May 31, 2005

I don't know if I would have called my mother either...

Cindy Adams (reg. necessary) has Oliver's latest twist.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 04:05 PM
Comments (2)

The Big Why

One of the more interesting cases moving somewhat under the radar is the report that espionage charges will soon be filed against two officials of AIPAC - American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The charges, as I understand them, are somewhat vague and also unprecedented. Thomas Lifson, channeling (he says via email) the title of my first Moses Wine novel, thinks there has been a set-up. My question is why. (NOTE: The linked article is by Lifson's partner at American Thinker Richard Baehr.)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:21 AM
Comments (8)

Uh-oh...

Tim Worstall has discovered a major problem for Pajamas Media. [He hasn't tried your martinis.-ed. Yes, but still...]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:15 AM
Comments (4)

Not True!

Instapundit reports that "Deep Throat" has been unmasked. Ho-hum.
The real "DT" was revealed in my wife's movie six years ago!

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:30 AM
Comments (37)

Zut (!) Suit

Some droll commentary on the French Euro-constitution referendum at MajorityRights.com.

MEANWHILE: In an extraordinarily "bold" move (of tailoring), Napoleon's hagiographer returns to his high post.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:10 AM
Comments (35)

Say the Secret Word

Michael quotes Groucho. We're at another turning point.

In short, as the president's critics are rightly reminding him, more time has passed since 9/11 than transpired between Pearl Harbor and the surrender of the Japanese empire, and our most lethal enemies are still in power and still killing our people and our friends. It is good that the desire for freedom is now manifest among the oppressed peoples of the Middle East and Central Asia, and it is very good that dramatic strides toward self-government have been taken by the Georgians, Kyrgistanis, Ukrainians, Iraqis, and Lebanese. But it is not good enough. Indeed, it is shameful that we have yet to seriously challenge the legitimacy of the terror masters in Tehran and Damascus, who represent the keystone of the terrorist edifice.

It is not so. In matters of war, peace, and revolution, winners are characterized by the constancy of their vision and the relentlessness of their pursuit of it. The French, Germans, and British are trying to restrain the revolution, not to encourage it, as their pathetic vaudeville-style negotiations with Iran abundantly demonstrate. One expects to hear one of their foreign ministers on the evening news, pronouncing Groucho's immortal words: "I got principles. And if you don't like 'em, I got other principles..."

[Is the secret word "Faster, please!"?-ed. No, that's two words.]

UPDATE: To be clear, although Michael is my friend, I am an agnostic on whether we are applying the proper amount of pressure on Syria and Iran, because I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. [Are you an agnostic on everything?-ed. Well, no. Like Michael I absolutely love the Marx Brothers!] That said, I would like to point to the truism that the best defense is a good offense.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:47 AM
Comments (43)

"We the (Media) People"

Glenn is too much of a gentleman to realize what a revolutionary (small and big R) he is. In a very real sense, he started this.

(link fixed, I think)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:40 AM
Comments (7)

May 30, 2005

Want to get angry at Amnesty International.... again?

Read this story of real human rights abuse they're ignoring at Atlas Shrugs. [I bet you used to give a lot of money to Amnesty.-ed. Yes, and I went to their lousy chicken dinners too.]

(hat tip: Charles Martin)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:28 PM
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Was it this blog?

My grandmother would have said yes! (Unfortunately she passed away about twenty years ago.) In any case, the Syrian dissidents known as the Attasy 8 discussed on this blog just two days ago have been released (or some them anyway). Ammar Abdulhamid reports from Damascus:

A few hours ago, the Atassy 8 were released. International and internal pressures seem to have paid off. As such, and rather than coming as a demonstration of strength, as it was intended to be, the entire move came as a further demonstration of the Regime’s weakness, confusion and lack of resolve.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the government arrested another well-known lawyer and activist, one Habib Salih. No reason was given for the arrest. Also, the official spokesman for the Atassy Forum, Mr. Habib Issa, jailed two years ago, is still in jail and is not expected to be released anytime soon. So are the MPs Riyad Seif and Mamoun Homsi. The same applies to scores of Kurdish, Islamist and secularist activists that have been arrested over the last few months and years. The promise that the President made less than a year ago to end the file of political detainees still goes unfulfilled, and still witnesses unexplained reversals.

There's something about Bashar Assad that reminds me of Ubu Roi - only with real guns.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:42 PM
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"Only Victims"

A new book on the 'blacklist' - Red Star over Hollywood by Ron and Allis Radosh - has been recently published and is creating quite a stir for its revisionist view of this sacred moment in American radical history. Tom Wolfe himself has been quoted as saying the work puts an end to "the poignant myth of the Hollywood blacklist".

I haven't read it yet, but the book is on the top of my list after reading this intriguing review by Clive Davis in the London Times Online (link here is to Davis' blog to avoid the firewall). I am doubly interested because when I first joined the Writers Guild more than thirty years ago, the aftermath of the 'blacklist' was still very much in the air and I met many of the players of the time. In 1970 I attended my first WGA awards dinner and, as luck would have it, it became a famous event. The keynote speaker was the best known of the 'Hollywood Ten' - Dalton Trumbo - who that night made his speech "Only Victims," hoping to reconcile both sides from the blacklist era. It was not well received by a number of his screenwriting colleagues, including yours truly who regarded such an attitude in those days as liberal pap. I'll be curious how I react when I read this new book. (FULL DISCLOSURE: The Radoshes' work is published by Encounter Books who will be publishing my book, when I finish it. [Stop blogging already-ed.])

MORE: The NY Sun's view here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 04:48 PM
Comments (8)

Strange Doings in Venezuela

Rumors are flying around that Hugo Chavez is dead. Is he a Saud? Well, maybe in a way he is.

Chavez's Information Minister says "There's nothing abnormal or extraordinary occurring.".

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 04:02 PM
Comments (15)

On His Blindness

"WHEN I consider how my light is spent
E're half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent..."

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:20 AM
Comments (37)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

UPDATE: Some thanks from Omar.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:22 AM
Comments (102)

May 29, 2005

Step-by-Step

With only 28 percent voting in Beirut, Lebanon seems somewhat less eager for democracy than Iraq. Or maybe they were just reacting to a lack of decent candidates. Whoever said this was going to be easy? (ht: Rick Ballard)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:05 PM
Comments (4)

QuickRob's Weblog sez...

... Victor Davis Hanson may have been writing in answer to Pajamas Media Question #1. I'm a tad skeptical but... who could have done it better?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:38 PM
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We may like to diss the French...

... but their voting percentages put ours to shame (although not readers of blogs, I assume, who probably vote in even higher percentages).

UPDATE: According to the WSJ, the French have overwhelmingly rejected the proposed European Union constitution. It is hard to imagine how Chirac will recover from this.

PARIS -- The French decisively rejected the European Union's proposed new constitution, plunging the bloc into political paralysis and putting at least a temporary break on five decades of movement toward an ever-stronger pan-European government.

"It is your decision, it is your sovereign decision, and I take note of it,'' he said.

Please, do.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:24 PM
Comments (115)

It wouldn't take my favorite art forger...

... Elmyr de Hory... to fake a Jackson Pollock like this one currently in dispute, according to this morning's NYT. All they would have to do is photograph my desk and fill in the blanks. Now counterfeiting a Vermeer - that's a challenge!

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:25 AM
Comments (26)

May 28, 2005

For Our Brother Writer in Syria

The Syrian author and blogger Ammar Abdulhamid is calling for the blogosphere to unite in an email campaign to the Syrian Embassy in Washington, advocating "Freedom for the Attasy 8!" and other political prisoners of the Baathist fascist regime of his country. I don't think we have any choice but to give our wholehearted support to this brave man who writes to us on his blog in Damascus:

At one point a couple of months ago, when I was going through that period of interrogations and travel ban, some of my fellow bloggers offered to flood the Syrian Embassy in DC with emails on my behalf, now I urge them to do it on behalf of the Atassy 8 and all the other prisoners of conscience in Syria. On the even of the Baath Conference, the President, and other elements in the regime, are trying to play it tough. I think we should do so as well.

So, flood the embassies with your emails, this is the least that we can do. Student groups that can hold vigils for their sake are more than encouraged to do so. Those who can write articles, op-eds or blog entries about them, go ahead and do so. Freedom for the Atassy 8 and all prisoners of conscience in Syria should be our rallying cry from now on. No reform package will be accepted from this regime if it does not include strict guarantees for our basic freedoms. We will not live at the whim of anyone.

Wow.

Some interesting information on the human rights situation in Syria here and here. The email address of the embassy in Washington is syrembas@syrembassy.net. Other email addresses are here, including the Syrian Mission to the U. N. It's worth reading all of Ammar's post linked above for its humanity.

UPDATE: Martin Larsen reports that syrembassy.net address did not "send" for him. It did for me (so far), but please report any problems below. Also, feel free to add any recommended email addresses below (no jokes, please).

MORE: Thanks to Dymphna in the comments for pointing to this other terrific Syrian blog. We all know from the history of Eastern Europe and Russia that totalitarianism can produce great writing, some of it like this blogger Karfan wildly funny in the dark comic manner.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:37 PM
Comments (19)

Pajamas Media Question #2 - "How can we be an online Joe Friday?"

I was going to wait until later in the weekend or Monday to pose the second question, but your responses have been so intelligent and thorough to the first question it is my sense that we can move on quickly.

A rather overwhelming consensus seems to have emerged that the emphasis at Pajamas Media/Blog News Service should not be on being "fair and balanced" (judged to be inexact terms for a variety of reasons), but to be "honest and transparent." This latter had many interesting and sometimes amusing permutations, but one I liked was that we should imitate Sgt. Joe Friday of the old Dragnet show and seek "Just the facts, ma'am."

Of course, opinion was not completely dismissed-there is clearly a place for it, which we will get back to in a later question-but there seems to be a yearning, at least in this part of the blogosphere, for a fact-based online news service with a hard-and-fast firewall between reporting and editorializing. Many criticized mainstream media for failing to preserve that division.

The basic question is - how do we achieve this while the preserving the openness of blogs and blogging, which is their hallmark?

There are many sub-questions as well: Who makes the decisions about what is accurate? To what extent are standards different for individual blogs in our ad network and for the Blog News Service portal? (Someone has suggested we have a sticker of sorts on posts differentiating fact and opinion.) Do we need to apply particularly high standards to breaking news we might syndicate for sale to established media? If so, how do we do that given the speed necessary in those situations? Traditional editors? Committees of bloggers? A combination? Some have dreamed of creating a "Blog AP" - indeed we will try to do this - but how do we meld scrupulous accuracy with the spontaneity and freshness that make blogging what it is?

Obviously, these questions are not simple and I know I am intruding on your Memorial Day Weekend by asking you to answer some or all of them. But this is a collective endeavor and I hope something that we will all profit from on many levels.

Thanks again for your extraordinary help and as my small contribution to your holiday barbecue I will refer you to my post of last June.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:39 AM
Comments (118)

May 27, 2005

King Fahd is Dead (according to the Washington Times)

Will this hasten change in Saudi Arabia?

UPDATE: The Washington Times may have been mistaken.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:22 PM
Comments (27)

Pajamas Media Question #1 - What Is "Fair and Balanced"?

For the second night... I should say morning... in a row, our family dog Zane Greyhound seems to have been overwhelmed by affection for his master at about 4:48AM and planted a big sloppy kiss on my face while I was fast asleep, shooting me bolt upright and propelling me into the bathroom for a washcloth. I couldn't get back to sleep.

So here I am blogging... in my pajamas, of course... at five-thirty on Friday morning before Memorial Day weekend when any sane person would be dead to the world. But Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt Therapy, once wrote to take insomnia or sleep loss as opportunity to get more done, so I'm going to take a whack at it.

And since I am in my (now proverbial) pajamas, I am going to open up a can of worms on here... [Careful, bud.-ed.]... about Pajamas Media. A commenter the other day asked if we were going to be "fair and balanced." At first I took umbrage. We've barely announced our existence, haven't officially begun, haven't even had a chance to have a full-fledged meeting of our editorial board that is spread out all the way from Knoxville to Sydney and some bozo's asking if we're "fair and balanced"?!

But in truth it's a great question and we've been wrestling with it ever since we conceived the idea of starting the company. And with nearly 400 blogs already signed up and thousands more (we hope) to come, we ought to have some answers, at least tentative ones. Trouble is - it's not so simple. Many established media companies across the political spectrum have asserted they were "fair and balanced" or something similar only to get pie in the face, figuratively and literally. And is "fair and balanced" even possible from a human endeavor?

Of course, in practice, we have been reaching out in all directions - in terms of ideology and blog subject - with some success. The effort is continuing. And, yes, the advertising and the news side of PJ will have different requirements. Still, the question remains with all its complex ramifications. Fortunately, I am only one of three Pajamas Media founders and an even smaller percentage of the editorial board and therefore not solely responsible for coming up with answers. In fact, the scope of this search goes well beyond our immediate management because Pajamas Media has three other, perhaps more important, constituencies to be considered - the bloggers, the advertisers and you, our readers.

Normally, as new companies evolve, they reach conclusions about matters like this through private discussion or closely-guarded focus groups. But the blogosphere in all its magnificent inter-activity is clearly different and a company that emerges from it should be too.

Toward that end I would like to start a conversation on the subject on here spread over several days. And I thank those in advance who would be kind enough to participate. Let's start with the "Big Kahuna"... What does "fair and balanced" mean anyway?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:01 AM
Comments (177)

May 26, 2005

Is there a place more depressing than Syria?

Well, probably a few, but not many. How much longer do the Syrian people have to live under despotism? For all the horrifying carnage, at least in neighboring Iraq there is hope.

TigerHawk has a post with links on the latest charade by Bashar & Co. who have evidently shown their new-fonud "cooperation" with the WoT by suddenly "rounding up the usual [1200 insurgent] suspects." As TigerHawk puts it:

The Associated Press, it seems, has written this story upside down. If Syria has, in fact, been able to arrest more than a thousand insurgents in just the last few weeks, why hasn't it been doing that for the last two years? Syria, in its braggodocio, has implicitly confessed that it has been able to stop insurgents from crossing the border all along, and effectively admitted the charges against it.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:51 PM
Comments (13)

Oops

Newsweek's last line of defense just went down the drain. Even Howard Kurtz may not be able to help them now.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Guantanamo detainee who told an
FBI agent in 2002 that U.S. personnel there had flushed a Koran in a toilet retracted his allegation when questioned this month by military investigators, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

During his news conference on Thursday, Di Rita said he changed his account of what the detainee had said after getting more information from the commander of the Guantanamo prison, Brig. Gen. Jay Hood.

So yesterday's story from the top of the LA Times website was just what it appeared to be - a bunch of poppycock.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:24 PM
Comments (16)

Zen and the Art of Blogging.

A new blog has just been formed in Kyoto by friends of this blog, including frequent commenter yama-arishi. It is called chinpunbeifun. Don't ask me what that means and don't ask me to translate the few words in kanji that appear on their front page (although not to me with my present browser unable to accept Japanese characters). Still, illiterate that I am, I will be checking in with them often because I have always been fascinated by Japanese life and culture and even more because they will be signing up with Pajamas Media as Kyoto corresondents.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 03:13 PM
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Hell, no, I won't NGO!

I was going to make some comment about Amnesty International's wretched, self-destructive report, but Wretchard has already said it all in one pithy paragraph worth quoting in its entirety:

I'd have to say that Amnesty International's Report claiming the US is the world's worst human rights violator condemns itself far more than it does the United States. Anyone who has lived in the Third World or any of the places which Amnesty International purports to care about knows -- and I mean knows for a fact -- what police abuse, torture, arbitrary detention, etc. really are and that it cannot be compared in any wise to the "Gulag" in Guantanamo Bay. Moreover, anyone who has lived in such places knows that the last place where victims can find practical help is from Amnesty International.

One more icon of my youth down the drain. [Isn't this all about their own fund-raising?-ed. Ya think?]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:28 AM
Comments (44)

Good News from Blighty

The proposed boycott of Israeli universities by Britain's Association of University Teachers, often discussed on this site, has been over-turned. (via LGF)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:03 AM
Comments (4)

That Democracy Virus...

... is now infecting Egypt too. How strong it is remains, of course, to be seen, but auguries are good.

A referendum on key election reforms has overwhelmingly passed, with official results released today saying 83% of Egyptian voters approved the constitutional changes that clear the way for Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election.

The Ministry said the figure was higher than in recent parliamentary elections.

Where is this all leading? Perhaps we should consult Isis and Osiris.

OOPS: The reliable Harry's Place sees problems. (via Glenn)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:50 AM
Comments (3)

Accidental Movie Review

Sheryl and I went to the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood last night to catch the well-reviewed CRASH, Paul Haggis' new film, but arrived late and ended up seeing THE INTERPRETER. Because of my well-known interest in Oil-for-Food, many people had written asking me my opinion of this movie, but I had stayed away, I admit, out of respect for its director and consequent fear that it would be a well-made defense of the United Nations as it is (not as it should be). Actually, it's such a complete botch the only thing I should have been afraid of was falling asleep. THE INTERPRETER is incomprehensible pabulum about a made-up African country with made-up problems solved only, it seemed, (where were the so-called liberals in this?) by white people. Halfway through and for the rest of the movie my mind kept drifting off to the excellent Hotel Rwanda, which for a mere two-million dollars was infinitely more powerful and real than this frothy, over-blown nonsense.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:35 AM
Comments (19)

May 25, 2005

Pro-Baathist British Boor Hoisted by His Internet Petard.

If they haven't already, investigators for the Coleman Committee ought to have a look at this blog - that is if they're interested in whether the bloviating Mr. Galloway was lying before Congress.

UPDATE: I have specific information the details from Seixon's site have already been forwarded to the Coleman Committee via this blog.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:38 PM
Comments (24)

William Jennings Bryan

He's bad and he's back. (ht: Charles Martin)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 04:14 PM
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Here we ago again...

Now the Los Angeles Times is citing (big surprise) unnamed sources alleging that US servicemen "flushed a Koran in the toilet" at Guantanamo. (Note the use of "in," not the illogical "down" from the Newsweek report. I guess that's progress of some sort, although it's unclear who or what the reporter is quoting here.) Again, these allegations appear based on the reports of "detainees." Were these reports verified? Were the detainees investigated to make sure this wasn't the deliberate promulgation of disinformation known to be an Al Qaeda technique? The LAT gives us no hint whether it even inquired into the question. They just popped it all on top of their website in what feels like a rush. (The article is very brief.) Let's hope the results are not as homicidal as the last go-round.

UPDATE: The government is rejecting the LAT report.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 03:39 PM
Comments (76)

R. I. P. Ismail Merchant

One of the great producers of our time. For the funeral...

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:08 PM
Comments (5)

It Depends on What Your Definition of "Voluntary" Is

According to Editor & Publisher:

The New York Times Co. will shed 190 employees, mostly at its flagship newspaper, the company announced Wednesday.

Newsroom reductions will come from a "voluntary reduction program," the company said. The reductions should be implemented by the end of August, Times Co. said.

Is this a harbinger of things to come in the dead-tree world? [You may have some openings at Pajamas Media.-ed. Could be.]

UPDATE: This article, also from Editor & Publisher, may offer some explanation of why these "reductions" are happening.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:07 AM
Comments (26)

Madrid on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?

Sorry for the Almodovar parody, but I would be on the verge of one were I living there, given the recent outbreak of terror bombing attacks. Today's has 18 wounded and is credited to the Basque Separatist ETA some have asserted is allied at some level with Al Qaeda. Barcepundit - Pajamas Media's man in Spain - does his usual good job of putting the situation in a local context.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:01 AM
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Maybe it's "about oil" after all...

... but if so maybe that's not such a bad thing. Here's a detailed report on the opening of the first pipeline from the Caspian Sea by the AP's Aida Sultanova (hand's down winner of the rogerlsimon.com-best-name-of-the-day award). She writes:

Beginning in Azerbaijan a mostly Muslim country and a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism with troops in Iraq the underground pipeline passes through Georgia and Turkey, ending at the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. It avoids going through Russia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria on its way to the Mediterranean.

Sultanova also took the accompanying photo.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:07 AM
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Austin of Austin...

... (I really enjoy calling him that - in case you don't know, Austin Bay lives in Austin, TX)... elaborates on the Zarqawi Perplex today in an interesting post "What do we know and when do we know it?: Zarqawi, Al Qaeda, and Saddam". After quoting from the Iyad Allawi report discussed here yesterday, Austin writes:

Unfortunately a vast swath of the US national media "concluded" in the run up to the 2004 presidential campaign that "Al Qaeda-Saddam connections weren't proven." "Not proven" is accurate, at least not proven to support a court case - but we're in a war and operating inside the fog of war. I use the verb "concluded" instead of "argued": the cynical tone and intensity of the MSM "argument" vis a vis Iraqi-Al Qaeda connections left the impression that these connections didn't exist at all. The truth is there were numerous indications of connections and possible collaboration, indications that would have raised eyebrows prior to 9/11 but would not have raised alert levels. But "not proven" echoed "no WMD," and both worked into the 2004 press template "Bush lied, people died."

A covert, terrorist organization survives via stealth. It has to cover its tracks. Some information about Al Qaeda, its people, its connections, its intentions, will take years to uncover. King Abdullah and former PM Allawi now offer evidence of Saddam-Al Qaeda connections and Allawi's suggest potential collaboration. Abdullah's information implies a tangential conection, but Allawi's indicates direct dealing. Where's the front-page reporting and 24/7 cable chitchat? Newsweek needs to follow this lead. Will Dan Rather - while he's looking for Lucy Ramirez - try to find Faruq Hajizi, the "former ambassador" Allawi names? That's a 60 Minutes interview we all need to hear.

"Indeed!," as Glenn of Knoxville would say, though if by "intentions" Austin means Al Qaeda's overall policy, I think that's pretty clear by now and it's really quite simple. Bin Laden has stated it and it was reiterated by one of their terrorists who blew up the Atocha station in Madrid, when he said they wanted "Al Andalus" back. Al Qaeda intends to impose or reimpose the Caliphate on as much of the world as possible. You could say on the one hand they haven't made much progress; but if you look at places like Indonesia, you have to wonder.

UPDATE: Now there are rumors that the wounded Zarqawi has "fled" Iraq.

AND NOW: Some of his aides have apparently been arrested. This is not the best of times for Zarqawi. Let's hope soon it will be the worst of times.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:21 AM
Comments (14)

Dept. of Literary "Scandals"

I wonder if Theodore Dalrymple is aware of the story of "Danny Santiago"-- author of Famous All Over Town-- to which Dalrymple's tale of the mysterious "Rahila Khan" has an odd similarity. Maybe all writers are frauds in their own way. [Oh, stop sounding pretentious.-ed. Speak for yourself.]
(ht: Craig Mitchell)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 05:51 AM
Comments (4)

May 24, 2005

Viva Oriana!

If someone writes a real "Profiles in Courage" for our difficult times, few deserve a better place in it than Oriana Fallaci - author of such powerful works as Man and Letter to a Child Never Born. Now she is being sued by the Muslim Union of Italy for her book The Force of Reason. What an outrageous assault on open expression and the flow of ideas. Time for the Mainstream Media to stand up in her defense. Newsweek? New York Times? Let's see those editorials in favor of free speech by one of the great journalists of our era. We're waiting.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 01:42 PM
Comments (52)

River Deep, Mountain High

The Wall-of-Hair has replaced the Wall-of-Sound.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:51 AM
Comments (22)

Before 9/11

According to Iyad Allawi in a report from the Italian press translated, so far exclusively, by Mystical Achievement blog, Ayman Al-Zawahiri was in Iraq in 1999.

Baghdad, 23 May - (Aki) - "Al-Qaeda's number two man, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, visited Iraq under a false name in September 1999 to participate in the 'Ninth Islamic People's Congress'": revealed former Iraqi Premier, Iyyad Allawi, to the Arab daily, "Al-Hayat". The Shiite political figure supplied to the newspaper certain information discovered by the Iraqi Secret Service in the archives of the previous regime which clarify the ties between Saddam Hussein and Islamic terrorist organizations. "Al-Zawahiri was summoned by Izza Ibrahim Al-Douri," said Allawi, "[who at the time] was vice president of the Council of the Direction of the Revolution, in order to participate in the congress along with 150 Islamic authorities coming from 50 Islamic countries."

According to the ex-Iraui premier, Saddam's government would have thus sponsored the birth of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, as well as coordinating other terrorist groups, be they Islamic or Arab. "The Iraqi Secret Service had communications with these groups through someone named Faruq Hajizi," Allawi continued, "who was the ambassador to Turkey and was then arrested after the fall of Saddam's regime while trying to sneak into Iraq. The Iraqi Secret Services were helping the terrorists enter Iraq and taking them to the Ansar Al-Islam camps in the Halbija. area." In sum, the ex-premier maintains that Saddam's government also tried to involve Abu Nidal in its terrorist network, and his refusal to cooperate with the Islamist groups became his death sentence, which was carried out in the summer of 2002.

This report about finishes off the argument that Saddam was not hospitable to international terrorism before we invaded. It will be interesting to see if the Mainstream Media covers this since it doesn't coincide with their world view. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda says Zarqawi himself is wounded.

(ht: Soccer Dad)

UPDATE: Now here's a terrific source from Iraq. (via Gerard)

MORE: Iraq the Model covered this story as well on Monday.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:50 AM
Comments (35)

Now Playing at Kitchen Table Near You

Two brilliant (yes, I will use that word) women who frequently post on this blog - Catherine Johnson and Carolyn Johnston - have combined forces on a new blog of their own - Kitchen Table Math. Actually, it's a 'bliki' (blog/wiki) designed to help parents overcome deficiencies in the math education of their children. This is the kind of thing the Internet does best and their blog/bliki, call it what you will, is elegantly done. I will be consulting it often for the sake of my daughter Madeleine. Catherine J. informs me they will be joining Pajamas Media and I can't tell you how pleased we are to have them.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:50 AM
Comments (12)

"There Will Always Be An England"

Unfortunately, it won't always be what you want it to be. As this blog reported back in April, the leadership of Britain's Association of University Teachers (AUT) has proposed, in its "progressive" majesty, to boycott some Israeli universities, including, of all places, Haifa University, arguably the most genuinely progressive educational institution in the entire Middle East. This disgustingly bigoted proposal (I'll be one of those awful blunt Americans and call it what it is) will be decided on in two days. Manchester professor Norman Geras has been covering this assiduously on his blog with guest posts from Eve Garrard. Go here, here, here and here.

PS: One of Ms. Gerrard's posts, "Plagiarism," is meant to be an allegory for the boycott.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:47 AM
Comments (13)

May 23, 2005

The Filibuster Compromise - Verbatim

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

We firmly believe this agreement is consistent with the traditions of the United States Senate that we as Senators seek to uphold.

(via Barbara Ledeen)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:46 PM
Comments (187)

Only the Red Know Brooklyn

I couldn't resist that low-rent parody of Thomas Wolfe's famous short story for my post on the depressing state of affairs at Brooklyn College, one of our nation's most esteemed public institutions of higher learning. Of course, I wasn't referring to "red" as in red state, but "red" in the way we used to mean it - and even that is obviously an exaggeration. What we are dealing with at Brooklyn - and so many other colleges and universities today - is an ideological hardening of the arteries so rigid it threatens the ability to think. This naturally creates a "trickle down" into our high schools and junior highs, only made worse by the National Association for Teacher Accreditation. Here's history professor K. C. Johnson on how this works:

The program at my own institution, Brooklyn College, exemplifies how application of NCATE's new approach can easily be used to screen out potential public school teachers who hold undesirable political beliefs. Brooklyn's education faculty, which assumes as fact that "an education centered on social justice prepares the highest quality of future teachers," recently launched a pilot initiative to assess all education students on whether they are "knowledgeable about, sensitive to and responsive to issues of diversity and social justice as these influence curriculum and pedagogy, school culture, relationships with colleagues and members of the school community, and candidates' analysis of student work and behavior."

Must prospective public school teachers accept a professor's argument that "white English" is the "oppressors' language" in order to enter the profession? In our ideologically imbalanced academic climate, the combination of dispositions theory and the new NCATE guidelines risk producing a new generation of educators certified not because they mastered their subject but because they expressed fealty to the professoriate's conception of "social justice."

There's more on what's going at Brooklyn College from the NY Sun:

The sociology department at Brooklyn College earlier this month elected as its chairman one Timothy Shortell. That means that Professor Shortell will have an advisory role, and thus a bully pulpit, to pronounce on every candidate up for tenure at the college, which is part of the City University of New York.

Readers of these columns may recall that Mr. Shortell was in the news back in 2003 for having written and published an article asserting that "those who are religious are incapable of moral action" and describing the faithful as "moral retards." Wrote Mr. Shortell, "Can there be any doubt that humanity would be better off without religion? Everyone who appreciates the good, the true and the beautiful has a duty to challenge this social poison at every opportunity. It is not enough to be irreligious; we must use our critique to expose religion for what it is: sanctimonious nonsense."

For the record, I'm an agnostic, but Mr. Shortell sounds like an idiot to me. [I guess he's never read St. Anselm.-ed. Or Lao Tse.]

MEANWHILE IN CALIFORNIA: Post 9/11, my home state's Board of Eduation has formally approved the following teaching method on the recommendation of Islamic organizations:

One learning activity, designed to prepare students for the
lessons on the Arab-Israeli conflict, divides students into two
groups, one called Jeds and the other Pads, representing Jews
and Palestinians in the early twentieth century. The teacher is
told to arrange the furniture in the classroom so that the Pads
are crowded in a small space into which the Jeds demand to
enter. Assuming the role of "the Great Power," the teacher is
told to favor the Jeds' arguments and ignore the Pads' seemingly
reasonable opposition to the Jeds' entry. The obvious purpose of
the activity is to elicit students' feelings about the unfair treatmentaccorded to the Pads and pre-dispose them to be sympathetic toone side and negative to the other before they have learned anything about the actual conflict in the Middle East.

No comment. (ht: Catherine Johnson)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:48 AM
Comments (115)

Don't Miss the Mummies (if you're in Southern California)

When I was kid, nothing fascinated me more than the mock Eyptian tombs in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, so I was easy to convince yesterday when Sheryl suggested we take Madeleine to see the Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt exhibit at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. In all my years in Southern California, I had never been to the Bowers. Neither disappointed. The exhibition (on loan from the British Museum) was well displayed and I actually learned more about mummification than I ever did browsing around larger institutions. (I'm getting older-this may prove useful.) But no one was more interested than Madeleine. What is it about Isis and Osiris that so rivets our attention?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:41 AM
Comments (5)

May 22, 2005

Kudos to CNN...

... for telling this story. But, as Rich Galen says, why is anyone bothering with this one?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:16 PM
Comments (16)

The Ideology of Greed

Those of us in the seemingly growing ranks of liberal apostates, like the eloquent Mr. Thompson below, frequently find ourselves under assault by our former friends who, at least in my case, often tell me smugly that sooner or later I will return to the fold. Since I have the normal level of insecurity, I sometimes think "what if they're right?" and start gaming out my mea culpa. But always I come to a confused stop. What...exactly... am I supposed to return to? It's very hard to figure out since the soi-disant liberal media and politicans have offered virtually nothing of a positive nature other than a tentative backing of gay marriage (somthing I already support and Kerry backed off even that), since 9/11.

So what's left? Well, I'm sorry to say that today the answer seems almost tragically simple because Newsweek has spelled it out for us. The ideologies of liberalism and progressivism, as they were known to us for decades, are not only dead, as the lady said... they're decomposed. There is only one explanation for this cheesy and idiotic "America is Dead" Newsweek cover in Japan - greed. [Hey, is there a Koran in that garbage can?-ed. No, it's the brain of the foreign editor of Newsweek.]

(via:Riding Sun)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 03:52 PM
Comments (60)

From the pages of the SF Chronicle...

... of all places... this noteworthy article by writer Keith Thompson.

Nightfall, Jan. 30. Eight-million Iraqi voters have finished risking their lives to endorse freedom and defy fascism. Three things happen in rapid succession. The right cheers. The left demurs. I walk away from a long-term intimate relationship. I'm separating not from a person but a cause: the political philosophy that for more than three decades has shaped my character and consciousness, my sense of self and community, even my sense of cosmos.

I choose this day for my departure because I can no longer abide the simpering voices of self-styled progressives -- people who once championed solidarity with oppressed populations everywhere -- reciting all the ways Iraq's democratic experiment might yet implode.

UPDATE: Keith Thompson's website here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:13 AM
Comments (118)

Does Hamas go to my dentist?

Possibly. Because even they seem to be reading Newsweek . According to one of their leaflets opposing Laura Bush's visit to the Al Aksa Mosque:

"In principle, we are not against a visit to Al Aqsa Mosque, but the visit of Ms. Bush is aimed at improving US image in the Islamic world after US army officers tore the papers of Quran before prisoners at the Guantanamo detention camp," it said.

Well, yes, Hamas is apparently backtracking (like Newsweek) from holy book flushing to page tearing, but do we know if even that desecration occurred? Are there any sworn witnesses? If so, is there any reason to believe those witnesses are doing anything more than deliberately distributing disinformation, as many of them have been taught? Of course they seem to have their willing parrots these days.

Enough. We have an Internet with plenty of space. If these media outlets expect readers to give currency to their reporting, they should post unedited sources on line along with their "analyses". Otherwise, they are simply insulting our intelligence.

MEANWHILE: Superb analysis from Wretchard.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:52 AM
Comments (21)

May 21, 2005

If you're looking for an antidote...

... to the non-stop reactionary swill emanating from some of our leading publications who seemingly devote all their energies to embarrassing our military and ridiculing what may prove to be one of the finest moments of our nation's history, please do not miss this essay by Fouad Ajami in Sunday's WSJ.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:58 PM
Comments (20)

'Ere's Galloway!

Like Christopher Hitchens, I was appalled by the inept response of the Coleman Committee to the testimony of George Galloway last week. The Senators are supposed to be up to speed on the Oil-for-Food follies, yet they seemed flummoxed by the British MP whose reputation, one would have thought, preceded him. And Coleman himself has a reputation as a prosecutor. Let's hope the committee has a card to play up its sleeve (lying before Congress?). Anyway, here's Hitchens:

After about 90 minutes of this cumulative testimony, Galloway was seated and sworn, and the humiliation began. The humiliation of the deliberative body, I mean. I once sat in the hearing room while a uniformed Oliver North hectored a Senate committee and instructed the legislative branch in its duties, and not since that day have I felt such alarm and frustration and disgust. Galloway has learned to master the word "neocon" and the acronym "AIPAC," and he insulted the subcommittee for its deference to both of these. He took up much of his time in a demagogic attack on the lie-generated war in Iraq. He announced that he had never traded in a single barrel of oil, and he declared that he had never been a public supporter of the Saddam Hussein regime. As I had guessed he would, he made the most of the anonymity of the "senior Saddam regime official," and protested at not knowing the identity of his accuser. He improved on this by suggesting that the person concerned might now be in a cell in Abu Ghraib.

Well, as Hitchens points out further on, there indeed may be grounds for indicting the MP, but Galloway has a genius for 'slip-sliding away.' You have to admire the rat's language skills. Apropos of which, if we are to believe my buddy Gerard, another 'old lag' could use a dollop - or an infusion.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:54 AM
Comments (78)

Cuba Linda

Small as it was, I wonder if the recent democracy break-through in Cuba is related to similar events in the faraway Middle East or even in Eastern Europe. Worth noting was that the Poles, new friends of democracy and US ally in the WoT, were first among those isolated for rejection by Castro's regime:

By the time the assembly got started Friday morning, authorities had refused entry to two Polish lawmakers, deported two other lawmakers, detained half a dozen foreign visitors and harassed several would-be participants. Various delegates from Cuba's interior were summoned to police stations for unspecified interviews, precluding them from attending the conference. Others on the Isle of Youth were told they could not travel to Havana. Cuban officials did not issue a public statement on Friday about the meeting, but Castro has accused organizers of being U.S. mercenaries and warned of repercussions.

Well, repercussions have a history of coming - and quickly. But this time we will be watching a little more closely and the global trends are going against the Caudillo. Count me as cautiously optimistic that something is stirring. Wouldn't it be amazing if Cuba turned democratic before Castro died?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:30 AM
Comments (18)

May 20, 2005

A parable for our times

Posted at normblog. Not to be missed.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:13 PM
Comments (13)

Does Norman Mailer Work for Karl Rove?

How else to explain this eye-roller of a post on the Huffington Chic-Sheet? Years ago, El Norman was the man we looked to for cutting-edge analyses of the contemporary scene. Now he sounds like a doddering clone of his old nemesis - Gore Vidal. [Don't get cocky, sport. We're all headed that way.-ed. I know.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:40 PM
Comments (125)

An alarming report and two questions

The New York Times today has a highly-disturbing article on the murder of two detainees at Baghram Air Base in Afghanistan in 2002. It is based on a 2000-page investigation done by the Army itself into the incidents, which was given to the Times.

I have two questions: One, why doesn't the Times make this report available in its entirety to its readers to judge for themselves? It could do so easily enough on its website where a video now appears that could be described as highly-editorial in support of the article. Two, has there been another military force in the history of warfare that so completely investigates the activities of its own personnel for purposes of reviewing their actions morally and legally and improving them?

I would like to add that, as a novelist, I found the opening paragraphs of this story particularly badly written, as if taken from the pages of pulp fiction. I'm not quite sure why the Times feels it has to hype its investigation this way. Perhaps because the news is already more than two years old.

UPDATE: Austin Bay and I will be on Hugh Hewitt's Show at 4:30PM Pacific to discuss this article, Newsweek and related matters. Also, there may be a revelation regarding Austin and Pajamas Media. [That again?-ed.]

MEANWHILE: This report from La Shawn Barber is worth a look.

AND: Audio of Hewitt Show here. Another discussion of
Pajamas Media by the estimable Pejman Yousefzadeh here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:49 AM
Comments (158)

May 19, 2005

Scenes from the Class Struggle

David Brooks is a much smarter fellow than he evinces in his anti-blog screed in the NYT today. (His editors must have loved him for it!) Sure Brooks is right that the principal enemy is Islamic fascism and its allies (delusional and otherwise) and we shouldn't forget it. But what blog did? Not any that I read. And, although I am sure there are some, Brooks doesn't cite any in his article - choosing to select Dennis Prager, a radio commentator, as his representative of blogging.

To make my own view clear on this, I think the danger in reporting like Michael Isikoff's--who, I would agree with Brooks, is no "Noam Chomsky with a laptop" on more levels than one--is the influence it has on the home front, on America. Spewing disinformation of the kind Isikoff is doing contributes to the one thing above all that can cause us to lose the War on Terror - the loss of confidence in our justice and the subsequent loss of resolve to win. This victory, as I'm sure Brooks agrees, is of paramount importance to civilization. And consequentially the lack of editing that Isikoff received in this matter is disgraceful, bordering on immoral. Ann Coulter, who normally makes my few remaining hairs stand on end, has it substantially right this time.

So to be rude to Brooks, I think his real conscious/unconscious intention here is firing another salvo in the on-going struggle between blogs and mainstream media. I guess I should be used to it, but I'm not, especially from people I admre.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:14 AM
Comments (134)

An Incendiary Letter Regarding Oil-for-Food

This blog is in possession of a letter sent yesterday (May 18) by attorney Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes to Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for -Food Programme. It concerns the treatment of Franco-Lebanese businessman Pierre Mouselli whose confidentiality agreement, Gonzalez-Maltes and his client believe, was betrayed by the committee. The following is a significant portion of that letter. Consistent with what will shortly be the official policy of Pajamas Media, the original document is posted in its entirety here (pdf) as well so that you may judge if any quotes have been taken out of context.

5. How did Kojo Annan and his counsel obtain confidential information regarding Mr. Mouselli's participation as a witness on or prior to March 24? Was Robert Parton [now resigned lead investigator] informed of these disclosures? Why was Pierre Mouselli or his counsel not advised of these disclosures?

12. In addition, it has come to my attention that additional communications that I have addressed to the Committee that are both legally privileged and covered by Mr. Mouselli's confidentiality agreement have been leaked by members of the Committee to the press. These are serious breaches of confidentiality that appear designed to discredit Mr. Mouselli as a witness. They do not however directly concern the substance of the investigation or the specific information provided. The Committee may wish to investigate these violations internally.

I will post any response from Mr. Volcker as soon as I learn of it.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:09 AM
Comments (20)

May 18, 2005

Pajamas Media Fashion Alert!

Watch out, W!... Back up, Vogue!... Pajamas Media proudly announces the signing of this man as our representative in the fashion world!

(Aggregated blogs now approach 350. Don't miss out... join@pajamasmedia.com)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 12:58 PM
Comments (9)

Night of the Living Dead?

Nixon's not just out of office... He's dead! But some people act as if he's still alive, Austin Bay reminds us in this excellent column.

MEANWHILE: Claudia has a superb piece on the self-absorption of the US press. [Andrew Sullivan should read this one.-ed. No kidding.]:

What's really going on here is two stories. One involves Newsweek and the ups and downs of U.S. journalism. The other involves a swath of the Islamic world in which anger, fueled by years of gross political misrule, is a chronic feature of life--seeking to acquire a target. What produced these particular riots was the intersection of Islamic-world furies and that brand of U.S. self-absorption in which no subject is more fascinating to the American media than any possible misdeeds of the U.S. itself.

The tragedy in all this is that while the entire world is by now acquainted with tales--true and false--about Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo Bay, the information pretty much ends there. When it comes to the Islamic world's most despotic states, almost no one outside their borders can reel off the names of the prisons they run, let alone tales of what happens within. Afghanistan is still recovering from the Taliban blackout of the human soul--which at the time received almost no coverage. Saudi Arabia--whence the Arab News, in its disquisition on Newsweek's story, denounces the U.S. as "ignorant and insensitive"--provides no accounting to the world of its dungeons. Can anyone name a prison in Yemen?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:35 AM
Comments (54)

Democracy in Syria?

I don't think too many people are really ready to believe it yet, but the fact that it is even in the air you would think would be sensational news, but as Jonah Goldberg points out, it only made page 10 of the Washington Post today. Is this because we have become so blasé about the spread of the democracy or because the WaPo is loathe to give more credit to the Bush Administration? If it's the latter - and I don't know that it is - I'm beginning to find some of my old allies pathetic.

Look, guys and gals, (talking to old friends here- some of them don't talk to me any more) we're living in a big world here. There are issues far more important than which political party gets to pass out jobs on Foggy Bottom or gets credit for something. Sometimes good things happen under another name. William Morris (no, not your agent!... the Victorian) said it best:

"Men fight and lose the battle, and the thing they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes out not to be what they meant, other men have to fight for what they meant under another name."

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:14 AM
Comments (12)

Which Side Are You On - Filibuster Division

When it comes to the filibuster, I'm a regular flip-flopper. I can't figure out where I stand on this issue. But neither, evidently, can the New York Times. Nowadays, they find a filibuster rule change abhorrent. But back in the early days of our republic... 1995... they felt rather differently. Here's their editorial from January 1 of that year:

The New York Times

LOAD-DATE: January 4, 1995

I guess it depends on what your definition of "obstructive" is. (hat tip: BL)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:54 AM
Comments (57)

City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa...

... has won the Los Angeles mayoral election. I voted for him with absolutely no enthusiasm. It was the closest I have come to not voting in mayoral election in thirty plus years in this city.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 02:41 AM
Comments (17)

May 17, 2005

Volcker versus Parton

Those who have been following the battle between the Volcker Committee to investigate the UN Oil-for-Food Programme and its former (now resigned) lead investigator Robert Parton may be interested in the following public document from the US District Court for the District of Columbia. It was just sent to this blog and is a statement by Parton to the court. The Volcker Committee is trying to surpress certain documents which it regards as dangerous. Paragraph 10 is particularly revealing. (The confidentiality agreement referred to I assume to be the one signed with Pierre Mouselli.)

Download pdf file

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 02:12 PM
Comments (87)

Reinventing the Wheel

Is such a change in civilization possible?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:18 AM
Comments (18)

The Non-Ideology Ideology

I had to smile when I read the following this morning on the Newsweek contretemps:

Daniel Klaidman, Newsweek's Washington bureau chief, said Tuesday in an interview on CBS'"The Early Show" that the magazine will "continue to look at how we put together this story, learn from mistakes that we've made and make improvements that are appropriate as we go along."

Asked if anyone involved in preparing the article would lose his job, Klaidman said, "We think that people acted responsibly and professionally and ... there was no malice, no institutional bias, just a mistake that was made in good faith."

Say what? No "institutional bias"? Last I heard Newsweek is written by human beings and I have yet to meet one who isn't biased in one way or another, myself included most emphatically. Of course, editors (also being human) are biased as well, forming, in the case of a large news magazine, one big agglomeration of bias. But is that "institutional," you may ask? Well, we're into the world of semantics here, but I would submit that an organization like Newsweek is in essence one large hive mind - of bias.

What is that bias toward, however? The conventional answer in this case is "liberalism," but what is that? On the face of it, it is something rather different than the liberalism of JFK and FDR or even the liberalism of Bill Clinton who was willing to take a pro-active stance against the Milosevic dictatorship. No, except in some instances, it is a bias that has ceased to be typically ideological and to be motivated more by issues of power and control. As many of us suspect, if the Iraq War had been Clinton's (as it could have been under conceivable scenarios), the same parties that are attacking it now, fabricating corrupt news stories and the like, would be cheering it on. That is not ideology. That is sports fandom. But as we have now seen, the sport isn't tennis or even football. It is gladiatorials to the death.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:54 AM
Comments (57)

May 16, 2005

Pajama Colloquy

My partner Marc is interviewed by John Hawkins about Pajamas Media.

MORE: I just got off the phone with the BBC. I was being interviewed by their new online media show regarding Pajamas Media. This BBC group was surprisingly accepting of the idea. Change is in the air perhaps. While waiting my turn to be interviewed, I listened in as they discussed the situation in Uzbekistan with a blogger from Tashkent. He endorsed Nathan Hamm's excellent blog on that area, as do I. And, yes, during my segment Newsweek was mentioned.

SPEAKING OF NEWSWEEK: They have made a smart move in retracting their story. According to the NYT, Newsweek didn't want to happen to them what has happened to CBS:

In the interview, Mr. Whitaker contrasted his action with that of CBS News when it refused to back down immediately last year from a report that raised questions about President Bush's National Guard service.

"Clearly it became a problem for CBS because people thought they weren't acknowledging that they screwed up," Mr. Whitaker said.

True enough.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 05:38 PM
Comments (54)

John (not William) Gaddis' Recognitions

Against the nearly monolithic opinion of the media and the academy, it is interesting to read this speech by renowned Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis. (ht: Catherine Johnson)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 04:47 PM
Comments (6)

Gerard Van Der Leun..

...looks into his crystal ball. [Am I already extinct? Could be.-ed.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 01:30 PM
Comments (21)

Pat and Mike

No, not the George Cukor movie... the more recent and far less amusing tandem of Pat (Buchanan) and Mike (Moore) linked in Steven Zaks' depressing assembly of quotations.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 01:07 PM
Comments (7)

Live-Blogging Kofi

As some readers may recall, my nephew Isaac Schwartz graduated today from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Kofi Annan was the commencement speaker. Isaac's father, attorney Richard Schwartz, was naturally in attendance. He emailed the following to me from his Blackberry as the speech unfolded. Annan has since concluded to a standing ovation.

Sitting here listening to Kofi.
>
>Missed the first minute or so. Doubt it was controversial.
>
>Praising FDR, the victory over tyranny in WW2 leading to establishment of the UN.
>
>The work of the UN in helping to fight poverty, illness, and supporting the rule of law.
>
>Assisting the transition in Iraq, promoting peace in the occupied Palestinian territories, doing the work that no one wants to do.
>
>Need US $.
>
>UN needs to move with the times and overhaul/reform. Member states will decide.
>
>Your grandparents sacrificed for you.

Well, there you have it. Live from Philadelphia.

MEANWHILE: The WaPo has an interesting article on Russian involvement in OFF. (reg required)

Top Kremlin operatives and a flamboyant Russian politician reaped millions of dollars in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program by selling oil that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein allowed them to buy at a deep discount, a Senate investigation has concluded.

BTW, some anonymous poster on here has been complaining that I do not pay enough attention to sources of corruption in Iraq other than OFF. Naturally, I completely condemn them. (Who wouldn't?) But OFF is different in quality because this corruption may have affected fascist-enabling votes on the Security Council, a level of perfidy of a higher order to anyone with a moral compass.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:49 AM
Comments (18)

The Times Weighs In

Desultorily interested in the Oil-for-Food Scandal, the NYT has a report on the Volcker/Parton contretemps in their paper today. It is written by one of their star reporters, Judith Miller, but does not contain much information beyond what readers of this blog have known for some time. The named sourced of much of my OFF material, Paris lawyer Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes, is also quoted in this article. We now wait to see if either the Coleman or Hyde committees will call his client, Pierre Mouselli, to testify.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 01:04 AM
Comments (12)

May 15, 2005

More on Newsweek's Bloody Shirt

Austin Bay is calling it "The Press' Abu Ghraib". And now even The Huffington Post is getting on the band wagon.

BTW, I may seem to be taking this lightly, but there is a strong argument to be made that this is more serious than Rathergate. This is journalism at its most insidious and dangerous. Newsweek may end up having to fire some of its editorial staff, as well as the reporters involved. I watched their Washington bureau chief Dan Klaidman on the Geraldo Show tonight and he looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights. His answers were weak and evasive. How strange and almost willfully unaware it is that they do not realize, after all this time, the obvious truth about dealing with a crisis - get out front with complete honesty and total transparency, not just a half-hearted semi-apology. But perhaps they don't understand what being transparent is anymore. That is the behavior of a nomenklatura. And like the more famous nomenklatura, some day we may look up and find they are not there.

UPDATE: The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, himself obviously a member of that clase media, does triple hand stands and double contortions in the Monday morning WaPo to appear somewhat even-handed or even mitigating in a situation that is a disaster for the parent company as well. (As I'm sure most of you know, the Washington Post owns Newsweek.) Still the truth leaks out in some mighty peculiar quotes from Michael Isikoff, the co-author of the story, who says:

"Obviously we all feel horrible about what flowed from this, but it's important to remember there was absolutely no lapse in journalistic standards here," he said. "We relied on sources we had every reason to trust and gave the Pentagon ample opportunity to comment. . . . We're going to continue to investigate what remains a very murky situation." [ellipsis Kurtz's]

Well, I don't know how "horrible" Isikoff feels, but I'm sure he's having second thoughts in the sense of that old LA Weekly cartoon, "Nuclear War?!... There goes my career!" But if that's his idea of "no lapse in journalistic standards," he would have fit right in writing apologies for Beria in Pravda. And as for the issue of the Pentagon not commenting, consider this. Newsweek sends you an article saying that an "anonymous source" has seen US soldiers in Guantanamo dumping the Koran down a toilet. You never heard anything about this but Newsweek claims to have a source who has. And you do not know who the source is and you don't know what he's seen. Do you deny or do you wait? I would wait, because (unlike Newsweek obviously) I do not want to be caught in a lie.

No, Mr. Isikoff, that dog won't hunt and you know it.. As for me, I know what to stuff down my toilet - Newsweek. [I thought you said it wouldn't fit.-ed I meant my outhouse.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:05 PM
Comments (125)

This blog congratulates Sandy Mitchell...

... on the forthcoming birth of his second child. (hat tip: Peter UK)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:13 PM
Comments (3)

"There's No Business Like Source Business" - Damage Control at Newsweek

Evan Thomas of Newsweek has moved swiftly to control the damage to his publication caused by the rioting and carnage engendered in Afghanistan by Newsweek's anonymously sourced report of Koran flushing. There is some acknowledgement of culpability, but the article concludes with the kind of liberal cant that reminds former leftys like me why I have no home to return to, even if I wanted to:

Such stories may spark more trouble. Though decrepit and still run largely by warlords, Afghanistan was not considered by U.S. officials to be a candidate for serious anti-American riots. But Westerners, including those at NEWSWEEK, may underestimate how severely Muslims resent the American presence, especially when it in any way interferes with Islamic religious faith.

Thank you for sharing.

But more importantly, Thomas and Co. do not deal with the real problem, the anonymous sourcing that should be the instrument of a totalitarian press, not a free one. They seem to blame the problem on Michael Isikoff having misjudged his source:

On Saturday, Isikoff spoke to his original source, the senior government official, who said that he clearly recalled reading investigative reports about mishandling the Qur'an, including a toilet incident. But the official, still speaking anonymously, could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the SouthCom report. Told of what the NEWSWEEK source said, [Pentagon spokesman] DiRita exploded, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?"

But who is that "son of a bitch"? Newsweek isn't saying. Until they report such things as that, I won't believe a word the magazine says. Why would anybody?

BTW, am I the only one who finds Newsweek always referring to itself in UPPER CASE to be repellent? It reminds me of people who post in caps on the Internet. You're always suspicious they're lying.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:49 AM
Comments (91)

May 14, 2005

Double-Standard at DePaul

The AP has picked up the story of the unsavory firing of Thomas Klocek by DePaul University for arguing vociferously about the Middle East with some Moslem students. Marathon Pundit is correctly credited with a seminal role in unmasking this display of intellectually bankrupt "political correctness" by the educational institution.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:58 AM
Comments (36)

Something new in filmmaking

Many of us spend years making a movie. Now they're doing it in forty-eight hours. For my own sake, I hope they're not better! [Some of them probably are.-ed. Pipe down.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:52 AM
Comments (2)

Does he have an agent?

As a fellow novelist now dabbling in the non-fiction field, I could make several recommendations. The world rights to this man's book would be worth quite a bit, I would imagine. But let's hope he won't be around to enjoy his royalty payments - and if they are as late as mine, he won't be.

UPDATE: And does this mean we will need a "Son of Sam" law for dictators?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:29 AM
Comments (6)

What Newsweek Said

Blood continues to flow and riots abound across the Islamic world from an anonymously sourced article in Newsweek that makes your average blog read like a legal brief for a Constitutional amendment.

Let's take a moment to review what the Newsweek reporters wrote in their article.

Investigators probing interrogation abuses at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay have confirmed some infractions alleged in internal FBI e-mails that surfaced late last year. Among the previously unreported cases, sources tell NEWSWEEK: interrogators, in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qur'an down a toilet and led a detainee around with a collar and dog leash.

Sources? Multiple? I'd like to see backing for that. And is that one source for the Qur'an story and another for the collar and leash episode or are they multiple (anonymous, of course) sources for the same story? Newsweek isn't saying. In fact what is Newsweek's policy about this? Inquiring (and moral) minds would like to know.

But never mind that. Even the simple mind would like to know how you flush a Qur'an down a toilet? It doesn't take the late Johnny Cochran to see there is a problem here. ("If the Qur'an don't fit, you must acquit!") Of course, someone could have been doing this desecrating page by page, though it is unlikely, unless Guantanamo has some extraordinary plumbing, that he or she would have gotten very far.

In fact, if we are to believe the chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Richard Myers, whom I suspect would not risk his credibility on a monumental matter like this without having done at least some homework, the event was, if anything, the opposite of what Newsweek said. According to the Reuters article linked above, Myers said "the only incident recorded in the prison logs was of a detainee tearing pages from a Quran and using them in an attempt to block a toilet as a protest, and even that incident, he said, was unconfirmed."

So what is going on at Newsweek? Has their ancient business model (the weekly newsmagazine) become so procrustean that they must resort to unsourced scoops on the Internet to call attention to themselves? This is something that bloggers are accused of. But of course they are worse than bloggers because they are not subject to our immediate feedback and editing, as I am just beneath this post. If I were to make a similar anonymously sourced accusation on here, I would be crucified by my readers and deservedly so. If my source proved to be lying or significantly embellishing on a matter of this gravity (and with such dire results), I would feel so ashamed I don't believe I would continue this blog. If that happens to Newsweek, they and their reporters will have to deal with their own consciences.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:08 AM
Comments (36)

May 13, 2005

It Goes On

For those who may have missed it, this report from John Solomon and Desmond Butler details how "Annan Failed to Disclose Key Contacts." Of course it's not difficult for me to know what those contacts are without even reading article. I can't tell you how odd it has been for me, a lifetime novelist and screenwriter, to have been privy to information, some of which I have been asked to keep confidential, that could lead to the downfall of the Secretary General of the United Nations. It's not exactly like keeping secret somebody's deal at Warner Brothers. In any case, for those who still are not up-to-speed on this sad story, the gist is here:

Annan's omissions last November raised credibility concerns with the chief investigator, Robert Parton, that persisted even after Annan later provided his recollections about the meetings. Investigators had uncovered the contacts in calendars recovered from computers, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The final report also didn't mention that Annan had originally denied knowing one of his son's business associates with whom he had had lunch. Nor did it mention that the business associate testified that he specifically discussed Kojo Annan's interest in doing business in Iraq with the U.N. chief.

Lanny Davis, known to most of us as one of Clinton's more skillfull defenders during the impeachment period, is now Parton's attorney in this matter. I would be curious to know what Davis, a life long liberal the way this apostate blogger was, thinks about the situation in Turtle Bar. There was no greater pillar of the liberal church than the UN. When I was young I revered it and the people who worked there. Well, la vie continue, does it not? What can one say?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:35 PM
Comments (7)

"She has so many thoughts on her mind."

Although only a one-time attendee of the Cannes Film Festival myself, I too was disappointed to hear that Madonna was unable to be a member of the Cannes Jury this year because her duties would interfere with her twice-weekly Kabbalah meetings in London. As festival chief Thierry Fremaux put it, "to have her on the jury would have been fascinating. She has so many thoughts on her mind."

I'm certain of that. And, yes, it may well be true that, according to This is London, Madonna has been a Kabbalist for nearly eight years and attends weekly meetings at the Kabbalah Centre in London.
There are just 14 or so such places scattered around the world, and none in Cannes or the surrounding region.

In point of fact, Southern France, historically, has been one of the centers of Kabbalah. (From Kolel: Kabbalah has ancient roots, but as a distinct tradition in Judaism it begins in Provence (southern France) and Spain in the 1100s and 1200s.). But I'm sure Madonna knew that. No doubt the error was made by Monsieur Fremaux.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 01:30 PM
Comments (14)

Good Morning

Out for a few hours on Pajamas business, but I commend to you media junkies this from Clive Davis and this from Iowahawk.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:23 AM
Comments (7)

May 12, 2005

What's in Volcker's Box?

No, our friends at a UN sponsored website have not intimidated me about writing about the Oil-for-Food program - and they certainly haven't intimidated Claudia whose latest article spells out better than I could the reason people like she and I are morally outraged at the behavior of our supposedly most idealistic international organization:

As evidence continues to bubble out of the great sinkhole that was once Oil-for-Food, there will no doubt be more scandal to come. It may be worth taking a moment to reflect on just how far the U.N. strayed in this program from its widely advertised humanitarian brief. The program, which ran from 1996-2003, was supposed to allow U.N.-sanctioned Saddam to export Iraq's oil solely to buy humanitarian aid, such as milk and medicine, for the people of Iraq. The idea was that the U.N. would oversee the process, with the Secretariat collecting 2.2 percent of Saddam's oil revenues to defray its costs for ensuring the integrity of the program. (That U.N. commission totaled $1.4 billion, from which U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last year plucked $30 million in residual funds to cover the U.N.-authorized independent inquiry led by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, who has yet to provide the kind of insight offered in this Senate report).

The U.N. let Saddam pick his own business partners, and kept the deals secret, and at Annan's behest greatly expanded the program. That opened the way to Saddam for such scams as underpricing oil and allocating shipments as rewards to favored business partners, who could then make fat profits by reselling these allocations on the world market. The Senate report quotes a former Iraqi official saying that inside Saddam's oil-marketing agency, this arrangement was known as the "Saddam Bribery System."

And the author of the aforementioned website wonders why I am so concerned. I wonder why he is not. But no matter. I don't really care. Textbook cases of reification abound. Meanwhile, as Claudia notes:

Somewhere in all this, the U.N.-authorized Volcker inquiry is engaged right now in a legal showdown, demanding that House investigators give back boxfuls of evidence that Rep. Hyde’s Committee on International Relations subpoenaed recently from an investigator who resigned last month from Volcker's team, claiming Volcker's most recent report had been too soft on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Sen. Coleman and Rep. Chris Shays, who heads yet another congressional panel investigating Oil-for-Food, have also issued subpoenas for this evidence. A restraining order, obtained by Volcker's committee, expires next week. There is room to wonder who is most likely to enlighten us as to the true depths of Oil-for-Food's dirty secrets: Congress, now pouring forth information to the public; or Volcker, already sitting on millions of still-secret U.N. documents, who wants his stray boxes of evidence back.

That investigator is, of course, Robert Parton whose resignation from the Volcker Committee was first revealed on this blog. As for what's in Volcker's box, well, you would think that in a situation of such international consequence, which involves the citizens of all nations, not to mention its taxpayers (mainly American) who support the UN, a little transparency would be in order. Transparency should be the watch word in all things regarding the UN. After all, the United Nations belongs, as the song goes, "to everyone," doesn't it, Mr. Volcker?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 05:58 PM
Comments (62)

Ivy League UPSET!

In yet another indication of the growing influence of the blogosphere and the Internet in general, the primarily online campaigns of Peter Robinson and Todd Zywicki (sponsored on this blog and several others) for positions on the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees have apparently been victorious! This marks a sea change in the election of university trustees. Congratulations to the gentlemen... May they do their jobs well!

Victory now confirmed!

Here is the official press release from the College on the Hill.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:18 AM
Comments (17)

While most of us are looking at the Middle East...

The Bad Hair Blog reminds us that "the Bolivarian revolution will be televised." Unfortunately, the Hugo Awards will not be for science fiction this time.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:43 AM
Comments (2)

Change, the Mind and Vietnam

In the latest installment of her fascinating series - "A mind is a difficult thing to change" - neo-neocon looks further into the period when the Boomer mindset was set in place.

So the investment in believing this particular "narrative" of Vietnam was huge for liberals. As the years went by, decades of beliefs, affiliations, and activities were added to the mix, and the stakes grew even higher. To have disbelieved it all at some later date would have meant facing a profound disillusionment, not just with institutions such as the press and the government, but with the self itself.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:35 AM
Comments (25)

May 11, 2005

Mayday! Mayday! Blog under attack!

Michelle Malkin and several emailers have noted that this blog is under attack by a blog sponsored by the U. N. Foundation. They complain that I focus on the bad things about the United Nations without evincing sufficient interest in the organization's positive contributions - all this, evidently, for my own self-aggrandizement. [You probably thought you were supporting a clean U. N.-ed. Me idiot.]

MEANWHILE: The real investigation continues. And continues.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:44 AM
Comments (103)

299 Words from Newsweek...

... have yielded death in the streets of Kabul. This lgf post prompted me to go back to the original Newsweek article by Michael Isikoff and John Berry that alleges a Quran was flushed down a Guantanamo toilet (the proximate cause of the carnage in Kabul). It comes from an anonymous source! For their sakes, I hope Isikoff and Barry's source proves to be accurate because who would want these deaths on their conscience? The NYT recently went on a crusade against anonymously sourced reporting. So should Newsweek. So should we all.

UPDATE: For those with difficulty getting the Newsweek link, cache here.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:11 AM
Comments (33)

From "The Gates of Vienna"

Not your father's Maurice Chevalier song.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:28 AM
Comments (10)

A Pajama Invitation

Glenn links to an interesting post by Jeff Jarvis this morning: "Is Google the next AOL?" We could call this the Big Company Conundrum - the assumption being such entities, as they grow larger, grow increasingly unresponsive to their public, possibly to whither and die.

Google has tipped their "unresponsive" hand in two (probably more) important ways - seemingly opting for short term gain by not disclosing their ad rates to most, if not all, of the sites running their ads and by exercising apparent political bias against certain websites, many of them bloggers (talk about biting the hand that feeds you!), on their own Google News site. Now they seem to be on the brink of institutionalizing their bias through patented algorithms ranking news according to their authority system.

We at a very, very, very small (but growing quickly!) company called Pajamas Media have been watching this process. Although just being born, like all little acorns, we have aspirations. We would not like to make the mistakes of our predecessors. We are "New" Media after all, even though that term is to some degree amorphous. This is especially true since...

The link between bloggers and their readers/commenters is unique. Not only do we want to honor that... we want that link to grow, prosper and reach heights that surprise us all. We want all parts of the blogging community to feel they are part of Pajamas. (No jokes, please!... okay, a few)

The intention of Pajamas Media is to serve ads on blogs through aggregation (coming soon) and to form a Blog News Service. There could be more than that and... importantly... we could (and want to) do those things in new ways. Toward that end, I throw open this post for your comments and suggestions.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:13 AM
Comments (23)

May 10, 2005

Trying to explain the incomprehensible

The Holocaust Memorial designed by architect Peter Eisenman opens today in Berlin betwen the Brandenburg Gate and Hitler's wartime bunker. My first awareness of the Holocaust is associated with seeing the tattooed numbers from Auschwitz on Mrs. Mendes' arm. She was a nurse in my father's medical office and particularly nice to me as a little boy. That must have been around 1950. I couldn't comprehend then what those numbers were doing on her arm and in a way I still can't. I don't know that this new memorial will really increase understanding of this event either, but I guess I'm glad it was built. These days, with anti-Semitism appearing on the landscape again, even in the American academy, I'll applaud whatever positive contribution anyone wants to make. Paul Siegel, a leader of the German Jewish community, feels differently.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:04 PM
Comments (69)

Start Me Up too!

My birthday's in November (age to be determined) and these guys (ages to be determined) are going to be in Anaheim on the 4th and SF on the 13th of that month. I blush to admit, although I've seen their lead singer do his thespian number on a friend's movie set a few years ago, I've never seen the band perform live and this may be my last chance... Well, maybe not, considering how they keep coming back as if Mestopheles were their road manager. Anyway, this time I'm gonna be there and I'm telling Sheryl I want her to buy us tix for my birthday. But she better move fast because they go on sale tomorrow morning. At my age, I want good seats. I don't want to risk damaging my sacroiliac when I start boogieing to "Street Fightin' Man."

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:28 PM
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What He Said

Christopher Hitchens comes to the proper conclusion about those progressive reactionaries who compare Abu Ghraib to Guernica:

How shady it is that our modern leftists and peaceniks can detect fascism absolutely everywhere except when it is actually staring them in the face. The next thing, of course, if we complete the historic analogy, would be for them to sign a pact with it. And this, some of them have already done.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 02:27 PM
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Hi Tech versus Hi Dreck

The Japanese continue to mop the floor with American car makers. Meanwhile Ford and GM are mired in debt. Kirk Kerkorian is supposed to be the savior of GM. Somehow I'd be more comfortable if I heard Steve Jobs or Bill Gates were taking over. Maybe it's about time GM moved to Mountain View or Redmond. At least it would be more interesting.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:06 AM
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Our New Biology

Yesterday, I became extraordinarily upset when my dsl broadband service - after four years of relatively continuous operation - went off at around 11:30AM and stayed off. Usually these interruptions ended in about an hour. I went to a friend's house to blog on his WiFi, but I was surprised at how agitated I felt, almost as if part of me had gone missing.

In the process of this, I became enraged with Earthlink (my ISP) whose support left something to be desired. Finally, in the evening a tech support guy at Covad - the company that had installed my dsl - informed me I probably needed a new modem, but they (Covad) could not check this because they were only the installers. Even though I knew better - none of them are terrific at this - I surfed the net at three a. m... on dial-up, no less... looking for a new ISP. I even scheduled an appointment (now canceled) with Adelphia to install a cable modem two weeks from now (talk about desperation!). Meanwhile, Earthlink was launching a full-scale "trouble ticket" investigation...

Anyway, I fixed it all myself this morning. I won't overly embarrass myself by explaining what was wrong - it was a little bit worse than the plug was out, but not much - and now dsl is working again. I am back to my more normal neurotic self because my electronic self is functioning fine. Dicey as this was and is for me as a middle-aged man today, people in the future are going to find the line between their electronic and biological entities even more difficult to draw. I'm not sure that's a day we should look forward to.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:56 AM
Comments (32)

May 09, 2005

Letter to Volcker - Original Oil-for Food Document

Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes, attorney for Oil-for-Food witness Pierre Mouselli whose connections to Kojo Annan were detailed earlier on this blog and elsewhere, has written a lengthy letter to Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme. Dated today May 9, 2005, it begins:

Oh behalf of my client Pierre Mouselli, I would like to draw your attention to the treatement he has received from the Independent Inquiry Committee ("IIC") in the course of its investigation. Mr Mouselli is particularly concerned that you be informed of these facts in the light of the concerns you mentioned at your press conference on May 6 regarding persons in the investigation whose "lives are at stake."

The rest of this letter and accompanying documents are available for you to read at the Pajamas Media website. They include information about the behavior of the IIC or of some of its members that should be of interest to all, especially in anticipation of possible testimony by resigned Oil-for-Food investigator Robert Parton before Congressional Committees.

Although several in the media have received this letter or will receive it, we at Pajamas Media believe such documents should be available to the public in their entirety and not taken out of context or redacted. This is a web exclusive as of this moment.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 03:56 PM
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The Times' Response

There is a lot to cheer in the New York Times' response to recent criticisms from the Internet and elsewhere reported today under the paper's headline "Times Panel Proposes Steps to Build Credibility". Particularly to be applauded is the new policy on anonymous sources. Evidently they are being downgraded and often expunged, as they should be.

But I hope the Times does not achieve the resurrection it seeks. And my reason is simple - no newspaper or media outlet should ever have the reputation, and therefore the power, the Times had. It's not good for the free flow of ideas or the search for truth. Blogs entirely replacing newspapers (an absurd idea anyway) wouldn't be good for our democracy either. A thousand flowers are blooming, as Chairman Mao (right for once) said. Let's keep it that way.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:33 AM
Comments (32)

Waiting for the DVDs

I'm a hard man to get out to the theatre when I get a free DVD of most of the year's fare to view at home for Oscar judging. Nevertheless, I'm not the only one who has been avoiding the multiplex these days. It's been a terrible Spring at the movies or - as Variety puts it in their headline this morning - 'B.O. Far From 'Heaven'" (meaning that 'famous historian' Ridley Scott's version of the Crusades, which just opened this weekend).

When films stink it up at the box office, the marketing types at the studios ritually pop up with explanations like "The audience doesn't like baseball pictures." Nonsense. What the audience doesn't like is bad baseball pictures, just as they don't like bad historical epics, etc. Usually they like just about good anything. That's what we've evidently had a dearth of. But that will change. Or it won't - in which case the movies are really in trouble.

A few years ago I used to go to a breakfast of film types at LA's Farmer's Market. It was then known as the "grosses table" because one guy, a journalist who worked for Variety, would show up every Monday with "secret information" - the weekend grosses of Hollywood films. That information is now about as "secret" as testimony at the Michael Jackson trial. But I find this site - Box Office Mojo - particularly useful because it gives the estimated budget (including prints and ads) next to the culmulative gross. That tells us that the big hits so far are Amityville Horror and Robots. The latter, as an animation, should have a long life on DVD as well.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:14 AM
Comments (30)

May 08, 2005

Who Gets the "C"?

One of the fascinating things about our post 9-11 world is the contortions people go through to make life conform to their view of reality. This is particularly true of highly traditional media... junk term alert... liberals. They have been confronted with a situation in which they are no longer always on the side of "good," as they grew up thinking they were. Sometimes their opinions end up being inadvertently in defense of values they have always claimed to find reprehensible, such as the most extreme forms of sexism. And now with the growth of democracy in the Middle East, these same liberals find themselves even more beleaguered, hoping, consciously or unconconsciously, for more violence or failure in Iraq as justification for their reactionary positions.

This results in a kind of lashing out at people with whom they differ, especially those who may have changed their opinions since 9-11. An example of this is Frank Rich's cheap shot at Ron Silver as a "C-list publicity hound" (therefore presumably not entitled to public interest in his opinions) in this morning's NYT. Silver, however, besides his distinguished acting career, has been a political activist literally for decades, has worked in intelligence and understands Chinese. [Does Rich?-ed. I think he can order moo goo gai pan.] So what gives here? Ron's problem, I guess, is that he disagrees with Rich. This is "liberalism?" Times change, huh?

Disclosure: For those who don't know, I collaborated with Ron Silver on Enemies, A Love Story.
(via Rantingsprof)

UPATE: Football Fans for Truth does some comparison shopping among Rich statements about Silver.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 10:06 AM
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Around the World and Back

Thanks to my friends and Pajamas Media Baghdad correspondents Omar and Mohomammed of Iraq the Model, I have learned of some problems regarding the forthcoming (May 14) March Against Terror in Washington, D.C. (BTW, this march is not restricted to Muslims and were I in or around the nation's capitol on that date I would march with them.) From the Free Muslims Coalition's Kamal Nawash:

To date,70 organizations have sponsored the first ever Muslim led March Against Terror. Approximately 20 of the 70 organizations are Muslim, Arab or Middle Eastern. This is the good news. The bad news is that of the leading Muslim organizations four have refused to participate or endorse the rally. The absence of these organizations is ironic. For the past 10 years, these organizations have complained that they are unfairly being accused of not doing enough to fight terror. But when a Muslim organization takes the lead to organize a March Against Terror they argue that it is not necessary and refuse to join.

This is disturbing news, but the good news is that the march is on. In that sense this dissension is much like the reported difficulties with the formation of the government in Baghdad. But then, what democractic government has ever formed without difficulties? (Yes, I know people are being gunned down in the street, but even those horrible and sad events are reminiscent of democratic revolutions in other countries - like France and the USA.)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:28 AM
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May 07, 2005

Whatever Happened to Jack Kerouac?

My friend Scott Kaufer, a TV writer/producer, asked me last night why I don't write more frequently about The Industry on here. I think he likes it when I take potshots at people we know. But that's the point, unfortunately. I've made a few too many enemies with this blog (yes, and some friends too, but still... as Willy Loman knew, we all desperately want to be liked.)

Nevertheless, I couldn't pass up commenting on the latest screwball comedy at the Writers Guild. What most of the world doesn't know - and why should they? - is that there are two, not one, unions of film and television writers - the Writers Guild of America, east (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAW). The reasons for this are too complex and, frankly, incomprehensible to me, after thirty-some years in the Guild, to explain; so I won't attempt to go into them here. But here's the latest: The two Writers Guilds are now in the process of suing each other!

Again, the terms of these suits are prolix and fraught with seemingly-ageless personal enmities. (In the midst of this, WGA East President Herb Sargent died at 81.) Something about uncollected funds from thirty years ago and whether this should go to court or be arbitrated. It all has little to do with the welfare of writers and lot to do with people's egos and union jobs. In the old days, the image of the writer was a wild-eyed bohemian. Now it's a Teamsters-style apparatchik who wants to cling to his position as an officer of the Guild. I was a member of the Board of Directors back in 1990-1992 and when I bother to look at who is running the place now, I see the same members, avoiding term limits in one job by moving to another. Maybe they should spend a little more time writing. [It's a lot easier to pontificate at board meetings.-ed. No kidding!] In any case, after the multiple disasters at the WGA, you'd think a little housecleaning would be in order.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:31 AM
Comments (22)

May 06, 2005

The blogosphere's resident military historian...

... I'm referring to Austin of Austin... has an interesting post about the possible "cascading effect" from the capture of Al Qaeda's Abu Faraj al-Libbi.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:42 PM
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"The Pajama Game is the game we're in...

... "And we'll always be in the pajama game - we love it!" Well, you know the rest (if you're old enough and you're probably not). But in any case, as a reminder, Charles Johnson and I, plus some "Unknown Blogger" will tell all (or some) about our version of the Pajama Game (Pajamas Media) on Kudlow & Co. on CNBC this afternoon at about 5:40 Eastern. And speaking of Pajamas Media [Aren't you always?-ed.], blog sign-ups have reached the magic number of 250. [Remember to give the email address.-ed.] Oh, yes, it's join@pajamasmedia.com.

UPDATE: Video of segment here. RadioBlogger, as per usual, has a transcript.

AND.... Due to the buzz surrounding Pajamas Media, a revival of The Pajama Game has been announced.(photoshop cred: Martin Larsen)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:46 AM
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Norm Geras criticizes the blogosphere (US division anyway)...

... for ignoring the election in the UK. He's right, as far as I can tell. But where better to correct that lack than the Eye of the Norm itself?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:40 AM
Comments (17)

A Hero of Our Time Remembered

Hard to believe it's been three years since the murder of Pim Fortuyn.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:15 AM
Comments (3)

Will Kofi actually make it to the Penn graduation?

Only time will tell, but he can't be happy with Niles Lathem's report in the NY Post this morning that former Oil-for-Food investigator Robert Parton, whose resignation from the Volcker Committee was first hinted at on this blog, is now going to talk to another committee - Henry Hyde's.

Documents potentially devastating to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan were handed over yesterday to a congressional committee in an explosive new development in the U.N. oil-for- food scandal.

He also provided two drafts far more critical of Kofi Annan than last month's final report, sources told The Post.

Meanwhile, the WSJ has a strained, albeit well-meaning, editorial in which they argue that the Hyde investigation of the Volcker Committee is an unnecessary detour from the prime location of the malfeasance - Annan & Company themselves. Not so. The very essence of the problem at the United Nations is the organization's complete lack of any accountability. If the Volcker investigation is a continuation of that policy by other (perhaps more subtle) means, it must be revealed as such. And in the process, new revelations will point back at the Secretariat building.

As we used to say in another context, the struggle continues.

UPDATE: More on Kofi in the Ivy League from the estimable Cliff May.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:50 AM
Comments (19)

May 05, 2005

The Google Nomenklatura

The news that Google - our once warm-and-fuzzy Internet friend - has, in Reuters' words, "applied for U.S. and international patents on technology to rank stories on its news site based on the quality of the news sources" is one of the more sinister revelations of potential mind control I have read in years. Perhaps not even Comrade Dzerzhinsky at the height of his powers could have invented a more devious method for the manipulation of information. Its convolutions are so various that I would imagine its instigators at Google have convinced themselves they are doing a public service in preserving the social order of "truth and justice" from the onslaught of the great unwashed.

What they are really doing is turning their search capabilities into the instrument of a form of censorship never before devised. No matter what supposedly impartial algorithms are built into their ranking system, I would bet my house that they will be constructed to come to the conclusion that, say, CBS News is to be trusted far more than the bloggers who correctly showed the network's anchorman was lying. And all this will be done in the name of "science." Wow.

It may be time to reconsider all those bad thoughts any of us had about Bill Gates. He never did anything nearly as creepy as that. Myself, I'm switching over to the new Microsoft search engine. It's pretty good anyway.

UPDATE: Questioning my outrage, Greifer below makes some valid points about filtering. If I read him/her correctly, in essence he/ she is saying that Google is just another "filter" for news like the NYT or the WSJ and is just creating another "online newspaper" of sorts. True enough. But search engines have a "perception" of impartiality. Therein lies a problem.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 11:00 PM
Comments (46)

Some people say...

... that the writing on blogs (including this one) is mostly transistory. It's hard to argue with that. But there are exceptions. (ht: Charles Martin)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:45 PM
Comments (5)

Graduation at Penn

My nephew Isaac is among the fortunate graduates from Penn's well-regarded Wharton School of Business later this month... Well, fortunate in having gone to a good school, but maybe less fortunate in his university's choice of commencement speaker. My question: what subject is this man going to speak about? "How to Run a Kleptocracy When You Grow Up?" (That could be useful.-ed. You are a cynic, aren't you?)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 05:52 PM
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The Pajama Party continues...

234 blogs have now signed up with Pajamas Media with many more in the pipeline. My partners Charles and Marc and I are highly gratified and not a little shocked. Responses continue to come in from many different types of blogs and sides of the political spectrum. Thanks very much to those who have signed up. The door is still open, of course, at join@pajamasmedia.com.

Also, Charles and I will be appearing on Kudlow & Company on Friday (evening Eastern, afternoon Western) to discuss what's going on with Pajamas Media. I haven't asked Larry yet, but unfortunately I imagine we will not be able to appear in our pajamas. Kudlow & Company does have a dress code, I assume. (Just wait.-ed.)

UPDATE: Mike Malone, ABC's Silicon Insider, discusses Pajamas MEdia today in an interesting column - "Blogs -- the New Tech Boom, Zeitgeist of the Future?"

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:47 AM
Comments (11)

Christopher Hitchens has a warning for the Republican Party...

... on the pages of the Wall Street Journal, no less. I think he's right.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 08:25 AM
Comments (101)

What Silvio Knows

Reading between the lines... and not that far between at that... of this Times Online report about the Sgrena Affair (No call for US apology: Berlusconi), it doesn't take the proverbial rocket scientist to realize that the US is not to blame in this one. Otherwise, why would the Italian leader take such a risk in his own country?

Silvio Berlusconi has not demanded that the United States apologises for the death of an Italian agent in Iraq or called for the soldiers involved in the killing to be punished.

Addressing the Italian parliament today on a report into the death of Nicola Calipari during a hostage rescue, the prime minister said American troops bore some responsibility for the death.

The some responsibility seems to be a sop to local opinion because Berlusconi goes further.

"I want to dispel any possible confusion: there is no link between the killing of Calipari and our country's mission in Iraq," he said. Any withdrawal of Italy's 3,000 troops from Iraq will be done "in consultation" with the allies.

"The withdrawal of troops will be gradual and will take place when the situation in Iraq has normalised. Calling today for everybody to go home would be irresponsible and incomprehensible."

Not that it will matter to the propagandists like Ms. Sgrena herself, but I think we can declare this case closed.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:25 AM
Comments (8)

May 04, 2005

Which Side Are You On - Again and Again

While certain reactionary individuals pretending to themselves that they are "progressives" or whatever continue to block John Bolton's nomination as UN Ambassador because of Bolton's alleged "bad manners," the really bad manners of the United Nations itself continue to be revealed, thanks, as per usual, to Claudia Rosett.

And today, as we learn about the hideous suicide murders in Erbil, she reports the UN ugliness is mounting.

But the documents provided by BNP [the French Oil-for-Food bank] under congressional subpoena and examined by The New York Sun suggest to congressional investigators that some of these mistakes involved the rerouting of money through a global web of companies linked not only to terrorist funding and arms trafficking but also to anti-sanctions campaigning and front operations for the Iraqi regime itself.

In other words, the UN Oil-for-Food program, which was meant for starving children, was financing both terrorism and a terror regime. Meanwhile, the likes of Barbara Boxer and Chris Dodd are concerned that an "ill-tempered" man has been nominated to clean this up. This is what "liberalism" has come to? How do these people look at themselves in the mirror?

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 09:01 AM
Comments (36)

It's those "travel expenses"...

I had been supporting John Bolton for UN Ambassador but I'm having second thoughts. After reading about John Kerry's use of campaign funds to pay his parking tickets, I think we should consider sending the Senator to the UN. He could use a set of those ticket-immune diplomatic plates. Of course there's another solution. His wife could buy a few parking lots and sprinkle them around for him. [Did this man actually run for President?-ed. I think so. Can't remember.]

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:43 AM
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Dashiell Hammett would flunk...

And so would I, I'm afraid, if we are to believe this analysis of the scoring model for the new SAT essay test under which prolixity is rewarded over the succinct. Whatever happened to Strunk & White?

Also, our friends at the College Board seem hellbent on breeding another generation of Jayson Blairs.

Dr. Perelman contacted the College Board and was surprised to learn that on the new SAT essay, students are not penalized for incorrect facts. The official guide for scorers explains: "Writers may make errors in facts or information that do not affect the quality of their essays. For example, a writer may state 'The American Revolution began in 1842' or ' "Anna Karenina," a play by the French author Joseph Conrad, was a very upbeat literary work.' " (Actually, that's 1775; a novel by the Russian Leo Tolstoy; and poor Anna hurls herself under a train.) No matter. "You are scoring the writing, and not the correctness of facts."

Long-winded writing and dodgy facts. Now I get it. This is another MSM conspiracy against the blogs. [I hope you're not using this to promote Pajamas Media again?-ed. Moi?]

(via Glenn)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:15 AM
Comments (13)

Joseph K. lives...!

...in Syria. Do not miss this new blog - Syria Exposed

"Where all external myths about Syria and all internal taboos are broken. Be prepared, reality bites."

It does. (ht: freedom's friend again)

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:06 AM
Comments (3)

May 03, 2005

Oil-for-Food --- The Canadian Connection II

Sorry for the low blogging today, but I am overcome with work bringing people into Pajamas Media (now about 200 blogs!). This should slack off in a couple of days, I hope, and life will return to the frenzied normal. Meanwhile, here is an interesting blog from Canada with a detail look into the Oil-for-Food connections up there.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 04:40 PM
Comments (4)

Pajamas Media Meets Mainstream Media

... in this Roderick Boyd article in the NY Sun. Despite the old saw about there being no such thing as bad publicity, I always wince when I first read about myself in the press, dreading inaccuracies. But Boyd's piece seemed fine from my perspective (thanks, Roderick!) with one minor correction - Paul Mazursky, not Woody Allen, directed Scenes from a Mall. I also wish Roderick had mentioned Marc Danziger's extremely important contribution to Pajamas as one of the three founders, so I will here.

UPDATE: Affiliated blogs have now reached 180+ (not counting an almost equal number of milblogs).

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:04 AM
Comments (16)

May 02, 2005

The Politics of Cricket

... in an op-ed in this morning's NYT. It's not exactly what you think it is.

WHAT broader lessons might the history of cricket have for the globalization of Western cultural practices? It shows that such practices can be promoted or discouraged from the top down; it is not necessarily a bottom-up process, as is commonly believed. Nor does such downward dissemination require the point of a gun. The passion for cricket in places like Pakistan and India also shows that a complex Western cultural practice can be adopted in its entirety by very different cultures, even when highly identified with its country of origin.

Might the same be true of other Western cultural practices, like democracy?

Worth a look. (ht: CJ)

APROPOS CRICKET: The Idler looked into it a couple of years ago.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 07:12 AM
Comments (25)

The Pajama Party Continues

It's been "non-stop boogie 'til you drop" here at Pajamas Headquarters with over 170 blogs now having signed up for Pajamas Media (not to mention untold milblogs) and literally hundreds more making inquiries, including blogs from Siberia and Shanghai! And they come in all shapes, sizes and subject matter - we even have a speleology blog! [Is is it called "Notes from the Underground"?-ed. Why did I know you'd say that?]

No matter how it is computed, our assembled monthly unique visitors are now well into the millions.

I don't mean to be a press agent (okay, a blog agent), but don't, as has been said before, "miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity"! Join our advertising and news aggregation at (where else?) join@pajamasmedia.com.

APROPOS: Some things go up while others go down.

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 06:07 AM
Comments (15)

May 01, 2005

The United Nations: "Discrepancies R Us!"

One of the things that makes the Iranian mullahs a formidable adversary of freedom is that they are not stupid. Their invitation to Iranian born Elahe Mohtasham, a sometime represenative of the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation and International Safeguards System in London, to view a nuclear facility in Esfahan was clearly not a whim and, despite her fluent Farsi, Ms. Mohstasham was undoubtedly shown what they wanted her to see and told what they wanted her to know.

Even so, her article in the London Times article makes fascinating reading. Here is a telling graph:

At the end I asked how much UF6 had been made at Esfahan. The latest information published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose inspectors visit every three to four weeks, showed that 40-45kg had been produced by last June.

Iran says it would need enriched uranium from 50,000 centrifuges to sustain a domestic nuclear power industry and sell nuclear fuel commercially abroad.

Three tons or 45 kilgrams? That's a rather large discrepancy isn't it? Oh, yes, I forgot - we're taking about a UN agency here. Perhaps they should wear T-shirts... "Discrepancies R Us!"

Posted by Roger L. Simon at 02:07 PM
Comments (7)