That’ll Teach ‘Em
by John Coleat8:40 pm. It has 1 Comment.Via the Opinion Journal, this shocker:
A Sikh man has received a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the bombing of an Air India jet in 1985, which killed all the passengers on board.
Inderjit Singh Reyat – who has British and Canadian citizenship – was charged by a Canadian court with 329 counts of manslaughter – one for each of the people who died in the blast.
Two other men also stand accused in connection with the bombing.
The sentencing came as a surprise, although prosecution lawyers say they now concede that Reyat’s role in the bombing was relatively small.
Reyat, a former worker at Jaguar’s UK car plant in Coventry, stood but said nothing as his punishment was read out in court.
If I ever need a lawyer, I am calling this guy.
Lie Down With Fleas
by John Coleat6:15 pm. It has Comments DisabledIf you can tell something about a person by the company they keep, so far Saddam Hussein has the support of Hamas, Osama bin Laden, and the French.
Food For Thought
by John Coleat6:08 pm. It has Comments DisabledThe folks at Spinsanity explain why Hesiod, NPR, and the rest of the lunatic fringe are wrong again.
In a commentary on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” yesterday [Real Audio], Daniel Schorr cited a proposed change in the federal school lunch program as evidence that President Bush is dismantling anti-poverty programs. But the charge is presented without adequate context, implying that Bush is actually cutting funding rather than changing the verification procedures used to evaluate eligibility.
Expect to hear the nitwits and the ideologues repeat the ‘Bush cut School Lunches” mantra throughout the election, despite the fact it is nonsense.
Osama Returns
by John Coleat6:01 pm. It has Comments DisabledOsama is back, just in time for the Oscars, releasing a new collection of his greatest hits:
An audio tape purported to carry the voice of Osama bin Laden called on Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks against Americans and defend themselves against a U.S. attack.
The tape was broadcast on the Al-Jazeera Arab satellite station on Tuesday, the first day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. The speaker also urged Iraqis to dig trenches and engage in urban warfare to fend off U.S. troops.
“We stress the importance of martyrdom operations against the enemy, these attacks that have scared Americans and Israelis like never before,” the speaker said, using a term often used by militants for suicide attacks.
Before the broacast, Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate panel Tuesday that he had read a transcript of the statement and that it shows why the world needs to be concerned about Iraqi ties to terrorism.
This will no doubt fluster the Democrats, who have been whining for months that there is no connection between Al Qaeda and Osama. Well, is this tape is real, there is now a connection. In short, loudmouths, here are your options:
1.) Claim the tapes are fake, and quit claiming Osama is alive. This will upset the anti-war crowd a great deal, as one of their favorite responses to the Bush Iraq policy has been to wail “What About Osama?”
2.) Claim the tapes are real, and endorse an attack on Iraq.
I am betting they will go for the third option, which is to sputter incoherently, call Bush the ‘selected’ President, scream something about unilateralism, and then go write domestic spending projects while yelling at Bush for ruining the deficit. Daschle and Kerry, of course, will have some more serious questions.
*** UPDATE ***
I was just reading Atrios (need to check in daily to find out who is a racist, you know), and I found that the Democrats have chosen option #4, which goes something like this:
The tape is a fake, planted by the CIA to prove a link between Osama and Saddam. Despite the fake nature of the tape, however, do not assume that we think bin Laden is dead. On the contrary, this tape shows that BUSH has failed to kill Osama and is a unilateralist bully who will do anything to go to war with Iraq.
My head hurts.
Fiscal Conservatives, My Ass, (part 2029378)
by John Coleat2:16 pm. It has Comments DisabledMr. Greenspan spoke today, and here is what he had to say:
He characterized as “sobering” recent budget estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, which forecast deficits well through the balance of the decade.
“It is necessary to extend budget enforcement rules promulgated in the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990,” he said. “I am concerned that, should the enforcement mechanisms not be restored, the resulting lack of clear direction and constructive goals will allow in-built political bias in favor of growing budget deficits to again become entrenched.”
The rules set in place under the Budget Enforcement Act, which was passed to restrain spending, expired in the House last September. They were partly extended in the Senate through mid-April of this year.
Mr. Greenspan said that while there seems to be a “large and growing constituency” for holding down the deficit, “I sense less appetite to do what is required to achieve that outcome.”
Translation: Congress is a bunch of tax and spend REPUBLICANS. Or to borrow a term from the left- BORROW AND SPEND REPUBLICANS.
Feel the Heat of Cold Fury
by John Coleat2:28 pm. It has Comments DisabledMike at Cold Fury is just unloading on people today:
One more thing I’d like to leave you with on this topic:
PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have a sharply more unfavorable image of France than they have had at any point over the past decade. Favorable opinions of the country have dropped 20 points in the last year, while unfavorable opinions have risen by 17 points. Americans’ attitudes toward Germany, which, like France, has balked at approving the U.S. position on the necessity of military action against Iraq, have also become substantially more negative since last year. The image of North Korea in the minds of Americans, already quite negative, has become even more so this year compared to last.
Voila, Pierre; there you have it: the Voice of the American Street. Hey, snail-eaters, can I get a puling, sniveling “Why do they hate us?” Got that in a French accent, plus-size?
Didn’t think so.
Dude- You’re Getting A Lawyer
by John Coleat1:20 pm. It has 2 Comments.The Smoking Gun has the goods on the Dell dude. This was probably staged to give him street cred.
Stripping for Peace
by John Coleat1:18 pm. It has 1 Comment.Also via John Hawkins, here is a movement I would get behind.
Snubbed Again
by John Coleat1:15 pm. It has 4 Comments.Not even a dishonorable mention for Balloon Juice in John Hawkins’s First Annual Warblogger Awards. I did vote for myself as most under-rated- so I know I got at least one vote.
Bastards. I hate all of you.
60 Minute Hacks
by John Coleat8:36 pm. It has 1 Comment.The Instapundit’s description of the 60 Minutes piece on ballistic fingerprinting is 100% accurate. My response was much less polite, and much more straightforward, and it involved an f-word.
I usually love 60 Minutes, so it bothers me when they get a story this wrong- how the hell am I supposed to trust them on other issues?
Question for Cat Owners
by John Coleat8:44 pm. It has 6 Comments.My cat is fascinated by water. Every time I turn on a faucet, take a shower, or flush the toilet, he comes running- he especially loves watching water drain. I am now effectively wife-trained with the toilet, as I have to put the lid down when I am finished- otherwise he splashes around in it. Is this normal?
They Are Human
by John Coleat8:37 pm. It has 2 Comments.Every time the left gets so worked up into a fevered pitch about something that I just can not take it anymore and want to dehumanize them (by doing things like collectively calling a group of different individuals ‘the left’), I find out things like this- most of the lefties on my blogroll like the show ’24.’ I love it. Check it out:
CalPundit– who gets bonus points for a good post on BBQ
and Jesse.
Who would have thunk it? Except they are wrong about the best plot twist- which is that the younger Warner sister is the enemy agent.
Who Needs Em?
by John Coleat11:55 am. It has 1 Comment.The line that is now going around Washington is that of a former undersecretary of defence, who observed, “Going to war without the French is like going deerhunting without an accordion.”
This, and more, from the latest David Warren (via RealPolitik).
The Illiterate Literati
by John Coleat9:16 am. It has Comments DisabledJoe Conason proves he does not understand the UN Resolution. This statement says it all:
Colin Powell showed that Saddam Hussein is resisting disarming. But he didn’t prove that he’s an immediate threat.
Talk amongst yourselves.