Currently reading Collapse by Jared Diamond. Fascinating stuff, but not exactly a comedy. Apart (so far) from this one paragraph, which cracked me up. Not easy being a 49er, it seems.
p145
In 1849, hungry gold miners crossing the Nevada desert noticed some glistening balls of a candy-like substance on a cliff, licked or ate the balls, and discovered them to be sweet-tasting, but then they developed nausea. Eventually it was realized that the balls were hardened deposits made by small rodents, called packrats. that protect themselves by building nests of sticks, plant fragments, and mammal dung gathered in the vicinity, plus food remains, discarded bones, and their own feces. Not being toilet-trained, the rats urinate in their nests, and sugar and other substances crystallize from their urine as it dries out, cementing the midden to a brick-like consistency. In effect, the hungry gold miners were eating dried rat urine laced with rat feces and rat garbage.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
The House That Became a War Zone
Promised I'd post this one for JP a while ago. Occupied territories in microcosm:
The house that became a war zone
Chris McGreal
Tuesday October 4, 2005
The first soldiers to arrive on Khalil Bashir's doorstep in Gaza five years ago explained the new geography of his home in terms he understood only too well. His three-storey house was to be like the West Bank, the Israeli officer said, with its areas of divided security and administrative control.
The army designated the living room as "Area A", after the part of the occupied territories where the Palestinians have control, and told all three generations of the Bashirs, from 81-year-old Zanah to her five-year-old granddaughter, that they were confined there for most nights and sometimes for much of the day. It was the only part of the house they could still call their own.
The bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms were "Area B", where Palestinians administer themselves but Israel has security control. In the Bashir home that meant soldiers had priority and the family had to ask permission to cook or go to the toilet.
And then came "Area C", where the Israeli military government runs everything and the Palestinians have no authority. The soldiers warned the Bashirs that all of their home above the ground floor was Area C and if they ventured up the stairs they would be shot [...]
The house that became a war zone
Chris McGreal
Tuesday October 4, 2005
The first soldiers to arrive on Khalil Bashir's doorstep in Gaza five years ago explained the new geography of his home in terms he understood only too well. His three-storey house was to be like the West Bank, the Israeli officer said, with its areas of divided security and administrative control.
The army designated the living room as "Area A", after the part of the occupied territories where the Palestinians have control, and told all three generations of the Bashirs, from 81-year-old Zanah to her five-year-old granddaughter, that they were confined there for most nights and sometimes for much of the day. It was the only part of the house they could still call their own.
The bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms were "Area B", where Palestinians administer themselves but Israel has security control. In the Bashir home that meant soldiers had priority and the family had to ask permission to cook or go to the toilet.
And then came "Area C", where the Israeli military government runs everything and the Palestinians have no authority. The soldiers warned the Bashirs that all of their home above the ground floor was Area C and if they ventured up the stairs they would be shot [...]
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Fourteen Terrorist Attacks a Day against Israel - Pipes
This is quite a stat.
Fourteen Terrorist Attacks a Day against Israel
Daniel Pipes Weblog
September 29, 2005
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has released the following:
Today (Thursday), 29.9.05, will mark five years since the start of the current round of Palestinian violence, during which 26,159 terrorist attacks were perpetrated against Israeli targets, in which 1,060 Israelis were murdered and 6,089 were wounded.
That comes out on average to 5,232 attacks a year or 14.33 per day, every single day. One can only speculate how many more thousands of attacks were prevented. For anyone not living in Israel or Iraq, this figure staggers the imagination.
Fourteen Terrorist Attacks a Day against Israel
Daniel Pipes Weblog
September 29, 2005
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has released the following:
Today (Thursday), 29.9.05, will mark five years since the start of the current round of Palestinian violence, during which 26,159 terrorist attacks were perpetrated against Israeli targets, in which 1,060 Israelis were murdered and 6,089 were wounded.
That comes out on average to 5,232 attacks a year or 14.33 per day, every single day. One can only speculate how many more thousands of attacks were prevented. For anyone not living in Israel or Iraq, this figure staggers the imagination.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Making a pig's ear of defending democracy - Mark Steyn
Making a pig's ear of defending democracy
By Mark Steyn
Telegraph
04/10/2005
[T]he United Kingdom's descent into dhimmitude is beyond parody. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (Tory-controlled) has now announced that, following a complaint by a Muslim employee, all work pictures and knick-knacks of novelty pigs and "pig-related items" will be banned. Among the verboten items is one employee's box of tissues, because it features a representation of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. And, as we know, Muslims regard pigs as "unclean", even an anthropomorphised cartoon pig wearing a scarf and a bright, colourful singlet.
Cllr Mahbubur Rahman is in favour of the blanket pig crackdown. "It is a good thing, it is a tolerance and acceptance of their beliefs and understanding," he said. That's all, folks, as Porky Pig used to stammer at the end of Looney Tunes. Just a little helpful proscription in the interests of tolerance and acceptance. And where's the harm in that? As Pastor Niemöller said, first they came for Piglet and I did not speak out because I was not a Disney character and, if I was, I'm more of an Eeyore.
And aren't we all? When the Queen knights a Muslim "community leader" whose line on the Rushdie fatwa was that "death is perhaps too easy", and when the Prime Minister has a Muslim "adviser" who is a Holocaust-denier and thinks the Iraq war was cooked up by a conspiracy of Freemasons and Jews, and when the Prime Minister's wife leads the legal battle for a Talibanesque dress code in British schools, you don't need a pig to know which side's bringing home the bacon.
...
Only the other day, Burger King withdrew its ice-cream cones from its British restaurants because Mr Rashad Akhtar of High Wycombe, after a trip to the Park Royal branch, complained that the creamy swirl on the lid resembled the word "Allah" in Arabic script. It doesn't, not really, not except that in the sense any twirly motif looks vaguely Arabic. After all, Burger King isn't suicidal enough to launch Allah Ice-Cream. But, after Mr Akhtar urged Muslims to boycott the chain and claimed that "this is my jihad", Burger King yanked the ice-cream and announced that, design-wise, it was going back to the old drawing-board.
...
When every act that a culture makes communicates weakness and loss of self-belief, eventually you'll be taken at your word. In the long term, these trivial concessions are more significant victories than blowing up infidels on the Tube or in Bali beach restaurants. An act of murder demands at least the pretence of moral seriousness, even from the dopiest appeasers. But small acts of cultural vandalism corrode the fabric of freedom all but unseen.
Is it really a victory for "tolerance" to say that a council worker cannot have a Piglet coffee mug on her desk? And isn't an ability to turn a blind eye to animated piglets the very least the West is entitled to expect from its Muslim citizens? If Islam cannot "co-exist" even with Pooh or the abstract swirl on a Burger King ice-cream, how likely is it that it can co-exist with the more basic principles of a pluralist society?
...
By the way, isn't it grossly offensive to British Wahhabis to have a head of state who is female and uncovered?
By Mark Steyn
Telegraph
04/10/2005
[T]he United Kingdom's descent into dhimmitude is beyond parody. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (Tory-controlled) has now announced that, following a complaint by a Muslim employee, all work pictures and knick-knacks of novelty pigs and "pig-related items" will be banned. Among the verboten items is one employee's box of tissues, because it features a representation of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. And, as we know, Muslims regard pigs as "unclean", even an anthropomorphised cartoon pig wearing a scarf and a bright, colourful singlet.
Cllr Mahbubur Rahman is in favour of the blanket pig crackdown. "It is a good thing, it is a tolerance and acceptance of their beliefs and understanding," he said. That's all, folks, as Porky Pig used to stammer at the end of Looney Tunes. Just a little helpful proscription in the interests of tolerance and acceptance. And where's the harm in that? As Pastor Niemöller said, first they came for Piglet and I did not speak out because I was not a Disney character and, if I was, I'm more of an Eeyore.
And aren't we all? When the Queen knights a Muslim "community leader" whose line on the Rushdie fatwa was that "death is perhaps too easy", and when the Prime Minister has a Muslim "adviser" who is a Holocaust-denier and thinks the Iraq war was cooked up by a conspiracy of Freemasons and Jews, and when the Prime Minister's wife leads the legal battle for a Talibanesque dress code in British schools, you don't need a pig to know which side's bringing home the bacon.
...
Only the other day, Burger King withdrew its ice-cream cones from its British restaurants because Mr Rashad Akhtar of High Wycombe, after a trip to the Park Royal branch, complained that the creamy swirl on the lid resembled the word "Allah" in Arabic script. It doesn't, not really, not except that in the sense any twirly motif looks vaguely Arabic. After all, Burger King isn't suicidal enough to launch Allah Ice-Cream. But, after Mr Akhtar urged Muslims to boycott the chain and claimed that "this is my jihad", Burger King yanked the ice-cream and announced that, design-wise, it was going back to the old drawing-board.
...
When every act that a culture makes communicates weakness and loss of self-belief, eventually you'll be taken at your word. In the long term, these trivial concessions are more significant victories than blowing up infidels on the Tube or in Bali beach restaurants. An act of murder demands at least the pretence of moral seriousness, even from the dopiest appeasers. But small acts of cultural vandalism corrode the fabric of freedom all but unseen.
Is it really a victory for "tolerance" to say that a council worker cannot have a Piglet coffee mug on her desk? And isn't an ability to turn a blind eye to animated piglets the very least the West is entitled to expect from its Muslim citizens? If Islam cannot "co-exist" even with Pooh or the abstract swirl on a Burger King ice-cream, how likely is it that it can co-exist with the more basic principles of a pluralist society?
...
By the way, isn't it grossly offensive to British Wahhabis to have a head of state who is female and uncovered?
Friday, September 30, 2005
Social Mobility
An indispensable post on social mobility from Harry's Place (well if you're interested in education and it's effect on social mobility).
Some of the most interesting stuff is in the comments section - particularly by a poster named Old Peculiar.
I was moved to comment but HP requires an email address which I was not willing to give, so instead my comments are here: (though they make more sense if you've read the other comments on HP first.)
"Living in a deprived neighbourhood with a 10 year old son going to secondary school next year I agree with much of what has been said in these comments.
re: grammar schools. I too have been wishing for their return for the admittedly self-interested reason that it would benefit my son. There is one remaining grammar school in our area. There are 1800 applicants for 180 places, so clearly there is a demand. And yes, the well-off are at an advantage, either through having come from a better primary school, or from being able to afford private tutoring for the entrance exam. More grammars school would at least mean more places.
re: streaming. I think OP is right, that this would be a way to make comps work better. Indeed it may be the best answer all round. No entrance exam. More opportunity to change streams at a later date. My own schooling was in a 'normal' comp - good mix of pupils. Neither desperately deprived or unusually affluent. I certainly benefitted from the fact that in my day there were still O levels and CSEs. Having people taught separately for the two different types of exam was an effective form of streaming and I remember those lessons as being more disciplined and challenging than the mixed ability ones. I then went on to a selective state 6th form college which was the first school I encountered where academic ability was genuinely valued by the pupils rather than being something to be hidden or played down.
Ben G is right when he says that a return to grammar schools is also a return to secondary moderns, though as the second series of C4's That'll Teach 'Em showed, they weren't inherently bad - just chronically under resourced. But yes any selective system needs to make equally good (if different) provision for those who are not so academically inclined."
Note: previous impdec threads on education can be found here.
Some of the most interesting stuff is in the comments section - particularly by a poster named Old Peculiar.
I was moved to comment but HP requires an email address which I was not willing to give, so instead my comments are here: (though they make more sense if you've read the other comments on HP first.)
"Living in a deprived neighbourhood with a 10 year old son going to secondary school next year I agree with much of what has been said in these comments.
re: grammar schools. I too have been wishing for their return for the admittedly self-interested reason that it would benefit my son. There is one remaining grammar school in our area. There are 1800 applicants for 180 places, so clearly there is a demand. And yes, the well-off are at an advantage, either through having come from a better primary school, or from being able to afford private tutoring for the entrance exam. More grammars school would at least mean more places.
re: streaming. I think OP is right, that this would be a way to make comps work better. Indeed it may be the best answer all round. No entrance exam. More opportunity to change streams at a later date. My own schooling was in a 'normal' comp - good mix of pupils. Neither desperately deprived or unusually affluent. I certainly benefitted from the fact that in my day there were still O levels and CSEs. Having people taught separately for the two different types of exam was an effective form of streaming and I remember those lessons as being more disciplined and challenging than the mixed ability ones. I then went on to a selective state 6th form college which was the first school I encountered where academic ability was genuinely valued by the pupils rather than being something to be hidden or played down.
Ben G is right when he says that a return to grammar schools is also a return to secondary moderns, though as the second series of C4's That'll Teach 'Em showed, they weren't inherently bad - just chronically under resourced. But yes any selective system needs to make equally good (if different) provision for those who are not so academically inclined."
Note: previous impdec threads on education can be found here.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Beleaguered Sharon orders new Gaza strikes
I have blogged before on Pipes' opposition to the Gaza pullout. Should we see the article below as early evidence that he was right?
Interestingly, the article also reports that the PA backs Israel's view of the explosion that kicked off this round of violence.
Beleaguered Sharon orders new Gaza strikes
Telegraph
26/09/2005
The latest violence was sparked by an explosion that killed 16 people at a Hamas rally in Gaza on Friday. Hamas blamed Israel, and militants fired at least 40 rockets into the Jewish state in response.
Israel, though, denied responsibility and the Palestinian Authority said the explosion appeared to have been an accident caused by Hamas members carrying explosives.
Interestingly, the article also reports that the PA backs Israel's view of the explosion that kicked off this round of violence.
Beleaguered Sharon orders new Gaza strikes
Telegraph
26/09/2005
The latest violence was sparked by an explosion that killed 16 people at a Hamas rally in Gaza on Friday. Hamas blamed Israel, and militants fired at least 40 rockets into the Jewish state in response.
Israel, though, denied responsibility and the Palestinian Authority said the explosion appeared to have been an accident caused by Hamas members carrying explosives.
Pulling out of Iraq
An interesting article from Niall Ferguson on the consequences of pulling out of Iraq.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Liberal Democrat conference sketch
Very funny sketch of the Liberal Democrat conference. "There's a place for meaninglessness in British politics, and the Lib Dems fill it very effectively".
Today Programme
21/09/05
0847 - An overview of the Liberal Democrat's conference so far from Simon Hoggart of the Guardian and Andrew Gimson from the Telegraph.
Permalink
Today Programme
21/09/05
0847 - An overview of the Liberal Democrat's conference so far from Simon Hoggart of the Guardian and Andrew Gimson from the Telegraph.
Permalink
EU winners and losers
Short, readable article lays out the winners and losers of the great EU contributions game.
Holland tops EU paymasters list
BBC News
22 September 2005
EU cash flow figures for 2004 show ... the biggest net contributions ... came from, in order, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and France. But when these net contributions are expressed as a proportion of the countries' national incomes, the Netherlands came first, followed by Sweden, Germany, the UK, Italy, France and Austria.
...
The biggest net recipients were Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Poland, while the countries with the biggest net receipts as a proportion of national income were Luxembourg, Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
India's lost tribe recognised as Jews after 2,700 years
India's lost tribe recognised as Jews after 2,700 years
Telegraph
17/09/2005
With a cry of "Mazeltov" and a Rabbi's congratulatory handshake, hundreds of tribal people from India's north-east were formally converted to Judaism this week after being recognised as descendants of the 10 Lost Tribes exiled from Israel 2,700 years ago. A rabbinical court, dispatched with the blessing of Israel's Chief Rabbi, travelled 3,500 miles to Mizoram on India's border with Burma to perform the conversions using a Mikvah - ritual bath - built specially for the purpose. There were emotional scenes as the Oriental-looking hill people professed their faith, repeating the oath from Deuteronomy: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."
Telegraph
17/09/2005
With a cry of "Mazeltov" and a Rabbi's congratulatory handshake, hundreds of tribal people from India's north-east were formally converted to Judaism this week after being recognised as descendants of the 10 Lost Tribes exiled from Israel 2,700 years ago. A rabbinical court, dispatched with the blessing of Israel's Chief Rabbi, travelled 3,500 miles to Mizoram on India's border with Burma to perform the conversions using a Mikvah - ritual bath - built specially for the purpose. There were emotional scenes as the Oriental-looking hill people professed their faith, repeating the oath from Deuteronomy: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Zionist Banana of Death
Muslims sound alarm over schools
The Age
July 31, 2005
The imam told the students that the Jews were putting poison in the bananas and they should not eat them
--------------------------
Latest Zionist Scheme
From the makers of the Zionist Death Ray TM, Zionist Death Juice TM, and the Zionist Death Lazer TM comes our latest diabolical scheme: the Zionist Banana of Death. TM
The Age
July 31, 2005
The imam told the students that the Jews were putting poison in the bananas and they should not eat them
--------------------------
Latest Zionist Scheme
From the makers of the Zionist Death Ray TM, Zionist Death Juice TM, and the Zionist Death Lazer TM comes our latest diabolical scheme: the Zionist Banana of Death. TM
Short, tall, fat, thin, pretty, ugly
Hey, Gorgeous, Here's a Raise! As for you fatties, we're cutting your salaries.
Steven E. Landsburg
July 9, 2001
Short Changed - Why do tall people make more money?
Steven E. Landsburg
March 25, 2002
From the Short Persons Support Web site:
Standing Tall Against Discrimination
My name is Matt and I am 28 years old. I am 5'5" tall. ... I seem to get laughed at a lot. HA HA HA! I'm the little short guy.
Understanding and Living with Height Discrimination
The current order is that tall white guys (TWG) rule, and are unwelcoming to anybody who would not fit in.
At least the shorties are more environmentally friendly:
Advantages of Shorter Height
Steven E. Landsburg
July 9, 2001
Short Changed - Why do tall people make more money?
Steven E. Landsburg
March 25, 2002
From the Short Persons Support Web site:
Standing Tall Against Discrimination
My name is Matt and I am 28 years old. I am 5'5" tall. ... I seem to get laughed at a lot. HA HA HA! I'm the little short guy.
Understanding and Living with Height Discrimination
The current order is that tall white guys (TWG) rule, and are unwelcoming to anybody who would not fit in.
At least the shorties are more environmentally friendly:
Advantages of Shorter Height
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Palestinian Arabs murder Palestinian Christians
Christianity Dying in Its Birthplace
Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
September 13, 2005
What some observers are calling a pogrom took place near Ramallah, West Bank, on the night of September 3-4. That's when 15 Muslim youths from one village, Dair Jarir, rampaged against Taybeh, a neighboring all-Christian village of 1,500 people.
...
A cousin, Suleiman Khouriyye, pointed to his burned house. "They did this because we're Christians. They did this because we are the weaker ones," he said The Khouriyyes and others recall the assailants shouting "Allahu Akbar" and anti-Christian slogans: "Burn the infidels, burn the Crusaders." To that, an unrepentant cousin of Hiyam Ajaj replied, "We burned their houses because they dishonored our family, not because they are Christians."
Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
September 13, 2005
What some observers are calling a pogrom took place near Ramallah, West Bank, on the night of September 3-4. That's when 15 Muslim youths from one village, Dair Jarir, rampaged against Taybeh, a neighboring all-Christian village of 1,500 people.
...
A cousin, Suleiman Khouriyye, pointed to his burned house. "They did this because we're Christians. They did this because we are the weaker ones," he said The Khouriyyes and others recall the assailants shouting "Allahu Akbar" and anti-Christian slogans: "Burn the infidels, burn the Crusaders." To that, an unrepentant cousin of Hiyam Ajaj replied, "We burned their houses because they dishonored our family, not because they are Christians."
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Ditch Holocaust day, advisers urge Blair
Remember this from the beginning of the year?
Holocaust Day boycott by Muslim Council
Telegraph
24/01/2005The Muslim Council of Britain are planning to boycott this week's commemoration of the Holocaust because they claim it is not racially inclusive.The Queen, Prince Philip and Tony Blair will represent the nation at Thursday's Holocaust Memorial Day national event at Westminster Hall, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.More than 600 Holocaust survivors together with British soldiers who helped liberate the camps will attend.Iqbal Sacranie, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, says it will not attend because the event did not include what it described as continuing human rights abuses and genocide in the occupied territories of Palestine.
Well how about this from today's Sunday times?
Ditch Holocaust day, advisers urge Blair
Sunday Times
11/09/05
ADVISERS appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are proposing to scrap the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day because it is regarded as offensive to Muslims.
...
The committees argue that the special status of Holocaust Memorial Day fuels extremists’ sense of alienation because it “excludes” Muslims. A member of one of the committees, made up of Muslims, said it gave the impression that “western lives have more value than non-western lives”. That perception needed to be changed. “One way of doing that is if the government were to sponsor a national Genocide Memorial Day. “The very name Holocaust Memorial Day sounds too exclusive to many young Muslims. It sends out the wrong signals: that the lives of one people are to be remembered more than others. It’s a grievance that extremists are able to exploit.”
The recommendation, drawn up by four committees including those dealing with imams and mosques, and Islamaphobia and policing, has the backing of Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain. He said: “The message of the Holocaust was ‘never again’, and for that message to have practical effect on the world community it has to be inclusive. We can never have double standards in terms of human life. Muslims feel hurt and excluded that their lives are not equally valuable to those lives lost in the Holocaust time.” Ibrahim Hewitt, chairman of the charity Interpal, said: “There are 500 Palestinian towns and villages that have been wiped out over the years. That’s pretty genocidal to me.”
Choppy waters ahead for the US economy
A great opinion piece from Naill Ferguson in The Sunday Telegraph - 'Waters Are Receding But Katrina Might Still Unleash A Nasty Surprise'
Katrina - American coverage
An interesting montage of the american coverage to the New Orleans hurricane and the political 'blame game'.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Waite calls for bombers' families to attend service
Interesting one, wonder what you guys think about this? FWIW, my take is that it depends on the attitudes of victims' families, they should have a veto, but if they're fine with it, then go ahead.
Oh and Livingstone yet again takes the "utter shite" trophy with his "offensive" comment.
Waite calls for bombers' families to attend service
Telegraph
07/09/2005
Terry Waite, who was held hostage by Islamic extremists for four years, stoked controversy over a memorial service for the London bombings yesterday by calling for relatives of the bombers to be invited.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy suggested that close relatives of the four suicide bombers should sit alongside the families of the 52 victims at the special service in St Paul's Cathedral.
His comments were echoed by Ken Livingstone, the London Mayor, who said that it would be "offensive" if relatives of the bombers were turned away from the service on Nov 1.
...
The suggestion was first raised by Church of England bishops at the weekend. The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Jack Nicholls, said he would like the bombers' families to attend, but only with the approval of the bereaved and injured.
"The families should be consulted. If such a suggestion were to bring more anger between communities it would not be a risk worth taking," he said.
But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and St Paul's Cathedral, which is responsible for the event, said they had decided against such a move. A spokesman for the cathedral said: "Although neither of us attaches any blame to the families of the London bombers, our first responsibility is to the families of the victims."
Brian Coleman, the Tory deputy chairman of the London Assembly, labelled the idea of bombers' families attending as "political correctness gone mad".
Monday, September 05, 2005
A War to Be Proud Of - Christopher Hitchens
A War to Be Proud Of
Christopher Hitchens
09/05/2005
"You said there were WMDs in Iraq and that Saddam had friends in al Qaeda. . . . Blah, blah, pants on fire." I have had many opportunities to tire of this mantra. It takes ten seconds to intone the said mantra. It would take me, on my most eloquent C-SPAN day, at the very least five minutes to say that Abdul Rahman Yasin, who mixed the chemicals for the World Trade Center attack in 1993, subsequently sought and found refuge in Baghdad; that Dr. Mahdi Obeidi, Saddam's senior physicist, was able to lead American soldiers to nuclear centrifuge parts and a blueprint for a complete centrifuge (the crown jewel of nuclear physics) buried on the orders of Qusay Hussein; that Saddam's agents were in Damascus as late as February 2003, negotiating to purchase missiles off the shelf from North Korea; or that Rolf Ekeus, the great Swedish socialist who founded the inspection process in Iraq after 1991, has told me for the record that he was offered a $2 million bribe in a face-to-face meeting with Tariq Aziz. And these eye-catching examples would by no means exhaust my repertoire, or empty my quiver. Yes, it must be admitted that Bush and Blair made a hash of a good case, largely because they preferred to scare people rather than enlighten them or reason with them. Still, the only real strategy of deception has come from those who believe, or pretend, that Saddam Hussein was no problem.
Christopher Hitchens
09/05/2005
"You said there were WMDs in Iraq and that Saddam had friends in al Qaeda. . . . Blah, blah, pants on fire." I have had many opportunities to tire of this mantra. It takes ten seconds to intone the said mantra. It would take me, on my most eloquent C-SPAN day, at the very least five minutes to say that Abdul Rahman Yasin, who mixed the chemicals for the World Trade Center attack in 1993, subsequently sought and found refuge in Baghdad; that Dr. Mahdi Obeidi, Saddam's senior physicist, was able to lead American soldiers to nuclear centrifuge parts and a blueprint for a complete centrifuge (the crown jewel of nuclear physics) buried on the orders of Qusay Hussein; that Saddam's agents were in Damascus as late as February 2003, negotiating to purchase missiles off the shelf from North Korea; or that Rolf Ekeus, the great Swedish socialist who founded the inspection process in Iraq after 1991, has told me for the record that he was offered a $2 million bribe in a face-to-face meeting with Tariq Aziz. And these eye-catching examples would by no means exhaust my repertoire, or empty my quiver. Yes, it must be admitted that Bush and Blair made a hash of a good case, largely because they preferred to scare people rather than enlighten them or reason with them. Still, the only real strategy of deception has come from those who believe, or pretend, that Saddam Hussein was no problem.
...
The peaceniks love to ask: When and where will it all end? The answer is easy: It will end with the surrender or defeat of one of the contending parties. Should I add that I am certain which party that ought to be? Defeat is just about imaginable, though the mathematics and the algebra tell heavily against the holy warriors. Surrender to such a foe, after only four years of combat, is not even worthy of consideration.
...
But a positive accounting [of the war] could be offered without braggartry, and would include:
(1) The overthrow of Talibanism and Baathism, and the exposure of many highly suggestive links between the two elements of this Hitler-Stalin pact. Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who moved from Afghanistan to Iraq before the coalition intervention, has even gone to the trouble of naming his organization al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
(2) The subsequent capitulation of Qaddafi's Libya in point of weapons of mass destruction--a capitulation that was offered not to Kofi Annan or the E.U. but to Blair and Bush.
(3) The consequent unmasking of the A.Q. Khan network for the illicit transfer of nuclear technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea.
(4) The agreement by the United Nations that its own reform is necessary and overdue, and the unmasking of a quasi-criminal network within its elite.
(5) The craven admission by President Chirac and Chancellor Schröder, when confronted with irrefutable evidence of cheating and concealment, respecting solemn treaties, on the part of Iran, that not even this will alter their commitment to neutralism. (One had already suspected as much in the Iraqi case.)
(6) The ability to certify Iraq as actually disarmed, rather than accept the word of a psychopathic autocrat.
(7) The immense gains made by the largest stateless minority in the region--the Kurds--and the spread of this example to other states.
(8) The related encouragement of democratic and civil society movements in Egypt, Syria, and most notably Lebanon, which has regained a version of its autonomy.
(9) The violent and ignominious death of thousands of bin Ladenist infiltrators into Iraq and Afghanistan, and the real prospect of greatly enlarging this number.
(10) The training and hardening of many thousands of American servicemen and women in a battle against the forces of nihilism and absolutism, which training and hardening will surely be of great use in future combat.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Briton dies in Jerusalem stabbing
We'll have to see how this story pans out, but somehow I don't think it'll get similar coverage to another Westerner killed in Israel, Rachel Corrie
--------------
Briton dies in Jerusalem stabbing
BBC News
25 August 2005
A British man was stabbed to death and another injured in an attack in Jerusalem, the Foreign Office has said.
Shmuel Mett, 21, and fellow Jewish religion student Sammy Weisberg were attacked in the Old City area on Wednesday evening. Reports said the men were attacked by a Palestinian with a kitchen knife.
--------------
Briton dies in Jerusalem stabbing
BBC News
25 August 2005
A British man was stabbed to death and another injured in an attack in Jerusalem, the Foreign Office has said.
Shmuel Mett, 21, and fellow Jewish religion student Sammy Weisberg were attacked in the Old City area on Wednesday evening. Reports said the men were attacked by a Palestinian with a kitchen knife.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Israelis 'warned of 7/7 bombings'
Private Eye 1137
22 July 2005
ANOTHER rumour which has circulated widely is that Israeli finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu received prior warning of the bombs via the Israeli embassy and therefore declined to attend a conference in London that day.
This was based partly on an erroneous report from an "official at the embassy" which appeared on the Associated Press wire service, and partly on the determination of anti-semites to believe, just as they did with an equal lack of evidence after the 9/11 attacks in New York, that Jews were warned to vacate the area prior to an attack set up by Zionists keen to demonise Muslims.
This theory is rather hard to square with the fact that the meeting Netanyahu was scheduled to attend was the Israeli Opportunity 2005 conference organised jointly by the Israeli Embassy and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and it was taking place at the Great Eastern Hotel almost directly above the bomb which exploded near Liverpool Street station, which meant that there was actually a significantly higher number of Jews than usual in the area when the bomb exploded.
Netanyahu, however, was not there - as the conference's schedule shows, he was not due to deliver his speech until 9.30, which meant that he had just left his own hotel to make his way to the Great Eastern when he received news of the explosion at Liverpool Street, at about the same time as everyone else, 9.15, when TV and radio stations began reporting it.
Unsurprisingly, his security guards decided to turn back. The unnamed official had simply muddled his times in the confusion (much as everyone else did: the police did not even realise the underground blasts had been simultaneous until the following day), and AP duly withdrew the claim - not that this stopped the Daily Express and Mail on Sunday from reporting it over the weekend, the latter under the spectacularly misleading headline '"No Alert' claim is thrown into doubt".
22 July 2005
ANOTHER rumour which has circulated widely is that Israeli finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu received prior warning of the bombs via the Israeli embassy and therefore declined to attend a conference in London that day.
This was based partly on an erroneous report from an "official at the embassy" which appeared on the Associated Press wire service, and partly on the determination of anti-semites to believe, just as they did with an equal lack of evidence after the 9/11 attacks in New York, that Jews were warned to vacate the area prior to an attack set up by Zionists keen to demonise Muslims.
This theory is rather hard to square with the fact that the meeting Netanyahu was scheduled to attend was the Israeli Opportunity 2005 conference organised jointly by the Israeli Embassy and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and it was taking place at the Great Eastern Hotel almost directly above the bomb which exploded near Liverpool Street station, which meant that there was actually a significantly higher number of Jews than usual in the area when the bomb exploded.
Netanyahu, however, was not there - as the conference's schedule shows, he was not due to deliver his speech until 9.30, which meant that he had just left his own hotel to make his way to the Great Eastern when he received news of the explosion at Liverpool Street, at about the same time as everyone else, 9.15, when TV and radio stations began reporting it.
Unsurprisingly, his security guards decided to turn back. The unnamed official had simply muddled his times in the confusion (much as everyone else did: the police did not even realise the underground blasts had been simultaneous until the following day), and AP duly withdrew the claim - not that this stopped the Daily Express and Mail on Sunday from reporting it over the weekend, the latter under the spectacularly misleading headline '"No Alert' claim is thrown into doubt".
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