JENINGRAD REDUX? THE HADITHA MASSACRE: DID IT HAPPEN AT ALL? IF SO, WHO DID IT?

IS HADITHA A REPRISE OF JENINGRAD? MAYBE. (More on Jenin HERE and HERE. More on another MSM pro-jihado-thug propaganda hoax HERE and HERE.)

I don't know ALL the facts yet, but I believe that the al Dura Affair, Jeningrad, and Rathergate, have PROVEN that the MSM has a diathesis for anti-USA/anti-Bush/anti-Israel "news" - "news" that's "FAKE BUT TRUE" - news that false but advances their agenda.

IOW: The Left-wing dominated MSM leaps at every opportunity to broadcast unverified propaganda as long as it hurts their ideological enemies on the Right - and even if it helps the enemy. Which makes them simply traitorous.

Haditha may very well be another case of phony news.

FACT: THE BUSH ECONOMY IS BETTER THAN THE CLINTON ECONOMY

SIX MONTHS AGO FROM THE ANCHORESS (VIA DR. SANITY):

The economy has now expanded faster than 3% for 10 straight quarters. So when was the last time the economy expanded faster than 3% for 10 straight quarters? It didn’t happen during the 1990s (the longest streak was eight).

It last happened during the 13 quarters from 1Q 1983 through 1Q 1986. Not coincidentally, a president who believed in lowering taxes to stimulate economic growth was in charge the last time it happened.

So despite being at war, despite devastating storms, and despite legislative and regulatory drags on the economy like Sarbanes-Oxley, this has been most consistently growing economy in almost 20 years.

AND NOW - SOME SIX MONTHS LATER - THE ECONOMY HAS NOW ALSO WEATHERED VERY HIGH OIL PRICES, AND... YET... IT'S STILL GROWING!

AND UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO DECLINE.

AND HOME OWNERSHIP - WHERE MOST PEOPLE PUT THEIR SAVINGS, DERIVE THEIR WEALTH, AND FULFILL THEIR DREAMS - HAS STEADILY EXPANDED, TOO.

Yet polls show that most Americans feel the economy sucks. WHY?! The Left-wing dominated MSM refuses to report any good news, or give Bush credit for the good news they do report.

WHICH IS WHY, TO DEFEAT THE JIHADOMANIACS AND MAKE POVERTY AND TYRANNY HISTORY, WE MUST MAKE THE LEFT HISTORY.

UPDATE - 6/3/06: Instapundit chimes in with another angle which proves my point HERE.

LIKE THEIR COMRADES IN THE MSM THEY COVER, THE LEFTIES WHO RUN "EDITOR & PUBLISHER" SLANT POLL RESULTS AGAINST BUSH

EDITOR & PUBLISHER:

A new Quinnipiac Poll finds American voters selecting George W. Bush as easily the worst American president in the past 61 years, with fellow Republican Ronald Reagan picked as the best.

WRONG. THIS IS A RANK DISTORTION. The word "easily" is used to intensify the poll result, as if those who thought Bush was the worst, thought so MORE READILY than those who thought Nixon or Carter were the worst. This is false. The poll MERELY relates how many of those polled thought which president was the worst:

Bush was named by 34% of voters, followed by Richard Nixon at 17% and Bill Clinton at 16%, according to the Quinnipiac University national poll of over 1,500 voters released today. Leading the list for best President since 1945 is Ronald Reagan with 28%, and Clinton with 25%.

Twice as many polled thought Bush was the worst than thought Clinton was the worst. BUT:

While Democrats and Republicans split widely on the "worst" choice, 35% independent voters picked Bush.

Okay, this is logocal: GOP voters LIKE Bush, and Dem voters do not. And Independents don't RIGHT NOW. AND WHY IS BUSH LEADING, RIGHT NOW? SIMPLE: IRAQ:

The main reason cited by voters who disapprove of Bush is the war in Iraq -- listed by 43%. By 56% to 39% they say that that going to war in Iraq was the wrong thing to do. Nearly 6 in 10 want withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

If the MSM covered the good news from Iraq like they cover the bad news from Iraq - and if they reported ANY GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS AT ALL - then Bush's numbers would be higher.

BUT THE RSULTS ARE REALLY NOT NEWS AT ALL. WHY?! BECAUSE PRESIDENTIAL POPULARITY CHANGES WILDLY IN THE DECADES WHICH FOLLOW THE YEARS OF SERVICE: for example, at the time, Truman was wildly unpopular, and did not seek another term, stepping aside for the wonkish Leftie Dove Adlai Stevenson, (whom Ike beat easily, TWICE!). But now, Truman is correctly VERY HIGHLY REGARDED.

Here are some more FACTS:

Reagan's - [NOW REGARDED AS THE BEST PRESIDENT ACCORDING TO THE QUINNIPAC POLL CITED BY E&P] - 52% average approval rating for his entire presidency was topped by Kennedy's 70% average, Eisenhower's 66%, Roosevelt's 68%, and even by Johnson (54%), who eschewed running for reelection because of the unpopularity of his Vietnam policy.

In short, about half-- and sometimes more than half-- of the US public did not approve of Reagan's presidential performance.

His approval index was not much better than the lowest modern presidential averages: Truman's and Ford's, each at 46%; Carter's at 47%; and 48% for Nixon.

... the facts show that Reagan was definitely not the most popular post-war president, and during many comparable periods he was among the most unpopular.

This proves that public opinion on presidential perfromance changes over time, with perspective. CASE IN POINT: I hated Reagan at the time, but now agree: HE WAS A GREAT AND GOOD PRESIDENT, ONE OF OUR BEST. The same will be true of Bush: history will regard him as one of the very best presidents of ALL TIME.

Likewise, opinon of Clinton will change over time: soon, Clinton will join Carter in the DUNGHEAP of HORRIBLE PRESIDENTS. Carter gave us a HUGE MISERY INDEX - and the ethos of sweater-wearing defeatism, AND the hostage crisis, AND the fall of the Shah, AND the invasion of Afghanistan. Truly, ALL the problems we face now BEGAN ON HIS AWFUL WATCH. (And he has been WORSE since then: defending anti-American tyrants like Chavez and Arafat and Hamas and Kim Jung Il!)

Clinton - (whom I voted for TWICE, I'm ashamed to admit!) - fiddled around with Monica as the world "burned":

(1) We were attacked by jihadoterrorists OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and BJ Clinton did BUPKUS. And (2), he allowed the economic Bubbles to grow, and burst as he left office. And (3), he allowed the CROOKED CEO's to loot Wall Street. All the crooked CEO's - who Bush is sending to jail - did their crimes on Clinton's watch. And (4), Enron, et al., ripped off California in their energy scam on his watch. And (5), Clinton entertained Arafat in the oval office more than any president. And (6), he stood by and did nothing as MILLIONS of blacks were MURDERED as victims of racist genocide in Africa - (in Rwanda and the Sudan. YUP: MILLIONS. Yet, African-Americans still love him! Go figure!) And (7), the New Orleans levees which were BREECHED were built on HIS WATCH! And (8), Assad was allowed to occupy Lebanon compleyely unchallenged. And (9), the Pakistanis were allowed to build nukes and ILLEGALLY export nuke technology. AND (10), Saddam was allowed to abuse the UN Oil for Food prgram, and bribe our supposed allies.

I COULD GO ON, BUT I'LL STOP AT TEN - 'CAUSE I'M GETTING NAUSEOUS!

BOTTOM-LINE: This list is why Clinton should be, and soon will be, regarded as one of our worst presidents - ever.

Under Bush we are fighting back and defeating the jihadoterrorists. We've "converted" Khaddafy. We saved Georgia and Ukraine. We caught the AQKhan smuggling ring. We EXPOSED the deceitful UN-Oil-For-Food Scam, and their "sex-for-refugee status" scam. Home-ownership is at AN ALL TIME HIGH - EVEN FOR ALL MINORITIES. Unemployment is VERY VERY VERY LOW. The economy is booming. And democracy - worldwide - is ON THE MARCH.

Truly, Bush has already been a GREAT president. And soon history will judge him so. And so will the polls. But Lefties like the folks who run E&P and the MSM will never admit it.

MORE PROOF THAT POLAR SNOW AND ICE AMOUNTS HAVE VARIED FOREVER, AND ARE NOT "MAN-MADE"

6/6 UPDATE.

TCS:

Snowfall has been on the increase in parts of the United States and the world to record proportions in recent years even as summer snow and ice levels reach multi-decadal lows.

The changes relate to natural cyclical changes in the Atlantic Ocean and atmosphere that favor both more tropical activity in summer and more snowfall in winters.

Climatologists believe the current phase of the Atlantic cycle may last another decade or two. If this outlook is correct, we might expect both more big snows and hurricanes for years to come.

... As George Taylor summarized on this site in his story "Arctic Sea Ice -- Is It Disappearing?"

"A number of researchers have suggested that inflows of Atlantic water into the Arctic profoundly affect temperatures and sea ice trends in the latter ocean. Polyakov, et al (2004) are among these. The first sentence of their paper states 'Exchanges between the Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean have a profound influence on the circulation and thermodynamics of each basin.' The authors attributed most of the variability to multidecadal variations on time scales of 50-80 years, with warm periods in the 1930s-40s and in recent decades, and cool periods in the 1960s-70s and early in the twentieth century. These are associated with changes in ice extent and thickness (as well as air and sea temperature and ocean salinity). The most likely causative factor involves changes in atmospheric circulation, including but not limited to the Arctic Oscillation"

The article has charts and graphs which prove that the receding ice and increasing snow which the Arctic is currently experiencing is NOT UNUSUAL, AND HAS PROBABLY BEEN OCCURRING REGULARLY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

Therefore, the ranting eco-nuts - like Gore and McCain - who blame HUMANITY and industrializatiuon and man-made CO2 are ALL WRONG.

NYTIMES DISTORTS "ASIAN CAR MAKER" MARKET SHARE

The NYTIMES uses one of the oldest tricks in the book (and a logical fallacy called "arguing from ambiguity") to make it seem like "American" car makers who make cars in Detroit are losing to "Asian" car makers who make cars in Asia:

Sales figures reported Thursday showed that Toyota, Honda and other Asian manufacturers claimed a record 40 percent of the American market in May, when sales of fuel-efficient vehicles like the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Hyundai Sonata all rose 20 percent or more compared with May 2005.

For Detroit companies, which have continued to aggressively market their costly new sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks despite the high gas prices, market share last month dropped to 52.9 percent — their second-lowest in history.

the NYTIMES headline is the most blatant; it reads: "Asian Cars Won 40% of Market Last Month"

WHY IS THIS ANGLE BOGUS?! Because most of the so-called "Asian cars" the so-called "Asian car makers" sell here in the USA are made right here IN THE USA! They're no more "Asian cars" than a Chrsysler is a "European car." (And so-called American car makers make many of their cars - and car parts - OVERSEAS!)

This is really a story about the slowdown of the sales of BIG CARS, and the increase in sales of smaller cars, and NOT "import versus domestic cars" or "FOREIGN OWNED" makers versus "AMERICAN OWNED" makers. Especially NOT since the all car manufacturers make cars all over the world, and are ALL public companies whose stockholders are from ALL OVER THE GLOBE.

The NYTIMES is attempting to mount a sneaky, subliminal anti-free trade argument - one that has the added bonus of being anti-US business, (always a plus for anti-Americans like the NYTIMES). The NYTIMES is trying to spin it as if "AMERICAN MAKERS" were bad, and "FOREIGN MAKERS" were good. This is especially bogus when one additionally considers that much of the car design and marketing for the so-called "ASIAN car makers" is also DONE RIGHT HERE IN THE USA - BY AMERICANS!

BOTTOM-LINE: It matters NOT ONE WHIT where the cars are made - or where the corporations that make them are registered, or in what country their stock is listed - because FOREIGN TRADE IMBALANCES are also BOGUS; it's meaningless because it treats goods as if they were valueless. So called "foreign trade imbalances" are phantoms which REALLY DO NOT EXIST - (SEE MORE PROOF HERE).

When a free consumer buys the car she wants, then she is a WINNER. And the company that makes the sale WINS, TOO. Where they are and who owns them and where the car was made are IRRELEVANT. Except to anti-globalism/anti-American Lefties. Like the NYTIMES.

ADDENDUM: THE SO-CALLED "ASIAN CAR MAKERS" WHO MAKE CARS HERE HAVE BETTER LABOR CONTRACTS THAN THE OLD "BIG THREE" AND THAT'S A MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR REASON THEY MAKE MORE MONEY ON SALES OF SMALL CARS, AND HENCE MARKET THEM MORE AGGRESSIVELY/SUCCESSIVELY. THE OLD BIG THREE MAKE MORE MONEY PER UNIT ON SALES OF BIGGER CARS.

THE BAD DEALS THE OLD BIG THREE MADE WITH UNIONS IS THE MAJOR REASON THE OLD BIG THREE TEND TO MARKET BIG CARS.

THE OLD BIG THREE'S LABOR COSTS ARE HIGHER PER UNIT THAN "ASIAN CAR MAKERS" MANUFACTURING HERE IN THE USA.

BECAUSE THE LABOR-COST/UNIT-COST IN A BIG CAR IS SMALLER THAN THE LABOR-COST/UNIT-COST IN A SMALL CAR, THE OLD BIG THREE MAKE A BETTER RETURN ON BIGGER CARS. BECAUSE THEY MAKE MORE ON BIGGER CARS THEY MARKET THEM MORE AGGRESSIVELY AND SELL MORE - WHEN GAS IS PERCEIVED AS BEING RELATIVELY CHEAP.

THEIR DEPENDENCE ON BIG CAR SALES IS WHY THEIR CURRENT SALES ARE SUFFERING - BECAUSE GAS IS NOW BEING PERCEIVED AS RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE.

AL QAEDA DECLARES WAR ON SHIAS

NYTIMES:

The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq says in an audiotape posted on the Web Friday that Shiite militias are killing and raping the country's Sunni Arabs and urged Sunnis to confront them.

FOX:

The tape was a four-hour sermon by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi against Shiites, denouncing their top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as an "atheist" and saying the community had collaborated with invaders throughout Iraq's history."Oh Sunni people, wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shiite snakes who are afflicting you with all agonies since the invasion of Iraq until our day. Forget about those advocating the end of sectariansim and calling for national unity," al-Zarqawi said.

MEO:

The head of the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, called Thursday for the disarmament of the Lebanese Shiite fundamentalist movement Hezbollah, according to an audio message posted on the Internet. Zarqawi accused Hezbollah of serving as a "shield protecting the Zionist enemy (Israel) against the strikes of the mujahedeen in Lebanon," in an apparent reference to Sunni Arab militants loyal to the Al-Qaeda network.

"Why should Hezbollah be exempt from the... Taef accords" which brought an end to fighting in Lebanon's 15-year civil war, a voice purporting to be Iraq's most wanted man asked in the lengthy audio message whose authenticity could not be verified. "Hezbollah is an independent state inside Lebanon... It puts forth lying slogans about Palestinian liberation when in fact it serves as a security wall (for Israel) and prevents Sunnis from crossing its borders."

Zarqawi is a paranoid schizophrenic serial killer, and his creed is evil and his followers vermin. Zarqawi has deliberately murdered more Muslims in Iraq and Jordan in the last three years than the IDF has killed in the last ten, and Zarqawi has killed more Iraqis than anyone EXCEPT Saddam.

The Muslims of the world should be staging massive protests against Zarqawi and Al Qaeda, and not cartoons. The fact that MOST Muslim leaders remain silent in the face of Zarqawi's genocidal rants (and Binladen's and Zawahiri's and Ahmadinejad's) proves they are largely a bunch of morally bankrupt vermin themselves.

BOTTOM-LINE: Islamofascist leaders are the ONLY people who openly call for genocide, and Muslims and Leftists are the only people in the world who ignore it - and even make it HARDER for us to defeat these racist, misogynist, genocidal, child-abusing terrorists.

MORE PROOF THAT ASSAD'S MURDEROUS TYRANNY IS IN TROUBLE

BBC:

Four gunmen and a security guard have been killed in clashes between suspected militants and security forces in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Officials said a "terrorist" attack on a building near the offices of Syrian state TV and radio had been halted.

Four militants were also arrested and were being interrogated. It was not clear why the building was a target. Several international hotels, government buildings and the city university are located in the area.

Assad's weakness is drawing out his foes, and making Assad even more repressive and defensive. I think the Brammertz Report - due in two weeks - may very well lead to his overthrow, exile, or assassination. He will go soon - either like Ceausescu or Baby Doc' or Idi Amin or Gorbachev. And the neighborhood will improve as a result: Hizballah will weaken - strengthening Lebanon's democracy and securing the borders between Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Jordan will be safer, too. As will Iraq. FASTER PLEASE!

ARMY CORPS ACCEPTS BLAME FOR NEW ORLEANS LEVEE FAILURES - BUILT UNDER CLINTON

NYTIMES - TODAY:

In a sweeping new study of the causes of the disaster in New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged today that the levees it built in the city were an incomplete and inconsistent patchwork of protection, containing flaws in design and construction, and not built to handle a hurricane anywhere near the size of Katrina.

ASTUTE BLOGGER - 9/05:

"... from 1993-2000 the Clinton Adminstration refused to allow the Army Corps - or anyone else - to get the funding they needed to redo the levees and rebuild the marshes/bayous. ... Clinton ignored the dangers on this front as he did the dangers from jihadoterrorism.

ASTUTE BLOGGER - 10/05 (MSNBC):

"... the 1998 documents — filed as part of a legal dispute over costs — indicate the contractor complained about “weakness” of the soil and “the lack of structural integrity of the existing sheet pile around which the concrete was poured.” The ruling also referenced the “flimsiness” of the sheet piling. ... The construction company said as a result of these problems the walls were shifting and “out of tolerance,” meaning they did not meet some design specifications. Nevertheless, the Army Corps of Engineers accepted the work."

So, er um: the CANAL which broke was made badly DURING THE CLINTON ERA. Seems to me, that the Clinton Adminstration was asleep at the wheel on this - as they were on jihadoterrorism.

EUROTA - compiled a detailed list, with hyperlinks, of the Clinton Adminstration's numerous failures regarding levees construction funding.

Clinton did bupkus for the levee system, and tragedy struck on Bush's watch. And Bush is cleaning up the mess.

SOUND FAMILIAR?! It should: Clinton did bupkus against jihadoterrorism, and tragedy struck on Bush's watch. And now, Bush is cleaning up the mess.

Clinton did bupkus as unscrupulous CEO's egged on an "irrationally exuberant" market, leading to "bubbles" - "BUBBA'S BUBBLES", I call them. And again, Bush has to clean up the mess.

BOTTOM-LINE: Clinton was the second worst president in the last century - only Carter - (on whose watch the USSR invaded Afghanistan, and Khomeini took over Iran, and Saddam took over Iraq) - was worse. (And don't forget the MISERY INDEX under Carter!)

MRS. JOHN FRANCOIS KERRY-HEINZ FIRING THOUSANDS OF WORKERS

REUTERS:

Heinz said it expects to cut 2,700 jobs and exit 15 plants in 2007 to cut costs. Another five plants could be closed in 2008, it said.

The company's board of directors also approved $1 billion for share repurchases over the next two years.

Closing 20 (TWENTY!) plants in the next 2 (TWO) years while BUYING BACK THEIR OWN STOCK TO BOOST ITS PRICE.

Are these actions in keeping with Democrat Party values and policies, or... are Mr. and Mrs. Heinz-Kerry 2 (two) of the most hypocritical slimeballs on the entire Left!?

Remember, they have plenty of competition:

Gore uses private jets; Teddy Jo is a murderer; Barack Obama doesn't know the meaning of the words LOYALTY or HONOR; John Edwards made all his money LYING to juries and taking 35% of the net OUT OF THE MOUTHS of the supposed victims he was defending; and so on. They decry high gas prices and yet vote against drilling in ANWR (or pff the coast of the USA!), AND they even oppose a wind-farm off the coast of Nantucket.

What a collection of liars, hypocrites, phonies, dupes, and appeasers. The only things that keep them in power is their demagoguery and fear-mongering. And a Left-wing dominated MSM.

MORE NEWS OF INCREASED REPRESSION FROM REACTIONARY SYRIA

UPI/World Peace Herald:

A human rights activist speaking to United Press International on condition of anonymity stressed that "under present conditions," the opposition's activities are viewed as provocative to the Syrian authorities.

"There is no doubt that the opposition has moved from a tight domain limited to individual parties to a larger context that grouped all types of political parties from extreme right to extreme left, and this has alarmed and angered the authorities," the activist said. The activist was referring to the Damascus Declaration, signed by Syrian political activists representing all aspects of the opposition, including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood Organization whose members face the death penalty under law 49.

The declaration called for ending the emergency law; ensuring public freedoms and the liberty of expression; introducing reforms allowing the creation of a multi-party system; combating corruption; and conducting a dialogue for initiating change.

People who believe in Universal Human Rights - as defined by Eleanor Roosevelt's UN Declaration of same - should be in an uproar over the situation in Syria. Especially because of this - from Khaleej Times:

A hunger strike by Syrian lawyer and rights activist Anwar Bunni, arrested in a crackdown on opposition figures seeking better ties with Lebanon, entered its third week on Thursday, his wife said. Bunni has been on “only water and some tea. He has lost several kilos (pounds) but his morale is good”, said Raghida Bunni after visiting her husband in Adra prison, near Damascus. She said he was continuing his hunger strike “in protest at being held in jail and the manner in which he was arrested” on May 18.

Assad's murderous regime is every bit as bad as Hamas and Ahmadinejad. And Assad is getting worse as his hold on power is evermore threatened. Stay tuned...

ADDENDUM: When the jihadomaniacs go on a hunger strike in GITMO the Left - and the MSM they dominate - are all over the story. But when a freedom-fighter like Anwar Bunni goes on a hunger strike, the Red Cross, and the ACLU and The Nation and the MSM are SILENT.

That's because the Left are really not "anti-war"; they're on the other side.

MORE SIGNS ASSAD REALIZES HE'S CORNERED

CHICAGO TRIB:

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has found religion.

Green and yellow banners fluttered at every turn in this capital's ancient stone bazaar a month after they marked the Prophet Muhammad's birthday April 10. For the first time in years, Muslims were allowed to openly observe that day. Other government bans on religious life also have diminished in recent weeks: Mosques are open between prayers. Religious weddings, once deemed to be risky public assembly, no longer need state security clearance.

Mosques are urging women to join study groups that champion their role in Islam. The state military academy has invited religious authorities to speak for the first time in decades.

In the street, Syrians of every faith are adjusting to a strange political spring. The oft-brutal regime, while cracking down anew on secular reform advocates, is courting favor with Islamists to keep at bay some publicly defined devils: dissidents and the Bush administration.

... In February, state security in Damascus allowed mobs to torch the Danish Embassy to protest the portrayal of the prophet in cartoons in Danish media. ... Assad gained political points in Syria for allowing Muslims to vent, even excessively, over the prophet insult. Analysts said the regime was also sending a message to the West. "They want the international community to be afraid," said Anwar al-Bunni, a human-rights attorney. "Syrian Islamists are not radical, but they want to make them out to be a threat." (Al-Bunni made his remarks in an interview with the Chicago Tribune in April. Last week, he and five other secular human-rights activists were arrested by Syrian police.)

"The Islamist card is a very useful card for them," said Ibrahim Hamidi, a correspondent for Al Hayat newspaper.

Assad - the murderous tyrant of Syria - is an Alawite and a Baathist/socialist. His only major ally is the tyranny of Iran, with whom he has signed a mutual defense pact. The move towards from somewhat secularized Baathism to overt islamofascism is another DEFENSIVE move by the evermore beleaguered Leftist tyrant. The more pressure we put on him, the more reactionary he will get: more arrests and crackdowns, and more jihado-jingoism will certainly be evident as we get closer to the UNSC's Brammertz Report on the Hariri murder - which is suppposed to be published on June 15. Assad's days are numbered.

EVEN MORE PROOF GLOBAL-WARMING IS NOT MAN-MADE

BBC/NATURE:

Fifty-five million years ago the North Pole was an ice-free zone with tropical temperatures, according to research. A sediment core excavated from 400m (1,300ft) below the seabed of the Arctic Ocean has enabled scientists to delve far back into the region's past. An international team has been able to pin-point the changes that occurred as the Arctic transformed from green house to ice house. The findings are revealed in a trio of papers published in the journal Nature.
...
"This time period is associated with a very enhanced green house effect," explained Appy Sluijs, a palaeoecologist from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and the lead author on one of the papers. "Basically, it looks like the Earth released a gigantic fart of green house gases into the atmosphere - and globally the Earth warmed by about 5C (41F). ... Appy Sluijs points out that the data reveals that some of the climate models used to detail the Arctic's history got things wrong, and as they are the same models that predict our future climate they may need adjusting. [He continued:] ... "... our data suggest, natural processes operating in the past have also resulted in a significant warming and cooling of the Arctic."

There were no HUMANS around 55 MILLION years ago, let alone any SUV's or anything man-made which might emit CO2 or any greenhouse gases. Therefore, this proves that the Earth is perfectly capable of warming - and cooling - on its own.

FACT: Man-made CO2 and so-called greenhouse gases have INCREASED steadily since 1840, but global temperatures HAVE NOT STEADILY INCREASED; global temps declined between 1940-1970. This DISPROVES the hypothesis that man-made CO2 or man-made greenhouse gases causes global-warming. CASE CLOSED.

SOME SCIENTISTS THINK THAT THE CAUSE NOW - AND 55 MILLION YEARS AGO - IS THE SUN. (Hat tip PRAIRIE PUNDIT. More HERE - from TAB/CSM. And more on the 55 MILLION year old GLOBAL WARMING era HERE.)

UPDATE - from NRO: (1) an article about a leading scientist AND GLOBAL WARMING SEPTIC, Bill Gray, in the WASH POST. And (2), this comment which may explain why the Leftie Loons have gone full-press on their bogus man-made global warming bogeyman:

"In just three, five, maybe eight years, he [Gray] says, the world will begin to cool again." and it hit me...Holy cow. The global warming alarmists KNOW the earth is going to begin cooling in a few years - and their alarm is that they have to have Kyoto-like programs in place that they can point to as the cause of the cooling.

If they can succeed at this - they effectively control the world. In a few decades they can revive the "earth is cooling and there's an ice age coming" alarmism - and prescribe policies that ensure they have the power they want to manage that impending climate disaster.

I think he is right. Many on the Left know damn well that man-made global-warming is BUNK, but they LIE about it and use scare tactics and demagogue the issue in order to make partisan gains, and increase the power of the State in the marketplace. Others on the Left are just plain old idealistic DUPES.

More HERE.

CARTOON EDITOR REBUKES THE PC, RELATIVIST LEFT

FLEMMING ROSE/DLC; (he's the Danish editor who published the Muhummed cartoons):

Europe today finds itself trapped in a posture of moral relativism that is undermining its liberal values. An unholy three-cornered alliance between Middle East dictators, radical imams who live in Europe, and Europe's traditional left wing is enabling a politics of victimology. This politics drives a culture that resists integration and adaptation, perpetuates national and religious differences, and aggravates such debilitating social ills as high immigrant crime rates and entrenched unemployment.

... multiculturalism that has all too often become mere cultural relativism is an indefensible proposition that often justifies reactionary and oppressive practices. Giving the same weight to the illiberal values of conservative Islam as to the liberal traditions of the European Enlightenment will, in time, destroy the very things that make Europe such a desirable target for migration.

Europe must shed the straitjacket of political correctness, which makes it impossible to criticize minorities for anything -- including violations of laws, traditional mores, and values that are central to the European experience. ...

Maybe Europe needs to take a leaf -- or a whole book -- from the American experience.

I agree whole-heartedly. And I urge the DLC to take a clear and bold and LOUD stand against multiculturalism and PC and moral relativism. Which means they must take on the Lefties/doves in their OWN party. They've done this before: it led to Clinton's victories, in part. Whereas the Left gave us McGovern.

[ASIDE: The Lefties/doves/Kos-sacks think the DLC is the same as the GOP. They're wrong. They're also wrong about Bush - who is closer to the DCL on some issues than he is to his own base!]

Via IBLOGA.

[ADDENDUM: Pope Benedict's book attacks the same things.]

BIRDS OF A FEATHER - PART 8

TOTALITARIANS LIKE EACH OTHER.

VIA DR. SANITY. (WHO MADE AN INCREDIBLY GREAT CHART WHICH ILLUSTRATES THE EVOLUTION OF LEFTISM.)

PHOTO-ESSAY: BUSH IS A MENSCH; KERRY IS A CLOWN

ELEVEN PAGES OF FUN PICS WHICH PROVE THAT BUSH IS A MENSCH, AND KERRY A PHONY CLOWN. (Via FLARES.)

MORE PROOF THAT HAWKS WERE RIGHT ABOUT VIETNAM: USA AND VIETNAM SIGN TRADE PACT

WASH POST/AP:

The United States and Vietnam were set to sign a trade pact Wednesday that removes one of the last major hurdles in Hanoi's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

The deal would knock down further trade barriers between the two countries, who saw bilateral trade rise 22 percent to $7.8 billion last year, by ending U.S. quotas on Vietnamese textiles and garments and giving American companies greater access to a growing Southeast Asian market. It also paves the way for Vietnam to reach its goal of becoming a member of the global trading body before Hanoi hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, which President Bush is scheduled to attend.

"This is one of the last steps in the process of Vietnam joining WTO," said Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who added that Hanoi's admission to the international group would provide "a clearer roadmap in reforming the business environment and opening up the economy."

The fact that the Vietnamese communists/Marxists/socialists - (call them what you want) - now SEEK to get the USA and other captialist/industrialized/free-market economies involved in the Vietnamese economy PROVES that Leftism is bankrupt and that the North Vietnamese resisitance to South Vietnam's captialism and enagement with the USA was DEAD WRONG: to the tune of MILLIONS OF VIETNAMESE NEEDLESSLY KILLED.

Ho Chi Minh and his socialist minions might have done this very thing in 1965 and thereby avoided the entire USA-North Vietnamese conflict. The USA could have been investing in Vietnam since 1965, and the Vietnamese people could have enjoyed the last 40 years under liberty and capitalism, instead of tyranny and poverty.

The "commies" who still run Vitenam now accept that they must open up their economy and have free markets and industrialization and global trade if the Vietnamese people are to enjoy lives of plenty and health. (ASIDE: Though jerks like Jose Bove still deny that capitalism, industrialization, and global trade are the roads to liberty and prosperity! YUP: Leftists within non-Leftist nations are living in total denial!)

Had the North Vietnamese chosen this route in 1965, then the 65 million Vietnamese people would be as rich and as free as South Koreans today, and the millions who were sent to die to defend Marxism (and defeat capitalism) would be alive.

Ho Chi Minh was wrong, and millions died as a result - NEEDLESSLY. The so-called "peace movement"/"anti-war" movement was just as wrong. The North Vietnamese socialists and the so-called "peace movement" has ALL the blood on THEIR hands.

The hawks were right. As usual. Vietnam was a noble cause. We were winning the battle. We had completely Vietnamized the war by 3/29/73' THERE WERE NO USA TROOPS IN SOUTH VIETNAM AFTER THAT DATE. The South Vietnamese government did not fall until 1975 - when the Democrat Doves pulled the plug on our allies and stopped sending them financial aid.

If Dean, Pelosi and Reid and the Democrat Doves get the chance, they will do the same thing again. The Democrat Doves will abandon Iraq, and Afghanistan (which is heating up again). The Doves will abandon Lebanon, and appease Assad and Iran. That's why the doves cannot be trusted with our national security.

ADDENDUM: We lost nearly as many men in Korea in three years as we did in Vietnam in TEN YEARS. We NEVER stabbed out South Korean allies in the back - as we did our South Vietnamese allies. As a result, NOT ONLY have the 65 million Vietnamese people lived under tyranny and poverty, but 500,000 were put into "re-education" camps, 2 million fled as Boat People, and Pol Pot took power next door and murdered THREE MILLION!

By ANY and ALL logical measures, the Vietnamese War was a noble cause which might have at least allowed half of the Vietnamese people enjoy what ALL HUMANS EVERYWHERE DESERVE: liberty. The surrender by the Leftie Doves was but a dark and sorry chapter.

You don't have to take my word for it, just read the news article I linked to; it PROVES that the Vietnamese have admitted that socialism was a failure, which implies that their war against the South of Vietnam, capitalism and the USA was a HUGE mistake. REPEAT: the deals they are making now are deals which they could have had 40 years ago if the North hadn't been run by Marxists and Soviet clients.

Instead, over the last 40 years, socialism has done to Vietnam what it is doing to Zimbabwe - and what it has done EVERYWHERE else it has ever taken power - limit libery and spread poverty. Which is no surprise; after all, socialism is the road to serfdom.

Well, now the Vietnamese are going back... back to a fork in that road, and turning down the road not taken, taking the road to liberty and trade and industrialization and prosperity. It's a road they could've taken 40 years ago. Pity.

TO DEFEAT THE JIHADOTHUGS WE MUST DEFEAT THE LEFT

Here's a photo-essay (with only one photo) which proves the looniness of the Left and the menace they pose the West. Via IBLOGA.

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT PROVES THAT INCREASES IN ATMOSPHERIC CO2 LEADS TO INCREASES IN NATURAL SEQUESTRATION, WHICH MEANS GLOBAL-WARMING IS BUNK!

A RECENT SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT HAS PROVEN THAT INCREASES IN ATMOSPEREIC CO2 LEVELS CAUSES INCREASES PLANT GROWTH. NATURE (hat tip ACE):

In the study, Mohan and her co-workers pumped extra CO2 over three large circular plots of North Carolina pine forest. For six years, the plants inside were exposed to an extra 200 parts per million of CO2 over today's atmospheric concentration of about 380 parts per million, roughly what we might expect from pollution by the middle of this century.

... Mohan's experiment sought to check whether the plants shoot up in the wild, as they do in greenhouse experiments. "Yes, dramatically," was the answer. ...

Other research has suggested that vines tend to grow particularly fast in response to higher CO2 levels, and that vines are increasing in abundance all over the planet. Unlike trees, which use extra carbon to grow more wood, vines use it to produce more leaves. The extra leaves help the plant to harvest even more CO2, the cycle continues and the vines flourish.

IOW:

Increases in atmopspheric CO2 leads to increases in plant growth, which leads to increases in CO2 sequestration, which is homeostasis, which means that increases in atmosphereic CO2 levels is no threat to life on Earth. ZERO.

Will someone please tell Al Gore to shut up, now? NOW!

BTW: If increasing CO2 warms the Earth, then algae growth would also increase and this would also sequester more CO2. IOW: there can be no crisis.

So why foes the Left persist in perpetrating this hoax? Because it's a way to justify greater government interference in the free market and higher taxes.

CLINTON FED APPOINTEE RATTLES MARKETS

Has the FED RESERVE become a tool of liberal partisan hacks seeking to hurt Bush and the GOP!?

I say this because today's STEEP DECLINE in the DJIA and the NYSE - and other stock indices - occurred in large measure because a Clinton appointee said some very worrying things about inflation on CNBC today. NYTIMES:

Michael Moskow, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, that fanned fears of inflation on Wall Street. In an interview with CNBC, Mr. Moskow expressed concern that inflation was running high, raising fears that the central bank could raise interest rates when it meets late next month.

Fed Reserve leaders - like the Secretary of Treasury and the POTUS - are usually more oblique in their comments and rarely say things which could rattle the markets. But this Clinton appointee seems to be breaking the mold - and right as the mid-terms season is beginning to warm up, no less.

Is he doing this to drive the markets down, and to hurt confidence in the economy - as the MSM has been doing for the last 5 years!? IS HE DOING THIS TO HELP THE DEMS?!

I think so.

PARIS INTIFADA: ROUND 2

They're at it again. Via NO PASARAN.

MORAL: Those who appease terrorists find no relief, and no shelter. They just become known as easy prey. And soom become targets again.

Europe must either fight back or become an outpost of Islam. Paris may very well become Paristanbul in my lifetime. And Notre Dame a mosque. As a matter of fact, I believe that if Sarkozy loses to the socialist candidate, that then France will become the first domino to fall. The election is NEXT YEAR.

MEMORIAL DAY

MORE THAN BARBECUES. A TIME WE MUST REMEMBER THE SACRIFICES OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SERVED AND PERISHED IN OUR ARMED FORCES:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

AMEN.

And may God Bless all the men and women of our armed forces - and their families.