Gleichschaltung

Bill Spricht often translates interesting stuff from the German-language press. Today's new word: when news media is gleichgeschaltet, it tows the government line. Naturally, when Der Spiegel uses the term, it is referring to the U.S. media. Bill suggests they should be casting an eye closer to home. He kindly translates:

Not a single paper with a print-run of greater than 50,000 pleads the case for the No campaign. Are the big media of France, dictated by the President, forming an opinion dictatorship (Meinungsdiktatur) to push propaganda solely for the Yes campaign?

Ya think?

Update: Speaking of things German, Ray at Davids Medienkritik unloads on the the German Ambassador to the US. Good thing Europeans are so diplomatic, unlike that horrible John Bolton.

When did we invade Pakistan?

Or US as whipping boy, part 3027.

A suicide bomber detonated in the middle of a Shiite religious festival today, killing at least 20:

The motive was not immediately clear, but there are frequent sectarian attacks in this Islamic country by extremist elements of the Sunni and minority Shiite sects.

Apparently, this is intra-Islamic fighting, but:

Shiite worshippers, weeping and moaning, beat their chests in grief. Some clashed with police after officers charged the crowd with their batons to clear the way for ambulances.

Many also chanted, "Down with America!"

Well, naturally.

And, though it has nothing to do with the story, the reporter sums up with:

Later Friday, radical Islamic groups planned rallies in Islamabad and other cities in Pakistan to protest the alleged desecration of the Quran by interrogators at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Sigh.

More World Economic Forum

Jay Nordlinger has more dispatches from the World Economic Forum, which normally meets in Davos but, since the Iraq War, also meets in Jordan. Here is the third installment, with links to the first two. I always find these fascinating and entertaining. Example:

Speaking of Israelis: There are relatively few at this conference (particularly considering that it is a powwow on the Middle East, and we're a stone's throw away from Israel). (Perhaps "stone's throw away" is not the right expression to use.) But there are some Israelis here, so that was enough for certain Jordanian MPs — members of parliament — to boycott. It's their funeral.

Missouri runs afoul of NRO

First it was Governor Matt Blunt. Now Senator Jim Talent has annoyed the editors at NRO. Are we in danger of losing our red state cred?

Bipartisan whining

A few days ago I was watching Molly Ivins on Now (I know, I'm a glutton for punishment) and she was going on about how Republicans have raised whining about how oppressed they are to an art form. Now we could talk about how she has oversimplified or conflated the terms "conservative" and "Republican" etc, but I suppose she has a point. It does look a little silly to talk about discrimination when you're party has the Presidency and both Houses of Congress.

But, I thought to myself, the Republicans certainly haven't cornered the market on victimhood. In fact, one could argue that they are merely taking a page out of the Left's book.

Then today, as if to prove my point, Instapundit has this quote from this NYTimes article. Here's the part that cracked me up:

For a certain segment of the population, Nascar's raid on American culture -- its logo festoons everything from cellphones to honey jars to post office walls to panties; race coverage, it can seem, has bumped everything else off television; and, most piercingly, Nascar dads now get to pick our presidents -- triggers the kind of fearful trembling the citizens of Gaul felt as the Huns came thundering over the hills.

Pleeeese. What segment of society feels this way? Paranoid Drama Queens for a WalMart-Free America? I happily admit to being one of those people that doesn't get auto racing, even though I live in Missouri, about 45 minutes from a Nascar speedway. Yet I manage quite easily to remain oblivious to all things Nascar. I'm sure Blue Staters have an even easier time of it.

So don't buy the Nascar honey if it offends you so much. And how many channels do you people with cable have? 80? 100? 200? "It's just impossible to find good Blue-State programming anymore, Muffy". It's as if they are shocked that there could be a marketing program that isn't aimed at them. If these people do exist, they win the whining competition hands down.

Sanctuary

If you haven't already, you should read Bill Whittle's new essay when you have a block of time. Excellent, as usual. He explains the consequences of violating the rules of war so simply that even a Hollywood actress should be able to understand. Here's a taste:

By wearing uniforms, soldiers differentiate themselves to the enemy. They assume additional risk in order to protect the civilian population. In other words, by identifying themselves as targets with their uniforms, the fighters provide a Sanctuary to the unarmed civilian population.

And this Sanctuary is as old as human history. The first civilized people on Earth, these very same Iraqis, who had cities and agriculture and arts and letters when my ancestors were living in caves, wore uniforms as soldiers of Babylon. This is an ancient covenant, and willfully breaking it is unspeakably dishonorable.

His essay reminded me of thoses pictures (scroll a little) of prisoners being deported to Guantanamo. The prisoners were hooded, restrained six ways to Sunday and tied to the infrastructure of the plane. I admit to wondering whether that wasn't a bit much... until I saw an interview with Louis Pepe.

Pepe had the misfortune to be a prison guard for Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, in prison on conspiracy charges regarding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Salim and his cellmate (also an Arab Muslim terrorist suspect) saved all the little packets of hot sauce from their meals for who knows how long until they could fill one a honey bear container. Then they waited. Prison officials suspect that they waited specifically for Pepe because he had been friendly to them and they figured he'd be a pushover.

When he entered their cell alone (he says they were cuffed but slipped out of them) they sprayed him with the hot sauce, tied him up and demanded his keys. When he wouldn't surrender them, Salim stabbed him though the eye with a comb that had been sharpened to a point. Pepe was left severely brain-damaged and severely disfigured.

I recount that story to point out that there are, amongst those detainees, men who do nothing but think about how they can kill Americans. Because their keepers do not dwell on murder and mayhem all day long, they will always be one step behind the wannabe murderers. That is the reason for the seemingly over the top security. Our soldiers and prison guards shouldn't have to pay with their lives for not being able to imagine every last way one of these psychopaths can use hot sauce and a comb to inflict horrendous damage.

Update: Jonah knows how Pepe relates to Gitmo.

Minister for Antisocial Behavior

Apparently, there are so many young punks (yobs, as the Brits call them) in the UK that Tony Blair has appointed a new Minister for Antisocial Behavior. But that Orwellian piece of information is just an aside.

The hook for this story seems to be a mall that has introduced a code of conduct for patrons that includes no hats or hoodies, no swearing and no groups of 5 or more with no intention to shop. Naturally this has induced hysteria in certain quarters.

I, for one, entirely support the mall. There used to be a mall about a mile from my house. Well, the big, empty building is still there. It was a nice mall too, until the herds of kids (seriously, 20 or more) started wandering aimlessly from one end to the other. This was before hoodies. Back then, the kids were wearing hats with the price-tags still hanging on them, to imply they had been stolen. Gee, why would law-abiding citizens find being surrounded by a crowd of self-proclaimed criminals intimidating? I can't imagine, but they did. And they stopped shopping there. And now I have to drive 25 minutes to a mall, and all those kids who thought their rights were being infringed upon by those awful security guards have no place to work or shop.

The story boasts a few unintentionally hilarious quotes:

Despite the Labour Party’s enthusiastic support for Bluewater’s ban on hoods, the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, along with child-welfare experts have spoken out against the mall’s clothing rule...

One group went as far as to urge youths to boycott Bluewater.

Yeah criminals, stay away from the mall that wants you to go away. That'll fix 'em. Then, of course, there's the Conservatives all up in arms that property owners would be proactive in protecting their investment. Conservatives, indeed.

And:

“It’s stupid; what you wear doesn’t say who you are,” said 28-year-old Dan Beckenham. “A well-dressed business man could be a mugger too,” the sales manager said.

Yeah Dan, that happens all the time.

And "what you wear doesn’t say who you are" is a myth of youth. Of course it does. These kids are making an intentional choice to dress like criminals (the hoodies suggest they are hiding their identities from the ubiquitous British security camera), and then they're surprised when people treat them like criminals. Shocka.

If a privately owned mall wants to keep these yahoos out, that is their right. If a restaurant can required a tie, a mall can require a modicum of civilized behavior. If there is a groundswell of support for the yahoos (about the time there is a snowball fight in hell), the mall will lose money and let them back in.

However, the Minister for Antisocial Behavior is just too creepy. Coupled with all the security camera, if kind of makes me want to put on a hoodie myself.

Newsweek's not the problem,

says Andrew McCarthy:

The false report, according to the New York Times, instigated "the most virulent, widespread anti-American protests" in the Muslim world since...well, since the last virulent, widespread anti-American protests in the Muslim world — particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where at least 17 people have been killed.

That's right. The reason for the carnage is said — again and again, by media critics and government officials — to be a false report of Koran desecration. The prime culprit here is irresponsible journalism.

Is that what we really think?

Conclusion:

There's a problem here. But it's not insensitivity, and it's not media bias. Those things are condemnable, but manageable. The real problem here is a culture that either cannot or will not rein in a hate ideology that fuels killing. When we go after Newsweek, we're giving it a pass. Again.

Toby Keith Democrats?

Notwithstanding his patriotic/jingoistic "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue", Toby Keith is a democrat. Tolerant, yet patriotic. Bull Moose suggests a new political category: The Toby Keith Democrat, aka the Tolerant Jingoist. According to Moose:

If Toby had opened the '04 Democratic Convention with "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue", old John Kerry would likely occupy the Oval Office. Democrats - say no to Michael Moore and yes to Toby Keith!

I doubt a party that could nominate the ultimate "Yes!" to Michael Moore could also handle the ultimate ass-kicking anthem. But if the Dems could get a candidate who could share a stage with Toby Keith and not look ridiculous, that would be a start.

(Via The Corner)

The Newsweek Debacle

I saw Mark Whitaker, Newsweek editor, on the News Hour. I have two observations.

First, only so much blame for the deaths in Afghanistan can be laid on Newsweek's doorstep. These rioters on the other side of the world don't know or care if this story is true. There have been other "atrocity" stories with more substance that this one, but no rioting occurred. The lion's share of the blame has to go to the proudly ignorant and superstitions culture that, as Daly Thoughts puts it, "...thinks that violence and murder is an acceptable response to being offended (among other things)". The take-away lesson for the press should be that we are dealing with a dysfunctional culture. That's what we're fighting against in the Middle East. Manhattan logic does not apply.

Having said that, what is up with this lame "Well, the Pentagon didn't deny it, so we figured it must be true" defense? As if it's the Pentagon's job to chase down every wild-eyed accusation before Newsweek's deadline. That doesn't really sound like a job for the US military. It almost sounds like the type of work that would be done by...oh, I don't know...a journalist.

And, lest I let Newsweek of too lightly, it really peeves me that these journalists are ready to buy anything that paints our soldiers as war criminals. As Glenn Reynolds puts it:

When you go out of your way to report the bad news, and bury the good news, when you're credulous toward critics (remember the Boston Globe porn photos?) and treat all positive news as presumptive lies, and when it's clear that the enemy relies on press behavior in planning its campaigns, then you've got a problem.

By the way, when the News Hour first came on, I was reading some blogs, not paying too much attention, when I heard this very articulate man speaking in such a straightforward style that I had to look up to see who it was. It was Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine. I guess bloggers are some of the only people comfortable with having an outspoken, possibly unpopular, opinion.

Hitler vs. Stalin

I've been following the fallout from Bush's Yalta comments with much interest. I haven't commented on it, though, because most discussions seem to end up focusing on the question of who was worse, Hitler or Stalin. And implying one was worse seems to imply that one was better. I like discussing the details of history as much as the next blogger, but it is unnerving to suddenly find oneself comparing the various merits of Hitler and Stalin.

Sadly, these two have so many actual apologists that it seems impossible to just stipulate that they were both evil and then dive into the minutiae. As soon as you do, someone, somewhere will take offense. Check out Stephen Green's Nazi Apologist post and the 100+ comments it generated to see what I mean. Interesting stuff there, by the way. No offense intended to Green or his commenters. I'm just pointing out the very strong opinions pretty much everyone seem to hold.

My opinion: Many decisions made by the FDR and Churchill during WWII were problematic because often there were no good options. This includes Yalta. There were two monsters to be slain. In a perfect world, we would have slain them both. In reality, we could only take on one. The other had to wait.

Update: Victor David Hanson has, as usual, an illuminating essay on the subject.

What type are you?

So I took the political typology test from the Pew Research Center. I only bring it up because I turned out to be an Upbeat. According to the survey, Upbeats have a "very favorable view of immigration." I had to laugh because I had just posted an anti-illegal immigrant rant.

But it's true. I do have a "very favorable view of immigration," because I believe that most immigrants come here to make a better life for themselves and their families and they are willing to work hard to do it. We are siphoning off the most ambitious, independent and hard-working people from every country in the world. Ultimately, such people will benefit this country.

Alas, our leaders (national and local) are giving immigration a bad name by ignoring border security and refusing to deport criminal/gang member illegals. Update: See this post by Michelle Malkin, if you don't know what I'm talking about.

(Via Michelle Malkin)

Is In-state tuition for illegals illegal?

A Kansas law allowing "undocumented immigrants" to pay in-state tuition has been challenged by out-of-state students and their parents:

Kris Kobach, who is representing 24 out-of-state university students and their parents, contends that a 1996 federal law prevents the state from offering to undocumented immigrants residency-based benefits that are not available to all U.S. citizens.

There are some side issues, like whether or not the students have standing, so there might not be a ruling on the merits.

The article notes that 30 students in Kansas took advantage of the law this year. I can't understand this. There is apparently no concern about the law that has been broken here. One of the chants from the ID and Amnesty for Illegals rally Malkin blogged about was "Democrats you have no spine, we'll pay you back election time". Excuse me? Non-citizens, documented or otherwise, should not be talking about "election time". They (theoretically) can't vote. Update: Or as Ace puts it:

Memo To Karl Rove: Illegal Aliens Aren't Supposed To Vote, And They're Not Going To Vote For You Anyway. On the other hand, there are millions of Americans (in both parties, and in no party at all) who are fed up with this country's refusal to enforce its immigration laws, and they do vote.

It seems being "undocumented" is rapidly becoming a protected minority status. The handing out of driver's licenses, the lack of control over who votes, and a near total lack of penalties for being "undocumented", is starting to make citizenship look like all responsibility and no rights.

EU Nuttiness

On school days, I get up early enough to catch the last half of the BBC World News. I learn all sorts of interesting things from the BBC. Last week, for example, I learned that Uganda was in Asia. Who knew? But today, I discovered that the French government thinks the French people are idiots.

The story concerned the French VAT on restaurant sales. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin promised in his last election campaign to reduce it from the current 19.6 percent to a much lower 5.5 percent. It seems that McDonald's take-away already qualifies for the lower tax. The higher one is only for sit-down meals. Alas, he can only do this with the approval of the EU. And guess what? Germany is opposed, because they don't want to be pressured to reduce their similarly high restaurant VAT.

Typical EU stuff. The funny part was the reporter's comment that the French government hopes that getting this tax reduction will induce the French voters to vote "oui" on the upcoming referendum on the EU constitution.

Sure. Let's underline for the French voters that the French Prime Minister has to go crawling to the Germans (or any and all other EU countries) to simply reduce an insanely high tax that is hurting French restaurants. Then let's watch the Prime Minister have to wait 8 months even get a meeting on the subject. Yeah, I'm sure that will work.

New Element Discovered

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named ‘’Governmentium’.

Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

There's more at Samizdata.

Big Break in the Precious Doe Case

After four years of searching, a name has finally been given to the little girl that came to be called Precious Doe: Erica Michelle Maria Green .

It's hard to say it's good news. If the girl's mother never reported her missing, than at very least, she knew her daughter was dead. But at least Erica didn't turn out to be yet another missing child. A few years ago, there was a lead involving a missing Florida girl. Could she be Precious Doe? But she wasn't. She was just another child who didn't have anyone to care whether she was missing or not.

Bloggers in the News

Scott B. of On The Wire, and incidentally the first person to blogroll me, made the local news. Check him out.

N. Korea: Worse than the Third Reich?

Christopher Hitchens thinks it's possible:

But not even in the lowest moments of the Third Reich, or of the gulag, or of Mao's "Great Leap Forward," was there a time when all the subjects of the system were actually enslaved. In North Korea, every person is property and is owned by a small and mad family with hereditary power. Every minute of every day, as far as regimentation can assure the fact, is spent in absolute subjection and serfdom.

They've already got the concentration camps.

I suppose we'll think of it as more of a Cambodia than a Third Reich, since it didn't touch us personally. Unless, of course, they lob a missile over here.

(via Bookworm Room)

Agroterrorism

Seems the International Symposium on Agroterrorism is taking place in Kansas City this week. Steve Kraske had Dr. David Franz, who is, among other things, the Chief Biological Scientist with Midwest Research Institute here in beautiful midtown KC.

They discussed preharvest and postharvest biosecurity and Dr. Franz didn't seem too thrilled with the progress being made. I didn't catch the whole show, but it ended with Dr. Franz painting a frightening picture a hoof and mouth outbreak. Billions of dollars could be lost overnight from killing all infected cattle and their herds. But also, travel could be severely limited to prevent the spread of the infection. Food prices would go up, tourism would go down, shipping things cross country by truck could be next to impossible.

But I wonder whether this is really Al-Qaeda's style. Doesn't seems flashy enough. Since hoof and mouth is naturally occurring, they risk people thinking they are just trying to take credit for a natural disaster. On the other hand, Al-qaeda's probably not the only entity interested in taking the US down. Another nation-state, (Iran for example), may be more results oriented.

Well, if you needed something else to worry about, you've got it.