EGYPTIAN POLICE INTERCEPT LARGE ARMS SHIPMENT BOUND FOR GAZA STRIP AS IDF TRIES TO FIND HUNDREDS OF WEAPONS TUNNELS

Egyptian police have intercepted a large arms shipment that was bound for the Gaza Strip today from the Egyptian controlled Sinai peninsula. The interception comes as IDF officers have openly noted that they fear that a weapons tunnel from the Gaza Strip may be used to attack one or more of the Kibbutzim on the border between Israel and Gaza. IDF sources noted yesterday that a raid inside Israel, through one of the tunnels being dug in the Gaza Strip, would be considered a substantial operational gain for the terrorists and would help them score a propaganda victory.

This is not the first time that large weapons smuggling operations have been stopped since Israel surrendered the Gaza Strip to the 'Palestinians' in August 2005. A total of 13 tunnels have been uncovered during IDF operations in Gaza in the last three days, along with a number of shafts for not yet completed tunnels. Some of the uncovered tunnels originated inside homes close to the border with Egypt. Homes like the one Rachel Corrie died protecting (yes, this is the same area where Rachel Corrie decided to try to block a bulldozer with her body and earned the name "St. Pancake").

Six tunnels have been destroyed in controlled demolitions by IDF sappers. Arms and explosives smuggling from Egypt into the Gaza Strip is worse than originally estimated, IDF sources said yesterday. In January, they estimated 3000 rifles a day. I wonder how many there are now. According to the same sources, dozens of tunnels have been used for uninterrupted smuggling activities during the past year. Continue reading....

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS WEEKLY R&R REVIEW - week #4

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!

POPINJAY: FOOTBALL

My parents were in town visiting me this week, so I haven't been able to get much "me time" but as they have now made their way back to Nebraska I was able to sit down and watch some of the big game: Nebraska v. Texas. The Cornhuskers are what life is all about in my home state and despite living in Nevada for the past 5 years, Saturday afternoons are still a stressful time for me. The Huskers played valiantly, but came up short in the end. Still, Coach Bill Callahan is doing a great job and brining in some great recruits and they're on their way back to national prominence. There's nothing like a Fall Saturday afternoon.

Reliapundit: POETRY

I'll be RE-memorizing my two favorite poems this weekend. I've put the full poems in the comments section. Here are the first lines:

Matthew Arnold's THE BURIED LIFE

Light flows our war of mocking words, and yet,
Behold, with tears mine eyes are wet!
I feel a nameless sadness o'er me roll.

RM Rilke's FOR THE SAKE OF A SINGLE POEM

...Ah, poems amount to so little when you write them too early in your life. You ought to wait and gather sense and sweetness for a whole lifetime, and a long one if possible, and then, at the very end, you might perhaps be able to write ten good lines.

Pastorius - MUSIC

I'm listening to the album Voodoo by D'Angelo. D'Angelo is known as an R&B artist (Neo-Soul is what they tend to call him), but in my opinion, Voodoo is to R&B what Miles Davis' Bitches Brew was to Jazz. It is a complete re-imagining of the genre.

The album opens with a tune that will go down in the history books. Playa Playa preps us in the opening bars with a polyrhythmic groove which is both tight and loose at the same time. And, if you thought that groove elusive wait til you get slammed by D'Angelo's chorus of vocals. With his vocal inflections and nuanced phrasing, he tricks the groove every which way, until your body is literally twitching in a ceremony of ecstacy, like the Voodoo of the album's title. Other standout tracks include Devil's Pie, Chicken Grease, The Root, Spanish Joint, and Africa.

D'Angelo, on the strength of this one album has taken his place among the pantheon of great black music innovators; James Brown, Sly Stone, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, etc. That's an audacious thing for me to say, probably, but listen, and tell me I'm wrong. This album is a wonder.

LAWMAKER OUTRAGED BY SNIPER FOOTAGE ON CNN; CALLS FOR OUSTER

Good:

SAN DIEGO -- CNN has become "the publicist for an enemy propaganda film" by broadcasting a video showing an insurgent sniper in Iraq apparently killing an American soldier, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said here Friday.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) called for the Pentagon to oust any CNN reporter embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq. "I think Americans like to think we're all in this together," Hunter said. "The average American Marine or soldier has concluded after seeing that film that CNN is not on their side."

CNN said it broadcast the brief video to show the threat that insurgent snipers posed to U.S. troops. "Whether or not you agree with us in this case, our goal, as always, is to present the unvarnished truth as best we can," CNN producer David Doss wrote in a blog on the network's website.

Unvarnished truth? How about showing the Twin Towers falling to their death? That's pretty unvarnished, isn't it? Oh, that's right, that might get Americans mad and behind the president. The MSM wouldn't want that, would they! MORE HERE.

GEORGE BUSH CHANNELS TOM PETTY

AP (via Drudge):

Despite calls for change [in Iraq policy], Bush said, "Our goal has not changed. Our goal is a country that can defend, sustain and govern itself, a country that which will serve as an ally in this war. Our tactics are adjusting." ... Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said that while Bush might change tactics, he would not change his overall strategy. ... Bush, at a political fundraiser in Washington for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, railed against Democrats who criticize the war. Calling the Democrats the party of "cut and run," Bush said voters need to ask: "Which political party has a strategy for victory in this war on terror?'" ... [REPEAT:] Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said that while Bush might change tactics, he would not change his overall strategy.

Tom Petty:

Well I wont back down, no I wont back down.
You can stand me up at the gates of hell, But I wont back down

Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around, and Ill keep this world from draggin me down. Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down

Hey baby, there aint no easy way out. Hey I will stand my ground, and I wont back down.

Well I know whats right, I got just one life. In a world that keeps on pushin me around, but Ill stand my ground and I wont back down

If you want your country to backdown while under attack by the jihadothugs, then vote Democrat. If you want to fight until we win, then vote GOP. It's that simple. Just ask Ned Lamont.

Diane Sawyer: Another Liberal Who Is Cool With Genocide

Diane Sawyer went over to North Korea and got the Potemkin Village tour:

Diane Sawyer wants you to know that the North Korean puppies are really cute too.

On Thursday's World News on ABC, Diane Sawyer checked in from North Korea, but she proved little more than a conveyor belt for the repressive communist regime's propaganda. Talking to a North Korean Army General, she relayed how “he said to us, 'make it clear to everyone in the United States, if there is another nuclear test, the person responsible is George Bush,' because he said, 'the Bush administration is backing North Korea into a corner with its pressures and its sanctions.'" Sawyer helpfully added that “the General said to us, he does want peace. And he also said, again, reiterated, North Korea will not be the first to use a nuclear weapon.” How reassuring.

In a second segment, Sawyer was taken to a school which she favorably described as “a world away from the unruly individualism of any American school." She gushed: “Ask them about their country, and they can't say enough." A teenage girl declared, in English: “We are the happiest children in the world.” Sawyer ended her piece with video of her and the class singing "Do-Re-Mi" from the Sound of Music. Far from being embarrassed by Sawyer's obsequious approach, anchor Charles Gibson proposed: "A fascinating glimpse of North Korea."

Yeah, isn't that friggin' fascinating? It's fascinating that Diane Sawyer doesn't acknowledge that Kim Jong Il is gassing his own people, you know, just like Adolf Hitler used to do:

In the remote north-eastern corner of North Korea, close to the border of Russia and China, is Haengyong. Hidden away in the mountains, this remote town is home to Camp 22 - North Korea's largest concentration camp, where thousands of men, women and children accused of political crimes are held. Now, it is claimed, it is also where thousands die each year and where prison guards stamp on the necks of babies born to prisoners to kill them.

Look, let's be honest, Diane Sawyer knows this. It is common knowledge. Diane Sawyer is just doing her part in the media's full court press against the Republicans here in these last weeks before the election. The truth is, she just hates George Bush more than she cares about the people Kim Jong Il is killing. Isn't that fascinating?

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ARIZONA'S PHOTO ID LAW FOR ELECTIONS

Bad news for the Democrats via The Arizona Republic:

Arizona voters will have to present identification at the polls on Nov. 7 after all.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that Arizona can go ahead with requiring voters to present a photo ID, starting with next month's general election, as part of the Proposition 200 that voters passed in 2004. The ruling overturns an Oct. 5 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which put the voter ID rules on hold this election cycle.

The Supreme Court on Friday did not decide whether the new voter ID rules are constitutional. That decision is still pending in federal district court.

Instead, the court decided that the 9th Circuit made a procedural error by granting an injunction to put the new rules on hold without waiting for the district court to explain its reasons for not granting an injunction.

This is excellent news and definitely one for our side. Nothing is fool-proof, but if people are required to show a photo-ID to vote, it makes voter fraud that much harder. Let's hope the court eventually make the right decision on the Constitutional question. [Complete round-up HERE at Memeorandum.]

CHICAGO TERRORIST TRIAL STARTED THURSDAY

The trial of Abdelhaleem Ashqar got underway in a Federal court in Chicago Thursday. Ashqar was a professor at Howard University in Washington DC until 2003 when the university refused to renew his contract. Ashqar is charged with funneling thousands of dollars to Hamas terrorists through a Mississippi bank account.

What's unusual about this case is that the money was funneled before the US designated Hamas a terrorist group in Jnauary 1995. The indictment lists no activities after March 1994 other than refusing to testify before grand juries. Ashqar is being charged under the Federal Racketeering laws (RICO), which are typically used against the Mafia or other organized crime. Ashqar's argument boils down to "if the government hadn't designated them a terrorist group, there's nothing wrong with sending them money." Continue reading....

ANOTHER MAJOR SCIENTIST DEBUNKS MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING

US SENATE:

One of the most decorated French geophysicists has converted from a believer in manmade catastrophic global warming to a climate skeptic. This latest defector from the global warming camp caps a year in which numerous scientific studies have bolstered the claims of climate skeptics. Scientific studies that debunk the dire predictions of human-caused global warming have continued to accumulate and many believe the new science is shattering the media-promoted scientific “consensus” on climate alarmism.

Claude Allegre, a former government official and an active member of France’s Socialist Party, wrote an editorial on September 21, 2006 in the French newspaper L'Express titled “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” detailing his newfound skepticism about manmade global warming. ... Allegre wrote that the “cause of climate change remains unknown” and pointed out that Kilimanjaro is not losing snow due to global warming, but to local land use and precipitation changes. Allegre also pointed out that studies show that Antarctic snowfall rate has been stable over the past 30 years and the continent is actually gaining ice.

Man-made global warming is a hoax concocted to give Leftists an excuse for raising taxes and attacking industrialism and capitalism.

IS THE GOP REALLY TRAILING? OR: NUMBERS DON'T LIE; THE MSM DOES

WHY IS THE GOP TRAILING IN THE POLLS? Simple:

Republicans have staggered in recent weeks under a barrage of painful publicity ranging from plunging fuel prices, to record stock market closes, to the Bush administration’s failure to produce inflation despite growing employment, reduced tax rates and soaring tax revenues.

Meanwhile, Democrats ride a wave of public adoration due to the party’s clear, positive vision for protecting the civil rights of foreign terrorists, retreating from Iraq so that rival Muslim sects can work out their differences without American interference, and restoring the Clinton era “spirit of cooperation” with North Korea.

Heh. Actually the polls are wrong. And you can prove it by helping to GOTV!

Lamont Losing On Anti-Iraq War Monomania

Ned Lamont is Ahab and the Iraq War is his white whale. And, thus far, it has looked like he is absolutely willing to go down with the ship. But, now he is finding he needs to widen his focus:

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - A single towering issue — Iraq — powered Ned Lamont in his dramatic primary victory over Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman. Now Lamont is letting voters know he's got more to talk about than that, because Iraq alone isn't doing it for him in the fall campaign.

Lamont is ticking off plans for expanded health care, universal preschool education and curbs in the influence of lobbyists. He's decrying U.S. addiction to foreign oil. To be sure, Iraq is no more settled than when he tapped the anger of so many Democrats over the war's course, securing the Democratic place on the ticket from an 18-year veteran who almost became vice president.

But Lamont's post-primary glow has faded and he trails Lieberman, who is running as an independent in a state with a vast pool of independent, if Democratic-leaning, voters.

Lesson: Running on opposition to the Iraq War will not win you the vote, even in the bluest of states. Americans know we must win the War on Terror and that is why Lamont is losing, and that is why the Republicans will continue to win.

Meanwhile, at the same time Lamont is learning he has to focus on other issues, the Republican Party is narrowing its focus down to a specific issue. And, what is that? Why it's the War On Terror. A new television ad put out by the Republican National Commitee takes a bold approach:

The Republican Party will begin airing a hard-hitting ad this weekend that warns of more cataclysmic terror attacks against the U.S. homeland. The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998. "These are the stakes," the ad concludes. "Vote November 7." Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said the ad would run on national cable beginning Sunday, but he declined to discuss specifics of the buy. The commercial tracks with Republican Party strategy to make the war on terrorism a central theme of this election.

And, at the same time, in a move that I think is tied to this knowledge that the War on Terror is central in the mind of the voter, the Republican Party is murmuring about possibly losing seats in the Senate:

By holding their breath, for starters. With party strategists increasingly afraid the Senate is slipping away, Republican officials are moving money around in high-stakes triage. Republican officials are trying to project confidence about keeping the Senate by spending heavily, and forcing Democrats to do the same, in blue states like Michigan, Maryland and New Jersey.

What I believe is happening here is the Republican Party is taking a carrot and stick approach to motivating the electorate, by holding their record on the GWOT out in front with the TV ads, and using the possibility of a Democrat-controlled Senate as a way to drive home the point that everyone has to get out and vote or our chances in the war will be imperiled.

Because the Democratic Party has so narrowly focused its energies on opposition to the war, the Republican Party knows that, in this election, the more people vote, the more Repubs will win.

MESSAGE TO CONSERVATIVES: STOP WHINING AND GOTV!

THE BOTTOM LINE:

... there is enormous discontent among conservatives with this Congress and even with the President. But conservative angst about their performance and translating that dissatisfaction into Election Day pouting absolutely must take a back seat to what the alternative would be. For if the Democrats take control, the blame for such a turn of events will be shared by both Congress itself and those who believe that reforming the party takes precedence over the safety and security of the United States. Those are the stakes. Now quit your griping and go vote.

Ifd you go out and vote then we will WIN. NEED PROOF?! Then, RTWT. And don't believe crap like this.

FRANCE, DREYFUS AND AL DURA

The DREYFUS AFFAIR remains an archetype of organized injustice. It was inflicted by France upon a Jew. Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of espionage in 1894. Dreyfus was pardoned in 1896 - almost exactly 100 years before the latest example of French anti-Semitism: THE AL DURA AFFAIR. In the Dreyfus Affair, exonerating evidence was suppressed. In the al Dura trial, the evidence (which was OVERWHELMINGLY in favor of the defendants) was presented and just freakin' ignored.

This unjust decision is dhimmitude, pure and simple. The French - who have ignored their festering Muslim problem for decades - have again chosen to suck up to the islamothugs - at home juast as they have in the Middle East (where they are more threatening to the IAF than they arfe to Hizballah!). This of course will only encourage the islamothugs.

I pray that the DEFENDANT is eventually exonerated - just as Dreyfus was.

A SMOKING GUN

There has always been something flawed in the 'Palestinian' narrative. To put the end of the story first, the flaw is that the entire 'Palestinian' narrative has been invented by the Arab-Islamist world, with the complicity of most of the West, in order to maintain the hope of one day destroying the Jewish state and either replacing it with an Arab state or incorporating Israel into Syria and/or Jordan. The reason for this is to avenge the Arab-Islamist 'honor' and pride that were lost in the 1948 War of Independence (which they call the Naqba - tragedy), and because the Arab world will not tolerate one small, democratic country of Jews infidels in their midst.

The truth is that there are no 'Palestinian people' and that there is no such country or territory as 'Palestine.' The 'Palestinians' are a fiction that was created by the Arabs to oppose Zionism.

In order to maintain the fiction that there is a 'Palestinian' people who exist to lay claim to the land of Israel, it is necessary to keep Arabs who claim to have roots in 'Palestine' - and their progeny - imprisoned in refugee camps. Nearly sixty years after the War of Independence ended, the 'refugees' continue to multiply, languishing in 'camps' maintained by a corrupt United Nations-sponsored bureaucracy, that costs nearly half a billion dollars per year (aside from other international aid given to the 'Palestinians').

What I'm about to present to you is not the first smoking gun that will prove to you that everything I said above is true. It's at least the second. The first smoking gun I know of was a statement made to a Dutch newspaper in March 1977 by Zuhair Mohsen, then a leader of one of the PLO factions. In an interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw, Mr. Mohsen explained the origin of the 'Palestinians.'

Continue reading....

TET AND IRAQ: THE TRUE PARALLELS

MANY ARE POSTING ABOUT TET AND IRAQ - AND FRIEDMAN AND BUSH AND STEPHANOPOULAS. [SEE HERE AND HERE AND HERE.]

I POSTED ON TET AND IRAQ ON JANUARY 15, 2006. (More about the true parallels between the "anti-war" Left THEN & NOW HERE and HERE and HERE.)

Tthe effort to paint Iraq as an unwinnable quagmire and a mistake is being done by the very same Left-wing dominated MSM which propagandized for the Vietnamese Marxist tyrants in 1968. Their deceitful and defeatist efforts are NOT analogical; they are indentical! Which is why I say - over and over: To defeat the enemy abroad we have to defeat the Left at home.

UPDATE: Popinjay adds: I urge you to read this interview from Front Page Magazine back in the Spring of 2004 with a former North Vietnamese Colonel. It will open your eyes. The terrorists are not fools. They read the newspapers, they know the drill. Propaganda is the key.

BBC ENDORSES TERROR-APPEASING THAI JUNTA

NO SURPRISE HERE: The BBC rounds up a bunch of other Leftist NGO types and gets quotes favoring the coup which deposed the elected PM and replaced him with a Muslim who favors appeasing the jihaodterrorists who have murdered 2000 Thai's since 2004. TWELVE MORE THIS VERY WEEK. Yet the BBC portrays these developments as positive:

Already there are signs of a change in policy from that of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The new government has signalled a willingness to talk to the Islamic rebels who are behind the violence - something Mr Thaksin always refused to do.

So, these Leftists who run the BBC - (and who tirelessly run biased propaganda for anti-Semitic jihadists in the Middle East) - are now openly and explicity praising miltary juntas which appease jihadoterrorists in SE Asia. This once again demostrates the very deep affinity that Leftists have with jihadism: Both are elitist and anti-individualist, and both are pro-statist utopianistic. They use each other, and that's why I have often said: to defeat the jihadist enemy abroad we must defeat theLeftist enemy at home. The Leftists who dominate the MSM are Public Enemy #1.

10/19/06 UPDATE: MORE PROOF APPEASEMENT DOESN'T WORK:

Gunmen attack military station insouthern Thailand -

A group of gunmen attacked a military station in southern province of Yala Wednesday morning, killing one soldier and injuring another four, a military source told Xinhua. The attack took place ... in northeastern Yala, one of the three Muslim-dominant southernmost provinces in Thailand, where insurgency-related violence has claimed more than 1,700 lives since it reemerged in January 2004. ... In nearby Pattani province, suspected insurgents burned a strategically located police outpost with Molotov cockails in Waeng district late Tuesday night.

I wonder if and when the MSM will report these islamoterrorist attacks - and how they will blame Bushitler and the Joooooooze?!

ROVE PREDICTS GOP WILL HOLD CONGRESS

Rove predicts the Democats will fall short (complete round up here at TAILRANK). And here's how: More GOP voters will turn out and vote against the Dems, then Dems will turn out and vote for the Dems. HERE'S WHY: (1) The GOP GOTV effort is better. For too long the Dems have depended on "Organized" Labor to GOTV, and Labor ain't what it used to be; (2), most people HATE CONGRESS, but like their own representatives.l and (3), there's just a finite number of seats which CAN switch parties, and these low numbers do not favor the Dems.

Bottom-line: If the GOP gets out the vote, then the GOP wins. Heavy voting will be good for the GOP. Proof of this is LIKELY is the fact that voter turnout in primary contests this year - for both parties - were historically LOW; in fact the lowest ever. If Dems were "energized", then the turnout would've been higher. AND ANOTHER THING: Low gas prices and a high stock market - though good for the nation - are bad for the Democrats. Too bad: boo-freakin-hoo.

DEMOCRAT CATCH-PHRASE - "THE COMMON GOOD" - IS CODE FOR HIGHER TAXES AND MORE SOCIALISM, MORE STATISM

DISSECTING LEFTISM: THOSE WHO WILL NOT LEARN FROM HISTORY... We read (YAHOO):

"Ned Lamont uses it in his Connecticut Senate race. President Clinton is scheduled to speak on the idea in Washington this week. Bob Casey Jr., Pennsylvania candidate for Senate, put it in the title of his talk at The Catholic University of America - then repeated the phrase 29 times. The term is "common good," and it's catching on as a way to describe liberal values and reach religious voters who rejected Democrats in the 2004 election. "It's a core value that we think organizes the entire political agenda for progressives," said John Halpin, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress."

What would Hitler have to say about that? We don't need to guess. The term can be translated into German as "Gemeinnutz" and that lovable German-speaking rogue used the term a lot -- as encapsulating what HE stood for: "Gemeinnutz vor Eigennutz!" was one of his great slogans ("Common use before personal use!", literally). And who preceded Hitler in such ideas? Friedrich Engels (Karl Marx's co-author) at one stage ran a publication called Gemeinnuetziges Wochenblatt ("Common-use Weekly"). The Democrats sure make it clear where they fit into history. [Umph added.]

FLASHBACK 2004: NEWSMAX:

Sen. Clinton exposed her socialist agenda during a speech Monday in San Francisco (which the Associated Press dubbed the "leftiest big city on the Left Coast"). But don't take our word for it. We'll go straight to the horse's mouth. "Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you," she said at a fund-raiser for radical Sen. Barbara Boxer. "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good," the former first lady admitted.

Conservatives - and libertarians - think YOU know what is good for YOU, and the State should BUTT OUT! Or, as Reagan always used to say, "You know how to spend your money better than the government knows how to spend YOUR money." And the Bush tax cuts - just like the Reagan tax cuts before them - proved that this moral good is also good for the economy.

Let's NOT turn back the clock by electing Democrat majorities in Congress. GET OUT AND VOTE GOP! But if you WANT to pay more taxes, and if you want to abandon the Iraqis and the Afghanis to al Qaeda, and if you want to treat Israel worse and Hamas and Hizballah better, and if you want to have a higher risk of another 9/11 here - by rolling back the Patriot Act and by curtailing the NSA intercept program,... THEN BY ALL MEANS....VOTE DEMOCRAT!

GORBACHEV: "BORDER FENCE IS LIKE BERLIN WALL"

History's biggest loser is, of course, offering advice to the country that defeated him, and he even has the gall to use Ronald Reagan in his defense. Newsmax:

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev told a group in Texas that the proposed 700-mile U.S.-Mexico border fence reminds him of the Berlin Wall. Construction of the security fence to limit illegal immigration was approved by Congress earlier this month.

According to the Midland Reporter-Telegram, Gorbachev — recalling President Reagan's famous Cold War demand, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" — said America seems to have forgotten its history. "You remember President Reagan standing in Berlin and saying, 'This wall should be torn down'? Now the United States seems to be building almost the Wall of China between itself and this other nation with which it has been associated for many decades and has had cooperation and interaction with," Gorbachev said.

First off, there's one very very very very very very very very VERY big difference between the Berlin Wall and our wall (which we'll probably never build). The Berlin Wall was used to keep an oppressed people from fleeing their country, not to keep people from coming in.

Second, never ever use Ronald Reagan to defend your viewpoint, Gorby; in fact, don't even utter his name, you're not worthy.

IT'S NOT ABOUT TERRITORY - IT'S ABOUT ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE

Yes, I know, I have talked about this several times before but it bears pointing out again: the dispute between Israel and the Arabs (a term which includes the 'Palestinians') is not about territory or borders. It's about Israel's existence. We got another reminder of that this morning.

A survey by the Al-Mustaqabal Research Institute shows that 64.1% of the 'Palestinians' are not willing to agree to the Saudi initiative, which calls for Israel to leave Judea and Samaria, for a 'Palestinian' state reichlet to be established in Judea and Samaria, and for the Arab world to recongnize Israel's existence (but not its 'right to exist' - contrary to what you see reported in most of the media). Continue reading here...

ISRAEL IS PREPARING A MAJOR INCURSION INTO GAZA

On October 3rd - two weeks ago I posted this:

HAARETZ: ... Egypt threatened Meshal that if an agreement for prisoner release is not reached by the end of Ramadan - the Muslim month of fast that ends October 22 - the Hamas leader would be held responsible for a wide-scale Israeli military attack in the Gaza Strip.

I think this might be a good interim deal - since all deals with jihadists must be considered hudnas. There's lots more to the deal (so RTWT) - and some doubts whether Hamas will even agree to it (since it overtly casts the state of Israel as an entity with rights). Time will tell.

I think the Egyptian timeline is really a DEADLINE from Israel. Stay tuned... [Umph added]

NOW, COMES THIS ITEM FROM THE JPOST:

IDF preparing for large-scale incursion into the Gaza Strip

With Kassams still being fired at the western Negev and Hamas claiming to be building up an army, the IDF has set in motion preparations for a massive ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, one that senior officers in the Southern Command claim will be "larger than ever before."

I think this Gaza incursion - which, like the Lebanese incursion, has the tacit approval of Israel's Arab neighbors (who fear Iran, and its proxies Hizballah and Hamas, more than they fear Israel) - will occur on or around the end of Ramadan - 10/23, exactly as Egypt warmed. And once again, my analysis (and I was the one of only 3 bloggers in the blogsphere to post on it - and one of those linked to me!) was right: IT WAS A DEADLINE FROM ISRAEL. Stay tuned...

LIEBERMAN ON BOLTON: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

NYDAILY NEWS:

"I see no reason not to be for Bolton," Lieberman told a meeting of the Daily News Editorial Board. "Based on his capabilities - and now based on his performance - I believe Bolton is well-qualified," he said. "I think he's been a good negotiator and a good spokesman. He deserves to have a vote. I think he deserves to be confirmed."

JOE IS OBVIOUSLY NOT SUCKING UP TO THE LOONY LEFT. His primary loss has truly liberated him, freed him to simply call'em like he sees'em. BRAVO JOE! (Complete round-up HERE.)

GUATEMALA, VENEZUELA DEADLOCK IN BID FOR U.N. SEAT

Bloomberg:

Guatemala, while continuing to lead Venezuela, failed to win enough support in the United Nations General Assembly to secure a Latin American seat on the Security Council after two days and 22 rounds of voting.

Needing 120 votes, or two-thirds of the 179 member governments that cast ballots, Guatemala received 102 votes and Venezuela got 77 in the General Assembly. Twelve of the UN's 192 countries abstained and one didn't vote in the final round today. "There is no way out as of now,'' Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen said.

"It can only emerge after a few more rounds and we get really sick of it. There is some discussion on the margins of a compromise candidate.''

As long as Venezuela is kept off the Council, it's one for our side. Not that the U.N. is a good use of our time, but little victories over time...

ARE MUSLIM WOMEN COMMITTING SUICIDE FOR "FAMILY HONOR"?

Did you know that suicides among Muslim women in Sweden are being investigated as a form of honor killing? YES: It looks like the family gives the young lady a choice she cannot refuse...jump off the balcony, or you will be killed.

As long as Muslims tolerate the systematic abuse of women, there should not be much value placed in appeasement or "coexistence" with them in the name of multiculturalism or anything else.

These systematic human rights abuses violate the UN Charter; nations which tolerate them should be sanctioned by the UN or expelled. Swedes must demand a halt to this practice, or join the ranks of shameless dhimmis who are, in effect, accessories to mass murder.

More on "honor suicides" HERE (SFGATE) and HERE (NYTIMES) and HERE (an article from the WASHPOST - which PREDATES 9/11!).

THE BOTTOM-LINE ON TODAY'S DEMOCRAT PARTY

The doctor is in, and she rips the Left - and the Democrat Party they control - a new one. I agree with her - and I have been a registered Dem for 32 years. Which is why I am a Zell Miller Democrat; IOW: an FDR/Truman/JFK Hawk/"neocon". RTWT.

FRENCH SOCIALIST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO DEBATE

BBC:

Three candidates vying for the French Socialist Party's nomination in next year's presidential election are to take part in a televised debate. Former Environment Minister Segolene Royal, the front-runner, will face former Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn and ex-PM Laurent Fabius. Thursday's televised debate will be the first of three between the contenders. The Socialists' candidate, to be chosen in November, is likely to face current Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy is the leader of the conservative UMP party.

This strikes me as less than an exercize in futility. It's like midshipmen arguing in an sinking lifeboat as their ship is sinking, too. France is in BIG trouble and returning to the discredited and failed policies of SOCIALISM will only make things worse. Of course, given the idiotic structure of French politics and elections, this may very well happen.

NEXT THEY'LL COLLECT PENNIES IN LITTLE BLUE BOXES

When I was a child, we all had little blue boxes from the Jewish National Fund (JNF). You'd put your pennies in the blue box, and eventually you'd save up enough to plant a tree in Israel. You'd send the money to the JNF and they would plant a tree in Israel and send you a nice certificate saying that you'd planted a tree in Israel.

For many years now, the 'Palestinians' have been trying to adopt the Israeli narrative as their own (in keeping with the Muslim tradition of trying to coopt other religions' holy sites as their own - see the Temple Mount, the Church of the Ascension in Nazareth, and various Hindu sites in India). The latest part of the Israeli narrative that they have adopted is planting trees.

A 'respected' British current affairs magazine, which actually looks like a fairly right-wing magazine based on its table of contents, is now making all of you a special offer. If you take out a one-year subscription to the New Statesman for only 78 British pounds, you can join the Trees for Life Campaign and sponsor the planting of three new olive trees in 'Palestine.'

Continue reading....

CASE CLOSED: NOAA OFFERS PROOF MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING IS TOTAL BS

NOAA (VIA DRUDGE):

The September 2006 temperature for the contiguous United States (based on preliminary data) was 0.7 degrees F (0.4 degrees C) below the 20th century average of 65.4 degrees F (18.6 degrees C).

Er, um... not just cooler than last year, BUT COOLER THAN THE AVERAGE TEMPEATURE FOR THE LAST CENTURY! Well, er, um... if man-made "greenhouse" gases caused global-warming, then this would be IMPOSSIBLE - because man-made gases are steadily increasing but OBVIOUSLY global temeraptures ARE NOT. Case closed.

POPE RECONFIRMS HE WILL VISIT TURKEY

"Reuters" (via PJM):

The Vatican on Monday officially confirmed that Pope Benedict will visit Turkey at the end of November, a trip that had been put into doubt by Muslim anger over controversial comments he made about Islam. ... The main purpose of the visit is to meet in Istanbul -- the former Constantinople -- with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians. ... But the issue of Christian unity -- although still the main topic of the trip -- has been largely overshadowed by the worldwide controversy that followed his September 12 lecture at Regensburg University in his native Germany.

In the lecture, he quoted 14th-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus who spoke of the Prophet Mohammad's "command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". ... Since the speech, the Pope or Vatican officials have said at least a dozen times that it has been misunderstood. ... Some of the strongest criticism of the speech came from Turkey, where Turkish nationalists and Islamic activists have pushed for the trip to be canceled.

I predict that the Turkish reaction to his visit will be quite mixed - to say the least - and this will reconfirm what most of us Hawks think about the the dire state of Islam today.

This will, in turn, bring more clarity to the GWOT, by exposing the fanaticism of one of the most liberal of secular Muslim states - (which is growing more fanatical each year). This additional clarity might aid Pope Benedict in his main mission: the re-awakening of Catholic Europe (which is literally fading away). TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.

[ASIDE: How pitiful that 5 short years after 9/11 -- and just 32 months after 3/11 in Madrid, and just 15 months after 7/7 in London -- that much of the world is still in denial about the nature of the enemy and still need re-awakening!

(I think this is due to the fact that most of Europe, and most of America's Left, are stuck in "the quagmire of post modernism" (Tm) - an ideology taught at every major university, an ideology which has brainwashed several generations into believing the West is a menace to humanity and the environment, and that the USA is the chief menace since WW1.)]

The Left Worries About "The Christian Taliban" While A Real Regime Of Religious Fanatics Threatens

The Left isn't much worried about the threat of Islamofascism. They mock the very notion of a worldwide Jihad to establish Islamic rule. But, there is one thing the Left is worried about; the Christian Taliban:

It is true that we are at war right now. Not just a traditional war of guns and tanks, but a cultural war is afoot as well. When President Bush said "they hate us for our freedom," I think he could have been talking about this enemy, the Christian Right. Strong statement, eh?

I had to get your attention, because I believe the Christian Right is a bigger threat to decent Americans than radical Islam. In fact, to many, the Christian Right is known as the American Taliban. I think that is a fair description.

I am amused and nauseated at the same time. Let me show you what a real fantical religious regime sounds like:

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad says that when he delivered his speech at the UN General Assembly in September, he felt there was a light around him and that the attention of the world leaders in the audience was unblinkingly focused upon him. The claim has caused a stir in Iran, as a transcript and video recording of Ahmadinejad's comments have been published on an Iranian website, baztab.com. There are also reports that a CD showing Ahmadinejad making the comments also has been widely distributed in Iran. Is the Iranian president claiming to be divinely inspired?

Prague, 29 November 2005 (RFE/RL) -- According the report by baztab.com, President Ahmadinejad made the comments in a meeting with one of Iran's leading clerics, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli.

Ahmadinejad said that someone present at the UN told him that a light surrounded him while he was delivering his speech to the General Assembly. The Iranian president added that he also sensed it. "He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God,' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad appears to say in the video. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink."

Ahmadinejad adds that he is not exaggerating. "I am not exaggerating when I say they did not blink; it's not an exaggeration, because I was looking," he says. "They were astonished as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic."

Any questions?

Reliapundit adds: Exactly Pastorius, and - as if to drive your point home - Ahmadinejad made ANOTHER fantical religious outburst today, not unlike that made by his ally Hugo Chavez at the UN - (BBC):

According to the Iranian media, Mr Ahmadinejad said he had inspirational links to God, and went on to say that if you were a true believer, God would show you miracles. Then the Iranian president said Mr Bush was similar to him. According to Mr Ahmadinejad, the US president also receives inspiration - but it is from Satan.
He repeated: "Satan inspires Mr Bush."

The Left is in deep denial - about the bankruptcy of their own ideology, and about the real danger presented by islamofascism.

NOKO'S NUKE TEST CONFIRMED. WHEN WILL THEY CONFIRM THAT IRANIANS WERE PRESENT?

MSNBC (via LGF):

Air samples gathered last week contain radioactive materials that confirm that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte’s office said Monday.

By the end of July, the US confirmed that Iranians were present for the July 4th missile tests. So I ask, WERE THE IRANIANS THERE FOR THE NUKE BOMB TEST, TOO? I expect we will find out in another two weeks, or so. If they were, this would be FINAL PROOF that the "axis of evil" is not merely an oft debated rehotrical flourish, but the simple truth.

VENEZUELA STUMBLES IN BID FOR U.N. SEAT

From the Financial Times:

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on Monday appeared headed for a personal political defeat at the hands of US-backed Guatemala in his long-held goal to win a temporary seat at the United Nations Security Council.

Guatemala, which has never before held a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, beat Venezuela by 109 votes to 76 in a first round of voting at the General Assembly, and extended its lead to 114 votes versus 74 in the second round, and 116-70 in the third.

But in a fourth vote, Guatemala slipped back to 110 votes, while Venezuela rose back up to 75. Further rounds of voting were postponed until the afternoon.

While Guatemala had not yet garnered the two-thirds of votes it needed to win, as of Monday mid-day in New York, its larger-than-expected lead was a serious blow to the Venezuelan government.

Ooo, that's gotta hurt! Watch this space for updates.

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS: WHO SUPPORTS ISRAEL MORE?

When I was growing up in the US, it was almost gospel that if you were Jewish you voted Democratic. The Democrats were the party that supported Israel (Harry Truman recognized the Jewish state over many objections) and the separation of church and state, while the Republicans were the party that was 'too Christian,' and was also considered to be less interested in Israel, or worse. Not to mention that most Jews agreed with the Democrats on most other 'social issues.'

Over the last 25-30 years, that has started to change, as parts of the 'liberal agenda' on social issues became more widely accepted, as many Jews came to believe that Republican economic policies (Reaganomics and its progeny) were better suited for them personally than was the welfare state, and as the two parties started to compete for the pro-Israel vote. As an American Jew to whom support for Israel was issue number one, I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 (and would have voted for Richard Nixon in 1972 if I'd had the right to vote then), because I felt that the Democratic candidate that year (Dhimmi Carter and George McGovern, respectively) was not pro-Israel, and would have sold this country down the river had they been given the opportunity. For the record, I still lived in the US then.

But until very recently Jews who voted Republican usually did so quietly on their own and usually did so due to special circumstances (a particular candidate on the Democratic side with whom they were disenchanted). Outside of the ultra-Orthodox community, Jews were often embarassed to admit it if they voted Republican. And most Jews were registered Democrats regardless of what lever they pulled in the elections. Most Jews who made political contributions contributed only to Democratic causes. No one ever openly questioned whether the Democratic party as a party supported Israel; it was taboo to even raise the issue. Some people would like to keep it that way.

In the last eight years, the Democratic party has veered sharply to the left. Organizations like MoveOn.org and blogs like DailyKos and Huffington Post are only a small part of a radicalization of the Democratic party that includes the rise to prominence of the likes of Cindy Sheehan and Al Sharpton. The radical left has gained a strong influence on the party - the only time that comes to mind in which the radical influence on the Democratic party was anywhere near as strong is the late 1960's. The Internet has spread that radical mindset through the core of the Democratic party. (If you question that statement, follow some of the links above). Much of the Jewish community - especially the 'organized' Jewish community for whom the Democratic party has always been a comfortable place - is trying to pretend that the Democractic party is still the party of Lyndon Johnson and Scoop Jackson (for whom I campaigned in 1976). But it's not.

For me personally, this came home with the defeat of Senator Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary in Connecticut by radical leftist Ned Lamont. Although I have voted Republican several times, I have never felt as uncomfortable with the Democratic party as I have felt since that primary. Jimmy Carter could be dismissed as a bitter one-term President. Lamont's ideological hold on the Democratic party (along with that of George Soros and Michael Moore and others) cannot be dismissed.

Through a series of ads in Jewish newspapers, an organization called the Republican Jewish Coalition is trying to make the Jewish community confront reality. I am reproducing some of the ads in this post.... Continue reading....

REID SHOULD RESIGN FROM DEMOCRAT LEADERSHIP IMMEDIATELY

According to Glenn: "HARRY REID ON THE HOT SEAT".

I say: that hot seat should not be the seat of the Minority Leader: REID VIOLATED SENATE ETHICS. HIS BLATANT ARROGANCE TO AN AP REPORTER INVESTIGATING HIS VIOLATION IS UNFORGIVABLE. STONEWALLING IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

REID SHOULD RESIGN AS MINORITY LEADER. THE DEMOCRAT CAUCUS SHOULD DEMAND IT.

OR IS THIS CORRUPT AND ARROGANT MAN THE BEST THE SENATE DEMOCRATS HAVE TO OFFER?

US Lost More Soldiers Under Bill Clinton Than We Have In Iraq

America lost an average of 938 soldiers per year under Clinton. In Iraq, we have lost an average of 789 soldiers per year. From Gateway Pundit:

Before Americans hand the keys of government over to the Bush-haters and allow:

* Osama to make another fatwa tape on how weak the Americans are for running from Iraq

* Speaker Pelosi to follow through with the 9-11 Commission's recommendations after she voted them down in 2004

* Liberal democrats to spit on our soldiers as they drag them from Iraq

* Total chaos and death if Iraq is left to the militias

* Democrats to rewrite the books on this historic military campaign

It is, of course, a tragedy to lose the soldiers we have lost in Iraq. We ought to be thankful to them and their families for the sacrifices they were willing to make in the cause of freedom. But, the Left blows the numbers out of proportion to reality. In World War II we lost over 400,000 soldiers. In Vietnam we lost approximately 47,000 soldiers. In Iraq, we have lost 2,755 men in total.

Here's a little known fact, the casualty rate suffered by French policemen in the continuous street fighting with Muslim "youths" is over three times higher than the casualty rate of American forces in Iraq (from the French paper Le Figaro):

"Violent acts are rising in an exponential proportion", says a speaker from the Police. "If this tendency continues, we will have 15% of the policemen hurt in a year".

They are suffering a higher number of casualties than Americans are in Iraq. The total number of casualties in Iraq per year is approximately 6,800, which represents about 4.5% of total American forces.

The Left is in charge over in France, and they have incredibly high casualty rates. The Left was in charge with Clinton in office, and we had high casualty rates. Conservatives are in charge under Bush, AND WE ARE AT WAR, and we have comparatively low casualty rates.

Now, do you really want to put the Democrats back in charge?

IRAN CO-OPTING HAMAS WITH SYRIA'S HELP AND EGYPT'S APPROVAL; OLMERT-PERETZ-LIVNI GOVERNMENT SILENT

DEBKAfile is reporting that Iran, aided by Syria and its 'guest' Khaled Meshaal, has entered into military accords with Hamas that are designed to bring Hamas up to Hezbullah's military standards and to turn Gaza into a second front for Israel, on a par with Lebanon. Egypt's tacit consent will allow arms to be shipped through Egypt to Gaza. Meanwhile, Ehud Olmert, Amir Comrade Peretz and Tzippi Livni continue to play their fiddles....

Continue reading here.

REP. MURTHA BLASTS GOP FOR NAME-CALLING

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. John Murtha, a decorated Marine veteran who favors withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, wrote an essay for Sunday's Washington Post blasting Republicans for referring to him and other Iraq war opponents as "Defeatocrats."

Okay Mr. Murtha, you want to talk about "name-calling" then let's talk about it. How about calling a group of Marines "murderers" before they had their day in court, AND accusing them of a "cover-up" before any of the evidence was even available? HOW'S THAT FOR NAME-CALLING?! And yet, the AP in their story has the cojones to call Murtha a "military hawk." Yeah, and I'm Buck Rogers.

OLD LEFTIST LIE RECYCLED BY AP: "BUSH CHANGING REASONS FOR IRAQ WAR"

HERE'S THE EXACT AP HEADLINE: "Bush keeps revising war justification" AND THIS IS THE LEAD PARAGRAGH:

Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop Saddam Hussein from using what Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader's weapons of mass destruction or from selling them to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

THESE ARE SIMPLY LIES, AND THE ARTICLE IS AN UNADULTERATED PIECE OF LEFTIST PROPAGANDA.

Anyone who reads the speech Bush gave in September 2002 - (given before UNSCR #1441 was even introduced, and SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE WAR) - or who reads the UNSCR #1441 (UNANIMOUSLY PASSED by the UNSC), OR WHO READS THE CONGRESSIONAL BILL AUTHORIZING THE WAR - (which passed overwhelmingly) - will see that ALL THESE REASONS WERE COMPLETELY SPELLED OUT FROM THE VERY START. YUP: From the very start there were more than TWO dozen reasons Bush said Saddam was a threat and why regime change was important. Heck: it had been official USA policy UNDER CLINTON!

FACT: BUSH USED 27 REASONS TO JUSTIFY ATTACKING SADDAM --- BEFORE ATTACKING HIM! EXCERPT:

If it seems that there have been quite a few rationales for going to war in Iraq, that’s because there have been quite a few – 27, in fact, all floated between Sept. 12, 2001, and Oct. 11, 2002, according to a new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ALL AP is proving - once again - is that they are a Left-wing dominated propaganda organization carrying water for the Democrat Party. AND THEY ARE LYING SCUM.

(BTW: This LIE is as big as the LIE that 650,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war since 2003 - another example of the Left using LIES and PROPAGANDA to try to effect the election. They do it so much and so often that we should stop calling it an October SURPRISE! It's typical behavior from them. REMEMBER RATHERGATE?!?! Sheesh.)

[More proof UNSCR was violated - and war legal and justified AND NECESSARY on that basis alone - HERE.]

UPDATE: 12 HOURS later and POWER LINE agrees - (without giving you ALL the links and documentation which proves it!).