Dean's World

If you know anyone who still doesn't get the whole "red vs. blue" thing, show them this movie.

(Thanks Kevin.)

I know some people who can relate to this bunny.

I've been there, pal.

(Possibly not work or uptight-person safe.)

Our friend David has two short fiction pieces, and he's looking for advice on finding a publisher. If you've got any ideas let him know.

For that matter if you know any agents who'd like to look at an MS on a very non-genre-oriented science fiction novel, maybe you could give me some advice. :-)

Today the Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether state laws which allow medical marijuana use can be ignored or overruled by the Federal government. Reason's Jacob Sullum notes:

Conservatives generally don't like marijuana, so they're not inclined to give the states leeway in this area. But if that is what their avowed federalist principles amount to in practice, they are not principles at all.

In the case the Supreme Court is considering, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit concluded that Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce does not extend to medical use of marijuana in states that allow it. This means the Drug Enforcement Administration may no longer raid the homes of people like Angel McClary Raich and Diane Monson, the two plaintiffs in this case, who use marijuana to relieve severe pain and nausea, among other symptoms.

Opposing the right of states to allow medical marijuana use isn't just cruel and selfish--although it is both of those things. It's also a sign of genuine disrespect for the Bill of Rights, most particularly the Tenth Amendment--and it makes all conservatives' claims to want to limit the power of the Federal government look like shallow, opportunistic rhetoric.

I'm not a praying man, but I'll be praying that the Supreme Court, most particularly the justices like Scalia, Thomas, and Rehnquist, who claim to have a reverence for the 10th amendment, will actually stand by the principles they claim they stand for.

The latest edition of The Grand Rounds is up on DoctorMental's blog.

Welcome to the Carnival of the Liberated, a sampler of some of the best posts from the Iraqi blogosphere. It's quiet in the Iraqi blogosphere right now. Power outages are interfering with posting; daily life intervenes; neurotic iraqi wife is on vacation with Hubby. But Iraqi bloggers still have a few things to say.

First, Ibn AlRafidain wishes us a happy Thanksgiving.

Two different bloggers have two different views of Fallujah. Riverbend reacts pretty much as you'd expect. Rose of Diary from Baghdad thinks a little differently:

I think Fallujah needed a campaign similar to this long time before the terrorists and gangs strengthened themselves and made large cells and killed many innocent people. Maybe if they did it before they might have made it less bloody with less casualties and without destructing the whole city and driving away thousands of people from their homes and forced them to live in tents without source of heat in this cold weather. As I heard from people living in Fallujah, they had enough from those terrorists , but they could not do any thing against them because the terrorists would kill them with their families. I heard that some of the terrorists forced many families to have them at their homes and I heard that many of those families were killed during some attacks by the US forces. And that's why the people of Fallujah want to put an end to it.

Najma of A Star from Mosul answers her readers' questions

Hammorabi and Kurdo have somewhat different opinions about elections in January in Iraq.

By the way, if you've ever wondered how to get from Sulaimani in the north-east of Iraq to Jordan, Kurdo of Kurdo's World can fill you in.

One blog, two opinions. Sarmad Zangna of Road of a Nation posts his friend Yassir's opinion of the state of things in Iraq and his own. Yassir is pretty critical; Sarmad is more positive. Yassir ends his post:

Finally I will stay work for Iraq , rebuild ,educate, strive, struggle ,help Iraqis & do all thing I can do it for Iraq & stay saying NO for war , NO for blood , NO for explosions
Yes for Iraq
Yes for freedom
Yes for peace
Yes for diplomatic .

Finally, Abu Khaleel of Glimpse of Iraq has an interesting story about a wounded soldier:

Soldiers in a small battalion of new recruits for the Iraqi National Guards were in training. One of the soldiers was careless and apparently had his finger on the trigger of his loaded and cocked machine gun. The gun went off and the man shot his own foot!

The person telling me of this incident said that he was surprised by the reaction of the two different groups of people there: Iraqi and US personnel. While the US boys rushed to inspect the wound and try and stop the bleeding and so forth, the Iraqi boys, the injured man's comrades-in-arms stood over him scolding him and saying things like “Fool... idiot... donkey!”

Dave Schuler posts regularly to his own weblog, The Glittering Eye. The Carnival was originally conceived by Ryan Boots.

My friend Matt said to to me this morning, "You know, I keep thinking Kos only makes sense as a Republican mole."

I had to chuckle. Then I realized: hey, it only makes sense. So, since conspiracy theories are popular, I would hereby like to add mine to the meme pool: I sugest that Daily Kos is, in fact, run by Karl Rove.

Would anyone care to help me "connect the dots" to help prove it?

Most people haven't heard, but there's been a nasty oil spill on the Delaware River. Scott Kirwin is trying to help.

Feminist researcher Patricia Pearson not long ago noted that: "Women commit the majority of child homicides in the United States, a greater share of physical child abuse, an equal rate of sibling violence and assaults on the elderly, about a quarter of child sexual abuse, an overwhelming share of the killing of newborns, and a fair preponderance of spousal assaults." (See When She Was Bad, published in 1997). Other researchers have noted that women are also far more likely to avoid prosecution when they seriously injure or even kill their boyfriends or husbands (see, for example, this excerpt from Women Who Kill.)

These sad facts are things that most people are terribly resistant to. In part it's because of politics: the right is traditionalist and thinks of women as weak and men as being there to protect them; meanwhile, the left thinks of women as victims who are oppressed by society and need the state or "the sisterhood" to protect them.

Who knows? Part of it may even be genetic. We just don't like to think of women in these terms.

But if you do some digging, you'll find that in the last couple of decades, more and more evidence is completely abolishing the stereotypes most people still associate with domestic abuse. Indeed, Dr. Martin S. Fiebert of California State University, in a review of over 155 scholarly investigations, concluded that women were as likely or even more likely to be abusers than men. (You can read his bibliography here, and if you want to see a wealth of similarly surprising material collected by Fiebert, you should read through this. For other rather shocking surveys and statistics by different researchers, click here and also here.).

Whenever I talk about these facts, it inevitably sparks a lot of nastiness and/or derision from people who just don't like hearing them. I expect to get still more of it just for posting this. Still, it doesn't hurt to remind folks now and then: the stereotypes we were fed as kids, or that are fed to us by left- and right-wing political groups who have an agenda to push, are not necessarily the truth.

So what causes me to bring this up? Well, I've written a few times since November 3 what I think Democrats could have done differently this year to avoid alienating so much of the American middle. You know, simple things: Not acting like our troops are routinely engaging in wanton slaughter of innocents. Not calling war supporters brown shirts and war profiteers. Not calling the President a "liar" without admitting that this would make John Kerry, John Edwards, and Bill Clinton liars too. Not embracing vicious and abusive hate-propagandists like Ted Rall and Michael Moore. Not claiming that Bush supporters were as a rule religious lunatics. And so on and so forth.

But I pretty much gave up. It seemed pointless, and like I was just rubbing it in. I figured Democrats were just going to have to go through the standard stages of the grieving process (denial, bargaining, anger, despair, and acceptance) on their own. Then, quite possibly, they might be able to examine the possibility that they'd made some mistakes in the last decade or so that were only amplified in these last couple of elections. Then they might take a look in the mirror, take stock, and consider that they had some problems with intolerance and closed-mindedness and outdated dogma. Then maybe, just maybe, they could find a new direction and strategy to bring more people into their coalition and win some elections again.

But I continue to see terrible outbursts of denial and rage from some Democrats. To be fair, I've also seen some Republicans making some jokes and some rude remarks, some good-natured and some not. I've made a few jokes here and there myself, but mostly I've tried to just let it go. As an ex-Democrat myself, I figured my old party would wise up eventually.

I was hoping it would be sooner rather than later, but now comes this: rippling through the Bush-hating portion of the blogosphere is an article entitled The Politics Of Victimization. In it, a woman named Mel Gilles who "works an advocate for victims of domestic abuse," characterizes Bush supporters as woman-batterers.

Now if you examine her piece, you can tell that saying she works in the area of "domestic abuse" is probably not quite descriptive enough. It appears that she works in the highly politicized, stereotype-driven subset of that industry. How can you tell? Because of her language. She shows very little awareness of the wealth of data that has caused most experts to stop referring so casually to "battered women." Instead, she trades in the old, sexist stereotypes and cliches that demean both women and men: men as abusers, women as victims, and domestic abuse characterized primarily as domineering men oppressing helplessly victimized women.

And let's be clear: she suggests that if you voted for John Kerry this year you should see yourself as a battered woman.

Why? Because you were "beaten" by people who didn't support John Kerry, and by people who said that Kerry supporters were often obnoxious and superior and condescending and unfair--and ultimately, by the fact that not enough people voted for your candidate.

Do I exaggerate? Here are some of her words: "They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence."

Here's more: "Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser."

If you think I'm exaggerating even a little bit, you can simply read her entire piece here, and draw your own conclusions.

A few weeks ago, I wrote at length on how much nastiness I saw on the Bush-hating, anti-Iraq liberation side these last couple of years. A lot of people linked it, and commented on it. I might suggest that Ms. Gilles and her fans read it, but I suspect they'd merely call it more "abuse."

I might also suggest that Gilles and her like-minded compatriots read Abuse Revisited by feminist Cathy Young. Then they might learn that in most cases of domestic abuse, we know today that both partners are abusers. They would also learn that when the abuse is one-sided (which is only about half the time), quite often the person we presume to be the victim is actually the perpetrator.

If Ms. Gilles and those who think like her were to acknowledge all that, then maybe there would be some way we could address the issues facing us like functioning, self-possessed adults. But I don't suppose that works for people who are still caught up in long-outmoded political dogma.

So I guess it comes to this: We who supported the liberation of Iraq, and President Bush, found people like Ms. Gilles and many of her compatriots irrational and mean-spirited and unconvincing in their arguments. We failed to vote for Kerry, and now in their eyes we're woman-batterers.

Well hey: at least now we all know where we stand, eh?

So tell me, fellow Bush voters, should we batter them in bread crumbs, or in flour? I lean toward flour and egg, but occasionally bread crumbs mixed with grated parmesan cheese is pretty good....

* Update * The Weekend Pundit has a somewhat more pungent view. But I expect that such frank talk would, again, just be considered more violence and abuse, eh?

Our friend Marc, formerly of Marcland, has moved to new digs. Update your blogrolls.

I know I'm really not supposed to find a story like this, but I must admit that if I were 13, I'd think this kid was a legend.

But I grew up in or near some rough parts of town.

Over at Matt Welch's place, I encountered this George Will Thanksgiving column. It's a rather humbling, and astounding, description of the sort of hardships faced by settlers in the Dakotas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I'm not a huge George Will fan, but when he's good I find him very good. I was moved by the column. Matt Welch thought it was really weird and characterized it as "death porn."

I don't think Matt was being snotty. I think he was genuinely confused. I left him some somewhat rambling comments right here. I was rambling, but here's a lightly-edited and expanded version of what I said:

Time was I would have thought you were kind of crazy, Matt. Time was when I was totally bewildered by people who thought like you about such things.

This last year or so, basically the Presidential campaign that started after the 2002 elections, that long 2 year election, culminating in the win where we saw once again that amazing red county/blue county divide, and after the incredible outburst of the blue people after the win---I finally get it.

Or at least I think I do.

I'm by no means a George Will groupie. I disagree with him on a fairly frequent basis and often think he's over the top. But he often resonates with me, and it's in articles like that that he does. I hit on some of the same themes in the novel I'm currently working on finishing (cross fingers, should be within a few weeks).

Although it's cliched, there are those of us who have a deep notion that life is inherently difficult, and who have a huge respect for people who will face incredible adversity just so they can have the freedom to live their lives independent of any authority or anyone telling them what to do. We feel, very deeply, that that's something that's to be fought for and never just given to you--not because it's not your birthright, because it is, but because no one can give it to you. You have to take it and create it for yourself, with the help only of those who actually want to help you.

Those people struck off for the Dakota wilds for one reason only: they didn't like the lives they had or the socities they were a part of. They wanted to strike off on their own and they would suffer any hardship, even death, for that independence.

Those of us who resonate with that, even though we live in deep comfort now, have an extraordinary respect for what those folks went through, and for just how much their sacrifice made possible for us today. We oten think more people should be reminded of it, and respect it--and, I'm seriously not trying to be rude, I'm seriously not trying to be condescending, I'm just trying to tell you how it is--we look on people who roll their eyes or are repulsed by such descriptions of what life was really like back then to be, well, kind of ungrateful brats or pampered sissies.

I finally grok, however, that there are those of you who think we're being overbearing or superior jerks when we bring these things up. To an extent we probably are.

Still, those of us who share this view probably tend to vote disproportionately Republican these days (although we used to mostly vote Democrat), while the most cranky among us vote Libertarian or U.S. Constitution Party.

I guess it's a psychological state. There's no sense of "death porn" to me when I read that George Will column. It's a sense of, "God, what they went through. It's so amazing." We compare it to some people squawking about how tough their lives are or how much they're entitled to from others, and we just sneer.

This may not always be a healthy attitude on our parts, but it's not an obsession with death and suffering. It's an appreciation of sacrifice, and real suffering, and of what real hardship is.

I'm frustrated at the moment because a blogger recently posted an incredible photo essay about his North Dakota ancestors, and the mud huts some were still living in barely 80 years ago. I'm frustrated because I can't remember the blog or I'd link it! But I was moved deeply by it because it made me understand how good I have it and what incredible sissies and pampered, ungrateful brats most Americans (me included) really are.

And yeah, that includes a lot of libertarians, by the way, who seem to fail to appreciate just how much more freedom they actually have than they think they do.

Death porn? I guess if by "porn" you mean having a certain fascination.

Hope I'm not coming off like an ass. I'm just trying to explain.

I'm tempted to turn this into a blog post but I guess it rambles too much.

Well I guess I did turn it into a blog post. For whatever it's worth. I guess some people will get it, and some won't.

But by the way, the North Dakota photo essay I couldn't remember? It's right here. The blogger who put it together is Chuck Simmins.

Anyway, the more time goes on the more I realize: some people like Matt just probably will never get it. But that's okay, they don't have to. Those of us who do get it will get it for 'em. :-)

Why is CBS News interviewing a military "expert" who is a confessed liar--a man who falsly claimed to be a combat veteran--and treating him like a credible guest? Is it becuase they're simply not a real news organization anymore? Or because they never were one?

The folks at Pundit Review have more details.

Quoted:

The Free Muslims Against Terrorism (Free Muslims) have partnered with progressive Arabs and Muslims to hold religious leaders accountable for justifying violence and encouraging terrorism.

The Free Muslims are petitioning the UN Security Council and the United States government to establish an international tribunal to prosecute religious leaders, including clerics who issue "fatwas" which are religious opinions, edicts, rulings and conclusions that incite violence and justify the use of terrorism. These religious leaders are especially dangerous because some of their followers consider their opinions to be gospel.

More on the petition on the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism web site.

The latest Carnival of the Capitalists is available at Lachlan Gemmell's blog.

For a while now I have been wondering why someone hasn't tried manufacturing a solid, reliable personal computer for under $100. We had such beasts in the 1980s in the Atari and Commodore home computers, but the market seemingly evaporated. In part I can understand why: first because Microsoft wanted so much for its own operating system and no one wanted to compete with Windows with their own, incompatible operating system, and in part because the profit margins on cheap PCs would be low.

But now with a free world-class operating system known as Linux, the OS question is gone. And if manufacturers can make money selling DVD players and televisions and video game consoles in the $100 price ranges, why can't PCs be made for those prices too? You could probably easily put together a very usable PC for under $100, with plenty of memory and storage to accomodate what everyday home and school users would need. No, they wouldn't be the hotshot super gaming PCs, but they could easily handle web browsing, email, word processing, music playing and so on, and be quite quick and nimble for those purposes.

Well, it looks like at least one company is getting ready to try marketing such a product.

This is good to see. Sure there'll always be people who want higher-end systems, and thats fine. But I must say that 9 out of 10 everyday PC users I know don't need more than a monitor, keyboard, basic printer, a web browser, an email client, a word processor, and a few utilities. There's no reason that shouldn't be something people can pick up very cheaply.

It'd be nice to see a new era of super-cheap PCs. I wish these guys luck.

Are you a blogger? Left, right, center, or otherwise? If so, I entreat you to join me as a member of the Fighting Fusileers.

Let's make "support the troops" more than just words.

Fighting begins on December 1.

I know most of you were gone for Thanksgiving and are only now coming back since Wednesday. So, welcome back! We hope you had a good time.

Last week on Thanksgiving I noted the fact that one of the most unpleasant manufactured myths that's gaining disturbingly widespread currency here in the U.S. is the notion that, after the famous Thanksgiving meal with the Indians, the settlers at Plymouth Rock wound up stealing all the Indians' land and slaughtering them. This is a terribly nasty myth. Actually when the settlers arrived at Plymouth Rock the area was mostly empty due to a massive plague that wiped out most of the people there before the settlers arrived (and which of course no one could have controlled). When the pilgrims did settle, the few Indians remaining there were happy to befriend them, and the pilgrims to befriend them. Historically, it was not until 75 years later, when all those people were dead, that the first armed conflicts started between white people (who could no longer be considered "settlers" since they'd been there for generations) and some--some, not all--of the Indians in that region.

Well of course an obnoxious loudmouth had to bust into my comments and basically accuse me of "historical revisionism" and, even worse, of denying the "genocide" if the American Indians while huffing about his own Indian ancestry. Now as it happens what I said was absolutely historically correct; there were no armed conflicts with those settlers. The first significant fighting between whites and reds in that area weren't until the people at that origingal Thanksgiving were long dead and buried, and who exactly did start the conflicts is still unclear to this day. Besides, what you're talking about when you look at the clash between white people and red people in America is something that spanned many different people in many different areas over several centuries. Blaming the settlers at Plymouth Rock for what happened centuries later at Wounded Knee, or blaming Californians for what happened at the Trail of Tears, or blaming Tucumseh for the horrible massacres and mutilations committed by the Pequots against white people in Massachussets, is simply ridiculous.

Don't know what any of what I'm talking about here? Well, a pretty good look at the claims of "genocide" by white people against red people, probably the best high-level examintion, is political science professor Guenter Lewy's Were American Indians The Victims of Genocide? His analysis is really pretty even-handed and doesnt go in for much sugar-coating.

Of course anyone who looks deeply can find examples of atrocities and broken promises and terrible beavior in the vast, continent-spanning, 400 year history of the troubled relations between white people and the original red settlers of this continent. Still, as many others--including a number of full-blooded members of today's remainin tribal nations--have observed, the notion of the American Indian as a pitiful, helpless victim of brutal oppressive whites (such as in Hollywood movies like Little Big Man) isn't just wrong, it's racist, and demeaning to the traditions of many of those people. Every bit as deameaning, in fact, as stupid Hollywood movies where the cowboys were all good guys and the Indians all lying rapacious savages.

While sometimes history is the history of brutality toward the innocent and treachery against the betrayed, the truth is that it's usually a lot more varied and storied than that. So if you're looking for a balanced perspective, I strongly recommend starting with Professor Lewy's piece.

Fair warning: its not really for the faint of heart, since you'll be reading about people being dismembered and flayed alive, innocents being slaughtered, etc. The people of history were rarely saints.

But it does make you realize just how much modern people have forgotten just what savages their own ancestors could be, doesnt it?.

You know, I really feel bad for residents of Washington state.

Funniest. Molly Ivins column. EVER.

The Web Divas are taking applications for web designers.

The Queen's final shower game is almost done. Last chance!

By the way, there's a cute photo there so you'll want to click it.

Also by the way, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving--and welcome back, most of you. ;-)

Some people are pessimistic by nature. Others are pessimistic by habit. In any case, since so many in the news tend to see nothing but bad news over there, would it interest you to read about:

* Positive official and unofficial reactions to President Bush's reelection in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Pakistan?

* Pakistan instituting the death penalty for "honor killing?

* Saudi authorities condemning jihad incitement - and a grieving father suing the mullahs?

* Peace breaking out between Pakistan and India?

* The first female Saudi pilot, and Saudi businesswomen get a vote in the Chamber of Commerce?

* Palestinians prepare for an election?

* Somalia demonstrating the power of free market and competition?

If so, you'll find that and more in Art Chrenkoff's latest Good News From the Islamic World roundup. Don't miss it.

And always remember that pessimism and cynicism are easy.

™™

There's some terrible stuff going on right now in Ukraine, fair too much to summarize here. But basically, a hotly disputed national election is so bad, it threatens to split the country in two.

If you want to keep on top of it all the best sources for regular updates are probably Art Chrenkoff and Daniel Drezner. Check in with them regularly for updates.

I'll only say that we at Dean's World stand in solidarity with those calling for free and transparent elections. Since those demanding this have chosen the color orange to represent them, we proudly display an orange in their honor. For whatever such a small gesture is worth.

(Idea inspired by Secular Blasphemy.)

So remember to put in your nominations here.

Kevin Aylward notes:

Voting for the finalists in each category will begin next week.Finalists will be entitled to use a special version of the logo that indicates they are a finalist.

Participation has been amazing, with over 2000 nominations in 33 categories, and now it's just about time to close nominations and begin voting in each category. This weekend is the last chance to make sure you and your other favorite bloggers are nominated.

But there's MORE!

The principles behind the awards are simple:

1) Open and public nominations 2) Categories that allow blogs of similar readership levels to compete 3) Real time vote totals 4) Quick turnaround of the results 5) Fun

At a minimum those who visit and vote are sure to find new sites they might like among the nominees and finalists.

Attention Democrats: You better get your act together because Newsweek's Howard Fineman reports that now that Karl Rove has capped 30 years of guiding George Bush's political career to a Presidential climax (no Clinton jokes, please) he's focusing on a NEW goal: securing a long-term GOP majority. A must read -- but we suspect there is even more meat in this story that will come out in future years.

Secular Blasphemy has the details.

FOOTNOTE: I don't know how to do this on Powerblogs but I will be putting it on my blog The Moderate Voice as soon as this is posted.

.....shouldn't throw you-know-whats.....

Especially if they're not-role-model-perfect fathers...

A LOT of people had a lot to say about it and what it meant — and you can read a ton of views by going here and reading the post and the extensive roundup.

Here's an interesting comparison of Dan Rather's career with the man he replaced as CBS News anchor, Walter Cronkite.

No one yet knows who will replace DR but there is some speculation.

But did you know that Dan's exist upstaged and took the wind out of NBC's Tom Brokaw's long-planned upcoming farewell?

Yes, it decreased some of the media hype that would have happened otherwise. But there are reports CBS won't replace Dan with a new candidate until next year.

We know someone who has cable television experience, is highly articulate and who is available now. OR, they could choose to pick someone with broadcast experience who epitomizes the current quality of television news.

But it's truly hard, since it's difficult but not impossible to find true perfection.

If this kind of result can be duplicated in other cases, it could be a watershed for stem cell research:

SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.

Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago.

Last week her eyes glistened with tears as she walked again with the help of a walking frame at a press conference where South Korea researchers went public for the first time with the results of their stem-cell therapy.

They said it was the world's first published case in which a patient with spinal cord injuries had been successfully treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

Though they cautioned that more research was needed and verification from international experts was required, the South Korean researchers said Hwang's case could signal a leap forward in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

The use of stem cells from cord blood could also point to a way to side-step the ethical dispute over the controversial use of embryos in embryonic stem-cell research.

"We have glimpsed at a silver lining over the horizon," said Song Chang-Hoon, a member of the research team and a professor at Chosun University's medical school in the southwestern city of Kwangju.

"We were all surprised at the fast improvements in the patient."

Under TV lights and flashing cameras, Hwang stood up from her wheelchair and shuffled forward and back a few paces with the help of the frame at the press conference here on Thursday.

"This is already a miracle for me," she said. "I never dreamed of getting to my feet again."

Medical research has shown stem cells can develop into replacement cells for damaged organs or body parts. Unlocking that potential could see cures for diseases that are at present incurable, or even see the body generate new organs to replace damaged or failing ones.

So-called "multipotent" stem cells — those found in cord blood — are capable of forming a limited number of specialised cell types, unlike the more versatile "undifferentiated" cells that are derived from embroyos.

However, these stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood have emerged as an ethical and safe alternative to embryonic stem cells.

Clinical trials with embryonic stem cells are believed to be years away because of the risks and ethical problems involved in the production of embryos — regarded as living humans by some people — for scientific use.

In contrast, there is no ethical dimension when stem cells from umbilical cord blood are obtained, according to researchers.

Additionally, umbilical cord blood stem cells trigger little immune response in the recipient as embryonic stem cells have a tendency to form tumors when injected into animals or human beings.

For the therapy, multipotent stem cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood, which had been frozen immediately after the birth of a baby and cultured for a period of time.

Then these cells were directly injected to the damaged part of the spinal cord.

"Technical difficulties exist in isolating stem cells from frozen umbilical cord blood, finding cells with genes matching those of the recipient and selecting the right place of the body to deliver the cells," said Han Hoon, president of Histostem, a government-backed umbilical cord blood bank in Seoul.

Remember, of course, that this is in the very early stages. But if a solid track record develops, using the same technique, the 21s Century could be one noted for huge medical advances.

A Madrid newspaper reports that the FBI has found a link between 911 and the March 11 Madrid train bombings. Reuters reports:

The FBI has told Spanish investigators that one of three men believed to have planned the Sept. 11 attacks from Spain in the summer of 2001 also gave the order to carry out the Madrid blasts, the newspaper ABC reported.

The train bombings killed 191 people and wounded 1,900 three days before a general election. In videotapes, the bombers claimed the attacks in the name of al Qaeda in Europe and said they were in revenge for Spain sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Investigators have long concluded that the Sept. 11 attacks were partially planned in Spain in July 2001.

Hijacker Mohammed Atta, believed to have piloted one of the airliners that crashed into New York's World Trade Center, visited Spain two months before the attacks and met two men.

One was Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, who is being held by U.S. authorities, while the other was unidentified.

ABC said investigators now believe that third man was the one who in December 2003 activated the Qaeda cell that carried out the March 11 attacks, which Spaniards call "our Sept. 11."

ABC said investigators had narrowed his identity down to three candidates and believed he was a lieutenant of Mustafa Setmarian, increasingly considered to have been a leader of the Madrid train bombers and who may have held a leadership role for al Qaeda in Europe.

Setmarian, aged 45 and of Syrian origin, was already wanted as part of a separate investigation into Islamic militant activity in Spain and is the subject of a Spanish wanted notice issued through Interpol.

The State Department said on Nov. 18 it was offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Setmarian, also known as Mustafa Setmariam Nasar or Abu Musab al-Suri. It described him as an al Qaeda member and former trainer at "terrorist camps" in Afghanistan.

Some 30 people are in custody or under court supervision for the train bombings for which one minor has so far been convicted. Seven prime suspects are dead and two or three other suspected collaborators remain at large.

We all look for different things to post about, and one girl found it.

She allegedly had her mother murdered, then posted a note about it on her blog.

Here's the original item.

(Attn. Bloggers: Don't let this give you any ideas.)

Someone FINALLY had the guts to say what it really is.

....by being our best. Jack at Random Fate hits the nail on the head.

Did you know it leaves "secret fingerprints" that can be traced back to you? Kevin Aylward has the details here.

....be vigilent since it's under attack by outsiders.

Oxblog's David Adesnik thinks so:

In the short term, the most effective (although immoral) response to a massive, peaceful protest is extreme violence. The longer such a protest remains peaceful, the less reversible it becomes. Thus, I am hopeful about the prospects for democracy in Ukraine.....Without firm control of the security forces, violence may not be a viable option for the government."

Adesnik offers some key links, quotes and analysis to back up the point that there may be hope for what seems to be a potential political flashpoint.

We haven't written much about the Ukranian election here on Dean's World, not due to lack of interest but simply due to lack of time. Nevertheless we're as anxious as anybody about it. Our committment to democracy and human rights as being vital to world security and the future of the human race is unwavering.

There's much evidence of an attempt to steal the election in Ukraine. Recently, the Ukranian parliament declared the elections invalid.

I don't know what the right thing to do is, but I hope the people of Ukraine know that many of us around the world are thinking of them, wishing them the best, and for those of us who pray, we're praying for you.

This is a dark hour for Ukraine. Let's hope they get through it soon.

Now my life is complete.

Let's file this in the Haven't We Heard Enough Already Department...

...and save it, and protect it. Here's why:

HANOI (Reuters) - The world's tiger population has plummeted by 95 percent from the start of the 20th century to as few as 5,000 now and is further threatened by the lucrative trade in their skins, officials told a forum Friday.

"Commercial trade of tiger skin stemming out of female fantasy and vanity appears as a major threat to tigers in most tiger range countries," said S.C. Dey, general secretary of the Global Tiger Forum.

In Asia, tiger skins can sell for $15,000 while in Vietnam a skeleton, the bones widely believed by Asians to be an aphrodisiac, can fetch as much as $25,000. "It is believed that about 100 years back, the global population of wild tigers was about 100,000," Dey said. "However, the population dwindled to 8,000 by 1960. Today it stands at around 5,000 to 7,000."

The forum is an inter-governmental body set up to save the surviving tigers in the wild in 14 countries including Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Russia, Nepal, China, Bangladesh and North Korea.

Dey said three out of the eight sub-species of tigers were already extinct - the Bali tiger in 1940, the Caspian tiger in the 1970s and Javan tiger in the 1980s. Another sub-species, the South China tiger, could also soon disappear.

Officials said illegal poaching of wildlife, especially in large parts of south and southeast Asia, is to blame for the reduction in the wild tiger population.

"Illegal hunting of wildlife has not been strictly controlled resulting in the severely decreased population of tigers in Vietnam," said Vietnam Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat.

I believe there should be severe penalties for poaching, but I don't want to appear to be a barbarian so I won't mention them. Let's just say I wonder how a woman would looking wearing.....

This doesn't sound good for the Justice or for giving the country breathing space between partisan battles:

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October, will again not be present when the Supreme Court reconvenes to hear oral arguments on Monday, court officials said yesterday. His absence will apparently continue for at least two more weeks.

"The chief justice does not plan to be on the bench for the session beginning on Monday," said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg. The session consists of six days -- Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, and Dec. 8 through Dec. 10 -- with two arguments each day.

Rehnquist missed arguments in the first two weeks of November, though he had initially said he could be on the bench during that time.

Yesterday's announcement was the latest indication that Rehnquist, 80, has not yet recovered sufficiently to take up the full range of his normal activities. But the court's terse announcement did little to clarify the precise nature of the chief justice's medical situation -- or to shed light on his future.

His condition is the focus of intense speculation due in part to the possibility that he may have to step down, creating the first vacancy on the court in more than 10 years.

Privately, lawyers who practice before the court express increasing concern that the chief justice's condition may affect the court's ability to work through its caseload.

Did the press miss the REAL point on what he was trying to do? Was he seeking out weak links in the U.S. who might be willing to make accomodations? Here's one theory.

The whole list is here but here are the top 10:

1 Mother

10 Tranquillity

Here are a few more of the most beautiful words, selected by an even greater authority: Joe Gandelman, aka, The Moderate Voice:

spaghetti

pitt

....with this game.

The push is on for the Democratic party to commit mass political suicide in the selection of head of the Democratic National Committee — the face that the party presents to the nation.

The opening salvo in recent weeks comes via a column by Eleanor Clift in Newsweek which floats the serious possibility of Howard Dean as DNC chief. It reads, in part:

The struggle to be Democratic National Committee chair is round one of the battle for the soul of the party. The obvious choice is Howard Dean, who has the clarity of conviction and the passion that voters hunger for even if they don't always agree with him.

Oh, really, Ms. Clift? This "obvious choice" might truly be welcome to Democratic-left party activists, but the Democrats' problem in the last elections wasn't keeping their hard-core activists on the left or even center left in line. It's fatal problem was defections from the center and center right. Dean would be a disastrous choice from the standpoint of the party's image. He would not be a bandage to decrease the political blood flow; he'd be a knife to increase it. Was this column ghost written by Karl Rove? More:

Party activists around the country are furious at the Washington Democrats for blowing the election. Wresting control away from the entrenched establishment is their goal. Dean would spark a Red State rebellion within the party, but the Heartland's leading contender, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, withdrew his name from contention after being shown numbers suggesting Dean would win.

in fact, a Dean win would be akin to 1972 when George McGovern's militants took over the party. The defections from the party by non-left voters were enormous and it took the party years to recover. It's hard to believe the Bill/Hillary Clinton wing of the party — the wing allied to the centrist Democratic Leadershi Council — would sit back and let Dean get the post. Clift's piece goes on to detail how Dean is positioning himself for a serioius run for DNC chief. Then it adds this:

Dean is essentially a New Democrat who happened to be against the war. Signing legislation legalizing civil unions is the only outsized liberal thing he did, and he did it reluctantly in a compromise forced by court action. Only a few staffers were present at the signing ceremony, and photographers were banned. In the heyday of his campaign, when Internet contributions were rolling in and he was the front runner, he talked about broadening the party's base and talking to voters with Confederate decals on their pickup trucks. He should have said gun racks because his message got lost in a debate over whether a politician invoking Confederate symbols is making a racist appeal.

Fair enough. This may well be true.

But the problem is that Dean's IMAGE is now shot due to his position on the war in Iraq and some other comments that GOPers found easy to demonize. Perception is a huge part of winning elections in politics.

Do the Democrats want to pick a DNC chairman or do they wawnt an easy-to-hit bullseye for GOP activists, conservative talk show hosts and party centrists who have quite different ideas about the direction the Democratic party should take. She adds this:

John Kerry's biggest problem is that he never stood for anything that was big and bold. A headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion captured the emptiness of his campaign perfectly: KERRY'S ONE-POINT PLAN FOR AMERICA: GET RID OF GEORGE BUSH.

AHH. So the solution is pick someone who has an image of standing for things that are big and bold — namely, (rightfully or wrongly) the Michael Moore wing of the Democratic party vesus the more centrist wing of the party. Displace a perceived muddled message with a perceived leftist message — right after an election when the Democrats lost many centrist voters. Clift ends her piece with this gem:

Thomas Frank, the author of "What's the Matter with Kansas," says the moment he knew Kerry was going to lose was when he read an article about socialites raising money for Kerry by encouraging their friends to forego buying expensive shoes and give the money to Kerry. "I tell my girls I'm investing their inheritance," said one.

"It's like rattling their jewelry for Kerry," says Frank, whose book confronts the cultural landscape that allowed conservatives to win the heart of America. Frank was in Washington this week at a panel on how to revive progressive politics. Democrats have to give "values voters" some reason to come back. In the absence of a compelling economic message from Democrats, working-class Americans, once the core of the Democratic Party, are voting Republican. "Jesus' message wasn't them that has gets," he says, arguing that economic populism is the only comparative advantage the Democrats have in winning over these voters.

Now I get it. Dean — who stand on national security issues and the Iraq war did not reflect American politics' center according to pre-election polls and final election results — represents values issues in the minds of most Americans...? ?????????

UPDATE: Jim Calhoun of the Calhoun Chronicles is even more blunt.

UPDATE II: So now the operative question within the Democratic party is: who do the Clintons want — underlying their still potent relatively centrist influence on the party, as the Washington Post points out.

It adds this:

After his unsuccessful bid for the presidential nomination this year, Dean expressed a desire to play a role in reshaping the party around the image of his grass-roots candidacy, which provided Democrats with a new model of small-donor fundraising that Kerry and the DNC used successfully after Dean was eliminated from the race.

Dean faces opposition among Democrats who think he is too liberal, but it is not clear that he will end up as a candidate for the chairmanship. Some Democrats say he will not run unless he is convinced he has the votes to win. Others say he must decide whether he is willing to pledge not to run in 2008, which at this point he may be reluctant to do.

UPDATE III: Professional political scientist Steven Taylor aka Poliblogger also thinks Clift is way off the mark. Read his WHOLE POST but here's a taste of it:

I have always questioned Elanor Clift's politcal acumen (indeed, have wondered for years how she rose to her lofty levels of punditry). She confirms my opinion in this piece...

He says "her characterization of Dean as "essentially a New Democrat who happened to be against the war" is way off the mark. Has she forgotten Dean's outright rejection of the DLC approach to the party? He has spoken of late of going more to the left, not the center. This is hardly the stuff of a "New Democrat". What does she think that line about representing the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" was all about?"

Dean has a profound image problem and that isn't what the Democrats need. Indeed, with Reid as the new Minority Leader, the Democrats need a dynamic and likable DNC Chair (for while Reid may be likable, he is hardly dynamic and conversely, Dean is dynamic but not that likable). ...Her entire analysis utterly discounts Dean's primary performance...."

Isn't it time for regime change at the UN? It sure sounds that way.

Note this story in the NY Sun:

One of the next big chapters in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal will involve the family of the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, whose son turns out to have been receiving payments as recently as early this year from a key contractor in the oil-for-food program.

The secretary-general's son, Kojo Annan, was previously reported to have worked for a Swiss-based company called Cotecna Inspection Services SA, which from 1998-2003 held a lucrative contract with the U.N. to monitor goods arriving in Saddam Hussein's Iraq under the oil-for-food program. But investigators are now looking into new information suggesting that the younger Annan received far more money over a much longer period, even after his compensation from Cotecna had reportedly ended.

Who does he think he is behaving this way -- a member of the U.S. Congress?? More:

The importance of this story involves not only undisclosed conflicts of interest, but the question of the role of the secretary-general himself, at a time when talk is starting to be heard around the U.N. that it is time for him to resign, and the staff labor union is in open rebellion against "senior management."

"What other bombshells are out there being hidden from the public and U.N. member governments?" asked an investigator on Rep. Henry Hyde's International Relations Committee, which has held hearings on oil-for-food.

The younger Annan stopped working for Cotecna in late 1998, but it now turns out that he continued to receive money from Cotecna not only through 1999, as recently reported, but right up until February of this year. The timing coincides with the entire duration of Cotecna's work for the U.N. oil-for-food program. It now appears the payments to the younger Annan ended three months after the U.N., in November, 2003, closed out its role in oil-for-food and handed over the remains of the program to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

This latest bombshell involving the secretary-general's son was confirmed Wednesday by Kofi Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, in response to this reporter's query, based on information obtained elsewhere. In an email, Mr. Eckhard wrote: "I was able to reach Kojo's lawyer this morning. He confirms that Kojo Annan received payments from Cotecna as recently as February 2004. The lawyer said that these payments were part of a standard non-competition agreement, under which the decision as to whether to continue the payments or not was up to Cotecna."

Mr. Eckhard added that, according to Kojo Annan's lawyer, the information has "been reported" to the U.N.-authorized inquiry into oil-for-food, led by a former Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker.

Labeled as compensation for Kojo Annan's agreeing not to compete with Cotecna's business in West Africa, the post-employment payments were in the amount of $2,500 per month, according to another source with access to the documents. If the payments were continuous over the slightly more than five-year period involved, that would have totaled more than $150,000.

There's a lot more here so read the entire story. The bottom line is that a large political storm-cloud is hovering over Annan's son at a time when the Secretary General himself is under fire. The story notes this:

The pattern in this scandal has been that Secretary-General Annan, until confronted by the press, has either failed to spot or failed to disclose timely information about Cotecna's paychecks for his son. ....

It details various instances and sketches a timeline then goes on to to say this:

Now comes this latest information that Kojo Annan continued to receive payments until February 26 of this year - more than five years longer than the U.N. initially implied, four years longer than the U.N. confirmed to the press this September, and for the entire duration of Cotecna's U.N. oil-for-food contracts.

So far, the secretary-general has refused requests from Congress for inter views with U.N. staff, or access to the U.N.'s 55 internal audits of the oil-for food program. One of those internal audits, which leaked this past May, noted serious irregularities with the U.N.'s handling of the Cotecna contract, including an "inappropriate" upward revision of Cotecna's lowball $4.87 million bid, just four days after Cotecna and the U.N. signed the deal.

At every turn, the saga of the secretary-general's family ties to Cotecna raises questions about Kofi Annan's handling of potential conflicts of interest. Even if Mr. Annan cannot be held responsible for the decisions of his son, his job does entail responsibility for the actions of the U.N. Secretariat. As the oil-for-food scandal has unfolded, it has become clear that U.N. secrecy and lack of accountability evolved, in effect, into complicity with Saddam's scams and influence-buying. By now, between congressional and other investigations, there are allegations that Saddam, on Mr. Annan's watch, under U.N. sanctions and oil-for-food supervision, scammed and smuggled some $17.3 billion in oil money meant for relief, using some of that money to fund terrorism, import weapons, and buy influence with Security Council members France, Russia, and China.

On top of that, only now is it learned that for fully more than eight years, from 1995-2004, the secretary-general's son was in one way or another on the payroll of Cotecna, which for almost five of those years held a crucial oil-for-food inspection contract with the U.N. Secretariat. All this, said the investigator for Mr. Hyde's congressional committee, is good reason why "the U.N. Secretariat should move swiftly to lift the gag order on U.N. employees and contractors and publicly release its oil-for-food program files."

Just from the standpoint of international image alone, it seems like it's time for a change.

....over Hillary.

You need to read the whole delicious post above by one of my favorites, Jazz Shaw at the moderate Republican blog Running Scared. His two classic quotes:

On Hillary: "If my sink is broken, I'll call a plumber. Not somebody who was married to a plumber."

On Teresa Heinz: "I think she would have made a fine First Lady, and is probably a great wife for Kerry and mother to their respective children. But she had her foot in her mouth so often that porn magazines were calling her for photo shoots."

Some people who know better lose their sense of perspective on what's important.

While others get it just right.

...I thought turkeys could fly.

I'm a little late with this, but it's fun to remember this classic 1970s sitcom moment.

I think it may just have been the funniest moment of that entire decade of television.

Heathen wench SondraK is urging everyone to vote for Pat Tillman in Sports Illustrated's online poll for Sportsman of the Year. I entirely endorse this idea.

The interface is a little weird. You have to wait for the page to load, then find the face of the sportsman in question. To make it easier for everyone to find I've posted the thumbnail of his face over there on the right, exactly as it appears on SI's site. You can vote right here.

The latest Carnival of the Recipes is available.

I think I'll ask The Queen to try that augiesala recipe. It looks really good (except I think I'd use tomato sauce instead of soup).

World Tribune notes that the writing is on the wall.

...are, of course, the French.

Do you look forward to the worldwide anti-French demonstrations by the left? I hope you're not holding your breath.

Hmm. An anti-spam screen saver?

Couldn't hurt I guess. Seems pretty clever, actually.

(Via Andrew.)

Back in the early '90s, a friend of mine asserted that within 10-20 years. the concept of "copyright" would be null and void, because the Internet would make it impossible to enforce.

Apparently not.

I am something of a poli-sci-geek, so I enjoyed poring over CNN's exit poll data. But I noticed something curious: CNN apparently found it worthwhile to list Nader voters on all significant questions, but did not find it necessary to examine Badnarik voters, even though Nader receieved 394,794 votes nationwide, and Badnarik received 377,940 votes nationwide.

In other words, the Libertarian got very, very nearly as many votes as Nader. So why was he not considered by most sources to be as noteworthy as Nader?

Heh, heh, heh.

(Via Michael.)

How's your day going so far?

My righty friends will say he's a socialist creep and a leftist toady.

My lefty friends will say he's a sellout to the right.

Me? He's one of my heroes. He saw what was right, and did what was right no matter what the personal cost.

I have made sure to send Tony Blair a note saying "thank you." Thank you for opposing fascism. Thank you for being on the right side of human rights. Thank you for being on the right side of human progress. Thank you for opposing fascism, even when it was politically costly to you. Thank you for siding with people who might disagree with you on other issues. Thank you for, ultimately, recognizing what was the right thing to do, despite the closed-minded reactionaries of your country.

Thank you for choosing to take out the fascist in Baghdad, Mr. Blair. Your friendship, your trust, and your courage in this extraordinarily important moment in human history shall never be forgotten by this American.

Whatever quarrels I might have with his party, his countrymen, or even his nation, I will always be thankful that the world produced a Tony Blair.

And by the way, if you haven't seen this video yet, you should.

One of the more pernicious myths I hear spread about Thanksgiving is that the settlers at the first Thanksgiving wound up stealing the territory of the Indians there and eventually slaughtering them. That's a terrible but increasingly common myth. Actually there was a horrible plague that killed off most of the Indians in that area, and the area was practically empty when the settlers got there. The few Indians who were still there welcomed them and, yes, did indeed befriend them, and no, they were not betrayed by those settlers.

There were conflicts between Indians and white people in the area some 75 years later, but that's an entirely different discussion.

For a pretty good history of the holiday of Thanksgiving, which examines some of the other myths (most of them harmless and fun), and a history of how it's evolved over the centuries, see this History Channel video. For a pretty in-depth writeup, Wikipedia has a pretty good entry.

Hope you're all having a good day!

Orin Kerr is deeply thankful for the civil rights we have in this country, especially when stacked up against draconian regimes like France.

What he has to say will likely surprise you.

* Update * John Van Laer challenges some of Orin Kerr's facts in the comments.

(From Joy of Tech.)

Donald Sensing has a very good one.

I don't have one, but if you do, drop me a comment or a trackback.

* Update * Instapundit's got good one.

One of the many things I am eternally thankful for is Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel, and all his brothers in arms.

Thank you.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the third day of October, A.D. 1789.

(signed) G. Washington

I hope you all have a wonderful day. I'm thankful for all of you. --Dean

Wow, check it out: scientists have managed to create artificial spider webs.

Spider-Man lives!

(Via Andrew.)

It is any wonder why even atheists have noticed a certain climate of overt hostility and hysterical fear of tradition, when we notice that some are now acting to ban the Declaration of Independence because it invokes a 'creator'.

It really is time secularists stepped back, took some deep breaths, and asked themselves what kind of climate of fear and hostility they've been creating this last decade or so.

I don't dispute that a local school district can do something like this, but should it? Are we really all that afraid of what the God Cooties will do to us?

* Update * Joanne Jacobs notes an equally absurd story in Maryland. Meanwhile, Laurence has some appropriate satire.

Play puzzle. Win prize. Much happiness.