The city's ploy on the bonds throws a monkey wrench into an already fraught negotiation with the leaseholder.
At a meeting with The Post's editorial board last week, Bloomberg, asked if there was a disagreement between state and city over the bonds, said only, "You can't negotiate publicly. I'm trying to strike the best deal for the city."
UPDATE:
Cross posted to Don Surber.
UPDATE 11/2:
Multiple politicians are coming to Silverstein's defense. Both Sen. Schumer and Sen. Clinton have voiced their support for Silverstein's plans to rebuild 10 million square feet of office space at Ground Zero.
UPDATE 11/2:
The NY Post editorial board wonders why Bloomberg finally gets around to talking about Ground Zero with less than 2 weeks to the election, and does so in a way that would bring to a standstill whatever work has gone towards rebuilding thus far. Explanations are needed, but I have some ideas. The Ground Zero office space would impede the building of the Atlantic Yards project that would bring the NBA Nets to Brooklyn, along with thousands of units of housing and office space. Forest City Ratner is behind that project, and they don't much appreciate competition for their existing and planned office projects. That's one angle.
Another angle is that Bloomberg figures that since Ferrer has talked the talk about the housing crunch, and that's why he's injecting the building of housing at Ground Zero as an issue. Expect this issue to be dropped hours after Bloomberg wins the election by 30%.
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.
Monday, October 31, 2005
No Kidding
A very poignant cartoon that shows just how skewed the media coverage in Iraq is. Most of the reporting in Iraq comes from Baghdad, and very few American journalists are actually reporting from anywhere else in the country. That's not to say we don't have bloggers and independent journalists doing the job - Michael Yon - for example, but Yon is the exception, not the rule.
The media is farming out their work to locals, some of whom have their own agenda, which is anti-American at its core. And the journalists aren't exactly pro-Administration either, so they'll overlook the anti-American bias that their stringers bring back.
The media is farming out their work to locals, some of whom have their own agenda, which is anti-American at its core. And the journalists aren't exactly pro-Administration either, so they'll overlook the anti-American bias that their stringers bring back.
Harriet Who?
And like that, the Bush Administration got its mojo back.
The President nominated Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who's a well regarded Appellate Court judge from theSixth Third Circuit. He's well known in conservative circles and has a record to pore over (and I hope everyone on both sides have done their due diligence on this one). And the New York Times literally sneers with its inclusion of Conservative judge Alito. Well, this morning all is right in Washington, DC, as everyone appears to have returned to the fold.
While the morning shows were casting him as Scalia lite or Scalito, I think many of those same talk show hosts didn't particularly mind Scalia's position on Kelo v. New London, which protected individual property rights.
For others covering this story, check out The Volokh Conspiracy, Instapundit, Bench Memos, and Michelle Malkin for regular updates.
UPDATE:
A kind reader pointed out a very blatant mistake. Alito was a 3d Circuit judge, not 6th. Apologies.
UPDATE:
Don Surber thinks that Miers saved the Bush Presidency. I'm not sure that is the case. The nomination, and following withdrawal, certainly animated the base, but sometimes an in-house fight is good for clarifying the mind and preparing for the real battles to come. If you think about this, the Miers decision didn't cost the President much in the way of political capital since his base will rally around this nominee in a way that they didn't with Miers. Those that supported the President out of political allegience will do so again.
The Democrats? They'll oppose Alito because they have to. And even there, not all of them will be able to because they're Democratic Senators representing red-states. And voting the wrong way or obstructing the process will make life difficult down the road for their reelections in 2006.
Also noting the nomination: Confirm Them, and Wizbang, Powerline, and Captain Ed predicts confirmation and has more on Alito's background.
UPDATE:
AJ Strata is tepid on the Alito nomination, and more particularly on those former sources of information that basically torpedoed the Miers nomination:
Getting a handle on the Miers' nomination was limited because she didn't have a record that one could peruse. Alito has a body of casework that sheds light on his judicial philosophy that one can read at their leisure. That's significant and telling. It's one thing to read about how a nominee thinks a case on commerce clause or abortion rights should be decided, but it's quite another to actually read a decision penned by a nominee. And that's what we've been presented with Alito. We'll be able to form our own opinion without needing outside sources to distill this nomination.
UPDATE:
PointFive has the latest newspaper clippings on the Alito nomination. Curious job listings abound in the Philly area. (satire alert)
UPDATE:
Baldilocks pulls up some quotes from across the spectrum, as does Wizbang.
UPDATE:
Don Surber is happy, though he and the Political Teen would have liked Janice Rogers Brown instead.
Posted to the Open Post at Mudville Gazette.
UPDATE:
Confederate Yankee thinks that
The President nominated Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who's a well regarded Appellate Court judge from the
While the morning shows were casting him as Scalia lite or Scalito, I think many of those same talk show hosts didn't particularly mind Scalia's position on Kelo v. New London, which protected individual property rights.
For others covering this story, check out The Volokh Conspiracy, Instapundit, Bench Memos, and Michelle Malkin for regular updates.
UPDATE:
A kind reader pointed out a very blatant mistake. Alito was a 3d Circuit judge, not 6th. Apologies.
UPDATE:
Don Surber thinks that Miers saved the Bush Presidency. I'm not sure that is the case. The nomination, and following withdrawal, certainly animated the base, but sometimes an in-house fight is good for clarifying the mind and preparing for the real battles to come. If you think about this, the Miers decision didn't cost the President much in the way of political capital since his base will rally around this nominee in a way that they didn't with Miers. Those that supported the President out of political allegience will do so again.
The Democrats? They'll oppose Alito because they have to. And even there, not all of them will be able to because they're Democratic Senators representing red-states. And voting the wrong way or obstructing the process will make life difficult down the road for their reelections in 2006.
Also noting the nomination: Confirm Them, and Wizbang, Powerline, and Captain Ed predicts confirmation and has more on Alito's background.
UPDATE:
AJ Strata is tepid on the Alito nomination, and more particularly on those former sources of information that basically torpedoed the Miers nomination:
... I now have little to no trust in the sites where I used to get information on nominees (Redstate, NRO’s Bench Memos, Confirm Them) I have no choice to basically sit this out until the hearings.I agree that going with a limited sample of sites (from any ideological standpoint) to form and base an opinion on a particular nominee isn't a good idea, but Miers ran into trouble of her own making when her written response to the Committee's questionaire presented serious errors that can't be ascribed to grammar or typos (not getting the basic constitutional law concepts straight). And the coverage that suggested that her look-sees with various Senators went so poorly that the White House stopped them before it could do even more damage were signs that Miers was in trouble.
I will not base my opinion on information provided by people who jump to conclusions from a fear of the unknown. I do not care what their political leanings are. I will not use information from those who feel demeaning someone personally is a form of political debate. I prefer more reliable and reasoned sources.
Getting a handle on the Miers' nomination was limited because she didn't have a record that one could peruse. Alito has a body of casework that sheds light on his judicial philosophy that one can read at their leisure. That's significant and telling. It's one thing to read about how a nominee thinks a case on commerce clause or abortion rights should be decided, but it's quite another to actually read a decision penned by a nominee. And that's what we've been presented with Alito. We'll be able to form our own opinion without needing outside sources to distill this nomination.
UPDATE:
PointFive has the latest newspaper clippings on the Alito nomination. Curious job listings abound in the Philly area. (satire alert)
UPDATE:
Baldilocks pulls up some quotes from across the spectrum, as does Wizbang.
UPDATE:
Don Surber is happy, though he and the Political Teen would have liked Janice Rogers Brown instead.
Posted to the Open Post at Mudville Gazette.
UPDATE:
Confederate Yankee thinks that
Liberals will shriek themselves into irrelevancy, the "Gang of 14" will fold, Alito will be easily confirmed, and both sides will squirrel away cash and rhetoric for the '06 and '08 campaigns.On that last point, you can be assured.
Asinine
The Port Authority of New York/New Jersey loses a trial on the 1993 WTC bombing because the agency acted negligently in preventing terrorists from attacking the garage at the World Trade Center. Although the Port Authority is appealing, the case could cost the agency nearly $2 billion in damages payouts. The jury found the PANY 68% liable for the attacks, leaving the terrorists responsible for 32%.
Now, this week a case brought by the NYCLU against the MTA and New York City is contesting the random bag search on NYC subways and buses is commencing in New York. The case is being heard in New York Federal District Court.
In 1993, most folks simply didn't recognize the threats posed by Islamic terrorists, despite the decades of terrorist attacks. After 1993, the PANY changed its security procedures at the WTC and made significant improvements to the WTC, changes that may have saved many lives on 9/11. Now, we're being told by the NYCLU to give up a tactic that could deter terrorists from attacking the subway system despite their previously stated intentions to do so. This, after Islamic terrorists have previously struck at subways in Spain and London.
Will common sense win out in this case?
I hope so.
Now, this week a case brought by the NYCLU against the MTA and New York City is contesting the random bag search on NYC subways and buses is commencing in New York. The case is being heard in New York Federal District Court.
It says the search program in the 468 subway stations serving 26 train lines ``has no meaningful value in preventing the entry of explosive devices into the system by the terrorists the N-Y-P-D is attempting to thwart.''Is it me or does anyone notice that the NYCLU is advocating that New York City essentially ignore any warnings and drop a tactic that could be useful in deterring terrorist activities? Or, to put it bluntly, the NYCLU is advocating that the City take the position of the Port Authority before the 1993 terrorist attacks, which is to say, do nothing, and then be on the hook for billions should an attack occur. And this is knowing full well that such an attack that would be carried out by a group of terrorists who are dedicated to the task of mass murder at all costs and to do so with the maximum shock value.
The city maintains that the mere presence of a random search program, regardless of how it is administered, is a valuable tool to thwart terrorists who prefer to target vulnerable areas with a low police presence for attacks.
City lawyers have noted that an al-Qaida training manual advising terrorists to avoid police checkpoints gives the city some justification for its random searches of bags entering the subway system.
Michael Cardozo of the city's law office says he's confident when the judge hears the evidence, he will find that the bag searches are perfectly constitutional and designed to protect the safety of all New Yorkers and visitors.
In 1993, most folks simply didn't recognize the threats posed by Islamic terrorists, despite the decades of terrorist attacks. After 1993, the PANY changed its security procedures at the WTC and made significant improvements to the WTC, changes that may have saved many lives on 9/11. Now, we're being told by the NYCLU to give up a tactic that could deter terrorists from attacking the subway system despite their previously stated intentions to do so. This, after Islamic terrorists have previously struck at subways in Spain and London.
Will common sense win out in this case?
I hope so.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
This Passes For Competency?
Louisiana is spending time and effort on trying to keep a football team from jumping to another city. Where are the priorities. You've got thousands of people who don't even have a place to live on a permanent basis, and the politicians are thinking that they can cure their woes with keeping the Saints in New Orleans. I'm sure that the thousands of New Orleans residents who are having trouble finding a place to stay are enjoying the effort in trying to keep a professional football team with an owner who has deep pockets in the city.
Heck, you've got local RV businesses wondering why they were never contacted to supply campers and trailers to people who were displaced. Good question. Maybe if the local politicians did their job, FEMA would have known that you were able to supply the campers and do so at a favorable price to everyone involved. And the demand is outstripping supply.
In a nod to common sense, buildings that were raised off the ground fared better than those that rested on slabs. If you're going to rebuild, mandate that all new construction include raised construction for the first floor. It will save time and money should the city be flooded again.
And considering that one should not reserve 100% trust in the levee systems to protect against the worst that nature doles out, the additional initial cost of building a structure off the ground is well worth the piece of mind.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
Heck, you've got local RV businesses wondering why they were never contacted to supply campers and trailers to people who were displaced. Good question. Maybe if the local politicians did their job, FEMA would have known that you were able to supply the campers and do so at a favorable price to everyone involved. And the demand is outstripping supply.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco's staff remains miffed that FEMA has failed to expedite the process or focus its buying power in-state. Residents bemoan the slow pace of getting city services back on line, a problem partly linked to lack of housing for workers. And all sides seem exasperated with FEMA. As the matter drags on, washed out citizens remain in limbo.According to the article, the industry can produce about 144,000 trailers, but only 60% meet the FEMA specifications, which require 30-foot trailers with a "bunkhouse construction" that will sleep several people, along with amenities such as a bathroom, shower and kitchen. It might be a good idea to relax the specifications, in order to ease the housing crunch.
In a nod to common sense, buildings that were raised off the ground fared better than those that rested on slabs. If you're going to rebuild, mandate that all new construction include raised construction for the first floor. It will save time and money should the city be flooded again.
Throughout the city, homeowners who never paid attention to such considerations are discovering something their grandparents took for granted: Raised houses are one of the oldest and best ways to protect against water in a flood-prone city.It makes you wonder how and why city officials ever permitted buildings to be built straight onto slabs, when they knew of the flood hazards. If the evidence was everywhere, as the article claims, then everyone should have known that owning a house that rested directly on a slab was a ticking timebomb that needed only a bad storm to make the nightmare occur.
The evidence is everywhere. Go to any neighborhood that took a few feet of water in the wake of Katrina, and the line between survival and failure is as clear as the high-water mark that still stains the sides of thousands of shotgun doubles.
"I live on Esplanade Ridge, and my house is raised 3 feet -- that's what saved me," said Eleanor Burke, senior architectural historian for the city's Historic District Landmarks Commission. "What people in New Orleans have forgotten is that you can be on the highest land in the city and it can still flood."
In the coming months, as local officials grapple with ways to rebuild the crippled city, this is a lesson that should not be forgotten again, according to Burke and other building experts. To avoid flooding in the future, they say, the city should stop letting people build slab houses at "base flood elevation," which is the minimum level required, theoretically at least, to spare a home from a 100-year flood. New Orleans, they agree, should once again be a city of raised houses that lie above the floodplain.
And considering that one should not reserve 100% trust in the levee systems to protect against the worst that nature doles out, the additional initial cost of building a structure off the ground is well worth the piece of mind.
Construction experts are also concerned the city will not adopt building codes that go beyond the minimum standards embodied in the government's Flood Insurance Rate Maps, which dictate elevation requirements for housing in a flood zone.
Though the maps are supposed to protect property owners from a 100-year flood, they are based on the assumption that a community's levees and drainage system will not be overwhelmed by such a storm. In New Orleans, however, thousands of homes were inundated in the aftermath of Katrina even though they were in areas not officially considered flood zones.
"The levees have given people a completely false sense of security," said Craig Colten, a professor of geography and anthropology at Louisiana State University who is preparing a history of the city's levee system for the Army Corps of Engineers.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; slidell; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
Business As Usual in New Jersey
So competitors raised an eyebrow when they heard former state Concessions Supervisor Francis Hillman had gone into business with Jersey Ice.Liberty State Park is the most lucrative park in the state park system for New Jersey and attracts more than 5 million visitors annually. If there was underbidding and favoritism (that's corruption in my book) in the bidding process, which made it impossible for other parties to win in a competitive bid, the State lost out on significant income. And that income would come in handy with a backlog of projects that need attention within the system.
Hillman retired on disability 13 months ago, a year after senior officials at the Department of Environmental Protection requested a state probe into his office. The Attorney General's Office would neither confirm nor deny it was conducting an investigation, and neither Hillman nor anyone at Jersey Ice has been accused of a crime.
A Star-Ledger review of 15 years of state records, however, uncovered numerous decisions Hillman made that benefited Jersey Ice.
Most notably, he put the Liberty State Park contract out to bid just twice in those years, a stark departure from the state's standard practice of competitive bids every three to five years. Both times, Jersey Ice was the sole bidder.
In the most recent contest, in 2001, Hillman asked every other bidder to complete a qualifying process so rigorous that none ended up bidding. Jersey Ice won the contract, a prize that could be worth $1 million a year, for the minimum bid of $135,000.
Super Precedents? What Kind of Garbage Is This
Well, it's what Ace found the New York Times trying to peddle.
There are precedents and then there's everything else.
There are precedents and then there's everything else.
Let's nip this one in the bud: He [Luttig] was saying it was his opinion that, as a judge inferior to the Supreme Court and charged to apply its precedents as they intended, he thought the Court intended itself to esptablish "super-stare-decisis." Not that he believes in such a thing, necessarily. Just that it was his job to do what the Supreme Court, and that the then-current O'Connor-led goofballs on the Court intended to create this new weapon, a +5 Holy Precedent, double-damage vs. rightwing troglodytes.
Removing All Doubt
An old proverb stated that it was better for a moron to remain silent than to open it and remove all doubt as to their stupidity. Well, Iran's 'President' Ahmadinejad has removed all doubt that he's not only a megalomanical dictator, but is incredibly stupid. Of course, that comes off his call to wipe Israel off the map (and whose genocidal rantings have garnered support in odd circles - including at Harvard). So, he's obviously got some room to grow.
And he's got time to get to the level of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY).
And he's got time to get to the level of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY).
US Army Guide to Iraq
Only these plans and documents are from World War II. That's right. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Even down to the cultural sensitivities that our troops should keep in mind while stationed there.
Technorati: Iraq, war plan.
Even down to the cultural sensitivities that our troops should keep in mind while stationed there.
Technorati: Iraq, war plan.
Calling Out The Enemy
A man called a local news agency in Indian Kashmir to say the militant Islamic Inquilab Mahaz, or Front for Islamic Uprising, staged the bombings, which police said killed 59 people and wounded 210.So, we get a claim of responsibility from an Islamic terrorist group, but the headline simply reads Militant-Linked Group Claims India Blasts. Militants linked to whom? Militant Quakers? Atheists? The headline conveys absolutely no useful information whatsoever. Did the blasts kill anyone? And if a militant-linked group claims the blast, wouldn't that make the group claiming the blast a terrorist organization, and a militant one at that? After all, the terrorists killed 59 people and wounded 210 in the multiple blasts that rocked India's capital of New Delhi.
The caller, who identified himself as Ahmed Yaar Ghaznavi, said the bombings were "meant as a rebuff to the claims of Indian security groups" that militants had been wiped out by security crackdowns and the Oct. 8 earthquake that devastated the insurgents' heartland in the mountains of Kashmir.
A senior police officer in India's Jammu-Kashmir state said the caller's name was not familiar to intelligence agencies, and New Delhi's deputy police chief, Karnail Singh, said the group had not been very active since 1996.
However, while Singh refused to comment on the claim of responsibility, he said the group is linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, the most feared of the dozens of Kashmiri militant groups.
No, this is another offshoot of another Islamic terrorist group claiming responsibility for killing dozens of people who were busy buying food, browsing through stores and shops, and enjoying life.
UPDATE:
The Jawa Report has more.
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