Wow, talk about spectacularly bad timing on the last post. His offices have been cordoned off.

Was Buchanan right?

I think that's very unlikely. There's an obvious way the poison could get to these offices -- Alex Goldfarb, Litvenenko's friend, the one who'd recorded his deathbed statement, works for Berezovsky. So, you know, you got a guy spending time with Litvinenko and working with Berezovsky. Seems to be a more plausible explanation than Boris Bezervosky poisoning his ally Litvinenko and then fraiming Putin for the crime (relying upon tricky-dick Scotland Yard investigators to actually identify the rare toxin, of course).

AJ Strata actually buys this theory-- that Berezovsky's framing Putin. (Minus the anti-semtism I implied.) I don't -- it's too tricksy by half -- but he did predict the poison trail would lead to Berezovsky's offices, and so it did.

Thanks to Larwyn for that update.

The Question... turns, I guess, upon whether the detection of the Polonium-210 was inevitable, likely, unlikely, or very unlikely, and perhaps the result of merest serendipity.

If it's inevitable or likely that tests would detect the toxin, it makes it more likely this is a frame-up job.

It it were unlikely or very unlikely the exact toxin would be identified, it makes it more likely this is just what it seems to be -- another Kremlin poisoning against a dissident.

The media has told us it's a very rare toxin, that it decays quickly, etc., but they haven't told us: Is screening for this a part of any western medical protocol when a toxin is suspected? If so, how far down the protocol is the test called for? How expensive a test is required to find it? How often is Polonium 210 tested for in mysterious poisonings?

Is the test on the protocols at all, or was the toxin only searched for because an expert suggested, "Well, this is pretty unlikely, but if you haven't found the poison yet, there's a bunch of radioactive heavy metals you may want to try looking for..." ?

I'm assuming that it's more of the latter, based on how long it took to identify.

But maybe that assumption is wrong.

In the meantime, there's more Polonium turning up in London than OJ DNA at Rockingham.

Posted by: Ace at 02:30 PM | Comments (73)
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He is 1) a dedicated isolationist and 2) a columnist who always has to churn out copy.

But still. This is just goofy:

Whoever poisoned Alexander Litvinenko had two goals: a long and lingering death for the KGB defector and pointing a finger of accusation for his killing right in the face of Vladimir Putin.

Which leads me to believe Putin had nothing to do with it.

In an assassination, one must ask: Cui bono? To whose benefit? Who would gain from the poisoning of Litvinenko?

Certainly not Putin. Litvinenko's death puts him, the Kremlin and the KGB, now the FSB, under suspicion of having reverted to the terror tactics of Stalin, who commissioned killers to liquidate enemies like Leon Trotsky, murdered in Mexico in 1940.

What benefit could Putin conceivably realize from the London killing of an enemy of his regime, who had just become a British citizen? Why would the Russian president, at the peak of his popularity, with his regime awash in oil revenue and himself playing a strong hand in world politics, risk a breach with every Western nation by ordering the public murder of a man who was more of a nuisance than a threat to his regime?

The hallmark of a conspiracy theory is assuming everything happens by design. It's true the very-rare and well-nigh-undetectable poison points the finger of blame at Putin; ergo, one could say that Putin doesn't benefit from the poisoning.

But this assumes the poisoner intended for the poison to be discovered. In fact, the poison was never intended to be detected at all -- just like in the case of the Ukranian president. Everyone knew he'd been poisoned, but by what was never established.

Buchanan goes down the conspiracy theorist road by assuming that was a mistake or an unplanned event -- the detection of the very rare toxin -- was in fact a feature, not a bug, as Steven den Beste would say.

If someone actually intended to frame Putin, they would have used a toxin more readily identifiable that would 1) almost inevitably be detected and 2) still focus suspicion on the Kremlin. Like -- how about sticking him in the leg with a dissolving ricin capsule, as KGB-trained Bulgarian assassins did in 1978 to a dissident in London?

So, who is the real assassin, attempting to re-start the Cold War, SPECTRE-like, for their own dirty, greedy benefit?

Well, he doesn't quite say "the Jews," but...

Indeed, no sooner had Litvinenko expired than his collaborator in anti-Putin politics, Alex Goldfarb, was in front of the television cameras reading Litvinenko's deathbed statement charging Putin with murder:

"You may succeed in silencing one man, but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. ... You may succeed in silencing me, but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed."

Litvinenko's statement is awfully coherent and eloquent for a man writhing in a death agony. But if he did not write it, who did? All of which leads me to conclude Putin is being set up, framed for a crime he did not commit. But then, if Putin did not order the killing, who did?

Who else could have acquired the polonium 210? Who else would kill Litvinenko to make Putin a pariah? These are the questions Scotland Yard, which also seems skeptical that Putin had a hand in this bizarre business, has begun to ask.

As the predictable effect of Litvinenko's death has been to put a cloud of suspicion over Putin and a chill over Russian relations with the West, one must ask: To whose benefit is the discrediting of Putin? Who would seek a renewal of the Cold War?

Certainly, the oligarchs and robber barons like Berezovsky—many of them now dispossessed of the wealth they amassed in a collapsing Soviet Union, and all of whom have been run out of the country or imprisoned—have the most powerful of motives. They hate Putin and seek to bring him down. And Goldfarb and Litvinenko both enjoyed the patronage of the billionaire Berezovsky.

Berezovsky is a Jew, according to this odd Wikipedia entry, "A List of Jews in Russia."

As for Goldfarb... no definitive citation yet, although the name is suggestive enough. Certainly he's called a "Russian Jew" on numerous websites (though blogs are hardly the Holy Grail of citations).

There's this charming little notation of his heritage, along with Buchanan-esque suspicions. The company Pat Buchanan keeps, eh?

Alexander LitvinenkoÂ’s best pal, who Sky News interviewed today, is Alex Goldfarb. Mr Goldfarb , a Russian Jew, is the Director of the Foundation for Civil Liberties.

The Foundation for Civil Liberties is financed by another Russian Jew ,Boris Berezovsky, alias Boris Beresowski , alias Platon Elenin and is on InterpolÂ’s red notices list along with his associate Yuly Dubov, Yukos shareholder Leonid Nevzlin, Yukos chief legal expert Mikhail Gololobov and Menatep bank department head Natalya Chernysheva.

In Feb 2004 Georgia’s Military Prosecutor’s Office arrested a Major Irakli Papava, another Russian Jew, who made the decision last December to remove Russian tycoon Boris Berezovski’s name from Interpol’s international “wanted” list and thus enable him to enter Georgia for a brief visit. Interpol in May 2006 however confirmed that the arrest warrant against Berezovski is still valid. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17653

Berezovski is a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, he has dedicated himself to toppling the Russian President, allegedly financing anti-Kremlin activity (including UkraineÂ’s Orange Revolution) across the former USSR. He is also alleged to have forged an alliance with the Solntsevo Brotherhood, a Russian Mafia organization as well as with Chechen gangs, which have helped in sabotaging the peace process in Chechnya.

Despite being on Interpol’s “Red List” Berezovski has been given asylum in the U.K.

My personal theory bearing in mind that the principle characters are all Jewish, is that this apparent poisoning is a means of discrediting the Russian Government and is the work of Mossad, the Israeli secret service.

Jews

They're gonna get ya.

Let Me... engage in a little conspiracy-theorist "logic."

Pat Buchanan claims that it is so obvious Putin ordered this that it must be the case it was intended to be obvious he ordered it and, hence, certainly could not have ordered it.

However, as it all seems obvious to Pat Buchanan and various other smarties that Putin could not possibly have ordered it and that only Israel could gain from the poisoning, ergo it must not have been Israel behind it; they would realize that Pat Buchanan would figure their dirty little game out, and hence they must not have been behind it.

And, of course, as it's obvious Putin couldn't have been behind it, according to Pat Buchanan, that means he certainly was behind it.

Follow that?

At what point are you supposed to stop with the "They Would Count On That!" theorizing? Do we stop after we come to the fact the poison suggest Kremlin involvement (They Would Count On That, ergo, the Kremlin isn't involved) or do we apply that reasoning to the fact that They Would Count On That (the obviousness of the Kremlin as culprits taking them off the suspect list) and therefore the Kremlin may in fact be the culprit?

Update: But definitely see above post.

More Pin the Tail On the Crafty Jew... from a site called "Occidental Dissent: Racial and Cultural Preservation.

I just don't get these wheels-within-wheels plots. It seems completely arbitrary which parts of the plan they're counting on us to "see through" and which parts aren't supposed to be figured out except by the geniuses in, for example, the White Power movement.

Posted by: Ace at 02:20 PM | Comments (37)
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Not only is he the major source for the "Sunnis burning" story, AP's been quoting him as a source for months.

Not a cop. And terrorist-connected to boot.

Posted by: Ace at 01:40 PM | Comments (7)
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I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say that there hasn't been this level of sustained attack on a religion in this country by someone actually working in the "respectable" media since... well, I don't know. I don't know if there's ever been someone paid by the organized media to, say, Jew-bait on a daily basis since... who knows. I guess we have to go back to "anti-Papist" commentary in the late 1800's.

Certainly Pat Buchanan, widely believed to be at least borderline anti-semitic, never actually denigrated the Jewish religion itself, nor was one-tenth so blatant in expressing his antipathy.

Andrew Sullivan is quite an innovator.

Remember, all values are secondary to gay marriage.

I'm just curious -- what would Andrew Sullivan's response be if, say, I decided to begin posting derogatory post after derogatory post about gay "culture" and gays generally? What if every fifth post was a link to some story about a crime committed by a gay pedophile and the like? What if traced every single social or political ill to the "homosexualists" (which is, to cover my ass regarding the gay-bashing claim, not homosexuality per se, but the militant perversion of homosexuality into a political doctrine)?

How would his own tactics, used against him, look then?

I actually now do believe he's brain-addled and borderine insane.

How Dare... this homosexualist highlight a comment left at Hugh Hewitt's blog to attempt to portray the right as anti-semitic?

Does this insane homosexualist even read his own blog? Not the comments or "Emails of the Day," but the stinking hate he dashes off himself every other hour?

Posted by: Ace at 01:28 PM | Comments (49)
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Thank goodness! I'm so totally psyched that Iran is going to "help" in Iraq.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would do whatever it could to help provide security to Iraq amid warnings the country was on the brink of civil war.

Ahmadinejad made the pledge at the start of a visit to Iran by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, whose trip was delayed for two days because of a curfew imposed after a bombing on Thursday killed 202 people in a Shi'ite Muslim stronghold. The curfew was lifted on Monday.

"The Iranian nation and government will definitely stand beside their brother, Iraq, and any help the government and nation of Iran can give to strengthen security in Iraq will be given," Ahmadinejad said, Iran's ISNA news agency reported.

"We have no limitation for cooperation in any field."

Does this mean Iran will stop supplying weapons, expertise, and terrorists to Iraqi/Al Qaeda terrorists? Fingers crossed!

Spot the bias here:

Political analysts said Iran might try to use talks with Talabani to show off its influence to the United States and bolster its position ahead of any dialogue with its old enemy. They also said Iran's ability to stem the bloodshed was limited.

U.S. officials say the violence is being fueled by Iran's backing for Shi'ite groups and its weapons exports. Iran dismisses the charge.

Note the "political analysts" Reuters consulted seem to take Iran's word as definitive, as they seem to be arranged (in the article) as opposing US claims that Iran is actively abetting the terror war. Obviously, if Iran is doing so (which it is), it would have the power to reduce the bloodshed significantly.

And the Iraq Study Group... is about ready to deliver its super-duper smart magic-bullet solution to all of this: ask Iran nicely to stop its 30 year war against the US, pretty please with sugar on top.

A draft of the panel's report recommends aggressive regional diplomacy, including talks with Iran and Syria, the New York Times reported in Monday's editions.

Ah. Aggressive diplomacy. See? They're not just saying we should try to charm the Iranians into giving up on 30 year war and announced plan to destroy Israel (and then us).

We should charm them in an aggressive fashion.

Posted by: Ace at 01:12 PM | Comments (12)
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Pretty much global warming is responsible for everything.

Rising global temperatures could disrupt gender balance among reptile populations, a crocodile researcher has warned.

According to Dr Alison Leslie of South Africa's University of Stellenbosch, crocodiles are likely to be affected by warmer waters as their gender is not determined by genetics but is instead due to embryo temperature during incubation.

In an interview for the Discovery Kids programme A Year on Earth, Dr Leslie said: "A difference of between 0.5 and 1C in incubation temperature results in markedly different sex ratios.

"More female hatchlings due to the cooler or hotter incubation temperatures could lead to eventual extirpation [local extinction] of the species from an area."

Posted by: Ace at 01:01 PM | Comments (61)
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A note asks, "Do you know what anthrax is?" and "Do you know what a bomb is?"

Do you know what a hoax perpetrated by a fourteen year old non-native speaker of English is?

The "suspicious package" may just be a thermos innocently left at the memorial.

Update: The fire department says "no hazard" of any sort.

Posted by: Ace at 12:37 PM | Comments (7)
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It's a long, nearly 3 GB download. Maybe some will want to play just to see what that South Park episode was all about. (That's partly why I downloaded it. That, and abject boredom.)

I have to say I really don't get the game's appeal. It's basically just a huge-map, 3-D version of Diabolo with millions of players logged on at the same time. Just like in Diabolo, there's that initial feeling of (false) accomplishment when you improve your "Worn Shoes" to "Rusty Chain Mail Boots" and thus boost your AC, or when your skill at swords goes up, etc. It's fun to watch your numbers go up and buy stuff.

But... well, I played a warrior, and there's no skill at all involved. In first-person shooters, at least, what you do with the mouse actually has some bearing on your success. You either have aimed at the target correctly or you haven't; you're either moving or behind cover to reduce your chances of being hit or you aren't. It's a minor bit of hand-eye coordination, but still, you're sort of in control of how effective you are in the game.

In this game, like in most if not all role-playing style games, everything is more or less determined by your scores. You have one attack option, called "right click." There's no timing involved. You just sit there hitting the attack button, trading hit points with your enemy. Then he dies, and you take his crap. And you get some experience points.

At higher levels, and with magic, and with lots of dudes in your group, tactics will play a bigger part. (As Cartman says, "Hotlink your Divine Shout.") Still, even there, I'm not sure what the big deal is.

It's definitely not a one-player game; the fun comes, I guess, from joining up with other people and devising tactics and teamwork with them.

Still... it does just seem like more playing = better armor and better spells and higher Agility scores, so the fundamental "skill" involved is how much of your free time you're willing to invest to get some kickass magic swords and spells.

Plus, possibly owing to this free deal, it may take over an hour (or even two) to even log in to server during peak hours.

Anyway, figured I'd mention it. It's a big download, but the first hour of it is kind of fun, I guess. It all looks pretty good.

Posted by: Ace at 12:34 PM | Comments (36)
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The desire for tall, blue-eyed, rapacious children, coupled with other countries' banning of anonymous sperm donation, has people travelling to Denmark to get some of that Thorsauce. And Denmark's even offering special deals to a group I just heard of: "fertility tourists."

"The bid for [Danish] DNA domination seems to be working," Reason observes, noting that 1400 extra children per year are the result of "the Danish stuff."

Again, it's just working out this way.

Thanks to Blacksheep.

Posted by: Ace at 11:59 AM | Comments (19)
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No, seriously. She said that.

I didn't intend three sex stories right off the bat. It's just how it's worked out.

Posted by: Ace at 11:52 AM | Comments (20)
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