FRENCH INTIFADA CONTINUES...

Despite the lack of MSM reporting, the TRUTH gets out: the intifada continues. C.A.G.E. (VIA TEL CHAI NATION):

Although the French riots have been officially proclaimed over, forty to sixty vehicles are still being burnt by rioting Muslims each night, a senior member of the Minstry of Internal Affairs, Stéphane Fratacci, said Thursday. [...] According to Mr. Frattaci, 79 vehicles were torched on December, 3, 46 — on the 4th, 50 — on the 5th, and 56 more were set ablaze on the night of December, 6. He stressed that the assembled data clearly justifies the continuation of the State of Emergency.

The intifada CANNOT be considered over until the French declare an end to the state of emergency.

SCHROEDER - A KEY PLAYER IN THE AXIS OF WEASELS - MAKES CORRUPT DEAL WITH PUTIN AND RUSSIA

BBC:

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has been sharply criticised for taking a top job in a Russian-led consortium building a gas pipeline. Mr Schroeder - who as chancellor negotiated the deal - will head the shareholders' committee, a position roughly comparable to board chairman. ... The 1,200km pipeline will run from the northern Russian town of Babayevo to the coast at Vyborg before going under the Baltic Sea to the town of Greifswald in north-eastern Germany. It is set to bypass Poland and Ukraine, prompting concern from both countries that they will be cut off from Russian gas supplies.

This is a deal between weaselly socialists. Just how RED is this deal!? WASH POST:

Gazprom is the world's largest natural gas concern and is controlled by the Russian government. Its chairman is Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, who until recently was Putin's chief of staff. The chief executive of the pipeline consortium is Matthias Warnig, a German who heads Dresdner Bank's arm in Russia and is a longtime friend of Putin's. The Wall Street Journal reported this year that Warnig was an officer in the Stasi, the East German secret police, and met Putin during the late 1980s when the Russian president was based in East Germany as a Soviet KGB officer.

This is just more proof that when you SCRATCH A RED, YOU FIND A CROOK. ALSO: It should surprise NOBODY that the anti-American socialist Schroeder should make a deal with the socialist Putin who has recently positioned Russia as a KEY ALLY of IRAN and SYRIA through missile deals and by supplying nuclear equipment and know-how to Iran.

AND OF COURSE: both socialists supported fellow socialist Saddam Hussein! And it is NO ACCIDENT that the pipeline is by-passing Poland and Ukraine - BOTH staunch USA supporters who are correctly very skeptical of German and Russian hegemony (after all, theiur nations were figuratively RAPED by BOTH Germany and Russia!). Schroeder is firmly in the pro-Russia/anti-America camp - and proved this again himself in this pipeline deal; NYTIMES:

Mr. Schröder championed the undersea route and, together with Mr. Putin, pushed the plan over the objections of Poland and Lithuania, which will lose the transit fees and access to gas. Now, through the Kremlin's majority ownership of Gazprom, Mr. Schröder will work for Mr. Putin as chairman of the Gazprom-controlled joint venture.

The CORRUPTION of the pipeline deal goes both ways - and all the way back to its timely inception; UK INDEPENDENT:

Schröder ... was accused of timing the announcement of his pipeline deal with Mr Putin to boost his chances in Germany's September general election...

For a variety of (what should now be) OBVIOUS reasons, Putin wanted Schroeder re-elected and they arranged the announcement of the deal PURELY to help Schroeder.

MY MAIN POINT: These euro-socialists are THE ENEMY as much as the islamofascists. And they are CROOKED. We must be much MUCH more wary of them and much more tough in our dealings with them.

If Bush really followed through on his simple us-or-them formula - "you're either with us or you are with the enemy" - then we would be MUCH tougher on Russia. I wish he would be. And I wish Rice - who is a Russia expert - would lead the way. I'm VERY disappointed in both of them on this front.

THE NEW YORKER'S CRITIQUE OF BUSH AND IRAQ: COUNTERFEIT GOODS

In the December 5th edition of THE NEW YORKER magazine, Rik Hertzberg wrote (in his "Comment" column in the "Talk of the Town" section, on page 36), that:

"...he [Bush] might be the receiver of counterfeit goods, such as the phony documents about uranium from Niger which he cited in his 2003 State of the Union addresss, but he was not the forger."

This statement is either written by a grossly misinformed person or one deliberately misinforming the reader in order to slander the president and discredit the motivations for going to war - or both.

In fact, of the famous "16 words" not one is Niger, and they were not based on the phony documents. In fact, Bush based his statement on British intelligence which was re-vetted after the war by the Lord butler Commission and found to still be valid.

In fact, (though Wilson early on reported that the documents figured prominently in the reason the CIA decided to send someone to Niger, and were specifically what he debunked as a result of his visit there), the phony documents were not even in possession of the US government when he made the trip. (More here.)

In addition, the 2003 SOTU was delivered three months AFTER the Congress authorized Bush to attack Saddam in Joint Resolution #141, and therefore EVEN IF those 16 words were false THEY COULDN'T HAVE MISLED A SINGLE Congressman.

What is more, WMD programs and WMD stockpiles and Saddam's nuclear ambitions made up only three of 19 reasons the Congress authorized Bush to attack Saddam. In fact, Saddam ordered his nuclear scientists to HIDE components of Iraq's nuclear program from the UN [because, as Duelfer asserted, Saddam had the intention of re-starting it, (as soon as his bribed cohorts at the UN could arrange an end to sanctions!)] - and this is in DIRECT violation of UNSCR#1441, and is therefore incontrovertibly - in and of itself - ANOTHER casus belli.

In fact, from the time of his UN General Assembly address in September of 2002 - before the Congress authorized him to attack Saddam - the transformative effects of a democratic Iraq figured prominently in Bush's long laundry list of reasons for initiating war against Saddam.

Therefore, it is WRONG for Left-wing doves and Bush critics (like writers and editors at THE NEW YORKER) to focus on WMD or to charge that democratization was merely a post-war rationalization invented by ther Bush Administration to justify the war in the absence of WMD stockpiles.

In fact, since Hans Blix and David Kay and Charles Duelfer unequivocably asserted that Saddam WAS in violation of various and certain UNSCR's which functioned as the armistice for the 1991 Gulf War, a legal, de jure casus belli existed WITHOUT any further discussion or resolutions from anyone - the UN or Congress.

Apparently, Mr. Remnick - the editor of THE NEW YORKER - and his columnist Mr. Hertzberg (SURPRISE: he's a former employee of the Jimmy Carter White House!) are INGORANT of the facts, or know them and DELIBERATELY lie. Which is it?

I think they are both very clever and well-informed fellas. And LIARS.

WHY WE MUST STOP THE ACLU

I don't often watch Bill O'Reilly's TV show. When I do watch it, I am always impressed by his directness, though I am NOT always in agreement with his views. I happened to catch a few minutes of his show the other night, and his attack on the ACLU during what he calls his "Talking Points Memo" (which opens the show) was brilliant. Here's an excerpt:

The ACLU opposes virtually every aspect of The Patriot Act, which is designed to give U.S. authorities more latitude to stop terrorism. The ACLU wants more photos from Abu Ghraib released. The organization is suing the CIA, opposing the Defense Department over detainees at Guantanamo and objects to coerced interrogation of high-ranking terrorists. The ACLU has filed suits against the Boy Scouts, a variety of Christmas displays, and attempts to stop children from accessing porn at libraries. The ACLU is defending the North American Man Boy Love Association free in a Massachusetts lawsuit, and has supported the legalization of live sex acts in Oregon. The ACLU opposes parental notification in abortion cases involving their underage daughters, opposes restrictions on late term abortions, opposes doctors informing police about possible statutory rape in abortion cases. The ACLU opposes the Minutemen on the border, exposition of the Ten Commandments in the courtroom, and is against no-fly lists to discourage terrorists from boarding airlines.

Of course, there are dozens more instances of ACLU treachery, but I think O'Reilly's list hits the mark and reveals the BREADTH of the ACLU's deliberate assault on BOTH traditional American values and our national defense. The ACLU is thoroughly Leftist and post-modern; they are anti-West and anti-Judeo/Christian; they want our traditions and culture destroyed, and if THEY can't do it in the courts, then they want our enemies to be able to do it more easily - militarily or through terror. That's why we must STOP THE ACLU.

CHINESE UNREST: a democratic revolution is brewing...

NYTIMES:"Residents of a fishing village near Hong Kong said that as many as 20 people had been killed by paramilitary police in an unusually violent clash that marked an escalation in the widespread social protests that have roiled the Chinese countryside."

These "countryside" rebellions are not unlike the Tiennamen Square rebellion: They demonstrate that the human spirit eternally and universally yearns to be be free, and struggles to achieve democratically formed governments which enact policies only with the consent of the governed - as opposed to governments run by fiat and elitists who THINK THEY know better than the people themselves what's in the people's best interest.

China has made truly great and wonderful strides by venturing from centrally controlled markets of socialism to free-markets. But, until they extend these freedoms from the economic sphere into the political sphere they will have continued unrest and less growth. After all, growth comes from creativity, and only with real social and political freedom can creativity flourish. In other words, propserity is a by-product of liberty. To become a free and properous and stable nation, China must increase the liberty its people enjoy.

Elites fight the propsect of less power for themselves because they have disdain for the people; they feel that without a strong government predetermining outcomes for everyone, that most people will fail. Politicians who are pro-democracy and liberty, and want inidivduals empowered and government's powers reduced have more faith in people. In our own country, the GOP reperesents people who have faith in individuals and are skeptical about government; the GOP ays, "You know best what's right for you." The Democrat Party is the party of "government knows best." That's why the Democrat have an affinity for the socialist parties of other nations.

KRAUTHAMMER: SADDAM SHOULD BECOME "THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH"

None on the Right-side of the blogosphere would dispute that Charles Krauthammer is one of the BEST columnists in the MSM. Today he wrote another BRILLIANT column, bemoaning the proceedings in the Saddam trial (which the novice Iraqis are allowing to Saddam to turn into a propaganda forum). Krauthammer suggests that they put Saddam in a glass booth, the way Eichmann was. THAT'S BRILLIANT. AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT SUGGESTION.

Er um... I made it first - on December 6th:

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...

Great minds think alike.

IS IRAQ INTRACTABLE?

"INTRACTABLE." That's the word Harry Reid used today, to describe our presence in Iraq. (Kennedy has used it, too; in fact, here are a few other choice quotes from LEADING DEMOCRATS:

They're (the Iraqi people) going to have these elections but that's sort of being imposed on them." Senator Schumer.

“The idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong." DNC Chairman, Howard Dean.

“…young American soldiers (do not) need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children…” Senator John Kerry.

“The Army is broken, worn out, and living hand to mouth.” Congressman John Murtha.

“The President has dug us into a deep hole in Iraq; it is time for him to stop digging.” Congresswoman and Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi.

“Iraq has become an intractable quagmire.” Senator Kennedy

“The war in Iraq was as bad as the Holocaust." Congressman Charles Rangel.

“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.” Senator Richard Durbin.

Sheesh. In 2+ years we've liberated 25 MILLION Iraqi people, rebuilt the infrastructure, they wrote a constitution, they will SOON elect a parliament. THAT'S INTRACTABLE!? And as a result of this invasion: Libya gave up its WMD programs, Syria withdrew after 23 years of occupation in Lebanon, women have won the right to vote in several Arab-Muslim nations, and democracy is spreading throughout the Arab-Muslim world. AND THAT'S INTRACTABLE!? THAT'S A QUAGMIRE?!

NO. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT REAL AMERICANS WILL BE PROUD OF FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

GOLLY: If the Dem/Left had been in charge of WW2, then they would've surrendered DURING the Battle of the Bulge.

If the US Dem/Left had been in charge of the Israeli Labor Party, then they would have surrendered to the Arabs in 1956 - if not before!

If the US Dem/Left had been in charge of Congress in 1980's they would've pulled the plug on the Contras and allowed Ortega and hius Marxist totalitarians keep Nicaragua. OOPS: THEY DID.

If the Dem/Left had been in charge of Congress in 1975, then they would've pulled the plug on the South Vietnamese goverment, and allowed all of Vietnam to fall under the domination of Marxist totalitarianism. OOPS: THEY DID.

Let this be a lesson to the electorate: Don't vote for Democrats in '06. If the Dem/Left takes control of Congress, then they'll do to the Iraqis what they did to the Nicaraguans and the South Vietnamese: abandon them to totalitarianism.

IF YOU ASK ME: The connection between the Dem/Left/dove appeasers and totalitarianism is intractable. And the only quagmires around are the ones the Democrats are stuck in: one called the 1970's; another called Leftism; another called multiculturalism; and another called defeatism.

AMERCIAN LONGEVITY INCREASES AGAIN

The next time some Greenie, Luddite-like anti-industry, anti-free trade enviromental activist tells you that our rapaciously greedy over-consumption and gluttonous injestion of chemicles and our filthy industrial habits are wrecking the environment and threatening life on earth... well: Tell them to SHUT UP AND GET LOST! And here's why...

According to the CDC, the average life-span for an American is now 77.6 years. (More HERE and HERE and HERE.) This is yet another increase, bringin us once again to an ANOTHER ALLTIME HIGH. (IN FACT: Life-spans have been steadily improving for ALL industrial/capitalist nations/economies since the Industrial revolution began in the 19th century. THAT'S NO COINCIDENCE!)

Among the conclusions were record-high life expectancies in several categories (lottsa other interesting stats here, too): White males - 75.4 years; Black males - 69.2 years; White females - 80.5 years; Black females - 76.1 years.

Mary Salmon, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina, said research also indicates that there is an increase in active life expectancy. "It's not that we're having a lot of very old, sick people," she said. The AP/Sun reports that the United States still has lower life expectancy rates than many other countries, according to statistics from the World Health Organization (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 2/28).

Other cool stats HERE.

The surest way to end poverty, illness and premature death in the Third World is to build morer and more factories and power plants there and get them to make stuff and consume stuff. That's how we did it; we shouldn't expect them to - or demand that they - re-invent the wheel.

[ASIDE: EUrota compiled a fantastic list of previous dire Greenie predictions about our environmental doom - ALL OF WHICH HAVE PROVED WRONG.]

BASIC MURTHA HYPOCRISY AND MENDACITY ON US TROOPS IN IRAQ

John "Cut'n Run" Murtha; Wednesday, December 7, 2005; 2:46 PM :

Now, my plan says redeploy to the periphery, to Kuwait, to Okinawa [reliapunit: Huh, JAPAN!?] , and if there's a terrorist activity that affects our allies or affects the United States' national security, we can then go back in. I'm not talking about going back in if there's civil war, because we're in a civil war right now. We're caught in between a civil war right now.

Murtha - November 17, 2005:

"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," the congressman said. "They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence.

I assert that Murtha's assertions are mutually exclusive and cannot both be true. We are either (A) THE PRIMARY TARGET, OR WE ARE (B) CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE; IT CANNOT BE BOTH.

Murtha's double-pleading is disingenuous at best - and is most likely simply deliberate mendacity: Murtha twists the facts and creates an argument out of whole cloth merely to suit his audience and/or the exigencies of the moment.

Actually Murtha is NOWHERE NEAR THE TRUTH. The simple truth is we are fighting the islamofascists in Iraq, and that right now, this is the most important campaign in the entire GWOT. We must defeat the enemy. To do this, it will certainly TAKE MORE TROOPS - BUT THEY WILL BE IRAQI TROOPS! YUP: Just Like Bush said: we will stand down as the Iraqis stand up!

It's so simple ANYONE can understand it. Even the traitorous Lefties Doves - like Murtha and Dean and Pelosi and Kerry and Kennedy. Murtha and his gang of Leftie Doves KNOW that Iraqis - like those slaughtered on the bus today - are the PRIMARY targets in the war, right now - NOT US TROOPS. SO: Why do Murtha and his gang of Leftie Doves LIE!? Well, Lefties have NEVER let the truth get in the way of their goals, which are:

(1) A relatively weakened America which is either disarmed or hampered by mutlilateralism, (that's what makes them defense-budget cutting, enemy-appeasing doves!);

(2) A socialist America with nationalized basic industries (like energy and health) and with limits on corporate profits and salaries;

(3) A welfare-state America in which the government fosters dependency on the state instead of fostering independence through increasing the breadth of personal wealth and personal empowerment;

(4) A GROUPIST America in which citizens are measured - and get largesse from the state - by virtue of their membership in groups, (a person's gender, race, sexual preference, age etc. determines their admission or their stipend, for example, rather than their relative excellence or actual need).

To achieve these "utopianist" ends the Left will lie, steal, cheat, slander, and even commit treason. They always have. They have no shame.

JIHADOTERRORIST BOMBER MURDERS 30 ON BUS.... IN BAGHDAD

BBC: "A suicide attacker has detonated a bomb on a bus in Baghdad, killing at least 30 people, Iraqi police said. The vehicle was leaving al-Nahda bus station heading south for the Shia town of Nasiriya when the attack occurred. Witnesses said the bus was gutted and left in flames by the explosion. Another 25 people are reported injured."

The jihadoterrorists who strap bombs on their own bodies to turn themselves into "guided missiles" to be aimed at civilians in Iraq are NO DIFFERENT than the ones who do the same type of thing in Israel - or Thailand or India or the Phillipines, or London, or Bali, or Bangladesh, or Russia, or Jordan. And so on. These evil genocidal maniacs must be wiped off the face of the earth. There is no negotiating with them, and there will NEVER be any formal surrender on their part. Appeasing them on any front - like Israel - will only incentivize them to ramp up their attacks on all fronts.

More HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

LEFTIE CELEBS: "PRO TOOKIE" AND "ANTI-ALITO"

Hollywood supports Tookie and opposes Alito. I think this says all you need to know about the current state of political activism in Hollywood, and it's why I call them the chic degenerati rather than the glitterati. They're degenerates. In deference to good old one syllable anglo-saxon: they're SCUM. (Hat tip BETSY'S PAGE for the Alito link!)

MORE FROM BETSY THIS MORNING: "As Stanley Crouch writes today,

The hard fact is that since 1980, street gangs have killed 10,000 people in Los Angeles, which is three times the number of black people lynched throughout the United States between 1877 and 1900, the highest tide of racial murder in the history of the nation.

Why don't they spend their time campaigning against that instead of glorifying this founder of one of the worst gangs? "

I think the ULTIMATE answer is that the Left is 180DEGREES wrong on just about EVERYTHING! The Left prefers Tookie over Crouch, Saddam over Karzai and Jafari, Gorbachev over Reagan, Ortega over the Contras, Zapatero over Aznar, Reno over Ashcroft, Murtha and Kerry, over Lieberman and Bush. In the 1970's they blamed mankind for global-cooling, now they blame us for global-warming! Sheesh! They think we LOST the war in Vietnam, when actually we were defeating the totalitarian North Vienamese (and had been from the get-go) up until they pulled the plug on our ally South Vietnam. If the Left is for it, then it must be bad or wrong.

CORRUPT CORZINE TAPS CORRUPT MENENDEZ

BLOOMBERG:

New Jersey Governor-elect Jon Corzine will choose U.S. Representative Robert Menendez, the highest- ranking Hispanic in Congress, to fill his U.S. Senate seat, according to a Democratic Party official in Washington who requested anonymity. Corzine, 58, a former chief executive of Goldman, Sachs & Co., will be sworn in as governor Jan. 17. Menendez, 51, would serve the final year of Corzine's term and can run for a full six years in November.

NYTIMES 12/02/05:

One issue that is clearly clinging to Mr. Menendez, at least within political circles, is his relationship with Kay LiCausi, his former state director who left his staff in 2002 and quickly began making hundreds of thousands of dollars as a consultant, lobbyist and fund-raiser.

Mr. Menendez steered more than $200,000 worth of political consulting and fund-raising contracts to Ms. LiCausi, and several of her clients were businesses or organizations run by prominent supporters of Mr. Menendez, while others had interests that could be assisted by Mr. Menendez as a political leader and congressman.

Mr. Menendez said in an interview this summer that Ms. LiCausi's success as a lobbyist and consultant was solely the result of her talent and expertise. He refused to say whether he had a romantic relationship with her, despite the widespread belief in New Jersey that the two were dating during the time her consulting business took off.

Despite Mr. Menendez's insistence that there was nothing improper about their relationship, Republicans are trying to turn it into a scandal. In a Nov. 10 letter responding to Democratic criticisms of Republicans, nine Republican members of Congress included Mr. Menendez in a list of Democrats worthy of further scrutiny.

Among the signers of the letter was E. Scott Garrett, the congressman from northern New Jersey. "You have funneled $200,000 worth of political consulting and fund-raising contracts to Kay LiCausi, your former staffer," the letter said. "Do you think this fosters a culture of corruption?"

Matthew Miller, Mr. Menendez's press secretary, dismissed the letter as "false pathetic trash that's typical of House Republicans." But Republican leaders in New Jersey say Mr. Menendez's relationship with Ms. LiCausi is fair game. "This wasn't a personal issue. It was a business issue, a professional issue," said Tom Wilson, chairman of the state's Republican Party. "He will be pressed on that."

MORE HERE:

Monday, July 18, 2005 -- Subject: Menendez/Kenny scandal in Jersey City ...

Rep. Menendez is involved in a scandal in Jersey City. As reported in the New York Times, there is a widespread belief among elected officials and political consultants in Hudson County and former members of Mr. Menendez's staff that Ms LiCausi and the congressman had a romantic relationship. Menendez acknowledged that he awarded her a $130,000 contract to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Committee where he weilds enormous clout.

Ms. LiCausi is head of Hoboken based K.L Strategies, not far from where Menendez lives. Her office is located in a building owned by Applied. Ms. LiCausi was paid $7,500 by Liberty National, an affiliate of Applied Management, a major waterfront developer founded by Joseph Barry - a long time ally of Menendez, Mr. Barry is currently serving a 25 month sentence on a federal conviction for paying off a Hudson County official in connection with a Hoboken project.

She also received $10,000 a month from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2003 and 2004, that Menendez acknowledged he encouraged the committee to hire her for.

Ms. LiCausi is also vice chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Party, an elected position. One of the politicians she lobbied, according to her own disclosure forms, was (guess who) State Senator Bernard Kenny - a confidante of Mr. Menendez - but Kenny rejected the notion of conflict of interest, saying he seperated her political and lobbying roles.

Talk about typical! And what rabbit hole is Corzine's head down on this one?

The original NYTIMES article exposing the Menedez-LiCausi corruption HERE. EXCERPT:

In January 1998, Kay Elizabeth LiCausi, a 26-year-old graduate of Rutgers University and a former Congressional intern, walked into the second-story office of a New Jersey congressman to start a job as scheduler. The work was not glamorous - sorting through invitations, checking Amtrak timetables and fetching breakfast. But Ms. LiCausi was working for Representative Robert Menendez, a rising star in Democratic Party politics and the de facto political leader of Hudson County, who was soon to become the highest-ranking Hispanic member of Congress. She quickly gained his trust, and less than three years later was promoted to director of his New Jersey headquarters.

But in 2002, after helping Mr. Menendez win re-election to a sixth term, Ms. LiCausi left his staff. Since then, her influence has far exceeded that of a midlevel Congressional assistant. She has amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts as a consultant, lobbyist and fund-raiser.

Some of the work was orchestrated by Mr. Menendez, who steered more than $200,000 worth of political consulting and fund-raising contracts her way. Several of her clients are businesses and organizations run by prominent supporters of Mr. Menendez. Other clients need the assistance of the powerful congressman, and Ms. LiCausi has lobbied her former boss on their behalf.

But what has struck many seasoned politicians and consultants in New Jersey is the speed of Ms. LiCausi's ascent and the scope of her work, even in the state's forgiving political culture. She had little experience on Capitol Hill or in Trenton. In her highest position, she supervised a half-dozen members of Mr. Menendez's Jersey City staff. "This woman starts out as a midlevel staffer and then, all of a sudden, she's the greatest lobbyist on the East Coast?" said Bobby Jackson, the publisher of a small newspaper in Jersey City, who supported Glenn Cunningham, the former mayor of Jersey City, a political opponent of Mr. Menendez.

In an interview, Mr. Menendez praised Ms. LiCausi as an "incredibly talented individual" who was fluent in the nuances of politics, policy and process. He acknowledged that he recommended her for a $130,000 contract to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Caucus, an organization in which he wields enormous clout as the third-ranking Democrat in the House. He also said that he had recommended her, when asked, for lobbying and political work.

Ms. LiCausi declined repeated requests to be interviewed, though she provided a résumé and a statement, which said: "I am proud of my career and the quality of my work on behalf of all my clients. I have been successful for two reasons - I have worked hard and I'm good at what I do."

The tale of her swift success, however, is complicated by the widespread belief among elected officials and political consultants in Hudson County and former members of Mr. Menendez's staff that she and the congressman had a romantic relationship. Both Ms. LiCausi, who is 33 and single, and Mr. Menendez, 51 and recently divorced, refused to address any aspect of their nonprofessional lives. "That's strictly personal," Mr. Menendez said.

By making this appointment - in what will be his first act as Governor - Corzine has proved he is as corrupt as the Dem Machine in NJ. And scum. It's no surprise - more about Corzine's corruption HERE.

GOLD SOARS TO 24 YEAR HIGH

GOLD SOARS TO A 24 YEAR HIGH. WHY? See my previous post HERE. HINT: H5N1. (Though the FT thinks it's Central Bank buying. BUT IF THEY ARE BUYING, WHY ARE THEY BUYING NOW?! HINT: H5N1.)

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.