I’m not too sure Lucas gave any thought to the acronym before he announced the title of the next Star Wars movie.
Next year’s third and final installment of the “Star Wars” prequels will be called “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” the film’s producers said Saturday.
All weekend, my blogroll has been relatively quiet, leaving little to advocate or cause comment.
Unfortunately, monitoring Google, Yahoo!, CNN, etc., I find little of worth to blog about on these. Does the world wait on the DNC convention? Goodness, I hope not. I wonder what the next few days of the blogging world will be like if we must rely on a heavily-orchestrated event like the DNC National Convention for news.
But, wait … this means possibly two things.
First, the rest of the world is seemingly relatively quiet, waiting, not wanting to interfere. This could be something or nothing, as it would have to be compared relative to the upcoming RNC gathering. Who makes noise? Who voices their vested stake?
Second, the Dems are toning down their ABB (Anybody But Bush) message because the 9/11 Commission has shown that terrorism is an ongoing threat. This week, Kerry has to show that he can get better international support for our efforts than Bush has managed — more support from the French, et al, than they provided to Saddam. Kerry has to show that he can improve the intelligence community, despite his voting history of cutting funding to it. Kerry has to show that he can assist the military in their efforts, despite his stances to deprive them of funding, especially the Iraq-related funding. Kerry has to support the troops, after trashing the military, and himself, for war crimes.
It’s sad that a major contender for president has allowed his message to shift so much without conceding he was wrong.
Kerry about jobs: well, it’s pretty quiet now.
Kerry about pre-emption: Never against it, but quiet now.
Kerry about WMD: They’re there. They are not there. Quiet now. ‘Cause they’re there (found) and elsewhere (unfound, but mark Gunner at his word).
Kerry about the UN: We should act in our own best interests. No, we should act in accordance with every country acting in their own best interest but phrase it as if they are worldly and we are selfish. That is how to lead decisively.
Instead, I expect a low-key, patriotic Dem convention over the next few days. “We could do better.” Lots of patriotic music, little policy.
Here’s hoping Teresa Heinz says something cool, but Gunner money is against it. Dean and his ilk would’ve been fun, at least.
Unprecedented. Dominating. Exhilarating. Lance!
Lance Armstrong rode into history Sunday by winning the Tour de France for a record sixth time, an achievement that confirmed him as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.
His sixth crown in six dominant years elevated Armstrong above four champions who won five times. And never in its 101-year-old history has the Tour had a winner like Armstrong — a Texan who just eight years ago was given less than a 50 percent chance of overcoming testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain.
Armstrong’s unbeaten streak since 1999 has helped reinvigorate the greatest race in cycling, steering it into the 21st century. And the Tour, as much a part of French summers as languid meals over chilled rose, molded Armstrong into a sporting superstar.
No. 6. The record. The achievement was almost too much even for Armstrong to comprehend.
“It might take years. I don’t know. It hasn’t sunk in yet. But six, standing on the top step on the podium on the Champs-Elysees is really special,” he said.
Just wanted to make sure this story got some play. Don’t count on it reaching the front page of the New York Times or Washington Post, though, as it concerns an American citizen detained in Egypt.
A California man who was detained in Egypt for nearly a week says he was beaten and questioned before authorities released him without explanation.
Abdul Ghafoor Mahboob, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, said he was repeatedly beaten with a stick on his thighs and punched in the stomach and head.
“Without my prayers, I would have gone crazy,” Mahboob told the Los Angeles Times in a phone interview from London on Friday.
Won’t get much play without photos of Abdul on a leash, I’m betting.
Islamic terrorists have released threats against Australia and Italy, as well as Poland and Bulgaria. These follow earlier threats against Japan.
A top security official at NATO says the decision by the Philippines to withdraw its small contingent to gain the release last week of a Philippine truck driver kidnapped by militants probably sparked the most recent threats.
Terrorists, give ’em and inch and they’ll carbomb a mile. Oh, and I just wanted to send another thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Philippine president and Manila folder.
Apparently, manners are now a must when visiting French consulates.
In a sign that relations between Washington and Paris remain a bit testy, a notice on the front door of the French Consulate in New York warns Americans applying for a visa to check their attitude before entering.
“Visas for France are not a right. Persons applying for visas are requested to show due respect for Consular personnel. Failure to do so will result in the denial of the application and denied entry into any of the EU countries,” says the sign posted in English at the French Consulate at 10 East 74th St., referring to the European Union.
Someone must’ve gotten a tad snippy. Nevertheless, I somehow doubt the entire EU has surrendered control of their borders to French veto. Oh, but I forget, Bush is the one with the arrogance problem.
A Cold War relic is being reincarnated for the War on Terror.
Citing what they call the need for a more aggressive war of information against, and education about, Islamic extremism, two U.S. lawmakers appeared Tuesday at a news conference formally announcing the latest reincarnation of a group that had its beginnings during the Cold War.
In 1950, in the earliest years of the “Cold War” with the former Soviet Union, the Committee on the Present Danger was formed to serve as a way of building support among Americans for a strong national defense and opposition to Moscow’s expansionist aims.
Described in history texts as a conservative, although bi-partisan group, the committee counted among its members numerous people who went on to work in several presidential administrations. It also included, at one point in 1979, a politically ambitious Ronald Reagan who would go on to win the presidency.
In the 1960s, the group became less visible with the growth of public opposition to the war in Vietnam, only to re-emerge in the mid-1970’s amid a debate about the direction of U.S. security policies regarding the Soviet Union, and the efficiency of the intelligence community.
Now, the group has appeared again, this time with the objective of educating Americans and the world about what its members call the threat from radical Islamist, as opposed to Islamic, terrorism.
Chaired by former CIA director James Woolsey and fronted by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Kyl, the Committee on the Present Danger, quite simply, gets it:
The 9/11 attack had a similarly stimulating effect on the terrorist network that perpetrated it, and on legions of Muslim youths across the globe from among whom that network draws its recruits. Nothing succeeds like success, it is said, and Al Qaeda’s “success” in hitting America on 9/11 was a far greater rallying event than all of Bin Laden’s screeds and Al Jazeera’s agitprop, combined. As it moved from suicide bombers in Tel Aviv to weaponized commercial aircraft in New York and Washington, there was no escaping the reality that the Islamist jihad took a quantum leap on 9/11. And with it leapt the danger confronting the free world from the “insane courage” (a term Bin Laden favors) of radicalized, Islamo-fascist killers.
I’ll most certainly be keeping an eye on the efforts of this group, and it’s comforting to know that the tradition and memory of the Cold Warriors continues. The more I read from Useful Idiots by Mona Charen, the more parallels I find between the struggle against communism and the fight against Islamofascist terrorism. This is especially true when I watch those against the struggle and listen to the recycling of talking points from decades ago.
As I’ve long suspected, chickflicks suck the testosterone out of a man.
Sentimental films such as “The Bridges of Madison County” caused levels of the hormone progesterone to rise by more than 10 percent in both men and women, the team at the University of Michigan found.
Women’s testosterone levels were unchanged during and after the Clint Eastwood movie about a love affair, while men’s testosterone levels fell.
“The Godfather Part II” aroused a different sort of passion. While watching the crime and action film, men with the highest levels of testosterone had them soar by as much as 30 percent more.
A tip of the CVC to FauxPolitik for this look at Garry Kasparov analyzing Bobby Fischer, a man who has always fascinated me, both the good and the bad. Check that, both the brilliant and the horrid.
As we’ve heard, Fischer has gone of the deep end (well okay, that was long ago – it’s just that he’s finally reaching the bottom of the pool), and is currently in custody in Japan; one step removed from being in custody in the U.S. But Kasparov is more interested in what might have been with young Robert….
Or, probably more likely, at least pay lip service to security.
Iraq (news – web sites)’s neighbors agreed Wednesday to hold a high-level security meeting and share intelligence about cross-border infiltration, answering the war-ravaged nation’s plea for assistance.
Facing almost daily car bombings and firefights, Iraq accuses foreign Muslim infiltrators of being behind some of the deadliest attacks and says neighboring countries are either facilitating or turning a blind eye to infiltration across borders.
After a day of long-winded deliberations and minor disagreements, Arab foreign ministers welcomed the proposal of Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to convene interior ministers and security officials to discuss how to “eliminate all terrorist and other armed groups present and emanating from Iraqi territory which constitute a danger to Iraq and neighboring states,” the final statement of the meeting said.
The date of the meeting, to be hosted by Iran, has not yet been decided. But delegates at the sixth regional meeting of Iraq’s neighbors said the meeting will mean intelligence sharing, and possibly reinforcement of border patrols.
Note the hint that Egypt is possibly realizing their own danger that is being fostered by the terror:
“Just as neighboring countries affect the situation in Iraq, they are affected by it,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.