May 31, 2006

USA: "Can we talk?" Iran: "Fuhgeddaboudid!"

The Iranians have come back with a negative response to the American proposal to talk faster than you can say... Mahmoud Ahmadinejad! [A lot faster. I can't even pronunce it.-ed. Well, you better learn.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 2:33 PM
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Which Side Are You On - Part 1304

According to the NY Post, a double-amputee Iraq War vet is suing Michael Moore for 85 million for making the vet sound anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America's invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie, which trashes President Bush.

In the 2003 interview, which he did at Walter Reed Army Hospital for NBC News, he discussed only a new painkiller the military was using on wounded vets.

"They took the clip because it was a gut-wrenching scene," Damon said yesterday. "They sandwiched it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition."

Damon seems to "voice complaint about the war effort" in the movie, according to the lawsuit.

But what the father of two from Middleborough, Mass., was really talking about was the "excruciating" pain he felt after he lost his arms when a Black Hawk helicopter exploded in front of him.

Damon wasn't expressing any opinion about the war, the suit charges, but rather extolling the drug.

Of course this is typical of the auteur who is well known to have exploited members of the Writers Guild for years. Taking advantage of amputees is more repellent. I hope this one goes to trial.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:58 AM
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Talking, Talking, Talking Happy Talk (with Iran)

UPDATE: It's official now. We are in talks about talks. From Ms. Rice herself:

"To underscore our commitment to a diplomatic solution and to enhance prospects for success, as soon as Iran fully and verifiably suspends its enrichment and reprocessing activities, the United States will come to the table," Rice said in remarks prepared for delivery at the State Department.

In other words, as soon as Iran has a President who reveals himself to be a Venutian. [Wait a minute. That could happen.-ed.] Meanwhile, Ms. Rice continues:

"We hope that in the coming days the Iranian government will thoroughly consider this proposal."

On a satellite phone with Zarqawi.

ORIGINAL POST: According to this report of an hour ago, the US is in talks about talking with Iran:

The United States is prepared to join other nations in holding direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program in return for concessions from China and Russia, diplomats said Wednesday.

But the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was confidential, said Washington would only do so if Beijing and Moscow agreed to back U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran if it refuses to give up uranium enrichment.

One of the diplomats told The Associated Press that the Bush administration was planning to make an official announcement later in the day on Washington's conditional readiness to join in such talks.

You know, I think if anyone asks me about something from now on, I am going to tell them I am "speaking on condition of anonymity." It certainly sounds cool and, who knows, I might get quoted in the New York Times.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:22 AM
Comments (9)

May 30, 2006

How the criminally insane come to run countries

We see it now before our eyes. In this interview, Ahmadinejad seems the bastard son of Hitler and Caligula. Allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons is the equivalent of giving a loaded gun to a three-year old.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:40 AM
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Hath Thou Considered Thy Servant Indonesia?

Indonesian villagers who have seen tsunamis and earthquakes, now have to deal with bird flu. No wonder they think it's magic. One of the villagers said of the victims who evidently came from one extended family: "I think the family was cursed. It must be, because if it's bird flu, why only their family? Their blood?" Good question. Why Indonesia in general?

At this moment Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest number of avian flu cases.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:30 AM
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Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that "digital divide"

Well, with or without Gorby, it already seems to be happening.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:25 AM
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May 29, 2006

Memorial Day

Christopher Hitchens' bleak yet spirited Memorial Day essay ends this way:

"Always think of it: never speak of it." That was the stoic French injunction during the time when the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine had been lost. This resolution might serve us well at the present time, when we are in midconflict with a hideous foe, and when it is too soon to be thinking of memorials to a war not yet won. This Memorial Day, one might think particularly of those of our fallen who also guarded polling-places, opened schools and clinics, and excavated mass graves. They represent the highest form of the citizen, and every man and woman among them was a volunteer. This plain statement requires no further rhetoric.

Of course, "Always think of it: never speak of it", though a worthy admonition, has its own complexities. This particular Memorial Day contains within it, unspoken or not, like it or not, the spectre of Abu Ghraib and now Haditha. I find the likes of Jack Murtha contemptible because in their self-regarding pronouncements on these matters they fail to take into account (probably deliberately) the obvious - that all wars of any serious length have events of this nature. And yet these events are still disturbing. They test us. Just as it looks as if it is getting better, it gets worse. And the reverse. The one thing you learn from this is whom you would like next to you in a foxhole - in the physical, theoretical and emotional senses.

For Memorial Day, my humble advice is this. This time don'y follow the Mafia rule. Keep your friends, not your enemies closer. Make a generous pitcher of margaritas. And salute those who have fought for liberty before. We're all in this for the long haul. And... as they say... have a good one.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:42 AM
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May 28, 2006

Is something happening in Iran?

Hard to say, but we're covering what we can at Pajamas. The MSM is, not surprisingly, ignoring the whole thing. We'll do what we can to figure it out. Meanwhile, have a good Memorial Day.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:09 PM
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Good news for Arnold

The new poll released by the LAT today shows Phil Angelides pulling even with Steve Westly (with Westly "stagnating") in the race for Democractic nomination for the California governorship. The primary is ten days off. It's hard to know how these things happen, since as far as I can tell the public is about as interested in this contest as in Ben Affleck's last movie. 28% of the voters are undecided, I think, because they never heard of either of these guys and could care less. One of the outgrowths of having Reagan, Schwarzenegger and, yes, Jerry Brown in the governorship hereabouts is that we are used to flashy, charismatic figures. (Grey Davis didn't stand a chance in that crowd.) Anyway this is certainly good news for Schwarzenegger who, the same poll shows, is neck and neck with Angelides but trails Westly by ten points. No surprise there. Angelides is just the kind of tired party hack Arnold will eat for lunch in the general election. Westly, at least, seems awake. As a registered Democrat, maybe I'll go vote for him, just to keep things interesting. [I better go warn Angelides.-ed. Yes, do that. Who're you going to vote for in the general?-ed. Arnold, probably...not that I think he's done that great a job... but to see the reaction at the LATimes if he gets reelected. I'd vote for Boss Tweed for that.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 2:21 PM
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May 27, 2006

In other words ... it's a hudna

The Jerusalem Post has a summary of the much talked-about Palestinian prisoners document that is the basis for presumed talks between Fatah and Hamas:

The 18-point document, known as the National Reconciliation Document, calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, and stresses the right of return for all refugees to their original homes.

The document also calls for the establishment of a new body to coordinate attacks on Israelis within the 1967 borders.

In this case the devil is not even in the details. It's right out front. This is just another hudna. Well, time to keep building that wall.

UPDATE: Haaretz recounts a Sunday Times report that PA officials now see Palestinian civil war as inevitable. Also in Haaretz, the IDF is debating whether to arm the PA. Debkafile has a hair-raising tale of a visit to Cairo by Hamas leader Siad Siam. These people live strange lives indeed.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:18 AM
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Battle of the over-priced titans

To nobody's surprise (not mine anyway) California vintners have beaten their French competition again in a replay of the legendary "Judgment of Paris". But ... bragging rights aside ... who can afford this stuff anyway? When I'm out buying a bottle of vino these days, I usually end up here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:22 AM
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Those halls of ivy

It seems like years ago that Powerline , this blog and some others were giving our all for the Internet populist campaigns of Peter "Tear down this wall!" Robinson and Todd "Volokh Conspiracy" Zywicki for the ultra fuddy-duddy Dartmouth Board of Trustees. (To our surprise, they won.) Actually it was only slightly more than a year ago, but no matter. The counter-revolutionaries are already back. Read about it here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:02 AM
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May 26, 2006

New Blog Week in Review (podcast)

It's up on Pajamas. Guest panelist Jeff Goldstein rocks.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:14 AM
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Profile in Courage - Blair keeps on keepin' on

I remain a tremendous admirer of Tony Blair. In the face of even more opposition in his own country than we have here, he keeps his eye on the democratic ball:

"This is a child of democracy struggling to be born," Blair said in a speech at Georgetown University. "Surely we must all accept this as a genuine attempt," he said, urging the world community to take on the role of midwife.

"If Iraqis can show their faith in democracy by voting for it, shouldn't we show ours by supporting them?" Blair asked.

"The war split the world," Blair, a rare ally of President Bush in going to war, acknowledged in his speech. "The struggle of Iraqis for democracy should unite them."

He said he found on a visit to Iraq that its leaders want a democratic state. "They want the rule of law, not violence," Blair said to a quiet, attentive audience.

Blair is needed now more than ever as the propaganda war is certain to get worse. (NOTE: By linking this I do not in the slightest condone the action by these Marines. I am merely pointing that ugliness on all sides is inevitable in all wars - and that we can look forward to it being exploited in ways that will make us crazy. I use Blair as my personal example of stability.)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:03 AM
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May 25, 2006

Dept. of Retarded Ripoff Artists

Some creeps who run a piece of junk called SHOCK Magazine have stolen a copyrighted photo by Michael Yon for their front cover. Besides being thieves, these lowlifes who run this rag are the kind of ahistorical nitwits who equate the Iraq War with Vietnam. Figures.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 5:52 PM
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Iran - whom do you believe?

The Washington Post article linked below or this report from MEMRI - Riots in Tehran Universities: 'We Don't Want Nuclear Energy'. (MEMRI, of course, provides footnotes and photos. The WaPo provides nothing. How predicatable.)

UPDATE: MEMRI also has some satire that probably won't mean much to the reified minds at the WaPo.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 2:01 PM
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Magdi Allam

Maybe it's a symptom of living in Hollywood, but most of my left-leaning friends are rich. Very rich. They buy expensive (hybrid) cars, live in multi-million dollar homes with servants and "assistants" and take fancy vacations (often in second homes in upscale resorts). My left-wing media friends in New York aren't so badly off either. Nearly all of them (on both coasts) believe the current global problem is a result of Third World poverty and nothing more. They cannot conceive that it is not about material wealth because so much of life is about just that for them (plus fame, of course).

Egyptian-Italian journalist Magdi Allam, an editor of Corriere della Sera currently visiting Israel to receive an award, sees it differently. An excellent article in Haaretz today details Mr. Allam's thinking. Among other things he states:

"My goal is to free the West from the nihilism that has spread in its midst, from the lack of values that leads to the growth of radical Islam," says Allam. "In the face of the threat from radical Islam, the West must be united and formulate a shared value system that sanctifies life and denounces the right to kill."

In the parlance, read it all. (hat tip: Sheryl)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:44 AM
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They often call me Speed-o

Vodkapundit is, ahem, a little younger than I and he's definitely put himself on the side of youthful speed this morning in making fun of my contemporary Hillary Clinton for suggesting a return to the 55-mile speed limit. And I'd certainly agree with Will Collier that this is unlikely to win Hillary many votes. But I would humbly suggest that there are a lot of votes to be garnered in the area of oil conservation. I can give you three reasons: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela. Every time you "Fill 'er up!" and express your American born-to-run thing, a lot of people (Will included, I would imagine) are remembering in the back of their minds whose pockets they're lining - as creepier a collection of greedy and dangerous theocrats and mafiosi as currently exist on the planet. No matter how you stand on global warming this should disturb you.

So if I were running for President in the near future, I'd be thinking big time about energy conservation and alternative fuels because it cuts across party and ideological lines. Some favor it for ecological reasons; others out of committment to the war on terror. Some even out of both. It's a win-win-win. (via PJ)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:02 AM
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May 24, 2006

Mainstream journalism as its practiced

Mainstream media journalism is more mysterious than blogs - and consequently more opaque. And by feigning objectivity, the mainstream is often more potent at propaganda - or at least tries to be. An interesting example is Wednesday's Washington Post article Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program. It doesn't take a great deconstructionist to understand that the authors - Karl Vick and Dafna Linzer - are writing with a specific intent: to promote US direct negotiation with Iran. Numerous quotes, anonymous (como siempre) and attributed, are sprinkled throughout the article to create that effect while delicately preserving the illusion of objectivity. Unfortunately, they give the game away by ending the article thusly: "We have not had any relations for so many years, and Iran was always accused of being unwilling to talk," Masood Mohammadi, 23, said as he left Friday prayers last week. "Now Iran has taken the first step, and I hope the U.S. president replies in kind."

Now who is Masood Mohammadi and why should he stand in for all Iranian public opinion? No reason is given other than, perhaps, the number 23 - the implication being that he is (or stands for) Iranian youth. Of course that's not possible for any single person (in a country of 70 million!). The Washington Post writers are fiddling in the nether regions of propaganda here. But no matter. It is not exceptional. This is how journalism is practiced on a daily basis and, to a great extent, taught. Most readers of this blog know to beware of it, but I will go a bit further (following my earlier reference to deconstruction).

The writers of this article, although they may think they are subtly supporting an argument, are also sabotaging those beliefs. Today's more sophisticated reader is increasingly educated in and put off by this style of writing. Using myself as an example, I do not have a fixed opinion on whether we should negotiate with Iran. I simply do not know enough. But when I read an article like this, I become immediately suspicious. Who is writing this and why, I want to know. What clandestine operative is whispering in what reporter's ear? Cui bono? My back is up... I am being manipulated. My stance toward negotiating with Iran shifts to the negative.

Do the reporters realize they are doing this? Probably not... but possibly yes (somewhere in their subconscious) . They have a different, deeper intention unknowable even to them. In a time when the liberals are conservative and the conservatives liberal, who are we any longer to say?

UPDATE: Brother Michael has less patience for these clods than I do.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:55 PM
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Getting help from a Nobelist (one of the good ones)

Elie Wiesel was one of the writers of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's speech to the US Congress today. It was evidently well-received.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:46 AM
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Sen. John Ensign on Neil Cavuto last night

One of our elected officials actually made some sense.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:45 AM
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May 23, 2006

The tin ears get worse

Newt Gingrich is not alone. Now another Republican "scholar" Dennis Hastert (no comment) is proclaiming the FBI arrest of Rep. Jefferson unconstitutional. I don't know about the rest of you but I find this continued charade not only to be tone death, but to be truly morally repellent. In fact, it makes me want to support legislation making any convictions for law-breaking by Members of Congress subject to penalties vastly more extreme than those suffered by the general public. Serving the country is a special privilege. If somone doing that commits a crime, he should serve more time and pay more fines than if you or I committed the same crime. Far more. Not only is the person a public servant, he is supposed to be an example to every school child in the country. That is what Hastert should be thinking about, not about who arrested Jefferson.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey (via Glenn) has more details of the Constitutional ins and outs here, but since some are complaining the Capitol Police should have done the heavy lifting here, let me tell a personal story. In the mid-eighties I was commissioned to write the screen adaptation of MURDER IN THE SENATE by (then) Senator William S. Cohen of Maine (he had a collaborator whose name has somehow mysteriously disappeared from the Amazon link). Cohen was a friendly, bright guy, but, to be kind, as a mystery writer he was no threat to Raymond Chandler. His plot made little sense (at least to me and I think to the studio mogul who had optioned his book, in part, for the senatorial name value ) and my job was to give it a story. I never could, finally. But in the process of doing my research I did a lot of nosing around with the Capitol Police - met the chief, saw their facilities, etc. Again, to be kind, this was not Scotland Yard. These guys were closer to campus cops at a middling private college - Colgate, say. Even then they were telling me how they called in the FBI when things got dicey. I'm sure they've beefed up some in the age of terrorism - but turned into serious crime stoppers? Not bloody likely. In fact, there's something spooky and beyond the law about the whole thing. The complaints of Hastert, et al, remind me of some rich kid calling out. "Hey, isn't Uncle Charlie going to arrest me? I want Uncle Charlie!"

Keep the pressure on, bloggers. This one has legs.

MORE: Someone's calling someone a "blithering idiot." The first someone is right. The second someone puts me in mind of the famous Woody Allen line: "Those who can't, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gymn." Someone should come up with the equivalent for the Congress.

ONE MORE THING: A lot of people are negative about Third Parties in our system because "they don't work" or some such. But do our traditional parties "work" when they yield up the likes of Dennis Hastert and Nancy Pelosi as the leaders of the Democrats and Republican in the House? Think about that one, you critics of third parties.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:40 PM
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A tale of grown-ups

Haaretz has an interesting story about Ehud Olmert's "dovish wife" at the moment of the Israeli PM's visit to Washington: The role of prime minister's wife generally does not carry the privileges - or the restrictions - that it does in other countries. She is not entitled to a government car or driver, nor to an office or secretary, though she does have a modest clothing allowance. Well, better than nothing.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:52 PM
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What he said

Author Bruce Bawer had the following to say in a recent interview:

This business of labels is maddening. In Stealing Jesus I criticized Christian fundamentalism and liberals loved it; in While Europe Slept, I criticize Islamic fundamentalism, which is by any measure a lot worse than Christian fundamentalism, and some of the same people who loved Stealing Jesus are appalled and think I've totally changed my politics, when in fact I'm being totally consistent.

Mon semblable, mon frère.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:12 PM
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Occam's Razor meets the Separation of Powers

As if we ever didn't, now we know why Newt Gingrich - despite all his intelligence - ended up on the outside looking in as a Fox News Contributor instead of Speaker of the House or more. He has a tin ear to the most obvious (and honest) public opinion. In fact, declaring the arrest of a House member for, among other things, stashing a mysterious 90 silverfoil- wrapped grand in a freezer, a Separation of Powers issue in a year when public disgust with politicians is at or near an all-time high is more like having a Van Gogh Ear than a tin one - i. e. none at all. Sure Consitutional Lawyers can parse this issue until every Mad Cow comes home, but to the rest of us it just sounds like this guy Jefferson was videotaped in the act more than anybody but Paris Hilton and better explain it. And we don't need William of Occam to tell us we care more about this Congress Character standing trial than whether he was taped by the FBI, the Capitol Police or America's Favorite Home Videos. When someone like Gingrich wraps himself in the cloak of the Constitution on something like this, we don't think about the Founding Fathers. We think which about which of our current fathers has his hand in the cookie jar too. And as for the Dems, they better get Jefferson off stage quick or they can say sayonara to the corruption issue in 2006.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:43 AM
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May 22, 2006

The Iranian Dress Code story continues

The folks over at Talking Points Memo are rather convinced that the Iranian Dress Code story is "already debunked" (here and here). None of them speak a word of Farsi, as far as I know, but the word of Juan Cole is apparently good enough for them - better obviously than that of Farsi native speaker Amir Taheri, whose column first broke the story. Taheri has written a simple addendum which is pretty self-explanatory:

Regarding the dress code story it seems that my column was used as the basis for a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun. As far as my article is concerned I stand by it. The law has been passed by the Islamic Majlis and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians. A committee has been appointed to work out the modalities of implementation. Many ideas are being discussed with regard to implementation, including special markers, known as zonnars, for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, the only faiths other than Islam that are recognized as such. The zonnar was in use throughout the Muslim world until the early 20th century and marked out the dhimmis, or protected religious minorities. ( In Iran it was formally abolished in 1908). I have been informed of the ideas under discussion thanks to my sources in Tehran, including three members of the Majlis who had tried to block the bill since it was first drafted in 2004. I do not know which of these ideas or any will be eventually adopted. We will know once the committee appointed to discuss them presents its report, perhaps in September.

One of the things that startled me in this (you always learn more about Iran when reading Taheri) is that only Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism are recongized as minority faiths in Iran. What happened to Buddhism and Hinduism? Are they even beneath dhimmitude? Interesting.

Anyway, about the issue at hand, potential armbands or their equivalent, I guess the folks at TPM want to make this a liberal/conservative thing. I suppose I'm naive. I thought it was about human rights - or maybe basic morality.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:04 PM
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Somebody's got a birthday!

And some mystery writer[Who?-ed] forgot. Happily, some talk show hostess remembered. As to the general "seriousness" of certain authors, I agree with Dan.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 3:13 PM
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The Material Girl goes for the money (again)

Mega-snooze, "Kabbalist" Madonna is evidently doing the Bush-Blair-Hitler routine in her new review. This is obviously "good for business" for the Material Girl, as is, I guess, her mock crucifixion (yawn). But how can you push the envelope when the paper's already sopping wet? How could anyone be interested in her trivial, clichéd nonsense when we've already seen the "Piss Christ" (That was banal enough), not to mention a half-dozen fifty year old Bunuel movies? Now if she had any real guts, Madonna would dance around on stage as Mohammed in drag. Don't hold your breath, however. Was this supposed freethinker around for the Danish Cartoons protest? Of course not. Why should she clutter her head with things that have nothing to do with money?

UPDATE: The Material Girl has gotten what she wanted - the Church of England has branded her Cross "offensive." Ka-ching! Ka-ching! C'mon, Madonna. How about little Mohammed action? Prove us wrong. We don't think you have the cojones.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:36 AM
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May 21, 2006

No Versace in Tehran

As many of you know, a small but interesting brouhaha has been created by a Canadian National Post story - based on a Amir Taheri column in the NY Post - alleging that the Mullahs were considering enacting dress codes (shades of the Holocaust) for political minorities in Iran. Denials have been issued. Maurice Mottamed - the Jewish representative in the Iranian parliament (what a job!) - proclaimed the allegation a "mischievous act" and said he had never heard of such a piece of legislation. My friend Tim Blair opined this might be the Plastic Turkey Story for conservatives and conservative blogs, who jumped on the salacious rumor without confirmation.

Well, maybe.

Let's leave aside for the moment that Sen. Chuck Schumer was the first politician to howl in protest and that the liberal-conservative dichotomy is so tedious it's in danger of replacing Ambien as the world's most popular sleeping pill. Something is clearly going on here - the question is what. Legislation about dress codes has apparently been in front of the Majlis for some time. Part of the intention of this legislation would be to encourage Islamic dress among the young by preventing the sale of designer clothes and jeans. We could insert a number of jokes here, but what constitutes Islamic dress and how that relates to Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians (all Iranians were once Zoroastrians) are not clear. According to Dr. Zin at Regime Change Iran, maybe it could be. He writes:

Amir Taheri said the law "envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities." This was taken by many to mean that the current law requires it, but the word "envisages" means: To conceive an image or a picture of, especially as a future possibility: envisaged a world at peace.

Why does he say it "envisages" it? Perhaps it is because it has been reported that a separate dress code for minorities has been included in earlier versions of the proposed law. Later in the article he discusses specifics of what this dress code would require. This has created confusion for many since in this part of the article it appears as if he is saying it is part of the current bill. Hopefully Amir will clarify this point in the near future. Unfortunately, since no one has yet published a complete translation of the actual text of the law we will have to wait until it is available. One would think that the main stream media would publish a complete translation of it, but as of this time it is not available.

Don't held your breath. Meanwhile, as David Horovitz at the Jerusalem Post points out, why the astonishment? Ahmadinejad has already declared his support for wiping Israel off the map. Dress codes are small change by comparison.

UPDATE: Neoneocon has a post on how Mr. Mottamed (see above) and similar representatives get elected to the Majlis.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 4:50 PM
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May 20, 2006

Palestinian sadness

I am not one of those who can gloat over the incipient (or already existing) civil war in Gaza between Fatah and Hamas. It's hard to imagine in our times two more hideous adversaries. In Iraq, where civil war is said to loom, there are good guys (today, it seems, a fair number of good guys), but the Palestinians are perpetually stuck between "tyrant duke and tyrant brother". Of course, they have made their own bed to a great extent. Still the news that Hamas has apparently tried to murder the Fatah intelligence chief signals things have gone from bad to Medici worse (without the art). The NYT reports the Fatah man was taken to a Tel Aviv hospital to save his leg. I wonder how the Palestinians react to that. Reading Michael Totten's post of yesterday I was reminded how complex, often sad and resigned, their thinking can be beneath the surface. That one of their leaders had to be taken to Israel for treatment (an old story, actually) probably only increases their shame. To the clear-thinking mind it should be a wakeup call. This is a society that should be building hospitals, not bombs. But then maybe, at base, they don't really want progress. Now there's a depressing thought.

UPDATE: According to Hamas, they're not at fault. It's "butter fingers." [At least they didn't blame Israel. That's progress.-ed. Yes... so far.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:21 AM
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May 19, 2006

Who's the racist?

Ever the demagogue, Sen. Harry Reid has declared the amendment to make English the national language of the USA to be "racist". Of course the reverse is true. Any encouragement to immigrants (in the current situation, Spanish-speaking immigrants) to think that they can live and work here in their language of origin is the most surefire way to condemn those same immigrants to a life of poverty and bad jobs. Generations of immigrants have integrated themselves into our economy first and foremost by learning English. And this is even more true today when English has become the international language of technology. If you don't know English, you're out in the garden pulling weeds. Does this mean anything to Harry - or does he even understand it? I'm not sure. What I do know is that the Senator from Nevada never loses the chance to put himself in the Guinness Book of Records for partisan hackery.

UPDATE: BTW, I of course applaud the study of foreign languages. That has nothing to do with the above.

MORE: On the issue of official "second" languages mentioned in the comments, we would face a huge problem of discrimination. Here in Los Angeles County there are (roughly) over a half million Koreans, nearly a million Chinese and about a half million Iranians (Tehrangeles). Should Korean, Chinese, Farsi be second languages along with Spanish? Starting to get confusing, isn't it? Howabout Tagalog, Japanese and Thai, also heavily spoken in this area? Someone once told me there are almost a hundred languages currently being spoken at Hollywood High. Official second languages start to become absurd when you think about that.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:13 PM
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Totten's Travels

Michael Totten keeps getting better and better. I have just finished his lengthy post about his visit to Ramallah and it's terrific, filled with sharp observations you don't get int the mainstream media. And I know something about this since I've been to Ramallah several times myself, during different eras. Photos are good too. What's particularly impressive is about what Michael is doing is that it is self-generated. He didn't ask anyone's permission to go to the Middle East and report. He just did it. So he's beholding to no one but his readers. This is the blogosphere at its best. I wish there were more like him.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:19 AM
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It's been said before

"I don't want your stinking badges."

(apologies to John Huston and B. Traven)

Apparently the report from Iran may have been exaggerated.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:27 AM
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May 18, 2006

Phonies of the Los Angeles Times

Today's editorial on the NSA in the LATimes is an example of why I no longer waste any time on the newspaper (Food Section excepted, of course). The drones at the LAT wrote the following: The secretive NSA (an abbreviation, Washington wags say, for "No Such Agency") has overseen a domestic surveillance program whose existence is known only because of media reports and whose exact contours remain a mystery even to most members of Congress.

Apparently the fellas at the LAT have never read the best-selling The Puzzle Palace (copyright 1983! and all about the NSA) or heard of the Echelon program, which has been running through several adminstrations. All this "Ohmygod, whatistheNSAdoing?" nonsense is so much propagandistic crap. Anyone paying the slightest attention has known for years what the NSA's brief was. What are all those satellites supposed to be for,anyway? The level of hypocrisy in all this is staggering. If you don't want an NSA, say so. But the obvious question is - where have you been for the last several decades?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:49 AM
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Wanna buy an F-16?

Don't miss In From the Cold's analysis of the potential sale of F-16s by Hugo Chavez to the mullahs. Spook86 has become an invaluable resource for information of this kind you never find in the mainstream media.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:47 AM
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May 17, 2006

Crix Nix Da Vinci Pix

Well, not just the critics are knocking the new film version of The Da Vinci Code, the flick's own actors are doing it as well. Ian McKellen, who has been getting raves for his work in the film, calls Dan Brown and his story "codswallop," according to The Guardian. What is "codswallop," you may ask? Answer here. I'll check it out over the weekend to see if I think it's "codswallop" as well. I suspect it is. But the question is - is it good "codswallop"?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 9:29 PM
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Dept. of "That's Our Howard"

Cementing his reputation as America's most partisan hack... Was this guy ever really a doctor? Thank the deities he's not practicing medicine anymore. ... Howard Dean asserted on the Daily Show that Bush was about to send twelve million Mexican illegals back to Mexico almost exactly one hour after Bush said precisely the opposite in his speech. It's people like Dean who make American politics into a joke. Shame on him.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:38 AM
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But you don't look Jewish (or maybe you do)

Sheryl followed a link from Pajamas Media this morning, which lead to a comment posted on Beautiful Atrocities, which lead to the astonishing revelation that Moammar Qadaffi had a Jewish Mother, at least according to this biography: Qaddafi was the youngest child from a nomadic Bedouin peasant family in the desert region of Sirte. His mother was a Jew who converted to Islam at age nine. This technically makes Qaddafi Jewish according to Judaism.

Is this true? I have no idea (but I imagine there are those who do). It does provide some insight into some of Qadaffi's strange behaviour, but I don't really want to go there. (One of his sons is apparently dating an Israeli actress.)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:13 AM
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May 16, 2006

Happy anniversary (erased) "Cultural Revolution"

What is among the oddest movements in human history, the Chinese "Cultural Revolution" has just had its 40th anniversary to a clamor of silence (whatever that is) from the media of that country: Searches on Tuesday for "Cultural Revolution" under the news section on China's most popular search engine, Baidu, yielded no results while specific websites focused on the period were not accessible.

I had my own strange brush with this phenomenon when on an "activist's" tour of the PRC in 1979 to research my novel "Peking Duck." We were taken to a May 7th Cadre School (I think May 7 is the correct date - it's been a while). One of the last artifacts of the Cultural Rev, these schools were for the reeducation of cultural workers - like teachers and, er, writers. These fancy folks were sent to these schools, actually rural farms, every seven years to live like the people and do such things as clean out the hog pens. The schools don't exist anymore, of course. But on reflection, maybe they weren't such a bad idea.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 2:49 PM
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Conferences R Us

This seems to be my week for conferences. In fact, I have managed to avoid such events for most of my life, but here I am perpetually walking around with a funny name card hanging around my neck ... this one branded by our friends at Yahoo (should I make a China protest?)... for Syndicate (with a long A) - The Premier Event for Content Syndication Trends. Who's to argue? Many of the "usual suspects" are in attendance (see link), including many who were at yesterday's conference, which ended with a open-bar bang at a place called Coda. The din was so loud no one could hear a word, so we all swilled a beverage of choice and stared at those ubiquitous name cards. Oh, you're that so-and-so. Let's exchange cards and talk later. It could have been Japan.

Meanwhile, the buzz word of the day seems to be podcast. As many of you know, we at Pajamas are jumping on the band wagon in a big way because we have a number of people in our aggregation who seem to have talent and experience in that direction - Reynolds, Corn, Cooper, Barone, etc., etc. Not all will be politics, however (although probably most). Suggestions solicited. (Who will have the first show on How to Fix Your Hybrid?)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:10 AM
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May 15, 2006

Personal Democracy Forum - #3 - Moulitsas and Ruffini agree

Alert the media, media! (or tell the blogs, bloggers)... Patrick Ruffini - of the RNC - and Markos Moulitsas - the Daily Kos - were in complete agreement at the beginning of their panel at the Personal Democrary Forum: A maturing blogosphere could be the medium that tilts the congressional election of 2006. Jonathan Garthwaite reminded the resident blogophiles that there was, however, another source called talk radio with, ahem, thirty to forty million listeners. Meanwhile, on the big board chat room above the panelist's heads, liza typed: "Hillary totally does not get it... she won't touch feminist bloggers."
(Photo shows moderator Matt Bai of the NYT with Ruffini and Moulitsas)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 1:21 PM
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Personal Democracy Forum - #2

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is calling for universal broadband access in his keynote speech at the Personal Democracy Forum. He pointed out that the US fell from fourth to sixteenth in broadband access when someone in the audience yelled out his numbers were outdated. It was already worse. At this moment broadband access is thirty times cheaper in Japan than it is here. Spitzer thinks this is a disaster for our infrastructure. Certain parts of NYC like Red Hook are still on dial-up. The digital divide, according to Spitzer, lives and is costing our society vast sums of money. He didn't get into the tax implications of his proposal, but his argument, I imagine, would be that affordable high speed internet access would pay for itself by through economic stimulation. Spitzer thinks we (particularly) are falling behind in technological innovation.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:26 AM
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Personal Democracy Forum - #1

Opening session of the Personal Democracy Forum has Chuck Defeo of Salem Communications, Josh Marshall of TPM, Chris Nolan of Spot-On, David Sifry of Technorati and Ben Smith of the New York Daily News. Merrill Brown, moderator. More at the link below, including an announcement by Sifry about further developments in the relationship between Technorati and the Washington Post.Josh Marshall talks about business model possibilities in blogging by making it "to some degree" scalable, to do it on a more serious basis than you can with just one person. He has been at it for five years, but is now involved increasingly in "collaborative journalism," making his readers into a research service. He gets many leads and information from his readers. Launched TPM Muckraker to institutionailize this method. Josh says it has been a "moderate success."

Chris Nolan sees the creation of content on blogs as a Venn diagram with interlocking contributors.

Dave Sifry jokingly introduced himself a "tech support." Talks about the blogosphere reinvigorate the process - "You don't have to yell at the television set. You can actually take action on your own."... "There aren't enough reporters out there to cover this stuff [like the schoolboard]... but there is an eneormous opportunity for synergy with the MSM and the public.

"People formerly known as your audience and they're talking - and they're talking about you."

Technorati is announcing a deeper relationship with the Washington Post. The WaPo opinon page, via Technorati, will now link to interesting blog opinion throughout the world. Sifry estimates 30,000 "influential political bloggers" in the world and the reach of this group will now be extended.

Ben Smith of the Daily News says papers are getting over their fear of "that pajamas thing."

Marshall sees interdependence between blogs and the MSM.

Chuck Defeo - there will never be another Walter Cronkite.

Second panel, moderated by Micah Sifry, deals wtih MySpace. Bobby Clark, Gina Glanz with a video presentation of her group - the Service Emloyees International Union (SEIU) for low wage workers, Joe Green, Heather Holdridge, Chelli Pingree and Sheldon Rampton.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:09 AM
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May 14, 2006

Blogosphere peace in our time

Let me apologize at the outset for the tired Neville Chamberlain reference because I mean it more seriously than that. I am in NY for a conference with some who others might consider my enemies, but I certainly don't. Never have. An example of those supposed enemies is Peter Daou of the Daou Report, whom I met at the opening "speaker's" cocktail party for the Personal Democracy Forum. On other occasions Peter and I have gone at it over the subject of the United Nations. Tomorrow we will be on the same panel together. So it goes in the blogosphere and so it should. Disagreement over ideas but not over personalities. I thought he was a pretty fine guy and was pleased to meet him. You can call that the Personal Democracy Forum. I'm all for it.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:31 PM
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Back to my day job

Maybe it's too many martinis - or in the case of Moses Wine, too much hash - but for the first time in a long while I couldn't resist speculating on the dramatis personae at the "welcoming" speakers' cocktail party I will be attending tonight for Personal Democracy Forum conference. With the NYTimes' Matt Bai, the Daily Kos, Townhall's Mary Ham, NY Attorney General Spitzer, the RNC's Pat Ruffini, Air America's Sam Seder, not to mention two Sifry brothers (David and Micah), Joe Trippi and the internet stragetists for Rick Santorum and Harry Reid, all in one room, I think I have the makings of a mystery classic. And the venue.... Someplace called the Tai Ping Showroom. What could be better? I'm not going to reveal the MacGuffin now. Stay tuned. Moses Wine could be back. (No, it won't be called the New Media Murders - too obvious)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:46 AM
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Happy Mother's Day

When I was a kid, I disdained Mother and Father's Days as business conspiracies of Macy's and Gimbels and maybe they were. But as I grow older and she grows older, I am grateful for any minutes I can spend with my mother. (I took this photo of the former Ruth Elaine Lichtenberg in Amagansett in August 2002). Because I am in the city for the Personal Democracy Forum, I will be gathering with the New York Branch of the family at the Yale Club (no Taliban present I hope) for brunch. I am looking forward.

Neoneocon comes out from behind the apple with some memories of the occasion here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:31 AM
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May 12, 2006

Heading to the (not so mysterious) East

I will be flying to NY tomorrow to attend the Personal Democracy Forum 2006 conference where I am on a panel Monday. The program for this conference seems more interesting than most. My panel is called "How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Blogosphere". [I think they have the wrong guy for that.-ed. I think so too.] While my panel is going on, I noticed there is one on "Why Your Website Is Probably Obsolete (and How to Fix It)". I hope someone's taking notes for me.

I will blog a bit from the conference and maybe taking a few snaps as well, posting here and at Pajamas.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:25 PM
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Mullah, Mullah on the Wall

Via PJ, I noticed that Matthew Yglesias is recommending that the adminstration negotiate with the Iranian government:

It'd be dumb to just take the Iranian government at its word, but there's no denying that they're trying to open a discussion and, frankly, it would be insane of us not to give this path a shot. Bush's view that talking to "evil" regimes is bad because it legitimizes them is silly and it's going to be completely impossible for us to get any international support for anything at all if we're seen as ignoring diplomatic initiatives. What's more, it's at least possible that direct talks could lead to a satisfactory resolution of the situation.

Well, okay... maybe ... But suppose Ahmadinejad actually means what he says about the eradication of Israel and the decline of Western Civilization (not to mention that, to me, psychotic blather about 12th Imams and so forth). Suppose too that this man is not just some minor figurehead for some sinister mullahs (bad enough) but a genuine potential Hitler with (soon enough to be sure) nuclear weapons and an army of believers behind him that could easily dwarf Der Fuhrer's in numbers and fervency. And finally suppose that the letter he just sent was really intended to rally those same believers (not an unlikely possibility). Then this decision to talk is not so easy, is it?

No, we are in a complex and rather frightening situation with no simple answers. I think too it is long past such minor league questions as Dems vs. Repubs, liberals versus conservatives, under which Matthew seems to categorize this. (I could be wrong - haven't talked with him about it.) Of course, that's my hobby-horse, but in this case I submit that it applies. We are at a critical moment.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:01 AM
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New Blog Week in Review

At Pajamas Media with (we think and hope you will) improved sound quality. Let us know what you think.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:34 AM
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May 11, 2006

Totten on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Excellent post and photos by Michael: "Tel Aviv is cool. Tel Aviv is fun. Jerusalem isn’t fun. There is too much Reality in Jerusalem for it to be fun."

I know exactly what he means.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:46 AM
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He's got a secret

Actually, he's probably got a lot of them. (We're talking about the great l'Escroc here.) If you're interested in his latest secret, Fausta is, per usual, the place to find out.

UPDATE: As many of you know, the excellent The Shadow of the Olive Tree has been following the Clearstream hijinks as well.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:44 AM
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Dinner with Mary

If you're going to drop names, drop big ones. Last night, our friend Tammy invited Sheryl and me to have dinner with Mary Cheney. She was in LA (fresh from a Larry King appearance) to promote her new book - Now It's my Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life. Of course we were pleased at the invitation. How many times do you get a chance to meet the daughter of a sitting vice president, especially one at the center of controversy herself? Mary, as most of you undoubtedly know, is the first publicly out homosexual child of such a major executive official. Who wouldn't be curious?

With us for the occasion were producer/manager Douglas Urbanski (The Contender) and his wife television writer Diane Wilk. The venue was Maple Drive, the by now almost venerable restaurant in Bev Hills.

Well, since it was an evening with more film people than political types, I will "cut to the chase." Mary was a charming person, quite friendly, approachable and at ease with herself (more than I would ever be, I think, with a secret service cadre accompanying me everywhere I went). The predictable topics flitted by in the conversation - movies, Islam, gay marriage, what's Larry King like, the food at Maple Drive (still up to snuff), our kids' schools, etc. Mary chimed in with the rest of us but, like any author on tour, her mind was on her book, as it should be. (We will have a podcast interview with her on that subject on Pajamas Media shortly).

In all, I would have to say that Mary Cheney had what some of the Amazon "reviewers" of her book do not - common decency. Many of the reviews are excellent, but it is those ad hominem attacks that are really the subject of this post. And I have the "reviewers" in quotes, because I doubt most of them have read the book (it's barely out). In fact, some of them even admit that they haven't. Here's one "gentlewoman" who reviews under the handle of "smtpgirl": I saw Larry King, and after that diatribe, I will not read the book. The five-star raters are a bunch of SCHMUCKS. So far 37 of 43 readers of that vitriolic nonsense have branded it as "useful" (wonder why some people distrust the Internet?). Another "great intellect" named Drew Janson (at least he signs it) has this to say: "I thumbed through the book elsewhere...no way I'm giving my hard-earned $s to this self-loathing, opportunistic sellout...and must say it's one of the most tedious, boring, pointless wastes of paper ever. Then again, Mary's heroes...especially her precious father...never cared too much for preservation of the trees, anyway. For shame, Mary."

Well, you get the point. Indeed this is about common decency, civility. Without that, we can't begin to talk with each other. I'm buying Mary Cheney's book and I'm taking it on the plane with me to New York on Saturday. It was a pleasure to meet her.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:36 AM
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May 10, 2006

Mystery Writers of the World Unite... at the polls

For those of you who don't know, my fellow mystery writer (also country singer) Kinky Friedman is making a run at the Texas governorship as an independent. And he's doing a better job than might have been expected so far (looks like he will be certified for the ballot). Am I backing him (not that it matters - I don't vote in Texas)? It's too early to say, but I'm inclined to. His politics are eclectic and he sure has good taste in cigars and hats. In other words: he's my kind of guy. You can watch an interesting video interview of the Kinkster here and an read some analysis here. The photo of Kinky to the left is with Wallace Craig of biggolddog.com - a frequent commenter on this site.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:13 PM
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Deadline in Israel (on to the "Jack Story")

I can't think two reports from Israel this morning are unrelated. One is that the Israelis have accepted a proposal by the so-called Middle East Quartet to give aid to the Palestinians; the other that the Israelis have given Hamas the specific deadline of the end of 2006 to negotiate before Israel would act unilaterally on borders. Mr Quid meet Mr. Quod.

Hamas already responded by applying the "Jack Story":

Hamas on Wednesday insisted Israel wasn't really interested in negotiating.

"Haim Ramon's assertion that Israel is ready for negotiations is no more than an attempt to trick the public," Palestinian government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said. "They don't want negotiations, and even if there were negotiations, they would not give us our rights."

For those who don't recall the "Jack Story," it comes from the world of psychotherapy. A man gets a flat tire on a dark and stormy night. Sonofbeehivingblablabla, he mutters - and I forgot my jack on top of it. He glances up at a house with a light on a hundred yards up hill. Maybe they can lend me a jack. He starts off for it, but as he trudges up the hill he talks to himself- wonder if they will lend me that jack, maybe they won't lend me that jack, I dunno - I doubt they're going to lend me that jack. By the time the man reaches the house and the door opens, he shouts angrily at the person opening the door before a word comes out: Why the &$%#*@! didn't you lend me your %$*&^#@ing jack?!

Sound familiar? Of course in the Middle East this has been going on for a thousand years, long before there were jacks. How about - Why the $%^&*# didn't you lend me your @#$%>#ing mule?!

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:37 AM
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May 9, 2006

Why he writes

It's hard to really understand the workings of the mind of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but this brief quotation from his letter of yesterday to President Bush could hold a significant clue:

Liberalism and Western-style democracy "have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity," said the letter, obtained late Monday by The Associated Press.

"Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the Liberal democratic systems," it read.

Shattering and fall? There are a lot of wisecracks that come to mind (just as there are every time Ahmadinejad speaks) but this is a serious matter, obviously, and the Iranian president may be revealing more than he thinks here. Leaving aside that Ahmadinejad is supposedly the victor in a "democractic" election himself, the Iranian leader is trumpeting the demise of his principle enemy (liberal democracy) because he fears it is winning. He undoubtedly views the Iraq War from a radically different perspective from the editors of the New York Times or a student demonstrator in St. Germain. The former two see it as abject failure but to Ahmadinejad, Iraqi democracy, for all its myriad inadequacies, is a nightmare that, despite Iranian infiltration of the Shiites, will not go away.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, here's a positive development of which I was entirely ignorant.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:33 AM
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May 8, 2006

"Please Mr. Postman" - Condi channels The Marvelettes

Just when you thought Condoleeza Rice was all Mozart and serious music, she brings back one of the greatest of the "girl groups" to say
"Wait a minute... Wait a minute..." to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's unsolicited letter in the President's mailbox. Said Condi of the 17 or 18 page missive filled with history, philosophy and religion (nowhere near as good as the Marvelettes', I'd bet): "There's nothing in here that would suggest that we're on any different course than we were before we got the letter." I say don't even give Ahmadinejad the time of day... or at best send him that second-rate Carpenters cover.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:54 PM
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Andrew Klavan vs. Hollywood

In a LAT oped, thriller writer Andrew Klavan takes on Hollywood negativity:

As early as 1947, we had "Crossfire," about an American GI who commits an anti-Semitic murder. In 1949, "Home of the Brave" depicted a heroic African American soldier dealing with prejudice. And by 1955, there was the classic "Bad Day at Black Rock," in which a veteran uncovers homicidal anti-Japanese bigotry when he tries to deliver a medal to the father of a Japanese American killed on the battlefields of Italy.

Such self-examination and reform are part of the measure of our greatness. But there's a difference between a humble nation confessing its sins and a country of flagellants whipping themselves for every impure thought. Since the '60s, we have had, it seems, an endless string of war movies, from "Dr. Strangelove" to "Syriana," in which the United States is depicted as wildly aggressive and endlessly corrupt — which, in fact, it's not; which, in fact, it never has been.

In taking our self-examining ethos to these extremes, we have lost a kind of wisdom, wisdom that acknowledges the complexity of human life but can move through it to find the simple truth again. While assessing the intricate failings of our moral history, many of us have lost sight of the simple truth that the system that shapes us is, in fact, a great one, that it has moved us inexorably to do better and that it's well worth defending against every aggressor and certainly against as shabby and vicious an aggressor as we face today.

Read it all. Klavan takes a dimmer view than I do about the inevitability of war - but, I have to admit, the facts, so far, are on his side. On the general issue of Hollywood, however, opponents of the Dream Factory should take pleasure in its continued downward spiral. The weekend's sputter of Mission Imp 3 is another indication that the importance of Hollywood is declining - and not just because of the puerile political opinions of movie stars or the ditzy lifestyle of Tom Cruise. There are simply too many other things to do. Klavan should check out the video games and see how many of them are critical of America. Far fewer, I would think. (Klavan's personal website is here.)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:22 AM
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May 7, 2006

Almost but not quite you father's Renaissance Pleasure Faire

I stopped going to the Renaissance Fair some time around 1983 when it was in Topanga Canyon. I remember it as a hot, dusty relic of the hippie era that interested me less than a Buffalo Springfield album - a lot less, come to think of it. But the last few years Sheryl and Madeleine have been going to a re-upped Renaissance Pleasure Faire, which, a sixties snob, I resisted until this year. I shouldn't have. It's fun. And it's also an excellent people-watching opportunity since the sociology is layered and complex - a bit of old Deadhead hippie ethic, mixed with a a biker-redneck thing and some ethnic salsa of various stripes. The group below is typical...

It's also a good place for old guys to lech after younger women...

And middle-aged punks to brush up on their mohawks...

While their girlfriends take belly-dancing lessons...

Madeleine took fencing lessons (from a good coach, actually)

And some others just played watermelonhead...

And the burghers drank their mead (plenty of it)...

Not everybody liked me taking their picture...

But some did ...

Anyway, you get the idea. It all had a je ne sais Diane Arbus quoi. More fun than Disneyland, though slightly less "family," if you catch my drift.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 2:54 PM
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May 5, 2006

More plagiarism

First Ginsberg. Now this. If I didn't know better, I'd think Gerard was applying for a position at Harvard.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:23 PM
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Kennedyitis

The Patrick Kennedy story is a sad one and - even with the obvious prevarications - my reaction is just to shake my head for all of us, particularly for my generation. We have been living with the strange saga of the Kennedys all our lives. In a sense we have been enablers of it in the all-too-human need for celebrity/royalty. (And of course book publishers have thrived on it - and will again). I remember one commenter on here took me to task just a couple of months ago for raising the spectre of Mary Jo Kopechne in reaction to Teddy's over-the -top interrogations during the Judiciary Committee Hearings. The commenter is a younger person, so I excuse him, but you must understand what a morally complicated event that was for people my age. People like me who wanted to support the Kennedys and what they stood for in those times had to suspend our own values then in a way it is impossible to forget. It haunts our lives in a small way and is brought back larger when incidents like this occur with other members of our low rent House of Atreus.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:32 AM
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May 4, 2006

Another opening of another podcast...

For those who haven't seen it, another Blog Week in Review is up on Pajamas. The Great Lobachevsky is mentioned.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:21 PM
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Olmert'splan

Olmert's plan for a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian border have been leaked to the press in conjunction with his assuming office. They are more liberal than I expected and include some partitioning of Jerusalem.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:50 AM
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May 3, 2006

A formal apology to Ward Churchill

On April 24, I wrote a post about Juan Cole's potential appointment to the Yale Middle East Studies dept. stating that the university should go the "Full Monty"of irresponsible- wild-and-woolly-pseudo-leftism and choose Ward Churchill instead of Cole for the New Haven faculty.

I was wrong.

After having read Christopher Hitchens' criticism of Cole's arguments about Iran, Cole's response to Hitchens (in which he accuses Hitchens of drunkenness while writing the piece and/or having someone else write it for him) and Andrew Sullivan's well-honed analysis of the Cole response, I must formally apologize to Churchill. If Yale is looking for the best example of irresponsible-idiotic-wild-and-woolly-pseudo-leftism, they already had the right choice in Juan Cole. (via HH)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 3:19 PM
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Moussaui gets life

Even though I am almost always opposed to the death penalty, I cannot say I am pleased Zacarias Moussaoui has been given a life sentence. I am worried. I do not know or care if he is schizophrenic (as his defense said), but I do know the wannabe 9-11 murderer is infected by a virulent mental disorder that tells him mass terror actions and assaults on innocent people merit a place in paradise. As we all have seen, this particular mental disorder - Islamism - is highly communicable and results in megadeath. So Moussaoui must not be allowed to interact with his fellow prisoners in any way lest they be released after he has infected them with his homicidal mind-cult. I know some will find this some kind of suppression of his human rights, but the prison authorities should look at it as a public health measure. You wouldn't put someone with the Plague with the other prisoners either.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 1:52 PM
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The Pond widens

Clive Davis had a post Friday - The Country They All Love To Hate - (meaning America, of course) that is getting justifiable attention. It might generate an interesting discussion on here. Clive's point is that even America's best friends across The Pond are losing, in fact have lost, patience with us and that Americans are being far too blasé, even imperious, about it. Mea culpa - I have engaged in a certain amount of Europe-bashing on here, some of which was undoubtedly overstated. But I plead the excuse of the spurned lover, having always assumed that I would live out my dotage on the "culturally-superior" Continent (a nice farmhouse in Tuscany, perhaps, not too far from Firenze). Nothing could be further from my thoughts now. To be honest, while I think Clive is correct about some nouveau "ugly Americanism," Europe has got such severe problems of its own that the the latest round of escalating Yankee Go Home (or stay out) mood smacks of a bit out of the old Freudian projection (i. e. blame the other for your problems). Probably both sides are at fault here, to walk a safe middle line. But of the arguments Clive mentions, one he dismisses out of hand - the you won't be here in 30 years nastiness - strikes me as worthy of a second thought. I don't mean this in the apocalyptic sense that Clive posed it (bit of a straw man there), but to many of us Americans who have been visiting Europe all our lives, it is not the same place. Europe is far less able to assimilate its minorities and guest workers than we are, even given the recent (notably non-violent) immigration demonstrations here. Much of that is not Europe's fault, but the result of Islamic cultures and belief systems that are still in the Dark Ages and have little desire to be assimilated. Nevertheless, Europe has a conundrum and has not so far been able to figure out how to deal with it. Maybe that's impossible ; epochal forces have been unleashed. Americans watching that have a right to be worried. Historically, as most of us realize to our dismay, in the end we in the New Country have been called upon to be the grownup. That's never fun.

By the way, I would agree with Clive that the public relations aspect of the Bush Administration has been a disaster. It's hard to believe they are so unsophisticted about that. The appointment of Tony Snow may be an improvement, but much more is needed.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:00 AM
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May 2, 2006

That old devil stress

A rather disturbing new study has just appeared about the health of white males between 55 and 64 in the US and the UK. For some time researchers have known that the general health condition of us Yanks (including longevity) was worse than most developed countries. But usually that was put down to poor minority care. Not according to this new survey. In this one, white middle class, even rich, Americans are considerably unhealthier than their Brit counterparts by a variety of measures. No one, apparently, can figure out the reason for this (Most rich people in this country are well insured, so national health insurance does not seem to be the cause.). The most likely conclusion is that it is caused by the stress of the American lifestyle. So that settles it. I am going to quit blogging and take a nap. See you all later.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:39 PM
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It's the "E" word again

From Reuters: "Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations."

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:34 AM
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Oh, no....

Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan may have plagarized from two authors:

A reader alerted The New York Times to at least three portions of "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life" that are similar to passages in the novel "Can You Keep a Secret?" by Sophie Kinsella.

While the plots of the two books are distinct, the phrasing and structure of some passages is nearly identical, the Times reported Tuesday.

In one scene in "Can You Keep a Secret," which was published by Dial Press, the main character, Emma, comes upon two friends "in a full-scale argument about animal rights," and one says, "The mink like being made into coats."

In Kaavya Viswanathan's book, Opal encounters two girls having "a full-fledged debate over animal rights."

"The foxes want to be made into scarves," one of them says.

[I don't understand why you're being so snarky. You plagiarized practically everything from Raymond Chandler-ed. Who didn't?]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 8:27 AM
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PJM Special Video Report up

Andrew Marcus' video of yesterday's demonstration (the more radical of the two in LA) is up at the Pajamas Media site. Worth a look. I find some of it powerful, but also sad. It was made for us and Powerline. Special thanks, as always, to Andrew. Have a look at his blog.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 7:25 AM
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May 1, 2006

A fan's notes

I was attending my daughter's softball game right in the middle of yesterday's Lakers-Phoenix playoff game. First things first, obviously, but every once in a while, I'd run off to my car to check the score. Not good. On the way I home I listened as the game seemed to dwindle away from the Lakers. By the time I pulled up in front of my house, they were down 5 points with twelve seconds to go. Why even bother to turn on the TV? So I didn't. In fact, I just assumed they lost and it wasn't until I walked out of my house this morning that I saw this on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Holy Moly!... Later on, at the demonstration, I ran into the guy at the left and couldn't resist snapping him. There's one demonstrator you know is going to assimilate. (By the way, for you commenters who put down Kobe Bryant every time I write about the Lakers on this site... and you know who you are... eat my shorts!)

UPDATE: You know the time's are a changin' when Shaq and Kobe's new daughters are only born six minutes apart. Talk about your "late eclipses of the sun and moon"!

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:16 PM
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La Marcha - Los Angeles - May 1,2006

Some photos from the march in downtown Los Angeles. Local radio said there 600,000 people. I have no idea but it was crowded. Just pictures now - comments later. I'm still disgesting this experience.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 4:14 PM
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UPDATE FROM DOWNTOWN LA

Andrew Marcus, Juliete Ochieng and Roger Simon hit the streets of the downtown LA demonstration this morning (with a videographer) and were immediately engulfed by a gigantic crowd. It is impossible to say how many from our perspectives, but these are the things we can report - they were joyful, they were non-violent (at least as far as we could see) and they were well-organized. A lot of the organization from the downtown demonstration came, alas, from ANSWER and their extremist ilk, but that didn't stop us from being moved by the demonstrators and their earnest desire to be Americans and to find honest work here. Nevertheless, there were some among them who wanted, unfortunately, the whole enchilada, the return of California to Mexico. But when you interview these people (you will see the results later), you find some are more confused than anything else. For the most part, they just want to work and raise families. They are being exploited by leaders singing a very old and tired song.

Juliette Ochieng and Roger Simon

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:50 PM
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Immigration Nation - signing the OCJCE

This will be my last post for a while because I am about to get out of my pajamas, strap on my Nikon, hop into my fuel-efficient Scion, wend my way out of Hollywood-Hills-liberal-land and head down to the (probably humungous) "Day without Immigrants" demonstration in downtown LA. [Maybe we should run a contest on how much you're going to end up paying for parking.-ed. I'm drawing the line at $80.]

So like any signer of the (let's suppse there is one) Official Citizen Journalists Code of Ethics (OCJCE), I am going to state my biases now. When you read my reports later or see my photos or participation in PJMedia videos, you will be able to decide if these views overwhelmed my coverage or if the event changed me in any way.

Basically, I'm against this demonstration as it was conceived. Boycotting businesses from whom you intend to take money as salary is weird to me - unless you are an old time socialist looking for revolutionary economic change. In that case you're either a demagogue or a nitwit. (Definition of a nitwit: someone who continues to make the same mistake after having been proven wrong four hundred times) Or maybe a sentimentalist - that's the worst really because that rarely does anybody any good. (If you're looking to get some action with the opposite sex by wearing a Che t-shirt, I excuse you.)

I also think the movement to sing the National Anthemn in Spanish is a complete eye-roller and actually destructive to immigrants and/or illegal aliens. This nation of immigrants and its economic system thrived on people doing exactly the opposite - proudly and rapidly learning English. English is also, as we all know, now the international language of science and technology. The good jobs, here and elsewhere, come to those who know English. By encouraging the possibility people can live here with only Spanish, the leaders of this demonstration are essentially keeping their constituency in poverty. (In a sense, that could be their intention. Better for the leaders, isn't it?)

And, of course, on top of all this there's Mexico - that beautiful, train wreck of a nation, one of my favorite places in the world. Conditions there seem to go from bad to to the proverbial worse. Keeping an open (exit) door policy for her poor and unemployed may be necessary temporarily, but it has not helped Mexico face the reality of fixing her own problems, something which she resists doing with a tenacity only equaled by the economic motor of the United States.

AND YET .... I support these people (the non-criminal, non-terroristic ones of course) and want them to be here and have jobs. Most of them already do. I have lived in Los Angeles for thirty-five years and interact with them every day. (Ironically, it keeps my Spanish up.) They are great folks from a great culture. Our economy depends on them - we all know it. Something has to be worked out and.... dare I say it?... Bush seems to have a decent plan (or part of one).

Hasta pronto.

UPDATE on the way out: Marc Cooper reports tht at this weekend's Democratic Party Convention in Scaramento, the subject of immigration "never came up." ... Holy simoleons!

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 6:26 AM
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