John from Wuzzadem has the latest hurricane related pornography (I assure you, Safe for Work). Hilarity ensues.

On a more serious note, the media are treating New Orleans like Rome's Colliseum. There is a race to see who can find the most tragic stories, and then find some one to blame. A certain bloodlust underlies their coverage. What is even sadder is that we, the American people, love this coverage.

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I was pretty sure, from the way it began, that Bill Whittle's latest would make me even more depressed than I already am. But for some reason it had the opposite effect. I feel beleaguered by pink, but perhaps that's just part of the initiation into grey. One of many strangely uplifting passages:

So, on one hand, we have a very blue city – New York – confronted, out of the clear morning of a perfect fall day, with no warning – with a terror attack, and they march toward the sounds of screams and falling bodies and die by the hundreds. One the other hand, we have New Orleans law enforcement – also blue – whining about wet shoes and helping themselves to the happy period of lawlessness that followed an event that had been expected for no less than seventy-two hours.

In New York, we had a governor who got every available resource on the ground as fast as it could get there, and in Louisiana we have a governor who...cried. Governor, your job is to not cry. Your job is to be strong. We have plenty of civilians crying. You want to cry, cry in the car on the way home like everybody else did four years ago. Crying Governors, race-baiting mayors and looting police do not a Finest Hour make.

In New Orleans we have a mayor who left some 400-500 buses sitting fueled and underwater in the Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool saying that evil white conservative America was selling out his people within 24 hours of the catastrophe, from a safe and dry and adequately toileted location, while four years ago we had a Mayor who ran to the site of the disaster so quickly it is a full-blown miracle he was not killed when a building collapsed literally on top of his magnificent, combed-over head.

(Cross-posted by Demosophist to Demosophia and Anticipatory Retaliation)

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I've tried to stay out of the post-Katrina recriminations. I'm certain there's more than enough blame to go around. But I got in a discussion over at Ace's that points out a fundamental flaw in the "slow federal response" argument coming from the left.

Ace includes an excerpt from this article in Sunday's (yesterday's) WaPo. There is a bit of opacity about a key date here:

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the stateÂ’s emergency operations center said Saturday.
The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. “Quite frankly, if they’d been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals,” said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

Which Friday do they refer to in the bolded section? There are two scenarios possible here, and each with different implications:

Friday, August 26: The Feds, understanding the approaching enormity of the Hurricane, offer before landfall to federalize the response. And for political reasons, the governor says no. If this is the case, then the governor is clearly a fool and a blackguard. The offer was on the table to federalize the response and she refused it, then she blames the slow federal response she had forbidden them to launch.

OR

Friday, Sept. 2nd: Five days after landfall, Bush puts the order before Blanco and she refuses to sign it. This is a much slower response on the part of the feds than I find acceptable--though it is miniscule in comparison to the compunding imbecilities at the state and especially the local level--and it is far from the first move the feds have made. (UPDATE Nagin's new CNN interview, excerpted below the jump, also suggests this is the date.)

But then read the WaPo piece again. As Ace commenter Charlie Colorado pointed out to me: After whining for nearly a week about the lack of an adequate federal response, when a comprehensive one is offered, Governor Blanco refuses it. Not because of any reason having to do with the orderly evacuation and restoration of order in Louisiana, but because Bush might make her look bad. Meanwhile Mayor Nagin and the MSM are knocking the feds and Bush around like a pinata.

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Is China a natural ally in the war on terror? Yes. An Islamist insurgency is raging in China. China, though, has generally suppressed any news of this insurgency. Official statistics put the death toll at 160 over the past 10 years in at least 260 seperate incidents, but the count is probably higher than that. Much higher.

Last month we brought you word of a suicide bomber blowing up a bus in China (images and story here). While that act of terrorism was probably unrelated to the jihad being waged against Beijing, it did spur me to look into the matter. Days after the bombing, an old video was posted at a forum I frequent made by terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda who operate in China's East Turkistan (known as Xinjiang in Chinese) region. The video was apparently produced in Afghanistan, which borders East Turkistan, and was a call to arms against the Communist regime. The video was almost identical to a number of al Qaeda videos made around the same time.

This website, run by the 'East Turkistan Information Center', is a good source of information, but may have ties to the East Turkistan Liberation Organization. It is noteworthy that East Turkistan may have been the original Islamic state. The Islamic Republic of East Turkistan was establlished in 1933 and survived only three years. But this Islamic Republic was established 45 years before a similar state was established in Iran.

Today, China ran a rare story about it's internal problems with radical Islamists. Xinhua:

The "East Turkistan" terrorist forces remain to be the great terrorist threat to China at presentand in future, a Chinese anti-terrorist official said here Monday.

"In the last decade, the terrorist threats that China confronted with were mainly terrorist activities of 'East Turkistan' terrorist forces inside and outside Chinese territory, international terrorist groups and terrorists," said Zhao Yongchen, deputy director of the Anti-Terrorism Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security.

"The terrorist activities carried out by the three terrorist forces have not only jeopardized China, but also posed a threat toregional security and stability," Zhao said.

On March 27, 2003, the East Turkistan Liberation Organization hijacked a passenger bus of a Xinjiang company, killed all the 21 passengers and the driver and set the bus on fire with the bodies inside it.

The three terrorist forces openly summon the extremists inside China to carry out terrorist activities aiming at kindergartens, schools and government, or attack Chinese armed forces and government agencies, with means of explosives and poison.

The forces, he said, have also become part of the international terrorist forces. "They have close ties and even align with terrorist groups including the Taliban, the Uzbekistan Islamic Liberation Movement and Al Qaeda."

According to Zhao, many members of the "East Turkistan" forces have received military training in terrorist bases in central and south Asia and directly have taken part in terrorist activities sponsored by owners of the bases.

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Above: A flyer urging violent jihad being circulated in South Central Los Angeles obtained by KFI radio. I'm sure by jihad, the flyer only means internal struggle.

Recently, a group of jihadis connect to a South Central Los Angeles mosque were indicted on conspiracy to commit terrorism. That mosque, though, was Saudi funded and was clearly Salafist in orientation, not the radically racist Nation of Islam.

WND:

The Nation of Islam in Los Angeles is calling on the Crips and Bloods street gangs to stop fighting each other – and to unite in a jihad against the LAPD.

That's the essence of a flyer obtained by KFI News and circulated in South Los Angeles, calling on members of two violent street gangs to start a "holy war" against the police department.

The telephone number listed for the Nation of Islam's Los Angeles mosque near 87th and Vermont has been disconnected, but a check of a reverse directory reveals the phone number on the flyer is connected to the mosque at the same address, according to KFI.

The Nation of Islam's L.A. leader, Minister Tony Muhammad, has claimed he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by LAPD officers at the scene of a vigil for a murdered gang member.

The LAPD last week released an audio tape of some garbled radio transmissions in which they say Muhammad can be heard challenging officers.

The photograph on the flyer appears to have been taken at a news conference held just after Muhammad was released from jail. Muhammad and the Nation of Islam have not returned calls for comment.

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While this is not good news, it is important to realize that the U.S. had been pounding the town off and on for over a week. The town has been the center of fighting between a pro-government Sunni tribe and a tribe that has aligned itself with al Qaeda. No government forces are in the city. With no one apparently in control, al Qaeda has instituted harsh sharia law and is murdering citizens and closing down any business that sells anything that smack of Western culture.

Washington Post:

Abu Musab Zarqawi's foreign-led Al Qaeda in Iraq took open control of a key western town at the Syrian border, deploying its guerrilla fighters in the streets and flying Zarqawi's black banner from rooftops, tribal leaders and other residents in the city and surrounding villages said.

A sign newly posted at the entrance of Qaim declared, "Welcome to the Islamic Kingdom of Qaim." A statement posted in mosques described Qaim as an "Islamic kingdom liberated from the occupation."...

Armed insurgent fighters loyal to the Jordanian-born Zarqawi openly traveled Qaim's streets. The fighters included both Iraqis and foreigners, including Afghans The foreign-led fighters hung rooftops with Zarqawi's al-Qaeda banner of black backgrounds with a yellow sun.

Shops selling CDs, a movie theater and a women's beauty parlor were newly burned, apparently targeted by Zarqawi's group under its strict interpretation of Islamic law.

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Hammasa Kohistani has become the first Muslim to crowned Miss England. Pics below. She's quite a dish. Thanks to Flea's prurient interests for finding this one.

A good sign? Yes. This is the build up to the Miss Universe pageant which is known as quite a racy event. In even better news: four of the finalists were Muslim.

But what about the swimsuit competition? Expect a mixed reaction ranging from delight by more progressive Muslims to horror and a fatwa by more conservative groups.

Washington Times:

An 18-year-old Uzbekistan native has become the first Muslim to wear the Miss England tiara.
Hammasa Kohistani, 18, was selected at Liverpool's Olympia Theatre from a group of 40 beauties to represent England in the Miss World championships, Sky News reported Sunday....

Kohistani said she was happy to be making history as Britain's first Muslim beauty queen and added, "hopefully, I won't be the last."

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So a Muslim woman has an affair with a Christian man and how does the family react? Murder their own daughter and then round up a couple of hundred thugs to march to the neighboring Christian town and then start burning down houses. I have a great idea, let's give these people their own country and army!

What most Muslims do not know themselves, so immersed in a false history which portrays a past Islamic Utopia broken only by Western Imperialism and Zionism, is that pograms against Christians and Jews were not uncommon events during the past thousand years of Muslim domination in the region.

JPost:

Efforts were under way on Sunday to calm the situation in this Christian village east of Ramallah after an attack by hundreds of Muslim men from nearby villages left many houses and vehicles torched.

The incident began on Saturday night and lasted until early Sunday, when Palestinian Authority security forces interfered to disperse the attackers. Residents said several houses were looted and many families were forced to flee to Ramallah and other Christian villages, although no one was injured.

The attack on the village of 1,500 was triggered by the murder of a Muslim woman from the nearby village of Deir Jarir earlier this week. The 30-year-old woman, according to PA security sources, was apparently murdered by members of her family for having had a romance with a Christian man from Taiba.

"When her family discovered that she had been involved in a forbidden relationship with a Christian, they apparently forced her to drink poison," said one source. "Then they buried her without reporting her death to the relevant authorities." ...

"More than 500 Muslim men, chanting Allahu akbar [God is great], attacked us at night," said a Taiba resident. "They poured kerosene on many buildings and set them on fire. Many of the attackers broke into houses and stole furniture, jewelry and electrical appliances."

With the exception of large numbers of PA policemen, the streets of Taiba were completely deserted on Sunday as the residents remained indoors. Many torched cars littered the streets. At least 16 houses had been gutted by fire and the assailants also destroyed a statue of the Virgin Mary.

"It was like a war, they arrived in groups, and many of them were holding clubs," said another resident.

"Some people saw them carrying weapons. They first attacked houses belonging to the Khoury family [looking for the man who had the affair with the women, not realizing he had already fled the village.] Then they went to their relatives. They entered the houses and destroyed everything there. Then they tried to enter the local beer factory, but were repelled by PA security agents. The fire engine arrived five hours later."

Col. Tayseer Mansour, commander of the PA police in the Ramallah area, said his men arrived late because of the need to coordinate their movements with the IDF. "The delay resulted in the torching of a number of houses and cars in the village," he said.

Related let's give these guys a state news: Huge explosion rocks Gaza strip. May I suggest to Bill Quick that a more likely explanation is that Hamas bombers are generally retards?

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Professor Chaos, Bill Dauterieve, and myself once thought about an acedemic symposium on South Park. We we're going to call our panel Life in a Quiet Little Podunck White Trash Redneck Mountain Town: The Rise of Libertarianism and Right-Wing Thought in Fictional Media. Of course, we quickly nixed the idea. Not academic enough.

But an academic conference on Bruce Springsteen? Now that's academic!

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I've made it back in one piece from the American Political Science Association's annual meeting. The highlight of this year's journey was finally meeting Steve the Llama Butcher who, to my great delight, never let out a single orgle. (Although I did hear the cry of 'yips' at the conslusion of his panel).

Mad Dog Vinnie and the other Jawa bloggers got together and told me that if I ever do any more lame APSA posts that they'll hunt me down, shoot me, grind up my remains, make sausages, and then send them to Wonkette in a Hilshire Farms gift basket. He was being seriously.

I promise, on the grave of my dead father Inego Montoya, to never blog a political science convention again. Unless there are strippers. That would make a good post!

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Jay at Stop the ACLU has the news on the shrewd political move. Roberts was expected to breeze through the nomination, and now he should also have an easy time being approved as Chief Justice. That is, unless Senate Democrats decide to throw a big stink into the situation.

They wouldn't do that though, would they?

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Go wish Dave at Garfield Ridge (original home of the "Nats Diary"--accept no substitutes!) a happy one year in business.

Dave's a great guy. Good analysis, weird links. And check out that Nats Diary!

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Coffee-it's what's for dinner:

Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released Sunday.

[snip]
In February, a team of Japanese researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that people who drank coffee daily, or nearly every day, had half the liver cancer risk of those who never drank it. The protective effect occurred in people who drank one to two cups a day and increased at three to four cups.

Last year, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that drinking coffee cut the risk of developing the most common form of diabetes.

Men who drank more than six 8-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes by about half, and women reduced their risk by nearly 30 percent, compared with people who did not drink coffee, according to the study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

And it tastes bettter than broccoli.

Hat tip: my mom.

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Yesterday I attended a panel at the APSA convention, chaired by Robert A. Pape, with the grandiose title: Suicide Bombing, Counter Terrorism and Mobilizing a New Generation of Bombers. From the title one might be forgiven for thinking the authors were sponsored by Al Qaeda or Hamas, but of course they meant to be ironic. And what, you might ask, does irony really contribute to such a serious topic? Nothing, I should think. But it probably makes the researchers feel better about their rather thin analysis. As one might expect (and with a couple of exceptions) it was a Bush-bashing party.

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President Hamid Karzai has signed a decree on behalf of the people of Afghanistan, allowing for the donation of $130,000 in disaster relief aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

It's small when compared to the amount of U.S. foreign aid received by Afghanistan, but it's the thought that counts.

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(Kabul, Afghanistan) Tourists Jun Fukusho, 44, and Shinobu Hasegawa, 30, both junior high school teachers from Hiroshima, disappeared on August 8 in southern Afghanistan. Their bodies, confirmed by dental records, were found Thursday in a ditch outside Kandahar. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, both "had been shot in the head point-blank."

While acknowledging that their deaths were brutal, senseless, and criminal, I have to seriously question the wisdom of touring Afghanistan while the country is at war.

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I added the Jawa Report to The Truth Laid Bear's list of blogs that give to support hurricane relief. With Rusty away, I semi-arbitrarily picked the Baptists as a recommended charity. I expect they'll keep sober. In fact the Baptists won't even have sex standing up--because someone might think they're dancing. But whatever reputable charity you contribute to, log your contribution here and tell 'em the Jawa Report sent you. (This is cool because, if nothing else, it tells people about the generosity of bloggers and blog readers.)

I'm afraid for some reason my own meager contribution didn't get counted--or actually that it got counted but didn't get noted in the Jawa file. So you be sure and make up for me.

PS And if you live in California, as I do, you're going to be sitting in the dust of your earthquake-flattened house some day soon, croaking with thirst while wildfires rage all around and a meth-crazed brigade of Latin Kings bikers carries away your womenfolk, and you'll be thankful you've set a precedent of charitable giving in time of disaster. (You'll also be thankful you invested in a surplus M14 and a thousand rounds of ammo, but give to the charity first.)

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I thought this WaPo review of the Constant Gardener was interesting. No way I'll see the movie; after falling asleep in The Russia Houseand groaning through The Tailor of Panama, I've given up on film adaptations of John LeCarre novels. They're awful. But it's interesting because the review starts with a long meditation on radicalism--specifically the distinctly uncomfortable, unsympathetic, borderline-mentally-ill personalities that are drawn to radical politics, and the way they show up in film:

This is actually a fairly common portrait in the movies. Think of the many other radicals the flicks have portrayed as loose cannons with messy lives, full of small treacheries against people while yapping moral triumphalism in favor of some mythical animal called The People.

Hollywood, the reviewer points out, doesn't make radicals particularly likeable. Even the supposedly heroic ones like Karen Silkwood come off as twitchy and priggish. And even friendly directors like Julie Taymor in Frida still make the title character seem like "a twisted sister off on a self-dramatization crusade, who used a bus accident as a tool for constant manipulation of those around her, turning many things into one-act plays starring her own self. Some would come away from that film thinking: She's not a part of the solution; maybe she is the problem."

The reason this reviewer likes The Constant Gardener so much is that it offers a different portrayal--a "countertheory"-- of a zealous radical:

...[F]ar from being a screwball angry at a vanished or indifferent parent taking her for granted, she has rational politics. They're cause-based, not anger-based. She's examined the policy, she's understood the science, she's read the documents, she sees the implications...[The film] holds that the radical is not a crazy hater who needs to tear down out of narcissism, to avenge her own slights. She takes no pleasure in destruction; it's that she takes no pleasure in injustice, and if she sees injustice everywhere, it's because injustice is everywhere.

Fine, the reviewer likes these noble, rational radical types. But that doesn't really comport with reality. I've known quite a few of these people in my short time on earth, and they're not pleasant. A desperate dedication to political change is unhealthy and often a cause or a symptom--I don't know which-- of a deeply disordered life. There's a reason Hollywood's attempted hagiographies of them can't make them seem likeable: they're not. The closer the films get to the truth, the less sympathetic their subjects appear. I won't be seeing The Motorcycle Diaries, but there's a reason they focus on young Che Guevara finding himself on a coming-of-age tour--because in later life, once politics consumed him, he was a doctrinaire, homicidal jerk who enjoyed shooting people who disagreed with him.

It's not just me and Hollywood that noticed this tendency of radicals--pick up a copy of Paul Johnson's Intellectuals. It's a historical account of the lives of people like Marx, Lenin, Brecht, Freud, even touching on Chomsky, and the way they actually lived. It's quite an eye-opener.

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In one of the few pockets of fighting, insurgents fired seven rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. tanks from adjacent buildings in the western neighborhood of Qadisiyah. A U.S. jet destroyed much of the block with a 500-pound satellite-guided bomb, commanders said.

It sounds like we really roto-rootered an insurgent hive in Iraq, and that's some much-needed good news. Apparently Tall Afar was a mini-Fallujah 40 miles off the Syrian border that had gone unchecked for over a year.

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I thought it was a pretty bad joke--but just as he predicted, someone else who isn't joking said the same thing.

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