JUSTIN FOX IN FORTUNE:
For members of the Old Media, Davos remains stuck in a blissful time warp where they still matter and there’s no Matt Drudge or Instapundit or Daily Kos around to cause trouble.
Enjoy it, guys.
Archive for 2006
January 26, 2006
FRANCE, IRAN, AND TERRORISM: They seem to be taking a tougher line:
What is so surprising is that Mr. Chirac’s government has in the past favored an approach of conciliation or even appeasement toward Iran and the Arab nations. He was, after all, the vociferous foe of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and a hard line against Iran. That approach benefited French companies that were able to obtain lucrative contracts in competition with corporations based in the land of the great Satan. So, what happened? There are two contributing factors. The first is the civil unrest in France several months ago, which involved nightly riots and a myriad of car burnings in many areas of the country. This violence had the same kind of impact upon Mr. Chirac and the French government that September 11 had upon the United States.
In his speech, Mr. Chirac bluntly declared, “In numerous countries, radical ideas are spreading, advocating a confrontation of civilizations.” Mr. Chirac now understands the problem. The jihadists are attempting to capture town by town, areas within Western Europe. As one French government official put it, “This is more than a clash of civilizations. It is a cancer within our country that if unchecked will destroy all of France.”
With his statements, Mr. Chirac is warning Iran and the Arab countries to desist in supporting and encouraging residents of France who launched last year’s attacks and are undoubtedly planning to do far worse. His approach is to cut off terror at the source. This resembles the policy being pursued by the U.S. government, although it is hard to imagine how great the public outcry would be if President Bush threatened to use nuclear weapons.
Indeed. Read the whole thing. (Via Newsbeat1).
A HAMAS VICTORY in the Palestinian elections:
The Islamic militant group Hamas captured a large majority of seats in Palestinian legislative elections, officials in Hamas and the ruling Fatah Party said Thursday – a devastating upset that is sure to throw Mideast peacemaking into turmoil.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday. “This is the choice of the people. It should be respected,” Qureia said. “If it’s true (the results), then the president should ask Hamas to form a new government. For me, personally, I sent my resignation.”
Patrick Belton, who’s been there covering the race for OxBlog writes:
It’s not clear anyone wanted this, least of all Hamas, who in assuming the administration of the Palestinian national authority’s creaking and often corrupt bureaucracy single-handed in a moment when its sole lifeline of European and other international support appears threatened, may just have stumbled into the biggest molasses patch the Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah has ever faced. Unlike the Lib Dems of 1985, Hamas did not go to its constituencies to prepare for government. It had prepared for a coalition, or possibly pristine opposition, but not this.
Read the whole thing, and here’s a blog-roundup from PJ Media.
UPDATE: Ed Morrissey is depressed about the results.
January 25, 2006
GEORGE GALLOWAY, voted out.
UPDATE: Ian Schwartz has video.
ROY BLUNT STUMBLES: Ouch.
SLATE rounds up a lot of blog posts on Google’s China capitulation.
JEFF GOLDSTEIN has an idea on how to cut pork.
So we interviewed Norah Vincent, author of Self Made Man: One Woman’s Journey into Manhood and Back. Helen does most of the talking on this one, as Vincent talks about dating women as a man, the importance of fathers, and why being a man isn’t nearly as easy as most women think.
You can listen to the show (no iPod required!) by clicking here, or via iTunes.
We thought it was really interesting, and we hope that you will, too.
Music: Strange and Beautiful (intro) and The Crush (end) by Audra and the Antidote.
And as always, the lovely and talented producer of this show is soliciting comments.
WELL, this certainly fits.
SOME THOUGHTS ON CIVIL DISCOURSE from Louise Slaughter.
I DON’T THINK I MAKE A VERY GOOD ANA MARIE COX, but I’m guestblogging over at Wonkette today.
CINDY SHEEHAN says that Clinton killed more Iraqis than Bush. I wonder how widely reported this will be.
I’M DOING a live online chat over at the Washington Post site starting in just a minute. You can submit questions now.
UPDATE: Not everyone approved.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reuters proves my point about comments and the press very nicely, with a quote from LGF. Thanks, Reuters!
(Said AP earlier. Fixed.)
OVER AT SPACE LAW PROBE, Jesse Londin posts the first blog review of An Army of Davids.
SCIENCE FICTION UPDATE: Just got the paperback reissue of Vernor Vinge’s first novel, Tatja Grimm’s World.
UNSCAM UPDATE:
George Galloway faces the prospect of a criminal investigation into his activities by the serious fraud office, which has collected evidence relating to the oil-for-food corruption scandal in Iraq.
A four-strong SFO team returned from Washington with what a source close to US investigators calls “thousands of documents” about the scandal. The team is expected to produce, within the next four weeks, a report for the SFO director, Robert Wardle, as to whether a full criminal investigation should be mounted into UK individuals and companies involved, including Mr Galloway.
Ed Morrissey has more on this. And then there’s this damning evidence. Of, er, something . . . .
AUSTIN BAY takes a look at the Palestinian elections. “This is a slow civil war, but at the moment a slow civil war with the chance to change into something far less violent.”
Meanwhile, Patrick Belton is on the scene and posting reports at OxBlog. Just keep scrolling.
JIM BENNETT offers advice for new Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper:
His legislative agenda probably needs to focus on government process — transparency primarily, to decouple the Liberals’ cash machine, and secondly disintermediation, to finish the end run around the CBC and the press oligopoly. The Bloc Quebecois and to some extent the New Democratic Party can get behind that agenda, even if as leftists they cannot support much of the Conservative substance.
But aside from that, the Prime Minister’s office is a pretty good bully pulpit, and he would be smart to use it to start deconstructing the Trudeavean deconstruction of the old Canada. He should make sure the Canadian troops in Afghanistan are decorated in a visible and public ceremony, exactly what has been denied to them to date. He should make a show of honoring the Canadian WWII veterans conspicuously and repeatedly, and having a substantial ceremony on every one of the big Canadian military anniversaries: Vimy, Dieppe, D-Day, etc. He might bring back the Red Ensign in a historical context — ordering it flown as a “veteran’s memorial flag” on select days like D-Day, and for Canadian ships to fly the Blue Ensign on a suitable day as well, maybe November 11th. It would be very hard for people to criticize him for remembering the veterans more conspicuously. And perhaps he might even consider a surprise visit to the forces in Afghanistan. . . .
The Liberals and the media are waiting for him to become a “clone of America” — but by taking an Anglospherist tack he can throw them off balance and turn the negative Canadian nationalism (in the form of anti-Americanism) into positive Canadian patriotism. America (and the Anglosphere) doesn’t need a lackey of America on its northern border — it needs a neighbor that has abandoned its touchy defensiveness and can take its proper place in the English-speaking community, of which it used to be a leading member.
I’m certainly no expert on Canadian politics — though I think that increased transparency has already helped matters — but I encourage interested parties to read the whole thing.
SO I SAW THE LINK AT BAINBRIDGE’S PLACE and naturally, I took the quiz. I guess it works!
I’m a Mazda RX-8!
You’re sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you’re willing to do your part.
Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.
UPDATE: Okay, I seem to have killed their server with the picture link, so I’ve substituted one of my own. Here’s another.
AHMADINEJAD escapes bomb blasts in Iran.
ERIC S. RAYMOND has thoughts on Academia and the Internet.
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA ARE TAKING OFF — Again! My TCS Daily column is up.
January 24, 2006
GOOGLE CAPITULATES TO CENSORS: “Google announced that it is officially launching its services in China, a move that will require the Internet firm to subject itself to self-censorship.”
UPDATE: Publius has more, and points out the oddity of Google being more willing to cooperate with the Chinese than with the American government. “Perhaps they should change their motto to, ‘It’s just business.'”
ANOTHER UPDATE: Rebecca MacKinnon notes in mitigation, “Google seems to be trying to minimize its evilness in several ways.”
MORE: David Pinto: “I’ve removed Google AdSense from my website due to their agreement to censor searches in China.”
STILL MORE: Jonah Goldberg writes: “I think Google’s a great product and company, but doesn’t this just demonstrate that their principles are marketing tools more than anything else?”
CAPITALISM AND TECHNOLOGY: The conversation continues over at Cato Unbound.
FRANK WILSON: “Apparently, there are now only five stand-alone newspaper book sections in this country.”