And keeping with the theme of New York blog-vixens: Karol of Alarming News alerts us to Daniel Okrent's last ombudsman column for the New York Times. Okrent takes the opportunity to get a lot off his chest, including a slam at Paul Krugman (quoted at Karol's) and this gem:

"5. Reader Steven L. Carter of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., asks, If "Tucker Carlson is identified as a conservative" in The Times, then why is "Bill Moyers just, well, plain old Bill Moyers"? Good question."

You tell 'em, Steve. "Bala Cynwyd" is proud of you.

Okrent's job goes to a guy named Barney who just retired from the Wall Street Journal's news desk recently. That shouldn't necessarily get anyone's hopes up that he's somehow ideologically conservative; after all, the WSJ editorial page's liberal columnist Al Hunt was recruited from the news side of their operation. Anyway, ideology shouldn't really matter for this job, although I hope he will be receptive to conservative criticism of the Times' relentless cheerleading for libertinism, socialism, and cosmopolitan internationalism.

Don't know what to say about Okrent's legacy. I don't see where he forced any major reform at the paper, but there's not too much any single person could have done. One of the things he regrets, according to his final column, is admitting that "of course" the Times is a liberal paper. Well, I thought that was a welcome burst of candor, though Okrent rues handing ideological critics of the Times that particular club.

But you're supposed to tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may. If people criticize the paper, at least it will be for being honest and liberal instead of being liberal and lying about it.

Posted by: seedubya at 04:08 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Blogger and DJ Dawn Eden has parlayed a series of defeats--including getting canned from her job as a copy editor at the NY Post for her pro-life views--into some victories including, apparently, a columnist job at the NY Daily News. Her first "Our Gal in cyberspace" column is here.

Plus, she apparently has a new beau she met through her blog. Career advancement, friends, romance--is there anything blogs can't do? (Whoa, I'm sounding like Hugh Hewitt.)

Posted by: seedubya at 03:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Oil-for-Blood mess is pretty complicated, and Saddam thrived on the ambiguities. Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard does the world a service by serving up a very readable primer on the situation: how it got started, how it worked, and why it matters.

This isn't a partisan article. Which is good because Oil-of-Uday shouldn't be a partisan issue.

I will point this out just to exercise the moonbats who flutter by here now and then: if you honestly think there is some unsavory link persisting between Dick Cheney and Halliburton, how can you fail to be outraged at the much grander, and more brazen, corruption between Saddam and the UN--criminal activity that snatched relief from starving Iraqis, that supported terrorist groups, that bribed world leaders, and that subverted and made a mockery of the very international institutions you hold so dear?

Posted by: seedubya at 11:39 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Traderrob at 07:14 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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(Ponchatoula, Louisiana) The FBI, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office, the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Ponchatoula Police Department are investigating allegations of cult-like deviant practices, including sex with children and animals, by members of the Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula. Thus far, the following eight people have been arrested and charged.

Austin Bernard III, 36, was charged with allegedly forcing a girl under the age of 13 to perform a sex act and admitted to knowing about alleged sexual acts involving children, dogs and cats that occurred at Hosanna Church.

Nicole Bernard, 36, was charged with aggravated rape of a juvenile under the age of 13

Paul Fontenot, 21, was charged with aggravated rape of a juvenile under the age of 13.

Deputy Christopher Labat, 24, was charged on one count of aggravated rape, one count of crime against nature, and one count of malfeasance in office. Being a law officer, Labat was not put with the general prisoner population. He is, however, on suicide watch.

Louis Lamonica, 45, was charged with two counts of aggravated rape and one count of crime against nature after he confessed that he had sex with children and animals. The entire sex cult case broke wide open when Lamonica walked into the Sheriff's office and confessed. He is the former pastor of the Hosanna Church.

Robbin D. Lamonica, 45, was charged with one count of aggravated rape after a male victim told deputies that he had been having sex with Robbin Lamonica from the time he was 4 years of age until he was 13.

Lois Ann Mowbray, 54, was charged with obstruction of justice, failure to report a felony, and accessory after the fact to aggravated rape.

Allen R. Pierson, 46, was charged with one count of aggravated rape for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with a girl who was 9 or 10-years-old at the time. The victim is now 13.

Notably, the laws of Louisiana consider sex with young children a capital crime punishable by death. If the evidence is sufficient, Scott Perrilloux, the 21st Judicial District Attorney, may seek the death penalty. Execution shouldn't be inconceivable. The enormity of the alleged crimes is bewildering.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 06:59 PM | Comments (29) | Add Comment
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My e-mail is mypetjawa-at-gmail-dot-com. I don't really read my yahoo account anymore since I get about a bajillion pieces of e-mail there every day. And I don't have access to my university e-mail right now since it's a pop server. Further, until last night I didn't really have internet access since my wifi card decided to melt my computer down the very first night I got to the hotel so I've only read The Jawa Report like twice in the past week.

Grumbling indeed......

Posted by: Rusty at 10:26 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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So I picked about a gallon of loquats from a tree at church this evening. I don't know what to do with them. They're tasty on their own--kind of like apricots but citrusy--but we can't just eat a gallon of them. I can't just juice them because they have a large pit in the middle. Any recipes, ideas, etc. on what to do with loquats? ( I'm gonna juice a couple and mix it with some gin and crushed ice, and I'll let you know how that turns out.)

UPDATE--Gin and loquat--better without the loquat.

Posted by: seedubya at 10:52 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Ace is tired of the Pepsi challenge already. PepsiCo's ranting, anti-American CEO just didn't light his fuse the way it did for Hugh Hewitt or Powerline. And you know what? That's fine.

Ace had a brilliant entry a while back about the concept of keeping "Conservative-Kosher" and how he's kinda half-hearted about it. Part of the reason he drifted right into South-Park conservatism is the incredible number of stupid boycotts leftists frickin' HAVE TO DO OR YOU'RE AN IMPERIALIST PIG. Below the break, his example, plus a long rant of my own:

more...

Posted by: seedubya at 07:43 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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(Kabul, Afghanistan) After the fall of the Taliban, Shaima Rezayee, 24, immediately discarded her burkha and became a video journalist for Kabul's answer to MTV. In this capacity, she hosted an hour-long music and chat show airing videos of Western singers which outraged conservative Muslims. Two months ago, Rezayee was fired due to pressure from Islamic mullahs. This week, she was murdered in her home by an unknown assailant. The killing is believed to be linked to her time as a veejay.

Obviously, living in a democracy doesn't automatically guarantee freedom of expression.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 05:31 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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This week I:

Atended a speech delivered by the President. Very cool since I had no idea he was going to be the key note speaker.

Met two U.S. Senators, including John McCain. The other Senator was decent enough to chat with my students for awhile.

Hung out with my Congressman for about 30 minutes too long while he blathered on and on with every liberal DNC talking point while claiming to be a 'conservative' Democrat.

Sat in on a Senate committee meeting in which Trent Lott looked incredibly bored.

Watched as John Lewis reminded a group of high school students that he was with Dr. King at the March on Washington for the bajillionth time in his life.

Was in the room as Justice Kennedy read the decision from the bench that states could not ban the import of wine---Thomas and Breyer passed notes the whole time.

Had to sit through the Junior Senator from California blathering on and on about 'extremist Republican judges' from the gallery.

Was overheard on the Hill commenting, upon passing Norm Coleman in the halls, that his wife was hot.

Had two half-smokes, three all beef kosher hot dogs, and four Mt. Dews off street carts.

Told a lobbyist representing the rent-to-own furnishings industry that his business was immoral and predatory. I take it Congressional aids aren't so forward as he stormed off in a huff.

Saw the Nationals beat the Brewers. Several yuppified liberals moved because we were beeing a tad bit too obnoxious. Don't you just love liberals-- always fighting for the 'common man' but can't stand to be near any of them.

Witnessed the head of the Israeli Air Force lay a wreathe at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Cried as I found my grandfather's name at the new WWII memorial.

Cried again at the Holocaust Museum.

And again reading the Second Innaguaral enshrined on the walls of the Lincoln memorial.

Noticed that the Human Rights Campaign building is right across the street from the YMCA. How prosaic.

Missed my family desperately.

This town is so shallow. This town is so deep. The history I love, the politics and the people I hate.

I'll see some of you tomorrow about 8 p.m. E-mail me for directions.

Posted by: Rusty at 05:16 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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It's called"transferrence"(TF) and the MSM is in full TF mode. Crappergate has resulted in the deaths of two dozen people. There are clearly two parties that bear reponsibility for creating the circumstances that led up to this tragedy but are being ignored in favor of their favorite whipping boy, GW.

It has become the prevalent modus operandi for the left to transfer blame from truely guilty to those of their choosing and the MSM for the most part have been complicit in these efforts. It's been going on for years and it's integral to the rationalization and justification of their agenda. The most long standing example of this is their take on crime and criminals. "We can't blame the poor black teen for gunning down 3 people in the street. We must blame the truely guilty, the evil white capitalist who has forced this child into a life of poverty, frustration and violence. We must not hold him accountable, but, rather society and ultimately ourselves for creating an environment by which we produced such a an individual."

Fast forward to Crappergate. It's not the fault of Newsweek for shoddy reporting, nor of the Muslim clerics who daily whip their followers into a frenzied bloodlust ready to rampage at the slightest provocation. No, it's the Bush administrations fault for going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq thereby enflaming the passions of the Muslim world against us. It's our callous attitude and intolerance toward the religion of peace and our efforts to elevate our interests above those who would choose to kill us that are truely responsible for the these deaths. It's the fault of the Bush administration, society and ultimately ourselves.

What a steaming cowpie. The radical Muslim world has had it out for us before George Bush had the faintest glint in his eye to run for President. It started when we chose to support Israel in the Middle East and has been festering increasingly ever since. The Muslim terrorist's have been bombing our facilities and killing our people across the globe for decades and it has to do with who we are and what we stand for. The only thing that will change their attitude toward us is to change the very core of ourselves as a people.

Maybe that's what the MSM really feels is neccessary. That we as a people discard our current set of morals, values and beliefs in favor of a more "worldly"concoction, one of their choosing. That we subjugate our interests to the interests of the world. That we quit making them mad. After all it's our fault, if we would just quit irritating them, they would leave us alone maybe even learn to love us.

Personally, I'll continue to place the blame where it belongs. This approach may not ultimately result in a worldwide rendition of Kumbaya but, that's OK, I can't sing anyway.

Posted by Traderrob

Posted by: Traderrob at 09:08 AM | Comments (36) | Add Comment
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Oh yeah. I've been waiting too long for it to come out, and it's a masterpiece. Seriously. Worth every penny. Conflict, tragedy, humor...The villains are venal and nasty. I especially liked the confrontation with that gray shaggy beast. The direction is good; it's long, but pretty much every part is necessary. (A little cheesy at the end, kinda hammers home the point too hard, but I'll forgive that.) And while it's not subtle, it's not trying to be, you know? There's a lot to think about here--the loss of liberty, human nature, the corrupting illusion of perfection--this one's pretty deep, folks.

What? The Sith? F--- that noise. I'm talkin' about the new Bill Whittle essay: Sanctuary, Part One and Part Two.

A new Whittler should be an event in the rightish Immedia like the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau in November--a tasty good reason for a party. It's long, though, so if you are reading this from work, do yourself a favor: print it out, and take it home, and Sunday night instead of watching some crap on TV, pour yourself a double bourbon, settle back into a comfy chair, and enjoy it.

Posted by: seedubya at 05:04 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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By Demosophist

There's something about ths piece from the New York Times Op/Ed page that just got me riled up, and I had to tackle it. I don't really have a problem with the basic thesis that terrorism, and even suicide terrorism, is a rational strategy. But I really do not like what Professor Pape does with that, at all.

Blowing Up an Assumption
By ROBERT A. PAPE
Published May 18, 2005
Chicago
MANY Americans are mystified by the recent rise in the number and the audacity of suicide attacks in Iraq.

Posted by: Demosophist at 02:30 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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I just got home from school, and now I'm leaving to go see Star Wars. Or maybe I should say, stand in line to go see Star Wars.

I mean, I love you kids and all, but we do have our priorities... ;-)

Posted by: Suzanne at 05:43 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This time it's ABC.

Historical perspective:

The filibuster has been used historically by the minority party, which can't win with a vote count. Democrats have opposed the filibuster before — in the 1960s, they accused Republicans of using it to block civil rights legislation.

According to the Senate Historical Office, the record for the longest individual speech is held by the late Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. To keep the floor, he read some of his wife's recipes and passages from novels out loud.

Not historical perspective, historical revisionism. In 1957 Strom Thurmond was a Democrat. Robert Byrd was at the forefront in pushing for the defeat of the Civil Rights act.

The Republicans joined with northern and western democrats to overcome the attempt of Southern Democrats to defeat this legislation through use of the filibuster . Some notable Democrats spearheading this effort: Al Gore Sr, William Fulbright, Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond. It was Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, who had enlisted the Republican votes that made cloture a realistic option.....

Don't be misled by the MSM. It WAS NOT the Republicans who invoked the filibuster to stymie civil rights, it was a regional fight with for the most part Southern Democrats the driving force behind it's usage.

Posted by Traderrob

Update:Thanks to Gordon at Cranky Neocon we discover that ABC pulled this paragraph....

"Democrats have opposed the filibuster before — in the 1960s, they accused Republicans of using it to block civil rights legislation."

Has it ever crossed their mind to be truthful and accurate the FIRST time.

Posted by: Traderrob at 01:41 PM | Comments (24) | Add Comment
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By Demosophist, (while Rusty is living it up in Adams-Morgan and forgetting to tell me where to meet him.)

Well, I'm frankly puzzled by this whole Koran-flushing thing.  I understand how a people steeped in a vengeful literature for a thousand years might get upset when a few red infidels use laser-guided bombs to blow up their neighborhoods while we're liberating them from tyranny.  And I grasp the idea of the shame of a proud people when inferior mongrel troops are sent into a place like Fallujah or Ramadi to uncover baby Auschwitz slaughterhouses with shaky plaintive notes from the victims scrawled on the walls in their own blood, or when we bomb Baghdad in "Shock and Awe" while they stand on their rooftops so as not to miss anything, or when a group of our miscreants discomfit captives guilty of far worse, with the cultural indignities of plebe hazing.  I understand that, and it sorta makes sense.  But why do they wait until they think we might have flushed a [holy] book down the crapper before instigating an Ummah-wide lethal street uprising?  Why now, and not then?

Posted by: Demosophist at 01:33 PM | Comments (45) | Add Comment
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But...but... it's the Republicans who commit fraud and steal elections, Jesse told me so.

King County's absentee-ballot supervisor has testified that she collaborated with her boss when she filled out a report that falsely showed all ballots were accounted for in the November election.

Nicole Way said in a deposition Friday that she and assistant elections superintendent Garth Fell agreed to the misleading report because officials didn't know how many absentee ballots were returned by voters.
The regulations require counties to reconcile the number of absentee ballots returned by voters with the number of ballots accepted or rejected. Way's report showed perfect reconciliation because it simply added the number accepted and rejected to calculate ballots returned.

Elections officials now acknowledge that dozens of absentee ballots were misplaced and the votes not tabulated during the November election. The ballots were never counted as accepted or rejected.

Knowingly falsifying elections records is a felony..... Can you say butt buddy Mr. Fell ?

Posted by Traderrob

Posted by: Traderrob at 08:38 AM | Comments (39) | Add Comment
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Like, George-Galloway's-ego huge. It will be honkin' big.

Remember Eason Jordan, the CNN News Director who shot off his mouth at Davos, claiming that US troops were targeting and killing journalists? Yeah, you know the guy, he had absolutely nothing to back that up (of course) and the Immedia began howling for him to release the tape of his remarks to clarify what he said. And the dude resigned rather than give up the tape.

Well, it's happened again. A local TV newsman named Mark Hyman has caught Linda Foley, the International President of the Newspaper Guild, making the same sort of scurrilous charges against our troops that Eason Jordan did. But unlike Jordan or Foley, Mark Hyman has the tape to back it up.

Of course Hyman probably would have just noted this on his local TV station and people would have said "My, that's awful" and that would have been the end of it, but the Immedia has now immortalized the story and is spreading the news right now directly into your brain. The bodacious, the audacious Bryan Preston of Junkyard Blog has the links, the scoop, and the analysis and I see a well-deserved Instalanche in his future. I see a well-deserved act of contrition and an apology to the troops in Ms. Foley's.

Speaking of targeting journalists, Ms. Foley's timing is amazing. Who would have thought the Mainstream Media could put two bullets right through its own foot in such rapid succession?

Posted by: seedubya at 02:38 AM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
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You really have to read to the end.

I am looking forward to his Screed-blog.

UPDATE! Marvin Olasky is On F'n Fire!

The head dude at the (evangelical Christian) World Magazine, has a spot-on column over at Townhall--the syndicated columns are just now working their way through the editing process tonight in the dinosaur media--which is good because it keeps the topic alive after the initial Immedia blitz. Coulter's is worth your time too.

Olasky's column is just a series of devastating rhetorical questions, of which this is my favorite:

-- If Newsweek journalists had been more knowledgeable about the likely reaction, would they still have run the story? The magazine on Oct. 21, 2002, ripped Jerry Falwell's riot-causing depiction of Muhammad as a "terrorist," since "Islamic fundamentalists are having a field day with these comments, which have been played and replayed throughout the Muslim world." Does Newsweek have a similar responsibility not to cry fire in a crowded theater?

Sauce for the goose, Newsweek. Sauce for the goose.

Posted by: seedubya at 01:11 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 -- If Newsweek journalists had been more knowledgeable about the likely reaction, would they still have run the story? The magazine on Oct. 21, 2002, ripped Jerry Falwell's riot-causing depiction of Muhammad as a "terrorist," since "Islamic fundamentalists are having a field day with these comments, which have been played and replayed throughout the Muslim world." Does Newsweek have a similar responsibility not to cry fire in a crowded theater? ~~~~~~ I don't get it. Jerry Falwell did something disrespectful towards Islam. (Muhammad as a terrorist) Newsweek reported on something that was disrespectful towards Islam. (Toilet & Quran) How is reporting on something that was disrespectful to Islam the same as doing something disrespectful towards Islam? The Newsweek story is simply an article that shows questionable practices are *still* being continued by US personnal in US Miltary prisons. Even after the scandal of Abu Ghraib. I see the Middle East protests over this indicident as the straw that broke the camel's back.

Posted by: puzzled at May 19, 2005 03:12 AM (moq9v)

2 puzzled, And I am puzzled too. How is blogging on something that is already reported the same as living real life. I don't know. And yet some of these people seem convinced that they are breathing life into stories. It all smacks of "creationism" if you ask me, and you know how some bloggers feel about that.

Posted by: Republican at May 19, 2005 09:40 AM (2jozM)

3 Creationism! Hahaha... Well, the world is flat too, and don't disagree with me or I'll burn a cross on your lawn. Pblththt. Long live the American Taliban!

Posted by: osamabeenthere at May 19, 2005 10:57 AM (WfZ6a)

4 When Newsweek's source admitted that he had misidentified the government document in which he had seen an account of Quran desecration at Guantánamo prison, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita exploded, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?" Di Rita could have said the same things about his bosses in the Bush administration. Tens of thousands of people are dead in Iraq, including more than 1,600 U.S. soldiers and Marines, because of false allegations made by President George W. Bush and Di Rita's more immediate boss, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, about Saddam Hussein's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and equally imaginary active nuclear weapons program. Bush, Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeatedly made unfounded allegations that led to the continuing disaster in Iraq, much of which is now an economic and military no man's land beset by bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and political gridlock.

Posted by: babler, inc. at May 19, 2005 11:25 AM (WfZ6a)

5 False claims babler. First of all, it remains true that Iraq did not account for all of its WMD programs as it was obligated to. The Iraq Survey Group did find a lot of undisclosed facilities, equipment, components and chemical weapons. Not to mention hundreds of tons of undisclosed uranium. The Iraq war was not justified solely on the issue of WMD's.

Posted by: Robin Roberts at May 19, 2005 12:21 PM (xauGB)

6 And how could we expect Newsweek to know that muslums in the middle east knew what a toilet was?

Posted by: MOG at May 19, 2005 12:32 PM (6FUZj)

7 False claims? Last time I checked the official verdict from our government was: NO WMD FOUND! CASE CLOSED! Then there was the very public joking Bush about the whole matter where he was mocking himself looking for them...I'm sure US soldiers appreciate that crap. As far as invading another country before it attacks us, wrong fucking country people! Maybe Bushie should have been obsessed with N. Korea who is about to start testing new nukes soon? Duuuuuuhbya. Oyster, I never use a real email address in here. Why? I don't like spam and value privacy. If anyone wants to pick a bone with me, do it in here bitches! My fingers aren't in my ears. I always read responses to what I write.

Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at May 19, 2005 12:53 PM (WfZ6a)

8 osamabeenvotin: There's a good round-up of the illegal things found, things not found, and holes in our current knowledge at this site: http://www.fishkite.com/notes/iraqiwmds.html Don't know how long it'll stay up. The keeper of that database might flush it with is next blog-restructuring. But it's still an interesting read.

Posted by: karrde at May 19, 2005 01:50 PM (60gek)

9 I'll check that link out. Thanks...

Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at May 19, 2005 03:06 PM (WfZ6a)

10 Oyster: Anonymous speech is the cornerstone of free speech. Are you against free speech? Just because someone doesn't want to leave a valid email address doesn't means their comments are garbage. It is the contents of the comments that matter.

Posted by: puzzled at May 20, 2005 03:30 AM (moq9v)

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Palestinians use Bible as toilet paper

Think Newsweek will want to do a story on this one?

While Muslims have responded with deadly outrage to the now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Quran desecration by U.S. interrogators, there was little outcry three years ago when Islamic terrorists holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity reportedly used the Bible as toilet paper.

Catholic priests in the church marking the spot where Jesus was believed to have been born said that during the five-week siege, Palestinians tore up some Bibles for toilet paper and removed many valuable sacramental objects, according to a May 15, 2002, report by the Washington Times.

Newsweek is under fire for a report in its May 9 edition that sparked protests and rioting across the Muslim world resulting in 17 dead, scores injured, relief buildings burned down and a setback to years of coalition-building against terrorists.

Posted by: Suzanne at 10:52 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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