The History Lesson of Joseph Ellis

"But by the time you read this it may even be official that Ellis' career as a writer and professor is over. After all, his classwork is part of his scholarship, and thus his scholarship — the basis of both his teaching and writing — will now forever be doubted. How can you trust a historian who makes up history?"

But today CBS gave him air. Surely they weren't running short of Bush bashers?

Social Security Online - The Technocrats

"The Technocrats believed that the solution to all problems of economic security were the same, the rigorous application of engineering principles in a system freed from the Price System. They conceived of retirement as being made possible at age 45 for everyone due to the vast prosperity the new age of Technocracy would usher in. Rejecting all forms of traditional political science, the Technocrats refused to even use standard geographical maps because their boundaries were political, so they would refer to states only by their geographical coordinates. Names, too, were suspect for some reason so members of the movement in California were designated only by numbers. A speaker at one California rally was introduced only as 1x1809x56!"

Sweetness & Light: Tim Russert, Democrat Shill

"In fact in his original answer Powell insisted the administration honestly believed the information the CIA had made available to them and had acted in good faith. But Russert edited Powell’s response to make it sound exactly the opposite.

Doing so, Tim Russert has once again exposed himself to the world as the Democrat hack that he is. Of course this is not news to anyone who has ever watched him."

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Only U.N. Official Fired in Oil-for-Food Scandal Cleared, Reinstated

"The decision was made Monday and Joseph Stephanides, fired May 31, received the letter Tuesday maintaining that he violated staff rules by showing preference to one bidder for an Oil-for-Food contract but essentially acknowledging the punishment was too harsh.

Stephanides, a 60-year-old Cypriot national, had been scheduled to retire in September and the move gives him his pay up to that point. Deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe confirmed that Stephanides' firing had been overturned and said Undersecretary-General for Management Christopher Burnham signed the letter on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is at a conference in Tunisia.

The letter, dated Monday, said 'the sanction that was imposed on you has been reconsidered in light of all the circumstances in the case and the principle of proportionality.'"

mediabistro/FishBowlDC: A Leaky Post Newsroom

How fun to watch the media talk about themselves "off the record".

"Not discussed directly in this forum, but effectively used by others to bludgeon us this morning, was the question of a reporter "exempting" himself from the Plame story and then appearing on TV as a pundit -- and washington post representative -- trashing the fitzgerald probe as much ado about gossip."

They should all be forced to watch (until it sunk in) the "Yes Minister" episode on anonymous leaks to the press.

They start with the premise that there are situations where relying on anonymous sources is the right thing to do, and then argue with each other 'till the cows come home about exactly what those circumstances are.

I have a suggestion to them: Just don't do it!

For journalists willing to do the work there are plenty of sensational stories with sources in the public domain (although hidden by more red tape than the average individual can wade through).

Take a look at the Wall Street Journal's legal efforts to get the facts on this case made public for a good example of the right way to go about this.

A press that engages in rumor mongering makes itself as much a tool for tyranny as against it.

More Evidence in Favor of Term Limits

Plame's husband wants Post to probe Woodward

"Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press have asked Judge Reggie Walton to deny Fitzgerald's blanket protective order, which would bar public access to grand jury transcripts, witness statements and a wide range of other evidence in the case. Any leaks could result in civil and criminal fines, the order warns."

Wilson continue to prove that he can't keep his own mouth shut.

Believe It or Not - Are you sure you want to keep saying we were fooled by Ahmad Chalabi and the INC? By Christopher Hitchens

"Let us suppose, then, that we can find a senator who voted for the 1998 act to remove Saddam Hussein yet did not anticipate that it might entail the use of force, and who later voted for the 2002 resolution and did not appreciate that the authorization of force would entail the removal of Saddam Hussein! Would this senator kindly stand up and take a bow? He or she embodies all the moral and intellectual force of the anti-war movement. And don't be bashful, ladies and gentlemen of the 'shocked, shocked' faction, we already know who you are."

Brown's Alito letter lifted from blogger

"Brown's letter merely changed the last clause so the sentence read, 'What is striking about Alito is that he is so hostile even to the basic rights of workers to have a day in court, not to mention interpreting the law against them.'"

Joe Biden, where are you?

HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE :: Paris Burning: How Empires End by Patrick J. Buchanan

"This is the larger meaning of the ritual murder of Theo Van Gogh in Holland, the subway bombings in London, the train bombings in Madrid, the Paris riots spreading across France. The perpetrators of these crimes in the capitals of Europe are the children of immigrants who were once the colonial subjects of the European empires.

At this writing, the riots are entering their 12th night and have spread to Rouen, Lille, Marseille, Toulouse, Dijon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Cannes, Nice. Thousands of cars and buses have been torched and several nursery schools fire-bombed. One fleeing and terrified woman was doused with gasoline and set ablaze. "

GAO confirms some e-voting problems

"Although the issues are not universal, GAO found that some e-voting systems do not encrypt ballots cast or audit logs, and either one could be altered without detection. In addition, some machines are insecure enough that someone could alter a ballot's appearance so that votes cast for one candidate would be recorded for an opponent."

Democrats defeat election-law aid for bloggers | CNET News.com

"Democrats on Wednesday managed to defeat a bill aimed at amending U.S. election laws to immunize bloggers from hundreds of pages of federal regulations."

Nice going, commies!

Just The News

"Cooper, 38, has been gathering momentum all year that peaked with his on-the-scene coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Klein said.

'He's got a refreshing way of being the anti-anchor,' he said. 'He's not quote-unquote reporting at you. He's just being himself. He's asking the questions you would like answered. He's getting involved the way you might. You feel that he's a regular person that you can trust talking to you. He brings such a passion to the storytelling that's infectious.'"

What total idiots. But then, I haven't watched network TV for a long time. I'd probably have trouble going back to it. Die mainstream media, die!

WARD OF THE COURT - Democrats-Temper Tantrums or Honesty - By Steven Ward

"So to claim that Tenet and other CIA officials would have lied to Jay Rockefeller and others in private closed door meetings to help the neocons make the case for war defies credulity. Yet, that is what the room temperature IQ crowd of Cindy Sheehan and others want us to believe. "

*Chuckle*

Watered Down Volker Report Finally Sputters Forth

Even so, the "sensitive" types at the UN are shocked...

"The 19-month investigation has caused havoc at the United Nations, whose officials say the world body was unequipped to handle a program of that size."

But from here:

http://www.un.org/geninfo/ir/ch6/ch6_txt.htm...

Who works at the United Nations and what do they do there?
Economists, translators, statisticians, secretaries, TV producers, computer experts, physicians, carpenters – these are just a few of the wide variety of people with many skills and backgrounds who work as UN staff members.

The UN Secretariat employs some 7,500 staff members under the regular budget and a nearly equal number under special funding. Coming from some 170 countries, they administer the UN's policies and programmes in New York and at duty stations around the world. The UN system as a whole – the UN and its related programmes and specialized agencies, including the World Bank and the IMF – employs some 61,000 people worldwide.

Funny, thts more people than Microsoft has:

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39233636,00.htm

NEWSMEAT - Hall of Fame - Political Donations of the Rich, Famous, & Powerful

Now I know who to boycott (most of 'em).

'Bill and Me'�

Mr. Freeh also heaps scorn on Mr. Clinton for his 177 last-minute pardons and commutations without consulting either the FBI or the Justice Department, contrary to established procedures. One beneficiary, Marc Rich, fled to Switzerland to avoid 50-plus indictments for fraud. Why drop the charges? Mr. Rich's socialite wife, Denise, donated more than $1 million to Democrats during the Clinton-Gore years. As Mr. Freeh writes, "the stench... should have been enough to dissuade the president. It didn't, of course. That was Bill Clinton."

Agency Probes Possible Terror Threat Leak - Yahoo! News

"'It's ironic that on the one hand the department is saying this is not a credible threat and then, if these e-mails are true, people within the department with access to classified information felt it was worth contacting their own families,' said Rep. Peter King (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The e-mails began circulating Oct. 3 — three days before Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced they were putting thousands of extra police officers on patrol in the subways in response to the possible plot to bomb the subway using briefcases or baby strollers packed with explosives.

The Daily News quoted one e-mail — purportedly penned by the unnamed son of a high-ranking Homeland Security official — in which he warns recipients: 'The only information I can pass on to you is that everyone should at all costs not ride the subway for the next two weeks in major areas of NYC.'"

Nothing like this to restore my faith, along with the founding fathers that government should only be trusted as far as you can throw it. That mistrust, not shared by nearly enough US citizens these days, is exactly what made our country great. Keep disappointing us Big Government. We need the reminders.

Miers is the wrong pick - George Will

"The wisdom of presumptive opposition to Miers' confirmation flows from the fact that constitutional reasoning is a talent -- a skill acquired, as intellectual skills are, by years of practice sustained by intense interest. It is not usually acquired in the normal course of even a fine lawyer's career. The burden is on Miers to demonstrate such talents, and on senators to compel such a demonstration or reject the nomination."

E.U. Opens Historic Talks On Membership for Turkey

"PARIS, Oct. 4 -- The European Union formally opened membership talks with Turkey early Tuesday morning, but only after bitter opposition by Austria had exposed deep apprehensions about the future of the 25-country group and the prospects of admitting a large, poor, Muslim country to its ranks."

I wonder what their problem is? In another 25 years or so all of Europe will be a large poor Muslim country. Turkey will fit right in.