August 08, 2003

'Howie Two Covers' grabs the spotlight, and no wonder ...the competition is a feeble lot

Thank heavens for Lileks: he's so hilariously good!

Severed head clue to Jakarta bomb

A severed head found at the scene of a hotel bombing in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, has been identified as that of a member of an Islamic militant group, police have said.

The head of Asmar Latinsani, 28, from West Sumatra, was identified by two jailed members of the Jemaah Islamiah group who said they had recruited him.

The police statements appeared to back up speculation that the car bomb, which exploded outside the Marriott Hotel on Tuesday and left at least 10 people dead, was a suicide attack.

Jemaah Islamiah, which has been accused of carrying out last year's bomb attacks on the island of Bali, is now the prime suspect behind the Jakarta blast, police said.

Anyone surprised by this?
Thought not.
And it looks as if his buddy didn't smile for long about becoming a "martyr" for Islam after all:
Bali bomber to appeal
So much for religious devotion...
I've seen so many remark that executing this *ss helmet would only "create more martyrs."
Barbra Streisand!
Most people want to live and this murdering moron is no exception.

Guantanamo inmate 'wants to stay'
A Russian citizen held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has said he is afraid to return home because prison conditions there are far worse.

"I don't think there is even a sanatorium in Russia that would compare to this" Ayrat Vakhitov said in a letter to his mother published by Russia's Gazeta newspaper.

"Nobody is being beaten or humiliated," he wrote.

Saudi frees Britons jailed over bombings

Six Britons jailed during a bombing campaign in Saudi Arabia have been freed.

A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in London said details of the releases are still unclear but added: "They got royal clemency and they are on their way home."

The Britons, two of whom faced possible public beheading, had been accused of being involved in gang warfare to control the lucrative bootleg alcohol trade in the Middle Eastern kingdom although they denied it.

The six Britons were said by the Saudi authorities to be alcohol bootleggers who used explosives as part of a bloody turf war. But the men's families have always said the charges were trumped up and the bombings in November 2000 were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists targeting Westerners.

Yep.
Before Fraudi Arabia was hit by 3 bombs this May in Riyahd that they couldn't ignore, this was the way they historically handled their own homegrown Al Queda terrorism--by blaming it on the imported Western professionals who run their country.
(Apparently, no-one in Saudi can be bothered to get an education where they teach anything but the Koran and therefore, no-one has learned how to do anything except pray to Mecca and agitate, so they must hire white collar professionals from the US and Europe and blue collar workers (most from Pakistan or Muslim Africa) to do the actual work.
How convenient then to blame any killing on these hapless folk...'til they couldn't ignore reality any longer.)

It All Depends on What You Mean by 'Have'
Too funny!
(And I'm reminded once again that Steve is not only a comedian, but earned a degree in Philosophy, too.)

North Korea split

Below the public facade of near unanimity on policy toward North Korea, the Bush administration's top national security officials are divided on the best way to deal with the North-created nuclear crisis.
    Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz favor a policy of "regime change" as the ultimate solution. This view, we are told, is based on the almost unanimous intelligence assessment that Pyongyang's communist regime is not going to give up its nuclear arms, regardless of multiparty talks and diplomacy.
   
 The State Department and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell favor the diplomatic approach — even at the expense of concessions to Pyongyang, such as holding bilateral talks.
    
One solution being considered is to try fomenting a military coup against North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. An idea floating in high-level circles within the administration is to get the Chinese military to lead the way by telling North Korean military leaders that their future is dark as long as Mr. Kim rules.
   
 The coup plan calls for convincing Chinese military leaders to back the North Korean military in ousting Mr. Kim. In exchange, the new military regime in Pyongyang would be guaranteed its survival for 10 years or so if it gives up the nuclear weapons program.

According to an op ed they wrote in Monday's WSJ entitled "The Next Korean War", both former CIA director James Woolsey and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney are virtually certain that our day of reckoning with the NorKs is coming very, very soon.
Stay tuned.
And pray that Colin Powell and his talks work so that we don't have to go to Plan B, because not only does it involve another use of the military to effect régime change and liberation of the Korean people, but I think that within the next few months, we're going to have a very tough time trying to decide which remaining member of the "axis of evil" to deal with first--North Korea or Iran--and probably wishing we could disarm and democratize them both.
(Look on the bright side! We had it from a reliable source that fearless bobble-head doll leader Kim Jung Il spent the 40 days of military action in Operation Iraqi Freedom running from bunker to bunker to hide.
So even with his nukes, he's scared of the wrath of the United States of America!)

Gore slams White House on Iraq, economy

Is there "no controlling legal authority" to put Owlie Bore back into his lockbox or to give him some iced tea?!?
If he weren't such a dork, I'd go with Ann Coulter who thinks we should try these Lefties for Treason!
After all, he's trying to trash talk our President during wartime when our troops are in harm's way.
But because he's reminded us that we're all so thrilled that he's not president, I'll give him a pass.
Besides, it was wall-to-wall Arnie "Governator" coverage today anyway!

August 07, 2003

Catch the fever!
(I'm so excited!)
Hasta la vista, Grayby!

August 06, 2003

Episcopal Church Appoints First Openly-Muslim Bishop
May God continue to bless you, Scott (ScrappleFace)!
Your sense of humor is a tonic to my tired soul.
You made me laugh over even this abominable thing...!

Conservatives Worldwide Condemn Bishop

An Anglican leader warned Wednesday that Asia's bishops might consider cutting ties with the U.S. Episcopalian Church over its appointment of its first openly gay bishop.

Clergy in Asia and Africa, where churches are more conservative than in Western countries, widely denounced the election of Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire - fueling fears of a schism in the 77 million-member global Anglican Communion.

The Anglicans' spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, appealed to opponents not to react rashly, though he acknowledged the confirmation would have a "significant impact'' on the Communion.
[Yeah, yeah, yeah. We already know about this guy, the first Druid Archbishop of the CoE.--Jen]
[...]
Tuesday's appointment, however, raised the shadow of a dramatic split.

The leader of the Anglican Church of West Malaysia, Bishop Dr. Lim Cheng Ean, said Southeast Asian Anglican bishops may discuss cutting ties with the U.S. church at a meeting next week, because of Robinson's appointment.

"Practicing homosexuality is culturally and legally not acceptable here,'' he said. There are four Southeast Asian dioceses - Kuching, Singapore, West Malaysia and Sabah.

Similar cries of alarm came from Africa.

The Episcopal church "is alienating itself from the Anglican Communion,'' said the Very Rev. Peter Karanja, provost of the All Saints Cathedral, in Nairobi, Kenya.

"We cannot be in fellowship with them when they violate the explicit scripture that the Anglican Church subscribes to,'' he said. "We'd counsel they reconsider the decision. It's outrageous and uncalled for.''
[Amen and amen to everything, Father Karanja!]

The bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, Rev. Dr. Mouneer Anis, said "the Communion now faces a crisis over what holds us together and indeed whether we can remain together if we hold not merely adverse but contradictory views of the Scripture and what it teaches.''

Here's the "money quote" (as Andrew Sullivan, whom I'm sure will take my place as the newest Episcopalian, would say):

"We cannot comprehend a decision to elect as bishop a man who has forsaken his wife and the vows he made to her in order to live in a sexual relationship with another man outside the bonds of his marriage,'' he said.

Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen called the appointment "catastrophic'' and said Robinson would not be welcome in his diocese, and he urged opponents of the appointment in the United States to withhold contributions to church coffers.

"For the first time, a branch of our Anglican church has knowingly appointed a person to this senior position who lives in breach of the Bible,'' he said. "It impacts on all of us because when a branch of the church does this, its teachings become compromised.''
Pray for the Christian Church, my brothers and sisters.
These are dark days.
This abomination couldn't have come at a worse time, when we're not only trying to spread the Gospel of Christ to non-believers everywhere, but especially to Muslims and also when we're trying to do something positive about the world-wide plague of AIDS (which, of course, is spread in large part by homosexual sexual contact).
God bless these priests in places like North Africa, Kenya and Singapore who now have to minister to their congregations with the spiritual burden of this apostate "bishop."
Allowing for the tolerance of open homosexual conduct in the secular sphere of government and politics is one thing, but in the realm of the Christian Church is damnable and should not be allowed to stand.
I am ashamed to have ever called myself a member of this denomination, which now can be more aptly styled a "demonization."
Have mercy, Lord, even though we don't deserve it!
I wonder if this little ex-Southern Baptist could become a Roman Catholic?

In his piece Expect the Unexpected in today's WSJ, John Fund muses that Arnold Schwarzenegger might throw his Tyrolean hat into the ring for Kalifornia Gov after all.
I think he's right.
What fun for the Terminator to be able to tell Ché Davis "Hasta la vista, baby!"

August 04, 2003

North Korea Shuns U.S. Official

 Pyongyang called a U.S. State Department official "human scum" for his criticism of North Korea's leader, but the communist nation said it would still join talks on its suspected nuclear weapons program.

North Korea said Saturday that it won't deal with U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton  because he described Kim Jong Il as a "tyrannical dictator" and said "life is a hellish nightmare" for many North Koreans.

Bolton had made the remarks during a visit to South Korea (search) last week.

"Such human scum and bloodsucker is not entitled to take part in the talks," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to the North's official KCNA news agency. "We have decided not to consider him as an official of the U.S. administration any longer nor to deal with him."

Bolton handles arms control and international security in the State Department and has been closely involved in efforts to resolve the dispute over the North's weapons program.

The spokesman said, however, that there was no change in Pyongyang's decision to hold six-country talks on the nuclear issue. The countries involved are expected to be North Korea, the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

Also Sunday, a Japanese newspaper reported that Washington and Tokyo have begun talks on forming an inspection team to ensure that North Korea eliminates its nuclear program.

Bolton discussed details of the plan with senior Japanese officials Friday, after the North agreed to the multilateral talks, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The inspectors would likely come from the five countries expected to participate in the talks with North Korea, said the newspaper. The report could not be immediately confirmed and there was no word on whether Pyongyang would allow the inspections.

Pyongyang agreed to the talks despite saying for months it would only consent to one-on-one talks with the United States. The North says it will work on the sidelines of the negotiations to push for talks with Washington, which has insisted on the larger format because it says the North's nuclear program is a regional concern.

The nuclear standoff began in October, when U.S. officials said North Korea acknowledged having a uranium-based nuclear weapons program.

Steven Den Beste eloquently argues in his post "North Korea blinks" that the NorKs have finally quit trying to have those meaningless, petty "size of the table" arguments and have agreed to these 6-way talks because of pressure from (Red) China...and I think that China's efforts have done a lot.
There's nothing like "accidentally" shutting off their pipeline into NorKor a couple of times to get their attention.
But this leaves the Japanese out of the equation, who are the NorK's #1 target.
(Nor should we forget about Vlad Putin and the Russkis, either!)
Since 9/11 especially, Bush has forged a wonderful relationship with Japanese PM Koziumi, to the extent that Koziumi had the Japanese constitution changed to allow Japan to send peacekeeping soldiers to Iraq on behalf of the Coalition.
And when Koziumi was at Bush's Prairie Chapel ranch in Crawford, they didn't talk about the weather.
I have to think that either arming Japan with nukes (which is too ironic for all of us history buffs) or including them in our upcoming SDI to protect themselves from NorK missiles was a hot topic.
Then, the inimitable Lee Harris at Tech Central Station came up with his "Dr. Strangelove-in-reverse" theory about the whole mess: after the fall of Baghad and the liberation of Iraq from Saddam, the US will know that any available nukes which have been given to or used by Islamofascist terrorists will be definitely traceable back to North Korea (or possibly Iran).
I think the latest NorK whine about refusing to deal with Bolton is more "size of the table"-type quibling and they're still trying to find out how much they can get away with when they negotiate with the United States of America.
"Madame" Albright was so wrong: we really cannot deal with these people.
And thank the Lord the Bush Administration doesn't.
But when the time is ripe, the NorKs will deal with Bolton or anyone else of our choosing and like it.
Hide and watch.