Heavy-Handed Politics: May 21, 2006

THE 'RAID' OF REP. JEFFERSON'S OFFICE

What was the FBI was looking for in Rep. Jefferson's office?

"The FBI already seems to have him dead to rights on the bribery charge. It has confessions from the businessman who bribed him, and from a member of Mr. Jefferson's staff. There is a videotape of the bribery transaction. And the FBI found the bribe money ($90,000 in cash) wrapped in tin foil, which was hidden in Mr. Jefferson's refrigerator."

What else would they need to make him Jack Abramoff's roomate? Any additional evidence wouldn't seem to serve any useful purpose. It would be overkill unless the FBI was looking for accomplices, or perhaps evidence of other crimes.

Methinks thou dost protest too much.

Our Imperial Congress

ABOUT TAXES

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man .... which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.
- G. Gordon Liddy

"Iran's president Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad wrote a letter offering to fly to Washington, DC and negotiate. It's a trip he'll never forget. Dick Cheney will take him to the firing range, then Patrick Kennedy can drive him back to the embassy." —Argus Hamilton

"Apparently the American establishment has finally taken to heart the teaching of Karl Marx: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. America should house and feed and educate and provide health care and employ all the world according to our ability. And surely the people of the world will provide the need. And why not? After all, it is just dumb luck that each of us finds ourselves in God-blessed America. Well, if we keep going at this rate we will soon run out of luck. But apparently we will never run out of dumb." —Tony Blankley

"Why do the same people who don't trust the government to spy on terrorists, lest dissenters get caught up in the web, so often also urge giving government control over our health care?" —James Taranto

Sea Transportation: Organizing Against Pirates

The Indonesian-Malaysian-Singaporean anti-piracy organization is showing demonstrable success in reducing the frequency of piracy acts in the Straits of Malacca. This success is persuading others to develop similar organizations.

Canada fraud scheme linked to terrorist activities

CALGARY - A criminal cell operating across Canada is funnelling millions of dollars to Dubai to fund terrorist activities through a sophisticated credit/debit card fraud scheme, says the head of Alberta's Integrated Response to Organized Crime unit.

It is but one of a number of ''extremely prevalent'' organized crime groups reaping huge profits from an old crime with a new twist, says Insp. Joan McCallum.

''You can make a million dollars a weekend in Calgary,'' said McCallum, noting the group also travels a ''circuit'' from Vancouver to Calgary to Toronto to Montreal. ''For one of the groups, it (cash) goes straight to terrorism in Dubai and some of the other countries. They live on nothing and send all their money to fund terrorist activities.'' Read more ...

Palestine ripe for al-Qaida

AMMAN, Jordan, May 27 (UPI) -- As if the Palestinian issue needs more complications, there are growing indications that al-Qaida is penetrating the Palestinian territories to set up a presence in the heart of the Middle East conflict.

The indications, although hazy, are nevertheless raising serious questions and concerns over what an added al-Qaida factor would do amid inter-Palestinian tensions, deteriorating economic conditions and a comatose peace process. Read on.

Mexican candidate warns of election violence

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The presidential candidate for Mexico's main opposition party, Roberto Madrazo, warned on Wednesday that campaigning might turn violent if his opponents do not tone down their rhetoric.

Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is in an ugly war of words with President Vicente Fox, who he says is illegally using government resources to back conservative candidate Felipe Calderon.

Lopez Obrador said on Monday the president had "verbal incontinence" and accused Fox last week of being a plaything for the United States because he failed to resist U.S. plans to halt illegal immigration. Read on.

Taliban Offensive Shot to Pieces

From The Strategy Page

"The last two weeks have seen an ambitious Taliban offensive shot to pieces. As many as a thousand Taliban gunmen, in half a dozen different groups, have passed over the Pakistani border, or been gathered within Afghanistan, and sent off to try and take control of remote villages and districts. The offensive was a major failure, with nearly half the Taliban getting killed, wounded or captured. Afghan and Coalition casualties were much less, although you wouldn't know that from the mass media reports (which made it all look like a Taliban victory). The Taliban faced more mobile opponents, who had better intelligence. UAVs, aircraft and helicopters were used to track down the Taliban, and catch them. Thousands of Afghan troops and police were in action, exposing some of them to ambush, as they drove to new positions through remote areas."

Fair use.

'Amnesty' jams compromise bill
One of the top House negotiators on immigration said yesterday the only way a final compromise bill can pass is if the Senate drops its path to citizenship for current illegal aliens, even as Sen. John McCain announced plans to try to broker a deal.

Hard-driving Colombian leads for 2d term

Staunch US ally goes against leftward trend

BOGOTÁ -- Intense and hard-driving, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe doesn't hesitate to call aides on their cellphones before dawn when a brainstorm hits him or on Sundays when he needs help answering a question at one of his town hall meetings.

His passionate, hands-on approach to leadership has helped him drastically improve security and jumpstart economic growth in this war-ravaged nation -- and has made him the frontrunner to win reelection tomorrow. It would be a rare victory of a staunchly pro-American candidate in Latin America after a string of wins by leftists.

Numerous polls predict a solid win for the diminutive, right-of-center politician who resembles a school principal in his tidy sweater vests and spectacles, yet is as fiery as any Latin strongman. But Uribe, the most popular Colombian president in memory, will face daunting expectations in a second four-year term. Read on.

I Hope They Stick to Their Guns

House GOP draws line on immigration ; Leaders won't back Senate's citizenship plan

House Leaders Concede FBI Right to Search

WASHINGTON (AP) - House leaders acknowledged Friday that FBI agents with a court-issued warrant can legally search a congressman's office, but they said they want procedures established after agents with a court warrant took over a lawmaker's office last week. Read on.

Hat tip to Greg at Neg di san fe; Bondye fe san di.

(Greg is in the Navy and "getting ready to retire in the next few years." Since it is Memorial weekend, what better time to say thanks, Greg, for your service to our country.)

Abbas delivers talks ultimatum to Hamas
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued an ultimatum to Hamas yesterday, calling on it to accept the principle of a state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip or submit to a national referendum on the issue.

This would be catastrophic...

...... because the Senate's bill is garbage.

House GOP expected to yield on legislation
The House is the only obstacle that stands between President Bush and a comprehensive immigration bill, and the White House yesterday predicted that the chamber's Republicans will give in.

Senate OKs citizenship for illegal aliens
The Senate yesterday easily approved an immigration bill that allows 10 million illegal aliens to become citizens, doubles the flow of legal immigration each year and will cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $54 billion over the next 10 years.

THE FATE OF FRANCE

This is what Pierre Lellouche, who represents Paris (4th district) in the National Assembly (France's Parliament) and is President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly says about France today:

France is at the end of the road. In 25 years of governing by Mitterand and Chirac, they have done nothing to prepare France for modernity. We have the largest public jobs sector, as a percentage of the working population, of any country in the world. Out of a population of 22 million adults capable of working, six million work for the government, three million are on welfare, and three million are unemployed. 55% of France's working population doesn't work, or really work.

France's only hope is for a new government willing to fight an unprecedented war against the welfare state and public sector unions.

As it is now, we are exporting our best and brightest, who are emigrating out of France by the hundreds of thousands to Silicon Valley, New York, London, and elsewhere. In their place, we are importing millions of unskilled and illiterate Moslems from Africa and as far away as Pakistan, most of whom go on welfare.

SENATE SHAMNESTY
By Congressman Dana Rohrabacher

Right now, the Senate is desperately trying to convince the American people that their immigration bill is something else - anything else - than what it is: a massive amnesty for all 15 million to 20 million illegal aliens without any meaningful enforcement provisions.

The same open-borders crowd that has betrayed the American middle class for years is hoping to fool us again.

This "shamnesty" bill spells out the level of contempt the Senate has for middle-class Americans. This "comprehensive" bill includes:

Read more...

Also last week, the upper chamber passed a resolution declaring English the national language. Symbolic, yes, but in the interest of full disclosure, some 34 senators voted against English—we presume because they had some other language in mind: Reid, Clinton, Kerry, Kennedy, Feingold, Biden and Schumer. Come to think of it, they're all fluent in double-speak.

Source: The Patriot

ANWR

I just recently posted that the House Okays ANWR Oil Drilling. A frequent reader commented that the House finally got one right. This was said, because as you may recall, the House recently shot down a proposal to drill offshore for oil and natural gas.

The House has not been the problem when it comes to drilling in ANWR; it has voted to do so a number of times in recent years (under GOP control). But ANWR drilling never makes it past the Senate.

I get so disgruntled - no - make that steamed - with our government and its moronic, self-serving attitude.

Not only that, but special interest groups, in this case, primarily enviro wackos, throw road blocks at every turn and our congressional leaders "stumble, fall down, pick themselves up, turn around, and go back home" and therefore nothing ever gets accomplished.

Frankly, I'm tired of listening to their excuses. They will not allow ourselves to drill off shore, or drill in ANWR, or build refineries, and then complain about high prices and being dependent on foreign oil.

It makes no sense. It ticks me off. As long as we have to rely on unfriendly, unstable third world countries whether it be in the Middle East, or tin pot dictators like Hugo Chavez (yes I know he was "democratically elected" and "Jimma" Carter said it was a good, clean election - and when was the last time he was wrong?) we leave ourselves, our economy, our way of life, at risk.

It does not impact our leaders, therefore they lack real incentive to fix the problem. They make more money than I so they don't "feel my pain", and they can fly around in jets across the country on "business" and back home when on break. They really don't get it.

Then in their infinite wisdom, the "solution" they come up with is to tax the oil companies more, i.e. windfall profit tax. Any imbecile can see that this has no relationship, none, zero, zip, nadda, to the foreign oil dependency problem. It's motive is only to "punish" the oil companies for "excess profits", whatever the hell that means.

And again, any half-wit should be able to think through the fallacy of this:

Taxes are an expense to a business. Expenses are costs. Costs are a part of doing business. Total costs of a business are calculated and their products are marked up to cover said costs and make a profit (AND THEREIN LIES THE TRUE RUB IN THIS DISCUSSION THAT NO ONE WILL ADMIT - PROFITS ARE EVIL) so that there is a return on investment, shareholders get paid and willing to keep invested or to invest even more. "It's what makes the world go 'round."

Simply put, increased taxes create increased costs and are passed onto the consumer and we will pay EVEN MORE AT THE PUMP!

YIKES! Why is this so hard to figure out?

Blair urges United Nations reform
BBC Bulgaria - Bulgaria
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for the reform of the United Nations in a key foreign policy speech in the US. He said the ...

Hayden Confirmed

The Senate, this morning, confirmed Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director. I must admit I was a little surprised that Hayden was confirmed by such a lopsided 78-15 margin, with 14 Dems and Republican Arlen Specter saying "nay."

Among the left, some of those voting "nay" were, Evan Bayh, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. And they all seem to have presidential aspirations.

Hmmmmm....

Political storm brews in Latin America

Fair use.

WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

UNITED NATIONS — There’s a hemispheric storm brewing in Latin America. The political weather front has moved from the Caribbean island of Cuba into the rich oil fields of Venezuela, and stalled over the mineral rich mining country of the high Andes in Bolivia. This tempest, while nurtured in the political hothouse in Havana, has been financed by petro-dollars in Caracas, and has looked to La Paz as a proving ground. It’s all part of an intensely important series of events largely overlooked, if misunderstood, in the USA.

What’s called the “Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America,” an innocuous enough sounding economic plan, could become the political template for key countries in Latin America. The name evokes Simon Bolivar, the 19th century nationalist liberator of much of Latin America from Spanish rule. The regional plan is meant to play on the very genuine nationalist themes which are being tragically twisted by the totalitarian temptations of the late 20th century.

Decided upon in a recent Havana meeting of the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia, the model envisages a Marxist alternative to free markets and more importantly brings back the militant political rhetoric of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales the proletarian triumvirate, are the primary players—so far. Confrontational anti-Americanism, and more potently the new Bolivian government nationalizing of foreign firms, has created an atmosphere which happily has not been seen in a generation. Read on.

Iran sees global, anti-U.S. entente: Russia, China, India . . .

Iran aims to form an axis of powerful nations against the United States.
WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

Officials said Iran has sought to recruit a coalition that would oppose U.S. interests in the Middle East and Central Asia. They said the alliance would include nuclear powers.

"China, Russia, India and Iran are capable of establishing a pole of major powers in Asia, opposing the policies of America," Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi said.

Vietnam-Venezuela relations continue upturn
Nhan Dan - Hanoi,Vietnam
Vietnam and Venezuela have signed an agreement on visa requirement exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports. The ...

Venezuela Expands Its Influence in Bolivia
Houston Chronicle - United States

LA PAZ, Bolivia- Oil rich Venezuela's increasing influence in Bolivia will be sealed with a penstroke Friday when presidents Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales ...

Olmert's Plea

By Janet Parshall
Beyond The News

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met for the first time with President Bush this week. Among the topics covered were Iran and Olmert's proposal to withdraw from 90 percent of Judea and Samaria.

But danger lurks in the concept of further withdrawals. When Israel withdrew from Gaza, the thanks they received was a Hamas majority in the newly-formed Palestinian Legislative Council. Israeli security will be greatly weakened by offering yet more territory to terrorists--and more terrorists will translate into a greater threat that could easily spill over into the broader Middle East.

President Bush continues to talk about a two state solution. While conceding land, Olmert is also discussing partitions in the city of Jerusalem, a goal clearly articulated by the PLO charter years ago.

With the proposed withdrawal, Hamas and al-Qaeda will take over the territory. Olmert needs to stand firm and wait to see if its neighbor is also willing to sacrifice for peace.

Bush seals papers FBI seized in House raid

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday ordered records seized by the FBI during last Saturday's raid of a congressman's office to be sealed for 45 days, hoping to avert a court battle over separation of powers.

Bush acted in response to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who has said the raid was an unconstitutional intrusion of the executive branch into a congressional office and has demanded that the papers be returned. Read on.

Jordan's Threat: Iran, Hamas & al-Qaeda

Jordan Fears Power Vacuum of an Israeli West Bank Pullout, Calls Iran A Threat as al-Qaeda Assembles

By Steve Schippert

Jordanian Parliament Speaker Abdel Hadi Majali warned that Iran is a threat to Jordanian security, regardless of whether US military strikes take place or not. Citing Iranian involvement in Iraq and their support for Hamas, Majali said, “Iran is threatening Jordan’s security and it is targeting the stability of the country and not ousting its regime. Iran poses a real threat on Jordan. Jordan will be harmed whether Iran was the target of a military operation or not.”

Jordan has long accused Hamas of using Jordanian territory and citizens for terrorist activities, including the capture of weapons stashes and Hamas arrests. Iran has openly supported Hamas, especially since their election victory and dominance in the PA, seeking increased influence in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Today, Jordan is urging President Bush to reject Olmert’s planned Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Jordan fears that the vacuum created would inflame the region and create serious instability within the Hashemite Kingdom, largely comprised of their own Palestinian population. According to an unnamed Bush Administration official, “The bottom line from the Jordanians was: ‘We have enough of a problem with al-Qaeda and Hamas. This makes it worse?’” Read on.

House Okays ANWR Oil Drilling

CNSNews
May 25

"In a vote of 225 to 201, the House Thursday approved a bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling, the Associated Press reports. Supporters say drilling in ANWR would provide one million barrels a day of additional domestic oil, thus reducing dependence on foreign oil. "We need to develop energy, here at home. ... We can't say no to everything," AP quoted Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) as saying. The bill's detractors, meanwhile, say that drilling would harm the wildlife in ANWR and that Congress should look into alternative sources of energy. "There are simply some places that should be off limits to drilling. The Arctic refuge should be one of them," AP quoted Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) as saying."

Saudi Schools Still Teach Hatred for West, Report States

The Saudi government has not only broken its promise and failed to eliminate anti-western rhetoric from its public school textbooks, some Saudi-funded schools on U.S. soil continue to incite violence, a Persian Gulf watchdog group alleged Wednesday. One of those schools -- The Islamic Saudi Academy -- is located in Alexandria, Va., a short drive from the nation's capital, according to the Institute for Gulf Affairs in a report that it released in conjunction with the human rights group, Freedom House. "They are telling Saudi students and American students of the Academy that you must hate Christians and Jews and consider them enemies until the Day of Judgment and at the end of time," said Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs. "This is very dangerous because this is how you get a terrorist at the end of the day." Full Story

Iran

Bush, Olmert agree on Iran deadline
Hindustan Times - India
US President George W Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have agreed on a timetable for American intervention to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear ...

Major powers likely to meet on Iran next week: US
Reuters - USA
... powers are likely to meet late next week in Europe to complete work on a package of incentives and disincentives aimed at resolving the Iran nuclear crisis ...

Blair says not "targeting Iran"
Reuters.uk - UK
... will soon have about 13,000 soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, does not want to add to its burden by starting a conflict with Iran, Prime Minister Tony ...

Problem sound familiar?

New Italian minister's plan to legalize 500,000 immigrants angers ...
Brandon Sun - Manitoba, Canada
... When Silvio Berlusconi was premier, his conservative government cracked down on illegal immigrants, and his opposition forces on Thursday denounced the move as ...

But I wish we only 500, 000 to worry about.

A Message We Cannot Afford to Send

By Hugh Hewitt
Beyond The News

As the U.S. and the permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany gather in London this week to consider the response to the Iranian rush to nuclear weapons, they should carefully consider the price of inaction by the League of Nations in the 1930s. At every provocation from Hitler or Mussolini, the League and its members did little or nothing, and with each victory, the fascists took additional security that the democracies would never stand in their way.

Now the mullahs of Iran and their increasingly global oriented and media-savvy President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are drawing dangerous conclusions about the U.N. and the willingness of its most powerful members to stop their nuclear ambitions. Another set of weak responses will telegraph to Tehran the message they have been receiving for years: Full speed ahead. No one will stop you.

This is a message we cannot afford to send.

Hastert Asks FBI for Documents From Jefferson Raid

Sorry, Denny. You guys are not above the law. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound. Most likely not. But you should listen to yourselves. You sound like a bunch of elitists. Are you - elitists? Are you - above the law?

The documents were asked for. The request was turned down. A warrant was requested from a judge, and one was gotten. You know what warrants are, right? Those are the "things" that everyone is up in arms over because they were not gotten for the "eavesdropping" program by the NSA and has caused such a tumult.

To think that a crime could be committed by someone in Congress and all they would have to do is hide the evidence in "their office," and thereby get away with said crime, is preposterous and insulting. Oh, and by the way, it is not "your office." It belongs to the people. We, the people. You are on the public's dole. And we are letting you use that office space temporarily until we see fit; meaning until we decide to throw your ass out. It's getting close to that time.

"To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress [in the Constitution], is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition." —Thomas Jefferson

RELATED:
Officials Defend Raid on Lawmaker's Office

Psycmeistr's Ice Palace: What part of a signed search warrant...don't you understand?

No kidding

Economic Growth in Mexico Would Eliminate Illegal Immigration, Fox Says.

Yes, it probably would; so what's the plan Stan?

Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday that immigration is the most pressing challenge to the relationship between his country and the United States, but it also is their greatest opportunity.

Building a wall on the border is not the answer to illegal immigration into the United States, he said on his second day of a four-day visit to the western U.S. (I beg to differ.)

"One cannot underestimate the importance of this moment and how complex this issue is for our two nations," Fox told a special session of the Utah Legislature. "Since the beginning of my administration, the government of Mexico has promoted the establishment of a new system that regulates the movement of people across our border in a manner which is legal, safe and orderly."

Really?! Again, I beg to differ!! If what you say is true, that you have established "a new system that regulates the movement of people across the border," and I have strong reservations that it is true, maybe it's time to stop promoting it. Why in the hell don't you try implementing it? Because right now, they are not crossing the border legally, nor safely, nor orderly.

And for you to say that they are, makes you a big bald face liar.

Or maybe this "regulation" of yours means your government is complicit in the smuggling of Mexican nationals, and you are the ones paying the "coyotes" to "export" them to Meximerica.

Complete article.

"The love may have gone out of the marriage between conservatives and Mr. Bush. But both sides need to work hard to patch things up. If we don't, the divorce court may award Nancy Pelosi one House, and Hillary may be able to grab the other." —Jed Babbin

"A nonprofit group, Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), surveyed people in 130 countries. They found that much of the world perceives Americans to be loud, arrogant, ignorant, rude, boastful and unwilling to listen. Has Teddy Kennedy been globe-trotting again?" —Tom Purcell

JOHN "BIG BERTHA" MURTHA

"Rep. John Murtha, who last year called for the immediate pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, [has] accused an entire Marine company of murdering 15 Iraqis 'in cold blood.' Mr. Murtha claims he received his information from sources inside the Pentagon, which is conducting an investigation into the Nov. 15 incident in the town of Haditha. That investigation is not yet completed, which makes Mr. Murtha's accusation not only irresponsible, but an egregious violation of ethical conduct by a sitting congressman. Mr. Murtha concedes that he has not read any part of the Pentagon's unfinished report. All he has are his 'sources.'... The incident in question occurred when a roadside bomb struck a Humvee carrying Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. What happened next is the subject of the Pentagon investigation, but 15 Iraqis were in fact killed... What's important to remember is that if the Marines did act outside the rules of combat, they will be tried by a military court martial—not by Jack Murtha, a former Marine who should know better. Which makes us wonder if there's an ulterior motive behind his indefensible comments: 'Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood,' he said. Mr. Murtha is actually accusing the Bush administration of murder, because of the 'pressure' it has put on U.S. troops... Mr. Murtha obviously has a problem with the Bush administration and the Iraq war. Fair enough. But he should leave the troops out of his vendetta." —The Washington Times

"[E]ndless repetition is not a coherent argument." —Thomas Sowell

ECHO CHAMBER

"The Democratic economic policy is higher taxes, more spending and bigger government. Republicans aren't much better. Their policy is lower taxes, more spending and bigger government. That's an echo, not a choice." —Cal Thomas

INDEED, IT IS SO

"Thoughtful people who recoil from many repugnant aspects of contemporary politics should squarely face the fact that big government begets bad politics." —George Will

"We essentially have an NFL draft where the United States has the first, oh, million or so draft picks. And rather than exercising those picks, i.e., choosing by whatever criteria we want—such as education, enterprise, technical skills and creativity—we admit the tiniest fraction of the best and brightest and permit millions of the unskilled to pour in instead." —Charles Krauthammer

Debate and Dishonesty

"The federal government currently requires some counties to print ballots and other election materials in foreign languages—a mandate which is, to say the least, a little curious. If someone must learn English to be a citizen, and only citizens can vote, why is there a need for bilingual ballots? Such is the level of dishonesty in today's immigration debate." —Newt Gingrich

Cultural Exceptionalism

"Instead of a national commitment to assimilation, a cynical multiculturalism—often state-mandated—sends the message that our culture is no better than any other, so there is no particular reason to embrace the American experience." —Jeff Jacoby

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them." —Malcolm Forbes

Commentary

Criminal Stupidity
By Rich Galen
Hello? Earth to the VA: You mean to tell me that you have the unencrypted files of 26.5 million veterans on a computer -- files that can be downloaded to a laptop that any dope in the department can take home? Department of Veterans Affairs, let me introduce you to the Department of Homeland Security…

Indiana woman turns in wallet containing $1,200

Traffic aide arrested after ticketing cop

Anti-Gang Strategy Taking Shape at Justice Department
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has announced a new national strategy to crack down on violent street gangs. The government now believes there are more than 21,500 gangs in the U.S., and more than 700,000 gang members...

Clinton Seeks ‘Energy Revolution’ Fueled by Higher Taxes

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) Tuesday called for an “energy revolution” based on greater fuel efficiency as well as a $50 billion research fund financed largely through higher taxes on oil company profits. A GOP spokesman responded that the plan is just “partisanship, political pandering and yesterday's mistakes.”

Federal pay outpaces private-sector pay
From the Cato Institute

Network lovefest surrounds Gore’s global warming movie and book, as he gets reporters to dance to his tune.

Media ♥ Al Gore
By Dan Gainor and Amy Menefee

Business & Media Institute
May 24, 2006

John Lennon once wrote that “All you need is love.” If that’s the case, former presidential candidate Al Gore is a happy man. He is in the middle of a media lovefest celebrating his work, his career – even his efforts as actor, author, dancer and comedian.

The former vice president has both a movie and a book about global warming debuting today under the title “An Inconvenient Truth.” He has gone from media darling to “the summer’s most unlikely movie star,” as NBC’s Katie Couric called him in a May 24 interview. Gore, who Couric also called “funny, vulnerable, disarming, self effacing,” isn’t just a movie star, he’s a media star. He has appeared or been mentioned on 23 news and news-related shows in just the last month (April 23-May 23) on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. Read on.

Yeh, right. He's Mr. ~~Eccentric~~ Electric.

Did Global Warming Stop in 1998?

By Dennis T. Avery
Web Commentary

The official thermometers at the U.S. National Climate Data Center show a slight global cooling trend over the last seven years, from 1998 to 2005.

[snip]

Bob Carter, a paleoclimatologist from Australia, notes that the earth also had strong global warming between 1918 and 1940. Then there was a long cooling period from 1940 to 1965. He points out that the current warming started 50 years before cars and industries began spewing consequential amounts of CO2. Then the planet cooled for 35 years just after the CO2 levels really began to surge. In fact, says Carter, there doesn’t seem to be much correlation between temperatures and man-made CO2.

[snip]

Carter also warns that global cooling—not likely for some centuries yet—is likely to be far harsher for humans than the Modern Warming. He says, “our modern societies have developed during the last 10,000 years of benignly warm, interglacial climate. But for more than 90 percent of the last 2 million years, the climate has been colder, and generally much colder, than today. The reality of the climate record is that a sudden natural cooling is more to be feared, and will do infinitely more social and economic damage, than the late 20th century phase of gentle warming.”

Full commentary.

Pentagon Finds China Fortifying Its Long-Range Military Arsenal
Washington Post - United States
China's military buildup is increasingly aimed at projecting power far beyond its shores into the western Pacific to be able to interdict US aircraft carriers ...

Immigration

Senate rejects letting all illegal immigrants stay
WHBF - Rock Island,IL,USA
CAPITOL HILL The Senate has rejected one plan to allow the estimated 12 (m) million illegal immigrants in the US to remain, work and eventually become Americans ...

Bill would ban illegal immigrants from count that determines House ...
KTVQ-TV - Billings,MT,USA
from the population counts that determine the number of US HELENA Representative Denny Rehberg has introduced legislation that would exclude illegal immigrants...

Senate Backs Job Verification for Immigrants
New York Times - United States
... The measure, approved 58 to 40, is included in a bill that would legalize the vast majority of the nation's illegal immigrants, which is expected to pass the ...

Senate Votes to Double Fines for Illegal Immigrants
KFDM-TV News - Beaumont,Texas,USA
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Senate voted Tuesday to fine employers who hire illegal immigrants up to $20,000 for each unauthorized worker, providing teeth to a broad ...

China, Japan fail to resolve row
CNN International - USA
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Foreign ministers from China and Japan met Wednesday for their first bilateral talks in a year, but reports said the meeting failed to ...

A Harvard prof reflects on the hollowness of higher ed.

BY VINCENT J. CANNATO

On immigration, it's time to get real

BY MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG

Entertainment Overwhelming Reality

By Albert Mohler
Beyond The News

Media critic Neal Gabler has suggested that popular entertainment is turning the nation into a giant transcontinental soap opera. Individual citizens are creating "life movies" starring themselves, and the entertainment industry has become "a force so overwhelming that it has finally metastasized into life."

Gabler's assessment comes immediately to mind in light of the way Hollywood and the entertainment industry are repackaging reality--even when dealing with issues as intimate as the realities of family life and the institution of marriage. Critic Lee Siegel argues that shows like HBO's "Big Love" are fueling a moral revolution--by presenting lifestyles like polygamy as, well ... normal.

In other words, entertainment threatens to overwhelm reality. Popular entertainment has become an ocean of abnormality posing as normal.

Now that polygamy is presented as a natural theme for popular entertainment, what comes next?

The Useless Nations

United Nations Calls for End to US Torture
The Progress Report - USA
... which has committed to complying with the treaty before the nations of the ... detailed report, Enduring Abuse: Torture and Cruel Treatment by the United States at ...

Senate likely to pass bill on aliens
The Senate is expected to approve as early as today the most significant and wide-ranging immigration reform legislation in two decades.

ACLU Disappointed By Committee Vote of Support for General Hayden

Stop The ACLU points out this gem:

Via ACLU Website:

The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its alarm over the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence vote to confirm General Michael V. Hayden as the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The committee voted 12 to 3 to name the former Director of the National Security Agency to the highest position at the CIA.

The ACLU is a non-partisan organization, and takes no position on Hayden’s nomination.

Heh, heh. They express alarm over the Senate Select Committee's vote to confirm, but yet at the same time take no position on his nomination. Go figure.

Above the law?

I was disgusted when I heard the comments of Speaker Hastert; he was complaining about Congressman Jefferson's office being searched saying it was a violation of the separation of powers. Jefferson of course is being investigated for bribery.

Neal Boortz sums up my feelings nicely saying, "The most amazing part of the story is how Republicans are circling the wagons around Jefferson. They're actually complaining that the evil FBI searched a Congressional office. Evidently this is the first time in 219 years this has taken place. The Speaker of the House got particularly huffy, saying "Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this separation of powers line in order to successfully prosecute corruption by members of Congress."

Here we have the true outrage. Somehow Speaker Hastert and several members of the congress from both sides of the aisle seem to feel that they are above the law. Bribery and corruption may be wrong, but as long as the evidence of that bribery and corruption is in a congressman's office it can't be touched. How many of US can claim that our offices are beyond the reach of a qualified law enforcement agent with a valid search warrant? Not even churches can claim that special status, yet our elected officials in Washington can."

The truth about "global warming" is much less dire than Al Gore wants you to think.

BY PETE DU PONT

Antiwar myths about Iraq, debunked.

BY PETER WEHNER

Let's not start panicking yet, folks

Seven Indonesian Bird Flu Cases Linked to Patients

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- All seven people infected with bird flu in a cluster of Indonesian cases can be linked to other patients, according to disease trackers investigating possible human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus.

A team of international experts has been unable to find animals that might have infected the people, the World Health Organization said in a statement today. In one case, a 10-year- old boy who caught the virus from his aunt may have passed it to his father, the first time officials have seen evidence of a three-person chain of infection, an agency spokeswoman said. Six of the seven people have died. Read on.

Commentary

Drill ANWR: Realism Over Emotion
By Paul M. Weyrich
A vote to permit exploration and development of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is scheduled before Memorial Day. Those who claim a sincere interest in lessening America’s dependence on foreign energy sources have a vested interest in a victory. For the sake of our country, let us hope that each chamber of Congress takes a roll call vote on ANWR and that the vote tallies leave the Greens red with rage…

Libertarians Offer ‘Politician Removal Service’
The Libertarian Party, hoping to capitalize on the public’s apparent discontent with incumbent members of Congress, is offering what it calls a “politician removal service.”

Hayden Confirmation ‘Increasingly Likely,’ Says Top Dem
Despite having overseen the National Security Agency’s controversial domestic surveillance program, Michael Hayden is “increasingly likely” to be confirmed as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, according to the top Democrat on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee...

Paint a target on Murtha

And no, I don't mean any physical harm. Let's get that straight right up front. But it is time to target him and relegate him to the political waste-yard.

It's time to dump John Murtha.

Gary at Let Freedom Ring posts on Murtha, as does Leo at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace. Leo, by the way has a 19 year old son that is serving in Iraq. He left for Iraq just about the same time my nephew returned - safe and sound I might add.

Leo started a new blog, with Gary as a contributor. Way to go guys. Check out the new Murtha Must Go!! blog.

The Inhospitable Dutch

By David Aikman
Beyond The News

For centuries, the Dutch have been famous for providing a place of refuge for victims of religious persecution. Jews, persecuted Protestants and, in the 17th century, the Pilgrim Fathers themselves took refuge in Holland.

But that reputation has recently been tarnished when Dutch immigration authorities decided to strip a famous Somali refugee, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, of her citizenship because she admitted lying during an immigration application more than a decade ago. Ali, an elected member of the Dutch parliament, fled to Holland to escape a coerced marriage and has spoken out against Islamic mistreatment of women.

Ali has now been officially welcomed to the U.S., and may start a new life here. But what a shame for Holland to break its fine tradition of refuge to victims of foreign religious oppression.

"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition."

-- Thomas Jefferson

FTC finds no Katrina gas-price gouging
The Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that it investigated 15 instances of potential price gouging in the wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and found no wrongdoing, with extraordinary market disruptions accounting for pump prices of more than $3 a

Nice Plan 'Feini'

Sen. Feinstein plan expands illegals pool
A Senate Democrat yesterday introduced a proposal to expand the pool of illegal aliens eligible for citizenship to include anyone who sneaked across the border before Jan. 1.

Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act Defended In The United States Supreme Court

ANN ARBOR, MI — The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has submitted a brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting the Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. Joining the Thomas More Law Center in the friend of the court brief are the Catholic League and the National Pro-Life Alliance.

The appeal to the Supreme Court involves a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Nebraska that found the federal Act to be unconstitutional. Two other federal courts of appeal, the Second Circuit in New York and the Ninth Circuit in California, have also ruled the Act unconstitutional.

The Act bans the abortion procedure wherein an unborn baby, generally 20 weeks or longer in gestation, is removed from her mother’s womb, except for the head. The doctor punctures the child’s head, sucks out the child’s brains in order to collapse the skull, and then removes the dead child from the mother.

According to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, “Partial-birth abortion is nothing other than infanticide, and this barbaric procedure must be stopped.”

Read on.

Iranian Students Set Up ‘Demolish Israel Fund’

Clinton Would Lose Hollywood to Gore in 2008, Analysts Say
(CNSNews.com) - If Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) runs for president in 2008, she may lose an important Democratic constituency -- Hollywood -- especially if former Vice President Al Gore also runs, analysts told Cybercast News Service. "Hollywood has gotten excited about Al Gore again," one analyst said...

"The freedom of thought and action we Americans enjoy today seems as natural as the air we breathe. But there is a danger we may take this freedom for granted. We must never forget it was bought for us at a great price. The brave and resourceful Americans whose sacrifices gained our Independence and preserved it for more than 200 years against formidable foes have set an example of unflinching loyalty to the ideal of liberty and justice for all."

—Ronald Reagan

"The reason this country continues its drift toward socialism and big nanny government is because too many people vote in the expectation of getting something for nothing, not because they have a concern for what is good for the country... If children were forced to learn about the Constitution, about how government works, about how this nation came into being, about taxes and about how government forever threatens the cause of liberty perhaps we wouldn't see so many foolish ideas coming out of the mouths of silly old men."

—Lyn Nofziger

"Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families."

—Benjamin Rush

"The overwhelming majority of people exercised about immigration are not remotely racist, prejudiced, bigoted or nativist. They are, however, unapologetic patriots, believers in the American ideal, the American identity and the American culture. They are not slaves to an exclusively capitalistic perspective, realizing that economic considerations —pro and con—are only one part of the equation."

—David Limbaugh

Immigration bill's timeline hit
The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that would administer a new guest-worker program and rule on applications from millions of illegal aliens, says the pending Senate bill doesn't give his agency enough time to prepare for .....

Senate bill protects employers of illegal aliens from penalties
Among those who will be cleared of past crimes under the Senate's proposed immigration-reform bill would be the businesses that have employed the estimated 10 million illegal aliens eligible for citizenship and that provided the very "magnet" that drew .....

China's South America
American Spectator - USA
... Chavez recently visited Iran to stand with the mullahs and warn that oil shipments -- we get about 18% of our oil from Venezuela -- would be interrupted if ...

The left's and the media's love, admiration, and adulation on display

"Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, right, receiveds a warm welcome in London on May 15, 2006. He's waling with the city's mayor, Ken Livingstone."
(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

The USA Today's headline, "Chávez: Hero, Prophet Or Tyrant?"

I am quite sure that he is both hero and prophet in their eyes. Let's see if I'm right. Some excerpts:

That common man's appeal comes largely from places like Venezuela's ramshackle barrios, where the poor and desperate live. About 80 percent of the population here is poor and makes up most of Chávez's political support.

And no wonder. In this neighborhood Chávez is giving away land — promising to build three-bedroom homes to replace shacks like the one Nellie Escalona lives in.

Asked how she viewed Chávez, Escalona says, through a translator, "He's a good President. No other President has done what he has done."

In this town, high in the Andes, Chávez has supplied doctors for the first time in a deal from Cuba, another thorn in the U.S. government's side.

Chávez made a swap with Fidel Castro: He offered Cuba cheap oil, in exchange for some of Cuba's doctors — like Niuris Mereno, who thinks the deal is working.

"Some of these people," she says through a translator, "have never seen a doctor before."

Chávez has also created a system of government-run food stores — where staples like rice and beans now sell for 50 percent less than the market value.

And in schools — where students used to go only for half a day — most now attend all day classes. There they are provided lunch along with literacy.

All sound too good to be true? It's so intriguing that some Americans are coming to see it out for themselves — as tourists.

Vick Vinkey came from Rochester, N.Y. to investigate. "I came here to find out what's happening with what seems to be a massive social experiment."

Yep. As I suspected. He's almost godlike.

More demagoguery:

Venezuela's President Chavez wins hearts and minds in London
Taipei Times - Taiwan
... come to London without being able to speak English can have had such an effect on such a great variety of people as President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has just ...

Russia, Saudi oppose Iran sanctions
IranMania News - Iran
LONDON - Russia and Saudi Arabia said that they were in agreement in opposing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme while ...

Iran welcomes formation of Iraqi government
IranMania News - Iran
LONDON - Iran welcomed the formation of a new Iraqi government, saying it was determined to improve ties with its neighbour and former foe ...

"West concerned about emergence of Iran"
IranMania News - Iran
Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei said that Western countries are deeply concerned about a powerful and nuclear Iran in the ...

US Is Proposing European Shield for Iran Missiles
New York Times - United States
The Bush administration is moving to establish a new antimissile site in Europe that would be designed to stop attacks by Iran against the United ...

China, Germany agree no nuclear weapons for Iran
Reuters - USA
BEIJING - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed at talks in Beijing that Iran should not ...

Venezuela says it will pull out of G-3 trade bloc

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez said Sunday Venezuela will pull out of a trade bloc with Colombia and Mexico, its latest move to abandon trade deals ...

Lawmaker taped accepting cash: court document
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents videotaped Rep. William Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, accepting $100,000 in cash they said was intended as a bribe for a Nigerian official and later...

FBI search of Jefferson's office "outrageous": Attorney
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed the unusual raid at the Rayburn House Office Building on Washington's Capitol Hill but would not say whose office was searched.

Corruption charges burden both parties
Democratic leaders began this year thinking that Republican corruption in Congress would be one of their most lethal campaign weapons, but GOP officials say that firepower has been defused by new accusations of bribery and other abuses against Democrats.

Chavez involvement starting to irritate
Chicago Tribune - United States

... June 4 election. Brazilian officials are bothered by Venezuela's increasing role in Bolivia's gas industry. Brazilian President ...Read on.

VENEZUELA: 'We must unite our forces', says Communist union leader
Green Left Weekly - Chippendale,NSW,Australia

... The CUTV is the Communist Party of Venezuela-led union federation, formed in the early 1960s after the Democratic Action (AD) government, under the direction ...Read on.

WHAT AGGRESSION?

Hands off Venezuela and Cuba!

Solidarity rallies took place in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne as part of a May 20 international day of solidarity with Venezuela and Cuba. The day was initiated by social justice and solidarity groups in the US opposed to their government’s aggression towards the two nations.

The 120-strong Sydney rally, jointly organised by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) and the Australia Cuba Friendship Society, was addressed by John Sutton, assistant-secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, and NSW Greens parliamentarian Sylvia Hale. Read on....

What have I missed?

Well, I guess this what I missed.

'Cuban intelligence has effectively cloned itself inside Venezuelan intelligence,' Thomas A. Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told editors and reporters at the Washington Times. Mr. Shannon was also concerned about the nature of the intelligence relationship that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants with Iran. If this were not disconcerting enough, Venezuela is also providing shelter for organizations with ties to unspecified 'terrorist organizations in the Middle East.' Reports suggest that Hezbollah is one of those unspecified organizations."

And we all know what GW thinks of nations that harbor terrorists.

Hamstringing Intelligence

The hearings to confirm General Michael Hayden as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency have had some unintentional effects. The culpability of Congress in what almost all observers agree is... Read on...

Fitzgerald Distorting the Evidence to Smear Cheney

I've argued that the Special Counsel has criminalized a political dispute and increasingly seems to be using his position, not to advance his case, but to smear the defendant and... Read on...

The Iraq Campaign of the War on Terror

We have done a terrible job explaining the relationship of the "war" in Iraq to the war against the perpetrators of 9/11. Yet they are related. I use "war" in quotes because Iraq is more correctly a campaign in the war against al-Qaida, and this distinction is key to understanding the relationship.

Our primary strategic objective in this war was to prevent further mass-casualty terrorist attacks in the United States and its first campaign was Afghanistan. Read on.