Histeree Now

Conduit of Love

2007-01-07T02:02:00.000-05:00

The viewer is engaged by Bosch’s work. In the Larry Silver essay, “Hieronymus Bosch, Tempter and Moralist,” found in Per Contra,
we read about the compositional function of the gaze in Bosch’s well-known triptych that includes Paradise, The Garden of Earthly Delights and Hell.

“Another unifying element in the triptych is its insistence on gazes out of the picture in each panel. In Paradise the gaze comes from Christ himself, who confronts the viewer, even while blessing the First Parents. Balancing this pose at the center of the Hell wing, the oversized hybrid “tree-man” also turns outward, though with his body captive, his wistful gaze must twist and goes askance towards his own hollow, egg-shaped rear end (a desiccated remnant of the fecundity and indulgence of the center panel), where nude figures inhabit an infernal tavern. Atop his head upon a flat round tabletop a striking oversized round pink bagpipe echoes the pink round fruits of the central panel (and appears all the more striking as a color accent within the dark and grey Hell wing), as it offers the musical accompaniment to a hellish round-dance of naked humans, led by oversized demons (one of whom is dressed in a parody of fifteenth-century female courtly fashion). We recall again the significance of eye contact as the conduit of love; therefore, the solicitations of viewer attention and thus of engaged affection begin with Christ himself in the Paradise wing, only to end unfulfilled in the averted gaze of the damned tree-figure, rooted in Hell.”

Never Mind the Smoking Gun: Worry About the Smoking Mouse

2006-12-15T02:05:00.000-05:00

As cities ban smoking, classic cartoons are being edited to remove footage in which characters smoke. Last summer Turner broadcasting announced it was cutting out smoking scenes from Hanna-Barbera cartoons. That’s “the Flintstones,” “Scooby-Doo” and “Tom and Jerry.”

There’s talk of rating a movie according to its portrayal of smoking. And a report by Reuters noted, “The attorneys general of 32 states are asking Hollywood's major movie studios to place an anti-smoking announcement on DVDs, videos and other home entertainment products to combat teen tobacco use.”

Imagine Now Voyager without smoking. Or the Thin Man series without smoking and drinking. Sort of like The Three Stooges without violence, no?

Now that transfats are going to be banned from New York City restaurants, perhaps we should watch for a new set of cuts in cartoons, in which foods deemed “unhealthy” vanish from the screen.

And what will become of Fat Albert?

Certainly those dancing hippos in Fantasia will have to go when they’re recognized as dreadful role models responsible for thousands of morbidly obese adults who, when they were young and impressionable, saw the film.

Save the whales.

"Fire Seeds in Darfur"

2006-12-14T00:48:00.000-05:00

Nigerian poet, Tanure Ojaide’s poem, ”To the Janaweed, in Per Contra begins and ends with the fires in Darfur:

“May the fire you spread gleefully this way
scorch you and your family at the other end
…
may djinns you invoke in your despoliation
testify against you in the final judgment

may you be victim of your blood thirst
and wander without relief from paradise

may the fire seeds you sow in Darfur
consume you and your damned bands. . . .”

Who are the janjaweed? You can find out about their deeds by reading Ojaide’s poem.

A less poetic description was in Slate:
“The word, an Arabic colloquialism, means "a man with a gun on a horse." Janjaweed militiamen are primarily members of nomadic "Arab" tribes who've long been at odds with Darfur's settled "African" farmers, who are darker-skinned…. In fact, the term "Janjaweed" has for years been synonymous with bandit, as these horse- or camel-borne fighters were known to swoop in on non-Arab farms to steal cattle.”

Green Lantern and the Pillsbury Doughboy

2006-12-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

What—rather who—brings them together is Martin Nodell, pen name of Matt Delon.

Who would have thought that the cute little doughboy whose laughter we know so well is a relative of The Green Lantern? Martin Nodell created the comic book hero and. in a subsequent career in advertising was “on the design team that helped develop the Pillsbury Doughboy.”

Nodell died at 91.

"Democracy of Dialogues"

2006-12-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

The connection between digital technology and “democracy of dialogues” is an idea worth considering and discussing. The subject is introduced by artist Michael Somoroff in a recent interview online in Per Contra. Somoroff says, “Only in a world where reality is defined as a matrix construction, an array, are certain ideas and technologies possible. Globalism, the World Wide Web, digital technology, the European Union, and many other examples attest to this understanding of postmodernism. Only in a world predicated on the assumption of the relativism of meaning can these kinds of networks evolve into a democracy of dialogues. This is because networks are arrays. The meanings generated by these networks, that is to say, truths are the result of their composition only. It is from here that quality is derived. I would even go so far to say that in today’s integrated postmodern world, diversity is quality.”

In case “integrated postmodern world” is a term you want explained, he does that, too.

To put some perspective on Michael Somoroff, read the essay by the well-respected Donald Kuspit, “A New Sacred Space: Michael Somoroff’s Illumination I.”

Brancusi All Over Again? Film, Strange Culture, Takes a Stand

2006-12-11T21:56:00.000-05:00

Recent interview in Per Contra sheds light on film in-progress dealing with art and suspected bio-terror. The government has been misunderstanding art since the days when Brancusi's sculpture was taxed.

MK: Last August you were a part of the 13th International Symposium of Electronic Arts (ISEA2006), “Zero One Jose, International Art On the Edge.” That was your film in-progress, “Strange Culture.” Would you tell our readers a bit about the film and what it’s based on? What was it about Steve Kurz’s and Robert Ferrell’s story that compelled you to do this film?

LHL: The film is about the case of Steve Kurtz and Robert Ferrell. On May 11, 2004 Kurtz’s wife of 27 years died of heart failure. He called 911. The medic saw his art work and called the police, who then called the fbi, who called the hazmat unit and confiscated his wife’s body. Hours later, Kurtz was charged with bio-terrorism, as was his collaborator, a geneticist, Dr. Robert Ferrell. The story is about freedom of speech, first amendment rights and the growing erosion of autonomy in our culture. Tilda Swinton, Thomas Jay Ryan, Steve and Peter Coyote are in it.

MK: Is this the major project you’re working on now? How did you get to this? How would you describe its connection to your other work?

LHL: Although I’ve been in exhibitions with Critical Art Ensemble, what really linked me to it was the injustice, intolerance, ignorance, and consequently the growing and pervasive culture of fear that was moving into our lives, all of our lives. To not speak up about it is, to me to be part of the system.

Mexican Elections Right Around the Corner

2006-06-29T22:19:00.000-04:00

Want news that isn't a shock? Try the news that the Mexican elections are hitting snags and they haven't even started. I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about how Mexican political bosses can rally large groups of people to snarl traffic, protest and menace a neighborhood. Hey, that almost sounds like Democrats and their Union lapdogs in Philadelphia.

But Mexico is having trouble even staffing their polling places. Check this out From the AP:

"VALLECILLO, Mexico (AP) -- This town of farmers and cattle ranchers has about 1,300 registered voters. But officials had to spend weeks begging residents before they found the 14 people needed to staff its two polling places on Sunday.

Days before the hotly contested presidential election, observers say voting sites across the country still lack enough people to provide a crucial first defense against a return to Mexico's fraudulent electoral past. Many towns have been depleted, their able adults now in the United States. Of those who remain, many simply refused, saying they couldn't afford to miss work."

Yep, I'll bet you ten dollars that the communists win that bad boy outright. Nobody can steal an election like a corrupt bunch of greedy thugs who hide behind social justice issues. Ask Harry Reid.

Dear Hamas: Welcome to the Big Leagues, now go to your room

2006-06-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

Israel rolled into the Gaza strip and rounded up the democratically elected thugs who now have the responsibility of representing a nation. It really isn't fair to have that much responsibility when a person is that stupid, but life isn't fair. From AP:

"GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli forces rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from Hamas, increasing pressure on the Islamic militants to release a captured Israeli soldier, and witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza, widening Israel's largest military operation in the year since Israel pulled out of the seaside territory."

Hamas would do well to quit preying on the Palestinians and hiding beneath the skirts of their women and in the cribs of their children. But I'm not holding my breath. Sociopaths don't behave nicely.

PS - Nice to have computer access again :)

Somalia, a Case Study in Futility

2006-06-26T17:54:00.000-04:00

There are a couple of points that need to be covered on Somalia. I just blogged them a short time ago. But now, I read the AP article about a local cleric who wants:

Surprise, an Islamic State

"NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The radical cleric named to lead the Muslim militia controlling most of Somalia's south said Monday that he envisions an Islamic state, a stand likely to reinforce U.S. fears the nation could become a haven for extremists.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who already was on the U.S. terrorist watch list as a suspected collaborator with al-Qaida, made the comment while discussing efforts to form a functioning central government in Somalia for the first time in 15 years.

"Somalia is a Muslim nation and its people are also Muslim, 100 percent. Therefore any government we agree on would be based on the holy Quran and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad," Aweys told The Associated Press in a telephone interview, his first comments to the media since being named head of the Islamic militia Saturday."

Again, the question is, what do you do with a group of people who live in squalor, don't improve themselves and are hell bent on being violent. This isn't a poverty issue. If it were, India would be invading countries left and right.

We need a plan, before another country becomes another Afghanistan.

A Trend in Homegrown Terrorists

2006-06-25T00:27:00.000-04:00

So if the boots fit...

The following was written in reference to the terrorists in Britain who attacked the subway-- and quoted in reference to the group of men recently found in a terrorist plot in Canada. But apply the characteristics to the group of alleged terrorists in Florida:

“Mentors may first identify individuals from within larger groups who may be susceptible to radicalization; then 'groom' them privately in small groups until the individuals in the group begin feeding off each other's radicalization," the report reads.

According to the British report, there are few characteristics common among domestic extremists discovered thus far.
A handful of outside factors have occasionally appeared, however, including the grooming of young extremists by an influential elder.

"In the early stages, group conversation may be around being a good Muslim and staying away from drugs and crime, with no hint of an extremist agenda," it says. "Gradually, individuals may be exposed to propaganda about perceived injustices to Muslims across the world, with international conflict involving Muslims interpreted as examples of a widespread war on Islam."

The next step, the document says, is to convince potential terrorists that there is justification for violent jihad in such religious texts such as the Koran and the Hadith. If a suicide attack is required, time is spent discussing the importance of commitment to Islam through martyrdom.” [emphasis added]

The allusion to boots? See the post below, which cites an AP report, that one of the alleged terrorists recently indicted in Florida "asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 in cash to help him build an "'Islamic Army' to wage jihad"

A Novel Defense

2006-06-23T14:42:00.002-04:00

When the news broke last night saying that seven had been arrested in an alleged plot to commit terrorism, we were assured that these were all-American alleged terrorists (as though that made things much better). It may be technically true that the suspects have no ties to al-Qaida as they were allegedly negotiating in an operation in which al-Qaida representatives were, instead, the good guys. Now it turns out that, in fact, they aren’t all home grown, but the group includes one immigrant and one illegal alien.

Try this for a novel defense. I can hear it now: “We asked for the money and the other stuff, but it was just a scam, man. We never intended to follow through. That swearing loyalty? We never meant it. It was just BS to get what we wanted.”

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Gonzales told a news conference in Washington Friday that the seven who were arrested in raids in Miami are charged with conspiring to support al-Qaida by planning attacks on numerous targets.

He said they wanted to carry out attacks equal to or greater than the scale of the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
He said the targets included the Sears tower in Chicago and an FBI building in Miami and other area government buildings. But he said the men were unable to get past the initial planning phase of the attacks

The indictment says one of the suspects, Narseal Batiste, told an al-Qaida representative in 2005 that he was organizing a mission to build an Islamic army to wage jihad.

Gonzales said one suspect is an illegal Haitian immigrant, another is a permanent resident, while the five others are Americans.

The attorney general said the people he described as "home-grown" terrorists had pledged their allegiance to al-Qaida, mistaking an undercover security agent as a member of the terror organization.

A man who said he was a member of the group that the suspects belonged to told CNN television that the seven are not terrorists. He said their group is called the "Seas of David" and has so-called "soldiers" in Chicago.”

Richard B. Shmitt and Michael Muskal of the LA Times add information,”The Department of Justice identified those arrested as: Narseal Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augustin, Lyblenson Lemorin and Rothschild Augustine.

Five are U.S. citizens, one a legal permanent resident, and one Haitian national is in the country illegally, according to the Justice Department. They are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Miami today.

They are accused of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization: Al Qaeda. They also are charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists; conspiring to maliciously damage and destroy by means of an explosive; and conspiring to levy war against the United States government....

According to the indictment, on Feb. 19, 2006, Batiste allegedly told the informant that "he wanted to attend Al Qaeda training with five of his soldiers, with a mission to wage a 'full ground war' against the United States in order to 'kill all the devils we can,' which 'will be just as good or greater than 9/11.'
...

"Ultimately, all seven of the defendants allegedly swore bayat, or an oath of loyalty to Al Qaeda," the indictment said....

Neighbors told the paper the suspects had said they were Muslim and had tried to recruit young people to join their group.”

David Ovalle, Evan S. Benn, Larry Lebowitz and Luisa Yanez of the Miami Herald interviewed neighbors and relatives. The sister of one of the alleged terrorists said, “the group, which formed about a year ago, called itself the Seas of David. The 40 to 50 members consider themselves ''soldiers of God'' and are against the war in Iraq.”

Note: it’s “ 40 to 50 members, not just the seven arrested.

MSNBC writes: “The source said the suspects “thought they were dealing with al-Qaida” and had been trying to buy weapons and other things needed to carry out attacks.”

Mark Sherman of the AP reported Gonzales outlined the contents of an indictment handed up Thursday, which identified Narseal Batiste as having recruited and trained others beginning in November 2005 "for a mission to wage war against the United States government," including a plot to destroy the Sears Tower.

To obtain money and support for their mission, the conspirators sought help from al-Qaida, pledged an oath to the terrorist organization and supported an al-Qaida plot to destroy FBI buildings, the four-count indictment charged.
Batiste met several times in December 2005 with a person purporting to be an al-Qaida member and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 in cash to help him build an "'Islamic Army' to wage jihad'," the indictment said. It said that Batiste said he would use his "soldiers" to destroy the Sears Tower.

Gonzales said "the individual they thought was a member of al-Qaida was present at their meetings and in actuality he was working with the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force."

A man identified in a CNN report as a “member of the association,” in addition to saying that they “had soldiers in Chicago.” .... refused to provide the names of those arrested, insisting his group was a religious organisation: "We study Allah and the worship of the regular Bible."

Terror plot in Chicago begins in Ghetto

2006-06-22T21:16:00.000-04:00

My friend, Kenny Hernandez says that Liberty City is to Miami what a sewage treatment plant is to a river: It's a place that threatens valuable resources and only produces a stink. He's right. I know, I accidently drove through there once.

Now take a look at today's story about a terror plot against the Sears Tower in Chicago and how it was foiled. Here's the brief layout:

"Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday. Local media reported that agents were raiding a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City section.

"There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in Washington."

Now the kicker is that none of the plotters were linked to Al Qaeda according to the story. That means that we are festering more home grown haters. There are many reasons for this, but I'll give you my two best guesses as to why more people want to hurt the US.

1) The World's free lunch tickets are beginning to expire, but we're still raising one person after another to expect Uncle Sam to hand it over. (That's when terrorists aren't chewing up welfare dollars that we dole out like we're having a financial happy hour and welfare's free to anyone who can sneak in.)

2) We've allowed criminals to rotate in and out of jails for too long. Most of these gang bangers are more afraid of getting paroled before their hit order expires. Jail doesn't scare them and why should it. Hell, free cable, a full service health club, long needed health care, free food and all the drugs they want are only a felony away.

So, if we follow my logic, this problem gets much less worrisome if we 1) cut off the freebies and make everyone want to go home and 2) start contracting with Russia to store some of our jail overflow in Siberia. Now that's a plan I'd vote for. Unfortunately, I'm never gonna have the chance. I don't think Billary or John McKennedy will go for it.

Mexican Customs Office to Open in Kansas City: NAFTA SuperHighway

2006-06-21T18:57:00.000-04:00

So you think illegal immgration is bad? Try this on for size: right in the heart of the United States, Mexico will have its own, autonomous (not governed by US law) customs office. I swear that I'm not making this up. From Human Events:

"Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn."

You bet your butt it's quiet, but it gets worse:

"A brochure on the SmartPort website describes the plan in glowing terms: “For those who live in Kansas City, the idea of receiving containers nonstop from the Far East by way of Mexico may sound unlikely, but later this month that seemingly far-fetched notion will become a reality.” "

But the conclusion they draw is most frightening:

"A good reason Bush does not want to secure the border with Mexico may be that the administration is trying to create express lanes for Mexican trucks to bring containers with cheap Far East goods into the heart of the U.S., all without the involvement of any U.S. union workers on the docks or in the trucks."

If that's true, we've got bigger problems than we thought

1 in 3 Adults in EU lacks basic computer skills.

2006-06-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while, I like to take a jab at the old world. I mean, I love Europe. I love Britain. I have many wonderful memories from there.

But damn are some of them arrogant. With that bunch, they'll spend hours telling you Europe's better in this and Europe's better in that. Well, 33% of European adults can't even use a mouse to open an internet page. Check it out for yourself in AP:

"BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- More than a third of adults in the European Union are unable to perform basic computer tasks such as using a mouse to open Internet or word processing programs, according to a survey released Tuesday."

So there you have it. We may be fat and ugly, but you guys have to take our orders with a pencil. Hehehe.

Duck and Cover: a Few Questions Soon to be Answered

2006-06-19T19:15:00.000-04:00

So when Korea tests its long range missile (what we used to call ICBM short for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), a missile it has just finished fueling, will the missile be headed towards the United States? And will the United States attempt to intercept it: that is, to shoot it down? And if so, will the intercept be successful? And will the missile be a simple test or will it be loaded? And what if it is “loaded” and it lands in Alaska? or Los Angeles?

This recalls the tension of the weeks around what has become known as The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when at least one think tank predicted “a small nuclear exchange.”

Now the threat originates in North Korea.

Japan is in the likely flight path of these missiles. The Foreign Minister said, Japan is “unlikely to immediately appeal to arms” should one land on Japan. “``There's a clear difference between two and three missiles landing on Japan and a missile dropped on Japan by mistake,'' Aso said today on Asahi TV. ``A mistake is likely and must be anticipated,'' Bloomberg reports.

In 1998 North Korea aimed one of its test missiles at Alaska; the missile, we believe, fell into the water. Five years later, in March of 2003 South Korea issued a report, covered in the Anchorage Daily News, “claiming fragments of a North Korea missile warhead had been found in Alaska, [that] left state, federal and military officials [in Alaska] puzzled.

The Korea Times, a major Korean newspaper, said a delegation from South Korea's National Assembly had released a new report on the region's current showdown over nuclear weapons and missiles. The newspaper quoted a former Japanese foreign minister's words in the report that "the last piece of a missile warhead fired by North Korea was found in Alaska."

The Japanese official, Tara Nakayama, cited a U.S. document as his source.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Tuesday he's never heard of such a thing. Neither had Chris Nelson, the state's missile defense coordinator.

Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, said the report probably referred to a three-stage missile tested by North Korea in 1998.

"It splashed in the water hundreds of miles from Alaska," Lehner said. "I've never heard of any piece of a missile landing in Alaska from that test or any other test."

This is News—But With a History

North Korea has been at this for a long time. And the question some have been raising about the relationship between Pyongyang and the states in the Middle East (notably Iran), is not new either. And history indicates concern is warranted. For example, in l992, Us News & World Report noted, “A North Korean ship laden with up to 100 Scud-C missiles departs North Korea bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas; half of the delivery is to be transported overland to Syria, the other half is to go to Iran.
Charles Fenyvesi, ed., US News & World Report, 9 November 1992, p.30.” A chronology published by the Center for Non Proliferation Studies, which maintains data bases and conducts research about global proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

“Star Wars” Meant More than Darth Vader

Ronald Reagan, President of the United States from l981-1989, gave what became known as the “Star Wars” (Strategic Defense Initiative) speech. The speech (March 23, l983) included a section added in his own handwriting, "I call upon the scientific community who gave us nuclear weapons to turn their great talents to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete."

Some pointed out that Star wars “The "Star Wars" missile defense echoed a Reagan movie role 40 years earlier: he played an American agent with an "Inertia Projector" that could paralyze enemy planes on approach. Better yet, the Star Wars shield idea hinted at a break from the MAD policy of deterrence.

Mutually Assured Destruction was no defense; just a promise that we'd do to them what they did to us....”

And, if you’ll forgive the expression in the context of Pyongyang’s upcoming test, “So it goes.”

Here's news: Chavez gets his own Kalishnakov Factory.

2006-06-18T23:23:00.000-04:00

Great. It's like reading that the neighborhood bully got a membership in Gold's Gym for his birthday. Perfect. Just what we need. Hugo Chavez will be building assault rifles. Why don't we just go ahead and give Iran nukes, Fidel the right to sell heroin in Miami and Osama bin Laden the flight itineraries for Air Force 1.

From the AP:

"CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez's plans to build the first Kalashnikov factory in South America are stirring fears Venezuela could start arming his leftist allies in the hemisphere with Russian assault rifles.

Chavez denies such ambitions, saying his government bought 100,000 Russian-made AK-103 assault rifles and a license from Moscow to make Kalashnikovs and ammunition to bolster its defenses against "the most powerful empire in history" - the United States.

Some political opponents and critics suspect Chavez, a former paratrooper, has other intentions, such as providing allies such as Bolivia with arms while forging an anti-Washington military alliance."

Things are getting crazier by the minute in this world.

I Question Rep. Murtha's Patriotism

2006-06-17T16:48:00.000-04:00

The New York Times, as usual, did their "cherry picking" of House of Representatives debate yesterday.

"Many Democrats in the House, most notably Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, have been urging a timetable for the speedy withdrawal of most American combat troops from Iraq."

I make the the following statements:

1. John Murtha is a mercenary vote hunter who has no honor.

2. John P. Murtha is not a patriotic American.

The most sickening of Democratic strategies is to find the 10 or 12 rabid liberals who actually served in the U.S. military and use them as mouthpieces for violently anti-war positions. Yes, violently. They certainly don't appeal to reason.

The notion that wearing the American uniform is equal to patriotism is a democratic theme of late, which disregards that the most notorious traitor in American history wore the uniform (Benedict Arnold), while patriots like Jefferson, Franklin and many others NEVER fired a shot in anger. It is time to call that hateful, nasty, American hating Murtha out. You, Representative Murtha, are a disgrace to the office that you hold.

And for the record, you, Representative Murtha, do not own that office, you were entrusted with it. You can damage its image as much as you like, but it will be repaired someday. You have a right to say whatever you wish to say. You can DECLARE OUR SOLDIERS GUILTY before their trials, but WE CAN CALL YOU WHAT YOU ARE. You are a cowardly, snivelling little man and you'll someday be seen for what you are. Don't hold your breath about being seen in the history books, though.

History forgets the losers. There, I had to get that out of my system.

Please Pardon the Mess on Histeree Now

2006-06-17T15:08:00.000-04:00

I've been working on expanding Histeree Now to 3 columns so that I can add a full column of news, but it hasn't worked well yet. I've returned the blog to it's original style while I monkey with the html. Sorry for the flip flops.

Sheesh, you'd think I was a Democratic Presidential Nominee...

Somalia brings back memories of "Nation Building" Debate

2006-06-16T23:24:00.000-04:00

From the Associated Press:

"MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- About 10,000 opponents of Somalia's transitional government and its proposal for foreign peacekeepers demonstrated Friday in the capital, which is controlled by an Islamic militia accused by the United States of harboring wanted al-Qaida members.

It was the second public protest in as many days against the transitional parliament's Wednesday vote supporting the deployment of Ugandan and Sudanese peacekeepers to help the government establish stability and authority."

This brings to mind the debate about "Nation Building" in the 2000 Presidential election. George Bush, then Republican Candidate for President, was staunchly against the idea of enforcing order in chaotic nations. There was much debate about exactly what the United States' roll in this sort of work should be in the future.

Then there was September 11.

Most people have forgotten the debacle of Somalia, memorialized in "Blackhawk Down," when American Soldiers were killed while trying to police Somalia's chaotic situation. But the recent unrest in Somalia is a perfect opportunity to revisit what lessons we learned from 9/11. There are divergent views, but a couple of good discussions will shed light.

The United States Department of Defense has extensive resources available for analysis. WARNING: if you click the link, you're in for a long read because there are so many fascinating discussions.

The New America Foundation has a view of its own. Now the question that rings clear for me is this: Have we learned the right lessons? For instance, when President Reagan was shot, the lesson for some was that we need tighter handgun regulations. I think that lesson was the wrong lesson to learn. With that in mind, I challenge you to take a look at the work above and decide what lessons we should have learned in the last ten years with regard to nation building.

I am ambivalent. When I look at Somalia, I can't decide how we should act. I'm not sure that a "Nation" could be built there. But if Somalia is harboring Al Qaeda terrorists, do we leave them there untouched? What action do we take and how do we justify it?

Tough questions. I'm glad I'm not the President. He's got one tough job on this one.

Fidel Castro, Dead and Under the Radar?

2006-06-15T21:47:00.000-04:00

I normally spend time checking out the house cleaning articles that roll out each day. The reason is simple: big news rarely comes from nowhere. Today, I find this little tidbit in the AP late runs:

"HAVANA (AP) -- Fidel Castro's brother said the Communist Party will remain in control of Cuba if there is a leadership change, according to comments published Thursday.

Raul Castro, the island's defense minister and designated successor of his 79-year-old brother, dismissed claims that Cuba's political system would change dramatically after his brother is no longer president, saying the party would quickly fill any political vacuum." Read the Full Story from AP

Communists can't buy the groceries without a five year plan and they carefully seed the ground before news is announced. From a psychological standpoint, surprises are bad to communists. When the leader is elevated to a god-like status, he can't just suddenly die.

This little statement might just be the anouncement preparation. So I'd keep an eye on the Caribbean for a few weeks. Things might be changing. We'll see.

English Only Policy at Geno's Cheesesteaks a PR Ploy?

2006-06-15T02:55:00.000-04:00

This just in from the fever-swamp: Some are now saying that the Geno's controversy is a public relations stunt by the... you guessed it, the city. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations has a distinct function that only in the loosest interpretations could be seen to govern delivery of food to the public. The Philadelphia agency locator service outlines its function, it reads:

"The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) was established in 1952. The Commission is mandated by the Home Rule Charter to enforce the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance. The Ordinance prohibits discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, and the provision of City services. It is unlawful to discriminate in these areas because of race, color, gender, religion, age (excluding public accommodations) sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, and disability. In housing, it is also unlawful to discriminate because of marital status, the source of income, and the presence of children. In addition, the Commission reduces and prevents intergroup tension in Philadelphia, provides education on intergroup harmony and cultural diversity, and mediates disputes through its Disputes resolution program. The Commission has nine Commissioners appointed by the Mayor. "

The mediates disputes bit has only a tiny sliver of footing in the law. So the fever swamp sent out mosquitoes carrying the word that the city, desperate for tourism, wins out by a) looking like they promote progressive policies and b) drawing the praise to Geno's of a massively supportive public. The city wins either way. Oddly enough, that cynical view concedes immigrant bashing for money by the city and I think, of all the crazy theories, that one would make the most sense. After all, illegal aliens don't have a power base in the polls.

Some, among the most lunatic of the left wingers, say that right wing politicians fed the issue to the local gullibles to get a campaign issue on which they can't lose. Let me reiterate, there is no such thing as a right wing political issue that "can't lose" in Philadelphia, given reports of violence on election day. So we'll see what shakes out.

But at this point, it's a safe bet that the conspiracy theorists are not right. As usual.

Just Another Neocon With a Clue!: More proof the libs are wrong!

2006-06-14T17:20:00.000-04:00

Just Another Neocon With a Clue!: More proof the libs are wrong!

I meant to post this up yesterday and forgot. Here's a serious inside scoop, but with solid reasoning added in by THE NEOCON WITH A CLUE.

Way to go picking up on the paycheck Carnivore, a great heads-up I haven't seen elsewhere caught this well.

Iraqis fight for Freedom?

2006-06-13T16:55:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder how the war is going? If you watch the evening news or read the newspaper, you'd think that we were losing. Worse yet, you'd believe that we had almost no allies in the middle east. Think again.

"So what exactly was Lieutenant Ibrahaim fighting for? Why did he and countless other Iraqi nationals risk their lives and sacrifice their last full measure? I think I know. Every day, these brave people are shedding their blood and sacrificing their lives for a better Iraq in which a person’s worth is based on ability and results - not tribe, religion, or gender. They are doing it for a country in which the law not the whims of a psychopath and his cronies - decide the fate of the accused. They are doing it for a nation in which all groups big and small have a voice in the future of their people and country. In short, they are doing it for freedom." Captain K. Knox Nunnally sets the record straight.

Yes, the U.S. does have friends in the Middle East and they're fighting for the same reason we're fighting. For the ability to breathe free. To live without the oppression of tyrants. Want to be against the war, go ahead. Go ahead and say that we're losing.

The facts say otherwise. Other Iraqis say otherwise, even the one in the story above, though he paid a grave price. The war on terror can't be lost, unless we quit. I'm fighting not to let that happen.

The Flank is Growing

2006-06-13T16:41:00.000-04:00

I'll try to remember to keep the link http://histereenow.blogspot.com/2006/06/right-flank-newbies.html for the RFN near the top of my page. Welcome to those who have joined. I look forward to reading your work.

Right Flank Newbies

2006-06-12T22:43:00.000-04:00

So I'm trying to figure out ways to get involved with the blogosphere and it is tough. Running from blog to blog, finding people with whom I agree and reading their work, but also wishing that someone would read mine. Then I got this idea.

If you look around, you'll see all of these blog alliances. Well, what if there was an alliance where conservative newbies posted and read each other's posts, commented and encouraged each other? What if they recruited other newbies to join and read and post? I think the idea would work, but I need help. So I'm starting the Right Flank Newbie Alliance.

I'm inviting fellow conservative newbies to join me. All you have to do is take the logo in this post and add it to your blog (Please copy it and store it on your own page, so I don't overload) and add me to your blogroll or links. We will keep only members of the Right Flank Newbies under the image. Then send me an email and I will add you to my blogroll and you'll have a new reader.

Before you join, be willing to do these three things:

1. Read alliance member blogs every day (as many as possible).

2. Try to comment on as many posts per day as possible, but at least 1. Agree, disagree it doesn't matter. What matters is talking.

3. Try to find new conservative voices to join the alliance. If you want to do those things, grab the logo and let's get to work building each other up. Who knows, we might be famous some day. I look forward to hearing from you.