Via Michelle Malkin, French philosopher Jean Francois Revel has died at the age of 82. Revel was perhaps the most pro-America author in France, and his 2002 Anti-Americanism is one of the greatest works ever on European anti-Americanism, as well as a defense of America. He will certainly be missed. One of my early blog postings was on this book.

I’m really not sure what should be done about the situation in Sudan. Genocide has been happening there for years, killing an estimated 200,000-400,000 people, but no one with any authority really seems to care. Today, a demonstration was held in Washington to urge the Bush Administration to take stronger measures to alleviate the murder in the country.

But the question is, what can be done? Negotiations with the Sudanese regime will likely go nowhere. Economic pressures and sanctions are useless.

The only way to stop the killing is through military action. Ideally, the UN would intervene, since genocide is automatically supposed to trigger action according to the UN Charter. But the UN, or at least most of the wealthy member nations, don’t care about the deaths in Sudan. The UN was forced to cut food aid to the region due to lack of donations from member states, particularly in Europe, where Italy was the only major European country to contribute.

So with no help from the UN and little concern from Europe, who are we left with? The United States, of course. We have shown some interest in the situation, donating $188 million to feed the starving residents of Sudan. Yet this doesn’t stop mass murder; only military action can accomplish this. Given that so many of our troops are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan (not to mention rising tensions with Iran), and the potential for a bloody occupation after the initial invasion, is military action wise? I don’t know.

Obviously, Bush needs to make a stronger case against the genocide in Sudan, and try harder to convince the UN and Europe to work towards ending it. Ultimately though, military action may be the only solution. Are we prepared to invade? This is a question I don’t have an answer for, although given Sudan’s clear terror ties, it would not be completely outside of our interests to do so.

UPDATE: Touche, Touche:

Via Passport

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Elsewhere: Darfur Daily News, Dean’s World, Phil Gallagher, and Erin Czarra

This has got to be the most unique solution I’ve heard for the immigration debate: annex Mexico!

I’m watching the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, and it is freakin’ hilarious. Steve Bridges’ Bush impersonations are amazing. It’s good to see Bush’s lighter side as well, I think it will help his popularity.

Mark Noonan:

Rasmussen goes on to note that his polling actually shows Americans in favor of a generous immigration policy coupled with a desire for enforcement of the laws and the security of the border…in other words, the American people (though they don’t know it) are precisely where President Bush is on the issue. Once again, it is GW who has figured out what is the right thing to do…but we’ve also got a lot of really bad politics preventing something as rational as Bush’s plan (increased security plus guest-workers) from happening.

A combination of cowardice and demagoguery on both sides of the political aisle is preventing rationality…Democrats want to harm the GOP over border security, but they also want to pander to hispanics; GOPers want to increase border security, but are afraid that this will alienate hispancs…caught in the crossfire and suffering the most are those Americans who have to pay for the illegal immigrants, and the illegal immigrants who are legally neither fish nor fowl and thus can’t be properly integrated into Americans society, nor booted out if that is what everyone really wants.

I’ve always wondered why Hollywood hasn’t tried to cash in on Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged. I figured it might have had something to do with politics. But now, it looks like the movie may happen:

Ayn Rand’s most ambitious novel may finally be brought to the bigscreen after years of false starts.

Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to “Atlas Shrugged” from Howard and Karen Baldwin (”Ray”), who will produce with John Aglialoro.

As for stars, book provides an ideal role for an actress in lead character Dagny Taggart, so it’s not a stretch to assume Rand enthusiast Angelina Jolie. Angelina Jolie’s name has been brought up. Brad Pitt, also a fan, is rumored to be among the names suggested for lead male character John Galt.

Should be interesting.

Here’s a fun game for all you drinkers out there. Go to Michelle Malkin’s blog and begin reading. Each time the word “amnesty” appears, take a shot. Be forewarned; you’ll probably fall out of your chair before you’re even halfway down the page!

Neil Cavuto finally asked the question I’ve wanted to see asked for months. Watching the repeat of Cavuto’s program tonight, he interviewed Sen. Dick Durbin, who of course was whining about gas prices. Cavuto asked why he isn’t pushing to repeal some of the taxes on gas instead of simply attacking the oil companies (oil companies earn a nine cent profit from each gallon of gasoline sold, versus fifty cents the government takes in). Durbin seemed offended by the question, and refused to address it fully, only making some vague statement about fighting congestion on our nation’s highways, before going back into attack mode. Cavuto didn’t give up though, and asked again, this time only to hear Durbin whine about how, according to Cavuto, everything is the government’s fault (not always true, just usually). I doubt Durbin will be back on Cavuto’s show anytime soon, but it’s good to hear someone finally ask the question. Now, maybe someone in the White House press corp can ask it as well. Don’t count on it.

It has been twenty years since the meltdown of reactor number 4 in Chernobyl, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) that killed anywhere from 9,000 to 100,000 people (depending on what statistics you believe, though either way, the death toll is very high).

Today, the town of Chernobyl still exists, barely. A handfull of people, mostly elderly, chose to return to the radioactive town. Yet most of Chernobyl remains a ghost town. A concrete sarcophagus has been built over the destroyed reactor, but it’s showing signs of wear and will have to soon be rebuilt. The deadly radiation levels will last for more than a thousand years, so numerous containers will have to be built in the future.

Today, tourists come to visit the deserted town that stands as sort of a time capsule from the Soviet era, virtually unchanged over the past two decades. If you want to see what Chernobyl looks like today, look at this site, which features photos and videos from the “Ghost Town.”

UPDATE: Actually, I should have linked to this - a slideshow from the Chernobyl area.

Tony Snow will become President Bush’s new press secretary, reports ABC News. This is certainly good news for the administration, as Tony Snow is unquestionably an effective communicator who isn’t afraid to take on the media. Hopefully, Snow can help turn the tide for the White House.

Glen Dean:

The five year average that oil companies make per gallon of gas is around 6 cents. With the surge in prices over the last year, they are now making about 9 cents per gallon. Government takes about 45.9 cents per gallon. The federal government alone takes 18.4 cents per gallon. So you claim you are being gouged, you are right. You are being gouged, but not by the oil companies, by the government.

Michael Silence has checked into the hospital with heart problems, and may soon have bypass surgery. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.

Passport, a blog by the editors of Foreign Policy, has a nice roundup of reaction by Nepalese bloggers to the recent unrest in their country.

Do you snore? If so, you may have some problems joining the Chinese Army.

My condolences to the Iraq the Model family, who recently lost a family member is a terrorist attack. It is impossible to read this entry without getting a strong sense of this family’s resolve:

What a difference between those who work to preserve life and those who work to end it…it’s terrorism and crime and there are no other words to describe these acts.

They will keep trying to steal life from us and we will keep fighting back and we will keep exposing them but not with bullets and swords, we never carried arms and we will never do because we are not afraid and because we are not weak unlike those cowards who know no language but that of treason.

If only more Americans could keep this level of resolve.