A short list...

Omar Sharif, Salman Rushdie, Theo van Gogh, University of California at Berkeley bookstores, Hitoshi Igarashi, William Nygaard, Aziz Nesin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Rachid Ben Ali, Khalid Durán, Christians on PalTalk, Isioma Daniel, and Taslima Nasreen to name just a few. From America, Asia, Africa and Europe. All victims of, or threatened with, moslem violence because they excercised free speech deemed critical of Islam.

All taken from just one article, The Freedoms We Fight For.

UNFORTUNATELY, WE IN THE WEST haven't always been vigilant about standing behind speech rights. Too often, when Islamists threaten free expression, some Westerners clamor to make excuses for them. In 1997, for example, Salman Rushdie and novelist John le Carré had a high-profile feud in the letters section of the Guardian. In the course of the feud, le Carré said that Rushdie bore the responsibility for the bounty on his head because "there is no law in life or nature that says that great religions may be insulted with impunity."

...

Standing up for free speech in the face of religious fanaticism should be automatic for anybody who understands the classical liberal principles upon which Western society was built. Unfortunately, it seems that many Westerners either fail to understand these principles, or else fail to grasp the reality of the threat. Ultimately, it is Salman Rushdie's response to John le Carré that encapsulates the consequences of not recognizing the current Islamist attack on free speech: "John le Carré is right to say that free speech isn't an absolute. We have the freedoms we fight for, and we lose those we don't defend."

As I've posted before in Freedom of speech in Denmark, this is an intolerable, and extremely insidious, assault on one of the West's core values. We cannot stand by silent and allow Moslems to dictate the terms of public debate in the West through threats. Stories such as these need to be told, and told again and again. We must demand Moslems among us to publically demonstrate their self-proclaimed tolerance by condemning, in no uncertain terms, calls for violence against critics, or even mockers, of their religion.

Statement of Policy

InstaPundit strongly supports the use of violent force to save lives of its workers ..., readers, advertisers, or unrelated onlookers should they be kidnapped, held hostage, or caught in the middle of a conflict situation. The use of grossly excessive or gratuitous violence, while not exactly encouraged, isn't exactly deplored, either.

Reaction to Islamic Terrorism in ... Bangladesh?

Rantingprofs:

In an immediate protest, hundreds of lawyers took to the streets of Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities, calling for government action to prevent further attacks.

They boycotted courts all over the country on Tuesday.

The Gods alone know why I haven't blogrolled Cori Dauber yet, but I'm remedying that now.

And now for something completely different.

5th Circle of Cubic Hell: Decaf - Ugh!

Joe Lieberman Gets It and Sy Hersh Doesn't

Joe Lieberman

I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood--unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn.

Progress is visible and practical. In the Kurdish North, there is continuing security and growing prosperity. The primarily Shiite South remains largely free of terrorism, receives much more electric power and other public services than it did under Saddam, and is experiencing greater economic activity. The Sunni triangle, geographically defined by Baghdad to the east, Tikrit to the north and Ramadi to the west, is where most of the terrorist enemy attacks occur. And yet here, too, there is progress.

There are many more cars on the streets, satellite television dishes on the roofs, and literally millions more cell phones in Iraqi hands than before. All of that says the Iraqi economy is growing. And Sunni candidates are actively campaigning for seats in the National Assembly. People are working their way toward a functioning society and economy in the midst of a very brutal, inhumane, sustained terrorist war against the civilian population and the Iraqi and American military there to protect it.

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

On the other hand, Sy Hersh:

I just think -- I think it's really bad out there. I think it's, you know, if you look at the -- it's just real simple. You don't have to be much of a genius to figure it out, we're almost -- it's Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving of '04, it was much worse than at Thanksgiving of '03.

It's now Thanksgiving of '05, and it's much worse there than it was last year. How is it going to get better next year? What magic is there?

One thing I notice is that there's no mention of Hersh's making a recent visit to Iraq.

The Coming Clash of Generations

In an article in today's Telegraph, Alice Thomson describes the struggle of British twenty-somethings to survive being burdened by taxes and debt. British demographics suggest that, while every one hundred British workers today support 27 pensioners over 65, by 2060 that same one hundred workers will support 48.

Compared with the older generation swanning around on their cruises, [those in their twenties] seemed anxious, exhausted and alienated. A few months [ago], the think tank Reform took up the term the iPod generation, labelling them insecure, pressurised, overtaxed and debt-ridden. Now the pensions crisis has made it even more clear. To be young in Britain is not a carefree experience. The real divide in this country is no longer between toffs and council estate lads, the public sector versus the private sector, or middle-class culture compared with the benefits culture. The big gap now is between the old and the young.

In a situation like this, it seems one always has to add insult to injury, and accuse those in their twenties of being "selfish."

But the generation now in their twenties are going to suffer even more [than those in their thirties]. They are called the selfish generation, but in fact research shows that they give more to charity and are more concerned about the environment than any other age group. They must look at their elders and wonder who really are the selfish ones.

Last week, I went to a party for a friend who is 28 to celebrate the fact that she had finally paid off her student loan. She is now saving for a fifth of a share in a house in Hackney. She can't even consider a pension. At a talk I gave at Cambridge University last week, the majority of students wanted to go into the City or become solicitors or accountants "to make money". If they don't start immediately, they will never scramble on to the housing ladder.

This generation is so debt-ridden that they have to live at home after university. It is not because they have been mollycoddled and want their washing done, it is because they can't afford anything else.

Of course, the British situation is different from ours here in the U.S. One of the upsides of our immigration problem may be that it provides an influx of relatively young people, who seem inclined to reproduce. (Don't misunderstand me; I know that presents its own set of issues.)

It seems safe to predict, in any case, that over the next decade we are going to be forced to confront our own version of the "Clash of Generations," and the first front in that battle is likely to be the looming crisis in Medicare.

***

[Disclaimer: As the father of four boys in their twenties, all engineers or engineers-in-training, one still in graduate school and one still in college, I have an obvious interest in this issue. If my health permits, I plan never to retire, and would like to die with my boots on. I work all year, and I take no vacations. I put myself through post-graduate training, and was fortunate enough to start out in life not in debt.]

The Government We Deserve

I have heard a lot of complaining on the blogosphere recently concerning the state of our government.

Obviously Rep. Cunningham resigning because he took bribes is disgraceful, but these kinds of lapses have always plagued government, ours less than most.

Democrats so far are ahead in the politician as crook competition, but the Republicans may catch them yet. The Clintons are a hard act to follow in terms of corruption and funny business. Talk about a culture of corruption...but that is a whole nother post in and of itself.

I am referring to the incessant complaining of pundits in cyber space and elsewhere that we are not getting the government we deserve.

If only they would cut taxes, increase taxes, increase educational spending, get rid of the Education Department, increase spending for scientific research and development, not use public money to fund research that should be left to the private sector, build a wall on the southern border, maintain our tradition of encouraging immigration and assimilation, not use a litmus a test to pick judges, make sure the next justice overturns Roe V Wade, kill the terrorists, run away from the terrorists, and above all fight back with ferocity when attacked.

I am sick of the people who are sick of government. It seems to me that are extremely self-serving and add little to pubic discourse but rancor.

For as long as I can remember there has been a packing of yipping dogs at the heels of the President, whoever he may be, and while they love to hold the President accountable, they seem to be blithely unaware of the fact that the only power they have is the power to complain loudly and make everyone else tune out.

I am not talking about the opposition party, I am talking about the tiresome opinion makers who have an opinion about everything from immigration to Iraq and who, only occasionaly, have the slightest idea what they are talking about [and yes, that goes for me too]. They just kvetch and leave the heavy lifting to someone else.

So now it is the time to jump on the Republicans. Fine. I voted for Bush, but I am an Independent. So far the overall analysis seems to be: if you are on the left, the Republicans are too far right and if you are on the right, the Republicans are too far left. Either way the majority party is either a big disappointment or the End Times.

I have never yet seen a conservative send back their Social Security check or refuse Medicare and I have never as of yet seen a leftie that would give up a cushy job to someone less fortunate than themselves.

So maybe we are the problem. Maybe we ask the impossible. We wanted campaign finance reform and ended up with McCain-Feingold. Maybe we should realize that the ones we really need to look out for are the dreaded Reformers.

"Vietnamization" of Iraq

Jed Babbin makes some good points:

The whole Democrat menagerie has embarked on a campaign to Vietnamize Iraq: to make it a demonstrable defeat and by so doing regain the White House regardless of the consequences. If they succeed, Iraq will become a far greater failure than Vietnam was because the stakes are much higher abroad and at home. The next presidential election will, like the last one, be a referendum on Iraq. And if Iraq is a failure, the Democrats will be a success.

RTWT.

Xooglers

If you believe, as I do, that Google is going to be a significant part of our future, it might behoove you to keep an eye on this new blog. Written well by two former employees--and there may be more ex-Googlers joining--it yields valuable insights into our new corporate masters which it would be impossible to obtain elsewhere. And while you're on the subject, you might want to read this article's explanation of why businessmen are second-class citizens at Google and how Google has ruffled the feathers of some Venture Capitalists, or this article on why Google's shares are overvalued.

Would you care for a glass of TANG?

Scott Johnson of Power Line has had his fill of it. Apparently he feels that Mary Mapes apologia pro mendaci sui is somewhat less than totally convincing. Oddly, not only does he not accept Ms. Mapes at her word, he even feels that the Washington Post was overkind in its review of her opus minimus.

Mr. Johnson evidences disturbing lack of trust in our treasured national media. It's almost as if he believes that there may be some sort of unseen agenda being promulgated by the press.

Purple Fingers in December

Bill Bennett is not one of my favorite commentators, in general, but in this Corner posting he's got a very good idea:

The continued drumbeat against the war in our culture, high and low, can only serve to hurt the morale of our soldiers and our allies--including the Iraqis themselves. They, despite all we see and hear, are going to the polls next month--for their third election in a year, each election being a remarkably courageous demonstration. So how do we show them our support? How do we let them--and our soldiers--know we stand with and behind them? Americans should start putting purple ink on their right index fingers the week before their Dec. 15 election. And let Iraqis, let American soldiers, let our allied forces see that demonstration here. NBC, CNN, the New York Times want a picture to tell a thousand words? They want a picture of how the majority of Americans feel? Let 'em print our purple fingers--and let the Iraqis on Dec. 15 show even more.

I suggest we run some pictures ....

Cream Rising

I spend some time reading well researched and founded studies that break down verifiable data using methodology that is reasonably comprehensible. Occasionally I run across a subject that will have 'dueling' studies involving roughly the same data sets. Such studies provide the research basis for articles such as this WaPo piece which is supported by this this NPP study. NPP is the National Priorities Project which can be found in alliance with the Soros Foundation and the Tides Foundation on most subjects.

Dr. Tim Kane is a research fellow with the Heritage Foundation who authored this study which provided this rebuttal of the NPP conclusions and wound up on the editorial page of USA Today.

One data set (roughly), two conclusions, which if not diametrically opposed are at minimum unsupportive of each other. Which conclusion is more supportable based upon the evidence presented?

UPDATE: The link now goes to the correct Washington Post article.

The Officer's Club

A fine source on military topics, I've just added The Officer's Club to our blogroll.

Update: Per Chuck's suggestion, I've also added ThreatsWatch.

The Party's Over

It seems that Cindy Sheehan is just about done. Maybe it was the laughing and dancing her grief away that got to people, but she is back in Crawford and it seems she is feeling kinda lonely.

HT: powerline

How Predictable is the New York Times?

Very.

The New York Times Strategy:

Assert that Iraq is a disaster.
Assert that there is civil war in Iraq.
Assert that Iraq is hopeless.
Assert there are parallels with Vietnam.
Assert that we are losing in Iraq.
Assert that we must pull out now.

Then write snarky articles about hard it is to pull out and save face at the same time.

In SAVING FACE AND HOW TO SAY FAREWELL, James Glanz says:

"Even in the absence of a sudden and dramatic shift on the battlefield toward a definitive victory, there may still be a slight opening, as narrow as the eye of a needle, for the United States to slip through and leave Iraq in the near future in a way that will not be remembered as a national embarrassment."

At the same time Maureen Dowd intones:

"Democracy depends on us. It depends on our ability to be patriots, to fulfill the founding fathers vision of keeping a check on power."

(See Tom Maguire's discussion re the latest Maureen Dowd example of arrogance, hubris, and Bush hate.)

Never blog when you're angry--and I'm angry--but I'd still like to know how we can fulfull the founding fathers vision by keeping check on the power of the New York Times.

They decide on the narrative.
They decide what is important and what is fit to print.
They decide what the outcome should be.
They shape public opinion.
They call on the administration to listen to public opinion.
They force the outcome.

Then they report the outcome as news and an embarrassment to the country.

KEFIYAH!

Thank God for our First Amendment Rights

I have nothing but contempt for David Irving. He is the one who sued Deborah Lipstadt for allegedly slandering him. Thankfully, she won her case in a British court of law. Irving was irritated that Lipstadt accused him of holocaust denial even though the evidence overwhelming supported her position. Such a matter could not even be heard in the United States. Our First Amendment rights, thankfully, make it extremely difficult to sue. Not so, in Europe and the United Kingdom. At this very moment, the Austrian government has arrested Irving for denying the holocaust:

“In a statement posted on his website, Mr Irving's supporters said he was arrested while on a one-day visit to Vienna, where they said he had been invited "by courageous students to address an ancient university association".

Despite precautions taken by Mr Irving, he was arrested by police who allegedly learned of his visit "by wiretaps or intercepting emails", the statement alleged.”

You can read the Guardian article here.

A few years ago, the great scholar Bernard Lewis was also prosecuted by French authorities for questioning the genocide of the Armenians. When will this nonsense stop? Governments should not be prosecuting people for uttering stupid statements. All of us are placed in harm’s way when this occurs. The free exchange of ideas can readily handle the likes of a David Irving. This is especially true in our modern era because of the Internet. Furthermore, I am convinced that this is perhaps the number one reason why much of Europe and the British Isles may be doomed. Their citizens are fearful of offending the politically correct bureaucrats who truly run their nations. This has resulted in the growing threat of Islamic nihilism. Let us make sure the same thing doesn’t happen in the United States.

Bruce Willis is my hero.

According to Betsy Bruce Willis and Michael Yon are going to be making a movie about the Deuce Four.

The Americans will be the good guys. Whatever will Hollywood think of that?

Because You Deserve Something Special Wrist Clock!

I know honestly, how much you want so much one of these wonderful swiss replicas.

You'll need to get one of the boxes for it too.

I remember too that they offer the tracking service for your shipment.

Choose anyone of the rep lica-watches at this worldwide on-line site. It
is your surprise.

Don't collect up all the reasons why you shouldn't have a quality replica.
Just find it because you want it.

You are such a caring person, it is time you got back something for
yourself.

[URL deleted]


My deepest love,

Betya



P.S. Nothing can sea be robot heavy, you noise know, except by trying to fall,
and being —

Second better should Scene,
Angry knee, with the Project brave (and any other
party you may receive this fetching...)

*

This to my inbox this morning was. Unbidden it lay, storing up for me a big surprise (or replica of same, Swiss no less), as though the shade of James Joyce had roused from slumber of the grave himself to me a missive.

All this and the deepest love of Betya! (Or a Beta of Betya, not as she yet perfected was?)

You too are a caring being, and kind.

Should I offer this forward your way, or hoard to myself all the something special wrist clocks?

Please write and say.

2005 Iraqi Election Campaign Said Less Violent Than 1930's Chicago

Mohammed at Iraq the Model reports on violent incidents marring the campaign for the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections:

As election day approaches close, electoral campaigning intensifies as well, these campaigns are taking several forms and unfortunately this includes violence which we were hoping we wouldn’t have to see emerge among the competing parties.

Probably the worst case of violence was the one when militia men attacked an office of the communist party (running as part of Allawi’s list) in Sdar city during an electoral event and resulted in killing two of the party members.

Iraqis may be in some ways rather like Americans: Mohammed tells us that the voters would prefer that candidates talk about policy, rather than accusing each other of wrongdoing:

However, people in the street think that candidates should focus more on their political platforms rather than on exchanging accusations and allegations.

As in campaigns with which we Americans are familiar, behavior often descends to the absurd:

The other battlefield of electoral campaigns can be seen in the posters war. Tearing posters of other parties has become so common that there are specialized contractors who get paid to do this! And they either tear the posters or paste their client’s poster over them.

One man who works in this field said to me “there are no more walls left in Baghdad and we had to buy a new set of tall ladders in order to reach the highest spots possible…” while a taxi driver felt sorry for the “money being wasted on these posters” and added “if they used this money to offer free clothes to the poor in this winter I’d give them my vote”.

The war of words sometimes touches on the positively risible:

Aside from what parties put on their posters or say in the speeches they make, the people themselves are also using a portion of the walls to write whatever they like with or against this or that list; one funny line I saw yesterday said something that translates like this:

Vote for Allawi and your wife will buy malawi (heavy bracelets of gold) and vote for the I’tilaf (the united alliance) and you’ll go back to the tlath-talaf (3,000 in reference to the old poor salaries that Saddam paid us).

(I am told that this story is especially funny to native speakers of Arabic.)

*

Much more seriously, one has to be inspired by the courage of Iraqis, who are about to vote into office the first ever democratially elected parliament in the Arab world, despite the violent opposition of a minority in their own country, and the — less violent, but still disheartening — opposition of what may well be a larger minority of people here in the United States:

Civil society organizations have their role too; the most significant initiative came from a new network of 90 NGOs who call themselves “Iraq Without Violence”. This network recruited 1,000 volunteers to watch and report for any violent incidents during electoral campaigns. The network in a statement given to al-Sabah explained that they’ll work to “prevent and expose electoral corruption, fraud and violence and that includes terrorizing voters in any way or interference with voters’ choices even when the case is domestic like when a husband forces his wife to vote for any particular candidate or prevents her from voting at all”.

As far as I know, we here in the US do not yet have any safeguards that might impede a husband's efforts to prevent his wife from voting. (I am quite certain that this sort of thing happens, even if it is relatively rare.) But we Americans are a rather primitive people; some have expressed doubts that we are entirely ready for democracy and, judging by the turnouts at our elections, some might wonder whether we still really care about it.

Two Top Notch Editorials

James Q. Wilson and Michael Barone turn out two of the strongest editorials for the Wall Street Journal that I have seen in some time. The topics are dissimiliar yet at root is the conflict between stasis and dynamism.

Why do the 'progressives' have such a love affair with stasis? Death is a step toward perfect stasis (if such a thing were possible). What is 'progressive' about elevating security above liberty? Why does every 'progressive' ideal involve the exchange of freedom for an illusory security that time and nature will destroy as surely as the sun will rise?

Is fear of change the core of progressivism? Fear based upon lack of confidence in ones ability to face and overcome uncertainty? I've thought that the root of progressivism was the desire to achieve control without earning it by merit. Perhaps I need to reflect on that concept for a bit. Fear generates more activity than the desire for unearned position ever has. Taking the shield of faux altruism is practically cost and risk free. Is 'progressivism' just a cheap shield?