Isaac Schrödinger

Beagle

Cute.

Bucking for the Axis

I was born in the subcontinent, so I know that Gujarat is a state in India. That's what made this one of the weirdest things I've read:

"Hinting that like Iraq, Gujarat could become a target of the US government, he said the US had a record of building 'a case' against a country for some years and then attacking it."

One doesn't need to build a case for years to attack regimes in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia...but why would the US want to attack a democratic country or one of it's states?

Hmm, it seems that even Indian politicians have no quarrels about milking anti-Americanism. Antisemitism might not be far off.

The Aussies Still Rule

In all the hoopla of the India vs. Pakistan cricket matches, I forgot that the world champions were playing against New Zealand. The weather ruined their 2nd Test as Australia simply didn't have time to win by an innings as they would have. No worries, the Aussies will rip NZ apart in the final Test. NZ just don't have the firepower, in either the batting or bowling department, to stop the Australian juggernaut.

De Facto Pro-fascist

From Terrorism Unveiled:

"We had some ideas of what had been committed during Saddam's era, but after the investigations we realized that what we've been hearing before doesn't even come near to what was committed in reality," he said. "Before, Iraqis couldn't speak about it and they kept it in their chests. Now, after the war, they started to speak. Iraqis will not be astonished" at what they hear during the trials. "But they will be proud of the tribunal they put their trust in."

After 30 years of atrocities, Saddam's many crimes will finally be aired for all to see. If the anti-war protesters, who are still opposed to the war, had any sense of decency, they should be ashamed. However, in reality, President Bush is a bigger evil to them. They'd rather have Saddam's regime in control of Iraq than have the Americans and the Allies build a capitalist democracy there. Yet, they have the gall to call themselves paragons of moral virtue.

They are some of the most morally bankrupt creatures in the West.

Japanese Subs in 1945

Damn:

An I-400 and I-401 were captured at sea a week after the Japanese surrendered in 1945. Their mission -- which was never completed -- reportedly was to use the aircraft to drop rats and insects infected with bubonic plague, cholera, typhus and other diseases on U.S. cities.

The US saved the world a lot of misery by dropping the two nukes almost 60 years ago. Imagine the suffering and death that could have been prevented if only Britain had nukes in 1939.

Link via Cold Spring Shops.

Mmmm

I think I gained a few pounds by just looking at this photo.

Yummy. Photo taken from Nina Camic at The Other Side of the Ocean.

Hunh

Jay Nordlinger gets an email:

Jay,

I'm a grad student at the University of Pennsylvania, and I recently attended a party thrown by several grad students in the social sciences. It did not disappoint. Late in the evening, the various flirtations and invitations to further . . . um, "contact" began. In particular, I happened to notice one couple making out rather furiously in the corner of the room.

I also happened to recognize the man with whom the young lady was playing tonsil hockey as the husband of another woman — of a colleague of mine. Without thinking before I spoke, I wondered aloud if his wife was at this party, and what she might think of her spouse's extracurricular activity.

The reaction of several acquaintances (all female grad students) standing near me was instantaneous. One student immediately turned to me and shrieked loud enough for the entire room to hear: "What are you, a Dick Cheney supporter or something?!?!?!"

Says a lot, doesn't [i]t?

Indeed, it does.

Perfect

Mark Steyn:

What I love about Bolton, America's new ambassador to the U.N., is the sheer volume of "damaging" material. Usually, the Democrats and media have to riffle through decades of dreary platitudes to come up with one potentially exploitable infelicitous soundbite. But with Bolton the damaging quotes are hanging off the trees and dropping straight into your bucket. Five minutes' casual mooching through the back catalog and your cup runneth over:

The U.N.? ''There is no such thing as the United Nations.''

Reform of the Security Council? ''If I were redoing the Security Council, I'd have one permanent member: the United States.''

International law? "It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law."

Offering incentives to rogue states? "I don't do carrots."

I - heart - Bolton.

When Will They Learn?

Caroline B. Glick:

... Sharon, like Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak before him, rendered his political fortunes completely dependent on the whims of the terrorists.

As a result, he cannot admit that what Abbas is doing is not simply antithetical to peace but also manifests a strategic threat to Israel's security — and indeed, to global security. If Sharon were to tell Israelis the truth about Abbas and his terrorist chums or about their Egyptian sponsors, he would be admitting that all his detractors in his own political camp were right all along.

The Israelis don't seem to have the sense or the will power to finish the terrorists. Instead, they again and again try to make a deal with the terrorists and in return get a mirage. In the meantime, the terrorists rearm and restart the killings of innocents.

Why are (most of) the Israelis so bloody naive?

Kryptonian Dock

I had the same thought. This looks like something that Jor-El would use.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Fact Checkin'

Ah, the high standards of the MSM: example WaPo.

Life

Me, me, and me.

Thank God, no thanks to the husband, Terri Schiavo will have another chance to live.

Slaves to Freedom

Oh my God. Two people, an employer and an employee, are in agreement over the wage. According to Dirk Niebel of the Liberal Democratic party in Germany, that's immoral. Sigh.

Germans are simply creating more economic misery by following anti-capitalist, and thus anti-freedom, policies. This is a classic case of how not to manage the economy.

Hmm, I wonder what Dirk Niebel thinks about eBay. Perhaps, to him, eBay is blasphemy.

Qatar Attack

Via LFG, comes these photos of the terrorist attack in Qatar. Earlier, Natasha provided her thoughts on the preaching of Jihad in Qatar.

Ind vs. Pak, 2nd Test, 5th Day

Younis is out 1st ball on the 5th day. He scored a 2-ball duck. Sheesh. Earlier, Younis scored a duck in the 3-day practice match. Since then his 4 consecutive innings scores are 9, 1, 147, 0. He has reached double digits in 1 out of 5 innings against the Indian players.

Inzi is in. I can't imagine the pressure. If he fails to score and Pakistan loses, he'll be mercilessly ripped apart for his poor display. If he scores and Pakistan still lose, his captaincy will be questioned. And as I'm writing this post, Inzi is out! The team that loses this match won't be able to win the next one.

Taufeeq is out next ball! If ever there was a performance of a lifetime for Youhana, this might be it.

Update: Youhana was out for 22 after consuming a decent amount of deliveries. Kamal played the best innings from the Pakistani side and scored a half-century. It wasn't enough as India won by 195 runs. Anil Kumble demolished Pakistan's line up by taking 7 wickets in the last innings. However, Dravid was rightly Man of the Match for his two classy centuries.

India have the momentum now and the final test is theirs for the taking. I'd be surprised if Pakistan were to fight back to win the third test.

A Naughty Interest

At 7:53 pm today, someone searched for this on google. Hmm, should I feel lucky?

Ouch

A smart kid.

Link via Pej.

Unusual

Can you hear me now?

Link via Engadget.

This Blog Supports Bolton

I love it. Finally, a man who cares about the interests of the US. Let the useful idiots whine.

Respect for Women

Wow. An honest Islamist in NY.

Good Stuff!

These pictures are worth a trillion words. Oh, it hurts to laugh. The last six photos are classics.

Link of the month via, everyone's favorite Aussie, Tim Blair.

The Death Penalty II

In response to Eugene Volokh's post, I wrote:

You murder one innocent, you get the death penalty. You torture and murder tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, and still the punishment is the death penalty. That's why I think the death penalty is a minimum for Saddam. If it was within my power, I would take Hussein to the Kurds and tell them to do whatever they wished with him. We know that Saddam is not going to find God in that moment but he certainly will get back a small fraction of the atrocities he committed.

Yesterday, Eugene Volokh wrote:

... Maimon points to George Orwell's criticism of what he saw as the unduly painful hangings of some Nazis after World War II. I find much to admire in Orwell, but I don't share his generosity here (I speak here of the Nazi leaders generally, though recognizing the possibility that some lower-level military officials deserved to live, or even deserved to die painlessly).

Of course, as Matt and Clayton point out, these penalties are obviously inadequate. Like punishment generally, these punishments don't bring back the dead, or even inflict a fraction of the pain that the monsters have inflicted. But one should do what one can, and surely Eichmann et al. offer as strong examples as possible.

[Emphasis mine]

That's precisely the point on which I agree with Eugene Volokh. Of course, it's a different matter whether the US government will approve cruel punishments or not. As you can see with the ridiculous amount of qualifiers I put up at the end of my last post, these punishments won't be approved.

Eugene Volokh goes on to respond to the many counter arguments. They are worth a read. Be sure to look at the links at the end of his post for even more 'ridiculously' long posts.

Ind vs. Pak, 2nd Test, 4th Day

Dravid proves again that he is the most valuable batsman in the Indian team by scoring centuries in both innings of this test. Karthik almost pulled off an "Akmal" in the 2nd innings. He painfully fell short of his century by 7 runs. The Indian team made identical scores of 407 in both innings. However, in the 1st innings, they were all out. In the 2nd, they declared with 1 wicket in hand.

Pakistan were set 422 runs for victory. Afridi, of course, raced to his half-century in as many balls. He was, fortunately for India, out in the 2nd last over of the day. He made a 59-ball 59. Pakistan now require 327 runs in 90 overs with 9 wickets in hand. Can Inzi, Youhana, Younis, Kamal, Razzaq, and Akmal score runs when it matters most? After 4 grueling days of cricket and under immense pressure, can these mortals deliver a historic victory? What will happen?

I have followed Pakistani cricket long enough to know that anything can happen. Though, I will make one prediction: the team that wins this test match will go on to win the series. How's that for pressure.

Yikes

I don't have much faith in the upcoming Airbus SuperJumbo because of scenes like this. To make matters worse, it seems that the Airbus management is trying to cover up the negative evaluations.

I'm going to stick with the Boeing 777.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

From schools in the Netherlands:

The radicalism dates according to Berg from before September 11. “It varies each year. Ten years ago we hearth [sic] in group 7 and 8 [age around 10-11 years old] pupil’s say: “We Moroccans take over the Netherlands”. Now we see pupil’s in-group 3 [age around 5 years old] - who can barely write – already write phonetically ‘Fuck you Netherlands’ on small papers. Pupils in-group 8 have a photo of Mohammed B. [Killer of Theo van Gogh] in their schoolbag, they seem [sic] him as their hero.

The murderer of Theo van Gogh is a hero to these kids. They have been raised on poison in their Muslim communities.

Note the update to the post. Europe will pay the price for fostering a new generation of Jihadis.

Heads Firmly in Sand

Lorenzo Vidino:

Recently, the German public was shocked to hear what is preached inside Saudi-funded mosques and schools. In the fall of 2003, a hidden camera-equipped journalist from Germany's ARD television infiltrated the Saudi-built King Fahd Academy in Bonn and taped what it taught to young Muslim children. One teacher called for jihad against the infidels.[68] While the images elicited a rebuke from German politicians, the rather sterile debate about Saudi influence on German Muslims has not effected tangible change. Saudi officials and Saudi-run nongovernmental organizations continue to groom Muslim Brotherhood organizations.

[Emphasis mine]

Standing up to these Islamists requires a lot of effort. However, it's fairly easy to point at the POTUS and call him names. Germany and most of Europe seems to have taken the easier - and bloodier - road.

The Key is to Lie

Michael Lewis:

There was a brief time, from about 1985 to 1991, when high-powered males demonstrated their status by marrying equally high-powered females with high-paying jobs. That time has passed. The surest way for a man to exhibit his social status — the finest bourgeois bling — is to find the most highly paid woman you can, working in the most high-profile job, and shut her down. Bonus points if her job is typically viewed as a "man's" job. Find, for instance, a female professor of science at Harvard and persuade her to swap her Bunsen burners for your Viking gas ones; you will earn the degree of respect typically reserved for CEOs and movie stars. Bonus points for making her unemployment stick.

Wow, this is some great advice.

It's Friday

VDH:

Whatever one thinks of Bush’s Iraqi campaign, the president obtained congressional approval to invade and pledged $87 billion to rebuild the country. He freely weathered mass street demonstrations and a hostile global media, successfully defended his Afghan and Iraq reconstructions through a grueling campaign and three presidential debates, and won a national plebiscite on his tenure.
...
So what gives with this crazy popular analogy — one that on a typical Internet Google search of “Bush” + “Hitler” yields about 1,350,000 matches?

Bush has to remain evil to these Bush haters. To admit otherwise would be an admission of rich idiocy. How can one keep on spewing venom towards a guy who has crushed tyranny and brought so much freedom in the Muslim World? You can't. That's why entire sections of societies ignore popular opinion in Afghanistan and Iraq, and continue to call President Bush the reincarnation of Hitler and the American soldiers the SS.

Read Hanson's entire column.

Ind vs. Pak, 2nd Test, 3rd Day

Pakistan's last 8 wickets crumbled for 112 runs. I was expecting a lot more from them. All credit to the Indian bowlers who secured themselves a lead going into the 2nd innings.

Mohammad Sami who went wicketless in the 1st innings, thundered back in the 2nd to remove both the openers. Dravid, the key batsman, is still there. If India put up a lead of over 300 runs on the 4th day, then it'll be very tough for Pakistan in the last innings.

Who knows? At the end of the 1st day, India had the advantage, at the end of the 2nd, Pakistan had the upper hand, and now at the end of the 3rd, the Indians have the edge. The fans in the stadium are certainly getting their money's worth. Just imagine how spectacular the one-day matches are going to be. I'm already salivating.

Sad Flop

P.J. O'Rourke:

America is not doctrinaire. It's hard for an American politician to come up with an ideological position that is permanently unforgivable. Henry Wallace never quite managed, or George Wallace either. But Kerry's done it. American free speech needs to be submitted to arbitration because Americans aren't smart enough to have a First Amendment, and you can tell this is so, because Americans weren't smart enough to vote for John Kerry.

Kerry still can't believe that he lost to that idiot.

Most Satisfying

I prefer the term 'classical liberal' for myself. No surprise here:

I'm in the company of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, and the future ruler of the world. Take the Politopia quiz and find out where you are.

I Knew It!!!

This is unequivocal proof that Cheney is eeevil.

Applebaum

Anne Applebaum writes a most simple but profound piece for JWR:

... there is pressure at Harvard Law School, and at other law schools, to ensure that at least half the students chosen for the law review are women. Quite frankly, it's hard to think of anything that would do more damage to aspiring female lawyers. Neither they nor their prospective employers will ever know whether they got there as part of a quota or on their own merits. There's nothing wrong with a general conversation about how women can be helped to succeed in law school or taught not to fear having strong opinions. But trust me, in none of these contexts do you want to start calculating percentages.

Common sense is not common.

OT, I'm reading Ms. Applebaum's immense account of the Soviet concentration camp system - Gulag: A History. It's truly a titanic achievement. She has given a voice to innocent millions who cannot speak.

I'll never think of Ms. Applebaum as just a token.

Super

For only $12,500:

... a designer’s wet dream come true.

Freedom

Cool. Indeed.

Drink-me

Classy?

The Death Penalty

Eugene Volokh agrees with the Iranian regime in this matter. My visceral reaction is the same.

The topic of the death penalty has come up, on many occasions, while talking to friends. All of them oppose the death penalty for murderers. The logic for not giving a murderer the death penalty is the same: what then is the difference between a murderer and the jury? Aren't we reduced to their level when we execute them? Note that I'm talking about strict anti-death penalty. These people oppose the death penalty in all cases.

A murderer doesn't merit any mercy. The deliberate act of, or complicity in, murder absolves the person's right to life. I wouldn't want to provide a lifetime of food and shelter to the killers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. I want them to die. We owe that to the many souls who were extinguished. I wouldn't want to simply lock up serial killers. I want them to die. The many affected families should get that closure. I wouldn't want the 9/11 planners to be put behind bars. I want them to die. America deserves that.

Some people don't think that Saddam should be killed because then the current Iraqis will be no different than him. This is the monster who is directly responsible for the deaths of millions. He has tortured and butchered Iraqis, Iranians, and Kuwaitis over a period of more than 30 years. He built palaces and paid money to the families of suicide bombers in Israel while Iraq starved. The least he deserves is the Mussolini treatment.

Not all killing is bad. We can all think of many evil characters from WWII who should have been killed before they opened the darkest chapter in human history.

Update: The perpetrators of this heinous crime also warrant death.

Update: This is in response to the comments below made by Erg.

Zyklon B and a lethal injection will get you the same result: death. However, the former is long and painful whereas the latter is short and likely painless.

That is the whole point. The infliction of pain to monsters. Death seems too sanitized and too little for the crimes committed. This is an emotional reaction.

You murder one innocent, you get the death penalty. You torture and murder tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, and still the punishment is the death penalty. That's why I think the death penalty is a minimum for Saddam. If it was within my power, I would take Hussein to the Kurds and tell them to do whatever they wished with him. We know that Saddam is not going to find God in that moment but he certainly will get back a small fraction of the atrocities he committed.

Isn't this act barbaric, and monstrous? Yes, it is and Saddam fully deserves it. If some folks out there ever get the chance of giving the Roman treatment to Osama, you have my blessing.

Does this mean that I support amending the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause? No, mainly because there are bigger fish to fry. After we've won WWIV, implemented a flat tax rate, removed tariffs and subsidies, had tort reform, fixed education and Social Security, then I'll support amending the Clause.

Fear

Today, the topic in the tutorial discussion was Vietnam. Imperialism, anti-communism, and arrogance of power were some of the reasons given for this war.

One of the discussion leaders specifically made the comparison to the present war: LBJ didn't listen to opposing views and neither did GWB, there was a fear of communists then, now there is a fear of terrorists. As an example, he said that he saw a report on a US news show which screamed that there were terrorists in Canada! So, this fear of terrorists is quite real. Another person said that it's supposed to be a war on terrorists (with the obligatory air quotes) and yet they're in Iraq.

It's not surprising to hear that World War IV is like the Vietnam War. The template is simple: The current war in which the US is engaged is like the Vietnam War. I've never heard of World War I and II, and the Persian Gulf War of 1991 being used for comparisons. Such is the mystic hold of Vietnam.

I didn't bother responding to that but I don't think a comparison between Vietnam and World War IV is valid. Four reasons:

• The US mainland was not attacked by any Vietnamese forces.
• There is no superpower which could supply aid to Afghanistan and Iraq.
• The US has an all-volunteer force today.
• At present, the logistics situation for the US troops is better plus the modern American soldier is a lot more lethal because of better training and technology.

Later, the tutor mentioned that the great academic Noam Chomsky (I'm not joking) thinks that the US won the Vietnam War since the Left was destroyed in Vietnam.

I shudder to think what students will be reading in a few years about President Bush and World War IV. Perhaps, for example, in 2004 the great soldier John F. Kerry was defeated by the fear mongering campaign of President Bush, the peace loving world was subjected to another 4 years of the 'military-industrial complex', the 'queen of terror' took over the State Department, the 'architect of war' became the president of the World Bank, etc.

At least, it'll be interesting to read the spin.

Ind vs. Pak, 2nd Test, 2nd Day

Yesterday, I wrote:

Pakistan should be able to restrict India to 400 tomorrow.

It all depends on Pakistan's batting. Will Afridi maul the Indian bowlers? Will Younis Khan finally put some runs on the board? Can Akmal perform another batting feat? Can Youhana score a hundred against India? We'll find out in the next two days.

Today, Pakistan restricted India to 407, and we got answers to 3 out of the 4 questions. Afridi had just, just, started his explosive batting when he was out for 29.
When the total score was at 70, the poor Umar departed for 18.

That brought Younis and Yousuf together who put up an incredible partnership of 203. Younis Khan had the better strike rate and reached his well-hit century. Younis had scored a 1-ball duck in a 3-day practice match against the Indians and then turned in an embarrassing performance in the last test. I was certainly very critical of him. He was given another chance in this test and he finally seized the opportunity.

Yousuf Youhana reached his century and pushed the partnership above 200 runs with the last ball of the day. Youhana and Younis both scored almost the same amount of 4s (Younis:14 and Youhana: 13). The Pakistanis need to put up more partnerships like this.

They are at 273/2 and can put up a huge total. A total of 600 runs should be achieved by tomorrow considering that Inzi, Kamal, Akmal, and Razzaq have yet to bat.  We'll likely know the outcome of this test by end of the 3rd day.

This is turning out to be a very competitive series. The Pakistanis are playing as a better unit. The Indians, however, are still the stronger team.

Whoa

Yahoo! news:

The Senate, by a 51-49 vote, rejected an attempt by Democrats and GOP moderates to remove a refuge drilling provision from next year’s budget, preventing opponents from using a filibuster — a tactic that has blocked repeated past attempts to open the Alaska refuge to oil companies.

[Emphasis mine]

This has been a fabulous day for President Bush.

Link via LFG.

Wolfowitz

See, this proves that Bush is controlled by the Jews the neo-cons!!! /sarcasm.

President Bush's second term appointments are turning out to be very bold. I like it.

Link via KJL at the Corner.

Antisemitism in Canada

Damian:

B'nai Brith says antisemitic hate crimes in Canada were up 47% last year.

...

The report notes the existence of an antisemitic hate website created by a teenager right here in Newfoundland, where the entire Jewish population - 140 people - could probably fit on a couple of school buses. Then again, as the Prime Minister of Malaysia showed, you don't need a significant number of Jews living near you to hate them.

I sadly don't see this trend of increasing antisemitism in Canada reversing.

Typos Gone, Illogic Remains

Yesterday, the Instadude linked to this blog. I visited that blog today. Come on, only one post in seven days. Another thing, spacing between paragraphs is your friend. Trust me on this.

A few minutes ago, I read this post at Myopic Zeal via Michelle Malkin. Hunh, I didn't see those spelling mistakes when I read the new blog. I was correct.

So, between 6:50 am (the time Eric, the zealous man, posted his entry) and 10:30 am (the time when I read the new blog), the entry at Camp4u was polished. Yet, no change is acknowledged and no credit is given to Myopic Zeal. That's just poor etiquette. Give credit where it's due.

Update: Myopic Zeal comments below. Stacey Campfield doth have a sense of humor.

Ind vs. Pak, 2nd Test, 1st Day

India won the toss and, of course, elected to bat. Sehwag again blasted the Pakistani bowlers. The fresh Afridi got him when he was sailing at 81 runs.

Then entered Sachin R. Tendulkar who became only the 5th person to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Here's a nice tribute to this great batsman. I remember watching Tendulkar bat when he was in his late teens. His skill and beauty impressed me. His careful placement and smart hitting of boundaries seemed so easy. The only other player who played with such grace was Saeed Anwar.

Afridi proved his immense worth again when he got Tendulkar at 52. However, the golden wicket of Dravid was taken by Kaneria. Dravid as usual scored a measured 110. India ended the day at 344/6. India couldn't repeat the carnage that took place in the previous match. Pakistan should be able to restrict India to 400 tomorrow.

It all depends on Pakistan's batting. Will Afridi maul the Indian bowlers? Will Younis Khan finally put some runs on the board? Can Akmal perform another batting feat? Can Youhana score a hundred against India? We'll find out in the next two days.

Germany Decays, Again

Times Online:

“ADOLF HITLER was a great German statesman,” the bête noire of the German Establishment said as he sat in a room darkened by bombproof shutters.

One would hope that such an immoral being wouldn't get much support from the German population. Let's look at the numbers:

The chances of Herr Voigt’s party coming to power next year are remote, but polls suggest that 14 per cent of Germans share his views, and he has even wider support on issues such as immigrant children in inner-city schools.

[Emphasis mine]

A socialist friend of mine once remarked that the Americans are very xenophobic. He used Pat Buchanan as an example. I responded that in the 2000 presidential election, Buchanan got less than 1 percent of the popular vote. He replied, 'but even that's huge'. I wonder what he'd say regarding the Nazi resurgence in Germany.

NOOOO

... George Lucas could just decide to cash in with a little product placement and digitally insert this monstrosity into the original trilogy ...

Leave Star Wars alone, George.

Apologists for Jihad

Melaine Phillips posts about an article which was published in a school's magazine in Britain:

People who are in a wretched state, being deprived of basic moral justice, because of the ongoing deliberate actions of others, have a right to violence against them, if no other course of action is as likely to meet their objective of improving their predicament. In particular, those peoples who are being denied a right to self-determination in their native soil by foreign colonialist occupations - a right their tormentors take for granted with respect to themselves - and suffer as a result have a right to armed resistance, if no other way is available. By contrast, there is no right to violence if the objective is ultimately to exploit further, conquer even more and steal more land, as is the case with Israeli violence.

Audacious Israelis defending themselves = wrong.
Deprave Palestinians murdering innocents = right.

The editor of the magazine thought that this sick article was kosher. The writer and the editor are both useful infidels.

Blame Bosh

Mark Steyn:

What’s happened in the last couple of weeks is that Bush has persuaded the French and the Saudis that Assad is a loser, and there’s no downside to putting the skids under him. And the way things are going most Middle East regimes would rather pile on Damascus lest Bush turn his attention elsewhere. Last week’s Arabic News reported that Colonel Gaddafy has “underscored the need to launch full freedom in Libya”. And to show he’s serious he’s introduced yet another spelling of his name: as the headline put it, “Qathafi Wants Freedom To Prosper In Libya”. Qathafi: that’s a new one on me. I’ve seen him spelled Khadafi, Qaddafi, Gadhafi, Qudhafi, Kadafi, Gheddafi, Kaddafi, Qadhdhafi and a couple dozen others, but clearly this latest one is an indication that, like Mubarak in Egypt, he’s under pressure to move to a multi-candidate electoral system and is planning to run as all of them: Gadafi (Sclerotic Dictatorship Party), Qadafi (Sword Of The Infidel Slayer-Liberal Democratic Alliance), Gaddhafi (New Sclerotic Dictatorship Party), Khaddaffy (Khonservative Phartty)…

Steyn is rich. I hope that someday I could write like that.

No Fun in Islam

Riding Sun:

Oppressive regimes, on the other hand, can't afford to let any such seeds of independence germinate among those they rule; hence the strict laws controlling the appearance and conduct of women in many Islamic dictatorships. In such lands, Islam has become at least as much a tool of control as a path to God.

He is more right than he knows. The Taliban banned shoes for women that made any kind of noise because it distracted men (from religion). They also banned women from laughing out loud in the public arena for the same reason. One would only see men and dementors in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Women were nowhere to be seen. SEXY was thoroughly crushed, the punishment for WHISKEY was death, and DEMOCRACY was gagged.

Thanks to the US, that has all changed.

Useful Infidels in Canada

When is "hate" not considered hate? When it's the hatred of Jews Israelis, of course.

The article describes the sad, spineless, and shameful response from the Canadian authorities. I bet that these authorities would consider LFG hateful for simply pointing out the sickness pouring out from the Muslim world.

Link via LFG, of course.