Iran Seeks Space Technology

Iran wants a space program (with possible military applications?) ASAP. The Russians are happy to oblige. If I were you, I'd read about it over at Cox & Forkum. You'll need the comic relief.

Nomination of Harriet Miers

The moment has arrived, and reactions vary:

Rick Santorum is cautious. according to Katheryn Jean Lopez at Bench Memos. John at Powerline is disappointed, Redstate profoundly so. Hugh Hewitt is more optimistic, and recommends a look at Olasky's posts here, and points us to Beldar, and to Kurtz, who sees the glass as half-full. The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler is, well, snarling over the nomination, and at Hugh Hewitt's optimism.

As for me - I dunno. I'm going to wait and see.

Terrorist Attacks in London

The death toll from the train and bus bombings stands currently at 37, with 700 injured.

Blogs with info, and many more links: Tim Worstall, Dodgeblogium (London), Counterterrorism Blog, Samizdata.net (London), and as always, Instapundit.

Our sympathy to the British people. The victims of this cowardly atrocity are in our prayers.

Dick Durbin, I'm Ashamed to Share My State With You

The latest inexcusable idiocy, courtesy of Boortz, (via Instapundit):

On Tuesday, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois took to the floor of the Senate and had this to say, speaking about FBI accounts of what allegedly took place at the Islamic terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."

That's right...a United States Senator has just compared our men and women in uniform to Nazis, Soviets running a gulag and even Pol Pot. This makes what Amnesty International said look tame.

Oh, yes, I agree. Boortz is philosophical, pointing out that the Nazi epithet is standard in the democrat vocabulary these days. That may be true, but this rant of Durbin's is inexcusable on so many levels, and to my mind is entirely different from the usual name-calling hyperbole. This is malignantly self-serving, and morally blind.

To equate the physical discomfort of a terrorist with the starvation, torture and death of six million innocent people, more than half of the Jewish population in 23 European countries is an astonishing trivialization of one of humanity's darkest hours. Can you believe that anyone needed to say that?

There are cludgy thinkers and jihadists that find such things plausible. I don't know what the reason is. Maybe those who have no aspiration beyond self-promotion can't comprehend the essential nobility and courage of our fighting men and women. Maybe the accusations come of jealousy - that vicious jealousy the small minded and narcissistic often have - of the honor that our soldiers rightly receive. I do know it's time (oh, is it ever time!) for change in Illinois.

Fedora 3 upgrade + CDROM Failure = Long Blog Absence

The title says it all, really. My CDROM failed in the middle of an FC3 upgrade. Kernel panic, yada-yada. I've had better days.

But, after some time invested in fixing and tweaking, all is well - better than ever, actually. (Linux is sweet, sweet, sweet!)

Judicial Nominations - Big Deals, Big Heads, and the Gang of Fourteen

Seems both sides are steamed about the "deal" struck by the so-called "gang of fourteen". Andrew C. McCarthy of the National Review Online is, shall we say, less than impressed with the syrupy and self-congratulatory rhetoric about "mutual trust" (they've got to be kidding) and defending senate tradition:

Let's say, instead, that they simply gave us the bottom line: (a) three of the president's nominees get an up-or-down vote (i.e., exactly three of the pending seven left standing after the Democrats, in that spirit of compromise, whittled down from the original ten); (b) the Democrats remain free to filibuster (but only on the strict condition that, uh, well, that the Democrats feel like filibustering); and (c) the Republicans, on the brink of breaking four years of obstruction, decide instead to punt (and on the eve of a likely battle over a Supreme Court vacancy, no less).

You can read the rest of McCarthy's column here. I got no great sense of victory when I watched the much touted moment unfold in the news conference announcing the agreement. What struck me was the euphoric self-congratulation of the "gang of fourteen", who were announcing that they had essentially postponed the problem. Grand moment. Celebratory claps on the back. But for what? Peggy Noonan (as usual) says it better than I can:

Listening to them I thought of some of the great and hallowed phrases of our Republic. "The rooster who thought he brought the dawn." "The only man who can strut sitting down."

I know they're centrists, but there is nothing moderate about their self-regard. And why should there be? I personally was dazzled by their refusal to bow to the counsels of common sense and proportion, and stirred that they had no fear of justified insult ("blowhard," "puffed up popinjay") as they moved forward in the halls of the United States Senate to bravely proclaim their excellence.

Yeah, I wanted to see an end to the Democrats' collective apoplexy. Would any deal have accomplished that? I'm guessing the answer is no.

Confederate Yankee's Comment on the "Religion of Peace"

Yup. 'Nuff said.

What has it got in its pocketses? The Truth in Filibuster Polling

Did you ever hear poll results, and ask yourself, "Who the hell are they asking?" Get the feeling there must be something wrong with this picture? Brian at The Blue State Conservatives is exploring polling . . .tricksy polling. . .

Pure Genius: Cox & Forkum Editorial Cartoons

Take a look at Cox & Forkum today. Go now, and browse. You'll thank me.

Kyoto Protocol - Maybe We're Not Dooooomed After All

There's been a fair bit of discussion lately about the monotonously singular nature of political discourse at universities. Guess the scientific community is infected with the same drone-like mentality on the issue of global warming. If you think you might adopt the "let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" strategy for dealing with our impending demise, you may want to pop over to Right Wing Nut House and take a look at what we've been missing - and why. There's more at LGF.