Yahoo! Collaborates with Chinese Communist Fascism

Yahoo turned a Chinese dissident in to the Beijing regime's thugs, according to an RSF item posted at Roger L. Simon and Instapundit.

Roger quotes Reporters Without Borders:

The text of the verdict in the case of journalist Shi Tao - sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for "divulging state secrets abroad" - shows that Yahoo ! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. provided China's state security authorities with details that helped to identify and convict him, Reporters Without Borders said today.

"We already knew that Yahoo ! collaborates enthusiastically with the Chinese regime in questions of censorship, and now we know it is a Chinese police informant as well," the press freedom organisation said.

"Yahoo ! obviously complied with requests from the Chinese authorities to furnish information regarding an IP address that linked Shi Tao to materials posted online, and the company will yet again simply state that they just conform to the laws of the countries in which they operate," the organisation said. "But does the fact that this corporation operates under Chinese law free it from all ethical considerations ? How far will it go to please Beijing ?"

Reporters Without Borders added : "Information supplied by Yahoo ! led to the conviction of a good journalist who has paid dearly for trying to get the news out. It is one thing to turn a blind eye to the Chinese government's abuses and it is quite another thing to collaborate." ...

Read the whole thing at the link. Bloggers, remember: Do not expect the corporate interests to protect you from the oppressors.

Oh, and just for a morbid laugh, here is Yahoo!'s "core value" on Customer Focus:
Customer Fixation:

We respect our customers above all else and never forget that they come to us by choice. We share a personal responsibility to maintain our customers' loyalty and trust. We listen and respond to our customers and seek to exceed their expectations.

Yeah.

Iran Report

Russia rejects reporting Iran to Security Council. Financial Times reports:

Russia on Monday ruled out an early decision to report the Iran nuclear controversy to the United Nations Security Council, undermining US and European efforts to build international consensus for a diplomatic reprimand this month.

A senior Kremlin official said Iran had not violated the rules of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Its nuclear programme, he said, should continue to be dealt with at the governing board of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, without involving the Security Council.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, adopted a more cautious approach in a meeting with foreign journalists and academics. He did not exclude a future referral to New York, though not at this point, and said it would have be done “in a very precise form”. ...

Man hanged in connection with killing of security forces. Quoting Iran Focus, Free Iran reports:

Tehran, Iran, Sep. 04 – An Iranian man was hanged in the town of Iranshahr, in Iran’s south-eastern Baluchistan Province, a semi-official daily reported on Sunday.

The man, identified as Houshang Bameri, was hanged at 9 am Saturday morning, the hard-line Jomhouri Islami wrote. He was accused of killing two para-military security agents.

Baluchistan Province, home to Iran’s minority Baluchis, has witnessed a string of clashes between government troops and insurgents in recent months. Baluchis, unlike Iran’s Shiite clerical rulers, adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam.

The regime's strategy. Mohammed at Iraq the Model offers this analysis of the Iranian regime's game plan:

Why is Iran choosing to defy the world with all the present dangers of a military reaction if Iran kept pushing things to the edge?

Does Iran want to develop nuclear power for peaceful utilization?

If that was the case then the European offer is very reasonable and I find it generous and it cannot be claimed (without raising suspicions) that this offer doesn't meet the needs for a peaceful program. Not only that, it even guarantees better support than if Iran depended on its own capabilities as Europe will be contributing with her nuclear expertise…but Iran refused the offer.

Does Iran want to get nuclear weapons?
Why not? The nuclear military power's been the ultimate dream the leaders of the region who want to protect their regimes from any possible plans of change and to have the ability to attack their enemies.

But Iran realizes the idea that there are many countries out there that are going to stop her from possessing nukes and once some countries feel that Iran is too close to getting the weapons, they will no doubt take the move and destroy the infrastructure of the nuclear program and Israel is a strong candidate for conducting the mission here. It's fundamental that a strike with conventional, high precision weapons that are available for many countries is enough to destroy the Iranian dream without the least defensive response from Iran who lacks the practical ability of defending the nuclear facilities.

So both of the above theories put Iran before an irrational choice as the current escalation doesn't indicate peaceful Iranian intentions and at the same time in contradicts Iran's defensive abilities…so why escalate?

I think that Iran is seeking a limited confrontation and Iran is calculating the possible gains and losses well in this confrontation and the results expected by the regime there are:

1-Having the Iranian nuclear facilities destroyed.
2-Preparing the country for a take over by the extremists; in the way despotic regimes make their calculations, the resultant is positive.

Iran thinks that this is not the appropriate time for the super powers to invade and change the regime in Tehran since the situation in Iraq doesn't encourage making such a move.

And if Iran waited until the situation resolves in Iraq before taking critical steps like resuming the nuclear program then that escalation will impose greater threats on the regime itself not only the nuclear facilities while an escalation at the moment will result in limited reaction from the world limited to as much as destroying the facilities only while giving the regime the chance to halt any remaining sign of the struggling weak democracy in Iran; the nuclear facilities will serve just like the 'Mill' in Orwell's "Animal Farm".

This scenario is not far from what we’ve seen in Iraq; Saddam challenged the world after facing growing internal crises which made him export his problems to Kuwait.
He was seeking a confrontation with the whole world in an incomprehensible way that looked literally like suicide but Saddam like any other tyrant knew the results; losing Kuwait but gaining the "legitimate" right to silent any voice of internal opposition since the country is under external threats making any opposition look like treason. And that stage will be the worst timing for starting an opposition movement while the government is calling for "national unity" to face the foreign threats.

Iran will push for a confrontation and whatever is proposed will not be viewed as convincing to Iran which will put [before the world two] ways to choose from, either a limited confrontation that prolongs the lifetime of the regime and grants it more power on the inside OR success in possessing the nuclear weapons before the world makes the practical measures to stop Iran and Tehran is not willing to take a third option.

Doctor Zin at Regime Change Iran agrees: 'An important analysis. It is consisent with my theory that the Bush administration is pursuing a third way, convincing the international community to support read democracy in Iran, i.e. internal regime change.'

BUY THE BOOK "LIVING IN HELL" BY GHAZAL OMID - the story of an Iranian woman's struggle against oppression.

From Around the Blogosphere

Alison Bechdel is a talented cartoonist and blogger. Go check out her current posts for her views on Katrina and the aftermath. (And Alison, please accept my humble apologies for my meltdown in your comments the other day. My rhetoric was way over the line.)

Already mentioned, MJ at Friday Fishwrap is doing her part as a volunteer. Grace Davis posts on her friend Badgerbag who is also volunteering.

Beth Mauldin is volunteering too.

Judith at Kesher Talk has a post on Federal, State, and Local Spheres ... and a donor who somehow got overlooked.

Michelle Malkin quotes more Republican attacks on FEMA stupidity.

One Fine Jay has a list of RINO sightings, including Dean's list of a few politicians who should be held accountable.

Portland Coffee House, Trinity

I'm liveblogging from Portland Coffee House on Trinity Place. It's independently owned and easily the best coffee shop in the neighborhood. It used to be part of the Portland Coffee House chain of about four or five locations, but the owner decided he was getting out of the business and spun off the various outlets. PCH Trinity was bought by a very nice young couple who are expecting their second child any day now.

The owners and baristas (yes, the place really merits that highfaluten term) are dedicated and knowledgeable. The shop always has a crowd of fun young people (and a few old farts like me). And the coffee is absolutely first-rate!

PCH Trinity is currently open from 6:30am to 2:30am (yes, you read that right) every day. They're planning to go 24/7 soon, which is a very big deal in Portland because there aren't many 24-hour shops in town. The decor is uber-cool and there's always good music playing in the background. And don't miss the local art on display.

So if you live here, or if you're visiting town and you want to experience a bit of Northwestern decadence, check out PCH Trinity. It's located at 1951 West Burnside, at the corner of Trinity Place. (That's the street that runs between NW 19th and NW 20th Avenues. I call it Avenue Nineteen and a Half.) It's across from Panda Express and next door to Tony's Tavern. (There's a gay bar just up the block, too, if you're so inclined.) * The phone number is 503-248-2133. *

And yes, PCH Trinity has wi-fi. Stop by for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. Say hi to Brian, the manager, and all the nice folks there. Mention Dreams Into Lightning if you want. Oh, and if you see a mysterious figure in a ponytail and a black beret, it might just be me.

CORRECTION: Please disregard the phone number which previously appeared in this post. It is incorrect and belongs to a private residence. THE CORRECT NUMBER IS 503-248-2133.

Tears

Dr. Laua's Worst Nightmare defends politicians' right to be emotional every now and then. I absolutely agree. Our leaders are as human as we are, and whatever their strengths or weaknesses may be, for heaven's sake let's not deny them this most basic gifr of humanity. I have said this before in connection with President Bush and I'll say it again here - and I'll add that this proves that (contrary to what I suggested before) insensitivity isn't confined to one part of the political spectrum. Judge leaders by their actions - not their feelings.

Baghdad Tragedy

Hameed, a personal friend and frequent commenter at Iraq the Model, has lost a family member in the recent bridge stampede in Baghdad: his 42-year-old nephew was killed. Hameed's sister is devastated. Hameed says he will be leaving London (where he lives) to visit with the rest of the family.

My prayers and sympathy are with the victims of this tragedy as well.

A Ray of Hope

At long last, humanitarian relief aid arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana in the wake of hurricane Katrina:

On the day President Bush visited this devastated city, thousands of tired and angry people stranded at the convention center welcomed National Guard troops and trucks carrying food, water and medicine with cheers and tears of joy.

"The crowd erupted," said Tishia Walters, a woman in the convention center crowd told CNN by telephone.

"Flags went flying, people shouting and waving. There's like 7,000 people out here in dying conditions," she added.

Walters said she was outside of the center when she saw the National Guard and police arrive.

"It's amazing. They've come in full force," she said.

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore was directing the deployment of National Guard troops -- expected to number 1,000 -- from a New Orleans street corner. ...

Greyhawk (via e-mail) has this roundup of important links:

Useful public service request - help spread the word.

http://www.dod.mil/home/features/2005/katrina/index.html - contact info for military families displaced by Katrina (also a great collection of news releases on the military efforts in hurricane relief)

http://www.guardfamily.org/ - info for Guard families impacted by the storm.

http://www.gxonline.com/gxintelnews?id=24147 - info for getting deployed Guard members in touch with their families who might be displaced by the storm - and vice versa.

http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/003484.html I compiled them here, but it's more important to get folks to those other pages. Feel free to ignore this one.

A Small Victory wins a small victory:

I'm trying to catch up on my email, I have a zillion mails from people who want to help out with the school supplies - I have Trish organizing things in Houston, please email me contact info if you want to help out there. I am in serious need of help in Baton Rouge, I have only Dave there so far. And thanks to everyone who put money in the PayPal, and I'll mention it again for those who are emailing asking how to donate school supplies if they aren't in my area:

My Paypal button is on the left sidebar. If you donate, I will use the money to purchase school supplies to put on the truck. Simple as that. You have to trust a complete stranger with your money, yes - but I think a lot of readers will vouch for me, I've done things like this before. ...

Ready for some good news yet? I know I am. Michele has it here.

Have a good weekend. See you next week.

Katrina: The Unnatural Disaster

I'm not going to waste space on people who want to blame the Gulf Coast tragedy on the liberation of Iraq or on Bush's magical ability to cause hurricanes. There are too many important questions that need to be asked about the Government's response - or lack of it - to hurricane Katrina.

Aziz Poonawalla at Dean Esmay hits it when he says

Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of NOLA were the first, "natural" disaster to strike our nation this week. I have argued that the Administration and the President in particular cannot be blamed for this in my last post ...

The second disaster this week however has been "un-natural" - or rather, self-inflicted. It's the humanitarian disaster unfolding now, a situation which a full five days after the hurricane still shows no sign of amelioration. ...

The unnatural disaster is the proper subject of political scrutiny. Here are some posts from around the blogosphere:

LaShawn Barber tears the President a new one:

...We voted Bush in office because we thought he’d clean up the joint and restore the honor it once had. But every time we turn around we see Clinton with a tin cup asking “the American people” for money.
...
Second, why, someone please tell me, is our federal government so unprepared and inept? It’s been four days since the storm ended, and people are still without food and water. Dead bodies are sitting on the side of the road. Can you imagine, God forbid it, if Islamofascists decided to unleash whatever bombs they have? I’m not talking about terrorist thugs coming into the country; I’m talking about the ones already here, the Allah-loving America haters we foolishly let in.

It’s been almost 4 years since 9/11. We’ve spent BILLIONS of dollars on so-called homeland security. We watched in disgusted amazement when Bush created yet another federal agency, but we thought he knew what he was doing.
...
I’m seething with rage, and if I could have five minutes alone with George Bush, I’d start by telling him what I think of his boy Clinton, a man who disgraced the office of the presidency and embarrassed this country, and what I think of him for thrusting him upon the American people. Then I’d tell him how inept I think the “war on terrorism” is and ask him why he’s so afraid of the media....

Liberals hate George Bush, and no matter what he does, they’ll use anything and anyone to get at him. I don’t hate the man. I voted for him. I want him to succeed, but more than that, I want to be safe, feel safe, and I don’t. The federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina has been an epic and humiliating embarrassment. ...

I know, I know…George Bush is only one man, but the Democrats are circling in the water. They’re going to have his head for this, for all the wrong reasons, of course, but I won’t be lifting a finger to defend him. ...

Grace Davis wants to know:

...HOW IN THE WORLD I CANNOT POINT MY SHAKING FINGER AT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR THEIR DISGRACEFUL NON-RESPONSE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS IN NEED?

This blatant dismissal of human beings, American citizens, stashed like animals in the Superdome, this situation which has been covered 24 hours non stop on the major news sources since the beginning of the week, the federal government did not even know about this until yesterday?

Are you fucking kidding me?

So come on, tell me how not to blame and politicize. How I can't tell these asshats SHAME ON ALL OF YOU.

Ron Fournier thru Rich Lowry at The Corner:

Just last year, the Army Corps of Engineers sought $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans. The White House slashed the request to about $40 million. Congress finally approved $42.2 million, less than half of the agency's request.

Yet the lawmakers and Bush agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-laden highway bill that included more than 6,000 pet projects for lawmakers. Congress spent money on dust control for Arkansas roads, a warehouse on the Erie Canal and a $231 million bridge to a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.

How could Washington spend $231 million on a bridge to nowhere - and not find $42 million for hurricane and flood projects in New Orleans? It's a matter of power and politics.

Alaska is represented by Republican Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, a senior member of the all-important Senate Appropriations Committee. Louisiana's delegation holds far less sway.

Source: Ron Fournier at My Way.

Pseudo-Adrienne at Alas asks:

"why the fuck is it taking so long to get these people some serious help and aid?" And I sympathize with the mayor of New Orleans and his anger directed towards the Federal government and their apparent 'slowness' to respond.
...
Another unavoidable issue brought to light by the coverage of the devastation and those hardest-hit by Katrina, is the race plus socioeconomic status issue. Once again the media has whether intentionally or unintentionally cited how much race tied in with socioeconomic status plays a roll in our society and *still matters*, especially when it comes to such disasters as hurricanes that devastates certain segments of our society more so than others.

Read the whole post at the link, including the excerpts from David Corn's article at The Nation. And if you haven't done so, follow Pseudo-Adrienne's link to the Red Cross.

Cicero at Winds of Change has this to say about expectations:

I was a single-issue voter in the last election. I voted for President Bush because I felt he was right about Iraq, and more fundamentally, about our security. I overlooked just about everything else that I disliked about his presidency on that single issue.

Since 9/11, President Bush has made a compelling case that we need to rebuild our security mechanisms, at home and abroad. The Department of Homeland Security was formed here at home, and we were put on a war footing abroad. I believe that this is sensible given the levels of terror threats that we face. Unfortunately, I had to turn away from my own party to vote for someone who I believed took my nation's security more seriously.

I think there were a lot of Ciceros at the 2004 polls -- security-minded Democrats who voted for President Bush. As that kind of voter, I am having trouble with what I see going on in New Orleans.

After all the emphasis the Bush Administration has placed on this nation's security, exporting freedom abroad to Iraq, and the dire warnings about WMDs on our soil, my expectation in the era of terror -- the era of holding back chaos -- is that the Bush Administration can thwart chaos effectively. On the Federal level. That's what the game plan has been for the last five years: The Federal Government has stepped in with huge spending increases to prepare the United States for the chaos of terrorism. It has been a nationalized priority, costing billions.

New Orleans is devolving into anarchy, death, pillage and disease, nearly five days after Hurricane Katrina came ashore. Things appear to be improving only incrementally. Clearly, this is a crisis of unprecedented magnitude, with immense logistical challenges. It is reasonable to ask, however, if for the last five years the 'anti-chaos' mechanisms that have been put into place are as effective as advertised.

The Bush administration's credibility is on the line. ...

That's all I have for now on Katrina and the unnatural disaster. I'll post more next week.

One more thing about disasters and politics.

I meant what I said here, and what I said goes for the Right as well as the Left. I notice some pro-Bush bloggers are posting lists along the lines of "look at all the off-the-wall comments those lefty moonbats are making". That, too, is politicizing the tragedy. It's counterproductive. Getting bogged down in this kind of game is a waste of time and resources.

People who choose to give, and are able to do so, will give. I hope you are one of them. Those who choose not to will have their own rationalizations; forget them. Just do what you have to do and move on.

Red Cross
list of relief agencies at Instapundit


PS - Gay Orbit gives a salute to MoveOn.org for its Hurricane Housing program. As Gay Orbit says, "This is not a partisan disaster."

"Where are the Guardsmen?"

It's a reasonable question. James S. Robbins has some answers at NRO:

So is the war in Iraq causing troop shortfalls for hurricane relief in New Orleans?

In a word, no.

A look at the numbers should dispel that notion. Take the Army for example. There are 1,012,000 soldiers on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard. Of them, 261,000 are deployed overseas in 120 countries. Iraq accounts for 103,000 soldiers, or 10.2 percent of the Army.

That’s all? Yes, 10.2 percent. That datum is significant in itself, a good one to keep handy the next time someone talks about how our forces are stretched too thin, our troops are at the breaking point, and so forth. If you add in Afghanistan (15,000) and the support troops in Kuwait (10,000) you still only have 12.6 percent.

So where are the rest? 751,000 (74.2 percent) are in the U.S. About half are active duty, and half Guard and Reserve. The Guard is the real issue of course — the Left wants you to believe that the country has been denuded of its citizen soldiers, and that Louisiana has suffered inordinately because Guardsmen and women who would have been available to be mobilized by the state to stop looting and aid in reconstruction are instead risking their lives in Iraq.

Not hardly. According to Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, 75 percent of the Army and Air National Guard are available nationwide. In addition, the federal government has agreed since the conflict in Iraq started not to mobilize more than 50 percent of Guard assets in any given state, in order to leave sufficient resources for governors to respond to emergencies.

In Louisiana only about a third of Guard personnel are deployed, and they will be returning in about a week as part of their normal rotation. ...

Read it all at the link.

UPDATE: Let me add a couple of comments. I think Robbins' article in defense of the Guard deployments is good as far as it goes, but I don't want to just leave the issue here. Whether NG strength is diminished by a third, a quarter, or a tenth, it is nevertheless inescapable that every National Guardsman serving in Iraq is one National Guardsman not serving in the Continental United States. Every troop dedicated to the just and necessary war on terrorism and fascism is a troop deducted from the aggregate number of troops available for domestic emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina. In short, a glass half empty is still half empty.

James Robbins' numbers make me feel a little better, but we still need to address Americans' legitimate concerns about domestic security. I'll post more on this next week.

Michael Totten to Portlanders: Don't Get Too Comfy

Michael J. Totten offers this wake-up call in Donklephant

... The reason I say it could have been Portland’s day to die is because it really could have been Portland’s day to die. New Orleans is menaced by wind and water. Portland is threatened by earth and fire.

Mt. Tabor rises above residential neighborhoods near the geographic center of the city. That small mountain was forged in an eruption. Houses are built all the way up it, bang on top of the volcano. Spend a little time looking at underground maps of tectonic fault lines and you’ll feel like gigantic gun barrels are pointed up at the city from below, loaded and ready to fire as soon as the sinister order is given. Oregon is scheduled for something like a mind-boggling 9.0 earthquake between tomorrow and the next couple of hundred years. I probably won’t see it. But I might. I really might. My house was built in the late 1800s before we knew what awaited below.There’s no way it can withstand that kind of violence. ...

Read the whole thing at the link.

Winds of Change has an outstanding round-up of disaster preparation ideas.

Prayers from Baghdad ...

... for New Orleans:

It seems that we were pretty much occupied with the bridge tragedy in Baghdad that we didn't keep track of the news elsewhere till last night when I discovered the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the hurricane affected areas in the US.
I wish there was a way I could offer some help but there's nothing but prayers I can give from where I am.
Knowing that people are dying and suffering in Louisiana hurts just as much as if that suffering and death were in Baghdad.
Those people are in our thoughts and prayers. May God help them and guide their rescuers.

Thanks, Omar. Your words mean a lot to me. We're all citizens of one world here.