Zee Links and Minifeatures: August 2006 Archives

Carnival of Liberty with a Jeopardy theme

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They must be very close to nuclear weapons: Iran president rejects nuke suspension



Reuters had the same story, plus Ahmadinejad challenges Bush to TV debate, and Iran says no one can stop its atomic work.



Via neo-neocon

Ahmadinejad Says UN Action on Iran Stance `Unlikely'



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Meanwhile, back at the proxy war, In war's dust, a new Arab 'lion' emerges



Is there anyone who doubts that by pressuring Israel to stop short of resolution one more time, europe has further enabled this nonsense?



Dr Sanity, just in case you had those doubts.



The Thomas Sowell article she references.



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Bodies with torture marks found in Iraq



In a way, that this is headline news is evidence that Iraq is not yet in civil war. Sectarian and tribalist strife, yes. Civil war, no. Iraq is one of the more heavily ethnically fragmented nations in the region, and its various groups have major grievances against each other. Having had conversations on the subject with a couple of Iraqi co-workers in the past, who claimed Iraq was a modern unified nation while saying, "The Assyrians do this. The Kurds do that," has done nothing but reinforce the impression I got from the dry reading in places like the CIA factbook.



I would have been amazed had there been no ethnic and sectarian violence between the factions in this country. When the Sunni have used brutally repressive tactics for the last forty years to control the other ethnic and religious groups, and that weight is suddenly lifted, what does history tell you is going to happen? Consider what would have happened to the jews of europe had all of the libels to which they were subjected been true. What happened there was bad enough. But for the Sunnis, that stuff happened.



Iraq the Model on "options other than Democracy".



I'm with him. If the goal isn't democracy, it's not worth the work. Furthermore, there isn't another 2 to 4 years of the coalition in Iraq under the current conditions. The people who get bored when things go past half an hour and the people who quit when they find that task they were told was going to be long and difficult indeed turns out to have obstacles are making things progressively difficult, politically. A timetable is stupid; nonetheless one is in the process of being imposed politically. Which is a damned shame, because Iraq is far from the last task in the war on terrorism, or the war on radical islam, whichever you prefer to call it. I'll support the current efforts to the bitter end, but with all the people who have access to big microphones opposing the administration, the war effort has a de facto deadline due to absence of will.



Mind you, I won't be alone:

Indepundit notes that there are others who back the administration and will continue to do so.



Dean's World takes on Professor Chomsky.



Big Lizards on the NY Slimes slipping up and reporting that the Iraqi Army won big (as they usually do).



Victor Davis Hanson on the need to think ahead in the war on terror.



LGF on forced conversions, such as Centanni and Wiig.



Steven den Beste on disproportionate response.



One more observation before I quit this subject: Has anyone else noticed the parallels of the current situation within Islam to the political situation with Christianity in Europe (and North America) from roughly the beginning of the Renaissance to the Enlightenment? That breaking of the political stranglehold of the church? Is there anyone here who would have sided with the repressive wings of Christianity then? If not, then why would you side with the repressive wing of Islam? Christianity contains, at its heart, far gentler teachings and a far more tolerant worldview, and I say this as a decided non-christian. I think I would have genuinely liked Jesus, although not enough to become a follower. If someone gave me the opportunity to go back and strangle Mohammed in his crib, I'd probably have to take them up on it if they wouldn't allow a less bloodthirsty alternative. I say this despite the fact that it would probably have caused another bloodthirsty religion which started about fifteen years after Islam to erupt from the Arabian peninsula.



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Obregon goes Al Gore one better: Mexico candidate rejects court decision

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador likened the decision to a coup, saying the judges represented the interests of Mexico's ruling elite.



"We will never again allow an illegal and illegitimate government to be installed in our country," he told thousands of supporters camped out Mexico City's main plaza, the Zocalo.

Sound familiar?



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Voters Everywhere Agree Political System "Badly Broken"



I believe that there is one move that will make more difference to that than anything else: Stop gerrymandering. Force political districts to be drawn based upon nothing else than equal population and shortest possible borders between districts. Yes, there would still be safe left wing districts and safe right wing districts. But there would be a lot fewer of them. Here in California, only 1 of the 120 seats in the state legislature has changed parties in the last two elections. As I remember, none of our 53 seats in the US House of representatives changed party affiliation last election. Our governor tried to change this (unwisely, in a special election) and got overridden by party activists on both sides.



But when there are fewer safe seats, everybody who isn't sitting in them has to appeal to the political center, not just the echo chamber on one side or the other.



The whole thing is enough to make this RINO want to re-run this picture for the benefit of the extremists on both sides.



Anchoress has her own thoughts on the matter.



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Q and O catches Associated Press putting words in Donald Rumsfeld's mouth. Needless to say, it's not to make Rumsfeld or the administration of which he is a part look better.



While we're on the subject, neo-neocon notes that the media is entirely likely to fail to question even obvious fallacies put out by people it wants to believe.



Michelle Malkin has more.



Mary Katherine Ham on "Why we don't believe you"



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HT to Mudville

for this Salt Lake Tribune story about a mother who complained of protesters and political opportunists endangering her son, whose son was killed by "insurgents" emboldened by their domestic politics. The world is watching. Just because you don't care what happens there doesn't mean they don't care what happens here.



My heart goes out to anyone in such a circumstance, whether they support the war or not. But it becomes far worse in such circumstances.



Hugh Hewitt has a letter on the same category.





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via Tim Blair,

Orson Scott Card and the Church of Global Warming.



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Armies of Liberation has noted that the Yemeni regime has arrested seventeen prominent opposition candidates.



While you're there, read about election violations



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via Argghhh!, What WWII Army are you? I come out Poland at 94, followed by Finland at 88. Britain 81, US 63. I can live with that. Japan was my bottom correlation at 31.



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Argghhh! has a good article on the likelihood of what happened in the ComAir crash in Kentucky. Let me add one more factor: Routine. You just think it's all same old-same old, and let your mind wander, and your number comes up. It's the deadliest factor there is.



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via Instapundit, A defense of welfare reform. kausfiles comment is too good to ignore.

RINO Sightings



Carnival of Debt Reduction



Carnival of Real Estate



Carnival of the Capitalists

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Now this is funny!: Al Gore: "Democracy is under attack"

"Democracy is under attack," Gore told an audience at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. "Democracy as a system for self-governance is facing more serious challenges now than it has faced for a long time.



"Democracy is a conversation, and the most important role of the media is to facilitate that conversation of democracy. Now the conversation is more controlled, it is more centralized."



He said that in many countries, media control was being consolidated in the hands of a few businesspeople or politicians.

1) It's hurts when there are media out there that don't necessarily subscribe to the "left wing: good, right wing: bad" simplification. Especially to those politicans, such as yourself, who depend upon friendly media controlling the national conversation.



2) I thought you claimed to have invented the internet? Haven't you heard of blogs? If dissent is being crushed by the regime, there are several places on my sitelist that haven't gotten the message.



Actually, I can't wait for the next network that figures out there's more money in being a centrist than in being kneejerk leftists.

Diagnostic Dyes May Put Patients at Risk

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The special interests are swarming already: Study: Teacher's gender affects learning.



It's been peer reviewed and accepted, according to the article. But not accepted by advocacy groups, obviosly.



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Hurray! Fox News crew freed after Gaza ordeal



Michelle Malkin notes that they were forced to convert to Islam, among doing other things, at gunpoint.



Islam does not acknowledge compulsion as an excuse for false conversion. Under Islamic law, the words are the words, and cannot be unsaid or taken back under any circumstances. According to their own lights, the Islamists have given themselves license to deal with Centanni and Wiig if they ever forswear Islam. The punishment for apostasy is death, in case you have forgotten. It also gives islamic religious leaders the right to emplace a fatwa upon them for failure to hew to the religious line. All in all, one more impressive propaganda victory for the Islamists.



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Don Surber has thought of a political judo blow that would devastate Iran. I don't know that I agree it would be sufficient to defuse the crisis, but it would certainly hurt him with Islamists.



Yet another reason to worry about Iran: Iran test-fires sub-to-surface missile.

Original story here, as Yahoo! links are notoriously impermanent.



Captain's Quarters notes the importance of the Iranians new heavy water facility.



Via Argghhh!, a very interesting deconstruction of one person's political priorities at Caerdroia. I've long suspected some on the left of this, but the subject of this deconstruction is the first one I can remember to come out and proclaim it.



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Professor Bainbridge on Elliot Spitzer.



I mostly agree.



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On Plame, Captain's Quarters has the last post I hope I ever need to read on it. What an (expletive) waste. Over literally nothing.

Israel adds third leg of strategic triad. Two nuclear launch capable submarines.



It would deter anybody vaguely rational. Unfortunately, that doesn't describe the Iranian regime.



Also, Iran has 1.6 million square kilometers of territory. (source) while Israel has 20,330 (source)



One bomb does for the entire country of Israel, or at least its populated heartland. Iran would require dozens, if not hundreds, and the mullahs would believe they're going to paradise for the murder of millions.



Can anybody think of a suitable deterrent against the imams?



That's why they can't be allowed to have nukes.



And therefore, I'm happy about this: West likely to reject Iran's response

The U.S. State Department has said that Iran considered its proposal to be a serious one and promised to review it, as did the five other nations that offered political and economic rewards to Tehran July 1 if it agreed to a freeze enrichment.



But the diplomats suggested that despite assurances of a serious review, the capitals involved found little of substance in the document.



One of them said that much of the Iranian response, delivered Tuesday, confines itself to "a history of Iran's nuclear program from Tehran's point of view," including arguments that enrichment was its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

On the other hand,

If IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's report finds that enrichment is continuing, as expected, the council is then likely to move toward economic and political sanctions.

(sarcasm on) I'm certain Khameini and Ahmedinejad are shaking in fear. (sarcasm off)



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New Homes Slump Worsens



On the other hand, if you read between the lines, buyers will never have more power than they do right now.



If you insist on being able to sell in six months for $50,000 net profit, go away for the next five years at least. I really do not even want to talk to flippers right now. But if you're willing to look and bargain and fix, you will do very well out of the current market, particularly if you can wait until it turns. It might start to turn next spring. It may not be until Spring of 2009. But if you wait until prices are rising again, you will miss the best bargains. Once prices start rising again, people will come out of the woodwork, and buyers will no longer have the power they do now.



Yes, it's a risk. But economic reality time: those who take the risks make the big bucks.



WSJ saying what I was saying a year ago and more. this article I wrote in February is the closest thing to an encapsulation, and I wrote it as a looking back sort of thing.



It could be bad for quite a while. But those who have the guts to get off the sidelines with sustainable investment will do extremely well for themselves.



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Pluto loses status as a planet. From promoting three to demoting poor Pluto, that's the difference between the prroposal and the final adoption.



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U.S. air marshals to go native



Finally, after being five years, they're allowed to dress to blend in with the other passengers, instead of wearing attire that says, "kill me first!"



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Oh my! It looks like Judge Anna Diggs Taylor should have recused herself.



In other war news, Michael Barone reviews The Path to 9/11 by ABC news, of all folks. Not exactly the strongest supporters of the Administration. I intend to watch it when it airs (I have to watch 10 hours of TV per year).



Victor Davis Hanson also has some clear thinking.



LGF has a clip of the investigation of whether Israel used chemical or biological weapons. Nope. As if you really needed to ask.



via several places, Zombietime rebuts the claim that that Israel targeted Red Cross Ambulances in Lebanon.



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Scrappleface on the virtues (?) of placing too much weight on polls. I don't know where we got the idea that facts or intelligence or reasoning are popularity contests, but we need to stop propagating it.

RINO Sightings



Carnival of Real Estate



Carnival of Capitalists



Carnival of Personal Finance



Carnival of Investing

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Via Environmental Republican, How to negotiate with terrorists



Any questions?



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Fed Official states willingness to drive stake into heart of economy. Stocks drop, of course. Duh. Too bad Bush only has a couple of appointments left. Were I in his shoes, I'd summon the Board of Governors for a serious talk about easing up on the inflation fears. Maybe threaten to appoint real estate people to the remaining vacancies in my term. If that doesn't put the fear of disaster in them and cause them to back off a bit, nothing will. Yes, bankers are always supremely paranoid about inflation. But there are limits.



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Pigilito has an interesting bit about the political environment for nuclear power plants.



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Argghhh! notes that Congress doesn't have $7 million to pay for soldier's head injury treatment, but does have $160 million to pay for credit monitoring services that anyone can get for free.



Makes me want to ask how I can embarrass the government into giving me $160 million. It's not like they care where it's coming from, or what better places it could go. I could pledge $70 million to the head injury treatment center and everybody would come out ahead. Except of course the other taxpayers. Get your own scam!



(Better yet, if you're a citizen instead of a dead weight, support porkbusters.)



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Michelle Malkin is focusing the spotlight upon a couple of Fox journalists where there has been remarkably little coverage.

Interesting. I just checked my server stats for top referers, and evidently, this site got 1300 plus referrals from disney .com. Thank you!

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Lebanon Warns Against Inciting Israel

Lebanon's defense minister said Sunday he is certain Hezbollah will not break the cease-fire but warned all militant groups of harsh measures and a traitor's fate if they incite Israeli retaliation by firing rockets into the Jewish state.

No, Hezbollah would never incite Israel by shooting rockets into Israel, shooting at civilians, kidnapping soldiers, engaging in suicide attacks, or anything like that. That would be unprecedented. Must be those other militants over yonder.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday's raid was aimed at disrupting arms shipments to Hezbollah and such operations may continue until international peacekeepers arrive to enforce an arms embargo.



"In the situation where there was a flagrant violation of the embargo, Israel had the right to act. Had there not been a violation, Israel would not have to respond," he said Sunday, expressing impatience with the slow international response in offering troops for the peacekeeping force

One word: hudna. Another: taqiyya.



Iran-Hezbollah missile gift blocked, officials say

"The United States blocked an Iranian cargo plane's flight to Syria last month after intelligence analysts concluded it was carrying sophisticated missiles and launchers to resupply Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, two U.S. intelligence officials say.

No, Hezbollah isn't Iran's catspaw, and Israel isn't a US ally. Not at all.



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Iran cartoon show mocks Holocaust



Let's get this straight. They condemn the exceedingly mild Danish cartoons about Islam, then go out and go over the top with such things as Ariel Sharon, the incapacitated former Israeli Prime Minister, wearing an SS uniform, or a man with Jewish side locks is depicted as a vampire drinking from a container marked 'Palestinian blood'.



Lest I be mistaken, I think they're in bad taste, but don't think any sanction should apply to people who draw or disseminate such things. That's part of freedom of speech. On the other hand, they pointedly are not in any position to request anyone not to make fun of their particular superstitions.



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Armies of Liberation notes a fatwa against female candidates in Yemen.



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Via LGF, a Ben Stein column from the New York Times:Looking for the Will Beyond the Battlefield.



In case you are not familiar, this is a significant part of what killed the Roman Empire.



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Wizbang has a humorous article on the current impeachment fad, popular on the political left.

RINO Sightings



Carnival of The Capitalists



Carnival of The Vanities, which I'm tempted not to link due to host impatience. Recommended: Adam's Blog (Wheel of Allegations), Random Yak (the limitations of statistics)

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Well, they didn't quite say they claimed the right to blow up any infidels they wish, but things are not looking better with Iran. Iran says won't back down over atomic rights



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This is an outrage



Sign a Petition to help them out here.



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This goes to show that if you file a sufficient number of lawsuits, you'll find a judge stupid or prejudiced enough to go along with you, even if the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise. Judge Nixes Warrantless Surveillance

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

Contrary to higher court precedent. The Fourth and Fifth Amedment guard against criminal incrimination, not against the government finding out somebody intends to blow up a building before you do it. If they try to arrest you, the evidence is tainted and so they can't use it. But if they don't arrest you or charge you with a crime, such surveillance is irrelevant.



I'm a big non-believer in conspiracy theories. They're just a non-starter with me. But I have one that fits the observed facts. The current President's political enemies are doing all they can to throw roadblocks in the way or preventative measures, so that when (not if!) the terrorists succeed in another attack, they can use his "failure to prevent" it against him politically to garner votes.



Please debunk it with facts if you can. I'd like to not believe that Americans would do that sort of thing.



Powerline has more.



Volokh Conspiracy dissects it.



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Promotion Time! Plan Would Add Planets to Solar System. Pluto stays, and UB313 and Charon get added, as does Ceres.



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Whoever came up with that quote about capitalists selling people rope which will be used to hang them was probably thinking of France: France Calls for End to Lebanon Blockade



Meanwhile, Hezbollah is reneging upon a key component of the cease fire Lebanese Cabinet OKs Troop Deployment to the South, but Skirts Issue of Disarming Hezbollah



Remember the research on the most effective way to lie? Syria is certain being selective in how much of the truth to tell. Nor is "Baby Dentist" Assad high on the list of people I would consult about who's an object of ridicule.



This I view as a hopeful sign: At war, Israeli reservists wield new weapon: opinion polls

"It's the first time ever it's been done, and I think it's a new tool," he says. "It's not refusal of orders or officers. If you do that, you abandon your friends in the field,..."

(snip)

"It's not supposed to be a moral dispute. There weren't any villagers left there at that point, just Hizbullah men," says Yannay. The soldiers began to question the wisdom of their orders.

Scrappleface has it's own take on the issue.



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Homeowners lose Katrina insurance flood case



Flood is specifically excluded from homeowner's insurance. I'm sorry for the folks who were told they didn't need flood insurance, and I hope they have a case against the agent who told them that. But this decision is correct, as I indicated in this article almost a year ago.



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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060817-0819-bn17cartel.html"target="_blank">Coast Guard delivers Arellano Felix to San Diego Caught him in International Waters.



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The only poll that matters is in November, but Poll: Lieberman Ahead, High Favorability



Basically, now that we're out of the hothouse of Democratic activists, Lieberman is significantly ahead and the numbers don't look good for Lamont, who actually has very high negative perceptions, especially with Republicans and Independents. Gee, I wonder why.



Big Lizards thinks the Donkeys are doomed in national elections.



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Via Powerline,

Vital Perspective notes that the Iranian government is going house to house smashing satellite dishes.



Now why would they want to cut their citizens off from listening to foreign media?



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Belmont Club has printed the entire text of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's address to Harvard in 1978.

A Decline in Courage ...



may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party and of course in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society.

more

no weapons, no matter how powerful, can help the West until it overcomes its loss of willpower. In a state of psychological weakness, weapons become a burden for the capitulating side. To defend oneself, one must also be ready to die; there is little such readiness in a society raised in the cult of material well-being. Nothing is left, then, but concessions, attempts to gain time and betrayal.

neo-neocon has some noteworthy thoughts.



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Hurray! Lebanese army to be only force to bear arms.

An official in the Prime Minister's Office warned on Tuesday that the IDF would have to resume operations in Lebanon if Hizbullah is not disarmed.



Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah reportedly reached a deal allowing Hizbullah to keep its weapons but refrain from exhibiting them in public. Israeli officials called the arrangement a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which passed over the weekend and was approved on Sunday by the cabinet.



"The resolution is clear that Hizbullah needs to be removed from the border area, embargoed and dismantled," the official said. "If the resolution is not implemented, we will have to take action to prevent the rearming of Hizbullah. I don't think backtracking will serve any useful purpose. There has to be pressure on Hizbullah to disarm or there will have to be another round."

Captain's Quarters notes a Lebanese general jailed for having tea with an Israeli officer.



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Captain's Quarters has a good article on observing the people rather than intensive searches of carry on objects.



I think profiling is rather unlikely to be really successful as long as people like this are walking around loose.



Related article here.



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In case you hadn't noticed, things are kind of hectic right now.

Carnival of Real Estate Recommended Linda Slocum (lead aggregators services)



Carnival of Personal Finance Recommended CappApp (extended warranty and cash management)

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About as surprising as gravity: Hezbollah Claims Win As Lebanese Return. That's the way their game is played. And by their standards, they did win. Outside agencies who think they're being all noble about it nagged Israel into letting Hezbollah survive, and gave them yet another chance to grow back to what they were, so they can take another shot as Israel.



I'm going to have to say the President gets one very wrong and one very right here: Bush Says Israel Defeated Hezbollah. Only militarily. Strategically and politically, Hezbollah is the big winner.



The one he gets right?

Bush said the "responsibility for this suffering lies with Hezbollah."

neo-neocon notes that Hezbollah has stopped pretending, and forced the Lebanese government and army to dance on the end of its strings, stopping the Lebanese government and army from taking control of southern Lebanon.



Captain's Quarters thinks Lebanon is about the fall officially to Hezbollah.



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Don Surber takes the reductio ad absurdem path to rebutting a NY Slimes editorial.



Let's face it, rebutting the Times has become easier than depth charging fish in a barrel. It only becomes challenging when some third party dictates the method.



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Environmental Republican on those who want to harm the US.



While I'm on the subject, In Denial over Terrorism.



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The president of Iran has a blog. I went and looked at it, but Babel Fish doesn't do Arabic or Farsi to English. Eteraz, on the other hand, did not need my crutch.



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I can only pass this along in horror: The Youngest Suicide Bomber



And some people do not believe there is real evil in the world.

I shall make thee an offer thou canst not refuse! Actual plays that put a different twist on Shakespeare, including what if he had written "The Godfather."

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Court Upholds NYC Subway Searches. Correctly. Whether the city police are performing the searches or not is irrelevant, just like the feds run the airline screening. Like airliners, the cars of the NY Subway are the corporate property of the MTA, a corporation which issues debt instruments in its own name. The city police, like the feds for the airlines, are performing a service in (theoretically) streamlining the process. If the ACLU has a brain (I'll wait until you stop laughing!), here is where they will drop it. It is not a constitutional right to ride the subway, and there is a public legitimate safety concern.



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W.House: Democrats' extreme left defeated Lieberman No, I don't think anybody there reads my site. This is just a realistic assessment of what happened, and if I were Kos, I'd wait until the general election in November to crow. But I guess when you're 0-21, even the temporary illusion of a victory is precious.



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While reading The Moderate Voice's article on the Israel Lebanon front, I was struck by an idea: Suppose Lebanon's insistence upon impossible terms is a cover for wanting Israel to wipe out Hezbollah for them, which they have not the resources or the political ability to bring about themselves?



Yes, Lebanon will suffer. But then it will be over, not this ongoing twenty-plus year sniping both sides with intermittent Israeli invasions, and Lebanon can get on with the business of building a country. Sound weird? There are precedents for it, and it's not likely the political leaders of Lebanon will be among the casualties, is it?



Related: A hard truth: Blackfive on the virtues of killing children. It hurts to read. But he's correct. (censored).



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aTypical Joe has found a good commonsense research policy for using Wikipedia here



I never trust Wikipedia standing upon its own. It's okay for a quick toss off, but not a serious argument. At most, I might use it to confirm or question my recollections or what I already think I know. On a subject I do not have relevant level expertise, it is sometimes a good starting point for finding serious research, but never an authoritative source itself.

To frame it in terms of a very old joke: What's green and smells like pork?

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I just dealt with five pieces of trackback spam from a site that wants to sell spamblockers. Methinks there is something more than vaguely ironic about this...



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Politburo Diktat has an extremely intelligent suggestion: put government funding of alternative energy sources on a war footing. Because we just might need it to win a war.



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Lileks Screed has some poetic justice to muse about.



While we're on the subject of Cuba, NRO has a piece about how Raul is not the liberalizer all the left of center pundits are whispering devout prayers about.



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On the subject of Joe Lieberman and the Connecticut election, Big Lizards is advising the Republican nominee to avoid splitting the "sane" vote. I endorse this position.



Michael Barone also has some relevant thoughts worth reading.





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Volokh Conspiracy notes that those who receive classified information can now be prosecuted.



I disagree with this ruling, but I'm not the judge. I think the receiver should get as much of a free pass as possible, else we'll eventually be able to frame someone by divulging classified information. The leakers should be vigorously prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but the leakees haven't done anything that should be illegal.

Survey: Online Sexual Solicitations Down



Well, the number of stories that have been in the paper, even the stupidest child molester must be peripherally aware that while they can pretend to be a young attractive person who's trying to be their target's friend, that attractive fourteen year old target they're chatting up can also pretend like they're not an FBI agent, right up to the moment when the cuffs go on. Bwahahaha!

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Dean's World has a thoughtful "to be continued" on one of the most famous photgraphs of the Vietnam War, and news photgraphs as well. I've long known the backstory for this particular photograph, and while I understood the propaganda uses, I also have enough historic background of military practices to know that this sort of thing is actually enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. The executed person had just undertaken what we today would consider a terrorist attack and was caught at the scene. Note that he is not in uniform, as you can tell even with the photoshopping. This is clear grounds for immediate execution without trial according to the Geneva Conventions.



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Well the Democrats lost one yesterday, and the wire services are making a big deal about how the top Donkeys are abandoning Lieberman. Them's the rules. The winner of the nomination gets the support. They have to support Lamont. That Lamont won is not a large surprise; primaries are more of an activists election. The moderates come out in the general election, which Lieberman will win if he doesn't withdraw or make any huge mistakes.



Captain's Quarters agrees with me, but furnishes more detailed reasoning. The activists wanted to make it a referendum on George Bush, who never came within 10 points of winning Connecticut in either of the elections he did run in.



Time with more on why Lieberman's loss is good news for Republicans.



More on the subject from Real Clear Politics



Moderate Voice has a slightly different take, and in the same post, an awe-inspiring roundup.



If Daily Kos crows any louder, The Fenris Wolf of terrorism will break lose from his bonds and run rampant over the world while the Midgard Serpent of self hate nibbling away at civilization from within will devour the World Tree. Oh, wait....



On the other hand, the good news is that the Democratic party also won a big one by ridding itself of Cynthia "Racist" McKinney.



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via Powerline,

Vital Perspective is passing on an Israeli Television report (passed along by Washington Post, that

Iranian soldiers have been found among Hesbollah combat dead.



Captain's Quarters with more details and a bit of strategic thinking.

Carnival of Liberty

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Oh my. Lieberman Campaign Says Web Site Hacked



If this is true, this is not only a new low on the part of the NutRoots™, but also what may be the final nail in their coffin. Who wants to be publicly associated with a "dirty tricks" squad? It was one of the things that cost Nixon his presidency.



Mind you, if they're called on it they're going to plead "tu quoque!", but even if that accusation is true, a charge I do not concede, 1) That is no excuse in the eyes of the law or the public, 2) There's a major contextual difference between covert and deniable and overt and blatant 3) Anyone doing political business with them will become the US equivalent of a Hindu Untouchable. If it makes the difference, and Lieberman loses any kind of a close race, look for it to save his political career (It's possible but out of character that Lieberman arranged it himself). Finally, Lamont may become forever known as the guy who threw a safe senate seat to the opposition.



Kos is attributing it to incompetence (on the part of Lieberman's campaign webmaster, of course!) but the comments waste no time going on a counter-attack. Or a follow up to the original attack, depending upon how you're interpreting it so far. I'm certain the investigation will reveal the facts and I'm prepared to wait.



DU is in full hue and cry



Another DU person.



I don't have the technical competence to know if this is believable or not. But the ad hominem is a little thick on that, don't you think?



Decision '08 notes that the hosting service is saying that Kos' facts are in error.



I'm just going to sit here and eat my popcorn and watch the Democrats self destruct, whether this accusation is true or not. Pity, though I'd really rather they didn't. It takes time to build a nationally competitive party, and I'd really rather the Republicans not have 2 to 4 years all their own way.



Looks like Decision '08 is also fact checking Jesse Jackson. Talk about the labors of Sisyphus.



Irish Trojan has some technical details (via Michelle Malkin)



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Stuff like this is the main benefit to the public of Realtors associations: California SB 521 would impose a per page "fee" for document recordings They're painting it as a transfer tax to get the membership to understand what's in it for them, but loans are the thing it would really make it difficult for. Want to have to pay higher fees in order to record your loan documents? Vote for this bill! Otherwise, you probably want to oppose it.



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Classical Values has a nice article on why you shouldn't trust Wikipedia on partisan matters.



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Eek! Wizbang notes that 11 Egyptian students have gone missing from their supposedly planned classes at Montana State, and also links to a reminder that an Egyptian militant group had joined al Qaeda.



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Over at Huff'n'Puff, Greg Gutfeld skewers the Donkeys. The comments illustrate how right he is.



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Tigerhawk on Human Rights Watch, an assessment I share.

Carnival of Personal Finance Recommended: Roth and Company (some good observations on the tax code)



RINO Sightings



Carnival of Real Estate



Carnival of the Capitalists Recommended: David Maister

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After 17 straight rate hikes, Fed weighs a pause



This is about a percent and a half too late. But Bernanke, like Greenspan and the rest of the Fed's Board of Governors, are bankers first. Bankers have a phobia about inflation. It has a rational reason, but they still over-react to inflation threats almost religiously. If I were a senator sitting in judgement on a BOG nominee, I'd want to be convinced that the nominee wouldn't overreact to inflationary pressures. That seems to be the number one problem the fed has.



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Feds ordered BP to inspect pipeline. As bad as a planned shutdown is, can you imagine how bad an unplanned shutdown would have been? Not to mention the ammunition a pipeline failure would have given the anti-exploration and anti transporting and just plain anti-everything wing of the environmentalists? Even though this has caused about a $2 per barrel price hike, this is not just an ecological disaster aborted, but political and economic as well.



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I've been waiting for this: Condo conversions turn into reversions



People are buying conversions to rent them out, and others that were bought or built as planned conversions are being delayed.



With a local rental market that has a 3.4% vacancy rate, expect demand for rental properties to rise, as well as rentals. This is going to have two effects: Stabilizing the purchase market, and raising rental rates as people need to cover those mortgages charge more. With a 3.4 percent vacancy rate, be assured that they can. The time to buy is now, before rents start rising and while there are still 36 sellers for every buyer.



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How bad is the fiscal state of our country? USA Today tells is something closer to how it really is.



I have long said that if this nation were required to produce audited annual financial statements like most corporations, we'd have an armed rebellion. Lest you think that's a bad thing, it's not. The sooner we get away from the ideas infesting our current spending policies, the sooner we can stop digging this hole we're in deeper.



HT: Balloon Juice



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Tomorrow is the Connecticut primary that doubles as the battle for the soul of the Democratic party. Joe Lieberman, a left winger willing to vote with centrists when clearly in the best interests of the country, or Ned Lamont, who like most of the NutRoots™, basically hates George Bush, or at least is willing to pretend that he does. I've said all along that if Lamont wins, it will be indicative of the impending failure of the Democratic party to be able to compete on a national basis. Last report was that Ned Lamont was up by six points, but due to Lamont being caught in several obvious untruths, Lieberman was coming up fast.



Scrappleface has the optimum strategy.

It appears Reuters has been running a heavily photoshopped photo of Beirut while claiming it was unaltered.



LGF was the earliest to cover it that I'm aware of.

Preofessional photographers talk about it here.



LGF has a little fun with the concept.



Jawa Report finds another doctored photo.



Michelle Malkin has an excellent roundup.



Unfortunately, lies get around the world before the truth gets its boots on, as Captain's Quarters notes some serious inconsistencies and omissions in reporting.

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Iran tries to obtain Uranium 238 from the Congo



From what I remember, U238 has to be converted to Plutonium to be useful for atomic weapons, but that's fairly easy to do. Alpha particles.



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More doings in Yemen: Armies of Liberation covers the Yemeni president emphatically taking the terrorist side. Meanwhile, Seven convicted terrorists escape prison. The FBI expects them to head to Lebanon to fight Israel for some reason...



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Captain's Quarters has a great post on Lieberman with which I agree. He has been the agent on compromise, the man with the integrity to vote his conscience. I usually do not agree with his conscience, but I greatly respect his integrity.



The reason he's been thrown under the bus by the NutRoots™ is that he is an effective agent of compromise, and they want no part of compromise. They want no part of anything that does not agree with their positions completely. He also represents a very blue state, and the chances of a Republican winning the election are basically non-existent, giving them an opportunity to do this without additional apparent consequences.



Unfortunately, when you interfere in the race of someone with a national presence, you're going to reap consequences. Right now, moderates in purple areas nationwide are taking note, and not liking what they see in the NutRoots™.

US News and World Report has a spread on the real estate and mortgage market in which they catch the state of the market as it was about a year ago and completely miss out on missing the mortgage products that enabled it to get this far out of hand. They mention short term interest only loans, but completely ignore the prevalence of Negative Amortization loans, which are doing more damage than interest only loans ever thought about doing. They mention how many folks are renting, but fail to project out the individual financial consequences of the decision to buy or rent. I wrote an outline for an article titled "Why Renting Really Is For Suckers (and what to do about it)" last week, but maybe I should move it to to the front burner.

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Shameful. US troops shot detainees in cold blood.



I never served in the military, but I'm an American, and I'm ashamed of these people who evidently abused their position. If they are convicted, I want them shot. Abuse of position makes any crime worse. I'm sure a couple of the miltary folks on my sitelist will have a lot more to say, better than I could, because I've never been in that position.



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Castro said to be recovering, US says no invasion



My condolences to the Cuban people on their continued oppression, but I don't think a US invasion is necessary. Make dissent safe, and the Cuban people and their relatives in the US, who have gotten used to real democracy, will take care of the rest.

Raul Castro, 75, lacks the charisma of his elder brother, who turns 80 on August 13. But some Cuba watchers believe he could open up Cuba to Chinese-style economic reforms of the sort long resisted by his brother.

I think this writer is fooling themselves. I can think of a lot of promised liberalizations in the last forty years after one despot or another died, and the only time it actually happened was in Spain after Franco, and Franco had taken steps to make sure it happened after his death, before he died. In the present instance, I only need point to the fact that it was Raul who recruited Che Guevara. Anyone who'd work with that murderous thug is not likely to be a closet democrat or free market sponsor.



When there is solid news about Castro, look for Val at Babalu Blog to make sense of it.



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A while ago, I posted about My thoughts on the Israel Lebanon situation and said the following:

Exterminate Hesbollah. I can hear the shocked gasps from here. Well, screw that. There is no moral equivalence here. Israel has shown itself willing and able to abide by agreements that it's negotiating partners live up, or even sort of live up to.



(snip)



Yes, it bothers me to see kids killed in the exchange of hostilities. It bothers me severely. But I put the onus for that squarely where it belongs, with Hesbollah, who hides in their midst, shoots out from groups of civilians, and hopes and prays that Israeli answering fire kills some "innocent" children and women and old men

Cases in point: Q and O about the principle of Double Effect in Just War. Read The Whole Thing.



Moshe Yaalon in the Washington Post



Hezbollywood Horror: "Civil Defense Worker" doubles as Traveling Mortician



neo-neocon on the former Isreali "peace mothers"



Big Pharoah "Even if it were to fall on our heads, it wouldn't have spoiled our joy." about a Hezbollah rocket that hit the Palestinian city of Jenin. Didn't I say something about "the Islamists and other people think Death to Israel is more important than Life for their islamic co-religionists"?



Augean Stables in the same vein



Cry to those using babies



Victor Davis Hanson on the refusal to confront. Then and Now.



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Iraq the Model on Iran arming Iraqi death squads: "Why is it difficult to demonize a demon?"



I wish I knew.



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Michael Barone looks at the end of slavery. The Dead White Men don't come out looking completely evil.



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Sorry about low article count this week. It may have to continue into next week. I have not yet had a chance to write new articles for next week.