THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: 12/01/2004

Friday, December 31, 2004

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

I pray the new year brings all humanity an expansion of liberty - and the prosperity liberty produces, greater justice, and more freedom to pursue happiness.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 5:54 PM ; Permalink;

Thursday, December 30, 2004

RUMMY TO CUT $60 BILLION FROM PENTAGON BUDGET.

PREDICTION:

MORE PISSED-OFF ADMIRALS & GENERALS WILL PEDDLE MORE BIASED/ANTI-RUMSFELD LEAKS TO THE OLD MEDIA...

NYTIMES (HAT TIP ... the inimitable DRUDGE):

The Pentagon plans to retire one of the Navy's 12 aircraft carriers, buy fewer amphibious landing ships for the Marine Corps and delay the development of a costly Army combat system of high-technology arms as part of $60 billion in proposed cuts over the next six years, Congressional and military officials said Wednesday. [...] The proposed Pentagon cuts, which include sharply reducing the program for the Air Force's F/A-22 fighter and delaying the purchase of a new Navy destroyer, would for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks slow the growth in Pentagon spending, which has risen 41 percent in that period, to about $420 billion this year. Military and Congressional officials said the Pentagon was looking to trim up to $10 billion in the 2006 budget alone. [...] When Donald H. Rumsfeld became defense secretary in 2001, he took aim at costly weapons systems that he and his top aides said were relics of the cold war. Since then, the Army has canceled the $11 billion Crusader artillery system and the $38 billion Comanche reconnaissance helicopter program.

These difficult cuts -- demanded by the changing nature of warfare and lagging fiscal constraints -- are the kinds of cuts that piss off the Brass and get you NO CREDIT from the Left - or the Old Media they dominate; in fact, it's part of what stokes up the "gotta-get-Rummy" furnace inside the Beltway: angry Brass feed biased leaks to an immoral press that will stoop to anything to "get Rummy".

(For contemporaneous stories which demonstrate the relationship between Rumsfeld's transformation of the Pentagon and the angry Brass and Old Media click HERE and HERE and HERE [all PRE-9/11/2001], and HERE [2002], and HERE [2003].)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:18 AM ; Permalink;

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

THE BEST WAY TO HELP EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

Send cash to NGO's listed by USAID HERE.

And their guidelines are HERE.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 4:33 PM ; Permalink;

The Disaster and the aftermath: myths dispelled

OR: why mass graves are unnecessary and only compound the horror and the grief

First, I want to express my condolences to all those effected by the recent earthquake and tsunami. It is a truly horrifying event. Second, I want to express my pride in my country for being the most generous nation on Earth and giving more money to the victims than any other. Now... I have a question: Much has been written in the last few days about the dire need to bury bodies before diseases become prevalent an epidemics break out.

Here's a quote (one of many similar quotes from all over the web):

"We have accelerated disposing of bodies to minimize the risk of an epidemic. Also, we have started spraying bleaching powder on the beaches from where the bodies have been recovered," said Veera Shanmuga Moni, a top administrator of Tamil Nadu's Nagappattinam district.

I have long thought that disease was caused by viruses or bacteria, and did NOT spontaneously generate from decaying flesh. This leads me to ask a question: has there been an historical natural disaster that was ever followed by an epidemic caused by decaying bodies? I understand that clean drinking water is an urgent health concern - as it always is, regardless of whether there are countless bodies to bury or not. As a matter of fact, after the last horrific international natural disaster - Hurricane Mitch - there was NO secondary public health impact (though one was feared). This is from W.H.O.:

WHO WARNS AGAINST HEALTH MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE WAKE OF TURKISH EARTHQUAKE

Numerous "myths" are repeatedly broadcast when a natural disaster occurs: the supposed occurrence of epidemics after disasters, the relationship between dead bodies and epidemics, the need for foreign medical assistance, the need for large quantities of medical supplies and camp hospitals, the need to resettle the population in camps, the need for food aid, a return to normality after a few weeks.

The reality is by far different, Dr Michel Thieren, Medical Officer in WHO's Department of Emergency and Humanitarian Action, warned today. "The demand for health services occurs within the first 24 hours of a sudden event. Most injured people may appear at medical facilities during the first three to five days, after which admitting patterns return almost to normal. Patients may appear in two waves, the first (the great majority) consisting of casualties from the immediate area around the medical facility and the second of referral cases as humanitarian operations in more distant areas become organized. Victims of secondary disasters (post-earthquake aftershocks and fires) may arrive at a later stage."

This is also from W.H.O.:

... natural disaster tend to generate false information and principle which lays on no scientific ground. This is particularly the case for the health sector, and relief organization have to battle hard to establish the evidence in relation with the real medical needs, and with the absence of correlation between hurricane and epidemics or between cadavers and large scale epidemics.

And then there's this article by one of the world's foremost medical experts in disaster relief:

The most persistent myth that dead bodies pose a major risk for disease, as reiterated in all large natural disasters - especially earthquakes and cyclones - is just that: a myth. The bodies of victims from earthquakes or other natural disasters do not present a public health risk for cholera, typhoid fever or other plagues mentioned by misinformed medical doctors. In fact, the few occasional carriers of those communicable diseases who were unfortunate victims of the disaster are far less of a threat to the public than when they were alive.
Often overlooked is the unintended social consequence of the precipitous and unceremonious disposal of corpses. It is just one more severe blow to the affected population, depriving them of their human right to honor the dead through proper identification and burial.
The legal and financial consequences from the lack of a death certificate will add to the suffering of survivors for years to come.
Our experience in the aftermath of the Mexico City earthquake showed that health authorities and the media can work together to inform the public and make the identification of the deceased and the return of bodies to their families possible in a climate free from unfounded fears of epidemics.
Moreover, focusing on ineffective and medically unnecessary measures such as the superficial 'disinfecting’ of cadavers with lime, mass burial, or cremation require important human and material resources that should instead be allocated to those who survived and remain in critical condition.
Finally, these measures provide the population with a false sense of security.
Natural disasters such as earthquakes and cyclones/hurricanes do not result in diseases that are not already present in the affected area, nor do they provoke secondary disasters through outbreaks of communicable diseases. Proper resumption of public health services, such as immunization and sanitation measures, control and disposal of waste, and special attention to water quality and food safety, will ensure the safety of the population and relief workers from those diseases which were endemic to the area prior to the disaster.
(Dr. C. de Ville de Goyet - Chief, Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program - PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Pan American Sanitary Bureau, Regional Office of the World Health Organization)

I think the sources I have cited are correct. The rush to bury bodies is based on superstition. It is bad science, and it prevents the people effected by this horrific disaster from being able to mourn their dead with proper respect and closure - IOW: the mass graves - as difficult and as horrifying to look at as any part of this natural disaster - are a totally unnecessary and UNNATURAL (man-made), and only add to the misery of those already so horribly hurt.

We may never be able to prevent natural disasters, (though science and communication may mitigate them more & more), but we should be able to prevent unnecessary and inhumane mass graves.

THIS JUST IN (NYTIMES):

"Even as local health officials out in the field were racing to create mass graves or pyres to deal with the rising tide of bodies, saying the bodies posed immediate health risks, officials of the World Health Organization emphasized that the biggest risk of an outbreak was posed by survivors. The agency's officials said Tuesday that because there was little danger of epidemics from unburied bodies, immediate mass burials and cremations were not necessary. Instead, they said, family members and friends should be given time, where possible, to identify the bodies first. "

SO: LET'S END THE HORRID PRACTICE OF MASS GRAVES!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:55 AM ; Permalink;

Monday, December 27, 2004

OUSTED FANNIE MAE CHIEF WITH HUGE "RETIREMENT" PACKAGE!

The former Clintonista swindler who oversaw FANNIE MAE's misstatement of $9 BILLION dollars of losses (through discredited accounting practices) is getting $114,000 PER MONTH... FOR LIFE! Some punishment! He should get time in prison!

FYI: Franklin Raines was director of OMB for Clinton... but THEN he was honest... YEAH RIGHT! Makes me wonder: how much of the Clinton budgetary/fiscal success was accomplished by "playing" with numbers!?

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:25 PM ; Permalink;

"McGOVERNITIS" - an infectious inflammation originating in the vestigial Left-wing of the body politic

The McGovern Syndrome
By David Horowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com
December 27, 2004

On Christmas Day, former U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern wrote a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times (and probably many other papers) calling for an American surrender in Iraq. George McGovern has not been in the headlines for three decades, and his name consequently may be unfamiliar to many. But no one has had a greater or more baleful impact on the Democratic Party and its electoral fortunes than this progressive product of the South Dakota plains.

The leftward slide of the Democratic Party, which has made it an uncertain trumpet in matters of war and peace, may be said to have begun with the McGovern presidential campaign of 1972, whose slogan was “American come home” – as though America was the problem and not the aggression of the Communist bloc.

READ THE WHOLE THING.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:05 PM ; Permalink;

ABBAS: AN AMORAL PRAGMATIST WHO'S ONLY EMBRACING NON-VIOLENCE AND NEGOTIATION BECAUSE GENOCIDAL TERROR HAS FAILED

Abbas says the Second IntIfada was wrong. On first SUPERFICAL glance this seems good.But read the quote yourself - carefully (From KUWAIT'S KUNA NEWS):

I have taken a clear stand toward the continuation of the intifadah .. as ‏it shouldn't have continued following the rebellion in Al-Aqsa that was for ‏the defense of our scared shrines," he said, alluding to the September, 2000, ‏park of the uprising, when unarmed Palestinians engaged in bloody clashes ‏with heavily-armed Israeli troops after Ariel Sharon, before he was named ‏prime minister, paid a provocative visit to the mosque. ‏ Abbas affirmed his abidance by the "political settlement and the option of ‏peace," adding, "I say it clearly that believe that the military solution is ‏not possible." He also said that using arms during the uprising against the ‏occupation has actually harmed the cause of the Palestinian people. "The militarization of the intifadah and the usage of arms for liberation ‏is not possible because the balance of powers is not in our favor," said the grey-haired veteran politician.
So... it seems to me he is winking at the terrorists, saying in effect: "terror would be fine if it worked." This may make Abbas a realist and a pragmatist - but not man of peace. He seems, in a way, to be saying that they should use non-violent means to destroy Israel.

ON ANOTHER LEVEL: This proves - once again - that the only way to end terror is to defeat it, appeasing it only encourages it; the Israelis defeated the Second Intifada and have driven FATAH to the negotiating tables and to the voting booths. Now Abbas is at best sincerely trying to TALK the Jihadoterrorists into accepting the military defeat and into making the best deal they can at the negotiating table.

If and when the Palestinian Arabs get autonomy again (and then perhaps a state), I think the Jihadists will merely use it as a base for terror - much like the Taliban used Afghanistan and Zarqawi the Sunni Triangle - UNLESS the PA makes as determined a fight against them as the Iraqis are making right now.

That's what makes me a pessimist: It's just that Abbas doesn't strike me as man with 1/10th the courage of Allawi. And I think it will take more than TALK to get HAMAS and Hizb'allah to lay down their arms. And since I think it's unlikely that Abbas will really crackdown on the Jihadoterrorists - the first condition for any deal - I think unilateral separation is still the most likely outcome. But we shall see. I pray Abbas proves me wrong.

MORE HERE (from the IHT). Their title: "Path is peace, but goal is the same, Abbas says" By Steven Erlanger The New York Times. [I guess what I'm saying is that it seems to me that what Abbas is REALLY saying is: "Goal is destruction of Israel, but path is non-violent - for now."]

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:00 AM ; Permalink;

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Bush Critics are Bankrupt

In this post ("The impoverished diplomacy of Bush's critics"), POWERLINE makes short work of Brzezinski and Scowcroft's criticisms of Bush, and of their suggestions to Bush on the Middle East (while easily dispatching with the awful Robin Wright of the decent Wash Post).

I would only add this when it comes to the oft quoted 2 "old wise men:"

Zbig and Brent were abject FAILURES: with Zbig, we abandoned a key ally in the Shah and got Khomeini - and the horrible hostage crisis. Also on his watch - the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan, and the ascension of Saddam - and all 4 of these DISASTERS were met with absolutley NO effective response. With Brent we got the unfinished business from the unfinished Gulf War version 1991 - and let's not forget he allowed Saddam to put down the Shia uprising (in what amounted to genocide) - in spite of the fact that he and Bush Sr. had initially encouraged them to rise up against Saddam and overthrow him.

More than any other two national security advisors, Zbig and Brent are responsible for the mess we're in today.

Only Clinton's 8 years of repeated failures in the face of Jihadoterror (Khobar, the 1993 WTC bombing, the African embassy bombings, Somalia, the Sudan, and the USS Cole) are worse.

We should no more take foreign policy advice from Zbig or Brent than we should take a lesson in military honor & loyalty from Kerry.

ADDENDUM: Scowcroft has charged "Ariel Sharon has Bush wrapped around his little finger" and I witnessed Brzezinski concur joyfully in a joint appearance they made on TV. IMHO, this is as serious and realistic a critcism of Bush as the one we hear from the Moore-types: that "Bush is a tool of the House of Saud." These mutually exclusive charges are nothing more than LUDICROUS "tin-foil hat" ravings, and they say more about those who utter them than they do about Bush. It's just further proof that Scowcroft and Brzezinski - and Michael Moore - are inane as-h-les who have descended into irrelevance via "B.D.S." THEY SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 5:11 PM ; Permalink;

Saturday, December 25, 2004

ON THIS DAY, 15 YEARS AGO

BBC:

"1989: Romania's 'first couple' executed - Deposed Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena have been shot by a firing squad after a secret military tribunal found them both guilty of crimes against the state. They were charged and convicted of genocide and undermining the national economy among a series of other offences, officials said."

Looking back, it is impossible not to agree that the last 25 years have brought more of humanity than ever closer to lives of liberty and the prosperity that only liberty produces.

Today - and for the last two years - the struggle to liberate our brothers and sisters in the Middle East has taken a heavy toll, but the prize is closer than it has ever been: Palestinian Arabs are having a rolling election - local positions now, culiminating with a presidential election in a few weeks; Iraq will soon have a presidential election in five weeks; in Central Asia, Afghanistan just had one.

Twisted tyrannical utopianist maniacs will stop at nothing to prevent the spread of liberty. They know that their evil totalitarian ideology cannot prevail within a democracy, so they deperately try to prevent the democratic revolution from spreading.

They will fail. Because their creed is of a bygone era when people could be enslaved by rulers who claimed to know better - or claimed to have a divine right to rule - ideas that've been completely discredited, and are properly consigned to the dustbin of history. Their time has passed.

What we see now are the violent death-throes of the condemned and soon to be buried. Why am I so sure that liberty and democracy will defeat tyranny and terror; well... as the wise man once said: yesterday has never defeated tomorrow. Tomorrow is inevitable - so is the spread of liberty and democracy.

I only wish more people - especially the Left (and the Old Media they dominate), and the Old "take freedom for granted" Europeans - appreciated that spreading democracy and human rights is our responsibility (America's - because we're the world's oldest, richest and strongest democracy; and Old Europe's because they should extend a hand to others in their time of need as a hand was extended to them in WW2).

Post-modernist Leftist ideology prevents this. Through "the academy" it has dominated, the post-modernism has infected the Left here in the USA, and in most the nations of Old Europe since the middle of the last century. It has promulgated an anti-West/anti-colonial version of history and promoted the culturally and morally relativistic ideology that is its twin.

This immoral, false and politically impotent ideology asserts that all cultures and all value systems are equivalent. And since all systems are equivalent, the only reason one dominates another is brute force - and, it asserts using brute force to "foist" YOUR value system on any another culture is bad/wrong - unless there is international/cross-cultural unanimity (which is why they ADORE the UN, and have only momentary regrets when the UN fails to act to prevent genocide in Rwanda or the Sudan or anywhere else). To Leftists/post-modernists only CONSENSUS can authorize/legalize/justify one culture interfering in another - EVEN IF THERE IS WIDESPREAD SYSTEMATIC HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS INCLUDING GENOCIDE. Can anything be more morally bankrupt?

I think not. I think that all humans everywhere deserve their inalienable rights. If that makes me a neo-con then FDR and Eleanor were neo-cons. And Blair is a neo-con. That's good company. Better than Kofi or Chirac. Or Ceausescu. Or Castro. Or Milosevic. Or Arafat. Or Mugabe. Or Bin Laden. Or Kim Jong Il. Or Assad. Or Khomeini. Or Saddam.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:33 PM ; Permalink;

IRAQI POLICE: "SYRIA BEHND NAJAF BOMBING!"

KHALEEJ TIMES - Iraqi police see Syrian hand in Najaf bombing (AFP)

25 December 2004

NAJAF, Iraq - The Iraqi police chief in Najaf accused the Syrian government Saturday of involvement in last weekend’s deadly bombing that killed 52 people in the Shiite pilgrimage city. One of three suspects arrested in Najaf immediately after the attack “confessed that Syrian intelligence services had played a role in the blast”, on December 19 that wounded more than 140 people, said General Ghaleb al-Jazairi. “He had lived in Syria where he began to work for the Syrian intelligence” at a camp for Iraqi refugees, he said.

IT'S TIME TO RETALIATE AGAINST SYRIA, AND I DO NOT MEAN MORE SANCTIONS; IT'S TIME TO WHACK THEM MILITARILY!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:34 PM ; Permalink;

Friday, December 24, 2004

JAPAN ABOUT TO TURN UP HEAT ON NORTH KOREA

JAPAN TIMES (by REIJI YOSHIDA) :

"Japan doesn't buy North's 'evidence' -- Pyongyang faces sanctions"

The information and items North Korea provided pertaining to 10 missing Japanese are not credible, the government said Friday, warning Pyongyang faces economic sanctions if it continues its "insincere" attitude over the abductions. "Options could include economic sanctions, although this has not been decided as the first choice," Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters. Friday's announcement is expected to raise diplomatic tension by another critical notch, as domestic pressure mounts for the government to slap sanctions on North Korea.

I think this story demonstrates that North Korea presents a real danger to the nations in the region (and through them the world) - and that (contrary to what Leftists would want you to think) this has NOTHING to do with American hegemony or Bush (or the neo-cons or the Likudniks), and everything to do with the fact that the Kim Jong Il regime is a savage, untrustworthy totalitarian regime.

It is time for regime change - and (in large measure) that will depend on China assuming its responsibilities as the biggest power in the region with close ties to North Korea.

UPDATE: more on the Japan angle HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

THE MYTH OF AMERICAN CULTURAL HEGEMONY - or - WHY SO-CALLED "AMERICAN CULTURE" PREVAILS

American culture prevails over other cultures because American culture is AD HOC.

AD HOC: "Something that is ad hoc or that is done on an ad hoc basis happens or is done only when the situation makes it necessary or desirable, rather than being arranged in advance or being part of a general plan."

American culture evolves in ways that are determined AD HOC by the people - not by the design of "the academy" or "the politburo" or "the Upper West Side" or "the chattering classes" or the "chic degenerati" or the elitist Left and the Old Media they dominate.

That's why American culture is an ever-evolving amalgam of the marketplace of ideas & products & services. The people - at any given time and place - determine for themselves what their culture is.

That's why American musical culture has gone from Brass Band to Big Band to Jazz Combo to Rock & Roll to Disco to Hip Hop - it's not the result of what some big-shots in some big offices decide. In America: "Culture happens!"

SO... when you hear leaders in other nations (or cultures) argue that they "want to prevent American Culture from overtaking their own" what they are really really proposing and doing is to prevent their people from reading & writing and listening & playing and filming & viewing and dressing or doing as they please. In effect, it is nothing more than fascism.

One of the favorite targets of culture elitists (who would prefer a system in which they themselves would pre-determine what YOUR culture "should be") is Hollywood - as if Hollywood movies were somehow uniquely American.

This is false, if not: absurd.

First of all, the Hollywood movie style was developed by trial & error in an effort to discover a way to manufacture a "moving picture story" that could be most widely distributed to a mass market comprised of disparate elements. To discover this style the studio moguls (themselves nearly all immigrants from various non-American cultures) hired talent from all over the world: Europe, Asia - everywhere; the who's who of early Hollywood is utterly international and multi-cultural. What this multi-cultural group was able to discover and perfect was a moving-picture story-style which was TRANS-CULTURAL and therefore "available" to audiences from any culture.

Further proof that this style is itself non-cultural is the fact that this style can be used to manufacture a moving-picture story in any language, and on just about any subject, with any political POV: elitist; subversive; anti-American; Marxist; porn; NAZI, etc.

So when you hear elitists (like Chirac) say that they want to put quotas on Hollywood movies to protect their own industry or their own culture from "American Cultural Hegemony" what they are really doing is preventing the people from deciding for themselves what they want to watch.

And this is the same attack on personal liberty when Chirac makes it against Hollywood, as when Bin Laden makes it against the West.

Neither wants the people themselves to decide for themselves what to: read or write; or play or listen to; or how to dress - or anything. They are both cultural elitists who think they know better what anybody should write or read or view or listen to; (YES: France has IMPOSED quotas on their radio-stations against too much "Anglo-music"). Neither trusts the people to decide for themselves.

If they had real confidence in their own culture, then they wouldn't fear competition with any other culture. They wouldn't have to ban the hijab on the one hand, or mandate the burkha on the other. They are - like all statists/elitists - birds of a feather.

The strength of American culture - so-called - is that it is FREE TO EVOLVE HOWEVER THE PEOPLE WANT IT TO EVOLVE. It absorbs whatever it wants from wherever it wants for as long as it wants - and "it" is the people, the "marketplace" if you prefer.

Within this ever-evolving culture, people are of course free to maintain enclaves of whatever they wish: they can be more devout & conservative (like 50's greasers, or Amish), or they can be xenophiles (like Woody Allen and Michael Moore and their fixation on the pre-eminence of French culture), or they can even be trekkies. This is because a FREE culture doesn't demand that everybody tows the line - heterogeneity and pluralism are fine in an open culture. That's why it evolves. America's culture is open-sourced and free; anti-American elitists are closed-minded and dictatorial.

And, that's why the LAND OF THE FREE is the home of world culture: because here the public determines what culture is (at any given moment) - and not members of the Academy or Mullahs or aristocrats of any stripe.

That's democracy of culture, and like democracy in the political realm: it only frightens tyrants. As well it should.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 4:44 PM ; Permalink;

Thursday, December 23, 2004

FRENCH EX-HOSTAGE ON IRAQ: "IT'S JIHAD, STUPID!"

AFP:

"We really understood that these kidnappers were driven not by an Iraqi agenda, but by an agenda of Islamic holy war." (Said by ex-hostage Georges Malbrunot)

I hope that shuts up everyone who (like Michael Moore) claims that what's going on now in Iraq is an insurgency driven by Iraqi nationalism. It ain't. "It's Jihad, stupid!" And that means that Iraq really is the central battlefield in the GWOT.

And with stakes this large, we cannot afford to let Syrian perfidy make us fail. (See below.)

UPDATE: This article in the NYTIMES conveniently omits the above quote; this selective omission reveals that the NYTIMES doesn't want its readers to discover what the French hostages did discover: that the Iraq War as part of the GWOT.

**UPDATE - BBC: The Beeb has the quote translated this way:

"We were very aware of the fact that it wasn't the Iraqi agenda that motivated our kidnappers, but the internationalist jihadist agenda."

I think that the Beeb and the Kuwati press reports on this matter are less biased than the NYTIMES. Unlike the NYTIMES, they both make it CLEAR that the French hostage now believes that Iraq is now part of the war against Jihadoterrorism.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:55 PM ; Permalink;

LEFTIST ILLOGIC

VIKINGPUNDIT: "I’m always amused that the same people who doubt the mathematical bankruptcy of Social Security also know that global warming is a genuine threat to mankind."

Brilliant.

May I add another: they're the same kind of people who say "Bush is Hitler" and "Zarqawi is an insurgent."

For more on why Social Security is nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme that is destined to go broke click HERE.

For more on why global warming is a hoax click HERE. For more on which global ecological problems we should be working on click HERE (hat-tip BETSY'S PAGE).

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:45 PM ; Permalink;

US PREPARING TO STRIKE IRAQI BAATHISTS WITHIN SYRIA

VIA POWERLINE (JPost):

The US is contemplating incursions into Syrian territory in an attempt to kill or capture Iraqi Ba'athists who, it believes, are directing at least part of the attacks against US targets in Iraq, a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post. The official said that fresh sanctions are likely to be implemented, but added that the US needs to be more "aggressive" after Tuesday's deadly attack on a US base in Mosul. The comment suggested that the US believes the attack on the mess tent, in which 22 people were killed, may have been coordinated from inside Syrian territory.

Incursions are a start. Cruise missiles would make a convincing "chaser"...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:11 PM ; Permalink;

PUTIN: "UNABASHED STATIST" IS PUTTING IT POLITELY

IHT:

"Today the state, using absolutely legal market mechanisms, is securing its interests. I consider this to be quite normal." As Russia moves toward greater centralization, Putin's remarks amounted to a restatement of his existing positions. They were also an explanation of views that are driving the nation in an autocratic direction. And they were notable at moments for their defiant tone, and even for the president's sharply personal lines of attack. Speaking of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Texas, who had issued an injunction last week trying to block the auction of Yuganskneftegaz, the Yukos subsidiary, Putin used a manner surprisingly harsh for a head of state. "I am not even sure that the judge knows where Russia is," he said at an annual holiday-season press conference in the Kremlin.

"... SECURING THE INTERESTS OF THE STATE..." - These are chilling words (reinforced by many anti-reform/anti-libertarian deeds) spoken by a megalomaniac young enough to rule Russian with an iron fist for another two decades. SCARY.

RTWT.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 7:00 PM ; Permalink;

FANNIE MAE WHISTLEBLOWER... a true hero

The "$9 BILLION Fannie Mae accounting scandal" whistleblower was a Clinton appointee - Armando Falcon.

His confirmation hearing in 1999, and his first few appearances on the Hill went badly: he seemed incompetent; ill-informed; and not ready for prime time.

Makes me wonder: IS THIS WHY HE WAS APPOINTED BY CLINTON? DID CLINTON THINK HE WOULD BE TOO INCOMPETENT TO CATCH HIS CRONIES THIEVERY?

Like the Sean Connery character in the much underrated SCI-FI flick OUTLAND - a seemingly incompetent investigator sent to a mining satellite where there have been a series of murders (which his bosses actually do NOT want solved) - Falcon proved them wrong; he was up to the challenge.

From The NY TIMES:

How this moribund regulatory agency [Ofheo] - which members of Congress were trying to strip of its powers as recently as last spring - transformed itself into a powerhouse that could force so consummate a politician and businessman as Mr. Raines to back down is a testament, several observers in Washington said, to the perseverance of Mr. Falcon, a soft-spoken and often underestimated 44-year-old lawyer. "This is not a crusader," said Stanley Sporkin, the former head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has advised Mr. Falcon in recent months. "This is a very, very deliberate, decent, focused person, who once he makes a decision, he carries it out; he does not vacillate. [my emphasis - kinda sounds like our president, doesn't it? ...] Mr. Falcon's future is unclear: his appointment at Ofheo [the oversight agency] expired in October and he has said that he intends only to remain until his successor, who must be nominated by President Bush, is confirmed. But even among some of his critics, Mr. Falcon has now earned a new measure of respect. "He has been powerfully vindicated," Mr. Ely said."

INDEED.

The last words of the "misunderestimated" Connery character in OUTLAND are two of the best words in the English language: "JOB DONE." They're especially sweet when you got the job is done when no one expected you to. As Falcon did. Unlike the character in OUTLAND, Falcon is a REAL hero. God Bless him.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 4:44 PM ; Permalink;

Elections in the Occupied Territories May be the Beginning of the End for Arab-Palestinian Jihadoterrorism

Ramallah, West Bank, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The first phase of Palestinian municipal elections kicked off in 26 West Bank towns and villages Thursday amid tight security. Israel agreed to allow 1,000 armed Palestinian police to deploy at the polling stations to ensure smooth proceedings for the first municipal polls to be held in the Palestinian territories since 1976.

As Natan Sharansky has eloquently argued, democracy is the road to peace.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:18 PM ; Permalink;

Iran and Syria ADMIT they're an axis

KUWAITI NEWS:

DAMASCUS, Dec 23 (KUNA) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi affirmed ‏ on Thursday necessity of continuous coordination between Iran and Syria and ‏ ‏confirmed that his talks with President Bashar Al-Assad dealt with Iraqi ‏ ‏issues.‏
Need we say more?

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:10 PM ; Permalink;

HOW DID THE SUICIDE BOMBER GET INSIDE OUR BASE?

UK TIMES:

Mosul bomb raises fears of infiltration at US army bases

From James Hider in Baghdad

THE explosion that killed 22 soldiers and contractors on an American army base in Mosul on Tuesday was probably the work of a suicide bomber, not a rocket attack, the Pentagon disclosed yesterday. “At this point, it looks like it was an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker,” General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing. [...] One Western security expert said that it was impossible to screen everyone entering the bases with so many personnel involved. “The sheer logistics of life support for the Americans make it physically impossible to check everything,” he said.

This is my guess: the suicide bomber got inside the base as member of the press - the MSM; the Old Media - he was probably not a blogger.

UPDATE: others also think the media have helped the enemy (hat-tip WINDS OF CHANGE).

UPDATE: over at BELMONT CLUB, Wretchard makes a powerful case that the media (specifically AP) may have been involved in the brutal execution of electoral workers in Baghdad.)

****UPDATE (from the Aussie HERALD SUN ): "It is now believed a 24-year-old man from Mosul who had worked at the base for two months strode into the dining room wearing a suicide vest and detonated it. "

******UPDATE (AP): BAGHDAD, Iraq - The suicide bomber who blew himself up in a U.S. military dining tent this week, killing more than 20 people was probably wearing an Iraqi military uniform, the U.S. general in charge of the region said Thursday.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:08 PM ; Permalink;

MORE ON THE RANSOM PAID BY FRANCE TO THE JIHADOTERRORISTS

From the UK GUARDIAN:

"Nor has France shied away from paying ransoms in the past: it is known (although still officially denied) to have paid up to £2m to free hostages held in Lebanon in 1988, when Mr Chirac was prime minister and François Mitterrand president. Indeed, a former aide of Mr Mitterrand's confirmed in a 2002 interview that ransoms were 'perfectly normal' in such situations. The French defence minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, agreed in principle yesterday, telling French television: 'Why would we hide a ransom payment? Governments have to be clear about this kind of thing. Who would object to a ransom payment?' "

While we and the UK fight alongside brave Iraqis for democracy and human rights, the French pay ransom to the Jihadoterrorist enemy. NEED WE SAY MORE?! Okay... just this bit more: This ransom-paying and appeasing by the French to the Jihadoterrorists is ENTIRELY in keeping with the fact that the French surrendered to Hitler... while the USA and the UK fought and defeated Hitler.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:55 PM ; Permalink;

KARZAI'S NEW CABINET NAMED

Not only is the not a single mullah in the crowd, most have Western PhD's!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:40 PM ; Permalink;

IRANIAN MULLAHS PLAN THE DESTRUCTION OF 100 ANCIENT SITES - LOSS DWARFS TALIBAN'S DESTRUCTION OF THE "BUDDHAS OF BAMIYAN"

From the UK GUARDIAN:

"More than 100 of Iran's potentially most important but least examined archaeological sites, including fringes of Pasargadae, the city built by King Cyrus the Great, will be flooded in the next two years according to the UN, which appealed yesterday to international scientists to try to record what they can. The flooding of the eight-mile Tang-e-Bolaghi gorge because of the construction of a dam will destroy ancient Persia's imperial road which ran from Persepolis to Pasargadae. [...] Unesco said yesterday it was hopeful that the world heritage site of Pasargadae, Cyrus's capital city, renowned for its palaces, gardens and the tomb of the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, would be only marginally affected. The city, which was included in Unesco's world heritage site list last year, is less than three miles from the end of the gorge. It was built on the site where Cyrus defeated Astyages, the leader of the Medes, in 550BC. It has added importance today because it is believed to be the capital of the first Asian empire which respected the cultural diversity of its people. "

The destruction of these sites will be a crime against humanity. It should tell everyone that the Mullahs - like the Taliban who destroyed the Buddhas, and the Jihadoterrorists who destroyed the WTC (and tried to murder 50,000 peple) - have NO RESPECT for human life or the richness and diversity of human heritage, but only contempt for anything and everything which runs counter to their narrow view of Islam. It proves they are a menace to all. One that must be confronted before they accomplish their goal - that therefore must be confronted BEFORE they get nuclear arms with which to blackmail us.

Those who would destroy their OWN non-Islamic heritage would certainly destroy ours, and anything and everyone who attempts to prevent them from achieving their "utopian" goal: a world where only state-approved/endorsed Mullah endeavors are permitted - under pain of death.

Anyone and everyone who sees the Iranians as non-threatening - like many in the EU and Putin and China - are dead-wrong...or they will be...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:18 AM ; Permalink;

MORE EVIDENCE OF SYRIAN CONNECTION FOUND IN FALLUJAH

CSMONITOR (Nicholas Blanford): The Iraqi ambassador to Syria tells the Monitor that photos of high-ranking Syrian officials were found in Fallujah.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA – When US troops stormed the rebel-held city of Fallujah last month, they uncovered photos of senior Syrian officials that have further strained the already tense relations between Syria and Iraq, according to the Iraqi ambassador to Syria. Several captured insurgents were found in possession of the photographs, confirmation, according to Iraqi officials, that some elements in the Syrian regime - perhaps acting independently - are involved in Iraq's bloody insurgency. [...] US Marines in Fallujah released a report on Nov. 20 that revealed they had discovered a hand-held Global Positioning System receiver with waypoints originating in western Syria and the names of four Syrian foreign fighters contained in a ledger. The evidence has triggered renewed charges from US and Iraqi officials that Syria is knowingly providing assistance to several former Iraqi Baathists who are believed to be running the insurgency from Damascus.

Syria must be given an unambiguous ultimatum, NOW: "Clamp down on the elements within Syria which are aiding the Iraqi "insurgents" or you will get pummelled with cruise misslies until your economy and military are completely destroyed."

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 12:40 AM ; Permalink;

EU WARNED: NORTH KOREA REGIME NEAR COLLAPSE

UK: GUARDIAN -

European policymakers have been advised to prepare for "sudden change" in North Korea amid growing speculation among diplomats and observers that Kim Jong-il is losing his grip on power. A EU delegation to Pyongyang recommended a review of the union's policy towards the peninsula, including proposals for closer engagement with North Korea and contingency plans for a possible collapse of the reclusive state, the Guardian has learned. ... In the past month, however, the North Korean rumour mill has been working overtime. While no one is ever quite sure what is going on in one of the world's most closed countries, diplomats, intelligence agents, academics and defectors across the political spectrum and from several different countries are reporting signs of potentially destabilising change. There are strong indications of a power struggle centring on the successor to Kim Jong-il.

RTWT.

MORE HERE and HERE and HERE.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 12:21 AM ; Permalink;

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

TSA Tells Jihadoterrorists How to Get on Planes

HAT-TIP DRUDGE - "TSA Changing Pat-Down Policy Updated; J.J. Green, WTOP Radio : Sources at the Transportation Security Administration confirm they're changing the way they conduct pat-downs. Some women have complained bitterly recently that the more thorough pat-downs to check for explosives just went to far - especially in the breast area. Federal News Radio AM 1050/WTOP has learned the examination in that area, and possibly other areas, will be tempered. People have been searched more intensely, including in intimate areas, since September, after two Russian planes were blown up by women who boarded strapped with explosives. "

So all the Jihadis now know that all they have to do is (1) get a fake driver's license as a woman, and (2) buy a ticket and board as a woman, and (3) wear false breasts which are actually bombs. Sheesh! Could we spell it out for'em any more easily?!?! What will it take for the TSA to get serious!? Either another horrific attack - God Forbid - or the dissolution of the ACLU.

Here's a link to the ACLU page - ALSO VIA DRUDGE - which instructs people how to file "groping complaints" with the TSA. (Which is just more proof: The ACLU isn't anti-war; they're on the other side!)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:50 PM ; Permalink;

Statism on the March in Putin's Russia

BBC: "The little-known company which bought the main asset of embattled Russian oil firm Yukos has reportedly been sold to state-owned Rosneft. The Baikal Finance Group picked up Yukos' Yuganskneftegas unit on Sunday. Rosneft's purchase of Baikal would seem to confirm the predictions of analysts who said that Yuganskneftegas would fall into government-controlled hands. According to Russian news agency Interfax, Rosneft bought 100% of the shares in Baikal for an undisclosed sum. ... Baikal's background and its motives for buying the unit, which produces 11% of Russia's crude oil output, for $9.4bn, were unclear. There were widespread suggestions that it was established as a front for other interests."

Putin is not behaving like a democrat or an advocate of the free market. Or an ally to be trusted. He seems to be taking Russia backwards on all fronts: Today in Russia there is less democracy, less capitalism, and less freedom then only a few years ago. If Russia stays on this course, it will collide with the interests of the free world. The USA and the EU need to continue to aggressively assist the former Soviet republics who want freedom, democracy and connectivity with the free world, and help prevent them from being drowned by the undertow of Putin's statist riptide.

UPDATE: "RUSSIA DOWNGRADED TO “NOT FREE” Putin’s Russia Declines Amidst Further Political Restrictions, Increased Authoritarianism: Political rights and civil liberties have become so restricted in Russia that the country has been downgraded to "Not Free," Freedom House announced in a major survey of global freedom released today." HAT-TIP: POLITBURO DIKTAT.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 8:48 PM ; Permalink;

ANOTHER ONE OF BUBBA'S BUBBLES BURSTS: FANNIE MAE

The CEO and COO of Fannie Mae are resigning because of accounting irregularities that go back to 1998. The CEO - Mr. Raines - was the head of Clinton's OMB. Fannie Mae is accused of using illegal accounting gimmicks to boost profits and enable executives and members of the Board of Directors to reap HUGE bonuses. Jamie Gorelick - a Clinton appointee and CONTROVERSIAL member of the 9/11 Commission - was another Left-wing Democrat Fannie Mae Board member, and Vice-Chair, who received millions of dollars in salary and bonuses. SHE SHOULD RESIGN TOO - IN DISGRACE!

Congress is still investigating the scandal - which so far has found that Fannie Mae used lot of illegal "ENRONIAN" gimmicks (ENRON... remember that - it was ANOTHER Clinton Bubble!).

Fannie Mae's stock has lost $11 BILLION in market value since the accounting fraud was discovered... Uh-Hum: on Bush's watch. (For more on Bubba's Bubbles click HERE.)

And more HERE and HERE.

UPDATE HERE: SEC set to probe Fannie Mae - By Andrew Parker and Jenny Wiggins of THE FINANCIAL TIMES -

US regulators are set to investigate possible violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation on accounting and corporate governance by Fannie Mae's former senior management. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the chief US financial regulator, is expected to determine whether Franklin Raines, former chief executive, and Timothy Howard, former chief financial officer, infringed the legislation's requirements to certify the accuracy of its accounts. Mr Raines and Mr Howard, who were ousted by Fannie Mae's board on Tuesday, certified that its 2002 and 2003 accounts "fairly present in all material respects" the company's financial condition in signed statements filed with the SEC.

Last week Donald Nicolaisen, SEC chief accountant, ruled that the US mortgage finance company, had violated US accounting rules between 2001 and mid-2004 and called on it to restate its accounts. Fannie Mae, which agreed to restate, estimated last month that the move could lower its earnings by $9bn .

MORE HERE from the AP: Fannie Mae Turmoil Continues After Ousters

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:54 PM ; Permalink;

JIHADOTERRORISTS IN IRAQ RELEASE FRENCH HOSTAGES

This is good news. BUT... is it COINCIDENCE that Chirac was vacationing in Morocco at the time? Or was he there as cover to pay a bribe through Islamic channels? I have no proof - but I know it is a FACT that Chirac is no stranger to bribery, and I know that it is a FACT that the Moroccans are not strangers to Jihadoterror - and have often acted as middlemen; (for example: between Israel and more anti-Zionist Arab states). And I don't "believe in" coincidences or the goodwill of Jihadoterrorists. Chirac might have a slush fund from which he could have paid a ransom WITHOUT involving the French government. (Some have suggested that Berlusconi did the same thing to get Italian hostages - the two women - released.) Chirac is rushing back from Morocco to Paris for a photo op with the released hostages...

UPDATE: BBC - "The French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin rejected suggestions that a ransom was paid for their release. The men's captors said they were freed because of France's anti-war stance. "

OH... that's MUCH better!

UPDATES on French bribery/ransom HERE and HERE.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:09 AM ; Permalink;

The Politically Correct "Christmas Song"

(With apologies to Torme-Wells)

Chestnuts roasting on an catalytically-converted non-polluting fire
Jack or Jill Frost nipping at your nose,
Yuletide carols – that don’t mention Christianity - being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like the Inuit.

Everybody knows some tofu and some re-plantable mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots – on over-prescribed Ritalin - with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight –

They know that Santa's on his way
He's loaded lots of toys
And goodies on his sleigh
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer – an endangered species we hope Santa is not mistreating -
really know how to fly.

And so, I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although its been said
Many times, many ways
Happy Holidays, happy holidays, happy holidays to you!

BTW: I'm a Jew - who grew up in the radically chic Left-wing "gilded ghetto" of Great Neck, NY - singing religious Christmas Carols in the PUBLIC school choir - and enjoying it! I think that, just as many on the Left are not merely anti-War; they're on the other side - so too are they not merely secularist; they're anti-Christian. I think that many on the Left actually oppose traditional middle-class practices and beliefs (from Christmas Carols, creches, to hetero-sexual marriage, the work ethic, and the concept of personal accountability) in order to replace them with their atheistic, socialistic, utopianistic ideology. And I say: Screwge them!

To all my Christian friends, I say: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MORE HERE. UPDATE: And a cute photo here.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:41 AM ; Permalink;

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

PRIVATIZATION WILL HELP POOR PEOPLE MOST

The Social Security system is merely a Ponzi Scheme - one that hurts poor people most.

First, it's the biggest tax poor people pay - bigger than the income tax (which many do not pay, because they earn so little; Bush's rax cut exempted more poor people from paying any taxes - this is why rich people pay a GREATER share of federal revenue now, than before).

Second; poor people generally start work at an earlier age and die younger than rich people. Especially poor minorities. So they end up paying more into the Social Security "Trust Fund" (so-called) and taking less out. And since - under the current system - the benefit is not transferable to heirs, all that "input" - the lifetime of payroll taxes - goes back into the system.

POOR PEOPLE ARE GETTING SCREWED BY SOCIAL SECURITY. Social Secuirty is a collossal rip-off of poor people and a transfer of money to richer people who live longer.

If we gradually privatize Social Security (which means that each worker OWNS their own retirement fund), then poor people will keep everyhting they input, and be able to pass along what they don't use themselves to their children - thereby increasing family wealth and increasing the chances that the family will emerge from poverty.

Gradual or incremental conversion to a private system is very doable - ON PAPER. It would take only a few minor, across-the-board changes:

(1) We gradually increase the age at which a person may collect benefits (say... one month every four months. In 15 years benefits would be available to people at age 70 - an age more in keeping with current real-world demographics.

(2) We should exempt the first $15,000 of income from the payroll tax, and raise the ceiling of the payroll tax to make up the reduction.

(3) We gradually allow payroll tax-payers UNDER THE AGE OF 50 to divert from 5% to 15% of their payroll tax to special accounts IF AND ONLY IF they agree to take a proportionately larger reduction of benefits when they retire (let's say twice as much). In other words, if they divert 15% of their payroll tax into a personal account, then they must take a 30% reduction of their benefits upon achieving retiurement age. This guarantees that the diversion of payroll tax won't deplete the outflow of benefits, and keeps the current Ponzi Scheme afloat for older people who are stuck in it.

(4) We gradually increase the amount that people may divert to personal accounts until every worker has a personal account, and the current Ponzi Scheme disappears through attrition - probably around 2050.

The incremental nature of this plan - combined with the exemption of lower income people from the current payroll tax (and raising the income ceiling of the tax) - makes it very friendly to poor people who - after all - have less assets to depend on for their own retirement; (this was - after all - the target group for the scheme to begin with).

Another way to make retirement easier for poor people is to increase home ownership; home ownership is a MAJOR source of middle class wealth. We should aggressively PRIVATIZE low income/public housing and make poor people OWNERS and stakeholder in their homes and neighborhoods. By sweat equity alone, they can increase the value of their homes, and thereby create a nest egg.

All it will take to accomplish ALL of this is for the public to THINK ANEW.

The public must be encouraged to be bold enough to seek new contemporary solutions to these issues, and not remain shackled to the solutions which seemed workable in 1935. We should no more expect a retirement scheme designed in 1935 to be viable now, than we should expect a 1935 plane to be able to fly us around the world, or a 1935 telephone to afford us wifi connectivity.

In this sense, privatization of Social Security must be seen as a long overdue innovation (and not merely something needed as a result of demographics).

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:11 PM ; Permalink;

Monday, December 20, 2004

IRAQ'S BORDERS WITH SYRIA AND IRAN SHOULD BE MINED

To prevent infiltration by Jihadoterrorists, Iraq's borders with Syria and Iran should be mined. YEAH: LANDMINES; ANTI-PERSONNEL WEAPONS. The kind that the late Princess Diana fought to outlaw because they were "inhumane"(as opposed to all other weapons?!?). Well, IMHO, killing Jihadoterrorists - who would behead charity-workers and poll-watchers inside Iraq - BEFORE they get into Iraq would be a GOOD THING. And humane. And it would help stabilize Iraq by ensuring that the enemy within Iraq - whether Batthist of Jihdadist - cannot be reinforced or resupplied.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:41 AM ; Permalink;

Sunday, December 19, 2004

MEXICAN-USA BORDER SHOULD BE SHIELDED WITH ANTI-PERSONNEL LAND-MINES

I can think of no good reason why the USA should NOT order the US Army to mine the entire Mexico-USA border with anti-personnel land-mines. They could dig a long trench, 10 yards wide, along the entire border, and then fill the dang thing up with land-mines. Then, they could put up a barbed-wire fence - with BI-LINGUAL warning signs - on both sides of the mine-field. After the first few hundred illegals get blown up, the deterrence factor will set in and the whole problem will go away. We should - at the same time - also expand LEGAL immigration, but only in such a way as the immigrants can be "checked out" BEFORE they get here.

I AM NOT ANTI-IMMIGRATION; I AM AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:41 PM ; Permalink;

IRAQ INSURGENCY IS A COUNTER-REVOLUTION

Democracy is the revolution; the so-called insurgency is the counter revolution. The counter-revolution will burn out if we can keep them from being resupplied and reinforced. We can do this with good border control - which will be easier to attain if Iran and Syria are threatened with military reprisals if they continue to fail in this regard. Reprisals should take the form of cascading missile attacks against their miltary infrastructure.

This threat should be made openly and immediately - well before the Iraqi election.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:33 PM ; Permalink;

C O N G R A T Z T O P O W E R L I N E !!

on being named the "Blog of the Year" by TIME.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:18 PM ; Permalink;

IS THE "UNIPOLAR" WORLD ENDING: China and France

France has bemoaned the emergence of the unipolar world since the end of the Cold War (WW3). The derisive term "HYPERPOWER" was coined by the French to describe the USA DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION! Since then, the French have worked tirelessly to undermine the USA because they view the USA's emergence as the sole Super Power as a very serious threat to their security and culture - one they view AT LEAST as gravely as the threat posed by the Jihadoterrorists and Islamism/Salafism/Qutbism etc. - perhaps MORESO!

NOW, we hear that the French have launched a spy satellite WITH THE AID OF THE CHINESE!

Is this the fruit of their struggle to become a Super Power - or at least with the aid of the Chinese and banded together with the soc-called "non-aligned nations" - a sufficient "counter-weight" to the USA?

It seems so to me. It seems to me that France can only be depended on to do what is their narrow national interest - an interest that THEY INSIST on seeing as antithetical to the USA. This is not unlike how they dealt with the USA and NATO throughout ther WW3/the Cold War.

The only hope for France to change is Sarkozy: If Sarkozy wins the presidency (and Chirac is prosecuted for his voluminous crimes), and IF Sarkozy unencumbers France from their Socialist heritage -in effect becomes the French Thatcher - then France can become as an important ally to the USA in WW4 as the UK.

If Sarkozy loses - or wins, but without the mandate to effect real change - then France will probably continue to wither away, seeking refuge in the pungent and rapidly spoiling fruits of their double-dealing with the likes of China and Putin and Mugabe and Castro and Kim Jong Il.

In the meantime: the French are to be trusted about as much as we trust the Russians and the Chinese and the Iranians and the North Koreans - which is to say NOT AT ALL.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:01 PM ; Permalink;

BUBBA'S WARHOLIAN PRESIDENCY

Andy Warhol said, "Art is what you can get away with." To many people, this quote embodies the vapidness and decadence of post-modern art.

It also characterizes much post-modern politics. Especially Clinton. HOW!?

Well, it's NOT JUST that Clinton did whatever he could get away with in the Oval Office with Monica. Clinton and his administration also just stood and watched as EVERYBODY did as much as they could get away with - leading to bubble after bubble... bubbles which have all since burst:

the NASDAQ Bubble... BURST; the Telecoms Bubble... BURST; the Internet/New Economy Bubble... BURST; the California Energy Bubble... BURST; (Clinton's FDA approved whatever drugs were proposed, and now we're finding out that some big ones might be harmful - like Vioxx and Celebrex - so we might be on a cusp of a Pharma Bubble bursting. too); OSLO was a bubble of sorts too - Clinton oversold it, and then Arafat abused it (turning down a do-able deal at Taba) and instead burst the Oslo Bubble, and unleashed the Second Intifada; finally, there's the al Qaida Bubble - Osama kept attacking us - (in Somalia, the WTC in 1993; two of our our African embassies, the Khobar Towers, and the USS Cole) - and Clinton did nothing -- that bubble burst on 9/11. And - as if if that wasn't enough - Clinton also bequeathed us the Oil-For-Food Bubble!

HELL: there were so many bubbles we might as well call them all Bubba's Bubbles!

YUP: BUBBA'S PRESIDENCY WAS ALL FROTH - THE PEACE AND THE PROSPERITY!

Which gets us back on point: Clinton governed the way Warhol made art: he did whatever he could get away with. He just ran up the bill! And skipped town. And now Bush has to pay the bill that Bubba ran up! That's okay: Bush is up to the job. Heck: he'll clean up the Social Security Bubble (due to burst between 2018 and 2038) in his spare time!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 12:34 PM ; Permalink;

Friday, December 17, 2004

Fetus Ripped from Murdered Mom Found Alive!

This horrifying story has at least this one bright spot: the baby - one month shy of full term - was found alive. Thank God.

MY ONLY OTHER COMMENT: maybe Scott Peterson's defense wasn't entirely incredible after all!? Maybe he didn't do it - or (more likley, based on all the circumstantial evidence) he did do it, and he'd heard of these "fetus-snatching" murderers and had planned to blame it on them from the get-go? I must add: this is a type of criminal I really never believed existed. It is truly horrifying.

I'm a bit surprised that Geragos hasn't yet exploited this story and demanded that the Modesto Police re-open Scott's case and also demand that the FBI investigate whether or not there's an international "fetus-snatching ring" that operates in California, too.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 6:59 PM ; Permalink;

GENERAL IN CHARGE OF IRAQ WARNS SYRIA

FROM THE WASHPOST:

Iraqi Insurgents Directed From Syria

By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, December 17, 2004; Page A29
A top Army general said yesterday that the Iraqi insurgency was being run in part by former senior Iraqi Baath Party officials operating in Syria who call themselves the "New Regional Command." These men, from the former governing party of deposed president Saddam Hussein, are "operating out of Syria with impunity and providing direction and financing for the insurgency," said Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the U.S. commander in Iraq. "That needs to stop," Casey said at a Pentagon briefing.

It's a fine article; RTWT!

I have been posting on the Syrian problem for weeks. (See HERE and HERE and HERE for starters.) The entire success of all operations in Iraq depend on preventing the "insurgents" from being re-supplied or reinforced.

These warnings - two days ago from Bush, and yesterday from Casey - need to be backed up with a credible, time sensitive threat (something like): "Close the borders by January 7, 2005 or you will be attacked and your military and economic infrastructure demolished."

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:20 AM ; Permalink;

Thursday, December 16, 2004

ALL FIVE ISRAELIS KILLED IN TUNNEL BOMB WERE MUSLIM

But you won't ever read that fact in the Old Media. You have to go to FRONTPAGE.

The five IDF soldiers were Beduin volunteers - Arab/Muslim citizens of Israel.

Why doesn't the Old Media want you to know this? Because it shatters the Left's "party line" on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Left wants you to think that this is a war between carpetbagging Jewish colonialists and native/Third World Arabs.

In fact, the war is NOW about what it has always been about: the very existence of a Jewish state. Those who use terror and propaganda to attack Israel want to destroy Israel, commit genocide against the Jews, and make all of what was once British Palestine (not just the occupied territories) an "ethnically cleansed" Jihadist state. And they'll kill anyone who gets in their way - even their fellow Arabs and Muslims. RTWT.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:41 PM ; Permalink;

WHY THE PENTAGON SHOULD ANNOUNCE EXACTLY WHEN IRAQI "OCCUPATION" WILL END

Both the Baathists and the alQaida in Iraq are using the US military presence in Iraq as a powerful propaganda weapon against the USA and the Iraqi Interim government; it helps them recruit people to join them, and to give them aid and comfort.

The USA could demolish that propaganda tool very easily.

The Pentagon should announce exact when that US forces will withdraw.

The Bush Adminstration has clearly and correctly argued that setting a calendrical date would be counter-productive: the enemy could and would merely wait until we withdraw, and then mount a huge counter-offensive against the nascient Iraqi democracy.

Therefore, we should announce that the "WHEN" of our exit is NOT A MATTER OF TIME , but a matter of CONDITIONS; we will withdraw when 3 obvious conditions are met:

(1) When there is an elected government of Iraq; (2) when the Iraqi defenses can defend the borders and maintain law and order; and (3) when the elected government of Iraq ASKS us to leave.

These three conditions should be widely broadcast within Iraq and throughout the Arab/Muslim world. The USA and the Iraqi Interim government could then argue that any and all insurgent actions are actually PROLONGING the so-called "occupation."

This would cost the USA nothing and wouldn't diminish our military position one iota. It could make it more difficult for the insurgents to find cover - which in turn might help us find and defeat them. And it would put an onerous responsibility on Iraq's neighbors - Syria and Iran; it allows us to vigorously argue that: "if they REALLY want us out of the region, THEN they must tighten the border."

This PR effort would be a major victory in the Information Front of the War - a front that we have not been doing too well on lately.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:18 PM ; Permalink;

1944: Battle of the Bulge; 2004: Battle of the Bilge

My friends at POWERLINE posted a link to a GREAT column by Paul Greenberg - a column written on this, the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

Greenberg wrote:

"Instead of sheltering behind the Siegfried Line, the "retreating" Germans were advancing. Through an only lightly defended 50-mile stretch of the Ardennes. Allied intelligence had collected reports of a transfer of German troops from the Eastern to the Western front in the fall of 1944, and there was ample evidence that they were being reassembled in the Ardennes, but word never filtered up to headquarters. No one had connected the dots. (Sound familiar?) [...] In the heat of battle, confusion reigned. Disguised as American MPs, English-speaking, American-accented Germans were sending relief convoys down the wrong roads, or into murderous ambushes. Just liberated French cities were exposed again, and Paris was jittery. The British press demanded that Eisenhower turn command of the land forces over to Montgomery - or anyone else competent. [...] In the heat of battle, confusion reigned. Disguised as American MPs, English-speaking, American-accented Germans were sending relief convoys down the wrong roads, or into murderous ambushes. Just liberated French cities were exposed again, and Paris was jittery. The British press demanded that Eisenhower turn command of the land forces over to Montgomery - or anyone else competent."

But that was then. Then, only the infamous yellow press of Fleet Street carped a negative line. NO ONE IN GOVERNMENT called for the Secretary of War to resign - (he was Henry L. Stimson, a secretary of huge import, and like Rumsfeld an enourmously talented and committed man on his 2nd tour of duty as leader of the department).

McCain and Kristol should be ashamed of themselves for caving into the negativists and defeatists who always seem to seek to scapegoat someone whenever there's a setback in this war. Well: setbacks are a part of war; the enemy is flexible, cunning and committed and they're bound to do things which will upset our plans. So, we must be cunning, too. Not defeatist.

I'd rather the McCains and the Kristols of the world - on the Right and on the Left - all kept their mouths shut, instead of carping each time we hit an inevitable bump in the road to victory - a victory that can only be lost if we lose our resolve; a resolve that can only be undemined by their short-sighted carping.

So... HEY YO... MCCAIN & HAGEL & KRISTOL (and now LOTT): ENOUGH ALREADY! Your seemingly unending calls for Rumsfeld to resign are nothing more than BILGE!"*

Bush and Rumsfeld have (for all intents and purposes) answered your call by saying what General McAuliffe said to the NAZIS at the Battle of the Bulge - "NUTS!"

*[Bilge as defined by the Navy: "Spaces at the very bottom of a vessel in which water leaks are allowed to collect for evacuation by the ship's pumps. Thus, the expression, 'That's bilge!', meaning 'Nonsense'. "]

FOR MORE ON THE "LET'S GET RUMSFELD!" CROWD (FROM THE EDITORS OF NATIONAL REVIEW), JUST CLICK HERE.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:21 PM ; Permalink;

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

MUSAB AL ZARQAWI: master of disguise?

From Brunei On Line:

"Make-up may be Zarqawi's secret of eluding capture: Intelligence services

BERLIN (dpa) - Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi and his terrorists in Iraq may be moving around Iraq with impunity because they spend hours in front of the mirror making up their faces, according to intelligence services quoted by the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel. In a story released before publication Tuesday, it said the services claimed the Jordanian Islamist's group were major buyers of rich theatrical make-up, and used the cosmetics to drastically change their appearance."

This news item gives those terrifying videotapes of Zarqawi's brutal beheadings a whole new layer of meaning and context: it's a macabre reality show in which he is the star. To read a fascinating column about this by Jason Burke - (about Zarqawi's "Theater of Terror") - just click HERE.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:14 PM ; Permalink;

AL QAIDA'S GLOBAL HQ FOUND: it's in "Hubrisistan"

WW4 began in earnest 1979 - when the USA stood and watched as the Shah was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini (and stood by and watched as Saddam took power in Iraq, and stood and watched as the USSR invaded Afghanistan, too!).

America continued to stand by and watch as Jihadoterror spread around the world (in Beirut in 1982, and everywhere elsewhere since: the Philipines; Indonesia; North, East and West Africa; Kashmir; Pakistan; Thailand - to name a few).

The USA even aided Jihadism a little when it used the Mujahadeen (precursors of the Taliban) to oust the USSR from Afghanistan.

This event in particular gave the Jihadists a false-feeling - the feeling that they could defeat anyone and everyone who got in their way. This is their HUBRIS. To this day, they believe that THEY defeated the USSR, and that they can also defeat the West (by defeating the USA); thereby, the Jihadists believe they can achieve their ultimate goal: re-establish the tyrannical Caliphate under Salafist sharia.

The Jihadoterrorists saw America as morally weak and timid - too cowardly to fight the USSR themselves.

Somalia, the USS Cole, and the African Embassy bombings all added to this perception.

They see the USA victory in Afghanistan as a temporary setback; ditto Iraq. They believe that over the long haul the USA and the West will tire and surrender in Afghanistan and Iraq - and everywhere else. After all, it took Vietnam a decade of guerilla war to oust the USA; it might take just as long to oust the USA from Afghanistan and Iraq - and "Palestine" and Spain and Kashmir, and so on...

But this is a false reading of history - one based on HUBRIS, as I said...

The key reason it is pure unadulterated hubris is this: The Mujahdeen could not have defeated the USSR if the USA had not been training, supplying and re-supplying them. Guerilla forces need to be re-supplied in a long guerilla war. The Vietcong had the USSR. Neither the Vietcong or the Mujahadeen side could've won without a huge state willing AND ABLE to resupply a guerilla force for years and years and years.

Absent that support, the Vietcong and the Mujahadeen didn't stand a chance.

For the Jihadoterrorists to believe that they can do it WITHOUT the support of a major nation state is nothing more than extreme HUBRIS. Fanatical hubris.

Which brings us to Afghanistan and Iraq - and Syria and Iran and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The current counter-revolution being waged by the Jihadoterrorists in Iraq will fail if they are not resupplied.

Which means IF the new government of Iraq, and the USA, and the "Coalition of the Willing" can stop Iran and Syria from aiding the Jihadoterrorists within Iraq - (and also stop the monetary and intel' support that Jihadoterrorists worldwide get from reactionary elements within the Pakistan's ISI and the House of Saud) - THEN victory by Iraq and the USA is GUARANTEED.

The converse is also true: if the USA and its allies fail to stop the influx of aid from Syria and Iran into Iraq - then failure is guaranteed.

Today, at a photo-op with Berlusconi, Bush overtly warned Syria and Iran about meddling within Iraq.

Bush spoke softly - but I pray he spoke loud enough so that his words were heard all the way in "Hubrisistan." If not: then I pray Bush uses the big stick - and not too late, either.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 3:21 PM ; Permalink;

MAN BITES DOG!

Man Charged With Animal Cruelty After Biting His Dog

The pet owner says the act was for punishment and training purposes.

By CINDY SWIRKO

New York Times Regional Newspapers

GAINESVILLE -- A man accused of biting his Jack Russell terrier, Lady, as a form of punishment was arrested on an animal cruelty charge Saturday by Gainesville police officers.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:58 PM ; Permalink;

THAT GENOCIDE IS IGNORED BY THE U.N. AND THE MSM IS EXPECTED. THAT IT'S ALSO IGNORED BY BLOGOSPHERE... WELL, IT'S DISAPPOINTING!

Congress holds an important hearing into a barbaric form of genocide perpetrated by a totalitatrian tyranny and it's virtually ignored by the MSM. I expect that. What I didn't expect was this: According to the NEWSNOW.CO.UK - a news aggregating site with robots that monitor 15,000 news sites every 15 minutes, (or-so-they-claim) the biggest blogs have had NOTHING to say about it either. Not a single story in the last month by the "blogosphere big-shots" on coercive abortion in totalitarian China - a sickening practice which is simply genocide (SEE BELOW). SHAME SHAME SHAME. No matter how you feel about elective abortion, everyone should oppose forced abortion.

Only two reporters in the MSM are following this story: Gary Dinmore at the FT, and Jim Abrams of the AP. READ THEM.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:58 AM ; Permalink;

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

STATE-SPONSORED GENOCIDE IN CHINA

Today C-SPAN broadcast the House International Relations Committee hearing on state forced abortions, sterilization and infanticide in China.

China uses coercive practices to limit families to one child - like jail, forced labor in prison, forced unemployment, and exorbitant fines on families that have more than one child (an amount that's the equivalent of 8-10x's their annual income).

The result is that in some regions of China there are now 30% more males than females - because families forced to have only one child prefer a male child and use sonograms to abort female fetuses or infanticde to murder female babies. The unbalanced gender ratios which result foster other inhumane and regressive behaviors like sexual slavery, illegal trafficking in female humans, soaring rates of female suicide, and huge dowries - which treat females as chattel.

The Bush administration has pressured China on these human-rights issues, and has - for the last three years - barred U.S. funds for the U.N. Population Fund, because the UNFPA supports China's population planning programs which includes policies of coercive abortion.

IMHO, coercive abortion is nothing more than another form of genocide. Genocide in the name of economics.

Imagine if the NAZIS had - instead of using the death camps of the Holocaust - limited Jews to only one child and used forced abortions to guarantee that result; eventually the "Final Solution" would've succeeded; it would've taken longer, but had the same terrible effect.

We shouldn't be less horrified or outraged by this type of Chinese genocide - it's merely more insidious and invidious.

Chairman Chris Smith and Ranking Member Tom Lantos deserve our support.

For more information go here.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:00 PM ; Permalink;

LET'S NOT FORGET: SADDAM ABUSED THE OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM ON CLINTON'S WATCH

(AP) -- U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos ... predicted the world body will have to clean house over allegations of corruption in the U.N.-administered oil-for-food program in Iraq. "As a supporter of the United Nations, I am convinced that the United Nations will have to do some housecleaning and I am convinced that on the basis of the evidence already in, governments will have to do significant mea culpas," he said. "It is clear that we are dealing with a gigantic fiasco unprecedented in United Nations history, and clearly responsibilities will have to be assumed by individuals in several countries and within this organization," he added.

Lantos is the only survivor of the Holocaust in Congress, and the senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

NEED I REMIND ALL OF YOU THAT MOST OF SADDAM'S STEALING AND BRIBING TOOK PLACE ON CLINTON'S WATCH! Well, his so-called "watch." What WAS he watching?! Maybe he was watching-out for Marc Rich?

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:41 AM ; Permalink;

Saturday, December 11, 2004

WHY EUROPEANS LIKED POWELL MORE THAN THEY LIKED BUSH - AND MORE THAN THEY WILL LIKE CONDI

Old Europe always disliked Bush. They loved Clinton. But always hated Bush. Bush is a cowboy - and to Old Europe - and the Left everywhere - that's a bad thing.

Old Europe liked Saddam more than Bush. But it wasn't just personal. We all know why Old Europe fought in the UNSC to save Saddam: they were on his payroll - either directly through Oil-For-Food bribes, or indirectly through lucrative business dealings with Saddam's socialist regime.

What is slightly less understood is why Powell remained relatively popular among the Old Euorpeans - even as Bush wallowed in their irrational vitriol.

Powell did, after all, deliver the infamous UNSC WMD speech. Perhaps Old Europe forgave Powell this lapse because they think they "played" him - suckering him into thinking he had, in 1441, what amounted to a "declaration of war," when in fact they knew they wouldn't allow any such thing. (Of course, Bush out-smarted them all, by daring to act on his belief that "final chance or else" meant exactly that!)

The REAL reason that Powell remained popular in Old Europe was basically the same reason that Clinton WAS so popular in Old Europe. (HINT: Clinton met with Arafat in the White House more than any other foreign leader.)

YUP: Powell was so popular in Old Europe because he was the most pro-Arab member of the Administration; Powell - like most of the bureaucrats in the pro-Arab/Arabist State Department - always publicly sought to buttress Arafat and the Arabs and to undermine the hardline taken by Sharon - (a hardline that - it turns out - was very effective: the Second Intifada is over, and its use of terror failed miserably; this result strengthens all the free nations in the West who seek victory in the GWOT, and not merely appeasement and containment. Bush supported Sharon; Powell did not).

Old Europe has had two reasons for their accommodationist policies toward to Jihadoterror: first, Old Europe has a long and deep heritage of anti-Semitism; second, Old Europe has found decades of relative peace from Arafat and his minions by paying them blood money and obesiance - (Chirac gave Arafat's casket a full State send-off, and France still refuses to agree with the USA that Hizballah and Hamas are terrorists organizations - which allows them to continue to raise money for their Jihadoterror in France!).

NEED MORE PROOF? Consider this: The Jihadoterrorists consider Israel to be Little Satan and the USA Big Satan (because Israel couldn't continue to exist without USA support, in their view). Old Europe is NOT called "Middle Satan." And for this, Old Europe is relieved. They shouldn't be. Because, to the Jihadoterrorists, Old Europe is instead thought of as the future colony of the Caliphate! (And many believe that full colonization of Old Europe by Jihadoterrorists may be - for demographic reasons - an irreversible trend.) Anyhow, Old Europe has deluded themselves into believing that sacrificing Israel and the Jews has bought them relative security and safety.

Well, it's NOT totally delusiona: it has to some extent.. They HAVE been relatively free of Jihadoterror attacks for decades - except for anti-Semitic attacks inside Old Europe which were largely perpetrated by Arabs, and which Old Europeans largely ignored (until only recently). This feeling of success reinforced Old Europe's stance on Saddam: they concluded that if they paid off Saddam - the way they had Arafat, then Saddam wouldn't target them either. This, of course, really amounts to nothing more than surrendering to the enemy, (but that doesn't seem to bother Old Europe - even as Islam becomes their second largest religion - maybe the largest if one considers weekly participating adherents...)

The French in particular have for centuries relied on surrender as their favored way to resolve conflict and avoid war! (America and the UK have always been a little bit more stubborn when confronted by blood-thirsty tyrants.)

The Left in Old Europe seems to have even decided that it is better to pay ransom to Jihadoterrorists than to become Americanized, or Anglicized - if you will. So-called "American Cultural Hegemony" mobilizes more proactive efforts on the part of Old Europe than beheadings by Jihadoterrorists. Well, this isn't new; as Seinfeld famously joked: the French fought harder to keep out EuroDisney than they did to keep out the NAZI's!

But back on topic:

If - in the post-Arafat era (thank God the day came!) - the Arabs do not play ball (and that is not assured; though there are many hopeful signs that things may indeed be leading toward a global settlement of the Israeli-Arab conflict) then Condi will probably be tougher on the Arabs than Powell was, and in turn she'll be as popular there as her boss is - which is UN-popular. Well, that's all right with me!

NOTE: Clinton and Powell have sometimes been characterized as having been "more even-handed" in their approach to the Israeli-Arab conflict. But I believe people who want more pressure applied to Israel to make a deal with Arabs BEFORE Jihadoterrorism and anti-Semitic genocide is halted are making a false equivalence and are being anti-Semitic - and NOT just anti-Likud. Putting the IDF's defense of the sovereign state of Israel on par with the Palestinian Authority's lack of effort (at best) in fighting Jihadoterror (FATAH or HAMAS or any of the other Jihadoterrorist groups attempting to commit genocide against the Jews in Israel) is anti-Semitic.

This is not a side issue; this is the crux of the matter: Unless and until the P.A. makes an earnest effort to halt all Jihadoterror against Israel no bilateral deal - AND NO PEACE - is possible.

(ASIDE: Another reason that Bush is hated by many in Old Europe - one not to be ignored - is the fact that it is primarily the Left - the SOCIALISTS - of Old Europe who are most anti-American and pro-Jihadoterror: Zapotero and Schroeder are Socialists in name; Chirac isn't - but then: France is so far Left that even when Chirac thinks he's on the Right he's really on the Left!

Of all of Europe's socialists only Blair is a truly reformed socialist, and of all the Left-wing parties in Europe only New Labour is truly unwavering in its support for America, and its opposition to Jihadoterror. WHY? Because the UK and New Labour and Blair have been truly transformed by the Thatcher Revolution. The continent of Old Europe... well, they're still awaiting their "Thatcher."

I believe that the only hope for Old Europe is if they get their "Thatcher" before they become an Islamicized continent and a virtual colony of the Caliphate. The clock is ticking...)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:09 AM ; Permalink;

Friday, December 10, 2004

SOCIAL SECURITY = PONZI SCHEME

INSTAPUNDIT linked to an article on Social Security by Arnold Kling at TECHCENTRALSTATION. The article is okay - but it really over-analyzes what's really a simple problem, and then profers a political analysis which is pointless and a solution which is stupid, unfair, and Statist.

The REAL problem is that Social Security is nothing more than a fraudulent scam - literally nothing more than a "Ponzi Scheme" run by the federal government. Always has been - always will be.

Simply put: a Ponzi Scheme is a type of fraud in which earlier "investors" are paid off with the investments of later "investors." This is EXACTLY how Social Security was conceived, and how it has run since its inception. (SEE COMPLETE OF PONZI SCHEME DEFINITION HERE.)

Shifting demographics mean that there will be fewer "new investors" coming on-line than "older investors" seeking their promised payments; that's the only reason that there's an impending crisis.

Solving the impending and inevitable demographic problem of this Ponzi Scheme is technically simple: either cut the amount of the outgoing payments/"benefits;" and/or raise the age at which those payments/"benefits" begin; and/or increase incoming taxes/"investments" by raising the tax rate or by raising the income ceiling at which those taxes currently stop. (Kling's suggested "solution" is nothing more than this type of adjustment).

In other words: make adjustments to Social Security in order to perpetuate the viability of the on-going fraud, and not by addressing the fundamental problem - the fact that the system is a form of FRAUD, a financial fraud that -- if it weren't perpetrated by the federal government -- would be busted by the likes of Eliot Spitzer!

Only gradual privatization can avert the crisis without perpetuating the fraud.

Gradual and partial privatization should lead to complete privatization at some point in the near future - a future when individuals will be responsible for their own retirement, as they are now responsible for their own employment and for their own eating, clothing, housing, bathing and everything else in their own PRIVATE lives.

The state should have NO ROLE in anybody's retirement - except to make sure that the privately placed investments are not subject to fraud and mismanagement.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 4:14 PM ; Permalink;

Thursday, December 09, 2004

KERRY: APPEARANCE OF RACISM OR BIGOTRY HAS NO PLACE IN SENATE LEADERSHIP

As the WASH TIMES pointed out today, in 2002, John F. Kerry made these remarks:

"Trent Lott's statements place a cloud over his leadership because there can never be an appearance of racism or bigotry in any high position of leadership, particularly in the United States Senate. It saddens me greatly to suggest this, but in the interests of the Senate, his party, and the nation I believe Trent Lott should step aside as majority leader."

I think Kerry was right about Lott in 2002, and that what was true about Lott then, is true about Reid today.

Reid must step down as Minority Leader of the Senate.

(See my earlier post HERE.)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:12 PM ; Permalink;

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

MORE NORTH KOREAN DECEIT DISCOVERED BY JAPAN

BLOOMBERG:

"Japan may halt food aid to North Korea after genetic testing showed remains North Korea claims are those of Megumi Yokota, abducted by its agents in 1977, are those of someone else, Japan's government spokesman Hiroyuki Hosoda said. ``This is extremely regrettable,'' Hosoda, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said at a regular press briefing in Tokyo. Japan may stop food shipments to North Korea and will lodge a strong complaint with the Pyongyang regime, he said. Some senior ruling party lawmakers including Shinzo Abe, deputy secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, want Japan to impose economic sanctions on North Korea because it has failed to provide information on its abductions of Japanese citizens. [...] Japanese lawmakers this year approved measures that allow the government to impose sanctions, including a halt to remittances to the communist country. Money transfers by Korean residents in Japan are among North Korea's biggest sources of foreign currency. "

This report further proves that North Korea is ENTIRELY UNTRUSTWORTHY in all regards, and cannot and must not be trusted to uphold any treaty or agreement on any matter - including nuclear proliferation and nuclear disarmament. But "untrustworthy" only begins to tell the story - it's worse, really: HOW COULD THE NORTH KOREANS HAVE THOUGHT THAT THEY COULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH THIS DECEIT!?!? It is utterly B I Z A R R E! Virtually INSANE! The Kim Jong Il regime is NUTS! Pursuing regime change - getting rid of Kim Jong Il and replacing him with a relaible leader - is the only viable policy. (See an earlier post on North Korea HERE.)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 5:58 PM ; Permalink;

KING ABDULLAH: Coalition forces getting closer to capturing Zarqawi!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jordanian King Abdullah II said forces in Iraq are "getting close" to capturing terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "He's slipped through the net once or twice where we got closer to him than he would have liked," dullah told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. "The Iraqis, Jordanians and coalition forces are working very hard to track him down -- and we're getting close."

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 3:07 PM ; Permalink;

ATTACKING SYRIA WOULD BE LEGAL - AND IT MIGHT SOON BE NECESSARY

Waging WAR against SYRIA NOW would be legal because if there is a connection between any nation and al-Qaida then the “Authorization to Use Military Force” of Sept. 14, 2001 authorizes the president to attack them. Here's the Congressional Resolution:

“S.J.Res.23 - One Hundred Seventh Congress of the United States of America AT THE FIRST SESSION - Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, the third day of January, two thousand and one Joint Resolution
To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States. Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens; and Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad; and Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence; and Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force'.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any further acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.”

The Jihadoterrorist known as Zarqawi is part of al Qaeda, and Zarqawi is getting aid from Syria (see below). Zarqawi is - in a legal sense - attacking the USA when he and al Qaeda attacks USA armed forces in Iraq and our consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The president should issue Syria a public ultimatum now, and demand that they cease and desist all aid to all terrorist groups, and quit giving harbor to terrorist groups, and prevent the entry of all terrorists into Iraq by January 1, 2005 (in time to restore order in Iraq before the elections) or face serious consequences.

This is NOT over-reacting. Victory in Iraq is an essential part of the GWOT and we must not allow Syria - (or any other nation - like Iran if they don't straighten up and fly right!) attempt to prevent our victory.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:26 PM ; Permalink;

SYRIA SUPPORTING IRAQI REBELS

Thomas E. Ricks of the WASHINGTON POST reports:

Based on information gathered during the recent fighting in Fallujah, Baghdad and elsewhere in the Sunni Triangle, the officials said that a handful of senior Iraqi Baathists operating in Syria are collecting money from private sources in Saudi Arabia and Europe and turning it over to the insurgency. In some cases, evidence suggests that these Baathists are managing operations in Iraq from a distance, the officials said. A U.S. military summary of operations in Fallujah noted recently that troops discovered a global positioning signal receiver in a bomb factory in the western part of the city that "contained waypoints originating in western Syria." [...] Jeffrey White, a former Middle Eastern analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the Syrian role is part of what many intelligence officials believe are the increasingly organized attacks on U.S. forces. "In the last two months or so, this notion that this is a Baathist insurgency has gained dominance in the [intelligence] community," he said. Coupled with that, he said, "there is an increasing view that Syria is at the center of the problem."

The WASHPOST article is very good; RTWT.

I blogged on the Syrian connection last week (on 12/2) HERE.

BOTTOM-LINE: We MUST crackdown on Syria.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:21 AM ; Permalink;

MICHAEL MOORE: INSOMNIAC?

THESE NEWS REPORTS (FROM LEFT-LEANING MEDIA OUTLETS) MAY EXPLAIN MOORE'S OBESITY:

Report Links Lack of Sleep and Obesity NPR (audio), D.C. - 1 hour ago: Two studies report that sleep loss can contribute to obesity.

Lack of sleep may cause obesity Xinhua, China - 2 hours ago BEIJING, Dec. 8 -- A recent research finds that people who don't sleep very long are more likely to be overweight.

Obesity linked to lack of sleep BBC News, UK - 21 hours agoA reduction in the time people spend asleep could partly account for soaring obesity rates, a study has revealed.

Sleep loss may equal weight gain USA Today, By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY. By John Zich, USA TODAY. Scientists discover that sleep deprivation increases levels of a hunger hormone .

Studies find lost sleep equals gained weight CTV, Canada - Dec 6, 2004 Two new studies suggest that what's not happening in the bedroom may be why so many gain weight. ...

Maybe if Moore stopped making deceitful anti-American propaganda he'd be able to sleep at night - AND HE'D LOSE SOME WEIGHT!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:08 AM ; Permalink;

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

FOR HIS COMMENTS, REID - LIKE LOTT - SHOULD STEP DOWN

I just saw ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS on the Hannity & Colmes show on FOXNEWS. The segment was largely about the recent departure of Kwesi Mfume from the NAACP. At the end of the segment, Williams vehemently asserted that the Left is racist when it comes to Black Conservatives - Williams should know: He is a Black Conservative.

Williams said that Senator Reid’s comments about Justice Thomas - uttered this past weekend on Russert’s NBC show, MTP - were RACIST, and argued that Reid would have NEVER asserted that a white justice’s opinions were "poorly written." I agree, and I think that Reid should no more be the Leader of the Democrat Caucus in the Senate than Lott should have continued to be the Leader of the Republicans in the Senate.

Lott - after getting pressure from the blogosphere and his caucus - did the right thing and stepped down from the leadership position. Reid must do the same thing.

SPREAD THE WORD!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:00 PM ; Permalink;

HERE WE GO AGAIN: COMRAD PUTIN GIVES MORE ADVICE ON DEMOCRACY & ELECTIONS

The last time Pooty-poot Putin gave electoral advice, it was to claim that (1) his puppet won the Ukrainian election; and that (2) the Ukraine election was fair; and that (3) there should be no new election in the Ukraine.

That was THREE STRIKES! Putin should be out of the electoral advice-giving game, but just he can't seem to keep his autocratic trap shut.

Now - during the visit of Iraqi PM Allawi - he is advising the world that he can't see how there can be an election in Iraq as long as it is occupied.

Putin would be listened to more seriously if he gave advice on matters he has 1st hand experience with: like (a) how to shut down free speech, and (b) how to use the State to steal private property, and (c) how to ride roughshod over governors, legislatures and human rights. Not to mention (d) how to sell nuclear reactors to Jihadoterrorists, and (e) how to garner bribes from the likes of Saddam as one perverts the UN Oil For Food Program and obstructs the enforcement of UNSCR's.

Seriously, this derogatory comment by Putin - and his stance on Ukraine - should make it absolutely clear to everyone that Putin is nothing more than a Russian Chirac - and that is someone who is NOT to be trusted.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 8:33 PM ; Permalink;

WHY "CIA INTEL'" IS LIKE "A DICTATOR" TO THE OLD MEDIA AND THE LEFT

Today's big "gloom and doom" Iraq story in the Old Media is based on the leaked CIA cable written by the CIA's Iraq station chief. Apparently he-or-she desribes things there as going badly, and getting worse.

And this is reported in the Old Media as incontrovertible proof that... believe it or not (Heh!): (1) "Bush still lies (when he says things are not too bad in Iraq, and will get better"); and that (2) the Bush Administration is doing a bad job of managing the Iraq War and the GWOT.

(I wonder how TODAY'S Leftists in the Old Media would've reported on WW2 from D-day on - when we took the MOST casualties and had MANY setbacks?! They probably would've been calling for FDR's impeachment! Heck; today's Leftists in the Old Media would've said that FDR's decision to invade Europe before the 1944 election was a politically driven fiasco!)

Why doesn't it surprise me that the Left and the Old Media they dominate spin the "CIA CABLE" story this way!? Well, first because I find it so CONVENIENT that the Left - and the Old Media they dominate - trust any intel' from the CIA that is basically anti-Bush. When the CIA was 100% sure that Saddam had stockpiles of WMD - or when they NOW say that Iran has a surreptitious Nuclear Weapons Program, well then the CIA is an evil and untrustworthy and incompetent agency, to the Left and the Old Media. Like I say: it's so convenient.

It kinda reminds me of how the Left deals with dictators: any dictator that is anti-American is "okay" to the Left and the Old Media: Castro, Tito, Kim, Mugabe, Saddam, Qaddafi - (by the way: they're ALL socialists) - they're all okay, to the Left and the Old Media they dominate... merely indigenous expressions of self-rule and whose rigid policies are based on a reasonable fear of impending American invasion (or "American cultural hegemony!"); however, if a dictator is pro-American, then they're bad to the Left - like Marcos, Pinochet, Musharraf (before he restored democracy), and so on.

This inconsistency or hypocrisy reveals a lot about the Left - and the Old Media they dominate. And it is much more than (and deeper than) an anti-Bush sentiment - because so many of these characterizations pre-date the Bush presidency. It reveals that anti-Americanism is a core value to them - they use it as the basis to grade so much else... almost everything else. Even the GWOT - of the Jihadoterrorists, the Left asks; "how bad can they be if they are anti-Bush and anti-American?!"

Which is why so many people like me think the Left is "for all intents and purposes" a Fifth Column for the Jihadoterrorists - just as they were for the Soviets, (either as dupes or as willing fellow travelers - it matters not).

Which is why fighting Leftism is an important secondary front in the GWOT. We will never become united in the GWOT until the Left abandons their post-modernist aversion to the West and America as the leader of the West.

(As I have written many times before, I think the key to accomplishing this is demolishing the Left's cultural and moral relativism. Once exposed as a morally bankrupt ideology - once "deprogrammed" from their reflexively amoral positions - Leftists can rejoin the good fight to liberate all humanity from tyranny - and the poverty and ignorance that tyranny causes.)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 4:00 PM ; Permalink;

BARGHOUTI FLIP-FLOPS: NOW, HE MAY WITHDRAW FROM RACE

GOOGLE NEWS has 297 stories posted on Barghouti's second FLIP-FLOP on this issue.

Which means he already has a lot in common with another Leftist & former candidate for the US presidency - John Flipflopping Kerry.

Maybe Barghouti will run when his own prison term is up? That would be fine with me: he's currently serving five (5) consecutive life terms for murder and terrorism.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:55 PM ; Permalink;

Why the NYTIMES, RICHARD COHEN - and the rest of the LEFT - still just don't get it!

Greg over at the great foreign policy blog - The Belgravia Dispatch (BD) - linked to an article at the NYTIMES Week In Review by Richard Cohen - from Rio where the anti-Americans are gathering for another conference of some sort or another (this is what they do best).

Greg selected this quote (in part) from Cohen's article:

The United States has a strategic problem: its war on terror, unlike its long fight against Communism, is not universally seen as the pivotal global struggle of the age. Rather, it is often portrayed abroad as a distraction from more critical issues - as an American attempt to impose a bellicose culture, driven by the cultivation of fear, on a world still taken with the notion that the cold war's end and technology's advance have opened unprecedented possibilities for dialogue and peace.

Frank Godwin commented at BD:

The world never shared the American belief that the struggle against Communism was "the pivotal global struggle of the age." The Europeans and the Japanese might have shared some of our views because the Soviet wolf was literally at their door. They were, however, quite content to have America do the heavy lifing in that pivotal struggle. Most nations were largely consumed by the same set of domestic challenges all face today. In Latin America nations were either insulated from the struggle entirely or they saw it play out in their domestic politics with little sense of a world conflict.

Even an anti-Communist Latin American or African government did not automatically support any aspect of American foreign policy towards the Soviet Bloc or anywhere else. Much of Africa and some of Latin America was 'non-aligned' meaning that rhetorically they leaned toward the Soviet Bloc but expected most development assistance to come from the West. Today the functional equivalent of the 'non-aligned' myth is making variously disapproving noises about American foreign policy and strident anti-Israeli pronouncements. All the while they adamantly refuse to criticise any American or Israeli opponent, even those who are terroristic or who are a threat to the 'non-aligned' nation itself.

Believing that there was some idylic era where America had a common vision and purpose with the world anytime after World War II distorts the past and serves a partisan political purpose in the present. Are we to believe then that Bush and 'his' War on Terror had us cast out of some Eden of worldly consensus?

I add:

Richard Cohen is WRONG, and Frank Goodwin is right: the Cold War was considered bunk by the Left; when Reagan called the USSR what it was - "an evil empire" - the Left freaked out and thought REAGAN was the warmonger and that he was fomenting an irrational fear; to the Left the USSR - and most tyrants (unless they were in the USA' s sphere of influence) - were benign. Only the tyrants the USA used to in order to oppose USSR hegemony were considered bad by the Left; (i.e.: "Castro good; Marcos bad").

The source of this for the Left is their embrace of post-modernism and the "pomo" rejection of the West. Simply put: Post modernists blame white heterosexual men for all of history's ills; to the pomo Left white heterosexual men are the source of all bad things. All political movements which oppose the West and/or white heterosexual men are good - whether they be feminists, "anti-colonialists," nativists, Islamists, gays, open border advocates, or anti-globalists, greens, etc..

All the Left's "anti-USA, anti-capitalist, anti-globalist, anti-neocon" positions can be seen as attacks on traditional culture and politics of the West - which has been a traditionally white male enterprise - at least until the second half of the last century.

Cultural and moral relativism are the post-facto rationalizations for the Left's insistence on supporting anti-West groups even though most these groups are anti-libertarian and even Luddite. The Left uses cultural relativism and moral relativism to argue that truly evil groups (in any universal sense - for example groups that commit genocide or traffic in slavery, for instance) are (to them) "merely alternative ways of living and behaving and judging."

This is why the Left so OVERVALUES the U.N. and OVERVALUE international unanimity/consensus as prerequisites for international intervention: the only source of universality for the Left is consensus among divergent appearing groups (nations, cultures, races, genders, etc.). Consensus is ersatz universality for the post modernist Left.

Proof that the Left's pomo moral and cultural relativism is in fact morally bankrupt is the fact that absent a cross-cultural consensus they have no basis for interceding to stop genocide when it occurs within a nation - as in the Sudan, or Rwanda - recently. If Hitler was around today, they'd watch him kill German Jews and just shrug their shoulders saying - in effect: "it's none of our business; it is an internal matter" - just as they have with Rwandans and Darfurians. They claim this is nuanced and sophisticated; it is actually morally bankrupt. Another example: cultural relativists have no moral basis for ending all slavery everywhere. To me this proves that the pomo Left is morally bankrupt - a philosphical dead-end, a poltical non-starter.

Further proof of their moral bankruptcy is the utter hypocrisy at the core of their creed: how could white male heterosexual civilization be "bad" (for women, non-Western nations & cultures, etc) if there is no such thing as "bad" - in absolute/universal terms!? It cannot really be "bad" because by their own definition there is no such thing as "bad.". How can Bush be "bad" if there is no such thing as "bad?"! YES: they simply want to have their cake and eat it to. This cannot be done, and it proves the the Left is a hypocritical, false and useless creed.

Neocons are merely universalists - not unlike FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Neocons believe that all humans everywhere deserve the same human rights. And neocons are willing to take on burdens and risks to help their fellow human beings achieve their human rights; in fact, neocons think it is the duty of the richest and freest and most powerful among us to help our poorer and less free and weaker brothers and sisters enjoy their rights, too.

Richard Cohen is still basically a Leftist trapped in a tired, hypocritical, vapid, useless and amoral ideology. When he and his fellow travelers at the NYTIMES and in the Left abandon their "pomo moral relativism" they will join us in he good fight to make all of our brothers and sisters everywhere be free. Until then, I expect nothing but hypocritical revisionist/fantasist sniping which does nothing but aid the enemies of universal human rights for all humanity everywhere.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:20 AM ; Permalink;

SCOTUS FACT: Justices agree with each other - more often than not

An overlooked fact: according to recent surveys, NONE of the Justices votes with any other Justice less than half the time.

Think about that. NONE of the Justices votes with any other Justice less than half the time. It means that all of the Justices have more in common with each other, and agree with each other MORE than they disagree with each other.

I think we should keep this in mind as things heat up (as they are bound to) IF-AND-WHEN a Justice retires and Bush makes a nomination.

We shouldn't let the "one-issue hot-heads" make us lose sight of the fact that most distinguished jurists agree and disagree on many many things, and you can NEVER predict what issues will come before the SCOTUS, or how a person will judge once they become a Justice of the SCOTUS.

So, we should only insist that the nominees be highly qualified. That's all.

ANOTHER KEY POINT: the character of the court will not change if a conservative Justice retires and Bush replaces him with another conservative. So the real battle royales shouldn't occur until Stevens or Bader-Ginsburg retires. Or perhaps O'Connor - who has been a ket swing votes - swinging Leftward more often than not. Which leads me to my advice to the Democrats and the Left: if-and-when Rehnquist retires and Bush selects a qualified conservative - confirm him quickly. If you don't, you're just gonna look like a bunch of sore-losers.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:27 AM ; Permalink;

FITTING PALESTINIAN POLL RESULT: "dead heat"

According to this article at THE GUARDIAN, Mahmoud Abbas - the favored FATAH candidate (whose NOM DE GUERE is ABU MAZEN) - is in a DEAD HEAT with Marwan Barghouti, the convicted terrorist and murderer now serving five (5) life terms, and who is "credited" (you should forgive the expression - I'm just momentarily adopting the Palestinian POV) with leading the 2nd Intifada until he was captured by the IDF.

A poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research shows Mr Abbas ahead by 40% to 38%. In the other poll, by Bir Zeit university, Mr Barghouti is one point ahead of the man who had been widely assumed to win January's election. The margin of error in both polls was 3%.

It says something about the Arabs in the occupied territories that these two men are their most popular leaders - now that Arafat and Yassin are dead... Yes, it says something, and that something is not very nice.

There was a bit of hopeful news in one of the polls: support for Hamas is declining.

RTWT. And: stay tuned...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:11 AM ; Permalink;

Monday, December 06, 2004

"Annan is merely a symptom of the UN's sickness"

JEFF JACOBY (Boston Globe) :

There was no global uproar when the brutal regime in Libya was chosen to chair the UN's Human Rights Commission. Nothing happened to the UN after its troops allowed Serbs to slaughter 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the "safe haven" of Srebrenica. Sex scandals seem to erupt wherever the UN goes -- the latest involves charges of rape, child abuse, and prostitution by UN personnel in the Congo -- but they never cause heads to roll in Turtle Bay. Annan himself became secretary general despite his failure, when he headed the UN's peacekeeping operations, to pay attention to warnings of genocide in Rwanda. Why should anything be different this time? Oil-for-Food may be the greatest international rip-off of modern times, it may have strengthened one of the world's bloodiest dictators, it may have deprived countless Iraqis of food and medicine, but if history is any guide, the scandal headlines will fade from view long before the secretary general does. By week's end, in fact, dozens of governments, including all the permanent members of the Security Council save the United States, had publicly rallied to Annan's support. Scandal or no scandal, he will almost certainly serve out the remaining two years of his term. Which is just as well. Annan is merely a symptom of the UN's sickness, not the cause of it.

The U.N.'s FAILURES are famous, and Jacoby lists some of the worst - (many of which were on Kofi's watch - a few, like the Rwandan Genocide were tright under his nose!). It's a list of infamy: Tiannamen Square; the Darfurian genocide; the southern Sudanese genocide; Somalia; Uganda; Congo - the list goes on and on: the U.N. most often does nothing as member states commit horrific atrocities and crimes against humanity.

But it's worse than that. The U.N. hasn't just failed to stop most of the world's worst crises and acts of genocide; it has actually been on the sidelines when some little good - (and I mean little good) - was actually achieved in some of the world's crisies by mediation. YUP: Most of the peace accords (many of them somewhat dubious) that were reached over the last few decades have largely been achieved WITHOUT the U.N.'s help and outside their auspices. The Vietnam Peace Accords? No - they were bilateral. Dayton Accords? No - the USA brokered it. OSLO? No - Norway and USA, but mostly Israel and Palestinians. Libya disarmament of WMD? No, again - it was ther UK and the USA. The Armistice between Saddam and the UN Coalition that fought the 1991 Gulf War was negotiated by the USA; unfortunately, it was left up to the U.N. to enforce it - and we know what the result of that was: Saddam ignored the terms of the Armistice while bribing ther U.N. and many members of the UNSC.

Other times - when Human Rights and democracy were fighting to become realized - and the U.N. SHOULD have stepped to the fore it did nothing; Did the U.N. help the Ukraine resolve its recent election crisis? No - Kofi said nary a peep. Surely in Georgia the U.N. must have had a role? NO AGAIN. Does the U.N. have a role in defusing and settling the Kashmir crisis? No - the U.N. has done NOTHING.

It's rather startling when you really look at the record, isn't it? The U.N.: its record is pure failure; it has failed to act when the world stood by and did nothing; and it has even been on the sidelines the few times when negotiations were actually able to achieve something. It's record is U.N.believeably pitiful.

Here's The Astute Blogger U.N. Challenge: Can anyone anywhere name one dozen good things the U.N. has achieved since the Korean War? Enter a list in the comments. The contest will remain open until Kofi resigns...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 8:37 PM ; Permalink;

SENATOR WILL INTRODUCE BILL WITHHOLDING U.N. DUES UNTIL CONGRESS GETS COOPERATION ON OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL INVESTIGATION

According to Kofi Annan's "hometown web page" (Ghana Web Page - themselves citing CBS) :

"Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has stated that in January’s new Senate session he will introduce the U.N. Oil-for-Food Accountability Act, which would call for the United States to withhold 10 percent of its funding in the first year and 20 percent in the second year. Under former President Clinton the United States did refuse to pay some of its U.N. dues in protest."

FOXNEWS is reporting that this bill's introduction will certainly make the U.N. start to feel the heat - which is the intent of introducing such a bill: turning the heat up with the hope of getting cooperation. There's another news story on this bill HERE, (NY SUN). The SUN article relates thast Senator Lugar is being a little too accommodating to the U.N.:

"A spokesman for Mr. Lugar, Andy Fisher, told The New York Sun yesterday that Mr. Lugar was unlikely to take up the U.N. funding legislation until the United Nations completed its own investigation. Mr. Ensign yesterday said he was prepared to send his bill to the floor of the Senate."

THIS IS SOMETHING NEAR TO WHAT THE ASTUTE BLOGGER HAS BEEN CALLING FOR SINCE NOVEMBER. (THE ASTUTE BLOGGER ASSERTS THAT IT WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE TO THREATEN TO WITHHOLD 100% OF THE FUNDS UNTIL THE CONGRESS GETS FULL U.N. COOPERATION.) SEE EARLIER ASTUTE BLOGGER POSTS DEMANDING THIS HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE AND HERE. BRAVO! SCORE THIS ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE BLOGOSPHERE, (albeit partial, so far.)

The US CONGRESS MUST MOVE ON THIS BILL; THE CONGRESS MUST TURN UP THE HEAT ON THE U.N.!

The U.N. must not be allowed to remain U.N.cooperative!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:21 AM ; Permalink;

IRAN IN DEFIANCE OF VERIFIABLE INSPECTIONS ALREADY!

According to a Bahrain News Service, Iran IS ALREADY SAYING that it will not allow the IAEA to inspect military sites that are allegedly involved in illegal nuclear arms manufacturing. This - it seems to me - indicates that verifying any deal will be impossible - which EFFECTIVELY nullifies the value of any deal. We better have a "Plan B" and it better be ready to put in action SOON. Sooner - and "too soon" - is always better than later - or "too late" - especially when it comes to nukes in the hands of states that sponsor Jihadoterror - like Iran.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:25 AM ; Permalink;

SYRIA TO HOST SUMMIT OF SORTS...

Today, FATAH's new leadership - Abbas, Qorei and Shaath - will be in Damascus to meet with Assad, and then HAMAS in an effort to bury the hatchet. It will be interesting to see just what comes from this - especially coming on the heels of the current thaw between Egypt and Israel (and their exchange of prisoners).

Perhaps - if all Israel's enemies begin sincere efforts to achieve a settlement - one will happen. It seems to me that the House of Saud should be involved at this stage, too. (After all: They're neighbors of Israel, and US alllies. It only makes sense that they would be part of a regional settlement.) STAY TUNED....

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:22 AM ; Permalink;

DOUBLE AGENTS IN THE FBI?

Ask the average American who is a greater threat to their security - Israel or Jihadoterrorism - and most would say Jihadoterrorism. Most Americans can tell the difference between an ally - like the UK and Israel - a phony/sometime/fair-weather ally like France, and an out-and-out enemy, like al Qaeda and their minions. Many pundits argue that the GWOT was the major reason that Bush gained 10,000,000 more votes this time than in 2000. SO... why is the FBI targeting Israel? ESPECIALLY: why is the Chief of Counter-intelligence targeting Israelis and Jews - as opposed to Jihadodterrorists, their state sponsors and their minions? POWERLINE linked to an article which asks just that. The FBI is aggressively targeting AIPAC - an Israeli lobbying group. FROM THE ARTICLE:

On Friday, Rep. Robert Wexler, a Jewish Democratic congressman from south Florida, sent a second letter to US President George W. Bush expressing "deep concern" about the FBI's ongoing investigation of the lobby group, and urging the president to provide members of Congress with detailed information about the AIPAC probe. Wexler called on Bush to immediately dismiss David Szady, the senior FBI counterintelligence official who is heading the investigation. Senior Jewish community officials have accused Szady of targeting Jews in the past by blocking or slowing their security clearances. As journalist and author Edwin Black reported for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in September, Szady headed a CIA counterespionage group, which tried to force the Jewish former CIA staff attorney Adam Ciralsky out of the agency, by documenting and probing his past contacts with Israel.

Joel Mowbray wrote a column about it in September; link HERE. EXCERPT:

The reported track record of the FBI agent in charge of the investigation, FBI assistant director of counterintelligence David Szady, is also troubling. Szady has for years "led investigations into Jewish American CIA employees believed to be spying for Israel that have also failed to persuade the Justice Department even to investigate the cases," reports Eli Lake of the New York Sun.That’s not all. Stephen Green, who reportedly was interviewed by the FBI for four hours relating to this case (the FBI refused comment), is a free-lance writer on a two-decade long quest to prove that Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, and other Jews are actually embedded Israeli spies. Some twenty years of futility later, Green is suddenly all the rage with leftist blogs and "news" sites, as well as (frighteningly) some mainstream news outlets. Until his newfound popularity on the left and in the Arab press, Green’s staunchest support had come from Institute of Historical Review (IHR), which is perhaps best known for its denial of the Holocaust. Green’s two books that purport to document Israel’s vast network of Jewish spies working in the U.S. government have received rave reviews from the Holocaust deniers. And now, Green is being utilized by the FBI.

It could be as simple as anti-Semitism on the part of the FBI or some agents - including the Chief of Counter-intelligence. OR it could be worse. It could be that the Chief of Counter-intelligence is a double agent: a paid employee of the Jihadoterrorists or their state sponsors. SOUND FAR-FETCHED? Maybe. This is pure supposition - but it is also supposition based on recent history. FACT #1: the Chief of Counter Espionage in the CIA was Aldrich Ames - who, is turns out, was bought and paid for by the USSR. For a pittance, a few million bucks. FACT #2, the Chief of Counter Intelligence fore the FBI was Robert Hannsen - who, it turns out, was ALSO bought and paid for by our arch-enemy, also for a pittance - a few million bucks. If the Chiefs of counter-intel’ for both the CIA and the FBI could have been bought and paid for by the relatively hard-up/cash-poor USSR, than certainly a few of the oil-rich Wahhabist princes of the Ummah could have bought a few agents of their own (with their "walking around" money!) no!? Even the chiefs of counter-intel/counter-terrorism, no?!

A reasonable person must conclude that it is possible that wealthy Wahhabists have purchased the allegiance of either some CIA agents, some FBI agents - or both. One must also reasonably accept that the wealthy Wahhabists might have even purchased agents high up in the Agency food-chain - even a chief. The Ames and Hannsen cases prove this is possible - if not: likely.

I have NO evidence of this. How could I? But I find it very troubling that not a single person in the CIA or the FBI has ever been fired over the lapses which led to 9/11. This might be because the chiefs are compromised and covering up for themselves.

Also troubling: Before 9/11, the FBI received specific warnings from field agents about Arabs taking flying lessons - but the FBI HQ in DC ignored those warnings. At best, this was an error in judgement, but maybe it was worse - maybe the agent in the DC HQ was covering up for the Jihadoterrorists; maybe it was the deliberate effort of a double agent hired to cover things up? There’s even more trouble: The FBI has long had a shortage of Arabic speakers, but refuses to hire Israeli Jewish Arabic speakers. See HERE. (Or check out Congressman FJ Pallone's (D-NJ) website; he commented on this issue on 10/20/03.)

SURE, I know: this sounds almost "tin-foil hat conspiratorial." But the absence of any accountability, and the targeting of Israeli organizations coupled with the refusal of the FBI to hire Jewish translators can only be explained by one or the other. And, any FBI chief or supervisor who's an anti-Semite, would have to be have been a likely target for the Jihadoterrorists to turn into a double agent.

SO... WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT THESE APPARENT PROBLEMS?!

I think we should demand that Robert Mueller step down and that Bush replace him with someone who will be willing to do to the FBI what Goss is doing at the CIA: clean house. Either these agents are anti-Semites, double agents, or both. In any case: They gotta go. It's all about accountability.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 9:18 AM ; Permalink;

Friday, December 03, 2004

FOUR ALGERIANS IN BUSH CABINET?!

Okay... NOT Algerian: Algeresque - as in "Bush nominees exemplify Horatio Alger heros," but it did get your attention, didn't it!?

That's what so amazed me about Bush's latest cabinet picks: their individual stories're so Horatio Algeresque - each PROVES that (1) the American Dream is alive and well, and that (2) the elusive qualities which make some people rise to the top from unbelieveably humble origins are qualities that our President admires in people, that (3) he seeks out these kind of people - and depends on them. YUP: these picks say a lot about America, and a lot about Bush, too.

Here're some thumbnails on the four Algerians:

Al Gonzales - the child of migrant workers and the product of public elementary and secondary schools; attended the Air Force Academy then Rice, and Harvard. (Read more HERE and HERE and HERE.)

Condoleeza Rice - the daughter of a minister who grew up in segregated Birmingham. A graduate of college at age 19. A concert pianist, fluent in Russian - and NFL-ese. First black female provost of a major university - Stanford. NSC member under Bush 41, before becoming the Bush 43's National Security Advisor - and soon to be Secretary of State; the first black female to hold that job. More details HERE and HERE and HERE.

Carlos Gutierrez - is a Cuban emigre whose impoverished family came here to escape Castro's totalitarian tyranny when Carlos was just 6 years old. A Bell Hop taught him English. His first job was driving a delivery truck in Mexico - for Kellogg, where he rose to become CEO. More HERE and HERE.

Bernard Kerik - well, beginnings do NOT get any more humble than his: he is the son of a prostitute - who abandoned him; he was then adopted by the Keriks. He grew up on the tough streets of Paterson, NJ and was a high school drop out. He became an army MP in South Korea, a prison warden in NJ - got his GED, then a New York City street-cop on the beat, and then a fearless undercover narcotics detective, and then became one of the most highly decorated cops in NYC history, then the Commisoner of Corrections in NYC, and then NYC Police Commissioner - as Bush said: the same job once held by Teddy Roosevelt. More HERE and HERE.

These are the kind of people that make us all proud to be Americans - and they should make all American proud of their president, too. He has chosen well.

UPDATE: WELCOME POLIPUNDIT READERS and fans of Lorie Byrd (and her blog Byrd Droppings)! Thanks for coming by! Please check out the Dec. & Nov. archives - there's some interesting stuff here you won't read anywhere else. Much of it recently linked to by Roger L. Simon, and Powerline, and Instapundit, and My Pet Jawa, and Dissecting Leftism, and Ace Pilots/Friends of Saddam and The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid and Man Without Qualities and Outside the Beltway. Thanks to all and Cheers!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 7:14 PM ; Permalink;

TIME FOR "HELMS-BIDEN" REDUX

UPDATE: (originally posted 11/24, but it's more relevant than ever, so I just bumped it up!)

In the 1990's, Congress passed a bipartisan bill - the Helms-Biden Act - which forced the federal government to withhold UN dues until the UN reformed. It worked. It's time to use that tactic again - to get UN cooperation with the Congressional committee investigating recent UN abuses - namely the OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL.

Here's a letter I sent to the Chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee - Senators Lugar and Biden. I also sent a few to a couple of other senators on the FR committee and one to Senator Norm Coleman - chairman of the Government Affairs committee - (which is the lead committee investigating the UN's Oil for Food scandal in the Senate), and to a few members of that committee, too.

Read it. If you agree, copy it and send it to your senator. If a few Senators threatened to introduce the Bill, it might turn up the heat on the UN and get the Congress more cooperation. HERE'S THE LETTER:

Dear Senator;

In the 1990's Congress passed the Helms-Biden act - withholding dues fro the UN until they reformed. It worked.

It's time to at least threaten the same thing now: Either the UN starts cooperating with the Congressional investigations in the "Oil for Food Scandal" or we will withhold dues.

This is all about accountability. The American people expect the UN to be accountable. Your committee should demand it on behalf of the American people - and Iraqis. The embezzled monies - maybe as much as $27 billion - must be found and returned to the Iraqi people. A Congressional investigation could help accomplish this - if the UN cooperated. IF YOU PASS A NEW BILL WITHHOLDING DUES UNTIL THEY COOPERATE! THEY WILL THEN COOPERATE!

Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 8:28 AM ; Permalink;

Thursday, December 02, 2004

UN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL REPORT NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT'S WRITTEN ON

This UN Advisory Panel Report is just plain ol' CRAP; which should surprise no one considering that the USA's rep on this unelected non-representative panel was "General don't rock the boat" Scowcroft!

It recommends enlarging the UNSC. With an expanded UNSC, there could NEVER ever be any authorized war/attack/counter-attack.

Kerry would've acceded to this crap - it's his "global test."

No GOP prez ever will. No patriot could.

BTW: where's the frickin UNSC now that Congo and Rwanda are back at war - one that has killed 3MILLION people in the last 8 years while the UN has its peace-keeping forces RIGHT EFFIN THERE!

The UN: it'd be a bad joke... if it wasn't a counter-productive nightmare.

It's time to pull the plug on our financing them. It's time for HELMS BIDEN REDUX!

Check out this article on the panel's recommendations.

HAT TIP ACE PILOTS AND FRIENDS OF SADDAM.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:50 PM ; Permalink;

BUSH IMPLIES SUPPORT FOR WITHHOLDING U.N. DUES IF THE U.N. WON'T COOPERATE WITH THE SENATE'S INVESTIGATION INTO THE OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL

From "Reuters":

Bush, asked if Annan should resign, would not say.

"I look forward to the full disclosure of the facts, get an honest appraisal of that which went on. And it's important for the integrity of the organization to have a full and open disclosure of all that took place with the oil-for-food program," Bush said. "On this issue, it's very important for the United Nations to understand that there ought to be a full and fair and open accounting of the oil-for-food program," he said. "In order for the taxpayers of the United States to feel comfortable about supporting the United Nations, there has to be an open accounting," he said.

IOW: if there is not cooperation, then the US taxpayers won't support the UN...

IOW: it may soon become time for Helms-Biden Redux! (More HERE. And HERE.)

Bush gets it!

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:34 AM ; Permalink;

GERMAN UNEMPLOYMENT UP FOR TENTH STRAIGHT MONTH!

FROM THE BBC:

The number of people out of work in Europe's largest economy has risen for the tenth straight month as growth remains stubbornly slow. German unemployment rose 7,000 in November to 4.464 million people, or 10.8% of the workforce. [...] Among the new initiatives are the so-called "one-euro jobs" which top up unemployment benefit. The scheme's formal launch is January, but hirings for these positions are already taking place and affecting the unemployment statistics, economists said. "The deterioration of the labour market does not come as a surprise," said Isabelle Kronawitter at Hypovereinsbank. "Job creation measures probably prevented a stronger increase in the seasonally adjusted numbers."

"New initiatives"!?!? Just more of the same old Left-wing, top-down, elitist, non-market-driven drivel! You'd think that seeing how Reaganism/Thatcherism worked so well in the US and the UK, more Europeans would begin to accept the truth that socialism just doesn't work, wouldn't you!?

What works? CUTTING TAXES - TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT; RELAXING LABOR LAWS - TO MAKE IT EASIER TO HIRE AND FIRE. For starters. Sheesh...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:14 AM ; Permalink;

KOFI WON'T RESIGN

FOX: "Russia, Britain, Chile, Spain and other nations on the U.N. Security Council strongly backed Annan in recent days, as did non-council members. The 54 African nations sent a letter of support. 'He has heard no calls for resignation from any member state,' U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters when asked whether he envisioned Annan's stepping down. 'If there's some agitation on this issue on the sidelines ... that's healthy debate. But he is intent on continuing his substantive work for the remaining two years and one month of his term.'"

So, if Kofi won't resign, and naturally: he has the support of all those scummy nations who were sucking at the teat of the Oil-For-Food Program!

Well, then there's only one way to force the UN into greater cooperation with the Congressional investigation into the Oil-For-Food Scandal, aka "UNSCAM:" Pass an act that withholds ALL UN dues until we get cooperation - Helms-Biden Redux.

As I discussed here and here and here.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:33 AM ; Permalink;

UKRAINE UPDATE

New Ukraine poll looks likely
By Ron Popeski

KIEV ("Reuters") - A new Ukrainian poll of some sort looks increasingly likely as parliament and the Supreme Court press ahead with efforts to resolve a national crisis over a disputed presidential election. ... No more talks were scheduled pending a ruling by the Supreme Court on Yushchenko's complaint of electoral fraud in the November 21 run-off for the presidency. ... Parliament meets on Thursday to begin drafting changes to legislation necessary to implement reforms. Yushchenko said he believed agreement would take 24 hours, but EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, one of the international mediators, said a month was needed for amendments.

There's more - so use the link, AND STAY TUNED...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:40 AM ; Permalink;

SYRIAN MOSQUES AID IRAQI INSURGENCY

News-Telegraph: Mosques sending fighters to Iraq

By Jack Fairweather

(AMMAN) A network of Syrian mosques is sending men, money and weapons to Iraq, fuelling the insurgency. An investigation by the Telegraph has shown that Arab volunteers are streaming across the border despite Damascus government claims that it is curbing cross-border terrorism. [...] Several hundred Syrians are recruited, equipped and sent to Iraq every month. Iraqi exiles say that members of Saddam's former Ba'athist regime pay £1,600 a month to the families of the fighters. A senior American official said: "Most of what is bad that comes into Iraq comes from Syria and I have seen little to change my mind about that." The US military says there may be as many as 2,000 foreign fighters in Iraq, many from Syria.

This must simply be brought to a halt.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:27 AM ; Permalink;

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

"WE'LL KEEP THEM ON THE RUN!"

FILE THIS UNDER: "You can run, but you can't hide!"

(AFIS): Coalition Plans to Keep Insurgents on Run, Commander Says

By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2004 -- Successful military operations in Fallujah, Iraq, have put insurgents and foreign fighters on the run, and the military commander of coalition forces in Iraq said today the city is "no longer held hostage to terror."

"We now intend to keep the heat on the terrorists by pursuing them into the new locations that they've gone into and to continue the disruption of their efforts while we have them on the run," he added. ... In the aftermath of Fallujah, Casey said, the coalition hopes to focus efforts on providing better security in Ramadi, capital of the Anbar province, as well as in Mosul and Baghdad. ... "So what you'll see in the next 60 days is a series of operations to enhance security in those three critical regions," he said.

Here's a link to the Multi-National Force Iraq website.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:25 PM ; Permalink;

An Astute Political Strategist Agrees: USE OUR U.N. DUES AS WEDGE

In THE HILL: Dick Morris agrees - the Congress should use dues as wedge to get the UN to cooperate fully with the CONGRESSIONAL FOOD FOR OIL SCANDAL INVESTIGATION ... as I suggested here and here and here...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:14 PM ; Permalink;

More Proof the Bush Doctrine is Working...

From JANES:

"Damascus under pressure: The Syrian leadership, worried over the possibility of being the next target of the US administration's policy of 'regime change' in the Middle East, has finally started sending out some conciliatory signals. JID's regional correspondent asks whether this will prove too little, too late to save the country's Ba'ath Party regime. [Jane's Intelligence Digest - first posted to http://jid.janes.com – 1 December 2004]"

Syria has recently admitted it has much of Saddam's money (though not as much as we say), and they have made overtures to Israel - as if sincere about seeking to re-open negotiations over the Golan. They may soon even tighten their borders with Iraq. All good signs - to be monitored.

This proves that the Bush Doctrine and the Bush Middle East policies work - and that they've actually struck fear into the heart of the enemy, and have thereby reduced the likelihood of war, terror - and have also therefore already made us all safer.

More from the CSM here.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 4:03 PM ; Permalink;

More Proof That Jihadoterrorism is Global

Here's a news item about a Chechen killed in SW Pakistan today. This is further proof that Jihadoterrorism is global, non-national and not directly related to so-called USA hegemony. The Jihadoterrorists have a global agenda and everyone who opposes it is the enemy: the USA, Israel, Pakistan; the House of Saud; Indians; Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, athiests - EVERYONE who is not Salafist/Baathist Jihadoterrorist.

I wish our side was as united as theirs.... (After 9/11, I shudder to think of what it might take to make the Left come to their senses!)

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 3:11 PM ; Permalink;

PENTAGON TO INCREASE TROOP LEVEL IN IRAQ TO 150,000

Click here for a complete GOOGLE NEWS round up.

IMHO: this increase is needed to ensure that the Iraqi elections occur - an occurance which the Jihadoterrorists are deperately trying to prevent. As I wrote earlier: Between Fallujah and February expect non-stop mayhem by the Jihadoterrorists in Iraq.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:15 PM ; Permalink;

UKRAINE: DEAL ENDS CRISIS... for now

From the Clog-fella:

"Breaking News - Agreement Signed -- From the press conference at Marinskiy Palace. From what I'm hearing, President Kuchma announced:
1. All parties have signed an agreement. It was a "genuine compromise." There is going to be a revote, though I don't think the type has been decided yet.
2. There is going to be an expert working group to look at the legal issues of the election. They will follow the recommendations of the Supreme Court.
3. All sides are renouncing violence.
4. The protesters are going to stop blocking government buildings.
5. There will be constitutional reform during the upcoming period."
MORE HERE , and HERE.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 2:05 PM ; Permalink;

RATHER REPLACEMENT RACE HEATS UP

DRUDGE linked to a piece in the NY OBSERVER which revealed that Scott Pelley (the number two "in-house" prospect) is actively dissing John Roberts - the number one in-house prospect.

(BTW: Don't you think Lesley Stahl or Steve Kroft would be better in-house prospects, or are they in the in-house outhouse!? I dunno...)

BUT WHAT REALLY SHOCKED ME ABOUT THE ARTICLE is the fact that ANDREW HEYWARD - the president of CBS News - is very very involved in the selection process! WHY IS THIS SHOCKING?! Because Heyward is up to his eyeballs in Rathergate sh*t, that's why. SURE: we shouldn't pre-judge him (and yes: the Thornbrgh Investigation has yet to report), but at the very least, shouldn't Heyward wait until he's cleared before he puts his otherwise TAINTED FINGERPRINTS all over the new person they select!? Sheesh...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:24 PM ; Permalink;

ISLAMIC MISOGYNY IN JORDAN

This is a must read. Here's a snippet: "Don’t believe it when people tell you how modern a lot of the people in Jordan are. It's one big facade."

RTWT and find out the shocking reasons why. HAT TIP POLIPUNDIT.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 11:28 AM ; Permalink;

HAMAS TO BOYCOTT ELECTIONS

Hamas is nothing more than a Jihadoterrorist organization that wants to eradicate Israel - so this news is NOT surprising. But until they - and their genocidal cohorts and colleagues in all the other Jihadoterrorist organizations are destroyed there can be no state of Palestine and no peace.

UPDATE/BREAKING NEWS (h/t Guardian): Barghouti to enter race, after all! (AP):

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Associates of Marwan Barghouti said Wednesday the jailed Palestinian uprising leader has decided to run for president, reversing an earlier decision and throwing Palestinian politics into disarray. Barghouti's candidacy would undermine the prospects of interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the presidential candidate of the ruling Fatah movement. Fatah officials have warned that a bid by Barghouti, who is a leading Fatah member and more popular than the staid Abbas, could split the movement.

This does not bode well for the Palestinians...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:45 AM ; Permalink;

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR RATHER'S REPLACEMENT

UPDATED: THERE'S A LOT OF SPECULATION ABOUT WHO CBS WILL PICK TO REPLACE RATHER. (H/T Drudge.) I think my nominee could help CBS in the ratings and cure the Old Media of their allergy to bloggers, 'cause my nominee is GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS! The Professor is already sort of an anchorman to the blogosohere, isn't he? The Instapundit introduces his huge audience to posts from far-flung pajamioed bloggers from all over the blogosphere with pithy, erudite and funny repartee - much like a suave anchorman introducing a report from a correspondent in a suit. Instead of "AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS..." or "Courage" (whatever the heck did THAT mean anyhow?!?) the Professor could sign off each night with "HEH" or "INDEED!" Heh...

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 10:40 AM ; Permalink;

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

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