Shall Not Perish

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln, the son of an uneducated farmer, spoke those words at the dedication of a cemetery for those who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. Today people do not really understand what Lincoln was. He was a man from humble origins, with little formal education, who still managed to become the president of a nation. The rest of the world simply could not comprehend this. This was not a man born to wield power. This was not a man of the elite. This was not a man born to the right family with all the right connections.

This was the son of uneducated farmers.

He just did not fit the European ideal of leadership. Which is at least part of the reason that Britain considered intervening in the American Civil War until quite late in it. But this man, given to depression (they called it melancholy then), still hoped to save the union even when things looked their worst. In 1864 he had his cabinet sign a sealed envelope. Inside was this:

"This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probably that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President-elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards."

Abraham Lincoln, to me, is a shining example of the triumph of hope. That hope shall not perish.

Let’s Focus For A Moment

There is a huge ruckus going on right now about the Associated Press publishing what appear to be complete lies about Iraq. They appear to be using stringers who are gleefully quoting "police spokesmen" who are, actually, neither. But it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the lies the media are pumping out right now. Take this one from a few days back: The BBC cheerfully reported that "up to 1,000,000" unexploded bomblets from cluster munitions were all over Southern Lebanon. Bob Owens did a great job of doing the math and exposing that as a complete fabrication. But don't take his word for it:

So far, the administration has focused on training Lebanese military officers and demining southern Lebanon in the wake of the Israel-Hizbullah war. Officials said Washington has helped remove about 50,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon, or about half of the estimated total.

"There's a major problem with unexploded ordnance on the ground and our efforts to help remove that are also proceeding very rapidly," U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Randall Tobias said on Nov. 15. "At the time I was there, the estimate was that we had removed or assisted in the removal of about 50,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance."

Now that is unexploded ordnance of all types, not just cluster munitions.

(Note: you might want to read the rest of that article. It indicates that Lebanon's crisis is actually reaching a crucial phase.)

Fraud, Writ Large

Curt at Flopping Aces has flat out busted the Associated Press filing fraudulent stories based entirely on reports from an "Iraqi police official" who is a) not a member of the police and b) not an authorized spokesman for anyone. Unless he is a spokesman for the insurgents, that is. But CentCom has demanded a retraction of the false stories based on this fraud's accounts. AllahPundit has picked up the torch on this one since Curt is really struggling with server problems at the moment.

I laid off this post at Flopping Aces initially because I didn’t think there was anything particularly suspicious about the cop. Centcom was disputing his report of the six Sunnis burned alive by Shiites but they could have been wrong just as easily as he could. I also didn’t (and still don’t) see Curt’s point about the cop only being quoted in cases where Shiites attack Sunnis. If he’s stationed in an area where Shiite attacks on Sunnis are common, that’s going to happen.

But go see his latest update, all the way at the bottom. And bear in mind — the AP’s been using this guy for months.

Like Patterico said about that L.A. Times airstrike story that’s imploding at an ever accelerating rate:

I learned something important about reporting from Iraq in general. Big Media journalists often rely on sources that are unreliable. They don’t tell you the pressures these sources might be under from insurgents and terrorists. They refuse to tell you who their stringers are, so we can assess their motivations. They get quotes from doctors who seem to see only civilian deaths. If the military has been given insufficient time to respond to an allegation, these journalists don’t check with the military later, to verify that the story they’ve written is accurate. And sometimes, as here, their stories are completely at odds with numerous other accounts reported in other press outlets — and they seem to have no interest in finding out why.

It’s very sobering to realize that much of the news coming out of Iraq is completely unreliable.

Goldstein thinks this is evidence that the violence in Iraq isn’t pandemic, which is a lot further than I’m willing to go. But he’s always worth reading, so partake. Centcom, meanwhile, is demanding a retraction from the AP. They haven’t, to my knowledge, demanded one from the L.A. Times, but Patterico sort of has. Response thus far: zero.

Look folks, I really do not care if you oppose this (or all) war, support this war or anything else. If you do not understand that the media printing false information as pure propaganda from people who have made multiple threats to destroy your country is wrong, you have a problem. Or a death wish. Or both. A media that cannot be trusted to tell the basic truth can not be trusted on any important subject. None at all.

UPDATE: Others: Gateway Pundit, Power Line, JunkYardBlog, Riehl World View, Patterico, Confederate Yankee, Wake up America, The Belmont Club, Villainous Company, Pajamas Media, BizzyBlog, The Dread Pundit Bluto, The Jawa Report, Townhall, JunkYardBlog, The Sundries Shack, NewsBusters, A Blog For All, Sister Toldjah, The Anchoress,

Demon In Disguise - Part Deux

Well, once again, when we're right, we're right. We told you earlier about the new evil ambush technique that deer were preparing. They plan to disguise themselves as volleyball nets and wait for unsuspecting players to charge the net. Well, the does are not going to leave it for the bucks to have all the fun, nosiree. They are going to get in on the action by growing racks of their very own. Why are you looking at us like that? We have proof!

MICHIGAN, N.D. - When Carmen Erickson dropped a deer with a single shot in a cattail slough south of here, he thought he'd downed a nice buck. Unlike his shot, he was a little off. The deer was a doe.

"It's got no male utilities," said Erickson, who lives in Minot. "It has teats … it was pretty unusual."

Six hunting partners with Erickson witnessed the doe with a 4-by-4 rack.

"I'm sure this story will be around for 10 years," he said. "At least in our group."

Erickson notified the state Game and Fish Department and received a voice mail from a biologist who said these types of deer often are bucks whose testicles haven't descended or for some reason are castrated. Erickson said that is not the case with his deer, however.

"We couldn't find any male genitals on the deer," he said.

"We turned it over, and I got a lot of heat over that. Like I was supposed to know," Erickson joked.

Gary Rankin, district game warden in Larimore, said he has seen a couple of antlered does over the years, but for a doe to have a well-developed rack is unusual.

Well developed racks, male utilities. You can't make this stuff up! But we keep telling people about these serious threats from the Animal Uprising™, even though people keep calling the authorities on us. We happen to think we'll look spiffy in that white sport coat the nice man showed us the last time he came around.

The sleeves looked a little long, though.

What To Do With The Leftovers

Ah, Thanksgiving, the mother of all leftover generators. Yes, everyone has fond memories of days and days and days and days of recycled turkey after the big feast. Pot pies, casseroles, soups, sandwiches, turkey mornay, turkey salad, turkey tetrazzini why - just about anything can be made with turkey leftovers.

Including diesel fuel.

In the U.S. South, folks like their Thanksgiving Day turkey deep fried — and the city of Plano north of Dallas collects the bird fat from residents for use in the biofuels industry.

"This is our busiest time, the week after Thanksgiving. We collect about 500 gallons of turkey fat during that time," said Lois Woolf, a Plano City worker, as she hoisted a plastic container of oil left outside someone's home for collection.

In 2005, Plano collected 1,200 gallons of cooking oil, the vast majority turkey fryer fat. The bulk of it is picked up during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

The turkey fat is donated to Biodiesel Industries, the first renewable energy-powered plant producing biodiesel fuel in the state of Texas.

Biofuels are gaining favour as an alternative "clean" fuel amid growing concerns about carbon emissions linked to climate change, high oil prices and instability in crude producing regions like the Middle East.

This is even the case in pockets of Texas, the heart of the massive U.S. oil industry.

"The City of Plano has a rolling stock of 700-800 vehicles and 59 of these are using hybrid or alternative fuels," said Melinda Sweney, the Sustainability Communications Coordinator for Plano.

Plano collects the oil from residents who call in and ask for pick-ups — and there is plenty of demand in a region where people like their food fried and crispy.

I haven't fried a turkey in a while, but they are delicious. Getting rid of the vat of oil afterward can be a challenge unless you live in a castle under seige, however. So this is a pretty smart effort on the part of Plano, I think.

Demon In Disguise

Well now I really think that you should have guessed by now
That I'm a Demon, uh,  in Disguise
You're just a little bit behind all the rest somehow
I mean you missed all the hints that showed the truth to the wise
 
You know you shouldn't let the glasses fool ya
Stand beside me when you measure my size
Don't let false estimations rule ya
So even you might come to realize
 
I am a Demon in Disguise
(David Bromberg, Demon in Disguise)

Some people seem to think we're joking when we post yet another entry about the Animal Uprising™. They think it's funny when we tell them about alligators impersonating doormats. Some people, on the other hand, think we're crazy. Hence the visits from the health department. But we carry on, trying desperately to get the word out. But now, just maybe, people will finally realize how serious this all is. Because there is photographic proof this time! Just wait until the next time you go out to enjoy a little pickup game of volleyball. There you are, playing away and suddenly, wham, you're gored by the murderous antlers of a deadly demon deer disguised as the volleyball net.

And it is not the only example!

You'll be sorry you laughed. Or called the health department!

Magical Mystery Tour

Josh Manchester at The Adventures of Chester takes a look at the literary form known as "magical realism" and compares it with the reality that foreign policy "realists" believe in. And, by Jove, it is simply magical.

Students of Latin American literature will be familiar with "magical realism," a technique of writing frequently associated with Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, the Nobel-prize winning Columbian novelist. Wikipedia notes some elements of magical realism, several of which are excerpted here:

* Contains fantastical elements
* The fantastic elements may be intrinsically plausible but are never explained
* Characters accept rather than question the logic of the magical element . . .
* Distorts time so that it is cyclical or so that it appears absent. Another technique is to collapse time in order to create a setting in which the present repeats or resembles the past
* Inverts cause and effect, for instance a character may suffer before a tragedy occurs
* Incorporates legend or folklore
* Mirrors past against present; astral against physical planes; or characters one against another . . .
* Open-ended conclusion leaves the reader to determine whether the magical and/or the mundane rendering of the plot is more truthful or in accord with the world as it is.

Read the whole thing, by the end the fantastic seems mundane, the magically improbable reasoning that have unfortunate real world consequences.

Negotiate With Iran?

To what end, exactly? Mad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made yet another of his friendly, conciliatory speeches that have brought him such renown as a charming ad level-headed fellow. This time he predicts the collapse of Israel, Britain and the US. It's a trifecta of hate.

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted the collapse of Israel, the U.S. and Britain, attacking what he called their “oppressive behavior.''

“The Zionist regime is on a steep downhill towards collapse and disgrace,'' Ahmandinejad told supporters at a rally of Basiji militia forces near Tehran today. In a reference to the U.S. and U.K., he said “the collapse and crumbling of your devilish rule has started.'' The speech was carried live on state television.

Iran doesn't recognize Israel, and Ahmadinejad drew international condemnation after saying in October 2005 that Israel should be “wiped off the map.'' The U.S. and Iran have had no diplomatic ties since 1980 following the seizure of diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

The U.K., which has an embassy in Tehran, is among the three European countries pushing for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The Iranian president also called on neighboring countries to drive out “foreign occupiers,'' in a reference to U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The people of the region are well able to establish regional security,'' the president said in the speech near the shrine of the Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “The presence of foreigners is the source of discord and conflict.''

Yeah. Negotiations should work out real well. Perhaps the "realists" should take a look at reality. Or we're headed for a "cease. Fire!" situation with us as the firee.

Cease. Fire!

A completely typical Palestinian ceasefire went into effect with Israel. They signed it and launched a barrage of rockets into Israel. In other words, Israel ceased and the Palestinians fired.

 Despite the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, two Kassam rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip, landed in open territory in the Sderot area on Monday afternoon.

No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

Although the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the attack, many in the Palestinian Authority said that the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) were actually the ones responsible as it was one of their group who was killed by IDF forces late Sunday night.

Earlier Monday, a leader of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin, Mahmoud Al Saadi, threatened that his organization would carry out suicide bombings deep inside Israeli territory in response to Israeli violations of the cease-fire in the West Bank.

Al Saadi called on his counterparts in Gaza to reject the fledgling truce unless it covered all the Palestinian territories and warned that his group might launch a suicide attack on Israel.

"We live in the same homeland and it is forbidden to divide our homeland, " he said in a statement.

That it is not worth negotiating under such conditions should be obvious to even the most clue proof of the Clue Proof™. That Palestinian promises at a negotiation are completely worthless is, at this point, a given. Yet there are still automatic calls for negotiation from Europe and the West on a continuous basis. How about if we simply automate the entire process to save doing the same thing over and over. The West can simply play a recording demanding negotiations and the Palestinians can do the same saying they're stopping their violence.

It would achieve about the same amount of good.

Minority Report

Fans of science fiction are well aware of the dark writings of Philip K. Dick. A number of his short stories and novels have been made into movies from Blade Runner, based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep to Total Recall, based on We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. More recently, of course, the movie Minority Report was released. Philip K. Dick never considered himself a novelist, but rather thought of himself as a philosopher who used fiction as a tool. He's been dead for some 24 years now but would recognize the world today all too well.

For the British have just formed a "Future Crimes" division.

LONDON (AFP) - British criminal psychologists are putting together a list of the 100 most dangerous murderers and rapists before they have committed any such crimes.

Experts from London's Metropolitan Police's Homicide Prevention Unit are creating psychological profiles of likely offenders which will enable them to predict future patterns of behaviour. Statements from former partners, mental health workers and any previous complaints are used to compile the profiles which would identify those most likely to commit serious violent crimes.

The team is currently focussing on individuals who could turn from domestic violence to murder, based on data that shows that about 25 percent of all murders are related to domestic violence, the newspaper said.

"My vision is that we know across London who the top 100 people are," said Laura Richards, a senior criminal psychologist with the Homicide Prevention Unit said Monday.

"It is trying to pick up (murderer) Ian Huntley before he goes out and commits that murder. Then we have the opportunity to stop something turning into a lethal event," she added.

Pilot projects to target high-risk future offenders have been operating in five London boroughs for about two months.

Once an individual has been targeted, police can decide whether to make moves towards an arrest, though The Times newspaper did not specify on what grounds this could occur, or they could alert relevant social services.

Yeah, Dick would recognize it all right. He tried to warn us, didn't he? A wonderful website for all things Philip K. Dick can be found here.

Crisis At The North Pole

Well, ok, it's actually in Berlin, but they are facing a terrible shortage. Not enough Santas to go around. They only have about 1/3 as many as they need to meet demand.

The director of Berlin's "Heinzelmaennchen" agency that acts as an intermediary for 5,000 families that order the 20-minute visits from a real live Santa Claus each year on December 24 said he was having trouble getting enough qualified help this year.

"We need at least 300 Santas to meet the demand but we only have about 100 signed up so far," said Rene Heydeck, 40, who also runs the agency's "Father Christmas desk". His official title is "Ober-Weinachtsmann" (chief Santa Claus).

"We prefer chubby men, of course, ideally with a real beard but we're not picky and take what we get," he told Reuters.

The Santas, many of whom are students, earn 28 euros (19 pounds) for each performance — bringing in a sack of presents provided outside the door by parents and handing out the gifts. They start at about 3 p.m. and are finished by about 9 p.m.

The 300 Santas visit an average of 10 to 12 families, although some have managed up to 20, Heydeck said. In return, the Santas must buy their costumes for 45 euros and have to pay the agency 15 percent of their earnings.

You realize what this means, don't you? Global warming! That's right. The polar bears have found a new source of food. They must have run out of BBC cameramen.

Worst Crook In The World?

Irish police have reportedly warned an enormously unsuccessful would-be crook to go straight - before he kills himself. He's apparently that bad at his chosen profession.

The unnamed man in his 30s has been arrested three times and each heist has brought him closer to the hereafter.

Police took the man into custody and to the hospital at the weekend after he was hit by a lorry while making a getaway from a betting shop robbery, the Irish Sun reported.

He has also been plucked from a chimney where he became stuck while trying to burgle a house, and from the ceiling of a bank where he was pinned by a security device. When they arrived at the bank he was dangling by one leg and stuffing cash into his underpants.

As we understand it, the man has decided to give up trying to rob various establishments and is going into a much safer line of work where the rewards are much higher with far less work.

He's entering politics.

A Little Late

But better late than never when it comes to curbing Federal spending. John Fund at the Opinion Journal takes a look at the stand Republican Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina took to block the excessive porkiness of the last few spending bills that the Senate was trying to sneak in before the leadership changes hands in January. By blocking the nearly 10,000 earmarks in those pork festival spending bills, they effectively forced the various Federal department onto a diet by making them have to live with last year's budgets. Poor babies.

It's been years since federal agencies have screamed this loudly about fiscal discipline being imposed on them. GOP Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina have decided to take a stand against overspending by objecting to the nearly 10,000 earmarks, or member-sponsored pork projects, larded throughout the spending bills Congress is currently considering.

Their obstinacy has convinced the leadership of the departing Republican Congress that they probably won't be able to pass spending bills in next month's short lame-duck session. Instead, they are likely to pass a stopgap "continuing resolution," which will continue funding all programs at last year's level until the new Democratic Congress passes its own versions of the funding bills.

Mr. Coburn says the decision not to pass earmark-stuffed catchall spending bills could save taxpayers a cool $17 billion. All 10,000 earmarks in the pending bills will expire if they aren't passed by the end of the year. Mr. Coburn says the decision of the congressional leadership to instead go for a continuing resolution is a sign Republicans are learning some lessons from their stinging loss of Congress three weeks ago. "By either staying home or not voting Republican, many voters were sending a message that they don't want to give the spending favor factory that Congress had become their stamp of approval," Mr. Coburn says. "It's time that message was heeded."

Nonetheless, the cries of pain are mounting now that it looks as if many federal agencies will have to get by until late January or even later with the same amount of money they got last year. Of the 11 spending bills covering the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, only those governing defense and homeland security have become law. Appropriators are beside themselves that a continuing resolution that restrains spending is on the table. Rep. Jerry Lewis, who is ending his stint as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, calls it a "catastrophe." A spokeswoman for Mr. Lewis's Senate counterpart, Thad Cochran, says it is "irresponsible."

Effectively, Coburn and DeMint have forced the issue onto the Democrats. They will have to step up and pass the spending bills when they take control. After campaigning on fiscal responsibility, their first test will come almost from the first day they take over. If they continue the favor factory politics, they will have already lost a major battle. This was far from an irresponsible move.

It was a bit of fiscal responsibility that should have been done a lot sooner.

Rethinking Russia

That is the name given an editorial in the Financial Times. It describes the complete disarray in the European Union's approach to dealing with the old enemy. It is not using a strategy for success at the moment.

The European Union's relationship with its most powerful neighbour is dysfunctional. Last week's summit with Russia was a dismal affair, overshadowed by internal EU squabbling, the mysterious death of a former Russian spy and sundry rows over pipelines and food safety. Before the next summit in May, the EU needs a robust and unified policy that allows co-operation without offering Russia the chance to dictate terms.

Russian energy politics moved belatedly to the top of the EU agenda in early January, when Moscow cut off gas to Ukraine. The EU's own dependence on Russian gas increases every day. Yet the bloc remains deeply divided over how to manage that dependence. On the eve of the summit with President Vladimir Putin, EU countries failed to agree a common stance for negotiations.

While Poland calls consistently for a tougher line on Russia, and is supported by other states that suffered under the Soviet yoke, the EU's big four - Germany, France, the UK and Italy - are much keener on cordial relations. With Russia the cost of disunity is too high for the natural fractiousness of the bloc to be indulged.

Frankly, Russia's descent into totalitarianism is accelerating. What the FT describes is essentially the disarray caused by various members of the EU grasping or failing to grasp what is really happening in Putin's Russia right now. It might be a really good idea for them to step back and really formulate a unified approach. Or they just might find themselves facing a renewed threat from Russia.

Mystery Solved

Divers in Australia have discovered the wreckage of a Japanese midget submarine that attacked Sydney harbor on May 31st, 1942. Three submarines tried to enter the harbor, but two were discovered and attacked. The third actually managed to get inside and launch two torpedoes. They missed the USS Chicago but hit an Australian axillary, HMAS Kuttabul killing 21 sailors. The submarine escaped the harbor. Historians have debated for years about what happened to the submarine.

A television channel reported that a group of scuba divers had found the vessel, probably containing the remains of the two crewmen, off the Sydney coast although its exact location remains a closely-guarded secret.

The head of the Australian Navy's heritage collection, Commander Shane Moore, said there was little doubt that the wreckage was that of the long-lost Japanese submarine.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson told Channel Nine television that the find was an extremely important part of World War II history for both Australia and Japan and the wreckage would be protected from curious divers.

"Under no circumstances will anyone be able to go lawfully near it, take anything from it or disturb it any way, shape or form," Nelson said.

The submarine was one of three that slipped into the harbour on the night of May 31, 1942 after being launched from a fleet of five larger Japanese submarines offshore.

Two of the midget vessels were spotted and attacked, leading the two-man crews to commit suicide, Australian national archives record.

The remains of those subs were recovered and a rebuilt composite is on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

But the third midget submarine managed to fire two torpedoes at the US heavy cruiser USS Chicago, one of which exploded beneath an Australian depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors.

Here's a description of the attack on Sydney Harbor with a number of contemporary photographs. Here are some pictures of the various Japanese midget submarines used during the war. (The one they used was most likely a type A.) An Australian government fact sheet on the attacks is here.