Orwell, the Left, and 9/11

An excellent post to read by Marc Schulman over at American Future. It is a little on the long side; however, it is a good read. It is insightful and one can see many parallels with the world in which we find ourselves in today. Go read it.

“No small concern of those who created the Constitution was the prospect of legislative tyranny, the exercise of power for illegitimate purposes carried out in the name of the majority.” —Gary McDowell

“It has been painfully clear that Speaker Pelosi was serious only about scoring political points. Her big grin when she won a narrow vote for a non-binding resolution was grotesque against the background of a life-and-death issue. You don’t grin over a political ploy that you have pulled when men’s lives are at stake.” —Thomas Sowell

“In Middle Eastern warfare a classic tactic has been to retreat in the face of strength, but to attack when your enemy withdraws or shows signs of weakness.” —Ralph Peters

“Why would Al Qaeda choose the past several days, just as Democrats in Congress were voting to run up a white flag and commit the United States to defeat in Iraq, to launch a bloody wave of terrorist atrocities?... The answer... is that this is how totalitarian aggressors react to faintheartedness... The smell of irresolution doesn’t satiate the totalitarians’ appetite; it makes it keener.” —Jeff Jacoby

“The threat from radical Islamic terrorists will not vanish when President Bush leaves office, or if funds for the Iraq war are cut off in 2008.” —Victor Davis Hanson

“Real valor consists not in being insensible to danger, but in being prompt to confront and disarm it.” —Sir Walter Scott

“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

Ethanol-blend auto emissions no greener than gasoline: study

"An unpublished federal report appears to undermine the belief that commercially available ethanol-blended fuel produces cleaner emissions than regular gasoline."

Girl's Gone Wild
By Rich Galen
It's one thing to be a college student, drunk on Jell-O shots, at the beach bar in Daytona, lifting your shirt for some dope with a video camera. It is something else to be the speaker of the House, drunk on power, making a fool of yourself by pretending to be a diplomat and going to the Syrian desert...

Are We Experiencing a Constitutional Crisis?

"I have been disappointed to hear that some of the radio personalities and editorialists who usually present a modicum of reason to the American public are having a hard time finding anything wrong with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's recent attempt at promoting rogue foreign policy in the Middle East.

To be sure, our Constitution does not vest any member of Congress -- speaker or otherwise -- with the power to usurp the authority of the Executive Branch where conducting foreign policy is concerned.................." Read on.

Almost Half of Americans Fear Corruption if Clintons Return to White House, Poll Finds

"More than six years after the Clintons left the White House, nearly half of the respondents in a new poll - 45 percent - worry that if they return, they could bring 'high levels of corruption' with them.

A Zogby International poll released Thursday in Washington highlights in particular concerns about former President Bill Clinton's ability to 'behave honestly in the White House' if his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is elected president in 2008.

The poll results indicate that scandals which dogged the Clinton administration remain relevant to a significant number of voters.

On a broader question, 93 percent of respondents in the new poll said they believe corruption is still a significant problem in Washington, and 78 percent think bigger government leads to more corruption." More...

Japan turning hawkish on defense policy

Former high-ranking military officers in Japan are calling on Japan to drop its defensive military posture and adopt a more “offensive defense” capabilities, including long-range cruise missiles and other precision weapons.

The main advocate is retired Vice Admiral Hideaki Kaneda who has raised the idea in the Diet over the past two years and has renewed his advocacy of it in recent months, according to Japanese press reports.

A North Korean missile test which overflew Japan in 1998 shocked the nation and led to a review of strictly neutral defense policies imposed under pressure by the U.S. occupation following Japan's disastrous defeat in World War II."

-- WorldTribune.com

The buzzards are circling: Musharraf at risk

A demonstration of lawyers staged for CNN wherein loyalists are beaten, a New York Times article in which our learned columnist “discovers” the absence of child welfare in a corner of the Third World, the multi-face-lifted former lady prime minister parading as a democrat through Georgetown cocktail parties although under indictment for moneylaundering in Switzlerland…

For those of us who have been through it all before, these are telltale signs of an orchestrated media campaign against Pakistan’s Gen. President Pervez Musharraf.

Not that there are not real issues. But the Bush Administration finds its domestic opposition now dedicated to using parochial politics, from parsing the war against terrorism [which its legislative drafting instructions finds is not an acceptable phrase] into its separate and [they would have you believe] unconnected parts. -- World Tribune.com

Report: Russia could head new Mideast gas cartel

"WASHINGTON — Russia and Middle East countries could decide to form a gas cartel a new report warns. Algeria, Iran, Qatar and Russia have scheduled a meeting of the 15-member Gas-Exporting Countries Forum in Doha on April 9, Middle East Newsline reported. Industry analysts said the session could result in a decision to form a cartel that would control gas supplies to the West."

-- WorldTribune.com

China ups military aide to Sudan despite human rights issues

"CAIRO — China has agreed to increase military cooperation with
Sudan even as questions continue to dog the Sudan regime's ties to a militia group accused of genocide in Darfour.

China has announced the agreement through its official media which said the accord came during the visit by a Sudanese military delegation to Beijing." - WorldTribune.com

Prime Minister Pelosi and Secretary of State Lantos undermine U.S. foreign policy--and maybe their own party.

HATE SPEECH?

Tony Blankley who writes for the Washington Times, wrote:

"Last week my former boss, Newt Gingrich, threw a much-needed conceptual bomb into the jejune public dialogue of presidential aspirants. Amid the platitudes, banalities and evasions that constitute pre-presidential debate these days, Newt argued (in a speech last weekend) that bilingual education only encourages students to be linguistically "living in a ghetto."

Predictably, the PC riot squad screeched into the media to suppress such clarity of language. Peter Zamora, co-chairman of the Hispanic Education Coalition, intoned: "The tone of his comments were [sic] very hateful."

Someone needs to tell Mr. Zamora that it is hateful of ideological "civil-rights" activists to try to intimidate any politician who would dare to liberate kids from the linguistic ghetto that serves to preserve their political power."

Ahhhhhh, what would do without the clarity of thought coming from the left?

TWO WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Here are pictures taken this week of two women in the Middle East. Which woman do you think is a greater advocate of America's most cherished values of liberty and human rights? Which woman do you think has more courage to fight for those rights, and women's rights in particular?

"Pelosi Galore is now a laughingstock all over America for her ridiculous behavior, as you know. But it's important to understand that she's also a laughingstock, a joke woman, all over the Middle East now as well.

Nouriya Al-Subeeh, on the other hand, is not. She may be hated, she may make Moslem men with little zibbs very angry, but she is no joke. This is a serious woman and everyone knows it. Nancy Pelosi is not - and everyone knows it."

Read more at To The Point News.

Showing pictures of the 15 sailor and marine hostages was simply ourageous.

Jack Kelly writes, "Patricia Hewitt, Health Secretary in Tony Blair's cabinet, was upset by pictures broadcast from Iran of the 15 captive British sailors and marines, reported Christopher Booker of the Sunday Telegraph."

So what was it the she felt was so deplorable? Was it because Iran was breaking Geneva Convention rules by showing photos of the captured hostages? Was it because they humiliated the female sailor by making her wear Islamic garb?

"No" would be the correct answer to both.

So what was it then that got Ms. Hewitt all up in arms?

"It was deplorable that the woman hostage should be shown smoking," Ms. Hewitt said. "This sends completely the wrong message to our young people."


Oh, Dear God, help us all!!

To be a good liberal you have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural.

History's Inkblots

We can't afford to ignore the consequences of retreat.
By Alan W. Dowd

The Saudi Surrender Plan

A blueprint for Israel’s demise wins praise in the West.
By P. David Hornik

LIBERALS

To be a good liberal, you have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.

Untouched by India's Growing Prosperity
—Michael Medved

In India, a report to the prime minister's office indicates that Muslims, the nation's largest religious minority, have fallen far behind the rest of the country. Representing 13 percent of the national population, the Islamic community has remained largely untouched by the recent surge in Indian living standards and remains disproportionately uneducated, impoverished, dysfunctional, prone to criminal violence and imprisoned.

While some Indian politicians blame the government and demand a massive new system of quotas and affirmative action, shouldn't they consider the potential that the problem stems in part from Muslim culture and values? After all, Islamic nations around the world suffer from similar difficulties: a propensity to violence, shoddy education and rejection of modernity.

The fact that the nation's 160 million Muslim citizens haven't benefited fully from India's miraculous economic progress of recent years merely re-enforces the idea that not all values systems and cultures will produce the same results.

Tancredo formally announces ’08 bid

"Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) formally announced Monday that he is running for president and said his campaign would be focused on combating illegal immigration.

“I am running for president to give Americans a voice, to win this fight [on illegal immigration],” Tancredo said in his announcement address on an Iowa talk-radio show.

The Colorado Republican is widely known as an ardent supporter of tight border security and an opponent of amnesty or guest-worker programs that could lead to citizenship for people who came to the U.S. illegally. He is currently serving his fifth term in the House of Representatives and founded the House Immigration Reform Caucus in 1999.

Tancredo has made waves with comments suggesting that the U.S. could retaliate for future terrorist attacks by bombing Muslim holy sites and likening parts of Miami to a Third World country." -- TheHill.com

Republicans demand investigation of U.N. climate-change agency

The Hill
By Aman Ali

"Nine House Republicans Wednesday called for a probe of a United Nations agency that monitors climate change, citing reports of mismanagement.

Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led by the panel’s ranking Republican, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), asked the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) to launch an inquiry into the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). An audit has shown that a WMO official misappropriated $3 million to finance a “money-for-votes scheme” before fleeing.

Noting that the U.S. has given more than $115 million to the agency, the Republican lawmakers say GAO should examine whether any part of the American contribution was among the misappropriated funds.

In addition, the GOP lawmakers called on the congressional watchdog to conduct a more thorough investigation of WMO — an audit of the audit, in effect — noting that a U.N. auditor looking into the situation had “reportedly been dismissed,” alleging she was prevented from fully examining the agency."

The Supreme Court's Bad Science and Bad Decision -- 04/05/2007

"In March of 1857, in the famed Dred Scott decision, the United States Supreme Court declared that all blacks -- slaves as well as free -- were not and could never become citizens of the United States. It also declared that the 1820 Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, thus permitting slavery in all territories and future, new states. By 1861, the United States was fighting a civil war.

Sometimes, the Supreme Court makes spectacularly bad decisions, and this was manifest on April 2, when five of its nine members yielded to the specious argument by 12 states and several environmental organizations that the science of 'global warming' was so conclusive that it could declare that carbon dioxide (CO2) should be regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as 'a pollutant.' " More....

NOT LIKELY TO HAPPEN ......

Global Warming Skeptic Challenges Gore to Debate
A British skeptic of global warming "alarmism" has challenged climate change activist and former Vice President Al Gore to a debate on the issue...

UP THE BARADA WITHOUT A PADDLE

Pelosi, The Damascus Diva, Delivered Wrong Message to Assad, Israel Says
Jerusalem - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered the wrong message to Syrian President Bashar Assad from Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said on Wednesday evening...

Zogby: Romney Rockets to Top in New Hampshire Poll, 3 Way Race

Sunni tribes battle al Qaeda terrorists: a firsthand report from Iraq.

BY BING WEST AND OWEN WEST

Will Democrats thwart a military success, or will success thwart them?

BY DANIEL HENNINGER

EDITORIAL

The right way to exploit any fissures in the Tehran regime.

YOU LEAD, I'LL FOLLOW

I must admit to stealing this from American Future:

"Barbara Walters of Television’s 20/20 did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walter’s vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, “Why do you now seem happy with the old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?”

The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation, said, “Land Mines.”

MORAL OF THE STORY: BEHIND EVERY MAN IS A SMART WOMAN."

"America has failed to engage its enemies, or tactically retreated when the going got tough, repeatedly since Vietnam: Iran in 1979, Lebanon in 1983, Iraq in 1991, Somalia in 1993.

There is ample reason to think that these shows of weakness--or, more precisely, of irresoluteness--emboldened America's enemies. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, provided strong--at the time, seemingly irrefutable--evidence that taking the easy way out did not enhance American national security.

America seems dangerously close to a tipping point: a return to the 9/10 mindset that led to 9/11. It may be that President Bush's steadfastness is the only thing standing in the way, and that his departure from the scene in January 2009 will leave a more timid America."
-- James Taranto

The Shame of Higher Education

By Walter E. Williams

Many of our nation's colleges and universities have become cesspools of indoctrination, intolerance, academic dishonesty and the new racism. In a March 1991 speech, Yale President Benno Schmidt warned, 'The most serious problems of freedom of expression in our society today exist on our campuses.. . . The assumption seems to be that the purpose of education is to induce correct opinion rather than to search for wisdom and to liberate the mind.' Read on.

Save the Electoral College
How strange: Legislators here in Arkansas, or at least those in this state's House of Representatives, have just voted for a bill that would cast the state's six electoral votes for whichever presidential candidate won the nation's popular vote............

Cold War II: What Islamist Iran has in common with the Soviet Union.

BY DAVID HAZONY

It's time to hold Patrick Fitzgerald accountable.

Opinion Journal.com

SCREWED UP PRIORITIES

"When I was in the U.S.M.C. reserves, I had this Platoon Commander, a good officer, good MARINE. A little over a year ago, he takes an IED to his humvee and gets smeared across 50 meters of Iraqi asphalt. He got a military funeral, a blurb in the local newspaper, and a bunch of ignorant New England protestors show up at his funeral. Yet, some cracked out, dim-witted bimbo Playboy bunny dies in her hotel room and she gets a news conference and 24 hours of live continuous television coverage..... Thanks for having your priorities straight America...."
-- Author unknown

'Nuff said.

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

"Britain is not an easy target of fanatics because of Blair's support of the United States. Britain is a target because it is Britain, just as France, Germany and the rest of Europe are targets for their openness, freedom and democracy. For not banding together as free people, we all risk hanging individually; as Tehran and others prepare the noose from which the weak and indecisive will hang. This is not a war any of us can escape. It is a war that can only be won or lost." -- Cal Thomas

We know what the Dems want; they have chosen defeat, and this clearly is not good for us. What are we to conclude from this? They most certainly cannot be so devoid of intellectual acuity to understand the ramifications of their choice -- can they be? But yet, they don't seem to care. It is hard to figure.

THE DEMISE OF THE UK: IT'S PRECIPITOUS FALL FROM THE WORLD STAGE.

THE UK'S RELEVANCE AND REPUTATION IS IN A FREEFALL.
By HeavyHanded

Why do I say this?

Let's start with the fact that WWII put Britain's naval presence "in as much, if not more, peril than in the first (WWI). Her naval commanders rightly identified submarine warfare as being the biggest threat the island nation. The Royal and Merchant Navies took horrendous losses as these commanders developed ways of dealing with this silent menace. Convoys and ASDIC did most to redress this balance. But it was a long, hard fight and one that left Britain militarily and economically exhausted by the end of the war.

Britain would never reclaim its former maritime glory. The United States and Soviet Navies would eclipse the Royal Navy in size, technology and power. Aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and the rise of Air Power in general would mean that the strategic balance had been tipped forever. Withdrawal from Empire speeded up this process even more, bases in the Far East, South East Asia, the Middle East and even the Mediterranean seemed like expensive anachronisms that no longer served any purpose. At a commercial level, the rise of air transport killed off much of the passenger business of the shipping lines. Also, new trade patterns were established as Imperial trade was replaced by much shorter European destinations.

The fall from grace of the British naval heritage is only so precipitate when you realise how long and how deep that tradition has been the lifeblood of the nation. Generations of citizens grew up with the unquestioning belief that Britannia Ruled the Waves. Now that she is a middle ranking European nation, it is not hard to see why so many people lament the passing of an era and why it inspires so many more to be fascinated and interested in this area of British history."

And it is only going to get worse as they continue to mimmick their fellow European counterparts with their decisions to further cutbacks. So, with Great Bitain's willingness to follow in the footsteps of the other countries of "Old Europe," they will be spending less on arms and national defense - specifically their navy. The future for the once heralded British Navy, does not look too rosey.

Secondly, it appears the Brits have have lost their desire to defend themselves. The 15 British sailors were captured/abducted and now remain hostages of Iran ... with nary a shot fired. And just as telling of their passivity, a recent poll of 762 British voters "found that 48 percent rejected force as a solution to the crisis even as a last resort. Forty-four percent of respondents approved of force if diplomacy failed.

In a separate question, 26 percent of the respondents thought that Britain should apologize to Iran."

Third, in another indication of their unwillingness to be "confrontational" or so as not to "offend anyone," we cannot overlook their decision to drop any mention of the Holocaust from their history lessons in their school curricula ... lest they violate the sensitivities of their Muslim population ... a disgusting display of political correctness gone wrong.

Man With TB Locked Up To Protect Public, Tuberculosis Patient Confined To Arizona Jail Cell, Leading To Civil Liberties Debate

AP -- "Behind the county hospital's tall cinderblock walls, a 27-year-old tuberculosis patient sits in a jail cell equipped with a ventilation system that keeps germs from escaping."

CBS News

UNDERMINING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Maryland Approves Electoral College Change

The Democrats’ Other War

By Pat Cleary

"Dominating the headlines these days -- and indeed virtually since the Democrats' takeover of the Congress in January -- has been news of their views on the prosecution of the war in Iraq. However, largely under the radar of press, public and pundits, the Dems have been prosecuting another multi-front war, this one on the nation's employers.

You'll recall from the outset that Pelosi & Company promised a new day, one bereft of partisanship -- and an agenda that would focus on the nation's problems. But their actions have belied their rhetoric. Right out of the gate, their '100 Hours' agenda -- a litany of poll-tested bromides -- included two corporate broadsides, HR 4 and HR 6.

HR 4 wagged a Congressional finger at 'big Pharma', requiring government negotiation of drug prices. Only problem is, the bill would actually result in government-set prices and fewer choices for people who need these important medicines. We know that because it's precisely what happened in the EU and at the VA where it was tried. No matter, it made for a good 30-second spot, the stuff that passes for policy in this era of drive-by debates. Big business as the bogeyman. We know how this one ends."

Read more of Pat Cleary at Human Events.

Business of Global Warming Feels a Lot Like Inquisition

By William F. Buckley"

Belgium to impose tax on barbequing to fight global warming

BRUSSELS, April 3 (RIA Novosti)

"The government of Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia, which has a population of about 4 million, has approved a tax on barbequing, local media reported.

Experts said that between 50 and 100 grams of CO2, a so-called greenhouse gas, is emitted during barbequing. Beginning June 2007, residents of Wallonia will have to pay 20 euros for a grilling session.

The local authorities plan to monitor compliance with the new tax legislation from helicopters, whose thermal sensors will detect burning grills.

Scientists believe CO2 emissions are a major cause of global warming."

A pop singer and a potentially violent culture war in the world's biggest Muslim state.

BY BRET STEPHENS

Sadly, mainstream Islamic teaching accepts and promotes violence.

BY TAWFIK HAMID

Feinstein Leaves Senate Defense Panel Amid Controversy
Government watchdog groups want more answers as to why Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) stepped down from a military appropriations subcommittee at a time questions were being asked billions of dollars in federal defense contracts going to her husband's companies...

Thompson Is for Real
In just three weeks, Fred Thompson has improbably transformed the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

Why liberals get it wrong (on nearly everything!)
Given the chance to do what is right, liberals will consistently choose otherwise.

Dangerous Demagoguery
Thomas Sowell

One of the dangers in being a demagogue is that some of your own supporters -- those who take you literally -- can turn against you when you start letting your actions be influenced by realities, instead of following the logic of your ringing rhetoric.

The Essence of Liberalism: Embracing Life's Losers

"While the right wants to reward beneficial choices and discourage destructive directions, the left seeks to eliminate or reduce the impact of the disadvantages that result from bad decisions. In place of the conservative emphasis on accountability, the left proffers a gospel of indiscriminate compassion.

This leads directly, and inevitably, to the liberal passion to sanctify victimhood." Read on.

“Most debates about proposed amendments concern whether the amendments are necessary or would be beneficial. Debate about the [Equal Rights Amendment] has always concerned what it might mean. For example, would it forbid treating the sexes differently in pension and insurance plans because of actuarial data about sex-related differences regarding health problems and life expectancy? Presumably, judges would, over time, tell the nation what it had ratified. All amendments generate litigation, but the ERA’s purpose is to generate litigation. It is a device to get courts to impose social policies that supporters of the policies cannot convince legislatures to enact. ERA... supporters, being politically lazy, prefer the shortcut of litigation to the patient politics necessary to pass legislation. If [Ted] Kennedy and like-minded legislators think the condition of American women needs improvements, they should try to legislate them. Instead, they prefer to hope that liberal judges will regard the ERA’s language as a license to legislate. But, then, support for the amendment testifies to the supporters’ lack of confidence in their ability to persuade people to support such policies.”

—George Will

“It has been said that a child who is made to earn a toy most often takes better care of it than a child who was simply given the toy. Well, our nation has become a nation of children who have been given, not a toy, but the gifts of freedom and a Constitutional Republic with which to safeguard that freedom and we are abusing these gifts with our relentless apathy and ignorance. Because it is impossible to understand the value of something without knowing its worth, our society has become estranged from the value of freedom. We toss around the saying ‘freedom isn’t free’ but we hardly understand the price of attaining and maintaining that freedom. The majority of us have never actually fought for our liberties and we most assuredly have never lived under the tyranny of oppression, although the delusional Progressive-Left would argue otherwise. We have become soft, self-centered and egotistical and our country is a worse place for it.”

—Frank Salvato

“Debates rage over the redefining of what marriage is despite centuries of the norm that it constitutes the bonding of a man and a woman. Communities try to eliminate the word Christmas or Easter from the celebration of holidays that reach back hundreds of years. The killing of the unborn, decades after a Supreme Court ruling, still enrages those for whom the sanctity of life lies at the heart of their beliefs. I submit that the day this nation abandons these debates and eliminates the prohibitions that represent our common definition of moral behavior is the day this nation will truly begin to lose its hold on our own and the world’s respect. So, Americans must continue to grapple with issues of moral decline and must decry the soft decay of our mutually held values. It is a good thing we debate these things. A completely secular society is one in which ‘everything goes’ and, when that occurs, the first thing to go will be the United States of America.”

—Alan Caruba

A MUST READ

The Coming War with Islam
by Solly Ganor

"Five years ago, I had a conversation with a young Palestinian student who in short precise terms explained how Islam will defeat the West. The conversation opened my eyes to a much larger picture in which Israel plays only a minor role in the Islamic game of conquest. Since then I tried to speak to some Arabs who come to pray at the Mosque, but they were not as outspoken as the student.

Last week, I had another conversation with an Israeli Arab construction boss by the unlikely name of Francis who was in charge of building a villa near our house in Herzelia. He told me that his family was Christian, and his name was given to him in honor of the Franciscan monks. Our conversation was as interesting as the first conversation I had with the Arab student five years ago and I would like to share it with you............."

PAKISTAN'S CIVIL WAR

By Bill Roggio

"Events over the past week highlight the deteriorating situation in the country.

Over the past week, the Taliban have been very active in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. The Taliban attacked the town of Tank, re initiated its turf war with the Uzbeks in Waziristan and continues to consolidate gains in Kohat and Bannu. But perhaps most disturbing event isn't the slow disintegration of the Pakistani state at the fringes, but the open defiance from the Taliban in the heart of Pakistani capital. At the peripheries, Pakistan is either..........."

Recruiting Soldiers Against Radical Islam
by Aaron Hanscom

"Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes calls himself a “soldier” in the war against radical Islam. This description is in keeping with Pipes’ belief that the “war's center of gravity has shifted from force of arms to the hearts and minds of citizens.” Because so many people in the West still don’t believe that they are at war, specialists like Pipes are performing an essential role by warning of the dangers of radical Islam.

The most recent battlefield in the war of ideas is......."

Hearts Without Minds
by Michael Radu

"Common sense and experience have confirmed, time after time, that making concessions to terrorism and barbarity produces more of each – a lesson repeatedly unlearned by the same Europeans who so enjoy condemning President Bush's 'cowboy' policies. Considering the frequency with which one European government after another makes concessions to the international criminal elements, one could only conclude that, in the particular case of the British sailors kidnapped by Iran, there is indeed only one 'Europe,' and it is neither responsible nor reliable. This is a tremendous problem for Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who seems to be relying upon the mythical 'international community' to fix a self-inflicted problem.

Why were those soldiers captured in the first place? Because, as the former First Sea Lord Sir Alan West said ....."

IF YOU WANT TO BE A GOOD LIBERAL ......

You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of the Iran Islamofascists and the North Korean communists.

"Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue.
-- John Witherspoon

Iran fears U.S. attack in summer: Israeli general

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran is making defensive preparations for what it fears will be a U.S. military attack this summer, Israel's military intelligence chief said on Sunday.

Old Church Becomes Mosque in Uneasy Britain

A battle to turn a former Christian church into a mosque underscored Britain's unease with its Muslim minority.
Read on...

Al Qaeda Is Seen as Restoring Leadership

A new generation of leaders has emerged under Osama bin Laden to cement control over the network's operations, officials said.
Read on...

Death sought for 'Chemical Ali'

Iraqi prosecutors seek death sentences in a trial over crimes against Kurds under Saddam Hussein's rule in the 1980s.
Read on...

Kids ride in trunk; father is arrested

An Oregon man on vacation with his family was arrested for putting two of his four children in a car trunk because the vehicle was too small to hold all of them, police said. Children age 12 and 13 had ridden in the trunk for about 20 miles, police said.
Read on...

FBI Most Wanted woman is caught

The lone woman on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list was captured just before the television show "America's Most Wanted" announced she was on the list.
Read on...

Ex-Cabinet official joins the GOP field

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson joined the crowded field seeking the Republican presidential nomination, saying he is the "reliable conservative" in the race. Thompson, Health and Human Services secretary during President Bush's first term, said on ABC's "This Week" that he felt "very, very optimistic."
Read on...