You know, with our liberals - who needs a scrappleface? Check this out - the shop at the UnemployedDemocrats.com. Ladies and gentlemen, behold the exhibit A. Described by the seller as "outrageous and over-the-top". Just in case the image is too small, the line on the T-shirt says:

The last time someone listened to a Bush, folks wandered around the desert for 40 years

Can you believe this? They actually think that this shirt is making fun of Bush. How can those people be so outrageously dumb and over-the-top ignorant on so many levels? Unbelievably delicious. Thank you, guys.

This is a sticker designed by one Laurent Winnock, president of the official youth branch of the Belgian governing Socialist Party. Translating into the terminology we remember since our childhood, he's Secretary General of the Belgian "Komsomol". The stickers are distributed for free on the official web-site of, again, governing Socialist Party under the "give piss a chance" headline. An idea is for those stickers to be placed in urinals - so that any Belgian can engage in a free speech by pissing on the American President and the American Flag. Obviously this is an example of the sophisticated European diplomacy, famous for its nuanced approach - to distribute those stickers just as they welcome George Bush on his official visit. Well, we guess, it's their call. We never had any illusions of how cultured and refined lefties are.

Anyway, after a bit of pondering, we have to say that in itself an idea that piss is speech does have merit. We are libertarians, right? We wouldn't do it in just any bathroom, of course. But, if the owner welcomes this kind of expression, why not? If we ever find ourselves in a bathroom like that - we will make ourselves heard. Loud and clear. If peeing in the urinal is speech, so is peeing on the floor, right? We intend to take full advantage of those freedom-of-piss bathrooms. When in Belgium - do as the Belgians do.

We are not going to repeat all the things that were said about the democratization of the media. We just wanted to make a couple of points.

The Internet is not the first revolution in the information technology. The first one was an invention of the written word. Once it became possible to preserve the information and to transport it - the first step was made. The second step was in the invention of the printing press. Now people could replicate the information at a low cost and in big volumes. But still those costs were prohibitive to many and the one who wished to publish in volume needed sizeable sums to be able to do so. The Internet does not just make information dissemination quick, it makes it instantaneous and, more importantly - it makes it virtually free. This is bigger then just being about the change in politics. That said, the change in politics caused by the Web will be profound.

( Free speech discussion )

( Main Stream Media sundown )

One last thing. Comparatively speaking, conservatives in the Media are much more enthusiastic about the whole blogging phenomenon. FOX is regularly inviting bloggers, conservative talk-show hosts quote from them. Conservative journalists like Michelle Malkin or Hugh Hewitt quickly became ones of the most prominent bloggers. Only few blogs are visited or linked to more often. All the whining about the unwashed pajama-clad bullies taking their toys - comes from the liberal corner. They have more to lose, haven't they? We agree. Given how fast the center of the mass in mass media shifts toward the Internet - we wonder how much role will be left to play for CBS, ABC, CNN, NBC, NYT and so on - in the next elections. Without their support - how do liberals plan to win?

For some unknown reason Christo decided that if there is a color New York needs more of - it is orange. I do not know if he ever saw taxi-filled avenues of Manhattan before. Anyway, I have heard some negative reviews, but decided to go and take a look of my own - if I do not give a damn what New York Times says about politics, why would I care about their or anyone else's in this town snobbish "oh, it's not a true art" bullshit? They can shove that "true art" up their... actually, that in itslef would be an act of art.
Enough of day dreaming. Back to The Gates. They look great. It was fun.

Update: here is the link to the official page with photos. Check out the aerial views at the bottom of the photos page - those are the cool ones

( My pictures are under the cut )

And no, it has nothing to do with Ukraine.

I can tell you right now how the history of Iraqi war will be taught twenty years from now in liberal colleges on both coasts - there will be a lot of assertions that Saddam was getting ready to liberate Iraq a la Gorbachev and then some complaints about how George Bush almost ruined that liberation by an uncalled for intervention. Luckily, Iraqi people saw through him and then rejected his attempt to steal their oil in the elections of 2005 that George Bush tried to block, but through the selfless actions of the freedom fighter Zarqawi – failed. Great credit belongs to John Kerry, who through negotiations with Zarqawi and Ted Kennedy helped those elections to happen and then in a most courageous act did not overhype them, thus removing the greatest threat there was.

You do not think the events can be interpreted so? Just check out this article - an author apparently thinks that George Bush hoped that the free elections would be won by a small minority and now is surprised and disappointed that Shiites and Kurds rule the day.

( Just some boring and very trivial things that need to be said... )

Since we mentioned idealism in the previous post.

John Kerry, speaking on "Meet the Press" about the Iraqi elections, opined with all the sour envy of the liberals in his eyes: "No one in the United States should try to overhype this election." James Taranto responded in his "Best of the Web" column with a beautiful quote from Friedrich Nietzsche. One that we can not better. Nor need to:

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music"

This wraps up the whole dialog on the war with terrorism, the war with Saddam and the discussion of the Bush's "liberty is our realpolitik" line.

Lately there has been a lot of talk in the Main Stream Media about Condi Rice trying to mend the strained relationship with Europe. Well, here is the thing. Although Dr. Rice does try to mend things, it's not what it looks like.

First of all, when in this context the MSM says "Europe", they really talk about "France and Germany". We need not to mend anything with either UK or Italy, we are quite friendly with Poland, we are on a first name basis with Czechs and with many other friends we have there.

Second, we are not exactly "mending". Not in a sense "trying to get them to help us" anyway. We agree with Kenneth Timmerman who said that "going to war without France is like going deer-hunting without an accordeon."

( Let's review what just happened... )

The original plan was to write a long article about the State of the Union. We were going to talk about Bush betting on people's desire to live free of fear. And about Iraqis who delivered the fatal blow to the "insurgents", reducing them from the most feared enemy to the level of a car crash, a drowning or a lightning strike - lethal, yet not feared and not life-controlling. We were going to talk about the stunning success of the elections that went better then we hoped in our more optimistic hours. However, other people managed to say it all and where is the fun in just repeating what has been said already? ( Read more... )

Lately people seem to be obsessed with disclaimers and disclosures. For some reason, whenever you speak, you must warn your listeners of your political preferences, your affiliations, funding sources, suppliers, personal friends and sexual preferences - otherwise, they may not be able to correctly evaluate your opinion. Ok, fine, here it goes.

First of all, since the authors present a united front to the World, we will disclose as a single entity:

1. We are libertarians... or so we think. Overall, our political philosophy is build entirely on the premise that all people are endowed with their rights by their Creator and thus no human being is entitled to violate those - other than in defense. We believe that a government is something instituted by the people (rather then by the Creator) and as such it can have only those powers we, the People, delegated to it. That also means that a govenrment can not have the powers we could not delegate to it. For example - those we did not [individually] have ourselves.


2. We do not receive any money for what we do here. We support ourselves by being gainfully employed as computer professionals. If you doubt this, you are welcome to try and enrich yourself: you can make us an offer of a one-time payment in exchange for all the money we received for blogging - all of it. An exact sum you offer will, of course, depend on your estimates of our alleged profits and a degree of your believe in those estimates. Your offer shall also stipulate that you will cover all the additional expenses we will incur in the process of the settlement. We reserve the right to decline an offer made in a bad faith and an offer of a sum insufficient to justify the distraction


3. We donate money to certain charities, some of which are mentioned in our blog. We also contributed to "Swift Vets and POWs for Truth" organization.


4. We consider all information about our sexual lives, histories, experiences and preferences to be irrelevant to what we do here (in general). Same applies to our medical, family and professional information. Such information will be divulged only when we decide that we want to do it - because it is interesting, or because it is relevant, or because we are a good witness of some event, or because we want to prove our credentials, or because we just want to brag or complain. We do not consider ourselves under any obligation to disclose it and will not entertain challenges to do so.


5. We do not post anything locked, restricted and so on. We will probably add no more friends (we use other journals to do our readings).


6. English is not our native language. Our grammar is far from perfect. Stylistically we are also far from where we wish we were. You are invited to help us out and point to our mistakes. We will not be embarrassed. If you still think that we will be and is willing to spare us an experience - you can offer a correction in an anonymous commentary. Those are screened and moderated.


7. We do not possess all the knowledge available to humans. We can make factual mistakes as well as grammatical ones. Please, feel obligated to correct our factual mistakes.


8. we are done so far

We prefer not to discuss our political views right here. If you have issues with what we should disclose, - go ahead.

To make the long story short: after the prostitution was legalized in Germany, brothels became legitimate businesses just like all the others: they hire personnel, they pay taxes, they pay for the health insurance for their workers, they get access to the governmental database of people who receive unemployment benefits... Which means they can pick from the lists those who fit their profile of prospective employees. Basically, they pick young women, who then must choose between taking a position or losing their unemployment benefits.

arbat likes to compare sexual freedom to all other kinds. He keeps saying that a government has no right to regulate consensual business transactions - no more then it has any business regulating how and with whom he has consensual sex. I have seen him ridiculed for this comparison and I have thought on quite a few occasions that it really was pushing it too far. Well, (even though some may consider this at least partially a shameless self-promotion) my hat's off to him. What a vindication. arbat is a prophet after all. When a government starts directing people's lives, sooner or later they do try to get you on all fours and have their way with you.

Here is the link to the story (via drudgereport.com)

Iraqi elections are a huge success. Much better then expected. Iraqis showed up in huge numbers and voted - despite the threat of bombs. Thus proving the point that any human being chooses freedom when given such choice. People who claimed that Arabs neither need nor understand democracy, that it is not in heir culture - are bigoted idiots. It was said before, now it's proven.

Those who did cast votes got their fingers marked with purple paint - a simple measure to prevent fraud. This paint-covered fingers are as much a symbol of these elections as orange-colored items are the symbols of what happened in Ukraine. Check this out: here, here, here (thanks to instapundit.com), here (scrappleface), here (from the powerlineblog.com)

And, for those of us who do not trust FOX news, check this out, from the New York Times: "Amid Attacks, a Party Atmosphere on Baghdad's Closed Streets":

Thirty civilians and six police officers died in mortar attacks and suicide bombings around the country, the Interior Minister reported, according to A.F.P. Twenty-two of the deaths occurred in Baghdad, Reuters reported, where mortar attacks took three lives and 19 people were killed by suicide bombers. At least 29 were wounded in the attacks in the capital, Reuters said.

But if the insurgents wanted to stop people in Baghdad from voting, they failed. If they wanted to cause chaos, they failed. The voters were completely defiant, and there was a feeling that the people of Baghdad, showing a new, positive attitude, had turned a corner.

No one was claiming that the insurgency was over or that the deadly attacks would end. But the atmosphere in this usually grim capital, a city at war and an ethnic microcosm of the country, had changed, with people dressed in their finest clothes to go to the polls in what was generally a convivial mood

"Iraqis Brave Bombs to Vote in Their Millions" by Luke Baker, Reuters
"Quotes on the Iraqi elections" from the Associated Press
"'This Is Democracy' Say Delighted Iraqis" quotes at scotsman.com
"I am voting for peace. I would have crawled here if I had to" by Jenny Booth, Times Online
"Reporters' log: Iraqi elections" many reporters from the BBC.

Overall, quoting the scrappleface.com

"Journalists struggled to put a positive spin on the day's events, but the video images of tyranny's traitors choosing a future of freedom overwhelmed the official story of bloodshed and mayhem."

Terrorists failed to stop the election and liberals who were counting on them to do that - failed too. Check this thread from the DemocraticUnderground.com (to be fair, check also responses from joatsimeon). Well, as liberals said (again, to be fair - with the notable exception of two Senators Liberman and Miller) - it was definitely "not in their name". One more thing not in their name. Democrats never missed an opportunity: the emancipation of slaves, the Civil Rights Act, the end of the Cold War and now - this. Suckers never learn. Ah, screw them.

Let's celebrate. So, read the articles. Look at the pictures of people crying of joy, women crowding polling stations, painted fingers that nobody is going to cut off no more. Islamofascist lost. Iraqis won. So did we. No, it is not over yet. But one more mission is accomplished. The Big One.

Abba Eban once said that Palestinians "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity". This Sunday American liberals will miss theirs. Big time.

While the Main Stream Media managed to mostly avoid reporting on the success that Afghani elections were - Iraq is a whole new ballgame. These elections are huge. This is the moment of truth. Democracy in Iraq - if that happens, it is going to change the face of the World. The fate of the whole region, the fate of people yearning to be free in every neighboring country, safety and stability of people close by and far away - all rides on these elections. So clear is this that even New York Times noticed. So, let's not waste time on this. Let's just review how much damage our liberal friends are about to suffer.

( Read more... )

Here is the by now famous exchange (actually, a part of it) between Senator Barbara Boxer and Doctor Condoleezza Rice that took place during the confirmation hearing for Dr. Rice last week (transcript):

Sen. Boxer: ...And I personally believe -- this is my personal view -- that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell this war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth...

As you can see, Senator Boxer was just doing her job - asking questions, raising issues, trying to get to the bottom... Little did she knew that she was about to be brutally victimized

Dr. Rice: ...Senator, I have to say that I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in the service of anything. It is not my nature. It is not my character. And I would hope that we can have this conversation and discuss what happened before and what went on before and what I said without impugning my credibility or my integrity....

Any reality-based person would share Senator Boxer's feelings - this nasty attack by Dr. Rice was totally unprovoked, it was a dirty trick - changing the subject like that. ( As for the rest of us... )

Update: arbat insists that we should soften our description of the Democrats. We are having a sort of an argument over this. On one hand we do not wish to engage in mindless name-calling. On the other, "idiot" being a medical term, we feel we can use it as long as it "was not intended in a contemptuous sense but purely as one of factual narration". We also realize that many otherwise good and decent people consider themselves Democrats, but this is a topic of a bigger discussion. We promise to get back to it soon enough.

Here is the text of the second Inaugural Address by President George W. Bush. Now, check these passages out:

After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.

We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one.

This is big. Huge, actually. The Biggest Thing since Evil Empire. We presume Natan Sharansky was particularly happy to hear this address - that after his discussion on the subject with Bush and Rice. If you want a very long-winded explanation of the idea, you can get Sharansky's "The Case For Democracy" book. Alternatively, he explains it in a much shorter format in this interview with the David Horowitz' FrontPageMag.com magazine.

This inaugural is already being compared to Kennedy's. However, there is someting more important in this address then an idea that we should "pay any price, bear any burden, … to assure the survival and the success of liberty..." - those were kind of wishes. Kennedy wanted it this way, but he did not mean that he would really go for it. Not at any price. Sharansky's and Bush's idea is that freedom is not merely a good and noble idea that has to compete with the realpolitic viewpoint. They proclaim that survival and success of liberty is realpolitic. We need others to be free not merely out of the kindness of our hearts, but more cynically – to ensure our own safety.

We also presume (and we are bored to make this obvious predicition) that this speech will cause quite a stir in liberal circles. Radicals among them simply hate America more than anything and react this way to absolutely everything we do. The moderates will feel what they usually do feel in times like these - fear of anything unconventional, especially anything big. And intense jealousy of this Big Thing being done by Republicans. Expect many discussions in the Main Stream Media of a wisdom of such a bold move. Or how it can alienate... I am not sure who, since by their account by now we already alienated everyone we possibly could - twice. Or how wrong it is to see only two shades of "free" and "not free" when there are so many wonderful semi-freedoms in between. Or how controversial it is. Pay no attention to this one too. In their lingo "controversial" simply means "more conservative then Senator Lieberman". It is a non-word. This will go on till the policy succeeds. Then, after a short pause for a head scratching, the theme will be promptly replaced by "ah, but we all knew that this will happen", "we also played a role" and "no, it was not Bush - it is just that the terrorism defeated itself, it was never viable - just like the communism".
Ah, they are so boring.

Go, America! Tyrannis Delenda Est. Yeee-haaaaa!

Remember "Halperin Memo"? Apparently, Captain's Quarters is right, the memo is still in effect. Check this ABC's announcement:

For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below.

Yep. Hey, people... we need a corpse for a story. Anybody has one? No? Damn, people! Someone badly mutilated at least?

Here is a couple of happy thoughts: at least ABC did not use a fake corpse. Neither did they try to order a fresh one from the Iraqi terrorists, like the Associated Press guys do when they need a story. May be "A" in ABC still means something regardless of however many graduates of the Columbia School of Journalism work for the company.

* * *

P.S. Via Hindrocket of the PowerLineBlog. ABC pulled the page from the web, but here is a snapshot preserved by Captain's for your viewing pleasure.

Tomorrow George W. Bush will be inaugurated for a second term. Year 2004 will be analyzed and over-analyzed for many years to come and will remain in the history of the American politics as one of the most interesting and defining years. It did not change any trends but it was quite revealing so to speak.

Anyway, here is a collection of 2004 quotes from Tim Blair:

January	February	March	April
May	June	July	August
September	October	November	December

Enjoy.

This is kind of an experiment. Dan Rather and Mary Mapes spent 5 years looking for the story about George Bush service in the National Guard. We do not have that much time and neither do we have the resources. On the other hand, we do not have to go around, looking for people and asking questions. We do not even have to sit in a library, going through the old newspapers. Google and the Internet make life so much easier. Also, we are not aiming for an exhaustive picture, rather for a ( clear one... )

* * *

P.S. Have you noticed the difference between those who served with Bush and those, who served with Kerry? In one case we have unanimous support of the old buddies and commanding officers, in the other - almost as unanimous rejection. What does it tell us, girls and boys, oh, what does it tell us... Nah. Let's not try to think for ourselves. Eventually they will appoint a replacement for Dan Rather and he or she will tell us what to think.

Ok, finally. You remember that independent commission... or was it panel? The one that was supposed to investigate that 60 Minutes episode when Dan Rather showed forgeries, trying to smear the US President two months before the election? Oh, come on, you must remember! The Panel?! They said it would produce results in weeks, not months - well, in less then 15 weeks they did deliver.

Here are the CBS announcement, the Report and the Exibits.

( Phil is not amused. Read more... )

So, the Panel did what the Panels do: awash in the most condemning evidence, it sided with the accused. All of a sudden what was supposed to be an account of what and why happened turned into a shy explanation of how it did, full with euphemisms and excuses. To be thorough and honest, Panel needed to state only two obvious truths:

• Those documents are forgeries.
• CBS and Dan Rather tried to use them to harm G.W.Bush before the elections

That's it. Instead, the Panel produced 200 pages of mumbling. Oh, it is hard to figure out if the documents are forged. Oh, it is not that Rather, Mapes and many others are shameless political creatures who would do anything to push their agenda, oh, no - it was a "breakdown of fundamental processes". Yep. Processes are at fault. Bastards broke down. Just like the Soviet Union that kind of defeated itself and lost a Cold War all on its own - those damn processes just broke themselves. It's nobody's fault. After all,

CBS News has an historic and deep-seated commitment to accurate and fair reporting, and the Panel was impressed by the fact that so many of its personnel have been with CBS News for many years and appear fully committed to the Standards of accuracy and fairness that CBS News has articulated. That makes it all the more difficult for the Panel to understand how this breakdown could have occurred.

Yep, that's a puzzle.

* * *

P.S. Previous art: here are some arbat's writings on the issue:
Dan Rather. Last Stand
Dan Rather. Deja Vue all over again
Dan Rather questions Bush
Also, here are roundups of the "blogosphere" reaction from instapundit and in DC Journal

Here is a puzzle for you: if you want to help some people, should you try to patronize their businesses, or should you boycott them? For example, this incredible tsunami disaster in South Asia where tourism is a major part of the economy - do you go there on vacation? Some people think it is in an incredibly bad taste: here and here.

Interestingly enough, for those who actually live in a disaster-affected area, this question seems to be a no-brainer. Remember Rudi Juliani, who after the September 11th insisted that New York is open for business and that people should come visit? Well, people in the South Asia feel the same way right now: "If you want to help Phuket and people living here, come back for holidays! "

It used to be worse then that. It used to be that after some natural disaster or other in a developing country we helped them by dumping lots of free food on the population. For a country where agriculture is The Industry - help like this can be worse then an earthquake. But, hey, so what? It makes us feel really good about ourselves - which is the only thing sensitive people we are care about.

Here are some debates at
Tim Blair's
InstaPundit.com
The Truth Laid Bear.

Oh, dear. Check this out. An article in scotsman.com:

United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster.

The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the World’s response.

( That conniving bastard! )

Happy New Year, everybody.

* * *

Update: help european-style (again, from scotsman.com)

TSUNAMI-struck Thailand has been told by the European Commission that it must buy six A380 Airbus aircraft if it wants to escape the tariffs against its fishing industry.

Update II: hey, not only European governments know how to regulate business! We can subsidize and tax too (link):

Less than two weeks after a 40-foot wave flattened massive swaths of Southeast Asia, the United States slapped a tariff on millions of dollars worth of seafood imports from India and Thailand.