evolution

The nineteenth edition of RINO Sightings is up, thanks to Larry Bernard.

A pair of wonderful stories from Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

Complete with spin: “Anti-Israel comments nothing new”:

TEHRAN, OCTOBER 30: Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking to members of Basij Militia on Sunday insisted that his controversial call for Israel to be “wiped off the map” was nothing new. He did not repeat his call for Israel to be destroyed — but did lash out at what he called “an illegal occupying regime” and asserted that recognising the Jewish state was “an unforgivable crime”.

“We only repeated the words of the last 27 years which were the stances of the imam, and the supreme leader and Islamic nation. It was very clear,” Ahmadinejad said, in what could be interpreted as an attempt to play down the significance of his speech last Wednesday.

The “speech last Wednesday” was the one, of course, in which Ahmadenijad insisted that Israel be “wiped off the map.” (Three guesses for who posted the sticker on that last one.)

Second, Ahmadenijad, in a story that was reported exactly nowhere, said he’d kickstart the Iranian markets if he were “permitted to hang two or three persons.” Why? Because stocks are a form of “gambling,” he says, and gambling is forbidden by Islam. The Iranian stock market has lost 20% of his value since Ahmadenijad took over.

Religion has nothing to do with it, appeasement is the only way… right?

Japan is talking again about importing U.S. beef provided certain “risk materials that could transmit mad cow disease” are moved.

This is good news for the state of Kansas, which (according to a state employee who wishes to remain anonymous) has nearly twice as many cattle (5M) as people (2.7M). Senators Brownback and Roberts led the charge on this move; hopefully, some means can be found soon that will allow beef exports to Japan to resume while allowing Japan to protect its citizens.

… wherein I hand off a few of my blogging topics to someone else, either because I’m sick of talking about them or because it causes me actual physical pain to do so.

» Handoff issue #1: Chiefs blogging. Having lived in Kansas for approximately 96.6% of my life, I have grown up with the Chiefs, suffering with them through the 80s and riding high with them in the 90s. It’s too hard for me to write about them, especially when they play as they did this Sunday. (There were extenuating circumstances, but that doesn’t absolve someone of the need to actually cover Antonio Gates.) Therefore, I’ll turn over all Chiefs-blogging duties to our old friend Nathan of Chiefly Musing (formerly of Brain Fertilizer). Have at it, pal.

» Handoff issue #2: Plame/Wilson CIA leak. God, I’m so sick of this. All Plame/Wilson blogging will now be done vicariously through Reynolds (again here) and
Goldstein.

» Handoff issue #3: Supreme Court nominations. I’ll probably still talk about decisions of the Court and cases before the court, but the politics of the nomination process I’ll leave to someone else… say, Patterico. But first, the soothing balm of healing…

» See me… feel me… touch me… heal me.

» [14:25] A great post by John Cole. Another from Hubris at INDC on the ThinkProgress freak-out.

» [16:19] Volokhian Jim Lindgren, noting that the spousal notification is supported by majorities of Americans/Democrats/liberals, you have to wonder — is it really all that out of the mainstream? I don’t think so. If I were the child’s father — and I’d most certainly be held responsible if it were carried to term — I think I’d want to know.

… you game?”

UPDATE [10:19]: “Dude, she’s like 54.”

The piece that establishes the Times’s “paper of record” status in the modern media milieu is here.

Message to MoDo from men: It’s not me, it’s you.

UPDATE [10:20]: After this piece was posted, Maureen called Aaron Sorkin to see if he wanted to do some more peyote buttons, and left 63 messages on his voice mail. Her call was not returned.

My oatmeal hasn’t even adhered to the bowl and we already hear how evil he is.

No word yet on how many babies he’s eaten, how many barefoot and pregnant women are in his kitchen, or how much crack he’s distributed in the inner city to oppress minorities.

I’ll let you know when those details come out.

UPDATE [10:10]: Some related thoughts (that will never, ever be reported by any media organization) from Reynolds, on the case you’re going to be hearing about ad nauseum soon.

UPDATE [10:55]: Was Alito a Rosicrucian? Will he immanentize the Eschaton? This one’s going to get rough.

UPDATE [11:36]: Something a little more down to earth here, and also here.

If you are a conservative in this state, you need to read this article by Steve Kraske in the Kansas City Star (use Bugmenot). It’s a particularly astute analysis of the state of the Kansas Republican Party and Kansas conservative interests in general.

My dad and I were talking about these issues the other day, before this article was posted. I’m a conservative independent, but Dad is a staunch Republican free-market small-government conservative. He’s thinking about staying home on Election Day this time next year. I have spoken to several other such people who report the same sentiment. The article by Kraske enumerates some of the reasons why.

Point #1: The Kansas GOP is rudderless.

The party has no front-line candidate for the 2006 governor’s race, and the three contenders in the race are generating little more than broad dissatisfaction.

You’ve got that right. Kathleen Sebelius has no leadership skills. None. She couldn’t lead her way out of an empty room. She has been MIA on the major issues facing this state. She could have taken on any of them — particularly this creationism nonsense — very publicly, and positioned herself not only for a landslide second term but also a run at a Senate seat or as someone’s Vice Presidential candidate. Where’s she been?

She should have been creamed in 2002. That she wasn’t is a testament to the ineptitude of the Kansas GOP, and the ineptitude of the nobodies the Republicans arrayed against her. Sebelius proved that in this state, at this time, a big-government liberal can say nothing and do nothing*, and get elected while Republicans chase their tails. The situation doesn’t appear to be changing soon, either. House Speaker Doug Mays is leading another coalition of stiffs to oppose Sebelius. My favorite candidate, Rep. Jerry Moran of the Kansas 1st, has bowed out; while my dad’s favorite candidate, Johnson Co. DA Paul Morrison, is playing for the other team to oppose AG Phill Kline (whom my dad doesn’t even like — a single-issue candidate if there ever was one).

Point #2: Alienating secular conservatives weakens everyone.

Morrison is respected by nearly everyone. However, Kraske brings up an important point:

Morrison, who prides himself as an apolitical public servant, sure looked political last week. It’s tough to buy his contention that he switched parties because, as he said, he senses the Democrats’ “strong commitment to safety, security and the rule of law.”

Last time I checked, Republicans are pretty committed to those principles, too.

Morrison turned Democrat because his chances of beating Kline in an August Republican primary are nil. In November, with help from Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans, he’s got a shot.

Morrison did not suddenly start driving a Toyota Prius, or develop a taste for $7 tea. He is dissatisfied, as are many conservatives, with the overtly religious agenda of Kansas GOP leadership, like Mays, Kline, and Tim Shallenburger. I view it as just as harmful as the “progressive” agenda — another form of social engineering, with religion rather than “political correctness” and economics as its basis. Most conservatives I know don’t like this, and some, like Morrison, are starting to resent it.

Point #3: We’re not getting any help from other elected Republicans.

Party members fret that Morrison could knock off Attorney General Phill Kline. Others, meanwhile, charge that the state’s two Republican U.S. senators, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, are MIA. Brownback is off running for president, Roberts heads up the Intelligence Committee, and neither is around to focus on party concerns.

Where are Tiahrt, Ryun, Moran, Brownback , and Roberts? Roberts is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee; Brownback is exploring a run for President. Moran, as I noted, is not interested; Tiahrt and Ryun are MIA.

I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe it’s time — seriously time — for a third party; a party of secular conservatives and moderate liberals to give them all a run for their money. This is a theme I plan to explore over the next several weeks; I’d welcome your contributions.

Who would you like to see lead this third party? What kind of structure should it have? What would be its platform? Its attitude toward spending? Its attitude toward security, military, and border matters? Its attitude toward social issues? Any unique stands you can think of?

It’s time for something for us to believe in. The Dems have never done it for me, and have pushed me away over the last four years. The GOP, at least in this state, needs some serious changes, or it risks, with me and many others, doing the same.

*: Clarification [13:03]: Josh rightly calls me on the sentence characterizing Kathleen Sebelius as a “big-government liberal” who “say[s] nothing and do[es] nothing.” That does seem to be a bit dissonant — a big-government liberal who won’t grow the government. What I meant to characterize Gov. Sebelius as is a big-government liberal who doesn’t even try; who assiduously avoids problems, thereby generating no debate in the House chamber. Not that the GOP would do anything with it when they got it, which is more or less the point of this post.

UPDATE [12:20]: Damn, maybe I ought to give Lanny Davis a call. On the Plame affair:

The indictment against Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, by the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald presents a challenge in political-crisis management not just for the White House, but for the Democrats as well. And based on recent evidence, both are falling into the same old mistakes.

Each side seems unable to resist applying a double standard, doing and saying exactly what only recently it criticized the other side for doing and saying…

… The best result of this latest scandal, and the hypocrisy and finger-pointing exhibited on both sides, would be for voters to say, “A pox on both your houses,” reject the scandal culture and gotcha politics of both parties and seek new politics of common cause, collegiality and the public interest. The alternative is that most people will conclude that in American politics today the only standard is the double standard, and the cycles of conflict and rancor will continue.

UPDATE [10.31 11:10]: Some thinly-concealed “journalism” from Lawrence Journal-World’s Scott Rothschild, who may yet replace Jon Niccum as this blog’s favorite target, and who wrote what is essentially a Democratic Party ad ran for free on the J-World’s site, exhorting “moderates” to trade one set of clowns for another.

An “obscure” Pakistani group calling itself the Islamic Revolutionary Front has claimed responsibility for the 10.29 New Delhi market bombings, which have so far killed 57 people.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An obscure Kashmiri militant group claimed responsibility on Sunday for bomb blasts in India’s capital which killed at least 57 people, but analysts said it was probably a front for a larger Pakistan-based group.

New Delhi has so far refused to blame anyone for Saturday’s trio of blasts, but security experts see the hand of Lashkar-e-Taiba (Force of the Pure) behind the attacks, in an attempt to derail the peace process between India and Pakistan.

Indian police have detained at least 20 people, media reported, and are continuing to comb the bomb sites for clues.

The explosions took place within half an hour in markets packed with shoppers just days before major Hindu and Muslim festivals. Many of the victims were women and children.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed terrorists, but said it was too early to say who was behind the attacks.

On Sunday, the Islami Inqilabi Mahaz (Islamic Revolutionary Group), telephoned local newspapers in Indian Kashmir to claim responsibility for the blasts and warned of more to come.

“This is a Pakistani group and is a front organization of Lashkar,” said Ajai Sahni of New Delhi’s Institute for Conflict Management. These front organisations are often used to muddy the waters and deflect blame from their parent groups, especially when civilian casualties are high, he said.

“One way or the other, Lashkar is behind it,” he added.

Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based expert on terrorism, agreed the blasts were almost certainly carried out by groups from the subcontinent but inspired by the methods of al Qaeda.

“It is very likely the attacks were meant to affect the peace process between Pakistan and India,” he said.

More: AP.

Giada de Laurentiis is the Food Network’s newest star.

Not to mention a Class “A” hottie.

She’s the granddaughter of film director Dino de Laurentiis, who directed among many fine films the steaming piece of science-fiction crap that was the 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune.

Her show is called Everyday Italian, and it consists mostly of Giada’s family recipes from her childhood in Italy. She paid her dues in culinary school and working for other chefs, and now she owns an upscale catering business as well as having her own FoodTV show.

I’m a big fan of Italian food; some of my top of the food chain recipes are Italian-inspired. I come for the food, and stay for Giada.

» Kesher Talk introduces — the NPR drinking game! Add 6. Every time Renee Montagne says “Abu Ghraib” with the wild, bucking abandon of a neuron-blitzing orgasm, you have to finish your beer. (I’d be whey-faced by the first Carl Cassell political segment.)

» If you ever make it to Lawrence, one of the sights you should see is the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. Josh Rosenau, one of evolution’s favorite sparring partners, visits an evolution exhibit and promises pictures.

» The indefatigable Robert Spencer of Dhimmi Watch has some interesting questions on Islamic sharia law and women’s rights. (Such as they are.)

» Dave Justus talks about an activity in which economic outsourcing is actually desirable.

» The Recovering Democrat is ready for that “honest discussion on race” we’ve been hearing so much about; really, it’s been more like a lecture lately.

» As I was writing my Condi Rice Stargate SG-1 episode, The Nose on Your Face was uncovering the real real truth behind the doctored photo.