A Happy New Year song...

Just cuz itz fun (Vaia Nick'n Nora's Nifty Knicknacks):

CULTURAL RELATIVISM

VIA SUGIERO AND PASTORIUS:



8 MINUTES. WTWT.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ALL THE BEST TO YOU AND YOURS!

SURGE VINDICATES RUMSFELD: PROVES HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT TROOP LEVELS

This is just an aside, but an important one:

The surge was successful and it was done with a surge merely 30,000 more troops.

Not with 500,000 troops.

Just a GRAND total of 180,000.

A total more in line with Rumsfeld than McCain or Shinseki.

It was all about ROE and offensively targeting the enemy and NOT troop levels.


And also about gaining time for the Iraq forces to step up. And they have.

Rumsfeld is vindicated.

VIDEO PROVES THAT BHUTTO WAS NOT SHOT

ANALYSIS HERE.

READ THE POST AND WATCH THE VIDEOS AGAIN, AND THEN DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.

DON'T LET THE MSM TELL YOU WHAT YOU'RE SEEING.

LET YOUR OWN EYES DECIDE.

JEWISH WORKERS IN RUSSIA FACE VISA PROBLEMS

If only the Jewish community there would think wisely and leave, considering the returning reign of communism (or Putinism, if you think of the brand new dictator now posing as the prime minister there), maybe this wouldn't be an issue. The JTA reports:

MOSCOW (JTA) -- New visa rules in Russia are stoking anxiety and frustration among Jewish groups here, forcing them to get in line quickly with new laws to avoid fines or the expulsion of their foreign employees from Russia.

While the changes, which went into effect Oct. 18, do not specifically target Jews, the new rules for multiple-entry business visas -- which cover the sub-sections of religious, humanitarian and cultural visas -- are having a huge impact on Jewish organizations.

Large Jewish groups, some of which employ hundreds of foreign workers and their families, are fighting their way through the maze of paperwork and bureaucracy surrounding the new rules, and many still do not understand exactly how the rules are to be applied.

The new rules, hastily instituted by the Russian government amid the heavily anti-Western rhetoric of December’s parliamentary campaign, are still not clearly understood by those who will be most affected by them.

[...]

For the Chabad-led federation, which has an estimated 500-plus foreign employees and family members in the country, most of whom hold either Israeli or U.S. citizenship, this constitutes a tremendous weight on operating costs. Employees will be able to stay in Russia for no more than 90 days out of every 180, and every 180 days they will have to go to their countries of origin to renew their visas. That's a lot of plane tickets.

Not to mention money. The Russian-Jewish community should understand that the time has come to pack their bags and leave, to avoid the encroaching reign of communism anew. If they were to do that, all these matters wouldn't be a problem and a lot of money would be saved.

JULIE HILDEN ON THE EHRENFELD CASE AND UK VS US LAW

Findlaw's Julie Hilden (via La Shawn Barber) talks about Rachel Ehrenfeld's problem with Saudi billionaire bin Mahfouz, and regarding the UK's ludicrous libel laws, she says:

Make no mistake, this is a clash of cultures: one that so values speech and openness that it leaves significant room for irremediable, damaging error; and another that so values reputation and privacy, that it errs in favor of what is, in effect, government censorship accomplished by the courts.

In a way, it is a culture clash, given how the UK is subject to madness of its own making. Hilden suggests solving the mess this way:

Rather than contending with these elusive trans-hemispheric cases as the Internet slowly makes borders and oceans less and less relevant for distribution and reputation purposes, it might make the most sense for the U.S. and U.K. to enter into a defamation treaty. The treaty would ask both U.S. and U.K. courts to give up jurisdiction in defamation cases in which the other country has a stronger interest, based on factors such as the intended dissemination of the allegedly defamatory statement, personal jurisdiction over the defendant, and the location of the plaintiff’s primary reputation, and therefore, of his or her alleged damages.

Is this a workable answer to the problem? So far, most likely not, because it could still give the UK jurisdiction what's published in the US. With the way that the UK is being run on prejudice, Americans cannot afford to have a country that the Pilgrims sought to leave for the right reasons ruling over them from a distance.

But of course! It's Bush's fault!

Bush derangement syndrome strikes again


"Just as the dictator was allowed to neglect the task of tracking down Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida operatives within his country, just as he was given a pass when Pakistani officials shared nuclear secrets and technologies with rogue states, just as he was allowed to thwart democratic initiatives in his country and the region, Musharraf never faced a serious demand from the Bush administration to protect Bhutto. And in the absence of that demand from the government that props him up as what Bush once referred to as "our guy," Musharraf - who has survived many assassination attempts himself - failed to take the steps necessary to save Bhutto or to foster democratic processes. The Bush administration failed Benazir Bhutto and now she is dead. With her died the prospects of stability and democracy"


More here:


Posted by John Ray

LEFT-WING GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES REPRESSION IN AUSTRALIA

You couldn't make this up. After years of complaining about the Howard government's alleged oppressive nature, the Rudd government has announced plans for nationwide internet filtering to prevent Australians from coming into contact with objectionable content.

As reported by news.com.au:

EVERY Australian with an internet connection could soon have their web content automatically censored.

The restrictions are planned by the Federal Government to give greater protection to children from online pornography and violent websites.

Under the plan, all internet service providers will have to provide a "clean" feed to households and schools, free of pornography and other "inappropriate" material.

Australians who want uncensored access to the web will have to contact their internet service provider and "opt out" of the service.

They emphasize protecting "the children" from pornography and violence, but they admit they have not yet defined objectionable materials:

Senator Conroy said the clean feed, also known as mandatory ISP filtering, would prevent users from accessing prohibited content.

"We will work with the industry to get the best policy," he said. "(But) Labor is committed to introducing mandatory ISP filtering."

Senator Conroy said the Australian Communications and Media Authority would prepare a "blacklist" of unsuitable sites.

It is unclear exactly what will be deemed inappropriate material.

The adoption of mandatory ISP filtering comes on top of the former government's offer of free internet filtering software for home computers.

You will note that the Howard government had offered free filtering software that parents could use as they see fit. An altogether different approach from the statist oppression advocated by the Rudd government.

Nick & Nora Charles at the Thin Man Returns note that Australian voters should have thought about this sort of thing before last month's election!

The Left is so predictable, after all. It's the same old failed system, time and time again.

Hat tip: the inimitable Tim Blair.

Foolish Editor Thinks Coverups Work

We read:

"News that gifts for needy children at the Community and Family Resource Center were stolen days before Christmas was shocking and upsetting.

Arrested in connection in the CFRC theft were three siblings, ranging in age from 10 to 12 years of age. Their cases were held in family court, where names are not part of the public record because of the ages of the suspects. We did not publish their names, nor any other description, other than their ages and that they are related.

So those who advocated a return to slavery were assuming that the suspects are black. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. But their race is irrelevant. People of all races commit crimes.

Source

Who does he think he is kidding? If the thieves had been white he would have announced it immediately with a great cry of triumph. In the USA, nine out of ten crimes are committed by blacks and people are aware of that. Even if people don't read any statistics, the black/white gap in criminality is so large that it just can't be covered up. The media do often omit racial descriptions but is there really anyone who does not know on such occasions that the omitted word is "black"?

In the case above the thieves had recently arrived from a major center of black population (Chicago), were already clients of the welfare center and had a mother whom the authoriities thought was neglecting her chilren. And the 12 year old already had a criminal record of 7 offences. Obviously Mormons! Or that's apparently what our idiotic self-appointed media censors want us to think.

The one sure result of these media coverup policies is that they reduce people's trust in the media -- and that is DEFINITELY a good thing.

Posted by John Ray

IMHO: the video shows Benazir Bhutto was NOT hit by any bullets

LGF has posted the video which is also at you tube.

HERE IT IS AGAIN:



I watched it several times.

I don't see any bullets enter or exit Bhutto.

I have seen other videos of people being shot and in them I always saw the bullet exit with flesh and blood. This is the case with the famous Zapruder film: you can see Kennedy's head get blown up/blown off/blown to pieces - after all, the bullet doesn't hangout in side the body of the victim: it enters and exits, VIOLENTLY! It's bloody.

There's no blood in this Bhutto video. I think it proves that the shooter missed.

IMHO.

*******UPDATE:

CNN has the tape too. I watched their copy a few times.

NOW I AM SURE THAT SHE WASN'T HIT BY ANY BULLETS.

Zain Verjee - the superhot CNN correspondent from Kenya - narrates the report and she regurgitates what everyone else is saying: that the tape shows "Bhutto SLUMPING forward as if shot - just as her scarf wafts up a bit."

Bulls**t.

• THIS IS NOT IN FACT WHAT HAPPENED.
• SHE IS NOT SLUMPING.
• REPEAT: SHE IS NOT SLUMPING FORWARD.

Here's the proof:

• If you watch CAREFULLY, you can see that she FIRST moves her right arm back, off the roof of the vehicle as if to attempt to get back into the safety of her armored vehicle before she is hit.

• If she had already been hit in the head or neck the arms would've flailed up and away or to the wound, reflexively.

• She is obviously attempting to get back down-and-into her vehicle.

• THE BOMB GOES OFF BEFORE HER HEAD IS BACK UNDER THE ROOF.
• That's when the bomb exploded.
  

• THE BLAST OF THE BOMB PROBABLY DROVE HER HEAD DOWN AND INTO THE SUNROOF LEVER, JUST AS THE PAKISTAN AUTHORITIES SAID.

Watch it yourself.

Watch her VOLUNTARILY move her arm FIRST - as if cogently trying to duck back into the vehicle. This is not what a person shot on the head and neck does.

END OF STORY.

GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES ARE TO BLAME FOR THIS MURDER ATTACK

Two army officials were murdered in a terrorist attack in Wadi Telem. It goes without saying that it's because the government's lack of interest in properly enforcing the law encourages this to happen.

FRANCE HALTS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH SYRIA

BBC: France to halt links with Syria

President Sarkozy wants Syria to use its influence in Lebanon

France is to suspend diplomatic contacts with Syria, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced.

Links will be restored only when France has proof that Syria is not blocking progress towards installing a consensus president in Lebanon, Mr Sarkozy said.

Lebanon has been without a president since November, as rival pro- and anti- Syrian factions argue over who should fill the post.

• THIS IS PROGRESS, BIT LET'S FACE IT: ASSAD SHOULD HAVE BEEN WHACKED ALREADY.

• AT LEAST THE WEST LOOKS LIKE WE'RE UNITED AND WE'RE GONNA STOP PUSSY-FOOTING AROUND.

ZARDARI -BHUTTO'S CORRUPT WIDOWER - CYNICALLY PICKS TEENAGE SON TO "LEAD" PARTY

BBC: Bhutto's son named as successor: Bilawal Bhutto

Bilawal says his father will run the party while he is away

Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son Bilawal has been chosen to take over her Pakistan People's Party, after her assassination on Thursday.

He will become leader in a ceremonial capacity while he finishes his studies at Oxford University.

Bilawal told journalists at the Bhutto family home: "My mother always said democracy is the best revenge".

• THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY AND CORRUPTION AND DEMONSTRATES THE UTTER NOTHINGNESS OF PAKISTAN'S SO-CALLED DEMOCRACY.

• A 19 YEAR WILL CO-CHAIR A PARTY!? SHEESH; THIS SHOULD PROVE ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT THE BHUTTO'S PARTY IS NOTHING MORE THAN A FRONT FOR THE FAMILY CORRUPTION ENTERPRISE.

• AND WHAT DOES THIS "OXFORD EDUCATED" PUNK THINK OF DEMOCRACY? IT'S "REVENGE." THIS IS SICK.
  

• AND WHY IS HIS LAST NAME BHUTTO AND NOT ZARDARI, LIKE HIS INCREDIBLY CORRUPT FATHER? OOPS. THAT'S WHY.

• WHAT A FREAKIN' SHAM.

WE NEED TO BACK THE ARMY AND MUSHARRAF AND STOP PUSHING THESE PSEUDO-DEMOCRATS. THEY'RE SCUM. LIKE FATAH AND ABBAS, THE BHUTTO ARE SCUM WE SHOULDN'T BACK.

• GET THE FEELING I DON'T FEEL FOR THE BHUTTO'S!?

• YOU'RE RIGHT.

SHE WAS SCUM. SHE AND SHARIF WERE DESTABILIZING PAKISTAN - WHICH HELPED THE JIHADISTS - THEIR BUDDIES.

THE USUAL LEFTIST SOLUTION: KILL PEOPLE

The idea that social and political problems can be solved by exterminating wholesale entire groups of people is an important part of the Leftist vision. The most obvious examples in the 20th century were the attempted genocide of the Jews and Gypsies by the National Socialists of Germany and the extermination or democide of the kulaks and the attempted genocide of the Ukrainians by the Soviet Communists. Those crimes obviously did not do much to improve the social and political conditions in either the Third Reich or the Soviet Union.

Leftists have not given up on solving their political problems by the mass death of their opponents, however. In a recent online publication, called the Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel, a leftist who calls himself David Lindorff suggests that American could be saved by the mass death of those Americans he doesn't like. He thinks it will be caused by global warmening:

The area that will by completely inundated by the rising ocean—and not in a century but in the lifetime of my two cats—are the American southeast, including the most populated area of Texas, almost all of Florida, most of Louisiana, and half of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as goodly portions of eastern Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. While the northeast will also see some coastal flooding, its geography is such that that aside from a few projecting sandbars like Long Island and Cape Cod, the land rises fairly quickly to well above sea level. Sure, Boston, New York and Philadelphia will be threatened, but these are geographically confined areas that could lend themselves to protection by Dutch-style dikes. The West Coast too tends to rise rapidly to well above sea level in most places. Only down in Southern California towards the San Diego area is the ground closer to sea level.

So what we see is that huge swaths of conservative America are set to face a biblical deluge in a few more presidential cycles.

Then there’s the matter of the Midwest, which climate experts say is likely to face a permanent condition of unprecedented drought, making the place largely unlivable, and certainly unfarmable. The agribusinesses and conservative farmers that have been growing corn and wheat may be able to stretch out this doomsday scenario by deep well drilling, but west of the Mississippi, the vast Ogallala Aquifer that has allowed for such irrigation is already being tapped out. It will not be replaced.

So again, we will see the decline and depopulation of the nation’s vast midsection—noted for its consistent conservatism. Only in the northernmost area, around the Great Lakes (which will be not so great anymore), and along the Canadian border, will there still be enough rain for farming and continued large population concentrations, but those regions, like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, are also more liberal in their politics.

Finally, in the Southwest, already parched and stiflingly hot, the rise in energy costs and the soaring temperatures will put an end to right-wing retirement communities like Phoenix, Tucson and Palm Springs. Already the Salton Sea is fading away and putting Palm Springs on notice that the good times are coming to an end. Another right-wing haven soon to be gone.

So the future political map of America is likely to look as different as the much shrunken geographical map, with much of the so-called “red” state region either gone or depopulated.

His belief in the consequences of global warming is obviously mistaken. But what is important is his unashamed admission that what he thinks will "save" America is the death and destruction of his political opponents.

Note also, that he intends to show no mercy on the survivors:

The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.

There will be much work to be done to help the earth and its residents—human and non-human—survive this man-made catastrophe, and we can’t have these future refugee troglodytes, should their personal disasters still fail to make them recognize reality, mucking things up again.

That's not really surprising. The history of our most recent 10 or 12 natural disasters should amply prove that massive and effective private relief efforts motivated only by philanthropy came from conservative areas, and were carried out by conservative people, and especially by conservative religious people. From the Leftists, all the victims of Hurricane Katrina received was the dubious honor of being used as yet one more cudgel with which Leftists could attack the President.

As we go to the polls in 2008, all Americans should remember what the Leftists who dominate the Democratic Party desire: the death and destruction of as many of their political opponents as possible, and the use of any political tricks necessary to deprive any survivors of any rights or political power at all.

It's the same old Leftist program that we have seen at work in National Socialism, Communism, Castro-ism, Mugabe-ism, and Chavez-ism. A high speed lane to ruin.

How does Hillary draw the line?

Would it be okay for you to break into an empty home because you wanted a nicer place to stay?

Would it be reasonable for you to break into a family's home because they had a spare bedroom and might be looking for a full-time nanny?

Would it be acceptable to crash a party at the Playboy mansion because Hef had plenty of extra food, drink and some really cute females?

Would it be fair to sneak into the local YMCA to work out because you didn't want the hassle of siging up and paying a membership fee?

Would it be justifiable to sneak onto a large corporate campus because they had advertised some jobs in the paper?

Would it be advisable to allow millions of non-citizens to enter the country without sanction, while paying for their health-care and use of public services?

* * *
I'm just wondering how that line gets drawn by folks like Hillary Clinton?

The Incredible Success of the Bush Doctrine

On an earlier post, I made the comment that Benazir Bhutto’s assassination should remind voters that we still live in a very dangerous world, and we need a grown-up as president with the wisdom and the strength of character to utilize our military to protect our interests and our citizens. I went on to say that this rules out all Democrat candidates.

Since some either do not understand what this means (or PRETEND not to understand), lets explore this further. All through the 1990’s, a Democrat administration dealt with Islamic terrorism as if it were a problem for the civilian criminal justice system to handle, and refused to deal with Osama Bin Laden. They also failed to send support to our troops under fire in Somalia, leading to a massacre and a shameful pull-out (Blackhawk Down). This policy and actions got us a series of horrendous terrorist acts and the murder of thousands of our citizens and of others – including the attacks on the Khobar Towers, on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, on the USS Cole, on the World Trade Towers in 1993 and eventually to the horrors of 9/11.

President Bush changed this policy after 9/11 and sent our military to hit the Islamic terrorist groups where they had training camps and were supported with money, training and refuge. We have defeated the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we have defeated them and other terrorist groups in Iraq and cut off their funding and access to oil revenues and oil supplies; we have turned aside Libya and North Korea in their quest for nuclear weapons; we have possibly slowed Iran’s similar quest; and we have made it possible for government forces to defeat the Islamists in Ethiopia. Throughout this period the Bush Administration has somehow managed to remain on good terms with other Islamic states and kept the oil flowing.

AND SINCE 9/11, THE EXPECTED FOLLOW-UP ATTACKS ON AMERICA AND ON AMERICANS HAVE SIMPLY NOT HAPPENED – AN INCREDIBLE RECORD IN THIS PERIOD OF EXTREME VIOLENCE.

Since all major Democrat candidates for the presidency have vowed to pullout our troops from Iraq (some say Afghanistan too) and return to the former policy of dealing with the Islamic butchers with our civilian criminal justice system, I call them not-grown-ups who will be risking the lives and fortunes of Americans everywhere. I call people who think they can right 1000 year-old religiously based disputes by discussing the issues with brutal dictators who thrive on these feuds and violence – I call them not-grown-ops who live in a fantasy land.

The major Republican candidates are the only ones who have vowed to continue the President’s policy with respect to Islamofascism. We need to continue this policy, knowing full well that there will always be some sort of terrorist activity among Muslims around the world no matter how much we succeed. Militant Muslims seem to know only one way to deal with people who do not agree with them, and resistance to modernity and women’s rights runs deep.

Iraq says most of Al-Qaeda network destroyed in 2007

Dec 29, 2007 Breitbart.com (Excerpt)

"The Iraqi interior ministry lauded its achievements over the past year on Saturday, saying that 75 percent of Al-Qaeda's networks in the country had been destroyed in 12 months.

Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf also outlined sharp falls in the numbers of assassinations, kidnappings and death squad murders.

He told a news conference that increased patrols along the borders with Saudi Arabia and Syria had slowed infiltration by militants and played a key role in Iraq's improved security situation.

"We have destroyed 75 percent of Al-Qaeda hide-outs, and we broke up major criminal networks that supported Al-Qaeda in Baghdad," he said.

"After eliminating safe houses in Anbar province, which used to be Al-Qaeda's base, we moved into areas surrounding Baghdad and into Diyala province. Al-Qaeda headed north and we are pursuing them," he said."

MORE PROOF MEXICO IS A NEARLY A FAILED STATE

BBC:

Police die in Mexico convoy raid

Mexico map Seven police officers have died after gunmen attacked a convoy carrying three alleged kidnappers arrested in northern Mexico, officials have said.

Two of the suspects were freed in the raid which took place about 48km (30 miles) south of the city of Zacatecas.

Two police officers escorting the detainees were also wounded when the gunmen opened fire in Friday's attack.

The third suspect, who did not escape, is being questioned in Mexico City, the federal attorney general's office says.

According to officials, the seven dead officers were six local police and a traffic officer.

The three alleged kidnappers had been arrested earlier in the day when police stopped a lorry bearing Texas license plates.

A kidnap victim was rescued and a fourth suspect killed during that incident.

• THIS COMES THE DAY AFTER THE MEXICAN ARMY DISARMED THE ROSARITO POLICE FORCE.

• MEXICO IS A LAWLESS SOCIALIST STATE RUN BY CORRUPT POLITICIANS AND NARCO-TERRORISTS.

WE NEED A FENCE NOW.

2007: THE WEST'S YEAR OF FAILURE

From this December 28, 2007 article in Spiegel Online International:

Ongoing difficulties in Iraq. A Taliban offensive in Afghanistan. And now the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. For the West, 2007 has been a year of failure and missteps.

[...]

There are three lessons to be learned from the strategy followed by the US to this point.

Lesson one: The conflict with radical Islam is not the hobby of a US president gone berserk. This will become all the more clear next November when American voters go to the polls. Bush, who cannot run for re-election due to term limitations, will go, but the conflict with Islam will remain. In fact, it is growing more intense. That, at least, is what the murder of this exceptionally brave woman in Pakistan has given to the West: a high degree of clarity. The radical Islamists will not tolerate any democrats, even if they come from their own countries. They are looking for a showdown, apparently at any price. They will even accept the failure of a country as big and proud as Pakistan.

Lesson two: Bush will not be in a position to do much to end this conflict. He is a war president and an unsuccessful one at that. Even if he talks about diplomacy, it sounds like preparation for war. His partners in Berlin, Paris and London will have to act cleverly in this difficult situation. Any belligerence or crowing must be avoided so as to not damage the Western position as a whole. As strange as it might sound, this beleaguered president must be ushered into retirement with dignity and civility.

Lesson three: The classic military intervention -- Bush's formula against the danger of terrorism -- has not been successful up to now and will not be so in the future. And the situation in nuclear-armed Pakistan is clearly not one where any sort of military operation should be considered....

The article, avoiding insofar as possible any reference to Islam, emphasizes the role of diplomacy (Even with "thugs"!), which has been, for the most part over the past fourteen centuries, an abject failure with any Islamic nation. The Spiegel article, overlooking the religious element and the emphasis which Islamic terrorism places on Islamic jihadi-martyrs' status in eternity, also attempts to draw fallacious comparisons between the present clash of civilizations and the Cold War:

A look back and the Cold War -- an era full of provocations on both sides -- provides a useful model. In 1953, construction workers building the great Stalin Allee in East Berlin, rebelled against their communist government. Many in the Soviet zone hoped that the West would support their fight against the East German communist dictatorship. In West Berlin, the US propaganda station RIAS became shriller -- but nothing more was done.

In Budapest in 1956 there was the same calm discipline. The armed Hungarian students (this writer's father among them) rebelled against the Moscow puppet regime. They were hoping for Western help, but that hope was in vain. The students saw this as a betrayal. For tens of thousands, my father included, there was nothing to do but flee from the Soviet tanks rolling in.

The West's abstention was painful; in fact, it was unbearable -- but it made political sense.

These provocations continued until the dismal high point -- the military putsch by General Wojciech Jaruzelski in Warsaw in 1981. The armies of the West stayed in their barracks. Soviet Communism broke apart all by itself a short time later.

Toward the end, however, the article also states the following, thus ending on a contradictory note:

The West has to protect itself and its people with everything modern technology has placed at its disposal....[T]here is an important role to be played by the military and by secret services -- but primarily in the service of targeted operations against terror camps and cells. While mass invasions have proven useless, pinprick operations continue to have an important place in the West's arsenal.

In my view, the article overlooks a necessary component of victory in this long, long war against Islamic expansionism: Stop whitewashing Islam by calling it "the religion of peace."

[Hat-tip to Mark Alexander, where I found the article from Spiegel Online International]

Marc Morano uses facts to answer an "ad hominem" attack from an alleged scientist

One would have hoped that a scientist would have put scientific points to Morano but it was not so. Bill Houck [billhouck@bellsouth.net] (the Bill Houck of the EPA, I assume) wrote rather condescendingly to Marc Morano (of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee) as follows:

Assuming you are sincere in your beliefs about the lack of evidence proving `global warming', I would encourage you to look back 45 - 50 years ago and consider the (400 or so) "prominent scientists" or doctors the tobacco companies would parade around who would insist that cigarette smoking was not proven to be seriously harmful to your health. Perhaps 400 said no while many thousands accepted the obvious about smoking without feeling compelled to write or make public statements about it. After all, it was obvious.

Even if the warming/dimming concerns are exaggerated, there's no great down side to halting excessive and unnecessary pollution. Certainly everyone would want an environment that is as clean as possible.

Morano replied politely as follows:

Thank you for writing. You may have a good point with your tobacco analogy. Please read this article, I do tend to agree with the comparison.

As for the "thousands" of scientists who believe we face a "climate crisis," where are they? The UN IPCC had only 52 scientists write the alarmist Summary for Policymakers in 2007. There are no "thousands" of UN scientists. Even the UN says "hundreds" but they are not involved in the media hyped summary. Many of the "hundreds" of UN scientists are skeptical of the alarmist summary written by the 52 scientists. Many of the skeptics are profiled in our report.

Even the National Academy of Sciences and American Meteorological Society's "consensus" statement was only voted on by two dozen or so governing board members, rank and file scientists never had a say. Take a look at this post, an environmental scientist admits he never looked at evidence of man-made climate fears, he just parroted the UN's line. Because of the new Senate report of over 400, he is now reconsidering his views. See here

Finally, as for your "no great downside" to halting pollution. Of course that statement is true. But that is not what we are facing. Because of fears of a "tipping point" and we "must act now" and "it's cheaper to act now than wait" the US and other nations are being rushed into meaningless and ineffective international treaties and complete climate symbolism for huge costs domestically.

In over three decades of global warming fears, there has been no single proposal that would have a detectable impact on temperatures if fully enacted and the alarmists are correct about the science. Even if Kyoto, the grandaddy of all climate agreements were being complied with, it would not have a detectable impact on temps 50 or 100 years from now. (this is not in dispute, Gore's own scientist Tom Wigley has said this).

There is no such thing as an "insurance" policy against warming when it comes to current proposals. The upcoming cap-and-trade LIeberman-Warner bill in the Senate would not have a detectable impact on global temps, but will cost poor and middle class Americans huge amounts in higher energy bills. All economic pain for no climate gain.

Would you buy and insurance policy that had a huge up front premium for absolutely no payout at the end of the term? If you would, then by all means support all of the current climate bills. But if they were "insurance policies" they would be shut down for insurance fraud for taking money and not paying any benefits.

Cleaner burning technology and wealth creation go hand and hand. Saddling our economy with UN mandates and new layers of federal bureaucracy will only make us poorer and not 'solve' the "climate crisis."

After attending the last four UN climate conferences in a row, I can tell you unequivocally that if we were facing a man-made climate "crisis' and the UN were our only hope to "solve" it, we would all be doomed.

Please read this very long speech to understand the scientific and economic and technological issues.

Please do not continue parroting the meaningless line about "insurance" policies or how "thousands" of scientists endorse a mythical "consensus" unless you can show a shred of evidence for your claims.

Above exchange received by email from Marc Morano [marcmorano@gmail.com]

Posted by John Ray

MORE INCREDIBLE IMAGES OF BHUTTO'S ASSASSINS

DAWN - VIA DRUDGE:

DawnNews TV aired chilling images of an armed assassin taking a shot at her as she acknowledged the cheers of jubilant party activists from the sunroof of her bullet-proof vehicle. ...

They show a young clean-shaven man, wearing a waistcoat and dark glasses, inch inconspicuously towards the slow-moving vehicle of Ms Bhutto.

Standing closely behind is a man believed to be the suicide bomber with a piece of cloth draped around his face.

The first image catches the duo looking straight into the camera.

Another image shows the sharpshooter open fire on the unsuspecting political leader with remarkable aplomb.

He is just a couple of metres away from his target.

One of the party activists clinging to the vehicle seems to have spotted the assassin, whose upraised hand carries a gun.

The third image shows activists around the vehicle ducking their heads in reflex, suggesting that the gun has been fired.

Unfazed, the assassin is still in their midst.

Crucially, Ms Bhutto has disappeared from the sunroof. And, equally crucially, the suicide bomber has yet to blow himself up.

SEE THE IMAGES HERE.

• THESE IMAGES PROVE THE SHOOTER WAS AN ASSASSIN.
• THEY DO NOT PROVE THAT BHUTTO WAS HIT BY ANY BULLETS HE FIRED.
• THEY DO NOT PROVE THAT BHUTTO'S HEAD WAS NOT INJURED ON THE LEVER.

MORE INFORMATON NEEDS TO BE RELEASED - AND THE IDENTITIES OF THESE TWO ASSASSINS NEEDS TO BE DISCOVERED AND SHARED.

"The New York Times: Informing the terrorists and misinforming Americans since 2001."

FOR THE LATEST NYTIMES ENEMY PROPAGANDA USE THIS LINK AND RTWT.