Anti-Islamist Manifesto

A group of twelve writers has issued an intellectual manifesto, smack in the face of all this ridiculously bloated and idiotic Islamic fanatacism. It's worth reading, so here it is in its entirety:

Together facing the new totalitarianism

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

This is just starting to make rounds in the mainstream media, although I doubt that it will be published in this country until the coast is clear. The only name I recognize on the list of twelve is Salmon Rushdie. Although he is clearly used to being marked for death, every single one of these writers have to know the serious consequences to their safety they have tempted by being so brave to publish such a piece.

Via Belmont, again.

The evil that you know

The Belmont Club takes note that the Danish cartoons have been published much more often in Muslim countries than in non-Muslim countries. His theory of why the media has ducked the issue speaks greatly to my reasoning behind not backing a Democratic candidate in 2004:

I think the real reason for the reluctance among Anglospheric publications to print the Danish cartoons was less timidity than the fear of tacitly repudiating the underlying assumption of the President Bush's War on Terror, that the West is not at war with Islam but only with a small group of extremists who have corrupted "the religion of peace". The Danish cartoons threatened to convert this limited war into a more general confrontation between the value systems of the West and Islam. Why, one might ask, should the media, with no love lost for President Bush, care at all about protecting the key assumption of his limited war?

The reason I think, is that the Left in their reflexive opposition to President Bush since the invasion of Iraq had not bothered to create a war strategy of their own. The nomination of Senator John Kerry in 2004 was an attempt to offer up the appearance of an alternative rather than a rival strategy. He was a placeholder for a policy that didn't exist. Trapped in the mental world of the 20th century, the Left had not decided how to respond to the challenge of the 21st. In marked contrast to the Cold War, in which 9 successive US administrations pursued the common policy of containment against the Soviet Union, the war after September 11 was characterized by the absence of a strategic consensus. President George Bush had a strategic vision; and the Democrats an endless supply of peanuts which they were prepared to pitch from the gallery.

Once the Danish cartoon crisis threatened to knock the props out from under President Bush's limited war on Islamic renegades and escalate it to a "clash of civilizations" the barrenness of the Lefist intellectual cupboard became obvious even to themselves. There was no recipe to deal with this contingency. A "clash of civilizations" would pull matters from their grasp precisely because they refused to touch it in the first place. They could only continue to pretend Islamism didn't exist; and so they thrust their heads into the sand even further. The Danish cartoons? What cartoons?

The portion I bolded encapsulates my major objection to the democratic candidates that have been produced since 9/11. Until there is a clear alternative plan or a unified policy on terrorism, every candidate the democrats throw up is still going to be scarier to me than even the dreaded Bush himself. Why? Because the evil that we know is best. (no, I didn't pen that -- it was Titus Maccius Plautus).

Thursday, Bloody Thursday

As unexpected as a tsunami, the ramifications of the talks breakdown between the NFLPA and the owners are already starting to be felt. As Len Paquaurelli puts it:

By Thursday, however, when the real-world ramifications of the failed labor talks become more apparent, fans in a lot of NFL precincts will take notice. With negotiations toward an extension having broken off Tuesday afternoon -- despite earlier optimistic reports that the sides were poised to strike an agreement -- salary cap managers from several franchises are readying themselves for what one general manager suggested late Tuesday will come to be known as "Bloody Thursday."

Translation: Because so many teams are up against the projected cap limit of $95 million to $96 million for 2006, and the lack of a CBA extension means there are few options for relief, some big-name players will be jettisoned by Thursday, when teams must be in compliance with the spending limit.

How bad will it get? For some teams, this is the tolling of the bell...

How drastic? There continue to be rumors the Washington Redskins, who extended numerous contracts in the past to deal with previous cap crunches, could have to play with 20 rookies on the roster in 2006. On Tuesday night in Atlanta, there were rumblings the Falcons, who aren't in nearly the dire straits some other franchises are, might be forced to release tailback Warrick Dunn, who rushed for a career-best 1,416 yards in 2005. The Kansas City Chiefs could part ways with perennial Pro Bowl guard Will Shields if he doesn't agree to adjust his contract and reduce a $6.67 million cap charge. And that is just the start of the many examples of potential attrition cited by team officials Tuesday evening.

So who will be most and least affected? ESPN has a list as of yesterday of teams in the black and the red. See if you can find yours on the 'good' list:Well, the Bills are under, just barely, so that's good. Most interesting to me is the Eagles' situation. Last year the management took a lot of ribbing for being tight-fisted with salaries and ruthless with contracts, especially in light of the T.O. fiasco (who won't be demanding any money from anyone after this day). Well, now it just looks like damn good money management and keen foresight. Granted, no one could foresee that things would go this bad, but if you are on the 'naughty' list below, you are getting blindsided.Does this really mean that teams are going to be cutting some of their best players? It's already happening as of 9 A.M. this morning:

• The Bills, who entered Wednesday $2 million under the $92 million salary cap, made their second major cut of the offseason by releasing former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Sam Adams.
• The Panthers cleared $4.64 million of cap room Wednesday by releasing three veterans -- running back Stephen Davis, running back Rod Smart and defensive tackle Brentson Buckner.
• The Broncos released three starters -- defensive end Trevor Pryce, running back Mike Anderson and tight end Jeb Putzier in moves that pull the team within a couple of millions of the salary cap.
• Forced to slash contracts in order to get under the salary cap for 2006, the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday released four veterans, the most notable of which was four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Sam Madison.

And there is certainly more to come. For the local sports fans, the sad news is that the Redskins are almost certainly going to cut LaVar Arrington. Maybe the Eagles can sign him for a pittance. So what is the bottom line? Some are saying it is doomsday, some are saying it's a good thing. I think it's exciting and interesting to see how this shakes up the rosters for next year. I think it's good to have a little revolution now and then.

UPDATE: ESPN has listed possible and probably cuts for every team.

UPDATE THE SECOND: This morning the NFL owners unanimously rejected the latest NFLPA proposal. Teams continue to feel the urge to purge. Question: with Green Bay way over the salary cap, will they cut Favre?

My kind of band

It's been a long time since I've heard a local band that caught my ear. Last night, in the midst of my Mardi Grasing (new verb?), I attended a performance at the Clarendon Grill of a band called Naked Grace. This was such a band.

At first glance, a typical cover band, playing probably one original for every 2-3 covers (the proper ratio, in my less-than-humble opinion, to keep any new audience interested). They were a very capable band, with strong originals, but what made me notice (and get excited) were their covers of 90's alternative songs. And not your typical, heavy air-play covers, but less known, tight numbers. I've been known to be blase about pop, country, hip-hop, ska, funk, you name it. Even today's 'alternative' music by and large is a mere shadow of what it once was. Of course, you are going to get that when you had 'alternative' go mainstream in the early 90's, by far the best era for alt-rock.

Naked Grace played a lot of covers from that golden era. Two that I was very impressed to hear were Galaxie from Blind Melon's Soup album and The Bends, the title track from Radiohead's The Bends LP. Neither received a lot of airplay on college radio when they were released, but they remain two of my favorite songs from that era. The latter, most notably, is my favorite Radiohead song of all time. To actually hear another human other than Thom Yorke belt out the soaring lyrics at the end of the song (and do it well) was damn cool.

In short, in the course of a few hours of drinking, they got themselves another groupie. Check out their site for a few samples of their originals.

I believe congratulations are in order

While doing my daily scan of all things internet, and there are quite a few daily things, my hair-infested blogging anti-matter counterpart, otherwise known as "Jaquandor" (amongst his aliases), noted that he just passed his fourth year of blogging. It staggers the mind how much useless blather must be stored on some poor sap's server, but we must realize that at some future date, it will be turned against the writer. This I promise, so let us keep our vigilance of his blog. What's that you say? He is already suffering from incredible hubris in that same post? I'm shocked, shocked:

By the way, my current impression is that Byzantium's Shores is one of the oldest Buffalo Blogs in existence. Alex Halavais's blog has sporadic archives dating back to 1994, but the regular archives begin in May of 2002, and I don't know how much of the preceding material can be termed as a "blog" at all (i.e., how much of that was re-cast as blog entries at some later date). Jennifer has been around almost as long as I have, and I'm sure there are others. But four years is a pretty damn long time in Blogistan! That's a lot of books, of movies, of music, of whining about the Bills sucking and the Stupid Patriots not sucking, of wishing the Democrats would get a clue and George W. Bush would just go away, and of writing and meeting cool people. I've gone from maintaining strict pseudonym status to posting tons of photos of myself and attending blog meet-ups. And I've grown about six inches on my hair and added a beard.

I am of course referring to his hair growth and not his claim to have the oldest blog in Buffalo, which, if not true, is likely a contender.

In a completely related story, reading his memoir made me wonder, when did I start this heap? One quick look to the archives revealed a shocking truth -- TODAY is the 3rd anniversary of me publishing my unwanted thoughts for any pajama-wearing, work-slacking, google-searching fool to read them! Let's take a look at what my first blog looked like:

I'm tired, which is why I am finally taking the time to create a blog. Pressure from Jaquandor finally took over. I may use this site for good, but most likely for evil.

Riveting! Why, it's a page turner, like the first chapter of an even more fantastic novel! It just draws you in and won't let you go! Congratulations are indeed in order to myself, not only for initially caving to the incessant complaining from Jaquandor, not only for blogging on such a sporadic basis that chaos theory claims copyright infringement, not even for picking topics that cater to a crowd most likely to be ostracized from general society. Laud me because you love it, and it makes you feel good to pat someone on the back. Today is my 'back' day.

Flair counts for something

ESPN is doing a little wrap-up on the best stories of the Turino Olympics, and their columnists are sharing their insights on the aftermath. I thought Jim Caple's comments about ill-timed showboater Lindsay Jacobellis were on the money.

After leading for most of the snowboardcross final race, Lindsey Jacobellis hot-dogged it near the finish line, attempting a trick, and fell, losing her gold medal. I bet she winds up being more famous and making more money for losing the gold than she ever would have by actually winning it.

Neither would I say she doesn't deserve it. From her post game interviews, she comes off as a sincere kid who realizes the mistake and is going to move on with just a little more humility and a lot more savvy.

Spider-Hype 3

Ain't It Cool News posts a link to a possible production photo of one of the speculated villains of Spider-Man 3, which won't be due out until spring, 2007. Since fans of The Phantom Menace pioneered the art of following a film's production-to-completion schedule, no science-fiction or fantasy film has flown under the internet fan's radar. Word is that it is Venom, and this picture sure fits the profile.

Those familiar with the character know that its origins were from a long mini-series arc called Secret Wars, where heroes and villains were whisked away to another planet to do battle with each other. Spider-Man found a suit that appeared to be made of cloth that could mimic either his super-hero guise or street cloths, responding to his mental commands. Ideally 'suited' (heh) for a super-hero's often changing identities, he took the suit back with him to Earth at the conclusion of the series. Unfortunately, it was later discovered that the 'suit' was actually a symbiote who was trying to attach itself to Peter. Thanks to the intervention of the Fantastic Four, the 'suit' was separated from Peter and locked away... until it managed to escape and encountered Eddie Brock, who already had great anger towards Spider-Man. The alien suit and Eddie bonded together and became one of Spider-Man's greatest nemeses.

Now, clearly you can't fit all that into a introductory piece for a two-plus hour movie. So, fan speculation has suggested that it hitches a ride home with John Jameson, J. Jonah's spurned astronaut son. The theory is that Sam Raimi hasn't introduced any throwaway characters yet, and he isn't planning on it. We've already see cameos by the Lizard (Dylan Baker) and Man-Wolf (Jameson himself) in the previous films.So, what isn't there to hype about this next film? We also know that a villain who could only be done with the help of CGI, and one that I've been personally looking forward to, Sandman, is definitely being played by Thomas Haden Church (dressed in his typical striped shirt). And on top of all this, we also have the evolving character arc of the Green Goblin's son, Harry Osborn. At the end of Spider-Man 2, fresh from finding out his best friend is his father's 'killer', his father's ghostly image beckons him to avenge him and then reveals the method from which he could accomplish it. In the comics, Harry does just that, taking up the mantle of the Green Goblin. Speculation has it that he will morph into the Hobgoblin, although that is merging two completely different characters. Not the first time that has happened in the series however -- remember in Spider-Man when the Goblin drops Mary-Jane? That's actually a morph of what happened to Gwen Stacy, who will appear in Spider-Man 3, played by Bryce Dallas Howard.

Bryce Dallas Howard is in negotiations to play Peter Parker's love interest Gwen Stacy in Columbia Pictures' "Spider-Man 3." Sam Raimi is directing the movie, which is scheduled to roll this month.

Gwen is pivotal in Spider-Man lore as Peter's high school crush, his first girlfriend and his first love. She ended up being kidnapped by the Green Goblin and died during a bridgetop battle in "Amazing Spider-Man" issue 121.

In "Spider-Man," Columbia put Mary Jane Watson, a later love interest of Peter's who was a model, in the Gwen role, casting Kirsten Dunst as the high school crush. The movie featured the famous battle on the bridge with the Green Goblin, though a Hollywood ending was added, and the character survived.

Columbia is keeping a tight lid on the third movie's story line, though it is known that Gwen is the third part of a love triangle and that the character does survive.

So how are Raimi and screenwriter Alvin Sargeant going to do? There are just too many new characters involved to jam them into the movie and have a decent story and a running time of under 4 hours, so I'll speculate that they will turn some of the characters' roles (probably Venom, save him for Spidey 4) into extended cameos so they can make another character-based, tight story. Here's hoping.

Curling's bizarre pull

I can't quite put my finger on what is so fascinating about curling, the Winter Olympic version of shuffleboard. It's long been the gold standard of reference when giving an example of the most boring sport on Earth. Even today, I received an Evite to a party where the 'declining' banner said 'No thanks, I have to watch men's curling'.

Perhaps because it has been on when I'm getting ready for work, but every time I see it on TV, I get drawn in with its soothing broom action and slowly moving stones. My timing is pretty good to get interested, because for this first time in a long while, the US curling team actually has done more than the entire alpine downhill team combined:

The American men won the bronze by beating Britain 8-6 on Friday in the consolation game, jumping to an early lead and then clinching the victory with a simple draw to the middle of the target in the final end. That put the United States on the medal stand along with more traditional curling powers Finland and Canada, who play later Friday for the Championship.

Fenson, a Minnesota pizzeria owner, broke into a smile and gave a salute with his broom as his last shot settled into the scoring area. But the victory was especially emotional for teammate Shawn Rojeski ; it was the second anniversary of his mother's death.

"I knew it was going to be an extremely difficult day for me today," Rojeski said. "This team is extremely satisfied with the way they played today - and for myself, it's that much of a better moment, for sure."

In addition to being shut out at the three previous Olympics where curling was a medal sport, the American men hadn't medaled at the world championships since 1978.

There are quite a few people who have issues with the sport, because they can't understand the scoring. Here's a good example of scoring. Turns out it's a lot simpler than thought. Unlike a bullseye in archery, the concentric rings are only for distance reference, not gradients of points.

Luckily, thanks to my Star Wars training, I've long since shrugged off criticism of those who deem my interests 'uncool'.

Muhammad upsets UNC, 1-0

Although I have no love for the North Carolina Tar Heels (thanks to my fondness for Duke basketball), I can't believe that some local Muslims are angry over that institution's collegian cartoon depicting, you guessed it, everyone's favorite Martian, Muhammad. Or, maybe I can, considering the amount of recent stupidity. Via LGF, News14 Charlotte reports:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The Muslim Students Association at the University of North Carolina on Friday asked the campus' student newspaper to apologize for publishing an original cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

"The intention of bigotry was clear," the association wrote in a letter to The Daily Tar Heel. "One must question the DTH's ethics in advancing a widely protested issue to cause a riot of their own. The MSA not only found this cartoon derogatory but is also shocked at the editor's allowance of its publication -- one that incites hate in the current political and social context."

...The cartoon published in The Daily Tar Heel Thursday was drawn by a cartoonist at the paper, Philip McFee. It shows Muhammad appearing to decry both Denmark's role in the controversy and the violence that has erupted since.

Daily Tar Heel editor Ryan Tuck said the newspaper wanted to challenge fellow students to think about the issue. He said while he has apologized personally to individuals who told him the cartoon offended, the newspaper will not apologize. "The point of any cartoon in any newspaper is to challenge belief systems," Tuck said. "We knew it would offend, but that doesn't make it the explicit goal of the cartoon."

I can't figure out what is offensive about this cartoon. I think it is a very telling depiction of how some stupid Muslims may think showing Muhammad may be blasphemous, but the same stupid Muslims blowing up things and killing people is more blasphemous to their cause. And at the very least, the Daily Tar Heel had the stones to publish a cartoon when the national media has hidden the images. Well, of course, they should have listened, chimes in Margaret Jablonski, vice chancellor for student affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill:

"Many of our national media outlets chose not to publish the original pictures or cartoons and we believe our student paper should have used the same editorial judgement," Jablonski said.

Cluck. Pander. Cluck. Bravo, Daily Tar Heel.

Largest Insurance Claim Ever

Definitely wins the award for the most amusing story of the day. Yes, better than the polar bear. Originally, I found it on MSNBC, but in doing research (yes, I am an intrepid reporter), I found an even better version from the AP Wire of the San Jose Mercury News. Frankly, any police officer who mentions Scooby-Doo in their official statement gets a special mention

MALIBU, Calif. - Authorities were investigating the circumstances behind a spectacular crash on Pacific Coast Highway that destroyed a rare Ferrari Enzo that experts said was worth more than $1 million.

Tuesday morning's crash occurred when the driver lost control of the exotic, red automobile at high speed and struck a power pole, investigators said. The car - one of only 400 made - disintegrated, with its engine coming to rest on the highway and its wreckage scattered for hundreds of yards.

Sheriff's investigators identified the owner as Stefan Ericksson, 44, of Bel Air, who escaped the wreckage with only a cut lip. "For $1 million, you get a very good passenger-safety system, and apparently in this case it did work," said Sgt. Philip Brooks of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities said Ericksson told them that he was a passenger at the time of the crash and that the driver - a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich - ran into the nearby hills. A three-hour foot and helicopter search failed to turn up anyone else connected to the car. Officials said they're skeptical of Ericksson's version of events, according to a report in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times.

Ericksson had a blood-alcohol level of .09, slightly more than the legal .08 limit, Brooks said. Additionally, only the driver's side air bag deployed and it had blood on it, he noted. "My Scooby-Doo detectives are looking closely into that," Brooks told the Times. "Maybe the 'driver' had a friend who picked him up. Maybe he thumbed a ride. Maybe he was a ghost."

Ferrari Enzos have a top speed of 200 mph and investigators believe the sports car was traveling at least 100 mph. "And it will probably be a lot more than that once we conclude our investigation," Brooks said.

Ferrari fanatics said they were devastated by the destruction of the 660-horsepower automobile. The cars were made between 2002 and 2004. "He destroyed one of the finest cars on earth, maybe the finest," said Ferrari owner Chris Banning, a Beverly Hills writer who is finishing a book on the cult of sports car racing along winding Mulholland Drive. "It's like taking a Van Gogh painting and burning it."

Banning sounds like he's about to cry on the internet, and there's just no place for that. Still, I'd be just a little pissed off if some drunk guy and his invisible German pal 'Dietrich' (you think he could have tried harder. Like maybe Olga from Sweden) wrecked a million dollar car.

Bracket Buzz

Andy Katz over at ESPN.com has some interesting behind-the-scenes knowledge on some frequently asked questions about how the committee makes selections for the NCAA tournament bracket. By far the most interesting of the answers for me concerns the seeding and locations, with two of the main venues at Washington and Philadelphia. Villanova and Georgetown could be the two teams that stand to gain the most from the selections.

1. How do nonprotected teams get seeded geographically?
A nonprotected tournament team is any team with lower than a top-five seed. What we're looking at here is, can a school like a No. 11- or 12- or 13-seeded Penn play in Philadelphia and ultimately have home-court advantage?

The answer is that the top five seeds in each region are protected from having a home-court disadvantage in their first-round games. So a No. 11 seed could have a home-court advantage at a site like Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, but any seed lower than that cannot.

Is it too early to get excited about the tournament? Only if you are a curling fan.

Protecting the cubs

I've got a couple of observations about this story, but it's still pretty damn impressive to read about how a mother fought off a polar bear to save her children:

IVUJIVIK, Quebec — Lydia Angyiou's kids sure won't be giving her much trouble any more, now that they've seen her wrestle a 700-pound polar bear. Angyiou lives in Ivujivik, a village of 300 people on the shore of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec.

One Wednesday evening earlier this month, Angyiou was walking near the village community center with her two sons when a group of children playing street hockey nearby started shouting and pointing frantically. Angyiou, 41, turned around and saw a polar bear sizing up her 7-year-old son.

She told the children to run and raced around to get between the bear and her son. Then she started kicking and punching the animal, according to police reports. In a flash, the bear swatted her in the face and she fell on her back. With the bear on top of her, Angyiou began kicking her legs in a bicycle-pedaling motion. She was swatted once more and rolled over, but the bear moved toward her again.

Siqualuk Ainalik heard the commotion and came rushing over. Seeing Angyiou wrestling with the bear, he ran to his brother's home, grabbed a rifle and headed back to the street. He fired a few warning shots. The sound diverted the bear's attention from Angyiou just long enough for him to aim and fire again. According to police, Ainalik fired four shots into the bear before it finally died.

How many did it take Sawyer on Lost? I suppose this is unusual, but considering where the heck this place is, maybe not. Here's a picture from Google Earth at 30,000 ft.Not much to look at, eh? Here's a shot from an equal height over Arlington, a suburb of Washington, DC.See that big red circle? No, that is not a lava moat, that is where Arlington National Cemetery is located, which is quite visible even from this height. Notice all the roads and pretty buildings, too. Makes me wonder just where in the hell these people are living. Seems like on top of a polar bear's natural habitat. That's probably why ol' Siqualuk had to put 17 bullets into him.