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August 31, 2005
A Slow-Motion Tsunami
by JeremyThe mayor of New Orleans is estimating thousands dead and that number is likely to grow, judging by the images and descriptions I've been struggling to take in. New Orleans had the misfortune of appearing to have been largely spared initially so that the blocks long ruptures in its levees and 20-30 foot storm surge are slowly killing people still stranded. And it appears there is a full fledged refugee crisis as many tens of thousands of people wander abandoned highways and the military struggles to transport them from one sports stadium (now a flooded disease trap) to another.
I'm not bothering with links since the story's all over the internet. And I won't link to the assholes I'm hearing about who seem to think it's a good idea to make cheap political hay of the deaths of thousands of people (by blaming the storm on Bush!).
So I will link to the Red Cross.
Posted by Jeremy at 06:27 PM | Comments (1)
August 30, 2005
Hurricane Damage Continues
by JeremyHere is a New Orleans blog with details on how to contribute to rescue, survival, and rebuilding efforts.
Posted by Jeremy at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
Intelligent Design
by JeremyIf public schools anywhere in the U.S. are going to teach Intelligent Design side-by-side with evolution theory (in a non-judgmental, cultural-relativist manner), then school is about to get much more fun for a generation of kids.
What is "Intelligent Design?" It's this. And it's this. And it's this too.
I'd have cut school a lot less often if they'd been teaching stuff like that. As it was, I only learned about those kinds of scientific theories while I was cutting class (when you're a school age kid wandering the streets of Manhattan during school hours, you are, in the eyes of roving, freelance science instructors (such as those affiliated with the Unification Church), a soul thirsty for side-by-side alternative curricula).
Posted by Jeremy at 01:11 PM | Comments (1)
Katrina
by JeremyIt sounds as if this might be "The" storm that New Orleans has been dreading for generations. I'm happy to say I was unable to find a New Orleans blogger sticking by his or her plans to live-blog the storm. There is a mandatory evacuation underway.
It's a nightmare of biblical proportions -- 170mph sustained winds, the potential for tens of feet of water covering the city, a massive incursion of poisonous snakes...
Here is a streaming video describing what this storm might mean for New Orleans; it refers to one model that predicts tens of thousands of casualties. I'm hoping that this does not take into account the efforts of the governor, the mayor and the president to get people the hell out of the city. It doesn't sound like enough has been put in place to evacuate people unable to leave under their own power, though I gather they will be assisted in taking refuge in a domed stadium.
The damage to what is apparently 25% of America's oil supply -- via the collapse of refinery rigs off the coast -- will deal an ugly blow to the national economy.
Prayer, if that's something you believe in, would be in order. I myself plan to simply wring my hands (which I've been doing anyway as I read about steps forward and backward in Iraq right now).
Posted by Jeremy at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2005
Inside 9/11
by JeremyWe're watching this 9/11 documentary now on the National Geographic channel. It tells the disturbing story of the root causes of the 9/11 attacks (don't tell your sensitive friends, but I'm referring to the worldwide Islamo-fascist jihad against Jews, Christians, and the 'wrong' kind of Muslim, not to mention Buddhists, etc).
It's hard to watch, even for those of us who will not be surprised by what we learn. No member of the anti-Bush industrial complex will condescend to waste their valuable time with this sort of stuff, of course, but I hope that the people whose job it is to govern and protect will be forced to watch this.
If you missed the first airing you can catch it tomorrow.
Posted by Jeremy at 09:50 PM | Comments (2)
August 12, 2005
Hitchens on 9/11 and the implosion of the Left
by Jeremy(via Harry's Place)
[September 11] was a missed opportunity for the left. Think of it this way: If a group of theocratic nihilists drive planes full of human beings into buildings full of human beings announcing nothing by way of a program except their nihilism and if they turn out to have been sheltered by two regimes favored by the United States and the national security establishment, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to be precise, two of only three countries to recognize the Taliban, and if Republicans were totally taken by surprise by this and if the working class of New York had to step forward and become the shield of society in the person of the fire and police brigades, it seemed to me that this would have been a good opportunity for the left to demand a general revision of all the assumptions we carried about the post cold war world.We were attacked by a religious dictatorship and the working class were pushed into defending elites by the total failure of our leadership and total failure of our intelligence. The attack emanated partly from the failure of regimes supported by that same elite national security establishment– Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. If the left can’t take advantage of a moment like that: whats it for? whats its secularism for? Whats its internationalism, class attitude, democracy for?
You don’t get that many measurable historical moments in your life, but you must recognize them when they come. This was one of those moments and the left collectively decided to get it wrong and I realized at that moment that, to borrow a slogan that slightly irritates me, but is useful: "Not in my name.” I'm not part of that family. I wanted to force a split, a political split on the left to which a small extent I think succeeded. Today, there is a small pro-regime change left and I'm a proud part of it.
Posted by Jeremy at 06:09 AM | Comments (3)
August 11, 2005
Forgive Us, Wolcott, For We Have Sinned
by JeremyDoes James Wolcott occasionally seem a bit unkind? Well fair enough. But that poor brilliant man's writing is not mere self-indulgent verbal bitch-slapping. No indeed. Wolcott deploys that pink frilly prose in a courageous struggle to rid the world of the wicked scourge that is the "Liberal Hawk," that class of apostate Leftist recklessly unwilling to powder Wolcott's wigs for him, or to tweeze Wolcott's snuff-encrusted nosehairs, or to kiss that Wolcott ass (the one whose kaka smells like splendid potpourri).
He tolerates this sort of insubordination with admirable restraint, if you ask me. So can we fault him for getting a little huffy now and then?
Posted by Jeremy at 03:25 PM | Comments (3)
August 10, 2005
Iran Complies With Bush Policy Despite EU Consensus Process
by JeremyDon't worry about Iran breaking those UN seals on its nuclear plant:
Iran's resumption of sensitive nuclear activities may represent a defiant challenge to the West's entire nonproliferation strategy for Tehran.That's because the Iranian move to restart its Isfahan uranium-conversion plant is something European negotiators directly asked the government not to do.
Yes, I will concede that there is grave danger (to EU credility) should things go badly. But let me reassure you on a few points.
Firstly, it was the IAEA what broke them seals; Iran merely asked nicely.
Secondly, European diplomats are not asleep at the wheel. Even now some of them are thinking out loud about taking more time to reconvene for discussions on whether to deploy the consensus process in order to agree upon a decisive intervention:
Diplomats "need more time" to develop a consensus approach, said IAEA spokesman Peter Rickwood.
[...]
The lack of quick IAEA board consensus is not something to worry about, says Mr. Kimball of the Arms Control Association.
What's more important, he says, is what eventually emerges from the huddle.
"I think it is important for the credibility of the EU3 and other board members that they issue a very strong reprimand," he says.
It's frightening, isn't it, to hear such bellicose talk coming from a Europe that we had hoped had long ago beaten its swords into plowshares and its plowshares into espresso machines.
But tough is how they've got to talk now that the Bush administration has succeeded so well in corrupting their progress with Iran:
It's possible that by showing a touch of belligerence Iran is in fact playing into the hands of US officials who favor a tougher approach to negotiations with Tehran.[...]
The Iranians "may have miscalculated and may be playing into the hands of those elements in the Bush administration who would like to see Iran behave in the most belligerent fashion possible in order to fashion the toughest possible response," Kimball says.
If the United States continues on this winning streak it may become necessary for Europe to resort to the nuclear option (a very very strong reprimand, with sugar on top).
Posted by Jeremy at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2005
Why They Hate Us: Ayman al-Zawahiri Settles Debate
by JeremyNo, this is not (yet) a return to my weekly news satire feature. Zawahiri, in his statement of last thursday, sought to inform us that Al Qaeda's hate for the Crusaders is about our policy decisions regarding the Middle East and that therefore peace can be negotiated. This is good news then, right? It means that they actually want to like us if only we'd stop shutting them out. As with any dysfunction between people who feel things very strongly, the solution is all about good communication a willingness to compromise:
Rather than casting his jihad as an inevitable clash of civilizations, he frames acts of terrorism as justified by the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and offers to end attacks on the West if a full withdrawal is made from "Muslim lands."
And, while I know it's idiotic to bother fisking Zawahiri, I thought this next statement was a delightful piece of logic, so I have extracted it and placed it on a candy dish for you as a tasty little sugary nugget to chew on:
"Blair has brought to you destruction in central London, and he will bring you more destruction, God willing,'' Zawahiri said, addressing the British people.
Blair will punish you for your wanton, Zionist ways. Blair will crush the infidel Crusade and burn the cities of the wicked. Blair will not be vanquished.
I guess I question his use of the phrase "God willing" if he's trying to convince us that he simply wants us to help him help us.
Here's another morsel:
"Our message to you is clear, strong and final: There will be no salvation until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and resources and end support for infidel [Arab] rulers."
Indeed, when will we stop snatching all this free oil and when we will start standing up to infidel rulers like Saddam Hussein (who, as we know, must still be in office Iraq because we know by now that Bush's "Mission Accomplished" banner was a lie).
Posted by Jeremy at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2005
The Rolling Totten Review
by JeremyBecause I have consistently refused to let Michael guest blog for me here at "Who Knew?", he has had to resort to whatever blog will take him in, like this one and this one (not to mention that one and that one).
[Insert your own perfunctory joke involving references to Kevin Bacon, cloning, and/or pajamas].
All joking aside...cheers, Michael! [That's Anglo for "Mazeltov"]
Posted by Jeremy at 09:25 PM | Comments (3)
August 02, 2005
Unauthorized Iranian Visit to Britain Alarms Officials
by JeremyIranian MPs to question officials for sending football team to "racist" UK
Tehran's Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran reported on July 31 that a member of the Majlis's sports fraction, Iraj Nadimi, has said that the fraction will investigate the Iranian national football team's recent visit to Britain. The MP added: "In view of the record of racism in Britain, the Football Federation and the State Physical Education Department must be answerable for the decision to dispatch the football team to that country."
[...]
The Iranian team was sent to Britain to prepare for the forthcoming World Cup by playing three friendly games with British teams.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
