Well, this is going to be hard to explain to Dad, the deputy sheriff At 205 MPH, Speed Thrills - September 24, 2004

This completely blows. USA NETWORK: Monk--Monk News

I definitely enjoyed this comparison of clarity versus nuance, and whether complexity automatically guarantees greater intelligence.

One of the best parts deals with nuclear waste disposal policy:

"Bush, though, is the complex one on Nevada's Yucca Mountain. That's where the federal government has agreed to deposit nuclear waste.

Kerry wants to drop Yucca. He says transporting the waste from nuclear plants to the site could be dangerous and that the site might not be absolutely safe. Has he considered that nuclear wastes have been safely and carefully transported in this nation for decades without incident? Does he realize that wherever the wastes are sent, they will have to be transported? Is he aware that the wastes pose many times the danger in the 39 states where they now reside than they would in an underground site that has been studied for 20 years, and that it might well take another 20 years to find another site that comes close to being as sound?"

William Safire reminds us that Rathergate may involve criminal acts, and that CBS and its corporate parent owe us an investigation and an explanation The New York Times: First, Find the Forger

And as Drudge reports, it's going to involve a court on some level, if only on a libel charge.

Russ Meyer, the man who brought us such landmark movies as "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!", passed away.

He also brought us this one

Nice editorial on Rathergate from my old hometown paper. Macon Telegraph: Ignoring the basic rules

The 60 Minutes Sunday crew disassociates themselves from Rathergate:

"I think it is safe to say that the overwhelming feeling among correspondents and producers on the Sunday program is that we would not have made the same mistakes," correspondent Steve Kroft said. He added: "It's hard to know at this point exactly what went wrong, because the Wednesday show is an entirely separate broadcast with entirely different people, and brand-new management. But something clearly went wrong with the process."

The Boston Globe reports on CBS' foibles, but not its own. Boston Globe: CBS says it's sorry for story on Bush

The USA Today reports today that Bill Burkett claims his source was Lucy Ramirez of Houston. The story indicates that she hasn't yet been reached. If she exists, what connection does she have to the players in this drama? USATODAY: CBS backs off Guard story

Just when you think that CBS black eye can't turn any more ugly, something like this turns up. USATODAY: CBS arranged for meeting with Lockhart

Well! CBS producer Mary Mapes called Joe Lockhart to ask him to call Bill Burkett. "She basically said there's a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you," Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush's Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records "that might move the story forward. She didn't tell me what they said."

Well, well, well.

Yahoo! News - Kerry Aide Talked to Retired Guard Officer

Indeed, at CBS News the question is, "Where was everybody's judgment on that last day?" The New York Times: CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say

Headline on the Drudge Report: "CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say."

Drudge goes on to say that "After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a 60 MINUTES report that raised new questions about President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night, the NEW YORK TIMES is reporting in Monday runs. Developing... "

Dandy Don, clear your throat and get ready to sing.

One wonders whether the Kerry campaign will continue to let his family campaign for him after this gaffe down under.

A snippy Dan Rather returns to Dallas, and is captured for a comment by Fox News (hat tip: Johnny Dollar) 'Do You Feel Like You Were Duped?'

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Via Instapundit, this could be considered the "abridged" version of Unfit for Command. Admiral Roy Hoffman on the grand deception by John Kerry

This is a surprising outgrowth of Rathergate. I didn't hear Maloney's broadcast, although I live in the Seattle area. I wonder if Mary Mapes did? AP Wire | 09/18/2004 | Host Says Rather Criticism Got Him Fired

Does Robert Fisk earn a royalty every time the technique that bears his name hits the mark? Perhaps he develops a well deserved headache like this guy gets--and frankly, gives--from those annoying dot com loan commercials.

Antimedia at Media Lies fisks the LA Times here.

CBS continues to flail about, now repeating the tinfoil hat brigade's baseless claim that because "Buckhead" posted his guess that the now discredited Bush documents were in fact forgeries, and that the Republicans are somehow behind it all. CBS News: Bush Guard Docs Flap Marches On

I'd say that CBS' "story" resembles the plot of a Bugs Bunny cartoon except that I believe it would insult Bugs Bunny. Why, it's shocking, shocking I say to learn that REPUBLICANS post comments on REPUBLICAN WEBSITES. Oh, what a scandal!

CBS forgets to mention that experts it hired--but did not listen to--raised questions about the documents before the story aired. http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/2004/09/hey-hey-hey-goodbye.html

The invaluable Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs passes along the judgment of a former IBM Selectric Composer expert on the capability and facility of that machine for the task of producing the forged documents. http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12694_Composer_Theory_in_Advanced_State_of_Decomposition

CBS' chief remaining "document expert", Mrs. Knox, said that she used an Olivetti machine. I'm still waiting for a news organization to establish the types of machines in use by the TexANG during that period and their capabilities. We can already guess that the answer won't make Dan Rather very happy.

William F. Buckley lays into Rathergate with his usual panache National Review's Buckley says Rathergate is much ado about nothing.

From Corante, we have a very good summary and timeline of the scandal that takes us up to today's insignificant document release and the interesting connection between Burkett, the DNC and Max Cleland.

A connection between Max Cleland, the DNC and retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, the most likely candidate to be named the source of the now discredited CBS documents, may exist according to the Washington Post Parallels Drawn Between CBS Memos, Texan's Postings

Another sign that the Navy is slowly beginning to confirm some of the Swifties claims about Kerry's records. Navy Contradicts Kerry on Release of Military Records -- 09/16/2004

Apparently we have a "new journalism"

The documents and CBS' own pathetic efforts to line up "experts" to defend their authenticity have been so thoroughly destroyed that they could be referred to in an imaginary headline as "CBS' offer of news division for MOAB testing deemed success". Now we are told, paraphrasing the report that Brit Hume just gave on Fox News' Special Report, that CBS has interviewed Killian's 81-year old former secretary, an admitted partisan for Kerry, and found that she, too, is willing to put words in the mouth of a man who died 20 years ago and say that while the documents are obvious forgeries, somehow the spirit of them is true.

Well, at least CBS has found an "expert" that it will put on the air to debunk the documents.

However, instead of drawing back to report on itself, and how it was mislead and why, CBS plows on. It takes the word of partisans who have been disavowed--the secretary by Killian's family and some of his fellow Guardsmen--and Barnes who has been outed by his deposition in a Texas Gtech trial and his own daughter. No admission that the family was right--as were the blogosphere and some of the MSM elements who saw through the forgeries.

The comparisons to CBS reporting on the "flawed" WMD intelligence and CBS' stonewalling on the forged documents are enough to make one double over with laughter. I love Scrappleface's headline quoting Tenet as telling Rather that the documents are a "slam dunk".

If this stonewalling continues--in the face of overwhelming fact and the founding tenets of journalism after the days of the "yellow sheets"--after the evening news and 60 Minutes II tonight, we'll have a new nickname for Dan: Richard Milhouse Rather.

Update: Instapundit found this excellent take on CBS' public statements on the scandal.

This is dynamite, as though Rathergate hasn't already had its share of earth shaking revalations about the sad state of "CBS News" Captain's Quarters: CBS ignores its own experts' cautions

The ingenuity of our soldiers is a thing to behold. Seriously, this is very, very funny, especially the song on page 8.

RatherBiased.com | News | CBS Asks Anti-Bush Group for Help With Story.

If this is true, it certainly adds to the evidence that CBS enjoys a close relationship with those who oppose the President RatherBiased.com | News | CBS Asks Anti-Bush Group for Help With Story.

Cirque du Kerry--la danse acrobatique Taking Kerry's Flip-Flops Seriously

I suspected as much. The comments on this post offer some very valuable insights as well. Froggy Ruminations: Doubling Special Ops?

More WMD news from the U.N. that isn't fit to print in the old media. According to this report, the Iraqis shipped WMD-related materials out of the country before the war.

Drat! No smoking gun here. However, this may be one. As Bugs would say, what a maroon.

This is funny, and almost true.

A fair review of Kerry's stance on national defense, since it quotes Lurch extensively.

Good grief! From NewsMax.com: Brinkley hedges over Kerry's veracity.

Interesting reading. The man with the third name down will apparantly appear on the 9/5/04 edition of 60 Minutes.

Perhaps there will be more domestic employment and less immigration after the Halliburton engineers help get this great find south of the border moving.

I want one.

Personally, I thought it was a great speech. Much better than this one. And this can only be regarded as the pathetic rant of a desperate man.

The Chinese are free to act sanely in respect to their energy production plans and power plant construction in order to provide for growth in their population and industrial output. Contrast this with the US domestic record over the past 20 or so years, thanks to the restrictions imposed by our domestic enviro-wackos.

Having just been forced to buy a new washing machine, I'm somewhat distressed to discover that they populate the wilderness freely. Well, perhaps not inexpensively.

Is the truth out there?

Kerry is in a beehive that is swarming over his national security credentials, and the bees aren't finding any honey.

Kerry's buds were there, then.

This document isn't a perfect transcript, but it's close. The Mayor of America's speech was about as perfect an indictment of the failed Democrat Party's candidates as you'll find anywhere, though.

A new report reveals that Kerry was present at a meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which the group debated and voted down a plan to assassinate senators who supported the Vietnam War.

Maybe the MTV generation shouldn't be thought of as dumb after all.

The nightmare grows more intense for Kerry as former Navy Secretary and former 9/11 Commission member Lehman questions how his signature came to appear on a revision to Kerry's Silver Star citation Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief

The Navy now disputes "combat v" for valor for Kerry's Silver Star and four campaign stars for his Bronze Star. Vets question the number of citations for the two medals. Plot thickens after checking records

Admiral Schachte puts another torpedo in Kerry's first Purple Heart saga Lanny Davis attack awakens silent Admiral

Perhaps Kerry was inspired by this man's path to fame The story behind LBJ's Silver Star

Another excellent article that compliments Mr. Thomas' January article linked to below.

An excellent overview of why the Vietnam vets are so bitter about Kerry's testimony.

Bob Dole kicks, and the rice in Kerry's ass aches.

AAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!! Say it isn't so, Ernie!

Hat tip to Instapundit

Here's an account of a memorable period during Kerry's service in the Senate

Meet Zack Exley, the Kerry campaign's director of online communications and organizing, courtesy of Swimming through the Spin: I don't practice what I preach because I not the kind of man I preaching to...

Vast conspiracy, but not the direction that the "main stream media" would have you believe The American Thinker: Why couldn't the MoveOn.org founders stuck with flying toaster screen savers?

I think that the controversy over Kerry's medals is the weakest part of the accusations against him. Witnesses have different recollections as one would expect. Again, take the example of an auto accident where reports from the cars in the accident may differ, and may be refuted or substantiated by third party witnesses. Certainly an adrenalin-fueled combat episode obscured by more than thirty years of time would be just as hard to pin down to the absolute truth. This is especially true when some of the witnesses are no longer with us. NewsMax.com: deceased Kerry crewmate Tom Bellodeau claims to have shot VC with B-40 launcher

While we're waiting for Kerry's secret plan to win the war, we can read about his secret record in the Senate. Sort of like those secret missions to Cambodia that none of his shipmates corroborate.

This is the most complete, best referenced indictment of UN, French and Russian complicity in Saddam's corrupt "oil for food" program that I have found to date. Well worth reading, and wondering about whether the reputations of those people and agencies who were co-conspirators in this scandal can ever be repaired, or if they and perhaps the UN itself must go. Erik Svane on "The Peace Camp's Humanitarian Scam"

Who handles pressure better?

The Democrats criticize the President for sitting in a class full of children for 7 minutes before leaving the FL school on 9/11.

The Democratic nominee has still not dealt with the charges made by the Swift Boat Vets directly by forthrightly answering their charges directly, point by point, including copies of his diaries and medical records, and calling for the Navy to release all contemporaneous orders, after action reports, river conditions (the winter months in Vietnam are the dry season during which the canals and rivers are at their lowest) and the corresponding orders to the Swift Boat crews on how to operate their boats on rivers that are narrower--and shallower--than may be safe to take a 35 foot boat with a 4 foot draft into enemy territory. He should call on the CIA, the Navy (on behalf of the SEALS) and the Army (on behalf of the Green Berets) to declassify any missions to Cambodia that were supported by Swift Boats during his time in service.

He should also call for the release of his attendance records in the Senate Intelligence Committee for both public and private sessions, and deal with those charges directly. He should have a news conference as the President did on his National Guard record after releasing all this material to the press for review.

Until he does so, the charges leveled by his critics will continue to have traction. The Carville-Lanny Davis tactic of attacking his critics rather than responding to their charges will not work in my opinion.

Just as I believe that the American people may not like George Bush in some cases, the one clear impression that they have at this point is that the President has responded to some of the most intense scrutiny ever by the press, pro-opposition forces not formally associated with a particular party (Soros, MoveOn.org, Michael Moore, Hollywood celebs, etc.) and that he has released, under pressure from these forces in some cases, more material that Kerry. The thoughtful voters among them should compare that standard to the standard Kerry is held to, and expect it from the press if the press is to remain credible. Even if voters have no idea how to analyze and compare the qualifications of applicants for the job of a CEO of a company, they should realize that they owe it to themselves to apply the same level of scrutiny to both applicants to determine the best qualified candidate. “Buyers remorse” after a Presidential election is difficult to handle for what will be a four year period full of challenges from Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, China and our allies in name only, France and Germany, to name two, not to mention the economy, immigration, health care, the morality issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.), and a host of other issues we don't know will exist yet.

I ask again, who handles pressure better, a President who has been tested in almost every conceivable way, or the aspirant to the office who cannot address questions raised by critics head on, despite his promise to "turn his boat" towards his attackers.

More trouble for this guy from someone who was there.

Kerry and his handlers better hope that others in positions to know the names of individuals and/or units that were sent into Cambodia from the CIA, the SEALS, and the Green Berets--and when if at all in 1968-69--are dead or are very loyal Democrats.

This one isn't as spot on, in my opinion.

In a season that has been a failure by any measure, it is bittersweet to see the ancient Mariner announce that this will be his last Edgar hangs 'em up

No better friend, no worse enemy, indeed United Press International: An American in Sparta

In politics, nothing is more interesting than the Kerry Cambodiagate scandal. It may take him down, if the main stream media ask the questions any business manager would of an applicant who may have engaged in "resume inflation", depending upon what the meaning of "in Cambodia" is...

Yep, he'll have the full respect of the military and every living vet--just ask them. A word of advice, Flipper: don't impose on them to pose for pictures when they support the other guy New York Post Online Edition: news

Sounds like the Canadians have a hand on this immigration "issue"Toronto Sun: NEWS - Baring all for Canada

A slightly different report on Saddam's first day in court Rock Paper Saddam

As our local baseball broadcaster would say, "My, oh my!"

It appears that one of the main cornerstones for the enviro-wacko claims for global warming is wrong. The data have been fudged.

"'Corrections to the Mann et al (1998) Proxy Data Base and Northern Hemisphere Average Temperature Series' Energy and Environment 14(6) 751-772.
Abstract: The data set of proxies of past climate used in Mann, Bradley and Hughes (1998, “MBH98” hereafter) for the estimation of temperaturefrom 1400 to 1980 contains collation errors, unjustifiable truncation or extrapolation of source data, obsolete data, geographical location errors, incorrect calculation of principal components and other quality control defects. We detail these errors and defects. We then apply MBH98 methodology to the construction of a Northern Hemisphere average temperature index for the 1400-1980 period, using corrected and updated source data. The major finding is that the values in the early 15th century exceed any values in the 20th century. The particular “hockey stick” shape derived in the MBH98 proxconstruction a temperauret index that decreases slightly between the early 15th century andearly 20th century and then increases dramatically up to 1980 -- is primarily an artefact of poor data handling, obsolete data and incorrect calculation of principal components."

Good grief! More proof that President Bush told the truth. Hopefully, not too late for the electorate to realize that they have the real deal in the White House now.

No, nope. Iraq had no WMD; no Sarin-filled shells (found by Polish soldiers), and certainly no nuclear material Defense Tech: IRAQI URANIUM NOW IN U.S. LABS

Well said by one who was there StrategyPage.com - Measure of respect- ?No One Asked Us

One of the first accounts of Iraqi reactions at the time of the handover of sovereignty on 6/28, including words that Mr. Bremer said in Arabic as his farewell to the nation IRAQ THE MODEL

Perhaps the week of June 28 through July 4 will come to be known in future years as "Independence Week". Here's a very nice post from an Iraqi living through the rebirth of his nation THE MESOPOTAMIAN

The promise has been kept. Iraq is a sovereign nation once more, to the dismay of naysayers and terrorists everywhere FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - U.S. Makes Early Handover of Iraq

You could lose your mind, or just press the button to see excellent impressions of those who have already done so spinline.net: The Leftinator

A titan has passed into history A Chronology of Reagan's Life - from TBO.com

Certainly, Ronald Reagan ranks among the great Presidents of the United States. He defined the second half of the twentieth century as much as FDR did the first. He helped America believe in itself again, and presided over what some economists call "the seven fat years" of growth from 82-89 that averaged 3.5% per year. His unwavering belief in his core principles, his steadfast refusal to accept a weaker position than the Soviet Union, his acts to curtail Libya and Cuban aggression against Grenada; all these examples and more made us believe in America as a force of good in the world.

He was unmatched at public speaking; this is one of my favorites.

President Bush has patterned his presidency after President Reagan's in many ways. His remarks from France were very appropriate and well said.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I'm glad that there is such consensus about the macro climate trends facing the planet Look forward to a darker world: 'Global dimming' may stop the Earth overheating.

Gee, this is inconvenient for the Bush haters out there Blaster's Blog - Plenty + More = Enough

More on the sarin nerve agent and mustard gas stories FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Sarin, Mustard Gas Discovered Separately in Iraq

A very complete summary of the WMD hunt that covers the situation prior to yesterday's announcement of the exposure of two coalition soldiers to Sarin gas from an exploding shell and the reported find of Mustard gas two weeks earlier FrontPage magazine.com :: Found: Saddam's WMDs by Kenneth R. Timmerman

If the Sarin gas report holds up after investigation, won't it be the first time that an American soldier has been attacked with a chemical weapon since WWI?

There's no better source on the lives of average Iraqi citizens and their opinions on the aftermath of major combat operations than this site IRAQ THE MODEL I usually check it out a few times each week.

The author is an Iraqi doctor who is living through the days--good and bad--of Iraq's historic reconstruction. He's muddling through, as we all do, but doing so successfully. His stories are inspiring.

Andrew Sullivan's quote of the day features the remarks of one of our greatest Presidents:

"It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out where the strong man stumbled, or where a doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, and who comes up short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. The man who at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold timid souls who never knew victory or defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt.

The slaughter of Nick Berg should snap us out of our funk over the acts of the unprincipled prison guards at Abu Ghraib. We now clearly see the hand of the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq in action, and it is the hand of a monster. I looked at still images of the murder on the web earlier this week, and was shocked. I didn't want to watch the video. However, while driving home, I accidentally turned to a radio station that at that very moment started to play the audio of the murder. It was the most horrible thing I have ever heard. No human could commit that act. No other human could fail to condemn that act.

Our enemy is not human. That is, not in the sense that humanity has come to mean in the civilized world. Fanatic is not a sufficient description of them. The Memri web site has a transcript of part of the first recorded remarks made by Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi. He is the author of the letter to fellow Islamics calling for reinforcements, saying that the US-led coalition was defeating Al Qaeda, the B'aathist remnants, and the other insurgents in Iraq. His rhetoric has obviously escalated in its mad call for murder by any means; the more, the better.

Civilization cannot ignore these monsters. We cannot show weakness, or uncertain resolve. We must steel ourselves for the long slog to win, and win decisively. They are patient, they are determined, and they are usually skilled in using propaganda to try to make their point. At times, our domestic media seems more of an outlet for their cause than ours since it seems to take the statements of these monsters at face value while questioning the genuine resolve and honest intent of the President's. I can only hope that the legacy of Nick Berg's last moments captured in that video will be a call to arms to the sane part of humanity to act in the defense of the civilized world. There must be an end to them, or they will make an end to us.

I'll be saving my money to see Spider-Man 2 twice Telegraph | Opinion | These Hollywood special effects may cost the world $15 trillion

Abu Ghraib. Many would have us believe that the atrocities committed there will taint America's image among Arabs for generations. Some fairly senior members of Congress and other partisans lay the blame at the feet of Secretary Rumsfeld. Candidate Kerry blames the President, of course.

Let's agree that the acts of the 7 soldiers accused so far are reprehensible. Those acts do not represent the America that we hold as an ideal to the world. Those soldiers--and any who abetted them, ordered them, or photographed them--should be punished, if they are found guilty after a fair trial.

However, let's not forget that the general in charge did not spring into being in late January of 2000. Nor did the officers who commanded the reserve troops who are at the center of this scandal. They were all in the military for some time. The training that they received--or didn't receive--should have taken place earlier than the immediate maelstrom that the war on terror became after 9/11.

I am not blaming the Clinton Administration per se. I am pointing out that the so called "peace dividend", the task force to cut the size of government--those initiatives of the Clinton Administration cut military head count and material during the 90s. The rapid expansion of the economy in the 90s left military salaries behind the civilian sector as well. Many of the best NCOs (Sergeants and Navy Chiefs)--the ranks where the real "soldiering" takes place--left for better paying civilian jobs.

The situation reminds me of many wars in the past. At the beginning, incompetent, ill equipped, poorly led soldiers were thrown into battle and expected to make do as best they could. Kasserine Pass, the Battan Death March, early reversals of the Northern forces versus the Confederacy; take your pick, they fit the bill.

If the war is going to last a very long time, as everyone expects, we should expect failures like this as the strains on our forces wax and wane as they adapt from their former peacetime roles to combat conditions. There will be a weeding out of incompetent troops and commanders, of weak leaders and people of weak character. We will recruit many more Pat Tillmans to fill the ranks and serve honorably. We will show the world--the part of the world that can be shown anything that doesn't fit their preconceived view of America--how we can adapt, and how the vast, vast majority of our fighting men and women uphold the American ideal. Those who commit crimes will be tried and punished if found guilty, just as they are at home.

If the Iraqis as a whole have lost faith in us, the 25 million or so of them could wipe out the 140,000 US troops in a day or so unless we used nuclear weapons to defend them. That hasn't happened. That is enough of a "poll" for me to establish in my mind that most Iraqis--like most Americans--only hope for a peaceful, stable country that will provide them economic opportunity and a safe place to raise a family. The ideals that President Bush offers them--and by extension, all of us offer them--are the ideals that all mankind strive for, whether they can articulate them in a Jeffersonian fashion or not.

We will do the right thing to set this right. I like the idea of destroying Abu Ghraib, and rebuilding a more humanely designed prison in its stead. We are figuring out many aspects of the post war period as we go, just as we did in Germany and Japan nearly 60 years ago. Although we have no General George Marshal or General Douglas MacArthur to lead the occupation of Iraq through the trials of today towards a stable postwar entry into the family of civilized nations, let us prove by our deeds and words that we are willing to live up to the American ideal.

For my part, I don't need to see any more sick photos or any video to make that goal happen.

Some specifics to bolster Michael Porter's points from last night USATODAY.com - Intel CEO: Let's end political games and compete

Michael Porter, the acclaimed author of such books as Competitive Advantage, Competitive Strategy, and The Competitive Advantage of Nations, dropped a bombshell on tonight's Charlie Rose show on PBS. He said--paraphrasing--that the single most important change in tax policy since WWII was the change in dividend taxation proposed and passed by the Bush Administration and the Republican-led Congress. He said that the benefits are only starting to show, but that it will have many benefits, among which will be a change in corporate management's focus from maximizing stock price to simply making the business perform at its best and earn money.

His next book is the third in his series on competitive aspects of corporate behavior. I look forward to adding it to my bookshelf alongside the three I already own and have owned since their first editions.

Professor Porter also said that Kerry's proposal for adjusting tax policy to try to affect outsourcing was of negligible value. His greater concern, as is that of Bill Gates, is that the graduation rates of engineers and scientists are down, and that the ability of people with average levels of education (high school) to actually fill the many jobs that will be created in the future is low at best. Clearly we need fewer courses on self esteem, and more hard facts and emphasis on critical thinking skills.

One word: Ooo-rah! FrontPage magazine.com :: A Plea from a Marine in Iraq by Robert Nofsinger

Hmmm...what would one do with 500 tons of natural uranium in a single location? What would one do with missiles capable of traveling not the 93 miles allowed by UN proscription but 691 miles--a radius that includes cities in Egypt, Turkey and Israel? Why would one store large...LARGE...amounts of pesticides--each container is larger than the standard 55 gallon size--stored in an ammo dump the size of Washington DC? Would you say that this passes the WMD "smell test"? Don't inhale...the smell'l just kill ya Investigative Report
Saddam's WMD Have Been Found - Insight on the News - World

Ted forgot to mention the Internet, and blogs in particular, as alternative sources of information for younger audiences today. Otherwise, his speech makes a number of very telling points about the fate of the TV news business Poynter Online - Ted Koppel Bets on Quality

Those who claim to know better should know better, and do better. Sentencing the rest of the world to poverty and disease is an unintended consequence, but a real reason for the third world to despise and in some cases ignore the "first world"Earth Day / Has the environmental movement left the world behind?

For a guy who's supposed to be so worldly, so well traveled, so...nuanced in the way of the French, Kerry sure seems to only have one place on his mind Yahoo! News - Kerry Sees a Little Vietnam in Louisiana Coastline

After reading this excellent rebuttal to a Time magazine article by Andrew Sullivan in favor of higher gasoline taxes in the US, I predict lots of fun in the blogosphere over the next few days. The gauntlet--err, gas pedal--has been floored!

I have two words for you: "Well, now!" Iraqi Nuclear Gear Found in Europe (washingtonpost.com): "UNITED NATIONS, April 14 -- Large amounts of nuclear-related equipment, some of it contaminated, and a small number of missile engines have been smuggled out of Iraq for recycling in European scrap yards, according to the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog and other U.N. diplomats. "

"Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned the U.N. Security Council in a letter that U.N. satellite photos have detected "the extensive removal of equipment and, in some instances, removal of entire buildings" from sites that had been subject to U.N. monitoring before the U.S.-led war against Iraq."

I am no expert, but I have to say that this is a whole lot harder to explain than "My dog ate my homework", especially since the reporting comes from that notable oracle of pro-Administration advocacy, the Washington Post (/irony off). Like cockroaches under the kitchen light, can you imagine the diplomatic scrambling underway in the countries that are "housing" Iraq's former nuclear facilities?

I've written about the issue of Kerry's loan to his campaign that he secured with his jointly-owned Boston home previously DRUDGE REPORT 2004?.

Here's my post that is missing from my blog for some reason, but exists in my e-mail archives.

From:
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 12:40 AM
To:
Subject: I'm not voting for a "Gigolo in chief".


I'm not voting for a "Gigolo in chief".
- President Bush, his Texas unit, the Air Force Reserve and the active duty Air Force stood on ready alert in the US, Europe, Japan and elsewhere against possible incursions by Russian bombers. Was their service any less vital to the safety of the country than those who fought in the Vietnam war? As far as thinking fast, how fast do you suppose one has to think fast at the controls of a >800 MPH fighter to avoid a solo accident or a mid air collision?

- The textbook definition of a recession is two successive quarters where the economy does not grow--it recesses. If your assertion that the recession started in March 2001, what policy initiative that the President proposed and the democratically controlled Senate voted for was in place to trigger it? Or is it more likely that it started in 2000 since the high water mark of the NASDAQ index was in March of 2000? The stock exchanges are widely regarded as reliable leading indicators of economic strength or weakness.

- VA spending has gone up every year under President Bush.
- If the troops lack equipment, blame the Congress that writes the bills and appropriates the money. The President can lobby for legislation and sign the bills. I don't agree with lots of things the President does, but Congress has long voted for entirely new systems, construction and other "jobs bills" disguised as military spending instead of supporting spare parts. Look at the flap over the Boeing tankers vs. repairing the perfectly serviceable 707-based and DC-10/L-1011-based tankers in service today. John McCain led the fight to expose that fraud.

- Kerry mortgaged his home for ~$6 million. The interest on a loan that size would be at least 2-3%--my second is 9%, and I have good credit. Three per cent is $180,000 per year. A Senator's salary is $158,000. If Kerry's wife is paying that loan, that may well be an illegal campaign contribution.

Perhaps this should be Kerry's campaign song.

Great wisdom, plainly spokenCold Fury quotes Patton

The New York Times reports in its April 13, 2004 editions that "Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who sold nuclear technology around the world, has told his interrogators that during a trip to North Korea five years ago he was taken to a secret underground nuclear plant and shown what he described as three nuclear devices, according to Asian and American officials who have been briefed by the Pakistanis."The New York Times > Washington > Pakistani Tells of North Korean Nuclear Devices

For the mathematically challenged, five years ago would be 1999, and the President's name was Clinton, not Bush.

Care to comment, Secretary Albright?

The good news is that one of the local papers here may have actually done some reporting on the millennium incident that took place at the US/Canadian border in 2000. The bad news is that they can't resist spackling over the errors to resurrect Clarke a bit The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Clarke book has errors about arrest of Ahmed Ressam

Paul Bremer of the CPA in Iraq said that the efforts underway to clear up the Sunni Triangle and to destroy Sadr's militia in Iraq were inevitable. Perhaps the situation could be likened to the efforts in the first half of the twentieth century to defeat organized crime familiesa and the KKK in America. The thugs in Iraq--Islamist radicals, former Baathists, and outside agitators from Syria, Iran and other countries--see an opportunity to create a failed state with vast oil reserves within striking distance of the most strategic area on earth. Roger Simon's post sounds an important warning: Roger L. Simon: It's Iran, Stupid! - A Message to the Blogosphere

The 9/11 commission is in danger of losing all semblance of credibility as a non-partisan effort. Richard Ben-Veniste, Jamie S. Gorelick, Bob Kerrey, and Timothy J. Roemer all seem to have decided--and unashamedly state on TV and in print--that 9/11 could have been prevented, and should have been prevented--by the Bush Administration. To their credit, the chair and co-chair of the commission, Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, seem to always appear together and have been generally fair in their assessments based on the information they've gathered and analyzed so far.

Ben-Veniste makes much of the title of the now infamous August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing document that the White House declassified and released yesterday. He and the other four Democrats on the commission are trying to connect dots using hindsight based on what we know now, not on what the President and the NSC knew then. Apparently, the President was frustrated by the quality of the information he was getting on Al-Qaeda after the briefing.

Kerrey, who may or may not be campaigning to become Kerry's Vice President, is as bad as Ben-Veniste, although he doesn't have the crocodillian smile that Ben-Veniste has developed over the years. Kerry tries in his op-ed piece in the New York Times today to retract some of his more over the top comments for last Thursday's televised grilling of Dr. Rice.

Jamie Gorelick was a member of Janet Reno's Department of Justice. She apparently was a member of the team that imposed tight restrictions on sharing of information between the FBI and CIA. She was the first to see the PDB in full, and her notes on the document equipped the other commissioners to ask questions about it of Dr. Rice. She was as critical of Dr. Rice as any other member, especially when she tried to extrapolate warnings of possible hijackings in the U. S. to indicate that the plans could have been more sinister than just holding the passengers hostage, as most aircraft hijackings had played out in our past. There was no information in the PDB that could have been used to warn airlines--then in charge of airport security--that hijackers would behave in any way other than those who typically have demanded ransom, demanded freedom for prisoners, or simply used the plane to transport the hijackers to a foreign country.

Some of the structural failings that allowed Al-Qaeda to easily enter the US, to remain in the country after the expiration of their visas, to obtain funds, to contact foreign confederates in person or through electronic means, and to board aircraft carrying simple weapons and cannisters of pepper spray, have been addressed. Whether those measures are working well or not, no successful attack has been launched in the US since 9/11. It is arguable that further steps, including the creation of a separate agency apart from the FBI that is focused on domestic intelligence, should be taken, and soon.

No one can credibly make the case that either the Clinton or Bush Administrations could have sold Congress, the media, the punditry, and the public on the Patriot Act, the creation of the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security, the possible FBI reform, and other steps we've taken since 9/11 to protect the country before 9/11 ocurred. President Bush could not have invaded Afghanistan in the way we did after 9/11 before the attacks--the nation would not have allowed it. As it is, the Patriot Act is criticized today, protesters blame us for civilian deaths in Afghanistan, and all sorts of regular people hate the TSA for everything from long, slow lines to taking nail clippers from old ladies.

Perfect safety is impossible. Tornadoes are not subject to regulation. Radical Islamist terrorists dream of a world in flames, then expect the remnants of that world to be ruled by mullahs who debate the merits of throwing offenders from the roofs of tall buildings or pulling walls down on them as just punishment for their sins. They reject vaccines and treatments for HIV, claiming in their ignorance that the medicines are worse than the diseases they treat, and place their faith in God to save the sick. They allow men to divorce their wives, leaving them without income or property, simply by saying "I divorce you!" aloud three times. They harshly punish the victims of rape, rather than the rapists. They are descendants from a long line of slave traders who continue to sell women and children into bondage to this day. They teach little else other than hatred for others, using demagoguery to deflect complaints from their people for the failings of their societies. They claim to be willing to die for their promised afterlife with 72 virgins. They claim that this life is a way-station to paradise, that children should be willing to die, leaving their loved ones behind in the name of a jihad they cannot understand, while secretly enriching the mullocracy.

Fate has dealt the world a cruel blow, granting a precious commodity that fuels the commerce of the world to a people who use their wealth for weapons they use irresponsibly, for the destruction of peoples in their region and without, to foster hatred for civilization and revenge for offenses almost completely unknown to anyone other than to themselves, and to doom generations of a populace kept in economic squalor and in a criminal state of ignorance.

Radical Islam has not had its internal upheaval and reformation, like the long efforts that ended sad periods in history like the Spanish Inquisition. External critics are threatened with death if not killed outright; some have been lucky enough only to have been exiled. If these radicals are to survive their war with civilization, cooler heads in the Muslim world must speak out now and act fast, lest they be tarred with the same brush that will consign these perverted Islamists to history. As for the 9/11 commission, I hope that the report will be more bipartisan than the previews given by the four partisan Democrats, and that constructive reform--of the Executive Branch as well as of Congressional oversight--will be the result.

It's nice to see that this is getting some attentionCNN.com - Dangerous?space rocks under watch - Apr 8, 2004