BBC STILL SUPPORTS SADDAM

I was watching BBC WORLD NEWS this morning in my satellite-TV. The "news-reader"/anchor was discussing the Saddam trial with the BBC's chief foreign correspondant JOHN SIMPSON; at issue, the fact that Saddam would be absent from proceeding today (apparently because he's boycotting them as protest, as he had threatened yesterday). The anchor posed a question in a way which reveals ENORMOUS PRO-SADDAM BIAS: He asked how the trial could go forward if the PROTAGONIST wasn't there. The use of this word reveals that he sees Saddam as the HERO of the story.

In fact, the brave judges and prosecutors and long-suffering people of Iraq are the protagonists. Saddam is the evil antagonist at long last getting his just desserts.

The BBC is scum. More HERE and HERE.

UN UNDERMINING ELECTION IN IRAQ

On Monday I posted an item about how the UN is undermining the trial of Saddam. (Based on reporting from the UK GUARDIAN.)

Today, the UN is undermining the upcoming election in Iraq! BBC:

The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has dismissed a senior official who oversaw the supervision of elections in Afghanistan and Iraq. His spokesman said Carina Perelli, director of the UN election unit, had been given a letter sacking her. The secretary general's move follows a report by an outside consulting firm which said sexual innuendo was part of the fabric of her department. Ms Perelli is expected to appeal against the immediate dismissal. Mr Annan's spokesman said Ms Perelli had been dismissed because of misconduct including sexual harassment of staff and abuse of authority. Ms Perelli had been seen as a rising star in the UN and her elections department was widely praised by President George W Bush among others for organising elections in Afghanistan in Iraq.

AP:

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton on Monday criticized the timing of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's reported decision to fire the U.N.'s highly regarded electoral chief, just 10 days before critical elections in Iraq. "The U.N.'s role in previous elections has been quite helpful and important to the Iraqi people," Bolton said. "This is a major election ... leading up to the return of full sovereignty to Iraq and I don't think anybody should do things that disrupt that."

Kofi is doing something to disrupt that. WHY!? Well: Kofi and most of the other bribe-taking tyrant-asslicking scum at the UN are not anti-war; they're on the other side.

INSTAPUNDIT: MULTI-NATIONAL POLLS SHOW MAJORITIES FAVOR LIMITED BUT LEGAL TORTURE

The professor posted this:

INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT: "Most Americans and a majority of people in Britain, France and South Korea say torturing terrorism suspects is justified at least in rare instances, according to AP-Ipsos polling. . . . In America, 61 percent of those surveyed agreed torture is justified at least on rare occasions. Almost nine in 10 in South Korea and just over half in France and Britain felt that way."

A reader of his - Tom Holsinger - adds: "Majorities say torture should be safe, legal, rare."

I believe that torture should be legal because I believe that the THREAT of torture can be an effective tool -- NOT UNLIKE the threat of the death penalty, which can get a guilty person to plead guilty to a lesser charge (in order to MERELY get a life sentence), or which might get one member of a conspiracy (to commit murder) to turn on/turn in other members - again: in order to save his own skin. Without the death penalty prosecutors have MUCH LESS bargaining power and perps have much less incentive to talk or make a deal.

That's why I agree with the Bush Adminsitration that the CIA should NOT be bound by the anti-torture McCain Amendment: So that a credible threat of torture can be used on select high-value prisoners.

ARIAN ACQUITTED; VOWS TO JOIN WITH OJ TO FIND BINLADEN!

Al Arian was charged with aiding Islamic Jihad - the very same jihadoterrorist group which attacked Netanya in Israel THIS WEEK - killing 5 people. Well, the chief U.S. fundraiser for I-J - Al Arian - got off! "REUTERS":

A federal jury on Tuesday found a former Florida professor not guilty of funding a banned Islamist group in a verdict likely to be seen as a stiff blow to the U.S. government in its attempts to prosecute terror suspects. The jury in Tampa, Florida, took 13 days to deliver its verdict against Sami al-Arian, who along with three co-defendants was accused of raising money for Palestinian group Islamic Jihad.

I guess it's only a matter of days before Al Arian and OJ announce they will be forming a group to find Binladen and bring him to justice. And make sure he is tried in Tampa!

Seriously: This proves that jihadoterrorism cannot be fought in the courts or with cops. This is war - not a damn crime wave. We didn't INDICT Hitler; we WHACKED NAZI GERMANY TO SMITHEREENS. It's time to do the same to the Axis of Evil - Syria, Iran, and North Korea.

CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND THE ENEMY?

It's tough. CONSERVATIVE VOICE LISTS EIGHT REASONS WHY. (Hat tip BRAINSTER) EXCERPT:

1) Both Democrats and terrorists want American troops out of Iraq.
2) Both Democrats and terrorists hate George W. Bush.
4) Both Democrats and terrorists claim American troops are an occupying force.
5) Both Democrats and terrorists claim that the war in Iraq was all about oil.
6) Both Democrats and terrorists claim that Bush lied to get the congress to agree to the war against Saddam.

CONSERVATIVE VOICE has found ONE difference.

MEXICO'S KYOTO PIG-SHIT PROJECT

"Reuters":

A scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions from pig manure has become Mexico's first project to win approval under the Kyoto Protocol rules on investing in poor countries, the project's developer said on Tuesday. The scheme, which covers 23 farms, has gained United Nations registration under Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), said Ireland-based AgCert International in a statement. "We are delighted to be the first company to have a CDM project registered in Mexico and we will now be moving toward certification as soon as possible," said AgCert's chief executive officer Bill Haskell.

If you ask me, this whole thing misses the point, because Kyoto and "man-made global warming" ain't pig-shit; it's bullshit.

THEY SHOULD PUT SADDAM IN A GLASS BOOTH!

NYTIMES/AP:

A woman testified Tuesday from behind a screen -- her voice disguised but her weeping still apparent -- that she was assaulted and tortured with beatings and electric shocks by Saddam Hussein's agents in the trial of the former president and seven lieutenants.

Later in the article:

That prompted an outburst from Saddam, who complained of his own conditions in detention. He said the court had time to listen to the witnesses' complaints ''but does anyone ask Saddam Hussein whether he was tortured? Whether he was hit?'' He urged the judge to investigate his conditions because ''it is your duty as judges to investigate the crime at its scene. ... I live in an iron cage covered by a tent under American democratic rule. You are supposed to come see my cage,'' he told Amin. ''Please, Mr. Judge, do not accept any insult to Iraq. It doesn't matter if he insults Saddam Hussein, because the Americans and the Zionists want to execute Saddam Hussein. What does the execution of Saddam Hussein matter? He has given himself to Iraq from the day he was at school and has been sentenced to death three times already. Saddam Hussein and his comrades are not afraid of execution.''

SADDAM'S OUTBURSTS/TIRADES/HARANGUES ARE OUT-OF-ORDER! IF THE JUDGE CAN'T SHUT THIS GENOCIDAL MANIAC UP WITH HIS GAVEL, THEN WHY NOT PUT HIM IN A GLASS BOOTH!? IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE...

ESSENTIAL READ: THE DARK ROOTS OF THE EU

This is a fascinating historical essay which explains why the EU's current problems are rooted in its origin as a Beligicist/pan-European National Socialist project. Book HERE.

WHAT'S DRIVING THE PRICE OF GOLD UP TO 18 YEAR HIGHS?

Gold is getting dearer:

NEW YORK (AFX) - Gold futures continued their climb to settle at fresh 18-year highs Monday ... In addition, Merrill Lynch also noted that gold's surge is being propelled by a renewed surge in demand. ... "Gold remains bid, as strong fabrication demand bumps against very strong speculative interest," Merrill Lynch said in a note to clients. "Latest Commitment of Traders data show net speculative long positions have nearly tripled in the past four months to stand at 160,876 contracts. [and] ... boosted by weakness in the US dollar, continued strong investor demand and rising inflation fears."

Some think OPEC is driving the price up. In fact, the entire GOLD SECTOR is heating up with acquisitions, too. THE SCOTSMAN put it this way:

GOLD and other precious- metal prices have hit fresh highs as investors try to protect themselves against inflation and currency declines. ... A "commodity boom" has seen gold rise as far as $508.50 an ounce, its best since 1983, before giving up some gains to trade at $506.66. Platinum prices are near 26-year highs, while silver set an 18-year best.

LET ME BE THE FIRST TO SUGGEST THAT THE SURGE IN GOLD HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HEDGING AGAINST AVIAN FLU. Currencies - especially Asian currencies - and businesses and investors positioned chiefly in Asia are PROBABLY hedging their bets in case Avian Flu SHUTS DOWN Asian businesses for a year. In other words: it's a flight to quality/safety, BUT NOT FROM INFLATION FEARS - FROM PANDEMIC FLU FEARS. If this is true, then I'd expect GOLD to go through the roof when H5N1 is confirmed to have become H2H. Oil will plummet as demand plummets. And there will be a real estate glut too. Brace yourself. Be prepared. Get Tamiflu. Get facemasks. Eat reishi and shittake mushrooms and kimchi. Buy Sambucol. And buy gold.

MORE HERE; excerpt:

The federal authorities are preparing to face a possible avian flu pandemic in the United States by contemplating a worst-case scenario, under which more than 92 million people will become ill in the space of four months, US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said.

HOWARD DEAN IS A MISINFORMED, LYING DEFEATIST TRAITOR

WOAI/DRUDGE:

1 - "Bring the 80,000 National Guard and Reserve troops home immediately. They don't belong in a conflict like this anyway."

FALSE. This is what they're trained for and what we pay them to do. And they're PROUD to do it. AND WE'RE PROUD OF THEM!

2 - "This is the same situation we had in Vietnam. Everybody then kept saying, 'just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening."

FALSE. The US military NEVER had a major defeat in Vietnam; in fact we WON the Tet Offensive! What is more, all US combat troops were home by 3/29/73, and South Vietnam didn't fall until 1975 - and it only fell because anti-war Lefties like Dean (and me, THEN TOO -- to my eternal shame!) got the Democrats in Congress to ABANDON the South Vietnamese (stop military advising and financial support) WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE Leftie doves like Dean WANT TO DO TO THE IRAQIS NOW!

3 - "... 80% of Iraqis want us to leave, and it's their country."

FALSE. This poll is ALL PHONY. Sure, most Iraqis want us to leave, BUT MOST WANT THIS TO HAPPEN ONLY AFTER THEY'VE BEEN MADE SECURE AND SAFE and are able to defend themselves! We won them their country. NOW, we are securing it TOGETHER. Soon, they will defend it themselves.

4 - "What we see today is very much like what was going in Watergate," Dean said. "It turns out there is a lot of good evidence that President Bush did not tell the truth when he was asking Congress for the power to go to war."

FALSE. BUSH DID NOT LIE. The Senate had access to exactly what Bush saw, and this was essentially the same intel that Clinton saw - and which led Clinton to launch a misslie attack against Saddam's WMD capability. SURE: there were different and conflicting interpretations of that intel; there always is! Bush took the worst case scenarios WHICH WAS PRUDENT; Bush said he would NOT give Saddam - a vicious tyrant who had used WMD on his own people and attacked his neighbors - the benefit of the doubt. Apparently, Dean and the Lefties would give genocidal tyrants like Saddam the benefit of the doubt. That's why they cannot be trusted with our national security. That's why the electorate MUSTN'T EVER TRUST THE DEMOCRATS WITH OUR NATIONAL SECURITY.

Dean either knows the truth and lies to hurt Bush - and doesn't care if it also hurts the USA and our troops - and is therefore a partisan hack and a traitor, or he is a stupid jerk whose brain is too addled from his ski-bumb years (when he DODGED THE DRAFT AND SKIPPED OUT ON THE VIETNAM WAR, and probably began DECADES OF SMOKING MARIJUANA - I speculate that this is the case because he sounds EXACTLY like so many potheads I used to know!).

In any case, the more he opens his mouth the better. He's the best thing to happen to the GOP in YEARS! He's as wrong as McGovern and one of the crappiest communicators to come along in decades.

The biggest political thing he ever did on his own was LOSE IOWA - and he lost it BIGTIME - after holding a huge lead in the polls and in fundraising! Which proves that he is a loser and an ass. And therefore, Howie is the perfect leader for the Dems - whose mascot is an ass, and who always LOSE! Thank God!

FULL ROUND UP OF THE BLOGOSPHERE HERE.

CARNEGIE/LIVERMORE STUDY: GROWING FORESTS INCREASES GLOBAL WARMING!

New climate modeling research from the Carnegie Institution and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shows that northern temperate forests (top) may contribute to global warming ... The researchers used complex climate modeling software to simulate changes in forest cover and then examined the effects on global climate. Their results were surprising. “We were hoping to find that growing forests in the United States would help slow global warming,” Caldeira said. “But if we are not careful, growing forests could make global warming even worse.”

I guess that we Americans should cut down more trees if we want to stop global warming! Heh!

BTW: what cars do the eco-nazis blame for the regularly timed warming cycles which occured between 650,000 and 150,000 years ago?! In fact, MANY OF THOSE ABRUPT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGES WERE ACCOMPANIED BY LITTLE OR NO CHANGE IN COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERIC GASES. I guess there are other causes, then, AY?! And who's to say that the global warming that may now be occurring is NOT caused by the same things which caused the earlier changes!? NO ONE CAN SAY, YET -- except for the super-know-it-all dictatorial eco-nazis - who think they can legislate against planetary climate changes which have been occuring for at least HUNDREDS OF MILLION YEARS! Sheesh. (Previous posts HERE and HERE.)

IDF READIES MASSIVE RETALIATION AGAINST GAZA

The IDF will retaliate MASSIVELY for ther Netanya "islamikaze genocide attack" today which killed five.

This will be no mere 'clintonian" pin-prick response: the IDF will INVADE Gaza and stay there FOR A FEW WEEKS rooting out and KILLING the enemy. As they did durting OPERATION DEFNSIVE SHIELD, I guess.

Good. If the PA and Abbas can't/won't root out and/or disarm the jihadoterrorists (as they are legally bound to do) then Israel will. And the IDF wil reportedly resume targeted assassinations and house demolitions. VERY GOOD. Killing the enemy - killing those opposed to peaceful co-exsistence is very good. KILL THEM ALL.

More HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

MORE PROOF THE LEFT'S CRITIQUE OF THE USA IN IRAQ IS B.S.

The Left - and the MSM they still dominate - has not once ever criticized the Algerians for how brutally they have put down their jihadoterrorist "insurgency" - in which HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS HAVE DIED. The Left - and the MSM they still dominate - only criticize the USA.

WHY ARE THEY SO SELECTIVE?! Because they want the USA to be chastized.

WHY DO THEY WANT AMERICA SO SEVERELY AND UNIQUELY CHASTIZED? Because of colonialism/imperialism/capitalism and rugged individualism/industrialization and global warming etc. etc. etc. and so on and so forth. In other words: it's about their Leftness, their long-term post-modernist love affair with multicuturalism and the idiotic Leftist critique of Western Civilization (which is pure HOGWASH) and NOT what's really happening now in Iraq or the GWOT.

This is what I find is so dang frustrating about the Left: They attack the West and capitalism and free trade (as heartless/selfish) and defend socialism and multiculturalism even though Western Civ and capitalism and free trade have been the forces which have MOST improved the lives of more people everywhere, more than any other "ism" anywhere at anytime. And socialism (which includes Nazism, Stalinism, Maoism, and Baathism) has actually hurt the most people, worsened the most economies, and fostered the most genocide of any "ism" at anytime, anywhere, in all of human history.

If the Left really were idealists drawn to Leftst ideology to help poor people, then they would look around and see the facts and realize that the opposite is true. And then they would embrace capitalism and industrialization and free trade. That fact that they don't reveals that their attachment to Leftism is not idealistic but IRRATIONAL.

RUMSFELD : THE SECOND TERM :: ASHKKKROFT : FIRST TERM

Jerks like McCain and Kennedy, and schizo-wackos like BELGRAVIA DISPATCH and ANDREW SULLIVAN have been calling for Rumsfeld to resign. This is because Rummy is this term's whipping boy for the Loony Left and the pseudo-centrists -- the way AsKKKroft was during the first term.

I saw Rummy at Johns Hopkins SAIS today (on CSPAN); he was BRILLIANT. And he has done a masterful job at the DoD. God Bless Him.

Most of the attacks against him which have emanated from the Pentagon are from disgruntled generals pissed of because Rummy's transformation of the armed forces has eclipsed them and their vestigial war doctrines. The historic successes in Afghanistan and Iraq prove Rumsfeld was right. Good riddance to the vestigial generals and their out-dated war-making memes. Biased anti-Rummy/anti-USA coverage HERE.

BOLIVIA SET TO ELECT DRUG-DEALING COMMIE - who will ruin the country

MIAMI HERALD (hat tip KAUSFILES):

Morales leads the polls in Bolivia with one third of the electorate's favor. Morales, a leader of the coca-leaf pickers, is a radical and a collectivist in the ideological family of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro -- attributes to which he adds a dangerous ethnic tinge that borders on racism. His triumph will add all kinds of problems and apprehension to Bolivia's already catastrophic society.

SUN-SENTINEL (hat tip Kausfiles):

Morales promises that if elected Dec. 4, he will decriminalize all coca farming. That would mean an end to a decade-old crop eradication program that has led to clashes between farmers and soldiers in which dozens have died. He would also be Bolivia's first Indian president, and his leftist politics -- he's a close friend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez -- would move yet another Latin American government leftward, following the paths of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. A Morales victory may worry Washington, as well as many governments in Europe, the chief market for Bolivian cocaine. But the cocaleros, as coca farmers are known, are delighted at the prospect.

Latin America is shifting toward the Left because racist, xenophobic demogoguery of Fidel and Chavez and Morales works well down there. Blaming the GRINGO and yelling "YANKEE GO HOME!" is a cheap and easy and assured way to gain a mass following.

Too bad for the people: Leftism has ALWAYS failed to deliver the goods. The people down there need to look at the REAL world: EVERY nation which has opened up to trade and free markets and capitalism has improved its GDP and living standards. EVERY ONE: China; India; South Korea; all the USSR countries and their satellites in eastern Europe, etc. etc. etc. and so on and so on and so forth. The poorest countries in the world - and the ones with the worst growth records - are ALL the ones with the most socialism. This is true for ALL continents and all cultures and all peoples. For example, Zimbabwe went from richest to poorest in two decades.

SO: WAKE UP MUCHACHOS! Before it is too mas tarde, amigos! They have two more weeks to wake up. I fear they won't. In fact, I betchya that the Iraqis will elect a more pro-Western government than the Bolivians!

MORE PROOF OF ASSAD'S MURDEROUS POLICIES

SCOTSMAN:

Lebanese forces excavated a suspected third mass grave yesterday, a day after unearthing 25 decomposed corpses in a town that was the headquarters of Syrian intelligence for three decades. Security forces were digging for more bodies at the third site, which was a notorious interrogation centre.

Assad is a tyrant and a terrorist and a mass murderer. He should be tried and executed. The sooner the better.

UN UNDERMINING IRAQ'S TRIAL OF SADDAM

UK GUARDIAN/VIA DRUDGE -

The UN said yesterday said that Saddam Hussein's trial would never satisfy international standards because of ongoing violence and flaws in Iraq's legal system. John Case, the UN's human rights chief in Iraq, said the murder of two defence lawyers, continued threats against judges, lawyers and witnesses and weaknesses in the Iraqi justice system had caused grave doubts about the trial's legitimacy."We're very anxious about the tribunal [trying Saddam]," he told Reuters in an interview. "The legitimacy of the tribunal needs to be examined. It has been seriously challenged in many quarters."

The Left-wing bureaucrats of the UN are still trying to abort democracy in Iraq before it is born. WHAT SCUM.

BOY HAVE TIMES CHANGED: COMMIES POLL ONLY 17% OF VOTE IN MOSCOW

BBC:

A pro-Kremlin party is leading the way in Moscow's city council elections, according to early results. United Russia has won 46% of the vote, with Communists and a united liberal bloc trailing it with 17% and 11% respectively, electoral officials say. Even before Sunday's poll, the party had been tipped to have a majority in the new 35-seat Moscow City Duma. The vote is seen as a dress rehearsal for Russia's parliamentary poll in 2007 and presidential elections in 2008. The vote was also closely watched to see how strong a challenge the liberal opposition could mount.

Notice that the commies and the liberals are united in Russia - just like here in the USA! Heh! Just 20 years ago, NO ONE woulda bet that the commies would be a marginal player in Russia. No one except the Reaganites and Thatcherites, that is. Reagan and Thatcher - but ESPECIALLY Reagan - had faith in the people behind the Iron Curtain; Reagan believed that the overwhleming majority of them wanted to be free. And wanted our help.

I wish that MORE PEOPLE would consider that fact when they look at Iraq. And that we all displayed that kind of faith in the Iraqis and our armed forces, and that kind of optimism in the justness and destiny of our cause.

As the wise man once said: "Yesterday has never defeated tomorrow." And tyranny is so yesterday.

THE LEFT IS ACCOMPLISHING AN IMPORTANT STRATEGIC GOAL FOR JIHADISTS: DIVIDING THE ALLIES

UK Guardian: CIA's secret jails open up new transatlantic rift

- Hundreds of flights landed in Germany over 2 years.
- Seizure of innocent people likely to embarrass Rice

The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's meeting with Germany's new chancellor Angela Merkel tomorrow is likely to be a tricky affair. What should have been a chance to repair the damaging rift between the countries over Iraq is fast being eclipsed by something else - a new transatlantic row between the US and the European Union over the CIA.

This new rift/row is EXACTLY what the Left wanted to accomplish. A basic rule of warfare is "divide and conquer." Well, the Left is accomplishing just that - by driving a wedge between the EU and the USA.

The Left is not anti-war; the Left is on the other side.
(More HERE and HERE and HERE.)

THE FOCUS OF FRENCH MEDICINE MIMICS FRENCH POLITICS

French doctors pioneered face transplants. It is a fine technical accomplishment, BUT IT IS ALSO PERFECTLY CULTURALLY APT that the nation whose power is merely a facade should not have performed the first heart transplant or first lung transplant, but the first FACE transplant!

WHAT THEY NEED IS A SPINE TRANSPLANT!

MORE BAD BIRD FLU NEWS FROM ASIA

MAXED OUT MAMA has a round up of MORE BAD NEWS. YUP: it looks like it may already be H2H.

THE NEW DEAL AND THE GREAT SOCIETY WERE ABJECT FAILURES

The two greatest efforts at social engineering the Left has ever accomplished FAILED to achieve the goals they set out for themselves, and in fact made things worse:

(a) Unemployment was HIGHER in 1940 than in 1932; (b) Much of the New Deal was properly held to be unconstitutional; (c) The Great Society instituted welfare which hurt the underclass and wasn't undone until 1995; (Moynihan saw this in the 1970's!).

Even Social Security is an ABJECT FAILURE, amounting to a HUGE transfer of money from the working poor to the federal government and the rich:

(1) The payroll tax is the last regressive tax on the books - the lone federal tax poor peole pay;

(2) poor people die younger and collect less than rich people who live longer;

(3) if union-workers had put their pensions into IRA's and 401ks' instead of union funds (which were abused by many corrupt union leaders and by corrupt corporations), and if they weren't put into funds managed by the corporation for which they worked - (like ENRON or GM, for example), then their retirement benefits could not EVER have been threatened, AND they'd have had MORE money to retire on. IN OTHER WORDS: the workers got screwed by being locked into GROUP PLANS.

WHAT'S THE LESSON? "Groupism" - socialism - always fails. It is ALWAYS better to foster strong individualism than to foster membership in a group or class which is after all merely DEPENDENCY. And often dependnecy without adequate check'n balances.

That's why PRIVATIZING Social Security is actually mostly a HUGE BENEFIT TO THE POOR. The rich already have private retirement accounts; only the poor don't. And Social Secuirty is not transferable to the next generation. After payng into the account all her life, a poor working-woman dies after collecting a mere tiny sliver of what she put in, and her kids GET NOTHING. The state keeps the difference - for the state's profligate spending or to handout to rich people as Social Security stipends because the rich live longer. AND YET THE RICH DON'T NEED THE MONEY AS MUCH AS THE POOR DO!

The same is true when it comes to medical insurance: we should make sure eveyone has a PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL plan, not create a bigger "groupist" plan. We can do this with Medical Insurance Accounts - and give grants to poor people who cannot afford to buy one alone - (but who can put in SOMETHING). Then, after their account reaches a certain level, they are self-sustaining. The amounts which came from the state would go back to the state on the death of the accoiunt holder; the interest would go to their heirs - and this would also help WIPE OUT POVERTY.

The Left's defense of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid actually is BAD FOR POOR PEOPLE. Privatization and INDIVIDUALIZATION of pensions and health insurance for poor people would be the BEST POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR POOR PEOPLE!

Once again, it seems the Left defends a STATUS QUO which is bad. No surprise here: The ALWAYS DO.

THE LEFT: WHICH STATUS QUO DO THEY ATTACK, AND WHICH DO THEY DEFEND?

THE LEFT DEFENDS THE STATUS QUO OF THE ENEMY:

(1) "WE DIDN'T HAVE TO INVADE; WE COULD'VE LEFT SADDAM IN POWER - THE IRAQIS WERE BETTER OFF.";

(2) WE CONTAINED THE USSR; REAGAN WAS WRONG TO THREATEN THEM; THEY FELL OF THEIR OWN WEIGHT."

(3) "IT IS CULTURAL HUBRIS TO IMPOSE DEMOCRACY ON ANYONE; LET EACH NATION AND EACH CULTURE DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES HOW THEY WANT TO SELF-REGULATE THEIR OWN SOCIETIES."

MEANWHILE, AT HOME, THE LEFT ASSAULTS OUR OWN STATUS QUO:

(4) NO "CHRISTMAS TREES" ALLOWED; NO "UNDER GOD" IN THE PLEDGE; NO "IN GOD WE TRUST" ON THE MONEY; NO PRAYER IN SCHOOL - (BECAUSE THEY WANT TO UNDERMINE THE STATUS QUO OF RELIGION).

(5) NO SOCIAL PREFERENCE FOR HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGE - (BECAUSE THEY WANT TO UNDERMINE THE STATUS QUO OF MARRIAGE);

(6) NO PARENTAL NOTIFICATION IF A MINOR WANTS AN ABORTION - BECAUSE THEY WANT TO UNDERMINE THE STATUS QUO OF THE FAMILY).

It seems pretty clear to me that the Left CONSISTENTLY wants to maintain the strength our adversaries, and weaken the pillars of our own culture. The Left may NOT, therefore, be merely a Fifth Column; they might as well BE the enemy.

THE LEFT STRIKES AGAIN: HELPING THE ENEMY IN THE GWOT

BBC:

The German government has a list of at least 437 flights suspected of being operated by the CIA in German airspace, according to a German magazine. The weekly Der Spiegel said two planes alone accounted for 137 and 146 uses of airspace or landings in 2002 and 2003.

"Such planes could be used to transfer presumed terrorists and place them in secret locations," Der Spiegel said. ... A US rights group, the American Civil Liberties Union, said it was taking the CIA to court over what it said was the violation of both US and international law.

The highly secretive process is known as "extraordinary rendition" whereby intelligence agencies move and interrogate terrorism suspects outside the US, where they have no American legal protection.

Some individuals have claimed they were flown by the CIA to countries like Syria and Egypt, where they were tortured. The list of suspected CIA flights was handed over by German air traffic controllers at the request of the Left Party, Der Spiegel said in its latest edition to be published on Monday. It said the aircraft had made landings in Berlin, Frankfurt and the US airbase at Ramstein. However, the list has not shed any light on what the planes were carrying, the BBC's Tristana Moore in Berlin reports.

The "Left party" and the ACLU might as well be DIRECTLY acting on behalf of the jihadoterrorists. WHY DO THEY DO THIS? Because they hate everything the USA stands for, and they want us to lose - be "chastized", as they were able to do to us during the Vietnam War.

GAZAN CLANS IN VIOLENT CLASH: 5 DEAD, MORE THAN 40 CRITICALLY WOUNDED

"Reuters":

Five Palestinians, including a policeman, were killed and many were wounded, some seriously, on Saturday as members of two rival clans clashed in a fierce firefight in Gaza, local medics and witnesses said.

Palestinian security forces were having difficulty restoring calm and mediators and bystanders were also wounded as bullets and grenades flew in a neighborhood of the town of Beit Hanoun in north Gaza. It was a further example of lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, seen as a testing ground for future Palestinian statehood after Israel withdrew from the coastal territory last September following 38 years of military rule.

The motive for the clash which began on Friday was unclear, but medics said at least five of some 40 wounded were in critical condition as rival family members used assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades in the clash.

As the wise man said: "Okay; let's give them a country!" Sheesh. REALLY: If this is how they treat their fellow Gazans, fellow Palestinians, fellow Arabs, fellow Muslims, then how should we expect them to treat Israelis and Jews and Christians?

IOW: WAKE UP EVERYBODY; THESE FOLKS ARE ANIMALS! And NOBODY is safe from them! Certainly not Israel!

(This is NOT a racist comment; I am NOT saying the predilecton for violence by Gazans is genetic; they are animals/islamothugs because they are raised as - and taught to be - jihadoterrorists and islamofascists. The prevalence of genetic defects in Arabs is not related to Islam except in as much as many Arab Muslims have a preference for consanguinous/endogamous marriages. They can and should stop this practice for this - and many other - reasons.)

MORE PROOF THAT THE FRENCH INTIFADA WASN'T DUE TO FRENCH RACISM OR BARRIERS TO ASSIMILATION

TEL CHAI BLOG: Islam: the pro-male religion -

Here's an interesting article from the English-language German website, Sign and Sight, that talks about how, in Muslim communities in Europe such as those in France and even in Germany, women in Muslim families are in danger and living in oppression, and how its the men who're chiefly, and solely, in charge of the rioting and vandalism that's been going on in such countries, even before that evening when two teenagers of Islamic backgrounds electrocuted themselves in a power substation in October in the Paris suburbs while hiding from police patrollers who weren't even chasing after them, and the rioters used that as an excuse.

Speaking of which, here's an interesting topic on an almost similar subject from Jihad/Dhimmi Watch, plus, some excerpts from Phyllis Chesler's book, The Death of Feminism.

The fact that the Muslims in Germany and France - and ALL OVER EUROPE - still oppress their women and still practice honor killings and still practice forced marriages and forced endogamous/consanguinous matrimony PROVES that the Muslims DO NOT WANT TO ASSIMILATE, and therefore that the argument that European racism is responsible for the "ghettoization" of the Muslims is UTTERLY FALSE!

The goal of the islamothugs is to take over territory in Europe and turn it into safe-havens for islamofascists and islamofascism.

If the islamothugs wanted to assimilate, then they'd stay in highschool until they graduated and wouldn't threaten to throw acid in the faces of women who won't wear the hijab, or murder their own daughters or sisters for "dishonoring" the family.

Nations with politicians in power who delude their people and appease the enemy -- (by saying that the fault lies with the givernment and that they need to be understanding of the islamothugs and lavish more welfare on them - folks like Zapotero and Villepin) -- have no hope of surviving as European nations and will slip deeper and deeper into dhimmitude until one day they have become full-fledged eurabian outposts, gradually becoming as Muslim as Turkey and Kosovo.

SARKOZY: VITE! VITE! VITE!

WHAT WE MUST TO DO ABOUT SYRIA AND IRAN - AND WHY... AND WHEN!

Greg Djerijian posted an attack on columnists and bloggers who are calling for regime change in Syria. He accuses us of being idiots who don't appreciate the chaos that might result, and argues that slowly moving on the diplomatic front "with the devils we know" is much safer. In this he agrees with JOSH MARSHALL, and that should be tip enough to clue all in that Greg is WRONG! Here's Greg's attack:

It's not shocking, of course, that there are many in the blogosphere who chant on about sacking Boy Assad without any serious regard for what ramifications would ensue should precipitous action to unseat him occur (the level of discourse could be summed up, perhaps, by 'just whack him dude', or slightly more developed variants thereto). After all, the vast majority of 'regime change now!' bloggers know little to nothing about the Middle East, as is painfully apparent from their incoherent ramblings, non-sensical fantasies, and manifest abject cluelessness. They read Mark Steyn, however, and get all excited and hot under the collar from their perches in New York and L.A. and Minnesota and belabor, if it weren't for the cowardice of men much weaker in resolve than they, how glorious a future awaits the region if only, say, we had the gumption to topple the House of Saud, Bashar, and, why not, mean Mubarak too (the better so that the Muslim Brotherhood rise to power more easily there!). ... But regime change is not necessarily the panacea on this front. Until we have a credible opposition there, one we feel would materially impact U.S. national interests in beneficial manner if it assumed power, we need to work with the devil we've got.

How shocking, Greg, that you should come out for the status-quo/stability and against regime change because regime change might lead to chaos! **sarcasm off.**

"Diplomatic" status-quoists like Greg are "apologists for tyrants." They discount the terrible price being paid NOW (and for the last several decades) by Syrians and Lebanese and Israelis because of the Batthist dictatorship and their police state.

It's NOT unlike the ravings from the Leftie-doves who argue that Iraqis were better off under Saddam and IGNORE the fact that 400 mass-graves have been uncovered in Iraq, each with more than 1000 MURDERED corpses.

An argument similar to Greg's argument was made in defense of the USSR and the Taliban and so many other tyrants I cannot list them! It was wrong them and it is wrong now. SURE: (As Clinton used to say): Change is difficult to accept, but it is important.

Have you no faith in Syrians, Gerg!? Do you think them uninterested in freedom? Do you think them unable to acheive freedom? It's racist, if you do. Sure: there's a price to pay. The Iraqis are paying it. All peoples always do in order to achieve freedom and democracy. As they say: "Freedom isn't free."

That's why I think we should be doing all we can to foment democratic revolution in Syria and Iran.

Will it create chaos? Probably. It's "creative destruction" and there's really no other way. I would only argue that the TIMING of this is important, and we can focus our efforts in a way to try to make these revolutions occur when we are best equipped to manage the inevitable chaos which will temporarily follow. It would be GREAT if Syrian Baathism was overthrown AFTER a final arrangement was achieved between Israel and the West Bank Arabs (an arrangement acceptable enough to allow other Arab nations to start diplomatic relations with Israel, and thus further isolate Syria and Iran).

It would be GREAT if the Iranian Mullah-archy was overthrown after that and after the North Korean situation was taken care of. But it may not be possible to manage those situations so perfectly as to guarantee that. In the meantime, we must keep our "regime change" policies in place against those three nations -- THE AXIS OF EVIL: Iran, Syria and North Korea, (and someday soon for Cuba, Zimbabwe and Venezuela, for good measure!).

And in regard to these dangerous and threatening tyrannies, Bush is pursuing a deft multi-level strategy which adeptly combines unilateral and multilateral diplomacy, as well as overt and covert miltary actions.

As you point out, we are pursuing Assad via the UN and the Harriri case. We pursue Iran via the EU-3+Russia and the secret Iranian nuke program. And we pursue Kimjongil via a regional mulitalteral diplomatic efforts. The aim of these efforts is ostensibly containment, but it is REALLY MORE THAN THAT. These three regimes are actively and offensively interfering with tha stability of the ENTIRE world! Syria and Iran are actively destablilizing Iraq and Israel. And NOKO is aiding them by helping them with their nukes and missiles - and by disatracting us, and forcing us to commit more miltary assets to the Korean peninsula.

If we and they stay on the path we are on now, then things will get worse; the Axis will get stronger, and then it will be MORE difficult to defeat them. And Iran - and maybe NOKO - will get nukes. So: The clock is ticking. The time for regime change comes BEFORE iran and NOKO get nukes, and that may come before it is MOST opportune, before we can best manage the chaos which might follow.

But that chaos is BETTER than lettying Syaria ruin Iraq and than letting iran go NUCLEAR!

If you would allow Iraq to fail and Iran to go nuclear you are a fool.

If Bush allows it, we are either doomed to dhimmitude, or a nuclear war.

YUP: I belive the jihado-extremists would certasinly use nukes. Folks who hijack jest and crash them inot skyscrapers and who stuff grenades in baby-dolls and take over schools and slaughter school-children and who commit gemocide against Shias in Basra and Hindus in India and Buddhists in Thailand WOULD CERTAINLY USE A NUKE.

That's what muts be avoided at all costs. That is WORSE than a chaotic Syria. And Syria's meddling in Iraq is a joint strategy with Iran which is INTENDED to distract our ability to stop Iran from getting nukes.

REMEMBER: A nuclear jihadoterrorist islamofascist Iran is the ultimate goal for our ENEMY, and IT'S OBVIOUS that Iran/Syria continue to sponsor attacks against Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan, and that this is how they intend to BUY THE TIME THEY NEED to be able to continue with their nuke programs until their completion. Then they feel that they will hold all the cards they need - the TRUMP CARDS.

I think that democatic revolution in Syria and Iran would be the BEST way to stop them. Even if it did cause some chaos. Chaos will not ehlp them get nukes. It will hurt their nuke programs. And so it is preferable.

Maybe Greg and the status-quoists believe that a pre-emptive unilateral military strike against Iran's nuke assets (by the "Little Satan" or the "Big Satan") would be better!? I do not. I believe that regime change with some chaos is preferable to a pre-emptive military attack.

I think we are trying to foment revolution in Iran and Syria in such a way as it would happen AFTER Iraq's democracy is installed/stabilized and they have the LEAD role in their own defense -- which would be probable next wointer: the winterof 2006-7.

But this MIGHT be too late. So: what's the TIMELINE!? We must effectuate regime change before Iran gets nukes. We must assign a date to that eventuality and take all necessary measures to prevent it. CHIEF among these measures is being able to redploy miltary assets to contain Syria and Iran and Hizb'Allah (and their other jihadoterrorists stooges) in order to handle the wake of regime change (or - worst case scenario: to handle the counter-attack after we pre-emptively take down their nuke program with a MASSIVE missile attack).

IN MY OPINION: this was the chief reason Sharon decided he had to exit Gaza: he knew he needed to get ready for regime change in Syria and Iran by re-deploying IDF to protect the vast contiguous majority of Israel's people and land in the aftermath of a pre-emptive attack on Iran's nukes and/or regime chanmge in Syria.

STAY TUNED.

UPDATE: MY PET JAWA writes THE WINDOW IS CLOSING, and points to an article about the Russian SAM-missile deal with Iran, (which I noted below). IOW: time is running out; we must prevent a nuclear Iran AT ALL COSTS - and that inlcudes regional chaos. As the man says: FASTER PLEASE!

MISSILE DEAL SHOWS RUSSIAN-IRAN AXIS GROWS

NYTIMES:

Russia has agreed to sell antiaircraft missiles to Iran as part of a $1 billion arms deal that would significantly increase Moscow's military cooperation with Tehran, Russian news media reported Friday.

Pooty-toot is an ass, and we should start treating Russia as an adversary. REMEMBER: Pooty-toot sold SYRIA missiles, too. He's freakin' destabilizing us left and right!

I BLAME THE U.S. DEM/LEFT: They've been promoting the fiction that our military is "stretched-thin," and that it was a mistake to go into Iraq. THIS TALK HAS EMBOLDENED ALL OUR FOES - INCLUDING RUSSIA.

ACLU SUES CIA OVER RENDITION AND SECRET PRISONS

BBC:

US civil rights groups says it is taking the CIA to court to stop the transportation of terror suspects to countries outside US legal authority. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says the intelligence agency has broken both US and international law. It is acting for a man allegedly flown to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan.

I think that the recent leaks had EVERYTHING to do with this case - JUST LIKE ABU GHRAIB which was leaked to the press by the defendants' lawyers after their blackmail of the Pentagon failed to get the Pentagon to drop charges. It was only AFTER the Pentagon told the defendants' lawyers they were going to prosecute, that the defendants lawyers gave the infamous personal photos of the sadistic degradation (which was NOT interrogational, but purely for the sick pleasure of the perps) to the MSM in order to slime the US military and the USA, and in an unpatriotic attempt to get their clients off - and help the enemy. A twofer for Leftists.

This is probably what happended the last few weeks: the plaintiff hired the ACLU and together they and their cohorts at the CIA threatened leaks, and when these threats failed to get them the settlement they wanted, they leaked.

Now - courtesy of the ACLU - we'll have a court case which will hurt us and help the enemy. MORE HERE.

DECENNIAL RE-APPORTIONMENT AND THE CENSUS

POLIBLOGGER posted on an article by FRUITS AND VOTES. F&V suggested we expand the House of Representatives and make it more representative and responsive and districts more equal in population size by using "THE WYOMING RULE": Under the ‘Wyoming Rule,’ the standard Representative-to-population ratio would be that of the smallest entitled unit–i.e. currently Wyoming. (Poliblogger rans the numbers.) I AGREE: we need MORE Reps. But maybe not that many. Here're my thoughts:

(1) The US CENSUS was specifically designed to allow for the ORDERLY EXPANSION of the House so that districts would be equal in size, and the number of districts would expand as the population expanded.

(2) The problem is that since 1920, the number of districts has been frozen at 435. This was done by an ACT OF CONGRESS; it can be undone by an ACT OF CONGRESS, too. It doesn’t require a constitutional amendment.

(3) Since 1920, every decennial census has led MERELY TO RE-APPORTIONMENT: changes/shifts of Reps withing the 435. Some states get more Representatives other states get theirs reduced. Sometimes a state which has grown in population may have their number or Reps reduced because all states must have at least one Rep.

(4) The total number of Reps in the House could be and should be expanded - if not by the "Wyoming Plan" how about just increasing the number od reps in the House to a NICE ROUND NUMBER: 500 - by adding an additional 65 seats. (I think that 500 has a nice ring to it - especially for a nation of 50 states!) These could be/would be apportioned by population. Every ten years we dicide the population by 500 and distribute the seats accordingly.

(5) Average district size would be each smaller - and more representative, AS THE FOUNDERS ORIGINALLY PLANNED. More Reps would mean fewer committee assignments for each Rep and more constituent time. (Also, the advent and pervasiveness of hi-tech communications makes the management of a larger House less encumbering than in 1920, or since 1920. In fact, MANY national and state legislatures all over the world have many more mebers than we do and are larger than a mere 435. If they can mange it, then so can we.)

(6) As these 65 NEW SEATS would ALL BE OPEN SEATS, they’d be VERY competitive races at a time when most seats are NOT COMPETITIVE. That’s a good thing too. This would be A NEW BIRTH OF REPRESENTATION, which would NOT make government bigger, but make it MORE RESPONSIVE AND MORE REPRESENTATIVE.

ALSO: (7) This would change the ELECTORAL COLLEGE - making it even more reflective of the population.

I DARE A BRAVE CONGRESSMAN TO INTRODUCE THIS. It should get BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT, becasue open seats are VERY COMPETITIVE, and the GOP is VERY COMPETITIVE in the CITIES AND COUNTIES which have had the most growth.

ABBAS AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PROVE THEY ARE UNTRUSTWORTHY SCUM

BBC:

Several Palestinian militants who either fled or were expelled by Israel have returned to Gaza via the recently re-opened Rafah border crossing. The entry of as many as 15 members of Hamas, including one of its founders, has angered Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has warned his government will close two crossings it controls if militants continue to enter via Rafah. The crossings into Israel are vital for trade between Gaza and the West Bank. The Hamas members allowed to return via Rafah include one of the group's founders, Ahmed al-Malah, and Fadel Zahhar, a brother of Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahhar.

THIS IS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOI AND THE PA IN WHICH THE PA PROMISED THEY WOULDN'T LET THEM BACK INTO GAZA.

THERE MUST BE RETRIBUTION FOR THIS. I THINK TARGETED ASSASSINATIONS OF EVERY HAMAS LEADER, AND A FEW FATAH LEADERS FOR GOOD MEASURE.

FLAWED INTEL USED IN VIETNAM

BBC: Newly-released US documents suggest the US escalated the war in Vietnam based on skewed intelligence.

I blame BusHitler and the neocon-likudnik-saudi-halliburton crime family.

TEN MARINES KILLED - HOW WILL THE LEFT REACT?

Ten of our bravest, finest, truest, best died in Iraq today - killed when an IED went off while they were on patrol helping to make Iraq safe for democracy.

HOW WILL THE LEFT REACT? By calling for retreat.

How will the Right react? By calling for us to WHACK THE ENEMY HARDER!

Now, which side represents the best of what American has always stood for, the knees-shaking Dem/Left surrender monkeys, or the brave and resolute Right?

THE REAL ROOT OF MURTHA'S ANTI-WAR RIFF: pure 'n simple BS from disgruntled Army Brass

In addition to having to put up with leaks and disinformation and sabotage from the Arabists and status quoists in the CIA and at State, Bush has to contend with a constant stream of negative leaks from disgruntled Army Brass - via Murtha, for example. He is the mouth-piece for the old-time Brass who are disgruntled and want to cook Rummy's goose.

The reason they're disgruntled has NOTHING to do with Iraq and everything to do with Rumsfeld's aggressive re-engineering of the DoD - and his use of NEW methods of war-making, -- methods which are NOT traditional Army methods. Afghanistan and Iraq were won with NEW doctrines and methods which MANY in the Army don't like. ALSO: the last two Chiefs of the Joint Chiefs were AF and Marines - each for the first time. This pissed off a lot of Army generals, too.These useless old self-serving Army generals should FADE AWAY! Or at least get out of the way.