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Heavy-Handed Politics

"€œGod willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world
without the United States and Zionism."€ -- Iran President Ahmadi-Nejad

Saturday, April 22, 2006

The West must bend great will of China
Scotsman - United Kingdom
... one simple reason why the Group of Eight richest nations, which concluded its meeting on Saturday, has become an anachronistic talking shop: China, the world's ...

Viet Nam's friends congratulate Party Congress
Viet Nam News - Hanoi,Vietnam
The 10th National Party Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam has received acclaim from international political parties for its impressive achievements. ...

"The government leaders are so frightened they cannot move. They are startled by their own shadow. "

-- Claude Evin, former French health minister, commenting on the French government's buckling under to the rioters.

RADIO FREE MEXICO

Dr. Jack Wheeler has come up with an intriquing idea. Here is what he recently wrote.
If Ronald Reagan were President today, he would be puzzled over the entire debate on "illegal immigration." He would recognize that just like the Cold War, the liberals are arguing for appeasement and the conservatives for containment. He would be asking conservatives, "Don't you fellows realize that just playing defense doesn't work?"

Of course, defense is critical. You've got to prevent the other team from scoring touchdowns. So you've got to build the fence authorized by the Sensenbrenner bill in the House. You've got to shut the border down regarding the illegal flood. You've got to disallow illegals (and, yes, their children) from access to government benefits.

There are many other things you can do to defend America from this invasion - but, the crucial but for Ronald Reagan, would be we can't just play defense. We've got to go on the offense.

Which means an offense against Mexico. Not with guns and soldiers, but with ideas and information. "To explain the truth and go on an ideological offensive against the Soviet Union," Reagan would say, "we had Radio Free Europe beamed to the Soviet colonies of Eastern Europe, and Radio Liberty beamed to people within the Soviet Union itself."

"So, obviously," Reagan would conclude, "now you need a Radio Free Mexico beamed to the people of Mexico for the purpose of liberating them from the socialism, poverty, and corruption in their country that drives them to leave it."

RFM - Radio Free Mexico - would have programs explaining why Mexico is so poor. It isn't because the US stole half of Mexico's land (and the half with all the paved roads, as the joke goes). It's because of a lack of economic freedom and rule of law.

RFM would explain the history of Mexico. That it was a creation of Imperial Spain, not the Aztecs. The Aztec Empire was very small, an area in central Mexico smaller than the US state of New Mexico. Not only was it small, it was short - initiated in the 1420s, expanding for about 90 years, then liberated by Cortez.

RFM would explain the monstrously murderous evil of the Aztec Empire, and how Cortez was a liberator, not a conqueror. The subsequent conquistadors from Spain were tyrannical, yet for all their oppression of native Mexican peoples, they never approached a fraction of bloody Aztec horror.

RFM would explain what it will take for the poverty-stricken masses of Mexico to become prosperous - what it will take to create the social, political, and economic conditions of wide-spread wealth-creation.

RFM would provide continuous examples of corruption, naming names of corrupt officials, politicians, and monopolistic businessmen.

The goal of RFM would be to change the culture of Mexico from one of corrupt poverty-creation to one of lawful wealth-creation. This is ultimately the only way to end the invasion of Mexican illegals into America: create a successful Mexico.

Who in their right mind would leave their own country to try and make a living on menial wages in a foreign land, when they can become prosperous in their own country?

If RFM does it right, we can even reverse the flood, with Mexican illegals streaming back to Mexico where they can make more money than in America.

To do it right, RFM cannot be a Gringo project. The key would be to create programming using Mexican free market intellectuals, to empower Mexico's anti-socialist intelligentsia (of whom there are plenty albeit unheard) talking to their fellow Mexicans in their own cultural vernacular.

Then you set up RFM as a surrogate Mexican FM station broadcasting in Mexico City, Monterrey, Vera Cruz, and other major population centers. That is, you purchase available bandwidth on existing FM stations in these cities, which become RFM re-broadcast affiliates.

The whole thing could be set up for a half-million dollars, which means with private money and no US government funding or involvement.

So Dr. Jack Wheeler, in cooperation with the Freedom Research Foundation (which he is president of) and some other of his friends in Washington will be raising the private capital to launch and operate a Radio Free Mexico.

Only by playing offense, not just defense, can we prevent the second civil war, keep America intact, and actually solve the now-enormous problem of illegal alien invasion into our country.

Winning the Cold War required liberating the Soviet Empire. Winning the war of illegal invasion requires liberating Mexico. That's the lesson Ronald Reagan would have us learn. That's the promise of a Radio Free Mexico.

So RFM is now in the process of forming a Board of Advisors, several of whom helped run Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the Reagan years and were thus instrumental in collapsing the Soviet Empire.

Hopefully within a few days, they will have completed a proposal for a feasibility study, which will determine such things as the scope of the audience, the themes for programs, identifying Mexican free market intellectuals, what the technical requirements are, etc. They have already had offers for funding the study.

The study should take about 90-120 days to complete, so by September they should see a clear plan on launching RFM.

RFM will focus on Reconquista as a ridiculous pipe-dream fantasy. For Mexicans to create prosperity and opportunity for themselves, they have to abandon such fantasies, focusing instead on the corrupt reality of their country and how to change it for the better.

Thus a primary theme of RFM will be responsibility: Mexicans assuming responsibility for the future of their country - which means staying in or returning to Mexico and working to achieve economic freedom and success.

More perspective on "Rummy"

Jack Kelly writes:

Virtually all the complaining generals oppose Secretary Rumsfeld's plans for military reform, and are angered and offended by his management style. (The secretary is often brusque with subordinates he thinks reason or perform poorly.)

The generals speaking out may have reasons other than patriotism for doing so. Gen. Zinni is flogging a book. MajGen. John Riggs was busted a grade and forced to retire because of a procurement scandal. MajGen. Eaton oversaw the rebuilding of the Iraqi army in 2003-2004, when everyone now agrees this was a disaster.

"When Swannack, for example, blames Rumsfeld for Abu Ghraib, he gives up the game," wrote retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, now a professor at Boston University, in the Los Angeles Times. "By pointing fingers at Rumsfeld, the generals hope to deflect attention from the military's own egregious mistakes."

Retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, whose book "Breaking the Phalanx" is a rough blueprint for the organizational reforms the Army is making now, agrees military leaders deserve at least as much blame for mistakes in Iraq as do the Pentagon's civilian leaders.

Many generals, especially in the Army, are overly bureaucratic and risk averse, Col. Macgregor said. Excessive caution nearly denied the U.S. a quick victory in the march on Baghdad, and excessive use of force after the fall of Saddam by, among others, MajGen. Swannack, fueled the insurgency, he said.

The complaining generals said Mr. Rumsfeld doesn't listen to his subordinate commanders, a criticism rebutted by the retired generals who dealt with him most frequently, former CENTCOM commander Gen. Tommy Franks; his deputy, retired Marine LtGen. Michael Delong; and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The real problem is Secretary Rumsfeld pays too much deference to generals who are demonstrably incompetent, Col. Macgregor said. The night Baghdad fell, Mr. Rumsfeld asked the Army ground forces commander how long it would take to get an armored brigade to Saddam's home town of Tikrit, Col. Macgregor recounted. The answer was 10 days.

Mr. Rumsfeld then asked the Marines, who got there in 12 hours.

The Grant of the Iraq war was then Marine MajGen. James Mattis, who thinks as well as he fights.

"Immediately advancing Mattis to three stars...would have sent a powerful signal that professional competence and character under fire trump all other considerations in wartime," Col. Macgregor said. "Unfortunately, the civilians in charge bowed to service parochialism and appointed an Army general, because Army troops constituted the majority of the ground force."

I should though let two friends have the last word on the Revolting Generals. Most revolting of all is General Hypocrite Tony Zinni, who was nailed by Brit Hume on Fox News:

Former Clinton CENTCOM commander, Anthony Zinni--the most prominent of the retired generals attacking Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld--now says that, in the run-up to the war in Iraq, "What bothered me ... [was that] I was hearing a depiction of the intelligence that didn't fit what I knew. There was no solid proof, that I ever saw, that Saddam had WMD."

But in early 2000, Zinni told Congress "Iraq remains the most significant near-term threat to U.S. interests in the Arabian Gulf region," adding, "Iraq probably is continuing clandestine nuclear research, [and] retains stocks of chemical and biological munitions ... Even if Baghdad reversed its course and surrendered all WMD capabilities, it retains scientific, technical, and industrial infrastructure to replace agents and munitions within weeks or months."

Then there is the question asked by Judith Klinghoffer:

To hear two and three star generals whine that Rumsfeld is too intimidating causes one to ask who else can so easily intimidate them? Are we talking perhaps of the insurgents, Ahmadinejad, Assad Fils, the North Korean or China? Imagine being a soldier who has served under the command of so easily intimidated a general. Their retired generals' contention that they are speaking for their active duty colleagues merely makes matters worse.

Jack Kelly is National Security Writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a nationally syndicated columnist. A former Marine and Green Beret, he was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force during the Reagan administration.

HR698: What is it?

Dr. Jack Wheeler writes, "The myth of Birthright Citizenship is one of the more extraordinary frauds committed in America today. Liberals insist that the "Citizenship Clause" of the 14th Amendment - which states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside" - means that children of illegal aliens born on US soil automatically are US citizens.

The 14th Amendment means no such thing. When it was ratified in 1868 to protect the rights of native-born Black Americans, whose rights were being denied as recently-freed slaves, the Citizenship Clause's author, Senator Jacob Howard, made it explicitly clear that the clause did not apply to "persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States."

The key phrase of the clause is "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The primary author of the entire 14th Amendment, Senator John Bingham, stated, "I find no fault with the introductory (Citizenship) Clause, which is simply declaratory of what is written in the Constitution, that every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen."

This meaning was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Elk v. Wilkins (1884), which determined that the phrase "subject to its jurisdiction" explicitly excluded "citizens of foreign states born within the United States."

In other words, an illegal alien mother is subject to the jurisdiction of her native country, as is her baby. Illegal aliens from Mexico do not owe allegiance to America. Their children, if born in the US, thus have no constitutional right to US citizenship."

He further informs us that, "To help stop this invasion, to stop this misinterpretation of the Constitution, Congressman Nathan Deal (R-GA), along with 84 co-sponsors, has introduced HR 698 into Congress: The Citizenship Reform Act. Its purpose is to "deny automatic citizenship at birth to children born in the United States to parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens."

The 85 Congressional sponsors of the Citizenship Reform Act, after thorough legal consultation, are convinced [the problem] can be solved legislatively, and does not require a constitutional amendment."

My gut feel is that this won't have enough support to make it all the way to Pres. G. W. Bush. Too many Democrats (most Democrats, I would hazard to guess) will oppose it because that would mean less welfare dependents, less government, and fewer voters. And as far as the Republicans go, well, just too many spineless ones to vote on the hard issues.

Prime Minister: U.S. returning to Somalia after pulling out in 1993

CAIRO — The United States was said to have acquired the right to patrol the territorial waters of Somalia.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi told parliament that his government has permitted the U.S. Navy to patrol the coastal waters of the Arab League state. On April 16, Gedi said that under the agreement Washington would help Somalia establish a coast guard. Read on...

U.S. strike on Iran to include Britain and France, not Israel

The United States has dropped Israel as a potential partner in any attack against Iran.

Sources close to the administration said that instead the White House has been discussing a joint military campaign with two European states to destroy Iran's nuclear program. They identified the states as Britain and France.

“Whatever happens, Israel will not be part of an operation,” a source close to the administration said. “There will be other players.”

The sources said Israel was located too far from Iran to provide significant support for an air strike on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic republic. They said Tehran's neighbors, including Turkey, would not allow Israeli fighter-jets to enter their air space on any mission against Iran.

Over the next three months, the sources said, the United States and its allies would seek to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution that would pave the way for military force against Iran. The resolution would invoke Chapter 7, which calls for sanctions or military force should Iran continue to enrich uranium in violation of demands by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Read more....

New Hamas government to hire insurgents as security agents

GAZA CITY — The Hamas-led government has established a security agency composed of members of insurgency groups.

The new unnamed security agency was announced amid the Interior Ministry failure to halt the rising rate of shootings and abductions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Many of those involved in the violence have been Fatah and related gunmen, Middle East Newsline reported. More...

New U.S. strategy anticipates China as a threat

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Bush administration has adopted a bold new strategy for countering the emergence of a threatening China with policies that were drawn up several years ago and started being implemented in the past several months.

The "hedge" strategy is a response to the September 11, 2001, attacks and the crisis over the April 1, 2001, midair collision between an EP-3 surveillance aircraft and a Chinese interceptor jet, according to U.S. national security officials involved with the policy.

The 23-member EP-3 crew was forced to make an emergency landing at a Chinese military base on Hainan Island and were imprisoned there for 11 days.

Months after the incident, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met with President Bush in Crawford, Texas, along with then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to map out plans for a new strategy to deal with China, the officials said. Read more.

Turkish dailies: U.S. seeks use of bases for duration of Iran crisis

ANKARA — Turkish sources said the Defense Department has discussed U.S. military access to several bases in Turkey. They said they included air and naval bases that spanned an area from Central Asia to the Mediterranean.

"The request was for temporary access and connected to the crisis with Iran," a Turkish source said.

Senate to persist on border plan
The Senate again will take up immigration-reform legislation in the coming weeks with an eye toward at least beefing up border security before the fall elections.

Iran President wants dual pricing scheme for oil
IranMania News - Iran
... record highs of close to $75 a barrel in recent days, amid concerns over tight US supplies plus mounting international tensions over Iran's disputed nuclear ...

Will Iran be next on US hit list?
Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada
As the standoff between Iran and the United States continues ahead of next week's crucial meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, media reports are a ...

'US, UK acting to change Iran's regime'
Jerusalem Post - Israel
The United States and Britain are acting to effect a regime change in Iran through the promotion of democracy, according to a report by the British newspaper ...

Iran to jail women for improper dress
Bangkok Post - Thailand
... All women in Iran, including foreigners, are obliged to respect the Islamic dress code of contour-hiding gowns or long coats, and scarves hiding the hair.

Report: Iran, Russia strike enrichment deal
Ynetnews - Israel
Iran's ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog said on Saturday that Iran had a basic deal to enrich uranium in a joint venture in Russia but said details were ...

Venezuela jobless rate falls to 10.1 pct in March

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 21 (Reuters) - Venezuela's unemployment rate fell to 10.1 percent in March from 10.7 percent in February and 13.5 percent in the same month last year, the government said on Friday.

Venezuela's National Statistics Institute said a total of 542,468 jobs had been added to the economy since March 2005.

The institute said it expected the unemployment rate to fall below 7 percent by the end of the year.

Venezuela, the world's No.5 oil exporter, has benefited from windfall oil profits stemming from soaring crude prices. The South American nation's economy grew by 9.3 percent in 2005 over the previous year.

President Hugo Chavez, up for re-election in December, has stimulated the economy by boosting government spending and hiking salaries for government workers.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Russia-US split on Iran deepens
IranMania News - Iran
LONDON, April 22 (IranMania) - Russia ruled out sanctions on Iran without proof Tehran is hiding a nuclear arms program, dealing a blow to US efforts to forge ...

WTO General Director praises Viet Nam entry process
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Brussels (VNA) - Viet Nam has gained good results in its negotiations for the World Trade Organization's membership, praised WTO General Director Pascal Lamy ...

Waves of foreign investment come to Viet Nam's ICT sector
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Ha Noi (VNA) - There will be a new wave of foreign investment in Viet Nam's information and communication technology (ICT) sector following Intel's ...

EU wants to build comprehensive partnership with Viet Nam
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
... Ferrero-Waldner has affirmed the political determination of the EC in particular and the European Union in general to work together with Viet Nam in building a ...

International media lauds Viet Nam's Party Congress
Viet Nam News - Hanoi,Vietnam
HA NOI - Major world newspapers have covered the ongoing 10th National Party Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) highlighting the country's ...

First oil rig overhauled in Viet Nam
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Khanh Hoa - (VNA) - An overhaul of a modern oil rig has been conducted for the first time in Viet Nam by the Hyundai-Vinasshin Co. ...

Viet Nam: key partner of the EU in Southeast Asia
Vietnam Economic Times - Hanoi,Vietnam
Viet Nam is considered a key partner of the European Union (EU) in Southeast Asia, affirmed EU High Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner ahead of his upcoming ...

German hospitality giant eyes Viet Nam
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Ha Noi (VNA) - Sustained economic growth makes Viet Nam an ideal place to set up business, according to Monika Gommolla, president of the major German hotel ...

Viet Nam, Japan sign shipbuilding contract
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Ha Noi (VNA) - The Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (VINASHIN) signed a contract to build two 56,200-tonne cargo ships for its Japanese partners in ...

"Go back to Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future. You are old and tired. Leave like beaten rats, you old white people. It is your duty to die... We are going to take over."

—Augustin Cebada, a Brown Beret protestor, demanding amnesty for illegal aliens

Clothing Made From Corn May Begin New Trend

(WCCO News) In the tiny town of Benson, Minn., sits a company on the cutting edge of the fashion industry.

Many of the shirts sewn at Future Products Incorporated look like typical golf shirts, but they are very different.

"It's made of corn," said Lenz.

He’s talking about the Renew Apparel line of clothing.

Here’s a simplistic explanation of how the process works. Kernels of corn are transformed into tiny beads then pressed into a thread. That work is done mainly in Nebraska. It winds up in Benson as rolls of fabric.

“It feels like cotton. It's comfortable like cotton. But it performs like the high-tech fabrics on the market today," said Lenz.

This fabric is also naturally wrinkle resistant. It wicks away moisture and doesn't shrink even after several washings.

"To produce the product you're seeing today takes 50 percent less greenhouse gases than the synthetic counterparts on the market today," said Lenz.

These shirts are also completely biodegradable. Once they are thrown away, they break down into carbon dioxide and water.

Facing Down Iran: Our lives depend on it.

By Mark Steyn

"Once again, we face a choice between bad and worse options. There can be no "surgical" strike in any meaningful sense: Iran's clients on the ground will retaliate in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Europe. Nor should we put much stock in the country's allegedly "pro-American" youth. This shouldn't be a touchy-feely nation-building exercise: rehabilitation may be a bonus, but the primary objective should be punishment--and incarceration. It's up to the Iranian people how nutty a government they want to live with, but extraterritorial nuttiness has to be shown not to pay. That means swift, massive, devastating force that decapitates the regime--but no occupation.

The cost of de-nuking Iran will be high now but significantly higher with every year it's postponed. The lesson of the Danish cartoons is the clearest reminder that what is at stake here is the credibility of our civilization. Whether or not we end the nuclearization of the Islamic Republic will be an act that defines our time."

COMMENTARY

What Ever Happened to Reforming the UN?
By Frank Salvato

For a moment, fleeting as it was, there was hope that a United Nations reform ultimatum crafted by U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) would work. Hyde’s legislation tied reform to the monetary contributions (dues) paid by the United States. But with politicos on Capitol Hill watering down the legislation and the United Nations proposing a new human rights council that may very well boast Cuba as a member, it seems that a subject that has drifted from sight has also drifted out of mind…

Colorado Bill Would Make English Official Written Language

Should English be the official written language in government operations in Colorado? That question will be decided by voters if a bill introduced Wednesday is approved.

The measure, House Concurrent Resolution 06 (HCR06), introduced by Colorado Rep. Dave Schultheis, would make exceptions though for public health and safety, trade and tourism, or in cases where federal law dictates language policies. Details...

Homeland Security grants spent on clowns and gyms

Fire departments are using Homeland Security grants to buy gym equipment, sponsor puppet and clown shows, and turn first responders into fitness trainers.

The spending choices are allowable under the guidelines of the Assistance to Firefighters grant administered by the Homeland Security Department, which has awarded nearly 250 grants since February totaling more than $25 million out of the current spending pot of $545 million.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff vowed to redirect grant spending based on risk of a terrorist attack, but Congress has ignored his pleas, federal officials say.

"The administration has not supported the funding for physical fitness equipment as part of the fire grant program," says Marc Short, Homeland Security spokesman. "Physical fitness is an individual responsibility."

The Bush administration has specifically asked Congress not to allow funding for physical fitness, but the members who run Congress' appropriation committees keep inserting the language into the department's budget, officials say.

The LAFS for Life program which received a $69,000 grant, partners with the Des Moines, Iowa, fire department to teach fire safety through puppet and clown shows. The Onalaska Fire Department in Wisconsin also has an $8,000 grant for clowns and puppet shows, and Grants Pass in Oregon will use a $22,000 grant to buy an educational robot. Read on.

State widens teaching of abstinence

Romney gives faith group sex ed grant.

Governor Mitt Romney yesterday announced that the state will funnel nearly $1 million in federal funds to a faith-based organization to teach abstinence to public middle school students in a dozen more communities across the state.

''We teach sex education, but there's no portion of sex education which talks about the advantages of waiting. . . ." said Romney. ''We're saying let's provide an opportunity for parents and school districts to add abstinence to the curriculum. It's not abstinence only. It's abstinence also." Read on.

Slain Al Qaeda Aide Was Palestinian

Pakistani security forces say a suspected senior al Qaeda militant has been killed in a gun battle in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The BBC identified the dead man as Abu Marwan al-Suri, but the Jerusalem Post reported that he was a Palestinian from the West Bank - married to the daughter of al Qaeda's number-two leader, Ayman Zawahiri. More...

Israel May Reoccupy the Gaza Strip

If the rocket fire doesn't stop, the Israeli military will go back into the Gaza Strip, the Jerusalem Post reported on Friday. "We're talking about more aggressive military activity," one military leader was quoted as saying. Read on.

Chavez Shuns Neighbors for Dealing With US

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is withdrawing from a regional bloc, the five-member Andean Community of Nations, because fellow members Colombia and Peru have signed free trade agreements with the United States. Doing so "fatally wounded" hopes of an independent regional trade alliance, he said. Chavez already has announced plans to set up what he says will be a strategic political and economic alliance of South American countries, independent of U.S. pressure. The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), to be financed largely with Venezuela's oil riches, aims to export Chavez's socialist "Bolivarian Revolution." Full Story

New Jersey Considers a Tax on Water

With a potential drought looming, New Jersey lawmakers are considering a tax on water, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. At a hearing before the Senate Environment Committee, witnesses talked about a steady decline in groundwater levels and stream flows. Read on.

Democrats Can't Produce a Cohesive Message, Report Says

Republicans have said for months that Democrats can't tell Americans what they stand for in a single sentence, and according to an Associated Press report, Democrats tend to agree. "In more than a dozen interviews, Democrats at the party's spring meeting in New Orleans rattled off lists of what they believe to be their message in 2006. Each had a different take," the AP reported. "Some said their party stands for affordable health care, lobbying reform, lower federal deficits. Others mentioned human rights, the well-being of families and the search for new energy sources. Still others cited education money, Medicare that works, a reliable Social Security program and world peace. Lots of issues. No single message." the report said. Read more...

Terrorist Named to Revamp Palestinian Security
Jerusalem
- A Palestinian terrorist wanted in Israel for his suspected of involvement in the bombing of a U.S. diplomatic convoy has been put in charge of “rehabilitating” some of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces. Despite his new position, he won’t be exempt from Israeli justice, Israeli sources said on Friday...

Islamic States Press for Limits on Free Expression
Islamic groups and governments are pressing ahead with a campaign to have international organizations take steps, including legal ones, to provide protection for their religion in the wake of the Mohammed cartoon controversy...

Immigration Reform Bill Threatens Workers’ Privacy, ACLU Says
Immigration legislation now pending in the Senate and already passed by the House would threaten the privacy of all job-seekers, civil libertarians say, because it would set up massive databases of job-seekers. Critics say the system would require all workers, including American citizens, to get the government’s permission to work...

Scientists cool outlook on global warming
Using temperature readings from the past 100 years, 1,000 computer simulations and the evidence left in ancient tree rings, Duke University scientists announced yesterday that "the magnitude of future global warming will likely fall well short of current

Chertoff gets tough with employers of illegals
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff yesterday announced a nationwide immigration enforcement strategy that will aggressively target employers who "knowingly and recklessly" hire illegal aliens, and those who help them find jobs.

Relief operations in Darfur on verge of collapse: United Nations
NewKerala.com - Ernakulam,Kerala,India
United Nations: Relief operations in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region are on the verge of collapse, placing millions of people at risk, the top UN ...

What Congress Thinks of Global Warming
EV World - Papillion,Nebraska,USA
Poll of Congress finds huge gulf between what Democratic and Republican members believe about global warming. (2-page PDF)

Bush and Iran

A threat that can't be outsourced any longer.

Bill Clinton often complained that history had denied him the sort of historic challenge--a Great Depression or war--that might have made his Presidency great. We suspect that, after five tumultuous years, President Bush has more than once wished that he could have been so lucky.

But that is not the fate of this President, who has had to confront the consequences of the holiday from history that was the 1990s: September 11, continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and now his most severe test yet, the looming crisis over Iran's drive for nuclear weapons. Read more....

"We are either a United people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all matters of general concern act as a nation, which have national objects to promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pretending to it."

-- George Washington

The Right Man at the Right Time

By Janet Parshall
Beyond the News

Getting rid of Donald Rumsfeld is a bad idea and one the commander-in-chief has steadfastly refused.

We are a nation at war and changing leadership in the middle of battle is proven historically to be very risky. Removing the secretary of defense now would signal retreat to the Iraqi government and would become cannon fodder for all the terrorist media outlets.

For those who think Rumsfeld is responsible for blunders in Iraq, we need to remind them that Saddam Hussein was given ample warning that the coalition was coming--in fact, he was given too much time, thanks to the demand that the U.N. give its approval prior to the use of force.

Those critics calling for Rumsfeld's resignation have yet to offer an alternative. No one understands the global war on terror better than he. He's taken his job very seriously--and he's kept his charge to transform the military.

He is the right man for the right job at the right time.

Uh, huh

Russia: No sanctions on Iran til nuke goals proven
Jerusalem Post - Israel
Russia said on Friday that sanctions against Iran should not be discussed until there is proof that they are attempting to develop nuclear weapons. ...

Uh, huh, PART 2

Iran ready for 'full' cooperation with IAEA - envoy
Forbes - USA
MOSCOW (AFX) - Iran's ambassador to the UN's nuclear watchdog said here that Tehran would 'fully continue' to cooperate with that agency and was ready to ...

Mothers' lifestyles are linked to explosion in premature births

AN "ALARMING increase" in the premature births is being recorded across Europe and doctors believe that women's lifestyles may be to blame.

Korea to become China's No 2 importer
Asia Times Online - Kowloon,Hong Kong
second-largest import source, the Chung-Hua Institution for TAIPEI - South Korea has outperformed Taiwan since the beginning of this year to become China's...

Minuteman leader pushes border fence

Build it or we will.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- If the government doesn't build security fencing along the Mexico border, Minuteman border watch leader Chris Simcox says he and his supporters will. READ ON.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

You are what you read . . .

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country -- if they could find the time -- and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.

10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country... or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.

11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12. None of these are read by the guy who IS running the country.

The global plot:: MEXAMERICANADA

From the G2 Bulletin (available by paid subscription only)
U.S. immigration crisis exposes conspiracy


The Council on Foreign Relations report calling for integration of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, common defense borders and more rapid and easier flow of human traffic between the three countries has one other stunning recommendation.

[snip]

CFR, sometimes described as a “shadow government,” has also been at the center of conspiracy theories about secret plots and global government.

[snip]

Despite the fact that the overwhelming number of Americans put border security and immigration policy at the top of their concerns, politicians in Washington seem unresponsive to them.

[snip]

What President Bush, his counterparts in Mexico and Canada and the internationalists at the CFR envision is the creation of a "a common economic space ... for all people in the region, a space in which trade, capital and people flow freely."

[snip]

It calls for laying "the groundwork for the freer flow of people within North America."

[snip]

The 59-page manifesto for merger points out that Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin "committed their governments" to this goal March 23, 2005, when they met in Texas.

[end of excerpts]

You don't hear really anything about this. Back in July of 2005, I had this post :

CFR's Plan to Integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada

"Just what do we know about the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)? What is really behind our trade agreements and security partnerships with the other North American countries. The CFR has a 59-page CFR document that outlines, in detail, a five-year plan for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community" with a common "outer security perimeter."
Phyllis Schafly has written a column about this topic and explains that "Community means integrating the United States with the corruption, socialism, poverty and population of Mexico and Canada. Common perimeter means wide-open U.S. borders between the U.S., Mexico and Canada."
This sure puts a new look on our governments disinterest in border control doesn't it?

From Opinion Journal

He's So Generous, He Belongs in Prison
Paul Caron, who blogs about tax law, has an item about Vice President Cheney, and here's a selection of the reader comments about it:

  • "Why is this man not in jail?"

  • "How does this guy sleep at night? This administration makes me sick to my stomach. They are sooooo corrupt."

  • "This administration has no shame. They are 'do as I say, not as I do' people."

  • "REPREHENSIBLE, totally devoid of any moral values, ...a true, dyed-in-the-wool Robber Baron."

  • "I look forward to one day, watching him being escorted out of the White House in handcuffs. Until then...keep the pressure on them and keep calling your representatives. If not you...who?"

What did Cheney do now? He donated 77% of his 2005 income to charity. In most years donations to charity are tax-deductible only up to 50% of income, but Congress lifted the cap last year as a response to Hurricane Katrina. So these moonbats are actually attacking Cheney for being too generous.

Corporate America’s Vanishing Allegiance
By Christopher G. Adamo

The European Union is in tatters, which admittedly is not a bad thing. Yet the particular reasons for its continuing collapse portend a dark future for the continent that once defined Western Civilization. Can it happen here?

Study suggests limits to global warming

DURHAM, N.C. (UPI) -- Duke University scientists say ancient and modern evidence suggests there are limits to future global warming.

A Duke-led team ran some 1,000 computer simulations, covering 1,000 years, to obtain a long-range climate change assessment. By analyzing indirect evidence of temperature fluctuations during a 6-century period, the researchers determined the magnitude of future global warming will likely fall well short of the current highest predictions.

The computer simulations took into account modern records that are based on thermometer readings, as well as such measurements as tree rings and ice cores that served as markers of warm and cold conditions during prior centuries.

The commonly accepted range for how much average global temperatures will rise in response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide is between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees centigrade, with some observational studies suggesting the possibility of a rise exceeding 9 degrees centigrade.

However, the study -- using "reconstructions" of Northern Hemisphere temperatures since the year 1270 -- showed a reduced likelihood the actual maximum increase will exceed 4.5 degrees -- "from 36 percent to 15 percent or less," the researchers said.

The study is detailed in the journal Nature.

Russian Stance on Iran Contingent on IAEA Report
Zaman Online - Istanbul,Turkey
Reportedly, Russia will determine its stance over Iran's nuclear program depending on the report that will be prepared by the International Atomic Energy ...

Chavez Threatens to Blow Up Oil Fields

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday again raised the specter of U.S. designs to oust him and promised that his government will blow up his country's oil fields if the United States should ever attack.

U.S. officials have repeatedly denied any military plans against Chavez, but also call him a threat to stability in the region.

Pulitzer Winner: Bill Clinton Decimated the CIA

Author James Risen won the Pulitzer Prize on Tuesday for his much ballyhooed New York Times report last December that revealed President Bush's previously secret terrorist surveillance program - a revelation he uncovered while researching his book "State of War."

In the same book, however, Risen makes an equally explosive claim about President Clinton's relationship with the CIA - which his editors at the Times have so far declined to cover.

Upon taking power in 1993, Risen reports, the Clinton administration "began slashing the intelligence budget in search of a peace dividend, and Bill Clinton showed almost no interest in intelligence matters."

The agency cutbacks combined with presidential disinterest took their toll almost immediately.

[snip]

Frustrated by restrictions that made dealing with the big challenges too difficult, the agency turned its energy to lesser problems.

Reports Risen: "Thanks to Vice President Al Gore, for example, the CIA briefly made the global environment one of is priorities." More details.

"San Francisco is in a time warp. I know what you're thinking: San Franciscans still think Marx and Lenin were onto something..." —Rich Galen

"Oh, so that is what the First Amendment means: Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech unless speech annoys politicians." —George Will

COMMENTARY

The Next Conservatism’s Grand Strategy
By William S. Lind

One of the goals of the next conservatism should be to restore the American republic rather than continue our march toward empire, with the loss of liberties that inevitably entails. Restoring the republic, in turn, means restoring the grand strategy America followed through most of its history. That grand strategy was defensive, not offensive…

COMMENTARY

Is There a Federal Deficit?
Let's push back the frontiers of ignorance about the federal deficit. Is there truly a deficit? The short answer is yes, but only in an accounting sense -- not in any meaningful economic sense. Let's look at it…

COMMENTARY

Seven Days in April
By Rich Galen

The anti-Bush flavor-of-the week is Donald Rumsfeld. The recent wave -- if six retired generals make a wave -- of criticism about Rumsfeld has its roots in the earliest days of the George W. Bush administration. And while its perfectly acceptable for a retired general to voice his or her opinion about anything, it should be noted that anyone who rises in opposition to the Bush administration is given a platform, a microphone, and a TV camera to give their opinions the widest possible release...

Still No Agreement Over How to Deal With Iran
Moscow - Russia hosted high-level talks on Iran on Tuesday, but along with China, it continues to argue against any steps that would increase pressure on Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

Darfur Seen As Launching Pad for Regional Instability
Nairobi, Kenya
– The Islamist government of Sudan is using the war-ravaged Darfur region as a lunching pad to destabilize the broader region, the leader of neighboring Chad has charged...

Don’t Leave Health Care to the Government, Business Group Warns
The American health care system is sick, and it’s up to the business community to nurse it back to health, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says...

Group Blasts ‘Sexually Saturated Ad’ Funded by Taxpayers
A pro-life group that wants to stop tax funding for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is pointing to a new “sexually saturated commercial.” The ad, featuring a young woman, power tools, and a hard-hat boyfriend, carries a ‘safe-is-sexy’ message,” a Planned Parenthood official said...

China Ready to Admit Iran to Asian Bloc
An Asian security and economic bloc driven largely by China may soon open its doors to Iran and other contenders for membership, a move that may help to “make the world more fair,” a senior Iranian official said...

China’s Oil-Driven Policies Under Scrutiny
From Asia to the Middle East to Africa to Latin America, China is pursuing oil and gas deals to fuel its fast-growing economy in the years ahead, and political analysts say that's why China won't support U.N. sanctions against Iran and Sudan...

Plunge in death rate raises eyebrows
Preliminary government figures released yesterday showed that the annual number of deaths in the United States dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004, the biggest decline in nearly 70 years.

Nagin likely to weather storm
Twenty-two men and women are trying to be elected mayor of New Orleans on Saturday, but only two -- Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu -- are regarded as serious contenders in the city's first post-Hurricane Katrina election.

Divisive 'problems ahead' for U.N.
The president of the U.N. General Assembly yesterday defended the world body's overhaul of its human rights panel, but warned that in the days ahead, the United Nations faces an even more difficult fight over critical management reforms.

More muscle, with eye on China
The Pentagon is engaged in an extensive buildup of military forces in Asia as part of a covert strategy to strengthen and position U.S. and allied forces to deter -- or defeat -- China.

THE LIE OF THE DAY

Dean calls the border top priority
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean yesterday called border security his party's top immigration priority for November.

Coming to Grips With Capitalism

By David Aikman
Beyond the News

"Last fall, the world watched in amazement as hundreds of cars were torched and thousands of youths rioted in France's suburban immigrant communities. A few days ago, the world watched in equal amazement as millions of Frenchmen and women protested a new law that would give employers the right not to have to employ young people for life. Millions of French people seem to think that they can live a cosseted welfare lifestyle while the rest of the world passes them by.

A global opinion poll showed recently that only 36 percent of French people believe that liberal capitalism is a good thing. The corresponding number for the U.S. was 71 percent--and in China the support for the free market was an amazing 75 percent.

Globalization is often painful, but France's preferred alternative of national protectionism is an even more painful delusion."

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

STATESIDE U.S. reports sharp drop in attacks on Iraq infrastructure

Saudis sign multiple contracts to increase oil output

Young Turks in Turkey's military command seen as pro-U.S.

Iraqi official: Uniformed force 'not under our control'

Hamas government to unpaid security: Take it out on Israel

GAZA CITY — The Palestinian Authority has encouraged security officers to turn their wrath on Israel.

Palestinian sources said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Interior Minister Said Siyyam have met disgruntled PA officers and urged them to join the insurgency war against Israel. The meetings came amid threats against the PA by police and security officers who did not receive their salaries for March.

"Under Hamas, the Interior Ministry has told unpaid security officers that the more attacks against Israel, the more money they would get from Iran and other countries," a Palestinian source said. More...

Key election issue: U.S. resolve against Islamic fanaticism

By Ed Koch

The November elections will soon be upon us. Democrats believe they can win a majority in both Houses of Congress, and I agree. But victory will not be won by Bush-bashing. It will be won if we rally the country to support the core issues of the Democratic party.

On the international front, the overriding issue facing our country is whether Americans have the will to denounce, resist and vanquish the fanatic Islamists who hate democratic values, who engage in terrorism, and who want to kill us and say so. Take them at their brazen word. When Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf," we failed to take him at his word and lived to regret it. Sixty million people ultimately paid with their lives. Read on...

Iran: We 'can block oil exports whenever necessary'

From the World Tribune
Iran claims its military can block crude oil shipments to the West.

"The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that the military controls much of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman.

"Iran can block oil export whenever necessary," IRGC Air Force commander Gen. Hosein Salami said. "This is a natural ability of our country."

In a television interview on April 4, Salami said Iran controls 2,000 kilometers of the coast of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman. He said Teheran has developed a long-range missile capability that could be employed to protect Iranian interests in the region.

"Although the weapons we manufacture are long-range, they are not meant for the population or countries of the region, nor for any other country, unless it is a country that poses a threat to us," Salami said in remarks translated by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute. "We believe that as Iran's deterrence capability in the region increases, the ability to make threats decreases. Since our weapons are for deterrent purposes, they prevent war."

The IRGC has also reported the production of long-range missiles to strike target regional rivals.

Iran has indicated that it would retaliate against any U.S. attack by disrupting oil shipments through the Straits of Hormuz. The straits, 54 kilometers wide, contains 80 percent of the global oil trade.

In an assertion disputed by Western analysts, Salami said Iran could easily block the Straits of Hormuz without advanced missiles. He cited the abilities of the IRGC navy and other military arms.

On April 6, Iran completed the Holy Prophet exercise, meant to test the military's control of the Gulf region. During the week-long exercise, Iran reported the development of several missiles and an amphibious aircraft.

"Iran controls over 2,000 kilometers of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman," Salami said. "Even without this maneuver Iran has this ability."

Former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said Iran was no longer dependent on foreign suppliers for basic weapons. Shamkhani told Iranian television on March 21 that Iran could mass produce the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile.

"Today, we have the capability to produce missiles like candy," Shamkhani said. "This capability is 100 times greater than we had even in the early days of the [Iran-Iraq] war ..."

House OKs barring illegal immigrants from college
Belleville News-Democrat - Belleville,IL,USA
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - State House members have endorsed legislation barring illegal immigrants from attending public universities in Missouri, essentially ...

Iranian official's presence in U.S. raises entry queries
The Bush administration yesterday was at a loss to explain the rare presence in Washington of an Iranian government official who slipped into the United States under mysterious circumstances, apparently to attend a scholarly conference.

Rumsfeld says foes fear change
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that retired generals' calls for his resignation are rooted in opposition to his push to streamline and restructure the Army.

USA considers using nuclear watchdog to pressure Iran
USA Today - USA
out of frustration with Russian and Chinese VIENNA (AP) - The United States may turn to the UN nuclear watchdog agency to exert more pressure on Iran...

COMMENTARY

Why Are We Over a Barrel?
Networks blame big, bad oil companies for gas and oil prices but skip threats, taxes and increased demand.

Illegal Alien Anarchy . . . Connecting the Dots!

There is no society that can indefinitely allow a relentless flood of illegal aliens to contravene its laws, violate its sovereign borders, overwhelm its infrastructures and social systems, degrade employment opportunities for its own people, while the massiveness of the illegal invasion constantly degrades America's way of life, culture and language. Why then is that being allow to happen here in America? You may think that the illegal alien protest rallies and school 'walkouts' were spontaneous eruptions, but think again. They were carefully orchestrated by many, many people, groups and organizations that receive megabucks from unions, corporations and foundations and MOST IMPORTANTLY tacitly endorsed by our government. Did you ever ask yourself why this insanity reigns? Read on.

Senate Arrogance on Immigration

What is happening in the Senate on the immigration issue is arrogance. Plain and simple, old-fashioned, “we know better than you do” arrogance. In the face of overwhelming public opposition to virtually every facet of the McCain/Kennedy Senate bill regarding immigration reform, the Judiciary Committee, by a vote of twelve to six, reported the bill to the full Senate.
Read on.

ATTACKING RUMSFELD, OR BUSH?

Make no mistake, the attack on Rumsfeld is no more complicated than just another way to attack Bush and try to disrupt his presidency. The left has been on this path (and that includes the media) for 5 1/2 years. Rumsfeld has been working on transforming the military, and there are Generals, with good political acumen which has helped them get to where they are now, that don't like it. They don't like this administration, Bush or Rumsfeld; and they don't like the transformation.

Here is another perspective.

The Real Story: News Media Fall in Love with Generals
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Well, this was quite a week. Most notably, it was the week of the news media's newfound love for generals. Suddenly, the Washington press corps is lap-dancing for these warmongering men who command troops to go into battle and kill, destroy and annihilate.

And if you believe that, then you've been snookered by the left-wing press once again.

The mainstream news media have about as much love and admiration for our military's top commanders as they have for President George W. Bush and members of his administration. Unless, of course, the generals don't much care for Bush or his Defense Secretary. And what a bonanza! They've got six retired generals to blast away at Bush through his Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld.

Yes, folks -- count 'em -- six retired generals, some of whom led troops in Iraq, have spoken out against Rumsfeld in recent days, accusing him of arrogance, ignoring his field commanders, and micro-management. Usually the guy who's lower on the Totem poll perceives the folks above him or her as arrogant, so that's just an opinion voiced by most disgruntled employees. Ignoring his field commanders may be a good thing or a bad thing, so it depends on which side of the desk you're sitting. Micro-management? Have they forgotten the old adage? "War is too important to be left to the generals." Can you believe it? The left-wingers in the press actually want generals to have autonomy during a war.

Read on...

Joe Wilson: Clueless Liar

By Christopher Hitchens

Nobody appears to dispute what I wrote in last week's Slate to the effect that in February 1999, Saddam Hussein dispatched his former envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and former delegate to non-proliferation conferences at the United Nations, to Niger. Wissam al-Zahawie was, at the time of his visit, the accredited ambassador of Iraq to the Vatican: a more senior post than it may sound, given that the Vatican was almost the only full European embassy that Iraq then possessed. And nobody has proposed an answer to my question: Given the fact that Niger is synonymous with uranium (and was Iraq's source of "yellowcake" in 1981), and given that Zahawie had been Iraq's main man in nuclear diplomacy, what innocent explanation can be found for his trip? Read on.

The Dog That Isn't Barking

By Hugh Hewitt
Beyond the News


"A half dozen retired generals have been very vocal in their criticisms of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld this past week. The current and former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have rebutted the criticisms, and retired Chair of the Joint Chiefs Richard Myers has gone on television to deplore what is in his view an erosion of the long-standing traditions of the military when it comes to politics.

The generals critical of Rumsfeld are, of course, within their First Amendment rights to speak, but it is important that the media take note of the dog that isn't barking in this instance, specifically the thousands of the estimated 4,700 retired generals and admirals that are not stepping forward to blast away at Rumsfeld. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal published a piece by generals representative of this vast majority who support Rumsfeld."

(Emphasis mine-HH)

MSM won't be taking note soon, if ever, about the thousands of retired generals that are not speaking up, as that doesn't help advance their cause. Hopefully, we the people, are astute enough to pick up on this fact on our own - the "old media" has NO interest in doing so.

Bills aimed at illegal immigrants move forward in TN Legislature
WBIR-TV - Knoxville,TN,USA
Bills that would punish employers of illegal immigrants and make it tougher for illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses are moving forward in the General ...

IS 'PETA' BEHIND THIS?

Global warming hysteria going from crazy to bizarre.
Meat-Eaters Aiding Global Warming?
ABC News - USA
Some researchers say that what you eat has as much of an effect on global warming as what you drive....

IRAN NEWS

Saudi Arabia doesn't want row with Iran
Hindu - Chennai,India

Saudi Arabia does not want a row with Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme and ruled out that Riyadh was seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. ...

Six-party talks end with no breakthrough over Iran nuke issue
Xinhua - China
MOSCOW (Xinhua) -- The six-party consultations over Iran's nuclear issue ended in Moscow late Tuesday without any substantial results, local media ...

Iran unlikely to meet UN nuclear demands - Straw
Reuters.uk - UK
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain does not expect Iran to comply with United Nations Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment by the end of April, Foreign ...

Decision on Iran must wait - Russia
Swissinfo - Switzerland
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it would not be rushed into agreeing action against Iran over its nuclear programme after international talks in ...

Lifesaver crews hit by daily wave of violence

SCOTSMAN.COM-Assaults on ambulance workers have almost tripled in the past year, it was revealed yesterday. Paramedics attending emergency call-outs have been punched, stabbed, kicked, bitten and shot at with a crossbow. Read more...

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Global warming,freezing -- either way, it's not my fault
Napa Valley Register - Napa,CA,USA
... The sky was going to fall! We were all going to freeze! Fast forward to Time Magazine's April 3, 2006, issue: "Global Warming: Be Worried. ...

Death by a Thousand Cuts
By Larry Pratt

The latest contribution to chipping away at the right of the people to keep and bear arms is under way in the government’s Executive Branch. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is out of control, and the Department of Homeland Security is trying to redefine the right to keep and bear arms…

Georgia Governor Signs Bill on Illegals

Crackdown law faces challenges.

Egyptian Editorial Lauds Suicide Attack in Israel

West Palm Beach law violates rights of abortion protesters, judge says

Iowa Governor Signs No-Protests-at-Funerals Bill

Vietnam's Communists Grapple With Corruption, Calls for Democracy

Facing a corruption crisis and confronted by increasingly strident calls for democratization, one of the world's last ruling communist parties opened a major gathering Tuesday.

Some 1,200 delegates are taking part in the weeklong 10th national congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a once-every-five-years meeting that decides political direction and chooses a new central committee and politburo.

Key aims, according to the CPV website, include making the party "pragmatically transparent and strong in political, ideological, and organizational terms, and the tightening of the party's ties with people."

The CPV is one of only five communist parties still in power -- those ruling China, Cuba, North Korea and Laos are the others - and is the only party permitted in the Southeast Asian nation of 81 million people.

Twenty years ago it initiated a series of economic reforms known as Doi Moi (renewal), with many restrictions on private enterprise lifted. They were not accompanied by a political reforms, however.

Vietnam and the U.S. are currently in negotiations over a trade deal paving the way for Hanoi's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a congressional vote on giving Vietnam "permanent normal trade relations" status. Read on...

Democrats Will Appeal Ruling on Indiana’s Voter ID Law
A federal court has upheld an Indiana law requiring people to show a government-issued photo ID before voting, much to the disappointment of the Democratic Party, which says many of its constituents – minorities, the poor, the elderly and the disabled – will be hard-pressed to cast ballots...

Immigrants should come legally
TheReporter.com - Vacaville,CA,USA
We have to realize that the new laws on immigration are not about legal immigrants, but illegal immigrants. In the 1980s illegal ...

Think Illegal Immigrants Contribute To This Country?...Think Again ...
NewsByUs - Boise,ID,USA
We keep hearing about how much illegal immigrants contribute to this nation. However, we only hear that nonsense from pandering ...

Russia Still Opposed to Sanctions on Iran
Guardian Unlimited - UK
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia maintained its opposition to sanctions against Iran Tuesday, while President Bush said ``all options are on the table'' ahead of a meeting ...

Blame put on Iran, Nigeria
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
OIL prices climbed even higher yesterday amid heightened supply concerns linked to disruptions in Nigeria and international tensions over Iran's nuclear program ...

Illegal aliens recruit workers
A growing number of U.S. employers in need of cheap labor are turning to illegal workers to recruit friends and relatives back home, and to smugglers to find job seekers.

A FOLLOW UP

A follow up to an earlier post over the removal of symbolic crosses at a fake cemetary at Northern Kentucky University. From the Opinion Journal.
Three Cheers for NKU
"A professor who led students in destroying an anti-abortion display at Northern Kentucky University has been placed on leave for the remaining week and a half of classes," the Cincinnati Enquirer reports:

Other faculty will step in to cover Sally Jacobsen's four courses in the literature and language department. At the end of the semester, she will retire--a step she had been planning to take months before last week's controversy, officials said.

We noted the case Friday. NKU's president, James Votruba, put out a strong statement:

One of the important roles that a university must play is to be a forum for debate and analysis concerning the important issues of the day. Often these issues are surrounded by strident rhetoric and strong emotions, which makes it even more incumbent on the university to create and nurture an intellectual environment in which reason and evidence prevail and where all points of view can be heard.

Northern Kentucky University has a distinguished record of addressing important public issues in a balanced way. We are proud that, as a campus, we are not the captive of one ideology or point of view. At their best, universities are not places of comfortable conformity. They are places where ideas collide as students and faculty search for deeper understandings and perspectives.

While the University supports the right to free speech and vigorous debate on public issues, we cannot condone infringement of the rights of others to express themselves in an orderly manner.

Many presidents of more prestigious schools could learn a lot from Votruba.

Monday, April 17, 2006

China and the Illusion of Power

China has drawn a great deal of attention over the years, often as a potential threat. But is this threat as big as it seems, of is it more a case of hype? Details.

The Generals War

What's behind the attacks against Rumsfeld?

So when did Generals cease to be responsible for outcomes in war? We ask that question amid the latest calls by certain retired senior military officers for Donald Rumsfeld to resign over U.S. difficulties in Iraq.

Opinion

The frightening truth of why Iran wants a bomb.

Both parties 'giving in' to illegal immigrants
Jackson Clarion Ledger - Jackson,MS,USA
... in the demonstrations. I'ma Republican who is tired of seeing both parties giving in to the illegal immigrants. We all know why ...

Do You Really Believe Illegal Immigrants Will Save Social Security ...
Human Events - USA
... Compound this with the fact that illegal aliens tend to work jobs that pay in cash, and therefore pay even less in taxes than they should, and your fountain of ...

Feds move to shut illegal immigrants out of Medicaid
MetroWest Daily News - Framingham,MA,USA
... will have to prove their ties to this country to receive Medicaid health coverage under a change that, while intended to thwart illegal immigrants from using ...

Global warming: Are media creating undue panic?
Charlotte Observer - Charlotte,NC,USA
... yawning gap between science and alarmism better illustrated these days than in the rancorous debate over the extent of human contribution to global warming. ...

Tax Cuts

"I do not underestimate the obstacles which the Congress will face in enacting such [tax cuts] legislation. No one will be satisfied. Everyone will have his own approach, his own bill, his own reductions. A high order of restraint and determination will be required if the possible is not to wait on the perfect.

"This nation can afford to reduce taxes... but we cannot afford to do nothing. For on the strength of our free economy rests the hope of all free nations."

---John F. Kennedy


Free Enterprise

"Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business...frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite." —Ronald Reagan

Economic Class

"Liberals love to divide us by economic class, and discuss policies in terms of which class will benefit or suffer by their passage. The problem is that class is a moving target. What are the magical income levels that define poor, middle, and rich? Further, Democrats assume that no one has the ability to rise above the economic situation into which they were born. People climb up the income ladder everyday when they work at it." —Herman Cain

Property Rights

"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If 'Thou shalt not covet' and 'Thou shalt not steal' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free." —John Adams

"The collection of taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation is not to destroy those who have already secured success, but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful." —Calvin Coolidge

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." —Thomas Jefferson

CALIFORNIA: Bill to Include Gay History in Textbooks

Bill would include gays in public school texts, plan will reignite debate over who controls curricula.

A proposal to require California public school textbooks to include gay and lesbian history is a top priority of the Legislature's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus, but opponents say it would indoctrinate students. More.

Former Illinois Governor Found Guilty of Fraud, Racketeering

(CNSNews.com) - Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan was convicted Monday of fraud and racketeering in a corruption scandal that brought his career to a halt three years ago. Ryan, who made headlines worldwide when he commuted the sentences of everyone on death row in the state, said he would appeal the verdict, the Associated Press reports. "I believe this decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service that I provided to the people of Illinois over 40 years, and needless to say I am disappointed in the outcome," AP quoted the former governor as saying. He faces up to 20 years behind bars for a racketeering conspiracy charge alone.

Former Professor Pleads Guilty to Supporting Terrorists

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a designated terrorist group, in violation of U.S. law, the Justice Department announced Monday. As part of Al-Arian's plea agreement, the government plans to recommend a sentence of 46 to 57 months behind bars, based on a five-year maximum statutory sentence. Following his imprisonment, Al-Arian agreed to be deported to another country by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Full Story

You just can't make this stuff up.......

....... and if you could, you probably should seek a job as a comedy writer for SNL. They can use some good help.
Jerusalem – Under threat of United Nations Security Council sanctions for its own nuclear program, Iran has been elected to a vice-chair position on the U.N. Disarmament Commission, whose mission includes preventing the spread of nuclear weapons... More