The Review
The Dale Franks Web Site has been revised and updated. I have completely changed the design, switched over to ASP pages instead of HTML, and posted several new essays that I've been putting off for a long while. Enjoy.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER ON how YASSER ARAFAT
raised an entire generation to commit murder.
TOM UTLEY, on the other hand,
takes on TONY PARSON's vindictive and reprehensible anti-Thatcherite screed in the Telegraph's Opinion section. Utley writes, "Tony Parsons greeted the news of Lady Thatcher's illness and her consequent retirement from speech-making with an article so vitriolic and spiteful, so fizzing with venom, that I feared for his sanity."
TONY PARSONS, writing in the UK's Mirror newspaper has written an article about the
retirement from public life of MARGARET THATCHER. This article is so disgustingly cruel, so filled with hateful bile, that it beggars description. To give you an idea of the tone of the article, the last sentence reads, "Rot in hell, Maggie Thatcher". This simply reprehensible.
What is it about the left that requires them to demonize their political opponents? There used to be a time when, on matters of public policy, people of good will could disagree. For the left, it seems, that is no longer possible. It is not enough for the left to argue that conservatives are wrong. Now, their morality--indeed, their fitness as human beings--must be attacked.
This impulse is the basis for totalitarianism. Increasingly the left assaults free speech and democratic values by dehumanizing their political oppponents. Such an atmosphere leads inevitably to the rigidification of allowable thought. What is the value of the right of free speech when the expression of some ideas are impermissible? I greatly fear this trend and beleive that, if left unchecked, it will destroy our polity.
GEORGE W. BUSH is
defending Israel's attack on the Palestinian Authority today. He says, "I can understand why the Israeli government takes the actions they take. Their country is under attack."
Too bad the moral cripples that run the various European government of our "allies" don't have the same clarity. One can only imagine the German response if French suicide bombers were regularly blowing up German civilians in Mainz Heidelberg and Trier. Of course, if that situation were reversed, the French would simply surrender.
Enron has asked a federal bankruptcy court to approve a
retention and severance plan for the 1,700 employees still working for the Houston energy company under Chapter 11 protection.
Oh, NOW they're concenred about the employees. And, by the way, if you're an Enron employee and they ask you to stay on, would you REALLY want to?
UPI's roundup of US Newspaper
editorial opinion.
Israeli troops are
preparing to raid YASSER ARAFAT's office. Evidently Arafat received a call from the Israeli army commander who leads the Israeli troops telling him that the Israeli army would enter Arafat's offices, and would have the right to arrest who they want and release who they want.
Arafat spokesman ABED RABBO urged Arab and world leaders to interfere because if the troops enter Arafat's office, the life of the Palestinian leader would be in danger.
We can only hope...
ERIC FETTERMAN
places the blame on YASSER ARAFAT for the current unpleasantness:
"Three times in the past few days, Sharon noted, Israel accepted the cease-fire terms put together by President Bush’s special envoy, Gen. Anthony Zinni, though doing so violated Sharon’s promise not to negotiate under fire.
"Each time, Arafat said no.
"'All we have received in return,"' Sharon declared, 'was terrorism, terrorism and more terrorism.'
"For too long, much of the world has condemned Israel’s attempts to protect its citizens, yet has offered no alternative."
That sounds about right.
The editors of the New York Post weigh in on Israel's side on the
Palestinian military operation.
The LA Times has a fairly balanced and cogent criticism of GEORGE W. BUSH's
welfare reform proposals. In fact, they even seem to LIKE most of it. Of, course, being the LA Times, they can't resist the urge to criticize Bush anywhere they can. But on the whole, it's a thoughtful piece. Will wonders never cease?
BOB HERBERT opines that we
all just need to get along:
"The terrorists will not achieve their ends by blowing up innocents. And we will not be able to bomb the terrorists into submission. Atrocities like yesterday's hideous bombing in Israel cannot be allowed to occur with impunity. But it is time for all of us to begin searching for alternatives, to take those first tentative steps toward insuring that a world inhabited by billions of people remains reasonably hospitable to life.
"This is not television. This is about surviving in the real world. We need to overcome our feelings of helplessness, and channel our rage and our anguish toward constructive ends."
Yeah, great advice, Bob, thanks. I'm sure we're all the better for hearing it. Of course, we're not the guys who strap 20 kilos of dynamite to ourselves and go out to blow shit up. So, maybe you're preaching to the choir.
The New York Times
editorializes that, "only a commitment to withdraw from occupied lands and permit the building of a Palestinian state, in return for normal relations with its Arab neighbors, offers a way out."
Yeah, well, isn't that just what EHUD BARAK offered at Camp David a couple of years ago? Wasn't YASSER ARAFAT's response to say "Bite me" to the offer? Israel already MADE that offer, and they got the Intifada for their pains. Here's a clue for the editors of the Gray Lady: Violence often does solve problems. After all, it took care of that nasty little Nazi problem back in '45. Here's another clue. Negotiations are pointless when they are conducted with someone who will only be satisfaied with your destruction. You can't offer such a person anything he wants, because you don't HAVE anyhting he wants. If he wants the whole loaf, offering him half of it, no matter how fair it may seem, simply isn't going to be satisfactory.
The editorial's claim that permitting a Palestinian state and normalizing relations with the Arabs is a solution. Well, no, it ISN'T a solution unless that's what the Arabs want, too. So far, I haven't seen any convincing evidence that's true.
FOUAD AJAMI says this is
YASSER ARAFAT's war in today's Wall Street Journal. Ajami says Arafat loves the arsonists work, and he never had it in him to govern.
The United States joined other U.N. Security Council members Saturday in
adopting a resolution that calls on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, where YASSER ARAFAT's headquarters is under siege.
Israel, I suspect, will tell the UN to FOAD. Daily civilian deaths and dismemberments from suicide bombers kinda puts you in a grouchy mood, I guess.
Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth, who won the country's loyalty and admiration during World War II at the side of King George VI,
has died. She was 101 years old.
A hotline established by the Los Angeles Police Department has been fielding a
steady influx of calls reporting alleged molestations by Roman Catholic priests, many of which apparently occurred years ago.
Big changes are brewing in the Catholic Church.
The FBI has launched an
operation in Pakistan that has resulted in the capture of 65 Al-Qaida suspects in the last two days. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF's purge of Islamist fanatics in his own security services was evidently a big help.
YASSER ARAFAT says the
Israeli attack on Ramallah is terrorism. No, Yasser, terrorism is when your buddies strap bombs to themselves so they can intentionally blow up as many Israeli non-combatants as possible. Striking back with uniformed military force against Palestinian Authority offices and barracks is called warfare. You, see, there's a difference between intentionally killing civilians in job lots, and military strikes against governmental targets.
Not that I'd expect you to understand that.
Also in The Guardian, JOHN O'FARRELL
explains:
"Back in 1982, America supported Britain in the Falklands war on condition that the British government signed a special contract drawn up by the Pentagon which stated: 'In return for US backing, Britain hereby promises to support every armed intervention that America undertakes for ever and ever.'
"There can't be any other explanation for this country's consistent enthusiasm for every American bombing raid or new missile deployment."
Actually, there is another explanation. Perhaps the British Government is run by clearer-minded thinkers than Mr. O'Farrell.
DAVID HIRST, the Guardian's man in Beirut says that YASSER ARAFAT is the "
supreme, heroic embodiment of his people's will". According to Hirst, "Arafat is not just the Palestinians' man, he is the Arabs' too, both at official and "street" level. He is the sole, chosen instrument of the peace plan which the kings and presidents have adopted."
I guess Hirst missed the Arab Summit meeting where they blew off Arafat's address and moved on to more important matters.
Being good Democrats, some Senators have decided to ignore the Constitution, and try to
stop any Bush nominees from reaching the Supreme Court. Or any other court for that matter.
This is simply an unconscionable strategy. It violates both the spirit and the letter of the US Constitution. This kind of moral blindness and craven political self-interest is why I left the Democratic Party.
Pope JOHN PAUL II is looking really, very, very unwell. So much so, that he's
backing out of some Easter Week ceremonies. I expect a conclave of Cardinals will be necessary soon. Which might not be a bad thing, especially if a new, younger pope could be persuaded to kick some butt in getting to the...ahem...bottom, of this priestly buggery deal in the US. Maybe fire a few Bishops. New broom, sweeping clean, that sort of thing.
Speaking of the New York Times, the editors of the Gray Lady sound like they've
about had it with the current Palestinian leadership, too.
YASSER ARAFAT's starting to find it tough to name any remaining friends. The Arab League blew off his speech. The Israelis have him cornered in a windowless, bunker-like office in Ramallah, and US Envoy TONY ZINNI is out of the office on a shopping trip in Haifa.
Of course, EDWARD SAID will still take Arafat's calls...
NICHOLAS KRISTOFF opines in the New York Times that the Arab world has
no real leaders.
Except the fanatics, that is.
The US Geological Survey released a report--conveniently, ten days before the Senate is set to consider the issue--that says oil drilling in Alaska's ANWR would be
a Bad Thing.
Chances of the President getting ANWR drilling past the Senate: 0%
Go
here to see the actual USGS Report.
A mortar round fired from an armored vehicle exploded prematurely during a training exercise at Ft. Irwin, CA,
killing three soldiers.
Evidently, the 9/11 victims' families are divided on whether or not ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI should
get the death penalty. My favorite line from this story is, "Terry Corio, who usually opposes capital punishment, is for it in this case." It reminds me of the old line, "What is a Conservative? A Liberal who's been mugged."
US officials say the envoy ANTHONY ZINNI will be
staying in the Middle East. What the hell he's actually going to do is beyond me. Nobody over there seems to keen to talk to Tony much, as far as I can see.
But, Tel Aviv has some nice beaches. Pretty good restaurants, too.
According to the Associated Press, this is the
view from inside YASSER ARAFAT's compound in Ramallah.
Secretary of State COLIN POWELL is calling on YASSER ARAFAT to
stop the violence. Arafat, cowering under his bunker-like desk in a shell-holed office in Ramallah, would proabably like nothing more than to stop the violence. Israeli violence at any rate. But Yasser hasn't seemed to have a very tight handle on things in Palestine in the past, so it's unsure what he could do even if he wanted to do what Secretary Powell suggests.
Powell also says that Israel promised it will not harm Arafat during its assault on his compound in the West Bank, but does intend to isolate him. Well, they won't intentionally harm him, but if he should catch a stray round or two, I don't think anyone in ARIEL SHARON's government will be shedding any tears. Powell also called on Sharon to use restraint in Israeli reprisals and consider the consequences of escalating military action.
Uh-huh. I'm sure Sharon is listening to Powell real close.
Former Federal Reserve chairman PAUL VOLCKER Friday said he believes
Arthur Andersen LLP can survive as an auditing business if it splits off tax and consulting services to remove any possible conflict of interest.
Maybe. Assuming anyone will ever want to hire them again. A lot of companies have already driven Arthur Andersen's consultants out like they were a bunch of poison trolls.
Does George W. Bush have a sensible economic plan for the rest of the decade? UPI National Political Analysts PETER ROFF, a conservative, and JIM CHAPIN, a liberal,
face off on opposite sides of this critical question.
As a Neo-Keynesian economist, I never put much stock in Supply-Side economics. Yes, there is a Laffer Curve, and yes, it is important. But even the Laffer Curve has an equilibrium point, and when you reduce tax rates below the equilibrium point, government revenues will fall. So, what exactly IS the Equilibrium point?
Well, that's the problem. Supply-Siders can't answer that question, except in retrospect. Which makes Supply-Side economics fairly useless as a predictive tool, except for grossly inappropriate tax rates. I remember back in 1993 and 1994 having long conversations with PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS, GROVER NORQUIST, ROGER ROBINSON and other Supply-Siders. Each of whom assured me that Pres. Clinton's income tax hikes would bring economic doom on the Republic. Then, of course, we entered the longest peacetime economic expansion in history.
That having been said, the economic plan of the Democratic Party raises hoots of derision from just about every academic economist I can think of. Some of their stuff wouldn't have even passed muster at Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow in the 1980s.
Like TOM DASCHLE's "The tax cuts caused the recession" nonsense. Proof positive that Daschle is either a fool or a liar. There is no third alternative.
Well, that's not true. There IS a third alternative. He could be both.
Palm whines that
Microsoft bullied them over .NET. Microsoft was all ready to share a key programming tool with Palm, but canceled the deal after learning that Palm would take part in the Anti-Trust suit against Microsoft. Well...DUH!
Palm thinks Microsoft over-reacted. Palm's position, evidently, is that they can try to screw Microsoft any time they want, and Microsoft just has to bend over and take it. Anything else just wouldn't be fair.
ZDNet's WAYNE RASH says that Microsoft and Open Source
are both insecure. He's right, but as soon as you say this, you get deluged with email by the Open Source geeks, most of whom need to take WILLIAM SHATNER's famous Saturday Night Live advice, and get a life.
Guess Who's Coming to Seder? Colorado woman prepares to become first
black female rabbi.
YASSER ARAFAT
is said to be calm, as the Israelis shoot the hell out of his compound.
The
trial of four leading suspects in the kidnap and murder of U.S. reporter DANIEL PEARL will begin on April 5 in the main jail in Karachi, Pakistan.
Yet another
suicide bombing in Israel this morning. This one, at a market in Jerusalem, injured 19 people. The suicide bomber, however, was a woman.
By the way, what is it about Islam that tempts people to blow themselves up in order to kill people they don't like? I mean, nobody else blows themselves up. Why just Muslims? And, if you're a woman suicide bomber, do you still get the 75 virgins in Heaven?
The US Commerce Department says
consumer spending rose 0.6% in February. The data reinforce economists' view that the recession, which began last March, has ended and probably will turn out to be the country's mildest downturn ever.
For Democrats, that means there's one less stick to whack the Republicans over the head with come November. Not that many people were buying Daschle's argument that tax cuts caused the recession, anyway.
UPI's roundup of US newspaper
editorial opinions.
BREAKING NEWS: Israeli troops have
entered YASSER ARAFAT's compound, and are exchanging fire with Palestinian troops. ARIEL SHARON says that Arafat is an "enemy" and will be "isolated".
BREAKING NEWS: Israeli troops have
entered YASSER ARAFAT's compound, and are exchanging fire with Palestinian troops. ARIEL SHARON says that Arafat is an "enemy" and will be "isolated".
The media and the government
rationalize Middle-Eastern violence, according to JONAH GOLDBERG.
Economist BRUCE BARTLETT weighs in on the
steel tariffs and protectionism.
In this opinion piece for the Washongton Post, MICHAEL KINSLEY seems to be saying that the 9/11 victims
got too much money. Or victims of other tragedies should get more. In any event, it's clearly the Republicans' fault whatever the problem is.
FAWAZ A. GERGES, a professor of Middle East studies and international affairs at Sarah Lawrence College says there's
no stopping the Intifada.
VICTOR DAVID HANSON is one of the clearest thinkers in America today. He is a Professor of Classics at UC Santa Cruz, and a military historian who has written two very good books, "The Soul of Battle" and "Carnage and Cultures". Today, he writes about the
new amorality in the Middle East.
Every time you get an unsolicited spam email, now you'll know who to thank. The
very first spammers have been tracked down. They were laywers, of course. According to ZDNet, "On April 12, 1994, Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel, two immigration lawyers from Arizona, flooded the Internet with a mass mailing promoting their law firm's advisory services."
Siegel died in 2000. Canter was disbarred in 1997, partially for--you guessed it--his spam email campaign.
Israel's once (and future?) Prime Minister, BENYAMIN NETANYAHU sounds like he's had enough, and thinks he knows
what should be done. He says:
"The message Palestinian terrorists are sending us is crystal clear: We will murder you at every opportunity, in every place, at any time - even on the holiest of your days.
BREAKING NEWS: It's starting. Israeli tanks are
rolling back into Ramallah.
The President has nominated gun-toting SWAT-team surgeon DR. RICHARD CARMONA to serve as the
new Surgeon General. Carmona is a former Green Beret, and is a "cop doc", an emergency surgeon who is trained as a policemen to serve on SWAT teams. In 1999, he whacked a guy who was attacking a woman and opened fire on him. According to USA Today, the man, "who had slain his father earlier in the day, fired on Carmona, grazing his head. Carmona fired seven shots, hitting the suspect three times and killing him."
Sure, he took the Hippocratic Oath. But he's not a fanatic about it.
London's Financial Times refers to lawsuits for slavery reparations as
legalized extortion.
New Republic Editor PETER BEINART reports on Robert Mugabe's
fraudulent elections in Zimbabwe.
You can always depend on the UK's Guardian newspaper for a predictable
anti-American screed.
In an anlysis piece for UPI, International Editor ROLAND FLAMINI says the Arab League may be as ready as the Israelis to
dump YASSER ARAFAT.
ARIEL SHARON says that the Israeli cabinet "
will will have to take some decisions" about what to do about Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, YASSER ARAFAT says he's ready to call an immediate cease-fire. Now, I have a question about that. Does this mean that Arafat can actually stop Hamas and Hezbollah from launching more attacks into Israel? And If it does, then doesn't that also mean that he could have stopped all the previous attacks? If so, then why was he claiming that all those attacks were made by groups he couldn't control? And, if he has the power to enforce a cease-fire, then why hasn't he done so earlier? On the other hand, if he doesn't have the power to stop any more attacks, then isn't his declaration of a cease-fire worthless?
If Arafat can call a real cease-fire, then that means that all the previous attacks were launched with his tacit approval. In which case the Israelis are justified in dragging him naked out of his office in Ramallah. If he can't call a cease-fire, then the Israelis are justified in completely ignoring him.
The Minneapolis Star reports that the negative effects of the
steel tariffs are beginning to be felt. GEORGE W. BUSH was supposed to be a free-trader, but I guess those votes from the steel states were stronger than his free-trade principles. So, now, the rest of us get to pay the price for Bush's political opportunism, in the form of higher prices for dishwashers, cars, or anything else made from steel. All this to satisfy the employees of an industry that not only can't compete with foreign steel makers, but can't even copmpete with US minimills.
I guess when we thought Bush was calling himself a "free-trader", he was really saying "free-traitor". Easy mistake to make. After all, they sound so close.
A team at UC Berkeley say they've created a
cheap, plastic solar cell that can be painted on anything. They can be made "quick and dirty" in a laboratory beaker without the need for clean rooms or vacuum chambers.
Imagine, cheap solar power. Just like they've been promising for 30 years. We'll see...
The Government will seek the death penalty for
Zacarias Moussaoui for his part in the 9/11 attack. An overjoyed Mr. Moussaoui is undoubtedly gratified that we will enable him to meet his former associates soon. That way, he'll get to collect on that martyrdom deal and get his 75 babes.
What? You say he's plead "Not Guilty"?
YASSER ARAFAT says he's ready to call an
immediate cease fire. But, Arafat says, "Unfortunately, there are some aggressive preparations by the Israelis.."
I'll bet.
Nice, try, Yasser, but for some reason, I think the Israelis are ready to drop THEIR demands for a cease fire, even though they've been making them for months. It looks like the Israelis now have...other plans.
ANN COULTER only caught the last three hours of Halle Berry's Oscar night acceptance speech. But she still had to
comment on it. Coulter says, among other things:
"Yes, at long last, the 'glass ceiling' had been broken. Large-breasted, slightly cocoa women with idealized Caucasian features finally have a chance in Hollywood! They will, however, still be required to display their large breasts for the camera and to discuss their large breasts at some length with reporters."
ERIC ALTERMAN's take on why there is so much
support for Israel in the US: "[T]he near-complete domination by pro-Israel partisans of the punditocracy discourse". Yep. Couldn't possibly be any other reason. It's the "pro-Israel partisans".
*sigh*
Oh, well, at least he doesn't start going on about how Jews control the media. No, it's the "pro-Israel partisans" that control the discourse, which, of course, is an entirely different thing. A less charitable person than I might suggest that "pro-Israel partisans" is a code phrase for "Jews", but surely that would be unfair.
By the way, he has a list of "pro-Israel partisans" that can be counted on to "support Israel reflexively and without qualification". (In case you don't get it, those are the people who you're supposed to totally ignore, since nothing they say about Israel can possibly be true.) It's a good thing we've got the fair and unbiased Mr. Alterman around to lecture us on who to believe.
Although, to be fair, he does list a small group of people who reflexively support the Palestinians. It contains the Usual Suspects.
BREAKING NEWS: A delta Airlines passenger causes a
disturbance on a plane and allegedly says “if you don’t let me off this flight, lives are going to be lost.” Hilarity ensues.
BREAKING NEWS: Yet another
terrorist attack in Israel.
The MSNBC subhead says "Latest violence only increases likelihood of Israeli response". This is what is called, in the journalism game, a Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious.
On the other hand, in a Newsday article, SHIBLEY TELHANI thinks the Arab summit could be the start of
all kinds of neat stuff.
Like second marriages, this can only be described as the triumph of hope over experience.
DANIEL PIPES, writing in the new republic says that the Arab Summit is
much ado about nothing. According to Pipes, "nothing of import will take place in Beirut. In fact, in a year's time this summit and the Abdullah plan will almost certainly be well forgotten."
According to AL-QAIDA, the Afghan quake is
God's punishment for being tossed out of Afghanistan.
So, God wasn't strong enough to help them win, but He is strong enough to level a part of Afghanistan in a fit of pique after they lose. So, he's not really a powerful God, so much as he is a grouchy one, I guess.
A bill (HR 256) has been introduced into the Kentucky state legislature that "encourages the purchase and armament of one particularly effective submarine, namely, the USS Louisville 688 VLS Class Submarine, to patrol the portion of the Ohio River under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth to engage and destroy any casino riverboats that the submarine may encounter."
View the bill
here in Word Document format from the Kentucky legislature's official web site.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister DAVID LANGE has claimed that ex-U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle
threatened to have him "liquidated" over his country's anti-nuclear policy in the 1980s.
Ah, yes. Dan Quayle, the genius mastermind of US intelligence "Black Ops". See, the Republicans always SAID that Quayle was much smarter than we realized.
On the other hand, Lange is still alive, so clearly, Dan wasn't gettin' it done...
GEORGE W. BUSH formally admitted that the campaign finance bill he got was constitutionally flawed, yet he signed it anyway. So, was signing it a violation of his oath to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution? After all, isn't ANYONE other than the nine robed lawyers in DC responsible for ensuring our laws stay within the Constitution?
The New Yorker has a story by JEFFREY GOLDBERG that reports that in northern Iraq, there is new evidence of Saddam Hussein's
genocidal war on the Kurds—and of his possible ties to Al Qaeda.
Warning: The story is both sickening and heartbreaking.
Saddam Hussein is a Very Bad Guy. A world without him in it would be a better place. 'Nuff said.
The Arab Summit meeting in Beirut has sent a Message to the US:
Don’t target Baghdad. Once again, the Arab governments display the high sense of ethical understanding, committment to integrity, and care for the common citizen for which they are justly famed.
The suspect in a shooting rampage that left eight dead at a city council meeting in suburban Paris killed himself Thursday by jumping out a window,
police said.
Yep. While being kept in the Paris police's fortress on the Ile del la Cite, he managed to find an open window and just...jump out. How odd. Just jumped right out. Of a window. In a police fortress prison.
Hmmm.
Worried about your private information? With wireless networks, banks and tax preparers could be broadcasting your secret data to anyone who looks. ROBERT VAMOSI calls it a
hacker's dreamland.
In today's
Daily Bleat, JAMES LILEKS subtly reflects on the difference between living in the US and living in Israel.
THOMAS FRIEDMAN is sometimes irritatingly wrong, but he at least makes you think. He has an interesting column about
free speech in the Arab world.
FRED BARNES points out that some things have
definitely changed.
JOHN DERBYSHIRE has several
nice things to say about Margaret Thatcher upon hearing the annoucement of her retirement from public speaking. DERB's recollection of watching the 1979 General Election when Ms. Thatcher was made Prime Minister:
"I returned three months later, just in time for the general election, which I watched on TV at the home of some leftist friends. They were dismayed at the Conservative victory, of course. "There's an end to progress," one of them remarked sourly. In retrospect, I don't think I ever heard a more wrong-headed remark in my life."
Aaah. My first blog ever. Now I know the power of joining the blogger revolution!
We'll see how long this lasts...
