Blatently Obvious

WTC Cutting Torch

2006-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

2005-07-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

euro3

2005-07-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Euro3

2005-06-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

pentagon

2005-06-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Euro

2005-05-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

Templayoffs

2005-05-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Participation Rate

2005-05-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

Chronic Unemployment

2005-05-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Unemployment rate

2005-05-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Average length of unemployment

2005-05-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Sour Cream vendors

2005-04-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

Profile Pic

2005-04-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Chief

Journalism in Decline

2005-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Dan Rather memos are back. CBS's (with emphasis on the BS) is supposed to be releasing their investigation into the scandal soon, and ahead of that the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) has published an article attacking, not CBS, but the bloggers that revealed the whole fraud. The author of the piece, Corey Pein, an Evergreen graduate no less, but he goes on to show that the new standard for journalism is in fact "fake but accurate". Powerline has the lowdown.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/

Corey Pein of the Columbia Journalism Review sent us an email yesterday, with a link to his article in that magazine on the fake 60 Minutes documents. "You may be interested in this," he wrote. We were interested, all right, but we're sorry to report that the article is astonishingly bad.

Pein's perspective is sympathetic to Dan Rather, Mary Mapes and CBS, and hostile toward the bloggers and others who exposed the fraud that 60 Minutes participated in, intentionally or otherwise. This gives his article a weirdly off-balance perspective. Pein holds out hope that the documents may not have been forgeries after all. He writes that:

We don’t know whether the memos were forged, authentic, or some combination
thereof. Indeed, they could be fake but accurate, as Killian’s secretary, Marian
Carr Knox, told CBS on September 15.
So this is now, apparently, an accepted journalistic standard: fake
but
accurate. Which means, I guess: fake, but they help the Democratic
candidate. Again, Pein says:
Ultimately, we don’t know enough to justify the conventional wisdom: that the documents were “apparently bogus” (as Howard Kurtz put it, reporting on Dan Rather’s resignation) and that a major news network was an accomplice to political slander.
Pein concludes with the wistful thought that maybe the mainstream media in general, and CBS in particular, didn't
have to take a hit in connection with Memogate:

Blatently Obvious Conclusion O' the Day

2005-01-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

An Indian helicopter dropping food and water over the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been attacked by tribesmen using bows and arrows.

There were fears that the endangered tribal groups had been wiped out when massive waves struck their islands.

But the authorities say the attack is a sign that they have survived.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4144405.stm

Ya think?

Tsunami crisis coverage

2005-01-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

I discovered a great little blog written by some individuals in the foreign service. Their commentary on the Tsunami crisis and the international community has been enlightening.

http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/

More UNreality . . . But the Dutch Get It

Well, dear friends, we're now into the tenth day of the tsunami crisis and in this battered corner of Asia, the UN is nowhere to be seen -- unless you count at meetings, in five-star hotels, and holding press conferences.Aussies and Yanks continue to carry the overwhelming bulk of the burden, but some other fine folks also have jumped in: e.g., the New Zealanders have provided C-130 lift and an excellent and much-needed potable water distribution system; the Singaporeans have provided great helo support; the Indians have a hospital ship taking position off Sumatra. Spain and Netherlands have sent aircraft with supplies.The UN continues to send its best product, bureaucrats. Just today the city's Embassies got a letter from the local UN representative requesting a meeting for "Ms. Margareeta Wahlstrom, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in Tsunami-afected countries." Wow! Put that on a business card! And she must be really, really special because she has the word "coordinator" twice in her title!The letter, in typically modest UN style, goes on to explain that "Ms. Wahlstrom's main task will be to provide leadership and support to the international relief effort. She will undertake high-level consultations with the concerned governments in order to facilitate the delivery of international assistance." Oh, and she'll be visiting from January 4-5.Once, again, a hearty Diplomadic "WOW!" She's going to do all that in two days! The Australians and we have been feeding and otherwise helping tens-of-thousands of people stay alive for the past ten days, and still have a long, long way to go, but she's going to wrap the whole thing up in a couple of days of meetings. Thank goodness she's here to provide the poor lost Aussies and Yanks with leadership. The Diplomad bows in awe to such power and wisdom. The letter is signed, by the way, by the same UN official who suggested a couple of days back that the Australian and US air traffic controllers in Aceh should don UN blue (see our post of January 2.)Ok, enough with the UN; you get the picture. Now to the EU. The EU could copy the Australian-American model of acting quickly and effectively to save lives, or they could copy the UN model of meeting at a leisurely pace to plan for the possibility of setting up a coordination center that will consider making a plan for the possibility of an operations center to consider beginning to request support for the tsunami's victims. Ah, my wise friends, guess which model of "action" the EU chose? No need to emulate those "cowboys" from Australia and the USA with their airplanes and loading crews working round-the-clock; oh, no, much too tacky, sweaty and dirty. No need to feed into the system those goofy Aussiyankeebushowardian New World Anglo-Saxons already have created. No, they'll follow the much more elegant Kofi Annan model. A couple of EU planners have shown up to begin making arrangements for an assessment team to arrive, etc., etc., you know the rest. Meanwhile, people die.But all is not lost. The Dutch, who on occasion show the great common sense for which they were once justifiably famous, have signed up with the Aussiyankeebushowardian Core Group. Thanks to a European Diplomad (Yes, The Diplomadic insurgency has gone international!) we have in our possession a short situation report circulated by the Dutch at the most recent EU meeting here in this corner of the Far Abroad. This January 2 report is written by local Dutch diplomats who traveled to Aceh and saw the reality on the ground. We will cite the two principal paragraphs, and leave them unedited in their original rather charming Dutch-English,

The US military has arrived and is clearly establishing its presence everywhere in Banda Aceh. They completely have taken over the military hospital, which was a mess until yesterday but is now completely up and running. They brought big stocks of medicines, materials for the operation room, teams of doctors, water and food. Most of the patients who were lying in the hospital untreated for a week have undergone medical treatment by the US teams by this afternoon. US military have unloaded lots of heavy vehicles and organize the logistics with Indonesian military near the airport. A big camp is being set up at a major square in the town. Huge generators are ready to provide electricity. US helicopters fly to places which haven't been reached for the whole week and drop food. The impression it makes on the people is also highly positive; finally something happens in the city of Banda Aceh and finally it seems some people are in control and are doing something. No talking but action. European countries are until now invisible on the ground. IOM staff (note: this is a USAID-funded organization) is very busy briefing the incoming Americans and Australians about the situation.The US, Australia, Singapore and the Indonesian military have started a 'Coalition Co-ordination Centre' in Medan to organize all the incoming and outgoing military flights with aid. A sub-centre is established in Banda Aceh."

Isn't that nice? Europeans with a sense of reality.The only fault The Diplomad can find with the Dutch report is that it understates the role of the Australians in the relief effort -- they deserve considerably more credit than this report gives them. It's hard to praise the Aussies too much for what they have done in the wake of the tsunami. They are absolutely splendid -- too bad they've got that thing about that weird game, uh, cricket, is it?Anyhow, soon I will return to my habitual corner of the Far Abroad and leave my colleagues here to deal with the UN, the EU and their Coordination Efforts.

News from Iraq

2005-01-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Not all of it is bad.

The poll of nearly 2,200 people across most of Iraq found a resilient citizenry modestly hopeful that the Jan. 30 elections will improve life. Iraqis said pocketbook issues such as unemployment and health care are more pressing than the bloody insurgency that claims Iraqi and U.S. lives virtually every day. . . .
The poll, conducted Nov. 24 to Dec. 5, found improvements over the last two months in Iraqis' feelings about the country's direction and, to a lesser degree, about the interim Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi...
Nearly 54 percent said Iraq is generally headed in the right direction--compared with 42 percent in late September and early October--while 32 percent said it's headed in the wrong direction. . . .
More than 71 percent of those polled said they "strongly intend" to vote, and 67 percent said they believe Iraq will be ready to hold elections by the end of January, compared with 24 percent who said the country won't be ready.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006103

Is the Experiment Working?

2005-01-01T15:31:00.000-08:00

The "neo-cons" have been taken to task for their ambitious idealism in remaking the Middle East. The theory was that a pluralistic democracy would have a ripple effect throughout the region, attacking the despotism and desperation that is the root cause of much Islamic terrorism. Their opponents, which includes most of the American and European left have been arguing that the violence and instability in Iraq shows they were naive. Well, it may have been ambitious, but could they be right? Here are some signs, from the otherwise pessimistic NY Times no less.

QAMISHLI, Syria, Dec. 28 - The Iraqi election next month may be evoking skepticism in much of the world, but here in northeastern Syria, home to concentrations of several ethnic minorities, it is evoking a kind of earnest hope.
"I believe democracy in Iraq must succeed," Vahan Kirakos, a Syrian of Armenian ethnicity, said recently. "Iraq is like the stone thrown into the pool."

Though Syria's Constitution grants equal opportunity to all ethnic and religious groups in this very diverse country, minority activists say their rights are far from equal. They may not form legal political parties or publish newspapers in minority languages. More than 150,000 members of Syria's largest minority, the Kurds, are denied citizenship.

Minority issues remain one of the infamous "red lines," the litany of forbidden topics that Syrians have long avoided mentioning in public.

But in the year and a half since Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq, that has begun to change, with minority activists beginning to speak openly of their hopes that a ripple effect from next door may bring changes at home.

And here in Syria's far northeastern province of Hasakah, which borders Turkey and Iraq, there are signs of a new restlessness.

In March, more than 3,000 Kurds in Qamishli, a city in Hasakah Province on the Turkish border, took part in antigovernment protests, which led to clashes with Syrian security forces and more than 25 deaths.

In late October, more than 2,000 Assyrian Christians in the provincial capital, Hasakah City, held a demonstration calling for equal treatment by the local police. The demonstration, which Hasakah residents say was the first time Assyrians in Syria held a public protest, followed an episode in which two Christians were killed by Muslims who called them "Bush supporters," and "Christian dogs."

Nimrod Sulayman, a former member of the Syrian Communist Party's central committee, said Hasakah's proximity to Iraq and demographic diversity meant that residents of the province were watching events in Iraq and taking inspiration from the freedoms being introduced there.

"This Assyrian protest in Hasakah was caused by a personal dispute, but the way the people wanted their problem solved was a result of the Iraqi impact," Mr. Sulayman said. "They see that demonstrating is a civilized way to express a position."
"Since the war in Iraq, this complex of fear has been broken, and we feel greater freedom to express ourselves," he added.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/international/middleeast/29syria.html?oref=login&oref=login

Iraq is the New Vietnam

2004-12-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

Some columists over at Slate continue the "quagmire" drumbeat. Some of their analysis is interesting, although they almost seem to be complaining that our medical technology is saving soldiers lives. This particular paragraph is especially misleading though.

http://politics.slate.msn.com/id/2111432/

The Hue comparison is illuminating. In Hue, three Marine battalions (roughly 3,000 men) plunged into a vicious house-to-house fight with 12,000 North Vietnamese, ultimately routing them after suffering harsh losses. In April 2004, three Marine battalions attacked several thousand terrorists in Fallujah and were days away from taking the city when the White House called off the attack. In November, three new Marine battalions joined two Army mechanized infantry battalions in a sweeping attack to retake the city. They succeeded, although outbreaks of fighting continue. While the North Vietnamese fought a coordinated defensive battle for Hue City until they were annihilated, the terrorists in Fallujah fought in small packs, hiding among the tens of thousands of structures in the "city of mosques." In the three-week battle for Hue, 147 Marines were killed and 857 wounded. In the twin battles for Fallujah, more than 104 soldiers and Marines have been killed and more than 1,100 wounded in a battle that will continue to take lives, like the three Marines who encountered yet another pocket of fighters last week.

Initially this seems accurate, but some smart bloggers come to the rescue and point out some key omissions in the author's piece.

This didn't sound correct to reader Helen Wells. So she googled the battle of Hue and obtained better information. It turns out that, yes, 147 Marines were killed at Hue. Along with 74 Army soldiers and 384 ARVN. Thus, total deaths on our side at Hue were nearly six times higher than in Fallujah. And even if, in Kerryesque fashion, one decides to exclude the deaths of our Vietnamese allies, the ratio is two to one.

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/009077.php

Another Economic Comparison

2004-12-31T09:55:00.000-08:00

There has been much talk about the national debt the last few years. Personally, I believe that it needs to be reduced, or at least its growth must slow. Even more-so with the recent fall of the dollar on the currency markets. We also need to look at it in perspective though. It terms of our economy we do not have a record national debt, in fact we are not even close.

Public debt in relation to a country's GDP

France: 68.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Germany: 64.2% of GDP (2004 est.)
Canada: 77% of GDP (2004 est.)
Italy: 106.4% of GDP (2004 est.)
Japan: 154.6% of GDP (2004 est.)
US: 62.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

An Economic Comparison

2004-12-30T16:48:00.000-08:00

For all of those "Worst economy since Herbert Hoover" naysayers.

Jobless, Permanently? Long-term unemployed (12 months or more) as a percentage of total unemployed, 2002
U.S. 8.6%
Britain 23.1%
Japan 30.8%
France 33.8%
Germany 47.9%
Italy 59.2%

Source: OECD

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html

Editorial O' the Day

2004-12-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

From the often must-read Victor Davis Hanson. A little advice to the left. Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, you have to admit they need a little help.

http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson200412300838.asp

As the old politics lie in ruin from hypocrisy and incoherence, the Left needs to get a new life. Here are a few more suggestions:

Remember that multilateral inaction — whether in the Balkans, Rwanda, or Darfur — is often
calculated, selfish, and far more lethal to millions than risky interventions like removing the
Taliban and Saddam.

Quit idolizing Europe. It was a far larger arms merchant to Saddam than was the United States; it supplied most of Dr. Khan’s nuclear laboratory; it financed much of the Oil-for-Food
scandal; and it helped to create and tolerate the Balkans genocide. It has never freed any
country or intervened to remove fascism and leave behind democracy — silly American notions that are to be caricatured except when it is a matter of saving Europeans.

Stop seeing an all-powerful United States behind every global problem. China is on the move and far more likely to disrupt environmental protocols, cheat on trade accords, and bully
neighbors. The newly expanded Europe has a larger population and aggregate economy, stronger currency, and far less in trade and budget debts than does the United States — and is already using that economic clout for its own interests, not global freedom from dictators
and autocrats.

Don't believe much of what the U.N. says anymore. Its secretary general is guilty of either malfeasance or incompetence, its soldiers are often hired thugs who terrorize those they are supposed to protect, and its resolutions are likely to be anti-democratic and anti-Semitic. Its
members include dozens of nations whose odious representatives we would not let walk inside the doors of the U.S. Congress. The old idea of a United Nations was inspiring, the current
reality chilling.

Stop seeing socialists and anti-Americans as Democrats. When a Michael Moore compares beheaders to our own Minutemen and laments that too many Democrats were in the World Trade Center, he deserves no platform alongside Wesley Clark or a seat next to Jimmy
Carter or praise for his pseudo-dramas from high Democrats. Firebrands like Al Sharpton
and Michael Moore are the current leftist equivalents of 1950s right-wing extremists
like the John Birchers. They should suffer the same fate of ostracism, not bemused and tacit approval.

Ignore most grim international reports that show the United States as stingy, greedy, or uncaring based on some esoteric formula that makes a Sweden or Denmark out as the world's savior. Such "studies" always ignore aggregate dollars and look at per capita public
giving, and yet somehow ignore things like over $100 billion to Afghanistan
and Iraq or $15 billion pledged to fight AIDS in Africa. These academic white papers
likewise forget private donations, because most of the American billionaires who
give to global causes of various sorts do so as either individuals or through foundations. No mention is made of the hundred of millions that are handled by American Christian
charities. And the idea of a stingy America never mentions about $200 billion of the Pentagon's
budget, which does things like keeping the Persian Gulf open to world commerce; protecting Europe; ensuring that the Aegean is free of shooting and that the waters between China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are relatively tranquil; and stopping nasty folk like the Taliban and Saddam
from blowing up more Buddha monuments, desecrating Babylon, or ruining the ecology of the
Tigris-Euphrates wetlands.

Action and results, not rhetoric and intentions, are what matter. Cease blaming others for
declining popularity. There is neither a Karl Rove conspiracy nor an envisioned red-state
theocracy. No, the problem with our Left is what killed the dinosaurs: a desire to plod on
to oblivion in a rapidly evolving world.

Stupid Liberal O' the Day

2004-12-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

Ramsey Clarke once again shows why Darwinism is suspect. One of the more memorable remnants of the Carter Administration. It just amazes me how people can justify supporting monsters like Milosevic and Hussein. Even the Serbs think Slobo is a poseur. This guy is starting to give lawyers a bad name!

Former US attorney-general Ramsey Clark is to join Saddam Hussein's defence team, a spokesman for the ousted Iraqi president's lawyers says.
Ziad Khasawna said on Wednesday that Clark, who held the office of attorney-general under US president Lyndon Johnson, had "honoured and inspired" the legal team by agreeing to help defend Saddam.

The former top US justice official, who arrived on Tuesday in Jordan where the defence team is based, has become known as a left-wing lawyer and firm critic of US foreign policy since leaving office.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/11388BFC-9290-4141-B0E1-BEA75A1B20F8.htm

Big News O' the Day

2004-12-29T11:46:00.000-08:00

The big news of the day is the tsunami in SE Asia, and criticism of the US response to it. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041229/D879EB6O0.html Personally, I think the US should spend more on foreign aid, it buys us good press and is a lot cheaper than sending the Marines, but at the same time we do more than anyone else as it is, so back off commie weenie liberals! We already sent an aircraft carrier and 6 C-130's. What are the French going to do, send a rowboat and a piper cub? All sarcasm aside, this was a horrible disaster and we should do everything to help. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims.

Grand Opening

2004-12-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the grand opening of the best blog on the web. Well OK, I doubt I will be bringing down Dan Rather any time soon, but maybe I will come up with something interesting to say. You never know. Watch this spot for commentary and news in the field of foreign affairs, the military, politics and economics. The truth will be found, it is blatently obvious.