Steele takes active role in Maryland politics, eyes 2010

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele has rebounded from his election loss by returning to an active role in state Republican politics, positioning himself for a potential run for governor in four years. Read more.

Study group to echo Bush

President Bush and the Iraq Study Group are not far apart when it comes to a final plan for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. Read on...

Roughhouse swearing-in

"Felipe Calderon took the oath of office as Mexico's president yesterday amid jeers and whistles, in a lightning-fast ceremony before lawmakers who exchanged punches and insults over the conservative leader's narrow victory." Read more.

NORTH KOREA NEEDS 1 MILLION TONS OF FOOD!!!

From THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS:

"The United Nations is reporting that North Korea is in dire need of approximately 1,000,000 tons of food to fill the mouths of its starving people.

That's a billion kilograms - 2.2 billion pounds of food! That's half a pound of food per day, for 180 days, for 22,912,177 people!

You know what I think - not only do they need something to eat - they NEED A NEW REGIME! Kim has a pot-belly; his people STARVE.

How bad is the problem? In the past, North Koreans have been executed for stealing food. More on the current crisis HERE - from SoKo."

Old, but not confused

I just received an email from someone, you know the ones that ask you to send it on to others. Well I didn't, but I thought I would just post it instead.

"5 million of our older Americans have not signed up yet for their Medicare, Part D, drug plan------they are old and confused. We are not going to grant them an extension.

However,.........12 million illegal aliens are in our country and we are going to allow them to stay, protest, procreate, pay for their medical bills, receive support monies and food stamps, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, have our teachers take 300 hours of ESL (English as a Second Language) training at our expense, etc.

WE MUST REALLY DISLIKE OUR OLD PEOPLE.....OR WE MUST REALLY LOVE ILLEGALS!!!"

It makes a great point doesn't it?

The ACLU Targets Christians

"The ACLU is at it again. With an outrageous boldness that only they could muster, the ACLU has once again set their sights on Christmas celebrations. In their never-ending quest to completely eradicate all things religious from public life, the ACLU’s latest lawsuit is an all-out frontal attack on the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. Let me ask you—when did a children’s Christmas program become “an illegal activity”? When did the nativity story and Christmas songs become unconstitutional? This is the outrageous and dangerous charge the ACLU has leveled against a school district in Tennessee. A children’s Christmas program has been deemed to be an “illegal act” because of the ACLU." Read on...

Are Americans cheap?

"The New York Times and Washington Post editorialize about America's 'stinginess.' Former President Jimmy Carter says when it comes to helping others, 'The rich states don't give a damn.' Standing outside the White House, the singer Bono told the press that America doesn't do enough to help the needy:

'It's the crumbs off our tables that we offer these countries.'

But wait a second ... when talking aid, why do Jolie and the others talk just about what the government gives? Why conflate America with our government? America is the people." Read on.

Why we love government

By Walter Williams

"Unlike today's Americans, the founders of our nation were suspicious, if not contemptuous, of government. Consider just a few of their words.

James Madison suggested that 'All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.' " Read on.

Sore Winners

OpinionJournal : Democrats try to steal an election in Florida.

"Democrats whomped Republicans in last month's midterms, but oddly enough they're still calling in the legal cavalry to contest one of the few races they narrowly lost.

That would be Florida's 13th Congressional District, which runs along the Gulf Coast from just south of Tampa to just north of Fort Myers. The certified winner is Republican Vern Buchanan, who beat Democrat Christine Jennings by fewer than 400 votes out of more than 237,000 cast. Two recounts, which were demanded by Democrats and required by law, have reconfirmed Mr. Buchanan's victory and slightly increased the margin.

Unbowed, the Dems are now suggesting that defective voting machines cost them the race. They point to Sarasota County's 18,000 'undervotes,' or incidences where voters cast ballots in other races but not the Buchanan-Jennings contest. Ms. Jennings--along with such liberal partisans as People for the American Way and the American Civil Liberties Union--has filed a lawsuit contesting the results based on 'statistical and eyewitness evidence of significant machine malfunctions' in Sarasota's iVotronic touch-screen system.

They want a court to declare Ms. Jennings the winner by--get this--using statistical models to extrapolate that she would have received most of the undervotes." Continue.....

Iraq sets timetable for transfer

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said yesterday his country's security forces will soon take responsibility for defending their country, and he and President Bush have agreed to transfer military control faster......" Read more.

Canada blasts United Nations over Mideast conflict

UNITED NATIONS - "Canada told the United Nations yesterday the world body is falling short of doing everything possible to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying member states have failed to set a vision for peace.

'Nothing can replace the actions, commitment and political will of the parties themselves to move forward,' Mr. McNee told delegates in the General Assembly on the first day of the annual Question of Palestine debate.

'But we, member states of the United Nations, can -- and must -- create the momentum, the context and the political horizon that shows a way forward out of the conflict and towards a sustainable peace.'

Like Paul Martin's government, the Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper believe many of the resolutions Arab and Muslim states push through in the UN General Assembly are, on balance, weighted against Israel and not helpful to setting the stage for fair negotiations." Read more....

Kidnappings Raise Fears Near U.S. Border

FOXNews.com

"LAREDO, Texas — For residents of this border city, it was a terrifying yet familiar tale: Three more Texans vanished in the dangerous Mexican countryside across the Rio Grande, abducted amid reports of escalating violence between warring drug cartels.

The weekend kidnapping of a prominent Laredo businessman and two other Texans was the latest of dozens of abductions in recent years that have more people here steering clear of the once-accessible border.

'It's gotten a lot worse within the last year, to the point where you just don't go,' said Angie Cuellar, a Laredo resident and longtime friend of kidnapped businessman Librado Pina Jr., 49. 'I think the thing that scares me the most is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Authorities said 30 to 40 armed men stormed Pina's remote deer-hunting ranch, located on dry scrubland and low rolling hills about 40 miles northwest of Nuevo Laredo. The men abducted Pina; his 25-year-old son, Librado Pina III; David Mueller, 45, of the Sweetwater area; Mexican businessman Fidel Rodriguez Cerdan; and Marcos Ortiz, a Mexican national who works as a cook at the ranch. Mueller and Cerdan were freed Wednesday." Full story.

Former Spy's Wife Positive for Radiation

BREITBART.COM: "An Italian security expert who met with former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko the day he fell fatally ill has also tested positive for the same radioactive substance found in his body, British authorities said Friday.

Litvinenko's wife tested positive as well, a friend said."

Are We Setting the Stage for the Islamic Killing Fields?

By Frank Salvato
The Progressive-Leftists among us constantly try to advance the premise that the root cause for the "tarnished" global image of the United States is our militaristic foreign policy; the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive strikes...

Suspected Venezuela-Islamist Links Worry Lawmakers, Experts

"Counter-terrorism operatives should broaden their focus beyond the Middle East to include hot spots in the remote tri-border region of Latin America and in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez's leftist government is working to undermine U.S. security, key congressional figures and policy analysts say..."

Prospect of Six More Years of Chavez Alarms Conservatives

"The specter of Hugo Chavez winning a new six-year term Sunday has conservative analysts and lawmakers in the U.S. deeply concerned, given the Venezuelan president's anti-American fervor, Russian weapons deals and ties to rogue regimes with nuclear ambitions..."

Court Upholds Ballot Initiative to Save Mt. Soledad Cross

"The California Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a ballot proposition by San Diego voters to donate the property on which the Mt. Soledad Memorial sits to the federal government was constitutional..."

Losing the Enlightenment

A civilization that has lost confidence in itself cannot confront the Islamists.

BY VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

Our current crisis is not yet a catastrophe, but a real loss of confidence of the spirit. The hard-won effort of the Western Enlightenment of some 2,500 years that, along with Judeo-Christian benevolence, is the foundation of our material progress, common decency, and scientific excellence, is at risk in this new millennium.

But our newest foes of Reason are not the enraged Athenian democrats who tried and executed Socrates. And they are not the Christian zealots of the medieval church who persecuted philosophers of heliocentricity. Nor are they Nazis who burned books and turned Western science against its own to murder millions en masse.

No, the culprits are now more often us. In the most affluent, and leisured age in the history of Western civilization--never more powerful in its military reach, never more prosperous in our material bounty--we have become complacent, and then scared of the most recent face of barbarism from the primordial extremists of the Middle East.

Read the rest of this excellent article by Victor Davis Hanson.

What has become of the #2 man?

We have not heard from Al Qaeda's #2 man, al Zawahiri in quite awhile. What has become of him?

It was one month ago, Oct. 31st, when the U.S. conducted an airstrike against a madrassa in the village of Chingai in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt. The U.S. claimed the objective of the U.S. operation was to eliminate a jihadist high-value target. One can assume the target very well may have been the deputy al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The previous attempt, which failed, was back in January, and he wasted little time coming out with a video taunting Bush.

Did we get him this time, or did we miss again, but got so close that he went deep underground?

ANOTHER WORKOUT

Last Friday, I helped someone move. Tomorrow, I get to help someone else move. Hell, maybe I should start my own moving company at this rate.

Russia's Interest in Litvinenko

The recent death of a former Russian intelligence agent, Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned with polonium-210, raises some interesting questions. (a)Was he poisoned by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the modern day successor to the KGB? (b)If they did, why did they? What was their motive? What were they trying to achieve? And, (c)Why use polonium-210? Why not other poisons that they (the KGB) have used in the past?

Litvinenko spent the first part of his adult life as a bureaucrat for the state. Then, exiled, for unknown reasons, he became a vociferous critic of the state he had served. He published two explosive books making serious charges against the FSB and President Vladimir Putin. Most recently, he had been investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist, who also was a critic of Putin's government. He was a major thorn in the side for Moscow.

Stratfor has written on this topic and they sum up their article thusly:

And whatever the public's impression of the case might be, the KGB/FSB has not suddenly returned to the scene. In fact, it never left. Putin has been getting the system back under control for years. The free-for-all over economic matters has ended, and Putin has been restructuring the Russian economy for several years to increase state control, without totally reversing openness. This process, however, requires the existence of a highly disciplined FSB -- and that is not compatible with someone like a Litvinenko publicly criticizing the Kremlin from London. Litvinenko's death would certainly make that point very clear.

To read their very interesting analysis, with some historical perspective, go here.

Also of interest, David Satter wrote a piece for Opinion Journal, "Who Killed Litvinenko?
Try asking Vladimir Putin."

Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela

"Corruption has existed in Venezuela since at least 1821, when it gained independence. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the level of corruption fluctuated, depending on the government in power. During the government of President Hugo Chávez, however, corruption has exploded to unprecedented levels. Billions of dollars are being stolen or are otherwise unaccounted for, squandering Venezuelan resources and enriching high-level officials and their cronies.

The windfall of oil revenues has encouraged the rise in corruption. In the approximately eight years Chávez has been in power, his government has received between $175 billion and $225 billion from oil and new debt. Along with the increase in revenues has come a simultaneous reduction in transparency. For example, the state-owned oil company ceased publishing its consolidated annual financial statements in 2003, and Chávez has created new state-run financial institutions, whose operations are also opaque, that spend funds at the discretion of the executive.

Corruption now permeates all levels of Venezuelan society. Bureaucrats now rarely follow existing bidding regulations, and ordinary citizens must pay bribes to accomplish bureaucratic transactions and have to suffer rampant neglect of basic government services. All this has been encouraged by a general environment of impunity: officers implicated in major corruption scandals have sometimes been removed from their posts, but they have not otherwise been held legally accountable.

The dramatic rise in corruption under Chávez is ironic since he came to power largely on an anti-corruption campaign platform. To truly fight corruption, the government needs to increase the transparency of its institutions and reduce its extensive involvement in the economy, something that has placed Venezuela among the least economically free countries in the world.

A summary from Cato Institute. Go here for Full Text of Development Policy Analysis no. 2 (PDF, 292 KB.)

Related article:
Massachusetts Democrats love Venezuela's strongman.

America’s ‘Play Station’ Generation Will Not Endure

Since the dark days of Vietnam, America’s military capabilities have only increased. Yet concurrently, other events within the culture of the nation have opened a grim possibility. Although from a purely military and logistical standpoint America is far more able to fight and prevail in a war while sustaining far fewer casualties among its own forces, the public at large no longer has the “stomach” needed to do so…

'Humanists' Challenge Voting Booths in Churches

The American Humanist Association on Wednesday announced the launch of the first "nontheistic" legal center in the nation's capital -- a direct response, it said, to the "influence exerted by the religious right under the Bush administration."

(I hate to break it to them..... but..... voting has been going on in churches in my area for a long time - well before Bush's Christian Gestapo came into power.)

The group said it is particularly concerned about "damage" to Thomas Jefferson's "wall of church-state separation."

(I think they are referring to the "wall of separation" clause that doesn't exist in the Constitution.)

The AHA's first legal project (lawsuit) stems from the midterm elections. The group is challenging the location of polling places in churches. While some churches cover their religious symbols on Election Day, others do not, and the AHA sees that as a major problem.

Humanists plan to argue that religious proselytizing took place at the polls. "We put out a call to our members whose polling places were churches, asking them to report what they saw," said AHA President Mel Lipman. "The response was shocking."

(I'll bet. Just how shocking was it? Well, let's see if they give us an example. Oh, here's one shocking example:)

An Illinois humanist says he voted in a church that displayed a four-foot wooden crucifix right above the election judges," said AHLC attorney James Hurley.

Oh, my G........!! It's a wonder they were able to vote. It must have took a lot of guts.... you know .... intestinal fortitude to be able to "pull the levers" under such duress.

To read the entire article and read other horrifying examples the AHLC could cite, go here.

Santa Deemed Too 'Religious' for School Fundraiser

A Christmas-themed event to raise money at a public elementary school in Warwick, N.Y., has been altered to accommodate a parent's complaints that the program would illegally spotlight a "religious" figure - Santa Claus. "Breakfast With Santa" has since been changed to "Winter Wonderland Breakfast," and - in an effort to be inclusive of all beliefs - the bearded one will now be joined at the Dec. 9 event by Frosty the Snowman. Organizers made the changes after one parent charged that she and others in the community were offended that the Parent Teacher Association at the Sanfordville Elementary School was sponsoring a program geared toward one religion. Full Story.

Iraq could take over security by June 2007

"Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said today that his country's forces would be able to assume security command by June 2007 -- which could allow the United States to start withdrawing its troops." To read more, visit http://www.boston.com

Jim Webb wanted to punch Bush

Newly elected Senator Jim Webb, D-Va., was so infuriated by a remark from President George W. Bush that the former Marine officer was tempted to punch the commander-in-chief.

You don't need no stinkin' protection from terrorists

Judge strikes down part of Bush anti-terror order

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge in Los Angeles, who previously struck down sections of the Patriot Act, has ruled that provisions of an anti-terrorism order issued by President...

Judge says he will slap restraining order on any terrorist who enters into this country if it's proven he is up to "no good."

(Okay, I made this last part up.) Sounds plausible tho', doesn't it?

CASTRO NOT WELL ENOUGH (YET) FOR HIS BELATED/DELAYED BIRTHDAY GALA

Communicating through a seyance Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he was not well enough to attend the opening of several days of events celebrating his 80th birthday. (REUTERS)

Okay.......... I agree

I agree with this assessment:

France, U.S. agree useless to talk to Syria: Chirac
(Reuters) - France and the United States agree there is no
point in talking to Syria because the conditions for an honest dialogue do not
exist, President Jacques Chirac said on...

However, precisely what conditions exist that makes for an honest dialogue with Iran? Hmmmm?

NATO leaders commit to Afghanistan for long haul

RIGA (Reuters) - NATO leaders will declare their determination on Wednesday to prevail over Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan while offering only small increases in troop levels and...

Saudi will intervene in Iraq if U.S. withdraws: aide

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using money, weapons or its oil power, Saudi Arabia will intervene to prevent Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from massacring Iraqi Sunni Muslims once the United...

Rome court hears case against U.S. soldier in Iraq

ROME (Reuters) - A Rome judge opened hearings on Wednesday on whether to try a U.S. soldier for shooting dead an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq last year while he was escorting a freed...

This is an Apology??

Devito had a meltdown on The View, bashes Pres. Bush, (another complete shocker), appears drunk, slurs words and then.........

DeVito Apologizes

DeVito's publicist, Stan Rosenfeld, told ABC News that the actor has
apologized to Barbara Walters, "The View's" creator and co-host.

"He has called Barbara Walters to apologize for anything that
could be construed as unfortunate," he said.

Some apology. Being on the left means you never really have to say your sorry, if you say it at all. Remember John Francois Kerry, the haughty one? "I........... apologize........ to no one!"

This is a first:

I never saw this one coming:

US economic growth beats forecasts
By Eoin Callan and Krishna Guha in Washington

The US economy grew at a rate of 2.2 per cent in the third quarter, faster
than previously thought, while wage growth earlier this year was revised down on
Wednesday, adding to evidence that the economy is on track for a soft
landing.

Ima-Nut-Job writes letter to Americans

The president (?) of Iran wrote a letter to the American people criticizing (I know this shocks you) the U. S. government. The U. S. State Department calls it a ploy.

In his open letter, Iran's President Mahmoud ImaNutJob "urged the American people Wednesday to demand the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and reject what he called the US government's 'blind support' for Israel and its 'illegal and immoral' actions in fighting terrorism."

Dem Sen. Schumer: Reaganism Is Dead...

Marshals decry imams' charges

This is what their intention was; this is the result they wanted.

Audrey Hudson writes at the Washington Times:

"Air marshals, pilots and security officials yesterday expressed concern that airline passengers and crews will be reluctant to report suspicious behavior aboard for fear of being called "racists," after several Muslim imams made that charge in a press conference Monday at Ronald Reagan Washington......"

It is a blatant attempt to modify behavior, to shut down discourse, to get the U.S. to acquiesce to the Islamic way of life, much like they have over in Europe. Let's hope we can see through this thinly veiled attempt at social conversion.

Shi'ites, Sunnis amass arms

By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Rival Shi'ite and Sunni groups are massing their militias in expectation of major confrontations, Iraqis say, even as President Bush prepares to meet today with the nation's embattled prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.......

Who really cares?

By Thomas Sowell

A new book, titled "Who Really Cares" by Arthur C. Brooks examines the actual behavior of liberals and conservatives when it comes to donating their own time, money, or blood for the benefit of others. It is remarkable that beliefs on this subject should have become conventional, if not set in concrete, for decades before anyone bothered to check these beliefs against facts.

What are those facts?

People who identify themselves as conservatives donate money to charity more often than people who identify themselves as liberals. They donate more money and a higher percentage of their incomes.

It is not that conservatives have more money. Liberal families average 6 percent higher incomes than conservative families.

You may recall a flap during the 2000 election campaign when the fact came out that Al Gore donated a smaller percentage of his income to charity than the national average. That was perfectly consistent with his liberalism.

So is the fact that most of the states that voted for John Kerry during the 2004 election donated a lower percentage of their incomes to charity than the states that voted for George W. Bush.
Conservatives not only donate more money to charity than liberals do, conservatives volunteer more time as well. More conservatives than liberals also donate blood.

According to Professor Brooks: "If liberals and moderates gave blood at the same rate as conservatives, the blood supply of the United States would jump about 45 percent."

Full article.

Cintas warned against firing immigrant force

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D. Miss.) has warned the nation's largest uniform supplier it faces criminal charges if it follows a White House proposal to recheck workers with mismatched Social Security numbers and fire those who cannot resolve the discrepancy in ......

Laws prohibit smoking around children

States, citing the health risks, move to ban lighting up in homes, cars
By Emily Bazar
USA TODAY

Anti-tobacco forces are opening a new front in the war against smoking by banning it in private places such as homes and cars when children are present.

Starting Jan. 1, Texas will restrict smoking in foster parents' homes at all times and in cars when children are present, says Darrell Azar of the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Vermont, Washington and other states and counties already prohibit foster parents from smoking around children in their homes and cars.

Arkansas and Louisiana passed laws this year forbidding anyone from smoking in cars carrying young children. Courts are ordering smoke-free environments in custody and visitation disputes.

'Nativity' Ban Called 'Most Blatant' Form of 'Religious Discrimination'

Chicago officials and organizers of a Christmas festival should reverse a decision to drop a movie studio as a sponsor because it planned to show the movie "The Nativity Story" on televisions at the event, a conservative legal group said Tuesday.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which specializes in constitutional law, said the decision to drop New Line Cinema from the city's German Christkindlmarket festival was "one of the most blatant forms of religious discrimination imaginable."

"To suggest that a movie about the birth of Jesus Christ should not be included in a Christmas festival is absurd," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ. "This transcends political correctness and centers squarely on religious bigotry.

Babies killed by North Korean super race

"Choi Yong-hwa, 28, described how she was made to accompany a heavily pregnant woman, who had been returned to North Korea across the bridge from China, to a clinic where doctors induced labor. After the infant was born, Ms Choi said she and other women stood by in disbelief as it was suffocated with a wet towel. The mother passed out." Read on....

Pelosi Decides Against Hastings as Intel Chair

House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi has decided not to choose Rep. Alcee Hastings as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to a Democratic congressional aide who is knowledgeable about the decision.

UPDATE:WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida, impeached as a federal judge in 1989 on corruption charges, dropped his bid under pressure on Tuesday to chair a congressional panel designed to help protect America's security, a party aide said.

Hastings took the action after being told by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, in line to head the U.S. House of Representatives when the new Congress convenes in January, that she would not give him the coveted job, the aide said.

Bush "Appreciates" Estonia's Flat Tax

President Bush says the United States should have a simpler tax system. Apparently he has found one he likes - Estonia's.

Missionary Reports Severe Christian Persecution in North Korea

WDC Media News - Los Angeles,CA,USA
(AgapePress) - A missionary to North Korea says Christians are serving in that Communist nation, despite daily dangers and hardships, including the threat of ...

American Legion to Congressman Rangel: Apologize Now

From U.S. Newswire

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Commander of The American Legion called on Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to apologize for suggesting that American troops would not choose to fight in Iraq if they had other employment options.

"Our military is the most skilled, best-trained all-volunteer force on the planet," said National Commander Paul A. Morin. "Like that recently espoused by Sen. John Kerry, Congressman Rangel's view of our troops couldn't be further from the truth and is possibly skewed by his political opposition to the war in Iraq."

According to Rangel, "If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq. If there's anyone who believes these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of some educational benefits," Rangel said.

Rangel was responding to a question during an interview yesterday on Fox News Sunday about a recent study by the Heritage Foundation which found that those enlisting in the military tend to be better educated than the general public and that military recruiting seems to be more successful in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods than in poor ones.

James Taranto at Opinion Journal writes, "Some of our readers, responding to our item yesterday, took Rangel's disparagement personally. Here is Brian Bartlett":

I have a message for Mr. Rangel; I will not use the term Honorable with him. At age 17, I had already had seven years of college and university education for which I had received 3 1/2 years' credit due to the vagaries of our educational system and I was teaching at the university for those 3 1/2 years as well as working as a professional consultant starting at $40 per hour, a rather princely sum in 1974.

Following family tradition--my mother, father, grandfathers and beyond had all served--I entered the United States Navy nine days after my 17th birthday. There followed an education second to none in various fields of engineering including nuclear. The training was intense, essentially cramming years of engineering into six months, and not very many were left at the end of the school even in my section, the best and brightest. The civilian world has no equivalent; graduate school is a joke by comparison, and I should know, having been through both.

Despite my disabilities that resulted in my discharge after over 13 years of service, I am subject to recall to this day, and should they call, I will answer willingly. Unlike, apparently, Mr. Rangel, I know what is happening on the ground over there, as I have kin there to this day. I have been to the Middle East several times, and my sister served in Saudi Arabia and Iraq for the First Gulf War. In my family we serve, peace or war, because that is what we are and what we do. It's not for money, it's not for the educational benefits after the service, which is my case were laughable. He can go peddle his contempt elsewhere.

Thank you Mr. Bartlett for your service, and for speaking out. May this country continued to be blessed with patriots such as yourself willing to do the dirty work. For more examples of angry readers responding to Rangel's comments, see the Opinion Journal piece here.

How the imams terrorized an airliner

More details are slowly coming out on the 'Imam kerfuffle' at the Minneapolis airport. I felt from the very beginning that there was more to the story than just your "average, every day, run-of-the-mill, racial, bigoted, religious-profiling" situation. I felt it was pre-planned.

The The Washington Times has an article today on this developing story:

"Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted 'Allah' when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix.

'I was suspicious by the way they were praying very loud,' the gate agent told the Minneapolis Police Department.

Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks -- two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin." More.....

Iran to host Holocaust conference

"Iran, which disputes that Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis, is to hold a conference next month to allow historians to clarify 'hidden angles' of the Holocaust, the foreign ministry has revealed."

Revelatory headline of the day

Women talk three times as much as men, says study

This is what you get when you engage in talks with the 'enemy'

Iran tells Talabani that US-led forces must leave Iraq

"Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that US-led forces had to leave Iraq if security was to be restored in the violence-riven country.

'The first step to solve the security issue in Iraq is the exit of the occupiers from this country and leaving the security issues to the people-based Iraqi government,' Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television."

Iran is not interested in solving the problem - they are the problem - or let's say a very large part of the problem. If they were truly interested in what's best for Iraq, they would be part of the solution in union with the U.S. led forces.

The fact they are not, and only "will be" if the U.S. leaves, underscores this.

Democrats Want to Keep Pork

"House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic candidates have complained loudly about 'special interest earmarks' in Congress pork barrel spending projects inserted into bills, often anonymously.

But now that the Democrats have won control of Congress, it appears doubtful that lawmakers will seriously clamp down on the practice, according to a report in the New York Times.

Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii is set to chair the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, which presides over the largest single source of discretionary spending and earmarks. He said recently: 'I don't see any monumental changes' regarding earmarks." Continue.....

Americans Don't Like John Kerry: Poll

"Democratic Sen. John Kerry, mulling a second bid for the U.S. presidency, finished dead last in a poll released Monday on the likability of 20 top American political figures.

Among those placing ahead of Kerry were about a dozen potential 2008 White House rivals, including Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

'This is bad, bad news for Kerry,' said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Hamden, Connecticut, which conducted the survey." Complete details...

This is a very bad sign ......

Talabani: Iraq 'In Dire Need of Iran's Help': "Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday sought to enlist Iran's help in quelling the escalating violence that threatens to tear his country apart.

'The issue of establishing security in Iraq is the most important part of our talks. We are in dire need of Iran's help in establishing security and stability in Iraq,' state-run television quoted Talabani as saying after he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran." More info...

Britain May Start Pulling Out of Iraq

LONDON -- "Britain said Monday it expects to withdraw thousands of its 7,000 military personnel from Iraq by the end of next year, while Poland and Italy announced the impending withdrawal of their remaining troops." More....

Supreme Court Rejects N.Y. Times Request

"The Supreme Court ruled against The New York Times on Monday, refusing to block the government from reviewing the phone records of two Times reporters in a leak investigation of a terrorism-funding probe." More details....

GLOBAL WARMING MUST BE OVER !!!

Hurricane Predictions Off Track As Tranquil Season Wafts Away: "It was not the hurricane season we expected, thank you.

With cataclysmic predictions that hurricanes would swarm from the tropics like termites, no one thought 2006 would be the most tranquil season in a decade.

Barring a last-second surprise from the tropics, the season will end Thursday with nine named storms, and only five of those hurricanes. This year is the first season since 1997 that only one storm nudged its way into the Gulf of Mexico." More.

Ahma-nut-job Predicts U.S, Israel, U.K.'s Collapse

Bloomberg.com: U.K.: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted the collapse of Israel, the U.S. and Britain, attacking what he called their 'oppressive behavior.'

'The Zionist regime is on a steep downhill towards collapse and disgrace,'' Ahmandinejad told supporters at a rally of Basiji militia forces near Tehran today. In a reference to the U.S. and U.K., he said 'the collapse and crumbling of your devilish rule has started.' The speech was carried live on state television." More.

Sins of the United Nations

"These days nobody but rock stars, actors and grade school kids still seem to love, trust or have much confidence in the United Nations. And Nathan Tabor, a conservative columnist, political activist and founder of the Web site TheConservativeVoice.com, can tell you more than a few good reasons why. The title of his new book, "The Beast on the East River: The U.N. Threat to America's Sovereignty and Security," gives away his major theme. I talked to him by telephone on Tuesday from his home near Winston-Salem, N.C." Read on....

Nancy's choice

"House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, on the heels of being rejected in her choice of majority leader, is being urged by prominent Democrats to avoid further embarrassment and not name Rep. Alcee Hastings as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee." More of Robert Novak.

Why It's Time to Dump the UN

By allowing North Korea to flout international nuclear norms, ... The recent nuclear testing by North Korea shows the UN's inability to prevent nuclear ... Allowing North Korea to develop nuclear weapons makes East Asia unstable by ...

North Korea "Democracy" Judged Lowest in world

By Grant Montgomery
North Korea received an average score of 1.03 out of 10, and the 167th out of 167 in the ranking. Not surprisingly, North Korea received no point at all in civil liberties category.

Rest Easily Now. Annan Has Spoken.

New York - "The UN Security Council agreed that the latest killing of an anti-Syrian politician in Lebanon, industry minister Pierre Gemayel, should be investigated by a UN commission looking into the 2005 bombing death of prime minister Rafik Hariri.

The vote taken late Wednesday in New York, one day after Gemayel was gunned down in Beirut, was unanimous, said Peruvian Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, who now holds the 15-nation council's rotating presidency.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said earlier that he was 'extremely worried' about developments in Lebanon.

'The situation is delicate, very fragile, and we should all do whatever we can to support the Lebanese people and the government and encourage them to stand united,' Annan said before meeting with Lebanese Culture Minister Tarek Mitri in New York."

Don't worry. It's in good hands. The U.N. is on the case. And, Annan is still in charge.

Factions press Iraqi leader to snub Bush

Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, struggling to prevent sectarian violence from sending the nation into full-fledged civil war, faces strong criticism from top Shi'ite and Sunni Arab leaders alike as he prepares for a summit with President Bush this week.