Btw: As I promised in a previous post, a few of the individuals who are located on my guestmap have received a Caf�Press discount coupon.
UPDATE 12/03/03: The Commissar has added EGO on the map ("Commonwealth of Blogosphere States"). The Politburo Diktat has picked EGO as a city of "Kolkatastan" (a.k.a Kazakhstan). EGO will not follow Suman Palit's suggestion and "sneak into Reynoldssia." The plan is instead to announce "Aqta�" ("Aktau") as an independent city after the oil deal.
I will join the Blog-Iran campaign by writing regularly posts on the situation in Iran. For daily news updates, go to "Doctor Zin". [Via United Blogs Directory @ ActivistChat.com.]
Did you buy something on the so-called "buy nothing day"? [Hat tip to I.S.T., FSOmailing list.] I am heading to Gothenburg city and I will purchase some luxury items such as cigars and cognac. More on this event later on...
Is it time for Bellona to enter the stage? Blogger Salam Pax is complaining about America's (nicknamed "Georgie") "room service" in Iraq. I think that S.P. should cut the crap and shut up. "Georgie" (GWB) has no obligation to take care of the Iraqi people. The main task was to protect America by removing outside threats, e.g., Saddam Hussein & company. Salam has been protected by a "Guardian angel" for some time and recently been on British TV. Read N.Z. Bear's post, Salam Pax: A Fine Whine, and Mark Wickens' comment on James Lileks' hard-hitting answer to Salam Pax. Here is a comment by Zeyad:
"Come one Salam, if it weren't for that jolly old chap you refer to as Georgie you wouldn't be enjoying your freedom in London writing for the Guardian now would you my friend? Nevertheless enjoy your trip and wish you a safe return."
I heard from a friend in America that Fox News had a report on O.B.L. and his whereabouts. Did you watch this program? I tried to do a search on the web site, but I couldn't find anything. Debka filed this story on September 8: Iran Helped Bin Laden's Lieutenant al-Zawahiri Escape. Reporter Massoud Ansari thinks Bin Laden is in Pakistan.
Today is "Qods day" in Iran. The mullahs are pushing the "Palestinian issue" in the following way: "every Muslim and freedom-seeking person ought to pay his debt to Palestine." I wonder what kind of "payment" they are talking about...
"Iran has always been the most powerful and the most lethal of the terror masters (Hezbollah is an Iranian creation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Islamic Republic), but it also holds another record of sorts: it is the first example of a totally failed Shiite Islamist state." [Via iranFilter.]
Nicholas Provenzo (The Rule of Reason) and "NoumenalSelf" have some thoughtful comments on a specific candidate (scroll down the list - 5th from the bottom, 241 votes).
Looking at my guestmap (25 entries so far), I am happy to see that I have readers around the world (America, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Germany, Sweden, and Australia).
I will place an order for some EGO products in the near future and then send an email with a Caf�Press discount coupon to a few of the individuals who have signed my guestmap. If you want to add webtools to your site, check out Bravenet.
PCM (11/14): Thanks for the scary article on the ugly situation regarding modern art. For real sculptures, go to Quent Cordair Fine Art and then continue the Art thread.
Read Daniel Drezner's post, A marriage made in protest, [via Andrew Sullivan] on how Jacques Chirac's administration is supporting the activities at the European Social Forum in Paris. Eduardo Montero is one of the participants. He is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is a member of the League for the Fifth International. His group has been attacking Attac for being too "soft" against capitalism. Here is a quote from the "Workers Power Global" web site:
"Attac is the centre of the right wing and reformist attempts to politically tame and organisationally hobble the anti-capitalist movement."
THE BATTLE OF IDEAS: CHICKENHAWKS VERSUS PACIFICISTS
Call me an "armchair general", a "warblogger", or a "chickenhawk", or whatever name you could come up with. I don't care about the different labels. The important thing to understand is that we are fighting a war of ideas. For a better understanding of the situation, go to the Ayn Rand Institute's MediaLink section, America at War, and read Dr. Leonard Peikoff's article, End States Who Sponsor Terrorism (10/02/01). Read it again, chew and digest it, and let it sink in. You should now be ready to speak out against the anti-war crowd and pacificists of all stripes, and at the same time be able to defend the ideals of the Founding Fathers, America and Western culture!
It will be interesting to see if George W. Bush really is a supporter of free trade, or if he is going after the voters living in the rust belt states. I think that Sebastian Mallaby hits the nail on the head with the conclusion that Bush and his representatives have made a huge mistake by thinking "they could buy the allegiance of protectionists, whether they are big farmers or the steel industry, to make some advance in their long-term trade policy and not become captives of the protectionists." [Elizabeth Becker's article, For Bush, a Janus-Like View of Trade.] Here is another excerpt from the same article:
"The "red states" territory in the Midwest and South that voted for Mr. Bush in the 2000 election are some of the biggest recipients of those subsidies, and it is unlikely that he will upset those voters with a new free trade agreement soon before the presidential election."
I wonder what went wrong with Nucor after the glory days of Ken Iverson? Look at this statement by Daniel DiMicco, vice chairman, president and CEO of Nucor:
"The steel industry is a test case for problems facing all sectors of U.S. manufacturing. The way to send a clear message that the U.S. is truly committed to a level playing field for domestic manufacturing is to keep the president's steel tariffs intact. This is the tip of the iceberg and all of America is watching." [Ineffective Steel Tariffs Now Illegal, Too by Dan Ackman.]
� Tell-A-Friend. Go to the Support category and click on the button. Thanks for spreading the good word! � EGO Forum. Write a message, start a new thread, send suggestions and tips on other blogs, web sites, news sources, events, topics and issues, et cetera.
"The best way we can honor our veterans and give real meaning to Veterans Day -- aside from ceremonies honoring their past and present dedication and bravery -- is to promise that we will go to war only when America's interests as a free nation are threatened."
Glenn Reynolds posted a picture of Miss Afghanistan, Vida Samadzai, in his "pro-bikini" post, AMERICA 100, TALIBAN 0 (10/24/03). From AP News (11/08/03): "Fazel Ahmad Manawi, deputy head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, told The Associated Press that Vida Samadzai, a college student in California, had betrayed Afghan culture by appearing at the Miss Earth contest in a bikini -- and may have also broken the law."
"In "Goat" (32), I took the opposite tack, that of making a point with a laugh. The humor was simple: draw a funny goat. The tricky part was to make sure we weren't poking fun at the plight of women living under repressive Islamic regimes. The real target is the husband, who is made to look like an insufferable idiot. This sparked a personal revelation of how serious commentary can underlie a lighthearted joke." [Quote by John Cox, chapter Islamism, page 30. Cartoon Goat, 10/13/01.]
A few days ago, I was walking across the Iron Square (I call it the "red square" because of all the labor union headquarters, the "people's house", socialist bookstores, et cetera, located around the square) and a man approached me with a flyer. It was announcing a lecture by Hal Mayer, founder of the Hartland Institute. The title of the speech: "September 11 and the Demise of Religious Liberty." Here is quote from Hal Mayer's article, Terrorists and the Demise of Religious Liberty:
"Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson pointed the finger. They said that the reason for the terrorist attacks was the tolerance of homosexuals, the purveyors of pornography, and the abortionists. There was a media outcry against this supposedly illogical conclusion, and these men withdrew their statement. In actuality, even though they didn't see the whole picture, Falwell and Robertson had identified a Biblical principle." ["EndTime Issues," December 2002.]
"Dictators in Iraq and Syria promised the restoration of national honor, a return to ancient glories. They've left instead a legacy of torture, oppression, misery and ruin." ... "The regime in Tehran must heed the democratic demands of the Iranian people or lose its last claim to legitimacy."
Here is "diplomat" Wesley Clark's "solution" to the problem in the Middle East: "Right now, governments like Syria and Iran believe that if the United States is successful in Iraq, they might be next. We have to change that dynamic and have some kind of a constructive dialogue with those governments." [Via Andrew Sullivan.]
I wrote in a post that I was thinking of adding a new feature to my blog. I have picked Thomas A. Bowden's book, The Enemies of Christopher Columbus as the Book of the Month. The book is written in a Q&A format, including appendices with historical texts and commentaries, endnotes, bibliography and afterword (133 pages). Here is an excerpt from the answer to the first question - "Who are the enemies of Christopher Columbus - and why do they seek to destroy his reputation?":
"The chief purpose of this book is to warn that the enemies of Christopher Columbus are serious, and that the ideas they endorse, if not refuted and rejected, will end in the death of science, the destruction of the cities, and the impoverishment of the human race." [Page 5.]
You are more than welcome to give me suggestions on books for the month of December.
Jonathan Hoenig will defend the concept of greed on the Fox News program, Cashin' In. The show airs at 11:30 A.M. EST (repeat on Monday at 5:30 A.M.). Read Jonathan Hoening's article, The Difference Between Us and Them (SmartMoney.com, 09/13/01).