Pennsylvania Politics -- Santorum Gets Desperate

As he slowly sinks into obscurity Rickey Santorum is flailing about for something..., anything that will bring his poll numbers up, and in the process is dispensing with some of his "deeply held" convictions.

The Beaver County Times reports:

BEAVER FALLS - U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said Saturday that he doesn't believe that intelligent design belongs in the science classroom.

Santorum's comments to The Times are a shift from his position of several years ago, when he wrote in a Washington Times editorial that intelligent design is a "legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in the classroom."

Read it here. The Demagogue looks back at previous statements on the subject by the Senator and notes how radical a change in position this statement is [here].

Well, well now Rickey. Jettisoning that piece of unpopular baggage wasn't too hard, was it? What's next? Fighting the war on terror? Opposition to abortion on demand? Once you start the process of revising your principles, there's no telling where it will take you.

And just in case there is somebody left who hasn't noticed that panic has set in, we have the spectacle of an incumbent two-term Senator issuing a debate challenge to his opponent a year before the election.

Rollcall reports:

Sen. Rick Santorum has formally challenged his probable Dem opponent, Bob Casey Jr., to debates -- a year before the election.

Read the letter here.

Isn't that the sort of thing challengers are supposed to do? I understand the reasoning. Almost everyone agrees that Bobby Casey isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, and the assumption is that his mental deficiencies will be shown up in a debate. So far, Casey has been the invisible candidate, buoyed by voters' fond memories of his father's administration, and has done quite well staying out of the spotlight while Rickey flounders. Dragging him into debates, Republicans hope, will start to drive his poll numbers down. But that is a mark of desperation.

And, to complete the trifecta, Santorum has begun to criticize the administration's handling of the "War on Terror."

As the Inkie reports:

Americans have soured on the war in Iraq because they do not understand it as part of a long and necessary fight against "Islamic fascist forces" bent on destroying democracy - and the White House is partially to blame for not articulating the stakes, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said yesterday.
...

It was a rare if tempered criticism of the White House for Santorum, a conservative who has been one of Bush's most loyal votes in the Senate. Although he has taken on the White House on several issues lately, Santorum has mostly refrained from publicly criticizing the war.

After the speech, Santorum was more direct, telling reporters that the conduct of the war had been "less than optimal" and that "maybe some blame could be laid" at the White House. But the only specific mistake he named was how the war has been presented to the public.

Read it here.

There is a medical/psychological concept called "decompensation" [look it up, that way you'll remember it]. That seems to be what is happening to Rickey's campaign. It's still early, and anything can happen, but already I'm hearing from some Republicans that they are writing Santorum off and are looking instead to pick up a Senate seate in New Jersey to balance the loss in Pennsylvania.

Stay tuned.... Things are gonna get a lot crazier than this before the elections.

Jacques Chirac Channels Jimmy Carter

AP reports:

PARIS Nov 14, 2005 — President Jacques Chirac said Monday in his first televised address to the nation since rioting erupted more than two weeks ago that the violence reflected a "profound malaise" in France.

Chirac, speaking with a French tricolor and a European Union flag behind him, said that discrimination seen as a factor behind the unrest should be fought.

But he appeared to rule out U.S.-style affirmative action programs amid a debate over whether France's strict adherence to the principle of equality has caused it to fail in acknowledging and addressing racial tensions.

Read it here.

Ah, yes, the "M" word -- the final admission of total incompetence. When in doubt, blame the public. It didn't work for Jimmah, I doubt it will for Jackie.

Zarqawi Biography -- Portrait of a Monster

Sight and Sign is running a multi-part biography of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It makes for interesting reading [if you have a strong stomach].

Read it here, and here, and here.

Maryland Politics -- The Great Oreo Debate; Pot, meet Kettle..., Kettle, Pot.

The Baltimore Sun reports on a continuing dispute between Republicans and Democrats over an incident that allegedly took place during the 2002 Gubenatorial campaign. Supposedly, during an appearance at Morgan State, Michael Steele, then candidate for lieutenant governor, was pelted with oreo cookies -- an insulting gesture suggesting that he is not really black. Democrat activists now deny that any such happened and accuse Gov. Ehrlich and the Republican Party with lying about the Morgan appearance. Several prominent Democrats and black activists have joined in the effort to portray the Republicans as liars. Gov. Ehrlich has taken to the airwaves to denounce this attempt at "historical revisionism." Thus does state politics reflect the playground-level idiocy of the national party conflict.

Read it here.

It is apparent from the article that the crowd at Morgan State included a number of left-wing activists who were extremely disruptive, that oreo cookies were passed out among the activists, but that few were actually thrown. Steele himself says that he only saw one thrown on stage. Another participant, an NAACP official, admits that he heard that some students were throwing cookies at each other, but not at Steele. In subsequent retellings accounts of the incident have diverged. Republicans have exaggerated the scale of the insult. Democrats have denied that it happened. Who is the "revisionist", who is the "liar?" Beats me, I wasn't there, but I do note that each party takes a stance on the incident that reflects best on themselves. Clearly something happened that night at Morgan State, but whatever it was, it certainly does not deserve the attention it has been getting lately.

FLIP

Now this is cool! Play the movie of FLIP flipping.

Check it out here.

The Lost Weekend -- Part Three (Close Encounters With the Space Babes)

After the trails, food and fun. There is always a theme. This time it was "X-Files." And there were plenty of "strange encounters" provided by the Renaissance Players from Manheim. Here are some of the space babes. I would have included some of the "men in black" but they aren't nearly as pretty. I guess this doesn't really qualify as the "real world" but it's still better than blogging.

The Lost Weekend -- Part Two (Offroading In Coal Country)

Yesterday "She Who Must Not Be Named" and I went offroading with the Rovers up in the Anthracite region of Pennsylvania. We do this sort of thing a couple of times a year and it's always great fun. "She" loves testing her driving skills in rough country, and afterwards everyone gets together for food and festivities.

Damn, this real world is starting to get addicting.

The Lost Weekend -- Part One (Chocolatetown)

Not much blogging this weekend. Real life intruded.

I spent most of one day bushwacking up at our place in the mountains. The weather's been cool and mostly clear -- an ideal time for cutting out underbrush. It's a constant battle. If you don't stay on it the forest will slowly, but surely, overwhelm everything. So, it's death to bushes, vines, seedlings and shoots. Nice workout, but I'm still feeling it in my arms.

Fall has turned ugly. Just a couple of weeks ago the trees were gorgeous, with vibrant bright colors. Now, up in the mountains the they are mostly bare -- gray and dull brown punctuated by dark evergreens. When the sky is overcast, as it often is this season, the effect is just plain ugly. Soon all the leaves will be down and it will be time to clear them up. A lawn service guy will take care of most of it, but I want to get the brush cut out before he comes. Ah, the endess joys of home ownership.

"She Who Must Not Be Named" and I drove down to Hershey with some friends for dinner. Of course, with Christmas season coming up, we stopped by "Chocolate World" at Hersheypark to pick up this and that at the store there. After seemingly interminable browsing through the candy racks we left with several pounds of chocolate. Then on to the village of Union Deposit and Union Canal House for dinner.

It's an old inn dating from the middle of the eighteenth century that had its heyday during the first half of the nineteenth when it served traffic on the Union Canal, from which it now takes its name.

The Union Canal was part of a vast system of canals constructed in the US from the late eighteenth century until the middle of the nineteenth. The purpose was to link the commercial cities of the eastern seaboard with the rich interior of the continent. There was intense competition among the major cities, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, to be the first to linke to what was then called the "Northwest" -- today the Midwest. Of course, New York won that race with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825.

Pennsylvania's entry into the race was the "Main Line," designed to link Philadelphia with Pittsburgh and the Ohio valley. The Union Canal was an important element in that system, linking the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna rivers. The Main Line was never really competitive with the Erie for the simple fact that Pennsylvania had no water route through the Appalachian Mountains. What emerged was a system of local canals and rivers linked together in the middle of the state by the Allegheny Portage Railroad. The whole system was cumbersome and was soon replaced by railroads. The canals, however, did for a couple of decades provide significant economic stimulus to agricultural communities in central and eastern Pennsylvania. The village and inn evoke that marvelous era.

It was a pleasant evening -- good friends, good conversation, and well-prepared unpretentious food. Then home and to bed without any blogging. Aaaaah!

You know, blogging is fun, but I really should try to engage the real world more often.

Condi/Cheney Achieve Partial Victory at Mideast Summit

Mainstream Media Rule of Thumb -- In stories about the administration, always accentuate the negative.

AP reports:

MANAMA, Bahrain - A U.S.-backed Mideast democracy and development summit ended in rancor Saturday despite adoption of two initiatives that are part President Bush's push to expand political freedom in a region dominated by monarchies and effective single-party rule.

A draft declaration on democratic and economic principles was scuttled after Egypt insisted on language that would have given Arab governments greater control over charitable and good-government organizations.

Read it here.

Despite the negative tone of the piece, one that is evident in all MSM reports, the conference was not without positive results. The article notes:

Participants in the Forum for the Future session announced a $100 million fund to promote economic enterprise in a region where populations are growing and unemployment is often high for young men. The fund includes $50 million from the United States, with contributions from Egypt, Morocco and Denmark.
...
The conference also launched a $50 million foundation aimed at promoting democracy and political reform in the Middle East. Both initiatives were shepherded by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Liz Cheney, the vice president's daughter...

Liz Cheney! I had wondered what had become of her since the election.

Granted this is pretty small beer, but it is a step in the right direction and the negative tone of the overall coverage is certainly not warranted. The Egyptian objection to allowing NGO's to operate in their country without even registering with the government is valid and unremarkable, but that is what the MSM chose to emphasize, rather than the small victories.

Sigh!

Gateway Pundit is all over this story, making much the same point as do I, but he goes where the MSM dares not tread and puts the conference within the context of democratic change throughout the Middle East. He writes:

This was the second year that representatives from Middle Eastern countries met to build commitment to democracy in the historically troubled region. Since the countries first met last year there have been tremendous moves towards democracy and human rights in the region, including:

* Successful elections twice in Iraq
* Successful elections twice in Afghanistan
* Violence free (for the most part) change of government in Lebanon
* Democratic Elections in Palestine
* Pardons for jailed democracy reformists in Saudi Arabia
* Women rights guarantees in Kuwait
* Movement in Egypt towards reform
* Reform in Libya
* Historic talks between Israel and Pakistan
* Israel pullout from Gaza
* Massive Protests against Al Qaida in Morocco
* Protests against Al Qaida in Jordan

Surely, there is work to be done, but...
has the Mideast ever had a year like this past one?

Indeed!

Read it here.

UPDATE:

Condi has extended her stay in the region because there is a possibility that there might be a breakthrough on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

LA Times reports:

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Under intense lobbying from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel and the Palestinians edged toward an agreement today on opening a border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

The crossing, at Rafah, along Gaza's southern border, has been viewed by Palestinian leaders as an essential gateway for ordinary Gazans, and a potentially critical portal for trade.

Read it here.

Go Condi..., go Condi..., go Condi..., go Condi!!!

She did it.

Happy Birthday Penn!

On this day in 1749, inspired by Benjamin Franklin's pamphlet, Proposals for the Education of Youth in Pensilvania, a group of two dozen citizens of Philadelphia met to form an Academy. Their plan specified that the academy should be non-sectarian and should prepare students for careers in business and public service, rather than in the clergy. Franklin himself agreed to serve as President of the Board of Trustees. Two years later the Philadelphia Academy opened its doors and from that beginning grew into today's University of Pennsylvania, one of the great unversities of the nation, indeed the world. Here are some pictures of the campus as it appears today.

Chancellor Merkel, At Last!

At last, Germany has a government. Six weeks ago Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union narrowly defeated the Social Democrats at the polls, but the victory was so narrow that neither major party could form a governing coalition. At last, on Friday, delicate negotiations produced a "grand coalition" of the two major parties that opened the way for her to become the nation's first female chancellor [way to go gal!].

There is some question as to how effective the new government can be. During the campaign Ms. Merkel was widely seen as a German version of Maggie Thatcher -- a dynamic conservative who would bring major reforms to a stagnant economy -- but with her antagonists controling half the government ministries that is no longer in the cards. The New York Times reports:

Mrs. Merkel has survived a perilous passage to becoming the chancellor-designate since the federal elections on Sept. 19. Her party, which had once been expected to win in a landslide, finished in a virtual tie with the Social Democrats, requiring delicate talks to work out the sharing of power.

Mr. Schröder initially refused to yield to her as chancellor, before relenting last month. Then the negotiations to cobble together a coalition were jeopardized by dissension within the Social Democrats and the defection of one of Mrs. Merkel's most prominent conservative rivals.

Even now, the two parties must ratify the agreement. If they do sign off, as is generally expected, Mrs. Merkel would be elected chancellor by Parliament on Nov. 22.

She would emerge from that vote with half her cabinet - including the foreign, finance, and labor ministries - in the hands of her former political opponents, the Social Democrats.

Even more important, Mrs. Merkel has had to set aside many of her proposals for overhauling Germany's economy, including a simpler tax regimen; reform of health care and pensions; and a more flexible labor market. The Social Democrats objected to Mrs. Merkel's proposals to curb unions and to make it easier to dismiss workers.

Plans to restructure the medical and pension systems were also either watered down or deferred. And the Social Democrats succeeded in nudging up the tax rate for people with high salaries.

The result of all this compromise, critics say, is a coalition agreement that has as its boldest initiative an increase in the value-added tax to 19 percent, from 16 percent. The government would use the extra revenue to plug its vast budget deficit, which is in violation of European Union laws.

"This really gives no hope to anybody in Germany for political mobilization," said Claus Leggewie, a political science professor at Giessen University. "Germans would like one idea, one phrase, one catchword to encourage them. This is the lowest common denominator."

Other critics said the agreement would do little to recharge Germany's economy, which has been stagnant for three years. On the contrary, some say the government's plan to whittle down the deficit by raising taxes and cutting spending would further hinder growth.

Read it here.

This seems to fit a broader pattern throughout the West. The bold, often disruptive, initiatives initiated in the era of Reagan and Thatcher are running into ever stiffer opposition. In nation after nation the public has shown a disinclination to engage in radical reform, preferring instead to see small, modulated changes that for the most part leave intact the major institutional arrangements that have evolved gradually over the past half century. Witness, for instance, the widespread political opposition roused by Bush and Blair's bold initiatives in both foreign and domestic policy. These are great men ruling in an age that prefers complacent mediocrity. That is why a glorified hack like Bill Clinton remains so popular.

This frustrates those politicians and pundits, on both the left and right, who long for radical, decisive change and incites them to paroxysms of rage, but it fits well the needs of ordinary people who have organized their lives around existing institutions and arrangements, and ultimately, in a democratic polity, those are the people whose needs must be served.

Peter Drucker Passes

One of the great ones has passed away.

From the Financial Times:

Peter Drucker, the most influential management writer of the modern era, has died age 95. A spokesman for the Claremont Graduate University in California, where Prof Drucker worked since the 1971, said he died peacefully on Friday morning after a short illness.

Prof Drucker remained active until the end of his life. Earlier this year he was honoured with the McKinsey Award for the best article published in the Harvard Business Review during 2004. He had just finished collaborating with colleagues on a reworking of the ideas contained in The Effective Executive, first published in 1966.

Peter Ferdinand Drucker was born in Vienna in 1909. He took a doctorate in public and international law while working as a newspaper reporter in Frankfurt, Germany, and then worked as an economist for an international bank in London. He moved to the US in 1937 and began his teaching career at Bennington College, Vermont. For more than twenty years he was professor of management at the graduate business school of New York University.

Read the whole obit here.

Note, at age 94 he won the McKinsey Prize and had just finished a book at age 95. The only recent figure who comes close to that record for productivity and longevity is Jacques Barzun. Check out Drucker's resume here.

Happy Armistice/Veterans Day!!!!!

On this day in 1918 the "Great War" (what we now call World War One) came to an end. The armistice was signed in Compiegne, France on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year. Ever since some of us [admittedly an ever decreasing number] have marked the day with two minutes of silent meditation. I still remember a time when people bought poppies and wore them on their lapels to honor those who fought and died in the worst war ever.

There was a reason that this was called the "Great War." Nothing like it had ever been seen before. The casualty counts ran into the millions. Probably most horrifying was the fact that so many of those who came back from the war were permanently crippled both mentally and physicallyand their presence was a continual reminder of what war does to people. The war introduced concepts like "shell shock" and "basket case"[for quadruple amputees] into the language and was so horrific that an entire generation was determined to bear witness to it and pledged their determination that such a thing would never be allowed happen again.

And, of course, we all know how that turned out. So much for good intentions.

After World War II the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day and it is still observed today under that name. But let us not lose sight of its original meaning -- to commemorate those who died in a "war to end all wars."

The Arab Street Awakens

Die Welt opines:

Al-Qaida's triple hotel bomb blasts may backfire because the victims were ordinary Jordanian Muslims rather than members of the police, the army or royal family.

The money quote:

"Even diehard fanatics should now finally realize that the totalitarian nihilists of al-Qaida are waging a war against the whole of humanity, at least against all who don't want to bow to their demand for total domination."

On one level they certainly are right. The terror is increasingly nihilistic and the vast majority of the population throughout the Arab world have been disgusted by the excesses of the radicals. But that is not going to stop them. You don't need many people to sustain a terror campaign. The terrorists know that, and that is why they do not shrink from committing atrocities that horrify sane people.

Read it here.

RELATED:

Amir Tehari notes that Jordan has so far been pursuing a duplicitous policy of rhetorically supporting the US while in fact giving support to Iraq's insurgents.

The half a dozen or so groups that constitute a political facade for the insurgents have been allowed to set up shop in Jordan, hold conferences and coordinate a propaganda campaign against the elected government in Baghdad. The up-market quarters of Amman have become home to the Iraqi Ba'athist nomenklatura, including Saddam Hussein's several wives and daughters.

Jordan has always been a safe haven and playground for the Ba'athists. In 1990, the late King Hussein opposed the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. That encouraged Saddam to use Jordan as an extension of his Iraqi hinterland: He and his henchmen created shell companies in Jordan to beat the U.N. sanctions, taking over a couple of Jordanian banks, investing in real estate and laundering vast sums of money.

After Iraq's liberation, Jordan became a refuge for Ba'athist criminals and their families — who brought with them some of the estimated $500 million that Saddam's Vice President Izzat Ibrahim reportedly stole from the Central Bank in Baghdad before the regime's fall.

Since then, Jordan has emerged as a center for anti-Iraq — and, more specifically, anti-Shiite — propaganda. Members of the elected Iraqi parliament and government have become persona non grata in Jordan, while Jordanian diplomacy has worked overtime to isolate Iraq within the Arab League. Last year, Jordan's Vice-Premier Marwan Muasher prided himself in what he claimed was the success in "not taking sides" in Iraq....

Now, however, as a result of the hotel bombings, all that may be coming to an end.

Just hours after the attacks, hundreds of Ammanites had gathered on the scenes of the carnage to express horror and condemn the perpetrators. By yesterday morning, the crowds had grown to tens of thousands of people — shouting slogans that the Jordanian leaders, starting with King Abdullah II, would be foolish to ignore...

As cries of "Burn in Hell, Zarqawi!" reverberated in central Amman, speakers described Zarqawi and other Islamist terrorist figures (including the fugitives Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri) as "traitors and miscreants" and called for their arrest and punishment.

The demonstrations, organized by trade unions, attracted some of Amman's poorest people. This was a clear message: Islamism and Ba'athism may have support among Jordan's elites — but they are rejected by the people.

Until not so long ago, Palestine was supposed to be the cause that justified any abominable crime. Now Iraq is used for the same purpose. But one thing is clear: The Jordanian man-in-the-street does not believe that it is right to kill innocents in the name of any cause.

So, the fabled "Arab street" is speaking and it's message is "Burn in Hell, Zarqawi."

Read it here.

The Coffee-Shop Culture Wars

I used to get up early in the morning and walk to a popular coffee shop near my harbor home two or three days a week. There, my mind clear and fresh, I would read academic articles and plan my day's writing. There were others like me who frequented the shop and I got used to seeing them sitting alone, typing into computers or scribbling in notebooks, sipping a coffee or munching on danish. Nobody talked much, or even took much notice of each others' presence. We were there to get some work done. Of course there were always some talkers in the place, but they were generally quiet and non-obtrusive. I liked it. It was a comfortable -- a nice "third place" where serious people could do serious things.

Then a couple of months ago, the mothers came.

Each day around nine o'clock several young women with toddlers would come in and form little gab groups while their kids, unsupervised, would run amok. The moms were loud and their kids were louder. Within a couple of weeks all of the other writers disappeared, and so did I. I've now moved to another coffee-shop a couple of blocks away in a slightly less affluent neighborhood -- a place that describes itself as "funky." Needless to say tt's not as cozy as the old place, sometimes they have a TV on and the owner seems to have a thing for urban blues (not what I would choose for early morning), but it's better than hanging with the pre-school crowd.

This seems to be a general phenomenon -- an ongoing conflict between serious adults and young moms who are crowding them out of public places. The NYT chronicles the phenomenon.

CHICAGO, Nov. 8 - Bridget Dehl shushed her 21-month-old son, Gavin, then clapped a hand over his mouth to squelch his tiny screams amid the Sunday brunch bustle. When Gavin kept yelping "yeah, yeah, yeah," Ms. Dehl whisked him from his highchair and out the door.

Right past the sign warning the cafe's customers that "children of all ages have to behave and use their indoor voices when coming to A Taste of Heaven," and right into a nasty spat roiling the stroller set in Chicago's changing Andersonville neighborhood.

The owner of A Taste of Heaven, Dan McCauley, said he posted the sign - at child level, with playful handprints - in the hope of quieting his tin-ceilinged cafe, where toddlers have been known to sprawl between tables and hurl themselves at display cases for sport.

But many neighborhood mothers took umbrage at the implied criticism of how they handle their children. Soon, whispers of a boycott passed among the playgroups in this North Side neighborhood, once an outpost of avant-garde artists and hip gay couples but now a hot real estate market for young professional families shunning the suburbs.

Read the whole article here.

Attracted to some extent by the real estate boom, young professional couples have been flocking to urban neighborhoods in recent years. There they have been having kids and most of the mothers opt to stay at home. But that doesn't mean that they have to cut back significantly on their social life. They are determined to take advantage of the amenities of the city and as they do, they drag the kids with them. When they congregate, as they tend to do at coffee shops and bakeries, the place begins to look and sound like a nursery school.

Maybe it's just a temporary thing. The real estate market is cooling and soon the kids will be in pre-school or something. With luck peace will return, and so will I.

I first blogged this subject here.

Happy Birthday Marines!

This Day in History

On this day in 1775 the Continental Congress created the Marine Corps as a division of the Navy. I was in the Army but..., Semper Fi, guys!

Something to think about...

If you are one of those who dates the nation's founding from the Declaration of Independence, that means that the Corps is older than the country. Just a little reminder that the whole process of creating a country was a lot more complex than is generally appreciated.

Something else to think about...

Today also marks the execution in 1865 of Captain Henry Wirz, commander of the Andersonville prison camp. What did he do to deserve death? That's right! He mistreated U.S. prisoners under his control. Hmmmm.

For information on the Wirz trial and execution go here. [nice site]

Sulawesi Update -- Suspects Apprehended

Last month on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, Islamic radicals attacked and beheaded three schoolgirls. [Read about it here]

Now, at last, four suspects have been apprehended.

BBC reports:

Four men have been arrested in connection with the beheadings of three schoolgirls in Indonesia last month.

The Indonesian military said the men, who have not been identified, were being held for questioning.

The teenagers were attacked on their way to their Christian school near the city of Poso, in the eastern province of Sulawesi, on 29 October.

Jakarta said recent attacks on the island were an attempt to foment religious hostility.

Read it here.

Note that attempt to stir up religious animosities. America has had people like this too. Think of John Brown or Charles Manson. They were judged to be mad, but what are these monsters? There is a profound sickness in Islam that can sanction such atrocities as this, or the blowing up of a wedding party in Jordan, or the killing of school children in Beslan, or a thousand other vile acts and say that it serves the will of God.

A Love Letter to Condi

Check it out here.

Pennsylvania Evolution Debate Update -- The Voters Speak

The NYT [somewhat gleefully] reports:

All eight members up for re-election to the Pennsylvania school board that had been sued for introducing the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in biology class were swept out of office yesterday by a slate of challengers who campaigned against the intelligent design policy.

...

The election results were a repudiation of the first school district in the nation to order the introduction of intelligent design in a science class curriculum. The policy was the subject of a trial in Federal District Court that ended last Friday. A verdict by Judge John E. Jones III is expected by early January.

"I think voters were tired of the trial, they were tired of intelligent design, they were tired of everything that this school board brought about," said Bernadette Reinking, who was among the winners.

The election will not alter the facts on which the judge must decide the case. But if the intelligent design policy is defeated in court, the new school board could refuse to pursue an appeal. It could also withdraw the policy, a step that many challengers said they intended to take.

"We are all for it being discussed, but we do not want to see it in biology class," said Judy McIlvaine, a member of the winning slate. "It is not a science."

Read it here.

This doesn't mean that there won't be a judgment in the court case that brought so much publicity to the Dover district. Testimony there has concluded and we are awaiting the judge's ruling. But there is little liklihood of an appeal given the results of this election.

Once again the wisdom of the voters prevails over the silliness of the zealots, both secularists and religious. There is no reason why a discussion of the competing claims of religious and scientific authority should not be presented to students, but the subject need not be discussed in a science class. Ms. McIlvaine has got it just right.

Riots in France -- What to Do? Walter Laqueur Has Some Suggestions

There’s a fascinating new blog out there – one I highly recommend. It’s supported by Die Welt and titled “The Free West.” It is written by Dutch novelist, Leon deWinter, but recently features posts written by one of the most distinguished living historians, Walter Laqueur. Both are commenting extensively on the current crisis in Europe.

I have not commented on the Eurabian Intifada thus far because I have had a hard time figuring out why the riots are taking place. What is happening doesn’t fit easily into any of the standard templates we use to explain things. DeWinter explains:

The standard explanation is povery and unemployment. And it is of course true that the attacks came not on Boulevard St.Germain, nor in the 1th and 8th and 16th arrondissements but in the banlieue, “ la zone”—the outer suburbs. But it did not necessarily happen in the poorest places either….

Then it is said that it is all the fault of the government ( or governments), of many years of neglect. But in truth billions were invested in these suburbs and many of today's slums were reasonable, if not very beautiful, housing estates not that long ago...

Others say that it is all the result of unemployment and there is no denying that unemployment, especially of the young is very high, up to 40%. But—a curious fact:—Arab and African young women have no particular difficulty to find work, it is the problem of young males. Why?

How to explain that a great many of the Molotov cocktail throwers are thirteen and fourteen years old and for them the issue of unemployment cannot possibly be the decisive one.

Is it the negative impact of Islam? But many of the rioters are of West African origin and are not Muslims, and the young Muslims are not particularly religious, do not keep the religious commandments. They are sans foi et sans loi, as one of them put it—without respect for religion and the law.

Were the attacks systematic, planned and coordinated or were they spontaneous? This is not clear at all. There is no doubt that the “echo effect” played a role…, But some form of organization must have existed for even the production of the most primitive Molotov cocktails involves a certain amount of technical knowledge.

Why the concentration on cars and trucks? Well, the psychologists explain , a car is a status symbol , bombing a car expresses defiance of the establishment as well as envy.

This is all very well, except that they bombed also a great many schools , kindergarten, youth clubs and similar such places. According to observers not a few militants arrived on the scene on powerful motor bikes to carry out the torching—motor bikes which cost about as much as a second hand car.

Or was it perhaps the desire to have some fun and excitement with an admixture of the wish to cause destruction…?

I must confess, I'm just as confused as Leon deWinter. What is important right now, though, is not to understand the deep processes underlying the spreading civil unrest (that will be debated for decades), but to devise measures to contain it.

Professor Lacqueur notes that both the Euro- and the Islamic elites are failing to control, or for that matter even to comprehend, the developing crisis. This is beyond their understanding or experience. He suggests that after the restoration of order the French government undertake a program of "positive discrimination" [indistinguishable so far as I can see from America's "affirmative action" programs] and PC censorship that will eliminate from the language terms that offend Muslims.

As irritating and offensive as such programs have been in the US [and they certainly are], they have been an effective response to the urban disorder of the 1960's, which in many ways resembles what is going on in France today. These programs have promoted the creation of an ever-growing Black middle class that [importantly] is dependent on government action for its continued existence and therefore subject to government control. They have split the disaffected Black population along class lines and enlisted the Black middle class in an effort to promote responsible behavior among the Black lower classes. By enabling Black "race hustlers" like Jesse and Rev. Al to jerk around White dominated institutions almost at will, they have provided American Blacks with at least the illusion, if not the substance, of real power. The result has been to restore order and a degree of racial harmony to a nation that forty years ago seemed to be coming apart at the seams, as Europe does now.

RELATED:

James Lileks feels much the same as do Mr. deWinter and I regarding the riots. He writes:

I’ve been hesitant to say boo about the French situation, since I actually think this is not Pure Undistilled Jihad-O-Rama, but something more complex; I mean, just because there’s an economic underclass aspect to it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have religious roots, but just because it does have religious roots doesn’t mean it’s not a blend of ethno-cultural identity politics mixed with racism and economics. Which doesn’t mean it’s not, etc. You can go on all day and settle nothing; meanwhile, cars burn. We are dealing with a Gordian Wad here. At least with a knot you can see the individual strands.

Of course, what seems complex and muddled to us is very clear to the rioters. They have the West’s number, and it’s pi: endlessly irresolute.

Read it here.

Of course, to an historian, confusion is a challenge. The French situation is more complex than any of the standard templates will allow, which makes it a challenge to our easy assumptions that we understand how the world works. Things that don't quite fit our preconceptions are valuable because, if we are serious about historical inquiry, they make us reconsider our cherished beliefs and search for better answers.

Blogging from Wegmans

A Wegman's market recently opened in Hunt Valley [home of Firaxis, maker of the superb "Civilization" games] north of Baltimore. It has changed area shopping patterns dramatically. I know many people who drive all the way out from the Harbor just to shop here. One of them is "She Who Must Not Be Named." I'm not much of a shopper, but I gotta admit that this is the way to go shopping. (or, to be more accurate, to sit and blog while "She" shops)

David Brooks on "Getting In"

David Brooks has a wonderful review in the Sunday New York Times in which he faces head-on some major developments of twentieth century American culture that, while blatantly obvious, could not until now be discussed in polite company. Basically, he's writing about the rise of the "meritocracy" that displaced the WASP elite after WWII. He notes:

1) the dominant role played by Jews in promoting this shift in values.

For the Jews were the vanguard of a social movement that over the course of the 20th century transformed the American university system and the nature of the American elite.

2) universities are not neutral arbiters -- they adopt positions that tend to be self-serving

[A]t any given moment the universities tend to gravitate toward the definition of merit that best helps them preserve their status as prestigious, rich and powerful institutions.

3) the new "meritocratic" elite is consciously attempting to become self-perpetuating.

As time goes by, it becomes more and more clear that the meritocrats are doing exactly what the WASPS did, rigging admissions criteria to favor the qualities they and their children are most likely to possess.

One important omission in Brooks' discussion is the recent challenge to the "meritocracy" on the part of black and hispanic minorities by way of affirmative action programs.

A few of random thoughts.

Much of the overt hatred of Dubya is rooted in the "meritocrats" disdain for their old WASP antagonists.

The Harriet Miers nomination ripped the scab off these old animosities and exposed a number of conservative pundits as meritocratic bigots.

I had once hoped that Nick Lehman's book, The Big Test, would stimulate a national debate over the benefits and limitations of meritocracy, but it didn't happen then. Maybe Brooks' article, appearing in the NYT will do it.

Brooks notes expressions of disapproval by WASPS regarding the number of Jews in elite institutions half a century and more ago. I have heard similar comments from the mouths of meritocrats in recent decades with regard to the number of minority students in their classes.

RELATED:

The Financial Times Deutschland, discussing the French riots, notes that France has a problem similar to that discussed by Brooks -- that of a self-perpetuating credentialed "meritocratic" elite.

The national education system purports to provide equal chances for all but in reality cements inequality. The elite universities churn out children from the same families into leading positions of industry and the civil service while the system doesn't provide alternative education routes for immigrants. People who take vocational training without attending university are still regarded as second class citizens.

Read it here.

Curse of the Iceman Redux

Some months ago I noted that sensationalist journalists [is there another kind?] had invented a "Curse of the Iceman" similar to the "Curse of King Tut's Tomb" that titillated readers early in the last century. [here] Well, they're at it again.

IOL reports:

Sydney - A sixth person connected to the discovery of the 5 300 year old frozen corpse of a man who became known as Oetzi the Iceman has died, fuelling claims of a curse surrounding the mummified body.

Molecular archaeologist Tom Loy, 63, was found dead in his Brisbane home two weeks ago as he finalised a book about Oetzi, The Australian newspaper reported on Friday.

The United States-born Loy, director of the University of Queensland's archaeological sciences laboratories, lay dead in his home for several days before his body was discovered.

Read the whole thing here.

The Australian has pictures of some of the curse's "victims." [here]

And the story gets the BBC treatment here.

Loy himself pronounced the whole thing "just superstition." He said, "People die."

Indeed they do....

I have a friend who was once a screenwriter. Have to talk to him. This one practically writes itself.

Pretty Poison, Japanese Style

From Der Spiegel:

A 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl was arrested this week for gradually poisoning her mother, who is now in a coma...

Japanese police allegedly found a Japanese translation of Anthony Holden's non-fiction book "The St. Albans Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Graham Young" along with powdered thallium and a severed cat's head in the girl's bedroom...

Although the girl's grades and general behaviour in school didn't alert anyone, teachers did say they were impressed by her interest and knowledge of chemistry.

Read it here.

There is no truth to the rumor that Eihi Shiina, star of "Audition," has been signed to play her in the movie.

Topless Protest -- There They Go Again

SF Gate reports:

SACRAMENTO -- Judge tosses a blanket on topless protest
Breasts Not Bombs told nudity not part of free-speech rights

Sacramento -- A federal judge denied on Friday a request from a group of Mendocino women who wanted to protest topless on the grounds of the state Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell said the group made no compelling argument that showing their breasts constitutes free speech.

"Being topless is not inherently expressive" speech, Burrell said. The group, Breasts Not Bombs, had scheduled a protest for noon Monday. The California Highway Patrol threatened to arrest anyone who went topless.

Sherry Glaser, a leader of the group, said the protest may take place without bare breasts.

"All we really have is the power of ourselves," she said. "Our bodies bring attention."

Group members, whose protest on the west steps of the Capitol is intended to contrast the "indecent" initiatives backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the November ballot with their "natural and decent" breasts, sought a temporary restraining order prohibiting CHP officers from arresting women who protest topless.

Read it here.

What is it with these people? Just when and where did the idea originate that taking off your clothes is an effective way to win political debates. I suspect it was in the "Sixties" when some of these protesters were young and worth looking at. Today, though, all too often they simply reveal the ravages of time on the human form and are unlikely to inspire anything in viewers other than bemused contempt or ridicule.

At least PETA, for all their lunacy, has the sense to prominently feature healthy young female mammals in their nude protests, but even there the response is more likely to be lust than political agreement. Nudity gains attention, but not the kind that is likely to be politically productive.

Jarhead -- the Non-Review

The days when I had to see and review and teach about lots and lots of films are, thankfully, long past. Now I can pick and choose [within reason -- "She Who Must Not Be Named" has a lot of input, hence I am fated, dare I say "doomed," to see the new Harry Potter movie on opening day] the films I will see and the even smaller number I will waste time reviewing.

One of the films I will not be seeing or reviewing is "Jarhead," directed by the insipid and politically moronic Sam Mendes [I still can't believe the critical acclaim heaped on American Beauty, one of the most offensively patronizing films of recent years].

Note: As I am typing this I am listening to Anthony Swofford reading from his book on C-SPAN. The prose is incredibly pretentious and tendentious -- but that seems to be what sells these days. Reviews I have read have called the work, "ambivalent" regarding the experience of Gulf War I, but it doesn't seem that way from the excerpts Swofford has chosen to read.

For a review from someone who knows what he's talking about and is definitely not impressed with Swofford and Mendes' portrayal of the experience of war read Donald Sensing's commentary here. [he liked the visuals, but little else]

If you want to see an good evocation of the experience of war see Mel Gibson's "We Were Soldiers". I saw that in company with one of my DC correspondents. We are both Vietnam-Era Veterans and the film brought back in extraordinarily vivid terms, the military that we had experienced long ago and far away. Don't waste your money or time on "Jarhead". I know I won't.

Note: Swofford just said in response to an audience question that he has not had any communication at all, either positive or negative, from any of the men he wrote about. I think that says a lot.

The History Carnival is Up

I'm a few days late on this, for reasons discussed in an earlier post, but the latest History Carnival is being hosted at Rebecca Goetz' (a)musings of a grad student blog [here]. It includes a lot of neat links -- Victorian halloween stories -- werewolves in early theatre -- early modern murders -- Genghis Kahn's offspring -- urbanization and suburbanization in US history [one of my favorite subjects], etc. In short, there's something there for everyone.

Check it out...

A More Peaceful World Redux

Last month I noted a report from the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management that traced a global decline in armed conflict, in autocratic regimes, in repression and political discrimination against ethnic minorities, and a marked upsurge of democracy. [My post is here. Download the report here.]

This confirms a study done by the Center for Human Security at the University of British Columbia which found a similar decline in interstate wars, civil conflicts, and deaths attributed to armed conflict. [I blogged the study here, read the report here].

Now comes a discussion of the phenomenon by Paul Rogers at Open Democracy. [here]

He notes two explanations for the decline -- the end of the Cold War [which mistakenly is considered by many to be a period of relative peace] and the end of the decolonization struggles that ensued after the end of WWII.

The BCU study attributes the decline to the effectiveness of the UN and other international organizations in mediating conflicts [snicker].

The Maryland study suggests that the spread of democracy and more specifically, the spread of American power has contributed to stabilizing the world [possible but not proven].

All of these are testable hypotheses and an evaluation of the rival claims could be the basis for a nice doctoral dissertation [hint, hint].

Interestingly, the two most belligerent nations through the second half of the Twentieth Century were Britain and France, followed by the US and the Soviet Union. This lends support to the idea that we are emerging from an abnormal period of extreme violence caused by decolonialization and the Cold War and that the decline in violence we are currently experiencing is a return to normal levels.

And there follows a second, equally important question. Why, in the face of mounting evidence for a more peaceful world, is the general perception, at least througout the West, exactly the opposite? Why do we think the world is getting more violent when in fact it is becoming more peaceful?

There are several possible answers:

1) that old standby, the media which systematically misrepresents the true situation in order to boost ratings and profits [in other words it's the capitalists, stupid].

2) the public is slow to react to new information. It will take time for the good news to sink in [in other words the people are stupid].

3) perpetrators of violence are getting better at attracting attention to themselves, as for instance by targeting aid workers, and this increases the public perception of rising violence. [in other words terrorists are manipulating the media]

4) Or, Rogers suggests, the perception of increasing violence is confined to the "Atlantic" nations of Europe and the Americas -- a global elite that feels insecure becauses of constant media bombardment [uneasy lies the head that rules the world]

5) Or, he suggests, the 9/11 attacks made the US public paranoid and incapable of understanding the true nature of the world. [the people are unhinged]

Hmmm..., another dissertation topic?

Finally, Rogers speculates that the downturn in violence might soon be reversed. He sees three possible reasons for such an upsurge -- an activist US that destabilizes the world; an expanding China that begins to challenge the west for global resources; and global warming which forces massive population movements.

Rogers' analysis is neither particularly rigorous or perceptive, and displays a distinct anti-American bias, but the phenomena he notes are important and worthy of our attention.

Carniverous Toilet Lizard

A persistent urban myth (at least I hope it is) surfaces again, this time in Norway, and apparently there is some substance to it.

Aftenposten reports:

Carnivorous lizard in toilet

A three-year-old boy got the fright of his life on a trip to the toilet on Wednesday.

The youngster was lucky that his mother had come along to open and raise the toilet seat. The startled woman found a carnivorous teju, or tegus, a large black and yellow South American lizard, lurking there...

The Akvariet (aquarium) in Bergen was called, and reptile expert Remi Andersen paid a house call. He confirmed that the animal in the apartment in the Nordnes district of Bergen was a 1.5 kilo (3.3 lb) teju.

The teju is capable of holding its breath for half an hour, which probably explains how it managed to navigate its way through the sewer and up into the family toilet. The family is lucky they looked, rather than sat, first.

I'll say!

Read it here.

How Does Lileks Do It?

Very light blogging for the past few days. The reason -- "She Who Must Not Be Named" has been struck by home improvement mania. As a consequence a seemingly endless procession of contractors has been in and out of our home. Here in the mountains we have dial-up access to the internet, but have had to keep the lines open so contractors can call to explain when they are coming, why it won't be when they said they were coming, to explain that they're lost and can't find our place [we live far out of town and the directions there are complicated], to tell us again that they're going to be even later than they had said, etc. That and trips to pick out paints, flooring, counter-tops, etc. have made it almost impossible to get anything much done. And, to make things worse, work on my latest book has bogged down.

Finally, late in the evening peace descends and I sit down to read and write, but I'm too distracted and burned out to do much more than stare at the screen.

How does Lileks get anything accomplished?

Things should be returning to normal in a couple of weeks. Until then, blogging will be a sporadic thing.

But stay tuned..., this too shall pass.

Ursine Promiscuity

Brown Bears are making a big comeback in Europe. Throughout the central mountain regions bears are reappearing in places where they have not been seen for generations. Biologists and environmentalists are ecstatic about the development, but farmers and other residents are definitely not happy about it.

The situation is complicated. There are bear enthusiasts and "bear tourists" who flock to areas where the bears have been seen. Hikers report a thrilling sense of danger when walking through bear territory. And there is even a "bear lawyer" who represents the beasts' interests against critics. But what will happen when the first hiker is killed, or a shepherd finds his flock decimated, or families' pet dogs are slaughtered? Officials admit that "bear management" is an extremely expensive proposition. How long will taxpayers be willing to shell out for it?

Stay tuned....

Read about it here.

And on the subject of ursine sex -- Der Spiegel reports:

The Slutty Habits of Brown Bears

Female brown bears like to sleep around, according to findings just published by a new study. But their promiscuity stems not, it seems, from good-old fashioned randiness, but rather is a clever way of protecting their cubs.

If you are a brown bear, being a good mother doesn't preclude also being a bit of a tramp. In fact, according to a new study released on Wednesday, putting yourself about is actually the best way to protect your children.

A favored tactic of male bears to ensure that their own genes get passed on, is to kill the offspring of other fathers. This not only decreases competition for their own cubs, but also frees up the mothers to be fertilized again -- but this time by them.

Faced with the infanticide tendencies of their males, mother bears have come up with a cunning way of preventing their cubs being knocked off: copulate with as many males as you possible can. While this may appear fun to some, and simply exhausting to others, it does mean that no one is quite sure who the father is. Hardly a classy approach but an effective one: The male bears hold back from killing the offspring just in case they end up wiping out their own genetic pool.

Read it here.

Clever, no? But why don't we see similar behavior in other species, like lions, where males kill off their rivals' cubs?

Zimbabwe -- The Fruits of Racist Redistribution

Mad Bobby Mugabe's government has at last begun to open its eyes to the catastrophic effects of its racist land redistribution policies. For years Mugabe and his henchmen have tried to explain the precipitous decline in Zimbabwe's agricultural production as the consequence of drought or of western, especially British, perfidity, but those excuses no longer fly.

News 24 (SA) reports:

Harare - Zimbabwe launched its strongest criticism of black farmers who benefited from its controversial land reforms, saying their apathy was responsible for a serious food crisis.

"We have a few people that are really committed to production while many others are doing nothing on the farms," deputy minister for Agriculture, Sylvester Nguni was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.

"The problem is that we gave land to people lacking the passion for farming and this is why every year production has been declining."

He said although an ongoing drought had contributed to reduced yields, "the biggest letdown has been that people without the slightest idea of farming got land and the result has been declining agricultural output."
...

Last month co-vice president Joyce Mujuru labelled new farmers who were under-utilising the land "saboteurs" and "perennial beggars."

Central bank chief Gideon Gono last week hit out at new farmers keeping farmland purely for its own sake and turning once productive farms into "weekend picnic venues" while the country is reeling under acute food shortages.

"We are not blind to the fact that it was not land for the sake of having it and merely looking at it that mattered to our liberators. It was not about having vast pieces of land and using them as braai (barbecue) spots and weekend picnic venues," Gono said.

Read it here.

So the policy of confiscating white-owned farms and giving them to Mugabe's political cronies didn't work. What is plan B?

The strong language used against the "new farmers" is ominous. Previously groups targeted by such language have suffered greatly. And what of the promise to re-confiscate unproductive farms? Will they be run by the government, or redistributed yet again, or what? To return them to their white owners is unthinkable in the current atmosphere of rabid racism. Such is the poisonous legacy of anti-colonialist ideology.

Rumsfeld in Germany

While we're on the subject of der Spiegel, we should note that they recently conducted an extensive interview with Don Rumsfeld in which he lays out his view of the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and other states in the region. Interesting stuff... Read it here.

German Sex Workers -- A Photographic History

Der Spiegel has a small archive of photographs from the Museum der Arbeit of German prostitutes, 1900-2002. The poster above is from 19oo warning emigrant women to be careful regarding employment opportunities. Check it out here.

The Mitrokhin Archive -- More Leftist Myths Exposed

Vasili Mitrokhin was a senior KGB archivist who over the course of many years took notes on the contents of KGB files and transferred thousands of those notes to British intelligence on the condition that they be made public so that the world could learn just how extensive and corrupting Soviet subversion had been.

The first volume based on these archives, The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, came out in 1999. [here]

It covered KGB activities in the West, especially those directed against “the great adversary,” the United States. In it are details of a spectacularly successful espionage effort aimed at the US military and a largely successful attempt to manage the western media including an extensive ongoing disinformation campaign that spread unsavory rumors about major figures such as Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and J. Edgar Hoover, which have passed into popular folklore. The KGB also used a variety of techniques, including a mail bombing campaign, to increase racial tensions in the South during the Civil Rights era and spread the rumor, widely accepted at the time, that the CIA was implicated in JFK’s assassination. Since the archive is incomplete, much of its contents is still classified by British intelligence, and the KGB efforts at controlling information so extensive, one is left wondering just how much of “what is commonly known” [especially among leftist academics] about American history in the past half century has been shaped by Soviet disinformation efforts.

Now the second volume of the archives has been published under the title, The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World. It too is chock full of fascinating and disturbing information.

The book has had its biggest impact in India because it contains explosive information regarding Soviet successes in penetrating government offices and political parties. Allen Judd summarizes:

A KGB director frankly admitted that it had "scores of sources throughout the Indian Government… It seemed as if the entire country was for sale." Elections were swung, major deals concluded or prevented and suitcases full of banknotes delivered in secret to Mrs Gandhi's house at night (she never returned the empties). In 1975 alone the KGB calculated that its Active Measures operations brought about 5,510 anti-Western or pro-Soviet stories in the Indian media. Among its best agents was one of Mrs Gandhi's senior ministers; yet all the while it was the threat of CIA subversion that worried her.

Indira Ghandi (code name “Vano”) was one of several world leaders who were considered by the KGB to be, if not fully active agents of the Soviet Union, “confidential contacts” whom they could influence and whom they supported. President Allende (code name “Leader”) of Chile was another. Kommersant reports:

Allende’s victory cost the KGB $420,000…. It was not the Soviet Ambassador to Santiago that he regularly met as the main Soviet representative after assuming power but it was a KBG chief in Chile, Svyatoslav Kuznetsov, who personally “guided” Allende. The president’s lover, Miria Kontrereas Bell, known in Moscow as “Marta”, organized the meetings.

Among the payoffs to Allende were various sex films and “associated cavortings” with prostitutes.

There were numerous other KGB successes, among them “active measures” campaigns that spread stories through the world media “ranging from the widely-believed CIA-started-Aids story to the alleged kidnapping of Latin American children for US spare part surgery….”

It is these media successes that are today most troubling because the lies originating in KGB operations have become implanted in the minds of left wing political activists here and around the world and are still part of the global political discourse. I recently reviewed the deeply duplicitous film, The Constant Gardener, based on the book of the same title by spy novelist John LeCarre and noted that a number of film critics, working for major publications throughout the West, assumed that the outrageous premise of the story – that western governments and international corporations were testing out dangerous, often fatal, drugs on unsuspecting Africans, masking the programs as charitable aid – was perfectly plausible and probably accurate. The almost universal suspicion with which American policy initiatives are met throughout the world owes a lot to this half century of systematic lying. Publication of materials from the Mitrokhin archives is a small first step toward correcting that false perception.

Reviews cited here and here.

UPDATE:

Christopher Andrew will be discussing "The World Was Going Our Way" on C-SPAN on November 05, at 4:12 p.m., EST

Picture Of the Week

As I navigate the net I often come across pictures by contemporary artists that for some reason appeal to me. This is one of them. It's an oil titled "Asha" by Hye Seong Yoon (San Francisco, CA) that won an honorable mention in the Salon competition by the Art Renewal Center this year [here]. Most of the stuff in the file is pretty insipid, but this one really stood out. I thought I'd share it with my readers.

liar, liar, pants on fire..., Joe Wilson's Agenda In His Own Words

Joe Wilson's objectivity takes a big hit in Gateway Pundit's latest post in which he discusses a speech Wilson gave to a left-wing organization shortly after the war began in which he lays out his agenda. It's important reading. Check it out here.

The American Thinker notes that for more than a year after his mission to Niger, in several public statements, Wilson made none of the charges that later made him famous. In fact, his statements support the administration's contention that Saddam posed a threat because of his pursuit or possession of WMDs. Read it here.

Democrats who seek to hang their case against the war on Wilson's ever more bizarre and erratic statements are making a big mistake.

Maeanders

We spent the weekend at the Harbor. The weather was great and I was able to devote a fair amount of time to wandering around the city.

As I have noted in other posts I occasionally like to spend a couple of hours in a coffee shop, either with friends (for a gab session) or alone (sorting out my thoughts on what I’m currently reading and writing). My favorite place has been changing lately. It’s in an excellent location, right across the street from a popular urban market and adjoining a very up-scale residential neighborhood. It does a very good business and wins “best of” awards and such.

Lately the shop has begun to attract large numbers of twenty-something, stay-at-home moms. About nine o’clock [just after their husbands leave for work] women descend on the place with their toddlers to socialize and it begins to resemble a day-care center. Then about ten o’clock businessmen begin to filter in for informal meetings and the place changes again. It’s hard to concentrate when some young guy is pitching an idea to his boss, or some salesman is trying to close a deal, or someone is conducting a job interview at the next table. Then comes the lunch crowd and the place is packed. By that time, though, I’m usually long gone. On weekends the shop fills up so early that there’s no point in going there.

So I’ve been looking for a place that is a bit more conducive to sitting and thinking. I may have found one. It’s another coffee shop, just about three blocks from the one I usually frequent, on the edge of a rapidly gentrifying, but not yet exclusive, old working-class neighborhood. It’s much smaller and doesn’t do nearly the business of my old favorite and has undergone at least two changes in ownership in the past few years. The local paper describes it as a “funky neighborhood place that wants to be something more.” I kinda like it. It’s the sort of place where regular customers wander behind the bar and serve themselves.

The day I was there the shop had several customers but wasn’t crowded. There was the usual in/out, on-their-way-to-work trade, and a few old men sitting alone and reading the paper. There were about half-a-dozen young men sitting at the bar staring intently at newspapers and some middle-aged women sitting and chatting in small groups. There were also a few people sitting alone working on computers [ah, my kind of folk]. I found a spot in a corner, unpacked my computer, and got down to figuring out a graceful way to end the chapter I’m currently struggling with. The only problem was the sound system. The owner is heavily into urban blues and “Screamin’ Jay” is not good for serious thought processes. [“…because you’re MIIIIIIIINE!!!” – shudder.] But, that’s what I-pods and Bose headphones are for. I cocooned with Brahms and got a lot of work done before packing up and heading home.