Photo of the Day

 


Closeup of a Joshua tree; taken at Joshua Tree National Park.

Bastards!

Terrorists decide to load up an ambulance full of explosives in order to drive it into an unsuspecting crowd. We've seen numerous reports of terrorists who use ambulances and even UN vehicles as cover for their terror operations. That's not the part that got me.

The terrorists put their exploits on tape.

So many on the Left seem to think that the enemy is a figment of a crazed-right-wing-maniac's authoritarian imagination. But, perhaps--just perhaps--the real problem lies in the Left's inability to see an enemy even when the enemy appears on television, explains that he wants to kill us and then proceeds to commit a war crime, all on tape.

To coin a phrase: we have met the enemy, and he is not us.

And al Jazeera thought this was newsworthy and put it on its website. Apparently, anyone who wants to be a good little jihadi can put together one of these snuff videos and submit them to al Jazeera for broadcast. Is al Jazeera cheerleading the jihad or is it just recording the jihad in progress - you decide. There are more than a few times when it looks like they're cheerleading, and that's definitely troubling.

Newark Liberty Airport Security Threatened By Bickering Among Agencies

The Road Warrior, John Cichowski writes about the impasse between the Port Authority and the TSA, which threatens the security of the public because of a failure to implement an automated baggage screening system that can detect hidden weapons in baggage. It wasn't implemented because of a squabble over who should pay for it. The TSA claims the Port Authority should pay for it, while the Port Authority wants the feds to pay for the $500 million system, which would install the equipment at Newark Liberty, La Guardia, and Kennedy Airports.

Remedial training might be appropriate for the Port Authority and the TSA, both of which deserve all the heat they're getting. At a Senate committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Frank Lautenberg held a knife over his head and asked Stone how "something like this could go through."

The admiral argued that a TSA survey shows that 89 percent of airline passengers believe airport security is adequate. But, as the senator surely knows, a knife could go through -at least to some extent -because mom and dad were too busy fussing over money instead of protection.

That seems to have changed since the admiral and the PA chairman resumed negotiating Saturday. Coscia now wants the high-tech fix, and Stone is reviewing a Port Authority "wish list." Who will pay for what is still unclear. The PA chairman insists he doesn't have the money to do it.

At least these two are talking again. Before Saturday, I was beginning to wonder what would have happened a few dozen years ago if my folks had spent their time fussing about cost after burglars broke into our house. Mom and dad didn't fuss much because they couldn't bear the consequences of a broken window and a jimmied front-door lock. They made the necessary repairs, changed the locks, added some security and worried about how to pay for it later.

Yeah, yeah. My comparison isn't perfect. Their costs were a bit less than $500 million. Their loss didn't affect 32 million people.

But focusing on scale misses the point. Good stewards don't leave their houses or airports inadequately guarded for months and years. Doing so undermines public confidence and invites another breach.

We should be glad mom and dad are communicating again. It shouldn't even bother us when dad says he doesn't know where to get the money to pay for safety. We know where. We're not kids anymore. We just don't know which purse it's going to come from.

But I have a feeling that once the adults stop whining and start making a credible case, we'll voluntarily give it up -just like Katrina Bell.

Caught in the middle is the public, who lacks the protections gained by checking all baggage that passes through the airports. This is a potentially deadly gap in airline security and should be rectified immediately.

Photo of the Day

 


Sunset in Key West.

In case anyone was wondering, I have been trying to upload a bunch of pictures in advance and preposting them as drafts, and this particular picture didn't show up last nite when I uploaded a bunch of other pictures. Blogger, Picasa, and Hello ought to be able to post pictures into a draft, so that you can make the necessary changes without having to go through a time consuming process of posting and reposting. But, that's just me.

Sen. Arlen Specter Has Hodgkin's Disease

Specter's office announced that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Specter is the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and a key figure in confirmation hearings for judges, and possibly Supreme Court nominees.

Senator Specter is expected to receive ABVD chemotherapy every two weeks over the next 24 to 32 weeks at the Abramson Cancer Center. It is expected that Senator Specter will be able to perform all duties of his office including those related to the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee.

Senator Specter’s oncologist, John H. Glick, M.D., said: "Senator Specter has an excellent chance of being completely cured of his Hodgkin’s disease. Senator Specter’s Hodgkin’s disease has a five-year survival rate of 70%. He is in superb physical condition, particularly in light of his daily squash regimen."

Senator Specter said: "I have beaten a brain tumor, bypass heart surgery and many tough political opponents; and I’m going to beat this too. I have a lot more work to do for Pennsylvania and America."

I wish him and his family well. It will be interesting to see how he'll be able to manage his schedule.

What Are They Thinking?

They're messing around with Bugs Bunny and friends! That's what. Restyling them and putting them in fancy costumes so that they can run a new series with the group 700 years in the future.

Earth to WB. Remember Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half century? I do. Or Marvin the Martian encountering Bugs and running through the space port?

We've been there, and back and there is no need to reimagine these lovable cartoon characters. Kids will love the old school stylings if you give'em a good story, a few laughs, and even push the envelope a little.

Oh, and while we're at it, bring back Justice League of America and Superfriends. It's a travesty that kids today have no idea the kind of cartoons we grew up with. They've got brain rot cartoons that aren't even the slightest bit imaginative.

Updating the Hama Rules

Tom Friedman coined the term Hama Rules in his bestselling book, From Beirut to Jerusalem. He's revisited the rules in the aftermath of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Harari. He's pretty confident that Syria was behind the murder, and looks at how this is the Hama rule plays out.

It will be difficult to prove who killed Mr. Hariri. But the gang ruling Syria had all the ability, experience and motive to murder the Lebanese statesman for the way he had teamed up with Paris and Washington to pass the recent U.N. resolution, 1559, calling for Syria's immediate withdrawal from Lebanon. Mr. Hariri pressed for that U.N. resolution, and resigned his office, after Syria perverted Lebanese democracy by forcing Lebanon's Parliament to accept a three-year extension for a Syrian puppet, Émile Lahoud, as Lebanon's president.

When Syria's Baath regime feels its back up against the wall, it always resorts to "Hama Rules." Hama Rules is a term I coined after the Syrian Army leveled - and I mean leveled - a portion of its own city, Hama, to put down a rebellion by Sunni Muslim fundamentalists there in 1982. Some 10,000 to 20,000 Syrians were buried in the ruble. Monday's murder of Mr. Hariri, a self-made billionaire who devoted his money and energy to rebuilding Lebanon after its civil war, had all the hallmarks of Hama Rules - beginning with 650 pounds of dynamite to incinerate an armor-plated motorcade.

Message from the Syrian regime to Washington, Paris and Lebanon's opposition: "You want to play here, you'd better be ready to play by Hama Rules - and Hama Rules are no rules at all. You want to squeeze us with Iraq on one side and the Lebanese opposition on the other, you'd better be able to put more than U.N. resolutions on the table. You'd better be ready to go all the way - because we will. But you Americans are exhausted by Iraq, and you Lebanese don't have the guts to stand up to us, and you French make a mean croissant but you've got no Hama Rules in your arsenal. So remember, we blow up prime ministers here. We shoot journalists. We fire on the Red Cross. We leveled one of our own cities. You want to play by Hama Rules, let's see what you've got. Otherwise, hasta la vista, baby."

So, when one side doesn't play by any rules, what are you supposed to do? Simple. Do the right thing and don't listen to those who want you to play by the rules in the hope that you'll convince the other side to play by rules that they've always ignored. It is futile to do so.

Photo of the Day

 


The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA, is one of the most amazing architectural works of art to ever experience. This particular vantage uses the facade of the restaurant/cafe as a counterpoint to the hills beyond.

It's these kinds of experiences that made Richard Meier design the museum in this fashion. I had first visited the museum not long after it opened, in 1999. At that time, the grounds were still being planted and the foliage hadn't grown in. Now, you can see all the hard work that went into making this such a spectacular site.

Oh, and the art collection isn't half bad either. Well, actually, the building outshines the art (a major gripe by many art snobs). However, the museum does have Van Gogh's Irises, so it isn't too shabby.

A Case Against The UN

UN official says organization is unprepared for large missions

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette (search) said the United Nations was unprepared for the mammoth task of providing humanitarian relief for 24 million Iraqis and hoped it would never be given a job like the Oil-for-Food (search) program again.

She said the responsibility was the equivalent of trying to oversee the entire import and export of goods for a medium-size country.

"We certainly have taken pride in the fact that the program has served to feed and provide basic necessities to people and that their own personal faith improved over the life of the program," Frechette said on Tuesday. "But we have also seen that the program has revealed some basic weaknesses in our own internal systems."

Seems to me, that this is a good enough reason to keep the UN from being involved in tsunami relief as well. Considering that the tsunami relief will affect an even larger population and a wider geographic area, Frechette's comments are revealing.

Considering that the UN has refused to release all the information relating to UNSCAM, not to mention rescind diplomatic immunity on those involved, we have only scratched the surface of the malfeasance at the UN.

By the by, Jan Egland ought to listen to Frechette. Egland, another UN official, had complained that the US hadn't done enough to help the tsunami victims, even though the US provided more direct assistance quicker and in greater numbers than any other member nation or the UN itself.

Apparently there are signs of life at the UN. The problem is that there are too few signs spread apart too vast a space.

NY Observer: The CBS Three Won’t Slink Off; Hiring Lawyers

Reputation is an important thing...

Maybe these folks should have thought about it before airing questionable materials that couldn't be authenticated definitively.

Mr. Howard and two other ousted CBS staffers—his top deputy, Mary Murphy, and CBS News senior vice president Betsy West—haven’t resigned. And sources close to Mr. Howard said that before any resignation comes, the 23-year CBS News veteran is demanding that the network retract Mr. Moonves’ remarks, correct its official story line and ultimately clear his name.

Mr. Howard, those sources said, has hired a lawyer to develop a breach-of-contract suit against the network. Ms. Murphy and Ms. West have likewise hired litigators, according to associates of theirs, and all three remain CBS employees and collect weekly salaries from the company that asked them to tender their resignations.

None would agree to participate in this article.

Legally, CBS and the ousted staffers are in an unusual stalemate: The network cannot be sued for breach of contract unless it actually fires them. Theoretically, the network could refuse to offer an apology or correct statements and simply drag its feet, continuing to write paychecks to the trio until their contracts expire. (Neither side would discuss how long the contracts are scheduled to last.)

But Mr. Howard’s complaint about Mr. Moonves’ remarks could pose a serious problem for CBS. Sources close to Mr. Howard said he believes that the report—which was assembled by an outside team of former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press head Louis Boccardi Jr.—contradicts Mr. Moonves’ statement about Mr. Howard’s share of the blame.

Mr. Howard also believes, those sources said, that the report itself excludes evidence that would implicate top management at CBS and restore Mr. Howard’s reputation in the television news business.

It's funny that Howard is concerned about his reputation being dragged through the mud as a result of being named and told to resign as a result of Rathergate. Perhaps he should have made sure that their reputations weren't tarred by doing all the proper checks on the stories before they ran. Howard is probably right that he's being used as a fall-guy to protect those higher up the food chain at CBS, not to mention Dan Rather, and his claims appear persuasive.

Photo of the Day

 


Nothing is quite like seeing the desert come alive in a riot of color. Here, we're in Joshua Tree NP in the Springtime. We weren't prepared for the weather change the day we visited. The day before, Palm Springs had temps in the 90s. We loved that.

The day we hiked into Joshua Tree, the temps were in the 60s and fell through the day - with a stiff breeze. It made for some neat photos later in the photo series with cloud formations before it turned completely overcast, but here the emphasis is on the Joshua trees and wildflowers.

CBS Woes Continue

According to Drudge,

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER will report tomorrow: 'Former 60 Minutes Wednesday executive editor Josh Howard has told colleagues that before he resigns, the 23-year CBS News veteran will demand that the network retract remarks by CBS president Leslie Moonves, correct its official story line and ultimately clear his name'...

In the event of a lawsuit, Mr. Howard has told associates that he would like to see Moonves put under oath to talk about his own roles in the network's stubborn, hapless defense of the flawed segment on President Bush's National Guard service.

Howard has also indicated to colleagues that he would subpoena specific CBS documents, including the e-mails of top executives.

We've known for a while that CBS News is in serious trouble because three of the individuals named were not stepping down willingly, nor would they go quietly. Any fight would be public and involve far more people than CBS and its investigation sought to reveal.

If Howard is going to take the fight public, you can be sure that he's going to take down as many others as possible to restore his name (though his role is minor compared to that of Rather, Mapes and Heyward. Rather simply got removed from the newsdesk while retaining his position at 60 Minutes II, which is incidentally where Rather released the bogus documents in the first place. Heyward green lighted the mess, and Mapes was the primary mover and shaker to get the story done. She's the only person to actually be fired in all this.

Stewart Verdict: Not So Complicated After All

While those who were on the other side of the bench actually liked her, what Lynne Stewart did was beyond the pale, and she rightfully deserved the verdict rendered. One person who had very close contact with her for a long period of time was the prosecutor on the Sheik Rahman case, Andrew McCarthy. He wrote:

Unlike many "activist" lawyers for whom the very notion of negotiating with the government is treasonous to what passes for their belief systems, Lynne was eminently reasonable and practical. She was open-minded about agreements ("stipulations" in the lexicon of litigators) that would narrow the case down to the matters that were actually in dispute. When she gave her word on something, she honored it — she never acted as if she thought one was at liberty to be false when dealing with the enemy.

One might think this was just commonsense rather than ethics. Lawyers, after all, are well aware of the often heavy price to be paid with the court if they are caught being dishonest. But I never thought this was the case with Lynne. I always had the sense that, even though I was for her present purposes the embodiment of the enemy, it mattered to her what I thought about her personal morality. In point of fact, I thought it was crazy quilt. I couldn't square the lawyer who so amiably conducted herself within the rules with the rebel who so ostentatiously sought to supplant the rules. All I knew, though, was that when she made a representation to me within the four-corners of a very long and combative trial, I thought I could take it to the bank. In twenty years, I have known too many adversaries about whom that could not be said.

Perhaps that's why I can feel justice but no joy is seeing her brought low. The worst part, for me, is the revelation that lying to the government was at the core of her crimes. In order to get into the jailhouse, she gave her word that she needed access to the Sheikh for one purpose, viz., to provide legal assistance, and then willfully carried out a far different purpose: viz., to enable Abdel Rahman to continue influencing the barbaric Egyptian terror organization which assassinated President Anwar Sadat for making peace with Israel, sought President Hosni Mubarak's murder, savagely slaughtered nearly 60 tourists in Luxor as an extortionate demand for the Sheikh's release, and has sedulously busied itself toward toppling the secular government for a quarter century.

These were bold-faced, nefarious lies. To the profession of lawyering, they should be seen as lies of the most despicable kind. For Stewart later claimed that her mendacity was excusable as a part of zealously representing a client. What she did, however, formed no part of what an attorney does.

For that reason, much of what is being said by defense lawyers in the wake of her conviction is welcome — and much, regrettably, is ridiculous. Being a defense lawyer for an accused person, even the most universally reviled accused person, is a most honorable and necessary endeavor in any society based on the rule of law. In the eyes of the trial court, a defendant stands innocent of charges until a jury finds otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the constitutional mission of defense counsel to ensure, with all their considerable skill and passion, that this accused gets the full benefit of every advantage and every doubt to which our system entitles him.

But that is to say, every advantage and every doubt within the rules. As some of New York City's most distinguished defense professionals explained to the Times after Stewart's conviction, there are lines between proper advocacy and misconduct, and they are well known. Here, Lynne was so far over them that, to be blunt, it is insulting for her and her allies to suggest otherwise. Yet, they thoughtlessly cavil about a Justice Department witch-hunt against lawyers who take on the defense of the most repulsive criminals and terrorists. It's blatant nonsense — and they know better.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees counsel to an "accused." When Abdel Rahman was actually an accused, from 1993 until 1996, he was the recipient of exquisite due process — including three lawyers and publicly-subsidized legal and investigative assistance. The government never came close to interfering in any of this. After he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the succeeding three years brought Abdel Rahman's appeals to the court of appeals and the Supreme Court. Again, numerous lawyers convened with "his holiness" as needed, and they filed voluminous briefs on his behalf. The appeals were rejected. At that point, his conviction was final. He was no longer, in any sense, an accused. He was no longer presumed innocent. He was a duly convicted terrorist who had a unique, authoritative stature among America's enemies.

Nonetheless, in our generous system, he was still permitted access to counsel (although not a right to have the public pay for it). For a time, those lawyers were empowered file what's called a "collateral attack" if they could come up with some argument that Abdel Rahman's fundamental rights had been violated during the trial. They never did that. They could also have challenged the conditions of his confinement, but to do so would have been specious — this ward, with his many maladies, is among the most conscientiously cared for. Beyond that, the Sheikh didn't need legal services anymore.

Because he is evil, what he needed and wanted were co-conspirators to help him stay relevant in the high councils of jihadist terror. That's what Lynne Stewart agreed to be. That's not lawyer-work. And that's what the government interfered with. For attorneys currently representing accused terrorists to pretend that the Stewart case forebodes ill for their ability to function as traditional defense counsel is hollow posturing.

Ironically, the Lynne Stewart I knew expressed no such reservations. Once, in a break in the action, I found myself in conversation with her, us both leaning on the rail along the jury box. I don't remember now exactly what precipitated it, but we were talking about how cases get settled and whether this one ever would. She pointed into the jury box — all empty seats at the time, but her gesture had me imagining our diligent jurors sitting there — and she said she had faith that the best thing to do was to get the dispute into the hands of "these good people" and let them do the job we had chosen them to do. In all those months, I never thought she had an argument that would actually persuade those good people to see things her way. But the sentiment could not have been more right, and the way she expressed it could not have seemed more sincere.

Ten years later, that's how I prefer to remember her. I would see or hear from her from time-to-time after the jury convicted Abdel Rahman, and it was always the same: friendly, gracious, never a hint of raging against the machine, even though she was the public personification of rage and I an enthusiastic proponent of the machine.

There is something wrong with Lynne's brain. Obviously, she loves being a darling of the loony Left — a Left so loony it now makes common cause with theocratic, homo-phobic, misogynistic psycho-killers, since, after all, they too hate America. Nestled among this element, her humanity synapse disengages, such that she can spout about faraway terrorist kidnapping victims and other unknown civilians as legitimate targets with all the contemplative depth of a dinner companion asking you to pass the salt.

But she is not without humanity. What has happened to her here is very far from a tragedy — a tragedy is when someone unwittingly crosses the path of Abdel Rahman's ilk and is ruthlessly murdered for the great offense of being an American, or a Jew, or a Christian, or anything other than an Islamic militant. This is what Lynne Stewart promoted, and for that she must pay dearly. At 65, it may mean she pays with the rest of her life. Many will understandably celebrate that. I will pray she perceives that she has done enormous harm, and that the real civil rights she might have honored are those of the innocent victims of terror.

Downtown Construction Coordinator Chosen

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/nyregion/15rebuild.html?

Charles J. Maikish, a former Port Authority official who was responsible for rebuilding the World Trade Center after the 1993 terrorist attack, was named yesterday to oversee rebuilding throughout downtown.

He is to be the first executive director of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, created three months ago by Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to bring some order to the building, demolition and roadwork in one of the city's densest and most constricted quarters.

He'll have his work cut out for him, as he's going to have to oversee numerous federal, state, and local agencies and public authorities, not to mention private developers manage the construction and development of downtown Manhattan. This includes facilitating the infrastructure development and improvements, coordinating when construction projects operate, and how to minimize disruptions to existing businesses.

Photo of the Day

 


This is one in a series of photos taken of a moonrise over Lake Mead. I was playing around with exposures and time lapse on this and wasn't really sure if this would come out. I liked the effect, although I'll include copies of some images that didn't come out so well. Taken 9/2003.

Long Overdue, But Good

The US is apparently conducting overflights of Iran using drone aircraft.

The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses, according to three U.S. officials with detailed knowledge of the secret effort.

The small, pilotless planes, penetrating Iranian airspace from U.S. military facilities in Iraq, use radar, video, still photography and air filters designed to pick up traces of nuclear activity to gather information that is not accessible by satellites, the officials said. The aerial espionage is standard in military preparations for an eventual air attack and is also employed as a tool for intimidation.

Considering that the US and other nations aren't sure where the Iranians are conducting all of their nuclear weapons testing and production facilities, reconaissance is a necessary precondition to taking any action. However, there are limits as to what those overflights can accomplish, especially if the facilities are buried underground.

It has been suspected that the Iranians have learned from the Iraqi experience at Osirak in 1981 when the Israelis bombed the reactor before it went online. If the reactors are buried underground, it becomes incredibly more difficult to destroy the facility from the air with conventional weapons, not to mention actually locating the facility in the first place. That takes human intelligence - assets on the ground in Iran trying to locate the facilities, who's involved, and the supply chain.

As we know with the Iraq situation, human intel was lacking to confirm WMD stocks, which were known to exist based on prior capabilities and intentions. Here, the Iranians are looking to acquire the same technologies, but have had years of unfettered access to Pakistani and North Korean technologies. Obtaining human intel in closed societies - totalitarian regimes - is essential, but extremely difficult. Thus, policy makers are left with making decisions based on less than optimal information. They must, instead, rely on best guesses, estimates, and suppositions.

However, the key to everything remains the same - what is the best and most prudent course of action when nations who have sworn to use WMD, including nuclear weapons upon their acquisition, actually are within months of actually attaining their goals.

Photo of the Day

 


Seligman, AZ - taken while driving along Rt. 66 between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon NP's South Rim. Lots of kitsch.

About those Saudi Elections

Andrew Stuttaford at NRO's The Corner:

At the risk of damaging his credibility in the liberal street with a favorable mention in our corner of iniquity, Matt Yglesias has, I think, read the Saudi elections just right:

“…The decision to prohibit political parties was a boon to the Islamists since they have, in the mosques, an institutional network of support that's legal even in the absence of political parties. To make a long story short, Abdullah did everything possible to ensure that Islamists would win the election. He also managed to ensure that no matter what the result, he wouldn't lose any real power. Upshot -- articles in the western press calling him "reform-minded" and that build the case for him not to engage in further democratization since, as we just saw, Abdullah's earnest efforts at reform are counterproductive since they just bring Islamists to power. It's everything an absolute monarch could dream of in an election. He keeps absolute power, gets credit for being a reformer, and gets off the hook in terms of pressure to reform.”

No kidding. That's no way to reform at all. It's a recipe for continued theocratic monarchical rule with a penchant for anti-Americanism.

Photo of the Day

 


I said, are you talking to me?

Another fine feathered friend taken 10/2004 in the Everglades NP.