Rants in Our Pants

2003-03-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

Is it any wonder the French public has been so brainwashed into being anti-war?
An investigation has revealed that the "death" of Mohammed Al-Dura (the Palestinian boy who was "killed" in the cross fire of an exchange between the Israeli army and a bunch of Palestinian terrorists, was actually a staged event. And there are even questions as to whether the boy actually died. There is no evidence one way or the other.
The best part? The French media which originally broke the news refuses to air the documentary which debunks the story and shows how the naive French media was duped by the Palestinians.
With a media which is so naive, duplicitous and outright biased, is it any wonder that Chiraq is able to sell his lies so effectively to a public which is being fed this kind of garbage?

2003-03-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Government has decided to assist the USA in the war against terrorism:

The Canadians have agreed to send:
- 2 of their largest battle ships
- 6,000 ground troops
- 6 fighter jets
When the exchange rate is applied, the USA will receive:
- 1 canoe
- 2 mounties
- 12 flying squirrels

2003-03-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

You know things are bad when...
The Pope has joined the idiotarians.
As our Rabbi asked this Saturday, while the Pope has asked people to pray for peace in Iraq, who was he praying for when thousands of young boys were (and still are) abused by Cardinals and priests everywhere in the world? Were his prayer directed at making sure the truth would not be discovered? Did he ask people to pray for the 15 people massacred by Arafat's buddies in Haifa last week, most of them teenagers going to school? Oh but sorry, these were mostly Jews, I forgot. This Pope sent his envoys to talk to Saddam, to Bush and to whomever still takes him seriously to try and prevent war in Iraq. Did he send his envoys to talk to the PA, to Hamas, to Hizbollah to ask them to stop massacring innocent Isreali children and women? Remember, this is the same Pope who is about to canonize the Pope who basically did nothing to intervene for the Jews during WWII. Some think that Pope actually tacitly was condoning the Holocaust, although the evidence is thin. But if the Pope at the time did not use his moral authority to at least try to stop the Holocaust, does it not make him an implicit accomplice? And he is about to be canonized?
Now John Paul shows his opposition to the war by exposing his one-sidedness and his bias. A war which may result in some collateral victims among Iraqis is wrong. A war which has resulted in thousands of Israelis and Palestinian deaths is OK. Well, at least, it is not something to worry about.
Time for the Vatican to institute a retirement plan for senile Popes.

2003-03-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

Greatest site. But it is really hard to decide which Hollywood celebrity is the biggest idiot.
Celiberal. Definitely a keeper.

2003-03-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

Can anyone write as well as James Lilek?
Here's James take on last night's press conference.

My favorite question came from Terry Moran - and whoever named him bought the wrong vowel.

“Thank you, sir. May I follow up on Jim Angle's question. In the past several weeks your policy on Iraq has generated opposition from the governments of France, Russia, China, Germany, Turkey, the Arab League and many other countries, NATO and the U.N., and drawn millions of ordinary citizens around the world into the streets in anti-war protests. May I ask, what went wrong that so many governments and peoples around the world now not only disagree with you very strongly but see the U.S. under your leadership as an arrogant power? “

Ideal response:
“Oh, many things went wrong, Terry. We failed to understand the extent to which the French are economically entwined with Iraq, and how this war would make their knees vibrate like orgasmic hummingbirds. While we realized the power of Anti-Americanism as a cudgel with which to beat the rest of Europe into accepting a Franco-German hegemony, we didn’t think they’d screw us this hard for short-term political gain. We misunderestimated Turkish protestations of support - although, as you no doubt noted from my earlier comments supporting their EU membership and lauding their role in NATO, we’re certainly not going to kick them in the nads in public like some of our allies have done to us. And while I agree that ordinary citizens have protested our government in foreign capitals, I’d ask you why American security should be determined by 26 year old Belgian college students, and I’d also note that these rallies have been organized by people who’d dance in the street if someone set off a tactical nuclear device in the lobby of the Monsanto corporate office. But more to the point, Terry, I’d ask: What went wrong in your education that you believe that the disapproval of China constitutes failure?”

2003-03-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

There is at least one smart French person. And she is gorgeous to boot!!
For those of you who failed 4th grade French, her poster says that Chiraq is a worm. She is being way too kind. He is a corrupt, morally bankrupt, slimy piece of garbage. Wow that felt good!

2003-03-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

Want to throw up?
Here's the PA's new Prime Minister Abu Mazen, whose claim to fame is to be one of the most ardent Holocaust denier. Yes folks, things actually can get worse. (hat tip to LGF).

2003-03-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Pave France.....the British need more parking spots

RightWingNews has a link to a site called PaveFrance.com ('cause the British need more parking spots), which is a new blog dedicated to keeping a daily record of all the absurdities that make up France and their bloody foreign policies. Go have a look....and enjoy!

2003-03-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

How many more notches in Arafat's gun are we going to allow?
Here is the list of the 15 Israelis killed in yesterday's Palestinian homicidal bombing (the bomber was found to have been carrying a note on his body praising Al Qaida for the 9/11 attacks and murders). Notice how most of the innocent victims were kids just going to school, both Jews and Arabs. Where is the world outrage? Where are the condemnations as Palestinians openly and proudly target children? Let's just hope that soon, the entire Palestinian leadership will be held to account for their crimes against humanity. Let's just hope that an all out war against Hamas, Hizbollah and all the other fascist Palestinian entities will result in the elimination of this pack of useless animals. I hope Yassin and Arafat hang. Soon.

Yuval Mendelovitch, 13, from Haifa
Staff Sgt. Barry Oved, 21, from Rosh Pina
Staff Sgt. Eliahu Lacham, 22, from Haifa
Abigail Leitel, 14, from Haifa
Daniel Harush, 16, from Safed
Kmar Abu Khamed, 13, from Daliat al-Carmel
Mitel Katav, 20, from Haifa
Assaf Zur, 17, from Haifa
Tom Hershko, 16, from Haifa and his father
Mordecai Hershko, 41
Marak Takash, 54, from Haifa
Semadar Firstetter, 17, from Haifa
Tal Kirman, 17, from Haifa
Miriam Attar, 27, from Haifa
Elizabetha Katzman, 16, from Haifa

And here is what Debka had to say about it...
Fifteen Israelis – mostly high school pupils and Haifa university students – were murdered in a powerful blast generated by a Palestinian homicidal suicide while riding on a Haifa bus on Wednesday, March 5. Only two had lived to see their 45th year. The killer, a Palestinian aged 20 from the West Bank town of Hebron, was identified as Mahmoud Hamdan Selim Kawasme, member of a big Hebron clan and kinsman of a former mayor.
A note found on his body praised to heaven the al Qaeda perpetrators of the September 11 atrocities in New York, in which more than 3000 people died.
Initially he was described as a member of the Islamic extremist Hamas. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources say his affiliation is not quite so cut and dried. The young killer was in fact a disciple of Fawzi Ayoub, the high-ranking Lebanese Hizballah officer who infiltrated Israel as a Canadian tourist at the end of 2001and went to ground in Palestinian-controlled territory.

2003-03-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

Ugh...

It's getting harder for me to watch the West Wing with every passing week.

2003-03-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod

Are you seeing this?

2003-03-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Anti-idiotarian soundbytes...I am guessing this is not going to go over too well in Europe.
SNAPPY ANSWERS TO STUPID LIBERAL SOUNDBYTES
Defeating the Anti-War idiots...By Tom Adkins 3/1/03

Tired of those Stupid Liberal Soundbytes about the impending war against Iraq? Here are some handy snappy answers! Use them often!
The United States is taking unilateral action against Iraq!
-->So far, it's a 90-member worldwide "unilateral" coalition.

We are in a rush to war.
-->An 11-year rush?

Tough inspections can disarm Saddam Hussein without invading Iraq.
-->11 years of inspections have done wonders so far.

We should let the inspectors finish their job.
--> We did. They didn't. We will.

Why fight? The Iraqi military is weaker than in 1991.
--> But their biological weapons and chemical weapons are much more dangerous.

There's no proof of weapons.
--> We know they have 'em, we know they hide 'em, and we have tape recordings and photographs. What more is needed? An Iraqi rocket in Martin Sheen's shorts?

If we invade, Saddam Hussein might use those weapons of mass destruction against us.
--> I thought you said Iraq didn't have them?

But terrorists might attack if we invade Iraq.
-->Oh…so if we don't attack Iraq, terrorists will never strike again?

We shouldn't go to war without a UN resolution.
--> ANOTHER resolution? What about the last 18 resolutions? Shall we use them as wallpaper? Or shall we use the same resolutions Bill Clinton used in Bosnia? (he didn't go to the UN on Bosnia)

We don't have a real declaration for war.
-->It's called "Joint Congressional Resolution #114."

We are giving 20 billion to Turkey. We could use that money at home.
-->OK, we'll use that money to strengthen our Iraqi border with Wyoming.

If North Korea has nuclear weapons, why aren't we invading them first?
--> Uh…hello…isn't that the point?

European leaders are against the war.
--> The Reichstag wasn't attacked. The Grande Place wasn't attacked. The Kremlin wasn't attacked. And the Jerry Lewis Lifetime Achievement Museum wasn't attacked. America was attacked. And besides, except for the tantrums of France, Belgium and Germany, only three European nations aren't willing to defend freedom. The entire rest of Europe is with America.

The French don't support the war.
--> Oh…did they surrender already?

Germany objects to this war.
--> Germany objected to Reagan's "attitude" towards the Soviet Union. Of course, they objected to our presence in 1943 as well.

Belgians are against the war.
--> I can live without Waffles and ice cream.

USSR doesn't support the war.
--> They are still angry over Reagan's brilliant Cold War victory.

Polls show Europeans are against this war.
--> Polls show Europeans believe their freedom was achieved by endlessly debating in marvelous dining halls, conveniently forgetting their right to be pompous blowhards was granted with American blood, not fabulous wine and brie…

We should build a coalition with our friends.
--> With friends like these, who needs enemies?

What happens if we can't build a United Nations coalition?
--> Who cares?

But the UN is the world's most respected governing body.
--> Not as respected as the US military.

America has always waited until enemies attacked.
-->Now that oceans can't hold back enemies, pre-emptive war is forever a necessity.

War will cost billions!
--> So…how much is YOUR city worth?

President Bush says he's willing to violating the 1976 executive order forbidding assassinations of foreign leaders.
--> As soon as the ink is dry on rescinding that idiotic order, will someone please pull the trigger? The line forms to the right…

Many Senators don't support Bush
--> Are you speaking of the Senators from Bordeaux?

Tom Daschle says George Bush has a "credibility gap"
--> When was the last time we came to Tom Daschle for the truth???

These problems didn't happen under Clinton.
--> Actually, they happened. But Clinton ignored them. Now, Bush will clean up his mess.

But Clinton didn't start a war.
--> Unless his girlfriend was testifying before congress…

Bush 1st should have taken out Hussein in '91.
--> That 1991 UN resolution forbade a march on Baghdad. Remember?

Millions of peace activists are demanding we stop the war.
-->Millions of Iraqi's are begging for us to start the war.

Thousands of innocents will be killed or injured.
--> That's a lot less than Hussein is killing right now. (Of course, there's only one man that needs to be killed…)

Young Americans will die in battle.
--> Would you prefer they die in skyscrapers?

Protesters have genuine objections to war
--> Just like they did in Somalia? Bosnia? Afghanistan?

People are coming from all over the world to act as "human shields".
--> Quick, hurry, before the bombs start dropping…

This is about American Imperialism.
--> So which country do we own? What nation sends us their tax dollars? If America was imperialist, we'd already own the entireworld. Who could stand in our way?

This is Blood for Oil
--> The only blood is the Iraqi people tortured, starved and killed while Hussein builds massive palaces to hide nuclear weapons…all financed with Iraqi oil.

This is a racist war.
--> America happily endorses a multi-cultural attitude towards anyone who dares to take away our freedom. Regardless of race, color or creed, we hunt them down and kill them.

A U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is a great recruiting tool for terrorists.
--> Have fun recruiting people into oppressive misery as they enjoy their first taste of freedom.

An attack on Iraq could seriously undermine and destabilize Arab nations.
--> Destabilize the region? The sooner we topple these oppressive 14th century terrorist regimes the better.

Are we prepared for a multi-billion dollar occupation?
--> Were we prepared to liberate Europe and Japan in 1945? South Korea in 1953? Grenada? El Salvador? Kuwait? The Eastern Bloc? Afghanistan? Nations always love Americans when we rescue them from tyranny. The price of freedom is never free.

Polls show Americans are more concerned about the threat from al Qaeda than from Iraq.
--> It's not a war against Al Qaeda. It's not a war against Iraq. It's a war against terrorism. Anywhere we find it. One nation at a time.

American opinion is against the war.
--> No, it's not. A majority of Americans want to fight now, not later.

According to a recent poll…
--> You know what? Screw those polls. We're in a war against terrorism. If you don't want to fight the bastards, get the hell out of the way. Go visit Paris. Or Antwerp. Or Berlin. Or Moscow. And stay there. Forever. But this time, don't call us when the heathens are at the gates.

2003-03-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

In Canada, we take security VERY seriously
Today, I had the unmitigated pleasure of going to the Toronto passport office to get a new passport. Got there at 8:05 and was already #63 in line. No kidding, #63. At around 8:30, a man who was waiting came back into the waiting area with a coffee. He was promptly asked to dispose of his coffee IMMEDIATELY as this represented...a security risk. I am not making this up. The man was told he was considered a security risk because he was holding a cup of coffee.
I guess now that the Canadian Government has completely dealt with all the threats around gun smuggling, terrorists organizations operating in Canada, sleeping terrorist cells and border security, it can now focus its energy on the less obvious security threats masquerading as coffee cups. Ha! Who needs a Department of Homeland Security? God bless our vigilant civil servants standing on guard for thee!

2003-03-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Give the man some coffee!....and a hairbrush

Looks like they caught another one of those 9/11 'mastermind' creeps......while he was asleep.

If you can believe it, this is the picture that was taken before the torture began!

[photo via Drudge]

2003-02-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

Won't you be my neighbour?

The beloved Mr. Rogers passed away yesterday. He will be missed by thousands of children.

2003-02-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

From the mouth of babes

I often gloat about how my nine-year old sister Leorah is turning out to be conservative just like my dad and I, but her comments tonight were more priceless than ever, so I thought I'd share.

We were sitting at the dining room table doing homework when she jumped up and said "YOU will NEVER believe what I saw on TV today. There was this girl and she was 14 and she was having a baby!". "Really?" I replied. "Yes. And do you know what that means?" she asked, "It means that she's only fourteen and she's already gotten married and had thing". "Thing?" I asked, to which she cringed and yelled out "YOU KNOW!!!....the s-word!". So then I said to her "Leorah, how do you know she was married?", to which she replied "...because she's having a baby!".

Ok ok, I admit it...the fact that she's nine probably has more to do with her social conservatism than do her political views, but still....it makes me happy.

Update: I should probably clarify...I'm not much of a social conservative and I know that abstinence 'til marriage can't really be associated with conservative views anymore (in fact I can't really find anyone with those views anymore...), but I just said Leorah's views were conservative 'cause ideas like that are usually referred to as being conservative. Hmm...that doesn't make all that much sense now does it? Oh well.

2003-02-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

Happy B-Day mom!!

Happy Birthday to my mom who turned twenty today.....for the 28th time.

2003-02-26T14:54:00.000-08:00

Our Peace Partners

Effrat, February 23, 2003
Harvey Tannenbaum

Tonight, we sat back with our mouths wide open and frozen in anger and disbelief. As Ronny Daniel, Colonel M. and soldiers entered an Arab's house in Schechem, the cameras were filming the three floor 'find' of the IDF Golani heroes today. The 'family' of Arab men, women, and children were escorted out of this house before the IDF engineering unit began to cut apart the tiles of the kitchen floor. The area below the kitchen was filled with hundreds of bags of nails, bolts, and screws in quantities that were apparently more than ACE Hardware's supply in your local mall! The heating and soldering machines were assembled with oil, gas, and combustible materials for the next tens of bus bombs being assembled.

On the second floor of this 'residential house of militants, activists, and residents' (sic), the cameras followed the explaining Colonel M. and our correspondent, Ronny, and we watched as more of our IDF soldiers were removing the walls of the 'kids' bedrooms' to find hand grenades, guns that the Arabs had received and stored. On the 3rd floor of this house, the camera crew captured the bomb belts, their pieces and parts with all sizes, colors, and widths of belts, again more choices than your local belt rack in Nordstrom!

As the officer and soldiers went to the next house in search, the soldier began to shout excitedly on his find in this house. Here we watched again and saw dynamite sticks and fuses inside kids' school bags which our kids carry with school books. There must have been dozens of assembled school bags with bombs inside. Cellular phones and clocks were discovered which are the alleged methods of detonation by remote control of some of the Arabs' terror.

The Colonel M. stated to the correspondent inside Schechem's Casbah that the IDF is now here for months to clean up, capture, destroy as much of these terror tools as possible.

I turned off the TV as I knew that this rare habit of watching the news was dangerous to my health, but tonight's coverage of why we and our soldiers have to go house to house to search and destroy rather than utilize our airforce in one night will not be covered by CNN, BBC, or Reuters. Instead we will be faced with possible IDF injuries or G-d forbid deaths in the coming weeks of this long delayed action by the IDF.

2003-02-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

As if we're so united now anyway...

French PM says Iraq war would divide the world.

2003-02-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

Does it get any better than this?

Go to the "Students for War" website to see more of their great posters. Their tagline is fabulous too...."If you don't like Hitler or Saddam, visit our website".

Heh...hehehehe.

[via Maderblog]

2003-02-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

"We have but stones with which to protect ourselves..."

A masked Palestinian prepares to fire a rocket at an Israeli armored car.

2003-02-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

The world is nucking futs

The incomparable Mark Steyn chronicles some of the more irritating and inconceivable steps taken to appease the wrath of fundamentalist Islam over the past year.

1. Last month, Judge Beaumont, the Common Serjeant of London, ruled that, in the case of a Muslim cleric accused of inciting the murders of Jews and Hindus, no Jews or Hindus or the spouses thereof could serve on the jury.

2. On January 21st, the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported that the Court of Appeals in Eidsivating had acquitted a Middle Eastern immigrant of raping a retarded woman on the grounds that he had only lived 12 years in Norway and so could not be expected to understand her condition.

The man was 22 years old. Thus, he had lived virtually his entire conscious life in Norway. But the court ruled that his insufficient understanding of the language was a mitigating factor. He was a cab driver and the woman was his customer. She paid for the ride with a "TT" card -- a form of transport subsidy for the handicapped, which he evidently recognized because he accepted it. Nonetheless, because of his "cultural background," an adult who'd lived in Norway since he was 10 years old could not be expected to know that this woman was mentally incapacitated and that he should not assault her.

Day going a little too well? Fear not.....you can get the rest of the ludicrous article here.

2003-02-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

Plagued by guilt...

This morning at Robarts Library, my semi-conscious self watched a guy stealing a student's wallet right out of her bag. Now, of course, I didn't know he was a thief at the time. I had seen this young woman place her bag on a table next to a couple of other bags and head off to, what I presumed to be, the washroom. A few minutes later, the guy casually strolled by, approached the table and started rummaging through the stuff on the table. I didn't think anything of it until the girl came to ask me if I had seen someone going through her bag. I admitted that I had but had not realized that it had been a thief. Also, I hadn't paid much attention to what he was doing, since I had no real reason to be suspicious. Unfortunately, she lost 70$ (as well as the sense of security she used to feel in the library). I think the reason I missed it was because:

a) I was actually half asleep at the time
b) the guy didn't look nervous at all. In fact, he was so casual about the whole thing that I thought it was his bag!

All this makes me wonder, though. If I had realized that the guy was a thief, would I have had it in me to run up to a complete stranger and say "I don't know you or the owner of that bag, but you're a thief! Stop right there!"? I think it's easier said than done. We 'd all like to think we'd save the day, but you immediately start second guessing yourself: "Maybe he's her boyfriend", "Maybe she was holding his bag", "Maybe I'm seeing wrong". I mean, no one wants to seem rude to someone who wasn't actually a thief, right? Most likely, if I had been sure of myself, I probably would've said "Excuse me. Is that yours?". But what good would that have done? It's not like he would've dropped his head in shame and said "No".

2003-02-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Despicable

I can't believe my eyes...

[via maderblog]

2003-02-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Go Norah Go

I'm happy to announce that despite the fact that fashion and personality-challenged Canadian Avril Levigne was nominated to death, it was, in fact, the vocally gifted Norah Jones who cleaned up at the Grammys last night.

I like her music because there's no way she could get away with having a lousy voice by pumping up the volume of the background music, as attempted by Levigne. This girl actually has talent.

2003-02-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

New turf
I'll be spending the week studying at the University of Toronto (Robarts Library...in case anyone wants to come visit). It's certainly bigger and more impersonal than McGill, but I'll let you know how it goes!

2003-02-24T06:12:00.000-08:00

Move over Jamaica....here comes Israel!

Israel's first-ever Olympic bobsled reached speeds approaching 120 km/h at a practice session at Calgary's Olympic Park.

[via DamianPenny]

2003-02-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

Camera Shy?

Men Get Their Turn for Nude War Protest
250 Australian Men Strip, Lay Down to Spell 'Peace Man' to Protest Support of U.S. Iraq Policy

There were, however, no pictures of the event available for posting. Shame.

UPDATE: Turns out that the Toronto Sun printed a picture of the naked men. And now I know why it wasn't in mass release. And for those of you who were wondering, no...I did not go out and buy the Toronto Sun....Ii found a copy on the subway.

2003-02-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

Life of Palestinians

UPI had this 'Letter from Gaza: Night and day' on their site today. Life sure sounds hellish for these Palestinians, and even though my stance on MidEast politics is pretty tough and unbending, I don't wish this kind lifestyle on Palestinians in general. There's no reason why their kids shouldn't be in schools, on playgrounds, playing soccer in the streets. They're kids, they're no different from anyone else's kids. Their suffering is yet another reason why the IDF should find a way to enter the 'territories' and wipe out anyone and everyone with terrorist ideas, plans or desires. Enough is enough.

2003-02-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

Funny and timely

Go watch this. My father and I got a really really good laugh out of it.

2003-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am starting to warm up to the idea of separatism...
Lately, I have been reading a lot about separatist feelings in Alberta (for those who are not familiar with the geo-political reality of Canada, Alberta is the second western-most province, it has lots of oil, lots of natural gas, lots of cattle, kind of a Canadian Texas). And our dear Federal Government, headed by the illustrious Jean ~~Cretin~~ Chretien is certainly doing a great job alienating just about everyone in this country. Let's check out the latest Federal budget to put it into perspective.
The Federal Government used to contribute 50% of all health care costs. It now contributes only 14% of it but still imposes its will on the provinces who are left having to abide by certain federally imposed standards while not being provided the funding to do so. I have personally been waiting since November to see a specialist. I bet I could see one in the US the next day.
The Federal Government has let our armed forces become the laughing stock of the Western world. By planning to deploy 3,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, all experts agree that the Canadian army will be pretty much at the end of its capability. And on top of this, we have to rely on NATO to bring the troops there. And there is no money to buy new uniforms which would blend with the sand colour. Rather, Canadian soldiers make excellent targets with the standard green uniforms.
Because the Federal Government has been regularly stealing money from the provinces to balance its books, there is not enough money for education in the provinces and our schools are going from strike to strike, failure to failure.
Our foreign policy has been marked by a string of definite fence sittings. Chretien had to be literally kicked in the ass to go to Ground Zero over 4 weeks after September 11, refused to fire his press secretary who had publicly called Bush a moron, and has refused to support the US at the UN Security Council about Iraq. Canada used to be the US's main ally. We would barely register on the US scale now, having been eclipsed by England, Australia, Spain, Italy and a number of Eastern European countries. Chretien has yet to be invited to Bush's ranch.
The question is then...why remain within Canada? Two provinces, Alberta and Ontario fund the other 8 provinces which are all pretty much basket cases.
Other than liking the idea of Canada, why should anyone in their right mind want to stay in a confederation which has lost its soul, lost its principles and shows no sign of even being capable of producing any decent leadership? Why should we not join the US? Yes it has a lot that needs to be fixed, for instance its health care system and its fascination for guns. But here is a country which does more for democracy around the world, feeds more people around the world, provides more foreign, has a higher standard of living and education than we do in Canada. The last 10 years in Canada have seen the country's politics, infrastructure, social services and place in the world decline like never before. And there in no opposition to speak of to get us away from this self-destructive path we are on. Is it too late? I think it might be. Would I grab the opportunity to move to the US if it were in front of me? You bet.

2003-02-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

Disgusting
Here is a flier that is being handed out across New Jersey by the idiot who runs WhatReallyHappened.com:

[via DamianPenny]

2003-02-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

The child is right...

Looks like we got a live one! Leorah, 9, arrived home from school today and insisted on showing me the "funniest thing I've ever seen on the internet". After weeks and weeks of anti-war protests, I can't help but think that she's wise far beyond her years.

2003-02-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Ugh...

The man installing hardwood floors into our living room arrived at our home at 10 a.m. this morning. It is now 1:45 p.m. and he has not stopped whistling since he arrived. If blogging ceases after this post, know that it's because I've hanged myself.

2003-02-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Breaking News

Refinery explodes on NY 's Staten Island.

2003-02-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

Leorah's Site

I know that a bunch of our readers are total fans of my nine year-old sister's website, so I'm pleased to announce that I ~~wasted~~ spent my morning adding a sitemeter and a commenting service to the gem. She's absolutely desperate for people to send her a few nice comments, so do yourself a favor and make yourself smile by going over and seeing the updates she's made.

2003-02-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

ROFL

The Onion has a fantastically funny article about the 'Blood for Oil' debate.

Kenneth W. Parton from an organization called Americans For Non-Alternative Energy, writes:

I keep hearing the anti-war protesters chant, "No blood for oil! No blood for oil!" But what they never seem to say is exactly how much oil we're talking about. Don't you think that's pertinent information? Are we talking a gallon of oil for every 10 gallons of blood? Or is it more like 30 gallons of oil for every pint of blood? Because if it's the latter, maybe a blood-oil exchange would be a good idea.

In the first Gulf War, roughly 300 brave Americans lost their lives. Assuming that each of these soldiers shed an average of eight pints of blood, that works out to roughly a pint of American blood shed per 60 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude saved from the clutches of Saddam. If you ask me, that's a pretty darn good deal. If we can manage to swing a similar trade this time around, then I say, "Bombs away."

We should also know what kind of blood we're giving up. Is it O-positive, the universal donor? I'd be more reluctant to part with that than some useless AB junk. If Bush and Rumsfeld spill, say, 100,000 gallons of B-negative or AB-positive soldier blood for an equivalent amount of primo Mideast oil, that may be well worth considering.

2003-02-21T06:03:00.000-08:00

A likely story

CNN reports that:

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- A mother has claimed that a genie circumcised her 10-month-old son while she was cooking breakfast, the Indonesian state news agency Antara reported Thursday.

"When I heard Riyan crying, I went straight to his bedroom and couldn't believe what my eyes saw," Riyan's mother, identified only as Ineng, told Antara. "He had been circumcised."

The family immediately suspected it was the work of a genie, belief in which is widespread in Indonesia. They summoned a local paranormal to the house who confirmed their suspicions, the report said.

2003-02-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

Sweeeeet!

Israeli spy drone the size of a credit card

JERUSALEM - Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is developing a credit card-sized surveillance drone that transmits real-time images back to field commanders, a company official confirmed yesterday.

The 100-g drone was conceived by students at Israel's Technion Institute, who then approached IAI with the idea, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In testing, the plane has flown for 20 minutes at a time, the official said. It can carry a lightweight camera and transmit images to a laptop or a palm-sized computer. The miniature plane can be launched by hand and does not need wheels to land. It is almost invisible from the ground, and cannot be detected by radar, the Haaretz daily said.

[via RightWingNews]

2003-02-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

Religion o' peace strikes again

Zamboanga City, Fifty heavily armed members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) raided the town of Kalawit last night and attacked houses with machineguns and grenades, killing 14 Christian civilians (including four children and a one-month old infant) and wounding four others, Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mayoralgo de la Cruz said. Three other residents are missing.

My American Foreign Policy class conducts a web message board on which students are expected to answer questions posed by the professor. When he asked us to name some of the central causes of terrorism in the world today, I listed Islamic fundamentalism. Lemme tell ya...never have I received so much criticism in my life! Students were acting as if I had said "chipmunks are the core cause of terrorism today". They thought my response was the most absurd thing they had ever heard. Clearly poverty was the central cause of terror, they said.

'Wisdom in the masses', my ass!

[via NewsFlash]

2003-02-21T05:34:00.000-08:00

Interesting

Wow...the only government sponsored experiment that I was put through in high school was a hearing test.

[via Drudge]

2003-02-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Wonder how objective his lectures were! FBI charges Florida professor with terrorist activities
Of course, the man claims that he "abhors" terrorism. And I am pretty sure that Arafat hates violence.
Does anyone know if this guy made it onto Daniel Pipes Campus Watch site?

2003-02-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

While the rest of the world is not paying attention...Sharon: No Palestinian capital in J'lem, [or] return of refugees into Israel
Have you noticed the incredible increase in the number of "cleanup" operations that the IDF has been running over the last 2 weeks or so? And have you noticed how silent the press has been about the whole thing? Now Sharon is basically stating that 2 of the most difficult issues about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not even negotiable. I think that Sharon has already started relying on the domino theory which says that once Saddam is gone (in the next few weeks), other Arab countries are going to start feeling the pressure of democracy (especially seeing that the US soldiers will be greeted with open arms by their Arab brethren in Iraq). As well, Arafat and the PA will become completely irrelevant as Palestinians themselves will start pushing for democratic reforms and the end of the PA thugocracy. Maybe, maybe....we are getting closer to a situation where an Israeli-Palestinian federation will be created. Who knows.

2003-02-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I am sure Chirac is going to really love this one...Peres questions France's status as permanent member of UN Security Council
Yep, no better way for Israel to endear itself to ~~Saddam~~ Jacques Chirac. And this comes from Shimon Peres of all people. He does have a point though. He suggests that India replace France. I haven't checked all the stats but I am pretty sure that India has a larger GDP than France, more population (1 billion vs. 60 million) and is a nuclear power. Seems like a pretty fair idea, especially given that without the US, England and Russia, France would have remained lower-Bavaria after WWII. I think that in the new world order after the UN self-destructs, France will be relegated to holding Francophonie summits with itself!

2003-02-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

Taking a little trip...

I'm heading back to Toronto for reading week (Yay!). Blogging will continue when I finally get home (and yes, Toronto is definitely more "home" for me than Montreal). Stay tuned!

2003-02-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

Can you tell the difference?

You thought both pictures were of Palestinian stone-throwers, didn't you? Actually, one of them is a Palestinian and the other is an anti-war demonstrator. So, which one's which? If you can't tell the difference, why should we? (And yes, I did steal that line from a Suave commercial...)

[Top photo via BitchGirls, who happen to have a bunch of shocking photos from last weekend's "peace" demonstrations that turned violent.]

2003-02-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

Good for her

In the latest bizarre lawsuit arising from a reality TV show, a Los Angeles woman is suing the Sci-Fi Channel because she was a "nonconsenting and unwitting victim" of a hidden camera prank that caused her to believe that she was actually being chased by a space alien on a remote desert road in California.

[...]The stunt, Blanc claims, caused her to be hospitalized several times and to suffer "severe physical and emotional injuries and damages."

I hope she wins. Call me boring, but I'm getting a little tired of reality TV. And having people appear on these shows unwittingly will just cause a whole slew of similar lawsuits. If people want to go on American Idol and make absolute fools of themselves, fine, but don't involve people without their consent. You better believe I'd be pissed if I'd of been part of something like that. And yes, I probably would've run screaming into the desert too.

[via Drudge]

2003-02-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

Jews blamed for Columbia disaster

JPost reported that "Conspiracy theories blaming Jews and Israel for the disintegration of NASA space shuttle Columbia last month are circulating the Internet at an alarming rate, the Anti-Defamation League said Wednesday.

The online hate speech, tracked by the ADL on Web sites, chat rooms, bulletin boards and e-mails, includes allegations the US and Israel destroyed the Columbia to divert attention from the Iraq conflict, that Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon was a spy, and that Jews and Israelis were complicit in the shuttle's downing in order to gain sympathy for Israel.

The ADL's sources include a February 4 posting by author Gordon Thomas accusing Ramon of conducting secret military experiments in space, a February 17 article by Hong Kong journalist Yoichi Clark Shimatsu that accused the US and Israel of sabotaging the shuttle to ensure the crew's status as martyrs, and a message from radical British sheikh, Abu Hamza Al-Masri: "This is a divine message to the Israelis, saying that they are not welcome in space." Al-Masri made this comment to London-based daily Al Sharq Al-Awsat on February 4.

2003-02-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

Greta

Every time I log onto FoxNews.com, I'm confronted with this giant picture. Is it just me, or did poor Greta's plastic surgeon model her mouth after this man's?

I know, I know....below the belt...BUT c'mon! It's uncanny!

2003-02-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Fred Barnes (The Weekly Standard) debunks some of the most common myths paraded during last Saturday's ~~pro-torture, pro-rape, pro-murder~~ anti-war marches.
Sometimes, when telling right from wrong is so obvious, one has to wonder whether any kind of discourse with any of the imbeciles who marched is worth the effort.

(1) War will mean thousands of civilian casualties. If there's anything Saddam has produced in his nearly 25 years of rule in Iraq, it's civilian casualties. He ordered the gassing of thousands of innocent Kurds. He had thousands of Shiites murdered. His war against Iran caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties, and his invasion of Kuwait was marked by the killing of thousands of Kuwaiti civilians. Saddam has personally ordered the execution of thousands of Iraqis. He has allowed thousands of Iraqi children to die from starvation or lack of medicine.

Compare that with the few hundred civilians killed in Afghanistan by the U.S. military. In fact, the American intervention saved hundreds of thousands who would have starved to death otherwise. And in the 1991 Gulf War relatively few Iraqi civilians were killed. In truth, a war that deposes Saddam in Iraq will save civilian lives, thousands of them.

(2) It's a war for Iraqi oil. There's an easy way to get all the oil in Iraq that President Bush or anyone else might desire--and it's not war. No, the easy way is to lift sanctions on Iraq and make a deal with Saddam. He's eager to sell the oil and make money. And the United States doesn't need Iraqi oil anyway, what with Russian oil production coming on line. At the moment, America's problem is the cutoff of oil from Venezuela. A war for oil would oust President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Of course there is no such war planned, nor is there one to cut the price of oil. The price favored by Bush and the domestic oil industry--and producers like Saudi Arabia--will be restored when Venezuela is pumping fully again, probably soon.

(3) War in Iraq will stir a new wave of terrorism. We've heard this one before. The Gulf War, it was warned, would arouse the Arab street and subject Americans to a wave of attacks. That didn't happen. When the United States went into Afghanistan and, worse, bombed during Ramadan, it was supposed to prompt a worldwide uprising of Muslims, and Muslim terrorists in particular, against America. Again, that didn't happen. So when the Arab leader most hated by other Arab leaders--a leader who's far more secular than Muslim, is removed, it's highly unlikely to cause more terrorism. Most likely, the result will be less.

(4) Give the inspectors more time. This was a common cry at Saturday's antiwar demonstrations. But of course those cries were entirely disingenuous. By definition, the "stop the war" protesters don't want war, no matter what the United Nations inspectors in Iraq happen upon. The demonstrators are playing Saddam's delaying game: Let the inspections continue until support in the United States for military action in Iraq dissolves and war is averted. Then Saddam survives. The inspections ploy is further proof the left has given up wars of national liberation against oppressive dictators and is now in the business of saving oppressive dictators from wars of national liberation.

2003-02-19T07:36:00.000-08:00

Boy, the Germans are really serious about the fight on terrorism
15 years in prison for a guy convicted of 3,000 counts of accessory to murder. This adds up to about 1.8 day in prison per murder.
But then again, most of the people killed were not sophisticated Europeans but rather "cowboys" from the US. So this makes it all OK, of course. I am guessing that with good behaviour, this guy will be out right on time for the next wave of terrorist attacks.

2003-02-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Amazing!
Check this out! There's a new service that allows me to blog by phone. All I have to do is subscribe for 3$ a month and then I get to create audio posts by calling the special number and leaving a message for them to post. It's instantaneous and actually pretty easy. Of course, my voice sounds ridiculous and I had the most moronic "test message", but click the link below and check it out anyway!

audblog audio post

2003-02-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

This is just too good...

In keeping with our recent theme of shitting on the French, I give you Cindy Adams of the New York Post:

[...]We don't need your eau de crap toilet water because ... believe me ... without Americans to wear your schmattas, without Americans to subsidize your tourism, without Americans to save your ungrateful behinds war after war, you'd be just where you deserve to be - a suburb of Germany.

Mes enfants, vous can take votre French toast and shove it up your cafe au lait.

FRIG the frogs. Screw-ay les Francais. Up the French.

Your Matisse exhibition is here? We'll check out Grandma Moses. You have croissants? We'll eat bagels. You do L'Oreal? We'll do Revlon. Perrier? Club soda! For you, it's Cartier. For us, it'll be Winston. When it comes to champagne, we'll play Pop Goes the Weasel. In place of French wine, we'll order California.

[via Asparagirl]

2003-02-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

Stupid stupid people!

This morning, in my "Governments and Politics of the Developed World" tutorial, a student stood up and said to the TA: "Do you think the professor would be willing to reschedule our midterm exam? 'Cause we're supposed to be having our "anti-war strike" on that day and many students will be missing class". I was so shocked at the sheer chutzpah that these stupid activists were showing, that I actually gasped. Then, I stood up and said "That's the point of a strike! You're supposed to be so committed to your little cause that you're willing to accept the consequences of your strike actions....in this case, missing your midterm! It defeats the purpose if you get everyone to work around your strike!". I think my response was especially biting 'cause I was kinda shouting and laughing (at her) while saying it.

Luckily, the TA said that the prof. would most likely refuse to change the date. But OH MY GOD!!....these idiots can't even protest properly! Can you imagine the nerve?

Ok, I'm done venting. Carry on.

2003-02-18T02:39:00.000-08:00

'Non-alignment' meant 'anti-US' during the Cold War, so why should things be different now?

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Representatives of 114 countries began gathering in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur Tuesday for the 13th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), predicted to rally most of the developing world behind a formal declaration against the prospect of war against Iraq.

[...]The NAM summit will be followed immediately by a special summit of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), also chaired by Malaysia's Dr Mahathir.

Gee, I wonder what the Organization of Islamic Countries' stance will be on this whole 'War on ~~Them~~ Terrorism'

2003-02-18T02:23:00.000-08:00

This sucks
This afternoon at 2pm, I'm supposed to write an incredibly important midterm exam (important in the sense that it's worth 40% of my final grade), and yet here I sit, at 5:10am, awake with what might possibly turn out to be the worst case of step throat I've ever had, and with what would certainly turn out to be a fever if I had a thermometer to check. I cannot believe the luck....insomnia, fever and strep all at once. Of course, the only good news to come out of the story is that twice before in university, I've written exams while plagued with horrific illnesses, and scored over 90% both times.

Update: Oddly enough, after spending the night tossing and turning, I'm actually feeling significantly better than when I originally wrote this post. The fever and chills are gone, the sore throat has almost disappeared (thanks to sucrets and copious amounts of industrial strength mouth wash) and despite the lack of sleep, I'm surprisingly functional. Wish me luck!

2003-02-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

He made a funny!

Prominent Republican Congressman Makes Quips About French Opposition to War

Roy Blunt, who represents the Ozarks, made a string of jokes at the Missouri Republican Convention about France's opposition to war.

"Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? It's not known, it's never been tried," Blunt quipped Saturday, drawing guffaws and applause.

He didn't stop there.

"Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day the description was, 'Never shot. Dropped once.'"

hehe...niiice!

2003-02-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

Thank God for Tony Blair (Winston Blair as Andrew Sullivan calls him.
Here is a portion of the speech he delivered right after the millions of imbeciles marched this weekend:

Yes, there are consequences of war. If we remove Saddam by force, people will die and some will be innocent. And we must live with the consequences of our actions, even the unintended ones.
But there are also consequences of "stop the war".
If I took that advice, and did not insist on disarmament, yes, there would be no war. But there would still be Saddam. Many of the people marching will say they hate Saddam. But the consequences of taking their advice is that he stays in charge of Iraq, ruling the Iraqi people. A country that in 1978, the year before he seized power, was richer than Malaysia or Portugal. A country where today, 135 out of every 1000 Iraqi children die before the age of five - 70% of these deaths are from diarrhoea and respiratory infections that are easily preventable. Where almost a third of children born in the centre and south of Iraq have chronic malnutrition.
Where 60% of the people depend on Food Aid.
Where half the population of rural areas have no safe water.
Where every year and now, as we speak, tens of thousands of political prisoners languish in appalling conditions in Saddam's jails and are routinely executed.
Where in the past 15 years over 150,000 Shia Moslems in Southern Iraq and Moslem Kurds in Northern Iraq have been butchered; with up to four million Iraqis in exile round the world, including 350,000 now in Britain.
This isn't a regime with Weapons of Mass Destruction that is otherwise benign. This is a regime that contravenes every single principle or value anyone of our politics believes in.
There will be no march for the victims of Saddam, no protests about the thousands of children that die needlessly every year under his rule, no righteous anger over the torture chambers which if he is left in power, will be left in being.
I rejoice that we live in a country where peaceful protest is a natural part of our democratic process.
But I ask the marchers to understand this.
I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honour. But sometimes it is the price of leadership. And the cost of conviction.
But as you watch your TV pictures of the march, ponder this:
If there are 500,000 on that march, that is still less than the number of people whose deaths Saddam has been responsible for.
If there are one million, that is still less than the number of people who died in the wars he started.

2003-02-17T06:45:00.000-08:00

This morning...

This morning, before classes, I'll be attending a panel discussion about the Middle East. I'm assuming that the Israeli/Palestninan issue will be discussed as well as the possibility of war with Iraq. The interesting thing about it will be listening to Rex Brynen (who is known around campus as "Arafat's advisor") lead the discussion. I'll let you know how it goes later tonight.

2003-02-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

Condi speaks...again

Twice in two days! We're being spoiled.

"Tyrants respond to toughness. That was true in the 1930s and 1940s, when we failed to respond to tyranny, and it is true today," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

2003-02-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

As always, Orwell was right on.
Talking about the pacifists who were demonstrating against waging war on Germany, Orwell once said that "Pacifists objectively are pro-fascist" and that being against the war and trying to fight wartime activities in England, they indirectly helped Hitler.
How prescient. Yet, how sad that so many imbeciles fail to see the parallels between the rise of fascism and the heavy toll paid for waiting to deal with it and the situation with Iraq today. Tyrants do not go away. Tyrants always raise the ante to solidify their grip on power. Tyrants are bullies who have time on their side. The more one waits, the more powerful and frightening tyrants become. The cost of not removing them quickly becomes prohibitive.
The pacifists are at it again. They have failed to learn the lessons that History teaches us. Let's hope that Bush-Condi-Powell-Blair clearly see through all the disgusting anti-Americanism and stay the course.

2003-02-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Revolution is a beautiful thing...

MEMRI reports on the numerous criticisms that have faced Saddam in the Saudi media this week. There have been several calls for abdication, as well as others for Saddam to commit suicide.

D. Ali bin Shuwail al-Qarni, Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Society for Information and Communications and Associate Professor for Information at King Sa'ud University, wrote:

"As far as Iraq is concerned, the change [in regime] is inevitably coming with or without a war. But what will be the destiny of Saddam Hussein? Will His Highness abdicate his authority to prevent bloodshed and save the vital interests of Iraq as well the region's interests?"

If Saddam chooses not to abdicate he has no other choice to save the world of a disaster, says al-Qarni, "but to reach out to the suicide revolver and fire the shot of mercy to finish the tragedy which he has started."

I think so too.

2003-02-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Israel finds 3 barrels of what could be poisonous chemicals in the house of a Hamas terrorist killed Saturday.
If this proves to be true, it would be the first indication that a chemical war is being planned by terrorists. Nidal Farkhat was killed along with 4 others terrorists while they were testing model airplanes which had been fitted with tanks and spraying mechanisms. These were going to be launched into Israel. And of course, it is easy to make the link between these model airplanes and the chemicals found in the barrels. But of course, none of the millions who demonstrated on Saturday against the war on Iraq would give a damn if Israel was ever to be chemically burned or nuked. After all, the very presence of a successful Israel in the midst of 22 Arab countries characterized by centuries of poverty, illiteracy, human rights abuse and overall mediocrity is a black mark which needs to be eradicated.
Thank God Israel saved a few million lives by destroying the Ozirak nuclear reactor built by France while Chirac was prime minister. And Israel will do it once more by revealing to the world the extent of the threat from chemical weapons. I would suspect that one of the options being considered by Bush to get out of the corner he is in is to work with Israel to somehow get rid of Saddam. And Israel is probably the only country which could pull it off.

2003-02-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

So many idiots...so few comets!

How many of these idiots have ever protested against what Saddam has been doing to its own people? How many have risen against daily tortures, rape, assassinations? How many protested against Iraq when Kuwait or Iran were attacked? Who is brainwashing them? What kind of education systems produce such morons who cannot analyze a political situation beyond slogans and cheap causes? Is anyone for war simply out of pleasure or political expediency? Of course not. But being for peace when peace means millions of people living under a ruthless, brutal and illegal dictatorship in Iraq, and billions living under the threat of weapons of mass destruction being distributed to Islamic terrorists who measure their victories in thousands of body counts is simply not peace. This type of tyranny, of violence, of threat is a war. It is a war on civilization, it is a war on humanity. It is a war on our freedom. It is a war on our very existence. And for this reason, we must counter attack. We must destroy this enemy and those who support him. We must open the eyes of the millions of lemmings who marched on Saturday denouncing the victims while the perpetrator in Baghdad is pinching himself contemplating the depth of stupidity that has infected the Western world.

2003-02-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well la-di-da

An Islamic advocacy group Sunday launched an advertising campaign designed to counter a rising tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the United States.

Muslims say they have faced hate attacks after Sept. 11, 2001. Through this media campaign, they say, they want to present an accurate picture of their religion.

First of all, why don't we ever hear anything about these brutal attacks to which Muslims have been subjected post-9/11? Do they really happen? Reading the article, you'll notice that the people behind the campaign make no claim whatsoever or being against murderous terrorism, the 9/11 attacks or suicide bombings in their attempt to paint an "accurate picture of their religion". Why don't they? Because they feel that the potential ends justify their inhumane means. Plain and simple.

2003-02-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

I love it when politicians don't mince their words..

Condoleezza Rice was interviewed on FoxNews this morning and had some strong words about Iraq. You should definitely read the whole interview, but I'll post some the juicier tidbits below:

RICE: Iraq was supposed to file a full and complete declaration about its weapons of mass destruction and their programs...

SNOW: On December 7th.

RICE: ... on December 7th. Instead, they filed a declaration that everybody knows was a joke -- 12,200 pages of nothing. They have not cooperated with the inspectors. They give a little bit here on process, a little bit there to show that a few people can be interviewed in a hotel, which is clearly monitored.

But when it comes to answering the tough questions about VX or anthrax, or those mobile biological laboratories, that now many people have told us exist, the Iraqis have failed to do that.

So they're not cooperating. They're deceiving.

[...]SNOW: The French and Germans are saying inspections are working, we need more time, we need more inspectors.

RICE: I don't understand how anybody can say inspections are working. Hans Blix and ElBaradei sit there and talk about the need for more Iraqi cooperation.

They talk about their inability to answer certain critical questions about what happened to VX, what happened to anthrax, what happened to botulinim toxin.

The inspectors were never sent there to be detectives. The inspectors were not sent there to give him a final chance to be inspected. They were sent there to verify his disarmament.

[...]SNOW: How much time does Saddam have left?

RICE: Weeks, not months.

[...]SNOW: There are some press accounts saying that the administration is rattled by street protests that occurred in the United States and around the world yesterday. You rattled?

RICE: No. Nothing could be further from the truth. People have the right to protest. People can say what they think. But the fact of the matter is, they're not saying what they think in Baghdad, because that's a regime that cuts people's tongues out if they say what they think.

2003-02-16T08:33:00.000-08:00

NYC anti-war protests

Asparagirl has a new photoblog on which she posted some fantastic photos that she took at yesterday's anti-war protests in NYC. A young classmate's taunt rings oh-so-true today: "It's hard to believe that these idiots beat, like, a billion other sperm".

2003-02-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

Don't they hear themselves?

Yesterday, in my "American Foreign Policy" tutorial (aka. conference), the teaching assistant, as usual, asked students what they thought would happen in Iraq within the next week or so. Time and time again students raise their hands and say things like:

-"Well, according to Al Ahram newspaper...."

-"The folks at IndyMedia think that..."

-"There was this fabulous article in "The Worker" that predicted that...."

-"Well didn't you read what was written in the [McGill] Daily last issue?"

...and no one seems to think there's anything wrong with the sources of information that these people are using! Meanwhile, when I say "It's interesting you'd think such a thing because yesterday in the National Post....", I'm met with enough "Pfft"s, "Pshhaww"s and "C'mon"s to make you puke. The worst part is, the teaching assistant is the worst culprit! I'm embarrassed to say that I've been attempting to soften him up and balance out my real political views with enough ass kissing to put anyone to shame, but the teaching assistant doesn't seem to care. I'm expecting my mid-term grade next week and I'm sure that his personal feelings towards me will be clearly visible in my grade. I (might) keep you posted on that.

2003-02-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

A really BAD day at the UN...
One cannot but be despondent at what took place on Friday at the UN Security Council. Here is the French Foreign Minister clearly admitting that Iraq is in violation of the 17th UN resolution (this time 1441), then promoting the idea that the war will never be a solution to rid the world of Saddam, and most of the diplomats in the room applauding like trained seals. And Colin Powell, after being completely blind-sided by Hans-fence-sitting-Blix trying to get the world to read the terms of the very resolution they unanimously signed: 1441 is NOT about inspections. It is about Saddam willingly divulging the weapons he has and how he disposed of the ones he claims not to have anymore. RTFM. Read The Fucking Manual!!!

Now, Tony Blair has announced that yet more time will be given to the inspectors until...you guessed it...another Hans Blix command performance on February 28th, when he will, once again announce nothing and ask for more time. And it is obvious that more time is needed in order to let 127 inspectors inspect a country the size of California, looking for enough VX and Anthrax material to fill a few bathtubs. I am guessing that anywhere between 10 and 15 years would do the trick, no problem.

So, the civilized world (as opposed to the "sophisticated" world of Europeans who think that looking through used books strolling along the Seine River with a beret is a powerful weapon against terrorism, tyranny and fascism) is at a crossroad.
Either we ignore the UN, stop contributing to it and let it become the official mouthpiece for dictators, tyrants and terrorists (which it effectively is), or we continue the charade in Iraq and wait until Saddam perfects his weapons and wipes Israel off the face of the earth. Because clearly that is what he is going to do in order to gain the adoration of the peace-loving Muslim world. Think about it, this would solve the Middle East problem and would relegate the region to producing oil, terrorists and suicide-bombers, which it already is. No one can argue that the region (other than Israel which contributes more than its share of scientists, Nobel Prize winners and patents) is contributing much to the world. Science? Nope. Medicine? Nope. Food? Nope. Foreign aid? Nope. Peace and prosperity? Nope. Funding for terrorism and despots? Oh yes...plenty of that.

So what may happen over the next little while?
One of two scenarios. Scenario 1: The world goes the French way. Saddam stays in power. The inspections slow him down a tad but eventually he develops enough weapons to wipe out Israel and deter the US from attacking Iraq. State terrorism has won. Other Arab despots are encouraged that the US bluff has been called and realize that the West can be blackmailed and threatened with impunity. France becomes the first European country to be ruled according to the Koran.

Scenario 2: the US says enough is enough. Saddam is deposed (sent to France to stroll along the Seine River). The people of Iraq are free. Other Arab thugocracies start falling when the students take on the established order, the Mullahs and the Clerics and shake off the culture of paranoia, entitlement and terrorism which has produced nothing but misery and war for generations. The Mullahs and Clerics all end up in France pretending to be Khomeini. France becomes the first European country to be ruled according to the Koran.

Either way, I am glad I left France to live in North America.

2003-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Oh, the irony

Interestingly enough, after searching online for a link to Brian Mulroney's speech about anti-Semitism and the State of Israel (as I mentioned I would in in the previous post), the only place online that carries a transcript of the speech is a website that's, well....anti-semitic. It makes me terribly uncomfortable when people start keeping track of statistics about Jews in high places, or when they know the name of every Jew involved in politics in Canada over the past ten years. Clearly this site is bad news....but I'll link to it anyway so you can read the speech and then e-mail the webmaster to tell him he's full of shit (orwelltoday@orwelltoday.com).

Update: Reader Ted was kind enough to point me to a more Jew-friendly website that carries Mulroney's speech. I'm leaving the other link posted because it's important to see how some people still feel about minorities.

2003-02-15T08:07:00.000-08:00

Now why didn't I think of that?

In a speech at the University of Toronto recently, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney characterized Canada's foreign policy vis-a-vis the US as.....the "suck and blow policy"

"It's called 'the suck and blow at the same time' foreign policy,'' the former Conservative prime minister said. "You denigrate the Americans in caucus. You ridicule them in the House of Commons. You ridicule the President of the United States as best you can and then, at the last second, after you've done all that damage, you jump on board and say: 'Hey, we're with you. Here's Canada to the rescue.'

Mulroney also gave an incredible speech about anti-Semitism and the reasons for which he urges the Canadian government to support the State of Israel (which he claims to have always done). If I can find the speech online, I will link to it. It really is amazing.

2003-02-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

According to Debka, the US/UK resolution which will be introduced to the Security Council will call for Saddam to leave Iraq within 48 hours or face war.
Can anyone see Saddam actually leaving Iraq? I think not!

2003-02-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

Comments are back on...Have a blast (our a shout out...whatever the case may be!)

2003-02-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

In case you needed something relevant to wear...

2003-02-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

This could be interesting...Adib Shaaban, the right hand of Saddam Hussein’s powerful son Uday, has defected.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly reports exclusively that this key member of Saddam Hussein’s administration, who was charged with his son’s most sensitive missions, traveled to Jeddah at the beginning of this week, saying he needed to put through some gold transactions ahead of the war. From Jeddah, he flew to Beirut and… disappeared.
US intelligence sources report that Shaaban never really went to Beirut. He made his way under cover to Damascus Monday and was picked up by an unmarked plane for an unknown destination. As Uday’s closest aide, he also managed a chain of official publications, including the authoritative Babel, and was in on the Saddam regime’s deepest secrets.
Uday commands the secret army known as Saddam’s Fedayeen, the backbone of Baghdad’s defenses and custodian of the weapons of mass destruction that were not smuggled out to Lebanon. Uday is also the chief of the ruling Baath Party’s covert service.
Shaaban must therefore be a veritable treasury of Saddam Hussein’s secrets. In American hands, Uday’s chef de bureau would be even more valuable than the proverbial smoking gun.

2003-02-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

This is priceless...
Today, Arafat announced that he was going to name a Prime Minister who will report directly to him. To me, this seems to be a giant yawn. But to the Palestinian ~~mafia~~ Authority, this is a significant move. Its spokesman, Saeb Erakat declared: "Today we have done our part, now it's up to [Israeli] Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon, and also to the quartet and above all to the American side, to adopt, declare and begin the process of implementing the road map," So there you have it. The ball is now in Israel's court, the Palestinians have done all they could towards peace. Whoaaaaaahahahaha....Yeah. Never mind that they still fund terrorist groups, never mind that they still teach children to hate Jews in every school, never mind that their constitution still calls for the incineration of Israel...no, none of this matters of course. Arafat is going to name a ~~puppet~~ Prime Minister and that should do it.
Jerks.

2003-02-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

A day in the life of Naomi Ragen...
Incredible how calm and composed Israelis are in the face of daily threats. Remarkable.
The rising lake Kinneret, on the other hand, has been quite a comfort. It has been raining almost constantly. How wonderful! After so many years of drought! Each drop that falls, is a blessing. Had we had one more year of drought, we would have been close to the breaking point. Our groundwater was getting polluted, our main reservoir, the Kinneret, was down five (!) meters! And now, all this rain and snow. A blessing. And every day, another terrorist plot is foiled. Yesterday it was a 20 kilo bomb set to go off in Jerusalem, a day or two before, a bomb four times the size.(I'll tell you the truth - who can keep track of how many and how large?) Rockets landing harmlessly near neighborhoods in Gaza and Sderot. Our soldiers foil their plots. Again, and again, and again.

I got my booklet from the army on how to prepare my home in case of attack. I cleaned out my bomb shelter [note: can you imagine the panic here if anyone was asked to clean out their bomb shelters!!!], bought water, talked my daughter into taking this seriously, got my husband to agree to buy the plastic sheeting and cellotape to seal off windows (he says we still have some left from the last Gulf War, and it did no good then...)

I'm working, finishing a new book that takes place in Israel. It's about a family coping with a terrorist attack, and the British reporter whose covering the story, and about the grandmother who went through the Holocaust...So many issues that I am living every day. Life and art are very close.

On television tonight, I was amazed to see that Americans are also asked to stock up on water, and that life has changed there too. And Heathrow airport has tanks! The words of an article I wrote long ago, when the Intifada just began, echoed in my head:" It always starts with the Jews, but it never ends there. If an Israeli grandmother and her grandchild are not safe in the park, then no grandmother and no grandchild anywhere in the world is safe in the park." I can't believe how quickly it all came true.

2003-02-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

I have removed the comments section which was making the site painfully slow. We will look for another home for comments. Please bear with us. Thanks!

2003-02-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

Right on!

I must say, this post from MaderPundit made me laugh out loud.

MaderPundit writes:
Leaders of the 67 locals of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) overwhelmingly passed a motion stating their opposition to war in Iraq.

Leaders of the free world overwhelmingly failed to notice. If they had, they would have overwhelmingly failed to care....

Go read the rest.

2003-02-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

David Frum is the man!

For the past week or so, as the question of war with Iraq has shifted from "if" to "when", I've had several dicussions with people in which the following exchange has taken place:

Anti-war leftist: Why does Bush have to rush into a war like this? What's the hurry?

Me: Rush? It's been over a year and half since 9/11! Everyone has been talking about war since then and there hasn't been any war until now....or soon enough!

Anti-war leftist: Oh c'mon! You know perfectly well that Saddam has nothing to do with Islamic fundamentalism and terror. Face it, this war's about oil

Me: barf

Nothing to do with Islamic fundamentalism? Frum doesn't seem to think so. Here the diary entry he posted today:

News From Osama (re: the new audio tape)

Can we retire now this idea that the “religious” Osama and the “secular” Saddam have nothing to do with one another?

I remember watching a large pro-Iraq demo in London four months ago. Tens of thousands of men and women in Islamic dress marched along Piccadilly chanting pro-Saddam slogans. Maybe Saddam has nothing to do with Islamic extremism – but Islamic extremism sure has a lot to do with him.

2003-02-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

For all those wondering why the French are trying to stop the war in Iraq

*Note*: The description of World War I is priceless

The Complete Military History of France

- Gallic Wars - Lost. In a war whose ending foreshadows the next 2000 years of French history, France is conquered by of all things, an Italian.

- Hundred Years War - Mostly lost, saved at last by female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The First Rule of French Warfare; "France's armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchman."

- Italian Wars - Lost. France becomes the first and only country to ever lose two wars when fighting Italians.

- Wars of Religion - France goes 0-5-4 against the Huguenots

- Thirty Years War - France is technically not a participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the other participants started ignoring her.

- War of Devolution - Tied. Frenchmen take to wearing red flowerpots as chapeaux.

- The Dutch War - Tied

- War of the Augsburg League/King William's War/French and Indian War - Lost, but claimed as a tie. Three ties in a row induces deluded Frogophiles the world over to label the period as the height of French military power.

- War of the Spanish Succession - Lost. The War also gave the French their first taste of a Marlborough, which they have loved every since.

- American Revolution - In a move that will become quite familiar to future Americans, France claims a win even though the English colonists saw far
more action. This is later known as "de Gaulle Syndrome", and leads to the Second Rule of French Warfare; "France only wins when America does most of
the fighting."

- French Revolution - Won, primarily due the fact that the opponent was also French.

- The Napoleonic Wars - Lost. Temporary victories (remember the First Rule!) due to leadership of a Corsican, who ended up being no match for a British footwear designer.

- The Franco-Prussian War - Lost. Germany plays the role of drunk Frat boy to France's ugly girl home alone on a Saturday night.

- World War I - Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States. Thousands of French women find out what it's like to not only sleep
with a winner, but one who doesn't call her "Fraulein." Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French
bloodline.

- World War II - Lost. Conquered French liberated by the United States and Britain just as they finish learning the Horst Wessel Song.

- War in Indochina - Lost. French forces plead sickness, take to bed with the Dien Bien Flu

- Algerian Rebellion - Lost. Loss marks the first defeat of a western army by a Non-Turkic Muslim force since the Crusades, and produces the First Rule of Muslim Warfare; "We can always beat the French." This rule is identical to the First Rules of the Italians, Russians, Germans, English, Dutch, Spanish, Vietnamese and Esquimaux.

- War on Terrorism - France, keeping in mind its recent history, surrenders to Germans and Muslims just to be safe. Attempts to surrender to Vietnamese
ambassador, fail after he takes refuge in a McDonald's.

The question for any country silly enough to count on the French should not be "Can we count on the French?" but rather "How long until France
collapses?"

2003-02-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

Escaping Islam

Nonie Darwish, at FrontPageNews, has written a fantastic article about her gradual 'escape' from Islam. As a somewhat religiously observant person, it bothers me that someone, of any religion, would have to abandon that religion because of the process of bastardization through which certain individuals have put the entire religion. Since I often criticize Muslims for keeping quiet about the horrors of terrorism and fundamentalist Islam, I feel that it's my duty to highlight articles by those who do. Go read Nonie's work....it's great.

2003-02-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

Monstrous Hypocrisy

Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has relayed information that Al Qaida intends to launch an attack during the Id Al Adha holiday with "soft targets" such as tourists likely victims. The holiday is marked by an annual Muslim pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca.

These are the same people who were up in arms about the possibility of American strikes against the Muslim world during Ramadan.

[via Right Wing News]

2003-02-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

Well it's about time: Sharon promises Israel he will remove Arafat
That'll be the day. I think that Saddam and Arafat will soon end up wearing stripes and sharing a cell.
Well, actually Sharon said he'd remove the current Palestinian leadership. I am guessing that as soon as Saddam is a goner, so is Yasser. And hopefully, they'll both start counting their 72 virgins.

2003-02-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

Jews are 'oh-so-trendy'

Jews make up two percent of the American population. At the moment, though, they make up more than 33 percent of the Democratic presidential candidates. Toss General Wesley Clark into the mix and the figure tops 42 percent. Who knew?

The Irish-sounding John Kerry was always quite Catholic, or so we thought. Even though the Massachusetts senator learned of his Jewish roots some 15 years ago, he only got around to trumpeting the news the other day that he's more Jewish than he thought. First it was just a Jewish grandmother; now he's discovered a Jewish grandfather as well. Suddenly, on the campaign trail in Florida, he could hardly talk about anything else.

Clark, the former NATO commander who is flirting with a presidential run, discovered his Jewish roots more than 20 years ago. But only in recent weeks did he reveal that he is descended from "generations of rabbis."

Perhaps they are following in the footsteps of Hillary Clinton, a lifelong Methodist who chose an opportune moment — when she was running for the Senate in New York — to let slip that she had a Jewish step-grandfather and that her mother's half-sister converted to Judaism. And Madeleine Albright, you may recall, discovered her Jewishness — with a little help from a nosy reporter — just months after her appointment as Secretary of State.

What's going on here? Has Jewish ancestry been something of a dark secret for public figures, to be whispered among family members but not mentioned in polite company? And if so, how is it that politicians keep stumbling upon this information when it comes in handy, particularly at campaign time? Do they think it will make fundraising easier, or make them appear more sympathetic to Israel, or win them votes in certain precincts of Brooklyn and Miami Beach?

2003-02-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Is there some kind of campaign I could help her with?

Bush may tap California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown, a conservative judge who ruled against affirmative action and abortion rights, if a spot opens on the U.S. Supreme Court

ok ok ok, I admit it....I don't know much about this woman and her views on abortion are a little sketchy (for me, at least) but she kinda reminds me of Condi.....how bad could she be?

[via Drudge]

2003-02-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

Condi speaks

It's sad that such an eloquent woman has to waste her time explaining such obvious things to the anti-war left.

"The terrorists are striking because they want to bring down civilization as we know it. We would be misguided in believing terrorists will leave us alone if we leave them alone."

2003-02-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

awwww....how cute!

You know, when I see stuff like this, I have to laugh because I can't help but think that most of the Arab regimes that these women are working so hard to keep in power, would probably hang them all as punishment for their ridiculous displays of nudity. And dare I ask, why the heck is it always the women who pull stupid stunts like these? Ladies, put your clothes back on - you're giving my gender a bad name.

[via Right Wing News]

2003-02-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

Remember how Iraq supposedly released all the information it had in the 12,000-page work of art they produced for Hans Blix and his pals?
Well turns out...ready for this?...turns out that it was not totally true. Imagine this. Saddam was lying!!! Who would have thought?
Iraq is now producing documents on things they don't have (according to them) about VX, Anthrax, etc...
Blix said the Iraqis had handed over documents on "specific, high-profile unresolved issues" including anthrax, the chemical agent VX, and missiles.
Wonder if the liberals who were so quick to point to the fact that Saddam "was coming clean" will recognize that, once again, he was a lying SOB.

2003-02-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

Read David Warren's latest column. It is a must. Here are his predictions for the next 2 weeks:
1. The first is a dramatic last-minute concession to Hans Blix and Mohammad el-Baradei. This is what Saddam Hussein has always done with his back to the wall, and believe me there are people who are still impressed. They no longer include any members of the U.S. administration, so the trick is not going to work. Saddam will back down on spy-plane overflights (now that he has had the time to prepare for them), or offer up more scientists to be interviewed (privately, in Iraq, in bugged rooms), or even make a deathbed confession about certain hidden stockpiles (a small fraction of what he owns), in the hope of turning the tables on Mr. Powell. But that will no more sway the members of the "alliance of the willing" who are poised to strike him down, than Mr. Powell's chapter-and-verse presentation swayed Schroeder or Chirac. It will merely make whistling noises as it passes through the empty spaces between the ears of the liberal media. [Isn't this the funniest thing?]
2. The second is a major scare from North Korea. There may be a missile test (perhaps another over Japan), or a nasty incident at the DMZ (with GI casualties), or even a detectable underground nuclear explosion, I should think before next Friday. I would not be surprised to learn, eventually, that the regime of Kim Il-Jong was actually paid by Saddam in cold hard currency to perform such a stunt -- for it has a long track record of doing anything for cash. Those who think the present wild North Korean bellicosity is unconnected to developments in Iraq will be proved naïve.
3. A third possible surprise -- more likely from the week after -- will be a sudden missile attack or other attempt at a large-scale terrorist hit on Israel, directed from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. This is a very substantial wild card, for whether its president, Bashir Assad, fully understands it or not, allowing this to happen would open a second front between Syria and Israel, either just before or after U.S. special forces have taken positions around Baghdad.

Is this guy good or what?

2003-02-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

Of course, Annan-the-imbecile wants a consensus before taking any action against Iraq.
This is the man who heads the organization which has nominated Iraq to be...ready for this...chairing the UN Commission on Disarmament starting next May. Yes, this is correct. Iraq, the country which develops and uses chemical weapons on its own people will now provide the world with leadership on disarmament.
Does anyone thinks that Annan really has any credibility? For this matter, does the UN matter anymore? It is a bloated bureaucracy, it has been taken over by tyrants, anti-Americans and antisemites and it has consistently failed to prevent many conflicts from degenerating into genocide (Rwanda, Somalia, Kosovo, and so on). It is time to get rid of it and replace it with an organization to which only true democracies, ruled by the rule of law can belong. Any country failing the most basic tests of true democracy would be excluded until it cleaned out its act. This would avoid having Libya chairing the UN Commission on Human Rights or Iraq chairing the UN Commission on Disarmament. What a joke.

2003-02-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Some Liberals were 'persuaded'

Mary McGrory of the Washington Post writes:

I don't know how the United Nations felt about Colin Powell's "J'accuse" speech against Saddam Hussein. I can only say that he persuaded me, and I was as tough as France to convince.

Go read the rest of the column about how a Liberal just barely admitted she was wrong...

2003-02-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

Student sues to get A+, not A

MEMPHIS, Michigan (AP) -- A high school senior says he earned an A+, not an A, and has sued to get the grade changed to bolster his chance at becoming valedictorian.

If the "A" actually hurts his chances of getting into college, I'm sure there's always room for him at Concordia....they seem to adore mediocrity.

2003-02-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

Steyn on the UN and Katie Couric

Mark Steyn: Let's Quit The UN

Earlier this week, on NBC’s Today Show, Katie Couric, America’s favourite wake-up gal, saluted the fallen heroes of the Columbia: ‘They were an airborne United Nations — men, women, an African-American, an Indian woman, an Israeli....’

Steady on, Katie. They were six Americans plus an Israeli. And, if they had been an ‘airborne United Nations’, for one thing the Zionist usurper wouldn’t have been on board...

Miss Couric could have said the Columbia was an airborne America — the ‘Indian woman’, Kalpana Chawla, is the American Dream writ large upon the stars: she emigrated to the US in the Eighties and became an astronaut within a decade. But somehow it wasn’t enough to see in the crew’s multiple ethnicities a stirring testament to all the possibilities of her own country, so instead Katie upgraded them into an emblem of a far nobler ideal: the UN.

In the days before Miss Couric’s observation, there were two notable news items about the United Nations, informing us that: 1) The newly elected chair of the UN Human Rights Commission is Libya; 2) In May, the presidency of the UN Conference on Disarmament will pass to Iraq.

Read the rest. As usual, Steyn's column is fabulous.

2003-02-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

Good stats

A snapshot of America’s mood shows increases in President Bush’s approval ratings and in the percentage of Americans ready to support military action against Iraq, according to an NBC News poll released Thursday and taken soon after Secretary of State Colin Powell laid out the U.S. case before the United Nations.

Below is a summary of the survey of 514 adults:

Bush ratings: Sixty-one percent approved; 31 percent disapproved. Last month, the ratio was 54 percent to 40 percent. Bush’s high was 81 percent in November 2001.

Military action against Iraq: Sixty percent felt it should happen; 27 were against it. That compares with 56 percent and 36 percent in January. The 27 percent mark was the smallest reading since the question was asked in polls dating to last April.

2003-02-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

Must you bring God into this?

Rev. Richard "Rich" Weaver crashed the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton, breezing through the ballroom entrance without a ticket and handed President Bush what he later described as an eight-page typed "message from God" about Iraq.

Weaver told Montgomery that at one point he unhooked a rope in front of the head table, approached the president and handed him the letter, which warned: "If America does not repent, there will be 50,000 casualties and a six-month war" with Iraq. Bush had a look of attentiveness and "peace," Weaver added.

[via Drudge]

2003-02-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

A letter from Naomi Ragen to the family of Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut killed in the Columbia disaster.
To: Mrs. Ramon and family:
From: Naomi Ragen

It has taken me several days to understand what I want to say about Ilan Ramon. Beyond the traditional role of Western hero – the adventuring astronaut who embodies the Western world’s idea of courage, someone who dares to pioneer the limits of human understanding and human capability—there was something more. It is that “more” that has been so hard to define.

But finally, I think I do understand. The Jewish people sent Ilan Ramon as its representative, to join hands with the world in exploring a new frontier for the betterment and enlightenment of mankind. Despite the Holocaust, in which the Jewish people were separated out, vilified, brutalized, condemned, with Ilan, we Jews reached out to the world, to our fellow men, wanting so much to be part of the striving towards common good.

Whatever the distances between ourselves in Israel and our Jewish brethren abroad, every Jew knew Ilan Ramon represented him, or her. And he made us all so very proud. He wasn’t religious, but he asked for kosher food. He asked a Rabbi what time the Sabbath would come in and go out in space. He brought a Torah scroll, and the picture of a young Holocaust victim, who could only stare behind electrified fences at the stars. He went into space as a Jew and as an Israeli, someone who fought to protect the Jewish homeland; a pilot who was part of the Jewish air force that destroyed Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor, before it could destroy us, and the rest of the world. And in so doing, he united every Jew, reminding us all of our shared culture, our history, those things which connect us. And in so doing, he reached out the hand of our people towards mankind for the good.

The Jews of Israel have suffered indescribable losses. After two years of Intifada, that have brought the Jewish people once again face to face with what is worst in the human race—the instinct to kill and be killed, the sickening lies of hate-filled propaganda — Ilan Ramon managed to lift up our minds and hearts and to carry them with him as he flew towards heaven.

May God grant him a heavenly reward for sanctifying the Jewish people, and the name of God.

Naomi Ragen

2003-02-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

Anne Coulter

Coulter's got a website! Cool eh? In her most recent column, she tears apart Liberals who are using the shuttle disaster to plug their anti-war cause.

The Gettysburg Address of liberal idiocy was a letter to the editor from a Jim Forbes of San Francisco two days after the crash. The Times titled his contribution to Liberalthink: "A Time of Mourning for Shattered Dreams: A Period of Healing." In full-dress sanctimony, Forbes wrote: "The loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven is a national tragedy. Time is needed for Americans to mourn. I hope that President Bush will do the right thing by slowing down his march to war and focusing instead on the healing that such a blow to national pride requires."

Here was the pithiest concentration of the multiple idiotic things liberals were saying about the space shuttle, the insincerity, the audacity, the smarminess – he even worked in "the healing process." How he must have polished that little gem! The idea that liberals feel the shuttle explosion was a tragedy is patent nonsense. They were jumping for joy at this new excuse to denounce the "march to war." The nation is marching to war at such breakneck speed, it will be two years from 9-11 before we attack.

2003-02-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

Cute

[via The Ville]

2003-02-06T06:29:00.000-08:00

Reprint from Jeff Jacoby's Newsletter: What is keeping Jews from flocking to the Republican camp?
[My comment: Frankly, why any Jew would still vote democrat after the mess Clinton made in the Middle East and the fence sitting on Iraq, or vote Liberal in Canada, is beyond me. But then again, I think that Liberals are our society's biggest enemies for being appeasers and apologists.]

The popular Internet journal FrontPageMagazine.com recently invited me and four other members of the pundit class to take part in a symposium on Jews, Republicans, and American politics. Read the results in The Jews and President Bush. An excerpt:
Brooks: I think the previous barriers to Jews supporting the GOP are coming down -- fear of the Christian Right, previously strong support of Israel from the Democrats, a polarizing social agenda from the Republicans among other things- and as a result I believe we will see larger support for Republicans in the Jewish community going forward.

Weinstein: Longstanding historical habits are hard to break, but Jews are actually beginning to come to the Republican Party. Bush's support of the State of Israel and the fact he has taken the harsh edges off of the Republican agenda has helped. To the consternation of New York Democrats, George Pataki (not my type of Republican), actually got a majority of Jewish votes over Carl McCall. But it's not Jewish votes that are most significant to the political process; it's the political contributions Jews make and their voices in the media that matter far more than sheer electoral numbers. In both these categories, Bush is doing extremely well.

Jacoby: It's an old story. Part of the answer is history: Jews coming to America from Europe often brought with them the habit of associating parties of the left with tolerance and emancipation -- an association that made sense in a Europe where the most conservative parties were often the most anti-Semitic.

But part of the answer is also theological: Liberalism is the religion of many secular American Jews, who have convinced themselves that the essence of being Jewish is being a good liberal -- and of course to be a good liberal means to be a Democrat.

The perception that the Republican Party is the purview of the "Christian right" and that the "Christian right" is unfriendly to Jewish interests -- an old and mostly unfair shibboleth -- helps keep Jews away as well. Very slowly, this may be changing. I find a growing recognition among liberal American Jews that Christian conservatives are reliable friends on at least the one issue that many of them care about most: support for Israel.

Charen: Many Jews are liberals first and Jews second. Being liberal is part of their identity. They often claim that liberalism is the philosophy that springs more naturally from Judaism, but this is a dubious argument. Judaism teaches personal responsibility, traditional morality, law and order, and forbids abortion except to save the life of the mother.

Jews are also afraid of Christianity and believe that if the majority becomes more Christian, or expresses its Christian beliefs, life for Jews in America is diminished. Nearly every Jewish Democrat I know cites the so-called "religious right" as the main reason he/she could never vote Republican.