Some years ago, Readers Digest conducted an experiment. Wallets filled with money and identification were left in public places. More people returned the wallets to their owners in Seattle than anywhere else. The suburbs of Houston and LA, and the cities of Dayton, Atlanta and Las Vegas didn't score too well.

My wife lost a credit card in Seattle, and it was returned by total strangers. I've had my lost wallet returned here. The nice couple did admit checking first to see if my lottery ticket was a winner. Would they have given it back in that case? I didn't ask. My wife and I have also returned a lost wallet: it belonged to a Catholic school teacher. Always stoke the karma.

So, last night. Came 10:30, dishes washed, kids tucked in. I reach for my latest book, Garrison Keillor's "Love Me." It was with the knapsack, right? Right. Where's the knapsack? In the park, it turns out, sitting in the dark right next the bench by the sandbox. My library book still on the bench. Not a chance I'd have been as lucky in my old hometown of Chicago.

Seattle-ites are also notoriously polite. They wait for the "Walk" sign. They stop their vehicles in the middle of the street to let you cross, if in true non-native form, you're jaywalking. (By the way, police issue tickets here to jaywalkers).

All the civility is a bit taxing at times. I must be a bit of a cranky "Back-East-er" because I'd much rather the polite motorists just speed on by, and not patronize me. "No, YOU first, I INSIST (jerk)."

Then again, after having lived in Seattle a few years, we went to Miami's South Beach before heading out to Key West. Stepping off a street corner with the "Walk" sign beaming, I was nearly run over by some idiot motorist. Kinda made me appreciate what we've got.

Still, some believe Seattle's famed everyday civility masks a deep-seated aloofness and unsociability of natives toward non-natives. The local papers have printed letters to the editor from people moving away, who gave just that reason.

The theme also pops up on a couple of fairly pissy anti-Seattle blogs run by locals. One such is seattlesucks.com. Top story as of today, "This Just In: Seattle Still Sucks." Brilliant. Given the few measly posts per month on the site, I guess maybe there's not quite as much suckage as hypothesized.

There's also the "Sick of Seattle" site, currently flogging a planned April, 2003 gathering of sickly sorts. Not to mention "Seattle Schmeng: The Mystery of Why Seattle Sucks." About one post a month, but some funny rants and sometimes, a lot of responses.

Some of the rants hit home. Too many folks in Seattle seem to have a stick lodged in the wrong place. I've noticed that just talking at a normal volume to a companion, say on a park bench, or waiting at a traffic signal, can earn you a dirty look from someone whose delicate equilibrium you've upset. Whisper, and pass the Zoloft!

A local writer named Matt Villano wrote a hysterical piece in the Seattle Weekly a while back about what happens to fans who dare cheer a bit exuberantly for The Mariners at Safeco Field. Major social opprobrium. His big problem: he was from New York.

For our first few years here, my wife and I did find that nearly all the friends we made were from "somewhere else." But that's changing, maybe partly because of my work. Writing a bi-weekly guest opinion column for a daily newspaper, and now doing a blog, I've gotten acquainted with a good number of friendly Seattle or Puget Sound natives. There's hope for them yet, if they'd just talk louder, and cuss more.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 11:59 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Kudos to Seattle's PBS affiliate KCTS and "KCTS Connects" host Enrique Cerna for a fair, balanced live show last night on the Iraq War. It included a longer and very useful panel discussion on arguments for and against the war, but began with Cerna's interview of Tacoma News-Tribune reporter Michael Gilbert.

Gilbert spent four months embedded with the Fort Lewis, Washington-based Stryker Brigade, which uses high-tech weaponry.

Gilbert said there was a lot of good news evident: houses being built, commerce and public life flowing. He continued, "The Iraq that I experienced (had) moments of great violence and chaos," but kids go to school, vendors' markets are full of goods, people are going to work, many projects are underway, hospitals are in good shape.

Gilbert added, "As a journalist it's hard not to concentrate on the conflict;" that's where people get the impression it's all chaos, but there's much more going on.

Here's a link to the TNT's ongoing Stryker Series. Gilbert returned to Puget Sound in early March, so scroll back a ways for his on-site stories.

There's also a blog run for family and followers of the Stryker unit. It is not affiliated with any newspaper.

QUESTIONS LINGER ABOUT U.S. MILITARY STRATEGY IN IRAQ

Next week, the Stryker Brigade will be included in an edition of PBS's "Nova" titled "Battle Plan Under Fire." The show will examine whether the military's reliance on high-tech weapons in Iraq is sufficient to defeat terrorist insurgents. Some experts think not. Local listings for Washington and a few other NW PBS stations here.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 10:30 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

James Na, a gutsy Seattle conservative who's written on international security for a range of publications, will be on KCTS-TV tonight as part of a panel discussion on the Iraq War and weapons of mass destruction.

Na, who often shares his views in the reader comment sections here at Rosenblog, e-mails:

I will be a guest on the live talk show KCTS Connects with Enrique Cerna on Channel 9 KCTS, a local PBS affiliate, on Thursday, April 29th, 2004 at 7 PM. The topic of discussion will be the Iraq War and the role of WMD in the war. As I understand there will be a 15-minute interview with a local reporter who just returned from Iraq, followed by 45 minutes of discussions with Enrique Cerna and four guests (including me).

Na recently wrote a guest piece for The Seattle Times about how the U.S. should deal with intensified conflict in Iraq. My blog item, with link, here. Na also contributed this piece to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, on why the U.S. must assert its influence after North Korea implodes.

I don't watch much TV, but I've seen enough of KCTS Connects to admire the balance, and inclusion of conservative viewpoints. Na will certainly liven the proceedings.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 01:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

It's been a year since Minnesota enacted a more permissive "conceal-carry" gun permitting law. As supporters noted at a state capitol rally yesterday, "The Sky Didn't Fall." In fact, the best argument that opponents of the law could muster was pretty weak: "17,000 New Guns Is Nothing to Celebrate."

Some wore T-shirts and buttons proclaiming they were "Minnesotans Against Being Shot." Wanna make a wild guess what political party they belong to?

The old restrictive law, left license issuance largely to the discretion of local authorities. Now, any adult who completes a training course and passes a criminal and mental health background check can legally own a firearm in Minnesota. All qualified individuals should be entitled to armed self-defense, if they choose.

State policy analysts had predicted some 50,000 new permits would be issued statewide in the first year after the law's passage, but only about 20,000 were. State estimates of 90,000 new permits in the first three years are now considered too high, as well.

The U.S. trend is away from overly restrictive state conceal-carry laws. It will be revealing to track how many new permits are issued, and correlate those with increases or decreases in reported gun-related crimes. Data from states with new, less-restrictive measures should (and will) be compared to that in states which have kept more restrictive regulations in place.

Will the media squarely face this challenge?

So far the indications are that more guns do NOT correlate with more crime. Unless conclusive ties can be demonstrated between increases in gun-related crimes and liberalized gun permit laws, there is no reason whatsoever to attack the latter.

I believe restrictive laws will never keep guns from criminals, but can make it harder for law-abiding people to protect themselves. If that qualifies me as a "gun nut," OK.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The California legislature is mulling a bill to ban smoking by adults in cars when children 18 and under are along for the ride.

Backers say it's necessary because some parents don't know about the dangers of second-hand smoke. I think smoking is a vile habit. And I support smoking bans in indoor public places. But local ordinances in California to ban smoking on beaches, and now this proposal, are overkill.

We know that soda pop boosts childhood obesity, and it has been banned or heavily restricted in lunchrooms and vending machines in some public schools. That's fine. But would we regulate ingestion of soda pop by kids in private homes or automobiles? Or television viewing? All are arguably as bad for kids as second-hand smoke.

Gov. Arnold Shwarzenegger should make good on his goal of scaling the California legislature down to a part-time operation. A ballot initiative would likely pass, some observers say. Even with the state's pressing fiscal challenges, lawmakers have too much time on their hands. And a Nanny State costs more.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 10:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

"Zionist Jews" have perpetrated all terrorism, according to the deputy editor of the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya.

In a translation issued by the highly-respected Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the paper's deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab 'Adas wrote:

If you want to know the real perpetrator of every disaster or every act of terrorism, look for the Zionist Jews. They are behind all the violent and terror operations that have occurred everywhere in the world...after every terror operation they perpetrate, they leave a sign, clue, or traces meant to show that the perpetrators are Arab Muslims.

Damn, I guess The Mossad is even better than I thought.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 09:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The liberal new liberal radio network Air America has lost two top execs and its paid slots in Chicago and Los Angeles. One survivor tells the LA Times it's just a hiccup, not the stomach flu.

Don't bet on it.

About.com's radio industry commentator Corey Deitz nails it in a recent online piece, "Air America Needs Zoloft."

To suggest Air America Radio has a struggle ahead of it, is to be kind....Their reason for being did not emerge from a will to entertain their listeners.

Foremost in Franken, Garofalo, and Rhodes' sights are the Republicans, the President, and the upcoming election. After some listening, it's painfully clear that entertainment has been subjugated to what is mostly a political safari where anger and resentment overshadows all else.

Certainly, the Air America Radio hosts have a right to espouse their views. But, please: keep me awake.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 07:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Are you a conservative, liberal, libertarian or communist? You'll know for sure after you take this test, courtesy of Donald J. Hagen. Pretty funny stuff.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Big splash in U.S. (and even foreign) newspapers yesterday and today stemming from this AP story on 12-year-old Nicole Townes. She was beaten into a coma Feb. 28 by, um, girlfriends. It happened after another girl's boyfriend kissed Townes on a dare at a birthday party.

The most disturbing thing about the whole case: the rival's mother was a primary instigator, telling her daughter to "handle your business" (i.e. defend your honor). No, wait, what's worse is that a meek 12-year-old girl was scapegoated; as opposed to whomever issued the dare, and as opposed to the "boyfriend" himself. The whole thing sounds like a weird set-up.

The AP story gives the impression that Townes has just come out of her coma, but in fact that happened six weeks ago, as this report from WBAL indicates. The Washington Times had the horrifying details of the attack in its March 11 edition, a few days after charges were filed. Afefe Tyehimba's commentary in the Baltimore City Paper closes with a chilling reminder of just how commonplace youth violence has become.

The real value added by AP reporter Wiley Hall's story is the sociological backdrop.

The beating was shocking not just because of its savagery, but because it was meted out by other girls. Authorities say it is symptomatic of a disturbing trend around the country: Girls are turning to violence more often and with terrifying intensity. "We're seeing girls doing things now that we used to put off on boys," former Baltimore school Police Chief Jansen Robinson said. "This is vicious, 'I-want-to-hurt-you' fighting. It's a nationwide phenomenon and it's catching us all off guard."

...Phil Leaf, director of the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said society should not have been caught by surprise by the surge in girl violence.

"In retrospect, we can see girls falling prey to the same influences as boys," Leaf said. "A decade or so ago, we were worried about the lack of male role models in the home. Today, there is a dearth of effective female role models as the mothers who used to be there are forced back into the job market or get rendered ineffective through abuse of drugs and alcohol."

Which underscores the need for fathers to be there. Instead, we excuse absent dads. Why expect too much from men, those dumb beasts?

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 11:48 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Newly-discovered Saudi blogger Religious Policeman answers some FAQs.

As you'll see, he addresses skeptics who wonder if he really is a Saudi, and a Muslim. You'll have to decide if he's the real deal, or a CIA plant. Look the blog over, come back daily (it's well worth it), and let me know what you think. I'm leaning toward: for real.

I am a Saudi, living in Riyadh. I am married (to my one and only ever wife), have a family, a Filipino maid, and a driver (her husband). Beyond that, I am not prepared to disclose....I'm a great believer in the Internet, and in the power of information to cast a light into the darker corners of our world. I'm addressing an English-speaking audience, in the hope that they will recognize that on the whole we are good folk, just like anyone else, but caught between an ultra-conservative Royal dictatorship on one side, and terrorists on the other. I am hopeful that this will inform their opinions of us. I would also like to encourage my fellow-countrymen to become fellow-bloggers as well.

...The ruling elite would not look kindly upon my efforts. If found out, I would certainly lose my job, as already happens to those who publish critical letters in the press. I might also become a guest of Prince Nayif, until I 'got my mind right.' However I'm not a super-hero; if I suspect that a net is closing, then I will cease blogging.

...All Saudi ISP's are connected to the outside world thru a bank of servers in the KACST (King AbdulAziz City of Science and Technology), where no doubt much listening goes on. However, like many Saudis, I illegally use a satellite link for my connexion. This materializes who-knows-where in the wider Internet. Maybe there is also some form of relay involved. Who knows.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:59 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Whoopi Goldberg brandished a coat hanger at yesterday's huge abortion rights rally in Washington, D.C., saying THIS is what it'll come to again unless we mobilize.

I'm actually pro-choice; small government conservatives have no right to dictate what a woman does with her body. The emotionally charged "abortion is murder" stuff is morally grounded and within the parameters of free speech. But it kills any attempt at finding a middle ground, which perhaps is the point.

That said, I still think it's sad today's liberal-left women frame the issue in terms of fear Roe v. Wade will be overturned. The alarmists actually know, but can't say publicly, that GOP strategists and Congressional leaders would never allow confirmation of a series of Supreme Court nominees likely to trash Roe. The minute they do that, the party loses huge swaths of moderate suburban Republicans for good, especially women. Political suicide.

Choice advocates also emphasize the key role of the government, including local school districts, in providing abortion-related counseling, and contraception. OK, I'm not inherently opposed. But even though abstinence for teens often gets emphasis in writing, it only gets lip service beyond that.

More and more swing voters understand that while choice is an established legal right that should not be rescinded; abortion is usually an avoidable tragedy. We've talked about that here before.

The Left needs to harp as much on personal responsibility and family solidarity, to make sure more young women who do not want to have babies, or are not equipped to raise children, do not become pregnant. Instead, we get condoms in junior high-schools. Abortion rates have been declining according to Centers For Disease Control data, however their numbers are incomplete and haven't been updated recently. Thousands of abortions are still performed daily in the U.S., scores more globally.

In "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," Peggy Noonan writes that she asked a friend, "a smart, thoughtful liberal," why, "if liberals are appropriately concerned about troubled teenagers getting pregnant, don't they talk to those kids about not having sex?"

Here's her liberal friend's blistering answer: "..you're missing something. It's what I call F***ing as an Entitlement. F***ing has become another entitlement to urban liberals. They think twelve-year-olds are incapable of any restraint, that little girls are ready, period. They think you can f*** without remorse, without responsibility...A lot of the these kids don't have...functioning parents..."

If Noonan's liberal friend was saying that no later than 1994 (when the book was published), small wonder Hillary Clinton was left to acknowledge yesterday that many women just aren't rallying around the choice flag anymore.

Throughout the day, speakers urged marchers to use the power of their vote to preserve abortion rights.

'There were 50 million women in our country eligible to vote who did not vote in the 2000 election,' said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. 'I want you to start asking people around you if they're registered to vote.'

Small wonder too that pro-choice campus feminists have so little traction.

Acknowledging recent polls showing an erosion of support for abortion rights among college-age women, (21-year-old senior and president of Northeastern University's Feminist Student Organization Adrianne) Ortega said apathy was a greater problem than dissent. She noted that of 10,000 students on campus, only 100 were members of her organization.

Because they don't buy the Chicken Little act on abortion rights; and know they're already empowered to control their destinies.

A February CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found abortion ranked second-to-last in importance as an issue to voters, trailed only by gay marriage. A new Gallup poll shows Americans are almost evenly split on abortion, and most do not favor unrestricted abortion. More info on both polls here.

Whoopi and Gloria Steinem are leading The Lemmings of The Left over a cliff.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:57 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Almost exactly 10 years ago, my wife and I, and our (now late) cat Owsley, flew from Chicago to Seattle one-way, on (now defunct) Mark Air. We settled in near Lowman Beach in West Seattle. I had a new job. Leaving Chicago for here was the smartest thing I've ever done, aside from getting married in 1987, and becoming a dad nine years later.

Anyhew, when I undertook my first Seattle reconnaisance mission in early April '94, with job offer in hand, I was pretty intent on exploring the region. Chicago is flat, and Lake Michigan gets old fast.

One of the first great places I went was Key Peninsula, southwest of Seattle and Northwest of Tacoma. It's a long, long, wide finger of land, bucolic and strange and wonderful.

Utopian, socialist, free-love practitioners settled there in the late 1800s, and it's still just a bit off the map of the mind, somehow. Ancient spirits lurk amidst the canopy of tall trees on the drive out past the oyster farm near Burley, along two-lane Key Peninsula "Highway."

Seattle liberal stiffs will hardly notice all the American flags and pro-Bush bumper stickers, it's so cool.

We went there again today, across Puget Sound on a ferry to Southworth, and then to Joemma Beach State Park, on the peninsula's southwest shores.

What a spot! If you're ever visting Greater Seattle (the late anti-growth newspaper columnist Emmett Watson would doubtless rotate in his grave at that phrase), or live here, but haven't been to the South Sound, hie thee to Joemma ASAP.

Today was summer, and there were just 20 people on the beach, even with the great western exposure. For some reason, the much-less impressive Penrose Point State Park on Key Peninsula draws many more visitors (probably clamming and oystering). Joemma Beach goes on forever, assuming you know to ignore the "private property" warning signs. There are no homes visible for a long way, just sheer sandstone bluffs. To boot, it's very sandy at low tide.

Walk west along Joemma Beach, and the glorious Olympic Mountains come into full view, from the south end of the range to the north. Sand dollars, scallop shells and submerged spouting clams are everywhere. Pack a picnic and some beach chairs. We had focaccia sandwiches, feta-stuffed peppers, taboulleh, Mineola tangelos, roasted turkey, crackers, Odwalla juices, and water. No to mention the all-essential pails and shovels.

You know your karma is in order when THIS happens, and you just chuckle. A horse that's been tromping about on the beach for an hour or two comes back toward you. The rider says Hi, you admire the steed. Then, the critter looks at you carefully, steps just around behind you -sitting there reading your piquant crime fiction - and offloads a fresh, steaming mass of dung.

It was meant to be. You contemplate the inevitability of horse dung, and recall fond memories associated with childhood and horses. The lovely day goes on.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 09:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Europe doesn't care about the current genocide in Sudan because it's being perpetrated by the ruling Arab Muslims. An EU bloc on the United Nations Human Rights Commission watered down a resolution on the current horrors in Sudan, deleting language condemning the genocide that Human Rights Watch and other observers have clearly identified.

Arab militias paid by the hard-line, Muslim-controlled Sudanese government have killed about 30,000 black Sudanese in the Darfur region in recent months, according to the U.S. About 900,000 have been displaced internally, more than 100,000 across the border to Chad. Gang-raping of women has been widely reported as well.

Here is how Human Rights Watch describes things in a report issued this month.

Using indiscriminate aerial bombardment, militia and army raiding, and denial of humanitarian assistance the government of Sudan and allied Arab militia, called janjaweed, are implementing a strategy of ethnic-based murder, rape and forcible displacement of civilians in Darfur as well as attacking the rebels.

The African or non-Arab Fur, Masaalit, and Zaghawa communities, from which the rebels are drawn, have been the main targets of this campaign of terror by the government. Almost one million Darfurian civilians have been forced to flee their homes in the past fourteen months and many have lost family members, livestock and all other assets.

The janjaweed militias are drawn from Arab nomadic groups. Their armed encroachment on African Zaghawa, Masaalit and Fur pastures and livestock in past years resulted in local armed self-defense measures by the targeted communities when they realized the government would not protect them. Instead of quelling the friction, the Sudanese government has increased its backing for the Arabs. Khartoum has recruited over 20,000 janjaweed which it pays, arms, uniforms, and with which it conducts joint operations, using the militias as a counterinsurgency force.

While many of the abuses are committed by the janjaweed, the Sudanese government is complicit in these abuses and holds the highest degree of responsibility for pursuing a military policy that has resulted in the commission of crimes against humanity.

All this comes as an end was in sight to a 20-year civil war in which the ruling Arab Muslims of north Sudan killed 2 million black Christian and animist south Sudanese, displaced scores more, forced children into slavery and engaged in widespread human rights abuses.

The U.S. and Australia were among the minority opposing the weak U.N. measure, which called for further investigation of the situation in Sudan.

Quite a bit of investigating has already occured.

Here's the link to the damning report from Human Rights Watch.

The U.N. Human Rights Commission doesn't deserve its name.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 03:41 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Courtesy of Jeff Jarvis' buzzmachine comes this link to one of the few known Saudi bloggers, who ironically titles his blog The Religious Policeman. In this post, he fears the current terrorist attacks in his country, against other Saudis, could foreshadow "the second Saudi civil war."

Now, all of a sudden, they are attacking Saudis. OK, Saudis from the ruling tribes, part of the security forces. But we all look the same. And suddenly we are the targets. The terrorists are not going to leave us alone, because we're not part of the government apparatus. And now we are faced with the sudden realization that we should have done something about this a long time ago.

Religious Policeman also blogs a story about a Saudi religious leader who condemned the recent Saudi terrorist killings of their countrymen with these words: "God will damn those who kill other Muslims, they will burn in hell.” RP's take:

EXCUSE ME? Are we only condemning those who kill Muslims? Is that why you said nothing after 9/11, and in May 2003, and November 2003?

(The last two were the dates of terrorist attacks that killed Westerners, mostly Americans, in Saudi Arabia).

This blog is fascinating. There's plenty of "root cause" stuff, things commonly known back here but brought to life through RP's news summaries and commentary. Through RP's eyes, we learn about the role of the corrupt royal family, oppressive religious strictures, public beheadings (jncluding pictures), and the learned men of the cloth aiding and abetting anti-U.S. terrorism. This is all leavened with lighter but important observations on technology, dating, and more.

It's a first-hand insider's picture you're unlikely to get from a foreign correspondent or Saudi papers. This shows why blogs will eventually re-make journalism. (That's already started, of course).

Suffice it to say, you'll want to bookmark the site.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 02:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Frost my Johnnycakes, please.

Whenever stasis rears its ugly head, there's always Fark.

Recent highlights include a story about this unevolved CA bank robber who retired to a bar in the very same strip mall where he did the deed. Quaffing a beer and holding his sack 'o loot, he was collared shortly thereafter.

And here's an Earth Day Special, via AP and Newsday.

Two gay lovers - a man in a black dress and a boy in only a pair of shorts - protested their families' lack of understanding for their relationship by climbing a Central Park tree on Thursday, stripping, performing lewd acts in front of onlookers and refusing to come down for hours.

This has got to piss off straight (and I don't mean "closeted") gays.

Oh, Blue America is so...blue. In San Francisco, a man caught relating to a corpse in a most vile manner wasn't charged with necrophilia because - it turns out - there's no law against it in CA. However, he HAS been commanded to stay away from the funeral home.

Then there's working-class hero Michael Moore. He's outsourced his web site design and server to Canada. Maybe he could outsource himself, while he's at it.

And you'd suppose that if the NY Times ran a picture of a guy identified as a KKK member and murderer of a black sharecropper, they'd manage not to mistakenly put up the mug of Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Pete Coors. You'd be wrong. Jayson Blair is running the photo desk now.

But what bugs me most about the whole thing is that Coors' spokeswoman is named Cinamon.

I think I'll just hitch a ride on a concrete canoe.

Drew, you rock.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just today released state-by-state March numbers on non-farm payroll jobs, labor force size, and unemployment rates. These come following data reported earlier this month, that nationally, a strong 308,000 non-farm payroll jobs were added in March.

You'll have to scroll down alphabetically to see, but in Washington, non-farm payroll jobs increased by a modest 8,700 last month. The figures are preliminary.

March payroll employment in Washington was up in construction, trade/transportation/utilities, the financial sector, professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government. It was down in manufacturing.

The labor force continued to grow in Washington, while unemployment continued to drop.

I'll look forward to the next data sets from the government's Household Survey, which includes non-payroll jobs.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 12:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

In The Nation's current profile of "The Beat Bush Brigades," you sense the visionary agenda from the start: restoring protectionist tariffs so laid-off U.S. steelworkers can get their jobs back.

The informative piece goes on to discuss the Democratic Party's "withered apparatus" and consequent emergence of a "shadow party" of (Section 527) "independent" political groups funded by environmentalists, trial lawyers, labor, abortion advocates, and the NAACP (among others).

Meanwhile, less overtly political non-profit and community groups are organizing voter registration and education drives to boost turnout for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and down-ticket Ds. For instance, Women's Action for New Directions is reaching out to local organizations that pushed symbolic "Cities For Peace" anti-Iraq War resolutions on local governments.

Why not also target the principled activists who got the Seattle City Council to pass a resolution against a nuclear submarine from a nearby Navy base participating in our annual Seafair flotilla? Or the sages who almost got our council to ban circuses with elephants from city-owned venues because of alleged cruelty to the critters by their trainers?

The whole approach is just brilliant. Utterly brilliant. Bring together all the overwrought doomsayers and trivial nibblers. All those who react and oppose; who complain, blame, fret and fear. Those whose rallying cries now run the full gamut, from "Anyone But Bush" clear over to "Impeach Bush" and "Bush Sucks."

No wonder Democrats have lost mindshare across a huge swath of the country.

The 2002 election results were a wake-up call for progressives. It was no surprise that Democrats had been outspent, but what was surprising was the level of coordination between Republican media and grassroots initiatives and the strength of the GOP's get-out-the-vote push....Those 2000 maps that showed so many states colored red for Bush were starting to look less like anomalies and more like a fate Democrats would have to resign themselves to.

The party apparatus has withered in much of the nation. Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chair, promised a "rural initiative" to move resources and staff into states such as North Dakota and Montana, but the money never really flowed. You can now drive for hundreds of miles across the Western United States without touching a county where the party has a viable local organization.

...One of the biggest challenges involves the delivery of a coherent message. "During the primaries, the issue for a lot of Democrats was 'Who can beat Bush?' Now, the message has to evolve," explains former Congressman Jim Jontz, who runs the "Regime Change" campaign of Americans for Democratic Action....And there remains the very serious question of whether the infrastructure is in place to turn passion into practical politicking....

Other strategists fret about whether too much money is going to television and too little to the grassroots, and about whether outreach to young nonvoters and other traditionally disengaged groups is striking the right chords.

Give The Nation some credit for laying it out. Bush and Republicans stand for unified core values. (Examples I'd give include an agressive national defense and foreign policy; economic stimuli; and high expectations in public schools). And the GOP has built a muscular national grassroots network. Meanwhile, the potential Democratic base remains fragmented and badly out-of-tune with flyover country.

Maybe that will change by November, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 10:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Recently, I blogged an item about an attempt by Louisiana state legislators to ban adult movies from in-vehicle video players, on the grounds occupants of some passing mini-van might get a glimpse and be morally compromised. Well, them good ol'boys are at it again. They're now considering a bill to make low-hanging pants illegal, such being a clear threat to the sanctity of the populace. I suppose halter-tops are seditious then, too; maybe even open-toed sandals?

Courtesy What Kind of Sick Weirdo Are You?

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:37 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

An investigative panel's report lays blame for extensive journalistic fraud by fired USA Today reporter Jack Kelley squarely on the paper's management.

The veteran scribe was found to have plagarized 100 passages, and faked parts of 20 stories. His misdeeds date as far back as 1991. Editors should have acted on early warnings but didn't, according to the report.

USA Today has aired the dirty laundry, and a top editor resigned earlier this week. And while you can't fault the paper if they played a part in wringing the following statement out of Kelley, as a journalist (even a disgraced one) he must know how lame this sounds. The words would've never been uttered if his scam hadn't been exposed.

...in a statement issued to the paper through his lawyers, Kelley (said)....'I recognize that I cannot make amends for the harm I have caused to my family, friends and colleagues. Nor can I make it up to readers who depend upon good journalism to understand a chaotic and confusing world. I can only offer my sincere apology to those I have let down,' Kelley said.

The latest journo-fakers nailed include Jayson Blair (NY Times - book deal), Stephen Glass (The New Republic - book and movie), and Bart Ripp (Tacoma News-Tribune restaurant reviewer and features writer - uh, any takers?). Dunno whether Kelley will be shopping a deal or not. Perhaps a fictional treatement, like Glass?

Anyway, USA Today is still a good read; although there's now one less reason that's true.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 03:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Daniel Ruth of The Tampa Tribune is ready to spike his tofu smoothie with Stoly after the city council approved a meaningless resolution against parts of The USA Patriot Act.

Ruth could sure hit the ground running if he ever wanted to write about Seattle politix.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 03:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Living in Northeast Portland is no walk in the park.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 02:51 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tami Silicio of Edmonds (a Seattle suburb) has been fired from her job with a U.S. government contractor at Kuwait International Airport for taking and making available to The Seattle Times this picture of Americans killed in Iraq, in sealed, flag-draped caskets, as they were being loaded onto a cargo plane for the flight home. The picture ran in Sunday's Times and, because of the objections of the military, and now Silicio's firing, it has created a pretty big controversy.

The U.S. military was upset because the photo's publication contravened an official policy barring pictures of remains until they reach their final destination. However, the paper and many, many people who support the decision to publish the photo argue that it was a powerful, real image that showed the real, human cost of the war.

I strongly support the war in Iraq, Bush's war on terror and the publication of the photo. (The last part has nothing to do whatsoever with my role as a regular guest opinion page contributor to The Times, I assure you).

By raising strenuous objections to the picture's publication, the military is playing into the hands of Iraq War and Bush critics who make the utterly specious argument that the current administration has no comprehension or appreciation of the human sacrifices inherent in an effort such as this. The military is prolonging the latest scandal du jour.

Most military families say their loved ones who perished in Iraq were doing what they wanted, believed firmly in the cause, and were fully aware of the risks. There are certainly legitimate criticisms of our tactics and planning, which have resulted in poor security and fatalities. That does not mean we should turn tail, as the socialist cadre believes.

The photo - and the larger difficulties - underscore the need for the Bush administration to do whatever is necessary to restore order in Iraq. And indeed, more troops are being committed. Our military presence will continue well past the hand-off of the provisional government to Iraqis on June 30.

The real debate is about stuff like this: how many MORE troops might we need? What, if anything, can the U.N. really do to help? What tactical changes are necessary to stabilize Iraq (given leaving is not remotely an option)? How can Iraqi security forces be strengthened? And so forth.

The military should pick its battles more carefully.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:39 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

A very dear old friend from Boston visited recently, a die-hard liberal (actually he calls himself an anarchist). We used to do college radio together. Chuck was an awesome buddy to our two kids that night, and we partied hearty. We also jousted over Bush and Iraq, and all that. He's a former public school bus driver, and at one point asked (hopefully, I think) if my son attended a public school. I reported no, he goes to a non-denominational private school because my wife and I feel the public schools in Seattle are just too dicey. Chuck raised his eyebrows slightly, but said no more on that topic.

A few weeks later our soul-pals Mark and Ellen visited from Weehawken, NJ. Another great time, and more spirited disagreements about Bush and Iraq (I'm pro-George, they're definitely not). One twist, though. Their eldest is in a public charter school, which they swear by. Without it, they said, they'd be essentially screwed. That some parents and educators far removed from The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy support charter schools is something I've seen here in Seattle, as well.

As the following news and commentary round-up shows, charters continue gaining momentum around the country.

The Boston Globe's Scott Lehigh today shoots down two canards about the very special, and demanding public schools called charters: they they supposedly skim the cream (best students only) and don't serve special needs kids. He goes a step further and argues that public charter schools in Massachusetts should be expanded, over the entrenched opposition of the teachers union.

My respect for tennis star Andre Agassi is immense after reading this piece in today's NY Times. It's about a charter school he started in his hometown of Las Vegas. The school district is the nation's sixth largest and among the lowest-performing. At the Andre Agassi College Prepatory Academy, the student body is 96 percent non-white and the school day is eight hours, not six.

...Agassi Prep students are required to wear uniforms and repeat a 'code of respect' daily. Both parents and students must sign 'commitment to excellence' contracts.

'We expect a lot from our children,' Mr. Agassi said. 'And when you expect a lot from a child, it means that you think a lot of that child. I think that our standard of expectations teaches these children that they should expect a lot from themselves.'

There've been a few administrative snafus, now being worked out, and test results show definite progress for kids who would have otherwise been left behind.

In California, a state legislative committee has just passed a bill that would allow universities and colleges to serve as sponsors of charter schools. Nationally, that key role is too often granted only to local school districts, many hostile to charters. The Sacramento Bee editorial board is all for the bill, but worries - appropriately - it contains too many restrictions, as currently drafted.

Still, charter backers and proponents of high-stakes testing are driving the debate on bringing America's public schools up to global speed. Charter opponents standing on the sidelines and crying 'foul' are marginalizing themselves.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 11:32 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

John Kerry's campaign is hitting the wrong notes for Boston Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson, who's clearly no fan of George W. Bush. A recent Kerry campaign-funded mailing from Demo strategist James Carville left Jackson scratching his head.

What was striking about the letter was that the entire first page was about how Bush misleads, but not a single sentence about how Kerry would lead. Even as Bush flounders in self-righteousness, you have to wonder if the ABB (Anybody But Bush) crowd is lulling themselves into a reverse trap. Letters like this make you wonder if ABB also means All But Blind.

The reality is there is a core on folks on the right who believe Bush is an appointed guardian of unilateral American might. There is a core of people on the left who believe Bush is still not their president. But if it was so obvious to Americans outside the elite east and the Bay Area that Bush was a scoundrel, then the polls should not be merely even - Kerry should be ahead by a landslide.

Kerry's weak Washington State effort is dismaying, especially given strong GOP grassroots efforts here for Bush, says Josh Feit, liberal columnist for the Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger. In last week's piece, "R Is For Ready," he noted:

...be forewarned all you Ds who were so impressed with yourselves for waking up early on a Saturday morning and showing up at your caucus on the heels of the Howard Dean adrenaline rush: The Rs are fired up too. They're itching to defend their man.....

The R energy also grabbed my attention because, well, John Kerry has not. I'm willing to swallow Kerry's lame position on gay rights and his dumb corporate tax break just to get Bush out of office, but Kerry's anemic campaign is all the more troubling when my Seattle bubble is disturbed by the news that in every county in the state, Bush has his base in high gear.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 10:55 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The headline on this story from e-marketer today sends a chill down my spine: "Kids Dig Mobiles (as in phones) and Money."

According to the new study by Taylor Nelson Sofres, two-thirds of all 6- to 14-year-olds say having a lot of money is very important.

This figure will surely grow, and another: the 30 percent of kids in that age range who already have mobile phones. The TNS study (charts in the article link above) shows that next to calling or text-messaging parents and friends, kids with mobiles use them to: message or call TV shows or contests; and to download games, ring tones, pictures, take photos and use the Internet.

I wonder how much of this occurs during classes, or school "study" periods.

I must be an old fuddy-duddy. All things considered, mobile phones should be banned from schools. Logisitical arrangments can be made without them, and were, for decades.

And parents should make sure their kids spend their spare time reading, pursuing the arts or athletics, or in safe, unstructured play. If only they would.

The plethora of mobile phones - and the materialism of young kids - points to too many single-parent households, or situtations where both parents work away from home and the kids are adrift, in more ways than one.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:19 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Dennis Prager has had it up to here with "world opinion" that's never outraged about anything but wrongs imputed to Israel and the United States.

Read the whole thing, and you'll see the many examples Prager gives of evil conveniently overlook by blindered arbiters of geo-political morality, in European capitals and global media. Here's his overview:

I cherish and admire countless individuals, but I have contempt for 'the world' and 'world opinion.' 'The world' has never cared about evils inflicted on human beings......In sum, I feel that I am living in a world that is morally sick. Good is called bad, and bad is called 'militant,' 'victimized,' 'misunderstood' and 'the product of hopelessness,' but rarely bad. Only those who fight the bad are called bad.

I played my own riff on this last weekend, when Israel killed the latest terrorist in charge of Hamas, and "world leaders" issued their usual condemnations.

Bully for Prager.

And a hat tip to Lorna.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 12:59 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Most weekday mornings after we drop blogson at school, blogdaughter and I eventually head downstairs to work. Under the stern, framed gazes of Eugene McCarthy and Eraserhead, I work on my regular guest op-ed column for The Seattle Times, the occasional magazine article, and blog. She draws pictures and letters; makes cut-out creatures hailing from inter-planetary dimensions; builds forts and cities; pages through favorite books; and dances and sings.

This morning, before we went down, Ava, 4, asked a question which convincingly demonstrated her advanced developmental state.

She said, "Daddy, can we play some blues and jazz and rock and roll?"

So here's the a.m. playlist:

Blues - Albert King, "Let's Have A Natural Ball."

Rock and Roll - Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, "Time to Discover."
(CD review/interview/Seattle concert preview piece I wrote for Seattle Times here).

Jazz - Duke Ellington/Charles Mingus/Max Roach - "Money Jungle."

She's liking it all. I think I'm going to encourage her habit of scat singing. (UPDATE: She's scatting again, right in tune with a blues by Duke. Maybe I'm biased, but it sounds pretty good).

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 10:15 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The worse things go in Iraq, the better Bush's chances for re-election, says Jeff Crouere at Bayou Buzz. The sooner Coalition and Iraqi forces get things under control, the sooner U.S. media attention shifts to the domestic agenda, where Kerry has a better chance of toppling Bush, according to Crouere. I'm with him on the first part, but I'd love to see the campaign unfold with Iraq stabilized and a domestic focus. I think Kerry'd still manage to tank.

Meanwhile, in today's Seattle Times Philip Gold - a local think-tank honcho, author, and national resource - argues the entire presidential campaign will be a waste of time unless the media ask much better questions (he gives examples) and voters really consult with each other.

On the topic of dumb questions, syndicated columnist John Leo has a hum-dinger of a piece on last week's Bush press conference.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 09:39 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

When The LA Times calls bull**** on liberal "hate crime" hoaxes, the problem must be about 100 times worse than reported. Student "victims" often perpetrate phony hate crimes against themselves; some thinking that they're advancing a progressive agenda anyway, the paper reports today. Of course, they're doing just the opposite.

Via the California Association of Scholars.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

America IS a great place - so open, so non-judgemental, so addled. I know this thanks to The Sacramento Bee, which today in a big feature story alerted me to a book called "Walter The Farting Dog." It spent 40 weeks on The NY Times best-seller list for children's hardcovers, and there's a new sequel published by a Penguin imprint. The Canadian author appears in Sacramento Thursday, thus the big noise in The Bee.

The first "Walter" book, The Bee informs, was meant for four- to eight-year-olds, but attracted readers of all ages. Must have been the set-up. The Bee notes:

Walter's family is about to return him to the pound because of his antisocial habit. Walter understands people-speak, and he tries to hold in his gas. Just as he is about to explode, two burglars enter the family home, and he blasts them away with a heroic burst.

The oeuvre was rejected again and again over 10 years, until a Berkeley, CA publisher took the plunge. As author Glenn Murray explains to The Bee:

Something happened in those 10 years. Walter's time had come. Kids know a lot more than we'd like them to know..You've also got to give kids something they want to read..We use the word 'fart' because we know it attracts attention.

My only question: Why no Walter movie yet, or Walter action figure? The first Walter book has already got to be in a lot of public school classrooms.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 05:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Armadillos sleep more than 17 hours a day, and can eat 40,000 ants at a sitting. Females always give birth to four identical offspring. For these and other reasons, man should have no compunction about eating armadillos. There are many delicious armadillo recipes.

These include armadillo meatballs, BBQ armadillo, and hickory smoked armadillo; not to mention Sally's Armadillo Something or Other, and smoked armadillo chops.

From a WSU Cougar's file, there's armadillo 'n rice. And don't overlook High-Desert Wild Life Chili with armadillo, rattlesnake and javelina, from Oregon State University's Department of Fish and Wildlife newsletter (go to p. 8).

The premier online armadillo links are here.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 01:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sure, he turned into an irascible crank after a winning third-party bid for Governor of Minnesota, and became so reviled by state lawmakers and voters he slunk away after one term. But now, Jesse Ventura is bearded, re-invigorated and ready. To launch an independent bid for President in 2008, just maybe. Seems a stint as a visiting fellow at Harvard (yeah, really) has energized the former Navy Seal and later, pro wrestler known as "The Body."

I'd love to hear his foreign policy. Only problem: in a Rudy-Hillary-Jesse showdown, he swings it to Hillary.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 11:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

If every cheap-shot print hack who teed off on Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ran for Governor of California in the Gray Davis recall vote had the guts to track his performance since election and write an update, he'd be positively drowning in good press.

As it is, he's not doing too bad with the media. In this L.A. Daily News editorial, he's praised at length, and dubbed 'Gov. Reformator.' And he's faring well with California voters, who give him a 61 percent approval rating, after a busy few months (only 22 percent disapproved of his performance).

As columnist Lou Cannon notes in the LA Times, Schwarzenegger has spearheaded voter passage of a debt-financing initiative; another ballot measure enacting a modest state spending cap; and recently - by threatening another voter initiative - maneuvered lawmakers into passing a long-avoided worker's comp reform bill.

Uber-liberal media critics who wasted barrels of ink carping that candidate Scharwzenegger was an empty suit now might want to hop on the cluetrain, with a hand from one of The Golden State's top DEMOCRATIC politicians.

'Arnold's a superstar,' says John Burton, the skilled and combative Democratic Senate leader.... Schwarzenegger's stardom goes beyond celebrity, says Burton, a liberal politician from San Francisco with a profane manner and a progressive record. The Senate leader...believes he can negotiate with him on difficult issues, as he did as an assemblyman with Gov. Reagan. 'Arnold's not afraid to get his hands dirty and become engaged,' says Burton. 'He's comfortable in his own skin, and he knows the problems aren't just going to go away.'

Some of Schwarzenegger's friends say that his determination to succeed, not his celebrity status, is the key to his accomplishments. 'Arnold's not a success because he's a celebrity,' contends Sacramento lobbyist Bob White. 'He's a celebrity because he's a success.' White, chief of staff under Gov. Pete Wilson, says that Schwarzenegger is doing in Sacramento what he has done throughout his life: setting goals, engaging people and competing in an effective way. 'He's got the best gut, political instinct of anyone I know,' White says.

UPDATE: Arnold is getting some flack from the right. Adam Sparks, an excellent conservative guest opinion columnist for The SF Chronicle (another is Jennifer Nelson), lambastes the Guv for indicating he'll cave and allow driver's licenses for illegal aliens. MORE STILL: John Fund, via Opinion Journal, with an interesting column on Arnold's advocacy of a part-time state legislature for California, instead of the current full-time deal. One source cited by Fund says such a voter initiative would certainly pass.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 02:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

"Privocrats" on the right and left are subverting the war on terror, says Heather MacDonald in the spring edition of City Journal. More data-mining and "pattern analysis" are necessary; we need to counter the widespread intimidation of info-tech wizards who can build high-tech analytical capabilities to identify terrorist suspects for closer surveillance, MacDonald argues. Read the whole shebang, it's titled, "What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us." She concludes:

Proposals for assessing risk in such areas as aviation do not grow out of an omnivorous desire to 'rank citizens' but out of a concrete need to protect people from a clear threat. If the government assigns different security risks to an Iowa music teacher traveling to her high school reunion and to a Pakistani-American funder of Islamic madrassas and host to radical sheiks from Morocco, it is not out of a passion for 'hierarchy' but because of the reality of Islamic terrorism.

Information technology can help government in its constitutional responsibilities to protect the nation; indeed the congressional joint inquiry into September 11 found that 'a reluctance to develop and implement new technical capabilities aggressively' was a cause of the pre-9/11 intelligence failures. The report added: 'While technology remains one of this nation’s greatest advantages, it has not been fully and most effectively applied in support of U.S. counterterrorism efforts.'

The privocrats will rightly tell you that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; trouble is, they are aiming their vigilance at the wrong target.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

How bad is Canada at preventing terrorists from setting up shop? So bad someone has written a how-to book on the favorable climate for terrorists in Canada. It's available courtesy of good 'ol Loompanics Press, in Port Townsend, WA. According to the online blurb at Loompanics, Mike Pearson's "Waging War From Canada" reveals:

Why Canada is an ideal base for terrorist activities.

The four basic methods terrorists might use to enter Canada.

Five examples of the blundering incompetence of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) -- and how this helps terrorists.

Spying on the United States from Canada -- who does it and how they get away with it.

Why Canada is perfectly suited to use as a base for terrorist fundraising.

"Spoofing Citizenship:" The best way for a terrorist to acquire foolproof Canadian I.D.

What terrorist's (sic) do when a deportation order is issued against him

And much, much more.

Always good to know our friends to the north are on the ball.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Israel has assassinated Abdel Aziz Rantisi, co-founder of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Good riddance. Documentation here from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on his close involvement in the Palestinian terrorist campaign against Israel (see II - "Rantisi - A History of Terrorism").

The strike came only hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed one Israeli soldier and injured several others.

With the Rantisi hit, and the Israeli assasination of Hamas' "spiritual leader" Sheik Yassin, it's increasingly clear Israel's own war on terror will not abate. Perhaps the Palestinians will get it through their thick heads they can never win their anti-Israeli jihad. Certainly, after Yassin's killing last month, some savvy Palestinians observed that elevating the even-more-hardline Rantisi to Hamas' leadership was dumb, and would only elevate hostilities further.

Guess they were right.

While we're at it, maybe Palestinian "leaders" - should re-consider their knee-jerk rejection of the latest plan put forward by Israeli prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and backed by U.S. President George W. Bush. They may get no better offer in the future. Israel comes from an ever-greater position of strength.

Seventy-two virgins in paradise isn't payback enough; all the would-be Palestinian suicide bombers now NOT stepping forward must still want the promise of $25,000 to their families from Saddam Hussein, only Saddam's checkbook is, uh, closed. And even if they were doing their usual schtik, where would it get their brethren?

"World opinion" against the Israelis is fatuous dribble. The Israeli-Palestinian dispute will not be decided in any way by the chattering classes or the assorted stuffed shirts strutting around European capitals. The sooner the Palestinians fully disavow jihad, the sooner there can be a binding agreement.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 12:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Given his position, the noted media critic for the Washington Post Howard Kurtz almost has to be obsessed with "inside baseball" news items the rest of the country couldn't care about less. Yet even he manages to really step in it, with his claim today that footage in a DNC web ad mocking part of Bush's press conference earlier this week, "would seem to provide irresistible ammunition for a television ad.."

Consider the footage, and context. Bush was asked to identify his biggest mistake as president, so far. He replied:

'Hmm. I wish you had given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it,' the president is shown saying, slowly. 'You know I just, uh, I'm sure something will pop into my head here, in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet. . . . You just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be on coming up with one.'

I heard the response, and thought it was either honest and unvarnished, or alternately, down-home cagey. However anyone looks at it, Bush didn't take the bait from critics hoping he'd perversely join in their Bush-bashing. That must be frustrating indeed for the DNC, White House press corps and Howard Kurtz.

Bush was in much the same situation as a job interviewee asked to discuss their greatest weakness. You have every right to decline an opportunity for self-immolation. Looking at the whole speech and press conference, two strands were glaringly evident: Bush advanced his agenda forcefully, and when repeatedly asked to find fault with himself, declined.

To Washington reporters who believe in the transforming power of psychotherapy, he's doubtless an odd duck.

Kurtz is right about one thing, when he qualifies his assertion by saying the footage would SEEM to offer irresisitible footage for a TV ad. "Seem" to you, Howard, and the losers who run the DNC.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 08:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Michael Leeden of the American Enterprise Institute says despite denials from our State Dept., it's very clear that ruling religious fundamentalists in Iran are closely allied with Iraqi Shi'ite rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose followers have provoked some of the worst fighting in Iraq since the U.S. intervention there last year. Iraq can't become secure until fundamentalists are neutralized and liberty prevails in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, argues Leeden.

...it is an open secret throughout the Middle East that Sadr has been receiving support--if not precise orders--from the mullahs in Iran for some time now....the war being waged by Shiite militants throughout Iraq is not just a domestic "insurgency."

...Iraq cannot be peaceful and secure so long as Tehran sends its terrorist cadres across the border....The only way to end Tehran's continual sponsorship of terror is to bring about the demise of the present Iranian regime. And as it happens, we have an excellent opportunity to achieve this objective, without the direct use of military power against Iran. There is a critical mass of pro-democracy citizens there, who would like nothing more than to rid themselves of their oppressors. They need help, but they neither need nor desire to be liberated by force of arms.

Above all, they want to hear our leaders state clearly and repeatedly--as Ronald Reagan did with the "Evil Empire"--that regime change in Iran is the goal of American policy....we can reach the Iranian people by providing support to the several Farsi-language radio and TV stations in this country, all currently scrambling for funds to broadcast a couple of hours a day. We can encourage private foundations and individuals to support the Iranian democracy movement.

...This sort of political campaign aimed at toppling the Iranian regime--allied to firm punitive action within Iraq against terrorists of all stripes--will make our task in Iraq manifestly less dangerous. Ultimately, security in Iraq will come in large measure from freedom and reform in Iran (as well as in Syria and Saudi Arabia). This is a truth that we should not hide from, nor be fearful to take on.

Via Opinion Journal.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 01:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Seattle may close up to 11 public schools due to declining enrollment and "excess capacity." This shoots a huge hole in claims by the Washington Education Association that our state's new charter school law will bleed money from public schools (as students opt out for charters) while overhead costs remain the same.

The WEA is set to gather signatures for a statewide ballot initiative to overturn the new charter school law, approved by the legislature after a 10-year struggle. The union is leaning heavily on the "less money, same overhead" argument in its spiteful campaign to undo the new law, and deny public school students greater educational choice.

Yet here we see that in Seattle, even before the first charter school has opened, there's already clear recognition from school district officials that as enrollment continues declining, you have to consider closing more facilities. That'll sure cut total overhead costs, won't it?

And if, as even charter opponents concede, public charter schools cause more students (and the state money that follows them) to leave traditional public schools, further consolidation might make sense, too.

If public schools - and especially the wretched WEA leadership - would actually focus on meeting the bracing challenges posed by more rigorous public charter schools, they might be able to expand, not contract.

The handwriting has been on the wall for some time in Seattle, where low expectations, political correctness and excuses are the norm in public schools. Consider this:

Enrollment has fallen from 86,000 students in 117 schools in 1970 to 47,000 students in 100 schools today, officials say.

So obviously, we should stifle innovation, as the WEA urges.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at 11:26 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

On April 15, my father celebrated another birthday. I again paid quiet respects to the Gods, and some very good heart surgeons who performed triple-bypass surgery after I rushed him to the hospital on a sub-zero Chicago Christmas Eve in 1984. You’re awesome Dad, but remember to eat your vegetables, and keep riding that stationary bike, OK? Glad you quit smoking.

Milton J. Rosenberg is the son of immigrants from Ukraine who left because Jews were denied a good education, and sometimes rounded up and killed, for socio-political sport.

His mother, my late Grandma Rae (short for Rachel) spoke six languages, but had no formal education in the U.S. She emigrated with her husband Jacob after he first came alone to America, and then returned to Ukraine to woo her while arranging to send hog-hair bristles here for the manufacture of paintbrushes.

They settled in Brooklyn to raise a family. Grandpa Jack made his way – quite well it turned out – as a house painter, and then a building contractor. My dad was the water boy for the paint crews for a while. Jack and Rae’s two kids became professors. My dad is recently retired from that, but has been hosting a nightly radio talk show in Chicago for 30-plus years. I not so jokingly gave him the nickname “World Book” many years ago, because he knows absolutely everything under the sun. (Before Encarta, there were hardbound encyclopedias). Now at least I can crib items from his blog.

Snapshots and audio-tapes of Milt at the University of Michigan in the 1950s reveal a nerdy young rake in a fashion-forward outfit of tee-shirt, shorts, dress socks and wingtips! (Talk about self-confidence). He’s wooing my mom with Leadbelly-like tunes (or is that Big Bill Broonzy?) on a guitar tuned to Open D.

Like all good present-day neo-cons, my folks once hung with dippy socialists and faux commies - and so were all the more equipped to celebrate the glorious fall of the Iron Curtain.

Yet, our family experienced some minor abuse at the hands of conservatives and Woolly Mammoths, I must report. In the 60s we lived in Columbus, O