EUSSR: THE TRICKY EU ELITES ARE TRYING TO PULL THE WOOL OVER THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE - AGAIN

EU REFERENDUM:

Amazingly, it was at the end of October that Valéry Giscard d'Estaing told Le Monde that the Lisbon treaty and the Constitution were effectively the same, but it is only today – nearly two weeks later, and on a Saturday morning – that the BBC Today programme takes up the story.

Ed Stourton interviews the man whom he describes as the "Godfather" of the constitution:

VGD: Let us be very precise about it. You know, the text in Lisbon was written in a different way than the text called Constitution for Europe. When we wrote it, the Constitution, we wrote it directly, article one, article two, article three and so on. What they did in Lisbon is a different work. They took our text, they started from our text and they tries to introduce the different articles or notions into the existing treaties.

So of course the approach is materially and intellectually different, but the substance, they started taking as a basis our test. It's just another presentation and combination of presentation but the text is word to word the same one. If you attach importance to the fact that they are the existing treaties, that is true. But if you take the substance, the nine or ten proposals that were in our text, they are in exactly in the same wording in the new presentation.

ES: If that is the case, if the substance is the same as the constitution…

VGD: Yes.

ES: …the logic of that is surely there should be certainly a referendum in France, which rejected the original constitution, and certainly a referendum in Britain where one was promised if the constitution went ahead

VGD: Well, the question of the way to ratify a treaty is an open question. In France, normally to ratify a treaty, it's through parliament. And its up to the president of the republic to decide if he wants or judges that it's better to go through a referendum. So the normal process for France is parliamentary process. Since the Lisbon treaty is legally a new one, even if the substance is absolutely similar, we can took, the government can took the process, the parliamentary process, without having legal problems.

ES: Well that may be the technical position but it's politically dishonest, isn't it?

VGD: Well, it's not so clear either.

YES, YES, YES: I SUPPOSE THAT DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF THE WORD DISHONEST IS.

BTW: UNLIKE THE BBC, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS COVERED GISCARD-D'ESTAING'S PREVIOUS ANTI-DEMOCRATIC PRONOUCEMENTS ON THIS ISSUE.

AND NEVER FORGET: THE EU WAS FROM ITS INCEPTION A PROGRAM OF THE ANTI-DEMOCRATIC STATISTS OF EUROPE:

It is no accident that the European Parliament, for example, reminds me of the Supreme Soviet. It looks like the Supreme Soviet because it was designed like it.

Similary, when you look at the European Commission it looks like the Politburo. I mean it does so exactly, except for the fact that the Commission now has 25 members and the Politburo usually had 13 or 15 members. Apart from that they are exactly the same, unaccountable to anyone, not directly elected by anyone at all.

When you look into all this bizarre activity of the European Union with its 80,000 pages of regulations it looks like Gosplan. We used to have an organisation which was planning everything in the economy, to the last nut and bolt, five years in advance. Exactly the same thing is happening in the EU.

When you look at the type of EU corruption, it is exactly the Soviet type of corruption, going from top to bottom rather than going from bottom to top.

• THE PEOPLE SENSE THIS, AND HENCE HAVE VOTED AN EU CONSTITUTION DOWN.

• THE POLITICIANS KNOW THEY WILL AGAIN, AND HATCHED UP THIS LISBON TREATY TO CIRCUMVENT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

• THE EU IS GOVERNMENT WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED. AND THAT IS TYRANNY.

BBC ADMITS WE'VE WON IN IRAQ. WHEN WILL THE DEMS?

BBC: Optimism grows in Iraq - By Jim Muir - BBC News, Baghdad

Is Iraq getting better? The statistics say so, across the board.

Over the past three months, there has been a sharp and sustained drop in all forms of violence. The figures for dead and wounded, military and civilian, have also greatly improved.

All across Baghdad, which has seen the worst of the violence, streets are springing back to life. Shops and restaurants which closed down are back in business.

People walk in crowded streets in the evening, when just a few months ago they would have been huddled behind locked doors in their homes.

Everybody agrees that things are much better.

But is the improvement only skin deep? And will it last once the American troops, whose "surge" has clearly made a difference, begin to scale down?

In the past few days, two events have underlined big changes that have happened in recent months on both the Sunni and Shia sides of the Iraqi equation.

The Mehdi Army's influence is now much weaker

On Thursday, in a crowded public hall in the mainly Shia city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, the local police chief, Brig-Gen Ra'id Shaker Jawdat, bitterly denounced the Mehdi Army militia, accusing it of presiding over a four-year reign of terror there.

It was an extraordinary occasion. One by one, men and women stood up and screamed abuse at the militia, blaming it for killing and torturing their loved ones.

It could not have happened a few months ago, when the Mehdi Army - the military wing of the movement headed by the militant young Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr - was the real power in the streets of Karbala.

A few days later, Moqtada Sadr ordered his followers to halt all forms of military action nationwide, even in self-defence.

That was a turning-point in Baghdad too. The number of bodies being found daily, dumped randomly in the city after being abducted, tortured and killed in sectarian reprisals, dropped from dozens a day to less than a handful.

Scenes of rejoicing

On Friday, near Samarra to the north of Baghdad, fighters from a Sunni faction called the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) launched a surprise attack on positions held by al-Qaeda in the area.

Police said the IAI killed 18 al-Qaeda militants and captured 16 others.

Shortly afterwards, another Sunni group known as the 1920 Revolution Brigades launched a similar operation against al-Qaeda at al-Buhriz in Diyala province, also north of Baghdad.

They captured 60 al-Qaeda suspects and handed them over to the Iraqi army, amidst scenes of rejoicing in the town's streets.

These also were events that simply could not have happened until recently.

RTWT.

• ALL THIS IS DUE TO BUSH AND PETRAEUS AND OUR TROOPS.

• NO THANKS TO THE DEMS.

• HARRY REID AND PELOSI SHOULD EITHER RESIGN OR TURN THEMSELVES IN FOR TREASON.

Special Comment: Olbermann owes us an apology

Keith Olbermann owes this country an apology.

It will not be offered, of course.

He does not realize its necessity.

There are now none around him who would tell him or could.

An apology is this pundit's only hope of regaining the slightest measure of confidence from a clear majority of viewers.

Not confidence in his "special comments" nor his narrow focus on his vision of the president's singular evil nor even that of the man who has sent him into apoplexy, Bill O'Reilly.

In a larger sense, this pundit needs to regain our confidence, that he has some basic understanding of what defense of this country represents -- of what it must do if we are to defeat not only terrorists, but terrorist sympathizers disguised as journalists.

Because it is evident now that this pseudo-journalist intends to be a contractor for an extremist ideology that more closely resembles an oppressive statist form of government than a religion.

The so-called newsman revealed this last Friday -- and every weekday, it seems, as he fairly spits through his teeth, words of unrestrained fury directed at the man who occupies the highest office in the land. Without respect, without moral standards, and without the common sense God granted a sponge, this faux journalist preaches of a "lost freedom" for which he can point to not a single incident.

That the man who compared the U.S. military to terrorist murderers and who advertises the falsehood of moral equivalence with every breath, that this man still has a job despite his appalling ratings is testament to an MSNBC management team that couldn't organize a bake sale.

With increasing rage, he and this management team have repeatedly told us that America is a fascist country, their demented disagreements so completely at odds with every form of legitimate, rational opposition that they are unique in the annals of American journalism.

It now shows us a frightened little man who has decided that a commanders-in-chief may have the right to pop a cap into Osama bin Ladin -- but he may never, ever, ever wiretap the man should he call into the United States.

This is a frightening, and a dangerous, delusion, Mr. Demi-Journalist.

Between your misguided confidence in your infallibility -- despite never providing a day of service to your country nor ever possessing a scrap of classified intelligence -- and your rages better suited to a thwarted three-year old, you have left the unnerving sense of a newsman coming unglued in prime time - a chilling suspicion that perhaps we have not seen the peak of the anger; that we can no longer forecast what next will be said to, or about, anyone who disagrees.

There needs to be a delegation of responsible individuals -- from the U.S. military or intelligence communities -- who can sit you down and explain the reality of the situation in which we live.

There needs to be an apology to the President of the United States.

And more than one.

Apologize, sir, for even hinting that the American military -- the same military that protects your crumb-laden pie-hole -- is equivalent to those who would blow-torch prisoners, winch their skulls into shards, and shred children with ball bearings.

Anything else, "Mister" Olbermann, is truly unacceptable.

Cross-posted at Doug Ross @ Journal

CHURCHILL: ALL EUROPE WILL SUFFER FROM YALTA

In a review in the London Times Online of the memoirs of Sir Winston Churchill's bodyguard, Brian Moynahan reveals a chilling insight that Walter Thompson recorded:

He saw Churchill at his lowest points, a frustrated "kicker of wastepaper baskets" during his wilderness years in the 1930s, weeping over the concessions Roosevelt made to Stalin at Yalta in 1945. "Why, Thompson, did they allow the president, almost dying on his feet, to be there?" he asked. "All Europe will suffer from the decisions made at Yalta."

Had Churchill only known that the more relevant question should have been:

Why did the American State Department allow a Soviet spy to serve as President Roosevelt's foreign policy adviser at Yalta?

That's a question that still deserves an answer.


UPDATE: First, read Reliapundit's excellent points in the comments. Then consider the following:

In my original post, I didn't spell out exactly why I thought that Walter Thompson's recollection of Churchill's despair after Yalta is so important. Here's why:

1)Churchill's reaction to the disaster of Yalta was immediate. He knew right at that time what a disaster it was.

2)Churchill knew that it didn't have to be that way. Despite what Soviet spy Alger Hiss later had to say about it, giving the Soviets hegemony over Eastern Europe was not a done deal before Yalta.

3) Churchill knew that it was up to the Americans to stand up to Stalin, and when FDR didn't do it, he knew that Western Europe wouldn't be in any position to stop the communist juggernaut.

4) Churchill mistakenly attributed FDR's surrender to Stalin to FDR's debilitated condition. Actually, as we know now from the Venona transcripts and information from KGB files, the State Department's top man in Yalta, Alger Hiss, was a committed communist and a conscious agent of the Comintern and Soviet intelligence. The State Department's interpretation of the situation undoubtedly played a major role in influencing FDR's decisions. And we now know that communicating the State Department's position to FDR was in the hands of a traitor.

LEFTIST MSM DISTORTS INFANT MORTALITY RATES TO TARNISH THE USA AND BOLSTER SOCIALIZED MEDICINE

BREITBART/AP: "US Among Worst in World for Infant Death"

The rate at which infants die in the United States has dropped substantially over the past half-century, but broad disparities remain among racial groups, and the country stacks up poorly next to other industrialized nations.

In 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, roughly seven babies died for every 1,000 live births before reaching their first birthday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. That was down from about 26 in 1960.

Babies born to black mothers died at two and a half times the rate of those born to white mothers, according to the CDC figures.

The United States ranks near the bottom for infant survival rates among modernized nations. A Save the Children report last year placed the United States ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia.

The same report noted the United States had more neonatologists and newborn intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom—but still had a higher rate of infant mortality than any of those nations.

Doctors and analysts blame broad disparities in access to health care among racial and income groups in the United States.

Not surprisingly, the picture is far bleaker in poorer countries, particularly in Africa. A 2005 World Health Organization report found infant mortality rates as high as 144 per 1,000 births—more than 20 times the U.S. rate—in Liberia.

• FIRST OFF FOLKS: THERE IS NO REAL NEWS IN THIS STORY; IT'S ALL OLD NEWS. THIS IS INFANT MORTALITY RATE (IMR) NEWS FROM 2005 AND 2004.

• THE ONLY REASON THIS STORY IS APPEARING TODAY IS BECAUSE THE IRAQ WAR IS GOING WELL - (SO THEY CAN'T RUN AS MANY ANTI-WAR STORIES); IT'S WINTER - (SO THEY CAN'T RUN AS MANY GLOBAL WARMING STORIES); THE STOCK AND CURRENCY MARKETS ARE CLOSED - (SO THEY CANT RUN A RECESSION STORY).
  

• THE HEADLINE IS A TOTAL DISTORTION: THE USA IS NOT AMONG THE WORLD'S WORST, NOT BY A LONGSHOT.

• THE AP AND THE MSM ARE MERELY DESPERATE FOR NEWS TO HURT THE IMAGE OF THE USA - AND BLAME BUSH, SO THEY DUG UP THIS OLD LEFTIST CANARD.

• THEIR POINT BEING THAT WE WOULD BE BETTER OFF IF WE HAD SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE LIKE THEY DO IN EUROPE. WHICH MEANS WE SHOULD VOTE DEMOCRAT.
  

BAH HUMBUG!

WHEN YOU REALLY LOOK AT THE DATA, THE USA IS NOT DOING BAD AT ALL:

• THE USA IS AROUND 7/1000;
• THE EU AT AROUND 6/1000;
• AND ICELAND COMES IN AT FIRST WITH AROUND 4/1000.

NONE ARE TERRIBLE.

THE USA IS SLIGHTLY WORSE THAN THE REST OF THE INDUSTRIALIZED ECONOMIES OF THE WEST BECAUSE - WELL HERE, FROM FAMILIES.COM:

infant mortality means that a baby was outside of the womb, took at least one breath and then stopped breathing or its heart stopped beating. Miscarriages late in pregnancy are still births or miscarriages but are not part of the infant mortality statistic.

Pushing the Envelope on Viability

One reason as to why so many babies are dying is that doctors are saving more premature babies with advanced technologies. But these super preemies don't always live. The younger an infant is born and the less it weighs, the more likely it is to die. These precious little angels also contribute to the infant mortality rate. But many countries that 'beat' the United States on the list, won't use 'heroic measures' to save super preemies.

Pushing the Envelope on Fertility

Something that is interesting is that the United States also has the highest rate of super twins. (Super twins are triplets, quads or more!) Super twins do happen naturally but it is very rare. Most triplets, quads and all quintuplets or sextuplets these days are born via fertility treatments. However, super twin pregnancies are very risky and always result in premature babies--who are more likely to die.

Cut the Docs Some Slack

I'm definitely not saying that health care couldn't use an overhaul in the United States. But in fairness, if we're going to talk about the infant mortality rate being so high for such a developed nation, then we also need to talk about all the babies that were saved that frankly, had they been born elsewhere--may not have even been given the chance to live.

• THE REAL IMR PROBLEM IS IN AFRICA.

• EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE BOTTOM 25 NATIONS IS IN AFRICA.

• AND THE IMR RANGES FROM 130-300/1000. THAT'S BAD - MUCH WORSE THAN THE USA.
  

• THE WHOLE WORLD OUGHT TO BE ADDRESSING THIS.

IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN GETTING THEM TO BUY CHEAP LAPTOPS.

Lawyer-boarding

The one-of-a-kind Ramirez.

MAILER AND VIDAL DISPLAY THEIR IDIOTIC PEDANTRY ON CAVETT

HERE'S A VIDEO OF A FEW OF THE INTELLECTUAL HEROES OF LEFT DISPLAYING WHAT PASSES FOR WIT ON THE LEFT; (SKIP AHEAD TO MINUTE 29.):





IDIOTIC, EGOMANIACAL, NARCISSISTIC DOLTS.

(THE ABOVE EMBEDDED VIEWER IS OF THE ENTIRE SHOW. CLICK HERE TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE 29TH MINUTE OF CHARLIE ROSE AND THEN WATCH 5 MINUTES.)

FRAUDSTERS WHO TRAFFIC IN CARBON INDULGENCES EAGER TO SEE WHAT THE UN COMES UP WITH IN BALI

JAKARTA POST: Global carbon market pins hopes on upcoming Bali gathering

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Singapore

The global carbon trading market is pinning its hopes on the upcoming conference on climate change in Bali to lay out the kind of post-Kyoto emissions reduction framework that is needed for the further expansion of the market, which is estimated to have doubled in size this year to US$60 billion.

Among the specific issues that carbon market players will be watching out for during next month's conference are signs of greater commitment to extending the Kyoto treaty -- which will expire in 2012 -- and a greater variety of projects eligible for carbon trading.

• CLAUDIA ROSSETT ALREADY TOLD US ABOUT THE UN JUNKET - THE 20 NIGHT STAY IN A LUXURY RESORT IN BALI, JETTING THERE BUSINESS CLASS, ETC.

• AND MANY HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT HOW CARBON-TRADING IS PHONY, NOTHING MORE THAN BUYING INDULGENCES WHICH DO NOTHING TO REDUCE ATMOSPHERIC CO2, AND OFTEN MERELY LINE THE POCKETS OF THE TRADERS.

• NOW WE LEARN THAT THESE UNSCRUPULOUS CARBON TRADERS/POSING AS WORLD-SAVERS ARE SALIVATING OVER THIS UN CONFERENCE.

OF COURSE THEY ARE: THE PHONY INSTRUMENTS THE CARBON INDULGENCES DEALERS SELL DEPEND UPON THE ACTIONS AND SANCTIONS OF THESE INTERNATIONAL BUREAUCRATS.

• AGW IS BS.

• CO2 DOESN'T CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE; IT'S A LAGGING INDICATOR - ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

AGW IS THE BIGGEST HOAX SINCE MARXISM.

DEMOCRATS: BLACK AMERICANS' FAUX AMIS

No wonder the Left want to rewrite history or take it out of the education system altogether. One lie that has been perpetuated for decades now is that the Democrat Party is the friend of American black people. In fact, the reverse is true.

One of the statements on this audio is that: "Blacks voted for three decades after the Civil War while Republicans were in power. When the Democrats took over, the blacks lost their right to vote."

Another: "Dr. Martin Luther King was a Republican. In that year almost all blacks were Republican's."

One more: "It was the Democrats who started the KKK."

Because there is so much denial by the left over this, I sincerely wish I could go back in time and prove all of the above. Although it is easy to prove that Martin Luther King was a Republican: "Why Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican" by Francis Rice.

This article is also worth reading. In part: "It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S's:

IRAQIS ATTACK AL QAEDA: KILL 18; CAPTURE 16

BBC: Sunni group attacks al-Qaeda base

Map of Iraq showing location of Samarra A Sunni faction has killed 18 al-Qaeda militants in an attack on a compound near the Iraqi city of Samarra, police have said.

Another 16 al-Qaeda members were said to have been captured in the attack.

The Sunni Islamic Army of Iraq - once part of the insurgency against US-led forces - said its fighters attacked the compound east of the city.

The faction is one of several Sunni former insurgent groups that have now turned against al-Qaeda.

On Friday, five Sunni Arab tribal leaders had been killed in a suicide attack in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad.

• THIS IS GOOD NEWS.

• AND IT'S GOOD NEWS THAT IT'S GETTING REPORTED QUICKLY IN THE MSM.

• WE WON, FOLKS: THE IRAQIS ARE DEFENDING THEMSELVES AND KILLING THE JIHADOTERRORISTS. WE WILL SOON BE ABLE TO COME HOME.

HARRY REID SHOULD EAT HIS WORDS AND RETIRE.

DITTO PELOSI.

Project Valour-IT and the U.S. Marines' Birthday!

The United States Marines Corps celebrates its 232nd birthday today! Happy birthday, Marines!

Please visit the Project Valour-IT Veterans Day Fundraiser, which provides voice-activated laptop computers to injured and disabled veterans. Among the blogs covering Project Valour-IT: A Blog for All, Blog o' Fascists, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air, LGF, Michelle Malkin, Soldiers' Angels Network, and Velvet Hammer

PLO OPERATIVE ARRESTED IN PHILIPPINES

KHALEEJ TIMES/AFP: Former PLO member arrested in Philippines

MANILA - Authorities arrested a former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) member in the southern Philippines, a report said Saturday, amid suspicions he was involved with local Islamic militants.

Immigration, police and military personnel arrested Yussof Umar Animour, 41, also known as Yusop Omar, in the town of Sibalu in the southernmost islands of Tawi-Tawi on November 1 for illegally staying in the country, an Immigration Bureau report said.

However sources in the intelligence community believe he has ties with local Muslim militants who have battled the government.

Intelligence reports say that in 2000 he was spotted in a Philippine camp with insurgents of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) while the military was launching an assault against the group.

It was unclear what he was doing in the Philippines at the time of his arrest.

Omar was as a communications specialist with the PLO in Lebanon from 1982 to 1984, then went to Manila to study in 1986. However schools rejected his application because he did not have a student visa, the bureau report said.

• THE PHILIPPINES HAVE LONG BEEN AN IMPORTANT HUB OF JIHADIST TERROR.

• THE PLO - IN THE PHILIPPINES!?!? BUT THEY DON'T HAVE MANY JOOOOOOZE THERE.

• D'YA THINK MAYBE JIHADOTERROR AIN'T ABOUT THE JOOOOOOZE, THEN!?

• AND NOT ABOUT ISRAEL.

• AND NOT ABOUT THE NEOCONS OR THE GOP.

• AND TWISTING ISRAEL'S ARMS TO GIVE CONCESSIONS TO THE JIHADISTS WILL NOT END OR EVEN REDUCE TERROR.

• IT WILL ONLY INCREASE IT BECAUSE IT SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE: TERROR WORKS.

• BUSH IS WRONG TO MAKE ISRAEL GIVE INTO FATAH.

• IT WILL COME BACK TO HURT US ALL.

GOD BLESS THE VETERANS

TAJIKISTAN'S LAST REMAINING STATUE OF LENIN TO BE REMOVED

BBC:

Tajikistan's Communist Party has asked the authorities for permission to preserve the capital's last remaining statue of Lenin.

The communists want to move the statue to their party headquarters when the park in which it stands is redesigned.

It will be replaced by a statue of the ninth-century Tajik poet, Rudaki.

• REMOVING STATUES OF MASS MURDERERS IS FINE, BUT IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO ERADICATE ALL IDEOLOGICAL VESTIGES OF SOCIALISM FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

• REMEMBER: SOCIALISM KILLED MORE PEOPLE IN THE 20TH CENTURY THAN JUDEO-CHRISTIANITY DID IN THE PRECEDING 19 CENTURIES.

• ON TOP OF THAT, SOCIALISM - UNDER THE GUISE OF HUMANISM - ACTUALLY DIMINISHED HUMANITY'S SANCTITY AND DEGRADED HUMAN EXISTENCE BY EMPHASIZING MATERIALISM AND DEROGATING SPIRITUALITY: JUDEO-CHRISTIANITY SAYS THAT HUMANS DON'T LIVE ON BREAD ALONE; SOCIALISM SAYS THEY DO - AND THEN THEY REGULATE THE CRAP OUT OF THE BREAD!

How about an energy bill with "energy" in it?

House Republicans are fighting to increase domestic oil and gas production. Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO):

We want an energy bill that has energy in it... Gasoline prices are an average 85¢/gal higher since the Democrats took control of Congress in January. Markets react to what they think Congress will do. Every proposal the Democrats put on the table reduces energy supplies instead of increasing them.

Joe Barton (R-TX), the Energy and Commerce Committee's ranking minority member, said yesterday that the energy bill which the House passed in August took 2 trillion barrels of shale oil off the table by rolling back EPACT provisions.

He also suggested that if Democrats really wanted to reduce oil prices, they would insert language to allow Alaska National Wildlife Refuge leasing and an inventory of US Outer Continental Shelf deposits.

If ANWR had gone on line 10 years ago, it would have been producing 3 million b/d by now. If an OCS inventory had been conducted and prospects drilled, that would have given us another 1 million or 2 million b/d, and oil prices wouldn't be approaching $100/bbl... If the Democrats want an energy bill, we'll help them. If they simply want higher prices to discourage consumption, they're already getting that.

Democrats appear to be living in some sort of dream world. U.S. oil consumption greatly exceeds domestic production. This gap will only increase, even as alternative sources of fuel (such as ethanol and other biofuels) come on-line.

Meanwhile, Cuba is permitting foreign countries to drill in the Gulf within 50 miles of Florida. That's right, countries such as China are already drilling -- without our permission -- within spitting-distance of the U.S. Do the Democrats care?

No. The Democrats have vowed to suppress oil exploration in the areas marked "No." That's "The No Zone", where promising reserves go untapped, even while China drains oil from the Gulf of Mexico.

Drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)? To give you a sense of scale, if ANWR occupied the area of a football field, the requested exploration region is the size of a postage stamp. But, no - the Democrats oppose tapping a tiny scrap of land in ANWR. New refineries? Of course not. The Democrats oppose those, too.

Democrats say they want oil independence and instead force Americans to become more dependent upon foreign oil each and every day.

Preposterous? Ludicrous? Of course. It's just business as usual with the current Democratic leadership. Sometimes I think the only thing keeping the Earth aligned on its axis is the gyroscopic energy of FDR, Truman and JFK spinning in their graves.

Every time you visit the gas pump, I want you to remember your crack Democratic leadership team that prevents energy exploration here in the US.

Hat tips: Gateway Pundit and Larwyn. Cross-posted at Doug Ross @ Journal.

A self-confessed Greenie liar

Post below lifted from Blue Crab. See the original for links. Amusing that Science magazine, Nature and Reuters all thought the hoax was genuine, at least initially.

Thanks to alert reader Cedric, we now have a confession from David Thorpe that he was , indeed, the person who intentionally put up the fraudulent GEOCLIMATICSTUDIES.INFO website, that he did so with the intent of trying to discredit people he disagrees with and one other very, very important thing for the media to remember. He lies to reporters. Intentionally and directly to their faces.

It's been a busy time. I published a spoof website in an effort to smoke out some climate change sceptics - not genuine ones, but ones who are highly vocal and yet do not understand the science. It consisted of a fake scientific journal, the Journal of Geoclimatic Studies, and a fake editorial and paper, aiming to 'prove' that global warming was caused by bacteria, not humans. It launched Wed. night and achieved notoriety within hours. I was beseiged with calls from Science magazine, Nature and Reuters. Several people were fooled but not for long as it was pretty easy to spot the spoof nature of it - all the names were made up.

From yesterday's Reuters story:

“We’re just the website design company,” said David Thorpe at Cyberium in Wales, listed as the administrator of the site. “I don’t know anything about the content. We were just asked to put the website up.”

He says someone else wrote the copy - but his brag on the linked post proves that he knew precisely what he was publishing and why. The one thing that (at least used to be) unforgivable by a reporter was to be intentionally lied to. Alister Doyle, the Reuters reporter should be furious right now. The fraudulent website has been taken down by the hosting company (TOS violation?). James Lewis was precisely right in calling it a black ops job.

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

Self-righteous Huffing and Puffing at Yale

The "slurs" were almost certainly hoaxes put there by Leftists -- as they usually are these days:

"Following outrage from the University community in response to racist graffiti found outside Pierson College on Tuesday, College deans have said they have begun laying out specific plans to prevent similar incidents in the future - including the possible creation of a new multicultural office.

Dining hall staff discovered graffiti early Tuesday reading "N*gger School" spray-painted on a wall outside the York Street gate to Pierson College. The incident came on the heels of several reports of racist and homophobic incidents on campus, including students wearing blackface costumes on Halloween and homophobic slurs painted on other college property.

In e-mails to Yale undergraduates Thursday morning and early Friday morning, Yale College Dean Peter Salovey and Afro-American Cultural Center Director Pamela George, respectively, outlined the steps they plan to take in response to the incidents, including the development of an administrative office to address multicultural issues.

Source

Just an excuse for more futile but self-congratulatory bureaucracy. Jobs for poseurs! There's an immense amount of hot air about it at the link above.

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

TIME MAGAZINE'S PERSON OF THE YEAR

Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Once again Time Magazine is showing their unbelievable, disgusting liberal/socialism bias. These are their 10 options for person of the year:

1) JK Rowling
2) Al Gore
3) Hillary Clinton
4) Barack Obama
5) Steve Jobs
6) Vladimir Putin
7) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad aka Hitler Jr.
8) Condoleezza Rice
9) Hu Jintao
10)General David Petraeus

Apparently, Al Gore was winning until the JK Rowlings fans were alerted to the poll. Go vote so that the few decent people who are on this list get voted for.

NBC: MORE LEFT-WING THAN THE BBC? YES.

A FEW WEEKS AGO, THE BBC CANCELED THEIR "GREEN" ADVOCACY PROGRAM:

The BBC has scrapped plans for Planet Relief, a TV special on climate change.

The decision comes after executives said it was not the BBC's job to lead opinion on climate change.

... senior news editors expressed misgivings that Planet Relief was too "campaigning" in nature and would have left the Corporation open to the charge of bias.

"It is absolutely not the BBC's job to save the planet," warned Newsnight editor Peter Barron at the Edinburgh Festival last month.

Head of TV news Peter Horrocks, writing in the BBC News website's editors' blog, commented: "It is not the BBC's job to lead opinion or proselytise on this or any other subject."

A number of right-wing commentators such as the Daily Mail's Keith Waterhouse also criticised the idea.

BUT NBC - NOT BEING AS MODERATE AS THE BBC! - WENT FORWARD WITH IT - MUCH OF IT MASQUERADING AS NEWS. AND IT PERMEATED THEIR ENTIRE SCHEDULE.

IT WAS PURE UNADULTERATED PROPAGANDA. IT'S ALL THEY SEEM TO DO THESE DAYS.

AND THEIR PROPAGANDA WEAKENS US AND AIDS THE ENEMY. WHICH IS WHY I HAVE LONG SAID, WE HAVE TO DEFEAT THE LEFT HERE AT HOME BEFORE WE CAN DEFEAT THE JIHADIST ENEMY ABROAD.

LIEBERMAN'S CRITIQUE OF THE DEMOCRAT LEFT IGNORED BY MSM

MORE PROOF OF MSM BIAS - FROM THE CORNER:

Lieberman's Speech v. Hagel's [Jonah Goldberg]

I only saw "Special Report" last night so I don't know first hand, but this wouldn't surprise me, from a reader:

Jonah,

Chuck Hagel, a GOP Senator with no real national following, gives a speech criticizing the administrations Iran policy and I see it on MSNBC and CNN. Joe Lieberman, the former Democratic nominee for VP, gives a speech going after the Democrats stand on national security and nothing....crickets.

I guess it's only good to have "Mavericks" in one of the political parties.

11/09 08:22 AM

SICKENING.

MORE ON THE SPEECH HERE.

JUST LIKE DEAN, HILLARY IS FADING FAST. SO, WHO WILL BECOME THE NEXT KERRY?

HILLARY IS TANKING.

• IF SHE LOSES IOWA, THEN IT'S ALL OVER. SHE'LL COLLAPSE LIKE DEAN DID.
  

• BUT WHO WILL BE THE NEXT KERRY? WHOEVER WINS IOWA?

• OR WHOEVER JUMPS IN THE RACE AFTER IOWA?

• OR WILL IT LEAD TO A BROKERED CONVENTION - ONE WHICH WILL NOMINATE KERRY - OR GORE?

HILLARY CLINTON IS A PIG

CAPT'S Q:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) has won tens of millions of dollars more in federal earmarks this year than her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, even though two of them have significantly more Senate seniority.

A review of the first three appropriations conference reports finished by Senate and House negotiators shows that Clinton has successfully requested at least $530 million worth of projects.

... Put together, the rest of the Senators have around $210 million in pork aggregate, or less than half of that garnered by Hillary.

• HILLARY HAS GOTTEN MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH PORK AS THE REST COMBINED.

• WHAT A FREAKIN PIG.

• HILLARY IS AS BIG A PHONY ON FISCAL RESTRAINT AS GORE IS ON REDUCING ONE'S CARBON FOOTPRINT.

THESE LEFTIES ARE TOTALLY FULL OF IT.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MARINES!

WIKI:

Originally organized as the Continental Marines on 10 November 1775 as naval infantry, the Marine Corps has evolved in its mission with changing military doctrine and American foreign policy. The Marine Corps has served in every American armed conflict including the Revolutionary War. It attained prominence in the 20th century when its theories and practice of amphibious warfare proved prescient and ultimately formed the cornerstone of the Pacific campaign of World War II.[3] By the mid 20th century, the Marine Corps had become the dominant theorist of amphibious warfare.[4][5][6] Its ability to rapidly respond to regional crises has made it, and continues to make it, an important body in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy.[7]

VICTORY - REGARDLESS OF THE ODDS - IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE OUTCOME FOR THE MARINES.

THE FEW... THE PROUD...

REMEMBER: EVERY MARINE IN UNIFORM TODAY IS SERVING WITH SOMEONE WHO SERVED WITH ANOTHER AN OLDER MARINE WHO SERVED WITH ANOTHER OLDER MARINE - AND SO ON - GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO 1775.

WE OWE ALL OF THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES A HUGE DEBT OF GRATITUDE.

THE ENTIRE FREE WORLD DOES.

GOD BLESS THEM ALL.

FINNS WITH GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE; PSYCHO FINNS WITH GUNS KILL LAW-ABIDING FINNS WITHOUT GUNS

BBC:

Finland's government is planning to tighten gun laws after nine people were killed in a school shooting spree.

Under the plan, minors would be banned from buying guns but would be allowed to use them under adult supervision.

Currently, 15-year-olds can buy guns with parental permission. Finland has the world's third highest rate of gun ownership according to a recent survey.

A student, 18, killed eight people and fatally wounded himself at his school in the town of Tuusula on Wednesday.

The shooting shocked Finland, which has low levels of violent crime despite the high rate of gun ownership.

REPEAT:

The shooting shocked Finland, which has low levels of violent crime despite the high rate of gun ownership.

Gun crime and ownership of guns by law-abiding citizens is unrelated - except that an ARMED law-abiding citizen can stop a crime better than an unarmed one.

An armed TEACHER might have killed this Finnish psycho before anyone was killed. In Israel, the teachers have been armed since the jihadoterrorists attacked a school years ago. There haven't been any attacks since then.

Some More Musings about People, Politics and History

Among other things I serve as Managing Director of my small condominium complex here on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I’ve noticed that our complex is quite a reflection of the world in general in its mix of people and their attitudes and characteristics.

A few people here share qualities of thoughtfulness and an understanding of the world; these same people are the ones who volunteer to help with the running and the problems of the condominium. There are exceptions to most generalizations, but, unless they are also pacifists, these workers and volunteers also tend to be conservative Republican in their political leanings.

Most of the owners here do nothing to help with condo operations; they only sit back and complain about what needs to be done or about whatever the few of us have done to maintain and improve our homes. Some of these complainers are absolute cranks who think in disorganized or illogical fashion. The cranks and complainers greatly outnumber the workers; and they also tend to be liberal Democrats. Thankfully, at our annual meetings, the cranks and the complainers never get organized well-enough to defeat the program and the budget put before them, and, reluctantly, they end up voting to maintain condo policies and programs.

The history of the world is reflected here in our complex. Our Founding Fathers were consummate students of history. It was no accident that they assembled a form of government designed to stymie and thwart the current ravings of the mob, while granting the majority the power to make changes gradually over time. This is why they separated powers into legislative, judicial and executive branches; this is why they built delays into the system, and tried to put together responsibility and power.

What do I mean by putting together responsibility and power? Basically two things: the executive (the president) has the sole responsibility to defend the nation and the Constitution; he also has the sole power to commit troops and command the military; also originally only land-owners who paid taxes had the right to vote, and senators were appointed. Gradually, over the years, the right to vote has been extended to everyone – possibly with consequences that will eventually mean the end of our republic.

Any American who studies history – whether ancient history or recent history – should realize three major lessons from history: Lesson 1. You and I and the ordinary working person in this country have a quality of life that in most of the world has been available only to a very few, extremely wealthy persons of royalty. Of the billions of people born since the world began, almost everyone has lived wretched, short lives of incredible poverty and despair. This widespread quality of life you and I have is of recent origin and came about because of the unique qualities of American civilization – freedom, capitalism and inventiveness.

Lesson 2. Every great civilization – the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Spaniards, the Turks and others – every one of them has eventually disintegrated or disappeared. Today we live during the great American civilization. Will it also disappear?

Lesson 3. Virtually all democracies have destroyed themselves by turning over the reins of government and the treasury to the mob. When the takers and shirkers outnumber the workers and producers, the country is doomed. This is what our Founding Fathers were determined to avoid.

Over the years two very dangerous developments have taken place: 1. we have been chipping away at the safeguards put there by our founders, and 2. a class of Americans who hate their country and its traditions has appeared.

Sometimes great civilizations ended because of military defeats, but more often, they ended because of internal decay. For various reasons some Americans are conflicted in subtle and devious ways. They don’t understand history. They don’t understand that American freedoms and American traditions and the bloodshed of American patriots not only provided the wonderful life we have – but have offered hope to all the rest of the world. These people are Americans, but inexplicably they hate America.

Yes we have made mistakes, and sometimes we have been forced to choose the lesser of two evils, but unlike every other civilization, America has always tried to help. After we won World War II, the most terrible war in history, we offered a hand of friendship to our enemies. Instead of ransacking their countries, as all previous victors throughout history had done, we helped them to rebuild and taught them how to live in freedom. However, these people who have this kind of problem don’t see this; they only see the mistakes we have made. They are like some people who, if you give them a rose, will only see the thorns. The problem is, these Americans with this kind of outlook, may be the ones who destroy our civilization – if we let them.

What needs to be done: first, we need to stop cheapening the vote. We need to stop trying to make voting easier, and, instead, repeal motor-voter laws and issue special ID cards to every citizen. Anyone convicted of a felony should lose the right to vote forever.

Second, we need to scale back programs that are depleting the treasury. Medicare is almost broke, and Social Security is headed for disaster. I think passing Part D was a major mistake, and it should be scaled back or repealed. Some Social Security collections should go into private accounts, and AFDC should be made into a temporary, emergency help program.

Third, those who think that the many Americans who want to destroy our traditions and gut our military are acting in good conscience should wake up, The hate-America crowd is just that, and must be confronted and stopped. Their form of mental-sickness should not be allowed to ruin America.

I know these recommendations will be ridiculed by liberal Democrats, but they are basically the problem, and they must be fought and defeated in every election forum that exists.

Hey! It's OK to Stomp other Flags

Not just the U.S. flag:

"The 417,000 students at California State University's 28 campuses are expected to be civil to one another, the university says in its policy manual. It sounds innocuous - but a federal magistrate says it's an unconstitutional restriction on speech when the policy is used to investigate or discipline students, such as the College Republicans whose members stomped on two flags bearing the name of Allah during an anti-terrorism rally at San Francisco State last year.

"It might be fine for the university to say, 'Hey, we hope you folks are civil to one another,' " U.S. Magistrate Wayne Brazil said last week at a hearing in his Oakland courtroom. "But it's not fine for the university to say, 'If you're not civil, whatever that means, we're going to punish you.' "

Brazil said he would issue a preliminary injunction barring the university from enforcing the civility standard in any disciplinary proceeding. He said the university can continue to enforce another rule disputed by the College Republicans - prohibiting intimidation or harassment - but can use the rule to punish students only for threatening someone's health or safety, and not merely for offensive statements or conduct.....

"Universities routinely use policies like (the California State University policy) to suppress Christian and conservative speech," said attorney David Hacker of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian nonprofit law firm that represents the San Francisco State College Republicans. As a result of Brazil's ruling, he said, "all students are more free to express their ideas."

Source

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

Naive technophiles

Excerpt:

Mass production will soon begin on the XO, the "$100 laptop" that MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte believes will change the world. Behind the dream of empowering children through technology, however, lies a reality more complicated and far less idealistic. Professor Negroponte believes his non-profit One Laptop per Child (OLPC) can help solve "whatever big problem you can imagine, from world peace to the environment to hunger to poverty." Early reviews of OLPC's finished product extol its many innovative features. None of these reviews, however, mention what the XO fails to provide, such as a source of clean drinking water, abundant and nutritious food, or medicines for curable diseases....

OLPC's business model actually requires substantial investment from the governments of developing countries, diverting limited resources away from a population's critical needs. The "$100 laptop," which actually costs $188, can only be purchased at a minimum quantity of 250,000. OLPC targets countries like Nigeria, where one out of three children suffer from malnutrition. There a $50 million minimum investment could instead be used to feed more than a million children for an entire year.

After unloading their product, OLPC relies on the naive assumption that governments will distribute laptops free of charge to deserving schoolchildren. This blind trust in corrupt governments will deprive children and ensure the creation of a robust XO black market.

Children will suffer if governments divert scarce resources away from essential services. To avoid that outcome, professor Negroponte should channel his ingenuity into a product compatible with existing markets. Success will be achieved not by forcing technology on children, but by bringing children to technology.

More here

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

The photo from Iraq the mainstream media can't ignore

 
This is the photo that captured the essence of sacrifice and victory in World War II.

Now the Iraq war, a controversial struggle to free millions from despotism, has its own Joe Rosenthal.

This incredible photo was taken by our generation's Ernie Pyle. The best journalist working in Iraq -- Michael Yon -- described this scene:

A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from “Chosen” Company 2-12 Infantry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope.

The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ” Thank you, thank you,” the people were saying. One man said, “Thank you for peace.” Another man, a Muslim, said “All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.” The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers.

The reason this photo is rippling through the blogosphere at the speed of light is its resonance. It highights a stunning series of succesess spurred by Gen. David Petraeus' surge... while the mainstream media and Defeatocratic Party remain utterly silent.

Splash sums it up perfectly (hat tip: Libertas):

Hey, libs… Hear that sound? That’s history rolling on without you again.

The Iraqi people continue to express their thanks to Americans in hundreds of ways. To read a newspaper or visit a movie theater, though, you'd never know it.

Cross-posted at Doug Ross @ Journal

DANISH POLITICS NOW: MANY FACTIONS PLAYING THE RACE CARD

Danes will soon be going to the polls to elect a new parliament - which in turn will create the basis for a (new) government. This time around ethnicity will - again - play a central role in the election.

Since the 1990's the issue of foreigners - especially muslim immigrants - has shifted the balance of power here. It is quite interesting that this issue can be so powerful in a society where such a small segment of the poplulation is foreign.

It began with the fall of the Schluter Government in the aftermath of the Tamil Case, and the Social Democrats assumed power. Ever since the Dansk Folkeparti has taken support from the Social Democrats, and eventually enabled Anders Fogh Rasmussen to assume power, by playing the "race card".

Many parties have now accepted the strict immigration policies put in force in the last decade. Many praties have promised not to alter the taxes paid by homeowners. But there is growing discontent with the present governments "stiff" fiscal and social regime - and a real possibility of a new political constellation. The left continues to make gains from the criticism that the present government has skrimped the health and school system while the State's coffers have burgeoned with surplusses.

There are many undecided voters - and few issues that can swing people around like cultural identity and ethnicity. This time around the race card is not only being played from the extreme right. The extreme leftwing party Enhedslisten is deploying an Islamic-Socialist-Feminist (only possible on the extreeeeme left) Asmaa Abdol-Hamid. If we are lucky her presence on the ticket may drag Enhedslisten out of the Parliament.

The emergence of Naser Khader's Ny Alliance party is placing the race card across the center of the political fulcrum and may very well proove to be the lever that prys Pia Kærsgard and the Dansk Folkepartiet from politcal influence.

No predictions here...it's an 8-horse race with a lot of back room "arbitrage" to be done after the election.

MORE ON THE RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN BRITAIN

Melanie Phillips has a new article in City Journal about the scary rise of anti-semitism in Britain and where its roots could date back to.

Regarding the beginning description of an anti-semitic assault, on a 12-year-old girl on a London bus, here's the original report, via Greetings from the French Hill. Ugh, these are clearly not people I'd want to be around. The main attacker wore a chain? That suggests punk subculture was involved here, something Britain's had way too much of since the late 1970s.

But have their been any arrests made in any of these incidents? If the following report from the Telegraph (via Tim Blair) is any indication, the short answer is no:

The CPS report revealed that not a single person accused of an anti-Semitic crime had been prosecuted on a charge of religiously aggravated offending. It said: "The police statistics include incidents where no defendant has been identified or where there is insufficient evidence for a prosecution."

And a rabbi who was assaulted by some Pakistani hoodlums said that:

"We identified the youths and told the police but they were never prosecuted. They just did not seem interested. I feel very let down."

What is the use for Jews to continue living in a house of horror like what England is now if the authorities will do little to nothing to enforce the law convincingly? They'd be advised to pack their bags and travel to here. Or, if they want to continue living in Europe, maybe they should go to Italy and follow the example of some Britons who went to live there as well, where it's usually much safer.

There is nothing worth staying for in England anymore as far as I'm concerned. To all concerned who're still deluding themselves by living there - please, do yourselves a favor and go, if anywhere, to where there's more common sense. England is not where you'll find it. Certainly not today.

MY INTERVIEW WITH STATE REP. DOUG ERVIN

As I've alluded to in past posts I view State Representative Doug Ervin as a stellar conservative Congressman. Thats why I'm thrilled that I'm going to have the honor of having him on my internet radio show next Monday, November 12th.

We will be talking about HB818, the groundbreaking health insurance bill that he sponsored that was passed this past summer. It is free-market health care reform that Missouri is leading the way on. This is the ideal direction that we needed to be headed towards instead of some form of Hillarycare.

Here is what Beverly Gossage from the Show-Me Institute had to say about it:

"...the bill offers a common-sense approach to health care reform — not more government intervention and bureaucracy."

I'm sure I will ask other questions as well and it should be an enlightening hour for all. Make sure to tune in and feel free to call in with your comments and/or questions.

The details:

When--Monday November 12th

Time--9:00-10:00 am CST

Where--Togi Net site

Name--The name of my show is the same as my blog, Conservatism With Heart

Number to call in--1-877-864-4869

Breaking: Bhutto placed under house arrest

AP.

She's a corrupt troublemaker, whose administration was very involved with the Taliban.

Though certainly on our side now, I think her recent performance has been very destabilizing.

In fact, she shouldn't have returned as soon as she did.

Her return precipitated a lot of this.

The house arrest makes sense - for Pakistan, a nation which has had military rule for most of it's existence.

THE UK'S NHS REVEALS THE WAITING TIMES FOR HEALTHCARE - INCLUDING FOR SURGERY, AND THEY'RE AWFUL

SUN:

ONE in ten people are still waiting at least a year for NHS outpatient treatment, it was revealed yesterday.

Out of 223,670 cases completed by August, 22,212 had been referred for ops by their GP at least 52 weeks earlier, figures show.

Thousands more did not have surgery within six months, and nearly half — 44 per cent — waited for longer than the Government’s planned new 18-week target.

... Health minister Ben Bradshaw insisted the NHS was on course to hit the target.

He said: “That ten per cent figure is still unacceptable. But ten years ago it was common for people to wait 18 months.”

• BOTH THE LABOUR AND TORY PARTIES SAY THIS SITUATION IS AWFUL.

• LABOUR CLAIMS THEY WILL FIX IT. BUT THEY'VE HAD A DECADE AND DONE NOTHING SO FAR.
  

• ANYONE WHO CLAIMS THE SYSTEM IN THE UK SHOULD BE EMULATED IS UNIFORMED. OR DISNFORMED ON PURPOSE.

IF YOU THINK HEALTHCARE IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE, AT LEAST DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE LIES OF THE LEFT.

THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND APPLIES TO OIL

NYTIMES:

Rising Global Demand for Oil Provoking New Energy Crisis

With oil prices approaching the symbolic threshold of $100 a barrel, the world is headed toward its third energy shock in a generation. But today’s surge is fundamentally different from the previous oil crises, with broad and longer-lasting global implications.

Just as in the energy crises of the 1970s and ’80s, today’s high prices are causing anxiety and pain for consumers, and igniting wider fears about the impact on the economy.

Unlike past oil shocks, which were caused by sudden interruptions in exports from the Middle East, this time prices have been rising steadily as demand for gasoline grows in developed countries, as hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians climb out of poverty and as other developing economies grow at a sizzling pace.

“This is the world’s first demand-led energy shock,” said Lawrence Goldstein, an economist at the Energy Policy Research Foundation of Washington.

Forecasts of future oil prices range widely. Some analysts see them falling next year to $75, or even lower, while a few project $120 oil. Virtually no one foresees a return to the $20 oil of a decade ago, meaning consumers should brace for an era of significantly higher fuel costs.

At the root of the stunning rise in the price of oil, up 56 percent this year and 365 percent in a decade, is a positive development: an unprecedented boom in the world economy.

Demand from China and India alone is expected to double in the next two decades as their economies continue to expand, with people there buying more cars and moving to cities to seek a way of life long taken for granted in the West.

• WE CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT LOWER THE DEMAND FOR ENERGY.

• WE CAN AND SHOULD TAKE ACTION TO INCREASE ENERGY SUPPLIES.

• WE HAVE HUGE OIL DEPOSITS OFF THE COASTS OF CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA AND IN ALASKA. WE SHOULD DRILL AND RECOVER THIS OIL.

• AND WE SHOULD USE OUR VAST COAL DEPOSITS. AND BUILD MORE COAL-BURNING POWER-PLANTS AND NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS.

• THESE ACTIONS WILL REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN ENERGY AND LOWER THE PRICE.

THE ONLY THING STANDING IN THE WAY OF US EXPLOITING THE OIL IN THESE REGIONS (AND US BUILDING MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS AND MORE COAL-BURNING POWER PLANTS) IS THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.

REPEAT: THE ONLY THING BETWEEN US AND CHEAPER ENERGY AND A GROWING WORLD ECONOMY IS THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.

WE MUST DEFEAT THEM.

FOR THE CHILDREN.

A COMPLETE PICTURE OF CURRENT DEMOCRAT OBSTRUCTIONISM ON ENERGY HERE.

MORE HERE.

More here too.

AND A COMPLETE PICTURE OF DEMOCRAT OBSTRUCTIONISM AND HOW IT EFFECTS OUR ENERGY PRICES HERE AT DOUG ROSS. AND HERE AND HERE - AT GATEWAY.