Hey John, "Bite Me"

I think this idiot's time has passed.

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

FOB Falcon

A couple of weeks ago a lucky mortar round hit an ammo depot at Forward Operating Base Falcon in Iraq (covered at the time on Hot Air). It caused a dramatic explosion, but no casualties were reported. Now though, this incident has caused some conspiracy theories, promulgated by many of the same people we cover over at Screw Loose Change, that over 300 soldiers died, including a detailed list, supposedly of the casualties.

Official Casualty List from U.S. military hospital at al-Habbaniyah located some 70km west of Baghdad. U.S. medical personnel at al-Habbaniyah initially stated that the US military hospital at the massive American-occupied air base there had begun to receive dead and wounded personnel. The military hospital in al-Habbaniyah, the largest in occupied Iraq, was opened on 12 May this year in response to sharply rising (and redacted) US casualties.

A quick check of the list though, shows it is laughable. For starters this was a FOB, a smaller operational base, yet this list shows casualties from just about every unit in the military, including the Marine Corp, and an Army hospital. What they are doing hanging out in an ammo dump is beyond me. It even lists several casualties from the CIA, based on the number, what must be their entire Iraqi office. Including this entry:

Pfc Darrell Morgan, Central Intelligence Agency

I didn't know the CIA had privates...

Racism?

I heard about this on the radio this morning. I don't get it. How is it racism to invite a respected author, who is a minority, to talk about international issues. Especially considering he didn't even end up speaking!

Among the plaintiffs' complaints was Lakeside's invitation to conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza to speak as part of a distinguished lecture series.

After Sims and other faculty members and parents complained, the school in January rescinded the invitation to D'Souza, who has argued that the underachievement of African Americans has more to do with cultural attitudes and behaviors than with white racism.

Discover Islam

Now I am all for educating yourself on different religions, I have lived in Islamic countries, and always make it a point to find out about different cultures, religions, and languages. But in this day when Christmas trees are being banned from public places because it is supposedly a violation of church and state, does anyone think that the King County library would hold a seminar titled "Discover Christianity". Heck in Federal Way last year the school district spent nearly $500 reprinting the lunch menus because they contained the offensive words, "Merry Christmas" on them. Do you think they would invite in a priest to educate people on Catholicism?





















Am I the only one who senses a double standard?

Creations of an Economic Hit Man

I have been curious about a book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins, for some time. It has been on the best seller lists for quite some time, and after reading this post by my blogging pal Brainster, I was a bit suspicious of the claims made by the author.

To sum up the book, which at just over 200 pages and very little actual content, is amazingly easy to do, John Perkins tells his life story. After graduating from Boston University in the late 60s, he interviews with the NSA. Despite never actually working for them, he uses this fact throughout the rest of the book to imply that his later economic work had some connection with the NSA, which conducts signal intelligence and not economic espionage, but anyway... After not being hired by the NSA he decides to join the Peace Corps, by his own admission mostly to avoid the draft. After 3 years helping poor people in South America, he is approached by a consulting company, called MAIN, and goes to work for them trying to sell large World Bank funded projects in the third world.

Perkins then explains how he becomes an "Economic Hit Man", which he often abbreviates E. H. M. I guess because it makes it sound more official. He travels around the world trying to get poor countries to take out really large loans to fund projects such as dams and powerplants, which are intended solely to help the rich, exploit the poor, and make the country forever indebted to the United States. It is the policy of the "corporatocracy" he argues, to get countries to take on more debt then they can handle, so that the will go into default and can be controlled by the US. There is also the added benefit in that corporations then can exploit the impoverished labor force at low wages. Despite the fact that he repeats this argument several times, I still don't get it. What exactly is the purpose of loaning people our money with the intent that they don't ever pay us back? Wouldn't a stable and economically powerful ally be much more valuable than a poor impoverished one? Compare the value of being allied with Japan, with that of, say, Bangladesh or Uganda.

In every country Perkins travels to he ends up meeting some wise noble native, who lectures him on the evils of globalization and American empire. In his world, there is no such thing as communists or terrorists, they are all just noble revolutionaries looking out for their people against the exploitive corporatocracy. Perkins wrings his hands with guilt, praises the poor noble local, and then continues with his nefarious, although mostly unspecified, deeds.

I would believe his argument much more, if he actually had some proof. Amazingly, even though he claims to have worked as an "E. H. M." for over 20 years, he has very little tales to tell, much of what he does tell is third hand information. His sole proof of being an E. H. M is based of a mysterious woman named Claudine that he met when he first started working. Other than that, he can't quote a single board meeting or memo that backs up his claims of an evil world system. He does list a couple of examples where he was pressed to exaggerate economic growth to justify large projects, but he never does explain why this is not just a result of, for example, the fact that it is much more profitable to sell a large project than a small one.

Because this book is so vague then, it is really hard to tell if any of it is true or not. The few facts and events he does recall though, appear quite suspicious, and tell us more about the author's personal angst over globalization than anything else. One example is when he travels to Saudi Arabia in 1974. Not only does this undermine his whole "impoverishing poor third worlders" argument, the Saudis hardly being impoverished, he then uses this throughout the rest of the book as an example of how he and the US helped support "Osama bin Laden's war against the Soviets". Nevermind that Osama was just a teenager in 1974, and would not become involved in the war in Afghanistan (which didn't start until 1979) for another decade. Even after he became a mujahaden in Afghanistan, he was a minor figure. It could hardly be characterized as his war, as opposed to Masood's or Hekmatyar's war.

Another example is when he tries to (vaguely) tie then son of the Vice President George W. Bush with the "fastest growing organization in the business" Enron, which he described as being the frequent subject of chatter. This seems a bit of a stretch though. Enron was not even formed until 1985, when two natural gas pipeline companies merged, and they didn't really begin to take off until the early 90s, when they expanded into other arenas such as energy trading.

All in all, there is no there there. This book is full of much handwringing and guilt, it brings up the fact that Americans are much richer than the rest of the world more times than I can count, but it lends absolutely nothing to the argument. Perkins never even suggests a solution to any of the problems he discusses, nothing more than the fact that we are evil and exploitive. A anti-globalists dream, but otherwise not one worthy of reading.

This Is Why People Hate Lawyers

This is just ridiculous.

A King County Superior Court judge set a hearing for Monday on a motion to dismiss arson and four aggravated-murder charges against Conner Schierman.

Schierman appeared in court Thursday on the motion filed by his defense attorney, James Conroy, but Judge Gregory Canova postponed any decision until after another hearing Monday.

Conroy has argued that a fair trial would be impossible because Kirkland police inadvertently released investigation notes to Seattle's KING-TV. He also asked the court to seal the documents, but Canova refused to do that until the Monday hearing.

An Interview With Milton and Rose Friedman

My blogging pal Brainster is discussing the most influential people of the last millenium. Well, I am not sure who to put for that, but the WSJ has an interesting interview with one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- One doesn't interview a man like Milton Friedman -- the Nobel laureate in economics in 1976 and among the five or six most consequential thinkers of the 20th century -- without doing some assiduous homework.

So I gathered his books -- reading some, re-reading others -- and made pages and pages of notes. I also emailed several intellectual heavyweights, asking them what they might enquire of Mr. Friedman -- now 94 years of age -- if they had him cornered at a cocktail party. Replies flooded back. "Inflation targeting," wrote a (marginally) younger Nobel economist. "Education," said another Nobel laureate. "Does the recent record of spending with a Republican president and Congress make him reconsider his support for the party?" wrote a man who, until a while ago, worked on economic policy in the White House. "Is there something distinctly difficult for capitalism in the Islamic world?" wondered a Middle East scholar. "What music does he listen to?" a Democratic political economist mused, unpredictably. More predictably, a big-cheese blogger was "dying" to know whether "Milton reads blogs -- and will he ever write one?"

A Tragedy Has Hit

I have debating how to post on this for a couple of days. But now Michelle Malkin has posted on it, and I feel compelled to say something. Some scumbag (the nicest thing I can think of to call him) has committed the most heinous attack against the family of one of my fellow Guardsmen:

The remains of 28-year-old Olga Milkin and her sister, Lyubov Botvina, 24, were found in an upstairs bedroom of the heavily damaged home. The fire, which was reported just before 11:30 a.m. Monday, was considered suspicious from the outset. There was no 911 call from the home and no evidence that the victims had tried to escape the flames.

Autopsies showed both women suffered multiple stab wounds to "the upper body, neck and head," according to court documents. The remains of the two children, Justin Milkin, 5, and his 3-year-old brother, Andrew, were found in an adjacent hallway.

Justin's wounds were similar to those suffered by his mother, according to the documents. Andrew Milkin's throat was cut.

So far, detectives have no motive for the crime and have uncovered nothing to link the suspect to the victims.

"It is going to be extremely difficult to determine motive," said O'Toole, the prosecutor. "The damage to the victims is pretty horrendous and pretty complete."

Olga Milkin's husband, Sgt. Leonid Milkin of the Army National Guard, returned from duty in Iraq to his burned-out home Thursday. Wearing Army fatigues, Milkin was brought in a black SUV to the home, where detectives gave him a brief tour. He spent a few moments at the makeshift memorial near the house where visitors had placed flowers and the family had posted photos of the victims.

I know SGT Milkin. He is a good man and a good soldier, and my heart and prayers goes out to him and his family. The Guard has been in contact with us, and I know people are working to help him as much as possible, but he will still need financial help to get him through this tragedy. A fund has been set up for those who wish to help.

A memorial fund has been set by the family at US Bank under the name "Kirkland House Fire Victims." Also, the Washington National Guard set up a financial assistance fund in Leonid Milkin's name at the American Lake Credit Union in Camp Murray. The account number is 13743:

Camp Murray Branch
Camp Murray, Bldg. 16
Tacoma, WA 98430
Voice: 253-582-3831
Voice: 800-228-2377
Fax: 253-582-1320
Email: amlakecu-at-aol.com

The Right Angle also reports that there are people making fun of his tragedy for their political cause. All I can say, is there is no place in hell hot enough for people like that.

Jamba Juice

Michelle Malkin has a hilarious take on Hot Air on the Cindy Sheehan diet plan that I have been talking about. Yumm, I feel like a smoothie...

Medic!

While I find World Cup Soccer interesting, almost from a geopolitical view, I also find it a rather strange sport. This letter to the editor of the WSJ, sums it up perfectly:

Soccer: Diving, Swooning and Writhing on the
Grass
Quentin Letts's July 6 editorial-page commentary "Losers Weepers" singles out only one aspect of the theater of the absurd that professional soccer has become. The agonized writhing that accompanies even the mildest adversarial contact has become an art form matched only by the diving and swooning engaged in by many of these athletes when there is often no contact at all. One wonders how much actual training time is allotted to the rehearsal of these tactics and whether teams hire theatrical assistants to coach players in the use of facial expressions and body language to impress the referee.

The referees themselves are clearly impressionable, often calling fouls and distributing cards of various hues based on the appeals of players with the best acting skills. They are often seen grinning and schmoozing with old friends, while at other times scolding and appearing to be personally offended by a poorly executed tackle. They are an integral part of the company of players and seem to enjoy the attention of the audience every bit as much as the competitors.

In soccer, stoicism is out. If they can't win, the fans expect a display of abject humility, especially after shelling out as much as they do to support the Beckham lifestyle, and Mr. Beckham is happy to oblige.

Interesting Diet

As I said earlier, Cindy Sheehan is a regular Andrei Sakharov. If she sacrifices any more, she might have to cut down to fat free yogurt in her smoothie.

I find traveling out of the country very challenging being on a fast. When I was on a layover in Madrid on my way to Venice, Italy yesterday, the closest thing I could find to a smoothie to get a little protein was a coffee with vanilla ice cream in it. Traveling for 22 hours is very taxing under normal circumstances--but then again, when have we had normal circumstances since the 2000 and 2004 successful coup attempts that have brought BushCo into power?

I traveled from Venice to the frontier of Italy to the province of Udine which is right at the foot of the pre-Alps. I am here for a huge youth festival which includes many elements of social justice and peace work. It is beautiful and the air feels different from other places that I have travelled. It is strangely soft and gentle as is the natural light. However, there is not a Jamba Juice on every corner, so blended juice drinks with protein powder are impossible to find.

More On WalMart

I noticed this excellent exchange between "progressive" economist Jason Fuhrman and far-left whiny anti-capitalist writer Barbara Ehrenreich on Slate. It isn't a fair fight.

Well, She Could Stand To Lose a Little Weight

A regular Andrei Sakharov she is.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 150 protesters sat in front of the White House on Monday to savor their last meal before starting a hunger strike that some said will continue until American troops return from Iraq.

The demonstration marking the Independence Day holiday was organized by CodePink, a women's anti-war group that called on volunteers to abstain from eating for 24 hours from midnight on Monday.

Some protesters said their fast would continue beyond July 4th.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, said she would drink only water throughout the summer, which she said she would spend outside President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Can We Question Your Patriotism Yet?

Geez, I have met Serbian war criminals who were more pro-American than this guy.

American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said yesterday to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami.

Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out

Goodbye cigar store Indian.

I have carefully reviewed the Report of the Investigative Committee, Professor Churchill’s responses to the Committee, and the Recommendations of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct. I have met with and obtained the separate input of Provost Susan Avery and Todd Gleeson, the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. I met with Professor Churchill and his attorney, David Lane. After conducting the due diligence I felt was necessary, I have come to a decision regarding the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct pertaining to Professor Ward Churchill. Today, I issued to Professor Churchill a notice of intent to dismiss him from his faculty position at the University of Colorado, Boulder. My issuance of this notice now triggers a process that is governed by Regents Law, Article 5.C.1 and 2 and Regents Policy 5-I.

The NY Times' War Against America

This is really starting to piss me off. I guess every time we want to run some covert program to catch terrorists, we have to get the permission of the NY Times first. The National Review has a good roundup:

For the second time in seven months, the Times has exposed classified information about a program aimed at protecting the American people against a repeat of the September 11 attacks. On this occasion, it has company in the effort: The Los Angeles Times runs a similar, sensational story. Together, the newspapers disclose the fact that the United States has covertly developed a capability to monitor the nerve center of the international financial network in order to track the movement of
funds between terrorists and their facilitators.

LTC Bob Bowman "Scholar"

I have been covering the "Scholars" for 9/11 Truth, both here and on Screw Loose Change. One of the individuals I profiled was LTC Robert Bowman USAF (ret). He flew over 100 combat missions in Vietnam, and has a PhD from CalTech, so on the surface he appears quite an accomplished individual. I discovered, however, that he has some rather nutty historical beliefs.

Evidently he is running for Congress, so when I listened to this speech, given at a recent 9/11 conference, it sounded more like a stump speech for a political campaign, than one given by your typical conspiracy theorist. He started getting into economics, and I was struck by this rather bizarre claim, among others:

Real hourly wages, are now about a third of what they were during the 1950s.

This claim is reflected in some of the material on his website. I have no idea where he is getting this data. It is not only not true, it isn't even close. The readily available BLS data for inflation adjusted wages only goes back to 1964, but barring some unnoticed economic collapse in the late 1950s, I think we can say this makes the point.









If anything this understates current wages, with much of the evidence pointing to overstating of inflation. The Dallas Fed also has an interesting report detailing how long you have to work in order to purchase various consumer goods over the last century. One could argue over the details, but clearly this is an absurd assertion for him to make. What makes otherwise intelligent people become unhinged like this?

Violent Peaceniks

As Glenn Reynolds would say, "heh".

CLARK — The Rainbow Family peace gathering turned hostile Tuesday when a group of attendees began hurling rocks and sticks at law enforcement officers, U.S. Forest Service officials said.

The incident forced the officers to abandon a checkpoint they had established near the entrance to the Rainbow gathering campsite in North Routt County, Forest Service spokeswoman Diann Ritschard said. Officers had not returned to the checkpoint as of Tuesday afternoon.

Those Wacky "Scholars"

I am getting more and more annoyed at these academic frauds, called the "Scholars" for 9/11 Truth". Fortunately, their peers and the media seem to be picking them up and debunking them. Here is an article in Mcleans on them. And another that I posted over at Screw Loose Change.

Oh Those Lieutenants

I have been following this story on the LT from Ft. Lewis who has decided he doesn't want to play anymore. He is refusing to deploy with his unit to Iraq, because he feels the war is "illegal", despite the fact that he joined the Army, and went to OCS after it was apparent we were going to war in Iraq. OK, unlike fellow anti-war left hero Jesse MacBeth, he at least appears to actually be in the Army, but like Ranger Jesse's beret, he gets things backwards.
















Update: The Seattle Times was nice enough to block the photo so you can't tell. Something tells me if it were a Republican in the photo, it would have come out differently.