Month: April 2005

Reality TV hits Iraq

A TV reality show featuring captured terrorists is a big hit in Iraq: BAGHDAD — Iraq’s hottest new television program is a reality show. But the players are not there by choice. And they don’t win big bucks, a new spouse or a dream job. Instead, all the characters on “Terrorism in the Hands of … Continue reading “Reality TV hits Iraq”

A TV reality show featuring captured terrorists is a big hit in Iraq:

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s hottest new television program is a reality show. But the players are not there by choice. And they don’t win big bucks, a new spouse or a dream job.

Instead, all the characters on “Terrorism in the Hands of Justice” are captured suspected insurgents. And for more than a month, they have been riveting viewers with tales of how they killed, kidnapped, raped or beheaded other Iraqis, usually for a few hundred dollars per victim.

Seated before an Iraqi flag, the dejected and cowed prisoners answer questions from an off-camera inquisitor who mocks their behavior. Some sport bruised faces and black eyes. Far from appearing to be confident heroes battling U.S. occupation, they come across as gangsters.

“I watch the show every night, and I wait for it patiently, because it is very revealing,” said Abdul Kareem Abdulla, 42, a Baghdad shop owner. “For the first time, we saw those who claim to be jihadists as simple $50 murderers who would do everything in the name of Islam. Our religion is too lofty, noble and humane to have such thugs and killers. I wish they would hang them now, and in the same place where they did their crimes. They should never be given any mercy.”

It’s funny what a little truth can do.

Arabs Lift Their Voices

My favorite member of the liberal elite, Tom Friedman, summarizes the UN’s latest Arab Human Development Report today: Meanwhile, the Arab peoples were told by their own leaders and state-owned intellectuals that democracy had to come later – after the nationalist struggle against colonialism or the liberation of Palestine or the creation of an Islamic … Continue reading “Arabs Lift Their Voices”

My favorite member of the liberal elite, Tom Friedman, summarizes the UN’s latest Arab Human Development Report today:

Meanwhile, the Arab peoples were told by their own leaders and state-owned intellectuals that democracy had to come later – after the nationalist struggle against colonialism or the liberation of Palestine or the creation of an Islamic state.

Well, the combination of 9/11, the Bush policies and the flattening of the world, whereby everyone can increasingly see how everyone else is living, changed all that – as evidenced this week with the publication of the third Arab Human Development Report, written by a courageous group of Arab social scientists under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program. This is one of the finest U.N. products under Kofi Annan.

The first report, in 2002, was about the poor state of Arab human development. The second, in 2003, was about the poor state of Arab education and science. The new one focuses on “the acute deficit of freedom and good governance” in the Arab world. It underscores how much Arab peoples crave, and need, freedom and good government – as much any other people. With the great news that Iraqis are finally forming a new government, it couldn’t appear at a better time.

You can download your own PDF copy for only $10 by clicking here.

Don’t worry about peak oil

From time to time, our hippie friends worry that we’re on the brink of running out of oil and plunging into the Dark Ages. I don’t worry about this at all because technology will save our bacon as it has so many times in the past. Someday we’ll have the Hydrogen Economy, with clean-burning and … Continue reading “Don’t worry about peak oil”

From time to time, our hippie friends worry that we’re on the brink of running out of oil and plunging into the Dark Ages. I don’t worry about this at all because technology will save our bacon as it has so many times in the past. Someday we’ll have the Hydrogen Economy, with clean-burning and cheap fuel. But before we get there, we’ll manufacture more crude oil to replace the stuff we’re pumping now. We’ll do this with a process known as thermal de-polymerization or TDP:

TDP does the same thing the earth does when it turns organic matter into oil, but a lot faster, using standard refinery components and techniques. The technology is not quite competitive – barrel for barrel or ton for ton – with existing energy sources, but if all the secondary costs and benefits (transportation, waste disposal, pollution and disease control, compatibility with existing energy infrastructure, vulnerability to terrorism, etc.) were factored in, it would look more competitive than other energy alternatives

So don’t worry, be happy.

Roger L. Simon: Peretz Speaks

Here’s a quick link from Roger Simon quoting Marty Peretz: If George W. Bush were to discover a cure for cancer, his critics would denounce him for having done it unilaterally, without adequate consultation, with a crude disregard for the sensibilities of others. This strikes me as about right, although some of Dubya’s critics have … Continue reading “Roger L. Simon: Peretz Speaks”

Here’s a quick link from Roger Simon quoting Marty Peretz:

If George W. Bush were to discover a cure for cancer, his critics would denounce him for having done it unilaterally, without adequate consultation, with a crude disregard for the sensibilities of others.

This strikes me as about right, although some of Dubya’s critics have begun to admit he was basically right about that whole democracy thing, as in “yes, Virginia, even brown people want to be free.”

I hope he got a good price

Ken Layne has finally sold his soul to the Devil. See Buzzmachine for the details of the transaction, and more at Ken’s own blog. First impression: the site is way over-designed, too graphics-heavy and slow to load. Ken Layne’s a brilliant writer, but the evil Denton’s design choices make his wit inaccessible. Drudge has nothing … Continue reading “I hope he got a good price”

Ken Layne has finally sold his soul to the Devil.

See Buzzmachine for the details of the transaction, and more at Ken’s own blog.

First impression: the site is way over-designed, too graphics-heavy and slow to load. Ken Layne’s a brilliant writer, but the evil Denton’s design choices make his wit inaccessible. Drudge has nothing to fear.

Strength through disunity

According to David Brooks, the conservative movement is strong because of the constant bitching and attacks conservatives launch against their ideological brethren: Conservatives have not triumphed because they have built a disciplined and efficient message machine. Conservatives have thrived because they are split into feuding factions that squabble incessantly. As these factions have multiplied, more … Continue reading “Strength through disunity”

According to David Brooks, the conservative movement is strong because of the constant bitching and attacks conservatives launch against their ideological brethren:

Conservatives have not triumphed because they have built a disciplined and efficient message machine. Conservatives have thrived because they are split into feuding factions that squabble incessantly. As these factions have multiplied, more people have come to call themselves conservatives because they’ve found one faction to agree with.

In the interest of building conservative power, let me point out that John Cornyn is a butt-monkey:

My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing the respect that it needs to serve the American people well. We should all want judges to interpret the law fairly – not impose their own personal views on the nation. We should all want to fix our broken judicial confirmation process. And we should all be disturbed by overheated rhetoric about the judiciary, from both sides of the aisle. I regret it that my remarks have been taken out of context to create a wrong impression about my position, and possibly be construed to contribute to the problem rather than to a solution.

The People are much more annoyed with the Congress’ attempts to judge individual cases than they are with the courts doing what they’re paid to do.

And despite that, it would be a shame if violent protesters attacked grand-standing members of Congress. Just defeat them at the polls, thank you very much.

Sexson sizzles in Seattle

Pretty impressive opening day for the hapless Mariners: Two at-bats with his new club, two home runs for Richie Sexson. If you’d have made that forecast to Seattle’s slugger a week ago, he wouldn’t have thought it was possible. Sexson homered twice and drove in five runs in his Seattle debut, and 42-year-old Jamie Moyer … Continue reading “Sexson sizzles in Seattle”

Pretty impressive opening day for the hapless Mariners:

Two at-bats with his new club, two home runs for Richie Sexson. If you’d have made that forecast to Seattle’s slugger a week ago, he wouldn’t have thought it was possible.

Sexson homered twice and drove in five runs in his Seattle debut, and 42-year-old Jamie Moyer pitched 5 2/3 strong innings Monday to lead the Mariners to a season-opening 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.

“Not exactly the way you envision it,” Sexson said, smiling. “To do something like that is a little far fetched.”

Moyer’s pitching was unbelievable compared to his second half last year. I was ready to pull his feeding tube but he came back like a big-leaguer.

I’ve still got my doubts about Mariner pitching, but there’s no doubt Ichiro, Beltre, and Sexson are a force to be reckoned with and stuff. They should move Ibanez into the number two hole and give that poor rookie a break now that spring training is over, however.

Opening Day

The forces of darkness beat the hapless world champs on opening day, for a very subtle reason: New York, with the first $200 million payroll in baseball history, had a former All-Star in every spot in its starting lineup, the first time that happened in the major leagues since the Yankees did it on July, … Continue reading “Opening Day”

The forces of darkness beat the hapless world champs on opening day, for a very subtle reason:

New York, with the first $200 million payroll in baseball history, had a former All-Star in every spot in its starting lineup, the first time that happened in the major leagues since the Yankees did it on July, 24, 2003, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In all, it added up to 53 All-Star appearances.

But the bigger they spend, the more fun it is to rub their fans’ faces in it when they fall, as we did last year: