SPECIAL KNESSET SESSION MIGHT TOPPLE OLMERT

JPOST:

The Knesset, which will meet for an emergency session Thursday over the findings of the Winograd Committee, has not convened since it began its spring recess nearly five weeks ago. While that recess was set to end this upcoming Monday, opposition MKs decided they could wait no longer and submitted a petition with 27 MKs' signatures calling for an emergency session.

A Knesset spokesman said that when the Knesset goes back into session on Monday, no less than four no-confidence motions will be filed against Olmert.

The success of those motions was difficult to assess on Wednesday night, as the situation surrounding the prime minister and his coalition was extremely fluid.

THE NEXT ELECTION, WILL BE A CONTEST LED BY TZIPI LIVNI OF KADIMA, EHUD BARAK OF LABOR, AND BIBI OF LIKUD.

AND BIBI WILL WIN. IF HE HAS TO, THEN HE MIGHT FORM A UNITY GOVERNMEN WITH LIVNI - A FORMER LIKUDNIK.

A ROUND-UP OF THE FRENCH DEBATE: SEGO VS SARKO

GOOD NEWS - IT LOOKS LIKE SHE BLEW IT:

BLOOMBERG:

In the end, it was Segolene Royal who lost her cool.

The French Socialist presidential candidate raised her voice and accused her opponent Nicolas Sarkozy of ``immorality'' for presenting himself as a defender of handicapped children.

``You get angry very quickly, madame,'' responded Sarkozy...

CNN/REUTERS:

For Royal, the debate represented a last chance to overhaul the frontrunner Sarkozy, who has weathered constant opposition accusations that he is overly aggressive. ... Sarkozy is one of the most forceful speakers in French politics and polls show more people think he has the stature of a president. But advisers had urged him to play it safe in the debate and tone down his aggressive instincts.

An opinion poll published late on Wednesday put support for Sarkozy at 53.5 percent and Royal on 46.5 percent, with 86 percent of voters saying they would not change their minds ahead of the May 6 run off.

... "What have you done during the past five years? There is a problem of credibility here," Royal said, often interrupting Sarkozy during quickfire exchanges on a range of issues from the economy to security, from nuclear energy to pensions. ...

Trailing in the opinion polls, Royal came out fighting from the start of the marathon clash ... Regularly knocked onto the defensive by the combative attacks of Royal, Sarkozy at one point accused his rival of losing her temper during a row over schools for the disabled.

"At least [this has] served one purpose, which is to show that you get angry very quickly, you go off the rails very easily, Madame. A president is someone who has very serious responsibilities," Sarkozy said.

CNN HIGHLIGHTS:

SARKOZY: "Calm down, don't point at me with your finger like that." ...

ROYAL: "No, I won't calm down."

SARKOZY: "To be president you have to be calm."

ROYAL: "Not when there is injustice. There is anger that is perfectly healthy... I won't allow the immorality of political speeches to gain the upper hand."

SARKOZY: "I don't know why Madame Royal, who is usually calm, has lost her cool."

ROYAL: "I have not lost my cool, I'm angry. It's not the same, don't be contemptuous, Mr Sarkozy."

OH MY NEWS/SOUTH KOREA: Sarkozy Comes Out of Debate on Top
[Analysis] Rightest candidate holds upper hand after decisive performance

Although some analysts had felt before the debate that Sarkozy ran the risk of appearing too aggressive or combative, it was Royal, to the surprise of many, who launched a series of pointed attacks, at one point appearing to lose her cool as she angrily waved a finger at her opponent, whom she accused of the "summum of political immortality" for allegedly making light of the education of the handicapped. ...

Although Sarkozy appeared patronizing at moments as he tried to lecture Royal on fundamental subjects--provoking his opponent to plead at one point, "Don't be condescending"--he did appear to be gracious when asked by the moderator to reveal his personal opinion of his opponent, saying he respected her and believed her up to the task. Royal, pointedly, refused to answer the same question.

NBC/NEWSWEEK:

French television pundits tended to give it to Sarkozy on points in the immediate aftermath.

LE FIGARO:

According to our TNS-Sofres-Unilog poll for Le Figaro, RTL, and LCI, the UMP [Union for a Popular Movement] candidate would defeat his rival by 52 per cent to 48 per cent. Nicolas Sarkozy is gaining ground in the final stretch. Less than a week from the second round of the presidential election, the UMP candidate is up one point from our previous survey.

UPDATE: LATEST POLL:

53.5% Royal

46.5% Sarkozy

(of those who answered; 15% undecided)

Source: Ipsos

IMHO: SHE CAME OFF AS A WHINING LOSER.

MY PREDICITION: SARKO 55%.

UPDATE #2: NIDRA POLLER - WHO LIVES IN PARIS AND BLOGS AT PJM - HAS A FABULOUS DESCRIPTION OF THE DEBATE - RTWT!

UPDATE #3: THE NYTIMES:

Mr. Sarkozy, the former interior and finance minister, had to fight off the demon that has tormented him: his image as an authoritarian figure with a volatile temper. For Ms. Royal, the debate was her last chance to turn around polls that consistently put Mr. Sarkozy in the lead.

... Mr. Sarkozy was also stopped short in mid-sentence [BY SEGOLENE] over and over.

“Will you let me finish?” he asked at one point.

“No,” Ms. Royal said.

“Ah,” Mr. Sarkozy replied.

By midway, Ms. Royal’s perpetual smile disappeared from her face.

LET'S FACE IT: SHE'S AN UPTIGHT BITCH WITHOUT THE CREDS NECESSARY TO BE AN EFFECTIVE PREZ. I DON'T THINK MORE THAN THE VESTIGIAL, AND REACTIONARY LEFT WILL VOTE FOR HER. STILL.... THAT'S OVER 40%!

MISSING JIHADISTS AND MISSING NUCLEAR MATERIAL... DARE WE CONNECT THE NUCLEAR DOTS?

TWO NEWS-ITEMS FROM JIHAD WATCH, AND ONE NEWS-ITEM FROM THE 7/7 TRIAL:

JIHAD WATCH:

"Pakistan downplays radioactive ad," from the BBC, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

Pakistan's nuclear authority has said there is no cause for concern after it published press adverts for information on "lost" radioactive material.

The adverts urged members of the public to inform officials if they found any "lost or stolen" radioactive material.

JIHAD WATCH: Three jihad terror suspects missing in the UK

Pakistan loses nukes, Britain loses jihadists. "Three Terror Suspects Missing On Our Streets," by Padraic Flanagan in the Daily Express , with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

THREE men accused of links with Al Qaeda and the Bluewater bomb plotters are on the loose in Britain, it emerged yesterday.

Mohammed Quayyam Khan, a part-time cab driver from Luton, was allegedly in contact with one of terror overlord Osama Bin Laden’s most senior lieutenants.

UK EXPRESS:

THE Muslim terror gang that plotted a devastating bomb blitz of Britain were told by a judge yesterday: "You have betrayed the country that has given you every advantage in life."

Sir Michael Astill condemned their evil influence and the "spiral of contamination" that began with "preachers of hate who contaminate impressionable young minds".

The gang's most frightening plot was to buy a "dirty" nuclear bomb from the Russian Mafia and blow up a crowded city centre.

Apart from the mass killing, the explosion would have left radioactive fall-out over a wide area.

WHAT DO THESE THREE ITEMS ADD UP TO?

I DUNNO.

BUT I KNOW THAT OUR ENEMY IS ONLY LIMITED BY THEIR MEANS.

IF AND WHEN THEY GET NUCLEAR MATERIAL THEY WILL ATTEMPT TO USE IT - IN THE MOST DEVASTATING WAY THEY ARE ABLE.

PELOSI & CO. SEEK TO LIMIT OUR FREE SPEECH

THE LEFT WANTS TO REVIVE THE "FAIRNESS" DOCTRINE; (VIA THE THONG):

Liberal Democrats are attempting to muzzle conservative talk radio: they are assaulting free speech.

Like the communists in the former Soviet Union, America’s liberals seek to crush dissent by consolidating control over the media—especially talk radio, which has emerged as the dominant medium for conservative opinion.

Allies close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are promoting legislation, which if passed, will take off the air prominent conservative radio hosts such as Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly—along with thousands of smaller conservative broadcasters.

The bill, entitled the "Media Ownership Reform Act," is sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a leftist Democrat from New York.

The legislation aims to revive the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” of the 1940’s: “all views” are to be given equal time on radio. In particular, the Federal Communications Commission would have the power to oversee and change radio and television content.

The goal is to tilt the ideological balance of power away from the right on the nation’s air waves.

RTWT - IT'S APTLY TITLED: "Liberal totalitarianism."

WHAT PELOSI AND HER COMRADES WANT TO DO IS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT STALIN, CASTRO DID, MUGABE DID, AND WHAT CHAVEZ IS DOING: PREVENT THE OPPOSITION FROM AIRING THEIR VIEWS.

AIR AMERICA FAILED FOR ONE REASON: LEFTISTS HAD NO NEED FOR TALK-RADIO BECAUSE THEY ALREADY CONTROLLED TV AND MAJOR NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES; AIR AMERICA WAS REDUNDANT.

THIS IS A BALD-FACED ATTEMPT BY THE LEFT TO SQUELCH DISSENT FROM THE RIGHT.


LET'S MAKE SURE THE BOLSHEVIKS, ER UM I MEAN THE DEMOCRATS FAIL!

MORE ON THE STALINIST "FAIRNESS DOCTRINE" HERE.

MORE HERE, TOO!

SHAMLESSLY LIFTED POST OF THE DAY: NRO'S MARK KRIKORIAN

I'M RE-POSTING THIS IN ITS ENTIRETY BECAUSE THIS IS A PERFECT POST WHICH PERFECTLY EXPOSES THE AMORALITY OF THE POSTMODERN LEFT:

Chutzpah [Mark Krikorian]

The head of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, is complaining about Nigerian Anglican bishops coming to Virginia this weekend to formally install the head of the conservative breakaway denomination in this country.

Here's what she said:

"Such action would violate the ancient customs of the church."

I kid you not. The female head of a church with a practicing homosexual bishop planning to "marry" his lover, a church that could accept into seminary the adulterous homosexual governor of New Jersey, a church that embraces splitting open babies' skulls and vacuuming their brains out, is complaining about violating ancient customs? Wow.

05/02 05:06 PM

WILL TURKEY RETURN TO ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM?

Linda Michaud-Emin asks this in the Jerusalem Post:

Turkey, the world's prime example of a mainly Muslim country as a secular democratic state, may be losing that status. For the first time, a member of an Islamic party stands poised to win the presidency. And the upcoming parliamentary elections are likely to result in yet another victory for the Islamic-oriented government.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has selected the party's No. 2 leader, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, as its candidate for the presidency. Secularists fear this may be the beginning of the end for the secular nature of the republic, as established by president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk more than 80 years ago.

While Turkey has twice had a prime minister from an Islamic party, the president is looked on as a bulwark of the secular system. The president plays an important role in Turkey. He appoints the prime minister, the military's chief of staff, university rectors, and members of the country's highest court.

The other institution safeguarding the status quo is the Turkish army, which has brought down governments on several occasions.

True, Gul has promised to maintain the state's values of secularism and democracy, as well as to keep up Turkey's good relations with the United States and Israel, and its pursuit of membership in the European Union. But some of his past actions worry secularists, including Gul's meeting with Hamas leader Khalad Mashaal at the Justice and Development Party headquarters in Ankara in 2006. And Erdogan advocated a law to make adultery a crime, in 2004.

As a result, many secularists, including the chief of staff, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, argue that Gul and Erdogan are merely paying lip service to secularism. They vividly recall Erdogan saying before he was premier, "Thank God, I am a servant of the Shari'a," or Islamic law, and, "We will turn all our schools" into Islamic ones.

If Gul was willing to meet with the Hamas dictator, that can only signal badness. And when Erdogan says he wants to make adultery a crime, one has to fear that it could be making it a crime punishable by stoning, and possibly a crime for women only.

If this is what'll happen, that's one more reason why allowing them into the European Union, for as long as it'll be around, would only be a bad thing.

Update: and while we're on the subject, a Turkish court has annulled the vote to install an Islamist president. That's good news for now, but there's no telling if it'll continue that way.

TZIPI LIVNI BLOWS IT

Tzipi Livni, despite some possible claims, is not resigning from the cabinet over the Winograd committee's sharp indictment of Olmert, which actually does her positions more harm than good. In fact, there's some very surprising revelations in the following to boot:

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters Wednesday evening she would not resign from her post, ending speculation she was on her way out of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's teetering coalition government and telling reporters that she supported Olmert's June 12th decision to go to war against Hizbullah.

"I think my own personal resignation would distort the [Winograd interim] report's intentions," Livni said.

Doesn't make sense, I'm afraid, since, while she may not have been cited directly, the Winograd committee's findings did say that just about the whole government was to blame.

However, Olmert associate Tal Zilberstein told Channel 10 that Livni would be fired, possibly due to Livni telling reporters following their meeting that she believed the prime minister should step down.

"During my meeting with the prime minister I expressed my personal view that I believe he [Olmert] should step down, but despite various media reports, I never gave the prime minister an ultimatum," she told reporters.

An aide close to Olmert said that the prime minister had threatened to fire Livni if she presented him with an ultimatum, the Jerusalem Post learned.

No kidding. He's actually been slowly turning against some of his closest "allies" in the would-be party, Livni being of them (see also this earlier item), and this must be one of those acts. But that still doesn't excuse the fact that she's shown weakness and undermined her credibility by not resigning from the cabinet.

Livni met with Olmert in Jerusalem Wednesday evening for their first face-to-face talks since the Winograd interim report's publication. Despite speculations prior to the 4:00 p.m. meeting, Livni did not give Olmert an ultimatum that if he does not resign within a reasonable time frame, she would leave the cabinet and work toward forcing him out of office.

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, the foreign minister said, "I asked [Olmert] just one thing, to be a full partner in all decision-making processes".

"The war in Lebanon was and still is a traumatic experience for Israel, especially for the families who lost loved ones," but added, "Israel had to undertake a military operation in order to deter its enemies."

This just shows how superficial she's being, since, after all, they backed out when they should've stayed and hammered the Hezbollah into the ground. Instead, they sought desperately to obtain a flaccid "truce" and abandoned two soldiers who were kidnapped by the Hezbollah.

Livni said she would remain in government "to ensure that improvements are carried out."

In other words, what she's saying is basically an extension of what the defiant Olmert has been saying until now - that he won't resign, but rather, will appoint a another committee to review Winograd's findings, but which is really just an excuse to buy more time. Already, on TV, they've said that she was appalling in her press statements, and I think this just about shows how dreadful and unconvincing, not to mention contemptuous, she really is.

ARREST WARRANTS ISSUED FOR TWO JIHADISTS IN SUDAN

The Hague has issued warrants for the arrest and prosecution of at least two Islamofascists who tore up Darfur:

THE HAGUE (AFP) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued its first arrest warrants over the Darfur conflict for a Sudanese minister and a Janjaweed militia leader accused of murder, torture and rape.

In documents released Wednesday the judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to conclude that Ahmed Haroun, Sudan's secretary of state for humanitarian affairs and a former minister in charge of Darfur, and Ali Kosheib, a principal leader of the Khartoum-backed Janjaweed, were "criminally responsible" for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.

Khartoum was quick to reject the warrants, saying the court had no jurisdiction in the matter.

That was fully expected, as it's truly a dictatorship that's running Sudan there.

The ICC arrest warrants, dated April 27, charge Haroun and Kosheib with a long list of 51 counts including murder, torture, mass rape and the forced displacement of entire villages during a series of attacks in western Darfur in 2003 and 2004.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo hailed the move as "a big and important step ahead".

"These two will have to face justice, they will be in the dock, in two months or two years ... they know that," he told AFP Wednesday.

Moreno-Ocampo focused his 20-month investigation on events alleged to have occurred between 2003 and 2004, the most violent period in the crisis.

The Arab Janjaweed, armed and backed by the Sudanese government, are accused of the worst violence, involving attacks on civilians of black African origin following a rebellion against Khartoum.

"The judges have issued arrest warrants. As the territorial state, the government of the Sudan has a legal duty to arrest Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kosheib. This is the International Criminal Court's decision, and the government has to respect it," the prosecution said.

Sudan meanwhile insisted that the ICC has no jurisdiction to try alleged crimes committed in Darfur.

"Sudan rejects the ICC prosecutor's decision and our position is in line with international law because Sudan is not a member of the treaty that founded this jurisdiction," Sudanese Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardhi said.

Some critics of the ICC have said the arrest warrants could hamper efforts to broker a peace in Darfur.

Ah, I've heard that excuse before. Except that dictators like the ones running Sudan are disqualified from being in positions of power, and so the rules they speak of don't apply here.

HOW THE WAR IN LEBANON WAS BOTCHED

A whole article by Ephraim Inbar in the Middle East Quarterly about how the second war in Lebanon was botched.

"Middle of the Road Fascists"?

Leftists customarily throw the term "Fascists" around with gay abandon. But there is usually some consistency in their usage. They use it to imply Right-wing extremism (even though the original Fascists were far-Leftists!).

Evidence that Leftists really use it simply to describe anything they disagree with emerged yesterday in Australia.

A former Leftist Prime Minister of Australia (Keating) who is noted for his talent at abuse was commenting on the widespread criticism of his party's proposed new pro-union laws:

"Now, this is what ... and, you know, all those middle-of-the-road fascists, you know, in the News Corporation papers, all going on this morning, on the front pages of The Daily Telegraph and The Australian, and the hand-wringing, you know, the conservative columnists in The Sydney Morning Herald, you know, they're ... these people would not have the wit to compose an industrial relations policy.

Source

It takes Paul Keating to think you can be both middle of the road and a Fascist.

He may be more correct than it appears, however. "Third way" Leftism is very popular in much of the world today -- with Tony Blair being the leading exponent of it. And the "Third way" is supposed to be a particularly moderate form of Leftism. Yet various writers (example here) have pointed out that the "Third way" policies concerned bear a striking similarity to the policies of the founder of Fascism -- Benito Mussolini. So who are the Fascists now?

GERMANY REDISCOVERS THE US AS A PARTNER

An interesting development recorded in the excerpt from the German press below. Angela probably has her heart in the right place. She grew up in the Communist East so would have few illusions about socialism. She does however head a nation that is the home of socialism -- from Bismarck, through Marx to Hitler -- so her options are limited

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reoriented Germany away from Russia and toward the United States. Expanded economic ties are just one area of renewed cooperation...

The gift brought by a guest says a lot about his or her intentions. The love-sick romantic shows up with a dozen red roses. A box of Cohiba cigars is the classic gift between men in the West. Purebred horses and trained falcons, on the other hand, are the gift of choice among men in the Arab world. When German chancellors travel, their hosts usually receive the best Meissen porcelain, Junghans clocks or cases of Riesling wine.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel will present an especially generous gift during her trip to the United States this week. At a Monday ceremony in the Great Hall of the US Library of Congress, she will hand over to the Americans something Germans would normally be barred from even taking out of the country: a piece of Germany's national cultural heritage. The item in question is a world map drafted by Freiburg native Martin Waldseemller in 1507. It is a map which shows a rough outline of the new continent, and for the first time uses a name that the immigrants in the New World would eventually adopt for their own: America.

The actual transfer of the map from Merkel to Steny Hoyer, the Democratic Majority Leader in the US House of Representatives, is more of a symbolic act; the historic chart has been in the United States since 2001. But when it was first sent to the United States six years ago, then Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder did little more than shepherd the gift through the bureaucratic intricacies of getting an exit permit. Now, the current chancellor prefers to celebrate the act with fanfare, staging it as a gesture designed to underscore Germany's close friendship with America.

For Merkel, though, the closeness with the US is much more than mere symbolism. She sees America as "a force that has brought freedom to the peoples of the world." She now plans to make the most of that freedom by further strengthening the two countries' economic ties. In the storm of globalization, the United States and Europe plan to expand their cooperation to benefit both countries.

It is virtually unprecedented in German history for a chancellor to be so unreservedly aligned with the US. Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany, saw America as a guarantor of freedom, but also perceived it as an occupation force. Helmut Schmidt and Willy Brandt, both Social Democratic (SPD) chancellors, were pro-American but innately skeptical. Merkel, on the contrary, wants to expand Germany's close ties with the United States and is on the verge of making a pact with America the cornerstone of her foreign policy. Indeed, the resoluteness with which she has pursued this goal stands in conspicuous contrast with her government's lack of political progress back home in Germany.

More here

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

KEY OLMERT ALLY CALLS FOR HIM TO RESIGN

BBC:

The Israeli cabinet is holding an extraordinary session to discuss its response to a damning report on the handling of the 2006 Lebanon conflict.

One cabinet minister has quit after the study accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of judgement errors and there are calls for Mr Olmert to follow suit.

Avigdor Yitzhaki, the chairman and co-founder of Mr Olmert's Kadima party, is among those demanding he resign.

NYTIMES:

Avigdor Itzhaki, chairman of the Kadima Party’s representatives in Parliament and chairman of the governing coalition, told Army Radio that he was “trying to persuade Kadima members to ask the prime minister to resign.” He added that if Mr. Olmert did not resign, he would.

IT'S TIME FOR HIM TO GO. NOW.

HEY OLMERT: YOU ARE NOT BIGGER THAN YOUR PARTY, AND YOUR PARTY IS NOT BIGGER THAN ISRAEL! QUIT NOW!

"DIPLOMATS" WHO'D LIKE TO BE VIOLENT

Veronique de Keyser, the Belgian delegate for the EU, said she'd like commit the following act of violence:

(IsraelNN.com) Member of the European Parliament for Belgium Véronique De Keyser told a group of her peers that she would like to “strangle” Israel's ambassador if he discussed Israel’s security with her.

Addressing an organization called the European Left Group last Wednesday, De Keyser opined that the European Parliament was showing “passivity” on the issue of "Palestinian prisoners" (a reference to convicted Arab terrorists from Judea, Samaria and Gaza being held in Israeli jails), and complimented the Palestinian Authority Arabs for their “moderation and maturity."

“I wonder how they are able to limit violence in the territories given the background,” she said. “If the Israeli ambassador comes in the future to speak of Israel’s security, I feel like I want to strangle him.”

If you've ever wondered if some politicians are desensitized to violence, this could be a clue that they are. And Keyser has certainly incited to violence here, for which she should be thrown out of the political field.

May Day

There are some people who want to make May Day (sorry I missed it) a Memorial to the Victims of Communism

Welcome to our annual Day of Remembrance. In past years, it has been held at our previous blog Catallarchy. This year, we were able to have our new project The Distributed Republic up and running just in time to host it here. Our goal is remember the plight of those lost lives to an ideology which promised to free the workers of the world but did the opposite.

There are a number of links to articles on the subject.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

IRAQI PARLIAMENT PASSES OIL PROFITS DISTRIBUTION LAW

Good news: The Iraqi Parliament has finally come to an agreement and passed a law on how to distribute its national oil profit. This has been one of the most controversial subjects with which the Iraqi government has had to deal. The fact that this issue is settled is, in its own way, more important than the success of the surge.

That is, as long as the people accept the law:

The Iraqi Prime Minister said that the Iraqi Cabinet accepted a draft law which states how Iraq's oil profits will be shared, it will also outline terms of how foreign oil agencies will be able to operate in the country, Iraq Development Program reported.

Under the terms of the new draft law, the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) will be independently functional and joined with oil companies around the country.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister stated that the oil sector's profits will be put in a central account and distributed according to population and that the draft law will be put into action by the end of this month.

Continue reading at Town Commons

AS FAR AS SMIRKING ANTI-SEMITISM GOES, UC IRVINE MUSLIMS HAVE REALLY OUTDONE THEMSELVES

UC Irvine blogger Reut Cohen is all over this latest outrage:

The MSU is, once again, manipulating the Holocaust to push their anti-Israel agenda. Although the Holocaust is a term that refers to the plight of Jewish people from Europe during World War II, the MSU continuously insists on promoting their despicable events with the use of this term.

The only Holocaust survivor that they've brought in to speak also happens to be a member of the International Solidarity Movement. The other two speakers are as follows: a lunatic anti-Semitic anti-Zionist imam from DC and a disgraced plagiarist who makes ever our academic commitment look admirable. If you guessed that the latter is Ward Churchill - and that UCI's Muslim Student Union managed to wrap anti-Americanism into their annual week of particularly intense Israel hatred - then you're the big winner. In a manner of speaking.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]

TERRORISM REALITIES

Hat tip: The News Buckit

This is why we are in Iraq!!

THERE IS NO GWOT; THERE IS COUNTER-GLOBAL JIHAD

MUST SEE TV.

HOTEL PLACES GORE'S GLOBAL WARMING BOOK IN NIGHTSTAND INSTEAD OF BIBLE

That's, kind of, appropriate, considering they are both books of faith:

Visitors to the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa won't find the Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer. Instead, on the bureau will be a copy of "An Inconvenient Truth,'' former Vice President Al Gore's book about global warming.

So now the liberal traveler who is having a bit of trouble sleeping can regale himself with the mythos of doom that he so loves. Sweet dreams.

BUSH'S "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" SPEECH - AN EXCERPT THE LEFT DOESN'T WANT YOU TO REMEMBER

BUSH:

Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

... We have difficult work to do in Iraq.

We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We are pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes.

... We are helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools.

And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people.

The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. And then we will leave — and we will leave behind a free Iraq.

WE ARE STILL ENGAGED IN THE WORK OF SECURING AND RECONSTRUCTING IRAQ. WE MUST STAY UNTIL WE DEFEAT IRAQ'S ENEMIES - THEY'RE OUR ENEMIES, TOO.

DUTCH POL: "CLOSE ALL MUSLIM SCHOOLS"

MNN/DINAH LORD:

Freedom Party PVV faction leader Geert Wilders is arguing that all Islamic schools in the Netherlands should be shut down immediately. He says this measure is necessary in order to "protect children against the spread of Islamic doctrine." ... "Islam is rapidly pushing our Western civilisation close to the edge of the abyss. We have too much Islam in the Netherlands. Islam is more a violent political ideology than a religion," the MP writes. He admits that he has taken a strong position in the debate on Islam. That is necessary, he says, because it is "the eleventh hour."

RTWT.

Bush Is So Evil...#1

This is going to be a series of posts.

===

So I'm discussing the war with a guy. We are exchanging e-mails. And he is whipping me hard with the "Mission Accomplished" sign. To which I reply.

The ship accomplished its mission.

Bush accomplished his. Making American Democrats want to give up Iraqi democrats to the death squads.

Bush is so evil he has made American Democrats abandon the Iraqi democrats. It doesn't get much more evil than that.

Wait until I explain to people Bush's latest evil, they won't believe it.

Me? I'm too smart to join in that evil. I Support Democracy In Iraq.

Cross Posted at Power and Control