Links and Minifeatures 07 20 Thursday

Carnival of The Vanities Recommended: Western Resistance (a story of a Filipina maid's experiences in Saudi Arabia. WARNING! A lot of very bad stuff! Not for the weak of stomach)







The Latest news in the self-destruction of the Donkeys: Lieberman trails anti-war foe in Senate primary

The three-term senator and vice presidential nominee in 2000 has support of 47 percent of likely Democratic voters against 51 percent for Ned Lamont, a millionaire who gained on Lieberman by portraying him as too supportive of President George W. Bush, the Quinnipiac University poll showed.



But the poll, which has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points, shows Lieberman prevailing in November's mid-term election if he runs as an independent.

The Donkeys can't win with this strategy, and they lose the centrists further and further with these purges. If you examine Joe Lieberman's voting record, it's definitely left wing. But he is a solid supporter of the President on one issue, and he's not afraid to vote his conscience. The average voter looks at that and says, "Even though I may agree with the Democrats more, they don't want me if I disagree with them. Maybe I'll join the Republicans, who are willing to put up with dissent in the ranks, and some of the foremost dissenters are looking like good bets to win their next presidential nomination."



Or to take a more mundane example, the guy who demands absolute total loyalty from his friends isn't going to have many.



At first glance, Bush Speaks at NAACP doesn't appear related, but it is. Blacks have been completely loyal to Democrats for over forty years. carrying water and voting for Democrats despite real fixes for the urban underclass (which they say is their reason) not being on the Democratic agenda. Eleven percent was better support than a Republican had had from Blacks as a group since Eisenhower. But let the blacks start looking at other solutions than the Democratic ones which have been failing for the past forty years, let them start voting Republican, and the Democrats are no longer nationally competitive.



Lest you be confused, that's a Bad Thing. I am not a Democrat and do not agree with most of their parties agenda, but we need two healthy nationally competitive political parties to remain a healthy republic.



To be certain, Joe Lieberman does bear a certain amount of the blame for this, by stating publicly and early on that he'd make an independent run if he loses the primary. I'd expect Republican partisans to do the same. But to challenge him in the primary in the first place is counter-productive.



Decision '08 has more thoughts. Money quote: ""Hey, we've only got three seats, but at least they vote exactly the way I want them to...""



UPDATE: Corrected disagree to agree

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Fed chief says inflation expected to fall but he could still raise rates anway. What do you expect? He's a banker, not an economist. Banks have a phobia about inflation.



His base realization comes about a year too late for the economy, even if he intended to act on it, which he said he doesn't.



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Patch of Titan resembles Earth



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Justice prevails: Judge overturns Wal-Mart law



I really dislike WalMart, but this was essentially the state of Maryland reaching out and passing a law for them only. It did nothing beneficial, and penalized WalMart for their success.



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House Votes To Acquire Soledad Cross



Way too much energy and money has been spent on both sides of this issue over the last twenty-off years. Maybe now that the end is in sight, they'll move that energy to something significant, like maybe, I don't know, urban planning? Dealing with the governmental waste and corruption in America's Finest Banana Republic? Perhaps getting rid of the political machine that runs San Diego and prevents the other stuff from being dealt with?



Yes, I am older than twelve and I do know better. But I can hope.



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Ford Shares Down After 2Q Loss



This was all known information. One wonders why people that would sell upon this information were still invested in Ford. The reasons appear to be that they are on schedule or a bit ahead with phase I of a plan to save the company, which is to stop doing things that are costing them money. This will buy them time to execute Phase II, which is to design and produce cars that people want to buy at the prices they can charge. No word on how that's coming yet.



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Cool! On your mark, get set: Science! Kind of Improv Science Teaching. Now there's a reality program I could really enjoy! Not to mention creating celebrities worth celebrating!



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Iran rejects demands to freeze nuclear work, warns UN

Tehran has repeatedly insisted that it is ready to negotiate, but at the same time has rejected any "preconditions" being imposed.



"Iran has welcomed the offer from the big powers, and the examination of it is continuing. This takes time, and the reply will be given on August 22," said the statement, billed by state television as an "important announcement".

Q: How long does it take to decide whether you're going to negotiate?



A: Long Enough to get you terrorist catspaws to engineer a confrontation with Israel to distract attention!



My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy illustrates.



The administration, however, recognizes that this is a delaying and distracting tactic, and even the Russians are waking up:

Western countries have presented Russia and China with a text that would require Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing activities.



"My instructions remain to get this resolution passed as soon as possible, this week if possible," the US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said on Wednesday.



Russia has also hardened its tone against Iran, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov signalling on Wednesday that Russia may agree to sanctions if Iran refuses to budge.

On the subject of our UN Ambassador himself, Atlas Shrugs notes that at least one former opponent has become a Bolton convert.



I keep saying that Harry Reid's best option on Bolton at this point is to slide his confirmation in on some innocuous other bill. Because if President Bush renominates him, the hearings are going to be political disaster for anyone opposing Mr. Bolton.



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ROFASix has some excellent thoughts on the Stem Cell Veto.



Q and O also injects some much-needed rationality.



Democratic Underground also reacts. The Alleged Thought Process is hysterical.



Just one more, this one having to do with prominent Democratic politicians. After ROFASix's recitation of the facts of the matter, the score is perfect - seven of seven - executing the political pander manouver, as opposed to scientific evidence.



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The Kossacks are doing their presidential poll. Favorite nominee as of when I looked? Russ Feingold with 1659 votes out of 4140.



Here's his voting record



I shouldn't need to say any more.



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Q and O suggests that Israel adopt terrorist methods of warfare.



Cool thought, and a good idea on the face of it. Then you ask, "what happens next?"



Then larger state actors, such as, say, China or Russia get involved. Even India. Some group of Chinese mercenaries with no official connection to China destroys, say San Diego or Washington DC with a nuclear warhead that "somehow" went missing from official inventory.



This is a supremely cheap way to wage warfare that is extremely expensive for the opposition. It would also destroy civilization and have us living in mud huts fighting off the mutants in a real life game of Aftermath, by making it impossible to govern and impossible to defend yourself.



No thanks.



It shows that someone is thinking, though. Keep at it. Somebody is going to have the stroke of genius that make the problem much more soluble. For my part, I'll join the folks trying to think of that something.



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Armies of Liberation notes that the Yemeni regime is encouraging free access to jihad (or hirabah) for its youth.