German esteem builder backfires
The Washington Times"

A multimillion-dollar campaign to boost Germans' low self-confidence has backfired after it emerged that its slogan was coined by the Nazis."

Arabic Christian channel a hit?
The Washinton Times

"The founder of the nation's first Arabic Christian TV channel says the programming is attracting phone inquiries from curious Muslims."

Specter proposes increase in aliens
The Washington Times

"A draft immigration bill from Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter calls for dramatic increases in legal immigration, far beyond any of the other major proposals now before Congress."

This might be all right if, and this a BIG if, we had better control of ILLEGAL immigrants coming into this country. I am sure proponents of 'Specter "Gadget's" proposal would argue that increasing legal immigration, would decrease illegal immigration, and therefore make our country safer because we would be controlling who is coming into the US. This sounds great theoretically..... BUT.....I'm not optimistic that we have the will, political commitment, or the financial resources available, i.e. unwilling to re-allocate capital, to garner control of our borders and the illegal immigrant problem.

I would need to see massive action AND success in correcting our existing problem before opening the "flood gates" to legal immigration.

DON'T FORGET

Please don't forget our troops overseas during this holiday season. Please consider making donations to:

1. Operation Gratitude
2. Operation Homefront
3. Soldier's Angels
4. Adopt a Platoon
5. Treats for Troops
6. Adopt a Soldier
   

I made a donation today and chose USO as I did last year. Thanks everyone.

POST PUSHED UP

Ohio Imam Arrested for Terrorist Ties

CLEVELAND — Federal authorities arrested an Islamic religious leader Friday as they began the process of deporting him for lying about ties to terrorist groups. (Fox News)

THE DEMISE OF FRANCE

"After two weeks of unrestrained violence across the country, France imposed curfews and a state-of-emergency rule on 24 of its provinces. The government certainly hopes that this wartime measure will quickly scale down the riots and it may well do that.

Yet history is more likely to look back on this not as the end of an irrational burst of urban violence, but as the first act in a protracted time of troubles for France and Europe that could ultimately lead to the demise of European civilization as we know it.

None of this is even remotely discernible in French political rhetoric or media coverage surrounding the violent events in the Moslem ghettoes. Yet, shying away from reality by France's ruling class does not change reality – and that stark reality is one of a civilized European nation sliding into barbarism."

--- Alex Alexiev

Iran and Nukes

U.S. says Tehran is pursuing nuke arms
U.S. intelligence agencies are convinced that Iran is working to build nuclear weapons in secret based on a confidential report produced last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency and on information from a former Iranian opposition figure.

EU accuses Iran, warns of sanctions
The European Union yesterday accused Iran of having documents that show how to make nuclear warheads and joined the United States in warning Tehran it faced referral to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions.

Chavez ships cheap fuel to American poor
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has pulled off a public relations coup in his long-running campaign to irritate the Bush administration, concluding a deal to supply cheap fuel to thousands of poor residents of Boston and New York.

Iraqi Red Crescent thanks U.S. with $1 million for Katrina relief
Iraq's Red Crescent relief organization found its own way to mark the Thanksgiving holiday yesterday by announcing that it had sent a $1 million "thank you" donation to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"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 favors."

-- George Washington

Who is telling the truth about energy crisis?

AS FACTORIES face closure and a difficult winter looms, the firm in charge of the UK's gas network refutes claims that the country is 'awash with gas' but the government says that industrial prices are being taken to "irrational" levels by hysteria. Read on....

A QUESTION OF MORALITY

UN condemns N. Korean rights abuses
World Tribune

UNITED NATIONS — A United Nations committee has powerfully condemned North Korea’s human rights record. In a tough resolution before the General Assembly’s Social and Humanitarian committee, the document expressed serious concern about “widespread and grave” human rights abuses by the retro-Stalinist dictatorship.

Powerfully condemned, tough resolution, serious concern.... all well and good, but now what?

The vote on the European Union sponsored resolution in itself was quite telling—84 to 22 with 62 abstentions. In other words the European countries, the U.S., Canada and most of Latin America backed the human rights resolution. The most surprising supporters of the document—brace yourself—Syria and Serbia.

I don't know about anyone else..... but 62 abstensions? Isn't that a rather high number of abstensions?

Those voting "NO": North Korea, Belarus, Cuba, Islamic Iran, People’s China, Russia, Venezuela, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

South Korea was one country that abstained. Appeasement and the lack of political will to condemn its hostile neighbor were most likely underlying factors in this non-vote.

The other 61 countries abstaining probably don't want to get involved in finger pointing. How does that saying go? "When you point a finger at someone, there are 4 fingers pointing back."

It's best to stick your head in the sand. That's what the UN is all about, is it not?

It has been reported that, “Satellite maps of North Korea show prison camps the size of whole cities, and a country that at night is clothed almost in complete darkness.” North Korea has no real exportable value, has countrywide food shortages because of its collective farms, widespread malnutrition, and prevalent infant mortality.

So shall such a resolution really change much in North Korea’s hermit Kingdom? Cynics will quickly say that such international pressures will harden the repression.

No. A UN resolution won't change anything. That's the problem with any "global" governing body under any name - United Nations - League of Nations - Nations of the Collective - or any other moniker you want to come up with. Just what kind of pressure can you apply that will be effective on a nation that knowingly, willingly, and ecstatically abuses its citizens?

.....but should the world community knowingly and willfully look the other way from this terror, what does that say about our own morality?

Good question indeed. What does that say about our morality or that of UN? Just what is the purpose of the UN?

Is This a Good Idea?

Saddam officers by the thousands respond to recruitment offer
From World Tribune

BAGHDAD — Officers who served in Saddam Hussein's military forces have been flocking to join the Iraq Army.

U.S. officials said that over the last month, thousands of Saddam officers have applied to join the Iraq Army. They said after a screening most of the applicants were accepted.

[SNIP]

In October, the Defense Ministry called for junior and mid-level officers of Saddam's army to apply for jobs in the new military force. Officials said the campaign was meant to overcome a serious shortage in experienced junior and mid-level officers in the Iraq Army, which now numbers about 100,000.

[SNIP]

Officials said the recruitment effort has sought officers ranking from lieutenant to major. They said members of the Special Republican Guards or Baath Party members from Level 4 and above would not be accepted. Full details.

Is this a good idea? I don't know for sure. Comments anyone? At any rate, the fact that they are not allowing members of the Special Republican Guards or Baath Party members from Level 4 and above is a good idea.

"Posterity -- you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

---John Quincy Adams

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE !!!

BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES

BEFORE

AFTER

Sorry PETA. NOT!!

In war, there are usually only two exit strategies: victory or defeat. The latter's easier. Just say, whoa, we're the world's pre-eminent power but we can't handle an unprecedently low level of casualties, so if you don't mind we'd just as soon get off at the next stop.

--- Mark Steyn

Europe's 'baby bust' signals major change

This gets reported from time to time. Nonetheless, it is an important issue and is worthy of coverage. In this article, The Washington Times reports the countries are witnessing an unprecedented decline in birthrates, everywhere, in both Protestants and Catholics, and regardless whether their economies are doing well or not. Read on....

WHY WOULD THEY?

In an article in The Washington Times, they note that the press has been giving so much attention to the generally mixed reviews that Judge Alito is getting by the senate Dems and the liberal Republicans, that they have mostly ignored that Senate conservatives praise Alito, and the fact that he has been receiving an enthusiastic applause from conservatives.

It does not suit their greater purpose by giving fair, objective coverage to both his detractors and his supporters. "We report, you decide." (?) Hardly.

Bolton Admonishes U.N.; U.S. Could Bypass World Body if Reform Fails, He Says

This will get our lefty friends worked up into a lather. Further proof that Bush is a "divider, not a uniter", more of the same "Texas cowboy - we go it alone - swagger", well you know the usual diatribe.

From The Washington Post:

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 22 -- John R. Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned Tuesday that the United States might bypass the United Nations to solve some of the world's pressing problems if the organization is unable to make management changes that will make it more effective and prevent a recurrence of corruption.

My opinion is that I don't think it is possible...... that the UN is not capable of making "management" changes to make it more effective. A system of tin-pot dictators banding together and forming an alliance, to make them more effective and powerful than they are capable of being on their own, advancing their less-than-honorable causes, most often in direct conflict with what's in the best interest of the US of A, is not and will not be interested remotely in "changing for the better." "We must stop 'The Big Satan' " is a cause that most of them can rally around.

Bolton's remarks come as the Bush administration is encountering stiff resistance from poor countries to United States-backed initiatives aimed at streamlining the United Nations' management practices. The influential Group of 77 developing nations recently issued a letter sharply criticizing plans by Secretary General Kofi Annan to establish an ethics office and to review General Assembly-created programs that are more than five years old to determine whether they should be shut down.

Why would the poor nations object to the UN "streamlining" its' management practices? Why would the "influential" Group of 77 developing nations be opposed to establishing an ethics office? Can you think of any reason .....no strike that.... any noble reason that they would object to an ethics office? Surely one can see that ethics has been lacking at the UN with the Food for Oil Scandal, which theMSM in large part has been disinterested; and let's not forget the World Bank scandal.

Post-Libby indictment, the Bush administration has been laughed at for having ethics classes mandatory for its employees. Will the UN receive, from the left, the same ridicule for implementing an ethics office? Don't hold your breath. But philosophically, why should an ethics office be needed at the UN? If this is an institution of the world, and for the good of the world, why would the policies for any one nation be so separate... so dissimilar from those of the "global community"? You wouldn't think that ethics would play a very large role. But the fact they do, tell us something. Some of the UN administrators, and many of the tin-pot dictators, goals are not in convergence with that of their county's or that of the global community. They're personal.

The fact that the Bush administration has not been able to "parlay" (as the WP wants to call it, even though I don't see it as a game/wager/bet) the findings of the Volcker report is proof enough that 1) ethics are sorely lacking at the UN, and 2) there is little interest in changing the unethical climate that exists as demonstrated by the mere fact the American administration has to even try to make the case, as if the fact that it did happen isn't incentive enough.

Nope. Radical positive changes? Don't see it happening. I am not sold anymore on the idea that some some big global institution can serve any useful purpose. Ethics or no ethics.

Duncan joins U.S. fight on alien smuggling
The Washington Times

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan is working with the U.S. government on illegal-immigration issues by participating in a program to catch those who smuggle illegals into the country. Read on.....

Moscow to close foreign groups
The Washington Times

Russia's parliament is expected to approve legislation today that would shut down foreign-funded human rights and pro-democracy groups while tightening controls over domestic civic organizations. Read on.....

Iran tells Baghdad to push U.S. out
The Washington Times

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urged visiting Iraqi officials yesterday to ask U.S.-led forces to leave their country and pledged Tehran's cooperation in restoring security to Iraq. Read on.....

General calls Iraq pullout 'destabilizing'
The Washington Times

The top tactical commander in Iraq says an abrupt pullout of U.S. troops would be "destabilizing" and labeled "disturbing" Washington's heated political debate that has some Democrats calling the war unwinnable. Read on...

Al Qaida rebuilding in Morocco after thousands arrested in 2003

CAIRO — Al Qaida operatives based in Syria have sought to restore an Islamic insurgency network in Morocco.

Moroccan security sources said Al Qaida has helped organize local cells with ties to Islamic insurgency movements in Europe and Syria. The sources said the effort was meant to restore the Al Qaida network damaged by the arrest of more than 5,000 people in 2003 in wake of coordinated suicide strikes in Casablanca.

In November, the sources said, Moroccan intelligence agencies discovered an attempt by Al Qaida to restore its network in Casablanca and Rabat. They said authorities identified and arrested 17 Islamic insurgency operatives with links to Syria. Read on....

Iraq training 1,000 new forces per week

BAGHDAD — U.S. officials said the Iraqi security forces have more than 212,000 trained and equipped soldiers and police.

They said the military was training and deploying soldiers and police at a rate of nearly 1,000 per week.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said 120 Iraq Army and police battalions have joined the war against Sunni insurgents. Lynch said 25 percent of the battalions were able to take the lead on counter-insurgency operations. Read on...

'Police? My onion rings are cold!'
World Tribune.com

A US woman was arrested for calling 911 after a restaurant served her cold onion rings.

Sharita Williams, 30, of Houma, Louisiana, told police the food was cold when she received it and the waiter refused to replace it.

So she dialled 911 from the Malt-N-Burger restaurant in Thibodaux, reports the Daily Comet.

Police turned up - but only to arrest Williams for wasting police time. She is due in court in December.

Mass espionage by 'lovable' China and its 3,500 'front companies'

By Lev Navrozov
Lev Navrozov emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1972.

"It would be proper to begin this column with what Sun Tzu (the Chinese strategist of the 4th century B.C.) said in his "Ping Fa" ("The Art of War"): "One spy is worth 10,000 soldiers."

[SNIP]

The Chinese dictators' strategy is "shashou jian" ("the assassin's mace"), that is, one mortal blow by superweapons. Hence the Chinese military must know the West as well as possible to be able to deliver that mortal blow. For example, in order to destroy or neutralize all Western means of (nuclear) retaliation, to circumvent thereby Mutual Assured Destruction, and to have the West at the Chinese dictators' mercy, it is necessary to detect all Western means of (nuclear) retaliation and know about them as much as possible.

The Chinese dictators see the war between them and the West as a duel between a blind enemy versus themselves, who see the blind enemy and hence can use "the assassin's mace" with deadly precision.

The U.S. media cannot avoid reporting the FBI's arrests of alleged Chinese spies. Thus, reported on Nov. 6, 2005, were such arrests in California. On Feb. 14, 2005, ABC Online carried a report headlined "Chinese high-tech espionage growing in U.S.": The number of the FBI's probes into Chinese espionage in California's technology corridor has soared, as Beijing allegedly recruits civilians to steal U.S. know-how, Time magazine reports.

Suspected espionage cases have been reported from New Jersey on the east coast to California in the west, the weekly magazine reports."

Read on....

TEL AVIV — The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has launched its biggest rocket barrage against Israel in years.

Israel hit from the North by Hizubullah missile barrage

Israeli sources said Hizbullah fired hundreds of mortars and rockets toward Israeli military positions and communities along the northern border.

The sources said 11 Israeli soldiers were injured in a coordinated rocket and ground force attack, which took place on the eve of Lebanon's Independence Day. Read on...

'Fragging prof' fears he'll be 'terminated'

Emergency meeting scheduled tonight on remark soldiers should kill superiors

The original story linked here.

Murtha removes unfavorable troop poll

Online voters overwhelmingly opposed his call for withdrawal

The congressman at the center of the battle last week over withdrawal of troops from Iraq removed the results from his own Internet poll on the subject after online voters overwhelmingly opposed his stance. Read on....

East Asia allies doubt U.S. could win war with China

The overwhelming assessment by Asian officials, diplomats and analysts is that the U.S. military simply cannot defeat China. It has been an assessment relayed to U.S. government officials over the past few months by countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. This comes as President Bush wraps up a visit to Asia, in which he sought to strengthen U.S. ties with key allies in the region.

"In any case, if tension between the United States and China heightens, if each side pulls the trigger, though it may not be stretched to nuclear weapons, and the wider hostilities expand, I believe America cannot win as it has a civic society that must adhere to the value of respecting lives," Mr. Ishihara said in an address to the Washington based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Mr. Ishihara said U.S. ground forces, with the exception of the Marines, are "extremely incompetent" and would be unable to stem a Chinese conventional attack. Indeed, he asserted that China would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against Asian and American cities—even at the risk of a massive U.S. retaliation.

The governor said the U.S. military could not counter a wave of millions of Chinese soldiers prepared to die in any onslaught against U.S. forces. After 2,000 casualties, he said, the U.S. military would be forced to withdraw. Read on.

My advice? Wear fire retardant clothing.

Bucharest - A Romanian mayor has asked his personal assistant to follow him around with a fire extinguisher after irate locals threatened to set him on fire. Read on.....

I'm Experiencing Pain.... Sympathy Pain.......

Why it's a bad idea to be 'huggy-kissy' with llamas

The first hint Dale Airsman got that his morning's chores might end badly was the unusual growl from Charlie, a 4-year old llama.

The noise graduated to a high-pitched squeal, whereupon Charlie spit, flattened his ears back and bared his teeth, including the three sets of razor-sharp "fighting teeth," which llamas use to rip the scrotum from male competitors in the wild. Read on....

What a Knucklehead

Fugitive murder suspect found - on TV

MOSCOW (Reuters) - An eagle-eyed investigator's wife ended a Russian manhunt by spotting a murder suspect's name in the credits of a television show, a newspaper said Tuesday.

The newspaper said that Alexei Britov, now in custody, had been working on costumes for the show.

COMMENTARY

The Next Conservatism: The Public Space
By Paul Weyrich

If we are to be citizens of a republic and not mere consumers in an administered state, we need to have -- and want -- contact with our fellow-citizens. That makes the public space – the place outside our homes where we intersect with strangers – so important to the next conservatism...
Read on

COMMENTARY

Anti-Muslim Racism?
By Daniel Pipes

My talks at university campuses sometimes occasion protests featuring Leftists and Islamists who call me names. A favorite of theirs is “racist.” Anti-Muslim racism? That oxymoron puzzled me. Racism is now increasingly used to mean something far beyond its dictionary definition… Read on

Roe v. Wade Not ‘Super-Duper Precedent,’ Legal Panel Says
(CNSNews.com) - A panel of conservative and libertarian lawyers Monday dismissed the concept that the Roe v. Wade decision is a “super-duper precedent” that should not be re-examined...

SE Asian Terrorists Cash-Strapped After Losing Saudi Funding
(CNSNews.com) – Terrorists in Southeast Asia were funded by Saudi Arabia until the flow of funds was cut off by the arrest of a middleman, Indonesian lawmakers have been told. Since then, the terrorists have had to rely on the sale of vouchers for pre-paid mobile phones...

Rebels Threaten Violence Against Kosovo Capital
(CNSNews.com) - Rebel forces in Kosovo have threatened to carry out an organized “military operation” against the capital city of Pristina by Wednesday night. Calling NATO and United Nations forces “modern occupiers,” the Kosovo Independence Army said it made the threat because the Kosovo Assembly has not declared independence...

The U.N. occupiers? Heh, heh. There's gotta' be a joke in there somewhere.

Well.... ahhhhh.. Thank you very much

Iraqi Politicians Distinguish Between Terrorism, ‘Resistance’
(CNSNews.com) – Iraqi politicians have ended a “reconciliation” conference with a statement that condemns terrorism against civilians, but calls “resistance” legitimate and leaves open the issue of attacks against U.S. and other foreign coalition troops...

If we would all just commit Hari-Kari........

Green Fuels Would Damage Environment, Critics Charge
(CNSNews.com) – An alternative fuel source once considered more Earth-friendly than petroleum is being derided by some environmentalists for allegedly hastening the destruction of the world’s rainforests. Bio-fuels made from corn, sugar cane or vegetable oil can be used to power everything from sport utility vehicles to diesel engines...

It seems to be the only answer to saving mother nature. You go first.

"It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage, and such only, as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent both in order of time and degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society. Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe."

--- James Madison

Ummm....... OK...........

Scottish police 'do not need' guns

THE routine equipping of police with firearms could trigger a wave of violence on Scotland's streets, the country's most senior police officer warned last night.

Not sold on the basis of their argument. Whatever.

Chris Matthews hits new low.....

Wow. Quite unbelievable. Now, I must admit I am not a Chris Matthews fan, but I still did not expect this ....

TORONTO — Years after 9-11 and the “crazy Zeitgeist” that permeated the United States, Americans have still not learned to know their enemies instead of just hating them, said American political journalist Chris Matthews yesterday.

In a speech to political science students at the University of Toronto, the host of the CNBC current affairs show Hardball had plenty of harsh words for U.S. President George W. Bush, as well as the political climate that has characterized his country for the last few years.

“The period between 9-11 and (invading) Iraq was not a good time for America. There wasn’t a robust discussion of what we were doing,” Matthews said.”If we stop trying to figure out the other side, we’ve given up. The person on the other side is not evil. They just have a different perspective.

“The smartest people understand the enemy’s point of view, because they understand what’s driving them.”

Hat tip: The Political Teen

Matthews is a bigger loser than I thought. Disgusting.

Breaking News: Inanimate object speaks....

The "Whitehouse" continues to "lash out" at its crtitics....
Cheney hits Democrats on war tack....

Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday accused Democrats of "corrupt and shameless" revisionism on the Iraq war and called their demands for a pullout "self-defeating pessimism." Read on....

The U.N.'s war on Internet freedom isn't over.

Allowing the United Nations to be in charge of running the Internet is a very bad idea.

The Internet is one of the greatest mechanisms of progress in the history of the world. More than one billion people use it; anyone with a computer and a connection has access to 167 million megabytes of information that is instantly available. Ideas and information can be shared, explained, tested and improved upon. Because of the Internet, governments, economies, institutions and individuals can and do prosper.

But the availability of such information threatens a great many despotic nations which do not believe individuals should have access to information that may be damaging to their governmental societies. Read more at Opinion Journal.

LET'S HAVE A WARM WELCOME

Today I received an e-mail from one of America's finest.

Spc. Phil Van Treuren is a soldier in the Ohio Army National Guard, JAG Corps. He recently returned from deployment in New Orleans "in the wake of Hurricane Katrina." He goes on to state that "We have created a blog which shares stories and pictures from soldiers who served in Operation Vigilant Relief as well as highlighting the other great humanitarian efforts of the U.S. military.

We all know (don't we?) what a poor job MSM does in reporting the positives of our great military. Well, Spc. Van Treuren wants to "let the public know about the great humanitarian work our military is doing."

Isn't the "new media" great? We can get up-to-date information from the men and women who really know what the hell is going on - unfiltered - factual - and without the media spin and it's biases; that is if we get it at all.

So I have added their blog to my blogroll, and am asking you to go over to Camp Katrina and have a look around.

And if you have a mind to, drop them a note or comment, and tell them thanks.

Also as a side note and reminder, I have a nephew serving in Iraq. Please keep him in your prayers for a safe return. That is all faithful readers. Thanks.

ONE VIEW OF GOVERNMENT

"One of the best models of good government is the Umpire Model. Government is here not to play the game of life for us, nor coach us on how to play best. It's here to help us play the game peaceably by deciding a few tough calls. It adjudicates conflicts. Of course, the model isn't perfect. Today's government does way too much coaching and managing as well as actual playing...and even cutting the grass on the field; government's not just for umpires any more."

--- Paul Jacob

WISDOM FROM THE WASHINGTON POST?

"Among AARP's 36 million members, there must be many decent people... But I won't be joining, because AARP has become America's most dangerous lobby. If left unchecked, its agenda will plunder our children and grandchildren... Anyone who's watched the steel and auto industries can visualize AARP's America. In those industries, companies and unions unrealistically agreed to overly generous pensions and retiree health benefits that, as the number of retirees multiplied, overburdened the companies. Now past promises collide with present economic realities. Workers and retirees suffer. Wages and jobs are cut; so are pensions and retiree health benefits. On a much larger scale, that may be America's fate."

--- Robert Samuelson, Washington Post

ABOUT FAMILY

"Data compiled by the Heritage Foundation show that teens from homes headed by single, never-married women are twice as likely to be sexually active than teens from homes headed by married couples. Black children are three times more likely than white children to be living in a single-parent household and are three times more likely to be poor. So despite arguments from Planned Parenthood and other liberal advocates that inserting government between parents and their children protects children, things are quite the opposite. The reality of the black community is testimony that the formula for keeping children poor, and assuring that their children will be poor, is to destroy the integrity of the family. Government subsidization and protection of irresponsible behavior has gotten blacks into the social black hole in which they now find themselves. Black kids are not suffering because they need more rights. They are suffering because they are not learning, from an early age, about responsibilities and consequences." —Star Parker

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. As enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."

---Marcus Tullius Cicero

"It is the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping GOD in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession or sentiments;
provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship."

-- John Adams

Sen. Clinton Wants Tax Refund for Puerto Ricans

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has sponsored a tax refund for Puerto Rico residents that could pay out more than $50 million over the next 10 years.

She's the sole sponsor of a bill letting some Puerto Rico residents — who pay no federal income tax — get child-credit refunds on their Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Clinton's camp declined yesterday to say why the former first lady wrote the legislation, but politicos say the move is obvious: Puerto Rican support is crucial to her re-election — and a potential White House run in 2008. Puerto Ricans are born..

You must register to read the rest of the article at the NEW YORK POST.

COMMENTARY

Partisan Treachery
By Alan Caruba

Veteran’s Day was a good time to begin striking back at the avalanche of lies being told about the Bush administration’s decision to liberate Iraq. One can only hope that the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans will now go to the enemy -- the Democrat Party and elements of the mainstream media… Read on.

COMMENTARY

Free Throws
By Rich Galen

Last week, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, Jack Murtha, acted as if he had climbed Mount Sinai and come back with a whole new tablet reading: "Thou Shalt Withdraw from Mesopotamia." Murtha, we have been told over and over and over and OVER, served, was wounded and was decorated in Vietnam. So, when Jack Murtha decides we should leave, it must mean it is time to back up the M1-A1s and bring everyone home... Read on

Erasing America's Religious Heritage

By Janet Parshall

"Michael Newdow garnered national attention by working to eliminate the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance. He lost the first round before the liberal Ninth Circuit but he filed again and his case is currently pending.

But he's not waiting for the decision. He's working now to strip the words, 'In God we Trust' from the nation's currency. He thinks the motto 'excludes people who don't believe in God.'

Newdow wants us to forget our religious heritage. He thinks the rights of the minority overrule the will of the majority. According to one survey, 4/10th of 1 percent of adults in this country claim to be atheists and a majority of Americans believe in God. But put his case in the hands of liberal judicial activists, and we'll have to start printing new money.

Few people in this country believe that the trip-wire of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment is hit by putting 'In God We Trust' on our money. Newdow's actions are yet another attempt to strip the culture of any acknowledgement of religion."

Bush hits call for pullout
President Bush yesterday weighed in from half a world away on Congress' debate over the Iraq war, calling Rep. John P. Murtha a "good man" who served America with honor, but saying his proposal to immediately withdraw troops "does not make sense."

Military fears critics will hurt morale
Pentagon officials say they are increasingly worried that Washington's political fight over the Iraq war will dampen what has been high morale among troops fighting a tenacious and deadly enemy.
Read on....

White House Doubts al-Zarqawi Among Dead

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight — some by their own hand to avoid capture. The White House said Sunday that it was "highly unlikely" that the terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead. Read on.....

INTERNAL SECURITY

China's EMP super-weapon plans
Bejing pushes attack satellites, space mines, lasers

"Chinese military strategists are pushing Beijing to pursue exotic, high-tech weaponry designed to counter and defeat the more technologically developed and technologically reliant U.S. in a potential showdown in the future.

Among the options being promoted is the pursuit of electromagnetic pulse weapons that have the potential, according to an expert U.S. panel, to cripple the U.S. and ultimately destroy most of the population."

From G2Bulletin

UN Says: Rich nations' greenhouse gas emissions MAY rise

Emissions of the gases, widely blamed by scientists for global warming, were down 5.9 percent overall in 2003 from 1990 in 40 rich nations including former Communist states.

How can this be? Kyoto has not been put into place because Bush wants his children and grandchildren to breathe polluted air, AND despite this despicable stance, overall emissions have gone DOWN.

What gives? Read more of this article here.

Border Wars

More illegal immigrants. More violence. More death. The public has had it. Now the Bush administration has a new plan. But will it matter?

YUMA, ARIZ. --When Border Patrol agents here meet for "the muster," their gathering before the night shift, they've got a lot to talk about. On a recent evening, shift commander Tony Martinez ticked off a laundry list of events from the night before. Scores of illegal immigrants had rushed the 8-foot metal fence that separates San Luis, Ariz., from Mexicali, Mexico--a tactic known as the "banzai run." A routine checkpoint stop turned up 251 bundles of marijuana in a rental car. And a report out of Miami indicated that some illegals were getting plastic surgery on their fingertips so their prints wouldn't be recognized by the FBI's database. "Remember Casa Grande," Martinez warned, referring to an incident when an agent found three axes and three loaded guns in an illegal immigrant's duffel bag. "And please, be careful." Read on.....

Pandemic panic

The sky is falling

Michael Fumento has written a piece for The Washington Times about the latest and one of the worst (second only to global warming) doomsday catastrophies that will surely ravage this planet and its populace.

"The indication is that we will see a return of the 1918 flu virus," warns the nation's top health official. "The projections are that this virus will kill 1 million Americans."

A quote ripped from today's headlines about an impending "bird flu" pandemic? No, the year was 1976 and the prediction regarding the "swine flu" fell 999,999 deaths short.

That's something to remember as we endure the current hysteria. Another is that we've been here before with the same virus everybody is currently squawking about -- avian influenza type H5N1 -- which hit Hong Kong in 1997. Typical headline: "Race to prevent world epidemic of lethal 'bird flu.' " I was there too, with a piece that was antihysteria (therefore grossly irresponsible). The world death toll from that 'wave?' Six."

Read on...

Some Reporting al-Zarqawi Killed in Mosul

Jerusalem Post is reporting that al-Zarqawi has been killed today (Sunday) in Mosul.

Ynet News also is reporting he may have been killed as they reported "American and Iraqi forces are currently checking whether al-Zarqawi's body can be found among the bodies of other al-Qaida members that blew themselves up at a house that was besieged by the forces at the northern town of Mosul."

This would be great news, but as most of us know, these early reports are most often wrong. So we will have to wait and see.

Violence Mars Egyptian Election Second Round

Widespread violence has disrupted the second round of Egypt's parliamentary election. The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood says police have detained at least 350 of its supporters and election workers. The group says at least 42 people were wounded in clashes in the northern port city of Alexandria. At least one man has been confirmed killed, reportedly the driver of an independent candidate, and there are reports of a second fatality. MORE.

Biden: Alito Filibuster Not Off the Table
Senate Judiciary Committee member says Alito comments on reapportionment are troubling. Read on...

Debate Continues Over U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Iraq

The debate over the timing for bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq resumed on Sunday with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld saying the number of U.S. troops there could drop to fewer than 100,000 by the end of next year. Read on...

Index ranks Middle East freedom
There is a wide range of democratisation across the Middle East, a survey finds. Read on...

Chavez renews trade pact attack

President Hugo Chavez leads a protest in the Venezuelan capital Caracas against a US-backed trade plan. Read on...

Influential family spurns Zarqawi

The Jordanian-born head of al-Qaeda in Iraq has been disowned by dozens of his own kinsmen following the triple hotel attack in Amman earlier this month.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's influential kinsmen took out adverts in three top Jordanian papers saying they had cut all ties with their relative.

Zarqawi has since seemed to try to justify the attacks, which killed dozens of guests at a wedding.

Some 100,000 people marched on Friday in a show of anger at the bombings.

More

Get Out and Vote

Don Surber has a post and a link where you can go and vote for the best post on a web blog. He is campaigning his readers to vote for LGF (and I agree, and I did). Go see his post for details and place your vote.

China's 'peaceful' invasion
China, striving to match the superpower status of the United States, is boosting military contacts throughout Latin America and eyeing the region as a market for its growing arms industry, U.S. officials say.