JawsBlog

Holy Shit! The Red Sox just Won the World Series!
(Why is Fox showing a bar in NYC? Those people are gonna get mugged tonight)

The Sox won the Series! My goodness!

So Drudge is breaking a story by Bill Gertz in Thursday’s Washington Times that:
Russia tied to Iraq´s missing arms; Pentagon: Weaponry relocated before war

an excerpt:

Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein’s weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, “almost certainly” removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

Now there was an article from about a year ago, October 23, 2003 which lends creedence to Gertz’s piece, that ran on the AFP and UPI newswires. It also happened to be the subject of an October 29, 2003 piece by Gertz:

Spy chief says Iraq moved weapons
Iraqi military officers destroyed or hid chemical, biological and nuclear weapons goods in the weeks before the war, the nation’s top satellite spy director said yesterday.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, said vehicle traffic photographed by U.S. spy satellites indicated that material and documents related to the arms programs were shipped to Syria.

Other goods probably were sent throughout Iraq in small quantities and documents probably were stashed in the homes of weapons scientists, Gen. Clapper told defense reporters at a breakfast.
…
He also said the Iraqi government carried out operations after the fall of Baghdad in April to cover up the hidden weapons programs. The chaos following might have included both looting and “organized dispersal made to look like looting,” he said.

“So by the time that we got to a lot of these facilities, that we had previously identified as suspect facilities, there wasn’t that much there to look at,” he said.
…
The dispersal included moving both weapons and equipment as well as documents. The activity began before the United Nations began arms inspections last fall.

“What we saw with the avoidance of inspections, there was clearly an effort to disperse, bury, conceal certain equipment prior to inspections,” Gen. Clapper said.

As for shipping weapons out of Iraq, he said, there is “no question” that people and material were taken to Syria.

Breaking/developing: Palestinian Official: Arafat’s Health Worse

The ramifications of this could be huge….

Update: Hey–anyone know if Jimmy Carter has issued a statement on this yet? How about the UN and Kofi Annan?

So on my absentee ballot this year, two of the offices up for election were that of the County Coroner and County Engineer. (both candidates were running unopposed).

Besides the fact that these are elected positions (which is amusing in a way), I was more suprised that the candidates political party affiliations were listed.

Does it really matter if the coroner is a Democrat or Republican? What would the difference be? Either way they’re going to perform autopsies. Same goes for the position of engineer.

For cheap amusement, here’s something to think about: what would a political campaign for either of these two elected positions look like?

‘Junk Polls’ Entertain — and Make a Buck

For those who care, or want cheap entertainment, at last count the 7-11 poll has Bush with 51.17% of the vote and Kerry with 48.83% 7-11 site

[via the Rantblog]” Breaking News: Top Israeli rabbi says Jews should vote for Bush

That’s one major rabbi…now all Bush would need is the Chief Sefardic Rabbi’s endorsement.

And on the subject of the Jew Vote:
From theWweekly Standard: From me to Jews

I’m sure I’m not alone in this sentiment of mine, especially with a poll apparently indicating 60% of voters don’t think we’ll have a clear winner on election day

With the DNC’s boasting of having 10,000 lawyers at the ready, and the GOP also claiming to have an army of lawyers (no indication of numbers) Stories like this are all over the news:
Thousands Of Lawyers Prepare For Battle In Florida

Now I’d personally like to have one of those whack-a-mole mallets and just be able to whack these lawyers…all of ‘em. I mean these lawyers are already filing lawsuits, and it may make 2000s mess look like nothing…

It’s a bi-partisan game so come on, everyone join in!

Okay, I don’t quite get this whole Al-Qa’qqa story.

From what things are sounding like, this is a phony story that the NYT picked up and ran with (beating out CBS). However, it looks to be based on a false leak made by Mohammed Al-Baradei of the IAEA, who the US opposes for re-election of head of the IAEA.

But here’s what I’m wondering about:
–If the terrorists have the RDX–why have they not yet used it?
–If the 3rd ID or 101st Airborne was there, wouldn’t they have noticed trucks going to and fro, especially with the satillite/drone coverage that they have?

–How is the dissapearance of the explosives the President’s fault? Is he supposed to be on the ground there guarding Al-Qaqqa?
–If the military did screw up on this, wouldn’t the most recent Kedwards ad about this be a direct insult at the military?

–Finally, how many little kids who watched/heard the news are being yelled at for by their parents for saying “Al-qaqqa”….

Update: Here’s a post from Powerline which answers one of my questions: Latest pro-Kerry spin slanders our troops

Ii hardly consider Thomas Friedman to be a “neo-con” in most senses of the word (unless you use the term as a slur for “Jews”)

But read this letter a grad student at brandeis wrote:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Thomas Friedman’s talk disappointing in content

I was greatly disappointed by Thomas Friedman’s ’75 appearance here last Monday (news article Oct. 19). Wrought with inconsistencies and gross oversimplifications, the talk was neocon propaganda meant to manipulate Jews
…
In fact, his talk seemed entirely about exploiting the Jews’ poor relations with Arabs to gain support for a neocon agenda in the Arab world.

Well Brandeis prof and former Sec. Labor (under Clinton) Robert Reich spoke on his new book the other day at Brandeis.

Reich: ‘Reason’ will win battle for America

I think Reich is very wrong and also very out of touch with regards to the “Red States”; he’s been in DC and MA too long.

If anything, America has moved more away from the further left ideals Reich is arguing for and more towards the center-right over the past 40 years or so. (What’s the name of the book by those two authors that argues that point?)

Even look at the Clinton Presidency–he had to move towards the middle in ’96 when he ran. Plus look at the “Republican Revolution” which took place in ’94 and then the upsets in the 2002 mid-term elections.

Get a load of this story from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:Republican Party challenges 17,000 on Cuyahoga County’s voter rolls

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections must find more than 17,000 registered voters by Friday to tell them they may be culled from the rolls by Republican challengers.

One problem: the very reason these voters are being challenged is because the elections board can’t seem to reach them.

On Friday, the Ohio Republican Party filed papers questioning the validity of the registrations because the voters’ addresses appeared to be wrong and the mail from the elections board was being returned.

Sigh….chalk up another one for goverment efficiency….

I’m feeling better today, phew, heldl my “office hours” and well I’m gonna spend the afternoon grading lab reports and studying neuroanatomy.

The blogsphere is already abuzz over the NYT’s non-story, and CBS’ desire to have made it into an “October Suprise”…further tarnishing that channel’s reputation.

Time to break out the red pen…dum dum dum…

Perhaps some occasional blogging during the afternoon

Not a good time to get sick…if it were to have happened next weekthat would’ve been better, but alas, I’m out of luck. Sort of hard to study for an exam while sick. D’oh.

[hat tip: Michael Totten]

Kerry’s foreign policy advisor Richard Holbrooke was on the O’reilly Factor Friday night and talking about the Middle East, Holrooke said grouped Israel, Syria and Saudi Arabia into a group of nations which the Kerry adminsitration would apparently exert more pressure on.

Right there, the red flag has to go up.

I fail to see how Israel belongs in a category with the Saudis and Syrians, besides their geographical location. Throughout the 90s the US tried pressuring Israel through the “peace process” and well, look how far that got us. On a more serious note, as a big Israel supporter hearing that Israel may be pressured by the US administration, is not reassuring. It soundns like a dream for the State Department, which is one of the most Orientalist, non-Israel friendly bodies within the US Gov’t.

Go read what Roger Simon has to say about this.

Yes, I know I’m probably a conplete idiot for doing this, but I’m at school right now even though I felt really sick (and likely had a fever) last night and when I woke up this morning.,..I still hauled my tuchus out of bed and got to school. Such is the life of a graduate student, at least one studying in the sciences.

Thank goodness I keep cans of ginger-ale here at my desk….I’m hoping to survive this 7 hour day on campus….sigh….

More blogging to come later…

For the last, oh, 24-36 hours or so there was a lot of buzz going around the blogs that some major story about Kerry and Foreign policy was going to come out….and it was really being hyped as something big.

Well the story is out, it’s in the Washington Times:
Security Council members deny meeting Kerry

Doesn’t sound like that big of a story if you really ask me. I’d put it in the “meetings with foreign leaders” category.

On the other hand, a much bigger story from this weekend, just got reported on–Tom of Aldaynet just got engaged! Congrats and best wishes to him.

And while I write this post, the Red Soz just won game 2 of the World Series…

Update: Another thought, were Kerry to have met with all the members of the UNSC (at that time), he would’ve met with the Syrian govt’s representative…does the US even have diplomatic negotiations with Syria?

In regards to the stories about the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) absentee ballots being confusing (picture via Powerline).

I noticed that too at first, but quickly figured out that I was to match the numbers.
However, if you read the inside cover of the booklet, under the instructions it says:

There is a number next to each Candidate’s name, and next to the “yes” or “No” on each question, and next to the “FOR” or “AGAINST” on each issue. These are the numbers you must locate on the official ballot card when you are ready to vote.

To vote: remove the “punching tool” from the official ballot card. Find the number on the official ballot card that corresponds to the number next to the candidate(s) of your choice and next to the “Yes” or “No” on each question, and next to the “FOR” or “AGAINST” on each issue. Firmly punch the small black dot on the card above the number

It’s in the instructions and all, but I happen to agree with Aaron Greenspan, a 21 year old from Shaker Heights (who coincidentally, I happen to know as an acquantance), whos aid in an AP article on the ballots:

“The arrows shouldn’t be there if they want people to ignore them,”

And for those who care, yes, I did complete my ballot correctly, and I punched out hole number 4 for President.

This is cool neuroscience: researchers using rat neurons have “taught” a system how to fly a simulated F-22

The NY Jets are facing the New England Patriots today up in Foxborough (btw, both teams are undefeated), and this week on the radio, some of the hosts were talking about how they wanted the Jets to avenge the Yankees loss to the Red Sox by beating the Pats and breaking their 19 game win streak…..

Will the Jets avenge the Yankees loss?

Okay, time to kick myself into gear and get some major work done today. Between grading papers and memorizing things for neuroanatomy class, I’ve got a fun filled day ahead, no?

At least I got a lot of sleep last night…