GOP/ABC DEBATE: MCCAIN LOOKED PETTY; MITT AND RUDY LOOKED GOOD

I watched the GOP debate - my first this cycle.

I thought McCain was lousy - several times he snarkily lashed out at Mitt and it made McCain look petty and small. Huckabee did too.

UPDATE: SOMEONE AGREES WITH ME:

Noam Scheiber at the New Republic:

With all the "oohs" and "ahs" in the press-filing center, it felt like we were watching a game of the dozens rather than a presidential debate. At certain moments it had the effect of making Romney look more sympathetic, at others it made him look like the only adult on stage, and at others it made him look like he must be the front-runner, since people were so determined to take him down a peg. McCain in particular seemed to go too far, looking and sounding downright snide at times.

I could see the pundits proclaiming Mitt the loser since he took so much incoming fire. But my hunch is that it won't play that way among voters.

Mitt's answers were best; then Rudy's.

Fred barely showed up; he said nothing memorable.

Paul is a loon.

Huckabee sounded smooth, but signified zippo zilch nada.

I think Rudy moves up and McCain down and Mitt wins NH.

UPDATE:

• THE DEMS ALL SUCK - BIGTIME:
• IT'S A CONTEST TO SEE WHO CAN SURRENDER QUICKER ABROAD AND INSTALL SOCIALISM QUICKER AT HOME.
• ARE THEY RUNNING FOR POTUS OR FOR CHAIRMAN OF THE POLITBURO OF THE USSA?

MORE PROOF THE NHS SUCKS

LONDON TIMES:

Cancer patients fight to stop NHS withholding care

CANCER patients have launched a legal action to prevent the NHS from withdrawing care if they seek to improve their chances of recovery by paying privately for an additional drug.

The patients say the NHS will be breaching their human rights if it withdraws the treatment they are receiving.

Two of the patients, Colette Mills, 58, a former nurse from near Stokesley, North Yorkshire, and Debbie Hirst, 56, from St Ives, Cornwall, who both have breast cancer, have been told they will be made to foot the entire £10,000 monthly bill for their care if they attempt to pay privately for an additional drug, Avastin.

Ministers claim that to allow patients to pay for top-up drugs would be unfair to those who cannot afford them and lead to a two-tier NHS. The health department has issued guidance to NHS trusts warning that such co-payments are not allowed.

THIS AMOUNTS TO BLACKMAIL BY THE STATE.

UK TELEGRAPH:

Patients left to starve on NHS wards

The number of NHS patients suffering from malnourishment as they leave hospital has nearly doubled, new figures show.

Around 140,000 patients were discharged after being inadequately fed on NHS wards last year, statistics obtained by the Conservatives reveal.

The number released from hospital suffering from malnutrition, nutritional anaemia, or other nutritional deficiencies has risen by 84 per cent in the decade since Labour came to power, from 74,431 in 1997 to 139,127....

Campaigners complain that elderly people in particular are not given enough help to eat in hospital. ...

The shadow health minister Stephen O'Brien, who obtained the statistics, described them as a "scandal".

• NATIONALIZED HEALTHCARE SUCKS.
• YET THE DEMOCRATS WANT THE USA TO EMULATE THE UK.
• DON'T FALL FOR IT.

ARABS - INCLUDING SYRIA - AGREE TO BACK SULEIMAN FOR LEBANON 'S PRESIDENCY

IS THE STALEMATE ENDED? IT SEEMS SO. EMPHASIS ON SEEMS: IHT/AP:

CAIRO, Egypt: Arab foreign ministers, including Syria, agreed unanimously Saturday to back the head of Lebanon's army, Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman, as the politically divided country's next president.

After the Arab ministers of Qatar and Saudi Arabia mounted pressure on Syria's top diplomat Walid al-Moallem during a meeting in the Egyptian capital, the ministers endorsed a statement calling on Lebanon's rival parties to elect Suleiman and resolve their political differences.

"Stemming from Arab responsibilities toward Lebanon and in continuation of Arab efforts to help Lebanon overcome its crisis, the ministers agreed on a comprehensive plan and call on the concerned parties in Lebanon to reach a consensus," read the statement, a copy of which was made available to The Associated Press.

The endorsement was significant because it showed a willingness on Syria's part to end the crisis in Lebanon. It also indicated that Lebanon's opposition, lead by the Syrian-backed Hezbollah, may drop its demand that it receive Cabinet veto power before allowing Suleiman to be elected.

The statement gave Lebanon a Jan. 27 deadline to elect a president and form a new national unity government.

• I FEEL NASRALLLAH AND AHMADINEJAD WILL NOT ABIDE BY THIS.
• AS THE DEADLINE NEARS, I EXPECT MORE TROUBLE FROM THEM, NOT LESS.

STAY TUNED...

DUKE SCIENTISTS: NORTH ATLANTIC WARMING NOT MAN-MADE

CANWEST NEWS: North Atlantic waters warming naturally

The authors of a new paper published this week argue that warmer water in the North Atlantic Ocean - often cited as being caused by climate change and a trigger of more severe storms - may occur naturally in part.

Researchers from North Carolina's Duke University say an analysis of available records shows an uneven warming of the North Atlantic Ocean's surface waters in a 50-year period between 1950 and 2000.

Susan Lozier, a professor of physical oceanography and a lead author on the paper, believes that it is premature to "conclusively attribute these regional patterns of heat gain to greenhouse warming."

The research appeared Thursday in Science Express, the online edition of the journal Science.

Although the surface waters warmed over the 50-year period, the sub-polar regions cooled while the subtropical and tropical waters of the North Atlantic warmed.

The pattern is attributed to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a natural and cyclical wind circulation that has a strong impact on the underlying ocean.

"So contrary to some people's expectations, as our climate evolves we might expect everything to get warmer, but what we found instead is we had a very sharp contrast between these two regions," Lozier said.

In fact, the researchers say that large-scale, decadal changes "associated with the NAO are primarily responsible for the heat ocean content changes in the North Atlantic over the past 50 years."

AGW IS BS.

NEW GOVERNOR FOR PAKISTAN'S TRIBAL REGION: MUSHARRAF ABOUT TO GET VERY TOUGH

BBC: Key Pakistan governor steps down

Retired Lt Gen Orakzai, one of the few officers of tribal origin in the upper echelons of the Pakistani army, cited personal reasons for his departure.

But the continuing violence in tribal areas may have brought it about.

... Gen Orakzai was appointed governor of the North West Frontier Province with a mandate to improve the security situation there.

His biggest gamble was to negotiate a peace deal with local tribal leaders in September 2006, after months of bitter clashes between the army and Islamist militants that killed hundreds on both sides.

... the violence in the tribal areas continued, and that contributed to Gen Orakzai's departure.

The new governor, Owais Ahmed Ghani, has been known for his tough action - which often took the form of brutal force - against Baluch nationalists.

If his appointment indicates anything, it must be that for the Pakistani authorities, the use of force is still very much an option in dealing with militancy in the tribal areas.

• THE HAMMER IS ABOUT TO COME DOWN ON THE ANVIL.
• IT'S LONG OVERDUE.

STAY TUNED...

WHICH CANDIDATE BENEFITS THE MOST IF THE ECONOMY BECOMES THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE?

MITT.

HILLARY IS LOSING BECAUSE SHE HAS NO SOUL

Hillary was booed at a big Dem dinner in New Hampshire yesterday.




She said she stood for change - Obama's slogan - and NO ONE was buying.



WHY?! No one believes her anymore - because she has no soul.



Hillary sold her soul to become First Lady.


And sold it again to stay First Lady.


She first sold it on 60MINUTES, in New Hampshire in 1992 - during the Gennifer Flowers incident.

The Clinton's mendacious performance on that TV show just before the New Hampshire primary helped make Bill "the comeback kid".


She sold whatever was left during the Lewinsky incident.


Now her campaign is trying to make her the second comeback kid.

• It won't work.
• Parading Bil around during the primary campaign reminds people what phonies they are.
• Soulless phonies.

They deserve each other.




We deserve better.

WHY NO INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE ON THAILAND TO CEDE TERRITORY?

SINCE 9/11, MORE BUDDHISTS HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED BY JIHADISTS IN THAILAND THAN ARABS KILLED BY ISRAELIS.

IHT (2/07):

Some are already calling it war, a brutal Muslim separatist insurgency in southern Thailand that has taken as many as 2,000 lives in three years, with almost- daily bombings, drive-by shootings, arson and beheadings.

It is a conflict the government admits it is losing.

AFP, TWO DAYS AGO:

No end in sight as south Thai rebellion enters fifth year

Brutal killings have reached unprecedented levels in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, experts say, as the region enters the fifth year of a separatist insurgency that is tearing communities apart.

A government policy of reconciliation in the region has backfired, analysts told AFP, with rebels beheading, mutilating and even crucifying victims to try to spark a backlash and create divisions between Buddhists and Muslims.

"They kill in such brutal ways: beheaded, hacked to death, set on fire ... the idea is to provoke a strong reaction of the Buddhist Thais against Muslims," said Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand consultant with Human Rights Watch.

"The Buddhist Thais feel that they have become subject of atrocities, and many of them even feel that ethnic cleansing is going on."

The pace of deadly violence has picked up since militants raided a southern army base on January 4, 2004, reviving long-running tensions and triggering an insurgency along the border region with Malaysia.

About 1,800 people were killed in the first three years of the insurgency. By the end of the fourth that has now risen to more than 2,800.

• WHY THE CONSTANT FOCUS IS ALWAYS ON ISRAEL AND WHY SHE MUST SURRENDER LAND TO JIHADISTS?
• WHY NOT FORCE THAILAND TO CEDE THEIR SOUTH TO THE JIHADISTS THERE?
• WHY NOT SEND DUBYA AND CONDI TO BANGKOK?

YEAH: IT'S JUST A RHETORICAL QUESTION, BECAUSE WE KNOW THE ANSWER:

• THAI'S AREN'T JOOOOZE, AND ISRAEL IS HELD TO A DIFFERENT STANDARD THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD - NO ONE ELSE IS EXPECTED TO CEDE TERRITORY TO JIHADISTS, ONLY JOOOOZE;
• ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THAILAND IS UNDER ASSAULT BY JIHADISTS WOULD MEAN THE MSM AND THE LEFT WOULD HAVE TO ADMIT THE EXISTENCE OF GLOBAL JIHAD.

UNLIKE THE SEEMINGLY INCOMPETENT THAI ARMY, THE IDF HAS THINGS UNDER CONTROL - FOR THE TIME BEING.

• THAT'S WHY THE USA SHOULDN'T BE FORCING ISRAEL TO DESTABILIZE THE REGION BY APPEASING ABBAS AND THE JIHADISTS.
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING INDIA TO GIVE UP KASHMIR.
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING IRAQ TO GIVE UP ANBAR.
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING LEBANON TO SURRENDER TO HIZBALLAH AND SYRIA.
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING ALGERIA TO GIVE UP THE THE GSPC.
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING KARZAI TO SURRENDER TO THE TALIBAN.
  
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING TURKEY TO SURRENDER THEIR EASTERN TERRITORY TO THE PKK.
• WE ARE NOT PRESSURING SARKOZY TO SURRENDER THE BANLIEUES.
• WE SHOULDN'T PRESSURE ISRAEL TO SURRENDER TO FATAH.
  
• BUSH IS GOING TO ISRAEL ON WEDS. I HOPE HE DOESN'T TAKE FATAH'S SIDE - AS CONDI HAS.

WE'LL SEE. STAY TUNED...

SHARI'A FINANCE ON THE RISE

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

From this article in The August Review:

Simply put, “Islamic banking and finance” creates, sells and services products that are in strict accordance with Shari’a. In the Islamic culture, it is referred to as “Shari’a finance” and covers the practices of banking, investment, bonds, loans, brokerage, etc.

To insure Shari’a compliance, banks must hire Shari’a scholars to review and approve each product and practice as “halal”, the Muslim equivalent of kosher in Judaism. Because there is a shortage of such scholars, there is competition between banks to find the best expert to sit on their boards of directors. This provides the highest legitimacy to each ruling because it is made at the director rather management level.

It should be noted that most of these scholars are from the school of radical Wahhabi/Salafi Shari’a in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, holding views diametrically opposed to the basic values of Western civilization.

Shari’a finance has many differences from orthodox banking: Notably, it cannot charge interest (usury) and it calls for alms giving (zakat). It also calls for avoidance of excessive risk and may not be associated in any way with gambling, drinking alcohol, eating pork, etc.

Zakat demands a tithe of 2.5 percent of revenue be donated to Islamic charity. If western banks follow this rule, their contributions will be staggering. It is certain that a portion of this money will end up in the hands of radical Muslims who are sworn to destroy the U.S. and replace its government with Shari’a law.

Shari’a finance is a recent phenomenon. There were very few Islamic banks prior to 1980. However, with the Khomeini revolution in Iran in 1979, Shari’a was summarily imposed throughout Iran and Shari’a finance took off.

The article concludes as follows:

International bankers have long ago proven themselves to be completely amoral when it comes to money. They bankrolled the Bolshevik Revolution in 1918 just as blithely as they bankrolled Hitler in the 1930’s. Fortunately for us, neither succeeded in conquering the world.

With Islam, odds of its succeeding are radically different. To start with, there are already 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, and it is the fastest growing religion in history. Secondly, the spread of Islam is richly financed by the oil that is extracted from mid-eastern countries. Thirdly, Islam has already infiltrated most of the west, especially in Europe.

And now, Islam has behind it the combined support and encouragement of the entire global banking community.

The unholy alliance between Islam and global banking may be the final leg on the age-old quest for global domination. Don’t be surprised at the silence of the global elite the next time you hear Islamist mobs chant “Death to America” – their goals are now intertwined.

Read the entire article HERE, and note the bibliographical links at the end:

Sharia’s Trojan Horse
Islamic Finance or Financing Islamism? (.pdf file)
Islamic Economics: What Does it Mean?
Federal Reserve speech to Islamic Financial Services Industry Seminar
Fed speech on Regulation and Supervision of Islamic Banking
Islamic banking rises on oil wealth, drawing non-Muslims
How the West Came to Run Islamic Banks
12th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference
University Islamic Financial
Islam and Mammon, Timur Kuran

See also Video Center, Islam/Shari'a on The August Review

Go to the original article to enable the links for the above bibliography.

The first of my two laws of history states as follows: It's always about the power, money and power being the same thing.

We are seeing a shift in that money-power, and the shift is accelerating.

PROOF! Global warming caused by argon!

A weak long-term correlation between atmospheric CO2 levels and terrestrial warming is one of the basic "proofs" that Warmists offer for their claims. On that reasoning the fact that the concentration of argon in ice core bubbles goes up and down alongside CO2 over the long term should "prove" that argon (another atmospheric gas) causes warming too. Or maybe CO2 causes argon to emerge from somewhere! See the graph below:



"BP" stands for "Before the Present". Argon in the period above is quite a close correlate with CO2. That both argon and CO2 levels might be an EFFECT of warming rather than vice versa must not be mentioned, of course. Everyone knows how the fizz fizzles away as a Pepsi gets warm. Likewise, since the ocean contains vast reserves of CO2, anyone can easily grasp what happens when the ocean gets warm. The scales should fall off of people's eyes when that simple fact is explained.


Posted by John Ray

PALESTINIANS WHO PREFER ISRAEL

Excerpt from Daniel Pipes:

Palestinians have a hidden history of appreciating Israel that contrasts with their better-known narrative of vilification and irredentism. The former has been particularly evident of late, especially since Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, floated a trial balloon in October about transferring some Arab-dominated areas of eastern Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority. As he rhetorically asked about Israeli actions in 1967, "Was it necessary to annex the Shuafat refugee camp, al-Sawahra, Walajeh, and other villages, and then to state that these are part of Jerusalem? One can ask, I admit, some legitimate questions about this."

In one swoop, this statement transformed pro-Israel statements by Palestinians (for a sampling, see my 2005 article, "The Hell of Israel Is Better than the Paradise of Arafat") from the mostly theoretical into the active and political. Indeed, Olmert's musings prompted some belligerent responses. As the title of a Globe and Mail news item puts it, "Some Palestinians prefer life in Israel: In East Jerusalem, residents say they would fight a handover to Abbas regime." The article offers the example of Nabil Gheit, who, with two stints in Israeli prisons and posters of "the martyr Saddam Hussein" over the cash register in his store, would be expected to cheer the prospect of parts of eastern Jerusalem coming under PA control.

Not so. As mukhtar of Ras Khamis, near Shuafat, Gheit dreads the PA and says he and others would fight a handover. "If there was a referendum here, no one would vote to join the Palestinian Authority...There would be another intifada to defend ourselves from the PA."

Two polls released last week, from Keevoon Research, Strategy & Communications and the Arabic-language newspaper As-Sennara, survey representative samples of adult Israeli Arabs on the issue of joining the PA, and they corroborate what Gheit says. Asked, "Would you prefer to be a citizen of Israel or of a new Palestinian state?" 62 percent want to remain Israeli citizens and 14 percent want to join a future Palestinian state. Asked, "Do you support transferring the Triangle [an Arab-dominated area in northern Israel] to the Palestinian Authority?" 78 percent oppose the idea and 18 percent support it.

More here

Posted by John Ray

THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE UK NHS

PM Gordon Brown had a New Year's message for the staff of the National Health System. Its implications are ominous for the people of Great Britain.

You might have thought that the purpose of the NHS was to provide health care for individual British patients.

You would be wrong.

You might have been a little less naive, and thought that the purpose of the NHS was to provide health care for the British people, collectively.

You would be wrong.

Gordon Brown admits that the purpose of the NHS is to take care of itself:

And we will also examine how all these changes can be enshrined in a new constitution of the NHS setting out for the first time the rights and responsibilities associated with an entitlement to NHS care.

I believe these are steps vital to securing the health of the NHS for the next sixty years.

He is proposing far-reaching changes in the way health care is provided, in order to secure the health of the NHS.

And what are those changes -- setting out the rights and responsibilities associated with an entitlement to NHS care? As the Telegraph reports:

Patients could be required to stop smoking, take exercise or lose weight before they can be treated on the National Health Service, Gordon Brown has suggested.

The NHS will be used as another tool to control private behavior. Excuses will be made so that services will not need to be provided at all.

Already this year, it has been reported that malnourished patients are being allowed to starve on NHS wards. The Conservative shadow Health Minister Stephen O'Brien noted:

"It is a scandal that in 21st-century Britain, we allow vulnerable patients to be let out of hospital in a malnourished state, and it is even worse that we allow thousands of patients to get more poorly while they are in hospital."

It doesn't work there. Why would anyone think it would work here?

And by the way:

The NHS is the third largest employer in the world, behind the Chinese Army and Indian Railways.

Is Newt in Huckabee's Corner?

I've always liked Newt Gingrich, and I've always thought that he was one of the few in the Republican Party to hold firm to his Conservative principles. Which is why I find this to be, well, depressing:

Helping Huck [Mark R. Levin]

I am informed that Dick Morris and Newt Gingrich are helping Huckabee behind the scenes. Morris has been everywhere today promoting Huckabee.

First of all, the fact that this tidbit is being reported by Mark Levin--that brilliant champion of Reagan's Conservative vision--adds a lot of credibility to the rumor. Now, what Dick Morris does in neither here nor there to me, but if Gingrich is really helping Huckabee, I cannot help but to see it as a betrayal of hiNewt's Conservative pedigree--because Huckabee's record is anything but Conservative. Also, Newt had repeatedly said in the past that he himself would jump in unless a true conservative were to step forward, who had a chance of winning.. And now this? It just doesn't make sense, unless Huckabee has had a sudden Conservative epiphany, and unless I am completely off base about Huckabee's electibility. But it is hard for me to visualize Huckabee rising up and defeating a surging, charismatic Obama in a general election. First of all every Democrat I have heard weigh in on the subject (Juan Williams, for example) seem to be chomping at the bit for Huckabee to be the Republican on the ballot. Susan Estrich said the other night that if Huckabee is the candidate, she will be dancing at the [Democrat] Inaugural ball. I think many, if not most, Dems feel that way.

And even if Huckabee were to get nominated and then to muster enough support to defeat Obama, where is that going to leave the country? As Fred Thompson pointed out today, Huckabee practically made Arkansas into a sanctuary state for illegals. That coupled with Huckabee's harsh criticism of the Iraq War and his track record of repeatedly raising taxes--all these seem to run against the grain of everything Reagan Conservatives stand for. Which makes it all the more stupefying that Newt would be in Huckabee's camp.

Obama will not be an easy out--he is riding a big wave now. And even the markets seem to be reacting to the momentum of the blatantly Socialist Obama; the Dow was down 256 points today in the wake of last night's results.

Meanwhile, the Gingrich news from "The Great One" is not exactly raising my spirits about where this is heading. Nothing would please me more than to see Fred sneak up on the field in South Carolina, or Rudy to make a big showing later on. Meanwhile the back-stabbing McCain will probably win New Hampshire, which doesn't comfort me either. An aging McCain pitted against a young, energetic, JFK-like Obama seems to me to be more likely to turn out like Dole's run against Bill Clinton, than it would to turn out like Reagan's sound defeat of a younger, relatively inexperienced Mondale. John McCain may be a lot of things, but he is no Ronald Reagan. And neither is Mike Huckabee.

Pass the Xanax, please.

IRAN HOLDS THE NATION OF LEBANON HOSTAGE

BBC:

The Lebanese opposition group Hezbollah has said openly that it will not allow a president to be elected unless it gets a third of the cabinet seats.

This would give Hezbollah and its allies a veto over key decisions.

The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, blamed the US for obstructing a solution to Lebanon's political crisis by opposing such a move.

The western-backed Lebanese government has repeatedly rejected the opposition's demand for powers of veto.

The government has proposed reforming the cabinet to give the president a casting vote.

Hezbollah and its allies have been demanding a third of the cabinet seats since the 2006 war with Israel - which Hezbollah regards as a victory - but until now they had not publicly linked the issue to a presidential vote.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who is aligned with the government, said Hezbollah was making impossible demands and was more loyal to Syria and Iran than to Lebanon.

• Lebanon won't have slef-determination and self-government until Hizballah is neutralized.
• Hizballah won't be neutralized until Syria is essentially isolated.
• Syria won't be isolated until Iran is neutered.

If the Bush and Condi are too timid to remedy this situation then it's time to find someone who will.

Left alone, Hizballah, Syria and Iran will only get stronger.

And the costs of defeating will only go up.
FASTER! PLEASE!

Is Barack Obama the Presidential version of Ned Lamont?

Does anyone still remember Ned Lamont?

Ned Lamont - the leftist dove - defeated Joe Lieberman in the primary, only to lose in the general election - to er um Joe, the much more centrist hawk.

Obama - (who campaigned for Ned and AGAINST Joe!) - may end up doing the same thing in the presidential race.

Obama - the dove (he is most proud of the fact that he opposed the Iraq War from the start) - looks like he will defeat Hillary -- (who - Obama keeps reminding everyone - voted for the war, and even said she'd keep SOME troops in Iraq) -- in the primaries, and win a place on the ballot in November.

But then he would most certainly lose to a relatively more centrist hawk in the general election.

Any one.

Even a Republican one.

Like the centrist hawk McCain - for whom Joe is tirelessly stumping in NH, and where (because the primary is an open one) he is likely taking votes away from... er um Obama.

YES: I think Obama is this year's Lamont. (And maybe McCain is this year's Lieberman, though it could also be Romney or Rudy).

Goody! BRING. HIM. ON!

IOW: "Senator Lamont, meet President Obama."

One of Hillary's favorite "Hillraisers" gets three years in prison

Just in time for the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton's key donation bundler -- Norman Hsu -- is in the news again.

A judge on Friday sentenced disgraced political donor Norman Hsu to three years in state prison... Hsu also faces federal fraud charges in New York...


His troubles began dogging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other big-name Democrats last summer when news reports revealed he was a fugitive who fled the state before he was sentenced for the 1992 fraud conviction. He turned himself in on Aug. 31 -- then fled again...

It looks like Hillary's adding to her already formidable record book.

Hat tips: Jammie Wearing Fool and Michelle Malkin

DANIELLE MITTERAND - A MUMIA DEVOTEE - DEFENDS THE CHAVEZ-IZATION OF BOLIVIA

Danielle Mitterand (the socialist French president's widow) is typical of so many chic and passe euro-leftists: they love to support thugs, murderers and thieves who a oppose and seek to tarnish the USA. Like the murderous totalitarian-supportin' thug Che.

Her favorite cause the last few decades has been defending Mumia - the convicted cop-killer.

She's thinks this is somehow a noble cause. Truthfully, Mumia is just exploiting her (and the rest of the left). As is Chavez and Ahmadinejad.

Well now, she's come out strongly in favor of Evo Morales attempts to rewrite the constitution of Bolivia to make it a socialist tyranny, and she derides the brave democrats who oppose him. (This link is to a leftist group which also supports Morales and Chavez.) She accuses the democrats of being anti-democratic! It's pure Owellian doublespeak.

Mitterand's support, in fact, proves the true nature of Morales' efforts: if she is for it then it must be bad. Morales might as well get Chomsky and Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore on board.

They belong together: cop-killers, would be tyrants and chic Leftists.

BHUTTO'S ASSASINATION WAS HER OWN FAULT

ON TWO LEVELS, BHUTTO DESERVES MOST OF THE BLAME FOR HER OWN ASSASSINATION:

• FIRST, SHE TOOK TOO MANY RISKS - THE MOST OBVIOUS ONE BEING THE FACT THAT SHE STOOD UP ALL ALONE IN THE SUNROOF OF CAR MAKING HER THE EASIEST OF TARGETS.
• SECOND, SHE WAS A MAJOR REASON ISLAMISM BECAME SO POWERFUL IN PAKISTAN; FOR MORE THIS ANGLE... READ ON...

WM DALRYMPLE/OP-ED/NYTIMES:

Benazir Bhutto’s death is, of course, a calamity, particularly as she embodied the hopes of so many liberal Pakistanis. But, contrary to the commentary we’ve seen in the last week, she was not comparable to Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Ms. Bhutto’s governments were widely criticized by Amnesty International and other groups for their use of death squads and terrible record on deaths in police custody, abductions and torture. As for her democratic bona fides, she had no qualms about banning rallies by opposing political parties while in power.

Within her own party, she declared herself the president for life and controlled all decisions. She rejected her brother Murtaza’s bid to challenge her for its leadership and when he persisted, he was shot dead in highly suspicious circumstances during a police ambush outside the Bhutto family home.

Benazir Bhutto was certainly a brave and secular-minded woman. But the obituaries painting her as dying to save democracy distort history. Instead, she was a natural autocrat who did little for human rights, a calculating politician who was complicit in Pakistan’s becoming the region’s principal jihadi paymaster while she also ramped up an insurgency in Kashmir that has brought two nuclear powers to the brink of war.

• PAKISTAN IS REALLY VERY EFFED UP.
• MUSHARRAF AND THE PAKISTANI ARMY ARE THE BEST WE'VE GOT THERE.
• I HOPE BUSH AND CONDI - AND THE NEXT POTUS - DON'T THROW HIM OVERBOARD.

KILLING BINLADEN AND ZAWAHIRI WOULD STRENGTHEN MUSHARRAF AND THE ARMY. THAT'S WHY I FEEL WE NEED TO MAKE A BIG MOVE BETWEEN NOW AND THIS SPRING.

IT WOULDN'T HURT THE GOP NOMINEE ANY, EITHER - IF WE GET 'EM.

Bhutto Murder: A Reminder of the 'War for the World'

Writing in the UK Spectator, William Shawcross seems to have a clearer view of the meaning of the Bhutto murder than most of the so called "pundits" of our own media elites (h/t Glenn):

Bernard-Henri Lévy, the French philosopher, points out that with Benazir Bhutto, they killed ‘a spectacularly visible woman’ who, whatever her flaws as a political leader, was astonishingly brave in fighting — uncovered, unveiled — for politics ‘and refusing the curse that, according to the new fascists [the jihadists], floats over the human face of women’.

Lévy suggests that Benazir’s name should now become another password ‘for those who still believe that the good genius of Enlightenment will win out over the evil genius of fanaticism and crime’. But the Enlightenment will be lost unless we all realise that we have to fight for it.

First of all we have to give up the luxury of pretending that the war with Islamism is our fault. It is not. It is a deadly serious attempt by reactionary theocrats, Sunni and Shia, to enslave as much of the world as possible. It is powerful — it has the resources of a rich state, Iran, behind its Shia arm, and oil wealth gushes into the coffers of its Sunni side.

‘The war on terror’ may not be the best of phrases, but it is a reasonable shorthand. Islamist terrorist murderers don’t kill decent and brave people because of mistakes made by President Bush or Tony Blair or President Musharraf or anyone else. They do so to destroy the chance of millions of Muslims and ‘infidels’ all over the world to live decent lives.

Secondly, the murder of Bhutto should also demonstrate — yet again — that this war is not the fault of the Israelis. The Islamists did not kill Benazir Bhutto because of concern about the West Bank. They killed her because they feared her power to give the Pakistani people more than the Islamists want them to have, and because they seek to push Pakistan into total chaos and unlimited carnage.

Third, Iraq is not the cause of this war — it is part of it. Remember one of the first terrible suicide murders committed in Iraq: in August 2003 al-Qa’eda killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, one of the UN’s most gifted officials, and many of his colleagues. De Mello was Kofi Annan’s special representative in Iraq and, like Annan, was opposed to the US war effort there. But al-Qa’eda denounced Annan as ‘America’s criminal slave’ and abused de Mello as ‘diseased’. They hated him in particular because he had helped Christian East Timor win independence from Muslim Indonesia — a heinous crime to al-Qa’eda.

Read the rest of this excellent essay here.

On to New Hampshire and Conservative Confusion

In my opinion, the results of the Iowa caucuses solved nothing, and neither will New Hampshire. Although on the Democratic side, Iowa picked winners in 2004 and 2000, as recently as 1992 and 1988, Iowa went for Tom Harkin and Richard Gebhardt. On the Republican side, in 1988 and in 1980, the Iowa winners were not the nominees.

New Hampshire has a similar record; in 1992 it went for Paul Tsongas, and in 1984 for Gary Hart, Democrats. In 2000 it went for John McCain and in 1996 for Pat Buchanan on the Republican side.

Winners of Iowa and New Hampshire, then, may have a clear, temporary advantage, but the race is not anywhere near over with victories there. For Republicans, New Hampshire will be especially confusing because that state is nowhere near the bastion of conservatism it once was. Hordes of liberals have escaped the (often unintended) results of their liberal votes and policies in Massachusetts to move to New Hampshire, now a bedroom suburb of greater Boston; unfortunately these new NH voters have not and never will connect the failures of liberal policies in Massachusetts with their own feel-good tendencies.

I can only hope, on the Republican side, that Governor Huckabee’s ignorance of foreign affairs (including not even knowing the names of prominent leaders), his stance on immigration before his Iowa flip-flop, his tax policies and tax plans, his desire to apply the Golden Rule to convicted murderers and rapists – and also to foreign leaders out to bring us down, his desire to make it a federal offense to smoke, and to use the powers of the federal government to enforce some of his other beliefs, will become clearer to voters as time goes on.

The beneficiary of Huckabee’s weaknesses will no doubt be John McCain, a true hero I admire but would never want to see president. This is because he is a RINO Republican who gave us the atrocious McCain-Feingold law that took away our First Amendment rights without accomplishing anything but the mushrooming of 527 groups, because he pressed for amnesty for illegals and because he fought against the Bush tax cuts, among other things.

I could support Romney or Giuliani, but I greatly favor Fred Thompson, who came in third in Iowa, as the only true conservative who would live up to the example set by Ronald Reagan. Fred’s views on the issues are well thought out, but do not lend themselves to 30 second sound bites. He has to grow on you.

FACT: HUCKABEE ONLY GOT 40% OF IOWA'S GOP EVANGELICALS

The NYTIMES wrote that 80% of the GOP caucusers were evangelicals.

Huckabee only got 34% of the GOP vote.

SO... if ALL his votes were evangelicals, then he only got 40% of them - meaning 60% thought another candidate was better than Preacher Huckabee.

That's hardly a ringing endorsement of Huckabee by evangelicals.

If Huckabee got some non-evangelical support, then his evangelical support is even lower than 40%.

This has a few consequences: first, it PROVES that the evangelical base is NOT MONOLITHIC and NOT UNIFORMLY BEHIND HUCKABEE; second, it suggests that Romney's team is correct when they say that Huckabee won because Huckabee's get-out-the-vote effort was better than theirs.

Elections are won by GOTV and everyone - including me - estimated that Romney and Hillary would get better efforts because of their money and tram experts and organization.

In the next few primaries, the candidate with the best organization on the ground will win - excluding major mistakes (whether forced or unforced).

I think Romney and Hillary may both make comebacks because of their money and organizations.

And I give the edge to Romney: he can always just write a check; Hillary has to raise money and that might becoming quite difficult.

I don't think Huckabee and Rollins can keep the ball rolling. Their support is not deep and it is not wide.

ADDENDUM: I think Mitt ought to more effedtively use Jim DeMint and as many other southern conservatives as possible - to show he is going to govern as a conservative.

Earlier post on Huck's intrinsic weaknesses as a candidate HERE.

2007: THE COLDEST YEAR OF THE 21ST CENTURY

From Lubos Motl:

In January 2007, we were informed that 2007 was either likely or certain to surpass 1998 and become the world's warmest year on record by most media,including:

Reuters
AP
& Foxnews
IHT
BBC
MSNBC
CBS
USA
Today
The
New York Times
The New York
Sun
The
Washington Post
National
Geographic
CBC
The
Guardian
The Independent
China
People Daily
ABC
Australia
Discovery Channel
Science Daily
Met Office

as well as virtually all other media you know. They justified this statement by referring to scientists who have combined greenhouse gases with the observed El Nino. Many sources, such as the New York Sun, even gave you the probability that 2007 would be the hottest year as 60 percent. They immediately added that this should "add momentum for the next phase of the Kyoto protocol", a comment that clarifies what is the actual goal of many of the people who study these questions professionally.

In the middle of the year when it started to be clear that the prediction was bogus, Phil Jones (Reuters) changed his mind only infinitesimally. It would be the second hottest year, he said. These big-shot agenda-driven scientists never have the courage to say that they were simply wrong.

Reality: thermometers

However, the greenhouse gases are not too important and El Nino was replaced by La Nina. As a consequence, RSS MSU data for the lower troposphere (graph, more
graphs) show that 2007 was the coldest year in this century so far. In alarmist jargon, it was the ninth hottest year on record: the most recent year was cooler than all other years in this century as well as 1998 (by a whopping 0.41 °C) and even 1995.

In fact, if you look at the graph below, we seem to be at the beginning of a cooling trend.




And, this cooling trend looks to continue next year:

Phil Jones et al. now forecast 2008 to be even cooler than 2007 (sanely, due to La Nina that will strongly affect at least the 4 following months) but they present this prediction as perfectly compatible with "underlying global warming" that is not "waning" in any way, despite the observed cooling. It seems obvious that the mysterious "underlying" numbers are more important for them than the numbers that are being actually measured.

GERMANY: TOP CONSERVATIVE IN MERKEL'S RANKS WARNS FOREIGNERS TO ADAPT OR ELSE

Or else, "face consequences" :

BERLIN (Reuters) - A top conservative from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party
warned immigrants on Thursday they must adapt to the German way of life or face
"consequences."

Roland Koch, premier of the prosperous western state of Hesse, is focusing on law-and-order themes in a bid to win a third term in a regional vote this month.

Koch outraged immigrant groups earlier this week when he accused foreigners of fuelling youth crime in Germany and he stepped up his rhetoric in top-selling conservative daily Bild.

"In areas where there are a high number of immigrants there must be clear rules and of course consequences if they are not respected," Koch wrote in a column in which he called for more respect, discipline and politeness in German society.

"German must be the language in everyday life and it must be clear that the slaughtering (of animals) in the kitchen or strange ideas about waste disposal are at odds with our principles."

Question is, what are the consequences? Here at The Astute Bloggers, we advocate that anyone caught advocating for the imposition of Sharia law in a Western country should be tried for treason, and if convicted they should be deprted - or jailed for life if they are citizens (with the option of permanent voluntary exile to a Shria nation of their choice!).

Hopefully, Roland Koch has similar ideas.

LET'S NOT FORGET THIS: THE MSM WANTED HUCKABEE TO WIN

• HUCKABEE GOT THE MOST FREE AND MOST POSITIVE PLAY IN THE MEDIA.
• WHY? SIMPLE: THE MSM AND THE DEMS WANT HIM - THE LEFT WANTS HIM.
• ALSO: THE EVANGELICALS HAD A NETWORK WHICH WORKED BETTER TO GET OUT THE VOTE THAN THE DEM UNIONS OR THE MACHINES OF EITHER PARTY.
• HUCKABEE EXPLOITED THIS.
• IT WAS A RESULT SKEWED BY THEIR LARGE TURNOUT.

[ASIDE: OBAMA WON BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY NON-BORING CANDIDATE ON THE LEFT.]

Racist to Describe Official Racism

Britain has a lot of jails specifically for illegals who have been ordered out of the country -- waiting while their deportation can be arranged. Many of the illegals are black and there have of course been allegations that the jailers are "racist".

An official inquiry into the racism has just made its report and there do seem to have been some instances of incorrect language. Calling inmates "animals" is clearly naughty, for instance. Though it would be OK to call difficult white criminals that, of course. But several instances of plain realism are also racist, apparently. Such as:

"A member of staff at Yarl's Wood told auditors that white detainees were treated with more discipline, but the presence of black people caused "paralysis and a softer approach".

Source

That political correctness causes the authorities to have lower standards for blacks ("the soft bigotry of low expectations") is common throughout the world today but you are not supposed to mention it, apparently.

Posted by John Ray

Australia: More murderous Muslim madness

No doubt the girl was threatening the a*hole's "honour" by showing a normal interest in boys

A TEENAGER was last night strangled by her father before he took his own life. Neighbours were alerted to the tragedy by the "howling screams" of the 14-year-old girl's mother, who made the gruesome discovery shortly after 6pm. Police and ambulance crews rushed to the Stevens St, Pennant Hills townhouse in Sydney's northwest, arriving to find the girl unconscious and her father dead.

Distraught neighbours last night said the evening calm was shattered by the mother's distraught screams. "The scream was heard down the street. It was horrible," one neighbour said. It is understood the family were originally from Iran and had signed a two-year lease on the property three months ago.

Paramedics desperately tried to revive the teenager but she was pronounced dead a short time later. Police said the girl had been strangled but did not reveal the father's age or cause of death. A police spokesman last night confirmed the deaths of the teen and her father were being investigated as a murder-suicide. "Investigators don't believe a third party is involved. The exact cause and nature of the deaths will be established in a post mortem," the spokesman said.

The officer-in charge of the investigation, Inspector Michael Begg last night declined to talk about the incident when contacted by The Daily Telegraph.

Source



Posted by John Ray

IOWA: "THE BIG TENT" VERSUS ELMER GANTRY'S "REVIVAL TENT "

NRO:

The Tale of the GOP Caucuses [Rich Lowry]

Here's one way to look at it: 60% of voters were evangelicals. Huck beat Romney among them 45-19%. 40% weren't evangelicals. Romney beat Huck among them 33-13%.

01/03 11:04 PM

• THE NOMINEE OF THE GOP WILL NOT BE DECIDED SOLELY BY SECTARIAN EVANGELICALS.

• MANY OTHER KEY PRIMARY STATES HAVE FAR FEWER EVANGELICALS THAN IOWA.

• MITT, MCCAIN, RUDY AND THOMPSON MUST MERELY FIND A WAY TO REMAIN VIABLE UNTIL THOSE STATES HAVE PRIMARIES - STARTING WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE.

• ONE OF THEM - AND NOT HUCKABEE - WILL BE THE NOMINEE.

END. OF. STORY.

UPDATE - VIA HOT AIR; IT WAS EVEN MORE SKEWED THAN LOWRY WROTE: 80% NOT 60 BUT 80% OF THE GOP "CAUCUSERS" WERE EVANGELICALS, ACCORDING TO THE NYTIMES:

A poll of people entering the Republican caucuses on Thursday showed more than 8 in 10 of his supporters identified themselves as evangelicals.

NO WONDER HUCKABEE WON.

THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE HAD THE GOP CAUCUSES IN CHURCHES!

NOTE: I am NOT arguing that evangelicals should have "NO SAY" in picking the nominee. I AM arhuing that they shouldn't have a say which is disproportionate to their true electoral power. In Iowa ... THEY DID.

END. OF. STORY.

REAL IOWA SHOCKER: THE ONLY THREE DEMS REMOTELY QUALIFIED GOT A TOTAL OF 3%!

• BIDEN. DODD. RICHARDSON.
  
• THESE ARE THE ONLY DEMS REMOTELY QUALIFIED TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE USA.
• AND TOGETHER THEY POLLED 3%.
• THIS IS TRULY STUNNING.
• THIS IS THE LAST NAIL IN THE COFFIN FOR THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.
• #1 - THEY COULDN'T RENOMINATE SENATOR LIEBERMAN.
• #2 - THEY DIDN'T ELECT NED LAMONT.
• #3 - THEY'RE IN THE PROCESS OF SELECTING OBAMA AND/OR EDWARDS AS THEIR TICKET.

AWESOME!

OBAMA AND KENYA AND GRASS HUTS AND RIOTS

Obama has made a big deal about his grandmother STILL living in a grass hut in Kenya - (as if that was GOOD, mind you, as if the grandmother of a wealthy US Senator SHOULD STILL be living in a grass hut!?!?! Can't he help her find a better domicile!?!? Sheesh. What an ingrate!)

I wonder if she is safe there now? There has been widespread unrest in Kenya for days now with plenty of rioting and looting - AND WORSE. Some claim that there is GENOCIDE going down there now.

A famous international athlete has been killed.

Many women have been raped.

Does Obama care?! Or is he too focused on his own personal ambitions?

Just asking.

REPRISE: IOWA DOESN'T MATTER: CAUCUS HAS MOSTLY PICKED LOSERS

I FIRST POSTED THIS A MONTH AGO. I WANT TO REITERATE IT:

• OF THE LAST 4 IOWA GOP CAUCUSES, ONLY 1 WINNER WENT ON TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY: GEORGE W. BUSH.

• THE STATE MOSTLY PICKS LOSERS.

NO WONDER HUCKABEE IS LEADING.

REPEAT: OF THE LAST 4 IOWA GOP CAUCUSES, ONLY 1 WINNER WENT ON TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY: GEORGE W. BUSH.

$100 OIL vs. $100 LAPTOP - (UPDATED: and OPEC)

2008 - and Oil is trading above $100 US. That is about 4 times the historic average - for a commodity that is probably no better - and perhaps inferior in quality - to the oil produced in the 70's. The cost of producing oil has not increased that much - but of course oil sheiks need to fly in Airbutts Superjumboes instead of 707's... In comparison laptop computers - which deliver far more memory and speed than computers produced in the 70's - are being marketed for $100 US - a fraction of the cost in the 1970's. This comparison objectively illustrates the fantastic progress that has occured over the past 50 years. So f*ck OPEC and Chavez.

RELIAPUNDIT ADDS: The price of computers is down and the quality up relative to previous years because of competition. If there was a computer monopoly then computers would be as bad as phones were when there was a phone monopoly - (and don't tell me about those old rotaries with the gold in 'em which would last forever; they were not as good as an IPHONE or a Razor!).

OPEC is a cartel with a virtual monopoly in oil and we need to break them for oil prices to come down. We can do that by exploring more and developing ALL alternative energy sources: wind; solar; nuclear; AND ANWR AND OFF-SHORE OIL-DRILLING OF THE COASTS OF CA AND FLA, AND COAL; AND COAL TO OIL CONVERSION.

The Democrats are blocking most of the best ways we can increase NON-OPEC supplies most quickly.

AGAIN: It's the Left's fault; they're helping OPEC - which has MANY members who help the jihadists.

Which is why I always say: If we want to defeat the jihadists we need to defeat the Leftists.

BRITISH MUSLIMS SUPPORT RED KEN LIVINGSTONE

No surprise, really, considering what a viciously prejudiced coward he is. From the Guardian (via Hot Air Headlines):

Prominent Muslim organisations and individuals have pledged to back Ken Livingstone as mayor of London, saying it is in the "best interest" of Muslims to vote for him in this year's elections on May 1.

A statement, published today in full on the Guardian's website, praises Livingstone for his continued support of a multicultural society and for protecting Muslim communities against racism and Islamophobia.

The 63 signatories include Mohammed Ali, the chief executive of the Islam Channel, which claims to have an audience of millions, Professor Tariq Ramadan and Dilwar Hussain from the London Muslim Centre, part of the East London Mosque.

They said: "His stands and policies have constantly championed justice in the Middle East ... freedom for the Palestinians and withdrawal of occupying troops from Iraq; a rare trait of modern-day public figures. He has enhanced London's standing in the world and helped improve the lives of all of the city's communities.

"We pledge to continue our support for the mayor on all levels possible in order to secure his staying in office for a third term."

And tragically, there's every chance that Red Ken will win a third term. And he'll return favor by subverting the dhimmis and helping to promote the Islamists of London just as much as Tony Blair did when he was prime minister.

Why China's Market Must Crash

From Al Fin:

... markets only work when they are allowed to work their way. If you try
too hard to manipulate a market, it is the market that will have the last laugh
on you. Leaders of the CCP in China have not learned that important lessons
about markets yet--but they will.

In a normal stockmarket, speculators can deflate bubbles by shorting
shares. That is illegal in China. In a normal stockmarket, investors can reap
large rewards by having their investments bought in a heavily fought
acquisition. In China, an acquisition must survive central planning (and often
doesn’t). Most of all, in normal markets, share prices are based on how a
substantial amount of the shares in a company trade. In China, shares in many of
the benchmark companies are held by the company or the government and do not
trade. Prices are determined by just a few shares being batted back and
forth.

If only a few shares are determining the overall valuation, it means only a
few people need change their opinions for the market to unwind.
Normally, a counter-balancing force for a
sudden panic comes from contrarian-minded investors who believe an objective
understanding of information provides a reason to buy shares as their prices
become more reasonable. Put simply, crashing prices are an opportunity,
not just a problem.

But finding objectivity in the Chinese market is no
easy task because information disclosure is wretched. Companies, and the
investment banks that coddle them, distribute information to favoured investors
but not to the market at large. For its part, the Chinese government
broadly abets this process, granting selective permission to favoured foreigners
wanting to invest.

These insiders are comforting friends for China to have, but they are
insidious forces for a genuine market. Instead, China needs disinterested
outsiders—and insiders—free to do research, free to buy and free to sell. Yet
the market in China has become an example of moral hazard gone wild.
Historically, this is not uncommon. Markets work in nasty ways and countries
frequently try to control them. Critics are faulted for misunderstanding the
local “culture” or for missing the crucial fact that this time, really, is
different. And then, inevitably, there is a crash.

Economist

Furthermore, the LA Times catches up to a story the Astute Bloggers broke quite awhile back. China's economy is 40% smaller than previously thought:

The most important story to come out of Washington recently had nothing to
do with the endless presidential campaign. And although the media largely
ignored it, the story changes the world.

The story's unlikely source was the staid World Bank, which published
updated statistics on the economic output of 146 countries. China's economy,
said the bank, is smaller than it thought.About 40% smaller.

China, it turns out, isn't a $10-trillion economy on the brink of catching
up with the United States. It is a $6-trillion economy, less than half our size.

For the foreseeable future, China will have far less money to spend on its
military and will face much deeper social and economic problems at home than
experts previously believed.

"Global Warming Has Stopped"

A Russian scientists says the Earth has passed out of its warming period and is set to enter a prolonged cooling phase:

MOSCOW. (Oleg Sorokhtin for RIA Novosti) – Stock up on fur coats and felt
boots! This is my paradoxical advice to the warm world.

Earth is now at the peak of one of its passing warm spells. It started
in the 17th century when there was no industrial influence on the climate to
speak of and no such thing as the hothouse effect. The current warming is
evidently a natural process and utterly independent of hothouse gases.

The real reasons for climate changes are uneven solar radiation,
terrestrial precession (that is, axis gyration), instability of oceanic
currents, regular salinity fluctuations of the Arctic Ocean surface waters, etc.
There is another, principal reason—solar activity and luminosity. The greater
they are the warmer is our climate.

Astrophysics knows two solar activity cycles, of 11 and 200 years. Both
are caused by changes in the radius and area of the irradiating solar surface.
The latest data, obtained by Habibullah Abdusamatov, head of the Pulkovo
Observatory space research laboratory, say that Earth has passed the peak of its
warmer period, and a fairly cold spell will set in quite soon, by 2012. Real
cold will come when solar activity reaches its minimum, by 2041, and will last
for 50-60 years or even longer.

When I was in college (back in the 80's), I was assured by my college professors that horrible calamities were set to befall us. There was an ice age coming, and we were going to run out of oil by the early 90's.

I believed them.

When the mid-nineties rolled around, I realized I had been duped.

I've never believed in man-made Global Warming. And now, it looks as if I was right:

… The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same
as 2006 as well as every year since 2001. Global warming has, temporarily or
permanently, ceased. Temperatures across the world are not increasing as they
should according to the fundamental theory behind global warming – the
greenhouse effect.

Something else is happening and it is vital that we find out what or else
we may spend hundreds of billions of pounds needlessly.… For the past decade the
world has not warmed. Global warming has stopped.

It’s not a viewpoint or a sceptic’s inaccuracy. It’s an observational
fact….

So we are led to the conclusion that either the hypothesis of carbon
dioxide induced global warming holds but its effects are being modified in what
seems to be an improbable though not impossible way, or, and this really is
heresy according to some, the working hypothesis does not stand the test of
data.

(Sigh)

Sadly, it looks as if another Ice Age is on the way.

Posted Fri Oct 5, 2007 6:26pm AEST Updated Fri Oct 5, 2007 7:00pm
AEST

Warming around the Greenland ice sheet may impede a 'conveyor belt' effect
in the ocean that is currently keeping Europe out of an ice age:

Australia is firming as the destination of choice for what are becoming
known as climate change refugees. A new study from the Australian National
University (ANU) has found that this country may not be as severely affected by
a new ice age as countries in the Northern Hemisphere.

Alas, the Ice Age to which they refer is caused by Global Warming.

Ice Age - Global Warming - Ice AgeIt's all part of the Circle of Life.

DALLAS TAXI DRIVING MUSLIM MURDERS TWO DAUGHTERS

Just shortly following the news of the murder of the Pakistani teenager in Canada, Aqsa Parvez, we now find another horror story about a Muslim father, Yaser Abdul Said, a taxi driver in Dallas, who murdered his two teenage daughters. One problem though is that his religion isn't mentioned:

Police continued their search today for a 50-year-old Lewisville father whose 17- and 18-year-old daughters were found shot to death in an abandoned taxi Tuesday evening in Irving, police said.

Police said they suspect Yaser Abdel Said may have shot Sarah Yaser Said, 17 and Amina Yaser Said, 18 and let them for dead inside his taxi.

Police had not released a motive for the shooting. A 911 cell phone call, believed to have been made by one of the teens at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, alerted police to the shootings, but the caller was unable to tell police where she was and officers were dispatched to the area of North O'Connor Boulevard and Riverside Drive, officials said. Officers were unable to locate anyone.

An hour later, a witness reported seeing a suspicious vehicle in the 200 block of Las Colinas Boulevard in the parking lot of the Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas.

"Someone walked by the vehicle and saw them inside," said David Tull, an Irving police spokesman.

Officers found the two sisters dead in that vehicle.

Investigators believe Yaser Abdel Said abandoned his taxi in the parking lot and left the scene.

Police described Yaser Abdel Said as about 6-foot-2, weighing about 180 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black turtleneck shirt/sweater, a brown coat and tan pants.

Yaser Abdel Said is believed armed with a handgun, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Irving police at 972-721-2518.

A correspondent to Debbie Schlussel wrote to the Star-Telegram reporter about his omission of any mention of the creep's religion, and the journalist acted very upset. Whatever for? That he and the paper had no intention of mentioning the possibilities of motivation? Pity these MSM journalists are so dishonest.

Update: more from Hot Air. The Dallas/Fort Worth FOX channel (also via Hot Air) did a report on this in which they boldly acknowledged the monster's Islamist background and asked if he did it out of "honor". Interestingly enough, he is a member of the Islamic Society of North America, which, like CAIR, is also an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial.

2007: SUCCESS FOR THE SURGE

Hat-tip to Mike's America, where I found the following article by Ralph Peters, from the January 2, 2007 edition of the New York Post:

AS 2007 drew to a close, embarrassed journalists sought to play down American military successes and avoided questioning Democratic presidential contenders about their predictions of inevitable failure in Iraq.

Magically, Iraq disappeared from the headlines - except on those rare occasions when a problem could be reported. At the close of a year of stunning progress, media stories on New Year's Eve leapt to report that 2007 had been the deadliest year for US troops.

You had to read deep into the columns to learn that those casualties occurred in the first half of 2007, as we battled and defeated the terrorists and militias - or that, in recent months, American and Iraqi casualties have plummeted as a relative peace broke out.

Still, all that was just hushing up dirty family secrets in the media clan and an effort by left-leaning journalists and editors to protect the politicians they favor.

The greatest media story of 2007 was the one you never read (unless you read The Post): The year was a strategic catastrophe for Islamist terrorists - and possibly a historic turning point in the struggle against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

[...]

That fundamental change in outlook, especially among Sunni Arabs, may well mark last year as Islamist terrorism's high-water mark, the point at which fellow Muslims by the tens of millions publicly rejected the message and methods of self-styled holy warriors who revel in the slaughter of the innocent.

Tens of thousands of fellow Muslims, previously allied with al Qaeda, turned their weapons against the fanatics. It was the biggest global story since 9/11. And it was buried on Page 14, if mentioned at all.

[...]

The bottom line on 2007 is simply this: While many in the media want you to believe it was another disaster for the United States, it was the worst year for the terrorists since 2001.

[...]

...[W]e should have learned the utility of fighting, instead of letting liberal-elite America-haters inflict their defeatist agenda on our country and the world....

It becomes even more imperative to elect a President who is not a defeatist in 2008!

Greenies can't even manage a consistent "ad hominem" attack

Following is an attack by Andrew Dessler on Inhofe's "400 skeptics" report. What it overlooks is given below the attack:

Today's member of the "Inhofe 400" truly epitomizes the expertise and credibility of the group of experts that the good senator has assembled to demonstrate the obvious flaws in the theory of human-induced global warming. He is Chris Allen, weather director at WBKO, the ABC affiliate for south-central Kentucky. On his blog, Chris says this about global warming:

My biggest argument against putting the primary blame on humans for climate change is that it completely takes God out of the picture. It must have slipped these people's minds that God created the heavens and the earth and has control over what's going on. (Dear Lord Jesus...did I just open a new pandora's box?) Yeah, I said it. Do you honestly believe God would allow humans to destroy the earth He created? Of course, if you don't believe in God and creationism then I can see why you would easily buy into the whole global warming fanfare. I think in many ways that's what this movement is ultimately out to do - rid the mere mention of God in any context. What these environmentalists are actually saying is "we know more than God - we're bigger than God - God is just a fantasy - science is real...He isn't...listen to US!" I have a huge problem with that.

Noted meteorologist Allen, a certified meteorologist and weather center director for his station, had many reasons to doubt a "climate crisis." Dessler only focuses on his God quotes (which were not included in Senate report). Once again, if this (and Chemical Engineer Thomas Ring who has authored scientific reports) is Dessler's strongest argument against the report, he is spending a lot of time to have no impact.

Another "ad hominem" attack on Allen that Greenies are very fond of is defused here

And if you are going to focus on God quotes, then we need to consider the religious pronouncements of IPCC honcho Sir John Houghton (Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Scientific Assessment Working Group) and others. One quote from the great man:

"Christians and other religious people believe that we've been put on the earth to look after it. Creation is not just important to us, we believe also it is important to God and that the rest of creation has an importance of its own... we are destroying forests, important forests"

Sir John has published articles, as his right, in religious journals. He has said:

Even a recent meeting of (not all Christian) people about climate change on the island of Patmos declared that not to care for the earth is a SIN. But have we as Christians thought about repenting for our lack of care for the earth?

So, on the Dessler reasoning, the whole IPCC output must be disregarded, seeing that one of its central figures is a religious nut. Far be it from me to argue!


Posted by John Ray

THE "DECENTS"

The Left has always been plagued by "splits" -- all those big egos have a lot of trouble getting on with one-another. The splits are so Protean that you have to be a Leftist insider to keep up with it all. I neither know nor care what characterizes all the different "splittists" on the Left so I am a little puzzled to know where I should put a blog that apparently speaks for "decents". I gather that "decents" are moderate British Leftists but I am obviously not in on the inner workings of them so may have it all wrong.

One of their sites bewails the fact that some moderate British Leftists energetically reject the more Stalinist Left and instead pay some heed to conservatives. They particularly refer to Norm Geras, a noted Marxian scholar who is -- at least these days -- not much of a Marxist himself. Norm and I have occasionally exchanged mutually cordial emails and I believe I may have come to his attention because of my own forays into Marxian scholarship. I once ran a daily blog devoted to the writings of Marx and Engels for a period of five months -- rather rare in anyone on either the Left or the Right, I am sure.

Anyway, the "Decents" blog is very angry with Geras because he has a link to my blog on his site. They describe me as "utterly unhinged", but give no reasoning whatever in support of that ascription. Apparently you are just supposed to twitch appropriately when a Leftist speaks. Attempting a reasoned argument would get them into murky waters, I fancy. So even the "decents", like almost all Leftists, would seem to think that abuse substitutes for reasoned argument. Not exactly "decent", I would have thought.

Posted by John Ray

MUST BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED: LONG LOST VIDEO OF BENAZIR BHUTTO?

I THINK MUSHARRAF AND SHARIF MAKE CAMEOS, TOO.

MORE ABOUT MUJRA.

THIS EXPLAINS A LOT ABOUT PAKISTAN - LIKE WHY IT'S SO EFFED UP.

ISRAELIS INVENT CHEAPER AND CLEANER FUEL SYSTEM!

OH THOSE JOOOOOZE!

More on the importance of developments like this here. And here.

DESPITE GLOBAL WARMING, SOUTHERN USA GETTING DANGEROUS COLD SPELL

AP: Southern Farmers Fret As Cold Sets In

A wintry system that added inches to record snow accumulations in some Northern states sent temperatures plummeting Wednesday in the South, where farmers scrambled to protect their crops.

Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s and teens in parts of Florida by Thursday morning, following the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw Wednesday.

The cold spell could prove devastating to the state's citrus industry, which is the nation's largest and already has suffered from years of disease and hurricanes.

"We will have a lot of growers across the state pulling all-nighters and keeping a close watch on their groves and the temperature," said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for the grower advocacy group Florida Citrus Mutual. "We are cautiously optimistic the industry can weather this cold snap without significant damage."

To help growers, Gov. Charlie Crist has signed an emergency order to relax restrictions on transporting produce.

Crops can withstand some cold, but not for long. Thirty-two degrees for four hours will damage an orange, for example, but 28 degrees for that long can actually ruin the tree. Most of the citrus industry is situated south, for this very reason, and in those areas it was not expected to get as cold.

But citrus crops were not the only ones at risk. A broad variety of plants and produce - from broccoli and cabbage in the north to strawberries, tomatoes and corn in the south - are also threatened.

• TOO BAD THEY DON'T HAVE GLOBAL WARMING DOWN THERE.

THEY SHOULD QUICKLY BUY SOME CARBON CREDITS - AND BURN THEM TO WARM UP!

HURRY, IT MIGHT SNOW!