Aug. 29 -- I assume

Aug. 29 -- I assume you already read James Lileks, but he has a beauty that shouldn't be missed on dealing with North Korea.

Why not nuke North Korea's nuke test? They've said they're going to have a test; I presume we know where that will be. So we nuke it the day before. There's a big explosion, a mushroom cloud; they blame us. We say what are you talking about? You said you were going to light one off. And you did. No! You did it! Right. We nuked your nuke test. And that makes sense . . . how, exactly? It would certainly keep them off their game. And just after we nuke the test - and every subsequent test, of course - we put a call to Li'l Kim's cellphone, and someone with a Texas accent says oh, I'm sorry, wrong number. I was tryin' to reach a live man.

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Aug. 29 -- The young

Aug. 29 -- The young Brantford police officer, Const. Cyrus Villa, who was injured while chasing a suspect last July is doing better; as of Aug. 20 he lifted his arms over his head and has a little movement in both his thumbs.

I too tend to take both the man and women in blue and those in khaki too much for granted, but we can and should remember to include them in our prayers.

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This time from the Christian

This time from the Christian Science Monitor: Are you a neoconservative?.

Hmm, I'm a realist. Cool.

(Via Moving Target.)

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Aug. 29 -- This doesn't

Aug. 29 -- This doesn't appear to be a joke: Politicians new face of reality TV.

A new reality series in France will spotlight the daily routine of French families with a live-in government offical in tow. Not scheduled to launch until October, the series is already sparking debate in French political circles.

Supporters, like government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope, said the show -- for now dubbed "36 Hours" -- could help put France's often remote political leaders in touch with the public.

"It's a way of showing that politicians aren't aliens from outer space," said Cope, who is billed as the star of the show's first episode. Cope is a former lawmaker in France's legislature.

The new reality show, to be broadcast on television station TF1, will follow a government figure as he or she works, eats and lives with a French family for up to two days.

This one has Emmy Award (or the French equivalent) written all over it, although it has yet to be decided if it should be in the documentary or fiction category.

(Via Neale News.)

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Aug. 29 -- It is

Aug. 29 -- It is easy to forget about Canadian troops now stationed in Afghanistan, but there is a National Post reporter embedded with them, Chris Wattle who reports on a disgusting trick played on the soldiers' families:

Many of the 1,900 Canadians posted to Afghanistan do not wear name tags for security reasons. Intelligence officers working with the Canadian battlegroup for example, as well as members of JTF-2, the elite Canadian special forces unit.

But a rough count of the men and women walking through the camp yesterday suggested that as many as a third of them have taken their nametags off. They cannot all be doing top secret work.

"I just don't want to take the chance," said the master corporal. "Even if it's a small one."

What the troops are worried about is the situation that is said to have developed during peacekeeping missions to the former Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s, when local Croats, Serbs or Bosnians somehow obtained the names of some Canadian soldiers serving as peacekeepers and used the information to get their home addresses and telephone numbers in Canada.

Family members began getting ominous telephone calls late at night.

"Absolutely, it's true," said one officer, who -- not surprisingly -- wore no nametag.

"[It] happened to one of my corporals in Bosnia in '97. Somehow, his name got out, the local Serbs passed it along, I guess, and next thing you know his mom is getting phone calls in the middle of the night with some guy saying: 'Your son is dead.' "

Although Canadian commanders in Kabul said the stories were unconfirmed, they have nonetheless been keeping a close watch on the local workers who help run and construct Camp Julien and on the dozens of poor Afghans who descend on the camp's garbage every morning. Intelligence officers suspect that the names of soldiers in Bosnia were obtained by gleaning through garbage to find discarded envelopes from home, with return addresses written on them.

The names and addresses were then passed along to collaborators in Canada, who began making the calls.

One Canadian intelligence officer in Kabul, who -- needless to say -- wore no nametag, said that the troops have a right to be concerned.

"It happens a lot more often than you'd think," he said. "It happened to the German contingent [who patrolled west Kabul before the Canadians] seven times."

(Via Neale News.)

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Aug. 29 -- The Washington

Aug. 29 -- The Washington Times looks at the Wesley Clark flirtation with politics as evidence of his lack of principles and a basic understanding of the electorate Wesley Clark -- Mercenary

Mr. Clark's evasiveness regarding his Democratic Party affiliations is troubling, but his ignorance of American politics is more disturbing. Last week on ''Crossfire,'' Mr. Clark said: "The majority of the people in this country really aren't affiliated with parties, they're independent." This is dead wrong. Three-quarters of the voters register as Republicans or Democrats, and another five percent or so belong to minor parties. Four out of five voters identify themselves as partisans because they embrace the particular set of political ideals for which their chosen party stands. They grasp something that apparently eludes the general: Politics is about principles.

Mr. Clark is a mature man whose intellectual formation includes West Point and Oxford University. If choosing between political parties is so difficult for him, it reveals a core lack of principles. This mercenary mentality raises serious doubts concerning his fitness for the presidency.

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Aug. 29 -- Jonah Goldberg

Aug. 29 -- Jonah Goldberg has a solution to the controversy over the Ten Commandments momument: I bring you ten - no, five - Commandments

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Aug. 29 -- N.Korea says

Aug. 29 -- N.Korea says U.S. endangers nuke talks by their "hostile policy."

The warning came as negotiators were discussing North Korea's nuclear issue on the final day of the six-way talks in Beijing. South Korea's chief delegate told journalists that the six nations had agreed to meet again in another round of talks.

But the North's state-run news agency said the United States had jeopardized the chances of further talks. "The next round of meetings is in danger because the United States refused to change its hostile policy toward North Korea," the (North) Korean Central News Agency said.

"The United States said it can make the next round of talks if we speak of giving up our nuclear program. This means the United States will move only after we are disarmed," KCNA said. It was the North's first public reaction to the six-party muclear talks that began Wednesday.

And it was well worth waiting for, I assure you. So much new information to digest . . .

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Aug. 29 -- The Sun

Aug. 29 -- The Sun (UK) editorial has some thoughts about BBC-style reporting Is he guillible or just stupid?

THE chairman of the BBC governors, Gavyn Davies, reveals all that is wrong with BBC news.

The sheer incompetence that allowed a grave and false allegation to be broadcast without following the basic rules of journalism exposes the arrogance at the heart of the BBC.

The Today programme's Andrew Gilligan sparked a storm when he claimed Downing Street “sexed up” the Iraqi arms dossier and the Prime Minister misled Parliament to take the country to war.

We now know there was not a shred of truth in that story, yet instead of apologising for the BBC's dangerous blunder, Davies continues to defend the indefensible.

Davies claims at the Hutton inquiry that the BBC were only reporting allegations from a source — not making them.

What an irresponsible statement.

No matter that the story was untrue, came from just one source and was broadcast unchecked.

Even Lord Hutton was aghast at such a weak defence.

Davies then had the nerve to criticise Alastair Campbell for making a public complaint on behalf of the Prime Minister.

The complete naivety in this whole sorry episode shown by Davies and his fellow BBC governors is enough to make you weep.

Davies says Gilligan's report is “just another of those episodes which Today tends to trip over occasionally.”

Gullible? Incompetent? Or just plain stupid?

Either way, at least the chairman's head must roll if the BBC is to reclaim any credibility as a serious news broadcaster.

[...]

HERE'S a Sun exclusive using the Gavyn Davies standards of reporting:

A senior source tells us that Davies's real name is Geraldine, he had a sex swap 20 years ago, he likes to Morris Dance in the nude, kicks his dog and has secret massages from Carole Caplin.

Davies denies this allegation, and The Sun looks forward to a public inquiry. (Their emphasis)

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Aug. 29 -- The unveiling

Aug. 29 -- The unveiling of Robert Mugabe's retirement palace must be infuriating to the people of Zimbabwe as Mugabe triples fuel price as country sinks deeper into crisis:

Zimbabwe all but tripled the price of petrol for ordinary citizens yesterday. In an attempt to relieve the critical fuel shortage, the government partly abolished the state oil company's monopoly of fuel imports.

It allowed private firms to impose stiff rises in petrol and diesel prices at the pumps, although they are still far short of black market prices. The state company, Noczim, will continue to supply fuel at heavily subsidised prices for its own vehicles, public transport and agriculture.

Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis as a result of President Robert Mugabe's decision to seize white-owned farms and redistribute the land to blacks, including his own cronies.

The violent seizures started a severe spiral that has brought plummeting tobacco exports, a cut in international aid, a sharp loss of income from tourism and shortages of food, fuel, foreign currency and even local banknotes. Inflation is 400 per cent.

Farmers and even taxi drivers make more money by selling their allocation of fuel rather than using it. The government has responded by banning anyone from carrying a petrol container without a permit.

Under the two-tier pricing system, private companies will be able to sell petrol at 1,170 Zimbabwean dollars per litre, nearly three times higher than the subsidised price of Z$450 but well below the black market price of Z$2,000.

The price of diesel leapt from Z$200 to Z$1,060.

And this is the guy that African leaders (and Canadian PM Chretien) and so determined to protect. Appalling.

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Aug. 29 -- Details are

Aug. 29 -- Details are still sketchy about the car bomb that killed the Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, Shiite leader of the Supreme Council for Iraq (SCIRI). His cousin, the Ayatollah Mohamad Sa'eed al-Hakim was the target of a bombing Sunday which killed three of his bodyguards and wounded 10. In that attack, a bomb had been placed next to the wall of his home.

Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim is the brother of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim is a member of the Iraq Governing Council.

The US is protesting the airing of death threats against members of the Iraq Government Council which are being aired on Al-Arabiya.

In a recent interview with Time magazine, Def. Secy. Donald Rumsfeld said we do have enough forces in Iraq but need to make the best possible use of the forces already there. L. Paul Bremer has stated that it isn't more troops that are needed but better intelligence and cooperation from the Iraqi people in order to thwart terrorist attacks.

UPDATE: CNN is now reporting that Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim is the nephew of Mohamad Sa'eed al-Hakim.

Check The Command Post for regular updates on Iraq.

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Aug. 29 -- Immigration hearings

Aug. 29 -- Immigration hearings continue into the 19 Toronto men who were detained as security risks. 16 have had hearings thus far; two have been released on bail and 14 have been ordered to remain in custody. One more will face a hearing today and two others will have hearings next week.

Christina Blizzard rightly objects to phrases like "creeping facism" and having these detainments equated with Germany in the 1930's.

UPDATE: According to this Toronto police are looking for the "agent" at the center of the suspected terrorist sleeper cell who is said to be the link between the phantom business school that sold them fraudulent documents and the 19 detained men. They are also looking for another 12 men who may have been part of the cell.

(Via Neale News.)

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Iraq good news update

Aug. 28 -- From On the Third Hand is news from Iraq that you won't see on CNN (can any of you picture Jane Arraf upbeat? Me neither.)

Go; good read.

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Aug. 28 -- Better make

Aug. 28 -- Better make sure this is in the archives NK says it may test nukes because everybody knows that's the traditional way to celebrate disarmament talks.

North Korea has told multi-party talks in Beijing it is preparing to declare itself a nuclear nation and is contemplating testing nuclear weapons, a U.S. official said in Washington.

The question from the U.S. administration standpoint, the official said, is "whether this is a serious and irreversible statement or part of their past pattern of starting every conversation by being threatening to see if it wins them something."

In July, a Japanese newspaper quoted Japanese and North Korean sources as saying Pyongyang was prepared to conduct a nuclear test unless the United States responded positively to its proposals for resolving the nuclear crisis.

Here's a postive response for them, one with protons, neutrons, electrons . . . Just kidding! Honest!

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Aug. 28 -- A new

Aug. 28 -- A new Mark Steyn column for The Spectator Leave It To America in which he points out the lunacy of turning Iraq over to the UN.

If it weren't tragic, in the proper sense of the word, it would be laughable. Nonetheless, hurrying back to New York, Kofi Annan held a hasty press conference at Stockholm airport to make sure everyone knew who to blame. ‘We had hoped that by now the coalition forces would have secured the environment for us to be able to carry on the essential work of political and economic reconstruction, institution-building, and for Iraqis to carry on with their work. That has not happened.'

It wasn't the coalition forces who filled your building with Saddamite agents, Mr Secretary-General. That was your choice.

The Canal Hotel turned out to be a perfect microcosm of the UN: a group of naive internationalists refusing to take the murkier characters prowling the corridors at face value and concerned only to keep the US at arm's length. Yet for Kofi Annan, the French, the Democratic party and the world's media, the self-inflicted insanity of what happened to the UN in Baghdad apparently demonstrates the need for Washington to hand over more control of Iraq to the blue helmets because ‘they've got far more experience in these kinds of situations'. The UN's track record at nation-building varies according to the strength of the local obstructionist. Mr Vieira de Mello did such a good job transforming East Timor from the brutalised province of a Muslim dictatorship to a functioning infidel democracy that whoever makes Osama bin Laden's audio tapes these days added it to his list of grievances against the West. But the dapper diplomat did a less impressive job in Cambodia, where Hun Sen decided to hijack the state, King Sihanouk strung along, and the UN colluded in the subversion of its political settlement.

If Kofi got his hands on Iraq, as world opinion so devoutly wants, the Cambodian scenario would be more relevant than the East Timorese. The most determined obstructionists in this case would be Iraq's Arab neighbours: Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and co. don't care whether the country winds up under another Baathist psychotic or a rent-a-rant mullah, or even a restored Hashemite as long as he's at least minimally repressive...

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An interesting essay by Sheriff

An interesting essay by Sheriff Mike Cook It's For The Children on how governments could balance the budget if they dumped the laws designed to protect Stupid from himself. Excerpts:

There are three things the government can do to help cut our taxes to a level we can all live with. The first is to stop duplication of services. This is a big one and needs to be addressed. The second one is to repeal all the laws on the books that protect us from ourselves. The third thing is to stop government from giving special interest group agendas protection and special privileges.

The sad thing is that once these laws [which protect us from ourselves] are on the books they are not cost effective. We then put more burden on our law enforcement officers to enforce these dumb laws, instead of focusing their attention on the bad crimes we need them to work on. They even have a fund here in Oregon that gives extra money to local law enforcement for officers to work overtime to enforce seat belt laws. They call these "grants". The truth is that these are tax money that is being spent because someone got a dumb law passed, most likely the insurance companies.

Oh yes, the insurance companies love these laws. Instead of inserting a clause in the contract you sign that they don't have to pay if you are not wearing your seat belt, they get a law passed to attempt to make everyone wear the belt, because the masses are too dumb to do it on their own.

You see it's all a matter of trust. We don't trust the government and they don't trust us to do the right thing. So they keep passing laws for us that will protect us from ourselves. How dumb can it get? Well you watch. We are about to get a bunch of our elected officials time wasted, not to mention tax money, on passing law to regulate ATV's so that people who take them out and have fun with them will be more safe. Remember it's for the children.

(Via Rational Review.)

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Aug. 28 -- Steven den

Aug. 28 -- Steven den Beste has an essay over at USS Clueless about the ongoing talks with North Korea Hitting the fan in Korea which is, on the whole, pretty optimistic. He also provides some insight as to why the Chinese are anxious to prevent a meltdown.

My 2 cents: That the Chinese are confident that, if provoked, the US will attack North Korea just might just have something to do with our recent expedition into Iraq, hmmm?

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Aug. 28 -- New Ann

Aug. 28 -- New Ann Coulter column up Liberal Arguments: Still A Quagmire and it goes without saying she comes out swinging.

But liberals are indignant for every day that we haven't turned a barbaric land into Vermont. They were willing to give Stalin 36 years for the awkwardness of his revolution. We have essentially imposed a revolution on Iraq – and liberals give us a month to work out the bugs. U.S. forces in Baghdad say that Iraq is well on its way to establishing American-style representative democracy and might even be holding its first free elections in less than a year. Within three years, the Iraqi people could be recalling their first governor.

Not to mention compete in the 2004 Olympics minus the evil Udai managing with battery posts and jumper cables ...

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Aug. 28 -- A new

Aug. 28 -- A new Quizilla adventure awaits: Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?

I should be in "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" which happens to be one of my favourites (prior to reading it I had never heard of Shroedinger's Cat.)

(Via Ghost of a Flea.)

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Aug. 28 -- Paul has

Aug. 28 -- Paul has a post that folks in Toronto might want to look at: it is about a move by Montreal's former suburbs to demerge. He also has some good comments about the nature of municipal politicans I have come to a conclusion... and their bottom-feeding ways.

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