September 30th, 2005 - 10:41 pm
While usually reliable sources are saying that the “97%” affirmative vote in the Algerian referendum is largely a joke, the Chinese People’s Daily and their ‘friends’ are taking it all more seriously.
France hailed Friday as “democratic consultation” Thursday’s referendum in which the Algerians approved the “national reconciliation and peace charter.”
“The Algerian people just approved by referendum the ‘national reconciliation and peace charter’ proposed by President (Abdelaziz) Bouteflika,” said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei.
“We hail this democratic consultation to which the Algerians have attended, as much in their country as abroad, in particularly in France,” he said at a news conference.
The Algerians voted “yes” with more than 97 percent of votes to the referendum with a turnout close to 80 percent, according to Algerian Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni.
Opposition and human rights groups, however, urged voters to reject the charter, saying it merely sweeps years of suffering under the carpet and gives the president new power.
The referendum is expected to end the crisis and political violence since 1992, which have left more than 150,000 dead and thousands of missing.
Meanwhile, someone may be letting the dogs out. Very scary.
September 30th, 2005 - 3:36 pm
Besides being a superbly thoughtful and educated blogger, PeakTalk’s Pieter Dorsman is clearly a cosmopolitan man of our time. Born in Holland with sojourns in London, Hong Kong and (currently) Vancouver, from his picture, he seems to have an enviable life. From his writing on such important topics as the Van Gogh murder in Amsterdam, not to mention his considerable economic expertise, we know he will be a great asset to Pajamas Media.
September 30th, 2005 - 2:24 pm
PJMedia contributor TigerHawk (a Princeton man all the way) has a superb report on Condoleezza Rice’s speech today at Princeton. You can compare it to the AP here.
Incidentally, this mainstream/blogger comparison is a preview of what PJMedia will be doing often on our permanent site.
September 30th, 2005 - 12:15 pm
Is Google on its way to being the most powerful organization on Earth… or is it already there?
Ever-expanding Internet search engine behemoth Google Inc. confirmed long-running rumors that it plans to develop as much as 1 million square feet of corporate office and R&D facilities within Silicon Valley’s NASA Ames Research Center (pictured), a stone’s throw from Google’s Mountain View headquarters.
MEANWHILE: The fuddy-duddies at the EU are still worried about nation states instead of the real powers (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo). No wonder the big Euro countries (France, Germany, Italy) are practically falling off the list. (France is below Malaysia!)
September 30th, 2005 - 9:04 am
When I read this morning about Bill Bennett’s latest public humiliation, all I could think was “Man, does this guy know how to shoot himself in the foot!” Forget the pompous Book of Virtue. Mandatory reading for Bill Bennett: Doestoevsky’s The Gambler.
September 30th, 2005 - 7:52 am
Maybe I’m wrong, but Judith Miller seems to have lost some weight during her twelve week stay in jail. (No doubt the food was wretched.) If so, this is the only good thing to have come out of this tedious contretemps surrounding the “outing” of a CIA semi-operative whose identity was already available in Who’s Who. [But nobody reads Who's Who!-ed. You're right about that.]
September 30th, 2005 - 7:37 am
You may have noticed that Michael Totten’s logo has changed to Michael J. Totten’s Middle East Journal. That is partly at our urging (well, Michael wasn’t hard to convince about this) because the minute we heard he was about to decamp for Lebanon for six months, we knew we wanted him as PJ Media’s “Man in Beirut“. Look for his profile on the PJ Media transition site on Monday and his coverage of the Middle East via our website after the launch.
September 29th, 2005 - 9:38 pm
I can really smell it in front of my house tonight – the funky odor of hot cinders blown in by the Santa Anas. It happens almost every year. Sometimes houses go up, sometimes they don’t. One I lived in in Malibu burned to the ground the year after we sold it.
You all know who described this best – the poet laureate of Los Angeles…
There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.”
* “Red Wind” (short story, 1938)
So far I haven’t got the hose out. Just the old Chandler short stories.
September 29th, 2005 - 10:06 am
We have BIG SURPISE in our on-going profiles of PJ Media Editorial Board Members today. I’m not going to say who it is. You’re going to have to click. But I will give you the following hints:
She is a woman who – more than just about anyone I can think of – exemplifies the tell-like-it-is-let-the-chips-fall-where-they may attitude I would like to see from PJ Media. She is an author and a national radio personality whose show I always try to catch (and not just because I’m usually stuck in traffic). And as of today she is starting to blog. She is… click here because you have to read her interview. Jill Stewart did a great job on this one.
September 29th, 2005 - 9:50 am
Apropos Russia’s abysmal record in economic competitiveness from the post below, the always-interesting Moscow News is reporting this from another Russan publication, Kommersant – Russia in a Hurry to Sell Weapons to Iran.
Moscow “has stepped up military-technological cooperation with Tehran,” the business daily said, citing an unidentified source.
It said top officials within Russia’s military-industrial complex decided to concentrate on arms sales to Tehran for two reasons.
“Firstly, as many weapons as possible must be sold to Iran before an international embargo against this country comes into force.”
Secondly, should the United States decide to go to war in Iran, Russia wants Iran to be well-armed to ensure that U.S. forces become at least as bogged down there as they already are in Iraq, the daily said.
“In either case, such a policy carries a high risk of creating a major international scandal, at the very least,” the newspaper commented.
Desperation, greed and stupidity have ruled Russia since the tsars. Why should it change now?
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