Petrified Truth

Absolutely, positively

Federal Express is working closely with anti-terrorism and law enforcement officials, sometimes in contrast with other private sector companies.

Before Sept. 11, 2001, when federal law-enforcement officials asked FedEx Corp. for help, the company had its limits. It wouldn't provide access to its databases. It often refused to lend uniforms or delivery trucks to agents for undercover operations, citing fears of retribution against employees as well as concerns about customer privacy.

Then came the attacks on New York and Washington and pleas from the government for private-sector help in fighting terrorism. Suddenly, the king of overnight delivery became one of homeland security's best friends.

FedEx has opened the international portion of its databases, including credit-card details, to government officials. It has created a police force recognized by the state of Tennessee that works alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The company has rolled out radiation detectors at overseas facilities to detect dirty bombs and donated an airplane to federal researchers looking for a defense against shoulder-fired missiles.

Moreover, the company is encouraging its 250,000 employees to be spotters of would-be terrorists. It is setting up a system designed to send reports of suspicious activities directly to the Department of Homeland Security via a special computer link.

Business associations say the government's call to arms gets a good reception in part because companies want to prevent the disruption and bad publicity that would come from terrorists using their systems. "All we are trying to do is to protect our assets and not have our assets be used for bad purposes," says Fred Smith, FedEx's chief executive.

FedEx's change in mindset took place within hours of the attacks amid the confusion and frustration that followed. Mr. Smith sent a message to his subordinates "to do whatever it takes to cooperate" with federal agents, says FedEx spokeswoman Kristin Krause. This included opening up FedEx's operations in the Middle East to federal authorities and asking employees there to help investigators.

The reason behind the shift, FedEx security officials say: The company saw the nature of the threat changing. When the government wanted help fighting drugs and smuggling, FedEx felt many of its requests were intrusive and threatened to slow the pace of their deliveries.

When the worry was terrorism, Mr. Smith says, the company saw its entire system as vulnerable because trucks and planes have been the "instrument of choice" of extremists such as Timothy McVeigh as well as Islamist terrorists. FedEx's security team -- which includes several former federal law-enforcement officials -- took tactics for thwarting drug traffickers and adapted them for use against terrorism.

Memorial Day 2005 - IV

Memorial Day 2005 - III

Here are some of President Bush's remarks for Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetary.

Every year on this day, we pause to remember Americans fallen by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. I'm honored to do that this morning on behalf of the American people.

The names of the men buried there are known only to God, but their courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation. The soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines we remember today answered the call of service in their nation's hour of need. They stood to fight for America's highest ideals. And when the sun came up this morning the flag flew at half-staff in solemn gratitude and in deep respect.

At our National Cemetery, we receive the fallen in sorrow, and we take them to an honored place to rest. Looking across this field, we see the scale of heroism and sacrifice. All who are buried here understood their duty. All stood to protect America. And all carried with them memories of a family that they hoped to keep safe by their sacrifice. At a distance, their headstones look alike. Yet every son or daughter, mom or dad who visits will always look first at one.

General Eisenhower put it well in 1944, when he wrote his wife, Mamie, about "the homes that must sacrifice their best." The families who come here have sacrificed someone precious and irreplaceable in their lives -- and our nation will always honor them.

....

As we look across these acres, we begin to tally the cost of our freedom, and we count it a privilege to be citizens of the country served by so many brave men and women. And we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives, by defeating the terrorists, advancing the cause of liberty, and building a safer world.

A day will come when there will be no one left who knew the men and women buried here. Yet Americans will still come to visit, to pay tribute to the many who gave their lives for freedom, who liberated the oppressed, and who left the world a safer and better place. Today we pray that they have found peace with their Creator, and we resolve that their sacrifice will always be remembered by a grateful nation. May God continue to bless America.

Memorial Day 2005 - II

If you are "serving" only here on the home front, one way you can support our warriors and their families is to make a financial contribution. One deserving cause is the Fisher House Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides much-needed lodging for the families of wounded or sick veterans.

The Fisher House™ program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House™ Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illnes, disease, or injury.

There is at least one Fisher House™ at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House™ program serves more than 8,500 families, and have made available more than two million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990.

A new and much-needed Fisher House facility opened recently in Houston.

The wind was blowing and the sky threatened rain April 5, but nothing could put a damper on the spirits of those who gathered to dedicate the Fisher House, Houston on the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center campus.

Approximately 400 military veterans, Texas Medical Center leaders, a former U.S. president, and state and national legislators were on hand to celebrate the opening of this "home away from home" that will house veterans and their families as the veterans receive treatment for long-term illnesses or injuries.

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., the Houston VA Medical Center's namesake, said family support is critical to the success of recovering patients.

"Having had a great deal of personal experience with patients whose families lived a great distance from the hospital where I was taking care of them, I learned to appreciate the importance of the support of the family," he said. "Having a place where family can reside to be near their loved ones provides extraordinarily valuable medical support."

"We are very fortunate at this VA hospital to have one of the finest quality medical services in the country," DeBakey continued. "I am so proud to have my name associated with this hospital."

Gallery Furniture President Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale donated seven truckloads of home furnishings, including sofas, chairs, tables, beds and lamps.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson said facilities like the Fisher Houses were not available to veterans of World War II and Vietnam.

"A house like this gives warmth, offers facilities and brings families together ... it's a gift," he said. "This is a red-letter day for the VA."

Typically, the average charge for lodging at a Fisher House is $10 a night, but the stay is free at this newest addition to the "fleet," as it is at nine other Fisher House locations. However, for families of wounded soldiers from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, lodging at any Fisher House is always free.

Community support is integral to the Fisher House Foundation's mission. Half the money to support each new house comes from donations, which the foundation matches to cover construction expenses. No money is borrowed to build.

In Houston, more than $1 million was raised in just 38 days.

You can make an online donation in a matter of moments. Memorial Day would be an appropriate occasion, don't you think?

Memorial Day 2005 - I

Today is Memorial Day, but many will not understand.

For most Americans, Memorial Day is summer's unofficial starting gate, a lighthearted day away from work that's all about cracking open a few cold ones and firing up a few burgers and hot dogs on the backyard grill for family and friends.

Kind of an odd way to act on a day originally set aside to remember American soldiers who died defending their country, no?

First proclaimed in 1868, Memorial Day was reserved to honor soldiers who died in the Civil War, one of the nation's bloodiest conflicts and the only one fought by and against Americans on U.S. soil. Adopted as a holiday by all states by 1918, Memorial Day — celebrated this year on May 30 — was intended as a somber day to lay flowers and wreaths at fallen soldiers' gravestones, recalling their ultimate sacrifice. But Memorial Day has lost much of its meaning over the years.

"I've heard that concern time and time again from veterans," said William F. Gibney, commander of the Rev. Francis Kelley chapter of the Disabled American Veterans at Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital in Albany. "It happens to be the start of summer, and I'm not going to begrudge people that, but there is not enough attention given to the true meaning of Memorial Day."

With the passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971, Memorial Day created a long weekend at the end of May leading into summer, solidifying it as a day of leisure, said Robert Thompson, a pop culture expert and professor at Syracuse University.

"Memorial Day comes at a time in the year where it was destined to be usurped by something else," Thompson said. "Memorial Day was designed as a memorial to the Civil War, but memories of that war faded as time passed. That could have been the end of Memorial Day, but the reason it stuck around was because it has a convenient spot in the calendar for a celebration."

Catastrophic events, such as Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks, will turn certain days into memorials — although those days tend to shift over time. Sept. 11 is America's true Memorial Day right now, Thompson said.

"The families of those who have lost children, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives in Iraq won't have any trouble remembering what Memorial Day is all about," Gibney said. "I'd like to see them get more support from other Americans."

Sitting around (Stars Wars)

Camille at Book Moot liked the new Star Wars movie, but noticed something about the female characters.

I finally figured out something that has bothered me about the movie though. All the women just sit around, empty handed, on sofas and sit and sit and sit. I know Padmé is pregnant and cannot be an action figure but you would think that she would have some paper work to do or diplomatic business to transact or some booties to knit or a parenting book to read.

Apparently in a galaxy far far away women have nothing to do but brush their hair and wear a new outfit in every scene.

Makes me appreciate Leia/Carrie Fisher picking up a blaster and shooting every stormtrooper in sight in The New Hope.

Maybe that's why Padmé lost the will to live: she knew the time was coming when, as the single parent of twins, she wouldn't have time all day to even take a shower.

Linked to Outside the Beltway's Beltway Traffic Jam.

Ashleys and more

Here's a tale from Southern Methodist University in Dallas that raises interesting questions about free speech and teacher ethics.

For most of the past two semesters, nobody knew the identity of "The Phantom Professor."

The educator's anonymous Web log, set at an unnamed university "in the South," spun tales of spoiled-rich "Ashleys" with their $500 sandals and $1,500 handbags, eating disorders, plagiarism and drug use, legal and illegal.

"At this school it seems like every kid is on multiple medications," the professor wrote, describing her charges as "barely literate," prone to emotional problems and "terrified of displeasing Mommy and Daddy."

Surrounded by students sporting French manicures and plans for spring break in Cabo, the blog's author told stories like the one about "a certain member of a Middle Eastern royal family who got a new Mercedes by convincing a frat buddy to crash his one-year-old model into a wall" or how one stall in a certain ladies room was known as "the purge-atory."

No names were used, but this spring at Southern Methodist University, students and faculty began recognizing themselves in the phantom's prose.

Earlier this month, Elaine Liner, an adjunct professor who taught writing and ethics classes in SMU's public relations department since 2001, revealed in an online publication that the blog was hers. Liner, who writes freelance theater reviews for a Dallas weekly, also let it be known that in late March she was told her contract to teach at the school would not be renewed.

"One of the ironies of this is that I worked in a building that had the First Amendment carved in stone across its front," Liner said in an interview last week. She said she is certain she was let go because of her blog.

"I can't arrive at any other conclusion," said Liner, who was paid $18,000 a year, no benefits, to teach two classes for three semesters.

School officials said Liner was not invited back for reasons other than the blog, although they would not discuss specifics. Rita Kirk, chairwoman of the public relations department, said she wanted to move the department toward hiring more full-time faculty. Liner, listed on a campus directory as a lecturer, is still working toward a master's degree.

"It's unrelated to the blog," said Kirk. "Her trying to make it so does not mean it is so."

Nevertheless, Kirk said she is troubled by Liner's writings. Some of the postings were vitriolic and upset students and faculty, she said.

"When a student talks to a professor, they assume they are doing it in confidence. You have an ethical responsibility as teacher," she said.

Read the rest of the story.

Satirizing "Ashleys" and jocks is like playing tennis against a backboard: the only time things go wrong is when you screw up. Actually awakening and teaching them something -- now that takes real talent. I'm thinking the Phantom Professor isn't up for that.

Time travel

Spent the day escorting two daughters there and back again: this time to the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival near Waxahachie, south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It was a 500-mile round trip, just a quick jaunt by Texas standards.

Oh well, now the girls are well-prepared for the fall Texas Renaissance Festival at (closer) Plantersville. Maybe I will go with my wizard's staff...

Walk right in

Here's yet more evidence that our southern border is out of control. Just think about this:

Fort Huachuca, a 150-square-mile U.S. Army base in Arizona just 20 miles north of the Mexican border, is home to the country's premier military intelligence school and, despite the sensitive nature of its assignment, has become a popular corridor for illegal migrants headed to America.

Law-enforcement authorities and congressional investigators said the illegals — some in groups of up to 60 — routinely wander through base housing units, drink from hoses and pools, and trample through the yards of military families and other private areas en route to nearby highways, where they catch northbound rides.

Officially, 3,086 illegal aliens were detained by U.S. Army personnel on the base last year and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. Illegal immigration has been described by base officials as "a problem."

But a report written for the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus as part of an assessment of the Minuteman Project in Arizona last month called Fort Huachuca "surprisingly ... disturbingly, the most undermanned federal entity in the area in terms of being able to adequately meet the threat waves of illegal immigrants."

The 33-page report questioned who is responsible "for the integrity and security of a military installation and its personnel, when that installation and its sensitive mission and equipment are known to lie within a cross-border 'highway' of illegal movement."

Tourism

In Washington, D.C. this week for a two-day IT policy conference -- different and pretty interesting.

Took a taxi back - better.

Wireless high speed internet access in my hotel doesn't work so hot, and even modem access is slow. Man, 24K hurts.

Surprise

Who knew? Jeff Baxter, musician with Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers, is now an expert on missile defense and counter-terrorism. The Wall Street Journal has the story (subscribers only).

A wiry man who wears a beret to many of his meetings, Mr. Baxter, who is now 56 years old, has gone from a rock career that brought him eight platinum records to a spot in the small constellation of consultants paid to help both policy makers and defense contractors better understand the way terrorists think and plan attacks.

The guitarist-turned-defense-consultant does regular work for the Department of Defense and the nation's intelligence community, chairs a congressional advisory board on missile defense, and has lucrative consulting contracts with companies like Science Applications International Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. He says he is in increasing demand for his unconventional views of counterterrorism.

"We thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments, and we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles," says Mr. Baxter, who sports a ponytail and handlebar mustache. "My big thing is to look at existing technologies and try to see other ways they can be used, which happens in music all the time and happens to be what terrorists are incredibly good at."

Related:

• Rocker turns into terrorism specialist

Europe - rise or fall?

Here's an article in US News & World Report on the rise of "aggressive secularism" in Europe but also the possibility of a spiritual renewal among the young.

From the ban on the wearing of visible religious symbols in French public schools to the refusal of the EU to include specific mention of Christianity's influence on Europe's distinctive civilization in its first constitution, a mountain of anecdotal evidence suggests that an aggressive form of secularism--what the British religion writer Karen Armstrong calls "secular fundamentalism" --is afoot in Europe.

Numerous analysts suggest that the spreading "Christianophobia" is tied to a Europe-wide spiritual malaise that is pushing the Continent toward broad cultural and economic decline. Others describe a more complicated process, in which--as the last vestiges of established religions are disappearing in various European nations--a new spiritual awakening may be taking place.

[M]any say that Christianophobia is only part of the contemporary story. They point to a widespread upsurge of nonhierarchical, populist Christian movements across Europe and into other continents, claiming hundreds of thousands of mainly youngish followers who seek ways of making Christian beliefs real in their lives and work. While the Community of Sant'Egidio, started by Roman high school students in the late 1960s, devotes itself to charity, social justice, and peace (working as mediators to bring an end to Mozambique's civil strife, for example), Communion and Liberation, founded 50 years ago by Milanese priest Luigi Giussani, a theologian turned high school teacher, focuses on what one of the movement's followers, Paolo Carozza, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, calls "fundamental questions: What does it mean to be human? What does Christianity have to do with this humanity?"

In addition to signs of a spiritual reawakening, the long view of history puts today's European Christianophobia in clearer perspective. Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, fought hard but unsuccessfully for mention of Christianity in the EU constitution. He is still troubled by the Buttiglione affair and by the Spanish parliament's moves toward legalizing gay marriage. But standing in the Vatican on a recent spring day, Martino asked: "Those Roman emperors who wanted to get rid of us, where are they today? And Napoleon, he didn't like us either. And where is Napoleon today?"

The jury of history will take some time to render its verdict. But one prudent strategy from this side of the Atlantic would be to make our pilgrimages to the roots of our civilization sooner rather than later when it might all be swept away by apathy, decay and ascendant Islamism.

Iraq good & bad

Here's bad news from Iraq: some of the enemy are getting smarter.

Iraq's insurgents are conducting increasingly sophisticated and lethal attacks on the private security companies that are crucial to the nation's reconstruction and the eventual departure of U.S. troops, contractors and U.S. officials say.

Such attacks "have become much more organized and much more complex," said one retired special-operations officer working as a security manager for a firm operating in Iraq.

"In 2003, they were random small-arms fire. Then they escalated to roadside bombs — sometimes command-detonated or with tripwires. Then they escalated to car bombs that would run a ramp and pull into a convoy or traffic circle.

"And now they are very well organized, rehearsed, orchestrated, using a combination of rocket-propelled grenades, [roadside bombs] set in a daisy chain to get the wounded as they exit the vehicles, heavy machine guns, small arms and hand-thrown grenades," he said.

There's also good news, via Arthur Chrenkoff's bi-weekly roundup.

On the move

Here's news from Iraq: American and Iraqi forces are on the offensive against "insurgents." Risky business, but better than sitting back on defense.

Seven Iraqi battalions backed by U.S. forces launched an offensive in the capital on Sunday in an effort to stanch the violence that has killed more than 550 people in less than a month, targeting insurgents who have attacked the dangerous road to Baghdad's airport and Abu Ghraib prison.

The U.S. military said the offensive in the west of the capital had been set in motion to root out insurgents, especially those who have staged bloody assaults on the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison and the notoriously dangerous road from downtown to the airport.

Without providing numbers of troops, U.S. officials said four battalions of Iraqi soldiers and three battalions of police launched the offensive with the support of an unspecified number of American military personnel, although a total of about 2,500 personnel were believed involved.

"They are searching for gunmen and weapons believed to be used to target airport road and Abu Ghraib prison, which has come under regular mortar fire," said police Lt. Akram al-Zubaie.

Suspects were detained but the military gave no numbers.

"Iraqi army and ministry of interior forces worked very well together and demonstrated good, solid fundamental skills today," said Col. Mark A. Milley, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

Iran hellhole

Taking a break from fomenting terror beyond its borders, the mullahs of Iran turn their attention inward.

Iran's hard-line constitutional watchdog has rejected all reformists who registered to run in next month's presidential elections, approving only six out of the 1,010 hopefuls, state-run television reported Sunday.

Only the hopelessly naive would have been surprised by this action.

Related: American Daughter has posted grisly evidence of Iran's bloody internal repression (WARNING: graphic images).

Venezuela going nuclear?

Venezuela watcher Douglas McKinnon says the country's ruthless and unbalanced strongman Hugo Chavez wants to acquire nuclear weapons, and his new friends in Iran may give him the opportunity.

To the minute number of people who understand the threat Chavez poses to the United States, his recent hosting in Caracas of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was disturbing enough. But a high-ranking official for a Latin American government has disclosed to me details about that visit that should send shock waves throughout our government.

During a private meeting between Chavez and Khatami, I was told, Chavez made it known to the Iranian leader that he would like to "introduce nuclear elements into Venezuela." My contact said "nuclear elements" meant "nuclear weapons."

It will be easy for many to dismiss such talk as false or the fantasies of a madman, but that would be a critical mistake. I have no doubt that Chavez is mentally disturbed, and I also have no doubt that his hatred of the United States and President Bush in particular is dictating his erratic behavior. High oil prices have made Chavez an antagonist to be reckoned with, and we ignore such a menace at our peril.

After receiving the report that Chavez might be trying to acquire nuclear technology or weapons from Iran, I met with a high-ranking U.S. official to voice my concerns and ask what he thought about such speculation. He answered me point blank: "It would not surprise me. Chavez is dangerous, underestimated and capable of almost anything. We are hearing a number of curious and disturbing reports. He is actively working to recruit terrorist nations and developing countries into his campaign of hatred against the United States."

Armed Forces Day 2005

Today is Armed Forces Day. Last year, we noted the history of the annual event. Here are remarks from SecDef Rumsfeld:

I am pleased to join millions of Americans in honoring the brave men and women in uniform -- those who serve today, those who have fallen in battle, and those veterans who proudly served in the past.

My father volunteered to serve in the Navy after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Millions enlisted to battle against the tide of tyranny then threatening the world. And I was privileged to serve in the Navy some 50 years ago. Now, more than 50 years later, I count my time in uniform as a most important period in my life. Thousands, if not millions, of others who have served undoubtedly feel the same way.

Military service has always been one of our country's most noble callings. America has long been the defender of liberty -- the country that has stepped forward to defend those who could not defend themselves. This was true from our country's early days at Lexington and Concord, where the earliest citizen soldiers defended their farms and homes, their new country, and the cause of freedom.

In the years that followed, the U.S. armed forces have become freedom's champion -- at Gettysburg; in the forest of the Argonne; on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima; in the air during the Berlin blockade; and today in places like Kabul and Baghdad.

This new war we face has required our military to adapt its thinking, and challenged us to prepare in new ways. Yet whatever the mission, whatever the challenge that lies before us, each of you who are serving our country are confronting it with grit and courage. I thank each of you and your families for your service to our country.

When my father passed away some 30 years ago, I found a letter in his papers that he had received from then secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal -- who later became the first secretary of defense. Secretary Forrestal apparently sent this letter to all those who served to arrive after they had returned to civilian life. Noting the historic achievements made by the U.S. military, he wrote: "You have served in the greatest Navy in the world. ... It crushed two enemy fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart. It brought our land-based air power within bombing range of the enemy and set our ground armies on the beachheads of final victory. ... For your part in these achievements you deserve to be proud as long as you live. The nation you served at a time of crisis will remember you with gratitude."

That letter to my father now hangs on my office wall in the Pentagon. It is a reminder to me of our country's fighting spirit. And I see that same spirit in the actions of the men and women in uniform every day. It is that spirit that we honor on this holiday: the selfless duty and devotion passed down from generations who served before, and the courage of those who sacrificed their lives in service to our country.

Our country is proud of every member of our armed forces -- volunteers all -- and we are deeply grateful to those who have sacrificed for the cause of liberty. May God bless each of you, may God bless your families, and may God bless our wonderful country.

More on Uzbekistan

What journalists often refer to as "unrest" still simmers in remote Uzbekistan.

KARASUV, Uzbekistan (AFP) - Tensions remained high in this town on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border as Tashkent struggled to quell unrest in the wake of a deadly crackdown that has sparked unprecedented Western criticism of the authoritarian Uzbek regime.

Some 200 demonstrators, mostly women, paraded banners demanding freedom for a self-proclaimed Islamist leader as well as a popular local wrestler in the town of Karasuv, which straddles the border between the Central Asian former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Several hundred soldiers and riot police stood by as the protestors blocked the road leading to a bridge to the Kyrgyz side of the town, over the Sharikh Khansai canal.

Two journalists working for the Associated Press were briefly detained by security forces as they tried to photograph and film the demonstration. The pair was let go after soldiers confiscated their camera, film and portable computer.

In the same dispatch, we see that the diplomats are as sharp and decisive as ever.

Western officials, led by the United Nations and the European Union, have stepped up the pressure on Uzbekistan's hardline regime for a thorough inquiry into the Andijan events.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed US calls for a transparent, international inquiry, warning Tashkent, a US ally in the war on terror, could face international isolation should it fail to comply.

The Western-led Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also called for an inquiry and said that Uzbekistan was not responding to OSCE efforts to mediate.

Top OSCE officials are "ready to go to Uzbekistan and assist with the dialogue and look at the deeper reasons for the unrest... the problem is that there is no communication with Uzbekistan," said OSCE spokesman Keith Jinks.

Uzbekistan is a very tough neighborhood and has a ruthless leader. "Inquiries" probably aren't going to get very far.

There aren't really too many good options, at least in the short run, other than try to uphold our principles without causing even more problems. Here's how area expert Charles William Maynes tries to explain what's happening.

[President Islam Karimov ] runs a very, very tough regime. His argument is that he is facing a very severe threat--and there is a threat. But the question raised on the outside is whether the oppression of religion in the country, or certainly the crackdown on people who tend to be religious, is fueling much of the unrest and poverty.

The path forward seems very difficult for his government. I think if he lifted the lid entirely, he would be overthrown. If he keeps it clamped down totally, there is going to be a lot of bloodshed.

[The U.S. has] about 1,000 troops there. We have an airbase at Khanabad, which is near the Afghan border. It is important to our efforts in Afghanistan, although how important now, in light of the overthrow of the Taliban, is a legitimate question. For the time being, the United States government takes the position that this base is absolutely critical to our role in Afghanistan.

I think the airbase to this point has been the dominant factor in American policy. There is no question about that. However, what happened in Uzbekistan throws a dark cloud on some more optimistic views of political change in that part of the world. Basically, we've had two bloodless revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, and one that caused some bloodshed in Kyrgyzstan, but not much. So, the inference that a lot of people were drawing was that this process can be pushed forward and that doors will be opened with relatively little pain. Obviously, there are lots of problems after you "succeed," as we've seen in Georgia and Ukraine. In Uzbekistan, there is going to be a change, but the question is, how much violence will accompany it?

There's more at InstaPundit.

Sit down and take it

Here's our Texas Legislature at work: they've voted to approve a big increase in their own already lucrative pensions while voting to reduce benefits for teachers entering the Teacher Retirement System.

[Retired teacher Edlyne] Dickson, who as a Texas teacher is not eligible to collect Social Security, is not alone in expressing outrage at the Texas House for approving, on an unrecorded voice vote, a bill that increases pension benefits for members of the so-called elected class. That includes all elected officials who retire from the Legislature or who serve in statewide offices.

The state Senate approved the legislation unanimously on March 30. To become law, the bill must be approved again by the Senate and signed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry -- who would see his own retirement package increase substantially under the legislation. Senate approval is expected; Perry has not said whether he will sign the legislation.

Under the legislation, a state senator or representative with the same 26 years of service Dickson put in would be eligible to collect $74,500 a year, or about $6,200 a month, and receive health insurance from the state.

By contrast, Dickson gets $2,043 a month after paying her taxes and a $100 health insurance premium, she said.

Meanwhile, the Texas Senate approved legislation aimed at shoring up the Teacher Retirement System, effectively reducing benefits for future retirees. There's not even any serious discussion about a cost-of-living increase for current retirees, meaning they're not expected to get one for at least another two years, if then.

Texas teachers have been slammed over and over by the Texas Legislature and our mediocrity-in-chief, Rick Perry.

It occurs to me that teachers and soldiers (and their families) are among the most obvious examples of people for whom Americans like to verbally pour out their respect and support, but who get short-shrifted every time when it comes to compensation. As Bob Dole once said (in a different context), "Where's the outrage?" Reality bites.

Illegitimacy

Daniel Henninger says Democratic obstructionism has its main roots in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election.

The death-struggle in the Senate over the Bush judges is best understood as a re-fighting of the post-2000 Florida election challenge. Democratic logic, premised on the famous 5-4 Bush v. Gore decision, runs like this: Bush stole the 2000 election with a Republican-dominated Supreme Court. The resulting presidency, as they've often said, is "illegitimate." Because "justice" failed in 2000, Karl Rove got four years to brilliantly manufacture a bare, popular-vote majority of social conservatives in 2004, extending the illegitimate Bush presidency another four years. Ergo, obstruction is justified.

Judicial nominations, the Bolton nomination, Social Security reform--Just Say No. But will the voters buy it?

Islamic anger

Here's reporter Claudia Rosett on the fallout from the recent Newsweek debacle.

With Newsweek's retraction of its story about Koran abuse at Guantanomo Bay, we are now deep into yet another bout of soul-searching by the U.S. media. The pity would be if, in all the parsing of media methods and pondering of the mysteries of anonymous sources, we missed the bigger picture--which is all about why Muslims offended by an item in a U.S. magazine, true or false, would react with riots that end in the maiming and killing of their own.

What's really going on here is two stories. One involves Newsweek and the ups and downs of U.S. journalism. The other involves a swath of the Islamic world in which anger, fueled by years of gross political misrule, is a chronic feature of life--seeking to acquire a target. What produced these particular riots was the intersection of Islamic-world furies and that brand of U.S. self-absorption in which no subject is more fascinating to the American media than any possible misdeeds of the U.S. itself.

[T]o whatever extent the press is engaged in the business of trying to report the truth, or contribute to the making of a better world, it would be a service not only to U.S. journalism, but to the wider world--including Muslims--to spend less effort dredging Guantanomo Bay, and more time wielding the huge resources at our disposal to report on the prisons of the Islamic world. It is in such places that the recent riots had their true origins.

Downward spiral

Daniel Pipes explains why he's disturbed about developments between Israel and the Palestinians.

How do things look half a year after Arafat's death? About as awful as anyone might have expected. Specifically, Mr. Abbas is unambiguously leading the Palestinians to war after the Israeli retreat from Gaza in August 2005.

[T]here are many possibilities in the next four months. Their common element is that by September, the Arab-Israeli theater will be in yet worse shape than it is today.

Here's corroboration that the Palestinian mindset has changed not at all under Abbas, via Melanie Phillips, who's been reading the transcripts of hate-filled Palestinian Authority TV.

[T]his from the body that would have us believe that all it wants is a state of its own to live in peace with Israel.

With the establishment of the state of Israel, the entire Islamic nation was lost, because Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation, and because the Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers.

We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world – except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. The day will come when everything will be relived of the Jews - even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew.

Ariel Sharon and his ally President Bush are taking a huge gamble with Abbas in general and Sharon's Gaza pull-out strategy specifically.

Uzbek turmoil

The authoritarian government of Uzbekistan mowed down hundreds of its own citizens last week in a crackdown on democracy demonstrations reminiscent of China's infamous Tiananmen Square massacre.

Now the Uzbek government is trying an old-fashioned Big Lie denial, which shows they haven't begun to grasp that we're in the 21st century.

The government and opposition leaders on Tuesday offered widely diverging death tolls and accounts of the violence in this U.S.-allied Central Asian country. The top prosecutor said 169 terrorists and troops were killed, but opposition activists maintained more than 700 died — most of them civilians.

Prosecutor-General Rashid Kadyrov and President Islam Karimov held a news conference in the capital, Tashkent, blaming alleged Islamic militants for last week's unrest and denying that government forces shot and killed any civilians.

"Only terrorists were liquidated by government forces," the prosecutor said, adding that militants killed several hostages and innocent civilians.

Kadyrov said 137 "terrorists" and 32 troops were killed in the eastern town of Andijan — a sharp rise from the nine deaths the government originally announced on Friday. Some of those killed were foreign fighters, he said.

Uzbekistan has been a staging area for the U.S. military in the war on terror in central and southwest Asia, so the Bush administration has its work cut out to take the appropriate public stance.

This doesn't sound nearly strong enough:

The United States said on Monday it was "deeply disturbed" by reports that Uzbek authorities fired on protesters last week.

"We certainly condemn the indiscriminate use of force against unarmed civilians and deeply regret any loss of life," the State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said.

The comments were the strongest from the United States since the bloodbath, in which some witnesses and activists say government troops killed 500 people.

Do Your Own Dishes

Indispensable Victor Davis Hanson sums up how we can deal with illegal immigration.

There is a reasonable approach to the United States' immigration problem, but it would require concessions all around.

The right would have to quit calling reformers "nativists" and "protectionists" and accept strict employer fines for hiring undocumented aliens. These conservatives should then expect to pay more for unskilled labor and see it organized and unionized. They'd also need to accept a legitimate, foolproof national identity card, and grant a one-time amnesty — not the periodic pardons of the past — for the millions of Mexicans who have lived in the United States for at least five years.

For its part, the left would have to jettison the tired "racist" slurs and accept that a nation has the right to secure and patrol its own borders. Liberals should concede that Mexican illegal immigrants do not have greater rights to entry than legal emigrants from the Punjab, the Philippines or South Korea who queue up for years waiting for proper documentation.

Latino immigrants must also make concessions. We are a melting pot, not a salad bowl — a multiracial not a multicultural nation. So those who come north should expect, as do those from Asia, to learn quickly to speak and read English, forgo the romance of la Raza ("the Race") and welcome their own integration, assimilation and intermarriage into the American body politic.

Finally, we citizens who are in the middle must restore our lost work ethic and accept that our children are better off working in the yard than at the mall, remembering that not long ago our beds were made, our concrete poured and our food cooked without imported cheap labor from Mexico.

Sounds exactly right to me. Read the whole thing.

Look to the north

First we learn that jihadist returnees are congregating in Canada. Now we learn that Canadian citizens are becoming Al Qaeda's "most cherished members." Great.

[I]ntelligence experts believe the majority of Al Qaeda recruits are now being trained at home, not on foreign soil. Canadian recruits, they say, are among the most cherished members.

An intelligence report from Canada's spy service, released to the Toronto Star under federal Access to Information legislation, says "there is a direct threat to Canada and Canadian interests from Al Qaeda and related groups," and that those groups are attempting to expand their support in Canada.

"Converts are highly prized by terrorist groups for their familiarity with the West and relative ease at moving through Western society," the recently declassified Canadian Security Intelligence Service report states.

Newsweek - blood on its hands

Here's Glenn Reynolds on Newsweek and its irresponsible decision to run an uncorroborated and destructive Koran story maligning the U.S. military:

It's not as if journalists don't know how to be exquisitely sensitive about their reporting when they care to be: Media organs, for example, don't normally report the race of those who perpetrate crimes, for fear that such reports might reinforce stereotypes or lead to lynching. But passing along unfounded rumors that reinforce enemy propaganda in wartime, and lead to significant diplomatic and military problems in a friendly country doesn't, apparently, rise to the level of importance required to trigger such sensitivities.

There's much more on his InstaPundit site. Jim Geraghty who writes his blog from Istanbul, has a roundup of commentary and notes the personal risk:

Americans living here know the threat is real, there are those who seek to do us harm, and that the only thing you can do is be vigilant.

Thanks, Isikoff. Now I have one more reason to watch my back when I’m walking down the street.

The dark side

I have a bad feeling about this: Darth Vader has a blog (tip via Winds of Change).

NYT goes for the gold

The New York Times is going to require a paid subscription for selected online content, starting Sept. 1. What riches await?

Most of the material on the Web site, NYTimes.com, will remain free to users, The Times said, but columnists from The Times and The International Herald Tribune will be available only to users who sign up for TimesSelect, which will cost $49.95 annually.

TimesSelect will also provide subscribers access to TimesPast, the paper's archives; exclusive multimedia, including audio and photo essays and video; TimesFile, a tool that will help users organize articles; and Ahead of The Times, which will allow subscribers to take an early look at articles that will appear in The New York Times Magazine, and the newspaper's Travel, Sunday Arts and Real Estate sections.

$49.95 to read leftist heavy-breathers like Frank Rich, Bob Herbert, and Paul Krugman? I think not.

It will be interesting to see if they get many takers.

Bolton's sin: speaking the truth

Mark Steyn zeroes in on Senate Democrats and their new ally, Republican senator George Voinovich, over the nomination of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador. Effective unilateralism vs. under-achieving multilateralism, as exemplified by the grotesque quantities of undelivered tsunami aid -- you decide.

Whatever one feels about it, the United States manages to function. The U.N. apparatus doesn't. Indeed, the United States does the U.N.'s job better than the U.N. does. The part of the tsunami aid operation that worked was the first few days, when America, Australia and a handful of other nations improvised instant and effective emergency relief operations that did things like, you know, save lives, rescue people, restore water supply, etc. Then the poseurs of the transnational bureaucracy took over, held press conferences demanding that stingy Westerners needed to give more and more and more, and the usual incompetence and corruption followed.

But none of that matters. As the grotesque charade Voinovich and his Democrat chums have inflicted on us demonstrates, all that the so-called "multilateralists" require is that we be polite and deferential to the transnational establishment regardless of how useless it is.

When rent-a-quote senators claim to be pro-U.N. or multilateralist, the tsunami operation is what they have in mind -- that when something bad happens the United States should commit to working through the approved transnational bureaucracies and throw even more "resources" at them, even though nothing will happen (Sri Lanka), millions will be stolen (Oil for Food), children will get raped (U.N. peacekeeping operations) and hundreds of thousands will die (Sudan).

John Bolton's sin is to have spoken the truth about the international system rather than the myths to which photo-oppers like the Canadian prime minister defer. As a consequence, he's being treated like a container of Western aid being processed by Indonesian customs.

Commencement

Happy day: our oldest daughter will graduate today from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in archaeology. Congrats all around to her and all who have helped along the way.

Anyone with employment leads for a talented and energetic young journalist with above-average skills and experience for someone her age, feel free to contact us. She has prospects but nothing firm yet.

Real BRAC list

The real BRAC list of proposed base closures and realignments has been released. Contrary to earlier speculation, S.C. did well, and Shaw AFB will gain rather than be closed.

Numerous facilities in Texas will indeed be closed, but the Lone Star state is projected to gain 9,000 jobs. Close to home, cutbacks are recommended for Houston-area Ellington Field, which has local folks worried.

Local political leaders vowed to fight for sufficient military assets to protect Houston and the Gulf Coast region after the Pentagon recommended that all 17 F-16 combat jets stationed at Ellington Field be retired.

In addition to retiring the aircraft belonging to the 147th Air National Guard, the proposal calls for closing the Army National Guard Reserve Center based at the airfield. Otherwise, Ellington Field avoided the closings list.

"The good news obviously is that Ellington Field will remain open," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. "Also good news is that we're looking probably at making a significant future, a significant impact to the future of homeland security and national security by building a joint mission base out of Ellington Field."

He said he hopes to work with other area political leaders and the Pentagon to replace the F-16s with newer planes.

Combat aircraft are needed at Ellington to protect Johnson Space Center, the Port of Houston and the many petrochemical complexes along the Houston Ship Channel and elsewhere, DeLay said.

More on Saudi oil

Thanks to alert reader Richard G., who has sent two erudite e-mails explaining how my early response to a forthcoming book about the Saudi oil reserves was wrongheaded.

Part one:

I'm a regular reader of your blog and generally agree with you but you are really off the mark with your posting about Matt Simmon's book and research. From your statement, it seems clear that you have neither read the book or any of his papers / presentations (see [here]).

Simmons never claims that we are running out of oil --simply that 1) we are globally reaching a peak (e.g. think of a bell curve representing toal oil production per year over a 300 year period; peak is the point at the top of the curve where roughly 50% of all oil is extracted with 50% left and where annual worldwide production begins to decline), 2) the technical behavior (e.g. water cuts; requirements for massive water or steam injection; depletion behavior) of major Saudi fields (particularly the 5 million barrel per day Ghanwar field) is that of fields that are in decline, 3) the Saudi (and OPEC) reserve increases in the 1980's and 1990's were entirely based on politics (OPEC quotas) with no technical or discoveries to back them up, and 4) that if Saudi Arabia has or is about to peak, the world has peaked leading to a variety of problems, including real limits to growth due to demand for energy exceeding the supply (2nd law of thermodynamics is generally ignored or not understood by economists). Simmon's biggest point is that we don't have a plan B (or plan C) to deal with oil depletion and that we need to start now investing in R&D and alternative capacity (nuclear, clean coal technologies; fusion research, wind, solar etc.).

Another point he makes is that technology has not changed the amount of oil in the ground, but has changed essentially the productivity of extraction (e.g. accelerating the depletion curves and significantly reducing the number of test wells (e.g. why there are 2 million wells in the US) needed to determine the size of a field).

Saudi Arabia was extensively explored by Western big oil companies prior to the date in the early 1970's when the Saudi's nationalized the foreign owned oil companies. By 1970, geologists had largely found every large field in the world, virtually all of the new fields discovered are relatively small (e.g. hundreds of millions of barrels scale) and in places where the costs to exploit the reserves (both $$$ and political) are high and often prohibitive. Note that there is some additional potential for a few large finds but all of these are in places very hard and expensive to work such as the artic or very deep sea or very politically unstable and will effectively only partially replace depleted existing fields.

Part two:

Actually, part of the problem with communicating the ramifications of peak oil is that the issue has been tarnished by too many incorrect statements, often backed by bad data and/or spinned for various political purposes, and the vast majority of the public (especially the political community) doesn't want to deal with the consequences. BTW - another way to look at this is to match supply (current fields including their depletion rates + new projects coming on line over the next 5-8 years) with rapidly rising demand. Chris Skrebowski, the editor of Petroleum Review, recently completed a study looking at every project in the pipeline over the next decade and concluded that we are going to have supply problems as early as 2007. See [here].

At a minimum, prices are going to be a lot higher and a lot of new projects and capacity that require long lead time (assuming of course no additional "political" delays) is needed.

Virtually all of the geologist estimates used in various peak oil studies for total world "undiscovered" oil reserves range from a low of about 150 billion barrels to a high of about 650-750 billion barrels, with much of the range depending on assumptions about non-conventional sources such as tar sands, heavy oil, etc. Again, the main point here is not that we are running out or that there is no more, but that we are hitting the point of the curve where it gets a lot harder and more expensive to extract, significantly higher sustained prices are needed to justify some of these mega projects, and that a lot of things will change as a result (particularly stupid and wasteful uses).

Finally, there is a national security aspect to all of this. The U.S. currently consumes roughly 25% of all world production but our domestic production peaked in 1970/1971 and has been in decline for over 30 years. We have gone from being the "Saudi Arabia" of the world to importing more than 60% of our demand, with the percentage increasing every year as we produce less and consume more). When 60% of the remaining reserves are in what is roughly a triangle with 1000 mile sides in the persian gulf and much of the rest in places that are politically unstable, potential competitors or enemies, or very difficult to access, we have an extremely high risk of a geopolitical shock. Even cutting 10%-20% (e.g 2-4 million barrels a day) of consumption in the US would create a major shock to the economy, consumers, commuting, SUV's, etc.

I haven't read the book (I don't think it's out yet) and Simmons may be entirely on the money. My point wasn't to disagree per se, although I may not have expressed myself all that well, so....

It was just to say that well-informed people have stated categorically before that the big fields are all depleting, no more will be found, and so a crisis is looming. It's very true that there won't likely be such large resources in one place again. But the industry has been very adept at getting better and better at exploitation, which has made a huge difference. The timeline of crisis has been extended significantly (even though it's still coming).

The other thing that seems intriguing is to wonder how much potential might be available in countries where political structures prevent the E&P pros from doing what they do best. Even here we don't know what's really available in ANWR, for example, because of politics. Geology is often surprising -- for good or bad. My company participated in the infamous Mukluk prospect off northern Alaska, rated by the USGS as having a 90% probability of very large reserves. As I recall, the well yielded hundreds of feet of oil-stained rock, but no deposits -- the oil had been there once but leaked away over geologic time.

If Saudi geology is really very well understood and very well picked over, then that's that. But maybe it's not -- petroleum technology has changed a lot since 1970. Have the Saudis really managed things that well? I dunno.

It'll be interesting to read Simmons' book when it's available, and see in full what he presents.