IF A BUTTERFLY BALLOT FLAPS ITS WINGS, does it lead to volcanoes and tidal waves? In Hollywood, yes.

UPDATE: More here:

Hollywood has never been known to let scientific fact get in the way of a good story, and recent releases provide plenty examples in which a filmmaker will rely on technical fudgery so as not to bore an audience. In Godsend, for instance, the parents of an eight-year-old car accident victim employ some technologically dicey methods to clone their son after his death. Last month’s Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which Jim Carrey plays a man who erases all memory of his ex-girlfriend from his brain, intentionally glosses over the neurological aspects of such a procedure, preserving a sense of possibility without the burden of scientific realism. It should come as no surprise, then, that Fox’s upcoming The Day After Tomorrow might not offer an entirely accurate portrayal of global warming. . . .

What one might not expect, however, is seeing well-known environmental policy advocates rally behind the erroneous earth science upon which Day After Tomorrow is founded. Yet this is exactly what they plan to do. In a “town hall” meeting scheduled for the same night as and literally down the street from the premiere of the movie, Al Gore, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and MoveOn.org will use the film to draw attention to Bush’s record on environmental abuse. “The Day After Tomorrow presents us with a great opportunity to talk about the scientific realities of climate change,” Gore said to Variety. “Millions of people will be . . . asking the question, ‘Could this really happen?’” In true Hollywood cliffhanger fashion, the former Vice President offered no answer, implying that the voters will have to tune in to find out.

I’ll spare you the suspense: The answer is “no.”

SOME GOOD STUFF FROM KERRY: “I believe that failure is not an option in Iraq.”

Unfortunately, I don’t see the multilateralism he champions as viable.

KERRY = GORE: That’s the fear of leading Democrats like Tony Coelho and Donna Brazile.

JEFF GOLDSTEIN: The Ted Koppel Interview. Again, as reliable as Maureen Dowd — but much more amusing!

UPDATE: An interesting bit of historical perspective on war casualties and the reporting thereof.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader John Vecchione emails with a point that many readers have made:

If it wasn’t a political stunt to show disapproval of the Iraqi invasion why aren’t the names of those soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Kosovo (two the other day) being listed? Because Koppel doesn’t have a problem with those fights.

Seems that way to me.

THE TORTURE INCIDENT: I don’t have a lot to add to what Kim Du Toit says:

If they’re found guilty, I hope these assholes go to jail.

Because when the Islamist pricks do this kind of thing to our soldiers, I want to be able to go after them with a vengeful spirit.

Of course, it’s not the same as Saddam’s torture — which was a matter of top-down policy, not the result of assholes who deserve jail or execution, and will probably get one or both. As with other reported misbehavior, it should be dealt with very, very harshly. But those who would — as Senator Kerry did after Vietnam — make such behavior emblematic of our effort, instead of recognizing it as an abandonment of our principles — are mere opportunists.

LT Smash has more thoughts:

THE UGLY TRUTH of warfare is that there are no “knights in shining armor” who will always fight for Good. Evil lurks deep in the hearts of all men, and it doesn’t care what flag you wear on your sleeve. We are most vulnerable when we suffer under the burden of tremendous stress – but the ultimate responsibility to resist Evil lies with every individual.

Our soldiers sometimes do horrible things. Disgusting things. Cruel things.

When they do, we must not hide from the truth. Those repsonsible must be identified, prosecuted, and punished appropriately. There must be a public accounting for these crimes.

Because we are a civilized society, we must never give in to the temptation to brush aside such atrocities as “the way things are in war.” For if we fail in this responsibility, we will ultimately become no better than those we are fighting.

And that would be the greatest tragedy of all.

Indeed.

UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg:

This needs to be investigated and prosecuted. If there’s more to the story — whatever that could conceivably be — let’s find out. But if the story is as it appears, there has to be accountability, punishment and disclosure. Indeed, even if this turned out to be a prank, too much damage has already been done and someone needs to be punished.

Under Saddam torturers were rewarded and promoted. In America they must be held to account.

Indeed.

UPDATE: Several readers point out that California Attorney General Bill Lockyer probably wouldn’t see a problem here. But let’s not let our standards fall so low.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “what they have done is tantamount to treason, in that they have certainly given aid to our enemies, in the form of propaganda fodder, during a time of war.”

Sgt. Stryker is equally harsh: “Every single angle of this story is disgusting and infuriating.” Read the whole thing, which gets much harsher.

MORE: Will Collier emails (and, though his email didn’t say so, posts):

What’s the difference between what this small group US guys did in Iraq and what Saddam (and every other Arab state) has been doing for years?

In our case, the people who did this will spend most, if not the rest of their lives in Kansas making small rocks out of big rocks.

In every other case, they¹d be promoted.

End of comparison.

Indeed. Which isn’t a reason to ignore it, but which is relevant to the lessons people might tend to draw.

STILL MORE: Greyhawk notes an unsung hero: “Does anyone out there think 60 Minutes exposed this story? They didn’t. (but they want you to think they did.) This was a case of a courageous individual stepping forward and enabling the Army to police itself.”

Read the whole thing.

ISN’T THIS A BIT INCONSISTENT with earlier stuff that Joe Wilson has said?

It was Saddam Hussein’s information minister, Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf, often referred to in the Western press as “Baghdad Bob,” who approached an official of the African nation of Niger in 1999 to discuss trade — an overture the official saw as a possible effort to buy uranium.

That’s according to a new book Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador who was sent to Niger by the CIA in 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq had been trying to buy enriched “yellowcake” uranium. Wilson wrote that he did not learn the identity of the Iraqi official until this January, when he talked again with his Niger source.

Hmm. Maybe this is why we haven’t heard much on this topic lately.

UPDATE: Matthew Hoy has more thoughts on this.

UNSCAM UPDATE:

April 30, 2004 — WASHINGTON – The State Department’s No. 2 official said yesterday that those guilty of corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program “ought to hang.”

The blunt remarks by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to a House subcommittee were the strongest comments the Bush administration has made since accusations surfaced in January that Saddam Hussein ripped off $10 billion from the program.

This should have some people worrying.

Meanwhile, the U.N.’s reputation has gotten so bad that even the Canadians are jumping ship:

WASHINGTON — With yesterday’s landmark speech, Paul Martin tacitly acknowledged what Canada’s foreign policy establishment has refused to accept for decades: that the United Nations is a failure, for which there is no solution.

The Prime Minister’s proposed alternative is a new international body, the G-20 summit of world leaders, representative of North and South, developed and developing, rich and poor: a working group unfettered by the UN’s bureaucracy and its anachronistic Security Council.

What hath Kofi wrought?

THE NATIONAL DEBATE says that Ted Koppel’s excuses are wearing thin.

I’d still like to see Nightline present the names of all the oil-for-food money recipients. And maybe of a few Iraqi kids who died because of the fraud’s keeping them from getting medicine. And maybe an interview with Kofi Annan’s son, Kojo, about his role. . . .

Just in the name of balance, you know.

MAINSTREAM JOURNALISTS sometimes complain that bloggers don’t do enough original reporting. Well, here’s some. With photos! It would be interesting to see more of this sort of reporting in the mainstream media.

And here’s some more, though I think that this particular specimen is about as reliable as the Bush quotes in a Maureen Dowd column. But it’s more amusing.

HEY, MAYBE IT’S WORKING! Both CNN and the BBC report that terror attacks are at their lowest level in 30 years.

UPDATE: Allen S. Thorpe emails:

I hope somebody is writing a history of the secret war that’s going on now but can’t be reported. You can’t have the same kind of news coverage for a war on terror as you can for a ground war like Iraq, Vietnam or WWII, but we need history.

I keep hearing the press complain that they’re not getting enough information, but when I hear the questions they ask, I’m amazed anybody talks to them at all.

Indeed.

HELP WANTED AD: “Experience in blogging is a plus.” But of course!

SOUTHKNOXBUBBA gets a mention in Sports Illustrated.

LAST NIGHT I finished reading Robert Silverberg’s latest, Roma Eterna, an alternative-history novel in which Rome never fell (Moses got stopped before he reached the Red Sea). An interesting book, tracing two alternative millennia via a series of interleaved short stories, essentially. If you like alt-history, I think you’ll like it.

I DON’T HAVE MUCH TO SAY about the Google IPO. But Venturpreneur has multiple posts on the subject — just keep scrolling.

DANIEL HENNINGER REPORTS on Spirit of America’s fundraising drive, which has exceeded goals 15-fold.

BJORN STAERK NOTES high-level antisemitism in Norway.

ARE WE GOING TOO SOFT IN IRAQ? Some people think so. It seems that way to me, too, though I’m reluctant to make a judgment at this distance. But in my lifetime, at least, the United States has generally erred by not being violent enough, rather than by being too brutal.

UPDATE: “Too soft” seems to be the consensus around the blogosphere. And maybe it’s true — though it’s worth remembering that the daily reports of “explosions in Fallujah” for the past few weeks didn’t involve very much of our stuff being blown up, and that the amount of damage done to the enemy there is probably greater than news accounts suggest — but reader Tucker Goodrich emails:

After reading the article below, one can also interpret this as the Iraqis finally starting to take responsibility for the state of their country.

They don’t like us doing it, but they don’t want these people to succeed. That leaves them with one real choice, and it’s one we have to encourage if our experiment in Iraq is going to succeed. That sounds like the Marines’ attitude.

That’s right. As I say, I’m reluctant to second-guess the Marines on the scene with regard to this sort of thing.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Barbara Lerner says that it was Rumsfeld’s war, but it’s been Powell’s occupation.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Jim Hohnbaum emails:

I was an officer in the military, and I’ve known a lot of Marines, and I don’t believe for a second that letting the Iraquis handle it was the Marines’ idea. I believe if they had their way they would have gone in weeks ago rather than calling it off and letting the insurgents dig in and set booby traps. To me this whole thing stinks of a real Vietnam analogy: the lack of political will in Washington to let the troops win the war. This is supposed to be a war on terror, and we have a lot of terrorists surrounded. Don’t tell me the Marines just want to walk away, because I don’t believe it.

Dang. I hope that’s wrong.

UPLOADED SOME NEW PICTURES to the Exposure Manager gallery for anyone who’s interested.

The picture to the right is Ozone Falls, which is less than an hour from my house. It’s a “natural area,” which means there are no trails, and you just scramble down a less-steep part of the cliff to get to the falls. There’s a sign and a pull-off, but I was the only one around the whole time I was there.

I’ve really enjoyed cruising around the backroads with car and camera lately. And it’s reminded me just how terrific this part of the country is. There are lots of hidden gems like this one all over the place, with most people (even people who live around here) barely aware that they exist.

It’s also a pleasure to meet people all over. Everyone I’ve met has been friendly, and happy to chat, or offer directions. Whenever I travel around the United States I’m always amazed at that. Wherever you go, people think that folks elsewhere are less friendly, but they’re mostly wrong.

HUGH HEWITT has advice for Michael Kinsley.

RYAN BOOTS has his weekly roundup of the Iraqi blogs, which he’s calling the Carnival of the Liberated. It’s a must-read.

ART AND TAXES? Some questions for Kerry.

UPDATE: Accountant reader David Walser says something’s wrong here. Click “more” to read his take.

(more…)

MAX BOOT WRITES that Kerry should base his campaign on the muscle gap.

THE BLOGOSPHERE IS MOVING FAST to help the Marines combat Al Jazeera’s propaganda, with the first shipment of television equipment bought with blog-readers’ donations going out just 23 days after it started. It’s enough to outfit eight independent Iraqi television stations. Bravo to the blogosphere!

But the real question is why this is being addressed via private donations a year after Saddam fell?

UPDATE: Reader Joe Zwers offers a positive take:

And the real answer is that central planning always leaves something out. The Soviets five year plans consistently failed. China’s Great Leap Forward was a disaster. North Korea was once the more prosperous and industrialized part of that peninsula. Now it can’t feed its own people, even with massive food aid, while the south prospers.

So, the U.S. did plan many things properly in the Iraq war, but there were clearly some omissions. This is to be expected. In World War II, I believe it was, people were knitting socks for the troops since the Army didn’t have an adequate supply. What this does show, however, is that because this country is not as rigid as other societies, it can quickly respond to needs on a voluntary basis. That is why a free societies triumph over the long run, despite the supposed efficiencies of more structured ones.

Um, okay, but I still think that they should have thought of this sooner.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Gerard van der Leun reports from Camp Pendleton.

And here’s a photo gallery posted by Donovan Janus of Exposure Manager.

SPACE PROPERTY RIGHTS CLAIM DISMISSED: The link is to a District Court opinion. This opinion underscores my position that some sort of actual possession, and not simply the making of a claim, is essential to the creation of a property interest in an asteroid or other space real estate.

STEVEN DEN BESTE IS IRRITATED. As usual, a long and interesting post results.