He Said, She Said

Tacky Alert.

I suppose it makes sense that if something doesn’t work, to fix it.  So one might give Hakuo Yanagisawa credit for good intentions.   The BBC reports on foot in mouth disease:

Hakuo Yanagisawa called for women to do their best to bear children in order to counter Japan’s plummeting birth rate and rapidly ageing population.

“Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head,” he said. [photo added]

NaomiC, Corrent Wire,whispers sweetly, “This shit has got to stop!:”

You know, just when I think we’re making progress against males’ stereotypical attitudes toward women, we see that we haven’t progressed past “baby-makers”.

Just when I think we’re making progress on a every woman’s right to make her own decisions and not have religion derail the train of progress, we see that another group/society/culture wants to send us back into “our traditional roles”—wombs on two legs. (Not to mention, save Japan from a loss of taxpayers???)

Lisa, ToykoMango says, “I think Japan needs a new health minister:”

Interesting…I was not aware that my main purpose as a Japanese woman was to give birth. He must be very disappointed in me and all the other childless females out here. Sorry, dude.

BD, Lagged, says:

I don’t know much about Japanese society, so can’t comment. But it’s sickening nevertheless.

Bill Belew, Rising Sun of Nihon asks:

[M]en are asking where to apply the oil to make the ‘machines’ work better.

(H/T photo:  Cassandra Does Toyko )

Update:  Yanagisawa obviously got his ages wrong.  James Joyner, Outside the Beltway posts:

A 67-year-old who gave birth to twins last month lied to a Los Angeles fertilization clinic.

Gee twins at sixty-seven.  Still time for Mrs. Pelosi of have two more and demonstate her superior ability at multi-tasking.

Fitzgerald’s case is so bad that even the LA Times is starting to catch on to it.  Richard B. Schmitt writes CIA “secrecy rules are sometimes ignored:”

But last week, as former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby went on trial in connection with the leak, it appeared that neither the CIA nor some other intelligence community insiders were all that tight-lipped about such supposedly sensitive matters.

When it came to talking to outsiders, the agent’s identity was often treated as not much more than water-cooler dishing or cocktail party chatter.

Of course Schmitt is still taking the position that Plame was an agent who was in the position to be exposed.   Plame covert career was already over   She had been exposed the traitor Aldridge Ames.

In a recent Washington post editorial, Dinesh D’Souza correctly identifies why the left, and some of the center, has been so scandalized by his latest book;

Why the onslaught? Just this: In my book, published this month, I argue that the American left bears a measure of responsibility for the volcano of anger from the Muslim world that produced the 9/11 attacks. President Jimmy Carter’s withdrawal of support for the shah of Iran, for example, helped Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime come to power in Iran, thus giving radical Islamists control of a major state; and President Bill Clinton’s failure to respond to Islamic attacks confirmed bin Laden’s perceptions of U.S. weakness and emboldened him to strike on 9/11. I also argue that the policies that U.S. “progressives” promote around the world — including abortion rights, contraception for teenagers and gay rights — are viewed as an assault on traditional values by many cultures, and have contributed to the blowback of Islamic rage.

That’s really what all this boils down to; and the inability of the left in this country to admit that they are directly responsible for being the enablers of radical Islam. So great was that need to deny the left’s being enablers of radical Islam, that Sandy Berger risked quite a bit, getting secured, top secret documents out of the national archives in his pants… documents which would have provided evidence to back… precisely… what constitutes D’Souza’s main point.

He also raises this question:

What would motivate Muslims in faraway countries to volunteer for martyrdom? The fact that Palestinians don’t have a state? I don’t think so. It’s more likely that they would do it if they feared their values and way of life were threatened. Even as the cultural left accuses Bush of imperialism in invading Iraq, it deflects attention from its own cultural imperialism aimed at secularizing Muslim society and undermining its patriarchal and traditional values. The liberal “solution” to Islamic fundamentalism is itself a source of Islamic hostility to America.

Well, no WONDER the left is all up in arms…  the points aside, regarding the non reaction of the American left, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton included, two radical Islamist aggression,what’s really being questioned here is nothing less than the fundamental drives of the Liberal.
In observing the reaction of the left to these points, and looking at what they have risked to keep that guilty connection under wraps and out of sight of the general public, one can only assume that they know that to be their Achilles heel, as well.

Apparently, Mit Romney is listening to his critics.  I reamed him a new one back on December 9th….

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 — Gov. Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Republican who has built a presidential campaign on a broad appeal for conservative support, is drawing sharply increased criticism from conservative activists for his advocacy of gay rights in a 1994 letter.

Mr. Romney’s standing among conservatives is being hurt by a letter he sent to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts saying that he would be a stronger advocate for gay rights than Senator Edward M. Kennedy, his opponent in a Senate race, in a position that stands in contrast to his current role as a champion of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern,” Mr. Romney wrote in a detailed plea for the support of the club, a gay Republican organization.

Here’s a case where Romney is clearly pandering to a vote block he seriously needed to overcome the Democrats in Massachusetts.

Look, gang… while I have very strong objections to his stated stand in 1994 on cultural ground, what I object to more strongly is something the Times and the hangers-on dare not mention… that Romney so easily shifts his stated principles in order to curry favor with one group or another. As I said beack in 04’s presidential race, as regards John Kerry: I care less about what principles a person holds, than I do about them actually being HELD in the face of electoral reality.

This thing becomes a matter of trust… or rather… the lack of it. Such a man cannot be trusted with high office… he clearly thinks holding that office of greater import than what he says are his bedrock principles. In short, he HAS no bedrock principles, rather gong after whatever will best satisfy his power lust.

I didn’t put up with that kind of nonsense from John Kerry, and I darn sure am not going to stand for it in a supposed Republican.

Update: in answer to some e-mail;

Yes I stipulate that it’s possible his position could have evolved since 1994. This would be particularly true, given that in 1994 we were barely discussing the matter. But if in fact his position on the matter has grown into what is now, he’s going to have to sell that. I could be wrong here, but strictly as a matter of perception, I don’t think him capable of doing so.

I’m starting to see reports now, both in private e-mail, and in some public comments that he is taking great pains to explain why his position for example on abortion has changed.  KJL who cites this video at the Corner last night.

I can certainly accept someone, who learns from his mistakes. I have yet to see a Democrat, who has managed to do that.  However, I must tell you, then it’s going to take a lot more than this one shot deal to convince me that he’s actually learned.

I remain unready, and unwilling to throw support behind the man.  However, I will suggest that he was merits serious watching.  Frankly, with the quality of the people involved in the race thus far, that places Romney in rarified territory to begin with.

There was a Prolife Rally last week.  The media barely gave notice.  There was so-called Peace Rally yesterday, the media raved, exagerated and flat out lied.  The Washington Post reported:

Under a blue sky with a pale midday moon, tens of thousands of people angry about the war and other policies of the Bush administration danced, sang, shouted and chanted their opposition.

Mean while back in the sober world, Aaron, Lifeline Pundits reports maybe eight to twelve thousand:

Let me tell you this: there were MAYBE 4000 people there. And there were MAYBE 8000 – 12000 protesters at the Capitol. The news media knows how to frame shots of signs close together to make the crowd look more crowded. And they like to crop pictures as well.

John, Powerline:

You can’t judge from a single picture, but I haven’t seen anything that makes me think the demonstration was anything special in terms of turnout.

From an on the scece citizen repoter, andertho, via Powerline:

3.  Tiny crowd.  I was surprised by just how small the crowd was.  I rode my bike from the Virginia side, up the Mall past the Washington Monument, and it wasn’t until I started to approach the march’s grandstand on the Capitol side of the Mall that I began to see anyone that might be considered a war protestor.  Having been on the Mall many times before during July 4th celebrations, the “Million Man March”, and the recent March for Life, I can attest that this was a small crowd

Then from the less than sober, John Conyers, in the Puffington Post:

I appeared today at the peace rally in Washington and want to report to you that there is tremendous energy out there. Celebrities joined many activists and Members of Congress to call for an end to the fighting now. There was a very big crowd on the mall and most media coverage has been pretty positive.

Well Conyers was right about one thing, the media coverage was positive.

* I’ve been buying furniture.

No, that’s not quite accurate; Donna was buying furniture.

I, on the other hand, was watching.

It proved an interesting experience, spending a couple thou to decorate the house… it’s not something I’ve often had the  chance to do, before. I actually did very little in the way of choosing what was to be purchased.  Just as well; my taste tends to run towards whatever works , not necessarily what looks good.

Of course she’s got us painting next weekend. (Sigh) Like, honey, ever hear of the Super Bowl? It’s all good, though.  Now, I’ll have something nice to sit in while enjoying the new TV.

I may post pictures, but probably not.

* By way of Bruce, I see that Chuck Hagel is now the darling of the leftist, antiwar, and I American media.   I’ve made pronouncements about that in the blog previously.

* I see OTB continues to do an excellent job documenting the Libby Show trial.

* Burns day went by without my noticing.

I guess that’s OK. Never could stand the food anyhow.

You know it wasn’t so long ago, that being fat was sign of wealth and being a size zero was sign of poverty.  Well no more.

Don Surber wants to know:

For a while, I have questioned why West Virginia, the second-poorest state (thank God for Mississippi), is the third-fattest state (thank God for Wisconsin). Isn’t obesity a disease of the rich, not the poor?

 (H/T photo:  KMike )

Bryan Bender, Boston Globe, repeats an old media lie.   Bender calls Hanoi Jane Fonda a “peace activist.”

WASHINGTON — Actress and long time peace activist Jane Fonda, a favorite target of right-wing attacks since the 1970s for her high-profile opposition to the Vietnam War, will rejoin the ranks of the antiwar movement today at a major rally in Washington

Fonda has never been pro peace.  She has been pro war.  She supported the North Vienamese side during the Vietnam War.   Fonda was never against the war.  Fonda was adamontly opposed to United States victory. 

The victory of Fonda’s sponsors provoked a refugee crisis. and directly lead the killing fields of Cambodia.   Fonda has never supported peace and no one who professes to support peace should abide her presense.  Yet they do.

Today’s Snark of the Day concerns one of my favorite, and most deserving targets, Mrs. Pelosi and what, what as a man, I can feel but can ‘t say.    So I’ll just let Dr. Melissa Clouthier say it instead:

You know how I’m sick of Nancy Pelosi’s fecund uterus? You know how I’m sick of all the talk of squirming little bundles of bouncing energy and the future and “it’s for the children“?

The reason why this talk brings on my morning sickness, mid-day sickness and and night-sickness too, is that I thinks it is bullshit. Sorry. That was blunt. Just so you know, I don’t view bullshit as a swear word. I favor it, because it’s so descriptive. I don’t believe these ambitious, eat-my-mother-for-breakfast women mean a word of all their professed caring. All this baby talk reminds me of John McCain’s nasty rhetoric about torture. Strange transition, but follow me, here. 

Like Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Pelosi likes to cloak her socialism with children.   After all, who would dare oppose anything which is for “the children?”  

Of course the cows spent decades preaching the mantra that children weren’t necessary and motherhood was no big deal. 

The headline screams:

“U.S. media jobs slashed 88 percent”

The actual story reads:

CHICAGO, Jan. 25 (UPI) — U.S. media job cuts surged 88 percent in 2006 from the previous year, a downsizing trend expected to continue this year, a survey said Thursday.

The media industry slashed 17,809 jobs last year, a nearly two-fold increase from the 9,453 cuts in 2005, outplacement consultancy Challenger Gray & Christmas said.

Evidently editors and proof readers were hardest hit.

Recently Hugo Chavez reported that Fidel Castro was not dead.  Now UPI is reporting that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is not under house arrest. ?

ALEXANDRIA, VA – In a letter sent today to Senator John McCain, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) asked for a swift and direct answer to the question of whether he will abide by the limitations of the presidential public financing system during his bid for the GOP Presidential nomination.

“As a frontrunner for the 2008 Republican nomination for President, will you campaign within the presidential public financing system or is it your intention to abandon the limitations of that system in favor of more campaign dollars?” the letter, from CFIF President Jeffrey Mazzella, asks.

“Senator McCain has made so-called ‘clean elections’ a staple of his political career,” said Mazzella.  “Despite numerous First Amendment concerns, he’s unapologetically championed strict restrictions on political speech toward that stated end.  Yet, now that Senator McCain is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, he continues to evade the direct question of whether he will abide by the very campaign finance limitations he advocates,” Mazzella continued.

Specifically, appearing November 19, 2006 on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Senator McCain dodged the issue: 

George Stephanopoulos:  “As you look to a Presidential campaign, you’ve been a great advocate for campaign finance reform.  If you choose to run, will you stay inside the public financing system or go around it?”  

Senator John McCain:  “I don’t think – it depends, one, on what other candidates might do…” 

As recently as the 2004 elections – the most expensive presidential campaign in the nation’s history – Senator McCain maintained “absolutely” his conviction favoring public campaign financing.  In November 2003, the Senator even sponsored legislation to broaden the presidential public financing system, stating at the time that it was his hope “that a bill can be enacted to take effect for the 2008 presidential election.”   

“Senator McCain has always portrayed himself as a man of principle,” said Mazzella.  “However, the Senator’s evasion of a direct question regarding the presidential public financing has left Americans across the country wondering whether the ‘Straight-Talk Express’ has taken a U-Turn as the competition for presidential campaign dollars heats up.

“As the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Senator McCain owes the American people a direct answer to this very simple question,” said Mazzella.  “We don’t think it’s too much to ask of the Senate’s chief ‘campaign finance reformer’ to clearly make his intentions known on this issue regardless of ‘what other candidates might do,'” Mazzella concluded.

The Center for Individual Freedom (http://www.cfif.org/) is a constitutional and free-market advocacy organization based in Alexandria, Virginia.  With more than 250,000 supporters and activists nationwide, CFIF has been a consistent advocate for preserving the free speech and association rights of all Americans.  CFIF was a plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case McConnell v. FEC, which challenged the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, commonly referred to as “McCain-Feingold.”   More recently, CFIF won an important First Amendment victory before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled that Louisiana’s campaign finance law does not restrict or regulate independent political issue advertising.

Well, first of all, let me say that the only way I’ll vote for McCain is if it comes down to a choice of him or a Democrat…. though frankly it’s getting harder all the time to tell the difference.

Secondly, One can certainly understand his position. He knows that if he actually sticks to his stated principles, he’ll lose the election.  Which if he doesn’t, he’l likely lose anyway, having angerd voters for NOT having stuck to his stated principles.

Such is the price one pays when one’s stated principles don’t mesh with reality.

GALVESTON, Texas —AP- B.B. King was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons but was in good condition early Friday, a hospital official said. The 81-year-old bluesman, who had been scheduled to perform at the Grand Opera House on Thursday night, was admitted to The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said Paul McCarthy, a nurse administrator. McCarthy said King was not in the intensive care unit and that he could be released later Friday or Saturday. …

(Sigh)

I’m actually a fan of his.

Sad to see him having health issues, but to be honest, I’m amazed and thankful he’s been with us this long.

Josephine Hearn and Mike Allen, of CBS News are reporting:. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that President George W. Bush did not consult her before announcing his new strategy for the war in Iraq — a sign that, despite the cozy rhetoric, the relationship between Washington’s two powerhouses has already had its share of friction.

Mrs. Pelosi is lying.  AMERICAblog, via KOS, quoted Mrs. Pelosi’s own description January White House meeting:

“I asked him at the White House, ‘Mr. President, why do you think this time it’s going to work?’

So was Mrs. Pelosi lying when she said she discussed the surge with the president or was Mrs. Pelosi lying when she said she was not consulted?

More, Don Riehl, Riehl World View:

The latest spin Nancy Pelosi is putting on the politics around the Iraq War appears to be nothing but misinformation, if not an outright lie.

Mrs Pelosi had no plan.  Now she has no honesty.

The reading outside is 4°.

We’ve got 10in. of fresh snow on the ground.

Doubtless, we’ll hear all about global warming this morning.