Posts from — April 2007

The enemy of my enemy is my friend – Arab proverb?

No one can possibly be this stupid. Arabs know better, so this is probably something they foist on outsiders. The enemy of my enemy is, at best, a temporary ally, and no more.

The US should know this because al Qaeda was born from the remnants of the forces it supported to oppose the Soviets in Afghanistan. If the US had been a friend, it would have paid all its bills and not abandoned Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrew.

The US is at it again, looking for surrogate armies to bother Iran.

ABC News Exclusive: The Secret War Against Iran

A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.

The group, called Jundullah, is made up of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province in Pakistan, just across the border from Iran.

As Steve of No More Mister Nice Blog notes, some time ago it was determined that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al Qaeda operation officer behind 9-11, was one of the founders of the Jundullah.

[Read more →]

Weaning

Kittens – what can you do?

[Editor: I’ve been trying to get a picture of the three kitten at the food dish, as they just discovered solid food on Wednesday. The Lone Ranger appreciates the change, but the kittens wouldn’t cooperate.]

Friday Ark

Don’t miss the Debut of Kaylee’s Kuddle at Out, Standing in Her Field

From CBS – Florida Ex-Cons To Regain Voting Rights:

Florida was one of three U.S. states along with Kentucky and Virginia that require ex-felons to take action to restore their civil rights no matter how long they’ve been out of prison. Other states have waiting periods before restoration; most restore rights automatically when felons complete their sentence.

Under the change, which takes effect immediately, Florida officials will automatically begin the rights-restoration process for felons when they finish their sentences. People who previously completed sentences but are still awaiting restoration of their rights will still have to apply on their own because most are not tracked by the state after their release.

The change was urged by Gov. Charlie Crist, who was elected last November. His predecessor, Jeb Bush, had long opposed changing the ban.

“I believe in simple human justice and that when somebody has paid their debt to society, it is paid in full,” Crist said Thursday. “There’s a time to move on, a time to give them an opportunity to have redemption, to have a chance to become productive citizens again.”

If Eliot Abrams can get a government job, some guy who has finished his sentence for kiting checks ought to be able to cut hair or drive a dump truck, as well as voting.

Barbara O’Brien has scoured the ‘Net to cover ScarfGate.

It’s interesting that there are photos of both Laura Bush and Condoleezza Rice in hajibs, while Speaker Pelosi is wearing a scarf.

I admit that I’m old enough to remember when the only women who wore hajibs in the US were nuns. I don’t remember anyone harassing them over the practice: it was part of their religion.

Jeff Masters, the hurricane blogger for the Weather Underground, wants people to remember that the April forecasts from Colorado have shown no skill in predicting Atlantic hurricane activity. Their June forecasts are quite good, so stand by for the June numbers.

The first name up will be Andrea, and as the practice is to reuse names every six years, I could get hit by another Erin, as happened in 1995. I don’t have to worry about another Opal, because the bad storms have their names retired from the lists.

Nancy Pelosi is the perfect person to deal with the Shrubbery. As a grandmother she has a lot of experience dealing with toddlers throwing tantrums.

Presented for your consideration:

On 04/05/07: ‘No deal done with Iran’ – Blair

Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted no deal was done to free 15 Royal Navy crew members, as they arrived in the UK after being held in Iran for 13 days.

They were released “without any deal, without any negotiation, without any side agreement of any nature”, he said.

[snip]

The diplomats insisted the only written communication was an exchange of diplomatic notes several days earlier.

It is thought the British note included an offer to hold discussions to clarify the border line to avoid problems in future, says the BBC’s Frances Harrison in Iran.

On 04/04/07: Iran ‘access’ to Iraq detainees

Iranian officials have dismissed any link between the British crew and Iranian detainees in Iraq, while Britain and the US have said any exchange deal would be out of the question.

On 04/03/07: Seized Iran diplomat free in Iraq

US officials denied any involvement in the kidnapping and said they did not know about the diplomat’s release.

Francis Urquhart: “You might well think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”

Oh, well, at least they appear to be considering actually drawing the border that everyone keeps pretending exists.

Kevin Drum located this graph which shows who benefits from a Shrubbery Recovery – corporate profits.

It hard for the benefits to flow down to the little people when the government keeps subsidizing corporate dams.

Don’t forget – the tax cuts are supposed to spur investments. Investments don’t appear to be spurred; they appear to be bedded down in their stall.

If you are looking for terrorists, people who advance their causes by instilling fear in people, look for members of the Shrubbery’s party.

Over at the Pensacola Beach Blog John has been running a series of reports beginning last Friday that were carried in the Pensacola News Journal about Democrats planning to shut down Guantanamo and move the “captives”¹ to military bases around the country, including Pensacola Naval Air Station.

I ignored the story for two reasons. Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, is leading the drive to close Guantanamo, not the Democrats; and Eglin Air Force Base wasn’t on the list.

There was a Federal Prison on Eglin AFB until hurricane Ivan. The decision was made not to repair the damage after the hurricane, and the prison was shut down. Eglin is the largest Air Force Base the US has. There is a half-million acre national forest on the base. It would be the logical place to move the population of Guantanamo.

[Read more →]

Hatch has been running around saying that Carol Lam, the US Attorney removed from her post in San Diego, was appointed to her position by Bill Clinton, having been a law school professor with no experience.

Ms. Lam joined the Justice Department during the Reagan administration, and was appointed a US Attorney by George W. Bush after the “careful examination of her credentials” by the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by ORRIN HATCH.

Again – liar or senile?

To paraphrase the Abbé Arnaud-Amaury of Citeaux: Impeach them all and let the Senate decide.

They are all incompetent, corrupt slugs. Charge them all with malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance. When they bother to do their jobs, they do them badly, or simply to enrich themselves and their friends.

They are the dandelions in the lawn of government and must be pulled out, root and all.

Swift Boat donor’s appointment sidesteps Congress

President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress where Democrats had derailed Fox’s nomination.

[snip]

Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last month. On Wednesday, with Congress out of town for a spring break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Senate confirmation.

This was an open declaration of war. He doesn’t intend to confer with Congress for any reason, no matter what the Constitution says. Impeach the slimy chunk of garbage, or de-fund him. There is no point in trying to work with him.

The Iranian President decided to present his own version of the New Year’s Honours List by handing out medals to the Iranian military personnel who captured the British military personnel in the Persian Gulf and announced: Iran ‘to release British sailors’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 15 British naval personnel captured in the Gulf will be freed.

He repeated allegations that the British sailors and marines “invaded” Iranian waters, but said they would be freed as a “gift” to Britain.

He got to appear to be a peace loving, reasonable leader, slam the UK and US for aggression, and avoid an internal struggle within the Iranian government.

I would wait until the British personnel are back in British hands before scheduling any celebrations, because there are a lot of groups and people in Iran who can overrule decisions made by Ahmadinejad.

[It’s the new year on the Persian calendar.]

CBS carries this Associated Press report: Importer: No Tainted Wheat In Human Food

The Chinese wheat gluten imported by ChemNutra Inc. all went to companies that make pet foods, Stephen Miller, chief executive officer of the Las Vegas company, told The Associated Press.

[snip]

ChemNutra said it has recalled 873 tons of wheat gluten that it shipped to three pet food makers and a single distributor who in turn supplies the pet food industry. The company said the recall applied only to wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying, one of its three Chinese suppliers of the ingredient.

[snip]

Each bag of wheat gluten included content analysis and test results provided by Xuzhou Anying, ChemNutra said.

“The company is particularly troubled that the certificates of analysis provided by the above-named supplier did not report the presence of melamine,” ChemNutra said in a statement.

My, my, who could have imagined that a corporation might lie? I guess it would have been insulting to run your own analysis to find out what was in the bags you were selling. If you did that you might be liable when people’s pets died as a result of the poison you sold.

NBC is reporting that FDA urges laxer labeling on irradiated foods.

[Read more →]