Time Magazine Covers Iranian Repression ...

... and cites Regime Change Iran (sort of). Time Online has a great article called Iran Slamming Its Doors on the World. (Wait! I thought it was America that was out of step with "the world". I'm so confuuused ... )

Please go to the link to read the article, but this just jumped out at me:

Using keyword filters and censorship software pirated from U.S. firms, the government blocked thousands of websites containing news, political content and satire. It even blocked the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The crude filters make it impossible to look up suggestive words such as women, so a Google search on women's pregnancy produces an ACCESS DENIED screen. [emphasis mine - aa]

Those. Fucking. Pigs.

Azadeh Moaveni's very fine article also includes an intended plug for Regime Change Iran, but as of this posting the link at the online piece is incorrect. (Doctor Zin informs me that he knows for a fact the author intended to mention RCI.) Let's hope the good folks at Time get this fixed.

Yes, I'm fine, thanks for asking.

Have been preoccupied with personal stuff the last week or so, but I'm OK and should be back to posting again very soon. Thanks as always for your visits.

Morning Report: January 9, 2006

Iran: Revolutionary Guards commander, 12 lieutenants killed in air crash; Zionist conspiracy suspected. Debka reports: 'Head of Iranian Revolutionary Guards ground forces Gen. Ahmad Kazemi and 12 deputies killed in plane crash in NW Iran. Iran claims to have caught an Israeli spy. The small Falcon executive jet came down near Oroumieh, 900 km north of Tehran, according to an announcement from Iran’s state news agency. DEBKAfile’s Tehran sources note the high importance of the dead commander who was appointed only three months ago. Another of the victims was head of the RG intelligence branch. Kazemi, for six years chief of the RG air force, was one of the fathers of Iran’s aggressive military doctrine. Our Iran experts’ first premise is that the crash was engineered by opposition factions to president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad within the regime in an effort to stem the increasing encroachments of state institutions by his backers, the radical Revolutionary Guards. There is no information on the “Israeli spy’s” identity. DEBKAfile’s Tehran sources suggest the purported capture may have been timed to coincide with the plane crash by the same group which sabotaged the plane to shift responsibility to Israel.' Jerusalem Post has this: 'It was the second time in two months that a military plane has crashed in Iran. On both occasions, the planes were carrying passengers and attempting to make an emergency landing. In Monday's crash, the plane, a Falcon of the Revolutionary Guards, was trying to make an emergency landing at Oroumieh, 900 kilometers (560 miles) northwest of the capital, Tehran, state television reported. The plane crashed because its landing gear jammed, preventing the wheels from being fully deployed, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.' Lots more reporting and comment at Free Iran. ShrinkWrapped offers the following analysis: 'The Arab world thrives on conspiracy theories and have not only demonized Israel and the United States, but in the process have created the image of Americans and Jews as giants and supermen. In keeping with such "thinking", I would suggest we start the rumor that the Mossad and the CIA were behind this.' Morning Report endorses the conspiracy theory. (various)

Old Cairo. Michael Totten has a fascinating and unforgettable post on his tour of Old Cairo by night. Michael - whose philosophy is "a bomb only explodes once" - meets up with Big Pharaoh and visits old mosques, the marked at Khan al-Khalili (exotic, even to Michael), Al-Azhar University (where a certain blind sheik once taught), and an old mansion. Don't miss this post, with great writing and amazing photographs. (MJT)

Like a ship out of a fog. The Belmont Club posts a roundup of recent developments, and wonders 'whether larger political upheavals are in the offing in the Middle East. The three collateral unknowns are Syria, Iran and Israel.' Wretchard concludes: 'The relative clarity of vision with which the US entered 2002 is gone, it's place taken by a political class which has demoralized itself in despite of historically unprecedented success. Of the pillars that held up the political world in 2003 only a few remain standing. Arafat dead; Sharon in a coma; Schoeder a factotum of Vladimir Putin; Chirac a shadow of himself; the European Union moribund, the UN a standing joke; Blair badly weakned and America obsessed with cookies left on browsers on government websites. And 2006 just beginning. Interesting times indeed.' (Belmont Club)

Iranian Regime to Kill Another 17-Year-Old Girl

"Nazanin, 17, was sentenced to death by hanging for defending herself against three rapists." Here's the report from FaithFreedom:

Nazanin, 17, was sentenced to death by hanging for defending herself against three rapists.

A young girl who defended herself and her chastity against three male assailants who intended to kidnap and rape her causing injury to one of them who later died in hospital was condemned to death by hanging in an Islamic court in Iran. Nazanin who has seen no more than 17 Springs, all of which under the tyrannical rule of the Mullahs is now facing execution for trying to defend herself and her honor.

No where in the world and under no law self defense is considered to be a crime, but in the tyrannical mullacracy of Iran if a woman does not resist rape she will be stoned as adulterer and if she does she will be hanged.

Nazanin, this young innocent girl, was assaulted by three criminal men in the city of Karaj while walking home in the midday last March (2005). To defend herself she pulled out a knife and stabbed one of her assailants. The knife penetrated the ribs of her attacker who later died in the hospital. The attacks on women in Iran is so frequent that many are forced to carry a concealed weapon for self defense. Unfortunately the Islamic law does not even allow women the right to self defense.

Despite the fact that she had been acting in self defense, as shown by the evidences presented and the testimony of eyewitnesses, Nazanin was sentenced to death by hanging. In the last court hearing she told the judge “I only defended myself and the honor of my family”

Read the rest at the link. HT: Hyphen at LGF comments.

Mark Steyn and the Death of the West

Jason Holliston at Columbia Gorge Dispatch links to the excellent but chilling Mark Steyn piece, "It's the Demography, Stupid". Steyn argues:

As fertility shrivels, societies get older--and Japan and much of Europe are set to get older than any functioning societies have ever been. And we know what comes after old age. These countries are going out of business--unless they can find the will to change their ways. Is that likely? I don't think so. ...

Also via Jason,Lileks weighs in:

The telling line in Steyn's piece quotes that fine Gaul Jean-Francois Revel: "Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself." I’ve read a lot of Revel; a great man and a profound, clear thinker. Lucky for him, he is old, and will not see his fears made manifest. Guilt is a problem, but it’s not the entire enchilada. It’s guilt married to a peculiar belief that Western Civilization is unique only in its sins. The only thing Western Civ really gave the world was slavery, imperialism, war, and capitalism; the fact that we have eliminated or diminished or abbreviated those sins is due not to anything inherent in Western Civ but some overarching, free-floating Enlightenment unmoored from the cultures that produced it. The world began in 1968, and owes nothing to what came before; if we wish to combat the regrettable enthusiasms of some other cultures whose animus appears religious, we should deconsecrate the cathedrals in order to set an example and light the way. Religion is the enemy to the transnational progressives, because religion holds up laws and codes and rules the wise burghers of Belgium cannot amend.

Lileks worries about those who "see threats and perils everywhere except where there are, you know, threats and perils." ShrinkWrapped relates an exchange with a commenter who also has an interesting sense of proportion:

Last week I posted Liberalism's Alter Nation, not one of my finest efforts but it did trigger an interesting exchange with Gary Farber who posts at Amygdala, a very interesting , often entertaining blog where he writes about science fiction (at least part of the time) which gains him significant points in my estimation. Among his comments on the post were two that I think are exceptionally revealing and underlined the most profound cause of the disconnect between the right and left in this country today.

In his first comment on my post Gary said:

The threat of Islamic terrorism is, in context, comparatively trivial, and no justification whatever to give up the liberty our country holds sacred.

Except at the extremes of left and right, it seems to me that this is the key breaking point in our discourse. If Gary is correct in saying that al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism present a "comparatively trivial" threat, it logically follows that one would be much less concerned about such issues as media bias, the left's conscious and unconscious assault on our war efforts, "whistle blowers" outing the NSA surveillance program, and a whole host of other disputed problems. On the other hand, if you believe, as I do, that Islamic terror represents an existential threat to the West, then the leaks about the NSA program in the New York Times and Washington Post become a major issue of treasonous behavior from the media conjoined with opportunistic and suicidal behavior by the left side of the political divide.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of this fundamental disagreement on basic assumptions.

However, Shrink holds out hope for an ongoing conversation, and some follow-up comments by Gary provide encouragement. Go to the link to read the rest of Shrink's post, and (in the comments) Gary's clarification of his own position.

Meanwhile, Big Lizards posts a rebuttal by Dafydd, countering some of Steyn's more pessimistic projections:

The essay is brilliant, persuasively argued, and displays the passion Steyn has for Western Civ. Fortunately, it suffers from one terrible flaw that spoils everything: it is a classic example of discredited static analysis. ...

Meanwhile, Steyn has a more upbeat piece in the print edition of National Review (issue date December 31, 2005) called "The Defeaticrats." (HT: NYC LiberalHawks) You've got to get the print issue, or else be a subscriber to read it online; but I'll leave you with this quote: "The tragedy is that, on so-called “liberal” terms, this is a war Democrats ought to be gung-ho for..."

Exactly so. As many of us have been saying all along.

Ben at Bad Hair: Liberalism vs. the Left

Guestblogger Ben says it better than I can with this guest post at Fausta's Bad Hair Blog: The Liberal Concept:

The Liberal concept, once upon a time, was a rather simple thing: Government, being a construct of the people, has a logical function of improving the lives of the people. Since "the people" means all the people, and the people on the bottom certainly need a lot more improving than the people on the top, liberalism was a- was-- a modern edition of Noblesse Oblige where the powerful looked after the interests of the not so powerful.

The Left's vision no longer has the government doing that. They've mutated. The Elite of the Left are now the new royalty, and their only interest in maintaining an air of Noblesse Oblige is as a cover for their own ends- if your authority is rooted in your efforts to help the poor, then it's kind of self defeating to actually eliminate poverty, isn't it? ...

Maybe the economics are debatable, but not Issue Number One. Activities designed to improve the lives of people presuppose the primary task of keeping those people alive. If you die, all else is moot. ...

Read it all at the link.

Morning Report: January 8, 2006

Hugh Thompson, hero at My Lai, dies. The helicopter pilot who risked his life to prevent further atrocities by American soldiers has died. On March 16, 1968, Hugh Thompson and his two crewmates came upon the horrifying scene of Vietnamese civilians murdered by US troops. Thompson confronted Lieutenant Calley, who had ordered the massacre, and acted immediately to prevent further loss of innocent life. Bill at Argghhh! has the rest, and Armed Liberal has a tribute. (various)

DeLay abandons quest to resume House Majority Leader role. News reports announce that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R - Texas, 22nd dist.) will not seek to regain his former title in the wake of the Abramoff scandal. 'Rep. Tom DeLay, the defiant face of a conservative revolution in Congress, stepped down as House majority leader on Saturday under pressure from Republicans staggered by an election-year corruption scandal. "During my time in Congress, I have always acted in an ethical manner within the rules of our body and the laws of our land," the Texas lawmaker told fellow Republicans in a letter informing them of his decision. Still, referring to criminal charges he faces in his home state, he added, "I cannot allow our adversaries to divide and distract our attention." DeLay temporarily gave up his leadership post after he was charged, but always insisted he would reclaim his duties after clearing his name. His turnabout cleared the way for leadership elections among Republicans buffeted by poor polls and by lobbyist Jack Abramoff's confessions of guilt on corruption charges in connection with congressional wining and dining. ...' (AP via Yahoo)

Iran regime skips negotiations, reactivates nuclear centers. New York Times: 'Iran threw negotiations over its nuclear program into disarray on Thursday, abruptly canceling a high-level meeting with the United Nations' monitoring agency in Vienna. The leader of Iran's negotiating team was said to be returning to Tehran. The unexpected turn of events stunned and frustrated officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency and foreign diplomats, who scrambled to make sense of Iran's decision.' Morning Report is sure they're still scratching their heads over that one. BBC: 'Iran says it will resume nuclear fuel research on Monday, despite international appeals to desist.
Officials say seals at nuclear research centres will be removed, ending a two year suspension. The European Union has warned such a move could jeopardise a return to negotiations on Iran's sensitive nuclear ambitions. Resuming the research would mean all of Iran's nuclear activities, apart from uranium enrichment, are active again.' (NYT, BBC)

Rice: US has votes for Iran referral. Washington Post: 'Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the United States and its European allies have the votes to bring Iran before the U.N. Security Council for possible censure over its nuclear ambitions, signaling increasing skepticism that continued negotiations with Iran will ever succeed. "The Iranians are digging their own hole of isolation deeper and deeper," Rice said at a breakfast with State Department reporters, referring to Iran's announcement this week that it will resume nuclear fuel research ...' (WP)

Allawi to lead Sunnis; Erbil and Suleimania administrations to unite. ITM: 'Stage two of the current phase of the political in Iraq which we anticipated a few days ago has just begun and its beginning is marked by the emergence of a new large political bloc. The new bloc was announced today in Baghdad after the largest three blocs of Maram-the Iraqi list, the Accord Front and al-Mutlaq’s Dialogue Front-signed an agreement to form one unified political body. This agreement will grant the new political body a significant political weight with a total of approximately 80 seats in the parliament and with good prospects for reaching something close to 100 seats if a few other smaller lists like Mishaan al-Juboori’s list, the Islamic union of Kurdistan, Turkmen and Christians chose joining it. Of course these numbers are not final until the election commission gives the final count and the international investigation team verifies those results and finishes studying claims of fraud.
Anyway, now the equation seems easier to read with only three variables instead of four or five! Allawi who appeared in a press conference today after a relatively long hiatus emphasized again that talking about forming the government should take place only after the investigation is over. Adnan al-Dulaimi and Salih al-Mutlaq were standing behind Allawi during the press conference which means that the two men have given Allawi the leadership of the new alliance. Allawi stressed that the new bloc rejects and condemns terrorism, of course this is something not unusual from Allawi but I think that Allawi this time was speaking on behalf of al-Dulaimi and al-Mutlaq who have recently been accused so many times by the UIA of backing terrorism. ... The day’s other big event is something that has been awaited for quite along time, and it is an achievement of special importance for the Kurds in Iraq, today Masoud Barzani announced that the KDP and PUK have finally reached an agreement to unite the two Kurdish administrations in Erbil and Sulaymaniya. It’s worth mentioning that since after 1991, the Kurdish region was run by two separate administrations; one by the KDP in Erbil and Duhok and the other by the PUK in Sulaymaniya.' (ITM)

Hugh Thompson

Hugh Thompson died Friday morning at the age of 62. Jonah's military guys have more:

I would like to introduce you to someone: CW2 Hugh Thompson. A fellow helicopter pilot from my war...

You probably don't recognize his name and you probably don't know what he did, but you will definitely recognize where and when he did it: My Lai, Vietnam--1968.

What would you call a man who saw his friends committing murder and risked his life to stop them? ...

Read the rest at the link. Armed Liberal says, 'reading his story changed my attitude toward the U.S. military, and indirectly, probably started me on the part to where I am today. I owe him an immense debt, both personally and as a citizen.' Do not miss Marc's Veteran's Day 2004 post.

Filling us in on the details, here's US News:

Skimming over the Vietnamese village of My Lai in a helicopter with a bubble-shaped windshield, 24-year-old Hugh Thompson had a superb view of the ground below. But what the Army pilot saw didn't make any sense: piles of Vietnamese bodies and dead water buffalo. He and his two younger crew mates, Lawrence Colburn and Glenn Andreotta, were flying low over the hamlet on March 16, 1968, trying to draw fire so that two gunships flying above could locate and destroy the enemy. On this morning, no one was shooting at them. And yet they saw bodies everywhere, and the wounded civilians they had earlier marked for medical aid were now all dead.

As the helicopter hovered a few feet over a paddy field, the team watched a group of Americans approach a wounded young woman lying on the ground. A captain nudged her with his foot, then shot her. The men in the helicopter recoiled in horror, shouting, "You son of a bitch!"

Thompson couldn't believe it. His suspicions and fear began to grow as they flew over the eastern side of the village and saw dozens of bodies piled in an irrigation ditch. Soldiers were standing nearby, taking a cigarette break. Thompson racked his brains for an explanation. Maybe the civilians had fled to the ditch for cover? Maybe they'd been accidentally killed and the soldiers had made a mass grave? The Army warrant officer just couldn't wrap his mind around the truth of My Lai. ...

But he wrapped his mind around it quick enough. AP via the Seattle PI:

Early in the morning of March 16, 1968, Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta came upon U.S. ground troops killing Vietnamese civilians in and around the village of My Lai.

They landed the helicopter in the line of fire between American troops and fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pointed their own guns at the U.S. soldiers to prevent more killings.

Colburn and Andreotta had provided cover for Thompson as he went forward to confront the leader of the U.S. forces. Thompson later coaxed civilians out of a bunker so they could be evacuated, and then landed his helicopter again to pick up a wounded child they transported to a hospital. Their efforts led to the cease-fire order at My Lai. ...

Read the rest at the links, and take a few moments to honor the memory of this American hero.

Morning Report: January 5, 2006

Israeli PM Ariel Sharon in critical condition. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains in extremely grave condition at this posting. News reports indicate that he has had a third brain operation in response to his recent stroke. Debka reports: 'His third operation Friday relieved pressure on the brain and removed clots from previous procedures. There is no active bleeding. A catheter is fitted in his brain. Latest CT shows significant improvement.' The Jerusalem Post says doctors are expected to release an update soon; JPost also offers related links. Dreams Into Lightning will post on any new developments. (various)

Iran seeking showdown to avert regime change? Just posted at Regime Change Iran, "Alan Peters" paints a disturbing picture of the Iranian regime's latest tactics: 'Analysts watching Iran on a daily basis were not taken by surprise by the Islamic Regime not showing up at the International Atomic Energy Agency on January 05, 2006, since reports out of Tehran have for the past weeks been mentioning President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad's office privately leaking to the Tehran newspapers that Iran already has four nuclear weapons obtained from the Ukraine. Back in 1991/1992 three nuclear weapon devices the Mullahs had obtained from Kazakhstan were verified on ground in Iran and intelligence further estimates that Iran has totally between eight to 12 nuclear devices from the Soviet era. ... s Iran expecting an attack now that the more pragmatic Sharon is out of the picture or has U.S and Coalition information leaked to them of an impending strike to put an end to nuclear weapons falling into the hands of someone like Ahmadi-Nejad? The new regime in Iran has certainly tried to provoke the USA and Israel beyond the point of endurance. ... Alternatively, is Iran planning to set up a reactive retaliation in the Middle East by the USA from an attack through surrogates like the Hezbollah?' Full text at link. Doctor Zin comments: 'If his sources are correct and Ahmadinejad is leaking that Iran has nuclear weapons, it would appear he is intent on creating a crisis now! Many believe Ahmadinejad is setting a trap for the west because western military action at this time would likely be of a limited nature since the west is unprepared for a full scale occupation of Iran. Such a confrontation would likely end in a negotiated settlement leaving the regime in power, but would also likely include internationally agreed to security arrangements with the regime, a very dangerous proposition indeed.' (RCI)

New Year's Resolution #1

To be named as one of the "Top 10 Reasons People Find Jews Annoying" in public opinion polls worldwide.

Putting the Out in Smoke Out

Towelroad has the definitive spoof of the Brokeback Mountain poster.

Senator John Danforth to Address Log Cabin Convention

News release from Log Cabin Republicans:

We're excited to announce that former U.S. Senator John Danforth (R-MO) will join us for the 2006 Log Cabin Republicans National Dinner. Senator Danforth will receive Log Cabin's Spirit of Lincoln Award. The National Dinner is being held during the 2006 Log Cabin National Convention and Liberty Education Forum National Symposium in Washington, DC. Register now for this special event which runs from April 27-30, 2006.

Senator Danforth, an ordained Episcopalian Minister and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has become a leading opponent of religious extremism and an advocate for building an inclusive GOP. Danforth has written newspaper op-eds and spoken about the need for the GOP to focus on its basic principles of fiscal restraint, a strong military, and an engaged foreign policy. "We reject the notion that religion should present a series of wedge issues useful at election time for energizing a political base. We believe it is God's work to practice humility, to wear tolerance on our sleeves, to reach out to those with whom we disagree, and to overcome the meanness we see in today's politics," writes Danforth.

"We're grateful to have Senator Danforth joining us in Washington for this special event. There is no better voice for an inclusive Republican Party than John Danforth, whose credentials as a loyal Republican, committed conservative, and man of faith are unquestionable," said Patrick Guerriero, President of Log Cabin Republicans.

Aside from Danforth, the National Convention will feature Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ). The only openly gay Republican in Congress recently announced his retirement after 11 terms in the House of Representatives. The National Dinner will pay tribute to Kolbe, who has been Log Cabin's strongest ally on Capitol Hill. Don't miss the chance to see Congressman Kolbe and Senator Danforth.

Event registration here.