Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Snow iced, Paulson in as Treasury Secretary

John Snow resigned this morning as the Secretary of Treasury. Since Bush already has a replacement set, it's a pretty safe assumption that his resignation was "requested."

And how about this unbiased opening paragraph about the move from AP:

Treasury Secretary John Snow resigned Tuesday, allowing President Bush to nominate Goldman Sachs Chairman Henry M. Paulson Jr. as his replacement — another chapter in the shake-up to revive Bush's troubled presidency.

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Monday, May 29, 2006

Pajamas Media podcast #5

It took me a few days, but I finally got a chance to listen to the fifth version of Pajamas Media Blog Week in Review. Joining the usual panel is Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom, who explains the origin of his blog's name. Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit, Eric Umansky, are back, with Austin Bay moderating, and Ed Driscoll doing the George Martin thing.

Lying is again one of the topics. Phony Iraq war veteran Jesse MacBeth, who couldn't wash the lies out of his hands, was unmasked by the blogosphere. Iowahawk, Mudville Gazette, and Blackfive are credited for their work in exposing this fraud. I'd like to add that friend-of-the-blog Brainster also did some excellent blogging on MacBeth.

The controversy surrounding the FBI search of Congressman William Jefferson's Washington office and the possible Palestinian civil war between Fatah and Hamas are the other topics.

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Watching Wal-Mart Watch


Wal-Mart Watch, the union-backed anti-Wal-Mart group that wasted about $150,000 in dues money to place a full-page ad in the New York Times last week, proved that it wasn't acting in good faith when proposing a "good faith" offer to the retail king in that same pricey ad.

The ad, available in PDF format here, used various statements made by Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton as possible bridgeheads for Wal-Mart Watch and the retailer to establish dialogue.

So far so good. But Marshall Manson of Edelman PR late last week e-mailed me that he captured a screen shot of an ad with the "Handshake ad" next to a Battle-Mart ad.

The Battle-Mart is a Wal-Mart Watch war plan site (Hey, I'm not overreaching with my metaphor, they call it "Battle-Mart"), instructing people on various methods to keep Wal-Mart out of communities.

So I have no faith in Wal-Mart Watch's "good faith" efforts--they're hypocrites.

Wal-Mart, for those who are unfamiliar the firm, owns stores that sell stuff pretty cheap.

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Blogger Dan Curry hits a hole-in-one

Congratulations to my good friend Dan Curry of Reverse Spin who hit his first hole-in-one in Wheaton over the weekend.

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The O.C's UC Irvine--O.C. for "out of control"

The University of California-Irvine, located in Orange County south of Los Angeles, is getting publicity it doesn't want to receive. And wouldn't you know, our old pal Norman Finkelstein figures into the OC mix?

From KTLA-TV in Los Angeles:

The campus' Muslim Student Union has drawn harsh criticism for last week's "Holocaust in the Holy Land" programs. Events included a speech titled "Israel: the 4th Reich" and the construction of a mock Israeli security wall with students dressed as Israeli army officers conducting aggressive checkpoint searches.

The events at the public quad prompted a strong reaction from members of Jewish groups, who called it highly offensive to equate Israel with Nazi Germany.

More...

In 2003, a memorial to Holocaust victims was vandalized. The next year, an anti-Zionism mural erected by the Society of Arab Students was burned down. No arrests were made in either case.

Then, a group of Muslim students made headlines with their plan to wear graduation stoles of green — a traditional color of Islamic identity — as a show of Islamic unity. Jewish groups on and off campus decried them as a show of support for Hamas, a militant Palestinian group responsible for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, which also uses green as its signature color.

And as I reported a couple of weeks ago, the featured guest speaker was DePaul University's Norman Finkelstein.

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Another Memorial Day in Illinois photo


I took this photograph about two hours ago while in front of the Morton Grove Public Library, I used my Treo 650.

The statue was erected in 1920 to honor the local soldiers who served our country in the Great War.

And in the spirit of the National Review listing of the 50 Greatest Conservative Rock Songs Ever, here is one more great conservative rocker, Paul McCartney's Freedom:

This is my right, a right given by God
To live a free life, to live in Freedom

We talkin' about Freedom
Talkin' bout Freedom
I will fight, for the right
To live in Freedom

Anyone, who wants to take it away
Will have to answer, Cause this is my right

We talkin' about Freedom
Talkin' bout Freedom
I will fight, for the right

To live in Freedom, ah yeah, come on now...

You talkin' about Freedom
Were talkin' bout Freedom
I will fight, for the right
To live in Freedom

Everybody talkin' bout Freedom
Talkin' bout Freedom
I will fight, for the right
To live in Free----------dom

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Regime Change Iran blog looking for help

Dr. Zin posted this message on his blog, Regime Change Iran:

I apologize for getting behind again. Since this site is self funded it requires that I take every opportunity to work. This occasionally puts us behind the news cycle. For this I am sorry.

I hope soon to make an announcement of several campaigns to take this work to the next level. But it requires that those who support the Iranian pro-democracy movement inside of Iran to join us in the work. At the moment the most important way you can help is to contribute to our efforts. Your support will make a difference.

Bloggers blog for different reasons. Dr. Zin shouts out from his site to change Iran, and consequently, the world.

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Memorial Day in Illinois


In the last ten yeas or so, I've noticed more road side memorials for victims of automobile accidents. From what I've read, this tradition originated in the Southwest.

Stevan was killed in a crash on March 3, 2006 on Interstate 94 just a couple of blocks from my home in Morton Grove.

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Romania, 1989. Iran, 2006?

I found this bit in Wikipedia about what Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu said about the spreading unrest in Romania on December 20, 1989--five days before he was executed.

He blamed it all on "interference of foreign forces in Romania's internal affairs" and an "external aggression on Romania's sovereignty".

Yesterday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, said that "trying to provoke ethnic and religious unrest is the last desperate shot by enemies."

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Riots sweep Iran


A little over a week ago, an Iranian newspaper published a cartoon that gave the impression that Azeris, the largest minority in Iran, are stupid.

Just as the Danish Muhammad cartoon riots inflamed people in Iran and elsewhere, this cartoon is inciting people to riot throughout Iran. The photo courtesy of AP, shows Azeris protesting in front of the Iranian parliament building.

Gateway Pundit has extensive coverage of the riots.

Pajamas Media has a lot more here.

Dr. Zin at Regime Change Iran has photos from demonstrations in Tehran.

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