WASH POST: "House Passes Bill Ending Ban On Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling"

BRAVO!

TAB has been calling for this ever since KATRINA PROVED that off-shore drilling is ENTIRELY SAFE (links to a 9/25/05 post); (there were NO oil spills related to off-shore platform which weathered the WORST of Katrina's cat 5 winds and storm surge).

Now we gotta get this pandering piece of crap Democrat Senator Bill Nelson to GET OUT OF THE FREAKING WAY so the Senate can pass a similar bill and get it to GWB to sign into law.

There is NO RATIONAL REASON TO OPPOSE OFF-SHORE DRILLING: REPEAT: We need the oil; we need DOMESTIC energy sources, and it's ENITRELY SAFE AND ENTIRELY CLEAN.

LEFTIES ARE FREAKING INSANE: A QUICK ROUND-UP OF TODAY'S LEFT-WING LUNACIES

YEAH: TODAY'S!

Sept. 11 claim stirs U.W. probe: Professor says U.S. planned 9/11 to provoke war; al Qaeda a tool of Cheney

Hollywood makes Superman un-American

Sulzberger attacks the WSJ

Rosa Brooks / Los Angeles Times: Did Bush commit war crimes?

Blaming Israel for the current Gaza conflict

Washington made "a small and fractious al Qaeda a global threat" - from NEWSWEEK!

That's just their lunacy from TODAY! They're freaking insane!

G-8 BACKS EU3: GIVES IRAN A DEADLINE. AND THEN WHAT!?

NYTIMES:

Diplomats from the world's richest countries set a deadline of next Wednesday for receiving a "clear and substantive" response from Iran to the package of incentives offered by major powers in exchange for its suspending its enrichment of uranium.

In the first explicit timetable for Iran to formally respond to the offer, foreign ministers from the Group of Eight leading industrialized economies issued a statement that "We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this positive proposal." They said that Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and the European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet on July 5, adding that they expect "to bring these discussions to a rapid conclusion."

AND THEN WHAT THEY DO IF IRAN STALLS?! WILL THEY HAVE ELBARADEI JUST SEND IRAN ANOTHER VERY TOUGH-WORDED LETTER!?

The time for talking and letter-writing and diplomacy uis OVER. It is time to act. I think that we need to start cranking up our preemptive military "machinery": meaning, it's time to get our forces deployed and missiles ready.

Iran has it coming to them! Especially when we couple Iran's nuclear ambition with this:

WASH POST: Iranian Gunmen Caught in Iraq:

Iraqi security officials said Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting, in which a sniper shot dead the commander of an Iraqi quick reaction force and two of his men. They did not say how the Iranians had been identified.

And with this: Iran was behind KHOBAR - which occurred 10 years ago, this week.

THEY'RE BACK: JAWA!!!!

YOU MUST GO TO JAWA - NOW!
YOU MUST GO THERE EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!
NOW MEANS NOW!

FIRST KELO, NOW HAMDAN: THE LEFTIES ON THE SCOTUS HAVE SCREWED US AGAIN:

THE FIRST MAJOR ASSAULT BY THE SCOTUS AGAINST AMERICA CAME IN THE KELO DECISION (FITTINGLY, IT JUST HAD IT'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY):

... in the Kelo decision the Supreme Court diverged from centuries of precedent by declaring that cities could seize private property and turn it over to another private party, so long as the action was taken in the name of “economic development.” If there was even a possibility that the transfer would result in greater tax revenues, the seizure could be justified, the Court ruled.

In her dissent, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor blasted the decision: “Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party… The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.”

The decision had immediate and unsurprising results. According to a just-released report by the Institute for Justice, in the wake of Kelo, “local governments threatened eminent domain or condemned at least 5,783 homes, businesses, churches, and other properties so that they could be transferred to another private party.”

NOW - WITH HAMDAN - THE LEFTIES ON THE COURT HAVE JUST MADE IT HARDER FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE US SAFE FROM THE JIHADOMANIACS:

The ruling was by a 5-3 majority; Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito were the dissenters. The Chief Justice did not participate since he was one of the judges who decided the case in the D.C. Circuit.

Scalia's dissent accuses the majority of ignoring the plain language of Congress's enactment providing that:

[N]o court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Scalia further argues that the majority substitutes its own judgment as to "military necessity" for that of the executive branch.

THESE DECISIONS ARE AS SOUND AND AS GOOD FOR OUR NATION AS THE DRED SCOT DECISION WAS - IN OTHER WORDS: THEY ARE "DRED"-FUL DECISIONS... (PUN INTENDED: DREDFUL = DREADFUL).

AND THEY COME COURTESY OF THE LEFTIES ON THE COURT: SOUTER; KENNEDY; STEVENS, AND BREYER, GINSZBURG.

THEY HAVE EXTENDED RIGHTS NOT EVEN GUARANTEED TO UNIFORMED POW'S WHILE THE CONFLICT IS ON-GOING TO UN-UNIFORMED, NON-SIGNATORY PARTIES.

IF IT WASN'T SO SURREAL AND SO FRIGGIN' OUTRAGEOUS IT WOULD BE HILARIOUS.

THIS IS A DARK DAY FOR AMERICANS WHO WANT US TO WIN THE GWOT - A WAR AGAINST THE MOST VICIOUS AND BLOODTHIRSTY AND LAWLESS ENEMY WE HAVE EVER FACED.

THE MURDERERS OF KRISTIAN MENCHACA AND THOMAS TUCKER SHOULD NOT GET KIND OF TREATMENT THAT THE LEFT HAS ORDERED WE GIVE THEM.

THEY DESERVE WHAT PUTIN HAS PROMSED THEM FOR MURDERING BY DECAPATATION) THE FOUR RUSSIANS IN IRAQ: THEY DESERVE TO DIE.

KELO AND HAMDAN: NAMES THAT WILL REMAIN IN INFAMY - LIKE DRED SCOT.

HERE'S a MUST READ that spells it ALL OUT!

More HERE and HERE and HERE. COMPLETE MSM/BLOG round-up HERE - at MEMEORANDUM.

AL AKSA CLAIMS IT USED A WMD AGAINST ISRAEL

"Reuters":

A spokesman for gunmen in the Gaza Strip said they had fired a rocket tipped with a chemical warhead at Israel early on Thursday. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the claim by the spokesman from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.

The group had recently claimed to possess about 20 biological warheads for the makeshift rockets commonly fired from Gaza at Israeli towns. This was the first time the group had claimed firing such a rocket. "The al-Aqsa Brigades have fired one rocket with a chemical warhead" at southern Israel, Abu Qusai, a spokesman for the group, said in Gaza.

THIS CLAIM IS UNCONFIRMED. BUT WHAT DOES IT TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THE UTTER DEPRAVITY OF THE PALIS, THAT THEY'D BRAG ABOUT USING WMD!? AND THAT THE BRAG MIGHT BE A LIE!?

ISRAEL'S RESPONSE MUST HAVE THE EFFECT OF DESTROYING THE ENEMY'S ABILITY TO RETALIATE, AND THEIR WILL TO RETALIATE. THE ENEMY MUST BE VANQUISHED, UTTERLY - THEIR LEADERSHIP ENTIRELY ERASED, THEIR ABILITY TO INFLICT AN ATTACK WIPED OUT, ALL THEIR WEAPONS CONFISCATED.

AND THEN THEY MUST ADMIT DEFEAT AND SIGN AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.

THIS IS HOW WARS END.

(More on the claim HERE.) MORE HERE AND HERE AND HERE AT ATLAS SHRUGS. Complete round-up HERE at MEMEORANDUM.

WHAT SHE SAID.

ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL:

Nearly 40 years of pin-point targeted response to Arab rabid hostilities has lead to this perverse situation where the West pays the Palestinian officials, which is synonymous with the term 'terrorists', billions of Dollars so that they can keep spitting into Israel's face.

End this charade now and break up the evil. Stop worrying about public opinion in the West - it's a no-win effort anyway. Kill the cancer dead now, once and for all.

SENATE COMMITTEE SMACKS DOWN ANOTHER WILD GORE CLAIM

SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT:

AP INCORRECTLY CLAIMS SCIENTISTS PRAISE GORE’S MOVIE

June 27, 2006

The June 27, 2006 Associated Press (AP) article titled “Scientists OK Gore’s Movie for Accuracy” by Seth Borenstein raises some serious questions about AP’s bias and methodology.

AP chose to ignore the scores of scientists who have harshly criticized the science presented in former Vice President Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth.”

[...]

Here is a sampling of the views of some of the scientific critics of Gore:

Professor Bob Carter, of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University in Australia, on Gore’s film:

"Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."

"The man is an embarrassment to US science and its many fine practitioners, a lot of whom know (but feel unable to state publicly) that his propaganda crusade is mostly based on junk science." – Bob Carter as quoted in the Canadian Free Press, June 12, 2006

Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, wrote:

“A general characteristic of Mr. Gore's approach is to assiduously ignore the fact that the earth and its climate are dynamic; they are always changing even without any external forcing. To treat all change as something to fear is bad enough; to do so in order to exploit that fear is much worse.” - Lindzen wrote in an op-ed in the June 26, 2006 Wall Street Journal

Truth is not decided by majority vote. Man-made global warming is merely a hypothesis; it is not a fact.

Perhaps a majority of ecology pro's in the academy have faith that this hypothesis is true, but that might say more about them than the truth: I'd bet that most of these ecologists were drawn into the field by their experiences in the 1970's when idiots like Paul Ehrlich were screaming (like Gore is today) about how the population explosion was gonna mean we were all gonna starve to death and how pollution was gonna cause GLOBAL FREEZING AND A NEW ICE AGE THAT WOULD KILL BILLIONS!

In other words, I'd bet that most of the ecologists who now worry about MAN-MADE global warming are preselected from the general population and reflect the segment who are hyper-worried about man's effect on the environment, and people who are PREDISPOSED to blame industry and capitalism - the twin bogeymen of the Left.

Another of example of this might occur of you were take a poll of SOCIAL WORKERS and ask them if welfare payments were good. I'd bet that the "yes" response would be higher for social workers than for the general population, AND NOT BECAUSE THEY KNOW BETTER.

Likewise, if yopu polled astroscientists on the importance of space exploration.

So let's NOT out too much stock on polls of environmental scientists.

Let's base our policies on FACTS. And MAN-MADE global warming is NOT A PROVEN FACT.

DID THE TRAITOROUS LEAKERS FORCE THE NYTIMES HAND?

I just read this tidbit over at HUGH's BLOG:

Lichtblau of 'NYT' Explains Attempt to Halt His Bank Records Scoop

by Hugh Hewitt

The national security cannot possibly come before the race for the next Pulitzer:

"I don't think we could reasonably be accused of moving too quickly," he said. "We waited so long that the competition caught up to us."

This comment referred to the Los Angeles Times' posting a story about the bank records program on its Web site last night.

I read this comment - about the competition cathcing up to them - a little differently. After all, the LATIMES didn't sniff-out the story; they were merely contacted by the very SAME leakers.

So, it seems what REALLY happened was that the traitorous leakers FIRST took the story to the NYTIMES. And that then the NYTIMES took some time and did some due diligence and got some feedback from the WH and the 9/11 Commissioners. And then, THE LEAKERS GOT IMPATIENT, and decided to go to the LATIMES with it, TO SQUEEZE/THREATEN THE NYTIMES, IN EFFECT SAYING: "PRINT IT NOW OR WE GO TO THE LATIMES." This forced the hands of Keller and Pinch, who decided the scoop was more important than the nation's security. But they barely beat the LATIMES, anyhow.

IOW: The NYTIMES is well-known to be very VERY eager to get stuff that hurts President Bush; this makes them an easy mark for the anti-Bush rogues within the Pentagon, the CIA and FBI and other US agencies. And if the NYTIMES doesn't move fast enough, then the rogues just move on to another BDS-afflicted part of the MSM - like the LATIMES. This quote from Lichtblau proves it to me.

The GREAT ROGER L. SIMON has similar thoughts.

PATRIOT MISSILE SYSTEMS TO BE DEPLOYED A.S.A.P. IN JAPAN

WASH POST:

The Pentagon is reportedly speeding up plans to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on U.S. bases in Japan for the first time, a countermeasure seen as a response to the increasing threat of North Korean missiles.

Kim Jong Il is a genocidal madman willing to starve his own people to death. His desire to have long-range missiles - and NUKES - is a bald-faced attempt to intimidate the West. Deploying Patriot missile systems, Aegis battle groups and NMD to protect the our key allies in the region is an essential first-step.

This episode PROVES that Bush was 100% right to withdraw from the ABM Treaty - according to terms permitted under the treaty.

NYTIMES REVEALS ITS PRIORITIES: AIDING AND ABETTING THE ENEMY

The NYTIMES REFUSED TO POUBLISH THE MOHUMMED CARTOONS, BUT INSISTED IT HAD TO PUBLISH THE DETAILS OF THE NSA SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM AND THE SWIFT SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM.

WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT THE NYTIMES?

DR. SANITY (who links to the NYTIMES' own expanation for each):

Thus we can conclude that--from the perspective of the NY Times editorial staff-- protecting the feelings of Muslims is far more important than protecting the lives of Americans.

Pinch and Keller should be arrested for treason, tried, convicted, and executed. Sound harsh?! Well, er, um... THIS IS WAR! And they have REPEATEDLY aided the enemy.

NYTIMES AND JOHN MURTHA: COPPERHEADS

WHAT'S A COPPERHEAD? HERE:

"The Copperheads were a faction of Democrats in the North who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates ... They were also called "Peace Democrats" ... The most famous Copperhead was Ohio's Clement L. Vallandigham, who was a vehement opponent of Lincoln's policies."

VALLANDIGHAM:

... denounced "King Lincoln," calling for Abraham Lincoln's removal from the presidency [Sounds like Feingold and Sheehan and Moore]. ... To those who supported the war he declared, "Defeat, debt, taxation [and] sepulchres - these are your trophies." [Sounds just like Dean and Kennedy and Pelosi and Reid.] ...

On May 5 he was arrested as a violator of General Order No. 38. ... General Ambrose E. Burnside had issued General Order Number 38, warning that the "habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy" would not be tolerated in the Military District of Ohio...

Had the PEACE CANDIDATE and DEMOCRAT presidential nominee in 1864 - George McClellan - won the election, the confederacy or slavery or both would have survived. There would have been NO "NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM." There would have been no USA to win either WW1 or WW2 or the Cold War.

Today's so-called "peace Democrats" would have a similarly DISASTEROUS effect on the GWOT. Freedom and suffrage and democracy for 1/6th of humanity would be setback for many MANY generations to come. And we would be made less safe - because retreat would encourgae the enemy by proving to them that their tactics work.

Perhaps it's time that the DOJ enforced our laws as assiduously as Lincoln and Burnside did.

HOW THE DAILY KOS PRESSURED THE NYTIMES INTO TREASON, AND TOWARD MARGINALIZATION

The NYTIMES withheld what it knew about the NSA Surveillance Program for a year before publishing it - (COINCIDENTLY just before they published a book about it, in 2005).

Because of the delay, the NYTIMES took HELL from the Left.

Basically, Leftists charged that the NYTIMES deliberately withheld the info to help Bush win re-election, (AS IF "PINCH" TOOK ORDERS FROM ROVE!). The Left would've preferred it if the NSA leak had been published just before the election - like the "FAKE BUT ACCURATE" T.A.N.G. documents. The Left thinks that if the NSA leak 's publication had been properly timed, it might've helped Kerry defeat Bush. (This is probably what the NSA leakers had wanted and wished for when they leaked the info.)

I think the attack by the Left against the NYTIMES on the NSA leak has made the NTIMES shyer of holding back sensitive info, and had a major influence on their decision to publish info about the SWIFT Surveillance program - even though the program has lead to the capture of terrorists, is entirely legal, and only monitored INTERNATIONAL & INSTITUTIONAL transactions and had absolutley NO effect on the privacy of a single solitary American citizen.

In effect, the NYTIMES decided it was better to pander to their base than do the right thing. JUST LIKE THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.

By driving the Democrats and media outlet like the NYTIMES and the LATIMES teven further to the Left, all the DAILY KOS types are really accomplishing is the MARGINALIZATION of the Democrat Party and the MSM. Which will only hasten their demise. GOOD RIDDANCE.

MORE PROOF - FROM THE NYTIMES! - THAT WE ARE WINNING IN IRAQ

NYTIMES:

Enrollment in Iraqi schools has risen every year since the American invasion, according to Iraqi government figures, reversing more than a decade of declines and offering evidence of increased prosperity for some Iraqis. ... while life in Baghdad grows more paralyzed — it was the only province in the country where primary school enrollment fell — the figures for the rest of Iraq show that everyday life goes on, particularly in the largely peaceful south, which experienced the biggest jumps, with some regions having above 40 percent enrollment increases since 2002.

... the growth is too broad to be explained only by migration patterns. According to American government estimates, Iraq's population grew by about 8 percent to 26 million from 2002 to 2005.

Even in provinces that have experienced population declines, for example, school enrollment is still up. In Anbar — the large desert province in western Iraq, where insurgents regularly battle American soldiers, causing residents to flee — enrollment in primary school is up by 15 percent, and in secondary and high school it is up by 37 percent.

We are winning.

The only way we can lose is if the Democrats - dominated by doves, defeatists, demagogues and isolationists - win Congress and then do to the Iraqis what they did to the South Vietnamese and the Contras: abandon them to totalitarianism.

DID THE NYTIMES LEAK TO PROTECT NGO-FRONTS FOR TERROR?

A recent HUGH HEWITT SHOW (transcript and link to MP3) - discusses the traitorous leak by the NYTIMES about the international, institutional financial surveillance program.

During a segment with Professor Reynolds, the INSTAPUNDIT related the fact that S.W.I.F.T keeps track of institutional transactions - (and not those of individuals), and that these include international transactions by many isnitutions, INCLUDING NGO's.

This set off an alarm, for me: NGO's include many organizations which aid and abet terror. (MORE HERE.) Many might LAUNDER MONEY FOR THE TERRORISTS. And now - courtesy of the NYTIMES - corrupt NGO's will avoid transfering money in the normal way. And it will be harder for us to track the terrorists.

Tracking the NGO's money tranfers through SWIFT, might have been especially important in order to prevent money from being transfered to Hamas.

BUT THE NYTIMES MAKE IT MOOT.

In my opinion, the ONLY explanation is that BOTH the NYTIMES and their leakers KNEW THAT THIS WOULD AID THE TERRORISTS. And that this was the CHIEF REASON THEY DID IT.

WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO HURT THE USA AND AID THE TERRORISTS?!

Because they are Arabists who hate Bush and Israel.

ITALY'S NEW PM - PRODI, AN APPEASER AND A SOCIALIST - ADMITS HE IS PRIMARILY MOTIVATED BY FEAR

WASH POST:

Speaking in accented but clear English, Prodi said that "the conflict of civilizations must be tackled with knowledge and cooperation" as well as with security policies. Europe in general and Italy specifically share U.S. concern about jihadist terrorism, he noted, adding:

"Public opinion in Europe is not anti-American," even though there are many protests and negative comments about U.S. policy. What motivates the protests and negativism "is maybe fear, deep fear, the idea that we are so close to this area of fire. . . . After all, it was fear that guided us against the war in Iraq, and it is fear that guides us against terrorism as well."

FEAR. COWARDICE. The WASH POST CONTINUES:

American and British troops undertake nearly all the combat duties while other partners look for less risky roles or just depart.

The socialist appeasers of Europe - like Zapatero and Schroeder and Prodi - who look for less dangerous roles in the GWOT are pitiful ingrates.

The USA and the UK are carrying the burden here EXACTLY AS WE DID IN WW2 and the Cold War. WHY"! Because we are less motivated by fear than by duty, honor, pride, faith, and a strong sense justice. God Bless Our Troops.

FEINGOLD'S ASTROLOGICAL CHART: "HIS MARS MAKES A SQUARE TO URANUS" - or - COULD A CHART BY JEROME ARMSTRONG CREATE A BETTER "CONJUCTION"

FROM BLOGGER "Astrological Musings":

What do the planets show about Russ Feingold?

He has a Pisces Sun, not a common placement for a politician, but he also has a strong Aries influence. Pisces people are ... empathetic and sensitive to the needs of others, and one of Feingold's campaign promises when he ran for state Senator was to hold listening parties to stay in touch with constituents. His positions on the issues show a tendency to side with the needs of the people rather than corporations.

Mercury in Feingold's chart is in Aries, as is Mars and Venus. Aries is god of war, ruled by Mars (the Roman counterpart of the god Ares). Mercury in Aries shows Feingold's courage to speak out where others fear to, and is not afraid to stand alone in the face of battle. ... His Mars makes a trine (harmonious aspect) to Pluto, connecting the will of the individual self (Mars) with the god of personal power (Pluto). This is a powerful aspect that propels him effortlessly into the accumulation of real power.

His Sun makes a trine (harmonious aspect) to Uranus, showing that he is an individualist: he is also inventive and concerned with social issues (Uranus). His Mars makes a square (challenging aspect) to Uranus, showing that this individualism can be expressed in impulsive (Mars/Uranus) ways.

Feingold has a complex system in his chart called a Grand Cross (a stressful combination of planets with two oppositions (180 degrees) square each other). This Grand Cross includes Mars which is conjunct Venus, both in Aries opposite Saturn and Neptune, both in Libra and both retrograde. ... Men with Venus in Aries tend to want dominion in the home and that can be a problem in today's world.

The Grand Cross creates many challenges, but also teaches lessons that build strength of character. My sense is that Feingold's world is primarily the realm of politics and public life, and this helps him to sublimate the need for a personal life.... During Pluto transits we tend to lose relationships that no longer serve us, and this shows that the end of his marriage will ultimately be a positive influence for him.

Feingold will undergo a series of positive planetary events this year, including several Jupiter cycles that began last December and will continue through August of this year, bringing him opportunities (Jupiter) and expanding his influence. With the exception of a few short challenges, it looks like the planets will be kind to Feingold. Could he be the candidate to watch?

Maybe it would be a good idea if FEINGOLD purchased ANOTHER very EXPENSIVE chart from astrologer and stock touter JEROME ARMSTRONG?! He might get the added bonus of an endorsement from Kos!? Even though Feingold is a TRUE LEFTIST - like Kos - Kos seems to be leaning to Warner, ever since Warner hired his "partner" Jerome Armstrong. Coincidentally, of course. Heh. More here.

PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS ANNOUNCE THEY HAVE WMD AND WILL USE THEM ON ISRAEL

BREAKING: JPOST:

Aksa Martyrs Brigades group announced on Sunday that it its members have succeeded in manufacturing chemical and biological weapons to be used against Israel.

This comes on the heals of the DELIBERATELY provocative kidnapping of and IDF soldier; (SEE BELOW). It seems to me that the jihadomaniacs - backed by IRAN - are desperately trying to provoke an all-out Arab-Israeli war - to divert attention from Iraq and Afghanistan - where the jihadomaniacs are being routed and cornered - and from Iran's nuke program.

Stay tuned.... (MORE HERE FROM ATLAS! And here from C&R.)

ASIDE: Here's a link to what I blogged on this - as a likelihood of this "DOOMSDAY SCENARIO" - back in March - and it's tied into what I predicted back in September of 2005.

UPDATE: ONE HOUR LATER AND THERE'S NOTHING AT THE NYTIMES, WASHPOST, OR GOOGLE NEWS. Zero. Bupkuss. Nada. Zilch.

UPDATE #2: THE CAPTAIN WEIGHS IN: as always an absolutely MUST READ. NOW! He points out that AL AKSA CLAIMS to have developed these WMD over THE LAST THREE (3) YEARS. Hmmm... 3 years... is that a coincidence!? Here's an excerpt:

... They do not have the research facilities to have developed WMD on their own. ... What country stocked them, until three years ago? And where does Hamas and Islamic Jihad, at least, have themselves established? Syria -- who has long rumored to have received the Iraqi stockpiles in 2002 and 2003, just ahead of the American invasion.

The Captain raises the fascinating possibility that AL AKSA has some of Saddam's WMD. RTWT.

UPDATE #3: Some in the blogosphere have questioned whether al Aksa would use these WMD if they have them - after all, The Holy Land is a very small geographic area, and Arabs and Muslims are bound to be killed in any WMD attack. THE ANSWER IS YES. Here's the proof of just how brutal these uncivilized savages are (from 5/30/06):

Masked Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen on Tuesday publicly executed a Palestinian man and woman they suspected of having spied for Israel. The man was shot dead in the main street of a refugee camp, with a large crowd looking on. The woman was later shot to death by her relatives in the courtyard of the West Bank's largest hospital.

CONJECTURE/GAMING:

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS? SIMPLE: the IDF must make a PREEMPTIVE attack - destroying all the stockpiles and as many al Aksa terrorists as possible - ASAP. HOW? SIMPLE: The IDF should DEMAND that "President" Abbas turn over a list of the terrorists and their location - or face execution himself. DITTO the Hamas "PM."

The alternative is that Olmert would allow them to make a WMD attack - and then respond with a justifiably MASSIVE, "end-game" retaliatory counter-attack, which would utterly annihilate the enemy once and for all.

WHAT WOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO STAND: A Hamas administered Palistan with WMD. And therefore, since the Palistani jihadomaniacs must KNOW this, they MUST.... USE THEM OR LOSE THEM.

That's why I expect that this ramping up of the stakes will be resolved in DAYS rather than weeks. AND WELL BEFORE IRAN MIGHT RETALIATE AGAINST ISRAEL WITH NUKES. Unless the Iranians have them ALREADY, as some have conjectured. Then, Iran will nuke Israel, and perhaps Baghdad - and the Green Zone. And then the Mullahs and Sheehan and Buchanan and Scheuer and Joe Wilson and Larry Johnson and Larry Wilkerson and David Duke and George Galloway and Assad and Saddam and Binladen will blame the JOOOOOOOZE!

UPDATE #4: Three hours later, NOTHING ON CNN. And nothing at GOOGLE NEWS, and only one (1) relevant hit in a word search for either "AKSA" or "WMD" in GOOGLE NEWS. And it's for an article at Israel's ARUTZ SHEVA - not even for the JPOST.

I guess this is unimportant news to the MSM - jihadists armed with WMD and threatening genocide against Jews just ain't news to the Leftist dominated MSM.

UPDATE#5: ROUNDUP HERE AT MEMEORANDUM.

STAY TUNED...

[BTW: Check out everyone else's time-stamps; you'll see that Reliapundit was FIRST! And Relipundit was before that FAMOUS blog - who backdated their story, too!]

IRAN - THROUGH ITS SURROGATE HAMAS - IS TRYING TO PROVOKE AN ARAB-ISRAELI WAR

NYTIMES:

Israel threatened strong military action today after Palestinian militants, including those belonging to the ruling faction Hamas, emerged from a long tunnel dug 300 yards into Israel, killed two soldiers, wounded three and kidnapped a fourth wounded soldier at an Israeli outpost near the Egyptian border.

Two of the eight Palestinians were killed; the rest escaped back into Gaza with the Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, who is believed to have been wounded and whom they may want to try to exchange for jailed militants. He was the first Israeli soldier kidnapped in more than a decade.

Israeli tanks moved a short distance into Gaza, the first tank incursion since Israel pulled its settlers and soldiers from the territory last summer. Israeli officials talked of serious retaliation for the raid, which was weeks in the planning and for which the ruling Hamas faction took partial responsibility, along with other militant groups like the Popular Resistance Committees and a newly formed group called the Army of Islam. ... A spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, defended the attack on the Arab television ...

Mr. Regev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "What part of Hamas is responsible is irrelevant. Hamas as an organization has endorsed it. And maybe for those in the international community who are talking about whether there is a new, pragmatic Hamas, this is a wakeup call." ... Mr. Regev added: "Abu Mazen goes to foreign capitals and says, 'I'm the partner you want. I'm the address.' But if he's not a partner in stopping violence, how can he be a partner for peace?"

If the soldier "isn't returned immediately then Israel will have to act," Mr. Regev said. ...

Hamas spokesman, Mushir al-Masri, now a member of the Palestinian Parliament, welcomed the attack. "We consider this operation a part of the natural response to Zionist crimes, especially after the series of killings of children, women, old men and whole families in Gaza," he said. "It is the right of our people to defend themselves with all the means available."

The spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Mujahid, said the attack was carried out to avenge Israel's assassination of the group's leader, Jamal Abu Samahdana, on June 8. Mr. Samahdana, who had been wanted by Israel, had also been serving the Hamas government as the commander of a new "executive force," a mostly Hamas militia that has engaged in a series of clashes with Fatah-dominated forces like the Preventive Security.

Iran wants to scuttle any deal between Abbas and Hamas, and to distract the world from maintaining the focus necessary to halt their nuclear weapons program.

REMEMBER: Israel is LITTLE SATAN to Iran - (and to anti-Semitic isolationists in the USA). Their MAIN goal is to get NUKES in order to defeat the GREAT SATAN - the USA. Iran (and al Qaeda) have been attempting to start a regional war in order to distract us from this - their ULTIMATE goal.

ANALYZING LEFTIST IDEOLOGICAL CONTRADICTIONS - or - IRRATIONAL AND INCONSISTENT MORAL RELATIVISM AS A LEFTIST STRATEGY

DR. SANITY: THE LEFT'S THEORY OF RELATIVITY

For a group that wholeheartedly subscribes to moral relativity and subjective ethics, you've got to wonder about the left and their constant search for some kind of "moral authority" to justify their beliefs.

After all, if morality is relative; if truth is subjective and there is no objective "good" or "bad"; then why bother? ...

[The Doctor then describes some famous anti-war Leftists and their arguments - READ IT!]

What these three examples [Murtha, Sheehan, and the Jersey Girls] (and there are many more) have in common is both a breathtaking subjectivism and relativism in one breath; and ideological absolutism in the next.

This is as good a demonstration as any of the inherent philosophical and psychological contradictions that the postmodern left exploits in order to achieve political power.

They are perfectly aware that their positions don't make any sense and can be refuted by anyone with basic knowledge of logic and logical fallacies; but their goal is to maintain the psychological denial necessary to believe in the left's ideology.

Interpreting this defense and exposing it is essential to countering that ideology.

Stephen Hicks asks this important question (page 184):

The pattern therefore raises the question of which side of the contradiction is deepest for postmodernism.

Is it that postmodernists really are committed to relativism, but occasionally lapse into absolutism?

Or are the absolutist commitments deepest and the relativism a rhetorical cover?

The possibility that the relativism is primary can be ruled out with some thought. If the modern leftist truly embraced relativism, then you would not see the uniformity of their politics. Hicks again:

If subjectivity and relativism were primary, then postmodernists would be adopting political positions across the spectrum, and that simply is not happening.

Indeed. Thus we must conclude that the moral relativism that characterizes the left's equation of terrorism with America; deliberate targeting of innocents with herculean efforts to spare innocent life; Bush with Hitler; Iraq with Vietnam; etc. etc. are simple rhetorical devices being used to manipulate and forward their socialist / totalitarian agenda.

There's plenty more: RTWT.

[BTW: isolationists, appeasers, defeatists, hard-core libertarians and anti-Semites use many of the same illogical tropes. IOW: you DON'T have to be a Leftist to be irrational. But if you ARE a Leftist in 2006 then you are irrational.

OR LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: when people don't have the facts on their side - or logic - and when they are unable to admit that their ideology is bankrupt or amoral, then they often resort to contradictory and illogical arguments.]

WHO KILLED MORE IRAQIS: SADDAM AND AL QAEDA; U.N. SANCTIONS; OR THE PENTAGON?

ANSWER: #1 = SADDAM; #2 = UN SANCTIONS; #3 = AL QAEDA; #4 (LAST) THE US MILITARY.

Saddam murdered and tortured more than one million Iraqis. Sanctions might have caused 100,000 Iraqis to die prematurely. Al Qaeda has murdered TENS OF THOUSANDS in Iraq since 2004 - mostly Shias and Kurds. And since 2005, thousands of Sunnis have been murdered in retribution - something which did not happen under Saddam, when all the murdering was Sunni and Kurd/Shia.

BONUS FACT: Except for Baghdad, Iraq is NOT now experiencing murder at a rate higher than most major US cities. Baghdad is the central front in the war against al Qaeda; (Afghanistan is now the second major front). [Subtract Baghdad from the murder rate and you can see that OVERALL the murder rate/terrorism rate in the geographic nation of Iraq is largely under control. REPEAT: the war is centered in and around - if not limited to - Baghdad and parts of the Sunni provinces]

BOTTOM-LINE: Sadam and al Qaeda in Iraq have murdered 33 TIMES more Iraqis than the US and its coalition have killed - and the OVERWHELMING majoprity oif thiose killed by the US and our allies have been enemy fighters, and NOT CIVILIANS.

SO... besides liberating the Iraqis and helping them establish a constitutional democracy by mutual consent of the governed (and thus allowing Kurds and Shias in Iraq to have self-determination), the US led war has also actually LOWERED the death rate in Iraq; IOW: the war has increased freedom, prosperity and saved LIVES.

AND WE HAVE KILLED A LOT OF JIHADOTERRORISTS TO BOOT!

All-IN-ALL: the Iraq War - though it has been VERY tough, and rife with setbacks, (many as a result of imperfect strategies which had to be continuously revamped) - has been a great triumph for humanity: 25 MILLION PEOPLE liberated from tyranny and a murderous regime.

Details at POWERLINE. (Disinformation at the LATIMES.)

[NOTE: most of the Saddam statistics are based on a NYTIMES article which was written and filed/published BEFORE the war.]

TENET - NOT BUSH OR ROVE OR POWELL - RESPONSIBLE FOR BAD WMD INTEL

WASH POST:

In briefing Powell before his U.N. speech, George Tenet, then the CIA director, personally vouched for the accuracy of the mobile-lab claim, according to participants in the briefing. Tenet now says he did not learn of the problems with Curveball until much later and that he received no warnings from Drumheller or anyone else.

"No one mentioned Drumheller, or Curveball," Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Powell's chief of staff at the time, said in an interview. "I didn't know the name Curveball until months afterward."

TENET WAS A CLINTON APPOINTEE.

The CIA is still a joke - a useless bureaucracy which fails to fulfil its mission and leaks anti-administration secrets. MOYNIHAN WAS RIGHT, perhaps: the CIA should be abolished.

UPDATE: Though certainly NOT a "slam-dunk", the mobile-labs claim is hardly DISPROVED.

INSIDE THE CONFUSED, CONTRADICTORY AND PARANOID MIND OF THE LEFT-WING MSM

HERE'S THE PROOF.

[ASIDE: THIS EXAMPLE OF "BDS" IS NOT UNLIKE THE OFT HEARD REFRAIN THAT BUSH IS SIMULTANEOUSLY CONTROLLED BY THE JOOOZE/NEOCONS OF LIKUD, THE WAHHABIST HOUSE OF SAUD, BIG OIL AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT.

AND IT IS RELATED TO THE LEFT'S INSISTENCE THAT "BUSH LIED" EVEN THOUGH, FOR EXAMPLE, THE FACT THAT THE FAMOUS 16 WORDS FROM THE SOTU (ABOUT SADDAM, AFRICA AND URANIUM - AND BRITISH INTELLIGENCE) ARE STILL TRUE, AND THE CHARGES BY JOE WILSON - A PROVEN LIAR - ARE UTTERLY FALSE.

THE LEFT DEPENDS ON DISINFORMATION AND LYING. AND THEY'RE CONSTANTLY GETTING TRIPPED UP IN THEIR OWN LIES ALL THE TIME.

IF THE MSM WERE NOT DOMINATED BY LYING LEFTISTS, THIS FACT WOULD BE POINTED OUT, DAY-AFTER-DAY.

BUT HEY: THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE. GLAD TO BE OF SERVICE]

THE DEMISE OF SOCIALISM - OR WHY ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL APPEASEMENT IS DOOMED

For many, Sweden epitomizes the socialist dream: Swedes have cradle-to-grave welfare, libertinage, multi-culturalism and its concomittant moral relativism. ALL ARE DESTROYING SWEDEN. They also have a huge problem with their Muslim "colonists" and ignore it.

Here are some economic Facts (excerpted from an article by Richard Murray is chief economist at the Swedish Agency for Public Management):

At 51.2 per cent in 2003, Sweden's ratio of tax receipts to GDP is the highest in the world. The comparable average for European Union (EU) countries is about 40 per cent of GDP. In Canada and Britain, the ratio is less than 40 per cent. In some industrial countries, such as the United States, it is less than 30 per cent. The high figure for Sweden is in part (4 percentage points) explained by transfers that are taxed.

In the past, rising taxes enabled the growth of public services, social benefits and public investments. Between 1960 and 1980, Swedish taxes as a share of GDP doubled, from roughly 25 to 50 per cent of GDE Since then, the ratio of tax revenues to GDP has been fairly constant, which means that changes in tax rates have not contributed to the growth of public services from 1980 onwards. This may come as a surprise to both proponents and critics of Sweden's high-tax society. ...

Growth in Sweden, as in many European countries, has been "jobless." The total number of hours worked in the Swedish economy is the same today as in 1965. This is so despite an impressive increase in real GDP, and despite an increase in population and in the number of those employed - especially women. The increase in number of employed has been offset by a reduction in number of hours worked per employee as a result of longer holidays, earlier retirement, more absence from work and other changes. ...

From the above evidence, we get a picture of the Swedish welfare state at the end of the road. Further development seems out of the question.

What drove the USSR and Maoist China and Ireland and India and even friggin VIETNAM to abandon much of socialisim is at play in Sweden and the rest of socialist Europe - and the rest of the socialist world, for that matter: a combination of tax rates which have topped-out and bad demographics plus global competition is making socialist nations as economically bankrupt as they are morally bankrupt.

THE JIG IS UP: they can no longer tax their way into solvency or grow their way into it.

When their government's finances collapse - as they are bound to within the next decade, the socialist nations will have even tougher choices, AND THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO BLAME BUSH AND THE GOP. Socialism will finally be consigned to the trashheap of history - where it belongs. GOOD RIDDANCE.

Of course, there is a chance that ISLAMOFASCISTS WILL FILL THE VACUUM: the Europeans may either choose it, or have it forced upon them by the burgeoning Muslim population.

Europe needs to get REAGANIZED and/or THATCHERIZED, and fast. The fact that Italy chose the socialsit Prodi and Spain the socialist Zapatero does not bode well - not for Europe on the economic front, or in the GWOT, as these very same socialists are the chief advocates of APPEASEMENT.

IS THIS A COINCIDENCE!? NO: IT IS NOT.

SOCIALISTS APPEASE PROBLEMS AND DO NOT SEEK TO SOLVE THEM AT THEIR ROOT CAUSES.

THEY SEEK TO AMELIOLRATE POVERTY BY APPEASING IT, BY HANDING OUT WELFARE CHECKS - (INSTEAD OF BY CUTTING TAXES, TARIFFS, AND PROMOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GLOBALISM AND INDUSTRIALIZATION).

THEY ALSO SEEK TO APPEASE THE JIHADISTS.

Appeasement is a primary way Leftists deal with problems in the world. DHIMMITUDE and the WELFARE STATE reflect a deep attitude or weltanschauung of Leftists. They appeased the USSR, and appeased Arafat. And they appease poverty.

In all of human history, appeasement has never defeated ANY enemy. It never will because it can't.

That's why, to make poverty history, we have to make SOCIALISM history.

And to win the GWOT overseas, we have to defeat the DHIMMIS at home.

THEY'RE THE SAME PEOPLE.

BOTTOM-LINE ON THE 500 SARIN ARTILLERY SHELLS REVEALED BY SANTORUM AND HOEKSTRA

Santorum and Hoekstra - and others - say that the existence of these 500 shells proves that there were WMD stockpiles in Iraq, and that it matters not when the WMD's were made.

Others say, (paraphrasing), "NO; they were so degraded they were harmless." Some conservatives are just underwhelmed.

HARMLESS?! Maybe yes; maybe no. As TKS/NRO said: OKAY, THEN YOU OPEN THEM!" Heh.

But this is the BOTTOM-LINE:

UNSCR #1441 DEMANDED that Saddam make a full and final declaration of all of his WMD's.

The INSPECTORS were meant to be auditors (not detectives) who would examine that FULL & FINAL declaration and verify it.

The fact that MANY WMD ITEMS - these 500 WMD artillery shells, and parts for NUCLEAR CENTRIFUGES, for example - were found in Iraq, and WERE NOT DECLARED BY SADDAM, PROVES BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT, BEYOND ANY DOUBT AT ALL, THAT SADDAM'S DECLARATION WAS NOT "FULL & FINAL", BUT PARTIAL, OBFUSCATORY, AND A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE HEART & SOUL OF UNSCR #1441.

UNSCR #1441 was EXPLICITLY, OVERTLY, SIMPLY, UNALTERABLY, AND OBVIOUSLY MEANT AS SADDAM'S LAST CHANCE.

The UNSC could not pass mo' tougher sanctions, or do anything else short of what the USA and the COALITION OF THE WILLING ultimately did do: attack Saddam, and dethrone this lying, genocidal, terrorist-supporting tyrant.

If those on the so-called "anti-war" side think that a more sternly worded warning than UNSC #1441 would have done ANYTHING, then they are even stupider than I have ever imagined. Or could imagine.

Saddam's decision to LIE AND NOT COMPLY with UNSCR #1441 was the reason we HAD TO GO TO WAR. The 500 WMD artillery shells found in Iraq since 2003 proves this. We should all thank Santorum and Hoekstra for putting more of the proof on the table. For all to see.

Only dingbats of denial - blinded by BDS, or by delusions of "peace through isolationism, appeasement and retreat" - refuse to see what is as plain as day - AND UTTERLY UNDENIABLE: THE WAR WAS RIGHT, LEGAL, JUST, AND A POWERFUL MESSAGE TO OUR ENEMIES: "Don't tread on me, the law, or the truth."

[ASIDE: STRATEGYPAGE posits an explanation for the DOD's three year old policy for obfuscating the existence of these shells.]

UPDATE: The shells are still deadly - according to the BBC.

RELIAPUNDIT SCOOPS NYTIMES ON BIRD FLU

TODAY'S NYTIMES:

An Indonesian man who died of H5N1 bird flu caught it from his 10-year-old son, the first laboratory-confirmed case of human-to-human transmission of the disease, according to a World Health Organization investigation of an unusual family cluster of bird-flu cases.

RELIAPUNDIT REPORTED THIS 2 DAYS AGO, ON WEDNESDAY.

This proves once again that THE ASTUTE BLOGGER gives you IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS AND ANALYSIS BEFORE THE NYTIMES DOES, AND WITHOUT ANY TRAITOROUS LEAKING OF VITAL NATIONAL SECURITY DATA, EITHER!

NYTIMES: TRAITORS IN WAR-TIME WHO SHOULD BE SHOT

PINCH SULZBERGER AND BILL KELLER - THE PUBLISHER/OWNER AND THE EDITOR OF THE NYTIMES - ARE TRAITOROUS SCUM WHO SHOULD BE CHARGED, TRIED, CONVICTED AND EXECUTED.

Here's a link to the article. I read it. It made me sick: maybe we shouldn't bother with a trial! After all THEY CONFESS:

Bill Keller, the newspaper's executive editor, said: "We have listened closely to the administration's arguments for withholding this information, and given them the most serious and respectful consideration. We remain convinced that the administration's extraordinary access to this vast repository of international financial data, however carefully targeted use of it may be, is a matter of public interest."

Terrorists planning attacks against our TROOPS and our allies and US DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW! But now they do know. Courtesy of the godless anti-American pro-socialism traitorous scum of the NYTIMES.

Where do traitorous scumbags like Keller get the idea that they have more power authority and insight than the populary elected WAR-TIME president of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and his Congressionally confirmed Cabinet members!? Sheesh.

Keller and Pinch are UNELECTED leaders of a now second-rate rag-sheet. They have no right to assume ABSOLUTE POWER over NATIONAL SECURITY SECRETS! They have no right to determine what is a proper secret and what is not. WHAT EGOMANIACAL SCUM!

I wouldn't even let Keller or Pinch have a blindfold.

AP/MSM: "Study Says Earth's Temp at 400-Year High"

Econazis admit: it WAS this warm 400 years ago.

Er, um.... so: what kind of SUV did your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather drive?!

BOTTOM-LINE: the folks who believe that current global-warming is man-made are idiots.

FRANK CAPRA, GEORGE BAILEY, AND "CHICKENHAWKS "

One of the greatest movies of all-time it IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. It was co-written and directed by Frank Capra, and starred Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. Jimmy Stewart said it was his favorite movie, and felt it'd been so popular for so many decades because it fulfilled a basic wish almost all of us have: "To see what the world would've been like had we never been born, and to find out that it's a better place because we are here."

The movie is about a character named George Bailey, whose life-story spans from 1900 to 1945. He's someone who's put is own dreams on the back-burner his whole life. George wanted to become an adventurer and a globe-trotter and then return and go to college, and become an architect/builder of magnificent edifices.

He ended up not travelling, not going to college, and merely taking over the family business, and "merely" becoming a husband and "merely" a father and and "merely" a "local community leader." (SYNOPSIS and MORE MOVIE INFO/TRIVIA/LINKS HERE.)

Well... George's younger brother, Harry, does go to college, marries a millionairess, and comes home from the war (WW2) a decorated war hero - winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor. George isn't jealous; he's proud - as is the whole Bailey clan. Uncle Billy Bailey brags to the Bailey clan's nemesis - the evil banker Mr. Potter - about his nephew Harry Bailey's heroism. Potter counters by calling George a slacker on account of the fact that George was 4F (because George was deaf in one ear as a result of an infection he got when he dove into a freezing river to save his kid brother's life when they were young boys).

Uncle Billy's reply to Potter's attack on George is one that all people accused of being CHICKENHAWKS (by moonbats and nutroots and BDS-afflicted anti-war people) should remember. Here's the exchange:

UNCLE BILLY
(showing POTTER a newspaper with a HEADLINE about Harry's Medal)
Well, well, well, Harry Bailey wins Congressional Medal. Hmm. That couldn't be one of the Bailey Boys, could it!? You just can't keep those Bailey's down, now can you Mr. Potter!?

POTTER
How does SLACKER George feel about it?

UNCLE BILLY
Very jealous, very jealous: he only lost three buttons off his vest!
Of course, "slacker George" would've won TWO of those medals if he'd gone.

POTTER
(sarcastically)
Bad ear...

UNCLE BILLY
Yes. After all Potter, some people like George HAD to stay home: not every HEEL was in Germany and Japan!

There are HEELS at home now, too. And those of us who support OUR side in the GWOT can contribute to the cause by fighting these HEELS and vigorously defending our side's goals. Just like George did.

ANOTHER BIG SCOOP FOR RELIAPUNDIT: TODAY THE WASHINGTON TIMES OPINED ON MURTHAGATE; I BLOGGED IT ON 11/20/05 - 7 MONTHS AGO

YUP, WHAT THE WASHINGTON TIMES HAD TODAY, RELIAPUNDIT WROTE ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS AGO: MURTHA IS A CORRUPT CROOK!

AND LUCIANNE LINKED TO IT. AND MIKE SAVAGE TALKED ABOUT IT TONIGHT.

THIS IS MORE PROOF THAT YOU MUST READ THE ASTUTE BLOGGER EVERYDAY!

EVEN MORE PROOF BELOW...

(Others reporting this MONTHS AFTER Reliapundit HERE.)

EVEN MORE PROOF THAT WE'RE WINNING IN IRAQ

ONLY THE MOONBATS THINK WE'RE LOSING - AND THEN THEY PROPOSE DOING WHAT THE ENEMY WANTS US TO DO : RETREAT!

The OVERWHLEMING MAJORITY of Iraqis - 77% OVERALL, but 95% of the Kurds and Shias - believe we are winning, and that their lives are better and getting better all the time and that their future is better now than under Saddam.

VIA GATEWAY PUNDIT:

To give one relevant example, a recent Brookings Institute report on Iraq, shows the majority (yes, that means more than 50%) of Iraqis are living fairly safe and secure lives:

"Insurgent attacks tended to be concentrated (85%) in 4 of 18 provinces. These provinces contain less than 42% of the Iraqi population. Half of the Iraqi population (12 provinces) lives in areas that experience 6% of all attacks. 6 provinces listed a statistically insignificant number of attacks based on population size. 80% of all attacks are directed towards Coalition Forces. 80% of all casualties are suffered by the Iraqi population."

Gateway has plenty of cool charts. If you want the truth, then check it out. (If you want to keep ranting about Bush and the neocons/Jooooze and how we're losing, then just stick your head back up your ass!)

FANNIE MAE'S $40 BILLION SCANDAL - AND HOW RELIAPUNDIT SCOOPED BOTH INSTAPUNDIT AND THE WASHINGTON TIMES BY MONTHS - IF NOT YEARS!

Today, INSTAPUNDIT linked to a WASHINGTON TIMES article about the HUMONGOUS Fannie Mae Scandal. WASHTIMES:

When most people hear the word "Enron," they mentally complete the phrase by adding the word "scandal." As reporter Lester Holt of NBC's "Today" put it in a Jan. 1 story, "Enron has been the poster child, if you will, of corporate scandals."

It isn't the only one, though. There's $40-billion scandal with most of the same elements -- even connection to prominent politicians. Just don't expect to see much about it on TV. After all, the top people involved here are Democrats.

Welcome to Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage giant. As part of a scandal that's been running nearly two years, Fannie Mae has "misstated earnings" to the tune of $10.8 billion. That's some tune.

So far, the Fannie fiasco has cost Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines and several other top executives their jobs. The stock has dropped from nearly $80 a share to around $50 -- roughly $30 billion in lost value. And the company recently settled with the federal government and agreed to pay $400 million in fines, stemming from allegations the firm fiddled with the books to ensure bigwigs got performance bonuses.

To top it off, the Fannie Mae leadership was quite well-connected in D.C., especially to the Democratic Party. The Washington Post on May 23 made this all clear in black and white. The front page of that day's Business section showed how James A. Johnson, a former campaign manager for Walter Mondale's presidential run, had created "a political powerhouse."

That story had a photo of Mr. Johnson, who had been chairman and chief executive of Fannie Mae, flanked by two other photos -- both other prominent Democrats. On one side was Mr. Raines, a former head of the Office of Management and Budget under Bill Clinton. On the other was Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick.

While the rest of the graphic listed other prominent Democrats and Republicans, the titanic captains at Fannie Mae were clearly Democrats.

I first blogged on EXACTLY this HERE on DECEMBER 23rd 2004. YUP 2004!

I then blogged it again on NOVEMBER 21st, 2005 - HERE.

I then blogged this on MAY 24th, 2006 - HERE.

This is more proof that if you want the best news analysis BEFORE anyone else is even covering the nes, then just read THE ASTUTE BLOGGER - EVERYDAY.

(The American Thinker, BIZBLOGGER and NRO did link to the 5/24 post.)

JIHADOMANIACS PLANNED MORE 9/11'S. MAYBE, UNBEKNOWNST TO MOUSSAOUI, HE WAS ACTUALLY PART OF THE SUBSEQUENT PLOTS, AND NOT 9/11

CAPT'S QUARTERS:

ABC News reports this morning on a Homeland Security document that describes at least three plans to attack America and its allies via commercial aviation. The DHS analysis notes the "ingenuity" of al-Qaeda planners even though US security efforts stopped all of the plots:

ABC News reports this morning on a Homeland Security document that describes at least three plans to attack America and its allies via commercial aviation. The DHS analysis notes the "ingenuity" of al-Qaeda planners even though US security efforts stopped all of the plots.

NOW THIS - FROM CNN:

An islamic Web site has posted a video released by a group calling itself al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula of what it said was a man Osama bin Laden intended to be the 20th hijacker in the attacks on September 11, 2001.

The video, released on Tuesday, shows clips of Fawaz al-Nashmi -- also known as Turki bin Fhaid al-Mutairi. It follows by a few days another Web posting from the group that claims al-Nashmi was the man chosen by Osama bin Laden to be the 20th hijacker.

Al-Nashmi was a Saudi who later participated in a terrorist attack against oil workers in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. He was killed in a shootout with Saudi authorities in June 2004, shortly after the kidnapping and beheading of an American engineer.

AND THEN THIS:

An audio recording of a voice claiming to be that of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been posted on a website used by Islamic militants. The message states the recently convicted Zacharias Moussaoui had nothing to do with the 11 September attacks, which is referred to as 'that mission'.

MAYBE THESE THREE ITEMS ARE CONNECTED? If the jihadomaniac cells are truly compartmentalized, then maybe Moussaoui believed he might have been part of 9/11 - but was actually part of attacks planned to occur AFTER 9/11 - (but which were disrupted by "Bushitlerhalliburtonneoconjewloverchimp").

I think this might be the case, yet I still think that Moussaoui deserved the death penalty; therefore it's a distinction without a difference.

W.H.O. CONFIRMS INDONESIAN BIRD FLU VIRUS NOW MILDLY H2H

BAD NEWS:

The World Health Organization has concluded that human-to-human transmission likely occurred among seven relatives who developed bird flu in Indonesia. In a report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, WHO experts said the cluster's index case was probably infected by sick birds and spread the disease to six family members. One of those cases, a boy, then likely infected his father, it said. The U.N. agency stressed the virus has not mutated and that no cases were detected beyond the family.

This is bad news because this transformation of the bird flu was the PREDICTED first step before the virus mutates into a full-blown and then becomes a more easily transmitted H2H virus. That's when the global pandemic begins.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING...

And the bad news is made worse by this:

Indonesia says it lacks the resources to effectively combat the spread of bird flu and is appealing for international help. It is appealing for $50 million, spread over three years, to set up a system to combat bird flu in farmed and backyard poultry. The appeal was made during a three-day meeting of international experts in the capital, Jakarta. ...

H5N1 does have the ability to transmit from human-to-human if there is continuous, close physical contact with the infected person.

Tests indicated the virus had not mutated.

Scientists were intrigued that only blood relatives were infected - from father to son, to sister, but not from father to wife or in-laws.

Scientists are also baffled that they cannot find an animal source for this cluster of infections.

The fact that scientists are BAFFLED is NOT reassuring...

MORE HERE ABOUT CHINA, TOO.

KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS WERE TORTURED AND BEHEADED

SKYNEWS/VIA DRUDGE:

The relatives of two US soldiers who were murdered in Iraq have reacted with a mix of grief and outrage over the news that the pair had been tortured and beheaded.

Our enemies in this war are evil animals: They are UN-UNIFORMED, non-signatories to the GENEVA TREATY (which is a TREATY relevant to only to signatory nations which abide by it, and not a set of universally applicable international laws).

The enemy is NOT a signatory, nor do they abide by the Treaty's rules: they are un-uniformed, they use terror - which is the deliberate targeting of civilians - and they hide among the civilain population - BOTH in violation of the Geneva treaty. Terefore, by any and all legal standards and measures the enemy is not - and should not be - covered by any protections afforded to treaty-abiding nations which have signed the Geneva Treaty.

Those who demand that the USA abide by the Geneva Treaty in our dealings with THIS enemy are either idiots and dupes or willing tools of the enemy.

This enemy deserves nothing except our total wrath and utter annihilation. By rights, the GITMO detainees can be summarily executed. (I favor firing squads, and no beheadings.)

Does this sound cruel!? Do you think it makes me like the enemy!? IT DOES NOT. We must fight fire with fire. FDR and Truman understood this; they were not shy about using the full force and fury of the US military against the enemy. That's why we won. We need to be more resolute and ruthless in our application of violence against our enemy.

NYTIMES:" A Campus for 'Scholars, Not Fighters' on a Settlement Site"

A large photo accompanies this front page article (about a new college campus in Gaza); here's the caption:

"A poster of Yasir Arafat has a place of honor on a cafeteria wall on the new campus of Al Aksa University."

This poster of Arafat (terrorist, murderer, racist, advocate of genocide, and billionaire thief - who won the Nobel "Peace Prize") and its caption tell the truth about this so-called college - it's a school poisoned by islamofascism and jihadoterrorism. The article is pure PROPAGANDA for the enemy.

Either the folks who run the NYTIMES are idiots and dupes or intelligent traitors - take your pick.

GLEANED FROM THE ARTICLE: (1) Al Aksa University is affiliated with FATAH, Arafat's terrorist organization. THE FATAH FLAG FLIES ON CAMPUS BUILDINGS. Also there's this item (2):

A new classroom building is going up to house 4,000 women, who are taught separately in this conservative society.

The NYTIMES deliberately calls the Islamofascist/misogynists who perpetrate gender segregation "conservative" in order SIMULTANEOUSLY soften the image of the enemy and to slander US conservatives.

The NYTIMES: a tool of the enemy.

GLOBAL WAR VERSUS GLOBAL-WARMING

ONE IS THREAT REAL, THE OTHER IS IMAGINED.

THE TWO HEROIC US SOLDIERS IN IRAQ WHO WERE KIDNAPPED. TOTURED, MURDERED, AND THEN HAD THEIR BODIES BOOBY-TRAPPED WERE NOT VICTIMS OF AN IMAGINARY FOE.

THE ENEMY IS A REAL ONE; IT IS CALLED AL QAEDA, AND INCLUDES MANY JIHADOMANIACS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

MANIACS WHO PERPETRATE TERROR ALL OVER THE WORLD - FROM THE PHILLIPINES THROUGH THAILAND AND PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, JORDAN, EGYPT, TURKEY, MOROCCO, AND LONDON. TO NAME JUST A FEW PLACES THEY HAVE ATTACKED, RECENTLY.

The other threat "man-made global-warming' - is merely a theoretical danger, one I am skeptical of because it is a FACT that the globe has had many MANY eras of warming and cooling, ALL before SUV's or man-made "greenhouse gases."

And then there's this FACT: As CO2 levels increased from 1940-1970, global temperatures DECLINED; this is DISPOSITIVE PROOF; increases in atmospheric CO2 cannot cause global warming. In fact, many areas where we see OBVIOUS warming are places where the local conditions are the cause - like Kilimanjaro and the Arctic.

People who are more worried about "man-made global warming:" are either DUPES or INSANE; most're victims of a deliberately provoked mass-hysteria perpetrated by politicians who literally and absolutely (and self-admittedly) want to enact laws which give government more control over the marketplace, if not the global economy, and who want to stultify the growth of trade and industrialization - the two economic engines which can actually best END worldwide poverty.

(FACT: China and south Korea have not improved their economies by becoming more socialist, but by becomg LESS socialist; DITTO Ireland, the UK, Poland, Hungary, Russia, India, etc., etc. etc. FACT: We will never redistribute our way to increased wealth, and we need to increase wealth to make more people have a higher standard of living.)

That's why I say:

To make poverty history, we need to make socialism history.

To make jihadoterrorism history, we need to make Leftism, defeatism, isolationism, pacifism, post-modernism, moral relativism and multi-culturalism history.

MORE HERE.

JOHN MURTHA: THE CONGRESSMAN FROM TORA BORA

PROOF HERE.

BY ALL STANDARIZED RATIONAL MEASURES: WE'RE WINNING IN IRAQ

PROOF HERE.

THE DEMOCRAT PARTY: TEDDY'S TOY

He backed Kerry gave him his Chief of Staff to turn around his campaign and got him nominated.

He has virtually backed fellow Leftist/millionaire Ned Lamont in his quest to unseat the cemtrist Lieberman.

NOW: is he backing GORE!? Makes sense: Gore has become a Leftie loon like Teddy.

BTW: Besides being the Dems kingmaker, Teddy is a murderer.

MURTHA: JUST ANOTHER FAT OLD WHITE-HAIRED BLOWHARD LIBERAL

MURTHA.
O'NEILL.
FOLEY.

SOME CONJECTURE ON 2008: THE LEFT, THE RIGHT AND THE THIRD WAY

Joe Klein of TIME asks:

How is it possible—with 2,500 U.S. solders dead, no discernible progress on the ground and a solid majority of the public now agreeing that the war in Iraq was a mistake—for the Democrats to seem so bollixed about the war and for the President to seem so confident? A good part of it is flawed strategy. Democrats keep hoping that the elections can be framed as a referendum on the Bush policy, and Republicans keep reminding the public that elections are a choice, not a referendum.

This is obviously TRUE WHEN THE ELECTION IS PRESENTED AS A CHOICE BETWEEN TWO CANDIDATES - between Bush and the GOP or Murtha/Sheehan/Kos and the doves of the Dem-Left - the GOP will win EVERY SINGLE TIME, in spite of spending too much and having a weak immigration policy.

But NOW - because of their low popularity - Bush and the GOP cannot win if a third party enters the contest. And this might be VERY likely. WHY?! Well, I see something else at play, a change which may signal something deeper: I believe the fact that the GOP have gained in the last two elections ('02 & '04) because what the elections were reduced to TWO CHOICES. The electorate is VERY diverse: there are liberal hawks and conservative doves - and each io these grous have diverse opinons on stem cells and gay marriage etc..

And as the electorate splits, elections can be WON by politicians and political parties which do NOT have the support of a majority, and which poll poorly popular overall -- as long as they come out number one. This is SORT OF LIKE IN THE UK'S SYSTEM - (OR ANY PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM, PERHAPS), WHERE LABOR CAN SWEEP INTO POWER DESPITE ONLY GETTING 35% of the vote.

Bush and the GOP have pretty low numbers overall - especially considering that the economy is great and the GWOT is going well (not the MSM is reporting it!). But Bush and the GOP have low numbers MOSTLY because of leakage of conservative support (and partly because of leakage of the support of independents).

These disgruntled right-of-center voters are NOT likely to EVER vote for the doves of the Dem Left - (who want to cut & run overseas and raise taxes at home).

These disgruntled voters are more likely to (a) stay home, or (b) vote for a THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE - even one who runs in a single issue, or (c) hold their noses and vote GOP. If the GOP can paint the Dems as weak on national defense and risky on traditional culture than most of the disgruntled voters will vote GOP, and the GOP will win a two=party contest.

But, I think (b) might actually be the most likely eventuality because since 1980 we've had 7 presidential elections and 4 have had third party candidates who effected the outcome (Anderson, Perot twice, and Nader in 2000).

The scenario for 2008 might be one of these: If McCain wins the GOP nomination in 2008, I'd expect a third party run for the right (an anti-immigration/anti-stem-cell/anti-campaign-finance-reform candidate) - which would lead to the election the Dem dove. If McCain loses the nomination then he, or another Left-of-center hawk, will probably run as a third party candidate and thereby elect the Dem dove.

I think some type of a repeat of the Perot/Clinton/Bush contest may very well be the norm of the next four elections. There might be a 3rd party made up of anti-immigration Righties or of Daily Kos/cut&run Lefties. And if this happens then the USA will elect Leftists as president. (As Spain and Italy have done, recently ). This will be a DISASTER for our side in the GWOT.

I also think this scenario is most likely because I don't sense that there's a candidate in either party who can unite either party - and attract independents.

Well, maybe Mitt Romney can unite the GOP: (he's a conservative and a hawk but still managed to pass some sort of universal healthcare coverage in liberal Massachusetts).

But - as far as the Dems are concerned, I think that the Kos Krowd is so loony that they're incapable of settling on a Dem moderate in order to win, and therefore will end up supporting a third party candidate; (Webb in VA is NOT a true centrist because he is a DOVE).

A third party candidate from the Left could make the Dems appear as if they occupied the CENTER if the Dems nominate DLC centrists and therefore they might win (by getting the independents and the disgruntled GOP voters - as Clinton did). I think that the only two candidates who could do this for the Dems are Warner and Richardson - or a Warner-Richardson ticket. Or Bayh. A Dem ticket made up of any two of these three would easily win a three way race and be tough to beat in a two-way race. Tyhe Kos Krowd is not likely to allow this to happen.

WILD CARD: Condi. "Romney and Rice" wins - no matter what the rest of the field looks like.