Category: Internet

See Tim Blair’s column in The Australian on bias in down under media:

Ironically, the best comment on the war came from a talkback caller rather than an ABC presenter. The caller’s name was Jill and she told Sydney ABC drivetime host Richard Glover that she’d migrated to Australia after World War II. “I wish we’d had politicians in the 1930s with the guts of Tony Blair and John Howard,” she said, her voice catching slightly. “Why?” Glover asked, gently. Jill answered through a rush of tears. “Because then I’d have a lot more relatives.”

It’s hard to have family values if your family’s all dead, isn’t it?

You know the story: the sanctions against Iraq (now lifted, praise Allah) caused the deaths of millions of innocent Iraqi babies. Only it’s not true, as the Iraqi doctors are now free to say:

Under the sanctions regime, “We had the ability to get all the drugs we needed,” said Ibn Al-Baladi’s chief resident, Dr. Hussein Shihab. “Instead of that, Saddam Hussein spent all the money on his military force and put all the fault on the USA. Yes, of course the sanctions hurt – but not too much, because we are a rich country and we have the ability to get everything we can by money. But instead, he spent it on his palaces.”

Saddam ordered dead baby bodies refrigerated so they could be used as propaganda.

A reader on BuzzMachine… by Jeff Jarvis makes the following astute observation on Molly Ivins, Texas’ answer to Bob Scheer:

Until her dying day, Molly will never, never, ever get over the 1994 Texas gubenatorial election, so any comments she makes about U.S. policy, domestic (where at least she’s consistant) or foreign have to be seen in that light. If Bush did it, she’s against it, and one of these days, everyone else will see the light and Ann Richards will be avenged.

(Ironically, thanks to Molly’s connections to some of the key media elites due to her past work with the New York Times and current writings in publications like The Nation, too many media people out of New York and Washington have, since the mid-1980s, gone to Ms. Ivins for the inside stuff on what Texans are really thinking, which given Texas’ political leanings, is about like going to former New York City mayoral candidate William F. Buckley, Jr., to get the hot tips on the inner workings of the New York City Council. But that’s what they did in the late ’90s trying to get a handle on Bush, and its also when Molly coined the term “Shrub” and pretty much helped fix the image in many minds that Bush was an idiot, which helped cause the Gore campaign to “misunderestimate” him in the 2000 election.

Had Molly not had so much animus towards GWB over the ’94 election and had said to her friends outside of Texas, “Watch out for this guy, he’s craftier than he looks and sounds,” there’s a strong possibility the Gore people would have done a better job from the start of the campaign and Al would have been elected president. So Karl Rove ought to slip a few extra bucks in Ms. Ivin’s direction for her contribution to putting Bush over the top, and making the liberation of Iraq possible.)

Posted by John at May 22, 2003 05:44 PM

Word.

ABC News reports on a study of the Atkins Diet:

And while the authors caution that additional research is needed, they also discovered an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good” cholesterol and a decrease in serum triglycerides among dieters in the Atkins group. Those results are positive because low HDL and high triglyceride levels increase an individual’s risk of developing heart disease.

While it’s no better than other diets for long-term weight loss, it could be better for the heart.

Al Qaeda chose some really brilliant targets for their recent bomb attacks in Casablanca:

The targets in Morocco’s commercial capital included the Belgian consulate, the Safir Hotel, a Jewish community centre, a Jewish cemetery and a Spanish cultural centre and restaurant, Casa de Espana.

Sending live Arab terrorists to blow up dead Jews in a cemetery is something that never occurred to this infidel, and bombing French ally Belgium was a real master stroke. Next time somebody tells you Al Qaeda is “reacting to US foreign policy”, as the Mercury News editorial board claimed recently, throw this in their face.

Al Qaeda is a racially-motivated organization, pure and simple, and there’s no appeasing them.

OpinionJournal reprinted a letter of advice on dealing with terrorism written by Paul Bremer, the current US ambassador in Baghdad. It’s comprehensive, results-oriented, and decisive against terrorist sponsors such as Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Iran. This part was especially appealing:

10. The State Department is to inform Gerry Adams that he will no longer be welcome in the U.S. as long as Sinn Fein-IRA continues its terrorism.

Too often, the IRA is given a pass, or worse, actually supported by American politicians of both parties. That’s not good.

Author RBPosted on May 15, 2003Categories Internet

US Congress set to honour Blair

The Congressional Gold Medal was first struck to honour the first US President, George Washington, for his services in the Revolutionary War of Independence against Great Britain..

Now Tony Blair is set to become the first Briton since Sir Winston Churchill to receive such an honour.

Winnie was half American, so the honor is greater than it appears.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Chunnel, wailing and gnashing of teeth:

The French government believes it is the victim of an “organized campaign of disinformation” from within the Bush administration, designed to discredit it with allegations of complicity with the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.

It seems unlikely that the Administration cares all that much about France’s image.

Even the cattle are freaky in Marin County:

A dozen Holstein cows grazing near Skywalker Ranch in Marin County apparently got spooked and ran off a 50-foot cliff, according to authorities.

Motorists on Lucas Valley Road saw the cows cascade over the hilltop at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, said Marin County Sheriff’s Sgt. Doug Pittman.

Some of the cows tumbled end-over-end as they slid down the slate and gravel cliff, witnesses told sheriff’s deputies.

They probly saw a nekkid 50-year-old hippie rising from a hot tub and couldn’t take it.

Prompted by an article by David Warren in the Ottawa Citizen, bloggers Daily Pundit, Roger Simon, and Charles Johnson ponder the possibility that the Baghdad blogger’s a Baathist.

I’m not convinced he’s not simply a hoax, but in any event I’m pretty sure he’s not the “ordinary Baghdadi” he claims to be. He criticized Saddam just enough to establish some credibility, and then forcefully condemned the war. Since his main concern is for his home furnishings, he comes across like a clumsy parody of a gay man. So whatever his situation and motivation, he’s not what he appears to be, at least not as far as I can tell.