tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76927142011-11-27T18:49:46.969-05:00International :: Broad-Minded :: Intelligentbooojnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3501100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-17571207455117966352010-11-03T00:23:00.000-04:002010-11-03T00:23:48.935-04:00

Where Do Democrats Go Next? - NYTimes.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"Funny how commonsense democrats come out of the woodwork once the Dems get stomped during the election. These ideas are good, but were not in evidence while the Dems controlled the entire federal government. Makes me wonder how much these ideas are actually understood within the party.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-47418822344197337342010-10-20T08:56:00.000-04:002010-10-20T08:56:35.655-04:00

Is it too late to ask these guys to do this in the US?Pretty please?

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-61711088366614715712010-10-19T09:00:00.000-04:002010-10-19T09:00:02.497-04:00

This is from the NYT?!"While Mr. Sarkozy has done a terrible job of selling his reform, the opposition Socialist Party was reckless in pretending for weeks that the retirement age could stay unchanged. The real battle has been with the unions, which have unleashed six weeks of marches and disruptive strikes in national transportation and fuel delivery.Despite the widespread inconvenience and

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-39768392383066524522010-09-24T03:58:00.001-04:002010-09-24T04:04:51.944-04:00

Is this what's coming? "Imagine a situation in which inflation has reappeared, and the Fed and other monetary authorities have been forced to tighten interest rates to fight inflation. The prices of government bonds will decline, to take account of new higher yields. Some countries and highly leveraged companies will get into difficulties, forcing a further write-down of their debt obligations.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-63379979689486538132010-09-24T03:52:00.001-04:002010-09-24T04:05:52.529-04:00

Why don't we get interesting information or ideas like this from the political class? They seem to be the least intellectually stimulated bunch among us -- and yet they claim to represent and lead us ever onward and upward. The changing economics of college education

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-84505247614015593022010-09-24T03:10:00.000-04:002010-09-24T03:10:08.891-04:00

This guy gets it right very often.Deleveraging

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-7847041129539548522010-09-23T01:09:00.000-04:002010-09-23T01:09:48.859-04:00

He's an easy target, given his "Stimulus now!" (think Seinfeld) approach to most economic problems.Here's a good essay on why he's just not willing to allow that policy mistakes contributed to the financial mess.Why Is Paul Krugman Blaming Foreigners for the Financial Crisis? - By Raghuram G. Rajan | Foreign Policy: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-3404488499111695602010-06-09T10:00:00.000-04:002010-06-09T10:00:00.618-04:00

Feel the Rage - WSJ.comSpeaking of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the WSJ notes"We should add that so far, based on the available evidence, we don't know if this spill really was a regulatory failure. But no matter, the same liberals who made oil drilling one of the most regulated activities on Earth are now busy deploring the energy bureaucracy and rearranging it so that (they promise)

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-64176662207035312702010-05-25T09:18:00.000-04:002010-05-25T09:18:04.908-04:00

Op-Ed Columnist - Two Theories of Change - NYTimes.comThis view of the divide is not so much based on the party espousing the views, but by the nature of what is said.It's very funny on this read of our political divisions to see conservatives advocating non-conservative (by Burkean standards) positions, and liberals advocating decidedly illiberal political sentiments.Brooks is onto something

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-74887568319437744012010-05-22T23:58:00.000-04:002010-05-22T23:58:26.167-04:00

It's been a while...Anyway, the NYT has an article about how fundamentally unsustainable the welfare state model of democracy is.Payback Time - Deficit Crisis Threatens Ample Benefits of European Life - NYTimes.comThe article hits a few interesting themes, but the most important are how pensions and healthcare are such large drags on the public purse, and that the ratio of employed workers (who

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-40779251659568249672007-06-20T18:53:00.001-04:002007-06-20T18:53:28.876-04:00

It's no secret that New Republicans are a skeptical bunch. No less so than when you tell us that you're mad as hell and you're not gonna take anymore. "Anymore 'what?'", we were naive enough to ask. Well, weather changes. "Damn it, enough's enough", you've cried. And the tirade then moved from being an irrational rant about controlling the weather to a non-too-subtle attack on our way of life.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-39881825392281193302007-05-31T19:40:00.000-04:002007-05-31T20:20:12.891-04:00

For those of you who don't know about Stratfor, I am copying some of their free material below. If one were stranded alone with only a single source of information to while away the time, it would be a tough choice between Stratfor and The Economist.Enjoy!On Iran in Iraq..."Iran is trying to link the nuclear issue to its dealings with the United States on Iraq as a sort of insurance policy.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-4115475643539465132007-03-24T10:52:00.000-04:002007-03-24T10:56:12.425-04:00

From the NYT comes more evidence from a NYC exhibition about the Spanish Civil War of the left's attempt to rehabilitate Communism into a respectable ideology.For their moral vision, the exhibition also suggests, these heroic figures paid yet another price. They were persecuted as loyal members of the Communist Party. One object here is a collection can labeled “Save a Spanish Republic Child”

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-17336639901509436732007-03-12T13:56:00.000-04:002007-03-12T13:56:18.600-04:00

I'm only half facetious when I say that with extreme environmentalism comes the stifling air of communism.Consider how closely the modern extremist environmentalists act like communists. And as I write this last sentence I pause over the word extremist, as I'm not sure that the rank and file aren't increasingly acting like the extremists of yesteryear...Herewith, a semi-random assortment of

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1164465585751966542006-11-25T09:39:00.001-05:002006-11-25T09:39:45.753-05:00

Radioactive Poison Killed Ex-Spy - washingtonpost.com

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1164465549977001322006-11-25T09:39:00.000-05:002006-11-25T09:39:10.343-05:00

In Canada, a Sequel to an Old Cloak-and-Dagger Story - washingtonpost.com

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1163677272709002292006-11-16T06:31:00.000-05:002006-11-16T09:10:55.066-05:00

"It must not be forgotten that the great war is ahead of us, [and it will break out] perhaps tomorrow, or in another few days, or in a few months, or even in a few years. The nation of Muslims must prepare for the great war, so as to completely wipe out the Zionist regime, and remove this cancerous growth. Like the Imam [Ayatollah] Khomeini said: 'Israel must collapse."Oops did we Iranians just

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1162737375782018142006-11-05T09:25:00.000-05:002006-11-05T09:36:15.806-05:00

A friend of mine wrote me an email the other day telling me she is frustrated defending America against her anti-American liberal friends (some of whom are in grad school). I haven't posted in a while so here is my response to her:Dear [friend],That's exactly how I feel about all the America bashing that has been going on since 9/11. Listen, don't get me wrong, I am often hyper-critical of my

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1161775017589300142006-10-25T07:16:00.000-04:002006-10-25T07:16:57.696-04:00

Ir's good to wake up to a story like this -- and from the NYT... Venezuelan’s Diatribe at U.N. May Have Backfired

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1161565373588172592006-10-22T21:00:00.000-04:002006-10-22T21:02:53.590-04:00

And a history of religion fan, go to see this impressive collection of the earliest Christian texts that exist (not for the fundies among us). It's the definitive proof of the evolution of the Bible, as pieced together from the earliest fragments of stories that later went into the Bible.In the BeginningIt's at the Sackler Gallery.

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1161565179572222472006-10-22T20:57:00.000-04:002006-10-22T20:59:39.586-04:00

Thank you for smokingIt's great. Watch it.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1158927479408537042006-09-22T08:12:00.000-04:002006-09-22T09:21:39.716-04:00

There is a persistant belief that Bush has single-handedly squandered the world's collective post 9-11 goodwill.Yesterday Iowa Senator Tom Harkin said just that. "Harkin says, "We tend to forget that a few days after 9-1-1 thousands, thousands of Iranians marched in a candlelight procession in Teheran in support of the United States. Every Muslim country was basically on our side. Just think, in

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1158855278106293362006-09-21T12:12:00.000-04:002006-09-21T12:14:38.140-04:00

Reagan lives...In Warsaw among admirers of his committment to bring down Communism, that is. Think Arabs will give Bush a statue in 20 years thanking him for his committment to bring democracy to the Middle East? My money is on no.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1158841362215724312006-09-21T08:16:00.000-04:002006-09-21T09:18:40.316-04:00

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" in a fiery speech to the United Nations...Venezuelans should be ashamed more than amused at Chavez's rant. Besides becoming a front page entry in the world's press and getting some laughs from (presumably) anti-US and anti-Bush UN delegates, what is such a speech expected to accomplish?It's embarassing that the president of any

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1154280739378280082006-07-30T13:32:00.000-04:002006-07-30T13:32:19.456-04:00

Israel's new war might make some hawks in DC happy, but as I sit here in Cairo, it looks increasingly like a bad idea.Alright, alright, Hizbullah needed to be shown who was numero uno in those parts. Fine. And then?Since the primary group providing services on the ground in Southern Lebanon was Hizbullah, and since generally the whole area was Shi'i, how does Israel intend to win the battle?

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1146222909217735472006-04-28T07:15:00.000-04:002006-04-28T07:15:09.300-04:00

Unless their goal is to tick off as many people as possible, the pro(?) illegal immigration crowd should not release a the US national anthem in Spanish. It just has all the trappings of an argument that didn't have to be. In fact, rather than showing that many Spanish-speaking immigrants are welcome members of the society (as I believe), this song serves only to bolster the casuse of those who

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1144718441635906432006-04-10T21:18:00.000-04:002006-04-10T21:20:41.650-04:00

From the Telegraph's opinion section.Two simple graphs provide needed context, and exemplify the dynamic, fluctuating nature of climate change. The first is a temperature curve for the last six million years, which shows a three-million year period when it was several degrees warmer than today, followed by a three-million year cooling trend which was accompanied by an increase in the magnitude of

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1144337675421237422006-04-06T11:34:00.000-04:002006-04-06T11:34:35.520-04:00

Reuters is reporting that Some 146 people die each week in the northern region where rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have waged war against the Uganda government for two decades. War-related deaths in the region are three times higher than the number of killings in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003 -- a death rate that represents 0.17

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1144336598953125922006-04-06T11:16:00.000-04:002006-04-06T11:16:39.053-04:00

This BBC story says a lot about the difficulty of conducting operations using modern tradecraft. The operations hardly ever remain secret for long.A former US Diplomat believes that the current spying scandal in Greece is a case of our own intelligence agencies not trusting others. While his argument might have some truth to it (namely, that some people within the intelligence community might

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1142943151729765952006-03-21T06:59:00.000-05:002006-03-21T07:12:31.750-05:00

This post will be my 5,634th post about the People's Republic of Chavez.According to the NYT today it is a place for lefties of all stripes to go on pilgrimage -- and possibly decide to stay for good. After all, who needs democracy when you have free universities? And freedom of the press is worthless when that lunatic Bush is trying to kill you using harsh, harsh words. They made me cry a

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1142859706121281362006-03-20T08:01:00.000-05:002006-03-20T19:48:02.863-05:00

An article today in the NYT cites the following research conclusions:¶The share of young black men without jobs has climbed relentlessly, with only a slight pause during the economic peak of the late 1990's. In 2000, 65 percent of black male high school dropouts in their 20's were jobless — that is, unable to find work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent,

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1133457519233922352005-12-01T12:18:00.000-05:002005-12-01T12:18:39.300-05:00

The housing bubble is on everyone's lips these days (more specifically, the imminent bursting thereof). So, it is not unnatural that the Washington Post today is running a story about a woman named Gwendolyn Halford who makes $60k p.a., but who hasn't been able to buy a home that meets her standards (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Parking and washer/dryer in the unit) at her price range -- and she has

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1132335668641987412005-11-18T12:30:00.000-05:002005-11-18T12:41:08.706-05:00

This guy would be comical were he not the commander of a nation's armed forces. In his latest intelligent dissection of geo-political trends, the enlightened Herr Chavez says:"The planet's most serious danger is the government of the United States. ... The people of the United States are being governed by a killer, a genocidal murderer and a madman," Chavez said at a meeting of Venezuelan and

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1130845423198907032005-11-01T06:43:00.000-05:002005-11-01T06:43:43.316-05:00

Obviously Hugo Chavez is a man of deep insight. President Hugo Chavez cautioned Venezuelan parents to protect their children from Halloween with a spooky warning that the US tradition is rooted in "terrorism." "What they have implanted here, which is really a 'gringo' custom, is terrorism," Chavez said, quoted in the local press. "They disguise children as witches and wizards, that is contrary

booojnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1129894482825558602005-10-21T07:30:00.000-04:002005-10-21T07:39:43.766-04:00

 This is my family's house from the backyard. The slant that you see in the foreground building comes from the floodwaters lifting the bulding off of its foundation. Some combination of factors probably caused the 30 degree list: weeks spent soaking in the water; the pressure of the initial surge; and, potentially, wind. In any case, it gets worse inside in the house. 

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1129893876838747872005-10-21T07:24:00.000-04:002005-10-21T07:24:36.846-04:00

I'll try to post some pictures this weekend from the cleanup at my family's house in the Big Wheezy (when you see the dust, you'll understand the pun). When I post them, I'll describe the eerie scene throughout much of the city.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1129893085983596902005-10-21T07:11:00.000-04:002005-10-21T07:41:55.853-04:00

A death is almost always shocking, not least when no signs of illness are visible and no warnings manifest themselves in other ways. It was under these circumstances that I was informed of David Wimer's death early this week. The funeral was yesterday afternoon in a small, simple church that was packed to capacity. A number of people were standing in the back of the church for lack of space,

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1128110684248296822005-09-30T09:43:00.000-04:002005-09-30T16:11:39.556-04:00

Bennett, a conservative radio commentator, stirred outrage for saying on his talk show on Wednesday: "But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down."For those of you who have read Levitt and Dubner's bestseller "Freakonomics" you were already familiar

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1127096777218934742005-09-18T22:26:00.000-04:002005-09-18T22:26:21.176-04:00

During his 25 minutes Saturday, Ahmadinejad delivered what began as a sermon praising the prophets of Islam, Christianity and Judaism and then descended into anti-American vitriol, conspiracy theories and threats. He expressed doubt that the deadly attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, were really carried out by terrorists. He said Americans had brought the devastation of

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1126579496567873612005-09-12T22:44:00.000-04:002005-09-13T20:23:46.860-04:00

Protesters marched through the canyons of Midtown, shoveling leaflets at bewildered shoppers as they chanted things like "Figure it out. It's not hard. Nine-11 was an inside job!" and even "Remember New Orleans!"—as if anyone could forget. They passed by the headquarters of FOX, NBC, Time Warner, and CNN, pausing to shout at the media for ignoring them as a few police officers looked on.The

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1126578541664324842005-09-12T22:29:00.000-04:002005-09-12T22:30:21.180-04:00

Here's an interesting set of stories to appear on the same day. In the first story, Khan is trailed by US intelligence.In a major disclosure, former Dutch Premier Ruud Lubbers has said the Netherlands government in 1975 and in 1986 had refrained from acting against disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir Khan following requests from the US Central Intelligence Agency, media reports

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1126197668693312482005-09-08T12:37:00.000-04:002005-09-08T12:41:08.700-04:00

David Brooks writes in today's NYT about rebuilding New Orleans. His suggestions are practical and should be implementable without too much Sturm und Drang. Read it here.The first rule of the rebuilding effort should be: Nothing Like Before. Most of the ambitious and organized people abandoned the inner-city areas of New Orleans long ago, leaving neighborhoods where roughly three-quarters of the

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1125674295516806602005-09-02T11:18:00.000-04:002005-09-02T11:18:15.576-04:00

The disaster in New Orleans will affect U.S. public relations efforts around the globe. It's hard to be a model for other countries when we look worse than much of the Third World.

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1125670653132820922005-09-02T10:17:00.000-04:002005-09-02T10:26:59.996-04:00

I didn't think it would take long before we heard such analyses out of the Islamic world. But, the question remains: Is Hurricane Katrina working in tandem with al Qaeda? And if so, are there other storms in Katrina's cell? I advocate a joint National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration/FBI inquiry.Apparently, this recent terror attack on New Orleans is part of Allah's larger plot to

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1125594694209960462005-09-01T13:11:00.000-04:002005-09-01T13:35:41.626-04:00

The left is preparing its response to the embarrassing situation unfolding in New Orleans. Will the strategy be to excuse the behavior of the looters, deny the existence of looters as a racist lie (difficult to do in the video age), or blame "The Man"?Floods wash away the surface of society, the settled way things have been done. They expose the underlying power structures, the injustices, the

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1125537532690165562005-08-31T21:18:00.000-04:002005-08-31T21:22:29.000-04:00

Read what this guy says.Black people in New Orleans should be made to understand that the whole world is watching. Any racism people may have is being justified every time they turn on their televisions. If you thought turning around the situation in the black community was tough then, wait until the Democrats you know and love so well, have to explain to their white constituents why they'll need

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1125314570595141312005-08-29T07:22:00.000-04:002005-08-29T07:22:50.596-04:00

Iraq's Sunnis reejct the constitution, eh? The Sunni negotiators subsequently issued a joint statement rejecting the draft and asking the United Nations and Arab League to intervene. By ignoring, in the end, the objections of the country's former Sunni elite, Iraq could face a further spike in the violent insurgency. That insurgency draws fighters from the now-disaffected Sunni minority that

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1125314259585014312005-08-29T07:17:00.000-04:002005-08-29T07:19:03.130-04:00

Ever wonder what old style civil rights leaders do in an increasingly less race conscious America? Well, Jeese went to Venezuela to show support for a neo-communist strongman and to argue for civility (hold your laughter)."Jackson urged U.S. authorities to take action, and said the U.S. government must choose 'diplomacy over any threats of sabotage or isolation or assassination.''We must choose a

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1124708891218494112005-08-22T07:08:00.000-04:002005-08-22T07:08:11.303-04:00

This is real: Cops, Iraqi Style. Halalalalalalaa- BOOOM! Goodbye high speed chases with drunken white trash, hello exploding Sunnis. Shattered glass, body parts, a blood-splattered blue sedan: the grainy video pans over the scene as Iraqi officers comb the site of a drive-by assassination. It's "Cops" Iraqi-style, minus the "Bad Boys" soundtrack but otherwise roughly modeled after the American

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1123673497180939392005-08-10T07:31:00.000-04:002005-08-10T07:31:37.243-04:00

This is just plain dumb. In a nutshell: Congress passed a law in 1997 barring those convicted of capital crimes from being buried in a national cemetery. The law was designed to block the possibility of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, a veteran, being buried at Arlington. But some now wonder whether the restriction should cover a broader range of criminals. ...Towers said his office

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1123542463058446452005-08-08T19:07:00.000-04:002005-08-08T19:07:43.126-04:00

If these are the type of comments that liberal Americans leaders think will be the formula for electoral success in the future, then they may as well quit politics. "They all [Republicans -- ed] need to be locked up because they are all criminals and they are all thieves," said Judge Greg Mathis, the star of the syndicated television program "The Judge Mathis Show." 'They shot and missed when

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1123187769355343192005-08-04T16:36:00.000-04:002005-08-04T16:36:09.460-04:00

According to this article in the American Spectator, it is too good to be true... You wouldn't know it from the mainstream media's reportage, but a significant number of the Muslim "scholars" behind the anti-terrorist fatwa may well pose more of a security risk to the U.S. than all of the inmates at Guantanamo Bay combined. Numerous officials from the Fiqh Council of North America, and the

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1123159326909949932005-08-04T08:42:00.000-04:002005-08-04T08:42:06.986-04:00

No toilet, no seat, says minister Village council candidates in India should be allowed to stand for election only if they have a toilet at home, the rural development minister says.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1122571011243330052005-07-28T13:16:00.000-04:002005-07-28T13:16:51.286-04:00

From the Washington Post today. An organization of top American Muslim religious scholars plans to issue a formal ruling today condemning terrorism and forbidding Muslims to cooperate with anyone involved in a terrorist act, according to officials of two leading Islamic organizations. Safi, who heads the society's Leadership Development Center, said yesterday that "the statement prohibits

booojnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1122351952208934472005-07-26T00:25:00.000-04:002005-07-26T00:25:52.243-04:00

Were we also behind the singing and dancing in the streets of some Arab neighborhoods when the towers fell? Was that also part of our Grand Plan? "We believe they are willing to sometimes sacrifice their own people for the objective to control the whole world," Abu Hamza, president of the Islamic Information and Services Network, told the Melbourne Herald Sun. Read it here.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1121686418015814972005-07-18T07:33:00.000-04:002005-08-09T19:22:52.260-04:00

Radical Lefties are shocked, shocked and outraged. Why, how dare the FBI track them during the Presidential election. After all, what American in his right mind would find it justifiable to allow people to threaten violence and disruptions against a political party? Don't we still have the First Amendment? Can't I threaten to shut down a city, scare the hell out of delegates, burn a Presidential

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1121611847109001042005-07-17T10:50:00.000-04:002005-07-17T10:50:50.250-04:00

On Islamic extremism... "What was Sept. 11 the reprisal for? Why even after the first Madrid bomb and the election of a new Spanish government were they planning another atrocity when caught? Why if it is the cause of Muslims that concerns them do they kill so many with such callous indifference?" "Their cause is not founded on an injustice," he said. "It is founded on a belief, one whose

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1121440379861425702005-07-15T14:10:00.000-04:002005-07-15T11:12:59.870-04:00

An article in todays NY Times, Chinese General Threatens Use of A-Bombs if U.S. Intrudes, mentions the comment from a Major General from the so-called People's Army. He openly advocates the PRC's nuclear first-strike capability against the US in a Sino-US struggle over Taiwan. He wants to change the PRC's official policy against using nukes first. Keep in mind that it is generally believed that

Vnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1121358129682154552005-07-14T12:22:00.000-04:002005-07-14T12:22:09.740-04:00

China and Russia, those happy bastions of freedom and democracy, non-interference and human rights, have issued a joint communique today that implicitly sticks a big middle finger in the direction of their overbearing western neighbour (no, not Japan). In it, they maintain Differences and disputes must be solved through peaceful means rather than through unilateralism or coercion. There should

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1121186151191398812005-07-12T12:35:00.000-04:002005-07-12T12:35:51.246-04:00

From today's Washington Post: In China, the divide between rich and poor is greater than before the peasant-led revolution that brought the Communist Party to power in 1949. Last month, China's government announced that the income gap had widened in the first three months of the year, with the richest 10 percent of the population controlling 45 percent of the country's wealth and the poorest 10th

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1120771123051949592005-07-07T17:18:00.000-04:002005-07-07T17:18:43.096-04:00

I found this link to a group called the Progressive Muslim Union. A couple of their Statements of Principles caught my eye: "We call for critical inquiry and dynamic engagement with Islamic scripture, early Muslim sources, the Islamic intellectual heritage, and traditional and current Muslim discourses. Critical inquiry should always proceed from a commitment to justice and compassion for all,

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1120732089634016752005-07-07T06:28:00.000-04:002005-07-07T06:28:09.700-04:00

Looks like al-Qeada's M.O. Watch the European Left blame us. Link

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1120576017287454112005-07-05T11:06:00.000-04:002005-07-05T11:18:32.260-04:00

Attackers attempt to take Ayodha, a central flash-point of inter-religious conflict in India between Hindus and Muslims.Militants [thought to be Pakistan-based Muslims -Ed] blew up a security wall with a car bomb and stormed a Hindu shrine at the heart of India's biggest religious controversy Tuesday, triggering a gunbattle in which security forces killed five attackers.Meanwhile teachers in

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1120574173000211372005-07-05T10:36:00.000-04:002005-07-05T11:19:07.713-04:00

Militants engaged in shoot-out with Syrian security forces.Sana reported that security officers had been on the trail of the men for several days, and that some of the men who fought the security services were believed to have been former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein.Minor note to the overall Islamic Insurgeny, but interesting nonetheless.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1120531170977838672005-07-04T22:39:00.000-04:002005-07-04T22:39:31.050-04:00

Happy 4th of July, New Republicans!Bourgeois

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1120108172203368272005-06-30T04:00:00.000-04:002005-06-30T01:09:32.246-04:00

I am always cautious of predictions, particularly when they come to the Middle Kingdom. Such an ancient place has a resilient tendency to amaze. However, I am not so reticent to make predictions about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Their days have been and are numbered. Theirs is a discredited and forgotten ideology that is in many ways being daily chipped away by Western liberalism (little "

Vnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1119877938404662032005-06-27T09:12:00.000-04:002005-06-27T09:12:18.446-04:00

According to a defector, China is merely biding its time until the day it is strong enough to attack Taiwan (and by extension the US), an event probably precipitated by large-scale social unrest that can be defused by the war. The same defector reiterates how much the US is China's primary enemy (specifically the Chinese Communist Party), and how obsessed they are with eventually "striking back".

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1119467748802638242005-06-22T15:15:00.000-04:002005-06-22T15:15:48.856-04:00

In Australia, two former members of the Chinese intelligence network have applied for asylum. They say that the Chinese government has at least 1000 spies in Australia alone, many of whom work outside of diplomatic cover to infiltrate dissident anti-Communist Chinese groups. If Australia has 1000 spies, how many more, prey tell, does the US have?

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1119444347747218562005-06-22T08:45:00.000-04:002005-06-22T08:45:47.826-04:00

Among Muslims in southern Thailand, there is a belief that the central government ignores them, mistreats them and generally doesn't like them. Thus the best hope for the beleagured Muslims is to succceed from Thailand and form a country governed by the righteous justice of the Koran and Sunna: a southern Thai-style Taliban, but with more curry and less facial hair. While this feeling may not be

booojnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1118247132043726542005-06-08T12:12:00.000-04:002005-06-08T12:15:42.576-04:00

Great article from the Washington Post today.A few good quotes (and a nice piece of investigative journalism):Their goal [the Syrian Jihadis], he said, is restoration of the Islamic caliphate, the system that governed Muslims before the rise of nation states. Abu Ibrahim said he regarded Afghanistan during the Taliban rule as one of the few true Islamic governments since the time of Muhammad. "

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1118243946594504102005-06-08T11:19:00.000-04:002005-06-08T11:19:06.713-04:00

Does anyone else find it odd that Bolivian peasants, miners and union activists are willing to strike (violently and repeatedly) over the rate of taxation that foreign firms must pay on extracted natural gas? What about the nationalization of the entire Bolivian oil and gas industry? I find it very strange that people would leave their jobs, villages, towns and families to go to the capital city

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1118056969889414932005-06-06T07:22:00.000-04:002005-06-06T07:22:49.960-04:00

The blog, that is. I had a death in the family that required flying back to the Cajun land of my birth. That was followed by a ton of personal affairs, including helping my neighbours pack their U-Haul for the move to the Big H. We at NR wish them well. The Commies (real ones) there are a bit frightening. Anyway, I'm not linking to anything right now, just letting you know that all is well.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1116576626343001582005-05-20T04:10:00.000-04:002005-05-20T04:19:48.736-04:00

As a life-long Star Wars fan, to hear Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, use the "you're either with us, or against us" line (or something to that effect) was more than just a little painful. Unfortunately, that was not the only overt political parallel thrown into the script of the final Star Wars film. Obi Wan Kenobi's response to Vadar's threat was a biting "Only the Sith deal in absolutes." The

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1116325782412824652005-05-17T06:29:00.000-04:002005-05-17T06:29:42.466-04:00

Harvard is spending $50 million bucks to make its faculty more diverse. Sigh. Why is it that my alma mater just doesn't fire everyone who isn't on a diversity list to really stand head and shoulders above other universities in the diversity rankings? I know that I am being absurd, but the fact that the Big H feels compelled to spend $50 million dollars to hire people based on their secondary

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1116239261292285932005-05-16T06:27:00.000-04:002005-05-16T06:27:41.356-04:00

A new Pew Study makes a surprisingly accurate analysis of the political coalitions of the Right and Left. Both groups come across are far more heteronomous than they are often portrayed (a conclusion that fits with my experience). Here are some highlights. "The Pew study found that, in terms of personal income, the Republican Enterprisers and the Democratic Liberals look almost identical. About

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1116013888389440472005-05-13T15:51:00.000-04:002005-05-13T18:33:56.166-04:00

Today's Washington Post has an article that made me laugh. Such archetypical leftist cant is rarely found anymore in its pure form. To wit:Speaking at the Washington Convention Center, [Donald, ed.] Kagan's subject was right in line with the usual topics taken up in previous Jefferson lectures (a $10,000 honor sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities). He gave a stout talk, "In

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1115810504649973012005-05-11T07:21:00.000-04:002005-05-11T07:21:44.933-04:00

Mention that someone was a CIA agent and polar opposite feelings erupt in most people, typically depending on the person's feelings for the agency. The question here for the great and good people of conscience everywhere (exempting myself as a person with little conscience) is can the US fight a war against terrorism while possibly having someone responsible for loss of life in the cause of

booojnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1115263502732769892005-05-04T23:25:00.000-04:002005-05-04T23:25:02.740-04:00

We almost had him. Again. "The Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is reported to have been seen on Wednesday at the hospital in Ramadi, which was later searched by US forces. The director of the hospital, Munam Aftan, told the Iraq-based newspaper Al-Zaman that US troops surrounded and raided the entire hospital, searching for al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq."

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1115263372652262782005-05-04T23:22:00.000-04:002005-05-04T23:22:52.910-04:00

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! "The counterterrorism source, a former top CIA official, said that the laptop also revealed that Zarqawi is actively recruiting most of his suicide bombers from Yemen and Saudi Arabia. 'He was doing that in Europe, within the Muslim communities, but the European countries are now watching closely,' he said. 'There are hundreds and hundreds of Saudis who are trying to be

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1115262996237245932005-05-04T23:16:00.000-04:002005-05-04T23:16:36.576-04:00

Maybe Zarqawi's 15 minutes of fame are about up. The letter, dated April 27, was signed by Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni, who Whitman said was an Al Qaeda member and veteran of fighting last year in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. The letter was seized during an April 28 raid in Baghdad, the military said. The writer condemns some middle-rank Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq -- the ''emirs

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1115262688707511762005-05-04T23:11:00.000-04:002005-05-04T23:11:29.146-04:00

THE TEXAN reports: Shouts became so pervasive during the question-and-answer session that Coulter informed the organizers she would no longer take questions if the hecklers were not silenced. For a time, the shouts were considerably lessened, until the issue of gay marriage was broached. Coulter said she supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman on the basis that a good

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1114773431473808532005-04-29T07:17:00.000-04:002005-04-29T07:17:11.473-04:00

Part of this might be true, but I strongly doubt that most of it is true. Although I admit that I want to believe the allegations, if only to watch Elanor Holmes-Norton (DC's Congresswoman) get fired up with righteous indignation. Heh.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1114773058269843742005-04-29T07:10:00.000-04:002005-04-29T07:10:58.270-04:00

Data From Space, Oceans Validate Global Warming Timeline

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1114740376102892372005-04-28T22:06:00.000-04:002005-04-28T22:06:16.103-04:00

the new Bin Laden His recently found computer is a trove of info, including global recruitment attempts and recent contact with Zawahiri. Zarqawi's gotten away from us at least three times now. Who will get whom first?

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1114600491709187812005-04-27T07:14:00.000-04:002005-04-27T07:14:51.710-04:00

Still in Lebanon U.N. member states and the Lebanese opposition have told the United Nations that Syrian military intelligence has taken up new positions "in the south of Beirut and elsewhere, and has been using headquarters of parties affiliated with the government of Syria as well as privately rented apartments for their purposes," said a report Annan made to the Security Council and released

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1114424396941247952005-04-25T06:19:00.000-04:002005-04-25T06:19:56.940-04:00

Howard Dean, the paragon of lefty optimism, is on the stump to get the Democrats back in the White House. Here are some of his comments. Dean has suggested that they [Republicans] are "evil." That they are "corrupt." He called them "brain-dead" during a stop in Toronto -- and while the Terri Schiavo case was still in the news. He has tagged Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) as a "liar." Last week, the

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1113995850054609602005-04-20T07:17:00.000-04:002005-04-20T19:22:20.303-04:00

I'm not certain where I stand on this guy. It's not that the allegations that he intimidates his subordinates into following whatever he says -- even when they know better -- don't bother me. But is this behaviour constant or are we dealing with an isolated incident? If he really is a royal ass to his staff, would that necessarily make him a bad appointee to the UN? Crappy bosses exist in most

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1113563803190027572005-04-15T07:16:00.000-04:002005-04-15T07:16:43.190-04:00

The New York Times > International > Asia Pacific > China Is Pushing and Scripting Anti-Japanese Protests: "Enraged about Japan's tendentious textbooks and territorial disputes in the East China Sea, Sun Wei, a college junior, joined thousands of Chinese in a rare legal protest march on the streets of Beijing last weekend. Yet the police herded protesters into tight groups, let them take turns

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1113186861405959272005-04-10T22:34:00.000-04:002005-04-10T22:43:20.376-04:00

Well, it's tough to say. Politics are often a zero-sum game. You fight to win and to the winner goes all the spoils. If we throw DeLay to the sharks, we risk giving the Dems a window of opportunity. By backing DeLay, do we have to affirm his entire ultra-righty platform? Chris Matthews has often talked about the dilemma of the "blue plate special", when you pick a party to join, you often must

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112879804535347752005-04-07T09:16:00.000-04:002005-04-07T11:52:36.303-04:00

ZANU-PF JoyMugabe, that fun-loving white supremist, is going to il Vaticano for the Pope's funeral. Since he is technically banned from visiting the EU (but not from visiting the Vatican), he can mingle among the boring heads of state who sought to contain him in his African Nirvana, regaling them with stories of his electoral success, his people's great love for him, and the 1200 pound crocodile

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112814524589012762005-04-06T15:08:00.000-04:002005-04-06T16:11:22.140-04:00

The West is struggling to recover from a week of havoc believed caused by a displeased and vengeful God. Evidence of God's wrath initially caused concern in Europe when His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, was brutally struck down at the age of 84. Vatican spin doctors immediately blamed the Holy Father's death on "his long struggle with Parkinson's disease and old age." Their explanation seemed

Guy Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15449097806105644067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112783181172923892005-04-06T06:26:00.000-04:002005-04-06T06:26:21.173-04:00

According to the NYT this morning, The White House is maintaining extraordinary restrictions on information about the detention of high-level terror suspects, permitting only a small number of members of Congress to be briefed on how and where the prisoners are being held and interrogated, senior government officials say. Some Democratic members of Congress say the restrictions are impeding

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112699299720092562005-04-05T07:08:00.000-04:002005-04-05T07:08:19.720-04:00

This article is wild. It is the logical end to so many lefty complaints about corporations and big business -- which is precisely the point of this guy's actions. Yet now lefties are running away from this guy (well, most of them). Odd that they do, given that he merely made manifest the rage inside so many misguided souls. Read the article. It's worth it.

booojnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112610730889581622005-04-04T06:32:00.000-04:002005-04-04T06:32:10.890-04:00

BBC NEWS | Africa | Israeli envoy dies of head wound I knew Doron from my time living in Ethiopia. We lived in the same hotel. May he rest in peace.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112566490653224902005-04-03T18:14:00.000-04:002005-04-03T18:14:50.653-04:00

The Holy Qu'ran apparently describes the end of the USA from multiple tsunami waves sometime in 2007. The sad thing is that some people will honestly believe this. For the rest of us, this is just funny.

booojnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112406402144540472005-04-01T20:46:00.000-05:002005-04-01T20:46:42.143-05:00

For god's emissaries on Earth. First, Schiavo dies, then the Pope moves in the same direction and finally the Rev Falwell is taken to the hospital in critical condition. And if you consider him to be an emissary, then you could add that Buchanan had salad dressing chucked on him at some school in Michigan. Sheesh.

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112096178474311872005-03-29T06:36:00.000-05:002005-03-29T06:36:18.473-05:00

No, not the kind found on sunglasses. Another article has been written about yet another survey -- this one is the largest to date -- identifiying how very lefty are America's institutions of higher learning. College faculties, long assumed to be a liberal bastion, lean further to the left than even the most conspiratorial conservatives might have imagined, a new study says. By their own

booojnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112060792788216352005-03-28T20:46:00.000-05:002005-03-28T20:46:32.786-05:00

As much as the eco-commies annoy me with their relentless pessimism and silly utopian wonderlands, I have to appreciate their sense of beauty. This is the Muir woods, just across the bay from San Francisco on an intensely beautiful day. Bourgeois

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112060462984602762005-03-28T20:41:00.000-05:002005-03-28T20:41:02.983-05:00

See the afterburner? Some poor guy has to hold the fabric surrounding the flame away from it. That's another argument for a college education.Bourgeois

booojnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692714.post-1112060159369253002005-03-28T20:35:00.000-05:002005-03-28T20:35:59.370-05:00

From my recent trip to California's wine country and San Francisco. No one told me that a hot air balloon is a wicker basket with a small afterburner attached to it.Bourgeois

booojnoreply@blogger.com1