Critical Mass

As Mr. Dominitz mentioned yesterday in his piece The False Promises of Consensus over on Back Talk, a new Scripps Howard poll shows that slightly over one third of Americans believe that the U.S. government was involved in the 9/11 attacks:

Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them "because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East."

The poll found that a majority of young adults give at least some credence to a 9/11 conspiracy compared to less than a fourth of people 65 or older. Members of racial and ethnic minorities, people with only a high school education and Democrats were especially likely to suspect federal involvement in 9/11.

Interesting.

From LiveScience.com: Taller Mountains Blamed on Global Warming, Too. Well gee-wiz.

From the story:

The region where the most uplift is occurring is in the French Alps near Mount Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe. The mountains in this region are growing at a rate of about .035 inches per year. In 50 years, they will be about 1.8 inches taller than today. The average maximum growth for the rest of the Alps is a more modest .013 inches per year.

More proof that we need to stop global warming.  At that rate, anything could happen.

There's a great piece over at Slate on the Dems shooting themselves in the foot again regarding the Lamont vs. Lieberman shindig.

USAToday reveals some interesting facts about Al Gore's failure to practice his own preaching. Among the more notable:

- Gore owns 14,000 square feet of housing

- Paramount Classics actually pays fore the renewable energy credits to make up for his use of his private jet

- Gore holds hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in Occidental Petroleum

- "Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for adding large quantities of barium, iron and zinc to the nearby Caney Fork River."

Keep up the good work, Mr. I-used-to-be-the-next-president-of-The-United-States. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

To: Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman, Ned.Lamont06@aol.com, CindySheehan@hotmail.com, BBC News, ABC News, CBS News, Keith Olbermann, Cynthia.McKinney@congress.gov

From: ACLU National Headquarters - Washington, DC.

It is our profound hope that no terrorists' civil liberties or human rights were violated in the disruption of the developing Airline Bomb Plot.  It appears to be a positive development that this alleged attack was thwarted, but if the US and British governments used any questionable tactics in obtaining this intelligence, what does that say to the world?  It says that we're really no better or worse than the terrorists!  We call on Congress to demand a full investigation into our government's behavior leading up to this development in the so-called "war on terrorism."

British Police Thwart Aircraft Bomb Plot. Story via Drudge.

Commentary will probably follow once the whole story comes out, but for right now I just want to say, way to go, guys. Keep up the good work.

P.S., from the story:

Hannah Pillinger, 24, seemed less concerned by the announcement. "Eight hours without an iPod, that's the most inconvenient thing," she said, waiting at the Manchester airport.

The most recent development is that "Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been found among Hizbollah guerrillas slain by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon." In any other era this would pretense for all-out, regional (or world) war. Another demonstration why nuclear weapons make the world a safer, more stable place.

What a savvy move by Mahmoud...he's one step closer to being hired by that network!

Re: Lieberman vs. Lamont, I'm siding with the crowd that's betting this is gonna backfire bigtime for the dems. I always liked Liberman; I think he's one of the more sensible democrats in decades.

As for Castro, a reader of The Corner had some very interesting thoughts a couple days ago on the nature of dictatorships and the lack of publicity for Raul/Fidel since Fidel's operation. And once Castro is out, it's only a matter of time until Bay of Pigs 2.0. Hopefully, and probably, this time around will included a lot more money and support. And once the Castro[-esque] regime in Cuba falls, it's only a matter of time until private American money begins FLOODING into Cuba - and cigars out. Personally, I'm excited. 

No one has seen Fidel Castro since he went into the hospital ten days ago for surgery for stomach cancer (those cigars, don't you know?). No one has seen his brother, Raul, since Fidel handed over power to him while Fidel was in the hospital. Blogs in Havana and Miami are speculating wildly that the 'disappearances' of the two old lions of la revolucion actually portend a military coup, to be announced on August 13, four days from now.

The erratic Mr. Chavez of Venezuela is waiting in the wings to take over the mantle as Latin America's 'true believer' socialist. He has oil, he has an army, he's great on populism, and...he doesn't smoke cigars.

'Be free,' Cuba. 

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, Senator Joe Lieberman (DEM/IND-CT) and Ned Lamont (LEFTIST-CT) are in a dead heat for the upcoming general election.  It appears that the scandal-plagued Republican candidate has absolutely no chance whatsoever.  A majority of the state's Democrats may vote for Lamont, but there seems to be a good chance that many independents and Republicans will vote for Lieberman, who is running as an independent. 

Some key quotes from Newsweek's recent article "Eye for an Eye: Inside the New Hizbullah"

["Hussein," a Hizbullah fighter] was in civvies, the only way the Hizbullah fighters appear in public, but the walkie-talkie under his loose shirt was a giveaway.

In Khiam, a teenager on a motor scooter rolled through town, apparently minding his own business—except that the ear bud of the walkie-talkie hidden under his shirt identified him as one of Hizbullah's many scouts. They were hard to find—until they wanted to be found.

[Hizbullah's] tactics may be from Che, but their arms are from Iran, and not just AK-47s and RPGs. They've reportedly destroyed three of Israel's advanced Merkava tanks with wire-guided missiles and powerful mines, crippled an Israeli warship with a surface-to-sea missile, sent up drones on reconnaissance missions, implanted listening devices along the border and set up their ambushes using night-vision goggles.

The sort of weaponry Hizbullah is deploying is normally associated with a state, and states can be easily deterred by a superior military force like Israel's.

Last week, when Sheik Ahmed Murad, a Hizbullah spokesman, showed up at the Tyre Hospital to rant against the civilian casualties Israel had inflicted, he was in his Shiite cleric's turban and robes. After the press conference, Murad was escorted away by three bodyguards, then reappeared on the street in untucked shirt and slacks, apparently just another civilian.

How did Hizbullah morph from its terrorist roots 20 years ago to the formidably organized force of today? The short answer is: experience, leadership and Iran. By Israeli estimates Iran has underwritten Hizbullah with $100 million a year. But Hizbullah also gets contributions and "tax" payments from wealthy Shiites in Lebanon and abroad, and revenues from both legal and illegal businesses worldwide.

And Israeli Ambassador to Washington Daniel Ayalon told NEWSWEEK on Saturday that Israel expects Hizbullah to do more now than just hold its fire. "What is important to us is not just that Hizbullah's operations end but also the arms shipments from Iran and Syria.

In that case, countries like France and Italy would be reluctant to honor pledges to send peacekeeping troops. "An international force arriving in Lebanon without the war having been stopped ... would be exposed to Iraq-style risks," said Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema. Worse, they would be up against Hizbullah.

But the U.N. just needs to step in there and keep Israel away from all those civilians they've been going after... you know, the ones with the Iranian funded AK-47s and surface-to-sea missiles tucked up their sleeves.

Israel somehow seems to be suddenly waffling on defeating its mortal enemy, Hizbollah. France has changed its mind (Mais non! Ne le ditez pas!) on the terms for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon, effectively agreeing now with Hizbollah's demands. The Prime Minister of Lebanon cried crocodile tears for the dozens of Lebanese buried in rubble, only to have a rash of American center-right blogs flood the Internet with what were obviously faked photos of the 'buried,' which caused Reuters to apologize twice while the NY Times apparently refuses to apologize for using the "fauxtographs," perhaps hoping STILL ANOTHER example of their biased reporting would simply go away.

Semi-pro baseball is playing tonight at our newly renovated campus ballpark; afterward, free movies with free snacks are being shown tonight just behind the Student Center. Took a walk over to the Quad early last week and caught a great free concert attended by hundreds of locals with their families.

But by far, the view looking up our steep stairs on a hilly campus is a view to die for on a warm summer day at UNR. God bless the co-eds, and their summertime minis! Uh, did someone mention, 'Lebanon'?

Stephen Pollard of the Times Online has a fascinating (and scary) piece about China's role in the current Middle East conflict.  I hope the Washington establishment isn't focusing too narrowly on the lastest turmoil in Lebanon at the expense of monitoring larger geo-political trends.

The Oslo Sperm Bank in Norway is not accepting contributions from homosexual donors, despite struggles to reach their goal of 30-40 new donors each year.

Laboratory chief Peter Fedorcsak is opposed to homosexual donors, and questions their psychological suitability for being donors.

"The main motivation for a donor must be a desire to help others, not, for example, donating sperm in order to spread one's own genes," Fedorcsak told Dagsavisen.

According to pollster John Zogby, the store you shop from may reveal which way you will vote in an election.  From U.S. News and World Report:

Democrats prefer Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus. Republicans trek to J.C. Penney, Sears, and Target. And then there's Wal-Mart. More than any store in the nation, its GOP-leaning customers can accurately predict which candidate will sell. "It was the No. 1 indicator in 2004," says Zogby, who now polls weekly Wal-Mart shoppers.

[. . .] Wal-Mart shoppers matter, he says, because they represent small-town America.

Well go figure.  When you listen to the small town folks, the heart of America, you get an accurate picture of how the country leans.  I wonder how many Wal-Mart shoppers there are in Connecticut?

Jason DeParle, the New York Times foreign correspondent to the conservative movement, is revealing conservative methods to the world.  Somehow, I don't think the left will catch on.

Or as Seth Simmons calls it, "The Solution to the Middle East Problems." Last week Seth sent me the following email:

FINALLY, someone [the Dilbert comic strip blog] is offering a workable, low-cost solution to the problems in the Middle East:

During the several days that it was 112 degrees and I had no AC, all I wanted to do was build an IED and kill the AC guy who kept driving right past my office and helping other people. In fact, I wanted to kill everyone who didn’t agree with me on just about any point whatsoever.

And I realized that the problem with the Middle East is insufficient AC. If you think about it, virtually all of the organized violence in the world is originating from places where they have poor air conditioning. And in the desert, 112 degrees is considered a pleasant day. Imagine how grumpy you would be at 125 degrees. And guess what I never see on TV when they show footage of the Middle East?

Shade.

Every frickin’ person they interview in the Middle East is standing directly in the sun. Some shade would be a good step toward world peace.

As humorous as this sounds, I found out last night that it is at least partially true.  While sitting in the doctor's office, I picked up the July 9 issue of U.S. News and World Report, to see the following story in their White House Week section:

Where Air Conditioning Signals Success

Insurgents have mounted new attacks against Iraq's fragile electrical grid, erasing recent production gains that were being touted by U.S. officials. In recent weeks, Iraq's electrical production has been boosted to near record levels as the country suffers through another 120-degree summer. But insurgents have quickly struck back. On one day last week, six power lines were hit and 15 towers went down across Iraq, according to U.S. officials involved with the reconstruction effort. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki alluded to the partial shutdown in a press conference, saying that power cuts have also exacerbated the gasoline shortage.

Scary.

I have two friends who are both fairly conservative in the sense that they look to and adhere to traditions; they are unique because they come from traditionally Democratic families. In an attempt to maintain their traditional political allegiance, both have worked for Lieberman, one of the few Democrats that still admits of traditionalist support. If Lieberman loses his primary, it will mark the final rejection of traditionalists by the Democratic party.