Posted 12/27/2002 01:00:00 PM by Sid link


Merry Christmas, from 1953

Ngnat awoke on Christmas morn to find that not only was Santa fat and jolly, he was hell bent on enforcing the rule of the patriarchy, and a girl's place within it. She got Barbies, costume jewelry, a Fisher Price Cook and Clean Kitchen. "Your all-in-one stovetop microwave refrigerator washing machine and ironing board, now with sink and towel rack," and a toy pink vacuum cleaner, at the sight of which she threw her arms up in the air in joy and ecstatically screamed "LAWNMOWER!"

Don't look at me, I got her a Wiggles DVD, a book of anime art and a tent. All of the the patriarchal gifts this year came from the matriarchy.

So, Ngnat mowed the carpet while wearing her costume jewelry, and occasionally announced that she had to "do my housekeeping", whereupon she enthusiastically ironed everything on the Cook and Clean Kitchen, then made everyone a nice steaming bowl of soup.

What kind of soup?" I asked her.

She thought. "Ummmm......bubble!"

The Sainted Wife, as well as her mother and sister, regard her joy in housekeeping as a perfect defense of their gift choices. It was hard to argue with them in the face of Ngnat's obvious happiness in what Santa brought.

So I ate my bubble soup, and watched my child as she put Barbie's clothes into the washing machine, and began turning the handle.

"All clean," she announced.

I'm considering a nice brace of pistols for her birthday.

Posted 12/27/2002 11:51:00 AM by Sid link


A Gratuitous Use of "Fatuous"

Friend of Hraka The Mad Swede has posted a new Smarter Harper's Index.

Posted 12/26/2002 09:49:00 PM by Sid link


The New Negroes

Posted 12/26/2002 09:20:00 PM by Sid link


Clearing Out The Mail Box

Hello,

I am a visiting law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. I read with great interest your article on the mistreatment of Nicholas Monahan by the TSA at Portland International Airport. I do civil rights work (I'm a licensed atty in Oregon), and I would be very interested in speaking with Mr. Monahan, esp since he mentioned the difficulty of finding a lawyer. Do you have his contact information? If so, could you pass this message to him? Thank you

Professor Douglas Litowitz
Lewis & Clark School of Law
10015 S.W. Terwilliger Blvd.
Portland, OR 97219
litowitz AT lclark.edu
www.douglitowitz.com
(email address editorially munged and phone numbers removed)

I sent the letter on to Lew Rockwell, who says he'll make sure Mr.Monahan gets it.

The Fusiler Pundit sent us an Christmas card.

The Kitchen Cabinet missed the last Carnival, at Ravenwood's Universe, as the Sainted Wife, Ngnat and the Fetus were on the road; here's a makeup.

Hardship Considerations in College Admissions

We're back now, but have to go to a wedding for one of Ngnat's maiden aunts on Friday. What with the bridesmaids' luncheon, rehearsal dinner, Wedding day breakfast, wedding, sit-down wedding reception and post-initial-coital next day honeymoon breakfast, I shan't return until Sunday. Unless by some stroke of luck I manage to both warp time and find an internet cafe in Winston Salem.

And, now for a bit o' whorin'

I found your blog this morning (great name, BTW), and enjoyed it a great deal. I've put in a permanent link to it from mine: The Head Heeb.

Zod: "Other Blogs? We're listed under Other Blogs? Seems like kind of an afterthought to me.
Oscar: There is only one thing in the world worse than being an afterthought, and that it not being thought about
Zod: I wish I had said that.
Whistler: You will, Zod, you will.

Well, I suppose anyone who can rhyme Dien Bien Phu is ok.

And, finally, Fred First has a new home.

Posted 12/24/2002 02:28:00 PM by Sid link


Air Rage, Round 2 - Questions for the TSA

I think we should keep writing to the Portland Airport addresses in regards to Coffee, Tea, or Should We Feel Your Pregnant Wife’s Breasts Before Throwing You in a Cell at the Airport and Then Lying About Why We Put You There?. Their response doesn't contradict anything in the story above, and the described behavior of their police force is unacceptable. Until they actually state something along the lines of "Mr. Monahan's account is incorrect", they should keep hearing from people.

Here are the questions I emailed to the TSA addresses below, as well as to my House Rep and Senators. Please use them yourself, and if you think of others, drop them into that comments. I'll add them as they come in.

Is there a TSA policy for searching pregnant women?

If so, did the TSA employees involved in the incident at Portland International violate that policy by requiring a pregnant woman to expose herself in public?

If TSA employees violated that policy, were they reprimanded or punished in any way?

If the TSA employees involved in the incident at Portland International did not violate the policy by requiring a pregnant woman to expose herself in public, will the policy be amended to allow pregnant women to be searched in private?

When TSA employees violate TSA policy, does the TSA issue an apology to the citizens who were mistreated during the violation of that policy?

Have Mr. Monahan and his wife been apologized to by the TSA?

What degree of contact with an individual is allowed under TSA's guidelines? Is it acceptable to squeeze a woman's breast at anytime?

At one point, a TSA employee informs Mr. Monahan that all security videotapes are destroyed after three days. Is this also TSA policy?

If it is TSA policy, doesn't that policy entail the possibility of destroying evidence or information that may be requested by other government or law enforcement agencies engaged in the War on Terrorism?

If it is not TSA policy, does the TSA allow an individual to view surveillance videotape of which they were the subject?

If the TSA does not allow individual to view surveillance videotape of which they were the subject, why not?

Has the TSA determined that a TSA employee did in fact inform Mr. Monahan that all security videotapes are destroyed after three days? If the employee was lying, as certainly seems to be the case given the version of events recorded on the Internet, has that employee been disciplined?

Does the TSA dispute the facts of the story as reported by Mr. Monahan on the Internet? If so, which events were described incorrectly?

Posted 12/24/2002 12:12:00 PM by Sid link


Roof Rabbit

Chinese cuisine has come to Nairobi.

Posted 12/24/2002 12:08:00 PM by Sid link


Soft economy? What soft economy?

I can't wait to ride pass the homeless street beggars on mine.

Posted 12/24/2002 12:02:00 PM by Sid link


Adventures in Modern Transportation

Our efficient and friendly airport security personnel enjoy interaction with the public.

Posted 12/23/2002 11:35:00 PM by Sid link


They Work Late in Portland

Well, all those emails kept some poor person after work on the day before Christmas Eve. I just got this, which was sent out about 8:00 pm Portland time.

Dear Mr. Bigwig*

Thank you for the opportunity to provide some details related to an article circulating on the internet written by Nicholas Monahan.

Please understand that the security checkpoints are operated and staffed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a federal agency, and the airport has no control over the management of the checkpoint or the screeners who work there. Therefore, the TSA is the appropriate organization to contact regarding traveler and baggage screening procedures at the checkpoint.

The Port does, however, have supervision and control over the Port of Portland Police officers who responded to this particular matter. Port Police were called to the checkpoint by the TSA to respond to an altercation with a passenger, who turned out to be Mr. Monahan. When Port Police arrived on the scene, they observed Mr. Monahan exhibiting aggressive and disruptive behavior which caused operations at the security checkpoint to be temporarily halted. Port Police first attempted to get Mr. Monahan to calm down, but when those efforts failed, the officers involved felt they had no other reasonable or safe recourse than to take Mr. Monahan into custody. He was detained for less than two hours, cited for disorderly conduct, and then escorted off airport property. After reviewing the citation issued by Port Police, the Multnomah County District Attorney elected to prosecute.

According to Mr. Monahan, he plead no contest.

Mr. Monahan also contacted the Port's aviation director about this incident. After reviewing the incident, and understanding that Mr. Monahan had a business travel need to use the airport, the aviation director used his discretion to rescind the Port's exclusion order. Based on review of this incident, the Port believes the officers acted appropriately.

If you would like any information related to the screening process itself or the TSA, please contact Brian Doyle at (202) 494-9680.

Sincerely,

Name removed to protect the innocent
Customer Information Specialist
Portland International Airport
Port of Portland
email removed to protect the innocent

I'm always a bit surprised when some stranger responds to my missives. My default expectation is to be dismissed as a crank, so it's a bit disconcerting when I'm not.

As you can see from the letter, the buck has been passed up to the Feds, and though it is dressed up in officialese, they don't contradict the version of events on the Net.

So I guess it's off to the TSA, to see that they say.

To report specific violations and concerns about security, please contact the Consumer Response Center. After business hours, please leave a message and your call will be returned promptly.

Phone: (866) 289-9673
Email: TSA-ConsumerResponse@tsa.dot.gov

* no, they didn't write "Bigwig" If you really feel the need to know my name, poke around the site a bit. It's readily available.

Update: More TSA e-mail addresses
Brian Doyle, Transportation Security Agency Spokesman - brian.doyle@tsa.dot.gov Note: I don't know for sure that this is a correct address, but it follows the pattern of the TSA email addresses below, and my e-mail to this address has not yet bounced.

Heather Rosenker, Assistant Director for Media Relations - heather.rosenker@tsa.dot.gov

Emily Chodkowski, Transportation Security Specialist, Office of Security Regulation and Policy - Emily.Chodkowski@tsa.dot.gov

General enquiries - TellTSA@tsa.dot.gov

Posted 12/23/2002 02:58:00 PM by Sid link


Out, out, damned geek!

Blogging may be light for the rest of the day, if not week, or year. I just spent more than I should have buying cards for the online version of Magic: The Gathering. Nothing like spending money on something without any physical nature whatsoever to liven up the day.

Posted 12/23/2002 01:41:00 PM by Sid link


Air Rage

Coffee, Tea, or Should We Feel Your Pregnant Wife’s Breasts Before Throwing You in a Cell at the Airport and Then Lying About Why We Put You There?

If you feel like emailing the story ( I know I did) and some appropriate comments to Portland International Airport staff, use these addresses;

Customer Service - PDXCustomerService@portptld.com
Port of Portland Executive Director - BillWyatt@portptld.com
Portland Airport Security - pdxsecuritytaskforce@portptld.com (Update: No longer a good address, apparently)
Kate Brown, State Senator, PDX Security task force member - brown.sen@state.or.us
Mike Schrunk, Multnomah County District Attorney, PDX Security task force member - michael.d.schrunk@co.multnomah.or.us
Michael Cheston, Airport Manager - chestm@portptld.com(Update: No longer a good address)
Michael Brant, Chief of Police, Port of Portland Police Dept - brantm@portptld.com(Update: No longer a good address, as the new chief of police there is Phil Klahn. I have no e-mail for him as yet)
Elisa Dozono, Media Contact, Portland Airport - dozone@portptld.com


Link via the Blogatelle

Update: We're off to an X-mas party; I'll add more e-mail addresses when we come back. If you have any that dopn't appear above, drop them into the comments, and I'll add them as well. E-ailing them will not work, as I'm away from my home e-mail until Thursday. Also, spread the story, and the good addresses. We're already getting results, as Kehaar posts above.

More e-mail addresses: as suggested by Friend of Hraka mfinley.com

Oregon Dept. of Tourism - info.oregontourism@state.or.us
Portland Business Alliance - info@portlandalliance.com
Joe D'Alessandro, President and CEO, Portland Visitor's Association - joe@pova.com

Posted 12/23/2002 11:56:00 AM by Sid link


Don't Cross The Family

Instapundit is predicting that Condi Rice get the VP slot for 2004, even though Bush has already announced that the spot is Cheney's if he runs again.

I don't think so. Remember the Bush family's obsession with loyalty? Remember Jeb? Remember when he was the Bush most qualified to be the president? He ain't getting any less qualified.

For George this isn't about what is best for the Republican Party, and this isn't about what is best for the nation. This is about family.

In Texas, it is commonly assumed that one of the prime factors that motivated George W.'s decision to run against Gov. Ann W. Richards in the first place was her famous "silver foot in his mouth" speech about the senior George Bush given at the Democratic National Convention in 1988.

"He was very angry," recalled Edwards. "The one thing that sets him off more than anything is criticism of his parents."

Family loyalty became a near-obsession with George W. after his father's 1992 defeat at the hands of Bill Clinton, say many of those who know the son. "He is intensely protective of his father—and that emotion came through loud and clear," recalled Torie Clarke, President Bush's 1992 campaign spokeswoman. "As the campaign went on, fewer and fewer Republican officials would appear with [President Bush]. George W. was deeply offended. He expressed real aggravation at the lack of loyalty for people his father had helped for years and years and years. I don't think he's forgotten who they were."

This about making sure that Jeb has the clearest possible field in 2008. Now that Jeb's been re-elected in Florida, he has a clean record and a clear shot, and he'll be all of 53 years old. He'll even have two years off to raise money and build a campaign after his second term ends.

I think the the only way Condi gets the 2008 Republican nomination, assuming she runs for it, will be if Jeb and George have surveyed the terrain and decided that the Republican nominee will lose, much like the major Democrats did in 1992.

Zod: That whole post seems....familiar, somehow.
Shhh!. I'm navel-gazing.

Posted 12/23/2002 11:36:00 AM by Sid link


They don't like me, they really don't like me!

Dammit, another year's gone by, and I still didn't make the list.

Zod: Not enough muttering to the voices in your head, if you ask me.
Surprisingly, I did not.
Zod: Now see, that's what I'm talking about.

Posted 12/23/2002 10:57:00 AM by Sid link


Blogs Make the Headlines
Mainstream journalist's self-pitying cries of derision drown out sound of approaching clue train.

"Bloggers are navel-gazers," said Elizabeth Osder, a visiting professor at The University of Southern California's School of Journalism. "And they're about as interesting as friends who make you look at their scrap books."

She added, "There's an overfascination here with self-expression, with opinion. This is opinion without expertise, without resources, without reporting."

When your scrapbook is measured in terabytes, Elizabeth, it cannot help but have some interesting stuff in it. The scrapbook itself is our resource, navigating it is our expertise. Using that resource, and my expertise in navigating it, I reported on the NYT's misrepresentation of one of the leading public health figures at VCU last week. Last I checked, offline journalism hadn't mentioned it. Perhaps ya'll were too busy writing the latest breaking story on how video games have doomed our culture.

Not all bloggers claim to to be journalists, though according to Webster, they most certainly are. The form itself harkens back to the early days of journalism, when many papers were a melange of news and commentary. It's something I would expect a professor of journalism to know, though perhaps I expect too much.

Posted 12/23/2002 09:37:00 AM by Sid link


Train in Vain

Joe Strummer has died.

Posted 12/22/2002 11:05:00 PM by Sid link


Flaming the Rabbits

My post on the SoCal Muslim response to INS arrests has drawn more than just a debate over the applicability of the numbers. I've been flamed, certainly something that only happens once in a blue moon around here. In fact, the last time I got this toasted was when I posted about resettling the Palestinians in America.

Bigwig, as far as my military status goes, I didn't comment on it because I'm not a Muslim, my son is, so it wasn't relevant to my point about you pointing a finger at Muslims as a group not serving in the US military.

But FYI, I am a veteran, retired military in fact.

As far as which groups are underrepresented, I'll do better than an opinion, I'll give you some statistical data from which you can draw your own conclusions.

Here's a link to the one service that posts the religious demographic of their service, the Air Force.

http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/demographics/

Now compare any number you want to that group's proportion of the US population as a whole.

Bear in mind that estimates of Muslim population in the US are disputed:

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/muslimpop.html

But it is a fact that 677 enlisted personnel and 63 officers of the US Air Force self-identified as Muslims.

So, what service have you performed or are willing to perform that gives you the right to make such a comment about American Muslims?

Condottiere |

Later, Condottiere reconsidered his mild mannered disagreement, and came roaring back

Another point: I made a mistake in even acknowledging that Bigwig's initial point had any validity.

American Muslims are under no special obligation to volunteer to the armed forces. To put it another way, my son and his mother, and American Muslims as a group are no more responsible for 9/11 than Kurt Vonnegut was for Nazi Germany, or Daniel Inouye and the Nisei were for Imperial Japan, in 1941.

To imply otherwise is to assign a Nazi-like rassenschuld (racial guilt).

Yes, American Muslims do serve at least in proportion to the rest of the U.S. population, but so what?
Chad's point is well taken: given that foreign-born Muslims are an infinitesimal part of the US population, and given that only those aged 17-34 with certain educational requirements, including fluency in English, and at least a green card, can serve, you would not expect to encounter any. But he did, in the Marine Corps.

You might also check out the August 2002 issue of Esquire, with a story about an Albanian-American Muslim infantryman in the 10th Mountain in Afghanistan, fighting it out with al-Qaeda around Tora Bora months ago. And now the 10th Mountain is in line to go back in theater.

So he, the Albanian-American and my son, the Iranian-American, will most likely be heading to Iraq in a month or so, while Bigwig, safe at home, fans the flames of hatred against them and "their kind."

I'm sure that had he been around in 1941, he'd be baying for Nisei internment.

My, my, Condo. Fanning some flames of you own, aren't you? Don't go visiting Little Green Footballs, your head will explode.

You'll recall I didn't ask for numbers, (and bad numbers at that, but we'll get to that in a bit), but your opinion, based on your statement.

My evidence is that Muslims are well-represented in the US military, and not just African-American ones.

Probably more so than some other ethnic groups of comparable size.

It seems you don't value your opinions enough to publicly state them, except your opinion of me, of course. :) I suspect you realize actually stating which "ethnic groups" aren't pulling their weight won't win you any points in the court of public opinion. That is of course a scandalous stretching of the truth, based on nothing more than thin suppositions, but I'm sure you recognize the technique.

Nice try, though. In addition, I don't see you fulfilling the agreement, but I'll hold up my side anyway. I'm not in the military, never have been. I don't consider it a necessary prelude to discussing military matters. My point was that you seem to think that the only people with a right to comment on military issues are those who have either been in the military or are presently in the military.

As has been written elsewhere, that argument is disingenuous at best, and unconstitutional and historically illiterate at worst. As to the service I performed to earn the right to criticize American Muslims? I was born here. My forefathers had the wisdom to make sure I was granted certain rights at that moment, so no "service" is needed. They are, as I'm sure you've heard, inalienable,

In any case, my point was that Nisei, who were far more mistreated by the Government than the SoCal Muslims are, volunteered for military service at an extraordinarily high rate. Out of 120,000 interned, 33,000 served in WW II. I very much doubt that Muslim population in America will produce a similar response. If they did volunteer in any significant numbers, it would be a huge story. I haven't seen one of those yet, have you?

I hardly think less than 800 members in the Air Force, numbers comparable to the number of self-identified Atheists in that military branch, is an overwhelming argument against that position. What's more, those numbers are crap. "Self-selected" members in one branch of the military can hardly be said to be representative of anything, much less the Muslim population of America's response to 9/11. You can talk about the miniscule percentage of Muslims in the American population all you like, but the fact is that the Japanese-American population in 1941 was even more miniscule. But find me 33,000 Muslims in the American military, and I'll happily eat my words.

Speaking of Senator Inouye,

Like all nisei, I was driven by an insidious sense of guilt from the instant the first Japanese plane appeared over Pearl Harbor. Of course we had nothing to feel guilty about, but we all carried this special burden. We felt it in the streets, where white men would sneer as we passed. We felt it in school when we heard our friends and neighbors called Jap-lovers. We felt it in the widely held suspicion that the nisei were a sort of built-in fifth column in Hawaii.

One reason Nisei volunteered in large numbers because they felt the need to prove their loyalty in the face of horrid racism. There have been individual acts of racism against Muslims in America, but nothing like the wave of hatred the Japanese-Americans faced. Certainly no one has called for their internment. You'll also note that that "special burden" was felt, not after they had come under attack by racists, but "from the instant the first Japanese plane appeared over Pearl Harbor."

I don't see any evidence that the majority of Muslims in America feel that the 9/11 attacks gave them a similar feeling. Muslims that do serve in the U.S. military are to be congratulated on their patriotism and supported in the same manner as any other U.S. soldier. I get the feeling you think I'm demeaning your son, and I'm not. The military needs more Muslims, more like your son, if only so our troops, as well as the American public will realize that Islam is not the enemy.

I'm not going to claim that most Muslim groups haven't condemned terrorism, most have. I just don't think it's enough. When the denunciation is reiterated, it's often just a prelude to a litany of complaints about how they are being treated, even though that treatment is not only legal, but mild by historical standards, and more than extremely mild in comparison to treatment handed out to suspect populations in any society actually controlled by Muslims.

And no, they're under no "special" obligation to volunteer. < cheap shot> I'm sure Osama agrees that they are under no "special" obligation as well. </cheap shot> Nor are they under a legal one. Neither were the Nisei. But I feel, and I'll think you find many others do as well, the fact that their brothers in the Ummah killed 3000 a little over a year ago, and continue to try and kill civilians in the West today ago gives them a moral obligation.

I've never called for the internment of Muslims in America, and the last third of the post was devoted to reaming the INS for their actions in the story, so I highly doubt that I would have been calling for the internment of the Nisei. I don't know of anyone who has, and would certainly disagree with such a thing. I don't even think that they should join the military, really. All I ask from the Muslims, not just in America, but all over the world, is the statement that "Our brothers made this mess, so it is our responsibility to clean it up."

And then to do it, so we don't have to.

Ya'll have a nice holiday, and my best to your son.