Taliban forces retake Musa Qala

Telegraph.co.uk:

"A Taliban force thought to be around 100-strong attacked the district centre of Musa Qala at 4am this morning, overcoming a locally raised force of auxiliary police loyal to the Afghan government by 11am."

US to charge Guantanamo detainees

BBC NEWS: The US military says it has prepared fresh charges against three terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay.

"The three men - an Australian, a Canadian and a Yemeni - face charges including murder, conspiracy and material support for terrorism.

The move is the first step towards trials by new military commissions set up by the Bush administration.

Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that the previous system of tribunals was unlawful.

Under the new system, the charges are not considered formally filed until they are approved by other Pentagon officials." Read on.

Saudis hold 10 for 'terror funds'

"Ten people have been arrested in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of funding terror-related activities, the interior ministry has said. The arrests follow evidence in a high-level US report that Saudi Arabia has been a source of funding for the insurgency in Iraq.

Nine Saudis and a foreign national resident in the country were held in three raids in Jeddah and Medina. It is unclear if the 10 have links to al-Qaeda, the ministry said.

They were arrested for collecting money for 'suspicious parties'." More at BBC NEWS.

Message to UN scaremeisters: The planet is always getting either warmer or cooler

Jack Kelly had this to say about the latest scare report on global warming from the United Nations:

"Hypothetical piled upon hypothetical, based on computer models which cannot duplicate the actual climate of the present or the recent past.

Alarmists attribute warming to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But CO2 accounts for only about 0.03 percent of the earth's atmosphere, and less than 10 percent of the greenhouse effect. Only about 14 percent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere comes from burning fossil fuels.

That means all of Algore's hysteria, all the economy-destroying restrictions of the Kyoto Treaty, are about stopping carbon emissions responsible for 1.4% of the greenhouse effect."

Memo to 'Libs'

"If At First You Don't Succeed ... Blame Someone Else ... And Seek Counseling."

I have two questions.....

"Where Are We Going And Why Am I In This Hand Basket?"

About those property rights

"Natural rights do not come from government; they spring from our humanity. Or, as our founders put it, we are endowed by our 'Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,' the latter meaning property. We establish governments to secure these rights.

Unfortunately, Americans have permitted governments at every level to become increasingly destructive of the ends they were created to serve. Under the color of law, government often does to us what thieves and crooks do, and like a nation of sheep we stand by and take it, and what's worse, sometimes we ask for it." -- Walter E. Williams

Dick Morris Plans to 'Run' Against Hillary

Former Bill Clinton aide Dick Morris is bringing out a documentary in September to expose Hillary Clinton as a 'phony.'

Morris told the American Spectator Breakfast that the documentary will present Hillary's conflicting statements side-by-side and will portray her disingenuous statements and misrepresentations alongside the facts. The documentary will also depict Bill Clinton's involvement in controversial matters ranging from his pardons as president to his work for Dubai.

'You have to get to the fundamental fact of her phoniness, her lack of credibility.' Morris said. 'That she is pretending to be something she is not. I think you can best explain that by showing her being......."

Watchdog Worried About 'North American Union'

"A government watchdog is calling for more transparency in talks between U.S., Canadian and Mexican officials who are discussing a 'vision of North America' that some critics worry are the first step toward a North American Union...

Steele Sees Bright Future for African Americans in GOP

"Republican politician Michael Steele believes his party has gained significant support in the African American community and that his unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate last November helped to lay the groundwork for future African American political candidates..."

Iranians Working With Hamas in Gaza, Fatah Says

Jerusalem

"Palestinian Authority security forces linked to the Fatah faction said they arrested seven Iranians during a raid on the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold, in the Gaza Strip overnight.

The Fatah forces reportedly seized some 1,400 guns along with rocket propelled grenades and missiles during their raid on the university.

The captured Iranians were described as weapons experts, and if Fatah's report is true (the group has not yet produced any evidence of the Iranian arrests), it would be the first time that Iranians have been caught working side-by-side with Hamas, the........"

I was against Kyoto before I was for it.

Senator John Francois Kerry, the haughty looking one, was at the World Economic Forum last weekend in Davos, Switzerland and harshly criticized the U.S.

In his slow, monotnous, monotone drawl, the junior Senator from Massachusetts (who served in Viet Nam) dogmatically asserted, “When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy . . . I’ve never seen our country as isolated, as much as a sort of international pariah for a number of reasons as it is today.”

"When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto... when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy.”

But let's look a little deeper. Let's take a trip back in time, shall we? It seems J F. Kerry, the swami of flip-flopping, is having another memory lapse. In 1997, 4 yrs. before George W. Bush became dictator president, the pompous J. Francois Kerry voted with his senatorial colleagues (95-0) to 'pre-reject' the Kyoto treaty in a senate resolution.

Victor Davis Hanson notes this as well in his article "Kerry turning into the ugly American,"

Kerry was clearly directing his criticism at the Bush administration, but the Kyoto Protocol, the international climate treaty, was first rejected by the U.S. in 1997. Ten years ago, President Bill Clinton wisely chose not to refer the treaty to the Senate. Even that was not enough for outraged senators, who went ahead anyway to vote 95-0 to oppose any international agreement on climate control like Kyoto in which China, India and other developing countries would remain exempt. Kerry himself cast one of these votes--an ironic example of what Kerry now calls 'duplicity and hypocrisy.'

You can read his entire column at the Chicago Tribune.

Now, about his uneducated ramblings on AIDS: Writing for the Boston Herald, Michael Graham pens a piece called "Mon Dieu! Send Kerry to Paris: He’d be at home with rest of the blame-America crowd" and he notes,

Kerry travels in social circles where fact checking a politician’s public statements is considered gauche - like serving the wrong wine with dinner, or leaving a wealthy widow’s checkbook unattended - however, a few unpleasant truths must be noted.
First, when President Clinton left office, humanitarian funding to Africa was $1.4 billion. Under President Bush and a GOP Congress it has risen to $4 billion and is scheduled to double again by 2010.
The total number of bills filed by Sen. Kerry to spend more in Africa? Zero.

“We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government.” —James Madison

North Korea Christians Face "Worse" Persecution Than Ever, Document Shows

SEOUL/AMSTERDAM

"Persecution of Christians in North Korea 'is worse than ever', amid fresh reports of torture and executions, Christian investigators said Friday, February 2.

Netherlands-based Open Doors, an influential human rights group supporting Christians persecuted for their faith, said North Korea is once again number one of its 2006 World Watch List of over 50 nations with the 'worst' religious freedom violations." Continue......

“What the Democrats will do with their newfound power is a question worth asking, provided you don’t expect much of an answer.” —William Rusher

“[President] Bush came up with the ‘surge’ plan. Will it work? Nobody knows. But the one thing the American people know about George W. Bush is that he wants to win the war. What the Democrats believe is anybody’s guess.” —Jonah Goldberg

“Cutting government spending and government intrusion in the economy will almost surely involve immediate gain for the many, short-term pain for the few, and long-term gain for all.” — Milton Friedman

Ethanol Makes Gasoline Costlier, Dirtier

By Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren
CATO Institute

Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren are senior fellows. Peter Van Doren is also editor of Regulation magazine.

"In his State of the Union address, President Bush spoke a lot about energy independence and alternative energy sources such as ethanol. According to the president, ethanol is the magical elixir that will solve virtually every economic, environmental, and foreign policy problem on the horizon. In reality, it's enormously expensive and wasteful."

Read on to learn of the untruths and misconceptions about ethanol.

Sen. Bingaman: Global Warming Bill Won't Come Cheap

Regulatory Costs Will Grow Unpredictably

"Draft global warming legislation from Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) is being billed as a moderate middle way to control greenhouse gas emissions, but in fact it will increase consumer energy costs, chill investment in new coal-fired power plants, and usher in a new era of anti-energy litigation.

An analysis by the Energy Information Administration shows that the Bingaman plan will increase coal prices by 81 percent and reduces the growth of coal capacity by half. As a result, consumers' electricity bills in 2030 would be 11 percent higher than what they otherwise would have been."
Continue reading at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Life Is Convenient When You Define 'Truth'

Conservative weakness has allowed global warming movement to get away with political murder.
By Amy Menefee, Business & Media Institute

"If you want to shut down a debate, simply call your opponent a Nazi.

It’s quick, easy and requires no thought whatsoever.

Laugh at your opponent without allowing him to speak. Oh, and make a film about your point of view and name it “The Truth.”

It’s worked well for the global warming bandwagoners – and conservatives can’t seem to get out of defensive mode." Read on.

France's Chirac Tries to Sabotage Iran Sanctions

WASHINGTON -- "French President Jacques Chirac is attempting to sabotage U.S.-led efforts to apply economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran, according to a report by the center-left French daily, Le Monde.

In a throwback to much-criticized behavior during the buildup to the Iraq war, Chirac planned to send his foreign minister on a secret trip to Tehran in late January, armed with a personal letter of assurances for Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the daily reported.

Chirac wanted 'to send a message to the Iranian authorities that a channel of communication can be kept open despite the vote by the United Nations Security Council' to impose sanctions on Iran, the paper wrote." Read more.....

Mayor Nagin Slammed For Race Comments -- 02/01/2007

State Republican Parties Join Calls to Free Border Agents

Final Potter book to be released on July 21

The fate of Britain's most famous fictional boy wizard will be revealed on July 21, when the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series will be published.
Read on...

Kosovans await word on their fate

Kosovans await word on their fate Kosovans anxiously await the publication of key proposals that will reportedly set them on the road to statehood.
Read on...

Socialism Perverts the Family

“People will always have children,” assured Konrad Adenauer, the German Chancellor, in 1957. He was convinced that the future of the brave new pay-as-you-go social security system would not be undermined by demographic changes. Adenauer was as wrong as ever. […] [S]ocial security replaces children and the family as the main support in old age by literally socializing the traditional duties of the family. Why have children when the state will take care of you in your old age? […]

Every kind of socialism creates perverse incentives, and socialism directed to the family perverts the family.

Read on...

Sweden: The Country that Sacrifices its Children, and Celebrates

"Sweden is a country that has virtually no public debate about mass immigration, which continues at full speed. The Swedish political and media elites pride themselves on their Multicultural goodness. If sacrificing your own children is the definition of good, then exactly what constitutes evil?" Read on.

Muslims 'about to take over Europe'

"Islam could soon be the dominant force in a Europe which, in the name of political correctness, has abdicated the battle for cultural and religious control, Prof. Bernard Lewis, the world-renowned Middle Eastern and Islamic scholar, said on Sunday.

The Muslims "seem to be about to take over Europe," Lewis said at a special briefing with the editorial staff of The Jerusalem Post. Asked what this meant for the continent's Jews, he responded, "The outlook for the Jewish communities of Europe is dim." Soon, he warned, the only pertinent question regarding Europe's future would be, "Will it be an Islamized Europe or Europeanized Islam?" The growing sway of Islam in Europe was of particular concern given the rising support within the Islamic world for extremist and terrorist movements, said Lewis." Read on.

Congress tries again to hit CEO pay. Watch out, middle class.

Editorial from Opinion Journal.

From the Claremont Institute: Conservatives blame Republicans for losing Congress. Are they right?

BY CHARLES R. KESLER @ Opinion Journal.

Iran Meddles in Iraq

By Hugh Hewitt

"Iran's Ambassador in Iraq has announced to the New York Times that his country would be making a big push to become even more deeply involved in the life of Iraq. This declaration of intent should be seen as a danger signal to the governments of Iraq and the United States.

Nothing good comes out of the government of Tehran, and the peoples of Lebanon and Israel know this first hand. To allow Iran to meddle in your affairs is to invite the Revolutionary Guards to arm terrorists and to push a confrontational and extremely violent view of what Islam requires of its believers.

Iran needs to be quarantined, and the sanctions imposed on this rogue regime for pursuing nuclear weapons ought to be intensified. What cannot be allowed to happen is for this deeply criminal regime to pass itself off as just another nation state pursuing an ordinary agenda. Iran is a dangerous and increasingly unstable theocracy, and the world--and especially Iraq--must refuse it every legitimacy."

I pretty much agree with Hugh's assessment here. What I don't understand is did not President Bush and his staff and the Defense Department foresee this development when they were plotting strategies on overthrowing Saddam? In my opinion, it was a given.

I wrote many moons ago when Iran, and specifically "I'Am-A-Nut-Job", first became problematic that I thought we would end up getting heavily involved with Iran. We spent much effort supporting both Iraq and Iran when they were fighting each other because we wanted it to be a draw. We were content to have them knock heads with each other, as long as neither got the upper hand.

We should have known by now that by weakening one, as we did with Iraq in this case, we would have to fend off the other, as we need to do with Iran now. How was this not forseeable? Not only does it appear that this scenario was not given much attention, but we remain tepid and are to slow to react to Iran's meddling.

Driving While Defeatist

A call out to Anotmo. When I read this piece by Frank Gaffney, I thought of you. You have presented this issue to me before. Why aren't they pressed to answer the hard questions about the ramifications of a defeat in Iraq?

By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

"Members of the 110th Congress are behaving like drunken drivers with respect to the conflict in Iraq, veering wildly all over the road, seemingly oblivious to the risk they pose to others. Before they do actual harm by voting on various resolutions aimed at repudiating President Bush and further undermining his wartime leadership, they should be obliged to sit through the sort of sobering, behavior-modification program to which courts assign those found operating heavy equipment while inebriated." Continue reading.

Empty Words From the U.S. Senate

"What the resolution tells us is that most members of Congress, echoing what they think is the view of most voters, yearn to return to the holiday from history that we thought we were enjoying between the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sept. 11, 2001......"

Troop surge debate signals weakness, instability

"The battlelines were carved into the Senate floor over a Democratic resolution condemning President Bush's war plans to send more troops to Iraq......"

Giving radical Islam its start

By Dinesh D'Souza

"Recently Jimmy Carter was on television, denouncing President Bush’s policies in Iraq. I find this highly ironic, because Jimmy Carter and his liberal advisers helped the Ayatollah Khomeini to come to power in Iran a quarter of a century ago. Thus they gave radical Islam control of its first major state. How this happened is worth recalling, because from Carter’s failure there’s a valuable lesson to be learned in Iraq.

Islamic radicals have been around since the 1920s, but for decades they were outsiders even in the Muslim countries. One of their leading theoreticians, Sayyid Qutb, argued that radical Muslims could not just promulgate theories and have meetings; they must seek to realize the Islamic state “in a concrete form.” What was needed, he wrote, was “to initiate the movement of Islamic revival in some Muslim country.” Once the radicals controlled a state, he suggested, they could then use it as a beachhead for launching the takeover of other Muslim countries." Continue reading...

THE SOLE JUDGES

“[A] Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States... as they would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please.”

—Thomas Jefferson

CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED

“We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted to it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.”

—Ronald Reagan

The Real Question: Do We Want Success?

“That poll about Iraq... came out last week and it posed various questions about whether folks thought the ‘surge’ was a good idea or not. Including the following: ‘Do you personally want the Iraq plan President Bush announced last week to succeed?’ And here’s how the American people answered: 63 percent said yes, 22 percent said no, 15 percent said they didn’t know. Let me see if I understand that. For four years, regardless of this or that position on the merits of the war, almost everybody has claimed to ‘support our troops.’ Some of us have always thought that ‘supporting the troops’ while not supporting them in their mission is not entirely credible. But here we have 37 percent of the American people actually urging defeat on them. They ‘support our troops’ by wanting them to lose. This isn’t a question about whether you think the plan will work, but whether you want it to work. And nearly 40 percent of respondents either don’t know or are actively rooting for failure... What were the numbers like for D-Day?” —Mark Steyn

The Larger Tragedy

By Thomas Sowell

Excerpts:
"It has now become more and more obvious, even to some people who initially believed the 'rape' charges against Duke University students, that there was never a speck of evidence to support the charges and a growing amount of evidence to the contrary.

The larger tragedy is what this case revealed about the degeneration of our times and the hollowness of so many people in 'responsible' positions in the media, in academia, and among those blacks so consumed by racial resentments and thirst for revenge that they are prepared to lash out at individuals who have done nothing to them and are guilty of no crime against anybody.

The haste and vehemence with which scores of Duke University professors publicly took sides against the students in this case is just one sign of how deep the moral dry rot goes, in even our most prestigious institutions.

We have become a society easily stampeded, even by the unsubstantiated, inconsistent and mutually contradictory statements of a woman with a criminal record.

All it takes is something that invokes the new holy trinity of the intelligentsia -- 'race, class and gender.' The story of a black woman gang-raped by white men fit the theme so compellingly that much of the media had no time to waste trying to find out if it was true before going ballistic." Full article.

Chavez Inches Closer to Dictatorship

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has just about everything a president could want: popular support, a marginalized opposition, congress firmly on his side and a booming economy as he starts his new six-year term.

Now, he's about to become even more powerful — the all-Chavista National Assembly is poised to approve a 'mother law' as early as Wednesday enabling him to remake society by presidential decree. In its latest draft, the law would allow Chavez to dictate measures for 18 months in 11 broad areas, from the 'economic and social sphere' to the 'transformation of state institutions.'

Chavez calls it a new era of 'maximum revolution,' setting the tone for months of upheaval as he plans to nationalize companies, impose new taxes on the rich and reorient schools to teach socialist values. With near-religious fervor and plenty of oil wealth, Chavez is mobilizing millions of Venezuelans, intent on creating a more egalitarian society." Continue....

$3 Million Needed to Plug U.S. Border Tunnels

Hillary, Giuliani Lead in Ohio Poll

Questions Surround Reid Land Deal

Khartoum Pays Diplomatic Price for Darfur Conflict -- 01/30/2007

"In a clear rebuke over the ongoing conflict in Darfur, the African Union has denied Sudanese dictator President Omar Bashir the 53-nation body's rotating chairmanship.................."

Suicide Attacks: Many Attempts but Fewer Successes in Israel

"Although suicide attacks against Israel are less frequent than they used to be, there is no lack of motivation or attempts to carry out attacks, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Tuesday................"

Israel Hits Terror Tunnel Following Suicide Bombing

"Israel said it remains committed to the ceasefire with the Palestinians on Tuesday, even as the Air Force bombed a tunnel in the Gaza Strip that could have been used to carry out a terror attack against Israeli civilians.........."

Why Were Anti-War Protesters Allowed to Spray-Paint US Capitol?

"A group of anti-war protesters spray-painted anarchist symbols on the steps and pavement outside the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, and police did nothing to stop them.

A conservative advocacy group says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should order an investigation into what happened and why..............."

'Inconvenient Truth' Producer Pens Kids' Global Warming Text

"Move over, Chicken Little. A children's book planned for release in September is an attempt to 'fill the minds of children with 'sky-is-falling' global warming hysteria,' a Republican senator warns................"

US Envoy Says Washington Not Interested in 'Endless' North Korea Talks Without Results

"Washington's ambassador to South Korea says the United States and its partners will be patient in the diplomatic process with North Korea, but that Pyongyang should not expect an open-ended process that does not yield progress. U.S. leaders say they want major aspects of a North Korean denuclearization pledge implemented by the time President Bush leaves office.

'We're not looking for endless talks without results,' he said." Read more at VOA News.

Interchangeable Goofballs

By Rich Galen

January 29, 2007

* John Kerry; Al Gore. Al Kerry; John Gore. Interchangeable goofballs.

* What is it about Democrats who have lost elections for President which requires they go overseas and say horrid things about the country they wanted to lead?" More....

Fatah Blames Iran, Syria for Palestinian Violence

By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
January 29, 2007

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Egypt and Saudi Arabia offered to mediate a truce between rival Palestinian factions, which were fighting each other for a fifth straight day on Monday." Read on.

Suicide Attack Apparently Intended to Stop Palestinian Infighting

Jerusalem (CNSNews) - "A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip managed to carry out a suicide bombing in the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat on Monday - more than 100 miles away from his home.

The attack on a bakery killed three Israelis and apparently was intended to remind Palestinians thta they should be fighting Israel instead of each other.

Palestinian infighting escalated over the weekend, as the Hamas-Fatah power struggle continues. Some 30 Palestinians have been killed in the last five days.

Islamic Jihad said the bombing signaled the intent of the "Palestinian resistance" to continue jihad "until all Palestinian lands are freed." (Islamic Jihad, like Hamas, calls for an Islamic Palestinian state to be established in all the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel.)" Read on.

Conservatives Spar Over Immigration Policy

"Conservative pundits sparred Sunday over the Bush administration’s immigration policy, which some view as “amnesty” for the millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States..." Read on.

Conservatives Debate the ‘Race Card’ in Politics

"Political agitators who use “Al Sharpton rhetoric” are in a stronger position today because “spineless Republicans” have supported racial gerrymandering –- thus ensuring the election of divisive figures, said a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights..." More.

Jeb Bush Calls for Reforms, Return to Civility

"Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is urging Republicans to stick to conservative principles. “Learning how to say, ‘No’ in Washington, D.C., is probably the first step to recovery,” Bush told conservatives over the weekend..." Read on.

Mitt Romney Buffs His Conservative Credentials

"America is at risk of becoming “the France of the 21st Century” unless policymakers curtail burdensome government policies and extravagant entitlement spending that work against the creative energies of free people, said former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney..." More.

Gingrich: I'll Decide in September

"Taking a swipe at politicians who already have declared plans to run for president in 2008, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Saturday that he would decide in September whether to seek the Republican nomination.

Gingrich promised conservatives gathered at a conference in Washington that he would make a decision 'around Labor Day.'

'I think this whole process is stupid,' he told the National Review Institute's Conservative Summit, referring to the fact that presidential campaigns are being launched almost two years before the election. Early announcements are 'entirely consultant-driven ... and let me tell you, consultants are not friends of the conservative movement,' he said." Read on.

Paper Chase

By John Fund

"Did investigators turn a blind eye to the seriousness of the Sandy Berger scandal?" MORE.

I think the answer is obvious - YES! Our government has little concern about the most puzzling things to me. All these leaks of classified information by the New York Times, the $90, ooo of cold cash and marked cash found in Congressman Jefferson's freezer (which seems to be going nowhere), the Sandy Burglar caper, to name a few.

Japan police nab engineer linked to North Korea

Reuters: "TOKYO - Japanese police said on Monday they had arrested an engineer and his wife suspected of violating the country's labor law, after media reported the man was linked to a group leaking missile technologies to North Korea.

Media reports said police were investigating whether a group of scientists for which the engineer served as an adviser had been involved in leaking missile and other advanced technologies.

An increasing number of firms in Japan have been investigated in recent years on suspicion of illegally exporting to North Korea 'dual-use instruments', ..." MORE.

HILLBILLERY: THE TRANSITION HAS BEGUN

HILL AND BILL IN THEIR EARLY DAYS













AND WHAT A TRANSITION IT IS.

World War III has already begun, says Israeli spy chief

Ynetnews: "Former head of Israel's intelligence service tells Portuguese newspaper it would take at least 25 years before battle against fundamentalist terrorism is won; says nuclear strike by Muslim terrorists 'very likely'.................... "

A drunk and a bigot - what the US Presidental hopeful HASN'T said about his father.

This is London: "It is a classic story of the American dream made real: an impoverished Kenyan goatherd rising to become a brilliant Harvard-educated economist.

On the way he fights racial prejudice at home and corruption at work, survives the heartbreak of a broken relationship and, despite it all, leads the fight to rid Africa of its colonial legacy.

This extraordinary story is told by US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama as he recalls the life of the man who inspired him to......"

Secrets of Obama family unlocked

Sunday Times - Times Online: "WHEN Barack Obama, America’s newest presidential hopeful, was hit by allegations that he had attended a radical Islamic madrasah school as a boy in Indonesia, the claims spread like a virus through the media and internet.

It was a lie — the school was barely more religious than British church schools — but it was also a sign that Obama’s chances of...."

12-year-old 'transsexual'

"Parents support boy's choice to be world's youngest sex-change patient."

Corporate Security: Risk and Cost Tolerance in India

STRATFOR
Geopolitical Intelligence Report

"Late last week, Indian police acting on an intelligence lead arrested a suspected Kashmiri militant near Jalahalli, a village just north of Bangalore. Authorities confiscated an assault rifle and 300 rounds of ammunition from the suspect, 34-year-old Bilal Ahmed Kota, as well as -- significantly -- a satellite phone, a cell phone, multiple cell phone SIM cards and a map of Bangalore. Several locations reportedly had been marked out on that map -- including the airport, the offices of Wipro Technologies Ltd. and the complex operated by Infosys Technologies, the global information technology (IT) services provider.

Since Kota's arrest on Jan. 5, Indian authorities have said that he confessed, under interrogation, to having been tasked with scoping out the security measures in place at Wipro, Infosys and the Bangalore airport. Authorities also said that Kota was acting under the orders of Pakistan-based militants connected to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to plan and carry out attacks on those sites.

The Kota case is the latest in a series of incidents and threats connected to the high-tech industry during the past 18 months, and underscores that militant groups are paying greater attention to economic targets in India -- and to this important sector in particular.

However, the danger of attacks by Kashmiri militants (or even Maoist Naxalites) is not the only threat that foreign multinational corporations -- and particularly technology companies -- now face in India. These companies are confronting what is effectively a multi-pronged security threat that also includes growing concerns about personal security and kidnappings, a greater recognition of risks to intellectual property that stem from corporate espionage, and issues related to privacy and the risks of criminals stealing sensitive customer information. Security managers today have a very different perception of the risks associated with doing business in India than they did two years ago." Read it all here.

Rhetoric and Reality: The View from Iran

STRATFOR
Geopolitical Intelligence Report

"The Iraq war has turned into a duel between the United States and Iran. For the United States, the goal has been the creation of a generally pro-American coalition government in Baghdad -- representing Iraq's three major ethnic communities. For Iran, the goal has been the creation of either a pro-Iranian government in Baghdad or, alternatively, the division of Iraq into three regions, with Iran dominating the Shiite south.

The United States has encountered serious problems in creating the coalition government. The Iranians have been primarily responsible for that. With the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June, when it appeared that the Sunnis would enter the political process fully, the Iranians used their influence with various Iraqi Shiite factions to disrupt that process by launching attacks on Sunnis and generally destabilizing the situation. Certainly, Sunnis contributed to this, but for much of the past year, it has been the Shia, supported by Iran, that have been the primary destabilizing force.

So long as the Iranians continue to follow this policy, the U.S. strategy cannot succeed. The difficulty of the American plan is that it requires the political participation of three main ethnic groups that are themselves politically fragmented. Virtually any substantial group can block the success of the strategy by undermining the political process. The Iranians, however, appear to be in a more powerful position than the Americans. So long as they continue to support Shiite groups within Iraq, they will be able to block the U.S. plan. Over time, the theory goes, the Americans will recognize the hopelessness of the undertaking and withdraw, leaving Iran to pick up the pieces. In the meantime, the Iranians will increasingly be able to dominate the Shiite community and consolidate their hold over southern Iraq. The game appears to go to Iran."

Read the rest here.

Space and Sea-Lane Control in Chinese Strategy

STRATFOR
Geopolitical Intelligence Report

"China has multiple space projects under way, but the one it is currently showcasing -- and on which the United States is focusing -- involves space-denial capabilities. That makes sense, given China's geopolitical position. It does not face a significant land threat: With natural barriers like the Himalayas or the Siberian wastes on its borders, foreign aggression into Chinese territory is unlikely. However, China's ability to project force is equally limited by these barriers. The Chinese have interests in Central Asia, where they might find power projection an enticing consideration, but this inevitably would bring them into conflict with the Russians. China and Russia have an interest in containing the only superpower, the United States, and fighting among themselves would play directly into American hands. Therefore, China will project its power subtly in Central Asia; it will not project overt military force there. Its army is better utilized in guaranteeing China's internal cohesiveness and security than in engaging in warfare." Full article here.

1,500 Iraqi police officers fired

"Baghdad, Iraq - The mayor of Baqouba and 1,500 police officers in Diyala province have been fired in a bid to end the raging violence in that region northeast of Baghdad, the provincial police chief said Sunday.

Ghanim al-Qureyshi, who took command of police operations in the violent province after his predecessor was sacked last month, said Mayor Khalid Al-Senjeri, a Sunni Muslim, was dismissed over suspicions he was collaborating with Sunni Arab insurgents." MORE.

Offensives in Iraq end with 250 insurgents dead, 3 U.S

DenverPost.com: "Baghdad, Iraq - U.S.-backed Iraqi troops on Sunday attacked insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival, and Iraqi officials estimated some 250 militants died in the daylong battle near Najaf. A U.S. helicopter crashed during the fight, killing two American soldiers." MORE.

A reminder from Al Qaeda that Iraq still matters.

By Jeff Emanuel

"Is success in Iraq 'vital to America’s national security,' as President Bush so often says? Fewer and fewer Americans think so, as the declining support for our activities there clearly shows. A major reason for this is the fact that the ongoing struggle in Iraq has become divorced from the larger War on Terror in the minds of many Americans." MORE.

Why Liberals Hate Christians

By Kevin McCullough

"Liberals in America despise Christians of true faith.

They do this because in doing so their own guilt is appeased, their anger is justified, and they can finally lay blame for their own misery at someone else's feet." MORE.

One Person, One Vote?

By George Will

"There they go again. House Democrats should at least provide variety in their venality. Last Wednesday, fresh from legislating new ethics regarding relations with lobbyists, they demonstrated that there are worse forms of corruption than those involving martinis and money." MORE.

Do Democrats want Iraq to become like N. Korea?

The Morning Call Online: "'As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be-President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. 'When comes the end?' ? And as soon as he became president, he brought the Korean War to an end.'' This was part of freshman Virginia Sen. Jim Webb's much ballyhooed stentorian Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union address.

One wonders if the untold millions of North Koreans who've starved and died since then would similarly applaud Eisenhower's courage and wisdom. For more than half a century, North Korea has been a prison-camp society beyond the imagining of George Orwell, where public executions for stealing food are familiar events. The man-made famine of the 1990s alone claimed the lives of up to 1 million people (hard data from Stalinist regimes are difficult to come by).

One also wonders: When are our troops going to come home? Technically, the Korean War isn't really over. We're merely enjoying a cease-fire — much like the one we had with Iraq in the 1990s." (Emphasis added -HH) MORE.

China faces charges of colonialism in Africa

International Herald Tribune: "BEIJING: Twice in the past three years, President Hu Jintao of China has been greeted warmly in Africa as the leader of a growing economic and political power. But on his new trip, Hu faces bumpier going, with skepticism growing about China's role in Africa.

The itinerary for the eight-nation, 12- day tour to begin Tuesday demonstrates both the scope and the pitfalls of Chinese influence. Included are stalwart allies like South Africa and Zambia, although both are places where protests and criticisms about Chinese motives have arisen recently, and new friends like Liberia, where China is hunting for oil and supplying peacekeepers.

And no stop illustrates the challenges as starkly as Sudan. In recent weeks, Hu has come under pressure from the United States and Ban Ki Moon, the new secretary general of the United Nations, to use Chinese leverage as a major consumer of Sudanese oil to get Khartoum to resolve the crisis in the Darfur region, where civil strife has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million people, according to UN estimates.

Beijing has raised expectations that it is heeding the message, calling on Sudan to cooperate with the United Nations to find a solution" MORE.