Today's Nuze: December 06, 2004 

I'M CRUSHED

I note that there's an Internet poll for the best media/journalist blog.  Nealz Nuze isn't even mentioned. Voter disenfranchisement!  I want a hand recount!  Alas .. the rules say that nobody can be added, and you know I'm a "rule of law" kind of guy.  You can click here to see the poll and cast your vote.  Me?  I voted for "Best of the Web Today."  Next year I expect a nomination.

DID YOU SLEEP WELL LAST NIGHT???

Did you happen to catch "CNN Presents" last night?  I know .. it's hard to stomach Aaron Brown for longer than just a few minutes, but last night's program actually made it worth it.  The subject was nuclear terror.  Just what are the chances that a group of Islamic terrorists could manage to smuggle a nuclear weapon into this country and set it off?

Answer:  Pretty close to 100%.  

First of all; just how much weapons grade plutonium do you think would be needed to create a nuclear bomb?  Would it take 100 pounds or so?  Would you be surprised to learn that you can get the necessary plutonium inside a Coke can?  Yeah ... that's something that inspectors were going to turn up in Iraq, right?

I didn't get all of the names, but last night's CNN Presents featured a Harvard professor who is writing a book on the subject.  He thinks that a nuclear attack on the United States is all but inevitable.  Another security expert in Los Angeles just flat-out says it's going to happen.

Where would such a weapon come from?  Well, there's North Korea of course.  That demented little gargoyle who runs that asylum will sell any weapon to anyone who has the cash.  Let's pause for a moment to remember that it was Jimmy Carter's freelancing international diplomacy that gave this little twerp so much valuable breathing room about a decade ago.  Then you have that huge stockpile of nuclear weapons that Russia inherited when the Soviet Union collapsed.  Everybody who believes that all of these weapons are accounted for raise your hands.  (If you're French, raise your other hand.)  According to CNN, Pakistan has at least 50 nuclear weapons.  We also know that Pakistani nuclear scientists met with Osama bin Laden.  

And just how would these Islamic murderers get their nuclear weapon into this country?  The most likely scenario is that they would use one of those containers that travel the world sitting on ships.  There are anywhere from 16 to 18 million of these containers.  Some call them the "poor man's nuclear missile."  I was surprised to learn last night that there is no one US standard relating to containers which come into the United States.  What's more, there is no one person or agency in charge of making sure that these containers are tracked and inspected.  The responsibilities run across several agencies.  

Do you have any understanding what an attack with one of these weapons would do?  Hide a nuclear bomb on a container, ship that container to the Long Beach container port, load it on a truck and drive it into the middle of Los Angeles.  Boom.  Over 30,000 dead in a flash.  Another 160,000 die from the aftereffects.  Drive that same container into downtown Manhattan and you have over 60,000 dead instantly.  One expert interviewed on the CNN show said that the reality of the possibility of nuclear terrorism is so great that it has the effect of reducing the life expectancy of any person living or working in downtown New York or Washington DC.  (Get out Jamie!  Get out now!)

That's just the beginning.  As soon as the bomb goes off every single port into the United States is closed down.  The shockwaves go through our economy.  Products will be in short supply for Americans still in a mood to purchase them.  Retail locations will close doors, hundreds of thousands of people will be laid off.  The US will face an economic crisis that will make 9/11 look like an expressway fender-bender.

In fact, it wouldn't even take a real bomb.  All it would really take would be a believable tip that such a bomb was actually in a container somewhere on a ship bound for an American port.  Once a valid tip is received ports would be shut immediately.  And just how long do you think it would take to inspect every container on the high seas?  What do you think happens to our economy in the meantime?

This wasn't covered on last night's CNN program, but the greatest weapon the United States has to defeat these Islamic monsters is freedom.  If freedom can gain a foothold in the Islamic world the effects will be profound.  Writer Ben Bova recently wrote a column in which he detailed the past greatness of Islam. While Europe was wallowing in the dark ages Islam was leading the world in science and mathematics.  Did you know that Muslims account for about 25% of the Earth's population, but only manage to create an economy about one-half the size of Germany's?  Islamic nations have most of the world's petroleum deposits and about one-fourth of the world's natural resources, yet poverty is endemic.  Bova points out that one of the things that doomed Islam is that they never developed democracy.  People were never given a chance to be free to live their lives as they chose.  

Muslims in Iraq now have that chance.  True to form other Muslim nations are doing all that they can to make sure it doesn't happen.  The Muslims who abhor any degree of individual freedom have plenty of support from the American left.  The greatest weapon we have to defeat Islamic terrorism is freedom.  Perhaps we need to renew our own love for the idea before we can have any success in promoting the idea to Islamic countries. 

In the meantime ... perhaps it's time to limber up.  The time may be coming when Islamic terrorists will tell you to bend over, grab your ankles, and kiss your tail goodbye.

BIPARTISANSHIP? NOT A CHANCE

With the Democrats now more marginalized than ever by the results of the November election, many of them have expressed a willingness to work with the president now that he's been reelected. In fact, quite a few have called to congratulate him on his victory. Sounds like a new tone in Washington, right? Wrong.

Sure, we've had a few weeks of pleasantries being exchanged, but now it's back to business. Appearing yesterday on 'Meet The Press,' the incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat of Nevada) was asked about the upcoming Chief Justice vacancy. Some think that President Bush will nominate Clarence Thomas to that position once the ailing Justice Rehnquist resigns. Reid shot that one down right away, saying about Thomas "I think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court. I think that his opinions are poorly written. I don't - I just don't think that he's done a good job as a Supreme Court justice." He did go on to praise Antonin Scalia, although he said he had ethics problems because he's friends with Dick Cheney. 

With their ranks diminished in the Senate, the left will become more and more obstructionist. They want to get their way now more than ever, and depriving President Bush of anything will become their #1 goal, just as it always has been.

KOFI NOT QUITTING

Despite being implicated in one of the biggest financial frauds in the history of the world, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he is not going to resign. Apparently being responsible for billions of dollars in bribes and mismanagement is not enough for Kofi to get fired. Doesn't look like there are too many countries clamoring for his resignation, either.

Kofi is now distancing himself from his own son, saying "He knows that I have always been very sensitive about conflict of interests and it is not something that I would appreciate." I can't imagine a bigger conflict of interest than his son working for a company that was on Saddam's payroll. How about Kojo using Kofi's official UN residence to hold parties? There hasn't been a more obvious sale of influence since Bill Clinton rented out the Lincoln Bedroom.

No wonder most of the UN was opposed to the invasion of Iraq. Saddam was lining their pockets. Apparently they know a sugar daddy when they see one.  Maybe you can't blame Kofi.  After all, if he resigns, where is he going to go?  What do you want to bet he wouldn't move back to Ghana?

STEROIDS IN BASEBALL

Anybody who is surprised that Barry Bonds or Jason Giambi or anybody else in Major League Baseball used steroids hasn't had their eyes open very much lately. How else do you explain skinny hitters with declining numbers showing up for spring training built like Charles Atlas and going on to hit 50 home runs? Of course they're on the juice. Barry Bonds saying he didn't know he was taking steroids is like me saying that I didn't know I could be obnoxious sometimes.

Who can blame them? It wasn't against the rules at the time, and by doing so they were able to generate big numbers and get huge contracts. If Jason Giambi's grand jury testimony had never been leaked, people would have continued to believe his denials about steroid use and would have cheered him on the next time he had a big season. There is no way Jason Giambi would have gotten a $120 million contract with the New York Yankees had it not been for his steroid use.

None of this is a surprise. If Major League Baseball wants people to stop using steroids, they're going to have to institute testing that goes beyond their current joke of a system. Even then, that might not be enough. If Olympic athletes can find ways to beat steroid tests, then what do you think a baseball player making millions of dollars a year is going to do?

John McCain says the Congress might pass legislation to do something about it if the players and owners don't. Is the player's association really going to require their membership to stop using steroids that are inflating the values of their memberships' contracts?

Not a chance.

HEARING FROM THE 911 FAMILIES AGAIN

By virtue of the fact that they lost family members on 9/11, a small group of 9/11 families have suddenly become foreign policy and intelligence experts.  They have now weighed in on the intelligence bill stalled in congress.  Could this be the same 9/11 family members who were used by the Democrats during the 2004 campaign to demean George Bush?  

The mainstream media only tells us that some Republicans are blocking the intelligence bill.  We are also told that there are enough votes on the floors of the House and Senate to pass the bill.  You have to search long and hard though to find out just why these Republicans are blocking the bill.  Could there be a reasonable case to be made that there are provisions in the bill that might actually make it more difficult for our commanders in the field to access necessary intelligence information?   I guess most of us won't know because this question just doesn't seem to be at the top of the list of media concerns.

In the meantime, it should be pointed out that we didn't elect the 9/11 Commission.  We did elect the members of the House who are questioning provisions in the bill.  That's the way things are supposed to work.

THINGS WILL CHANGE ON THE 26TH.

Frankly, I'm getting a little weary of this "Happy Holidays" nonsense.  Could be I need to calm down.  Lately I've been just a wee bit terse with people who hit me with the "Happy Holidays" line.  It's Christmas, dammit!  About 85% of the people in this country celebrate this time of the year as Christmas, and that's enough for me.  If 43% of the voters could decide that Bill Clinton would be president for four years, I'm willing to accept the mandate from 85% of the people that this particular season of the year is Christmas.  If you don't happen to celebrate Christmas then just suck it up and say "thank you."  Nobody is trying to insult you with a "Merry Christmas," and unless you have a huge chip on your shoulder you should be strong enough to handle it.

Advertisements are particularly vexing.  Watch your newspapers.  In the weeks before Christmas you'll see some of America's leading department stores advertising their "Holiday" specials, but on December the 26th you will suddenly see advertisements for their "After Christmas" sales.  I guess once the holiday is gone you can call it what you want.

By the way .. they are Christmas Trees, not Holiday Trees.  

IDIOTIC EXERCISE IN ABSOLUTE FUTILITY

First of all ... peaceniks bother me. These are people who (a) have no touch with reality and (b) actually believe that it would be better in many circumstances to live as slaves than to actually fight for your freedom.  These out-of-focus idealists run around with "War is Not the Answer" bumper stickers on their Saabs and Volvos.  Have they actually formed an opinion they consider to be informed in their malfunctioning little minds that war wasn't the answer for dealing with Hitler?  Or that armed force wasn't the answer for the genocide in Rwanda?  

In Atlanta we have little Johnny D'Farmer.  Cute name.  He calls himself a peace activist and he has come up with an idea.  No, it's not an idea about how to bring freedom to the world's oppressed, it's an idea on changing the name of Atlanta's airport.  He wants Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport to be called  GKC International Airport .  The "G" stands for Ghandi.  The "K" for Martin Luther King, Jr., and the "C" for Jimmy Carter, the man who never met a dictator he didn't love. 

D'Farmer's endorsement of Jimmy Carter as a man of peace fits right into the typical peacenik mentality.  In Carter we have a man who validated clearly corrupt elections in Venezuela simply because he thought that allowing the corrupt to maintain power would somehow prevent violence.  Living under tyranny is just fine, as long as nobody is violating the peace.

NOW HERE'S A TRULY IDIOTIC IDEA

I notice that I still have my hospital bracelet from last week's knee surgery.  I wonder what I could get for that puppy if I auctioned it off here on Nealz Nuze for the benefit of the AFLAC Cancer Center at Children's Hospital here in Atlanta?

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Please ... even if you don't read one other reading assignment today, read this one.  Print out a few copies and spread them around the workplace.  Victor Davis Hanson writes about "How Far We've Come".  A sensational column.

And here is a roundup of the last two week's worth of good news from Iraq.  Most of this will be news to you, since it is unlikely to be covered in the mainstream press.

HillaryCare?  Sure didn't turn out all that well in the home state of Al Gore.  But what the hell.  Let's just give it a try on the national basis anyway.  After all, people have a "right" to health care, don't they?

The AARP has decided that it will fight any Social Security privatization.  After all, you earned the money, right?  What right do you have to actually put that money into a retirement account that YOU own?  What a stupid idea that is!

The Bush-haters just can't accept reality.  Watch for mindless protests as Ohio certifies its vote!

Leave it to the French.  French cops hide explosives in an unsuspecting airline passenger's baggage.  Not only do their screeners fail to find the explosives, but they lose the baggage to boot!  Somewhere in France a French kid is playing with some rather dangerous clay.

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