FACT: DEFEATISM HAS NEVER LED TO A SINGLE VICTORY

There are plenty of DEFEATISTS around these days (see here and here and here and HERE for a complete roundup).

DEFEATISTS who claim Israel was defeated by Hizballah; (only that ain't true). DEFEATISTS who claim that we are losing in Iraq and Afghanistan; (only that ain't true). DEFEATISTS who claim that our economy is headed for a crash because of the Bush tax cuts or because we're in a real estate bubble (and it's gonna pop), or because of the high cost of a gallon of gasoline; (only none of these are true).

And now, there are DEFEATISTS who claim that the GOP will be wiped out in November; (they cite polls which are biased and distorted). These DEFEATISTS are as wrong as the others. That's not wishful thinking; that's a fact.

By election day: (1) the DJIA will be over 12,000; (2) unemployment will remain at its current historically low level; (3) gasoline will be cheaper then than even now - and now it is cheap; (4) USA casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan will remain low and enemy casualties will remain high; (5) Iraqi civilian deaths and LOCAL MUSLIM SECTARIAN strife (something which has been common to Islam for about 1350 years, and which was recently re-ignited in Iraq by deliberate provocation of al Qaeda) will continue - though on a reduced level; and (6) the GOP will work hard to get out the vote, and the complacent defeatists on the Left will not.

That's why the Democrats should fare as well nationwide as "Lefty Lamont" will in Connecticutt.

But if you want higher taxes, slower growth, less free trade; and if you want less counter-attacking in the GWOT and more appeasing of the enemy; and if you want more kow-towing to the French and to the UN; and if you want no NSA intercept progam and no Patriot Act, and no fence between us and Mexico, and if you want the USA to be harder on Israel and softer on Hamas and Hizballah - THEN BY ALL MEANS, STAY HOME - OR VOTE DEMOCRAT! It's the same thing.

10/15/06 UPDATE: ROVE AND BUSH AGREE WITH ME; (WASHPOST):

Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill are bracing for losses of 25 House seats or more. But party operatives say Rove is predicting that, at worst, Republicans will lose only 8 to 10 seats -- shy of the 15-seat threshold that would cede control to Democrats for the first time since the 1994 elections and probably hobble the balance of Bush's second term.

In the Senate, Rove and associates believe, a Democratic victory would require the opposition to "run the table," as one official put it, to pick up the necessary six seats -- a prospect the White House seems to regard as nearly inconceivable. ... The official White House line of supreme self-assurance comes from the top down. Bush has publicly and privately banished any talk of losing the GOP majorities, in part to squelch any loss of nerve among his legions. Come January, he said last week, "We'll have a Republican speaker and a Republican leader of the Senate." ...

To Rove and the small cadre of operatives who have been at his side throughout the administration -- including Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and White House political director Sara Taylor -- confidence flows from a conviction that a political operation that has produced three consecutive national victories is capable of one more, despite voter disaffection with Iraq and GOP scandals in Washington. Republican officials say the three closely coordinate strategy, with constant e-mails and a daily conference call. They see this familiarity -- in many respects it is the same team leading GOP strategy as in the past two elections -- as one advantage they have over Democrats, whose leaders on Capitol Hill and national party officials have been at odds on strategy.

So far, there have been few surprises in the Bush-Rove playbook, which seems little changed over the past four years. It includes tapping the powers of incumbency, mobilizing Christian conservatives and others in the GOP base, and seeking to polarize the electorate around national security and taxes. A huge effort to raise money by Bush, Vice President Cheney and first lady Laura Bush seems to be paying off: By Taylor's calculation, the various GOP campaigns and party committees will have a $55 million money advantage in the final three weeks of the campaign.

The RNC is also planning another big get-out-the-vote drive in the final three days before the elections. Rove believes that many of the polls in individual House and Senate races understate what he expects to be a GOP advantage in turnout, according to one party strategist who has heard him discuss the midterms.

And that's why WE WILL WIN! Now stop yer whining and help GOTV!

UPDATE #2: THE NYTIMES seems to agree with me and Rove:

Democrats Have Intensity, but G.O.P. Has Its Machine"

If there's a problem it's with GOP DEFEATISM - THE NYTIMES:

... the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted Oct. 5-8, 46 percent of Democrats said they were more enthusiastic about voting this year than in previous Congressional elections, compared with 33 percent of Republicans.

SO STOP WHINING: IN YOUR HEART YOU KNOW THE GOP IS BETTER. GET OUT AND VOTE GOP! Or sit back and cry when they swear in SPEAKER PELOSI!

RICE'S REMARKS TO THE AMERICAN TASK FORCE ON 'PALESTINE': THE MORE I READ THE SICKER I GET

The Jerusalem Post has more of US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice's Tuesday night remarks to the American Task Force on 'Palestine.' The more I read of this, the sicker I get. Here are the parts that I did not blog previously: Rice compared the vision of Palestinian statehood to that of American independence and the civil rights battles in one of the strongest endorsements from the Bush administration to the idea of an independent Palestinian state.

"I should never have grown up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama to become the secretary of state of the United States of America," Rice said, adding that eventually, once these visions do come true, "we wonder why did anyone ever doubt that it was possible."

Rice emphasized US support to the Palestinian people, by increasing the American foreign aid to the Palestinians to $468 million, and by putting in place an international mechanism which will allow transfer of financial assistance to the Palestinians without going through the Hamas government. [Money is fungible and Fatah is no better than Hamas. CiJ]

Continue reading here.

LEFTIST IS FRONTRUNNER IN ECUADOR RACE

QUITO, Ecuador:

Name a Latin American politician who frequently resorts to anti-American rhetoric and refers to President Bush as a devil. For those tempted to say Hugo Chavez, here's another hint: He's also the frontrunner in Ecuador's presidential election on Sunday.

Economist Rafael Correa, tall, charismatic and youthful at 43, is surging into the lead as a fresh-faced outsider in what could be the latest gain for Latin America's leftward shift. But he faces a strong challenge from Alvaro Noboa, a banana billionaire who is also pushing a populist line, but from the capitalist end.

"We will do away with the lying oligarchy!" Correa shouted Thursday night, getting soaked as he closed his campaign in a drenching downpour with some 3,000 supporters on a blocked-off avenue. "We will take it in the first round, the first round!"

Say what you will about Hugo Chavez, he has definitely started something in Latin and South America. Even more distressing is the possibility, and it looks likely, that Daniel Ortega will soon be elected back into power in Nicaragua. One wonders if all the attention that is being paid to the Middle East and the WOT (which should be paid, mind you) is taking too much attention away from our neighbors to the South as the neighborhood goes to hell in a handbasket. It's not that these thugs are doing anything political groundbreaking. It's a theme as old as time. The appeal to the poorest of the population and scapegoat the rich and successful...it's they who are keeping you poor, it's they who are keeping you from being prosperous.

Funny, that sounds very similar to the what the Nazis said about the Jews. The more things change...

Leftist Imperialism: Ban For Boy With Two Snacks

One of the words the Left likes to throw around to criticize the Bush Administration is "imperialism." Imperialism is defined as:

"The policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies."

There is no one better at colonization than the Left. Only the Left starts by colonizing your life, your very freedom. Watch as the Left to make life perfect for us all, no matter what we think of it:

A boy aged 10 has been banned from his school dining hall because his packed lunch broke the government's healthy eating guidelines. The father of Ryan Stupples is protesting after his son was forced to eat in the headmaster's office at Lunsford primary school, Larkfield, Kent, because his lunch contained two snacks, instead of one.

Ryan's lunch consisted of a sandwich, fruit, fromage frais, cake, mini cheese biscuits and a bottle of water. The cake and the biscuits broke the snack limit. They were discovered when a teacher checked his lunch box. Michael Stupples, 41, said: "What 10-year-old boy won't get upset when he's out of a dining hall in front of everyone and made to eat his lunch in the head teacher's office?"

Malcolm Goddard, the headmaster, said: "We take healthy eating very seriously and everyone is aware of our new policies."

See? You damned well better know that they take healthy eating very seriously, and they have ways of making sure you eat healthy. More leftist colonization of your freedom:

Skinny Models Banned From Catwalk

14 Year-Old Girl Arrested For Objecting To Working In School Group With Kids Who Didn't Speak Her Language

Man Reprimanded For Using Improper Pronoun

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS WEEKLY R&R REVIEW - week #3

There's more to life than war, taxes and politics - and a lot of it's more fun, too! That's why every WEEKEND, here at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, we post our opinions on some of the cultural things we're into, things we think you might also find entertaining, enriching, and stimulating. Good for "Rest & Relaxation" - "R&R".

Please check it out every week - and tell your friends. We just might turn you on to something cool. After all, the arts - ALL ARTS, not just fine arts - are a big part of what our liberty is for, and what we're fighting to defend!

Reliapundit: THE REVOLT

This is a memoir of the liberation of Palestine from imperial British rule and it's ascension to independent Jewish statehood by the brilliant and brave leader of the Irgun - Menachem Begin, (who later became president of Israel and the man who made peace with Egypt). The beginning of the book is especially significant - in terms of contemporary headlines, and because of the stories of Begin's time in Soviet concentration camps: these stories are heart-breaking and incredibly inspiring. And they're why I think everyone should read this book. Begin's rendering of this early part of his sojourn truly reveals the ineffable heart and soul of Zionism. (I will try to post an incredible excerpt later.) Begin dedicates this book - more or less - to a new creature born in the era following WW2 and during the war for Israeli independence - the fighting Jew. May this creature never disappear from the face of the Earth.

Gormless Norm' - PECKINPAH!

There's been a conspicuous absence of pro-American movies during the current war. What do we see instead? In Flightplan early on we suspect that Middle Eastern-looking men are the bad guys; when they're not, we're supposed to feel guilty for this. Syriana weaves a vague and silly Michael Moore plot which is best summed up simply as "U.S., boooo!" I got excited when I saw the first previews for Kingdom of Heaven. That lasted about 10 minutes, until I found out the movie was about noble Muslims defending the Holy Land from the crude, boorish, evil Christian crusaders, along with an absurd Rainbow Coalition that never existed in history. But it should have, according to Hollywood. Well, at least it got good reviews from Muslims. Everybody was happy under Islam. This is what Hollywood gives us. Compare this with Hollywood's contribution during WWII. Clearly, Hollywood needs to be drafted.

I liked the remake of Walking Tall they made with the Rock. Guy comes back from the war, things in his town are rotten, he picks up a 2X4 and cleans things up. We need more like that, but even more on point. As long as Hollywood doesn't seem capable of writing anything original anymore, here's the one film I would love for them to remake: Sam Pekinpah's Straw Dogs. Pekinpah has a reputation for making violent films, and this one is no exception. In fact, it is probably more violent than Wild Bunch, and more to the point it perfectly captures Pekinpah's philosophy of violence, as in, it's part of the world, and sometimes you have to resort to it. For anyone reading this blog, I don't need to explain how the various events in the movie are redolent in our current situation, and according the the views that most of us share. Simply, if you haven't seen it, go get it right now, and you will thank me.

Pauline Kael of the NYT called it a "fascist" movie. Pauline Kael is the person who expressed shock that Nixon had won, because "everyone she knew" voted for McGovern. Ha ha. Pauline Kael would probably be among the legions who call LGF "fascist." I think that's enough said. Just rent it, I'm not even going to give away anything about the plot. It has Dustin Hoffman. It's brilliant and has the best tension-build up ever, exploding in violence in the end. It's among my all-time top movies. The DVD is available in the Criteron collection. Oh yes, don't rent from Blockbuster, it will be the R version, make sure you get the unrated or original version.

Pastorius: What do you get when you mix the Who, MC5 and Aretha Franklin? You get one of the most rockin' bands of our time: The Bellrays:



Popinjay: De-Phazz

The past couple of years, I've really gotten into Trip-Hop which is a electronica or downtempo music that is a combination of jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop and whatever else you want to throw in the stew-pot. Thievery Corporation, Massive Attack, Zero 7 are just a few examples.

Recently, I've been listening to the De-Phazz album Death By Chocolate which features an outstanding track called "Online" that has some poignent lyrics for us Blogger types:

Well you've got to meet me online
Been disconnected for a long time
Well you've got to meet me online
I wanna download you for a lifetime

Reliapundit: Until next time: have fun: enjoy the things the enemy wants to outlaw.

THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE LEFTIST TALKRADIO NETWORK "AIR AMERICA" WAS DUE TO THE BANKRUPTCY OF LEFTISM

EMAIL TO JONAH AT THE CORNER:

Your comment ... indirectly illustrates perfectly the mindset of the Air America crowd. You or I might think about starting a radio program devoted to a particular political polarity in, say, Austin. It may do very well in Austin at which time we or someone else might say "lets see how it plays in Muncie, etc." and on and on until we have expanded nationwide into markets where the show does well, like Limbaugh and the like.

The Air America crowd says "we'll build a nationwide network and keep pouring money into it no matter how few people listen and it will thus be a success", just like a government program. What they have found, however, is that, unlike with a government program, the money does not automatically keep pouring in. There are only so many poor childrens' piggy banks that can be raided and even liberal investors want a rate of return eventually.

EXACTLY! Air America failed because the folks who started it are Leftists and their business plan was Leftist. And so doomed to failure as was the USSR and Red China.

ALSO: Leftists in the USA have NO NEED for Left-wing talk-radio; the Left already controls the MSM and already gets all the biased and distorted partisan news they want! It was due to this overwhelming Left-wing bias in the MSM and the dirth of objective right-of-center news that the Right migrated to radio.

Is North Korea China's "Terrorist Proxy"?

I'm a little under the weather today, so I'm going to rely completely on the writings of another blogger to make my point. From David, at Atlas Shrugs:

North Korea is to China and Russia, as Hezballah/Hamas is to Iran and Syria. With Israel being the target through manipulative methods of Iran and Syria. The de-nuclearization and removal of American troops from South Korea is China and Russia’s target.

The diplomatic game is being played instead of black and white being pointed out. The world and the Liberal left wanted us to go to the UN for Iraq. We did, when we did not have to or should have, but we get no appreciation from the world or the Left for doing that. We go to the UN over North Korea and the world, the Left and even Kofi Annan says ‘go talk to North Korea’, don’t go to the UN. What is not being said on the world stage is China, Russia, and North Korea want the American problem to go away i.e. troops, bases, and American nukes on the Korean Penisula.

All of the nations at play, the UN, the Left and the media paint this as an American problem of not supplying North Korea with food and oil. Any nation can do that, that is why it is not a food or oil issue. When a nation wants to be an enemy of the US then they pull the UN card of diplomacy and protection. When the US pulls the UN card of diplomacy and participation we are told ‘sorry, we don’t accept that card’. The UN has become a tool of diplomacy against us, but that is another story. China and Russia need to be called on the carpet and the US needs to point out their involvement. We ignored Iran and Syria’s use of Hezballah and Hamas for years and now we finally point it out. It is time to point out China and Russia’s membership and participation in this manipulation.

After North Korea tested their bombs China was so quick to say ‘we support strong sanctions against North Korea’. We heard this in the MSM for three days. Then it was time for China and Russia to put rubber to the road ...

... and, and, and, we'll just see what China and Russia do. In fact, supposedly, we'll be seeing the vote tomorrow. What do you think will happen?

Condi Rice does a James Baker imitation

On September 21, I reported that the United States was downgrading its strategic relationship with Israel as a result of the country's failure to vanquish Hezbullah in this summer's war. Last night, we got yet another indication of that downgrade, as Condaleeza Rice did her best James "F**k the Jews, they don't vote for us anyway" Baker imitiation.

Rice spoke to a dinner marking the third anniversary of the American Task Force on 'Palestine,' or as the group's own web site called it, "ATFP's first annual gala honoring 'Palestinian Americans.'" One of the honorees at the dinner was Professor Mujid Kazimi of MIT, and his award was presented by 'Ambassador' Afif Safieh, "Chief Representative of the PLO Mission to the United States." In other words, Rice shared the podium with the purveyor of the following views:

Continue reading....

AP: "2 Feet of Snow Falls on Western N.Y. " - I BLAME BUSH!

More snow earlier than ever before:

snowstorm left parts of the Great Lakes and Midwest blanketed with 2 feet of snow Friday morning, prompting widespread blackouts, closing schools and halting traffic. The snow downed scores of tree limbs and toppled power lines, leaving more than 220,000 customers without electricity in western New York.

By early Friday, 14 inches of snow had been recorded at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, with reports of 2 feet elsewhere, said Tom Paone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The snowfall was expected to continue throughout the morning, he said.

On Thursday, 8.3 inches of heavy snow set the record for the ``snowiest'' October day in Buffalo in the 137-year history of the weather service, said meteorologist Tom Niziol. The previous record of 6 inches was set Oct. 31, 1917.

I blame "man-made" global warming. Er um I mean Bushhitlerburton and "Big Oil."

IF WE VOTE GOP, THEN WE WILL WIN!

We mustn't buy into the MSM polls; they're just BS, part of the Leftist effort to demoralize us and make us feel like voting for the GOP is pointless, so that we'll stay home - and make their predicitons come true. HERE'RE THE FACTS. BOTTOM-LINE: We CAN win this election, and we must. And we will - IF YOU DO YOUR PART!

WHEN THE DOW HITS 12000: I WILL BLAME BUSH!

BUSINESS WEEK:

Wall Street touched another new milestone Thursday, as the Dow industrials passed 11,900 for the first time en route to a new all-time closing high. The blue chip benchmark ended the session within 53 points of the 12,000 mark. Stronger-than-expected earnings reports and the moderate tone of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report helped cheer investors.

CNN MONEY: The world's most widely watched stock market gauge hit a new record trading high of 11,955.46, surpassing the previous record set Tuesday, and coming within 50 points of 12,000 - the next major milestone for the market.

Yet Bush and the GOP are not soaring at the polls. WHY?! ACE:

Striking distance. The economy's good. Gas prices are down. The deficit has been halved three years' ahead of Bush's schedule (which the liberals mocked as a fantasy; now they claim it was easy and inevitable). And yet... we're all acting as if the liberal critique of Republcians -- the GOP has destroyed the nation -- is, essentially, true. ...

ACE COMMENTER/SOMEONE: I blame the wierd "taking trolls seriously" phase here.

My advice: Don't take the trolls or the MSM seriously. The economy is good. AND: We are winning the GWOT. SO: GET OUT AND VOTE GOP.

OR... if you want higher taxes, and if you want to cede the defense of the free world to the UN, then by all means vote for the Dems.

SEGOLENE ROYAL IS AN OLD-FASHIONED SOCIALIST WHO WILL MAKE FRANCE WORSE

UK TIMES: I'm not a Blair. I'm a real socialist says Royal

The favourite to be France's next President is mending fences with the Left: SÉGOLÈNE ROYAL is an admirer of Tony Blair. But as her bid to win the Socialist nomination for France’s presidency gathers pace she has begun to make clear that she remains an old-style leftist. ... “The capitalists have to be frightened,” she told The Times. ... "We need to tax businesses who want to move out jobs and tax their products when they re-import them.” ...

SHEESH! What year does she think it is... 1968?! Sarkozy is right to admonish the French people for disliking the Anglo-American model, after all IT'S WORKING: the USA and the UK - and Ireland -- and EVERY other nations which has employed Regansesque/Thatchyerian policies based on Hayekian principles and which have cut taxes and become more pro-business - more pro-"Capitalist" - has improved its economy and the basic living standards for ALL its people. It's the heavily socialized/nationalized/statist economies which are in ruins. EVEN CHINA LEARNED THIS LESSON IN 1979. Apparently, the continental European Left hasn't. Pity.

THE UN PROVES ONCE AGAIN THAT IT'S A USELESS AND AMORAL DISTRACTION WHICH SERVES THE ENEMY

AP:

Russia and China on Thursday opposed tough sanctions the U.S. wants to impose against North Korea this week for its claimed nuclear test ... China ... opposes any mention of the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7, which authorizes punishments including economic sanctions, naval blockades and military actions. ... Beijing and Moscow also object to the wide scope of financial sanctions and a provision authorizing the inspection of cargo going in and out of North Korea, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks are private.

Between its inability to act on North Korea and Darfur, (and its RUSH to save Hizballah jihadoterrorists from imminent destruction), the UN has PROVEN that it's at best useless, and worse, probably an aid to the enemies of freedom, democracy, non-proliferation, and universal humans right; in other words: EVERYTHING THE UN WAS SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR.

It's time the USA withdrew all support for the UN, and asked them to relocate their HQ outside the USA. (They could sell it to Trump, for a BUNDLE: it would make a fine "WORLD CLASS" hotel/condo/marina/casino! And, I think it would contain more morality if he turned it into a whorehouse.)

HIZBALLAH, SYRIA, AND IRAN: ENEMIES OF ISRAEL, IRAQ, PEACE AND DEMOCRACY

It SHOULD be clear to everyone that Israel's enemies have NO INTENTION of making peace with Israel - EVER:

HIZBALLAH/AP:

Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal said Thursday that his group would not recognize Israel, but it wants to join a national unity government with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' rival Fatah faction. ''Hamas will not surrender ... and will not recognize Israel,'' Mashaal said at a news conference in Damascus, where he lives in exile.

ASSAD/OMAN NEWS:

Syria’s state media yesterday rejected an overture by Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres who said Syrian President Bashar al Assad was welcome to visit Jerusalem. “Israel, the United States and the whole world knows that no Syrian citizen would accept this invitation to Jerusalem,” Al Baath, the newspaper of the ruling party in Syria. ... Peace talks between Syria and Israel have been frozen since 2000. Damascus demands that Israel hand over the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, but Israel insists on keeping a small strip on the Sea of Galilee.

These two islamothug regimes are solely supported by IRAN. Here's Iran's publicly stated position:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Thursday that, "Palestine is the front line of the Islamic nations in their struggle against the aggressive superpowers." In a chilling prelude of what a nuclear Iran will bring, Ahamdinejad also told Hamas official Sa'eed Seeyam that, "Iran has no problem transferring its successes and experience in any field to the Hamas government."

Hamas has killed more Israelis than any other terrorist group, using suicide bomb attacks and other means to target civilians. Ahmadinejad praised the "victories" of Hamas and Hizbullah, saying, "Such victories have called the fake Zionist regime to challenge inside the occupied territory and have raised questions on the existence of this regime throughout the world, including Europe and the US."

These three enemies of Israel are also the enemies of a free and democratic Iraq - and the USA is clearly saying that now - (finally!):

The US ambassador to Iraq accused Iran and Syria on Thursday of supporting the armed groups involved in the country's increasingly bitter and violent civil conflict. ... "Two countries are particularly playing a negative role: the Iranian and Syrian regimes. These regimes are supporting groups who are killing Iraqis," he said, talking in an unusually direct way about the alleged interference of Iraq's neighbors. ... Their objective is to use Iraqis as cannon fodder in their plan to keep Iraqis divided and Iraq weak. Iraqis must unite against their enemies and against sectarianism and the killing of the innocent," he said.

This new clear and direct and forceful tone may be related to this:

... the United States, Bahrain and other states will hold their first naval exercise in the Gulf this month to practise interdicting ships carrying weapons of mass destruction and missiles, US officials said on Wednesday. ... The exercise, set for October 31, is the 25th to be organised under the US-led 66-member Proliferation Security Initiative and the first to be based in the Gulf near Bahrain, across from Iran, the officials said.

Er, um... there is only one proliferator in the region... IRAN. And we are obviously getting ready to rumble... and we obviously want the Iranians to know we are getting ready. The reasoning is simple: If we want Iraq to thrive and Israel to survive then we must "deal" with IRAN. BTW: It will NOT get esier to "deal" with Iran AFTER they have nukes... As the man says: FASTER, PLEASE...

U.S. weapons to be transferred to terrorists?

WorldNetDaily is reporting that American weapons to be transferred to 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen may be used against Israel, and I have to wonder why they sound so surprised.

Last week, I blogged a New York Times report that indicated that the US that indicated that the US wanted to expand Abu Mazen's 'Presidential guard' - known as Force 17 - as a means of strengthening Abu Mazen. I explained that Force 17 is a terrorist organization through and through. Until his capture one month ago, Force 17 was headed by Mahmoud Damra, who is a wanted murderer. I even indicated that there was little Israel could do to complain since the Olmert government had given weapons to Force 17 that were used against Israelis. So WorldNetDaily's current report should come as no surprise. MORE HERE.

NO '08 WHITE HOUSE RUN FOR EX-VIRGINIA GOVERNOR

Richmond, Va.:

Democrat Mark R. Warner, the former governor of Virginia, has decided not to run for president in 2008, Democratic officials said Thursday. Warner scheduled a late morning news conference in Richmond to make the announcement.

"This wasn't the right time in his life. He would have to put everything else on the backburner in order to run for president and do it right, and he wants a real life," said Jim Margolis, a Warner adviser.

Since Warner left the governor's office in January, he has busily toured key states in the Democratic nomination process, particularly New Hampshire and Iowa. His political action committee, Alexandria- based Forward Together, has raised money for Warner's exploratory effort and for other Democratic candidates in this year's midterm elections.

Over the past few months, aides said he had discussions with his family while on a vacation in Europe, and more recently with senior advisers. Warner took three days off over Columbus Day, around the time his father turned 81 and the governor started to visit colleges with one of his daughters. "He said, 'Look these are fleeting moments, and I've spent 10 years either running for the Senate or being governor or doing what I'm doing this year, which is great,'" Margolis said. But, he said, Warner ultimately decided that it was not the right time for a presidential run.

Call me crazy, but something doesn't feel right about this. More here.

BUSH IS DAMNED IS HE DOES, AND DAMED IF HE DOESN'T!

The CAPTAIN has an analysis of the latest BS from the idiot BDS afflicted Lefties who run the NYTIMES editorial board. (In it, they complain that Bush must be more unilateralist when it comes to the Nokos! But in Iraq, he's too unilateralist? It makes no sense. How could it: the Left as become an entirely unprincipled horde of "anti's".)

IRAQI JIHADIS ATTACK TV STATION - will the MSM or the Left protest?

MSNBC:

Gunmen stormed into a new Sunni television station in Baghdad Thursday and fatally shot 11 people including technicians, two guards and the head of the station’s board of directors, police said.

It was the second attack on a television station in the capital in as many weeks.

You'd think the MSM would be up in arms at this REAL assault on free speech, but there's no outrage from them or the Left. To the the Left, (and the MSM they control) Bushhitlerburton and the Patriot Act and the NSA are the real bad-guys - not neo-jihadism. Which is why it would be NUTS for anyone to vote for their party - the Democrat Party.

CARTOON CRISIS EPISODE 4: WILL RADICAL ISLAM CONTINUE ITS "PC"/BROWN SHIRT ROLE?

Denmark might be creating a new cottage industry of mocking Muhammed.

In just the past week, there have been a few cases of poor taste: Danish Folkeparty's youth section did some embarrasingly stupid things while inebbriated at a private arrangement - which led to the firebombing of the Danish embassy in Teheran, and the hacking of numerous sites in Denmark - and now the party's paper Danske Folkeblad is reported to have depicted the "prophet of the religion of peace" as a pedophile, [WHICH ACCORDING TO THE KORAN, HE WAS - reliapundit!].

Then just this morning it was reported that stickers associating Copenhagen's Football Club (FCK) with anti-islamic sentiment were plastered around the stadium - (it showed one of the original JP cartoons - the Turban-bomb - and the FCK lion. It was quickly condemned by the team).

Racism exists in Denmark - as it exists everywhere else, but it's not the official policy of the state, (even if it may be status quo at the nation's largest company - Mærsk - where it has been revealed that seamen will not obey orders from employees from other nationalities/races). THE WORST THING THAT HAPPENS IS THE VIOLENT REACTION AND BOYCOTTS WHICH LEAD TO MORE TENSION AND DHIMMITUDE. Lets see what happens on the muslim street after Friday prayers...

CLIMATE CHANGE IS NATURAL

Terra Daily/AFP: Natural Climate Change Periodically Wipes Out Mammal Species

Climate change, naturally induced by tiny shifts in Earth's rotational axis and orbit, periodically wipes out species of mammals, a study published on Thursday says. Palaeontologists have long puzzled over fossil records that, remarkably, suggest mammal species tend to last around two and a half million years before becoming extinct. Climate experts and biologists led by Jan van Dam at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, overlaid a picture of species emergence and extinction with changes that occur in Earth's orbit and axis.

The Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle ... shifts in Earth's pattern of movement are relatively minor compared with those of other planets. But they can greatly influence the amount of radiation -- heat and light -- which Earth receives from the Sun. ... Astronomical impact "provides a crucial missing piece in the puzzle" of regular species turnover, it says. Previous research has also established that Earth's climate system can be affected by massive volcanic eruptions or the impact of an asteroid or comet. These can kick up so much dust that the planet receives less sunlight, and in turn plant species suffer.

Letter to the GUARDIAN: Alarmism on global warming

The claim (Diary, October 3) that I am associated with the oil industry and the implication that this accounts for my view that global warming alarmism is unjustified. ... My own research has always been funded by the US government. My only remunerated position is as a professor at MIT. I have never received any funds from the oil industry. ... Frankly, my research leads me to conclude that this is not the case, and that current climate models are greatly exaggerating the impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gases.

Richard S Lindzen
Professor of atmospheric sciences, MIT

Anthropogenic global-warming is bunk. Leftist bunk invented to create a hysterical reason to justify more statism and higher taxes. REPEAT: Climate change is natural, so just keep on truckin'!

IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF BRINKMANSHIP?

On Monday, Pastorius wrote about U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill's strongly-worded statement of four days previous:

"We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea, we are not going to accept it," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill said. He warned Pyongyang that "it can have a future or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both."

Terrific, we're not going to accept it. But what does that mean? As Pastorius pointed out, Bush's plan was to push for sanctions. This inspired Pastorius to blurt forth the following excited utterance: "For God's sake, what does this say about our policy on Iranian nukes?"

Now, we have gone a step further and affirmatively announced to North Korea that we will not attack them militarily. In fact, they have our "guarantee." Is this how brinkmanship is done? Is Bush now getting advice not just from James Baker, but from Ned Lamont as well? I hate to say it, but this president truly seems to have lost the "look of Hippocleides".

I think North Korea is motivated somewhat by rational self-interest and a desire for self-preservation of the regime - unlike Iran, which is motivated by the apocalyptic ambitions of genocidal Islamonazis. So, unlike with Iran - for whom all carrots are non-tempting and sanctions are a pathetically non-threatening stick, with North Korea I think we could realistically make the craven and immoral route of bribery work (not that anyone should be happy with this solution).

Iran is a different story: the mullahs would happily see half a billion Muslims wiped out in a nuclear war, if it meant they could destroy Israel and possibly usher in the Mahdi. There's no bribing Iran, and I hope whoever now has Bush's ear understands this. As Blankley points out - in the non-tempting-carrot article linked to above, we have chosen to go down the road of appeasement with Iran. This is true. The only people who deny this seem to be the pollyannas who feel that we should negotiate with terrorists and madmen, and warn of forthcoming Bush-warmongering as a caution, not unlike how they floated absurd rumors before the 2004 election that Bush was planning to reinstate the draft. Booga booga!

AP EXCLUSIVE: REID GOT $1M IN LAND DEAL

Big trouble here in Vegas for our very own Senate "Dingy" Harry Reid:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.

In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.

The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. He's never been charged with wrongdoing - except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.

Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.

No surprise for us back here in Sin City. Reid always gets really sensitive when his ethics are called into question. Culture of corruption indeed. I don't know that it'll matter much to the voters, as it's a rather complicated story when you delve into it - and Reid isn't up for election this year, but he is in line to be Majority Leader if the Dems win the Congress. Think about it.

Reliapundit adds: Maybe this scandal has legs, Jim... the Captain has more, too; (hat tip evil Glenn.) And POWER LINE thinks it's a big deal, too. UPDATE: GATEWAY PUNDIT HAS THE GOODS AND THE TAPE!

NATAN SHARANSKY TO RETIRE FROM ISRAELI POLITICS

Some bad news from Israel courtesy Newsmax:

Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident and a favorite of President Bush, will retire from Israeli politics, an aide said Wednesday.

Sharansky, 58, could not be reached for comment, but aide Florina Elman-Levine disclosed his decision. He will not speak publicly until he meets Sunday with Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, she said. Sharansky is a Likud member of parliament and former Cabinet minister.

Israel Radio reported Sharansky will become a research fellow at the Shalem Center, a conservative Jerusalem think tank. A spokesman for the center would not confirm the report.

In the 1970s, while known as Anatoly Shcharansky, he became the symbol of the struggle of Soviet Jews to be allowed to emigrate to Israel, serving nine years in a Soviet labor camp before realizing his dream in 1986.

A man named Ronald Reagan played a big part in his release; [shown in the jpeg above]. If you haven't read Sharansky's book The Case for Democracy, I can't recommend it to you more highly. This man truly understands what is at stake in the world today as good and evil do battle. We can only hope that in his work as a research fellow he will continue to honor us with his teachings.

Bush Administration Beats Its Own Economic Goals By Three Years

In 2004, George Bush set a goal to halve the annual budget deficit in five years. He reached that goal here in October of 2006:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The budget deficit narrowed to $248 billion in the fiscal year just ended from $319 billion in 2005 in spite of record spending, as revenues were the highest ever, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

The 2006 figure compares to an estimate of $250 billion issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Friday. In its last budget forecast in July, the Bush administration had said it expected the 2006 deficit to come in at $296 billion. Revenues were $2.407 trillion, and outlays were $2.654 trillion, the Treasury said. The government's fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

President Bush in February 2004 set a goal of cutting the deficit in half from a projected peak in fiscal 2004 of $521 billion, or 4.5 percent of gross domestic product, although the actual deficit for that year was $412.7 billion, or 3.6 percent of GDP.

In 2000, just a few months before Bush took office, the NASDAQ crashed losing over 2/3 of its value. In 2001, our economy got hit by 9/11. I remember sitting in my office for three months before my industry heated up again. Last year, of course, we got hit with Hurricaine Katrina, the biggest natural disaster in the history of the United States. Congress had to approve a spending package of approximately $125 billion to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding areas.

Despite all this bad news, the Bush economy continues to go up, up, up. Why? Because tax revenues are up. Why are tax revenues up? Because Bush cut taxes. And, how do tax revenues go up, when we cut taxes? Because when we cut taxes, both consumers and entrepeneurs have more money to put back into the economy, instead of the money languishing in the algae-filled stagnant pools of government programs.

The economy grows when money circulates. When money is spent, revenues go up. When money is not spent, revenues go down. It is that simple. Such simple logic is lost on the oh, so sophisticated Democrats. It takes an idiot, like Chimpy McBushHitler, to understand such simple logic.

Israel Matzav: Journalist faces sedition trial in Bangladesh for planning to visit Israel

On Thursday in Bangladesh, journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury will begin to stand trial for sedition, a capital offense. IsraelInsider, to which Choudhury is a contributor, describes the charges and the "trial":

Shoaib was arrested by the Bangladesh government in 2003. He was imprisoned under often deplorable conditions and tortured after angering the government and radicals there by warning his country about the rise of Islamist terrorism in his country, urging Bangladesh to recognize Israel, and advocating REAL interfaith understanding and religious equality.

Read the whole thing.

ANOTHER LEFTIST OCTOBER: SURPRISES; DISTORTIONS; LIES; AND OBFUSCATIONS

The Left-wing dominated, BDS afflicted MSM is attacking Bush on three fronts:

(1) They are NOT reporting the incredibly good economic news. (More on this HERE.)

(2) They are over-reporting a Congressional "sex scandal" in which there was no sex.

(3) NOW... They are now reporting - I should say "blanketing" the airwaves and frontpages - with a another dubious study of Iraqi "war deaths" which claim nearly 700,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war. (Links HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and ROUND UP HERE. Gateway demolishes, indicts and convicts the idiotic study HERE.)

The FACT that they are (a) not accurately or truthfully reporting the GREAT economic news, and are (b) INACCURATELY reporting the Foley scandal AND this new bogus Iraq War death count PROVES that the MSM is NOT objective, but a Left-wing dominated, BDS afflicted pack of partisan hacks spreading lies and distortions right before an election in an effort to try to suppress GOP turnout and motivate their fellow Leftists to vote in the next election.

THIS CRAP IS JUST LIKE RATHERGATE! DON'T FALL FOR IT!

America Supplies A Disproportionate Amount Of The World's Jobs

The London Independent laments America's surpassing of the 300 million mark in population:

The population of the United States will pass 300 million today, or tomorrow. No one knows exactly where, no one know precisely when. It is a milestone for sure but is this a cause for celebration or anxiety?

... many experts say passing the 300 million milestone should be a wake-up call that demands a reappraisal of the extraordinary, unparalleled rate of consumption by the world's largest economy and its third largest by population. [Umph added!] As an economic model for the rest of the world to follow - in particular the rapidly developing economies of China and India - it is unsustainable, they say.

On a global scale the average US citizen uses far more than his or her fair share [FAIR SHARE?! What's that!? reliapundit] of the planet's resources ... The US - with five per cent of the world's population - uses 23 per cent of its energy, 15 per cent of its meat and 28 per cent of its paper.

If America consumes 23% of the world's energy, that means we buy 23% of the world's energy. Which, in turn, means that 23% of the people employed in the world's energy economy are employed because America bought their product or service.

This is also true in respect to the world's meat economy, and the world's paper economy, and - no doubt it is true of the world's tech economy, automobile economy, plastic goods economy, toy economy, luxury boat economy, and every economic sector across the spectrum (with the possible exception of the buzzing prayer mat).

This means the workers of the world really do have reason to unite ... in praise of America.

SARKOZY WILL FIGHT TURKEY'S ENTRY INTO THE EU

EXPATICA/AFP:

French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy said Turkey's entry into the European Union would "be the end of political Europe" and suggested it would worsen the "problem" of Muslim integration in the continent, in an interview to be published Thursday.

"It would be the end of political Europe" if Turkey joined the European bloc, Sarkozy, France's interior minister, told the magazine Le Meilleur des Mondes, calling instead for a "privileged partnership" with the EU's southeastern neighbour. ... "We have a problem of integration of Muslims which raises the issue of Islam in Europe. To say it is not a problem is to hide from reality. If you let 100 million Turkish Muslims come in, what will come of it?" the magazine quoted him as saying.

The minister, who heads the ruling right-wing UMP party and has declared he will run for president in next year's elections, also expressed concern that shifting Europe's border southeast would bring it closer to violent conflicts in the region.

"Turkey is in Asia Minor... I will not explain to little French school children that the frontiers of Europe are Iraq and Syria," Sarkozy said, naming two of Turkey's southeastern neighbours.

Bravo! Obviously, this man knows his geography, his history, AND his current events! BRAVO!

UPDATE: This NYTIMES article argues that Europe in general is BEGININNG TO WAKE UP:

Europe appears to be crossing an invisible line regarding its Muslim minorities: more people in the political mainstream are arguing that Islam cannot be reconciled with European values. ... centrists across Europe [are] angry at terror attacks in the name of religion on a continent that has largely abandoned it, and disturbed that any criticism of Islam or Muslim immigration provokes threats of violence.

For years those who raised their voices were mostly on the far right. Now those normally seen as moderates — ordinary people as well as politicians — are asking whether once unquestioned values of tolerance and multiculturalism should have limits. ...

With each incident, mainstream leaders are speaking more plainly. “Self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practice violence in the name of Islam,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said in criticizing the opera’s cancellation. “It makes no sense to retreat.”

Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery. Now, they must fight back. And the fight must be sustained. Until victory.

"WAS NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR DEVICE A DUD?"

That's the headline in this story from the AP, and that may be a big problem:

Was North Korea's nuclear device a dud, as some Western experts suspect? The apparent low yield of the North's test could signal that its scientists, working largely in isolation, haven't quite perfected the deadly art of efficiently splitting atoms. More than 60 years after the United States first tested a plutonium weapon _ partly because scientists weren't sure that it would work _ the technology is still tricky for novices to master. "The devil is in the details," French nuclear proliferation expert Bruno Tertrais said. "It's like cooking. The fact that you have the recipe does not make you a chef."

Talk about an internal conflict for me. I should be happy, if this is true, that their nuclear program is a dud - so far, but this is just the kind of thing that will cause us to put off doing anything more than just false diplomacy for another 10 years. And that would be a mistake.

Other stuff HERE.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS - AND WHY YOU MUST GET OUT AND VOTE

Here's a humorous list of differences between Democrats and Republicans - inspired by comparing Foleygate to previous Democrat sexual scandals.

And here's a serious list of reasons why it would be wrong to stay home, and not vote, in order to punish the GOP.

LEBANESE GOVERNMENT ENFORCING DISARMAMENT OF HIZBALLAH

HAARETZ: Lebanese army confiscates weapons from Hezbollah in south

The Lebanese army has confiscated illegitimate weapons from Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said Tuesday. Murr said the seizure of arms south of the Litani River was in line with Security Council resolution 1701, which brought about the United Nations-brokered cease-fire that ended the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel. "This is a natural step. It is our obligation to confiscate weapons," said Murr. "The Lebanese army is deployed in South Lebanon in order to protect the border and to prevent any military body aside from our forces from operating there," he added.

I hope this is true and that it continues. STAY TUNED...

BUSH'S BOOM VERSUS BUBBA'S BUBBLE

THE ECONOMY IS GREAT. BETTER THAN DURING THE CLINTON ERA.

What Teheran and Los Angeles have in common - it's more than Iranian Jews

Teheran and Los Angeles have lots more in common these days than large populations of Iranian Jews. They share a common educational goal: anti-Zionism.

In Teheran, Mahmoud Ahmadinadinnerjacket's 'education ministry' is looking to expand middle school students’ knowledge on the ‘acts of the Zionist regime and its malicious intentions.' Today, the ministry launched an 'educational seminar' in its middle schools aimed at familiarizing middle school Tehran students with Zionism.

Ahmed Sarush Najad, the head of the ministry’s Palestinian History Department, told the Mehr news agency that the seminars will focus on four main topics: Jerusalem and the Islamic world, Hezbullah’s 'victory' and its consequences for the Zionist regime; the Zionist regime’s 'weak spot' and the American lobby. I wonder if the 'American lobby' is the same as the 'Israel lobby.'

All male and female students enrolled in Tehran’s middle schools will participate in the seminar over the course of the next 28 days to mark Jerusalem Day, which is 'celebrated' each year on the last Friday Ramadan. During Jerusalem Day, marches are expected to be held in Iran and throughout the Muslim world as a sign of sympathy with the 'Palestinians.' This year most contributions collected during this day are expected to go to the rehabilitation of southern Lebanon.

And in Los Angeles, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the union of those who educate public school students in one of American's largest cities, has been doing its part to bring Israel to its knees.

Keep reading here.

NORTH KOREA: INSANE AND DANGEROUS!

How do we interpret the events of the past few days? Is this what they call negotiating in diplomatic circles? There's a lot of static going back and forth: it's just a defensive move; it's just to buttress the regime - NoKo is ready to negotiate... and there is speculation that the yield of the device was not so big... maybe it was not 100% successful? Maybe it was just a big pile of dynamite? Or maybe it was a suitcase sized device?

This last possibility scares me: what if the financially strapped NoKo regime has already sold an incomplete suitcase device to al Qaeda...this "test" could be to demonstrate that the device does work... which in turn would enable al Qaeda to transfer a large payment in exchange for the key missing component of the detonator - for example the eprom which contains the timing software for the high explosives.

The fact that we live in a world where nations practice diplomacy and war by proxy makes the situation in NoKo untenable in the long term ( i.e. 6 months to a year) Nothing short of regime change in NoKo could be satisfactory.

Reliapundit: more on NOKO INSANITY here.

LIEBERMAN OVER LAMONT IS NOT A PREVIEW OF McCAIN, BUT A PREVIEW OF RUDY

This much-linked-to article by Peter Brown of Quinnipiac posted at RCP gets is ALL WRONG. He writes:

... both men [McCain and Lieberman] have supported their party leaders more often than not, neither toes the party line. This has led both to alienate the more ideologically based voters within their respective parties. McCain, for instance, was the force behind the campaign finance reform bill that conservatives hate. He also split with the president over the treatment of prisoners in U.S. military custody and forced Bush to compromise on recent legislation on the subject.

Lieberman has not only backed Bush on the war, but is much more socially conservative than many in his party and does not always see eye-to-eye with Democratic interest groups and activists.

I think the fact that both candidates appeal to so-called centrists/independents who pick-and-choose from among each party's platform is trivial. WHY!? Well, Lieberman's margin over Lamont doesn't portend a McCain victory, but a RUDY VICTORY: It shows that a liberal hawk is a very appealing candidate for parts of the GOP and the DNC and the "moderate" independents.

McCain is not a liberal hawk - he is pro-Life and pro-tax cuts. Sure, he is anti-gun and for campaign finance reform (which hinders free speech), but he is really rather conservative - too conservative for many MANY Lieberman-type voters.

Rudy, though, is truly a liberal hawk: he is anti-gun; pro-gay marriage; pro-abortion; and virtually pro-illegal immigation. Lieberman shows that this Rudy-esque combination is truly very appealing.

I seriously doubt that the Democrat Party can nominate a hawk - liberal or centrist. They will nominate someone more like Lamont than like Lieberman, and THAT is the sad-but-true bottom-line of this story.

UPDATE: Welcome ROGER L. SIMON readers. Roger has a feeling on this one, too.
And welcome MEMORANDUM readers, too. And a big welcome to POWER LINE readers! Please chck out the whole blog!

NOKO NUKE: FAKE; BIG DUD; OR SMALL SUITCASE BOMB?

NYTIMES:

North Korea came under international condemnation today after boasting that it had tested a nuclear weapon, with strong criticism even from its allies, but there were doubts in the intelligence community about the strength of the device. ... While there was agreement among scientists that an explosion occurred, seismic readings raised questions about the size of the weapon and whether it worked properly. A successful nuclear test would be expected to have the same force as between 10 and 60 kilotons of high explosives.

This one may have been less than one kiloton. ... “We have assessed that the explosion in North Korea was a sub-kiloton explosion,” said one intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. He added, “We don’t know, in fact, whether it was a nuclear explosion.” He spoke as intelligence analysts in Washington were in the early stages of assessing the explosion. ... Philip E. Coyle III, a former head of weapons testing at the Pentagon and former director of nuclear testing for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said the unimpressive size of the test signaled the possibility of a partial success or failure. “As first tests go, this is smaller and less successful than the other nuclear powers,” he said.

“Now, maybe they intended to make it small, and perhaps they did, who knows?” ... “But if it turns out to be a kiloton or less,” he added, “that would suggest that they hoped for more than that and didn’t get it.”

Maybe it was not a nuke. Maybe it was a big nuke which was a big dud. BUT... JUST MAYBE IT WAS A SMALL SUITCASE NUKE - one which they have sold or plan to sell to jihadists who have either smuggled it in to the USA or intend to. After all, missiles are ot the only way to deliver a nuke. (MORE HERE.)

Kim Jong Il might be trying to fake his way into a nuclear deterrent - and it might be because he's closer to collapse than ever and more afraid than ever he will be attacked. But just maybe this was a sales demonstration. We know that Iranians were at the last missile tests onm July Fourth. Maybe they - or their jihadoterrorist proxies - were at this one.

UPDATE: More on the suitcase angle HERE and other uses for small nukes HERE. COMPLETE ROUND UP HERE AT MEMEORANDUM. And welcome to readers of the blogosphere's best - PAJAMAS MEDIA.

Why Is The Bush Administration Bluffing On North Korean Nukes?

If you want to understand the depths of the unseriousness of the Bush government, consider that the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill uttered these words just four days ago:

"We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea, we are not going to accept it," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill said. He warned Pyongyang that "it can have a future or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both."

Ok, so now they have proven to us that they have nuclear weapons. The question we need to put to the Bush government is, does that mean we intend for the North Korean government to end? If the answer is not yes, and if the answer is not delivered damned soon, then George Bush ought to fire Chris Hill, because clearly Chris Hill is a loose cannon.

So far, the reaction of the Bush Administration is to push for sanctions:

UNITED NATIONS - The United States proposed stringent U.N. sanctions Monday against North Korea after it said it had performed a nuclear test, including a trade ban on military and luxury items, the power to inspect all cargo entering or leaving the country, and freezing assets connected with its weapons programs.

Yeah, that'll show Kim Jong Il, won't it? For God's sake, what does this say about our policy on Iranian nukes?

British press: "Muslim" victims, "Asian" violence

One of my greatest pet peeves is the idiotic British habit of using the catch-all euphemism "Asians" to denote Muslims. (I have ranted about this obnoxious habit here and here and here). Of course, the British media always uses "Asians" in the context of Muslim violence. If we're talking about good deeds of Muslims, they're sure to be identified as Muslims. But if it's Muslim violence, all of a sudden they're "Asians" to the British media, "jeunes" to AFP, and a "broad strata of society" to the AP and Reuters.

This cowardly trend is taken to the point of absurdity in this article (h/t LGF; Jihadwatch noticed this article also), which uses both terms, "Asians" and "Muslims". This article uses "Muslims" to describe the people who were the victims of a hate crime, and then "Asians" to describe the people who responded violently to that hate crime:

Extra police are being drafted into the Windsor area today after three nights of violent clashes between white and Asian youths.

Gangs have fought battles in the streets using baseball bats and pitchforks. A Muslim-run dairy which wants to build a mosque was petrol bombed.

Not an Asian-run dairy?

Windows of the makeshift mosque and dairy vehicles were smashed. Residents said gangs of Asian youths travelled from Slough to fight the white gang. One youth was reportedly arrested for carrying a 12-inch knife.

Gangs of Muslims didn't travel from Slough? What were the Muslims doing while the whites and Asians duked it out? Watching from inside the dairy I suppose.

Read my entire rant here. And please check out the comments section, where Krishna109 points out how the British press's use of this euphemism is unfair to British Hindus.

Are The Pope's Non-Apology Apologies An Attempt To Further Antagonize The Muslim World?

The Pope has made some changes to the text of the speech which so offended the Muslim world:

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has taken another step to placate anger in the Islamic world over his remarks on holy war, making additions to his original text affirming that a quotation from a 14th century Byzantine emperor was not his personal opinion.

The Sept. 12 speech that set off protests around the Muslim world said the pope intended to "supply a subsequent version of this text, complete with footnotes." He has done that in recent days, with the English version released on the Vatican's Web site Monday.

The original speech, given at Germany's Regensburg University where he once taught, quoted the emperor as saying: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."The original said the emperor's remark was made "somewhat brusquely." In the new version, it says it was made with "a brusqueness that we find unacceptable."

Benedict added in a footnote: "In the Muslim world, this quotation has unfortunately been taken as an expression of my personal position, thus arousing understandable indignation. I hope that the reader of my text can see immediately that this sentence does not express my personal view of the Quran, for which I have the respect due to the holy book of a great religion." He said he cited the text as part of an examination of the "relationship between faith and reason."

Once again, this is another non-apology apology. The Pope's is saying the brusqeness was unacceptable not that the Byzantine Emperor's assertion was unacceptable. One has to wonder if the Pope intends to repeatedly provoke the Muslim world. If he really intended to see that the anger would die down, wouldn't it be better for him to just shut up and let it blow over?

JAMES BAKER: MSM FAVORITE; STATUS QUOIST; ANTI-SEMITE

POWER LINE HAS THE GOODS ON JAMES BAKER. Bottom-line: Baker was no Reaganite Secretary of State under GHWB; in fact, Baker epitomizes everything which was bad and wrong with US foreign policy before 9/11.

UPDATE: Birds of a Feather... part 23

DEM LEFT: "KIM IL ROVE" BEHIND NOKO NUKE-TEST TO BOOST GOP

BARCEPUNDIT:

... wanna guess how long will it take until someone says that this nuclear test was done with the help of the Bush administration to distract from Foley's MasturGate, and to help the Republican party in the mid-term election that they were in danger of losing? It's all Rove's October surprise, I'm telling ya!

UPDATE: ... I knew it wouldn't take long.

The Dem Left is more afraid of Rove than Noko nukes or al Qaeda. Which is simple insanity. The fact that Bush and the GOP trail in most polls is due only to the fact that they control the MSM, and relentless MSM negativity has despressed the GOP. However, if GOP'ers GOTV, then the GOP should do just fine. More on the test here.

Socialism Is A Ponzi Scheme

A government report in Spain determines that Spain will need 4 million new immigrants by the year 2020:

BARCELONA — Spain will need at least 4 million more immigrants - between 16 and 64 – by 2020, according to a study. The report, prepared by the regional government of Catalonia, looked ahead to the situation in 2020. It said the nation's relatively low birth rate was not sufficient to provide Spain with the workers it would need in the coming decades.

Project coordinator Josep Oliver, a professor of applied economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said this was the minimum number of immigrants needed to keep the economy growing at the pace of the past decade.
The report also said a minimum level of social and educational policies should be maintained to ensure that as many native Spaniards as possible enter the labour force.

Oliver said immigration was "unavoidable and necessary" because "if no one else enters, there will be a significant aging of the population," and, as a result, a lack of workers, so "if we do not have them here, they will come from outside".

In calculating the number of immigrants needed, researchers factored in annual workforce growth of 2-3 percent and gross domestic product growth of 3 percent annually. "Workplaces produce the call effect" since "we need immigrants," but if a large wave of immigrants arrives it could create a "worrisome clash, given the problems seen with integration in other European countries," Oliver said.

Realistically, a country only needs to employ its own working age people. If everyone has jobs, then they can feed their families, clothe and house their families, and that's what we expect out of an economy.

So, wouldn't an economy with fewer people be easier to run? I mean, if you have fewer people then you have fewer people to employ, right? It doesn't really matter how big the pie is as long as there is enough to go around.

No, but that isn't true in a socialist economy, where a large percentage of people are living off government welfare programs of various kinds. Such an economy requires ever more workers to pay taxes in order to fund the ever growing social programs.

Here's a little blurb on Ponzi Schemes from Wikipedia:

A Ponzi scheme usually offers abnormally high short-term returns in order to entice new investors. The high returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises (and pays) require an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going.

The system is doomed to collapse because there are little or no underlying earnings from the money received by the promoter.

Yes, and the socialist governments of Europe are going to collapse as well, if Europeans do now wake up and start voting in people who will cut taxes and welfare rolls. Ponzi schemes are against the law for good reason. They leave the lives of innocent, naive people in ruins. I wonder how long history must progess before the people awake and government run Ponzi schemes are outlawed.

[Reliapundit adds: Brilliant reporting Pastorius. I have blogged a few times on the fact that Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, but I never realized that it also defines socialism at it's very core. Great Job!]