A potent strategy by the Democrats
A pattern has arisen in the Democrats' efforts to discredit the president and win the White House in November. It's not necessarily a new strategy, but it seems to be gaining momentum as of late. The strategy is simple and centers around the "Bush lied" mantra that we've been hearing since the beginning of the Iraq invasion. Before the invasion, Bush outlined a number of reasons that he felt justified the invasion of Iraq. Among these reasons was Iraq's WMD program, which has become the centerpiece of the "Bush lied" movement. Since stockpiles of WMD's have not been found, the worst accusation is that Bush knew there were no weapons and went to war anyway, and at best, he took us to war based on faulty intelligence, which he should take full responsibility for. Never mind that there have been WMD's found in Iraq (just not sufficient quantities to satisfy opponents of the war) and David Kay's report concluded that Saddam had the infrastructure to be able to ramp up production of WMD's very quickly. Never mind that this report also concluded that there were very likely large shipments of WMD materials shipped out of Iraq before and during the invasion (some of the materials shoed up in a container ship in Holland.) Never mind that the famous "16 words" regarding Iraq's attempt to procure Uranium from Niger in Bush's SOTU address have recently been proven to be accurate. All that the left has had to do is raise the shadow of doubt and keep saying "Bush lied," or, as the Kerry campaign prefers, "Bush misled" (you've got to wonder about people who are so easily misled by a president that is supposed to be a simpleton.) It has become such a part of the public consciousness that the Bush administration looks ridiculous when they try to prove otherwise. The fact that the Bush administration has remained rather silent in light of recent findings regarding the "16 words" and statements from the 9/11 commission which support the validity of pre war intelligence (both from the US and abroad) suggests that they have already lost this debate on some level, regardless of the facts, and that any attempt to point to these facts just makes them look desperate. While it's no surprise this has happened given the support the Kerry ticket has in the media, it has proven to be an effective strategy. Repeat, repeat, repeat. If you repeat something enough it becomes fact to many people. Bush lied about Iraq, the economy is horrible, the environment has worsened; these are all cornerstones of the campaign against Bush, and are all patently false. Let's hope the Bush campaign can figure out a way to explain simple fact before it's too late.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Does anyone else see the irony when celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, Linda Rondstadt, Elton John and the Dixie Chicks, who owe their careers and cushy lives to a capitalist free market, suddenly start crying censorship when their actions cause their value in this market to drop? I just thought I'd ask.
Monday, July 19, 2004
IN MEMORIAM COUNT KLAUS SCHENK VON STAUFFENBERG (1907-1944)
Fate has offered us this opportunity, and I would not refuse it for anything in the world. I have examined myself before God and my conscience. It must be done because this man (Hitler) is evil personified.
-Oberst Graf Klaus Schenk Von Stauffenberg
On July 20, 1944, failed the last serious attempt to kill Hitler. It was carried out by a brave Colonel of the German Reserve Army, Count Klaus Schenk Von Stauffenberg. Somewhere around 12.37 Eastern European Time on that fateful day he entered the conference room in a wooden barrack in Hitlers supersecret Eastern Front Headquarters, the Wolfsschanze, near Rastenburg in East Prussia. The room was full of high-ranking officers, aides and bodyguards. He shoved a briefcase containing a powerful bomb, activated minutes before, under the table upon which large maps of the Ostfront were displayed. Soon thereafter he left under the pretext that he had to make an urgent telephone call. At 12.42 EET the bomb exploded. Scores of men were killed and wounded, Hitler, standing on the opposite side of a heavy wooden leg of the table and somehow protected by it since he was leaning heavily over it, survived. In the meantime, Stauffenberg, with incredible luck and courage, had managed to talk his way out of the compound and flew to Berlin, where his co-conspirators had managed to disable critical communication lines and put the Reserve Army, whose cadre contained many officers sympathetic to the cause, on high alert using the procedures of the so-called Valkyrie Operation – an operation initially designed to mobilize whatever reserve forces were available in Germany in the event of an uprising among the millions of slave workers in the country.
Critical in keeping this Reserve Army under their control, and hence having the military clout to thwart any Nazi attempt to keep the conspirators from power, was the arrest of key Nazi figures. Perhaps the most critical of these was Joseph Goebbels, the Reichspropagandaminister. A bewildered Major Otto-Ernst Remer of the Wachbattailon Grossdeutschland, a decorated Eastern Front veteran, entered Goebbels office in Berlin’s Governments District. Being a military man through and through, he wanted indeed to obey his orders and arrest Goebbels. As fate would have it one critical phone line was still on and Goebbels was able to let Adolf Hitler talk directly to Remer. Albert Speer, Hitler’s Armament’s Minister, who was also present, watched transfixed as Remer, upon hearing the Fuehrer’s unmistakable voice, stiffened and upon Hitler’s request to quell the revolt, shouted: “Jawohl, mein Fuehrer”!
Essentially the coup was foiled from then on. Accomplices in Paris were able to fool and even lock up die-hard Nazis but after that fateful phone-call all was lost.
That same night, Von Stauffenberg was executed by a firing squad on orders of General Fromm, Chief of the Reserve Army, who was also a conspirator but tried to escape his fate by silencing as many as possible of those involved.
Because Hitler stayed in power, millions would die still. The events of that distant July 20th once more emphasize the responsibility the world has in not letting dictators stay in power. Von Stauffenberg was a man who knew that responsibility. He was also a man who believed in God, family and country. Colonel Klaus Schenk Von Stauffenberg was a Rightwinger.
Fate has offered us this opportunity, and I would not refuse it for anything in the world. I have examined myself before God and my conscience. It must be done because this man (Hitler) is evil personified.
-Oberst Graf Klaus Schenk Von Stauffenberg
On July 20, 1944, failed the last serious attempt to kill Hitler. It was carried out by a brave Colonel of the German Reserve Army, Count Klaus Schenk Von Stauffenberg. Somewhere around 12.37 Eastern European Time on that fateful day he entered the conference room in a wooden barrack in Hitlers supersecret Eastern Front Headquarters, the Wolfsschanze, near Rastenburg in East Prussia. The room was full of high-ranking officers, aides and bodyguards. He shoved a briefcase containing a powerful bomb, activated minutes before, under the table upon which large maps of the Ostfront were displayed. Soon thereafter he left under the pretext that he had to make an urgent telephone call. At 12.42 EET the bomb exploded. Scores of men were killed and wounded, Hitler, standing on the opposite side of a heavy wooden leg of the table and somehow protected by it since he was leaning heavily over it, survived. In the meantime, Stauffenberg, with incredible luck and courage, had managed to talk his way out of the compound and flew to Berlin, where his co-conspirators had managed to disable critical communication lines and put the Reserve Army, whose cadre contained many officers sympathetic to the cause, on high alert using the procedures of the so-called Valkyrie Operation – an operation initially designed to mobilize whatever reserve forces were available in Germany in the event of an uprising among the millions of slave workers in the country.
Critical in keeping this Reserve Army under their control, and hence having the military clout to thwart any Nazi attempt to keep the conspirators from power, was the arrest of key Nazi figures. Perhaps the most critical of these was Joseph Goebbels, the Reichspropagandaminister. A bewildered Major Otto-Ernst Remer of the Wachbattailon Grossdeutschland, a decorated Eastern Front veteran, entered Goebbels office in Berlin’s Governments District. Being a military man through and through, he wanted indeed to obey his orders and arrest Goebbels. As fate would have it one critical phone line was still on and Goebbels was able to let Adolf Hitler talk directly to Remer. Albert Speer, Hitler’s Armament’s Minister, who was also present, watched transfixed as Remer, upon hearing the Fuehrer’s unmistakable voice, stiffened and upon Hitler’s request to quell the revolt, shouted: “Jawohl, mein Fuehrer”!
Essentially the coup was foiled from then on. Accomplices in Paris were able to fool and even lock up die-hard Nazis but after that fateful phone-call all was lost.
That same night, Von Stauffenberg was executed by a firing squad on orders of General Fromm, Chief of the Reserve Army, who was also a conspirator but tried to escape his fate by silencing as many as possible of those involved.
Because Hitler stayed in power, millions would die still. The events of that distant July 20th once more emphasize the responsibility the world has in not letting dictators stay in power. Von Stauffenberg was a man who knew that responsibility. He was also a man who believed in God, family and country. Colonel Klaus Schenk Von Stauffenberg was a Rightwinger.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
The Tour, Anik F2 and Norwegian Salmon
Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez of the Fassa Bartolo Team won today’s stage from Carcassonne to Nimes. Thomas Voeckler keeps the Yellow Shirt, Lance remains at no. 2 still 22 seconds behind. No worries, today’s 14th Stage over flatland was a milkrun. If your Texan had wanted the shirt he’d have it. Still kudos for the young Frenchman though. I haven’t checked out French press but I figure he must be a national hero by now. Tomorrow is a resting day.
Btw, Carcassonne. If you ever venture to France and you want to impress those at home with other stories than climbing the Eiffel Tower or visiting Chenonceaux Castle you might want to check out this magnificent must-see town with still intact medieval walls and towers. In 1997 UNESCO recognized it as a World Heritage Center. Nearby is also Cathar Country with lots of ruins of the Cathar Sect’s last strongholds, the most famous being Montségur. It is easily reached by plane, e.g. from my country there are regular cheap flights by either Ryanair ( from Charleroi) or Virgin (from Zaventem, Brussels).
Today was a good day for ESA, NASA’s European counterpart, as an Ariane 5G rocket brought the largest telecommunications satellite ever – nearly six tons - into orbit. Launch took place on ESA’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana. Now why do I tell you this, have I become a space freak? Well, I might say I mention it, firstly, just to show you we in the EU are not sitting on our asses when it comes to space exploration. The European Space Agency is doing fine and its projects reach well beyond commercial space activities. An important part of NASA/ESA/ASI’s Cassini project to Saturn, the Huygens probe , which will land on Titan, is a 100% ESA project. There is also the Rosetta comet chaser, the Mars Express Spacecraft and ESA’s participation in the ISS, with a.o. the recent Delta Mission.
Secondly though I thought it worthwile to mention since Anik F2, the satellite launched today, will provide North America with digital communications services and high-speed Internet access, so you will probably benefit from it. Anik F2 was designed and built by Telsat, the Ottawa-based Canadian company which made history in 1972 by launching Anik F2's far cousin, Anik A1, the world's first domestic communications satellite for geostationary orbit.
"The Anik F2 Ka-band system will provide a large user base with small, low-cost terminals as well as with low airtime costs, while meeting the high performance requirements associated with high-speed interactive multimedia and Internet applications.
The Ka-band payload on Anik F2 will provide an array of services — including retrieval/transactional (e.g., Internet access, e-commerce), conversational (e.g., video-conferencing, tele-medicine), messaging (e.g., fax, e-mail, file transfer), and distribution (e.g., video multicasting, caching) services — even though they have diverse characteristics3. Homes (telecommuting during the day and educational/ entertainment web browsing in the evening), schools accessing the Internet and small multi-site businesses are projected to be the primary potential user groups for this multimedia payload."
I might clarify though that the actual building, operation and commercial exploitation of the Ariane launchers is the responsibility of the Arianespace company, although as said the place of launch is ESA territory. I must admit I don’t know exactly how it goes in the States, and whether those commercial launches you have fall under NASA’s responsibility or a private company’s, or both. Anyway, Arianespace has currently 50% of the global share in GTO (geostationary) launches.
To top it all off, I might add that the new Belgian Foreign Minister is Karel De Gucht, former VLD chairman. As some of you may remember, your servant was a member of the used-to-be-centre-right-but-now-centre-left-as-a-result-of-the-greenhouse-effect VLD. Well, since there have been, on June 13th, not only European but also regional elections in Belgistan, there is a shakeup and/or departure of federal excellencies to either the European Commission or the regional governments. Our current FM, Louis Michel, aka MOAP (Mother of All Pompous Asses) goes to the European Commission and Karel De Gucht will assume the vacant post. I have no particular sympathy for Mr. De Gucht, although it pleads for him he took at least a token stance against the municipal voting rights for immigrants in spring, when greens, socialist AND Michel’s MR party forced that folly down our throats. Anyway, anybody at Belgian Foreign Affairs is better than Louis Michel, even a dog with a hat on. I just hope that the European Commission gives him a post in which he wreaks the least havoc. I suggest surveillance of salmon populations in the Lofoten fjords. Yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah, I know, poor salmon.
Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez of the Fassa Bartolo Team won today’s stage from Carcassonne to Nimes. Thomas Voeckler keeps the Yellow Shirt, Lance remains at no. 2 still 22 seconds behind. No worries, today’s 14th Stage over flatland was a milkrun. If your Texan had wanted the shirt he’d have it. Still kudos for the young Frenchman though. I haven’t checked out French press but I figure he must be a national hero by now. Tomorrow is a resting day.
Btw, Carcassonne. If you ever venture to France and you want to impress those at home with other stories than climbing the Eiffel Tower or visiting Chenonceaux Castle you might want to check out this magnificent must-see town with still intact medieval walls and towers. In 1997 UNESCO recognized it as a World Heritage Center. Nearby is also Cathar Country with lots of ruins of the Cathar Sect’s last strongholds, the most famous being Montségur. It is easily reached by plane, e.g. from my country there are regular cheap flights by either Ryanair ( from Charleroi) or Virgin (from Zaventem, Brussels).
Today was a good day for ESA, NASA’s European counterpart, as an Ariane 5G rocket brought the largest telecommunications satellite ever – nearly six tons - into orbit. Launch took place on ESA’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana. Now why do I tell you this, have I become a space freak? Well, I might say I mention it, firstly, just to show you we in the EU are not sitting on our asses when it comes to space exploration. The European Space Agency is doing fine and its projects reach well beyond commercial space activities. An important part of NASA/ESA/ASI’s Cassini project to Saturn, the Huygens probe , which will land on Titan, is a 100% ESA project. There is also the Rosetta comet chaser, the Mars Express Spacecraft and ESA’s participation in the ISS, with a.o. the recent Delta Mission.
Secondly though I thought it worthwile to mention since Anik F2, the satellite launched today, will provide North America with digital communications services and high-speed Internet access, so you will probably benefit from it. Anik F2 was designed and built by Telsat, the Ottawa-based Canadian company which made history in 1972 by launching Anik F2's far cousin, Anik A1, the world's first domestic communications satellite for geostationary orbit.
"The Anik F2 Ka-band system will provide a large user base with small, low-cost terminals as well as with low airtime costs, while meeting the high performance requirements associated with high-speed interactive multimedia and Internet applications.
The Ka-band payload on Anik F2 will provide an array of services — including retrieval/transactional (e.g., Internet access, e-commerce), conversational (e.g., video-conferencing, tele-medicine), messaging (e.g., fax, e-mail, file transfer), and distribution (e.g., video multicasting, caching) services — even though they have diverse characteristics3. Homes (telecommuting during the day and educational/ entertainment web browsing in the evening), schools accessing the Internet and small multi-site businesses are projected to be the primary potential user groups for this multimedia payload."
I might clarify though that the actual building, operation and commercial exploitation of the Ariane launchers is the responsibility of the Arianespace company, although as said the place of launch is ESA territory. I must admit I don’t know exactly how it goes in the States, and whether those commercial launches you have fall under NASA’s responsibility or a private company’s, or both. Anyway, Arianespace has currently 50% of the global share in GTO (geostationary) launches.
To top it all off, I might add that the new Belgian Foreign Minister is Karel De Gucht, former VLD chairman. As some of you may remember, your servant was a member of the used-to-be-centre-right-but-now-centre-left-as-a-result-of-the-greenhouse-effect VLD. Well, since there have been, on June 13th, not only European but also regional elections in Belgistan, there is a shakeup and/or departure of federal excellencies to either the European Commission or the regional governments. Our current FM, Louis Michel, aka MOAP (Mother of All Pompous Asses) goes to the European Commission and Karel De Gucht will assume the vacant post. I have no particular sympathy for Mr. De Gucht, although it pleads for him he took at least a token stance against the municipal voting rights for immigrants in spring, when greens, socialist AND Michel’s MR party forced that folly down our throats. Anyway, anybody at Belgian Foreign Affairs is better than Louis Michel, even a dog with a hat on. I just hope that the European Commission gives him a post in which he wreaks the least havoc. I suggest surveillance of salmon populations in the Lofoten fjords. Yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah, I know, poor salmon.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
TOUR 2004 UPDATE; TERRORIST THREATS IN ITALY AND THE NETHERLANDS; ALL SAFE IN BELGIUM THOUGH
Today Saturday, July 17, Lance won his second stage of the Tour de France 2004. Kerry, with with regards to your question concerning Ullrich yesterday: well, I think it’s now safe to say the German is done. None of the “classic” contenders was able to follow the man. Phonak teamleader Tyler Hamilton had to give up after 84 kloms because of back pain (and leaves this tour altogether), Iban Mayo had to be literally talked on the saddle, Jan Ullrich trailed further and further behind as the ride wore on and is now 6 1/2 minutes behind Armstrong. The ride Lannemezan-Plateau-de-Beille was a really tough one, with 7 cols over a distance of 205,5km.
By contrast, the relative newcomer Ivan Basso, who won yesterday, was the only one to follow your champ; at some point they broke from the rest and helped each other towards the last col which was also the finish. In the last climb Armstrong spurted away and at the finish Basso was trailing more than one minute behind. Nevertheless, Lance now considers the Italian as his biggest rival.
One word of appreciation for Frenchman Thomas Voeckler though: he still holds the Yellow Shirt. Indeed, he's still ahead of Lance but only 22 seconds now. See the General Classification. Few believed he would stick to his shirt so far in the race, he himself possibly the least. Anyway, if you ever wondered during these first ten or so days if Lance had lost his cutting edge by constantly trailing behind at 9'35'', well, it's clear now the US Postals were simply biding their time, saving strength for the mountains. IN JUST TWO DAYS Voecklers lead of 9 1/2 minutes diminished to just 22 seconds. Many, and not the least, were openly speculating whether Lance was still up to the task, including, alas, another American and threefold Tour Winner, Greg Lemond. I'd say these gentlemen possibly took their wishes for granted.
Tomorrow Sunday the caravan leaves the Pyrenées.
An Islamist website, www.ansarnet.ws, published a threat attributed to al-Qaeda, which says Italy will know a "bloodbath similar to 9/11" IF the Italians don't chase their Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from power. "Either you undo yourself of the incompetent Berlusconi, or either we will effectively burn Italy (...)". The threat was signed "Brigades of Abu Hafs al-Masri". This chap was dishing it out in Afghanistan with US troops and somehow didn't make it.
Methinks these guys just don't like Silvio.
And in The Netherlands Interior Minister Remkes announced that radical Muslims from inside and outside the country have been preparing attacks on Dutch soil over the past weeks. These preparations are thought to be connected to UBL's April 15 threat to Europe that if it didn't pull back its military from the Islamic World (why do I still write this with capitals?) within three months, it would have to face the consequences.
The Netherlands are on a heightened state of alert since July 9, though the measures taken are low-profile or at least not visible so as not to frighten the public. Remkes said that apart from government buildings, so-called "soft targets", places with large public gatherings like shopping malls, metro stations etc... are considered to be targets. He also confirmed that several days ago a letter arrived at UN HQ in New York predicting attacks on European institutions in Brussels and The Hague. The letter was allegedly signed by al-Qaeda, but an enquiry by the AIVD (Dutch Intelligence) proved it to be possibly a hoax.
Anyway, the Dutch are prepared.
Meanwhile, to the south.... in the Glorious People's Democratic Workers Paradise Republic of Belgovakia..... the crisis centre of the Belgian Interior Ministry repeated there is no heightened threat for terror attacks...since spokesman Peter Mertens of the centre said that the government did NOT receive a letter with specific threats against European Institutions in Brussels. According to the Staatsveiligheid (State Security) there is also no reason for concern since Dutch tulip fields and windmills make far more tempting targets than the SHAPE in Cambron Casteau, American tactical nukes at Kleine Brogel AFB, NATO HQ in Evere and some half a dozen important buildings in the EU Capital.
Well, I must say, phew!!! That really reassures me!!! No letter threatening to blow NATO HQ or the European Parliament = it will not happen!!! Ain't that great!!! Golly, Belgium is such a nice place to live!!! Mr Mertens must be convinced a letter threatening to smack two airliners in the WTC DID arrive at the White House but those yankees were just too dumb to take the necessary precautions.
Sigh....
MFBB
Today Saturday, July 17, Lance won his second stage of the Tour de France 2004. Kerry, with with regards to your question concerning Ullrich yesterday: well, I think it’s now safe to say the German is done. None of the “classic” contenders was able to follow the man. Phonak teamleader Tyler Hamilton had to give up after 84 kloms because of back pain (and leaves this tour altogether), Iban Mayo had to be literally talked on the saddle, Jan Ullrich trailed further and further behind as the ride wore on and is now 6 1/2 minutes behind Armstrong. The ride Lannemezan-Plateau-de-Beille was a really tough one, with 7 cols over a distance of 205,5km.
By contrast, the relative newcomer Ivan Basso, who won yesterday, was the only one to follow your champ; at some point they broke from the rest and helped each other towards the last col which was also the finish. In the last climb Armstrong spurted away and at the finish Basso was trailing more than one minute behind. Nevertheless, Lance now considers the Italian as his biggest rival.
One word of appreciation for Frenchman Thomas Voeckler though: he still holds the Yellow Shirt. Indeed, he's still ahead of Lance but only 22 seconds now. See the General Classification. Few believed he would stick to his shirt so far in the race, he himself possibly the least. Anyway, if you ever wondered during these first ten or so days if Lance had lost his cutting edge by constantly trailing behind at 9'35'', well, it's clear now the US Postals were simply biding their time, saving strength for the mountains. IN JUST TWO DAYS Voecklers lead of 9 1/2 minutes diminished to just 22 seconds. Many, and not the least, were openly speculating whether Lance was still up to the task, including, alas, another American and threefold Tour Winner, Greg Lemond. I'd say these gentlemen possibly took their wishes for granted.
Tomorrow Sunday the caravan leaves the Pyrenées.
An Islamist website, www.ansarnet.ws, published a threat attributed to al-Qaeda, which says Italy will know a "bloodbath similar to 9/11" IF the Italians don't chase their Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from power. "Either you undo yourself of the incompetent Berlusconi, or either we will effectively burn Italy (...)". The threat was signed "Brigades of Abu Hafs al-Masri". This chap was dishing it out in Afghanistan with US troops and somehow didn't make it.
Methinks these guys just don't like Silvio.
And in The Netherlands Interior Minister Remkes announced that radical Muslims from inside and outside the country have been preparing attacks on Dutch soil over the past weeks. These preparations are thought to be connected to UBL's April 15 threat to Europe that if it didn't pull back its military from the Islamic World (why do I still write this with capitals?) within three months, it would have to face the consequences.
The Netherlands are on a heightened state of alert since July 9, though the measures taken are low-profile or at least not visible so as not to frighten the public. Remkes said that apart from government buildings, so-called "soft targets", places with large public gatherings like shopping malls, metro stations etc... are considered to be targets. He also confirmed that several days ago a letter arrived at UN HQ in New York predicting attacks on European institutions in Brussels and The Hague. The letter was allegedly signed by al-Qaeda, but an enquiry by the AIVD (Dutch Intelligence) proved it to be possibly a hoax.
Anyway, the Dutch are prepared.
Meanwhile, to the south.... in the Glorious People's Democratic Workers Paradise Republic of Belgovakia..... the crisis centre of the Belgian Interior Ministry repeated there is no heightened threat for terror attacks...since spokesman Peter Mertens of the centre said that the government did NOT receive a letter with specific threats against European Institutions in Brussels. According to the Staatsveiligheid (State Security) there is also no reason for concern since Dutch tulip fields and windmills make far more tempting targets than the SHAPE in Cambron Casteau, American tactical nukes at Kleine Brogel AFB, NATO HQ in Evere and some half a dozen important buildings in the EU Capital.
Well, I must say, phew!!! That really reassures me!!! No letter threatening to blow NATO HQ or the European Parliament = it will not happen!!! Ain't that great!!! Golly, Belgium is such a nice place to live!!! Mr Mertens must be convinced a letter threatening to smack two airliners in the WTC DID arrive at the White House but those yankees were just too dumb to take the necessary precautions.
Sigh....
MFBB
Friday, July 16, 2004
LANCE ATTACKS!!! CHIRAC TOO!!!
a.) Lance
Today’s stage, the twelfth from Castelsarrasin to La Mongie, took the caravan to the steep Pyrenées, an impressive mountain range between France and Spain. It was hot, it was far, and towards the end it was above all steep (2 cols of first category). Although the winner was Ivan Basso, Lance made his mark on the day, as he finally worked his way up from the sixth slot and is now ON NO. 2 right behind Thomas Voeckler, who still holds the yellow shirt though.
Ivan Basso: "The first contact with high mountains has been harder for the other Tour favourites and from what we've seen, Lance is obviously the strongest," the CSC team leader said. "It was the first mountain stage and the weather conditions may have worked Lance's way as he likes the rain."
Anyway, I’m glad that I can finally report something else than usual: see Mr. Armstrong suddenly at no. 2, 5minutes and 24 seconds behind Voeckler instead of the usual 9’35’’.
b.) Jacques
You may or may not have heard about it, but lately it looks like we see the beginning of the end of the Chirass era. The very popular and energetic Finance Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, affectionately known as "Sarko", does not hide his presidential ambitions any more. I always thought Sarkozy was one of the saner heads in the French government (he is a firm backer, a.o., of giving up the ridiculous 35-hour week). On more than one occasion he has publicly contradicted the Président. Well, today it got so bad that my newspaper described their latest rift as Chirac having banned Sarkozy to the corner "as a schoolboy" ("I order and Sarkozy executes", Mr. Chirac was quoted).
Other issues where the two disagree is on the role of the French-German Alliance when it comes to "leadership" of the EU. Chirac is a strong believer in that alliance, whereas Sarkozy eyes London and thinks France's relations with Italy, Spain, the UK, Poland should be on an equal footing with Germany's. Also, Chirac wants to maintain the present Defense budget while Sarkozy wants to cut it to meet the EU's Stability Pact conditions.
Find more about it here.
a.) Lance
Today’s stage, the twelfth from Castelsarrasin to La Mongie, took the caravan to the steep Pyrenées, an impressive mountain range between France and Spain. It was hot, it was far, and towards the end it was above all steep (2 cols of first category). Although the winner was Ivan Basso, Lance made his mark on the day, as he finally worked his way up from the sixth slot and is now ON NO. 2 right behind Thomas Voeckler, who still holds the yellow shirt though.
Ivan Basso: "The first contact with high mountains has been harder for the other Tour favourites and from what we've seen, Lance is obviously the strongest," the CSC team leader said. "It was the first mountain stage and the weather conditions may have worked Lance's way as he likes the rain."
Anyway, I’m glad that I can finally report something else than usual: see Mr. Armstrong suddenly at no. 2, 5minutes and 24 seconds behind Voeckler instead of the usual 9’35’’.
b.) Jacques
You may or may not have heard about it, but lately it looks like we see the beginning of the end of the Chirass era. The very popular and energetic Finance Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, affectionately known as "Sarko", does not hide his presidential ambitions any more. I always thought Sarkozy was one of the saner heads in the French government (he is a firm backer, a.o., of giving up the ridiculous 35-hour week). On more than one occasion he has publicly contradicted the Président. Well, today it got so bad that my newspaper described their latest rift as Chirac having banned Sarkozy to the corner "as a schoolboy" ("I order and Sarkozy executes", Mr. Chirac was quoted).
Other issues where the two disagree is on the role of the French-German Alliance when it comes to "leadership" of the EU. Chirac is a strong believer in that alliance, whereas Sarkozy eyes London and thinks France's relations with Italy, Spain, the UK, Poland should be on an equal footing with Germany's. Also, Chirac wants to maintain the present Defense budget while Sarkozy wants to cut it to meet the EU's Stability Pact conditions.
Find more about it here.
This week's Carnival of the Vanities seems to have been made just for Scotty. Check it out.
EDIT: And for Mikey.
P.S. I love the first comment.
EDIT: And for Mikey.
P.S. I love the first comment.
This is just wonderful.
"Medicare is discarding its policy that obesity is not a disease, potentially throwing open the door for millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs."
I'm sure the founding fathers had this sort of bullshit in mind as a responsibility of government...
"Medicare is discarding its policy that obesity is not a disease, potentially throwing open the door for millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs."
I'm sure the founding fathers had this sort of bullshit in mind as a responsibility of government...
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Funny, I don't recall reading this in the mainstream media last month.
UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD on eve of war
UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD on eve of war
TOUR DE FRANCE 2004 UPDATE
Frenchman Richard Virenque won the tenth stage from Limoges to Saint-Flour, at 237 kloms the longest. How fitting, it was the French National Holiday, July 14th. Although still in the Massif Central, an old mountainous area, today’s ride was not an easy one. Admitted, the highest “Col” (peak) to be conquered, the Col du Pas de Peyrol, is only 1,589 meters, but that was the seventh in a row of nine. I guess none of us would do that in one day and live to check out Downeast at night, except Mark from Colorado of course, but that sneaky smartass has been training for a long time.
Ok. Need I to repeat this? Thomas Voeckler keeps the Yellow Shirt, Lance is still at 6 in the General Classification.
Tomorrow is a milkrun, but on Friday the going gets tough: to the Pyrenées. And you know Billy Ocean’s adage: when the going gets tough, the tough get rough. I am curious to see how lance's alleged great rival, the German Jan Ullrich, will perform.
I case you American chauvinists, desperate from Iraq and seeing Mr. Armstrong perpetually trailing in slot six, take heart! US Postal's Team Boss, Johan Bruyneel (a tipsy more famous than your servant) has some peptalk for you.
Armstrong - almost 10 minutes behind current race leader Thomas Voeckler - is bidding to become the first rider to win six Tours. And a host of former riders have argued the Texan is past his best and the feat will elude him.
"I speak to him throughout each stage and I've never seen him in better shape in a Tour," Bruyneel told BBC Sport.
"It makes me laugh when I hear people criticising Lance. He's physically fit, mentally tough and has probably the best team we've ever put out for a Tour."
And all of you, especially Kevin, who never caught me telling an untruth, know that the word of a Belgian is not taken lightly.
Frenchman Richard Virenque won the tenth stage from Limoges to Saint-Flour, at 237 kloms the longest. How fitting, it was the French National Holiday, July 14th. Although still in the Massif Central, an old mountainous area, today’s ride was not an easy one. Admitted, the highest “Col” (peak) to be conquered, the Col du Pas de Peyrol, is only 1,589 meters, but that was the seventh in a row of nine. I guess none of us would do that in one day and live to check out Downeast at night, except Mark from Colorado of course, but that sneaky smartass has been training for a long time.
Ok. Need I to repeat this? Thomas Voeckler keeps the Yellow Shirt, Lance is still at 6 in the General Classification.
Tomorrow is a milkrun, but on Friday the going gets tough: to the Pyrenées. And you know Billy Ocean’s adage: when the going gets tough, the tough get rough. I am curious to see how lance's alleged great rival, the German Jan Ullrich, will perform.
I case you American chauvinists, desperate from Iraq and seeing Mr. Armstrong perpetually trailing in slot six, take heart! US Postal's Team Boss, Johan Bruyneel (a tipsy more famous than your servant) has some peptalk for you.
Armstrong - almost 10 minutes behind current race leader Thomas Voeckler - is bidding to become the first rider to win six Tours. And a host of former riders have argued the Texan is past his best and the feat will elude him.
"I speak to him throughout each stage and I've never seen him in better shape in a Tour," Bruyneel told BBC Sport.
"It makes me laugh when I hear people criticising Lance. He's physically fit, mentally tough and has probably the best team we've ever put out for a Tour."
And all of you, especially Kevin, who never caught me telling an untruth, know that the word of a Belgian is not taken lightly.
Operation Tiger Claw, an 18 year old high school senior's "attempt at leading a protest against the apathy and leftism running rampant at my school."
Makes for good (and amusing) reading. If you've argued with a liberal this will be familiar territory.
Hat tip to Mark's blog: Freedom's New Birth.
Makes for good (and amusing) reading. If you've argued with a liberal this will be familiar territory.
Hat tip to Mark's blog: Freedom's New Birth.
Michael,
I see you have liberal media bias in Belgium as well as us. At least your journalists are open about it. See the following quote from this BBC story about Vlaams Blok.
After reading your posts and the news on the problems with islamist immigants in Europe I can see why Vlaams Blok is increasing its numbers.
I see you have liberal media bias in Belgium as well as us. At least your journalists are open about it. See the following quote from this BBC story about Vlaams Blok.
Belgian journalists had until recently observed an unofficial blackout, but with the recent success of the party, are finding it harder to ignore this major political force in Belgian politics.
After reading your posts and the news on the problems with islamist immigants in Europe I can see why Vlaams Blok is increasing its numbers.
This sounds like more good news from Iraq.
Hat tip to Instapundit.
July 12, 2004: Al Qaeda operations in Iraq have encountered some unexpected problems. Iraqis have become increasingly hostile to al Qaeda's suicide bombing campaign. Religious leaders, which al Qaeda expects to get support from, have been openly denouncing these bombings. Iraqis, aware that they are more likely, than American soldiers, to be victims of these attacks, are providing more information on where the al Qaeda members are hiding out. Most of the al Qaeda in Iraq are foreigners, and easy for Iraqis to detect. As a result of this, many of the al Qaeda men have moved back to Fallujah, which has become a terrorist sanctuary. The interim government is trying to convince the tribal and religious leaders of Fallujah to back a military operation in the city to clear out the various al Qaeda, criminal and Baath Party gangs. But the gangs of Fallujah are quick to threaten any local leader that shows signs of supporting the government. While the Fallujah leadership is intimidated, many residents of Fallujah are not, and are providing information to the coalition, which has led to attacks, with smart bombs or coalition and Iraqi troops, on buildings used by al Qaeda, or other gangs, as headquarters.
Hat tip to Instapundit.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
ARE YOU BLIND TOO?
A few days ago I posted a story of a French 23-year old woman who claimed she had been the victim of an attack in which 6 Moroccan youths tore and cut her clothes, scrawled swastikas on her body and tipped over the pram with her baby.
That story now appears to be false. I apologize to our readers.
A French woman who alleged she had been the subject of an anti-Semitic attack invented the story, police sources say. The alleged admission came shortly after she was taken into custody - four days after the alleged assault on a train in the suburbs of Paris. The 23-year-old woman said six men cut her clothes and drew swastikas on her body, accusing her of being Jewish. The woman has been detained for falsely reporting a crime, state prosecutor Xavier Salvat told AFP news agency.
She could face up to six months in prison and a 7,500-euro ($9,200) fine if convicted.
I provided this story as a standalone topic but those of you who bother to read my rants know my preoccupation with what I perceive as the rising Islamist threat in Europe. It now appears this little piece of information was wrong. Well, people, I still stand by my perception. If you follow the link you will find that it ends with:
Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope told RTL radio a rising trend of anti-Semitic attacks was "a genuine evil" in France, even if the woman's case might not be real.
Among those signs pointing to this "rising Islamist threat" are what I would call the symptoms, such as the fate of my Jewish compatriot Noah Schmal who was three weeks ago attacked in Wilrijk, an Antwerp suburb, by a gang of fifteen Moroccans and almost stabbed to death:
Meridor's statement followed an attack on four students from a Jewish school in an Antwerp suburb on Thursday.
Jewish organizations and the mayor of the Belgian port city held an emergency meeting on Friday after the attacks.
A spokesman for the Forum of Jewish Organizations said one 16-year old boy was stabbed in the back during an attack late on Thursday by about 15 youngsters of Arab origin which the Forum believed was motivated by anti-Semitism.
"He was stabbed in the back, one of his lungs was punctured and he lost a lot of blood," the spokesman said, adding that the boy's life was no longer in danger.
Kevin, you can now search the Internet using Google 20.0 but you won’t find any rebuke on this story. You see, I saw Noah with my own eyes on TV, lying in his hospital bed and recounting what happened.
But these are only the innocent symptoms. It gets more serious upon discovering what I would call a strategic attempt to poison the hearts and mind of our Muslim brothers, in the very schools Islamism is setting up across Europe:
Muslim children forced to view movies inciting violence in Franfurt Muslim Cultural Center
Die Durchsuchung der Räume des marokkanischen Kulturvereins am Sonntag in der Nähe des Frankfurter Hauptbahnhofes mit insgesamt rund 120 Polizisten und städtischen Beamten ging den Angaben zufolge unter anderem auf den Hinweis einer neunjährigen Schülerin zurück. Nach Angaben des Mädchens mussten sich Kinder dort während Islamkursen Videos mit kriegerischen Gewaltszenen anschauen. Darunter sollen Aufnahmen von Prügeln und sogar Enthauptungen gewesen sein.
Freely translated:
Sunday's search of the premises of the Moroccan Cultural center in Frankfurt Station's neighborhood with altogether 120 police officers and city officials followed info provided by, a.o., a nine-year old schoolgirl. According to the girl, children had to watch, during islamic lessons, videos with violent war scenes. Among these scenes there were allegedly beheadings too.
It's not an isolated case, you know. Also in Germany, Bonn's King Fahd Academy was recently the subject of an inquiry towards Islmaic lessons exhorting pupils to wage a jihad against the infidel West:
Saudi School of Hate.
Classes are taught in Arabic and, as in Saudi schools, the curriculum is based on Wahhabism, a rigorous brand of Islam that accepts the Koran as literal truth. Concerns about the academy peaked in early October when Panorama, a popular tele-vision program, aired a video purporting to show the school's Imam and teacher, Anas Bayram, telling parents how to train their children in spear throwing, swimming and horseback riding in order to prepare for jihad. Bayram denies that he was urging violence, saying he only meant to encourage parents to ensure that their children are physically fit.
Wait, I got this particular article about a diving school in The Netherlands:
Fears persist of al-Qaeda Terrorist Link to PADI Dive Center
Dutch and U.S. investigators learned that several of the students in the Eindhoven classes were suspected Islamic extremists.
An Algerian who was certified at the school and later deported by the Dutch was arrested in France in November along with an accused terrorist who had escaped from a Dutch jail, according to a U.S. official. Authorities in a non-European country are holding a third man, believed to be a Libyan who studied diving in Eindhoven, because of his ties to extremist violence, the official said.
There were also leads linking diving students with Al Qaeda network operatives who were convicted in Morocco of plotting maritime attacks on U.S. ships in the Strait of Gibraltar, the U.S. official said.
And:
Ever heard of the a-Furqaan Mosque in Eindhoven, The Netherlands?
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands -- In late February, more than 300 young men from across Europe gathered for a weekend seminar on Islamic law put on by the Al-Waqf al-islaami Foundation. In the bright, austere rooms of this city's Al-Furqaan Mosque, they heard sermons on the hell that awaits unbelievers and the benefits of resisting Western ways of living. The language was Dutch, but the message was imported from Saudi Arabia, via Saudi books and lecturers who taught a strict, orthodox interpretation of Islam. Mourat, an attendee who offered only his first name, said: "I don't want a separation of state and religion. I want Shariah [Islamic law] here and now."
For years, the Al-Waqf foundation's seminars have drilled extremist messages into the heads of thousands of young Muslims from across the Continent: Mixing with unfaithful is a form of pollution, Jews are to blame for much of what's wrong in the world, and the rest can be laid at the doorstep of the U.S., according to foundation literature and interviews with attendees.
Quote from a related article:
"I have been given oders to fight the people, to wage war with them, until they confess that allah is the only and true god and mohammed is his prophet", is one of the texts in a book that is currently in use by some schools for childeren aging 4 to 12 years in the Netherlands. The educational books are from the foundation Al Waqf from Eindhoven (Dutch city), that holds connections with Saudi-Arabia.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
MFBB
A few days ago I posted a story of a French 23-year old woman who claimed she had been the victim of an attack in which 6 Moroccan youths tore and cut her clothes, scrawled swastikas on her body and tipped over the pram with her baby.
That story now appears to be false. I apologize to our readers.
A French woman who alleged she had been the subject of an anti-Semitic attack invented the story, police sources say. The alleged admission came shortly after she was taken into custody - four days after the alleged assault on a train in the suburbs of Paris. The 23-year-old woman said six men cut her clothes and drew swastikas on her body, accusing her of being Jewish. The woman has been detained for falsely reporting a crime, state prosecutor Xavier Salvat told AFP news agency.
She could face up to six months in prison and a 7,500-euro ($9,200) fine if convicted.
I provided this story as a standalone topic but those of you who bother to read my rants know my preoccupation with what I perceive as the rising Islamist threat in Europe. It now appears this little piece of information was wrong. Well, people, I still stand by my perception. If you follow the link you will find that it ends with:
Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope told RTL radio a rising trend of anti-Semitic attacks was "a genuine evil" in France, even if the woman's case might not be real.
Among those signs pointing to this "rising Islamist threat" are what I would call the symptoms, such as the fate of my Jewish compatriot Noah Schmal who was three weeks ago attacked in Wilrijk, an Antwerp suburb, by a gang of fifteen Moroccans and almost stabbed to death:
Meridor's statement followed an attack on four students from a Jewish school in an Antwerp suburb on Thursday.
Jewish organizations and the mayor of the Belgian port city held an emergency meeting on Friday after the attacks.
A spokesman for the Forum of Jewish Organizations said one 16-year old boy was stabbed in the back during an attack late on Thursday by about 15 youngsters of Arab origin which the Forum believed was motivated by anti-Semitism.
"He was stabbed in the back, one of his lungs was punctured and he lost a lot of blood," the spokesman said, adding that the boy's life was no longer in danger.
Kevin, you can now search the Internet using Google 20.0 but you won’t find any rebuke on this story. You see, I saw Noah with my own eyes on TV, lying in his hospital bed and recounting what happened.
But these are only the innocent symptoms. It gets more serious upon discovering what I would call a strategic attempt to poison the hearts and mind of our Muslim brothers, in the very schools Islamism is setting up across Europe:
Muslim children forced to view movies inciting violence in Franfurt Muslim Cultural Center
Die Durchsuchung der Räume des marokkanischen Kulturvereins am Sonntag in der Nähe des Frankfurter Hauptbahnhofes mit insgesamt rund 120 Polizisten und städtischen Beamten ging den Angaben zufolge unter anderem auf den Hinweis einer neunjährigen Schülerin zurück. Nach Angaben des Mädchens mussten sich Kinder dort während Islamkursen Videos mit kriegerischen Gewaltszenen anschauen. Darunter sollen Aufnahmen von Prügeln und sogar Enthauptungen gewesen sein.
Freely translated:
Sunday's search of the premises of the Moroccan Cultural center in Frankfurt Station's neighborhood with altogether 120 police officers and city officials followed info provided by, a.o., a nine-year old schoolgirl. According to the girl, children had to watch, during islamic lessons, videos with violent war scenes. Among these scenes there were allegedly beheadings too.
It's not an isolated case, you know. Also in Germany, Bonn's King Fahd Academy was recently the subject of an inquiry towards Islmaic lessons exhorting pupils to wage a jihad against the infidel West:
Saudi School of Hate.
Classes are taught in Arabic and, as in Saudi schools, the curriculum is based on Wahhabism, a rigorous brand of Islam that accepts the Koran as literal truth. Concerns about the academy peaked in early October when Panorama, a popular tele-vision program, aired a video purporting to show the school's Imam and teacher, Anas Bayram, telling parents how to train their children in spear throwing, swimming and horseback riding in order to prepare for jihad. Bayram denies that he was urging violence, saying he only meant to encourage parents to ensure that their children are physically fit.
Wait, I got this particular article about a diving school in The Netherlands:
Fears persist of al-Qaeda Terrorist Link to PADI Dive Center
Dutch and U.S. investigators learned that several of the students in the Eindhoven classes were suspected Islamic extremists.
An Algerian who was certified at the school and later deported by the Dutch was arrested in France in November along with an accused terrorist who had escaped from a Dutch jail, according to a U.S. official. Authorities in a non-European country are holding a third man, believed to be a Libyan who studied diving in Eindhoven, because of his ties to extremist violence, the official said.
There were also leads linking diving students with Al Qaeda network operatives who were convicted in Morocco of plotting maritime attacks on U.S. ships in the Strait of Gibraltar, the U.S. official said.
And:
Ever heard of the a-Furqaan Mosque in Eindhoven, The Netherlands?
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands -- In late February, more than 300 young men from across Europe gathered for a weekend seminar on Islamic law put on by the Al-Waqf al-islaami Foundation. In the bright, austere rooms of this city's Al-Furqaan Mosque, they heard sermons on the hell that awaits unbelievers and the benefits of resisting Western ways of living. The language was Dutch, but the message was imported from Saudi Arabia, via Saudi books and lecturers who taught a strict, orthodox interpretation of Islam. Mourat, an attendee who offered only his first name, said: "I don't want a separation of state and religion. I want Shariah [Islamic law] here and now."
For years, the Al-Waqf foundation's seminars have drilled extremist messages into the heads of thousands of young Muslims from across the Continent: Mixing with unfaithful is a form of pollution, Jews are to blame for much of what's wrong in the world, and the rest can be laid at the doorstep of the U.S., according to foundation literature and interviews with attendees.
Quote from a related article:
"I have been given oders to fight the people, to wage war with them, until they confess that allah is the only and true god and mohammed is his prophet", is one of the texts in a book that is currently in use by some schools for childeren aging 4 to 12 years in the Netherlands. The educational books are from the foundation Al Waqf from Eindhoven (Dutch city), that holds connections with Saudi-Arabia.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
MFBB
Monday, July 12, 2004
Sunday, July 11, 2004
'lo out there. Hey, it's not that I feel compelled to post every day but I just have this feeling you want to know how Lance does. Just posting about a Texan who is not GWB sounds rather meagre to me so I flesh it out with some European tidbits. As there are:
1° SWASTIKA ATTACK ON FRENCH MOTHER
French politicians have reacted with horror to an anti-Semitic attack on a woman and her baby on a train. A gang of young men cut her hair, slashed her clothes and drew swastikas on her body, before overturning the pram in which her infant was lying...
Substitute “men” with Moroccans people. After all, this is a politicaly correct BBC link. I'm NOT a racist, let that be clear. One of my Heroes of the Mind is a black writer, Thomas Sowell, whom I learned to know via this blog and more precisely through Mr. Frizzle. And no, I'm NOT revulsed at all by seeing Condi as the President's Security Advisor. In fact, when I see colored people in rightwing ranks, my first reaction is always: GREAT!!! They are with us!!!
The sad bottomline however is that Europe is waking up to the Mother Of All Hangovers with its Muslim populations. Politically incorrect to say so? You bet. Do I shut up for that? You are nuts if you think so.
2° GOOD DEVELOPMENT IN SERBIA
Good development in Serbia, where pro-western politician Boris Tadic was sworn in as the country’s new President. He has vowed to bring Serbia closer to NATO and the EU. As a European who strongly believes in a USE (in time), albeit as a friend of the USA, I can only welcome this development.
Addressing parliament after being sworn in, Mr Tadic stressed that Serbia's immediate future "will be marked by its intention to join European Union".
President Tadic and his PM Kostunica are from different, rival parties (Kostunica was successor to the popular Djindjic, who was assassinated in 2003). The rivalry may promise some fireworks, but generally Serbia's leadership can be considered to be decent.
3° NORWEGIAN THOR HUSHOVD WINS EIGHTH RIDE
The Norwegian Thor Hushovd wins Sunday's ride Lamballe-Quimper (168 km). If there is one common denominator for the Tour thus far, it's the weather. It's been raining rivers this first week. And I know, it's getting boring, but Lance is still saving strength at No. 6 in the General Classification, and that Frogeater Thomas Voeckler still has the Yellow Shirt. Note also another American in the Tour 2004, Tyler Hamilton at No. 11. He's not from the US Postal Team though, but from rival Phonak.
Mark, Jamie, have you heard anything about a local Ice Age in Maine? Or gigantic twisters in LA? I'm worrying you know.
MFBB
1° SWASTIKA ATTACK ON FRENCH MOTHER
French politicians have reacted with horror to an anti-Semitic attack on a woman and her baby on a train. A gang of young men cut her hair, slashed her clothes and drew swastikas on her body, before overturning the pram in which her infant was lying...
Substitute “men” with Moroccans people. After all, this is a politicaly correct BBC link. I'm NOT a racist, let that be clear. One of my Heroes of the Mind is a black writer, Thomas Sowell, whom I learned to know via this blog and more precisely through Mr. Frizzle. And no, I'm NOT revulsed at all by seeing Condi as the President's Security Advisor. In fact, when I see colored people in rightwing ranks, my first reaction is always: GREAT!!! They are with us!!!
The sad bottomline however is that Europe is waking up to the Mother Of All Hangovers with its Muslim populations. Politically incorrect to say so? You bet. Do I shut up for that? You are nuts if you think so.
2° GOOD DEVELOPMENT IN SERBIA
Good development in Serbia, where pro-western politician Boris Tadic was sworn in as the country’s new President. He has vowed to bring Serbia closer to NATO and the EU. As a European who strongly believes in a USE (in time), albeit as a friend of the USA, I can only welcome this development.
Addressing parliament after being sworn in, Mr Tadic stressed that Serbia's immediate future "will be marked by its intention to join European Union".
President Tadic and his PM Kostunica are from different, rival parties (Kostunica was successor to the popular Djindjic, who was assassinated in 2003). The rivalry may promise some fireworks, but generally Serbia's leadership can be considered to be decent.
3° NORWEGIAN THOR HUSHOVD WINS EIGHTH RIDE
The Norwegian Thor Hushovd wins Sunday's ride Lamballe-Quimper (168 km). If there is one common denominator for the Tour thus far, it's the weather. It's been raining rivers this first week. And I know, it's getting boring, but Lance is still saving strength at No. 6 in the General Classification, and that Frogeater Thomas Voeckler still has the Yellow Shirt. Note also another American in the Tour 2004, Tyler Hamilton at No. 11. He's not from the US Postal Team though, but from rival Phonak.
Mark, Jamie, have you heard anything about a local Ice Age in Maine? Or gigantic twisters in LA? I'm worrying you know.
MFBB
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Today Saturday Belgian Police arrested two Sudanese men, purported al-Qaeda affiliates, in Zaventem International Airport near Brussels. The cell phone of one of the two contained the name “Usama Bin Laden” in its phone number list. Upon searching their luggage, the police found photos of suicide terrorists. The two entered our country on a flight from Greece. Sorry, no link in English found.
And the Dutch Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD) (General Intelligence and Security Service) claims to have indications that some radical Muslims are preparing terror attacks. The Dutch have a 1,300 strong Infantry contingent in the Iraqi al-Muthanna province, and is therefore at risk for Islamist attacks. Just recently the Dutch government got authorization from Parliament to extend the troops' stay in Iraq till after the January 2005 elections. The AIVD claims to follow 150-200 suspected (read: linked to terrorism) Muslims. The Dutch government is also working on a similar color code based Alert System as the US's one.
As for the Tour de France, today’s ride Châteaubriant/Saint-Brieuc (204,5km) was won by the Italian Filippo Pozzato from the Fassa Bortolo Team. Frenchman Thomas Voeckler still keeps the Yellow Shirt though. For the General Classification look here. Lance is still no. 6. One cyclist, Christophe Brandt, was forced out of the Tour for using non-authorized drugs. Oh yeah, in case you are interested in some in-depth info on the Tour, here’s the official website in English.
MFBB
And the Dutch Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD) (General Intelligence and Security Service) claims to have indications that some radical Muslims are preparing terror attacks. The Dutch have a 1,300 strong Infantry contingent in the Iraqi al-Muthanna province, and is therefore at risk for Islamist attacks. Just recently the Dutch government got authorization from Parliament to extend the troops' stay in Iraq till after the January 2005 elections. The AIVD claims to follow 150-200 suspected (read: linked to terrorism) Muslims. The Dutch government is also working on a similar color code based Alert System as the US's one.
As for the Tour de France, today’s ride Châteaubriant/Saint-Brieuc (204,5km) was won by the Italian Filippo Pozzato from the Fassa Bortolo Team. Frenchman Thomas Voeckler still keeps the Yellow Shirt though. For the General Classification look here. Lance is still no. 6. One cyclist, Christophe Brandt, was forced out of the Tour for using non-authorized drugs. Oh yeah, in case you are interested in some in-depth info on the Tour, here’s the official website in English.
MFBB
Friday, July 09, 2004
YEEEEEAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!
Belgian Tom Boonen (the guy in blue right in the middle) wins the sixth ride in the Tour de France 2004. After having been at the spearhead of the ride Bonneval-Angers for most of the time, he broke away from direct competitors Stuart O’Grady and Erik Zabel in the final two hundred meters. Behind him however was the carnage caused by a massive crash in which some twenty rides were involved (no, Tom did not cause it). As a matter of fact, today’s ride from Bonneval to Angers over a distance of 196 kilometers was marred by rain, like Thursday, but this time resulting in quite a few falls. Axel Merckx, yes, son of, went down two times and Lance also (see pic – this was NOT in the final breakdown just mentioned) although he managed to get back on his bike right away. Two important Italian champs, Cippolini and Petacchi, gave up because of injuries.
Maybe I should give you some more info the coming days of the diverse ranking systems and classifications in use. Apart from the daily Ride Score (winner today Tom Boonen) there’s the General Classification upon which is determined who the Yellow Shirt Bearer is (that’s still Frenchman-despite-his-name Thomas Voeckler), the Point Classification, the Mountain Classification, the Team Classification (Danish CSC being first, US Postal/Berry Floor 5th) and the Youth Classification. God knows I still have a business to run, but I’ll try to clarify something over the coming days.
In the General Classification you will notice Lance still on no. 6. Note also that the US Postal Team cyclists are a tight group – they stick together and work for each other – and for King Lance, as it fits. Indeed, the US Postal Team is being described as a well oiled machine and a clockwork. Kevin, you are right, I used the phrasing “cede the Yellow Shirt” in a wrong way two days ago. It’s just that Lance is biding his time. Scott, you were right about the French being pissed off about an American cowboy moving at will on what they still consider as their turf. When Frenchman Thomas Voeckler became Yellow Shirt bearer two days ago French Press was ecstatic, describing it as a miracle and a wonder.
Poor frogeaters. They so desperately try to matter in today's world. Why, apparently, even with a human tragedy looming large over the Sudanese Darfur region and being offered the opportunity to stick for once with the US in confronting the hypocritical Sudanese regime with its complicity in the janjaweed killings, new French Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier still can't bring himself to call a spade a spade. So desperate are they to show their policy does not necessarily reflect the US's, that according to Mr. Muselier (heartthrob Dominique de Villepin is now Interior Minister) the thingy in Sudan is just a civil war and as such an internal affair with both parties carrying the burden of guilt. Sure. Whatever you say Renaud.
Bye,
MFBB
Belgian Tom Boonen (the guy in blue right in the middle) wins the sixth ride in the Tour de France 2004. After having been at the spearhead of the ride Bonneval-Angers for most of the time, he broke away from direct competitors Stuart O’Grady and Erik Zabel in the final two hundred meters. Behind him however was the carnage caused by a massive crash in which some twenty rides were involved (no, Tom did not cause it). As a matter of fact, today’s ride from Bonneval to Angers over a distance of 196 kilometers was marred by rain, like Thursday, but this time resulting in quite a few falls. Axel Merckx, yes, son of, went down two times and Lance also (see pic – this was NOT in the final breakdown just mentioned) although he managed to get back on his bike right away. Two important Italian champs, Cippolini and Petacchi, gave up because of injuries.
Maybe I should give you some more info the coming days of the diverse ranking systems and classifications in use. Apart from the daily Ride Score (winner today Tom Boonen) there’s the General Classification upon which is determined who the Yellow Shirt Bearer is (that’s still Frenchman-despite-his-name Thomas Voeckler), the Point Classification, the Mountain Classification, the Team Classification (Danish CSC being first, US Postal/Berry Floor 5th) and the Youth Classification. God knows I still have a business to run, but I’ll try to clarify something over the coming days.
In the General Classification you will notice Lance still on no. 6. Note also that the US Postal Team cyclists are a tight group – they stick together and work for each other – and for King Lance, as it fits. Indeed, the US Postal Team is being described as a well oiled machine and a clockwork. Kevin, you are right, I used the phrasing “cede the Yellow Shirt” in a wrong way two days ago. It’s just that Lance is biding his time. Scott, you were right about the French being pissed off about an American cowboy moving at will on what they still consider as their turf. When Frenchman Thomas Voeckler became Yellow Shirt bearer two days ago French Press was ecstatic, describing it as a miracle and a wonder.
Poor frogeaters. They so desperately try to matter in today's world. Why, apparently, even with a human tragedy looming large over the Sudanese Darfur region and being offered the opportunity to stick for once with the US in confronting the hypocritical Sudanese regime with its complicity in the janjaweed killings, new French Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier still can't bring himself to call a spade a spade. So desperate are they to show their policy does not necessarily reflect the US's, that according to Mr. Muselier (heartthrob Dominique de Villepin is now Interior Minister) the thingy in Sudan is just a civil war and as such an internal affair with both parties carrying the burden of guilt. Sure. Whatever you say Renaud.
Bye,
MFBB
Ha ha ha.
I love it. Richard Riordan made a really stupid comment to a little girl at a public event in California. The racial grievance industry kicked into high gear and immediately began calling for resignations, organizing a protest rally, and saying things like: She is "a little African-American girl. Would he have done that to a white girl?"
The little girl is rather white with blond hair.
The protest has been cancelled and the state Assemblyman who was so outraged isn't returning phone calls.
Ha ha ha.
I love it. Richard Riordan made a really stupid comment to a little girl at a public event in California. The racial grievance industry kicked into high gear and immediately began calling for resignations, organizing a protest rally, and saying things like: She is "a little African-American girl. Would he have done that to a white girl?"
The little girl is rather white with blond hair.
The protest has been cancelled and the state Assemblyman who was so outraged isn't returning phone calls.
Ha ha ha.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Hey, you MUST admit sometimes good news is coming out of Belgium.
Belgian police arrest Dutch resident on terror charges
7 July 2004
AMSTERDAM ? Belgian police have arrested a Dutch resident of Moroccan origin on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings in March.
The man was arrested on 1 July when the suspect ? identified as El Houcine el H., of the southern Dutch city Weert ? applied for asylum in Belgium, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported on Wednesday.
A spokesman from the federal prosecution office in Brussels said that the suspect was accused of preparing an international terrorist attack from Belgium.
As for the 91st Tour de France, I'm sorry but Lance lost his Yellow Shirt again. Happens when performances from the competing champs are that close. Also the point allocation and classification system is quite tricky (maybe the UN could send monitors). Be that as it may, Wednesday's 4th ride Cambrai-Arras (64,5km) was a so-called Team Time Run which was decisively won by Lance's US Postal - Berry Floor Team. That's why he got the Yellow Shirt yesterday. However, today Thursday July 7 he had to cede it again to the Australian Stuart O'Grady, who won today's ride Amiens-Chartres (200,5km). In the general classification you will notice Lance is sixth. Tomorrow sees the Tour travel from Bonneval to Angers, which is a distance of 196 kilometers.
Maybe I should have provided this link earlier; it's an overview of the participating teams. US Postal's team is composed of:
US Postal (USA)
Team Leader: Johan Bruyneel(BEL)
1. Lance Armstrong (USA),
2. José Azevedo (POR),
3. Manuel Beltran Martinez (SPA),
4. Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS),
5. George Hincapie (USA),
6. Floyd Landis (USA),
7. Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (SPA),
8. Pavel Padrnos (CZE),
9. José L.Rubiera Vigil (SPA).
Looks like Lance is quite well known among you, even though I guess cycling has much less appeal as a sport in the States. But do the names Hincapie and Landis ring a bell?
Nothing much left to say today, except that Schroeder is having a BAD TIME trying to sell his REFORM 2010 Plan to the powerful German Unions. He has the backing of his SDP Party, but the Union leaders still live in the seventies. Make no mistakes, Schroeder is a socialist but over the past years he has "gotten it" the welfare state at its present level is untenable. Hence his Plan. The corporate sector thinks it's still not far-reaching enough, although they would be glad if it were even partly adopted. I'm sorry but I was unable to find links.
And oh yeah, this weekend my wife and I saw "The day after tomorrow" with Dennis Quaid. Tom, Kerry, Scott, your servant, and Mark and Drazil over there in Colorado are toast, erm, ice cubes if we have to believe it. Only Jamie over there in Alabama and maybe Kevin in Atlanta have a shot at surviving, althoug they face a whopping 400% increase in heating bills. This movie was as politically correct as could be in the present day, with an Arab from KSA (!) expressing, during a Meeting on the Earth's Climate, confusion over the projected Ice Age instead of global warming as predicted by prof Hall, and the Vice President of the US of A rebuking the Prof's grim forecast. Yeah, we all know the Arabs have always been VERY concerned over the greenhouse effect. There's also a funny scene with Americans crossing the Rio Grande illegally to Mexico, on the run for the advancing Ice Front. Let's hope Presidente Fox has an immigration plan similar to Bush's ready, just in case. If Mark does manage to survive, then he can serve tortillas for three bucks a day in some shabby Mexico City restaurant.
Anyway, apart form the lousy political message, the special FX are quite impressive, with LA being levelled by gigantic twisters (Kerry get out of there!!!) and Manhattan flooded by a 70m high tidal wave. The love story sucks, though (and alas, no taataa's).
Bye, MFBB
Belgian police arrest Dutch resident on terror charges
7 July 2004
AMSTERDAM ? Belgian police have arrested a Dutch resident of Moroccan origin on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings in March.
The man was arrested on 1 July when the suspect ? identified as El Houcine el H., of the southern Dutch city Weert ? applied for asylum in Belgium, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported on Wednesday.
A spokesman from the federal prosecution office in Brussels said that the suspect was accused of preparing an international terrorist attack from Belgium.
As for the 91st Tour de France, I'm sorry but Lance lost his Yellow Shirt again. Happens when performances from the competing champs are that close. Also the point allocation and classification system is quite tricky (maybe the UN could send monitors). Be that as it may, Wednesday's 4th ride Cambrai-Arras (64,5km) was a so-called Team Time Run which was decisively won by Lance's US Postal - Berry Floor Team. That's why he got the Yellow Shirt yesterday. However, today Thursday July 7 he had to cede it again to the Australian Stuart O'Grady, who won today's ride Amiens-Chartres (200,5km). In the general classification you will notice Lance is sixth. Tomorrow sees the Tour travel from Bonneval to Angers, which is a distance of 196 kilometers.
Maybe I should have provided this link earlier; it's an overview of the participating teams. US Postal's team is composed of:
US Postal (USA)
Team Leader: Johan Bruyneel(BEL)
1. Lance Armstrong (USA),
2. José Azevedo (POR),
3. Manuel Beltran Martinez (SPA),
4. Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS),
5. George Hincapie (USA),
6. Floyd Landis (USA),
7. Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (SPA),
8. Pavel Padrnos (CZE),
9. José L.Rubiera Vigil (SPA).
Looks like Lance is quite well known among you, even though I guess cycling has much less appeal as a sport in the States. But do the names Hincapie and Landis ring a bell?
Nothing much left to say today, except that Schroeder is having a BAD TIME trying to sell his REFORM 2010 Plan to the powerful German Unions. He has the backing of his SDP Party, but the Union leaders still live in the seventies. Make no mistakes, Schroeder is a socialist but over the past years he has "gotten it" the welfare state at its present level is untenable. Hence his Plan. The corporate sector thinks it's still not far-reaching enough, although they would be glad if it were even partly adopted. I'm sorry but I was unable to find links.
And oh yeah, this weekend my wife and I saw "The day after tomorrow" with Dennis Quaid. Tom, Kerry, Scott, your servant, and Mark and Drazil over there in Colorado are toast, erm, ice cubes if we have to believe it. Only Jamie over there in Alabama and maybe Kevin in Atlanta have a shot at surviving, althoug they face a whopping 400% increase in heating bills. This movie was as politically correct as could be in the present day, with an Arab from KSA (!) expressing, during a Meeting on the Earth's Climate, confusion over the projected Ice Age instead of global warming as predicted by prof Hall, and the Vice President of the US of A rebuking the Prof's grim forecast. Yeah, we all know the Arabs have always been VERY concerned over the greenhouse effect. There's also a funny scene with Americans crossing the Rio Grande illegally to Mexico, on the run for the advancing Ice Front. Let's hope Presidente Fox has an immigration plan similar to Bush's ready, just in case. If Mark does manage to survive, then he can serve tortillas for three bucks a day in some shabby Mexico City restaurant.
Anyway, apart form the lousy political message, the special FX are quite impressive, with LA being levelled by gigantic twisters (Kerry get out of there!!!) and Manhattan flooded by a 70m high tidal wave. The love story sucks, though (and alas, no taataa's).
Bye, MFBB
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Michael, we'd gladly exchange these 9 pantywaists for you and your family (not to insult you and your family, of course.)
If you are represented by these jackasses and you have not raised hell in your district, you need to get on it. If our elections were subject to UN approval in 2000, they would have declared the election invalid and posted Kofi Annan as interim president until the committee of free elections, headed up by Iran, decided what to do about it. We'd still be waiting for their judgment today.
If you are represented by these jackasses and you have not raised hell in your district, you need to get on it. If our elections were subject to UN approval in 2000, they would have declared the election invalid and posted Kofi Annan as interim president until the committee of free elections, headed up by Iran, decided what to do about it. We'd still be waiting for their judgment today.
Monday, July 05, 2004
The three most important worldwide sports events are: the Olympic Games, the Soccer World Championship and the… Tour de France. Now, while this Tour de France has for most of its existence been an almost purely European event, over the past decade it has won worldwide acclaim because of its growing appeal to truly international sportsmen. So today’s Tours not only attract German, British and Italian champions but also Colombians, Australians, Uzbekistans, Russians and… Americans. I would be very surprised if none of you have not heard yet of your Champ Lance Armstrong, fivefold Tour Winner and as such an enigma, since such an honour was till now only reserved to, ahem, my compatriot Eddy Merckx. Believe it or not, but your Lance has a Belgian teamleader, Johan Bruyneel, whose deputy, Geert Duffeleer, happens to be a client of mine. Lance's US Postal Team has its car park in Brakel, a small town some 15 kloms from where I live.
This years’ Tour, which started last Saturday, will show us whether Lance will break Eddy’s record. Now for a little bit of history:
The Tour de France was the brainchild of a velodrome champion turned editor-of-a-cycling magazine Henri Desgranges and his chief cycling reporter Georges Lefevre, who are said to have had the following conversation at the turn of the 20th Century.
Credit for devising the actual idea appears to have come from the journal's chief cycling reporter, 26-year old Georges Lefèvre. He suggested to Desgrange, "a several-day race, longer than anything now going on, something more on the order of a track six day race, only this time on the road. All the major towns are begging for cycle races, and they are bound to go along with the idea".
- "If I understand you rightly, Géo", someone said, "you are proposing a cycling Tour de France."
- "Well, why not?", replied Lefèvre.
Thus the idea was born.
The very first Tour de France took place between July 1 to July 19 1903 and promised a five francs per day living allowance to the first fifty riders and upped the prize money to 20,000 francs. 60 riders rose to the challenge; 21 were sponsored, the other 39 a rag-bag of the poor, the unemployed and the plain adventurous. It was won by a fellow named Maurice Garin.
Folks, 1903 is a long time ago and a discussion of how the Tour de France became, well, The Tour de France over the decades would push the Fourth of July too much to the background. Suffice to say you can find it all here.
Basic Tour de France 101 is that during three weeks almost every day a ride, typically 200 km long, is undertaken. In doing so, the caravan ventures pretty much in a circular movement around France. Most of the time it’s from point A to B, e.g. this year’s ride Amiens-Chartres (200,5km); sometimes it’s from point A back to A, e.g. the July 24 Besançon/Besançon ride, which is an individual timerun. Famous cyclists throughout the 20th Century were Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Poulidor (nicknamed the Eternal Second) and Jacques Anquetil. I would almost forget your compatriot Greg Lemond, who introduced the US to the Tour. Dreaded are the cols, steep rides in Frances Pyrenées or Alps (e.g. Alpe d’Huez might ring a bell even in Maine).
Now, why do I tell you all this? Well, this year the famed Tour de France will pass right through my hometown Geraardsbergen. You may wonder whether France has annexed Belgium in some sneak attack, since the Tour de France is supposed to be held in… France, right? Well, although the CESM’s would actually like very much to attach our prosperous kingdom to Chiracland, sans King of course, no, that hasn’t happened yet. Also the mighty Belgian Army would see to it that never happens. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon for the Tour, which lasts three weeks, to hop on occasion into a neighbouring country, e.g. Italy or Belgium. Well, The Tour de France 2004 actually started on Saturday, July 3rd, in the eastern Belgian city of Liège. It spends no less than four days on Belgian soil and becomes a truly French Tour tomorrow, Tuesday… but not before passing through the place where your servant spent the first, extremely exciting part of his hitherto fabulous life – Geraardsbergen. See the map below. You will also notice that Tuesday’s ride starts in… Waterloo, where Nappie got clobbered.
Why does the Tour honor Geraardsbergen on its passing? Well, my hometown sports a low hump, called the Oudenberg (literally translated as Mountain of the Elders), 111m above sea-level. With the town center at 30m height on average, this does not seem to make for an impressive climb… were it not that the last part of the slope, called “De Muur” (The Wall) leading to the Oudenberg’s summit is a 20% climb over not really inviting cobblestones.
The pic below shows a former German champ, Baldinger, member of the Deutsche Telekom Team.
Anyway, so tomorrow the whole circus storms through the place where I was born and raised. Unfortunately, since I have to maintain the welfare state, I will not be able to view the spectacle. But I will keep you updated on tomorrow's events, Inshallah. And of course we have rendez-vous on Sunday July 25th, when the Tour comes to an end on the Champs Elysées in Paris and when we will know whether Mr. Armstrong will have made history by being the first person ever to win the Tour de France 6 times.
This years’ Tour, which started last Saturday, will show us whether Lance will break Eddy’s record. Now for a little bit of history:
The Tour de France was the brainchild of a velodrome champion turned editor-of-a-cycling magazine Henri Desgranges and his chief cycling reporter Georges Lefevre, who are said to have had the following conversation at the turn of the 20th Century.
Credit for devising the actual idea appears to have come from the journal's chief cycling reporter, 26-year old Georges Lefèvre. He suggested to Desgrange, "a several-day race, longer than anything now going on, something more on the order of a track six day race, only this time on the road. All the major towns are begging for cycle races, and they are bound to go along with the idea".
- "If I understand you rightly, Géo", someone said, "you are proposing a cycling Tour de France."
- "Well, why not?", replied Lefèvre.
Thus the idea was born.
The very first Tour de France took place between July 1 to July 19 1903 and promised a five francs per day living allowance to the first fifty riders and upped the prize money to 20,000 francs. 60 riders rose to the challenge; 21 were sponsored, the other 39 a rag-bag of the poor, the unemployed and the plain adventurous. It was won by a fellow named Maurice Garin.
Folks, 1903 is a long time ago and a discussion of how the Tour de France became, well, The Tour de France over the decades would push the Fourth of July too much to the background. Suffice to say you can find it all here.
Basic Tour de France 101 is that during three weeks almost every day a ride, typically 200 km long, is undertaken. In doing so, the caravan ventures pretty much in a circular movement around France. Most of the time it’s from point A to B, e.g. this year’s ride Amiens-Chartres (200,5km); sometimes it’s from point A back to A, e.g. the July 24 Besançon/Besançon ride, which is an individual timerun. Famous cyclists throughout the 20th Century were Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Poulidor (nicknamed the Eternal Second) and Jacques Anquetil. I would almost forget your compatriot Greg Lemond, who introduced the US to the Tour. Dreaded are the cols, steep rides in Frances Pyrenées or Alps (e.g. Alpe d’Huez might ring a bell even in Maine).
Now, why do I tell you all this? Well, this year the famed Tour de France will pass right through my hometown Geraardsbergen. You may wonder whether France has annexed Belgium in some sneak attack, since the Tour de France is supposed to be held in… France, right? Well, although the CESM’s would actually like very much to attach our prosperous kingdom to Chiracland, sans King of course, no, that hasn’t happened yet. Also the mighty Belgian Army would see to it that never happens. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon for the Tour, which lasts three weeks, to hop on occasion into a neighbouring country, e.g. Italy or Belgium. Well, The Tour de France 2004 actually started on Saturday, July 3rd, in the eastern Belgian city of Liège. It spends no less than four days on Belgian soil and becomes a truly French Tour tomorrow, Tuesday… but not before passing through the place where your servant spent the first, extremely exciting part of his hitherto fabulous life – Geraardsbergen. See the map below. You will also notice that Tuesday’s ride starts in… Waterloo, where Nappie got clobbered.
Why does the Tour honor Geraardsbergen on its passing? Well, my hometown sports a low hump, called the Oudenberg (literally translated as Mountain of the Elders), 111m above sea-level. With the town center at 30m height on average, this does not seem to make for an impressive climb… were it not that the last part of the slope, called “De Muur” (The Wall) leading to the Oudenberg’s summit is a 20% climb over not really inviting cobblestones.
The pic below shows a former German champ, Baldinger, member of the Deutsche Telekom Team.
Anyway, so tomorrow the whole circus storms through the place where I was born and raised. Unfortunately, since I have to maintain the welfare state, I will not be able to view the spectacle. But I will keep you updated on tomorrow's events, Inshallah. And of course we have rendez-vous on Sunday July 25th, when the Tour comes to an end on the Champs Elysées in Paris and when we will know whether Mr. Armstrong will have made history by being the first person ever to win the Tour de France 6 times.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Friday, July 02, 2004
Huh. Imagine that.
Requires login. Use "Downeastblog" for username and password.
Hat tip to The Corner.
"One official said that Mr. Hussein had implied that ambiguity over whether his government possessed illegal weapons "would keep the neighbors at bay, while the U.S. would be hung up in interminable debate at the U.N."'
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Hat tip to The Corner.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
This is a damning indictment of American news media.
Hat tip to Belmont Club.
"As Watson's men pursued the fighters on foot, a grenade arced over the cemetery wall and exploded beneath a Humvee. After the loss of one Humvee a week earlier, sparking a celebration by Sadr's men, the soldiers refused to surrender this one. The resulting firefight turned into a six-hour defense of a burning car.
"We weren't going to let them dance on it for the news," said Capt. Ty Wilson, 31, of Fairfax, Va., who commands "Apache" Company. "Even all the guys they lost that day, that still would have given them victory."
Hat tip to Belmont Club.
Yep, I'm all for an illegal immigrant amnesty. Read this:
Good Lord.
"In Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicide (which total 1,200 to 1,500) target illegal aliens. Up to two-thirds of all fugitive felony warrants (17,000) are for illegal aliens."
Good Lord.
The World turned upside down...
A quote I agree with uttered by John Kerry. No seriously, THE John Kerry.
A quote I agree with uttered by John Kerry. No seriously, THE John Kerry.
"'I think that driver's licenses are part of the legality of being here and if you've been here a period of time we may work something out as part of that immigration process, but I wouldn't give somebody who is automatically one year in here illegally all the rights and privileges of being here legally,' Kerry said in the interview.
'I think that's wrong. That defeats the purposes of the law,' he said."'
This REALLY pisses me off:
So, if this hasn't worked, what's the solution? The NDP, which polls indicate may hold the balance of power in Parliament after June 28, has proposed a radical solution: "going across the border to the U.S. and actively engaging in lobbying to have gun -control laws in the U.S. strengthened."
This sounds encouraging:
"At a council of war after Friday prayers at Baghdad's Baratha mosque, the sheiks - or chiefs - of more than 40 of the tribes issued a declaration: they would destroy Falluja, along with neighbouring Ramadi, unless the insurgency leaders they hold responsible for the Shiite deaths are handed over to them - for execution."
"At a council of war after Friday prayers at Baghdad's Baratha mosque, the sheiks - or chiefs - of more than 40 of the tribes issued a declaration: they would destroy Falluja, along with neighbouring Ramadi, unless the insurgency leaders they hold responsible for the Shiite deaths are handed over to them - for execution."
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
***SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT***
After considerable delay, my new (non-political) website is up. Check it.
After considerable delay, my new (non-political) website is up. Check it.
Jonah Goldberg rips me off.
Scroll down to my Saturday, June 26 post and behold my supreme insight. It's more proof that DowneastBlog has the true pulse of the nation. ;)
Scroll down to my Saturday, June 26 post and behold my supreme insight. It's more proof that DowneastBlog has the true pulse of the nation. ;)
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Ok, this is the pic that should have been posted yesterday. It was a curious glitch.
To the left of the photo you see our new Chairman of the European Commission, read Prime Minister of the European Union, Portuguese PM José Manuel Durao BARROSO. The photo was taken in March 2003 just prior to OIF during the so-called Açores Summit, whereupon Mr. Barroso had invited President Bush, PM Blair and the Spanish PM Aznar. Like I said, Portugals contribution to the liberation of Iraq is rather symbolic (120 policmen), nevertheless Barroso got castigated by the Portuguese for it. He repeatedly angered his countrymen further by vowing not to retreat the officers. His centre-right party was severely punished for this pro-US stance during the recent European elections: with 44% of the votes the rival Socialist Party gained a decisive - and historic - victory.
For taking such an unpopular stance we can certainly forgive him the fact that in his student years he was briefly a member of a Maoist student movement (hey, everyone makes mistakes, even me). It was the early seventies, the final days of the rightwing Portuguese dictatorship, which ended in 1974 with the so-called Carnation Revolution. In 1980 Barroso joined the Social Democratic Party, which in Portugal is center-right. From 1987 till 1992 he was Interior Minister, during which he successfully concluded a Peace Accord which ended 15 years of civil war in the former Portuguese colony of Angola. In 1992, at age 36, he assumed the post of Foreign Minister. The Social Democrats losing the 1995 elections, he briefly lectured law at Washington’s Georgetown University. Back in Portugal, he became Party Leader in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed Prime Minister. His biggest achievement was sanitizing the derailed public finances through strict and sober governance. He is not known as a visionary – Portuguese journalists in Brussels characterize him as “grey” – but he is praised as a tough and tenacious worker.
After the plethora of candidates failed to produce a single all-satisfying Commission Chairman – Barroso’s compatriot, EU Commissioner Vitorino being one of them – Barroso was finally picked as being the ideal consensus candidate – not really angering any fraction and his party a member of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament. This EPP is NOT what the name suggests: a socialist party. The EPP is the Parliament’s Christian Democratic Fraction, which emerged from the June 13 elections as the biggest one. He will assume the EU's most important post on November 1, since Romano Prodi's mandate runs till 31 October. His first task will be supervizing the signing, in November in Rome, of the Constitutional Charter, in short the European Constitution as it is more popularly known. That is the easy part. It then has to be ratified in all member states. In many a country this is bound to happen through referendum, and it can be expected the result in some countries will be "no".
Barroso has literally stated that a unified Europe and the US should be partners rather than adversaries – you will remember that I repeatedly echoed this view. So cheer up, I figure that with the recent enlargement, which further diluted France’s influence, and with Barroso at the helm, a better relationship US/EU can be expected.
To the left of the photo you see our new Chairman of the European Commission, read Prime Minister of the European Union, Portuguese PM José Manuel Durao BARROSO. The photo was taken in March 2003 just prior to OIF during the so-called Açores Summit, whereupon Mr. Barroso had invited President Bush, PM Blair and the Spanish PM Aznar. Like I said, Portugals contribution to the liberation of Iraq is rather symbolic (120 policmen), nevertheless Barroso got castigated by the Portuguese for it. He repeatedly angered his countrymen further by vowing not to retreat the officers. His centre-right party was severely punished for this pro-US stance during the recent European elections: with 44% of the votes the rival Socialist Party gained a decisive - and historic - victory.
For taking such an unpopular stance we can certainly forgive him the fact that in his student years he was briefly a member of a Maoist student movement (hey, everyone makes mistakes, even me). It was the early seventies, the final days of the rightwing Portuguese dictatorship, which ended in 1974 with the so-called Carnation Revolution. In 1980 Barroso joined the Social Democratic Party, which in Portugal is center-right. From 1987 till 1992 he was Interior Minister, during which he successfully concluded a Peace Accord which ended 15 years of civil war in the former Portuguese colony of Angola. In 1992, at age 36, he assumed the post of Foreign Minister. The Social Democrats losing the 1995 elections, he briefly lectured law at Washington’s Georgetown University. Back in Portugal, he became Party Leader in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed Prime Minister. His biggest achievement was sanitizing the derailed public finances through strict and sober governance. He is not known as a visionary – Portuguese journalists in Brussels characterize him as “grey” – but he is praised as a tough and tenacious worker.
After the plethora of candidates failed to produce a single all-satisfying Commission Chairman – Barroso’s compatriot, EU Commissioner Vitorino being one of them – Barroso was finally picked as being the ideal consensus candidate – not really angering any fraction and his party a member of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament. This EPP is NOT what the name suggests: a socialist party. The EPP is the Parliament’s Christian Democratic Fraction, which emerged from the June 13 elections as the biggest one. He will assume the EU's most important post on November 1, since Romano Prodi's mandate runs till 31 October. His first task will be supervizing the signing, in November in Rome, of the Constitutional Charter, in short the European Constitution as it is more popularly known. That is the easy part. It then has to be ratified in all member states. In many a country this is bound to happen through referendum, and it can be expected the result in some countries will be "no".
Barroso has literally stated that a unified Europe and the US should be partners rather than adversaries – you will remember that I repeatedly echoed this view. So cheer up, I figure that with the recent enlargement, which further diluted France’s influence, and with Barroso at the helm, a better relationship US/EU can be expected.
Senator Hillary pretty much sums up the leftist view of government: "Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Well, at least she's honest about it.
Well, at least she's honest about it.
Monday, June 28, 2004
This is the new EU Chief:
Ok you guys. Time for an EU update. Before I start with the latest developments, a tiny bit of EU Leadership 101. Until now we were stuck with this dual leadership formula that is incomprehensible to all earthlings except the EU apparatchiks themselves and, ahem, your servant.
1° The EU Presidency, being performed by the so-called European Council, i.e. the organ personified by all government leaders of the member states. Until now there was a rotating Presidency of the respective member states with six-month long terms and Chairman being the PM or Head of State of the country in question. For the past six months this has been the Irish PM, Bertie Ahern, whose main tasks were making sure the enlargement with 10 new member states went according to plan, as well as getting this famous EU Constitution on the wheels.
2° The EU Commission, consisting of 25 Commissioners and responsible for the daily decisions. President or Chairman or whatever you want to call it was Romano Prodi, a former socialist Italian PM.
These two institutions make up the EU’s “governing body”, that’s what I meant by dual leadership formula. Some of you may remember that I once likened it to a situation whereby the Chairman of the European Council (Ahern) was responsible for the big picture (planning a new kitchen) and the Chairman of the EU Commission, Prodi, for preparing the daily dish. Another valid comparison is with a President/PM tandem, e.g. Chirac/Sarkozy.
Sheesh, I hope it’s a bit clear. I always wonder how you Americans with your super-simple 2-party system and a single Prez instead of a Head of State and a PM, look upon the European situation, especially during this spring when both Prodi and Ahern paraded the news rather prominently.
Now, this rotating six-month Presidency has become totally obsolete, as it left little time to every EU “president” to work himself in and deliver something resembling a good job towards the end. Also, since there are now 25 member states and more to join in the coming decade (Bulgaria, Turkey, Norway?), it would last too long for everyone to have their turn. So now it has been agreed that every EU “President” will be selected by the European Council members (remember, all PM/Head of States) for a period of 2,5 years, with re-election for one second term possible if he behaves. Thus the Irish Taoiseach (Irish for PM) Ahern will have been the last EU “President” as defined by the old system.
As for the European Commission, until 2014 all member states will delegate a commissioner, as was the case till now, so until that date the daily EU government will consist of 25 ministers. AFTER THAT DATE the number of ministers will be reduced to 18. The reason is simple. The European Commission’s “ministers” are each responsible for their own turf, be it Agriculture, Science, Education, Health Care etc… The EU Commission resembles MOST what you would call a government – forget for awhile about the European Council mentioned above. Well, since the EU is growing bigger, they can hardly keep creating new ministries just to give every incoming minister a fancy job, can they? I mean, such a practice was common for decades in the respective member states, but somehow the gentlemen have realized that it just wouldn’t make sense to create, say, a Ministry for Scandinavian Cruises by the time Norway would join the EU. So in short, by 2014 there will be, basta, only 18 ministers.
Now, that part of the EU’s governing body that gets most of the spotlights is unquestionably the European Commission, and it’s its Chairman who is regarded as EU Chief. The past few weeks have seen bitter EU infighting as to whom would be successor to Prodi. In case you weren’t drunk or completely bored you may have noticed I shed some light on the candidacy of our own Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt(back in 2002 at the EU Nice, France Summit dubbed “Nice Guy”, haha, do you get it?).
At some point he seemed a likely candidate since he had firm backing from both Chirac and Schroeder. Now Verhofstadt has always been a true European federalist, i.e. he really wants the EU to evolve to a Superstate and make the national states subordinate to a European Federal Authority. In that respect I could follow him, were it not that I fear that with him the EU would rather follow a collision course with the USA. Note also that he was strongly against the war and that it was him who organized, right after the successful conclusion of OIF, a European subtop on Defense with Germany, France and Luxembourg (at the time mockingly called by German media “Pralinentop”!). The aim was a NATO-independent European Defense organization. The idea was quickly killed since PM Blair at a very early stage understood the implications for NATO.
To cut a long story short, while Verhofstadt was the ideal candidate for Mssrs. Chirac and Schroeder, it was Blair (together with Berlusconi) who did his undoing. Not only because Blair could not forgive Verhofstadt his heavy anti-war stance (neither can I), but also and maybe more importantly because Blair does not want to go as far as our PM with a federal Europe – as you may know, it’s already hard to get the British to accept the EU as some kind of NAFTA vehicle. A 100% federalist like Verhofstadt, promising even more EU regulation emitting from Brussels would be more than a tough sell for the Brits. Thus, exit Verhofstadt, although Blairs candidate, Chris Patten, EU Commissioner and former Hong Kong governor, also had to quit to make defeat for the Germans and French bearable.
Well, today Tuesday will finally see the appointment of the new EU Commission Chairman in the person of Jose Manuel Durao BARROSO, Portuguese Prime Minister. You will be pleased to note he
is a staunch supporter of the US, calibre Aznar. To be precise, Portugal’s contribution to the Iraqi endeavour is largely symbolic – 120 policemen. (still way better than Belgium’s, which sent a dog with a hat on). Be that as it may, when a poll said 74% of Portugues wanted the immediate withdrawal of the officers, Barroso vowed thay would stay “because in need you have to stand by your friends”. He is 48, married and father of three kids. Politically he’s a centre-right Social Democrat. In 1990, as Interior Minister, he brokered the Angola Peace Accord, ending the 15-year Civil War there. In 1992, at age 36, he became FM. Basically he’s the ideal compromise candidate for EU Chief.
MFBB
Ok you guys. Time for an EU update. Before I start with the latest developments, a tiny bit of EU Leadership 101. Until now we were stuck with this dual leadership formula that is incomprehensible to all earthlings except the EU apparatchiks themselves and, ahem, your servant.
1° The EU Presidency, being performed by the so-called European Council, i.e. the organ personified by all government leaders of the member states. Until now there was a rotating Presidency of the respective member states with six-month long terms and Chairman being the PM or Head of State of the country in question. For the past six months this has been the Irish PM, Bertie Ahern, whose main tasks were making sure the enlargement with 10 new member states went according to plan, as well as getting this famous EU Constitution on the wheels.
2° The EU Commission, consisting of 25 Commissioners and responsible for the daily decisions. President or Chairman or whatever you want to call it was Romano Prodi, a former socialist Italian PM.
These two institutions make up the EU’s “governing body”, that’s what I meant by dual leadership formula. Some of you may remember that I once likened it to a situation whereby the Chairman of the European Council (Ahern) was responsible for the big picture (planning a new kitchen) and the Chairman of the EU Commission, Prodi, for preparing the daily dish. Another valid comparison is with a President/PM tandem, e.g. Chirac/Sarkozy.
Sheesh, I hope it’s a bit clear. I always wonder how you Americans with your super-simple 2-party system and a single Prez instead of a Head of State and a PM, look upon the European situation, especially during this spring when both Prodi and Ahern paraded the news rather prominently.
Now, this rotating six-month Presidency has become totally obsolete, as it left little time to every EU “president” to work himself in and deliver something resembling a good job towards the end. Also, since there are now 25 member states and more to join in the coming decade (Bulgaria, Turkey, Norway?), it would last too long for everyone to have their turn. So now it has been agreed that every EU “President” will be selected by the European Council members (remember, all PM/Head of States) for a period of 2,5 years, with re-election for one second term possible if he behaves. Thus the Irish Taoiseach (Irish for PM) Ahern will have been the last EU “President” as defined by the old system.
As for the European Commission, until 2014 all member states will delegate a commissioner, as was the case till now, so until that date the daily EU government will consist of 25 ministers. AFTER THAT DATE the number of ministers will be reduced to 18. The reason is simple. The European Commission’s “ministers” are each responsible for their own turf, be it Agriculture, Science, Education, Health Care etc… The EU Commission resembles MOST what you would call a government – forget for awhile about the European Council mentioned above. Well, since the EU is growing bigger, they can hardly keep creating new ministries just to give every incoming minister a fancy job, can they? I mean, such a practice was common for decades in the respective member states, but somehow the gentlemen have realized that it just wouldn’t make sense to create, say, a Ministry for Scandinavian Cruises by the time Norway would join the EU. So in short, by 2014 there will be, basta, only 18 ministers.
Now, that part of the EU’s governing body that gets most of the spotlights is unquestionably the European Commission, and it’s its Chairman who is regarded as EU Chief. The past few weeks have seen bitter EU infighting as to whom would be successor to Prodi. In case you weren’t drunk or completely bored you may have noticed I shed some light on the candidacy of our own Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt(back in 2002 at the EU Nice, France Summit dubbed “Nice Guy”, haha, do you get it?).
At some point he seemed a likely candidate since he had firm backing from both Chirac and Schroeder. Now Verhofstadt has always been a true European federalist, i.e. he really wants the EU to evolve to a Superstate and make the national states subordinate to a European Federal Authority. In that respect I could follow him, were it not that I fear that with him the EU would rather follow a collision course with the USA. Note also that he was strongly against the war and that it was him who organized, right after the successful conclusion of OIF, a European subtop on Defense with Germany, France and Luxembourg (at the time mockingly called by German media “Pralinentop”!). The aim was a NATO-independent European Defense organization. The idea was quickly killed since PM Blair at a very early stage understood the implications for NATO.
To cut a long story short, while Verhofstadt was the ideal candidate for Mssrs. Chirac and Schroeder, it was Blair (together with Berlusconi) who did his undoing. Not only because Blair could not forgive Verhofstadt his heavy anti-war stance (neither can I), but also and maybe more importantly because Blair does not want to go as far as our PM with a federal Europe – as you may know, it’s already hard to get the British to accept the EU as some kind of NAFTA vehicle. A 100% federalist like Verhofstadt, promising even more EU regulation emitting from Brussels would be more than a tough sell for the Brits. Thus, exit Verhofstadt, although Blairs candidate, Chris Patten, EU Commissioner and former Hong Kong governor, also had to quit to make defeat for the Germans and French bearable.
Well, today Tuesday will finally see the appointment of the new EU Commission Chairman in the person of Jose Manuel Durao BARROSO, Portuguese Prime Minister. You will be pleased to note he
is a staunch supporter of the US, calibre Aznar. To be precise, Portugal’s contribution to the Iraqi endeavour is largely symbolic – 120 policemen. (still way better than Belgium’s, which sent a dog with a hat on). Be that as it may, when a poll said 74% of Portugues wanted the immediate withdrawal of the officers, Barroso vowed thay would stay “because in need you have to stand by your friends”. He is 48, married and father of three kids. Politically he’s a centre-right Social Democrat. In 1990, as Interior Minister, he brokered the Angola Peace Accord, ending the 15-year Civil War there. In 1992, at age 36, he became FM. Basically he’s the ideal compromise candidate for EU Chief.
MFBB
Saturday, June 26, 2004
Leave it to CNN to spin this one in favor of John Kerry. The Bush campaign puts together an ad complaining about the fact that George Bush has been compared to Hitler by several leading Democrats and Democratic organizations. In this ad, they show the "Bush is Hitler" images from moveon.org interspersed with some of the more hysterical recent democratic campaign speeches. What's the headline? "Hitler Image Used in Bush Campaign Web Ad." True, this is not technically a lie, but the intellectual dishonesty is painfully obvious. The rest of the article is worded in such a way as to make it seem like the Bush campaign simply interspersed some Hitler footage in with footage of leading Democrats, rather than making it clear that the Hitler images are from the moveon.org ad.
I realize that it's easy to sound like a paranoid partisan when you complain of media bias, but anyone who can't see the spin here is either an idiot or is simply choosing to ignore fact. The Bush ad is pretty weak and could have made its point much more effectively, to be sure. But are we supposed to believe that the Bush campaign has somehow done something more inappropriate than the people who made the moveon.org ad or who gave those speeches? I guess the use of Hitler is now kind of like the "N" word; Democrats can use it freely but if Republicans use it, even when paraphrasing Democrats, they have crossed the line.
We've touched on the whole "real news vs. editorials" thing a few times on this site. Here's the only difference: Editorials are honest about the fact that they are giving an opinion about the news.
I realize that it's easy to sound like a paranoid partisan when you complain of media bias, but anyone who can't see the spin here is either an idiot or is simply choosing to ignore fact. The Bush ad is pretty weak and could have made its point much more effectively, to be sure. But are we supposed to believe that the Bush campaign has somehow done something more inappropriate than the people who made the moveon.org ad or who gave those speeches? I guess the use of Hitler is now kind of like the "N" word; Democrats can use it freely but if Republicans use it, even when paraphrasing Democrats, they have crossed the line.
We've touched on the whole "real news vs. editorials" thing a few times on this site. Here's the only difference: Editorials are honest about the fact that they are giving an opinion about the news.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
The US backs down on its position regarding the ICC. Isn't this just lovely. According to this article, Kofi Annan personally stepped in to give us the shaft:
"He urged members to oppose the resolution, questioned the legality of an exemption and warned against dividing the council."
I love the "questioned the legality" part. So the US asserts that it's not under the jurisdiction of this little tribunal put together by the UN, and we're somehow breaking the law? Guess what Kofi: we never signed up to begin with. Just because these muppets see themselves as the sovereigns of the world doesn't mean they can force us to participate in their little charade of a court. Anyone who believes this wouldn't be used as another tool to "keep the US in line" is a damned fool. If we signed on for this, you can bet your arse that George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and half the command structure of the US military would be put on trial with some Hans Blix clone as the judge.
Assuming John Kerry isn't elected and we don't sign the most gross violation of US sovereignty in history, it will be really amusing watching the masters of the ICC try to bring Americans to trial. What are you going to do, Kofi, draft 12 resolutions against us?
"He urged members to oppose the resolution, questioned the legality of an exemption and warned against dividing the council."
I love the "questioned the legality" part. So the US asserts that it's not under the jurisdiction of this little tribunal put together by the UN, and we're somehow breaking the law? Guess what Kofi: we never signed up to begin with. Just because these muppets see themselves as the sovereigns of the world doesn't mean they can force us to participate in their little charade of a court. Anyone who believes this wouldn't be used as another tool to "keep the US in line" is a damned fool. If we signed on for this, you can bet your arse that George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and half the command structure of the US military would be put on trial with some Hans Blix clone as the judge.
Assuming John Kerry isn't elected and we don't sign the most gross violation of US sovereignty in history, it will be really amusing watching the masters of the ICC try to bring Americans to trial. What are you going to do, Kofi, draft 12 resolutions against us?
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
A couple of weeks ago we were all up to our eyeballs in Reagan nostalgia. As might be expected, there were cries from some on the right that some liberal journalists were trying to rewrite Reagan's legacy, and in some cases they had a point (I found it interesting that all three of the major network news anchors complained publicly about the over-coverage of Reagan's funeral when we were still in the midst of a month long media orgy over Abu Ghraib.) Now we have Clinton's new book, and to nobody's surprise the media is all over this like a cheap suit. So what are the pundits on the right doing? The same damn thing their counterparts on the left did with Reagan. The fight is now over Clinton's legacy; the only difference is Clinton is still around to tell his side. To paraphrase Jaques Chirac (what the hell am I doing), the pundits on the right missed a great opportunity to keep their mouths shut. All they are doing is adding to Clinton's spotlight, and looking extremely biased and petty in the process. I've heard all day about Clinton "losing it" in a BBC interview, and because of this I was suckered into watching a 40 minute stream of this interview from the BBC website. You know what? It's no big deal. He gets a little pissed off, but he's far from "losing it" in my opinion. Other than those few moments, it's classic Bill Clinton, spinning effortlessly and getting away pretty much unscathed. The fact that some conservatives are all gaga over this interview shows how starved they are for revenge for some of the attacks on Reagan. It's too bad, because had they mostly ignored this whole thing, it would have blown over far sooner, and they would have looked much better in the end.
I'm pretty ambivalent about Bill Clinton. I don't think he was a great president, but I don't share the seething hatred for the guy that many on the right do. If he was that bad, history will figure it out. Trying to out shout the Clinton worshipers in the media just puts more money in Clinton's pocket and more shine on his legacy. Enough already.
I'm pretty ambivalent about Bill Clinton. I don't think he was a great president, but I don't share the seething hatred for the guy that many on the right do. If he was that bad, history will figure it out. Trying to out shout the Clinton worshipers in the media just puts more money in Clinton's pocket and more shine on his legacy. Enough already.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Kevin, someone? Can you possibly defend/explain non-citizen voting to me? This just COMPLETELY boggles my mind.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Gulp? What's going on???
1°) Clinton backs Bush
Noting that Bush had to be "reeling" in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Clinton said Bush's first priority was to keep al Qaeda and other terrorist networks from obtaining "chemical and biological weapons or small amounts of fissile material."
"That's why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for," Clinton said in reference to Iraq and the fact that U.N. weapons inspectors left the country in 1998.
Wonder how JFK II will welcome this news.
2°) McCain backs Bush
(CBS/AP) Before cheering troops, President Bush got a strong endorsement on Iraq and a boost for his re-election campaign Friday from Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican courted by Democrat John Kerry to be his running mate.
Invited by the White House to accompany Mr. Bush, McCain introduced the president, saying, "he has led this country with moral clarity about the stakes involved and with firm resolve to achieve unconditional victory," reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.
So much for a Kerry/McCain ticket.
3°) Putin backs Bush
ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Russia gave the Bush administration intelligence before the Iraq war that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime was preparing attacks against the United States and its interests abroad, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
Not bad from Pootie-Poot.
Does all this have to do with the realization among The Powers That Be that the whole world is in for the long haul with regards to The War on Terror and that we are better off with a unwavering President who has shown that he's got guts and knows how to handle the crisis? I tend to think so. I read Blackfive, Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis plus the major media outlets today and, like it or not, I guess we will all have to get used to the fact that Islamism has revealed itself to be the 21st Century Communism. True, they don't field the Warsaw Pact's massive armies. But a dirty bomb in, say, Denver, or a civil war in KSA - for which the current regime would only have itself to blame - can distrupt our lives more than Brezhnevs USSR ever did. Apart from the civilian loss, the world economy could take a devastating blow and all of us could be plunged in a crisis dwarfing the 1929 recession.
Islam is a body being taken over by Islamism. Europe is in very grave peril and can possibly not muster the courage anymore to face its homegrown monster. If you think I'm drooling go read LGF for starters. That is why the US's effort to democratize the ME has become of paramount importance to the Free World. I don't believe Kerry is the person to maintain the momentum in Iraq, and, judging from the above articles, neither do Clinton, Putin or McCain. In 1940 Winston Churchill, upon the RAF's final victory during the Battle of Britain, famously remarked "Never before in the history of mankind have so many depended on the actions of so few". Well, without much exaggeration one could say the welfare of the world's populations dependson those Americans who will vote GOP come November.
1°) Clinton backs Bush
Noting that Bush had to be "reeling" in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Clinton said Bush's first priority was to keep al Qaeda and other terrorist networks from obtaining "chemical and biological weapons or small amounts of fissile material."
"That's why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for," Clinton said in reference to Iraq and the fact that U.N. weapons inspectors left the country in 1998.
Wonder how JFK II will welcome this news.
2°) McCain backs Bush
(CBS/AP) Before cheering troops, President Bush got a strong endorsement on Iraq and a boost for his re-election campaign Friday from Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican courted by Democrat John Kerry to be his running mate.
Invited by the White House to accompany Mr. Bush, McCain introduced the president, saying, "he has led this country with moral clarity about the stakes involved and with firm resolve to achieve unconditional victory," reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.
So much for a Kerry/McCain ticket.
3°) Putin backs Bush
ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Russia gave the Bush administration intelligence before the Iraq war that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime was preparing attacks against the United States and its interests abroad, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
Not bad from Pootie-Poot.
Does all this have to do with the realization among The Powers That Be that the whole world is in for the long haul with regards to The War on Terror and that we are better off with a unwavering President who has shown that he's got guts and knows how to handle the crisis? I tend to think so. I read Blackfive, Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Jarvis plus the major media outlets today and, like it or not, I guess we will all have to get used to the fact that Islamism has revealed itself to be the 21st Century Communism. True, they don't field the Warsaw Pact's massive armies. But a dirty bomb in, say, Denver, or a civil war in KSA - for which the current regime would only have itself to blame - can distrupt our lives more than Brezhnevs USSR ever did. Apart from the civilian loss, the world economy could take a devastating blow and all of us could be plunged in a crisis dwarfing the 1929 recession.
Islam is a body being taken over by Islamism. Europe is in very grave peril and can possibly not muster the courage anymore to face its homegrown monster. If you think I'm drooling go read LGF for starters. That is why the US's effort to democratize the ME has become of paramount importance to the Free World. I don't believe Kerry is the person to maintain the momentum in Iraq, and, judging from the above articles, neither do Clinton, Putin or McCain. In 1940 Winston Churchill, upon the RAF's final victory during the Battle of Britain, famously remarked "Never before in the history of mankind have so many depended on the actions of so few". Well, without much exaggeration one could say the welfare of the world's populations dependson those Americans who will vote GOP come November.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Our deepest sympathies to the family of Paul Johnson. At least it seems that the Saudis got the bastards that did this.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
I haven't managed to update you on the European elections yet, partly because it's a difficult task: there's no general line. Basically people did not vote for any high-spirited European idea but used the poll to express their disgust with national policies.
Like I said, European politicians fail to make the broader purpose of a USE clear to the public.
Related to all this is the fact the Belgian PM, Guy Verhofstadt, just was screwed by the Brits in his bid to become the next Chairman of the European Commission.
At the back of my mind I must admit that I, being a (nutty) Belgian, would have been somewhat proud to see our PM as the "European President", because that's what it's meant to be(come).
On the other hand, and this sentiment gains the upper hand, I say: Well done Brits! To be sure, Verhofstadt was once my hero. He literally re-crafted the (Flemish) Liberal Party. Now mind you, in years now gone "Liberal" in Europe meant (moderate) rightwing, whereas we call our leftwingers socialists. Remember how we use the term "High School" differently on both sides of the Atlantic. Anyway, Verhofstadt has been an enigma in Belgian politics for almost two decades. He reinvigoured the party while he was only 27, held the very important post of Minister of Budget in 1983 at 33 (!) and distinguished himself by his energy, intellect and ability to inspire people. He has been Prime Minister since 1999, when the ruling Christian Democratic Party CVP succumbed in the wake of a food scandal.
While his first term (1999-2003) could be called a moderate success, he screwed up completely, IMNSHO, during his second term. I don't have the time to elaborate on his tenure. Ministers from his party - formerly mine - did achieve successes in lowering taxes for companies, and providing some sorely needed rectifications in the social status of entrepreneurs and owners of businesses (enabling you to benefit from some SS support after only 1 month if you become invalid, as opposed to three months, improving the social status of co-working wives of self-employed people etc. etc.). In other fields some progress was made too.
Nevertheless, over the past year I grew increasingly frustrated with Mr. Verhofstadt because of the following reasons:
1° Opposing the US-led Operation Iraqi Freedom
2° Allowing a pompous lunatic like our so-called Foreign Minister Louis Michel to bash the US at every conceivable opportunity
3° Ditto for our Secretary of Defense, make that Asshole of Surrender, André Flahaut
4° Waiting much too long to abolish the INSANE so-called "Genocide Law", under which Belgian Maoists filed suit against former President Bush, a.o.
5° At a time when we ought to stand firm within the NATO framework with you, our allies, organize a Defense Top in Brussels with France, Germany and Luxembourg (!) about a separate European Defense
and lastly, and this is what really did it for me:
6° Allow Socialist/Green dominated parliament to pass a law granting immigrants who do not even want to assume our nationality the right to vote in municipal councils.
Upon that folly, I quit Verhofstadts party (and mine for nearly twenty years), the VLD, and joined the Vlaams Blok. Tony Blair is a Socialist, but I would rather vote for him than for my erstwhile "hero".
Hey, Scott posted an excellent article from VDH just before mine. I do not want to appear as claiming too much attention, just thought this was really an important event to follow - there's a fierce battle going on for Head of the EU. So if you haven't, go back and follow the VDH link provided my Mr. Frizzle.
MFBB
Like I said, European politicians fail to make the broader purpose of a USE clear to the public.
Related to all this is the fact the Belgian PM, Guy Verhofstadt, just was screwed by the Brits in his bid to become the next Chairman of the European Commission.
At the back of my mind I must admit that I, being a (nutty) Belgian, would have been somewhat proud to see our PM as the "European President", because that's what it's meant to be(come).
On the other hand, and this sentiment gains the upper hand, I say: Well done Brits! To be sure, Verhofstadt was once my hero. He literally re-crafted the (Flemish) Liberal Party. Now mind you, in years now gone "Liberal" in Europe meant (moderate) rightwing, whereas we call our leftwingers socialists. Remember how we use the term "High School" differently on both sides of the Atlantic. Anyway, Verhofstadt has been an enigma in Belgian politics for almost two decades. He reinvigoured the party while he was only 27, held the very important post of Minister of Budget in 1983 at 33 (!) and distinguished himself by his energy, intellect and ability to inspire people. He has been Prime Minister since 1999, when the ruling Christian Democratic Party CVP succumbed in the wake of a food scandal.
While his first term (1999-2003) could be called a moderate success, he screwed up completely, IMNSHO, during his second term. I don't have the time to elaborate on his tenure. Ministers from his party - formerly mine - did achieve successes in lowering taxes for companies, and providing some sorely needed rectifications in the social status of entrepreneurs and owners of businesses (enabling you to benefit from some SS support after only 1 month if you become invalid, as opposed to three months, improving the social status of co-working wives of self-employed people etc. etc.). In other fields some progress was made too.
Nevertheless, over the past year I grew increasingly frustrated with Mr. Verhofstadt because of the following reasons:
1° Opposing the US-led Operation Iraqi Freedom
2° Allowing a pompous lunatic like our so-called Foreign Minister Louis Michel to bash the US at every conceivable opportunity
3° Ditto for our Secretary of Defense, make that Asshole of Surrender, André Flahaut
4° Waiting much too long to abolish the INSANE so-called "Genocide Law", under which Belgian Maoists filed suit against former President Bush, a.o.
5° At a time when we ought to stand firm within the NATO framework with you, our allies, organize a Defense Top in Brussels with France, Germany and Luxembourg (!) about a separate European Defense
and lastly, and this is what really did it for me:
6° Allow Socialist/Green dominated parliament to pass a law granting immigrants who do not even want to assume our nationality the right to vote in municipal councils.
Upon that folly, I quit Verhofstadts party (and mine for nearly twenty years), the VLD, and joined the Vlaams Blok. Tony Blair is a Socialist, but I would rather vote for him than for my erstwhile "hero".
Hey, Scott posted an excellent article from VDH just before mine. I do not want to appear as claiming too much attention, just thought this was really an important event to follow - there's a fierce battle going on for Head of the EU. So if you haven't, go back and follow the VDH link provided my Mr. Frizzle.
MFBB
This pretty much sums up the war on terror better than anything I've ever read. Read it. If you don't agree, read it again. If you still don't agree, please leave the country at your earliest convenience.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
EUROPEAN ELECTIONS – JUNE 13, 2004-06-13
Today was an important day for the European Union, as it is the culmination of a four-day voting process in which about 14,670 candidates all across Europe compete for 732 5-year EP seats. Officially the elections kicked off on Friday in the UK, the Netherlands, Latvia, Malta, the Czech Republic and Ireland. Today, “Super Sunday”, it’s the turn to the remaining 19 countries (the EU currently consists of 25 countries with some 455 million people).
The pic I took this morning, below, shows you a row of Euroweenies awaiting their turn to cast their vote (in Belgium voting is compulsory). Location is a decrepit school in Deux-Acren, Wallonia. Belgium will send 24 MP's to the European Parliament, 15 of which are Flemings and 9 Wallonians.
I mentioned earlier that in general Europeans are rather lukewarm to participate in these elections. I fear that this is still largely due to our politicians, since most of them still focus on national politics, and hence the European Parliament, or the Commission (the EU’s “government”), for that matter, almost invariably attract second-rank personages, who are as yet unable to present the broader population with a sound perspective of the EU’s purpose and why it is, or should be, good for all of us. The lack of vision was apparent in the slogans with which the candidates campaigned: e.g. Flemish Liberal Annemie Neyts with Woman of the World – Woman for Europe, Spirit (green-red nutcases) minister Bert Anciaux with "For a warm Europe".(!)
A phenomenon that has been marring national elections throughout Europe for the last ten years is the emergence of public showbiz figures, TV anchors, sports stars etc… in politics. Well, this time it looks like the trend has moved to the European scene. If you Americans were a trifle embarrassed with Miz Carey showing up during the California Recall, well, don’t bother, since we Europeans had our own Dolly Buster, a Czech porn star. At first you’d think that this is evened out by the candidacy of her compatriot Vladimir Remek, former Czech astronaut… only the asshat is coming up on the KSCM list, the Czech Communists. Estonia brings up supermodel Carmen Kass, in France the Chairman of Radio France, Jean-Marie Cavada, has stepped down to be able to participate in the elections on UDF’s list – Chirac’s party. And in Italy, popular RAI journalist Lilli Gruber appears on Romano Prodi’s cartel list. Slovenia sport a.o. a soccer champion. In Poland Lech Walesa's son, Jaroslav Walesa, bids for a seat in the EP too, claiming to be a "real liberal". Ouch.
So up until now we have the fuzzy agenda of Europes traditional parties, the presence of high-profile entertainment figures on the lists… are there any other striking characteristics? Well, there seem to be. I mentioned that in six countries elections took place on Friday already. It looks like the parties that inisisted on supporting the US’s policy in Iraq are being punished, given the results of the polls in the UK and The Netherlands. The European public simply does not comprehend that, again, America is fighting its wars, since an American success in Iraq – imposing democracy and encourage it to spread to the neighbouring countires – will in time positively affect the ever increasing flood of malcontent backward Muslim immigrants to the European nannystates. Europeans have generally become absolute wimps, self-possessed, snobby, "sophisticated" (or so they kid themselves), and preoccupied mainly with their social security, wages, tan, holidays or sex life. If you ask me, it will have to become much worse before it gets better.
So I fear that the Parti Socialiste do-gooders, some of whom are depîcted below, are gonna gain again. These are the fine gentlemen who turned Wallonia into an impoverished region where ONE-IN-THREE of the "active" persons is in some kind of state service. I myself voted for the Front National, a Wallonian rightwing party with an anti-immigration agenda. So did my wife.
Results are to be expected in Brussels at 7pm local time, that would early afternoon for you Mainers. I’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE:
Not much to say yet, except that according to the most recent poll results in Belgium, in Flanders the Vlaams Blok gains strong. This is not so incongruous as it seems given my earlier assessment of the Left gaining decisively the upper hand. First of all, the term "gaining strong" in our country does NOT mean a landslide victory - positions are too entrenched and the "swing voter" is not so important as he is in The States. The Vlaams Blok is merely consolidating its position, and the other parties will keep isolating it by vowing never to cooperate with it. Secondly, Iraq was not an issue in Belgium, as it was in the UK, Poland or The Netherlands, since our government chose not to support the US. If the leading party in Belgium, the VLD, is punished, it's mainly because it allowed the others to pass legislation that grants immigrants who refuse to assume our nationality or to assimilate, the right to vote in municipal councils.
In a couple of hours I'll try to give the broader European picture.
Today was an important day for the European Union, as it is the culmination of a four-day voting process in which about 14,670 candidates all across Europe compete for 732 5-year EP seats. Officially the elections kicked off on Friday in the UK, the Netherlands, Latvia, Malta, the Czech Republic and Ireland. Today, “Super Sunday”, it’s the turn to the remaining 19 countries (the EU currently consists of 25 countries with some 455 million people).
The pic I took this morning, below, shows you a row of Euroweenies awaiting their turn to cast their vote (in Belgium voting is compulsory). Location is a decrepit school in Deux-Acren, Wallonia. Belgium will send 24 MP's to the European Parliament, 15 of which are Flemings and 9 Wallonians.
I mentioned earlier that in general Europeans are rather lukewarm to participate in these elections. I fear that this is still largely due to our politicians, since most of them still focus on national politics, and hence the European Parliament, or the Commission (the EU’s “government”), for that matter, almost invariably attract second-rank personages, who are as yet unable to present the broader population with a sound perspective of the EU’s purpose and why it is, or should be, good for all of us. The lack of vision was apparent in the slogans with which the candidates campaigned: e.g. Flemish Liberal Annemie Neyts with Woman of the World – Woman for Europe, Spirit (green-red nutcases) minister Bert Anciaux with "For a warm Europe".(!)
A phenomenon that has been marring national elections throughout Europe for the last ten years is the emergence of public showbiz figures, TV anchors, sports stars etc… in politics. Well, this time it looks like the trend has moved to the European scene. If you Americans were a trifle embarrassed with Miz Carey showing up during the California Recall, well, don’t bother, since we Europeans had our own Dolly Buster, a Czech porn star. At first you’d think that this is evened out by the candidacy of her compatriot Vladimir Remek, former Czech astronaut… only the asshat is coming up on the KSCM list, the Czech Communists. Estonia brings up supermodel Carmen Kass, in France the Chairman of Radio France, Jean-Marie Cavada, has stepped down to be able to participate in the elections on UDF’s list – Chirac’s party. And in Italy, popular RAI journalist Lilli Gruber appears on Romano Prodi’s cartel list. Slovenia sport a.o. a soccer champion. In Poland Lech Walesa's son, Jaroslav Walesa, bids for a seat in the EP too, claiming to be a "real liberal". Ouch.
So up until now we have the fuzzy agenda of Europes traditional parties, the presence of high-profile entertainment figures on the lists… are there any other striking characteristics? Well, there seem to be. I mentioned that in six countries elections took place on Friday already. It looks like the parties that inisisted on supporting the US’s policy in Iraq are being punished, given the results of the polls in the UK and The Netherlands. The European public simply does not comprehend that, again, America is fighting its wars, since an American success in Iraq – imposing democracy and encourage it to spread to the neighbouring countires – will in time positively affect the ever increasing flood of malcontent backward Muslim immigrants to the European nannystates. Europeans have generally become absolute wimps, self-possessed, snobby, "sophisticated" (or so they kid themselves), and preoccupied mainly with their social security, wages, tan, holidays or sex life. If you ask me, it will have to become much worse before it gets better.
So I fear that the Parti Socialiste do-gooders, some of whom are depîcted below, are gonna gain again. These are the fine gentlemen who turned Wallonia into an impoverished region where ONE-IN-THREE of the "active" persons is in some kind of state service. I myself voted for the Front National, a Wallonian rightwing party with an anti-immigration agenda. So did my wife.
Results are to be expected in Brussels at 7pm local time, that would early afternoon for you Mainers. I’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE:
Not much to say yet, except that according to the most recent poll results in Belgium, in Flanders the Vlaams Blok gains strong. This is not so incongruous as it seems given my earlier assessment of the Left gaining decisively the upper hand. First of all, the term "gaining strong" in our country does NOT mean a landslide victory - positions are too entrenched and the "swing voter" is not so important as he is in The States. The Vlaams Blok is merely consolidating its position, and the other parties will keep isolating it by vowing never to cooperate with it. Secondly, Iraq was not an issue in Belgium, as it was in the UK, Poland or The Netherlands, since our government chose not to support the US. If the leading party in Belgium, the VLD, is punished, it's mainly because it allowed the others to pass legislation that grants immigrants who refuse to assume our nationality or to assimilate, the right to vote in municipal councils.
In a couple of hours I'll try to give the broader European picture.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Hey you jerks out there, don't wanna keep annoying you but they leave me no choice:
BELGIUM IS LAUNCH PAD FOR TERRORISTS
"The report(from the Belgian Parliament's intelligence committee) said most of the recruits were second and even third generation immigrants, chiefly from North Africa, who appeared to have rejected the Belgian way of life, even though Belgium, like neighbouring Holland, had tried to serve as a model of tolerant integration.
The report concluded that Belgium had become "a logistical support base" for terrorist groups abroad - favoured by bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group GIA, the Wabahi Tabligh movement and the Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood.
The FBI complained bitterly after September 11 that the Belgian judiciary was withholding key information needed to track down al-Qa'eda activists before the intelligence leads turned cold.
It has since come to light that leading terrorists have been travelling the world on Belgian passports, either stolen or sold by corrupt officials.
One of the killers of Gen Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, carried Belgian documents.
Filip Deman, a leader of the growing anti-immigrant Vlaams Blok movement and a member of the parliamentary investigation, said Belgium's elite coalitions had been brushing the Muslim problem under the carpet for years.
He said: "It was taboo to even talk about it under our code of political correctness, but this report cannot be ignored.""
Never heard about this report in our press. Figure not much was done with it.
But what should I care, soon the Vlaams Blok and its members are going to be outlawed for being racists...
MFBB
BELGIUM IS LAUNCH PAD FOR TERRORISTS
"The report(from the Belgian Parliament's intelligence committee) said most of the recruits were second and even third generation immigrants, chiefly from North Africa, who appeared to have rejected the Belgian way of life, even though Belgium, like neighbouring Holland, had tried to serve as a model of tolerant integration.
The report concluded that Belgium had become "a logistical support base" for terrorist groups abroad - favoured by bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group GIA, the Wabahi Tabligh movement and the Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood.
The FBI complained bitterly after September 11 that the Belgian judiciary was withholding key information needed to track down al-Qa'eda activists before the intelligence leads turned cold.
It has since come to light that leading terrorists have been travelling the world on Belgian passports, either stolen or sold by corrupt officials.
One of the killers of Gen Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, carried Belgian documents.
Filip Deman, a leader of the growing anti-immigrant Vlaams Blok movement and a member of the parliamentary investigation, said Belgium's elite coalitions had been brushing the Muslim problem under the carpet for years.
He said: "It was taboo to even talk about it under our code of political correctness, but this report cannot be ignored.""
Never heard about this report in our press. Figure not much was done with it.
But what should I care, soon the Vlaams Blok and its members are going to be outlawed for being racists...
MFBB
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Joining the Reagan Frenzy
Well, it seems I spoke a little to soon in my earlier comments about the press keeping things classy in regards to Ronald Reagan. The spinfest has begun, with both sides trying to out shout the other so they can put their stamp, or smear as the case may be, on the Reagan legacy. While many on the right are getting pretty heated up about the attempts to degrade Reagan's place in history, I see this as inevitable. In a society as politically polarized as America's is, it is impossible to have a great impact on the world and not infuriate around 50% of the population in the process. Anyone who actually manages to influence real change, as Reagan did, is going to become a demon to half of us.
Is all this debate about a dead president important? You bet it is. While many will write off the back and forth in the media as simple partisan background noise, what's happening here is a struggle to write history. I know first hand how important this is, because for a long time I took as fact many of the things that Reagan's opponents had forced into the public consciousness. Years ago I took for granted that Reagan was pretty stupid, that he personally said it was OK to consider ketchup as a vegetable on school lunch menus, that he was just fine with $500 toilet seats for the military, and that he was seriously outclassed by the wily Gorbachev in their many summit meetings. I specifically remember that last point being pounded home in a PBS documentary. The line went something like this: "a study in contrasts; the sophisticated, worldly Gorbachev, and the awkward bumbling Reagan." Combined with some well edited shots of Reagan looking confused and Gorbachev looking relaxed and confident, that was enough to convince a fairly intelligent 18 year old that the 40th president wasn't all he was cracked up to be. Unfortunately, I had been duped, and it took a lot of years for me to figure it out. When I was older, I caught another documentary on Reagan and Gorbachev on the History Channel. This one relied very heavily on actual interviews with the people involved in the summit meetings (imagine that) rather than an omnipotent voice over to help you to understand what was going on. I was stunned to hear the Russian generals state over and over how they felt as if Reagan took control of the meetings from the very start and that Gorbachev never seemed to get his footing. They also admitted that they thought Jimmy Carter was a complete joke, and that they toyed with him by pretending to be interested in his disarmament ideas just to get him to concede them whatever they wanted. When Reagan was elected, they knew the jig was up.
As with any account of history, there is more than one side to the Reagan legacy. Many of Reagan's critics bring up sound points: Were there illegal dealings in the Iran contra scandal? It's likely there were. Was Reagan slipping a little towards the end of his second term? Maybe. Did he delegate important decisions that he should have been more involved in? Perhaps. These things should be debated and investigated, because we can't learn from our mistakes if we can't figure out if they were ever made or not. But let's not be so petty that we can't accept simple, provable fact. The desperation on the part of some to deny Reagan credit for ending the cold war, among other things, is simply laughable. He did it. There were cameras. There are documents. Accept it and move on. There's plenty not to like about Ronald Reagan, or anyone else for that matter, without having to make things up.
Well, it seems I spoke a little to soon in my earlier comments about the press keeping things classy in regards to Ronald Reagan. The spinfest has begun, with both sides trying to out shout the other so they can put their stamp, or smear as the case may be, on the Reagan legacy. While many on the right are getting pretty heated up about the attempts to degrade Reagan's place in history, I see this as inevitable. In a society as politically polarized as America's is, it is impossible to have a great impact on the world and not infuriate around 50% of the population in the process. Anyone who actually manages to influence real change, as Reagan did, is going to become a demon to half of us.
Is all this debate about a dead president important? You bet it is. While many will write off the back and forth in the media as simple partisan background noise, what's happening here is a struggle to write history. I know first hand how important this is, because for a long time I took as fact many of the things that Reagan's opponents had forced into the public consciousness. Years ago I took for granted that Reagan was pretty stupid, that he personally said it was OK to consider ketchup as a vegetable on school lunch menus, that he was just fine with $500 toilet seats for the military, and that he was seriously outclassed by the wily Gorbachev in their many summit meetings. I specifically remember that last point being pounded home in a PBS documentary. The line went something like this: "a study in contrasts; the sophisticated, worldly Gorbachev, and the awkward bumbling Reagan." Combined with some well edited shots of Reagan looking confused and Gorbachev looking relaxed and confident, that was enough to convince a fairly intelligent 18 year old that the 40th president wasn't all he was cracked up to be. Unfortunately, I had been duped, and it took a lot of years for me to figure it out. When I was older, I caught another documentary on Reagan and Gorbachev on the History Channel. This one relied very heavily on actual interviews with the people involved in the summit meetings (imagine that) rather than an omnipotent voice over to help you to understand what was going on. I was stunned to hear the Russian generals state over and over how they felt as if Reagan took control of the meetings from the very start and that Gorbachev never seemed to get his footing. They also admitted that they thought Jimmy Carter was a complete joke, and that they toyed with him by pretending to be interested in his disarmament ideas just to get him to concede them whatever they wanted. When Reagan was elected, they knew the jig was up.
As with any account of history, there is more than one side to the Reagan legacy. Many of Reagan's critics bring up sound points: Were there illegal dealings in the Iran contra scandal? It's likely there were. Was Reagan slipping a little towards the end of his second term? Maybe. Did he delegate important decisions that he should have been more involved in? Perhaps. These things should be debated and investigated, because we can't learn from our mistakes if we can't figure out if they were ever made or not. But let's not be so petty that we can't accept simple, provable fact. The desperation on the part of some to deny Reagan credit for ending the cold war, among other things, is simply laughable. He did it. There were cameras. There are documents. Accept it and move on. There's plenty not to like about Ronald Reagan, or anyone else for that matter, without having to make things up.
Monday, June 07, 2004
How many men have had a song titled "The Man Who Made Those Pussyfooters and Weaklings Feel Ashamed." written about him by people from a country he helped free?
Ronald Reagan did.
Ronald Reagan did.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Now THIS is art. I bought this fine triple portrait at a discount store in the early 90's for $5. It was one of about 200 in the box. I know I could get at least $3.50 for it now. This wonderful Sally Evans pastel was very useful for confusing crunchy art students who saw it in my apartment when I was in art school in the early 90's. Since then it has adorned the men's room at Artifact, my former company in Atlanta, GA. It now resides in my permanent collection of high art in my office.
It's nice to see that Reagan's legacy seems to be surviving the onslaught to make him look like he was an inept fool while in The White House. There's a lot of people who's ideological universes don't make sense with an intelligent Ronald Reagan in existence. As for me, I think he is one of the best examples of the right man at the right time in American history.
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