4 SONGS FOR GORDON BROWN

WHAT'S WORSE FOR OUR NATION, PROFILING OR PC & AFFIRMATIVE ACTION?

CLEGG/NRO:

... it is poison to the American body politic and quite at odds with the principle of “E pluribus unum” for the government to stop people, or treat them differently after they have been stopped, because they share the ethnic appearance of other people who live in a country that sends us a lot of illegal immigrants, and that defending such discrimination makes it much harder to take conservatives seriously when we oppose politically correct discrimination.

It is not true that I don’t think illegal immigration is a big problem, but I don’t think that the way to fight it is through institutionalized racial and ethnic discrimination — and apparently the elected representatives of the folks in Arizona have decided they agree with me, not you [Jnah Goldberg].

Clegg is deliberately mis-characterizing the pro-profiling position as one that must "institutionalize racial and ethnic discrimination".

Isn't it true that police routinely use appearance to determine their course of action all the time?

YES.

Aren't they trained to do this?

YES.

Are police limited to assessing the movements and/or actions of suspects under surveillance?

NO.

Aren't police allowed to consider the physical appearance of suspects, what they say, and how they say it?

YES.

If the appearance of a suspect shares several characteristics with known criminals, wouldn't the police be stupid not to consider these characteristics, too?

YES.

Isn't it illegal to enter the country illegally and/or over stay one's visa, and/or work here without proper papers?

YES.

Aren't the risks to our society and nation posed by illegal immigrants greater than the costs to innocent suspects who are asked to produce documents?

YES.

Profiling makes sense in airline passenger screening.

And profiling makes sense in counties where illegal immigration is a problem. And it makes sense for local police forces to enforce these laws.

That's why every state should follow Arizona's example.

I think affirmative action and political correctness are more harmful to our society and nation than profiling.

The values in our nation are upside down: if you think that consideration of race should not effect hiring, then these days you are considered a racist; if you think a person's race should be taken into account then you're PC.

In my opinion, this nation needs less PC and more common sense. AND: We need profiling.

UPDATE: MORE ON HOW PC IS ANTI-FREE SPEECH HERE.

HOW CAMERON BLEW IT: he went soft on the EU

He didn't run to the right enough:

GUARDIAN:

David Cameron couldn't beat Gordon Brown in a general election during the worst recession since the Great Depression because he wasn't considered trustworthy even by Tory voters, let alone by floaters. The whole point about breaking his cast-iron guarantee of a referendum on Lisbon wasn't the sceptical specificity of the pledge broken, but the way that he did it. This spoke to a suspicion plenty of people bored rigid by Europe already had about Cameron. And confirming voters' negative prejudices about you is never a particularly deft move for would-be prime ministers.

THIS LED THE UKIP TO STAY IN THE RACE AND UKIP GOT ENOUGH VOTES TO GIVE LABOUR AND THE LIB-DEMS 17 SEATS. UPI:

The small UK Independence Party may have won enough votes in 10 districts to cost the Conservative Party those seats in the British Parliament, officials say.

Across the country, the Eurosceptic UKIP picked up only 3 percent of the vote, the Daily Mail reported Saturday. But in some districts in southwestern England where distrust of the European Union is strong, the party pulled in more votes than the margin of victory for Labor or Lib-Dem

winners.

At least some Conservatives damaged by the party share its views, the Mail said. David Heathcote-Amory lost his seat in Wells by 800 votes to a Liberal Democrat in a district where 1,711 went to the UKIP candidate.

At least four Labor ministers kept their parliamentary seats in districts where Conservative candidates would have won if they had picked up all the UKIP votes...

... The Conservatives won 307 seats, 17 short of a parliamentary majority.

Tories 'wrong to ignore Ukip offer'

David Cameron's refusal to accept an offer of electoral co-operation from the UK Independence Party may have cost him the chance of leading a Conservative majority government, Nigel Farage said.

Ukip said last year that its candidates were ready to stand aside in seats where they could harm Tories in return for a referendum on Britain leaving Europe.

Conservative activists have compiled a list of 21 seats where the votes secured by Ukip candidates outstripped the margin between a second-placed Tory and the Labour or Liberal Democrat victor.

Had Ukip voters given their support to the Tory candidate in all these seats, Mr Cameron would now enjoy a wafer-thin overall majority in the House of Commons, and would not be forced to see a deal with the Lib Dems.

After being released from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, where he was treated for injuries suffered in a polling day plane crash, Mr Farage told the Press Association: "In parts of the South and West, it's quite possible Ukip has led to a hung Parliament, in which case Mr Cameron should have accepted my offer last year.

"We said that if he promised to give us a referendum, we wouldn't field any candidates, but he refused."

That's how Cameron blew it.

For Britain's sake - and the sake of Europe - I hope he puts together a coalition government which can get Britain and Europe through the next year. Then ... the Tories need to call another election.

STAY TUNED...

COLORADO BECOMING RED AGAIN... AND IT BODES WELL FOR THE ENTIRE NATION!

NYTIMES:

But registered Democrats have fallen by 30,000 since November 2008, a drop of about 4 percent, according to the Colorado secretary of state.

And since April, when the state began allowing new voters to register online, more Republicans than Democrats have done so. As of May 1, the state had 849,572 Republicans, 813,126 Democrats and 752,503 voters not affiliated with either party.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I feel we’d be in this position,” said Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. “Voters got carried away with the charisma of Obama, but the bailouts, health care, cap-and-trade was not what they bargained for.”

The political atmosphere has produced the biggest burst of optimism for Republicans since 2004...

... The president’s approval ratings in Colorado have hovered just below 50 percent, according to a variety of public and private polls, but it is the sentiment of those who strongly disapprove of Mr. Obama that causes particular worry for Democrats.

Party strategists believe that independent male voters will be difficult, if not impossible, to win over,...

... At stake this year in Colorado are Democratic efforts to hold on to the governor’s office, a United States Senate seat and at least three competitive House districts, along with both chambers of the state legislature.

WHY ALL THE EFFECTIVE AND FOCUSED ENTHUSIASM FOR THE ANTI-OBAMA CROWD?

SIMPLE; AS DOUG ROSS WROTE: IT'S NOVEMBER OR NEVER.

SEVERAL HEADLINES FROM TODAY'S NEWS PROVE THAT THE PEACE PROCESS IS A SHAM

• JPOST: PA approves proximity talks

WHOOPDEEDOO!

• FOCUS:Hamas warns PLO of deciding to start proximity talks with Israel

The Islamic Hamas movement on Friday warned the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) of taking a decision to start proximity talks with Israel, Xinhua News Agency informed.

Hamas said in a press statement sent to Xinhua that it warns the PLO of taking a decision to start "the absurd proximity talks, which would give the Israeli occupation an umbrella to commit more crimes against the Palestinians."

WITHOUT A SO-CALLED PEACE PROCESS, ISRAEL GAVE THEM GAZA - EVERY INCH, EVICTING EVERY "SETTLEMENT"; THEY THINK THEY CAN GET THE SAME DEAL FOR THE SO-CALLED WEST BANK... WITHOUT A SO-CALED "PEACE PROCESS"

• INN: Gaza Terrorists Fire Rocket at Negev

Terrorists on Saturday night fired a Kassam rocket at southern Israel. The rocket exploded south of Ashkelon. No injuries or damage were reported.

ON THE EVE OF TALKS, DELIBERATELY PROVOKING ISRAEL... AND IF ISRAEL DOES WHAT IT SHOULD DO - RETALIATE WITH OVERWHLEMING/DISPORPORTIONATE FORCE - THEN THE "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY" WILL CONDEMN ISRAEL - AGAIN...

• HAARETZ: Lebanon says it won't ask Hezbollah to disarm

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Hezbollah cannot disarm before a defense strategy is reached that would also address future Israeli attacks.

Lebanon's president says the government cannot ask Hezbollah to give up its weapons at a time of heightened tension with Israel.

IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE UNSC RESOLUTION 1559.

• TJC: Hamas official's daughter treated in Israel
  

The daughter of a senior Hamas official in Gaza has been treated for a heart condition by Israeli surgeons in Ashkelon, as she was too sick to travel to Jordan.

The girl, aged 3, who is the daughter of Hams Interior Minister Elham Fathi Hammed had previously been treated unsuccessfully in Gaza.

THE ARABS HATE ISRAEL AND JEWS, BUT WILL USE ISRAELIS DOCTORS IN A SECOND.

ISRAEL'S ENEMY IS DECEITFUL, MURDEROUS, HYPOCRITICAL AND UNTRUSTWORTHY.

THEY HAVEN'T LIVED UP TO ANY AGREEMENT - NOT REGARDING LEBANON OR GAZA OR ANYTHING.

PEACE TALKS ARE A WASTE OF TIME.

REMINDER: IT WAS THE PLO WHO BROKE OFF TALKS, NOT THE ISRAELIS: BBC:

Leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation have given their backing to indirect peace talks with Israel.

The decision was announced after a three-hour meeting of the PLO's Executive Committee in the West Bank.

US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, arrived in the region on Monday in a bid to relaunch the so-called "proximity talks".

The Palestinians broke off direct peace talks after Israel launched a military offensive on Gaza in late 2008.

ISRAEL WILL HAVE PEACE ONLY WHEN HER NEIGHBORS AND THE GLOBAL JIHADISTS (RUN OUT OF IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN AND YEMEN AND SOMALIA AND THAILAND AND PHILIPPINES AND EGYPT AND TURKEY AND SYRIA) ARE UTTERLY VANQUISHED.

IOW: ISRAEL SHALL HAVE PEACE WHEN WE WIN WW4.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION DEMAND STALLING BRITISH ELECTION DEAL - and what can be done about it: a proportionately elected House of Lords

NYTIMES: Electoral Demand Stalls Coalition Deal in Britain

Talks about forming a new government resumed on Saturday amid concern that continuing uncertainty would shake world financial markets when they reopen Monday, but the prospects of a deal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats by that deadline appeared slim.

As an intensive round of negotiations among the parties’ power brokers began Saturday, the Conservatives appeared strongly resistant to the Liberal Democrats’ main demand: a change in the voting system to help smaller parties gain representation in future parliamentary elections. The most that David Cameron, the Conservative leader, seemed ready to concede was that the voting system, and other electoral measures, could be considered by an all-party parliamentary committee, a mechanism that has failed to institute changes in the past.

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, seemed divided over seeking a union with the Conservatives or with the Labour Party, which many among the left-leaning Liberal Democrats see as more philosophically compatible than the Conservatives. Perhaps nodding to that opinion, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, spoke by telephone on Friday evening with the Labour leader, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Clegg’s aides said. No details were revealed, but one Clegg aide described it as “tetchy.”

HERE'S MY COMPROMISE IDEA:

• I THINK THEY SHOULD MAKE THE HOUSE OF LORDS STRICTLY AN ELECTED BODY.

• LORDS WOULD HAVE SET TERMS OF 6 YEARS - LIKE OUR SENATE

• IT WOULD BE A BODY WHOSE REPRESENTATIVES ARE SELECTED PROPORTIONATELY.

• THEY COULD START THIS YEAR WITH 1/2 OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, AND IN THREE YEARS ELECT ANOTHER HALF.

• THIS WOULD GIVE EVERY PARTY A CHANCE FOR A VOICE IN GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATION.

• THEY COULD OFFER THIS AS A REFERENDUM - AS EARLY AS THIS SUMMER.

IT'S A REFORM PROPOSAL I THINK ALL THREE MAJOR PARTIES COULD ENDORSE.

JUST AS I PREDICTED - 3 DAYS AGO: TORY SHORTFALL CAUSES BRITISH POUND TO DROP

BUSINESS WEEK/BLOOMBERG TODAY: "U.K. Pound Drops After Conservatives Fall Short of Majority"

The pound fell for a second week against the dollar after the U.K. election failed to produce an outright winner and stocks slumped worldwide on concern Europe’s debt crisis will worsen.

Sterling sank to a 13-month low against the U.S. currency and gilts dropped yesterday after David Cameron’s Conservatives fell more than 30 seats short of winning a majority in Parliament. Losses on 10-year government bonds pushed the yield up by the most since October yesterday. Britain’s currency also slid as a report showed house prices fell last month, fueling concern the economic recovery may falter.

“The Conservatives were expected to do a bit better than this,” said Harry Adams, a currency trader at Schneider Foreign Exchange in London. “Ultimately, markets don’t like uncertainty and we have a lot of it here. I don’t see this being sorted out quickly.”

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I SAID WOULD HAPPEN IF THE TORIES FELL SHORT - AND I POSTED IT 3 DAYS AGO:

Thursday, May 06, 2010

BRITS VOTE TODAY; THE WORLD WILL VOTE ON THE RESULTS TOMORROW

WATCH THE BRITISH POUND TOMORROW.

IT WILL TANK IF CAMERON ISN'T MADE PM.
Posted by Reliapundit @ 1:39 PM ; PERMALINK

NO OTHER BLOGGER ANYWHERE PREDICTED THIS.

AND IT'S GONNA GET WORSE FOR THE BRITISH POUND AND THE EURO IF CAMERON DOESN'T PUT A GOVERNMENT TOGETHER SOON AND IF THE "GREEK-FLU" SPREADS TO SPAIN AND ITALY.

5/10/10 COULD BE AMONG THE BLACKEST OF BLACK MONDAY'S. STAY TUNED...

DER SPIEGEL: EURO-ZONE MIGHT BE HEADED FOR BANKRUPTCY: NIGEL FARAGE SCOOPS THEM BY 16 MONTHS!

• GERMAN MAGAZINE DER SPIEGEL AGREES: EURO-ZONE MAY BE HEADED FOR ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AND BANKRUPTCY.

• JUST LIKE FARAGE SAID OVER A YEAR AGO (VIDEO AT LINK)!
  

GREAT VIDEO OF LEGAL MEXICAN-ARIZONAN WHO SUPPORTS THE ARIZIONA LAW: THE ASTUE BLOGGERS SCOOPS WEASEL ZIPPERS BY A WEEK

• WEASEL ZIPPERS TODAY.

• THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS ONE WEEK AGO.

REGULAR READERS KNOW THAT WE SCOOP ALL THE BIGGIES ALL THE TIME.

SPREAD THE WORD.

MAYBE BRITAIN SHOULD HAVE RUN-OFFS?

NYTIMES:

The British public’s failure to elect a clear winner in Thursday’s national election appeared to be a mass expression of exasperation with a discredited government and an uninspiring opposition. It also showed the voters’ disillusionment with the increasingly creaky electoral system itself.

The issue of how to revise Britain's system for electing members of Parliament may play a role in talks that will decide who ends up occupying 10 Downing Street.

As it happens, electoral change — in particular, a move to proportional representation — is one of the priorities of the Liberal Democratic Party. And now that the usually toothless Liberal Democrats have been thrust into a pivotal role, engaged in talks with the Conservative Party for a possible role as a coalition partner, the issue has taken on a new urgency.

Speaking to reporters after an extraordinary topsy-turvy night, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democratic leader, said that the vote “made it absolutely clear that our electoral system is broken.”

ER, UM... INSTEAD OF SOME BIG AND COMPLICATED CHANGE THAT UNDOES EVERYTHING, WHY DON'T THEY JUST HAVE A RUNOFF FOR THE TOP TWO CANDIDATES IN EACH DISTRICT IF NO CANDIDATE GETS MORE THAN 50%?

ARIZIONA: ENFORCING THE FEDERAL LAWS OTHERS WON'T ENFORCE

CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

REPRISE: 1/13/2009 - 16 MONTHS AGO - EURO-SKEPTIC MEP NIGEL FARAGE PREDICTED GREECE WOULD CAUSE A EURO MELTDOWN

WE POSTED THIS EARLIER IN THE WEEK

WE POST IT AGAIN.

IT IS MUST SEE TV WHICH DEMANDS TO GO VIRAL:



WE WISH NIGEL FARAGE A SPEEDY AND COMPLETE RECOVERY. (PICTURES OF HIS AIRPLANE CRASH HERE.)

AND WE WISH EUROPE WOULD LISTEN TO FARAGE: IF IT DID, THEN EUROPE WOULD HAVE A SPEEDY AND COMPETE RECOVERY, TOO.

AS IT STANDS NOW, THE EURO-ZONE IS HEADED FOR THE CRASH AND THE MELTDOWN FARAGE PREDICTED.

• ONLY A QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT OF A TORY-LED GOVERNMENT IN BRIITAIN, AND AUSTERITY BUDGETS WITH TAX CUTS ALL ACROSS THE EURO-ZONE CAN HEAD-OFF THE IMPENDING EURO-CRASH...

• THIS WILL MEAN EVERY GOVERNMENT IN EUROPE MUST DO WHAT THEY'VE JUST FORCED GREECE TO DO.

DOES EUROPE HAVE POLITICIANS WITH THE COURAGE TO DO THE RIGHT THING?

WE SHALL SOON FIND OUT.

STAY TUNED...

UPDATE: NYTIMES:

While direct exposure to Greece appears to be limited for most banks, their vulnerability to larger European countries with debt problems is much greater.

French and German banks, for example, have $1.16 trillion at risk in Spain and Italy, including government and private debt, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. The sum dwarfs the $120 billion exposure in Greece.

BNP Paribas on Thursday put its exposure to Greece at 5 billion euros ($6.37 billion), the most of any major French bank. But in a radio interview, the chief executive, Baudouin Prot, declined to reveal the bank’s exposure to any other euro zone countries.

“The fear ripples out from bank to bank,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y. “No one knows the distribution of the assets at risk.”

The lack of clarity about which European banks are most at risk in debt-ridden countries has prompted banks to avoid making short-term loans to one another, threatening a repeat of the tight credit markets that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Overnight interbank lending rates soared Friday, though rates were still well below Lehman levels. And the cost of insuring debt issued by European banks approached that seen at the height of the financial crisis.

WILL 5/10/10 BE BLACK MONDAY?

YES: IF BRITAIN AND THE EU DON'T GET IT RIGHT...

STAY TUNED...

UPDATE #2 - SATURDAY 5/8/10:

• GERMAN MAGAZINE DER SPIEGEL AGREES: EURO-ZONE MAY BE HEADED FOR ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AND BANKRUPTCY.

JUST LIKE FARAGE SAID OVER A YEAR AGO!

ANOTHER BIGTIME CHICAGO MACHINE CROOK COMMITS SUICIDE...

OR WAS HE PUSHED?:

The chief of the Chicago commuter rail system has killed himself by stepping in front of a speeding train, officials have said.

Philip Pagano was under investigation over alleged financial regularities and was on paid leave.

The board of the Metra system had been due to meet later on Friday to determine his fate.

In his pocket, police found a manual detailing procedures for handling a suicide on the railway, officials said.

Mr Pagano had been executive director of the Metra system, which serves the city of Chicago and its outlying suburbs, since 1990.

State prosecutors and federal officials had launched investigations into whether Mr Pagano had improperly steered public funds to his personal coffers.

I THINK THIS MAKES IT "SUICIDE" #4. (MORE ON THE THREE OTHERS HERE.)

IT'S THE CHICAGO WAY.

I WONDER WHEN BLAGO AND REZKO WILL FALL DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS?

AND THEN... THERE'S AXELROD, RAHM, JARRETT AND THE OBAMA'S... OF COURSE: THEY HAVE ALIBIS!

In Turkey, the Islamists are moving toward control over the courts

Turkey's parliament has approved all but one of 27 controversial changes to the constitution, which critics say could undermine the secular courts.

The main secular opposition accuses the ruling AK Party of trying to seize control of state institutions. The AKP's roots are in political Islam.

The AKP did not get a two-thirds majority, so the amendments will still have to go to a referendum.

The AKP says the reforms will help the country's application to join the EU.

The package was passed after a marathon four-day session.

But the AKP's attempt to make banning political parties more difficult was unexpectedly defeated on Tuesday.

The current constitution dates back to 1982, and was drafted after a military coup.

TURKEY IS NOW CLOSER TO SYRIA AND IRAN THAN THE WEST. TURKEY SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF NATO.

MORE PROOF OBAMA IS A MISERABLE FAILURE: UNEMPLOYMENT RISES TO 9.9%

OBAMA IS A MISERABLE FAILURE. THE STIMULUS WAS A FRAUD. OBAMACARE A DISASTER. OBAMA MUST GO.

WE CAN TURN THINGS AROUND THIS NOVEMBER: VOTE GOP!

HMMM...: WAS THE SUDDEN SELLOFF TRIGGERED BY ERROR - OR HACKED?

NYTIMES: Market Drop Fueled by a Crisis, Anxiety and an Error

CNBC: Stock Selloff May Have Been Triggered by a Trader Error

In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points before paring those losses—all apparently due to a trader error.

According to multiple sources, a trader entered a "b" for billion instead of an "m" for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble [PG 60.75 -1.41 (-2.27%) a component in the Dow.

(CNBC's Jim Cramer noted suspicious price movement in P&G stock on air during the height of the market selloff. Watch.)

ERROR?

HMMM... MAYBE IT WAS HACKED.

BY RUSSIA OR CHINA OR THE GLOBAL JIHAD.

FRIDAY UPDATE:

White House doesn't rule out sabotage in market fluctuation

President Barack Obama has not ruled out sabotage in the near-panic on Wall Street Thursday afternoon.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama's economic team was jolted by the news and met with Obama shortly after the market plunged.

The president announced Friday morning that a full review is being conducted, and Gibbs said Obama is waiting to hear the results of a review before ruling out what might have caused it, including the possibility of sabotage.

“I wouldn’t rule anything in or rule anything out,” Gibbs told reporters in his West Wing office Friday. “I think that’s, appropriately, why they’re reviewing what may or may not have happened.”

Gibbs said Obama thinks the “the circumstances around this is something that should be watched or should be reviewed and looked at.”

It remains unclear what led markets to dramatically fall Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 1,000 points before rebounding.

Theories have included a technology problem and a mistaken transaction by a large trader.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday announced a joint investigation of the matter.

I SCOOPED THE WHITE HOUSE!

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY TO GOVERNMENT: STOP POLITICIZING CANCER RISK

NYTIMES:

A dire government report on cancer risks from chemicals and other hazards in the environment has drawn criticism from the American Cancer Society, which says government experts are overstating their case.

The government’s 240-page report, published online Thursday by the President’s Cancer Panel, says the proportion of cancer cases caused by environmental exposures has been “grossly underestimated.” It warns of “grievous harm” from chemicals and other hazards, and cites “a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer.”

.... Dr. Michael Thun, an epidemiologist from the cancer society, said in an online statement that the report was “unbalanced by its implication that pollution is the major cause of cancer,” and had presented an unproven theory — that environmentally caused cases are grossly underestimated — as if it were a fact.

The cancer society estimates that about 6 percent of all cancers in the United States — 34,000 cases a year — are related to environmental causes (4 percent from occupational exposures, 2 percent from the community or other settings).

Suggesting that the risk is much higher, when there is no proof, may divert attention from things that are much bigger causes of cancer, like smoking, Dr. Thun said in an interview.

NOW, WHY WOULD THE GOVERNMENT WANT TO OVERSTATE THE CASE!?!

COULD IT BE IN ORDER TO PASS MORE REGULATIONS AND TAKE CONTROL OVER MORE AND MORE OF THE MARKETPLACE!?

YES. IT'S A POWER GRAB. STEALTH SOCIALISM.

WE CAN STOP IT THIS NOVEMBER: VOTE GOP.

JUST AS I PREDICTED: BRITISH MARKETS ALREADY REACTING POSITIVELY TO TORY GAINS

THE MARKETS OPENED AT 1AM - AND BECAUSE THINGS LOOK GOOD FOR THE TORIES, THE BRITISH POUND IS UP.

A TORY WIN IN BRITAIN - BY SOOTHING INVESTORS - IS THEREFORE GOOD FOR THE ENTIRE FREE WORLD.

• THE ENTIRE WEST NEEDS TO CUT TAXES AND SHRINK THE SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS - AND LET PEOPLE KEEP MORE OF THEIR HARD-EARNED MONEY SO THEY CAN SPEND THE MONEY THEY EARN ANY DANG WAY THEY WANT.

• ELECTING CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD WILL CHANGE SOVEREIGN RISK ASSESSMENT AND DEBT DYNAMICS AND THEREFORE IMPROVE CONFIDENCE IN GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH.

KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED. A HUNG PARLIAMENT WILL ADD TO UNCERTAINTY AND HURT ALL GLOBAL MARKETS...

STAY TUNED...

BRITISH MARKETS ARE OPEN FOR ELECTION NIGHT TRADING: IF CAMERON WINS THEY WILL RALLY...

... A HUNG PARLIAMENT MIGHT NOT BE SO GOOD - UNTIL CAMERON FORMS A GOVERNMENT.

STAY TUNED...

UPDATED RESULTS: KEEP SCROLLING: CAMERON JUST 19 SHORT OF AN OUTRIGHT MAJORITY; LABOUR AND LIB-DEMS BOTH LOSE SEAT!

Updated, scroll down...

BBC:

David Cameron will fall 19 seats short of a Commons majority, according to a joint BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll.

The Conservatives would have 307 MPs, up 97 on 2005, Labour would have 255, down 94, and the Lib Dems 59, down 4. Nationalists and others would have 29.

That means Labour and the Lib Dems together could not have a majority.

There are reports of long queues of people still waiting to vote in some parts of the country after the most closely fought election in decades.

Conservative leader David Cameron might find that winning one or two seats in Northern Ireland and forming a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party might be enough to give him a majority, making him Britain's next prime minister.

The exit poll anticipates that the Labour Party has been more successful at holding on to its vote in seats in Scotland and Wales in seats where there is a large ethnic minority population and where there is an incumbent Labour MP standing again.

The poll also anticipates the Lib Dems will perform better in England than in either Scotland or Wales, but a fall in number of MPs would still come as a blow to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who has been neck-and-neck in the polls with the other two main parties for much of the campaign.

I THINK CAMERON WILL BE ASKED TO LEAD A NEW GOVERNMENT AND HE WILL DO IT.

UPDATE:

ONE SEAT DECLARED: FOR LABOUR - BUT THEIR VOTE IS DOWN 12% AND THE TORIES' UP 5%. THIS WOULD TRANSLATE INTO 342 SEATS FOR THE TORIES AND AN OUTRIGHT MAJORITY.

STAY TUNED...

2ND SEAT DECLARED: ANOTHER LABOUR HOLD, BUT AGAIN: CONSERVATIVES PICK UP 12%...

IF THIS HOLDS UP, THEN THERE'LL BE A 342 MAJORITY FOR THE TORIES...

UPDATE: A 20% SWING TOWARD THE TORIES... TORIES UP 6% LABOUR DOWN 14%... STAY TUNED...

3RD SEAT: A LABOUR HOLD, BUT THE SWING TOWARD THE TORIES REMAINS THE SAME... A GOOD OMEN...

8PM UPDATE: HUGE TAKE-AWAY FOR THE TORIES - IN KINGSWOOD - IT MEANS THAT THE TORIES CAN WIN A MAJORITY...

IT LOOKS LIKE THE TORIES WILL WIN BASILDON TOO - ANTOEHR BELLWEATHER RESULT!

BIG SWINGS TO THE TORIES - MORE THAN THEY NEED!

UPDATE: 8:42PM: GUARDIAN:

Guardian psephologist Lewis Baston says he thinks the Tories are on course for an outright majority.

9:29 PM: TORIES ARE DOING WELL IN WALES - MAKES SOME PICKUPS. OTHER GOOD PICKUPS.

BIG STORY: LIB-DEMS DOING NOTHING.

AND: THE SWING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ISN'T CONSISTENT - NOT BY REGION OR CONTEST. THEREFORE, THE RACE WON'T BE DECIDED UNTIL THE MORNING AND THE LAST FEW SEATS ARE DECIDED.

10:33 PM: THIS JUST IN FORM THE BBC-TV: BILL WYMAN OF THE STONES WANTS THE TORIES TO WIN!

BRITS VOTE TODAY; THE WORLD WILL VOTE ON THE RESULTS TOMORROW

WATCH THE BRITISH POUND TOMORROW.

IT WILL TANK IF CAMERON ISN'T MADE PM.

MORE PROOF OBAMACARE IS AN ECONOMIC DISASTER

ED/HOT AIR:

Remember Henry Waxman’s threat to subpoena CEOs over their write-downs on the tax credit that disappeared in ObamaCare? Fortune now reveals why those hearings got canceled:

Waxman didn’t simply request documents related to the write down issue. He wanted every document the companies created that discussed what the bill would do to their most uncontrollable expense: healthcare costs.

The request yielded 1,100 pages of documents from four major employers: AT&T, Verizon, Caterpillar and Deere (DE, Fortune 500). No sooner did the Democrats on the Energy Committee read them than they abruptly cancelled the hearings. On April 14, the Committee’s majority staff issued a memo stating that the write downs were “proper and in accordance with SEC rules.” The committee also stated that the memos took a generally sunny view of the new legislation. The documents, said the Democrats’ memo, show that “the overall impact of health reform on large employers could be beneficial.”

Nowhere in the five-page report did the majority staff mention that not one, but all four companies, were weighing the costs and benefits of dropping their coverage.

It’s not just the calculus of mandates and penalties that has employers considering the option of dumping health care and paying more in salaries instead. The mandate to keep “children” on plans until the age of 26 has employers seeing a steep cost curve. For Caterpillar alone, the 26-year-old mandate will cost over $20 million a year. Under those conditions, the penalties look pretty good.

OBAMACARE MIGHT VERY WELL BE THE BIGGEST BLUNDER AND MOST AWFUL LEGISLATION EVER PASSED BY ANY LEGISLATIVE BODY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY.

THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT OBAMACARE IS THAT THE DEMOCRATS WILL PAY FOR IT AT THE BALLOT BOX IN NOVEMBER!

CLIMATE SCIENTISTS: MAN-MADE CO2 IS NOT EFFECTING GLOBAL CLIMATE

WUWT:

The added greenhouse gases from human activity clearly have a role in increasing the heat content of the climate system from what it otherwise would be. However, there are other equally or even more important significant human climate forcings, as I summarized in my 2005 post and in the 2009 article

Pielke Sr., R., K. Beven, G. Brasseur, J. Calvert, M. Chahine, R. Dickerson, D. Entekhabi, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, H. Gupta, V. Gupta, W. Krajewski, E. Philip Krider, W. K.M. Lau, J. McDonnell, W. Rossow, J. Schaake, J. Smith, S. Sorooshian, and E. Wood, 2009: Climate change: The need to consider human forcings besides greenhouse gases. Eos, Vol. 90, No. 45, 10 November 2009, 413. Copyright (2009) American Geophysical Union.

We now know, however, that the natural variations of atmospheric and ocean circulation features within the climate system produces global average heat changes that are substantially larger than what was known in 2005. The IPCC models have failed to adequately simulate this effect.

END OF STORY.

BTW: "... natural variations of atmospheric and ocean circulation features..." = CLOUD COVER VARIATIONS, OCEAN CURRENT VARIATIONS, AND el NINO EFFECTS ETC.

UKIP LEADER NIGEL FARAGE INJURED IN PLANE CRASH

TOL:

The outspoken Ukip candidate Nigel Farage managed to upstage an entire general election today when he was injured in a plane crash during an election day stunt.
... Mr Farage, who is standing in the Buckingham constituency, was the passenger in a Polish-built light aircraft towing a “Vote for your country — Vote Ukip” banner when it plunged to the ground at an airfield in Northamptonshire during a photo-shoot.

The single-engined PZL-104 Wilga broke up on impact and Mr Farage was dragged from under its wreckage by his media relations man and a passer-by. He was bloodied and dazed but managed to walk away from the scene and was taken to hospital in Banbury.

VIDEO HERE.

MORE HERE.

I WISH HIM A SPEEDY AND COMPLETE RECOVERY.

FARAGE IS A LEADING LIGHT OF A DEMOCRATIC AND NON-EUSSR EUROPE, AND A GREAT DEFENDER OF THE WEST ALONG WITH GEERT WILDERS.

REMINDER:

OVER A YEAR AGO, NIGEL FARAGE WARNED EUROPEANS OF THE CURRENT EURO MELTDOWN WHICH IS HAPPENING FOR THE EXACT REASONS HE SAID IT WOULD:

TERRORIST IN MUMBAI SENTENCED TO HANG

India has just done some justice in the horrifying case of the murders that took place in Mumbai in late 2008:

The lone surviving terrorist in the November 2008 Mumbai massacre was sentenced to death on Thursday by an Indian judge for his role in the massive terrorist attack, one of the worst in the history of India.

During the three-day ordeal, 166 people were slaughtered and more than 300 were wounded. Six of the dead were Jews who were at the Nariman Jewish Center Chabad House, a target specifically chosen by terrorists. (Photos of the scene may be viewed by clicking here. WARNING: The photos are graphic, and reveal in detail the violence at the scene. Israel news photo, below: ZAKA)

Among the victims were the center's directors, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Gabriel and Mrs. Rivka Holtzberg. The couple's two-year-old son Moishe was rescued by his Indian nanny, Sandra, who hid in a closet for hours until the terrorists had moved into another part of the building, then gathered the toddler in her arms and fled. Moishe and his nanny were subsequently brought by his maternal grandparents back to Israel, where Rivka herself was born and raised.

Israel National News produced a special tribute to honor the Holtzbergs and their guests. The page may be accessed by clicking here.

Justice M.L. Tahaliyani handed down his verdict three days after the surviving terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was convicted of murder and waging war against the nation. Death sentences in India are carried out by hanging. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Wednesday that the execution could be delayed by up to a year.

The sooner the noose tightens around the vile filth's neck, the better.

RUSSIA TEACHES THE JIHADO-PIRATES A LESSON

NYT:

Russian forces freed a hijacked Russian oil tanker and rescued its crew in a helicopter-backed operation on Thursday that killed a Somali pirate, authorities said.

Russian investigators said 10 captured pirates, who seized the China-bound MV Moscow University in the Gulf of Aden, will be brought to Moscow for prosecution.

They hijacked the tanker on Wednesday with its 23-member crew and a cargo of crude oil worth $52 million.

"Measures are being undertaken to bring the detained pirates to Moscow," the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General's office said on official website sledcomproc.ru.

The rescue was a boost for the Kremlin, which has been seeking to revive Russia's naval muscle far from its shores despite limited resources.

President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in a televised meeting and ordered that all those involved receive medals for their part in the rescue.

"It was accurate, professional and quick," Medvedev said.

The European Union's naval force said the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov had sent in a helicopter that returned fire after being shot at by pirates. Eventually the pirates surrendered and a boarding team from the warship arrived on board the tanker, an EU naval statement said.

The Russian Investigative Committee said in its statement that one pirate was killed and some of the 10 who were captured were injured.

THIS OPERATIONS SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE TO THE JIHADO-PIRATES: DON;T TREAD ON RUSSIA.

OBAMA OUGHT TO LEARN THIS LESSON TOO.

IN FACT, THE USA AND RUSSIA SHOULD SEND ENOUGH NAVAL POWER TO THE REGION TO OBLITERATE ALL PORTS ON THE COAST WHICH PIRATES USE OR CAN USE.

WE SHOULD HAVE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR JIHADO-PIRACY.

WE SHOULD COUNTER-ATTACK WITH DISPROPORTIONATE AND OVERWHELMING FORCE.

AFTER BEING INFORMED OF THE TIMES SQUARE ATTACK, OBAMA DID HIS STAND UP ROUTINE FOR THE MSM: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS WEASEL ZIPPERS BY 2 DAYS

THE GREAT FREETHINKER AT WEASEL ZIPPERS TODAY:

Obama Performed 17-Minute Comedy Routine at Correspondents Association Dinner After White House Was Informed About Times Square Bomb Attempt…

Obama’s ‘My Pet Goat?’…

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS ON TUESDAY:

AFTER BEING INFORMED OF TIMES SQUARE ATTACK, OBAMA JOKED AROUND WITH THE MSM

(AND WE LINKED TO A FUNNY JPEG!)

REGULAR READERS KNOW THAT WE SCOOP THE BIGGIES ALL THE TIME.

SPREAD THE WORD.

THE UN AND THE IAEA - WITH OBAMA'S APPROVAL - BEGIN TO TURN UP THE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL, NOT IRAN

NYTIMES:

The head of the U.N. atomic watchdog is asking for international input on an Arab-led push to have Israel join the Nonproliferation Treaty, in a move that adds to pressure on the Jewish state to disclose its unacknowledged nuclear arsenal.

Israel, in turn, is suggesting efforts should focus instead on giving teeth to the nuclear treaty to prevent signatories like Iran from acquiring such weapons.

JUST AS WE PREDICTED WHEN OBAMA - AND LIFELONG ANTI-SEMITE WITH LIFELONG CLOSE FRIENDS WHO ARE COMMITTED ANTI-SEMITES - ANNOUNCED HE WAS RUNNING FOR POTUS.

AND JEWS WHO SUPPORT OBAMA MIGHT AS WELL SUPPORT HAMAS AND HIZBALLAH, AND AHMADINEJAD.

ISRAEL'S NUKES ARE NO MORE A THREAT TO WORLD PEACE THAN OURS OR BRITAIN'S OR FRANCE'S OR INDIA'S.

• PEOPLE WHO WANT ISRAEL TO GIVE UP THEIR NUKES REALLY WANT TO WIPE ISRAEL OFF THE MAP.

• YES: THAT'S MEANS OBAMA AND AHMADINEJAD ARE IN THE SAME BOAT.

• WE CAN SINK THAT BOAT THIS NOVEMBER: VOTE GOP.

PREVIOUS POST ON OBAMA'S PRO-ARAB/ANTI-ISRAEL NUKE STRATEGY HERE.

GAZANS CUT THROUGH EGYPTIAN STEEL BARRIER

BBC:

"Every problem has a solution. The Egyptian steel barrier was a problem but we found a solution," says Mohammed, a grimy-faced Gazan tunnel digger who didn't want to give his real name.

Mohammed, covered in dust and dirt, is in the process of digging a 750m (2,460ft) smuggling tunnel from Gaza into Egypt. He says he's been digging it for 18 months.

As he hauls up a plastic container of sand with an electric winch from the metre-wide tunnel shaft, he says the new underground Egyptian barrier aimed at stopping smuggling is a "joke."

"We just cut through it using high-powered oxygen fuelled blow torches," he says.

The Egyptian government says it began constructing the barrier along the Gaza-Egypt border last year. When finished it is meant to be 11km-long (seven miles), stretching down 18m (59ft) underground.

According to Egypt it is made of bomb-proof, super-strength steel and is costing millions of dollars to build.

'Embarrassing'

Mohammed smiles when he hears this.

"We pay around a $1,000 (£665) for a man with an oxygen-fuelled cutter to come and break through it. It takes up to three weeks to cut through but we get there in the end," he says.

MAYBE IF INSTEAD OF DEVOTING THEMSELVES TO JIHAD AND GENOCIDE AND SMUGGLING THEY APPLIED THEMSELVES THIS HARD TO POSITIVE CAUSES, THEN THEY COULD ACTUALLY IMPROVE THEIR OWN LIVES.

• THIS SERVES AS A REMINDER, TOO: EGYPT HAS ALMOST AS BIG A HEADACHE WITH THE GAZANS AND HAMAS AS ISRAEL - AND THEREFORE EGYPT NEEDS A WALL WITH GAZA, JUST LIKE ISRAEL.

• BUT FOR SOME STRANGE REASON, THE "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY" ONLY CRITICIZES ISRAEL FOR BUILDING ONE.

• WHY IS THAT!? COULD IT BE ANTISEMITISM?

• YES.

BTW: THESE POOR GAZANS CAN AFFORD TO PAY $1000 TO THESE GUYS TO CUT THROUGH THE WALL.

• WHY NOT SPEND IT ON POSITIVE STUFF LIKE REBUILDING THE GREENHOUSES THEY DESTROYED?
  

• COULD IT BE THEY'RE NIHILISTIC GENOCIDAL JIHADO-MANIACS? YES.
  

• COULD IT BE THEIR RELIGION IS EVIL AND DESTRUCTIVE? YES.
  

BHO'S AGENDA FORCED OFF TRACK?

If so, that's good news:

Recent events and political realities are narrowing President Obama's election year agenda, a dynamic that puts a greater emphasis on jobs.

In quick succession, the BP oil spill and Times Square car bomb refocused the administration's priorities, as immigration and a climate bill appeared to fall away.

[...]

Obama had hoped to close several, big-ticket agenda items before November, capitalizing in part on the momentum he picked up in Washington from passing his national health plan.

Since then, his financial regulation package has hit a few snags, and a whipsaw of major news events has reordered the White House to-do list.

Much like he did after the attempted Christmas Day bombing, Obama has had to shift focus to national security.

[...]

At the same time, the offshore drilling disaster has most likely killed Obama's hopes for passing a climate bill this year -- a measure that already was facing uncertain prospects in the Senate.

[...]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday laid out a politically lackluster agenda for the next few months, saying he wants to tackle food contamination, appropriations, a modest jobs package and a pending debate over extending tax cuts.

When it comes to the Democratic Party, "lackluster" is good because, in that context, "lackluster" means that the leftist agenda is stymied.

BREAKING NEWS: NYC'S RFK BRIDGE CLOSED DUE TO POLICE ACTIVITY

11:07 PM

NYC BULLETIN 1-5 m delay UPPER EAST RIVER CROSSINGS: ROBERT F KENNEDY BRIDGE (TO MANHATTAN) CLOSED BOTH DIRECTIONS ON THE MANHATTAN SPAN DUE TO PD ACTIVITY.... ALSO QUEENS BOUND IS CLOSED // BRONX BOUND FROM QUEENS IS OPEN BUT EXPECT HEAVY DELAYS ***

RADIO BULLETINS SAY IT'S A SUSPICIOUS CAR, A RENTAL, MYSTERIOUS, SMELLING OF GASOLINE... A TERROR ATTACK?

STAY TUNED...

11:23 - A SUSPICIOUS RENTAL CAR LEAKING GASOLINE; A HAZ MAT SITUATION... STAY TUNED...

11:34 -

Less than a week after the car bombing attempt in Times Square, the RFK bridge that connects Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx is closed because of an abandoned UHaul with Arizona plates. The abandoned vehicle smells of gasoline, and Hazmat and Police are assessing the details.

11:40 PM: WCBS-TV:

Police say witnesses reported seeing a man flee the vehicle sometime Wednesday night and a smell of gasoline was reported coming from the vehicle, which was described as a U-Haul or Ryder truck.

STAY TUNED ...

[ASIDE: ARIZONA PLATES!?!? CINCO DE MAYO!?!? COULD IT BE A LEFTIST ATTACK!?

LEFT-WING ARSONISTS KILLED 3 IN GREECE TODAY RIOTING AGAINST AUSTERITY MEASURES - LIKE SAYING THAT INSTEAD OF RETIRING AND COLLECTING STATE PENSIONS AT AGE 50 (yes 50!!!) GREEKS SHOULD MAYBE WORK UNTIL THEY'RE 55 OR 60.]

THURSDAY UPDATE:

The bomb squad investigated the abandoned truck with the use of a police vehicle that is equipped with x-ray equipment. It was inspected but police found nothing inside. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said “all clear” after the NYPD bomb squad inspected the vehicle.

GOOD.

MORE PROOF THAT SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE SUCKS: BRITISH CANCER PATIENTS DENIED LATEST MOST EFFECTIVE MEDICINE

DM:

Thousands of cancer sufferers are being denied a 'miracle' drug on the NHS that is routinely available in most other Western countries.

The Government's rationing body claims Avastin is not cost-effective despite evidence showing it can prolong the lives of bowel cancer patients by more than two years.

Campaigners claim 'passport prescribing' means patients here are being cruelly penalised - 10 times as many Britons get the drug paid for by private health insurers than on the NHS.

... Currently, the U.S., Australia, Canada, Scandinavia, France, Germany, Italy and almost all EU countries meet the cost of Avastin in bowel cancer.

It is not available in Slovenia, Macedonia and Albania.

The move will represent the first major test of a Tory pledge to fund all cancer drugs, if they win tomorrow’s General Election.

DESPITE BEING AT IT LONGER THAN ANY OTHER NATION, THE NHS SUCKS.

OBAMACARE WILL MAKE OUR HEALTH CARE JUST AS BAD.

HOW DO WE SAVE OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?

VOTE GOP THIS NOVEMBER.

THIS WEEK'S DAVID FRUM AWARD FOR ASININE CONSERVATIVE OF THE WEEK GOES TO KEVEN D. WILLIAMSON

THIS JERK IS PICKING ON THE GREAT ONE LEVIN.

WILLLIAMSON DOESN'T HAVE THE WHAT IT TAKES TO HOLD MARK'S JOCKSTRAP.

HE'S ANOTHER FRUM: AIMING AT HIS OWN TEAM.

WHATTAJERK. AND THE WINNER OF THE FRUM AWARD. STICK IT UP YOU ARSE, KEVIN!

AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.

REMEMBER THE 11TH COMMANDMENT!

THE MSM REFUSES TO CALL A MUSLIM TERRORIST A MUSLIM: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS PJM AND INSTAPUNDIT BY A DAY AND A HALF

GLENN LINKING TO HIS BUSINESS PARTNERS AT PJM TODAY AT 6:51 PM:

SPINNING TIMES SQUARE:

It is fascinating to see how the authorities and the major media outlets avoid the words “Islam” and “Muslim” in connection to the failed Times Square bombing. In both this piece in Time and in this piece in the New York Times the word “Islam” is only used in the name of the city of Islamabad in Pakistan.

The Times uses the word “Muslim” once: “At his news conference, Mr. Bloomberg warned against any backlash against Pakistanis or Muslims in New York, saying, ‘We will not tolerate any bias.’”

The authorities — Holder, Napolitano, New York Police Commissioner Kelly — also avoided the words Islam and Muslim at their press conference. They spoke about “terrorism” but didn’t define the term.

So what kind of terrorist is Faisal Shahzad if he cannot be called a Muslim or an Islamic terrorist?

WE POSTED THIS YESTERDAY AT 7:12AM:

Man arrested for Times Square bomb: let's play guess his religion!

SHOCKER!!!!!!!!:

They arrested a muslim for the Times Square bombing.

But, the words muslim, islam, and islamic do not appear in the NYTIMES article or the one at the BBC. Neither does CNN.

They tell us he is Pakistani - as if his national origin or ethnicity had anything to do with the crime.

IT'S THE GLOBAL JIHAD, STUPID!

REGULAR READERS KNOW THAT THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME - SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK; WE REGULARLY BEAT THE BIG BLOGGERS AND THE MSM WITH LINKS AND ANALYSIS.

REGULAR READERS KNOW THAT WE ARE THE BEST. PERIOD.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

SHAHZAD WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION IN 2004: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS BYRON YORK, INSTAPUNDIT, THE JAWA REPORT AND STRATA-SPHERE BY A DAY

ON 5/4 - AS SOON AS IT WAS PUBLISHED (AS AN UNADDRESSED ASIDE IN A NYTIMES ARTICLE) - WE FIRST NOTICED, EXCERPTED AND QUESTIONED THE NEWS THAT SHAHZAD HAD BEEN INVESTIGATED BY THE JTTF IN 2004 - A FULL DAY BEFORE ANYONE ELSE.

George LaMonica, a 35-year-old computer consultant, said he bought his two-bedroom condominium in Norwalk, Conn., from Mr. Shahzad for $261,000 in May 2004. A few weeks after he moved in, Mr. LaMonica said, investigators from the national Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed him, asking for details of the transaction and for information about Mr. Shahzad. It struck Mr. LaMonica as unusual, but he said detectives told him they were simply “checking everything out.

WE SCOOPED BYRON YORK BY A DAY AND INSTAPUNDIT BY A DAY!

YORK EVEN LIFTED ER UM I MEAN EXCERPTED THE SAME QUOTE WE DID... HMMM...

WE SCOOPED JAWA REPORT BY A DAY AND A HALF AND STRATA-SPHERE BY A DAY ON THIS TOO!

REGULAR READERS KNOW THAT THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME: WE SCOOP ALL THE BIGGIES ALL THE TIME!

SPREAD THE WORD!

IT HAS BEGUN: OBAMA APPROVES UNSC RESOLUTION DEMANDING A NUCLEAR FREE MIDDLE EAST

Updated- scroll down...

THIS IS AN ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTION.

IT EQUATES ISRAEL'S NUKES WITH IRAN'S POTENTIAL NUKES.

IT'S IMMORAL - AT BEST.

UNSC powers back nuke-free ME

US says comprehensive regional peace is key to a WMD-free zone.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council said they support a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, according to a unanimous statement circulated during a conference aimed at strengthening nonproliferation.

Without mentioning Israel by name, the group voiced support for the “full implementation” of a 1995 resolution intended to free the Middle East from nuclear arms. “We are committed to a full implemented of the 1995 NPT resolution on the Middle East and we support all ongoing efforts to this end,” the statement read. “We are ready to consider all relevant proposals in the course of the Review Conference in order to come to an agreed decision aimed at taking concrete steps in this direction.”

The statement also stressed “serious concern” over the Iranian nuclear program and urged all countries to sign and adhere the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Three countries are not party to the NPT, including India, Pakistan and Israel, which is widely believed to possess a nuclear arsenal. “We urge those state that are not parties to the treaty to accede as non-nuclear-weapon states and pending accession to the NPT, to adhere to its terms,” the five countries wrote.

UPDATE; ECPULSE:

The U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France, released a statement saying that “We are committed to a full implementation of the 1995 NPT resolution on the Middle East and we support all ongoing efforts to this end.”

Israel is the only country in the Middle East, believed to have a nuclear arsenal, and the only country in the region that did not sign the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, along with India and Pakistan.

Moreover, the U.S. Secretary of State; Hilary Clinton, stated before the U.N General Assembly that the U.S. is “prepared to support practical measures for achieving that objective,” adding that “We support efforts to realize the goal of a weapons-of-mass-destruction-free-zone in the Middle East in accordance with the 1995 Middle East resolution.”

ADVOCATING THAT ISRAEL JOIN THE NPT AND GIVE UP ITS NUKES - ITS WMD'S - IS TANTAMOUNT TO FORCING ISRAEL TO SURRENDER TO THE 165 MILLION ARABS THAT SURROUND HER.

• OBAMA MIGHT AS WELL SAY HE WANTS ISRAEL TO BE WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH - JUST LIKE AHMADINEJAD.

• UPDATE: Advocating a "nuclear weapon free Middle East" tacitly equates Israel's Nukes with an Arab nuke and an Iranian nuke. This is immoral. All nukes are not the same: a nuke in our hands or France's or Israel's poses no threat to anyone. A nuke in Iran's hands - or Syria's does.

• UPDATE #2: HAARETZ (LEFT OF CENTER PAPER) AGREES WITH JPOST:

The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China on Wednesday voiced support for making the Middle East a nuclear-arms-free zone, which would mean Israel would have to scrap any atomic bombs in its possession.

THIS POLICY IS BAD, AND WRONG AND HARMFUL TO ISRAEL AND USA INTERESTS AND THE WEST.

ANY JEW WHO SUPPORTS ANY POLITICIAN WHO WANTS ISRAEL TO GO NUKE FREE MIGHT AS WELL SUPPORT HAMAS AND HIZBALLAH.

• OBAMA HAS PROVEN - ONCE AGAIN - THAT AT HIS CORE HE IS AN ANTI-SEMITE AND AN ANTI-ZIONIST.

• OBAMA'S ANTISEMITIC TEACHER - EDWARD SAID, AND HIS ANTISEMITIC BUDDIES - PLO MEMBER RASHID KHALIDI AND JEREMIAH WRIGHT MUST BE VERY HAPPY.

• FRIENDS OF ISRAEL, AND PEOPLE WHO REALIZE THAT ISRAEL IS A VALUABLE ALLY MUST NOT VOTE DEMOCRAT THIS NOVEMBER.

• A VOTE FOR ANY OBAMA-SUPPORTING DEMOCRAT IS A VOTE AGAINST ISRAEL'S CONTINUED EXISTENCE.

THE GREAT JIM HOFT AT GATEWAY HAS MORE.

UPDATE: WE SCOOPED WEASEL ZIPPERS BY 3 HOURS WITH THIS.

UPDATE: SCOOPED HOT AIR BY A DAY ON THIS.

SAVE ISRAEL: VOTE GOP!

MERCK DEFEATS AMBULANCE CHASING TRIAL LAWYERS - AGAIN

NYT/AP:

Drugmaker Merck & Co. says a federal court jury has ruled in its favor in the second trial over whether its osteoporosis drug made teeth and jawbones deteriorate.

The company says the New York jury ruled unanimously against 69-year-old Louise Maley of Muncie, Ind.

She blamed her dental problems on Fosamax, a widely used osteoporosis pill she took for about eight years. Merck says she had multiple medical conditions that can trigger jaw and dental problems.

Merck faces more than 1,350 other lawsuits by people alleging Fosamax has damaged jawbones and teeth.

GOOD.

IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY, NOTHING HAS IMPROVED LIFE FOR MORE PEOPLE THAN BIG PHARMA.

THEY AREN'T THE ENEMY.

THE DEMOCRAT-TRIAL LAWYERS COMPLEX IS THE ENEMY.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY THIS NOVEMBER; VOTE GOP.

FINAL POLLS: TORIES CLOSE TO WINNING A MAJORITY

I HOPE SO -AND NOT JUST BECAUSE I WAS THE FIRST TO PREDICT IT!:

Times/Populus has the Tories close to a majority

So the Times/Populus results are in, and they have the Tories on 37 percent (up one), Labour on 28 percent (up one), and the Lib Dems on 27 percent (down one). On a uniform national swing, this would leave us in hung parliament territory. But Tories I speak to are pretty confident that numbers like these, if replicated tomorrow, could give them a majority.

TELEGRAPH:

If you plug these numbers into a standard UNS seat calculator you get a spread of 298/86/234. However, most psephologists believe UNS underestimates the number of seats the Tories and the Lib Dems will win and overestimates the number of seats for Labour. For instance, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, using what I regard as a pretty robust seat calculator, predicts a seat allocation of 308/113/198, though this assumes the vote share will be Cons 34.2%, Lib Dems 27.5% and Labour 26.3%. Given that the Tories are over a point and a half higher than that in tonight’s polls, they should be closing in on a majority on Silver’s model.

SILVER IS VERY ACCURATE. I THINK THIS MEANS THE TORIES WIN A MAJORITY.

THE LIBERAL GUARDIAN:

A Guardian/ICM poll tonight showed the Conservatives with an eight-point lead over Labour, just short of what they need for an overall majority. The survey put the Conservatives on 36%, Labour on 28% and the Liberal Democrats on 26%.

WE SHALL SOON SEE.

I PREFER THE UKIP, BUT WOULD SETTLE FOR THE TORIES.

BTW: SIMON COWELL ENDORSED THE TORIES.

BBC: President of the Republic of Kalmykia of the Russian Federation claims he was abducted by aliens

DOES STEPHEN HAWKING KNOW ABOUT THIS!???????

BBC:

A Russian MP has asked President Dmitry Medvedev to investigate claims by a regional president that he has met aliens on board a spaceship.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the leader of the southern region of Kalmykia, made his claim in a television interview.

MP Andre Lebedev is not just asking whether Mr Ilyumzhinov is fit to govern.

He is also concerned that, if he was abducted, he may have revealed details about his job and state secrets.

The MP has written a letter to Mr Medvedev raising a list of his concerns.

In his letter he says that - assuming the whole thing was not just a bad joke - it was an historic event and should have been reported to the Kremlin.

He also asks if there are official guidelines for what government officials should do if contacted by aliens, especially if those officials have access to state secrets.

Mr Ilyumzhinov said in an interview on primetime television that he had been taken on board an alien spaceship which had come to planet Earth to take samples - and claims to have several witnesses.

STAY TUNED...

OBAMA'S UN AMBASSADOR - SUSAN RICE - IS EITHER GUILTY OF GROSS INCOMPETENCE OR BEING A TRAITOR

Richard Grenell - (who served as the spokesman for the last four U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations)/ NRO:

United States ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice wasn’t even at the U.N., let alone in the committee room, when U.N. members voted Iran onto the Commission on the Status of Women committee.

Not only was our ambassador not in the room for the vote, she wasn’t even in the building.

Wouldn’t you think that a female American ambassador would understand the importance of standing up against a country that has some of the world’s most hostile laws toward women?

Shouldn’t Rice want to use the opportunity to highlight the regime’s record on women’s rights?

... For Rice, this silence is becoming a pattern.

She is seldom in New York City and spends even less time at the U.N.

Rice has not conducted the hard negotiations nor done the sometimes unpopular and messy work of engaging the U.N. or speaking up when others are silent.

Rice has been routinely unavailable to reporters, absent from daily U.N. meetings, and all too often silent when the American people needed a strong voice to speak out on an important issue.

From Iran to Zimbabwe to Sudan to Cuba, Rice consistently stays silent.

It’s no wonder other countries at the U.N. think the Obama administration is so easy to work with.

And it also explains why we haven’t had one single Security Council resolution on Iran since Rice arrived.

In a roughly two-year period, the Bush administration passed a total of five Iran resolutions, three of which contained increased sanctions and were passed unanimously (one sanctions resolution passed 14 to 1, with Indonesia voting no).

The excuse that Rice is building relationships quietly or has a different type of style is lame.

We don’t need to win popularity contests, we need action and votes and leadership.

In Rice’s case, we just need her to start showing up for meetings and using her microphone.

OUCH! THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK - AND IT'S NOT A HICKEY!

• SO WHICH IS IT FOLKS, MALFEASANCE OR TREASON?

• OR SIMPLE ANTISEMITISM? SHE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE IN OBAMA'S ADMINISTRATION!

• OBAMA SHOULD FIRE RICE.

• IF HE DOESN'T, THEN HE'S ADMITTING HE WANTS IRAN ON THE COMMISSION.

OBAMA WANTS TO TOPPLE NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT

Really a moot point, I'm sure, but still warrants some attention in reading about:

Jerusalem — The administration of President Barack Obama has launched what officials termed a psychological warfare campaign meant to topple Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Sources in the Obama Administration and the US Congress have confirmed to the Middle East Newsline that the White House and State Department have sought to destabilize Netanyahu's government by forcing him to agree to an indefinite freeze on Jewish construction in areas taken by Israel in the wake of the 1967 war as well as the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2012. They said the campaign sought to replace Netanyahu with opposition leader and former foreign minister Tsipi Livni.

"Bibi is extremely vulnerable to pressure," a source familiar with the White House effort said. "We know this from his first term in office and believe he will collapse this time as well."

The sources said the administration's strategy aimed to delegitimize Netanyahu in his government and right-wing constituency. They said Obama and his aides have sought to portray Netanyahu as a weak and unstable politician who will destroy relations with Washington as Israel seeks U.S. support for a military option against Iran.

"There seems to be a general belief in the circle around the president that the democratically-elected government in Israel is drunk at the wheel," Steven Rosen, a veteran pro-Israeli lobbyist now with the Middle East Forum, said. "They clearly will use pressure tactics to bring Israel around."

In April 2010, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, began a series of attacks on Netanyahu in the Israeli media. Indyk, a former assistant secretary of state under then-President Bill Clinton, has called for the toppling of Netanyahu while his right-wing partners accept a more pliant prime minister.

"Indyk was sent by Obama and encouraged by his American Jewish supporters, particularly [former Rep.] Robert Wexler, to do this," the source said.

Ugh. That Indyk (which is Yiddish for "turkey") is one of the worst politicians ever employed by any government. And any members of the Jewish-American community who encouraged this hostility should be ashamed of themselves.

And I don't think there's any chance the Obama administration can be counted upon to support Israel in dealing with Iran, nor should Israel expect it to happen.

THE MEANING OF INDIRECT TALKS

Barry Rubin at the Gloria Center discusses just what exactly is meant by "indirect talks" between Israel and Fatah. But really, it's not that hard to figure out: it means they're getting nowhere in particular.

DEM TURNOUT FALLS OFF THE CLIFF - MEANING: ENTHUSIASM WAY WAY DOWN!

WEEZ GONNA KICK DER DAMN BUTTS THIS NOVEMBER!

(VIA GLENN REYNOLDS.)

JEWISH VOTE IN 10 KEY DISTRICTS MAY DETERMINE THE NEXT BRITISH PM

JPOST:

There are 10 constituencies whose Jewish populations are large enough to have a measurable impact on voting results.

Seven are currently held by Labor and three by Conservatives.

But in two tightly contested Labor-Tory races in the boroughs of Harrow East and Hendon, the prize could go to the candidate who wins as little as 3.0 or 3.8 percent more than his rivals.

In such a closely contested and unpredictable national election where every parliamentary seat counts more than ever, the “Jewish vote” could swing this election.

OY VEY!

FOR BRITAIN'S SAKE; I HOPE THEY VOTE TORY - OR UKIP!

LIB-DEMS DON'T HAVE A SHOT:

in terms of their campaign positions, only a razor-thin distinction exists between the Labor and Conservative parties when it comes to support of Israel and the British Jewish community’s top foreign policy issues. Over the years, both Gordon Brown (Labor) and David Cameron (Conservative) have pledged their support of Israel, a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Israel’s need for secure and just borders and domestic security. And both have promised to make sure the government follows through on pledges to support antidotes to bigotry and anti-Semitism, such as the 2005 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism.

The one exception are the Liberal Democrats, whose record and reputation may have been permanently tainted by what is perceived to be an ongoing hostility to Israel by former party frontbencher Baroness Jenny Tonge. Tonge, who notoriously stated in public she sympathized with suicide bombers and referred to the “Israel lobby” as having its “financial grips” on Britain, was in February summarily sacked by Clegg as health spokesman in the Lords, after she called for an inquiry into allegations that Israeli soldiers were involved in organ trafficking in Haiti.

The British Jewish community was so stunned that in mid-April, when the latest polls showed the Conservatives leading with 35 percent of the vote, followed by Labor with 27 percent and the Lib Dems with a whopping 28 percent, the Board of Deputies held a special session in the heart of Clegg’s constituency in Sheffield with Lib Dem deputy leader in the House of Lords William Wallace. At that meeting members of the Jewish community let loose a salvo of concerns about the Lib Dem record on Israel. Wallace, who speaks on international affairs and defends the record of Liberal Democrats as “a critical friend of Israel,” could only seem to distance himself from Baroness Tonge by saying that “she lets her emotions run away with her” and is “mistaken” and that he “would defend her rather over-emotional approach to the rights of the Palestinians and her deep commitment to doing something about Gaza.”

STAY TUNED...

WHY THE UNITED-CONTINENTAL MERGER IS A LOCK: THEIR WORLD HQ IS GOING TO BE IN CHICAGO

HAVING THE WORLD HQ FOR THE UNITED-CONTINENTAL AIRLINES IS A BIG COUP FOR THE CHICAGO MACHINE.

YOU CAN DAMN SURE BETCHYA THAT OBAMA WILL SEE TO IT THE MACHINE GETS WHAT IT WANTS AND THAT THE DOJ APPROVES THE MERGER DESPITE ANTI-TRUST CONCERNS.

THAT'S THE CHICAGO WAY.

OBAMA IS A TERRIBLE FAILURE

LET'S LOOK AT OBAMA'S RECORD:

• A SO CALLED STIMULUS BILL THAT DID NOT LOWER UNEMPLOYMENT.

• A SO CALLED HEALTHCARE REFORM BILL THAT WAS PASSED WITH SICKENING BACKROOM DEALS AND DESPITE OVERWHEMING PUBLIC DISMAY.

• DITHERING ON IRAN WHILE PERSIAN STUDENTS WERE SHOT IN THE STREETS.

• DITHERING SIX MONTHS BEFORE APPROVING THE PETRAEUS PLAN FOR AFGHANISTAN.

• HUMILIATING THE DALAI LAMA AND THE ISRAELI PM AND APPEASING CHINA AND FATAH.

BARACK HUSSEIN SOETORO OBAMA IS A TOTAL FAILURE. A DISASTER.

HIS FAILURE IS ENDANGERING THE US AND THE ENTIRE FREE WORLD.

SHAHZAD LIED WHEN HE TOOK THE OATH OF CITIZENSHIP

THE OATH OF CITIZENSHIP:

The following United States Oath of Citizenship must be taken by all immigrants who wish to become naturalized citizens of the United States:

I hereby declare, on oath,

• that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

• that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

• that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

• that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law;

• that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

• that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law;

• and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

In acknowledgement whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

OBVIOUSLY, SHAHZAD VIOLATED THIS OATH.

I THINK HIS CITIZENSHIP SHOULD BE REVOKED.

AND ANOTHER THING: HE LEFT FOR TERROR TRAINING WITHIN MONTHS OF TAKING THIS OATH.