THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS' R&R REVIEW #2

There's more to life than war, taxes and politics - and a lot of it's more fun, too! That's why every WEEKEND, here at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, we post our opinions on some of the cultural things we're into, things we think you might also find entertaining, enriching, and stimulating. Good for "Rest & Relaxation" - "R&R".

Please check it out every week - and tell your friends. We just might turn you on to something cool. After all, the arts - ALL ARTS, not just fine arts - are a big part of what our liberty is for, and what we're fighting to defend!

PASTORIUS: I'll Follow You Into The Dark

Here's a chilling video by a band called Death Cab For Cutie. The song is called I'll Follow You Into The Dark, which is an expression of profound love in the face of death. The video has an existential dread reminiscent of the best of David Lynch. This is an example of the popular art form of the music video ascending into the realm of great art.

Reliapundit: DEXTER GORDON

I'm gonna listen to the soundtrack to ROUND MIDNIGHT. This was a great flick starring the late great DEXTER GORDON, one of my favorite musicians and a great GREAT saxOPHoniste - (that's how he said it). Here's a clip from the movie - playing AS TIME GOES BY; (yeah: that's Herbie Hancock on piano, and fabulous group of all-stars backing them up!)

(YEAH-YEAH: like last week, the movie takes place in Paris. Well, it's a city I love! That's why I'm so pissed they're slouching toward Eurabia, and why I'm rooting for Sarko!) SERIOUSLY: I had the great privilege of seeing Dexter perform several times in small clubs - in NYC and New Orleans. One word: WOW. Here's a video of him playing THOSE WERE THE DAYS. Check it out. LTD's bio HERE. (LTD = long tall Dexter - one of his nicknames!)

THE POPINJAY: Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent was one of the first novels to deal with the subject of terrorism. I've always wanted to read it and finally did this past month. Published in 1907, the story centers around a man named Adolph Verloc who works as a double agent for the Russian embassy in London. He poses as a shop owner who is an anarchist and then reports his findings to the Russians and the local British police. However, the Russians decide they want to push the envelope and have him bomb the Greenwich Observatory in order to create public outrage against anarchists. Verloc is soon in over his head and tragedy is not far behind.

By far the most interesting character is the "Professor," who walks around with a bomb strapped to his vest and a detonator always in his left hand. Played by Robin Williams in the movie version, he dreams of one day building the perfect detonator and wiping out all of civilization.

Conrad is a gifted writer, but also a difficult one. He goes into so much intangible detail that the reader can find himself having trouble keeping track of the plot, but it's outstanding exercise for the brain. READ IT: The Secret Agent will make you contrast and compare the anarchists in Victorian England to the Islamic Fascist of today. TRAILER HERE.

THE ACADEMY: LEFTISTS, JIHADISTS AND USEFUL IDIOTS

DR. SANITY:

Socialism and its various incarnations, as I have written before, is a completely discredited utopian fantasy that was responsible for the death and misery of literally millions of people around the world in the last century. To the extent that any society has implemented its ideology, it has led to the impoverishment of material wealth and progress for that society as well as to a sickness of the soul that infects all the individuals within the society.

The end of the 20th century should have seen the relegation of this perverse,anti-human social system to the dustbin of history. And yet, it continues to flourish in academic environments such as Columbia.

A new generation of useful idiots are being cultivated on the university campuses of the West. Instead of being taught about the history of this particularly malignant idea, our children are being indoctrinated into its ideological perversities and encouraged to act them out. And, if you think this is a good thing, think again. These college thugs are learning that the concept of free speech means to prevent the speech of those you disagree with; they are learning not to use reason to argue their point of view, but to use violence and intimidation to impose it on anyone who happens to disagree with them.

Gee, doesn't this sound familiar? Aren't we now at war with the fanatical adherents to a religion that intend to impose their beliefs at the point of a sword? That don't want to tolerate any differences from thier ideology? [Link added by TAB.]

RTWT.

MORE PROOF THE NEW PRO-TRIBAL STRATEGY IS WORKING IN PAKISTAN

AP:

Police acting on a tip raided several militant hide-outs in southwestern Pakistan and arrested 48 suspected Taliban who had arrived in small groups from Afghanistan, police said Saturday. The arrests were made during the past 24 hours in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, said Wazir Khan, the city police chief.

The "anti-war" AP ends their piece by subtly attacking Bush and NATO:

But resurgent Taliban militants have stepped up their campaign against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan this year. The country has seen the worst bout of violence since the regime was removed from power five years ago.

IN FACT, we have been kicking the enemy's ass for weeks: killing them; routing them. So the violence is only "bad" (as in the generally negative term "worst violence"), if you don't support the US, the democratic government of Afghanistan, and our allies.

THE MOST ACCURATE AND INFORMED PERSPECTIVE IS RIGHT HERE.

DEFICIT CRASHING! I BLAME BUSH!

AP:

The federal budget estimate for the fiscal year just completed dropped to $250 billion, congressional estimators said Friday, as the economy continues to fuel impressive tax revenues. The Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate is $10 billion below CBO predictions issued in August and well below a July White House prediction of $296 billion.

The Bushhitlerhalliburtonecheneyrove Tax Cuts (TM) lowered taxes for EVERYONE, AND NOW TAX RECEIPTS ARE SOARING! Let's take it out on the GOP!

Complete round-up HERE AT MEMEORANDUM.

SHARIA, MORAL RELATIVISM, "COMMUNITY STANDARDS" AND DHIMMITUDE

LGF LINKS TO A STORY OF MORE DHIMMITUDE IN EUROPE("Reuters"):

A London gallery has decided not to show some works of art because it fears they would upset Muslims, a curator said on Friday, a week after a German opera house canned a Mozart production for the same reason.The director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery decided to remove works by surrealist artist Hans Bellmer from an exhibition the day before it was due to open, one of the museum’s curators, Agnes de la Beaumelle, told Reuters.

“The motive was simply to not shock the population of the Whitechapel neighbourhood, which is partly Muslim,” she said. The Whitechapel area in east London is home to many ethnic minorities including a large Bangladeshi community.

The gallery is just acceding to "community standards." They can do this and not realize they are dhimmis because they themsleves are (most likely) post-modern Leftists and as a result they have no standards; they believe everything is relative and are willing to cave into threats of violence from thugs who pose as victims. This is the same attitude that looked the other way as the banlieues of Paris became virtual "no mans lands" where the Paris cops routinely get chased away by rioting mobs of Muslim youths: "Leave them alone; it's their community!" These examples are the unavoidable result of moral relativism: With no standards to believe in these post modernists have no standards to defend, none worth defending. Which is why the Left today is our weak link and the enemy's Fifth Column.

[NOTE: my feeling that the gallery is run by post-modernists is the result of my personal dealings with many galleries over the last few decades, and based on the works by the artist in question.]

WINDSOR AND THE WINDS OF WAR

Last Tuesday I posted on dhimmitude at WINDSOR CASTLE. Today there's news of a backlash:

Extra police are being drafted into the Windsor area today after three nights of violent clashes between white and Asian youths.

Gangs have fought battles in the streets using baseball bats and pitchforks. A Muslim-run dairy which wants to build a mosque was petrol bombed.

If the government has been doing their job the last decade - instead of using multiculturalism to surrender to reverse-colonization by jihadists at home and kowtowing to jihadoterrorists abroad, (a veritable double helping of dhimmitude! More on how this amounted to a "surrender" HERE - via POWERLINE) - then people would not feel the need to resort to vigilantism and violence.

MORE HERE - by our own PASTORIUS at his other blog: INFIDEL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE.

AND ANOTHER GOOD ARTICLE FROM A BRIT TABLOID HERE.
10/07/05 UPDATE: Good round-up HERE at PJM.

BUSH 41 HITS BACK AT CHAVEZ

The first vote I ever cast was for George Bush back in 1992. I was frustrated with him at the time, but I knew he was a good man and much better than the two alternatives. In the 13 years he's been out of office, my estimation of the man has only increased and I think by far he is our best ex-President.

On Larry King Live, he was asked how he felt about Hugo Chavez calling his son the devil. After being goaded by King, Bush replied, "Well, he's an ass."

That's the tell-it-like-it-is moxie I knew he had in him.

However, this reminded me of the 1992 campaign in which one of Bill Clinton's big arguments was that George Bush coddled dictators and he would put an end to that. More at Jim-Rose.com...

Reliapundit Is Right Again - There Is A New Tribal Strategy In The War On Terror

The other day, Reliapundit noted that he believes Musharraf's Waziristan Accord (granting Waziristan autonomy) was aimed at coopting the Waziri tribe and setting them loose on Al Qaeda. Reliapundit theorized that this is our new strategy in the GWOT (because we were also employing it in the Sunni provinces of Iraq - with success).

Today comes news which appears to prove that Reliapundit was right:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he wants to hold a jirga (council) of Pashtun tribes from Pakistan and Afghanistan to end Taleban violence. The two countries disagree on how to fight the Taleban - mostly drawn from the Pashtun tribes- on their border.

Mr Karzai said he expected both he and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to attend the meeting by the year-end. Afghan ministers and officials are however concerned that such a meeting may be "manipulated" by Pakistan.

"I am thinking of a meeting between Afghan civil society, Afghan elders, tribal chiefs, clergy and Afghan spiritual leadership plus the intellectuals. From the Pakistan side I am hoping for the same thing," Mr Karzai told this correspondent in an exclusive interview.

Al Qaeda, and the various other terrorist organizations (Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, Fatah, Hamas) are all based on ideologies which transcend tribal allegiance. However, when it comes down to it, much of the population of the Middle East breaks down along tribal lines. So, exploiting tribal allegiances and resentments is an effective way to divide and conquer.

I have a question though, as with any weapon, this strategy will have its drawbacks; there may be unforseen blowback from this strategy. What can we anticipate going wrong with this strategy? (Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section.)

NORTH KOREA THREATENS ATTACKS AGAINST THE USA

I take these threats seriously, (main article HERE). As the Captain points out,

it's easy to dismiss this as North Korean fantasy, but North Koreans do not get to pen articles for the Asia Times without some sort of official approval. The author's long connection to the regime means that the opinions expressed in this hallucinatory screed definitely reflects the positions of management. Kim Jong-Il wants to spread the perception that he considers himself at war with the US -- and he thinks he will win it.

And the attack does NOT have to come via NOKO missiles. Maybe NOKO has given nuclear bomb materiel to terrorists who have already infiltrated the USA and are assembling their bomb(s) right here, right now? I'm suspicious of this because we KNOW that NOKO and Iran have ties, (and that Iran has ties to jihadoterrorists who have attacked the USA and killed hundreds of US citizens: HIZBALLAH), and because of a threat made by Saddam to US Ambasador Glapsie in 1990 - beofre the Gulf War:

SADDAM: "If you use pressure, we will deploy pressure and force. We know that you can harm us although we do not threaten you. But we too can harm you. Everyone can cause harm according to their ability and their size. We cannot come all the way to you in the United States, but individual Arabs may reach you."

This TYPE of threat might just be carried out - using nukes - delivered by jihadoterrorists posing as students, or by NOKO agents posing as South Koreans, living in the USA. Unfortunately for us, this type of threat is immune from a preemptive a strike - and therefore it would function as a NOKO version of the Trident sub: able to survive a first strike and deliver a nuclear counter-attack... no matter what. And - like Iran's secret nuke program - this strategy may very well have been in the making for the last 20 years. I fear that we shall see if this threat is real in the near future - unfortunately.

WELCOME DR. SANITY AND RCP READERS! AND, DAOU REPORT READERS! AND MEMEORANDUM READERS!

ANOTHER REASON WHY WE MUST DEFEAT THE NEO-JIHADISTS

Jazz. Along with Jews and kite-flying, the NEO-jihadi sado-masochists would erase it from the face of the earth.

JUST A LITTLE BIT OF FIGHT

Well, it's been one helluva week with this Mark Foley story. I haven't seen a feeding frenzy like this in quite a while. The big question this week has been Dennis Hastert and whether he's going to resign as Speaker of the House. Allahpundit is predicting his resignation by the end of the day Friday. Meanwhile, Fox News is reporting that internal GOP polls show Hastert could be devastating for the party on election day.

"The data suggests Americans have bailed on the speaker," a Republican source briefed on the polling data told FOX News. "And the difference could be between a 20-seat loss and 50-seat loss."

I'm just not buying any of this. I have to agree with Maha Rushie when he pointed out that GOP resignations have never gotten the party anywhere. Newt resigned, Bob Livingston resigned...what possible good will Hastert resigning do? What the Republican base is looking for is not a party of quitters but a party of men and women that will fight! This is the biggest "October Surprise" that the Democrats have engineered at least since Bush's DUI in 2000 (and that was technically November). If the Repubs can campaign like hell, go on the offensive and drive the point home that the Dems have nothing to offer they could not only hold on to the Congress but maybe add a few key members (Michael Steele, I'm looking at you). A little bit of fight, that's all we ask.

Relipaundit adds: WELCOME RCP/BUZZTRACKER READERS! Take a look around. UPDATE: Here's how COUNTER COLUMN expressed it:

While Democrats have lured weak-assed Republicans into the mire of Foley's IMs to a 17/18 year-old kid, look at the rhetoric coming out of North Korea. Foley will be a footnote in history in three weeks. North Korea? Not so much.

Bottom-line: The MSM is relentlessly reporting the Foley crap to suppress the GOP turnout. DON'T FALL FOR IT!

THE SO-CALLED PALESTINIAN "PEACE PROCESS"

HAARETZ:

Speaking at a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Abbas said any new Palestinian government had to honor signed agreements with Israel. ... The Palestinians had hoped that the formation of a unity government would ease the crippling aid embargo.

Abbas said earlier in the day that a new cabinet had to be formed to end the recent surge in violence that erupted after coalition talks collapsed and which has claimed more than 10 lives in three days. ... Interfactional violence continued throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip yesterday for the third consecutive day since unity government talks broke down.

Abbas also said at his presser with Rice that he wanted to get the "Peace process" going again. Sheesh.

When people talk of "The Palestinian Peace Process" now they can only TRULY mean talks between Hamas and Fatah - two terrorist groups. IF PALESTINIANS TRULY WANTED PEACE, THEN THEY WOULD STOP KILLING EACH OTHER. Instead, they are nearly as brutal to each other as Sunnis and Shias are to each other. IS THERE A PATTERN HERE!? YES: Muslim extremists are unreasonable violent and untrustworthy. They are not the type of people Israelis can make any deal with. Until Palestinians CHOOSE to become reasonable and non-violent, Israel has no choice but to build a wall and keep the Palistanis on the freakin' other side of it.

ADDENDUM: You know things are really bad in Palistan when HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH calls them out on their violence!

MORE ON PALI'S BLAMING OTHERS FOR THEIR OWN "SADO-MASOCHISTIC JIHADISM" HERE. (Sado-masochistic jihadism is so much more accurate than "inter-factional violence.")

THAI COUP WAS PURE DHIMMITUDE: JUNTA AGREES TO NEGOTIATE WITH JIHADITERRORISTS

BBC:

Thailand's new military rulers say they have agreed to talks with Islamic rebels in the south, in a significant policy change from the ousted regime. General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who led the September coup, said he had agreed to a request for talks from several rebel factions. ... Former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in the coup, had refused to hold discussions with the insurgents.

Gen Sonthi, who is himself a Muslim, had proposed such talks before the coup but the idea had been rejected by Mr Thaksin. Gen Sonthi has also confirmed that he has no immediate plans to end martial law, which has been in place since the coup.
...More than 1,500 people have been killed since January 2004 in the bloody insurgency in Thailand's southern provinces.

REPEAT: The coup leader is a Muslim. And who does the coup serve? Muslim terrorists. This is a very bad development - one which will embolden jihadoterrorists throughout the world and especially in SE Asia, epsecailly Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philipines.

Muslims Are Waging War Against Us, Says French Police Union - Police Casualties Are Higher Than American Casualties In Iraq

Nikolas Sarkozy looks as if he doesn't know what to do. Who can blame him?

Today's edition of the London Telegraph contains an article wherein the head of the Police Union in France declares,

"We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists. This is not a question of urban violence any more, it is an intifada ..."

My friend Blueslord from Actual Jihad has translated an article from the French paper Le Figaro which indicates that this year police casualties will reach 15% of the total police force:

"Violent acts are rising in an exponential proportion", says a speaker from the Police. "If this tendency continues, we will have 15% of the policemen hurt in a year".

That means French police police are suffering a higher number of casualties than are American armed forces in Iraq. The total number of casualties in Iraq per year is approximately 6,800, which represents about 4.5% of total American forces.

The casualty rate for the French police force will be over 3 times higher than that of the American military forces in Iraq. That is a stunning statistic.

It seems France really is at war, and thus far the French police are showing no signs that they intend to surrender, unlike the British police.

RELIAPUNDIT: Good one Pastorius! Atlas has some more on Eurabia here and HERE TOO. And the latter is from a different perspective - Paul Beline's, who argues that France is surrendering too (hat tip POWERLINE):

The attempt by the French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a second-generation immigrant himself (though not from a Muslim country), to assert the authority of the French Republic over its lost territory has triggered the current civil warfare in France. For the “youths” this is a declaration of war. They are not in Sarkozy’s country but in their own country, where the West promised they could retain their own cultural values and spread them.

Those media that tell us that the rioting “youths” want to be a part of our society and feel left out of it, are misrepresenting the facts. As the insurgents see it, they are not a part of our society and they want us to keep out of theirs. The violence in France is in no way comparable with that of the blacks in the U.S. in the 1960s. The Paris correspondent of The New York Times who writes that this a “variant of the same problem” is either lying or does not know what he is talking about.

In other words: France surrendered YEARS ago; now they are trying - meagerly - to take back what they surrendered!

THE JUSTIFIABLE PENALTY IS OFTEN DEATH - EVEN WITHOUT A COURT ORDER

First - thanks to Reliapundit for letting me join in! I'll start with a little commentary about the death penalty - it will lead into some posts I intend to transmit in the near future regarding the larger issues such as WWIV - aka the GWOT.

Maybe you've heard of Angilo Freedland? He's a - a criminal who supposedly killed a sheriffs deputy and a K9. When the law caught up to him they filled him with 68 rounds out of 110 fired - thats all they had according to one officer: "I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had," Judd said. "We were not going to take any chance of him shooting back."

Well - in principle I don't think the state should have the power to irrevocably take someone's life...but the state may need to take life to save lives: preventing terrorism is one example. If the authorities are corrupt then citizens are in danger no matter how well the laws are written. On the otherhand - as long as the officers are just in their actions, then perhaps we should not bemoan the fact that they may have circumvented the judicial process.

GOP SCANDALS VERSUS DEMOCRAT SCANDALS: THERE'S A DIFFERENCE ...

... AND IT HAS TO DO WITH HONORABLE EXITS.

IS THERE A NEW TRIBAL STRATEGY IN THE GWOT?

Many have been whining that we're losing the GWOT and relenting to the enemy ever since Musharraf signed a deal with the tribal leaders of the tribally administered region within Pakistan called Waziristan - despite the fact that the US state department approved the deal, and Karzai of Afghanistan had no problem with it, either.

Basically the deal was simple: the Pakistan "federales" would stay out of the tribal zone, and in return the tribes would expel foreign fighters, i.e al Qaeda. If the tribes don't uphold their end of the deal, then Musharraf is free to reenter with his army.

Yesterday, at this blog, Pastorius linked to another blogger's suggestion (Steve Harkonen) that this treaty cleared the way for US forces to follow al Qaeda from Afghanistan INTO Waziristan.

Perhaps. But I have another idea which explains why the US is okay with Musharraf's deal: I feel that we are employing a strategy aimed at co-opting the TRIBES, and turning them against al Qaeda. After all, we are using this strategy - to some good effect - in Iraq:

Iraqi tribes who have vowed to take on Al Qaeda captured five militants yesterday, including three foreign fighters from Yemen, police and tribal leaders said.

The five militants were captured without a fight in a car under a bridge in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, police Major Salam Obeid said. Tribal leader Sheikh Sattar Al Buzayi confirmed the incident. The province, which makes up a third of Iraq's territory, is the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency and has been the deadliest region of Iraq for US forces. Osama bin Laden's followers control towns and villages throughout the Euphrates valley from Falluja, near Baghdad, to the Syrian border.

But their violent rule and severe interpretation of Sunni Islam has alienated traditional-minded Sunni tribal leaders.

Tribes are by defintion very traditional and persistent, and therefore VERY USEFUL IF WE CAN GET THEM ON OUR SIDE - especially against terrorists who need local support for their cover. In the Sunni regions of Iraq, MOST of the tribes are now fighting AGAINST al Qaeda and for the Iraqi federal government. This is a very VERY good development in Iraq - [UPDATE: MORE PROOF HERE THAT IT IS WORKING] - and it would be good if it develops this way in Waziristan.

And another thing: Musharraf's deal came just as NATO began EXPANDING it's counter-offensive against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. And as we are building up our naval assets in the region. That's why I seriously doubt that this was NOT coordinated with the US and NATO, and therefore it seems even more likely to me that it is a positive strategy - one developed to improve results... in the very near term. Like killing OBL and Dr. Z.

Complete round up at MEMEORANDUM. 10/06/06 UPDATE: Welcome Gateway Pundit and Pajamas Media readers!

Birds Of A Feather - The Left And Religious Fascists

The Left loves to brand the religious right as "Nazis" and "fascists". But the truth is, the fascists are almost always people of the Left, even in the case of religious fascists. Check this out (via Hip Hop Republican):

Jim Jones - was a progressive left winger whose intentions were to create an agricultural utopia in the jungle, free from racism and based on quasi-communist principles. Jones told his followers to think of him as the incarnation of Christ and God. He took hundreds of black people most no doubt Democrats to Guyana killed them all.

Fred Phelps - Phelps' voting registration in Kansas is Democrat. Phelps has run in various Kansas Democratic Party primaries in Kansas five times, but has never won. These included races for governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving about 15% of the vote in 1998.

According to Phelps, members of the Westboro Baptist Church helped run Gore's 1988 campaign in Kansas. Phelps has stated that he hosted a Gore fundraiser in his home attended by about 500 people. Gore spokesman Dag Vega declined to comment; "We are not dignifying those stories with a response. Also, Fred's son, Fred Phelps Jr. held a fundraiser, which Al and Tipper Gore attended, at his home in Topeka, and Fred, Jr. served as a Gore delegate to the 1988 Democratic National Convention.

The reason Lefty preachers are more likely to resort to murderous fascism is because Leftism is utopian. Jim Jones was a utopian. He wanted to create a perfect environment for his followers. When he was not able to achieve that utopia, death seemed like the second-best answer. This is the method of utopians from Stalin to Pol Pot to Jim Jones.

In the case of Fred Phelps, it is clear that his philosophy is that the fate of a people is inextricably linked to the behavior of its government. This is a Leftie idea. Righties think the less government the better. Freedom is the watchword of the right. Fred Phelps is not at all interested in freedom, so he went with those who would govern more strongly, like Al Gore.

THE MEDIA'S PROPAGANDA WAR ROLLS ON

From Jim-Rose.com:

Folks, we are about to face an election that will be like none anyone has ever seen. Well, maybe that's incorrect. The newspapers in the early days of our Republic were very partisan and did what they could to sway public opinion, but we now live in a technological age where information is ubiquitous and immediate.

And make no mistake, the media has dropped almost all pretense of impartiality. This election a month from now is going to show just how powerful the media is today. Yes, inroads have been made to break up the MSM monopoly, but they remain a powerful force and they are doing everything they can to bring the Left back into power. Will it work? That's the big question.

UPDATE - (Relipaundit): Dr. Sanity and VDH and Austin Bay agree. Nice company Popinjay!

MORE PROOF THAT EUROPE AND THE EU ARE IN REAL TROUBLE

TWO HEADLINES FROM TODAY'S BBC SAY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHY THE USA IS GREAT AND THE EU SUCKS:

Dow Jones closes at record high The Dow Jones hits an all-time closing high, beating its record set six years ago as oil prices continue to slide.

Airbus super-jumbo in new delay Airbus parent firm EADS says deliveries of its flagship A380 will be extended by an extra year, two years after the original date.

The EUssr cannot compete. Their socialist inspired, state-owned enterprises - like Airbus - are a joke. And they cannot afford their socialist welfare state. And they don't have the courage to defend their own culture against islamicization. Unless something drastic happens, and they change - and become more Anlgo-American, more Hayekian and more proud of their own culture - then it's all over for them: Paris will become Paristanbul; Notre Dame a mosque and the Eiffel Tower a muezzin. YUP: As the European elites debate whether or not to admit Turkey into the EU, Europe is quickly becoming another Turkey. (More on the Airbus fiasco HERE.)

UPDATE: COMPLETE BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS HERE, at The American Thinker.

QATAR AND EGYPT PRESSURING HAMAS TO ACCEPT PEACE-PLAN, UNITY GOVERNMENT AND HOSTAGE/PRISONER EXCHANGE

HAARETZ:

Qatar on Tuesday presented the leaders of Hamas and Fatah with a plan for a new Palestinian unity government, which would accept international demands on the recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence and compliance with previously signed interim accords.

The proposal also secures the release of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Palestinian militants in June. ... According to the agreement, the new Palestinian government would accept three terms posed by the Quartet - recognizing Israel, complying with the accords signed in the past and renouncing violence, to enable renewed peace talks. ... Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Monday that Israel has agreed to release 900 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including women, children and elderly prisoners, as part of a deal to ensure Shalit's release, but Hamas turned down the offer.

Egypt threatened Meshal that if an agreement for prisoner release is not reached by the end of Ramadan - the Muslim month of fast that ends October 22 - the Hamas leader would be held responsible for a wide-scale Israeli military attack in the Gaza Strip.

I think this might be a good interim deal - since all deals with jihadists must be considered hudnas. There's lots more to the deal (so RTWT) - and some doubts whether Hamas will even agree to it (since it overtly casts the state of Israel as an entity with rights). Time will tell. I think the Egyptian timeline is really a DEADLINE from Israel. Stay tuned...

DICK MORRIS: HILLARY WILL BE NEXT PREZ

ESCANABA -

Dick Morris pulled no punches in talking about his former bosses, Hillary and Bill Clinton, to members of the Bay Area Economic Club Monday night. Of Bill Clinton, Morris said, "He's often not a very nice person to be with in private." Of Hillary Clinton, he said, "She reminds me of President Nixon. She's very ruthless." ... Morris predicts Hillary Clinton will be the next president. But, he is not happy about his prediction. He does not think she would make a good president.

This is excellent news. Why, you ask? Because Dick Morris is almost always wrong when he makes election predictions. A good political advisor perhaps, but a horrible