U.N. is a Joke

I don't even need to say anything. This is self-evidently ridiculous.

For all its faults, the previous U.N. commission occasionally discussed and condemned the regimes most responsible for human rights crimes, such as those in Belarus and Burma. China used to feel compelled to burnish its record before the annual meeting. The new council, in contrast, has so far taken action on only one country, which has dominated the debate at both of its regular meetings and been the sole subject of two extraordinary sessions: Israel.

...

This ludicrous diplomatic lynch mob has been directed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which accounts for 17 governments on the 47-member council and counts on the support of like-minded dictatorships such as Cuba and China. Council rules allow an extraordinary session to be called at the behest of just one-third of the membership, making it easy for the Islamic association to orchestrate anti-Israel spectacles. Several Muslim governments that boast of a new commitment to democracy and human rights -- including Jordan and Morocco -- have readily joined in this willful sabotage of those values.

Hat tip: LGF

"F"oenix

Phoenix is one of many major cities to receive an "F" for its evacuation plan in case of a disaster.

Phoenix is among 20 cities getting "Fs." That group includes New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Las Vegas.

I'm not that concerned about my city. We don't really have much of a threat of natural disasters and I don't think Phoenix is very high on the Al-Qaida target list. But we still should have a good plan, just in case.

What really concerns me is that L.A., Chicago and New York, also received a failing grade. New York is the #1 terror target and one of the two cities hit on 9/11 and they don't have a good plan! I know that evacuating that many people would be tough, but they've had five years to come up with a plan.

Lights Out

North Korea is lacking so much electricity that the country's power is shut off at 9 p.m.

Yesterday, Donald Rumsfeld released this picture.

The one spot of light in North Korea is the capital, Pyongyang, where insane dictator Kim Jong-il resides.

Hat tip: Drudge

This is me if I were a South Park character.

The Desert Tusk Turns One

I started this blog one year ago today and it'll be back up and running in a few weeks.

Operations of The Desert Tusk Suspended

As you can see I haven't posted in almost three weeks. And I'm just letting you know that I probably won't be for quite a while. About 6 weeks ago I was elected to Director of Membership of the ASU College Republicans. This has given me many responsibilities that has taken up a lot of time. Also, my checking account has gotten a little low so I have been putting in a lot more hours at work. And of course I still have classes to attend. The result of all of this is that I don't have a lot of free time. Lately I've been going a few days without checking my e-mail, much less having time to blog. So I probably won't get back to running this site until the end of the semester.

Blogs Under Attack From McCain-Feingold

I've been really busy the last few days and I missed this. The McCain-Feingold legislation is now coming down on blogs that link to a candidates website.

Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over.

In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

Smith should know. He's one of the six commissioners at the Federal Election Commission, which is beginning the perilous process of extending a controversial 2002 campaign finance law to the Internet.

Hat tip: Captain's Quarters

Captain Ed has written a letter that he wants you to copy and send to your Senators. No matter if your left or right, we need to protect our free speech.

Swifty Calls Out Kerry

Jerome Corsi, one of the Sift Boat Veterans for Truth, has a new book, "Atomic Iran", coming out. He's planning on sending a copy to Senator John Kerry with a personalized note.

John Kerry is about to receive his own personalized copy of the latest book by nemesis Jerome Corsi, co-author of "Unfit for Command" and planned opponent for the former presidential candidate's Massachusetts senatorial seat.

Corsi said a pair of pre-publication, finished copies of his upcoming release "Atomic Iran" are for sale on eBay today, with instructions to the buyer to keep one and send the other to Kerry.

The copy for Kerry bears a hand-written message on the title page: "For Senator John F. Kerry – Looking forward to our first debate in Mass. [Signed] Jerome R. Corsi. 3/3/05."

Vigil For Lebanese Freedom

Last night the executive board of the College Republicans at ASU had a meeting outside the Memorial Union (FYI, I'm the Director of Membership for the club). As we were finishing up our business, a candle light vigil started about 50 feet from where we were sitting. It was a group of 50-60 Lebanese/Lebanese-Americans who were calling for Lebanon's freedom from Syria.

Eight of us went over and joined in. Not long after we got there one of them asked us why the Republicans support the Lebanese. We answered that we believe in freedom and democracy, and we want the Lebanese to have those.

We weren't sure if they were OK with us being there (we didn't want to be disrespectful). We soon found out that they were more than happy to have us there. They handed us candles and signs, some of which were in English and some in Arabic. They also chanted in Arabic (luckily two of our members are Palestinian and could translate for us) and in English. One man in his 20's asked to have his picture taken with us (our club President also took some pictures which I will post as soon as I get them). The crowd chanted things like "God Bless Bush" and a few of the kids (there were probably 10 children) started singing the Star Spangled Banner which we all joined in. Some were carrying American flags along with the flag of Lebanon.

All of this I wish one student I met earlier in the day could see. He came by our club's information table and started arguing with us about all kinds of things. Of course most of the argument was about Iraq. At one point we brought up the fact that a shift towards democracy was happening in other Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon. He proceeded to claim that the war in Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with it (a lot of liberals have been saying this lately [scroll up on the link as it takes you to the bottom of the post]). I wish he was there later to hear the Lebanese chant "God Bless Bush" and then ask one of them if the war in Iraq had anything to do with it.

Now I'm not saying that Bush should get all, or even most, of the credit or that the War in Iraq is the main cause of the current push for democracy in Lebanon. I'm not saying those things at all. But come on Liberals, to say it has nothing to with it is to deny the obvious. Can you honestly sit there and tell me that the movement in Lebanon, the elections (though small) in Saudi Arabia, and Egypt announcing it will allow other candidates to run against President Mubarak all happened less than 5 weeks after the Iraqi elections by coincidence? Of course the elections in Iraq sent a message to the rest of the Arab/Islamic world. They have heard their people ask "Why not here?"

UPDATE: President Bush has given Syria a "non-negotiable" deadline for pulling out of Lebanon

President Bush has given Syria a "non-negotiable" deadline to pull all of its troops and agents out of Lebanon by May to pave the way for free parliamentary elections.

"The subject that is most on my mind right now is getting Syria out of Lebanon, and I don't mean just the troops out of Lebanon, I mean all of them out of Lebanon, particularly the secret service out of Lebanon -- the intelligence services," he told members of the New York Post editorial board in an interview yesterday.

"This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out. ... I don't think you can have fair elections with Syrian troops there," Bush continued.

Spread of Democracy

The recent Lebanese protests of their Syrian-controlled government and the subsequent resignation of that government have been seen around the Middle East. It has caused people of those countries to ask, Why not us?

What happened in Lebanon this week, analysts say, is the beginning of a new era in the Middle East, one in which popular demand pushes the momentum for democracy and people's will can no longer be disregarded.

Television stations broadcast Beirut's protests live into homes, coffee shops and clubs across the Middle East, with the dramatic images of Lebanese youths wearing red-and-white scarves and waving the country's red, white and green flag as they handed out roses Monday to troops who had been ordered to block them. The coverage, lasting all day with hardly a break on some stations, culminated with the Syrian-backed government's resignation.

Inevitably, it raised the question among many spectators: What about here?

"I wish this could happen in Yemen," Ahmed Murtada, an unemployed Yemeni, said in San'a. "But here, tanks would prevail."

Anas Khashoggi, a 46-year-old management consultant in the Saudi city of Jiddah, said he followed Monday's events from beginning to end. "I wanted ... to see how the government reacts to the will of the people," he said.

Was he disappointed? "Not at all," he said.

Hat tip: Drudge

Also, Syrian President al-Assad said today that the Syrian troops in Lebanon would be pulled out in a few months. I've said before, "I'll believe it when I see it." But it's starting to look more and more like the Syrians don't have much of an option. With the mass protests in Lebanon, democracies already forming around them (i.e. Iraq) which could lead to calls for reform inside of Syria, and the fact that President Bush is going to be around for four more years putting pressure on them, there going to have to pull out.

Intolerant Tolerance

Howard Dean is almost Kerry-esque in his ability to contradict himself in the matter of a few sentences.

"Moderate Republicans can't stand these people (conservatives), because they're intolerant. They don't think tolerance is a virtue," Dean said, adding: "I'm not going to have these right-wingers throw away our right to be tolerant."

And concluding his backyard speech with a litany of Democratic values, he added: "This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good."

He calls right-wingers evil, but he supposed to be the leader of the tolerant party.