I'M GLAD Julia's writing, and this sort of debate is exactly why I wanted her on the blog.

Anyway, forgive her. I forget whether her travels have been taking her to Cameroon or to Kinshasa, but it's a place where it's reasonable that she would not be aware that the problems with the "Homeland Security" nomenclature have been well-discussed by Mickey Kaus and, of all people, Peggy Noonan.

"Visa Express" may or may not be broke, but Julia's argument for the latter position is not what the State Department is telling the American public. The issue is that three Al Qaeda terrorists took advantage of "Visa Express" and entered the country, whereupon they participated in the murder of thousands. It's one thing to say "This (along with recent scandals involving visas-for-bribes) is a problem, let's evaluate how to most effectively solve the problem without imposing unreasonable and counterproductive security burdens." (The answer might well be that the State Department is already doing the most reasonably efficient job it can, and the problem lies with INS failings.) It's another to say that the only problem is the name of the "Visa Express" program.

I think we can agree that we don't want to target "grannies and CEOs." On the other hand, perhaps we should be stingier with the visas granted to Saudi males between the ages of 18 and 45? And, perhaps, we can count on the higher-ranking State Department officials to understand the security concerns, and not conflate the issues?

BASEBALL STEROID TESTING. Barry Bonds shows why this is such a non-issue; he doesn't need steroids, because he's taking legal stuff that's even "better" than steroids.

NO OFFENSE TO my USFS friends, but sometimes you got to wonder whose side the State Department is on.

One program under Ryan's watch that generated congressional ire was something called "Visa Express," which permitted travel agents in Saudi Arabia to forward visa applications for residents in Saudi Arabia. Three of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the program and were not interviewed by a U.S. official when they received their visas.

[...]

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the only change made in the program in response to the criticism is that it will no longer be called "Visa Express."

Wait, it gets better in the next paragraph.

However, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert W. Jordan, cabled the State Department this week that he had decided to begin interviewing all adult applicants and eliminate the role of travel agencies in forwarding visa applications. "I am deeply troubled about the prevailing perception in the media and within Congress and possibly the American public at large that our current practices represent a shameful and inadequate effort on our part," Jordan wrote.

Well, I'm sure you'll do a much better job now that you're so concerned about the perception, as opposed to, say, the murder of 3000 of our citizens. Poor guy might have to take some time off from doing pr work (annoying registration required) for the Saudis.

THE LA EXAMINER is all over the El Al airport shootings, making anything I blog about the subject redundant. Among the best links: the pseudonymous Jack Dunphy, who has an eminently logical take informed by geography that I haven't seen this detailed elsewhere:

Hadayet was an immigrant from Egypt. He was a devout Muslim, and had a bumper sticker reading ‘Read the Koran’ on the front door of his Irvine condominium. He objected when his upstairs neighbor had the effrontery to fly the American and Marine Corps flags from his balcony following the September 11 attacks. On the morning of July 4, Hadayet left his home armed with 9-millimeter and .45-caliber handguns as well as a six-inch knife. In his coat pockets he carried extra magazines filled with ammunition for each of the handguns. If he had been motivated solely by the desire to shoot up an airport he might have chosen Orange County's John Wayne Airport, located just a few miles from his home and which he no doubt passed as he drove on the San Diego Freeway toward LAX, another 35 miles to the north. (El Al does not operate from John Wayne Airport.) On arriving at LAX, with nine passenger terminals to choose from, he parked near the Tom Bradley International Terminal and walked inside. There are ticket counters for more than 30 airlines in the Bradley Terminal, but Hadayet found his way to El Al's, at the far northwest corner of the building, and began shooting. He killed two people and wounded five others before being shot and killed by an El Al security guard. Is there a sentient being on earth who, when presented with these facts, would not conclude that Hadayet left home that morning with no other intent but to kill as many Jews as possible?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON on the Saudis and the need to rethink our relations with them.

EXCELLENT PIECE ON the Muslim underclass in France. (via Kaus)

KUDOS IF YOU CAN read this article about the Didusch Museum of Urology without involuntarily wincing.

Washington Post on baseball:

For every prize team like the Red Sox [which sold last year for $700 million], there are teams like Montreal, currently operated by Major League Baseball [which bought the team for $120 million from the owner who ran it into the ground], which draws around 8,000 a game, has no television contract and loses millions annually.

Uh, no, there's one team like Montreal that draws 8,000 a game with no television contract, and that's Montreal. Make the Montreal Expos the Washington Federals or the New Jersey Knights, and the problem disappears.

THE NEW YORK TIMES finally deigns to interrupt its sympathetic portrayal of suicide bombers with an article about the wounded victims of the attacks.

THE BLOGSPOT ARCHIVING doesn't seem to be working, but the July 7 Robert Musil piece on the effect of executive certification of financial statements is on the money.

I SAW YET another columnist claim that half the teams in baseball have no hope of winning the World Series. So, let's see. Who's in contention for the playoffs today? Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, White Sox, Mariners, Angels, A's, Braves, Expos, Cardinals, Reds, Astros, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Giants. That's 15 out of 30 teams. Add to that list the Indians, Mets and the Cubs, who many people picked to contend, but aren't; if you're ambitious, you can add the Rockies and the Padres, who were also on a handful of pre-season lists, the latter being hurt by injuries. That's twenty out of thirty teams who thought they were in contention between Opening Day and the All-Star Game, and I'm not even counting the Pirates, who had an early season winning streak that briefly put them in first place. Out of the remaining teams, half--Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, and Baltimore--simply have dysfunctional management, and aren't going to win anything no matter how much money they have access to. I'll note that before the 2001 season, many people would have had the Twins on the list of "can-never-hope-to-compete" clubs, and as of today, they have the largest lead in the American League for a playoff spot. The A's have a smaller market than the vast majority of teams, but excellent management; the only reason they're not on the "can-never-hope-to-compete" list is because they keep competing, often with the help of Kansas City Royal castoffs.