A Breakthrough for Byzantine Studies

Emperor Manuel Palaeologus beats out Lonelygirl15 in MSN top People searches.

It's late in the day, but maybe the grownups are starting to wake up.

Did Crider Omit la Mordida?

Reading Fox's story on the crackdown in Stillmore, GA--complete with a gratuitous comparison of the INS to the Gestapo--I can't help think that Crider must have left someone important off their corporate PAC contributions list.

Not that Crider hadn't worked hard to make sure it covered the waterfront.

Contributions to Political Committees

CRIDER, BILL
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY

COVERDELL, PAUL DOUGLAS
VIA COVERDELL GOOD GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE;THE
02/20/1998 1000.00 98020091880

CRIDER, BILLY
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER INC./OWNER

CLAY, CALDER B III
VIA CALDER CLAY FOR US CONGRESS
06/14/2004 1000.00 24961740792
09/03/2004 1000.00 24981350054
10/28/2004 1000.00 24981508999

CRIDER, BILLY MR.
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER POULTRY/OWNER

MARSHALL, JIM
VIA FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL
03/31/2004 2000.00 24991018600
10/25/2004 1000.00 24981535550
10/30/2004 1000.00 24981535551
03/31/2005 2100.00 25990482683
03/31/2005 2100.00 25990482684

CRIDER, CHARLES
SIMPSONVILLE, SC 29681
CRIDER AND ASSOC

GRAHAM, LINDSEY OLIN
VIA LINDSEY GRAHAM FOR SENATE
12/03/2001 1000.00 24020331072

CRIDER, JACOB G
SHIPPENSBURG, PA 17257
CRIDER MEATS

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS
06/19/1998 250.00 98033272125
09/14/1998 350.00 98033651037

CRIDER, W A
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER FARMS

CLELAND, JOSEPH MAXWELL
VIA FRIENDS OF MAX CLELAND FOR THE US SENATE INC
05/03/2000 1000.00 20020251157
05/03/2000 1000.00 20020251157

CRIDER, W A
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER INC

ISAKSON, JOHN HARDY
VIA GEORGIANS FOR ISAKSON
01/22/2004 2000.00 24020272457
04/20/2004 2000.00 24020410957

CRIDER, W A
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY

CHAMBLISS, SAXBY
VIA CHAMBLISS FOR SENATE
04/27/2000 1000.00 20035704508
04/26/2002 1000.00 22020440604
08/27/2002 1000.00 22020741869
03/31/2003 1000.00 23020180712
05/20/2003 1000.00 23020303236
05/20/2003 1000.00 23020303235
03/31/2004 1000.00 24020231692

CRIDER, W A JR
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY

BUSH, GEORGE W
VIA BUSH FOR PRESIDENT INC.
09/09/1999 1000.00 99034850605

MILLER, ZELL BRYAN
VIA ZELL MILLER FOR SENATE INC
08/30/2000 1000.00 20020310530

CRIDER, W A JR MR
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY

COVERDELL, PAUL DOUGLAS
VIA COVERDELL GOOD GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE;THE
07/24/1998 1000.00 98020230117

CRIDER, W A JR MR
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER INC

ISAKSON, JOHN HARDY
VIA GEORGIANS FOR ISAKSON
05/03/2005 2000.00 25020272862
05/03/2005 2000.00 25020272861

CRIDER, W. A MR. JR.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY/CHAIRMAN

BUSH, GEORGE W
VIA BUSH-CHENEY '04 (PRIMARY) INC
07/09/2003 2000.00 23992052343

CRIDER, W. A.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY/PRESIDENT & CEO

CHAMBLISS, SAXBY
VIA CHAMBLISS FOR SENATE
01/05/2001 500.00 21990327777

CRIDER, W. A. JR.
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER INC/OWNER

BURNS, O MAXIE
VIA FRIENDS OF MAX BURNS
06/23/2005 2100.00 25970613876
06/23/2005 2100.00 25970613876

CRIDER, W. A. MR. JR.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY/CHAIRMAN

NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (FKA) NATIONAL BROILER COUNCIL PAC
06/04/2002 2500.00 22991416106
02/10/2003 1000.00 23991294772
03/19/2004 2500.00 24990985935
07/01/2005 2500.00 26990177583

CRIDER, W.A.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY/EXECUTIVE

HAYES, ROBERT CANNON
VIA HAYES FOR CONGRESS
09/09/2003 1000.00 23992081227

CRIDER, W.A. JR.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER INC./OWNER

BURNS, O MAXIE
VIA MAX BURNS FOR CONGRESS
05/20/2004 1000.00 24961740081
10/07/2004 1000.00 24962645377

CRIDER, WILLIAM
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY CO

KINGSTON, JOHN HEDDENS
VIA FRIENDS OF JACK KINGSTON
09/15/1997 1000.00 98032684029
01/17/1998 1000.00 98032960146
04/14/1999 1000.00 99034643649
05/08/2000 1000.00 20035741074

CRIDER, WILLIAM
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY CO./PRES. POULTRY

KINGSTON, JOHN HEDDENS
VIA FRIENDS OF JACK KINGSTON
05/10/2001 1000.00 21990265221

CRIDER, WILLIAM
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER'S POULTRY

NORWOOD, CHARLES WHITLOW
VIA NORWOOD FOR CONGRESS
06/29/1998 1000.00 98033221098
05/09/2000 1000.00 20035701680

CRIDER, WILLIAM
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDERS POULTRY/OWNER

NORWOOD, CHARLES WHITLOW
VIA NORWOOD FOR CONGRESS
07/18/2002 1000.00 22991528643
01/23/2003 1000.00 23990705610
04/22/2004 1000.00 24961723596

CRIDER, WILLIAM
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER COMPANIES

CHAMBLISS, SAXBY
VIA CHAMBLISS FOR SENATE
05/08/2002 1000.00 22020440835
11/13/2002 1000.00 22020930264

CRIDER, WILLIAM
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER COMPANIES/VP OPERATIONS

CHAMBLISS, SAXBY
VIA CHAMBLISS FOR SENATE
06/30/2006 2000.00 26020430558
06/30/2006 2000.00 26020430558

CRIDER, WILLIAM
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDERS POULTRY/OWNER

NORWOOD, CHARLES WHITLOW
VIA NORWOOD FOR CONGRESS
02/17/2006 2000.00 26930047860

CRIDER, WILLIAM A
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER'S POULTRY

FOOD PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (FPA-PAC)
04/09/1998 500.00 98033122343
05/04/1999 500.00 99034520286

CRIDER, WILLIAM A.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY CO./PRES. POULTRY

KINGSTON, JOHN HEDDENS
VIA FRIENDS OF JACK KINGSTON
05/07/2004 1000.00 24961724230

CRIDER, WILLIAM A.I MR. III
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER INC./VICE PRESIDENT

NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (FKA) NATIONAL BROILER COUNCIL PAC
02/20/2003 1000.00 23991294772
03/19/2004 2500.00 24990985936
07/20/2005 2500.00 26990177584

CRIDER, WILLIAM III
STATESBORO, GA 30458
CRIDER POULTRY

MILLER, ZELL BRYAN
VIA ZELL MILLER FOR SENATE INC
08/30/2000 1000.00 20020310535

CRIDER, WILLIAM MR. JR.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER INC./CHAIRMAN

FOOD PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (FPA-PAC)
03/07/2002 1000.00 22990592086

CRIDER ., MR. WILLIAM JR
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY CO./PRES. POULTRY

KINGSTON, JOHN HEDDENS
VIA FRIENDS OF JACK KINGSTON
04/09/2005 2000.00 25970654306
04/25/2005 2000.00 25970654306

CRIDER III, WILLIAM A.
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER POULTRY/CHAIRMAN

KINGSTON, JOHN HEDDENS
VIA FRIENDS OF JACK KINGSTON
05/27/2004 1000.00 24961724230

CRIDER JR., WILLIAM
STILLMORE, GA 30464
CRIDER INC./VICE PRESIDENT

NORWOOD, CHARLES WHITLOW
VIA NORWOOD FOR CONGRESS
05/10/2004 1000.00 24961723596
05/09/2005 2000.00 25970585900
05/09/2005 2000.00 25970585900

CRIDER JR., WILLIAM A.
METTER, GA 30439
CRIDER POULTRY CO./PRES. POULTRY

KINGSTON, JOHN HEDDENS
VIA FRIENDS OF JACK KINGSTON
01/23/2002 1000.00 22990616796
06/13/2003 1000.00 23991345064

HOWELL, MARK
EVANS, GA 30809
CRIDER INC

MILLER, ZELL BRYAN
VIA ZELL MILLER FOR SENATE INC
08/30/2000 1000.00 20020310535

HOWELL, MARK
STATESBORO, GA 30458
CRIDER INC

CHAMBLISS, SAXBY
VIA CHAMBLISS FOR SENATE
04/26/2002 1000.00 22020440790




If it's gotten to the point that an INS bust can depopulate an entire town, then it's safe to conclude that these enforcement actions are about 10 years behind the curve. How many other towns could be raided with similar results?

U.S. Navy Exonerates Islam

Someone at Armed Forces Information Services decided there was some positive purpose served by printing the inanities of the Navy's 2nd Muslim chaplain about the relationship between Islam and bin Laden for publication:

"People shouldn’t associate the worship of Islam with the so-called religious theology espoused by terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Saifulislam said. “Terrorism has no religion, and no religion condones terrorism,” he said. “These terrorists just happen to be Muslims.”

Why was this article written? Because the Navy believes that bin Laden "just happen[s] to be Muslim? Because the Navy wants some part of its audience to believe it believes this--if so which part: the sailors and marines who actually read its releases, or the anonymous Muslim who will thus be reassured that whatever he believes about jihad is just fine and dandy with the Navy if he chooses to join?

As incoherent as Saifulislam's line of reasoning on this issue is, at least he has one which seems to be more than we can say for the U.S. Navy.

Don't Mention the Jihad

"The derogatory remarks of the Pope about the philosophy of jihad and Prophet Mohammed have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the danger of spreading acrimony among the religions..."

Pakistani National Assembly Resolution Condemning Benedict XVI's 12 September speech on faith and reason

Erm, I'd say the threat of acrimony lies a good deal closer to home.

This to me sounds the same as "don't mention my husband's temper or it will be your fault if he gets angry and beats someone up."

NATO 1949-2006 RIP

I guess it was a good run, although Russian manoeuvring to buy into EADS makes me think that we may have saved the European village in order to burn it.

Malegaon Suspicion Turns Towards Hindu Extremists

It looks like the obvious explanation is the most likely. Focus of investigation sharpening around the Bajrang Dal.

The internecine theory remains on the table, but there are plenty of Hindu suspects to run down as well.

Does Tolerance Extend To Not Executing Converts?

Episcopal Church and National Cathedral grant backdrop for brazenly mendacious plea for tolerance from former President of Iran.

In Other News: Fire Hot, Water Wet

Scientist establishes a psychological underpinning of the blindingly obvious.

Patricia Schroeder could not be reached for comment.

A Link to the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Pre-War vs. Post-War Intelligence

Links to Iraq Intelligence Phase II Reports:

Postwar Findings about Iraq's WMD Programs and Links to Terrorism and How they Compare with Prewar Assessments

The Use by the Intelligence Community of Information Provided by the Iraqi National Congress

I Can't Decide What Should Happen

Bond villain wannabe Dr. A.Q. Khan ails from prostate cancer.

Would we rather:

A) He slipped in the bathtub tomorrow morning;
B) He suffered a long and harrowing ordeal which brought him to repentance and cooperation with the U.S.;
C) He makes a complete recovery and is bagged by a covert ops. team while celebrating his recovery on some beach outside Karachi

Internecine Bombing?

The most recent attack in India seems to have killed at least 30.

The natural assumption to make here, since the victims were primarily Muslims at prayer, is that the blast was a tit-for-tat retaliation, presumably by Hindu extremists, for the Mumbai bombings in July, but there are curious details which give one pause. A previous explosives find in Malegaon was made by means of evidence obtained from arrested Islamic militants. Malegaon is about three quarters Muslim, so it seems unlikely that the local Hindus would court a riot by attempting violence there, and it seems likely that out-of-towners of any sort would have stood out as well.

Maleagaon also has a history of Muslim violence, dating back to the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.

If this were "green on green" violence, then the follow-up questions which I cannot answer would be:

1) Was this factional--were the target congregants known for some doctrinal dispute with other Muslims in the area; and

2) Was this a provocation by extremists hoping to spark another riot and possible overreaction by the authorities?

The authorities, as is typical in cases of sectarian violence within India, are close-mouthed.

Somewhat Light on White Chips, Though

Naval forces in Arabian Sea:

USS Enterprise (CVN 65) - Arabian Sea
USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Arabian Sea
USS Nashville (LPD 13) - Arabian Sea
USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) - Arabian Sea
USS Saipan (LHA 2) - Gulf of Aden

The Kitty Hawk is currently on port call in Thailand. That would be close enough to be of use, but it's a big step down from the build-up in 2005, which saw 3 carrier groups in the region.

The Blue Chips on the Table

8/7/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- A contingent of four bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., is providing both an increase in forces and a security presence to the 36th Air Expeditionary Wing at Anderson Air Force Base, Guam -- making one of the U.S. military's most unique aircraft ready at a moment's notice.

8/31/2006 - -- A 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-52 Stratofortress taxis on the airfield at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Aug. 30. The B-52, from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., is one of six scheduled to be deployed to Andersen for four months. The aircraft, aircrews, support staff and maintainers will continue the mission of promoting regional security and preserving regional stability, while providing a continuous bomber presence.

Thursday, September 7, 2006
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. (AP) -- B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base are scheduled to depart early Thursday for southwest Asia.
On Tuesday, about 300 airmen from the 28th Bomb Wing of the base near Rapid City were deployed for assignments that will last from 120 to 200 days.

UPDATE---
8/28/2006 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- After more than 140 sorties and 330 released weapons, B-2 Spirit aircraft, pilots, maintainers and support staff from the 509th Bomb Wing are returning home having completed another successful deployment here.

So the Air Force posture is looking almost as relaxed as the Navy one detailed above.

Going All In

Bush makes flat statement:

"The world's free nations will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

The Shia and Sunni extremists represent different faces of the same threat. They draw inspiration from different sources, but both seek to impose a dark vision of violent Islamic radicalism across the Middle East. They oppose the advance of freedom, and they want to gain control of weapons of mass destruction. If they succeed in undermining fragile democracies, like Iraq, and drive the forces of freedom out of the region, they will have an open field to pursue their dangerous goals. Each strain of violent Islamic radicalism would be emboldened in their efforts to topple moderate governments and establish terrorist safe havens."

So will this be the son's "Read my lips..." moment? The document whose release was heralded in this speech, the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism only states that:

"We will continue to create and strengthen international will to interdict material support, akin to our efforts in the Proliferation Security Initiative – a global effort to stop shipments of WMD, their delivery systems, and related material. We will build international cooperation to financially isolate rogue states and their terrorist proxies. We also will continue to expose the vehicles and fronts that states use to support their terrorist surrogates."

With respect, this simply isn't going to stop anyone who's already committed to developing a bomb and, like Iran, has the material means to produce one.

Additionally, might one read perhaps too much into Bush's formulation that we will not permit Iran "to develop a nuclear weapon?" It seems to me to leave open the possibility that the Mullahs in fact already have gotten their mitts on a weapon from outside...

Bullseye!

One step closer to doing what we're told over and over again is the impossible. The Missile Defense Agency conducts a successful flight test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense element of the the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Here's a shot of an interceptor going into the silo.

Political P0rnography

I wish I could say it surprised me to learn that a British television network has decided to fund a feature-length motion picture dramatization of the Left’s recurrent sotto-voce fantasy, the assassination of President George Bush.

Not, as they might easily have done, some fictional President Geoff Holly, or similar roman-a-clef dodge (as they did in the Manchurian Candidate, which accomplished the admirable feat of simultaneously defaming Nixon while hanging the basic outline of the traitors afoot in the Democratic Party circa 1944 about the neck of the Republican Party--and even then, they felt compelled, like a criminal returning to the scene, to remake the film in 2004 removing any ambiguity about the evil of Republicans). No, the Left is tired of pussyfooting around, they want their pound of flesh bloody and unadulterated.

With a morbid curiosity for which I will no doubt atone in purgatory, I sojourned within the fever swamps of the DailyKos to see how badly the Left would betray its baser urges. Mostly, even there, it was recognized that to entertain this conjecture as a dramatic project for public consumption for even an instant was a profound rejection of the American experiment and impulse towards Caesarism which stood contrary to the stated values of most Leftist movements.

However, the pro-forma denunciations of the film had two recurring features that suggest the Left’s rejection of the assassination fantasy is neither completely sincere nor unconditional.

1) The first feature took the formulation along the lines of “I would never see this film, and I would urge others to reject it as well.” This is, I suppose, the situational variant of the well-worn “personally opposed, but politically supportive” cant which has been the Left’s stock-in-trade on issues of sexual immorality since the 1960’s, but it demonstrates a complete lack of seriousness about the nature of the project. If the objection to the film is merely that one finds the theme unpleasant, I suppose this attitude might hold water. If, on the other hand, it is believed, as most of the posters claim to do, that publicizing such fantasies in fact amounts to incitement, then one cannot in moral seriousness suppose that the public danger is eliminated by only allowing those who have no qualms about subjecting themselves to such incitement to view the film. The danger is showing the film publicly, tout court, not that the film is distasteful and therefore unworthy of support.

2) The second phenomenon observed runs parallel to the first in that it similarly reveals an inability to separate the fantastic and conspiratorial from actual reality. A significant number of posters who objected to the film, objected for the tactical reason that the assassination of Bush would only elevate Vice President Cheney, one of the purported masterminds who compose the ruling syndicate in the imaginings of many on the Left. This train of conspiratorial reasoning swiftly deduced that the only possible source of this inflammatory film must be some public relations operation on the Right, following the notion that since the assassination of Bush would probably redound to the popularity of his successor (as Johnson was only able to sustain any sort of public popularity standing in the halo of Kennedy’s secular martyrdom), therefore it must be the case that the Right has come to consciously wish for Bush’s assassination and is, by unspecified Dark Arts, compelling Leftist English filmmakers to produce the material to set off some anti-Bush Travis Bickle in our midst.

To the extent that any politically consequential conclusions can be drawn, it seems clear to me that the Left is in clear denial about the extent of their Bush Derangement Syndrome, and that any attempt by the Democratic Party to craft a serious foreign policy platform on which to run in November is perhaps fatally compromised by this unwillingness to engage in the sort of reality-based analysis of their situation upon which they congratulate themselves so warmly.

A Few Thoughts about Miss England

The lovely, the talented Hammasa Kohistani, 2006 Miss England

1) She's attractive, but I've got to think that you could find a dozen women on the platform at Charing Cross at rush hour who would favourably bear comparison;

2) Given #1, above, I cannot dismiss the prospect that this was an affirmative action win awarded by the judges to attempt to communicate to Britain's "good Muslims" that they have a place of welcome in British society if they could just stop their confreres from blowing up trains, please.

3) The real mindbender is that, despite the death threats she has received from Muslim fundamentalists for participating in such decadent pursuits as beauty contests, her real upset is that English society is causing terror by their intolerance and stereotyping:

"Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves. They think they might as well support it because they are stereotyped anyway. It will take a long time for communities to start mixing in more."

Clearly, she didn't win the contest on her scores in the deductive and analytic reasoning competition.

The Imam Who Didn't Bark

Still waiting for a Muslim spokesperson of any significance to condemn the gunpoint conversions of Fox journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig.

I'm sure our friends at CAIR are working on a humdinger, just as soon as they get done feting former Iranian President Khatami

The U.N. Hits the Snooze Bar

Iran has officially rejected the Security Council's deadline to stop its nuclear enrichment. This is basically akin to Hitler remilitarising the Rheinland--the question of future military consequence is answered by the very developments which caused one to consider the question at all. Iran pursues enrichment because they plan to develop a nuclear weapon as soon as possible.

But we shouldn't worry, we're told, because Iran is certainly 5 years away from a bomb. The chilling frisson this fails to dispel is due to the fact that these are the same intelligence agencies who concluded that North Korea was at least--wait for it--FIVE YEARS away from launching a ballistic missile in 1998, shortly before North Korea proceeded with complete insouciance to launch their first Taepo-Dong 1 over the Sea of Japan.

Iranwatch has a good backgrounder pointing out the manifold failures of western intelligence and the clear objectives of the Iranian regime.

PJ

It Is True That Your Odds of Winning the Lottery Are Better...

Than that of being killed by a crazed Pakistani-American. But we've had our second crazed killer of Pakistani ancestry go off on a spree on the west coast in the last 30 days.

Please don't anyone draw any invidious conclusions, please, or even talk about the odd coincidence. It would be better if you spent your time watching the round-the-clock JonBenet Ramsey/John Mark Karr freakshow.

PJ