Month: May 2003

Why didn’t they fact-check his ass?

Scanning the four-page long account of Jayson Blair’s lies and deceptions, I can’t escape the feeling that all this hoohah over Blair on the Times’ part is misdirection. OK, the guy lied, fabricated, and plagiarized, that’s a fact and we all know it by now. But he wasn’t just some guy with a blog slinging … Continue reading “Why didn’t they fact-check his ass?”

Scanning the four-page long account of Jayson Blair’s lies and deceptions, I can’t escape the feeling that all this hoohah over Blair on the Times’ part is misdirection. OK, the guy lied, fabricated, and plagiarized, that’s a fact and we all know it by now. But he wasn’t just some guy with a blog slinging off opinion and attitude as he saw fit, he was an employee of a major news organization with editors, publishers, and fact-checkers; why did it take four years for them to figure out what was going on, and why isn’t this question addressed by the Times?

That’s the real scandal, the fact that this sort of thing could easily happen again and again, and may well have happened in the past. It’s time the Times got with the real story and stopped all this foot-stamping hysteria already.

The media establishment has told us that responsible news organizations are more reliable than the blogs because of all these editors and fact-checkers, but who seriously believes that a blogger doing what Blair did could have survived more than a few months without being caught out? I sure don’t.

UPDATE: Drudge reports Times management is having an open forum with newsroom staff to discuss the Blair matter Wednesday:

You will be able to ask questions from the floor, or write them on cards that will be distributed at the door. In addition, we have set up an email address — [email protected] — where you can send questions, either in advance of the session or afterward.

Gee, I wonder if they’ll address questions from the general public sent to that email address?

All’s well that ends well

Commenting on the Totten piece that went from blog musing to WSJ Op-Ed, Sarge points out the salutary effects of the often-maligned US intervention in Latin America: …despite all the issues the left has with the “Contras” it was because of their pressure that Nicaragua today is a Constitutional Republic. In all of Latin America, … Continue reading “All’s well that ends well”

Commenting on the Totten piece that went from blog musing to WSJ Op-Ed, Sarge points out the salutary effects of the often-maligned US intervention in Latin America:

…despite all the issues the left has with the “Contras” it was because of their pressure that Nicaragua today is a Constitutional Republic. In all of Latin America, there is only one remaining dictatorship, that favorite of the left, Cuba. All the others became Democratic as a direct result of policies set in motion against the will (and, in some instances, the law) of the Liberal establishment.

So yes, there was a great deal of hand-wringing at the time over the Contras and the Allende business in Chile, but seen in the grand historical context, the US did push Latin America toward liberal democracy. In other words, we won the Cold War, and that’s been good for the whole world, even if some of the battles were messy. But that’s war, isn’t it?

Tech leads the recovery

David A. Sylvester of the Mercury News notes a quiet stock market rally may signal the recovery’s underway: Since the beginning of the year, the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index has risen 13.8 percent, better than the 6.1 percent of the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 3.2 percent for the Dow Jones industrial average. … Continue reading “Tech leads the recovery”

David A. Sylvester of the Mercury News notes a quiet stock market rally may signal the recovery’s underway:

Since the beginning of the year, the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index has risen 13.8 percent, better than the 6.1 percent of the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 3.2 percent for the Dow Jones industrial average. Friday, the Nasdaq rose a solid 2 percent to end the week with a gain.

More important, individual stocks are on a rampage. The stocks of 24 of the 150 largest companies in Silicon Valley have risen more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year, including five that have doubled.

Will this last? Or could the rally fizzle into another bear-market bust?

Another indicator is a relative dearth of venture capital, noted by George Avalos in the Contra Costa Times

The Bay Area’s market to finance fledgling companies plummeted to fresh lows during the first three months of 2003. The grim trends emerge from data supplied by the authors of the MoneyTree Survey. The MoneyTree is a quarterly review of venture capital financing in regions such as the Bay Area.

Privately held companies in the Bay Area raised nearly $1.3 billion during the first quarter of 2003. That was down 38 percent from the nearly $2.1 billion that private firms raised in the region in the January-March period of 2002.

The two trends aren’t contradictory, because a glut of VC-backed startups, all doing the same thing, ensures that nobody makes money. Remember Cerent and all the me-too optical networking companies? Something similar has already taken place with 802.11 chipset companies, the corpses of whom will soon litter the Valley. When customers start buying PCs and networking gear again, it will be from established companies, not from startups. So this is a different kind of recovery, after all.

Stop rape

Via Instapundit and Talk Left, an article by Rich Lowry on a bill designed to curb prison rape: An often-cited estimate is that 22 percent to 25 percent of prisoners a year experience sexual pressuring, attempted sexual assault or completed rapes, while one in 10 of the nation’s 2 million prisoners suffer a completed rape. … Continue reading “Stop rape”

Via Instapundit and Talk Left, an article by Rich Lowry on a bill designed to curb prison rape:

An often-cited estimate is that 22 percent to 25 percent of prisoners a year experience sexual pressuring, attempted sexual assault or completed rapes, while one in 10 of the nation’s 2 million prisoners suffer a completed rape. Given the gaps in reporting, most experts consider these numbers conservative.

How could anybody oppose this bill? Ask the California prison guards’ union why they’ve opposed similar measures at the state level and you’ll find that the guards use rape as a tool to intimidate prisoners (half of whom are in the Big House for drug violations, incidentally):

Invesitigating the “booty bandit” of Corcoran State Prison in which five guards are currently under indictment for setting up rapes of prisoners, two Los Angeles Times reporters uncovered the reason the state has not only ignored but covered-up many charges of brutality committed or condoned by guards in a number of California prisons including Frontera and Pelican Bay especially over the past decade.

Since 1989, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association — perhaps the most powerful union in the state — contributed nearly $1 million to the campaigns for office of Gov. Pete Wilson and Attorney Gen. Dan Lungren. Because of this exposure only months ago, Lungren began aggressively prosecuting the Corcoran guards and in response, the C.C.P.O.A. switched their endorsement to Gray Davis for governor. And . . . about this time, the San Francisco Examiner charged Lungren with being soft on white collar crime.

Does it make sense now?

Germany invades Poland

Germany is up in arms over the role of Poland as peace-keeper to a third of Iraq: The German media has gushed with mockery, jeers and cynicism about its Polish neighbor since the beginning of the week. The occasion was last week’s news that the U.S. wanted to entrust Poland with one of the three … Continue reading “Germany invades Poland”

Germany is up in arms over the role of Poland as peace-keeper to a third of Iraq:

The German media has gushed with mockery, jeers and cynicism about its Polish neighbor since the beginning of the week. The occasion was last week’s news that the U.S. wanted to entrust Poland with one of the three occupied zones in Iraq.

To add insult to injury, Poland proposes Germany send its troops to Iraq to serve under Polish command. The poor Krauts can’t handle Poland’s wish to become a “world power”.

Hitler is rolliing in his grave.

Link via Tacitus, who got it from LGF, who didn’t get it from Botox.com.

Ali G’s Naomi Wolf encounter

While lots of people are noting that Naomi Wolf can’t handle Ali G’s putting her interview on HBO in America, most haven’t talked about the questions he asked her. New York Metro hints at them with this quote from their interview with the man: Who have been your best interviews so far? Me bestest one … Continue reading “Ali G’s Naomi Wolf encounter”

While lots of people are noting that Naomi Wolf can’t handle Ali G’s putting her interview on HBO in America, most haven’t talked about the questions he asked her. New York Metro hints at them with this quote from their interview with the man:

Who have been your best interviews so far?

Me bestest one woz wit de world’s most famous lesbian — called Naomi Wolf — it went very very well, me cant go into pacifics but lets just say she weren’t actin very lesbianically by de end.

She has some hangup about being asked what it’s like to be the world’s most famous lesbian for some reason, which might just explain why the makers of the Algore 2000 device had her program the “masculinity” module.

Cal Dems screw the little guy again

In every session of the California Legislature there’s an effort to rein in rampant lawsuit abuse by the trial lawyers as well as an effort to simply make it more profitable. Dan Walters chronicles the latest installment: The state Assembly’s dominant Democrats had a choice Thursday: help the thousands of small-business owners who have been … Continue reading “Cal Dems screw the little guy again”

In every session of the California Legislature there’s an effort to rein in rampant lawsuit abuse by the trial lawyers as well as an effort to simply make it more profitable. Dan Walters chronicles the latest installment:

The state Assembly’s dominant Democrats had a choice Thursday: help the thousands of small-business owners who have been clobbered by extortionate lawsuits or lawsuit threats under the state’s broad unfair competition law, or stand with personal injury attorneys who are among the Democrats’ most reliable campaign contributors.

The attorneys, to the utter surprise of no one, emerged as victors in a showdown hearing of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

This was an especially grim reminder of the sentiments of Judiciary Committee chair Ellen Corbett, one of the least-principled members of the body.

Arming cross-dressers

Matier and Ross report on Ray Haynes’ bill granting concealed carry permits to victims of hate crimes and domestic violence: PACKING PINK: After years in San Francisco politics, Democratic state Assemblyman Mark Leno is no stranger to special-interest lobbying. But even he did a double-take when a transsexual from the “Pink Pistols” showed up in … Continue reading “Arming cross-dressers”

Matier and Ross report on Ray Haynes’ bill granting concealed carry permits to victims of hate crimes and domestic violence:

PACKING PINK: After years in San Francisco politics, Democratic state Assemblyman Mark Leno is no stranger to special-interest lobbying. But even he did a double-take when a transsexual from the “Pink Pistols” showed up in Sacramento the other day to lobby for a pro-gun bill.

The Pink Pistols (their motto: “Armed gays don’t get bashed”) were there to testify for a proposal by Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes of Riverside that would give victims of hate crimes and domestic violence the right to pack concealed weapons.

As for why Haynes chose a Pink Pistol to make the point?

“I suppose they were trying to be cute and clever,” said Leno — whose own bill to end job discrimination against transsexuals was being heard the same week.

Ray’s not only one of the smartest members of the legislature, he’s got a great sense of humor. Go visit his office in the Capitol some time and look for the “Spotted Owl Helper” poster. His bill failed, with gay activists Leno and Jackie Goldberg voting “No”. It’s a shame these people have no compassion for the victims of patriarchy.

Teresa Heinz Kerry would add victims of adultery to Ray’s list:

Teresa Heinz Kerry thinks that Hillary Clinton should have shot her husband for being unfaithful, that plastic surgery is essential, and that rabbit meat provides the best diet for children.

Seems prudent (Kerry via Tim Blair).

Great Divide

This entry by Michael J. Totten on the difference between libs and cons is an example of blogging at its best: Everybody needs to get out of their rut. Start small. Liberals: Read about Iran. Don’t just read about American policy there, read about Iran. Find out what happens when America isn’t looking. Conservatives: If … Continue reading “Great Divide”

This entry by Michael J. Totten on the difference between libs and cons is an example of blogging at its best:

Everybody needs to get out of their rut. Start small.

Liberals: Read about Iran. Don’t just read about American policy there, read about Iran. Find out what happens when America isn’t looking.

Conservatives: If you live in a major city, next time the Persian film festival comes to town, buy yourself a ticket. Some of the best films in the world are made in that country. The outside world is greater than the sum of its threats.

Thesis is that libs see everything in relation to America, and cons see everything in relation to the past, more or less. My addition is that modern education aims to turn out libs, while failing to educate. Cons are either very well-educated or not educated at all, and that’s how they escape the conditioning.