Decision ‘08 » 2005

Archive for July, 2005

Monday, July 25th, 2005

Is It Too Late For Europe?

In the midst of the latest terror attacks, a new meme is circulating that perhaps it is time to be more aggressive in stopping the spread of the relaxed atmosphere that has allowed the rise of radical Islamic terrorists in our neighborhoods and communities. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Pete du Pont laments the […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

Republican Reshuffle

From time to time, I plan to revisit my odds to keep them fresh and as up-to-date as possible. Not too long ago, I did the Democrats, and now it’s the Republicans’ turn. Without further ado, then, here are my latest odds on the Repubican nomination:
Dick Cheney: 40-1Arnold Schwarzenegger: 200-1Colin Powell: 50-1Mark Sanford: […]

14 Comments » - Posted in Republican Candidates by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

More On Radical Islam and Terror

Are we or are we not going to permit (or perhaps continue to permit) the emergence, within our midst, of totalitarian Islam?
That’s the question raised by Paul Cella in this excellent piece at Tech Central Station (hat tip to Erick-Woods Erickson). I can’t go quite as far as Paul on some of his suggestions; for […]

8 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

North Korea and the Christian Right

Nicholas Kristof continues (concludes?) his series of op-eds on North Korea with another call for closer ties, a step I’m not prepared to endorse. Along the way, he again categorizes some of the horrors:
Koreans sent back from China have been herded like beasts, with wires forced through their palms or under their collarbones. […]

3 Comments » - Posted in North Korea, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

The Most Unsurprising News Of the Day (Week? Year?)

8 out of 10 French people think they are good-looking. Whaaa? The French? Arrogant? That’s the first I’ve heard of it…

2 Comments » - Posted in Foreign Affairs by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

Richard Cohen Channels MoDo

That’s the (correct) conclusion of Stephen Green of Vodkapundit fame, as he catches Cohen adopting the Dowd method of column writing: take two things completely unrelated, throw them together as if they are, and try to extricate yourself by column’s end. It doesn’t work for Dowd, and of course, Cohen isn’t up to the challenge, […]

1 Comment » - Posted in NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

When The Finger Points At You, Blame the Victim

Writing (where else?) in the Guardian, Osama Saeed, spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, declines to take any responsibility for what has happened in London, nor will he specifically condemn Islam’s role. Why? Because to do so would be to admit culpability, when we all know that there is no such thing as radical […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

And It’s Seven For Lance

Congrats to Austin’s own Lance Armstrong, who solidified his claim as one of the great sportsmen of the last twenty years with his seventh Tour de France victory. His comeback from cancer also assures that he is one of the most inspiring sports figures, as well. Great job, Lance…

2 Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

Who’s Killing The Iraqis?

When we hear figures of Iraqi civilian casualties from the war, whether it is the 100,000 figure from the widely discredited Lancet study, or the more agreed upon figure of 25,000 or so that has been bandied about by UN reports and Iraq Body Count, we seldom hear any breakdown of who, exactly, has been […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Iraq by Mark

Sunday, July 24th, 2005

The Summer of Their Discontent

Looking for a break from politics and terrorists? An amusing diversion is only a mouse click away, as New York magazine presents the feature Celebrity Psychos: The Year They All Went Mad. A sample:
Celebrities with dissociative-behavior disorder tend to behave in outlandish ways with no knowledge that others perceive their acts […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Weekly Jackass Number Thirty-Six: Frank Rich

Has anyone ever seen Frank Rich and Paul Begala in the same room? Seriously…because Rich might as well have ‘DNC hack’ stamped on his forehead. Rich’s subject this week, predictably, is the Plame scandal, but he has nothing to add (equally predictably), so he does his usual routine of slinging out everything but the kitchen […]

2 Comments » - Posted in NY Times/Media Watch, Weekly Jackasses by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Tidbits From Novak

Everyone’s favorite journalist is back with another column full of insider information, including:
- the assertion that Edith Brown Clement almost got the nod;
- a New Hampshire fundraising snafu by George Allen; and
- anti-Hillary Democrats talking about Bill Richardson (ha!) for President.
Say what you want about Novak, he’s seldom boring…

10 Comments » - Posted in George Allen, Bill Richardson, SCOTUS, 2008 News by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Nostalgic for MoDo

I’m not ready to join their ranks, but Sarah Vowell’s latest NY Times piece has more than one conservative actually longing for the return of MoDo. It takes a seriously awful piece of tripe to bring one to that level, but desperate times call for desperate measures…

7 Comments » - Posted in Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

On One-Trick Ponies

Larry David has a great life: riches beyond belief from his Seinfeld days, a hit comedy on HBO, a great wife - umm, scratch that last part. Laurie David just can’t shut up about the environment; it’s literally all she ever writes about. Her latest diatribe tries (with no empirical proof whatsoever, naturally) […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Celebrities / Pop Culture / Sports by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Egypt Toll Continues to Rise

At least 88 dead in the Egypt attacks at last count…not surprisingly, an al Qaeda offshoot is claiming responsibility. This has certainly been a deadly July in the War on Terror. Meanwhile, in the ‘reality-based’ community, nutjob Cynthia McKinney is holding ‘hearings’ on the Bush administration and its - guess? Mishandling of Iraq? Dismantling of […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

The March of the Apologists Continues

Ali Kazak, the head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia & New Zealand and Palestinian Ambassador to Vanuatu and East Timor, writes in the Khaleej Times:
The attacks against Muslim minorities and their mosques and schools in the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Italy and elsewhere, every time there is a terrorist attack […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Fun Facts About the Patriot Act

Here’s a little weekend amusement for you, care of Frank J. of IMAO fame: Fun Facts About the Patriot Act. My favorite is this:
* In a fight between Aquaman and The Patriot Act, Aquaman would be locked up indefinitely and then be forgotten. After years of solitary confinement, he’d begin to believe he has […]

No Comments » - Posted in Domestic Affairs by Mark

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Yep, It’s Still The Same Old Guardian

Via the great Tim Blair, we see that it didn’t take long for the Guardian to get back to normalcy after a rare bit of sanity. The affiliations of the Guardian’s sassy Muslim columnist Dilpazier Aslam were uncovered by The Daily Ablution, went essentially unchallenged, and formed the basis for Aslam’s termination, yet bizarrely, […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Friday, July 22nd, 2005

Terror, Again: An Ugly Day in Egypt

Lest we think terror only strikes at Westerners, we have the horrible spectacle of at least 45 dead and 200 wounded in Egypt. This episode is supposedly related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is why the ‘tolerant’, ‘understanding’ approach to terror simply won’t work. Is there any end of grievences? How […]

No Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT by Mark

Friday, July 22nd, 2005

At Least SOME Sanity Remains

The Guardian, the very left-leaning English daily, has done the right thing and sacked the columnist responsible for writing about the ’sassy’ young Muslims who were questioning authority by killing innocent people on public transportation. This came after Dilpazier Aslam was offered the opportunity to retain his job by quitting his membership in the anti-semitic […]