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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 29, 2006

How U.S. will hit Iran

British sources say Bush ‘significantly closer' to attack

LONDON -- A secret crisis meeting of Britain's military and political chiefs has been told President Bush has moved "significantly closer" to launching attacks on Iran's nine nuclear plants.

Both Washington and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe the facilities are now "advanced in providing uranium enrichment and plutonium materials which will be used to provide nuclear bombs." The time frame for this to happen "is within three years at the outside," the meeting was told.

Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles would be launched from U.S. Navy ships and submarines in the Gulf to target Iran's air defense systems at the nuclear installations. The updated Tomahawks have an onboard facility that allows them to be reprogrammed while in-flight to attack an alternative target once the initial one is destroyed. Each has also a "loitering" capability over a target area to provide damage assessment through its on-board TV camera.

U.S. Air Force B2 stealth bombers, each equipped with eight 4,500-pound bunker-busting bombs, would fly from Diego Garcia, the isolated US Navy base in the Indian Ocean, the Whiteman USAF base in Missouri, and the USAF base at Fairford in Gloucestershire. Each meter-long bomb of hardened steel can penetrate 6 meters of concrete. There would be no ground-force follow-up attacks.

An official who was with Straw at the time of Rice's warning said: "She made it very clear military action was inevitable unless Tehran backed down."

The last time such a meeting was held was in March, 2003, on the eve of the war with Iraq.

In Baghdad Rice had said that "we need to get this settled as soon as possible." The words at the end of her press conference were not developed. But in London they were seen as an indication, a senior Foreign Office source said, "that Washington wants to get the Iraqi agenda off the top spot so it can concentrate on dealing with Iran. Bush is determined to destroy those nuclear sites."

The Blair "War Cabinet" meeting concluded:

•· Apart from the Blair Government who else will support attack on Iran? Definitely Israel. Its three Dolphin Class nuclear submarines are in the Gulf to help target Iran's air defences at the nuclear facilities. The submarines are currently linked by satellite to naval HQ at Tel Aviv. In turn that is linked to the Pentagon.

•· Who else would support the attack? Diplomatic support would probably come from Australia, Poland and possibly Germany, France and Spain. Less certain is the role of other European countries.

[But] if Iran continues to maintain its bellicose attitude and ignores demands made by the UN, the Bush administration will launch military action, either later this year or early in 2007. But certainly not later than the run-up to Bush's final year in office in 2008.

It is a two-phased plan. First U.S. and probably Israeli cruise missiles will destroy defenses around targets. Second, B2 Stealth bombers will hit nuclear plants with bunker-busting bombs. Total mission time in target areas: probably eight hours.

Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran: "I do not agree with foreign military intervention. However, if the international community and the Security Council hesitate in adopting a firm policy on Iran, the regime would obtain the only thing it needs to acquire nuclear weapons, namely time. Then we would be facing an Islamic fundamentalist regime, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, armed with nuclear weapons. This would make war inevitable."

Excerpts from the G2 Bulletin. Available by paid subscription only.

MI6 confirms bin Laden's nukes

Pakistani scientists advising on weaponization

MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service, has identified six Pakistani scientists working in Iran's nuclear bomb program who have been "advising al-Qaida on how to weaponize fissionable materials it has now obtained."

Both high-level MI6 and CIA sources have confirmed the scientists would only have been allowed to assist al-Qaida with the authority of Iran's unpredictable President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The MI6 report to other intelligence services followed bin Laden's threats last week to unleash a new wave of terror - with Britain and the United States his prime targets.

Former CIA operative David Dastych, a G2B contributor and one of the agency's experts on nuclear terrorism, said: "The traffic in nuclear materials is ongoing and growing."

Excerpts from G2 Bulletin. Available by paid subscription only.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Hezbollah Cells in U.S. ?

“Death to America was, is, and will stay our slogan!” – Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hezbollah Vows Anew To Target Americans

In the prosecution of the Global War against Terror (GWOT) initiated only after the horror of 9/11, an important threat to the United States fell from the public radar screen while al-Qaeda, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and the regime of Saddam Hussein became the primary targets. That important threat was the Iranian-backed terrorist organization, Hezbollah.

[snip]

Hezbollah’s hatred is not limited to Israel, but extends to America. Islamic radicals see America as the primary purveyor of decadence, moral depravity, and secularism in the world. Ideologically, for many Muslims, America also stands as great of a threat to Islam as we view Islamist terror ideology as a grave threat to us. For that reason, recent events related to Hezbollah should punctuate that reality and should give political and national security officials pause as they discuss issues of Homeland Security disaster response and readiness, border security and illegal immigration.

Most notably, last month FBI Director Robert Mueller testified to Congress that his agency had dismantled a Hezbollah smuggling operation bringing terror personnel across the border from Mexico.“[T]his was an occasion in which Hezbollah operatives were assisting others with some association with Hezbollah in coming to the United States,” Mueller said. “That was an organization that we dismantled and identified those persons who had been smuggled in. And they have been addressed as well.” Read more at Front Page Magazine.

SpecOps unit nearly nabs Zarqawi
MarineTimes.com - Springfield,VA,USA
Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five

"We are practicing 'La Reconquista' in California."
--- Jose Pescador Osuna, Mexican Consul General

"The American Southwest seems to be slowly returning to the jurisdiction of Mexico without firing a single shot." --- Excelsior, the national newspaper of Mexico

Record Profits

"Oil companies are recording record profits—on record sales. In a free-market economy, record sales often result in record profits. Notably, however, the real price gouger is the government. According to the Tax Foundation, in the last three decades government has collected more than $1.34 trillion (inflation adjusted) in gasoline-tax revenues—"more than twice the amount of domestic profits earned by major U.S. oil companies during the same period."

So what really accounts for high fuel prices? The answer is elementary—what economist Milton Friedman called "world market supply and demand for limited resources."

On the supply side, current world production is at about 85 million barrels per day, and new exploration around the world has kept that production pace steady. The U.S. consumes about 25 percent of that world production. About 45 percent of what we consume is produced domestically, and 55 percent imported from seven key suppliers: Mexico (17.9 percent), Canada (17.3 percent), Saudi Arabia (14.3 percent), Nigeria (13.6 percent), Venezuela (11.9 percent), Angola (4.7 percent) and Iraq (4.5 percent).

On the demand side, booming economies in China, India and the U.S. (yes, it is booming despite Demo claims) are competing for a limited supply of oil—and will be as long as the economy stays strong.

It is no coincidence, then, that President Bush has met with both Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao within the past month. High on his agenda were energy consumption and competition—which is precisely why the President agreed to assist India with its nuclear-energy program.

China is sucking up all the oil it can import. Hu was in Nigeria and Kenya this week, securing oil leases, and China's reluctance to support UN sanctions against Iran and Sudan is clearly related to Beijing's dependence on oil from those nations.

The good news is that about 20 percent of daily production in the Gulf of Mexico is still disabled because of Katrina—good news because as that production comes back on line, domestic oil prices will ease. Additionally, high prices for any commodity tend to reduce demand, which brings the prices down. The price for crude has already started to drop.

The bad news is that Democrats continue to block construction of new refineries. In fact, not a single new refinery has been built in the U.S. in almost 30 years. Demos continue to block pin-point exploration in oil-rich wastelands such as ANWR. Most significantly, though, is that Demos have, for two generations, blocked the development of nuclear-energy facilities.

Even some of the most entrenched environmentalists have reversed their position on nuclear energy. "My views have changed," wrote Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore in conjunction with Earth Day last week, "and the rest of the environmental movement needs to update its views, too, because nuclear energy may just be the energy source that can save our planet... Every responsible environmentalist should support a move in that direction."

In addition to the good news and bad news about energy supply and demand, there is also worse news: the supply wild card. As The Patriot has noted previously, this major strategic consideration would justify our presence in Iraq. If Iran's fanatical Jihadi leader Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad decides to lock down the Strait of Hormuz, or al-Qa'ida attacks the Saudi oil fields, the consequences for the U.S. and world economy would be dire. In addition, if Venezuela's Hugo "Little Castro" Chavez chooses to sell his oil elsewhere, the U.S. would be in real trouble.

Energy is our most vital national-security interest.

Suffice it to say, energy is the life-blood of the U.S. economy. As such, it is our most vital national-security interest. A quick review of the top U.S. oil providers lends some perspective to the complexity of our strategic relationships with those providers. All the partisan political posturing aside, the real "crisis" at the fuel pump is about world supply and demand, however disconcerting that might be.

In the event that a supply wild card is played and the critical balance of our oil supply is interrupted, there will be no easy solution. We are 20 years behind the curve in terms of oil exploration and refinement and nuclear power development, and we will stay that far behind as long as Democrats continue to obstruct the enactment of an intelligent domestic energy policy."

Source - The Patriot

Blame the Democratic Environmentalists

"Instead of haranguing the oil companies, one would have expected the Republican leadership and the president to unite in blaming the Democratic environmentalists while calling for wider oil exploration, more refineries and the development of a real alternative to fossil fuels, namely nuclear. Instead the Republicans have continued to forsake their principles. Yet what do they expect to get for this abandonment?" —Emmett Tyrrell

Desperation and the Blame Game

"Few things are less becoming in a political party than desperation, as Republicans are now demonstrating as they panic over rising oil and gas prices. If blaming private industry for Congress's own energy mistakes is the best the GOP can do, no wonder its voters may sit out the November election. A decent portion of the latest run-up in gas prices—and the entire cause of recent spot shortages—is the direct result of the energy bill Congress passed last summer... Republicans can blame business all they want for high prices, but sounding like liberal Democrats won't save them in November." —The Wall Street Journal

"If there is anything worse than partisan demagoguery, it is bipartisan demagoguery."

—Thomas Sowell

Do They Still Get Their 72 Virgins?

2 suspected Al Qaida bombers die in vain effort to kill peace-keepers.

To the sounds of crickets chirping ...........

........... Mexico still waits for Venezuela's apologies
El Universal - Venezuela
The Mexican Government continues waiting for official apologies from President Hugo Chavez for having called his counterpart Vicente Fox "a puppy of the empire ...

Chavez's Meddling

Not surprising, I guess that Hugo Chavez is interfering in the sovereign affairs of other countries.

Viet Nam signs offshore petroleum deal with US and Malaysian ...
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Ha Noi (VNA)- Petro Viet Nam signed in Ha Noi on April 28 a contract on an oil lot of 6,981 sq. km along the central coast of Viet ...

Microsoft, Viet Nam agree to develop IT
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam
Ha Noi (VNA) - Microsoft, the world's leading software-maker, on April 27 signed a memorandum of understanding with Viet Nam's Corporation for Financing and ...

Nations divided over UN budget reform

BUDGET CRISIS AT TURTLE BAY

"The United Nations on Thursday night braced itself for a major budget crisis, after the developing world rejected entreaties by rich countries and the UN Secretariat, and pressed ahead with a resolution that many fear could sink efforts to reform the organisation.

A highly-charged meeting of the UN’s budget committee descended into angry rhetoric after South Africa, representing the G77 group of developing nations and China, threw back a last-ditch effort by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to defuse the situation.

At the heart of the showdown lay a power struggle for control of the UN, between developing nations, which constitute the majority of its membership, the developed world, which pays most of the UN’s bills, and the UN secretariat, which wants more autonomy."

READ ON...

Iran denounces Israel election to UN panel
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
UNITED NATIONS - Iran's UN ambassador on Thursday denounced Israel's election as a vice-chair of the UN Disarmament Commission, calling the Jewish state a ...

THE PROBLEM IS EASY TO SOLVE

Drivers hit government for remedy to gas woes
Local drivers are spitting mad about soaring gasoline prices -- at $3 a gallon or more in the D.C. area -- and they say the government should step in to improve the situation at the pump.

It ain't that hard to solve the problem. Let us drill for oil again; let us build refineries again; stop requiring refineries to blend a gazillion different blends of gasoline; quit taxing us to death at the pump.

And please quit insulting our intelligence by offering a $100 rebate to try and appease us. Fix the damn problem and quit offering us bribes to get us to vote for you. I have said it before and I'll say it again - "You're a bunch of morons!"

A STOOOOPID IDEA

GOP urges $100 rebate to ease pain at the pump
Republican leaders yesterday proposed giving drivers a $100 tax rebate in the face of record-high gas prices, one element of a broad plan that includes oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Market fuel prices drop
Oil and gasoline prices took another tumble in New York trading yesterday on signs of increasing supplies and slackening demand in the United States and China, adding to an 18-cent drop in wholesale gas prices that likely will produce relief at the pump.....

Nuclear watchdog says Iran defies UN demands
Reuters.uk - UK
VIENNA (Reuters) - The world's nuclear watchdog reported on Friday that Iran has flouted a UN Security Council call to suspend uranium enrichment, prompting ...

More News on our 'Bad' Economy

Economy Posts Best Growth in 2 1/2 Years

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON - Popping out of a year-end rut, the economy zipped ahead at the fastest pace in 2 1/2 years during the first quarter of 2006 as consumers picked up spending and businesses regained their footing.

Inflation looked tame, too, though the latest figures didn't include last week's oil-price spike.

"The U.S. economy is cruising along now," said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services, after Friday's latest report by the Commerce Department.

Gross domestic product advanced at a 4.8 percent pace in the January-to-March quarter. That marked a rebound from the feeble 1.7 percent rate in the final quarter of 2005, when fallout from the Gulf Coast hurricanes, including high energy prices, prompted people and companies to tighten their belts.

GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is considered the best barometer of the economy's fitness.

"This rapid growth is another sign that our economy is on the fast track," said President Bush.

Heh, heh...

Sky-high oil prices fuel ethanol mania in China
Reuters.uk - UK
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Record crude oil prices are fuelling ethanol fever in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, despite Beijing's ...

Wind Farms

This is what the Teddy, "the Swimmer" from Massachsetts is opposing in his 'backyard'.

Biggest wind farm gets go-ahead and will be able to power 280,000 homes THE biggest onshore wind farm in Europe is to be built on a vast stretch of moorland near Glasgow and will open by the end of the decade, the Executive announced yesterday.

"Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever persuasion, religious or political."

-- Thomas Jefferson, 1801

Local al-Qaida Leader in Iraq Killed
By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces killed a local al-Qaida in Iraq leader and two other insurgents in a raid north of Baghdad on Friday, and roadside bombs killed an American soldier and an Iraqi policeman, officials said.

Iraqi commando forces acting on a tip raided a house where Hamid al-Takhi and the two other insurgents were hiding in Samarra, a city 60 miles north of Baghdad, said police Capt. Laith Mohammed. All three were killed in a gunbattle.

Mohammed said al-Takhi had been responsible for many insurgent attacks against coalition forces and civilians in the area.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Why Can't We Fix The Tax Code?
by Daniel J. Mitchell
While Americans struggle to comply with one of the world's most complicated tax codes, it's worth noting that about one-dozen nations have adopted simple and fair flat-tax systems.

"I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his suit, and to mothball his opinions." —General Omar Bradley

Should We Worry About China-U.S. Trade?

Politicians are missing the point in their trade rhetoric.

By Donald J. Boudreaux, Ph.D.
Free Market Project Adviser
Donald J. Boudreaux, an adviser to the Media Research Center’s Free Market Project, is chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States occasioned all sorts of commentary – much of it sound and sensible, but much of it superficial and silly.

The sound and sensible commentary focused on tensions between China and Taiwan as well as on Beijing’s commitment to respecting intellectual property rights. But as is typical, most of the superficial and silly commentary focused on Chinese trade with America.

The silliest concern that many Americans – including the Bush administration and many members of Congress – have today about China is that country’s trade surplus with America. It’s true that the Chinese now sell more goods and services to Americans than Americans sell to the Chinese. And it’s true that this excess of U.S. imports from China over U.S. exports to China is called a “U.S. trade deficit.”

What’s not true is that this situation is evidence of any wrongdoing by the Chinese.

[snip]

Of course, the U.S. runs not only a trade deficit with China; it runs a trade deficit with the whole world. But this fact isn’t worrisome.

Ask: why do foreigners willingly ship more goods and services to the United States than they demand in return? The answer is that foreigners find America to be an astonishingly attractive place to invest. To invest in the U.S., however, requires dollars. Foreigners get these dollars for investment by buying fewer goods and services from Americans than Americans buy from them. That is, foreigners save and then invest a large bulk of their savings here.

This investment creates jobs, improves worker productivity, and increases American economic output just as investment made by Americans. It’s a blessing; it’s a benefit; it’s a ringing testament to the dynamism and strength of the U.S. economy. Full story.

Senators: Bush privately favors giving illegal immigrants chance ...
KLAS-TV - Las Vegas,NV,USA
WASHINGTON In public, President Bush has been limited in what he says about citizenship for illegalimmigrants. However behind closed ...

RUSSIA AGAINST A 'NUCLEAR' IRAN - KREMLIN SOURCE
TMCnet - USA
"We are categorically opposed to the spread of weapons of mass destruction," the source said, commenting on the impasse over Iran's nuclear program. ...

China unbending on Iran
Reuters.uk - UK
BEIJING (Reuters) - China gave no sign it was ready to line up behind Western powers seeking sanctions against Iran on Thursday, the day before a key UN report ...

NATO talks focus on split over Iran crisis, Afghanistan
Monsters and Critics.com - Glasgow,UK
Sofia - Differences over how to deal with a defiant Iran's nuclear programme were expected to dominate a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers opening in ...

China's trade volume with EU and US topped $ 200 bln in 2005
People's Daily Online - Beijing,China
China's trade volume with the European Union and the United States exceeded 200 billion US dollars in 2005, according to the 2006 spring report by the Ministry ...

MORE EVIDENCE OF AL-QAIDA NUKES

On April 20th the G2 Bulletin reported that according to internationally acclaimed Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, Bin Laden is alive and well and in the process of preparing a video-taped appearance for al-Jazeera, the Qatari Arabian news network. This turned out to be true. A heavily edited tape was released, and then Egypt was hit.

It was also reported that during one of the interviews with Bin Laden During, OBL proclaimed to have managed to buy nuclear weapons to be used "in the great jihad against the United States." "It is not difficult," OBL is quoted as saying, "not if you have contacts in Russia with other militant groups. They are available for $10 million and $20 million."

Now today (4-27-06) the G2 Bulletin is reporting again of MORE EVIDENCE OF AL-QAIDA NUKES: Pakistani journalist who met bin Laden confirms acquisition. Available by paid subscription only.

"Hamid Mir, the only journalist to interview Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri in the wake of 9/11, has confirmed that al-Qaida has obtained nuclear suitcase weapons from the Russian black market, that the weapons were tested in Kabul in 2000 and that may have already been forward deployed to the United States."

Further, Mir believes that an "American Hiroshima" will occur as soon as the U.S. launches an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Al-Qaida and Iran," he says, "have a long, secret relationship."


Illegal immigrants sue NY village for right to solicit work
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
... The plaintiffs all used the name John Doe because they are illegal immigrants, said John Garcia, a spokesman for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education ...

Yes, yes. A good idea.

Let Illegal Immigrants Boycott Hospitals, Schools and Jails
Human Events - USA
"May 1st is the planned "Day Without an Immigrant" boycott by illegal immigrants here in the United States. They plan on boycotting ...

Peru's Next President Certain to Be Critic of US
(CNSNews.com) - Washington's hopes of gaining a new ally in South America, amid the recent trend of leftist victories in the region, appeared dashed Thursday. It became clear that the run-off in Peru's presidential election will be between two harsh critics of the United States. Full Story

Romney's Religious Test
By Robert D. Novak
CNSNews.com Commentary

Mitt Romney, in his last nine months as governor of Massachusetts, was in Washington Tuesday to address the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an early stage of his 2008 presidential campaign. To a growing number of Republican activists, he looks like the party's best bet. But any conversation among Republicans about Romney invariably touches on concerns of whether his Mormon faith disqualifies him for the presidency. Read on.

Media Attack Executive Pay, Hide Effort to Seal Their Own Compensation Records

Networks focus on ‘staggering’ pay and pensions for Exxon and other corporate CEOs, even as media companies fight SEC rule on disclosing high salaries.

By Noel Sheppard
Free Market Project

Gas price rage has blended with executive pay rage recently, since the media have been bashing ExxonMobil’s departing CEO, Lee Raymond, for his pay and pension package.
“Runaway pay,” said NBC’s Brian Williams on April 20, calling executive salaries and benefits “stratospheric” and “staggering.” CBS’s Bob Schieffer compared Raymond’s “golden” retirement to the “average American” on April 13. “How much is too much?” asked NBC’s Matt Lauer on April 11. And ABC’s “Good Morning America” said, “You Must Be Kidding!” referring to Raymond’s package as “stunning” on April 14.

Criticizing highly-paid executives has been in vogue at the news networks lately, but there’s something the anchors aren’t telling you: their colleagues’ top wages could soon be disclosed to the world, and Big Media are fighting it. Read on...

Kennedy faces fight on Cape Wind: Key lawmakers oppose his bid to block project

Senator Edward M. Kennedy backs a bill that would effectively halt the proposed construction in Nantucket Sound of 130 wind turbines similar to this one in Hull. The bill would give Governor Mitt Romney the power to veto the Cape Wind plan. (Stephan Savoia/ Associated Press/ File)

WASHINGTON -- As record oil prices turn attention to the need for renewable fuels, momentum is building in Congress to buck Senator Edward M. Kennedy's bid to block the proposed Cape Cod wind energy project, potentially reviving efforts to construct the sprawling windmill farm in Nantucket Sound.

The chairman and the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee said yesterday that when the bill Kennedy backs that would effectively halt the wind farm comes up for a vote in the Senate, they will object on procedural grounds. They say they'll argue that a renewable energy project shouldn't be lumped in with a bill governing the Coast Guard. Read on...

Iran has missiles that put Europe within firing range: Israel
National Post - Canada
JERUSALEM -- Iran has received a first batch of BM-25 surface-to-surface missiles that put some central European countries within firing range, Israel's ...
See all stories on this topic

Iran warns US of deadly retaliation
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
ESCALATING the threats between Washington and Tehran, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that his country would strike US targets around the ...

China Raises Lending Rate to Slow Booming Economy
New York Times - United States
HONG KONG, China's central bank today raised official borrowing costs for the first time in a year and a half, trying to slow a spectacular surge ...

Commodity Markets Jumpy On China Interest Rate Hike
Yahoo! News - USA
Commodity markets were initially under some pressure on news Thursday that China raised its key interest rate, potentially dampening demand for raw materials. ...

China's trade with Japan keeps falling: report
Xinhua - China
BEIJING, (Xinhua) -- China's trade with Japan continues the downward trend this year, according to a report on the country's foreign trade which was ...

US calls China interest rate increase "positive"
Reuters - USA
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An interest rate increase by China's central bank is a positive sign of reliance on market forces but Beijing must also allow ...

10 states sue EPA over global warming
BusinessWeek - USA
APR. 27 12:44 PM ET Ten states fired a new legal salvo at the federal government Thursday in a long-running court battle over global warming and pollution from ...

Chavez targets oil companies
Spurred on by record-high oil prices and increased profits of foreign oil companies, Hugo Chavez is furthering his pursuit of a larger percentage of the profits and leading Venezuela down a dangerous path toward a nationalized oil industry.

The Useless Nations

Remind me again, just what is the purpose of this pathectic organization?
U.S. probe targets U.N. department
The United Nations confirmed yesterday the U.S. Attorney's Office is investigating suspected wrongdoing in the office that handles procurement for U.N. peacekeeping operations.

Disgraceful Demagoguery

By Michael Medved
Beyond the News

Congressional Republicans have joined their Democratic colleagues in disgraceful demagoguery over the painful rise in gas prices. Charges of "price gouging" provoke public rage, especially when oil companies report lavish profits, but why is it shocking that when international costs of a barrel of crude reach record levels, the U.S. price also increases? Should oil companies sell to Americans at lower prices than the rest of the world eagerly pays?

If Americans were to pay less than citizens of other nations (who are already accustomed to high pump prices), that would only guarantee future shortages at your local station: gas inevitably flows to markets paying the highest price.

Meanwhile, grandstanding politicos--both Republican and Democratic--ignore the one step they could take to put immediate downward pressure on oil prices: authorizing long-delayed drilling in a tiny portion of the remote Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, and disregarding the ravings of environmental fanatics.

Microsoft to invest more than 3.7 bln usd in China over 5 years ...
Forbes - USA
BEIJING (AFX) - Microsoft Corp will invest more than 3.7 bln usd in China over the next five years, the Shanghai Securities News reported. ...

Merkel, Putin hold "intense" talks on energy, Iran
Reuters - USA
... Vladimir Putin meet in the heart of Siberia on Thursday to discuss the security of gas supply to Europe and to try to agree on a strategy for dealing with Iran ...

"Iran further isolated by talk of harm to US"
IranMania News - Iran
LONDON, April 27 (IranMania) - Threats by Iran that the United States would be "harmed" if it decided to attack the Islamic republic over its disputed nuclear ...

US House of Representatives gets tough on Iran
IranMania News - Iran
"We must use all available political and economic means to truly make Iran pay for ... Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to generate electricty.

G-77 accuses rich nations of trying to influence UN
Hindu - Chennai,India
United Nations (PTI): Charging rich countries with trying to use money power to marginalise developing nations in the United Nations, the chairman of ...

Let's put a freeze on global warming hype
Calgary Sun - Canada
... same doom and gloom scenario we hear today except turned on its ear -- now, however, it's not about devastation caused by cooling but rather by global warming. ...

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Brazil should stay out of dispute between Venezuela and its ...
Agencia Brasil - Brazil... adviser on international affairs, Marco Aurélio Garcia, declared last night (25) that Brazil should not get involved in the dispute between Venezuela, on the ...

Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to ink People's Trade Treaty
El Universal - VenezuelaThe governments of Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba next Saturday are initialing in Havana a pact to jump start the People's Trade Treaty (TCP), Bolivian President ...

Viet Nam, UN intensify fight against human trafficking
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,VietnamHCM City (VNA)- The Ministry of Public Security and the UN Organisation for Drugs and Crimes (UNODC)-Viet Nam Office have agreed on a target of a 50 percent ...

Cuba marks anniversary of liberation of South Viet Nam
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,VietnamHavana (VNA) - The Cuban Institute of People's Friendship (ICAP) together with the Cuba-Viet Nam Friendship Association (CVFA) held a grand meeting in Havana ...

Int'l tourism to Viet Nam likely up 20 percent in April
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,VietnamHa Noi (VNA) - Viet Nam estimates it will have welcomed 320,000 international tourists in April, marking a year-on-year rise of 20 percent. ...

US gives Viet Nam avian influenza control equipment
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam... United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) worth 50,000 USD to help Viet Nam's avian influenza ...

First RoK investment company enters Viet Nam's capital market
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,Vietnam... Trust Management Co., Ltd (KITMC), a leading capital management company in the Republic of Korea, will launch its first investment fund in Viet Nam on April 27 ...

Viet Nam is becoming a "minor power"
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,VietnamTokyo (VNA) - Viet Nam is emerging as "minor power", according to an article by a Japanese economic expert that ran in Japan's "World Weekly ...

US grants more for drug control in Viet Nam
Viet Nam News Agency - Hanoi,VietnamHa Noi (VNA)- The US Government will disburse an additional 500,000 USD for the training of drug squads in Viet Nam for 2006-07, according to a deal signed by ...

I received this email and I think it is a heck of an idea.
On Monday May 1, 2006 the illegal aliens (invaders) are threatening to do
absolutely no shopping of any kind. They want to show America how powerful their
numbers are by staying home and by not spending their money at the stores to
show us how much we need them.

In response, every American should go to
at least one store and buy at least one item. It doesn't take much of our time
or money. Let's send our message out that we won't be pushed around and bullied.
If Americans don't do something, and just stand around and watch these
aggressive demands, WE ARE GOING TO LOSE OUR COUNTRY IN OUR LIFETIME.
So let's go out and make May 1st a shopping day. If we all go out and do a little shopping, it'll give our economy a little boost too. Viva la Americana.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

DENNY PELOSI

Opinion Journal has an editorial, "Gas prices rise, and Republicans panic." They take on the politicians, and rightly so.

"Few things are less becoming in a political party than desperation, as Republicans are now demonstrating as they panic over rising oil and gas prices. If blaming private industry for Congress's own energy mistakes is the best the GOP can do, no wonder its voters may sit out the November election."

I do get tired of the elitist imbeciles. They ought to be investigated. We don't get our money's worth out of them. And in the last 2+ decades, their salary increases have increased at a much higher rate than has the cost of fuel. If the oil companies need to be investigated, than surely do our representatives on Capitol Hill.

They are the ones most directly responsible for not allowing us to drill anywhere so that we could be less dependant on foreign oil. The government makes 10 times the amount (through taxes) than do the oil companies on a gallon of gas. I'm so sick of these morons - all of them. They all need to go. Let's bring in a complete new batch. Maybe they can stumble there way through the political process and actually help this country. It would be worth the try.

Israel Won't Allow Iran Power to Carry Out Threats

Israel will never allow Iran to acquire the power to wipe out the Jewish state, Ehud Olmert said.

JTA GLOBAL NEWS

“When we hear a dictator say that he is prepared to wipe out the Jewish people, we don’t take it lightly,” the Israeli prime minister said in a videolink address Tuesday to the Anti-Defamation League’s leadership conference in Washington.

“We are capable and I promise we’ll do everything in our power to make sure that no one, including those who are saying it these days, will ever have the power to carry out these statements.”

The U.N. nuclear watchdog has reported that Iran probably has a nuclear weapons program, despite its denials.

Olmert called President Bush an ally of Israel, especially in isolating the terrorist group Hamas after it won Palestinian Authority elections in January.

“I know you have political controversies across America with different factions, but from the point of view of Israel, he is formidable,” Olmert said of Bush. “He has set the tone for Hamas as far as the international community is concerned.”

U.N.: Palestinian- Israel Conflict Worsening

JTA GLOBAL NEWS

A United Nations official described a “potentially dangerous deterioration” of Israel-Palestinian relations.

Alvaro de Soto, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council on Monday.

He attributed the deterioration to the refusal of Hamas, the terrorist group elected in January to lead the Palestinian Authority, to recognize international principles of “non-violence, recognition of Israel’s right to exist and the acceptance of previous commitments and obligations,” a U.S. statement said.

De Soto also pointed to the withdrawal of support by several key donors for the Palestinian Authority, and growing lawlessness in Palestinian territories, the statement said.

Iran to shun UN watchdog if hit by sanctions
Reuters.uk
UKTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it would suspend ties with the UN nuclear watchdog and speed up its atomic programme if it were hit by international ...

Israel to launch 'eye in sky' over Iran
Ninemsn - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Israel is reportedly set to launch a highly accurate imaging satellite which will enhance its ability to spy on Iran. A report in ...

Russia launches Israeli satellite to spy on Iran nuclear programme
Khaleej Times - Dubai,United Arab Emirates
... Russia on Tuesday launched an Israeli satellite from a cosmodrome in its Far East that Israel's military says will be used to spy on Iran's nuclear program ...

ALERT...ALERT

MAJOR NEWS ALERT

Global warming affects UK flowers
Scenta.co.uk - London,England,UKUntil now, the influence of global warming on British plants has only been noticeable in the timing of appearing, leafing and flowering. ...

IRAN THREATENS TO SHARE NUKE EXPERTISE

TEHRAN, (UPI) -- Iran Tuesday threatened to suspend cooperation with U.N. watchdogs and to share its nuclear know-how with other countries.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei made the comments ahead of Friday's deadline by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program.

"The Islamic Republic is ready to transfer this experience and the technology and knowledge of its scientists," Khamenei said following a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Tehran, the BBC reported.

Bashir called Iran's nuclear efforts a great victory for the Islamic world, the BBC said.

Source: Political Gateway

Related: Rice Concerned Over Iran's Sharing of Nuclear Technology

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the United States is concerned over Iranian threats to share the nuclear technology it is developing with other countries. Fox News

Asia representatives to the United Nations tour Oregon
Katu.com - Portland,OR,USA
... There are big markets to tap in China and Oregon industries are in a position to profit, China's minister counselor to the United Nations said Monday. ...

World Briefing: United Nations, Europe, Middle East, Africa ...
New York Times - United States
... of the United States authorizing another $77 million needed to move forward on a $1.6 billion plan to renovate the United Nations headquarters complex. ...

Venezuela's populit leader expands program to discount oil to low income residents

From RAW STORY

"Leftist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela said Monday he would greatly expand the discounted home heating oil program he started last year for needy people in Massachusetts and other Northeastern states, the Boston Globe will report Tuesday, RAW STORY has learned."

Venezuela will reconsider withdrawal from Andean Community
CARACAS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela could change its decision to withdraw from the Community of Andean Nations (CAN) if neighboring Colombia and Peru were willing to reconsider their free trade deals with the United States, President Hugo Chavez said on Monday.

Oil grip may tighten in Venezuela
Houston Chronicle - United States

CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants to further increase state control over some of the country's most promising oil projects in a move ...

KEY FACTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Key facts about the illegal immigrant community in the United States, as collected and reported the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.

  • Unauthorized adult males living in the United States: 5.4 million
  • Unauthorized adult females: 3.9 million - Unauthorized children: 1.8 million
  • Six out of 10 undocumented immigrants have been in the United States for 10 years or less.
  • Four out of 10 have been in the country five years or less.
  • Some 3.1 million children have been born to families in which at least one of their parents was unauthorized.
  • Undocumented workers, who are found in a wide range of professions across the United States, are concentrated in a few in particular. They make up:
  • 24 percent of workers in farming occupations
  • 17 percent of workers in cleaning trades
  • 14 percent of construction and building trades workers
  • 12 percent of workers in food preparation.

Source Political Gateway

Monday, April 24, 2006

"Those who want to hoist the banner of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the American tradition of immigration should remember that when immigrants were passing through Ellis Island at the early part of the last century, the federal government accounted for about 3 percent of the American economy. Today it is 25 percent. Part of the package deal that comes with showing up in the United States today is our welfare state as well as our free economy... Yes, let's encourage freedom. But freedom is a privilege and a responsibility. We have enough people already here who think it's all about entitlement." --- Star Parker

"Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country." --- Noah Webster

Bin Laden calls United Nations as "infidel" body
Reuters AlertNet - London,England,UKDUBAI, April 23 (Reuters)
Osama bin Laden called the United Nations an "infidel" body used to implement "crusader-Zionist" schemes against Muslims, according ...

Chavez backs former US foe in Nicaragua election
Washington Post - United StatesCARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday backed the favorite to win Nicaragua's November presidential election, days after ...

Venezuela's Chavez said to mull oil move
CNNMoney.com - USA...

The Wall Street Journal, in a story dated Monday for its online edition, said Chavez's allies in Venezuela's Congress are considering a big tax hike on foreign ...

Goose-Stepping Iranians
By Alan Caruba

Goose-stepping Iranians are on the march. Ignoring them will not change their minds. Threatening them will not change their minds. History has a nasty way of repeating itself and it is doing so now in the Middle East...

NASA Expert Tells Alarmists to Cool Down Climate Hype
NASA scientist James Hansen warned that environmental activists and the media should be more cautious with their rhetoric regarding “global warming.”

Enforcement Key to True Immigration Reform, Panel Says
The most vital component of true immigration reform is consistent enforcement of existing laws, according to a panel of experts who gathered in Washington, D.C., on Friday to discuss the influx of illegal aliens into the United States...

Bin Laden Tries to Put Religious Spin on Darfur Conflict
Osama bin Laden is trying to portray the bloodshed in western Sudan as part of a Western anti-Islamic crusade, even though aggressors and victims of the three-year-old Darfur conflict are Muslims...

McKinney Orders Reporter Not to Air Public Comments
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia Democrat who allegedly punched a Capitol Hill police officer, is pulling no punches with the media -- ordering an Atlanta television station not to broadcast derogatory comments she made about a member of her staff on Saturday...

Chinese, Russian sales looming in Venezuela
Jane's - Coulsdon,Surrey,UK...
up to 24 Brazilian-made Embraer A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft stalled under a threat from the US government to block the transfer to Venezuela of any ...

Venezuela's Chavez May Escalate Fight With Exxon, Oil Producers
Bloomberg - USA...
Eulogio del Pino, a vice president at the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, said the government may consider taking a controlling 51 percent stake ...

Bulgaria OKs 3 bases for U.S. troops
Bulgaria has agreed to open three military bases to permanent use by 2,500 U.S. troops who would be available for combat in the Middle East and other nearby regions. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will seal the deal when she visits the country this .....

Venezuela

Colombia and Peru invited to join Venezuela's Bolivarian ...
VHeadline.com - Worth,IL,USA
... production. " People who claim that Venezuela is leaving CAN because Chavez Frias is being obstinate will not have much success.". ...

Guatemala seeks oil deal with Venezuela
BusinessWeek - USA
APR. 23 5:57 PM ET Guatemala is seeking a deal to buy discounted petroleum from oil-rich Venezuela, Energy and Mines Minister Luis Ortiz said Sunday. ...

Venezuela makes it official: leaves CAN to join Mercosur
MercoPress - Montevideo,Uruguay
The Andean Nations Community, (CAN), secretariat received last weekend Venezuela's official relinquishment from the regional bloc and a request for a meeting ...

No more excuses for Mexico

Why do Mexicans only have one-third the per capita income (on a purchasing power parity basis) of Canadians and only one-fourth that of Americans? The answer is that Mexicans are relatively poor because have been plagued by semidespotic regimes that have ignored the rule of law and often engaged in destructive economic policies.

Mexicans have been free of their Spanish colonial masters for almost 200 years (almost as long as their American neighbors and far longer than Canadians have enjoyed independence). Mexico has a better growing climate than Canada, and it is rich in natural resources -- oil, gas, and metals. Yet Mexican politicians frequently resort to blaming their northern neighbor for their economic woes but would not dare answer the question: "If the U.S. were as poor as Mexico, would Mexico be better off or worse off?"
Too many in the American and world press, and many left-leaning members of the global political class, are willing to buy into the myth that somehow Mexico's self-induced misery is the fault of the U.S. More.

OPEC agrees to leave oil output unchanged - Venezuela
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
DOHA (Reuters) - OPEC oil ministers have agreed to leave the group's 28 million barrels per day output ceiling unchanged, Venezuela's oil minister said on ...

Sunday, April 23, 2006

'NYT' Sunday Preview: Madeleine Albright Can Leg-Press 400 Pounds

NEW YORK - In an interview in the The New York Times Magazine that will appear this coming Sunday, Madeleine Albright reveals, among other things, that even at 68, she works out three times a week "and I can leg-press up to 400 pounds." This follows a discussion of how she does not expect to re-marry, partly because, as she says, "I'm intimidating, don't you think?"

I will not comment. I'll let my silence speak for itself.

GLOBAL JIHAD

Islamist protest in N.Y. –
'Mushroom cloud on way'
Rally at Israeli consulate features pictures
of Muslim flags flying over White House


"A New York rally by the Islamic Thinkers Society outside the Israeli consulate yesterday featured chants of "The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real holocaust is on its way!"

The demonstration by the Queens-based group was monitored by the Investigative Project on Terrorism whose members noted signs including "Islam will Dominate" and a picture with an Islamic flag flying over the White House." Full article.

They need to be arrested and thrown in jail and prosecuted on Federal charges. We have to stop this sort of thing now. This is just the beginning. And don't give me any mumbo-jumbo about free speech. This is terrorism and incitement, plain and simple. Free speech does not allow for this crap.

Venezuela: A commemoration for the 70,000 that died under Chavez
V Crisis - London,England,UK


By Daniel Duquenal.

Acuestate por la Vida: commemorating the 70.000 deaths by violence in Venezuela in the last 6 years. Since Hugo Chavez has become president in 1998, the toll of violent death from crime has been multiplied by three. Violent crime has become the number one cause of death for young men between 15 and 25 year old. The weekend roll of death reads more like the death toll of a civil war than what 'normal' crime would read. Caracas has become the most violent capital of the Americas. The government seems helpless, bereft of ideas, or, worse, welcoming such a disaster that distracts people from the other woes that we suffer at the hand of the regime. More.

Frosty Woolridge writes:
Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers died for this country. They fought for the liberty of this sovereign nation. They gave their lives for the U.S. Constitution. They gave their last full measure for America. They did not die so any president could violate his oath of office by not protecting America’s borders. They didn’t give their lives so 535 congressmen could pander away the rights of citizenship to an invading armada from Mexico. Those brave soldiers didn’t die so illegal aliens could degrade U.S. citizenship by receiving it after breaking America’s laws. It’s wrong; it’s immoral; it’s unethical; it’s against everything those soldiers fought for and we stand for--as a nation and as a people.

“Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave.” Congresswoman Barbara Jordan

“The simple truth is that we’ve lost control of our own borders, and a nation cannot do that and survive.” Ronald Reagan

“I believe that any nation that wants to control its borders can do so.” General Tommy Franks

But what does it mean to allow our country to be overrun by millions of illegal aliens who march for their ‘rights’ in our streets when they possess no rights in our country? What does it mean that our military fight and die in Iraq while our own borders suffer invasion? Why do 35,000 of our troops guard South Korea’s borders perfectly for 40 years when our own borders suffer thousands invading nightly? What do our brave soldiers die for if it isn’t for love of country, for sovereignty and for community?

"STUDENT" PROTESTS OR LEFTIST FRONT?

By Dorothy A. Seese

Most headlines about demonstrations, riots and other antisocial behavior involve "students." Or so the media reports. It would appear that genuine students would have a bit much on their hands with their studies and career objectives to go prowling about various cities swinging clubs and throwing rocks. But, one has only to look back to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to find some gullible students with an airheaded view of the future, no practical experience, and well-trained revolutionary mentors guiding their enthusiastic lust for a good old brawl and the creation of some better world for all. In each case, students left alone without any organizers would produce few, if any, revolutionary marches, protests or demonstrations. Read on.

United States of North America

By Steven Yates

Elitists in the United States, Mexico, and Canada are plotting to merge these three nations into a single regional government similar to the European Union. Read on.

Chinese man admits plot to import missiles to US

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Chinese national living in Southern California admitted on Wednesday trying to arrange the sale from China to the United States of 200 shoulder-fired missiles that can be used to bring down airplanes.

Chao Tung Wu, 51, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to conspiring to import the missiles for a buyer who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

When Wu was indicted in November along with another man, Yi Qing Chen, they became the first people charged under a 2004 U.S. law forbidding the import of aircraft-destroying missile systems into the United States, officials said. More.

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."

-- Winston Churchill, 1948

"Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left. While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another, they both march in the same direction."

-- Paul Proctor