HOW COME ARCTIC SEA-ICE IS MELTING BUT LAND-ICE IS NOT?

Amid the latest polar bear panic I am reproducing part of a 2003 article that explains LOTS about the Arctic -- but no Greenie will ever mention it. Read it and I will point out some of the implications below.

Note that my post yesterday concerned Arctic ice sitting on land in Canada, Greenland and elsewhere. Today I am looking at sea-based (floating) Arctic ice; (to Greenies they are all the same, but that is what you expect of simplistic thinkers):

Results from a German-American Arctic expedition to the Gakkel Ridge have implications for the understanding of the generation of new seafloor. The Gakkel ridge is a gigantic volcanic mountain chain stretching beneath the Arctic Ocean.... The scientists had expected that the Gakkel ridge would exhibit "anemic" magmatism. Instead, surprisingly strong magmatic activity in the West and the East of the ridge and one of the strongest hydrothermal activities ever seen at mid-ocean ridges were found. These results require a fundamental rethinking of the mechanisms of seafloor generation at midocean ridges (Nature, January 16 and June 26).

The Gakkel ridge extends about 1800 kilometers beneath the Arctic Ocean from north of Greenland to Siberia. It is the northernmost portion of the mid-ocean ridge system, the global 75,000 kilometer long volcanic chain where the ocean crust is generated by erupting magma....

Current theories of oceanic crustal production predict that volcanic activity deminishes as the spreading rate of the tectonic plates decreases and only little or no hydrothermal activity. Instead, the scientists found high levels of volcanic activity. "We expected the volcanic activity to gradually decrease from West to East as the magmatic systems shut down. Instead, approximately in the middle of the survey area, the magmatism shut down completely, then dramatically increased," says Dr. Jonathan Snow, the leader of the research group from the Max Planck Institute. This group was responsible for the petrological and geochemical investigations.

Hydrothermal hot springs on the seafloor were also far more abundant than predicted. "We expected this to be a hydrothermally dead ridge, and almost every time our water measurement instrument came up, they showed evidence of hydrothermal activity, and once we even 'saw' an active hot spring on the sea floor," noted Jonathan Snow. (H/T Ice Age Now)

Note how much the above explains. The sea-borne Arctic ice has undoubtedly been melting in recent years. Yet the land-borne ice in both Greenland and Antarctica has been thickening. There is very little comment about that oddity, but the above work explains it: The melting sea ice is melting, not because of global warming, but because of volcanism -- heat coming up from under it. Greenland and Antarctica are not affected by such volcanism so they are not melting. It also would seem to explain why SOME polar bear populations are decreasing. Most bear populations are doing fine or expanding but the ones dependent on sea-ice SHOULD be shrinking as the sea-ice shrinks.

For the benefit of any ignorant Greenie who might read this, I guess I should point out again a basic fact of physics: Even if the WHOLE of the sea-ice melted, it would not effect world sea-levels one iota. In other words, the bit of the Arctic that is melting doesn't matter.

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

DECEMBER 30. 2006: SADDAM CURSED AND HANGED; GERALD FORD MOURNED AND HONORED

It is altogether fitting that today should begin with Saddam being hanged like the murderous thug he always was - after getting a trial, and an appeal. Tyrants like Saddam deserve to die a million horrible deaths, but at least his ignoble one was swift and severe - like true justice.

And it is especially poignant that this day should end with the official state funeral for the only unelected president of the United States of America.

A man who achieved the office not by personal ambition or machinations, but by Divine providence.

A man who exercised his limited powers with dignity, honor, honesty, and high moral purpose.

So.. which is the path to greatness? How does one better serve his nation - his fellow men ... humanity? And which is the path to darkness and evil and self-destruction?

The contrast could not be more stark: on the one hand tonight we witnessed the well deserved solemnity and respect that President Ford received for having faithfully and selflessly served his nation, democracy, the free world, and liberty and justice; on the other hand we witnessed Saddam receiving the well-deserved end of a hangman's noose.

All in all, it was a very good day. We are grateful for Ford's life - and Saddam's death.

SADDAM HUSSEIN EXECUTION AN HISTORICAL MILESTONE

J.R. Dunn over at The American Thinker makes a brilliant point on the significance of the execution of Saddam Hussein. His trial and hanging were the first of its kind for any 20th Century dictator:

Lenin - Dead of the complications of a stroke, perhaps assisted by poisoning, January 21, 1924. Benito Mussolini - Executed without judicial procedure by communist partisans, April 28 1945. The act was robbed of any meaning by the concurrent murder of his innocent mistress, Clara Petrucci. Adolf Hitler - Dead by his own hand beneath the ruins of the Berlin Chancellory, April 30, 1945. Stalin - Dead of stroke aided by medical neglect at age 74 at his dacha outside Moscow, March 5, 1953. Ho Chi Minh - Dead of heart failure at age 79 at his home in Hanoi, September 2, 1969. Francisco Franco - Dead of old age at 82 on November 20, 1975. Mao Tse Tung - Dead of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 82, on Sept. 9, 1976. Tito - Dead of circulatory problems on May 4, 1980, three days before his 88th birthday. Nicolae Ceaucescu - Shot out of hand at age 71 after a bogus "trial" following a national uprising, December 25, 1989. Ruhollah Khomeini - Dead of cancer on June 3, 1989, at the age of 89. Kim Il-sung - Dead of a heart attack at 82 in Pyongyang, July 8, 1994. Pol Pot - Dead at age 72 (possibly a suicide) on April 16, 1998, while waiting to be turned over to an international tribunal. Idi Amin Dada - Dead of old age at age 79 on August 16, 2003, in exile in Saudi Arabia. Slobodan Milosevic - Dead in his cell under unexplained circumstances while in the hands of an international criminal tribunal at the Hague, March 11, 2006.

Most of the great butchers of the 20th century died of old age, in their own beds, some of them honored by millions. Not a single one met justice in the sense accepted in free states across the world. The handful who died otherwise are aberrations, victims of strange events that act as models for nothing.

There is one single exception - the hanging of Saddam Hussein on December 30, 2006 after a careful, lengthy trial carried out under extremely difficult circumstances according to internationally recognized judicial norms. The state of Iraq has succeeded where the rest of the civilized world has failed. It is a singular achievement, and it will stand.

At long last, justice.

GOOD BYE SADDAM!

Most people in Europe are pleased that Saddam Hussein will no longer be breathing the air we breath, nor be feeling the warmth of the sun; (MORE HERE - hat tip YARGB). And while much of the elite in the world may bemoan the use of the death penalty, let's at least remember that he was treated more humanely and with more dignity than he deserved, and more than his victims in Kurdistan, and countless other occasions, received.

BARBARA BOXER - EX-DHIMMI

Last night, news came that Barbara Boxer rescinded an award to an Islamic activist because of his connections to CAIR.

Charles at Little Green Footballs brought out his "Flying Pig", and the usual seething and whining has already begun emanating from the dark corridors of the CAIR lair. Frequent Atlas Shrugs commenter X Dhimmi has decided it is time that all of us Infidels write to Boxer and thank her. I agree. Here is X Dhimmi's letter:

SENATOR BARBARA BOXER
112 HART
SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Boxer,

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I am so heartened and pleased by your decision to rescind the "certificate of achievement" award issued by your office to Basim Elkarra because of his affiliation with CAIR. This makes an important, cautionary statement about CAIR which has been far too lacking among our national leaders.

To someone like me who follows closely the activities of CAIR and judges the organization as dangerous to America's freedoms, your courageous action is a breath of fresh air. You can be assured millions of Americans have been waiting for a national leader to speak up for America against this group which supports agendas inimical to American values and freedoms.

I have sent copies of this letter to the White House and my senators and representatives asking them to support you through the inevitable accusations of Islamophobia (indeed, the charge has already been leveled according to the Newsweek article) and attacks which I am certain you will endure. Remain strong and resolute, Senator! We truly need leaders with your integrity who refuse to succumb to the pressure from groups who wish to see America fail.

Again, thank you.

It would seem that Barbara Boxer is now, officially, an Ex-Dhimmi. Email form for contacting Senator Boxer.

BARBARA BOXER CONCERNED ABOUT CAIR

From Newsweek:

Dec. 29, 2006 - In a highly unusual move, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California has rescinded an award to an Islamic activist in her home state because of the man’s connections to a major American Muslim organization that recently has been courted by leading political figures and even the FBI.

Even better:

After directing her staff to look into CAIR, Boxer “expressed concern” about some past statements and actions by the group, as well as assertions by some law enforcement officials that it “gives aid to international terrorist groups,” according to Natalie Ravitz, the senator’s press spokeswoman....

Could it be? Not all Democrats are Dhimmicrats? Of course, CAIR is using the same old lines of defense:

CAIR has...demanded that she withdraw the action—which one top CAIR official said smacks of “Islamophobia.”...

“We feel that the same crowd who is pushing these smears against CAIR is the same crowd as the neocons that pushed us into the Iraq war,” he says. “They are trying to smear the Muslim community and they are trying to silence its voice. This takes us back to the McCarthy era.”

READ IT ALL. [Hat-tip to Gates of Vienna]

MORE VEIL INSANITY, AS ROBBERS BECOME INSPIRED TO WEAR IT TOO

This could be another reason to ban the burka:

The Jewellers’ Association of Maharashtra has now asked the police to bar customers wearing veils from entering shops. "There is a rise in the number of robberies in which veiled customers were involved. In a year, eight to nine such incidents are reported. There is a possibility of two to three veiled gangs operating in the city,” Fatechand Ranka, president of the Jewellers’ Association in Pune was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

"Due to the veils, these customers cannot be identified by us or police. So we have taken a decision not to allow veiled customers in the shops. And for that, the Association has sought permission in a letter to the state home ministry, state police chief and city police commissioner,” he added.

And in England, there too, they seem to have similar problems:

An armed gang wearing burka headdresses escaped with jewellery after a raid on a shop in Halifax. The three raiders - whose faces were covered by the religious gowns - entered the jewellers in Queen’s Road, Pellon, at 1100 GMT on Monday, asked to view some gems and then produced a gun …

At least two of the raiders, who fled in a car, are believed to be male.

Where will the madness go next? Hat tip: Tim Blair.

BUSH UNCENSORED: SADDAM IS DEAD

White House:

Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime. Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people's determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.

Saddam Hussein's execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.

We are reminded today of how far the Iraqi people have come since the end of Saddam Hussein's rule - and that the progress they have made would not have been possible without the continued service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead. Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress.

RIGHT ON!

SADDAM - LIKE HIS SONS - GOT WHAT HE DESERVED

SADDAM IS STILL DEAD. GOOD.

THIS IS HOW TYRANTS SHOULD BE REMEMBERED:

SADDAM WILL SOON DIE *** UPDATED/BUMPED: SADDAM DEAD

SADDAM WILL SOON DIE, JOINING HIS OLD FRIEND YASSER ARAFAT. (More here.)

IF WE'RE LUCKY, HE'LL SOON BE JOINED BY A FEW MORE OF HIS OLD FRIENDS!

UPDATE: Many are praying for Saddam's death.

UPDATE: PRAYERS ANSWERED: SADDAM DEAD! More here. And HERE.

IS THE ARCTIC ICE BREAKING UP BECAUSE OF MAN-MADE-WARMING?

I excerpt below a report of a recent Arctic event from what is arguably the world's "Greenest" mainstream newspaper -- the London "Independent" (known to many as the "Subservient"). The event is hailed as evidence of global warming and I am sure that refutations of that will soon emerge, but in the meantime I think I should make some preliminary comments:

I am not a physicist or a chemist. I am a much-published psychologist with an interest in the sociology of knowledge. So I see my role in reporting on scientific questions outside my own field as being simply to draw attention to the full range of available information on the question concerned. Most scientists are probably aware that there is a "confirmatory bias" towards accepted theories in what is published in the academic journals so particular attention to non-confirmatory findings is simply good science.

But although I rarely comment personally in fields in which I am not expert, I am always, of course, delighted to point to failures in logic and it seems to me that the "Greenie" interpretation of the recent arctic event is very suspect from that point of view.

Why would a large bit of the Arctic ice shelf break off and fall into the sea? If global warming is happening, it should surely just shrink and melt away, with no reason to lose contact with the land. On the other hand, if the ice-shelf is EXPANDING then it should eventually get so big that it expands beyond the boundaries of the land -- causing the bit that is no longer supported by the land to fall into the sea.

So, in my opinion the recent event points overwhelmingly to an EXPANDING ice mass in that area of the Arctic, not a shrinking one -- which is what the Greenies would have you believe. Pesky eh?

I will leave it to others to comment on the other misrepresentations in the "Subservient" article:

"A vast ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has broken up, a further sign of the astonishing rate at which polar ice is now melting because of global warming.

The Ayles ice shelf, more than 40 square miles in extent - over five times the size of central London - has broken clear from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 500 miles south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic, it emerged yesterday. The broken shelf has formed an ice island, in what a leading scientist described as a "dramatic and disturbing event", citing climate change as the cause."

Note that this recent article points to a COOLING arctic, which again suggests that the ice-shelf breakoff is due to an EXPANDING ice-mass, not a shrinking or melting one. I hope to have more to say about sea-ice versus land-based ice tomorrow

Because global warming is a religious belief rather than a scientific one, however, Greenies do from time to time accept that the ice-mass in places like Greenland and the Antarctic is expanding. They say that global warming produces more evaporation off the ocean and hence more snowfall and hence ice buildup. NO evidence can count against their belief. The global warming belief thus fails the test of falsifiability, which is basic not only to scientific statements but to empirical statements generally. The global warming belief is thus a theological, not a scientific one -- on a par with the Christian ability to explain the existence of evil despite their God being omnipotent and benevolent

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

Reliapundit adds: I have read elsewhere that this stuff happens because ocean currents have changed and because the water up there in the Arctic is warmer now than it has been in a long time. But even if it is the case that rising atmospheric temperatures are causative, I remain unconvinced that the cause of rising air temperatures is anthropogenic.

Greenland was once GREEN - naturally!

And I also question the negative - yea nearly DOOMSDAY! - reaction to events like this; I mean if the Arctic is becoming more temperate, then this could be a HUGE BOON for humanity, as it might be a great benefit for agriculture - (huge new tracts will open up for man and beast), and global shipping! Maybe we should be thankful we are entering a new more temperate age? The article accompanying the satellite photo notes this:

The scientists believe that the breakup and disintegration of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf can be attributed to warming temperature trends that began in the 19th century.

Meaning the current trend is 200 years old. And this is far from the first time in history that this region has warmed up. It was also much warmer in these regions in the earliest centuries of the 2nd millennium. UPDATE- 12/30/06: MORE HERE.

VDH: A NEO-CONSERVATIVE FOREIGN POLICY IS STILL THE BEST ANTIDOTE TO "REALISM" AND APPEASEMENT

NRO/CORNER/VDH:

In the general condemnation of neo-conservatism, we forget, at least as it pertains to foreign policy, it arose from a variety of causes, not the least as the reaction against the moral bankruptcy of both rightist realism and leftist appeasement.

... In that context, Iraq in the climate of post-9/11 was an effort to find a consistent US position of toughness with terrorists and murderous dictators, and principled consistent support for reformers.

... For all the sorrow in Iraq, that vision is not over, and can still be realized if we stay calm and unyielding.

Neo-cons have been portrayed in the MSM as wild-eyed, unrealistic ideologues fueled by vengence and ethnocentrism. But VDH shows that neo-conservatism is really a sensible Third Way - and response to the failed policies which went before it. There's more wisdom in this post; RTWT.

CHAVEZ TO SHUT DOWN OPPOSITION TV

BBC - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he will not renew the license for the country's second largest TV channel which he says expires in March 2007.

In an address to troops, Mr Chavez said he would not tolerate media outlets working towards a coup against him.


Radio Caracas Television, which is aligned with the opposition, supported a strike against Mr Chavez in 2003. But the TV's head said there must be some mistake as its license was not up for renewal in the near future. Marcel Granier also vowed to fight against the president's plans in Venezuela's courts and on the international stage.

The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says Mr Chavez has repeatedly threatened to take the TV off the air but has never given a date.

Yes folks, the man that Cindy Sheehan says is more of a democratic leader than George W. Bush will shut down opposition TV. Think about this for a second.

This is the equivalent of President Bush saying he's going to shut down CNN because of their critical coverage of him. Imagine if that were to happen in this country. Almost unthinkable, isn't it? (Well, wait a minute, I guess there was one instance, when the Democratic (ironic name) Party threatened ABC's license over a certain 9/11 miniseries, but we can ignore that, right?)

Yet when a South American president (who talks a good Marxist game) doesn't just threaten to do it, but does it, people make excuses for him. I'm not saying Joe Conason would defend this "elected President" but some might. ;-)

MORE HERE AND HERE AND HERE. And here.

Reliapundit adds: Great post PJ! BTW: Everyone of the Western schmucks pictured above with Chavez (except for Castro and Ahmadinejad) sees himself or herself as an outspoken defender of free speech, and each is a VERY vocal critic of the Bush Administration. SO WHY ARE THEY TOTALLY EFFIN' SILENT REGARDING THIS ANTI-FREE SPEECH MOVE BY CHAVEZ?!

Could it be they are phonies, hypocrites, dupes, and more anti-American than they are pro-human rights!? Yup. Zackly right.

New Mexican President Uses Troops In Drug War - Is This A New Front In The War On Terror?

This seems like good news. Felipe Calderon is using the Mexican Army and Navy to help police raid farms and arrest dealers:

Calderon's strategy contrasts with that of his predecessor, Vicente Fox, who used an elite federal police unit to target the drug trade's kingpins. Flows of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. continued largely unabated and violence among cartels soared during Fox's six-year term, which ended Dec. 1.

On Dec. 11, Calderon sent about 7,000 troops to his home state of Michoacan, where they destroyed about 238 hectares (588 acres) of marijuana, made more than 60 arrests and searched thousands of vehicles. The new president has assigned another 10,000 soldiers to help the federal police fight drug gangs and other criminals.

``Calderon is clearly trying to differentiate himself from the Fox administration, which was afraid of using force,'' said Riordan Roett, head of Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. ``You can't break the back of the drug dealers, but you can deal a decisive blow that halts their expansion.''

But, I have to wonder if this is all about drugs for Calderon. Could it be that he is battling Al Qaeda?

Fox's strategy of targeting cartel leaders spawned ferocious turf wars between gangs, says George Grayson, a professor of government at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

``The strategy had the unintended consequence of encouraging rival cartels to take over the turf of the deposed leader,'' Grayson said. Last April, the severed heads of two police officers were left outside government offices in Acapulco with a note reading, ``So they learn some respect.''

In September, gunmen dumped five heads on the dance floor of a bar in Michoacan with a message that read: ``The family does not kill for money. Everyone should know this is divine justice.''

Police later arrested three Guatemalans, whom they suspected of being hit men for a Mexican cartel, in connection with the Michoacan killings.

If, as I suspect, this is evidence that Al Qaeda has migrated northwards from their perch in the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, then it makes perfect sense that Calderon would choose to use the military. However, the question must be asked, why does he not explain his reasons to the media? What is going on here?

Reliapundit adds: I think this is just about trying to establish Mexico as a nation of laws. Until they get control of the drug smuggling and then the human smuggling - and the rebellion in Oaxaca - not much else good can happen. Calderon has come out fighting on all fronts. I wish him well. (If he confronts al Qaeda along the way, I feel he will deal with them effectively.) I also think that it's interesting to wonder if the Leftists who opposed Calderon would have done this. I think not. They'd excuse the drug trade as economically necessary and due to the DEMAND in the USA.

ADVICE FROM THE LAST DEM HAWK: "We Need More Troops in Iraq"

WASH POST:

I've just spent 10 days traveling in the Middle East and speaking to leaders there, all of which has made one thing clearer to me than ever: While we are naturally focused on Iraq, a larger war is emerging. On one side are extremists and terrorists led and sponsored by Iran, on the other moderates and democrats supported by the United States. Iraq is the most deadly battlefield on which that conflict is being fought.

How we end the struggle there will affect not only the region but the worldwide war against the extremists who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001.

... In Iraq today we have a responsibility to do what is strategically and morally right for our nation over the long term -- not what appears easier in the short term. The daily scenes of death and destruction are heartbreaking and infuriating. But there is no better strategic and moral alternative for America than standing with the moderate Iraqis until the country is stable and they can take over their security.

Rather than engaging in hand-wringing, carping or calls for withdrawal, we must summon the vision, will and courage to take the difficult and decisive steps needed for success and, yes, victory in Iraq. That will greatly advance the cause of moderation and freedom throughout the Middle East and protect our security at home. [UMPH ADDED!]

Reliapundit: Thank God Joe was re-elected, and not Lamont, (pictured above with Jesse Jackson) - THOUGH SADLY, FOLKS LIKE LAMONT NOW CONTROL THE DEMOCRAT PARTY, AND FORCED JOE TO WIN AS AN INDEPENDENT!

RTWT. COMPLETE ROUND-UP HERE AT MEMEORANDUM.

REMINDER: Iran and Hizballah have been our enemies for a long time

Many people are so addicted to having new information thru the web that they forget the past: TAB readers probably don't need this reminder but I'm putting it up anyway: On October 23, 1983 terrorists murdered 241 American servicemen. The perpetrators were Hizb'allah and Iran. They were our enemies then, and they are our enemies today! 23 years! And they are now more dangerous! Isn't it time we did something about them?

FULL SCALE WAR COMING BETWEEN FATAH AND HAMAS

Youssef Ibrahim writes in the NY Sun that a REAL full scale war is likely to happen, Muslim vs. Muslim, and Fatah vs. Hamas:

This year has been momentous for the Middle East, but 2007 is going to be dramatic. In the Gaza Strip and West Bank, a full-scale factional war will erupt among the Palestinian Arabs, with unpredictable consequences. This time around, the "brotherhood" is over. Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other assorted mafias will participate, while outside sponsors such as Iran, Syria, and Jordan will supply the bullets, rockets, money, and ill-will.

That's one more reason why sanctions must be declared against them, and Fatah, just like Hamas, must be outlawed.

Reliapundit adds: I disagree, Avi: To keep the fight going, Olmert is facilitating the rearming of Fatah. Which is good: Maybe this war will distract the enemy from killing us? As for me: when Shia and Sunni kill each other in Baghdad, and when Hamas and Fatah kil each other in Gaza and the West Bank... well, I don't have DOGS in those fights... I hope that all four sides lose.

SOMETIMES YOU JUST GOTTA LOVE YOUR ENEMY: MULLAH KREKAR SAYS, ISLAM WILL WIN IN EUROPE

You gotta love it when your enemies tell the truth. Now, if only Europe will listen to this:

Norway's most controversial refugee, Mullah Krekar, told an Oslo newspaper on Monday that there's a war going on between "the West" and Islam. He said he's sure that Islam will win, and he also had praise for suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

"We're the ones who will change you," Krekar told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet in his first interview since an uproar broke out over cartoons deemed offensive to Muslims.

"Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes," Krekar said. "Every western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman in the same countries are producing 3.5 children.

The answer is deportation. Europe must start identifying radicals, and deporting them. This will surely breed more radicals, or at least bring them out of the closet, as they protest the deportation policy in the public eye. So then, deport those radicals as well. And, deport the ones who protest the second wave of deportations, and the next, and the next. After awhile, Europe will only be left with those Muslims who enjoy living in Europe enough to keep their mouths shut.

Think my solution is radical? I promise you this, it is not as radical as the solutions that will be proposed if European governments fail to deal with this problem before the first big WMD attack. What seems radical today will seem the height of prudence tomorrow. Just listen to what these people are telling us. They are telling us they want to kill us, rid our lands of our children, wipe us off the map, make us go away "like the Pharoahs." Unfailingly, it is the leaders of the Muslim community who tell us these things, not the fringe people.

Only a fool would not heed the warning.

BIRD FLU WORSENS IN EGYPT

XINHUA:

Egypt witnessed three human bird flu death cases in only four days, the death toll of the human bird flu cases in the country rose to 10 and aroused some worries about spreading of the deadly disease.

Reda Abdel Halim Farid, a 26-year-old man from a big family living in the Egyptian Delta governorate of Gharbiya, some 90 km north of Cairo, died of the deadly H5N1 virus on Wednesday, became the third casualty in a week after another two members of the family, a 30-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl, who died on Sunday and Monday respectively.

On the current bird flu situation in Egypt, Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahine told Xinhua that the situation seems to be dangerous but it is under control, specially as people start to recognize how dangerous the virus is and directly inform the authorities of any suspected cases. "H5N1 is a serious threat in Egypt and we set up a plan to take measures in cooperation with other ministries to deal with this problem," Shahine said.

SCIENCE DAILY:

Flu vaccination should be mandatory for all Hajj pilgrims to minimise the risk of a global pandemic, say doctors in this week's British Medical Journal. ... At the end of next month Saudi Arabia will again host the Hajj -- the largest annual gathering in the world -- which attracts more than two million pilgrims from almost every country on earth.

For the individual pilgrim this is a deeply spiritual journey, but from a public health perspective, such a gathering makes the possible rampant spread of the influenza virus and a global pandemic a potentially devastating prospect that has been inadequately prepared for, write Professor Aziz Sheikh and colleagues.

If and when H5N1 becomes H2H, then the hajj - this year or in some future year - might very well become the nexus of a global catastrophe.

PHOTO OF TRAITOROUS KERRY BEING SHUNNED BY TROOPS IN IRAQ IS AUTHENTIC

Malkin proves that it's real. (And proves why she's the best!)

UPDATE: More proof from TPM!
(See the photo above - it's from Baghdad, just like the one with lonely JOhn KErry! Click the photo on the right and watch how JOhn KErry slandered the troops in Iraq.)

GERALD FORD: THE FIRST "DIRTY JOB"

A friend of mine said the other day, "Funny how now that Ford has died, we're all heaping praise on him." Fair enough. Ford was not the best President in our history, not an innovator like FDR or Reagan and I certainly had disagreements with some of his views and actions, but now that he's gone, I've had time to genuinely reflect.

You know that show "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel? It's the one where host Mike Rowe spends a day working at some of the most dirty, miserable jobs in the country: Worm dung farmer; roadkill cleaner; chimney sweep; skull cleaner; etc. The slogan for the show is something like, "A salute to the people who make life easier for the rest of us." If you think about it, Gerald Ford had the ultimate "dirty job" at least in a metaphorical sense. Taking over the office of the Presidency in 1974 was the first dirty job of the era. You had a president resign in disgrace, we were leaving a brutal war with a sense of failure, Leftists with Viet Cong flags were marching in the streets, the economy was a mess, and the list goes on. Ford, who never aspired to the office, took over the reins of leadership with incredible grace and civility. He made decisions that were bad for his career, but good for the country. On July 4th, 1776, the Bicentennial, he saw the fruits of his leadership as the country celebrated 200 years with great joy and passion. He had done what needed to be done: he restored the faith in America.

It's true we tend to heap praise on the recently departed, but death tends to show us what we didn't appreciate enough when it was right there in front of us. President Ford's leadership was something that we desperately needed at the time and we live better lives today because of his willingness to do the "dirty work."

DHIMMI CARTER'S BUDDY MURDERED U.S. AMBASSADOR

In a just-declassified document, the State Department now admits that Dhimmi Carter's favorite Middle East dictator, Bill Clinton's most frequent foreign interlocutor, and the Nobel Committee's favorite prize-winner, Yasser Arafat, ordered the murder of American Ambassador Cleo Noel, American Charge d'Affaires Curtis Moore, and Belgian diplomat Guy Eid in 1973.


More on Cleo Noel here, here, here, and here.

For over thirty years, the State Department and the White House covered up the evidence of Arafat's crimes in order to promote this KGB-trained Egyptian criminal as a statesman and a peacemaker.

Ion Mihai Pacepa, the former chief of Ceaucescu's foreign intelligence service, who worked with the KGB, describes Arafat this way:

Gen. Sakharovsky asked us in Romanian intelligence to help the KGB bringing Arafat and some of his fedayeen fighters secretly to the Soviet Union via Romania, in order for them to be indoctrinated and trained. During that same year, the Soviets maneuvered to have Arafat named chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organizaiton, with public help from Egypt's ruler, Gamal Abdel Nasser.

When I first met Arafat, I was stunned by the ideological similarity between him and his KGB mentor. Arafat's broken record was that American "imperial Zionism" was the "rabid dog of the world," and there was only one way to deal with a rabid dog: "Kill it!" In the years when Gen. Sakharovsky was the chief Soviet intelligence adviser in Romania, he used to preach in his soft, melodious voice that "the bourgeoisie" was the "rabid dog of imperialism," adding that there was "just one way to deal with a rabid dog: Shoot it!" He was responsible for killing 50,000 Romanians. In 1972, the Kremlin established a "socialist division of labor" for supporting international terrorism. Romania's main clients in this new market were Libya and the PLO. A year later, a Romanian intelligence adviser assigned to the PLO headquarters in Beirut reported that Arafat and his KGB handlers were preparing a PLO commando team headed by Arafat's top deputy, Abu Jihad, to take American diplomats hostage in Khartoum, Sudan, and demand the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian assassin of Robert Kennedy.

"St-stop th-them!" Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu yelled in his nervous stutter, when I reported the news. He had turned as white as a sheet. Just six months earlier Arafat's liaison officer for Romania, Ali Hassan Salameh, had led the PLO commando team that took the Israeli athletes hostage at the Munich Olympic Games, and Ceausescu had become deathly afraid that his name might be implicated in that awful crime.

It was already too late to stop the Abu Jihad commandos. After a couple of hours we learned they had seized the participants at a diplomatic reception organized by the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum and were asking for Sirhan's release. On March 2, 1973, after President Nixon refused the terrorists' demand, the PLO commandos executed three of their hostages: American Ambassador Cleo A. Noel Jr., his deputy, George Curtis Moore, and Belgian charge d'affaires Guy Eid. In May 1973, during a private dinner with Ceausescu, Arafat excitedly bragged about his Khartoum operation. "Be careful," Ion Gheorghe Maurer, a Western-educated lawyer who had just retired as Romanian prime minister, told him. "No matter how high up you are, you can still be convicted for killing and stealing."

Pacepa explained:

“Tovarishch Mohammed Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, nom de guerre Abu Ammar,” was built into a Palestinian leader by the KGB in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli War. In that war Israel humiliated two of the Soviet Union’s most important allies in the Arab world of that time, Egypt and Syria, and the Kremlin thought that Arafat could help repair the Soviet prestige. Arafat had begun his political career as leader of the Palestinian terrorist organization al-Fatah, whose fedayeen were being secretly trained in the Soviet Union. In 1969, the KGB managed to catapult him up as chairman of the PLO executive committee. Egyptian ruler Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was also a Soviet puppet, publicly proposed the appointment.

Soon after that, the KGB tasked Arafat to declare war on American “imperial-Zionism” during the first summit of the Black International, an organization that was also financed by the KGB. Arafat claimed to have coined the word “imperial-Zionism,” but in fact Moscow had invented this battle cry many years earlier, combining the traditionally Russian anti-Semitism with the new Marxist anti-Americanism.

Arafat was not a Palestinian, he was a thief, a murderer, and a terrorist. And even though that the State Department knew for over 30 years that Arafat had ordered the murder of an American Ambassador, the appeasers and the Arabists who dominate the defeatist, anti-American and anti-free-market culture of that Department covered up for Arafat and promoted him as a statesman and a peacemaker.

The State Department was an accessory after the fact to the murder of their own career officer.

This must be one of the most shameful episodes in American diplomatic history. (Hat tip: Israel Matzav.)