"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Saturday, November 04, 2006

WHAT KERRY AND THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO HIDE FROM THE ELECTORATE

WHO SAID:
"Americans are inclined to see the world and foreign affairs in black and white. ... They [Americans] celebrate their own form of government and denigrate all others, making them guilty of ... "ethnocentric accommodation -- everyone ought to be like us. ... As a result, America has committed the "fatal error" of "propagating democracy" and fallen prey to "the siren's song of promoting human rights," falsely assuming that our values and institutions are a good fit in the Third World. And, just as Americans exaggerate their own goodness, they exaggerate their enemies' badness.
Was this apparent attack on Bush's so-called neoconservative agenda formulated by Noam Chomsky? Cindy Sheehan? Michael Moore? Teddy Jo Kennedy? John Kerry? It could have been written by any of them as recently as last week, but in fact, it's from 1990 - and it's taken from a book by John Kerry's father - Richard Kerry, who was a longtime career State Department diplomat and a Europhile and a multilateral accommodationist and UN-loving Leftist. (The apple don't fall far from the tree.)

Leftist multilateralist anti-American crap like this isn't a myth invented by Rove to frighten patriotic Americans and make then afraid to vote the Democrats into power. IT'S WHAT THEY REALLY THINK. They really think that we're not very good and our enemies not very bad. They felt that way during the Cold War about the USSR, and they feel that way now about Jihadism. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.

THE FOLLY OF THAI DHIMMITUDE: TAB SCOOPS LGF BY 17 DAYS

LGF reported today on a few jihadist attacks in south Thailand - following the junta's gesture of appeasement - and argued that these attacks prove once again that appeasement doesn't work. LGF is of course 100% right, but Charles is also 17 days late: TAB reported this on 10/18, as advance word of the juntas appeasement was leaked - and praised by Left-wing NGO's.

And 2 days ago we commented on the junta's move to allow sharia, and on on the central flaw in the junta's rationalization for their appeasment: the Thai junta - like most Leftists - expressed their contention that the current jihad was a response to alienation felt by the Muslims. In fact, the jihadists - from southern Thailand to the suburban slums of Paris - WANT to be alienated from the West and want to live in under sharia. IOW: They don't want to be better integrated into the West; they want the West to conform to their jihadism. And this is why ALL accommodationist polices are doomed to failure.

REMEMBER: LGF is GRRRREAT! But, TAB is often faster on the news and better on the analysis and commentary. Spread the word.

KERRY'S COMMENT REVEALS THAT THE LEFT REALLY THINKS ALL OF US ON THE RIGHT ARE STUPID

Kerry's derogatory comment about the brave and enormously talented people who serve in our military was really just the tip of the iceberg. Leftists like Kerry really believe that they are smarter than the rest of us. Here's a short list:
* Leftists believe that folks who believe in God are stupid.
* Leftists believe that folks who support the Second Amendment and their innate right to self-defense are stupid.
* Leftists believe that folks who think that global warming is not man-made, but natural and historically periodic are stupid.
* Leftists believe that folks who believe that the West is threatened more by jihadism than by Bush are stupid.
* Leftists believe that people who think they know better how to spend their own money than bureaucrats and technocrats in Washington DC are stupid.
* Leftists believe that people who live in rural areas are stupid.
* Leftists believe that people who like American culture more than "European" culture are stupid.
* Leftists believe that people who prefer watching Fox and don't swear by the NYTIMES are stupid.
Well... I KNOW people in the military: they are GREAT.

And I know that if blacks were armed after the US Civil War that none would've been lynched.

And, I know that Earth has warmed and cooled many times - during eras which had NO man-made "greenhouse" gases, and that so-called greenhouses gases have risen steadily since 1850 but that global temps have NOT, (which is dispositive of a man-made cause for the current trend).

And I know that jihadism is the world's greatest threat to the lives and liberty of the entire West - and that Bush's response - in his use of presidential war powers abroad and at home - has been much much much MUCH milder than FDR's --- who is still regarded as HERO by the Left.

I know that the government is a wasteful spender and of taxes, and that there are only one or two things which the federal government MUST do with taxes, and that chief among them is NATIONAL DEFENSE.

As a resident of NYC, I know that cities are teeming with under-educated, un-assimilated people and millions of anti-American Leftists, and that rural areas are filled with SMART PEOPLE - PATRIOTS - the salt of the Earth, the folks who do most of the real hard work in this nation.

I know that American culture is the most exciting, engaging, and fluid culture in the history of humanity, and that it is so dynamic because we are so free: free to create whatever we want. I know that American culture gave rise to the most enlivening things in global Pop culture: Jazz, and Rock, and Hollywood movies - and the most basic fashions: blue jeans, white Tees, and sneakers or boots. I know that free people EVERYWHERE, INCLUDING EUROPE - when given the freedom of choice - almost always choose to enjoy things derived from American culture.

And, I prefer getting BOTH sides to the story and so I prefer to watch FOX NEWS.

AND I BELIEVE IN GOD.

I am not stupid. I have an above average IQ and a BA - earned in two majors - Philosophy and Anthropology, and I earned a MA in 18 months. And, I'm smart enough to know that we will not defeat jihadism abroad until we defeat the elitist Left at home. And I know that we can do this next Tuesday. SO, IF YOU'RE AS SICK AND TIRED AS I AM AT BEING TOLD BY DEMOCRATS THAT YOU'RE STUPID, THEN GET OUT AND VOTE. For the GOP.

THREE TRUTHS ABOUT IRAQ: SECTARIAN STRIFE IS NOT NEW; IT'S NOT WORSE THAN BEFORE THE WAR; AND WHY CONTAINMENT EQUALS DHIMMITUDE

Saddam was Sunni. His gang of thugs were all Sunni. They TERRORIZED, murdered, raped, and pillaged non-Arab Sunni Iraqis - (Kurds are Sunni but not Arab) - to the tune of hundreds of thousands.

Saddam's Sunni thugs also committed genocide against the Iraqi Shia - AND Iranians; (remember that Iran-Iraq War... the one during the Reagan Era... the one during which Reagan sold missiles to the... IRANIANS, NOT TO SADDAM... remember: Reagan's scandal was called IraN-Contra, and NOT IRAQ-CONTRA!). MILLIONS of Shia died in that war on both sides of the border. During Saddam's tyranny, the Shia within Iraq COULD NOT FIGHT BACK; it was a one-way war: ONLY SHIA DIED. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.

NOW... the Shia are fighting and killing the Sunni who had been their terror/torture masters during the Saddam Era. Instead of ONLY DEFENSELESS Shia dying, Sunni and Shia are both killing & dying. And, on an annualized basis, FEWER Iraqis are dying now than during the Saddam Era. And half of them are Sunni.

UPDATE: HERE'RE 2 CHARTS FROM GATEWAY:

The current level of violence - though less than last year and the year before that - is SICKENING, and it must eventually should be stopped. It will not be until Iran and its stooges are NEUTRALIZED:











I also want to point out that on the one hand, Shia-Sunni violence is 1300 years old, and has NOTHING to do with Bush or democratization.

On the other hand, the Iranians (who support Moki alSadr) and al Qaeda (who deliberately RE-IGNITED the whole mess when they blew up the Shia mosque in Samara) are exploiting this sectarian rift for their own reasons. Al Qaeda's desire to control Iraq, and Iranian Hegemony - and NOT so-called US hegemony" - are the true reasons for the current mess.
The West needs to defeat BOTH of these foes: al Qaeda and Iran. If we do not make a stand in Iraq, then both of these foes will become stronger and it will only be much more difficult for us to defeat them down-the-road.

These three contextualizations - (that the level of killing is not above what Iraq has suffered under for the last thirty years; that Sunni-Shia violence is not related to USA intervention; and that the sectarian rift is as old as Islam itself) - should temper criticism of US policy for any rational person. And all rational people should accept that our foes in Iraq must be defeated.

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH: I've heard all the "containment" BS: "We shouldn't have invaded; we had Saddam CONTAINED!" BULL! First off, Containment is a phony idiotic failed policy. IN FACT, IT FAILED in regard to the USSR. When it was introduced in the 1950's, the USSR was not even a quarter as powerful as they were in 1980. Containment allowed the Soviet Union to EXPAND AND EXPAND AND EXPAND: invading Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and Poland, and establishing satellites in SE Asia and Africa - AND CENTRAL AMERICA. Only Reagan's CONFRONTATIONAL approach defeated the USSR and liberated nearly a BILLION PEOPLE from socialist tyranny and the poverty that tyranny created.

WE IGNORED JIHADISM FROM 1979 UNTIL 9/11/01. As a result, it expanded and expanded and expanded. Now: We must be AT LEAST as confrontational with jihadism. We must NEVER accept containment. Containment is just appeasement by another name. Containment is dhimmitude.

All of our brothers and sisters EVERYWHERE who are denied their innate universal human rights - as encoded in their DNA and in the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights, or whose human rights are threatened deserve to be liberated from the filthy and evil ideology which underlies their serfdom: jihadism.

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS' "R&R" REVIEW

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!
ALWAYS ON WATCH: Here in the D.C. suburbs, the trees are on fire with fall color, a mixture of reds, oranges, and yellows. Many tourists and local residents knock themselves out going to Skyline Drive, but truly we don't have to endure the hassles of bumper-to-bumper traffic and head west on I-66. All we have to do is look around us here in the suburbs. The past several days, I've been taking the long way home from work so as to enjoy the beauty close to home.

RELIAPUNDIT: Have you ever read "The Last of the Just" by Andre Schwarz-Bart? You should:
From Library Journal: Schwarz-Bart's 1959 novel is a chronicle of Jewish persecution beginning in England in 1105 and ending with the Holocaust. This book was a huge hit when first released, eventually being translated into several languages. It is both a historical document and a compelling piece of fiction.
The author died last month. From an obit of the author:
Schwarz-Bart was an exceptional human being and the author of one popular and memorable novel, Le Dernier des Justes, which won the Prix Goncourt in 1959. It had taken him 11 years to compose this supreme work of fiction based on a knowledge of centuries of human suffering endured by the Jewish people at the hands of rival religionists, in particular Christians.

He was born in 1928 at Metz, into a modest Polish-Jewish family who all perished in Nazi extermination camps - mother, father and two brothers all victims of the Holocaust. Andre, however, had a miraculous escape: he was never deported, and was able to join the Resistance fighters. With a passion for reading, he was overwhelmed by Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, a great novel that he regarded as a kind of psychological thriller. ...

The novel, mixing history and fiction, spans the centuries of Jewish martyrdom until the day in 1943 on which the hero, Ernie Levy, is arrested and locked up in the concentration camp of Drancy in northern France - one of the last of "the Just" who were slaughtered in their millions, and finally met their abominable fate at the hands of the Nazis all over Europe.

Mercifully, this harrowing story is not without a searingly ironical sense of humour - one of the ultimate proofs of a man's humanity and his respect for his fellow human beings, friends or foes: If our God is split up into fragments, what meaning is there left in being a Jew? What place does Jewish blood have now in the universe?

Ironically the theme of the Shoah in all its barbarity is one attracting great publicity now in France, with Jonathan Littell's immense novel Les Bienveillantes the firm favourite for this year's Prix Goncourt. Its theme of Nazi barbarism is a salutary reminder of the horrors so vividly described in Schwarz-Bart's novel. ...

... a very moving 75th-birthday tribute was paid to Andre Schwarz-Bart three years ago, in May 2003, at the great Muse d'Art Juif in Paris. The fine classical actor of the Comdie- Franaise Denis Podalyds read vibrant excerpts from Le Dernier des Justes and two friends of the author, the cineaste Robert Bober and the psychoanalyst Marie Moscovici, made their hommages. Andre Schwarz-Bart, writer: born Metz, France 23 May 1928' married (one son)' died Pointe--Pitre, Guadeloupe 30 September 2006.
PASTORIUS:
I'm reading a book called "Blood and Thunder" by Hampton Sides. It's the story of the American conquest of the West told primarily through the life story of Kit Carson the legendary trapper, scout and soldier.

I just picked up the book today, so I'm only at the beginning, but I can say that it appeals to me already. Recently, I drove across the Arizona desert all by lonesome, listening to Miles Davis and Gil Evans "Sketches of Spain" album. It seemed as if their version of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez grew out of the landscape in which I was driving.

The Arizona desert is stunning and even spooky with it's improbable and surreal rock formations and the cacti which stand by the road like sentries. A phrase began to ring in my head, a phrase from a poem I have not read in years; "Give me men to match my mountains." I thought who were those early pioneers, men who could have come this way, and said to themselves, "Yes, I will go even further"? The answer is, only men whose spirits are as big and as frightening as the mountains and rock formations on which I was gazing. That is why I picked up this book today. I want to understand this part of the bloody and glorious history of America. Maybe I'll write more about it next week.

PS - Ah, here we go. What kind of men were they? An excerpt from the book:
"Venturing on his first bison hunt, he learnt how to jerk the meat and turn it into a fine pemmican, and how to enjoy the Plains Indian delicacy of the still-hot liver, sliced fresh from the pulsing animaland seasoned with bile squirted from its gallbladder."
Yes, that's what kind of men they were.
POPINJAY:
I had the honor of being in attendance for the closing of the Stardust Hotel and Casino this week in Las Vegas. It's sad to see another Las Vegas landmark go, but that's progress in the nation's most dynamic city. I also had the pleasure of interviewing former musician and character actor Mickey Jones, who is just the nicest person you could ever meet. He's a real supporter of Las Vegas and Boyd Gaming and treats everyone like they're his best friend. A great American.
TEL CHAI: ...

Friday, November 03, 2006

Six Arab States Join The Rush To Go Nuclear

From the London Times:
THE SPECTRE of a nuclear race in the Middle East was raised yesterday when six Arab states announced that they were embarking on programmes to master atomic technology. The move, which follows the failure by the West to curb Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, could see a rapid spread of nuclear reactors in one of the world’s most unstable regions, stretching from the Gulf to the Levant and into North Africa. The countries involved were named by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Tunisia and the UAE have also shown interest.
We must put a stop to Iran's nuclear ambitions. The only way to do this is to hit them militarily. Negotiations and sanctions will not work. Sanctions did not work in Iraq, and negotiations have not worked in North Korea, and neither of these strategies will work in Iran.

Honestly, we must also attack North Korea. We need to settle all accounts. We can not allow the world to go down this road to chaos - [slouching to Bethlehem... ed]. The Republicans have the will to do something about this problem, and the Democrats don't. Vote Republican. The future of the world depends on it.

Reliapundit adds: Even if these nations intended to use nuclear assets peacefully, they could hardly be counted on to safeguard their nuclear material. On this narrow basis alone, empowering them to achieve independently operating nuclear assets would be a grave error. As we all know, the UN and the IAEA are entirely dysfunctinal (having allowed Pakistan and North Korea to get nukes - and nearly letting Saddam get them too!). That's why we mustn't OUTSOURCE our national security to them - EVER. The Dems will. If you want France and Russia and China to have a veto over your safety and our Pentagon, then by all means... vote Democrat or stay home. I for one don't want the Murtha's or ther Pelosi's or ther Kofi's or the ElBaradei's to have any say over my future.

TIMES ADMITS BUSH WAS RIGHT ABOUT SADDAM'S NUKE PROGRAM

It's all over the blogosphere, but that's because it ought to be. In what was no doubt planned as a late-breaking October surprise hit piece against President Bush, the New York Times lets drop the admission that the President was right about Saddam's nuclear program all along.

The article describes a web site that the Administration put up but then took down over concerns that it might reveal too much about how to make an atomic bomb. The website contained Iraqi documents. Buried in the Times's report is this key revelation:
Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq had abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.
The world is very fortunate that President George W. Bush had the courage and foresight to take down Saddam's nuclear weapons program when he did.

UPDATE #1: Three hours later, LGF says the same thing.
UPDATE #2
Reliapundit adds: The NYTIMES printed this story in order to make their own leaks looks less heinous, and to make themselves seem less traitorous - believing that by accusing the Bush Administration of committing the same "crime," they would prevent attacks on themselves. The NYTIMES did this despite knowing that this charge inherently buttresses one of the key arguments for the war: that Saddam was actively pursuing WMD and nukes - and that we couldn't wait for him to attain them, and had to preempt.

This proves that the NYTIMES puts their own private and narrow interests above even their Left-wing causes. How shallow. If I was a Leftist I would never read the NYTIMES ever again.

THEY'RE LEAVING

The Jerusalem Post (via Israelly Cool) reports that thousands of Arabs/Muslims living in Judea/Samaria/Gaza are leaving for other countries, with thousands more requesting to emigrate too:
Palestinians are leaving the territories due to the harsh security and economic situation there, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Israel Radio reported that thousands of Palestinians have received permits to emigrate to Arab and other foreign countries.

Ahmed Suboh, a Palestinian Foreign Ministry official, said at a Ramallah press conference that over the last four months, foreign and Arab diplomats in the territories have authorized 10,000 Palestinians to enter their countries. Suboh said that some 45,000 additional emigration requests were currently being evaluated by various foreign representatives. The Foreign Ministry official noted that Palestinian emigration was likely to continue with the deterioration of the security situation.
A situation that their "leaders" led to, lest we forget. And, as Aussie Dave notes:
Before the palestinians began their war against us - engaging in, and supporting terrorism - they were able to freely move in and out of Israel, find employment in Israel, and have Israelis frequent their businesses. They have only themselves to blame for their predicament. Well, themselves and the Arab and Muslim countries that have decided to use them as pawns in their pursuit of Israel's destruction.
Yup.

UPDATE:
Reliapundit adds: Gaza and the West Bank were among of the fastest growing economies in the world between 1967 and 1993 - until Arafatistan was established. WHY?! Well - besides the fact that Arafat was incredibly corrupt and stole - it happened because tyranny is the road to sefdom, and because Jihad is the road to tyranny.

MESSAGE TO BLACKS IN MARYLAND: VOTE STEELE

What would help blacks in the USA more - and best advance the political power of blacks in national politics: electing a liberal hack with the same old "tried and failed" tax & spend policies, or electing a black REPUBLICAN Senator whose victory will make him one of the MOST IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL SENATORS IN CONGRESS - one with HUGE influence over the national GOP?

Need help for the answer? LOOK HERE.

FOX NEWS SPECIAL: NOVEMBER 4

From this source, Sat., November 4 at 8 p.m. ET -

This weekend, join host E.D. Hill as FOX News examines Obsession: The Threat of Radical Islam.

They are the most vital questions of our time: How deadly is the Islamic terror threat to the world and especially to the United States? Do terrorists really want to destroy our economy, our civilization, our way of life or is this just an exaggeration?

A frightening new documentary by filmmaker Wayne Kopping seeks to answer those questions. Kopping examined reels of Islamic news footage, interviewed former terrorists and obtained undercover footage from the lairs of the terrorists and jihadists.

What he found, is something FOX News believes every American should know. It's a FOX News special that you can't afford to miss — Obsession: The Threat of Radical Islam, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET

BRITAIN ADMITS TO SELLING CHEMICALS AND OTHER WEAPONS TO IRAN AND SYRIA

Britain admits to one of its acts of evil:
The British government has confirmed a human rights report that it sold to Iran and Syria weapons and chemicals, according to Mideast Newsline. Iran spent about $350 million for the British-made materials and Syria orders $200,000 worth of dual-use items, including chemicals that produce toxins. The British Foreign Office said that Iran and Syria could use the weapons and technology in their armies.
It looks like Britain is becoming as bad as Russia, which has already upheld its own sales of weapons to Iran.

UPDATE:
Reliapundit adds: If you think that the UK could never turn away from the USA - and join the Euroweenies in their slide into dhimmitude and Islamicization, YOU'D BETTER THINK AGAIN: A poll released today reveals that Brits think that Bush is a bigger threat to world peace than Kim Jong Il.

STEYN IS RIGHT.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

ENFORCING THE LEBANESE TRUCE: DOUBLE STANDARDS ABOUND

IDF AND JIHADISTS CLASH AT GAZA MOSQUE

JPOST:
Troops exchanged fire with gunmen holed up in a mosque in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun early Friday, Israel Radio reported. Witnesses said army bulldozers razed one wall of the mosque and soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades in an attempt to force some 60 terror suspects to surrender.
ARUTZ SHEVA:
Arab terrorists and IDF soldiers early Friday morning engaged in a shootout at a mosque in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza region, where 60 terrorists entered to escape arrest. Arab sources told Reuters News Agency that IDF bulldozers demolished one wall of the mosque, but military spokesmen said that every effort was being made not to damage the structure. They added that the terrorists stored a large number of weapons and ammunition in the mosque.
I have maintained for a long time that the mosques and madrassas which are involved in jihadoterror must be treated as if they were bomb factories and barracks and destroyed. We shouldn't allow the enemy any safe haven. The Church of the Nativity stand-off was an error: the IDF should have captured or killed the whole lot of those Palistani terrorists. Instead, they let them get away! Like letting Hizballah off the ropes in the last war. We keep giving the enemy second and third chances. Which is a mistake.

THAILAND'S JUNTA - LED BY A MUSLIM - DECIDES TO ALLOW SHARIA

UK TIMES: Coup regime backs Islamic law -
Surayud Chulanont, Thailand’s Prime Minister [PM MY ASS! HE'S AN UNELECTED DICTATOR WHO HAS COME TO POWER THROUGH A MILITARY COUP D'ETAT which was led by General Sonthi - A MUSLIM!!], has publicly apologised for the former government’s hardline policies against an Islamic insurgency. In an unexpected initiative, Mr Chulanont also said that he would urge the limited use of Islamic law in the Muslim- majority south to settle some disputes, especially over inheritance and family affairs.
FT:

The dramatic gesture reflects the military’s concern over the deepening alienation of its Malay-Muslim minority, angry at its second-class treatment by the Buddhist-dominated Thai government.

THAI NATION:
In reaching out to the religious community, Surayud vowed to strengthen the institution of the Islamic courts, known as Sharia, and promised to work with clerics in producing more competent Islamic judges.
THIS REVEALS THE INHERENT FLAW OF ALL ACCOMMODATIONIST POLICIES AIMED AT QUELLING "MUSLIM UNREST":
IT'S PREDICATED ON THE BELIEF THAT MUSLIM UNREST IS A RESPONSE TO THEIR ALIENATION FROM THE WEST, AND THEIR DESIRE TO BECOME LESS ALIENATED AND MORE ASSIMILATED. IN FACT; THEY ARE AGAINST ASSIMILIATION, AND THEIR JIHAD IS - AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN - AIMED AT GETTING US TO ASSIMILATE OR CONVERT TO ISLAM.
THIS IS AS TRUE IN FRANCE AS IT IS IN THAILAND. AND IRAN AND IRAQ. THAT'S WHY WE MUSTN'T APPEASE THEM. AS THAILAND IS DOING. [More here from LGF, and here, a previous post from TAB.]

KERRY LIED THEN, AND KERRY LIES NOW

In his widely broadcast non-apology on the Don Imus program, Jean-Francois Kerry had this to say about his shameful, over-the-top slander of brave and decent Americans in 1971:
But I’m not going to stand back from the reality here, which is they’re trying to change the subject. It’s their campaign of smear and fear. They’re going at—and, incidentally, when you say I’ve done something in the past. I’ve told the truth in the past. I’ve never done anything except tell the truth. And I’m not going to take anybody’s comment to suggest that somehow my telling the truth was a mistake.

The American people rely on the truth. And when I came back from Southeast Asia, I told the truth. And I’m proud that I stood up and told the truth then, and I’ve told the truth about Iraq every single step of the way.

He didn't speak the truth in 1971. The "Winter Soldier Investigation," of which he is evidently proud even today, did not produce evidence of a single verifiable war crime. Moreover, his 1972, comments, mentioned in an earlier Astute Bloggers post, were also false -- then and now:
"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'"
The United States Army in Vietnam was not "an army of the poor and the black and the brown." Such inequities were not "present during Vietnam." The statistics are available.

* 88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian, 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% listed as others.
* 86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.* 170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.
* 86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711)were black; 1.1% belonged to other races

* 14.6% (1.530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.
* 34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.
* Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.
* Religion of Dead: Protestant--64.4%; Catholic--28.9%; other/none--6.7%.

* Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.
* Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.
* 79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation).
Kerry's disparaging remarks were false in 1971 and 1972, and false now. No wonder he's joined Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in hiding from the public.

IS THE ADMINISTRATION USING FEDERAL MARSHALS TO SUPPRESS THE DEMOCRAT VOTE?

During the Civil Rights era, Federal Marshals were employed to ensure voting rights.

From breaking news reports today, some might suspect that the Administration is using Federal Marshals and local police to suppress likely Democratic voters.

Reliapundit adds: I would toss in a "Heh" at the end of your post except for the fact that - as your links prove - the Dems really do see felons as their constituency!

Perhaps it's a natural alliance; after all, many leading Dems have records which verge on the criminal: Teddy Jo Chappaquidick; Alcee "impeached judge" Hastings; BJ "the perjurer" Clinton; Hillary "frozen pork belly futures" Clinton; Stubbs and his page; Barney Frank and his male hooker roomate; and so on. Too bad that Dem crooks almost NEVER get any ink. WHY IS THAT?! MORE ON WHY HERE, (including interesting info on Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi)

UPDATE: NEWS OF A HUGE NEW DEM VOTER FRAUD SCANDAL HERE, from GATEWAY, and a commenter there linked to this: "ACORN" - the group running this voter fraud rring in MO, IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR DOING THIS NATIONALLY!

These efforts - to get felons the vote, and to load up the voter rolls with dead people and phoney names - are part of a national Democrat Party effort to STEAL ELECTIONS WHICH THEY KNOW THEY CAN'T OTHERWISE WIN! In order to win, the Democrat Party knows it has to pretend they are a party of centrists and moderates and ALSO employ MASSIVE voter fraud. What scum.

CONSERVATIVE NEWSPAPERS TROUNCE LIBERAL ONES

Perhaps the liberal newspapers might want to consider the following sales results, as found by IRIS Blog. It shows that, the more you provide the public with in depth reporting that tells the clear story, the better your sales will be, and the less you do so, the worse your sales will be. Why doesn't the New York Times ever think about things like that, I wonder?

KERRY HAS ALWAYS THOUGHT THE MILITARY WAS FOR PO' FOLKS

As reported today in an Associated Press story by John Solomon, Jean-Francois Kerry's most recent salvo against American soldiers is simply an echo of opinions that he has held and expressed for decades. During his 1972 run for Congress, Kerry said:
"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'"
Kerry's apology yesterday is obviously insincere and false. He never intended to lampoon President Bush, he was obviously counseling college students to stay in school and mocking those of their contemporaries who have chosen to serve their Country. As the incomparable Mark Steyn put it at the Corner,
If you talk to Democrats of the middle-class and upper-middle-class and (in John Heinz Kerry’s case) the neo-Gulf-emir-class, you’ll have heard the same thing a thousand times: these poor fellows in Iraq, they’re only there because they’re too poverty-stricken and ill-educated so they couldn’t become Senators and New York Times reporters and tenured Queer Studies professors like normal Americans do. That is, in fact, what they mean by the claim that they “support our troops”: they want to bring them home and retrain them so they’re not forced into taking jobs as Bush’s torturers and thugs.
Kerry's gaffe was a Freudian slip that revealed his true feelings. He has decided to "cut and run" from the campaign trail, in the hope that we will forget all about him. Let's hope that the voters remember that before putting the Defeatocrats in power.

WAKE UP PENNSYLVANIA: DON'T VOTE FOR THOSE WHO SLANDER THE TROOPS!

POWER LINE:
Columnist Stephen Morse of the Daily Pennsylvanian greeted Bob Casey with a few questions yesterday when Casey arrived to speak at the University of Pennsylvania. Morse tried to get a comment from Casey about the cancellation of John Kerry's scheduled appearance with Casey. Morse also asked Casey questions about what Morse views as Casey's underreported pro-life stance. Morse reports that for his efforts he got an elbow to the stomach from Casey campaign spokesman Larry Spar...
Unlike many other Dems running for the Senate and posing as moderates (like Ford) Casey never condemned Kerry's comments or demanded an apology. This item proves Casey would like to duck the entire issue. What a phoney and a coward!

Pennsylvanian patriots should WAKE UP and get out and vote for Santorum - who SUPPORTS the troops! We don't need Senators - or Congressmen - who serve the enemy. ALSO - if you're in the PA 12th CD - while you're in the booth, be sure and vote for Irey, too. And tell your friends!

MORE EUROPEAN DHIMMITUDE

The whitewash of Islam is becoming more intense in the European media. From “Euopean Television Hosts More Programs on Islam”:
Following the cartoon crisis and Pope Benedict XVI’s offensive remarks on Islam, many European state-owned TV channels have launched new initiatives to disseminate more information on Islam. Inspired by the TV programs on Islam broadcast by state-sponsored TV channels in France, the Netherlands and Denmark, Germany and Belgium are also now considering starting programs of the same kind.

The lack of accurate information on Muslims, which became clearer following the cartoon crisis, and the pope’s contentious remarks, has led some European countries to introduce TV programs on Islam and its fundamental precepts. It is already expected that the Islamic programs, which will be prepared in the native language of the country, will contribute to social cohabitation....
Training the present and the next generation that there's nothing to worry about?

[Reliapudit: Preparing them for MORE dhimmitude? Or preparing them for conversion!? Either way: Sheesh. ]

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Statement from John Kerry, from this source:
As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop. I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.
Having had two uncles who served at Omaha Beach and one who served on the front lines of the Pacific Theater, I find Senator Kerry's apology hollow and just as offensive as his failed "joke." My uncles volunteered to serve on the front lines because they loved America — not because they flunked out of school. Besides, the apology came after pressure from his fellow Democrats. As I see it, their primary concern was and is the November 7 election. Senator Kerry's apology is nothing more than pandering for votes.

The photograph below sends a more polite message than I'd like to send:

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

MANY MUSLIMS STRIPPED OF SECURITY CLEARANCE AT CDG IN PARIS

BBC (VIA IBLOGA):
More than 70 Muslim workers at France's main airport have been stripped of the security clearance for allegedly posing a risk to passengers, officials say. The staff at Charles de Gaulle airport, including baggage handlers, are said to have visited terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This is a good move - one which is very un-PC, but very necessary: real security requires focused scrutiny. I think the entire West should be scrutinizing ALL Muslims who - since 1980 - have visited Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and the so-called Occupied Territories. There are many jobs, in many sectors of our economy, which may give the enemy an opportunity to attack us. Like truckdrivers, gas station owners, and vendors in crowded urban centers. For starters.

UPDATE: 8 hours later Instapundit discovers the story. IOW: YOU ALWAYS READ IT HERE FIRST! And with better analysis. Spread the word! UPDATE #2: And a DAY later the story shows up at LGF.

DNI NEGROPONTE MEETS COUNTERPART IN CAIRO... what for?

They say for talks about Gaza gun smuggling. It's just a FEELING, but I think this is cover for something much bigger. WHY?! Because they can talk about Gaza gun smuggling on the phone. And then there's this item: Blair sent a biggie to Damascus this week - some say in an effort to head-off a US offensive - or get them to play ball in Iraq.

I think both efforts signal that the US is preparing to make big move against Assad - one that will pick up steam right after the election. This move will coincide with a tribunal on the Hariri assasination and a report on Syria's efforts along with Hizballah to overthrow the democratic government in Lebanon. BOTTOM-LINE: One way or another, things in Damascus are gonna heat up pretty dang soon. And then Hizballah and Iran will be ISOLATED. Stay tuned...

THE BEST ANALYSIS OF THE POLLS TO DATE

JAY COST. He proves that the Dems cannot sweep into the House as the GOP did in 1994. Brilliant.

REPUBLICANS OUTNUMBER DEMOCRATS ONLINE

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 01, 2006 -- Nielsen//NetRatings (NASDAQ: NTRT), a global leader in Internet media and market research, announced today that 36.6 percent of U.S. adults online are Republicans, 30.8 percent are Democrats and 17.3 percent are Independents. With campaign Web sites becoming increasingly important to reaching the electorate, candidates need to keep their fingers on the political pulse of the Internet.

The Web site with the highest concentration of Republicans was RushLimbaugh.com, with an 84.8 percent Republican audience (see Table 1). NewsMax.com and Bill O'Reilly.com ranked No. 2 and 3, with audiences that were 65.4 percent Republican. The Drudge Report and Salt Lake Tribune rounded out the top five Republican sites with 59.0 and 57.9 composition percent.

Among Democrats, the top three sites were BlackAmericaWeb.com, AOL BlackVoices and BET.com with audiences that were 79.9 percent, 64.8 percent and 58.6 percent Democratic, respectively. Salon.com and Village Voice ranked fourth and fifth among Democrats, with 55.3 and 55.2 composition percent.
The difference is that of print culture vs. the sound-bite culture of television. (Read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death for an extensive discussion of the distinction.) A Print culture is a culture which aquires knowledge through reading, an exercise which actively engages the intellect. A soundbite culture is a culture which aquires its knowledge, or information-bites, through the passive process of watching television.

Democrats need not worry that Republicans dominate them in the online print culture medium of political news and opinion internet discussion, because the Democrats still dominate Republicans in such areas as MTV, Hollywood movies, sitcoms, daytime television, and news magazine shows. UPDATE: 9 hours later and Instapundit posts on this- with less analysis.

AN EXAMPLE OF KERRY'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE SENATE

In commenting to an earlier post, Reliapundit asked:
"does kerry have his name on ANY major legislation aiding veterans?"
The answer to that is simple: NO. In fact, Kerry does not have his name on any legislation of consequence at all. He has represented Massachusetts in the Senate for over 20 years. According to the Wikipedia, his work there over 20 years has resulted in the enactment of 9 bills signed into law. Here's one:
Here's another:
Kerry's career has not been even undistinguished.

EXCUSES FOR KERRY FALL FLAT

As Rush predicted yesterday, the lamestream media have been falling all over themselves trying to excuse Jean-Francois Kerry's Freudian slip as a "botched joke."Kerry called Don Imus this morning to complain:
But on the other hand, it’s just a disgraceful thing when people try to assert that somebody like me, who has spent 35 years of my life fighting for veterans, standing up for veterans, fighting for their combat pay, fighting for Agent Orange recognition, fighting for their armor, fighting for their up-armored Humvees, fighting for them to have a strategy that wins, fighting to honor them that the notion that this comment was directed at them is an insult by these guys, and they know it.
Now why would anyone assert that? Maybe it's because we remember Kerry's disgraceful testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he alleged:

I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command....

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

We call this investigation the "Winter Soldier Investigation." The term "Winter Soldier" is a play on words of Thomas Paine in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriot and summertime soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.

Kerry's assertions, of course were false. Some of those "highly decorated veterans" were never in Vietnam at all, and the "Winter Soldier Investigation" did not in fact uncover a single verifiable American war crime. Wittingly or unwittingly, Kerry's 1971 testimony harmonized perfectly with the KGB's worldwide campaign to cast America as the criminal aggressor in Vietnam.

And his disparaging throwaway comments yesterday harmonize perfectly with Al Qaeda's campaign to demoralize American troops and the American people.

Only this time, instead of an acquiescent audience of ultra-liberal Democratic Senators willing to accept Kerry's lies and help him spread them throughout the country, he has been met by the plainspoken and clear-headed indignation of Senator John McCain, President Bush, and many others.

And let's not forget Jean-Francois Kerry's shameful comments to Bob Schieffer last year, when he said:
"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs," Kerry said Sunday.
To Jean-Francois Kerry, our brave soldiers, our brave, intelligent, highly trained, and well educated soldiers have never been better than the terrorists from whom they have protected us, whether in Vietnam or in Iraq.

And one last thing. Even if it were true that America's soldiers were poor, struggling, uneducated men and women, they would still be deserving of nothing less than our utmost respect, admiration, and gratitude.

GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL "FAILED IN ITS RESPONSIBILITY TO CAPTIVES"

According to this former IDF official, Uzi Dayan:
"The gov't is working according to the accepted zoological principle known as Survival, as opposed to the best interests of its citizens." So says ex-Nat'l Security Advisor Gen. (ret.) Uzi Dayan.

Arutz-7's Yigal Shok asked Gen. Dayan to comment on the increasing reports that Gilad Shalit is likely to be released soon in exchange for an unknown number of terrorists. Shalit was kidnapped by eight Hamas terrorists as he was manning a position just outside Gaza over four months ago; two soldiers were killed in the attack.
There is a good point to be made here that Ehud Olmert's government is failing mainly because they're not performing a full-scale invasion of Gaza to rescue Shalit. Not only that, but, there is no telling if he'll actually be released or not. And if Olmert releases any criminals, terrorists or not, as a way to get Shalit back, that too will be an act of defeat.

It should be noted that Ariel Sharon led to a lot of this by retreating from Gaza and expelling many Jews from their homes, not to mention that he destroyed a lot of very good farming businesses in the process, such as Katif Lettuce, which had to relocate. A recent study showed that kassam rocket attacks since then have increased, the main barrage being against Sderot.

MARYLAND SENATE RACE IS THE KEY TO THE NEXT SENATE

RCP TODAY:
Control of the Senate appears to hinge on the results in one or two contests. There are no states in which Republicans have appeared likely to pick up a seat, although New Jersey remains a possibility. If Steele could manage an upset in the race for the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Paul Sarbanes, it could be the difference-maker. And Steele is undeniably close. The current RealClearPolitics poll average shows him trailing by 5.3 percentage points, and, in the words of University of Maryland political scientist Ron Walters, yesterday's endorsements are "going to go through the black community like a rocket. It's going to be the talk of the county, the state, maybe even the nation."
TAB blogger Popinjay said this back on Friday. I predict Steele wins. And the Dems challenge it in the courts.

THE GOOD GUYS WIN ONE IN CHINA

BBC:
A Chinese court has thrown out a guilty verdict against Chen Guangcheng, an activist who raised concerns about forced abortions. "It was found that there have been serious violations in the legal procedures," said Mr Chen's lawyer. Mr Chen, 34, was found guilty of public order offences in August, and sentenced to more than four years in jail. His case drew international criticism, with rights advocates saying he did not receive a fair trial. The Linyi City Intermediate Court has now quashed Mr Chen's conviction, and ordered a retrial.
This is good news, and HOPEFULLY it portends some democratic reform in China - at it least intimates the growing possibility of it.

Though it has made much progress the last two decades, China - like Russia - is still truly only nearing the cusp of joining the West. Until they do, the foreign policy of these two statist regimes will antagonize the West - Russia by arming our foes - such as Iran and Syria - and China by failing to reign in their stooge, Kim Jong Il. Additionally, all our efforts at using the UNSC - and more multilateralism to confront the grave threats we face - are pointless until these two nations are truly free, and true allies, albeit ones we compete with. (And France - the other nation that doesn't deserve a veto in the UNSC - will continue to exploit this divide for their own narrow interests.)

The Left - at home and abroad - is the last great barrier to victory in the GWOT. Just as we must defeat the Left at home, we must defeat the Left overseas.

IT'S BUSH'S ECONOMY, STUPID!

Bloomberg:
Wages and benefits paid to American workers rose last quarter by the most since 2004, as the unemployment rate matched a five-year low. ... Wages and salaries rose 0.9 percent for the second straight quarter.
I BLAME BUSH!

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A TALE OF TWO JFK'S: 1963 VERSUS 2006

PRESIDENT JFK/1961:
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge—and more.
Sounds like a damn NEOCON HAWK to me! Now, here's wannabe president JFK/2006:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
These two quotes tell us everything we need to know about the sad state of the Democrat Party. The first guy was a hawk. The second guy sure sounds like someone disparaging US troops - something he's done before (1970, 2005); (in fact, Kerry's done it so much so I have to conclude it's at the core of his political career if not his inner being).

KERRY IS A DOVE AT HEART - ONE WHO IS SKEPTICAL ABOUT ANY USE OF US MILITARY POWER. The Democrat Party is the party of doves. If you want doves to lead the nation during war-time, then by all means vote Democrat. Or stay home.

Russia Says Iran's Nukes Are Peaceful

George Bush named Iran as a member of the Axis of Evil. Iran has confirmed their malevolence by calling for Israel to be wiped off the map. And, now Russia has clearly chosen sides in the war:
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it believed Iran's nuclear program was peaceful, and a political dialogue, not sanctions, must be used in talks with Tehran. "We do not have information that would suggest that Iran is carrying out a non-peaceful (nuclear) program," Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov told a news conference in Moscow.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation on Monday that talks over Iran's nuclear dispute were being hindered because the European side did not have enough authority.

"The most important problem in continuing Iran and Europe's negotiations (over the nuclear issue) is the European side's lack of enough authority (to take decisions)," an Iranian television report quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Putin.

In a statement on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin had told the Iranian leader that Moscow favored further talks. European states have prepared a draft sanctions resolution but Russia has voiced misgivings. "Sanctions should not be adopted for their own sake," Ivanov said.
Russia believes it can play Iran against the United States. That will work. If we do not take care of the Iranian threat, it will weaken our position in the world. However, just as appeasers hope the crocodile will not eat them, so it is true for Russia. Iran will come back to bite them in the ass, you can be sure of it.

Isn't it interesting that Russia is playing their hand in the exact same way as they did in the leadup to WWII? Remember what happened to them then? Ahmadinejad will turn on Russia just like Hitler did.

BUSH DIPLOMACY BRINGS NO KO BACK TO TABLE

According to al-Reuters, a Chinese source quoted in South Korea claims that North Korea is willing to return to the 6-party talks that the Democrats have derided.

Looks like President Bush and Ambassador Bolton have been doing the right thing. (Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds.)

METHINKS KERRY DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH

After his despicable disparagement of America's highly educated, highly motivated, and highly successful Armed Forces received wide news coverage and garnered the denunciations of his consituent, the National Commander of the American Legion, his friend, Senator John McCain, and his own Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Senator Jean-Francois Kerry (Dumber-than-dumb, Mass.) claimed he was really talking about President Bush!

Here's his defense: "It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have… Bottom line, these Republicans want to debate straw men because they’re afraid to debate real men…"

Who's he kidding? First of all, you decide -- here's what he said:
“You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
He was talking to college students, and advising them to study hard so that they would "do well" and not "get stuck in Iraq."

It makes no sense to claim in retrospect that he was characterizing President Bush someone who didn't do his homework and didn't make an effort to be smart, because President Bush went to the same college that Jean-Francois Kerry did (Yale) and made better grades than Jean-Francois Kerry did, and went on to the Harvard Business School (while Jean-Francois took a law degree from Boston College).

I don't buy it. In his remarks to college students in California, Senator Jean-Francois Kerry was slandering the brave volunteers who are defending our Country and the freedoms of the world.

He started his public career slandering American soldiers, to the appreciative murmurs of Democrats on a Senate Committee, and he has now ended his public career doing the same thing -- only this time, the American public is wiser to his sick game.

DETECTING LIES

According to this October 30, 2006 article from the"Style Section" of the Washington Post, a new method for detecting lies is being developed:
...By peering directly into our brains, [these new machines] aim to set a new gold standard for the recognition of honesty in everyone from politicians to criminals to lovers.... In the pipeline are several cheaper, faster, easier-to-use brain-examining technologies, all intended as major improvements on the unreliable chicken-scratching polygraph we use now. Some seem to identify mental preparations for telling a lie even before the liar opens his mouth -- verging on mind-reading. Another is meant to work from across the room, even if you do not wish to cooperate....
Several applications of this new technology have been discussed:
[T]he University of Pennsylvania has licensed the technology developed there -- on which it has applied for a patent -- to the California firm No Lie MRI Inc.... No Lie MRI's Web site has proclaimed that the company hopes to revolutionize truth telling in America, offering "objective, scientific, mental evidence, similar to the role in which DNA biological identification is used," to everyone from the FBI, CIA and NSA to the Department of Homeland Security....

The boundless desire for a way to dig through deception is why political consultant John Zogby, president of Zogby International, expects the new brain scanning devices to be in widespread use in the 2008 presidential election. He can clearly see a demand to discover what voters really think of candidates -- and their commercials.
What voters really think of candidates and commercials? How about turning those lie detectors on the candidates themselves!

ELECTION 2006: GOP WINNING ALREADY

WSJ:
Down in the polls and with their majorities in Congress at risk, Republicans say they have some good news in early-voting statistics that suggest their voter-turnout machine is providing an edge in some tight races.

If the trend holds, it could mean that early voting is growing -- and continuing to benefit Republicans, who exploited the practice in the 1990s. Experts say early voters could be a bigger factor this year when overall voter turnout could be lower than in 2004, a presidential-election year. ... Early voting has grown in the past 15 years, from around 2% of the national electorate participating to about 20% in 2004, said R. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center in Houston, a nonprofit group. Experts predict this year that 19% to 25% of the electorate will vote early at the polls or by mail-in absentee ballots. That compares with about 14% in 2002, the most recent midterm election.

Republicans have had an advantage with early-voter turnout over Democrats because of better party funding and organization, according to Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College in Oregon, a state where traditional Election Day polling has been eliminated altogether in favor of voting by mail. "I suspect it will still be their advantage," he said.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: This, in-and-of-itself, probably doesn't give us the victory; it probably just balances out the Dem zombie vote! Heh.

Jean-Francois Kerry STILL Sliming the Heroes

Senator Jean-Francois Kerry (Dumb, Mass.) is STILL slandering the brave American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who are defending our lives and the world's freedom. And in the process, he is STILL revealing just how ignorant and stupid he really is. Listen to the audio on HOT AIR:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq."
The all-volunteer Armed Forces are the most educated and intelligent this country has EVER had. And yet Jean-Francois Kerry still characterizes military service -- the courageous and voluntary sacrifice of time, effort, blood, and sometimes life itself -- as a punishment for the uneducated and stupid.

He is the stupid one. When splashed on the front pages over 30 years ago, it was by maliciously and falsely accusing American soldiers of war crimes that rivaled Genghis Khan. He hasn't changed a bit. Any conservative who thinks that the interests of America will be served by returning Jean-Francois Kerry's party to power is stupid, too.

AL QAEDA IN DENMARK? Part III

Glad to see others in the blogosphere have noticed the web of events unfolding in Denmark: 2 high profile conspiracy cases - in Vollsmose and Glostrup - and the involvement of a Danish convert to Islam in a Al Q weapon smuggling case in Yemen.

The Dane arrested in Yemen was well aquainted with the accused in the Glostrup case... which involves links to a terror cell in Bosnia. This is definitely a international network. Two defendents in the Vollsmose case have been released from custody - though they still face charges, and the Danish police believe more suspects in the Vollsmose case are at large! No kidding. Stay tuned...

FIVE ISRAELI ARABS ARRESTED ON TERROR CHARGES

From Israel National News:
Five Israeli-Arabs were arrested Sunday in the Arab village of Um el-Fahm just hours after it was released for publication that a young Israeli-Arab woman was arrested for planning a bombing. The entire Wadi Ara region of north-central Israel, where Um el-Fahm is located, was placed on high alert Sunday due to intelligence information that a terror cell was hiding in the Israeli-Arab villages in the region. Heavy traffic resulted, as police set up checkpoints along major arteries and checked all vehicles leaving the villages.

Another resident of Um el-Fahm, Ahmed Mohammed Mahmid, was arrested in recent weeks for burning vehicles belonging to local Arab residents he suspected of assisting Israeli security forces. Mahmid confessed to the crimes, but claimed the vandalism was not driven by ideological motives, but because he blamed the owners of the cars for the death of his friend.

The Um El-Fahm arrests were announced the same day that Yisrael Beiteinu joined the government coalition. The party's chairman, MK Avigdor Lieberman, has called for the revocation of the citizenship of Israeli-Arabs in Wadi Ara and and the transfer of control of those villages to the PA. In exchange, Israel would annex Jewish populated areas in Judea and Samaria.

It was released on Sunday for publication that a 20-year-old Israeli-Arab female terrorist was arrested before she could place a bomb in a Raanana restaurant. She had been working in an Israeli supermarket in a Jewish neighborhood and her cousin, who was from PA-controlled Shechem (Nablus), had in the past been employed illegally at the very restaurant they sought to bomb.
See what happens when you employ illegally? You get no gratitude, only more hate.

Monday, October 30, 2006

UN: SYRIA VIOLATES ARMS EMBARGO

"Reuters":
Lebanon regularly reports arms being smuggling into the country from Syria but the authorities are treading softly due to their fragile political situation, a senior U.N. envoy said on Monday. Government officials have informed the United Nations of smuggling as recently as "the last few weeks," although they are providing no information on the quantities or types of arms being secreted across the border, said Terje Roed-Larsen, the top U.N. diplomat on Lebanese ties with Syria.
Okay. Hizballah and Syria are violating the terms of the truce. Now, what the eff are we gonna do about it!? Are we gonna sit here and just watch it like we watched the Noko's and the Iranians?! The time for action is NOW. 10/31/06 UPDATE: 18 hours later and LGF is on the story - with lottsa links.

MOHUMMED DON'T SURF!

BUT WE SURE DO! YEAH, BABY! (Links to an AWESOME surfing video.)

MORE PROOF FRANCE IS DYING

GUARDIAN:
...this year's Femina prize winner was yesterday announced as the Canadian writer Nancy Huston, for her family saga Lignes de faille, or Fault Lines. Huston, who has lived in Paris for 20 years, is an Anglophone Canadian who writes in both English and French. She is the second winner of north American origin to win a major French literary prize in a week, after Jonathan Littell, an American first-time novelist won the Académie Française prize for his 900-page fictional memoir of a murderous Nazi SS colonel, Les Bienveillantes, or The Kindly Ones. He is also favourite for the prix Goncourt award to be announced next week.
Well I guess this means that the French aren't producing any writers of note, anymore. Add this to the fact that they aren't producing enough French babies to maintain the population - let alone support their welfare state, and the two-year long intifada (they seem unable to quell), and things look real REAL bad for France. I have two words for them: A bientot. I mean ADIEU!

EVEN MORE PROOF THAT ISRAEL WON

FROM THE WASHPOST - via PRAIRIE PUNDIT:
[WashPost:] "The war erased a threat we lived with for years," Greenberg said. "We aren't afraid of snipers or kidnappings anymore. We can breathe." ... The sentiment is echoed in other small farming communities where Israelis have for decades lived with occasional barrages, infiltrations and Israeli army invasions and withdrawals. ...
[Prairie Pundit:] There is more. The Hezballah flags are gone and the Israelis can loft their flag without being in the cross hairs. This may be the most significant evidence yet of the scope of Hezballah's defeat in Lebanon.
As I said at the time: Israel - though prevented from delivering a knockout punch - nevertheless won.

DOCUMENTS FROM SADDAM'S IRAQ PROVE JIHADOTERRORIST-SADDAM NEXUS BEFORE THE WAR

I THINK THIS IS BIG: FROM THE CAPTAIN:
A new document translated by Joseph Shahda indicates that the Saddam Hussein regime agreed to allow the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to stage suicide operations within Iraq in the opening days of the American invasion. Document CMPC-2003-015588 is a handwritten memo from the Foreign Ministry's Arabic Department recounting the meeting between PFLP officials and representatives of the Iraqi government. It also makes a reference to a neighboring country as having given permission for the PFLP to make these arrangements. ...

Saddam didn't keep terrorists out of Iraq; in this case, he has a good enough relationship with the PFLP and through them Hamas and Islamic Jihad to call on them for action on his behalf. Supposedly these groups only have Palestinian interests in mind, but here they seem anxious to help rescue a secular Iraqi dictator. Saddam had plenty of connections to terrorists in the region ...
He has translations of the captured documents which PROVE this connection. They prove that Iran, Syria and their Palestinian jihadoterrorist proxies were ALLIED to Saddam before the war. These documents disprove the Leftist/MSM/Democrat notion/propaganda that our invasion caused this alliance to occur, and therefore made things worse. Those who argue this are promulgating nothing more than lies and disinformation - lies which dispirit and demoralize our side and thereby help the enemy.

The Left has been arguing for a year that the war has made things worse. This news proves that the war was NOT a mistake; that taking down Saddam took down an important nexus of jihadoterror - and thereby did make us safer. Iraq is still a battle-zone because the jihadoterrorists haven't given up yet: they continue to attack us and to attack Iraqis in an attempt to unseat Iraq's democracy and establish a jihadoterrorist suppoprting state - like Iran and Syria and Gaza. The Democrats will let them do this. A vote for them is a vote for Binladen.

Despite Holding Peace Talks With Taliban Pakistan Bombs Madrassa Killing 80 Militants

You can make progress with a kind word, but you can get much further with a kind word and a gun. From BBC News:
At least 80 militants have been killed in an air strike by Pakistani forces on a madrassa (religious school) used as a militant training camp, the army says. The army said the madrassa in the tribal area of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan was destroyed by helicopter gunships early on Monday.

One eyewitness told the BBC that 70-80 students were inside. A leading local politician says the dead were innocent. Pakistan has deployed nearly 80,000 troops along the border. They are there to hunt militants who sought refuge in the rugged tribal terrain after the ousting of the Taleban in Afghanistan in late 2001. President Pervez Musharraf has pledged to reform madrassas after many were criticised for supporting Islamic militancy.

The leader of the madrassa, radical cleric Maulana Liaqat, was among the dead. He was a prominent member of a group of pro-Taleban tribal clerics, the BBC's Rahimullah Yusufzai in Peshawar says. "We received confirmed intelligence reports that 70-80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist training facility, which was destroyed by an army strike, led by helicopters," army spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told the Associated Press news agency.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Monday morning's attack coincides with peace talks between tribal elders and pro-Taleban militants in Bajaur. The government had already released prisoners in anticipation of a deal, possibly along the lines of an agreement signed in the neighbouring tribal region of North Waziristan, our correspondent says. But the army says peace talks would not be allowed to serve as a cover for militant activity.
Interesting goings-on in Pakistan. One has to wonder if plans are being laid for the United States to settle all grievances with the Taliban. First, Musharraf jettisons Waziristan, and then he begins negotiating a peace with the Taliban, and then he bombs pro-Talibani forces. Do you think Musharraf is naive enough to believe the Wahabbi-inspired Taliban is going to make peace with his government? Or, is he counting on them being naive enough to believe he is, while simultaneously sending them the message to hightail it to the now independent state of Waziristan, where they can set up their fiefdom, only to be taken out by the United States?

UPDATE: Cancel this whole post? Apparently, the air strike was the work of an American Predator drone, and was targeted at al-Zawahiri. No word yet, on whether they got him. UPDATE II: Cancel my previous cancellation of this post! Both Pakistan and America are denying American involvement in the air strike. Stay tuned... UPDATE III: Reliapundit: JAWA reports that Zawahiri or another al Qaeda biggie was the target of the attack, and we got'em... maybe... And JAWa has plenty of other links!
UPDATE IV: Complete round up at MEMORANDUM.

YEMEN CONFIRMS AL QAEDA CONNECTION

Latest news from Yemen: the initial investigation of the 8 men arrested for smuggling weapons, from Somalia to Yemen, points to a connection to al Qaeda, according to the Interior Ministry of Yemen. The defendants include citizens of England, Germany, Denmark, Somalia and Yemen. The al Qaeda connection does not suprise me - especially when one considers the international character of the perps. What suprises me is that we do not do more about the bases in Somalia.

UPDATE: 15 hours later, LGF posts on this. Which is just a reminder: TAB is firstest and bestest. Spread the word. Oh yeah: it's our 2nd post on this.

OAXACA RIOTS: AMERICAN JOURNALIST KILLED

The riots in Oaxaca, Mexico, which began when teachers went on strike there to demand better salaries, has only recently begun to get media coverage. There was at least one person killed in the past few months, and now, an American journalist has died as well. From the Wash. Times:
OAXACA, Mexico -- Mexico sent federal riot police to the southern tourist city of Oaxaca yesterday after gunmen killed three persons, including an American journalist, in the latest violence sparked by protests to oust a state governor. Hundreds of federal police arrived in five planes yesterday morning, a Reuters photographer said. Isolated gunshots were heard in the city, famous for its colonial architecture, cuisine and indigenous crafts.

Three persons, including U.S. independent journalist Brad Will, were fatally shot Friday when men in civilian clothes opened fire on the protesters. A Mexican newspaper gave the names of the attackers and said they were local police. About a dozen people, mostly protesters, have been killed since the conflict began five months ago, when striking teachers and leftist activists occupied much of the city, chasing out police and blocking streets in an effort to oust Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz. The crisis has escalated with frequent drive-by shootings on protester barricades.

Critics accuse the governor of corruption and repressive tactics against dissenters, whose hundreds of roadblocks have driven foreign tourists from the city and hurt business. Mexican President Vicente Fox's office declined to say if the federal police would try to take control of Oaxaca or look to negotiate a presence in the city. It is unusual for federal forces to be sent to conflicts in Mexican states, which are the jurisdiction of local police.
Not in this case, I wouldn't say. The demonstrators practically shut down businesses, schools and stores during their protests, causing tons of innocent shopkeepers to lose money and a lot of other people misery. However, if the authorities caused the death of a journalist, as may have happened, that is simply unacceptable.

Fox is outgoing, and won't be missed, I'm sure, but the sad thing is that incoming president Felipe Calderon may not be much better. From what I know, wages for work in Mexico are very little, and if Calderon doesn't make any attempt to raise them, the problems will continue.

Reliapundit adds: Industry and competition raise wages effectively, not the State - and Calderon is NOT a socialist, so I hope he doesn't interfere with the marketplace. However, Mexico is so very socialist - like France - a good move to the right will still leave them on the Left. And Left behind: ALL the nations which have lifted themselves out of poverty in the last two decades have done so by decreasing socialism and increasing freedom in the marketplace: Ireland; India; China; eastern Europe; Chile; etc. Mexico need lower taxes and less socialism if they want to improve their econopmy and reduce poverty. (They might start by privatizing Pemex and the oil industry.) And NOT by allowing Leftist rebels takeover their cities and states. HERE'S ANOTRHER REASON THE LEFT MUST BE SQUASHED IN MEXICO: The Left in Mexico may very well be ripe for collaboration with jihadoterrorists - as the Left already is in Venezuela.