Thursday, August 31, 2006

Opinilite

Sorry for the light blogging today, puter probs.

Consumer Spending Jumps in July

The Bush economy forcing consumers to spend money they would otherwise be saving.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers boosted their spending in July by the largest amount in six months, offering hope that the current economic slowdown may not be as severe as some had feared.

The Commerce Department reported that spending rose by a healthy 0.8 percent last month, double the 0.4 percent gain in June. Incomes also were up, rising by 0.5 percent in July, reflecting stronger wage growth.

A gauge of inflation tied to spending showed that consumer prices, excluding energy and food, have risen by 2.4 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest rate of increase in nearly four years.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Post # 197 ROP Chronicles...Turkish bikini attack highlights split society

This being the only legitimate justification for such behavior.

ANKARA: An attack by Islamists on a young Turkish woman wearing a bikini on a beach has reopened the question of the direction that the country, overwhelmingly Muslim but traditionally secular, is now taking.

The incident happened earlier this month at the resort of Karaburun, near Izmir in the west of the country, the most Europeanized part.
The young woman had asked a group of headscarf-wearing women and their families not to soil the beach with the used diapers of their children, only to be called a prostitute because she was wearing a bikini. She was then attacked by the men in the group.

The affair might have been dismissed in a couple of paragraphs in the local press but the woman filed a complaint. Furthermore she is the daughter of a journalist on the mass-circulation Hurriyet newspaper which picked up the story and attacked the departure from secular, non-religious principles.

Fatwa: Muslims can't insure

Mutual of Allah.....

The Darul Ifta of Deoband, the body authorised to issue fatwas, issued a fatwa saying that interest earned on bank deposits as well as insurance of life is illegal as per the Shariat, the supreme law for Muslims. And that Muslims should not go in for insurance or assurance of life which has been given to them by Allah.

Hmmmm, appears the Darul Ifta needs a bit of help understanding the difference between "insurance" and "assurance"

h/t Apollo

Coup D'Etat in Mexico?

I've said it before but it bears repeating, the left is the same the world over. Democracy is acceptable ONLY if it elicits the desired result.

The votes have been counted yet again, but the losing presidential candidate is threatening the peace by failing to recognize the result.
August 30, 2006

A COUP D'ETAT IS BREWING in Mexico. Even as he runs out of legal ways to challenge the July 2 presidential election results, the contest's sore loser, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is planning to proclaim himself president and establish a parallel "people's government" on the national Day of Independence, Sept. 16.

The defiance by the leftist former mayor of Mexico City comes after a unanimous ruling Monday by the nation's top electoral tribunal, which rejected claims filed by Lopez Obrador's party of massive fraud. Lopez Obrador, who finished second in the balloting, has been waging an increasingly desperate campaign to have the election nullified. The independent panel of seven electoral justices reviewed 9% of polling places where it had reason to suspect error, and it threw out tens of thousands of ballots.

Faux Diet

From Mediabistro more photoshopping from the network that gave us "fake but accurate".

The left photo is the official first-pic-of-Katie released by CBS at this year's upfront. (TVNewser posted it in May.) The right photo is an edited version of the same photo, from the September issue of Watch magazine, which is owned by CBS.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Al-Qaida operative may make border run

This is the ever present danger of "open borders" and it's going to get nothing but worse.

PHOENIX - Federal law enforcement agencies along Arizona's border with Mexico are on alert for a suspected al-Qaida operative who may be working his way north to the United States from Honduras.Susan Herskovits, spokeswoman for the FBI's Phoenix office, said Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a 29-year-old Saudi national, was reportedly seen in Honduras recently.

The man was one of a number of suspected terrorists being sought by the United States recently unveiled by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the spokeswoman said.

Because the border between Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora is a popular smuggling route for illegal immigrants the alert for El Shukrijumah includes both the American and Mexican states, she said.

Iranian Delinquent Blusters On

It is becoming clearer every day that this sawed off runt is nothing more than an inadequate punk with grandiose delusions of his own importance and relevance.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged the authority of the U.N. Security Council as Iran faces a deadline to halt its uranium enrichment and he called for a televised debate with President Bush on world issues.

The Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for weapons.

``The U.S. and Britain are the source of many tensions,'' Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. ``At the Security Council, where they have to protect security, they enjoy the veto right. If anybody confronts them, there is no place to take complaints to.''

Monday, August 28, 2006

Lebanon: Poll Shows 51% want Hezbollah Disarmed

Surprised? I am.

The poll by IPSOS for the French-language daily L'Orient-Le Jour found 51 percent of respondents supported the group's disarmament, with 49 percent against, a difference within the survey's margin of error.

However, the poll found a wide divergence of views among Lebanon's various religious communities.

Among the Shiite community -- Lebanon's largest and the support base for Hezbollah -- the poll found 84 percent of respondents wanted the group to keep its weapons.

But among the Druze and Christian communities, 79 percent and 77 percent respectively wanted the group to surrender its arsenal.

Among the Sunni community, the poll found a slender majority of 54 percent in favor of the group disarming.

The Man Who Said Too Much

As if it matters, what we have been saying for over a year now is true, Richard Armitage is the original source for both Novak and Woodward on the Valerie Plame story.

Now drop the charges against Libby and forget about this NON story!

Actually it was November of 05....." OpiniPundit is ready to make a prediction.....the leak of Valerie Plame to Woodward (and likely Novak) came from State, either Grossman or Armitage."

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Compliant and subservient: Jimmy Carter's explosive critique of Tony Blair

A spine is something that Jimmy Carter neither has or is able to recognize in others. The Ayatollah Khomeini called Carter "the headless chicken", unfortunately that is as true today as it was then.

Tony Blair's lack of leadership and timid subservience to George W Bush lie behind the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the worldwide threat of terrorism, according to the former American president Jimmy Carter.

"I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair's behaviour," he told The Sunday Telegraph.

"I think that more than any other person in the world the Prime Minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington - and he has not. I really thought that Tony Blair, who I know personally to some degree, would be a constraint on President Bush's policies towards Iraq."

In an exclusive interview, President Carter made it plain that he sees Mr Blair's lack of leadership as being a key factor in the present crisis in Iraq, which followed the 2003 invasion - a pre-emptive move he said he would never have considered himself as president.

Kidnapped Fox journalists released (Updated)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Two Fox News journalists were released Sunday, nearly two weeks after being seized by militants, ending the longest-running drama involving foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier video of Centani/Wiig "unforced conversion" to Islam.....BWAAAAAAHAHAHA

The way it really went down.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

New Navy Nuclear Sub Debuts in Atlantic

The Navy debuted its newest nuclear-powered submarine Friday in an Atlantic Ocean swing off the Florida coast, the second in the latest fast-attack class that marks a broad departure from the Cold War-era deterrence boats.

The Texas, which will officially earn a "USS" designator in a commissioning ceremony in two weeks, weighs 7,800 tons, measures 377 feet long and can remain submerged on covert surveillance up to three months. It travels faster than 25 knots underwater and dives farther than 800 feet.

"It's much more effective than any ship I've been on before," said Capt. John Litherland, who has been on more than 50. "It's not the fastest, but the difference is that it's quiet even at its top speed."

Friday, August 25, 2006

Reagan statue in Warsaw

We have a handful of what I would term "staunch" allies in the world today. Britain, Australia, Japan and yes Poland. They stand with us consistently on almost all important issues. Bush should consider a visit in the near future as they have been loyal allies and true friends.

A monument to Ronald Reagan is to be erected in Warsaw. But why do Poles want to honour the American ex-president in such a special way?

Reagan’s two terms of office, from 1981 to 1989, coincided with the crumbling of the Soviet empire, the Solidarity revolution in Poland and the imposition of martial law. He is remembered therefore in Poland as a man whose contribution to the collapse of communism here cannot be overestimated.

The initiative to erect a monument to Reagan in Warsaw comes from Janusz Dorosiewicz, a Pole who spent over 15 years in the States.

Fetuses harvested for cosmetic procedures: Repulsive new world of humansacrifice

Human sacrifice at the altar of human vanity.

In a News of the Day announcement on August 17, 2001, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons discussed a new abuse of stem cells.

Exclusive clinics in various worldwide locations are offering face lifts and cosmetic procedures using tissues from aborted fetuses and stem cells from human embryos. The cells are said to rejuvenate the skin.

The optimum age of the fetus is 8 to 12 weeks. Reportedly, women in poor nations are paid up to $200 to carry a baby until the appropriate time for "harvesting" the cells.
U.K. stem-cell researcher Colin Blakemore told the London Daily Mail that the therapies are "highly experimental" and could damage the reputation of legitimate researchers.

It seems distasteful, but thousands of women have already done it and it is organized by a seemingly respectable British clinic and carried out in Rotterdam, Holland, where rules regarding stem-cell therapies are less strict.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Video Discloses Alleged Plot To Target Sears Tower

Good decision......

CBS) MIAMI A federal judge has denied a request for a temporary injunction which would have prevented CBS 2 sister station WFOR-TV CBS 4 in Miami and their Web site, CBS4.com, from showing undercover surveillance video of seven men implicated in a terrorism scheme that involved a plot to blow up the Sears Tower.

Attorney Ana Jhones had filed the request with Federal Court judge Joan Lenard at the US Courthouse in Miami, asking that CBS, and any other media outlet, be prevented from showing the undercover video showing her client, Narseal Batiste, the alleged ringleader of what prosecutors claim was a terrorist cell based in Liberty City.

The request was denied following a teleconference between Jhones, the judge, and attorneys for CBS.

Introducing a pair of cheeky little monkeys

Mrs TR wanted me to post this because they're "sooooo cuuuute".

What a pair - these funny little creatures are albino Pygmy Marmoset monkeys, born at the Froso Zoo in Ostersund, Sweden this week.

It's like if "The Producers" opened an eatery Updated

From Apollo "Springtime for Hitler"

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A new restaurant in India's financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country's small Jewish community.

Hitler's Cross', which opened last week, serves up a wide range of continental fare and a big helping of controversy, thanks to a name the owners say they chose to stand out among hundreds of Mumbai eateries.

"We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people's minds," owner Punit Shablok told Reuters.

May I suggest there might be a few more prudent ways to "be different" than name your restaurant after one of the most infamous mass murders of the 20th century, but thats just me.

Update: Under fire, Indian eatery drops Hitler from name

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A restaurant in India's financial hub has agreed to change its name from "Hitler's Cross" following strong protests by the country's tiny Jewish community and pressure from Israel.

"Hitler's Cross", which opened a week ago using posters of the Fuehrer and Nazi swastikas for publicity, initially refused to change its name, but relented on Thursday and covered its signboards with white cloth.

The restaurant's name and its marketing gimmick had infuriated India's Jewish population, which had said it would fight any attempts at "rehabilitating Hitler".

Germany and Israel joined the protests with the Israeli consul-general in Mumbai writing to city authorities urging them to take steps to get the restaurant's name changed.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Sour Puss

Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein sits in the dock during the third day of his trial for genocide in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Kurdish women whose families were decimated in a poison gas attack cursed Saddam, as they gave harrowing evidence at his genocide trial.(AFP/Pool/Daniel Berehulak)

Al Jazeera releases Tape of Steve Centanni & Olaf Wiig

Just how many of these pissant groups are there?

In the footage, American correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand, said they were being cared for and appealed for help in winning their release. The footage was the first sign of the journalists since they were kidnapped Aug. 14 from their TV van in Gaza City.

"Our captors are treating us well," Centanni said.

The statement issued by the Holy Jihad Brigades marked the first time a Palestinian group in Gaza made demands on a foreign country other than Israel. Militant groups have routinely tried to limit the conflict to a fight between Palestinians and Israel.

Video here

Five People Beheaded For Witchcraft

JEEEEEZ!

Five people - including a man, his wife and teenage daughter - have been beheaded in India for practicing witchcraft.

Villagers are blaming witchcraft for the outbreak of an undiagnosed disease which has caused many people to fall ill.

Nearly a dozen people have been killed in the Kokrajhar district in the past week.
In the latest incident, a group of villagers killed a family-of-three after storming their house.

Around the same time, another group raided the house of a couple in a nearby village and hacked them to death.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Driver Charged With DWF: Driving While Female

Talk about a warped perspective.... it's immoral for a woman to drive a car, yet anyone can blow up innocent people and that's not only OK it's glorified.....Religion of Peace indeed.

TAIF, 22 August 2006 — Police in Taif caught a woman violating the law by being behind the steering wheel of a moving car, the Al-Jazirah newspaper reported yesterday.

The woman, an Arab foreigner married to a Saudi man, was immediately arrested. The husband was called to the police station to pick up his spouse.

The cops instructed the husband to make sure his wife does not repeat such a terrible crime as driving a car, which, according to the defenders of the law can lead to immoral behavior.

I don't know about immoral, psychotic maybe.

The 12th Imam a No Show

Here it is 8:39 PM on the 22nd of August in Tehran and NO blazing light in the sky, no thunderous claps of thunder or shaking of the earth. Sorry Ahmadinejad, this day you have been prophesizing since you took office will not be marked by so much as a good collective passing of gas.

Update: 1:39AM on the 23rd and PHHFFFFFT.

Sobering Stats (For the Dems) Updated

The left might reserve a bit of their giddiness concerning the 06 midterms lest they set themselves up for another bout of shock induced depression.

This from Redstate.....

CNN Opinion Research Corporation from Aug. 2 to 3 drew a dramatically different response when it asked people, "How well are things going in the country today?"
A combined 55 percent said things were going "fairly well" (47 percent) or "very well" (8 percent), compared with those who said "pretty badly" (29 percent) or "very badly" (15 percent).

"Only 41 percent of Americans believe that Democratic leaders in Congress 'would move the country in the right direction,' " Mark Preston, CNN's political editor, writes on the network's Web site. That is slightly less than the 43 percent of Americans who believe that Republican leaders in Congress 'would move the country in the right direction.' "

Update:Shocker: Democrat lead in US House race drops to only two points

From Human Events....

And just as I reported earlier today on the problems with the Gallup poll and other surveys showing a bias for Democrats, the Gallup poll suddenly reports a dramatic drop in the Democrat lead in the US House race to only two points.

In a poll taken over the weekend, the poll of registered voters shows that Democrats now lead only 47%-45% which is down from a nine percentage point lead earlier in August. This is well within the poll's margin of error (+-4%) so the race is essentially even. It is the best showing for Republicans in this poll since just before the 2004 November election when Democrats were ahead by four points among registered voters, but Republicans still won the popular U.S. vote and a 232-203 lead in House seats.

Worm has turned.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Robert Spencer in the Know

C-Span had an excellent Q&A last night with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch. The entire hour was full of great information but if you took only one from the interview it should be this:

Islam allows Christians and Jews ONLY three alternatives 1) Conversion 2) Dhimmitude 3)Death. That's it folks. The Koran is very specific and not open for interpretation.

Spencer was extremely knowledgable and well spoken. He commented that several people on the other side have backed out of debates when they found out he was the one they would be sparring with. After his presentation I can understand why.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Three Iranian factories 'mass-produce bombs to kill British in Iraq'


Reason # 1,368 to take out Iran.

Three factories in Iran are mass-producing the sophisticated roadside bombs used to kill British soldiers over the border in Iraq, it has been claimed.

The lethal bombs are being made by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps at ordnance factory sites in Teheran, according to opponents of the country's theocratic regime.

Designed to penetrate heavy armour, the devices being manufactured in Iran involve the use of "explosively formed projectiles" or EFPs, also known as shaped charges, often triggered by infra-red beams.

The weapons can pierce the armour of British and American tanks and armoured personnel carriers and completely destroy armoured Land Rovers, which are used by the majority of British troops on operations in Iraq.

The Sunday Telegraph revealed in April that Iranian-made devices employing several EFPs, directed at different angles, were being used in Iraq.

And in June, this newspaper obtained the first picture of one of the Iraqi insurgent weapons - designed to fire an armour-piercing EFP - believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 17 British soldiers.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

The NSA Wiretapping Decision

I have read several articles analyzing Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's ruling on the NSA wiretapping case and have come to one inescapable conclusion......It was atrocious.

Reactions from the left as well as the right have been almost unanimous in their desparagment of the legal reasoning used in her holding. "Circular", "Emotional", "Rhetorical", "Superficial", "Zealous", "Reckless" and "Juvenile" have all been used to describe this abomination of jurisprudence. Regardless of how ones stands on the wiretapping issue one thing is certain, Taylor's ruling may well go down in history as one of the most ridiculous judicial justifications ever employed to reach a legal conclusion.

As many of you know I am staunchly in favor of allowing the goverment to protect us in this way. I believe the Presidents power in time of war is plenary when it comes to protecting the people of this country. Not only is it constitutional, it is right and correct. Considerate minds can disagree however, and there are legitimate arguments on either side of this issue. Taylor used none of them.

She is a shining example of what is truly wrong with our legal system. Activist idealouges who not only have a predetermined stand on a given issue, they don't even feel the need to use solid legal principals and precedent to justify them. Her ruling was a scolding edict issued by a dictator rather than a well thought out and justified judgement.

Despite what you might here from the press, this ruling will almost certainly be overturned if for nothing else out of sheer embarrassment. How it will ultimately be decided (likely by SCOTUS) is unclear. A bit of research tells us that Taylor is a Carter appointee who was given the job for "services rendered" in his presidential campaign. One thing is clear, If this decision is any indication of her mental gravitas, Anna Diggs Taylor is better suited as a paralegal than a Federal District Judge.

Israeli Soldier Dies After IDF Conducts Raid on Hezbollah Stronghold

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who launched a raid near the militants' stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in what Lebanon called the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.

Israel said the pre-dawn assault outside the eastern town of Baalbek was aimed at disrupting arms smuggling to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria.

I'm shocked!

Friday, August 18, 2006

Bomb Scare

Breaking: British Airways plane diverted to Italy, suspected bomb.

More to follow

Update: CNN has this.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Top al Qaeda Man In Pakistan Nabbed

A senior al Qaeda commander allegedly tied to the London airplane bomb plot has been arrested in Pakistan, Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement officials have told ABC News. Matiur Rehman, one of the most wanted men in Pakistan, is known to have met with the alleged plot ringleader Rashid Rauf, according to the officials.

Rehman’s capture could provide the most important leads in months to the whereabouts of Al Qaeda’s top two leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. Rehman was believed to be in frequent contact with Zawahiri.

If they question him in Pakistan it will.

Rasmussen poll Senate Balance of Power: GOP 50 DEM 47

Election Update.....

Senate Balance of Power August 16, 2006 If the mid-term elections were held today, Republicans would narrowly retain control of the U.S. Senate according to Rasmussen Reports polling data.

Our Balance of Power summary shows the GOP is favored in enough races to hang on to 50 Senate seats at the moment. Forty-seven seats would be in Democratic hands while 3 are in the Toss-Up category.

Even if all three Toss-Up states went to the Democrats, the GOP would remain in nominal control of the Senate. In the case of a 50-50 tie, Vice-President Dick Cheney would cast the deciding vote as the presiding officer of the Senate.

The Balance of Power summary will be updated regularly throughout the campaign season as new poll results reveal shifts in the electoral landscape.
Currently, Rasmussen Reports polling indicates that Democrats are poised to pick up Republican Senate seats in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Listen To Sept. 11 Emergency Calls

Listen to the newly released 911 calls. First it will make you sad, then it will make you mad.

Hezbollah says it will not disarm

"Peace in Our Time" Neville Chamberlain


"Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it". Edmund Burke

Two relevent quotes to remember at this time in history.

Some Reporters Worth More Than Others

Have you noticed how little attention is being given to the kidnapping of Steve Centani from Fox News and say... Jill Carroll.

It's understandable that Fox would choose not to say much as that would be prudent but the veritable blackout by the print media and other networks on the subject is inexplicable, or is it.

There are two major differences, 1) there is an unprecedented hatred of Fox in virtually all circles of the MSM and 2) Jill Carroll was a liberal peacafist, Steve Centani is conservative.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Hizbullah likely to retain weapons

Appears that the Lebanese govt has learned what many of us have known for years.....what the UN says and does means absolutely nothing.

Hizbullah will not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese government but rather refrain from exhibiting them publicly, according to a new compromise that is reportedly brewing between Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Seniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The UN cease-fire resolution specifically demands the demilitarization of the area south of the Litani river. The resolution was approved by the Lebanese cabinet.

In a televised address on Monday night, Nasrallah declared that now was not the time to debate the disarmament of his guerrilla fighters, saying the issue should be done in secret sessions of the government to avoid serving Israeli interests.

Monday, August 14, 2006

10 katyushas land in S. Lebanon

Whomever picked the less than 24 hours slot in the "how long will the ceasefire last before Hezbollah violates it" poll is a winner!

Ahmadinejad now has a blog.

Go visit and see what this raving lunatic has to say and by the way let him know how YOU feel.

ARIEL SHARON CONDITION "DETERIORATED",ISRAELI DOCTERS SAY

Fox News Alert.....more to follow.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Charities Funds Diverted for Aircraft Plot: Report

This E-mailed by Apollo.

Certain United Kingdom-based Muslim charities had transferred 'huge sums' to banks in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to pay for the alleged airline bombing plot, a report said on Sunday. It also stated that some of the terror suspects visited al-Qaeda camps in the area, posing as quake relief workers.

Key members of the British terror gang reportedly travelled to Pakistan's lawless border region with Afghanistan to learn bomb-making techniques, the Mail on Sunday said.

It said security services and Pakistani intelligence are now trying to piece together the exact movements of several plotters over recent years.

Wonder if the Entrenched Media will beat their breasts as they lament the taking of funds from the destitute and food from the starving by the islamofascists. Don't hold your breath.

Cease Fire in Trouble

Looks like the cease fire in Lebanon is dead before it was born.

Critical Lebanese Cabinet Mtg Postponed Indefinitely

BEIRUT (AP)--A critical Lebanese Cabinet meeting set for Sunday to discuss implementation of the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah was postponed, a move that was likely to delay the dispatch of the Lebanese army to the south and an end to the fighting.

A top aide to Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the meeting had been indefinitely postponed but would give no reason. Pushlished reports said the Cabinet, which approved the cease-fire unanimously Saturday night, had been sharply divided over demands in the cease-fire agreement that Hezbollah surrender its weapons in south Lebanon.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Israel Gone Soft?

The blogospere is abuzz with pontifications on the cease fire proposal approved last night by the UN Security councel. Most on the right are disapproving ranging from mild Powerline to hyperventilating (Malkin). Captain Ed is actually moderately approving.

Personally I believe it was the only course we (US) could have taken given the situation. President Bush kept the monkeys off Israels back for over a month. It was clear from the very beginning that the time to carry on this operation was not open ended. I am pretty sure that Bush received assurances from Ohlmert that they would have things wrapped up in short order and he only required the US to give him ample time to crush Hezbollah (couple weeks).

Two things proved that assurance to be erroneous. First Hezbollah was armed and entrenched far more than Israeli intelligence had led the politicians to believe and secondly underwhelming force was applied. Both could have been rectified early on by altering strategy and attacking with everything they had. This of course failed to materialize.

Whether it was fear of casualties, fear of bad press, whatever, Israel unlike all conflicts prior to this executed this whole affair in a timid and squeamish manner. It has proved to be the only conflict they have ever engaged in that wasn't an outright victory.

Personally I believe Ohlmert was looking for a face saving way out and asked Bush to "save them from themselves" Twenty years ago this would have never happened. Israel would have said "damn world opinion", "damn the casualties", "we are fighting for our very existence!" So what has changed? I believe like many countries including our own they have gotten comfortable and when a country gets comfortable they find a million ways to rationalize away their legitimate fears.

This UN agreement is not all bad but it's not all that good either. Likely Hezbollah won't honor it anyway so it's probably academic. No UN resolution has any chance of success with a functioning Hezbollah. They needed to be hit with massive force and defanged completely, something Israel was unwilling to do.

They say you only acrue returns on what you have invested. In this case that's exactly what Israel will get.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Peace activist murdered by Palestinian

Angelo Frammartino, a 24 year-old Italian student, planned to set up summer camp for Palestinians; He was attacked and murdered by Arab knifeman.

It is believed that the attack was a nationalistically motivated terror attack, and not an attempted robbery.

U.S. Embassy Warns Of Terror Threat In India

Can't be, the government banned offending blogsites which made the Islamofascists happy right?

NEW DELHI -- The U.S. Embassy in India's capital warned Friday that foreign militants, possibly al-Qaida members, may be planning to carry out bombings in two major Indian cities in the coming days.

An e-mail sent to American citizens registered with the embassy said New Delhi, the capital, and Bombay, the country's financial and entertainment hub, were the targets of the alleged plot, and that the attacks were believed to be planned around India's Independence Day, which falls on Aug. 15.

The embassy confirmed that it had sent the e-mail, and the chief secretary of India's Maharshtra state, where Bombay is located, confirmed that authorities had intelligence about a possible terror plot.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Reuters Capsham

Do these people ever do any "pre"publication verification???

ATTENTION EDITORS - CAPTION CORRECTION FOR SJS01 - 05 WHICH WERE TRANSMITTED AT APPROXIMATELY 1725 GMT ON AUGUST 9, 2006. THE CAPTION INCORRECTLY STATES THE CAUSE OF DEATH. CORRECTED VERSIONS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW THIS ADVISORY. WE ARE SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED. REUTERS. A Palestinian man carries the body of three year-old Raja Abu Shaban, in Gaza August 9, 2006. The three-year-old girl who had been reported killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Wednesday actually died of an accident, Palestinian medical workers said on Thursday. Workers at Gaza's Shifa hospital said on August 10, 2006 that the initial mistake over the cause of death appeared to have arisen because the girl's corpse was brought in at the same time as the bodies of the gunmen. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES)

At least they're getting better at apologizing. Practice makes perfect.

Cindy Sheehan & Right Wing Love Affair?



There is but one word to describe my feelings on this subject........

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww!

The full story is here if you have the stomach for it.

P.S. Consider yourself warned, don't blame me if you have nightmares.

Oblivious

Shallow self absorbed twit of the year.

Airline Bombings Thwarted!

Despite the disingenuous spewage coming from the left, make no mistake, WE ARE AT WAR! Expect this narrative from the peaceafists....."There is no war on terror, and if there is, it's our fault. "

LONDON (Reuters) - Following is the full text of a statement issued by London Deputy Commissioner, Paul Stephenson on Thursday morning:

"We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and commit mass murder.

The Commissioner has been fully briefed and he is at New Scotland Yard today. He and I want to pay tribute to officers from the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch and the security services for the work they have undertaken to disrupt these activities.

We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives onto airplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight.

We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the UK to the USA.

Overnight we have arrested 21 people. The majority of those arrests have been in London but we have also made arrests in Thames Valley and Birmingham. We are currently searching a number of addresses.

Put simply this was a plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

And at home: 2 held on terror charges in Ohio.

Something big coming?

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Iranians among Hizbollah combat dead: TV

Appears this is no longer just Iran's "proxy" war.....

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been found among Hizbollah guerrillas slain by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, Israel's Channel 10 television reported on Wednesday citing diplomatic sources.

It said the Iranians were identified by documents found on their bodies, but gave no further details on how many were discovered or when. Neither the Israeli military nor Hizbollah representatives in Beirut had immediate comment on the report.

Iran, like fellow Hizbollah patron Syria, insists its support for the Shi'ite guerrilla group is purely moral.

Silence the Infidel

Exclusive: Indian bureaucrats ponder whether to un-ban Opinipundit.

Decision: Negatory

Update: Red alert at IGI airport, visitors banned

What, the banning of the OpiniPundit didn't appease the radical Muslim terrorists????

Moderation No More

It's official, the Democrat party has gone off the deep end. By choosing to oust a 3 term strong on security veteran Senator with a 90% liberal vote rating from the ticket in favor of a far left peacafist they show that a liberal in the mold of Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman, and JFK are no longer desired in their party.

The Move On, Soros/Sheehan wing of the left have won and in doing so dealt a severe blow to common sense and moderation in liberal politics. The last remnants of the Scoop Jackson style Democrat is relegated to the political refuse heap of history. It's really difficult to comprehend that a short 6 years ago their concensus choice for Vice Preseident of the United States is now deemed an untouchable.

Don't get me wrong, for the right and the Republican party this is a gift that will likely pay high dividends. The further left the Democrats are pulled the more they marginalize themselves as a viable choice for the American people. Strong on defense Democrat candidates won't even be offered up and security minded Democrats and moderates will have no choice but to either not vote or vote for the Republican.

Hillary Clinton and many other Democrats now have a serious problem. Even though she may well side with these fringe lefties who have at least temporarily hijacked the Democrat party, one thing she knows full well, after 9-11 peaceafists win Democrat primaries but they don't win general elections. She's been trying to walk this tightrope for months now and it's only made her look without conviction and foolish.

Kudos to the moonbats Kos, Code Pink, Michael Moore, Geogre Soros, Move On and a host of other radical progressives. You have shown the world your clout and in doing so have made the job of us on the right one helluva lot easier.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Say Heyyyy........

Early results coming in for Ga/4th and it's not looking good for you know who. Prediction, McKinney is toast.

Update: 89% of precincts reporting Votes Percentage Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. 36,853 58.9% Cynthia McKinney 25,683 41.1%

As predicted, toast.


Update: Things also not looking so good for Joe Lieberman. I happen to like Lieberman but I am pulling for his defeat. I will post my reasoning and comments on the ramications of his loss should that occur.

UPDATE II: 82% of vote in Lamont 52% Lieberman 48% -- 10:18 PM ETL Network calls it for Lamont.

Bombing of Funeral: False Reporting by Reuters

Bias? Incompetence? Personally I believe it's some of both and that's a dangerous combination.

The day after it was revealed Reuters News Agency doctored photographs that show an anti-Israel bias, the news service incorrectly reported Tuesday afternoon that the IDF bombed a funeral procession in Lebanon.Reuters has corrected without apology its earlier story that the

IDF strafed a funeral procession and updated the report to state that the bombs struck a village at the same time the funeral was taking place, adding that "the air strike was not in the immediate vicinity of the funeral."

Too late, damage done.

Local Resident Receiving Mysterious Threats

More Stalinist behavior from the party of compassion and tolerance.....

Crawford- One local resident is fearful for her family's safety, after alleged threats from a supposed anti-war demonstrator.

After news of protestor Cindy Sheehan's purchase of property near President Bush's ranch, Tracy Thiele gave an interview to News Channel 25. The interview was later broadcast on a segment ABC's Good Morning America. That's when the trouble all began.

"About seven times in a row, I have gotten threatening phone calls against me and my family," said Thiele. "The caller knew where Crawford was, she knew where I lived. She said be on my doorstep the next morning to take care of me. Stuff like that."

Thiele lives just doors away from Sheehan's new property, where Camp Casey III is being erected. Both Crawford Police and the McLennan County Sheriff's Office are investigating the incident. Thiele and her family are not waiting for Sheehan's arrival in Crawford, but rather her departure at the end of August.

"No Peace"

Further proof that these people don't want land or peace, they want one thing and one thing only, the complete obliteration of the state of Israel.

Near East Consulting Poll: 55% of Palestinians: Hamas should not change its position regarding the elimination of the state of Israel .

Palestinian Perceptions towards Politics, Peace, and the Conflictin the Lebanon.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Beautiful and Oh So Capable, IDF Eye Candy




Reuters Foto Fakery

Rusty at Jawa has the definative poop on Reuters photo manipulation. Bias is one thing, this is out and out fraud and must be identified as such.

The first question that comes to my mind now that we have rooted out these bogus pics.....How long has this been going on and how many other examples exist?

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Suicide Bomber Dies in Pakistan When Belt Explodes Prematurely

Premature evisceration......

A suicide bomber was killed early Sunday in southwestern Pakistan when the explosives belt he was wearing exploded prematurely, police said.

No one else was injured in the blast in Hub, an industrial town in Baluchistan province, local police official Munir Hussain said.

"This man was riding a cycle. He had strapped explosives to his body for a suicide attack and they exploded," Hussain said of the blast in Hub's Zehri Street neighborhood.

The man's intended target was not immediately known, and police were investigating, Hussain said.

Don't you just love to start off your Sunady with good news.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Castro Has Cancer!

First report I've seen and this isn't what I'd call a rock solid source but we shall see. Working on confirmation.

Brazil-- Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro has cancer, N-TV TV station announced citing Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo considered to be well informed about Castro’s health.According to the newspaper Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has been informed by Havana that Fidel Castro has a cancer formation in his stomach.

“It looks like we are losing our friend,” the Brazilian newspaper reads citing Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Even if he recovers from the stomach operation Cuba’s leader most probably won’t be able to run the country again, Folha de São Paulo comments.

Stomach cancer in someone of his advanced age generally carries a poor prognosis even with the best of care. I wonder how many top shelf gastric oncologists are practicing in Cuba after studying for years just to get a whopping $150.00/mon. paycheck. Irony sure can be ironic.

Update: Not sure this source is any more credible but al-jazeera is denying the report.

Carter: Bush hurts prospects for peace

Sentient advice from the father of the despotic regime presently ruling Iran....

President Bush has pursued an "erroneous policy" that has fostered violence in the Middle East, said former President Jimmy Carter, who brokered the historic Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt.

"In my opinion, maybe the worst ally Israel has had in Washington has been the George W. Bush administration, which hasn't worked to bring a permanent peace to Israel," Carter said Friday during a stop in West Michigan.

Jimmah's opinion is worth about as much as his 4 years in office. An honors graduate of the Neville Chamberline school of diplomacy, it's become apparent over the years that the size of his mouth is exceeded only by the depth of his naivete'.

Friday, August 04, 2006

It's Still the Economy Stupid

On August 1, 2003, Nancy (Bella) Pelosi asked this question: “Where are the jobs Mr. President?”.

Question of the day: How many jobs have been created since Nancy Pants made that infamous statement?

Answer: 5,600,000

The unemployment rate was 6.1% then and stands at 4.8% today. This, mind you, is after the Clinton recession, 9-11 attacks, Katrina disaster and the ongoing war on terror have done their damage.

Now what was it that Clinton had to contend with? Oh yea, Monica and Bosnia.

ht NewYorker77 at FR

Internet Voices Stifled in India

More free speech repression from the government who gave us the infamous "Gang of 17 Blog Ban"

The Web site of the monthly People's March, which bills itself as the "Voice of the Indian Revolution," has been banned by the Indian government. The announcement coming after much delay by the government and media, for reasons unknown. This official move is seen as launching a new wave of repression on freedom of expression by individuals and mass organizations, although as history shows, this is not a new line for the Indian state.

A letter from the ministry of communications and information technology addressed to Spectrum Solutions Private, Ltd., of Kochi Estates stated, "It has been found that the website http://peoplesmarch.googlepages.com/, running on IP address 202.146.192.161, which is under your control, is hosting anti-national content. You may be aware that hosting such a website is punishable under law."

It's not often you will find this blog standing up in defense of the commies but this is one of those rare occasions. Again the Indian government seeks to suppress free speech under the auspices of protecing national security.

Bullsh!t! The way to beat the commies is with the free and open exchange of ideas. Expose their tired and deluded notions to the light of day and and they will crumble of their own weight. The Indian government is attempting to diminish this group by using the very totalitarian tactics that the group itself espouses and has used throughout history to control it's people.

The cure for communism is the free and unfettered practice of Democracy. Restricting speech , even the warped and delusional speech of communist manifesto is the antithesis of that liberty.

Update: After visiting the webpage it strikes me as ironic that it's editors would rail against the Indian government for infringing on their right of free speech when in all liklihood (should these nimrods assume power) that free speech would be the very first thing they would abolish.

Man imprisoned for son's Christian name

An Iranian man who with his wife chose a Christian name for their newborn son has been arrested and imprisoned by Muslims on allegations of apostasy.

Issa Motamadi, whose son became known to authorities seven months ago, faces a trial before a national Revolutionary Tribunal, according to a World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission report published by Assist News Service.

Both Motamadi and his wife, Parvah, are converts to Christianity, and while technically the Iranian constitution bans persecution of anyone for their religious beliefs, it remains common for authorities to level a non-religious legal allegation against someone they want to use as an example.

Bagani told sources for the Commission the judge in the case will accept no other solution. He also hinted it may take several executions before Iranians realize the consequences of apostasy.

Jehovabush maybe?

Sorry, I shouldn't make light of this. The intolerance and brutality of these barbarians is monolithic and offers previews of coming attractions for much of the world if left unchecked.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

ONE IN 3 AMERICANS SAY U.S. AIDED 9/11

Hard to believe but...........

August 3, 2006 -- More than one-third of Americans suspect federal officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a new poll.

The survey also found that 16 percent of Americans speculate that secretly planted explosives, not burning passenger jets, were the real reason the massive Twin Towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.

The fact that a third of my fellow Americans are certifiable freakin nut burgers is disconcerting.

photo from Michelle

India, Pakistan offer half Iran's gas asking price

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said on Thursday India and Pakistan were offering to pay only half the amount for Iranian gas that Tehran was seeking as part of efforts to agree a pipeline deal .

Well, if nothing else India and Pakistan can agree on one thing, they won't bend over and allow Ahmadinejad to hose them on this pipeleine deal. Will be interesting to see if this rare show of collective spine has any resilence.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Hezbollywood Caught Producing Fictional Docudrama

August 2, 2006: Israeli troops operating in south Lebanon captured a Hezbollah safe house, and found the usual weapons and other equipment, as well as a supply of Israeli Defense Force uniforms. This indicated plans to stage a major "atrocity." Committed, as the evidence would clearly show, by Israeli troops. But perhaps this will never happen, for Israeli raids into southern Lebanon have captured many Hizbollah documents, as well as some live Hizbollah members. These, combined with Israeli electronic eavesdropping, reports from agents inside Lebanon, give the Israelis a pretty good idea of what Hizbollah is up to. Without much fanfare, Israeli commandos and aircraft will respond to Hizbollah plans.

Update: In related news, this chicanery...... JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's military on Wednesday released video that it said proved a hospital it raided overnight deep inside Lebanon was actually a Hezbollah headquarters.

Sacrificing the Seed Corn

Let's not cry over Qana: from The Pioneer, excellent commentary on the Lok Sabha resolution indicting Israel.

Also Lebanese pub accuses Hezbollah of placing a rocket launcher on the roof of the notorious building in Qana to provoke an Israeli attack and bringing invalid children inside to serve as victims and blacken Israel's name.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Pew Research Study


Anyone surprised that the dumbest viewers are the ones watching MSNBC, CNBC and Good Morning America.

I would be willing to bet that Olberman's audience (tiny as it is) pulled the entire MSNBC average down a bit.

Peace in Our Time

Whenever I hear the impassioned pleas of the left for peace in the Middle East I can't help but be reminded of the scene in "Independence Day" when the President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) asks the alien "Can't we have peace?" and the alien responds "No peace" He then asks "What do you want us to do?" the alien responds "Die"

If the script writers weren't making a direct analogy to the situation between Israel and the radicals in the Middle East it' s an amazing coincidence because the parallel is uncanny.

Most Arabs don't want peace nor do they want land, they want Israel to die, it's that simple. Decades of indoctrination have produced a generation of jihadists that are single minded in their pursuit, the complete iradication of Jews from the Middle east, period. These people don't fight to live, they live to fight and anyone who says different is either profoundly ignorant or a liar.

The initial proof of this came when Arafat rejected the "plan" ramrodded by Clinton which gave them virtually all they could have hoped for. The definative proof came after Israel instituted a unilateral pull out of the Gaza territories. This action yielded no "peace" benefit whatsoever as they tunnelled from their newly acquired land into Israel and kidnapped and murdered.

If peace was truly their desire all they had to do was quit murdering Israeli's. In all liklihood had the Arabs in the territories not attacked, Israel would have pulled out of the West Bank within the next 18 months as well.

You simply cannot negotiate with people who's goal is "No peace". Chamberlains attempted diplomacy with Hitler became the quintessential 20th century illustration of that very thing.

The Europeans, and the Americans to a degree cannot fathom how peace couldn't be as important to others as it is to them. The mere suggestion of such a thing is alien to their thought processes. They all get that incredulous look on their faces that President Whitmore had. 9-11 and the London bombings gave them a brief wake up call but unfortunately memories are short and impressions fleeting. All looked but most did not see.

I am afraid "peace loving" Anglos are not going to understand what we are truly dealing with untill they are hit at home with a really big one. So far we have been lucky but it's coming and all the negotiating in the world won't stop it.